What did Ester want anymore? She didn’t want to be a boy. She didn’t want to hang out with her old friends. She didn’t want to face her real parents again. What was left of her former life that she wanted?

“Hey, scrawny.”

Ester blinked and looked around. The hallway was empty except for her and the varsity linebacker. Leon smirked and started striding up to her.

“You were always a thorn in my side, Eli,” he muttered.

“My name is Ester,” she replied, backing up slowly.

“Don’t give me that shit,” Leon snarled, “I don’t care what you look like. You were a sniveling bitch before you ever had tits. Don’t think I won’t give you what you’re owed just because you look like a girl.”

He lashed out an arm and grabbed Ester by the collar. She cried out, but he pulled her in close. Ester could smell his breath.

“You’ve got everyone else fooled, but not me, Eli,” he whispered, “And that wimp Jimmy. He’s been leering at you for a while. Lucky for you, he’s too chickenshit and I’m to smart to actually try anything like that.”

Ester released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.

“But I’m not done with you,” Leon continued, “All those crocodile tears made everyone sorry for you. And then they got pissed at me for not treating you like a goddamn baby. After all that time you spent making things difficult for me, I’m going to get the payback I deserve. Next time that I see you outside of school, you’ll be eating through a straw when I’m done with you.”

He thew Ester to the ground, where she rolled over and onto her face. She started to crawl away. Her vision was still spinning. When Ester looked up, though, Leon was walking away.

Ester sprang to her feet and ran to the nearest bathroom, one of the dirtier ones. She stopped in front of the mirror and braced herself against the sink. Then her knees gave out and she had to hold herself up by her arms.

“That bastard!” she cried, her voice cracking, “That… bastard.”

She screamed. She screamed until her voice was hoarse, then continued screaming. Eventually it was too much for her. Ester fell to her knees and crumpled to all fours. Her entire body was shaking, but she would not cry. She’d run out of tears.

“I’m never going to be free,” she realized, “I’m never going to be safe from these people.”

How dare they? How dare they? Leon, Jimmy, Abby… April. All of these people had tried to take her life out of her own hands. Even her own parents, whom Ester had been too afraid of to tell about the curse.

“Never again,” she decided, pulling herself to her knees, “I’m never going to be afraid of anyone ever again. It’s my life, my future. I’m in control from now on.”

She knew what she needed to do. Ester stood up and looked in the mirror. There weren’t any tears, but her gaze was hollow. Her posture was slumped. Ester straightened herself out and raised her head high.

She stayed quiet and still during class, only taking the notes that she absolutely had to. People seemed to take notice, but didn’t comment on it. When lunch finally came around, Ester left the room quickly without talking to any of her new friends.

Ester found Carla before she had gotten to her own friends for lunch and called out to her, gesturing to follow. Carla seemed conflicted, but followed Ester. They found any empty hallway away from the lunchroom to talk in.

“I haven’t told you the whole truth,” Ester revealed, “I learned something about the curse and kept it to myself.”

“What the Hell, Fofo?” Carla cried, “That could have been really helpful!”

“I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s about April.”

“April?”

“She’s the one who made the wish on the fountain. She wished for a sister of her own.”

Carla was quiet for a moment, then her jaw dropped open.

“I knew it,” she said, “I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her. How did you find this out? Oh, I’m going to—”

“Nothing!” Ester told her, “You’re going to do nothing, because she doesn’t even know she’s responsible.”

“You can’t just let her get away with this!”

“I’m not!” Ester insisted. She leaned up against the wall. “I feel so… powerless. Knowing that my life is being set up around someone else, it feels terrible. But… I wasn’t happy as a boy, Carla.”

Carla winced and started fidgeting.

Ester continued, “You were right. I let mom and dad control me. I was too afraid to stand up to them like you did.”

“Fofo… that’s not—”

“Please let me finish,” Ester said, “And when I wasn’t around them, I let my friends control my behavior too. So as soon as the doctor tells me how, I’m going to break the curse and free myself from this magic. And I’m going to hope and pray that I still want to be a girl afterward, because I’m not going back to my old life. I don’t even know if I want to come home.”

Carla looked hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Ester said quietly, “But whatever happens, I need to be somewhere that I’m allowed to be my own person. And I know that I can’t do that if I’m around mom and dad.”

After a moment, Carla nodded.

“Okay,” she said, then smirked, “I guess it took you losing your balls to finally grow a spine, Fofa.”

Ester snorted, then replied, “I guess it did.”

To her surprise, Carla strode forward and scooped her up in a hug.

“Thank you for trusting me with this,” she said, “I won’t tell anyone. And I promise that I’m going to stand by you, no matter what you call yourself. Okay?”

“Thank you,” Ester replied, returning the hug, “But I need to get to my… April’s friends and tell them about my decision. And you need to eat lunch.”

“Bossy. I guess you do take after me.”

Ester laughed, and the two parted ways with a fist bump.

When she arrived at her usual table, Ester was wearing a broad smile. Everyone seemed happy to see her. Some girls made some space and she squeezed in, then flashed a smile at April. She barely had a moment to get her bearings, though, before everyone started pelting her with questions.

“Are you okay—?”

“Did she hurt you—?”

“Abby’s been suspended—!”

She eventually managed to calm them down and assuage their fears. Once everyone had made sure that Ester was alright, the conversation quickly returned to normal. Another girl was having trouble with a boy.

“I just thought we had something, you know,” she lamented.

Duela pat her on the back, comforting her quietly. Ester was barely paying attention. Her mind was on Phil, the tall boy with slick black hair that had asked her out a few days prior. If she’d said yes, she could be planning for their date right now. They’d probably go see a movie. His hand would find hers in the dark. Ester could feel her face go red just thinking about it.

“You know,” someone said, “For someone who doesn’t ever talk about crushes, you always seem so distracted whenever guys come up.”

“It’s nothing,” Ester insisted, but everyone was looking at her.

“You’re thinking of someone.”

“Guys,” April said, “Ester is going through a lot right now. There’s probably a lot of things she doesn’t want to talk about. Give her some space.”

“Right.”

“Sorry, Ester.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Thank you,” Ester muttered.

The conversation continued without her. Ester turned back to her sandwich. But she felt like she was being left out of the loop.

“Actually,” she said, getting attention from around the table, “There is something I want to talk about.”

Everyone’s eyes were on her.

“So… I’m a little confused about my feelings,” she admitted, “I like guys. I mean, I think I like guys. It's not that I don't like girls now, but I'm definitely more into guys. I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

The table was still quiet. Ester took a deep, shaky breath.

“I don’t understand why this is happening,” she continued, “I think it’s new. Or maybe not? Maybe I already liked guys a little bit and didn’t know because of how much I liked girls. The doctor said that the curse didn't change my sexuality, but how I feel is definitely different now. What if how I feel changes again when I break the curse? Is this something I even want to keep?”

She gulped and gazed helplessly at the rest of the table.

Finally, someone asked, “So, you do like guys? Or not?”

“Only a little,” she whispered, “I don’t know if I ever want… you know. Or I do, sometimes, just not as much as I used to.” She groaned. “Does anyone know what’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t think anything is wrong,” Duela said, “I think you’re just gray-asexual.”

“Huh?”

Duela chuckled.

“It means that you have sexual attraction, just not very much of it.”

“That’s a thing?!”

The cafeteria around them fell silent for a moment as people turned to stare at the table. Ester’s friends broke into laughter, some of them banging their hands on the table. Even April was hiding behind her hand to snicker. Ester felt her face burn. She sunk down in her seat a little bit.

“Yes,” Duela said, “That’s a thing, Ester.”

“Oh… I guess that’s something to think about.”

The conversation left her behind again. Ester was thinking about Phil. Would he care if she was asexual? Would he still want to date her? He already knew she was trans… kind of, anyway. What exactly was he looking for?

Ester sighed and returned to her sandwich. She’d worry about it later. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d run into Phil again tomorrow.

When Ester finally got on the bus with April that evening, she was feeling so much better than she arrived at school. The day had actually turned out pretty good. She and April spent most of the ride home giggling over the stupidest things.

They were doing their homework together at the kitchen table when Stephanie arrived.

“Hi mom!” April said.

“Hey… mom…” Ester mumbled.

It was still a little awkward to say.

“Hey girls,” Stephanie replied, giving Ester a small smile, “Is your dad home?”

Another voice rang out, “He’s coming down the stairs.”

Isaac strode into the room and scooped up Stephanie in a kiss. April gagged, and Ester chuckled.

“What does everyone want for dinner?” Isaac asked.

“Actually, there’s something I want to tell everyone,” Ester said, wringing her hands.

“Go on,” Stephanie offered, taking off her coat.

“Alright…” She took a deep breath. “I want to break the curse.”

Stephanie and Isaac nodded. April gave Ester a weak smile, but wouldn’t look her in the eye. Ester could feel a cold sweat coming on.

“The thing is,” she continued, “when it happens, I don’t want to go back to being a boy.”

“Oh.”

“Ah.”

April’s face lit up.

“Um… I also don’t know what’s going to happen when the curse is broken. Maybe I’ll turn back into a boy, maybe not. If I do, hopefully I’ll still want to be a girl, and then I can start transitioning or whatever. But… please don’t hate me for this, I also don’t want to go back to living with my real parents.”

Stephanie nodded.

“You’re always welcome here, Ester,” she said again, sitting down at the table.

Isaac followed suit, adding, “I don’t know what our legal options are, exactly, but we’ll figure something out. As long as you feel safe, that’s all that matters.”

“Hang on,” April said, “I mean, I love the idea of you getting to stay with us, boy or girl, but I don’t understand. Why do you think you might not go back to being a boy when you break the curse?”

Ester’s mouth was dry. Isaac and Stephanie were also staring at her. Of course, they didn’t know the full effects of the curse. They thought it was just making her into a girl.

“I don’t really understand it all myself,” she lied, “But according to the doctor it was supposed to do something to make me unhappy. If I like being a girl, then maybe breaking the curse won’t take it away from me.”

They didn’t need to know the full truth. It would just hurt the three of them. April especially didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.

“Whatever happens, Ester,” Isaac said, “We’re going to stand beside you.”

“That’s right, sweetie.”

“What are sister’s for?”

Ester smiled and sniffed. She was going to cry again. There was no way she deserved a family like this. She pushed away the dark feeling in her gut, the one that said they only liked her because the curse was making them feel that way. That couldn’t be true. They were too good for that.

“Who wants spaghetti?” Isaac finally asked.

Everyone helped prepare dinner. Stephanie put Ester in charge of stirring the sauce while Isaac and April dumped in ingredients. The atmosphere was full of laughter.

Finally, during dinner Ester got up the courage to add, “It’s not too much to ask for ice cream after this, is it?”

April stopped eating and glared at her mother, pleading with her eyes. Stephanie threw up her hands and nodded. She was smiling, though. Ester raised her hand for April to fist-bump.

There was a lull in the conversation, and Ester heard a familiar sound. It took her a moment to figure it out. The sound was the new phone that Stephanie and Isaac had given her. Who did she know who would call during dinner?

“Um… can I… go see who that is?” she asked.

Isaac nodded through a mouthful of spaghetti. Ester thanked them profusely and stood up, making sure to push her chair in before she left. She took so long that the phone had stopped ringing by the time she got to it.

She checked the call list. The last incoming call read “Doctor Rackar.” That send a shiver down her spine. She didn’t have his number and he certainly didn’t have hers.

Then the phone started to ring again, and Ester answered it.

“Hello?” she asked, “Doctor?”

There was a faint noise in the background of the call, like someone was shouting far off in the distance.

“Hello, Estella,” came the voice on the other end. It was definitely the doctor, though his voice sounded muffled. “I just found the creature that is responsible for the curse.”

“Oh? That’s great!” Ester cried.

“As I suspected, it is indeed a faery.”

The muffled shouts in the background became more frenzied.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Ester said, “What… does this mean for me?”

“I was able to get it to explain how to break the curse,” he continued, “According to it, the magic will ensure that you eventually meet the person who made the wish you are fated to fulfill. The only way to break the curse is to get the person who made it to recant their wish. Once you find whoever made the wish, you will need to confront them and persuade them to let you free.”

Ester nearly dropped the phone.

“Estella?”

“Oh no,” she muttered.

“From your silence, I gather that you know exactly who made the wish.”

Ester nodded.

Though he couldn’t see her, the doctor responded, “Remember, Estella. I promised that I would give you the means to undo the curse. Whether or break it or not is entirely your own prerogative.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Ester said, then hung up.

She sat the phone down on the nightstand and locked the door. Then Ester sat down on the bed and buried her head in her hands. Very soon, she began to cry. Quickly, it became sobbing. She heard a knock on the door, but just buried her head under her pillow and screamed.