The first thing that came to Adam’s mind as he returned to consciousness was how cold and hard the floor was.

  He felt exhausted, like he’d just woken up from a long nap. But also pained, because safe to say the floor did not make for any good bed.

  His headache remained as he mustered the strength to lift himself up, feeling weak in his arms. But it was at this moment as he pushed his hands on the floor and opened his eyes that he noticed the… long locks drooping down from his head.

  Finally sitting upright, he reached his hand up to touch them, to pull at them. They were his. It was his own hair. How had he grown it so fast, how had-?

  Just then, he noticed his hands were a bit different too. It was almost minimal, but he could swear his entire arm was a bit thinner. No, it definitely was, his uniform’s sleeve also felt too big.

  A rush of excitement welling up, he patched himself all over. There were two lumps on his chest! Boobs! His face was different when he tried feeling it, more slim! And even…! The part below, his crotch. It was different! What had been there before, suddenly… just wasn’t!

  A smile infected his lips as he realised what this meant. The school librarian had revealed to him that she was a witch and could turn him into a girl, and it wasn’t a dream! He was actually a girl now!

  Adam couldn’t help but let out a yell, ‘Yes! It worked! I-!’ But he stopped. No sound had come out.

  He tried again, calling up his voice like he normally would. Try as he might, he could smack his lips or huff through his nose, but his actual voice just wouldn’t appear.

  Of course, that had been a part of the deal, he remembered. Sacrifice his voice, and in exchange, girlhood.

  The thought of it actually having happened sent a chill up his spine. This core essential part of him was gone, vanished. It was disappointing, in some way. Were it not for it, he might have heard a girl’s voice come out of him, which would have been an added joy on its own. But he couldn’t deny that it still felt worth it.

  For a short while, Adam calmed his head, breathed, and took it all in. The body, the different sensations, slight weight on his chest, the absence of certain... parts. There was an odd sense of calm and peace to this new body, even if it was meant to be unfamiliar.

  But speaking of familiarity, where was he exactly?

  It didn’t take much thought to figure out. Standing up with a wobble, it was pretty clearly the same room he’d fallen unconscious in. Rosalynn’s little ‘ir.’ But she wasn’t here, and neither were Jett or Floyd, who had led him there in the first pce. Come to think of it, while it didn’t look like anything had been moved, there wasn’t any light growing from any of the gss balls anymore either.

  Then his pants started drooping down.

  Embarrassed, Adam pulled them back up. Crap! He had a whole new body, but the spell hadn’t changed his clothes in any way. He was still wearing the same old Hanssen’s school uniform. One fit for a 16 year old boy, certainly not a girl of the same age.

  What was a boy-turned-girl to do?

  Adam hurriedly approach the door to his dorm room, anxiously looking around.

  Thankfully, he’d discovered that it was dark out. He wasn’t sure what time exactly, but it was night. Apparently, he’d been unconscious for a while. At the very least, it made the odds of someone seeing him far less likely.

  He wasn’t quite sure what his pn was, but talking to one of his only friends seemed to be a good option. He knew he had some casual clothes in his closet that could maybe fit better with his new body. Worst case, he knew Flynn had always been a bit shorter, so maybe he might have had something he could borrow. Though who knows if his roommate even believe what he was seeing.

  It made Adam feel so embarrassed. Just what would someone think if they saw him? Some teenage girl sneaking around wearing an ill-fitting uniform, doing god knows what. Still, the idea that they’d just think of him as some girl was an interesting thought. Practically a positive one. After all, who would suspect that the girl would have been a boy only earlier that day? He really wouldn’t be seen as any different from some normal girl.

  But that didn’t matter right now, what mattered was that he needed to get inside quick! Adam considered knocking, but then he remembered the room key that should still be in his pocket. Even if his clothes felt different, it was still the same uniform with the same personal belongings.

  Adam took it out, and slowly, he inserted the key. Maybe if he was sneaky, he wouldn’t even have to expin anything to Flynn. Just get in and out.

  Carefully, quietly, he opened the door, entered, and closed it. The room was dark, and with Flynn probably sleeping, he could-

  Yet when Adam turned his head, he saw Flynn, in his bed, book in hand, mplight above him. And he was staring straight at him. Adam froze.

  “...Who the hell are you?" He asked, quickly and with a blunt tone.

  This was a horrible time to be without a voice to expin oneself with. Adam should’ve known. It’s not like Flynn didn’t pull all-nighters sometimes with his health habits.

  Adam quickly went into a panic trying to make some gestures to expin himself, but he had no idea how to even get started going over who he was and why he was here.

  Flynn y a hand on his head and sighed, getting up from his bed to approach him. “You know what, no, no, I’m not getting involved with this. Whatever guy you’re sneaking out to see, this is the wrong room.”

  What?! What on earth did he think Adam was doing?! Was that something that some girls did?!

  Before he could think of some form of answer, Flynn began pushing him and reopening the door.

  Adam wished he could just tell his friend to stop or say ‘it’s me,’ but those both required a voice. Any attempt to use his mouth to dissuade him didn’t even create so much as a sound.

  “I’m not gonna snitch, so just get out and-”

  Adam pushed against the door before he could close it.

  Flynn furrowed his brows at him, evidently confused by what he was doing. “What’s with you? Just let me close the door.”

  One hand still pushing on the door, Adam thought of a potential solution and used his other to dig through his uniform. Just like the room key, he knew he probably still had it on his person… there!

  He fshed an i.d card. A student i.d. card, registered to Adam Andersen.

  “What are you-?” Flynn paused and stopped pushing when he id eyes on the card. It had Adam’s picture, as well as all the credentials one would expect.

  With both hands now free, Adam let go of the door and took the chance to point at his own face, then the card, then his face again.

  Flynn’s eyes darted between them, but he still looked confused. Though Adam knew that he couldn’t bme him. “What… What the hell are you saying?”

  Adam kept pointing back and forth, but more harshly, clenching his mouth and staring back at Flynn intently. Please! Please take the hint! There had to be a resembnce to his old and new face. He knew how hard it was to believe, but please!

  “Why do you have Adam’s i.d.?” He asked.

  Adam pointed at his face again, trying to emphasize, ‘It’s me! I’m Adam!’

  Flynn narrowed his eyes, “...Adam? Don’t tell me you’re trying to-”

  Adam nodded fervently with a smile, pointing at himself again.

  “...There’s no way.”

  With an inaudible grunt, Adam pushed his friend aside and made his way into the room on his own. He heard Flynn close the door behind him, but he wasn’t thinking about that. He was going to find some proof of his identity, or maybe a better way to communicate…

  Aha! Some quick thinking, and Adam located one of his own notebooks, ripping a piece of paper out and writing with his pen. He could still gesture, and Rosalynn said he’d have ways to get around his ck of voice, so it wasn’t any surprise when he found himself able to write what he wanted to say without any issue.

  Proudly, he then fshed the piece of paper in Flynn’s face. ‘IT’S ME! I’M ADAM!!!’ It said, in big letters.

  It took another few seconds of Flynn staring at the note for him to say something. “No way… Adam? Like actually? Why do you look-? No, scratch that, Adam’s not a girl in the first pce, so you can’t…” He stopped himself, inspecting Adam’s face again. “I… I can see the resembnce though. And Adam doesn’t have a sister…”

  Adam nodded fervently again. Yes, exactly!

  “Maybe a cousin? Because how? This wouldn’t even make any sense, how would you be Adam?”

  It looked like Flynn was still confused and had his questions and doubts, so Adam went straight back to writing on the other side of the piece of paper. ‘A-

  -his hand stopped.

  …He tried again, writing the next word, but his fingers wouldn’t budge. Adam felt a quick chill, this hadn’t happened earlier.

  Then he vaguely remembered something Rosalynn had said, after he’d signed the contract.

  “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…”

  He could still write even after having his voice taken away, but was that part stricter? He couldn’t talk about her or reveal there was a witch involved at all?

  “Uh, dude?” Flynn asked.

  Thinking fast, Adam thought of something else to write, and this time he didn’t feel any restriction. Showing the other side of the paper to Flynn, it read,

  ?A? I turned into a girl. I can’t expin how. Please, believe me.

  “...” After another pause to read, Flynn sighed. There were a few more short moments of Flynn looking back at Adam, the paper, then the i.d. card again. Finally, he spoke. “...God damn it, fine. This feels stupid, but I’ll believe you for now.”

  Adam beamed. Mouthing a ‘Really?!’

  “I don’t get how you suddenly just magically turn into a girl, but when you put it like that, it almost feels too perfect.” He expined. “Not just you being you, but… with what happened today…”

  Flynn frowned, evidently still feeling bad about how the raid on their dorm had turned out. Adam felt a bit of a sting too. That moment hadn’t been taken away, despite the magic.

  “I’m just saying, I think that if there was some kind of magic, turning into a girl would probably be the first thing you’d do. Fits too well.”

  Adam nodded. In a sense, Flynn knew his issues well enough to understand most of what had happened.

  “So what’s with the silent act?” Flynn gestured towards the paper. “You haven’t said a word, you’ve just used this.”

  Fetching some more paper, Adam wrote down another quick message. ‘I lost my voice. I gave it up in exchange, I literally can’t speak.’ As he showed it to Flynn, he made it a point to gesture at his mouth and try to make a sound, then shake his head with a shrug.

  “You gave up your voice?!” Flynn reacted, repeating what the note said. “You can’t be serious! You can't talk?!”

  Adam could only nod awkwardly. It was an understandable reaction, Adam knew how much a voice was worth. Though he also knew Flynn wouldn’t be the type to be as tempted as he was.

  With another sigh, Flynn sat down on his bed, hand holding his head. “I’m sorry, but… this whole story feels like a lot.”

  Adam gingerly sat back down on his own bed. He himself still struggled to believe it until he had seen it with his own eyes. Some hair fell and got in his vision again, and he brushed it aside to tuck behind his ear. It still took some getting used to even just from his own perspective.

  “Not a good day for an all-nighter. Not only am I gonna be exhausted, but I’ll have to have this on my mind during css ter.”

  Flynn blinked, head jolting up to look at Adam. “Actually, wait, what are you gonna do about css? You can’t just show up looking like that!”

  Adam stood up with a bounce. He’d almost forgotten! It took another quick note to expin to Flynn what the pn had been.

  “...To Marie’s?” He questioned, eyeing his friend. “You’re registered?”

  Adam nodded, although hesitantly. That had been what Rosalynn implied. That she’d pull some strings to let him stay there, presumably as a fellow student.

  Flynn frowned, looking back at the note, “I guess I shouldn’t question it when you already have the other stuff going on…”

  It was convenient, all things considered. All the more reason Adam felt lucky about the situation.

  “But actually, since you’re here…” Flynn suddenly stood up, and Adam’s eyes perked.

  “I didn’t expect you to show up here all girl’d up or whatever, but I was kinda waiting for you so I could…” He paused digging through his closet.

  On the bottom of one of his drawers, he pulled out a flowery yellow skirt.

  The same one Adam had kept, that he'd taken on that day when he snuck to Marie's. He’d thought Ms. Musker had thrown it all away or returned it to the lost and found.

  “I… I knew how much you said you especially liked this one.” He expined. “I didn’t have a lot of time with them knocking on the door, so I couldn’t save anything else, but-”

  Adam immediately rushed to hug his friend.

  “...Uhhm…” Flynn didn’t sound sure on how to respond. “N-No problem.”

  Adam let go, realising how awkward that probably felt. He didn’t have the words to thank him, so he'd just figured to use his actions in the moment.

  “Sorry, it’s just… It feels weird. Especially since you’re… a-a girl now, I guess. Never exactly gotten hugged by one before.”

  Adam flushed, as it dawned on him how most guys would probably feel about that gesture. He mouthed a quick ‘sorry,’ before accepting the skirt.

  “Hey, it’s nothing.” Flynn responded. “I thought it was the least I could do. And look, now you have something to go with the, uhh, the new body!”

  Flynn was right, come to think of it. There was no reason not to put it on right now. If anything he’d actually been hoping to find something that fit better. And this time, he wouldn’t see a boy back in the mirror!

  He wasted no time. Flynn immediately tried to shy away, but Adam was too preoccupied to pay him any mind. While he still had the clumsily ill-fitting school uniform on top, wearing the skirt had come naturally. That breezy feeling was still the same. How light it made him feel.

  Hesitantly, Adam walked up to the full-body mirror on the closet door.

  …He was a girl.

  Adam barely paid attention to the skirt, he hadn’t even realised that he’d yet to bother seeing his new face. The way his hair looked, the slight change to his body shape, his… everything!

  He wasn’t even particurly beautiful or anything, but his face could be seen as pretty. And with everything else combined, there was no mistaking him for anything other than a teenage girl. Even if he could see the vague resembnce that Flynn talked about, it was unmistakable.

  And the skirt on top of that. It still cshed with the uniform, but the dread that came from looking at his own self image was gone, and he could actually enjoy wearing it.

  Adam found himself taking a quick spin, feeling and seeing the skirt swoosh into the air. It was so wonderful to take in! The reality of the situation was finally settling in, he was actually a girl now!

  “You look happy.”

  Adam was almost caught off guard by Flynn’s voice, practically forgetting that he was in the room. But he nodded back to him, with a warm smile. That’s right, he was actually happy. He wasn’t sure when he’d st felt like this. This surge of joy and freedom, like he could do anything!

  In his rush, Adam dug through the closet, seeing which of his clothes might help go with the outfit. He eventually found a thick wool sweater. It was still technically a boy outfit, but it’s an improvement, and these kinds of sweaters were allowed to be baggy, he was pretty sure.

  Hastily swapping tops, Adam looked in the mirror again, and this time felt even more complete. It was already complete before, but now a tiny bit of an adjustment made it even more perfect.

  Now they just had to figure out how to handle the school problem…

  Looking back at Flynn, Adam gestured to his wrist and shrugged. He mouthed ‘What time?’ for good measure.

  “What? You don’t know what time it is?” Flynn darted his eyes around, before grabbing the arm off in the corner of Adam’s desk. “It’s uhh… Ah shit, it’s 6:30.”

  ‘SIX THIRTY?!’ Adam tried to shout, though with no sound coming out. They’d spent too much time talking, it was probably about to be sunrise outside. He hastily ripped out another page from his notebook and wrote ‘Why were you awake until 6:30?!’

  “Wha-? That’s what you’re worried about? Like I said, I was waiting for you to get back!” He answered. “But nevermind that! Some of the guys might be in the hallway now! What the hell’s gonna happen when people see you?!”

  Adam scribbled another message and pointed down to the floor. ‘Maybe I stay here. Or maybe we hurry?’

  Flynn grunted, “Agh, no! You don’t get it, we might not have time!”

  Adam tilted his head, mouthing ‘what do you mean?’

  “You disappeared yesterday, dude! People are worried where you went! That prick said he wanted to check back in the morning and-!”

  A knock was heard on the door.

  “Mr. Fischer? Flynn?” It was Sully’s voice. “It’s me.”

  The two roommates looked dead-eyed at each other.

  “Hide!” Flynn whispered.

  Adam didn’t need to be told twice, but where?! Not under the bedsheets, maybe the closet?

  In the heat of the moment, he realized he might be able to squeeze under his bed. Now that his trunk had been taken away, and his frame was a bit smaller.

  As he got under it, he cursed himself for probably getting the skirt dirty, right when he’d put it on and liked it too!

  With Adam tucked away, Flynn opened the door with a mock yawn. “Oh, morning.”

  “I- Apologies if this is early, but I figured I’d get the matter done with quickly. Did Adam ever return?”

  “Uhh nope, doesn’t look like it.”

  “Please Flynn, be serious. Given yesterday’s incident, we have every reason to be concerned for him.”

  Concerned? For him? Adam had figured people would stop pretending to care, and see him for the freak he was. Though this was Sully saying this, who didn’t sound like he’d been mad when Adam had first told him…

  “I dunno what you want from me. He’s not here, and I only just woke up. Plus I gotta get to css ter.”

  “I was hoping you could help me search, actually. I’d assume you know him better than I do.”

  “Yeah yeah, whatever, just let me get ready-” As I heard the door about to close, it was stopped.

  “Please.” Solomon insisted, his tone losing a bit of his usual bluntness. “This isn’t me trying to act noble, I’m earnestly worried for him. I... almost fear I’ve failed him, after putting his trust in me.”

  Flynn doesn’t answer, likely because he’s trying to think of one.

  “I’d rather you take this matter as seriously. Adam is your friend, is he not? I want your help with- What is that?”

  Sully’s sudden question made Adam jolt.

  “What’s what?”

  “The… fabric, caught onto the bed.”

  From under the bed, Adam tried to adjust his gaze to look down at his skirt. One part of the hem was sticking out of the bed, stuck on the frame. Crap! He was in too much of a hurry when trying to hide!

  “Oh, that’s…!”

  Just then, while trying to adjust himself, Adam bonked his head to the frame.

  “Did you hear that?”

  While Flynn struggled to come up with an excuse, Adam heard footsteps approaching, along with his tutor’s voice. “Mr. Fischer, if there's a girl under here then I swear to god…”

  What?! How did he know?!

  “What?! I-It’s not-! Ah shit, I mean you’ve got it all-!”

  “I’d think you’d have enough to worry about before you try to-” But Sully’s voice stopped as he lowered his head, and his eyes met Adam’s.

  Adam, in response, awkwardly waved.

  Solomon stared daggers at Flynn.

  “It’s not like that I swear!” Flynn let out. “Fucking…!” He nervously looked back at Adam as he rolled out of the bed.

  Adam gulped. Looks like they had some more expining to do.

  “So you’re telling me…” Sully summarized. “That this is Adam, and that overnight, he’d turned himself into a girl?”

  Flynn nodded, “That about sums it up.”

  It had taken a bit, partially due to Adam’s current reliance on paper to communicate and Flynn’s own confusion on the subject, but they managed to at least get the idea across.

  But Solomon sighed. “This would certainly be the wildest excuse I’d ever have to listen to for someone sneaking in…”

  “Look, buddy.” Flynn sat down next to the tutor. “I am the st guy who would do something like that. I simply do not pull babes. You gotta understand!”

  Adam felt himself grow a bit embarrassed, quickly scribbling down, ‘I’m not a babe!’

  “Oh, right, sorry.” Flynn sighed.

  Solomon muttered under his breath, “You are right in that you don’t seem the type…” At which point he stood up. “Frankly, I find this incredibly difficult to believe. But at the same time, I can’t say I can discount it. If you’re not Adam, then… You do bear a resembnce. You could be his sister.”

  Flynn shook his head. “He doesn’t have one.”

  “My point stands, a retive then.” Solomon continued. “I suppose the mute act would also be difficult to pull off, despite being a borderline unnecessary detail- No, I’ll stop there.”

  Adam’s eyes jolted upwards, looking at his tutor.

  “I’ve done enough relying on rules and logic.” He expined. “You put your trust in me earlier, and so I’ll put my trust in you. Even as… ridiculous as this may seem.”

  Solomon then pinched his forehead. “But still, that doesn’t exactly simplify things. You can’t be expected to show up to css like this.”

  “Adam says there’s a spot reserved at Marie’s for him- er, or her- oh whatever.” Flynn answered, letting out a sigh.

  “At Marie’s?” Solomon looked back at Adam to confirm, who responded with a nod.

  “Well…” The boy continued, cupping his chin. “If that’s the case, then that solves one problem. There’s still the question of how to handle your ‘disappearance,’ but that doesn’t immediately need to be resolved. It isn’t as if the headmaster would be too open to ‘magic’ as an expnation anyway.”

  Adam felt himself squirm at the thought. He lifted his legs up, hugging them on his bed. Even beyond that, he still wasn’t in any way ready to talk to his grandfather. There would be too much to address.

  Nervously, Adam ripped another piece of paper from his notebook, and scribbled down a question to hand to Sully.

  ‘I’m not expelled?’

  “Expelled? Heavens, no.” Solomon paused. “Well… at least not that I could tell. It didn’t sound like it, when the headmaster informed me of the incident st night. You could be punished in some form, but I very much doubt that expulsion is on the table.”

  That made Adam feel a bit better, at least. But it didn’t alleviate all his worries.

  Flynn groaned, leaning his cheek down on his knuckle. “Not like it changes much. Can’t imagine Adam’s any popur now that people know he was hiding girl’s clothes.”

  Right, Adam thought. There was also that…

  “A-Actually,” Solomon nervously pushed his gsses up. “I overheard some students talking about the incident st night, and…”

  He looked back at Adam. “For whatever reason, they seem to be under the impression that you were hiding marijuana.”

  What?

  “What?” Flynn reacted with confusion. “Weed? Adam? Of all people?!”

  Adam grabbed some paper again to write down a question, but he couldn’t think of anything to put in other than ‘why???’

  “I am as confused as you are.” Solomon expined with a sigh. “Perhaps they find it more believable than the truth.”

  Adam was ready to counter that there were spectators during the incident, but thinking more, no one had actually come close enough to the room to see what was being confiscated. His trunk wasn’t see-through or anything, so no one would have noticed what Ms. Musker was even taking away.

  Flynn shook his head. “Honestly I feel insane just hearing that they’d think Adam out of anyone would be hiding that type of stuff.”

  “Indeed,” Solomon nodded. “But that’s probably why it’s being spread like gossip. No one expects the quiet one. To quote, they were calling you ‘secretly a punk-ass rebel,’ and ‘a total eff-ing legend.’ I’m not repeating the swear, to be clear.”

  Adam held his head. If anything he’d assume something like that would get him in just as much trouble as what he actually did, but apparently guys thought he was cool for it?

  “At least it’s one less thing to worry about?” Flynn shrugged.

  “Agreed. We should focus on the task at hand, anyway.” Solomon continued, shifting his gaze back to Adam. “We need to get you out of school grounds and over to Marie’s without anyone noticing. If they did, people would draw conclusions…” With his eyes quickly darting to Flynn for a moment, Adam knew what he meant.

  Solomon let out a sigh, continuing. “Even beyond that, a non-student isn’t supposed to be here. It’d be more convenient if you left stealthily instead of getting caught.”

  “Could we just leave during css?” Flynn asked. “That was my first thought. But it’d be hard if anyone’s skipping.”

  “I could take care of that.” Solomon answered. “I could send any roamers away. I’ll go ahead and check in with the headmaster too, in case he wanted to come down himself. I imagine you’d rather not want any more intrusions while you waited.”

  “Sounds like a pn.” Flynn nodded.

  Adam hastily scribbled another quick note. “Won’t you be te for css?”

  Flynn met the note with furrowed brows. “Adam. Do you genuinely think I care about making it to css on time?”

  Adam’s eyes shifted to Sully. The dedicated honours student, of course, was the one he was more concerned about.

  “...It’s alright. It’s just one css. My record’s otherwise perfect as is.” He answered. “And I meant what I had said earlier. I already feel as if I’ve failed you once, so I’d like to help. Not just as your tutor, but as a friend.”

  The answer was kind, unexpectedly so. It was rare for Adam to hear someone say something like that to him. He felt himself begin to tear up.

  “Wha-? Adam, are you alright?”

  “Oh, great job.” Flynn moaned. “Look what you did! You made the girl cry!”

  “I-It was not my intention!”

  But Adam chuckled, waving a dismissive hand as he wiped his tears. It was strange, he didn’t normally cry so easily. Though he wanted to signal to them that he was alright, at least.

  “It… it might be the hormones, or something to that effect.” Solomon added. “I’m no expert, but it would figure if the new body came with those types of side-effects.”

  Adam nodded in agreement. He didn’t know for sure himself, but that sounded like something that could make sense.

  “Either way,” Sully continued, with a quick ‘ahem.’ “I suppose we understand the pn.”

  Flynn nodded. “You empty the hallway, I help Adam leave, right?”

  “That’s right. I can’t be everywhere, so it’s better if you stick with him to act as lookout.”

  Adam nodded, confirming that he understood the pn.

  “With that settled, I’ll take my leave.”

  Solomon made for the door, but as he held the doorknob, he stopped to look back at Adam. “One st thing. I wish you the best of luck. All of this that you’re dealing with, I hope you’re able to find the right path for you.”

  ‘Thanks,’ Adam mouthed.

  With another nod, Sully left, and that was that.

  Now, they’d just wait for css.

  The pn seemed to have worked. It was good to have Flynn with him just in case, but Adam found that everyone had apparently already gotten to css by the time they were sneaking out. He was thankful. There were plenty of things that could have gone wrong, but nothing did. In no time, the two were by the school gates.

  “Guess this is it… You obviously know the way, right?” Flynn asked.

  Adam nodded, mouthing a ‘yes.’ He’d gone there plenty of times before, he knew the straight route. It was just a matter of using the proper entrance this time.

  “Good… Good.” Flynn nodded to himself. “So, umm…”

  Adam tilted his head. Did he want to say something else?

  “Just wanted to say ‘sorry,’ I guess. For being stuck with a useless scker like me as your roommate.” He finally let out. “I know someone smarter than me and less zy prolly could’ve helped you more. I just feel bad about it. Always felt kinda useless whenever you'd talk about your thing…”

  Adam was surprised. He didn’t know Flynn felt that way.

  “L-Look I’m sorry, I'm dragging this out, you need to hurry. That’s just my thing.” He put on a quick weak smile. “I think I’ll grab another red bull on the way to css. Hey, might make me fast enough that I won’t be too te, heh.”

  Adam instinctively wanted to say something to reassure his friend. After all, he’d done plenty. He kept the secret for so long, without so much as making a fuss, almost never making Adam feel bad for it. He even saved his favorite skirt. Hell, he went so far as to believe him when coming into the room a stranger ciming to have been transformed by magic! Adam knew what he wanted to say, Flynn was far from useless. Adam couldn’t have asked for a better roommate.

  But he couldn’t say those words out loud.

  No paper and pen on hand either, didn’t figure to grab any before heading out. And it wasn’t like he could hug him again out of the blue…

  “So just go ahead and hurry on over. You’re living your dream, aren’t you? Enjoy it.”

  Pressed for time, Adam decided to just smile back at Flynn, and nod. He’ll find a way to thank him ter. For now, it was time to go.

  Adam didn’t feel as nervous entering the academy building than any other time he’d gone there. He really shouldn’t have, he was a girl now after all. But some part of him couldn’t shake that small anxiety. Sure, people might see him and think he was a girl, but he still wasn’t actually one. He was just a boy who had magically transformed.

  And while it’s not like anyone was going to figure that part out…

  It still left him feeling a bit fake. He wondered if he’d really be able to integrate into the school. For all he knew, there was some secret code all girls knew that he didn’t, and the moment he’d pass by somebody in the hall, someone would suddenly point at him and call him out.

  But the hallways were empty. That figured, most girls were probably in css. But he still had that assumption that, now that he was just walking in instead of infiltrating, that there would be people around. In a way, it wasn’t any different. No need to fear just yet.

  Frankly, Adam still didn’t know how exactly this was supposed to work. Was he just on the registry? Nothing to do but find the administration office, and hope for the best.

  He felt a chill when he finally found it, and saw none other than Ms. Musker occupying the desk. The head supervisor at the school. The same woman with the icy cold stare, the one who’d confiscated all his clothing.

  A part of him wanted to run. Surely she of all people would notice that he was ‘wrong,’ not actually a girl, but she spoke before he could react.

  “Ah. Are you the one who-? Hold on a second…” She paused, navigating her computer for a few seconds. “That’s right. The new student we were expecting.”

  Her tone was just as blunt as before. She wasn’t any much better talking to her own students, Adam supposed.

  “Sit down.”

  Adam didn’t have the courage to do anything else. Not like he could think of any way to escape the situation to begin with. But if they’re really expecting a new student, it had to be him, right?

  “Your uniform will arrive in the morning, but for now…” She opened a drawer, taking something out to hand over the counter.

  Hesitantly, Adam picked it up. It was… a card. An id card. The face was the one he’d seen in the mirror just earlier this morning. When had someone taken a picture of him?

  Adam’s heart skipped a beat as he read the name on the card.

  Aria Swanson.

  “Welcome to St. Marie’s Boarding School, Ms. Swanson.” Musker said, leaning forward on her desk. "We hope you'll come to enjoy your life here."

  TernUnfettered