Leaves crunched underneath her feet, the October air had a slight bite to it, whilst all about were signs of the Hallowe'en holiday, which was only two and half weeks away. Shifting her backpack with one hand, Tess idly kicked at the leaves on the sidewalk as she walked home. Not paying attention to where she was going, her mind on other matters, she walked the same way she did to and from school on autopilot, her other hand in her coat pocket, tracing the outlines of the amulet.
She had told herself that she would have her answer by the end of winterm break. That she would decide on whether it was better to remain as Tess or go back to being Drake. Yet, it hadn't happened like that and she had actually forgot about the amulet until about July, when Cecilia had finally convinced to wear a bikini. Feeling exposed, like she was about in public in only her bra and underwear, it had somehow reminded her of the amulet, what it had done and what it could do. Thinking about it then, she had almost went to look for it, to change back, not liking the the idea of showing off her body, even though her mother, Cecilia, and Cecilia's aunt all insisted she was very pretty and should wear a bikini more often.
But the bikini wasn't the only thing that reminded once more of the amulet. About two months later, she and Cecilia had tried something new in their relationship and it still was ingrained in her memory of what they had done. Up until the point of what they tried, their relationship had been mostly holding hands, kissing every so often, sleeping next to each other, or what they considered sex, which was mostly them pawing at each other, partially clothed, or at least down to their bras and underwear, kissing each other, and breathing heavily. But not that time. Thinking back, Tess found she could still recall the feeling of Cecilia's hand in her button up blouse, clumsily grasping at her breast, her own hand fondling one of Cecilia's breasts, which were almost a C cup, then, after some time, in which both had ended up naked, their clothes tossed carelessly to the side, Cecilia brought out something new. Something that was pink, had a tapered end and slight ribbing to it.
The memory still fresh, Tess could easily remember the slight pinched feeling when Cecilia had inserted the dildo in her, the gasp of first shock, then pleasure as the other girl stimulated her, and then Cecilia bringing out a second dildo and giving it to her, inviting her to the do the same which had been to her. Shuddering at the memory, but not because it had been bad, but because she had enjoyed it, Tess thought about how Cecilia's mom had caught them and, after giving them a talk, explained she was at least happy that they had decided to have sex with each other and not some boy, a comment that had left both of them embarrassed and giggly.
"It what seems right," Tess muttered to herself as she thought about the idea of having sex with a guy and found that she wasn't the least bit interested and that her compass point swung toward girls.
Her backpack again slipped down off the one shoulder and again she shifted it with one hand, then stopped and stared up at the leaves. The trees still semi-covered, everything in a riot of colours, Tess thought that these two weren't the only things that had reminded her of the amulet. The big thing, she decided, the one thing that actually made truly considered turning back into Drake, was what she had discovered last month, when she had had her fifteenth birthday.
The day had started out like it normally would. She'd gotten up, got ready and went to school. And afterward, she went out to dinner with her mom, whom she realised, now that she was Tess, that it seemed she was a lot closer to. It was only after she got home that she made a startling discovery, which she felt she should have noticed before and wondered why she hadn't. Putting the leftovers in the fridge, she glanced absently over at the calendar, almost looked away, but then stopped and truly looked at it. Up until that point, she had always assumed that was only that she had gone from being a thirty-six and male to thirteen and female. But now, looking at the calendar, she understood it was more then simply she that had been changed, but that, somehow, the years had been rewound and it was, from a weird perspective, actually a little over twenty years in the past.
Startled by this, she stumbled away and out of the kitchen, bid her mom goodnight and headed for her room. There, for the first time in she didn't know how long, she took out the amulet. Staring at the thing, thinking it was completely ludicrous, but that it had somehow happened that she had been flung back into the past, she asked herself whether it would undo this time jump if she chose to become Drake. Thinking about it, idly playing with the talisman, seriously considering trying it, Tess eventually got up, set the amulet aside and instead focused on other pressing matters, like the homework she needed to finish.
But she hadn't fully let go of the idea of using the amulet to go back to being Drake and had taken to carrying it around in either her coat pocket or in her backpack. Now, thinking about it, feeling it pressing into her hand, the way it felt when her fingers traced the design on it, Tess, found herself also recalling the last time she had considered changing back, back in December. Then, she still had the last vestiges of a boy's penis, something that only she could see and which tied her to whom she had once been. But now, now she didn't even have that. At some point, the last of Drake's masculinity had morphed and she had become fully female.
"Something I actually like," she muttered as she kicked at some leaves, then began walking, finding as she did, her problem wasn't still resolved.
She had no idea if she had found what she had been looking for when she had been Drake. Vaguely, she knew it had something to do with the difference between boys and girls, men and women. But what, she was at a loss. Stopping again, she huffed in agitation, "Maybe what is needed is a finality to everything," and taking the amulet out of her coat, she peered at it and asked herself, "Tess? Or Drake?"
A sense like she was about to drop down into one of those points of indecision that sometimes, but rarely, came over her as she stared at the talisman. Frustrated, she made another huffing noise and before she could change her mind, Tess flung the amulet away, announcing, "I'm Tess. I'm a girl. For once in my life, I'm happy," and turning away, certain she had made the right choice, she continued on her way, forgetting the amulet after some time, her mind drifting to the homework she needed to do, what her mom might have for dinner, and the possibility of hanging out with Cecilia later.
---
The amulet sailed a fair ways, bounced, then rolled into the gutter. Leaves blew over it until it was partially obscured, with only a glint of sunlight bouncing off the metal every so often to reveal there was something there, in the gutter, in this part of town that was near the outskirts of town. Cars zipped by every so often, an hour or so slipped by, and eventually voices could be heard. Someone exclaiming, "Hey what's this?" and then a hand reached down, brushed away the detritus, and picked up the amulet.