1.

I didn't feel too good, not after that conversation. Steve and I, the perfect couple? No, no way. I don't see it at all.

So, while Steve was busy trying to decide what DVD to watch, I just sat there and, well, took stock of my best friend for the first time in our friendship. The first thing I noticed was all the differences in him, that had to come as a result of the curse. His room was generally a mess, as opposed to mine which was (and still is, actually) only a little messy. My room usually just had some clothes on the floor, although now that involved bras and panties as opposed to plain white shirts and boxers.

Now, his room was actually cleaner than mine, and was ridiculoulsy organized. I could remember a time when his Xbox was sitting on top of half the games he played in it, and now they were all alphabetized on a shelf with the Xbox sitting nicely beside his DVD player. It was... Well... weird.

Was this his challenge? To be a better put together kid, rather than the slob he used to be? Hadn't I considered that a few days ago?

"So... What's with the cleanliness kick?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, the room. I was just... Y'know... Bored one day, decided to clean it up. It'll probably be a mess again in a couple days, I bet."

"It's not just the room, Steve. You're cleaner."

"Whaddya mean?"

"You combed your hair. I've never seen you comb your hair. Or dress nice, or... Just... You look like you probably would have asked me out on a date."

He stopped looking at his DVDs (which were also alphabetized and neatly placed on a shelf) and sat down on his bed beside me. I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly what he was gonna say, so I just braced myself for it. "Can I confess something to you?"

"You really did want this to be a date, didn't you?"

"What? No. I wanted to ask you out, yeah, but I didn't want this to be a date."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I felt like it'd be too soon to ask you out earlier, and I still feel that way, but since you brought it up..."

"You wanna ask me out now?"

He smiled, nervously. "I'm still kinda scared to, actually."

"Good, because I don't know if I wanna date you."

"Would you know tomorrow?"

"Are you serious?"

He shook his head. "No. Truth be told, I don't know if I'll ever not be nervous about asking you out, so I'm just gonna do it now, okay? Can we go see a movie tomorrow, or something?"

And thus our friendship had taken a turn I'd been warned about.

2.

After he asked me that question, time stood so still I could see every particle in the air. My friend - my best friend - had just asked me out on a date. This wasn't somebody who'd just met me and thought I was cute, this was a guy who had known me for most of my life, who knew I'd been a boy, and who had absolutely no problems with that.

And he wanted to date me.

Could I ever find that again? Somebody who knew I'd been male for fifteen years and just didn't care about it? Steve was a great trial run, wasn't he? I mean, that was a cruel way to think about it, but it was sorta/kinda true.

Should I say yes? Would I hurt him if I said no? Steve's my friend, after all, and I don't wanna stop being friends with him. Was I, in a way, obligated to say yes?

I kind of felt that way. I felt like if I didn't say yes, that Steve would cut all ties off with me, and then I'd have almost no ties to my old life as Adam other than my family, who were all accepting me as Amanda, so they didn't count.

But, even more important, did I want to date Steve?

3.

"Amy?" Steve asked, drawing me back out into real time. It was amazing how many thoughts could run through your head in less than a second.

"Sorry," I said, my face turning red.

"So you won't?"

"No! I didn't mean... No! Yeah, I'd love to go out with you!" Stupid, stupid, stupid words. "Just... If this doesn't work out, we're still gonna be friends, right?"

"Well, yeah. Amy, we've been friends our whole lives, we're gonna stay friends even if dating ends up being a giant fucking mistake." He nervously chuckled. "So... Whaddya wanna go see?"

4.

I shut the front door behind me and found a very curious Melanie waiting for me. She was standing there, arms folded under her breasts, a downright scary look on her face that basically said You will tell me everything! and almost made me wet myself. "Talk," she said. One word. That's it.

"What?"

"I want to know details. Every detail."

"There's not much to tell. It was dinner and then we watched a crappy movie in his room."

"And did he try to make a move on you?"

"No." I walked past her to the stairs, and smiled. "Not to say I didn't try to make a move on him." It was a lie, but it was time I had fun with Melanie, as opposed to the other way around.

"Wait, what?!"

I ignored her and walked up the stairs. She followed me, very eager to hear what she wanted me to say, but I just wasn't gonna talk. I was having way too much fun with this. I walked into my room, closed my door, then quickly took that skirt off, opened the door again and handed it to a very angry Melanie, shut my door again and locked it. Yeah, just take that Mel. Just think about what I'd said.

I just sat on my bed wearing pajama pants and a tee-shirt, watching TV for a couple hours before there was a knock on my door.

"Amy, can I come in?" Mom asked. I hopped off the bed and unlocked the door, then looked down either side of the hallway. "Melanie's in her room, so you don't have to worry about her."

"Okay. Whaddya want?"

She sat down on my bed and patted the spot beside her, so I sat down there. I had a feeling it was time for one of those 'mother/daughter talks' Melanie always talked about. "How was dinner at the Burke's?"

"It was fine."

"And how did Steve react around you?"

"Stephanie was making fun of him during dinner a lot, then we just watched Pacific Rim in his room."

"And did you..."

"Did I what?"

"Sweetie, you were alone in a boy's bedroom with said boy, and, it was a boy who you've got a strong connection with."

"I didn't kiss him, if that's what you and Melanie are asking."

Mom gave me a look. "How'd you know?"

"Because it's pretty obvious that Melanie had you come in here after I didn't tell her anything."

"And you were willing to answer me?"

"Only because messin' around with Melanie is fun."

Mom sighed. "So, how did it go?"

"It was the most harmless date I've ever seen."

"So it was a date?"

"No, that's tomorrow night."

From the other side of my door, I heard a very over-excited "I knew it!"

My turn to sigh. "I didn't know she was hanging out right outside the door."

Mom put her arm around me. "Me neither. Listen, baby, take this slow."

"I know. Tomorrow's just a movie, nothing special."

"Good." She stood up and walked over to the door. "Your sister already scared the shit out of me when she started dating, I don't wanna go through that again."

I just smiled.

5.

"Hello, Amanda," the sorceress - Ms. Malski - said. We were in the principal's office. When did I get here? "Don't worry, you're just dreaming."

"Then why doesn't this feel like a dream?" I asked.

She was working on papers, grading, or something. This really didn't feel like a dream.

"Mostly because it's not so much a dream as a telepathic communication between us."

"You can read people's minds?"

She looked up at me. "No. I just knew that would get your attention."

I rolled my eyes. "So, what is this really?"

"Just a magical conversation we're having. Your body is sleeping, your mind is here."

"What do you want?"

"Mainly to tell you what your challenge was, now that you've gotten past it."

"What?!" I've been asking for, like, four days and now she tells me?! "What was it?"

"When I first met you, last Friday, I sensed a void in your life, one that you - "

"Oh, for God's sake, please don't tell me that turning me into a girl is 'fixing' me!"

Ms. Malski glared at me. "If you'd let me finish?" She did a little bit of paper signing for a second, then continued, "No, this doesn't fix you as a whole. In fact, I introduced a number of other problems into your life, but no more than any other fifteen year old girl."

"You mean aside from half the people I know thinking I'm a crossdresser, another half thinking I'm a freaky tranny and the only people who actually know being Steve, Dean and my family?"

"Keep interupting me and you'll spend the rest of your life not knowing what your challenge was."

I crossed my arms under my breasts and waited for her to keep talking.

"Good. As I was saying, I sensed a void in your life. I'm sure you've noticed your strengthened interactions with young Mr. Burke?"

"Wait, this whole thing has been about Steve?"

"Not entirely. It's been about the two of you. You, as the one who loves him, and him as the one who loves you."

"So, what, I'm a girl because it makes us as a couple look less awkward?"

"Again, not entirely. I'm certain you've noticed your preferences slide more toward men, but Steve's, unfortunately, don't."

"So, I was... I guess gay, but Steve wasn't?"

"Exactly. In order for the two of you to even be a couple in the first place, one of you needed to be female."

"Why was it so important that Steve and I be a couple?"

She set her pen down, then looked me straight in the eye. "Amanda, I need you to understand that what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room."

"You mean this dream?"

"Yes."

"I can't tell Steve?"

"No."

I groaned. "Fine."

"I was asked to get the two of you together."

"By who?"

"Melanie and Stephanie."

The fuck?!

6.

My sister and my best friend's sister had conspired to get me and Steve together? Why? "Why?" Holy shit, I actually asked it.

"I can't tell you that, because I don't know it."

"So, what, they just asked you said yes, without even asking why?"

"Do you know how many people know about my power, Amanda? Until the unfortunate incident of the panty raid, it was simply Stephanie and Melanie. When I discovered that I could use magic and make reality my plaything, I never even told my father or my step-mother."

"So, how did Melanie find out?"

"A few months ago, they were in a city alleyway late at night. Had I not been on a date at that exact time, you and Steve might not have sisters any longer."

"What happened?"

"Three boys, members of another high school's cross country team. One of them pulled a knife when the girls told them they wouldn't submit themselves. The boys don't know what hit them, even to this day. They wake up each morning, get dressed for school, and wonder why they went to sleep as future regional cross country champions one night and awoke the next day as nerdy girls who the school eggheads wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole."

I almost lost my older sister because she wouldn't let herself be raped and I'd had no idea before now. Holy shit. "What happened next?"

She continued, "I told the girls about my power. They were much too curious and too thankful to accept that the entire situation just ended."

"So, did they conspire to get Steve and I together then, or did this just come about recently?"

"I imagine they probably had the idea in their heads some time ago, but it was only last week that they asked me to do this."

"Why'd you do it? You saved them, not the other way around. You weren't indebted to them in any way."

"In a way, I was. They kept my secret. They could have gone to the news and told everyone about the sorceress who saved their lives from filthy rapists, but they didn't. I chose to honor their request because I honor our friendship."

"So, why are you telling me this? Why not just throw up some bullshit and call that my challenge? Why tell me the real thing if I can't tell Steve?"

She smiled. "I only told you that to get you to shut up and listen. Considering Melanie and Stephanie are both involved, you would have found out about it at some point anyway."

I rolled my eyes again. "So I can tell Steve?"

"Of course."

"And what about Dean?"

"Of course not."

"What's his whole place in this, anyway?"

"His challenge is a genuine punishment. That you all three were affected at the same time is a mere coincidence. Even if you hadn't broken into his house that night, I'd have found out about the panty raid and dealt with it accordingly."

"Giant coincidence?"

"Yep."

"I don't believe it."

"I don't care."

"So, now what? I just wake up, tell Steve that this whole thing was a giant set-up to get him and me dating, and, what?"

"You live your lives. Stephanie called me earlier and told me Steve was taking you to a movie tonight."

"Yeah, he is."

"If you two are as compatible as the girls and I think, then you should enjoy yourself."

"And if we're not?"

"Then you find another boy who catches your fancy, it's that simple. Your friendship with Steve is eternal, there'll never be a time when the two of you aren't together in some way or another. Whether you take the next step is up to the two of you."

7.

I woke up and slowly sat up. Things were... Different now. Now that I knew why this whole week had happened, I just... Things were different, it was that simple.

I took a shower, shaved my legs and my pits (no knicks this time!), dried off, got dressed and walked all the way to school without talking to anybody. Actually, without really seeing anybody. Mom was on the phone in the kitchen when I left, Dad was probably still asleep, and Melanie took her shower a couple minutes after I got out of the bathroom.

I sat on the front steps and waited for Steve. I was almost an hour early, so I had time to think before he got there. Everything I thought kept going back to that dream conversation, kept going back to the truth. Maybe it was too much for me. Maybe Ms. Malski shouldn't have told me.

"Hey," Steve said as he walked up to me, "what's the matter?"