Author's Note: If you care about my stories at all, and would like to
continue you reading them, then I would suggest you copy the following
url into your browser: https://lightivation.wordpress.com/2017/12/31/the-
future/
It will lead you to my site, as well as more specifically, to a blog post
concerning the tenuous future of my work. Thank you, and now, onto the
story.
Inferiority
By: Light Clark
Synopsis: Tom has always lived in his twin sister Kelly's shadow, just
because she was a pretty girl and he wasn't. He resented every minute of
it, too, until happenstance gave him a chance to shine.
Warning: This story is 'technically' set in the Whateley universe. It
uses no characters or places from that universe; just borrows a few terms
and general thematics. It is certainly not canon.
Chapter 01 - Day 1
The steady bounce of my pencil on my notebook matched the slow tick of
the seconds as they rolled by on the clock. In the background, I could
hear the teacher droning on, her words garnering as much attention from
me as a white noise machine. The only reason I even knew that she was
talking was because I was waiting for her to stop, the indication that
the class was over.
Sighing, I glanced around the room at my fellow students, most just as
uninterested in the lecture as I was. After all, there were only a
couple of weeks left in the school year, so most of us had already
mentally checked out. In spite of that, the teachers didn't stop
covering new material, building toward the final test of the year that
didn't even matter. It was just middle school, after all.
Not everyone in the class had a dazed look of indifference on their face,
however. A few of the kids in the front dutifully took notes, hanging on
the teacher's every word in their pointless quest to get good grades.
Many did it because they had nothing else going for them, so they clung
to their intellect to give them a sense of self-worth. Others had bought
into the idea that school actually mattered, and that some grand future
awaited them if they worked hard enough at it. That was probably even
more delusional. Very few people ever left the sleepy little fishing
town in which we all lived. That fact did little to dissuade their
desperate dreams, though. It all seemed so pitiful to me.
There was another group of hard workers that did not earn my pity,
though. This group instead earned my derision. They were the people
that worked hard because it fed into their already bloated egos helping
them in their quest to feel superior to those around them.
Among this last group was my sister, Kelly, scribbling away as fast as
she could so that she could add smart to the list of adjectives that
people used to praise her like they did with pretty and kind. As her
twin brother, it was hard for me to say, but I supposed that she was
pretty enough, in a slightly pudgy, small town sort of way. Personally,
I found her round features and curly blonde hair rather childish, but I
knew few people cared about that. She had been blessed with large
breasts and a decent figure, which were more than enough to have nearly
all of the boys in the class smitten with her.
One of the boys that had been smitten by my sister's assets was Mark, who
sat beside her, working just as hard as she was. He was a fairly good
looking guy with mundane brown hair and eyes, although, like Kelly, I
felt he looked a bit immature. He was also dating my sister, a fact that
had been annoyingly true ever since winter break. Meanwhile, I had never
dated anyone.
Glaring at my sister's back quickly ate up what little time remained in
class. The sound of the bell finally brought an end to the teacher's
drone, replacing it with the bustle of everyone gathering their things
and rising from their seats. As they did, they all started talking,
grouping up with their friends to discuss the trivialities of their
lives.
While the others tittered like empty-headed songbirds, I lazily flipped
my notebook closed with the page still untouched. Once I had, I stuffed
it into my backpack and threw the mostly empty bag sloppily over one
shoulder. Finally, with an exaggerated yawn, I turned to start walking
out of the class.
I managed to get all of a couple of steps before pain suddenly flared in
my hip. The impact was enough to stagger me one step to the side before
I could catch my balance. When I did, I spun back to glare at the person
who's chair had inadvertently bumped me while trying to rise.
"Sor-" the boy started to say.
Before the apology could even really start, I kicked the back of the
chair angrily, cutting off the words. "Next time, pay attention to your
surroundings, asshole," I spat acerbically. Without even waiting for a
reply, I just turned and stomped away. Some of the other students
watched me go, but if anyone spoke up about my actions, I was out in the
room by the time they did.
The hallway beyond the classroom was just starting to fill with students
as I made it out there. Thanks to the small size of the town, there were
kids of all sorts of ages mingled together at my school. Having only
recently turned fourteen, I was on the younger end of the kids in this
hallway, which had classes ranging from sixth grade through twelfth. It
wouldn't matter if I was the oldest or the youngest, though, as the only
interest I showed the other students was the minimal amount of it that it
took to avoid them as I made my way to the exit.
The cool, crisp, salty air of spring along the coast of Maine blew gently
against my face as I broke free of the school, rustling my dirty blonde
hair. Idly, I brushed a stray curl back out of my face as continued
along, intent on getting home as quickly as I possibly could. Luckily
for me, there was one good thing about living in the dinky little town,
and that was that it didn't take long to walk anywhere.
Trudging along main street, I glanced around at the small sleepy hamlet
that I called home. On one side, there was the view down the hill to the
beach with the ocean beyond. That view wasn't of some california beach
of golden sand and warm clear water, though. No, the beach itself was
more rock than anything else, and much of the space was taken up by piers
and buildings for the various fishing boats that were the town's primary
industry. Beyond lay the waters of the Atlantic, dark and bitterly cold.
On the other side of the street were the various shops that a small town
needed to survive, like a hardware store and a mechanic. Beyond that row
of buildings were the bluffs upon which sat many of the residents' homes.
It was one of those homes that was my destination, a nice, gray and
white, two story house nestled amidst several trees.
Altogether, I found the town sickeningly quaint. Everything in the place
was quiet, peaceful, and never changing. If not for the fact that I grew
older year after year, I would have thought time had actually stopped
there like some accursed fairy tale village.
"Finally," I sighed when I stepped across the threshold into my home.
Kicking off my shoes, I went straight to the living room, dropping my
backpack along the way. Waiting there for me was the TV and the video
game console that would serve as much needed entertainment after the long
boring day at school.
Within moments, everything was booted up, and I was deep into a game.
Unfortunately, my immersion didn't last long as within ten minutes of my
getting home, I heard the sound of the front door opening. When female
voices followed, my face scrunched up in annoyance and disdain.
Pausing the game, I glanced back over my shoulder to see my sister and
her two friends in the foyer. One was tall, slim, and in my opinion,
much cuter than my sister with her long brown hair and glasses. Her name
was Laura. The other was a short, scrawny blonde named Beth that I found
decidedly annoying.
"... and then he fell right on top of her, with his face buried in her
boobs," Beth recounted some story to her friends. "You should have heard
her scream. After they got untangled, she slapped him so hard, he fell
over."
"Ouch," Laura remarked sympathetically.
"Yeah. I feel kinda sorry for him," Kelly added. "I mean ... it was an
accident. It's not like he meant to do it."
Beth shrugged. "Maybe, but for all intensive purposes he did gr-"
"Intents and purposes," I corrected loudly enough to interrupt the flow
of the conversation.
Instantly, the three girls fell silent and turned to look at me in
surprise. After a brief moment of just standing there looking shocked,
Beth asked," What?"
"The phrase is for all intents and purposes, not intensive purposes," I
explained. "For all intensive purposes doesn't make any sense."
Initially, Beth just blinked before awkwardly responding with an, "Oh ...
kay ... thanks ..." As she spoke, she shared a look with her friends
before adding, "Uhm ... why don't we head up to your room, Kelly?"
"Yeah ... sure," Kelly agreed as she turned to lead the way upstairs.
While the girls walked up the stairs, I could hear the faint hint of
whispers followed by muffled giggles. Knowing that they were talking
about me, I tossed a glare that way, but they were too focused on their
insults to pay me any mind. They walked into my sister's room without
ever even seeing my glare.
"Intensive purposes ... psh ... what an idiot," I muttered derisively as
I turned back to my the TV. "I don't know why I even bother ..."
Once again, I immersed myself in the game, trying to enjoy myself. It
was hard to stay truly into it, though, as, every so often, I'd hear some
obnoxious squeal or fit of laughter that was loud enough to make it
through the walls and over the sounds from the TV. My sister and her
friends were always such a nuisance.
In spite of the distractions, the game was still very effective at
clearing away my free time. It didn't seem to take long at all for the
sun to set. With its departure came a new distraction, the sound of the
garage door opening.
Unlike the last noise that interrupted me, this one did not prompt me to
scowl when I heard it. Instead, it elicited a healthy grumble of
anticipation from my stomach. After all, the garage door meant one of my
parents was home, and they would be bringing dinner with them from the
diner that they owned.
Pausing the game, I hopped up from the couch to go find out what food
waited for me that evening. I made it to the kitchen just in time for my
mother to walk through the door from the garage. She was a decidedly
heavy blonde that bore a strong resemblance to my sister, which I took to
mean that Kelly was also destined to balloon up when she got older. That
was of little importance in that moment, though, as all I cared about was
the bag that she was carrying.
"What did you get me?" I asked eagerly.
"Lasagna," my mom's answered as she set the bag on the kitchen table.
The information had me scrunching my face up in disgust. "Yuck ..."
"What? I thought you liked lasagna," my mother replied.
Giving my mom an exasperated look, I shook my head. "No, that's Kelly.
I think it's disgusting mush masquerading as pasta."
"Well, shoot. I wish I'd known," my mother muttered. "The only other
thing I have is a cup of black bean soup for Kelly."
The mention of beans got me to shudder. "Even worse."
"Sorry ..." my mom apologized.
Sighing in frustration, I tried to shrug it off. "It's fine. I'll just
throw a frozen pizza in the oven or something, I guess."
"I'll make it up to you tomorrow," my mom offered. "What would like?"
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully at the question, thinking over the diner's
menu. There were a number of good items to choose from, so it wasn't an
easy choice. "Hmm ... a hamburger sounds good."
My mother nodded. "Got it."
***********************************************
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Chapter 02 - Day 2
The obnoxious buzz of my alarm clock pulled me from pleasant dreams into
the groggy uninteresting world of the waking. An annoyed groan escaped
my lips as I reached over to swat the nuisance off. Once it was dealt
with, I just laid in bed for several seconds, slowly waking up.
"Stupid fucking school," I grumbled before finally pushing myself
upright. Flipping on a light, I slipped out of bed, navigating my way
through the random mess and clutter that littered the floor of my room.
Stopping at my dresser, I snagged some clothes that seemed clean and left
my room behind.
It was a short walk from my room to the bathroom, which I made sure I
woke up before my sister to get first dibs on. It wasn't fun having to
get up that early, but it was worth it. No way was I going to wait
around for her to primp and preen, using up all the hot water in the
process. This way, she had to wait on me.
Inside the bathroom, I tossed my clean clothes on the vanity and flipped
on the hot water. While I waited for it to warm up, I returned to the
mirror to check my reflection. Personally, I thought I was quite good
looking with short, curly, dirty blonde hair, attractive features, and a
great smile. At the same time, I wished puberty would hurry up a little.
It never seemed fair to me that my sister got to go through it first. At
least, I'd finally caught up to her height at five-five. I was really
looking forward to being the taller one for a change.
After a quick check to see that I basically looked the same age as I had
the day before, I hopped into the shower. Unlike Kelly, I showered
quickly, getting in and out in just a few minutes. I was also faster at
getting ready, towelling off, dressing, and fixing my hair in the amount
of time she probably spent doing her lipstick. I supposed, though, that
when all that mattered about a person was their looks that they should
spend a lot of time on them.
Once I was finished getting ready, I hurried down the stairs to the
kitchen for breakfast. Since they didn't work the morning shift, my
parents were still asleep, leaving me alone while I ate which was just
the way I liked it. A bowl of cereal just tasted better without any else
around to ruin the peace and quiet.
When my cereal was finished, I dumped the dirty bowl in the sink and left
the kitchen for the highlight of the morning. Since I was up so early to
beat my sister to the shower, I had plenty of time to kill before class,
which meant time to play video games. Within just a few moments, I was
deep into a game. While I played, I noted the various sounds of my
sister getting ready, using them to gauge how much time I had left until
it would be time to leave. After all, a goodie goodie like Kelly would
never let herself be late for school, making her serve perfectly well as
a secondary alarm clock.
The time to go was nearing when the sound of the doorbell rang out,
interrupting the flow of my game. However, it was not followed by the
sounds of my sister coming down the stairs to greet her boyfriend as per
the usual routine. Irritation flared within me as a second ring followed
the first.
"Kelly! Your boyfriend is here!" I called out, hoping the airhead had
just not heard the first bell.
"Could you let him in?!" Kelly yelled back. "I'm still getting ready!"
Sighing in annoyance, I paused my game and shoved myself up from the
couch. Stomping over to the front door, I yanked it open. Waiting on
the other side was Mark, arriving to walk my sister to school as he had
for much of the time that they'd been dating.
A disappointed look flashed across Mark's face at the sight of me. "Oh
... hey, Tom."
"Mark," I greeted coolly.
An awkward moment passed where Mark and I just looked at each other
before he clumsily tried to speak, "So ... uhm ... how are-"
"Not interested in small talk," I answered, intentionally cutting him
off. As I spoke, I turned, intent on getting back to my game. "You can
come in I guess, since the bimbo is still trying to figure out how to do
her hair."
"Hey!" Mark blurted, reaching out to grab my shoulder. "She's not a
bimbo."
Shrugging the hand off, I spun back to face Mark. "She's blonde,
airheaded, and has big tits. Sounds like a bimbo to me."
"She's not airheaded. She does better in school than you do, jackass,"
Mark countered, not surprisingly sticking up for his girlfriend.
"So what?" I scoffed. "School's about who works harder not who's
smarter. If anything, that proves I'm smarter, because I'm smart enough
not to waste my time on that shit."
Mark rolled his eyes. "No, all that means is that you're either lazy or
too afraid to even try because you know you'd still lose to her."
"No, I wouldn't!" I growled, fists clenching at my sides. "I could
kick-"
Before I could even get started on the tirade, I felt a hand on my
shoulder. Instantly, anger and frustration vanished, replaced by a
peaceful calm. The cool sensation that came with that calm made me want
to just lie down and relax while the day drifted lazily by.
Shaking my head to fight off the invasive feeling, I swatted the hand
away, spinning to glare at my sister. "Don't use your power on me!"
Kelly reeled back a bit at my outburst. "Sorry. I was just trying to
get you two to stop fighting. It's too early for all this yelling."
"Whatever!" I huffed, spinning to storm off back to the living room.
"Tom!" Kelly called after me, but I didn't give her the satisfaction of
an answer.
Unlike me, Kelly was a mutant, which meant that she got to have powers
while I didn't. Well, technically it was one power, and in my opinion, a
rather crappy one too. When she wanted, her touch inflicted a sort of
anesthetic effect on people. It came in different strengths, from a mild
brush that was just enough to calm someone down all the way to a powerful
grip which would knock someone out within a few seconds.
I didn't stay in the living room for long, just enough time to save my
game. Once that was done, I flipped the console off and turned back to
the front door. Snatching my backpack up along the way, I stepped into
my shoes, gave a final glare to Kelly and Mark, and then stomped right
out of the house.
"Stupid sister and her stupid boyfriend," I fumed once I'd slammed the
door behind me. "I could get better grades than both of them if I
wanted. I just don't want to waste my time. It's not like anyone would
care. They'd still just praise her, because she's 'cute.' Ha! What a
bunch of simpletons."
The empty street around me answered my mutterings with only silence. It
didn't matter, though. I knew I was right. Ever since Kelly and I were
little, she'd always been the cute one of the two of us. Whenever she
did something wrong all she had to do was smile and people forgave her.
Whenever she did something right, she was showered with praise. It was
so damn frustrating, but at least back then, she'd often used that gift
to help me slip out of punishments, too. Now, selfish and conceited as
she was, all she ever did was lord it over me.
When I turned off onto the main road, other students filtered in from the
side streets as well. It created a sort of grand exodus of kids all
walking to the school. There weren't exactly a lot of them, but there
were definitely enough people to get me to stop talking to myself like a
lunatic.
As if the day was determined to put me in a bad mood, two students turned
out onto the sidewalk just in front of me. The fact that they were a
couple would be enough by itself for me to resent them. Just watching
two people walking along hand-in-hand, pretending like they were in love,
or even knew what love was, was enough to make my skin crawl. These two,
however, were especially grating because of who they were.
The girl was Kelly's friend, Laura, one of the only people in school that
I didn't think was an absolute moron. The guy that she was with however,
I did not hold in such high regard. His name was Blake, and he was
generally thought of as the class hunk. While he wasn't ugly, I knew
that his 'hunk' status mostly came from the fact that he was the early
bloomer of us boys, leaving him taller, stronger, and more mature looking
than most. He could even manage some actual facial hair, which was
rather obvious thanks to his black hair. His maturity was entirely
physical, however, as he was dumb as a pile of rocks. That fact had made
me wonder what Laura even saw in him. If I had to guess, it was probably
something slutty like he was good in bed.
Grimacing at the sight, I picked up my pace so that I could hurry past
them. As I did, I tossed an icy glare Blake's way, which he didn't even
notice. He was too busy telling some fishing story from when he'd gone
out on the boat with his dad. It was unbelievably lame.
Once I'd put some distance between the couple and myself, I slowed down
to my usual amble, in no hurry to get to school. No matter how slowly I
walked, though, I'd still get there eventually. When I did, it would
suck another precious day of my life away.
"I should just skip," I muttered to myself, a common refrain on my walk
to school. There was no point to it, though. In a small town like the
one I lived in, I couldn't actually go anywhere, since everyone knew my
parents. Even if I just went home, Kelly would rat me out to Mom and
Dad, and I'd get in trouble. School wasn't bad enough that I was willing
to get grounded to skip one day of it. It was tempting, though.
In accordance with my fear, the school waited for me down the road.
There was one last moment of temptation to skip, but it was just easier
to suffer through it. After all, there weren't even that many days left
in the year. Once they ran out, I'd be free to do as I pleased.
Accepting my fate, I walked inside. Ignoring the other students that
were already there, I made my way straight to the classroom. Just like
usual the room was empty. Saved from having to interact with anyone
while I waited for class to start, I walked over to my seat, dropped my
backpack on the floor, and flopped into the chair. Resting my head on
the desk, I just let myself doze until class started.
***********************************************
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Chapter 03 - Day 2
Looking down at the cold chicken finger in my hand, I let out a disgusted
sigh. "You'd think they could at least heat the food if it's going to be
so shitty," I grumbled, tossing the undesirable item back into its
basket. What a waste of money that had been.
Resigned to a hungry afternoon, I slumped back into my seat and folded my
arms in thought. While I ruminated, the bustle of the cafeteria filled
the air around me with the sounds of kids talking. Everyone was crammed
onto the long rectangular tables except for me. I had a little bubble of
solitude that surrounded me. In order to create that empty space, many
of the tables around me were crammed even tighter, getting to the point
of overflowing. Possibly the most cramped was the one at which Kelly and
her friends sat. Sometimes, it seemed like the whole eighth grade class
was at that table except for me.
Figuring a glare was in order, I lifted my gaze to toss one at my
sister's table only to see something dreaded was occurring. Kelly had
gotten up from her seat and was coming over to me. The stern look on her
face meant that she wanted to 'talk' to me about something. I hated that
look.
"Laura says you glared at her this morning on the way to school," Kelly
stated as she sat down across from me.
"And what if I did?" I demanded, not seeing any point in correcting the
girl's false assumption about whom I had been glaring at. "She should
probably get used to dirty looks, if she's going to slut around with
Blake."
A tightness ran through Kelly's face, an indication that she was upset
but didn't want to show it. Doing so would damage her precious, sweet
girl image, after all. She couldn't have that.
"She's not ... nevermind," my sister began only to give up trying to
correct me with a shake of her head. "Why do you have to act like this,
Tom?"
"What? Don't like it that there's someone out there that isn't
hypnotized by you?" I taunted.
Kelly let out a sigh of frustration. "That right there is what I meant.
You're always picking a fight whenever anyone tries to talk to you. If
you were just a little nicer sometimes, You wouldn't be alone all the
time."
I rolled my eyes at the ludicrous notion. No matter how nice I was, I'd
never be able to compete with Kelly's cleavage. "Yeah, sure, whatever,
sis. Why don't you go back to your drones? They probably care what you
have to say."
That comment elicited another sigh from my sister, but this time she
nodded in resignation. "Fine. Can you at least stop glaring at Laura
for me? You're freakin' her out."
"In the interest of not having this conversation again, I think I can
manage that," I replied snarkily.
That response seemed to be enough to make my sister content as she nodded
and rose from her seat. "Thanks. Enjoy your lunch," she told me before
she turned to walk away. A few moments later, she was seated back at her
own table next to Laura, probably gloating about how she'd fixed the
whole glaring problem for her friend.
"What a joke," I muttered as I slouched back in my seat again. The fact
that Kelly was probably being praised right then made me want to go out
of my way to glare at Laura, just to spite my sister. That would just
make it seem like I hated Laura, though, which didn't really help me any,
plus I'd have to deal with Kelly nagging me again. It just didn't seem
worth it, this time.
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"God damn it," I hissed in frustration as I looked out the door of the
school at the torrential downpour going on outside. Without an umbrella,
there was no way I was walking home in that.
Trapped in the school until the rain let up a little, I turned back
around and walked toward the cafeteria. There, I found my lunch table
and plopped down in my seat. Leaning forward, I burrowed my head in my
arms, figuring that a nap would help pass the time while I waited.
The soft patter of rain on the roof of the school was just starting to
lull me to sleep when a male voice tugged me back awake. "Hey. Tom."
Sleepily, I raised my head just in time to see Blake, Mark, and their
other friend Parker sit down at the table across from me. Parker was the
oddball out of the three, being short, husky, and of at best average
looks. He was also pretty easy to overlook, given that he was fairly
quiet.
"If this is about me glaring at Laura this morning, my sister already
sorted that out," I informed the trio.
"Huh? You glared at Laura?" Blake questioned, clearly unaware that any
such thing had occurred.
I shook my head. "No, that's what we had to sort out. She just thought
I did."
"Oh ... okay ..." Blake mumbled as his brow furrowed.
For a moment, I waited for the big boy to speak again, but it quickly
became apparent that I'd derailed his limited intellect. "Well then, why
are you three bothering me?"
"Right. Of course," Blake replied as he got himself back on track. "We
were actually wondering if you could help us. You see, me and Mark want
to take the girls out to celebrate once summer break starts, but we don't
know where to go. You're Kelly's brother, though, so we thought maybe
you'd have an idea. You've got like the inside track. Y'know?"
I didn't even bother to suppress my groan at what was being asked of me.
It had finally come to the point where people's infatuation with my
sister was so intense that they would seek me out just because I was
related to her. My sadness truly knew no bounds.
"See, I told you it was stupid to ask him," Mark commented after my
groan. "Besides, he's just a jerk. He doesn't know anything."
My eye twitched at the insult. "Oh, I know plenty, and maybe I would've
told you two, if you'd been polite. No, instead, you ask for help then
insult me, so you can go fuck yourselves."
Blake tossed a glare at Mark for making this difficult before turning to
me. "Cut him some slack, man. He didn't mean it. We're really stressed
out about this. Isn't that right, Mark?"
"Yeah ... sure ..." Mark mumbled insincerely.
Rubbing thoughtfully at my chin, I pretended to consider the lackluster
apology. In reality, I was just thinking about whether I should just
outright refuse or do something more nefarious. In spite of Mark's
claim, I actually knew quite a bit about what Kelly did and didn't like.
After all, up until our teens had turned her into a stuck up bitch, we'd
been quite close. It would be easy for me to feed them some bogus
information that would make for a terrible date. They'd probably seek
revenge, though, and it's not like Kelly would stay mad at them once they
explained who had given them the horrible idea.
"Nope, not happening," I finally declared.
"What? Come on!" Blake pleaded.
I shook my head. "Sorry. Mark blew it for you."
"Damn it, Mark!" Blake cursed in frustration.
Mark tapped his friend on his shoulder. "Don't listen to him. He wasn't
gonna help us anyway. He just wants us to get mad at each other, because
he's a spiteful little prick."
After a yawn to express my boredom, I waved a hand dismissively at the
trio. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now, leave me alone so I can get back to
my nap."
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"Come on, come on, come on ..." I repeated over and over again as I
frantically tried to outmanoeuvre the boss in the game. Slowly, I ticked
down the thing's life, until it was only a few swings away from defeat.
Just as I was about to get those swings, though, I slipped up. A stray
tentacle swipe from the side clipped my character and launched it right
off a cliff to a game over screen. "Damn it!"
Before I could click to retry, I heard the sound of the garage door.
Perking up, I set the controller aside and hopped off the couch. A
hamburger was just what I needed to refuel before I tried the boss again.
In my eagerness, I was already in the kitchen before my mom opened the
door, talking to my dad behind her. "I was just making sure there wasn't
some game on or something."
"I appreciate it," my father replied as he came in right behind my
mother. Like my mother and Kelly, he was blonde and carrying some extra
weight, softening his once quite handsome features. He always joked that
a belly was the price of working in a diner, a price that he was glad to
pay.
"Did you get it?" I cut into the conversation eagerly.
Turning her attention to me, my mom nodded, holding up a bag. "One
hamburger, like promised."
Hurrying over, I swiped the bag from my mother and dug inside for my
burger. There were four inside along with a bunch of fries, but each was
marked on the wrapper with a letter, making it easy to know which was
mine. Grabbing it, I plopped down in my chair at the table to start
eating.
"You gonna want something to drink with that, sweetie?" my mom asked.
"Yeah, a soda thanks," I answered as I yanked off the wrapper of the
burger.
"I could use one of those as well, sweetheart," my dad added.
Chuckling to herself, my mother turned to the refrigerator to grab the
requested items. "I spend all day getting people drinks. What's a
couple more?"
Ignoring my mom's lighthearted complaint, I bit down into my burger.
Immediately, a frown creased my lips. Furrowing my brow, I pulled the
burger away from my mouth to peer at it skeptically. It didn't taste
right.
"Something wrong?" my dad asked he sat down with his own burger.
"Yeah ..." I mumbled before setting the burger down on the table. There,
I pulled off the top bun and let out a sigh. "Mom ... what do I not eat
on my burgers?"
"Tomatoes," my mother answered immediately.
I nodded. "And ..."
"And?" my mom questioned just before she winced. " ... and mayo."
That answer got another nod from me as I held up the bun of my burger.
Sure enough, it was smeared with mayonnaise as was the side of the burger
patty that had been touching it. The disgusting white goop even had the
audacity to drip a little droplet onto the table as I held it.
"I'm so sorry," my mother apologized. "I was rushing to get them all
together during a lull and it just slipped my mind."
Knowing that I should have expected this, I let out a weary sigh.
Undoubtedly, if I checked Kelly's, it would be perfect, devoid of mustard
and pickles just like she liked it. My parents never messed up her
orders. "It's fine ..."
"I can make you something else real quick," my mom offered.
I shook my head. "No. Don't worry about it. I'll just eat some fries,
I guess."
***********************************************
***********************************************
Chapter 04 - Day 3 - Saturday
I tilted my body slightly to the side as my character on screen leaned
around a corner. From that position, it was easy enough to line up the
shot. I just had to wait for the enemy to path properly.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening intruded on my focus.
Involuntarily, I tightened my hand, hitting the button to fire a moment
too soon. Rather than take down the guard, the shot whizzed passed him,
alerting him to my presence. A few moments later, the guard and his
friends had gunned me down, sending me back to the last checkpoint.
"Damn it!" I cursed as I started to work my way back through the area
that I'd already completed once.
As I played, I heard footsteps behind me in the foyer. They didn't
continue on up the stairs, though, but stopped behind me. A chill ran
down my spine as I realized that whoever it was was looking at me.
"Ugh, it's your brother again," Beth complained in hushed tones.
"This sucks," Laura added quietly. "How are we supposed to watch a movie
if he's using the TV?"
"Don't worry, guys. I'll talk to him," Kelly assured her friends softly.
Of the three, it was her words that I found most annoying. They were so
damn arrogant, as if she just assumed that I'd bow to her whims. Well,
she was going to be very disappointed when she found out what was really
going to happen.
Without pausing the game, I spoke up, "You know I can hear you girls,
right?"
"Great, now we have to-" Beth started to curse, apparently thinking that
she'd been quiet enough to be hidden by the game audio. Something
unheard cut her off, though.
"Hey, Tom. How long do you think you're gonna be?" Kelly asked, talking
at normal volume.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe like two AM."
My sister's friends gasped indignantly at my response. That was hardly a
surprise given that the time that I'd just announced would basically mean
that they'd never get to watch a movie that night. It was especially
insulting too, since it was only the middle of the afternoon at the
moment.
"Tom, come on, be reasonable," Kelly tried.
"Why don't you be reasonable?" I shot back. "I got here first, so you
have to wait until I'm done with it."
Kelly sighed in frustration before yelling out, "Mom! Tom is trying to
monopolize the TV!"
Wincing, I turned to glare at my sister for bringing parents into this.
"What the hell, you little crybaby?!"
"Don't insult your sister, Tom," my mother's voice chastised just before
she walked into the room. The very sound of her voice was enough to get
my shoulders to sag in defeat.
"Sorry, Mom," I hissed insincerely through clenched teeth.
In spite of my lack of sincerity, my apology seemed to be good enough for
my mother as she turned her attention to Kelly. "Now what's the
problem?"
"Tom is trying to monopolize the TV all night," Kelly explained, pointing
accusingly at me.
"So what? I got here first!" I argued.
"Yeah, well, I have friends over," Kelly retorted.
My mom let out an exasperated sigh before turning to me. "Can't you just
let your sister have the TV?"
"Why should I?!" I growled angrily. "Just because she has friends
over?!"
"Yes," my mother answered. "Plus, I already told her the other day that
she could have the TV tonight when she asked if she could have friends
over."
"That's ridiculous!" I exclaimed. "She just gets to call dibs days ago
and I have to live with it?! Fuck that!"
Cursing was not a smart idea. Immediately, my mother's features clenched
and her eyes narrowed. It was a sure sign that I'd lost this argument.
"That's it. No more TV for you the rest of the weekend, young man."
"Fine Have the stupid TV!" I spat furiously, chucking my controller
away. Shoving myself from my seat, I stomped off toward the front door.
"Tom?! Where are you going?!" my mom questioned when she realized that I
wasn't going up to my room like she'd expected.
"Away from here!" I shouted as I tugged on my shoes, stepped through the
door, and slammed it closed behind me.
***********************************************
***********************************************
"Gonna be dark soon," I muttered as I sat against a tree, looking out at
the setting sun.
The view before me was truly breathtaking. I was sitting up on one of
the bluffs, a little grassy outcropping that provided a perfect spot to
gaze upon the ocean. From up behind me, the sun just barely peaked over
the hill, casting its oranges and purples over the expanse of the ocean
which spread out as far as the eye could see. Far off in the distance, I
could just start to see the night, a pure black that would soon envelop
the town.
Another perk of the spot was the noise. It was away from the town and a
straight fall down to the ocean. That left the water crashing against
the rocks below in an endless symphony of waves that soothed my
frustrated soul. Even with as furious as I was, I couldn't resist its
calming chorus as it lulled me into tranquility.
While I might have calmed some from where I'd been when I stormed out of
the house, I was still in no mood to return home. I'd just have to
listen to my sister and her friends giggle and squeal to whatever drivel
they had decided to watch while I was forced to sit alone in my room,
bored out of my mind. Rather than suffer that, I just continued to sit
there as the light faded away, alone with my thoughts.
Even once the sun was gone, the view was still beautiful. The moon
reflected faintly off the water below, and I could watch as each
twinkling star showed up in the night sky. Soon, the tapestry above
seemed quite crowded with all the little lights.
It was in that starlit darkness that something intruded into my solitude.
At first, it was just the crack of a branch, causing an involuntary
twitch of my head. I could have dismissed it as an animal or a falling
twig, if not for the sound of rustling that followed, and the footsteps
that came after that. Finally, there was the most obnoxious thing of
all, the light of a flashlight chasing the darkness away.
"There you are," Kelly remarked from behind me.
"Go away," I grumbled, frustration already building over the fact that it
was my sister that had come looking for me.
"Can't," Kelly replied as she walked over to stand next to me. "I told
Mom that I'd bring you home.
A weary sigh escaped my lips. "Of course, you did."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kelly questioned.
"Nothing," I muttered, seeing no reason to explain myself. "How did you
find me anyway?"
Kelly chuckled. "Are you kidding? This is your favorite spot. You've
been running here whenever you're upset since you were like four."
Hearing that response actually surprised me a little. It wasn't like I'd
been trying to hide the spot or anything. I was just surprised that
anyone had noticed it. No one ever noticed what I did unless it got in
someone else's way.
"Well, you're going to have to disappoint Mom, because I'm not going
back, so leave me alone," I changed back to the original subject.
"You sure? Because, it's going to get pretty cold up here in the middle
of the night," Kelly remarked.
I shrugged. "Don't care."
Silence hung in the air after my dismissal. Kelly made no move to leave,
however. She'd never give up that easily. Instead, she just stood
there, no doubt coming up with her next strategy for convincing me. It
didn't matter to me what she said, though. I had no intention of letting
her tell me what to do again.
"You know, I didn't just come up here, because Mom wanted you home,"
Kelly finally said after several moments of silence.
"Really? Fascinating," I responded dryly.
My sarcasm didn't phase Kelly in the slightest. "I was worried about you,
actually. This is the first time you haven't come home before dark."
"A smart person might take that to mean that I'm still angry and want to
be left alone," I replied. "Of course, the fact that I keep telling you
to leave me alone is a pretty big hint, too."
"Yeah, but why?" Kelly asked. "It's just the TV."
I snorted derisively. "Just the TV. Right ..."
"What? It is!" Kelly insisted. "Plus, if you'd just been reasonable
about it, I would have shared it with you."
"Been reasonable?!" I spat, rising from my seat to glare at my sister.
"You march in with your friends, acting all snooty and entitled, calling
Mom on me when you don't get your way, and somehow I'm the unreasonable
one?!"
"Yeah! You are!" Kelly yelled back. "There was no way you actually
planned to use the TV all night, but the moment you knew that I wanted
it, you just had to be an asshole about it!"
I rolled my eyes at the claim. "Of course! Someone doesn't want to give
you what you want for once, and they just must be an asshole! That's the
only possible explanation!"
"Argh!" Kelly growled, shaking her hands at me in frustration. "You're
so obnoxious! All I wanted to do was watch a movie with my friends, and
you had to turn it into this huge thing! It's not my fault no one likes
you!"
Before I could respond with an enraged retort of my own, pain stabbed
through my abdomen, robbing me of the breath for words. For one shocked
moment, all I could do was grab my chest as I tried futilely to get my
lungs to work. The next thing I knew, my legs crumpled beneath me,
dropping me to my knees. I could hear my heart beating, thumping loudly
in my ears faster and faster. With it, came a rush of blood so loud that
it was like a wave crashing over me, drowning out everything in the
world, but the frantic beating.
Even as I wheezed desperately for air, my sister rushed forward. Her
lips were moving, so I could tell that she was talking, but I couldn't
hear the words. Strangely, even looking at her started to become
challenging for me as the night seemed to be getting darker around me
with every moment that slipped by. I could feel her hand on my shoulder,
though; feel the calming effect of her power try to fight against the
racing of my heart. With it came a pervasive numbness, taking away the
pain, and leaving behind a moment of peace.
The peace shattered an instant later when a retching cough overtook me.
Something warm and wet splattered my hand as I hacked and wheezed. Even
as I fought for air, I raised that hand in front of me, seeing it glisten
darkly in the light from my sister's flashlight. That was the very last
thing I saw before darkness swooped in to take the world away.
***********************************************
***********************************************
Chapter 05 - Day 9
Brilliant white light greeted me on the other side of the darkness. It
was so blinding that, at first, I thought that heaven was going to be a
pretty annoying place to spend eternity. It was only after that thought
that I noticed that the light wasn't just blinding, but also painful,
stinging my eyes with its rays. In fact, my whole body ached. Clearly,
heaven was not where I was. There was no way paradise would be that
uncomfortable.
Knowing that I wasn't in heaven didn't help me know where I was, though.
For that, I had to wait the interminable time it took for my eyes to
adjust to the light. Slowly, color started to appear within the white,
then shapes, and finally, blurry details.
My surroundings proved to be not much more interesting than the brilliant
white. There were bright overhead lights above me, clearly what had been
blinding me. Other than that, there was very little. At first, all I
could see were some empty looking beige walls. It wasn't until I tilted
my head all the way to the side that I finally saw anything interesting.
Laying beside my head on the pillow was a mess of something that was dark
purple in color. In addition to the odd color, it was slick and matted,
glistening a little in the light. Furrowing my brow, I just peered at
the strange strands for a moment before my mind finally caught up with
what it was seeing. The purple stuff was hair.
"Wha?" I rasped in a dry, strained voice that was barely a whisper. Even
the effort of that single syllable made my throat ache, causing me to gag
and cringe.
Ignoring the pain in my throat, I kept my focus on the hair, reaching up
a hand to grab some of it. The locks were fairly long and soft but a
little greasy feeling. I could also feel pressure on my scalp from
pulling on it, meaning that it wasn't just hair - it was my hair.
Before I could probe further, a cheerful female voice spoke up. "Good
morning, dear."
Ignoring my hair for a moment, I twisted my head around to the voice.
It's owner was a mundane looking, middle aged, blonde woman in what
looked like green medical scrubs. That meant that she was some kind of
nurse or doctor or something.
Thoughts of medicine brought back fragmented memories of feeling like I
was about to die. Apparently, death hadn't decided to claim me, however,
as here I was in what I was guessing was a hospital. While it answered
one question, it added several more to it.
As my mind pieced things together, the nurse walked over to me and
started a quick exam which included flashing a light in my eyes. "How
are you feeling?"
"Sore," I breathed weakly, wincing at the pain from my throat.
"I see," the nurse stated simply. "Anything else? Chills? Shortness of
breath? Stabbing pains?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Alright, good," the nurse declared. "Now, I'm going to go get you some
water and the doctor, but first, I need you to relax. Can you do that
for me?"
Confused, I nodded. "Kay."
"Good, now you may or may not have noticed some of this already, but
there were some changes while you were unconscious," the nurse began in a
tone that was clearly intended to be reassuring.
Weakly, I pointed at my head where the purple hair rested. "Hair."
"Yes, like your hair," the nurse confirmed. "That was not the only
change brought on by your manifestation, however."
The word manifestation caught in my mind. I'd heard it plenty of times
when Kelly's mutation had first revealed itself. While it explained how
my hair could be purple, it also added many new questions. The most
important of which in my mind was, what else had changed. I started to
lift my head to find out exactly that, when the nurse pressed her hands
against my shoulders to hold me down.
"Hold on just a moment, dear," the nurse directed. Unable to sit up
against the pressure, I just slumped back in the bed to let her talk, all
the while feeling my worry building. "Just remember to stay calm and
focus on the positives. Okay?"
I nodded immediately, as much to get the nurse to release me more quickly
as to express concession to her request. It worked exactly how I was
hoping it would, too. The moment the nurse released me, I jerked upright
to look down at myself.
There was a lot less to see than I'd first thought. The way the woman
had been talking, I'd begun to fear something horrendous, like the
mutation had left me without legs or some other extreme deformity that
would be impossible to live with. That didn't seem to be a problem for
me, though, as I could see legs and feet tenting out the blanket that
covered my lower half. My upper half was also covered, although, it was
by a hospital gown not the blanket that which had falling to my lap when
I sat up. That didn't stop the gown from being tented out as well, very
prominently in fact, in a way that was definitely not expected. Pushing
out from my chest were two, large, round mounds that were very clearly
breasts.
At first, my jaw just dropped. The sight was just too stunning for any
more than that. A moment after that, my hands caught up with my shock,
flying to my chest to squish into the globes of flesh. Their solidity
brought another realization to me. If I had breasts, I probably had
something else as well. That just gave my hands something new to clutch
at as they darted from my chest to my groin which proved to be decidedly
flat.
Throughout my groping, the nurse just stood beside me impassively,
clearly having expected something similar to occur when I saw my changes.
It was only after I'd been holding my crotch for few seconds that I
remembered her presence. Blushing, I yanked my hands away from my body
and jerked my head around to look at her.
"I'm a girl," I rasped out the painfully obvious.
The nurse nodded. "Yes, dear. Now, are you calm enough that I can leave
you alone without you accidently hurting yourself? I need to go get the
doctor."
"Uhm ..." I mumbled uncertainly as I looked down at myself before finally
managing a slight nod.
"Remember focus on the positives. You're alive, healthy, and still human
looking," the nurse told me before she turned and walked out of the room.
The entire time the nurse was gone, I stared at myself, patting my hands
over my new anatomy. In addition to my altered chest and plumbing, there
were other differences as well. My hips were notably wider, making my
waist feel tiny in comparison, and my skin was softer and a little paler.
In fact, every part of me felt softer, not at all like the hardness of
the somewhat bony frame that I was used to having.
"Ahem. Miss Grant?" a new voice, though still female, interrupted my
investigation.
Blushing again, I jerked my hands away from my body and looked up. This
woman was younger, maybe thirty, and wore a white coat. She also had a
confident, intelligent look to her that was decidedly calming. The cup
of water in her hand was quite welcome as well.
"Sorry," I murmured apologetically as I had once again been caught
feeling myself up.
"You'll want to gulp it down, but that will just make you cough. Take it
slow, only small sips for now," the doctor instructed as she handed me
the cup of water.
Eagerly, I took it, but I followed the instructions. Sipping made me
simultaneously feel extremely thirsty as well as causing me to cough
weakly. Still, it felt so good to have the fluid running down my dry
throat that I kept at it through the other issues.
"Now then, the nurse said that you were sore, but claimed to have no
other symptoms. Is that correct?" the doctor asked, getting a nod from
me. "Alright, I'm going to examine you real quick. Tell me if anything
hurts."
What followed was an embarrassing series of pokes and prods all over my
body to check for tender areas. No issues came up from that, or the few
other quick tests that the doctor ran. The lack of issues was definitely
a relief. It wasn't common, but I knew a whole lot could go wrong when a
mutant manifested.
"Well, everything looks good," the doctor declared once she was finally
finished. "Your changes are stable, and you're showing no lasting ill
effects outside of what would be expected from being unconscious for five
days. There's one last thing to test, but if that goes well, I'll have
the nurses call your parents so that they can come and pick you up."
"Come and pick me up?" I asked in a voice that was starting to recover
from it's raspiness. However, it was doing so in a decidedly feminine
way. "They're not here?"
The doctor shook her head. "No. There was no way of knowing when, or
even if, you would awaken after what happened. After the first couple of
days, they returned home to get back to their jobs."
"Of course, they did," I muttered angrily. If it had been Kelly, I'm
sure they would've never left her side, no matter how long they had to
wait. They couldn't be bothered to close the diner for more than a
couple of days for me, though.
"Anyway, the final test is to see if you can handle solid food," the
doctor moved on. "One of the nurses will be by in a little bit with
something for you to eat. Try to keep it down and finish it, but don't
push yourself."
I nodded in understanding. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good, now are there any other questions you have for me?" the doctor
inquired.
I shook my head. "No, ma'am."
With no questions to answer, the doctor walked out, leaving me alone with
my changes once again. This time, I didn't grope myself. Instead, I
tossed the blanket aside and looked down, assessing my new physique
critically. The hospital gown wasn't exactly ideal for this, but a quick
few tugs got it pulled tightly around me, allowing me to get a pretty
good look at what I was working with.
The most obvious aspect of my figure was definitely my breasts. They
were very large, obviously bigger than the ones my sister possessed which
everyone drooled over. That wasn't the only aspect of my body that
overshadowed hers either. I was thinner than Kelly too with a tiny waist
and long slim legs. I even thought my hips looked nicer. Clearly, at
least in the body department, I had Kelly beat.
"Hmm ... wonder if my face is just as good?" I mused. If it was, then
that would make me quite a beautiful girl. Just the idea of that
possibility caused a slight smile to curl my lips.
***********************************************
***********************************************
Chapter 06 - Day 9
"Amazing," I breathed as I looked at my reflection.
Frustratingly, it had taken a while for me to finally get to a mirror.
First, I'd had to prove that I could eat, which, thankfully, I'd managed.
Then, I'd had to deal with the nurse removing several tubes from me, some
of which were inserted into very ... intimate areas. Only then was I
granted the privacy and mobility necessary to get up from my bed to the
bathroom where a mirror had waited.
Seeing myself for the first time had not disappointed. My face was every
bit on par with my figure sporting absolutely stunning features. There
was an exoticness to it as well, courtesy of the thick purple hair that
framed it, and my large, almond-shaped, yellow eyes. The former was
something of a mess at the moment, greasy and tangled, but it was
obviously very good hair, soft, thick, and long enough to reach my
shoulders. It wasn't the only thing that had grown out during my brief
coma. My nails had been exceptionally long as well, until I'd been able
to clip them to a more manageable length, anyway.
It was a little weird for me to see the girl in the mirror and know it
was me. A part of me insisted that I was a boy. It wasn't the biggest
part, though. The rest looked at the beauty in the mirror and knew that
I had traded up. After all, being a boy hadn't exactly been going great,
and my sister was proof pretty girls had it so much easier.
Raising my hands, I poked at my face a little, feeling the refined
cheekbones and full lips that I now sported. "Regeneration sure works
fast."
According to the doctor, that was one of my powers - regeneration. I'd
gotten to see it at work when they'd taken my IV out and the hole had
just instantly closed without leaving so much as a mark behind on my
skin. It had also been a major contributor in why I had changed so
significantly and completely in just a few days. Of course, it had its
downsides, like that my blood was now considered a biohazard, but overall
it seemed like a very useful power to have.
"Now, let's see about that other power," I mumbled. Ending my prodding
of my face, I dropped my hands down in front of me over the sink. I'd
been told that, when I'd first been brought in, I'd been leaking some
kind of purple goop from my pores. It was time to see if that had just
been a result of my sudden manifestation or a power all its own. I was
hoping for the latter.
Focusing on my hands, I tried to visualize what it must have looked like
to leak that stuff, thinking that might make it happen again. Several
moments passed, though, with nothing happening. My hands just rested
there, perfectly normal.
Frustrated, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and refocus. If
visualizing the situation didn't make it happen again, it was time to try
forcing it. Rather than visualize the goop I tried to force it out of
me, tightening the muscles in my arms so much that they shook from the
strain.
At first, my efforts didn't seem to work, leaving me straining futilely,
but then something inside me shifted, like a muscle that I didn't even
know I had. Twin droplets of purple, the same color as my hair, appeared
on my palms before quickly ballooning outward. As they grew, the clung
to my hand, turning into palm sized gumdrops before I finally stopped
pushing the goop out of me.
"Yes!" I exclaimed in delight as I shook the blobs. The stuff wiggled
like gelatin as it clung to my hands. That stickiness brought a frown to
my face. "Does it not come off?"
As if hearing my desire, the twin balls popped free from my palms and
dropped into the sink. There, they hit with a soft, wet splat. After
they struck, they seemed to latch onto the spot that they'd landed on,
jiggling a bit before sitting still.
"Huh, so I can throw goop? I guess that's cool," I mused as I reached
down to poke at one of the blobs with a finger.
Much to my surprise, the blob reacted as my finger drew close. Ii
elongated out from its perfect hemisphere into a thin tendril that
reached out to meet my fingertip with its own. It might have held that
position except I jerked my hand back in surprise. Without my finger
there, the little tendril just wiggled around until it bumped into the
side of the sink. Once it did, it clung to it, rubbing against it like a
cat against someone's leg.
"Wow ..." I breathed, marvelling at the movement. Clearly, I could do a
lot more with the stuff than just throw it. Deciding to test exactly
what all was possible, I reached toward it again, softly calling. "Come
here, little guy."
The purple tendril responded immediately, reaching out for my finger
again. This time, it didn't just poke the tip, but wrapped itself
tightly around the first digit. The thing was squishy, but surprisingly
warm and strong, capable of gripping my finger tightly enough that it
wouldn't lose its grip when I moved my finger around.
"Fascinating," I remarked as I wiggled my finger in the tentacle's grip.
"I wonder if I can make them do things."
Leaving my finger trapped by the one blob, I turned my attention to the
other. It was still just a little ball resting there in the sink.
Peering at it, I focused on what I wanted it to do, trying to will it to
obey my commands.
Immediately, the blob stirred, elongating just like the first one had.
This time, the tentacle did not reach toward me, but up to the faucet
above. It was quite the reach for the small tendril, but the thing
seemed to stretch and grow to make it, allowing it to wrap itself around
the knob. Once it had, it twisted around. A moment later, water shot
out of the faucet, splattering into the sink. At first, this was
exciting news, since it meant that I could use the tentacles to perform
tasks. However, that excitement was quickly tempered by what I saw next.
Where the water hit the tentacles, they started to dissolve, dying the
water purple in the process. Slowly, but inevitably, the tentacles
melted away. Within less than a minute, the sink was empty of any sign
that the little things had even existed.
"Hmm, water soluble. Good to know," I mumbled, a little sad to see the
tentacles go like that. They'd been cute. "I hope that stuff isn't a
biohazard too."
A knock on the door pulled me from my experimentation. It was followed
quickly by the sound of my mother's voice calling, "Tom? Are you in
there, sweetie?"
Not bothering to answer that question, I just turned and pulled open the
door to reveal my mother waiting on the other side. "Hi, Mom."
A moment later, I was wrapped in a hug. "Thank God. When the doctor
said that she didn't know if you'd wake up ... I'm just so glad you're
alright."
Reluctantly, I returned the hug briefly before trying to pull back. My
mom wasn't ready to let go, though, forcing me to stay in her embrace for
another few moments. "Me too ..."
Finally, my mother pulled back, looking me over. "How are you ... uhm
... feeling?"
"A little tired and sore, but otherwise, good," I answered sincerely.
"I meant about the whole ...," my mom clarified with a telling look down
at my very female body.
"Still good, Mom," I assured her.
My mother blinked in surprise. "It doesn't bother you?"
I shook my head nonchalantly. "No. I'll adjust. In fact, I was
thinking that, to help with that, it might be a good idea to go by a new
name. I'm not really much of a Tom anymore."
My response only deepened my mom's surprise, adding confusion to the mix.
"Well ... uhm ... okay, yeah, if you think you're ready for that."
"I am," I answered confidently. There was nothing I was more ready for
than to distance myself from my crappy, old life trapped in my sister's
shadow. In fact, since I'd woken up, I'd been thinking about little else
besides how to do exactly that. "I was thinking Teresa or Tessa for
short."
Still shocked by my calm, my mother nodded dazedly. "Uhm ... sure.
That'll work."
The lukewarm answer caused me to frown slightly. It was hard to tell if
it was because my mom had an issue with my choice or because she wasn't
ready for it. "Do you not like the name?"
"What?! No, of course I like it!" my mother answered overly
emphatically. "This is just going a little quicker than the doctor led
me to expect."
"Alright, then Tessa it is," I declared, smiling proudly. It felt good
to have a new name, one that I, at least, thought fit me well.
Certainly, it was much better than Tom.
"Well ... Tessa, the doctor says you're good to be released whenever, so
you should probably get changed," my mother segued, smiling with relief.
As she talked, she walked over to one of the chairs in the room to grab a
bag before turning to hand it to me. "They're your sister's clothes, so
they probably won't be the greatest fit, but they'll have to do until we
can get you some of your own."
Reluctantly, I took the bag. "Okay. I'll be right back."
"I'll be out at the nurse's station, doing the paperwork for your
release," my mom told me as I stepped back into the bathroom.
Once the door was closed, I glared at the bag of clothes. Wearing
Kelly's hand-me-downs was the last thing that I wanted to do, but I
supposed that I didn't have much of a choice. There was nothing else for
me to wear, and I doubted that my mom would go buy new stuff for me right
away.
Letting out an annoyed sigh, I quickly stripped out of the hospital gown
before pulling out the stuff in the bag. The outfit within wasn't much,
just a baggy t-shirt, some oversized jeans with a belt to hold them up,
and some clogs. For underwear, there was no bra, just a pair of panties.
Thankfully, those seemed to be new, so I wasn't subjected to something as
disgusting as wearing my sister's.
Once I was finished dressing, I checked my reflection in the mirror. The
clothes were hardly flattering, but I still smiled a little at the sight.
I'd seen each article on my sister at some point or another. The jeans,
she could barely button, but they had plenty of room around my waist, and
my feet practically swam in her shoes. Even my bust seemed to do a
better job of tenting out the loose shirt. Seeing such clear proof that
I had a nicer figure than her made it worth it to have to