From: Bill Hart <B_HART@mscsoftware.com>
Subject: SRU: High School Reunion
Date: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 12:01 PM

Authors Notes:SRU: High School Reunion
Part 0 of 10 - Author's Notes
by
Bill Hart


This is the third anniversary story for the SRU universe.  It's a
little late, but somethings can't be helped.

The first story specifically designated as SRU (although I spelled it
all out the first couple of posts) was posted to the TSA-TALK mailing
list on October 8, 1999.

At first, I wasn't sure if I would have the time to write an
anniversary story.  There was the crossover series with the Altered
Fates universe to consider, although that project now looks dead.
And I didn't have an idea.

But then, after a busy October 2nd (an ARRL SW Regional Conference
in the morning and afternoon, following by my 30-year high school
reunion in the evening and early morning), I was driving home and
had an idea.  Although I had the story fairly well plotted out by
the anniversary date, it obviously wasn't ready to be posted.

This may very well be the final story I post to Mindy's TG-Fiction
list.  It's not because I want it to be the last story; it's just
that I don't generally write fast enough to write another before
the list itself joins its progenitor Fictionmania in our memories.

But for now, it's still there, and I have a story to post.

As always, enjoy.  Or not.

It's your choice, just as it's always been, regardless of what others
might try to tell you.

Bill
bill.hart@mscsoftware.com








SRU: High School Reunion
Part 1 
by
Bill Hart


Mark Russell sat at the desk right alongside the one occupied by his
longtime best friend Ralph Jackson.  They'd known each other since
they were little boys, just barely able to walk.  Including the four
years they'd spent at the State University, they had attended school
together since kindergarten.

Shortly after their graduation from the university, both of them had
applied to and subsequently received job offers from the same small
company.  For the best friends, it was a dream come true; not only did
they share an apartment, they were able to work together, drive into
work together, and their desks sat side by side.  They worked long
hours without a single complaint, which greatly pleased their boss and
the company's owner, Mr. Willerson, whose one wish was that his own
sons would work as hard as his two best employees had done since he'd
hired them six years earlier.

But tonight was their ten-year high school reunion.

After ten years, both of them were still single, and, at this moment,
neither of them had any serious attachments.  That wasn't very unusual
for Ralph, who had never seemed overly serious about any of the girls
he'd ever dated.  But Mark was a little distraught - just two days
ago, he had broken up with Laurel Traylor.

Mark had been dating Laurel fairly steadily over the past year.  He'd
been thinking of asking her to marry him, but every time he'd tried
something unexpected had always prevented him from popping the
question.  She was just a few years younger than he was.  He'd asked
her to go with him to his reunion tonight, and she'd readily accepted.
However, that was before their big fight and breakup.  And now, having
already paid out the $176 per couple fee required by the reunion
committee, he was stuck with an extra ticket.

As he'd discussed his situation with his good friend Ralph, who had,
as a student, never been much of a joiner or expressed much school
spirit, he'd still been surprised to discover his friend hadn't sent
his money back.  Ralph had simply decided that he wasn't going.  He
had seen no reason, good, bad, or indifferent, to pay good money to
attend some social function with either the snobs who had ignored him
or any of those other assholes who had made his life hell throughout
four very long years of high school.

When lunchtime arrived, Mark and Ralph headed across the street to the
little sandwich shop in the mall, as they habitually did every Friday
for lunch.

"Do you want to go with me to the reunion tonight, Ralph?"

"What the hell for, Mark?  All of those snobs and assholes never gave
us the time of day ten years ago.  What makes you think they'll give a
shit whether or not either of us shows up tonight?"

"I know," replied Mark with a sigh.  "But I already spent the money
on two tickets.  And it's non-refundable.  I really hate seeing the
$88 I spent for Laurel going to waste."

"You're still going?  I can't believe you're serious."

"Didn't I just tell you I already paid out all that money to go.  If I
wasn't thrilled about seeing half of what I paid going to waste, what
the hell makes you think I'd willingly throw the whole damn amount
away?"

"I guess that's true; I hadn't thought about it like that.  It's a
shame that money doesn't grow on trees," smiled Ralph.  "But, let's
say I decide to go with you tonight; do I have to pay you back?"

"Only if you want to, Ralph."

"Okay, then I guess I'll go - just to keep you company.  If I have a
good time, which I really doubt is possible, then I'll pay you back."

* * * * * *

As they reached the mall, they entered, as they usually did, through
the seldom-used side entrance.

"You know something, Ralph, I don't really feel like having a sandwich
today," said Mark.  "What else would you like to have for lunch?"

"I don't know," replied Ralph with a smile.  "How about pizza?"

"Again?"

"What's wrong with eating pizza.  I love pizza."

"But everyday?  And for all three meals?"

"Look Mark, if we have pizza today, then I'll pick up the tab."  Ralph
began to laugh.  "It's the least I can do for someone who's taking
little old me to our ten-year reunion tonight."

Mark laughed.  "Okay, then we'll have pizza for lunch.  But no
anchovies, or the deal's off."

But as they made their way across the mall towards the pizza shop,
Ralph caught sight of a small shop tucked away in an out-of-the-way,
nearly unnoticeable, nook next to the Hallmark store.  Considering how
often he was in the mall, Ralph thought it odd that he'd never seen
that place before.  "Say Mark, do you have any idea when that odd
little place over there opened up?"

"What odd little place?"

"That strange looking place over there; the one squeezed between the
Hallmark store and the Kinko's."

"There's nothing between those two stores," said Mark.  "There can't
be; they share a wall."  But as he looked across in that direction, he
was surprised to see that a small shop had actually been wedged in
between the other two stores somehow.  "Spells R Us," he read from the
old-fashioned sign hanging above the door.  "I've never heard of them
before.  I wonder what kind of stuff they sell."

"Why don't we go and take a quick peek inside?" suggested Ralph, as he
began walking towards the door of little shop.

"What?  And miss having your pizza?"

"I think the pizza will keep for a few more minutes," replied Ralph.
"I'm just curious."

"They say curiosity killed the cat," chided Mark.

"That's just some old wives' tale," smiled Ralph, "which means you and
I should be perfectly safe.  The last time I checked, we were neither
old nor wives."

As they reached the door of the shop, they inexplicably paused in
front of it for a moment.  "Do you still want to go inside?" asked
Mark hesitantly.  "Or should we just forget the whole thing and go
have that pizza instead?"

"We're going inside."

Ralph reached for the door, then turned the knob and slowly opened it.
Overhead, a little bell tinkled to announce their arrival.  And as
soon as Mark and Ralph had stepped across the threshold, the door
slowly swung shut behind them.

"This is a really odd place," said Mark, as he quickly scanned the
nearly empty shelves of the shop.  "There's next to nothing inside
this place to buy."

"You're right, this is really weird," agreed Ralph.  "You know, I've
heard the rents for even the smallest stores in this mall are really
outlandish.  I wonder how whoever runs this place makes any money
without having much stock on hand?"

"It sure looks like we wasted our time coming in here.  I don't think
there's much sense in wasting any more time sticking around here any
longer."

"I guess not."

However, before they had time to turn towards door, a wizened old man,
huffing and puffing, wearing an equally worn, almost ancient looking,
bathrobe entered from the back storeroom.  "I'm terribly sorry about
being a few minutes late, as well as not being here to greet you on
your arrival, Ralph and Mark," he apologized.  "But I was otherwise
occupied with a minor, but still quite important, matter I've been
working on for quite some time now."

Ralph and Mark looked at each other with surprise.  In near unison
they asked the old man, "How did you know our names?"

The old man sighed.  "Do you two have any idea just how many times
I've answered that very question in my life?"

The boys shook their heads.

"I thought not.  I've answered that particular question more times
than you could possibly imagine.  I'd guess the answer at - in the
words of Carl Sagan - billions and billions of times, at least."  He
glanced towards the counter.  "No wonder you asked how I knew your
names, my sign is missing.  But, as it's lunchtime, I suppose it must
have gone out for a quick bite to eat," he mumbled.  "But none of that
really answers your question; does it?"

The boys simply nodded.

"It's really quite simple; I know your names because I'm a wizard."
The old man beamed.

"You're a wizard?" they asked in disbelief.  Ralph looked at Mark, and
Mark looked back at Ralph.

"I am not - to use your vernacular - 'a loony tune'," proclaimed the
old man.

The boys were once again stunned.  "How did you know I was thinking
that?" they asked, still in near unison.

"I told you, I'm a wizard," he replied, knowing he didn't want to try
and explain to them how many people assumed him mad and jumped to
their same incorrect conclusion; it was bad for the mystique and
ambiance he tried to present to his clientele.  "Welcome to my humble
little shop of things arcane."

"What are we doing here?" asked Ralph.

Mark gave his friend a puzzled look.  "We're here because you got
curious about what was being sold in this shop."

"That's reasonably close, Mark," replied the wizard.  "But you're
actually here because you need something from me.  Otherwise, you
wouldn't have found my store."

"Just what do you think we need from you?"

"Actually, it's more what you need from me, Mark.  However, Ralph will
also have to help out as well," smiled the old man.  "High school
reunions can often be a traumatic pain in the ass.  Don't you think?"

"You can say that again," replied Ralph absently.

"How did you know about our high school reunion?"

"Really, Mark.  Haven't we just been through all of that," said the
old man.  "Just how skeptical can you be?  And just how many times
must I tell you I'm a wizard before you finally believe me?"  He
pointed towards the counter.  "Now that it has returned from lunch,
just look at that sign over there."

Both of them turned towards the counter.  A small sign, which hadn't
been there before, read "He knows all these things because he's a
wizard".

"I don't believe in wizards or magic," stated Mark.

"But I do," added Ralph.  "You know, this is really way cool."

The old man smiled, but he'd already known Ralph was the believer of
these two.  "What can I do to convince you, Mark?"

"There's nothing you can do to make me believe in magic, or that
you're a wizard."

"Hmm.  That sounds like a challenge - I love a challenge, you know,"
replied the old man.  "And, if I'm not mistaken, I think I have the
perfect item with which to convince you of the truth of my words."
The old man went over to the counter, where the cash register sat.
After opening the register drawer, he removed what appeared to be a
copper, possibly even brass, coin roughly the size of a half-dollar.

"What's that?" asked Mark, his curiosity waxing.

"It's the instrument of your convincement, of course."

"What's it supposed to do?" asked Ralph in awe.

"It's an enchanted coin.  It grants wishes to whoever holds it and
makes a wish."

"Yeah, right," replied the still doubtful Mark.

"Do we get just one wish?" asked Ralph.  "Or do we get three wishes
like they always get in all the stories I've read?"

"Neither, Ralph.  This is reality, not some fantasy," replied the old
man.  "You get as many wishes as you need."

Ralph stared at the coin.  "Are you saying there's no limit to the
number of wishes we can have."

"Of course not," replied the wizard.  "All things have limits.  Once
whoever holds the coin has no further need of wishes, then the coin
ceases having the power to grant its bearer any more wishes.  But you
must make certain never to wish to limit or in any way alter the
manner in which the coin works.  If you do, it has been known to
become irritable and cranky, and subsequently fulfill your wants
unpredictably."

"And just what are we supposed to wish for, old man?" asked Mark.

The old man smiled.  As he expected, it appeared he might have found
the necessary chink in the unbeliever's armor.  "You can wish for
anything you want.  Use your imagination.  For example, do you really
want to take your best friend Ralph here to your reunion tonight?"

"Not really.  I'd rather be taking a girl - a really pretty one.  I'd
really like to show up at the reunion with a foxy babe on my arm, just
so I could watch all the faces of everyone there drop open with
surprise."

The old man looked towards Ralph, then held out the coin to Mark.
"Whatever you want is possible, Mark.  All you have to do is make a
wish, and it will be true."

"But this doesn't sound very fair to Ralph," objected Mark.  "What
does he get out of all this, while I'm getting all my wishes granted?"

"The coin will grant the wishes of whomever holds it," replied the old
man.  "You could let Ralph make a few wishes of his own with the coin.
How it's used is totally at the discretion of the one holding it."

"And just how much is this little wish granting coin going to cost?"
asked Mark.  "My arm?  His leg?  Maybe even, our immortal souls?"

"Nothing like that," smiled the old man.  "I don't do souls anyway.
In fact, you're in luck today; we're having a special today.  It's our
big anniversary special.  It's hard to imagine we've been in this,
more or less, same location for three years, but time certainly flies
whenever you're having fun.  Today, every item in my shop is
absolutely free."  He held out the coin to Mark again.

Mark still hesitated.

"You drive a mighty hard bargain, Mark," said the wizard.  "I know I
said it was free, but in order to seal our deal, I'll also give you a
money back guarantee.  If you aren't a happier person after using this
coin for the next twenty-four hours, you can return the coin to me and
I'll refund to you the full price you would have ordinarily paid for
it - no questions asked."

"It's a deal."  Mark took the coin, then shoved it quickly into his
pocket.  "Let's go, Ralph."

"Can't we look around for a little bit?"

"No.  We have to leave," replied Mark.  "If this coin works as this
old guy said it would, we have plans to make."

"Okay, I suppose we can go."

"And what other thing you should be aware of, boys," said the wizard,
"the pizza place is closed for remodeling."

The two young men hurried out of the old man's shop and out into the
surrounding mall, barely hearing the little bell over the door tinkle
to announce their exit.  But when they turned back a moment later,
they were surprised that the Kinko's once again shared the wall with
the Hallmark store.

"What happened to that strange old man's store?" asked Ralph.

"I don't know," replied Mark.  He shoved his hand cautiously into his
pocket and pulled out its contents.  He stared at the item he held in
his hand.  "But wherever it went off to, it must have been here
before.  And whatever we think just happened inside there must have
also been real."  He held up the bronze colored coin.  "I still have
this strange coin the old man gave me."

"Maybe you ought to test it out," suggested Ralph.

"What do you mean?"

"He told you that it could grant wishes - as many as you like."

"Yeah, but you can also make wishes," replied Mark.  "The old man
said whoever holds this thing can do all the wishing he wants."

"Then you ought to make a test wish," proposed Ralph.

"What could I wish for?"

"I don't know.  The old man said you should use your imagination."

At that moment, a pair of pretty young women, who worked for one of
the other companies on the street, walked by them.  They were wearing
pants suits, and each of them was carrying a load of papers to be
copied at the Kinko's.  He and Ralph had often seen both of them in
the mall before, and generally, once they'd both returned to their
desks, they'd just as often wondered...

Suddenly, Mark had an inspiration, as well as a simple test of the
coin's power.  As he held it tightly in his hand, he made his first
wish, still not totally convinced anything would happen.  "I wish
those two girls were wearing string bikinis."

Almost instantly, both girls were wearing string bikinis, instead of
the more concealing pants suits they'd been wearing.  Both Mark, the
skeptic, and Ralph, the believer, were amazed; the coin had actually
granted his wish.  Not only that, but in addition each of the girls
possessed an even better figure than either Mark or Ralph had
previously imagined.

And even more interesting, neither of the girls seemed to notice they
were now wearing something far different from what they'd been wearing
a moment earlier.  Just as they had been doing before Mark's wish, the
girls were chatting back and forth between themselves and casually
strolling, the papers to be copied still in their hands, towards the
Kinko's.  It almost seemed to them as if the girls believed they
always dressed this way before coming to the mall every day.

"I guess that coin really works," muttered Ralph.

"And I think I've just come up with the perfect plan for tonight."

* * * * * *


Part 2 

The remainder of the day seemed to drag on forever.  Inasmuch as they
weren't totally certain how long it would take to implement the plan
Mark had formulated and they'd discussed and finally agreed upon, they
went to Mr. Willerson and asked if they could leave work early.  Their
boss was somewhat surprised by their request - they'd never asked to
leave work early before - but, since they were his best workers, he
didn't object.

After arriving at their shared apartment, they both changed into more
comfortable clothes - blue jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers.  After all,
what they wore while making their wishes was unimportant; they were
going to wish up suitable attire for themselves using the coin.

"I'm not certain I really want to do this after all, Mark," said Ralph
nervously.  "I almost wish what the old man had said to us hadn't
given you this idea.  Even if I am a little curious about how it would
feel, what's going to happen to me, if we don't get any more wishes
afterwards?"

"Just relax, Ralph.  I'm sure this coin will grant us more than just
one additional wish.  And besides, how can that one simple little test
wish redressing those two young women in string bikinis even count?"

"But what happens to me if you change me, and then you can't change
me back afterwards?" asked Ralph again.  "I'd be stuck that way
forever.  I've already admitted to being kind of curious about how it
will feel being one, but I really don't want to spend the rest of my
life as one."

"Would you just chill out, Ralph," replied Mark.  "Everything should
work out exactly as we've planned.  What could possibly go wrong?  Our
plan is pure simplicity.  Before we leave for the reunion, I'll use
this little magical doohickey the old man gave us to change you into a
pretty girl our age.  Can you just imagine some of the stunned
expressions of surprise I'll get from those snobs we went to school
with when they see I've arrived at the reunion with the righteous
looking babe I've wished you into being?  That'll definitely be well
worth the effort."

"And all you're going to do is make me look like a girl?" asked Ralph
with concern.  "That was what we agreed on.  Isn't that right?"

"We've already been through this a dozen times, Ralph.  In addition to
looking like a girl, you're also going have to act more feminine.  It
wouldn't work very well having the fox I'm with walking around like
she was you, you know."

"And just what's wrong with the way I walk?"

"Nothing ... that is, nothing, if you're a truck driver, which you
aren't.  And you should also remember that no one looking at you will
see you; you'll appear to be a girl to everyone."

"I'm not going to have to kiss you, am I?"  Ralph made a face.  "Being
curious about them is one thing, but I'm not that curious.  I could
never kiss a guy, even if he were my best friend in the whole wide
world."

Mark smiled.  "You won't have to kiss me, unless you want to kiss me.
And you'd better not want to.  Does that make you feel better?  You
might look and act like an attractive woman to everyone else, but I'll
still know exactly who you really are."

"That's good," replied Ralph.  "And just when in our plan will we swap
our roles?"

"Sometime after dinner, I'd guess," replied Mark.  "That should be
the best time.  We'll either go outside or find some secluded place.
Then I'll give you the coin.  Once you're holding the coin, you can
make your wishes that will restore you to yourself again and then turn
me into the total babe you brought as your date."

"That part should be a lot of fun," grinned Ralph.

"It should be, but I don't want you getting any strange ideas while
I'm your date," replied Mark.  "You know, I've often wondered what it
would be like to be a girl - they've always seemed to have everything
so easy.  It'll be a real hoot showing up some of those snobs tonight.
I can't wait to get started."  Both boys laughed.  "But just remember
the one cardinal rule of the evening, Ralph.  There will be absolutely
no touchie-feelie stuff allowed while I'm a girl."

"That's not going to be a problem, Mark.  I'll still know you're
really you," said Ralph.  "I'm still a little nervous about this being
transformed into a girl thing, but I've been thinking that the sooner
we get started and I'm actually transformed, the more comfortable I'll
probably feel about the whole thing."

"Then I suppose we should get started.  And if you still have any
misgivings being a girl, then we'll deal with them before we leave
for the reunion.  There's definitely no time like the present to
experience a minor reversal of your existing gender."  Mark took the
coin from his pocket.  As he held it in his hand, he looked directly
into Ralph's dark eyes.  "I wish that my friend Ralph would now assume
the form and likeness of an incredibly sexy and beautiful blue-eyed
blonde woman the same age as me."

Nothing happened ... immediately.

But then as Mark continued watching, Ralph's body slowly began
shrinking and reforming.  His short dark hair lengthened and lightened
to a light golden blonde, as it wound its way down to the middle of
his back.

Mark watched his best friend's old male shape being totally redefined.
Ralph's hips and buttocks expanded and rounded, even while his pudgy
waist contracted.  It became so uncomfortable for him that finally he
had to undo the fastening of his jeans, which had become far too tight
about his hips and ass.

His face also softened, as it easily remolded, as if formed from the
finest of clays, into a very feminine and pleasingly attractive
visage.

Twin nubs began pushing out from under his T-shirt, and, within a few
moments, his chest supported two new full and firm breasts, which had
swiftly expanded into quite ample proportions.  His T-shirt strained,
but somehow held, against the mounting pressures from his expanded
breasts.  And, beneath the thinly stretched material, his new and
larger nipples were clearly outlined.

Ralph felt embarrassed by Mark's constant stare.  He wondered how
real girls put up with being ogled endlessly this way by guys.

Although Ralph was still clothed in the jeans and T-shirt he'd been
wearing, they no longer fit him well at all.  Not only were his
unsnapped jeans too long, they fit far too tightly across his hips and
ass.  At the same time, he had no idea what was keeping his T-shirt
from being reduced to simple rags.

Ralph gasped, as he began noticing all the changes that his friend's
wish had made in his body.  He ran his newly delicate feminine hands
with their slender fingers first through his long silky blonde hair
and then across his reformed and softened face.  Not feeling any beard
stubble on his face for the first time in several years surprised him.
That is, until he realized there weren't many girls capable of growing
beards.

His smaller hands deftly fingered his new and ample female breasts,
and he couldn't believe how sensational it felt just touching them.
One of his hands strayed downwards in subconscious exploration.  And
even though he'd been fully expecting what his hand had discovered
missing, it was still somewhat unnerving to realize it was actually
gone.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ralph in his own unchanged masculine voice that
sounded totally incongruous coming from the mouth of the beautiful
girl he'd become.

"I really wish you sounded more like a girl, Ralph."

"What do you mean?" asked Ralph in his now soft and melodiously sexy
soprano voice.

"Nothing, Ralph.  I mean, you sound just fine now," replied Mark.
"But I really wish you were dressed in something that showed off that
incredibly sexy new figure of yours."

Once again Mark watched as Ralph's too large and otherwise ill-fitting
male clothing was rewoven by magic into a more perfect fit for his new
feminine frame.  His jeans and T-shirt fused into a tube, and the
material of which it was made altered into some kind of metallic blue
fabric.  As the bottom hem of the newly formed tube had begun to rise,
exposing Ralph's smooth and slender feminine legs, the top had plunged
correspondingly in order to highlight his ample cleavage.  And then,
what little remained of the older material was as quickly rewoven,
not only becoming the perfect fit for Ralph's newly altered contours,
but further showcasing his friend's now decidedly feminine charms.

"Wow," whispered Mark as he continued staring at Ralph.  "I sure wish
I could see what you looked like with bigger tits," he remarked
absently.

"Mark!" exclaimed Ralph, "Cut that out!"  But it was too late; the
wish had been made.  Ralph's breasts began tingling again, just scant
moments before they began their new expansion.  He felt himself
fortunate that the new metallic material of which his new tube dress
was composed was up to the task, as it easily stretched to cover his
newly expanded mammaries.

"Sorry about that," replied Mark sheepishly.  "I didn't mean to do
that; I just got caught up in the moment.  I'll make another wish and
put them back the way they were before."

"Oh no, you don't," objected Ralph, as his small feminine hand cupped
one of his just enlarged breasts.  "If I let you change them back now,
then you'll probably just subconsciously wish them back to this size,
or even larger, later tonight.  That could prove to be embarrassing."
It sounded like a good reason, but Ralph wasn't altogether certain he
could tell his longtime best friend that he actually liked this way
his bigger breasts felt.

Wanting to see how he would appear to everyone else, Ralph turned
towards the mirror, intent on observing his altered form.  But as he
took his first step towards it, he stumbled, almost falling flat on
his face.

Ralph looked down at his feet.  "It's no wonder I can't walk.  Where
the hell did these things come from?"  He couldn't believe he was
wearing two-inch platform shoes with what must have easily been
four-inch heels.  "Would you do something about these damn shoes I'm
wearing?  I'll never survive the night wearing these atrocious heels."

"Sure thing, pal," replied Mark.  "I wish Ralph's bodily mannerisms
were fully and completely reflective of his present female form with
no residual physical traces of his having ever been male remaining.
As an additional part of this wish, he should be fully capable of
easily and effortlessly walking in the high heels he now enjoys
wearing, just as if he were this girl he now appears to be."

"Well?"  Ralph put had a hand on his waist and stared expectantly at
his friend.

"Just try a couple of little steps, Ralph."

"Okay.  But you'd better be ready to pick me up off the floor."  And
yet, Ralph obviously no longer needed any assistance, as he strolled
gracefully over to the mirror as if he'd been walking on heels his
entire life.

"What a really great looking ass you've got, Ralph," remarked Mark
casually.

Ralph angrily spun around.  "If you're going to say shit like that all
night long, you can just change me back right now and go to the god
damn reunion all by yourself."  Obviously upset, he stared at his
friend.  "Do I make myself perfectly clear. Mr. Russell?"

"I'm sorry, Ralph.  I didn't mean anything by it," replied Mark.  "I
know I shouldn't have said it, but I sure wish you could chill out a
little bit about your being a girl, Ralph."

Ralph shivered momentarily.  "No problem, I didn't mean to react like
some enraged bitch," replied Ralph.  "It must have been because my
body is still getting used to all these strange new female hormones
that are now coursing through me.  Besides, I guess if you say I've
got a great looking ass, then I must have a really great looking ass."
Ralph smiled oddly.  "I suppose I'll just have to get used to those
kinds of senseless remarks while I'm supposed to be a girl."  But
then, a puzzled expression spread across Ralph's face.  He looked
towards his friend.  "You want to know something important, Mark?"

"What's that, Ralph?"

"That!" he replied.  "You really can't keep calling me Ralph, you
know."  With apparent practiced ease, Ralph slipped one of his hands
onto his waist, used the other to sweep his blonde hair away from the
front of his face, and struck a seductive pose in front of the mirror.
"If you consider that I'm supposed to be this very attractive girl
right now," he smiled at himself in the mirror, "and the equally
incredible way I look at the moment, then Ralph just no longer seems
a very appropriate name for me."  Ralph sighed.  "However, even if we
can agree on some female name more suitable to call me, I'm afraid one
of us will slip up and call me Ralph at the worst possible time.  That
might really mess things up."

"You're absolutely right, Ralph.  I hadn't even thought about that,"
agreed Mark.  He scratched his head for a moment.  "But I've just
thought of the perfect solution to that problem.  I wish that for as
long as you look like a girl, you will think of yourself and only
answer to, and I will think of you and only refer to as, Rachel
Jensen."

"I wonder if it worked, Mark.  I don't feel any different than I did
before."

"Then we'd better test it out before we leave, Rachel," replied Mark.
"Would you please tell me your name?"

"My name is Rachel Jensen," he replied without even thinking about it,
or batting an eyelash.  "I don't know why you asked, but I suppose
whatever you did to fix that potential problem we were discussing must
have worked, since you know my name almost as well as I do, Mark."

Mark smiled.  "Then I think we're ready to go to our reunion, Rachel."

"I don't think so, Mr. Russell," replied Rachel, shaking his head.

"What's wrong now?"

"You aren't taking me to our reunion dressed like that," said Rachel
in a huffy tone.  "You must first change into something a little less
casual for our big evening out."

"You're right, Rachel, I forgot.  Sorry about that," replied Mark.
"I wish I were suitably attired in a manner consistent with being
Rachel's date for our reunion."

There was a sudden shimmering in the air around Mark, and when every
returned into focus around him, Mark was clothed in a fashionable
Armani suit worth more than he made in several months - before taxes.
And, even though he always steadfastly refused to wear one, an equally
expensive silk tie hung down from around his collar.

"Now, that's much better," complimented Rachel.  "Now you may take me
to our reunion, Mr. Russell."

But first, both of them looked themselves over in the mirror.

"You know, Rachel.  I think you and I make a pretty good looking
couple."

"You know, Mark," smiled Rachel in response, "I think you're
absolutely correct in your assessment."

* * * * * * *


Part 3

Mark and Rachel's drive from their apartment to the hotel, the plush
Sheratilton Northgate across town, where the reunion was being staged,
was dull and uneventful.  Mark grumbled about the five-dollar parking
fee being charged, but he no choice other than paying it.  "Why
couldn't they have simply included the damn parking as part of the
whole package?" he scowled.  "Or better yet, why couldn't they have
taken five out of the already exorbitant amount I've already paid?"

But at least the attendant in the booth taking his money had been
friendly - more or less.  He'd told them the best place to park, as
well as them instructions how to find the hall where their reunion was
being held.  And he hadn't even asked for a tip, not that Mark would
have considered giving him one.  But one thing Mark was certain he
didn't like was the way that the young man had continually stared at
Rachel, while talking to him.

Mark hadn't mentioned anything about the attendant's steady gaze to
his friend, since Rachel still seemed a little self-conscious about
being an attractive girl.  But the guy, at least as far as Mark was
concerned, had been so obvious.  And he was absolutely certain Rachel
hadn't liked being ogled that way at all, because, if he were a girl,
he just knew he wouldn't like being ogled like that.

On their way in from the parking lot to the hall, Mark took Rachel's
hand.  It was a purely instinctive gesture on his part, nothing more.
But he received mixed impressions from his friend, even though Mark
thought his friend should have been distinctly annoyed with him for
holding his hand.  However, Mark knew that in order for him and Rachel
to successfully pull off their little charade of him dating a fox like
Rachel as they'd planned, there were some sacrifices both of them
needed to make.  And, he decided, Rachel letting him hold his hand
without complaint was just one of them.

As they entered the hall, they were quickly greeted by one of several
girls sitting behind a long table.  Even though she smiled at them as
if she might know them, Mark didn't recognize her.  But he didn't
consider her being unknown to him as overly unusual, given their
graduating class had been, and still was, the largest in the school's
history.  However, Mark had the feeling - he couldn't explain where it
had originated - that all the girls manning these tables had probably
been hired by the company that had planned the reunion just to watch
the entry tables.

"What's your name?" she asked without much expression.

"Russell.  Mark Russell," he replied.  "And guest."

The girl shifted over a seat, then started shuffling through the file
box labeled "P-R".  Finally, she removed an unsealed envelope from the
box and opened it, before handing it and its contents to Mark.  "These
are your dinner tickets," she said with little emotion.  "One of the
two stubs attached to each ticket is for your door prize drawing, and
the other one is for your dinner.  And these are your reunion badges."

Mark looked at the badges and winced.  His badge had his awful senior
picture encased in plastic wrap on it.  But after considering how bad
his own picture had been, he wondered if Rachel truly minded his badge
just having "Reunion Guest" printed in big block letters where his
equally awful picture would have otherwise been.

"Please take the envelope over there for your picture," smiled the
girl.  "The picture is for inclusion into your memory album, which
you'll be receiving in about two months.  After you've completed
having your pictures taken, please remove the backing from your
badges' adhesive strips and put them on before you enter the dining
area."

"Thank you."

Mark and Rachel walked over and stood in the short line the girl had
indicated.  They were glad it wasn't a long line; only one lone guy
was waiting ahead of them, but as before, he was someone neither of
them recognized.  But once again, neither of them considered his being
unknown to them overly unusual, simply because their graduating class
had been so large.  There might have been thirty to fifty people each
of them had hung around with and knew quite well and possibly up to
another hundred or so they were reasonably acquainted with or knew
on sight.  But with close to eight hundred members comprising their
graduating class, nobody could have possibly known everyone.

As they entered the line, another couple was already sitting before
the camera.  The photographer had to keep telling the guy to look
towards the camera, but his roving eyes kept wandering back to Rachel.
From the look in his eyes, it was clearly obvious to Rachel and Mark
exactly what thoughts had been running about in his mind from the
moment he'd first seem them enter the line.

Mark wondered if the guy's wife - if that were who she actually was -
knew that her husband - or companion, or whatever - kept lustfully
staring at Rachel.

Almost instinctively, Rachel tried hiding from the man's leering gaze
behind Mark.  But even that wasn't quite enough to make him stop; he
continued staring as if Mark wasn't there.  And if that guy ogling his
shapely form weren't bad enough, the guy, who was ahead of them in the
line, kept brushing up against him and trying to pinch him.  Rachel
wasn't altogether certain that he liked the way his unwanted touch
made him feel.

Mark was certain Rachel wanted to scream; he had that kind of look in
his eyes.  But as he thought more about it, he considered it much more
likely that she would rather do the guy having his picture taken some
really serious and permanent harm.  Mark never noticed the wandering
hands of the guy in front of them.

Before Rachel could do anything too drastic, the photographer finally
finished with the couple.  He was noticeably relieved, as the couple
left the area, and was replaced in front of the camera by the
obnoxious man ahead of them.

"You shouldn't let Tom bother you," said a girl from behind them.

"Tom?" asked Rachel.

"Tom Wilson," replied the girl, as she pointed towards the guy having
his picture taken.  "He was a dumbshit and a real asshole when we were
in school.  It certainly appears as if he hasn't changed a bit.  Or if
he has, it has definitely been for the worse."

"Thank you," replied Rachel, as she noted that two additional couples
now stood in the line behind them.  He'd been so preoccupied trying to
figure out what he should do about Tom Wilson's unwanted attentions
that he hadn't even noticed them entering the line.

Once Tom Wilson, although Rachel would always think of him as that
obnoxious ass who'd been in front of them, had finished having his
picture taken, he'd quickly left without saying another word to
anyone.

"Just how do all the real girls in the world manage to put up with
weenies like that?" he mumbled.

As Rachel and Mark sat down to have their picture taken, the pose in
which the photographer had them sit irritated Rachel and really made
him unhappy.  He would have been much happier if the pose hadn't
required his being touched so much by Mark as it had.  But Rachel
also knew, for the sake of the images they were trying to project, he
really couldn't complain about it.  But if he'd been his real self, he
was certain he would have punched the photographer out.  And yet, it
wouldn't be so much for staring at his huge breasts as he'd done
continually once they'd sat down, which surprisingly didn't seem to
bother him as much as it had when the parking attendant had stared at
him earlier, as it was for mentally undressing him.

As soon as the photographer had finished with them and they'd left his
area, a woman suddenly appeared alongside them, asking for their
raffle tickets.  Mark held out both dinner tickets to her.  She took
them, and, after quickly tearing off the outer stubs she wanted and
handing the tickets back to Mark, disappeared as suddenly as she'd
appeared.

They entered the dining room.  As they'd been expecting, there were
several dozen tables inside, but all of them seemed to be totally
occupied.  Not unexpectedly, everyone appeared perfectly content in
totally ignoring Mark, just as had always been the case in their high
school days.  Except for everybody now being ten years older, nothing
had really changed for Mark.

On the other hand, Rachel's experience was totally unlike anything
that had ever happened to him before.  Several guys, who had never
before paid him any attention, had looked up as they'd passed the
tables, where they were seated.  Quite obviously, like every other guy
they'd encountered this evening, the only real reason they had even
bothered to look up was to try and catch a better glimpse of Rachel.
And yet, Mark couldn't blame any of them for being attracted to his
best friend; after all, it was his wish that had transformed his best
friend into the attractive and desirable young woman he now appeared
to be.

When they finally reached the last of the tables set up against the
far wall of the room, they found one with several vacant seats.  But
it was unquestionably clear why few others had decided to sit at this
particular table.  If they'd had another choice, Mark and Rachel would
have quickly taken it, since neither of them was overly excited at the
unenviable prospect of sitting down to dinner at the same table with
Jeff Marshall and his sidekick Steve Layton.

To Mark and Rachel's way of thinking, it had always seemed that Jeff
and Steve must have considered it their principal responsibility and
sole mission of their miserable lives to turn Mark and Rachel's high
school years into living hells.

Neither of them had seen nor had they wanted to see either one of them
since the grad night party.  Neither Mark nor Rachel wanted to think
about or remember what the terrible twosome had done to them that
night; it hadn't been pretty.  And except for those few months about
six years earlier centered around Jeff's highly publicized arrest,
trial, and subsequent release, neither of them would have wasted any
time thinking about the dubious duo over the past ten years.

However, there was one thing about which they were certain - Jeff
wouldn't be walking the streets today if his friend Steve hadn't
committed perjury to protect him.

If they could have only managed to avoid seeing either of them this
night, then they would have been overjoyed.

"Do we have to sit here ... with them?" asked Rachel.

Mark didn't have time to even open his mouth to respond.

"Hey, Russell!" shouted Jeff Marshall.  "How the hell did you ever get
such a hot looking babe like this to go out with a miserable loser
like you?"  He leered hungrily at Rachel.

Rachel, feeling very uncomfortable with both Jeff's remarks and his
constant leer, nervously blushed brightly.

"With that fine red color of hers, she must be awfully shy, Jeff,"
remarked Steve Layton, who stared at Rachel with the same hungry look
in his eyes his friend had.

"It's more likely, she's just ashamed to be seen with such a fucked up
loser as Russell here.  How'd you like to spend some time with a real
man, babe?"

Jeff and Steve laughed.  It had been ten years - far too long - since
they'd been able to put down one of their most favorite subjects.  And
they considered this attractive girl with him a harvestable bonus.

* * * * * * *

As their dinner dragged along, Mark and Rachel knew without a doubt
they'd been unjustly sentenced to hell without any possibility of
parole.  Just as they'd both expected, Mark took the full brunt of
nearly every joke those clowns Marshall and Layton had to offer.  It
almost seemed as if they had been fallen through a warp in time and
space that had returned them to a typical day of high school.

And when the jokers weren't slicing and dicing Mark, they alternated
between giving Rachel the once over without attempting to disguise
their obvious lusts and making snide sexual references that made him
blush.  More than once, Mark wondered what they'd do if they ever
found out that Rachel hadn't been a girl all that long.

And Rachel was frightened as well.  For once, he was really glad they
lacked imagination and had no idea who he really was.  What they were
saying and doing to him now was bad enough, but Rachel was scared they
might kill him if they ever found out he'd only been a girl for a few
hours.  Or, even worse, they might just decide he needed to be taught
what it meant to be a girl, like all those other poor girls Jeff had
raped.  Rachel found neither eventuality overly pleasant or comforting
in any way.

But finally, and quite mercifully, dinner, such as it had been, came
to an end.  For what he'd paid, there hadn't been very much food, nor
had it been all that good.  However, something good had finally
happened for them, as Jeff and Steve had left their table - presumably
to seek out fresh prey.

Rachel looked over in Mark's direction and sighed.  "Can we go home
now, Mark?  I don't want to be anywhere near this place when those two
jerkoffs come back."

Mark looked at his friend with surprise.  "You mean, you don't want
your chance to be seen here with an attractive young woman draped on
your arm?"

"Not if it means having to deal with those two assholes the rest of
the night.  All the time I've known them, they never frightened me
before now.  Right now, I'm more scared than I ever thought it was
possible to be."

"You're just over-reacting," replied Mark.  "It's probably all your
pent up girl hormones finally kicking in."  Mark suddenly smiled.
"I'll tell you what, Rachel.  I suspect you'll probably feel more like
kicking some ass after you've become physically male again.  So, after
you make your wish that swaps our genders, why don't you toss in a
couple more wishes using them as the original subject matter?  Your
wishes won't have to be anything fancy or complicated, you know, but
it might prove very interesting if they could only find out how
something a little more human lives."

"That's an interesting idea," Rachel grinned, beginning to feel a
little better than he had.  "But what could I change them into?"

"I don't know.  But as that old man told us earlier, 'use your
imagination'.  I'm sure you'll think of something very interesting."

"I'll think about it," replied Rachel.  "By the way, as long as we're
talking about it, do you want to make the swap of our roles and
genders now?"

"Sure, I guess so," said Mark.  "It has been a long night already.
I'm sick and tired of having been the butt of those two yahoos' jokes
all evening.  I would have I'd already been subjected to more than my
fair share of their crap when we were back in high school.  You know,
Rachel, now that I think about it, it'll be really nice to become the
girl of this couple for a while.  I'll be able to kick back and take
things easy the rest of the night."

Rachel looked at Mark for a long minute with a puzzled expression.  He
wondered whether or not he should inform Mark that being a girl wasn't
all that soft and cushy as he thought.  But after briefly considering
the idea, he decided his friend most likely wouldn't believe him.
Even though Rachel now knew better himself, he recalled having almost
those same thoughts Mark was now having earlier this evening.  It was
likely that Mark wouldn't listen to him anyway; if someone had told
him what he'd thought about telling Mark, then Rachel knew he wouldn't
have listened.  Just as Rachel had himself discovered, he knew Mark
would also have to learn everything for himself.

Rachel and Mark walked out of the dining area and into the entry hall.
They were both surprised their longtime tormentors hadn't returned in
time to follow them.  Maybe when those two jerks returned and couldn't
find either of them to torment further, they'd simply think they'd run
Mark and his date off.

In need of some out of the way place where Rachel could make his
wishes with a little privacy, Mark discovered a small, unused room not
far from the main hall.  Finding a room like this so near the main
hall seemed a little peculiar, since neither of them had expected
finding a suitable place as close as this room.  But after they'd
peeked inside and found it empty, Rachel quickly decided it would be
the perfect place for what they had in mind.

After going inside the room, they cautiously shut and locked the door
behind them.  Mark reached into his pocket, pulled out the coin, and
handed it to Rachel.  "It's all up to you, Rachel," he said as his
friend took the coin.  "I wish you well."

Rachel looked at his friend sheepishly.  If not for Steve Layton and
Jeff Marshall, being a girl would not have been all that bad of an
experience, he thought, provided, of course, you didn't have to stay
one forever.  But on the other hand, even after totally disregarding
the behavior of those two idiots, being a girl had been totally unlike
anything that he'd expected being a girl would be like.  It was
decidedly tougher being a girl, he decided, then he'd ever thought it
would be.  Although it had been fun in its own way, it was definitely
not all fun and games as he'd been expecting.

Rachel held the coin tightly in his slender female hand.  "I wish I
were returned to my true male self again, and that my best friend Mark
would assume a pleasing female form with long ebony hair and green
eyes, as well as a similar voice and all the mannerisms I possessed
while I was a girl."

In less than a heartbeat, Ralph stood, restored to his manhood, next
to a beautiful, green-eyed young woman with long raven-hued tresses.

"Are you all right, Ralph?" asked Mark, marveling at the sound of his
new light and airy soprano voice, which, although it sounded slightly
different in his ears than Ralph's voice had sounded as Rachel, was
equally as sexy and sultry as Rachel's had been.  He hadn't even
realized that with Ralph's manhood restored, he could think of his
friend as either Ralph or Rachel depending on who he been at the time.

"I'm just fine, Mark."  He ceased speaking abruptly and studied his
friend for an instant.  "But I do think we'd better do something about
that before we leave this room."

"Do something about what?" asked Mark, not knowing exactly what his
friend was talking about.

Ralph looked his friend squarely in the eye.  "I wish that for as long
as you remain a girl, you will think of yourself and only answer to,
and I will think of you and only call you, Melissa Richards."  He
grinned at his friend.  "Now, please tell me your name, Melissa."

"Melissa Richards, of course," replied Melissa with a smile, although
she felt somewhat confused.  "But I really have no idea why you just
asked me my name.  I mean, you've known my name for as long as I've
known you, Ralph."

Ralph smiled back at his transformed friend.  "There's nothing for you
to worry about now, Melissa.  It was just a little test that you
passed with flying colors."  But then, as he saw Melissa's badge, his
grin grew even wider.  It was Melissa's badge that now read "Reunion
Guest".  His badge had also altered to reflect the changes his wish
had made; it now read "Ralph Jackson" under _his_ terrible looking
senior picture.

* * * * * *


Part 4

When Ralph and Melissa returned to their reunion, not a single soul in
the hall even raised an eyebrow in surprise that it was they, not
Rachel and Mark, who had returned.  However, with everything that that
had changed about them in the last few minutes, there were still many
things that were essentially the same as they had always been.  Only
now, everything had been re-directed in accordance with Ralph's wish.
Melissa was now garnering all the attention and adulation from the
crowd, while Ralph was the one being completely ignored.

Well ... almost ignored.

"Well, well, well," came a familiar male voice from behind them.  "If
it isn't my old buddy Jackson.  "I've been wondering where you might
have squirreled yourself away.  I knew you couldn't be very far away
if Russell was here."

"Look at the babe with him, Jeff."  Steve Layton leered at Melissa.
"I think she's even hotter than the one who was with Russell."

Ralph kept quiet, as did Melissa, but it was very obvious that he felt
extremely uncomfortable, under Steve's continually appraising gaze.

"You know, this is just fucking unbelievable," said Jeff.  "First
Russell arrives with some blonde babe as his date.  And now you've
shown up with this hot fox in tow.  Just how is it possible that two
losers like you have managed to find babes who'd actually date either
one of you."  Jeff turned to Melissa.  "You don't look you're in need
of a seeing eye dog," he snarled, "and neither did that one with
Russell earlier.  What gives?"

"It's probably just our good looks and sparkling personalities," said
Ralph, as Melissa grinned.

Jeff stared at Melissa.  "All right babe.  Why don't you tell me just
what's going on here?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" replied Ralph, not waiting for Melissa to
answer.  He slid his hand into his pocket, and pulled out the coin.
Ralph had finally decided it was time to do something about these
assholes; he wasn't about to let them continue badgering Melissa like
they had him while he'd been Rachel.  He knew exactly what his wish
upon his longtime tormentors would be.  He hoped both of them would
enjoy suffering through all of the same things they'd made so many
others suffer throughout the years.

"What have you got there, Jackson?"

"Yeah.  What is it?" echoed Steve Layton.

"Wouldn't you like to know," smiled Ralph.

"Damnit Ralph!" swore Melissa.  "Hurry up!  Just do it, before
something..."

Without warning, Jeff grabbed Ralph's hand, then easily took the coin
away from him.

"Oh shit!" swore Melissa.

"That's not very lady-like, you know," said Steve, as he continued
leering at Melissa.

Melissa stared back at him contemptuously.  "Would you just shut the
fuck up, you little shithead!"

"What did you say to me?" asked Steve, unable to believe that this
mere slip of a girl had dared speak back to him.

"You heard me," replied Melissa.  "Or were you too busy diddling with
yourself again?"

"What?!"  In shock, Steve turned to Jeff.  "Did you hear all those
nasty things she said to me?"

"I heard her."  He turned his attention to Melissa.  "I think you owe
my friend an apology."

"Fuck you, turd breath!"

"My, my, it sounds like you have a really bad attitude problem, bitch.
It must come from dating someone like him," replied Jeff.  "But I
can't remember ever meeting as foxy babe as you, who possessed such a
filthy potty mouth."  He smiled at Melissa.  "Unless, of course, she
wanted a little something extra from me.  You know, babe, most of the
girls I date know that being a potty mouth is a real turn on for me."
He smiled at Melissa.  "You know, I think we could actually become
really good friends.  If you know what I mean?"  Melissa shook his
head.  "But, for your sake, I'd really hate to start off such a
promising new relationship on such bad terms," his smile widened, "so
I really wish you'd be a lady and apologize to my friend here."

Melissa shivered slightly.  As a very surprised Ralph watched on,
Melissa turned to Steve, and smiled sweetly.  "I'm really sorry about
all those nasty things I said to you earlier, Steve.  I really, really
am."  Melissa's own smile widened.  "I just don't know what could have
possibly come over me.  Can you ever forgive me?"

"That's much better," smiled Steve.  "I accept your apology."

But Jeff couldn't quite believe what he'd just observed and heard.
"All right, what gives?  No one, especially not some dumb foul-mouthed
bimbo bitch, ever changes their mind about anything that quickly.
Something smells awfully fishy around here.  And I, for one, sure wish
I knew exactly what was going on around here."

Jeff shivered briefly.

And he knew ... everything.

He looked down at the coin, now known by him to be magical, he held in
his hand.  "Would you imagine that?  This little coin grants wishes to
whoever holds it.  And it will let me have anything I want, just by
wishing for it.  How very, very interesting.

"You picked it for free in that weird little shop in the mall.  That
stupid old man who runs the place even gave you a money-back guarantee
on something he just let you for nothing.  What a fucking idiot!  You
know, I've seen that odd little place myself a couple of times when
I've been in the mall, but it never looked all that interesting to me.
Had I only known you could pick up cool wish-granting shit like this
for free, I would have gone inside and cleaned that old fool out the
first time I saw the place."  He turned to Steve.  "Remind me tomorrow
that we have to visit that old fool's place."

"Sure thing, Jeff."

Jeff returned his attention to Melissa, looking over the apparent girl
carefully.  He smiled knowingly.  "You know, you've certainly changed
a lot over the last ten minutes, Mark."  He looked over the girl's
nubile frame again.  "But if I'm any judge, then I must say it's a
very definite improvement in your overall appearance.  I approve
wholeheartedly."

Melissa looked at him curiously.  "What are you talking about now,
Jeff?" he asked.  "And who is Mark?  My name is Melissa - Melissa
Richards."

"Of course it is, 'Melissa'."  Jeff turned back to Ralph.  "Now that
was a clever little touch, not to mention an excellent idea.  I would
have never guessed either of you had the smarts to think about using a
wish to keep yourselves from slipping up.  While Mark looks like a
girl as he now does, you must call him Melissa, just as he must think
of himself as Melissa.  I'm almost impressed."

"I don't know what you're talking about either," said Ralph in equal
confusion.  "I've always known you were rather dense, but even you
should know his name is actually Melissa, just as it has always been."

"You also need to call and think of him as Melissa," smiled Jeff.  He
looked back at Melissa again.  "Well, If that's what you two want
everyone to believe, then I can certainly live with it.  Besides, it
will provide an excellent test of whether or not this magical coin
will grant my wishes as well as it obviously granted yours."  He
smiled again at Melissa, making him more nervous and uncomfortable.
"I wish that everyone within the hall remembers you only as Melissa
Richards, one of the cutest and most popular cheerleaders of our
senior class."

Nothing seemed to change.

"What happened?" asked Ralph.  "What did you do to him?"

"Did you do something to me?" asked Melissa with concern.  "I don't
feel any different.  Nothing seems any different about me."

"I don't think we'll notice much out here."  Steve gave them both a
cryptic grin.

Ralph suddenly gasped.  Melissa's badge had altered once again.
Instead of having "Reunion Guest" printed where his picture should be,
there was now a picture of a pretty teenage girl that was captioned
"Melissa Richards".  Strangely, the picture of the girl on his altered
badge could have easily passed as the girl Melissa would have been if
Melissa had actually been the dark-haired girl he now appeared to be
at the time their senior pictures had been taken.

Jeff turned to his friend Steve.  "Why don't you escort Melissa back
inside?  I'm certain there are a plenty of her old friends inside that
can't wait to talk to her again."

Melissa cringed at the "her" pronoun reference.  He stared at Steve
indignantly.  However, with Jeff now having the knowledge that he
could use the coin to wish for anything he wanted, it no longer made
much sense to anger him unnecessarily - at least, while he was still
in possession of the coin.  Consequently, Melissa allowed Steve to
lead him quietly off to the other room.

"What did you do to him?"

"Haven't you guessed yet?" smiled Jeff.  "Who's a little dense now?
I just perfected what the two of you started, Jackson.  You wanted
everybody at the reunion to think he was really Melissa Richards, and
now, that's exactly who everyone thinks that pretty young woman with
Steve not only is, but has always been."

"How could you do that to him?"

Jeff smiled wickedly.  "Because I could, that's how.  I really can't
help it if you're too stupid and clumsy to hang onto something as
important and valuable as this wish-granting coin."  He held up the
coin for Ralph to see.  But even as Ralph made his expected quick
lunge for the coin, Jeff easily snatched it away from his grasping
hand.  "Maybe we should join Melissa and Steve inside instead of
staying out here by ourselves, Jackson.  Wouldn't you like that
better?"

"I'm not going any place with you."

Jeff's broadening grin made Ralph nervous.  "And when did I say it
would be you going inside with me, Jackson?"  He held the coin in his
hand.  "I wish Jackson here would regain that simply gorgeous female
form along with all the sensual mannerisms he possessed when I first
saw him earlier this evening."

As Jeff watched, Ralph's male body quickly remolded into the shapely
and pretty blonde he'd been as Mark's date.

"Now, that's much better.  Don't you agree?"

But Rachel said nothing.

Jeff looked at the badge being worn by the apparent girl.  As it had
earlier, the badge once again identified him only as "Reunion Guest".
Jeff shook his head.  "We definitely can't have that.  What did you
say your name was again?"

Rachel, who, having regained his previous female form, could only
think of himself as Rachel once again, looked at Jeff suspiciously.
What could he be up to now?  "You know my name, as well as I do," he
replied in his soft and sexy feminine voice.

"Of course I do," replied Jeff, although for some unknown reason he
didn't know, or remember, Ralph's name as a girl.  "Just play along
and humor me."

Rachel wondered why not tell him?  What harm can he possibly do to me
if I only tell him something he has already known for years?  "My name
is Rachel," he replied.  "Rachel Jensen."

Jeff grinned at him again.  It was the kind of grin that made Rachel
increasingly nervous.  And suddenly, Rachel was aware that he'd
somehow made a big mistake telling Jeff his name.

"With the exception of Steve and Melissa, already within the hall,"
began Jeff, "I wish that every person currently in the hall should
remember Jackson here as only having been Rachel Jensen.  In addition
to being the best friend of Melissa Richards, I further wish Rachel
had been another member of our very popular cheerleader squad of which
every member of our class was always so proud."

Rachel shivered slightly.  He'd heard Jeff make his wish.  He realized
something about him must have been changed, but as hard as he tried to
determine what Jeff's wish had altered, he couldn't find different
about himself.  Neither did he have any ideas or clues of what he'd
been trying to change.  In light of the simple fact that he didn't
really feel any different than how he'd ever felt, he wondered what
Jeff's wish could have possibly done to him.

"I think that's much better.  Don't you, dear?" said Jeff.  Once again
he looked at Rachel's badge.  It now featured the picture of a very
pretty teenaged blonde girl over the name "Rachel Jensen".  "Are you
ready to join Steve and Melissa inside, Rachel?"

Rachel stared daggers at Jeff.  "I told you before, I'm not going
anywhere with you.  Don't you ever listen when people talk to you?"

"Have it your way, Rachel," smiled Jeff.  "But you can either enter
with me willingly, or I can make another wish."  He held the coin in
his hand so Rachel could see it.  "I really don't believe you'll like
how I'll phrase that wish."  He grinned at Rachel, knowing he'd won.
"Now ... are you ready to go back inside with me, Rachel?

"I guess so," Rachel answered in total resignation.  "It seems I no
longer have any other choice in the matter."

* * * * * *


Part 5

Rachel was nearly overcome with shock, as Jeff led him back into the
larger hall.  He just couldn't believe what was happening to him.
He'd gone to school with all these guys, and none of them had ever
bothered to learn his name.  They'd virtually ignored him and, until
tonight, never paid him even the slightest bit of attention.  Now
every one of them was inexplicably coming over and talking to him as
if they were his old friends ... and in some cases, he thought,
possibly more.

Most of the males were hungrily looking him over as if he were
actually the pretty girl he now appeared to be.  But that, he knew,
was a consequence of Jeff's last wish, which made everyone inside the
hall believe he was, had been, and always would be this girl he now
appeared to be.  He also had an uneasy feeling that several of these
guys would swear they'd known him in that way.

Equally unnerving was the way most of the real girls in the room were
glaring at him.  Unlike those thoughts he'd guessed all of the males
were having about him, these girls were quite obviously entertaining
radically different thoughts with respect to him - their new rival.
If their looks could kill, thought Rachel, I'd be long dead.

After a quick scan of the hall, Rachel found his best friend Melissa
totally surrounded by a large group of guys, who like those gathering
around him, would have never bothered talking to him when they'd been
in school.  What total power a pretty girl has over these feckless
guys, marveled Rachel.  Even from where he stood, he could sense that
many of them had other thoughts concerning Melissa that involved a
whole lot more than simply talking to him.  And totally surrounded by
all these guys he'd never really known, Melissa definitely didn't seem
to be enjoying himself at all.

As another guy walked past Rachel, he grinned at him with undisguised
lust.  "You're looking even hotter tonight than at any time we were in
school, Rachel.  As I'm sure you will remember, I've always considered
you and Melissa as two of the prettiest and the sexiest girls in our
entire class."

"Yeah, right," muttered Rachel, glad the guy had walked away.

"But it's totally true, Rachel sweetheart," replied Jeff.

"Don't call me that!" snarled Rachel.

"Why not?  I think it has a really nice ring to it.  Don't you think
so, babe?"

"No, I don't!" snapped Rachel back quickly.  "And don't call me babe
either.  Just when are you going to put things right and change us
back to normal?"

"Maybe a little later, doll.  Then again, you're better looking this
way and far more interesting; I might never change you back again,
sweetheart."  Jeff, clearly enjoying his newfound power, grinned at
him.  "A great many things now depend on just how good a girl you are,
Rachel.  Right now, I'd suggest you be a good friend and stroll that
cute ass of yours over there as sexily as you possibly can to lend
your best friend Melissa a helping hand.  From here, it sure looks
like she could use a little feminine assistance from her best girl
friend to help fend off some of those more aggressive and overly
anxious boys hanging around her.   But then, as I recall, you two
girls were always a bit on the flirtatious and overly friendly side
when we were in school."

Rachel stared icy daggers at Jeff, who just laughed at him in return.
He knew all too well that as long as Jeff possessed the magical coin,
he had no real choices past grinning and bearing whatever Jeff
demanded of him.  Not wanting his situation to worsen, he simply
couldn't afford to do anything else.

Rachel turned toward Melissa and away from Jeff.  "What a dumb shit,"
he mumbled to himself, knowing he'd probably feel better helping his
friend.  Besides, any excuse to spend time away from Jeff had to be a
good one.  Even if it wasn't very long, he was glad to be putting a
little distance between himself and Jeff.

* * * * * *

The large circle of men that had gathered about Melissa parted
briefly - just long enough to allow Rachel passage through to join his
friend at its center.  Shortly after it had reclosed around them, the
ring of males surrounding Melissa and Rachel once again began to
widen.

Having been pushed farther and farther away from Melissa by the
increasing size of the crowd, a distraught Steve Layton decided to
rejoin Jeff, who seemed more interested in observing the results of
his handiwork in action.  Rachel might yet prove to be an interesting
diversion for me, thought Jeff.

Even though he knew, in the back of his mind, that Melissa wasn't
actually a girl, Steve couldn't keep from staring longingly in
Melissa's direction.  He'd never wanted another girl as much as he
wanted Melissa.  "Can I use the coin to make a wish, Jeff?" he asked
with a sense of urgency in his voice.

"We'll see, Steve," replied Jeff, somewhat surprised his friend had
managed to find enough courage to ask him for a chance to make a wish.
That wasn't like his generally passive friend Steve at all.  "Maybe
later on - perhaps sometime after the reunion ends," he said, now
assuming his friend was smitten with Melissa.

Steve continued staring in Melissa's direction.  "I know exactly what
I want to wish for, Jeff."

Jeff grinned at his friend, knowing he'd assumed correctly about
Steve's fairly transparent desires.  "I'm sure you do, little buddy."
Jeff sneaked his own quick glance at Rachel.  If I know my friend as
well as I think I do, thought Jeff, I'm certain he's wanting from
Melissa exactly what I want from Rachel.  And with this magical little
coin in my possession, I can easily have anything I want, and give
Steve whatever I think he deserves.

"She ... uh ... they sure are pretty, Jeff."

"They're not too bad ... for a couple of guys, that is."

"But they're not guys, Jeff.  They're girls."

Jeff shook his head.  Sometimes Steve could be a little dense when
there were 'girls' in the picture.  And the prettier the girls were,
the denser he generally became.  That little flaw in his character had
always been very useful in the past; it had always provided him with
a perfect alibi any time he needed his ass covered.  Jeff had lost
track of how many times Steve had bailed him out of sticky situations.
"They only look like girls, you dimbulb," said Jeff.  "They're really
guys.  The two of them are actually Ralph Jackson and Mark Russell.
Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yeah.  I sort of forgot about that," replied Steve.  "But it is
awfully easy to forget about them being guys and not girls, since
everybody's treating them like they were girls."  He looked through
the crowd towards Melissa again.  "On top of everything else, she...
uh... I mean, that is... they just look so hot and incredibly sexy."

Jeff frowned once again.  "Everybody's been treating them as if
they're really girls because I wished them to be treated like the
girls they were pretending to be.  You were right here with me when
I made the wish for everyone to believe Melissa was always a girl.
Don't you recall?"

Steve slowly nodded his head.

Suddenly, Jeff began thinking it might be a bad idea to let Steve make
a wish of his own.  Perhaps it would be better, if he just used his
new magical coin to increase Steve's intelligence a few points.  That
should be fairly easy, since just about any increase would be a marked
improvement.

However, Jeff continued thinking, if I were to do that for him, I
might lose my perfect alibi.  Not only that, Jeff began worrying, if I
actually make Steve just a little bit smarter, then he might turn
around and figure out some way to keep the coin permanently.  That
wouldn't be very good at all.

Maybe it would be better if I made a little preventative wish first.
That should be even simpler than making him smarter.  On the other
hand, I suppose I could always wish Steve into another, more pliable,
form.  Jeff began smiling.  I wonder if Steve would enjoy becoming a
beautiful young woman himself?  I can almost picture him - his short
red hair grown out long and falling over his shoulders and the
fabulous and shapely form of a comely young lass, who answers to some
really sexy-sounding name ... something like Stefani Laurelle.

However, Jeff quickly reminded himself, it didn't make much difference
whether Steve would or wouldn't like being a woman named Stefani.  It
would be a simple wish to make certain that pretty redheaded Stefani
only possessed memories of being Stefani.

This coin is going to be a lot of fun, he thought.  It'll get me out
of more trouble faster and better than Steve ever did now.  I won't
really need him hanging around anymore.  Maybe I will give Steve one
little wish - a farewell present of sorts - before I transform him.
Before I do him that little favor, I'd better fix it so he can't make
some stupid wish that somehow screws up my new meal ticket.  Maybe
once I grow tired of playing games with Rachel Jensen, I'll have a
couple of laughs at the expense of my friend.  Isn't that what friends
are for?

Jeff looked across at the two "girls" surrounded by the vast sea of
overly attentive guys, who had once upon a time, when the girls had
been boys, ignored them completely.  But now, many of these same guys
remembered, among several other more interesting and intimate
activities, going to school with these two hot former cheerleaders.

For the moment, it had only been those around them who remember things
they'd done with Rachel and Melissa.  But that was just about to
change; now seemed the perfect time to make another wish, which would
alter the stakes a bit.  Jeff had had an idea he thought might provide
some interesting results, and there was no time like the present to
test it out.  Holding the coin tightly in his hand, he whispered,
"From now until I desire otherwise, I wish that Rachel and Melissa
would both recall having done everything anyone tells them they did
together."

Jeff smiled at his own cleverness.  "That little wish should throw a
good-sized monkey wrench into the works, and, at the same time, it
should prove to be very interesting for both of them, as well as being
highly entertaining for me."

* * * * * *

Rachel and Melissa were not enjoying being the center of attention.
They were now completely surrounded by more males than they'd believed
had been members of their large senior class.  A few of them they had
been close friends.  They had recognized a number of others from
various classes they had taken together.  But by far, the vast
majority of all the males crowded around them were total unknowns.

Every male in the hall seemed to remember them; that is, they
remembered them as the girls Rachel and Melissa they now appeared to
be.  They were boring - all any of them wanted was to ramble on and on
about those things they remembered doing with one or the other, and
sometimes both, of the girls.  That had got old fast.

But now, as a result of Jeff's latest wish, every single remark,
casual or otherwise, one of them made prefaced by the phrase 'do you
remember?' to either apparent girl, became real.  Rachel and Melissa
were starting to remember every one of these events as if they'd
actually lived through them.  Very quickly, they'd reached their
mental saturation points; they were now in danger of being overwhelmed
by the inundating new memories that had never before been present in
either of their conscious memories.

Each had made several trips to Inspiration Point.

And they'd kissed several boys.

There were many movies they'd enjoyed watching with their dates, that
previously neither of them would have recalled seeing nor having
wanted to see.  In a few of these new cases, they couldn't clearly
recall whether or not they'd seen the entire movie.

And kissing a great many boys.

They remembered several strong, but gentle, male hands that had at
first caressed their smooth legs, before eventually roaming upwards to
their firm and full breasts.  They remembered their blouses being
unbuttoned, their bras being undone, and that wonderful feeling of
having their bared breasts softly stroked and fondled.

And necking with all those boys.

They were both crowned homecoming princesses.  Although one of them
had been expected to win the crown, the Homecoming Queen had been a
late entrant into the race, as well as the surprise winner.

They were kissed passionately.

And with equal passion, they returned those kisses.

There was that incredible night all the cheerleaders had spent with
the entire varsity football team.  It had been an incredible orgy.

And all those great kisses, far more reminiscent of oral surgery than
osculation, from every ardent boy they'd dated.

All of these incredibly vivid new memories assaulted them mentally too
quickly for their minds to fully integrate them before the next new
memory arrived.  All of these foreign thoughts and memories, although
thoroughly enjoyable to Melissa and Rachel, threatened to overwhelm
their dwindling senses of self and drive them mad.

Not long after Jeff had made his wish, Melissa and Rachel had begun to
doubt themselves.  They were no longer certain they knew exactly who
they were.  Nor were they entirely certain they could ever be those
people again.  Things were now terribly confusing for both of them.
As each new memory attempted to gain a foothold in their minds, their
confusion grew more intense.

They both wondered, have I truly done all these things I now remember
doing?  Or have I not?

They were confused and anxious.  With every passing minute, they were
becoming moreso.  They knew they needed to escape from the source of
their confusion and anxiety; if they didn't, they would likely become
who they appeared to be.

But could either of them fight what was happening to them?

Or were they already too far gone?

Suddenly, tapping an unknown reserve of will, as well as reacting to a
pressing biological urge, Melissa was partially able to shake away the
mass of cobwebs in his mind.  He realized both of them had to get away
from this suffocating circle of manhood in order to regain their even
keel again, even if only for a few minutes.  "Excuse us, please," said
Melissa.  "Rachel and I need to go powder our noses."

Rachel looked up at his friend.  With near total confusion etched
across his face, he wasn't sure he knew what Melissa was doing.
Finally, he seemed to gain enough strength from some unknown place to
realize his friend was trying to free him from being the center of
this unwanted attention, which resulted in the often conflicting, and
occasionally disturbing, alien memories continually assaulting his
mind.  "Of course, please excuse us," said Rachel.  As he began
leaving, he turned back, a wide smile spread across his face, and
said, "Now don't any of you boys worry about us for even a moment; we
won't be gone very long at all."

Groans of disappointment erupted from crowd as the two girls began
to leave.  Afraid the girls might not return if they upset them, the
vast sea of males surrounding them eventually, even if very slowly,
parted, allowing them to pass.

"Why did you tell them we were coming back?" asked Melissa, as they
walked towards the ladies' room.  "I have no intention of going back
there and having what remains of my mind and memories rewritten."

"I don't really know," replied Rachel.  "For some reason, it just
seemed like the right thing to do.  I certainly didn't want any of
those good looking getting all upset about us leaving."

Melissa stared at Rachel.  "We need to get totally away from here."

"You can say that again, Melissa."  Rachel was nearly in tears.  "If
we don't get away from here real soon, I'm sure I'll lose what's left
of my mind."

Melissa casually swept her hair out of her eyes.  "We also need to
figure out some way to retrieve our coin from Jeff.  Then we can
cancel out all this crap he's done to us.  If we don't get it back
from him soon, I wouldn't be very surprised if he wishes us both into
one of his truly perverted fantasies.  But first, I have really got to
take a leak.  Have you got any idea how girls do that without a dick?"

"I think you have to sit down," replied Rachel.  "My older sister
always yelled at me and complained to mom whenever I left the toilet
seat up."

"But I'm all dressed up."

"Then maybe you have to get undressed first."

"That sounds really stupid."

"Don't yell at me," sniffled Rachel.  "How the hell should I know how
girls urinate?  I haven't had this girl body long enough to have even
had that urge yet.  And now, out of the blue, you expect me to be an
expert in female biology, just because you need someone to explain how
to take a whiz."

"Is there something wrong 'girls'?" asked a voice they'd have rather
never heard again.

"As if you didn't know," snarled Melissa.

"For some reason, I don't know everything, 'girls'," smiled Jeff.
"Almost, but not quite everything - yet.  That's why I asked."

"Melissa doesn't know how a girl takes a leak."

"Rachel!!!" he exclaimed, blushing bright red.  "How could you?"

"Is that all that's troubling you, 'girls'?  I'd wondered why you left
your entranced circle of admirers behind," he smiled.  "I believe I
can fix that little oversight of yours," he smiled.  "I wish both of
you had the thorough and instinctive knowledge that every girl has of
their bodily functions."

Melissa looked at Rachel for a moment, then smiled.  "Didn't I tell
you having to get completely undressed was stupid?"

"Say Melissa," asked Steve Layton.  "Do you remember the wonderful
time we had at the grad night party?  That was where you and I made
love for the first time?"

Melissa's eyes bulged with surprise, as memories of Steve caressing
his breasts, then slowly and quite gently running his hands over every
part of his body, filled his mind.  Steve's merest touch against his
skin had quickly aroused him to a frenzied fever pitch of sexual
excitement.  And then Steve, who had been atop him the entire time,
had repeatedly rammed his engorged penis into him.  At the very
instant Steve had shot his wad, Melissa, his aroused partner, had
orgasmed.  It had been wonderful, he now recalled clearly, and even
better the second and third times later that night.

"Of course, I remember.  How could I ever forget?" fawned Melissa.
"You were just so wonderful that night, Steve."  Then suddenly, as if
realizing what he'd just said, Melissa reddened brightly with
embarrassment, before he turned and fled in shock towards the ladies'
room.

Rachel stared at the grinning Steve.  "You stupid fucking prick!" he
shouted at him.  "How the hell could you do that to him?"  He turned
angrily towards Jeff.  "Haven't you had enough of this asinine little
game you're playing with us yet, you ignorant little cocksucker."

Jeff winked at Rachel.  "Hmmm.  I've been wondering when you'd reveal
yourself to be another pretty potty mouth, but your own words bring
to mind a suitable punishment for you."  He looked directly into
Rachel's eyes.  "Don't you remember when you sucked my cock at the
grad night party, dear?"

Rachel eyes widened as new memories of that night, vastly different
than how it had previously occurred, begin filling his conscious mind.
He'd slowly unzipped Jeff's pants.  Ever so gently, he'd pulled Jeff's
cock out of his pants.  He'd stared at his member hungrily for several
seconds, before he'd taken Jeff's engorged cock into his mouth and
greedily sucked him dry.

Suddenly, Rachel began gagging as new memories of the salty taste that
had filled his mouth as Jeff came surfaced.  Rachel, feeling as if he
were going to puke for the rest of eternity, ran off to join Melissa
in the sanctity of the ladies' room.

Jeff and Steve had watched them both run away in shame.

And they had laughed.

* * * * * *

"That babe's going home with me tonight, Marshall."

"Oh really," replied Jeff, as his laughter ceased.  He turned to face
the unwanted new intruder in his fantasy world.  "Tom Wilson," he
snarled.  "I should have guessed it would be you."

"I saw her first," snarled Tom.  "She and that ridiculous moron she
arrived with stood in the picture line with me earlier.  She came on
to me, you know.  She flirted with me, and she even let me pinch her
ass, when she knew that geek with her wasn't watching.  She's got a
really great ass; don't you think?"

"What makes you think Rachel will be leaving her with you, Wilson?"
asked Jeff with a sly grin.  "Especially, when she came with someone
else - someone who's probably a better friend of hers than you could
ever wish to be?"

"I haven't seen that idiot around lately.  He's probably off skulking
about somewhere with his late arriving asinine friend.  I've seen his
girl hanging out with Rachel, but the guys seemed to have vanished.
Only a couple of real jerkoffs with shit-for-brains could ever leave
major babeage like those two to fend for themselves, while they run
around with each other."

"That's odd, the guy who brought Rachel tonight is definitely still
here, Wilson," replied Jeff with an evil smirk.  "In fact, I just saw
them together right here not more than a couple of minutes ago.  I
know you'd never ask for my opinion, but I'll give it to you anyway,
Wilson.  If you're serious about trying to convince her to go home
with you tonight, then you'd better have a little chat with her and
her best friend Melissa ... as soon as possible."

"But they're in the ladies' room right now, Marshall."

"That's no problem, Wilson," grinned Jeff, as he fingered the coin in
his pocket.  "Believe me - that's definitely not a problem at all."

* * * * * *


Part 6

"This isn't fucking possible!" screamed Tom, even as he felt the
jiggling of his new buxom breasts.  "What the hell did you do to me?"
asked the frightened young man in his new soft and quite sexy feminine
soprano voice that now perfectly matched the equally new, sensuous
female form he possessed as a result of Jeff's latest wish.

"I just made a simple little wish to help you out with your little
problem, Wilson," smiled Jeff.  "And voila; you have this new and, I
must say, vastly improved and attractive body.  Besides, weren't you
wanting to speak with Rachel as soon as possible?"

"Well, yeah."  Tom's hand absently cupped one of his ample breasts
again.  "But not like this.  I'm a girl."

"Wow.  And to think, nearly everyone I've ever spoken to about you has
thought you were just another ignorant dumbshit.  But you've surprised
me, Wilson.  It didn't take you very long at all to figure out your
gender had been altered."

"But why ... a girl?"  Tom ran his hand swiftly through his mass of
long silky blonde hair.

"Only a few short moments ago, you didn't think it would be proper for
you to go into the ladies' room for your little chat with Rachel,"
replied Jeff.  "Don't you remember?  Now it will be perfectly all
right for you to go in there.  Now you can talk with her to your
heart's content."

"Even though I look like one of them right now, I'm still not really a
girl," objected Tom, still in shock at his altered condition, even as
his smaller and more dainty hand lightly traced his new and very
feminine contours of his altered hips and waist.  "It still wouldn't
be right."

"Why wouldn't it be all right?" smiled Jeff.  "From where I'm
standing, you look exactly like a girl.  And, although you probably
haven't noticed it yet, you have also become a rather pretty one.
I'll even go out on a limb for you here; I'll bet you'd find plenty of
single guys wandering the main hall who would never think twice about
who and what you appear to be.  To them, you'd obviously be a single,
not to mention quite attractive, girl.  At this exact moment, you're
physically indistinguishable from any other girl in this room.  No one
in their right mind would even consider giving you any flack about
entering the ladies room."

"But I don't want to be a girl."  Absently, he caressed his breasts.
"Change me back!"

"Maybe I will," smiled Jeff mischievously.  "And maybe I won't."

"All right, I'll play your game," replied Tom.  "What do you want from
me in return for restoring me to normal?"  A single tear rolled down
his smooth cheek.

"Fascinating!" exclaimed Jeff with surprise.  "You're already trying
to use your new feminine wiles to influence my decision.  I'll give
you a few brownie points for the effort and your initiative, but it
still isn't going to work.  However, I am impressed; you definitely
are a lot smarter than most people will give you credit."  Jeff smiled
innocently.  "All I want from you is a very simple little favor, Miss
Wilson."

"Favor?" bristled Tom, who disliked the 'Miss' reference.  "What kind
of favor?"

"When you go in there for your chat with Rachel, I want you to tell
both of them about all of your various sexual exploits; that is, all
of your various female sexual exploits, particularly to Rachel's
companion Melissa Richards," replied Jeff.  "Feel free to exaggerate
as much as you like, Miss Wilson."

"Just what sexual exploits are you talking about?  I've only been a
girl a few minutes.  I have absolutely no intentions of ever having
any sexual exploits while I have this girl form you've somehow given
me."

"Just make things up as you go, Miss Wilson.  Use that fertile
imagination of yours; it was always one of your stronger points.  At
the same time, I want you to roast Mark Russell.  You should explain
to them why you are no longer interested in dating him."

"That should be easy.  But why should I bother doing something like
that?  What's in this for me?" asked Tom.  "Although the name sounds
familiar, I don't think I know anyone named Mark Russell."

"Of course you do, Miss Wilson; you just don't know you know him.  He
was the guy standing in the photographer's line with Rachel earlier
this evening."

"That dumb looking wuss is my competition?  He's seems like a regular
asshole to me," replied Tom scornfully.  "I'll do what you want, but
first, you'll have to undo whatever it is you've done to me.  You'll
need to change me back into my normal self."

"I just can't do that right now," laughed Jeff.  "Certainly you must
understand that you could never be overly convincing in the role of
the girl I want you to play, if I were to change you back into a
male."

"That's not what I meant.  You don't have to change me back right this
moment.  I would like you to make your wish, or whatever it is you
really do, to restore me now, but on a simple contingency basis.  That
way, I won't have to find or bother you again later this evening."

"Contingency?  I didn't know you became a lawyer, although it kind of
makes sense," smiled Jeff.  "Just what did you have in mind?"

"Something fairly simple," replied Tom.  "I do what you want me to do,
and in exchange I get restored to my true self."

"And if you fail to deliver what we've agreed on, then you remain
exactly as you are now."

"Exactly," replied Tom.  "You can bet I'll do my best, since I don't
want to remain this way forever."

"Okay, Miss Wilson.  That sounds acceptable to me," smiled Jeff, "I
think we have a deal."

"Good.  As soon as you make your wish, I'll get started fulfilling my
end of the bargain."

Jeff smiled.  "I wish that on the final stroke of midnight - provided
you have fully accomplished what we've just agreed upon - you will be
restored, both physically and mentally, to what you consider your true
and normal self."  Jeff looked at Tom.  "Was that acceptable to you?"

"For the most, it was," replied Tom.  "But why midnight?"

"Why not?" smiled Jeff.  "If you finish with what I want quickly, I
thought you might like the extra time to fully experience your new
delightful female form.  Think of your midnight deadline as another
part of your Cinderella syndrome.  Besides, you can never tell how
some of these minor transformations will eventually work out for
everyone involved.  Maybe, while you're a girl, you'll gain some new
and interesting perspectives about girls in general by simply talking
with some of your friends.  Of course, you might like to experience
something a little different, as well as from the other side, in a
connubial relationship with one, or more, of your old friends.  Who
knows?  You might even enjoy it."

"Are you completely insane?" asked Tom, stunned by the mere thought of
any possibility of being intimate with another guy.  "There is
absolutely no fucking way in hell that I'm letting anything male get
near enough to touch me, let alone start imagining about bedding me!"

"It was just an idea of what you, as an attractive girl, could do with
your spare time.  If don't have any fun or experiment, then don't."
Jeff's grin made Tom nervous.  "That option remains available to you;
all you need do is exercise it.  Whatever you choose to do while
you're a girl until the midnight time limit kicks in is totally your
decision."

"Okay, I suppose I can live with this body until midnight," agreed Tom
reluctantly.  "But why should Rachel or this Melissa friend of hers
want to talk to me or listen to anything I have to say about Mark
Russell?  Except for the short time I spent standing in the line with
Rachel and him, I don't really know him.  And even though you can't
know I've had this thing for Rachel since we were in school, you must
be aware that she and I didn't exactly run around with the same crowd
of friends."

"Don't worry about any of that," grinned Jeff.  "You don't need to
know Mark Russell for this to work.  Whether or not Rachel listens
to what you have to say is irrelevant.  However, Melissa will listen
to every word you have to say.  She will know exactly who you are,
Miss Wilson, as soon as she sees you.  She already knows you very
well."

* * * * * *

Jeff stared after Tom, as he swayed sexily across the hall towards the
ladies' room.  He noticed several heads turn in Tom's direction as he
passed.  "It would be a real shame to lose such a pretty girl," he
mumbled.  "It's just one wish.  Besides, who could ever miss Tom
Wilson anyway?"

Jeff smiled, as he once again removed the coin from the safety of his
pocket.

"I wish that at the first stroke of midnight Tom's true and normal
physical and mental states shall become, totally unnoticed by him,
altered from what he currently believes are his true and natural
states.  Mentally, he shall become extremely sexy, demonstratively
feminine, and know herself only as Tammy Whitaker.  At the same time,
he shall recognize his true physical self either as the girl he
currently is or, if he's been laid in the meantime, the fantasy girl
of the last male bedding him.  Furthermore, I wish that immediately
following her full restoration, as previously agreed upon, at the
final stroke of midnight, everything will seem completely normal and
totally natural to Tammy."

* * * * * * *

Melissa had just re-opened the door of the stall, when someone - he
assumed it must be Rachel - bolted through the outer door, straight
past him into one of the adjoining stalls.  Moments later, he heard
the unmistakable sounds of his friend losing his dinner.  He wondered
what sort of memory Jeff had had Rachel recall to provoke such an
intense adverse reaction from his friend.

"Are you all right, Rachel?" he asked with concern.

As Rachel opened the stall door, he looked pale and blanched.  He
wobbled unsteadily on his heels, as he exited.  "I will be, I guess,"
he replied without really sounding overly confident.

"If I may ask - what vile thing did he make you remember?"

Rachel's ashen face turned beet red.  "Vile is an understatement,
Melissa.  He told me I'd sucked his precious little dink at the grad
night party."  Rachel made a face of pure disgust.  "And then I
actually recalled taking it into my mouth, sucking on it greedily,
having him come in my mouth, and then, the worst part of all,
swallowing every last bit of his load.  The whole thing made me feel
terribly nauseous and ... well you heard and saw the result."

"How horrible that must have been for you," replied Melissa.  "That
must have been a lot worse than Steve making me remember we'd actually
done the big deed together at the grad night party."

"It probably was, but other than that exceptionally wonderful orgy
we cheerleaders had with the entire football team following the
homecoming game, I can't recall being with any particular guy in
something comparable to your one-on-one situation with Steve."

"You might not believe this, Rachel, but those memories of making it
with Steve actually seemed more pleasant than that orgy.  Even though,
like you, I also fondly recall that wild night of fun and excitement
all of us had with the entire football team," blushed Melissa.  "As I
was reliving them for the first time, I found myself enjoying every
incredible moment of that very special night with Steve."  Melissa
grinned sheepishly.  "He was my first, you know."

"Melissa!" exclaimed Rachel in shock.

"I can't help it, Rachel.  I don't have any explanation for how I feel
about what happened, either good or otherwise," said Melissa
hesitantly.  "All of those new memories being together with Steve just
sort of felt right somehow.  They were even better than any of my
recent experiences with the girls I dated."  He pushed his dark hair
out from in front of his face.  "Not only that, but all of these new
female memories one of Jeff's wishes must be making me remember, as if
I actually lived them, have really messed up my mind and confused the
shit out of me.  Even though, I would have never considered it before,
Rachel, all of this crap he's put me through is making me believe I
should have been born a girl."

"You too," sighed Rachel, sounding suddenly very relieved.  "I know
exactly what you mean, Melissa.  I've been afraid to say anything
because I thought it was something Jeff did only to me.  I've begun
feeling the same way about things that you have, Melissa.  Regardless
of how my feelings are changing about some things, having to remember
sucking on that tiny little weenie of his is still one pretty damn
repulsive thought."

Having finally expressed their hidden fears to each other, they felt
somewhat better.  Having shared their fears with each other, Rachel
and Melissa hugged each other tightly.  Although neither of them
understood why, their hugs made them feel better, as it brought the
best friends even closer together.

"What the hell is going on in here?" asked the girl who had just
entered the room unnoticed.  "Have I stumbled across some kind of
lesbian free-for-all?"

Embarrassed at being caught in what this girl believed an unacceptable
and comprising position, Rachel and Melissa quickly broke away from
their hug.  As they stepped back from each other and turned to face
the accusing girl, Melissa's mouth gaped open in surprise.  "Laurel!"
he exclaimed.  "What the hell are you doing here?"

Tom smiled back at the pretty girl addressing him.  So my name to them
is now apparently Laurel, he thought.  Having seen himself in the
mirror as he'd entered, he decided that Laurel wasn't too bad a name
for this body.  That pretty young lady must be Melissa; Jeff said she
would already know me.  She's not such a bad looker either.  I might
have been interested in dating her, if I hadn't already set my sights
on Rachel.  "Why shouldn't I be here, Melissa dear?  It is our
ten-year reunion, you know."

"That's not what I meant," replied Melissa.  "I thought you were
coming with ... what's his name," he had difficulty remembering the
name of Laurel's date, "Wasn't it Mark something or other ... that is,
until you canceled out on him at the last moment."

"Why would I ever want to be seen at our reunion with some total wuss
like Mark Russell?"

Melissa winced.  He'd never even suspected Laurel thought about him
that way.  He shook his head.  Why did what Laurel thought of Mark
Russell bother him as much as it did?  After all, he wasn't Mark
Russell, he was Melissa Richards.

"Who brought you here tonight, Laurel?" asked Rachel.

"Arnie Linton," replied Tom with a coy smile.

"Arnie Linton?"

"That's what I said, Melissa.  Is there something wrong with your
ears?"

"But he's gay."

"So what.  I've noticed that he's always a rather happy fellow,"
replied Tom.  "And you'd better believe I've been busting my buns
making him even happier all the time."

Rachel and Melissa exchanged incredulous glances between themselves.
They turned and stared at Laurel with disbelief.

"That's not what I meant when I said he was gay, Laurel," said
Melissa.  "He's a homosexual.  He doesn't like girls the way most boys
like girls; he likes other boys that way."

"Oh that," replied Tom with a shrug of his shoulders.  "I've totally
cured him of all that silly nonsense."  Tom smiled broadly.

"What?!" exclaimed Rachel and Melissa.

"You can't cure someone of being gay, Laurel," said Rachel.

"That's right, Laurel," agreed Melissa.  "That would be like someone
trying to cure you of being a blonde."

"Now who's being silly?" replied Tom.  "You can't cure me of being a
blonde."  He fluffed his hair.  "My blonde hair is just a part of who
I am - I was born a blonde, you know.  Nobody can change my being a
blonde."

"Exactly," smiled Melissa.

"Well then," snapped Tom, as he casually placed one of his slender
hands on his waist and struck a sensual pose.  "How do you explain
that my Arnie and I have been having the greatest sex ever possible
between a man and a woman two, and sometimes three or four, times a
night for the past several weeks?  Does that sound like he likes boys
more than me?  Did you know he's an exceptional and nearly insatiable
lover?"  He sighed for effect.  "Why do I call him my stud muffin, if
he isn't?  Why does he call me his princess, if I'm not?"

Melissa and Rachel shook their heads.  Neither of them knew what to
say.  What Laurel was telling them was ludicrous; it couldn't possibly
be true.

But Tom wasn't finished laying it on yet.  "On top of everything else,
why has he rented a room for us here at the hotel?  That's where we're
going as soon as reunion ends, unless it stays as dull and boring as
it's been so far, in which case will go that much sooner.  I know our
last time was just before we left to come here tonight, but it's
already been too long since my stud muffin and his princess have had
sex together.  Right now, I'm really super-hot and horny for my stud
muffin."

"I don't know the answers to your questions, Laurel," replied
Melissa.  "Are you sure we're talking about the same Arnie Linton?"

"He must be the same one," replied Tom with a mischievous smile.  "He
was the only Arnie Linton, we went to school with.  However, I would
readily admit he was still rather small, scrawny, and on the wimpy
side before we started dating.  However, he has filled in marvelously
well over the past several of weeks.  You might not even recognize him
now.  My stud muffin's now tall and handsome with an extremely hot bod
and rippling pecs.  Other girls just take one look at him, and they
want him desperately.  But, hands off, he's mine, girls."  Tom sighed
again for the effect he knew it would have on these gullible girls.
"But you know girls, I really can't wait to get him upstairs into our
room so I can rip off his clothes and jump his bones.  Have I already
mentioned I'm feeling extremely hot and really horny right now?"

"I don't believe any of this," said Rachel.

"Me neither," added Melissa.

"You're just being petty and jealous, Melissa," replied Tom cattily.
"I'll bet if you had one wish, you'd wish for a handsome hunk like my
Arnie to be doing you night after night."

"Fat chance!" exclaimed Melissa.  "And I am definitely not jealous!"
he denied vehemently.

Tom smiled, knowing he'd got under Melissa's skin, just as Jeff must
have wanted him to do.  "You just keep thinking that way, little girl.
Maybe some day you'll even start believing it yourself.  However, I
have much better things to do right now than continue standing around
here talking with you whiny losers.  I think I'll go find Arnie, so we
can go up to our room and start having fun."

Tom was thoroughly pleased with his performance, and he figured Jeff
should be as well, once he explained what had just occurred here.  As
he reached the door, he turned back for a final parting shot.  "I'll
be seeing you losers around some time," he grinned, before leaving the
room.

"Laurel ... and Arnie Linton?" mumbled Melissa.  "I can't believe she
dumped ... er, whatever his name is ... for Arnie Linton.  Who could
have ever believed the two of them as a couple?  And why do I keep
thinking she dumped me?"

"I don't know, Melissa, but I do know that I don't believe any of
that shit she was spreading," stated Rachel.  "There's something
screwy about this thing."

"But why should Laurel lie about something like that?"

"That's a good question, Melissa.  I don't have the slightest idea
why Laurel would lie about who she was dating, but I'm absolutely
certain that the bitch who just left here was lying through her
teeth."

"What are you talking about?!"  Melissa looked startled.  "What makes
you think that wasn't Laurel?  She certainly looked and acted like
Laurel."

"She did, and she didn't.  But in case you've forgotten, we look like
girls, and we're not," replied Rachel.  "I have a couple of really big
questions needing rational answers.  First off, why would Laurel have
ever started dating Arnie Linton in the first place?  This makes no
sense.  You know, as well as I do that she's one of the world's
biggest homophobes.  That girl has always been afraid she could catch
whatever makes them the way they are merely by touching one of them.

And secondly, why would Laurel think and keep saying she went to
school with us?  She didn't graduate with us, Melissa.  Don't you
remember?"

"That's right," agreed Melissa.  "She graduated four years after us.
She even went to the new high school they built across town.  How
could I have possibly forgotten any of that?  Now that I think about
it, I didn't even meet Laurel until five years ago."

"Jeff!" exclaimed Melissa and Rachel suddenly, as the same thought
crossed their minds at the same time.  "That fucking asshole must have
used the coin again."

"He must be responsible for this.  He's always enjoyed playing mind
games on people.  That girl must have been Jeff transformed by the
coin," said Melissa angrily.  "The coin must have let that twisted
pervert know Laurel dumped me.  So he wished himself temporarily into
Laurel's form just so he could twist the knife deeper into my back."

"I doubt that that girl was really Jeff.  It was more likely Steve, or
one of his other perverse cronies," replied Rachel.  "Given what Jeff
thinks about girls, I just can't imagine him changing himself into one
of them for even a few minutes."

* * * * * * *


Part 7

"You did some really excellent work in there, Miss Wilson," said Jeff,
as Tom rejoined him outside.  "I especially liked that part about you
and Arnie Linton doing it together several times a night.  It's too
bad I couldn't have seen their faces when you told them.  That must
have been priceless."

"How do you know what I said in there?" asked Tom.

"How else?  I was listening the whole time.  In fact, I'm still
listening in on the conversation those two little ungrateful schemers
are having.  All it took was a simple wish."

"While we're speaking about simple wishes, why didn't you use one on
yourself?  You could have changed into a girl, who could have easily
gone in with me to watch."

Jeff glared at him.  "I would never waste a wish on something so
stupid.  I'd never want to be a girl, Miss Wilson."

The, since you must know how I feel, how about making one of them now
to change me back to my normal self?"

"I thought we had an agreement," said Jeff.  "You weren't going to
bother me about that again tonight.  Just as we agreed on and exactly
as I wished earlier, you'll be yourself again, both physically and
mentally, at the final stroke of midnight - and not any sooner.
Loosen up a little; enjoy your remaining time as Laurel."

"I've changed my mind," replied Tom.  "I don't want to be this Laurel
bitch any longer.  I want to be me again!"

"And so you shall - at midnight," replied Jeff coldly.  "But I suspect
you're unhappy because you're be a little lonely right now.  I imagine
the pretty little princess is probably missing her handsome stud
muffin something awful."  Jeff's smile made Tom very nervous.  "But
I'm a nice guy and I'll help you pass the time.  As I'm sure you're
already aware, Arnie isn't here tonight.  He never intended to be
here, but then, you can't really blame him for staying away.  He was
never very popular, and nearly everyone treated him as a leper once
his secret was exposed."  Jeff's smile widened.  "So you won't be
lonely anymore, I wish Arnie Linton were here with us."

Suddenly, a very startled Arnie Linton popped into the room between
Jeff and Tom.  "Where am I?" he asked in confusion.

"Damn.  I'd forgotten what a scrawny little wimp Arnie's always been,"
said Jeff to Tom.  "But I'll fix up that little detail for you right
away.  I wish that Arnie would become that spectacular straighter than
an arrow specimen of manly manhood, as well as the total babe magnet
you described to the girls as your stud muffin."

As Jeff and Tom watched in fascination, Arnie Linton's small and
scrawny, somewhat effeminate frame began filling out.  Within a few
moments, he had been transformed to match exactly the hunk Tom had
described to Melissa and Rachel.  He had grown several inches taller
and now stood well over six-foot in height.  His newly bulging
muscles, having shredded his shirt as they'd enlarged, rippled beneath
the tatters of his shirt.  In addition, he had become incredibly
handsome as well.

"What have you done to me?" asked Arnie in a rich deep baritone voice.

Several girls standing nearby looked up and sought the source of his
sexy voice.  As they found him, none of them were disappointed with
what they saw.  All of them smiled at the incredible hunk with
undisguised wanton lust burning brightly in their eyes.

Jeff ignored Arnie's question, since it wasn't of any importance.  "I
wish you were dressed appropriately."  Turning back to Tom, a wicked
grin spread quickly across his face.  "You'd better be careful, Miss
Wilson; otherwise, you might soon lose your stud muffin to one of
them.  But, being the nice guy I am, I'll help you keep him.  I wish
that everything you told Melissa and Rachel of your relationship with
Arnie Linton had been the total and absolute truth."

Suddenly, Arnie, now wearing a tuxedo, began smiling lustily at Tom.
Burning desires he'd never before felt for any woman freely flowed
through his altered form.  All other wants and desired he'd ever
previously felt had been replaced by his need for her.  And yet, his
lust for her felt totally natural and right.  As he looked at Tom,
Arnie knew she had always been - and would always be - his princess,
which meant these wonderful feelings must be, had always been, totally
right.  "Are you ready to go up to our love hideaway, my Princess?" he
asked.

As Tom looked up towards Arnie, he found himself thinking about how
totally gorgeous his stud muffin had become.  Unsettled by the
strangeness of his thoughts, Tom tried to turn his head away, only to
discover he couldn't bear to take his eyes away from Arnie's muscular
male form.

Tom's knees went suddenly weak.

The strange and inexplicable sensations coursing throughout his body
as he looked at Arnie grew stronger and more demanding.  And most
strangely, a very peculiar gnawing hunger was growing within him.
Unable to take his eyes from Arnie or to think of anything other than
him, Tom felt his female body becoming sexually aroused - his nipples
were erect, his crotch was damp, and he was breathing so heavily it
seemed he might have just run a mile.  As he realized what was
happening to him, he wondered what had possessed him to tell those
girls about being so hot and horny for Arnie.  Not that any of this
really matters, he reminded himself, since I always feel hot and horny
whenever my Arnie is around.  "Whenever you are, my stud muffin," he
replied in sensual tones that belied his inner thoughts and turmoil.

Arnie slid his arm around Tom's waist, then kissed the girl he
believed Tom had always been with unbridled passion.  At first Tom
tried resisting Arnie, but he couldn't for very long.  As their kiss
continued, growing deeper and more intense, his physical arousal grew
more noticeable and demanding, while his mental resistance faded
equally.

When their kiss finally ended, Arnie looked deeply into Tom's eyes.
"Let's go up to that room I rented.  It's playtime, my princess."

"Of course, my stud muffin," replied Tom in his sensual soprano.  "It
has already been far too long since the last time, lover.  And I'm
really hot and horny right now.  I want you in me."  It wasn't exactly
what he'd intended on saying, but he couldn't hope to fight against
Jeff's wish making him and Arnie lovers.  But then, out of the blue,
Tom decided there wasn't anything wrong with looking like a girl or
even being with Arnie; they'd been lovers for the past several weeks.
Besides, why should he spend time worrying about things he couldn't
change?  He'd just let nature take its course and enjoy his time with
Arnie.  And when the last stroke of midnight sounded, Tom knew he'd be
physically and mentally himself again.

Jeff smiled as he watched the couple slink away arm-in-arm.  "What a
stupid fool," he mumbled.  "This little affair should keep you totally
occupied until the final stroke of midnight, when you irrevocably
become Tammy Whitaker.  I wonder what how you'll appear and what
you'll be like as the dream girl of the new and improved Arnie
Linton?"  Jeff began to laugh.  "Whatever made you think I'd allow
you to be my rival for Rachel?"

* * * * * *

"We must do something about Jeff soon.  We can't continue letting him
keep making wishes and jerking us around like this."

"Yeah, I know.  But what can we do about it?  As long as holds the
coin, we're stuck this way."

"Maybe we should stand up to him," suggested Melissa.  "We could
demand that he change us back to normal."

"I don't think that would work.  He'll just get angry with us, and
then he'd probably wish us into doing or remembering something even
worse than he already has.  We could wind up common sluts walking the
streets, or something even worse.  I'm sure you remember what he did
to Donna Patterson, as well as what happened to her afterwards.  He
got away with that and he didn't have the coin then.  I also believe
that there are plenty of other girls like Donna we just never heard
anything about."

"I remember what happened to Donna," whispered Melissa with a shudder.
"So does her older brother Earl.  If you remember, Donna was a couple
years behind us, but Earl was in our class.  He's here tonight, you
know; I saw him earlier tonight - and," Melissa's face suddenly
reddened, "if you didn't already know it, he's a really terrific
kisser.  Maybe he'll help us."

"But what if he won't help us?"

"We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by finding him and
asking for his help against Jeff.  The worst he can say is no.
Besides, if we don't do something real soon, we could be walking the
streets anyway.  Not only that, but Jeff could easily rape either or
both of us just like he did Donna.  And with the old man's coin in his
possession, he'll never have to worry about lying about doing it or
getting his stooge Steve to cover his slimy ass in court.  Even worse,
he could simply wish us into being masochists who thoroughly enjoyed
being subjected to all the crap he's always putting people through.

"And I'm certain you'll agree with my assessment of our current
situation - if we don't find some way to be restored to our normal
selves soon, then neither of us is likely to recall who we really
are, nor will we likely give a shit."

"I have a feeling you're right about that, Melissa.  I have no
intention of winding up the way Donna did."

"Then it's settled, more or less.  As soon as we're back in the hall,
we'll start looking around for Earl.  After we've found him and
hopefully explained our unusual situation to him, we'll tell Jeff
we've had enough of his bullshit.  We'll demand to be restored to our
true selves again.  Once we're us again, then we'll have time to think
up some way of getting the coin back from him."

Rachel and Melissa hugged each other for moral support.  They were
very frightened about standing up to Jeff as they'd planned, but, in
spite of the danger - he still had the magical coin that granted him
all the wishes he wanted - standing up to him was something they just
had to do.  They didn't believe they had another choice.

* * * * * * *

Rachel and Melissa were surprised as they exited the ladies' room.
Neither of them had expected to ever see the woman who had been
impersonating Laurel again.  She was standing there with an
exceptionally handsome hunk, who, except for his rippling muscles and
sensational physique, impossibly reminded them of Arnie Linton.  One
of his strong arms was securely wrapped about Laurel's waist.  And
Laurel appeared extremely impatient for him to lead her off somewhere
away from the reunion hall.

"That couldn't be him," said Melissa staring at Arnie.  "He's such a
gorgeous hunk!"

"Of course, it could be him," replied Rachel.  Unable to help himself,
he stared absently after Arnie.  "Jeff has the coin.  And with it, he
can do almost anything he wants just by making a wish."

Thoroughly spellbound watching Arnie's muscular form, neither of them
noticed that Jeff was also waiting for them just outside the door to
the ladies' room.  "Hello again, girls," he smiled.  "I hate to
interrupt your lusty ogling of the new Arnie, but I had begun worrying
that something unfortunate had happened to you in there."

With a great effort, they turned away from Arnie and stared icy
daggers at Jeff.  "As if you even cared if something happened to us,"
spat Rachel.

"Now that really hurts, Rachel.  Of course, I care about you ... that
is, both of you.  I care a lot," he grinned.  "And just to show you
how much I really care, I'm going to wish you to be normal, just like
you were discussing in there."

"You went into the ladies' room?" asked Rachel in annoyance.

"Of course not, I'm no pervert," replied Jeff.  "I just made a simple
little wish in order to hear your conversations.  Your interesting
little powwow with Laurel was quite amusing; I never realized how much
of a slut she really was.  You're better off without her Melissa.
However, I must tell you I was really hurt by what both of you said
after Laurel left.  After everything I've done for you two, you were
conspiring against me."

"That wasn't very nice of you," agreed Steve.

Melissa eyed Jeff suspiciously.  "If you've decided to restore us to
normal, it must be to your advantage.  There must be a catch; what is
it?"

Jeff grinned.  "There's no catch..."  He held the coin up so they
could see it.  "Well, actually there is just one minor, almost
insignificant little catch - but since you won't be remembering it,
it doesn't really count.  With regard to this coin, I wish that
neither of you would remember possessing it, making any wishes of any
kind with it, what it is capable of doing, where you got it, or that
its anything other than just another ordinary coin."

Melissa and Rachel's eyes glazed over.  They stared blank-faced at
Jeff for several moments as their memories of the past day swirled
about rapidly in their minds, altering into accordance with what
Jeff's wish required them to be.  One, and then the other, shook his
head, as their conscious thoughts slowly returned.

They looked at each other dumbfounded.

"Melissa?..."

"Rachel?..."

"What the hell happened to you!" they exclaimed in unison.  "You've
become a girl!"  After looking each other over carefully, they were
further stunned by another sudden realization.  "And so have I!"

"How did this happen to us, Rachel?" asked Melissa.

"I don't have the slightest idea, Melissa," replied Rachel.  He
reached up and poked cautiously at one of his large breasts to
determine if they were real.  "But however it happen, we have
somehow been totally transformed into girls."

"But that's not possible."

"Maybe it was some hind of magic spell."

"There's no such thing as magic or spells."

Suddenly, they spun around to face Jeff.  Each of them glared at him
accusingly.  "I don't how you managed to do this to us," said Rachel
angrily, "but I know you're the one responsible for doing it.  You
changed us into girls somehow."

"Rachel is right.  I don't know how you did this to us either, but I
positively know you did this to us.  And yet, at the same time, I'm
at a complete loss to think of any rational way you could have
possibly changed us into girls.  Whatever it was you did to us and
however you did it, you had better undo it - right now."

"You'd better return us to normal this instant, if you know what's
good for you," added Rachel in full agreement with his friend.

"But I just said I would make you normal," smirked Jeff.

"Yeah, girls.  He already said he'd make you both normal," parroted
Steve.  "I was right here and heard him say he would.  Wasn't I Jeff?"

Rachel and Melissa exchanged worried glances with each other.  "When?"
they asked together.  But each of them could easily guess what the
other was now thinking; neither of them trusted Jeff.

"Are you ready to be completely normal girls?" asked Jeff, who never
waited for either of their responses to his ambiguous question.  "I
wish that both of you would be returned to the normal everyday lives
you'd been living as if nothing had ever happened to you, but with the
following small and simple exception.  My previous wish that you would
remember doing whatever you were told you'd done will be superseded by
both of you having been born and raised Rachel Jensen and Melissa
Richards, the girls, who, until now, you have only pretended to be,
but now you are and have always been.

Once again their eyes glazed over.  As more time was necessary to
rewrite two lifetimes than a mere day, Rachel and Melissa stared
blankly at each other for several minutes.  As their minds eventually
began to uncloud, they still felt lost and thoroughly confused about
where and who they were, as well as why they were wherever they were.
However, with normalcy required by Jeff's latest wish, their confusion
swiftly faded as new thoughts replaced the old, and altered memories
rapidly displaced their old ones.

"What were we just talking about, Melissa?" asked Rachel, her hand
casually sweeping her blond hair out of her face.

Melissa slipped a hand onto her hip.  "I don't really seem to remember
very clearly, Rachel."  With some hesitation, she added, "But I think
I said something really strange ... something about you becoming a
girl."

"I think I also mentioned something about you becoming a girl as
well," replied an equally hesitant Rachel.

"That's just downright silly, you know."

"I agree one hundred percent, Melissa.  Us just becoming girls is
something too silly for mere words to describe."

"You've been a girl as long as I've known you, Rachel," said Melissa,
her confidence swelling in what she knew had always been the truth.

"And so have you, Melissa," agreed Rachel.  "We've known each other
since we were both little girls just barely able to walk."

Their confidence in themselves continued to grow, making them feel
increasingly better, with every second that passed.  A warm hug from
each other increased their feeling of well being, made them feel
better, and increased their senses of security.

Jeff and Steve watched with satisfied fascination, as the two girls,
who had only been pretending to be these girls before, had actually
become those girls.

Steve approached Melissa - his intent was obvious.  "Why don't you
and I blow this joint, babe.  If you want, I'm sure we can rent us a
room here for the rest of the night.  Why don't we go have us a little
fun?"

Unexpectedly, Melissa glared icily at Steve for a few moments.  "Why
would I want to do something as completely stupid as that?  Especially
with an asshole like you."  She began laughing.  "What could possibly
possess me to go anywhere and to do anything with a degenerate loser
like you?"

Steve looked as if he'd be struck by a ton of bricks.  "But you made
it with me at the grad night party," he whined.  "Don't you remember
that night, Melissa?"

"Melissa!" exclaimed Rachel to her friend in shock.  "You didn't!
You couldn't have!  And certainly, not with him!"

"I'm afraid I did," confessed Melissa sheepishly, "but trust me, it
was purely a mercy fuck, Rachel.  And I've been trying to forget about
it ever since."  She looked at Steve with utter disgust etched on her
face.  "Obviously it was one of the most major mistakes of my entire
life.  However, as I recall, I was hornier than hell at the time, and
drunk or loaded or high or more likely, given it was him, some
combination of all of the above.  This whiny little fool just got
really lucky that night.  This idiot just happened to be there - in
the right place for him - when I really needed it.  There isn't really
anything else to talk about.  As a lover, he definitely wasn't,
probably still isn't from the geeky look of him, much to talk about
either."  She turned back to Steve.  "Are you still here?" she taunted
him.  "Why don't you just run away someplace and play with yourself,
little boy."

"But Melissa..."

"Don't you understand anything I've said to you yet?  You may have
fucked me, but I was never the least bit interested in you when we
were in high school, and I'm even less interested in you now.  You're
a loser.  And once a loser, always a loser."

Steve looked despondent.  He felt as if Melissa had ripped his heart
from his chest.  He couldn't understand how Melissa could speak to
him as she just had, when they'd been lovers.  Didn't she know he
loved her; he'd always loved her since they were kids.  He looked to
Jeff for solace, as well as a word or two of understanding.

"Don't you worry about her, Steve," Jeff told his distraught friend.
"Once I've talked over a few things with Rachel, I'll fix things up
between you and Melissa better than ever before."  With a wide smile
of expectation, Jeff turned his full attentions to Rachel.  "Now babe,
how'd you like to suck my cock again?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Rachel slapped him hard across the
face.  "Are you talking to me, asshole?"  She stared at him with
steely eyes.

Jeff shook his head, hoping that the movement of his head would help
stop the ringing in his ears.  "What the hell did you do that for?" he
asked, his face, three slender fingers visibly imprinted on his cheek,
reddened from the force of her slap.

"As if you didn't know, scumbucket."  Rachel stared icy daggers at
him.  "But, as you were never very bright, I suppose I'll have to
spell it out for you.  You're an insensitive and totally clueless
little prick, you stupid buttwipe."  She turned to her friend.  "Now,
if you really want to compare mercy fucks, Melissa, I'll win with this
one hands down.  This disgusting little slimeball has a teeny tiny
little dink too pathetic for mere words to adequately describe.  Had
I known his manhood was going to be so teeny weeny, even after he got
so excited, he would have never been as lucky as he was that night."

"I've never had any complaints before," boasted Jeff.

"Really?  I find that difficult to believe," smiled Rachel.  "As small
as your little thingy is, you could easily make it into Ripley's.  I
mean, I still laugh every time I tell my friends about 'our big time
together'."

"You mean that guy was this guy?" asked Melissa with a broadening
smile.

"Yup.  This is him - Mr. Teeny Weeny himself," replied Rachel.  "Say
little Jeffie, why don't you just pull your tiny thingy out of your
pants right now.  I'm sure, everyone here could use a good laugh right
about now."

Rachel and Melissa began laughing.

Livid at being made fun of, Jeff turned several interesting hues.
"You can't talk to me like that."

"Of course, I can stupid," replied Rachel smugly.  "Haven't you been
listening to me for the past several minutes?  Or have you been
playing with yourself so much you've gone deaf, just like your mother
told you, you would?"

"But..."

"No buts allowed, little boy," said Rachel with utter disdain.  "Just
go away, and leave us alone.  And whatever else you do, don't forget
to take that other whiny loser with you."

Jeff's face turned beet-red with anger.  How can that stupid bitch
dare talk to me like that?  Let's face it, he thought, even that
birdbrained cunt must realize she wouldn't be where, or even who, she
was today if not for me.  Doesn't she remember I have the coin?  Who
could have ever guessed that simply wishing those two dorks Russell
and Jackson to be born and raised female would result in them growing
up spoiled and uppity little tight-assed bitches with terrible
attitudes and horrible manners.  Maybe I shouldn't have made them
forget what the coin was capable of doing.

"But I'll show these sorry brash bimbos what it means to cross me,"
muttered Jeff.  "They'll soon be sorry they ever started fucking with
me."

"Can I make my wish now, Jeff?" asked Steve.

"What?" replied Jeff, startled by his friend's request from out of
left field.  But then, he suddenly grinned.  "Why not?"  He'd been
fairly certain what kind of wish Steve would make, as well as who
would be the subject of his wish.  And if Steve wanted from Melissa
what he assumed he wanted, then that was pretty much what he'd had in
mind for her anyway.  He hoped that the pretty, but really bitchy,
Melissa would enjoy being Steve's abject sex slave.  On the other
hand, the little slut wasn't going to have any say in the matter.
She would love being nothing more than sex object for Steve, because
he said so.

On top of that, letting Steve use his wish now would reward him, more
or less, with the wish he'd already been promised.  Jeff smiled.  How
like Steve; had he only kept his mouth shut, he would have had Melissa
for his own, and still had his promised wish coming.  Once Steve had
made his wish centering on Melissa, Jeff would deal with Rachel in a
similar manner.  He already knew what changes he'd be wishing for in
her.  Not only would he make her absolutely perfect, he'd make that
pompous little slut Rachel pay for her bad attitude.

But first, I think I'll whip up a little safeguard against Steve
accidentally wishing up any unnecessary complications.  He held the
coin in his hand.  "I wish Steve can only make one wish with this
coin."

That should keep things safe and in my control, thought Jeff.

Unexpectedly, an odd rumbling sound like far off thunder suddenly
filled the air.  It lasted for only a few moments.

"Stupid weathermen can't get anything right," Jeff grumbled.  He
handed the coin to his friend.  "You have exactly one wish, Steve,"
he smiled, "Whatever you wish for, I hope you'll enjoy it forever."

* * * * * * *


Part 8

Jeff glared at Steve with growing impatience and budding frustration.
When he'd given him the coin to make a wish, Jeff had believed his
friend knew exactly what he would wish for.  But obviously, he'd been
mistaken in that assessment, since, in the worst possible case he
could imagine, it should have taken Steve no more than a few moments
to make the very simple wish to transform that conniving bitch Melissa
into his obedient sex slave forever.

But after the passage of ten, very long, minutes, Steve had still
failed to utter the first word of his wish.  All he seemed capable of
doing was gazing intensely at the coin he held tightly in his hand.
Occasionally, he'd nod his head, almost as if someone were talking to
him.

Once more, Jeff began wondering if allowing Steve this wish had been
such a good idea after all.  However, he felt himself fortunate in
having had the foresight to limit him to just the single wish;
otherwise, he might be considerably older before Steve finally
returned the coin to him.

Finally, Steve made his wish, as Jeff breathed a sigh of relief.  "I
wish that Melissa and Rachel are now, have always been, and will
always be, our closest and dearest friends in the world, and that the
four of us never fight, share everything we have, and have just about
everything imaginable in common."

Puzzled by the strange wording of his friend's wish, Jeff could only
look at him and shake his head.  It definitely wasn't the kind of wish
Jeff had expected Steve to make; it wasn't anywhere close.  It was too
vague and made no mention whatsoever of turning Melissa into his
abject sex slave forever.  Neither was it something on which he would
have wasted one of his wishes.  Except, of course, for that part about
being really close 'friends' with Rachel.  However, if he'd made the
wish, their relationships would now be considerably closer then mere
friendship.  He could live with just being Rachel's friend ... for a
while ... at least, until he got the coin back.

As he turned to say something to Steve about returning the coin, he
gasped with surprise.  While he watched, his friend's short-cropped
red hair quickly grew out to shoulder length.  His tall and lanky
frame shrank and reshaped as if clay.  His pant legs fused together,
while a slit ran up one side, revealing smooth and slender, very
feminine legs.

His jacket and tie faded away.  Within moments afterwards, the sleeves
of his shirt vanished.  Each sides of his shirt joined seamlessly
together with the other.  The now unnecessary buttons fell towards the
floor, but disappeared along the way.  The neckline of his shirt
plummeted and revealed his navel.  And then, what little remained of
his shirt seemed to crawl, like a thing alive, across his chest.  As
it continued shrinking and reshaping, its increasingly form-fitting
tightness appeared to be remolding Steve's bodily contours into those
more curvaceous and decidedly feminine with each passing moment.

With awe and ever-increasing interest, Jeff watched his friend's
continuing transformation.  Under the now strapless evening gown Steve
now wore, a pair of amply proportioned female breasts swiftly swelled.
Along with his newly enlarged butt, his large breasts greatly enhanced
his developing girlish figure.

As he gazed upwards from Steve's chest, Jeff was once again stunned.
While he'd been totally preoccupied watching his friend's large
breasts develop, Steve's face had also significantly altered.  It had
softened considerably, and his cheekbones had risen slightly.  His
eyes had turned an incredibly sexy emerald green.  For all intents and
purposes, Steve appeared to be a girl now - a very pretty girl.

Even though he knew this coin would continue granting him all the
wishes he wanted indefinitely, Jeff couldn't help thinking that his
foolish friend had actually saved him a wish.  Steve, now dazed and
not yet having realized what his wish had done to him - he might never
know - looked about the room in an apparent mental fog, very obviously
feeling totally confused.

Steve's wish has certainly given him an attractive, very feminine and
sexy, body, thought Jeff.  With his brand new beauty, I'm certain he
will attract boys like flames lure moths.  I might even give him a
tumble myself.  After all, isn't that what friends are for?  And not
only is Steve my best friend, but now, he has also become quite a fox.

"I'll take my coin back now, babe," grinned Jeff.

"Jeff," replied Steve in a soft and very sexy quivering soprano voice.
As he slowly shook his head, he felt his new long hair brush gently
across his shoulders.  "I feel really peculiar, Jeff.  What's going
on?"  As he handed the coin back to Jeff, he glared in bewilderment at
his now dainty hand with the long slender fingers and painted nails.
Steve's mouth dropped open, as one of his hands accidentally
discovered his new, and quite well developed, set of feminine
attributes hanging proudly from his chest.  "Damnit, Jeff!" exclaimed
Steve. "I've got some girl's big boobies!  How the hell did that
happen?"

"I gave you the coin to make a wish.  And it appears you've wished
yourself into being a pretty girl," grinned Jeff.  "Shit, Steve, I
allowed you to make just one wish on your own, and you still managed
to fuck it up.  On the other hand, I'll have to admit you did a
remarkably good job wishing up that body.  From where I'm standing,
you've become one really bodacious sexy babe."

Steve was crestfallen at being a girl.  "I'm sorry I screwed up, Jeff.
I don't know what could have come over me," said Steve plaintively.
"You must believe me, Jeff, making myself over into a sexy girl wasn't
remotely close to what I'd intended wishing for."  He began to sulk.
"What am I going to do now, Jeff?"  He seemed ready to burst into a
flood of tears at any moment.  With every guy passing within an arm's
length giving him an appreciative once over, a lusty smile, and a wolf
whistle, he was most definitely not going to feel better anytime soon.
They were obviously trying to recall who this pretty redheaded girl
was.  "Can you use the coin and wish me back again?" he whined, as he
continued to pout.  "I don't want to be this way."  He tentatively
touched one of his breasts and shuddered.  "I don't want to be a
girl."

"Maybe I'll change you back in a little bit, Steve.  But if I cancel
out all your mistakes as fast as you make them, how will you ever
learn anything?" replied Jeff.  "You wished yourself into womanhood,
so why don't you try being one for a while?  You might even decide you
like it.  Besides, you wished to be really close friends with Rachel
and Melissa, and you now have your chance to be exactly who and what
you wished to be.  Your ill-phrased wish simply resulted in you
becoming one of their girl girlfriends and not Melissa's boyfriend.
Why don't you wander over there, so you can discuss what has happened
to you with your good friends Rachel and Melissa for a while?  You
might discover something interesting about Melissa, if you do."

"Do you really think so?  Then, okay, I'll do it," replied Steve with
a sudden smile.  Steve had just realized that whenever he talked
things out with his close friends, he always felt better.  At least,
he always had in the past, especially whenever his very best and
closest friends Rachel Jensen and Melissa Richards were doing the
listening.  As if nothing were wrong, he casually strolled over to
join them.

"What a great looking ass.  He's never moved so well in his life,"
muttered Jeff, as he watched with increasing interest his friend
strolled sexily away.  I wonder how long it will be before Steve
totally adjusts mentally to being this sexy girl that his wish has
physically made of him.  Maybe a little later, I'll provide him some
additional external stimulation just to help him get adjusted to being
a sexy young lady more quickly.

"Rachel!  Melissa!" exclaimed Steve as he approached them.

That's really strange, thought Jeff.  Steve's new sexy soprano voice
sounds almost normal now.  It no longer has that edge, as if something
might be troubling him.

As Jeff observed Steve, he saw the two girls turn towards him, and
surprisingly smile broadly at the approaching girl, almost as if they
knew her - had, in fact, known her for a long time.  But that isn't
possible, thought Jeff.  Neither of them can possibly know Steve as
this girl he's become, or that he's even gained a female shape.

"Sheila!" both girls exclaimed.  "You made it tonight after all."  The
three girls hugged each like long lost friends.

"Sheila?"  Jeff smiled.  "Steve was even stupider than I'd thought.
He'd wished his new friends shared everything, and, as a result, his
wish must have somehow duplicated in him a few of the effects of the
wishes I'd made to alter those other two bimbos.  Obviously everyone
here at the reunion, except me of course, now thinks of him as Sheila.
If that other little memory altering wish I'd made kicks in, I'll bet
there won't be much left of Steve Layton's personality by the time
Rachel and Melissa get finished reminiscing with her.  What a real
shame," he grinned, as he immediately began making plans for his
inevitable conquest of pretty Sheila.

But unexpectedly, Jeff felt a sudden chilly breeze across his lower
legs.

"What the..."  He abruptly stopped, as he looked down at his legs.
He had no idea when it had happened, but, very surprisingly, his legs
were now bared, quite slender, very smooth to the touch, and totally
hairless.  Impossibly, he soon discovered he was wearing a short
skirt.  Even more frightening, he was standing in platform shoes with
at least three-inch heels, almost as if he'd been wearing heeled shoes
like them his entire life.

"Shit," swore Jeff.  "Whatever is now going on must be some other part
of Steve's wish.  Not only has he totally fucked up and transformed
himself into a girl, his wish is now trying to remake me into a girl
too.  Well, I'll put a stop to this shit right now."  Clutching the
coin in his hand, he looked across at the three gossiping girls and
idly wondered if they were talking about him.  "I wish that Steve's
wish hadn't affected me at all."

Once again, he heard that odd rumbling thunder-like sound outside.

Strangely, Jeff felt nothing odd or unusual happening to his body.  He
didn't know whether he should be happy or worried about this apparent
lack of physical sensations.  He had no first-hand knowledge of how it
felt being transformed by one of his own wishes with which to base a
comparison.  On the other hand, Steve had mentioned he'd felt peculiar
as he'd changed.  Why, wondered Jeff, didn't I feel myself start
changing as a result of Steve's wish?

Unexpectedly, his short hair spurted out; it soon fell over his ears
and onto his shoulders with bangs covering his forehead.  It was clear
to Jeff that his last wish hadn't canceled out, or even slowed down,
whatever Steve's wish was currently doing to him.

As he raised the coin again to attempt another wish, he was surprised
to find the sleeves of his shirt had disappeared.  Not only had his
sleeves vanished, but also only two thin straps now held in place what
had become the matching top to the skirt he'd found himself wearing.

Before he could speak, his already sparse chest hair faded away,
leaving a very smooth, almost baby-soft, chest behind.  And, if that
weren't enough, within mere moments, much to Jeff's considerable
consternation, two full and firm female breasts, although not quite as
large as Steve's had become, hung from his chest.

"What the hell is going on?"  His voice cracked.  "Why can't I wish
this shit to stop?"  Jeff tried piecing together what was happening to
him for several minutes.  He concluded the most reasonable answer was
simply that Steve's wish must fully run its course before he would be
able to make another wish that would eliminate its effects.  While he
continued changing, his own curiosity about his new appearance, as
well as how he appeared to those around him grew.  Until finally,
unable to put it off any longer, he decided he had to take a quick
peek at the shape and form into which Steve's wish had been altering
him.  "It can't hurt."  He clutched at his throat, wondering if the
voice he'd heard had been his.  "And it might be interesting."

Even as he made his way toward the lavatory, Jeff knew he probably
looked more like a girl than he did a boy.  Not only that, but his
body no longer seemed to walk the way he'd always walked before.  But
he wasn't overly worried about being trapped as a girl forever like
Steve - perhaps he should start thinking of her as Sheila now -
appeared to be.  As long as he avoided those three girls, as well as
anything they said to him, until he could use the coin to cancel out
the effects of Steve's wish, he should be reasonably all right.  If he
didn't hear what they said, his own memories should in no way be
compromised by whatever they recalled about him while chatting among
themselves.

Besides, he thought, as long as I have this coin, I can wish for
anything I want.  Can't I?

As he reached for the handle of men's room door, a young man opened it
from the other side.  "I think you've got the wrong room, babe."  He
smiled lustily at Jeff.  "The foxy ladies' room is over there,
beautiful."

"Oh my," he replied sweetly.  Given his strange set of circumstances,
he even blushed slightly.  He'd never once stopped to consider that
someone, who thought himself male, but appeared to be female to
everyone else, should, of prudent necessity, use the ladies' room.
"Thank you."  He batted his eyes like he'd seen girls do in the past.
"I don't know what to say.  You've saved me from a really major
embarrassment."

"No problem, babe," smiled the young man again.  "Perhaps, we can get
together a little later this evening."

"Perhaps," replied Jeff coyly, "but first, nature calls."  He turned
and headed for the ladies' room.  "What does that god damn fucking
asshole think he's doing hitting on me?" mumbled Jeff, as he opened
the door of the ladies' room.  Even though he refused to look back,
he was absolutely certain he could feel that creep's eyes boring into
his back with every step he took.  "But that's not going to be a
problem for much longer."  He patted his purse.  "Once I'm myself
again, I'll show that stupid asshole exactly what it feels like to be
hit on and ogled by some dumbshit."  Jeff smiled.  "Or better yet,
maybe the two of us will get together, just as he wanted, a little
later this evening."

* * * * * * *

Jeff stared at his reflection in stunned disbelief.  How can that
pretty girl, he wondered, in the mirror possibly be me?  She doesn't
look anything like me.  And these tits, he thought while absently
cupping one of them.  They're just too much.  "What the hell could
Steve have possibly been thinking about when he made that wish?  Even
I can't believe he screwed up this badly."

But after several more minutes of carefully inspecting his reflection,
it became apparent that his physical transformation must have finally
completed.  He would have never recognized her as himself, since
nothing remotely identifiable as him remained to be seen in this
girl's reflection in the mirror.  "But maybe now that I've completed
my transformation, I can finally make a wish of my own to counteract
what Steve's stupid wish has done to me."

However, before Jeff could make his wish, a trio of giggling girls
entered the ladies room.  Jeff looked up at them, but didn't recognize
any of them.  And yet strangely, all three of them looked vaguely
familiar.  He tried, and failed, to put names with each of their
faces.  Lost in thought trying to recall their names, he wasn't
prepared when all three of them smiled warmly at him, and, among
another chorus of giggles, squealed in unison, "Hi Jeannie," as if
they knew this girl he had become.  But before he could question them,
they disappeared into adjoining stalls.

"Jeannie?" grumbled Jeff.  "Those stupid bimbos think my name is
Jeannie, but at least I still know my name's not Jeannie."  Jeff
frowned.  "Shit.  This must be another result of Steve's dumb wish
coming back to haunt me.  People now think his name is Sheila, and,
so it seems, they all believe I'm named Jeannie."

As if looking for confirmation, Jeff looked at his badge, which was
now attached to the thin strap of his sleeveless top just above his
left breast.  While the name on it still clearly read "Jeff Marshall",
the picture on it seemed subtly altered from his senior picture he
remembered it being earlier.  He could remember no time when his hair
had ever been that long in high school.  But at least this photo still
looked basically male, instead of some younger version of the female
form now reflected by the mirror.

Jeff pulled the coin out of his purse again.

Those three giggling girls sitting in the stalls would likely be in
for one big surprise when they finished their business and exited into
the room, only to find him standing outside restored to his true form.
"That's their problem, not mine," he grinned.  "And if they don't like
me being there, or try to raise a ruckus, then the three of them are
just a simple wish away from being exceptionally more receptive to my
presence.  Perhaps I should establish my own harem."

Jeff held the coin tightly in his hand.  "I wish to be completely
restored to my true self again."

Jeff was immediately relieved as he felt his body begin tingling all
over.  He decided his assumption that Steve's wish needed to complete
before he could make his own negating wish must have been correct.

Even though he tingled all over, nothing appeared to be happening,
while he anxiously watched his reflection in the mirror for any
changes.  Jeff began worrying anew.  If his wish was working - and the
tingling sensations seemed to indicate it was - why hadn't he started
transforming back into himself?  And yet, if it wasn't working, why
had his body started tingling in the first place?  He was afraid that
something still wasn't the way it should be, although he had no clue
what might be wrong now.

As far as Jeff was concerned, he should now be growing taller and
stronger, instead of remaining the same as he was.  In addition, those
extremely annoying feminine curves he had recently acquired should be
filling back in, as they straightened out and vanished completely.  On
the other hand, he wouldn't have minded admiring any of these curves
of his, if they'd only adorned some real girl instead of him.  "What
the hell is wrong?" he whispered.

And then, "At long last," sighed Jeff, as his image in the mirror
finally began slowly changing.  But as he watched, Jeff's smile
disappeared.  Suddenly he gasped in shock.  "No!" he shouted at his
reflection, which wasn't altering in any of the ways he'd been
expecting it to change.

His light brown hair had begun growing longer, not shorter.  With each
additional inch of new growth, it became increasingly lighter in
color.  While he had watched in dumbstruck silence, his hair had
turned a very light blonde hue.  He had bangs that covered his
forehead.  And the silky strands that fell about his breasts and
framed his face had assumed a layered, lightly feathered, appearance.

His nose reshaped, shrinking slightly, as it became more petite and
dignified.

His cheekbones rose.

His lips became more full.

Jeff couldn't believe any of these new changes he was observing in the
mirror.  "This is like some really bad movie," he mumbled.  Even
worse, strange new sensations and feelings he could never begin to
understand had started coursing through his body.  The girl's image
reflected by the mirror earlier had been very pretty, but now, after
all these new and unwanted changes he'd witnessed, this girl - that
is, he - was stunningly gorgeous.

Jeff gawked at his reflection.  He was certain he'd be all over the
girl in the mirror, if he saw her walking on the street.  He was
equally certain he would have to try and possess her - even if he had
the use the coin to do it.

But he couldn't...

He could never...

It wouldn't be right...

She was he.

Without warning, his waist pulled in a little tighter.  The skirt and
sleeveless top fused seamlessly together to fashion an equally tight
form-fitting tube dress, which, as his breasts suddenly swelled
larger, readily readjusted to perfectly fit his once again altered
female form.

Jeff glared at the coin in his hand.  "What the hell is wrong with
this stupid coin now?  This girl isn't the true me.  This isn't what
I wished to be.  Just what the hell did Sheila think she was doing
when she made that asinine wish of hers?

Sheila?  Jeff was puzzled.

Who the hell was Sheila?

And why would he have given someone he didn't know a wish?

But if he didn't know her, why did her name sound so familiar?

As he tried to calm himself and collect his thoughts, he, all of a
sudden, recalled who Sheila Lawton was.  She was his best friend, and
had been since they were both barely able to walk.  He'd always taken
a lot of ribbing from all the other boys about having a girl for his
best friend, but that was their problem, not his.  There had been
several times in the past when he'd felt guilty about not telling her
how he really felt about her; however, he'd long ago decided to never
risk breaking up their longtime friendship by trying, and quite
possibly failing, to become her lover.

Sheila, who was still surprisingly unmarried, had accompanied him to
the reunion tonight.  Even though he was oddly becoming confused about
several things, Jeff was still reasonably certain his very good friend
Sheila had come with him.

And then, just because she had always been such a good friend, he'd
given her one wish with that wish-granting magic coin he taken from
those dumb broads Richards and Jensen; however, something about that
didn't sound exactly right somehow.   And then, Sheila must have
accidentally done something wrong while making her wish, because he
now possessed a female body that was every bit as hot and sexy as
Sheila's.

How could he have possibly forgotten, even for an instant, who Sheila
was?  He had known Sheila since they were little kids.  They were best
friends; she'd always been there for him when he had problems.  When
they'd gone to kindergarten, she'd been the one to first meet Rachel
Jensen and Melissa Richards and she'd later introduced them to him.
But why would I think Rachel and Melissa were dumb broads?  The four
of us have been really good friends and shared everything together
ever since.

"But why the hell does all that sound so odd and totally wrong to me?"
asked Jeff.  He shook his head.  "And why is everything suddenly so
confusing?

* * * * * *


Part 9

Jeff was still trying to puzzle out the mystery of what had gone amiss
with his memory, when the three girls simultaneously opened the doors
to their stalls and joined him standing before the mirror.  He
wondered if their biological functions had somehow become intertwined.

"Did you do something new with your hair, Jeannie?" asked the first
girl.

"It looks really hot and sexy, you know," added the second.

"I wish I had blonde hair just like yours," said the third girl, a
striking brunette.

"No," he hesitantly answered all of their questions.  Not only was he
perplexed by his odd new set of circumstances, but also this peculiar
way these girls kept treating him like some long friend bothered him.
"I didn't do anything unusual with it at all," he told them.  "I've
worn my hair this way for the past few years."  But he shook his head,
wondering why he'd just told them what he just said to them.

"I wish I had hair as gorgeous as yours."

"Me too.  Your hair's just so pretty."

"And blonde is just your perfect hair color, Jeannie."

"You must tell me who does your hair."

"Yes, you absolutely must, Jeannie."  The girl ran her fingers quickly
through her own stringy dark hair.  "Do you think he'll take the time
from his busy schedule to see me, Jeannie?  I just must find out what
such an obviously incredible genius can do with my unmanageable mop."

"Well we must run now, darlings."

"I know this won't be of any interest to you, Jeannie, but there are
still some awfully cute, and very eligible, guys from our senior class
running around loose out there.  I want to see if I can catch one of
them."  The girl grinned.  "But you must call me sometime real soon,
Jeannie.  We'll do lunch sometime."

"Yes, Jeannie, please call.  I think lunch should be loads of fun."

The girls giggled, as they exited the ladies' room.

Jeff sighed, as he watched them leave.  He was glad those three twits
had finally left and were leaving him alone.  However, those three
girls have always been a rather strange lot for as long as I've known
them, he thought, as memories from somewhere - exactly where, he
didn't rightly recall - of all of them together flooded his mind
without any warning.  Suddenly, he knew all of their names.  Even if
they were his friends, he'd always considered Mona Stickler, Jamie
Boynton, and Ellie McLaren to be somewhat on the flighty side.  And,
given the way they were acting tonight, they were quite definitely
floating sky high.  He remembered meeting them for the first time in
one of the classes they'd taken together, but he wasn't quite certain
which class it had actually been.  The more he kept dwelling on it,
the more his mind kept strangely trying to convince him that Mona and
Jamie had sat to either side of him, while Ellie had sat directly in
front of him during their second period Home Economics class.

Jeff frowned at his reflected image unable to shake the feeling that
something wasn't right with his memory.  For some reason, he couldn't
remember taking Home Economics.  But yet, he must have taken that
class; otherwise, how could he so clearly remember the four of them
sitting around together having all the fun they had had that whole
year?  Even more peculiar, he couldn't recall any boys taking that
class with them.  Even if boys hadn't generally taken Home Economics
at the time, he was almost certain that there must have been at least
one boy in their class.

And why would my friends not think I would be interested in any of
those cute and eligible guys outside?  Even though his thinking of
boys as cute and eligible bothered him for a few moments, he still
wondered why they would think he'd be uninterested.  According to
Sheila's wish, they should be thinking of him as Jeannie; they
certainly had to now believe their friend Jeannie had always been a
girl.

Unless?

No, there was no way that could be true.

Sheila's wish couldn't have done that to him.

He looked at his badge reflected by the mirror.  Although he thought
by now he should be used to having things change around him without
his even noticing the change, he was nevertheless surprised by its
altered appearance.  The picture had altered once again.  Now, instead
of showing the longhaired male it had before, the photograph on his
badge was definitely a younger version of this blonde-haired girl he
had become.  Even more disturbing to him was the name he read under
the picture - "Jeannie Marshall".

This new change to his badge worried Jeff.  If things continued as
they were, he was certain he'd soon be as female as his friends.  He
casually swept his light blonde hair away from eyes with a practiced
sweep of his hand.  Regardless of the female name on his badge, not to
mention the pretty girl he currently appeared to be, he still felt
completely like himself.  Other than the multitude of physical changes
in his appearance, nothing had actually changed.  Casually placing his
hand on his hip and posing sensuously before the mirror, he smiled at
how good he looked.  But if it were true that nothing other than his
physical self had changed, why did he still have this strong intuitive
gut feeling that something must still be wrong?

Suddenly, he felt awfully guilty about wishing Melissa and Rachel's
knowledge of the magic coin away.  That hadn't been a very nice thing
for him to do to his good friends.  But the wish had been final;
whatever they had once known about the coin was gone forever.  It was
now a little late to be regretting that decision.  Although, even if
his two friends were merely girls, they might have had some idea about
what was wrong with the coin, or, better yet, how to fix it.  After
all, they'd possessed the magical coin for a time - before he'd taken
it from them.

He wondered, why did I take the coin away from them?  That wasn't a
very nice thing for me to do to a couple of my very best friends
either.  "But I had to have it," he muttered.

As a result of Jeff's wish for the knowledge of what was going on, he
had also discovered that the coin had originally come from that weird
little shop he'd sometimes seen in the mall, and other times not.  If
the girls had bought the coin there, then maybe whoever ran that place
might have some clues about fixing whatever had gone wrong with it.

Right then and there, he decided he had to go to the mall; obviously,
all of his answers must be there.  However, from what he'd observed
during his earlier visits, he assumed there would be no firm
guarantee that the odd little shop would be there when he arrived.

But in order to get from the hotel to the mall, he'd have to leave the
safety of the ladies' room first.  That meant, if he wasn't careful,
he might run into some of his, or more likely her, friends.  He would
have to totally avoid his good friends Rachel, Sheila, and Melissa, or
he'd risk getting permanently sucked up into whatever evolving reality
Sheila's errant wish had created.  And he most definitely didn't want
to be any part of that reality, since it meant being trapped in the
body of this girl forever.

"First things first," he whispered.  He straightened his hair and
checked his makeup, then stepped out of the ladies' room.

Sheila smiled as soon as she saw him.  She quickly turned to say
something to both Rachel and Melissa.

Rachel waved to him.  She motioned for him to join them.

Without consciously thinking about what he was doing, he slowly began
walking in the direction of his three closest friends.  "Now wait one
goddamn minute," he mumbled, as he suddenly realized what he was
doing.  "If I continue walking over there and join them, then I'm
really going to join them; it won't be long before I'll think of
myself as just another one of the girls."  He forced himself to stop
walking towards them.  Stopping himself wasn't as easy as he'd hoped
or anticipated it would be, but somehow he managed.

Jeff was certain his friends would be hurt and angry when he failed
to come over and join them.  I can only hope they'll understand why I
must do what I'm currently doing.  Jeff shook his head.  What the hell
was going wrong with me now?  I don't give a shit if I hurt their
feelings.  I couldn't care less if they're pissed at me or not.  I'm
the only one I ever need to be worried about.  And the sooner I get
out of here and over to the mall, the sooner I'll find that weird
little shop, and the sooner I'll be able to convince its owner to help
me - I hope.  But I really hope my friends won't stay mad at me for
very long.

"Oh shit," he muttered nervously, as he sought out an exit.  "There's
Earl Patterson - the girls said he was here.  I can only hope that he
hasn't seen me yet.  I'm in no mood, and definitely not in any shape,
to have any kind of a confrontation with him tonight.  He's always
wrongly accusing me for what his sister Donna did.  She was a good
fuck, but it certainly wasn't my fault she took all those pills and
killed herself after my trial."

But all of a sudden, Jeff inexplicably felt an incredible sense of
relief and well being surge throughout his entire body.  As his sense
of relief grew stronger, he quickly realized he had absolutely nothing
to worry about or fear from Earl Patterson at all.  Jeff smiled,
knowing there could be no way Earl, even though they had the same last
name, would ever recognize the girl "Jeannie Marshall" as being the
boy "Jeff Marshall".  Knowing he was safe for the time being, he was
thankful that something had finally worked out in his favor.

However, his continuing to worry about Earl Patterson, or his
pondering of his odd situation and what needed being done to resolve
it wasn't getting him out of this place or to the mall very fast.

Finally locating one, Jeff made a turn towards the exit.  But as he
reached the door, suddenly and inexplicably, Earl Patterson was
standing right beside him.  He must have sneaked up on me when I
wasn't looking, thought Jeff.  How else can I explain why I didn't
even hear him approach?

"There you are," said Earl.  "I've been looking all over for you."

Jeff looked up at Earl sheepishly.  Damn, he thought, is he ever big,
or what?  I don't remember Earl being this big before.  But how the
hell did he ever recognize me like this?  I mean, I couldn't even
recognize me as me looking like this.  He can't possibly know who I
am.  "Earl, I was..."

"I know ... you were getting worried ... again," replied Earl.  "I
had already guessed as much."

Worried?  Again?  Other than being this girl, Jeff wondered, what the
hell does he think I have to be worried about?  Just because he's so
damn huge doesn't mean I have to be worried.  Jeff looked at Earl
closely - more closely than he had ever looked at anyone male before.
Why have I never noticed just how big and strong and good-looking Earl
is before now?

But before Jeff could react to his peculiar thoughts, Earl caught him
off guard and swept him up into his huge arms.  He pulled Jeff close
to him, then kissed the startled apparent girl squarely on the lips.

Taken completely by surprise at this kiss from Earl, Jeff was too
stunned to react immediately.  In those several seconds that passed
before he began to react, a wide diversity of strange and peculiar
notions entered into his mind and swirled about madly.  In his
resulting mental confusion caused by the conflicting needs and desires
of all the odd thoughts careening about his mind, Jeff struggled to
regain himself, both his identity and his composure.  Some unknown
source told him that he needed to focus his mental energies on who he
was, not what was happening around him.  Should he fail in this the
same source told him, he could be lost forever.  But he was confident;
he would never allow himself to ever lose his own identity.

My name is ... he mentally paused, as he frantically searched his mind
for his name ... My name is Jeannie ... he paused again - the search
having taken much of his strength - but just knowing who he was made
him feel that much better ... My name is Jeannie Miller.

As soon as he had locked onto his mental identity again, Jeannie began
feeling stronger and more like his old self again.  He was thankful
he'd managed to regain his own mind before Earl's kiss - even if it
had been a really great old - had caused him to become lost forever as
this girl everyone thought him to be.  And yet, as he unconsciously
traced the outline of his waspish waist with his slender fingers, he
felt a little sorry for all those girls in the world who would never
know what being kissed by Earl was really like.  But that was their
loss, not his.

"Didn't I tell you before we left home this evening that you didn't
need to worry about anything, Jeannie?"

"But I'm not worried about anything, Earl," he replied with a warm
smile.  At least, he thought, I don't think I'm worried about whatever
it is you think I should be worried about.

Earl smiled back at him.  Jeannie wished he'd stop; his smile made him
feel uncomfortable, but, at the same time, it had also started making
him feel tingly all over.  "Didn't I tell you Laura and Carol would be
just fine tonight."

Once again confusion threatened to overwhelm Jeannie.  Who the hell
were these two broads, Laura and Carol, Earl was talking about?  Why
should I give a damn whether or not a couple of young girls I don't
even know are all right?  Jeannie paused for a moment.  Young girls?
How the hell did I know they were young girls?

"You should know by now that you can never hide something like that
from me, Jeannie.  We've known each other too long for either of us to
hide something like that from the other," said Earl.  "I don't really
know why you had any problems with her sitting tonight, but I could
tell you were really worried, for whatever strange reason you had,
about our daughters staying with my sister Donna tonight."

Our daughters?  What kind of shit is this?  Jeannie thought Earl must
have gone mad.  But in addition to any of that, how the hell could
anybody be staying with his sister Donna tonight?

Donna Patterson was dead and buried.

She had been for nearly six years.

What the hell is happening to me?  The more worried Jeannie became,
the dizzier he felt.  He wobbled unsteadily on his three-inch heels.
In his chaotic mind, his thoughts swirled increasingly faster and
fanned the flames of his burgeoning confusion.  "But Earl..." he
started to complain, while, at the same time, he fumbled about in his
purse for the coin.

Just as he found the coin and clutched it tightly in his hand, Earl
again pulled his wife and the mother of his children close to him.
For several seconds, Jeannie, his mind a wildly spinning mass of
confused neurons, squirmed in his husband's grasp.  He sought only
escape from Earl's impassioned embrace.

But unexpectedly, Jeannie's body began responding positively to Earl's
advances.  All his body wanted to do was cuddle up closer and closer
to Earl.  At the same time, his muddled mind wanted no part of
snuggling up so closely to Earl.

He wanted Earl to stop whatever he was doing to him, but she wanted
him to continue and become even more passionate with her.  Clearly,
she was now the stronger personality of the two.  Her own sense of
self was constantly growing stronger, even as his mind seemed to be
collapsing in on itself.

For a moment, Jeannie wondered what was wrong with her now.  As her
confusion faded, she felt as if some great weight had been lifted
from her mind and body.  "Why have I been acting and thinking so
strangely tonight?"

She knew that Earl was her husband.  They'd been married just two
months following their high school graduation.  They'd always been
happy together - happier than she would have ever believed it was
possible for her to be.

How could she have possibly forgotten about Laura and Carol?  They
were her babies - Earl's and her beautiful six and eight year old
daughters.

And Donna?  What in the world could have possibly upset her about
Laura and Carol staying with Donna?  This was like waking up after
some really bad dream.  Never before had she felt any need to be
worried about leaving her daughters with Donna.  And besides, hadn't
she and Earl always left their girls with his younger sister on
special occasions like this?  Laura and Carol loved spending time with
their Aunt Donna, almost as much as Donna loved spending the time with
her nieces.

Jeannie, however, still felt slightly dizzy and out of sorts.  In the
farthest reaches of her mind, the most peculiar thoughts inexplicably
lingered.  Since there was no longer room, nor even a real need, for
what little now remained of his fading awareness, she subconsciously
purged those unnecessary and unwanted thoughts and memories from her
mind.

Leaning against her husband for the support he'd always provided, her
strength gradually returned and her dizziness vanished.  Her grip on
the magical coin she still held loosened, as she allowed it to fall
to the floor.  Had she thought about, or even noticed, it, she might
have considered it odd for the coin to fall on its edge, then roll
slowly away along the hardware floor.

However, losing this coin did not bother her in the slightest.  After
all, it was nothing more than an ordinary half-dollar.  What could
possibly be of any great significance or importance about some simple,
run-of-the-mill, insignificant half-dollar?

* * * * * *


Part 10

As if it were actually alive, the copper, possibly brass, coin rolled
along the floor unimpeded and unhindered by any one walking around the
room near it.  Had anyone been interested enough to watch it closely,
which absolutely no one bothered doing, they might have believed its
seemingly erratic movement through the large crowd of people unusual,
quite possibly even suspicious.  A few people might have actually
considered its movements as proof of the coin possessing some form of
intelligence.  But to the overwhelming majority of people in the hall
this night, the simple thought of the potential existence of an
intelligent coin was never likely to occur.  Quite simply, there were
not that many people nowadays nor had there ever been, who would even
contemplate the possibilities of a few inanimate objects possessing
intelligence.

As he'd been expecting from the moment that Jeannie had dropped it,
the coin came to rest against his foot.  He casually reached down and
picked it up.  "You did quite well," said the old man, who, although
no one had yet complained about his presence, looked decidedly out of
place, especially wearing his ragged old bathrobe, roaming the halls
where a ten-year high school reunion was taking place.

. . .

"Of course, I told them not to attempt changing the way you worked,"
said the old man.  "You were there; you must have heard me tell Ralph
and Mark that doing that tended to make you cranky."

. . .

"I wasn't there when he made that wish.  If you wanted him and the
others to know that detail, then you shouldn't have withheld that
vital little piece of knowledge from him when he wished to know what
was going on."

. . .

"That's very true.  If you'd told him not to do what you knew he would
inevitably do given his lack of knowledge of the consequences, then
you might have missed an opportunity to watch him make a total fool of
himself.  Although, I can assure you, he would have found some other
way to amuse you.  On the other hand, what followed after your subtle
influencing on the wording of his friend's wish was not altogether
unexpected.  He has always blamed others for his faults and failures
in the past, although I'm certain that will never be one of her
failings in the future."

. . .

I wasn't criticizing your intervention.  As I'm sure you know, I had
to intervene myself to keep Rachel and Melissa from assuming full
control before Steve had the opportunity to make his wish.

. . .

The old man started to laugh.  "You're right about that.  In spite of
my offer of a money back guarantee, you've been returned to me for
nothing once again.  Perhaps the next time I give you away, things
will work out more in your favor.  However, my money back guarantee is
actually no longer applicable to any of them.  I'm certain you'll
agree with me, that as girls, all four of them are now far happier
than they've ever been before.  I've fulfilled my part of our bargain
with them."

. . .

"All right, if you must insist; the five new girls are happier."  The
old man looked across at the clock on the wall.  "And yet, since it's
still several minutes before midnight, the jury must still be out on
Miss Tammy Whitaker's future happiness."

. . .

"I heartily agree with you.  Tammy will be a much happier person than
Tom.  But, even if you have already rewritten her life's story, as of
this moment, she has yet to come into existence."  Someone walked past
him.  "We shall continue our conversation later."

The old man slipped the wish granting coin into one of the pockets of
his robe.  The wizard knew it had never been a good idea to have
extended conversations with a half-dollar while standing in a crowded
room.  As he looked across the hall, he contemplated the four
longtime, and yet, at the same time, new, friends Rachel Jensen,
Melissa Richards, Sheila Lawton, and Jeannie Miller Patterson.  They
were happily chatting among themselves about the old times they'd
never lived before this night began.  Jeannie's husband Earl stood
beside her.

The old man smiled as he watched them all together.  Anyone who had
truly known any of these five people standing together before this day
had begun would easily discern they had all become happier people now.
Hadn't he always tried, without much success, to convince the council
that the happiness of the more-or-less 'normal' people of the world
should always be of paramount importance in all dealings with them.

He was always glad when things turned out as well as they had tonight.

And yet, even after all the time and energy he'd put into doing his
work as best he could, he knew there were still members of the council
who would undoubtedly disagree with how and what he had done.  Many of
them considered him a kook.  But the wizard had come to expect the
disapproval of every shortsighted member of each assembled council; it
was something, like death and taxes, he considered inevitable.  He
constantly refused to change his ways and do things the way they
wanted them done, whenever he disagreed with them on the best approach
for accomplishing what needed being done.

On the other hand, it had been a really long time since he'd really
cared what the council thought of his methods, or him, for that
matter.  He knew, as did most of them, that he'd always done, and
would continue doing, whatever he believed was in the best interests
in any given situation.  It wasn't that he considered himself better
than them, although several council members might be willing to argue
that point, he just believed his solutions were, in general, more
practical, as well as considerably more humane.

Very few members of the current council, or, for that matter, the last
several dozen councils, had much in the way - and generally, they had
none - of practical experience with what it meant to live, as mortals
lived theirs, a normal life.  Many of his fellow wizards refused to
even consider that any knowledge of how a "normal" thought was of any
great importance.  The old man often wondered how his more stodgy
colleagues could ever hope to be humane in their dealings with
mortals, if they couldn't, and in many cases wouldn't, even attempt
an understanding of what humanity meant.

But the old man knew he was an exception; he was different from them
and had been for a long, long time.  Over his extensive lifetime, he'd
had plenty of such experiences - not all of them overly kind, but none
he'd ever consider forgetting - of just what it meant to live as a
normal mortal.  He had always supposed that had he lived a life more
similar to those sitting on the council - a life far different than
the one he had actually lived - he might now have radically different
thoughts and attitudes about many things.  He might even be amenable
to doing things as they would have them done.

But he hadn't lived their kind of life.

And he certainly wasn't amenable to doing things that way.

Whether any of them liked it or not, he would always do things the way
he thought best for those involved.  The council might never realize
that, as it always was with him, there was reason behind his apparent
madness.  But, as it had always been, would probably always be, that
was their problem.

* * * * * *

As the old man considered all that had transpired, he quickly realized
that this particular situation would be a good case in point to
illustrate how inhumane the council could actually be.  Had it been on
the council's agenda, for whatever reasons they might have contrived
as necessary to rid this reality of Jeff Marshall, they would have
simply allowed Earl Patterson to shoot him dead at the reunion.  After
all, that was exactly what Earl had been planning to do from the first
moment he received his invitation to their reunion.

But the council's tendency was never to think through most of their
actions to their inevitable conclusions.  Their thoughts and deeds
implied a totally unprofessional slash-and-burn mindset, which was
error prone, generally led to mass confusion, and more often than not
left behind unresolved loose ends.  The numerous unresolved loose ends
their solutions left behind were bad enough, but those same council
members, who kept advocating such simplistic approaches, never seemed
to get it through their thick skulls that hate and violence only begat
more hate and violence in an endless repetitive cycle.

"A single life lost was one too many lives lost," he'd always argued
before the council.

In this case, one life had already been lost.  What good would it do
to take another?  And then another?  What would happen to the loved
ones left behind?

The wizard had long ago learned this painful lesson the hard way.  All
life, especially those among the so-called "normal" mortals of the
world, was a precious gift to be cherished; a life should never be
taken for granted or stripped away lightly.  He'd always been
determined to prevent that vicious cycle from ever starting whenever
he was involved.

As a result of his own concerns, the old man had been attempting to
get Jeff Marshall into his shop for well over a month, but he hadn't
met with any success.  Whatever he did in an attempt to influence him
into visiting his shop had failed.  He'd just never found the proper
enticement to get Jeff to enter his shop; it was always appeared too
plain and drab to be of any interest to him.  And, if that weren't bad
enough, the lad never once exhibited any curiosity to speak of at all.

But, as that potentially fatal day for Jeff's high school reunion had
arrived, the wizard had been forced into shifting to his backup plan.
Even though, he'd been expecting their arrival that day, the old man
had still been relieved when Ralph Jackson and Mark Russell had
finally found their own way, for their own needs, into his shop.

As was usually the case with those visiting his shop, he knew how both
of them would eventually wind up as the reunion concluded; some things
in life were just inevitable.  With the exception of their jobs with
Mr. Willerson, Ralph and Mark had been little more than square pegs
attempting unsuccessfully to fit into round holes during their entire
lives

The old man had also known that Ralph and Mark's relationship with
their fellow classmate had never been particularly pleasant for either
of them.  Knowing Jeff and Steve had also made plans to attend their
ten-year reunion, it had been simple enough for the old man to make
plans that would not only ensnare Jeff Marshall, but also his friend
and co-conspirator Steve Layton.  Even though he'd be granting new
lives to Mark and Ralph, he still hated having to put them through the
pain he'd put them through.

And then, there had been Tom Wilson.  His transformation had been an
extra bonus of sorts.  The old man had been anticipating Tom's arrival
at his shop sometime around the first Valentine's Day of the new
millennium, but he should have known that Jeff would find some way to
spring a trap set to catch him on someone else first.  "Sometimes, you
just get lucky," mused the old man, knowing the Tammy Whitaker who had
just come into existence had been born a couple of months early.  With
the exception of Tom, who was a separate case entirely, the four new
girls could be considered kindred souls of an odd lost sort, although
he would have expected their prior male selves, for whom this unusual
relationship was also true, to have denied that vehemently.

And finally, there had been Eric Patterson to consider.  Anger and
hate had consumed him.  Over the last six years, all of his mental
energies had been focused solely on avenging his sister's death.  And
he had made his own plans accordingly.  Although he knew exactly how
he'd rid the world of him while attending their reunion, he'd never
once considered what would happen to him afterwards.

* * * * * *

As the wizard once again looked across the floor at the five of them
standing together, he smiled.  Everything had played out for all of
them well within the boundaries he'd expected.

The girls Rachel Jensen and Melissa Richards, who had been Ralph
Jackson and Mark Russell when the evening began, were still best
friends; the two of them becoming girls neither required nor needed
that to be changed.  Jeff's wish that had made them the girls they now
were had essentially placed them, with all the necessary attendant
changes, into their old lives.  The girls still shared the same
apartment, although it was now decorated in a decidedly feminine
manner and its closets were now, as they'd always been, filled with
feminine attire.  They still worked at the same place doing the same
jobs as before; only now, they did those same jobs even better.
Having been born and raised girls, they had always had it drilled into
them that girls needed to work harder than boys doing the same job to
get ahead in the world.

Their boss and the company's owner, the same Mr. Willerson, had always
been impressed with how the girls would work long hours without making
a single complaint.  He had always been pleased with all their hard
work and effort for his company, but even more gratifying for him was
the positive effect these girls had had on his twin sons.  The boys
had neither shown much interest nor been overly enthused about his
business until after he'd hired Rachel and Melissa.  Quite
surprisingly, the girls' presence had apparently inspired his sons to
work almost as hard as they did.  His sons might think their father
blind in certain area, but Mr. Willerson was fairly certain his sons
had been actively pursuing more ulterior motives of their own.

And, mused the old man, Mr. Willerson would soon be proven totally
correct in his assumption.  After they'd been hired, the hard working
and pretty girls had quickly come to the attention of his sons, but
definitely not for their work ethic.  In addition to sparking their
interest in the family business, the long hours they'd spent beside
the girls had been their way to get to know better.  And, while they
were getting to know the girls better, the girls were also getting to
know them better.  By the end of the year, Rachel and Melissa would no
longer be just best friends; they'd also be sisters-in-law.

The girls had also gained a new friend, Sheila Lawton, who was also
one of their oldest friends, who had known both of them most of their
lives.  Sheila had an outgoing and bubbly personality that was as
different from Steve Layton's dourness as it could be.  No one, who
had known Steve Layton, could have denied she was definitely a happier
person now.  In addition, the old man knew her new old friends would
soon be both surprised and quite ecstatic for her.  In just over a
week's time, she would announce her engagement to the handsome young
man she'd dated off and on throughout high school and would only just
re-meet in a few more minutes.

What could possibly be added to Jeannie Miller Patterson's new story
that could conceivably make hers an even happier ending?

She was happy herself - Jeff had never seemed happy about anything -
for the first time in her life, although she would never recall how
it had felt being sad.

She had two beautiful and wonderful daughters.

She had a wonderful husband who loved her very much.

And, of course, there was her new husband Earl to whom she'd been
happily married the past ten years.  Earl had originally come to the
reunion with the sole purpose of killing Jeff Marshall.  It had been
his trial for Earl's younger sister's rape, and his subsequent
acquittal resulting primarily from Steve Layton perjured testimony,
that had been at the root of Donna's suicide.  Punishing Jeff for his
crime the courts would not had obsessed him for years.  His hate and
anger had all but eaten away his soul.

The magic long trapped within the coin had also rewritten, in full or
in part as necessary, the past histories of everyone whose life was in
any way interconnected with any of its five main subjects.  It had
been a lot of work for the coin, but, as it would always remind him,
its source of power was nearly infinite.

As a result, Jeff Marshall, as well as the other boys, hadn't actually
ceased to exist as they'd transformed earlier in the evening - they'd
just simply never existed at all.  Only these four girls they'd become
had ever been known to everyone attending the reunion.

Consequently, Earl Patterson had never met, or even known, anyone
named Jeff Marshall; he'd now only known Jeannie Miller during his
lifetime.  All of his destructive pent up anger and hatred that had
been the sole emotions he had felt for years were now gone.  As Jeff
had never existed, Earl's emotional state had been reshaped and
redirected to a more constructive state elsewhere.  All of his hate
and anger had now been funneled down a very different path; they had
been transcended by a superior and stronger emotion.  Who could
possibly have been a better recipient for all of Earl's new found love
than Jeannie Miller, whose very soul Earl had earlier despised?

Although none of them would ever know, there was still even better
news in all of this for them.  With Jeff Marshall's existence now
wiped cleanly away, every one of his former victims had ceased being
his former victims.  Included in that long list of former victims was
a most fortunate young woman.  Although not all of them had been as
fortunate as she, Donna Patterson, whose suicide had been both the
final straw and the catalyst for her older brother's vengeful desire
to eliminate Jeff, had been given a new second chance.

But now, none of that had ever been.

With no Jeff in this new reality, his rape of Donna Patterson had
never occurred.

Neither raped nor forced to endure a trial that made her feel more
like the criminal instead of the victim, Donna had lived a normal
life.  Never once had she entertained thoughts of suicide.  But then,
why should she?

Without his sister's death to fuel his anger, Earl had no longer
needed to seek revenge on a Jeff Marshall, who, aside from never
existing, had never done him any harm.

All of that had closed this circle quite satisfactorily.  Everyone
involved with them was now happier than they had been before their
ten-year reunion began.  In addition, an old cycle of hate and
violence had also been successfully aborted.  But the best news of
all was a life once lost had been restored.

The old man smiled, pleased by how every thing had come together so
easily.  He wondered briefly if he should inform Jeannie and Earl that
she was currently with child.  But he decided that some things in
their "normal", if new and improved, lives might be that much better
if they remained a surprise one of them could share with the other at
a more appropriate time.  He was quite certain they would be an
ecstatically happy couple, when Jeannie delivered a healthy baby -
their first son.

The old man took a final look across the hall.  "Good luck on your
brand new old lives, my old new friends," he whispered softly.  "But
for the time being, I have a new apprentice, who has more need of my
attention than you now require from me.  Perhaps someday, I'll have
Dannie drop by to check up on your progress."

Each of the five in turn looked up and gazed silently across the room.
Although none of them would ever speak of this with the others, they
all could have sworn that someone had just spoken to them from across
the room.

But there was no one there.


THE END