Another Me

When I got to the parking lot my mom was standing next to Roy. They were facing me, but Roy was standing behind her and had his arms wrapped around her. Other people were leaving as I did so they didn’t see me right away. I wasn’t sure if it was because of that or that they were lost in their own world. Roy was whispering into her ear as I approached, and my mom gave a girlish giggle as she snuggled into his arms. It wasn’t until I got close that they saw me and quickly disengaged as if being caught doing something naughty.

I smiled and said, “So do we have one more for our celebration diner?”

Roy seemed to relax at my question and replied, “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

My mom beamed at my reply. “Great, you must be hungry. Come on let’s go then.” It was then that I notice the limo behind them. The driver opened the door, and my mom went in.

“After you,” Roy gave that gentlemanly half bow, half wave I saw men do in movies.

But I paused. My outfit while not wet, was damp. Getting into my mom’s clunker would have been an issue but… he saw me stop and I quickly explained, “my uniform is wet. I don’t want to damage your seats.”

“You are as thoughtful as your mother but don’t worry the seats are treated leather. They would be damaged by a little water.” He didn’t say it but as he talked his eyes crinkled in amusement and I realized that I was being stupid. Of course, water wouldn’t hurt them, the makers would have obviously accounted for rain.

I got in to hide my embarrassment. It was an amazing as I thought it would be. A long leather seat wrapped around the front and side we didn’t get in, like a giant ‘L’. A bar with snacks and drinks lined the other side. I scooted by my mom so they could sit together and watched Roy happily sit next to her. Once we were settled the driver set off without a word.

It’s just that were weren’t going to anyplace I knew of. The car silently drove into the night and the building became sparser and bigger. I shot my mom a questioning look. “I was going to keep it as a surprise, but I know that look, you won’t let it go. Roy invited us over to his place. He’s having a dinner party tomorrow and wanted to introduce me.”

I looked at Roy and he nodded and stated, “As I said your mother is very important to me and I didn’t want to come across as being ashamed or hiding our relationship. You are welcome to join as well, or you can enjoy everything my house has to offer while the party is being held. It is up to you.”

I couldn’t help but picture her being bullied by snobbish rich women, so I immediately said, “I’ll go to support my mom.” A couldn’t imagine a single mother, even one as great as my mom, would be welcomed among the rich.

Arriving at Roy's place was like stepping into another world. One completely different from the low-income apartment building we lived in. I knew he was rich. The one spell 'Precision Healing' was powerful enough to extend the lives of his clientele. It could keep people young forever if the caster had enough energy to keep casting it. It was just that if took a lot of energy so anybody not in the one percentile would be limited on how many people they could cast on. Still, who wouldn’t pay top dollar to live forever? So, I knew he was rich, just not this rich. I was shocked by the size of his mansion. From what I read; Roy didn’t have unlimited energy like I did so I didn’t expect it to be this grand. It was on the other side of town with multiple acres of land around it.

We drove down the long driveway and I could see some creatures in a distant pastor, tennis, and basketball courts off to the side and when we got to the main building, an ornate fountain was lit up. A dazing water and light display sprayed around a demonic marble statue. Its hideous nature trapped inside a watery cage. I took it all in and came to one conclusion; my mom shouldn't know such a man. It wasn't that I thought my mom didn't deserve such a guy, but we lived in the slums and a man like him shouldn't be able to encounter somebody so poor. I couldn't help but wonder how my mom met such a man.

The driver parked in the front and got out to open the door for us. As we disembarked, I noticed a butler was waiting at the door to take us inside. I walked in. At first glance, I knew that the shiny black and white marble floors, the exquisite antique vases and paintings and large crystal chandeliers were all luxury items. And that was just what was what I could see as I stepped inside. I was snapped out of my shock by the butler speaking, “Sir, dinner has been prepared. Would you like it to be served now?”

Roy gave a nod, and we were escorted into another room. The dining room wasn't as ostentatious as the room we just left. An elegant oval table with six chairs sat in the middle of a large room. The room was mostly bear with just a few gray and white painting hanging on the walls. I found it easier to relax in it. Being surrounded by those expensive items had me worried I'd bump into something and break it.

But now that I relaxed, I realized something I had forgotten since I came to this world. It wasn’t my fault; I had been worried survival and had been distracted. Now that I was surrounded by this amount of wealth, it made me think about my dream of becoming a star player and getting rich. My plans of going pro or even my backup plan of going to college weren't plausible anymore. Without a scholarship, I didn't have money to go to college and I didn’t think cheerleading was that profitable.

So, what did the other me plan for her future? Did she have one? I didn’t know what type of jobs I could even do with the magic I had. The only spell I had that seemed to be able to generate money was Roy's and if I used that my mom would think I slept with him. She was finally happy so how could I destroy her relationship. Even if I told her how I got it, she wouldn’t believe me. And then there was Roy; would he care that I took his personal spell? The fact that his spell hadn’t been spread out showed he wanted to be the only one using it. I couldn’t risk them knowing I had it. I knew I had two and a half years before I graduated but I needed a goal to strive for.

Before I could think of anything, I saw a plate with steaming food appear in front of me. I looked up to see an old chubby maid taking another plate and placing it in front of my mom. She repeated this with our drinks and then pushed the cart away without a sound. Our meals were simple hamburger and fries, but it was the best burger I ever had. Sadly, my tiny frame wouldn’t let me finish it.

Roy and mom didn’t say anything as we ate and when we finished it was almost ten. Several more maids appeared when we finished and took away our plates. They were all mid-aged women and unless he had a fetish for older women, he didn’t hire them as concubines. They moved with practiced ease and left just was quickly as they came into the room.

Roy looked at me and asked, “Did you want a tour, do an activity like swimming, pool, tennis, bowling or would you like to go to your room to rest? I know you had a full day and might be tired.”

As soon as he mentioned the pool, I wanted to go swimming, but I didn’t have a suit. I finally said, “I think I’ll just call it a night.”

My mom seemed to see my reluctance and said, “Roy bought me a few suits. If you want, you could use one of the ones I haven’t worn yet. That way you can go swimming.” Her statement shocked me because I didn’t know Stephanie had liked swimming like I did.

I smiled, "Ok, then I'll go swimming." As I finished speaking, I saw one of the maids had reappeared by the door.

Roy nodded and said, "Take her to the pool and get her a suit. When she's ready to rest, take her to her room."

The maid gave a curtsy and with a "if you'll follow me, young miss" I was led to the pool room. It had two tiers. The upper section had chairs for people to sit in, a bar, jacuzzi and separate bathrooms for any guests. The lower pool wrapped around the upper part like a crescent moon. It was amazing but it was the view through the glass ceiling that was truly breath taking. The stars shone like twinkling diamonds because they weren't blocked by the city lights.

Another maid was waiting for us when we walked in and handed me a bikini smaller than the one I had before. Since my mom had said Roy had bought the suits for her, I wasn't too surprised. I just took the purple swimsuit and went to put it on. The top fit snuggly but the bottom was a G-String version and only covered the front. I thought it would be uncomfortable having a string running up my butt however once it was on, I barely noticed it. I looked into the full-length mirror and had to admit if I was looking to show off my charms, Roy picked the right suit.

I swam for over an hour. Without anybody but the maid watching, I wasn't worried about a suit malfunction and just enjoyed myself. The bathroom was equipped with showers, so I cleaned up there. A towel and robe were waiting for me when I stepped out. After drying off and donning the robe, I was led up to the second floor and into a room three times bigger than mine. A king-sized bed was the most obvious furniture in the room but there was also a nightstand by the bed and desk along the far wall with a laptop on it.

"Young miss, this will be your room whenever you come here. The closet is over there, and the laptop is yours to use. If you need anything just press that button and one of us will come right away." I only noticed the tiny button embedded on the side of the nightstand when she pointed it out.

"Thank you, I really appreciate you taking the time to guide me and for watching over me when I swam."

Her wrinkled face crinkled as she smiled, "It was my pleasure. I will take my leave but do call if you need anything."

She shut the door as she left, leaving me alone. I checked the closet and found a walk-in closet full of all different styles of clothes that looked as if they'd fit me. I was guessing because unlike men's clothes, girl clothing seemed to not rely on fixed measurements. It was baffling to me, so I didn't try to figure it out and just assumed there was a reason for it. I had wanted to sleep naked, but this wasn't in my own home. What if a maid barged in to wake me up? So, I grabbed a set of night clothes and after getting dressed, got into bed.

Before sleeping I started a new nightly routine. I cast Dynamic Neogenesis to maintain my skin and after that explored my body to see if it re-virgin’ed me. So far, the minutes of healing I did hadn’t done such a thing, but I was going to keep checking. I still had a sliver of hope of returning and if, possible I would like to give back this body the same way I got it.

I was woken up in the morning and after breakfast, my mom and I were taken back upstairs by the stylist and makeup artist hired by Roy to help us get ready for the party. We spent the entire morning getting ready for it. I was wearing a new black dress and professional makeup. The dress hugged my curves and showed off my hourglass figure. While I knew I was pretty, my face wasn't model pretty like Janet’s. Or so I thought, the makeup artist was a genius, and I stared at the beauty reflected back at me in awe.

My only complaint was that it had taken hours to get the final result. My mom was wearing a similar outfit to mine and after applying makeup, looked more like my older sister than my mom. I was given a set of three-inch heels. They were black with ribbons that wrapped around my ankles to hold them in place. Wearing them I felt so much taller, but they shifted my center of gravity and didn’t feel stable until I arched my back. My new stance caused my “assets” to thrust forward and backward, giving me a more mature, sensual look. Thankfully, the shoes weren’t stilettos and had wider heels so as long as I paid attention, I could walk.

It was just that my hips swayed every time I took a step making me look like a seductress. But I ignore that because liked the extra height. Plus, when the stylist measured me, I found out I grew half an inch, so in them I was almost five’ six. I strutted back and forth in front of the mirror enjoying the feeling of being tall again. My antics caused the other three ladies in the room to burst out into laughter. They let me “get use to the shoes” for a little while. It wasn’t until a maid came in to inform us that the guests had started to arrive that I had to stop and went downstairs with my mom.

There was six women chatting off to the side while a group of men were talking to Roy. I saw the moment Roy saw us. He locked his eyes onto my mom and stopped talking. Because of his awestruck demeanor, everybody in the room turned and watched us descending. The twelve new people all looked to be around between thirty to forty. Since they were Roy’s clients, they were probably much older. They were dressed up. The men wore suits while the women wore jewels that showed off their money.

Roy walked up as we stepped off the stairs. His arm circled around her tiny waist and drew her close to his side. He turned around with her and with a raise of his free arm said, “I would like to introduce you to the woman that I have been looking for my entire life, Rachel and her daughter, Stephanie.” After that he took us around and formally introduced us to everybody. Amazingly the women, who I thought would despise us where very welcoming. We chatted as they drank the wine that was served.

Whether it was because they were truly friendly or pretending, I couldn't tell. I didn't try figuring out their true thoughts either. It was enough that they were being nice. Happy with how things were going, I went to get a drink that wasn't alcohol based. A maid went and got me a wine glass when I asked. Unsure I took a sip and realized that it was a red fruit drink. In a wine glass, it looked as if I held wine like everybody else. "Thanks," I said and swayed my way back to my mom.

When I came back, I heard one of the ladies saying, "So that's how you met. It's no wonder he loves you so much. Your story is so romantic." Another lady dabbed at her eyes and nodded in affirmation to what the first lady said.

Noticing my reappearance, the conversation changed and focused more on me. They asked things like "How old I was", "What school I went to", and "Did I have a boyfriend yet". When I answered no to the last question, they began trying to set blind dates with their relatives. They all seemed to have a child or grandson that was single. My "I want to focus on studying before I date" only seemed to fuel their desire to hook me up with them. In their own words, "You are such a good girl. Even if my useless grandson doesn't deserve you, I can't let you not meet him. Next month, I'll bring him over." Similar statements were made but their gist was all the same.

After we all ate, Roy's guest would leave with him in pairs. He would then come back alone after fifteen minutes. He kept repeating this with the remaining guests and after an hour and a half it was just Roy, my mom, and me. He looked a little tired and pretty drunk. While my mom only drank a little, Roy kept excepting congratulations drinks throughout the night. My mom looked at him with concern and whispered to me, "I'm going to take him to rest. Why don't you go relax and I'll come get you when I'm sure he's ok."

"Ok, take your time. I think I will just watch tv or something." My mom's tiny frame helped to stabilize Roy as they left. His butler looked like he wanted to help but just watched as they climbed the stairs. Left alone, I sat down, untied the ribbons on my shoes and took them off. As much as I liked them, I wasn't used to them and because of that, my feet hurt. I rubbed them for a little bit before I followed to a maid to the entertainment room.

The room was a miniature movie theater. "Young miss, what would you like to watch. We have an extensive television and movie library, including all the movies currently in the theaters." After selecting a newer action movie, I hadn't been able to see in my last life she asked, "Would you like any snacks or drink?" And then began to list all type of movie snack foods and I ended up with a bucket of popcorn and soda as the movie played. The only difference I noticed was the male lead wasn't the one I remembered. Instead, a different guy, I didn't know, was now playing the role.

The movie was almost over by the time my mom came back. Roy must not have been as tired as he seemed because her hair was in disarray and her lips were swollen from kissing for too long. I gave her a knowing look before shifting my eyes back to see a building exploding as the hero sped off. The villain set off another explosion as the car drifted around a corner, avoiding the falling rubble. But it was all a trap and with a final BOOM the hero’s car was buried under large pieces of the concrete building. The camera panned out capturing the settling dust and an eerie silence settled over the scene. One second passed, then two, until final the camera zoomed in, and a tiny pebble vibrated, then bounced up, hit the slab, settled, only to bounce up once again. Each time it bounced it would fly higher and on the fifth bounce music started. The drum would sound every time the pebble jumped, as if somebody was hitting the concrete. With a final BOOM a high energy song broke out. The pieces of concrete flew in all directions. The hero, showing off his toned figure through ripped clothes, walked out of the now trashed car and wreckage. My mom sat there silently as I watched the toned hero used his magic to smash through the villain's defenses and chase him down.

As the credits began to roll, she asked, "You ready to go?"

"I just need to get my cheerleading outfit and I’ll be ready. Or should I get changed first?"

“Since it was so late, I had somebody pack your outfit. Roy got the dresses for us. I’ll have them dry cleaned and you can put it in your closet.” She got up as she spoke, so I followed her. She was right, it was getting late, and I had school tomorrow. Roy’s driver took us back, but it was it was almost half past eleven before we finally arrived.

I yawned, headed to my room and carefully hung up the dress. I knew there were a few pins the stylist put in my hair I still needed to take out but it wasn’t until I looked in the mirror, that I realized that I still had makeup on my face. My mom had already gone to bed, so I had to find the makeup remover on my own. It wasn’t until after midnight before I finally crawled into my bed. Because it was so late, I decided to take the bus and reset my alarm so I could sleep a little longer.