Jackie Thomas, Sophomore.

Jackie signed for the heavy, rattling box from the woman at the campus mailroom and hustled out of the student center. Despite the fact that the box was unlabeled on the outside, she couldn't help feeling concerned that someone could notice what she was carrying. Despite only being $39.99 plus shipping, it felt like the most valuable- and the most dangerous- thing she'd ever owned.

Thankfully her dorm was only a block and a half away, so she maneuvered her heavy package through the halls until she could set it down on her rug. She grabbed her keys and sliced the tape, opening the box in her impatience. She had ninety minutes until her roommate Liz got back from class, and she needed to use every second of it to learn how to use what she’d bought.

The first thing she found was a book. It was titled Liquid Harem: A Prudent User’s Guide in gold letters on the purple leather cover. Another set of gold cursive letters at the bottom gave the author’s name, Mechana Kythera. As she inspected it more closely and turned to the back, she saw a woman’s picture on the back, smiling in a swimsuit on a beach. A small biography written by Mechana herself talked about her quiet life as an apothecary in southern Greece. She looks more like a model than a writer or a pharmacist. But Jackie opened the book and scanned through, pushing on to not waste anymore time.

The first several pages were an author’s note from Mechana, just talking about how much fun she and her boyfriend had developing and testing them. She skimmed through the increasingly pornographic editorial and arrived at the next section, a small list of safety rules:

• Do not consume a vial with citrus, as effects may be diluted or magnified in ways that Eros Market cannot predict and is not liable for.
• Do not allow a subject contact with horse or goat hair within four hours before or after vial consumption, or vial’s effects will be severely magnified.
• Do not allow a subject to consume more than one vial. Mixing vials or additional doses will have unreliable and unpredictable effects that Eros Market is not liable for.
• All other questions can be answered, if asked with proper deference, in the final pages of this book

“If asked with the proper deference?” She repeated out loud. What does that mean? Out of curiosity, she flipped to the last page. It had lines and formatting like notebook paper. Still not sure what to do with it, she put the book down and looked through the rest of the box.

The other contents were a dozen vials of strange liquid, with a collection of canisters filled with powder. She ignored the canisters for now and looked through the vials while reopening the book, trying to match the drinks to the detailed index that took up a majority of the book. She grinned as she found what she was looking for.

The Eye’s Desire. She held it up to examine it next to the book and watched as the color changed from a bland white to a pale blue like the color of her own eyes. This was magic. Real magic. She read the entry in the guide book out loud.

“The Eye’s Desire is a fantastic dip into mind control for newcomers to the craft looking to learn without unintended consequences. The most basic feature of this potion is that it smoothes away any flaws the subject would rather do without. It’ll be like they’re permanently wearing a ‘natural’ makeup look that helps them put their best foot forward.

“More specifically, the Eye’s Desire causes the subject to exude subtle pheromones with two effects. First, those influenced by the pheromones will find their arousal gradually growing. This effect increases as people have more exposure to the subject’s pheromones, such as if they are stuck in a small, enclosed room with the subject or if the subject physically exerts themself enough to become sweaty. Second, those influenced by the pheromones will be more easily influenced and suggestible. It cannot force someone to do something they do not want to do, but if they are open to an idea or are trying to resist temptation they’re far more likely to indulge the devil on their shoulder.

“Finally, the Eye’s Desire allows the subject to read the arousal of anyone they see in person. I added it as an additional guard rail for beginners trying to learn how to use the pheromones properly.

“If the subject is more interested in a physical transformation, you may add a dash of canister seven to create a Draught of the Succubus, or a dash of canister twenty-six to make the Cosplayer’s Control. If you are looking for more targeted…”

Jackie stopped reading, not feeling the need to alter the potion beyond what she’d already paid for. She set down the book with the rest of the supplies from the online shop and took the Eye’s Desire with her into her dorm suite’s shared bathroom. Since this was supposed to have physical effects, she wanted to see it happen.

The young woman looked at herself in the mirror, knowing there was no going back if she changed her mind. She examined her brown hair, frustratingly thin. At a bare minimum, she hoped that the potion would fix that.

I can’t put this off forever. Jackie reminded herself, before uncapping the potion and downing it in one gulp.

She didn’t have long to wait. She watched in the mirror as all the little blemishes and acne scars from high school melted away. In a moment she looked like she could be in Hollywood. No, maybe not. She thought to herself as she looked back up at her hair. It was still as mousey and drab as it’d been before.

As if trying to answer her complaint, the potion’s magic moved there next. Her fair thickened and gained volume in front of her very eyes, the dry curls changing themselves into healthy waves. Her hair then decided to darken to a chocolate brown, hints of red shining in the bright light of the room. For good measure, it grew three and a half more inches onto her shoulders as if she’d put in extensions. She shook her head and watched her hair bounce. It settled perfectly, as if determined not to get in her eyes.

Thank you. She didn’t know if the magic was a conscious thing or not, but either way, she was grateful. I don’t know if this is everything, but it already feels life changing.

She felt a tantalizing feeling in her chest next, as if the potion was telling her it wasn’t done. She let out a surprised moan as she moved to undo her bra. The tightness around her breasts subsided after she’d dropped the bra to the floor, and so she watched as her boobs made themselves more prominent in her already tight top. It wasn’t a massive change, but when her boyfriend saw her later he should notice the difference.

The magic kept working its way down. She felt the last bit of fat from her freshman fifteen she’d been trying to lose evaporate, leaving her with a toned stomach that she hadn’t had since she quit cross country a few years so she could have more time for theater.

She was already more than comfortable with the magic stopping if it wanted to, but it seemed determined to finish. The tantalizing warmth started again around her ass, and she felt it swell like her chest had. But like her boobs, it only lasted long enough to tighten her pants before stopping.

That seemed to be the end. She inspected herself in the mirror now. She wasn’t the mousey girl any more that would be lucky for a callback at audition time before being relegated to the chorus again. She was beautiful. The casting director would remember her name next time. Maybe acting could become more than a hobby

Most importantly of all, she didn’t have to wonder why Malcolm lied that she was pretty anymore.

Malcolm. I can’t wait to show him. Her mind rushed to her boyfriend in her euphoria over her transformation. He should come over tonight.

Jackie wanted to dance. She wanted to sing. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs to celebrate the greatest thing that ever happened to her. But then she remembered one hitch.

Liz would be back in less than an hour.

Reality settled back in as she remembered her roommate. She liked her roommate, Liz was wise and patient. Jackie inspected herself in the mirror and was pretty sure that even after the mild growth caused by the potion, Liz had a better ass from volleyball.

But Jackie didn’t really want Liz here tonight if Malcolm was coming over. So she left the bathroom and went back to their shared room. She put back the empty vial in its slot in the box from Mechana’s shop and slid it under the bed before getting out her phone. She opened her test thread with her roommate and started working on a message to plead her case, deleting what she had several times before sending it.

She waited twenty minutes for a reply. Which felt like an agonizingly slow amount of time after how exciting the past two hours had been. But the reply came, and it’d been more or less what she’d been hoping for.

She immediately fired back.

Crisis averted. She could show Malcolm tonight after all. Should I wear something nice for him? Should I find something baggy so I can surprise him? Were her next thoughts. Maybe Liz can help decide that while she’s here. I’ll just tell her I went to the salon and let her find out about the rest… later.

Her next text to Malcolm was much simpler.

Jackie sent back, glad that he’d been available. Getting Liz out would’ve been pointless if he’d been too busy to come over.

What else is there to do while I’m waiting? I don’t need to worry about my hair or my makeup anymore. She looked around the room. There were little things she could probably tidy, but she’d have plenty of time leftover.

In her euphoria over the transformation Eye’s Desire had accomplished, her mind drifted to the other vials that she’d ordered. There were still eleven more left to use. If everything went as well tonight as she hoped, then they’d probably use the second one together. But then there’d be ten more, and she should make sure she understood how to use them all. Malcolm might want to alter the potion she’d intended as a gift for him, after all. He might have concerns or preferences of his own on the other potions.

So she got out Liquid Harem: A Prudent User’s Guide from inside the box again and sat down on her bed to study it. This really was shaping up to be the best day of her life.

But maybe tomorrow could be even better.