2/17/99
Partying at the Frat House Across the Quad
by
Bill Hart

Part 1

"C'mon, Steve.  Everybody's expecting you to show up." said Charlie.
"You just must go tonight.  We've all been studying way too hard and
far too long for our exams.  You, me, and just about everyone else
around here are in serious need of a major break of routine.  And
that's exactly what this frat party tonight is supposed to be all
about."

"I _am_ not going tonight." replied Steve adamantly.

"You know, I could almost understand your not wanting to go if the
party were at that strange fraternity on the other side of the campus,
where all the weird shit no one can explain seems to happen all the
time."

"I'm not going, Charlie." repeated Steve emphatically.  "And that's
final."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're going to let some little thing
keep you away from a party where you'll be able to relax, unwind, and
have some fun for once." replied Charlie.  "I hope that's not what
you're trying to tell me."

"Little?" he said in amazement.  "If only he were just some _little_
thing, then I might stand a fighting chance.  But even though a lot of
words, some of them even repeatable in mixed company, can be used to
describe Tark Winston, _little_ is just _not_ one of them.  And _you_
know it.  Hell, if you could stand Tark up next to King Kong, then
Kong would look like just another _little_ monkey."

"C'mon, Steve.  Tark won't do anything to you at the party in front of
all those people."

"That's not what he told me earlier today.  You weren't there when he
approached me in the quad and, in front of dozens of witnesses, said
'Tompkins, if you show up at the frat party tonight and I should
happen to see you, then I'll break both your arms and both your legs,
_before_ I start hurting you.'  You may not believe him, but I sure
as hell believe him, Charlie.  I am _not_ going anywhere near that
fraternity tonight."

"I really doubt he'd do anything stupid like that.  He knows you're
afraid of him and he's playing on that fear to get his way.  He just
doesn't want you going to the frat party tonight."

"And I'm _not_ going, Charlie.  It's as simple as that." replied
Steve.  "There are no doubts whatsoever in my mind that he'd do
exactly what he told me he'd do.  And if you don't believe me, then
you should talk to Marty Meadows.  He ran afoul of Tark a couple of
months ago, and it took two teams of paramedics over an hour and a
half to unwind him from the fire hydrant Tark wrapped him around.  He
is one really mean SOB, Charlie.  But if Tark says he's gonna break
my arms and legs and _then_ hurt me, if I go to that party tonight,
then you better damn well believe I'm not going to that party nor
am I going anywhere near where that party is being held.  I'm staying
right here in our dorm room all night.  Even longer, if it should
become necessary."

"I didn't realize he was that much of an asshole." replied Charlie.
"Just what the hell did you do that pissed him off so badly."

"Nothing.  I didn't do a damn thing."

"You must have done something.  Even that brainless Neanderthal
couldn't get that pissed off over nothing."

"Charlie, I swear I did absolutely nothing to him.  I'm not stupid."
said Steve.  "Apparently, he and his current girlfriend, Mona Lewis,
are having some troubles.  And someone told him I'd been putting the
moves on her."

"You didn't." gasped Charlie.

"Of course, I didn't.  I told you I'm not an idiot." snapped Steve.
"Mona's a really nice girl.  And maybe, if she wasn't involved with
Tark, I could possibly see us getting together and maybe even having
a future together.  I don't think she should be involved with an
asshole like Tark, but interfering in one of _his_ problems only
means winding up getting seriously hurt."

"But who would tell him something like that?"

"I don't know, Charlie." replied Steve.  "I really don't know."

"But you really should go tonight anyway, you know." said Charlie.
"Like everyone else, you need time away from your books and studying.
Of late, I think even you'd have to admit, you've been studying too
hard.  You need to lighten up and put a little fun in your life."

"That's true, Charlie.  But a _little_ fun is probably all the fun
I'd have." replied Steve with a hint of sarcasm.  "Once Tark found
out I was there, it wouldn't be long before the paramedics would have
to be called to collect all the pieces of me in order to try and put
me back together again.  I've really grown fond of walking and using
my arms, Charlie.  And I really would like to be able to use them
tomorrow, the day after that, and the rest of my life."

"Maybe we could find you some sort of disguise." suggested Charlie.

"It would have to be one hell of a damn good disguise."

"You know, Steve, I just had this great idea." smiled Charlie.  "And
I think this might just provide you a really good disguise."

"Might?" asked Steve.  "Just what do you mean 'might?'  It's either a
damn good disguise or I'll get to discover my pain threshold."

"Sorry about that, Steve." replied Charlie.  "It's just that I really
don't know right now just how good a disguise I can actually devise
for you."  He opened his briefcase and began fumbling through its
contents.

"What are you looking for?" asked a very puzzled Steve.

"My _book_." replied Charlie.

"Your _book_?  And what _book_ is that?" asked Steve, even more
puzzled.  "How can any _book_ of yours help you decide whether or not
some disguise is good or not?"

"This one just might be able to do just that and maybe then some."
Charlie continued searching through his briefcase.  "Here it is."  He
pulled a book out of his briefcase and held it out for Steve to see.

"Oh, shit." groaned Steve.  "You have got to be kidding me.  Right?"
Shaking his head, he stared at the predominantly yellow colored book
with the black lettered title in Charlie's hand.  "Just where the hell
did you find something like that, Charlie?" he inquired.  "And
whatever the hell possessed you to even _buy_ some dumb book with a
title as stupid as 'Magic for Dummies?'"

"I found it in the bookstore at the mall." replied Charlie.  "I went
there looking for the new Chalker book, which I was certain was
supposed to be out this week, but the people working there said it
wouldn't be released for another couple of months.  So I looked around
and found this."  An odd flashback to the events of that day made
Charlie smile.  "But you wanna know something really strange, Steve.
When I went into the bookstore, there was this odd-looking little
magic shop right next door.  If I hadn't been looking for the new
Chalker book, I probably would have skipped the bookstore, but, since
I was, I figured I'd be able go in and have a quick look around as
soon as I'd finished in the bookstore.  How could I have known that
the odd little magic shop wouldn't be there when I came out again.
I'm not really sure why I bought it, but as I was looking through it
in the bookstore I thought it might prove useful sometime.  You never
can tell about these things."

"How can you be dumb enough to buy some moronic book on magic?"
reproached Steve.  "And especially one with such a stupid title?
There's no such thing as magic."

"But there must be, Steve." argued Charlie.  "Otherwise they wouldn't
be selling it in the non-fiction section of the bookstore."  Steve
shook his head.  "But ever since that day I bought it, I've been
reading it a lot, especially the chapters on transformations.  You
know, it's not really all that tough of a subject, except for the
strange incantation language that's used throughout the book.  It
looks really weird and as odd as it looks I'd guess it should sound
almost as weird when spoken out loud.  I mean, I haven't actually
heard the language spoken yet. You just don't want to speak these
things aloud unless you really mean them."

Steve shook his head again.  "Has anyone ever told you that you read
too many fantasies?"

"Do you really think so?  Nobody's ever told me that before." replied
Charlie.  "But I really believe I've read enough to be able to cast
a spell on you that would make you appear to be someone completely
different from the person you appear to be right now."

"That's not possible." said Steve.  "Didn't I just tell you, there's
no such thing as magic?  Consequently, there's no such thing as a
_magic_ spell."

"C'mon, let me try it, Steve.  Please." he cajoled.  "You've got
nothing to lose by letting me try to cast a simple spell on you.  And
if it works you can go to the frat party without having to fear what
Tark might do to _you_ because he won't know who _you_ are." he
argued.  "Please, let me give it a try.  Please, Steve."

"You might as well go ahead, Charlie." sighed his friend.  "I can see
you won't be giving me a moment of peace until after I've let you try
casting your spell."  He smiled at Charlie.  "Go ahead, give it a
try.  I just hope letting you do this will get this foolish nonsense
out of your system.  On the other hand, I hope you won't be too upset
when, after it doesn't work, I bust my gut laughing."

"Do you have any preferences for your new appearance?" asked Charlie
unfazed by his friend's doubt.  "Anything you'd really like?"

"As long as I don't look like me, what difference does it make?"
replied Steve.  "Use your imagination and surprise me." he said in
order to humor his friend, thinking his so-called disguise spell
wasn't going to work anyway.

"Okay.  I've written some notes down in the margin while I've been
reading.  I'll try using some of what I've written, but I hope I get
the pronunciation right."

"Whatever."

"Are you ready, Steve?"

"Whenever you are, Charlie."

"Okay.  Here goes.

"Pofi davy, pofi can'p, raw panmh.  Di cipofi, m'nitty, orv yaun awr
ogi.  Weth farg sefky t'nissis ac vonk d'nawr."

Strange and peculiar sensations suddenly began pulsing throughout
Steve's body. "What the hell ..." he mumbled, unexpectedly feeling
really weird.

And how was it possible that Charlie appeared to have grown several
inches taller in just the last few seconds?

Why could he feel his hair, which wasn't all _that_ long, brush across
his shoulders when he turned his head?

Reaching up and grabbing a handful of his hair, he was surprised that
it was now somehow both shoulder length and a lot darker in color than
its normal dull sandy brown.

"Oh, wow." exclaimed Charlie.  "My spell really worked."

Suddenly, Steve became aware of a peculiar weight on his chest.  When
his hands absently went to investigate, he gasped.  "Holy fucking
shit, Charlie." he exclaimed.  "Just what the hell did you do to me?"


Part 2

Steve couldn't believe what his hands now held.  That strange new
weight on his chest had turned out to be two unwanted, but, quite
fortunately for him, reasonably sized, _female_ breasts.

"Just what the hell did that spell of yours do to me?" he asked again.

Steve tentatively felt at his new breasts again, hoping they might
have disappeared within him noticing in the last few seconds.  But he
had had no such luck.  They were both still hanging there.  Then
reflexively, he shoved his hand down the front of his pants and gasped
again with shock.  "Where is it?" he mumbled excitedly.  "Why can't I
find it?  It's got to be there."  For several minutes, he fumbled
around in his pants looking for it.  "Where the hell is it.  Why is it
missing?" he wondered aloud.  "Missing?  Wait a god damn fucking
minute."  A light seemed to flick on in his mind.  "Holy fucking shit,
Charlie." he exclaimed.  "I'm a girl.  What the hell ever possessed
you to cast a spell that would change me into a girl?"

"You told me to use my imagination and surprise you." replied Charlie.
"So I did.  And _you_ sure looked surprised.  You should have seen
_your_ face when you discovered _your_ dick was missing.  You know, I
think this might prove to be even better than that new Chalker novel
I was looking for the day I bought this book." said Charlie.  "And
you know something, Steve.  Even if I must say so myself, you make one
damn good looking girl.  I'll bet you'd look even better if you
weren't still wearing those old clothes of yours that definitely don't
fit you very well any more.  You wanna know something else, Steve.  If
anybody looked at you right now, provided, of course, you didn't open
your mouth and they didn't know who you really were, then nobody would
ever in a million years guess you were really Steve Tompkins."

"Change me back this instant, if not even sooner, Charlie Morton."
screamed Steve.  "I don't want to be a girl."

"Why not?" asked Charlie.  "If you remain a girl for the rest of the
night, then you can go to the frat party with no fear of being
recognized _or_ attacked by Tark.  He'll treat _you_ the same way
everyone else there will treat you.  No one will have the slightest
idea that the girl they're busily gawking at is actually _male_ and
someone totally different than the girl you appear to be.

"Tark won't recognize you.  And if he doesn't recognize _you_ as being
Steve Tompkins, then he certainly won't be out breaking any of your
bones or beating the crap out of you.  All you need to complete your
disguise is a sexy female voice and some feminine clothes to wear.  I
think this is the most perfect disguise that could ever be devised
for you, Steve."

"No.  I don't think so." objected Steve.  "I'm not going anywhere
looking like a girl."  Without thinking about it, he casually flipped
his now long brown hair out of his face.  "I am _not_ going to _any_
frat party, or anywhere else for that matter, looking like a girl.
And that's final.  Change me back right now."

"Before I do that, let me try something else first."  And before
Steve could voice his objection, Charlie spoke another spell.

"Baeli ac pofi, di sixy, samnore, orv cipofi.  Otteni ac pofi,
nican'p.  Di sact, sefky, cipereri, orv nibioferg.  Baeli orv gond
raw cettarg thi can'p yau massiss."

Almost instantly, and totally unnoticed by Steve, his previously
ill-fitting male clothing had visibly altered.  Instead of the ragged
T-shirt he'd been wearing, he was now wearing a sleeveless halter,
which left his midriff bared.  His loose and very baggy pants had
shriveled up into a short, very tight leather skirt.  And he now
stood, or rather wobbled gently back and forth, in new shoes with
two inch heels that had replaced his old tennis shoes.

Steve shivered slightly.  "What the hell have you done now?"  He
clutched at his throat, his cracking voice no longer sounding exactly
like his own anymore.  He shivered again.  "My arms and legs are
freezing." he complained, before looking downward towards his feet and
discovering why he was now so cold.  The clothes he'd been wearing had
been replaced with others that he would have never donned on his own.
He could see he was now wearing a short skirt that exposed his long,
now hairless and very feminine looking, legs to the surrounding air.
He gasped as he realized the halter top he found himself wearing not
only accentuated his newly obtained breasts, but also revealed a lot
more of his transformed-into-a-female body than he could ever feel
comfortable allowing others to see.  "What the fucking hell were you
thinking about when you did this to me, Charlie Morton?"

"You said you didn't want to go to the frat party looking like you
did." explained Charlie.  "Not that anyone could blame you for that,
you know.  Your _old_ clothes just don't belong on the _new_ you.
They looked terrible on your _new_ body.  But now, you look totally
fantastic, Steve."

"I look like a girl on the prowl for guys." his voice cracking once
more, before finally settling into a very light and very sexy sounding
soprano.  "Change me back, Charlie." he demanded.  "I don't want to
look like this.

"First, just let me try out this _other_ spell I've working on."  Once
again, before Steve had a chance to voice his objections, Charlie
spoke, invoking his new spell.

"Erta o t'norli coff, dierg vi-imfy osfi-im.  Smiokerg arfy, ec orv
whir smakir ta.  Di viceriv os whot yau oni tafv."

As Charlie watched his spell take effect, Steve's eyes immediately
glazed over.  He just stood there soullessly staring at Charlie,
unable to either blink or move.  In addition, Charlie knew if he had
spoken the spell properly, then it was also highly likely that Steve
would be unable of undirected conscious thoughts.

Charlie smiled.  "Now let's see if this spell works as well as the
other spells in that book have so far." he whispered to himself.


Part 3

Charlie watched as the full female breasts of his blank-eyed roommate
rose and fell with each new breath he took.  Amazing, he thought.
"Can you hear me, Steve?" he asked.

"Yes." he replied woodenly.

"Would you tell me your full name?"

"Steven Edward Tompkins."

Amazing, thought Charlie again.  Let's see if that can be changed.
"But that's not really your name." said Charlie.  "You know that your
real name is actually Shannon Elaine Tompkins.  Isn't that true?"

"Yes."

Charlie repeated his earlier question.  "Would you tell me your full
name again?"

"Shannon Elaine Tompkins."

Wow, it really does work, thought Charlie, as he began thinking about
having a little harmless fun at his friend's expense.  It certainly
couldn't harm him to loosen up a little bit and have some fun for
once.  Besides, even Steve knew he really needed some rest and
relaxation or he might end up taking a forced vacation in a little
room somewhere with padded walls.  Going to the frat party, whether
_he_, or _she_, likes it or not, should be the perfect way for him to
relax and completely unwind.  But first, I need to find out if the
suggestions I give him remain active when I bring him out of his
trance.

"Listen very closely to what I have to say, Shannon."

"Yes.  I will listen closely."

"When you hear the phrase 'Wake up, Shannon,' while under the control
of this spell, you will become fully awake and be totally unaware you
were previously in a trance-like state." said Charlie.   "And when
you are awake and hear the phrase 'Go to sleep, Shannon,' you will
then immediately re-enter this trance-like state and be under the
full control of this spell again.  Do you understand, Shannon?"

"Yes.  I understand."

Time for the acid test, thought Charlie.  "Wake up, Shannon."

Shannon's eyes popped open.  After a quick inspection of his body,
Shannon was distressed at still having a girl's body.  "I thought you
were going to change me back.  But you didn't do anything at all.
Did you, Charlie?  Why am I still a girl and not myself again?"

"I was gonna to change you back, but then I thought you should have a
little more time to fully adjust to your brand new female body before
you made your final decision, Shannon."  Just as Charlie had hoped,
his friend had neither flinched nor objected at being called Shannon.
"So have you decided whether or not you're going to the frat party
tonight, Shannon."

"No, I'm not going.  As I've told you several times before, I'm not
going anywhere looking like this.  I want you to change me back into
my normal self right now."

"If I do, will you go to the frat party."

"No." he said angrily.  "Change me back this instant."

"Alright, already.  Don't go blowing a gasket." replied Charlie.  "But
since you're not going to the party, would you sign the back of your
ticket."

"What for?"

"Something about a door prize, I think.  The winner doesn't have to be
present to win, so I thought you might as well take a shot at it.  You
might actually win something."

"Okay.  Give me the ticket."

Charlie handed Shannon one of the tickets and a pen.  Shannon quickly
scribbled his name on the back of it, then handed it back to Charlie.
As he read the handwritten signature on the ticket, Charlie smiled.

"Is there something else wrong _now_, Charlie?" asked Shannon very
impatiently.  "I signed it just like I sign everything else - Shannon
E. Tompkins."

"No problem at all, Shannon." replied Charlie.  "Everything is just
fine."  But he wondered if Steve had been dotting his _i_'s with the
little heart as Shannon had done.

"Good." snapped Shannon.  "Then you don't have any more excuses for
leaving me this way.  So change me back to normal - right now."

"If that's what you want," answered Charlie, "then I suppose that's
what you should get.  'Go to sleep, Shannon.'"

While Charlie watched, Shannon's eyes glaze over again.  Charlie
knew that thinking of him as Steve might prove to be a source of
trouble later, so he decided he'd have to think of his friend only as
Shannon until after they safely returned from the party.  But once
again, Shannon stood motionless in a deep trance staring, but seeing
nothing, in front of Charlie.

"I hope you will eventually realize that I'm doing this in your best
interests, Shannon." Charlie told his friend.  "You now want to go to
the frat party tonight.  You enjoy looking exactly the way you look
right now.  Looking like, even being, a girl does not bother you in
the slightest anymore.  Since we both know you need to lighten up and
have some fun, you will lighten up and have lots of fun at the frat
party tonight.  You also know that Tark Winston will neither find out
who you really are nor bother you tonight.   You aren't worried about
Tark, at all, because you have no reason to be worried.  Do you
understand, Shannon?"

"Yes, Charlie." Shannon answered with a small smile.  "I understand."

"Good." sighed Charlie.  "I'm really glad we've finally got that
straightened out satisfactorily.  Now, 'Wake up, Shannon.'"

Shannon's eyes opened.  As he looked around the room, he soon
discovered he was still a girl, but somehow his body being female no
longer seemed to either bother him or be all that important.  "You
know, Charlie, I've given this frat party business a little more
thought.  And I think I will go this way.  There is no way that Tark
is ever going to recognize me as me, which means I should be
completely safe.  And come to think of it, I really think I have been
staying inside and studying too hard a lot lately, so I deserve a
chance to go out and have a little fun for once."  Shannon reached up
and felt one of his breasts.  "You know Charlie, having breasts like
these really isn't all that bad.  Just touching them like this feels
really good."  And then, Shannon took his first step since becoming a
girl and fell flat on his face.  Looking up from floor at Charlie, he
said with a pained expression, "Maybe I should rethink my position on
that again, before I manage to really hurt myself."

"That's utter nonsense, Shannon."  But still, Charlie knew Shannon had
to be able to walk more gracefully and without falling down after
every step, or this great disguise just wasn't going to work.

"Ac cipofi can'p, arli pofi, goer thot whelh es raw folkerg.  Hobi
rotunof gnoli orv c'fuevety ac patear.  Cipofi oltears oni ari weth
yau.  Yau oni ari weth cipofi nioltears."

Shannon, not wanting to fall again, slowly and very nervously stood up
again, before casually strolling gracefully towards the mirror on the
wall as if he'd been walking exactly the same way his entire life.
Charlie couldn't help feeling very pleased with himself as he watched
his friend's very graceful and overtly feminine movements along the
way.  But at the same time, Charlie hoped his friend hadn't noticed
his own increased state of arousal.

"Nothing to walking in these after all." smiled Shannon after reaching
the mirror.  "I can't imagine why I had so much trouble before.  But
it's really funny though, Charlie.  Walking around as a girl doesn't
feel that much different than walking around like I normally do as a
boy."

Shannon smiled at he posed before the mirror.

"How do you feel now, Shannon?"

"I'm really feeling great." replied Shannon.  "I can't explain why,
I feel so good.  I just do."

"You know, Shannon." began Charlie.  "I was just wondering if you'd
like to be _my_ date tonight.  I mean, your being my date tonight
might be the easiest way to explain to everyone who you are.  If you
were my date, especially now that you appear to be such a great
looking girl, then that should easily eliminate any embarrassing
questions you wouldn't want to answer."

Shannon frowned at his friend's suggestion.  "You must be kidding,
Charlie." he replied.  "We can go together, but definitely _not_ as a
date.  I mean, what would the rest of the guys say if they found out
later that _you_ and _I_ had gone to the party together _on_a_date_.
You may have given me the body of a sexy looking girl, but _you_ and
_I_ still know, even if none of our friends will, that I'm really
male."

Charlie smiled.  "Then I suppose that will also rule out my getting
a passionate goodnight kiss when I bring you home tonight, Shannon."

"Good thinking, Charlie." he began laughing.  "Even though I'll appear
to be some hot and sexy girl to everyone else, I'm definitely not
gonna stand for _any_ guys trying to kiss me.  I'll slug any guy
tonight that even comes close to making any moves like that on me."


Part 4 

When Shannon and Charlie finally arrived at the fraternity, the party
was already in full swing.  Shannon, even though he knew he appeared
to be and acted as if he were a sexy a girl, was still surprised, not
to mention quite disconcerted, how just about every guy at the party,
many of whom he'd known for a long time, gazed longingly at him.

If only they knew who I really am, thought Shannon.  Wouldn't they
all be totally embarrassed for the rest of their lives for thinking
about _me_ like they are.

But still, having all these guys giving him the once over as well as
appraising his appearance as if he were for sale made him very
uncomfortable.  Shannon wondered why all of them kept going over and
talking to Charlie.  He also wondered what his buddy had done to earn
so many congratulatory pats on the back.  As far as he knew, Charlie
hadn't done anything that should warrant him getting that kind of
attention.

Fortunately, but just as he and Charlie had expected, Tark Winston was
paying him no more attention than any other male in the room was
paying him.  But having Tark staring at him like all the others made
him nervous.  And he could also tell that Tark, just like so many of
the other guys had been doing ever since he and Charlie had arrived,
was undressing him in his mind.

Shannon wondered how real girls put up with that kind of shit from
guys.  And he especially wondered how Mona Lewis could put up with
that low-grade moron Tark Winston ogling every girl in the room, while
practically ignoring her.  But Shannon soon came to the uneasy
conclusion that if Tark kept looking at him the way he'd been looking
at him since he'd first seen him, then he might be in for a whole lot
more trouble from Tark than just having his legs and arms broken and
the shit kicked out of him.

Just thinking about any potential problem like that, especially with
Tark, made Shannon shudder.  He almost wished he would have taken
Charlie up on his offer to be his date tonight.  As Charlie had told
him earlier, he now realized, it would have definitely been the better
course of action.  But that was the trouble with hindsight - it was
always a perfect 20-20 in retrospect.

While Charlie, at Shannon's encouragement, had been flitting about
the room going from single girl to single girl, Shannon had been
standing around nervously like the proverbial wallflower.  And he
certainly wasn't having nearly as much fun as he'd expected to be
having by now.  Instead of having lots of fun, he always seemed to be
fending off some predatory guy, who'd stroll casually up to him as if
he were the coolest piece of macho shit the world had ever seen and
make some inane small talk, before asking him to dance.  Shannon
couldn't understand why they'd all stormed away angrily, muttering
things he probably didn't want to hear, when he'd told them "No,
thank you.  I'd rather not."

But he still wished that Charlie would have stayed a little closer.
However, that was his fault.  Shannon had earlier surmised that his
friend wouldn't enjoy having to babysit him or hang out with another
one of the guys all night, when there were so many unattached, single,
and otherwise available girls around, even if he did also appear to
one of them, equally unattached, single, and otherwise available, to
all the other guys.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Oh no, he thought, not again.

Turning around, Shannon saw that his new admirer was an old friend of
his, Allan Foster.  He'd known Allan since they were in grammar
school, but, considering that big wolfish grin on his face, he very
obviously didn't recognize Shannon as his long time friend Steve.

Shit, swore Shannon silently.  But I guess it could have been worse.
No one who knows me is supposed to recognize me.  And from the way
he's looking at me, _he_ certainly doesn't know who I really am.

"Excuse me, beautiful." said Allan.  "But are you here all alone
tonight?"

"No. I came with a friend." he replied quietly, all the while hoping
Allan would just go away.  "He's out there in the crowd dancing with
someone at moment."

"He must be blind.  Or maybe, he's just plain stupid." remarked Allan
smoothly.  "I can't believe anyone would leave a girl as beautiful
as you standing here all by yourself in order to go dance with some
other girl, who obviously could never be even half as pretty as you."

Oh shit, Shannon thought, as he felt his face flush.  He didn't want
to blush, but apparently, being caught up in such an obviously
embarrassing moment, his body wasn't about to give him any choice in
the matter.  Not only that, he had no ideas how to handle this kind
of situation with Allan, as he knew neither what to do nor what to
say.  Nothing in his whole life had ever prepared _him_ for what to
do when one of _male_ friends was trying to pick him up.   What can
I do about this, he wondered nervously.

Shannon smiled.  "Thank you." he answered shyly in a way that sounded
more coy than shy.

"My name's Allan Foster."

"Shannon Tompkins." he replied, holding out his hand to shake Allan's.

"A very pretty name for a very pretty girl." he smiled, then took
Shannon's proffered hand and, after lifting it slowly to his lips,
gently kissed her hand.

Once again, Shannon, completely at a loss for words, didn't know
exactly what to do or say.  And being embarrassed once more, he
uncontrollably blushed bright red again.  "Thank you." he replied.
"Did you come by yourself?" he asked, then wanted to kick himself for
asking another dumb question that only kept Allan from leaving.

"Yeah.  But I come to a lot of these frat parties stag." he answered.
"It generally works out better for me that way.  I'm a psych major.
And in my studies, I've learned enough hypnosis to be able to breathe
life into any dull party.  I've even worked up a little act I
occasionally do at frat parties.  But this place is really rocking
tonight.  I don't think anyone will need me to do my act tonight.
But that's alright with me ... now, that I've met you, I can think
of plenty of other things I'd rather be doing."

Oh god, thought Shannon, he's coming on to me.

And that thought made Shannon even more nervous than he'd been before.
He didn't know how to cope with Allan's continually growing interest
in him.

I need some help, thought Shannon.  Maybe I should go find Charlie
and ask him for help.

But before Shannon could excuse himself to find his friend, Allan
asked, "Have _you_ ever been hypnotized before, Shannon?"

"No." he replied.  "Why do you ask?"

"I just have this odd feeling you'd make an excellent subject."
answered Allan.  "Would you like to find out?"

"Well ... I don't know." Shannon answered nervously.

"It's perfectly safe.  You have nothing to worry about."

"I probably won't be a very good subject."

"But we won't really know if we don't try.  Will we?" smiled Allan.
"Why don't we give a try and find out?"

Shannon suddenly smiled.  As far as he was concerned, Allan had just
provided him his way out.  And he wouldn't have to bother Charlie
after all.  He'd just let Allan explain what was expected of him as
a subject, then simply tell him "No, thank you.  I'd rather not." when
he finished.  After that, he'd just watch Allan storm angrily away
muttering things just as every other guy had done when he'd turned
down their unwanted advances tonight.  It was just too perfect a
solution, he thought.

"What would I have to do?" inquired Shannon innocently.  "It won't
hurt, will it?"

"Of course not.  I could never hurt you."  Allan reached into his
pocket and pulled out a small crystalline ball on a long silver chain.
"All you'd have to do is concentrate on this little ball as I let it
swing back and forth."

Shannon looked at the ball.  "That's all?"

"After you were fully concentrating on it, I'd tell you something like
'you are getting sleepy' and then give you some command that would put
you into a trance.  Something like 'Go to sleep, Shannon,' or some
similar phrase.  That's all there would be to putting you under.  As
I said, it shouldn't hurt you at all.  Now ..."

Allan abruptly stopped talking as he stared in stunned amazement at
Shannon.

Earlier, he'd had that odd premonition or whatever it was that Shannon
would make a good hypnotic subject, but even he would have never
guessed just how good a subject she would turn out to actually be.
Looking at her glazed over expression as she stood entranced before
him, Allan realized there couldn't be many people who would be so
quickly and easily hypnotized just from hearing the very simple
explanation he had given her.


Part 5

"Are you alright, Shannon?" he asked calmly.

"Yes." replied Shannon woodenly.

"I want you to tell me the truth, Shannon.  Do you have a steady
boyfriend?"

"No."

Allan looked at Shannon with surprise.  He had suspected that the
girl had been putting him on about being here with a _friend_,
obviously male, who had left her all alone.  Girls always do something
like that, he thought, just to get close to me.  "But how is that
possible?" he muttered.  "You are not only absolutely gorgeous, but
you're also an incredibly sexy young woman, Shannon."

"Yes." replied Shannon with a small smile and a few subtle, almost
unnoticeable, shifts in his stance.

"What about that guy who brought you here tonight?" inquired Allan.

"Oh, you mean Charlie." Shannon replied, sounding more playful than
before.  "He is just my friend."

"But a pretty girl like you _must_ have a boyfriend." stated Allan.

"Okay.  I _must_."

"Who is your boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

"If you don't know who he is, then why did you say you had one?"

"You said a pretty girl like me _must_ have a boyfriend." parroted
Shannon.  "I don't know who he might be, but if you say I _must_ have
one, then I _must_ have one."

What a load of illogical crap, thought Allan, as he gazed at the
entranced Shannon.  But on the other hand, he had never had a subject
so incredibly receptive before.  And, if she was that receptive, then
Allan had a sudden idea in need of immediate testing.  "I am your
boyfriend, Shannon." he told her.

"Yes, Allan." came the reply.

"Doesn't it bother you that I'm now your boyfriend?"

"No, Allan.  A pretty girl like me _must_ have a boyfriend.  And if
you say you're my boyfriend, then you _must_ be my boyfriend."

This is unbelievable, thought Allan.  "What is your boyfriend's name?"

"Allan Mitchell Foster."

Allan wondered how she knew his middle name.  He was certain he'd
never seen her before tonight.  He would have definitely remembered
meeting a girl like her, if they'd met before tonight.  But he
couldn't recall telling her his middle name, although, he assumed, he
must have, otherwise she couldn't possibly have known what it was.
And yet, for the present, there was no reason to press his luck any
further with her.  As a result, knowing he could put this extremely
receptive girl back under at any time he chose, he decided to wake up
his _new_ girlfriend and let what was natural, more or less, between
a male and his female take its inevitable course.

"Shannon."

"Yes, Allan."

"In a few minutes, I'm going to wake you from your trance.  You won't
remember that I put you into a trance.  Neither will you remember us
talking about hypnosis nor your being hypnotized at all.  When you
wake up, you will feel calm and relaxed and once more be the normal
and sexy fun-loving young woman you've always been.  You're at this
party to have lots of fun.  And you want to have lots of fun tonight.
You'll do whatever it takes to please your boyfriend, especially if
it means you will also have lots of fun.  Do you understand what I've
told you, Shannon."

"Yes, Allan.  I understand."

"Okay, Shannon.  I'm now going to count backwards from three.  With
each number I speak you will feel more and more sexually aroused until
you climax as I reach the number one.  At that time you will awaken.
Do you understand, Shannon?"

"Yes, Allan."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Oh my." moaned Shannon, who remained in her trance.

What went wrong, thought Allan.  "Wake up, Shannon." said Allan
hurriedly, concerned that his receptive subject had still not
responded this time.

Shannon opened her eyes, then slowly shook her head.  For some reason
she felt kind of funny - not really a bad or peculiar type of funny -
more like she'd just had some really wonderful sex.  But she couldn't
remember doing it with any guy tonight ... or any other night, for
that matter.

I must have imagined it all, she thought. Because I'm still at the
frat party, still dressed, and hornier than hell.  Either that or
someone slipped some really weird shit into my last drink.

Shannon wondered what had happened to her.  As her hand sought out,
then began stroking her breasts, she felt herself becoming even more
aroused.  She wondered about the sensitivity of her breasts.  Was
there something wrong with her?  But very quickly, Shannon concluded
there could be nothing wrong with _her_.  And there was certainly
nothing wrong with her having breasts, sensitive or otherwise.  After
all, _I_ am a girl and all girls have breasts, she thought, although
I doubt all girls are fortunate enough to have breasts as incredibly
sensitive and sexy as mine.

Shannon thought she should go find Charlie.  Hopefully, she could ask
him what had happened to her and he'd know all the answers.  She
really wanted to know why she had become so hot and horny all of a
sudden - not that she was complaining.

But as she turned, Shannon saw Allan Foster, _her_ current boyfriend.
Screw finding Charlie, she thought, I've better things to do now.
"Hi Allan, honey." she smiled, then ran her tongue lightly across her
upper lip.  "When did you get here, babe?" she cooed, while cuddling
up to him as closely as she could without jumping into his clothes
with him.  She kissed him squarely and most passionately on the lips.

Wow, thought Allan.  "Are you feeling alright, Shannon." he asked.
His legs felt wobbly.  And he also felt a little lightheaded.

"Of course, sweetheart.  I feel really great, right now." she replied.
"I'm also feeling incredibly sexy - even more sexy then I can ever
remember feeling before."  She blushed slightly.  "Not only that,
lover of mine, but I'm also feeling awfully horny ... for you, babe."
She kissed him again.

When Shannon finally pulled back from him, Allan's knees had buckled.
He'd never been kissed like that before nor had he ever imagined being
kissed like that.  It had been almost like having a giant and very
powerful vacuum cleaner attached to his lips.

"Wow." was the only word Allan could utter.

Her eyes riveted on his, Shannon asked, "Why don't you and I go borrow
one of the frat's guest _rooms_ for a while?"

"You mean, one of the _bed_rooms?"

"Of course, I mean one of the bedrooms, silly." she replied with a
lustful grin as she ogled him shamelessly.  "That is, unless you'd
rather do it right here on the floor, lover."  She kissed him again
and Allan's thoughts swirled incoherently.  "I'm sure you know that
doing it right here on the floor with _you_ is perfectly okay with
me."

Allan was nearly ecstatic at Shannon's apparent unquenchable sexual
thirst.  Her reactions were far better than anything he could have
imagined.  What was happening now was not only fantastic, it was also
totally unlike anything he'd ever experienced in his life.  Allan was
mentally beside himself with the joy of his anticipated pleasures.  He
was like some little boy lost somewhere in his very own Fantasyland.

But he'd never been able to bend any of his subjects so completely to
his suggestions before.  According to his professors and all the
textbooks he'd read, a level of such total suggestibility wasn't
supposed to be possible, unless ... Could that be it?  Could Shannon
actually be a latent, or possibly repressed, horny slut?

But who gives a flying rat's ass about any of that academic crap right
now, he smiled.  I'll have to research it later.  But quite soon now,
I'll be having my way with this ravishing beauty.  This is definitely
a far cry more exciting than anything I could have expected to happen
at one of this frat's parties.

Shannon and Allan kissed.

But their kiss was suddenly broken at the sound of a voice that Allan
didn't immediately recognize.  "And just what are the two of you up
to now?"

Part 6

Annoyed at this unexpected and untimely interruption from an unknown
source, Allan snapped back, "What's it to you?"

"Oh, hi Charlie." squealed Shannon with delight.  "What have you been
up to?" she asked, winking at him.  "As if I didn't know or couldn't
guess."  She strolled over and planted a kiss firmly on the lips of
a very confused and totally surprised Charlie.  "I want to thank you
for letting me come with you tonight, Charlie.  But as you can see,
Allan's here now.  I'm sure you must remember, Allan Foster.  Don't
you, Charlie?" she smiled.  "He's my boyfriend now.  And we're going
to run off to one of the bedrooms shortly so we can have lots of fun
together."

So this is that stupid dolt Charlie that left Shannon all alone,
thought Allan.  But strangely enough, Allan thought he also looked
vaguely familiar.  Then suddenly, he remembered where he had met him
before.  His old friend Steve Tompkins had introduced him to his
roommate Charlie Morton when he'd visited him a couple of weeks ago.
This clueless fool was Steve's roommate.  Allan hadn't been impressed
then, and he certainly wasn't impressed now.

Out of the blue, he suddenly wondered about Shannon's last name also
being Tompkins.  It hadn't occurred to him earlier, but, given their
same last names, might not Shannon Tompkins somehow be related to his
old friend Steve.  Allan knew Steve didn't have a sister Shannon's
age, but she might possibly be a cousin.  That was almost credible,
since she was, for whatever strange reason she had, here with Steve's
roommate.  But after a little deliberation with himself, Allan decided
that Shannon and Steve having the same last name could be nothing more
than pure coincidence.  He was positive Steve would have never been
able to keep quiet about such a beautiful cousin, if she were actually
related to him.

Boyfriend?  Charlie wondered why Shannon thought he had a boyfriend
now, especially one as shallow and self-centered as Allan Foster.  And
he also couldn't help thinking about the passion behind the kiss his
friend had planted on his lips.  From what Shannon had told him before
leaving their room, he wasn't going to be interested in boys just
because he looked like a girl.  But if that were the case, why did
he kiss me like that, wondered Charlie.

"Did you miss me, lover." said Shannon as she slid her arms around
Allan and kissed him.

Why is he acting like this, thought Charlie.  You'd almost think he
was really a girl.  Oh, shit, thought Charlie suddenly, as he stared
at Allan suspiciously.  Clearly, this dimwitted fool must have
accidentally spoken the trigger phrases to him.  Since Allan obviously
considered Shannon female, he had probably worded everything to him
as if he were the girl he appeared to be.  As a result, Shannon now
probably thought of himself as a girl.  And if that kiss from the
_girl_ he thought he was were any indication, _she_ must think
_her_self one very sexy, hot, and horny girl.  Charlie wondered
whether or not Allan had found out that Shannon was actually Steve.

"What did you do to Shannon?" he asked Allan abruptly.

Looking like a petulant child with his hand caught in the cookie jar,
Allan, just as quickly, replied, "I didn't do anything to her,
Charlie.  So if you'll excuse us, we have things to do."

"How could you say that to Allan?" Shannon scolded him.  "He's _my_
boyfriend, Charlie.  He wouldn't do anything to me."

He's not going to be your boyfriend much longer, thought Charlie,
as he turned toward Shannon.  "Go to sleep, Shannon."  Both of them
watched as her eyes immediately glazed over.  "Now, Shannon, just go
stand over there and look pretty until after I finish discussing a
few minor details with Allan.  He turned back to Allan and smiled.

"Urodfi ta pabi, yit di odfi ta smiok."

As Allan tried walking towards Shannon, he found himself, quite
impossibly, unable to move a single muscle.  Somehow, whatever
nonsensical garbage Charlie had spouted at him had somehow frozen
him in place.  Wondering if he could still speak and having nothing
else to lose, he decided to find out.  "What did you do to me?" he
asked, relieved to at least be able to speak.

"I asked _you_ what _you_ did to Shannon first." replied Charlie.

"I told you, I didn't do anything to her."

"Shannon's very reactions tell me another, as well as a totally
different, story, Allan.  Would you like to change yours?"

"I didn't mean her any harm." replied Allan quickly.  "She was just
standing around watching everyone dancing and looking so lonely.  She
didn't even have a boyfriend to keep her company." explained Allan.
"It was was an unbelievable situation I found both intolerable and
unacceptable."

"And so, you decided to take it upon yourself to capitalize on her
situation?" prompted Charlie.

"I sort of accidentally hypnotized her, then kind of suggested to her
that she should think of me as her boyfriend." said Allan sheepishly.
And then I also sort of told her to feel very sexy and maybe a little
horny for me.  I still can't believe just how receptive a subject she
is."

"I _can_ imagine." smiled Charlie, relieved that Allan hadn't actually
discovered the secret of whom Shannon really was, not that it really
would have mattered, if _he_ had.  "But what can _I_ do about you,
Allan?"

"You can't leave me like this."

"Why can't I, Allan?" he grinned.  "Haven't you ever wondered how it
would feel to be a mannequin or possibly even a large potted plant
instead of you?"

Charlie could sense Allan's growing fright.  "But you don't have to
worry about that.  I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to
leave you frozen as you are now."  Charlie shook his head, wondering
how people like Tark Winston could even live with themselves after
threatening someone.  He didn't much care for the way that just
acting the part of a bully made him feel.  "But I just can't let you
and Shannon go off somewhere alone together.  _You_ might have a lot
of fun fucking Shannon silly all night long, but I can almost
guarantee you that _he_ won't be very appreciative at being used like
that when _he_ wakes up as _him_self in the morning."

"_He_?  _Him_?" questioned Allan, at the same time pondering Charlie's
sanity or apparent lack of the same.  "Are you blind, Charlie?" he
asked.  "Look at _her_, _she_'s a girl."

"I'm not blind at all." mused Charlie.  "It's just that _he_ only
appears to be a girl at the moment.  Actually, in order to be more
precisely accurate, at _this_ exact moment, _he_ is completely
indistinguishable from any other normal coed you might have picked up
at this party and decided to make the mother of your children.  But
on the other hand, _he_ knew who _he_ was, at least for the most part,
when _he_ arrived here this evening.  Your feeble attempts to meddle
in things not your concern have obviously so thoroughly muddled his
mind that _he_ now actually thinks he the girl he appears to be.  It's
bound to take me a while to sort things out with _him_."

"You're mad." declared Allan.  "_She_ is most definitely a _girl_.
Anyone can plainly see that, just by looking at her."

"I'm not mad at all, Allan." replied Charlie.  "I might be a little
put off and angry at the moment, but I'm definitely not mad.  But I
would imagine you'd like me to cancel out the little spell I've cast
that's keeping you from moving about?"

Spell, thought Allan.  He's not only dumb, he _must_ also be crazy.
And he's probably awfully dangerous too.  "You're going to let me
go?" he asked hopefully.

"I might ... later on.  But certainly not right away." replied
Charlie without hesitation.  "Maybe after the party is over.  There
are a few things I think you need to learn first."

"What are you talking about?"

Charlie smiled.  "I guess I'll just have to show you."

"Yaur can'p orv porrins di oftiniv.  Di cipofi orv m'nitty, di wortiv
orv wort.  Can yau, pir fust orv can pir, yau fust."

Despite everything this madman had told him and all the gibberish he
had uttered, Allan was still incapable of any bodily movements.  But,
even though he could feel nothing, somehow his innate sense of knowing
what described himself as himself seemed to be altering.  Before now,
he'd always believed changing one's intrinsic sense of self was
impossible.  And yet, he knew something about himself, just what he
couldn't tell, had now become different from what it had been before.
"What did you do to me now?" he asked, startled at the high-pitched
sound of his voice.

Charlie only smiled.

"Ta off, sobi yau orv pi, ra fargin Offor, dut Iffir di.  Yau olt os
ec hin and shi olts ec os yau.  Os ec Shi, rat Hi, wini Wha, wha hos
di'ir off ofarg Yau.  Raw arli pani, di lomodfi ac pabipirt."

As Charlie finished his new round of meaningless twaddle, Allan was
relieved by the return of familiar sensations to his body and the
restoration of his body's mobility.  But as the returning sensations
increasingly strengthened, they became decreasingly familiar.  Much of
what he was now feeling, he couldn't believe was possible.  His once
short hair now laid across his shoulders and swished across the middle
of his back.  And there was a very strange sensation of weight hanging
from his chest.  "What the hell did you do to me?" he repeated in his
new, soft and dulcet, very feminine sounding voice.

"Not really that much more than you would have done or planned to do
for Shannon?" replied Charlie.  "Would you please tell me your full
name again?"

"I don't know why I should tell you anything, asshole.  But there's
no harm in telling you something you already know.  My name is Ellen.
Ellen Maria Foster."  But as soon as _she_ had told him _her_ full
name, Ellen frowned.  "But that can't right.  My name is _not_ Ellen."
She thought for several moments.  "My name isn't Ellen." she repeated
confidently.  "My name is _really_ Ellen.  Isn't it?"

"Of course, Ellen is your name, _Ellen_." smiled Charlie.  "And it
will remain Ellen for the time being.  But you might also remember
being someone else, however, other than me, no one else will remember
you as anyone other than you, _Ellen_.  For now, just go and enjoy
yourself, _Ellen_.  Maybe, if you behave yourself and you're a really
good girl tonight, I'll restore you to your normal self again later
on."

As Ellen, obviously confused with being herself, slowly shook her
head, Charlie saw another friend of his from the host fraternity,
Thomas Mason, approaching from behind Ellen.  "Ellen Foster?"
exclaimed Thomas in surprise.  "I haven't seen you in years.  Can
that possibly be you?" he asked.

As Ellen looked up, Charlie thought she also looked and acted a little
surprised, before her new self assumed complete control.  "Yes, Tommy
Mason, it's really me."  She began smiling at him.  "Who did you think
I was?"  Charlie could barely suppress his grin as the new girl's
smiling gaze at Tom turned suddenly into a lustful leer.  "What do you
say to the two of us finding a vacant room, Tommy?"

"You mean, right now?" asked Thomas.

"Of course, I mean right now, silly." replied Ellen.  "Why should we
wait until later?"

"I really can't think of any reason why we should wait." smiled Thomas
giddily, unable to conceal his new good fortune.  When they were
younger, Thomas had always liked Ellen, but he'd never been able to
overcome his shyness to tell her how he felt.  And now, like a dream
come true, she wanted him.

Ellen quickly took his hand, then, even more swiftly, led Thomas away
in the general direction of the fraternity's guest bedrooms.

Charlie smiled mischievously as he watched them scurry across the
room.  "It certainly looks like the very pretty and overly eager
little Ellen will soon be on the receiving end of whatever that horny
little bastard Allan had intended on giving Shannon."

As he turned back to Shannon, he frowned.  "Now, how do I go about
fixing up the damage _she_ did to you?  However, short of cancelling
out all the effects from every spell that has been cast on you, which
would simply return you to your old Steve form again, what else _can_
I do about you?"

Part 7

Charlie continued staring at the entranced Shannon, even as he kept
thinking about how he should proceed.  But whatever he would be doing
was dependent on just how much damage Ellen had actually done to
Shannon while she'd still been Allan.  Not wanting to cancel out all
the spells and transform Shannon back into Steve, Charlie decided to
try making some selective small changes to find out what would happen.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Shannon?"

"Of course I do, Charlie."

"What's your boyfriend's name?"

"Allan Mitchell Foster."

Not anymore, thought Charlie.  I guess losing a boyfriend is as good
a place as any to make that first small change and watch what happens
from there.  "Shannon.  Allan Foster is not your boyfriend."  As he
watched, Shannon's eyes inexplicably filled with tears.  I don't think
that should be happening, thought Charlie.  But he could tell she -
Shannon certainly appeared much more feminine now - seemed far sadder
now than she should.  "Is there something wrong, Shannon?"

"I don't have a boyfriend anymore, Charlie." she pouted.  "And a
pretty girl like me _must_ have a boyfriend.  But _I_ don't have one
now.  And that makes me very sad."

Damn it, swore Charlie to himself.  Whatever that dumbshit Allan had
done to Shannon had really messed up her mind good.  I guess the best
course of action for me now is just canceling out all the spells and
their effects on her.  But that would, however, turn her back into
Steve.

But before Charlie could take any new action on his decision, Tark
Winston with his date Mona Lewis stopped to talk to him.  Talking with
Tark would never be high on his list of favorite activities, but, on
the other hand, whenever Tark wanted to talk with someone, then that
someone generally had little choice other than talking with Tark, or
risk an extended period of hospitalization.  Mona Lewis, as she
normally did, looked beautiful, but Charlie was surprised to see the
frightened expression on her face as she clutched tightly to Tark's
arm.

"I haven't seen your buddy Tompkins around at all this evening,
Morton." grinned Tark.  "But I'm not really surprised.  I was fairly
certain he was a lot smarter than he looked.  But then, no one could
really be that dumb"  As Tark cracked his knuckles, Mona cringed.
"When you see him, you can tell him I really missed him tonight."

"Sure thing, Tark." replied Charlie, wondering how someone as nice as
Mona Lewis had ever managed to get messed up with a musclebound dimwit
like Tark Winston.

And even though Steve had earlier denied having any real interest in
her, Charlie thought he knew his friend better than that.  If the
truth could be told, Steve was, and had been for a long time, more
than just a little bit interested in Mona Lewis.  But with the _huge_
Tark in the picture, he also knew that Steve would never be capable
of expressing his true feelings for her.  And even if Tark and Mona
were now having all the problems everyone was talking about, Steve
wasn't about to cross Tark, not that _anyone_ else would ever cross
him either.  But even Charlie noticed Mona's nearly continuous
fearful expression this evening.

"That's a good looking bitch you got there, Morton." said Tark, eyeing
Shannon up and down.  "I really didn't think you had it in you to
score with someone so attractive." he sneered, before leading Mona
away.

That pretty much settles that, thought Charlie.  I just can't change
Shannon back into Steve now.  I'd never get him out the door before
Tark saw him.  And once Tark saw him, Steve would soon after become,
but hopefully only temporarily, a quadraplegic.  That is totally
unacceptable.  There is no way I can allow Steve, once I retransformed
him back from Shannon, to take the horrible beating Tark would
certainly inflict on him.  And it would be all my fault, since he
didn't really want to come to this party in the first place.

There just has to be something else I can do, Charlie decided.  But
what can I do?  It's really a shame Shannon won't be able to have all
the fun and excitement Allan had intended for her.  Steve might still
deny it, but I know he really needs to unwind.

Suddenly, Charlie smiled.  "But, even if _he_ continues to deny what
_he_ needs, why should that stop _her_ from having all that fun." he
mumbled, having just had a fantastic inspirational thought.  Charlie
looked at Shannon.  He hoped his friend would eventually understand
his rationale behind what he was about to do to _her_.  "Shannon." he
addressed her.  "You want me to be your new boyfriend now.  Don't
you?"

Shannon smiled broadly.  "Oh yes, Charlie." she answered.

And now for the acid test, thought Charlie.  "Tell me the name of
your boyfriend."

"Charles Everett Morton." replied Shannon, neither sad nor pouting.

Charlie sighed.  He knew this wasn't the best solution for his friend,
but it certainly was a far better solution than letting Steve get the
crap kicked out of him.  And it would be a lot less painful.

And with Shannon thinking of him as her boyfriend now, he'd be able to
stay closer to her, which would also enable him to protect her from
any new unwanted advances from any other guys on the prowl.  Charlie
definitely didn't want anyone else repeating Allan's accidental
performance.  Hell, thought Charlie, I might even get that goodnight
kiss from _her_ tonight ... before I change her back into Steve, that
is.

"Wake up, Shannon."

Shannon's eyes popped open.  As soon as she saw Charlie, she smiled,
then cuddled up closely to him, before ardently kissing him, just as
she had Allan before.

As their kiss and embrace broke, Charlie sighed, his knees wobbly.
"All things considered, this might just work out alright after all.
I guess I should be thankful that this mess has worked out a lot
better than I ever thought it would."

But the night was yet young.

* * * * *

"All right, girls and boys, gals and guys, sluts and studs." hollered
the unknown frat pledge from the makeshift stage.  "It's now time for
_our_ monthly wet T-shirt contest.   "Do we have any volunteers,
ladies?" he hollered.  "For everyone of you who enters, we have the
appropriate change of 'wet T-shirt clothes' for you to slip your
beautiful bods into."

"Can I enter, Charlie?" asked Shannon with big pleading doe eyes.
"Please, Charlie.  It looks like a lot of fun.  And I really want to
have a lot of fun tonight.  Please Charlie."

"Of course, Shannon.  If you really want to enter, then just go ahead
and enter." replied Charlie.  "But you really don't need to ask for my
permission to enter the contest."

"Oh, thank you, Charlie." she happily cooed, then gave him a quick
little peck on the check.  "I hope you enjoy watching me in my wet
T-shirt." she said as she bounced off towards the stage, while, at the
same time, wondering why she had never entered one of these really
fun-sounding contests before now.

Charlie was happy that Shannon was finally beginning to loosen up and
have some fun.  But, on the other hand, he was a little worried what
Steve would think of her uninhibited actions once she became him
again.

The crowd roared its approval as Shannon stepped onto the stage.

And then they roared again with the surprise arrival of another new
entrant - Ellen Foster, who approached the stage with an entourage of
at least a dozen rowdy guys following closely on her heels.

"It looks like she's been a very _busy_ little girl tonight." mused
Charlie.  "You'd almost think she was born to be female."

Charlie looked off in the direction Mona and Tark had gone.  While
Mona appeared to be near tears, Tark was all smiles.  But, watching
every other girl in sight, while being totally oblivious to the girl
he was with, was typical of Tark.  _Why_ do some girls continually put
up with shit like that?  It would come as no surprise to Charlie if
Mona had wanted to enter the contest, only to have Tark tell her no
in his typical manner.

Along with a dozen or so girls that had also entered the contest,
Charlie watched both Shannon and Ellen prance off to wherever they
were going to change clothes.  But as Shannon disappeared, he saw
Tark Winston, virtually dragging Mona Lewis along, once again making
their way over towards him.

Not again, groaned Charlie.  What did I ever do to deserve this?

Surprisingly, Tark spoke almost civilly to Charlie.  "I am surprised
you'd let that pretty girl of yours enter a contest like this one,
Morton."

Oh-oh, thought Charlie, I've got to be careful, since he must be up
to something.  "She thought it would be fun and wanted to enter.
There's nothing wrong with that."

"Mona wanted to enter, but I told her 'no fucking way.'" replied Tark.
"I was not about to let her enter any contest that would have her
showing herself off to this bunch of drooling assholes.  What Mona's
got, only _I_ get to see."

"It's only a harmless little contest, Tark." said Charlie.  "And it's
all just for the fun of it.  Shannon likes having fun.  And if she's
having fun, then I'm also having fun.  There is no way I'd try
stopping her from entering this contest or having a little harmless
fun."

"You're both a fool and an idiot." snarled Tark.  He roughly grabbed
Mona's arm.  "Mona here, would never want to enter any contest like
that _once_ I told her _no_.  Would you, Mona?"

"Oh no, Tark." she replied quickly.  "I could never do that to _you_,
Tark." she added, sounding both nervous and frightened.

"See.  What did I tell you, Morton?" he grinned like the cat who had
just swallowed the canary.

Charlie was shocked, although he quickly realized he shouldn't be.  He
had known how Tark intimidated other guys before, but he'd never once
dreamed he would terrorize the girls he dated the same way.  And,
after seeing what had just happened between him and Mona, Charlie had
little doubt Tark had actually intimidated Mona to get his way just
as he always intimidated anyone, and obviously everyone, to get what
he wanted.

Clearly, Mona was definitely frightened of Tark, which made Charlie
wonder what kind of threat Tark had been made against her.

Charlie was glad when girls returned from wherever they'd gone to
change.  With their reappearance, he wouldn't have to continue his
unwanted conversation with Tark.  Charlie slowly wandered away from
them in order to get a much better view of all the girls wearing
their newly donned T-shirts and bikini bottoms.

Shannon waved when she spotted Charlie.

Charlie smiled and waved back.  He was amazed at how well Shannon
filled out her still dry T-shirt.  Not only that, but Charlie was
equally astounded how well Ellen Foster filled out hers.  The two of
them were receiving the lion's share of the attention from the guys
in the crowd.  And as soon as all of the contestants had been
thoroughly doused with water, Shannon and Ellen started receiving
even more attention.

Charlie, hoping Shannon wouldn't notice his wandering eyes, stared
back and forth between her and Ellen.  The water had caused their
T-shirts to cling tightly to their bodies.  And from under the cotton
material their erect nipples poked out sensuously.

Charlie was very pleased with himself.  "I must be one hell of a
novice magician to be able to take two guys and magically mold them
into two such gorgeous and delightfully sensual beauties with almost
no practice whatsoever." he mumbled.

And then suddenly, he had a new thought that made him smile.  "Just
wait until I get in some real quality practice time and get good at
transforming guys into girls." he mused, imagining some new fantasy
girls he'd really like to meet, then get to know better.

However, there was a problem brewing.

And it was a _huge_ one.

But the problem also had a name.

It called itself, Tark Winston.

Part 8

Tark Winston was staring directly at Shannon.

And Charlie didn't exactly care for the lustful look he saw rapidly
growing in Tark's eyes.  Unfortunately, it was a look he'd seen from
Tark before.  It generally meant trouble with a capital 'T.'

With Shannon still on the stage with the rest of the girls in the
contest and clad only in her wet T-shirt and skimpy bikini bottom,
Tark once again walked over to stand next to Charlie.  Only this
time, he'd physically dragged an unwilling Mona along with him.

Not again, thought Charlie.

"That good looking broad you brought with you has nice looking legs
and a really great looking body, Morton."

"Thanks, Tark." replied Charlie, not for one moment thinking it was
actually a compliment.  But he began worrying about what other kinds
of thoughts might now be running rampant throughout Tark's very small
mind.

Charlie saw Mona shake her head, but she abruptly stopped after Tark
turned towards her and gave her a strange look.

"I want her body, Morton." said Tark.

"What?"

For several moments, Mona looked nervous again, but her look turned
suddenly to one of fear.  And then finally, she appeared to become,
quite oddly, very calm and quite relieved.

"I said I want her body, Morton." replied Tark.  "Is there something
wrong with those big ears of yours?"

"No, my ears are just fine.  But Shannon came with me to this party
tonight and she expects me to take her home.  If she wanted to go
home with you, then she would have come with you."

Mona gasped, not believing what she'd heard Charlie tell Tark.

Tark glared at Charlie.  "Maybe you didn't understand what I just told
you, Morton.  I want her.  And what _I_ want, _I_ always get."  He
grinned ferally.  "I'll give you Mona in exchange for her.  I know
it's not much, but you are not going to get a better offer from anyone
else.  And I'd really hate to see you have an accident tonight that
would put you in hospital for at least the next three, possibly even
as much as four, years."  He grinned again.  "But on the other hand,
I really won't mind making an example of you either."

"Another threat?  How typical of you Tark." replied Charlie with more
bluster than bravado.  "Just like the one you made against Steve, when
you told him what would happen to him if he came to this party
tonight."

Mona gasped again.

"Shut up, bitch." Tark snapped at her.  Turning back to Charlie, he
said, "I didn't make any threats - I just made him a promise.  You
know, Morton, it's just too bad for him that he couldn't have waited
to put the moves on Mona until tomorrow.  I would have been finished
with _her_ then, he could have had her, and anything he wanted to with
her would have been okay with me."

"You threatened Steve?"  Mona sounded concerned.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up, bitch." snarled Tark.  "I'm talking to
Morton, not you."  He turned his attention back to Charlie.  "What's
her name, Morton?"

"What's whose name?"

"_My_ new girlfriend, stupid."

Charlie really wanted to stand up to Tark, but he knew that standing
up to Tark was the functional equivalent to suicide.  And he was also
so scared at the moment, he wasn't capable of thinking straight.
Knowing he wouldn't stand much chance in a fight with Tark, he
desperately needed to find some way out of this confrontation before
he wound up getting seriously hurt.  Ashamed of himself, even as he
spoke, he told Tark, "Her name's Shannon.  Shannon Tompkins."

"Any relation to that _other_ wimp named Tompkins?" he asked.  "I
sure do hope so."

His knees still visibly shaking, Charlie knew he couldn't tell Tark
that Shannon _was_ actually Steve transformed.  "I don't really know,
Tark.  I've never asked her about it.  And she's never volunteered
any info either."

Tark smiled, then grabbed Mona.  "Morton, this is Mona.  I don't
remember her last name at the moment, but I'm sure she can tell you
what it is.  She's _your_ girlfriend now ... that is, if you can hang
on to her once your wussy buddy Tompkins finds out she's available."
Tark began to laugh.  "You two go and have some fun.  I'm gonna go
back and watch _my_ girlfriend in the wet 'T' contest.  I really think
she's going to win."  His laughter became a bellow, as he strutted
off in the direction from which he'd come.

"I'm really glad you're still alright, Charlie." said Mona with much
relief.  "I was awfully afraid you'd pushed him to far.  Tark doesn't
like people disagreeing with him or standing up to him.  That big
stupid lummox could have really hurt you badly.  He's nothing more
than a feeble-minded bully who will always be just a feeble-minded
bully.  I really wish that there were something in this whole wide
world that could be used to change him into a decent human being."

_Change_him_, thought Charlie, as the words Mona spoke struck home.
_I_ could have changed him, if only I hadn't been so scared.  What
remained of his fear of Tark was swiftly replaced with anger.  Charlie
knew if he'd just been thinking more clearly, then he could have _and_
would have done something to permanently _change_ Tark.  He mumbled,
"I should have changed that big dumb ape into a little plaid monkey
with a fetish for unripe bananas with pink polka dots."

Having overheard him, Mona smiled.  "That would have been a major
improvement in him, that's for sure.  It's just too bad, you really
couldn't do that to him for real." she said, sounding disappointed.
"But I really am sorry about your girlfriend Shannon being stuck with
that insensitive asshole, while you have to be stuck with me."  But
she managed a smile at the thought of no longer having to be Tark's
girl.  "But I am really glad I won't have to put up with any more of
his foolish macho crap anymore."  And then, her wistful look suddenly
turned into one of great concern.  "Did Tark really threaten Steve
Tompkins like you said?" she asked anxiously.

"Yeah.  Tark told him he'd break both his legs, both of his arms,
_and_ then get around to hurting him."

"He didn't." replied Mona, but she knew deep down he probably had.

"He certainly did." countered Charlie.  "And Steve was really scared.
I gave him a hard time about not coming to the party, but I just
didn't realize how really scared he was, until just a few minutes
ago."

"I didn't think he threatened other guys." said Mona.  "I only thought
he did that to the girls he dated as a way of preventing them from
leaving him or to keep them in line." she said, then in a voice barely
above a whisper added, "_And_ to get those kinds of things from us,
we would neither want to give him nor even seriously consider think
of giving him otherwise."

"Apparently, he threatens everyone.  If he doesn't get what he wants,
he threatens people." replied Charlie.  "Only once in a great while
does he actually have to follow through on one of his threats really
hurt someone.  Most of the time, just the threat itself from him is
more than enough to get what he wants from anyone."

"I didn't know." sobbed Mona.  "Otherwise, I would have never done
what I did."

"What did you do?" asked Charlie curiously.

"I told Tark that Steve had asked me out."

"You didn't." exclaimed Charlie.  "I mean, he probably would have
asked you out a long time ago, if you hadn't been seeing Tark.  I
really kind of think Steve likes you."

"You do?  I wish I'd known." she smiled.  "He seems like a really
guy, nothing like that moron Tark.  Sometimes I wish I'd met Steve
first and never met Tark at all.  But you've just gotta believe me,
Charlie.  I didn't know Tark would threaten him physically like he
did."

"I believe you, Mona." said Charlie.  "I didn't know before a little
earlier this evening, when I saw the two of you together, that Tark
would actually threaten girls to get his way with them.  It's one
thing for a guy to threaten another guy, but it's quite another matter
for a guy to threaten a girl.  But I doubt we have the time to worry
about that right now.  Tell me, Mona.  Are you happy not being Tark's
girlfriend anymore?"

"Happy?" asked Mona incredulously.  "I'm truly ecstatic.  I've never
been happier about anything in my whole life."

"Then I'd guess you would never want to return to being his girlfriend
again.  Would you?"

"No fucking way." she frowned.  "But I really do wish there were
someway that your girlfriend wouldn't have to be stuck with him."

"There just might be a way." replied Charlie.  "I wonder if Tark is
going to like what I have in mind."  As he saw Shannon on the stage
for the final round of judging, he cast his next spell.

"Shorrar, di raw wethaut cion orv urcoziv dy whotibin Tonk vais an
soys."

Wondering where the sudden chill had come, Shannon shivered slightly.

Mona gave Charlie a puzzled look.

"You won't have to worry about her at all, Mona." said Charlie.  "I
suspect Shannon will be more than able of taking care of herself.  She
won't be stuck with Tark for all that long."  Charlie smiled as he
thought about what was likely to occur.  "Actually Mona, I won't be
all that surprised if Tark is totally pissed off after he attempts to
take _possession_ of Shannon.  And it also won't be much of a surprise
to me, if Tark decides he must have another serious little chat with
me."

"But Charlie.  If he's going to be that mad at you, then you don't
want him _talking_ to you or even coming anywhere near you." she said
with mounting concern.

"Oh, yes I do, Mona." replied Charlie confidently.  "I'm actually
looking forward to our upcoming confrontation.  This one is going to
wind up a whole lot differently than our earlier one ended."

Part 9

Meanwhile, with all the contestants still up on the makeshift stage
vying for audience support and approval, the judges were busily
talking among themselves as they tried to decide on the final winner
and the two runners-ups of the wet T-shirt contest.  The crowd was
abuzz with excitement, while, at the same time, wondering what could
be delaying the announcement from the judges about the final winner,
who most believed to be an obvious choice.

Even Tark was all smiles, absolutely certain that his new girlfriend
Shannon would undoubtedly be the announced winner.  How can she lose,
he wondered.  I've gone over and talked with each of the judges
suggesting to all of them that it would be in their very best
interests, if Shannon were declared the winner.

Then the second runner-up was finally announced.  It was Lydia
Estebanez, the winner of this contest in each of the previous four
months.

Everyone cheered, as Lydia waved to the crowd.

The crowd hushed to allow the judges to announce the first runner-up.

And everyone, with the notable exception of Tark, applauded and
cheered their selection.  "None of them jerks must have listened too
good to what I told them." he mumbled.  "When I told them I thought
Shannon should be the _winner_, I didn't mean she should be the first
runner-up.  I'll make sure they'll all be sorry they didn't listen to
me better."

And finally the judges announced the winner.

Ellen Foster.

And the entire crowd in the fraternity house roared their approval
and went absolutely wild.  Very clearly, Ellen had become a huge crowd
favorite.  But in the spirit of friendly competition, all of the girls
on the stage, each and every one smiling and having had lots of fun,
hugged and congratulated Ellen.

A nice looking bitch, thought Tark, as he watched Ellen on accept her
small trophy.  I'll have to keep close tabs on her, so I can let her
have the honor and privilege of being my next girlfriend after I get
tired of Shannon.

Unimpeded by anyone, Tark quickly made his way onto the stage.  My
girl Shannon might not have won _this_ contest, he thought, but I'm
certain she'll love her consolation prize she'd won -- namely me.
Tark had no doubts that he was the best prize any girl could ever
hope to win.

As Tark closed on Shannon from behind, he swiftly slid his large arm
around her waist.  At first, Shannon thought it must be Charlie, but
she rapidly determined otherwise, when she saw the hirsute arm
encircling her waist and knew it couldn't possibly belong to Charlie.
But she had a real good idea whose arm it actually was.

"Tark Winston." exclaimed Shannon extremely irritated.  "Keep your
paws to yourself and take your goddamn fucking arm off from around my
waist, you ignorant clod and poor excuse for a musclebound imitation
baboon."

Mona gasped in shock.

Tark's mouth dropped wide open in surprise.

Charlie began chuckling.

And the entire fraternity house crowd was stunned into complete
silence.  The sound of a pin dropping to the floor would have been
thunderous in comparison to the total, nearly absolute, silence that
had fallen across the occupants of the room.  But the hush wasn't for
_what_ Shannon had said or even that Shannon had said it.  Instead,
the hush was for _whom_ Shannon had dared to say those things.

Tark continued staring at her in surprised disbelief.  No one,
especially his new girlfriend, could speak to him that way and think
they could get away with it.  "Like it or not, babe, you are now _my_
girlfriend.  And I don't allow _my_  bitches to give me any lip."  He
stared daggers at her.

Shannon glanced towards Charlie, who merely shrugged his shoulders, as
if to say "I don't know what he's talking about."  And then she turned
back and glared in Tark's direction, before letting loose with another
verbal blast.  "I want you to listen to me and I want you to listen
to me real good for once, you ignorant bird-brained nincompoop, I am
_not_ now nor will I _ever_ be your fucking girlfriend, you dimwitted
bozo.  Charlie is my boyfriend, _not_ you, you god damn poor excuse
for a low grade moron.  And until _he_ says otherwise and _not_
before, that's the way it's going to be.  Do you understand me, you
shit-headed imbecilic donkey's ass."

Tark, not to mention everyone else in the room, couldn't believe how
Shannon had dared speak to him.  He was enraged beyond mere words.

"He's gonna kill her, Charlie." fretted Mona.

"I told you, you had no reason to worry about Shannon, Mona." replied
Charlie.  "That girl just has _no_ fear of Tark whatsoever."

"But she really should." said Mona.

And as if to echo Mona's apprehensive words, Tark lifted his arm, made
a fist, and then began moving menacing towards Shannon.

To everyone's surprise, Shannon stood her ground.  "So what are you
going to do now, monkey turd breath?  Are you going to hit me?"
snarled Shannon fearlessly.  "Go ahead, Tark, hit me.  I dare you,
field mouse brain.  Go ahead and show everybody here what a mean,
nasty, macho piece of pixie dung you really are."

Tark had no idea what to do next.  No one had ever spoken back to him
like that once, let alone three times.  Usually just the idea of being
hit by him brought girls into a line.  But this girl wasn't like any
girl he'd ever known before.

And it didn't help Tark, when the fraternity crowd began murmuring its
disapproval.  No one wanted to believe he'd actually hit her, but,
with Tark Winston being involved, no one could be absolutely certain
that he wouldn't.  But _if_ he did hit her ... well, the consensus of
the crowd make it clear, even to Tark, that they thought it was just
plain wrong.  And everyone in the droning crowd knew that if he tried,
then "they had to prevent it."  Maybe going one-on-one there was no
one in the crowd who was a physical match for Tark, but perhaps if
they went at him as a group, say three-or-four-dozen-on-one, they
might be more than an even match for big Tark.

What is fucking wrong with that bitch, wondered Tark, still uncertain
what how to continue.  In the past, he'd always got his own way by
threatening people.  And he didn't think it was very fair for all of
these people to suddenly decide to gang up on him now.  But then, if
threatening Shannon was what was causing their uncalled for knee-jerk
reaction to gang up on him, then he'd just quite trying to do anything
to _her_ -- directly, that is.

He'd just do Morton instead.  Nobody would interfere with him doing
Morton.  And after he'd sufficiently hurt and maimed _him_, then he'd
allow that weird bitch Shannon a little time to beg him and plead
with him to be his girlfriend in order to save _him_ from having to
suffer even more pain.  That would also show everyone here exactly who
the boss still was.

Tark turned from Shannon, then, after finding him in the crowd, began
walking towards Charlie.

"Run and hide, Charlie." screamed Mona.  "I've seen _that_ look of his
before.  He's really gonna hurt you awfully bad."

But, to everyone's complete surprise, Charlie stood his ground before
the advancing behemoth.

"You should have listened to _your_ bitch, Morton."  Tark stared into
Charlie's eyes, but didn't see any trace of the fear he had expected.
"I want you to tell her that I'm her boyfriend now.  And then I won't
have to hurt you ... at least, too much."

"I don't think so, Tark." replied Charlie calmly.  "No.  I don't
really think I want to do that."

Mona gasped.  "But he's going to hurt you really bad, Charlie."

Charlie smiled back at her and calmly answered, "No, he isn't."

"You really must be even dumber than I thought you were, Morton."
snarled Tark, who felt he had taken just about all the shit he was
going to take from these two whining losers.  "You really should learn
to listen when your bitch tells you something that could be very
important to your well-being and survival, Morton.  Now, if I have to
break every bone in your body once or twice or even a hundred times,
eventually even someone as stupid as you seem to be will have to
realize I'm going to win _and_ you're going to lose."  He smiled
cruelly.  "I want Shannon's body, Morton."

"But Tark." objected Mona.  "You can't ..."

"I told you before to shut up, bitch.  Don't make me tell you again.
This is just between me and Morton.  So what do you say, Morton?  Do
_I_ get Shannon's body?  Or do _I_ start breaking your bones?"

Charlie continued smiling calmly.  "Do you really want her body that
badly, Tark?"

"Of course, I do.  I want her body more than anything I have ever
wanted in my whole life."

"Somehow, I find that a little hard to believe, Tark." replied Charlie
with a small grin.  "But I suppose, if _you_ really want Shannon's
body as badly as you say you do, then maybe I should give it to you."
He smiled cryptically at Tark.

"Smart move for once, Morton."

"Charlie." Mona gasped.  "You don't mean that.  You can't do that to
her."

"Last time, bitch.  Shut up.  It's getting really old having to keep
repeating myself.  Morton just doesn't have any other options and he
knows it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Tark."  Charlie, still mysteriously
all smiles, replied.  Turning to Mona, he added, "And you won't need
to worry about anything, Mona.  Everything will be soon perfectly
alright.  You'll see.

"Fit shi whasi davy yau l'nobi dilapi ari weth yau awr.  Os yau wort
and viseni, yaun davy shoff pavecy erna hin twer.  Os shi vi gondiv,
sa ofsa shoff yau di."

The crowd fell silent again.

There was no one present who could believe either what they'd just
thought they'd witnessed or what they very impossibly continued to
observe.

Part 10

"Did you see what I just saw?" asked a voice in the crowd.

"I don't know what you saw.  But are you still seeing what I'm still
seeing?" asked another.

"Who knows." answered still another.  "What I just thought I saw I
couldn't have really seen, because it must be impossible."

And no one in the assembled fraternity party crowd believed what
they had apparently just witnessed or the incredible thing they
continued witnessing, because, quite frankly, everyone believed, as
the one of them had already stated, that what had happened was
totally impossible.

But if it were not possible, how could anyone explain how that very
pretty girl, an exact twin - right down to the last drop of water
dripping off her wet T-shirt - of Shannon Tompkins that Tark had been
alternately threatening and trying to claim as his own girlfriend,
could be standing in the exact same spot where Tark Winston had just
been standing only a few moments earlier.

However, even with no one believing what they were seeing, there were
not many people willing to talk about Tark's apparent disappearance.
Many of them thought talking about Tark might cause him to return.
And when given a choice between this _new_ girl, who was quite a
looker, and the _old_ Tark, who nobody was going to miss anyway, Tark
wouldn't finish in the top ten.  Besides, everyone quickly agreed that
having the new girl around would be a marked improvement over having
Tark staying around any longer.

"What did you do to me?" asked Tark, who now looked up at Charlie.

"I gave you what you said you wanted."

Absently Tark felt _his_ new female breasts.  Not only their very
presence on his chest, but also their remarkably enhanced sensitivity
to his simple touch, disturbed him greatly.  He shivered with
pleasure simply from touching one of his erect nipples as it pushing
out the cotton of the still damp and clinging T-shirt he was now
wearing.  "I said I wanted her body." complained Tark.  "You knew what
I meant.  I never said I wanted to be a bitch."

"Of course you did, Tark." replied Charlie.  "As you yourself just
told me, _you_ wanted Shannon's body.  And _you_ really seemed to want
it so badly, that I decided _you_ should have a body of your very own
exactly like hers."  Charlie smiled.  "Although yours is an exact copy
of Shannon's body, _you_ essentially have Shannon's body just as _you_
wanted.  For all intents and purposes, _you_ and Shannon _could_ be
identical twin _sisters_ now."

Ellen Foster wandered over, followed closely by her growing entourage.
"You'll just love being a girl after a while, Tark."  She winked at
Charlie.  "And I'm sure you'll also find out soon that being a girl
can be a lot of fun."  Ellen ran her hands lightly across her own
breasts and sighed.  "I know I just love being a girl now."

"That's really easy for you say, bitch." grumbled Tark.  "You've
always been a bitch.  You don't have any idea what it means to be a
guy who's been changed into a slut and lost everything he valued."

Ellen smiled curiously at Tark.  "I wouldn't say that."  She winked
at Charlie again.  "But you should think of your change as a gain and
not a loss."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" grumbled Tark.

"None of your business, _Miss_ Winston." she answered, sounding a
little upset.  "But I'm sure you'll find out."

"Is there something wrong, Ellen?" asked Charlie.

"No.  I'm fine." she replied.  "I'm actually feeling really wonderful,
as a matter of fact."

"Why don't I believe you?" asked Charlie.  "But, judging from all your
new friends, it looks like you've been a really good girl tonight.
And it's fairly apparent that you've gained some valuable new insights
you didn't have before."  Charlie smiled at Ellen.  "So, as I told you
earlier, if you are now ready, then I'll change you back."

"Don't you dare." objected Ellen strenuously.

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie, surprised by her answer.  "Don't
you want to be restored to Allan again?"

"Are you kidding?" smiled Ellen mischievously.  "Have you any idea
just how many months it would have taken Allan to get _lucky_ enough
to find the same number of girls willing to be screwed by him just to
to equal the number of guys who have screwed me _tonight_ alone.  I
wouldn't begin to guess.  _And_ I'm not even finished for the evening
yet.  I don't ever want to be transformed back into Allan again.  I
really wish there were some way I could just forget about having been
Allan all together and just enjoy being me, Ellen Maria Foster,
forever and ever."

Charlie was fascinated that Ellen wanted to remain Ellen, but, as
surprising and unexpected as her decision had been to him, it was
still her life to live as she desired.  If Ellen wanted to remain
Ellen, then it was within her rights to remain Ellen.  Since Charlie
had been the one who had initially changed Allan into Ellen, who now
wanted to remain Ellen forever and never become Allan again, and he
had in no way exerted any influence over Ellen into abandoning Allan
in favor of remaining Ellen forever, maybe he should help her become
who she had wished to become.

"Ribin Offor orv ferginergs ac Hi yau ribin wini digari.  Tavoy, yau
oni arfy Iffir.  Er voys raw most orv er voys yit ta lapi, yau wini
arfy Iffir orv yau weff di arfy Iffir.  Ra pani thaughts ac Offor
Castin.  Arfy thaughts ofwoys orv canibin ac Iffir Castin."

As Charlie finished, Ellen shook her head slowly back and forth.  Her
mind and thoughts of herself were wildly spinning out of control.  She
sighed with relief, as her mind refocused and her thoughts of herself
became clear once more.

"Is there something wrong, Ellen?"

"No, Charlie.  There's nothing wrong.  I'm just fine." she replied
hesitantly.  She stretched her arms over her head.  "In fact, all of
a sudden, I've never felt better in my entire life."

Tommy Mason snuck up on her from behind again.  He slid his arms
around her waist, then began nibbling gently on her neck.  "Are you
ready, sweetheart?" he asked her.

"Any time at all for you, lover." she replied.  But with a sudden
puzzled expression she turned to face Charlie again.  "I have this
strangest of feelings that I should be thanking you for something,
Charlie.  But I have absolutely no idea why or for what.  Can you
think of anything I should be thanking you for?"

"No, not really, Ellen." smiled Charlie.  "I can't think of anything
at all.  Unless, possibly, it might be for introducing you to my good
friend Thomas Mason."

Ellen smiled back at him.  "That must be it.  Thank you for
introducing me to _my_ Tommy, Charlie."

"Yeah, thanks, Charlie." chimed in Tommy.  "I owe you big time for
introducing us."

And without saying another word, Ellen and Tommy kissed, then wandered
off arm-in-arm into the frat party crowd and quickly disappeared.

Tark cleared his throat.  "Hey, asshole." he muttered.  "I don't like
being ignored."

Part 11

Thinking he hadn't been heard, Tark cleared his throat again.  "Excuse
me, asshole." he snarled again.  "But if you've finished playing
matchmaker between that odd little bitch and that stupid wimp, can you
change _me_ back into the real me?"

"No." replied Charlie simply.

"What the fuck do you mean 'no?'"  Making a fist, Tark raised one of
his hands in Charlie's direction.  "You'll either change _me_ back
into me right now or I'll pound the crap out of you, Morton."

"I really doubt that you'd be able to pound the crap out of a wet
paper bag filled with shit, Tark." replied Charlie with a wide grin.
Your _new_ and improved body is no where near as strong as your _old_
body used to be.  But, I suppose, we really should do something about
getting all that pent up anger of yours under better control.  It's
not very healthy for you to be so angry all the time.

"Er m'foli ac off orgin, fit sixuor ungis cuffy d'fassap."

Tark slowly lowered his arm.  As he continued staring angrily at
Charlie, he, quite suddenly and inexplicably, no longer found himself
feeling so very angry anymore.  After walking slowly over to where
Charlie stood to plead and beg to be changed back into his real self
again, Tark inexplicably and overenthusiastically kissed him squarely
on the lips.

"What the hell was I just doing?" Tark asked in surprise, as he
quickly pulled himself away from Charlie after realizing how he had
been conducting himself with _Morton_ of all people.

"That's exactly what _I_ want to know." exclaimed Shannon.  "Why were
_you_ kissing _my_ boyfriend?"

"But I didn't want to kiss _him_.  He's a guy." Tark tried explaining.
"And I don't know why I kissed him or what came over me to make me
kiss him."  Tark wanted to lash out and break a couple of Charlie's
bones, but instead of getting angry at him, he found himself becoming
sexually aroused again.  Tark still didn't know why, but he really
wanted to kiss Morton again.

"Why don't I believe you?  I can see the pent up lust in your eyes
when you look at _my_ Charlie." snarled Shannon.  "And how come you
look so much like me?"

Tark pointed a finger at Charlie.  "He did it to me.  I don't know how
he did it or even what he did, but I know he somehow changed me into
your identical twin sister."

"I don't have a twin sister.  And you shouldn't go blaming Charlie for
your obvious shortcomings." replied Shannon.  "But if you really want
to fight for him, then I'm ready to win.  Are you ready to lose."

"But I don't want to fight _you_ or anyone else like this."

"I can't say I blame you." said Shannon with a smile.  "You might look
a lot like me, but I doubt you'd be able to punch your way out of a
soggy paper bag.  You're a loser.  And you know you're a loser."

"I've had more than enough of this." said Charlie.  "I suppose, once
Tark became your twin, I should have returned enough of your fear to
prevent you from becoming this combative.  But there isn't going to be
any fighting between the two of you, especially over me."  He turned
to Shannon.  "Go to sleep, Shannon."

Shannon's eyes immediately glazed over.

Tark wondered what had happened to her.  Whatever control Morton had
over that crazy bitch, Tark wished he also had it.

Mona, a look of growing panic in her eyes, stared nervously at
Charlie.

And all the while, the rumblings about hurting girls began growing in
the crowd once again.

Shit, thought Charlie, why do all the really weird things happen when
I do something simple.  The crowd didn't even get worked up this badly
when I changed Tark into Shannon's twin.  And that was definitely a
lot more dramatic and drastic change then simply putting Shannon into
a trance.  I guess I'd better do something before the whole crowd
panics uncontrollably and decides to attack _me_.

"Sobi can Tonk orv pi, off shoff therk thot thot whot raw es es
ranpof, er ra woy urusuof."

With Charlie's spell spoken, Mona's panicked expression swiftly faded.

Most of the crowd, now that they thought nothing unusual or worth
noticing was going on around them, returned to milling about and
talking or dancing among themselves.  And the rest waited patiently
for whatever activity was next on the frat party's agenda.

"What did you do to them?" asked a very confused Tark, still wondering
what _had_ happened and why it continued to happen.

"I was just trying to avoid a mass panic and a potential riot."
replied Charlie.  "Except for the two of us, nobody else now notices
anything out of the ordinary around here."

As if to accentuate Charlie's words, Mona smiled, after scrutinizing
the new Tark thoroughly.  "You know something, Tark.  You're a very
pretty girl now.  I really think you'll make some lucky guy a great
girlfriend.  And I'm sure you'll make a much better girlfriend then
_you_ ever made a boyfriend."  She chuckled for a brief moment, before
adding, "How many babies do you plan on having, Tarkie pooh?"  Not
waiting for him to answer, Mona turned back to Charlie.  "You know,
Charlie.  It's too bad I didn't know you could do something like this
to him earlier.  I think it would serve _him_ right if _she_ gets
treated by some stupid macho _guy_ the same way _he_ always treated
girls."

"What are you talking about, Mona?" asked Tark.  "I've always treated
my bitches exactly the way they should be treated."

Mona stared daggers at him, but otherwise said nothing.  However, Tark
was very fortunate that her angry looks couldn't kill.  If they had
been lethal, Tark would have been dead several times over by now.

"Now don't go wandering too far away, Tark." said Charlie.  "Once I
see to Shannon, I'll be getting back to you."

"Screw Shannon." he swore.  "You've already put me behind one bitch.
I won't stand for being put behind another.  "Change _me_ back first."
he said angrily, having to fight both his increasing arousal and his
building desire to kiss Charlie, until, all of a sudden, he moaned as
his body was flooded with waves of intense pleasure.

With a wide smile on his face, Charlie turned back to Tark.  "I'll
tell you what I'll do for you, Tark.  I'll change you _first_, if you
still want to be changed, but it won't be _back_ into the you that you
once were.  Instead, I think I'll change you into a little Chihuahua,
but I'll also let you keep your brand new sex.  Once that's done, I'll
put you into a state of perpetual heat.  You might eventually learn to
enjoy it."  Charlie stared at Tark.  "So what'll it be, Tark.  Should
I change _you_ first?  Or should I see to Shannon's needs first?"

Tark looked totally terrified at the thought.  "Why don't you see to
Shannon first, Charlie." he said, frightened and nearly in tears.  "I
can wait.  Really I can.  I have lots of free time.  I can wait until
you're through with her.  Are you sure that's going to be enough time
to do what you have to do?"

Without saying a word, Charlie turned away from Tark and walked
towards Shannon.  Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Charlie was glad
Tark hadn't decided to call his bluff.  Charlie seriously doubted he
could have followed through and made Tark the horny little Chihuahua
bitch he had threatened to make of him, no matter how much he actually
deserved it.

"Can you hear me, Shannon?"

"Yes, Charlie."

"Listen to me very closely.  Every suggestion that made you act as a
female or made you think you were Shannon Elaine Tompkins will be
completely canceled the next time you come out of this trance state.
Everything will return to the way it was the moment before I told you
your name was Shannon Elaine Tompkins.  When you awaken you will once
again mentally be Steve Tompkins again.  Do you understand?"

"Yes, Charlie."

"In addition to what I've already told you, after you are next
awakened from your trance, the two trigger phrases I have used to put
you to sleep and wake you from your trance state  will no longer have
any effect on you at all.  Do you understand?"

"Yes, Charlie."

"Wake up, Shannon."

Steve, still in the female form Charlie had named Shannon, woke up.
As he looked around, he spotted Charlie standing nearby.  "Where the
hell are we, Charlie?" he asked, not recognizing where he currently
was, but knowing it wasn't their room.  "And why the hell am I still
wearing this girl body?  I thought you were going to change me back."


Part 12

"We're at the frat party, Steve." said Charlie.  "Where did you think
we'd be tonight?"

"The frat party?" Steve replied in disbelief.  "What the hell are we
doing at the frat party, Charlie?  How many times did I tell you I
didn't want to go to the frat party, especially looking like a girl?"
He felt his breasts and frowned.  "And what the hell am I doing
wearing this soggy T-shirt."

"I thought you needed a little fun and relaxation, in spite of all
your protestations to the contrary." replied Charlie.  "And, even
though I kind of compelled you into coming, I still think you've
managed to have your share of fun tonight."  Charlie smiled at his
friend.  "Your T-shirt is wet because _you_ were the first runner-up
in tonight's wet T-shirt contest."

"First runner-up ... wet T-shirt contest?" mumbled Steve.  "What the
hell did you think you were doing?  Are you totally out of your mind?"

"Not necessarily." replied Charlie.  "No, I don't think so." he added.
"You needed to relax and have some quality fun time away from all your
books.  And you were having a lot of fun tonight as Shannon, that was
the name I made you think was yours.  In fact, you'd probably still be
running around having fun as Shannon, except that dumb old jock Tark
Winston started to get a little too hot and bothered by your body.

Steve hurriedly looked around the room.  "Is Tark still here?  I
didn't see him anywhere."  Nervously, Steve quickly scanned the room
again specifically looking for Tark Winston.  "Do you have any idea
what he'll do to me if he finds I'm here?"

"Just relax, Steve." Charlie reassured him.  "You still don't look
anything at all like your real self at the moment.  And besides, right
now, Tark is not really in any shape whatsoever to inflict any great
bodily harm on you, or anyone else for that matter."

"You're talking to Tompkins?  Aren't you, Morton." screamed Tark.
"He's here, isn't he?  Where is that asshole?" he asked starting to
sound angry.

"I don't know about you, Charlie, but something about that voice sure
sounds like he can still hurt me."

Suddenly, Tark moaned.  "Oh my." he whimpered as a series of totally
indescribable sensations bolted through his body, washing away his
anger and leaving behind only sheer pleasure.

"What was that?" asked Steve curiously.

"That was Tark." answered Charlie.  "You know how angry he can get at
the littlest things sometimes.  Well, I finally decided I didn't want
to put up with any of that shit from him, so I cast a spell on him
that just won't allow him get very angry anymore.  Now, when he gets
too angry, his body needs to find some other emotional release.  Under
normal conditions, he gets a little sexually aroused and wants to kiss
the boy nearest him.  But when he gets too angry too quickly or he
tries fighting too long the rechanneling of that emotional release, as
he obviously just did, it kind of spontaneously releases ... real
suddenly, sort of like a dam bursting ... as a ... female orgasm."

"A female orgasm?"

"It really quiets him down for quite a while, Steve." smiled Charlie.
"And, being completely natural, it won't really hurt him.  Actually,
I'm beginning to think he's kind of enjoying them."  He turned towards
Tark.  "Why don't you come join us, Tark?" he asked.

"Are you out of your mind?" asked a suddenly worried Steve.  "What do
you think you're doing now?"

"Just relax, Steve." replied Charlie.  "You really worry way too much
sometimes.  Everything is going to be fine."

Steve wasn't all that certain, as he watched a familiar-looking girl
start over towards them and then stop beside Charlie.  The girl stared
at him and he stared back at her.  He wondered why _she_ had come over
when Charlie had very clearly asked Tark to join them.

"I know the two of you have already met, but you've both been through
quite a few changes in the past few hours."  Charlie looked at both
of them.  "Tark.  This is now Steve Tompkins." he told Tark.  Turning
to Steve, he said, "Steve.  This is now Tark Winston."

"Who are you trying to fool, Morton?" snapped Tark.  "That isn't
Steve Tompkins.  That's really Shannon whats-her-name.  I saw her in
the wet T-shirt contest and decided she should be my new girlfriend.
There is no fucking way I could have been fooled into being all that
hot and bothered for _her_, if she was really that wuss Tompkins."

Steve stared at the girl Charlie had said was Tark Winston.  Her voice
was husky and sounded like Tark's, although _she_ certainly didn't
look anything at all like Tark.  But given the circumstances and _his_
own current appearance, Steve guessed she might actually be Tark.
"But you don't look like Tark.  You look a girl." he told her.  "And
what the hell is it about you that makes you look so damn familar to
me?"

"So _I_ look like a girl.  _You_ look like a girl too, bitch.  What
the hell does looking like a girl prove?" replied Tark.  "And I look
like you because your damn boyfriend there somehow turned me into your
twin sister."

"Boyfriend?" queried a puzzled Steve.  "I don't have a boyfriend.  Why
should I?  I'm not a girl."

"You could have fooled me, bitch." said Tark.  "You've been strutting
your stuff and acting like some really horny, sexy bitch all night."

Steve looked towards Charlie.  "What the fuck did you do to me?  Just
what kind of _fun_ have I been having all night anyway?"

"Hey, lighten up, Charlie.  It wasn't my fault." Charlie said in
defense of himself.  "It was _your_ old friend Allan Foster, who
messed up your mind and made you think you were hot, horny, and
sexy."

Steve glared at his friend.  "What are you talking about now, Charlie?
I don't have a friend named Allan Foster.  In fact, I never known
_anyone_ named Allan Foster."

"Oh.  That's right, I forgot all about that." replied Charlie.  "I
suppose what you say is true ... now - but it hasn't always been.  You
used to have a friend by that name.  You just don't remember him now,
since Allan has now become Ellen."

"You're still babbling incoherently, pal." said Steve.  "You know as
well I do that Ellen Foster has always been a girl.  I should know,
I've gone to school with her since we were in grammar school.  And you
even met _her_ a couple of weeks ago when she came to visit me.  I
can't believe you've forgotten how you flirted shamelessly with her
all night long."

Mona, intrigued by what she was hearing, but not thinking any of it at
all unusual, looked Steve over curiously from head to toe.  "Are you
really Steve Tompkins, Shannon?" she asked.  "I'm sure you must have
been told a million times at least that you don't look anything like
him."

"Yes, Mona." he replied sullenly.  "Regardless of my current looks,
I'm really Steve Tompkins."

Mona smiled at him sweetly.  "You know, Steve, you really make quite
an attractive girl.  But I really think I liked you even better when
you were a handsome young man."

"You did?  You really mean it?" he stammered.  "What about Tark?"

"What about him?" snapped Mona.  "That dumbshit had just tossed _me_
aside for _you_.  He even _gave_ me away to Charlie, and told _him_ I
wasn't worth very much as a girlfriend." she explained.  "So, as of
now and forever, I'm totally free of Tark."  She smiled with relief.
"Steve?" she asked shyly.  "Would you like to be my boyfriend, that
is, if you ever get changed back into a boy again.  I mean _you_
really couldn't be my _boy_friend if you were to continue being a
girl.  Now could you?  But even then, I'm not all that certain whether
or not it's right for me to steal Charlie's _girl_friend just because
I want her to be my _boy_friend."

"Charlie!" hollered Steve.

"No problem, Steve - my soon to be ex-girlfriend.

"Yaun pofi shomi ac dicani di nistaniv.  Summfort thi riw weth thi
af'v orv t'nui.  Yau twa, Stibi orv Paro, yaurg fabins di dilapi."
end charlie spell

"You really are Steve Tompkins." said the amazed Tark after watching
Shannon's incredible transformation back into Steve.  "But you really
should have stayed home like I told you, Tompkins."  He started
getting angry at Steve.  "Why aren't people listening to me any more?"
he asked, not expecting any answers.  His anger kept building, but he
was determined not to give in to that unnatural desire to kiss Morton
again.  Until suddenly, the emotional dam broke, flooding Tark's body
with pleasurable sensations that made him moan with intense and
delightful pleasure again.

While Tark was completely lost in his sensual overload, Steve and
Mona, oblivious to nearly everything happening around them, were
staring deeply into each other's eyes.  They were as lost in their
world, as Tark was in his.

"But Mona." exclaimed Tark.  "You can't leave me for him."

"And why not, dipshit?" she snapped back at him.  "You were ready to
throw me aside for _him_ when he was still a girl.  Steve's more man
than you ever were, _Miss_ Winston.  I hope Charlie leaves you exactly
as you are right now."

"But Mona." whined Tark.

However, Mona never heard him.  And in total despair, Tark watched as
Mona and Steve walked away and disappeared into the milling frat party
crowd.

In total defeat - a horrible new feeling he decided he didn't like
very much - Tark turned back to Charlie.  "What about me, Morton?" he
asked despairingly.

"What about you?"

"Aren't you going to change _me_ back into my true self?" he asked.
"You know, just like you changed that Shannon broad back into Steve
Tompkins."

"I don't know, Tark." replied Charlie.  "Why should I?  You've never
been a very trustworthy or overly nice person."

"But I've changed, Morton.  Really I have." pleaded Tark.  "I've
learned my lesson and mended my ways.  I know it's wrong to threaten
people just to get my own way.  I've been nothing but a mean bully."
he admitted.  "But if you change me back to my normal male self,
Morton, I'll make amends.  I'll never ever threaten anyone ever
again."

Charlie carefully thought about what Tark had said.  "I don't know,
Tark.  I'd like to believe you have changed, Tark, but I just don't
know whether or not I can believe you.  They say that leopards never
change their spots, you know.  I sure wish there were someone here
who could tell me the very best way to deal with you, Tark."

Suddenly, Charlie heard a woman's voice with a slight, odd-sounding
accent from behind him.  "Perhaps, I may be of some small amount of
assistance in the solution of your little problem, Charlie Morton."


Part 13

Quickly turning in the direction from where the voice had come, both
Charlie and Tark saw a very short woman, perhaps all of two and a
half feet tall, provided, of course, she were standing on the current
metropolitan area phonebook.

"Who are you?" asked Tark and Charlie.

"I am one of the Eternal Guardians of Reality, of course." she replied
quite simply.  "My name is Nesfendatwabblesocksentard ... Junior.  And
before you ask, I was named after my father.  But I know that very
long polysyllabic names like mine can be most difficult for mortals
like the two of you to remember, not to mention all the attendant
problems you will have with its correct pronunciation.  So you may
call me Nesfenda while I am here.  But please do _not_, under any
circumstances, ever call me Nessie - I simply _detest_ being called
that appellation.  My cousins and fellow guardians Gus, Joe, and Sam
call me that because they know how much it pisses me off to be
reminded of that little episode, I'd really rather forget.  How was I
to know that a simple little swim in a lake, known as a loch in that
particular reality, just a couple of realities over from this one
would create such an eternal flap."

"Why are you here?" asked Charlie.

"You wished for someone to assist you in deciding what you should do
with Tark Winston." answered the short woman.  "So here I am.  I'm
really sorry about the interference - I really hate to interfere like
this - especially after you've been doing remarkably well so far with
only the standard minimal help, Charlie Morton."

Tark remained speechless.

"What do you mean - interfere?" asked Charlie.  "Is that why only Tark
and I appear to be moving."

"Maybe interfere was not the the correct word.  Your language can be
difficult for us at times." replied Nesfenda.  "While I'm here, only
you two shall perceive the illusion of time passing.  For all others,
our time together will seem to be no more than the time between beats
of your heart.  One of the many responsibilities of we who are the
Eternal Guardians is the correction of little glitches across the
myriads of realities."

"You mean there's more than one reality?" asked Charlie.

"Of course, silly boy.  A single reality could be easily maintained,
but it would rapidly become extremely boring." replied Nesfenda.  "If
there were only one reality to maintain, then we wouldn't need four
Eternal Guardians to watch over them all.  Would we, Charlie Morton?"

"That makes sense, I suppose.  But could you just call me Charlie,
Nesfenda."

"Of course, if that is what you wish." said the diminutive guardian.
"But as I was saying earlier, you've been of great assistance so far,
Charlie."

"_I_ was helping _you_?" asked Charlie in surprise.

"Of course, you were.  The Guardians, unlike most of those loose
cannons throughout the multiverse, always try to work through the
locals of any particular reality, whenever possible.  We appear if
and only if absolutely necessary.  But, as I've already said, you
have been doing magnificently for a novice practitioner, Charlie."

"How could _I_ have been helping you fix some glitch in reality?"

"Who do you think it was that made you go into that bookstore looking
for the Chalker book that won't be out, at least in this reality, for
a couple of months?" she asked.  "Who do you think influenced you to
buy that _book_ you bought?"

"You?" he answered her question with a question.

"Of course, it was me, Charlie." said Nesfenda.  "You'll just have to
take my word on this, but buying that particular book was much better
and far safer for _you_ than if you would have actually gone into that
little magic shop next to the bookstore as you'd originally planned."

"How did you know about that?"

"Really, Charlie.  I am an Eternal Guardian of Reality.  And I do,
although sometimes even I don't really know how I do, manage to keep
up with nearly all the current events from any time, any where, any
when, and any if."

"What would have happened to me if I hadn't bought that book?"  He
glanced over at Tark's female body.

"What about me?" interrupted Tark.  "Would I still be me if _he_
hadn't bought whatever that book was he bought?"

Nesfenda glared back at him.  "Of course, you would have still been
you, my dear." she answered.  But even now, _you_ are still _you_,
since all of us are always who we are and not who others think we
are."  She smiled at the confused expression from each boy.  "By the
way, that's a horrible sounding frog you've got lodged in your throat,
Tark.  I certainly hope Charlie won't mind me fixing it up for you."
For a moment, possibly two, Nesfenda concentrated on Tark.  "There,
that should be all better now, my dear.  Why don't you try it out and
see if you like it."

"What are you ...." began Tark, before stopping and clutching at his
throat.

"Yes, I believe that is much better now.  Don't both of you also think
that's much better now?"  She smiled at both of them.  "Someone who
looks so much like a sexy young girl should sound more like a sexy
young girl and less like some old bullfrog.  Don't you both think
Tark's voice now sounds wonderful?"

"What did you do to me?" asked Tark in his new very soft, very sexy,
and very feminine soprano voice.

"Isn't it obvious, my dear?" smiled Nesfenda.  "I've merely matched
your voice to fit your new form.  In the long run, this will be less
confusing for the people you meet."

Charlie stared at Tark, before turning back to Nesfenda.  "But what
would have happened, if I'd never bought that book?"

Nesfenda smiled again.  "If your question was meant to ask, 'what
would have happened to the grand sum total of this reality?' - then
I'm afraid the answer is a disappointing 'absolutely nothing,'
Charlie."

"What?  Why did you even need my help to do ... 'absolutely nothing'
at all?" asked Charlie.

"When I said the grand sum total to this reality would be 'absolutely
nothing,' Charlie, you must also realize there are a great many
different ways for the _same_ grand sum total of nothing to be
achieved." she explained, or at least tried to explain.

"At the time you bought the book, this reality was ever so slightly
skewed.  Our first supposition as to its cause was some leakage
between realities, probably caused by some preventative maintenance
of one of my cousins and fellow guardians, most likely Joe or Sam,
because Gus tends to be an old stick-in-the-mud, who thinks his
primary job function involves rescuing princesses, who don't really
believe that they're actually princesses."  Nesfenda sighed.  "But
that's another family matter and not all that relevant to what should
have been in this reality.

"In this reality of yours, two boys, who were supposed to have been
girls, were born.  Normally, it wouldn't matter very much to us which
boys in a reality were eventually transformed into girls, since they'd
only remember being the girls they became and everyone else would
totally forget the boys they used to be.  In these types of cases, we
generally employ one of those loose cannons roaming around the
multiverse that I mentioned earlier.  Most of them are already on
small retainers anyway.  They tend towards rather indiscriminate
solutions when fixing this kind of glitch for us, but then, on the
other hand, no one would have been the wiser, when two new girls,
who had always been girls, popped into existence to replace the two
_erased_ boys, who had never been born in the first place.

"But even we are not infallible.  Almost, but not quite.  Not long
after notifying one of them, we became aware of the existence,
actually the non-existence, of certain unforeseen extenuating
circumstances within this reality, which, consequently, required us
to perform a somewhat more localized and personal intervention.

"Had you then, instead of going in the bookstore and buying the book
on magic as you actually did, gone into that little vanishing magic
shop as you'd thought about doing, then, more likely than not, things
might have worked out quite differently for you tonight.

"After entering the little shop, you would have met a charming older
gentleman wearing what looks like an old ratty bathrobe.  He would
have known your name, everything about Steve needing a break from his
studies, your desire to help him find a way to relax and unwind, and
the frat party.  He probably would have given you something magical
and told you how to use it to insure Steve's safety against Tark
Winston, while allowing both of you to have lots of fun at the frat
party.  That old man seems to have a thing about _helping_ out
fraternities on that campus.

"In the end, the equity and balance of _this_ reality would have been
completely restored, but not without some cost to all realities.

"However, I'm certain that both you and Steve would have had more fun
at this frat party then either of you had ever had in your entire
lives.  And yet, knowing how that old man's mind works, it's a safe
assumption to make that you two would have wound up _being_ the pretty
girls - probably with names like Chelsie and Starling - the boys ended
up with, instead of being the boys winding up with the girls.  And
don't tell anyone I told you this, but one of you would not only have
wound up as Tark Winston's girlfriend _and_ actually enjoying it.  Now
isn't that a horrible thought."  She smiled at both of them.  "That
tricky old man sure knows his stuff and we aren't allowed to change
whatever he does for us once he does it.  While you were in the
bookstore, we managed to contact him and tell him his services were
no longer required in this particular matter.  That was why his shop
had vanished when you came out of the bookstore.  He can be a little
meddlesome at times, but at least he's aware of us and will work
_with_ us from time to time.  He's a lot easier for us to work with
than that kid in one of the other neighboring realities."

"I'm confused." said Tark.

"So what else is new?" asked Nesfenda.

"But I'm confused, too." said Charlie.

Part 14

"Okay.  Let's see if I can add a few more details, while at the same
time making this sound even simpler for you." replied the guardian.
"It might be a little difficult since _your_ minds and language are
linearly ordered.  My cousins and I have long known your particular
reality was at the focal point of a great future event in the
multiverse, which for some reason hasn't yet happened when it was
supposed to have happened.  As a result, we faced major causality and
temporal problems, not to mention the high probability of a paradox of
massive proportions.

"As we continued investigating, we eventually concluded that two
babies, coincidentally, we think, born about the same time, had been
born male, instead of female as they had always been intended to have
been in the overall grand scheme of Everything.  We Guardians now
believe, although we have yet to prove it to our satisfaction, that
their true realities were accidentally altered by a reality leakage
from a nearby reality, when it was changed by a very powerful reality
bending ten year old boy living there.

"In order to fix the problem correctly, those two boys, and only those
two boys, had to vanish completely and become the girls they were
always meant to have been.

"As you should have guessed by now, one of those boys was Allan
Mitchell Foster."

"But _I_ changed Allan Foster into Ellen Foster." said Charlie.

"No, you didn't, you liar." objected Tark.  "Ellen has always been
Ellen.  I was even going to allow her the great privilege of being my
new girlfriend, that is, after I got tired of Shannon.  But wait a
minute, you've since changed Shannon back into Steve and then, for
some strange reason, Mona dumped me for him.  That means Ellen can be
my new girlfriend as soon as I get changed back into a boy again."

"And you did an excellent job with Ellen's transformation and
integration, Charlie." she commended him, while ignoring Tark's
ramblings completely.  "No one else resident to this reality even
remembers a boy named Allan Foster ever existing here, because _he_
was never supposed to exist here in the first place.  Didn't you think
it was odd, just how much Ellen loved being a girl after so little
time being one?  Or that she wanted to remain Ellen forever after only
being her for such a short time?"

"You know, Nesfenda, now that you mention it, I did wonder about both
of those things."

"It was just that on a completely subconscious level of her personal
quantum reality, Ellen knew that Allan should not actually be the
extant one in this reality.  And on that same level, Ellen also
realized she was supposed to have been Ellen all along and never been
Allan at all.  As a result, when you gave Ellen the chance to be
restored to Allan again, Ellen had already determined it was better
for her and the multiverse that she continued as Ellen and not as
Allan, so Ellen simply decided to remain Ellen forever instead of
allowing you to change her back into Allan who wasn't supposed to be
real in the first place."

Tark shook his head.  "I'm still very confused."

"And I'm still not very surprised." replied Nesfenda with a smile.

"What about Steve and Mona?" asked Charlie.  "What happened to them?"

"Now those two were always destined to be lovers." replied Nesfenda.
"I shouldn't really tell you this, but great things are expected of
them and their union.  Mona was never meant to become involved with
Tark Winston or anyone like him."

"What about me?" whined Tark in his new soft and sexy voice.

Charlie looked at Tark, then shook his head.  Even if he shouldn't be,
he was surprised that Tark hadn't yet been able to put two and two
together, but then Tark had never been good at higher mathematics.

"Do you want to tell him, Charlie?  Or do you thin I should?" asked
Nesfenda.

"Tell me what." screamed Tark frantically.

Looking first at Nesfenda, Charlie simply shook his head.  As he
turned back to face Tark, he simply told him, "You're the other boy
that was supposed to have been born a girl."

"That's impossible.  There's no fucking way." swore Tark.  He turned
towards Nesfenda.  "You and those other Infernal Guardians of yours
must have made some mistake.  Regardless of what _he_ did to me, I am
not a girl."

"That's Eternal, my dear, not Infernal, but that's a common mistake.
But there was no mistake made in your situation, Tark.  It's been
checked and double-checked several times." replied Nesfenda.  "_You_
are not supposed to exist _as_ Tark Winston in this reality.  You, as
you were, were merely the result of an accidental reality shift that
is now being mended.  Once you completely accept that you were should
have been born _Lark_ Winston and accept her as who you are, then
those events that haven't yet happened in the future as they should
have, will have once again happened right on time just as they were
always supposed to occur."

"_Lark_?" snarled Tark, oblivious to everything else Nesfenda had
said to him.  "Just what kind of a stupid wussy name is _Lark_ for a
guy like me?"

"You don't listen very well, do you, dear?" said the irritated
guardian.

"He never has been much of a listener, Nesfenda." replied Charlie.
"It's always been one of _his_ major problems dealing with people."

"That's alright, Charlie.  Very soon now, poor listening habits will
no longer be one of _her_ problems at all."  Nesfenda turned back to
the still defiant Tark.  "Take a good look at yourself.  You are not
a guy anymore, nor were you ever a guy, my pretty little nightingale.
Even your parents would have never named a pretty girl Tarkington
Cornelius Winston.  Nesfenda frowned.  "Gadzooks, no wonder you're
such an angry irascible dork, as well as a piss-poor excuse for a
human being.  Your parents should be shot for hanging such a horrible
monicker like that on you.  But even that no longer matters, for that
is no longer what they named you.  I'm sure both of you will agree
that Lark Cerulean Winston has a much nicer ring to it."

Tark didn't want to believe what the Guardian had just said.  "But my
name can't be ... Lark ... Cerulean ... Winston." he muttered.  "I'm
a guy, not a girl." he said unconvincingly.

"I suppose I should tell you that your middle name was inspired by
your adorable blue eyes, Lark."

"My eyes aren't blue." Tark sniffed.

"They are now, Lark."

"Quit calling me that." screamed Tark, tears running down his cheeks.
"Don't ever call me that again."

"You need not worry, Lark." replied Nesfenda.  "I'm sure you'll feel
a whole lot better when you wake up."

"What are you talking about."  Tark suddenly yawned.  "I'm not ..."
He shook his head, feeling his hair brush across his shoulders.  He
yawned again, then stretched out on floor and, within moments, was
fast asleep, a small smile beginning to appear on _her_ face."

"And now it's your turn, Charlie."

"What do you mean - it's my turn, Nesfenda?" asked Charlie, suddenly
very nervous and anxious about his own fate.  "You said _two_ boys
were supposed to be born girls.  And you already have your two girls,
Ellen Foster and Lark Winston."

"But you aren't going to become a girl, Charlie." smiled Nesfenda.
"You, like everyone else in this reality, are just going to continue
being the you you've always been.  However, _your_ reality will need
to be adjusted to unquestionably accept the existence of both Ellen
and Lark.  I suppose, I could give you a really long, extremely
complicated, and exceptionally boring explanation, but you won't be
remembering it and I really don't want to make any more longwinded
explanations tonight anyway, so why bother.

"The following will have to be a sufficient explanation.  And it will
be, once you've forgotten everything I tell you, I can't allow you
remember me.  Nor can I allow you to remember the existence of the
other Guardians of Reality at _this_ time.

"I can't allow you to remember that Ellen Foster was once Allan
Foster.  Nor can I let you remember that Lark Winston used to be Tark
Winston.

"And I can't allow you to keep the _book_ or the memories of what you
read.  Neither shall you remember casting any spells.

"All of those things, if recalled by you at this time, would overly
complicate matters that are already quite complicated and don't really
need to be any more complicated than they already are."

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Charlie worriedly.

"Just never you mind, Charlie." replied Nesfenda.  "But _you_ need
not worry.  This will not be bad for you, I promise.  But I'm sure
you'll feel a lot better when you wake up in a little while."

"But ..."  Charlie yawned, suddenly feeling very sleepy.  Without
thinking about what he was doing, he laid down next to Lark, who
looked so soft and warm and sexy stretched out on the floor.  As he
closed his eyes, he felt Lark's arm slide gently across his chest.
She's such a wonderful girl, thought Charlie.  But before he could
investigate his new situation further, he had also fallen fast asleep.

"That wasn't as bad as I expected." mused Nesfenda, as she observed
the pair sleeping peacefully together on the floor.  "I suppose things
could have ended up far worse than this.  But these two should be very
happy together."

And with that thought, Nesfendatwabblesocksentard, Junior, one of the
four Eternal Guardians of Reality, slowly faded away from Charlie and
Lark's plane of reality.


Part 15

Charlie's eyes slowly opened.

For several moments, he was totally lost and had absolutely no idea
exactly where he might be.  The only thing he knew with any certainty
was that he was currently sitting in some kind of cushioned chair
somewhere.

Trying to determine where he was, he slowly scanned the room he was
in looking for clues.  He was very pleased to see _her_ familar face.
In the seat next to him sat his pretty girlfriend Lark Winston, her
head resting comfortably on his shoulder and lightly snoring.

Charlie looked at her and smiled.  It must be true love, he thought.
Lark seemed even more gorgeous to him asleep, then most other girls
did wide awake.  He wondered if he'd told her lately what he thought
of her, not that it wasn't clearly obvious to everyone

Looking up, he saw the big screen.

And he remembered where they were.

But he also remembered the movie - probably the most boring movie it
had ever been his misfortune to partially watch.  At the last minute,
he and Lark had decided to go to the movies, winding up watching this
bomb, instead of going to the frat party to which they'd been invited.
The movie had seemed a good idea at the time, since nothing overly
exciting ever happened at one of the parties thrown by that particular
fraternity anyway.  However, the fraternity's rep for throwing shitty
parties was better than having a having a rep for having totally weird
and unexplainable shit happening all the time.

"Shit." he suddenly muttered.  "The movie's over.  It looks like it's
been over for several hours."  He looked at his watch.  "It's after
five in the morning.  We're going to be in really deep shit."  He
shook Lark gently.  "Lark, honey.  Wake up."

Lark stirred.  "What is it, sweetheart?" she asked.  "Is there
something wrong - besides this movie?"  She stretched her arms
languorously over her head.

"I told your mom and dad I'd have you back _last_ night by ten, but
we must have fallen asleep during that boring movie." he explained.
"Now the movie is long over, the sun's getting ready to come up, and
I think we're going to be in really deep shit with your parents when
I take you home."

"Lighten up and relax, Charlie, lover." she teasingly smiled back.
"My parents know I'm a college _girl_ now."  She kissed him on the
lips.  Looking him squarely in the eye, she said, "Regardless of what
time my parents said I had to be home last night, _I_ don't have to go
home ... right now ... unless _you_ want to take me home."

Charlie wondered how he'd been lucky enough to win the heart of a
pretty girl like Lark Winston.  She was the girl of his dreams.

And likewise, Lark wondered how she'd been so fortunate to be the
lucky girl who had captured Charlie Morton's heart.  He was the man
of her dreams.

But for just a few passing minutes, both of them had oddly recalled
some things from their earlier strange dreams, that now seemed like
horrible nightmares.  Each of them wondered to themselves what had
caused them to have these strange dreams after falling asleep in this
old movie house.  But each of them was embarrassed by the dreams'
inherent silliness and obvious total lack of credibility.  How could
either of them imagine Lark having ever been some macho asshole _guy_
named Tark, when she was obviously all girl.  And neither of them had
spoken a word to the other about their strange dreams.

But soon thereafter, the dreams, as is the nature of waking and
unshared dreams, faded forever from their memories, leaving behind
only the thoughts of the two young lovers.

Lark smiled at Charlie suggestively.  "You know something, Charlie.
I was just thinking that you and I could take that long ride up
Philendon Drive all the way to the top of Everly Point.  We could
park up there and watch the sunrise."

"You won't get any complaints from me about doing that, Lark." said
Charlie with a smile.  "Except, once we're up there, do we really have
to watch the sunrise."

"Of course not, Charlie." smiled Lark wickedly.  "I'm actually hoping
we'll be too busy doing something else a lot more interesting.  If you
know what I mean."  She nudged him in the ribs.  "But, when you take
me home, we can tell my parents, just like _we_ did _last_ week, that
we were up at Everly Point watching the sunrise - again."


THE END