A car horn blared, and Sophie's attention was snapped back into the present. She had been looking down, lost in thought as she was walking, and almost stepped into a busy street. She meekly stepped back and waited for the light to change. It was hard to focus on anything.



She had not seen her friend Nadia for three weeks. No one else had seen her either. The last time Nadia had been seen was at a house party they had both attended. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the Earth. Sophie could hardly think about anything else for the past three weeks. In addition to her worry about her friend, Nadia's disappearance had brought some unwanted attention toward Sophie herself.



Sophie was from a family of mages. Nadia's disappearance had led Sophie to get a visit from two officials from the council that governs the use of magic. If anything suspicious happens around a known magic user, they swoop in like hawks to investigate. Sophie had been rather shaken by how aggressive their questioning was. Sophie had a few previous encounters with them due to her childhood friend, Holly, misusing her abilities. Sophie was beginning to suspect that Holly's reputation might be rubbing off on her...



Nonetheless, Sophie had no idea what had happened to Nadia, and that was even more worrying. Has someone kidnapped her? Did she have too much to drink and stumble into something dangerous? Sophie had found no clues. She had been able to think of little else since then. She felt she had to figure out what happened, both for her friend's sake and to clear herself of any suspicion.



As she continued to walk, a light rain began to fall. Sophie quickly pulled up the hood of the purple hoodie she was wearing.



Little did Sophie know that Nadia was with her. In fact, Nadia was wrapped around Sophie at that moment. The purple hoodie that Sophie was wearing actually was Nadia.



Nadia still had no idea what had happened. She had wanted to borrow Sophie's hoodie to keep warm, when a small glass ball fell out of its pocket. The strange orb gave off a glow, and Nadia had found herself in her current situation. Somehow, that little glass ball had turned Nadia into Sophie's hoodie, or trapped her in it, Nadia wasn't exactly sure. All she knew was that she was now a sentient hoodie. That sentience really didn't do her much good in this state. Apart from the ability to think and perceive the world around her, she was as inanimate as any ordinary hoodie.



Thus, she had spent the past three weeks being treated like an ordinary hoodie. For the most part, it was a very boring existence. She spent most of her time literally hanging around. Whether it's on a hanger in Sophie's closet or being draped over a chair, Nadia often found herself left with nothing but her thoughts while Sophie wore something else. On one occasion, she had even been left on the floor of Sophie's bedroom for two days. All she could do was stare at the carpet fibers, wondering if the inactivity would drive her insane. She couldn't do anything to keep herself occupied and there was only so much thinking she could do about the mess she was now in. Nadia would never have been able to hold this still as a human, and now that she was forced to be this still, she desperately wanted to move. She feared she truly would become a mindless piece of clothing if left in this inert state for too long.



In contrast to the boredom of being left alone, there were also terrifying parts of being a hoodie. Nadia's first trip through the washing machine was quite traumatic. The feeling of the water soaking into her new fabric form felt quite unnatural. The spinning of the machine was so fast that Nadia wondered how she would hold together. It was like being sucked into a vicious whirlpool. There was no way she would have survived that if she were still flesh and blood. The spinning of the dryer was less intense, but it still felt like it would leave Nadia vomiting from dizziness if she still had the ability. After that ordeal, it was back to being left alone with her inability to do anything.



The only other time Nadia got to experience anything besides the crushing boredom, was when Sophie would wear her. Nadia hated to admit it, but she kind of liked being worn. During those times, Sophie provided Nadia with the only movement and view of the outside world she would get in her current form. It also provided much needed human contact. The hoodie Nadia was trapped as was just tight enough that Nadia was able to feel Sophie's breathing. It was a sign of life that was sorely missing from Nadia's new inanimate reality. Sophie's movements allowed Nadia to feel like she was moving for a while. Now that Sophie had Nadia's hood up, Nadia's line of sight was close to where it would normally be. If she really tuned out, she could almost convince herself that she was the one walking down the sidewalk.



As Sophie was walking, the rain picked up and in a few seconds, it was a downpour. Nadia could feel herself soaking up the huge raindrops that were now pelting her. Sophie broke into a run. Nadia was snapped out of her daydreams by the sudden intensification of Sophie's movements. Sophie's arms were swinging quickly. Her breathing became more rapid. Perhaps most distracting of all, was the bouncing of Sophie's breasts. Even with a shirt and bra in between her and them, Nadia could vividly feel their up and down motion. All the while, the rain kept soaking her. There was no way to fantasize about being anything other than a hoodie at that point.



At long last, Sophie reached her front door. The relentless lashing of the raindrops finally stopped when Sophie stepped over the threshold and closed the door. Nadia was absolutely soaked. The water felt like it had become a part of her. She felt heavier. She was clinging more tightly to Sophie, her wet form sticking to the shirt underneath.



Sophie shook herself off before reaching for Nadia's zipper. In one quick motion Nadia's hoodie form was opened up. Sophie roughly peeled the drenched hoodie off of her. Nadia wanted to tell Sophie to be a bit more gentle. Water dripped from Nadia's fabric as Sophie now held the hoodie in front of her.



Nadia began to lament that a trip through the dryer was likely in her near future. Sure enough, Sophie walked to the laundry room. Before Nadia could think anymore about that, Sophie gripped her tightly with both hands. With no warning, Sophie began to roughly shake the drenched hoodie. Nadia's mind was utterly scrambled by the rapid motion. Her flat fabric form waved violently. She felt more like a flag on a gusty day than a hoodie. Forgetting she had no mouth at the moment, she silently begged Sophie to stop before she tears.



Then, there was suddenly a loud pop. Nadia instantly felt herself change. She grew and became heavier. She could feel an entire human body. She once again had legs and hands at the end of her arms. Somehow, she had returned to normal.



Nadia processed all of it in slow motion as she flew forward from Sophie's arms. She hit the floor and struggled, disoriented by the sudden return of her ability to move. Sophie was left standing there in stunned silence. Dangling from her hands was the wet hoodie that  Nadia had been a second earlier.



About a minute passed, and Nadia recalled how to move her body. She got to her feet and found herself looking at a stunned Sophie. Nadia could not form a clear thought. Everything she just went through, from the dizziness from the shaking to the dull pain from hitting the floor. Combine that with the experience of being a powerless hoodie for three weeks, and Nadia was left in a speechless state of shock.



As soon as Sophie got over the surprise of Nadia's appearance, her mind was filled with questions.



"Nadia! Where did you come from!? What happened to you!? Where have you been!? Are you okay!?" Questions raced from Sophie's mouth.



Nadia's dazed mind couldn't make sense of what Sophie was saying. Everything that had happened over the last three weeks was racing through her head. Suddenly, she was filled with a primal fear. Was there any chance she could get stuck as a piece of clothing again? She didn't want to find out. As Sophie was still blurting out questions, Nadia turned around and began running. In a flash, she was out the door and barreling through the house back out into the rain. This left a very confused Sophie standing alone.



Sophie couldn't believe what had just happened. Her missing friend just appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Where had she come from? What was with that scared look on her face? Sophie wished Nadia had stayed and answered her questions. She knew she had to try and get in touch with Nadia to get some answers.



As she was thinking about how to approach her next conversation with Nadia, a gleam of reflected light caught Sophie's eyes. She looked at it and her eyes widened with horror. She bent down to pick up a small glass orb. Things were beginning to make sense for Sophie. With all her worry about Nadia, she hadn't noticed that this innocent looking marble was also missing. Sophie might just find herself in trouble after all...