Jake bit his lip and thought about it.
“What will I do to you?” Jake asked.
Chris considered the question and looked to Jake’s left. Jake followed suit.
To Jake’s surprise, and embarrassment, someone else was standing there in the bathroom. It was Mark, Chris’s football teammate. He was standing there in just his boxers, his beefy chest and wide shoulders on full display. His impressive arms were folded in concern. Jake didn’t know how to process someone else hearing him rant about the town curse like it was real.
“Any ideas?” Chris asked him. Mark thought about it for a moment.
“Jake, are you different from how you were yesterday?” Mark asked. Jake nodded. “Should it be obvious to the two of us?” Jake nodded again. Mark looked to Chris. “He dares you to notice. Then we can more easily figure out what is going on and maybe reverse it.”
Chris looked to Jake and asked, “Sound good?”
Jake nodded. He took a deep breath and asked, “Chris, transform or dare?”
“Dare.”
Suddenly, it was as if Jake’s mouth went on autopilot and acted without his permission, “I dare you to recognize the changes happening, but you cannot stop the changes.” When Jake stopped speaking, he started to panic. “I don’t know why I said that! Chris, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!”
“Jake, it’s okay,” Mark said, also kneeling down. “It was probably another part of your dare.” He looked to Chris. “Chris, you okay?”
Chris stared at Mark. He then looked at Jake. He looked at his own body. He felt his bare chest and his jeans.
“What happened to my shirt?” he asked. He looked up. “And why are you two in just your boxers?”
“What?” Jake asked. He looked down and was shocked to see his own shirtless torso. “When did I lose my shirt?!”
Mark frowned and looked from one to the other. “Hang on, I thought the changes were just to Jake.”
“I didn’t say what they were,” Jake said. He took a deep breath. No going back now. “The whole world is changing. Whoever cursed me used the curse to make the whole world gay, naked, male, and behave sexually with each other.”
“Oh my god, I made out with our dad!” Chris moaned, putting his face in his hands. “I can’t believe I did that!”
Mark decided that commenting on how hot that sounded was not a good idea at the moment, so he stayed quiet.
“The first time I noticed something was wrong was when you said that Chris’s dick was tasty,” Jake remarked. “Instead of saying something about her pussy or something.” Chris paused and lowered his hands. He looked at Mark.
“And I was in the middle of talking about Christie,” Chris said. “My girlfriend.” But the way he said sounded bizarre. Mark’s eyebrows shot up, seemingly understanding what Chris was saying. Jake did not and looked questioningly at his brother. Chris sighed. He smiled at Mark and shrugged his shoulders.
“Jake, I don’t have a girlfriend,” Chris said.
“Most likely she’s a he, now,” Jake remarked. “It’s really–“
“No,” Chris interrupted. “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t have a girlfriend this morning, or yesterday, or last week, last month, or last year.” He sighed. “Jake, this is Mark. He is my boyfriend and has been for the past two years.”
Jake looked from his brother to Mark and back. “Really? You’re actually gay?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah. I was afraid to say anything since Mom and Dad were so, you know. And I wasn’t sure whether or not to say anything to you.”
“I see,” Jake remarked. Interesting that his brother kept his boyfriend from one reality to the next.
“So, being gay, that’s a contentious topic?” Mark asked. Chris nodded. “Understandable.”
“Homosexuality wouldn’t be an issue now, I guess,” Jake said.
Mark sighed. “Monogamy is.” Chris and Jake looked at him with confusion. “The reason why you didn’t tell your family about the two of us is that we don’t have sex with anyone else. That isn’t a popular notion here.” The three of them were quiet for a moment. Chris scooted over on the floor and sat next to Mark. The pair held hands and smiled at each other.
Jake coughed. “Anyway, back to the town curse issue?”
Startled, Chris said, “Oh right!” He opened his mouth, presumably to repeat the curse back to Jake, but instead Chris says, “Mark, transform or dare?”