Over the next two weeks Eva settled in to her new school and her new life. She had lunch every day with Patsy, Valerie, Ronda, and Dawn, with Mike and Troy usually joining them, and Artie Bennett started showing up too, being flirty with Ronda. Eva still felt a little dissonance around being one of the popular kids, but otherwise she felt natural in her new skin, enjoying the relationships that came so much more easily to her now. She felt more of a connection to her own humanity now, and that allowed her to connect more freely with other humans as well.

Sometimes she felt a wistfulness for Eddie, like missing a friend who had moved away. She felt sorry for him, even though she knew as Eddie she wouldn't have wanted pity, and yet at the same time she was proud of him for plodding on through his struggles and trying to live the best life he could under the circumstances. It was strange to keep catching herself thinking of him in the third person. It was harder and harder to reconcile that she had been him, but luckily she had Mike to reminisce with, to keep Eddie's memory alive, and Mickie's too.

She spent as much time with Mike as she could, but had to compete with the football team for his time. He had thrown himself into the practices, and was already catching the attention of the coach as star running back material. By the end of the second week of school, they were set to have their first game, against the seventh grade squad of a nearby town, Oak Rapids. Their varsity team was playing against Prairie Falls that Friday night, and beforehand in the afternoon, the junior high squads went up against each other.

Eva had butterflies watching Mike play, from the bleachers. She'd opted against becoming a cheerleader, to the dismay of Patsy, Valerie, and Ronda, who had all joined the squad. As much as she embraced most of the feminine roles that were now expected of her, she couldn't quite get on board with cheerleading. Maybe it was a lingering effect of Eddie's distaste for actively participating in sports. She'd rather just be a spectator in the stands. There she could thrill every time Mike had a breakthrough run, and flinch every time he was tackled, and take it easy the rest of the time. Anyways, cheering seemed to involve a lot of forced enthusiasm, and at this point she wanted to focus on the genuineness of her feelings, after years of putting on a false face to the world.

It was a close score, but one couldn't quite call it a "good game" - the boys on both teams were a bit clumsy and nervous for their first contest, and there were a lot of turnovers and unforced errors. But Mike held his own - he made up for an early fumble with a fourth quarter 40 yard touchdown run that put the Prairie Falls Pups in the lead. Unfortunately, the Oak Rapids Colts kicked a late field goal and squeaked it out at the end.

Eva waited in the bleachers as other kids and family members shuffled off after the scrimmage. She had arranged to meet Mike after he was done showering and changing, so they could walk together over to the burger joint. There they'd have some supper and then head back for the varsity game that night. It was kind of their first "dinner date", and Eva had been anticipating it all week. So she waited patiently for Mike to emerge from the locker room, taking the compact out of her purse a couple times to make sure she looked OK.

Eventually she spotted Mike strolling leisurely from the school out toward the bleachers. But he was not alone. He was walking and talking with a girl around their age. Eva strained her eyes to try to figure out who it might be, but couldn't identify her yet. It was clear they were conversing. Mike made some comment that caused the girl to throw back her head in laughter and clap her hands.

As they got closer, Eva felt a familiar but unwanted anxiety in her stomach. This girl was really cute, her long brown hair fluttered gently in the breeze, her mirthful smile projected a generous warmth, and there was a sway in her step that signaled an easy self-confidence. Mike looked to be in a good mood talking with her, and Eva felt a bit robbed of the opportunity to console him after their tough loss to the Colts.

Mike waved in a relaxed manner as they approached, and Eva nervously stood up and straightened out her skirt. She tried to have a relaxed smile herself but didn't quite pull it off. The girl was staring at her with a big grin.

"Hey Eva," Mike said, "I've got someone I'd really like you to meet. This is my friend Laura from Oak Rapids. She came up for the game."

Laura from Oak Rapids continued looking at Eva with a bubbly smile across her face. "It's so lovely to meet you, Eva!" she exclaimed, thrusting her palm forward to shake hands.

Eva took her hand and shook it weakly. "Um, it's nice to meet you too, uh, Laura." She let her hand drop to her side and stood there awkwardly, her forehead feeling a bit clammy. She wasn't used to this feeling yet, this unbidden jealousy. It made her want to run and hide under a rock until she could figure out how to handle it.

"Oh my goodness, you turned out so pretty!" Laura gushed, unable to turn her gaze from Eva. "I'm so so happy for both of you!"

Eva's mood shifted from jealous to confused, and she turned toward Mike, who had the same goofy smile plastered on his face.

"W-wait..." Eva stuttered, "Laura from Oak Rapids? You mean, Laura from camp?"

"Yes!!" They both exclaimed. "Laura from camp!"

"Oh my gosh, you're Laura!" Eva squealed, and flung herself forward, throwing her arms around the girl. Laura wrapped her arms around Eva as well, and they fell into a fit of giggling and bouncing up and down.

"Laura, Laura, Laura! You're my savior! Oh gosh, I owe so much to you! You've made my life so perfect!"

"I'm so glad!" the brunette replied. "I know just how you feel, the gratitude - and I'm so thrilled I could pass that on!"

"You've made me so happy! I remember asking Mickie if you were happy, and she said sometimes you just randomly twirl around out of joy. And I thought, I want to be that happy! And now I am!"

"Yay! Come on, let's go twirl!!" Laura grabbed Eva's wrist and pulled her out onto the empty football field, and they both started spinning around, giggling in the girliest way imaginable. Eva was on cloud nine. Not only was she happy to give thanks to Laura, but she also relished the idea of having someone to relate to so exactly. She had Mike of course, but Laura's journey was even more similar to Eva's, and she could tell immediately that they would be fast friends. They continued to laugh and twirl until they were too dizzy and fell to the ground, while Mike stood and watched with a bemused smile.

"Laura, I want to hear all about your story!" Eva demanded, out of breath. "Mickie told me all about you, but I want to hear every detail. How you got the talisman, what you were like, you know, before... and what it was like going through the changes. Didn't it just feel like it would never get finished?"

"Oh my gosh, wasn't it excruciating? The end result was glorious, but getting there was so agonizing!"

"I hope you don't mind, Eva - I asked Laura if she wanted to come have supper with us," Mike said. "She can answer all your questions."

"It's ok if you'd rather not," Laura winked at Eva. "I know you have a big date planned."

"Are you kidding?! You have to come!"

"Alright, it's all settled then! Supper and twenty questions!"

"Oh I've got more than twenty, I assure you! Oh Laura," Eva scooched over next to her and wrapped her arms around her again. "I just want to squeeze you, I'm so happy! And oh! I have something to show you!"

Eva got up and ran back over to the bleachers to grab her purse and brought it back. "I bet you never thought you'd see this again!" She reached into her purse and pulled something out.

"The talisman!" Laura gasped. "Oh wow, do you carry it around wherever you go?"

"Lately I have been - I have to pass it on, right?" she said as she handed it to her new friend. "You never know when that time might arrive."

Laura turned it over in her hand, marveling at the cold little piece of stone that had transformed her universe. "It's still hard to believe. When Caroline first showed this to me, I thought she was off her rocker. How could a little rock do something so unimaginable? But then she put it in my hand, and I got the weirdest feeling. All these thoughts flying around in my head, all the stuff I'd tried to force myself to stop thinking about. It's like it knew all my secrets."

"Exactly!" Eva cried.

"And Caroline was so glad, she had almost given up on finding the right boy. But now it's just sleeping," she said staring down at the rock, "waiting to find the next pair to fix."

"So this Caroline - she's Carl now?"

"Yeah, he's Carl," Mike chimed in. "He was on the other team today!"

"What?! Oh wow!"

"Yeah, he had to go back with his family right after," Laura explained, "otherwise you could've met him too."

"So are you two, you know..." Eva asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh!" Laura chuckled. "No, we're just good friends. No, whatever's going on between you two, it has nothing to do with the talisman."

Eva beamed and blushed at Mike, who blushed back. "Gosh, that's so romantic to hear. I was kind of afraid that it was making us feel this way."

"Nope, you guys just really dig each other, for real," Laura grinned. "Did you two have these feelings before the talisman did its thing?"

"I was starting to feel that way about Mickie, but I didn't want to admit it. I saw her in a pretty dress at church, and I got all fluttery. But she was not happy in that dress!" Eva started laughing.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Mike scowled. "I fought all morning with my mom over that."

"But you looked reeeeally cute," Eva taunted him.

"Yeah, and you looked real comfy in your little suit and tie," he shot back.

"Oh gosh, I wish I could've seen that!" Laura howled. "I know what it's like wearing a hot suit to church in the summer! No fun!"

"I'll take it over some frilly dress!" Mike insisted.

"Boys. They can be so silly, right Laura?"

"Yes! Wearing a light dress in the summer is so much better than a suit. They don't know what they're missing!"

"Ha! I know exactly what I'm missing!" Mike laughed. "And I don't miss it!"

"Anyway Laura, to answer your question, looking back now I know I had feelings for Mickie. But it was all mixed up with the confusion I felt about myself. I don't think I would have done anything about it."

"Yeah," Mike chimed in, "I always really liked Eddie but I thought I didn't care about romance or any of that stuff. But turns out I just didn't care about it from that side. Once we changed, and I saw Eva, it's like I felt ok about thinking of her like that."

"I sure didn't think I'd ever feel this way about a boy. But when you said you'd always take care of me, even though you were still Mickie and I was still Eddie, I just got this gooey feeling inside of me. I just wanted you to wrap your arms around me."

"You mean like this?" Mike asked, and pulled Eva into a hug.

"Yes, just like this," she sighed.

"Aww, you guys are the cutest ever!! You should be a commercial for the talisman!" All three of them burst into laughter, and they turned to begin the stroll over to the burger joint.

On the way, Eva started with her questions. "So Laura, one thing has really been a mystery for me. Everyone thinks I've always been Eva, except for my little sister and this other little girl I know. They remember me as Eddie! And the weirdest part is, my sister says the tooth fairy told her what was going on, and this other girl said an angel told her!"

Laura stopped in her tracks. "Oh my gosh, that's so funny! My little brother was the same way! Only for him, he said it was a leprechaun that visited him and told him about it!"

"A leprechaun?" Mike laughed. "What the heck?"

"Well, here's my theory," Laura said as they resumed their walk. "And what Eva is saying just makes it more believable. I think these little kids - well, they haven't learned how to disbelieve in magic yet. And so the talisman's way of getting them to not spill the beans is to show up as some kind of magical authority figure, like the tooth fairy or a leprechaun, and get them to keep their mouths shut."

"That's a really weird theory," Mike said. "But it kind of makes sense. Older people's brains just couldn't make sense out of what happened to us, so it's like they're begging the magic to mold their memories into something that's not crazy."

"Yeah," Eva added, "but for the little ones it's totally believable that magic could turn a boy into a girl."

"Anyway, my guess is that as they get older they'll kind of forget and be like the others," Laura suggested. "My little brother already doesn't talk about it anymore. I think he still remembers I was Larry but he just thinks of me as his sister now. And maybe at some point his brain won't let him remember anymore. Or, maybe he'll remember but he'll just question whether it was all just a dream."

"Sometimes even I feel like it was a dream!" Mike said. "It's harder and harder to remember how it felt to be Mickie. To have that churning feeling inside of me all the time. Trying to pretend for everyone, but failing at it. When I look back, I feel like I was just a wreck."

"You weren't a wreck," Eva asserted. "You were fierce. I had so much respect for you. You were trying very hard to be true to yourself, despite everything."

"And now?"

"I know that fierceness is still there. But you don't need that edge all the time. You can be relaxed, and strong but gentle, because you don't have to fight everyone's image of you all the time. I respected Mickie, but I love that you're Mike now. You just fit into the universe perfectly now."

"This is a wise one you got here, Mike," Laura complimented Eva. "And I think she's right - you did have an edge to you that was interesting, but a little bit scary."

"How did you know, Laura, that Mickie was the right one to give the talisman to?"

"It was the third day at camp. We had been on a long hike and I'd been talking with Mickie on it, and I thought, is she just a tomboy or is she, you know, like Caroline? I started to suspect. And when we got back to camp, my tentmate was off doing something else and I invited Mickie to hang out in my tent, and we were talking, and I reached my hand into my backpack for something and I brushed against the talisman. And it was like, on fire! Really warm, but like in a tingly way. So I was still touching it and I looked over at Mickie, and I just got this serious jolt from the rock. That's when I knew it had to be."

"Wow, you never told me that part!" Mike exclaimed. "I thought you were just taking a wild guess."

"Well it was right after that that I led you out into the woods and handed it to you."

"Yeah, and my brain went nuts."

"And the rest is history!" Eva interjected. "Honestly, I've been really nervous about finding the right person. But that makes me feel better - maybe it will be really obvious."

"Yes, I think it will be. Once that person is near you and the talisman, I think it will let you know."

By now they were at the burger joint. They sat in a booth in the corner, out of earshot from the other patrons, and traded stories about 'the movie of your life' and 'the welcome walk' and the other steps along the way in the journey the talisman had taken them on. Laura gave pointers to Eva on how to explain the different steps to whomever she passed it on to, and Eva started feeling much more comfortable about the job that was still ahead of her. They traded phone numbers and addresses so Eva and Laura could keep in touch, and then went to the varsity football game together, where the Prairie Falls Bulldogs eked out a win over the Oak Rapids Broncos.

After the game they walked Laura to her car where her parents were waiting for her. Before getting in, she gave Eva a big hug full of warmth and affection. Both girls knew they had a bond for life, and there were tears in both their eyes as they said their goodbyes.

"Thank you again for everything Laura, you're like my guardian angel," Eva whispered, their foreheads touching. "I'm going to do great things with this gift you've given me."

"I know you will Eva. Meeting you has filled my heart with joy, I'm just so glad I could do some good in this world. And knowing you're going to do the same for someone else makes me feel even better."

She got in the car and they drove off, and Eva and Mike turned to walk back home, holding hands and marveling once again at what they had become.