“Hey Elliot, what’s up?” called Sarah, waving to her friend. “You don’t usually hang out at the mall.”
Elliot smiled and waved back. As he got closer to Sarah he said, “Tedd said he had something to show me here. But he didn’t say where to meet, so...”
Sarah laughed. “Tedd? Yeah, there’s only one place he’d be. C’mon, I’ll show you.”
His curiosity growing, Elliot followed Sarah’s lead to the lower level of the mall. Tucked into an underused corner was a large box in a dull beige colour that blended in with the mall’s bland trim. Tedd was standing beside it, and waved to them when he saw them.
“Hey Elliot, you have to try this.”
Elliot looked at the nondescript box curiously. “Try... what exactly?”
“Moperville finally got a Venn Machine!”
Elliot looked from Tedd to the box he was pointing at and back again. “Za?”
Tedd looked crestfallen. “You haven’t heard of them? They’ve been showing up everywhere! The closest one was an hour’s drive away, and now we have one right in our very own mall.”
“And that’s good because...”
Tedd rolled his eyes, and tapped the front of the box. A few gestures later, two doors opened up, one to either side. “It’s a transformation booth. You can use it to turn me into a girl.”
Elliot raised an eyebrow. “A girl?”
“Please?”
Elliot sighed, and glanced over at Sarah. “Why me?”
Sarah shook her head and held up her hands wardingly. “Tedd knows why I won’t.”
“I said I was sorry,” whined Tedd.
“Not nearly sorry enough,” groused Sarah. “I was stuck as a catgirl for a day! I had to skip school.”
“You wouldn’t have been the first one with cat-ears at a Moperville North,” protested Tedd. “One of the girls at our school has had them for a month now. School board policy allows anything that’s mostly human and recognizably yourself.”
“I couldn’t talk!” protested Sarah. “No way I’d have fit those rules.”
“You could have gone back into the Venn Machine.”
Sarah glared at Tedd. “Yeah, like I’d want to be the sort of girl you would design, given a chance. None of my tops would fit.”
Tedd blushed, but didn’t have an answer. Elliot cleared his throat. “So... a girl, was it?”
Tedd brightened. “You’ll do it? I don’t want anything fancy.”
“You’re my friend. Of course.”
Elliot stepped into the machine, and the door vanished behind him. A moment later, Tedd showed up on the other side. He stared at the array of tiny bubbles around Tedd’s image. “What do I do?”
“Do you see any bubbles that look particularly girly?”
Elliot squinted and leaned in closer. “It’s kinda hard to tell, they’re all kinda girly. Uh, I mean...”
Tedd sighed. “I know. That’s half the point. I get called girly anyway, I want to actually be girly, see if it helps. Try saying ‘female’, then see what bubbles up.” Tedd tapped at his own side of the interface. “Heh. Cute.”
Elliot rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to...”
Tedd held up his hands. “Sorry! Got yelled at enough by Sarah over my curiosity. Just try, okay?”
Elliot hemmed and hawed over the choices available to him, but eventually settled on one with striking purple hair. When he touched the bubble, he yelped. “Did I change you? All I see is this cute girl, instead of you. And variations on her.”
The female image of Tedd shook her head, but spoke in Tedd’s normal voice. “Nah. You have to tap the green button to apply. Are any of the other bubbles more... ‘me’?”
Elliot’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Maybe this one?” A few taps later he nodded. “Yeah. This is so you. You-as-a-girl you, anyway.”
“Cool,” said Tedd, flashing a thumb’s up. “Do it!”
Elliot hesitated. “Why?”
“Please? I just... Need this.” Tedd looked away.
“But what difference will it make? You’ll still be you, just shaped a little differently.”
Tedd’s eyes met Elliot’s, flashing with emotion. “I can show you exactly what difference it makes.”
“What are you... Hey!” Elliot’s voice jumped up half an octave as his body was abruptly different. Still about the same size, but his voice was distinctly higher. More notably, his pectorals were now larger and wobbled when he moved. “Tedd!”
“You’ve got about thirty seconds left to decide to change me or not,” said Tedd.
“Fine,” grumbled Elliot, tapping the green half-circle.
The doors opened, and Sarah started to giggle. “Why Elliot, what a lovely girl you make.”
Elliot rolled his eyes. “I guess. At least I’m not absurdly busty. Maybe I got off light?”
Sarah snorted. “Yeah. Tedd must have been distracted.”
They both looked around to find Tedd studying her purple-haired reflection in the plate glass window of a nearby store. Both smiled as they saw the obvious joy on her face.
Sarah pushed Elliot to stand beside Tedd at the mirror. "You two look cute together."
Elliot nodded slowly, turning from side to side to study his new reflection. "So I'm stuck like this for how long?"
"Tedd set it for a month, you'll change back automatically then, no matter where you are. But you're not stuck, you can go back in and cancel."
“Didn’t you say you were stuck as a catgirl for a day?” asked Elliot, puzzled.
“Only because I wasn’t going to trust Tedd. I found out later that I could have just hopped in and ended the change any time. Of course, it could be worse.”
“Worse?” asked Elliot. “How could it be worse?”
“Tedd could have turned you into a purse. And then you wouldn’t be able to use the machine whenever you felt like, you really would have been stuck for a month. Well, unless someone decided to give you a break and put you in the machine.”
“That’s not so bad, then. Tedd would never keep me like that for long.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Just keep an eye on the time before you play with it, okay? So, are you going to change back?”
“You’re not making it sound appealing. I’d rather not take the risk.”
“But there’s no risk!” protested Sarah. “Just set it up, step in, press the red button.”
Elliot shrugged again, and glanced down at the way his chest bobbled when he did so. “I think I need a bra. And I’ll definitely need a sports bra tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night?” sputtered Sarah. “Don’t you have martial arts class tomorrow? You figure on still being a girl then?”
Elliot nodded. “Well, yeah. I’m not going to skip out for a month just because of this.”
Sarah stared at Elliot for a while longer. “Wow. Okay. C’mon, I know where the best bra shops are.”
As he followed Sarah into the mall, Elliot asked softly, “Are you okay?”
“Just a little confused. You could go back to being a guy easily.”
“I know. But... so far it’s not ‘ew ew get it off’. I guess I want to see what it’s all about.”
Sarah nodded slowly. “Okay. I can appreciate that. So just a couple bras, or are we looking for dresses too?”
“Just bras. Lots of girls wear t-shirts and jeans to school.”
Sarah stamped her foot. “You are not going to just scrub around in the same t-shirt and jeans as you always do. You need proper clothes.”
Elliot chuckled at Sarah’s insistence. “A minute ago you thought I should just change back.”
“I accept that you are determined to stay like this for a while. So fine, we’re getting you something nice to wear. You’d look cute in a dress.”
“You never wear dresses to school. Just plain shirts and pants.”
“Fine, you can keep your shirts. But you’ll need pants that fit, and I am not sending you home without at least one proper dress. Every girl should have at least one.”
Elliot smiled at Sarah warmly. “So now you think I’m a girl?”
“Exhibit D’s”, said Sarah, gesturing towards Elliot’s chest.
Elliot laughed. “They do stand out.”
“And poke out. You really need a bra, or you’re going to attract the wrong kind of attention.”
“What do you mean?”
Sarah grabbed Elliot’s hand and tugged him toward the nearest clothing store. “I mean the kind that gets you into fights with assholes.”
“Does that happen to you much?” fretted Elliot.
“Not as often as it does to girls as sexy as you are.”
“You think I’m sexy?” asked Elliot wonderingly.
Sarah nodded emphatically. “With the right dress and makeup you’ll be stunning. But first, we need to get you fitted for a bra.”
Elliot endured being measured every which way with stoic grace. When he finally had a bra that fit properly, he studied his new reflection for some time.
“Elliot!”
Elliot turned to look at Sarah. “What?”
“I’ve been calling you for a minute. Are you going to keep staring at it, or buy it? You can have as much time as you like to fantasize about the cutie in the mirror when you get home.”
“I wasn’t thinking... that,” protested Elliot.
Sarah giggled. “Are you sure? You sure were staring at her long enough to get slapped, more than once.”
“But... That’s not...”
“You always were such a boy scout. Girl scout now, I guess.”
Elliot chuckled. “There were girls in my scout troop.”
“You’d look cute in a uniform.”
Elliot shook his head to clear it of that image. “Pass.”
“What about a cute little dress?”
Elliot studied her reflection, and turned back and forth once more. “You think I should.”
“Yes. If you want the ‘girl experience’, you should try on lots of dresses, to see if any call to you.”
After they’d left the shop with the new black bra, and a stretchy grey sport bra, Elliot bemoaned the state of his wallet. “I didn’t know it would ruin my money.”
Sarah waved it off. “It’ll change back in a month. You can owe me until then.”
“Okay. I’m still broke after one shop.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t try on dresses. You can always decide to buy them later, if you’re feeling guilty about it.”
Elliot shrugged, and let Sarah lead him on into the mall. They visited all the shops he traditionally ignored, and Sarah excitedly got him into outfit after outfit, and took pictures of more than a few for “artistic inspiration”.
The last dress Elliot tried on was the most daring of all, Sarah had been working up to it for most of an hour. It was a short black dress with an open back and a skirt so short it would make sitting without showing off her underthings challenging. All those thoughts flew out of Elliot’s head the moment she saw her sexy reflection. “Wowza.”
“Holy carp,” muttered Sarah. “Okay, you have to have this dress.”
“I can’t afford a dress,” Elliot protested weakly, eyes still drawn to the vision in the mirror.
“I’ll buy it for you, if you’ll model for me for a couple afternoons.”
Elliot sputtered. “Nude?”
“If you insist, I accept,” teased Sarah. Then when Elliot didn’t immediately yell at her, she tried to laugh it off. “Hey, I was joking. You don’t have to do that. I’d love to draw you just like this.”
Elliot didn’t answer right away.
“Okay, and makeup lessons. Final offer.”
“Makeup?”
Sarah chuckled. “We haven’t had a sleepover since grade 3, but as you are now, I might be able to swing it.”
Elliot blinked, and finally turned to face her oldest friend. “Are you serious?”
“About the dress and the drawing sessions, yes. The rest... it really would be fun.”
Elliot’s gaze returned to her reflection. “How long a drawing session?” she asked at last.
“Two sessions, two hours each. Final offer.”
Elliot held her hand out to Sarah, who looked at it in confusion for a moment before reaching out to shake it. “Done.”
The clerk was happy to make the sale, but closed the store’s door behind them. “Oh right, the mall closes at five on Sundays. Time to go.”
“It’s five already?” marvelled Elliot. “Time really flies when you’re having fun.”
Sarah grinned brightly. “You had fun? We could do this again sometime. I’d be game for more sketching session trades.”
Elliot nodded. “Maybe we can find you a matching dress.”
“I already have one. Mom was very insistent that every girl needs a little black dress.”
“Can I see it sometime?” asked Elliot, as she led the way out of the mall.
Sarah pondered that until they were outside the mall. “Maybe. If you agree to the sleepover.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Sarah looked around. “Dude, where’s my car?”
“Shoot, I went to my usual exit.”
“Oh great, we did take the wrong exit! And with the mall being closed we’re going to have to go all the way around.”
“Why not just cut through the alleyway over there? I do that all the time.”
Sarah shrugged. “Looks a bit scary for two defenseless girls.”
“I’m not defenseless. And you see me as a girl?”
Sarah gave Elliot a playful shove as they entered the dimly lit alley. “Yeah. This feels like the good old days, when my sister put up with me hanging around her at the mall.”
“Hey, I do more than put up with...”
“Hand over all your money! Do it now!” shouted a masked man waving a knife at them.
Before Sarah could protest, Elliot dropped her bags and darted forward. The exchange was brief, and ended with the knifeman disarmed and limping away on a wrenched knee.
Elliot dusted her hands together, grinning victoriously. “See? Not defenceless.”
Sarah pointed wordlessly to a long gash down the arm of Elliot’s jacket, fiber filling was puffing out of it. Elliot glanced down at the tear. “He ruined my favourite jacket!” She shook her fist at the limping figure.
“He nearly hacked your arm open! Are you sure you’re okay?”
Elliot flexed her arm. “Yeah, he didn’t get through the fill.” She picked up the knife and tested the edge. “This thing’s in terrible shape.” She tossed it into the dumpster and started walking again.
“And did you know that when you jumped in? No. You could have been killed!”
Elliot shrugged. “I’ve got a black belt, I knew I could handle the guy. He wasn’t moving like a pro.”
Sarah sighed and once they were clear of the alley swiftly led the way to her car. They didn’t talk on the short drive back to Sarah’s home. Once they were there, Elliot hefted the bag with her purchases in it. “Thanks for all of this.”
“Thanks for the save. I would have given him my cash, I only had a few bucks left.”
Elliot chuckled. “I didn’t think about that. All he’d have gotten from me is some colorful bits of paper. Anyway, I doubt he’ll haunt that alley any time soon.”
“Hah! I bet not.”
“You should come to my martial arts class tomorrow. They teach basic self-defense as well as the advanced stuff. Next time I might not be there with you.”
“I suppose...”
“Good! See you tomorrow.”
Elliot waved jauntily, and walked next door to his house.
“Hi Mom, I’m home!”
His mother appeared from the kitchen, wearing a neatly ironed apron as usual. “You’re almost late for dinner. Go set the table.”
Elliot started taking off her jacket, and as she did so her mother gasped. “What have you done to your jacket? Have you been fighting again?”
“Mugger went after Sarah. He had a knife, but he doesn’t any more.”
“Oh, good. Let me have a look at that.”
Elliot handed the jacket over. “Sorry. It doesn’t look deep.”
“It’s mostly the outer lining that’s damaged. I’ll sew it up as good as new tonight.”
“You’re the best, Mom. Thanks, I like this jacket.”
Other than that, Sunday dinner passed as it usually did. Neither of Elliot’s parents made a comment about her appearance.
In the morning, her mother had her jacket ready, and made sure that Elliot had some pads in her backpack.
“So you did notice.”
“I didn’t want to make a fuss. When we heard about the Venn Machine, we knew Tedd would get you into it sooner or later.”
Elliot laughed. “Sooner, it turned out. He makes a cute girl.”
“As do you.”
Elliot blushed. “Thanks, Mom.”
Elliot made it to the school bus on time Sarah didn’t usually take it, she normally went in with Susan. Two stops later Tedd got on, and took the seat Elliot had reserved for him. Her hair was still bright purple, and had been combed more neatly than usual. “Looking good, Tedd.”
Tedd’s cheeks pinkened. “You think so? I’m not sure about this.”
“Our friends will be fine with it. And anyone else? They’ll have to deal with me.”
Tedd smiled shyly. “Thanks.”
Elliot’s reputation as the scary martial arts guy did indeed keep things quiet.
At lunch, Elliot sat next to Tedd and asked how her morning had gone. The only issue was a couple of the teachers pointing out the school policy on venning – there were a few days grace period per month, but otherwise new shapes had to be registered with the office.
“Are you going to register?” Elliot asked after Tedd’s diatribe had run down.
“I... think I’ll wait and see. It’s the end of January, so technically we don’t need to decide until next week.”
Elliot nodded. “I was thinking of doing it tomorrow, but if I can put it off... Do you know how often we can change paperwork?”
“Change what now?” asked Sarah as she sat down.
Elliot tried to hide in her jacket.
“I can still see you, you know.”
“Liar.”
“You’ve been avoiding me all day. Why don’t you want to talk to me?”
“Well, it’s complicated. I want to talk but I find that I...”
The school bell rang then to indicate the end of lunch period, and Elliot darted off with a hasty excuse.
Sarah didn’t see Elliot again until it was time to go to martial arts class. They didn’t talk in the car, and when they got out in front of the Anime Style Martial Arts Studio, Sarah gigled. “This is where you train?”
“Yee-yup.”
The studio broadened once past the entrance, taking up more space in the back than the storefront indicated. Elliot called to Justin, who ambled over to greet them.
“New look, Elliot?”
Elliot shrugged noncommittally. “Tedd’s doing. Figured I’d give it a try for a while.”
Elliot got called aside by Sensei Greg, leaving Sarah with Justin. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing to a woman with bright red hair and an artfully ripped gi.
“That’s Nanase, one of the two best students here. Elliot’s the other.”
“Why is she dressed like that?”
Justin laughed. “Black belts get to dress how they want.”
Greg and Elliot returned. “Nanase and Elliot are up for the first demonstration spar. Given the circumstances, both of you are clear to go full out.”
Elliot grinned at Nanase. “Really?”
“Do your worst. We’re both venned, and injuries don’t carry over when you change back.”
Elliot’s grin was at least as scary as the one she’d had when facing the mugger. “Bring it on.”
They took their places on the mat, bowed, and then the match was on. Sarah could barely follow the action, both were well matched and skilled. The circling around part she could follow, but the flurry of blows that ended in Elliot soaring through the air toward her made her shriek.
Elliot rolled out of the fall and bounced to her feet as if nothing had happened. On the next exchange, it was Nanase who ended up flat on her back and scrambling to escape a pin. As she did so, another Nanase with blue hair entered the room, and tried to sneak up behind Elliot.
Sarah’s cry of warning let him escape the blue-haired woman’s charge. Faced with two opponents, Elliot went defensive, circling and turning to keep both in sight. Each in turn tried to attack, with the other partially mirroring their twin’s moves.
Elliot feinted at blue, and both dodged. While red was off balance, a leg-sweep sent her to the mat and Elliot pounced into a pin. Unfortunately, that left blue free to grab Elliot from behind, and the two Nanase’s coordinated to get him locked down.
Elliot acknowledged the loss just as Greg called it. A moment later, blue disappeared, leaving only one copy of Nanase. This one had auburn hair, with a half-inch of dark roots showing her true hair colour.
“Nice timing,” called Greg.
Nanase grinned victoriously, and as was their usual habit, she leaned over Elliot’s prone form and took her victory kiss. Rather less usually, she leaned into the kiss with far more fervor than ever before, until Justiln called out “Get a room!”
Nanase rolled off of Elliot. “Wowza.”
Elliot sat up and shook out her sore arms. “Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know...” Nanase stared at Elliot, as if seeing her for the first time. “Wait, you’re a girl?”
Elliot shrugged. “Yeah?”
“Oh. Oh no. No no no.” Nanase stumbled to her feet then darted out of the dojo, arm over her face to hide glittering tears.
Sarah watched her go, then stomped up to Elliot. “What did you say to her?”
“I don’t know! We’ve kissed lots of times, but never like that.”
“Wait, she’s your girlfriend?” sputtered Sarah. “Why didn’t you... oh. Right. Running away makes so much sense now.”
“It does?” asked Elliot in confusion.
“You could tell I wanted to date you, so it made you skittish.”
“You wanted to what the za?”
Sarah’s eyes went wide. “Oh no. You didn’t... I just... Aw carp.” She turned and ran.
“Nice going Elliot,” said Justin. “Two for two.”
“I didn’t mean to!”
Justin sighed. “That doesn’t matter now. Go after them you fool!”
Elliot’s eyes went wide and she darted out of the dojo, then looked around in bewilderment. Neither Sarah nor Nanase were in sight.
In the ice cream parlor, Nanase was slumped in a booth with a bowl full of vanilla ice cream.
“Is this spot taken?” asked Sarah, carrying a bowl of something with too many colours.
Nanase shrugged. “I must look like a fool.”
“At least as much as I do. I’ve been trying to get Eliot to ask me out on a date for ages. After yesterday at the mall, especially. We had fun shopping for new clothes after he got transformed.”
“Hah! Getting him to take the initiative is like pulling teeth. Except when sparring. His victory kisses were the best.” Nanase sighed wistfully.
“What happened out there?”
“I...” Nanase blushed and her eyes were drawn over Sarah’s shoulder. “Hey Elliot.”
“Hey. Whatever I did, I am really sorry.”
“What you did was show up as a girl without warning your sweetie. Not cool, Elliot,” accused Sarah.
Elliot slumped into a seat beside Sarah, facing Nanase. “Shoot. It’s just... this feels so normal. I honestly forgot.”
“You want to date him?” asked Nanase.
Sarah shrugged. “Not as much now.”
“Why?”
Sarah turned to study Elliot. “I’m not gay, for one.”
“And yet you wanted to do nude sketches of me like this.”
Nanase coughed on a bite of icecream, while Sarah turned bright pink. “Because you’re sexy as hell like that, and I have to capture that before your month is up.”
“So you do think I’m attractive?”
“Yes!” chorused Sarah and Nanase.
“But I can’t be gay,” added Nanase. “I just can’t be. My mother would kill me.”
“That kiss said otherwise,” Elliot stated with a lascivious smirk.
Nanase shuddered. “I know. God, do I know. That was freaking incredible and I want another so so badly. But what do I do? What do I tell my mother?”
Sarah gave Elliot a nudge, and she swapped sides of the booth to sit beside Nanase. When Elliot leaned in for another kiss, Nanase leaned back, whimpered softly, then moved into the kiss. Sarah watched the two with pinkening cheeks and a big grin on her face.
“Damn,” Sarah breathed when they were done. “That was so hot. Can I pretty please get you to pose as a couple? I’ll do anything.”
“Will you give up your designs on my boyfriend... I mean girlfriend?”
Elliot beamed as Sarah nodded. “It probably wouldn't have worked out anyway. And you two look so amazing together, it would feel like taking a hammer to a stained glass window.”
Nanase slumped in her seat, sighing hopelessly. “My mother is going to...”
“Do nothing,” stated Sarah firmly.
Nanasae laughed bitterly. “Yeah right. What can I say to her?”
“Say that you’re being supportive of Elliot while she figures herself out. Elliot’s not the first to get venned at our school, not by a lot. Tedd’s a girl, so are Tony and his buddy. Her buddy now. I heard a rumour they even filed to stay that way. And Catalina’s a registered catgirl. Still can’t believe they allowed that.”
Nanase nodded slowly, hope starting to find its way back to her face. “Mother would accept standing by a friend. She might be critical of the whole ‘experimenting’ thing, but put that way she’d be disappointed if I abandoned you. Oh thank goodness.”
“And Sarah.”
Nanase bowed her head to Sarah. “I owe you a great debt if this works.”
“My studio is free tomorrow night,” offered Sarah with a half hopeful, half just-kidding grin.
“We’re free then. But not tonight. We should get back to the dojo.” Nanase pushed her vanilla ice cream over to Sarah. “Yours if you want it.”
Sarah dipped a half spoonful out of each dish and tried it. “Perfect. See you in a bit.”
Elliot and Nanase returned to the dojo, chattering about Nanase’s trick with two bodies. She’d found it difficult to control both well, but wanted to continue to train to see how far she could push it. Elliot wondered if they could come up with other anime tricks using the Venn Machines, and figured Tedd would be the best one to ask.
They drilled with the other students, and shortly after Sarah returned they switched to self-defense drills against a knife armed attacker. The dummy knives they used were unable to do damage, but at Elliot’s suggestion they chalked the blade. To most of their surprise, many of them ended up marked after disarming their attacker.
Elliot then described her experience with the mugger, and re-enacted the fight slowly with Greg standing in as the knife-wielder. Sarah still didn’t follow it as well as she’d have liked.
“Okay class. Can you tell me what Elliot did wrong?”
“Not running away?” offered Eric.
“Normally, I’d agree. Never go in against a knife if you don’t have to. But in this case he was defending someone.”
“Pull the mask over his eyes?” suggested another student.
“Creative, but the fight was too short, and that involves getting within arm’s reach.”
“Throw the bag?” asked Sarah.
Greg nodded. “Preparing something to foul the knife-arm can buy you time. Elliot did not need to charge into the fight, and could have taken a moment to gain advantage. Still, there are times where speed is of the essence, and he won the fight. So overall, good job.”
Elliot bowed at the compliment.
“She won the fight,” corrected Sarah. “Elliot was female when it happened.”
“So she couldn’t have been permanently hurt,” said Nanase.
“Za?”
“If you’re venned you can just go back in the machine and be as good as new. That’s why we could go all out,” explained Nanase. “I sprained three of my wrists learning that it’s really hard to do a breakfall right when only one of you is falling. But as soon as the change ended, I felt fine.”
“Sweet. We should be venned all the time, then.”
“I did like that red hair. I’m in.”
After their martial arts lessons were over, Elliot drove Sarah to the mall while Nanase drove Justin. Sarah was nervous about getting in the Venn Machine with Nanase, but Elliot promised to put her back in if Nanase turned her into anything weird. She also held their purses while they used the machine.
Nanase emerged as a red-and-blue pair once more, but Sarah didn’t appear to have changed at all. Elliot looked at her curiously, and she smirked in return. “It doesn’t show. The only way you’ll find out is if you show up for a slumber party.”
“Do you want to be changed, Justin?” Elliot asked.
Justin shrugged. “Can you do the same sort of mini-change? Maybe make me a little stronger and tougher?”
“Sure.”
Soon, Justin was flexing his new musculature. His abs looked a little more toned, but the change in his arms was less pronounced, he was already in good shape.
Justin scooped Elliot up and spun her around in a circle. “Wow, you’re so light like this. I don’t look much different but I must be twice as strong. Sweet!”
“You should hit the weight room and see how much you can bench,” suggested Nanase as they started walking toward the entrance.
“Thursday’s lessons are going to be amazing.”
Elliot looked to Sarah and offered her arm. “Shall we?”
Sarah took Elliot’s hand instead, and worked on her conflicting feelings all the way to the car. “This is so weird,” she declared after Elliot started the car.
“What is?”
“I’m still in love with you, except... it feels different.”
Elliot sputtered. “Love?”
Sarah sighed. “I get it. You don’t feel that way about me either.”
“I do. We’ve been friends forever, and I want to stay friends forever.”
The drive home was quietly introspective. As they got out of the car, Elliot asked, “You said you feel different about me. How?”
Sarah sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. Less date, more sleepover?”
“I might take you up on that.”
Sarah smiled at Elliot sweetly. “Goodnight, Elliot.”
“Goodnight, Sarah.”