“OK, get a hold of yourself Tony.” I said, in an octave higher than I expected. I cleared my throat. “What’s going on?” I tested my voice and was greeted with the same feminine voice again.

The girl in the mirror. Her face was mine, although a little softer. Her nose wasn’t as pronounced. She actually looked a lot like my little sister when she was a teenager, except this girl in the mirror had straighter hair. Well, as straight as one would expect considering she just woke up. I pushed aside some additional stray hairs in my face I didn't notice before, as the reflection did the same.

Everything is a little blurry since I don’t have my contacts in my eyes. Did I even take them out of my eyes last night? I noticed a pair of wire-frame glasses on the dresser so I grabbed them to put them on. I can definitely see clearly now.

She was wearing my old high school mascot t-shirt. A red and black bull with the high school name above it. I remember having a shirt very much like this. Behind the shirt were clearly breasts. Maybe B-cup judging by my limited understanding of breast sizes. Just below the hem of the shirt was red cotton shorts. The shortness of the shorts made her smooth legs go on for miles.

I reflexively reached down to my crotch and didn't feel my penis under those shorts. My womanhood confirmed. I was speechless.

I looked down at my hands and saw that they were smaller, softer and more feminine than what I had, when I went to bed last night.

I closed my eyes . "This is a dream." I told myself. "I'm having an alcohol induced dream." Dammit, there must've been tequila in that shot. Tequila changes me into another person. Although I didn't expect it to happen literally. Maybe that bartender roofied me. I reopened my eyes. My hands were the same. The girl in the mirror was still there. Through the glasses, I could see she had my brown eyes.

Once I accepted that I was looking at my reflection I took a deep breath and looked at myself again. I’m definitely a teenager. Not sure what age, but I’m missing all of the visible age spots around my eyes. I rubbed my face expecting to feel my normal stubble but instead felt smooth skin… and a pimple near my jawline. Ug. I didn’t miss acne!

“OK” I tell myself. “It’s time to see what’s going on. Who am I?” I looked around the room for my wallet, or something that would tell me who this girl was, I found myself inhabiting. I didn't see a wallet. Or a purse. But I did see a school backpack lying next to the door. Digging through it I found a sky blue clutch. I zipped it open. I didn’t find a driver’s licence but the first card I did find was a Student ID. Staring right back at me was a face portrait of the body I’m currently inhabiting. Except for the aforementioned case of bed-head.

“Christina Demarco – Student – Class of 1998”

Well, that’s not my sister’s name. It’s also not a feminine version of my male name. I was seriously prepared for it to say “Antonia” or “Toni.” But in a way it makes sense. I was named Anthony after my dad’s grandfather. His wife was named Christina.

Now that the adrenaline of waking up in a strange room has worn off I realized I really needed to use the bathroom. “Great” I mumbled to myself. “I’ve been a girl for 2 minutes and I already have to learn to pee like one.”

I turn off the bedroom light and open the door to the hallway. The hallway was slightly illuminated by the kitchen at the end of the hall. I walked straight across the hall and into the bathroom. As I turned on the light I noticed immediately that this was indeed my childhood house. The bathroom was exactly as I remembered it 15 or so years ago.

I looked in the mirror again. “Hi Christina.” I told my reflection. “I’m Tony. I know we’ve only met, but I think we’re going to have to work together to find out what’s going on.” I gave my reflection an awkward smirk and she smirked back at me.

I sat down and felt the rush of pee come out. It was an interesting sensation. I tried not to dwell on it as I wadded up some toilet paper and wiped myself.

"Now with that out of the way" I told myself, "It's time to see what else is going on in this dream of horrors."

I left the bathroom and walked to the kitchen. At the table my father was sitting reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. A younger version of my dad. He had black hair rather than the salt and pepper color I was used to. His face was thinner and he was sporting a mustache. He peered up from the paper and smiled at me. “Good Morning, sweetie. Happy Birthday!”

I was stunned. That isn’t the greeting I was expecting. I was equally surprised from behind me, my mom’s voice echoing “Happy Birthday!” I turned around to face my mom as she gave me a hug. “I can’t believe my baby is seventeen!”

Well that answers that question.

A stray hair fell onto my face. I pushed it behind my ear and smiled back at my parents. “Thank you.” My mom was equally younger. Thinner and less wrinkles on her face. More bounce to her permed hair. Totally 90's.

“Don’t forget to make sure you're home by 3:30 today.” My mom said. “Don't dilly-dally after band practice. We don’t want to miss your driver’s test appointment.”

I stood there confused for a moment, as my sister, Cindy appeared from behind my mother. “Happy Birthday” as she came at me with a hug. Wow - she was so young too. If I was 17, then my sister had to be 14. Last I saw her she was married with two kids. I hugged her back. “I can’t wait ‘til you can drive me to school.” She added.

School? Oh shit. I mean, of course. It was obvious. My haze of confusion cleared up. Band practice; this house; my parent's youth; the student ID. Christina is only 17. It just didn’t really settle in until just now. I have to go to school today.

“Thanks” I replied to my sister as I hugged her back.

My mom handed me a wrapped gift. "I know your real gift is sitting in the driveway, but here's something small that goes with it."

I unwrapped the gift to find a CD Player, cassette deck adapter combo. "It's so you can play CDs in your car!" she explained.

"Thanks!' I said trying to fake being surprised. Of course I remember getting this exact same gift on my 17th birthday. My car did not have a CD player, so I found it very useful, In fact I remember keeping the cassette adapter long after I switched to keeping music on an iPod.

I sat down at the kitchen table and placed the gift down as my mom and sister walked away. I picked up one of the newspaper sections my dad wasn’t reading. I checked the date at the masthead.

“Tuesday, September 23, 1997” the headline read.

It’s my birthday. I mean Tony’s birthday. I took a deep breath. OK. This is my house. My family. My birthday. This must be some kind of alternate reality where Tony was born a girl or something.

My sister poked her head back into the kitchen and asked “Did you want to use the shower first?”

“Sure.” I said, getting up and walking back to the bathroom, eager to keep moving and to not dwell on my current situation. I closed the bathroom door, took a deep breath, and turned back to Christina in the mirror. “What did I get myself into.” I said to her.

I turned the shower’s water knob on and held my hand under the water until it got warm.

I took another deep breath. “OK Tony. You can do this. You’ve seen your wife nude many times. We've shared a shower before.” I wasn't ready to see Christina nude, so I kept my back to the mirror out of modesty. I placed my glasses on the vanity and then lifted my shirt off. Then came my shorts. Then I put my thumbs inside the elastic of what I assumed was a soft cotton pair of panties. I stepped out of them and I looked down at them out of curiosity. Yup. Bright yellow panties.

I pulled the shower curtain aside on step into the shower. The hot water on my skin was a familiar comfort. It allowed me to think for a few minutes. Since I’ve woken up it’s been a constant roller-coaster. I hadn’t gotten a chance to really think. I let the soothing hot water run off my shoulders for a few minutes as I let the past fifteen minutes sink in.

“OK” I thought to myself. “Let me take myself through the rest of the day logically. If I run through a typical day in the life of 17 year old Tony, hopefully I can be prepared for what kind of things happen in the day in the life of Christina."

“Typically,” I continued to think to myself. “I caught a ride with Ron to school. When I was able to drive, we would alternate who drove. Sometimes my sister would tag along. I don’t remember my class schedule. But in my reality I kept my class schedule somewhere in my backpack. I’ll have to check to see if Christina does the same. My mom said I had band practice after school, so that didn't change.”

I scanned the shower shelves for my shampoo. Of course the only soap products were girly products. I grabbed the shampoo and squirted it on my hand and applied it to my hair. I was not used to longer hair so it took a little bit to get all of the soap out.

I glanced at the body wash. I bit my lip and grabbed it and squirted that into my hand and started rubbing my shoulders. After I gained a bit of confidence I moved my hands to my stomach.

"Wow" I thought as I felt my - I mean her abs. "Christina is in shape." I too used to be in shape until I let myself go during my marriage.

I moved my soapy hand upwards and under my armpits. Shaved armpits it seems.

I delayed long enough. Lastly without looking down I moved my hands to my breasts. I jumped at the sensation of my soapy hands slip over my nipples. I didn't expect that. I continued to lather them up, while ignoring the fact that my nipples were getting erect under my hands. I turned to face the water and let the water wash away the soap.

"There." I said. "I survived."

I stopped the water, grabbed a towel hanging from the wall and got out of the shower. I dried myself off, being careful with the newly found sensitive parts and wrapped the towel around my waste. As I reached for the doorknob I saw my topless reflection in the mirror.

“Ah.” I jumped realizing my mistake. I turned away and re-did my towel so it was covering my chest.

I went to the vanity and I continued my normal routine. "Familiarity will help me through this day" I told myself. I brushed my teeth. I found deodorant that might be Christina's, put that on. I found contacts that were not mine - I tried. Those must've been my sisters. I remembered that I didn't get contacts until college as I put Christina's glasses back on.

I grabbed my dirty clothes and walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. I closed the door behind me, tossed my laundry into the hamper and made my way to the dresser. The first drawer was jeans. “Oh Thank God!” I said as I wasn’t ready to deal with a skirt. The next drawer was panties and socks. A variety of colors and patterns. I wasn't ready for pink or flowers, so I grabbed a solid blue pair of panties and a pair of plain white ankle socks and placed them on the bed.

I walked to the closet and found dresses, women's tops, shirts and a good selection of t-shirts. I found a woman’s cut navy blue striped t-shirt. “Good enough” I said. I get the feeling Christina as the same casual style that I do. I was very much a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy.

I took the towel off and draped it over the bed. I grabbed the panties and put one leg in, then the next and pulled them up. The soft cotton felt good on my bare legs. it felt snug on my waist and ass. This feeling triggered my male curiosity as I craned my neck back to the mirror where I got a view of my ass in the blue panties. A smile formed on my face until I realized I was staring at Christina's ass.

"Tony, get a hold of yourself", I mumbled.

I grabbed the jeans and put them on. At least those felt familiar. I was expecting skinny jeans. I guess those haven't been invented yet.

I pulled the shirt over my head and it was a snug fit. I turned back to the mirror and smoothed out any wrinkles. The shirt hugged all of the right curves.

I saw a hairbrush on the dresser and started brushing my damp hair. "OK. I think I look at least semi-presentable" I told myself.

I left my room and returned to the kitchen. My dad had already left, but my sister was putting a bowl in the sink.

"Your turn", I said to her.

Cindy looked at me, rolled her eyes and sighed. "I really wish you'd let me put some makeup on you. You're 17 now, I'm getting tired of explaining that my bigger sister is a tomboy." She walked past me and toward the bathroom.

I didn't say anything back. I'm not sure what kind of relationship Christina and Cindy had and whether I should trade barbs. I figured I'd just play this safe.

I raided the pantry and found a cereal that I liked and poured myself a bowl. I was too nervous to sit down so I stood leaning against the counter eating it.

My mom came back into the kitchen. She looked me up and down. "Christina honey. How many times do I have to tell you to put a bra on."

I blushed out of embarrassment and ran back to my room.

I found the dresser drawer that had bras in it. I grabbed a solid color tan one. I pulled my shirt back off. I felt the unfamiliar bounce of the breasts as the shirt lifted up and over them.

I had gotten pretty good at removing my wife's bra. I just had zero experience putting on back on. Granted, I had seen my wife put it on countless times. "OK. clip it on the front. I told myself. "And rotate." I pulled the bra up and the straps over my shoulder. I adjusted the boobs in the cups and put the shirt back on. Looking back in the mirror, the bra definitely made Christina's breasts more pronounced.

I noticed a tube of Clearasil on my dresser. "Oh, that reminds me." I mumbled as I dabbed some acne cream on that zit and rubbed it in.

The clock now read 6:25. "I guess it's almost time." I retrieved the backpack lying on the floor and made sure its contents were back inside of it, and made my way out of my bedroom again.

"What if nobody comes to pick me up" I thought to myself. "I guess I'll just take the bus" I reaffirmed. Of course I don't remember what time the bus came.

I looked around and marveled at my childhood house. This was a crazy rush of nostalgia. I thought I'd never step foot in here again. The pictures on the wall. There were pictures of my family. Except instead of Tony there was Christina. This one picture was still hanging in my parents new house in the present. It must've been taken when I was 10. My parents were the same in this picture, except here, me and Cindy were wearing matching dresses. They looked like a nice happy family. This will be a fun story to tell my parents when I wake up, or return to my reality, or whatever the hell is going on here.

I peered out the front door to continue marveling, and I saw it. There it was parked in the driveway. My old car. A white 1994 Saturn Sedan. I loved that car. I kept it for 11 years all through college and into my adult life. I only sold for a measly $500 when the maintenance costs to keep it running became too much. But there it was.. clean and shiny, a 3-yr old car my parents gifted me on my 17th birthday.

My Mom called from behind me. "Is Ron picking you up today?"

"If he doesn't I'll just prepare to take the bus." I replied.

So Christina rides to school with Ron just like Tony. Interesting. Well at least I got confirmation that Ron is still my friend in this reality. I wonder if I will be able to confide-

"Have you guys started dating yet?" my mom interrupted my thoughts. "You've known each other for years now, and he's a good kid."

I stood there paralyzed at the thought. Me and Ron? My best friend?

"I think he's got a thing for you." My mom said as she walked back to the kitchen. "Have a good day sweetie! See you at 3!"

"We're just friends." I yelled upstairs hoping she could still hear me.

I hope we're not dating. I don't think I can handle that today.

Just then a beat-up tan 1980's Toyota pickup truck pulls into the driveway. I recognize that piece of shit truck. It's Ron.