Instead of meeting up at the car and heading back home after class my sister sent a text telling me and Tabby to meet her at a popular cafe near the campus. It took me an extra couple minutes to round up Jinx, then after we left the building we spotted Tabs ahead of us and hurried to catch up.

Then the three of us walked together from the campus to the coffee place, where Avery was already waiting for us. She'd even snagged a table which was nice, the place tended to get super busy as half the college students descended on it when classes were over.

There was already a line but the baristas were pretty efficient so it moved quick enough, and soon we all had our drinks. I got a chocolate mocha frap, Tabby had an iced latte, and Jinx got some creamy pink dragonfruit thing that I couldn't figure out if it was a healthy fruit drink or more like dessert. And Avery was already sipping her usual vanilla latte.

As we all got seated my sister asked, "So how did it go? Did you three get in any trouble?"

"I got a lot of funny looks," Tabby replied. "And my tail got grabbed twice. But none of my profs said anything."

Then with a grimace Tabs continued, "On the other hand some friends in my classes asked me a ton of questions."

"Obviously I didn't say anything about Cheryl or Jinx," she added after lowering her voice, "But I did have to admit that magic was involved. And a couple things came up that I want to talk about later, when we're not out in public."

Avery nodded, "I guess that's about the best outcome we could have hoped for, in your case."

"What about you sis?" she asked as she focused her attention on me. "How'd your day go?"

I had a mouthful of my sugary chocolatey coffee drink, but I shrugged as I gulped it down. "My lecture this morning was fine. A couple people were staring at me, or maybe they were checking me out I guess? But nobody said anything. The prof didn't even seem to notice or care. Nobody even said anything about Jinx being there. I gave her my headset and phone and she streamed something and it was fine."

"Ok," my sister kept her eyes on her. "That was this morning. What about your afternoon class?"

I shrugged again, "That wasn't quite as easy, but it was ok. The prof wanted to know who I was, so I had to tell him. I showed him my updated student card and had to explain that I was a guy last week but now I was Cheryl. He didn't seem too freaked out about that, but I had like everyone else in the class staring at me. Nobody gave me a hard time though."

"The only other issue was the prof wouldn't let Jinx sit in on the class," I added with a slight cringe. "So she had to hang out in the hall for that."

My sister's attention shifted to the small ravenette demon as she asked, "How'd that go? Did you keep out of trouble? I suppose the fact that you're here and not at campus security - or a police station - must be a good sign."

Jinx was slurping up the last of her bright pink drink already, sitting back on her chair with her feet swinging back and forth beneath her. She looked up with a happy grin and replied with her typical enthusiasm, "It was boring! But it was fine! And also I have some good news! I figured out what the pointy bit at the end of my tail does!"

"Oh no," Avery grimaced. "So what's the bad news? Because there's no way that statement isn't followed up by bad news."

Her grimace became a cringe as she lowered her voice and asked, "You didn't hurt anyone, did you?"

"Nah," Jinx shook her head. "She wasn't hurt. Just kind of sleepy and quiet. She was fine though."

Tabby asked, "What happened exactly? Who wasn't hurt?"

The small demon shrugged, "I got bored while Cheryl was in class, so I wandered around the hallway until some mean girl started pestering me. She wouldn't leave me alone, and when I tried to walk away she grabbed me. It was a reflexive thing, since I'm Cheryl's personal property nobody else is allowed to touch me without permission."

After pausing to slurp noisily at the last few drops in her cup she continued her story, "When she grabbed my arm I poked her in the leg with my tail. Then she acted all sleepy and quiet. She found a bench and lay down there and fell asleep."

"How do you know it's not some kind of lethal poison?" Avery asked in a quiet worried voice. "Should we find this girl and call her an ambulance?"

Jinx shook her head, "Nah she'll be fine. Once it happened I remembered how it works and what it does. Pushy girl will sleep it off and be fine in another hour or two."

"So what's it do exactly?" Tabby asked. She seemed really curious as she added, "The way you described it, it almost sounds like some kind of sedative? Or a narcotic maybe."

"Yeah I guess," the small demon replied with another shrug. "It just makes humans really sleepy for a few hours, then they're fine. It doesn't hurt them or anything, and after it wears off there's no lasting effects."

That seemed to put Avery's mind at ease. Instead of questioning Jinx more she let her attention drift away as she looked around the cafe until she was staring in the direction of the counter while she had another deep sip of her latte.

After a half minute or so I finally spoke up again, "Why'd you want to hang out here this afternoon anyways sis? I figured we'd be heading over to the discount mart to try and find some more clothes for Jinx."

"You know Avery's got a thing for that cute goth barista," Tabby responded with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure that's why we're here, considering the cute goth in question is working the counter today."

That made me roll my eyes, "If you're into her then go ask her out, sis! Don't just stare at her like some kind of creepy stalker."

Avery cringed and told me to shush. With her cheeks going pink she added, "I can't ask her out, she's already got a girlfriend. Remember we saw her two weeks ago? She came to talk to the barista, then they left together at the end of her shift."

"That wasn't her girlfriend," I stated confidently. "They never kissed, they didn't even hold hands. For that matter your crush wasn't even happy to see her. They're probably just roommates or something. So go talk to her at least, see if you can get her phone number? Or give her yours!"

My sister continued to blush as she shook her head, "Just drop it please Cheryl? I'm not going to go give her my number, let alone ask for hers. I'm sure she already gets hit on enough as it is, the last thing she needs is me adding to it."

I frowned at her across the table, "Sis it's been like a year since you had a girlfriend or a boyfriend. And at least eight months since you even went on a date. Life isn't all school and study and work you know? You need to have some fun, you need to do stuff for yourself now and then. If you're into the barista at least try and talk to her or something? Worst that can happen is she's not into you."

"It's the last three weeks of college," Avery replied as she frowned back at me. "Study and schoolwork are everything right now. And work is a close second, since the minute I graduate I'm hoping to go full time."

She lowered her voice slightly but her tone got even more serious as she added, "And on top of school and study and work I also have to look after you. That's practically a full time job in itself you know. And now it looks like I'm going to have to look after Jinx as well. So just let it go, ok Cheryl?"

My shoulders slumped and I sighed, "I'm not a kid anymore Avery. I appreciate everything you've done for me, and I know you ended up taking on all the responsibilities when mom got sick. But you don't have to replace her you know? You don't have to sacrifice your own happiness and fun, especially not for me."

"Happiness and fun don't put food on the table," she stated in a flat voice. "They don't pay the bills, and they don't buy new clothes for half-demons who show up out of the blue and become my responsibility to look after."

I slumped further down in my chair and sighed again, "Sorry Avery. What about dad? Maybe we can ask him to send some more money for a while?"

"We don't have to tell him about Jinx," I added, "But like, we could tell him I turned into a girl and need a new wardrobe and stuff?"

My sister hesitated, "I thought about that on Saturday. About what we were going to tell him, I mean? I have no idea how he'll take it. And honestly, we're lucky he sends us anything as it is. I'm worried he might freak out when he finds out he doesn't have a son anymore. If he cuts us off completely we'll be in trouble."

I frowned, "Why would he freak out about me being a girl now? He hasn't been around since I was ten or something, the last time we even saw him was five or six years ago. And it's not like we did a lot of father-son stuff together even when he was here."

"I'm just saying we don't want to take the chance," she replied. "Maybe once I'm done school and working full time it'll be easier, but odds are you're going to need to get a job sooner or later. You've been lucky so far."

"You told me I didn't need to work," I reminded her. "I offered to get a job to help pay the bills after we lost mom, remember?"

Avery sighed, "I know. I was worried if you started working you'd drop out of school or something. Getting you a good education is more important."

Both Tabby and Jinx had been quiet while the conversation between my sister and I got so serious, but my best friend finally spoke up. Or not really, she kept her voice down but she had something to say.

"I know this isn't the place to discuss it," Tabby said as she leaned forward and looked at Avery and me, "But I was thinking since magic sort of caused this immediate money problem, maybe magic can solve it too? Maybe Jinx has a curse that'll somehow address the situation, if we spell it out to her so she understands all the details?"

Avery didn't seem too excited about that idea. She frowned and responded just as quietly, "Let's wait till we're not in a public place to talk about that kind of thing."

"Maybe we can talk about it when we get home then?" I asked. "For now, what are we going to do? Do we have time to go look at clothes and stuff before we head back home?"

Tabby looked at Avery and smiled, "Or do you want to get another round of drinks so you can stay here and stare at your crush for a while longer?"

My sister blushed, but she definitely glanced towards the counter where the goth barista was taking someone's order.

I grinned and quietly urged, "Just go talk to her sis. There's only a few more weeks till you graduate, then you might never see her again."

For a second or two it looked like she was actually tempted. Then Avery shook her head, "Maybe another time. If you're all done your drinks we'll head over to that outlet store on Main and see if we can find some clothes and things for Jinx."

"Is that ok with you Tabby?" she added as she looked to my best friend. "Do you have anything going on that you need to head straight home tonight?"

The cute catgirl shook her head, "I'm good Avery, thanks for asking."

My sister took a couple seconds for one last long look at the goth barista, then the four of us got up and headed out together. Ten minutes later we were wandering around the women's clothing section of the outlet store, looking for stuff that would fit our tiny half-demon friend.

Not that any of us had much money, but we ended up getting her some of the most important things, like undies and some bras, a few more pairs of leggings and some t-shirts. After that we went by the health care section and Avery made me get a few women's health things that I was going to need now that I was a girl.

There was stuff Tabby would need now too, so she grabbed some of that as well. Then my best friend also suggested I should get myself some make-up, she even helped me pick out a few things. We didn't get any name brands, we stuck to the discount brands to keep the cost down as much as possible.

When we were done there I suggested visiting the electronics section so we could get Jinx a phone, but even the cheapest pay as you go model was way outside our budget. Especially after all the other stuff we'd already put in our cart.

And considering she didn't really know how to use a phone and didn't have anyone to talk to outside the three of us, it was kind of an unnecessary expense anyways.

So we forgot about getting her a phone for now, and after we went through the checkout we put everything in the trunk then we all got back in the car for the drive back home. It was pretty much rush hour by that point, which meant we were looking at a good forty-five minute drive.

"What's everyone feel like for dinner tonight?" I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot. "Tabby are you going to hang out with us, or go have dinner with your folks?"

Avery responded, "We definitely can't afford to order in anymore for a while. I'll be cooking up whatever we have in the fridge that's still fresh."

My best friend added, "I can hang out for a bit when we get back to your place? I definitely want to have that conversation with you and Avery and Jinx, about figuring out if there's a magic solution to the money situation? But after that I should probably go home for dinner with my folks."

That got a sigh out of my sister, "Right. We still have to talk about that."

She didn't sound too eager about it, but I figured we should hear Tabby out. After all, the curse magic did some good things for both me and Tabby, maybe there were other ways we could use it to help us out.

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