Sophie: A Story of Change

Moonlit Reverie

Chapter 8

Heather McGill eyed Sophie in the rearview mirror as she drove. The short girl was staring out the window, moping. This was not going well. Adding Sophie to the group was supposed to prevent public humiliation, not cause it. It didn't make any sense. If anything, under her care Sophie should be less likely to panic in a crowd. So what had gone wrong?

As she pulled the car to a stop in her house's driveway, she turned to Heather S. "Why don't you take Sophie inside? Heather and I will handle the bags."

Sophie gave her a surprised look, but Heather S. nodded slowly, hearing the unspoken message of I want to talk to Heather K. alone. Once the two were inside, Heather M. opened the trunk and turned to Heather K.

"Listen, you used to be weird. Can you understand what happened back there?"

"With Sophie? I think she had an anxiety attack or something."

Heather M. picked up the bag of makeup. "But why? She looked amazing. Everything was going great. Why would she just freak out like that? Doesn't she like being a girl?"

Heather K. began gathering up the bags of clothes. "I think it's just really new to her. I mean, she was basically a guy until yesterday. And for guys, wearing skirts is more degrading than being naked. Unless you're cosplayer or a goth or whatever. She probably needs a little time to get used to it."

Heather M. leaned closer. "But we don't have time. We're going back to school on Tuesday and she needs to be able to behave by then."

Heather K. was collecting the bags of shoes, now, trying to distribute them evenly between her arms. "She seems to do all right in private, maybe she'll be okay by Tuesday."

Heather M. shook her head. "Maybe isn't good enough."

Suddenly an idea struck her. She smiled. "What we need to do is teach her to rely on us. As long as she's with us, as long as she listens to us, she won't be humiliated. She won't be, as she said, 'a boy in a skirt.'"

Heather K. finished off by grabbing the underwear and the bag from the pharmacy and turned to Heather M. with a simper. "That could really work," she said, excitedly. "And it'll keep her and her power from straying away from us."

Heather M. nodded decisively. "Exactly."

Heather M. led the way inside and was surprised to find the sounds of laughter coming from the living room. It seemed Heather S. was already getting Sophie to relax. When she entered the room, she found Heather S. crouched behind the television, hooking up a game system.

"I can't believe you brought that thing," said Heather M.

"I want to try it with Sophie," said Heather S.

Sophie was sitting in a chair, bouncing with excitement. "I've never played a Genesis before."

Heather M. rolled her eyes. "Heather loves old video games."

"Just don't tell anyone at school."

"Why?" Sophie asked. "No one thinks it's weird to like video games anymore."

"No one thinks it's weird to like new games, but if you go around telling people you own a Vectrex or a ColecoVision you get weird looks," Heather S. explained.

Sophie gave her a doubtful look, but didn't object.

"Anyway, you have got to try some Gain Ground."

Heather K., who was in the process of arranging the bags she had carried, jerked.

"But we usually play that one together," she said timidly.