Like all of her attempts at searching the Internet for information regarding ACTUAL magic, or any sort of magic, wish granting gemstone, this morning's cursory search once again presented Jocelyn with nothing more than a bunch of links leading to DeviantArt TG captions and comics or story archives like Fictionmania. Hell there was even a site where a bunch of different people could write CYOA stories involving switching genders via magic.
"Oh Internet, you're still just as weird as ever" Josie said to herself, reaching behind her mane of red hair and grabbing her pumpkin spice and taking another sip of it before once again expertly setting it back down in reverse. She let out a heavy sigh, ignored the jiggle of her breasts and let her phone drop against their pillow-like masses as she stared into the dimly lit ceiling. Her daily life was...busy wasn't really an accurate description, and she'd learned to take the little moments of peace where she could. After the Davis-Kazinskis departed for school or work, it was a whirlwind that didn't slow down until some time between 8-10pm. Then she did homework until around midnight and depending on how exhausted she was, Jocelyn would either resume her search or pass out in her large bed.
More often than not, she passed out, leading to rogue nights like last night where she was able to sneak an hour of non-social online activity that left her disrupting the morning schedule like she had this morning.
But she was back home. At least her original home. And even then it was more like the general vicinity of. They moved here eight years ago, and her grandparents lived in the gated community on the edge of Shermer (which was practically a different town all-together). Shermer had always had it's different class districts, it had a large enough population of around twenty-six thousand inhabitants that social and wealth stratification was bound to happen. And they were just far enough away from Chicago for the super wealthy to feel properly secluded yet still close enough that the (often corrupt) politics and social events of the metropolis could be easily accessed. Like the Ingermans and the cosmic irony that had befallen Jocelyn in that department. Then there had been the upper-middle and the pseudo-rich neighborhood nearby. The Strassermans, back when she had been one (on both sides of the gender fence) were comfortably middle class, close to the high school that she now attended again. And then to the south was the 'poor' section of town, Old Shermer and the Shermer Fields trailer court.
Getting used to how everything was the same, yet different had thrown Jocelyn for a loop, not that she was able to show it in front of her mother. Seeing her old house had nearly brought her to tears, walking through the school again, even that goddamn park where EVERYTHING had gone so impossibly wrong.
But there wasn't anything that a ten year old was able to do about it, so she just cried later in her new bedroom, in the big new house that was now as familiar as the skin she wore now. But eventually the strangeness faded as well. There was temporary acceptance of her fate but Jocelyn wasn't giving up. She KNEW the Stone was still out there. It never vanished from reality from any of the other wishes so it HAD to be out there somewhere.
But for now Josie was just going to rest her eyes for a few moments. She closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling her curvy body sink into the impossibly plushy cushions of the couch, the world outside still growing lighter, the lesser warmth of the open room and the smell of her expresso.
...
"Room service!" Her father's booming voice thundered, and Jocelyn's eyes snapped open as the smell of, ugh, low fat turkey bacon filled her nostrils. She stared at the loaded plate and the glass of orange juice situated precariously on it and then up at the posed form of her dad; whose muscled arm wrapped around his back and a paper towel draped across his other as he held the plate as if he was a butler. Which they'd had at one point before Roland's self-respect and desire to do things himself had led them to bid farewell to Ol' Jeeves.
"You're supposed to let a lady rest. It's called beauty sleep" Jocelyn said curtly, but couldn't hide the soft giggle at the end as she pulled herself into a seated position and reached for the plate.
"Huh. Guess you and your mom must be narcoleptic then" Roland said with a wink before casting a serious look off towards the kitchen. He reached forward and knocked the top layer of the turkey bacon away, revealing a couple slices of actual real bacon resting beneath.
Jocelyn's eyes grew wide with surprise.
"Happy birthday, Firecracker! Do NOT tell your mother. And maybe eat them first and hide the evidence. I can't be tried with no evidence" Her father whispered as he slid down on the couch beside her.
"Thanks, dad" Josie said as she fought back the urge to drool. She shuffled a few more strips of the low fat bacon out of the way and began to munch on the true bacon, feeling a wave of flavorable pleasure surge from her mouth down through the rest of her body. "Ohmigod, it's SO good!"
The last time she'd had actual bacon had been back in California, back before her body had started to start developing. The moment it had, boom, she'd been put on the Eve-Diet and had been told to watch her carbs and check EVERYTHING before putting it in her body so she didn't get fat. She (and Lily) were already a little heavier than Eve had been at their ages simply due to genetics, but it'd been worse for Josie since she was far more Eve-like in appearance The only loophole was something like this were Josie did not explicitly know what was in the bacon. If she'd seen the packaging and the information, she would have probably just let her dad have them, but since she didn't...Jocelyn tried her best to savor the crispy slices the best that she could. But in just a few bites the tasty treats were gone and Josie was left with her regular low-fat bacon. She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face as she picked up a flabby piece and took a small bite out of it as her dad slid a huge arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, your mom is just looking out for you, that's all" Roland said softly, giving his youngest daughter a supportive squeeze.
"I know...But I'm eighteen, dad. You'd think after everything that I could start making my own decisions about this. I mean what if I DON'T want to look like...this?" Jocelyn gestured to her knockout bod as she felt her eyes start to get watery.
"I know baby. I'm trying to get her to ease up on you a little bit, but habits, hard to break ,etc." Roland said with a shrug, "But I, uh, might be able to help you on one front." his voice dropped to another conspiratorial whisper, "Finish up and I'll show you"
The biracial girl's eyes narrowed, "That sounds pretty sus, dad"
"What does that even mean?"
"Nothing. It's from a video game"
Jocelyn turned to finish her breakfast, forcing the strips of cooked turkey down as quickly as she could before letting out a tiny, unlady-like belch. She took a long drink of the OJ to wash the taste out of her mouth before pulling herself off the couch.
"Be right back" She said, and minced back to the kitchen. Her mother was still there, who was cleaning up the leftover mess of her large scale cooking. Lily was there as well, talking to their mom about something to do with transferring colleges next semester. It wasn't all that important to Josie.
"Thanks for breakfast mom!" She said, her voice chipper as she slid between the two other Davis-Kazinski women and placed her plate and glass in the dish washer.
"You're welcome, sweetheart. Happy birthday!" Eve said, giving her daughter a huge hug. They parted after the tender moment, and Eve looked her daughter over.
'Oh no' Jocelyn mentally groaned. Outfit inspection.
"You're going a little casual for such a big day, Josie" Eve said, a look of...It wasn't quite displeasure, but there was certainly more than a little disapproval in her green eyes.
"Well It's...It's my birthday mom! I don't wanna make a big deal out of it at school or anything. Plus it's supposed to be chilly today and this flannel is, like, super warm" Jocelyn said, silently hoping against hope that it was a good enough excuse. Otherwise she'd have to go put on that, ugh, pink cardigan and the blouse and the skirt and the heels, and then she'd have to dig out that one purse and fix her entire makeup to match it. This was entirely one of the reasons she woke up so early.
"Hmm...Well it is supposed to rain today. Just make sure you take an umbrella with you, okay? And I've got some errands to run so your father is going to take you to school today" Eve said after a long, long moment of uncertainty.
'YES!' Jocelyn whooped internally, the joy she felt manifesting on her face as a huge grin. "I totally will! Thanks mom!"
"Hey Josie, let's go!" Roland's voice boomed from the other side of the house.
"Coming daddy! Bye mom, bye eblogger!" Jocelyn said, giving her mom another large hug and sticking her tongue out at her sister, who simply returned it with a staged eyeroll as Jocelyn rushed towards the front door.
"Umbrella!" Eve called out.
"Got it!" Josie said, snatching one of the four umbrellas from the coat rack near the front door. And then, with her father closing the heavy wooden door behind her, Jocelyn left the house.
"You know, you do kinda baby her a lot, mom" Lily said, watching her little sister and her dad leave in his black luxury sedan, "You were never that hard on me"
"Oh honey, I know" Eve said with a sad sigh, blinking away a stray tear as she watched the two leave, "When you're a mother and your baby girl-"
"Or boy. Or whatever they want" Lily interjected.
"When your baby turns eighteen, you'll understand" Eve said, blinking away another tear. "Help me clean up before you leave, please?"
"Sure, mom".