Jennifer woke up the next morning and practically jumped out of bed, excited for her first day of school as
a girl. She was the first one into the shower, her head full of plans for the day ahead. So full in fact, that
with her conscious mind preoccupied, her subconscious simply took over the task of getting her ready and out
the door. Thanks to the still barely registered reality alteration taking place, Jen really didn't notice as
her body took her through the motions of showering, shaving and applying make-up. And why shouldn't it be
automatic, she'd been doing this for a while... right? Still unaware of how tenuous her grip on her old life
as Ben had become, Jen picked out her outfit (a nice skirt and top, still school dress code,,, but just
barely) grabbed her purse (heavy, thanks to a few recent additions) and walked downstairs (in high heels no
less, not that she noticed).
At the breakfast table, her little sister Holly still wore her normal sulky expression as she tried
(poorly) to fake sick. Her brother Jesse seemed to have already left for soccer practice, leaving just Anna.
Jennifer sat down next to her sister and the two quickly started chatting as if this girl talk was a
completely normal part of their routine, and not the first time. Breakfast done, the two girls hopped into
Anna's car and sped off to school. As they parked, Jennifer saw Anna's prom date Steve making a beeline for
them. As discretely as possible, Jennifer said her goodbyes, giving her sister a knowing smirk as she did, and
ducked out of the area before Steve arrived.
Once inside the school, she made straight for her locker, noting carefully the reactions of the people
around her. She breathed easier when she saw that no one seemed to find her presence the least bit unusual. A
few people smiled at her, some guys gave her interested looks, and she was guessing some of those who weren't
just weren't doing it while she was looking. Exactly what you'd expect to when a pretty 16 year old girl walks
down a high school hallway. So far so good.
She had just reached her locker when her thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected development.