An hour later, I found myself back at Kristy's apartment. I pressed my ear against the door, but didn't hear anything. I knocked on the door and waited.
A minute later, Kristy answered the door. What she saw was the male Joe, dressed in the same clothes he had been in as earlier in the day. I had changed myself back in order to better explain why I was here.
Kristy looked like she might have just awoken. Tearlines were still evident on her cheeks. She knew this as she was trying to wipe them away. "Joe," she said, a hint of surprise in her voice. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I had to come back and see you," I said, waiting for her to invite me in.
"Look, Joe," she said, "There's something that--"
I cut her off. "I need to explain something to you," I said. "Can I come in?" I asked.
"S-sure," she said, stepping aside in order to let me enter. Something was clearly bothering her. I had a couple of ideas as to what they might be, but I wasn't sure. That was one of the reasons I had returned.
I sat back down on the couch I occupied a few hours ago. She sat down next to me, facing me. "Kristy, this is going to sound very strange. But you have to believe me. If you don't..." She looked uneasy. I continued, "...I'll show you."
"O...K," she said slowly, indicating she was not comfortable.
"There is a reason I gave you that coat today," I said. She looked embarrassed by the fact I brought up the escapade in the street. "I made you naked."
"What?" she asked as disbelief spread over her face. I proceeded to tell her about the ring and what it could apparently do. I told her that I wished for the coat to appear, since I felt bad at what I had done. Needless to say, she was not happy. "So you took advantage of me in the street?" she said with shock. Apparently she wasn't going to question the ring's power.
"No," I explained. "It was random, an accident." The look on her face told me she didn't believe that. "It just happened to be that you were in front of me."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she said.
"No, it's not," I said. "I'm just letting you know where I'm coming from."
"What kind of sick male are you?" she said. When she said the word "male," there seemed to be quite a bit of disgust in her voice. I was starting to think one of my ideas about why she was crying was true.
"I'm a horrible male," I said. "That I know." The venomous look on her face relaxed some. "But that's not really why I'm here," I said.
"Then why?" she asked. "To rub my face in it?"
"No," I said quickly. "Not at all. I'm here to know why you cried after I left."
She frowned immediately. "I-I didn't cry," she lied. She looked back at me and saw that I didn't believe her. I gave her one of those "Yea, right" looks. "I didn't," she repeated.
"Kristy, I heard you cry," I said. "And it really bothered me. I was afraid I had upset you in some way, even more so than I just did by telling you what I did in the street." I took a deep breath. "I want to know I didn't hurt you more."
I looked into her eyes and could see tears starting to form once more. "I..." her voice tailed off. "I enjoyed our kiss too much," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, while an expectation for her answer lept to mind.
A tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't date guys, Joe. I'm a lesbian." Her admission proved my thoughts correct. I had a feeling that's why she had cried. I think that idea came to my just after I had finished becoming a woman. Some kind of woman's intuition had taken over and told me that she didn't usually kiss guys.
She hid her face in her hands, seemingly ashamed of what she had said and done. I inched closer to her, and tried to console her, but she backed away, sensing that is what I was doing.
I let her cry for a few seconds. But I could not bear to see her upset. So I let my real reason for returning be known. "Kristy, it's OK. I'm a lesbian, too."
She stopped crying immediately. She lifted her head, letting another tear roll down her cheek. The look on her face was one of bewilderment. "What did you say?" she asked.