Chapter 7

Content Warning: Depictions of involuntary detransition.

I found the sports complex, and as the name suggested, many students were down below stretching and warming up for various sports. From what I could make out, I saw track, lacrosse, soccer, and cheerleading. I was actually amazed that there were enough students at this school to support so many sports.

As I was looking around for Sam or Sophia someone else spotted me. 

“Hey, New Girl,” Brett teased, coming up to me.

Shit, just when I thought I avoided him during science class. 

“Thinking of going out for any sports?” he asked.

“No,” I curtly responded.

“I’m on the track team.”

Note to self, remember to avoid the track team. “Hey, I’m kinda looking for someone.”

“Well here I am,” he offered, opening his arms confidently. 

I shook my head, hoping he’d take the hint. I’d rather not humiliate this boy in front of everyone here. Then I saw Sam sitting in the bleachers. I said to Brett, “I found them. Excuse me,” and I quickly walked up to her and sat down. Thankfully, Brett took the hint and stayed behind.

Usually in my adult life, an opening line with someone you’re just meeting is, “What do you do for work?” Here at PAA, the opening line appears to be, “What kind of TG are you?” Or, “What got you enrolled here?” I figured I’d try to pretend to be like everyone else and make small talk. “So what’s your TG story, Sam?”

“I don’t really have an interesting story,” Sam replied. “All males in my family inherit the shapeshifter gene. I’ve been shifting since I was five years old.”

“That must’ve been unsettling.”

“Not really. My family prepared me for it. When I was a kid I shifted into the family pet on more than one occasion.”

“That’s normal,” I sarcastically replied. 

“Being a cat is pure freedom,” Sam gushed.

“I hate cats. So you’re here because your family couldn’t handle you shifting into felines?”

“No, I’m here because I’m transgender, you doofus. I would shift into my sister - a lot. Sure, being a cat is freedom, but being a girl just felt - normal. It felt right. It felt like I was finally me. I realized my default shape was wrong. My parents thought it was cute at first. But when I hit my teen years - I stopped shifting back to boy mode. I also stopped shifting into my sister.”

“Wait, so, your parents sent you here - not because you’re a shapeshifter - but because you want to be a girl?”

“I am a girl,” Sam corrected.

Just then, Sophia found us on the bleachers. “What did I miss?” she asked.

“Sam was telling me how she’s a furry,” I deadpanned.

“That is so kewl!” Sophia enthusiastically replied.

“I’m not a furry,” Sam corrected. “What about you, Cate?” Sam asked.

“I’m not a furry either.”

I got a stern glance from Sam. Geez she needs a sense of humor.

“I’m a Displaced,” I answered tersely, not wanting to go into it. “Shall we go?”

“Oh, I get it now,” Sam realized. “You’re projecting.”

“I’m… what?”

“The girl who’s body you’re in. You can’t save her, so you’re trying to save Ashley Tart. And now, Lulu.”

“Who are you, my therapist?” I looked at her orange eyes and added, “I suppose you could be and I wouldn’t know it.”

The expression on Sam’s face turned to anger and she scooted away from me.

Sophia looked at me and shook her head.

Oh, right. I fucked up. Sophia had warned me on the first day that Shifters have trust issues. Not that they don’t trust, but non-Shifters don’t trust them. What I had just done was insult Sam by insinuating she was pretending to be someone else.

“Sam,” I said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Forget it,” Sam replied. “You’re new here.”

“In fairness, you were pretending to be my roommate this morning. Sorry, I tell hard truths. It’s what I do. Sometimes people confuse that for being an asshole.” Sometimes when I find myself in a hole, I keep digging. You never know what you’re going to find down there.

Sam fumed. “You are an asshole.”

“You were the one pointing a gun at me.”

“Cate. Sam,” Sophia interjected, raising her voice. “Enough.”

“How about we just put this issue behind us,” I said to try to smooth things over. Truth is, I need her to continue this investigation. Having this teenage Shapeshifter mad at me isn’t going to help solve this case.

“I’m sorry,” Sam mumbled.

I looked at her, surprised. I didn’t expect that to be so easy. And Max said I was a poor negotiator.

“We’re not supposed to shift into other people. I got in a lot of trouble for shifting into my sister. I’m sorry I shifted into Sophia. Lulu’s the most important person in the world to me. I can’t lose her.” Her eyes started to tear up.

I nodded. The three of us were silent for a few moments as I let that sink in. I think we understood that we needed each other to solve this case. I was eager to get on with it and interview Sam’s girlfriend.

“Have you tried out your muscle memory?” Sam asked, finally breaking the silence.

“My… what?”

“In our transformations class we learned that Displaceds can utilize their muscle memory to do repetitive tasks their hosts used to do.”

“I was not aware such a thing existed.”

“They said sometimes you’re not. Like walking. How you walk in that body is likely different than how you walked in your previous body. Different center of gravity. Different leg lengths. Different hips. Yet, you seem to walk naturally.”

I hadn’t put any thought into it before. I wonder if I walk any differently. Shit, now I’m going to be hyper aware of it.

Sam continued, “Putting on and taking off a bra-”

“Whoa,” I raised my hands to stop her. “I know how to take off a bra from my time as a guy. Multiple lovers. An ex-wife. I was quite skilled.”

Sam persisted. “Your own bra?”

I turned red at her accusation. I was able to do that because I'm a ladies’ man. Not because of Emma’s muscle memory! Right? I hate that I suddenly wasn’t so sure.

Sam saw my face turn red. “Sorry for bursting your male ego.”

I sat there and simmered about whether how much I’ve been able to do so far was the result of my ingenuity or Emma’s muscle memory. “There’s a transformation class?” I questioned, looking up at her.

“It’s a sophomore-level class. Helps us to empathize with other TGs.”

“You’re failing at the empathy part.”

Sam shrugged.

Silence reigned as the three of us gazed at the sports field. In my gaze I noticed on the left side of the field, some girls were practicing lacrosse. A player wearing a red mesh shirt shoulder-checked a player wearing a blue mesh shirt then scored. The aggressive player was Kayla. 

Kayla high-fived her red teammates while the blue player picked herself up off the ground and retreated to her own team.

I was still stuck on what Sam said about muscle memory. Was I really able to perform Emma’s repetitive tasks? I turned to Sam. “Should we test this theory?”

“How so?” Sam asked curiously.

I started walking down the bleachers and onto the field. I grabbed a stick with a little net on it off the ground and walked into the middle of lacrosse practice.

Kayla saw me and her expression got serious. She met me in the center of the field. With her eyes locked on mine she put her stick up in a horizontal position between her hands and spread her legs.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I found myself automatically matching her moves, touching the nets together while another player put the ball in between them.

When the whistle blew, we both flung the ball up over our heads. I got under it and caught it before Kayla and started running.

Kayla was hot on my tail, so I passed the ball to a blue team member and kept running towards the goal. A few passes later, another girl from the blue team passed the ball back to me and I launched it past the girl guarding the goal.Score one for Cate!

The blue team cheered. Cate is a hero.It’s about damn time.

Kayla was furious and threw her stick down.

I heard a whistle and Mrs. Barnes ran out from the side lines. Or was it Coach Barnes while on the field? “Fox!” she screamed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Pretty sure I was showing up that bitch,” is what I wanted to say. Instead, I said nothing, dropped the stick, and ran back towards the beachers leaving both teams and Coach Barnes stunned.

As I jogged across the field I approached Kayla and gloated, “That’s for this morning.” Then I purposely ran into her shoulder and kept going.

When I got back to Sam and Sophia in the bleachers, I wasn’t even huffing. They were stunned at what they had just witnessed on the field.

“That was amazing!” Sophia gleefully cheered.

“I have no idea what I just did,” I confessed. “I couldn’t even tell you the terminology of what I just did.”

“Was the previous owner of your body a lacrosse player?” Sam asked.

“There’s pictures on her phone that say she was.” 

Sam checked her phone. “We should go see Lulu now.”

As the three of us filed out of the sports complex I saw Kayla staring at me with a very pissed off expression. Do I think Emma Kincade was a better lacrosse player than Kayla Robinson? Unlikely, given their age difference. But I do think I caught Kayla by surprise this time, and I have no doubt she’ll be ready next time I pull that stunt. I should announce retirement from lacrosse so I can leave on the top of my game.

* * *

Sam escorted us to Colby Hall and to the 4th floor to a room with a door tag that read “Louise.” Now I realized how easy it was for Sam to walk around Colby Hall. She was always here.

“Wait here,” Sam instructed. She then knocked on the door and poked her head in. “Lulu?,” she quietly said into the room. She then walked inside, lightly closing the door behind her. “Cate Fox and Sophia Blake want to talk to you.”

The door reopened and Sophia and I were allowed in.

The room was dark as all of the blinds and curtains were closed, only slivers of sunshine found their way past the edges. A far cry from my room, which Sophia wanted to resemble the surface of the sun. Maybe I should switch rooms.

“This is my girlfriend, Louise,” Sam quietly announced.

On the bed in the darkness sat Louise. I would say girl or boy, but I wasn’t quite sure. Obviously Sam refers to her in the feminine, so I’ll go with that. Louise was very androgynous. Shoulder length hair, masculine face. Yet she was petite and had breasts. “My friends call me Lulu,” she said in a depressed monotone voice.

“Hi Lulu,” Sophia whispered.

“Hi Sophia,” Lulu responded. “Sorry I haven’t been in class. I didn’t want people to see me like-”

“No, it’s OK, I understand,” Sophia said, placing a hand on Lulu’s shoulder.

Lulu smiled, then looked at me. “Cate Fox. Your reputation precedes you.”

“Really?” I asked. “I’ve only been here two days.”

“Yet people are talking about you in the halls.”

“I guess I make an impression with people.”

“I’m actually curious why the new girl wants to see me.”

I grabbed a chair from her desk and put it in front of Lulu and sat in it. “I’m investigating the missing students. Sam here said you think your condition is related. Can you tell me what happened?”

Lulu held up her arm. On it was a metallic-looking bracelet. It had a faint glow to it. “This is my cursed bracelet. The first time I put it on, I turned into a girl. When I removed it, I changed back into a boy. It was easy to take off at first. But the longer I wore it, the harder it became to remove. Eventually, it wouldn’t come off at all no matter what I tried. I was enrolled here, and came to terms with my feminine self. This curse isn’t a curse anymore. It’s who I am. But a few weeks ago, the bracelet started to lose its glow and it didn’t feel as tight on my wrist. When that happened, I began to grow more and more masculine. I don’t want to go back to being a boy.”

“So your parents dumped you here too? I see a recurring theme.”

“I don't blame my parents,” Lulu replied. “They are good people and I love them. They just couldn’t handle losing their son.”

I turned the conversation back to her magic. “Sam said you think someone is undoing your magic. Just like Ashley Tart?”

Lulu nodded. “She was involved with some after-school activity where they were experimenting with magic.”

“Isn’t that forbidden?” I asked, glancing at Sophia.

“It is,” Lulu confirmed. “It’s not that Ashley wanted to undo her transformation. Quite the opposite. She loved what TG magic did for her. She wanted to find a way to do that for others-”

“But,” Sophia interrupted. “That’s why my mother - I mean benefactor - was kicked out. There are rules in place because magic is unpredictable and dangerous.”

“I think Ashley may have realized her mistake when it backfired on her,” Lulu continued.

Sam added, “Ashley, before she was Ashley, was a middle-aged guy. She started to age quickly a few weeks ago.”

“And that’s when she disappeared?”

Everyone nodded.

“We need to find this after-school activity.”

“She never mentioned who else was working with her,” Lulu added.

“Why do you think this is happening to you?”

Lulu shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe whatever happened to Ashley is contagious.”

I saw Sophia quickly back up, worry evident on her face.

“Do you really believe that?” I asked.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Lulu admitted.

“I’m worried that Lulu will end up missing too,” Sam added, as she reached over and held Lulu’s hand, as if holding onto her would keep her from disappearing.

“No one else is going to end up missing,” I said, trying to calm everyone’s fears. “No one else is going to lose their magic.” I looked at Sophia too, who needed to hear that.

My words of comfort didn’t seem to have the effect they normally did. Maybe it’s because I look like a 14-year-old girl, and not a guy with authority.

“OK,” I said, trying to put the pieces together. “Ashley didn’t want her curse removed. But she wanted to help others. Do you think she had someone in mind? Sophia’s benefactor didn’t break the rules until she met someone who could benefit.”

“If a student here is using magic they could risk everything,” Sophia said.

“Unless they don't have anything to lose,” Sam added.

I thought about that for a moment. Who would not have something to lose? Someone who isn't happy. “Everyone here from the headmistress down, has said, you all like your curses. That everyone is happy. Is there anyone here that isn’t happy? That doesn’t like their curse?” I looked around at the girls in the room. They all shrugged.

"Well, it's not all rainbows," Lulu admitted. She looked over to Sophia. "No offense."

Sophia smiled wryly and waved her off.

"Lizzie still complains about being magically swapped into her sister's body and having her family embrace her sister as the new eldest son, but you can tell that being a girl agrees with her. Jamie still wants people to call her 'James' and dresses like a boy, but when her sister came to visit she told us that Jamie is so much more relaxed and confident in her new skin. Lily's curse prevents her from experiencing euphoria alone, but once she invited that Were to her room I haven't seen her without a smile. Short of Brandi and Brandon, I don't think there is anyone that hasn't been able to find their silver lining."

"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen them smile," Sophia confirmed.

I was about to inquire further but was interrupted as Lulu began convulsing and coughing. She stood up and tried to brace herself against her nightstand.

The bracelet on Lulu’s arm glowed bright one last time, then stopped glowing all together. At that point the bracelet grew slightly in size and fell off her wrist, landing on the floor with a “clunk” of finality.

Lulu suddenly grabbed her chest and looked at us with fear in her eyes. She grew taller, the hair on her head got shorter, and her breasts receded. She sat back down on her bed, too shaky to stand.

“Lulu,” Sam said, moving to comfort her.

Lulu turned around and buried her head into her pillow. 

“Lulu, it’s OK,” Sam said, rushing to her girlfriend’s side and sitting on the bed.

“Go away. Everyone,” Lulu’s cries muffled through the pillow.

Sam started sobbing.

Through the dim lighting of the room, I saw the bracelet on the floor. I was afraid to even touch that thing. I found a pen on the nightstand and grabbed it. I picked up the bracelet with the pen and examined it. It looked like corroded bronze, and lacked any of the glowing properties I noticed when I first walked in.

“We should go,” Sophia said, choking up. She, too, had tears in her eyes.

I wanted to ask the obvious question - what happened if Lulu put this back on? But since it no longer glowed, I had a feeling nothing would happen. I then placed the bracelet on Lulu’s night stand and stood to join Sophia.

“Sam,” Sophia advised. “She needs her space.”

“I can’t leave her,” Sam said through her tears.

I shrugged and hinted to Sophia we should just leave her. As the two of us filed out of the room, I turned back around to Lulu and Sam. “Lulu, I’ll figure this out.” Of course, I have zero experience with magic bracelets. So whether I should’ve made that promise is debatable, but it felt like the right thing to say.

* * *

Sophia was silent on the way back to our room. Clearly she was worried. When we were in our room, I decided to check up on her.

“Hey Soph, Are you OK?”

“I’m worried,” she replied nervously.

“I can tell. I’ve never seen you so quiet. Even when you sleep, you’re loud.” I chuckled at my attempt to lighten the mood. She wasn’t amused.

“What if what’s happening to Ashley and Lulu happens to me?”

“It’s not,” I said, to soothe her worry.

“I can’t go back to being that guy, Cate. I just can’t.”

I heard a buzzing coming from my backpack. I opened it and retrieved my cellphone. It was Max. Oh, thank God!

“I’m in town. Where can we meet?” his text read.

I thought about it and smirked. Part of me wanted to revisit that diner. Maybe that sandwich is waiting for me. I decided against going there two days in a row. I think Sheriff Dickless knows something, but I haven’t figured out what that is yet. “There’s a lounge area in the Administration Building,” I messaged back.

“Twenty minutes?” he suggested.

“See you there,” I typed back.

I looked at Sophia as she started doing homework. “Hey, I need to run out real quick.”

She nodded her head. “I was gonna meet Julia for dinner in a bit, anyway. You’re welcome to join.”

“Thanks, we’ll see how long my errand lasts.” I grabbed my phone, dropped it into a pocket of my chinos and went to see the Chief. Hopefully he found the Slider so this case of the fading magic becomes someone else’s problem.

* * *

I left the dorm and walked to the Admin Building. Most things were closed at this hour, but there were chairs sprinkled around for lounging between classes. I stood in front of the building for about two minutes when I saw Chief Hamilton’s unmarked sedan pull up to the roundabout in the front. 

He got out of the car and walked towards me looking me up and down. He chuckled. “Wow, look at you Jack. They made you take a shower. You clean up well.”

“Yeah, well some teachers took offense to how I smelled,” I said, extending my hand. Max took it and gave me a friendly male handshake. “It’s good to see a familiar face.”

As we walked into the building, Max looked at me curiously. “School’s treating you that bad?”

“They’re giving me homework and making me study.” God, that sounded childish.

“How dare they,” he laughed.

We found seats in the vacant lobby and sat down.

“So, Jack, tell me what’s going on,” Max implored. “I got your texts.”

“It’s Cate, here,” I corrected him, looking around.

“Cate?” He looked at me with a shocked expression. “I thought you were going by Emma.”

“Well, no,” I lowered my voice in case someone was snooping. “I’m undercover. Don’t worry. Most students are eating dinner right now. I needed to make sure I had no connection to Jack or Emma. It was Hathaway’s idea. I’m going by Cate Fox.”

“Cate Fox,” he repeated. “Did you make that up?”

“Yeah. It sounded good at the time. It’s growing on me.”

“Umm. OK. Well, tell me what’s going on - Cate.”

“I’m in way over my head, Max. Tell me you found the Slider and Emma.”

“In over your head? That doesn’t sound like the Jack Baker I know.”

“Well, typically Jack Baker doesn’t have to deal with magic and teenage girls. And hormones. Fucking hormones. Did I mention teen girls?”

“Magic? Like the biker story I told you?”

“Yes. Just like that. Apparently there’s more to this missing student story. Someone is making the magic in some of these girls fade away.”

“Fading magic? Sounds like an interesting case.” Max went on. “I’m sure you can solve it. I can't wait to read your report.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. He wasn’t acknowledging my question about Emma and the Slider. “You didn’t come with good news did you?”

He sighed. “No. We have not found either your body or the body of the Slider. The slider hasn’t used any of your bank accounts nor has stopped by your house or retrieved your car from the train station.”

“He’s too smart for that.” I shook my head. “He’s been sliding for a long time and knows not to assume my identity. He’s likely fled town where he could start over.” I sighed and put my head into palms. “It’s been four days. Surely the Slider must’ve moved on to a new body by now.”

“We don't know that,” Max said. “If he did start over with a new identity, there’s no reason to ditch your body yet.”

I looked back up at the Chief. “Starting over as an out-of-shape, balding 42-year-old?”

Max shrugged. “Don’t sell yourself short, Jack. Although, you’re right, your body is nothing without your charming personality.”

I chuckled at Max’s attempt to lighten the mood. “How about Emma? Did you check out that Pittsburgh connection?”

“It was a dead end. This Jacob boy must’ve been lying because we could not find him using the information you gave us. Emma has also not tried contacting, or returning to, the Kincades.”

“No, she wouldn’t go to her parents for help. She might go to a friend, though.”

“We’ve been scoping out her school and the close contacts you gave us.”

I banged my fist on the armrest in frustration. “I should be helping with my own case. Not repeating high school as a girl.”

“You know you can’t.”

“So, I’m stuck here like this for the foreseeable future?”

“It looks that way,” he sighed. “It can't be that bad, can it?”

“Well, you haven’t met my roommate.”

“Is there anything I can do for you, Jack - sorry - Cate?”

“Did you look into per diem? I need money.”

“I got per diem approved. Make sure to send me your receipts.”

“That’s great, Chief. Make the check out to Cate Fox and I’ll give you my campus mailing address. Can I get a credit card, too?”

“I’ll see what I can do with payroll. I don’t know about a credit card, Cate. I did however anticipate that you’d have no money to start off with. So I got the Kincades to send you money - provided you call them at least once a week.”

“What?” I said, raising my voice. It echoed off the tall gothic walls. I tried to reign in the volume of my voice. “They want me to call them? Couldn’t they just send me money?”

“They’re your parents.”

“They are not my parents.”

Max reached around and pulled a wallet out of his back pocket. He skimmed through a wad of bills and gave me several twenties. “This should hold you for a week until you call the Kincades and they send you money.”

I took the folded stack of 20s and slid them into my chinos. 

Max stood up. “In the meantime, take care of yourself, Cate. Maybe enjoy being a teenager again.”

“I hated being a teenager the first time around.”

“Well, this time you’re a little different.”

“You’re not helping, Max.”

We shook hands and I watched him walk out of the building.

I suppose I should go meet up with Sophia for dinner. But before I did, I decided to pay Ms. Hathaway a visit. If I’m going to be stuck at this school for the foreseeable future, I better help solve this case. Not necessarily for my own ego, but I feel like I need to help these girls.

I walked into the headmistress’s office and knocked on the door. She came out from another room and into the office. I wonder if she lived here.

“Good evening, Miss Fox,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“Ms. Hathaway, you told me there was another missing person. I know about Ashley Tart. Who is the other?”

“The other missing girl was found the afternoon you enrolled.”

“Wait, really? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I have an Academy to run Miss Fox. You are a student.”

“I thought I was an undercover detective, hired to help you.”

“You're both, but you’re a student first, particularly around other people.”

It was apparent if I wanted information from her, I would have to ask the right questions because she was not going to just offer up any information. “Did you know Ashley’s magic was fading?”

“I heard rumors.”

“The same thing has happened to others.”

“I hadn’t heard that. Are you suggesting there’s an outbreak of some sort of…virus?”

I was about to answer, but truthfully I hadn’t considered a virus. I was focused on this being a man-made phenomenon. There had to be someone behind it. “I uh… hadn’t thought of that.”

“You made a big impression on Coach Barnes today.”

“She asked me to use a conditioner. So I did.”

“I meant at lacrosse practice.”

“I know. Well, I was testing out this thing I heard about Displaceds.”

“Don’t be surprised if she recruits you to play.”

“No offense, but my enrollment here is not a long term thing. I have no intention of joining the lacrosse team.”

“Suit yourself, Miss Fox. Now if that’s all, I would like to return to my dinner.”

I nodded, and she walked back through the door she came from. I guess she does live here. 

* * *

I made my way to the dining hall, made a sandwich, then found Sophia and Julia finishing up dinner. They both acknowledged my presence, but I sat there without saying much and silently ate dinner.

Sophia appeared to be in a better mood than she was earlier. Or she was good at masking her fears around Julia.

I looked around the dining hall out of boredom. I saw Brett, who noticed me looking at him. He winked at me, causing me to look in another direction. In the other direction was Kayla who saw me and pretty much made the same exact expression I just made to Brett and turned her back to me.

God, I hate high school.

I texted Sam, “How is Lulu doing?”

Sam texted back, “She’s refusing to leave her room. She’s not talking. She’s considering going home.”

“We can’t let her go home,” I replied. But was I saying that to be a friend, or was I more concerned about a piece of my investigation?

Without Lulu, I have nothing. She’s my only real good link to Ashley Tart at the moment.

“Can you talk to her?” Sam texted.

Me? “What can I say? Why would she listen to me?” I replied.

“You can convince her to stay. She seems to trust you. I’m not sure why.”

Me neither. I then realized I was at a dead-end in my investigation. Lulu’s not talking. She’s thinking of leaving. The missing girl is still missing. The mystery behind her disappearance is still a mystery. There’s now a secret club experimenting with illegal magic. Lulu made it sound like Ashley wasn’t alone.

I needed a break in the case. The only problem is I no longer had any leads to investigate. Odds are the secret magic club would go further underground after what happened to Ashley, making them harder to find.

My phone buzzed again. This time it wasn’t Sam. It was from “Mom,” who I assumed was Mrs. Kincade. “Call me, honey,” read the message.

I did not want to talk to her, but as Max said, she was going to be my source of income for the foreseeable future. 

I swallowed my pride, tried to put on a teenage girl persona, and dialed “Mom.”