Happenstance - Part Two free porn video

Happenstance - Part Two By: Light Clark Synopsis: With no way to find the person that changed him, Reggie is forced to face the terrifying truth - that he's completely and permanently stuck as a woman. Chapter 06 The blinds in my room were very good at keeping out the light, but they weren't perfect. Little rays leaked through, slicing apart the darkness along their path. It wasn't enough to drive away all the shadow, but it cast the room into gray instead of black. If only my own hopes had that much light to cling to. Unfortunately, days had passed since my transformation into a woman, over a week in fact. They had done so in much the same manner that they had before the change. I woke up, I worked, I hung out with George. It was a near perfect facsimile of normalcy. Nothing was different, and yet everything was. When I woke in the morning, it was to being female. When I worked, it was while I was being harried by being female. When I hung out with George, there was the awkwardness of being female and the worry that instilled in my friend's gaze every time some little hitch or stumble happened in conversation. Dawn to dusk, I had to deal with my altered state. There was no escaping it. Letting out a weary sigh, I shifted around a bit in an effort to find the position that required me to feel the shape of my form the least. No position seemed much better than the last, though. All I could do was settle where I was and go back to staring at the blinds. Already that day, I had wasted hours on such fruitless ventures. I might well have wasted hours more as well. It was certainly my plan to. However, as was its want, the world decided to dash such plans apart in the form of a knock on my door. "What?!" I groaned, barely managing enough volume to be heard through the wood. George opened the door, poking his head inside to look at me. "Hey, wanna do something?" Thoroughly disinterested, I shrugged ponderously. "Not really." "What about dinner?" my friend tried, undaunted by my apathy. "Any thoughts on that?" This time, I shook my head. "No. Anything's fine." Offered nothing a second time, George fell silent in what I hoped was a prelude to his leaving. That was what he usually did. The whole week, he'd made such overtures, and when I shot them down, he left. Other than some of my gaming breaks during my evening work, we only really spent time around each other during dinner. Much to my surprise, my friend did not leave. Instead, he broke his silence a few moments later by commanding, "Alright, get up. Right now." Lifting my head a little, I peered at the man like he was insane. "What? Why?" "Because, I've let this go on long enough," George stated simply. "We've officially moved past the part where you get to lie around feeling sorry for yourself. You got turned into a girl. It's time to get over it." Rolling my eyes, I let my head thump back against the pillow. "Get over it. Right. What do you know about it?" "I know a lot. I know that, if I let you, you'll just stay stuck in this funk forever, never trying to fix a damn thing. I know you think everything you do is pointless. And, I also know that half the world gets along just fine, which means, so can you," my friend countered. "It's not like you got crippled or something, Reggie. You can still do everything you used to." "Except pee standing up," I retorted smartly. "Now, that's just not true," George argued, not willing to let me have even that one silly point. "It's not as if female plumbing doesn't work if your ass isn't on the toilet. You just have to step forward and straddle the thing," he explained facetiously, pantomiming the actions that would be required. A helpless little laugh burst out of my lips as I watched the big man straddle an imaginary toilet. "You must be joking." "Nope," my roommate replied. "Probably be best to take your underwear off first, though, or just not wear any. Might get in the way otherwise." Still laughing, I shook my head at the absurdity. "Well, even if I was willing to go through all that trouble. That's not the point. I just don't want to do anything." "And I just don't care," George countered immediately, stepping forward to loom over the bed threateningly. "Now, are you going to get up on your own or are you going to make me drag you out of here." My eyes narrowed at the threat. "And where would you be dragging me, exactly?" "The bathroom, because that's what you need, a bath," my friend answered. "It's been over a week." Mention of my personal hygiene, or lack thereof recently, sent a cringe through me. It wasn't as if I'd just decided that I was fine with being dirty, although, at the moment I didn't really care much either way. No, I'd been avoiding a shower for other reasons. "You're not going to drag me into a bath," I tried to call the man's bluff. "Oh yeah?" George questioned confidently, before leveling a hard glare at me. "Try me." "What about my clothes, gonna strip 'em off me on the way?" I demanded. "You'll get the cops called on you, doing that to a girl against her will." To my surprise, anger flashed across my friend's face at that jibe. "Oh no. You don't get to play the girl card, not while you're holed up in here, wallowing in your misery becauses of how horrible you think it is. You want to be treated like a girl, you gotta accept it first, so get up and get a shower, before I make you." "Alright!" I huffed in exasperation, shoving myself upright. "I'll get up! Happy?!" "Yes," George muttered, relaxing a little. "While you're in there try to think of a restaurant for dinner tonight, because we're going out to eat." I winced at those plans. "Come on, man ... I don't want to go out." "I know. That's why we're doing it," my friend replied as he turned to walk out of my room. "And don't try to take forever, because you're not getting out of it." Sighing, I shook my head at the departing man's back. It wasn't until he was out of the room, though, that I muttered, "Fuck ...I should just lock the door, rather than put up with this shit." While I truly believed that was the right course of action, I didn't follow it. When I got up and walked to the door, I just continued right on through it to the bathroom. I couldn't have said why I did that. Maybe, I just thought I could use a nice hot shower. Unfortunately, the reason why I had been avoiding such a cleansing reared its head as soon as I started the water to warm it up. Namely, to take a shower, I had to remove my clothes. In doing so, there was no way to avoid looking at my female body. After that, I'd have to touch it to wash it. Every moment of the task would be a poignant reminder of my change. "Damn it," I grumbled as I set about stripping, trying to pretend like it was just like before the run in at the mall. After all, I hadn't even been bothering to wear a bra while I'd lain around the apartment, and panties were sort of like briefs, so my clothes weren't overly girly. The wobble of my boobs and thickness of my hips were hard to ignore, but if I just closed my eyes and pretended that I'd just put on some weight, maybe ... Try as I might, all efforts to delude myself failed utterly. Even just standing there, they weren't effective and as soon as I was actually in the water and forced to touch my body, I quickly stopped even trying. There was just no hiding from the fact that I was a woman. "If I'd been hot, at least I could've had some fun," I double-cursed as I stepped out of the shower at its conclusion. If that had been the case, I could've spent most of my day admiring myself in the mirror or taking a few long showers for reasons other than cleanliness. When I stopped in front of the mirror, and wiped the fog away, though, all I saw was some pudgy nerd girl. Maybe attractive enough to date, if it had been someone else, but as my own form, it wasn't enough to distract me from my problems. With a heavy sigh, I started to turn to leave, but I stopped and squinted at my reflection. "I should probably do something about my hair," I noted critically. It wasn't soaked in days of grease anymore, but it was a ratty mess from days of disregard. That didn't exactly bother me, but I had a feeling that George would send me right back in here to fix it if I didn't look at least halfway presentable. In the time since my change, I'd learned that long hair could be a real nuisance. It often fell into my way, blocking my vision. Sometimes, it got caught on, in, or under things. At first, it had even been itchy, making me want to constantly scratch at my neck, shoulders, and back as it tickled me. None of those things were close to the nightmare that was trying to deal with it right then in the bathroom. The first problem had presented itself in the shower, namely that there was just so much of it. Cleaning it had taken way longer than I was used to. Then, I was faced with the second issue related to its volume. It held a lot of water, leaving it soaked and dripping even after repeated towling. The final problem, though, was the worst. Short hair almost never tangled. A person could do pretty much anything and still run a comb through it with ease. Long hair, however ... oh man. It was like trying to hike through the dense foliage of some african jungle. Every section had a snag in it, often multiples, requiring me to repeatedly go through the same area over and over again. It was several long minutes of painful tugs and twists as I literally ripped hair from my head trying to fix it. "I'm amazed there's still any on my head," I complained as I chucked a clump of the brown locks into the little waste bin by the vanity. Of course, in reality, it hadn't been all that much. Looking in the mirror, I couldn't even tell that any was gone. It sure felt like there should be, though. With the hair issue resolved, I grabbed my towel to wrap around me. I started to do it at my waist only to bump one squishy hip and remember that I no longer had the luxury of only having to cover my lower half. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I pulled the cloth higher, holding it over my annoying bust as I grabbed the knob to pull the door open. My foot was just starting to exit the bathroom when I was forced to lurch to a stop. Out in the little hallway between our rooms, George ground to a halt as well. That prevented any sort of collision, but it left us just standing there staring at each other with me in nothing but a towel. Having been roommates for years, it was hardly the first time that I'd bumped into my friend during the journey between the bathroom and my bedroom. It had never been a big deal. The last time, we'd just made some jokes about my growing potbelly. Now, though, it definitely was a big deal, big enough to just freeze me there with no idea what to do. Luckily, George snapped out of his shock quite quickly, staring for only a moment before he quickly jerked his gaze away. Coughing uncomfortably, he stepped back to let me by, "Ahem, go ahead." Heat rushed into my cheeks as I went from befuddled to embarrassed. Without so much as a word, I just scurried right past the big man, hair and other things bobbing about. A moment later, I darted into the blessed sanctuary of my room and slammed the door behind me. "Ugh ..." I groaned once the barrier was in place, shuddering at the awkwardness of the situation from which I had just escaped. "Alright, new rule: from now on, I always bring a change of clothes with me." Resolution made, I walked right over to the dresser, intent on getting clothed as soon as I possibly could. All the while, I tried very hard to not think about what had just happened. There was nothing special about it at all. It had only been weird, because everything was weird now. Fortunately, I quickly got distracted by other awkwardness. After all, George had insisted that I had to go out to eat, so I couldn't just throw on anything and flop onto my bed. For the first time since I'd returned home from the store with some in tow, I was forced to wear a bra, an item that was obnoxious to get on properly and uncomfortable even once it was. I was glad to quickly have it covered by one of my familiar t-shirts. Panties were likewise hidden by shorts that, while made for my hip-laden lower half, weren't too different from the kind of shorts I was used to. The cute little socks were all but unseen under fairly normal, albeit smaller, tennis shoes. "All this trouble just to go be miserable somewhere," I grumbled as I looked down at my completed attire. "I don't know why I'm even letting him make me do it." As if somehow knowing that I was mustering the courage to back out, George chose that moment to knock on the door. Unlike usual, he did not poke his head in after, but just asked through the door, "You almost ready?" Sighing, I turned and marched over to the door to pull it open. On the other side, my friend stood there waiting, face looking a touch strained when he saw me. "I guess so," I answered his previous question before reaching up to swat at a stray damp lock that had drifted in front of my shoulders. "Wish there was something I could do about this hair, though." Lifting his gaze, George peered at my hair thoughtfully. "Hmm, a hairdryer might help, and we could stop and pick you up some ties so you can pull it back or I suppose you could just cut it." "Good idea," I remarked, starting toward the kitchen. "Let me go grab some scissors." Before I got more than a step, my roommate's hand dropped onto my shoulder to stop me. "No. I'm not going to let you just hack it off, because you're in a bad mood." "Why not?" I demanded, shrugging free of the hand as I spun to face the man. "What does it matter? It's just hair." "Yeah, because you just grabbed scissors and started chopping whenever it got too long before," George commented sarcastically. "Nobody wants to have a shitty haircut, so until you actually spend some time thinking about it, you're not doing anything." While I could see the logic, that didn't stop me from gritting my teeth in frustration at being dictated to like that. "Argh, it's my hair, damn it! If I want to chop it off, then that's what I'm going to do!" Face a mask of stoic resolve, my roommate shook his head curtly. "You know that's not how it works, Reggie. Friends don't let friends harm themselves when they're depressed." "It's just fucking hair!" I yelled at that argument. "It'll fucking grow back!" Again, George shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You-" "Fuck you!" I spat in the man's face, putting an end to whatever bullshit he planned to spout off. The moment those words were away, I spun, intending to head right back into my room and slam the door behind me. I didn't quite make it, though, or rather, George didn't let me. He stepped forward as I retreated, catching the door as soon as I tried to shut it. As a guy, I wouldn't have stood a chance of forcing it closed after that. As a girl, it was truly impossible, leaving me with no choice but to twist around to glare at him. "Get out of my room, George!" I screamed as forcefully as I could. While not powerful enough to actually drive my friend out of the room, my outburst did stop him in the doorway as a wince flickered across his face. In its wake, there was only sadness and pity as he looked at me. "Alright, I'll leave you alone if that's what you want, but you know I'm right about this, Reggie. You're not going to find any answers by locking yourself in here and trying to deny the changes in your life." The concession to my will was enough to cool my rage some, enough at least to actually consider the man's words. Unfortunately, I did know that George was right. It was not my first time hiding from the world, and the only reason that I had stopped the previous time was because of him. He'd done much the same as he'd been trying to do just moments before, forcing his way into my seclusion before dragging me out of it. "There's just one problem with that, George," I replied darkly. "There aren't any answers out there either." "But there are," my friend insisted. "If you just come out and live, you'll see how little has really changed. You look different. That's all." That claim had me shaking my head glumly. "You just don't get it." "Then explain it to me," George told me. "I want to understand. I want to help." It was a simple request, sincere and forthright. I knew my friend well enough to know that he would listen. He would do his best to work with me to get past whatever issues I offered up as the cause. There was just one problem. "I can't ..." I murmured, looking down at myself. There wasn't any particular reason for me to despise being a girl. It wasn't as if I thought women were somehow inferior to men. It wasn't as if I had been proud of my old form or even fond of it. It wasn't as if my physical form and capabilities were even all that important to me. "It's just ... not right. Like my soul was ripped from my body and shoved into someone else's. Everything just feels foreign, awkward, and ... wrong." My answer prompted a sympathetic nod from my roommate. "I can imagine, but it sounds like to me that the only way to fix that is to make that body your own. Figure out what sort of girl you want to be and try to be it." "But I don't want to be a girl at all, much less any particular kind," I pointed out. George shrugged. "I'm not sure anyone really wants to be what they are, Reggie. I certainly didn't go to bed at night as a little kid, dreaming of being some Lurch-looking nerd lawyer, but I took what I was given and I made it into something I could be happy with." That description pulled a weak chuckle from me as a wan smirk twisted my lips. "You might be big and tall, but other than that, don't look anything like Lurch, babyface." "That doesn't stop people from calling me that whenever I do anything even slightly clumsy," my friend countered. "Certainly, I would've much prefered to be some dashing jock type with girls swooning all over me." "Yeah, who wouldn't?" I agreed lightly, but that mood didn't last. I'd barely finished that rhetorical question before the weight of the world came crashing right back down, squashing a heavy sigh out of me. "This is going to be a lot harder to deal with than just some mocking nicknames, though. I don't know if I can do it." "Well, that's what I'm here for," George remarked. "I'm just going to make you keep trying until you do. No quitting on my watch." "Is that so?" I asked. My answer came in the form of a reassuring smile and a firm nod. "Yep, so stop your moping, because we're still going out to dinner." Chuckling, I nodded in concession. "Alright, alright, but we're getting those hair ties first. I'm sick of this nonsense getting in the way all the time." *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 07 "So, how's having it all tied back?" George asked as he grabbed the tray with our food from the counter and turned to walk to one of the tables. "Better?" Falling into step beside the man, I shrugged as I bobbed my head about a bit, flicking my new ponytail around behind me. "Actually, yes. It's out of the way, at least." "And it didn't even take any rash decisions or sharp objects," George joked as he found a suitable seat and plopped down. "Isn't that something?" "Yes, yes, you were right," I begrudgingly conceded as I sat down as well. "Happy?" A smug little smirk curled my friend's lips. "Very." "Doesn't mean you were right about everything, though," I quickly added, reaching out to grab my food off the tray while glancing about at the place. "Like forcing me to come here." "What? You picked the restaurant," George pointed out. "Only because you made me, asshole," I shot back as I reached out to start on some of my fries. Rolling his eyes, George took a moment to glance around as well while unwrapping his burger so he could get started, too. "Alright, what's wrong with it then? Nobody's staring or harassing us or anything. The worst that happened was the guy at the counter calling you miss." My eyes narrowed slightly at the reminder of the all too apt female title that had been used to address me. That wasn't what made the restaurant so discomforting, though, and my roommate was right in that no one stared or commented or anything else. It was something else. "I don't know," I answered, legitimately unsure what exactly bothered me. "It's just being out ... like this ... I guess." As I spoke, I looked down - girl body in girl clothes. "Ah, you mean like embarrassed or out of place," George commented in understanding. "Like when you go to what you think is a costume party, but you get there, and you're the only one in a costume." Finding that analogy surprisingly fitting, I blinked in surprise. "Yeah, actually, it is kinda like that." "No surprise, really," my friend replied. "After all, you don't really think of your current appearance as who you are, right?" "Right," I confirmed, definitely in full agreement with that statement. "So until you do, you'll probably feel like that whenever you're around people," George surmised reasonably. Reasonable or not, I let out a heavy sigh. "Great, so I'm going to get to be constantly uncomfortable whenever I have to leave my room. That sounds like a blast." My sarcasm earned me an exasperated look. "You just need to spend some time figuring out who you are now. Once you do, it won't feel like a costume anymore. It'll just be you." I started to open my mouth to refute that argument when I suddenly stopped to peer at my friend for a moment. "You sound like you're talking from experience. What were you before you finally settled on ..." Pausing, I motioning at the man's appearance before continuing in an intentionally disparaging tone, "This." "Hey, I happen to think, this, is pretty good," George retorted defensively, gesturing down at himself. "But back when I was in highschool, man, I had so many phases that my phases had phases. Goth, punk, jock, prep, even stoner, I bounced through all of it at one point or another, trying to find what felt right." "Until you finally found nerd, huh?" I remarked. "Yeah, I guess. Took me a while to figure it out, though," my friend admitted candidly. "Nerd was what I'd always fall back on every time some new phase didn't work out. It wasn't until I was getting ready to graduate that I realized that was because that was what I was." Knowing how difficult that sort of thing could be to figure out, I nodded in understanding. "You did better than me, at least." "True, but I didn't have your dad," my roommate noted. "Thank God," I muttered, annoyed at even the mention of the old man. "Nobody should have to deal with that asshole." In the wake of that sentiment, there was a moment of silence before George asked, "You even going to tell him about what happened to you?" "Nope," I answered immediately and with complete certainty. "Why bother? He made it very clear that I wasn't his son. I suppose that's just literally true now." "Yeah ..." my friend replied, trying to smile, but I could see how empty it was. "He's a dick anyway." "Damn right," I agreed with a curt nod, shoving an extra large stack of fries into my mouth to chomp down on in satisfaction. Topic ended, there was a brief pause where we both fell into silence, but George didn't leave it there for long. "So, now that we've shown that going out isn't the end of all good things, how do you feel about doing something after this." Expecting a trick, my eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What something?" "I have a standing invitation from some coworkers to join their Saturday night D&D game," my friend explained carefully. "I could give them a call. Maybe we can just drop in for tonight to see what it's like." Suspicion quickly turned to unease. Just being out in the world was one thing, but going to a game was totally different. I would have to interact with other people - frequently. Plus, I didn't really want to play. I just wanted to go home and lie on my bed. Not that George was likely to allow that. "I don't think so," I refused with a shake of my head. "Aw, come on," my roommate pressured. "You were looking to get a session in with Andy and the gang before all this. Here's your chance to play. Plus, you can make some big burly barbarian type to get a little dose of manliness." "Yeah, but I'll still be a girl in real life, and they'll treat me like one," I argued, far from swayed. "Besides, who would we even tell them I am?" "The truth, that you're my friend Reggie," George answered simply. "If anyone questions it, we can just say its short for Regina." My face twisted in disgust at the suggestion. "Regina? Fuck no. That's even worse than my real name." "What does it matter?" my friend questioned. "You're still just gonna go by Reggie." "Yeah, and that's the other problem," I retorted, voice full of disdain. Brow furrowing in confusion, George gave me a bewildered look. "What? I thought you liked Reggie? You're the one that insisted everyone call you that to begin with." "Yeah, because I despise my full name," I explained. "I may be stuck with this girl shit, but if there's one upside to it, it's that I get to pick a name that I actually like. Something cool, like Rylai or Jaina or Tifa." My friend's confusion quickly melted into exasperation at my suggestions. "Those are video game characters." "So?" I questioned defensively. "Video game characters have cool names." "Do you really want to share your name with some video game character?" George answered with a question of his own. "Besides, those all came out after you were born." That argument had me rolling my eyes. "It doesn't have be one of those specifically. I just want something like it." "Okay ... " my roommate conceded, looking a little bewildered at my insistence but apparently not considering it worth fighting. "But if you don't have a particular name in mind, can't we just go with Reggie for tonight?" I shook my head. "No. What if the game's fun? I'll be stuck with Reggie if I want to go back." Sighing, George shrugged out his acquiescence. "Alright, then we'd better start brainstorming." *********************************************** *********************************************** "Are you sure about that name?" George asked as we closed the door to his car and started toward the house that we'd stopped at. "Yeah," I answered confidently. "It's perfect." That claim earned me a dubious look from the big guy. "Perfect? You're naming yourself after a titan for Christ's sake." "That's just part of what makes it so awesome," I retorted, no more swayed by that argument than I'd been when my friend had brought it up earlier. In fact, this was his third time double-checking my choice in name. "Alright ..." George sighed as he stopped in front of the door to ring the bell. Drifting to a stop next the man, I didn't bother to answer. Standing with the door to a stranger's home only a few feet away gave me other worries. Meeting new people had always been a bit nerve-wracking for me, but having to do so as a girl had ratcheted it up several notches. Even going into it with a better name than Regina wasn't offering me much confidence. All I could really think was that I couldn't believe I'd actually agreed to this. Unfortunately, I didn't have long to plan and execute an escape. Within just a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a heavy-set man with an amiable grin on his face. "George! So nice to see you out in the world of the living!" "Nice to see you out here, too, Nate," my friend replied less boisterously than our host. "Looking forward to seeing how good you are behind the screen." "Well, I hope your expectations aren't too high. I'm nothing special, just the only one that wanted to do it," Nate, apparently, answered before he finally turned to me. "And hello to you as well." "Hey," I greeted weakly, feeling decidedly uncomfortable as my diminished height made me look up at a man who I probably would've been eye-to-eye with before. "I don't know what all George has told you, so I suppose I should introduce myself," the host declared, offering a hand to me. "Nate Willard, DM of this little group." "Rhea Fullerton," I answered, managing to not stumble over my first use of my new name. As I spoke, I even reached out for the man's hand, albeit rather tentatively. Feeling my smaller appendage in his fleshy paw did not make me feel anymore at ease, though. Beaming out a smile, Nate dipped his head politely. "Nice to meet ya," he said before quickly releasing my hand and beckoning us inside. "Now why don't we get you two in here so we can get this night going." "Sounds great to me," George answered, starting in. I let him go ahead before falling into step behind him. Once we were through, our host closed the door behind us before scurrying around in front to lead. "Right this way. Bathroom's right there if you need," he pointed out as we swept by that room and into the kitchen. "And here, we have the rest of our group tonight, Ed and Brian. I think you all know George, and this is his friend, Rhea." Waiting in that room were two more guys. The first was tall and lean, although not even close to as tall as George. The other was a husky guy of middling height that wore a full but neatly trimmed beard. "Hey," the first of the men greeted fairly neutrally. The second, however, went with a more friendly. "Nice to meet you." With the introductions out of the way, Nate gestured toward the table as he continued on toward the fridge. "Normally, we have a fourth, but he's busy tonight." "It was actually great that you called, George," the bearded one, Brian, I supposed. "We were going to have to figure out something besides the usual game to play anyway." "Glad I could help out," my friend replied as he took one of the seats at the kitchen table. Without a word, I slipped into the seat next to him that put the man between me and the other people in the room. "What are we doing anyway?" "I was thinking we'd do a one-shot. Roll up some simple level ones for a quick one-nighter," Nate proposed as he pulled open the fridge and grabbed himself a soda. "Oh, by the way, did either of you want a drink? Got coke, sprite, and beer." Smiling politely, George shook his head. "No, thanks." "You Rhea?" the gamemaster checked. I just gave a quick shake of my head and quiet, "No." Shrugging, Nate returned with just his own drink and sat at the head of the table. "Well, feel free if you change your mind. Anything in the fridge is fair game." "Except for Ed's fucking italian soda," the bearded one, confirming that he was Brian, remarked with a bitter edge to his voice. "Hey, it's annoying to get and it's the only thing I like!" the tall guy shot back defensively. Nate tossed an exasperated looked at his friends before quickly shifting his attention back to George and me. "Anyway, I was thinking simple farming village on the end of the kingdom for your characters' home. Sound good to you two?" "Works for me," George answered. I nodded in agreement. "Me too." "Great, sheets and spare books are on the counter. Do basic characters and a little backstory about their life in the village," the gamemaster instructed. "I'll get started on the adventure." "I'm gonna be the hedge wizard's apprentice," Brian called quickly. "Damn ... I was gonna play a mage," Ed cursed in frustration. "I guess I'll go with a soldier come back from the war." "Guess that leaves rogue for George and cleric for Rhea," the bearded guy commented. Having been all ready to get started on the burly son of a wandering huntsman, I was taken aback by having my character suddenly picked for me. It did make sense. If we already had a warrior and a mage, we needed a healer and a thief to cover the rest of the skills. That didn't mean I wanted to play some wimpy cleric, though. "No, you two can shut up and let the other two pick first," Nate interjected. "They're our guests after all." "Oh, right ... " Brian mumbled, offering a contrite dip of his head to George and me. "Sorry. Go ahead. I can play anything." "Yeah, so can I," Ed offered as well. Rather than just accept that, George held up his hands to refuse. "No, that's alright. I can take the healer spot." "You sure?" Brian asked doubtfully. "I don't mind covering it." "No, I actually like playing the healer," my friend answered before adopting a wicked look. "Get to hold everyone's lives in my hands, choosing who lives ... and who dies." The two other players shared an uneasy look. "Maybe we shouldn't let him play the cleric," Ed remarked guardedly. "Oh, it's too late for that now," George warned, eyes glinting as he rubbed his hands together evilly. "Mwahahaha." The previous unease vanished into a round of chuckles at my friend's act. "Alright, well I guess that solves the cleric question," Brian remarked turning to me. "What about you, Rhea? Need some suggestions?" "Huh, oh, uhm, no," I mumbled nervously, still feeling off kilter. "I'll play the uhm ..." I began, fully intent on pitching my original idea, but when it came time to actually say the words, it just felt ... silly. Here I was the only girl in the group and smallest person at the table, expecting to play some hulking man-brute. The others would just think it was a joke. "The ... rogue; the wild daughter of the town elder who's always getting into trouble." "Cool," the bearded man replied, turning to Ed. "Looks like we get to play what we wanted after all." "Well, you do anyway," the other man pointed out. "Took the damn wizard from me." "You were too slow!" Brian retorted. "Gotta call dibs faster!" While the those two bantered, George leaned over to me to whisper, "I thought you were going to play a warrior." Pretending like it was no big deal, I shrugged. "I changed my mind." That answered put some doubt into my friend's gaze, but he nodded in acceptance. "Okay, guess we'd better get started then." *********************************************** *********************************************** "Alright, Ed, you feel a sick twist in your stomach followed by a painful burning along your skin as the unholy power of something dark and cruel washes over you," Nate described the effects of George's spell. "It's so revolting that you barely notice your wounds knit closed." "Jesus ..." Ed breathed out in disbelief, glancing over at my friend. "What are you worshiping, George?!" Face alight with mischief, the big guy shrugged innocently. "What are you so worried about? I healed you, didn't I?" "And just in time too as the orc's club thwacks him upside his stupid head," Nate interjected. "For ... four points." "Ouch, you're gonna pay for that orcy," the lanky man threatened as he noted down the damage. Keeping things smooth and efficient, the game master was already turning to the next character. "Alright, that makes it your turn, Brian." "There's just the one orc left, right?" the group's wizard asked. Nate nodded. "Yep, you guys finished off the rest." "Alright, then, I'll just hang back," the bearded one declared. "Hang back?!" Ed gasped. "At least, club him with your staff, you coward!" "What, can't you handle one little orc without everybody having to help you?" Brian mocked. The group's warrior narrowed his eyes at his friend, pointing a finger his way. "Oh, I can handle it, and then I'm gonna come for your chicken butt next." "Just tr-" Brian started to retort. "Ed, that makes it your turn," Nate interjected, putting an end to the aside to keep the fight going. Turning back to the game, the warrior scooped up his die. "Well, I'm going to end this fool," he declared before he made his toss only to end up wincing at the result. "Or not ..." Brian teased. "Your toe clips a rock, ruining your footing just as you go for the killing blow," Nate illustrated. "You manage to keep your feet, but your swing just flails past the orc uselessly, which brings us to Rhea." "While he's busy with Ed, I'll slip behind the orc and ..." I began, tossing my own die to much better result than my predecessor. "Stab him viciously in the back." A damage roll later, Nate declared, "Your dagger plunges deep between the orc's shoulder blades, eliciting an gargled wail and agonized twitch before he crumples at your feet, dead." "Thanks," the lanky guy remarked before tossing a glare over at Brian. "At least, someone knows how to help out her party mates." "Help you wouldn't have needed, if you could just manage to hit a stupid orc," the other man retorted. "Some veteran soldier, you are." "Whatever, battle's over, so I'm gonna take a p-" Ed started to say as he rose from his seat, but he caught himself with a wince and a glance toward me. "-err, I mean, use the restroom." "Actually, this is a good spot for a quick break," Nate declared. "I need a bit to figure out the aftermath of all that." "Sure thing. I need a drink anyway," George replied as he rose as well only to turn to me. "You want anything, Re-er-Rhea?" "Uh, sure, a coke, thanks," I answered. Nodding, the big guy turned to go. "Right away." With that, George and Ed moved away while Nate hunkered down behind his screen to work on the next part of the game. That left just Brian and me at the table. During the game, I'd managed to relax some, but that all vanished as soon as the bearded man's attention turned toward me. Instantly, I was nervous, looking away while I hoped that he would let the time before George returned pass in awkward silence. I wasn't that lucky. Leaning forward, Brian quietly asked, "So, are you two like ... together?" "What?! No! Of course not!" I denied emphatically. Putting so much force behind my words, though, only served to get a knowing look from the man across from me. "Ah ... I see how it is." Feeling my cheeks start to burn, I narrowed my eyes. "I don't think you do." "Sure, I do. You're interested, but he hasn't made a move yet," Brian deduced. "No, that's-" I tried to explain. "You don't need to be embarrassed about it," Brian interrupted me. "He can be kinda dense about that sort of thing, but I'm sure he'll ask you out re-" "I said it's not like that!" I blurted out loudly as I slammed my hands on the table, desperate to just get the guy to stop talking. It was the wrong move. Instantly, I had everyone looking at me, eyes wide with surprise over what I'd just done. There was no way to take it back, either. It was out there. I'd have to explain myself as everyone just sat there watched and ... just thinking about it made my face burn with embarrassment as my hands shook nervously. "I, uh, I ..." I began, breathing coming in rapid huffs. Then, it was just too much. "I have to go," I mumbled quickly before I just popped out of my seat and darted off toward the door. "Reg-er-Rhea!" George called after me, but my fumbled name only made me more certain that flight was the only option. I was closer and had a head start so I easily beat any pursuit that may have been coming to the door. Then, I burst out into the night, slamming the door closed behind me. Out in the dark, I cast about, having not even thought far enough ahead to know what to do next. There was the car that I'd come in, but it was George's and locked, so I had no way to drive it or even hide within. I didn't know that part of town well either. Anywhere was better than the house I'd left, though, so I just picked direction and started in it, hurrying along the sidewalk. I didn't get all that far before I heard the sound of another person coming out of the house. If that hadn't been enough, George shouted, "Rhea!" to announce his presence. Yelling my name was no more effective than before. In fact, I actually started to move faster. Trying to do so just brought forward all sorts of little things that I'd been trying to push into the back of my mind all evening. My ponytail swished about. My boobs bounced in their confining bra. My bloated hips swayed. It was all awful, and unlike the house, I couldn't run away from it. I couldn't- "Rhea!" came the sound of my name again, but this time it was joined by the feel of a hand grabbing my shoulder to stop me. Of course, George had easily caught me. I was just some pudgy little girl who couldn't even run without my body jostling all over. That didn't stop me from trying to escape again, though, ripping my shoulder free of his grip, doing so knocked me off balance, sending me staggering a couple steps before again I was caught, this time by two hands trying to keep me from falling. "Stop it!" my friend order, turning me to face him. "No! I'm leaving!" I insisted, determined to hold to my course of action. "Alright, alright, I understand," George responded, his voice sympathetic and calming. "Just give me a second to unlock the car, then you can sit in there while I tell them we're leaving, and then we'll just go home. Okay?" Taken aback by the offer, I just stared at the man for a moment. Was that what I wanted? Did I really want to go back home? Did I want him to go with me? Did I want something else? What? "Okay?" my friend repeated, giving me a little shake. Snapping from my daze, I managed a little nod. "Yeah ... okay." *********************************************** *********************************************** A heavy groan full of despair and self-loathing ground its way out of me as I lay there on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I couldn't believe how horribly the night had gone. I couldn't believe I'd even let George convince me to go to that stupid game. I couldn't believe how terribly I'd reacted. I couldn't believe that I'd even bothered to come home rather than run off to whatever end the dead of night would've given me. It was more apparent than ever that trying to deal with my situation was impossible. Unfortunately, it seemed that I was not destined to be able to suffer my misery in peace and solitude. There wasn't much time between my first hitting the bed and the knock that heralded George coming to talk. I didn't even acknowledge the sound; didn't bother to look up. I just groaned again, tossing an arm over my face as if I could hide that way. "I guess that answers the question of if you're feeling any better," George commented as he came into my room, trying to sound lighthearted. What a joke. There was nothing light about this shattered pile of utter ruin that was my life. That wasn't going to deter him, though, I knew. Sure enough, he just walked right over to sit on the edge of the bed next to me. "I managed to explain everything to the guys." "Really?" I mumbled, technically a question, but so monotone that it didn't sound like one. "Yeah, I didn't get into specifics obviously, but I said you were going through some issues and were struggling still," my friend explained. "They understood. Brian even apologized for being so pushy." My next one word reply was not monotone, but so sarcastic that the word's meaning was completely twisted around. "Great." There was a pause after that, the big guy probably trying to think of some upbeat little pep talk that he could give me. In the end, though, he just asked, "What did he even say to you, Rhea? I didn't ask him." Just thinking about the answer to that question made me want to curl up and die. I certainly didn't want to answer it, but George would get it out of me eventually. I might as well admit to my embarrassment now and get it over with. "He thought that I was your girlfriend or wanted to be or whatever," I answered quietly. Unsurprisingly, my friend's first reaction was to spit out a little chuckle. "Is that all?" "It's not funny," I retorted, a hard edge on my voice. "That's not what you thought when those girls a couple years back thought we were gay," George remarked. "You played right along then. You even almost kissed me, before you broke out laughing." Shaking my head, I rolled onto my side, putting my back to guy sitting next to me. "It's not the same." "I know," George replied, abandoning his mirth. "He was so sure, like it was utterly impossible for us to just be friends. There just had to be more there," I continued on, reliving the moment in my head. "Is that what its always going to be like, now? Everyone just assuming I'm just some lovestruck girl following you around like a desperate stalker?" "I don't know," my roommate admitted with unexpected honesty. "I mean, it's not like we've never thought that about a girl in our group before. In fact, we weren't even wrong when we did. Megan did have a thing for Carl. Beth had a thing for you, too, at least at the start. Nobody would think that was the case now, though, so clearly, it's possible to shake that perception." "I guess ..." I muttered, but I didn't believe. My relationship with George was very different from the one I had with Beth. We lived together for Christ's sake. We spent most of our free time together. We were so close that, as George had said, we'd made people wonder if we weren't actually a closeted gay couple. How could we possibly break that perception without breaking the friendship that inspired it? Apparently, my friend didn't know either, because he rushed to move past that topic, switching to a new one. "Well, anyway, I think tonight went pretty well." "What?!" I blurted in disbelief, twisting my head around to shoot an incredulous look over my shoulder. "How could that possibly be true?!" "Alright, I'll grant you that it didn't end so great, but the parts up to that were good," George clarified. "You got out of the house, picked out a new name, interacted with some people, and most importantly, you had some fun. And, don't try to tell me you didn't, because I saw you during the game and you looked almost like you were back to your old self." Letting my head flop back to proper orientation, I let out a little sigh. "I suppose it was sort of fun." "Yeah, it seemed like a pretty good game. The guys even said they'd be glad to have us back," my friend informed me. "In spite of the rocky finish." "I don't know, George ..." I muttered, full of hesitance. Even if the offer was genuine, trying to hang out with those guys again after what happened would just be too awkward. "Yeah, that might be a little tough, but something to consider," my roommate noted, never one to just cross off an option while there was still a chance it might work. "And speaking of things to consider, how did the test run of the new name go? Going to stick with it?" "Uhm ..." I hummed as I considered that question. In truth, while people had used it to address me several times, I hadn't really noticed it much. No one had commented on it or anything like that, but then why would they? It wasn't that odd of a name. It had felt fairly natural to answer to, at least. "Yeah, I think I will." George snapped his fingers in frustration. "Damn, and here I was hoping you'd hate it, so I could talk you into something else." "Well, too bad, cause Rhea's here to stay!" I huffed defiantly. "Yeah, I suppose she is," my friend replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, thanks for putting forth the effort tonight. I know it was rocky, but I really do think it was a good first step." "And how many more steps do you think it will take?" I asked, doubtful that even an infinite number of steps would actually get me back to anywhere halfway decent. I didn't even have to be able to see George to tell that he shrugged in response. "I don't know, but I promise you this. I'll drag you through them all eventually." *********************************************** *********************************************** Chapter 08 A steady stream of words spilled out of me, filling up the white space on the computer screen with line after line of code. Unfortunately, not all that many lines were needed at that particular moment. It was a small function, easily finished in a brief little chunk of time. There would be another to work on after it, but I could tell that it would not be immediate. One can just feel that sort of thing after a while. Sure enough, I hit the end of the function and my thoughts hit a wall. I managed to get a few quick tests out before I ended up just slouching back in my chair with a sigh. The distraction was gone for the moment. Unlike the first day that I'd returned to working after my change, this result was not some crushing blow that drove me to seek something else in an instant. Instead, it settled on me like some creeping malaise, just enough to make me feel listless and depressed. I could've found another distraction to resist that, but in many ways, it was much harder to fight through, so I often just sat there for a few minutes, staring at the screen and thinking. It had been over a week since the Saturday when George dragged me from my bed and made me face the world. In the space between, he had not attempted anything like that again. Maybe that was because he was afraid of another disaster shattering what little was left of my willpower. Maybe he just hadn't come up with something else to attempt. I didn't know why, but I had made an effort to keep him from trying again. Such efforts took the form of at least attempting to mimic my old life. Even though I never wanted to leave my bed, I forced myself to every day. Even though I wanted to hide from the female anatomy that I'd been cursed with, I kept up with all my hygiene needs, even going so far as to keep my hair clean, tied up neatly, and tangle-free. Even though I cared to do nothing but lay about, drifting in misery, I made myself play games, talk to friends, and make jokes. It was an impressive act, a Reggie-like mask to compensate for the identity I had lost and to hide the empty female vessel that had been left in its place. No particular thought that flitted through my head seemed any darker or more traumatic than any other, but suddenly, I found myself taking a shuddering breath. My throat felt tight and my eyes were burning. Tugging my glasses off, I rubbed at the latter as I shook my head and sucked in a few hefty puffs of air. It helped a lot, easing the random symptoms and calming a heart that I hadn't even realized had started racing. Wanting to get away, from what or how I didn't know, I shoved myself out of my chair. A few steps brought me into the bathroom where I found a drink of water. Apparently, I'd been pretty thirsty, because I guzzled down a whole little plastic cup before refilling it and finishing it off again. Once I was done, I slammed the cup on the vanity with a satisfied sigh that held no real satisfaction. My gaze rested on my mirror and the reflection within, a little blurry without my glasses to focus it. Oddly, that seemed almost apt. The girl in that mirror had a name. I'd given it to her. That was all she had, though. She might look like a fully formed twenty-eight year old, but she wasn't - not really. No, she was a newborn in an adult shape, with no history or character to call her own. Given only life and a name before being thrust into the world to make her way. "Which way do you want to go, Rhea?" I asked the mirror. That was what George had been wanting me to figure out on that fateful Saturday before it had all gone to shit. It had led to the name but nothing more. When my reflection didn't answer, I just shook my head and trudged back to my room to plop into my chair. It didn't really matter which way I went. I was boxed in, after all, forced to play in the female area of life. Over here, I couldn't even manage a friendship with my best friend without people taking it the wrong way. It was all just so utterly pointless. "That's not what George would say," I kept on talking to myself. "He'd have a big speech ready about how I'd promised to try and about how things always looked darkest before the dawn. It probably would've even had that exact cliche in it. He always did love the classics." Chuckling morosely, I looked down at myself. As part of my act, I was all properly dressed, stupid boobs restrained in their bra, a clean shirt, and shorts to contain my pudgy hips. That's what I had to work with. "Alright, so my stats aren't so great after the reincarnation," I criticized, thinking about myself like some character that had been killed and reborn with one of the shitty, high-variance forms of resurrection magic. "Probably should stick with the nerd class. Trying to learn a whole bunch of new skills now would be tough. Gonna take long enough to work my way through the death penalty to begin with." In truth, it was a silly way to look at it. Yet strangely, I sort of felt like it was accurate, like I'd been killed and then shoved back into some other body. Now, I was all wrong for the life that I'd been leading, but I had to figure out how to make it work cause the gamemaster wasn't letting me roll a new character - at least, not unless I did something drastic. There was another upside to such thoughts, it was just easier to face my situation in that manner. Then it wasn't really me that had changed. I was the same as always. It was just some character that I was playing. "What would be fun, though?" I asked myself. It wasn't as if I had much experience with crossplaying. In fact, the rogue I'd played with Nate and his friends had been one of at most a handful of female characters that I'd ever attempted. She had been fun enough, but I didn't think I wanted to be some wild devil-may-care thief in real life. The confidence that went with it, though, would be nice. "Of course, she was confident, though. She was rich, pretty, and could knife anyone that picked a fight with her." My job paid fairly well, but I was far from wealthy. I wasn't going to be running around seducing people with my looks either. I supposed that I could knife someone, but murder seemed like pretty extreme lengths to go to figure out who I was now. Of course, it wasn't going to be easy. *********************************************** *********************************************** "You want to do what?" George questioned in complete confusion at dinner. "I want to level up," I repeated, setting down my fork so that I could lift my arms in a muscle pose. Of course, wimpy girl arms that they were, there wasn't exactly much to show off with that, but it was the principal of the thing. Clearly still more than a little bewildered, my friend nodded slowly. "Alright ... to what end?" I tilted my head back and forth uncertainly. "Eh ... you know how sometimes you have this D&D character and you're not really feeling it. Then, they start to get some levels and turn out pretty cool." "Sure, that's happened before," George agreed. "Well, I was thinking maybe that might work for me," I declared, before scooping up my fork to go back to eating. "I got reincarnated or polymorphed or whatever and it kinda sucks, but maybe a few levels will bring it all together." Giving the idea a few moments, the big guy considered it carefully before finally nodding. "I could see that, but how exactly do you plan to go about leveling up?" That questioned pulled a heavy sigh from me. "That's the problem. It's not like there's monsters about for me to grind or something, at least I sure hope they're aren't. This whole magic is real thing makes you wonder, though, doesn't it." "It sure does," George concurred, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I guess in real life self-improvement isn't quite as exciting as all that, though. You want to learn a new skill, you open a book, you don't run around slaughtering the local wildlife." "True, but what would I learn?" I asked, figuring we could explore this a bit. "I already know games and coding. There's not a lot else that interests me." My friend's answer started with a shrug. "Well ... there's probably lots of girl stuff you don't know." While not exactly an appealing topic, I still said, "Like what?" "You'd probably have to ask a girl to get a complete list," George answered. "I don't know much more about 'em than you do. At the very least, there's stuff about makeup and clothes and how to walk in heels." Just mention of that stuff had me scrunching my face up in disgust. "Yuck, no thanks." "Alright ... well ..." my friend began again, using those words to stall while he thought. "Maybe not a skill. Maybe we start by trying to up your stats?" Glancing down, I gave my body a dubious look. "Not sure there's much to be done there. You're kinda just born with your stats, aren't ya, or transformed with them in my case?" "Well, to some extent, yes," George partially agreed "Like we're not going to be able to make you any taller or get you to suddenly start benching cars, but there's stuff you can do. If you do a lot of stretching, you get more limber. If you lift weights, you get stronger. If you run, your endurance lasts longer. That sort of thing." "Probably lose a few of the extra pounds along the way, too," I added, patting one hip. "Yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't," my friend concurred. "Is that something that would help? Truly having no idea, I gave the man a helpless shrug. "I don't know. I mean, it's not like I like being fat. Getting up every morning to go running or something sounds way worse than lugging around some extra pounds, though." "Hmm ..." George hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin once more. "Maybe there's something we could do together that would be more fun, like racquetball or rock climbing." "Interesting ..." I mused, intrigued by the idea. "Want to give something a try this weekend?" my friend asked. "We could probably find a class or whatever." After another moment's thought, I shrugged. "Why not?" *********************************************** *********************************************** "Okay ... I figured out ... why not ..." I grunted as strained to get myself a few more inches up the artificial rock wall in front of me. "Not as easy as it looks, is it?" George remarked from where he belayed me. "Gonna apologize for all that mocking you did when it was my turn?" "Not a chance!" I spat as I thrust upward, settling into a new hold. "This should be easy for you. You're a guy. You're not stuck with these wimpy girl arms." On the ground, my friend chuckled at that remark. "Y'know, you're not even supposed to be using your arms except for balance. You push yourself up with your legs." "Well, those aren't much better!" I retorted sharply. George just kept right on laughing. "That is why we're doing this, after all." "Right," I muttered in agreement as I looked up the wall. I was only halfway to the top and already feeling worn out, but I wasn't giving up. My roommate had made it to the top, so I was going to do, damn it! There at my triumph, I'd mock him for barely keeping up with a girl. Determination and confidence were no substitute for strength and skill, though. It was supposed to be a very easy wall, but it was still my first time, and I was even more out of shape than I would've thought. I got another couple handholds up, but then my sloppy technique and exhaustion caught up to me. It all started with me trying to push up with my trail foot. That was fine, but I'd apparently been near the edge so rather than thrust me upward, it just scraped free of its spot. Suddenly, my other three limbs had to catch all my weight, but they weren't ready. My knee banged the wall as it bent then one of my hands scraped free just like the foot before it. Weight tipping back, I no longer had any chance to catch myself. A moment later, I was falling. With a jarring lurch, I was tugged to a stop only a few feet later, left to swing on the end of the rope. Below, George grunted slightly from the effort of catching my weight, but he did his job perfectly. No nasty spill was gonna find me that time. What did find me was some laughter from the sporty couple on the wall next to me. It wasn't the first time they'd done it either. They were constantly snickering at the two gross, out of shape nerds trying to do something physical. "You alright?!" my friend called out, distracting me from the mocking laughter. "Yep!" I assured him as I drifted back to the wall and worked to right myself. "Nice catch by the way. Nice to know you're paying attention." "Of course, I am. I'd never let you fall," George assured me, and I had no reason to doubt him. He had always been there for me over the years. "If you had an excuse like being hurt, you'd never get out of bed!" The sudden tonal shift pulled a chuckle out of me. "Damn right, I wouldn't. That's why I tested you like that. Thought I had an easy way out." "Well, too bad for you, 'cause it's not gonna happen," my friend countered. "You can't catch me asleep at the wheel." "Damn," I cursed, pretending to be upset by that. In truth, I had no intention of quitting. I still had a wall to defeat. After all, the list of people that needed to listen to me gloat had just expanded to include the couple next to me. With a shake of my head, I refocused on the wall, not wanting any distractions to cause another slip. I did a quick test of all the holds that I'd chosen on my recovery to make sure they were solid. Then, with a quiet, "It's go time," I set to work making up the ground that I'd lost. *********************************************** *********************************************** "Ow ... ow ... ow," George hissed over and over again as he slowly lowered himself onto the sofa cushion. Even once his butt was down, it kept going as he ratcheted himself back to lounge against the cushion. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. "Ahh ... that's better." Already sprawled on the other end of the couch, I laughed at the sight. "Guess I'm not the only one who got destroyed by that." While I found it funny, just laughing jostled enough sore muscles to make me want to wince. I didn't know if it was because rock climbing was that hard or if I was just that weak and fat. Seeing my friend suffering just as much made me want to lean toward the former, but it was possibly we were just both that out of shape. "You were not," George admitted dryly. "But it was fun." "Yeah," I agreed, having enjoyed myself well enough, especially when I'd finally crested the top of the wall. "Not the kind of thing you do every week, though." My roommate nodded in agreement. "Probably not, but we've got a few other ideas to try. Maybe we'll find enough to start some kind of rotation." "Or maybe, we'll try to get up from the couch in a little bit and find that our arms and legs have fallen off in protest," I joked lightly. That earned a laugh from my friend. "That could happen, too. Might not even be so bad, really. At least then I wouldn't be able to feel whatever I did to my shoulder." "Yeah, I could do without this knee, too," I commiserated, glaring at the joint that I'd accidently smacked into the wall, now sporting a faint bruise. "Might make eating tough, though," George remarked. I shrugged off the concern. "Whatever. Not like either of us can move enough to fix dinner anyway." "True," George confirmed with a chuckle. "Guess we'll just have to starve to death then." "Or we could order in," I suggested helpfully. "Would still have to get up to answer the door," my friend pointe