Be a girl

Josh, Neil, and I all stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Jesse was now, by the looks of it, one hundred percent female. He was smaller all around, his face softer and more rounded, and his body hair had diminished. The only thing that hadn’t changed was his haircut, remaining in that awful fuckboi style.

“Change me back right the fuck now or I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you, you little freak!” Jesse roared. His voice was noticeably higher in pitch now, matching his new feminine body. The face of pure anger demonstrated that he meant exactly what he said.

I had no idea how Jesse had even been transformed in the first place, let alone whether it was my fault. There was a distinct possibility, given that it all started after he stole my lunch. But even if I had changed him, I didn’t have a clue how to change him back. I didn’t even know if I was able to. Why the fuck had this even happened? How does something like this even happen? Could this happen again?

Jesse rushed towards me, and I curled myself up into a ball in order to protect myself, placing my hands over my head to shield it. That was about the best defence I could manage. I was small and weak, and I’d never done any sort of sport, let alone taken self-defence classes. I dropped what remained of my half-eaten sandwich, though at this point, I had much more important things to worry about. Namely the angry boy-turned-girl with intent to kill who was fast approaching me. His fist slammed into my side, causing me to yelp as a piercing pain rose up through my body.

“Change me back, fuckhead!” he shouted punching me again. There was a pain in his voice that I’d never heard before. His fury was relentless, punching me with full force so many times that I lost count. My foetal position was proving effective at preventing him from hitting me anywhere he could do serious damage though, with him smacking me mostly on the side of my body.

Suddenly, a teacher called out, “Oi! What do you think you’re doing!? Stop that right now!” Jesse halted his onslaught, and I breathed a sigh of relief at the reprieve. I looked up and saw the teacher holding him back by the armpits, clearly having ripped him away from me. It was a sight I’d never thought I’d see: a teacher stopping Jesse. Though I guess it was hard for them to ignore him beating me with such ferocity.

Jesse squirmed like a mad thing within the teacher’s arms, but he was unable to free himself from the grip. He really did want me dead. “Let go of me! I need to kill that fucking freak!” he yelled. His face was completely red, his eyes bloodshot, and tears flowed freely down his cheeks. I’d never seen him cry before. I didn’t even think he was capable of it given he was one of those guys who thought it was unmanly to ever cry. I also noticed a suspicious lack of Josh and Neil. They must have ditched him when the teacher intervened, though they were probably also scared of me now too.

“No,” the teacher said bluntly, “You’re coming with me to the principal’s office.” The teacher turned to face me. “Are you ok? Can you walk, or should I call someone over to help? You look pretty beat up.”

I nodded slowly, “I think I can manage.” I winced from the pain and slowly stood up, beginning on my way to the sick room to get help with my bruises. Thankfully, Jesse hadn’t targeted my legs at all, so they were fine. Didn’t mean the walk was easy however, as my upper body was still in excruciating pain.

I glanced over at Jesse and the teacher as they headed toward the principal’s office. It seemed as if Jesse had given up trying to go after me and was just sobbing now. We were on the other side of the school to said office, so he would be forced to walk past everyone looking like… that. Even though I hated his guts, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.

The sick room was located in the same building as the principal’s office, but I took a different, longer route so as to avoid being near Jesse. I also didn’t want people glancing between Jesse and me, wondering what had happened. Last thing I needed right now was attention.

When I finally reached the sick room, I collapsed into the bed. The nurse closely inspected my bruises to see if I would need more drastic medical treatment but seemed satisfied that I wouldn’t need to be sent to the hospital. No bones appeared to be broken, thankfully. She gave me some ice packs to help with the bruises, which helped to soothe my aching sides, even if the pain would stay with me for at least a week or two.

I laid there for what seemed like hours, trying my best not to overthink my current situation. Here I was hoping for an uneventful day, but the universe clearly had no desire to answer my simple birthday wish. When mum finally arrived, she gave me a horrified look, unable to bear seeing her son in such a state.

“Hi mum,” I said, smiling weakly in a poor attempt to comfort her, to make her feel she needn’t worry about me.

She rushed over to me and hugged me gently to not hurt me. “Are you ok? What happened? Who did this to you?”

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I sighed. She gave me a puzzled but still worried look, but she accepted my response regardless. She sat down beside me and began slowly stroking my back on the side that wasn’t injured to comfort me.  

After a few minutes, someone else entered the sick room, an adult who seemed like they were part of the administrative staff. “Excuse me, Mrs. Ashford? Principal Harris would like to speak with you and your son about what happened earlier today.” Great, I’d have to explain the situation anyway. I might even have face Jesse again. I grimaced in pain as I stood up, but I managed.

We made our way through the narrow corridors of the building to the principal’s office. It wasn’t very far from the sick room, so it didn’t take us long to arrive. Jesse sat on a chair outside the office, bent over and his arms dangling at his sides. His entire face was red, including his eyes, though he seemed to have run out of tears. He glared at me as we walked past him, a fiery rage burning behind his bloodshot eyes. A woman, whom I assumed was his mother, was consoling him. I didn’t say anything as I walked into the office with my mum.

Principal Harris was sitting with her hands clasped together and her elbows on the desk in front of her. “Excellent, you’re all here. Please, everyone, take a seat.” She motioned for all four of us to sit in the four chairs which had been set up opposite her desk, to which we all obliged. Jesse and I sat on the two outer chairs in order to be as far away from each other as possible. Jesse continued to stare at me the entire time, and when I briefly glanced over at him, his eyes narrowed. Hunched over in his chair, his loose clothing hid his now feminine body, making him look like a prepubescent boy more than anything else.

“Now, let us begin,” the principal said with a stern look. “Mr. Andrews has informed me that you,” she pointed at Jesse, “violently assaulted this poor boy. Is this correct?”

“Yes, but…” Jesse began but was immediately interrupted by the principal speaking over him.

“No buts,” she snapped, staring him down. I was a little surprised that he quieted down; I’d always assumed he’d had no respect for any sort of authority.

The principal turned to me this time. “Ok, Benjamin, is it?” I winced a little at hearing my full first name, though not enough for anyone to notice. I simply nodded in answer to her question.

“Can you explain what happened?” she asked, giving me a soft smile.

“Well, um,” I began, “He and his friends were um… pestering me. And then, um…” I paused trying to think of what to say. How do I explain something like this? “I um, kind of um…” I was struggling to speak, to get the words out of my mouth. My nerves began to overwhelm me, and I looked toward the floor, unable to make any sort of eye contact with anyone. I slowly rubbed my thighs with both hands to help soothe myself a little. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Jesse, clearly fed up with my failure to explain anything, stood up, pointed at me, and shouted, “This fucking freak turned me into a chick!” I looked over at him but didn’t meet his gaze. Not that I needed to look him in the eyes to know his face was twisted with rage.

Principal Harris stared at him, bewildered. What he said should have been utter nonsense, and not the truth. But here we were. She examined Jesse carefully with squinted eyes, trying to discern the validity of his previous statement.

The woman who was with Jesse took this opportunity to speak up, “Language, Jesse.” She gave him a stern look.

Jesse’s head whipped around to face the woman. “You’ve never given a shit about how much I swore before,” he snapped.

“Yes, but you were a boy before,” she retorted, “it was expected of you. Now that you’re a young lady, I expect you to act as such. And that means no more swearing.”

Jesse frowned, grumbling something inaudible, before slouching back down in his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, adjusting his arms until they were in a comfortable position. This was the second time in only a few minutes that Jesse had backed down from an authority figure, and it still seemed rather foreign.

The woman’s reaction did unnerve me a little though. Despite Jesse clearly objecting to his transformation, she was still pushing quite absurd feminine gender roles onto him. It didn’t sit right with me, but it also wasn’t my place to say anything, so I didn’t.

Principal Harris shook her head, perhaps in confusion, perhaps in disbelief, then turned to me. “Is this true? Did you turn Jesse into a girl?” she asked me. I simply nodded. She gave me a stern look. “Was this before or after Jesse attacked you?”

I thought for a moment. How should I word this? “Before? He attacked me after his body had stopped changing.” Sure, that would suffice.

“Why did you turn Jesse into a girl?”

“I didn’t mean to!” I mumbled, “I don’t even know how it happened!”

The principal leant back in her chair a little and folded her arms across her chest. If it weren’t for the fact that Jesse was sitting right in front of her, she most certainly wouldn’t have believed this ridiculous story. She paused for a moment before speaking again.

“This is a rather unusual circumstance,” she posited, “Now, Jesse.” She peered at him. “While I understand that you were angry at what Benjamin did to you, that does not mean I can simply allow you to assault another student.” Jesse huffed at this but did not reply.

She continued, “I’m sure you also understand that this is an all boys’ school, and, well, you are hardly a boy anymore by the sounds of it. Somehow.” Jesse let out a deep sigh. He probably wanted to rebut her, but knew he had no ground to stand on. “For both these reasons, you no longer have any place at this school.”

Jesse hung his head, still remaining silent. I should have felt sorry for him, but I was mostly relieved that I would never have to deal with him ever again.

The principal then turned her attention to me. “As for you Benjamin. We cannot have someone who is able to change boys into girls attending this establishment. So, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I’m sure you understand.”

I was a little shocked by this, even though logically it made sense. I nodded in response. Mum placed a hand on my leg, and I looked up at her smiling at me. I could tell it was forced, but she was doing her best to try and comfort me. I took a deep breath and smiled back just as awkwardly.

“Now, final exams are only a few weeks away, so I will allow the both of you to finish those before you are officially no longer enrolled. However, neither of you will be permitted to attend classes in the meantime, and you will be attending your exams in a private room, away from the rest of the student body.”

Honestly, I didn’t mind this outcome. I hated this school, so I certainly was not going to miss it. And it wasn’t like I had any friends whom I would miss and who would miss me. Missing the last few weeks of school was honestly a blessing too. I wouldn’t need any help for my exams, and I wouldn’t have to worry about all the filler nonsense the teachers would try to make us do in the last weeks of the year because they had nothing left to teach. Nor would I have to worry about Jesse, Neil, and Josh. It was basically just early summer holidays for me since I had no plans to study for my exams anyway.

Now that our verdicts had been given, the meeting was over, and all of us took our leave from the principal’s office. Jesse glared at me on the way out, but I tried my best to ignore him. Today was the last day I’d ever have to deal with him anyway.

I sighed once mum and I were on our own. I’d wished for an uninteresting birthday today, but instead I got an unforgettable one. The universe was probably laughing at me right now.