"Mornin' Cheryl," Avery greeted me as she came into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee machine. "Thanks for getting the coffee going."

"You're welcome sis," I replied around the mouthful of toast I was eating.

Jinx added, "Good morning Avery."

My sister just nodded as she had a gulp of her morning beverage, then put a couple slices of bread in the toaster for herself.

The half-demon and I were both sitting at the table having breakfast, but where I had toast and coffee she had some of last night's leftover wings and a glass of water. The two of us had been fairly quiet too, Jinx was mostly focused on her food and I was thinking more about Tabby's story again.

I read the second and third chapters the night before, and while chapter two had some new developments there wasn't as much plot stuff in chapter three.

Chapter two had space-Cheryl getting some genetic modifications and stuff, but the only real development in chapter three was space-Tabby started wiring the AI up to the ship's computer. Other than that, the chapter was mostly about the two main characters having loads of sexy funtimes together for a solid week while their ship was en route to the next planet.

And as much as that was fun to read that kind of thing, it was also a little wild considering my best friend wrote it. The fact that those two characters were basically Tabby's self insert getting it on with someone who had the exact same name as me made it even more wild. Or maybe a little bit weird, I wasn't sure.

That didn't mean I wasn't enjoying it, I really was, but there was some other weirdness beyond the name thing. Like it was strange how different space-Tabby and space-Cheryl were from our real-life selves. Although I couldn't blame Tabby for getting my character so wrong, considering she'd written that stuff months ago and I'd only been Cheryl for real for the last couple days.

Still, it was strange reading about a tall strong smart take-charge amazonian girl when I felt like the opposite of all those things. Like I definitely wasn't tall or strong, and I knew I wasn't terribly smart. And I absolutely wasn't a take-charge kind of person.

It was just as weird reading about space-Tabby being quiet and submissive and stuff. Real-life Tabby had the same body as space-Tabby, thanks to the curses and magic and stuff, but I always thought real-life Tabby was the smart proactive one between the two of us.

In a way it felt like she gave her two characters the opposite personalities, like I thought space-Tabby acted more like me while space-Cheryl acted more like real-life Tabby. Which struck me as really odd since I remembered Tabby said the other day that her self-insert character was supposed to be her ideal self, the sort of person she wanted to be.

Another thing I'd been wondering about was her collar. That hadn't come up yet in the story, but I figured there'd be some information in there sooner or later since it was another thing real-life Tabby sort of inherited from space-Tabby thanks to the magic curse stuff.

"So what are we doing with Jinx today?" Avery asked as she joined us at the table with her toast and coffee.

My sister's question snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over and replied, "I figure we'll bring her to school with us? I'll see if she can sit in on classes with me today. I have a lecture this morning, and practical work in the afternoon. If anyone asks I'll tell them she's our cousin or something, hanging out with us for a while?"

"What'll you do if she gets bored?" Avery asked.

I shrugged, "I can loan her my phone and headset, she can stream something or play games or whatever."

My sister nodded slowly as she had another sip of coffee. Then she looked over at the small half-demon as she asked, "What are we going to do about finding her some clothes? Or have you already solved that somehow?"

"She's all set for today I think?" I replied. "But we should probably take her shopping for clothes soon I think."

Jinx was wearing the same clothes she had on at dinner yesterday, with the addition of a pair of small white socks and some cute white and pink sneakers.

My sister raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Where'd you find shoes that small already? Did you sneak out for some shopping last night or something?"

"Oh uh..." I grimaced then admitted, "They were actually yours sis? One of your older pairs, but Jinx and I cursed them to make them too small for you so they'd fit her ok."

Avery gave me a hard look as she demanded, "Why'd you have to sacrifice a pair of my shoes for that? Why not give up some of your own?"

I shrugged, "You have way more shoes than me? And like I said, they were an older pair. I haven't seen you wear them in ages, so I figured it would be ok."

She watched me for a couple more seconds then in a pointed tone commented, "I suppose I shouldn't bother asking where you got that big black hoodie then? Considering last I heard, all your clothes were small and skimpy and colourful."

"Uh," I blushed. "Right. Don't ask about the hoodie."

She sighed and shook her head, but at least she didn't bother yelling or complaining. Instead she just gave me another look as she munched on some toast.

Me and Jinx were both finished eating by that point so I gathered up our dishes and took them over to the sink. As I was rinsing them off Avery came up with another question.

"What about the tail?" she asked as she looked over at the two of us. "Jinx can you hide it or something? Because you cannot spend a day hanging out at college with that sticking out where everyone can see it."

She nodded, "Sure. How's this look?"

Avery and I both watched as the half-demon carefully wrapped her tail around her narrow waist, then pulled her purple hoodie down overtop to hide it.

"All right," my sister said. "As long as it stays out of sight like that, it ought to be ok."

She looked to me again and said, "If anything crazy happens it's your responsibility Cheryl. Just keep that in mind, ok? I'm too close to graduation to let anything screw things up for me. And our budget's tight enough that we really can't afford me not being able to start working full time next month. We both need me to pass and get good grades."

"I know sis," I sighed. "I'll try and be good, and I'll try to make sure Jinx is good too."

"Thanks Cheryl," Avery gave me a weak smile.

After finishing her toast she added, "I know you don't get in trouble on purpose, and I know you usually mean well, but please just try and be extra careful about stuff."

"I will," I promised.

"I will too!" Jinx added with her usual enthusiasm. "Extra careful and extra good!"

For some reason that didn't seem to set my sister's mind at ease. Instead she suppressed a grimace then finished the last of her coffee, before adding her dishes to the other ones I'd left in the sink.

It was nearly eight o'clock by that point, so both me and Avery grabbed our stuff for school then headed downstairs to the front door while Jinx followed along behind us.

"Have you heard from Tabitha this morning?" Avery asked. "Maybe you should give her a call, to see if she still wants a drive."

"I'll check," I said as I pulled out my phone.

All three of us went to the same college which was super convenient. Even though we were all in completely different programs they were all at the same campus so Avery almost always offered both me and my best friend a drive. Which was handy because the location was the opposite of convenient.

We lived in a smallish town a little ways north-west of Toronto, and the nearest post-secondary education was in the next town over, closer to the city. On a good day it was about a twenty-minute drive, but most days it was more like a half hour each way. And even longer in the winter. When we had to take the bus then it was forty-five minutes at the best of times, and usually took at least an hour.

I was halfway through composing a text when Tabby arrived at our front door. As usual she knocked twice then let herself in.

"Oh hey everyone," she smiled when she found us all right there in the hall. "Looks like I'm just in time."

She was dressed in another pair of tight dark pants and black sneakers, a cute t-shirt and a spring jacket. Her backpack was slung over her left shoulder, and her ears were sort of low to either side while her tail hung down between her legs and the tip twitched around like she was nervous or anxious.

Which I definitely felt too. I was wearing cute pink sneakers and a pair of colourful thigh-highs, a knee-length skirt and a tight blouse with a v-neck that showed off my curves and my cleavage. Except all that was hidden under the big black hoodie I swiped from Avery the day before. And I had my new old green backpack with me, and I'd transferred my ID and stuff in there so I didn't have to carry both that and my purse today.

"Are we all ready to go?" Avery asked as she looked around at the rest of us.

"Are we bringing Jinx to college with us?" my best friend asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. She's going to sit in on classes with me today. Hopefully."

"They didn't trust me to leave me alone here," the small half-demon added. "That and we don't know yet how far away from Cheryl I can get, since I'm bound to her and everything."

"Right," Tabby nodded slowly.

Other than that we were all ready, so the four of us set out. Avery locked the front door then unlocked her car, and after a very brief debate about who got to sit where we all climbed in. Me and Jinx were in the back seat since we were the smallest and didn't need the extra head-room, Avery got the drivers seat since it was her car, and Tabby got to ride shotgun. Not that she was all that tall, but with her fuzzy ears sticking up it meant she needed another half dozen centimetres of clearance up top.

On the other hand it took her an extra minute or two to get her long furry tail sorted out. Apparently cars weren't designed for catgirls, or any other people with long furry tails that got in the way. Although Jinx didn't seem to mind, but her tail was thinner and she'd already wrapped it around her waist so it wasn't sticking out the back.

Once Tabby had her tail all sorted we finally set out on the half-hour drive to college. Normally I'd bug my sister about putting on some music for the drive, but this time there were plenty of things for all of us to talk about.

"Hey Tabs," I addressed my best friend, "There were a few things you sort of hinted at back on Friday, you said if I hadn't figured it out you'd fill me in by the end of the weekend. Then the stuff with Jinx happened and we forgot to talk about it. So I was wondering, since we have time here in the car what was it you were talking about that I didn't get?"

Tabby and Avery exchanged a glance, and my sister shrugged before her attention returned to the road again. Then my friend responded, "I guess we really do have to spell it out for you, huh? I know you keep claiming you're not trans, but I'm pretty sure you are."

I was about to protest but she kept talking, "You don't have to hate your original body to be trans. Dysphoria comes in a lot of different forms Cheryl. Remember when you were showing me how your old pictures were changed? As a guy you were always moody and gloomy and you barely ever smiled. As Cheryl you're a lot more positive and upbeat, you're happier and you seem to be in a much better mood."

"And when I asked if you wanted to talk to trans guys and get started on T so you could start feeling like a guy again you looked pretty uncomfortable with the idea," she reminded me. "So maybe you didn't hate your old body, but you really seem to like this one a lot better?"

"That's how it is for some people," Tabs continued. "Not every trans girl knows she's a girl right from the start. Some folks need to experiment, some people need to try out different styles and names and pronouns, before they find what's best for them. Or in your case, sometimes you have to accidentally curse yourself into a cute hot coed in order to figure out that you were actually a girl all along."

Avery added with a smirk, "And some people still need their best friend to spell it out for them, even after all that."

By that point I was blushing and cringing and doing my best to hide in my big hoodie. After a few quiet seconds Tabby twisted around to look over her shoulder at me.

"Are you ok Cheryl?" she asked. "I hope it wasn't too difficult hearing all that?"

"I'm fine," I mumbled. "Thanks for spelling it out. You're right that I never really hated my old body, I just kind of accepted it for what it was. And I thought that meant I wasn't trans, even though I was kind of envious of you sometimes."

Tabs nodded, "I know cutie. I've been waiting for like a year now for you to hatch, dropping hints now and then, but your shell was way too dense to crack on its own."

"Huh?" I frowned.

Without taking her eyes off the road Avery explained, "Trans girls who don't know they're trans yet are referred to as eggs. Because eggs hatch into chicks? Tabby and I were both pretty sure you were an egg, but it took forever for you to hatch."

"Oh," I grimaced. "That's why you kept mentioning eggs the other night."

My sister nodded, "Right. Now I don't mean to change the subject, but we're ten minutes from the campus and I'm wondering how you two are planning to deal with the awkward explanations? You know folks are going to ask, right? Cheryl, nobody's even going to recognize you. And Tabby, folks are going to notice the ears and tail."

"Yeah I know," I frowned. "I have my student card, I guess if the profs ask I'll just show them my card and tell them who I am, or who I was. Then I'll tell them I accidentally got turned into a girl over the weekend and ask them to use my new name from now on."

"I'm not sure they're going to buy that Cheryl," Tabby said. "They're going to know it's impossible to completely transition in two days. Especially considering how drastically you've changed."

I shrugged, "Well what are you going to tell people about how you've changed?"

My friend shrugged, "My face isn't that different, so folks won't have any trouble recognizing me. If anyone asks about the ears and tail I'll tell them I lost a bet and have to wear cosplay for the rest of the semester. It's only three more weeks, so hopefully they'll buy it."

"Your ears and tail move Tabby," Avery stated in a flat tone. "And you don't have human ears anymore. I don't think they're going to buy the 'costume' excuse."

Tabs grimaced, "Yeah... If they don't buy the cosplay thing then I'm just going to tell them it's magic and refuse to say another word about it. Or I'll tell them it's none of their business."

"Actually that sounds like a good idea," I smiled. "I'll do that too. If anyone asks or makes a fuss, I mean."

Avery slowly shook her head and sighed, "Just try not to get expelled or anything. And keep an eye on Jinx. And don't curse anybody!"

That made both me and Jinx pout, but neither of us bothered to argue.

When we reached the campus Avery found a place to park, then we all split up and went our separate directions. Except Jinx who followed me.

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