Another Me

I walked to my next class, excited to learn more. Kids swirled around me as they went to theirs. I watched them walking in groups trying to get to the next destination. Some I knew from my last life, and I eyed them trying to spot what might be different. I wasn't paying too much attention to those in front of me, so I was surprised when another boy blocked me. He was holding a pink envelope with little hearts on it. He was a bit taller and more confident as he handed me the confession letter. He looked me in the eyes and said, “let me know if you’d like to go to the concert” before going into the room next to where he stopped me.

I stuffed the letter into my backpack and walked to my choir class. It was known as harmonic spell casting in this world. Our teacher was a woman named Miss Phillips, a low-level water mage. She was only five’ four and one of the few teachers that was small like me, so I instantly liked her. I was getting tired of looking up at everybody. Unlike me, she was small in every area. Her breasts were ‘A’s, her butt was slim and if it wasn’t for her glasses, wrinkles, and hairstyle, she’d fit in with the students.

It was just like any other choir class. The only difference was that it taught you how to harmonize with other Mages to combine spells for bigger projects. But like a band, you had to be in harmony with each other. The more people the harder it was because it wasn’t just the sound you were producing but the vision and will behind it had to be the same. Any deviation from that picture-perfect end goal, even one person, and the spell would fail. Due to that fact, most spell teams were made up of five or less people. It was a fun class even though I couldn’t help much.

Only the main singer had to have the spell being cast. Everybody else used their innate magic to strengthen the spell by harmonizing with them. This body held magic and because of that, it was the one class Stephanie had been able to use her magic. It was just that she could never be more than a backup singer since she couldn't cast anything. As for me, I found it novel to have such an ethereal singing voice. I sang in my little group of five and marveled at the difference between an old voice that sounded like a dying crow and this one that sounded as if it should be coming out of a radio.

I finished choir and moved on to my next class ‘How Different Earth Elements Influence Magic’, that I knew as geology. Mr. Stagnik was already in the class when I sat down in the seat, I normally sat in. I was hoping that it would be okay. I didn't have any of my friends in this class to guide me. Whether I picked the right seat or not, nobody said anything. I might have been because as soon as the bell rang to start class Mr. Stagnik took us outside for a demonstration, so I still wasn't sure I had picked the right one. He took us to a space below the baseball field where he had set up three rings of stones. One ring was twelve simple red bricks, another was dozens of small river stones, and the last one was three fist sized gray rocks that had white speckles all over them.

Once we got there, he stepped into the closest circle and began speaking in his deep voice, “Ok students, as you can see these are ordinary red bricks. As I’ve discussed in class, the earth around you influences how your magic works. While my class focuses on the materials in the ground you should be aware that every form of magic is affected by this law. Today. I am going to use these materials to demonstrate it.” He moved his arms, so they were pointing out to both sides, palms down and began to cast. His fingers made a few gestures and intoned a simple “Rise Earth and protect me.” The earth around us shook a little. From his finger patterns and words, I realized I knew the spell name even before the tiny wall rose out of the ground. What appeared was a mud wall about a foot high that didn’t look very stable. “As you can see, due to the porous nature of the bricks and the air trapped inside, my wall is a bit… flimsy. Because air is a natural counter to earth magic, this makes the spell less efficient and you’d need double the magic, to get half the results.”

He stepped out of the ring of bricks and into the river stone ring. “Now let’s see what happens when we use regular everyday stones." He repeated the process. This time the ground shook more and a two-foot high, three-foot-long wall, you might see around homes, grew out of the ground. “As you can see, the wall is more stable and more to what I envisioned. This is due to the less foreign elements and density of the stones. While there are imperfections within them, they are still mostly made of the materials needed for earth magic.”

He stepped out of the ring of river stones and into the area with just three rocks. “Now that isn’t to say imperfections are always bad. Take these Gabbros for example. They are rich in magnesium, Iron and Calcium. They are one of the densest rocks on earth and as you will see, they amplify most earth magic when used.” He cast again but this time the earth rumbled, and a five-foot-high wall appeared. It gleamed in the sun and looked as if you’d need a tank to break it. Mr. Stagnik walked around it to continue talking. “I used the same amount of power each time I cast.” He waved his hands and the walls settled back into the earth as if they were never there. “Now divide into groups of six, each group pick a ring, line up, and take turns try one of your spells in each of the rings. We’ll switch so everybody will get a chance to try each ring once. Afterward, I will answer any questions you might have.”

My class quickly divided into their groups, showing they’ve done it multiple times before. I was left standing there but went to the group with only five in it. I was debating on whether I should cast or not. Sooner or later, I was going to have to. But once I did, the school, my friends, and maybe even my mom would expect me to cast more and more. Short of sleeping around, I didn’t have an easy source to get magical spells. I finally decided that I needed to know a better way to get more before going public. Plus, while sex felt GREAT, I couldn't overcome my prior thought that I should be sleeping with women. Even after dreaming about two men, I still didn't think I should do it again. It also wasn’t my body so even if I wanted to test the waters, what if I switched back and left Stephanie holding the bag? I wouldn’t be happy if she tested my body out with men, so I was reluctant to put her in that situation.

Our line moved as I thought about my sexual orientation and when it came to my turn, I just passed. We moved over to the next, until each group tested the rocks with their spell of choice. Most cast the spell 'Stone Skin' because it was extremely easy and was taught to every earth magic user in their freshman year. But a few used more advanced spells trying to show off.

“Any questions?” Mr. Stagnik asked after we all finished.

A girl with braided hair and freckles raised her hand and when he nodded asked, “you said every form of magic was affected by the elements around them but what about body magic? They use what’s inside them so how can they be affected?”

“Good Question, the answer is that any foreign element introduced into the body effects the strength of internal magic to some degree. Because of this most professional body magicians have strict diets, no tattoos, and get regular treatments to filter out any miscellaneous chemicals that may be mixed into the food and air. If you check, all our sports teams have a no tattoo policy. That’s the reason.”

I raised my hand, and asked, “You said that the quality of the materials affect the spell but what about the quantity?”

“It’s based off what you're trying to affect. The more area you want to cover, the more resources you'll need. For example, if you were going to cast on just yourself, just a few of these would do.” He pointed to the river stones. “But if you wanted to affect the city even that entire mountain wouldn’t be enough.”

The class was laughing and extremely excited as we walked and talked back to the classroom. It was such a shame that World History was my next class. Mr. Richard was our teacher but due to his age and the fact that he was retiring this year, there wasn’t much pressure on learning. As the oldest teacher in the school, he was more laid back and was just going to pass you if you tried. He was thin, short, and had thinning gray hair.

The name didn't change only the information. Out of all the classes, this one had the most variations. For example, Hitler still existed but he wasn’t the one in power. He lacked the magical ability and was just a general. The war still happened it was just that different people used spells to carry out their plans. I was thankful Stephanie grasped the knowledge of this class and I had absorbed it, otherwise I would be the first to fail his class.

After class, I met up with my three friends and the rest of our cheer squad for lunch. I sat at the table and listened to Luna, our captain, explain that we needed a booth for the carnival fundraiser and because of that she had decided to team up with the football team so both groups could mix between the two booths. Discussing was the wrong word, Luna and a few others told us the cheerleaders were going to set up the pie throwing booth while the football teams were doing a water dunk tank and then intermingle so they could share the rewards.

It wasn’t the first time I had seen Luna. It was just the first time I knew her name. She was almost six-foot-tall and well proportioned. Her weight, that my friends were discussing earlier, came from muscle, height, and her incredible “assets”. Other than Victoria, she had the biggest chest in our squad. But even if Luna’s chest was smaller, she still had a better figure than Victoria.

I half-heartly listened and heard enough to know the senior cheerleaders had made a bet between schools. I had heard about a few of their bets in my last life, so I didn’t think it was uncommon. As to what the bet was, the older girls didn’t say. I continued to half-listen because I was starving. I ate very little today and with all the exercise, I was more interested in eating.

Between bites, I would catch statements the others were saying like “The booth that makes the most money gets more funding for their respective sport”, “We’ll win the bet like last year, don’t worry about it”, and “Bustier girls should do the dunk tank”. That last statement made me raise my head. Not because I thought they were wrong, but because I fit into that busty category even though my height was tiny.

When Luna saw me raise my head she said, “Steph, Victoria, Beth and Rachel, you guys will be on water tank duty between five and eight on Saturday, next weekend. Mandy, Gail, Ann, and Susie will take the pie booth. The rest of us will fill in on Friday when the guys are at the game, and they’ll be responsible for Sunday and noon to five Saturday.” When I looked back, I saw Ann's dessert on my tray, and I shot her a grateful look.

Luna continued to assign places as lunch went on. As I got up to go to physical education, one of the seniors pulled each of us aside. I don’t know what the others were told but mine quietly said, “This is about our funding, so would you be willing to wear the white uniform? Preferably without a bra on.”

I thought about it. I didn’t care. As a guy, I was used to not wearing a shirt. While I doubted Stephanie would walk around topless, her clothing choices showed she didn't mind other's looking. “I don’t see any issue as long as I won’t get in trouble. But can we adjust the target to make the boys work for the ultimate payoff? If we get dunked right away, there won’t be a reason for them to throw more balls.”

“You won’t. The teachers turn a blind eye to our booths. We’ll talk with Josh and see if he has a way.” They smiled and let me go to my gym class. Victoria and Janet had waited for me, and we made our way to class. I walked while thinking about my upcoming schedule. If it was the same. I'd have cheer practice Tuesday through Thursday and a game every other Friday. With that, homework, and maintaining her friendships, I wasn't going to have time to go to the city's library to get any advanced books. Nor did I have enough money to order any good ones off the internet.

“Steph, where are you going?” I heard Victoria ask. It was only then that I noticed I had turned to go into the main gym while they both had turned to go to the third-floor gyms. There were four gyms up there, but each gym room had an extendable partition to divide each room in half. They were used for gym electives. Things like badminton, pickleball, volleyball, Dance, cardio kickboxing, Tae Bo, taekwondo, and jiu-jitsu. The only one I ever took was dance but because of that I was familiar with the classrooms up there.

“Oh sorry, my head is in the clouds today.” I turned back and went up the stairs leading to the smaller gyms.

“Well come on, the bell is going to ring soon,” Victoria said as she started moving up the stairs quicker. Her pace made her giant boob shake violently and a boy coming down missed a step and had to hold onto the railing to avoid falling the rest of the way down.

"We have time. You should slow down before you kill somebody." I looked at the boy as I said it and saw his face flush. This caused Victoria and Janet to start giggling at we hurried up the stairs.

The gyms upstairs were along the outer walls while the locker rooms were placed in the middle. Unlike the second floor, where the entrances were side by side, the boys’ locker room was on the north facing side, where we came up at, and the girls’ was on the south. They were still divided by a wall with an office in the middle.

I followed Victoria into the changing room with Janet following behind me. The lockers were assigned, and I hesitated. Gym locker information hadn’t been on my schedule, and I had to look for any clues. The one thing I noticed was that the padlocks on them weren't the same type we were given in the other world. They didn't have a dial to spin. While they were the same shape, these had a square with a fingerprint logo where the dial had been.

As I looked around, Janet came up beside me, "What are you waiting for? Come on. You know how Mr. Rogers is. Do you want to do squats after school?" She grabbed my arm and pulled me along, something I wasn't used to. Nobody could pull my old body if I hadn't allowed them to. This time I didn't have much of a choice. She outweighed me, was taller and I wasn't expecting it. I stumbled after her and was deposited in front of an unused locker.

With a press of my thumb the lock's LCD lights light up and with a click, opened. Opening the locker, I found a crumbled martial arts uniform that had a slight odor. Apparently, Steph had forgotten to take it home after the Friday game or didn't have the chance to. With that morbid thought in mind, I pulled it out and realized it was a dobok. It was similar to a Karate Gi, but the upper part was a pull over and you didn't have to worry about the belt coming loose and flashing everybody. I knew of them, but I never took any classes for martial arts. I had focused on boxing because it required footwork and I had a hell of a punch.

I changed and saw that the 'V' in the front was lower than I thought, and you could see the inner curve of my breasts and a little of my bra. I hadn't thought to bring a shirt to wear under it and there wasn't one in the locker. I turned to see how the others wore it, but Janet was in a similar outfit to what I wore this morning. While Victoria had changed into sweats and a t-shirt. Apparently, only I took one of the martial art classes. There went my hope of following them or fashion tips. I gave up to my fate and left it as it was.

We walked out together but as I turned with them, Janet gave me a worried look and asked, "Are you ok? Your class is over there. Look, I can talk to Luna. You don't have to do the water tank if you don't want to, ok? Don't let it stress you out."

I thought quickly and replied, "No, it's not that I have a few things on my mind. I'll tell you later. Thanks though." I quickly fled to the room she had pointed at before I had to tell her about those "things" because I didn't have any. I'd try and come up with some before school ended.

I walked into a room full of boys. The seven other students weren't all fit or tall but a mixture of all shapes and sizes. It's just that I was the only girl in the room. Mr. Rogers, our taekwondo teacher, was easy to spot. He was around twenty-five, five' eleven, tan with bleach blonde hair that had black roots. If it wasn't for the dobok he was wearing, he's fit in more at a beach holding a surfboard.

We warmed up and after putting on chest and head gear, we paired off. I was against a boy that was a bit too pale and had dark circles under his eyes from staying up too late. I actually knew him in my last life. His name was Carl and knew he believed that he'd be a professional video game designer. He spent most of his time on his computer and had a tendency to not get enough sleep. He was five' nine, had messy reddish-brown hair and more importantly, had a longer reach than I did. As I thought about evasion, my body automatically took a step back and fell into a back stance. My chin lowered and I suddenly knew all the information she had learned before. Unlike with math, the two fighting styles I now knew didn’t immediately mesh together.

I started to do a boxer’s bounce while waiting for him to move. He came in swinging as I came down from my third bounce, my knees bent, and I fell back into a walking stance as his right hook came at my chest. My movements were fluid, and it was as if I had practiced for months or years. Without thinking, I used a rising arm block to stop his fist. But because of my light weight, I shifted. I did my best to use the momentum to slide to the right and then used my reaction arm to send a hard jab into his trunk protector. The first point was mine and we moved back to our starting location.

I started bouncing in place ready to move in any direction. Unlike last time he watched me bouncing and didn’t make a move to attack, so I jumped forward and to the left and then sprung up and did a spinning round house kick to his head. It was something I couldn't have pulled off in my old body. It was a pity that I misjudged the distance between us. Whether it was from him moving back a little or that I wasn't used to having shorter legs, my foot whizzed by his face just a fraction of an inch. I was just short of the goal. "Damn it, I thought I had you," I huffed.

I saw him collect himself, let out a soft "too close" before replying, "But you didn't, little hellcat. I'm onto your ploys. Although, the bouncing thing is new. Are you using those as a distraction?" he pointed at my chest. "It won’t work. Our bet is more important."

“What bet?” I asked as I dodged a jab from him. I ignored his comment about my breasts. I already knew that the chest protector was tight and because of that had smushed them causing the side curves to peak out of the ‘V’ in my top. Bouncing probably wasn’t helping to hide them any.

“What, you can’t back out! I’ve been practicing all weekend.” He seemed panicked and while he was distracted, I gave a front kick to his trunk protector. He dodged me and then seemed to think of something and smiled. “I recorded it. You’ll have to be my model for my game once I beat you.”

“Oh… I did forget but no matter. You aren’t going to wi…” I had moved in for another punch but because he had been punching this whole time, I didn’t expect him to switch up. His left leg shot out as I moved in and slammed into my chest. The protective guard the school used was a little too big for me and because of that, there was a gap between it and my boobs. I saw it shifting backward and smash into my breasts. The pain made me lose my breath. I wheezed as he said, “That’s two points to me.”

I moved back to the starting position. I wanted to rub away the pain, but the protective gear was in the way plus rubbing my boobs in class was probably a no, no. All I could do was grumble and think ‘fuck that hurt.’

I had gone for an instant win with the round house but now that he has two points that wouldn’t work nor would a simple jab. I needed to kick him either in his chest or head to win. I didn’t wait this time but shot forward with a front kick and when he blocked it, I shifted, spun, and did a backward hook kick to his “head” which, with our height differences, was going to hit his upper chest. But as he blocked that attack, I saw an opening for an uppercut. I was mid-swing when I forcefully stopped myself. Uppercuts weren’t allowed in taekwondo which was why he hadn’t guarded against it. My hesitation cost me as he did a quick jab to my already sore breast area.

“I won? I won! Ha, ha, ha, that’s great. You can’t back out of our bet. I promise, I just want pictures for my game and nothing like what the others are saying.”

“It’s fine. It’ll have to be on a weekend or Monday nights.” Like I said, I knew Carl and wasn’t worried about his motives. He lived for the game he was making so I doubted taking indecent photos even crossed his mind. Even so, I still asked, “What requirements are there for the picture. If you say naked, you can forget it.”

“Not much, I just need you to pose in front of a green screen. You don’t have to take off all your clothes.” He changed his words when I shot him a look, “I mean I need one in a bathing suit or something tight fitting so I can layer any outfits I make or add other effects. It shouldn’t take more than an hour. I can move the screen and light to anywhere you feel comfortable and the sooner the better. I tried to get somebody from the swim team and thought, tiffany was going to, but then a rumor started, and she backed out.”

“Fine, come over to my place after seven. Wait how much space do you need?”

“Let’s see you should be about here, and I should be about,” he took a few steps back until he was happy with the distance and said, “about here.”

“Well, my room isn’t that big. How about we try to get permission to use one of the rooms here? If you explain what it's for, we can probably get the ok to use one of the small gyms or less used rooms.”

“Whatever you want. I’ll get permission so you don’t have to worry about it. Thank you, you don’t know what this means to me.”

“It’s not a problem. Oh, and Carl, never tell a woman that she’s your second choice. It never ends well.” With that I went to sit down and rest.