Cody was a jerk. At least, that's what Jessica thought of him. They were once friends, a long time ago. They played together as small children, lived on the same street, shared toys and everything. Even the girly ones like Barbies and Ponies. But over time he had developed a testosterone-filled attitude that the meek, science-prone Jessica could no longer stand. First he stopped playing with her. Then he stopped talking to her in school, which she found sad, but not unbearable. Then Cody began to tease her about how athletics were far more important than brains, while his friends would laugh, and laugh!
Jessica had felt terribly betrayed at first, but recently had begun to figure out that his attitude was only a facade, put on to propel himself to higher popularity. To make himself look tougher to his male friends, probably due to his slim build, lack of body hair, and upturned nose. Cody had always possessed somewhat feminine features. Yesterday, during school, his teasing had gotten out of hand, and one of his friends had actually knocked her books onto the floor. For a few seconds Jessica almost saw the slim Cody rush over to help her, but he wound up restraining himself. She could see a sadness in his blue eyes and arched eyebrows that seemed to say, 'forgive me Jessica'. He forced his pale mouth into a grin. It was an act, and always had been!
Today was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and Jessica's surprise Chronivac had arrived in the mail. It did not take her scientific mind long to analyze its purpose or function. Hooking it up to her computer, she began to devise a method of helping her former friend to rediscover his feminine side. She would have her best friend back, she thought, as she began to input data, twisting various knobs. He wanted this, needed this, Jessica knew. She could tell.
* * *
Cody arrived at home after an hour of running to take a break. His parents had gone to a movie his mother had wanted to see, and so he had the house to himself. He kicked off his shoes and went upstairs to his bedroom to change his clothes. At the same time he entered the room he felt an electric thrum buzz through his body. His hair stood on end a bit, as though affected by static. He felt oddly disoriented. A sudden image of Jessica popped into his mind, and a hazy childhood memory of tying ballet shoes quickly drifted through his mind. Jessica had been involved in ballet when she was five, and Cody would sometimes go to her house to play before or after her classes.
Once, when they were playing in her room, she had convinced him to put on a pair of ballet slippers and dance around the room with her. Cody had protested, but relented when she began to pout. He had put on the slippers and even had a bit of fun with it.
Cody shook off the memory with a flash of annoyance. He had never told anyone about that, and hadn't thought of it in years. What had made him recall the event now?
Shrugging, Cody sat on his bed to remove his wet socks when he noticed they were dry. His black shirt and shorts were both dry too. Cody scratched his head in confusion... only to notice his skin was dry as well. It was as if he hadn't run anywhere today at all. His socks looked brand new, in fact. They were now a bright clean white. His mid-length, evenly cut brown hair felt clean and recently washed.
Cody's slack socks suddenly tightened against his skin, pulling themselves up to their full height, up past his ankles. Startled, he quickly stood up. His socks were slowly becoming longer, creeping up his bare, pale legs. They had reached the middle of his calves when he noticed his shirt was getting tighter as well.
The sleeves of Cody's black t-shirt retracted a bit, pulling in their own slack. The neck and shirt bottom followed suit, gaining a sort of stretchy property. Cody pulled at the now-shiny material and watched it snap back into place, smoothing itself out. His shirt neck pulled itself smaller than it had ever been, leaving Cody to wonder how he would get it off.
The material of Cody's shorts also became thinner, and more reflective. The legs closed up to fit his own legs snugly, and the pockets disappeared. Cody dimly wondered what would have happened if anything had been in them, but shook off the thought. He had to find a way to get out of these changing clothes! He grabbed a knife used for cleaning fish and carefully cut away at his shirt fabric. The four square inches he managed to remove quickly filled in again, making removal impossible.
His bright socks continued their march up his legs. They had reached his knees by now. Cody tried rolling them down to take them off, but as soon as he moved from one leg to the other, the first leg snapped back into place, even higher than it had been. Cody rubbed his legs together, feeling it all at once over his entire leg. All the while the material became thinner and thinner. The seams on the front and heel became invisible, spun into flawlessly uniform fabric.
Cody was distracted from the situation with his new socks by the fact that his shirt bottom was fusing with his shorts top, to form one tight piece of form-fitting clothing. His shorts legs retracted further, inching toward his crotch. Cody yanked his shirt bottom up, away from his body, to stop it from joining his shorts. He only succeeded in keeping a three inch hole open, which sealed itself the moment he let his hand slip. His hand slipped the moment he realized that he couldn't feel his underwear anymore.
Cody's opaque white stockings continued to flow up his thighs, completely covering his slender legs. They snuck under his shorts legs and around his crotch area (Cody felt, rather than saw) joining together underneath. He could no longer pull either leg down. His shorts retracted completely into themselves, melting into his shirt.
Cody opened the bedroom door and danced (danced? Why am I dancing? I'm going crazy!, he thought) into the hallway and stared into the full length mirror. He was wearing a deep black leotard with bright white ballet tights. He gingerly flexed his knees, and turned a bit, feeling the tight fabric against every nerve in his body. Cody hated to admit that it felt good, and free. He was a bit giddy, though still a bit shocked. He sat on the floor, staring at his involuntarily stocking-clad feet. Even the bottoms of his feet were completely covered.
The doorbell rang. Cody wanted to hide in his room, to remove these ridiculous clothes. He wanted to hide from himself, confused by his own... was it joy? at the situation. Instead Cody found himself gracefully leaping down the stairs, enjoying his new abilities. His cringe of embarrassment turned to pure surprise when he opened the door. He saw her standing there, a pair of pink ballet slippers in one hand, a gym bag in the other.
"Jessica?!"
"Cody, I've missed you so much!" Jessica said. She had a sweet smile on her face with not a trace of malice, as she walked into the house.
Cody, dumbfounded, closed the door behind her.