Curses! - Ch.4 - Not So Safe After All (Patreon)

Now that I was actually looking, it became clear that more things had been affected by that last curse than just my clothes. The differences weren't huge, it's not like my entire bedroom was changed around. I probably would have noticed a lot sooner if it was. 

Like my bed was mostly the same as before, but now the duvet cover and pillowcases were a cute purple pattern, instead of the dull grey they were before. My desk was the same, but my 'gaming chair' had changed from black and neon green to black and hot pink. And my backpack was still slung over the back of the chair, but instead of the worn-out black one I'd had since tenth grade it was now green. Still just as worn-out though.

I was pretty sure my laptop was the same model as before, but instead of the dark grey case it was the rose gold version. Most of the stickers I'd put on it hadn't changed, but a few of the 'edgier' ones had been replaced with cuter stickers. Most of the books on my bookcase hadn't changed either, but there were a few more cute plushies than I had originally, including one of those plush sharks Tabby had. My little assortment of collectable anime figurines were still there too. 

Maybe the biggest and most surprising changes were to the handful of pictures I had. 

Like the last picture I had of me and my mom was still on my desk, but the boring black frame was now pink and decorated with flowers. And more shocking, the picture itself was different. My mom hadn't changed, but instead of original guy-me standing awkwardly next to her it depicted cute girl-me standing close enough that mom's arm was around my shoulders.

Then there was a picture from xmas five or six years back, of me and mom and Avery together. The original version had mom and Avery both smiling next to a bored-looking guy-me as we all held up some gifts. Mom and Avery had cute matching pink sweaters while I had another generic dark t-shirt with some edgy band logo on it. Now the same photo showed a smiling girl-me next to my sister and mom, and all three of us had matching pink sweaters.

And finally there was a picture from when me and Tabby graduated high school last year. She was already more than a year into her transition by then, and she had her hair and make-up done really nice, plus she looked amazing in her pretty blouse and tight jeans. Meanwhile I was in my typical oversized black hoodie. And like usual, I looked kind of distracted while she was smiling. In the new version of the picture girl-me was wearing the same small tight lavender hoodie I had on now, and girl-me had the same happy excited smile as Tabby did.

Seeing the way those pictures had all changed left me with even more confusing feelings. Especially the one on my desk, with me and my mom. I couldn't help wondering how mom would have reacted to my accidental transformation if she was still around. I wanted to believe she'd be ok with it the way Avery was, but I also worried that she might be upset or disappointed with me.

The other thing the photos highlighted was how much my height had changed. In all three original pictures I'd been the tallest. The new pictures made it clear I was easily the smallest out of everyone I knew. I also realized that the new pictures all showed me looking happier than the originals, and both that and the height thing gave me even more confusing feelings. 

Whatever it meant I knew I was't going to figure it out on my own, and I still had other things to check. Specifically my ID. Earlier tonight my wallet was in my jeans pocket, but now my jeans were a mini-skirt and there weren't any pockets. So I had no idea what happened to my wallet and stuff.

It took a few seconds of looking around before I spotted the cute little floral-pattern canvas purse on the corner of my desk. I grabbed it then sat down on my bed again and started going through the contents. 

I found my keys, still on the same old keyring as before. And my money was in there too, not that I had a lot of cash but I was glad to see it hadn't vanished. And finally all my plastic cards and stuff were in a little pocket inside. When I pulled them out I found everything had changed, just like Avery said.

My drivers license, health card, student card, even my bank card and library card. Anything that had my old name on it now identified me as Cheryl Weaver. Anything that had my photo on it showed a cute blonde coed. The cards that used to list me as a guy now indicated I was a girl. And my drivers license now stated my eyes were blue, and it gave my height as a hundred and fifty-two centimetres.

I stared at that number for a few seconds as my eyebrows crept upwards. I used to be a hundred and eighty-five centimetres tall, exactly twelve centimetres taller than Avery. I already knew I was smaller, but it was kind of wild seeing that 'smallness' given an actual number. At the same time I felt my lips trying to curl up into a smile again, until I bit the lower one to keep it in its place.

In the end I stuffed all my cards into my new purse, then got up and put it back on the corner of my desk again. There was one important thing I hadn't seen yet, and that was my phone. I checked around my desk, then the little table next to my bed, and finally looked on the floor under the desk and bed incase I'd dropped it again. 

Eventually I remembered taking it downstairs earlier. I was pretty sure I left it on the coffee table in the living-room, so I headed out of my room and back down to have a look at it. As I was making my way down the stairs I realized I could hear my sister talking to someone, but I could only make out Avery's side of the conversation. It hit me a moment later that she was on the phone with somebody, probably one of her friends.

"No, she definitely hasn't figured it out," my sister said as I came into the room. A moment later she laughed, "Maybe? Assuming we're talking about an egg who's shell is made of inch thick tungsten that is!"

My phone wasn't on the coffee table where I remembered leaving it, so I started looking around the end of the sofa where I'd been sitting earlier. I even got down on the floor and checked under the coffee table and the sofa, incase I dropped it or something.

Meanwhile my sister said, "She's actually here right now. If you can hold on a sec I'll ask if she wants to talk with you? Or should I get her to call you back?"

That made me frown as I sat up and looked at her. That's when I realized the phone she was holding didn't look like hers. It didn't look like mine either, at least not the one I remembered. Mine had the dark-grey case and the black front, the one my sister was using had a white front and was in a sparkly purple case with a cute pony sticker on the back.

"Avery? Who are you talking to?" I asked as I got up off the floor. "And is that my phone?"

"Hang on sec," she said to the other person. Then she responded to me, "Yeah it's yours. I'm talking to your friend Tabitha, she called while you were upstairs."

My eyes widened and my stomach lurched, "What?! You didn't tell her what happened, did you?"

"I had to sis," she grimaced. "Apparently you loaned her your spring jacket last week? She was wearing it about a half hour ago, when I did that curse to change all your belongings. So yeah, it magically transformed on her, and needless to say she was a little freaked out."

"Anyways here," she added as she held my phone out for me, "Talk to her yourself."

My heart was racing as I took the phone, then I cringed as I held it up to my ear. "Uh, hi? Tabby?"

"Holy shit is that really you?!" my best friend exclaimed. "You sound completely different! I can't believe it's you. This has to be some kind of prank."

"It's not a prank," I sighed. "And yeah it's me."

Tabby was quiet for a second or two, then in a serious tone she asked "Are you staying home tonight? Because I'm coming over there right now. I have to see this for myself."

I groaned, "Ok Tabs, I'll be here. See you soon."

The call disconnected as she hung up, and I slumped back on the sofa with a resigned sigh. 

I was positive she was upset with me, I knew she was going to be mad at me for appropriating trans culture or fetishizing trans girls or something like that. And I didn't even have much time to mentally brace myself. She lived with her parents in the same townhouse complex as me and Avery, so at most I had two or three minutes before my best friend got here to yell at me in person.

The silence was broken a couple seconds later when Avery asked, "I thought you were going to get dressed?"

"I put on pants," I replied as I turned to frown at her. Then I raised one leg up and sort of wiggled it around, showing off my cute pink camo leggings. "See?"

My sister rolled her eyes, "Those are leggings not pants. And Cheryl? It's kind of obvious you don't have anything on underneath them. Just like it's easy to see you aren't wearing a bra. And you didn't bother to put on a top."

I pouted at her, "Maybe I would have got dressed if you didn't completely change my entire wardrobe. I could have put my favourite pair of jeans and the college t-shirt I was wearing earlier, except you turned them into a tiny mini-skirt and a skimpy purple thing."

Avery stared back at me for a few seconds before asking, "I what? No I didn't!"

"Well it definitely wasn't my fault this time!" I insisted as I sat up again. "You're the one who used the curse remember?"

She frowned at me for another second or two, then turned and frowned at the curse book where it was resting on the coffee table. And finally my sister's eyebrows crept up slightly as she quietly asked, "Your whole wardrobe? Is everything um, skimpy? Or sexy?"

"Pretty much," I shrugged. "Sort of cute-sexy? Lots of little skirts and thigh-high socks, skimpy tops, that kind of thing. And since I didn't do that it had to be you. Right?"

She was still staring at the curse book as a thoughtful frown settled on her expression. Then after another couple seconds she sighed, "Ok, the curse I used was supposed to affect your belongings according to the intention I set in my mind. Except I didn't intend for your clothes to become skimpy or sexy, I wasn't thinking of any kind of style at all in fact."

"What I was trying to do," she said slowly as she continued looking thoughtful, "The way I sort of phrased it in my head was, I wanted all of your belongings to fit the new you as Cheryl Weaver. And anything that listed your name, displayed your likeness, or indicated any other physical characteristics, was supposed to change to reflect the new you."

"I figured that would make sure all your clothes fit your new body," she explained as she looked to me again. "And when I say 'fit your new body' I mean I expected the size of your existing clothes would change so that they were correct for your new measurements."

Her expression shifted back to a frown again as she continued talking, partially to herself, "Except I just realized that 'fit the new you as Cheryl Weaver' could also be interpreted to mean your style? Granted your old style was basically 'blend into the background', but I didn't specify your old style. I specified the new you, who you are now as Cheryl. So um... Is this your new style sis?"

I gulped quietly as I thought back to how I messed up the very first curse. It went off the last related thing I'd thought of, and that was me getting turned into a cute sexy subby girl. So maybe sexy-cute was my new style after all? Not that I was going to admit that to my sister. I wasn't even ready to admit it to myself yet.

While all that was still going through my head Avery asked, "That curse I used should have updated your ID to have your new name and picture. Did you have a look at that?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "My drivers license, student card, bank card, all that stuff was changed. That's not all though sis. You also changed a bunch of other stuff too. Like my computer, my chair, and the pictures I have up. It changed my favourite picture of me and mom."

"Oh shit," her face went pale. "I'm sorry sis. I didn't think... Is it ok? I didn't ruin it did I?"

I shrugged again, "It's still me and mom, but the 'me' in the picture looks like I do now? Girl me, instead of real me. Same with that xmas picture of you and me and mom from a few years back? And my graduation picture of me and Tabby."

"Fuck," my sister sighed as she slumped back and put a hand over her eyes to rub her forehead. 

After a couple seconds she lowered her hand and gave me a worried look, "Maybe we should get rid of that book Cheryl? Maybe it's dangerous no matter who uses it."

Before I could respond we both heard two sharp knocks from the front door, before it was opened up. Then Tabby called, "Hello?"

A cold heavy feeling settled in my gut at the thought of my best friend seeing me like this. I grimaced and shouted back, "Hi Tabs! Come on up, we're in the living-room!"

I could hear her coming up the stairs from the front door, and with each footstep that weight in my gut got colder and heavier. Then my best friend reached the top of the stairs and came into the living-room. She stopped in her tracks there and stared at me and Avery on the sofa.

Tabby's eyes went wide and she exclaimed, "No. Fucking. Way!"