You hear the machine make a dull thunk as the plastic container drops into the slot, and open the metal cover. A small clear container falls out of the slot into your waiting hand, and you quickly pop it open to see what you received for your 50 cents. It's not like you expect to get anything special, but you'll waste change on stuff like this when you're bored, especially when you've swiped that change from your big brother.
"Why do I always get jewelry?" you gripe as you spot the dull-looking ring inside. It's almost as if the machine thinks you're one of those girly-girls who'll wear all sorts of random trinkets. As you pull the ring out and hold it up, you see some symbols on it, which to you vaguely look like the Mars and Venus symbols used to denote gender. Other than that, it looks like a crummy piece of metal. "Oh well," you sigh as you jam it on your pinky and trudge home.
As you enter, you see your older brother Zach dumping his baseball gear near the door. He's 16, just old enough to be annoying. He didn't used to be that way; as a matter of fact, you always used to tag along with him everywhere, even when he and his pals would play sports, he'd even pick you for his team. Not just to be a goody-goody brother, but because he knew even though you were his younger sister by two years, you could out-play any boy on the field. However, now things were different.
"I'm meeting the guys at four tomorrow, mom! We got the diamond for two hours!" Zach yells from the hall back to the kitchen, then spots you coming in.
"Sounds fun, can I play too?" you proffer somewhat hesitantly, fairly sure of the response.
"Sorry, shrimp!" Zach reaches out and messes up your hair roughly, smirking. "Guys only, you know that!" Annoyed, you push him aside and stomp up the stairs to your room. Slamming the door behind you, you flop onto the bed.
It's not like you hated being a girl; in a sense, you didn't really care. It was just the way things were. But it annoyed you when people tried to make you do things or stop you from doing things just because you were a girl. Just because you didn't do the dress and makeup thing, didn't mean you didn't like being a girl. But you hated being treated like a "girl," especially when Zach started doing it.
"I wish I WAS a guy," you growl into your pillow.
A few hours later, you drowsily realize you fell asleep in your clothes, and the room is dark. Groggily, you slide out of bed and lurch towards your bathroom, feeling odd and achy. You squint as you turn the lights on and step towards the toilet, dropping your pants.
That's when you see something. Something that shouldn't be there.
"What the..." you mutter, your voice sounding odd to your ears. Still half asleep, you look up at the bathroom mirror, only to have the shock of your life. Staring back at you is...