Katie quivered as she stepped on the bus, carrying a very pink, flowery backpack. No one reacted to her being a girl.

She was going to walk to the back of the bus... but... no. Her friends... her friends sat in the middle of the bus.

She walked, until....

Olivia.

She wore a smug look on her face.

"Why hello... Katie."

"W-what did you do to me?" Katie asked, strangely sitting down with her enemy.

"Well," Olivia twirled her hair around her index finger, "you probably won't believe it...."

Just then, Katie heard the sound of someone else walking down the aisle of the bus.

"J-Jamie?" Katie whispered.

Jamie, like Katie, was now a girl too. It was only now that Katie realized, that she'd gotten a lot shorter. Jamie, who'd been short before, was now a tall girl.

Katie felt kinda disturbed - Jamie looked sexy. And recalling herself in the mirror earlier, with her mousy brown hair... she felt small just like a mouse.

"Hello Jamie," Olivia smiled.

"Um... uh, hi," Jamie answered. She took an empty seat across the aisle from them. Much of the bus was empty. School, apparently, wasn't completely mandatory today, and so most students hadn't come.

Katie was mad that she was. But that paled of course, to her change in gender.

The bus's door closed, and lurched into motion.

"What...," Katie demanded, "d-did you do t-to us..."

"You... you're some kind of real witch," Jamie accused, "aren't you?"

Ellie and Rachel leaned into the conversation from seats behind them.

"Aw come now," Ellie said, "it's not time to start a witch hunt, as they say."

"I'd say it is," Jamie scowled. "You've ruined our lives. All of you are complete -"

"Ruined your lives?" Olivia mused, "how so?"

"Y... y-you m-made us... girls...," Katie said.

"Stating the obvious again," Olivia sighed. "It appears that in addition to your new self having a pension for pink, you also have a s-s-s-stutter as well."

Surprisingly, Katie shrank back at Olivia's teasing.

What? That wasn't like him... or her. She was the type of guy... no wait, girl... ugh.

"Ooh...," Olivia said, "I picked a good one, despite not having much time."

"Picked a what?" Jamie asked. "How could this possibly be real?"

And that wasn't like Jamie. He... ugh, she was usually the passive one. Now she was being a lot more outspoken. Unlike Katie.

Olivia put on an even smugger look than before, if that were possible. Katie wanted to... the thought never really coalesced. She felt that it had been aggressive somehow. Like maybe slapping her. But... but she didn't even like joking about that.

What was wrong with her?

"To the both of you," Olivia said, "this probably seemed 'magical'."

She made quote gestures with her fingers.

"In a way, I suppose it is. But to explain it simply, I used my, yes, magical abilities, finding a parallel universe to ours. I weakened the barriers between ours and it. For a brief moment at some point, our universes would intersect, and the other one bled into ours. In that universe, the two of you are girls."

Katie's head spun. A parallel universe? Magic? And they were girls?

"Are you saying we've traveled to another universe?" Jamie asked.

"No," Olivia said. "Some small attributes of the other universe just kinda rubbed onto ours."

"Small?" Jamie questioned, "this isn't small at all!"

"Huh," Olivia said, "I like the new you Jamie. And, in the grand scheme of things, this is, rather small. Not much, it seems, has changed. However, it isn't just that you're girls now. The girl versions of you from the other dimension bled into your reality, and you became like them. Expect changes in personality, interests, a few other things."

"Y-you...you're... a-acting like th-this isn't th-that bad," Katie stammered. She hated this stutter. She couldnt' control it.

"It isn't," Olivia smiled. "You both are perfectly healthy. You still have families and lives. But you're also two pretty girls, who don't seem like the kind to torment others."

Katie found herself tearing up. Another thing that she'd never have let herself do in public.

"Wh-what ha-ave you done t-to me?" Katie sobbed, "I... I-I don't f-feel like I k-know the thoughts in my h-head an - uhh - an .... like I used to."

Olivia's smile faded. Katie blinked away teary eyes as Olivia stared back at her. This wasn't normal either. Olivia had never shown Carter anything but anger and grief.

"Um...," Olivia said, "I... look. It's gonna be alright. You'll get used to this."

"N-nooo," Katie whimpered, "I... I won't."

"Olivia," Ellia said, "leave them be. They deserve to suffer. Be glad we've finally gotten our revenge."

Looking through blurry eyes, Katie couldn't really read what emotions were going on in Olivia's head. But she knew something. Olivia didn't want revenge.

****

School... was very uncomfortable. No one gave her unpleasant looks. No glares, teasing, or anything much.

They ignored her.

Apparently Katie being a girl was of so little importance to them that they treated her like she didn't exist.

She... well, she felt kind of like Olivia and her friends. They weren't really in the popular crowd.

Carter hadn't ever really cared about that. Him and Jamie had always just walked alone, needing no one else but each other. But for some reason, Katie cared what other girls thought of her.

Other girls. She really was letting herself accept this.

There wasn't much she could do to fight it. She looked like a girl, and her voice sounded like one. She'd also begun to realize a lot of girly things were interesting to her now. That made her feel embarrassed, which in turn, made her feel more girly. Then she felt guilty for thinking that all women were shy and stuff. But then she felt weirder that she was caring about the opinions of girls again.

It was something Carter had never known. Broken down, Katie determined, that if she ever got back to being herself, then she would change things. A lot.

But... gosh... what was happening to her? She just felt like the harsh, hot emotions in her were cooling. Thinking of her old self... it... it was unpleasant. She still didn't like being a girl, but... she didn't know who she was anymore...

She went through the motions in all her classes. Once she realized that no one would react to her, she felt a bit of pressure come off.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day, until Katie was waiting for the bus to come after school.

"Hey," a voice said behind her.

It was Olivia. For some reason, Katie didn't feel afraid or embarrassed as she walked up beside her.

"Hi Katie," Olivia said.

"H-hi..."

Katie looked down at her feet.

"I'm... I'm... sorry, about what I did. And I'm sorry that I was so... coarse, when you first changed."

"I deserve it," Katie said.

"No," Olivia said, tiliting up Olivia's chin. Katie met her eyes. There... there was remorse in them. Real remorse.

"I... I haven't done a change this big to reality before," Olivia said. "I assumed that you'd be kicking and screaming the whole time, and acting... acting like you were before."

"And I hate that old me," Katie said. "But this new me... I hate the new me too."

"Aww," Olivia said, "don't say that. I... I don't hate you Katie."

Katie was tearing up. Again. She'd become such a crybaby.

They heard the chugging of the bus's loud engine as it rolled up to the curb, and they were among the even smaller bunch of kids. Jamie and Olivia's friends hadn't stayed for the whole day.

Olivia walked onto the bus with Katie, and they sat down away from the other people who got on. When they sat down, to Katie's surprise, Olivia hugged her.

She willingly cuddled into the hug, like she was a little girl.

"I... forgot, Katie," Olivia said softly, "how much a personality can change when another reality bleeds into ours. You didn't just become a girl like the Katie in the other universe, but you obviously took on aspects of her too. I... I think that you may have become her completely."

Katie continued to sob, wetting Olivia's shoulder.

"Because so much of Katie came into our reality...," Olivia said, "it... um... other things changed because of you..."

Katie felt Olivia's hands run through her hair.

"Like... me," Olivia said.

Katie's animosity towards Olivia had all but vanished. She wasn't an enemy, but a friend. Yes.... she always felt more comfortable around Olivia. Olivia listened to her. Heard her voice her confusing emotional struggles.

But... but wait. There was something else about Olivia.

"I've been thinking about you all day Katie," Olivia said. "And... I realized something."

Katie made the effort to sit up, wipe her eyes, and look at Olivia.

"Wh-what?" Katie asked.

"I...," Olivia said, "I think... in the alternate world... that we're in a relationship."

Katie's eyes widened, but not in shock, or disgust. Realization.

"W-we've... been on dates... haven't we?" Katie asked.

Olivia sheepishly nodded.

Memories began to slowly fall into place. Like her other new memories, they were hazy, incomplete. But they were there. But she noticed that the more important, the more meaningful ones, were the ones that were clearest.

And she realized that she loved... like, actually loved Olivia.

"I'm... I'm sorry that I was so mean to you...,"Katie sobbed. "I... I never want to treat you like that again."

Olivia was tearing up too. "I'm sorry too Katie," Olivia said, "I... I was reckless, I was... "

She paused.

"Katie," she asked, "are you... happy?"

She sniffled. "Yes."

Olivia sniffled herself. "Me too."

The two of them felt a bit awkward after that. They didn't have a lot to say. They were still figuring out their emotions toward each other, but they both at least felt positive about it.

If this had been a story, Katie would've given Olivia a big smooch, but that wasn't who she was. They needed time to unpack this. For the moment, Katie contented herself with resting her head on Olivia's shoulder, and falling asleep to the rythymn of the bus's wheels below.