A New Perspective Pt. 01

And bolted straight up in bed. Someone was shaking my shoulder, and a different voice, one softer and full of love, was saying "Faith! Come on girl, snap out of it!"

It was Bella, her dark eyes bright with worry and fear. As soon as I realized I wasn't in the dream anymore, I collapsed into her arms, sobbing. She stroked my back, rocking me gently as she whispered soothing words. I was shaking like a leaf, my body as taut as a string as the images from the dream replayed in my mind.

After a few minutes, I felt myself start to calm in incriments, with the occasional hiccup here and there.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bella asked, wrapping the blanket around me. I shook my head, still unable to form words. I was still shaking bad enough to make my teeth chatter, but I could at least move my arms and legs now, instead of being frozen by fear.

A new thought passed through my mind, and it's implications were enough to wipe away the nightmare in my mind. Pushing back from Bella, I realized that it was the first time I would be going to the bathroom with my new body.

"B-Bella?" I said quietly.

"What's up, doll?"

"I uhm...." Blushing, I tried to find the right words. "I need to go to the bathroom."

She looked at me, puzzled, until she realized that I meant. Instead of laughing like most others would, she nodded sympathetically and offered a hand to me.

"I'll give you a hand, hun." She said, getting off the bed. "Trust me, I was confused and daunted at first, too. It's not as bad as you think."

Walking into the bathroom, she had me pull my underwear down and sit on the toilet. After I was done, she patiently showed me how to wipe correctly, and gave me some tips on how to prevent myself from making a mess. It was really embarrassing, and a further reminder of my newfound body. When we were done and my PJ's were pulled up, Bella beamed at me.

"See, was it really that hard?" She asked as we walked back out to the bedroom.

"Not really." I grumbled, getting frustrated with my hair. It just wouldn't stay in place, no matter what I did to it, and when I had mentioned that I was thinking of cutting it, Bella told me she'd shank me with the clippers if I even tried.

"Bella, do you have a....thingy?" I said, motioning vaguely at my hair. She laughed at my lack of knowledge. "A hair tie? Sure do! I'll grab it for you."

"How are you so comfortable being a girl now, B?" I asked with genuine confusion as she went to her side of the bed. "Doesn't any of this freak you out?"

"Not really, no." She said, tossing me the hair tie and sitting down. "I'm actually comfortable like this."

"How?" I tied my hair into a ponytail and joined her on the bed. "How can you be so ok with this? I mean, isn't it fucked up that they did this to us without our permission?"

Bella went quiet for a moment, studying her hands.

"Faith, this wasn't without my permission." Her voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear it. "I wanted this. I wanted to be a girl, and they just made my wish come true."

"You wanted to be a girl?" I said, laughing. "Why would you want something like that? Are you gay or something?"

"No, I'm transgender." She responded, looking up at me. "It means I was a girl trapped in a male body. I knew that with how big I was, I'd never have a chance at being happy as myself. So I asked them for this gift, and they happily obliged."

"A tranny?" Now I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "You're a fucking tranny? Oh my god, that's golden. You probably had a stash of panties you'd wear to school, huh? Just like some sort of faggot who got off wear-"

Bella moved so fast I had no time to react. Before I knew it, she had me up against the wall with one arm on my throat. It was a very bad time for me to realize that she did indeed outweigh me and was taller. Her brown eyes burned golden with anger and hurt.

"This is why I didn't fucking tell you." She yelled, surprising me by swearing for the first time since her change. "Because I knew that you were too bigoted and thick headed to understand. Do you think I wanted this?! No, I didn't! But you're so wrapped up in yourself to think of anyone else. Your masculinity is so fragile that anything other than a big, strong man is some kind of queer to you."

I tried to struggle, to get away from her, but she was surprisingly strong as she held me there.

"Bella, I-"

"No, I'm not fucking done." She snapped. "We've been friends since childhood. You never thought to ask about my family. Never wanted to come over, or see them. I watched as you grew into this big, macho asshole who spent daddys money with no regard. I watched with sickness as you assaulted girls in our school. I spent years in fear of what'd you do to me if you ever found out. And now that I actually found a cure? Now that I'm actually happy and content with my body?"

Her voice cracked now, and tears slid down her cheeks. "You say all that mean stuff. You confirm to me that even though I've had your back since we were kids, you've never had mine. I didn't want to believe it, but you only care about yourself."

I felt shame punch me in the gut as she let go of me. Her words had struck a nail I didn't even know existed, and her tears cut me to the core like razors.

"I'm your caretaker." She said through tears. "Even after all of this, they have the decency to make sure you're taken care of. But that's all I am. Now I realize I don't mean anything to you, especially now I'm a girl."

"Please, B. I can-"

"I'm just another pretty face and potential hole to fuck." She spat bitterly, turning her back on me and walking away. "Isn't that what you always say about girls?" She called over her shoulder.

I slid down the wall as the door slammed shut with enough force to rattle the windows. My emotions were all over the place right now. What I had said seemed ok to me! I didn't mean to hurt her, but she was right. I didn't think about how it would have affected her.

'That's because you're a cruel, selfish boy who's weak.' A voice whispered in my mind. It caused me to jump and look around. It had sounded as clear as day, but nobody was in the room. I shook it off as my mind playing tricks on me.

When a knock sounded on the door, I sprang up and hurried over, hoping it was Bella. But when I opened it, I froze dead in my tracks as I saw my father standing there. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of me, and his lips drew thin in disappoi ntment.

"Hello, Faith." He said, his voice sad.

"Dad?! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how the first part of your lesson was going. May I come in?"

Nodding, I stepped back to let him in. As he brushed past me, I realized for the first time how small I had become. I had matched my dad in height, at 6'3. Now I barely came to his chest, and I felt tiny next to him.

Closing the door, I turned to see him grabbing the desk chair and lowering himself into it. He sighed, studying me for a moment.

"Dad, you have to help me out." I began as I sat on the edge of the bed. "The witches here said that you ordered them to turn me into a girl! Now I'm stuck in this body, and it's been killing me to think-"

"You look just how I imagined my daughter would look." He said softly, interrupting me. "Did you know that your mother was a redhead?"

His words shocked me enough that I didn't have a response. He continued as he pulled a tobacco pipe out and lit it.

"I did give the order, my child." He said, blowing a lazy stream of smoke to the ceiling. "I felt it was the only way to stop you without cutting you completely off. The coven had helped me out a number of years ago, and I felt it only right that they be the ones to enact your punishment."

"But why?" I croaked, stunned at his blatant honesty.

"Because, Faith, you are a selfish, spoiled child. I had hoped that the older you got, the more mellow you would become. But it went the opposite way. You became more greedy, and more entitled. You thought the world owed you something, no matter who it was. That's not who a Callum is, and I was growing tired of you smearing my name with your reckless actions."

"I...I was just trying to be like you."

"How?" He snapped, causing me to jump. "By tearing around town and doing what you wanted? By raping your classmates and then bragging about it?"

"I...you told me that you always get laid." I managed to stammer.

"I do, but not by forcing girls into it. I respect women, Faith. Without them, our world would be a much different place. Women have been at the forefront of science and innovation. They have passed down priceless amounts of knowledge to our world. And you treat them as if they're your personal sex toy. How many people have repeated these words in the past two days?"

When I didn't respond, he nodded. "As I thought. If the same thing is being said over and over by multiple people, perhaps the problem is you, not them. The world isn't out to get you, and the world doesn't owe you anything. You're just one person out of billions. And you have the arrogance to think that you matter more than everyone else? Here's a little newsflash for you. You don't.

"My order to turn you into a girl was to make you see the other side. To be small and fragile. You see girls as objects, so now you're one of them. I'm not helping you out of this, Faith. As a matter of fact, my visit here has two purposed. I wanted to see how you were handling things, and I have some news for you."

"What news?" I asked weakly, my mind reeling.

"Brent Callum died in a car accident last night on his way home from the party." My dad said, his eyes locked on mine. "He was killed instantly on impact, and his Mustang burned to the ground. They identified him via dental records."

"I'm DEAD?!" I shouted, springing to my feet. "What the fuck, dad? I thought you were gonna help me out, not fuck my life up even more!"

"You will not speak to me that way anymore!" He boomed, surging to his feet to tower over me. I instinctively cowered back onto the bed, fearful at both his outburst and his size. "I am your father, goddamn it, and you will give me the respect that I am owed!"

His yelling scared me in a way it never had before. When I was still a guy, I would just shrug him off and say whatever. But now, I was frightened to my bone. I curled into a ball on the bed, hugging my knees to my chest as tears started flowing. (For what felt like the hundredth time that day.)

After a moment of me sobbing, I heard him sigh. A heavy weight sat next to me, and I felt his large hand on my back.

"I'm sorry, Faith." He said, his tone softer. "I shouldn't have screamed at you. I just get angry at the way you treat others."

When I didn't respond, he surprised me by kissing the top of my head and standing back up.

"Brent is dead." He said with a finality. "His sister, Faith, has flown up from another state to attend the funeral and console her father. She will start her senior year at the same high school, and if she does well, she'll carry on the Callum name. That's your life now. You're going to learn how to live as a girl, how to act like a girl. You're going to learn first hand what it's like to be on this side of the coin. There is no reversal spell, and even if there was, I wouldn't authorize them to change you back.

"Someone will be by soon to take pictures for your new ID, and you'll go shopping for clothes later on. The next week will be spent coaching you and teaching you what you need to know. Your room has been stripped at the house, with everything thrown away. You will have no access to my money until I deem you worthy. This is your home, now. I advise you make peace with it, Faith. These women are your family now."

"Wait." I said weakly as he started for the door. "You said you respect woman?" I asked when he turned around. At his nod, I bit my lower lip as I thought for a moment. "What...what happened to mom, then? I thought you kicked her out when I was a kid? Is that how you respect women, by just booting them to the curb?"

My dad just studied me a moment before turning around and leaving. The click of the door shutting echoed throughout the room, and for the first time in my life, I felt truly alone. No family, no money. My best friend stormed out of the room after she had tried telling me something really important about herself.

And no reversal spell. As I crawled under the covers, my cheeks wet with tears, I realized what it meant to be lost and alone. So I pulled the blankets over my head. I buried my face deep into the pillow.

And I wept tears for the loss of a boy named Brent.