The New Roommate

It was a cool day in March when our story began. The birds had just returned from their winter sojourn to the south and alighted the morning with the sounds of their songs. People from all over the state had exchanged their thicker winter coats and fluffy hats for more form fitting jackets or hoodies. People began to emerge out of their winter habits and began enjoying the great outdoors again, if only in brief bursts. As such, the amount of traffic on the roads had noticeably doubled. It was especially heavy near the cities where many came to enjoy events, shows and meals without the fear of having to dig their cars out and navigate through several miles of bad weather.

The increased traffic did not escape the notice of Luke Costiello as his older sedan puttered down the interstate, heading towards a major population center. Luke was, in fact, grumbling to himself about the endless slowdowns he seemed to be hitting every few miles. He expected to run into the spring construction projects, of course, but the amount of people on the road for a late Tuesday afternoon was upsetting him greatly. Didn't these people have anything better to do than get in his way?

Luke turned his mind off the slow moving cars in front of him and back to his recent life events. He had just accepted a new job in a new city and had left his childhood home in the morning full of excitement as he pointed his car, loaded down with all his worldly belongings that he could fit, towards his future.

Luke had been living with his parents for several years following his graduation from college. His degree in chemistry was a hard fought victory, especially after he fell out of love with the subject in his first year, but he was talked into staying and finishing his degree by his family.

"What would you even switch to at this point Luke?" His mother had chided him when he voiced his concerns. "It doesn't matter if it's not as 'fun' or 'cool' as you thought! What matters is that you can get a high paying job with a degree in that field!"

Luke saw where she was coming from. Like all parents, she only wanted the best for her son. But Luke had only signed up for the program to appease her in the first place. Chemistry was something that he had been good at in school, but never something that he personally enjoyed. Still he stayed, mostly because he really was stumped on what else he would do. And now, after countless hours of applications and interviews, he had scored a good paying job in a city that was thankfully several hours away from his old life. He felt like he was driving out of his old life and into his future. Maybe he'd finally shake this sense of aimless drifting he was having and finally get his life started for real, or so he hoped.

But after several hours of driving, the only things he was feeling were stiff, sore, pissed off and worst of all, he had to piss like a racehorse. Lucky for him, the traffic broke just enough for him to jump into the exit lane and finally get off the accursed highway. After another fifteen excruciating minutes of driving, he pulled his car into the driveway of a large suburban home. After double checking that the address was indeed the correct one he had been seeking, Luke exited the car and made his way towards the front door.

A dainty 'ding-dong' resonated throughout the house as he pressed the doorbell, which he noted was colored in shades of pink. A few seconds later, Luke heard a muffled "Coming" followed by a series of frantic footsteps. Suddenly the door flew open and a woman with long purple hair adorned in a silk bathrobe was standing before him.

"Who the heck are you?" She said while frowning at him. Luke noted she was actually a few inches taller than him, which was surprising because he was just a hair under six feet tall.

"Um, I'm Luke?" he stated blandly, not knowing what else to say at the moment. He added, "Costiello?" when she continued to gaze at him with the same frowning expression.

Just as he felt himself getting exasperated, another female voice called out, "Oi! It's ok Candy!" A woman with short green hair appeared, descending the staircase, clad in a tight fitting set of jeans and a t-shirt. Luke immediately saw two points that were undoubtedly her nippled poking out through the thin fabric. He quickly looked away and busied himself examining the sheen on the banisters.

The green haired girl quickly descended and waved for Luke to come into the house proper. "Hey, I'm Bliss. I'm the one you've been emailing." She said and extended her hand for him to shake. Luke grasped it limply, trying to maintain eye contact as much as possible. She gazed back at him in a way that made him a bit uncomfortable. When Luke thought back on this later, he felt that it was almost as if she was sizing him up for... something.

Bliss gave Luke a quick house tour and showed him his room. She also introduced him to the other housemates. Aside from Candy and herself, there was Chastity, Bubbles and Kitty. Aside from their strange names, Luke also noted that each girl had a unique shade of brightly colored hair. In this case, Orange, Blue and Red. It was bizarre to say the least and when he asked Bliss about it, she laughed.

"Yeah, we're a pretty weird bunch. But we were lucky to find each other, especially considering who we used to be."

Luke cocked an eyebrow at that statement but before he could ask what she meant, she plowed on about the rent and utilities and such, and the question was driven out of his mind.

Luke settled into his new home quickly. He didn't have an excess of possessions so he didn't have a great deal of unpacking to do. After that he fell into a work/home routine fairly quickly. His job was just as boring as he'd imagined but he plowed on regardless. More than once he found himself wondering if there was some other path he could set himself on, but depressingly nothing came to mind.

What was more strange to him were his eclectic house mates. They were in and out at all hours of the day and night, fussing around with one thing or another, but every time he would walk into a room, they would suddenly stop all activity and act extremely stiff and formal around him. When he asked Bliss, who was the only one that seemed to be at ease around him, she just shrugged.

"Well, we haven't had a male housemate in a while, so they might still be warming up to you." Was all she offered in explanation. Luke didn't fully buy this explanation but didn't press the issues. Still, he couldn't help but wonder, if they didn't want a man in the house, why did they agree to let him stay in the first place?

Life went on and time passed, but Lukes housemates never really seemed to warm up to him at all. Any and all conversation they would be holding would suddenly stop any time he walked into a room and only resume after he had left. If they were watching something on the tv, they would awkwardly get up and leave any time he tried to sit in, even if he tried to squish himself in the very furthest corner. It was infuriating to say the least.

Not helping matters at all was all the stress he got at work. His boss turned out to be a massive jerk who loved to lord over him. He frequently would bring up every little mistake Luke made and rubbed his face in it. He was just as quick to take any and all credit for any good thing that Luke accomplished.

After a few months, Luke just couldn't take it any more. One day, after his boss publicly chastised him for another mistake, Luke blew up big time, telling his now ex-boss every nasty thing he thought about the man before storming out. When he came back home, he found only Bliss in the house. She was reading a magazine and brewing a cup of tea. As soon as he walked in, she smiled at him and moved to leave. It was just too much for poor Luke.

"Why do you all always leave whenever I walk into a fucking room?!" He burst out angrily. He immediately regretted his outburst but could no longer contain his emotions. He felt on the verge of tears.

Bliss turned back to him calmly, apparently unfazed by his anger. "No offense, but you're just not one of us." She said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Luke, unable to stop himself, blurted out, "Well I wish I was! I wish I could just be one of the girls and..." Luke cut himself off suddenly. He could feel the color rising in his cheeks. Bliss was just looking at him coolly, seeming to both appraise him and his statement in an almost analytical manner.

Not wanting to hear her response, Luke suddenly stormed off to his room, slamming the door hard behind him. He then proceeded to flop face first on his bed and began crying his eyes out. They were hot, angry tears. His body was racked by deep sobs as all of the anger and frustration came pouring out of his body. A few minutes later, when he had calmed down some, he heard a soft knocking at his door.

Luke had expected Bliss to be there when he answered the door. Even with his sobs muffled by his pillow, he reckoned that he had still made quite a bit of noise. What he did not expect was all five of the girls standing outside of his room. Bliss was in the lead and she was clutching an ancient looking leather bound tome in her hands. They were all gazing at him in an almost hungry way and Luke found himself immediately feeling uneasy and more than a bit afraid.

"You're right Luke. It's far past time that you became one of us." Bliss said. She gently pushed Luke back into the room while the other girls filed in after her. They quickly encircled him, locking hands together in a circle.

Luke chuckled nervously as Bliss stepped forward and opened the book in her hand. She smiled at him, the first genuine smile Luke thought she had ever given him. "Um, yeah, ok. I guess this is how you... uh..." Luke's voice drifted off as he gazed at the intense look the other girls were giving him. He felt fear rising up in his throat.

"Don't be afraid, Luke." Bliss said, still smiling at him, her eyes almost twinkling. "We all used to be like you. Alone in a strange town, confused about what our purpose was, frustrated at the hand life had dealt us."

As Bliss talked, the other girls started to chant in low tones. Luke felt his fear melting away as a deep relaxing calm settled over his mind. Bliss continued, "But we were saved, Luke. We found a way to make the universe give us the life we deserved. We were set free." Bliss extended her hand to him. "Wouldn't you like that Luke? To be free? To cast off the chains of your old life and become the person you've always wanted to be?"

The other girls were chanting louder now but Luke wasn't paying attention to them anymore. He was falling into a state of deep relaxation, but as Bliss asked him those questions, some part of him screamed out. "Yes! I do! I want to live free! I want to be just like you!" As he spoke, though he was not quite aware that he had said anything at all, he grasped Bliss's hand.

The moment his hand touched her, he felt like he was being electrified. His body seized up, his muscles froze as some kind of power flowed out of her hand and into his body. And yet, he didn't feel any pain. Quite the opposite actually. He felt a pleasant melting sensation, like he had been out in the cold for a long time and was warming himself up by a fire.

Though he couldn't see it, Luke was levitating off the ground, anchored only by Bliss's grasping hand. His entire body was bathed in a pink light that was emanating from his every pore. His clothes caught fire and quickly burned away to ash, but Luke was untouched by the flames. Then his body started to change. His feet shrank, his thighs plumped out, his butt gained mass and became heart shaped. His waist pinched inward and his shoulder drew closer together. His arms lost some of their mass and his hands became more elegant. Then a pair of breasts slowly emerged from his chest, quickly taking a lovely shape. Finally, his face began to shift as his hair exploded down his back. As the light faded back into his now altered body, his hair changed color to become bright pink.

Luke collapsed to the ground as soon as Bliss released her grip on him. He felt like he just ran for twenty miles. Every muscle he had felt like jello at that moment. He looked up at the smiling faces that surrounded him. The last thing he heard before he passed out was Bliss saying, "Welcome to the sisterhood."

Several Months Later...

"Hey Rhapsody! Get your head out of the clouds!" Candy shouted over the counter at her pink haired companion. She had been in the middle of stocking new books in the front display shelves when she caught a glance at a tall woman with deep red hair who was perusing the occult section of their book store.

"Hey! Air head!" Candy shouted again and, when Rhapsody didn't respond, tossed a pencil at her head.

"Ouch!" Rhapsody exclaimed as it hit her squarely in the side of her head. "Hey that hurt!" She whined.

"Good! Now stop gawking at the customers and get busy with that display shelf!" Candy scolded.

Rhapsody quickly finished up and then scooted behind the counter with Candy, her eye's affixed on the red head as she made her way around the store.

"Mmmmmh, she looks tasty." She said absently.

Candy responded by rolling her eye's. "Gawd, you are such a bimbo."

"I am not!" Rhapsody protested in a hushed tone. "I just... have a type, you know?"

Candy grinned. "Yeah. Red hair and able to crush you in between her thighs."

"Oh my gawd, you are the worst!" Rhapsody exclaimed as she lightly slapped Candy's arm. Candy pretended the blow had broken her arm and flopped it around for a few seconds while Rhapsody giggled furiously.

"You should ask her out." Candy said as soon as she had stopped laughing herself.

"Oh gawd! I don't think I'm ready for that!" Rhapsody protested. She quickly glanced around before confiding with Candy, "I'm still having trouble getting my bra on in the morning! I'm not ready for... dating stuff!"

Candy grinned widely at her. "You gotta learn sometime sister!"

Rhapsody nervously fidgeted in place. "Well, what would I even say?"

A voice from behind her piped up, "I'd try something like, 'Hi, I'd like you to crush me between your thighs, you beautiful goddess.'"

Rhapsody and Candy turned to see the redhead in question grinning wickedly at the pair of them.

Candy started to giggle furiously as Rhapsody blushed deeply. Eventually, Rhapsody stuttered out in a high pitched voice, "H-h-h-hi!"

Candy doubled over laughter as the redhead grinned in delight. "I got the feeling this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship." She said as she slid Rhapsody a piece of paper with her phone number on it.

It was a long time before Rhapsody came back down to earth enough to do any actual work. After a few more hours, the duo proceed to close up shop for the day. Rhapsody was still mooning over the phone number she had gotten that she missed what Candy was saying at first.

"Huh?"

"I said, Bliss told me that she found a new applicant worth looking at. Another loner who's been bullied by his family and such. We're going to talk about maybe accepting him after dinner."

Rhapsody gasped. "Ooooh! Another one so soon?"

Candy shrugged. "Hey, there are a lot of people out there who need our help."

Rhapsody nodded, thinking back on her previous life. "You got that right. Big time."

Candy nudged her in the ribs. "So... you gonna call her or chicken out."

Rhapsody didn't rise to her bait but instead responded by sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry. The pair burst into a fit of giggles as they walked out of the store and into the night.

THE END