A Twisted Tail
By Morpheus
The entire garage shook from the sound coming from my drum set as well
as from the guitar my best friend Ricky was playing beside me. Calling
it music might have been a little generous, at least as far as my
playing went, but we were getting a lot better.
Ricky and I came out to practice in the garage several times a week,
doing so for at least a few hours every weekend and after school when
possible. My best friend was actually pretty good since he'd been
playing guitar for years, though I'd only begun playing the drums about
four months ago. Still, all the practice was paying off because I was
definitely improving.
At the moment, Ricky and I had an audience, my former girlfriend
Christine. The two of us had been dating until about two months ago
when she went through her twist. Christine used to be a bit goth with
purple dyed hair and a couple piercings, but now she looked like an
innocent little girl. Even though she was sixteen years old, she only
looked like she was seven or eight. She had blonde hair that she
usually kept in pig tails and she nearly always wore cute little
dresses, like the pink one she was wearing right now.
Christine's memories and knowledge were fully intact, but her behavior
had definitely changed. I had no idea how much of Christine's
personality had really changed during her twist and how much of her
behavior was due to compulsions. What I did know was that she dressed
like a cute little girl, always carried around a doll or stuffed animal,
and she liked playing all sorts of kids games like jump rope or tea
party, things she never would have bothered with before. And when
talking to her, sometimes she talk about boys and almost seem like her
old self, while other times she'd actually talk just like a little girl.
I suspected that some of the latter was her just playing the role, but I
didn't know for sure.
When Christine first went through her twist, I kind of freaked out a
little. The idea of dating someone who looked like she now did felt
completely and totally wrong so I'd dumped her on the spot. I felt
guilty about doing that to her when she was going through something so
difficult, but she'd understood and didn't hold it against me. Somehow,
the two of us even managed to remain friends.
Once we finished playing, Ricky stood there, posing like a rock star. I
had to admit, he looked the role a bit more than I did. I was 5 foot 10
and had a stocky build but he was 6 foot 1 and lean, with long dark hair
and an almost perpetual grin. Ricky even had a tattoo of a snake on his
arm, though it was done with that special ink that only shows up under
black lights. He actually walked around his house with short sleeves on
and his parents still had no idea he had a tattoo.
"So, what do you think?" Ricky asked Christine.
Christine held out the stuffed rabbit she was hauling around today and
announced, "Mr. Pookie likes it."
"Weren't you calling him Bun Bun yesterday?" I asked. She responded by
sticking her tongue out at me.
"You were really good," Christine told Ricky. Then she looked at me and
said, "Lucas... You're getting better but you still need to work on
keeping your rhythm... I mean, your timing was starting to drift a
bit..."
"Yeah," I agreed, not getting offended because she knew what she was
talking about and was just telling the truth. After all, Christine used
to play the drums and was the one who'd gotten me into it, though she
hadn't played since her twist.
"We need to find a couple more guys and start our own band," Ricky told
me, not for the first time.
Christine winced at that and I knew why. Back before her twist, she'd
been the one who first suggested that we start our own band. I knew
that turning into a kid meant that she had to give up on that dream as
well as many others, especially since the doctors said she'd probably
never get any older. Her twist would probably keep her looking that
same age for the rest of her life.
I shuddered, feeling very thankful that I didn't have to ever worry
about going through a twist the way a lot of my friends and classmates
did. I lived in Spiral where a lot of people in town were Twisted, but
neither of my parents was. And since both of my parents were normal,
there was no chance that I'd have to go through that kind of ordeal.
The very idea of having your mind and body twisted into some new form,
possibly turning you into another person completely, was a very
frightening one. I had no idea how so many of my classmates could live
with something like that looming over their heads.
While I was lost in thought, Christine was looking around the garage.
She picked up a machete that was hanging on the wall to look at.
"Careful with that," I cautioned her.
Christine gave me a look of annoyance and snapped, "I'm not a baby..."
"Sorry," I apologized with a wince.
Even though I knew Christine's real age, it was so easy to forget and
treat her like the kid she appeared. It was insulting and I knew it
frustrated her a lot of the time so I tried not to do it, but
occasionally it slipped out.
"You have no idea how lucky you two are for being normal," Christine
said with a sigh, putting the machete back. "Sometimes, being Twisted
really stinks."
"I'd imagine," Ricky agreed, having two normal parents the same way I
did. "But it's got to be totally wicked having super powers..."
"It kind of is," Christine admitted with a grin.
Christine set Bun Bun...or Pookie...or whatever she was calling her
stuffed rabbit onto the floor. It stood up as though it was really alive
and began to slowly walk in a circle. Once it came back to Christine,
she picked it back up and smirked.
"Too bad I can only make one of them move at a time," she announced,
giving a pout. Then she gave an almost evil grin as she added, "Imagine
what I could do with a plush army."
"I'm almost afraid to," I responded with a chuckle.
It was then that the garage door opened and my mom stepped in,
exclaiming, "Lucas, dinner will be ready in just a couple minutes."
"Okay, mom," I responded.
I couldn't help but noticing that Ricky was watching her while trying
not to. Though neither of us had mentioned it, I knew that he had a bit
of a crush on my mom. She was still pretty attractive for her age and
some guys might even call her a MILF. Of course I certainly didn't
think of her in those terms
"Hey Mrs. Kane," Ricky greeted my mom.
Then I saw the beautiful blonde woman who came into the garage behind my
mom. "Hey Aunt Kelsie," I greeted her with a grin.
"Hey kiddo," she responded with a grin of her own. "I heard you guys
playing. Pretty good."
Aunt Kelsie wasn't really my aunt, at least not in the blood
relationship kind of way. She was my mom's best friend and had been
ever since they were kids together. I'd grown up with her always being
around as part of the family so never thought of her as anything but.
"You want to jam with us?" I asked Aunt Kelsie with a look of mock
innocence.
Aunt Kelsie laughed. "Sorry, but the only instrument I've ever played
was the flute back in high school."
"If it's dinner time, I guess we should be going," Ricky told me.
"My mommy doesn't want me being late for dinner either," Christine said.
She waved to me and said, "Bye bye Lucas. I'll see you in school
tomorrow..."
"Later," Ricky told me, putting his guitar into its case and then
slinging the whole thing over his shoulder.
Once my friends were gone, I went inside and cleaned up for dinner. I
wasn't at all surprised to see that Aunt Kelsie would be eating with us,
not when she did so at least a couple times a week.
"So, how was work?" I asked mom, who worked as a manager at the bank. I
wasn't really that interested but it was a tradition to at least ask
about this stuff at the dinner table.
"It was work," she answered, giving the traditional response. The only
time the response varied was when something unusual or interesting
happened, usually because of some Twisted customer. "How was school?"
"It was school," I responded the same as I did every day.
"Doesn't anyone care about my day?" Aunt Kelsie joked, then paused to
say, "Please pass the pepper..."
I reached for the pepper shaker but it suddenly slid across the table to
Aunt Kelsie on its own. She watched me with a grin, loving to show off
her trick. Having low level telekinesis wasn't really all that
impressive since the heaviest thing she could lift was a soda can, but
she certainly liked to make use of it whenever she could.
"Now then," Aunt Kelsie said, giving me an amused look while my mom
chuckled, "why don't you tell us how your day really went...and when
you're going to ask out that girl you like. What was her name...Nina?"
I just groaned at that knowing that I wouldn't get out of this until I'd
at least given her something. But then again, this too was a dinner
tradition.
-------------------
I leaned back in my chair, listening as my Algebra teacher Mrs. Krieve
lectured on about finding a missing variable. She was a middle-aged
black woman who was completely bald, though no one was certain whether
her lack of hair was due to her twist or if she just shaved it.
"Man, this is so boring," Ricky whispered from the seat beside me. He
rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner while I just chuckled.
"It's not so bad," I responded, only to earn a snort in response.
Ricky hated math with a passion, or at least he claimed he did. Since
he always got B's in class, I suspected that he paid attention a little
more than he'd ever admit. I on the other hand rather liked math.
Unlike history or literature where the answers were often a matter of
opinion or perspective, in math there was no question about it.
"That's it for today," Mrs. Krieve announced as the class came to an
end. "I expect you all to have the quiz at the end of section seven
completed when you come in tomorrow."
I nodded at that making a note on my computer tablet so I wouldn't
forget it later. Though I wasn't at all fond of the idea of homework,
much less the reality, I knew that getting it done and out of the way
was less troublesome than having to explain why I didn't do it.
Ricky and I left the classroom and he was already talking about our next
practice session. "I've got this great song I want to practice... It's
got a wicked beat and an awesome guitar riff..."
I nodded at that and was about to respond when someone yelled out, "Get
out of my way you damn punks..." I looked over to see an old man coming
down the hallway, moving slowly as he used his cane to keep his balance.
"Damn kids nowadays..."
I couldn't help but feeling a surge of pity for Gus Lennon, who was much
younger than he actually looked. His twist was almost the exact
opposite of Christine's, turning him into an old man. It might have
been funny if it wasn't so tragic. And what was just as bad as looking
like he was his own grandpa...or even great grandpa, was the fact that
he'd gotten the whole personality twist as well. For all intents and
purposes, he'd gone from being a normal teenager to being a grumpy old
man who constantly complained about everything.
"I am so glad I'm not twisted," I told Ricky with a shudder.
"Hey," someone demanded from behind me. "Do you have a problem with
Twisted?"
I turned to see Roger Maxwell standing behind me, scowling at me with a
hostile look. It was actually kind of painful to look at him since he
had bright green hair and was wearing a neon orange shirt and electric
pink pants. Roger's twist included a compulsion to dress in
ridiculously bright and garish colors, no matter the fact that it hurt
everyone else's eyes.
"No, not at all," I quickly assured him, biting back the response that
some of my best friends were twisted since I knew that wouldn't sound
right. "I'm just glad that I don't have to go through it... I mean, I
don't know how you guys deal with it all..."
Roger glared at me for a moment, as though trying to decide if he should
push it or not. Then he relaxed a little and admitted, "Sometimes it's
not easy..."
A minute later, Ricky and I were in the locker rooms, getting changed
for PE. I wasn't at all happy as I put on my shorts since we were going
to be in the swimming pool.
"Why couldn't we have stuck with basketball?" I asked Ricky with a
scowl.
I wasn't very good at basketball, but I still enjoyed playing it. For
the last two weeks, our PE teacher Coach Rydell had been having us play
basketball nearly every day. Unfortunately this week the sport changed
to swimming and I wasn't exactly thrilled about being in the water.
"What's the matter?" Ricky responded with a broad grin. "You don't want
to see Coach Rydell in her swim suit?"
"Not particularly," I answered with an exaggerated shudder. Coach
Rydell wasn't exactly a looker, but she certainly liked sports of every
type. It was part of her twist.
After a few minutes, Ricky and I went out to the pool and joined the
rest of our class. Coach Rydell was already there in her one piece
swimsuit. She was a little large, with a build that was almost
masculine, and with a face that might have been a little cute when she
was younger. As it was, her nose had obviously been broken at some
point and hadn't healed quite straight.
"Before anyone gets into the pool," Coach Rydell announced, "let me
remind you of the safety rules again. First, no running in here... If
I catch you running in here, you'll be running laps for the entire
period tomorrow."
For a brief moment, I actually considered doing that just so I could
avoid class tomorrow. However the idea of running laps around the track
all period was even worse than the idea of swimming.
I looked at the pool a little nervously, especially at the deep end. It
would be so easy to drown there, especially when I didn't even know how
to swim. Since I seemed to be the only one in my class who didn't know
how to swim, it was pretty embarrassing.
"It's just water," Ricky teased me, knowing that I couldn't swim. He
didn't mean any harm by this and was just doing his duty as my best
friend to lighten the mood a little. "If you want, we can get you some
of those cute little water wings."
"Bite me," I responded, giving him a glare. "If I remember right,
you're not exactly fond of squirrels."
"Hey," Ricky protested. "Those things are damn creepy... I mean, they
pretend to be cute and harmless but it's all an act..." He shook his
head and snorted. "Man, I'm telling you they're really just rats with
fluffy tails..."
"Sure they are," I said with a smirk.
Once Coach Rydell was finished with her safety speech, everyone was
allowed to go into the pool. She came to me and said, "Lucas, I want you
to get into the deep end and practice. You can't learn to swim if you
don't leave the shallow end."
I reluctantly went into the water and made my way to the drop of that
marked the separation between the shallow end where I could stand on the
bottom and still keep my head above water, and the deep end where I
feared I might drown. I braced myself with a reminder that Coach Rydell
would be watching in case I got in trouble, and that we even had another
lifeguard present.
"Don't be such a pansy," I told myself as I pushed out into the deeper
end.
I began to doggy paddle like I'd been shown, feeling like an idiot
because some of my classmates were swimming right past and laughing at
me. This wasn't real swimming but at least I was staying afloat.
In spite of the fact that I was doing all right, my mind played tricks
on me and I couldn't help but thinking about the distance between my
feet and the bottom of the pool. I'd once seen an old movie about a
shark that went around eating swimmers and now my imagination began to
torment me with images of sharks circling beneath me. And even though I
knew it was stilly, I couldn't help but feeling at least a little
stirring of fear at the idea.
"I can do this," I told myself quietly. "This isn't really that
hard..." And of course, everyone else was able to swim just fine.
With that I tried to relax and calm down. Instead of a shark, maybe
there was something else I could imagine swimming around me, something
more pleasant. I smiled faintly as I imagined the new creature, one
that I'd definitely prefer be in the water with.
Suddenly I felt a strange tingling rush through my entire body at once
as well as a powerful sense of pressure. I flailed frantically and
immediately began going under. And as I tried to scream, water rushed
down my throat and I felt like I was exploding, though only for a moment
as darkness claimed me.
--------------------
When I came to again, it was with a surge of terror and confusion as I
remembered having some kind of seizure and drowning. People were
grabbing me which made me start to struggle to get away, until I
realized that they were pulling me out of the pool.
"Lucas," Ricky cried out, making me realize that he was one of the
people holding onto me. Coach Rydell was another one.
I felt dizzy, confused, and very VERY weird. I was now on the concrete
floor beside the pool so slowly sat up, only to realize that everyone in
the class was surrounding me and staring at me. Then I noticed that
there was something heavy on my chest.
"What happened?" I asked weakly, staring down and then gasping in
confusion.
For a moment, all I could do was stare down at the two mounds of flesh
that pushed out from my chest. A single glance was enough to leave
absolutely no doubt that they were boobs...like what a girl has. And as
if that wasn't enough of a shock, I noticed my legs a few seconds later,
or at least what had been my legs.
My shorts were gone, leaving me completely naked, though that barely
even soaked into my mind. Instead I gasped at the sight of my stomach,
which was thin and feminine, but from my waist down I had a tail. My
legs were entirely gone and in their place was some sort of fish tail
with aquamarine colored scales.
"You've just gone through your twist," Coach Rydell told me, putting a
gentle hand on my shoulder.
"But I can't be," I protested, still feeling completely stunned and
confused. "I'm, not Twisted..."
"Lucas," Ricky blurted out, staring at me with a look of shock. "You're
a fucking mermaid..."
"But I can't be Twisted," I argued, staring down at myself in complete
and utter shock. Those were definitely boobs and a tail, but there was
absolutely no way they could possibly be there. "It's impossible..."
I remained where I was, trying to absorb what was really going on but my
mind just couldn't grasp it. After all, both my parents were normal so
there was absolutely no way I could possibly be Twisted. This just
wasn't possible. It wasn't.
Coach Rydell draped several towels over me to cover me up and then began
yelling at the rest of the class, "If any one of you goes back into the
water before I return, I'll have you running laps for the next week."
"I've never seen someone actually go through their twist before," one of
my classmates exclaimed, though I wasn't paying attention who it was.
"But Lucas always said he wasn't Twisted," another said, sounding
confused.
"But I'm not Twisted," I repeated, trying to move my legs only to have
my tail swish instead. It didn't feel like prosthetics but like it
actually was part of my body. "I can't be..."
"Let's get you to the nurse's office," Coach Rydell told me as she bent
over and picked me up in her arms.
At any other time, I would have been completely and utterly mortified to
have Coach Rydell pick me up like this, but at the moment I was so
overwhelmed that I barely even noticed it. I felt as though I was on the
verge of hyperventilating.
"The rest of you stay here," Coach Rydell said, looking at Ricky who was
starting to come along.
Coach Rydell took me to the nurse's office and explained what had
happened. I was sitting up on the bed, trying to get my balance but it
wasn't easy. With this tail instead of my legs, all I could do was flop
around a little. Still I finally got into a position where I was
sitting up with my tail hanging over the edge like my legs would
normally have done.
"The school records say that Lucas Kane has two normal parents," the
nurse told Coach Rydell after looking at the computer.
"All I know is what I saw," Coach Rydell told her. "I saw Lucas change
with my own eyes."
"I can't be Twisted," I repeated yet again, feeling as though I was
stuck on a glitching audio file and could only repeat the same thing
over and over again.
The nurse looked me over and said, "Well, unless you were born a
mermaid...you're Twisted."
I was about to repeat that I couldn't possibly be Twisted again when I
bit my lip, finally realizing how ridiculous that sounded considering
how I now looked. I stared at my hands, which were no longer my hands.
They were girl hands with longer nails that looked like they had some
kind of pearlescent polish on them.
I had no idea how long I remained where I was, trying hard to ignore all
the strange sensations from my body. I was tempted to pull the towels
aside so I could get a better look yet terrified of doing so at the same
time. It felt as though the entire world had suddenly turned upside
down without warning.
Eventually, I heard my mom's voice from the next room over. "You called
me about Lucas... What's wrong with him? What happened?"
"It seems that Lucas has gone through his twist," the nurse explained.
My mom came into the room with the nurse saying, "But that's just not
possible..." Then she froze and stared at me with a confused look.
"Mom," I said awkwardly, cringing as I did so.
Her eyes went wide and she cautiously asked, "Lucas? Is that you?"
I nodded at that before quietly responding, "I think so..."
"One of the teachers actually saw him...her change," the nurse
explained.
Mom just stood there, staring at me with a look of stunned disbelief as
though she wasn't sure to really believe it was me or not. Then she
hesitantly reached out and touched my cheek the way she did whenever I
was sick.
"What happened to me?" I demanded, gesturing down at myself as I started
to cry.
"Everything is going to be just fine," mom assured me, giving me a hug.
"We'll go home and try to figure this out..."
"But I can't walk," I blurted out, gesturing to my tail and crying
harder as it hit me that I'd probably never be able to walk or run
again.
"We have a wheelchair you can borrow," the nurse said, giving me a
sympathetic look. Then she looked to mom and told her, "It isn't
uncommon for people to go through their twists here at school so we try
to be prepared for whatever they might need."
A few minutes later, I was in the wheelchair, but it wasn't a very
comfortable. My new tail was a little longer than normal legs would be
and didn't quite fit. Eventually I was able to position my body so that
my tail wasn't dragging on the floor.
Fortunately this was in the middle of class period so there were very
few people in the hallway to stare at me as we passed. Still, those who
did definitely stared, not that I could really blame them too much since
I would have stared too.
Neither my mom or I said much on the way home. I was just trying to
absorb this, to accept that it was actually real...that I actually had
gone through a twist and had turned into a mermaid. It felt like some
kind of freaky dream, but I knew that I wasn't so lucky.
Once we got home, mom put me to bed as though I merely had a cold. With
my long tail, I couldn't fit under the covers and had to lay stretched
out on top of my bed instead, with my fins hanging over the edge. Since
I wasn't tired and had no intention of even trying to go to sleep, I
pulled myself back and used my headboard to support me while I sat up in
bed.
"Now let's get a good look at you," mom said, removing the towels that
had been serving to cover me up. She let out a faint gasp as she stared
at me, then after ten seconds, she said, "You're very beautiful."
"What do I look like?" I asked, feeling both curious and afraid.
Mom hesitated a moment before telling me to wait a minute. Then she left
my room, coming back with the oval mirror from her bedroom wall. It was
about two feet tall and a foot and a half across.
"Please try not to freak out," she told me before holding the mirror out
so I could see my reflection.
I already knew that I'd turned into a mermaid, but seeing myself from the
mirror gave me a much better idea of how I looked overall. From the
waist up, I looked like a human girl, though a beautiful one at that. I
had a great figure with a slender waist and perfect looking boobs. Or
at least, they'd be perfect if they were on a girl rather than me. They
were kind of big as well as round and perfectly shaped.
"Oh God," I whispered, hesitantly touching my boobs and then yanking my
hands away. I couldn't very well touch them with my mom staring at me.
My face was definitely that of a beautiful girl and I had aquamarine
colored hair, about the same color as my scales, which went down to my
mid-back. Even my eyes had changed, turning to a bright and clear
aquamarine color that almost looked like gemstones or something. They
were very striking.
"That isn't me," I argued, looking away from the mirror. "That can't be
me..."
"I'm afraid it is," mom told me, setting the mirror against my bedroom
wall.
"Oh God," I cried out, looking down at myself and demanding, "what am I
going to tell dad?"
"Have you talked to him recently?" mom asked me gently.
I hesitated a moment and then shook my head. The last time I'd heard
from my dad was when he'd sent me a card for my sixteenth birthday a
couple months ago. And to be honest, I was pretty certain that it was
his new wife Mary who'd actually sent the card. For a stepmom, she was
pretty nice. It had actually been over a year since I'd seen my dad in
person.
"You know what dad thinks about the Twisted," I said awkwardly, still
not able believe that I was actually Twisted.
Dad had first moved to Spiral for his job, and it was here that he had
met my mom. Unfortunately, dad was uncomfortable around the Twisted and
didn't like all the weirdness that the Twisted caused around town.
After he and mom had divorced when I was just a kid, he'd immediately
moved halfway across the country and I'd barely seen him since.
"You don't need to worry about what he thinks," mom told me firmly.
"You just need to focus on learning how to deal with this."
"But how is this even possible?" I demanded, gesturing down at myself
and wincing. "How can I be Twisted?"
Mom hesitated a moment and then let out a sigh. She bent over and ran
her hand over my cheek and said, "I know that this isn't very good
timing, but you need to know..."
"Know what?" I demanded, not liking the serious look on her face. It
was the same expression she had on her face right before giving me the
lecture on the birds and bees.
"Frank and I were having problems with our marriage well before you came
along," she told me quietly. "We were always arguing and fighting...and
we were both thinking about a divorce." She paused for a long moment,
taking a deep breath and then continuing, "During this time...I had an
affair with someone else."
"What?" I gasped, staring at my mom in disbelief and realizing exactly
where she was going with this.
"When I got pregnant with you," mom told me with a self-conscious smile,
"I told myself that you were Frank's... I'd convinced myself that there
was no other possibility." Then she paused again, looking me in the
eyes as she quietly said, "I'm sorry..."
Suddenly, my being Twisted now made more sense. If someone had two
parents who were normal, then there was absolutely no way they could be
Twisted. But if one of them had been Twisted...
"So...dad isn't my dad," I whispered, only to have mom nod agreement.
"It seems not," she agreed sadly.
I was too stunned to speak and remained frozen as I tried to absorb yet
another shock. Today had been filled with shocks and my entire world had
been twisted up into a pretzel. I had absolutely no idea of what to
think about all this.
--------------------
"Here you go honey," mom said, handing me a glass of ice water.
"Thanks," I responded before taking a long drink.
I'd been home from school for a few hours and had moved from my bed to
the living room recliner. It was a little more comfortable and I didn't
feel quite as claustrophobic and trapped.
While I was drinking my water, mom put a damp towel over my tail.
Shortly after getting home, I'd begun feeling dry and itchy, which led
to the realization that I needed to keep my transformed body from drying
out.
I looked down at myself and let out a snort of disgust. I was wearing
one of my old T-shirts, which covered up my boobs, but still showed my
nipples poking through. However my lower body was a bit more of a
problem since there was no way I could wear pants. I no longer seemed
to have any private parts that needed covering, but I certainly wasn't
about to put that in the good thing column.
When the doorbell rang, mom went to go answer it. I heard a little
girl's voice asking, "Can Lucas come out and play?" But in spite of the
childish voice and those words, the tone was serious.
Christine came in a moment later and I immediately wanted to run away so
she couldn't see me. Unfortunately that was out of the question and I
couldn't cover myself up.
"Lucas?" Christine blurted out in surprise as she saw me.
"Don't look at me," I exclaimed, cringing away.
"Holy poop," Christine gasped, coming closer and staring at me. "It's
all over school...but how? I mean, you're not supposed to be Twisted."
I winced at that and then glanced to my mom who was leaving the living
room to give us some privacy. "I just found out that my dad isn't
really my dad," I admitted with a grimace.
"Oh shoot," she said, giving me a sympathetic look. "That's got to
stink." Then she gave me a weak smile and added, "Well, I guess I
should say welcome to the club then."
"I just can't believe I'm Twisted," I told her, staring down at myself.
"I mean, I always thought I didn't have to worry about this..."
Christine nodded at that. "I always thought you were kind of lucky that
way. But when you're not expecting it like that..." She shook her
head. Then she grinned at me and said, "You know, if I hadn't gone
through my twist, I'd have to break up with you now..."
"Yeah," I admitted with a forced smile. "I know."
Christine set down the stuffed teddy bear that she was carrying with her
today and then moved the towel to get a better look at my tail. She let
out a whistle and then put the towel back.
"I know you don't want to hear this," Christine told me. "But you're
really pretty."
I snorted at that. "But I can't walk..."
"And I can't ever get married or have kids," she told me with a serious
look. "Whining about it won't change anything." Then she paused for a
moment before quietly admitting, "I cried a lot after my twist...and
after you broke up with me. I mean, I don't blame you or anything. Only
a real sicko would want to keep dating someone who looks like I do."
Without saying another word, Christine put her arms around me and gave
me a hug. I hugged her back, actually feeling a little better. I might
have turned into a girl and a freaky mermaid, but she'd reminded me that
I certainly wasn't the only person who had it rough because of their
twist.
Just then the doorbell began ringing again. "I'll get it," mom called
out from the kitchen as she came back into the living room and made her
way to the door.
"Yo, Lucas," Ricky called out as he came into the living room. He
stopped to stare at me for a moment, but he wasn't nearly as surprised
as Christine had been. After all, he'd already seen me like this. "Are
you okay?"
"I...I don't know," I admitted. "I'm still pretty shocked over all
this..."
"I'd imagine," Ricky responded, giving me a curious look. "You totally
freaked me out when you changed like that."
"I freaked you out?" I asked with a snort. "How do you think I feel?"
Christine merely nodded her head at that. "At least I knew I'd go
through my twist one day."
"But man, that was totally wicked to watch," Ricky assured me. "I mean,
the pool was glowing and the water was all bubbling... And then BAM...
the water exploded and suddenly there was a mermaid in the water..."
Ricky continued talking about how everyone in PE reacted when I went
through my twist, about how all the students rushed out of the pool and
then how he and Coach Rydell had pulled me out of the water. According
to him, my twist was all that everyone talked about for the rest of the
day.
Ricky was still talking about what everyone at school was saying when
Aunt Kelsie arrived. She didn't bother ringing the doorbell and just
came right in the way she usually did. Since she had a worried look on
her face, it was obvious that she'd heard something.
"Sarah," Aunt Kelsie greeted my mom. "Your text message said that there
was some kind of emergency with Lucas. Is he all right?"
"That depends on your meaning of all right," mom answered with a shake
of her head.
Aunt Kelsie looked to where I was still sitting with Christine and Ricky
beside me. She'd knew both of them but gave me a curious look,
obviously having no idea who I was.
"You must be one of Lucas' friends," she said, turning to mom with a
curious look, probably wondering where I was.
"Actually," mom told her with a wince, "that's Lucas."
I gulped and waved at her nervously. "Um...hi Aunt Kelsie..." She just
stared at me with a look of confusion and surprise.
"Lucas went through his twist today," mom explained, still looking as
though she didn't quite believe it herself.
"But how?" Aunt Kelsie asked, "That's not..." Then she paused, her eyes
going wide. "Oh..."
Mom nodded and told her, "Needless to say, this is a bit of a surprise."
Aunt Kelsie came over and my friends moved back to give her room. She
bent down beside me, taking my hand in hers and looking me in the eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she told me sympathetically. "Going through your twist
is never easy, and it looks like you went through a doozie..."
"You can say that again," I muttered.
"It looks like you went through a doozie," Christine commented with an
innocent look. When I glared at her, she stuck her tongue out at me.
"This is...drastic," Aunt Kelsie said carefully. "I can see that you're
going to have some interesting challenges to deal with."
"I can't walk anymore," I blurted out in frustration, taking the towel
of my tail and then swishing my tail in demonstration.
"What were you doing when you went through your twist?" she asked me
gently.
Ricky answered for me, blurting out, "He was learning to swim in the
school pool..."
"I don't think swimming will be much of a problem now," Aunt Kelsie
commented wryly.
"I was starting to imagine that there were sharks in the water with me,"
I admitted, feeling embarrassed by that. However that was nowhere near
as embarrassing as how I now looked. "So I tried tricking my
imagination and pretended that I was swimming with mermaids in the water
instead..."
"And that's when you went through your twist," Aunt Kelsie finished for
me with a nod of understanding. Then she gave me a forced smile and
said, "I guess you should be thankful that you didn't turn into a
shark."
Christine grinned at that and pointed out, "Then you would have had to
live at the aquarium."
Mom let out a sigh and then told Aunt Kelsie, "Considering his...her new
body, there are some adjustments we're going to have to make. He...she
doesn't really fit in her bed anymore and she needs to stay damp..."
"Maybe he can sleep in one of those kids wading pools," Ricky suggested.
I couldn't tell if Ricky was joking or not, but mom mused, "That might
not be a bad idea... I mean, we could keep her bedding just a little
wet and not have worry about ruining the bed or anything."
I just rolled my eyes and demanded, "Why not just make me sleep in the
bath tub?"
"Because you're a little too big for that," Aunt Kelsie answered with a
faint smirk.
"Lucas just needs a water bed," Christine said with a faint smirk of her
own, though she gave me a sympathetic look.
"I wonder," Aunt Kelsie mused, giving me a curious look. "I wonder if
you can breathe under water."
"She doesn't have any gills," mom pointed out, suddenly looking
uncertain.
"She was face down in the water for over a minute before we got her,"
Ricky admitted, looking guilty. "She didn't seem to have any problems
after we got her out of the pool."
"That might be your trick," Aunt Kelsie said thoughtfully. "They'll
have to take a look at that when you go to the clinic to get checked
out."
"I've already made an appointment for tomorrow," mom added, giving me a
curious look.
Aunt Kelsie stared at me for a few seconds, then asked, "Have you notice
any personality changes or compulsions yet?" She looked to mom,
silently asking her as well since she'd been with me since coming to
pick me up from school.
I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head. "Not unless
getting thirsty is a compulsion."
Mom shook her head as well. "Not yet."
"The clinic can help with that too," Aunt Kelsie said.
After this, everyone actually sat down in the living room and we
continued to talk. Aunt Kelsie and Christine told me a lot about what I
could expect for being Twisted and gave me advice on how to adjust. Mom
actually took notes on a lot of what they said while Ricky kept sneaking
looks at me but otherwise seemed bored.
When it came time for my friends to leave, Ricky gave me an odd look.
"Man, this is so weird... I mean, you actually turned into a
mermaid..." He shook his head at that and told me, "If you need
anything, give me a call..."
"I'm really sorry this happened to you," Christine said, giving me a big
hung and then handing me her teddy bear. "Maybe Theodor can make you
feel better."
"Um...thank you," I said, startled when the bear actually started
hugging me as well.
Christine had a faint smirk on her face as she used her trick to animate
the stuffed animal. "I'll see you tomorrow..." And with that she
actually skipped on her way out the door.
"Your little friend is quite a character," Aunt Kelsie told me with a
chuckle.
Once Christine and Ricky were both gone, mom let out a sigh. "After
dinner, we're going to need to make some plans. We have to figure out
your bedding situation, get you some new clothes, and find what other
adjustments we'll need to make."
"Some of that will be a little easier once you have a better
understanding of your twist," Aunt Kelsie told me, putting a hand on
mine. "Don't worry kiddo. Everything is going to be fine."
"Maybe," I responded doubtfully. Then I looked to mom and nervously
asked, "But what am I going to tell dad?"
--------------------
I sat on the edge of my bath tub, soaking my tail in the half filled
tub. I was actually washing my hair and cleaning up, but I saw no reason
not to soak my tail as well since it felt nice.
As I did this, I ran my hands over my boobs, which were smooth and soft.
My nipples were sensitive and I suddenly suspected that they'd be fun to
play with. I let out a sigh as I remembered playing with Christine's
just the once, a week before her twist. That was certainly never going
to happen again.
"Damn," I muttered with a shake of my head. "I can't believe I'm really
a girl..." Of course I was more than just a girl. I was a Twisted girl.
I was a mermaid.
My entire body felt strange and alien to me, even more so since I no
longer had legs but a fish tail instead. Admittedly it was a beautiful
tail that was unlike anything I'd ever seen on a real fish, but I much
rather would have had my legs back.
Last night, I hadn't slept very well. Mom had put my mattress on the
floor then covered it with a tarp and wet sheets. That had kept me from
drying out while I slept, but it had been a bit uncomfortable. Of
course these mounds sticking out of my chest didn't help any either.
"And it's not like going to the bathroom is a thrill either," I reminded
myself with a sigh.
One of the things I'd discovered last night before bed was that I did
indeed still have private parts, though they were covered up with scales
that would move out of the way when I needed access. In front, I had a
moist slit that scared the hell out of me, and I even seemed to have a
sort of asshole too.
Once I was done, I dried myself off with a towel, wondering if this was
counter-productive. But then again, it seemed that I could go a couple
hours before I began getting itchy and needed to get wet again. I
wondered if skin moisturizer would help with that.
"I've got you something to wear," mom called out before opening the
bathroom door and walking in on me. I gasped and tried covering up with
a towel but she smirked, "It isn't anything I haven't seen before."
"So you've seen a lot of these, have you?" I asked, running a hand down
my tail.
Mom just smiled and held up a dress, announcing, "This should fit
you..."
"A dress?" I blurted out.
"Pants won't work anymore and this will cover you up," mom told me
before setting the dress down and leaving the bathroom.
As much as I hated to admit it, mom was right. But she was also missing
an important point as well. Since I no longer had any visible private
parts, there no longer seemed any real point in covering up my lower
half. And of course, you never saw mermaids wearing anything from the
waist down in the movies and cartoons.
"Yeah right," I muttered as I grabbed the dress. "Like I'm going to go
around without anything covering me."
I slipped the dress over my head, but while I was trying to position it
over my lower half, I slipped off the toilet where I'd been sitting and
fell face first onto the floor. I grimaced and muttered several
profanities, cursing whatever God had decided play this nasty joke on
me.
Suddenly I felt a strange tingling sensation along my entire tail. It
felt as though my flesh was beginning to twitch and move beneath my
skin. I shifted position and stared at my tail, surprised to see that
my fins were missing and that my scales were fading away.
"What the...?" I started, realizing that my tail was splitting in two.
As I watched, my tail continued to change until it was no longer a tail
but a pair of legs. They were a perfectly shaped pair of legs that
would have looked great on any girl. I reached out and ran my hands
over them, finding them soft, smooth, and very real.
After just staring at my legs for a few seconds, I slowly got to my
feet, feeling giddy with excitement as I did so. I never thought that
I'd be so happy to do something as normal as standing, or as feminine as
adjusting a dress.
I left the bathroom and called out, "Hey mom, look..." I gestured down
at my legs.
Mom stared at me in surprise, "Your tail is gone..."
"Maybe it's wearing off," I exclaimed in delight. "I'm starting to
change back to normal..."
"I don't think being Twisted works that way," mom said.
"Then how do you explain these?" I asked, gesturing at my legs again.
Mom was silent for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe it's your trick."
I stared at her, wanting to deny that and insist that my twist was
somehow reversing itself. Unfortunately I knew that she was probably
right, especially since my legs had come back when I was frustrated by
my tail.
I thought about getting my tail back and felt the tingling beginning in
my legs again. I gasped at that and quickly willed them not to change
and the tingling went away.
"I think you're right," I reluctantly admitted. Then I hopefully pointed
out, "At least I can wear pants again..."
Mom chuckled at that. "We'll go shopping this afternoon. For now, we
just need you to get ready for your appointment at the clinic. Now sit
down so I can brush your hair. Trust me, you don't want that beautiful
long hair to get all knotted up..."
With that mom had me sit down while she ran a brush through my hair,
making me feel like a little kid. The entire time she did this, she
told me how important it was to take proper care of my hair and she gave
me all sorts of advice and instructions on how to do so. It sounded
like a lot more trouble than it was worth.
"My mother always used to brush my hair like this when I was a little
girl," mom admitted as she finished up. "I've always wished I had a
daughter to do it with..."
"Glad I could help grant your wish," I responded wryly.
Mom just gave me a gentle hug and whispered, "I never would have wished
for this to happen to you." Then she stood back and gave me what she
probably thought was a reassuring smile. "But since it has, we have to
deal with it and adjust. Now go finish getting ready. We have an
appointment."
After this, I finished getting dressed, actually feeling excited when I
put on a pair of shoes. Sure, I had to put on a pair of mom's shoes
since mine didn't fit anymore, but when I woke up this morning, I'd been
certain that I'd never be able to wear shoes again.
Nearly an hour later, we arrived at the Spiral Clinic, a medical center
that specialized in dealing with the Twisted. Nearly everyone in Spiral
who went through their twist came here for an examination and for help
figuring out all the quirks of their twist. Obviously, it was a place
that I'd never expected to come.
"I'm Doctor Franklin," a middle-aged woman with glowing green eyes
introduced herself. "I'll be performing your physical examination.
Since you've never been here before, I don't have any before records to
make a comparison to, but we'll make due."
I went into an examination room with Dr. Franklin while mom was left
behind. The doctor started by checking my heart rate, blood pressure,
and the usual things. Then she began asking me about my physical
changes.
"A mermaid," she said, looking interested after I told her about that.
"Please change and let me see..."
I focused on regaining my tail and felt the tingling along my legs. A
moment later, I was going through the reverse of the change I'd
undergone in the bathroom. MY legs began fusing together and growing
scales. In half a minute, my tail was back in all its glory. But
strangely, it felt kind of nice, like my legs almost preferred being in
tail form.
"Very interesting," Dr. Franklin commented, looking my tail over.
After this she examined my tail and then ran me through a strange
scanning machine before having me change my tail back to legs and then
repeated the process. She made a few odd noises as she did this while I
just tried to be patient and do what she asked.
"Now for your gynecology exam," Dr. Franklin told me, giving me a
reassuring smile and adding, "I just need to check out your new parts."
Dr. Franklin had me climb into an examination table that looked like
some sort of tanning bed and then lowered the top. She waited a minute
and then lifted the top before having me change back to my tail so she
could scan me again.
"I've had patients complain about that being claustrophobic," she told
me with an amused look. "But trust me, it isn't nearly as invasive or
uncomfortable as the old style of gynecology exams."
Once Dr. Franklin was finished examining me, I put my clothes back on
and watched as she brought up a holographic image that looked exactly
like me. She pushed some buttons and a second hologram appeared beside
the first, though the first one was me with legs and the second looked
like me in my mermaid form.
"Your results are interesting," Dr. Franklin told me, giving me a
curious look. "You are healthy, though there are a few anomalies in
your body due to the nature of your twist."
"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.
"Your skeletal structure appears to be made of cartilage rather than the
usual bone," she explained, pointing to the holograms which changed so
that they both showed only my skeleton. "This may be an adaptation to
make you more maneuverable under water, or it may be in order to make
the changes in your lower body easier on your system. As you can see
here, your skeleton changes quite drastically when you shift between
your legs and tail."
"Damn," I exclaimed, staring at the holographic picture of my mermaid
skeleton. When I changed, every bone from my pelvis down appeared to
change into something quite different. "And it doesn't even hurt."
"In spite of having an aquatic appearance," Dr. Franklin continued,
"your upper body is still mostly human, even when in mermaid form. I
see no sign of gills or even of the aquatic adaptations that dolphins
and whales possess."
I snorted at that. "So I look like a mermaid, but I can only swim by
holding my breath as long as a normal person."
I shook my head at that wondering why I was even upset by that when I
had absolutely no intention of ever going into the deep end of a
swimming pool again. After what had happened the last time...
"You do have a few aquatic adaptations," Dr. Franklin assured me. "Such
as an extra membrane to protect your eyes."
Dr. Franklin went back to her computer and pushed a few more buttons.
The holograms both changed so that I could see my internal organs in
them now, though the sight was actually kind of disgusting. It reminded
me of biology class last year when we'd had to dissect frogs.
"Physically," she said carefully, "you are completely female now and
capable of becoming pregnant. I expect that you will begin your period
within the next month."
"Ugh," I responded with a grimace, definitely not liking that particular
bit of news. Unfortunately I'd been expecting it so it wasn't a
surprise.
Dr. Franklin gave me a sympathetic look and told me, "You aren't the
first Twisted that we've had come through here who went through a gender
change, nor I suspect will you be the last. I can't imagine how
difficult that particular type of twist will be to adjust to, but just
remember, you aren't the only one to go through this. Most of those I've
talked to adjust quite well given a little time."
Once I was finished with Dr. Franklin, I was sent down the hall to the
next doctor, one who would check out my mental health and try to figure
out what personality changes or compulsions I might have. So far, I
hadn't noticed any, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.
Dr. Pierce was a black woman in her late thirties who didn't show any
obvious signs of being Twisted like Dr. Franklin had. She gave me a
curious look and said, "We usually have our younger patients fill out a
questionnaire at least once a year so we have something to compare the
new results to. Unfortunately the fact that you haven't done this
might make it a little more difficult to narrow down any changes."
She started off by talking to me for several minutes and asking me if
I'd noticed any compulsions or personality changes, then she set me in
front of a computer to take the test. It asked me all sorts of
questions, one after another and I was beginning to think that it would
never end. Fortunately, after a couple hundred questions, it was finally
over.
When the questions were done, Dr. Pierce began talking to me again,
asking a lot more questions about what I thought and felt with some of
them actually getting personal. She was nice and friendly about it,
though so I didn't feel like I was being interrogated, but more like I
was just having a chat with a friend of the family.
"Your reactions are all pretty normal," Dr. Pierce finally told me,
looking over a computer tablet which contained my test results. "I
don't see any indications of any compulsions or extreme personality
traits."
"That's good," I said, then joked, "At least now I know I didn't
suddenly turn into a serial killer."
"You aren't showing any obvious changes or extreme personality traits,"
Dr. Pierce answered with a faint smile, "but that doesn't mean you
didn't go through some mental changes. Not having previous results to
compare these too means that the results aren't quite as effective. But
overall, I think that if you did get any mental changes, they would be
subtle ones."
I nodded at that, feeling relieved since I know how awkward some of
Christine's personality changes and compulsions were. Looking like a
little kid was bad enough, but acting the way she did made sure that
almost no one took her seriously.
"Since you don't seem to be a danger to yourself or others," Dr. Pierce
told me with a smile, "I'm clearing you to go back to school as soon as
you're ready."
The next specialist was Dr. Rothschild, an odd little man who was barely
5 feet tall. He was Asian, with white hair and eyebrows, but with
pointed ears that helped give him an almost otherworldly appearance.
"I'm going to help you understand your trick a little better," Dr.
Rothschild told me with an amused smile. "Now, what kind of trick do
you have to show me?"
"Well," I told him nervously, "I can change my legs into a tail."
"Are you sure you're changing your legs into a tail?" Dr. Rothschild
asked me curiously. "From what Dr. Franklin said in her notes, having a
tail is your default form and it looks like your trick is to turn your
tail into legs."
"What's the difference?" I asked. "I mean, as long as I can walk
again..."
"Ah, the distinction can be quite important," Dr. Rothschild pointed
out. We're going to do some tests to find out more about that... And
there are a few other things that I'd like to check for as well."
Dr. Rothschild had me take off my shoes and anything that might get in
the way during my leg to tail transformation. Fortunately, since I was
wearing a dress, I could actually keep it on without a problem. Dr.
Rothschild put some suction cup type sensors on my legs and then had me
climb onto an examination table similar to the one Dr. Franklin had used
to scan me.
"The first scan is done," Dr. Rothschild told me with a smile. "Now
change your legs please so we can see the results."
I gave the mental command and my legs transformed into a tail again,
giving me a faint feeling of relief. Then when he asked me to change my
tail back into legs, it took a bit more effort to do so. In fact, every
time I changed my legs into a tail, it was much easier than changing
from tail to legs.
After having me change my legs back and forth several more times, Dr.
Rothschild chuckled. "Interesting so far, but there is something else I
want to test out."
Dr. Rothschild took me downstairs and surprised me by leading me to a
swimming pool. It was a lot like the pool at school but smaller and
with almost no shallow end to speak of.
I stared at the pool and gulped. "I don't think this is a good idea..."
I looked at Dr. Rothschild and explained my nervousness. "The last time
I was in a pool, I went through my twist."
"Then you'd best hop back on the horse," Dr. Rothschild told me.
"You'll need to get in the water for the next test."
I glared at him for a moment and then began removing my dress. I didn't
have a swimsuit and was extremely embarrassed to be completely naked in
front of Dr. Rothschild, so I jumped into the water as soon as I was
undressed.
As soon as I hit the water, my legs began to tingle and change, before I
even willed them to do so. I gasped as I went under the water, feeling
a moment of panic...but only for the briefest of seconds.
Every time I've ever gone underwater, I instinctively closed my eyes and
couldn't bring myself to actually open them. But for some reason, this
time that instinct seemed to have vanished because I kept my eyes open
and was amazed to actually see under the water without any problems at
all. I was so startled by this that it took me several seconds to
realize that I was breathing too.
I was a little stunned by the fact that I was breathing underwater, but
Ricky had said that I'd been face down in the pool for a minute before
they pulled me out. I took a deep breath, feeling as though I was
breathing air rather than water, then I swished my tail experimentally.
In the past, I'd always been a bit afraid of the water, largely because
I couldn't swim. Then again, maybe I'd never learned to swim because I
had that fear of the water. However all of that fear was now gone.
Instead I felt strangely comfortable. I felt almost like this was my
home.
I swam to the other side of the pool and then turned around, moving
through the water with a speed and ease that amazed me. After making
several laps of then pool, I was grinning with excitement. I suddenly
knew that this was what my new body had been made for. This was where a
mermaid belonged...in the water.
When I finally surfaced several minutes later, I leaned up against the
edge of the pool and looked to Dr. Rothschild, who was watching me with
a broad grin. "This is great," I blurted out, laughing as I did so.
"It seems I was right about you being able to breath underwater," Dr.
Rothschild told me with a chuckle.
"And then some," I agreed, diving back under and making another lap
around the pool.
"Since you're enjoying yourself so much," Dr. Rothschild told me, "I'll
give you another five minutes."
I took full advantage of the extra time to swim around the pool,
enjoying the graceful ease in which I slipped through the water. There
was a thrill to this, an excitement much like when I played music with
Ricky. I was actually disappointed when I had to climb out of the
water.
When it was time to get out of the pool, I dried off as much as possible
and then put my dress and shoes back on. Dr. Rothschild stood with his
back to me to give me privacy while I was doing this, and then we
started back to the room where he first examined me.
On the way, I saw Dr. Pierce in the hallway. "Guess what," I blurted
out excitedly, "I just found out that I really REALLY like being in the
water."
She laughed at that and responded, "I shouldn't be surprised considering
the rest of your twist."
Dr. Rothschild and I continued back to his examination room. Once there,
he looked at his computer tablet and told me a few jokes while he typed
away. After a few minute, he seemed to be finished.
"Have you ever heard of the Darrington Field?" Dr. Rothschild asked me
pleasantly.
"I think so," I answered, remembering the term mentioned in science
class. I knew that it had something to do with the Twisted but couldn't
remember exactly what.
"It's the quantum energy field that every Twisted is linked to," Dr.
Rothschild explained. "It is connecting to that field for the first
time that triggers our twists. This energy field operates on
alternative physics and is responsible for most tricks that the Twisted
are able to perform."
"I think I remember that from school," I admitted, wishing that I'd paid
more attention in that class. But since I'd never thought I'd be
Twisted, I didn't think it was very important to know how all that stuff
worked.
"Over eighty percent of all Twisted have a trick of some sort," Dr.
Rothschild explained. "A special ability that is beyond the normal.
Approximately twenty-six percent of all Twisted have more than one
trick. It looks like you are one of those."
"My legs and being able to breath underwater," I said, remembering what
Dr. Franklin had said about my not having gills or any biological way of
breathing underwater.
"Correct," Dr. Rothschild answered me with a chuckle. "It seems that
you tap into the Darrington Field for the energy needed to transform
your tail into legs. But from my tests, I believe that you'll only be
able to keep your legs for a few hours before they revert to their
default form."
"And this Darrington Field lets me breath water too?" I asked.
"Actually," Dr. Rothschild mused, "I think you use the field to convert
water into breathable air, but it has the same effect." He chuckled at
that. "It's actually quite convenient, and I wouldn't be surprised if
you had either biological modifications or another trick to allow
further adaptation to an aquatic environment."
Dr. Rothschild and I continued talking for a little longer about my
tricks and how they worked. Then he recommended several books to read
about the Darrington Field and how to deal with various tricks. I
nodded politely but doubted that I'd actually read them.
I found mom in the waiting room where I'd left her several hours ago.
She looked at me with an expression that seemed to be equal parts relief
and worry.
"How did it go?" mom asked me eagerly.
"Not bad," I answered with an awkward shrug.
"Let's go get something to eat," mom told me with a gentle smile. "You
can tell me everything over lunch."
--------------------
I was extremely self-conscious as I walked through the mall with my mom.
Not only was I a girl but I was also wearing a dress. Wearing the dress
to the clinic was one thing, but being out with all these strangers was
something else entirely.
"Relax honey," mom told me with a reassuring smile. "I know you've
never liked shopping, but you need the new clothes."
"I know," I admitted. "I just don't like everyone staring at me."
Even though I had my legs instead of a tail, I was getting a lot of
stares as we walked through the mall. Admittedly, they were looks of
appreciation rather than of hostility, but that didn't necessarily make
me feel any better.
"You're a beautiful young lady now," mom told me with look of amusement.
"You're just going to have to get used to this."
"As if getting used to a tail isn't hard enough," I commented with a
snort.
We'd already gone shopping for shoes since the shoe store was the
closest one to the entrance. I thought we'd just grab what we needed
and go, but mom had insisted on making me try out a bunch of different
pairs. When we finally left, it was with a pair of flat shoes, a pair
of sneakers, and a pair of shoes with a low heel that mom said would be
good practice for me.
"Now we need to get you some bras and panties," mom told me, grabbing my
arm and nearly dragging me to the next store.
Walking into a lingerie store, a bastion of femininity, was much like
going into the girl's locker room at school. It was a place that I had
ben indoctrinated to avoid, that going inside would mark me as some kind
of freak or pervert. Unfortunately anyone would now think that I fit
perfectly into either.
I felt self-conscious as we moved between the racks of bras and panties,
half afraid that someone would start pointing at me and calling me a
pervert. Fortunately no one did anything of the sort, though one of
the sales ladies did start walking over.
"Can I help you find anything?" the sales woman asked politely.
"My daughter just went through her twist," mom explained. "We don't
know her measurements yet..."
"I'll be happy to help with that," the sales woman replied cheerfully.
"I'm Jessica."
I hesitated, suddenly realizing for the first time that I no longer
looked remotely like a Lucas. Unless I wanted to be the subject of
ridicule, or at least of everyone asking why I looked like a girl but
had a boy's name, I was going to have to get a new name.
"Is something wrong?" mom asked me with a look of concern.
"Other than the obvious?" I responded wryly. Then I let out a sigh and
admitted, "I just realized that I need a new name."
"I was going to talk to you about that when we got home," mom admitted,
looking a little embarrassed.
"I take it that your twist was a pretty drastic one," Jessica commented,
giving me a knowing look. "No problem. Let's get you measured up..."
Jessica took me to a small private room where she could measure me. She
said that she only needed me to remove my top, but since I was wearing a
dress, it meant that I had to strip down naked in front of her. It
seemed that this was really my day for getting naked in front of
strangers.
Jessica had me stand with my arms out while she measured my boobs,
maki