Authors Note:
I want to thank Terry (trainer, co-conspirator, coach, and friend) for getting me to continue my first online story. She has been an inspiration and instrumental in getting this story put together.

 

Morphite 5 - Vengeance is mine                  by: Joan Banks

 

"Stephen, have you been dying your hair all these years?" Barb ran her fingers through his short haircut, eyeing it critically.

"No," he snorted, "that’d be pretty stupid." "Well, blond people don’t normally have red roots." She kissed him playfully on the cheek.

"I don’t mind." she said, "It’s just that you’ve been hiding it all these years."

"I don’t dye my hair!" He looked in the mirror worriedly, parting his short hair and seeing the same thing she was. His hair was about an inch and a half long, light blond, and the tiniest of dark roots. Red roots.

"Maybe it was that flu shot." He said.

"Sure it was, baby." She laughed, " And I don’t dye mine either. Now get out of the way, I’ve got to get ready for class."

Stephen wandered back into their bedroom and dug up some clothes for school.

******

Pete sat in his van and typed on his laptop. "Subject injected with the morphite treatment. At this point he should not be able to tell any changes. Current plan is to work through DJ’s life and destroy every man that has meant something to her.

Installation of the implant is creating some logistical problems. I need a competent doctor who doesn’t ask questions. Either that or I have to find some way to get it past one of the ones at the lab. Without the proper mental preparation everything will be discovered too soon. That will be top priority.

I’ve convinced Ashley to let me use the van as a company vehicle temporarily. I have begun the duplication of equipment out of spare parts. By the time I’m done this heap will be a generation behind my new surveillance vehicle. But until the implant is inserted, the point is moot."

He saved the file and encrypted it. Can’t be too careful, he thought.

******

"I’ve got to find an easier way to do this." DJ said to herself. She pulled the car into the lot and shut off the engine. She lay back for a moment and reveled in the silence.

Twice a week she had been driving back to the lab. The drive lasted more than an hour on a good day. She was tired, cranky, and she had a sore neck.

Someone knocked on the window. DJ opened her eyes and looked. It was Ashley.

"What did you do to your hair?" Ashley asked as DJ got out of the car.

"Hi to you too, Ash." DJ smirked.

"Oh hello DJ. How was the drive DJ?" DJ mocked Ashley’s voice in what she thought would be the proper response. "How are you, dear?" Ashley leaned in for a hug. DJ returned it, tentatively. "And what did you do to your hair?"

"I cut it." DJ responded, "Duh." Ashley proceeded to play with DJ’s pixie cut. DJ let her.

"I like it." Ashley proclaimed, "You know, if you’re tired, you can do this by remote."

"Sorry, I don’t trust that." DJ said, "I want control of this situation. Maybe soon I’ll be able to trust again." Ashley didn’t have a response. She knew she meant that DJ didn’t trust her, specifically. She stayed quiet. They went into the building without preamble. Guards knew to allow these two women immediate access. They were, after all, in charge.

In the control room, DJ took the seat behind the techs while Ashley remained at her side.

"Where are we at?" DJ asked. The techs turned from their screens and faced the young woman. They had an advantage in this circumstance. Both techs knew DJ for years through their surveillance techniques.

"As far as the medical side is going, we are fine." The young female tech said. "Jay is developing secondary female characteristics very quickly. He is currently in Tanner stage 3 for breast development and now only has female body hair. His bone structure is changing slowly and we probably want to give him some calcium supplements." "Fine." DJ agreed. She had taken a few more biology courses than she had planned after taking over Jay’s transformation. It wasn’t really the physical transformation she was worrying about.

"How is he holding up?" she asked the other tech. The young man was stifling a yawn, unsuccessfully. "He is acclimating to being a woman as planned, DJ. He now only wears women’s underwear and is wearing the women’s pants we gave him. He is taking a calligraphy class and a drawing class. The class will feature a very a beautiful nude female model. We are certain he will no physical attraction to her. He is bonding with the women in the class..." the tech stopped to yawn again "and it starting a basic female acculturation."

"How long have you been here?" DJ asked.

"Since the beginning." The tech responded.

"I mean tonight."

"Twelve hours."

"Ash, I thought the shift was supposed to be only eight hours."

"It is. Where is your relief, Stan?" Ashley asked. "Pete was supposed to be here." Stan replied. "He said he’d be a little late."

"A LITTLE late?" DJ was fuming, "We’ll see about that."

******

Pete was fast asleep in his van when his cell phone rang. Parked in front of Stephens apartment, he had begun his own surveillance.

"Hello?" he answered the phone.

"Sorry." He stammered out "I’ll be right there."

Damn, he thought, this won’t help at all. Stephen was oblivious to the van parked in the lot. Plenty of people owned vans and one more was just invisible to him. Barb wouldn’t be home for hours. Perfect, he thought. Once inside he went straight for the bathroom and stripped off his clothes. He slapped his stomach. "Still cut." He said to himself. His six-pack abs didn’t look quite the same anymore, the defined muscles were covered over in a thin layer of fat. It was just growing older, he told himself. He opened the bag and set the contents on the counter. Hair dye. A beautiful woman mocked him from the package.

His hair looked silly. Red stripes throughout his blond crew cut. It almost made his hair look pink or orange, he couldn’t tell.

He opened the box and started reading the instructions.

******

Barb showed up an hour later, carrying bags of groceries and a backpack full of books. She smiled when she saw him. "Looks better that way." She said. "You blonds in a bottle have to keep up with these things."

"I never dyed my hair before!" He was frustrated at repeating himself. It was obvious she didn’t believe him. "Of course, honey." She said condescendingly. The ammonia smell was strong in the air, he assumed, even though he couldn’t smell it anymore. Better not to fight it. After dinner the night was spent snuggling in front of the TV. Each of them had their favorite shows and this night Barb won the battle.

Both of them were reclined on the couch, Barb resting her head on his shoulder. After taking a drink she shifted and rested her head on his chest.

"Ow!" He said pushing her head to a different position. The weight of her head resting on his nipple was painful. She didn’t think anything of it and settled into the new position.

Stephen lay there and marveled to himself that he had found someone like Barb. Life was good.

******

"Pete, this has to stop." DJ was irate.

"What has to stop exactly?" Pete had a smug look on his face. He enjoyed tormenting this ‘girl’ who had taken over his position and kicked the shit out of him. "You aren’t showing up for your shifts. You are having other people fill in for you. Do you understand that someone’s life is at stake here?"

More than you do, David, he thought.

"Of course. I’m sorry, DJ. It won’t happen again." This little girl couldn’t do anything to him.

"You bet it won’t. I’m demoting you to backup tech, with appropriate reductions in pay."

"You can’t do that!"

"Can’t I?" she raised an eyebrow at the challenge "Oh, and we need the keys for the van back. Find your own way to work."

Pete threw the keys on the desk.

"Fine. Take it." He turned to leave.

"Your schedule will be posted." DJ said "See that you make it on time."

Pete left without another word.

He fumed in the hallway for a moment. This was actually the perfect opportunity. His own surveillance van was finished. When he turned the first van back in then there would be nothing to connect him to Stephens’ transformation. This was all working out perfectly.

Now all he had to do was find a surgeon.

******

Stephen was home early. At least he could surprise Barb today. There had to be something good about this day, he thought.

His hair was completely red now. He gave up the idea of constantly dying back to blond rather quickly. His pack of books was feeling heavier than ever, and the fact that it was tiring him rubbed in the facts of the day even more. "You’re home early." She greeted him at the door with a quick kiss. He kissed her back but his heart wasn’t in it. "What’s wrong?" She asked, concerned. "At least our afternoons will be free." He said, trying to joke and failing "I got kicked off the team today." They walked into the bedroom and Stephen started to get into his more comfortable ‘around the house’ clothes. "Why?"

"A couple reasons." He said as he slipped a t-shirt on, "First I haven’t been making my times. I’ve slowed down. I have to be the slowest guy on the team now." "Oh."

"And the other thing is these." He gestured to his chest. "I told the doc that I was worried. Everyone got upset. They accused me of smoking pot. It didn’t show up on the piss test, but they’re sure I did." He cupped his hands over his chest. His nipples stuck straight out now and there was considerable tissue underneath them. If Barb hadn’t known better, she’d say he was developing breasts. "Is it the weight, too?" She asked. Stephen, while lighter than he had been in years, had an obvious layer of fat over his entire body. No amount of working out got rid of it. Both of them assumed it was just getting older that caused it.

Stephen slipped on the sweat pants over skivvies that were too tight on his hips. Sweat pants were all that really fit him anymore. When he looked at his backside in the mirror, he saw that it was huge.

He saws himself as an embarrassment.

"Honey, why don’t you watch some TV while I cook dinner?" She led her depressed man back into the living room. He plopped onto the couch and stared at the screen, not caring what he was watching.

Inside, he wanted to cry. But he knew he couldn’t do that in front of Barb.

Twenty minutes later, Barb called from the kitchen. "Stephen, honey? Could you go to the store and get me some garlic? We’re all out."

"Fine." Stephen replied. He retrieved his wallet, kissed Barb and walked out the door.

******

Pete watched the monitor as Stephen left the house. The internal pickups were working marvelously. He had to moonlight in an exterminator company to get inside the apartment, but it was worth it. Every single room was bugged, and from this van, he had access to them all. "He’s departing." Pete said into the radio.

"’Clubs’ are ready." The accident team called.

"’Jokers’ ready." The ambulance called back as well. "Execute." Pete said. He had a desire to cackle maniacally, but it soon passed.

******

Stephen didn’t know what hit him. The store was just down the street so he decided to walk.

>From out of nowhere, someone came up and pushed him into the road. He bounced lightly off a barely moving car when the person who had pushed him in the first place caught him. There was a sting on his neck and then....

Nothing.

The fake ambulance crew (the Jokers) happened to be right near the accident. They picked him up and loaded him unceremoniously into the ambulance.

The medical aid car had cost quite a few favors for Pete to borrow for the night, but he knew it was worth it. Stage two had begun.

******

"The trick to proper implant insertion is the angle of approach." The surgeon said through his mask. "This patient is a volunteer who will demonstrate the surveillance opportunities offered by our implant." He said as he cut back the skin.

"Patient is in good health." There was the sound of an electric drill.

"Probe." The surgeon said. A nurse handed him a pistol looking device.

"I’ll have to remind each of you that this is a Top Secret operation. Word of this experiment NEVER leaves this room. Don’t tell anyone, even within our own organization. Is that clear?" There were nods of assent all around. He held the pistol against Stephens’ head. "People’s lives depend on this remaining a secret." He slowly twisted the device and squeezed the trigger. Eventually there was an audible ‘beep’ when the implant reached the proper position. He released a catch and the implant detached from the pistol. "We are working on a more flexible design for the installation device. It will take care of the skull penetration all on its own. You won’t even need a Doctor for it. God forbid!"

There was a nervous laughter around the table. "Someone close for me." The surgeon said and walked away from the table.

After an hour of observation, Stephen started coming around. The ambulance crew drove him home. He walked towrards the apartment groggy and confused.

It was pitch dark out. Stephen was not aware of the passage of time at all. Barb met him at the door. "Where have you been?" she scolded, "I’ve been worried sick."

Seeing that scolding was going to get her nowhere, she led the confused young man into the bedroom and tucked him into bed. This was the strangest thing she had seen in a long time.

"Did you at least remember the garlic?"

******

"Status?" Pete said to his techs in the van.

"Huh?" they said in unison.

"Where are we at?" Pete said testily, "That’s what I mean when I ask for status."

"Oh, we’re cool." Rodney answered, "This is the wildest game I’ve ever seen, dude." He played with the knobs a little. "Graphics suck, though."

The monitor was mainly a blur. Ghosts of images remained behind from whatever Stephen saw. The processors turned this into a representation of a 3-D image. "Adjust the lag." Pete reached up and twisted a dial. The picture resolved into a semblance of normalcy. "The implant is working within specifications, sir." The young woman tech said efficiently. "Should we begin primary protocols?"

This was a good way to go, Pete thought. I have one experienced tech and one who thinks it is just a game. It was hard to find people who would defect for his little project but Jesse was a homely girl who had a grudge against Ashley and DJ as well. She’d keep the loser in line. "Of course." Pete responded, "Initiate primary protocol. We want to start to sway him without incident. Make sure we have him sitting for the toilet and working on his grooming habits. For everything else we begin at the lowest possible levels."

"That ain’t no way to win a game, man." Rodney protested, "You got to establish more power from the get go." "Listen, Rod. We do this my way. I know how to win. Soon, you will too."

******

"Ashley, all of that surveillance equipment has to come out of my house." DJ said very matter-of-factly. "No one is monitoring it anymore." Ashley said. "Think of it as a burglar alarm."

"I feel like there is a constant peeping tom." DJ said, "It has to go."

"It’s a pretty big project, honey." Ashley relented. "How about we get everyone out of the house for say....three days?"

"Fine. Let me work that out. It’s going to be expensive." "Whatever it takes. You’re not looking well dear. Are you getting enough sleep?"

"It’s this commute." DJ yawned as if on cue. "Can’t we cut it down to one day a week?" Ashley suggested, "You have to have some trust in the team by now." "Most of them, Ash." DJ relented, "Just not all."

******

"Nice to see you here, Pete." Ashley snapped as she sat in the control room chair.

"Yes Miss Mills." Pete used a sickly sweet tone. DJ thought for a moment and finally came to a decision. "Pete, we’re moving you to surveillance equipment maintenance. Jeremy will be taking your shifts in here." "Yes Miss Mills." He said, trying to keep his anger under control. He brought Jeremy into this organization and now he’s promoted above me? "Shall I go now, Miss Mills?" "No Pete. We’ll finish this shift."

Pete’s eyes burned with the shame that he had been demoted in front of the bio-tech. Word of this would be everywhere by the next morning. Instead of lashing out at DJ, though, he methodically did his job. Bad as it was, it would still work to his benefit.

******

"It happens to lots of guys." Barb told him. "Don’t worry about it."

Stephen was getting out of bed and putting his clothes back on.

"It doesn’t happen to me." He refused to meet her gaze. Why was she still with him, he wondered? Stephens’ physique was a joke. He felt fat and awkward and week. His once proud muscles were gone. He actually had to have Barb open a jar for him the other day!

He was a failure.

Barb followed him into the kitchen. She didn’t dress before she came out.

"Can we talk?" She asked. He turned from the fridge and shrugged. As he looked at her, his eyes locked on her wonderful breasts. (THRUM) He felt a twinge of jealousy. Where did that come from?

They sat on the couch right next to each other. She lifted one leg and tucked it under herself to face him properly. She grabbed his face.

"Listen, you big goof." She said, staring into his eyes, "I love you. There, I finally said it. You are stuck with me. I said don’t worry about it!" She leaned over and kissed him.

His hand rested on her thigh. It was silky smooth; she had shaved in preparation for their night of lovemaking. (Thrum) He felt that twinge of jealousy again.

That was weird.

"Status." Pete said. Rodney was giggling at the most recent episode. Jesse spoke first.

"Subject can no longer function sexually." She said, Rodney laughed harder. Jesse glared at him. "Estrogen levels are now dominant. Penile length has shortened twenty percent. Shut up Rodney! Musculature is approaching an androgynous state. Bone attrition should be apparent within the week." "Excellent. Logistics?" Pete said. He turned to Rodney who was trying very hard to suppress his giggles. "He pisses like a girl now. All the time. We are making him hate his own body hair and really liking the smooth skin of his girl. I figure another two weeks before we have him shaving his legs." He had to stop to suppress his laughter again. "His girlfriend, see with girls we are making him jealous of them and suppressing the attraction. Even if he could get it up, he wouldn’t really be able to. Shame, that Barb is a babe."

"Great. Keep up the schedule. Try to be a little more professional Rod, okay? Beer and Pizza will be here in about twenty minutes.

He couldn’t pay them much, but at least he kept them fed.

Outside the van Rodney’s laughter echoed in the alley.

******

It was a normal enough weekend around the apartment. Stephen and Barb were doing their chores, trying to get ahead so they wouldn’t have to worry about it in the coming week. Finals were coming up and they just didn’t want to worry about trivial things.

"Stephen it is broiling hot in here. Why don’t you put on some shorts?"

"I’m fine." He said, sweat beading on his forehead. His hair was growing out and was taking on an incredibly red shade.

"Stephen go into that bedroom right now and put some shorts on!"

"Fine!" (Thrum) He wasn’t so nervous about her finding out.

He went into the bedroom and shut the door. His jeans were very tight in the butt and it was a relief to take them off. He quickly slipped his gym shorts on. He took his sweatshirt off so he could put a lighter t-shirt on.

In the mirror he looked fat. Stephen was lighter than he had been since he was twelve but his body was bulging in all the wrong places. He jiggled his pec. Have to do more pushups, he thought, that’s all it is.

The shorts were also tight but they were cooler. The lighter t-shirt also helped him from overheating. He walked back into the living room.

Barb glanced back at him. She hadn’t looked at his legs in a month. She tried not to laugh as she saw him. His legs were as smooth as hers. The dark hairs that had been appearing were now missing. She was a little miffed that they also looked better than hers. Her boyfriends’ legs were shapely and long. It looked like they belonged on a supermodel.

"The dryer’s done." She said with a straight face. "Can you go get the laundry?"

"Sure." Stephen was sure she hadn’t noticed. He departed for the laundry room.

A girl was at the dryer that their laundry was in. She was folding their laundry. She looked up as Stephen entered. "Hi." She said. Stephen walked up to the girl. "Oh, are these yours?" She asked. "I needed the dryer and your stuff was done so I thought I’d just fold them up for you."

"Thanks." Stephen started to put the folded clothes into the basket. Soon they were done. Stephen took the basket and started to leave.

"Wait." the girl said, "You forgot these." She held up a pair of green panties.

"These are the micro fiber ones." She said, feeling the fabric, "I love these. Aren’t they the most comfortable panties you’ve ever worn?"

Stephen was a little shocked at the accusation. He didn’t know what to say.

"Sorry, I just like to talk." The girl said, "I just thought it was nice to have something in common with another girl in the building."

"Uh huh." Stephen was really confused now. "Uh, nice talking to you." He took Barbs panties (thrum) and left.

******

"I see you have our Stephen properly domesticated." Stephen heard as he walked up to the apartment. It was not Barbs’ voice. "Even gets the laundry!"

Stephen was tempted to eavesdrop but thought better of it.

He went inside.

"Sue!" He said, dropping the laundry basket inside the door. He ran up to hug the girl that was one of his oldest friends. He had known Sue almost as long as Barb. Sue bussed him on the cheek and then held him back. She ruffled his hair.

"What have you done to yourself?" She asked looking him up and down. "That hair!"

"It was always red, Sue." Barb smirked "Don’t listen to him if he tells you otherwise."

"No it hasn’t." Sue said firmly "After all no one dyes their pubic..." She blushed furiously.

"Something you two want to tell me?" Barb asked them both in an accusatory tone.

"We were twelve!" Sue said.

"Ten." Stephen contradicted. He too was turning red. The color of his face was close to matching his hair. "You claimed to have started puberty already and I called you a liar." Sue turned to Barb "We played you show me yours, I’ll show you mine."

"Seems to me like that bargain was never completed." Stephen laughed.

"The teacher showed up!"

"Sure. Sue what are you doing here?" Stephen asked. "My finals are over and Barb needed a roommate for the Summer." Sue said, "Someone is ditching her next week to go off into the wilderness." She mussed his hair again. "It’s a national park, not the wilderness." Stephen said. "They hire college students every summer. Or would you prefer I drop out of school altogether?"

******

Sue and Barb sat up long after Stephen went to bed. "What’s going on with him?" Sue asked, "I mean his hair and that body."

"I don’t know." Barb confided "Since I found out that he dyed his hair he’s been so....strange."

"Is he gay?" Sue asked quietly. Barb shrugged. She really didn’t know.

"Status." Pete said. He glared at Rodney. "The park is set up just like you planned." Rodney said. "We have our campsite set up for the whole summer, just like you said. I got a question, though..."

"What?"

"If this is a video game, then why do we have to go there?

I mean, this is all virtual, right?"

"Fine, I’ll level with you." Pete said. "This is real. Stephen is not a very nice person. He killed someone a couple years ago. He got away with it too. That person’s family wants to be sure that justice is done." "Oh." The reality was hitting Rodney. This wasn’t a game. "Now do you have anything else, Rodney? Are you still with us?"

"Yeah, I guess." Rodney replied, "I mean no, nothing else.

I’m with you."

"Fine. Nice to keep you aboard."

"One more thing, Pete?" Rodney asked, "This guy he killed.

Who was it?"

"Oh," Pete glanced at Jesse, who was keeping quiet, "He’s only listed as missing. If you want to look it up, go ahead. He went missing a couple years ago. The guys name was David Kilmer.

******

DJ, (aka Debra Jean Mills formerly David James Kilmer) decided to enjoy this vacation. There would be no commute just a relaxing time on the beach. Finals were over and Ashley and Brian paid for vacations for the entire house. It was the best way to get them all out for the surveillance extraction.

She lay on the beach in a barely decent bikini. Occasionally someone offered her a drink, which she gladly accepted. It was nice just to get away from everything. Warm hands found her shoulders and rubbed deliciously.

"Thank you, Doctor." She said without opening her eyes. "How’d you know it was me?" Michael asked. Giving her a long kiss before sitting in the chair beside her. "Mmmm. I’d know those hands anywhere." She smiled and accepted the drink from her fiancé. "Thank you." "You know I’m just getting you drunk to take advantage of you." Michael mused.

"As if I needed to be drunk." She smiled. "When I get you back to the room I...." her cell phone went off. "Yes?" She sounded annoyed. "Pete wants three months of vacation?" DJ snorted, "Does he have it to take? Fine, get him out of there. He’s lucky I don’t fire him anyway." "Why in the world would you take such a big role in that lab?" Michael asked, "With school and a wedding to plan? " "Honey, I have to do it as a favor to an old friend. I owe it to her." She thought of Jay, progressing nicely into womanhood. "Forget that. Now where were we?" "I think you were taking me back to the room..."

******

Stephen picked up his check in packet. It was a plain manila envelope that read ‘S. Weatheral’ and it was the last one on the table. As soon as he picked it up a young woman, perhaps 25 years old bustled up to him. "I was hoping you’d arrive today." She said. "We were giving up hope."

"I thought check in started today." Stephen said, "Am I late?"

"It was over YESTERDAY." She said. "I’m Fiona. Your key is in there. The rooms are in the annex and your uniform is in the closet. Get settled in for a minute and then get back down here. We’re getting swamped."

"With laundry?" Stephen had been assigned laundry as his job.

"No, silly. We need servers. Didn’t you get the letter?" She looked at him "I guess not. Now get going, we’ll show you what to do when you get back."

Stephen went to the annex and found his room quickly. The place had almost no people in it and most of them appeared to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

He dropped his suitcases on the empty bed, the one without the stuffed animal on it.

Must be a gift from a girlfriend, he thought. There were pictures of a nice looking couple sitting on a beach. She’s cute, he thought. After staring at her swimsuit for a moment (thrum) he felt that twinge of jealousy again. It was a nice enough room. There was an attached bathroom and a large closet. There was a spot for a TV that was vacant and a dresser without any pictures on it. He quickly unpacked and loaded up the dresser. He made the bed and threw his suitcase into the closet. The closet was marked right down the middle. The left side was full of clothes and the right side had just a couple of things hung up. He grabbed the shirt and slacks that were on his side of the closet stripped down and put them on. The pants were a tight and had a zipper on the side. Weird, he thought. They had no pockets (probably so he couldn’t hide tips) and had a flare at the bottom. The shirt was so thin that he could see his skin right through it. He decided to wear a tank top underneath. He didn’t think to bring white t-shirts and he hoped this would be acceptable. Grabbing his room key, he rushed back outside. "Steph," Fiona said, leading her to a pretty waitress. She said his name as if it rhymed with ‘Jeff’. (Thrum) for some reason he REALLY liked that pronunciation. Her uniform was exactly the same as his; only he could see that she was wearing a camisole underneath. "This is Christie, she’ll be showing you the ropes."

Christie looked Stephen up and down, frowning.

"Christie, this is Steph." Fiona said. "Our new waitress." "Nice to meet you." Christie said. Stephen was flustered at the use of the term ‘waitress’ but he (thrum) assumed it must be an honest slip of the tongue.

He followed Christie on an exhausting training session.

Each new customer was greeted the same way. "Hi, I’m Christie I’ll be your waitress tonight. This is Steph, who’ll be learning the ropes."

As the night wore on Stephen noticed that he was the only waiter, all the rest of the wait staff was female. Mercifully, the end of the evening arrived. Stephens’ feet hurt and his head was spinning with everything he had to remember. He drug himself back to the room. The weather was stiflingly hot. There was no air- conditioning in the annex. Fiona had slid a schedule under the door; he didn’t have to be back to the dining room until tomorrow afternoon. Whoever was in the other bed was snoring softly. Stephen showered and collapsed into bed wearing only a flannel pair of boxers.

His roommate was still fast asleep when he woke up. He quietly made his way back to the shower and hosed off. The water was freezing and his shower ended quickly. He walked back into the bedroom drying off with the towel. He was really feeling fat now. His vigorous drying shook parts of his body that shouldn’t shake. He resolved to start that upper body workout soon. Anyway, it wasn’t too bad (thrum). Checking his face, he found he still didn’t need a shave. (thrum) He really didn’t think anything of it. It had been 2 months since he last shaved his face and for some reason he didn’t think it was worth worrying about (thrum). His roommate was already gone. Apparently he didn’t need to shower in the morning. It was kind of gross if you think about it.

He slipped his pants on and looked out into the park. It was beautiful. Nestled in the mountains there was a large lake with a swimming beach and a multitude of hiking trails. A trail of people were leaving the annex and aiming towards the beach. All of them looked like they just woke up and every single one of them carried a towel and a small bag. A wolf whistle caught his attention. He looked to where it came from. Two guys were staring up at the building. "Show it to me, baby!" they shouted. Apparently some girl was topless at a window on his floor. It almost looked like they were talking to him. Stephen dismissed that thought, why would they do that? He wished he could see what they were looking at. Girls in the line shook their heads disgustedly. He stepped back to finish getting dressed. "Aww. Come back darlin’." The voices called. He was sorry he missed it. Stephen finished dressing. He left with the goal of checking out the hiking trails.

Apparently all the guys were either still asleep or had already left because the hallway was exclusively women in various states of dress. It looked like this place is very enlightened, he thought. He continued to feel pangs of jealousy for all of these women.

******

"Okay, what’s going on?" Pete asked.

"What happened to ‘Status’?" Rodney asked, imitating Pete’s voice.

"Whatever." Pete replied. He was feeling good; everything was working according to plan.

"We’re suppressing surprise whenever he looks at his chest." Jesse said, "His chest is definitely growing, too. It appears to be a solid A cup and growing. At this rate he will be a B or a C by the end of the summer. Testicular atrophy is at 25 percent and his genitals are probably 30 percent smaller than they were at the beginning. You have to understand this is all conjecture; we are basing this off of his own vision and visual cues and comparing them to measurements we took during the ‘accident’." "My turn. That’s my stuff your talkin’" Rodney interrupted "He really likes the name ‘Steph’ and will probably start using it all the time. I give him a real spike whenever he hears or uses it. He’s probably close to creaming himself every time he hears it." Rodney started laughing. "Hold that spike to 20 percent. He may get suspicious or paranoid." Pete told him. "Does he suspect anything, yet?" "About his living conditions? No. He’s in complete denial about most of this." Jesse replied.

Pete rubbed his hands together.

"Then it should be quite the scene."

******

Steph walked the trails alone. He knew it wasn’t a very smart thing to do but he was experienced at this. He had gone hunting with his Dad dozens of times. As a rule he was not afraid of nature and the great outdoors. He hummed as he walked. His throat felt scratchy and it was hard to get the tone out. He continued to hum anyway (thrum) and wandered the trails.

There was a rustling sound ahead of him. He knew to be wary, wild animals aren’t always forgiving. He wanted to kick himself for walking these trails alone! Before he could decide what to do he found the culprit - or rather, the culprit found him. A man was walking back down the trail. Stephen sighed in relief.

The man was about Stephens’ age, had short blond hair and apparently very fit. Stephen instantly liked him (THRUM). "Hi." Stephen said. His voice was scratchy and soft. I must have laryngitis, he thought.

"Hello." The man’s face lit up in a smile (thrum). Stephen liked him even more.

"I’m Matt." He said, offering his hand to shake. Stephen took his hand and shook it. Matt’s grip was firm but light, as if he were afraid to hurt Stephen.

"I’m Steph." Stephen replied. Why did I say that, he thought? But he felt good about it.

"What’re you doing up here all alone?" Matt asked.

"Just checking the trails."

"Not safe to hike alone." He replied.

"I’m okay. How far to the end?"

"About a half-mile. You should be more careful."

"I should say the same thing."

"Suit yourself. Are you staying in the lodge?"

"Annex. I’m work here."

"Oh, well..." He looked up the trail and down. "Yeah....I think I’ll finish the hike. Maybe I’ll se you later?"

"Absolutely."

"It was nice to meet you Steph." Matt said. He obviously wanted to say more, but didn’t know how. "You too, Matt. I’ll see ya." Stephen started back up the trail. For some reason he couldn’t stop smiling.

******

"Stephens’ got a boy friend. Stephens’ got a boy friend."

Rodney taunted the screen.

"Geez, this is fun." He grinned at Jesse. Disgusted, she returned to her book.

******

The whole hike back down, Stephen swore he saw someone walking just ahead of him. He was getting hungry and decided to step up the pace a bit.

Entering the clearing at the head of the trail, he noticed Matt sitting on a park bench nearby. Matt looked like he had been jogging or something. Stephen waved and continued back to the lodge. Matt looked up and tried to appear as if he was surprised to see Stephen and then glared pointedly back at his map.

The employees had their own eating area. People were sitting in groups all around the room. Grabbing some cereal and fruit from the table he looked around to find a place to sit.

"Steph." He heard a woman call, "Over here." He looked for the source. Christie was gesturing to a chair at a table full of girls. Mostly it was the waitresses but there were a few others as well. Hoping that Barb would forgive him, he sat down. (Thrum) He felt instantly comfortable. "I think you know almost everyone." Christie said, "And that is Traci and Pam."

There were greetings all around. Traci looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t quite place it.

"Your voice sounds awful." Christie told him, "Do you think you’re contagious?"

"It’s just scratchy. I think it’ll be better later on." He whispered.

"We missed you at the shower procession this morning." One of them said.

"What?"

"No one told you?" Pam asked. "So you weren’t able to get a shower?"

"I showered in the room."

"And froze you ass off, right?" Traci laughed and the rest joined in. "There’s no hot water first thing in the morning. We all go to the beach showers before it opens." "That would have been nice to know." Stephen let out a hoarse laugh.

"You should see the doctor." Traci suggested. "You can’t be serving people sounding like that." Christie agreed and gave him directions to where he should go.

******

"We are getting the vocal shift." Jesse told Pete through the radio. It was nothing fancy just a programmable walkie- talkie that had family codes built in.

"Great, a month ahead of schedule. Keep me posted."

******

"Do you think she’s a dyke?" Traci asked. "Who cares?" Christie countered, "Anyway as long as she doesn’t hit on us is it any of our business? Anyway, I hear one of the eligible male guests is asking about her. Apparently there was a romantic talk on the trail. I think she might be just a tom-boy."

"I guess it doesn’t really matter. Still, I’d kill to have skin as clear as that."

"You and me both."

******

"Hi. Steph, is it?" The doctor seemed much too young to be a doctor. "I’m Robert, everyone calls me Doctor Bob or just Bob."

"That’s what everyone calls me." He replied. The doctor wrote ‘Stephanie Weatheral 20YO Female’ on the sheet. "It’s nice to meet you, Bob."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"My voice gave out today." He croaked. "I guess it did. I’ll be right back, can I have you fill out a quick form?" He handed her a clipboard. "I’ll fill out the top, just answer the questions."

It was a fairly standard medical form asking if he had everything from Asthma to Yodelers Elbow. The center section asked questions like:

When was your last menstruation?

Are you pregnant?

Is there a history of breast cancer in your family?

And all the generic female questions. He left them blank.

Bob came back in a few minutes later. He examined the form.

"You left these questions blank." He said. "I didn’t think they applied." Stephen replied, annoyed that he would waste his time with those questions. "Fair enough. Let’s listen to your lungs." Stephen started to lift his shirt as was normal for any doctor listening to his chest. Bob stopped him.

"No need." He put the stethoscope under his shirt in the back and listened and placed it over is shirt in front and did the same. "I don’t have a nurse." He explained. "Your lungs are clear and you appear healthy." He said. "Your throat isn’t raw so I think you just stressed your voice by talking to much." He smiled as if he just said a joke. Stephen smiled along with him although he didn’t understand the joke. "Up all night talking to your girlfriends?"

Girlfriends? He must really think I’m a stud.

"It was my first night waiting tables."

"That must be it." Bob diagnosed. "Try not to speak for the rest of the day. I have some cough drops that may help a bit. If you feel up to it tonight then you can go ahead and work."

Stephen thanked him quietly and took the drops.

******

Stephen knew he couldn’t spend the rest of the day in his room so he continued exploring. It was beautiful country and well worth the investment of time.

Around three in the afternoon he decided that he should get ready for work again.

A tentative testing of his voice showed it to be much less scratchy. His voice still didn’t sound right, it was slightly higher and he still had to talk much quieter. Still it would be enough of a voice not to scare the customers and he could still do his job. Christie was relieved to see Stephen but she had a disapproving look on her face as she looked him up and down. "How’s your voice?" She asked.

"How’s this?" Stephen replied.

"Sexy. Can you handle your own tables tonight?"

"I’ll scream if I can’t."

"Great. Take section six."

There is a definite rhythm to waiting tables. Show up too much and you’re bugging them. Too little and you are ignoring the customer. Keep an eye on their progress but don’t rush them.

Stephen was getting into the rhythm of things and was actually enjoying it a bit. It was hard work but the whole wait staff had a playfulness that made it seem almost fun. "Steph, I have a customer that requested your section." "Fine. I think I’m getting the hang of this." He was making his way between tables, dropping off drink refills and a set of entrees. When he got to the new customer it was almost 3 minutes later.

"Can I take your drink ord...Hi Matt." He said (thrum). "Hi Steph. I just knew I had to be in your section tonight."

"O...kay. Do you want anything to drink?" What was this guy, gay? Still, whenever he looked at him (thrum) Steph felt really nice.

"Diet coke."

"Be right back." He left the table and (thrum) really wished he was back there.

For the rest of Matt’s meal he was distracted. He knew he spent too much time at that one table but none of the other customers were complaining. It just felt too nice to be there.

At the end of the night, Steph counted his tips. He did reasonably well but nowhere near any of the girls. Afterward Christie pulled him aside.

"You did a good job on the tables tonight."

"Thanks."

"But we do need to do something about your uniform. You are so cute but you are also so exasperating. The tank top under the blouse doesn’t cut it. And try to do something with your face! Now go get some sleep." Stephen left, more confused than ever. What was wrong with my face, he wondered? Is it dirty? I guess I could buy a t-shirt at the store tomorrow. At least she thinks I’m cute.

One of the girls whispered something to him as he passed.

It didn’t sound like an insult but he didn’t understand it.

VPL? What the hell is VPL?

In the room, his roommate was already asleep. Without turning on the light he took off his uniform and put it away. The dressers were right next to the closet. He looked at the picture again in the faint light. The girl in the picture was Traci! That’s where he knew her from; she must be his roommates’ girlfriend. He put his sleep shorts on and collapsed on top of his covers. The long day caught up and he fell asleep almost instantly.

******

He woke up suddenly with a dry towel being thrown over his chest. The lights were on and the room door was open. He heard a female voice.

"You’re not supposed to be here." Said the familiar voice, a girl in shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top backed into his view. It was Traci. "Let’s go." Traci said. She looked back into the room as she left "Morning Steph, sorry about the towel but...you know."

This had to be the morning shower procession. He was determined to get a hot shower this morning so he rushed around and collected everything he needed. He would have to let his leg hair grow out, he mused. He really liked the feeling of smooth legs. Oh well, it would only be for a while. He slipped on a t-shirt, grabbed a towel and his bathroom stuff and went out the door.

These girls must be really slow, he thought. There was not a single guy in the hallway at all.

He knew where the procession went in general but there was nowhere near the line there was the previous morning. Nearing the beach there were two buildings and no one was in front of either.

"Hi Steph." Christie said from the bench behind her.

Stephen jumped.

"Over on the right." Christie laughed. "Just take the first open shower. There’s a locker room at the end. Nice legs by the way."

"Uh," (Thrum) he didn’t know what to say "Thanks." Inside the building there was a long row of showers, most of them occupied. Three showers down the curtain was open so he went inside. It was a double curtain operation so there was a small area to prepare to get into the shower. He hung his towel on the hook and started the water. It was wonderful. It was a hot, steamy shower with plenty of pressure and the necessary privacy to do the things he couldn’t in a public shower. He got to keep his strange new vice of shaving his legs and armpits (thrum). Several luxuriating minutes later he shut the water off. Rubbing himself dry he slipped his shorts back on. The air was humid enough that he left his t-shirt off so it wouldn’t stick to his skin. Who cares if I’m a little fat, anyway? There was something strange about the sounds coming out of the locker room at the end of the hall, but he couldn’t place it. The mystery was solved when he walked in and was greeted.

By breasts.

Dozens of them.

No one looked up when he entered. Obviously he went through the wrong door somewhere. He was turning to run before the riot happened when he heard a friendly voice call. "Hi Steph." It was Christies’ voice. There was no alarm in it at all. "There’s some space over here, if you want." She must really like me, he thought.

He sat down next to her and tried to look her in the eye.

Painfully trying not to look at her chest. "It’s okay, Steph. You can look. It’s only us girls in here."

"I can see that." He glanced down. "They’re very nice." He shifted his gaze back to her eyes quickly. "Yours will grow." She said and then whispered conspiratorially "I used to be a member of the ‘itty bitty titty committee’ too. But yours are really nice. You shouldn’t hide them."

"Uh, thanks." Stephen put his shirt on as fast as he could.

"I gotta go."

He rushed back to the annex with his arms crossing his chest. No way, he thought, they actually think I’m a girl! His arms across his chest brought his attention to the ache in his breasts. That’s what they were, breasts. He didn’t make eye contact with any of the women on his floor. He just pushed his way to his room. He closed the curtain and striped down.

******

"Okay, pay close attention to what he’s focusing on." Pete said excitedly.

"I know." Rodney said, "Just be quiet and let me do my job.

I’m gonna up the power a bit."

"Fine. All you want."

******

Stephen stood nude in front of the full-length mirror. His eyes flashed over his body. He grabbed his chest. "No!" They were well-formed breasts. A little small but breasts nevertheless. (THRUM!!) They felt so good! He dropped his hands and looked at them (THRUM!). They looked good. How had he ever lived his life without them! His eyes drifted to his legs. Smooth and silky (THRUM) they made him feel great as well. He looked at himself critically. He wasn’t fat at all. His body just looked a lot like Barbs’. He looked at his penis (THRUM) and was shamed by it. It was really sickening to look at. He put his shorts back on. (Thrum) That was better. He plopped back onto his bed. What was he going to do, tell them? He had just seen most of the women on the staff half naked. At best he would be arrested at worst....who knows? He turned to the mirror again. His face was smooth, but it was still his face. How could they think he was a girl? If his face looked like a girl then wouldn’t he have noticed it? Wouldn’t somebody have said something? He thought about Barb for a moment. She wasn’t gay, why would she be attracted to someone who looks like a girl? He didn’t know.

******

"This is the most critical time of the whole operation.

Where’s Jesse?" Pete asked.

"She’s in the can." Rodney said, "Oops, tit shot." He hit the button that sent a small wave of pleasure to Stephen. "I could do this all day."

******

Traci rushed into the room with no preamble at all. "Steph, are you okay?" she asked, concerned. Even though they only just realized they were roommates, she felt obligated to check on her.

"I’m fine." Stephen crossed his arms over his chest in embarrassment. Traci sat on the bed next to him. "Hey, we’ve all been there. My sister didn’t get to full size until she was 23!" She put her arm around him. "Is that what upset you?"

This was a moment of truth for Stephen. Should he come clean and admit he was a guy? Or should he just take the chickens’ way out and play along?

"It’s not just that." He chickened out, "I just have a problem with locker rooms."

"I can understand." Traci said. "In high school they were always rough on the girls who hadn’t developed as much. But you’ve got a cute figure and skin to die for." "Uh, thanks." Stephen was taken aback but (thrum) it made him feel better anyway.

"But you aren’t really flat. I had to cover you this morning to keep my boyfriend from getting an eyeful!" She pulled Stephen’s arms from his chest. "They really are quite nice. You ever consider a miracle-bra?" "No." he said truthfully.

"You really should. They can do wonders." There was a tentative knock on the door. Cathie pushed her way in and peeked around the door.

"Can I come in?" she asked meekly. (Thrum) Stephen really liked the idea all of a sudden.

"Sure." Stephen said. He realized he was still showing his chest and promptly covered it with his arms again. "It’s okay honey. We’re all friends here. Tell you what, let’s all get dressed and we’ll show you the spots that we’ve found around here." She started to go into his dresser. "Now where’s your bra?"

"No!" he shouted. If she went into the dresser all she would find was men’s underwear and clothes. Cathie stopped and closed the drawer.

"I don’t have...." his voice trailed off.

"Don’t have what?" Traci asked.

"A bra." He said so quietly that they could barely hear him. "You’re kidding." They both said in unison. "You forgot to bring a bra." Traci finished the thought. "I didn’t think I needed one."

Both girls started to laugh but stopped almost instantly.

Their friend would be embarrassed.

"I could loan you one, but it wouldn’t fit." Traci said apologetically.

"Get your clothes on." Cathie said. "We’re going to town."

******

"Shit." Pete said. They were not supposed to be mobile for this operation. The implant was good but it still had a limited range.

"Rodney. Why don’t you stay here with the campsite?" Jesse suggested.

"Why me?" he demanded.

"Because you’ll look awful silly bra shopping."

******

Getting dressed was a challenge that was made easier by Christie leaving to get her purse. Underwear, what do I do about underwear? Traci’s gonna see my... "Be right back," Traci said, "Gotta pee." She left into the bathroom but left the door open. Stephen nearly broke his neck grabbing underwear and jeans from the dresser and putting them on. I can’t do that everyday, he thought. He was putting a t-shirt on when she returned. "I can see you’re not wearing a bra." She said. "Don’t you even have a bathing suit top?" Stephen shook his head. "I have one you can borrow."

Traci fished through her own dresser and produced a bikini top. Stephen took it and stared at it for a moment. He had seen Barb do this a hundred times but his mind was empty of ideas.

He wrapped the band around himself and tried to fasten it behind him. His arms would not reach. Traci came up from behind him and fastened it. The top was supposed to tie behind his head and that created a whole new challenge. Traci shook her head in disbelief and tied it for him. The top had foam cups that were designed to increase the bust size.

It worked.

Putting his t-shirt back on, Stephen felt like his chest was poking out a mile. He hunched his shoulders. How could he go outside like this? (Thrum) He straightened, liking what he saw in the mirror.

Stephen felt like the entire world was watching as the walked to Christies’ car. Some of the girls giggled as he walked by.

******

"Can you slow down just a little bit?" Jesse asked. Papers and trash were being thrown all over the van. Jesse had trouble just staying in her seat.

"We can’t lose them." Pete yelled over all the noise. "It’s a small town. Don’t worry." She said, a half full can of coke hitting her in the leg. "Now slow this damn van down!"

******

Stephen felt completely awkward. For some reason he kept feeling moments of giddiness (thrum) but they couldn’t completely overcome this situation.

Normally, in a lingerie section, he strived to not make eye contact but he now found that impossible. Talking to someone other than Barb in one of these departments was unthinkable but now he was the center of attention.

******

"Stop playing with that!" Pete yelled at Jesse. "Just use a constant."

"Just having a little fun." She said, giggling. "Okay." She set the dials to a constant setting. He would be calm and enjoying himself now. "Now I’m going to go watch."

******

"Our friend needs a fitting." Christie led Stephen to the salesgirl. Stephen was turning beet red. They were inside a Penney’s at a very small mall. Stephen was surprised to notice that he drew absolutely no undue attention.

"Fine. What size do you normally wear, dear?" She asked.

Christie and Traci looked at each other as Stephen shrugged. "You don’t know?" The sales girl was incredulous. "If you’ll just step in the back, we’ll get you measured." Silently, Stephen led the procession to the changing rooms. "Take off your shirt and bikini top, dear." He did as he was asked.

He felt more naked than he had ever felt in his life. She took out a measuring tape and wrapped it around his chest. Taking two measurements she pronounced the results.

"36A."

"Why don’t you go into the dressing room and we’ll bring you some bras." Christie said.

"Okay." Still topless he went into the small room and waited.

What have I gotten myself into?

Minutes later Traci stepped into the cubicle with bras on hangars. Stephen grabbed the first one. "You know. I saw the movie ‘Some kind of wonderful’. Ever see it?"

Stephen shook his head.

"Well the girl in the movie wore boys underwear. She was raised without her mom around. Did something like that happen to you?"

"Wow, you are good." He lied. "My Dad raised me."

"Do you mind if I give you some tips?" Traci asked.

"No."

"If you put it on backwards, you can slide it around." She said conspiratorially "No one ever showed you that?" "I never paid attention. Thanks." Following her directions he put the bra on easily.

"I think you should buy some panties too." She whispered.

"I’ll pick some out for you. I could see your waistband." He looked down and sure enough it was obvious that he was wearing men’s underwear. Stephen turned even redder than before. "Thanks." He said.

He really liked the bras (thrum). He tried on a wonder bra (THRUM) and really liked it. Christie made several runs to the dressing room and soon they had a few bras picked out. They left the dressing room and Christie had a huge pile of clothes at the counter, not just lingerie.

"Sorry, I told your story and all the ladies wanted to help." Christie looked embarrassed. "This is Jesse." "Hi." Jesse said. "Glad to help. I have to be going. Nice to meet you Christie."

******

"I’m going to kill her." Pete said.

******

The counter was covered in clothes. Lingerie, a swimsuit, and various other clothes all apparently in his size. This is going too far, he thought.

"That’ll be Thirty Five dollars." The salesgirl said with a smile.

"That’s all?"

"The rest was covered by the ladies. Especially that one who just left."

Stephen paid out of his tips. He went to put the wallet back in his pocket.

"Nu uh. Use this." Traci held a purse open. "We’ll make a girl of you yet. Now go get changed."

Apparently all the women thought this was incredibly funny. Stephen took the clothes and went back into the dressing room to change.

******

"The first thing we do." Traci said as she rifled through his dresser "is get rid of all this stuff." She started taking all the male underwear out of the drawer and throwing it in the trash.

"Hey!" Stephen yelled.

"Can you actually say that you prefer THESE?" She held up a pair of men’s briefs.

"No." He said, shamed because it was true (thrum). How could he say anything? Any protest might give him away. He sat there in his pink spaghetti strap tank top with a wonder bra underneath and shorts that were much to short for his tastes and watched this girl dispose of every stitch of clothing that could not be construed as female. "That should do it." Traci said, closing the drawers. "Why don’t you put your new things away while I take the trash out?" She took the can of clothing and left. Christie was waiting for her at the stairs. "Did you bring the letter?" Traci asked, "We probably don’t want her to see it."

"That’s an understatement." Christie agreed, "She’d probably want to kill her Dad." Christie handed the envelope to Traci. Traci decided to read it one more time.

It read:

‘Christie,

I understand you are to be the lead waitress during the summer season. I have a bit of a problem that you may be able to help with.

My name is Dan Weatheral, twenty years ago my wife gave birth to my wonderful daughter, Stephanie. My understanding is that she will be assigned to work with you this summer. I need you to help where I have failed.

I raised my daughter alone. I have never remarried and I have no living female relatives. I have raised Steph the best I knew how, but it wasn’t good enough. She has no idea how to be a woman. It crushed me to see her ostracized during school. Mainly I think it was due to her very masculine attitude and way of dress. I did not know what to do.

What she needs is some female friendship. I think she needs some young women who will take her under their wing and teach her what I could not.

I have enclosed $500 to try and help her. Get her some women’s clothes, take her out, but please help her! I will send more as I can afford it. Please don’t tell her about this. Some amount of secrecy is best as I am sure will concede.

Thank you,

Dan’

Traci crumpled the note and put it in the can. It was so sad, what this girl was going through. Christie and Traci were determined to help, whatever the cost.

******

"You deliberately compromised security!" Pete yelled at Jesse. Rodney was sitting back, amused that it wasn’t him in trouble for once.

"There was no risk." She said calmly "For the others we had teams of actors and conspirators. Now all we have is the implant. We have to get participants!"

"You save the tape?" Rodney rubbed his hands together.

"Anything good in the dressing room?" "Perv. Get over it already." Jesse snapped at him, she turned back to Pete "What did I do that jeopardized anything?"

"He’s seen you. Now we can’t use you later in an emergency.

What if..."

Rodney interrupted. He had a strange look on his face.

"Wait a minute. Did you say you’ve done this before?"

******

Stephen had an acute sense of stage fright. The dining room was empty and he was feeling queasy.

He was wearing a camisole under his shirt and he learned what ‘VPL’ was (Visible Panty Line). Apparently it was a major fashion mistake. His current underwear did not show, however, and he found the panties very comfortable (Thrum). His uneasiness started to wane as the night continued. Apparently no one thought he was strange or a freak. He started smiling more and being friendlier. "You look good tonight." A voice came up behind him.

(Thrum)Stephen smiled before he turned around. "Hi Matt." He said, his cheeks flushing for some reason (Thrum).

"Hi Steph." Matt replied, "Missed you on the trail today." "You were waiting for me?" Steph was touched (thrum), "We had to go to town today, sorry. Maybe tomorrow?" "It’s a date." He said, "I’ll see you then. Uh....okay." He stepped back to his table, nearly tripping while trying to maintain eye contact with Steph.

They made fleeting eye contact for the entire meal. Each time their eyes met (thrum) Steph felt warm and happy. It was distracting but Stephen kept a smile on his face the whole night.

Tips were better. He still wasn’t up to the level of the other...girls, but it was considerably better than the night before.

Traci laid a shirt on his bed in the room. "If there’s a fire or something." She said groggily "You’ll thank me."

With his back turned from her and in the dark, he stripped off his clothes and dressed for bed. His sleep shorts were the same but the shirt made things too hot. Uncomfortable as he was, he still fell asleep with no effort at all (thrum).

******

"Hello?" The phone woke Barb up from a wonderful nap.

"Hi." Stephen said.

"Who is this?" Barb asked.

"It’s me! C’mon it hasn’t been that long."

"DJ?"

"It’s Stephen! If you can’t recognize my voice after all these years...." Stephen looked around to make sure he wasn’t heard.

"You sound funny. I’m sorry I just woke up and it might be the connection. How are you, honey?"

"Good. They made me a waiter. Everyone is really nice. I wish you could be here." He said. Oh god, I really hope you don’t take me up on that. "How’re you doin’, babe?" "Really good. Sue’s gonna stay with us next year. She transferred! She wanted to make it a surprise...." "That’s cool. Moving her into the back room?" Traci walked up to the next phone in line. Great, now I have to be careful about everything, he thought.

"Yep." She said, "We’re cleaning it out this weekend. Are you being good? Keeping out of the girls’ pants?" Not by a long shot. "You know I wouldn’t do anything like that." He said.

The conversation continued around various gossip. Stephen kept his side of the conversation as gender neutral as possible.

"Write me soon." Barb told him "I want lots of letters."

"Sure, that won’t be a problem."

"And take care of yourself, that cold must be pretty bad."

"I will."

"I love you, Stephen."

"Uh huh."

"Stephen Weatheral, I just said that I love you. Why won’t you say it back?"

He looked around. Traci was done with her call and was waiting for him to finish. She could overhear anything he said. I can’t hurt Barb, he thought.

"I love you too." He said, "I’m sorry, I gotta go."

"Fine dear. If you are ashamed of me I won’t keep you."

"I’m not. I really just have to go."

"Okay, I love you. Bye."

"Bye babe." He said. Babe? What will Traci think of that? He hung up the phone.

They joined up as they walked back to the room.

"Boyfriend?" Traci asked.

"Not exactly." Stephen replied. He didn’t add any information; Traci didn’t ask.

******

"DJ?" Jesse asked. The cellular connection in the mountains wasn’t great but it was there.

"Who is..."

"Jesse. I’m one of the bio-techs?" Jesse broke in. "Listen, my Dad is sicker than I thought. It’s going to be a while before I come back. Is that okay?"

"I understand Jesse. Family is important. Take all the time you need. We’ll keep your salary going. Is there anything we can do?" Jesse didn’t like DJ much, but it was hard to hate someone who was trying to be so nice to you. "I don’t think so but thank you." Jesse replied, the guilt starting to overtake her.

"Okay, well let us know how things are going."

"Thanks again, DJ."

"No problem. Just come back to us, okay?" They finished the conversation and hung up the phone. "Full pay." Jesse said to Pete, who was listening. Jesse felt about 2 inches tall.

"Sucker." Pete said. He cackled at DJ’s gullibility. "If only she knew..."

******

Several weeks passed. Stephen and Matt met almost daily to explore the hiking trails and it seemed to many people that he was growing prettier every day. Traci and Christie kept his life moving so fast and furious that he didn’t have time to think about things.

"The weather is beautiful and Matt isn’t around for the next week. You have not been swimming with us once. Now put on that suit and meet us at that beach in ten minutes." Christie told him, "No excuses." She left quickly. Stephen held up the small pieces of cloth that were supposed to be a bathing suit.

"I am gonna get so caught." He said. He took off his shirt and bra and deftly put the small top on. It seemed like his breasts had grown (thrum). And he liked that idea. The bikini bottom wasn’t too immodest. It looked like his panties that he had been wearing. He slipped them on. The swimsuit had a strong percentage of lycra in it. It mashed he genitals down in such a way as to not make them very noticeable at all. If he adjusted himself down into the crotch he was virtually undetectable. It was almost as if his penis had shrunk, but that was ridiculous. All the girls had been noticing how quickly his hair was growing. It was just at his collar. All of them convinced him to grow it out. Positive that his disguise would be detected he grabbed his towel and cover-up and proceeded to the beach.

He didn’t feel much like swimming. It seemed that at any moment his top would fly off and the added turbulence of water would ensure it. He laid his towel out with the other girls and lay down, enjoying the sun.

"Did your boobs grow?" Traci asked him. His face turned red.

"I dunno."

"I think they did. Have your bra’s seemed tight?"

"A little." He confided.

"Might have to do something about that. Are you retaining water? Having your period?" She asked quietly. He shook his head, embarrassed.

"Oh, your skin is so pale!" Traci said, changing the subject for her embarrassed friend. "I heard that redheads burn easily. Is that true?"

"I burn, if that’s what you mean." He admitted. "Why?" "You should use a sun screen." She handed him a tube, "Put it all over."

"Okay." He spread the lotion over every bit of exposed skin he could reach.

"Can you help me with my back?" he handed the sunscreen back to Traci.

"Sure." She stood up and stepped behind him. Stephen lay on his back so she could do a proper job.

He was soon getting one of the best back rubs of his life. The lotion was distributed quickly but the back rub continued. With his eyes closed he finally spoke. "That feels great." He purred contentedly, "Will you marry me?"

"I don’t believe in long engagements." A male voice said. Stephen shocked awake. Traci was laughing as her friend flipped back over.

"Matt!" He said, "That was a dirty trick." "What’d I do?" He smiled that infuriatingly attractive smile. "Just gave a friend a back rub?"

Stephen had made it very clear that they were friends only. No hanky-panky. Matt was to treat her as if she were one of his guy friends. Steph felt naked, he grabbed for his cover up. Matt plopped fully clothed onto the sand beside Stephen.

"Whatcha up to?"

"Just at the beach with my friends." Stephen gestured around. All the girls had left to give them some privacy. "Oh."

Matt was still smiling (thrum).

"Stop that." Steph said.

"Stop what?"

"That smirk."

"What smirk?" Steph hit him on the arm. The punch had no effect. He pretended to fall down, still smiling. He propped his head up on one arm.

"There’s a dance in town next week." Matt said, "On the 4^th of July. I was wondering if you’d go with me. As friends of course."

Steph went into a moment of panic. He was a really good friend. If he was turned down for the dance then he might not want to hang out anymore. I really like hanging out with him.

"Of course she’ll go." Traci had stepped up and spoke.

"She’d LOVE to go with you. Right Stephanie?" "Huh, oh yeah. Of course." (Thrum) What the hell am I doing?

"Cool. Well, I’ll leave you back to your sun worship. I’ll see you next week when I get back?"

Steph nodded again. Christie and Traci were collecting their belongings.

"Come on." Christie said, "We have work to do."

"But I just got here." Steph complained. "You have to work on your priorities." Traci chided. They drug her all the way back to the room.

Inside the room, Christie took command.

"Get changed, we’re going into town."

"Why?"

"Just do it. You obviously have never been to any kind of dance before so we are going to get you ready." Actually Stephen had been to many dances. He just wore a tux before.

"I have sand all over, I need to shower." Stephen said, grabbing clothes from the dresser. There was no way he was taking off a swimsuit in front of them. No way. "Me too." Traci said. "Want to share?" She asked innocently.

"No, it’s pretty small." Steph said, "You better go first." Traci shrugged and removed every stitch of clothing she had on. Christie sat at the desk. The sight of this beautiful naked woman should have done something to Stephen. But (thrum) he only felt jealous of her. She left the bathroom door open for the whole time.

"Have you ever worn makeup?" Christie asked. "Only for Halloween." Steph said truthfully. He suspected he knew where this was going. "Why?" "Just let us worry about it." Christie said, "You might enjoy it."

Traci came out of the shower, drying herself off as she walked. Stephen went into the bathroom carrying every stitch of clothing he wanted to wear afterwards. He shut the door.

"Remember to rinse your suit." Christie called through the door. He hosed off quickly and rinsed the bikini in the sink. He dried extra fast and put on his panties. His manhood properly hidden, he dressed more slowly. "See." Traci said as he walked out.

"Sure enough. I think our little girl is filling out." Christie groped his breasts and noted that the bra was digging into him. Traci handed him another bra. "You can borrow this one." She said, "It should fit better."

He tried on his friends bra, it was much more comfortable. "It’s kind of cute that you’re so shy." Traci said, "But I wish you wouldn’t be with us."

"I’ll meet you at the car." Christie said as she left.

******

"Pack it up." Pete said "Jesse, why don’t you stay back this time?"

They had set up a complex antenna package and made the campsite into an extension of their project. Pete’s orders were that it was never to be left unguarded. Bringing Rodney instead of Jesse was a perfect way of showing his displeasure of her conduct on the last shopping trip. "Cool. Naked babes." Rodney said. Jesse, exasperated, plopped down at the picnic table and watched them drive off.

******

The whirlwind of shopping was a little less crazy this time. The sight of all the feminine finery no longer shocked Steph. Surprisingly, the lingerie department was not the first stop.

Christie and Traci rifled through rack after rack of fancy dresses. Whenever a green one in Stephs’ size showed up, they grabbed it. Soon Steph was looking at a rack completely consisting of green dresses in her size. "I don’t need this many." He said.

"Of course not, silly." Christie chided, "But this is the fun of shopping."

They started to sort the rack. The categories used were:

bridesmaid (put back), mother of the bride (definitely put back), Prom (maybe, keep), and hot. Soon Steph was standing in the dressing room in his underwear as the girls helped him on with dress after dress.

"I don’t think the bra should show like this." He said. "Of course not. Bra shopping is later, if you need it." She handed a strapless dress to him. Surprisingly it stayed up without any hands necessary. It seemed like a miracle of engineering.

When Christie and Traci agreed on a dress, then Steph got his say. Only once was Stephs’ veto overridden and that was with the strapless.

He should feel foolish, but instead (thrum) he felt more comfortable and happy than in months. The strapless became the dress of choice. Christie paid for it as Steph was being fitted. It would be ready in 3 days. Christie and Traci knew that shoe shopping would be problematic. It was obvious that this girl had never worn heels in her life.

"Why do I have to wear high heels?" Steph whined, "I’m 5 foot 9."

"In your dreams, little girl." Christie laughed, "You are five four at best. You HAVE to wear heels. Now stop whining."

Wow, does she have her measurements wrong, Steph thought, I haven’t been five four since junior high. Shoe shopping was the worst part of the day. Steph kept teetering on even the lowest heel. It was funny and sad at the same time.

"She’ll take the 3 inch heels." Traci announced.

"What? I’ll kill myself in those."

"You’ll get them and practice in them every night. If you can’t stand in any heel at all then we might as well start you off with a higher one.

Traci took Steph bra shopping while Christie disappeared for a while. Not only did they get a strapless bra for the dress but Traci also insisted on buying all new regular bras for every day wear.

"Who’s paying for all this?" Steph asked.

"Your fairy godmother. Don’t ask." Traci replied. Christie met them back at the car with most of the packages already in the trunk.

******

Jesse was sitting in the campsite, arms crossed and scowling.

"It’s about time." She said.

"It took a while." Pete told her.

"Whatever." She walked away, relieved of her guard duties.

She was not happy.

******

"I talked to Fiona, you and I have the night off." Christie told Steph, "We’re gonna have some fun tonight." She opened one of the bags to reveal everything needed for margaritas. Steph felt silly walking through the halls in high heels.

After some time he felt as if he wouldn’t fall on his face.

Not immediately anyway.

"I still feel stupid." He confessed to Traci. She giggled and provided tips to being graceful. On their second lap of the floor they heard the distinct sound of a blender in their room.

Traci took off ahead, daring Steph to catch up. He couldn’t.

Stephen was no stranger to alcohol. A twenty-year-old guy in college rarely is. He slammed the first margarita. After recovering from the brain freeze he was feeling pretty good.

After the second he was feeling no pain at all. That was when the girls started in on him.

"What’re you doin’" He slurred.

"Makeover." They replied.

"Don’t need one." He replied and tried to stand up. They pushed him back onto the floor.

"Hold still." Traci said as she put some ice up to his eyebrows, "This is for your own good." After a few moments of icing, the girls got to work. After the first eyebrow hair was plucked he started to squirm. "Hold still or we shave ‘em off." Christie said, "Trust us." The two girls were more than a physical match for him. He relented and let them get to work. When they were finished they held up a small mirror for him.

"She’s cute." He said, "I’d do her." His eyebrows were not done in exaggerated arches but were tastefully trimmed to a more feminine shape.

"Now for the lesson." Traci said, "These colors will be great for you."

Christie opened another bag and produced several small containers. They scooted to a spot in front of the full size mirror and both girls started showing him the subtleties of eye makeup.

"Okay, done." Traci said, "Ta da."

"Whoa." Stephen said.

"Not bad at all." Christie agreed. She handed him a lipstick. He stared at it blankly.

"Like a chapstick." Traci said, "Oh here." Traci took the lipstick and applied it to his mouth.

"Now let me do your hair." Christie said, spraying mousse in her hand. (Thrum) Steph was so content he just sat there and let her go to work.

"Short hair is a challenge." Christie said. She squeezed chunk of hair and molded what hair he had into a much more feminine style. As Cathie was working Steph felt an itch and instinctively scratched her eye.

"No!" Both stylists screamed at once.

"What?" Steph asked.

"Look what you did." Traci turned him around and showed him in the mirror. Sure enough his left eye was beautiful but his right eye looked like someone played with a wet painting.

"I’ll do it again but you have to learn self control."

"I had an itch!"

"Self control." Christie said, "You have to learn." Traci started repairing the damage. Christie was complete and decided to pour Steph another drink. "You have to do that every morning until the dance."

Christie said, "Now drink up."

******

In the surveillance van, Rodney was munching on popcorn, watching the events of the night.

"He’s gonna feel that in the morning." He chuckled, "I think the next scene is where the psycho killer invades the slumber party."

******

Stephens’ head ached all over. He recognized a hangover when he had one. He was in bed, under the covers. He scratched his side and was surprised to find the feel slippery fabric under his hand.

He opened his eyes.

"What the hell?" He said scratchily. He was wearing a black nightgown of some kind. A chemise? He thought that’s what Barb called this. He had always liked one on her and now (thrum) he found it very comfortable.

"Morning." Traci looked over at him from her own bed. It was obvious late in the morning; the sun was streaming into the window.

Steph looked at Traci and wondered why she had that smile on her face. He had an urgent need to pee so he threw off the covers and rushed towards the bathroom. Sitting down as he always did now (thrum) he was surprised when Traci walked in and took her clothes off.

"I think we’ll have hot water now." She said, smiling lazily. Sure enough, in a few seconds steam started to bellow out. After she stepped in and closed the door he quickly pulled his panties up.

"I’m going to flush." He said. The sound of the water changed subtly.

"Go ahead." She told him. He did so and left the bathroom quickly.

It looked like a sunny day outside so he quickly picked out a tank top and shorts. He felt suddenly dizzy and decided to lay back on the bed a moment.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Traci shocked him back awake.

"Shower’s open."

"Thanks." He said, dragging himself back out of bed.

Grabbing his clothes he went back into the bathroom.

"Hurt much?" Traci asked.

"My whole head hurts." He told her, "I’ll be out in a minute."

He turned the water on and let the steam penetrate every cell in his body.

******

"Come on, who showers with their eyes closed?" Rodney yelled at the screen.

"You are a pig." Jesse told him as she entered the van.

"It’s your day to make lunch. I’ve got this."

"Nothing to see anyway." He said dejectedly. "All yours."

He stormed out of the van.

******

His hair felt funny, Stephen noticed. It actually took two full washings to get it close to normal. It was like there was something in it.

He was scrubbing his hair when his hand caught on his ear. "Ow!" He said. It felt like there was something stuck to his earlobe. He checked his other one. There was something there. His theory about something being stuck to the lobe was wrong.

There was something stuck THROUGH his lobe. They had pierced his ears!

"Shit." He said, "What will Barb say?" (Thrum) Suddenly, he didn’t really care.

Rinsing off quickly, he shut the shower off. Drying went just about as fast. Traci was entirely too open about sharing bathrooms so he put his panties on quickly. Wiping the steam off the mirror he had to take a step back. A girl was staring at him. There was no way in the world anyone would mistake his reflection for a guy. His eyebrows were arched, not in an overly thin way but just like the other girls here. In his ears were diamond (or fake diamond) studs. His eyes showed the remnants of eye makeup reminiscent of the times when Barb fell asleep with her makeup on.

There was a quick knock on the door and Traci poked her head in.

"Hurry up, we have to get you ready." She said.

"What did you guys do?" Steph put his hands over his ears. "What WE did?" Traci had an uneasy smile, "You begged us to do that, remember?"

"World War III could have happened last night and I wouldn’t remember!"

Traci laughed and closed the door. Steph put his clothes on and returned to the bedroom. Christie was waiting with mousse and a hair dryer.

"Ready?" She asked.

"For what?"

"You wanted me to teach you how to do your hair." (THRUM)

Steph really liked this idea.

"Okay, show me." Christie handed the device to him and proceeded to make him do his hair in a feminine style. As they finished up, Traci was placing makeup on the dresser. "We’ll go for an everyday look today. Not the date look like last night." She said.

"No way!" He said (Thrum). "Well...."

"Cool. And we have to sanitize your ears too. They might get infected otherwise."

(Thrum) "Okay, show me." He replied. Might as well, he thought, there’s no backing out at this point. Steph was falling in love with his reflection more and more. At each stage of the makeup application he was getting more and more hooked (THRUM). Cleaning his ears felt so good it was almost a religious experience (THRUM). Traci reminded him not to rub his eyes.

Afterwards, whenever he saw his own reflection he was overcome with pride and pleasure. I don’t know why all guys don’t wear makeup, he thought, it’s great! Except for feeling like everyone was looking at him (they were), he was feeling great (Thrum).

That night his tips were more than the other waitresses.

******

"Is she ready yet?" Christie poked her head in the door "He’s getting anxious."

"Art takes time." Traci said. She wasn’t leaving this one to the amateurs. She was putting the finishing touches on her friends face.

"Now remember, the dress won’t fall down so don’t go hiking it up all the time. It’s not going anywhere." "Got it." Steph said. He liked being the center of attention.

"You’re pretty good about your eye makeup but there is a lipstick in the bag."

"Check." Traci continued grilling him on proper behavior.

"Ready?" Traci asked.

"Nope." Steph replied, "But let’s go." He stood up and they walked out into the hall.

Steph had to walk very slowly. He had never worn a dress in his life and the added obstacle of heels he was severely handicapped.

Matt was waiting in the lobby. When he saw Steph, his jaw dropped. He said nothing. Feeling uneasy, Steph felt like running away. Traci was grinning ear to ear. "It’s okay, Stephie." She whispered into Stephs’ ear.

"Hi." Steph said.

"Wow." Was Matt’s reply, "I mean, Hi Stephanie."

Steph blushed. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Should we go?" Steph finally asked.

"Yeah. We should." Matt offered an arm to Steph. Grateful for the extra support, the arm was taken. Matt was the poster boy for gentleman. He opened doors, helped Steph into the car, and was, in general, charming. Stephen was finding it hard to remember reality. The country club was decked out in opulence. Matt seemed not to notice, he was stating intently at Steph. "What?" Steph glanced back from looking around the room and saw him staring.

"You are so beautiful." He said. (THRUM!) Stephen was very happy to hear this.

"Thank you." Steph replied, feeling very girlish, "You look very nice. You clean up really good."

"I could say the same thing." Matt said. Steph just smiled.

I shouldn’t like this, he thought, but it’s wonderful!

******

"Increase the top pleasure threshold by fifteen percent." Pete said. All of them were staring intently at the monitor. "Jess, what do you think the medical status is?" "Based on the other cases, the pheromone reversal is probably complete. Bone structure will be going through final phases. It is the painful hip restructuring that is next. He is primed for female identification." "Rodney?"

"I am a maestro. We got it under control."

"Let’s have fun then. It’s a big night."

******

"Do you want to dance?" Matt asked.

"I don’t know how." Steph replied, wishing it weren’t true.

Matt grabbed his hand; his touch was electric. "Just follow me." He said, leading Steph onto the dance floor.

Dancing in a long gown was awkward. Dancing in heels was nearly impossible. Steph nearly fell dozens of times and every time Matt was there to catch her. Steph felt ecstatic and safe and was having a hopelessly good time. In the first hour they had not yet left the dance floor. At the end of that hour, a slow song started. After an initial awkwardness determining where their hands they fell into the dance.

Matt towered over Steph despite the high heels and Steph found she liked it that way. At the end of the dance they paused. Matt looked into Stephs’ eyes and didn’t see any negative reaction from her. They fell into a passionate kiss that lasted forever and not long enough. (THRUM THRUM THRUM THRUM THRUM) "Wow." She said, knowing that her life would never be the same again.

******

After two days on the road, Steph was scared stiff. In a short time she would be home, with Barb. A quick stop at a Wal-Mart replenished her supply of male underwear and clothes. Leaving her earrings out and wearing no makeup, she thought that she might have a possibility of pulling it off.

The male clothes felt bulky and drab. A check in the mirror still showed plucked brows but Steph was convinced that it wasn’t all that different. Without makeup and with no bra she felt naked and indecent. Most of her female wardrobe was hidden in the trunk (she couldn’t bear to throw any of it out).

Barb was excited. Stephen had been gone for three long months. It was far too long for their young relationship and she was pacing the floor in anticipation. She wished he had communicated more while he was gone but lots of guys are really bad at writing letters, right?

Where was he?

Steph carried the bags up to the apartment. Would this work? She had been practicing a male voice for the entire drive.

She went inside.

Barb was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" Steph called, "Barb?" She heard the toilet flush. "Honey!" Barb was saying happily, "You’re...." She looked at him. Her jaw fell. "Home."

"I missed you." Steph rushed up and hugged her, hard. Just like she used to do. Their breasts mashed together in a way that embarrassed both of them.

"I missed you too." Barb said, tentatively. "Uh, let me look at you." She held Steph at arms length. There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other.

Steph broke the silence by changing the subject. "I brought souvenirs." She said, heading back to the suitcases. Barb silently followed him back. Steph started handing her box after box of items, much more than she had ever expected. It was almost as if Steph was trying to apologize for something.

"Wow, thank you." Barb said, "Listen, I need to go get dinner from the store. I’ll be right back." Without waiting, Barb grabbed her purse and kissed Steph on the cheek. Her hand lingered on his smooth face for just a moment. She rushed out the door, fighting back tears unsuccessfully.

Steph stood in the kitchen, more gifts in hand. Her heart sank, she had hurt one of the most precious people in her life and she was powerless to do anything about it.

******

"I cleared out for you. Why aren’t you home snuggling with your honey?" Sue asked Barb. Barb broke down into sobs. "It’s okay honey. What happened? Did he sleep around?

Tell me what’s wrong."

"I think he’s gay." Barb said through the sobs, "He looks like a girl. He walks and talks like a girl. It even looks like he has bigger boobs than me!"

"We are talking about Stephen, right?" Sue said while hugging her friend, "Tell me what happened." "He came home. We hugged and I felt his....breasts. He started giving me presents. I couldn’t take it so I came to find you." She started sobbing again. "I think he was off getting plastic surgery or something this summer. No one changes like that over three months. It’s not possible!" "But Stephen is as straight as can be! Did he say he was gay?" Sue asked. Barb shook her head. "Then I think we at least owe our friend the benefit of the doubt." Sue and Barb didn’t know what to expect when they re-entered the apartment. It wasn’t what they were expecting. Stephen sat on the couch his eyes red from crying. His suitcases were still packed and sitting by the door. Barb and Sue sat on either side of him.

"What’s going on Stephen?" Barb asked, "You look like a girl. I just want to understand."

"I don’t know what’s happening." He said, dabbing his tears as if he were wearing makeup, "I’ll find a new place to live tomorrow."

"Why?" Barb asked, "Stephen, we can get through this. You were this virile man before..."

"I don’t know what happened. They thought I was a girl when I showed up and I had to pretend to stop from being arrested. It seemed like the only way to go at the time." Tears started streaming again.

"But implants?" Sue asked.

"I didn’t get implants." Steph replied. He hefted a ‘C’ cup breast "These are real. Barb I love you; I don’t want to hurt you. Let me try to be like I was. Please?" "Oh Stephen." Barb hugged him ferociously "We’ll get through this."

******

School started the next week. Steph made a valiant effort at being male.

She failed miserably. She was pegged as a woman automatically, possibly a strange one but a woman nevertheless.

For Barbs’ sake she put on male clothes every day but no amount of binding could conceal her breasts and no amount of coaching lowered her voice. She was trapped. A sex life was a joke. Stephs’ male genitalia were no larger than that of an infant. No amount of coaxing would get it hard.

A week later everything came to a head. "Barb, I can’t keep living like this." Steph said, "I still love you but I really am a woman inside. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world but..."

Barb was crying. This was hard.

"I know honey. I’ve watched you try and I know it’s been hard. Every time you get to show your feminine side you look alive again. I can’t keep you from that." "I’ll move out." Steph said.

"For gods’ sake why?" Barb said through her tears, "I still love you, dammit! If Sue can live here as a roommate why can’t you? You might need some help trying to be a girl. Just one thing though..."

"What’s that?"

"We can’t share a bed anymore. I’m not a lesbian. And another thing?"

"Yes?"

"Ask before you borrow my clothes. I hate a girl who doesn’t ask."

******

"We need to set up for the next operation." Pete told his team, "You are both still with me, right?" Pete made sure that both Jesse and Rodney were aware of the illegality of their actions. They would stay with him. Both of them reluctantly nodded.

"Okay, tie things up here and we’ll go on to the next subject."

******

Sue and Barb actually grew closer to Steph now that he was a she. Steph was happy and funny and a great roommate all around. They almost started to forget she was ever a male. Every once in a while Barb would get a wistful look on her face when looking at her but they passed quickly. Barb was pacing nervously around the house, Steph was trying to work on a paper for school, and Sue would not look at either one of them. Every time there was a noise in the hall outside their apartment Barb jumped. "What is goin...." Steph finally started to ask, only to be interrupted by the phone ringing. Barb flew over the couch and grabbed the cordless phone before it rang a second time. "Hello?" She said, anxiously and a little out of breath, "Oh HI." She said sweetly. She quickly retreated into the bedroom and closed the door.

"What was that about?" Steph asked Sue. Sue didn’t say a word. She pointedly kept her mouth shut and retreated into her own room.

What’s going on? Are they kicking me out? I thought everything was going fine.

A long time later Barb came out of her bedroom and went directly into Sue’s. There was a moment of squealing and then quiet. Then, long faced and nervous, both girls came back into the living room. Steph stood and faced them, prepared for the worst.

"You’d better sit down." Sue said. Steph remained standing.

"I’ll stand."

"Steph, honey." Barb said, "There’s no really good way to put this..."

Steph sat down.

"I’ve found someone else...."

"I’ll move out at the end of the month." "NO!" Both girls yelled at once. Barb continued, "I am going to DATE someone, not move in. You are staying put. No one is replacing you here."

"And you are still going to be in my wedding!" Sue said emphatically.

"I’m sorry. I am really happy for you, Barb." Steph said, giving Barb a hug, "I need to go out for a little bit." She continued on and went out the door.

Steph knew that it would no longer work between Barb and her. She had to find someone eventually. A beautiful girl like Barb deserves a boyfriend. But on the other hand, Steph was being replaced. There was still an illogical sense of loss with this event.

Sean was a nice enough guy in Steph’s opinion. He was polite and cute and treated Barb the way she deserved. Seeing both Barb and Sue with their guys, Steph felt extreme loneliness. She longed for the summer before when she belonged and someone looked at her like that. It wasn’t that she didn’t have offers; it was just that none of the offers appealed much to her.

Her penis disappeared right before the end of the second quarter. It was almost a non-event. It had shrunk so much and was basically useless so Steph didn’t feel she was missing anything. She didn’t tell her roommates when it happened.

Sue and Barb had just left on a double date picnic. It was a beautiful day and they did invite Steph along. Feeling like a fifth wheel was not her idea of a good time, so she decided to bum around the apartment.

She was wearing a grubby t-shirt and jeans, perfect for spring-cleaning. Her hair was back in a short ponytail and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She jumped when someone knocked on the door.

"Just a minute." She called. The knocking increased. Steph tried to clean herself up as much as possible. It didn’t work very well.

"Hold on!" They started ringing the bell. This was too much, she thought as she stormed to the door. Whoever that is will get an earful. She opened the door, determined to start yelling at whomever was there. She opened her mouth to start.

And said nothing. She started to cry.

"Matthew," she said contritely, "you shouldn’t have." She took the huge bouquet of flowers from him. "Hey, if they upset you so much I can just take them back." He joked. She moved the flowers to a more defensive position.

"I’ll rip your lips off." She said, smiling through the tears.

"I’ve got a better idea for lips." He said, stepping closer. "Oh yeah?" She set the flowers on the counter next to the door. "What would that be?"

Why won’t he hurry up? She thought. But this teasing banter was exciting in its own way.

"I could bite your lips off." He picked her up bodily and she instinctively wrapped her hands around his neck. They kissed deeply and soulfully. She cried through the entire event.

"I missed you." He said finally when he had to stop for air. "I missed you so much, it hurt." She said. "What’re you doing here?"

"It takes time to move across the country for someone. My new job starts next week."

"Why didn’t you call?"

"Try giving the right phone number next time. You know this phone isn’t in your name? I thought you were trying to avoid me."

"Never." She started kissing him again. "I am so sorry. I thought you hated me. I thought you never wanted to see me again."

"No, how could you even start to think that? I love you Stephanie Weatheral, and I won’t leave again." They fell into the kiss again and as far as Steph was concerned, everything was right with the world.

******

Epilogue

After opening her mail, DJ phoned her fiancé immediately. She was much more rested now; her project with Jay was a success. He was now very happy to be Theresa. Ashley gave Theresa a new project at the lab and she was doing marvelously at it.

DJ had straightened out the mess Ashley had made. "Michael, honey?" she said into his machine, "Save the first weekend in June. We have a wedding to go to. I love you, honey. Talk to you soon."

She looked at the invitation.

"So Sue is getting married." She said, "I wonder if the old gang will be there."

Her thoughts drifted to Stephen, her first boyfriend, and wondered how he and Barb were doing. It’s nice to get together with old friends, she thought, to see what’s changed.

******

"Why do I get 5 shots when everyone else is only getting 4?" Jim asked. He hated needles and sometimes you could talk you way out of them.

"Your record said you needed a booster." The nurse told him. Without further discussion she sank one needle into his arm, the important needle.

"Hey! I thought we were still discussing this?" He complained.

"I don’t have time. There are plenty of others in line behind you. You don’t want to look bad in front of the girls, do you?" The nurse smirked.

******

"You don’t want to look bad in front of the girls, do you?" Pete heard through the pickup. It was an audio feed only and was completely reliant on Jesse’s bug. Pete snorted. "Cousin Jim doesn’t want to look bad in front of the girls, does he?" He mocked, "Until he is one, of course." Thirty feet away, Rodney cringed a little at the sound of Petes’ obnoxious laughter. That Pete will get his some day, he thought, and I just might be around to see it.

 

End Part 5

 

The transformation of Jay as started in Morphite 4 was not truly covered in this story. Rest assured the events around Jay’s life and transformation will appear in yet another of these tales. - Jo--------

 

 

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