"Aren't you a little old to be attending a sleepover?" asked John. He knew that young girls often had slumber parties with their friends, but it seemed a bit childish for a seventeen year old girl.
"That's the point. It's supposed to be cool to act like a kid again. You know, nostalgic and all that stuff," said Amy with sigh. "Besides, I don't really care what the theme is supposed to be - I am just glad to be invited for a change. But I don't really want to go alone. Will you go with me ... please?"
John was a little surprised that Amy had been invited, too. He and Amy had always been the outsiders, looking in at all the cool kids having fun while they were excluded. Amy and John were not outcasts, bullied by the more popular kids. They were just ignored for being too normal and average. Amy wasn't ugly, but her tomboyish behavior and manner of dress had kept her off the radar of the good looking guys and trendy girls.
It was kind of a shock when Amy was invited to attend the slumber party. Amy wasn't stupid - she didn't entirely trust that she had been invited in good faith. She suspected that maybe the other girls were up to something, some way to tease and humiliate her. Still, she couldn't resist the chance to finally make friends with some other girls. John was a good friend, but he was her only friend. So she asked John to come with her.
"I don't know, " said John, fumbling with the strange medallion in his hand.
Amy had told him that the medallion would allow him to change into a girl. He just had to touch it a piece of clothing worn by a girl then he would change into a copy of her. Or he could use an unworn piece of clothing designed for a girl and his body would adjust to fit it, becoming the woman he would have been if he had been born a girl. Amy assured him it was only temporary - he could change back to his old body after 12 hours. John wasn't sure if he really believed her - he thought that maybe Amy was playing a practical joke on him - but he was still hesitant to use the medallion.
"Come on. Don't tell me you never wanted to attend a girl's slumber party. Isn't that every guy's fantasy?" asked Amy.
John said nothing and just continued to stare at the medallion. Amy sighed again, brushing the curly locks of her red hair behind her ear, revealing the freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. Amy was ashamed of her freckles and kept her hair long to hide them, despite John's protests that they made her look cute.
"Sarah will be there. You can spend some time with her, one on one, maybe get some inside information," said Amy a little sadly.
John's eyes lit up. Sarah was his dream girl. He had been pining over her for over a year, endlessly talking about her to Amy, watching her in secret, too nervous to ask her out. But if Amy was telling the truth, this might be the perfect opportunity to get close to her.
"Okay, I'll do it," said John with excitement.
"Thought so. You'll do anything for her, " said Amy roughly.
John looked closely at her. Was Amy jealous? He thought Amy was pretty and a really nice girl. But they had been friends since they were kids. It would be like dating his sister or something. But did she want something more? John didn't know how to address the issue. Luckily he didn't have to - Amy had moved on and was pulling out bundles of clothes.
"So how does this work?" asked John.
"You just touch the medallion to a piece of clothing. The magic will take care of the rest," said Amy.
"And these are my choices?" asked John, looking over the clothes.
Amy nodded.
"Yup. These are my cousin's clothes - I could just tell them you were in town visiting and I couldn't leave you home alone. Or you could use Mandy's spare uniform - she was invited but won't be able to attend so you can take her place. I bought a few exotic clothes from the used clothing store - you could try this Japanese school girl uniform and pretend to be an exchange student. Most of the rest of the stuff hasn't been worn by anyone else. I'll leave it up to you to choose. But you have to hurry or we will be late for the party," said Amy.
John looked over his choices. It might be safest to be Amy's relative. But Mandy was also a tempting choice. She was the star of the girl's soccer team and a bit of a tomboy like Amy. It wouldn't be too hard to imitate her. The Japanese schoolgirl outfit seemed the riskiest, but it might also be the most fun.
Amy waited impatiently for John to choose. He finally selected .....