Alexa Li had a stressful life, due to different stressors before and after the Fusion Wave. Before the Fusion Wave, she had to worry about overbearing parents who expected much of her, a little sister she had to watch out for, grades, tennis, band, bullies, getting a job, learning to drive, and always respecting her Taiwanese origin.
Having just turned 16 before the Fusion Wave, Alexa went to high school in Kearney, Nebraska, and was an incredibly studious student athlete. Not the social type, Alexa had only one, good, dependable friend - Maya Rivera, a fellow loner she had met in the 3rd grade. They always stuck together through thick and thin and studied, played sports, and were in band together.
She was everything her parents and her teachers could ask for, and more - respectful, responsible, polite, kind, athletic, etc. But she herself was not entirely content.
With the onset of puberty, Alexa prayed that she could turn beautiful, but her breasts never reached A-Cups and her hips never curved out much. She was short and scrawny, and her face was plain. She was attracted to a few good guys in school, but she was not allowed to have a boyfriend by her parents, so she never made a move. Her appearance helped, in her opinion.
She never went to any school game, never appearing at any sports game, dance, fundraiser, or party. With a non-existent social life, Alexa, noticed by her teachers, friend, and fellow competitive students, was invisible to the rest of the school. Well, most of it. A couple of bullies, from time to time, would pick on Alexa, but never did anything too major. Maya was usually there to to stand up to her.
Maya was blessed with a beautiful body Alexa sometimes dreamed of having. Sure, she always understood that it never would be possible or even tolerated if it somehow happened, but she just imagined it sometimes, before she went to bed. She even made a wish once.
It was answered in a stupid way by the Fusion Wave.
It hit the teen during dinnertime at her house - Maya was there to study with her, and was just leaving when the hot air and red skies washed over the Li household. Alexa watched as her father and her younger sister, and Maya and her mother fused together into unrecognizable forms. Alexa, not immediately affected, watched as their flesh warped and twisted, flowed and pressed and mixed into bizarre new forms. After 5 minutes, they were out cold as they lay on the ground amid a mess of tattered clothing. Alexa, crouched in a corner, rose and shrieked as she saw unnatural bodies lying before her. Trying to wake them up, she couldn't help but notice just how monstrous their bodies seemed.