The Phenomenon

The stay-at-home order had been lifted for over a week, but the streets and the park were eerily empty and quiet. I realized that a lot of people were staying home regardless. Folks were sticking with their families as they tried to cope, tried to make some sense out of an impossible, unbelievable, sometimes unbearable experience.

It was a nice day though, the sun was shining and the temperature was ok. There was a bit of a breeze, but the trees were pretty. They were all starting to get into their fall colours.

And it was nice to just be alone with my thoughts and the fresh air. And the sound of the water gurgling as the creek passed over rocks and around bends.

There was a bench in a nice spot by the water, it was under a big gnarly old oak tree and was just really sort of peaceful. I sat down there and tried to let myself relax, let some tension unwind. And I thought once more about the dilemma I was facing.

Should I go to college and just hope Kevin and Cheryl and mom will be ok? Or should I cancel or postpone my education so I could stay home and look after my family? Even though it felt like Cheryl was the only one who actually appreciated my efforts lately.

Though I couldn't really blame Kevin, he was going through a lot and the whole thing was obviously too much for him. And he was just sixteen, that was a rough age even when you didn't have to deal with your body changing overnight into the opposite sex. So whether he wanted or appreciated my help, I knew I'd feel guilty if I abandoned him.

Mom was a lot more complicated. On the one hand I knew the situation hit her harder than some of us. But on the other hand, most of that was because of her bigoted ideals. Like if she wasn't so prejudiced against trans people or gay people then she'd probably be a lot more understanding to what everybody else was going through.

And the way she was clinging to those bigoted ideals was the most confusing and annoying thing of all. Like realistically, at some point I might start dating somebody. Same with Kevin. Hell maybe even Cheryl, since mom all but ignored her now. And regardless what names or pronouns anybody used, externally the three of us all looked like girls and odds were anyone we dated was also going to look like a girl. It just didn't make any sense for mom or anybody else to be homomisic when this was the new reality.

I was so absorbed thinking about all that stuff, I almost didn't notice I had company until she sat down on the other end of the bench and greeted me with a quiet "Hey."

"Hi," I said back at her, then did a double-take as I stared at her shoulder-length bright-purple hair. She was already ignoring me again, her eyes were on her phone as she tapped out a text or something.

Like just about everyone else in the world she was a cute nineteen year old girl, though last month she could have been anything at all. For all I knew she might have been a ninety-year-old man before the phenomenon hit.

I couldn't help looking her over, even though I knew it was rude to stare. And I found myself wondering who or what she was before. Like, man or woman, old or young. If she'd been a guy, was she still using a guy name and guy pronouns? Or had she changed over like Cheryl did? Or was she trans like me and embraced it all from day one?

She was wearing a pair of blue skinny-jeans, pink and white sneakers, and a tight black t-shirt that showed off her curves. She had a purse hanging from her left shoulder. She even had some subtle make-up on, and her shoulder-length purple hair was nicely styled. The hair was something else and I wondered if the phenomenon did that or if she dyed it afterwards.

I decided she definitely wasn't using he/him pronouns. She was probably a girl or woman before, or maybe a trans girl.

I was about to go back to minding my own business when my eyes caught her phone and I found myself staring. There was a crack in the lower-left corner of the screen, and the phone was in a scuffed-up purple case. And I recognized it.

If that was the phone I thought it was, then I knew who the attractive purple-haired girl sitting next to me used to be. And I'd have bet money she was a cis guy. If I was right, she was my best friend for the first three years of high-school. Last year we sort of drifted apart as we had different plans for college. And in my case, I was also planning my transition.

My heart raced and I wasn't sure what to say, but after a few seconds I decided I needed to speak up. I was anxious though, and I knew this could get really awkward in a hurry, for both of us.

"Um, sorry to bother you?" I asked nervously. She glanced up at me and I continued, "I'm really sorry if this comes across wrong and I don't want to offend you or anything but um, were you Mike Green?"

Her eyes widened and she asked, "How the heck did you know that?"

I blushed and grimaced, "I was with you when you got that crack in your phone screen. And I'm the one who convinced you to finally buy a damn case for the thing."

Her jaw dropped as she stared at me.

I quickly added, "My name's Callie now. Callie Watson."

"Holy shit," she said as she looked me up and down. Her expression shifted from shock to a wide smile, "Callie huh? You came out of the whole thing pretty good. I bet this was a dream come true for you, right?"

That sent a shock through my system and I asked nervously, "Um, what do you mean?"

She leaned in closer and dropped her voice to a whisper, "Come on dude, I know you tried to hide it but you were so obviously trans it was almost painful to watch. I bet the only people who didn't know were your folks."

Now it was my turn to stare wide-eyed and slack-jawed at her. I had no idea, I thought I did a really good job of hiding my feelings and everything else on the subject since my family never knew.

"On that subject," she added while I was still stunned speechless, "My new name is Vivian. And she/her pronouns please. I'd ask you not to refer to me by my deadname anymore but you already know about that."

When I finally got over my shock I nodded, "Of course. Vivian. Um, so this is another possibly-offensive question but were you trans too and just kept quiet about it?"

Vivian grimaced, "Nope. I'm one of those statistics they're going on about on TV lately. I fought like hell for the first six or seven days, then one morning I woke up and thought fuck it. Like I could be sad and depressed and angry and upset and maybe even suicidal, or I could accept that this was my new life and start getting used to it. And accepting it made everything else a lot better. I feel good, I look good, and I'm happy."

She added, "I know society's still teetering on the brink of collapse, but you know what? Me being upset and crying and freaking out's not gonna help that any. Me being happy and positive might though? At least I can set an example for other folks."

"Wow," I said, and I really didn't know what else to say. I had a hundred more questions but I didn't want to get too invasive asking her a bunch of personal stuff. Instead I asked, "So um, how's your family taking it?"

She sighed, "Sarah's doing better now. She was really freaking out at first. My mom's doing better lately too? My dad's really struggling though. He's still fighting, but the shit really hit the fan today. Seems like shark week just started for the whole damn planet and dad really wasn't prepared for that. That's why I came out here, I needed some time away from all the screaming and crying. How about you, how's your family doing?"

I knew her sister Sarah was around seventeen now, and she'd be one of those people who was never affected by the phenomenon. At least, not affected directly. Everyone was affected indirectly. I was sorry to hear her dad was struggling, but glad her mom and sister were doing better. But one thing she said threw me, I didn't understand the reference.

I frowned and asked, "Um, shark week?"

Vivian smirked, "Yeah. You know, blood in the water? Everybody's starting their periods?"

"Oh!" I blushed as I finally got the reference.

It kind of blew my mind as I suddenly realized my friend, a former cis guy, seemed even more casual and adapted to this stuff than me. Here she was wearing attractive clothes, make-up, carrying a purse, and casually throwing around euphemisms for menstruation like she'd been doing it all her life.

Meanwhile I was still wearing my old guy clothes that I altered and took in myself, I hadn't even bought any make-up yet, and didn't own a purse. The only girl clothes I owned were panties, bras, and sneakers.

"So how's your family managing?" Vivian asked again.

I grimaced, "Sorry, I lost track for a second there. Um, badly. My little brother Kevin is doing about the same as your dad from the sound of it? My dad's more like you, but um, not quite as much? Like she's going by Cheryl now and she's kind of embraced being a girl? But she's not taking um, 'shark week' very well. And my mom..."

I sighed and shook my head. "You know my folks were both homomisic, transmisic bigots right? I think Cheryl's moving past that, but mom's like doubling-down on it or something. Which seems pretty pointless given the circumstances? So she's depressed and moody and kind of annoying."

"Damn," Vivian sighed. "Sorry to hear that. This feels like a silly question but did you come out to them after all this?"

I blushed again, "No. I still haven't come out. They think I'm um, one of those statistics like you were saying? Except I was ahead of the curve since I was all accepting about it from day one. Like I told them my new name and pronouns the morning it happened."

She shook her head and giggled, "Unbelievable."

I was left staring again as I realized just how pretty her voice was and how cute her giggle sounded.

In an effort to distract myself I asked, "So um, another offensive question but did the phenomenon turn your hair purple?"

She giggled again and shook her head, "I wish! Fuck that'd be cool. It actually turned me blonde though which was kind of neat. I had the purple done a couple days ago, at the salon. Got it styled and dyed and all that fun stuff. Mani-pedi too which was, wow! You need to try that."

I found myself just staring once again, trying to reconcile the hot sexy happy purple-haired girl next to me with the average-looking brown-haired guy I was best friends with for over three years.

Vivian looked me over again too then shook her head, "Girl am I going to have to start giving you fashion tips? Do you need me to teach you how to do make-up? What the hell are you even wearing?"

My eyes widened and I blushed brighter, "Um, I taught myself sewing and took in all my clothes during the first two weeks? You know, when everyone was panic-buying clothes at ten-times the price?"

"Ok that explains a week ago," she stated with a smirk. "What's your excuse right now?"

I shrugged, "I don't want to waste money when I already have stuff that fits?"

She made a face, "Callie a potato-sack might fit but you wouldn't want to wear it. I can't let my best friend go around looking like that, you're not hiding in the closet anymore ok? You're allowed to get some cute clothes and play with make-up. Now let's get you some decent outfits."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me off the park bench then stared at me for a moment. A wide grin settled on her face again as she exclaimed, "Oh my God Callie look at you! You're fucking adorable!"

My face went red yet again. Thanks to the phenomenon I'd shrunk to five-foot-two. Vivian was shorter than she used to be, but she hadn't shrunk as much as me. She was about the same size as Kevin now, around five-foot-six.

"C'mon!" she insisted a moment later. She started leading me in the direction of the lot where her car was parked.

I felt almost stunned as I walked with her, and my heart raced while a fluttering sensation settled in my stomach. I was a girl and I was walking in the park with another girl and we were holding hands.

Vivian suddenly stopped, she must have noticed my expression. "Callie? Something wrong?"

She was still holding my hand and I looked down at our two hands together. She followed my gaze, then smirked "Oh come on Callie! What, is this too lewd for you?"

She suddenly acted all shocked and startled except she was still grinning as she pretend-gasped, "Oh my gosh we're holding hands in public! B-b-but we're both g-g-girls!?"

My face went bright red yet again, like how did she even know about those memes and more to the point what was she implying?

Suddenly the smile fell from her face and she let go of my hand. She asked in a quiet, serious tone "Oh shit, Callie are you straight? I'm really sorry! Trans or not it's a shitty time to be a straight girl."

It was another couple seconds before I was able to talk and respond again. I was still blushing as I shook my head "Um no... I'm um, very not straight. Extremely not straight..."

Her smile was back and she grabbed my hand again, "Awesome! This is the perfect time to be a gay girl Callie, so let's celebrate by getting you some cute clothes!"

And just like that me and Vivian were holding hands and walking through the park again. When we got to her car she drove the two of us over to the mall, where we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon together.

Then when the stores started closing up at four, me and Viv got back in her car and wound up at the burger joint where we used to hang out after school back in grade eleven.

And at half past five on the twenty-second day since the phenomenon, in the booth of a greasy burger joint, the hot purple-haired girl who had been my best friend in high-school gave me my very first kiss.