'Til Midnight Again
by JMD

   Lynda sat back, watching the little black dress spread out on the foot of her bed.  She glanced over to the clock on her nightstand, and sighed.  "Here we go."

   A second later, with a flash, the black dress was gone and Cyndi appeared in its place.  With a start, the girl cried out.  It took her a few moments to realize that she was human again.  Looking around, she quickly spotted her (former?) friend sitting cross-legged at the head of the bed.  "You!" she growled.

   "Hi, Cyndi," Lynda said cautiously.  "Welcome back."

   "Welcome?" the other girl spat out.  "I'll show you wel...  Whoa!"  In her anger, Cyndi had failed to notice how close she was to the edge of the bed.  Her sudden move toward Lynda had caused her weight to shift just enough to throw her off balance.  With a thud, she dropped to the floor at the foot of the bed.  "Ow," she groaned.

   "Cyndi!" Lynda called out, leaping up from the bed and rushing around to check on her friend.  "Are you okay?"

   Cyndi looked up at her from the floor.  "Okay?" she repeated, sitting up and rubbing her hip where it had hit the hard wood floor.  "You turned me into a dress and wore me to Misty's party.  Why would I be okay?"

   "Well, actually..."  Lynda hesitated.  She had been about to remind Cyndi that it had been her friend's own mistake that had resulted in her becoming a party dress.  But she realized that that probably wasn't going to help the situation.  So, she quickly shifted gears, and just said, "Actually, I didn't."

   Cyndi's eyes narrowed.  "You didn't what?"

   "I didn't wear you to Misty's party."  She reached down to offer Cyndi help up.

   "Bullshit!"  Ignoring the offered hand, the other girl used the bed to pull herself up from the floor.  "I might not have been able to see or hear, but I could feel just fine.  I know you put me on."

   Lynda blushed.  "I did," she admitted sheepishly.  "I did put you on, but only for a few minutes.  After that, I started to feel bad about the whole situation.  So, I took you off and wore the dress my Mom bought me to the party.  I left you here the whole time."  She took in her friend's doubtful expression.  "Couldn't you tell that I didn't have you on that long?"

   Cyndi considered the question before answering.  "No.  Well, maybe.  I mean, I knew you put me on."  She did an all-over body shiver.  "I could feel you inside me.  And I could tell when you took me off.  But without being about to see or hear anything, I really had no way of knowing how long you had me on or what you did while wearing me."

   "Ten minutes," Lynda stated.  "Fifteen tops."

   "It seemed longer."  As she said it, the girl turned and stared into the corner of the room.

   Lynda didn't know what to say about that, so she stayed silent.  Most of the time, that was the best way to handle Cyndi's mood swings.  She sat back down on the bed and waited as Cyndi continued to stare quietly into space.  But after only a minute or two, the silence started to get to her.  She was just about to break it, when her friend beat her to it.

   "You still went to the party."  It wasn't a question.

   "Yes," Lynda answered cautiously.  When Cyndi turned to look at her, she quickly added, "Wearing my own dress."

   "I guess people wondered where I was."

   "Um, a few asked, yeah," Lynda nodded, though she thought better about mentioning the actual number.

   "What did you tell them?" Cyndi asked, sitting down next to her.

   "The truth," Lynda told her with a slight smile.

   Cyndi's head snapped up.  "What!?"

   "I told them that you weren't yourself, and that I left you in bed," she grinned.  "Well, on the bed, actually, but..."

   Cyndi just looked at her and shook her head.  Then, she turned away again.  After a few moments, she asked, "Did Will ask?"  She didn't look at her friend while she waited for an answer.

   It was the question Lynda had been dreading the most.  With a sigh, she simply said, "No."  She watched her friend carefully for her reaction.  When she didn't get one, she continued.  "He seemed more interested in spending time with Misty.  And from the way she was hanging on him..."  She took a breath before going on.  "I'm sorry, Cyndi.  But I think you might have missed your chance."

   Cyndi turned to face her.  "What do you mean?"

   Lynda swallowed.  "Well, I think they might be...  well, together.  They sure seemed like it to me, anyway."  Cyndi seemed to consider that for a bit, then again turned away.  Lynda had to admit that Cyndi's calmness was starting to bother her.  It just wasn't like her friend.  "Are you okay?" she asked.

   "Not really," Cyndi admitted.  "But I will be."

   "Can I do anything to help?"

   Cyndi seemed to consider it.  "Well, I could use a glass of water."  She turned to her friend and smiled.  "I guess being made of fabric really dries you out."

   Lynda returned the smile.  "I guess it would."  She got up from the bed, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.  "I'm really sorry your night didn't go as planned."  Cyndi just nodded in reply.  After a moment, she turned to leave.  "Well, I'll be right back.  Need anything else while I'm going?"

   Cyndi thought for a moment.  "Maybe a snack."

   Lynda stopped and looked back.  "Oh, okay.  I was going to get you some water from the bathroom, but I guess I can run down to the kitchen and get you something.  I'll just be a couple of minutes."

   "That's fine," Cyndi replied.  "Take your time."  She laid back on the bed.  "I'm just going to lay here and get used to being me again."

   Lynda watched her for a moment.  Cyndi was definitely acting strange.  But then, the girl had spent most of the evening as a dress.  How could she know how something like that would affect her?  She just hoped that Cyndi would be alright.

   With that, she headed out the door and down the stairs.
   
                   -----   -----   -----
   
   As soon as Lynda was out the door, Cyndi shot up from the bed.  Moving quickly to the door, she made sure that the other girl was actually gone.  Then, she turned and rushed over to Lynda's vanity that was in the corner of the room.  With a big smile, she looked down at what had caught her attention so intently.

   It was the wand that had turned her into a dress.  Next to it was what looked like an ear-bud.  She assumed that it was the listening device that had allowed Lynda to talk to her after her transformation.  She couldn't believe that Lynda had just left them out.  But she was sure glad that she had.  Because with them, she was going to fix everything that had gone wrong the previous day.

   She reached for the wand, but stop before she actually touched it.  She glanced around the vanity, and spotted the compact that Lynda had used to demonstrate the wand's power.  Like her, it had returned to normal at midnight.  She grabbed it, and being careful not to touch the wand herself in any way, she cautiously brushed the compact across the tip.  When nothing happened to it, she tossed the compact aside and grabbed up the wand.

   For just a moment, she checked out the wand.  She still thought it looked fake.  Well, obviously she knew better now.  Again, she eyed the compact.  With a smile, she reached out and touched it with the wand.  With one flash, the compact returned to being a bottle of perfume.  Cyndi's smile grew wider at the sight.

   From the moment she had spotted the wand on the vanity, Cyndi had started to make plans.  All evening, she had reflected on the events that had lead up to her being stuck as a dress and missing out with Will Taylor.  And more importantly, she dwelled on the people whose fault it was.  Well, it only seemed right that all those people helped her fix it.

   There was her stepmother, who had refused to buy her the dress she wanted.  Well, now she could just BE the dress herself.  Then, there was her stepsister, who needed the money that would have bought the dress for braces.  She'd make a really nice black sling-back pump to go with her mother.  Of course, you can't really wear just one pump.  Good thing the little brat had a twin sister, huh?  And let's not forget that Misty was in the way, too.  Wouldn't a nice pair of black nylon pantyhose really set off the dress?

   And, of course, there was Lynda.

   She knew that her friend had only been trying to help, but still blamed her for not clearly explaining how the wand worked.  If she had, Cyndi never would have made the mistake that resulted in her turning herself into a dress.  Even so, Cyndi would have been willing to give her a pass.  But she knew that Lynda would never let her out of the house with the wand.  So, the girl would just have to become the final item she needed for her seduction ensemble.

   Cyndi knew that she might not get a better chance at using the wand on Lynda as she had right then.  She just had to figure out the best way to catch the other girl unaware.  She supposed that she could just hide the wand from her friend until an opportunity presented itself.  But that way had its hazards.  She could accidentally touch herself with the wand while trying to hide it.  Or, if she wasn't fast enough, it was possible that Lynda could wrestle it away before she had a chance to touch her.

   She decided that her best bet would be to hide behind the bedroom door and tap Lynda as she came back into the room.  So, she quickly moved into position.  Just in time, too, as she heard the other girl coming back up the stairs.

   Getting excited, she went through the routine of prepping the wand for use, but stopped herself from performing the double tap into her palm that had gotten her into trouble before.  After picturing what she wanted Lynda to become, she held the wand ready and waited.  "I hope diet is okay," she heard Lynda say as she approached the door, and Cyndi took a half step forward.

   Which was when everything went wrong.

   In order to hide behind the door, Cyndi had been forced to close it slightly.  Not much.  Just enough that Lynda had to push it back open to enter the room.  As Cyndi moved forward, the wand raised and ready to strike, the opening door caught her wrist and forced it back.  Not much.  Just enough to push the tip of the raised wand against Cyndi's own forehead.

   WELL CRAP, she thought as, with a familiar flash, her world went dark and she felt herself falling to the floor.
   
                   -----   -----   -----
   
   "I hope diet is okay," Lynda called, coming back into the room.  As she did, she found the door slightly closed and pushed it back out of the way.  She jumped back a step when the door came into contact with something solid.  And she jumped back two more when a familiar light flashed from behind the door.

   Lynda just stared at the door for a minute, before looking to the bed.  When she saw that Cyndi wasn't there anymore, her eyes went to her vanity in the corner.  She wasn't really surprised to see that the wand was missing from it.

   With a sigh, she moved into the room and looked around the door.  Sure enough, she found the wand lying on the floor behind it.  And lying next to it was Cyndi.  Her eyes went wide at the sight of what the girl had managed to turn herself into this time.  A second later, they narrowed with the realization that Cyndi hadn't planned to use the wand on herself.

   Angrily, Lynda turned and stomped over to her vanity.  Sitting the canned drink down, she snatched up the ear-bud.  Shoving it into her ear, she turned and stalked back to the door.  "You conniving little bitch," she hissed.

   "There you are," came Cyndi's voice into her ear.

   "You were going to use the wand on me," Lynda accused, glaring down at her trapped friend.

   "Yes I was," Cyndi admitted.

   Lynda's anger grew at the casualness of Cyndi's tone.  She bent down and picked up the wand in one hand.  With the other, she grabbed the flimsy bit of material that used to be her friend.  "A thong?" she said, holding it up for a closer look.  "You were going to turn me into a thong."

   "That was the plan, yeah."

   "I suppose you were going to wear me, too?"

   "Among others," was the casual reply.

   That brought Lynda up short.  "Others?  Cyndi, what were you planning?"

   "Revenge," came the reply.

   "Revenge?" Lynda repeated, going over to her bed.  "On who?"

   "Everyone," Cyndi replied.  "My stepmother.  Her two little brats.  Misty."

   "Me," Lynda finished for her.

   "Well," Cyndi confessed, "you were more a case of being in the way."

   "And for that you were going to turn me into a thong?"

   "Well, I had everything else I needed," Cyndi told her.

   "Needed for what?" Lynda asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

   "To get Will Taylor, obviously."

   'You're still going after him?" Lynda scolded.  "I told you that he and Misty were an item now."

   "I know that.  She told me about it a couple of days ago."

   "A couple of..."  Lynda stopped to get herself under control.  "You knew they were together, and you still planned to seduce him at the party?"

   Cyndi hesitated.  "Um... yeah."

   "You're unbelievable."

   "Tell me about it."  There was pride in her tone.

   Lynda just shocked her head.  "Okay, that's it."

   "What's it?"

   "I've had enough.  I'm tired of making excuses for you."

   "Excuses," Cyndi repeated.  "What excuses?"

   "The excuses I make to people to explain your behavior."

   "What's wrong with my behavior?"

   "Cyndi," Lynda huffed.  "You were planning on turning your family..."

   "Stepfamily," Cyndi corrected.

   "...and friends," Lynda went on, ignoring the comment, "into an outfit so that you could steal a friend's boyfriend.  You don't see anything wrong with that?"

   "Well, yeah."

   Lynda sighed in relief.

   Cyndi went on.  "I really should have let you go to sleep before using the wand.  That waiting behind the door idea was obviously a mistake."

   Lynda just stared in disbelief at her friend.  With a shake of her head, she gave up.  "You know," she said, "that's not the only mistake you made."

   "No?"

   "No."

   "What else?"

   "I don't wear thongs," Lynda told her before reaching out with the wand.  With a flash, Cyndi changed.

   "HEY!" the girl's voice shouted into her ear.  "What did you...  Oh, no, you didn't."

   "I did," Lynda admitted.

   "You turned me into a pair of those boring ass undies you wear, didn't you?"

   "What's wrong with my undies?" Lynda asked, looking down at the plain white cotton hipster that she'd made her friend.

   "Did you miss the 'boring-ass' part?"

   "Fine," Lynda said.  Again, she touched the wand to her friend.  "Happy now?" she asked, after the flash.

   "That depends," Cyndi answered.  "What am I?"

   "Uh," Lynda stammered, surprised herself by what she'd done.  "A g-string."

   "A g-string?" Cyndi repeated.

   "Yeah."

   "You're going to wear me as a g-string?"

   "Hell, no!" Lynda exclaimed with a disgusted expression.  "I'm not going to wear you as anything."

   "You wore me before," Cyndi reminded her.

   "Only for a bit," Lynda hedged.  "And as a dress.  There's no way I'm putting you on as...  around my..."  She couldn't say it out loud.  "Forget it.  Not going to happen."

   "So, what?  I just spend..."  She stopped as she realized her predicament.  "Crap!  I'm stuck for three days!"

   Lynda realized she was right.  "Uh, yeah.  I guess you are."

   "Three days," Cyndi said again.  "This is your fault."

   "My fault?  For what?  Not getting turned into a thong like a good girl?"

   "Well..."  Even Cyndi didn't have an answer for that one.  "Okay, I'll take the hit for that.  But you didn't have to keep changing me, you know."

   "Well, you kept goading me into it."  Lynda sighed.  "But you're right.  I shouldn't have done it."

   "So, now what?"

   "First, I'm going to lock this wand back in Dad's vault.  I think it's caused enough trouble."

   "And me?"

   "There's really nothing I can do about that.  You'll just have to work your way out of the changes."

   She heard Cyndi sigh.  "I guess you're right.  How are you going to explain where I am?"

   "Well, we've already told your Mom..."

   "Stepmom," Cyndi corrected.

   Lynda rolled her eyes. "We've already told her you were staying here tonight.  I'll call her in the morning and ask if you can stay to keep me company for a few more days while my folks are in Europe."  She knew that Cyndi's stepmom wouldn't have a problem with that.  The woman would probably welcome the break.

   "So, what?  I spend the next three days in your underwear drawer?"

   "Looks like," Lynda told her.

   "Sounds boring."

   Lynda sighed.  "Is that another shot at my choice of undies?"

   "Maybe," Cyndi answered.

   "Would you like a fourth day in the drawer?"

   "NO!"  The shout almost forced Lynda to snatch the ear-bud out.  "Just put me away," Cyndi added in a resigned tone.  "I've got some things to think about."

   Not sure what to say to that, Lynda picked up the g-string and carried it over to her dresser.  Opening the top drawer, she placed her friend in with her "boring-ass" underwear.  With a sigh, she closed the drawer.  

   She went to the corner of the room, placing the wand and ear-bud back on her vanity.  First thing in the morning, the wand was going back into the vault.  She would hang onto the ear-bud for a few days so that she could keep tabs on Cyndi.

   As she climbed into bed, she wondered what Cyndi was thinking about.  Maybe her friend would use the time to reassess the way she treated her friends, and the Cyndi that came out of the drawer would be a new and better person.

   "Yeah, right," Lynda said, as she turned off the light.