Catching the bus, he sat down next to Marcus and Jake, barely aware of what he was doing or what they were saying, his thoughts on something else at the moment. As Marcus and Jake horsed around, Brian found himself wondering how it was that a necklace could do what it had done, sure that it had not been a dream. He pondered over whether there had been any lasting effects.
"Hey man," Marcus called out. "What's with you? You're like a million miles away."
Shrugging, Brian told them, "Didn't get much sleep last night," to which Jake made a wise crack about how Brian had been too busy fantasising about the girl in the morning math class he spent most of the time staring at.
"Yeah," Marcus chimed in. "Fantasising with one hand," to which Jake started to laugh even louder than he was already was.
Grinning sheepishly, Brian comment, "Cut it out," in an off-hand manner and then switched the topic, deciding that what he really did not need to be doing was worrying about the amulet and what it had done, figuring that what was done was done.
Arriving at school, Brian, Marcus and Jake headed for the morning math class, but paused when he saw the cute girl he had been staring at for the past couple weeks, trying to work up his nerve to talk with her. Behind him, Marcus prodded him in the back and whispered, "Go for it, Romeo," as Jake made some smart comment about Brian being a regular Casanova.
Unsure, he glanced back at Marcus and Jake, but found himself disappointed that the two were now punching each other in the arm and turning away, he silently told himself, "Just go up, introduce yourself, say you name or same anything," and shifting his backpack, he glanced once more at Jake and Marcus before steadying himself mentally, his stomach feeling like it was doing flips as he started to walk over to the girl he had looking at and wanting ask out.
Approaching her desk, he noticed that her shirt was tight and hugged her in just the right manner. The jean jacket she was wearing accented what her shirt showed and the denim skirt she was wearing showed off just how smooth her legs were. Clearing his throat, he shifted his backpack and before he could stop himself, he said, "That's a lovely shade of lip-gloss. Is it the new berry sensation being sold at Fashion U?"
Suddenly realising what he had just said, Brian glanced about as the girl asked him, "What?" and seeing that nobody had heard him, Brian fidgeted where he was standing, wondering what he should say.
To his horror, the girl sitting one desk over had apparently heard him as she comment, "I do believe he likes your lip-gloss," and then began to giggle as Mandy, the girl he had been dying to meet and apparently blown his chance of ever properly doing so, glared at the giggling girl and then Brian before commenting, "Are you some type of weirdo?"
Thinking fast, Brian shook his head and mumbled something about it being a dare, to which the giggling girl began to laugh harder. Feeling out of place, Brian hastily turned about and started to where he normally sat as the giggling girl commented, "Hey, pretty boy. I got some eye liner to go with the lip-gloss," to which Mandy said, "Shut up, Twyla."
"How it go, Romeo?" Marcus asked as Brian dropped his backpack and then sat down.
Glancing over at his best friends, Brian shrugged and lamely replied, "It could have gone better," as he began to pull out his notebook and a pencil.
One the other side of Marcus, Jake made another wisecrack, but before Brian could say anything, their math teacher entered and silence slowly fell over the class as Mr Hench began to lecture on Algebra and the material they would be covering for the rest of the hour.
Barely able to focus, Brian wondered why he had asked Mandy about lip-gloss and doodling on his paper, he pondered over whether there had been any lasting effects of using the amulet.
"Suppose I am turning back into a girl," he thought, horrified at such a notion as he remembered how his body felt, the fact that his mind had been suddenly preoccupied with things he had never thought to think about before and the terrifying feeling of his chest expanding out until it was in the way of pretty much everything he did.
Mr Hench asked him something and he answered automatically, not caring if he gave the right or wrong answer, his mind lingering on how pretty Mandy's clothes were and where she might go to have her hair done.
Shaking his head, Brian was glad for a moment when the bell rang and first period was over, but his elation faded when Jake and Marcus asked what he was doing after school and whether he wanted hang out with them at the mall for a couple hours.
For a moment, Brian almost told them, "Yeah. Sure. That would be great. There's this cute bikini I thinking of buying," but then stopped himself and merely told them, "Yeah."
"Hey pretty boy? Do you want me to pierce your ears?" Twyla asked as they passed the two girls and when Jake and Marcus each gave him a questioning look, Brian shrugged and commented, "I don't know what she's talking about," as he quickened his pace and hurried out of the classroom.
****
For Brian the rest of the day passed slowly, his mind more on the fact that he still was occasionally thinking the same way a girl did and when the final bell rang, he was silently glad that school was out for the day and that he wouldn't have to deal with Mandy and Twyla until Monday, which he figured gave him enough time to figure out what the heck was wrong with him.
Forgetting that he was going to mall with Jake and Marcus, he walked home, his thoughts on other matters as he joined Brenda and the two walked home in silence. Dropping his book bag by the front door and kicking off his shoes, Brian noted that his parents weren't home and as Brenda picked up the phone and started to dial whomever she normally talked to, Brian headed for his room, thinking about researching the amulet and what other effects it might have on a person.
When Brenda told him that Jake was on the phone about an hour later, Brian commented in an off-hand manner that he would call him back as he clicked open another page about the amulet, disappointed that he hadn't found anything new about people who have used the amulet but had lingering thoughts.
Taking the amulet out, Brian thought about using it to turn himself back into a girl and then back into a guy twelve hours later and hope that it undid his troubling thoughts, but quickly dismissed the notion as he did not know where to get some girl's clothes and that he certainly did not want to be a teenage girl as it had felt off the entire time he had been one.
"Maybe it would be better if I turned myself into a younger girl?" Brian asked himself, but quickly dismissed the notion as he found himself upset at the thought of doing such a thing.
Putting the amulet back, Brian immediately took if back out and stuffed it into his pocket. Clicking off his computer, he stood and began to walk about his room, finally deciding that what he should do was get some fresh air and maybe get rid of the amulet. Heading back downstairs, he grabbed his shoes and coat and slipping out the front door, he asked himself where he should dispose of the amulet and instead began to wander, his thoughts in a right turmoil as he found himself suddenly indecisive about getting rid of the amulet.