Steve walked into his office building in an uncomfortable pair of heels, a tight blue skirt, and a top that matched perfectly, at least according to Janet. He could barely look anybody in the eyes as he walked inside. He knew how everyone saw him, but he couldn't get over the fact that he was still wearing women's clothing.
As he walked, he glanced over at a mirror in the hall, and all he saw was an attractive middle aged woman walking along in a girlish manner. He knew he was walking like he always was, but apparently that was also changed for everyone else. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when he walked up to the front desk to sign in.
"Morning Steph!" The receptionist Samantha happily greeted. "How was your vacation?" She asked.
Steve was thrown off at first, as he had never told the receptionist about their trip. They also never talked much, so it was odd for her to be so friendly. Steve figure that "Stephanie" must be friends with her, so he had to play along.
"Oh it was... interesting." Steve replied, not exactly lying.
"Let me guess, the kids were rough right?" She joked. "Don't worry, I'm sure Jake will give you 'some stress' relief tonight." She smirked.
Steve's face turned red and he wanted to gag but resisted and gave a fake laugh with Sam. Steve just quickly swiped in with his card and walked down the hall, giving a little wave as he did so. He walked into the elevator and as soon as the doors closed he leaned against the wall and groaned. He couldn't believe it. He was only there for a few minutes and he already wanted to leave.
He walked out of the elevator and saw the same faces he always saw. All his coworkers seemed the same, which weirdly made Steve feel better. With his life changing so oddly, it was kind of nice to have some sameness. That feeling quickly went away, however, as Steve realized he was no longer friends with the men in the office.
He was about to say hi to his buddy dave but Dave just gave a political nod and walked on by. Then behind him, another coworker Emily walked up and began blabbing away about her weekend and this guy she was seeing. Steve had always seen how much Emily blabbed and was always glad they weren't friends so he never had to deal with it. "I guess this is karma." He thought as he feigned interest in her day.
The rest of the day went mostly better. He sat down at his slightly neater than normal desk and got to work. Thankfully his job was still the same so it was mostly a normal work day besides lunch. He ended up sitting with his female co-workers and they mostly gossiped the entire time.
By the end of the day, Steve had had just about enough. He had wanted to wait so they didn't risk ruining their lives further, but after a lot of thought and a lot of gossip he was forced to hear, he was already through waiting. He got home to find his family all waiting for his return.
"What's going on here?" Steve asked.
"Your kids have something to say." Janet said.
"Dad please!" Alan begged. "Today was awful. I barely made it through each period without tearing this stupidly long hair out, I can't survive the whole week!"
"Yeah daddy!" Megan chimed in. "Please don't make me. All the boys talk about gross stuff I hate it."
"Kids I'm sorry you hate it but you heard what your dad said last night, we all ha-" Janet began before Steve dropped his purse.
"Okay, it's settled then. Let's try the book." He announced.
"What?!" Janet yelled while the kids cheered. "Steve, I've barely begun my research. I figured out a language related to this one but it's ancient so I've been slowly trying to translate it. I haven't even figured out the title yet, let alone how to change us back."
"I agreed with you last night, but honestly I think we can risk it. Even if doing the same as last time doesn't fix it, then we still have the damned thing. We'll just keep trying till it works." He explained.
Janet watched in confusion as Steve lifted the book once again.
"I hope you realize how terrible this could be." Janet warned.
"Who cares Mom!?" Alan yelled. "I just don't want to be a stupid cheerleader."
"Calm down everyone." Steve commanded as he opened the pages. "Here goes nothing."
The book flashed its bright light as the family was once again temporarily blinded. Reality altered yet again.