"Ugh," Jon said after swallowing a few sips of Alexis' lime daiquiri.
"Are you okay?" Alexis asked nervously.
"Yeah, I just can't stand these girly drinks," he said, wiping his mouth. "Too fruity."
Alexis pouted, somewhat offended by her boyfriend's behavior since they entered the bar, but at the same time glad to see him unharmed. "I'm sorry, maybe it really is just paranoia."
"Well, long as I don't have to drink any more of that citrusy stuff, it's okay. Now let's enjoy ourselves."
They clanked glasses. Jon started gulping his beer, but Alexis stopped just short of putting her glass to her lips.
She squinted at Jon. Something was different, though she wasn't sure in the faint light of the bar.
Jon emptied half his glass before plunking it down on the counter and letting out a long sigh. "Now that's much better," he said.
Again, Alexis looked at him in puzzlement. His voice just then sounded off. "Jon, are you sure you don't...feel any different?"
"Nah, the first beer never affects me," he said. He sounded distinctly higher in pitch now.
"I don't think it was the beer," she said with a wavering voice. She was unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend as his body began to change. It began slowly, but gradually increased to become clearly noticeable.
Jon, who had just polished off his first beer, finally began to feel the changes. "Why does my chest hurt?" he asked. When his ears heard his own voice, he clapped a hand over his mouth. "Was that me?" His voice sounded like either a very feminine guy, or a very masculine woman.
"Jon, you're changing! Look, your hair's growing, and...and...you've got tits!"
Jon's eyes shot downward at two bulges pushing their way out of his polo shirt. The fabric tented so tightly they could see the impressions of two nipples.
"Holy shit, what the hell is going on?!" Jon screamed in an unmistakably feminine shriek.
"Hey, quiet!" someone farther down the bar shouted. "Go change in your hotel room or somethin'! Freakin' newbies!"
Jon glanced fearfully at Alexis, down at his body, and back and forth. Alexis held his arm as the pair stood up.
"Just hold onto me," Alexis said. "It's gonna be okay. Let's get out of here."
With his center of balance shifting, Jon clutched Alexis with skinny hands as they made their way out of the bar. With every step, Alexis felt Jon's pull drift downward as he shrank in height. By the time they made it into the cool, open air of the island, her nearly six-foot boyfriend had fallen to five-five and was still dropping.
"Alex, what's going on?" he asked in a squeaky, trembling voice. Alexis locked eyes with him and noticed they were the exact same height. "What the hell is going on?!"
"My drink was spiked. I don't know what it was supposed to do to me, but it's turning you into a girl." As she spoke, her eyes shifted downward to keep eye contact as Jon's slow shrink continued.
"Damn it, I never should have drank that stupid thing. Didn't I say they were girly drinks?" A long lock of reddish-brown hair fell over his face and he angrily brushed it away.
"It'll be okay. The island's got all kind of ways to transform us into stuff AND transform us back to normal. You knew that when you got our tickets, didn't you?"
"'Course I did. I just...didn't expect to be the one changing." He looked up at Alexis with a face full of guilt.
"Really?" Alexis smirked. "Thought you'd get a free show of me becoming a freak? Or the girl of your wildest fantasies?"
Jon shifted his gaze to his own feet, now quite large for his shoes. Alexis let him stand there in regretful silence. Suddenly, his pants flopped to his ankles.
Alexis fell onto the sidewalk, doubling over in laughter. Jon's thin, soft, girlish face blushed madly as he pulled the waist back up and held it with both hands.
"You wish...ha ha! You wished you'd be the one laughing right now! Hah hah!!"
"Go on, get it all out," Jon said. "It's true. You're completely right. I'm a jerk and a loser. I was waiting to get you into one of the transformation exhibits or funhouses or whatever they have. Never expected it could happen at a bar."
Alexis got her laughter under control. Still sitting on the sidewalk, she looked up at her diminutive, feminine boyfriend. "It takes a big man to admit all that," she said. "A big...heh...man..." A fit of laughter seized her again.