I was miserable.

Last night I had been given everything that I could have ever wanted, and It was ripped out from underneath me right away.

A few hours after arriving at Emma's house my gift finally came back and I was able to head home. At that point, my body hadn't fully changed back, but I was well on my way through that shift. When I got into bed I was tired and passed out near-instantly.

When I woke up, I had reverted completely back to my prior body.

Why did this feel worse than ever before?

Maybe because I know what it feels like to be right. Now being wrong is so much worse because of that, and sure, I could try to go back, but it would just hurt even more when I was inevitably forced back into the wrong body. Even if I could keep it up and stay in the right form all the time, It would be hard to keep myself that way.

The longer I enjoy being in the right body, means the more it'll hurt to be in the wrong one.

I dragged myself out of bed and got myself dressed for the day. The shapeshifter should re-emerge sometime soon. Hopefully, I'll only have to spend a day or two more in this body, but that also meant that I'd have to spend the next few nights out and about, keeping watch. Which probably meant that I was going to be very miserable and tired for the time being, but It would all be worth it.

I was also antsy to see just how much my powers had grown this time. Every time I had exceeded my previous limit I learned something about how my gift worked, and I was excited to see what it would be this time.

Once again, school was boring. Ever since I had been gifted school had become so dull. Before, it had been most of my life, all that really mattered was going to school and passing my classes, but things were different now. I could be doing so much more with my time; stuff that actually mattered to me. Yeah, it was where I talked with Emma and other friends of mine, but I could do that outside of school too.

Emma was worried when she first saw me, she was hoping that I'd been wrong about last night, that it was permanent, but she was wrong.

School was actually worse than normal today. I spent so much time sitting still that it was hard to not focus on my body now. Normally I would just try to ignore it, but ever since my brief break from it last night I realized just how much better it could be. Every tiny shift in my body highlighted everything that was wrong, so I ended up sitting as still as physically possible.

Gym was actually entirely bearable today. Mr. Harris had decided that today was a good day to watch a movie in class. I'm not sure exactly why, but it sure as hell made it easier for me to distract myself from everything.

English was full of awkward conversations with Emma. She knew everything now, and I spent the entire class dodging her questions and trying to talk her through my reasoning for some of the things that I had more-or-less decided to do. I had expected her to get after me and lecture how stupid and irrational I was being, but she didn't. She just listened and asked questions to clarify her understanding.

Even at the end of class, when I thought she would end the conversation with some disappointed statement, she didn't. In fact, she supported me. She encouraged me to keep going and to keep trying. I couldn't believe it.

"You're serious?" I asked, "This isn't some weird reverse-psychology to make me think the opposite right?"

She shook her head, "Of course not. You've clearly been helping people. Even if you aren't a qualified hero you're still making a difference," She took a deep breath before continuing, "All I ask is that you try your best to stay safe and ask for help when you need it."

This is why Emma is such a good friend. She can be a little over-protective sometimes, but she doesn't let that get in the way of what I think is important, even if it may be dangerous. I like to say that I'm the one who keeps her grounded, but recently she's been the one to keep me from jumping straight into the deep end and messing everything up.

"But picking fights with super-villains! You leave that to the trained, skilled fighters who know what they're doing"

"Okay Emma, wasn't planning on it"

And then class was over, and I had some preparation to do. I still didn't have anything in terms of gear, and that wasn't great especially if I start getting into actual fights later. So that's where I started.

I didn't want to waste any precious watch time, so I needed to prepare beforehand. I shot a text in my family's group chat that I would be spending the afternoon at Emma's house and that she'd be taking me there and home later that night. Both of my parents quickly approved and I was all set to go out. But first I needed to get home and drop some stuff off.

I emptied my backpack and other things in my room before grabbing my (now cleaned) skirt and shirt from the dryer, putting them on, then stuffing my clothes and wallet into the bag.

I had around two hundred dollars on my debit card and fifty dollars cash in my wallet. I figured it would be enough to get some decent gear for myself.

I hopped out the window and made my way into town. Immediately, I noticed that I could feel my stores had vastly grown. Catching myself in the air was just a drop in the bucket compared to what I could feel now. It was exciting, my possibilities kept getting wider and wider by the day and I was loving it.

As I flew through the air I came to a realization: this was my first time going out as "Meteorette" during the day... People could see me now. Before, It was always dark outside so I wasn't noticeable in, my dark costume, but now I stood out against the brightly lit sky.

After a few minutes of building up speed and energy, I had changed back into my girl form. (No I will not be talking about the horribly awkward transition as I did) It was great, except for one thing. My chest hurt; I was in dire need of a bra. All my jumping and bouncing around had not been kind to my newly-grown chest.

Yay euphoria! Also... ow.

My first stop was at a basic clothing store, I wasn't ready to go to any of those fancy underwear stores. That was way too overwhelming for someone who literally just got boobs, and besides, I only needed some sports bras, for now, I could graduate to band and cup sizes later.

I ended up picking up two packs of small bras, each with three each, nothing fancy, just enough to keep myself... snug. I almost had a small panic attack when I went up to the cashier until I realized that it was completely normal for a girl to be buying bras, and as of recently, I looked like a girl. I hadn't entirely calmed down once she began to ring me up, but I was able to make it through the interaction without much awkwardness.

I put the bras into my bag and put one on in the (girl's!) bathrooms and then tucked the rest of them away in my backpack.

Next was... other stuff. I hadn't exactly figured out everything that I needed but I did know where to start: boots.

As I discovered Monday, my current shoes were not fit for any sort of heavy-duty work, plus they hardly even fit anymore with how much my feet had shrunk. I went to the nearest shoe store, which was basically on the opposite side of the mall.

After a few minutes of walking, I made it to the store: the shoe shack. That's a dumb name... whatever.

I browsed the aisles of shoes, looking for something that looked durable and protective. I couldn't find any with the main section of women's shoes. I was wondering why until I noticed a separate section in the very back of the store with tons and tons of heavy-duty shoes. It was exactly what I was looking for, except I didn't know my shoe size.

I looked down at my feet. I usually wear size eights, and that's in men's sizes. I could just try on shoes until I found some that fit, but that would take too long. I was going to actually need to get my feet measured, maybe there's one of those floor mats that you can stand on to get your shoe size?

There wasn't.

Long story short: I had to ask the cashier to measure my feet.

I'm a size five-and-a-half to six.

Unfortunately, there aren't many heavy-duty work boots in my size.

After a lengthy search, I found a pair that I really liked.

They were a nice pair of clunky black boots with cute silver buckles. The soles were made of inch-thick rubber with a slight heel; perfect. I'll take any extra height that I can get.

It took me nearly two minutes just to figure out how to get them on. Considering the excessive amounts of straps and buckles and complete lack of laces, I'd say that time is justifiable.

The shaft (yep, that's what it's called. I looked it up) of the boot ended a few inches above my ankle. and actually fit quite snug against my calf. One thing is for sure, these things were not coming off accidentally.

Once I had them on I took a few steps to test them out.

Fuck. Yes.

They were really comfy. Definitely not what you'd expect from steel-toed combat boots, but hey, who am I to complain about having comfy shoes? The added height from the soles made me feel better. I was just a little bit closer to the height that I was used to.

I had to get them. They were virtually perfect. I couldn't see anything wrong with them; they were cute, practical, and made me feel badass as hell. That is until I saw the price.

Sixty dollars... wow. That just means they have to be high quality, right?

It's not like I don't have the money, and I'm sure they'll be worth it in the long run. I'm probably going to run into more than just out of control cars and two random muggers.

I put the shoes back in the box and checked out

I winced a little at the final price as the cashier rung me up, but paid it nonetheless.

Once out of the store, I sat down on a nearby bench and changed my shoes, storing the old ones and the shoebox in my bag.

"What else... What else?" I muttered quietly to myself as I wandered around the mall looking for inspiration for what I should buy.

It would be a good idea to get some sort of weapon for myself, but the mall isn't the best place for that. Plus, what sort of weapon would I even get? Wait... do I even want a weapon, lots of heroes just use their gifts alone to fight.

Scratch that, I need something, my gift relies almost exclusively on other objects. I can't rely on conveniently placed bricks or my own body parts forever.

I definitely don't want anything inherently lethal, like a gun or a knife. I wouldn't even need a gun anyway. I could use a pebble to get the exact same effect that a gun would. But that's beside the point, defense should probably be my number one priority, attacking should come second (or maybe even third considering other possible utility).

Something like a shield maybe? I don't really want to be lugging a huge shield everywhere and, unfortunately, I'm not rich enough to buy some super high-tech mega alloy shield or whatever, it's not happening. Not unless I go to a scrapyard and pick up some thick disc of steel.

Wait...

Actually, that's not a bad idea. Instead of one big disk, what If I got a few smaller ones?

They'd be pretty cheap -If not downright free if I'm willing to put in some work- and easily replaceable considering the... projectile-based nature of my gift. Smaller objects weren't great to use as projectiles. Just a little bit of energy could make them lethal. With something bigger and much heavier, I would have more control over their power, while also, making them usable for defense.

I was so deep in thought that I only snapped out of it when I crashed face-first into someone and we both tumbled to the floor.