What Steven wanted, more than anything else, was to be able to tune out and forget that things were any different. She was still the same person, sitting on the same bed in the same room, with her same favorite album and favorite book, but even The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and The Time Machine couldn't get her mind off of the strangeness of her situation. First off, the sensations were different. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but despite having been this way for over twelve hours, Steven wasn't even close to being used to the feeling of her breasts being nestled up against her chest by her clothing, or of her hair brushing against the back of her neck, or of having her legs together without feeling her genitals against them (at least she wasn't experiencing the "phantom appendage" symptoms amputees often suffer from, but that was at best a small comfort.) Try as she might, Steven just couldn't get her mind off her situation.
Putting down the book and shutting off the music, she picked up a controller and turned on the old Nintendo. That was better; the sensations didn't go away, but it was easier to ignore them if she was keeping her mind busy. At first, she sat on the edge of the bed, but the edge of the frame dug uncomfortably into her legs now that they were slenderer. Almost without thinking about it, Steven leapt gently into the air, folding her legs under her into a lotus position. She was almost as surprised at being reminded she could fly as she was that she had thought to do so, but at least one of her changes was a plus. This was more comfortable, and the simple task of beating the snot out of legions of identical-but-differently-colored bad guys kept her mind off of her problems until well into the afternoon, when she couldn't ignore her stomach any longer.
Steven looked at the clock. Holy cow, it was three already? No wonder she was hungry. Pausing the game, she dropped back to the floor and went downstairs. Her mother looked up from the book she was reading. "Are you all right, dear?" she asked.
Steven nodded. "For the moment, yeah." Even after her conversations last night and this morning, her voice still sounded weird, like someone else was speaking the words for her. "I'm just hungry, is all."
Her mother chuckled. "Well, after all, you haven't eaten since...what, nine-thirty? Anything I can get for you?"
Steven smiled. "No thanks. I'll just make a sandwich." She did, poured herself a tall glass of ice-cold milk, and sat down to eat it. After she had finished, her mother spoke up. "So what were you doing all that time? If you don't mind my asking, that is."
Steven shrugged. "Chilling. Playing games."
"Tuning out?" her mother questioned. "Trying to forget?"
She sighed. "Yeah. I guess so."
Her mother nodded. "Perfectly understandable, I suppose. But...well, I'm worried. Which is just one of those things that comes with being a parent, but...Steven, I know I can't expect you to be hunky-dory with this so soon after it happened, but I don't want to see you spend the rest of your life stuck on trying to ignore the changes and pretend nothing is different."
Steven wasn't sure what to say. "I...I don't know what you mean," she said. "I'm just trying not to think about how crazy my life is about to get."
Her mother sighed. "I know. I'm overreacting, I admit it, and I can't say that I blame you for trying to keep your mind off this. I'd probably do the same thing in your place. And it's unreasonable to expect you to get used to this right away, but I do think you need to realize that...well, that it's quite probable you'll be this way for the rest of your life."
Steven stared. "I...I, um, no, I'm going to find a way to..."
"Don't misunderstand me," her mother said. "By all means, let's look for anything that can change you back. But you need to realize that, in all probability, we won't find anything of the sort. And I don't want to see my child throw her life away raging at something that can't be changed or trying to pretend her problems don't exist. Until we find something that can make you a guy again, I think you're going to need to get used to being a girl."
Steven sputtered. "Wh-what do you want?" she gasped, feeling upset and offended. "Shall I just put on a frilly pink dress and get it over with!?"
"No," her mother replied. "No, that's not what I mean. I don't want you to try to change who you are just because of people's preconceptions. I just want you to accept that you're a girl now, probably indefinitely. Please don't think I want you to be anyone other than my Steven. I just don't want to see you miss out on what you can make of this life while you're trying to bring your old life back."
Steven sighed. "I'll think about it," she said. "But I'm not promising anything."