NOVEL WEB 37: Friend Circle
I was not ready to see everyone else.
As soon as we passed through the door, Camilo's hand guiding me, he said, "She's back everyone!"
"We only got like seventy percent of Kai back, you mean," Alec teased. "The magic took the rest."
"Oh my god, a redcap got into the school!" Scott exclaimed, fighting back laughter of his own.
I stood there, staring at my two shit-stirring friends for several heartbeats, then turned to Ollie who was… vibrating? "Ollie, can I borrow your baseball bat, I need to do some urgent realignment of— are you okay?"
"You're SO CUTE," she squealed, rushing forward to hug me like addressing her had been the starter gun for a race.
I couldn’t help but laugh as she made impact, and I hugged her back fiercely. Ollie hugs were perfect in every way. I was curious now, though… there was a mirror on the back of the classroom door so…
“Let go, I haven’t even seen myself… let me look in the mirror,” I said, gently prying her off me.
Everyone was silent as I turned and Alec reached out to close the door for me. Such a gentleman…
Oh wow. My image came into view in the mirror, and I was speechless. I mean, I looked pretty stupid in the mismatched and oversized clothes I found five days ago in the storm, but… my face. I was really pretty, at least, I thought I looked pretty. My eyes especially… they were bigger—no, not bigger, it was like they were more prominent. Their grey depths looked so much more blue and… I don’t know. It was so difficult to pinpoint what exactly about my eyes was different, and yet they were different. That trend continued throughout my face, from the subtle curve of my cheekbones, to the soft button of my nose. Somehow, it was all the same, but cuter and prettier.
More feminine. I looked more feminine… and my heart responded to that realisation by flipping, then stopping, then hammering faster than a train at full tilt. I couldn't deny it… I liked how I looked now.
As for my body… Unfortunately, Alec’s earlier description held true. Even through the baggy clothing, it was clear I had wide hips and thick thighs. It was like whatever celestial being that’d crafted my new body had gone out of their way to give me the most delicious curved hips they possibly could. If I were to continue with that figurative tangent, I'd say they really liked hips, and that was why it seemed like extra care and attention had been put into the precise curve. Damn it, though, but curvy hips were amazing. I wasn't sure how much I liked them on me but… okay I liked them. I admit it.
My waist was actually my favourite change, however. It was thin in relation to my hips, but still solid enough that I didn't look like a 90's barbie. I could imagine someone grabbing it in both hands and— oh gods… that was a hot idea… oh I was definitely blushing.
Anyway… um… fuck, the more I looked at myself, the weirder I felt. Every little movement as I looked in the mirror was reflected in this small, elegant, but vaguely stocky young woman.
Oh damn, this was real. This was really real. I no longer had a guy body…I had either cute hobbit mode or statuesque angel mode… but both were girls.
"That's… different," I finally said, running a hand through my still-short brown hair. Now that I looked like a girl, I could see my hairstyle being called a messy pixie cut.
"Honestly, you look kinda hot," Scott remarked, then shot me a sheepish grin when I glanced in his direction. "Only admiring, not hitting on you."
"You're giving me humanised tinkerbell vibes," Imogen said softly. "You make a really pretty girl…"
For some reason, that one hit me directly in the heart, and I shuffled slightly in place, feeling very awkward. "Thanks…"
"You do need new clothes, though." Ollie interrupted. "If it weren't for these," she said, grabbing and squeezing my hip, "Your pants would be on the floor."
Feeling hands on my new hips, especially Ollie's firm grip, gave me full body goosebumps. In a good way.
"Forget my clothes," I said, glancing at my friends in the mirror. "Why are you all so calm about this? Magic just turned me into… well, this!"
They all traded looks, but it was Immie who answered. "We've been watching it happen for the past five and a half days. It wasn't exactly a secret that one of the school's best crafters was unconscious with their form changing. You're not even the first person to start looking different…"
That was reasonable, I guess… still… it was news to me…
"I need to sit down," I said softly.
Immie's arm was around me straight away, and she led me over to the sofa I'd been using as a bed. I sat down heavily and tried not to meet anyone's eyes. I felt so conflicted.
I should hate that this was happening to me—that my body had changed so drastically and without my consent… but at the same time, I felt strangely at ease. My brain kept trying to flip out, but then I felt so comfy.
"There's one thing I want to know," Scott said, interrupting my train of thought. "Well, everyone wants to know actually… Why were you out there alone?"
The silence hung heavy as I processed the question, then the panic that it caused. Fuck! What did I say? Did I come clean? No. Definitely not… I couldn’t…
“U-uh… I just wanted to get some stuff, and I mean, all the houses have been cleared…” I stammered, knowing full well that my excuses sounded like utter shit even to my own ears.
Alec scoffed and sat down on the side opposite Immie, who’d joined me on the sofa when I sat down. “Let me guess, you were thinking about your latest project and you didn’t even consider the dangers?”
“Something like that,” I lied, feeling ashamed that I had to do it. I mean… did I have to do it? I didn’t like lying… but I also wasn’t at all comfortable with anyone knowing the truth. Anyone except April, that is…
Alec’s arm snaked around my waist, and he said, “Next time, bring us, okay?”
I nodded along with him, but internally I was very suddenly and totally aware of his arm. I could feel his fingers, warm and strong on my side… and it tickled a whole lot, on top of being kinda… hot? No, that wasn’t the right word.
“That tickles,” I said, and pushed his arm off. It retreated, and as I was looking up, I saw Immie and Ollie sharing a cryptic look with one another. Odd. I wonder what that was about.
“So… Kai…” Camilo said slowly, kicking at the ground. “What actually happened out there?”
Alec was crowding me again, so I shuffled closer to Immie, who put a much more platonic arm around my shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“You were just out in the suburb and then suddenly you’re stumbling back to the school? Were you hurt?”
“Oh!” I blinked, frowning again as Alec’s arm brushed my side. Did he always take up that much room? “I um… oh, no I just suddenly started getting really cold and—” I thought of something, an excuse maybe… “No, before that I found an attribute orb on a body, I think someone missed it. Anyway, I took it and used it on toughness—so I can work closer to the forge—and then I started feeling funny so I was walking back. The blizzard was really bad, though and I saw some weird monsters at one point, but I hid from them… anyway, by the time I found the way back again I was getting really cold. That’s when Chloe found me.”
Ollie snapped her fingers and lit up. “That’s right, you got found by HAG.”
“Don’t call her that, she doesn’t like it,” I said automatically… then froze. Oops… that wasn’t something pre-Silver Kai would say.
Fortunately, Ollie shrugged it off with a wave of her hand. “Chloe was out looking for that Silver chick. God, she was cool. Super beautiful too, like a model! I wish I had armour like she got from that goddess lady. The way she just shouldered the scorpions out of the way!”
Scott scoffed and punched her lightly in the arm. “Dude, stop fangirling over her. She probably has an angel boyfriend anyway, you ain’t going to get in her pants.”
“I’m not even into girls,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “No need to get jealous.”
Wait… did Ollie just acknowledge that Scott had a crush on her? I mean, I sorta suspected it, but…
“She weirds me out,” Camilo blurted out of the blue. “Who the hell even is she? She acts like she’s from around here, but nobody recognises her.”
“Who cares,” Immie groaned, then squeezed me by the shoulder. “Point of all this is we support you, Kai—”
“—A,” I interrupted, completely catching even myself off guard.
“What?”
Blushing furiously, embarrassed beyond measure, I caught Ollie’s eye and pleaded with her to understand what I was saying.
Her expression lit up with excitement when she understood. “Kai—a. She’s saying we should call her Kaia now.”
“Oh…” Immie said, surprised. “Well, then that makes this extra important. We support you, Kaia… including if you’re changing your pronouns to match your body, or if you decide you don’t want to after all. Fuck knows you’ll need people watching your back in this shithole.”
“Not just the gender stuff either,” Alec said from beside me. “We got your back when it comes to crafting and levelling and stuff. Just say the word and we’ll put a group together to find whatever you need. Don’t go out alone again, okay? We were worried. The eigh— the six of us, we’re gonna live through all this by being a team.”
“You got it, coach!” Ollie clapped, laughing.
I laughed with her and patted Alec's knee. "Thanks everyone… seriously. I've noticed these changes coming for a while and I was really worried."
"I guess the advanced warning is why you aren't freaking out?" Alec asked.
"Oh, I'm absolutely freaking out," I said, with a laugh that definitely didn't match the grimace on my face. "I have a vag. I can feel it, like you can feel your arm or your toes. I'm more than a foot shorter than I was before the Storm… it's overwhelming."
Beside me, Immie made a little sound and said, "If you need help with girl stuff, you can come to me. Also, you can just come to me if you need comfort. I'm only stabby with the enemies."
"Thanks, Immie," I said, feeling very small all of a sudden. I was about to have a whole shitload of problems. Who knew what the more bigoted people would say about my transformation…
