Just a heads up, this story is a bit odd and the TG
elements in it are fairly light, but I do hope you enjoy
it. And I wrote this story for my own amusement while
playing around, so if you don't like it... too bad.
The Role Exchanger
By Morpheus
The college courtyard provided a scene much like
every other morning, being filled with a throng of
students. Several dozen young men and women were scattered
about, going about their normal routines as they awaited
the start of their morning classes. For some that was
finishing their breakfasts, while for others it was
conversation or smoking.
19 year old Christine Martin sat at one of the
courtyard tables with her friend Kelly, quickly putting the
final touches on her homework. She frowned and briefly
chewed on the head of the pen as she contemplated the final
answer, then gave up with brief shake of her head. Maybe
she could get the answer from someone else before class
started.
"And Tyler tells me that Corey has been chasing after
Brandon," Kelly droned on, though Christine only just
started to pay attention.
Then Kelly paused to reach for her cigarettes.
Christine groaned slightly as she caught sight of the
movement, wondering how her friend could possibly smoke
those things. Didn't she know how bad they were for her
health? And besides, they smelled absolutely horrible...
And as Kelly lit her cigarette and took her first
drag, Christine asked in annoyance, "Do you have to do
that?"
Kelly just rolled her eyes in response, annoyed at
the nagging from her nonsmoking friend. She enjoyed smoking
and saw no reason why it was anybody else's business but
her own. So just to annoy Christine, Kelly blew a bit of
smoke her way, smirking faintly as the other girl wrinkled
her nose.
Christine scowled at that, wondering why all smokers
seemed to be so inconsiderate of the nonsmokers around
them. She was just about to snap at Kelly when she paused
in a brief moment of confusion.
A faint shimmer passed through the air of the
courtyard, almost completely unnoticed. Several of the
students paused where they were, feeling as though
something wasn't quite the same.
"You mind if I have one?" Christine asked, already
reaching for the pack of cigarettes that were sitting on
the table.
Just as Christine lit her cigarette and took a long
drag, as though she had been doing so for years, Kelly just
glared at hers and dropped it to the ground with a look of
distaste. She couldn't get over the bad taste that it had
left in her mouth. For a moment, she wondered how she ever
could have been smoking that gross thing.
"I think you're right," Kelly sighed as she stood up,
"No more of those things for me."
With a shrug, Christine took another drag from her
cigarette, then blew out a stream of smoke before she
responded with, "Whatever." Then as Kelly started to walk
away, she picked up the abandoned pack of cigarettes and
slipped them into her purse before starting for her own
first class.
Unseen by anyone below, a faint bluish glow floated
away from the courtyard.
---
Danielle Delores Mackey was often jokingly referred
to by her friends as DD, not just because of her initials
but from her ample endowments. However, that wasn't
entirely accurate as she was slightly larger than that,
providing her with one of the largest pairs of breasts on
campus.
That was a fact that she took great pride in, even
ensuring that less gifted girls were fully aware of it as
well. Even if she had to frequently repeat it to them...
and give them humiliating demonstrations.
"Hey Lisa," Danielle called out to her best friend as
they met up with each other on the stairs to the building.
"How was your date last night?"
"Not bad," Lisa responded with a smile that indicated
that it was more than that.
"Did you hear?" Danielle asked smugly, "I've got a
date with Ronnie Marks this Friday."
Lisa blinked at that, "I thought he was dating
Rebecca."
That just made Danielle's expression grow a little
more smug. "He was," she told Lisa, then gestured down to
her breasts, "But she just couldn't compete..." Both girls
burst into laughter at that.
A short distance away, a slender girl was making her
way towards the steps, frowning slightly as she saw
Danielle and Lisa, hoping that she could get past without
them noticing her. Unfortunately, Pamela was one of
Danielle's favorite targets for insults... due largely to
the fact that she only possessed small A cup sized breasts,
almost making her look flat chested.
"Damn," Pamela muttered to herself, wishing that for
once that she didn't have to feel self conscious about her
small breasts.
"Hey look," Lisa exclaimed, gesturing towards Pamela.
Danielle stood in front of Pamela, not to block her
completely though making sure that she would have to walk
right past. Then she grinned, "Why it's LITTLE Pammy."
Pamela just rolled her eyes in annoyance, not letting
it get to her. "Why if it isn't a big airhead," she
responded, giving a show of confidence as she always did.
It was an effective means for making people back down... at
least for the moment.
Then just after Pamela walked past, she paused,
feeling a strange tingle run through her body. It
concentrated on her chest, making her let out a gasp. An
instant later, Pamela was startled to realize that she
could feel her chest beginning to swell.
"What?" she gasped, looking down and seeing that her
chest was much more noticeable. In fact, it was beginning
to push her shirt out, revealing her nipples a bit more
than she would have liked. And it seemed to be still going.
"What's happening..."
Suddenly, Pamela heard a loud gasp from behind her.
She snapped around, gasping herself as she saw Danielle
holding her own chest, a look of horror on her face. And
Pamela could see why as the front of her shirt was hanging
a bit more loosely... and getting even more so.
In the seconds that followed, Pamela could only stare
in shock as her own breasts continued to grow, pushing her
shirt... stretching it until it grew extremely
uncomfortable. Almost painful even. And then the shirt tore
open, giving a release to the pressure that had been
starting to build.
"Oh shit," Pamela whispered, quickly looking back at
Danielle in amazement. From what she could see... Danielle
was now about as flat chested as she herself had been just
a couple minutes earlier.
It only took an instant for it to sink in that she
had grown while Danielle had shrunk. It was as though they
had actually traded breast sizes, though Pamela knew that
such a thing was completely impossible. Still, it had
happened and she couldn't deny that, even if she couldn't
explain it.
Lisa exclaimed, "Your breasts..."
At the same time, Danielle was frantically grabbing
at them, looking shocked, horrified and confused as she
tried to simultaneously hold them and cover them up. "My...
my... my..."
Pamela stared at this for only a few more seconds,
realizing that both of the other girls were so caught up in
Danielle's inexplicable changes that they didn't seem to
have even noticed her going through some as well. Then,
feeling just a little guilty, Pamela hurried away before
they could notice her.
---
Feeling somewhat satisfied with the results of what
he had been working on, 20 year old Paul Silver stepped
away from the computer. He had been working on his latest
story for the campus paper for some time, though knew that
he still had a little more work to do. Though he knew that
a story about one retiring professor's career wouldn't
wasn't that big of a deal, he was a little proud of the
work that he'd put into it.
"The life of a journalist," Paul sighed, absently
wondering if he should have chosen another major. It wasn't
like there were a lot of great stories for him to get
practice on.
With that, Paul took a long look around the room that
was used as the office for the school paper. At the moment,
he was the only one there, though he knew that he wouldn't
be for too much longer. The others would be showing up,
though it was his time alone before their arrival that he
particularly enjoyed. It gave him a sense of power, letting
him pretend for a moment that he was the driving force
behind the entire paper.
Just then, Paul was distracted from his thoughts as
the door opened up and someone came in. He took one glance
and called, "Hey Pam," before looking back to his paper.
Though she didn't work at the paper like he did, it wasn't
at all uncommon to see Pamela hanging around. She friends
with not only him, but a couple of the other people there
as well.
However, after a moment, Paul realized that something
was wrong, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what
that was. He looked up at Pamela, who was standing by the
door, looking as though she was waiting for something from
him... then he noticed it.
"What?" Paul blinked as he looked at her again.
Pamela was standing there looking decidedly
uncomfortable, and pulling her coat over her front.
However, it didn't look quite like it fit.
"Jeez," Pamela sighed, slowly opening her coat to
reveal a stretched and torn shirt, as well as a lot more
cleavage than she had ever possessed in the past. "Just
don't stare too much."
After several seconds, Paul asked, "You get implants
last night?"
He knew that she sure wasn't built like that the day
before. Of course, he knew that it took more than one night
to get implants and have them heal, and that was if someone
could afford them in the first place, and he knew that
Pamela definitely could not. That left the new endowments
being fakes.
"No," Pamela sighed in embarrassment, "Just a little
while ago." She took a deep breath, "They just... grew. I
mean... in just a minute." Then she gestured down.
Rolling his eyes, Paul responded, "Oh yeah..."
Suddenly Pamela's expression hardened. "I'm not
making this up." She glared at him, then pulled the jacket
back, revealing her new cleavage and stretched shirt. "Take
a look," she demanded.
Though she wasn't revealing enough for Paul to see
everything, he could see enough to know that they weren't
just foam pads, or anything else of the nature. He let out
a gasp, realizing that they were indeed real.
"You did get implants..." Paul started, but Pamela
shook her head, looking both embarrassed and annoyed.
"I told you," she stated firmly, "they just... grew."
She paused for a moment before adding almost as an
afterthought, "And Danielle Mackey's shrunk at the same
time. I think mine are the same size hers used to be..."
Though Paul wasn't sure of what was going on, he was
paying full attention now. There was a story there... he
could sense it. Even if it was nothing more than an
incredible prank, it would make for an interesting story.
"Tell me everything," Paul urged her on.
Though Pamela was a little uncomfortable, she told
Paul everything that had happened to her... what little
there was. Then she added, "And I came here to see if Sue
had an extra shirt I could borrow..." She blushed, looking
further embarrassed.
"She'll be here in awhile if you want to wait," Paul
told her with a calculating smile, wondering what was
really going on.
Then as Pamela sat down to wait, quickly giving her
new endowments a speculative look before trying to cover
them with her jacket, Paul started for the door. He didn't
know what was going on yet... but he was going to find out.
---
Several students quickly moved out of the way of Dave
Thornton when they saw him coming, though he did nothing to
encourage them to do so. It was not his actions, which
often intimidated those around him, but his size. David was
6 foot 4 and heavily muscled. Though he had frequently been
asked to join the football or wrestling teams, he preferred
bodybuilding instead.
Walking close beside Dave was an attractive Asian
girl, his girlfriend Michelle, providing an odd contrast to
his size. She was only 5 foot 3, more than a foot shorter
than him and seemingly even smaller by comparison. And
though she was fairly short, Michelle was also rather
shapely, a fact sometimes envied by taller girls.
"Are you getting psyched up for the competition
Saturday?" Michelle asked Dave, looking up to see him
smiling.
"You know it," he responded with a grin. "I've been
putting in extra hours in the gym just to get ready." Then
he flexed one of his biceps, pleased with the impressed
'oooh' from Michelle. "See."
"Very nice," Michelle agreed, positive that her
boyfriend was going to win the bodybuilding contest he'd
entered. Then in an almost conspiratorial voice, she moved
closer and whispered, "But even better in the dark..."
"You want to find out for sure?" Dave asked her with
a wink, earning a giggle.
A moment later, Dave bend down and gave his
girlfriend a kiss. Just then, a strange tingle passed
through them both, though neither paid it much attention as
they were occupied with the kiss.
When they finally pulled away, Michelle frowned and
tugged at her clothes, muttering, "I've got to lose some
weight." They were beginning to feel a bit too snug.
Dave just stood there, watching Michelle for a moment
before frowning. There was something wrong. He could feel
it, though he couldn't exactly say what it was. Only that
he just didn't feel quite right.
"Shit," he spat, hoping that he wasn't coming down
with something. He didn't want to be out sick during the
competition, or just not at his best.
Michelle just stood there, startled to realize that
with every passing second, her clothes were getting tighter
and tighter. They were even beginning to pinch her almost
painfully. She winced and started to tear at them, caught
between the desperation to get them off and the
embarrassment of being in a public place.
That decision was taken away from Michelle as there
was a loud ripping sound, and then a sudden loosening of
the pressure on her chest. He let out a sigh of relief,
then quickly started to grab at her now exposed chest,
feeling completely confused as well as a bit scared. She
had no idea what was going on... no idea of what was
happening to her.
"Holy shit," Dave exclaimed as he stared at his
growing girlfriend, taking a step back and realizing that
his foot was sliding inside of his shoe. It was only then
that he realized that his own clothes were beginning to
hang loosely on him. He gasped in horror, then stared at
Michelle again, shocked to realize that she didn't look
nearly as small as she did just several minutes earlier.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"How the hell should I know?" Michelle spat back in
fear.
In the next instant, Dave realized that Michelle's
muscles were getting bigger as well. She was even beginning
to look buff, as well as pretty ripped. That caused him to
look down at his own arms, gasping in horror as he saw that
his own muscles were getting smaller, that they were
receding. Just as his clothes continued to get larger and
looser.
Just then, Dave looked back at Michelle and was
nearly choked at the realization that he was looking
straight into her eyes. That they were now the same height.
He was terrified of what was going on, of the fact that he
was apparently shrinking for no reason. And Michelle could
only stare at Dave in stunned amazement as his eye level
steadily dropped below her own.
"No way," Michelle gasped as she stared down at her
well-muscled arms, then over at Dave's, which were now much
thinner. They were now less muscled than her own. And it
wasn't just those muscles... but all of them.
And then there was the height. Michelle was used to
looking up at Dave... way up. But now... now he was
starting to look decidedly short to her. Short and
almost... scrawny. There was almost no sign now of the buff
man that she had been kissing such a short time before.
When the changes seemed to have stopped, Dave just
stood there in stunned silence, buried in his massively
oversized clothes. He shivered faintly in fear, feeling
incredibly small and vulnerable. He looked down at himself,
seeing that all of his hard earned muscle was gone, leaving
him about as well built as a boy. And then he looked at
Michelle and choked out a gasp.
Michelle was not only tall... she was HUGE. She
seemed like a giant, towering over him, bulging with
immense muscles, yet at the same time, she was still curvy
and undeniably a woman. The very sight was enough to make
Dave feel even smaller... even more vulnerable and
helpless. It was enough to make him feel like a child
again.
As Dave and Michelle stared at each other in silence,
they both realized that they had somehow exchanged sizes.
That she was now the one who was 6 foot 4, while he was her
old height of 5 foot 3. That she now possessed all of the
muscles which Dave had worked so hard to build, while he
was left with almost nothing.
"Oh shit..." Dave squeaked out fearfully, terrified
and confused at suddenly having lost everything that made
him what he was.
At the same time, Michelle stared down at her tiny
boyfriend, then at her own massive body. She had always
wondered what it would be like to be taller, and though she
was terrified and confused, a tiny part of her suggested
that she might like it. She felt so big. So strong. So...
powerful.
Then as one, they shuddered at the realization that
the impossible had just happened. And even if they did get
back to normal... nothing would ever be the same again.
---
A group of four sorority sisters were chatting
excitedly as they slowly walked across the campus, making
sure that as many boys as possible could see them. They
were some of the most popular girls on campus and thought
that it only proper that their adoring fans could see
plenty of them.
"Did you like, hear about DD?" a tall blonde girl
named Tiffany asked with a smirk. When one of the other
girls shook her head no, she gasped, "Her breasts like...
totally went flat."
"What?" Brandy asked, hearing about it for the first
time and feeling more a little skeptical about this news.
"It's true," the red headed Sarah blurted out, "She
caught some weird disease or something and they just
shrunk... right in front of everybody."
"Yeah," the fourth girl, another blonde named Cindy
added, "Lisa was there and saw the whole thing."
Tiffany just giggled, then gave them a bit of a smirk
as she added, "I think that she just had some bad
implants."
Then the girls were silent for a moment, caught
between feeling sympathy for their sorority sister and
relief that it wasn't them.
As they continued to share the latest 'news', the
girls paused to give a faint look of disdain at the three
other girls who were sitting by a bench. A simultaneous
thought passed through their heads at how horribly dressed
the other girls were, and how completely lacking in style.
They were Goths... dressed almost head to toe in black, and
two of them had dyed their hair black with bad dye jobs,
while the third had her hair dyed a garish red instead.
"Can you believe that?" Tiffany asked the others in
disgust. And that hair... Everyone knew that you should
only bleach your hair blonde. Theirs were just... wrong.
"What about those piercings?" Sarah giggled, "I mean,
that one girl looked like a pin cushion..."
Just as the sorority sisters passed, a strange
shimmer seemed to pass through the air. A shimmer that
seemed unnoticed by any, though the girls all paused
briefly in confusion.
"Like... oh my God," one of the Goths suddenly
gasped, staring down at her hands in horror, "What was I
thinking using black polish." She wrinkled her face in
distaste as she looked down at her now less than appealing
clothes.
"Yeah," the red haired Goth grimaced, "And these
clothes... All this black is like, totally depressing."
The third Goth immediately agreed with the other two,
exclaiming, "We have like, GOT to go shopping."
With that, all three stood up and hurried away,
deciding to skip their classes until they could take care
of something MUCH more important, such as buying proper
clothes and getting the makeovers that they knew they so
desperately needed.
A short distance away, Tiffany turned to Cindy and
asked, "Do you have any black nail polish..."
---
Paul shook his head faintly, unable to keep from
thinking about that had happened to Pamela. It was
strange... stranger than strange, not to mention a little
erotic. However, as interesting as that aspect was, it was
the story behind it that he tried to keep his mind on.
First though, he had to find Danielle and talk with
her about what had happened... if he could find her. She
had disappeared shortly after the incident, not that he
blamed her if what Pamela had said was true. And not only
did he see no reason for her to lie, but he'd never really
known her to make up wild stories.
Just as Paul walked towards the Sorority house, where
he was sure Danielle was hiding out, he passed a girl
sitting on the bench and smoking. At first, he gave no
thought to it, until he was several steps past and suddenly
realized that something was definitely off.
"Christine?" Paul asked as he turned for another
look.
Christine Martin was one of the more verbal anti-
smokers around campus, and just the day before Paul had
overheard her giving some guy a lecture about how bad
cigarettes were. And now, she was right in front of him,
doing the one thing that he'd thought she would never do.
Smoking.
"Oh, hi," Christine nodded towards Paul, blowing a
stream of smoke to the side.
Paul just stared at her for another moment before
asking, "When did you start smoking?"
She gave a shrug, looking at the cigarette between
her fingers oddly for just a moment. "This morning, I
guess," she responded, giving a faint look of confusion.
That seemed a somewhat odd reaction, Paul thought.
And she certainly looked as though she had smoked for
longer than just a couple hours. "What do you mean, you
just started this morning?"
Christine just looked thoughtful for a few seconds
before slowing saying, "It's weird... I think that one
minute I was just whining about Kelly's smoking... and the
next I bummed a smoke off her."
"Just like that?" Paul asked her, getting more
interested by the moment.
"Yeah," she nodded her head, taking another drag from
her cigarette, "I guess it really is weird. I mean, I know
I was whining and nagging everyone else about their smoking
just yesterday, but I feel like I've been smoking for a
long time. Like I've always been a smoker. I don't know why
I started... but it feels perfectly normal." She blew a
stream of smoke out at that to punctuate her statement. "I
don't know why I didn't start earlier..."
All that Paul could think to say was, "Interesting."
That seemed like something of an understatement though. It
was like her entire perspective of smoking had just done a
one eighty.
Then Christine stood up and picked up the pack of
cigarettes on the bench beside where she'd been sitting.
She moved to slip them into her pocket and commented, "At
least I didn't have to buy my first pack."
"Oh," Paul responded, trying not to feel freaked out
by this.
"Kelly just quit this morning," Christine explained,
"So she gave me hers."
That really caught Paul's attention. "Was that around
the time you decided to start?"
Christine frowned thoughtfully, "Yeah... I think it
was..."
"Okay," Paul told her firmly, "Tell me everything
that happened around that time. And who else was around..."
---
Eric Stratten took his time as he strolled across the
campus, shifting his backpack on his shoulder every several
minutes. He smiled to himself as he saw the very cute Jill
Langston a short distance away. They weren't exactly
dating, though they were close friends.
As Eric got closer, he paused for a moment to admire
the slender brunette, wondering not for the first time if
he should try making their relationship a little more than
just friends. Then he shrugged it off for the moment
calling out, "How're you doing?"
"Not too bad," Jill sighed, giving a smile though not
as sparkling as Eric was used to seeing from her.
"What's up?" he gently asked her.
Jill hesitated for a moment, then ran a hand through
her hair in an unconscious nervous gesture. "It was Greg
again."
That was enough to give Eric a good idea of what the
problem was. Greg was the manager at her part time job. And
he was a bit of an asshole. An apparently a pretty sexist
one as well, always making things difficult for Jill.
"He hit on you again?" Eric commented more than
asked.
Jill just nodded at that, looking angry "And he
promoted Larry instead of me... even though I've been
working there twice as long and do twice as much work."
Then she sneered, "He said that Larry had more leadership
potential."
That nearly caused Eric to choke. "Larry couldn't
lead himself out of a paper bag."
Giving a slight laugh in response, Jill nodded her
agreement, pleased that Eric was taking her side. "Yeah..."
"Look," Eric told her, "Why do you keep working for
that jerk? I mean, you could probably sue him for that..."
"But I've got friends there," Jill told him in a half
whine. "I can't leave them..." Eric just shook his head at
that, knowing that it was her choice. "But he wouldn't be
doing that to me if I was a guy..."
"I know," Eric responded sympathetically, "and you
could do better somewhere else." Then he changed his tactic
to humor to lighten the mood, "But hey, it must be great
being a girl and having guys buy you dinner..."
Jill laughed at that, "Oh yeah. I go for the steak
and lobster every time." Then she winked at Eric and asked,
"So... you going to take me out for dinner to make me feel
better?"
"Sorry," he told her in an exaggerated apologetic
tone, "but I'm broke."
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness shot through both Eric
and Jill, followed by an intense feeling of wrongness.
There was a loud gasp from both as they were assaulted by
the unexpected sensations and confusion.
"What was that?" Eric demanded weakly, pausing in
surprise at the strangeness of his voice. It didn't sound
like him at all... it sounded like Jill.
Just then, Eric realized that whatever was going on
was effecting a whole lot more than just his voice. His
entire body felt wrong. Out of balance. He looked down at
himself, only to stare at what was obviously a girl's
body... and dressed in familiar clothes. The very clothes
that Jill had been wearing.
"Oh my God," a boy's voice exclaimed from beside
Eric, causing him to look up in even more surprise.
For a moment, Jill could only stand there in complete
confusion, feeling clumsy and extremely odd. Everything
around her seemed slightly off as well, though she couldn't
exactly tell how. Then she noticed the very familiar
looking girl standing beside her.
Eric and Jill both froze as they caught sight of each
other, as they bent forward and stared into each other's
faces. For a brief instant, they both felt as though they
were looking into a mirror, for the faces that they stared
into were their very own. And then, almost as if on cue,
they both let out simultaneous screams.
---
Eddie Sherman had just gotten out of one of his
classes and was hurrying across the campus courtyard to his
next, hoping that he wouldn't be late. He didn't want to
miss a moment of Professor Matthews lecture on quantum
states. It was such a fascinating subject.
Though Eddie didn't like the word, he knew that he
was what was usually referred to as a nerd, or even a geek.
He'd heard both names more times than he could count. Eddie
even looked the part, being 6 feet tall, but possessing a
thin gangly build, with messy dark hair and thick glasses.
About halfway to where Eddie was heading, he was less
than pleased to notice Kyle Lemanski in between him and his
next class. Kyle was a star of the school football team,
the stereotypical jock who got his jollies off of picking
on people like Eddie. This was an unfortunate fact of life
that Eddie had long ago accepted, knowing that his best
option was to just avoid Kyle and other's like him.
"Remember Bill Gates," Eddie mumbled his mantra to
himself, a reminder that it was often the people like him
who were able to succeed in the world.
However, just as Eddie started to change direction,
Kyle noticed him. Kyle frowned at the scrawny boy trying to
sneak away, then smirked at the sight. He'd had a bad
practice the day before, and this seemed the perfect
opportunity to burn off a little frustration. He so loved
these stress relief sessions.
"Hey Dexter," Kyle called out as he moved to block
Eddie's path, "You forgot to say hi to me..."
Eddie froze, feeling like a deer caught in the
headlights. He knew that it wouldn't do any good to run,
especially not since Kyle was a whole lot faster than he
was. However, he was certainly going to give it a try. But
before he could move a foot, Kyle had moved first and
grabbed him by his arm, holding on painfully.
For a moment, Kyle just held on, wondering if maybe
he should have let the little dweeb run a bit first. After
all, catching him would have been a lot more fun, and
probably more embarrassing for the squirt. However, he'd
done enough running at the practice the day before and
hadn't really felt like doing any more at the moment.
Then Kyle looked around at the audience that was
beginning to build, giving a smirk, "Why are you running
away from me?"
Feeling more than a little nervous, Eddie struggled
uselessly to get away. He felt somewhat resigned to the
obvious humiliation that he was about to receive. If he was
lucky, he might not even get any bruises, just a major
wedgie or the old trip in the garbage can. And though he
knew that the audience might exclaim how horrible what Kyle
would do to him was, he knew from past experience that
they'd all be laughing along while it happened.
Just then, Eddie noticed a blue glow out of the
corner of his eye. But before he could turn to look at it,
he was hit was a sudden strange feeling that ran through
his entire being. And from the way Kyle gasped and let go
of his arm, there was little doubt that he had felt it as
well.
"What the hell did you do?" Kyle demanded, a strange
expression appearing on his face.
Suddenly, Eddie's clothes all felt tight on him. He
could feel them getting even tighter, almost painfully so.
He grunted as the buttons on his shirt started to pop off,
partly in relief and partly in fear.
Kyle let out a loud gasp, grabbing at his own clothes
at the same time. They were getting looser... a little
baggier. He glared at Eddie, knowing that the dweeb was
behind it somehow.
A moment later, Eddie's eyes blurred and he removed
his glasses, realizing that he could see perfectly fine
without them. And for some reason, a part of his mind told
him that this was perfectly normal.
At first, Kyle just stood there in confusion,
startled to realize that he felt so much weaker than
before... so much... wimpier. And then his thoughts started
to shift. He frowned, suddenly wondering why he was wasting
his time playing stupid games when there were so much more
important things to do. Like getting good grades. And
sports certainly weren't as fun as watching Star Trek. That
7 of 9 was a total babe...
"Wow," Eddie gasped as he looked down at himself,
seeing that his body had filled out. That he had suddenly
grown quite a bit more muscular... and more tanned. And it
seemed... right.
Then Eddie frowned as his thoughts started to shift.
He looked over at the buildings, wondering why the hell he
had been in such a hurry to get to that boring lecture. It
was a waste of time. He should be doing something more
interesting... more exciting. Like football.
"Why not?" Eddie asked himself, looking down at his
now athletic body and deciding that he was going to try out
right away.
Finally, Kyle and Eddie both stared at each other in
stunned disbelief. Eddie could scarcely believe how scrawny
Kyle looked. And how much of a dweeb. He couldn't believe
that he'd ever been afraid of THAT.
"Holy shit!" someone yelled out off to the side,
causing both Kyle and Eddie to look around, realizing that
they still had an audience. A number of students who had
been waiting to see Eddie humiliated and seen their
unexpected changes instead.
A slow grin formed on Eddie's face and he turned back
to Kyle, chuckling to himself and punching a fist into an
open palm. "I believe these people came to see a show," he
told his former bully with a wicked grin, "And we don't
want to disappoint them, do we..."
---
Paul shook his head in disbelief, quickly scribbling
more notes into his notebook. He couldn't believe what he'd
been seeing around campus, and the hints of other anomalies
that he'd only caught glimpses of. Something strange was
going on, of that there was no doubt.
After talking to Christine, Paul had run into two
more students he knew were nonsmokers... or at least had
been. But now, like Christine, they were smoking just as
though they had always done so. And after a little more
looking around, Paul had discovered that every person who
had been in the side courtyard at that time had suddenly
reversed their opinions on smoking. Smokers had suddenly
quite, a number of them completely disgusted by the very
idea of touching a cigarette. And those who hadn't smoked
before had suddenly started, with a few he'd talked to even
having nicotine fits when they couldn't get their fix.
There was even one teacher he knew of who'd been affected.
"Weird," Paul shook his head again, having seen other
things as well. Like one of the most popular girls on
campus suddenly cutting her hair real short and dressing up
like a Goth. But that wasn't the only thing he'd heard of.
"What the hell is going on?"
A number of theories ran through his mind, though he
didn't really have proof for any of them. Maybe it was
someone performing mind control experiments... but that
didn't explain Pamela's growth. Or aliens... aliens using
the students as guinea pigs. But the truth was, Paul had
absolutely no idea.
Just then, one of Paul's friends came running towards
him, calling, "C'mon... you're not going to believe
this..."
Paul frowned, not sure what he believed anymore.
"What?"
"Eddie Sherman..." the other boy exclaimed excitedly,
"Eddie Sherman is beating the crap out of Kyle Lemanski."
"What?" Paul gasped, more than half sure that his
friend was pulling his leg. But after the weird things that
he'd already seen going on, he wasn't quite so sure
anymore. He had to see this for hiself, so quickly ran in
the direction his friend indicated.
It didn't take even half a minute for Paul to go to
the side of the building where he could see the crown
gathered. And when he managed to push himself into a good
view, he couldn't help gasping in stunned disbelief at what
he actually saw.
Eddie Sherman, who had been his normal skinny self
just that morning when Paul had last seen him, had bulked
up noticeably. At the same time, Kyle Lemanski seemed to
have dwindled away. It was as though his muscles had all
atrophied, though his skin looked somewhat more pale and
pasty as well.
"Holy shit," Paul exclaimed, his eyes going wide.
By the time got there, most of the action seemed to
be about finished up though. Eddie had obviously roughed
Kyle up a little bit, though not too bad. However, it had
to be extremely humiliating for the football star to be the
victim for once. Even if he was a macho asshole, he didn't
deserve this. Well... maybe just a little...
"I can't believe that a wimp like you played
football?" Eddie shook his head in amazement, then left
Kyle where he was and started off.
Paul felt a little guilty at having done nothing to
stop what had just happened, though he had arrived too late
to do so. And of course, no one else had really interfered
either. It reminded him of the stories of New York, about
something happening while no one interfered, and afterwards
no one said that they saw anything. Still, it seemed a sad
commentary about the state of the campus, or maybe society
at large. Then again, he mused, that might make an
interesting topic for a story sometime.
Once Eddie was gone, Kyle picked up a pair of glasses
on the ground and slipped them on, looking every inch the
nerd that Eddie had. It was just then that Paul suddenly
realized that it was like they'd traded places. Like they'd
exchanged roles, with the nerd becoming the jock and vice
versa. Wasn't that about what had happened that morning in
the courtyard with the smokers and nonsmokers?
Taking one more look at Kyle as he walked off in
humiliating defeat, Paul thought about what had happened.
"Some sort of role exchanging thing," he muttered, having
at least a slightly better idea of what was going on, but
still no idea of the why or how.
---
Megan Fitch strolled confidently through the hall,
having just finished with her last class before lunch but
not thinking of the meal that awaited her. She smiled to
herself, the smile of a predator in search of prey. Or in
her case, whichever lucky guy would scratch her itch before
the next class.
The tall brunette was very attractive and loved
showing off her body, as proven by the highly revealing
clothes which she chose to wear. This was also a fact which
nearly half of the male students around the campus could
attest to, having seen her naked or nearly so, either in
her raucous displays at the frequent parties which she
attended... or much more personal settings. Due to her well
earned reputation of being a party animal and even a bit of
a slut, Megan had been given the nickname of Wild Thing
around campus.
"Maybe Josh," Megan told herself, keeping a careful
lookout for the football player. That man could really
fuck. "Or maybe Kyle..."
Then Megan frowned slightly for a moment, remembering
those ridiculous things she'd been hearing all over the
place. There were all sorts of strange rumors and stories
going around campus about all sorts of impossible things,
even about Kyle. However, she shrugged it off, positive
that it was all someone's idea of a joke. Someone was
spreading a bunch of rumors around... probably that
fraternity Doug belonged to. They liked practical jokes...
Walking down the same hall from the other direction
was Jenny Newhart, an attractive girl, though she hid it
well. Jenny was dressed in plain, conservative clothes,
which served to hide her shapely figure. She slouched
slightly as she walked, clutching her books tightly against
her chest and watching the floor rather than where she was
going.
Jenny looked around nervously, feeling worried as she
thought about all of those things that she'd heard
whispered around by the other students. She didn't know if
any of them were true, but she didn't want to take any
chances. Just then, Jenny noticed Megan ahead of her.
With a slight frown, and a blush of embarrassment,
Jenny tore her eyes from the other girl, thinking of her
lewd reputation. Jenny couldn't understand how any girl
could be so... rude. How any girl could be so... bad. Megan
was almost the exact opposite of Jenny, being extroverted
and wild where Jenny was shy and conservative. Yet at the
same time, Jenny couldn't help but feeling just a tiny bit
envious for the other girl's self-confidence and outgoing
nature, though she would never admit it.
At the same time, Megan noticed Jenny, though only by
chance as she was next to a handsome stud. Megan smiled at
the man's muscles, then smirked at the sight of the mousy
girl. She shook her head, wondering how any girl could
possibly be so timid. Megan never liked that kind of
uptight girl who always tried to claim the moral high
ground. Hell, Megan was positive that the frigid little
bitch was a virgin, the kind who was afraid to ever let her
hair down and have a good time.
"Old maid," Megan chuckled as she predicted Jenny's
future, though if she ever did get married, she would
probably have a sexually frustrated husband.
Suddenly a strange tingle shot through Megan, causing
her to pause and lean up against the wall for a moment as
she regained her balance. She frowned as she looked around,
suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious. Megan noticed
one guy staring at her... making her blush with
embarrassment.
"Oh my," she whispered, feeling almost as if she was
being violated. It made her feel dirty.
Then Megan turned her eyes to the floor and caught
sight of her clothes. She let out another gasp of
embarrassment, then struggled to cover herself up. How
could she possibly wearing something so... disgusting? It
wasn't even covering her at all, with her belly button even
being exposed. She felt so naked. No... even worse, she was
dressed like... like... like a whore.
Megan gave a gasp of horror, "Oh no..." She struggled
to cover herself up in vain, feeling even more embarrassed
when all of the students around her started to stare. Her
cheeks turned bright red and she slouched down, as if
trying to shrink out of their notice. And in a sudden burst
of tears and humiliation, Megan ran down the hall to get
away from all of the eyes were on her.
Jenny watched Megan freak out, then shook her head in
amusement, finally smirking as she asked aloud, "What got
up her ass?"
Then Jenny looked down at herself and winced,
suddenly realizing just how horrible her taste in clothes
was. She shuddered at the sigh, wondering why she was
dressed up like her grandma. She was a hot young woman with
a killer body that deserved to be shown off.
"What the fuck was I thinking?" Jenny asked herself,
realizing that she was going to have to throw out her whole
wardrobe. Hell, she was going to burn it, and then get
something that she could really cut loose and party in.
She'd never really been to one before, but decided that it
was long past the time that she did. After all, she was hot
and life was short, so she might as well get as much fun
out of it as she could.
"But first..." Jenny told herself as she noticed a
hot looking guy. She winked at him, then licked her lips
suggestively, "I need some cock..."
---
A strange sphere of bluish light floated over the
campus, almost entirely unseen by human eyes. Though it had
been briefly glimpsed several times, it had yet to be truly
noticed. However, this was of no importance as it continued
watching... observing... exchanging.
All across campus, further exchanges took place. A
musician playing his guitar suddenly lost tune, and then
interest. Just a moment later, a girl who'd never touched
an instrument in her life picked it up and started playing
as though she had been doing so for years.
Leslie Miller was eating lunch in the cafeteria when
she overheard some boys at another table making a joke
about fat women to their girlfriends. She blushed at that,
though she knew it wasn't intended for her specifically.
Still, she was overweight and somewhat sensitive about the
fact.
Just then, a strange tingling shot through Leslie's
body. She gasped in shock as her clothes started to become
looser and looser on her, then in delight as she realized
that somehow... she was suddenly getting thinner. Then from
the table behind her, she heard screams, not just from one
person either.
At the other table, four people were undergoing
similar transformations to whatever had just happened to
Leslie, though actually the complete opposite. Two boys and
their girlfriends were frantically grabbing at their
clothes which were becoming drastically too tight, until
they split open, revealing the now overweight flesh that
they were unable to contain. All four of the now overweight
students screamed in panic and confusion before scrambling
to leave the lunchroom, amid the chaos and stares that
followed
A short time later, a middle aged professor was
walking out of his classroom and collided with a 19 year
old girl who'd been running through the hall. As they both
got back to their feet, a strange feeling overwhelmed both
of them. As the feeling passed, the 19 year old professor
stared at the middle aged woman in front of him in
disbelief. Several seconds later, the former girl was
horrified to realize that she'd suddenly aged decades, then
let out a deafening scream.
The very pregnant Mindy Denton sat down for a rest,
finding it hard to keep walking with her baby due in less
than a month. Almost immediately, another girl who was
sitting nearby moved over to ask the due date and comment
on babies.
Suddenly, Mindy moaned as a strange sensation came
from her stomach. It wasn't like the baby was kicking. It
was different. Then to her amazement, her swollen stomach
started to deflate... to become flatter, as though the
pregnancy were actually reversing itself.
Then right next to Mindy, the other girl let out a
grunt of intense discomfort. That was quickly followed by
an obvious swelling in her own stomach. It began to grow...
to push out. And when it stopped, both she and Mindy both
stared at what was obviously a very pregnant body.
Out in the courtyard, three black students were
sitting on the grass and studying together, as they did
nearly every day. None of them looked up from their books
and notes as other students walked past, being used to
tuning out the distractions and possible interruptions.
Though none of them noticed at first, their skins
slowly started to pale. At the same time, a small group of
white students eating lunch a short distance away started
to become darker. When the first student noticed her
friends changing, and then herself, she let out a shriek
that drew notice from the other group of students as well.
Each of the black students continued to become
lighter, looking as though they each had a heavy tan, and
then not even that. Their features and hair color changed
as well, becoming more Caucasian with each passing moment,
much to their horror. A very similar transformation
occurred among the four formerly white students, who now
looked as though they had always been black.
Above it all, the strange glowing entity observed the
panicked reactions with interest. Then, it finally moved
on... looking for more.
---
Paul looked about nervously as he walked across the
courtyard, hoping to catch sign of whatever was causing the
strangeness before anything happened to him. All of the
weird happenings... the exchanges, had only continued to
increase. There were becoming more than he could keep track
of, though he had been trying. Paul was beginning to think
that he had somehow fallen into the Twilight Zone.
When Paul had tried talking to the faculty about what
was going on, about why the campus wasn't being shut down
in the face of the incredible strangeness, he was met with
different responses. Paul had found though that there
seemed to be three separate opinions that were possessed by
most of the professors.
Some of them thought that all of the strange rumors
and things they'd seen were nothing more than an elaborate
prank from a large group of students. Or that it was
actually a prank on the students, mass hallucinations
caused by someone spiking the drinking water with LSD or
something similar.
And then there was the third group of faculty. The
ones who went silent, refusing to admit that there was
anything wrong at all. They were the ones who had actually
noticed something was going on, realizing that it wasn't
normal... that it wasn't just some prank. These were the
ones who weren't about to risk their careers by claiming
that something out of a science fiction book might possibly
be real.
"They're not much use," Paul muttered to himself.
Then as Paul walked past a group of tables, occupied
by students, he had to pause and do a double take. It was
nothing new as he had been doing so all day. At one table,
there was a group of guys, one of which was painting his
fingernails, while all of them were talking about the
latest fashions and giggling. Then at the next table over,
there was a group of girls, whom Paul overheard excitedly
talking about a football game.
"Weird," he shook his head faintly, still not used to
the constant anomalies he was running into. Nor did he
think that he would ever be.
Paul moved away from the tables, still watching for
other signs of strangeness. He saw several, though they
were of people he knew, or at least recognized, dressed or
acting in an odd manor. Like the popular sorority girl
who'd cut her hair short and was dressing mostly in black,
or the campus slut who was now covering herself up, looking
as though she were afraid to show any skin. And who knew
how many other exchanges he'd seen and not even noticed.
For a long moment, Paul shuddered in fear, wondering
why he was still sticking around. Why he hadn't taken off
and left the campus like a number of other students had
done since this started. However, he already knew the
answer. Curiosity. He was curious as hell and knew that he
wouldn't be able to rest until he knew what was really
causing all of this.
Just then, Paul caught a glimpse of something blue
out of the corner of his eye and snapped around for a
better look, though he didn't see anything there when he
did. However, he did see a guy in a wheelchair in that
direction. He didn't know the guy's name, but he'd seen him
around campus a few times.
"Must be my imagination," Paul started to say.
Suddenly, the guy in the wheelchair grabbed at his
legs and exclaimed, "My legs! I can feel my legs!"
The guy in the wheelchair was extremely excited as he
struggled to get out of his chair. Then to Paul's
amazement, the man actually stood up. There was a moment of
hesitation, then a look of unbelievable delight on his face
before he did a cautious jump... and then another. Finally,
he started to walk around in circles, crying out in
triumph.
"Wow," Paul gasped, realizing immediately that he had
just witnessed another one of these strange happenings,
"Unbelievable."
However, a moment later, Paul noticed something else.
A girl who was sitting on the ground a fairly short
distance from where the guy in the wheelchair had been.
There was a look of fear and confusion on her face, and a
look of panic as she started to pound at her motionless
legs.
"Oh shit," Paul muttered in realization. There had
been another exchange... and he couldn't help but feeling
absolutely horrible for the girl who'd suddenly lost the
use of her legs.
But just then, Paul noticed it again. A flickering
glow out of the corner of his eye. He turned for a better
look, but couldn't see anything. That just made him
grimace, though this time he was sure it wasn't his
imagination. It was whatever was causing the exchanges.
After several seconds of consideration, and a look
back at the girl stuck on the ground, Paul grimaced in
determination and started off in the direction he'd last
seen the glow moving.
---
Corrie Martin leaned back against a tree in the
courtyard and tried to focus on catching up on the subject
material before the lecture after lunch. She frowned
thoughtfully, absently rubbing the ring above her eyebrow
as she did so.
Though she was an attractive girl, with short dark
blonde hair, Corrie had felt the need to decorate herself
further and demonstrate her individuality. Specifically,
there was a large Chinese dragon tattoo over much of her
left arm, while her right bicep had a ring of thorns
tattooed on it. There were other less visible tattoos
scattered about, and several piercings. There was a ring
over her eyebrow, a stud through her nose and tongue, as
well as a ring through her navel.
"Come on," Corrie muttered to herself, trying to
absorb as much as she could while she still had time for a
little cramming.
"Talking to yourself?" a voice asked from beside her.
"Huh?" Corey asked, looking up and seeing her friend
Meadow there. Meadow was a bit straight laced and
conservative, without a single tattoo and no piercings
except for a single one in each ear. However, in spite of
their differences, that didn't stop them from being good
friends as well as room mates.
As Meadow sat down, she brushed her long brown hair
out of her face and asked in a nervous whispered, "You hear
about all of those things happening?"
Giving a faint nod, Corrie muttered, "Who hasn't?"
However, she didn't take it all too seriously, figuring
that someone was just spreading rumors and the like.
Meadow nodded at that, though she didn't look
comforted.
Just then, Corrie felt a strange tingle run along her
skin, causing her to pause and look down at her arm. She
was stunned to see the tattoo on her arm beginning to fade
out... looking as though it was years and years old, rather
than only 6 months. But she was shocked to see it quickly
fading out even more, until it was gone. Suddenly there was
no doubt as to the reality of those stories she'd heard.
"Oh shit," Corrie gasped aloud, quickly looking at
her other arm but seeing no sign of the tattoo there
either. Then she looked at the small one by her navel,
seeing that not only was that missing, but so was her navel
ring. There wasn't even a sign that she'd ever been pierced
there. A quick feel with her fingers revealed that her
other piercings had all vanished similarly.
At that same moment, Meadow let out a loud gasp,
staring at her arms... and at the colored patters that were
beginning to form. Within moments, they had taken the form
of a clearly recognizable tattoo... the exact same tattoo
that had been on Corrie's arm just a minute earlier.
Corrie's eyes locked on Meadow's arms, understanding
beginning to form, "No fucking way..."
"What the..." Meadow stammered weakly, then paused as
she felt something wrong with her tongue.
With that, Meadow stuck out her tongue and felt it...
startled to feel the stud that now pierced it, just as it
had Corrie's before. With a gasp of realization, she
reached for the other places she'd felt tingling, finding
that she now had rings and studs in all of the same places
that Corrie had. They all felt rather odd being there... as
well as just a tiny bit exciting.
"Oh shit," Meadow exclaimed, frantically looking at
the changes in her skin, at the new tattoos and piercings
that she now possessed, feeling stunned and confused.
Corrie and Meadow's eyes met and they stared at each
other for several seconds in understanding. Then Corrie
looked down, gulping at her plain, unadorned skin. She
winced at the sight, cursing as she thought of all the
money she had invested in her tattoos... and the pain she'd
endured to get them. Now she would have to start all over
again...
"Damn," Corrie spat out in frustration.
Meadow gulped as she looked at the ring through her
navel, simultaneously her now studded tongue around the
inside of her mouth, feeling extremely odd. Then she stared
at the dragon tattoo on her arm, letting out another loud
gasp, realizing what she must look like now. She'd never
had any piercings or tattoos... nor any desire to get any.
She'd never wanted to have something permanent like that on
her skin...
Suddenly, Meadow gasped again as she realized one
other aspect of the sudden change. "My folks are going to
kill me..."
---
For a long minute, Paul just stared in amazement at
the two girl's who'd just been exchanged right in front of
him. He'd barely been able to believe it as he watched the
tattoos vanish from one and reappear on the other. But what
was more, was the fact that he knew the girls.
"Jeez Meadow," Paul gasped, this being the first time
that he'd actually seen such an obvious physical exchange
occurring. He just wished it hadn't been one of his
friends.
Then Paul started moving towards the two girls,
knowing that Meadow and her roommate would have to be a bit
freaked out. However, before he could get there, he caught
sight of the glow out of the corner of his eyes again. It
was moving away from them.
"Damn," Paul sighed, knowing that he had to keep
following it... whatever IT was. Still, he couldn't help
feeling guilty at not helping out Meadow and her roomie.
Paul hurried in the direction that he had seen the
glow moving towards, feeling mixed emotions as he did so.
There was fear and excitement, all rolled up in one. His
curiosity pushed him onward, and though he felt slightly
ashamed to admit it, he was even excited at the possibility
of what strange exchanges he might see next.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," he muttered in
faint annoyance, just before asking, "Just what are you?
What are you up to?" However, there were no answers
forthcoming.
After going only to the other end of the courtyard,
Paul wondered where to go next. Then he looked at the
various students in the area around him, realizing that
there were plenty of targets right there for that role
exchanger. And for the first time, Paul realized that
whatever was doing this did seem rather fond of going after
people who were outside.
At that moment, Paul noticed the glow again. But
before he could do anything, he felt a strange tingling run
straight through him, giving him just enough time to gasp
in realization that it was getting him this time. That was
followed by odd sensations in his body, as well as a
fogging in his thoughts.
There was a long pause as everything cleared, then a
muttering of, "Damn."
Taking several nervous breaths, Paula didn't get an
immediate sense that something had changed, so slowly
looked down to see if she could notice anything. She gave
herself a quick once over, verifying that she was all right
and still had her breasts.
Suddenly Paula froze, a cold chill running through
her body. Her eyes went back to her breasts and locked
there in realization. Though they felt natural to her, and
as though she should have them... she clearly remembered
being flat chested just several minutes before. She clearly
remembered being a guy.
"Oh shit," Paula gasped, taking another look at her
body, sensing that it was completely female. That didn't
bother her in the least as she felt that it was just the
way it should be, but it was scary for her to realize that
someone had just messed with her... had changed her entire
life without her even being aware of it right away. And
that she felt perfectly normal being a girl...while the
thought of being a guy seemed just a bit odd. "It got
me..."
Paula frowned, then looked around, realizing that she
certainly wasn't the only one who'd been affected. Just
about everyone who'd been close by, well over a dozen
people had suddenly reversed gender. Several of them didn't
even seem to realize it as they continued eating their late
lunches or studying their books.
"What?" one new girl gasped as she looked down at
herself with an expression of confusion, not of horror.
"But I was a guy..."
"Me too," Paula told her with a sigh, taking another
look at herself. At least, she thought absently, she had a
pretty decent build.
"Just great," the other girl grumbled, "Now I'm gonna
have to get a new license." That was an aspect that Paula
hadn't even considered until then. Then she continued,
"First I start smoking without any idea why... and now I've
changed sex."
Paula stared at her for a moment thoughtfully;
realizing that apparently being exchanged once didn't make
you immune to being changed again. That was not
particularly comforting. She didn't want to suddenly become
something else. As the other girl had pointed out, this one
was going to have enough problems with it as it was.
Then Paula shook her head, thinking about just how
different each of the exchange instances were. Some of them
affected people mentally, and some didn't. There was no
doubt that this instance, like the one with the smokers
that morning, had changed their minds. It had made the new
situation seem normal. Not all of them were like that
though, and Paula couldn't quite decide whether or not she
was one of the lucky or unlucky ones at having her point of
view altered.
"At least it will make this easier," she told
herself.
After a minute of thinking about what had just
happened to her and the others around her, Paula paused and
started cursing. She looked around, not seeing any sign of
the blue glow. That made her scowl in annoyance, realizing
that while she'd been distracted with what had happened, it
had gotten away.
"Damn that thing," Paula muttered as she began
looking around again.
As she did so, she couldn't help wondering if she was
going to make it change everything back to normal if she
could. Or if she even wanted to. After all, she wasn't that
enthused about becoming a guy again... thanks to the number
it had done on her head. But other than identifying herself
as female instead of male, she was pretty confident that
she was still herself. There were other's who weren't
nearly so lucky.
Finally, Paula caught sight of it again. It seemed
that spotting the blue glow was getting easier with
practice, as was watching it from the corner of her eye
without looking at it directly. A faint smile formed on her
lips, though it wasn't a particularly happy one. Still, she
was just a little bit closer to getting an answer to what
was going on.
"And," she reminded herself, "One hell of a story."
If anyone outside the campus would believe it that was.
Paula was extremely nervous as she followed the glow
around the corner of a building, more than half afraid that
it would change her again. The thought that something could
change her body... the very things that defined her self-
identity was terrifying. However, her curiosity was
stronger even than her fear. And there was the stubborn
determination to see things out to the end.
Taking a moment to look around, Paula saw that the
area on the side of the building was empty of people. That
meant that there weren't going to be any exchanges there,
though it probably wouldn't take the glow... or whatever it
was, too long to find new victims. That proved to be an
accurate assessment as it went around the other side of the
building, to where there were a few people wandering
around. Not as many as on the other side, but more than
enough for more mischief.
Then on a sudden impulse, Paula called out, "Hey
you!" She looked at the glow... or at least where she knew
it was. Though she couldn't quite see it, she could feel
that it had paused slightly, "Who are you? What are you?"
She continued staring at it, trying to see it straight
on... without much success.
Even though Paula heard someone make a comment about
her being crazy for talking to the air, Paula didn't take
her eyes away. It was as though her gaze was the only thing
keeping it where it was. And then, to her surprise, the
glow started to become visible again. And closer.
"Oh shit," Paula gulped, determined not to back down
now.
The glow slowly descended from the air, becoming more
and more visible to Paula as it did so. Now she could see
it straight on, not just from the corner of her eyes,
though she could still see through it. The glow stopped
severa