Thomas woke up. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before getting out of bed and going to the bathroom to brush his teeth. On the way there he passed his brother, who looked at Thomas with a particularly shocked expression. He was too tired to care, however, and just kept walking.

When he got to the bathroom he finally understood his brother’s shocked expression. His hair was much longer than before. His face was feminine and cute. He looked down at his chest. That had also changed. He didn’t even want to check the rest, it would only confirm more fears. He had woken up as a girl.

- What? - He said, getting surprised at his high pitched voice. - How did... Why... When...

His brother opens the door slowly and stares at him. They spend a few seconds looking at each other in panic.

- So. - His brother says - What happened?

- I don’t know. I just woke up like this.

- Wack. Look I get this is like, a worrying situation and all, but I really need to use the bathroom. Then we can talk if you want.

- Sure.

Thomas leaves the bathroom and waits outside, scared. How did that happen? And why? Could he change back? How was he going to explain that to his girlfriend, or anyone else for that matter?

His brother gets out of the bathroom and looks again at him. Making sure what he had seen was right. Much to his surprise, it was.

- This is troubling.

- You’re telling me! I don’t wanna look like this. What is May gonna think?

- Calm down, panicking isn’t gonna help. You’ve got finals today, and man or woman you’ve gotta take them. I’ll be here for you, bro... Or sis, I guess.

- Don’t.

- Alright, alright. Just let me know if you need anything. And uh, I guess mom can help you with some other stuff too.

- I’m gonna scream. I don’t get what’s going on.

Thomas goes back to his room and gets dressed for college. Baggy pants, hoodie and even some gloves. Jake was right. He still had tests to take and a class to get through. Thank god it was Friday at least. He would have the whole weekend to figure things out.

Although the situation itself was scary, he was happy that at least he looked like a pretty girl. Not that he wants to stay that way, of course. But you know, things could be worse.

He went down to eat breakfast and completely forgot about his parents. They were talking about something, but as soon as they saw him they went quiet. Thomas sat down and tried to think of a way to explain the situation to them.

- So... I woke up like this. Sorry?

- That’s fine, I guess. - His father said. - I mean, it could always be worse.

- Are you feeling okay, honey? Physically, I mean. - His mom said in a concerned voice.

- Yeah, mom I’m fine, I guess. Just weird. I don’t want to talk about it right now. I still need to worry about my final... finals.

- Of course, of course.

The rest of breakfast was somewhat awkward. His father didn’t seem to care that much, and his mother was clearly concerned. He finished his pancakes in just a few minutes, got up from the table and picked up his stuff to leave. On the way he ran into his brother again.

- Oh, and Tommy. If you need anything you know you can just call me, alright? I’m here for you sis. - Jake doesn’t seem to realize what he says.

- Hey! I’m still your brother, you know.

- Yeah, of course. Sorry. I got you, bro. Also, I hate to ask you this at this moment, but I left my binders and notepads in my locker. I’m not going today, so if you could just grab them for me before coming home that’d be sweet!

- Sure, Jake. I’ll see you later.

He grabs his things and heads out to take the bus. On the way he thinks about that interaction. Why was he disappointed when Jake corrected from ‘sis’ to ‘bro’? Sure, his body changed, but his mind was still the same. He was still a boy, right? That whole thing was too confusing.

On the way to his college he felt embarrassed. He was constantly blushing and looking around. He didn’t know any of these people, they had no way to know what had happened, but still he just wanted to get over with this as soon as possible.

He walks quick and looks to the floor once he arrives, trying to avoid as many people as he can on the way. Soon he gets to his class, sits down and tries to pay attention. He finishes the test and doesn’t even notice that his hoodie is now off.

He walks off and looks around, trying to find his girlfriend. While walking, he starts noticing some of the people he knows are staring. Jim, his best friend, approaches.

- Hey, Tommy! How’s it-

Thomas finally notices that he wasn’t hiding his face anymore. His face turns red and he walks faster down the halls, leaving his friend behind. It takes a while but he finally finds May.

- May! Thank god you’re here. I need some help.

She looks at him for a few seconds.

- What? - She says, shocked - Thomas, what is-

- Not here, let’s just walk for a bit please.

They start walking. Thomas grabs her arm and pulls himself close, feeling safe. He didn’t notice earlier, but he is much shorter than before, now even shorter than his girlfriend.

- I don’t know why it happened, I want to go back to normal.

- Calm down now, we’ll figure something out.

- Thank you.

May looks at him again and stops walking. She stares into his eyes and removes a hair from his face.

- You know, at least you’re a very cute girl.

He blushes and lets go from her arm.

- Hey! I’m still a man, you know. I-I only changed physically.

- I’m just saying. I love your voice too.

- Look, just let me go get my brother’s stuff and then we can think of a solution or something.

While walking they stop by Jake’s locker and grab his things. Thomas struggles with holding all of them at once.

- Let me get that for you honey.

- I can... Handle it... Just...

- Here - She says while picking up the books.

- Fine - He sighs - I guess you can help me out while I’m like this.

They keep walking and leave college, going through the streets and heading back home.

- Tom, I’m with you on figuring out a way to go back to normal, but we need to think about... what if we can’t?

- We will.

- Listen, it’s a real possibility that we don’t. And either way it might be a while. We need to sort some things out. We should go shopping tomorrow, get you some cute clothes or something. Your clothes don’t fit anymore anyway.

- Sure, but I’m gonna choose the clothes.

- Deal. And who knows? Maybe eventually you’ll get used to it, and won’t want to go back.

Thomas says nothing. He starts wondering about things. She was right, what if he couldn’t go back? There had to be a way though, and he would find it.

- Alright - She stops walking - We have to split now, but we can go shopping this afternoon! Here’s your brother’s books. I’ll just go home, get changed, you do the same and then we meet up! Sounds good?

- Yeah. Thank you, May.

- Don’t mention it, cutie.

- I- I’m not cute, okay?

- Then why are you blushing? I’ll see you later.

She walks off and leaves Thomas alone, trying to understand what just happened. Shaking the feeling off, he takes a deep breath and walks back home, trying to take as many empty streets as he can. He didn’t realize how safe he felt while with May.

Finally he arrives and goes in. No one is home yet, so he just leaves the books on Jake’s bed and goes to his room. He needs to get ready for the afternoon, but none of the clothes in his wardrobe really fit anymore. And being quite honest, they look pretty boring. He decides to go with some baggy clothing, at least he can sort of hide from the people he knows with those.

He gets the clothes and goes to the bathroom to take a shower. Again he takes a deep breath before taking off his clothes. Somewhat hesitant, he looks in the mirror. His body is completely different, and not just because of the obvious. Sure, those changes were strange to deal with, but the more subtle changes were ironically what got to him the most.

His hair was not just longer, but much prettier than before. His skin was soft and smooth. The overall shape of his body had changed too, his hip and chest being much more noticeable. And then he stared into his own eyes.

His eyes were just a bit bigger now, but that’s not what he was noticing the most. He was tearing up. Hadn’t noticed it yet. And looking into his own eyes like that made him see something... He wasn’t quite sure what. There was also a name that popped into his head. “Lilly”. It just felt right.

Shrugging it all off he tries to just enjoy a hot shower. Even that felt a bit different. Better, maybe. It was a quick way of getting a bit more familiar with his own body. There were a lot of things to figure out, and unfortunately he didn’t have the time for all that.

He got dressed and looked in the mirror again. The clothes somewhat hid his body. Again, he felt slightly disappointed, but tried to bury those feelings, and left the bathroom.

Jake was climbing the stairs, having just arrived home. He sees Thomas getting out of the bathroom and stops.

- Oh hey! How did those tests go?

- Surprisingly well - Thomas answered, finally getting used to his new voice - I couldn’t concentrate as well as I should have, but it wasn’t that bad.

- Nice, nice. Oh, you got my things, right?

- Yeah, they’re in your room.

- Thanks! You’re the best, sis.

Jake walks off. This time Thomas doesn’t correct him. He was leaving already anyway, no need to get caught up in such a simple mistake. Of course, he didn’t even notice that he was smiling. Taking his cellphone, keys, and wallet he goes out once again.