Spells R Us: Hair Spray
by Vathalos

Tom finally came to a conclusion as he sat in his electronics class.  He was 
bored...so bored.  He hadn't even wanted to take this class, Introduction to 
Electronics.  He had heard bad things about the teacher before he had even 
started the class, and it was as bad as he'd expected.

"And the reason every circuit has to be sent to ground is so the current in 
it...."

"Blah, blah, blah," he thought, while continuing to doodle in his notebook.  
He had already taken a semester of physics awhile back and he knew all of 
this garbage backward and forward.  But, when he'd switched to a computer 
science major, the administration decided that General Physics wasn't good 
enough, he had to take this class.

"According to Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, the voltage drop..."

And to make it worse, he couldn't stand this guy.  He had one of those 
voices, Dr. Merrick did.  He spoke very quiet, in a monotone, and in a voice 
that was so easy to ignore.  If your mind started to wander even for a second, 
you missed half the lecture.  Tom gazed at the clock and saw only 5 minutes 
left in the class.  Thank God this was his last one of the day.  He also didn't 
have any classes on Friday, tomorrow, so he'd be good for three days after 
this.

"Now over the weekend, I want you folks to read Chapters 15 and 16 and do 
all the questions in between the sections.  Write them out and be prepared to 
hand them in on Monday.  Good-bye."

Tom was up and out of the class even before most of the other students in the 
class had begun to pack up their books.  The teacher gave him a curious look, 
but what did he care?  He'd already aced the first test doing a modicum of 
work, so he figured he was lined up for an easy A.  He walked out of the 
building into the chilly air and began to trek back to his apartment.  Fall had 
begun to settle on the northeast and the air had a bite to it, but it wasn't 
exactly cold ... yet anyway.  Being a native to the area, he knew it was to 
come soon.

He began to look around him.  Classes all across campus were letting out and 
people were walking by.  He looked around at all the girls walking by.  That 
was the single thing that made all the bullshit classes here worth it.  This 
college had some of the best looking girls he'd seen anywhere else.  
Beginning with his class two years ago, the college's distribution had become 
around 70/30 girls to boys.  He loved it.

"Not that it helps me much," he thought with a frown.  Tom was your typical 
victim of low self-esteem.  In high school he'd been very overweight, and 
not friends with very many people.  After he started college, he'd lost much 
of the weight that was his bane in school, except for a beer gut he'd 
developed.  He still was very shy around people he didn't know, which 
amazed a lot of his friends.  In his own inner circle, he was a jokester, 
capable of making just about anyone laugh at the drop of a hat.  They didn't 
understand why he couldn't do that in public.  For some reason, around 
people he didn't know, the words just wouldn't come.  He tried, but all his 
joking came out mis-timed and lame sounding.  He feared rejection, heavily, 
and so didn't really talk all that often.

He watched, though.  And often felt bad.  He had to watch all three of his 
roommates and their girlfriends every day, and feel bad.  Entering his 
apartment, he wasn't surprised to see James and Derek in the apartment with 
their respective girlfriends, Marcia and Melanie.  "Hey Tom," said James.  
"How was class?"

"Oh fabulous, as usual.  I can't tell you how exciting it is to hear about why 
current has to be grounded.  On a positive note, the professor did teach us 
how to blow up the building, I'm thinking of trying it later.  We going it 
lunch?"

"Yeah," James said.  "You guys want to?"

"There's only one thing I want."  Marcia stated.

"Oh yeah," said James.  "What's that?"

"You babe!"

"Oh gag me."  Tom thought.

Derek finally saw fit to speak up.  "Naw, I don't think Mel and me are going.  
I think we're going to hang out here by ourselves for a while."

"And do what, I wonder.  Jesus H, do these guys ever stop?"  He thought.  
Aloud he said, "You know what, I don't think I'm as hungry as I thought I 
was.  I think I'm going to the mall for a little bit.  Or something."

"You sure?" James said.  "I mean I know the food here isn't the greatest, 
but...."

"No, the food isn't.  You all just disgust me."  He wanted to say, but he 
didn't.  It wasn't their fault he was lonely.  They were convenient to blame.  
"Yeah, I'm sure.  I'll be back to go out tonight."

He walked around the mall lost in thought.  He didn't look around much, or 
really go in any stores.  He stopped in the bookstore to see if there was 
anything new out, and stopped in the arcade for a little while.  It didn't help.  
He looked at all the girls walking around the mall.  As usual, he thought 
about walking up to one of them and talking to him, but his brain took over 
and told him it was a bad idea.  He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

As he walked along, he came to a store he'd never seen before.  That was 
odd, he'd been in this mall a million times, and had never even seen the 
trademark "coming soon" signs.  Spells 'R Us, that was an odd name for a 
store.  Probably sold mood rings and horoscopes and stuff.  In fact, he 
would have always sworn that part of another store was behind this wall.  He 
decided he might as well go in, new stores were always something to see.

He pulled open the door, triggering a bell over his head.  Was this the only 
store in the mall with a door on the front of it?  He was pretty sure it was.  
Entering, it looked like an antique store that he'd been in before.  It was 
dimly lit inside and smelled faintly of must.  A rather large dog looked up at 
him as he came in, then put its head back down, regarding him curiously.  
Tom started to look around the store at various bottles and books that were 
lying around.  He looked up when the door to the back room opened up and 
an ancient looking man came into view wearing nothing but a bathrobe.  
Behind him followed one of the most gorgeous young women Tom had ever 
seen.  She had, at least, DD breasts, a wasp waist, and a perfect ass.  She 
waved goodbye to the old man and walked toward the door.  She pulled on it 
for a good thirty seconds before the old man finally said, "Push, Bambi."  
She tittered and left the store.

"Jeez, even this old dude is getting more than I am."  Tom thought.

"Yes Tom, that I am."  The old man said, looking him straight in the eyes.

Tom raised an eyebrow as he looked toward the old man in shock.  "Well 
met, sai wizard."

Now it was the old man's turn to raise an eyebrow.  He hadn't had a proper 
greeting in ages, and never by someone in the mall.  "Well met.  I feel this 
process in reverse, but how did you know I was a wizard, and how did you 
know to greet me as such?  Usually I'm slapped with the 'How did you 
know my name' question."

"I read a lot," said Tom.  "As for knowing you were a wizard, I've never 
seen you before, and you read my mind and knew my name.  It was a lucky 
guess.  I didn't know it was a proper greeting, I just read it before.  Do you 
know Elminster?"

"Over-rated blowhard.  Almost as bad as that Blackstaff friend of his, though 
not quite.  Anyway, Tom, what exactly can I do for you?"

"You're the wizard, you tell me."

"Well, I gather that you want something to increase your sex drive.  Well, I 
have just the potion back here if you'll give me a second."

Tom laughed.  "Not exactly, sai.  It's not just sex I'm interested in.  The 
thing I really want is to be able to talk to people I don't know enough to form 
friendships with them.  Sex I could have had by now, I just didn't want it the 
way I could've had it.  And then maybe a relationship.  Do you know how 
frustrating it is to be thought of as everyone's big brother, and have none of 
them thing of you as anything more."

"Ah, I see," the wizard rubbed his chin.  "I got it!  I have another potion back 
here.  This one will give you so much success with the opposite sex, you 
won't believe it.  Just drink it and, before you know it, the other sex won't 
be able to stay away from you."  The wizard's eyes twinkled.

"No, that's not it either."  Tom shook his head.  "I have no desire to be 
irresistible.  I just want to be comfortable enough around strangers, especially 
female strangers, to let them see my personality shine through.

"Hmmm, I see," the wizard was beginning to think this wouldn't just be his 
normal bimbo transformation.  He was actually beginning to form a bit of 
respect for this one.  He had one more test.  "Here is one other simple 
solution, this earring right here.  All you have to do is put it on and I 
guarantee, you will never feel uncomfortable in the room with another girl 
again."  The wizard smirked.  "Even in a locker room."

"See that's just it, sai.  I don't want a simple solution.  I want to understand 
myself.  I don't want to be Mr. Don Juan and lose all the sense of values I 
have.  I just want to be me, and be able to function normally around 
strangers.

The wizard smiled and nodded.  "I see."

"Besides, my ears aren't pierced."

The wizard had decided that this one wasn't getting turned into a brainless 
bimbo.  Perhaps, he could even help this guy.  "I do have something for 
you."  He set a hair spray bottle on the table.  "Try this."

"What is it?"

"You're a smart kid, you'll figure it out.  The first thing I want you to do 
when you get home is spray it 25 times on your bed.  Exactly 25, no more 
and no less.  Then, figure it out for yourself.  Make sure you spray your bed 
first though."

"Hmm, a hair spray bottle, huh.  All right, sai, I'll give it a try.  How much."

"Five dollars ought to cover it.  If it doesn't work, I'll take it back.  It won't 
ever empty, by the way.  The top doesn't come off, either, so don't try."

"All right, sai.  Thank you."  Tom placed both hands palms out and bowed.

"Good bye, Tom."  The wizard watched as he left the store, smiling.  Maybe 
he could actually help this one.  He could see the gleam in Tom's eyes, as 
well.  The one reason he gave him something like that.

Tom liked to play jokes, too.

Tom left the mall and drove back to his apartment with his purchase on the 
seat.  It didn't take him long to get home, though he was in the store a lot 
longer than he'd initially thought.  By the time he'd gotten home, it was time 
to go out.  He set the bottle down on his bed and started to turn away.  Then 
he remembered the wizard's words.  He took the bottle out of the bag and 
began spraying his bed down.  It almost looked as if the mist vanished before 
it hit the bed, but he pumped the top of the bottle 25 times before putting it 
away in his nightstand and getting dressed.

His night at the bar passed pretty uneventfully, as most did.  He watched his 
roommates and their girlfriends go at it on the dance floor.  He saw a couple 
of girls he knew from school and contented himself with talking to them.

"So what are you doing after the club tonight, Tom?"  A girl named Ariel 
asked him.  He knew her from math class.

"Probably not too much," he replied.  "I'm beat."

"You know, my roommate's gone this weekend.  If you wanted to come by."

Tom smiled.  "We'll see."

Later that night, Tom was pretty drunk, along with everyone else that went 
out that night.  He brought Ariel back to her room, she could barely stand.  
Tom laid her down in bed on her stomach.  She told him to stay, he refused.  
One of his "short-comings" according to his roommates.  He wouldn't take 
advantage of drunken girls.  After, he staggered back to his room.

He got back to his room and wasn't surprised to find it empty.  His 
roommates were, no doubt, in their girlfriend's rooms.  He staggered slowly 
toward his bed, and started to strip when he spied the hair spray bottle on the 
dresser.  He lumbered over to it and picked it up, starting to study it again.  
He sprayed it once on his hand, nothing seemed to happen.  He did it again.  
This time, he definitely noticed something.  His hand looked smaller.  It felt 
tingly, like it was asleep.

That was ridiculous, a hand couldn't shrink ... but that old man had claimed 
to be a wizard.  He put his two hands together, as if in prayer.  Yes, one 
hand was definitely smaller.  He sprayed a couple more times.  His fingers 
began to thin and lengthen.  He began to notice that the nails had gotten 
longer.  He continued, curious beyond all belief now.  He sprayed 5 or 6 
more times.  With each spray, his hand became daintier and daintier.  
Eventually, his nail began to round off, then to deepen in color.  He had a 
full-fledged, girl's left hand.  His mind, in it's inebriated state found this 
incredibly funny.  Shaking his head, he went to bed.

Tom woke up the next morning to the cruel sun streaming in his window.  
God's Flashlight, some comedian had called, and it never felt truer than right 
now.  He rolled over to glance at the clock ... noon.  He felt like he really 
ought to get up.  A shower, that's what he needed.  He went into the 
bathroom and showered, trying to clear his head.  He looked down at his left 
hand and remembered the previous night.  An interesting dream that had 
been.  Why had he dreamed about having a girl's hand?  Who can explain 
dreams?

He got out of the shower and did feel a little better about life.  He pulled on a 
pair of boxers and went into his room again.  Combing his hair, he 
unthinkingly grabbed the wizard's bottle of hairspray.  Closing his eyes, he 
began to spray the bottle's contents all over his hair, pumping the spray 10 or 
15 times at least.  He began to feel a little light-headed.  Opening his eyes, he 
gasped in surprise.  Out of his scalp, from beneath his normally straight, 
brown hair, there were blonde hairs growing.  The front of his head grew 
blond bangs and the rest began to grow, albeit slowly, down his head.  His 
mouth hung agape as he watched the eyelashes around his eyes thicken and 
darken.  His nose shrank and got pert and his lips were getting fuller in size.  
They were becoming a deep shade of red, almost as though he'd put make-up 
on.  His face was reshaping itself, becoming thinner and softer.  He watched 
as the goatee, that he'd worn since his junior year of high school, turn white 
and simply vanish.  He watched his cheeks become redder and the skin above 
his eyes get that soft blue shade associated with eyeshadow.  His hair, blonde 
now, had stopped growing just above his shoulders, and had curled inward 
at the end.  Almost like an afterthought, he watched as the lobes of his ears 
bulged, and earring, formed in them.  Three in each lobe, two in the cartilage 
of his left ear.

Tom stepped back from the mirror in shock and gaped in it stupidly.  He 
looked at the bottle in his hand.  The wizard had been right, it was magic.  He 
glanced down at the rest of his body ... nothing else was different.  He 
looked up, his face definitely was.  He glanced at the bottle, then at the 
mirror, and yelled.  It was still his voice, but the girl's face in the mirror was 
yelling in his voice.  

"Calm down," he told himself.  "You're still sleeping, that's all ... massive 
hangover." 

But he knew he wasn't.  After the initial panic passed, curiosity began to set 
in.  He glanced into the mirror again, and sprayed his hair.  Almost 
immediately the blonde hair uncurled at the end and got longer, stopping this 
time just below his shoulders.  He sprayed it one more time, and it switched 
from straight to wavy.  "Real magic!" he thought ecstatically.

He made a decision then, and began to spray the rest of his body.  He started 
with his arms.  The muscles that he'd developed over the last two years 
began to fade away.  His arms shrank, along with his hands.  As his hands 
shrank, once again the fingernails began to grow until they became long, 
rounded, and deep red.  He then moved down to his feet and legs.  His feet 
shrank and the nails became rounded, manicured, and deep red as well.  The 
hair on his legs, much like the hair on his face had, became white and just, 
well, vanished.  It didn't recede so much as being there one second, and gone 
the next.  His legs then began to lengthen.  He could tell by looking in the 
mirror that he was growing a bit taller.  Then, as he continued to spray it, he 
started shrinking.  Satisfied with his legs, he took a deep breath.

He looked at his chest, and sprayed it once.  The effect was almost 
immediate.  The hair on his torso turned white and vanished.  Sprayed again, 
his beer gut that he'd become so ashamed of shrank and flattened.  His torso 
constricted until it matched the arms and legs he now had.  On the next spray, 
the nipples on his chest darkened and expanded.  The breasts on his upper 
body began to expand.  He watched this in awe.  It almost seemed as if 
someone was inside his chest inflating two balloons.  With each successive 
spray of the hairspray bottle, his breasts expanded more and more.  Finally 
he stopped as he honestly began to feel the weight of the globes of flesh on 
his chest.  Looking again in the mirror, he began spraying his boxer shorts.

The effect wasn't exactly what he'd expected.  Instead of something 
happening to him, he watched, astonished, as his boxers shrank into a frilly, 
but simple, pair of women's boxers.  Shaking his head, he pulled them 
down.  He looked in the full-length mirror on the other side of the room.  
"This must be what them dudes on Springer look like when the see 
themselves in the mirror.  A pretty chick with a cock between her legs."  He 
sprayed his genitals 5 times.  The effects began immediately.  The hair on his 
genitals vanished and they almost immediately began to shrink.  As all this 
was happening, his hips had pushed out to be a tad wider.  At the same time, 
his large waist had shrunk a tad.  Within a second, his penis was gone, and 
had been replaced with a set of vaginal lips.  He sprayed himself a couple 
more times, and watched as his waist shrank.  It continued until it was nearly 
a wasp's waist.  His ass had swelled and rounded, becoming something of 
beauty and perfection. He looked into the full-length mirror again.  "If that 
ain't some shit," he thought, and smiled.  He pulled the underwear back up.

"Shannon," someone yelled from the other room.  "Shannon, are you 
around?"

Shannon?  Who the hell was Shannon?  That sounded like James.  Tom 
looked around for a robe to cover his new body.  New body?\  How the hell 
was he going to explain this?  James was going to think some stranger was in 
the house.  A knock came on the bedroom door as Tom pulled an oversized, 
well, oversized now, sweatshirt over his head.  James peeked his head in the 
door.  "Hey Shan, what's up?  Didn't you hear me calling for you?"

"Uhhhh," Tom couldn't think.  Apparently, his roommate knew him like 
this.  If that was true, the magic in that bottle was stronger than he'd even 
imagined.  "I was in the shower."  Was that his voice?  He sounded sexy.  
What the hell was he doing living with three guys?  His parents must not've 
liked that at all.  If they even knew.  How was the college allowing this?

"Ooh, sexy baby.  All wet waiting for me."

"Cute, dickhead," she retorted smartly.  "The only thing you make wet on me 
are my eyes, when I laugh at you."

James laughed.  "You'll never let me have the last word, will you.  Listen, I 
just wanted to let you know that Shelly was going to be here tonight, so if 
Marcia calls for me, tell her I'm not here."

Well, at least Tom now knew Shannon's personality was much like his.  
Also, he'd found out that the goings on in the world hadn't changed.  James 
was still cheating on Marcia with Shelly.  "You know, you really have to stop 
that.  You're going to end up crushing one of them."

"Yeah, I know ... but they don't seem to mind."

"You're a dirtball, dude."

"Blah, blah, blah," James made a face.  "Thanks babe!"

"Whatever."

James smiled and closed the door.  Shannon looked around the room.  
Apparently, she still roomed with Hal, even though they were of the opposite 
sex.  Maybe they were still best friends from home.  They must be, because 
there was the picture of Janine and him on his desk.  Janine was the template 
of possessive and clingy.  Shannon couldn't imagine Janine allowing her to 
live with Hal.

Shannon left the bedroom and moved into the living room of the apartment.  
She kicked back and watched some TV, waiting for her other roommates to 
begin to filter in.  Actually, the day proceeded just as the normal ones did.  
Shannon's conversations with her roommates didn't differ much than Tom's 
did, only they treated her a bit differently, calling her by pet names and such.  
She also came to find out that she was now pretty good friends with Marcia 
and Melanie, even though, as Tom, he hadn't talked to them much.  Then, 
they began to ask what she was wearing to Heartbreak's that night.

She hadn't been prepared for this.  Kicking around the house all day as a girl 
was one thing.  Actually going out and showing off the goods Tom had 
created, that was something else.  "Uhhhh, I don't know if I feel like going 
tonight."

"Oh, come off it, Shannon," Melanie said.  "You haven't missed a week 
there since we started back."

"Yeah, Shan," said Derek.  "Besides, who am I going to dance with if you 
don't go?"

"Just tie the inflatable doll to your hip and go to town, Derek.  People will 
talk if they see you with flesh instead of plastic."

Melanie laughed at Shannon's jab.  Derek turned red.  That was odd, usually 
Derek shot back ... and Melanie didn't usually laugh at any of Tom's jokes 
directed toward their boyfriend.  Shannon wasn't sure she liked this.

"C'mon, Shan," James said.  "It'll suck without you."

Shannon sighed.  "I'll think about it, OK."

"Great," James winked.  "We'll be back in an hour to pick you up.  We gotta 
go get Shelly."

Before Shannon could even retort, the three of them were out the door, 
leaving Shannon in the apartment all by herself.  Going to Heartbreaks 
wearing this body?  She didn't know if she could do that.  Apparently, 
though, she had to.  She walked back into her and Hal's room and glanced in 
her closet.  Tom's jeans, sneakers, and flannel shirts stared her in the face.  
She then thought about how the underwear had changed when he'd sprayed 
it.  Shannon grabbed a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, a flannel, and a pair of 
sneakers out of the closet.  Men's fashion was so much simpler.  "Well, 
considering I'm pretty sure it's been the same since the dawn of time.  Well 
... after they dropped that whole toga thing."

Shannon laid the pair of Tom's jeans across the chair and sprayed them once.  
She smiled as she watched the waist on the jeans constrict and the pocket 
bow in to face each other.  She also watched as they got longer, and flared 
out at the end.  She frowned, and finally decided to have some fun with this.  
She sprayed the pants again, and they changed color.  One more time had the 
effect she was looking for.  The pants darkened until they were black, and the 
material changed from denim to spandex.  She sprayed the underwear she 
was wearing a couple more times, (mistakenly hitting her waist once and 
making it even smaller) until they were simply a G-string.  She pulled the 
pants on over her hips.  She pulled the sweatshirt she was wearing off and 
pulled the T-shirt on.  She sprayed it a couple of times and watched as it 
shifted and constricted.  Quickly it shrank into a perfect fitting bra.  
Frowning, she turned to the side and looked at her profile.  She sprayed her 
breasts three more times, and grinned as they expanded out to about a C-cup.  
She pulled a polo shirt out of her closet and put it on.  Spraying it a couple of 
times until it formed into a blue tank top.  Finally, she put on a flannel, and 
reshaped it into a denim shirt.  Finagling with the buttons was a difficult task.  
Between her fingernails and the buttons being on the wrong side.  She 
buttoned only the two buttons between her breasts, leaving the others open.  
She looked in the mirror again.  Smiling, she brushed her hair out and went 
into the living room, waiting for the guys.

They finally arrived about ten minutes after she finished getting dressed.  The 
guys came in and glanced at her.  She put her arms out and spun around.  
"Well?"

"You look great, sis."  Hal smiled at her.  Shannon grinned.  He'd always 
used to call Tom his brother, so she guess sis fit.  Janine frowned ever so 
slightly, but nodded in agreement.

The cab was called and they were on the way.  After working to get the bills 
out the little wallet she'd made Tom's into, she asked James to hold it for the 
night.  He agreed readily, as if it'd been asked in the past, and they went in.

It was different for Tom, to say the least.  Shannon was a much better dancer 
than he'd ever hoped to be.  The number of guys that came up to hit on her 
during the night was amazing.  The man inside Shannon watched how they 
did it.  Some of them, no better looking than he was, did it with a sparkle of 
uncertainty in their eye.  But they still did it.  When she rejected them, they 
didn't fold or fall apart, they simply moved on.

Shannon did come to realize one thing.  She couldn't drink nearly enough as 
Tom could.  She was overly drunk on the dance floor before she knew what 
had hit her.  She did eventually begin to dance with some guy, even though 
Tom thought it was a bad idea.  She had gotten bored quickly with this guy, 
and turned to look for her friends.  The guy grabbed her by arm and dug his 
fingers in tight.  She tried to pull away, but found not to be in command of 
the strength she was used to.

"Let go of me," she tried to yell over the music.

"I think you want to come home with me, you just don't know it yet."

"No, I really don't.  I want you to get your gritty hands off of me before I 
catch something."

"Listen, bitch...."  That was as much as he got out.  Suddenly, Hal was 
behind the guy and grabbed his wrist in a vice-grip.  He wrenched the guy's 
wrist until he let go, swung him around and leveled him with one strong 
punch.  The bouncers began to rush over to stop the fight, but it was already 
over.  They grabbed Hal.

"No, no, NO," Shannon screamed at the guys.  "He saved me, throw the 
unconscious dirtbag out.  He wanted to rape me."

The bouncers didn't take much convincing.  They let go of Hal and took the 
dirtbag by the arms and ushered him out in a most embarrassing manor.

"You're shaking," Hal said.

"I'm scared."

"C'mon, I'm going to take you home."

"But Janine."

"Screw Janine.  Bro's before Ho's, right?"

"I'm not a Bro."

"You're close enough."

They got back home uneventfully.  Hal stripped and lay down in bed with his 
boxer shorts on.  Shannon got out the T-shirt and boxers that Tom always 
wore to bed and put them on.  She started to crawl into her bed, then 
stopped.

"Hal?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm still jittery.  Can I lay down with you tonight?"

Hal looked up.  "If you want to."

"I do."

She crawled under the covers with him and curled up against him.  She 
finally, since the fiasco with the drunken guy started, felt safe again.  She fell 
asleep almost immediately, pressed closely against Hal's warm body.  
Confused, but happy to be of so easy a help, Hal closed his eyes.  
Sometimes, girls just needed simple comforting, he guessed ... and fell 
asleep.

Shannon awoke with a start, in bed with someone.  Last night had been 
rough, she remembered, from the dull pounding in her head.  Wait, she 
wasn't a she.  She remembered lying down in bed with Hal at some point last 
night, but he was gone ... to work probably.  All of them were probably at 
work by now.  She was the only one with weekends off.  

She rolled out of Hal's bed heading straight for the bathroom.  Looking in the 
mirror she was disappointed to see that the changes hadn't worn off in the 
night.  She'd figured they'd go away in her sleep.  

They hadn't.

She went back to her bedroom and quickly stripped off the clothes from last 
night and tossed them on her bed.  She trudged to the bathroom to take a 
shower.  She was realizing that she was slowly adapting to this body.  Hell, 
it had only taken her one try to go to the bathroom this morning.  She got out 
of the shower and toweled off, looking at herself in the mirror.  She looked 
like hell warmed over.  By the feeling in her head, and the face staring back at 
her in the mirror, she knew she had one hell of a hangover.  She walked out 
to the kitchen and thought about fixing herself something to eat, then thought 
better of it.  She had a feeling anything she ate would end up feeding some 
rats in the sewer system after she had to flush it later.  

Instead, after being up for a grand total of one hour, she decided it was time 
to go back to bed.  She was surprised, when she got back to her room, the 
clothes that she'd left there were gone.  In their place were the clothes Tom 
had selected from his closet last night.  Shannon saw her electronics textbook 
lying on the nightstand where Tom had been studying for a little while 
yesterday.

"Ground!"

The thought came to him with unbidden excitement.  That's why the wizard 
had warned him to spray the bed first.  Magical energy followed the same 
rules as regular energy.  It couldn't be created or destroyed, only changed.  
To end a spell, you had send the energy back to another place.  Like 
grounding a circuit, the bed was now the ground for the spells.  The 
knowledge was grand, but her head still hurt, and she was tired.  She laid in 
the bed, having a feeling that when she woke up, all would be back to 
normal.

Sometime later she woke up when the front door bang shut and a sarcastic 
"Honey, I'm home," floated in from the other room.  The curse had gone out 
of the hangover, but she still felt like hell.  She glanced at the clock and 
discovered she'd been asleep for another two hours or so.  Feeling like a 
degenerate, she rolled out of bed and headed back to the bathroom, hoping 
that she would see a change in the mirror.

She wasn't back to being Tom, but she wasn't the Shannon that had gone to 
bed a couple hours ago.  She was not the same as she was before.  Her chest 
had gotten smaller, down to about a B-size or so.  Her waist had widened 
and her hips shrank making her form a tad more suited to athletics than 
anything else.  Her hair was not honey blonde anymore, instead being a sort 
of reddish-blonde shade, and was cut short near his shoulders.  It was wavy, 
but she had seen that sort of wave before, right after having seen a girl take 
out a braid.  Her nails were no longer manicured, but cut short and sensible.  
She was still a girl, but not nearly as drop dead gorgeous of one as she was 
last night.  She started to dress, and found that her clothes were a bit more 
conservative now.  They weren't nearly as flashy as the ones she'd worn last 
night.  Looking in the hamper, she saw a typical women's basketball outfit.  
She was a jock.  "Well now, this is something I could be a little more comfo!
rtable with," she thought as she put the clothes back in the hamper.  "The 
energy must drain out slowly ... this is actually pretty nifty."

She dressed and went out in the living room to see that James was home.  
Shelly was with him.  Some choice comments jumped into her mind when 
she saw him, but she let them go.  "Hey Shan, did you get dinner all ready 
for me?"

"Huh?" she replied.

"Dinner," James said.  "You know, last meal of the day.  You gotta get into 
practiced for when you're married and stuff."

"Uh-huh.  So do you.  I hear they're having training sessions for the 
mascot."

"What?"  James turn to be confused.

"The school mascot, you know, the boar?  They're training people on how to 
be pigs.  I don't think you quite got it down yet."

James smirked as Shelly burst into laughter.  He shot her a dirty look and 
trudged into his room, trying to come up with a reply.

"God, Shannon, I love that," Shelly said.  "You really know how to put him 
in his place."

"Yeah, I try."  

"So what're you wearing tonight?"

"Where?"

"Out to my birthday, come on, you didn't forget did you?  It's my big 2-1, 
and they're taking me out to the clubs tonight."

"I don't know, I still feel kind of burned from last night."

"Oh, Shan, you have to.  I'll feel terrible if you miss my birthday."

Shannon smiled.  "OK, I'll be there, I just have to dip into my closet."

"Those boring things.  C'mon, you can try on some of my stuff instead of all 
those stuffy things you have.  Live a little."

"I am not making myself a spectacle for everyone to look at again tonight."

"I've never seen you make yourself look like a spectacle."

"I'll handle it ... what time we leaving."

"Around 8."

"All right," Shannon smiled.  "I'll be ready by then."

She frowned at the hair spray bottle in her hand and the clothes she'd laid out 
for tonight.  She was not going all out again.  Conservative was the way to 
be.  Spraying the clothes only a few times was more than enough to turn 
them into what she was looking for.  Her jeans turned into a simple pair of 
bell-bottoms, her sneakers into sandals, and T-shirt into a high-necked, 
spandex number that fit her tight, but wasn't fuck-me small either.  This was 
easier on her than the other stuff.  Her friends showed up not long after that 
to take her away club hopping, much the same as last night.

The night proceeded, for her anyway, much different than the night before.  
She didn't have less guys hitting on her, but more.  She assumed, since she 
wasn't as drop-dead gorgeous as she was the night before, the number of 
advances she'd have to fend off to decrease.  This taught her another thing.  
Some guys were intimidated by beauty, it wasn't just him.  They guys felt 
more confidant hitting on the less attractive girl he'd become, because they 
felt they had a better chance.  This was great! Tom finally understood the 
things that had been bothering him forever.  Mentally, she thanked the old 
wizard from the mall, and proceeded to enjoy the rest of her evening.

The next morning Tom awoke with another hangover, but not one nearly as 
bad as the night before.  He picked the girly clothes he'd worn last night up 
off the floor and tossed them onto his bed before heading to the bathroom.  
He looked in the mirror over the sink to see that he had completely returned to 
normal.  Everything about him was the same as before.  It was somewhat of 
a relief, and somewhat of a disappointment.  He opened the vanity to find the 
hair spray bottle was still there and smiled inwardly.  He could definitely 
have some fun with it.

He next went into the kitchen to get something to eat.  Fruit Loops were 
sounding good right about now.  He walked through the living room, 
stopping for a second to take a gander at James and Shelly lying together on 
the fold-out.  He wondered what Marcia would think if she saw them like 
this.  He wondered how James would feel if he found that he was being 
cheated on.  "You know," Tom thought.  "It'd be great if he could see how a 
girl feels somehow.  Maybe then he wouldn't be such a..."  The thought 
trailed off as Tom realized he could make James see the would through a 
girl's eyes, and he nearly ran to the bathroom.

He grabbed the hair spray bottle and sprayed it once on his hand.  The 
changes were barely perceptible from the single spray, but definitely still 
there.  He went back to the living room and smiled as he looked at James.  
This was going to be great ... well, for Tom anyway.

"James has always liked straight, blonde hair, nice and long."  Tom 
whispered to himself.  He proceeded to spray James's hair.  Luckily, this 
stuff landed totally dry, so James wouldn't have felt a thing.  James black 
hair started to lighten, and lengthen a bit.  Tom continued to spray, probably 
hitting his hair and face about 40 times in all.  He watched all this amazed as 
James's hair grew fuller and longer.  He watched as the bone structure of his 
face changed as well.  His cheekbones shifted upward, making his face 
rounder.  His lips became fuller and redder, his nose shrank, and his chin 
became less defined.

James was a rough sleeper, so Tom didn't even have to pull the covers off of 
him for the rest.  He also didn't have to remove any of James's clothes either.  
He and Shelly had apparently taken care of that for him.  He proceeded to 
spray James's torso and arms.  "He's a tit guy all the way," so Tom obliged.  
He sprayed James's torso, watching his chest hair vanish as his nipples 
expanded and darkened.  Then, his male breasts began to expand.  It was like 
watching a pair of balloons get blown up.  He stopped when the breasts had 
grown a bit larger than his were the other night.  James must've been about a 
44 DD by the time Tom got done with him.  At the same time his breasts were 
expanding, his hips were contracting.  It was kind of amazing, actually, to 
watch the man's pelvis and stomach shrink.  James's upper body was just 
about all breast right now, which was just as Tom wanted it.  He planned on 
James having very nice, long legs.

Tom started on James's junk next.  He sprayed at it fiercely, watching first as 
his testicles disappeared, then his penis begin to shrink.  It then retracted up 
into his stomach, and he noted the first appearance of discomfort on James's 
face as his insides rearranged themselves.  A small slit opened where James's 
penis had just disappeared, bubbling up into a fully formed vagina.  At the 
same time, James's ass was getting bigger, expanding to fit this new form.  
His legs and arms were last.  He sprayed his arms until the hair vanished and 
his muscles disappeared.  He watched, still fascinated as James's hands 
shrank and his nails begin to lengthen, then darken as though someone 
painted them.  He moved onto his legs last, watching the hair on them, and 
James had a lot of it, turn white and disappear.  He continued on up and 
down the legs until James had a set of legs that only ZZ Top could describe.  
Finally, he went to James's closet and sprayed all the clothes in there.  A l!
ow ruffling noise was made as the clothes all shifted form to accommodate 
their new owner.  Satisfied with his work, Tom went into the living room to 
wake the two of them up.

"Hey guys," he said, kicking the bed.  "Lunch is almost over, are you 
going?"

"Mmmmm," James mumbled.  "Leave me alone dude, it's......."  James eyes 
suddenly flew open.  "My voice," the newly formed vision of beauty cleared 
her throat.  "What happened to my voice?"

Shelly rolled over.  "Nothing Jamie, you probably yelled it out last night."

"Jamie?  Who's Jamie, what's going on here?"

Tom looked at her.  Thank God Shelly had said her name.  "Jamie, all you all 
right?  You look terrified.

The newly created woman began to examine her body, seeing things that 
shouldn't have been there.  "I'm a guy, this is impossible ... what's going 
on?"  She got out of bed.  If she realized she was naked, she made no 
indication of it.  She nearly tipped herself over.  She wasn't ready for the 
new weight on the front of her chest.  She ran to the bathroom, where a soft 
scream was heard a few seconds later.  She went to her bedroom next, and 
found all the clothes that she had bought were now girl's clothes.  She went 
back to the living room.  "What's happened to my life?"

Shelly scowled.  "Jamie, are you really all right?  What's your problem?"

"I'm not a girl, I'm a guy.  I was born a guy and I've always been a guy.  
Now, I'm my own vision of beauty."

Tom and Shelly exchanged looks.  Tom was dying on the inside, but 
couldn't make any outward admittance to it.  "Jamie," Tom said.  "How 
much did you have to drink last night."

"Stop calling me that!"

Shelly spoke up.  "James, maybe you should come back to bed, I bet I can 
make you feel better."

Tom realized that changing James had turned he and Shelly into lesbian 
lovers ... he wondered where Marcia fit in to all this.  Tom watched James 
walk back to bed, holding a hand on each breast to keep them from bouncing 
too much.  Tom took the hair spray bottle out of his pocket and walked into 
the kitchen.  Stripping naked, he looked at the bottle, then to the door to the 
living room.  He sprayed himself over and over again.  Not being able to see 
the changes, he could only feel them.  His face restructuring, a tickling on the 
back of his neck as his hair grew.  He saw the boobs on his chest expand to a 
size just smaller than Jamie's.  His waist shrank as his hips began to expand.  
His penis retracted, shifting form into a vagina, and his body hair all but 
disappeared, save for a bit of his pubic hair that reformed into a small 
triangle.  He smiled and stepped back into the living room.  "You girls 
weren't going to start without me, were you?"

Shelly looked up.  "You, Shannon?  Since when?"

"Since I decided to try something new."

Jamie still looked lost and confused, trying to sort out what was going on.

"Well," Shelly said.  "I've never had a threesome before."

"And I've never had one with two other girls."

"I'm not a girl."

Shannon climbed onto the fold-out with them.  The wizard was enjoying this 
spectacle, he had been right about Tom.  The boy was a practical joker and he 
had done about what he'd expected.  He'd have to keep his eye on that boy in 
the future.  After all, a wizard could only play practical jokes with no one to 
appreciate them for so long.  Maybe, someday, he'd take on an apprentice.

-fin-