Cole sat and listened as her sister Prudence and Shannon talked amongst themselves over lunch on whether there was really any point to continuing to search for the Amulet of Zulo on the internet.
Piping up, disliking was has happened to her, Cole pointed out, "Well I think we should continue," and looking down at the female body, she added, "I, for one, cannot remain as Geneva and your best friend cannot remain as a doll."
"Doll," Prudence whispered, a troubled looking coming over her face.
Bothered by this, mostly because how her mind kept slipping so easily into stuff only a girl would know and understand...but still unable to grasp even the simplest of Geneva's memories...Cole looked at her sister and asked, "What's up?"
Blinking, Prudence mumbled, "I don't know. I'm sure I am forgetting something. But I don't know what."
"Well I say we finish up lunch and go back to the library," Shannon said.
Looking at the other girl, thinking she was pretty...but not as pretty as Prudence...Cole nodded in agreement and standing, prepared to dispose of the empty tray before her.
Moments later, the three girls made their way back toward the library and each taking a terminal, they started to search.
Slowly the afternoon ticked onward and in a rather dogged fashion each tried different search engines and different combination of words to try and find anything on the medallion.
Finally, after about five hours, Shannon sat back and looking at Cole, she whispered, "It's too bad that you don't have Geneva's memories along with her body. It would make searching for this Amulet of Zulo so much easier."
Sitting back, Cole shifted in her seat, still trying to come to terms with the fact that girl she had become only liked to wear thongs. After a moment, thinking, "This is hopeless," she logged off the internet and looking at Shannon, she hissed out, "I may look like Geneva, but I am not her. No matter how I feel and how natural certain things come to me," and standing, she stormed out of the computer room.
Logging off, Prudence jumped up and hastily followed her transformed brother as Shannon also logged off, muttering, "Jesus. Loosen your rag a bit. You don't need to bite my head off," and standing, she thought about following Prudence and then decided that Prudence could deal with the boy turned girl.
Inside the woman's lavatory, a room Cole automatically went in without giving a second thought to, Prudence knocked on the stall door and quietly asked, "Are you all right, Geneva?"
A sniffle and a muffled voice replied, "No. Please go away."
Hunkering down, Prudence looked at the other stalls and seeing they were unoccupied, she stood and moving toward the door, she locked it. Turning back, she walked back over to the stall and quietly asked, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything?"
"What's there to talk about? I've become a girl, I have no knowledge of this girl's life. Things that I am sure only a girl would know and understand. Things that come second nature. Like clothing styles, make-up, tampons and what to do when you finish peeing."
"That's only because we had to explain some of that you," Prudence responded.
Another sniffle, the sound of Cole standing and as she unlocked the stall, she explained, "You may have explained a fair bit, but the moment you did, something in my mind tripped and I understood more then what you told me."
Rubbing her eye, Cole looked at Prudence and suddenly announced, "And there is also the feelings I am suddenly bombarded by. The biggest one that I am dealing with, is that I am in love with you. My sister. Or more correctly, the girl who is supposed to be my sister, but due to some bit of hocus pocus, is no longer that."
Taken aback, Prudence wasn't sure how to respond and after a moment, she asked, "Can we talk about this some more at home?"
Reaching behind the distraught girl as she nodded in agreement, Prudence took a bit of toilet paper and as she handed it to her brother, she placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder as she started to lead the way out of the bathroom.
Locating Shannon, Prudence explained that she and Geneva were heading back to her house, to which Shannon said she would join them.
Back and Prudence's house, Geneva stopped Prudence and looking at Shannon, she asked, "Can I talk with my sister?" stopped, sighed and said, "I mean Prudence."
Nodding, Shannon replied, "I'll be upstairs," and kicking off her shoes, she disappeared.
Reaching out, Geneva took Prudence's hand and looking at the other girl, she whispered, "I want to be sure of something. That, and I want to see something about you. Something you might be able to share with the real Geneva if she ever returns," and suddenly, before she could babel another sentence, Prudence told her, "I know," and leaned in to kiss the girl.
Unsure at first, Cole was caught off guard and then just melted into the kiss, returning it, not caring if it was Prudence, the girl that had at one time been her sister that she was kissing, liking the feel of the other girl pressed against her, sure that these feelings were shared by the real Geneva.
"We have a problem," Shannon suddenly announced and pushing away from each other, both Prudence and Cole asked, "What?"
Marching into the front hall, seeing the two girls holding hands, a faint blush coming to both of their cheeks, Shannon shook her head and stated, "The doll is gone."
"What?!?" both Cole and Prudence cried out again, and glancing briefly at each other, they kicked off their shoes and took off through the house, making their way toward Prudence's room as fast as possible.
Inside the room, both girls stopped as Cole sank onto the bed, muttering, "This cannot be happening," Prudence began searching the room.
Stopping suddenly, she sank down on the seat before her vanity and whispered, "Oh my god. This is all might fault."
"How can it be your fault?" Shannon asked as she entered the room.
Looking up, she glanced at Cole and then Shannon and after a moment she said, "It's just been so hectic. If I had remembered, like I was trying to do this afternoon, I would have remembered that Aunt Mabel was coming by today to collect all the old toys in the house to donate to several different charities, daycares and churches."
Unsure how to respond to this, Cole looked at her hands and as she and Prudence sat in silence, Shannon cried out, "Well you are just going have call her and tell her you need the doll back!"
Shaking her head, Cole explained, "Aunt Mabel is one of these devout Christians. One that has strict beliefs. And one of those beliefs is doing without certain technologies." and seeing the look of disbelief on Shannon's face, Cole added, "And that means no telephones."
Wailing out, "This is a disaster," Shannon sat down on the bed, whispering out, "What are going to do?"