Adam didn’t know why he bothered following the Eli twins, Jett and Floyd. It’s not like they were any good friends, they were just cssmates of his. Ones he wasn't particurly close to, though he usually said ‘hi’ to them every day.

  But he needed to go somewhere. To hide. From who? His grandfather? The rain? The world? He didn’t want to face anyone right now, but maybe the hopelessness he felt was why he also just didn’t care. They wanted to show him something? Whatever, sure.

  They led him down to the academy building’s basement. Adam had never gone down there himself. After all, there weren’t any cssrooms or anything simir there. The lightbulbs were kinda dingy too, and he wasn’t a too big of a fan of the dark. The twins’ almost gothic appearances didn’t exactly help.

  “It’s this way.” Jett directed.

  “I’m sure she’ll be excited to meet you.” Floyd continued.

  Adam could swear the lightbulb above them cracked. “Wh-Who?” He asked.

  In a snap, they both turned their heads back to face me at the same time. “The mistress.” They answered in perfect unison.

  Adam gulped.

  As far as he knew, there shouldn’t have been anything more than storage closets down here, but down the hall, past the final door…

  Was a wider space than expected. It was brighter too. Not from your usual light source, but from plenty of colourful little sparks strewn about. Adam wasn’t quite sure how they specifically originated, but he spotted one of the green ones coming from a small gss ball.

  In the middle, was a small circur table with a crystal ball on top. But what’s more, sitting in one of two elegant chairs next to the table, was a familiar face. Middle-aged. Short, bone white hair. A line-art tattoo of a rose running across her left shoulder.

  The school librarian. What was her name? Rosalynn?

  “Welcome, child,” She began, gesturing to the other chair in the room. “Please, take a seat.”

  Adam gnced at the twins, now standing at each of his sides. They didn’t react, so he had to assume this was what they had wanted to show him.

  Hesitantly, he walked ahead to the chair, and sat in it. It was one of those he’d only ever see at his grandmother’s pce, back when he was younger and visited her sometimes. The type of chair that you know got inherited from the early 1900s at the test, or maybe it was just part of some fancy table set. The cushions themselves were comfy, but mostly it was very decorative, painted like it was silver.

  As Adam continued looking around to get used to his surroundings, Rosalynn suddenly cpped her hands, which startled him. “Boys! Go fetch us some tea.”

  Hands to their chests, they slightly bowed. “Right away, madam.” They then diligently went and left the room, back into the hallway.

  Adam was confused by what he was seeing. Again, it’s not like he knew the twins that well, but he never imagined them as… doing whatever it was that they were doing. Was she treating them like servants? Didn’t help make him feel any less unnerved.

  “So, umm… What is this pce?” He finally asked.

  “I am a witch.” She instead responded without a moment of hesitation.

  “...E-Excuse me?”

  “A witch.” She repeated. “Or sorceress, enchantress, spellcaster, norn, Wiccan, what have you.”

  Her answer bewildered him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh come now, child.” She sighed, pcing a few fingers on her forehead to show her exasperation. “Surely you’ve heard the rumours. Just because you’re a goody two-shoes, that doesn’t mean you’re deaf.”

  “But aren’t those just rumours?” Adam asked. “You know, stuff guys like doing for some reason?” Really, it wouldn’t have been weird if it was just made up, he rarely understood most of their type of humour anyway. Besides, it was silly and outndish to begin with, calling someone a witch. Those didn't exist.

  Rosalynn rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m aware. Who even knows how that originated? But as it turns out, those rumours are true.” She gestured to herself. “You’re looking at the bona fide article.”

  Adam furrowed his brows, “Why are you telling me this?” Was this what Jett and Floyd wanted to show him? That the school librarian was… a witch? Or ciming to be one?

  The woman chuckled, leaning her arms onto the table in front of her. “I’m not just any witch, you see. There are plenty of witches in the world, unbeknownst to your average eye. But those from my cn specialize in… contracts, you could say.”

  “Contracts?”

  “In deals. Keep up.” She huffed. “I understand that this is new to you, but it’s quite simple to follow. I don’t just turn anyone into a toad against their will, oh no. I only cast magic when agreed to by another party.”

  “So that means…?”

  “I’m not like those cackling hags in cartoons. Well, at least not the cackling part.” She chuckled to herself. “Think of me as a ‘good witch,’ or maybe a rental fairy godmother. Yes, let’s go with that.”

  “I'm afraid I don't really follow. I mean, this feels a bit too silly to be true…” Adam rubbed his arm and chuckles haldheartedly. A part of him almost wanted to believe her, magic existing would be like a literal godsend. But even then, there was also a nagging feeling.

  “If you don’t believe me, I could always find my resume.” Rosalynn snapped her fingers, and a small light began glowing from the crystal ball.

  In it, Adam vaguely saw the shape of a person. No… Not just any person. The face was blurred, but they were wearing Hanssen’s school uniform. The boy’s posture was slouched, and he looked quite nky.

  “Oh, the poor unfortunate souls. Those in pain, or in need…”

  Another vague figure passed by the faceless boy in a sprint, though noticeably taller and more well built.

  “If you desire it, I can make it happen.”

  With another showy snap of Rosalynn’s fingers, the faceless boy changed shape, seeing an increase in height and muscle. His uniform was repced by a tracksuit, and when he saw his own transformation, he happily ran directly into some sort of goal, where he was met with confetti and two women leaping into his arms.

  “Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point…” Rosalynn continued, waving her hand dismissively.

  Adam furrowed his brows again, still ultimately unsure of what he had been looking at and what it meant. “So you just… help people? Just like that?”

  “Of course!” She smiled, adding with a quick scoff. “Why do you think I’ve set up shop in a school of all things? You teenagers are always so moody and depressed about everything!”

  “You’d think more people would have heard about you then.” He continued, eyes wandering to the boy in the crystal ball. Were there a lot of guys like this at Hanssen’s? Without anyone even noticing?

  “Well, naturally I can’t help everyone,” She crified, with a quiet smirk. “My magic has its limits of course.”

  Adam perked his eyes up at her. “What do you mean?”

  Rosalynn stood up, gesturing with her hands at the room around them. “You think it all comes from nowhere? Of course not, there are ws to these things, like every other science.”

  “I always imagined magic as just a kind of hocus pocus thing.” Adam thought out loud.

  “There’s no point expining the exact physics of it, but to summarise…” She paused for a hot second, turning her head as her eyes shifted down to the crystal ball. “Think of it as an equivalent exchange. Like how mere water can grant you all sorts of things, depending on your choices and wants. Freeze it and you get ice, boil it and you get steam, feed it to pnts and you get growth.”

  She continued. “To spell it out; one’s capabilities are endless if used right. But no matter what, you need water to make it happen. You need to give it up, use it as fuel for what you want. Fate or change cannot be willed on its own. It requires sacrifice.”

  Adam was feeling all the more unsure the longer he sat here, but he followed along. “So... magic has a fuel? What kind?"

  In a snap, she looked directly at Adam, eyes boring into his own. “Why, that’ll depend on you, child.”

  A chill went up his spine.

  She smmed a hand on the table, leaning her head closer while keeping eye contact. “To make dreams come true, it is you who must offer something in exchange.”

  “I-I never said I wanted to make any deal!” He hastily responded. “Just because you’re telling me this doesn’t mean-”

  “Oh but you do,” Rosalynn continued. “I have eyes in more pces than you expect, ears as well. You think I haven’t already caught wind of the little incident from earlier? What was it they found in your room again?”

  Adam froze. He didn’t want to answer. And he didn’t want her to answer either. He wished it wouldn’t even have to be acknowledged ever again.

  She leaned her head closer. “You may have hidden it well to most, up to this point, but I can tell what it is that you desire. Deep down. One that even you still try to deny.”

  Adam could feel the sweat on my forehead. He was called out. It was like she’d read him.

  “You long to hop over the biological fence,” She expined. “To join those you admire and envy. You don’t fit in with the clowns here, for whom you’ve always been intimidated by.”

  The librarian was exactly right. She was using words that he still struggled to find to describe his own feelings.

  She leaned ever so closer. “Just admit it. It’s alright, you can tell me. Say it, and I can make all your dreams come true.”

  Could she really? This weight on his chest he’s held for god knows how long. If he let it out, she couldn’t actually…

  “Just say it.”

  But he couldn’t admit it! What would it say about him?! That he was letting this urge control him?! That he-?!

  “SAY IT!”

  But if maybe… “I… I-I…”

  “Out with it!”

  "I can't! I-I just...!"

  "Come now, you know it to be true!"

  “I…! I want to be a girl…"

  There was a moment of pause, and then Rosalynn finally leaned back, and sat back in her seat. “See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

  Just then, the door opened, and in came Jett and Floyd, the former holding a pair of teacups on a tray while the other had some milk and sugar.

  Jett pced the two teacups on the table, while Floyd approached Rosalynn. “Milk or sugar, madam?”

  “No thanks. I like it bitter.” She dismissed him with a wave, taking a quick sip.

  Floyd came and wordlessly offered Adam the same, and he muttered a quick answer out. “Um, sure, milk and sugar, please.” He’d never actually had tea before. He just assumed both of those would probably make most things better somehow.

  He did as told, and the twins then went to the corner of the room, eerily standing in wait.

  But he could barely even think about them, his mind was too hung up on what just happened. He’d said it. The direct words, out loud. It felt as if he'd done something wrong. It already felt weird trying to express it to someone like Flynn or Sully, and they already knew about his secret to some extent. But here he'd just stated it out loud. To a witch who said she could help him somehow. Or maybe a crazy person who only cimed to do so. He couldn't get his hopes up.

  “But back to the topic…” Rosalynn put her cup down. “I can do that, you know.”

  “...Do what?” He asked. Could she really?

  “Make you a girl.” She casually answered, gesturing at the crystal ball with a scoff, “I’m not limited to just making people look better!”

  “I-It just sounds so ridiculous…” He tried to excuse.

  “Oh, it’s not that much difference. Changing your body, altering a few shapes. Just maybe a few more than most would ever ask for.”

  “You’d… make me a girl.” Adam repeated in his head, the thought of something like that finally sinking in. “But I’d look different! People might not recognize me, o-or what would grandpa say if I-?!”

  “Bah!” Rosalynn scoffed. “Isn’t this the solution you’re looking for? ‘What would grandpa say?’ He’s already thinking certain things based on today’s events, I’m sure.”

  The thought made Adam uncomfortable, that he knew now, that big piece of my torment. It was almost easy to forget with the ‘witch’ business. “He’s…”

  “He’ll want to ask questions.” The woman continued for him. “Questions that a confused child like yourself isn’t ready to answer. I mean, what would one even say?” She overdramatically gestured to the air. “A boy expining to his family why he steals women’s clothing! Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

  “But he won’t be looking for a girl,” Rosalynn smirked. “Let my magic do its thing, we’ll send you off to hide at Marie’s as some new transfer student, and it’s two birds with one stone! You won’t have to be confronted, you’re scot free!”

  Adam narrowed his eyes as he kept thinking about those implications. “So just leave everything behind?”

  “It doesn’t have to be permanent,” She answered. “Maybe we can set it to just a few weeks, then see if you want to change your mind or not.”

  …It would be nice to at least have time to think about it. Maybe if he disappeared and then reappeared, the girl stuff could be blown over? “No, he’d still be worried if I disappeared…”

  Rosalynn waved a dismissive hand, “Ah, that can be taken care of. I can pull a few strings, if you don’t want to worry him for a week or two.”

  “...” Adam wasn’t sure how to ultimately answer. There were a lot of implications, some he hadn’t even been properly assured about, but it was so tempting. The way the boy in the crystal ball just changed. The thought of actually changing into a girl, just like that…

  “There’s no harm in ciming what you want, you know…” The witch stared, but not harshly. Her gaze was almost warm, there was a tinge of pity. “You’re a poor unfortunate soul, just like the boy in there. You didn’t choose to be who you are, to dream of something better.”

  His eyes gnced back up at her. “Desire is in our nature,” She continued. “The only difference is who’s willing to pay the price.”

  Boring straight into his eyes, she added, “Because ALL desire has a price.”

  Adam thought about it even longer. “You said it didn’t have to be permanent, right?”

  “It doesn’t. But I don’t have to force you down a path. You can change your mind midway through and decide to go back or not go back.”

  So there really wasn’t a reason to try it out, in that sense. He didn’t even have to decide right this moment…

  “Again, prices need to be paid anyway. How I usually do it, see. We're going to give the spell a little condition, so as to help make it stronger.” Rosalynn rubbed her chin for a moment. “It could be something simple. Don’t step on someone’s shadow, avoid meat, or some such.”

  That first one sounded hard, though Adam wasn’t sure about becoming a vegetarian either.

  “How about something nice and simple.” She smirked, “One you wouldn’t even have to think about. Again, the condition doesn’t have to be strong in your case, just there to ensure you have a way back.”

  “What do you mean? What kind?”

  There was a second’s pause where Rosalynn held eye contact. “Kiss someone.”

  “What?!” Adam almost jumped in his seat. That was one of the st things he’d expected. “B-But I don’t-!”

  “Yes, yes, you’re not the flirtatious type and think those things are embarrassing.” The witch waved another dismissive hand. “But that’s the point. Tell me, do you actually want to kiss girls?”

  He furrowed his brows, confused at the question. “N-No?” He answered embarrassedly. Even if he did like them, he hadn’t exactly thought about kissing them all that often. Especially if he’d be a girl, something about it sounded extra pointless.

  “Thought so, you seemed the type. Hence why I figure the condition would be pretty harmless, if we pced you at Marie’s down the block. Surrounded by other girls.” Rosalynn expined.

  What did that even mean? That he ‘seemed the type?’ “But what if I want to go back?! I can’t just kiss someone out of nowhere!”

  “Sure you can!” She cackles. “You don’t think there are girls who’d like it over there? You can always come back here and find one of your old cssmates too, if that would make you feel better.”

  Adam felt his face grow red, the way she casually talked about something like this. “Th-That’s not the point! Just kissing someone feels…” Wrong? He wasn’t sure how to continue his thought process. It didn’t feel right to just find someone to kiss when he wanted to turn back. Especially when… those types of things were supposed to be special, you know? At least, he liked to think that way.

  “Oh, it’s fine, I’ll make you pretty enough along the way that I’m sure finding someone to kiss wouldn’t be an issue.” She shrugged. “You’ll just run off to hide and then change back anyway. No one would find you or know what you just did.”

  “It still feels wrong…”

  She raised an index finger, taking another sip from her tea. “Oh knock it off. If you're that bothered by it, seducing them first is always an option. Maybe go on a date or two beforehand, or whatever teenagers do these days.” She casually dismissed. "Shouldn't be too hard, you just need to figure out how to make use of your body nguage."

  “I’m just worried it-”

  “Look, it's a cssic and a much easier part of a spell to remember than something like ‘Don’t ever eat spinach.’” She interrupted. “If you really want this, then I think we should move on to the actual deal.”

  “Wait, so you’re saying we’re really doing this?” Adam asked. “Here? Now?”

  Rosalynn stood up, walking away to examine some of her cabinets. “Of course! So long as we’re able to hash an agreement on what to give in exchange!”

  “But I thought the kiss thing was that.”

  “No, no, no.” She sighed. “That’s a condition for the spell to be broken. It reinforces it. So long as there is a way to break it, it can be made to st far longer.” She turned around, a scrolled up piece of paper in her hand. “You still need something to actually make the spell happen in the first pce.”

  Adam thought for a second. “Like… I give you some of my hair?”

  “You’re thinking of cssic potions.” Rosalynn brought out a quill, scribbling some details onto her little document. “Though yes, if you want to give up all of your hair and your ability to grow it, that can be done.”

  He felt up at his hair. Would he want to be bald? As a girl?

  “We’re talking about magic, hun, think bigger. It doesn’t have to be a physical thing, just something… about you.” She continued scribbling down, her speech slowing down as she began putting emphasis on her words.

  “Something about me?” He looked down at himself. At his uniform, and the body he knew was underneath.

  “Preferably something important, maybe holds some personal value. The hair was a good idea, but if you want to be a girl, maybe that’s a bit too far.” She expined.

  Adam averted his eyes, feeling unsure again. “So there really does have to be a catch, it’s not that easy…”

  “As I said, all desires have a price.” Rosalynn looked back at him. “But in your case, you’re not just asking for some muscle like meathead over there,” She pointed at the crystal ball with her quill. “You want your entire body and its functions to be changed. That requires something strong.”

  “Something important to me…”

  “Yes,” She smirked. “The more valuable, the more useful it is for magic.”

  Adam tried to think. Was there something like that? That was valuable, but also… that he could give up?

  “Something else you desire, or perhaps a dream you have...”

  He dug through his pockets, though he didn’t have anything on him aside from his usual student id.

  “Something treasured, despite your pain…

  He rubbed his arms, thinking more.

  “Something like…”

  Slowly, Adam lifted his hand up, past his shoulders. Reaching his-

  “Your voice.” Rosalynn finished with a hiss.

  His hand hovered in front of his neck. “Would… Would that be possible?”

  “It’s valuable. Every person values their voice, but you’re also in choir, are you not?”

  “I-I am.”

  “Do you like singing? Participating in choir?”

  “It’s… one of the few things I do like about my life…”

  Rosalynn’s smirk widened into a grin. “Then it’s perfect!”

  “B-But wait!” Adam tried to interrupt. “I can’t just give up my voice! I-I need to be able to talk to people!”

  Rosalynn quickly went back to writing up her document, “Hah! No worries, you’ll be pretty enough anyway that it won’t matter. Body nguage, remember?!”

  “I’ll still need to communicate-”

  “There are ways.” The witch dismissed his words. “You’ll just be a mute. You’re a clever kid, aren’t you? You can make it work.”

  “Won’t it even look weird?”

  “Let people think it’s a trauma response, or an accident or whatever. It’s not that unbelievable. Heck, if anything they might treat you more kindly for it. Besides, the world loves it when a woman crams up!” She gives a side-eye, "Men especially. I speak from experience, hun."

  “But-!” Adam wanted to continue protesting, but he couldn’t think of another excuse. After all… she was right, it’d still be a good deal. A real dream come true, it’d just in exchange for a smaller one, and a bit of a handicap. The price was steep, but the reward? It’s not like he’d ever get something like this otherwise…

  “What if…” Adam paused. “What if I’m still unsure?” He asked. “What if I wouldn’t be willing to do it?”

  There were several moments of pause as Rosalynn looked back with a bnk look.

  Then her expression shifted to a smirk. Then, to a ugh. A cackle.

  She stood up, the quill on the table moving on its own as it finished the document. The glowing gss balls around the room started shaking. Jett and Floyd snickered to themselves in the corner “Yes, sure! Just leave! Oh, you poor unfortunate soul!”

  The witch walks around the table, peaking over Adam’s shoulder. “Choosing to further your own misery, for you know no better.”

  The door out of the room opened on its own. “Sure, you can!” She continued, a maniacal smile on her face. “You could always leave! Abandon your chance! So long as you tell no one of what transpired here.” She leaned her head closer to his ear. “...But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to tell others of what you have done…”

  Adam’s heartbeat quickened. He knew what type of confrontation was waiting for him if he did nothing. What kind of judgement From his grandfather, his peers…

  Cackling some more, almost maniacally, Rosalynn walks further around the table. “To dream! Is that a crime?! Chained to the ground, yet your head’s in the clouds! Only pain is to be found!” It was almost as if reciting a rhyme.

  The contract turned around, facing Adam, complete. It was fully written out, save for a dotted line at the bottom.

  The witch smmed her hand on the table, gripping the other into a fist as she yelled. “Fine! Make your choice! For what others have you ever made for your own accursed life?!”

  The quill floated to Adam, expecting him to take it.

  “Go ahead and give your chance up! Back to your empty life!”

  Adam hesitated with his hand, could he really? It would be such an easy thing to do, and he could always go back…

  “But why would you when you could have it all?!”

  He took hold off the quill.

  “To want is to let go!”

  He lowered it to the document.

  “Why roll the dice when instead you could pay a simple price?!”

  Adam’s hand stopped. He could tell by his heartbeat, the heavy breathing, that he really wanted this. That a part of him craved this answer, despite it all. Something in his heart yearned in a way beyond his own comprehension. He could do it, he would do it. But could he allow himself something like this…?

  Rosalynn stood behind him, and once again lowered her head, speaking in a hushed whisper as the room quieted down. “I can tell. It's not just me, everyone can see it. Another poor unfortunate soul, just like many others, cursed to an unwanted fate.”

  “But I-” He couldn’t finish. He deserved it. This was selfish of him, to want to…

  “But here’s the thing, child.” The witch continued. “You. Don't. Have to be.”

  …He didn’t have to be miserable. He just had to sign it, and for once, he could…

  Adam started making strokes with the quill.

  Adam Andersen.

  He couldn’t believe he had done it. He had agreed to it. And now, she might make him into a… “I-I did it.”

  Rosalynn just leaned over the table. “Well done.”

  Suddenly, the document scrolled up on its own, squeezing itself until it seemed to almost dissipate into the air.

  The balls around the room started shaking again, the lights from them growing stronger. “Wh-What is-?”

  “You’ve signed. Giving me the right to magically alter your body to your exact wishes.” Rosalynn simply answered.

  The lights from the balls seemed to draw themselves out, almost on their own. They began swirling around the room.

  The witch cackled, walking over to the centre of the room as she commanded the twins. “You two, leave! The poor girl can’t have any unwanted attention when this is done!”

  They did so without so much as a word.

  Adam was about to ask how exactly this was going to happen, but then Rosalynn lifted a hand, and he could swear he saw the air itself whirl around it. Or at least, something like it. The lights spinning in the room got faster.

  “Now then…” She said. Without so much as lifting another finger, something harshly bellowed across the room, like some sort of pressure. Adam knew she’d cimed to be a witch, but whatever was going on wasn’t any less confusing and shocking.

  Then he felt a sharp pain in his torso. “AGH!”

  “Growing pains, my dear.” Rosalynn bluntly commented.

  So it was starting?! A pain seared through more of his upper body, including his shoulders, chest, stomach.

  “You think I’d just snap my fingers and be done?” She remarked. “This will take a few moments…”

  Adam felt the need to scream as the pain continued spreading through. He keeled down to the ground. Just one part of his body would be enough, everywhere at once felt like it might as well be torture! “HNNGGHH-AAAAAAAA!!!”

  “Beauty is pain!” Rosalynn sighed. “As said before, you’ll have a pce to stay at St. Marie’s boarding school for young women. I’ll pull some strings, so you won’t have to worry your pretty little head about it.”

  “I-I-AAAAGH!” He tried to respond, but the pain was too much. His own bones were working against him, moving inside his body. It took effort on its own just to listen and comprehend what the witch was still saying.

  “And to reiterate, you can tell none of what transpired here.” She continued. “It’s in the contract, outing my involvement in your predicament is a strict no-go. Though I suspect that in your case, it won’t be much of an issue…”

  Then suddenly, he felt his head pulled upwards to the air, and his mouth forced open. Or maybe not forced, it was almost like it had willed itself to open, and he couldn’t control it.

  He continued screaming in his ever-increasing confusion, but it grew quieter, until…

  Adam tried to continue bellowing out his voice, but nothing was coming out anymore.

  It was getting to be too much, suddenly his body and his insides only seemed to move faster. It was like he was being torn apart. The pain, it…! He was feeling lightheaded!

  His vision started blurring, his hearing fading. Trying to look back up, he could only barely make Rosalynn out, casually sitting on the table, watching him, chin resting on her palm.

  “O, daughter of the air…”

  It was getting harder to think, he… he was…

  “How awful it is, to be cursed to dream…”

  Those were the st words he heard, as Adam’s consciousness went out.

  AnnouncementThis is the end of the first act, where the story can now actually begin!

  That being said, my initial pn to 'have this many chapters ready so I can be ahead and then take a break to help finish' has not gone as pnned. As it stands, I haven't finished chapter 9 and I'm not sure when I will, to be honest. Motivation to write is hard, a lot of you probably know this. So while I already pnned for a break after this chapter, it's gonna be longer than anticipated. I'm gonna be incredibly busy next semester too, so who knows how much time I'll have for writing at that point.

  Either way, I hope people enjoyed everything that's there so far! I particurly enjoyed writing this chapter! I want to keep going and finish this story someday, but for now I'll have to wait and see.