LIGHTNOVELONLINE 18. Hot & Cold (Amy)
My parents hadn't moved or said a word, they were both still staring at me and Tess while Hailey and Alex got up and approached.
I couldn't tell if my sister was already drunk or if she was just being extra loud and obvious with my name and pronouns and calling me her sister in an attempt to drive home the point of who I was with our mom and dad.
I was almost as frozen as my folks were as she came up and gave me a hug, "Hi Amethyst, it's great to see you again! And hello Theresa, nice to see you again too."
She continued with introductions, "Amy, Tess, this is my friend Alexandra. Everyone just calls her Alex though. And Alex, this is my sister Amethyst, and her girlfriend Theresa. Or Amy and Tess for short."
I still wasn't entirely used to my sister being taller than me, but Alex was even taller than that. She had to be five-foot-ten, tall and slim. Her brown hair was trimmed in a short neat style. Both Hailey and her friend were dressed casual, Hailey was in a tight pastel-yellow t-shirt and a cute pair of shorts. Alex wore oversized khaki cargo-shorts and a loose grey t-shirt.
The tall brunette greeted us both with a friendly handshake, "Nice to meet you Amy, Tess."
After the introductions I held out the plastic bag I was carrying, "Happy birthday Hailey. Sorry it's not wrapped."
"Thanks sis," she grinned as she accepted it. Then she put an arm around my shoulders and practically started pushing me towards the deck and my parents as she whispered, "Now c'mon. You can't put this off any longer."
Tess and Alex followed my sister and I, and my heart rate felt like it doubled with each step closer to my mom and dad. They were both just staring, but by now the shock had been replaced with skepticism and some undertones of anger or impatience.
Fortunately it wasn't directed at me yet. Mom gave my sister a hard look as she demanded quietly, "Hailey what sort of game is this?! Your father and I both thought you were serious when you told us your brother was trans, now you pull a stunt like this and have some strangers show up?"
Hailey rolled her eyes as she said "Yeah I get this is the confusing part. Believe me, I felt the same on Sunday as you do right now. It's really her though, and there's a pretty amazing story behind the whole thing."
My heart was still racing and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hide or at least pull back a few steps, but my sister still had her arm around my shoulders holding me in place.
The other thing that was freaking me out was both my parents were on their feet now and it left me feeling very very small. Dad was something like six-foot-two, he was taller than me even before I got changed, but now he was like a whole foot taller. And mom was about the same height that I used to be. I was literally the smallest person here, and it made me feel more than a little vulnerable.
Dad finally spoke up, "Hailey you know as well as your mother and I that there's no possible way your brother could ever look like this girl. So cut the bullshit and tell us what's really going on. Is this some sort of prank or game you and your brother are playing? And which of you two thought it would be funny?"
Hailey's arm around me gave me a little squeeze and she said "You're up sis. Make with the explanations."
My stomach was doing flip-flops as I looked from my mom to my dad. Both of them looked impatient and unhappy.
I cringed slightly, then my shoulders slumped and I sighed. "Thanks for trying Hailey, but this isn't going to work. There's no way they'll believe me. I think I should just go..."
"What?" she half-demanded. "No way! You made it this far, you got me convinced. Tell them the truth and show them some of that magic. It'll be fine."
I sighed again. My parents' expressions hadn't changed, if anything they looked more ticked off by this point. I didn't seem to have many options though. I could flee and maybe never see my parents again, or I could give it a shot.
So I took a deep breath then dove in. I barely stopped for air since I didn't want them to interrupt and get me side-tracked till I'd got through it all.
"Mom, dad, it's really me. Friday night was the full moon and I was at home alone playing games on the computer like usual when there was a magical accident and I got sucked into something. Some sort of goddess was involved and I guess she read my mind or whatever, she saw I was trans and she turned me into my ideal self, which is this. Since then I've been trying to figure it out and understand what happened. Tess has been helping a ton, she's maybe the only thing that's kept me sane through all this. Oh and on top of changing me into a girl the goddess also changed all my clothes and my ID and everything too. And it seems like she's still around or listening to me or something, and she's done more magic since then."
My sister chimed in, "Like on Sunday at my place? First she turned my sofa and easy-chair from blue to pink? Then she zapped my hair so I'm a natural blonde now. No more bleaching, yay."
She added that last part with a grin and a little mock cheer.
Our parents weren't amused. They just stared at both Hailey and me. I could tell we were about ten seconds away from my dad telling me to leave while him and mom had some very stern words with my sister, they obviously didn't believe a word of it.
I sighed quietly, I knew there was no way to avoid it. I had to ask for another magical demonstration. I glanced around the backyard, then got an idea. This time I didn't say anything out loud, I just thought really loudly in my head as I wished for what I figured would be a pretty impressive demonstration.
Off to the side there was a chill in the air and a sort of faint cracking sound. And everyone, myself included, slowly turned and looked.
The swimming pool had completely frozen over.
I sighed, "There. A little demonstration of the goddess's magic. She's still listening, she's still helping out."
My parents, Tess, Alex all stared at the frozen pool in shock.
Hailey was staring too but in addition to being shocked she exclaimed, "Holy fuck sis! That's... Fuck!"
She let go of me and went down the steps to the edge of the pool, then crouched to take a closer look. She called back "The ice is at least six inches thick! Fuck Amy, do you know how much energy it takes to freeze that much water?"
That sounded like a science question, which was very much not my thing.
Alex responded, "A lot. A whole lot. That's... There's literally no way I can think of to flash-freeze that much water. At least, not without a few tonnes of serious equipment. Doing it in the open air on a hot July day in a backyard pool? Impossible."
My parents both seemed stunned, but dad recovered first. He moved to the edge of the pool next to Hailey and stared down at the ice. Alex joined them, like Hailey she crouched down to take a closer look at it.
Then mom spoke up, though she kept quiet as she suggested "Maybe we should all go inside. I think we need to finish this conversation in the house."
I knew that was her way of saying she didn't want the neighbours to hear us, but it gave me something else to freak out about. I knew mom had family pictures up all over the place. And if we went in there, Tess would definitely see those pictures. She'd find out what I used to look like. She'd probably hear my deadname too. In fact I was a little surprised neither my parents or Hailey had said it yet.
Before thinking what I was doing, the thought flashed through my head as I wished nobody would mention my old name and I wished we wouldn't have to see any pictures of the old me. And as soon as I thought it, I felt a sense of dread as I realized what I just did followed by fear of how it might play out and what it might have done to my family.
"Amy?" Tess asked quietly as she moved to my side. "Are you ok? You just went pale."
I shook my head and replied in a whisper, "I'll tell you later..."
Mom moved to the sliding door and stood there expecting the rest of us to all march into the house, but literally nobody was paying attention to her. Dad, Hailey, and Alex were still staring at the frozen pool while me and Tess were standing close to each other.
"Hey sis?" Hailey asked as she looked over at me. "Can you have it thaw again too? Not just melt, but return it to the temperature it was earlier?"
I sighed, "I have no idea. I suppose you want me to try it?"
Dad responded angrily, "Yes we want you to try it! It's going to fuck up the pump if it hasn't already been damaged! And I swear if any of the pipes have cracked there'll be hell to pay!"
Tess gave me a look and I rolled my eyes. That was dad for you, show him an actual honest-to-goddess miracle and he gets bitchy about the plumbing.
"Fine," I stated, and this time I didn't bother hiding my irritation. "Stand back because I have no idea if this is safe or not."
Like before I didn't say it aloud, I just wished in my mind for the goddess to please restore the pool to normal.
This time I felt something like a warm breeze come from the pool, and just like that the water was unfrozen. Hailey checked the pool thermometer and laughed "Fuck yeah! It's right back up to twenty-eight degrees!"
Alex looked even more impressed than she did before, while dad fussed around checking the pump and the heater and all that stuff. There was a thoughtful look on Tess's face, and I could guess what she was thinking. I just proved that the changes or wishes or whatever weren't permanent, they could be undone. Or at least, they could be counteracted by a subsequent wish or change.
And through it all, mom was still standing there expectantly at the back door of the house.
Mom finally got impatient and demanded, "Douglas! Hailey! And the rest of you people, in the house, now!"
My sister sighed and grumbled, but she and dad and Alex started moving for the sliding door. Tess and I followed behind, and we all filed through into the kitchen. Mom closed the door after us, but before we found somewhere to sit Hailey suggested we should all get drinks.
We raided the fridge, my dad and sister and Alex all grabbed cans of beer, Tess helped herself to a wine cooler, I grabbed a bottle of water and mom didn't bother. Then everyone continued on out of the kitchen and into the den where there were more comfortable places to sit.
It was a nice bright warm sunny day outside, but inside the house was almost cold. My parents kept the air conditioner going pretty much all summer long, which I always felt was a massive waste. I could see using it a few times when it was too hot and humid out, but they ran the thing practically from May till September regardless what the outdoors was like.
In the den dad sat in his favourite recliner, Hailey and Alex sat side by side on the sofa, and Tess and I sat in a pair of wingback chairs on the opposite side of the room. That left a spot for mom on the end of the sofa nearest dad.
As I got settled my eyes darted around the room. There were family photos on the walls and on shelves on the bookcases along the wall to my right. Nobody else seemed to notice yet, but about a quarter of the picture frames were empty. By my elbow was a photo from a family vacation the four of us went on when I was sixteen or seventeen. I knew for a fact I was in that picture, dressed in dark clothes and wearing a sour expression, yet now the photo only contained my parents and sister.
It was like the old me had been erased from all the photos. Another disturbing thought crossed my mind, that maybe it wasn't just the photos. Maybe I'd been erased completely.
With everyone seated and most of us having a few sips of our drinks, mom finally fixed her glare on me and Tess then demanded "Who are you two? Where's our son? And how did you do that trick with the pool?"
