In disbelief, Jeff clutched for his cellphone and pulled up the calculator. Punching in the number -- 168 hours -- he did the maths to figure out how long that actually was in days. The answer was seven. Seven days.
A week.
He was stuck this way for another WEEK!
Just when things had finally been looking up, the stupid Chronivac had pulled this bullshit on him! He hadn't even struck it hard -- barely a whack to the casing -- and then it went and did THAT? What was it made of, paper? Why was such a powerful piece of electronics so fragile and prone to malfunctions?
Jeff didn't know, and thinking about it just made him angrier. He pulled up his pants, not wanting to look at the offending body part any longer, and sat down to focus on his homework. Anything to distract him, anything to detract from the complete failure that pervaded his emotions. Ironically, his irritation worked wonders for his study, and by the time his mom called him down for dinner a couple of hours later, Jeff had finished everything, plus the extra credit items he didn't need to complete.
His mood was so bad that he barely talked over the meal, only enough to satisfy the questions of his parents and keep them off his back. After helping with the dishes, Jeff went back upstairs and watched some clips of random funny stuff on the internet, but it didn't do much to make him feel better. He tried playing some games too, with similar results. Finally, he needed to use the bathroom before bed, which Jeff did with some reluctance. All the happiness, the good feelings it had given him -- they were pushed out, leaving only irritation and anger, and forcing the positivity away. He even avoided looking down, wanting to prevent his brain engaging with the evidence of his additional week's worth of punishment, but that same brain was intent on betraying him too. It happily and willingly provided explanations, imagery, and commentary for everything going on below.
That soft round thing you're gripping? Yeah, that's a breast you have for a crotch. Did you know you're peeing out of it right now? You can hold quite a lot, too. Do you feel that? That's urine dripping from the nipple. You should probably clean that up. This would definitely be easier with a penis, though, right?
Argh! Wiping the cursed thing down, Jeff stuffed it into his boxers and stomped off to bed. The soft mound of flesh pushed at the fly as he squirmed about getting comfortable, wishing his mind would just be quiet, and leave his tortured conscience to get some rest.
Why was this happening to him?!
Wednesday was another school day, not much different from Tuesday, and Jeff sleepwalked his way through it. From one class to the next, he mooched his path through the day, feeling downtrodden and somewhat depressed. Basically invisible, he avoided the few friends he had, did the activities required of him, and received the quiet remarks of praise from his teachers for diligence.
Thursday rolled by in much the same manner. Even gym class didn't feature in Jeff's notice, as the coach was running another hands-off lesson about the benefits of physical fitness. Before he knew it, school was done, and he was blindly, and still bitterly, going through the motions of home life and family conversation. Just like the last two nights, he went to bed, his confidence and morale at an all-time low.
Then, Friday.
With no school, Jeff woke late and spent some time staring at the ceiling before he got out of bed. The rest of his family were gone already, Jack to school, his dad to work, and his mom out with Josh. What should have been a day that he was looking forward to a great deal, was instead nerve-wracking. He was going to spend it with his crush, but instead of being a 'normal' boy, thanks to the stupid Chronivac and his own impatience, he ... wasn't.
Not by a long shot.
Getting up, Jeff resolved that he had to play it cool. He could still make it out of this unscathed, he just had to be careful and not get too close with Brianna, but not push her away either. He could make this work! It was going to be a balancing act, but he was determined not to mess things up with this girl -- to him, she was amazing, and worth the effort.
He took a shower -- ignoring his crotch but for the quickest cleaning -- and fixed his hair, put on some nice clothes, and a little cologne. Most of all, he spent quite a lot of time adjusting the bra-cup, making sure it was as stable and secure as humanly possible. Satisfied, he took a look at himself in the mirror, put on a smile and gave himself a quick pep talk.
You can do this. Don't worry about what's wrong! Just ... spend time with her and have fun!
Then, caught somewhere between fearful and cautiously optimistic, Jeff left the house and walked three doors down to the Fergusons.
Just like him, Brianna was the only one at home, and she answered the door moments after he knocked. Her face lit up when she saw him, and she smiled widely and motioned him inside.
"Hey! I was waiting for you to show, and I'm glad you did!" Without waiting for him to respond, she grabbed his hand, and began to lead him through the house, visibly happy to see him. "Let me give you a tour."
First the upstairs, that he had mostly seen at the party the previous Saturday, followed by the downstairs -- kitchen, lounge, office space, laundry, bathroom. Then, a basement floor, which had a mini-den of its own with a sofa, a big shaggy rug and a TV setup, as well as a pool table, a dartboard, and a ping-pong table.
There was a momentary disappointment as Brianna let go of his hand -- Jeff had been very much enjoying the touch -- but then she was grabbing two paddles, and she held one out to him, waggling it expectantly. "You know how to play?"
"Um, yeah. I do." Grinning, he took it from her and they moved to opposite ends of the table. "I might be a bit rusty though."
"Give it your best." She flashed a teasing smile, her dimples showing, and his breath caught. "I'm not going to go easy on you."
She didn't, either. Her longer red-brown hair tied back, Brianna was quick and graceful, her shots accurate and speedy. She wasn't super serious about the competition though, and before long both of them were laughing as they played, even as she handily beat him in the first game, then the second. The practice helped, and by the third he drew even with her, and then managed to eke out a win on the tiebreaking point.
Collapsing onto the sofa, the two of them took a rest. "For somebody who's rusty, you sure picked it up again quickly." Brianna's compliment was like music to him, and she slid closer on the sofa, nudging his shoulder. "I'm kinda impressed. My asshole little brother is usually the only one who can challenge me."
For a moment shocked to hear that language coming from her, she giggled at Jeff's surprised face. "I love Tim, but he can really be a little shit sometimes. My parents would have very stern words if they heard me talk about him that way, but it's true. What about you -- you've got two brothers, right? I remember when the older one was born, we were like, six or seven, right?"
She remembered that?! Maybe Brianna had noticed him and his life more than Jeff thought, if she'd cared enough to recall details about his family. It made him feel warm, and gave him butterflies inside.
"Yeah, I was six when mom had Jack." Jeff nodded. "He's the same as your brother. At the age where he does a lot of stupid stuff because he thinks its cool, but underneath he probably means well. Just has a strange way of showing it."
"I know, right? I'm just dreading the day he grows a foot taller and starts obsessing about football and girls. Dad would probably be over the moon, but me? Uck, no thanks. I'll pass on all the dumb macho stereotypes." Brianna's eyes flicked across his face, and she smiled shyly. "At least you're not like that."
Jeff's breath caught -- is she flirting with me?!
Before he could think further, she continued on, changing topic. "Hey, I'll go prepare some snacks and drinks in the kitchen. You wait down here and find something in the DVD collection you wanna watch. Sound cool?"
"Yeah, it does."
With that, Brianna was away, bouncing up the stairs out of the basement. Relieved, Jeff sat back on the sofa and smiled softly to himself. This was going better than he thought! Just the two of them, and she was so easy to talk to, attractive, sweet, friendly, and best of all -- he was SURE she liked him back! There was only one small issue -- the ping-pong match had made his well-insulated crotch a bit sweaty and a little itchy, plus the strenuous activity had nudged the cup into an awkward position where it was caught slightly out of place, the straps tighter than he wanted.
Then he remembered! There was aloe in Brianna's bathroom! What if- ... what if he made a quick trip up, wiped down his sweaty crotch and fixed the cup? He could do it all without bothering her!
Decision made, Jeff stood, making his way stealthily up the stairs to the ground floor. He could hear her moving around in the kitchen, so he continued on up to the second floor and slipped into the bathroom. Closing the door quietly but firmly behind himself, he quickly stripped off his pants, then removed the cup. It would only take a second, and then he'd be good for the rest of his visit! Pulling off a wad of toilet paper, Jeff wiped the sweat off his groin, then applied a tiny dab of lotion, which instantly soothed the itching.
All set! Now, to get dressed, and-
With zero warning, the door handle clicked, and the door swung open, Brianna stepping into what she thought was an unoccupied bathroom.
In the middle of it, pantsless and facing her, was Jeff.
She blanched, for a second about to apologise and turn away, but then she saw him -- really saw him -- and stopped dead.
Staring.
Petrified, his mind exploding into a mess of confused fragments, Jeff couldn't move, nor speak. He stayed rooted to the spot in complete terror.
This couldn't be happening. No way ... it just COULDN'T be happening!
"Is that, uh, um-" she spoke, stumbling over her words, her eyes fixed to his middle, "is that ... a breast?"
"I- ... I, um- ... I c-can- ... it's-" His voice came out in broken pieces, not conveying anything meaningful.
His fear seemed to snap her out of whatever kind of trance she was in, and without a beat, she reached for the towel on the railing, pulled it free, and handed it to him. Shakily, Jeff took it and clutched it to his crotch, while she calmly reached past and took his pants and the bra off the counter, keeping her voice and expression carefully neutral. "Come on. Let's go talk in my room."
They moved through and sat on her bed, and Jeff's bare legs were so unsteady that he hardly made it. She had kept hold of his pants and the cup, seeming to want to talk before she gave them back, but all he could think about was how she hadn't screamed at him yet, and demanded that he get his freaky ass out of her family's house.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
"So, um ... how?" She frowned, looking more confused than upset, or disgusted. "How are you like this?"
His voice nearly breaking, hoarse, he told her, briefly. About an accident with this reality-changing device called the Chronivac. About how it had locked him into his transformation. About how he tried to fix it, but it had only added more time.
"That's ... amazing. I've never heard of anything like this Chronivac, but, now that I think -- that was why, wasn't it? At the party, you were self-conscious. It wasn't some weird skin condition or phobia or anything, it was just- ... this, causing you to freak out. Right?" Her expression went from thoughtful to sympathetic, and Jeff could scarcely believe his eyes and ears.
Was she REALLY this level-headed, this cool about it? No shouting, no loathing, no judgement, no derisive laughter.
She was just accepting it, calmly and rationally, and treating him like ... a person?
Wordless, he nodded, and she bit her lip, looking oddly sad.
"It's fucked up that you have to be scared of that happening. Why should anyone care about this, accident or not?" Swallowing slowly, she reached over and gingerly touched the edge of the towel where it was bunched up protectively in front of his crotch. "Would- ... would you mind if I saw it? I'm kinda, um ... curious."
She tugged at it, just a little, a clear questioning look that wanted confirmation it was okay, and Jeff didn't stop her. Once again he was in disbelief at how everything was swinging from good to bad like a gigantic pendulum, so fast that he wasn't sure where he was. The towel pulled away, and there it was, sitting exposed again.
Brianna gazed at it, taking the sight in. "It's ... just a breast. A normal one." Then a hint of humour crept into her tone, and her speech began to ease up again, returning to normal as the shock of it all began to fade. "A little bigger than mine, actually. Should I be jealous? Seriously though, if you're thinking I'm gonna tell anyone your secret -- don't. I'm surprised -- like really really surprised, and who wouldn't be -- but ... I don't hate you or anything. I just feel ... curious. Can- ... can I touch it?"
Before he could so much as breathe a word -- and he wasn't even sure he wanted to stop her -- she extended her right hand, and delicately brushed a fingertip over it.
The feeling was super-soft and nearly ticklish. It was only a few moments, Brianna's index finger trailing under the sensitive areola in a semi-circle to the right, pressing ever so slightly into the spongy flesh, before she pulled it away. Yet, those seconds were burned into Jeff's brain, the impossibility of them, but how perfect and gentle it had been.
"Sorry!" She immediately apologised, and abruptly handed his pants and the cup to him. "I- ... I shouldn't have touched you like that without permission. I shouldn't be interrogating you either. I wasn't thinking, this is new, but that's no excuse. That really wasn't cool, and-"
"Brianna." His voice was a sort of croak, still finding it hard to speak, but he quickly pulled on the cup first, and then his pants. She didn't hide her interest at watching him don the bra, the novelty of it catching her imagination, even as he responded. "You haven't treated me like a mutant, and I'm, um ... really grateful. I thought my life would be ruined if anyone found out -- especially you!"
"Especially me?"
"Y-Yeah. Especially you. I was so nervous when I came over here, because I didn't want to lie to you. So, um, you can ask questions, because ... I- ... ... trust you."
"Jeff," she stared at him, and then just blurted it out, plain and simple. "I like you. I mean, ... not just as friends, but I LIKE like you. Y'know, as more than that."
He was finished pulling the pants closed, fingers fiddling with the zip. "Uh, um, w-w-wow." What was going on? First she saw him, now this?! His brain felt like it was fried from all the whiplash of emotions. "I- ... well, I like you too! Very much!"
"You were okay being so honest with me, I thought it was only fair I share my secret with you too. That makes us even." She blushed, and it was exciting to Jeff's addled mind to see her as rattled as him, and not the positive self-assured girl she normally was. "So," she went on, her voice soft, "why don't we just go back to what we were doing, and talk about all this serious stuff some other time? I don't want to waste our day together by spilling all the deepest darkest mysteries and closeted skeletons. We should have fun, and we can leave this for another day."
"Didn't you say you were making snacks and drinks?" Jeff's courage was picking up, and Brianna ran with it. Standing, she nodded vigorously and now excited, she grabbed his hand like when he had arrived, and pulled him along. With that, they were heading back downstairs, and for maybe the first time ever, the gentle bobbing motion of the crotch-breast inside the cup didn't bother him in the slightest. Stopping in the kitchen on the way to collect the refreshments, the pair continued back to the basement to enjoy the rest of their afternoon.
For the next couple of hours, that's what they did -- watch DVDs, drink and eat, make jokes, and talk about all kinds of random stuff. Though a part of Jeff's head was stuck in the earlier feelings of dumbfounded incredulity that this had not only happened, but also NOT destroyed his reputation and pride utterly, there was another part that was liberated.
She knew, and she didn't care.
It didn't bother Brianna at all, and she had, once again, made a big effort to make sure he felt okay
Even better, she LIKED him.
His crush was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, and by the end of the afternoon when she told him her parents would be home soon, Jeff thought he might be head over heels in love. He wasn't sure if this what it felt like to be in love, but the emotions were very intense. At the door, Brianna hugged him briefly, her own breasts pressing against him, and she told him she had a great time, and that they definitely had to do it again. Then she said she didn't regret anything -- emphasising the word 'anything' quite heavily -- before darting forward to kiss him on the cheek, and then quickly shutting the door.
Walking home, Jeff felt like he was floating on air.
The rest of the afternoon and into the evening, nothing could break his mood. Not his little brother's attempts at pranking, nor his mom's usual strictness, nor anything really. It got even better when his phone buzzed later, as he was getting ready for bed, with a text from Brianna.
-Hey, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but I wanted to ask, do you want to go to the mall tomorrow at like, 11? I noticed your bra was the wrong size. We can get you something nice that fits better? :)
Exhilarated, and with a touch of happy anxiety, he sent back a single word answer:
-Yes!