Carol drove the girls home, not looking reassured at all. "The trial date is five weeks from now," she mused, "and I wonder how long before we can sue her personally." Mentally, she added, 'I wonder what my girls will look like by that time...'
"Girls," she said, pulling into the driveway, "I think all of us parents should get together for the lawsuit. I'm going to call them all and arrange a meeting for us to meet and disuss possible attorneys."
"We should probably do the same with the rest of the squad," Lisa said, turning to Jen. "If we want to prepare a solid defense, we should all be on the same page."
They walked inside to find Andy bringing a box of movies up to her room, as well as several bags of popcorn. "Join me?" she asked the girls, who nodded in reply.
They unpacked in Andy's room only to find the bonus disks of LOTR extended version already in the DVD player. It was going to be a long night, Jennifer noted.
"So, what's the verdict?"
Lisa pulled out her copy of their lab results and Andy read through them with a sober look on her face. "You guys have got follicles everywhere! Although, it looks like your faces are going to be okay now."
Lisa shook her head miserably. "Only until the testosterone hits, and then it won't be limited to just the beard area, although that will come in first. Since stress levels have been running high, especially with this morning's incident, I'd say that testosterone is rushing pretty freely. We're going to be harier than apes by the end!"
Jen piped in, "She called it hyper-something."
"Hypertrichosis," Lisa corrected. "Also known as Human Werewolf Syndrome. She said it looked like acquired generalized hypertrichosis, but I'd say it's more like acquired hypertrichosis universalis."
"I don't like you calling yourself a werewolf, Lisa," Andy sternly commented.
"It's better than being called a cow," Jen joked.
The three girls settled down to watch LOTR bonus feature marathons as Carol dialed the numbers for each and every parent.
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When morning came, all three girls had fallen asleep on Andy's floor, the DVD menu still playing, as they had fallen asleep before the end of the features. Popcorn bags lay scattered accross the carpet as did empty glasses of pop.
Jen woke up first, but was soon followed by both Andy and Lisa. Lisa quickly shot a glance at Jennifer. The testosterone hadn't kicked in yet, as her face still looked the same, and she noticed Andy shooting quick glances at both of them.
The three hustled into the bathroom, immediately preparing the bathwater, and far too tired from the previous night to inspect themselves. Andy once again took to the task of scrubbing the girls' backs. Jen wondered if Lisa was just too uncomfortable with her body to do it herself, or if Andy just enjoyed it. She was going with the latter, as Andy abruptly moved to the other side of the tub to get to work on Jen's back as well.
"I'm going to pick you guys up after school tomorrow and we'll go look for body shampoo and grooming supplies."
"This is embarrassing," Lisa replied, absent mindedly scratching at her shoulders.
"It would be more embarrassing to have a tangled, hair wedgie, wouldn't it?" Any asked.
No one answered; they just continued to scrub. Andy left momentarily to grab some more shampoo from the downstairs bathroom, grabbing Lisa's towel on the way out.
"I was wondering," Lisa said, "if we should invest in a beard trimmer as well."
Jennifer looked horrified at the suggestion.
"Think, it won't be long now before we start growing beards. If we can't shave it off, I'd at least like to try keeping it trimmed and somewhat presentable. It'll eventually spread to the rest of our faces - there won't be a place on our bodies unaffected - and I don't want it hanging down into my eyes or anything, either."
Jennifer didn't want to acknoweldge that yet. She would have much rather focused on just taking care of the stuff on her body, but she didn't have time to verbalize an opinion before Andy came back to finish them up.
The rest of the day was spent doing housework. After a panic, Carol always got to work cleaning, and she expected everyone else to do the same.
"The parents are meeting up tomorrow with me, and they're bringing their daughters. You guys have your meeting as well," she explained.
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The next morning was the worst morning of the week: Monday. Everyone always hated Monday. The girls did their morning routine and headed straight for the bus.
Connie was in their homeroom with them, and the girls noticed that she was looking quite uncomfortable in her seat. She was constantly shifting. Lisa guessed that it was because of her hardened muscles. It must be hard, she thought, to have nothing but rock hard muscles in your thighs and buttocks and no cushy fat to sit on. She must have been right, as Connie eventually folded her jacket up and used it as a makeshift cushion on her chair.
However, nothing could have prepared them for what they found in the gym. They were just passing through it as a shortcut, but Beth stood, weeping, next to the door inside.
"What's the matter?" Jen immediately asked, pulling the younger girl into a tight embrace.
The embrace didn't last long, though, as Beth pulled away in obvious pain. "It hurts," she complained.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm producing milk!" she exclaimed. "I've been using my mom's old breast feeding pump to get rid of it twice a day, but I didn't have time this morning because I was preoccupied with some hair by my ears."
Jen glanced at the girl's ears, and there were, indeed, small tufts of hair appearing, exactly as they had on Jen's ears a week ago.
"Lift up your shirt," Lisa said, moving closer. "I'm not trying to be a pervert or anything."
Beth understood and lifted her shirt up. Her breasts were red and looking very painful, and her bra looked damp where her nipples rested. Lisa placed her hand on one of her breasts and felt how firm they were, like newly inflated basketballs, but without the size.
"I was going to pump myself in my car after school today," she winced.
"I don't think you'll make it that long," Lisa replied, noting how the milk was already leaking. "Go to the nurse and explain was happening. I'm sure she'll give you the time you need to get rid of this."
Beth let her shirt drop and began weeping more profoundly. "I feel terrible!" she cried in anguish. "I feel like an animal, and I hate it!" Jen took the girl in her arms, being careful not to squeeze her too tightly. "I wish I could just die," Beth mumbled.
This made Lisa's ears prick up. Was she suicidal? Her problem seemed easy, if only because it was easier to hide it than a face and body full of hair.
"You don't want to die," Jennifer comforted. "We all need to stick together and not let this overcome us."
"Do you know the hotline number for suicidal persons?" Lisa asked.
Beth nodded her head.
"If you won't call them, then I expect you to call me every day, just to let me know you're okay. Otherwise, if an evening goes by and I don't hear from you, I'll assume the worst and call the police. I also think you should bring this up with your parents. Demand that they be involved somehow. Trust me, if they don't stay updated on your body, they will freak out when it becomes painfully obvious."
Beth nodded, promised to come to the meeting with her parents that night, and left for the nurse's. Jen and Lisa looked at each other, vowing to stay strong, if only for Beth's sake.