1.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked a second time. I wasn't entirely sure how to answer him. He looked concerned, and I didn't want him to feel that way. It wasn't his fault this had happened to us. It wasn't his fault...

...That I liked him.

I stood up and sighed. I had to tell him. I'd be a bitch if I didn't tell him, that's for sure. "I... Had a dream last night that wasn't really a dream."

"If it wasn't a dream, what was it?"

"It was her, Ms. Malski. She told me what my challenge was."

He took my hand. It felt nice. It felt nice, for a boy to hold hands with me. No, not just for a boy to hold hands with me, for Steve to hold hands with me. "So, what was it? Aside from turning into a girl for a week, that is."

I shook my head. "That wasn't part of it. That was for something else."

"She turned you into a girl for something else?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Us."

"Huh?"

I looked him in the eyes. "Melanie and Stephanie."

"You're not making any sense."

"Mel and Stephanie know Ms. Malski, they're the reason I'm a girl. And I'm a girl because... Because the two of them couldn't..."

"Are you saying they used the sorceress to get us together? Even though you were a guy and neither one of us was - "

I cut him off. "I... Think I was."

"Really?"

"It's complicated. I'm not sure, I just know I've transitioned way too easily considering I still like the same things. I shouldn't be jumping on the I like boys bandwagon so instantly if I didn't already, y'know?"

He nodded. "Okay, let's say you were gay when you were Adam, why throw me into the mix?"

"Stephanie probably told Ms. Malski that you needed a girlfriend, and turning me into that girlfriend must have seemed like the best idea."

"So, this whole thing was just an extremely complicated way of hooking us up?"

"Basically."

"And what about Dean?"

"Legit punishment for the panty raid."

"And how did you feel about all this?"

I sighed. "I wasn't as angry as I probably should have been."

"How come? Our sisters basically perpetrated this whole thing to turn you into my girlfriend. What are you getting out of this?"

I didn't answer him with words, right away, anyway. Instead, I did something that just plain surprised me. Shocked me. Scared me. Horrified me. Excited me.

I kissed him.

2.

When we broke the kiss off, I said, "I get you."

Steve put his hands on my waist and said, "Is that all? Me?"

"Well, c'mon, I haven't changed that much. I still like all the same stuff, I just have to deal with bras and panties now. Oh, and periods. That's a little annoying, but manageable. Or, at least it better be, since I'm gonna havta deal with 'em until menopause."

"Or until you get pregnant."

"Whoa, that's a little too much to be talking about right now."

He smiled. "You're right. So, does this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now? Because you were a little hesitant to say that yesterday."

I nodded. "Yeah. And... That was my challenge."

"What was?"

"Accepting this."

3.

"Spill it, sister," Melanie said to me when she finally found me at my locker. She looked either furious or curious, and I'm not sure which one I'd rather her be.

"Why did you say that like it's the Seventies?"

"Stop avoiding the question and answer the question."

"What question? All you said was 'spill it'."

"Exactly, now do so."

"Spill what? You were listening at my door last night when I talked to Mom and this whole thing was yours and Stephanie's idea in the first place, so what do I really need to spill?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know about that?"

"Ms. Malski told me in a dream last night."

"Are you... Angry, with us?"

I shut my locker and then leaned up against it. "No. And, to be honest, if you'd told me, I probably would have laughed in your face." I brushed my hair back behind my ears. "You didn't do the wrong thing, Mel, though I honestly would have liked to know sooner."

"Sorry. I swear, the next time Stephanie and I have Ms. Malski do anything to you, we'll tell you first."

I rolled my eyes. "If you ever have her do anything to me again, it'd better be because I stop growing," I pointed to my boobs, "and you don't."

She smiled. "Getting a little envious already, are you?"

"You know I'm joking."

"Yeah."

"Besides, I'm bigger than you already."

4.

"Somebody's a lot less anxious than she was a couple days ago," Shanna said as we changed for gym. Sports bras were much more comfortable when they were the right size. Not that I wasn't grateful that Shanna had let me borrow one the other day, but I knew I couldn't get through gym class next year without some of my own.

I smiled and slipped my shirt over my head. "Just some deep, deep soul searching."

"Soul searching, huh? What'dya figure out?"

I pulled my shorts on and then sat down on the bench in front of the lockers to lace up my shoes. "Just... Something. Something important."

"I thought you'd decided to be a girl awhile ago."

"That wasn't what I was talking about."

"Oh. So... Is there... Somebody?"

"That's privilaged information between me and my boyfriend." I tied my hair into a ponytail. "And I'm not telling you."

Shanna was smiling now. "Oh, don't worry, I won't pry. Hey, Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome to the fairer sex."

I smiled again. "Thanks."

5.

"You look realy happy," Steve said after the gym teacher finished off roll call. "Is it on account of that kiss earlier?"

"No," I said, hitting him on the arm lightly. "I'm just... Accepting for the first time, and I love it."

"When were you ever not accepting?"

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. I mean of me."

He smiled. "I know. I'm happy that you're happy."

"Thanks. Now," I picked up a basketball and tossed it to him, "you think you can take me now? Because I used to kick your ass at basketball when I was a boy."

He dribbled the ball a little. "I'd like to see you try."

6.

"Ms. Richards, do you have something to add?" Mrs. Zucker, the Creative Writing teacher, asked me, because I'd been yawning, and raised my arms above my head. Oops. Me be dumb. I shook my head, but I was sure I was red-faced. "Then keep your yawning to yourself. Now, which of you will actually come up here and read your essay?"

Melanie raised her hand, and I had a sinking feeling her essay had something to do with me. Why'd I have this feeling, you ask? Well, because now that I knew that Mel and Stephanie were behind this whole thing, the odds that this essay - which was assigned to us at the beginning of the semester, I might add - involved me in one way or another were very good.

"Okay," Melanie said as she got to the front of the class, "I wasn't actually gonna do this essay, and just take the failing grade, but a couple of days ago, my little sister took a big step in her life and, well, it inspired me." See? I knew this'd be about me. Goddamnit, Melanie... "Amy came out to me and our parents last Friday, after having dealt with her problems for awhile on her own." Seriously? This is actually a good essay? Damn, my sister might actually graduate high school after all. "Amy had kept up appearances as Adam for awhile, but she just couldn't anymore. I was the first person she told, even over our parents. At first I didn't know how to feel about it.

"Here was my little brother, the dweeb I teased every so often because - I thought - he was gay." That's a complete, unadulterated lie. She's neverteased me about that. Hell, I didn't even know I was gay until I wasn't anymore. Wait, am I technically still gay? I mean, I'm a girl, and girls like bo - Aw, the hell with it. "It turned out it was much more than that, because Adam didn't want to be Adam, he wanted to be Amanda, felt free as Amanda. Adam was technically gay, he just wasn't Adam.

"And so, my little sister finally became my little sister last Friday, and there isn't one member of my family that isn't happy for her, because she's finally the person she truly is."

Mrs. Zucker started clapping, and then so did other people, which surprised me. They were clapping at an essay - a short one, at that - about me. I was almost dumbfounded. When Mel sat back down, I didn't even say anything, I just hugged her. My big sister wrote that about me. I felt like I was on top of the goddamn world.

7.

I felt like I was gonna throw up.

I made it to the bathroom just in time to avoid a mess all over the living room floor. I clutched the toilet and puked what was probably half my body weight out. By the time I was done, I sure felt like half my body weight was gone. It was a lot of puke. I instantly felt better, but that didn't make it any less disgusting.

"Honey? You okay?" Mom asked from the other side of the bathroom door.

"No."

"What's the matter?"

"Bad..." Oh, God, I was gonna do it again, wasn't I? Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! "Hot dog..." I tried to calm my stomach down. I didn't want to puke again. I heard her talking to Melanie. Thank you, so much, Melanie!

It took a few minutes, but I started to feel better. Whew! Thank God... I was starting to think I'd have to call Steve and tell him our date was ooooooooooglrughph.

And I puked. Again.

Oh man, what was going on? Was I getting cold feet? No, that couldn't be it. We were going to see Jurassic World for fuck's sake, in no way a cuddle movie or anything. Even if we are boyfriend and girlfriend, this wasn't a date movie, it was just a movie that happened to be while we're dating, so why was I so sick if it wasn't that hot dog I had at lunch?!

"Amy?" Melanie asked. "I'm coming in there, so you better not be covered in puke."

"I'm not," I gasped out.

I heard the door open, then close, then Mel sat down on the laundry hamper in the corner. "So... How ya doin'?"

"How do you think? I'm puking here!"

"I see that. Why are you puking?"

"I've been trying to figure that out myself." I calmed my stomach some more. Hopefully I wouldn't puke again. I put the toilet seat and lit back down and sat down. "I... Kinda... Um..."

"Your date tonight?" I nodded. "Well, it's not uncommon for a girl to get sick when she's about to go on her first date, but this is a little extreme. Besides, from what I hear, boys are way worse than girls when it comes to getting cold feet on a date."

"I wouldn't know."

"I know. You sure it wasn't that hot dog you ate at lunch? You looked kinda green after you ate it."

"It's probably a combination of the two."

"Ah."

"Should I go?"

"Duh."

"But I'm sick."

"And if you don't go tonight, you'll be sick next time. Go tonight, you'll never be sick again."

"You sure?"

"Just don't eat any popcorn."

I glared at her. "That's your advice?"

"What? I've never dated my best friend, so this is probably a thousand times worse than it should be for you. Just, go, and if you feel sick during the movie, excuse yourself to the ladies' room real quick. You're going to see a dinosaur movie, so odds are good you'll get sick just watching the dinos eat people."

"Hey, I think I can take that."

"Still. Go. I'll push you all the way to the movie theater myself if I have to."

I sighed. "Okay, okay. Who knows, maybe I'll feel better after this, y'know?"

"There ya go!"

Melanie stood up and walked to the door. Before she left the bathroom, I said, "Hey, Mel, thanks for writing that essay."

She smiled. "Anything for my baby sister."