“This is going to work.”

 

“This is not going to work.”

 

Allyssa put a finger on Scarlett’s lips. “Shh, baby. This is going to work.”

 

Scarlett smiled and gave it a small kiss. 

 

“I love it when you call me that,” she blushed.

 

Allyssa responded by giving Scarlett a kiss on the nose. 

 

“I love it when you’re being adorable.”

 

Scarlett blushed more. She sat opposite Allyssa on the sofa. They were both a bit tired, a bit groggy, and the sun hadn’t even begun to rise yet. Hecate sat in the kitchen, sipping her coffee, one eye on the two kids. Seeing the two of them reminded her of how she used to be with Gabrielle, and it brought a smile to her face.

 

Allyssa handed her the face mask, and she put it on, and then pulled up the hoodie. It hid just how long Scarlett’s hair was, and slightly masked the fact that she was a couple of inches smaller than she used to be. The face mask hid a lot, but it didn’t hide her perfect eyebrows. Allyssa had to fill them in a bit to make them seem bushier, but it didn’t help much. Enough, hopefully? A pair of sunglasses hid her beautiful red eyes. 

 

Two shirts, a training bra of Allyssa’s and the baggy hoodie hid her breasts… just about enough. If she hunched. It was going to have to do. Hecate gave her a once-over. 

 

“That's gonna have to do.”

 

The way to school was anxiety and anticipation. Allyssa held Scarlett’s hand the entire way. Her leg bounced excitedly. Scarlett shot her glances, trusting smiles and anxious lip bites. Allyssa squeezed her hand several times trying to get her to relax.

 

“This is going to work,” she mouthed.

 

“Aaa,” Scarlet responded.

 

“You two okay back there?” Hecate asked.

 

“Yes, Ms. H!” Allyssa said enthusiastically.

 

“Aaa,” Scarlett agreed.

 

As Hecate parked around the back of the school, she turned around to look at Scarlett.

 

“Okay, hun, I’m very proud of you for doing this. You’re being very brave. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to be right by my phone, okay? Same thing if they want to call me to verify stuff. I’m working from home today so I can be here in twenty minutes if you need me to be. Five if it’s an emergency.”

 

“Mom, be safe, please!”

 

“I’ll be fine!”

 

“The car won’t be?!”

 

“I wasn’t talking about coming by car,” Hecate grinned fiendishly.

 

“Now,” she kissed the palm of her hand and bopped Scarlett on the forehead. “You have a great day at school. And you,” she shot Allyssa a glance that made her wonder if she’d done her homework, until she noticed the softness in Hecate’s edge. “Take care of her, okay?”

 

“I promise, Ms. H.”

 

“Good girls. Both of you.”

 

They got out of the car, bags at the ready, and waved at Hecate who drove away with all of the confidence of dropping her child off at school for the first time. She was already calling Gabrielle by the time she rounded the corner.

 

Scarlett and Allyssa made their way stealthily through the halls to the principal’s office. After a brief pause, their knock was answered by a curt “enter.”

 

They shuffled their way in. Mrs. Fuentes was a woman in her late thirties who looked like she was made to be a headmistress. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She looked like a superheroine’s alter ego. Her suit was perfectly pressed, her glasses were big enough to make her look both approachable without diminishing her air of authority. 

 

“Miss Wright. And… the Damien boy?” She hazarded. Scarlett tried hard not to cringe. This was going to be a little harder than she thought.

 

“Good morning, Mrs. Fuentes,” Allyssa said cheerfully. She’d noticed it too, of course, but she was trying to move forward as quickly as possible.

 

“Oh, yes. How can I help you two?”

 

Allyssa sat down in the chair, and Scarlett awkwardly followed her lead.

 

“So, last Monday, D-- Damien had a flare-up of h-is illness. Hhhe has been finding it really hard to speak ever since, the light hurts their eyes and hhhe’s too cold.”

 

“Why are you talking like that, girl? Are you okay?”

 

“Y-- Yes, Mrs. Fuentes. Just worried for my friend,” she lied.

 

“What are you saying, then, miss Wright?”

 

Allyssa fished Hecate’s mother’s note from her pocket. It said much of what she’d just said, with both her signature and her phone number at the bottom. 

 

“Her… I mean, his mother wanted to ask if it was okay if they were exempt from asking questions in class, and they could keep the sunglasses and stuff on in class.”

 

Mrs. Fuentes shot a look over the rim of her glasses. Allyssa grinned sheepishly. “She also said to call her if you didn’t believe the note.”

 

Taking an engraved pen from the desk, Mrs. Fuentes signed the note right next to Hecate’s jagged signature with a flourish. “That won’t be necessary, miss Wright. Thank you. I’m assuming you will be ‘shepherding’, for lack of a better word, young Damien around?”

 

Allyssa nodded. “We share the same classes, and the details of hhhis condition aren’t… we don’t want the other kids to know too much about it, you know?”

 

Mrs. Fuentes considered that for a moment. “Taking care of your fellow student is admirable, miss Wright. I commend you for going out of your way like that.”

 

Allyssa beamed with pride. “Thank you, Mrs. Fuentes!”

 

The headmistress shot her a warm smile. “Thank you, miss Wright. I’ll notify the rest of the staff. That’ll be all.”

 

They got out of the room before awkward questions could be asked and made their way to class. Armed with the note and support from the principal, the first few classes were easy to hide during. Scarlett sat at the back of the class, and Allyssa next to her, supposedly to keep an eye on her health. The teachers didn’t object once they saw the beautiful, curly signature, and they felt confident this was, indeed going to work. 

 

Until Scarlett had to go to the bathroom. There were some girls waiting outside, so there was no choice but to go into the men’s room. It felt like trespassing. When she came back out, Allyssa had been talking to Kelly, the one girl still waiting outside and a class friend of Allyssa’s. Scarlett waved sheepishly.

 

“Ready to head back to class?” 

 

“Yeah,” Scarlett said softly, and her eyes grew wide as she realized she’d spoken out loud in front of the other girl. 

 

“Damien?” Kelly frowned. “Are you… hold on…”

 

She looked closer. Allyssa panicked and dragged both of them in the disabled stall.

 

“What the hell is going on here, Alli? Why is your friend Damien… what is your friend Damien?”

 

“Look, on Monday the condition played up at the pool…”

 

Kelly interrupted her. 

 

“Wait, is this about the pentagram? Some kid from junior year found it because they lost their backpack. Wait…”

 

Before either of them could stop her, Kelly stepped forward and yanked the face mask down.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

Scarlett stood frozen. She knew she was still partly recognizable. The game was up. Kelly looked at Allyssa with a mixture of awe and fear.

 

“Did you do this?”

 

“Did I… What?!”

 

“You turned your friend into a girl! What the fuck, Allyssa?”

 

Allyssa looked at her dumbfounded. This was somehow even sillier than the actual explanation. 

 

“Wh--... Do you think I turned S-- Damien into a girl? What? Why?”

 

“I don’t know! What, are you, like, a witch or something?”

 

“Am I a wi--... Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now?”

 

“It makes perfect sense, you’re just that kind of person.”

 

Allyssa frowned.

 

“What do you mean, ‘I’m that kind of person’? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

 

“Chill, Alli. I mean that like, you’re cool and witchy.”

 

“Oh.”

 

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, then Kelly turned to Scarlett.

 

“Do you want her to turn you back? If I threaten to tell people she’ll have no choice but to--...”

 

“No!” Scarlett squeaked, then coughed awkwardly. “No, I’m… I’m good like this. But people can’t know just yet.”

 

“Ohhh, I get it.”

 

She didn’t.

 

Kelly looked at Allyssa. “So you like, did him a favour, then? Or something?”

 

“Her,” Allyssa and Scarlett said simultaneously.

 

“All right, cool. Anyway can you teach me?”

 

“Can I… what?”

 

Kelly made an exasperated, overly dramatic sigh.

 

“I want to be able to turn annoying guys into girls too, duh!”

 

Allyssa laughed. Kelly didn’t get it.

 

“If you teach me how to do magic, I won’t tell a soul.”

 

Scarlett and Allyssa shared a glance. This was a pickle and a half, and they weren’t really sure how to fix it until Allyssa had an idea.

 

“How about, after school, you come to Sc-- Damien’s house? I’ll teach you some things there.”

 

Kelly nodded excitedly. Behind her, Scarlett had realized what Allyssa was planning, and grinned a very sharp and toothy grin.

 

“All right, cool.” Kelly made her way to the door and winked. “I won’t tell a soul, Alli. Your secret is safe with me.”

 

“Thank you so much, Kelly,” Allyssa feigned. When the door closed behind her, Scarlett locked the door.

 

“I think I have to call my mother.”

 

Allyssa stepped closer pinning her against the door.

 

“That can wait a few minutes.”

 

Scarlett blushed purple.

 

“Kay.”

 

“Good girl.”