Logan

“Logan!” I heard a voice call as I was about to enter the school.

I turned around and smiled at my girlfriend. “Hi, Charlie,” I said, and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “It’s so nice to see you, you’re really a sight for sore eyes.”

“Oh, you flatterer,” she smiled back. “As if we hadn’t spent almost the whole Christmas holidays together.”

“But you forget, every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure,” I replied, as we walked over the threshold and into the corridor.

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at me. “What…?”

I smirked. “I could stay awake just to hear you breathing, watch you smile while you’re sleeping, while you’re--”

“Is that…” she said. “That’s a song, isn’t it?”

“Aerosmith,” I replied. “The most romantic song ever, and the soundtrack to one of the best movies of all time, Armageddon.”

“Dork,” she smiled, swatting playfully at me.

“You know you love me,” I shot back. Then I leaned in and gave her another peck on the lips.

“Hey, get a room, you two!” someone called. I rolled my eyes, put my arm around Charlie, and together we made our way to the classroom.

“Are you busy after lunch? We could walk home together,” she asked once we’d reached the room.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I have a team meeting this afternoon,” I answered. “First one of the year, so it’s quite important. Can’t miss it.”

“Ah, can’t the coach cut you some slack?” she pouted. “After all, you’re the starting running back.”

“And that’s precisely why I have to set an example,” I said. “Need to show that success isn’t going to my head.”

Charlie nodded. “Alright.”

“Charlotte!” one of her friends called out to her from across the classroom.

She smiled at me. “Talk to you later, babe,” she said, and was off.

I walked to my seat and plopped down onto the chair, then sighed deeply. Here we go. Another calendar year of school and sports. It was barely beginning, and yet I couldn’t wait until it was over. I found everything profoundly boring; having to go about a routine every day was upsetting to me. Especially regarding sports: I didn’t even like being on the football team, but my friends had convinced me to try out for it when I was a freshie, and I discovered I had a talent as a running back. Coach was even trying to talk me into applying for a college football scholarship. Well, that wasn’t going to happen; I would already have quit the team if not for the fact that somehow I’d become the star player, and couldn’t just up and leave. That would mean letting everyone down. Sometimes I even secretly hoped I would suffer a career-ending injury, just so that I would have an excuse to quit.

Ah well. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? Let’s just keep going, one day after the other.

It wasn’t all negative, though: at least I had a cute and cool girlfriend. Charlie was a cheerleader, and while we were in the same class, we’d only really started talking with each other once I’d joined the football team. She was the one positive thing I’d gotten out of sports.

“Alright, pipe down, everyone!” our homeroom teacher, Mr. Mason, said, entering the classroom. “Time for homeroom. Take your seats.”

There was a minute or so of shuffling around, until everybody was seated, and the teacher started roll call. As always, I paid attention only halfway; it wasn’t like anything important was going to happen anyway.

“Okay, you’re all here,” the teacher said. “Surprising. I thought at least a few of you would be so hungover from the holidays they would need to take a week off to recover.”

“Still not old enough to drink, teach!” a boy seated near the front of the room called out, causing a burst of laughter to erupt; quipping about booze was an in-joke for our class.

“And a good thing that is,” Mr. Mason shot back. “Now, before I send y’all off to your classes for the day, we have a new student joining us today.” He paused. “Well, actually, she’s an old student, but she’s been out of school for a few months, because of family reasons.”

A new old student? That piqued my interest. There had been a few people who’d stopped coming to class early in the school year, around mid-September, in the wake of the Gender Reveal Incident, as it had been dubbed by the press. A stray gender reveal spell had caused a magical Resonance Cascade, which had in turn caused quite a bit of damage before it was stopped; a handful of families had moved out of town, and as a consequence their kids had stopped coming to school. But this was the first time I’d heard about someone coming back.

The teacher turned towards the classroom door. “Come in!” he called.

Ellen

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and entered the classroom. This was the chance to make a good first impression; well, a good impression anyway – I knew all the people in my class in passing, though I couldn’t say any of them had ever really been my friend. I tended to keep to myself and mind my own business; in my first two years of high school, I was always alone at lunch, and never had any significant relationship with my peers beyond a few grunted greetings and goodbyes.

I was determined to change that: this was going to be a fresh start for me.

I stepped up beside Mr. Mason, and turned to face the class. I self-consciously smoothed down my outfit – a simple combination of a knee-length skirt and a sweater – and smiled. “Uh… Hi,” I said, in a small, uncertain voice.

Nice going, Ellen. Good first impression, really.

I could see a few of my classmates were looking at me with curiosity, and some had a glimmer of recognition in their eyes. Well, time to face the music.

“Everyone, this is Ellen Wenceslas,” the teacher said.

There was a moment of silence, then a girl near the back called out: “Wait, Wenceslas? Isn’t that the name of the old family of witches?”

I nodded nervously.

“Hold on a second,” a boy spoke up. “Are you… Alan? Alan Wenceslas?”

I gulped. “I go by Ellen now,” I replied, my voice shaking.

Everyone in the room was staring at me – in wonder, in amazement, in curiosity. One red-haired boy in particular, seated near the middle of the room, had a piercing gaze fixed on me, and was looking me up and down.

“So wait,” the first boy continued. “So you just decided you’re a girl? Just like that?”

“Well, no, not really. It’s just…” I sighed, and continued, trying to keep my voice steady. “This has been a long time coming, actually. I… I knew since I was a kid. But recently my family and I found out I can do magic, and… Well, men just can’t do that, at all. So that--”

“You can do magic?” a girl asked in amazement. “Really?”

I gave a small, uncertain nod.

“Show us.”

I blinked. “Oh. Uh… Well, I’ve only started studying magic very recently, so…” I ran my gaze over the classroom. Everyone was still looking at me; I really disliked being put on the spot like that, but hopefully this would be over soon.

“Well,” I continued. “There is one trick I can show you.”

I extended my hand in front of me, said four simple words in the Arcane Tongue, the constructed language used to cast spells, and snapped my fingers, holding my index finger pointed upwards; a two-inch flame appeared in mid-air, and tracked my hand as I moved it around.

There was a general murmuring of awe throughout the class.

“Alright, I think that’s quite enough,” Mr. Mason said. “Ellen--”

He was cut off by a loud noise: I flinched back in surprise, and the flame disappeared. Looking at the class I could see that the red-haired boy, the one who’d been giving me a piercing look, had jumped to his feet and slammed his fists down on his desk.

“Logan?” the teacher asked. “Is something wrong?”

Logan seemed to hesitate. “Ah… No, I…” He looked around the classroom. “I’m sorry,” he said, and quickly made his way across the room to the door and fled outside.

“Logan, wait!” a black-haired girl said, springing to her feet too, and chasing after the boy. “Logan!”

There was dead silence in the classroom. I glanced around in confusion; what the hell was that about?

Charlie

“Logan! Logan, wait!” I shouted, charging through the door; I looked around, but Logan was nowhere to be found.

As expected of the school’s star running back: really, really fast.

Ah well. I would just have to check out our usual spot.

I started jogging along the corridor, ignoring a janitor who snapped “Hey! No running!” at me, and soon found myself in front of an accessible toilet off to the side of a darkened corridor. Our school had been built with room to grow years before, when it looked like our school district would be merged with a neighbouring one with just one high school for all students, but in the end the merger was cancelled; as a result, there were plenty of disused rooms and hallways to be found. Technically, students were supposed to keep out of the whole east wing, but no one really cared about it, so long as you didn’t get caught.

I knocked on the toilet door. “Logan?” I called softly.

From behind the door, I heard a sob, followed by a sniffle.

I took a deep breath, pushed down the handle, and pulled the door open.

“Hey. Shh. Come on, it’s okay,” I said, giving Logan a hug.

“It’s not okay!” Logan shot back. “I mean, have you seen her? She’s… She looks amazing.” Another sob. “I’ll never look like that.”

“That’s right, you won’t,” I replied. “You’ll look better.” I paused. “Besides, I’m sure at least part of her looks is magic anyway. You know. Witch.”

My girlfriend sniffled, but a smile broke on her face. “Think she might teach me if I ask nicely?”

“Maybe. We’ll have to try.” I took a deep breath. “But you can’t do stuff like this again, Logan,” I said. “You just can’t run away out of the blue. Someone might get suspicious.”

She gave me a small nod. “Yeah, I know,” she answered. “I have to keep this up, at least until I find a way to get out of football for good, so I can transition without letting anyone down.”

I tightened the hug; there was no use in protesting, in telling Logan she could just drop the team, without giving a damn about anyone else – this was supposed to be about her anyway. But she was really stubborn: I’d tried many times to talk sense into her, to no avail. I just hoped she decided to do what was right for her, and soon. I could see this was tearing her apart, deep inside.

I pulled out a pack of tissues, pulled one out, and dabbed at her eyes. “Come on, dry your tears, we have to get back to class.”

She nodded, took the Kleenex from me, and loudly blew her nose.

“Hey now, that wasn’t very ladylike,” I said.

She smirked in response. “You do it all the time.”

“That I do.”

After Logan had made herself presentable again we walked back to the classroom; it was empty, only Mr. Mason was still there. He looked at us and asked, “What was that about?”

“It was nothing, really,” Logan replied. “It’s just that I suddenly remembered I had left my books in my locker.”

“Same for me,” I said.

“And where are your books?” the teacher asked; from his tone of voice, he was entirely unconvinced.

“Yeah, funny story,” I replied. “They weren’t in our lockers, actually. They were in our backpacks all along.” I walked to my seat, pulled out a book, and showed it to Mr. Mason. “See?”

“I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I’ll let it slip this time,” he said. “Go on, get to class. You’re already late.”

“Yes, teach,” we answered, grabbed our bags, and walked off.

Ellen

“Can I sit here?”

I looked up from my plate to the speaker, and recognised her right away: she was the girl who’d chased after the red-haired boy earlier that morning. His name, I recalled, was Logan, though I didn’t know hers.

I was sitting at a table in the school cafeteria, having lunch with a handful of people from my class. It was the first time ever I wasn’t alone during lunch break, though I was under no illusion I’d made long-lasting friends; I was sure cliques had already been established since the beginning of the school year – or maybe earlier, after all we were juniors – and everyone would go back to their own groups before long, as soon as their curiosity regarding the new girl (who is trans! And a witch, even!) had been sated.

I shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Be my guest.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling and taking a seat. “I’m Charlotte, by the way. Charlie.”

“Charlie,” I nodded. “I’m Ellen, nice to meet you. Well, nice to meet you again, I guess, we’ve been in the same class for the past couple years, haven’t we?”

“That we have,” she nodded.

Our conversation apparently exhausted, I resumed chatting with the other people seated at the table. The conversation was entirely pleasant, but all the while I could see Charlie just sitting there, looking at me, with a glint of interest in her eye.

After a while, we were done with lunch; as I started to get up, Charlie spoke up.

“Ellen, can I speak to you for a while?” she asked.

Again, I shrugged. “Yeah, of course.” I sat back down.

“In private,” she added.

“…Of course,” I replied, and got up from my chair again, as did Charlie; we carried our trays to the racks set against the wall, and then I followed her outside.

Our school’s courtyard was… vast. It was probably because it had been designed with twice the number of students that were currently enrolled in mind, but it seemed wide open and empty; we had no trouble finding a secluded spot where we could talk with no one overhearing us.

“Alright,” Charlie said. “I wanted to apologise for this morning, Logan and I must have startled you. Maybe even made you worry.” She smiled at me. “I mean, someone jumps up, making a racket, as soon as they hear the new student is transgender. You must’ve thought Logan is a bigot, or something.”

I blinked. That was what she wanted to talk about? Surprising.

“I was a bit surprised, actually,” I replied. “But I didn’t really think anything about it. And besides, being a witch is more unusual than being trans, isn’t it?”

“That it is,” Charlie nodded. “But we’re not going to sic the Spanish Inquisition on you. There’s nothing wrong with being a witch. Or with being trans, for that matter.” She frowned. “Wait, how many trans witches are there anyway?”

“My aunt says I’m currently the only one in the country that she knows of.”

“Interesting,” she said. “Maybe next time we talk I’ll bring Logan, too, and we can have a chat, the three of us.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I answered. And it was true: so far, Charlie was the only person in school who’d showed an interest in me beyond seeing me as a mere curiosity.

“So, just to confirm: we good?” she asked.

I nodded. “We good.”

“Great!” she exclaimed brightly. “It’s been nice talking with you, Ellen.”

She started walking back towards the school building; as she passed me, she patted me on the shoulder, and added: “And if anyone gives you shit, either about being trans or a witch, you let me know and I’ll set them straight. Us queer kids have to stick together.”

She winked at me, and walked away.

Logan

A month later, I was being dragged by my girlfriend – quite unwillingly, at that – towards a rendezvous with Ellen.

Well, dragged is perhaps a strong term. She was leading me by the hand as we walked, while I was whining all the way.

“I’m not sure about this, Charlie,” I protested. “What if she outs me to the whole school?”

“She won’t,” Charlie replied. “I’ve talked with her enough to know she’s not the type to go blabbing private stuff around.”

“How can you be sure?” I asked. “You haven’t…”

“No, I haven’t told her. It’s not my place to say. It’s just…” She stopped, and turned to me with an exasperated sigh. “You gotta talk with someone about this.”

“I talk about it. With you.”

“You know what I mean. Hell, you’re not even going to that support group I dug up for you.”

“I just can’t,” I said. “If someone sees me…”

Charlie nodded. “I understand, and I respect your choice. But in this case it’s different. She’s just one girl, and a classmate at that. No one will get suspicious if they see you talking to her.” She squeezed my hand. “You don’t have to tell her everything, of course. Not if you don’t want to. It’s just that I’m worried about you.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. God, I loved my girlfriend; she was always looking out for me.

“So what do you say?” she asked, looking at me expectantly.

I sighed. “Alright. Let’s go talk to her.”

She smiled, gave me a hug, and resumed walking, still dragging me behind her.

In short order we reached the far end of the school’s courtyard, where Ellen was waiting for us; she smiled when she saw us approach.

“Hi, Charlie,” she smiled. “Logan.”

I blinked. “You know my name?”

“Of course I do,” Ellen replied. “We’re in the same class, after all, even if we’ve never properly talked. And besides, Charlie just won’t shut up about you.”

I glanced at my girlfriend, who had a self-satisfied expression on her face. “Is that so.”

“It is. Though it’s nice to finally talk to you in person. I’ve been slowly getting to know our classmates. It’s almost funny, we were in the same class for two years, and yet we barely interacted,” Ellen said.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I remember you were quite a loner… Before.”

Ellen nodded back. “I never really liked talking with other people, because… Well, because. I was always afraid I would give something away, you know…” She gestured at herself.

“I understand.” It’s the same for me, I mentally added. “Though I must say, I very much prefer this version of you. You look much happier. Besides being really cute.”

“Thank you,” she said, blushing a bit. “Hormones are helping, though a significant part of it are glamour spells. Magical make-up, basically.”

“Oh?” Charlie interjected. “Can you teach us?”

Ellen’s eyes briefly darted between me and Charlie, as if she was wondering what my girlfriend had meant by us. But then she replied, “Uh, maybe? You need to be able to do magic, though.”

Charlie had a glint in her eye. “Could we do magic?”

“I… Don’t know,” Ellen said. “Have you been tested for the Spark? It’s quite rare outside of magical families, but it’s not unheard of for common-born witches, if you’ll forgive the term, to go undetected for years, just because no one thought to see if they were magical.”

“Well then, how do we find out?” Charlie insisted.

Ellen paused, seemingly thinking about it. “Well, the proper detection spell is quite involved and can only be cast by an experienced witch, but there’s a quick-and-dirty test we can do. Remember the flame trick I showed you on my first day?” Charlie nodded, and Ellen went on, “You can try doing that.”

Taking care to show Charlie how to position her hand properly, and repeating the four magic words several times until she got them right, Ellen taught her the spell. She demonstrated it a few times – it was amazing to see a flame flicker into existence seemingly out of thin air – and then nodded. “Okay, now you try it.”

Charlie nodded back; she carefully repeated the words, and then snapped her fingers. Nothing happened. She tried a couple more times, but still, nothing.

“Shoot,” she said, with a small smile. “Guess I’m not a witch, then.”

“Guess not,” Ellen smiled back.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out: “Can I try it?”

Ellen had a look of surprise on her face as she turned to me. “Come again?”

“Can I try the spell?” I repeated.

She looked at me carefully. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see the point. After all, men can’t be magical.”

I sighed. “Yeah, right. Sorry. I just thought, since you can do magic, maybe…”

I saw a glimmer of recognition go through Ellen’s eyes, and I realised I’d said too much.

“N-n-never mind,” I stammered, and turned away from her, poised to run away. I was surprised when she put a hand on my arm, though.

Charlie

“You’re like me,” Ellen whispered.

“What? No,” Logan replied. “Don’t be absurd, I’m not a witch.”

Ellen shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. You’re trans, too.”

Logan turned to look at Ellen, a deer-in-headlights expression painted on her face: for a brief moment I thought my girlfriend might turn around and run away as fast as her legs could carry her. But then her shoulders slumped, tears started gathering in her eyes, and she whispered, “Yes.”

I was startled when Ellen all but leapt forward and clamped Logan in a tight hug; she squeezed her for a few seconds, and then let go.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” she said. Then she smiled, and continued, “Wanna try the spell?”

Logan took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and nodded.

Once again, Ellen demonstrated the spell. Like I’d done before, Logan repeated the words and the gestures, but, as had happened to me, they had no effect – no flame appeared.

Logan’s face fell a bit. “Damn.”

Ellen punched her lightly in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t let this get you down,” she said. “After all, trans people are what, one in a hundred? And witches even less than that, maybe one in a hundred thousand. To be both would be a statistical impossibility.”

I smirked. “Well, I better take a picture before you disappear in a puff of logic.”

Logan chuckled at the reference. Then she took a deep breath, and said, “Still, it would’ve been nice to have some proof that I’m actually a girl. That I’m not imagining this whole thing.”

“You saying you’re a girl is proof enough,” I said firmly. “And besides, there was the whole thing with the Gender Reveal a few months ago, remember?”

Logan nodded, but Ellen blinked in surprise. “Wait, hold on. What thing with the Gender Reveal a few months ago?” she asked.

“Well,” Logan began, glancing at me. “You know the magical Resonance Cascade that went off in town last September? It was a pretty big deal.” Ellen hesitantly nodded, and Logan went on, “It just so happened that me and Charlie were hanging around near the park as the thing passed by, and we were hit by its pulses a couple times.” She chuckled. “If there are worse ways of being outed to your girlfriend than a big honking Venus symbol appearing above your head, I don’t know what those are. At first we didn’t know what it meant, but later we heard exactly what had happened, and Charlie put two and two together. I’m lucky she was accepting.”

“Oh,” Ellen said, and gulped. “Sorry.”

“Why are apologising?” I asked, giving her a questioning look.

She seemed really uncomfortable as she answered the question. “Well… That thing. The Resonance Cascade. My mom did that.”

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

Ellen nodded. “She wanted to do a gender reveal party for my sister, and things went out of control. We were lucky my aunt was there to stop it.” She smiled weakly. “I helped a bit.”

I looked at Logan; she looked at me.

Then we burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, this is so funny,” she said, wiping away a tear brought on by the bout of laughter.

“I hope your mom learned her lesson, at least,” I added.

Ellen suddenly looked glum. “We, uh… We’re not really on speaking terms right now.”

“No? Why not?” Logan asked.

“She… Well, she’s really traditional,” Ellen replied. “When she realised I’m actually a girl, she… Well, she said she had some thinking to do.” She took a deep breath. “I’m staying at my aunt’s for the time being.”

“Oh,” I said. “Oh, girl, I’m sorry.” I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Some people just don’t understand.”

“That’s right,” Logan supplied. “That’s why I’m not going to come out, not until I’m done with school. I don’t have to wonder what the guys on the football team would say, because I know exactly how they think about this stuff.”

Ellen sighed. “Right? And you have it worse than me, even. No one cares if a random girl is trans, but you’re a star athlete.”

Logan grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

“Sorry.”

“Still,” I interjected. “It’s good that we managed to find each other.” I looked at Logan. “This way, you can be you with someone else besides me.”

“Right,” she nodded.

In the distance, we heard the bell ring; lunch break was over.

“Well, I better get to practice,” Logan said, with a resigned sigh. “But let’s do this again sometime. I really enjoyed it.”

“Absolutely, me too,” Ellen smiled. We said goodbye, and went our separate ways.

Logan

“Hey, girls,” Ellen said, taking a seat on the grass and pulling out a sandwich from her bag. It was two months later, and we’d gotten into the habit of having lunch together, outside and out of anyone’s earshot whenever the weather was good enough. This way we could chat without anyone overhearing us.

“Well, someone’s in a good mood,” Charlie remarked. And it was true: Ellen was smiling widely.

“You’ll never guess what happened over the weekend,” she said. “I managed to reconcile with Mom, and found out I don’t have to take hormones any more.”

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, it took a while, but she came around,” Ellen nodded. “She and my aunt even made me a potion; now my body makes estrogen on its own so I don’t have to take pills. Magic. It’s neat.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Charlie said. “I’m so happy for you, girl.”

“Oh, and these are for you,” Ellen added, and lobbed an item underhand at me; I snatched it out of the air and looked at it.

A pill bottle, with ESTRADIOL – take two per day sublingually written on it.

“What…?” I said, looking up at Ellen.

“I don’t need those any more, so they’re yours if you want them,” she explained.

I sighed deeply. “Ellen, I’m grateful. I really am. But I just… can’t.”

“What’s stopping you?” my girlfriend asked. “You know you want to.”

“What’s stopping me is the fact that everyone would hate me for it,” I replied. “I mean, I’m a star running back, for god’s sake! If I decided to transition, everyone would be like, Oh, look at him, look at the—”

“Don’t,” Charlie said, raising a finger in warning.

I stopped before saying the slur I was about to say. Then I swallowed, hard. “Point is, no one would understand. Why would I transition, and ruin our team’s chance at having a shot at the nationals? Why would anyone make that choice?”

“What if it wasn’t?” Ellen said suddenly; she had a pensive look on her face.

Charlie and I looked at her. “What if it wasn’t… What?” Charlie asked.

“What if it wasn’t a choice?” Ellen replied. “What if it was just… Something that happened? Like an accident? That way, no one would blame you.”

I frowned. “You mean like, a trick play?”

“A what?” Ellen asked, frowning in turn.

“Ah… Sorry, football lingo. A trick play is a strategy that involves deception,” I explained. “You know, making the other team think you’re doing – or not doing – something, to get one over them.”

She nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”

I sighed. “That would be ideal, honestly. But unfortunately, people don’t just transition by accident. It has to be done purposefully.”

“Maybe not,” Ellen shrugged.

It was Charlie’s turn to frown. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Ellen looked at us for a moment, and then replied, “I’ll have to check something. I’ll get back to you on this.”

Ellen

The phone rang for a long time; my mom was probably in her laboratory, where she couldn’t hear it clearly. Several times before she’d missed important scheduled calls because she was so immersed in her work. I was about to give up when she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom, it’s me,” I said.

“Oh, hi Ellen! How are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m good. Busy with training and school; besides my normal lessons, I have to study everything I missed in those three months I didn’t attend,” I answered. “But it’s fine, I should pass this year no problem. How about you?”

“Same old. A bit lonely, since there’s no one here but me, but at least your sister comes by quite often,” she said. “Oh, and if you’re free over the weekend, would you like to have lunch together?”

“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”

“Good.” There was a brief pause, then she queried, “So why the call?”

“I’ve been thinking… I’d like to get into sports. Start exercising a bit,” I said. “I’ve always been the scrawny kid, and I want to change that. Not really bulk up by any means, just… Get fit.”

“I get it.”

“So I’ve been wondering… Is there something magic that could help with that? Like, a potion or something? To make things a bit easier. Thought I’d ask you, after all you’re the alchemist in the family.”

“There is, actually,” Mom said. “I make that kind of potion regularly, it’s one of my best sellers. There’s a version for male athletes and one for female athletes.”

“Oh really?”

“Really. I don’t have them in the house right now though, and I don’t plan on brewing more any time soon: they’re a pain to make, so I only do it in large batches of about a thousand litres, every six months or so,” she explained. “But you can find it in any sporting goods store around here. It’s quite cheap, too, it’s a once-a-week potion that costs about two dollars per dose.”

I knew all that. I’d done my research, and I’d looked into the effects those potions would have: but I still thought I’d better ask Mom about them, just to be completely sure.

“And which one should I get? The male version, or the female version?”

“The female version, of course,” she answered. “Especially after last Sunday, when we changed the kind of hormones your body makes. If you took the male one, there could be… side effects.”

“Side effects?” I asked.

“Masculinisation. And it would happen pretty quickly, too; the potion tinkers around with the body of those who drink it, boosting certain hormones while suppressing others, to provide advantages in training, but it’s designed with a male endocrine system in mind, and you no longer have that.” She paused, and I could almost hear her smile over the phone line. “I’m guessing you don’t want that kind of side effects.”

“You’re right,” I replied, smiling too. “And what about the opposite? Just out of curiosity, what would happen if a male athlete drank the female version of the potion?”

“The opposite would happen; while it would certainly help with athletic ability, there would be a quick feminisation of the body.” She chuckled. “I don’t know any men who would enjoy that.”

“Right,” I said. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Oh, one last thing,” she said, before I could hang up. “You’re not planning on joining any sports teams, are you? Like, ones that compete officially against other teams.”

I frowned. “No, I’m not. Why?”

“Okay, good,” she replied. “Despite being completely safe and without side effects, if you take the correct one anyway, those potions are officially considered the same as performance enhancing drugs, and therefore banned from official competition.”

“They are?” I asked in surprise.

“Oh yes,” she confirmed. “They actually forbade me from selling them until I found a way of detecting their use.”

“Huh.”

“Anyway, since you’re not going to compete, it doesn’t concern you. So no worries.”

“Okay.”

“See you later this week, Ellen. Love you.”

“I love you too,” I replied. “Bye, Mom.”

I hung up.

Charlie

“So, there it is,” Ellen said, concluding her explanation.

I stared at her. “That’s your plan? For Logan to take that potion, and then just go, Whoops, guess I took the wrong one and I’m a girl now?”

“Correct,” she nodded. “So what do you think?”

“I’m sorry, Ellen,” I said, shaking my head. “But there’s no way--”

“This could work.”

I looked at my girlfriend. “Come again?”

“This could work,” Logan repeated; she was staring down at the ground. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? And this way, I could pass it off as me caring so much about the team that I even did something I shouldn’t have, just to get better at sports.” She looked up at me. “And then everything goes wrong, and everyone will pity me instead of being mad at me. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

I regarded her carefully. “Logan, are you really sure about this?” I asked. “I mean… It’s risky. Someone might figure it out. And then…”

“But it will be worth it,” she replied. “If it means I don’t have to look like this,” she gestured at herself, “for more than a year still, until we graduate. And even then, you know the coach has already been pushing me to try and get an athletic scholarship. You know I’m being scouted by several colleges. It would be really difficult to explain why one of the best high school running backs in the country,” she said that with a bit of pride, even, “would just drop the sport after graduating high school.” She sighed. “This is the best chance I will get.”

Then she smiled. “Besides, wasn’t it you who was trying to push me to transition until a while ago?”

I was momentarily at a loss for words; even though I knew Logan suffered very much because of her dysphoria, I didn’t think it was so serious as to push her to risk it all on what was basically a gamble. But still, there was really one correct answer to her determination.

I leaned over and gave her a hug. “If you really want to go through with it, I will support you. I will always be by your side. All the way.”

“Thank you,” she replied, reciprocating the hug.

She looked up at Ellen. “So where do we get the potion?”

Logan

“Logan?”

I took a deep breath, wiped away my sweat – the August sun was scorching; I’d always hated summer training – and looked up at the coach. “Yeah?”

“Could you come into my office, please?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” I nodded. “As soon as I finish--”

“Now, please,” he said firmly.

I looked around; everyone on the field had stopped and was looking at me.

“…Alright,” I said, and followed the coach to his office. When we arrived there was already someone there: a familiar-looking, middle-aged woman, seated in a chair. She rose as we entered, and extended her hand towards me.

“Logan, this is Juniper Wenceslas,” the coach said. “She’s a witch, and the local head of magical law enforcement.”

Wenceslas. Right, she must’ve been Ellen’s aunt, she’d told me about her before. “Nice to meet you,” I replied, shaking her hand; then I turned to the coach. “What’s this about?”

He didn’t answer right away; instead, he motioned for me to sit in a chair, walked around his desk, and sat down behind it. Then he took a deep breath.

“Have you been using magical performance enhancers?”

And there it was.

It had been a long time coming, really: I’d taken the first dose of the potion in late May, just after the last game of the season – I didn’t want to risk our team being disqualified, after all – and the changes had quickly appeared and mounted up. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken until mid-August for the coach to decide to do something about it; you just couldn’t miss my budding feminine body. I had tits, for Christ’s sake! Even though they were small, they were definitely tits, and I’d noticed the other guys on the team giving me stares as early as late June. And the way my butt was filling out, well…

But that wasn’t the time to be proud of myself. I had an act to put on. I’d rehearsed with Charlie and Ellen several times, just to be sure I would be able to feign surprise.

“What? No, I haven’t,” I replied. “What are those anyway?”

The coach stared at me for a few moments, then looked at the witch. “Miss Wenceslas, if you would please…?”

“Of course,” Juniper nodded, and moved over to me. “Please sit still, Mr. Hill,” she said. She held a hand up to me, and began mumbling in what I recognised as the Arcane Tongue; I felt a tiny, barely-noticeable pulse of energy pass from me to her.

The witch nodded. “Magical energy. The traces are faint, but they’re definitely there, I can confirm it.”

“Alright. Thank you,” the coach nodded to her. Then he turned to me. “You’re off the team.”

Again, I feigned surprise. “What? No! Coach, you can’t do this to me! I haven’t--”

“Don’t even try to bullshit me, kid,” he cut me off; there was anger in his voice. “After the stunt you pulled, you’re lucky I don’t get you expelled from school altogether. I mean, what the fuck were you thinking?” he shouted. “Taking performance enhancing potions!”

“And the wrong ones, apparently,” Juniper supplied.

“Do you realise what you’ve done? Now we have to prove somehow that you hadn’t started before football season was over, or the whole team could be disqualified!”

“I…” I began. Time to come out with the truth. “I’m sorry, coach. I… I just wanted to improve, that’s all. I wanted to be useful to the team.”

“You already were!” he screamed. “And instead… Look what you’ve done to yourself! I can barely tell the difference between you and your damn girlfriend any more! You look like a fucking cheerleader!”

I blinked. I felt blood rise to my head. He was insulting Charlie? Fucking hell, forget pretending.

“So what?” I shot back, jumping to my feet. “What have you got against cheerleaders anyway?”

“Useless bunch, the lot of ‘em,” he growled. “Prancing around, stealing the spotlight from those who really deserve it.”

“Well then, I’ll show you!” I shouted. “If you say I look like a cheerleader, I’ll go and join their team!”

The coach blinked, taken aback. “…What?”

“They put in as much effort as footballers anyway, if not more!” I continued. “I’ll fucking show you! I’ll become the best fucking cheerleader this school has ever seen!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Miss Wenceslas was looking at me with a smirk on her face, and a glimmer in her eye. The coach, on the other hand, was completely bewildered: he was looking at me as if I’d grown an extra head.

“And then you’ll have to just look at me as I cheer for the football team during games!” I went on. “What do you think about that?”

He blinked again, and his face contorted in anger. He started to get up from his chair. “Listen here, you…”

“Coach Wilson,” the witch cut him off; we both turned to look at her. “May I please have a word with Mr. Hill?”

The coach looked at her for a few moments; then he took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Of course,” he said.

“In private,” Juniper added.

“…Of course,” he repeated; he walked out of the office – glaring at me as he passed me – and shut the door.

“Well. Have a seat,” the witch said with a smile. I complied, and she did the same, sitting down too.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” she asked, point blank.

I blinked in surprise. “Uh, what? N-no, of course not,” I stammered.

“I mean, it only makes sense. Any normal boy would’ve stopped drinking the potions as soon as he noticed the side effects. But you didn’t.” She had a knowing smile on her face. “And besides, my niece has told me about you. No, not that you’re trans, she didn’t out you,” she quickly added. “But she’s mentioned her friend Logan several times. She’s really fond of you.” She tilted her head to the side. “Did she put you up to this?”

I held her gaze for a few moments, then sighed. “She did,” I admitted. “She didn’t force me, of course, but she did the research and found out about the potions and their effects.”

“Mmhmm, I see,” Miss Wenceslas mused. “Want me to make them permanent?”

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Right now, your changes are only progressing because you’re still taking the potion once per week,” she continued. “But you can’t keep this on forever, especially now that you’ve been found out. It would be a simple matter for me to make a couple of… adjustments.” She smiled. “Only if you want to, of course.”

“But…” I said. “My parents… What do I tell them?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, I can help you with that. I’ll just tell them that you’ve taken too much of the potion, and sadly the effects are permanent. And also, that any attempt to correct the issue might throw your hormones out of whack, and be dangerous for your health.” She paused, and continued, “And then you can come out to them eventually. On your own schedule.”

I looked at her suspiciously. “And what do you want in return?”

“Nothing, just for you to continue being a good friend from my niece,” she answered. “Who, by the way, has earned a stern talking-to when I get back home.”

Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome, kiddo,” she replied, patting me on the shoulder.

Charlie

“Logan!” I called to my girlfriend, waving at her from across the crowd. She waved back, and made her way back to me.

“Hi, sweetie,” she said, giving me a kiss.

“Ready for your first show?” I asked.

Logan nodded. “Of course. Can’t wait.”

True to her – admittedly hasty – promise to the coach, the first thing Logan had done after getting kicked off the football team had been to join the cheerleaders; at first she’d gotten a bit of a side-eye from the other girls, but soon they saw how she was acting, how happy and comfortable she seemed in her new body, and they relaxed. Plus, she looked really great in a mini-skirt and crop top; every time I looked at her in her uniform, it made my heart skip a beat.

Other people had been noticing her, too: she’d been getting lots of attention, especially from the boys on the football team, who were vying for her affections. None of them had yet figured out that despite Logan being a girl now – well, externally a girl – we were still dating.

“Hey, wanna hear something funny? You know Tony? The new running back? He asked me out.”

Case in point. “When did you speak to him?”

“Just now,” Logan replied. “I went to wish the team good luck before the match, and he took me aside.”

“Oh?” I asked, an impish smile on my lips. “Well, you can do worse, girl.”

“Hey now,” she pouted. “You know I would never cheat on you. I shot him down.”

“That’s my girl,” I said, and gave her another kiss. “As a reward, I’ve prepared a… surprise for you.”

I leaned in and whispered, “I’ve booked a hotel room for tonight. Look forward to it.” I nibbled playfully on her ear, and then drew back.

Logan shivered in excitement and anticipation. “You’re the best, Charlie,” she said.

“Hey, that’s what girlfriends are for, right?” I shrugged. “Come on, let’s go get changed. The match is going to start soon, and we have to do the pre-game show.”

“Alright, let’s go.”