Friendzoned

Requested by an Anonymous reader. Sorry about the recend lack of posts. I'll try to keep my output more constant in the future.

Jarred was hopelessly in love with his childhood friend Annie. Ever since he could remember he had a huge crush on that cheerful, beautiful girl, whose smile melted his heart and whose image would haunt his most desperate dreams. The problem was that she was not aware of that at all, and that she only saw him as nothing more than a close and dear friend. Jarred knew that, and it broke his heart, but he carried on, and kept being her best friend and confident, everything just so he could be close to her as much as possible. Deep down he knew that one day he would have mastered the courage to confess her his love.

One day, while chatting with Annie, she said something that felt like a nail in his heart. It was obvious that something was bugging her, but she did not want to talk about it despite the fact they never hid anything from each other. Jarred had long started to notice that they had started to grow further and further apart as years went by, like they belonged to two distant worlds, and Annie’s words really hammered that point in the most painful way. <<Jarred, you are my best friend, but sometimes I wish you were a girl so we could share more stuff together.>>

It felt like Jarred’s world had crumbled upon him. He had been in love with Annie for so many years, while basically she didn’t even think of him as a man. Hell, she even wished he was a girl! What could possibly have been worse? Saying he was bummed about it would be an understatement, but somehow those painful words made him realize that he could no longer hide his feeling. Even if his dream of being with her could never come true, he at least had to be frank with her. But not then, not there. He needed to first master all his courage, and thing thoroughly about the words he should have used. So he asked her to meet after school to talk and then headed straight for his locker.

He collected his books with his head lowered, pondering about what he would have said to his crush, and thinking about how things would have been from that day on, but as he closed his locker something got his attention. He looked at his hand, and noticed that something was definitely different about it. It was slender, and dainty, and even had nail polish. It looked… feminine. His arm seemed different as well, much thinner, and even less hairy. What was going on? The bell rang, making him snap out of his confusion, and so still unsettled he headed to class. During class he kept desperately trying to get the nail polish off his nails, constantly looking around to see if anybody had noticed it, and then he realized that he had instinctively crossed his legs in a very feminine fashion. What the hell was wrong with him? Suddenly he was called by the teacher to try a problem at the board. Startled he got up from his desk, but as soon as he took a first step forward he wobbled and almost tripped over, and as he regained his balance and looked down, he remained completely paralyzed for the shock as he saw that his clothes had changed. He was now wearing heels, thighs, and even a dress. It was like something right out of a nightmare, where he would be humiliated in front of the entire class. But to his surprise, nobody around him seemed to see anything wrong with his attire, and were all ignoring him or staring at him wondering why he wasn’t going to the board. He was called once again by the teacher, and even though he was as startled and confused as ever, he just went along with it, and acted like everything was normal. And surprisingly enough, those weird and alien clothes turned out to feel quite comfortable, almost natural. He was even walking flawlessly in those shoes, swaying his hips left and right with every step… just like a girl. It was unsettling, but somehow pleasant.

He was embarrassed by all that, but at least he was glad that nobody was mocking him or treating him weird. On the contrary, everybody was acting not only normally, but also weirdly friendly and familiar with him, which was quite strange. While he was not your typical loser, he never was the popular guy either, and it was unusual that he would get so many attentions and that so many people would come talk to him in-between classes, especially so many girls. Before he could realize it, he was surrounded by a group of girls, chatting with him and talking about girls stuff, like cosmetics and clothes, and weirdest of all he found himself surprisingly absorbed by the conversation. Somehow he knew everything about what they were talking about, and it all seemed so interesting, despite the fact he never cared about those kind of shallow stuff. Things were getting weirder and weirder with every minute.

Jarred’s following class was math, and there was going to be a test. He had not studied much for it, but he didn’t need to. He had always been gifted for math, and he was confident he would have aced that one as well. However as soon as he found the paper in front of him, he realized that he basically did not understand a word of what was written on it. He tried to focus as much as he could, but he could not remember almost anything of what he had studied. Instead all he could think about were more girly stuff. Dresses, makeup… boys! He suddenly realized that he was nervously playing with his hair, which had somehow grown longer and even turned a shade of blonde. And his body felt much different too, so thin, and frail, and dainty, but with soft and round curves on his hips and chest. It was clear that he was slowly but surely turning into a girl.

It was at that moment that he remembered the conversation he had with Annie that morning, and her wish that he was a girl. Could that be the cause of what was happening to him? It was his only clue, and so he decided to confront her about it, and maybe try to figure out what was happening to him and most importantly of all how to reverse it. However when he did so Annie, just like anyone else he had met that morning, did not seem to notice anything weird, or even different, about his appearance. They were interrupted by the bell. <<Sorry Joana, I have class now and I need to go.>> Joana? Why did she call him like that? And most importantly of all why did it sound so right to be called like that? He started to feel dizzy, frustrated by the whole situation, and so he headed to a bathroom to refresh himself. He instinctively stepped into the girl’s restroom, and as he looked at his reflection in the mirror he saw a cute, delicate feminine visage staring back at him. He contemplated that image for endless minutes, transfixed, until something snapped in his brain. Why was she so confused by her reflection? That was just her face after all. The same she saw every morning. Well, not exactly actually. Those hair sure needed some adjustment, and her makeup was a disaster. She took a hair brush out of her purse and fixed her hair, combing them in a pair of braids, and then did her makeup nicely, and after that headed straight to class.

What a morning that was. She totally had failed that stupid math test, and if she got a low score on her school report she would have ended up being grounded! That would have been like the worst! Soon it would have been summer, and there would have been so many cool parties. She could not afford to get grounded, not now that things were starting to go well with Michael. She needed to play her cards well if she wanted to score with that stud. He had basically nothing but him in mind recently. No wonder she could not focus during classes. She was getting nervous, and needed something to distract her. She would have asked Annie to hang out at the mall later. She was always there when she needed it, and she was glad she had a friend like her. Hours later they were chatting while drinking some latte, and having a great time, when suddenly Annie said to her <<Oh Joana. If I were a boy I would ask you out on a date.>> The thought made Joana smile wholeheartedly. <<Thanks darling.>>