by Saless
Chapter 28

"Why did we leave so quickly?" Mike asked once they were back in their living room.

"The Good Magician never gives straight forward answers. He always tells you just what you need to solve the problem. There wasn't any point sticking around and arguing with him. Besides, he might have demanded a year's service from us. I think changing that creature's gender might have counted, but I didn't want to take any chances." Jill replied.

"So I have to accept that I'm female now in order to become male again?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Sounds like it." Jill agreed.

"I don't get it, from what he said you should already be able to change back." Mike said.

Sarah took a moment to try and change back, even going so far as to slap herself in the face. "Nope, still doesn't work." She replied.

"Maybe if you stop trying to change back, you'll be able to?" Mike said. "That doesn't make any sense, though."

"No, that could be it! Maybe Sarah has to stop trying to change back and just live for a while as a girl. Then once you've really learned what it's like you'll be able to change back!" Jill said excitedly.

Mike shrugged, "I guess that could be it. It's probably best not to change back too fast, anyway. That real life test thing is supposed to give you a chance to figure out if being a girl is right for you, so it would probably look odd if you changed back too quickly."

Sarah slumped down in her chair. "I didn't think of that! So even if I figure out a way to change back tomorrow I'm stuck as a girl for a while?" she wondered aloud.

"Not stuck, but Mike's right. You don't have to go the full year, but it would look strange if you gave it up in a week." Jill said thoughtfully.

"So long as I get changed back before Erica returns, I guess I can deal with it." Sarah said begrudgingly.

"That's the spirit! Now, who's up for pizza?" asked Mike. Naturally, Sarah didn't argue with that.

They went out for pizza and stayed quite a while talking. By the time they got back it was getting late so Sarah said goodnight to her friends and went home. She went online to chat with Erica, but she wasn't on. Sarah did some cleaning up and threw a load in the washer while she waited. When she was done cleaning Erica still wasn't online, so Sarah grabbed a book and sat down to read, looking at the screen every ten minutes or so. After a couple of hours of this she finally gave up and went to bed. That's when she remembered that Erica would be packing for Christmas this weekend. She probably wore herself out and fell asleep! Maybe she'll be on tomorrow. she thought as she drifted off

Sarah awoke early the next morning. Grabbing some clothes reminded her that she'd probably need to buy more. Doing laundry every few days would get old fast, and her clothes would get worn out too quickly. She snagged a towel on the way to the bathroom and took a shower. As she was getting dressed she realized that she still didn't have any body hair at all. That's strange, I would have thought it would have grown by now. she thought, then dismissed it as unimportant.

After her shower she made herself an omelet and sat down to eat. She was almost finished when Jill came in. "Good morning!" she called out cheerfully.

"Good morning Jill. What's up?" Sarah replied.

"Not Mike, that's for sure!" Jill giggled, "I'm afraid I wore him out last night."

Sarah blushed and looked down at her breakfast. She wasn't used to Jill talking to her about things like that.

"Sorry!" Jill said with an apologetic smile. "I guess I just reacted to you like I would to my girlfriends there for a minute. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Sarah nodded and finished her breakfast in silence. Jill sat opposite her and waited. Sarah washed her dishes and returned to the table. "So what are your plans for the day?" Jill asked.

Sarah shrugged, "No plans. The semester's over, so I don't have any homework to do. I did laundry last night while waiting for Erica. Which reminds me; I do need to get more clothes if I'm going to be like this for a while."

"Ah, shopping! Have you gotten your new ATM card yet?" Jill asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No, not yet. I guess I'll have to wait to do my shopping until I've gotten it. Maybe it'll come tomorrow."

"So what do you want to do today?" Jill asked.

"I don't know." Sarah replied.

Jill sighed, "You're as bad as Mike! How about this; do you want to stay in this world today, or not?"

"Maybe we should wait for Mike to decide what we're doing." Sarah suggested.

"You have a lot to learn about being a girl! Mike will go wherever we want to go. So answer the question!" Jill admonished.

"Well, there is another story I found online that I wouldn't mind visiting, though it could be a little dangerous." Sarah said hesitantly.

"How dangerous?" Jill replied.

"Not a lot. It's just that it's a school for mutants with super powers of various kinds, so all kinds of things can happen there." Sarah said.

"Well if it's a school I guess it should be okay. I think we should wait for Mike, though, just in case. We might need him to transform into something big and nasty again!" Jill said with a giggle.

"You're not worried about that?" Sarah asked, surprised.

"Not really. It's only happened twice, and only when we really needed it. If he transformed at work or inside the apartment I might be a little more concerned." Jill replied.

"It's a shame I can't talk to Erica about all this stuff." Sarah said wistfully.

"I know, but Erica would never believe it without seeing it. Even then she'd try to rationalize it, I think. Once she's gone with us a time or two I'm sure she'll be convinced, though." Jill said consolingly.

"So when is Mike getting up?" Sarah asked to change the subject.

"Whenever we want him to get up, of course!" Jill replied with a grin. "Do we want him to now, or later?"

Sarah thought about it and looked at the time. "If you really think he won't mind, I'd rather go do something." Sarah replied hopefully.

Jill smiled, "Don't worry, he won't mind! Guys will do a lot to keep their girlfriends happy. Just look at you; you put up with Erica insisting on going to Harvard Law even though it's on the other side of the continent!"

Sarah shrugged, "If you say so." They left Sarah's apartment and walked over to Jill and Mike's.

"Sounds like Mike got up on his own, after all." Jill commented as they walked in and heard the shower running. "Lets make him something to eat, it'll keep us busy while we wait for him." Sarah nodded and they got to work. By the time Mike showed up, fully dressed with wet hair, they had a plate ready for him.

"I could get used to this!" he said with a grin. Jill slapped his arm and told him to eat.

Once he'd finished eating and washed his plate Sarah retrieved the printout for the story world she wanted to visit where she'd left it when they arrived. "Ready to go visit a mutant school?" she asked Mike.

He shrugged, "Sure, sounds interesting. Sword or no sword?"

Sarah laughed, "A sword wouldn't do you much good if you got in a fight with one of the students!" He shrugged and waited for her to open the portal. They filed through and found themselves standing next to a building with a glass dome on it. It was very cold. "I forgot this place would be so cold at this time of the year!" Sarah complained, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. They hurried inside the glass-domed building to get warm.

There were students sitting at tables around the room eating their breakfast. Some of them didn't look human. "Are these all mutants?" Mike asked curiously.

Sarah nodded, "All the students and a lot of the staff, too."

They were roughly shoved aside as a large, muscular boy pushed his way in rudely. "Hey, watch it!" Mike exclaimed angrily, steadying Jill who had nearly fallen over.

The boy stopped and turned towards Mike. "Stay out of my way." He said menacingly. Mike bristled at that and stepped forward, so Sarah quickly got between them. "I'll deal with you in a minute, babe." The boy said arrogantly, pushing Sarah aside.

Mike took one look at Sarah and stepped back. "I think you just made a big mistake!" he said with a grin. The boy looked confused and followed Mike's gaze to Sarah.

"How would you like to be smaller and weaker and get pushed around by big strong men?" Sarah said angrily. She didn't give him a chance to respond and slapped him in the face.