In my room, I set everything down, open my bookbag and take out what I need to do my homework. Setting it on my desk, I pull out my chair.

I scream when someone says, “Hello Andie.” Whirling around, I see Eris sitting on my bed. I pat my chest and angrily state, “Damn it! Stop doing that! You scared the hell out of me!”

Moments later, Mom throws opens the door and asks, “What’s wrong Andie? Why did you scream?” I gesture to my bed. She looks at her and rasps out, “Andie, come here, now! Who the hell are you and why are you in my daughters room?!”

“Mom, she’s Eris, the Goddess who changed me.”

Smiling, she stands. “Pleased to meet you.”

Her expression changes several times and finally settles into a neutral one. “Oh… Why are you here?”

“I’m checking up on Andie to see how she’s doing and to talk for a little while.”

“Mom, it’s alright, she just startled me is all. She has a bad habit of doing that.”

She says, “Miriam, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a private conversation with Andie.”

“Uh, ya, sure, I guess.” She looks at me and says, “Call me if you need me.”

She steps back out and shuts the door. She sits back down on the bed and I take a seat in my chair.

“So, have you given any thought to what we talked about last time?”

“Some.”

“Care to elaborate on that?”

I think for a few moments, trying to put my thoughts in some semblance of order. “Umm… When you asked if I still really believed that, were you trying to say I’m transgender?”

“Do you think you are?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Gently smiling at me, she says, “Andie, you know. You need to put a little more thought into how you feel and who you are.”

“I’m still a little freaked out over my change and I’m trying to come to terms with being a girl. Although, to tell the truth, I like having a girls body. People also treat me a whole lot better since I’m a cute girl. Plus, I never imagined that sex felt this good as a girl.

She grins at me. “Well, we had to give girls something to offset the pain of birth or they’d never want to have babies.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Am I going to end up liking boys too?”

“There are a lot of people that like both sexes.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She chuckles. “That’s something you’re going to have to find out for yourself.”

I think, ‘I suppose that’s as good an answer as I’m likely to get.’ I nod. “Okay.”

“I’m not trying to be cryptic. People’s preferences change over time. Like how a lot of girls want large breasts when they’re young, then as they get older wish they had smaller ones.”

I giggle. “Trust me when I say, that’s not something I’ll ever want. I like my breasts just as they are. Just enough for some curves without being a hinderance.”

She grins at me. “That’s a good thing. Normally, you’d still have some of your growth period to go through, but I locked your body like this. You won’t get any taller and your proportions won’t change either. Another thing, you’ll keep your youthful looks for a long time to come.”

“I’ve seen some people like that. There’s a lady at church who’s over 50 and looks to be in her late teens or early 20’s.”

“Mhmm. Alright, you just think about who and what you are. You’ll eventually figure it out. I’m going to go, but I’ll check in on you again.”

“Okay.”

“Take care. Bye.”

She disappears, leaving me dazed and even more confused than before she came to see me. Turning back to my desk, I shake my head and open my textbook to start my homework.

　◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

[Wednesday, Apr 10th]

I wake up, shower, dress and eat. After Mom puts my hair up for me, I give her a hug, tell her I’ll see her later and leave a little early for school. At Alla’s, I ring the bell and her Mom answers the door.

“Hello, is Alla ready?”

She smiles at me as she says, “Hi, you must be Andie.”

I return her smile and say, “I am. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Bayanova”

“You as well, but please call me Nadia. Alla told me she made a new friend, but she didn’t say you were this cute.”

Blushing a little, I reply, “Thank you.”

She chuckles and tells me, “Alla just went up to get dressed. Why don’t you go on up to her room?”

“Thank you.” I head up to her room, knock, go in and shut the door behind me. Walking over to her, I slip my arms around her and give her a long, deep kiss. Pulling back, I say, “Good morning, gorgeous.”

“Good morning to you too. I want another one of those.”

I lean back in a kiss her for a few minutes, savoring the feel of her soft lips against mine. When I finally pull back, I tell her, “Enough of that or I’ll tear your clothes off and toss you into bed.”

She giggles. “Sounds wonderful to me,” which makes me smile.

“Alla?”

“Hmm?”

“What would you say if it turns out I like boys too?”

“Oh? Do you have someone in mind?”

I shake my head. “No, I just meant in general. I still don’t know myself all that well. I was just wondering what would happen if it turns out I like boys as well.”

“I don’t know. I like having you to myself, but I have a boyfriend, so I don’t think it would be right to tell you that you couldn’t have one too if you found a guy you like. I’d hope we could still continue our relationship if that ever happens.”

“Like I said, right now, there’s no one I like other than you. I just got to thinking last night and it made me wonder if I might end up being bisexual.”

She shrugs. “If you are, you are. Andie, I don’t own you. We belong to each other for as long as we decide we do. Beyond that, we’ll just have to see when the time comes.” She caresses my cheek and then continues in a soft, soothing tone, “Look Andie, I like you, I like the way you make me feel when we’re together and I don’t mean just in bed either. We’ll still be friends no matter what.”

I hug her and murmur, “Thank you, Alla. More than I can ever express, thank you.”

She kisses my cheek. “Don’t worry so much. Now, let me go so I can finish getting dressed. We need to leave soon.”

I let her go and sit on the bed as she dresses. “Oh, Mom said I could spend the night on Saturday, but I have to be home by 7:30 Sunday morning.”

“Great! I’m looking forward to Saturday now.”

I smile. “Me too.”

She finishes dressing and comes over to me. “Don’t even bother to bring a nightgown with you.”

I giggle and tell her, “I wasn’t planning on it.”

She smiles at me. “Smart girl… Okay, come on, let’s get going.”

We make our way out to my car and head off for school. Once we arrive, we gather our bags and walk toward the entrance.

Part way there, Mia sees us, waves, and comes over to us. Smiling sunnily, she says, “Good morning!”

“Good morning.”

“So, word has already gotten around that you’re a cheerleader now.”

“Wow! That was fast!”

She giggles. “The grapevine around here is very efficient.”

She takes my arm and we continue to the entrance.

“It seems to be. So, what’s being said about me other than that?”

“Nothing bad. Many are saying they are amazed at your change.”

“I haven’t really changed other than no longer hiding and I talk to people now.”

“Andie, that’s a hell of a change for you. You have a lot of boys that are drooling over you.”

I giggle and say, “Yuck! That’s gross!”

She winks at me and asks, “What? The drooling, or the fact that they find you attractive?”

I shrug. “Alla says I’m gorgeous, so I suppose them finding me attractive is natural, but the drooling is gross.”

“Andie, you are gorgeous. You should have no doubts there. I’ve heard a couple of guys are going to ask you out.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Oh really? Who might they be?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, the rumors didn’t say any more than that. Oh, by the way, we have a home game on Friday. You won’t have to perform, but you have to come.”

“No problem.”

“Oh, if you don’t have any sheer nude glossy pantyhose you’ll need to buy some. We wear them with our uniforms.”

“I’ll have to get some then. The only pantyhose I wear are these. I normally wear stockings since I hate the way pantyhose feel.”

We walk inside and as we’re making our way to the stairs I feel a touch on my shoulder. Turning, I see the stomach of a boy. Looking up and then up some more, I think, ‘Damn he’s tall! He’s at least a foot taller than I am.’

He smiles at me and asks, “Can I talk to you alone for a moment?”

Hesitantly, I say, “Uh, sure.” I look back to Alla and Mia. “Excuse me for a sec.” He walks over to the side with me following. Turning, he looks down at me. I have to admit that I find him rather attractive. After all, he’s quite well built and handsome. Even if standing beside him makes me feel like we’re ‘Mutt and Jeff,’ since he’s so tall and I’m short. “Would you mind sitting down, you’re making my neck hurt.” He chuckles and sits on the bench beside him. I rub my neck for a moment and say, “Much better, thank you. How tall are you?”

“I’m 6’5”.”

“Wow! So, who are you?”

“Oh right, I’m John Bailey.”

I nod. “Well, you apparently already know me, so what can I do for you?”

“Andrea, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date this weekend?”

“Umm, I’m busy this weekend, but may I ask you why you’re asking me out? You don’t even know me and as far as I remember, we’ve never even spoken.”

He nods. “That’s true, we haven’t and that’s one reason I’d like to take you out, to get to know you.”

Sighing to myself because of how awkward this is for me, I think, ‘I don’t want to hurt his feelings. He seems like a nice guy.’ “Well, as I said, I’m busy this weekend.”

He shrugs, and asks, “Next weekend then?”

I’ll say this for him, he’s persistent. “Can you give me some time to think about it?”

He nods. “Sure, no problem at all.”

I give him a small smile and say, “Thank you. I promise I’ll give you an answer soon.”

“Thanks. I think we’d have a lot of fun.”

“Assuming I didn’t break my neck trying to look up at you.”

He shakes his head and laughs. “They didn’t say you were funny.”

I smile and shrug. “I need to get to class. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

I head upstairs to my classroom. Once inside, I sit down and blow out my breath.

Alla asks, “What did he want?”

“Guess.”

“Did he asked you out?” I nod. “What did you tell him?”

“He asked me out this weekend and I told him I was busy. He then asked me about next weekend. I asked for time to think about it.”

Chris comes into the classroom and makes a beeline for me. I think, ‘Great just what I need.’

“Andrea, I heard you’re a cheerleader now.”

“That’s right. I tried out yesterday and made the squad.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“I also heard John Bailey asked you out?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, he did.”

“Are you going to go out with him?”

Frowning at him, I flatly state, “It’s none of your business.”

“You really dislike me, don’t you?”

I sigh and tell him, “I neither like, nor dislike you. I told you before, you’ve ignored me for 16 years, so let’s keep it that way. Even if I didn’t feel that way, I have no desire to date someone who’ll just dump me in a month or so and move on to the next better thing. I’m not a toy to be played with until you’re bored and then tossed aside.”

He asks, “Who says I’d do that?” with an irritated expression.

“Your track record says it. Keep it up and you’ll soon have a hard time finding a girl to go out with you.”

“I can’t help it if we don’t fit together.”

I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Chris, I don’t really care what you do, though here’s some free advice. Take it or leave it as you will. Stop jumping into relationships and actually take the time to get to know the girl. If you still like her once you’ve done that, then date her. You’re much more likely to have a long term relationship that way.”

He smirks at me. “Says the virgin who’s never had a boyfriend.”

I surge up out of my seat and glare at him with my eyes blazing. I angrily yell, “That’s right! I’m a virgin! So what?! There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin! That’s far better than jumping into bed with who the hell ever!”

The girls in the room clap and several of them say things like, “You go, girl!” “You tell that man-whore!”

He looks surprised at what the girls are saying. I hear Ms. Edison say, “Mr. Davis, I think you’d best apologize to Ms. Williams.” I look to see her standing in the doorway.

He mutters, “I’m sorry, Andrea.”

“Keep your insincere apology! Don’t talk to me! Don’t even look at me! Stay away from me from now on!” If you can’t tell, I’m still pissed.

“Alright Mr. Davis, come here.” He slinks over to her and she says, “I think it’s time for you to have a conversation with the guidance counselor. Go to his office and see him.” He stiffly walks out the door.

Ms. Edison comes over and asks, “Are you alright?”

I take a breath and blow it out. “I’m still angry, but I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She walks back to the front and the bell rings. Thankfully, nothing else happens. Until lunch that is, when the girls play 20 questions with me about Chris and John. Afterward, Alla and I are walking outside to get some fresh air, I see Chris glaring at me out of the corner of my eye. I glare back and flip him off. There’s just something about that boy that pisses me off and it isn’t just about him ignoring me or what he said today.

He comes stomping over to me and I stare at him impassively as I flatly state, “You don’t listen very well, do you?”

“Fuck you!”

“No thanks, I doubt that micro penis of yours could satisfy anyone,” making Alla crack up, which only makes him angrier.

“You bitch! I can’t believe I ever liked you!”

“Whatever. Just go back to ignoring me, you’ll be a lot happier and a lot less embarrassed.” His expression is irate as he glares at me. Then I notice he’s made fists. “What? Are you going to beat me up now? What a big man you are to think of beating up a girl half a foot shorter and half your weight.” I glance at Alla and say, “Doesn’t the thought of him being able to beat up a small girl make you all hot and bothered?”

She barks out a laugh. “Hardly. Any man who would even think of hitting a woman isn’t a man. He’s a lowlife piece of shit.”

Mia and several other cheerleaders come up behind him and Mia says, “Chris, unless you want us to destroy you as far as the girls in school are concerned, you’ll stay away from Andie.”

“She started it!”

Mia shakes her head. “No she didn’t. I saw the whole thing this morning. Even if I hadn’t, Andie isn’t the type to start fights. This is all about her refusing to go out with you and you being jealous that John asked her out. Now, walk away or I’ll destroy you. If you make me, I’ll make sure that no girl here will ever date you again.”

He storms off into the school.

I blow out my breath and say, “Well, now that was just all kinds of fun.”

Mia asks, “Are you okay?”

I chuckle. “I’m just fine. A bit irked, but that’s all. Let’s hope that will make him stay away from me.”

“Oh, I’m quite sure it will. He knows that if we ask the girls to stay away from him, they will. He’s getting a bad rep with girls already since he changes girlfriends like he does underwear.”

Just the thought of that grosses me out. I shiver exaggeratedly and say, “Yuck. Thanks for the horrible imagery.”

Everyone laughs and we head over to a couple of benches to sit down, enjoy the weather and talk. Truthfully, I’ve enjoyed myself far more at school in the last couple of days than I have over the last few years.

The warning bell rings and we head back inside. The rest of the day went by uneventfully. After the final bell rings for the day, Alla catches Mia, gives her a slip of paper with her address and tells her, “We’ll meet you two there.”

As we make our way out to my car, I keep an eye out for Chris. I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to try something, but he’s proven me wrong once already. As we get close to my car, I unlock it, we get in and head to her Alla’s house.

On the highway, she holds my hand and asks, “Weren’t you scared?”

I nod and reply, “Of course I was. He’s twice my size, but I wasn’t going to just let him bully me.”

She squeezes my hand. “Andie, you’re amazing. I don’t think I could do that.”

I glance at her. “Never let someone bully you and get away with it, or they keep coming after you. 99 times out of a 100 if you stand up to them they’ll leave you alone. I had someone do that to me in 7th grade, I stood up and kept hitting them until the teachers broke it up. I was suspended for a week over it, but no one ever bothered me again.”

“I’ve never had anyone ever try to bully me.”

“Then you’re lucky.”

We soon arrive at her house and I sit on the sofa as she sets out snacks. When she finally sits down beside me, she lightly runs her fingers along my thigh, which send delicious tingles up my spine. I slip a hand behind her neck to pull her to me for a very long, deep and sensuous kiss. Sliding my hand down, I unbutton her blouse and slip my hand inside her bra to play with her nipple, making her moan softly.

She grabs my hand and says, “Not right now. I don’t want to sit through our talk in wet panties.” My petulant expression makes her giggle. I can’t help it, I’ve wanted to have sex with her since this morning. She gives me a soft kiss, smiles at me and says, “Don’t worry, I’m sure they won’t be here too long and we can continue this afterward.”

“Okay. I suppose I can wait for a little while.”

I pull her to me and we cuddle until the doorbell rings. She gets up and goes to answer it. She comes back, followed by Brittany and Mia.

I tell them, “Hi,” with a sunny smile. Alla sits back down beside me with her hip against mine, making me smile and I grab her hand to hold it.

After Mia and Brittany say, “Hi,” they sit on the loveseat opposite of us.

Alla gestures to the coffee table and says, “There’re drinks and snacks if you want any.”

Mia takes a drink, opens it and drinks some of it. She then hands it to Brittany who then drinks some too.

I clear my throat and ask, “So, how did you two get together?”

Brittany shrugs and says, “It was nothing all that special.” She look at Mia and smiles. “At first, I just thought Mia was gorgeous, and as I got to know her better, I fell in love. We were hanging out shopping one day when I helped her try on a dress, she took my breath away after she undressed, I couldn’t stop myself and kissed her right there. I was surprised when she kissed me back. I thought for sure that she’d hate me, but instead I found out she liked me too. We’ve been together ever since.”

Alla asks, “What about your parents, do they know?”

Mia snorts. “Are you kidding me? Both of our parents are hyper-religious! They’d kill us if they ever found out.”

I nod and say, “My mom knows about us and she’s okay with it. All my mom cares about is that I’m happy. On the other hand, my dad is hyper-religious too. He’s like a character that got yanked out of 1950’s family TV show. He’d kick me out of the house if he ever found out I was with Alla.”

Alla squeezes my hand and says, “My parents have no idea about us, but they aren’t that religious, so I have no idea how they’d feel about it.”

Brittany asks, “Then why do you attend Trinity Academy?”

“Because it’s one of the best schools in the area. My parents want me to have a good education, and you know as well as I do that the public schools here are horrible.”

Mia leans forward and asks, “So, how did you two end up together.”

I look at Alla and she smiles at me. Looking back to Mia, I say, “Well, Monday when I came back to school, Alla and I started talking and found out we had a lot in common. After school we came back here and she was having me try on cosplay outfits. She asked me if I had ever kissed anyone, and when I said ‘No’ she kissed me. Honestly, I loved it and asked for another and it was even better. She said I gave her the best kiss she’s ever had. Well, we’ve been together ever since.”

Alla reaches up, caresses my cheek, and kisses the other one, then says, “I’m not about to let you go either.”

Mia asks, “What about Brian?”

She shrugs. “I like Brian. Just not in that way.”

“Are you going to break up with him?”

Alla shakes her head and says, “No. He’s far too busy to make time for me, but he does provide a good cover.”

Brittany nods. “I considered doing the same thing, but Mia is the jealous type.”

“Damn right, I am! You’re mine, and I don’t want anyone else touching you!”

Alla and I giggle at Mia’s antics and I say, “I’d have never imagined that you were that way, Mia.”

Mia looks at me and asks, “Aren’t you jealous that Alla has Brian?”

I shake my head. “No, not really. I know she’ll never let him touch her like I do. How do I explain this? Hmm… Alla and I talked this morning. I like Alla a lot, but I don’t know whether I like boys too. I’m not even sure I’m a lesbian. I can look at you and Brittany and appreciate that you’re both beautiful, but you do nothing for me. When I look at Alla, my heart flutters and I get excited. I’m not sure what that means beyond me wanting to be with her.”

I take a breath and continue, “Anyway, before Monday, I was always ignored by everyone, so I never even considered a relationship until Alla came along. Now that I’m being more open, don’t hide myself and talk to people, they pay attention to me. A lot of attention. When we were walking through school I actually noticed how good looking some guys were. I don’t know if I’ll end up being bisexual or what, but Alla said she’s fine with it as long as we still have each other.”

Brittany says, “Figuring out who and what you are can be tough. I always thought I was straight until Mia came along.”

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually, and the great thing is that I have Alla by my side to help me.”

Alla makes me look at her. “Damn straight, you do,” and kisses me, which makes me grin like an idiot.

Alla looks at them and says, “Now that we know about each other, it’d be great if we could go on double dates, hang out and such. It’d be nice to be able to do that and not have to hide ourselves.”

Brittany smiles and says, “I’d like that too, and it sounds like a lot more fun than the two of us hiding ourselves away from everyone.”

Mia glances at her watch and says, “I’m sorry, but we need to go. We have to pick up my brother from his piano lesson and watch him until my parents get home.”

Alla says, “Okay, but we need to get together to make some plans to hang out sometime.”

Mia nods. She and Brittany stand up, and she replies, “Don’t worry, we’ll do that soon. It’s not like we don’t see each other all the time.”

We stand up, walk them to the door and tell them, “We’ll see you later.” Once she shuts the door, Alla turns to me, grins and says, “Well, what are you standing there for? Get your cute ass up to my room!”