Metamorphosis (Chapter 6)

“Wake up, dear.” Mom whispered, shaking my shoulder slightly.
“I’ve been awake, mom.” I answered groggily. The truth was that I had gotten very little sleep last night. My mind had been full of upsetting thoughts and nightmares. Ever since that afternoon when I had come to the conclusion that I had brought my whole predicament down on myself, I had been wondering if there was any way for me to be a boy again. It’s not like this was some kind of scientific thing, or some odd sickness that could be treated…this was something that I couldn’t comprehend or understand. Was it the work of God? Was it karma? Could it be some mischievous fairy had been flying by and just wanted to mess around with me? Whatever it was, I didn’t know.
I had been up all night praying and wishing until the tears running down my face, dripped onto my bed sheets and stained them. I begged for whatever had done this to me to change me back…and though I waited all night for something to happen, nothing came…no change occurred. Even despite that, I found it hard to get comfortable anyway. I was used to sleeping on my stomach, but my new boobs made that difficult for me. I was forced to try to sleep on my side or back, which just didn’t feel that comfortable at all. I opened my eyes and looked up at my mom sadly. She only gave a small nod.
“Well, you’re coming with me to work today.” She said. She got up from the bed and pulled the covers off of me, causing the chill of my room to tingle my skin. I curled up instinctively to try and conserve what little warmth I had left. “If you want to eat breakfast, you’ll need to hurray and get dressed so that you can eat something before we leave.” I moaned and stood up.
“What am I gonna wear?” I asked. Mom pointed to the dresser by the wall to show that there was a stack of clothes there.
“I already pulled out some clothes for you to put on.” She said, walking to the door. “Go ahead and get changed, I’ll see you downstairs in 10 minutes.”
“Mom, I can get dressed in 5 minutes.” I said with a chuckle. Mom stopped and stared at me with a humorous smirk.
“It’s not that simple for a girl.” Mom said. “You need to get dressed, fix your hair, clean your face, apply make-up…there’s a lot more to it than just throwing on clothes.” I flushed furiously and turned away.
“No make-up,” I snarled, “I’ll fix my hair and all that nonsense…but make-up is out.” Mom shrugged.
“Suit yourself, but either way, I expect you downstairs ASAP.” With that, she turned and walked out the door. I turned to look at my clothes and sighed and picked up the outfit.

I felt slightly ashamed of the fact that I was soon getting the hang of putting on women’s clothes. I sincerely hoped that I wouldn’t have to make this a regular habit. I then proceeded to slip the light blue jeans up my legs and put on the pair of black flats by my bed. I then picked up the pink blouse my mom had left. I grimaced a little, but put it on. Pink had never been my favorite color, and Mom knew this. However, I had no idea what I would need to wear for this trip, so I was just gonna have to leave it in Mom’s hands. I buttoned downt he blouse and then turned to the bathroom. I leaned over the sink and washed my face off with cold water to get the sleep out of my face. I looked at my long brown hair and tugged on it. It looked alright…not that dirty or mangled. To be safe, I picked up a comb and ran it through my hair, making sure that it was straight and groomed. With that out of the way, I hurried downstairs to see Mom.
“Not bad,” Mom commented, “you clean up well.” I blushed.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“Well, there are a few things that you need work on…but I’ll let it slide for now.” She reached over and pulled on my hair. “Let me fix this just a little.” I felt her tie my hair and I looked to see that she had tied it into a pony tail, which was draped over my shoulder. I shrugged and let her finish. When she was done, she stepped back and pulled out a pop-tart and banana and handed them to me. I stared at it for a moment. She shrugged.
“You took a while to get ready.” She said. “You’ll have to eat on the run…we’re running late. Also, if you look on the counter, you’ll see a shoulder bag for notebooks and such. I want you to take that with you.” I quickly shoved the pop-tart in my mouth and took off after her towards the door, grabbing the shoulder bag as I went. Before I knew it, we were both in the car, heading off to school, while I munched quickly on the small breakfast I had.

The drive to the elementary school As we walked in, I felt somewhat nostalgic and smiled to myself. I had gone to this elementary school when I was little…and when I was in middle school, I would take the connect bus to the elementary school and let mom take me home from there. I had a lot of memories of this school…the front office lady and the principal both knew who I was and they were all so friendly. I giggled to myself as I realized that they would have no idea who I was now. Mom noticed my grin and smiled at me.
“What’s so funny, dear?”
“Nothing, Mom.” I answered. Mom suddenly stopped and give me a nervous look.
“About that,” she said, “you can’t call me Mom while we’re here.” I paused and stared at her.
“Why not?” I asked.
“For the time being, we can’t let anyone know who you really are.” She explained. “As of right now, you’re Cheryl…my niece from the other side of town. You’re here as a student teacher so that you can get extra credit for a class. For now, you’re going to call me Aunt Stacy, understand?” I listened to everything she had to say and I nodded.
“Yes ma’am.” I answered. Mom smiled and then shook her head.
“This is going to take some work…but just trust me on this, alright?” Mom whispered. I nodded and straightened the pink blouse.
“Let’s just do this, Aunt Stacy.” I said. The words stung my tongue and I didn’t like the sound of it. I had always called her Mom, or Mother…but calling her by her first name just seemed so wrong. I couldn’t get used to it, but I knew that I had no choice but to go along for the time being. Mom hurried on past the front desk. A few folks turned to look at me, but I ignored them and tried to stay close to Mom. If anyone asked about me, Mom would simply explain that I was her niece and that I was there as a student teacher. I soon discovered that my mom could have been a good actress. She told a very convincing story. Either way, I didn’t leave her side. I felt like a little kid glued to their mom’s leg on their first day of school…terrified of everyone around them. When we finally did reach her classroom, I felt slightly more relieved now that there were no teachers that might as who I was.

“Good morning, class.” My mom said loudly. I looked to see her classroom full of 4th grade children look up and beam.
“Good morning, Mrs. Thames.” The student’s answered together. I walked in and stood by the wall next to the door, but the students had all noticed me and were staring with rapt attention. My mom stopped and placed her hand on my arm to try and comfort me.
“Class, this is my niece, Cheryl Thames. She’s here as a student teacher and will be assisting me for today.” I gave a nervous smile and waved at the students.
“Hello, guys.” I squeaked nervously. I quickly began cursing myself in the back of my mind. I sounded so pathetic, when I should be trying to reclaim some dignity…what did I have to be nervous about anyway? They’re just 4th grade kids! I pulled my confidence together and looked on with a look of confidence. The students all began muttering and whispering excitedly amongst themselves about me. Mom stepped forward and took control.
“Alright, guys…it’s time to quiet down and get out your homework. Once it’s out on your desk, it will be time for independent reading. Grab a book and find a spot in the room to read. I don’t want to hear a sound out of anyone as you do this.” The students acted quickly and obeyed without hesitation…and with good reason. I knew my Mom well, and I knew that it was a mistake to disobey her when she gave you a task. I vividly remember that, as a child, that I feared angering Mom. Let’s just say that there are things worse than death. “Cheryl, could you come here for a moment?” I nodded and followed her to her desk. She picked up a stack of papers and held them out to me.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“They’re tests that need grading.” She answered. “Due to some events with Chase yesterday, I didn’t have time to grade them. Would you mind grading them for me while I finish getting my lesson together?” I felt the guilt sting like a bee, as she brought up my change. I took the tests and walked to the back of the room, pulled up a chair and got to work grading. Though I was checking over the tests thoroughly, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. Being in the elementary school made me stop and think about my own school. What was going on there today? Did anyone even miss me? I felt a little sad at the thought that there was probably no one there that was even thinking of me. It was a cynical thought, but I couldn’t help it.

“Ms. Cheryl?” I looked up from the tests, and I let myself refocus. There was a girl standing in front of the table. She had light hair and a sweet face. She had blue eyes and she was looking at me kindly. I smiled and leaned forward.
“Yes, what is it?” I asked.
“Do you like dogs or cats?” I stared at her for a moment in surprise. I then realized that this was how elementary school kids were. When they meet someone who’s older, they love to learn more about them and want to compare themselves to their elders. I grinned and thought about it.
“I like both.” She beamed at my answer.
“I like dogs! I actually just got a puppy.” She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a picture of a small cocker spaniel puppy. “That’s her! We call her Lady.” I smiled politely and nodded as I looked at the picture.
“That’s a very nice looking dog.”
“I can even draw her!” She quickly pulled over a piece of paper and got to work on drawing (albeit badly) a picture of her dog. I wanted to tell her to go back to what she needed to be doing, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She seemed so excited about getting to be around me. Luckily, I was saved by my Mom’s shadow.
“Julia, what are you doing young lady?” Mom asked. The girl whirled around and stammered.
“I was just…um…”
“We’re doing independent reading right now, Cheryl doesn’t need to be bothered.” I felt sorry for Julia and spoke up.
“No, it’s alright…she wasn’t bothering me.” Julia beamed but obediently ran back to her desk to get her book. Mom turned and sighed.
“Cheryl, if that happens again, just tell them to go back to their work, please?” I nodded in response, but deep down I was actually very glad that Julia had come to talk to me. When I was a boy, most kids would run or tremble at the sight of me because of how big I was and how intimidating I appeared…but now that I wasn’t so tall or muscular, kids weren’t nervous to come up to me and talk…it made me feel good to be liked. I went back to grading the tests, and let those thought stir in my mind. I smiled through the rest of the class.

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye and the class was packing to go to lunch. All of the kids were looking at me expectantly, all wondering the same thing…which my mom was quick to bring up.
“Cheryl, would you like to come with us for lunch?” I felt my stomach rumble, as the pop-tart and banana had been less than filling and I was hungry. I nodded and walked toward the door, picking up my shoulder bag as I went. The kids all gathered around me, all begging me to sit by them. I laughed at this, and looked to my mom, wondering what she would say. She shook her head in frustration. I was distracting her class. With a shrug she lead the class outside and down the hallway. As I walked out, I accidentally bumped into a tall object walking near the door.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I looked and my breathe caught in my breathe. Not only was the person that I bumped into a person, but I knew her! Her name was Kimberly, and she was a girl from my own high school! She had long black hair and almond shaped eyes. She had always been a very nice girl, and possibly the only person that would even talk to me in class. I didn’t know her that well, but I felt like, if there was anyone at school that I might consider a friend, it would be her. She must have been here as a student teacher, because she was following another line of students.
“No, it’s my fault.” She said quickly. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She took a look at me and noticed that I was way too old to be a student, but that I was still too young to be a teacher. “Are you a student teacher as well?” I spun to see that my Mom was still walking her students to the lunch room and hadn’t seen what was going on. I was on my own for this.
“Um…yeah, I’m Cheryl Thames.” Kimberly gasped.
“Thames?!” She gasped, “Do you know Chase?” I stared for a moment and nodded.
“Y-yes, he’s my cousin.” Kimberly smiled and then got serious.
“No one saw him at school yesterday, do you know if he’s okay?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was Kimberly actually concerned about me? I quickly began to make up a story in my head.
“Well, actually he’s sick…I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Kimberly frowned and looked down.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She said. “I hope that he gets better.”
“Ms. Kimberly, we’re going to Art now!” Just below us, a student was tugging on Kimberly’s hand and pulling her along with the rest of the class. Kimberly nodded.
“Alright, alright, Jack…just be patient.” She then turned back to me. “I’ve gotta go, but if you see Chase, tell him that we all miss him.” My eyes widened and I watched her carefully.
“We!?” I asked. “You mean other people miss me…er…him?” Kimberly didn’t notice my blunder and nodded.
“Oh yeah, lots of us were wondering where he was yesterday. Tell him that we hope he gets well soon, we could really use him back at school.” With that, she turned and walked off after the line of students. I could only stare after her in shock.

“People miss me?!” I hissed. “Was she serious? What did she mean that they need me back at school? What’s happening that I don’t know about?”
“Ms. Cheryl, come on!” I turned to see one of my mom’s students had stopped in the hall to call after me. I nodded and quickly hurried to catch up, but those thoughts kept pounding in my brain relentlessly. Could it be possible that I wasn’t as disliked as I thought? Was I really missed? Had something happened at school after I left? I had to know. As we made our way to the cafeteria, my Mom waited for me by the door with a concerned look on her face.
“Are you alright, dear?” She asked me. I looked up at her and gave her a firm glare.
“Mom…tomorrow I’m going back to school.”