The bus arrives

The RuralMetro bus slowed to a stop, its brakes squeaking as it pulled up to the shelter. The door hissed open, revealing the driver, a kindly older man in a faded gray uniform with clear blue eyes. He leaned forward, his expression warm but tinged with something Trixie couldn’t place—pity, perhaps, or amusement. “Rutherford School for Girls, miss?” he asked, his voice gentle but carrying the weight of routine.

She hesitated, her desire to find her identity warring with her instinct to flee. “I… I think so,” she said, her soprano voice alien in her ears. She fumbled with her purse, pulling out the student ID. Her hands trembled as she held it up, the name Trixie Humpsalot glaring back at her.

“Humpsalot?!”

The driver glanced at the ID, his eyes lingering on her for a moment too long. “That’s you, alright,” he said, nodding toward the bus. “Hop on, miss. You’re expected.”

She climbed aboard, her movements awkward in the unfamiliar body. Unaware of her new femininity, she sat on the cracked vinyl seat near the front, legs spread in the confident, masculine posture of her forgotten self— the wealthy lawyer who commanded courtrooms. The short pleated skirt rode up, exposing her thighs, and the driver’s gaze flicked downward, a subtle appreciative smile crossing his face. Trixie didn’t notice at first, her mind consumed with fragments of memory: a penthouse, a cigar’s burn, a woman’s sharp voice accusing her of infidelity. But as the bus lurched forward, she caught the driver’s reflection in the rearview mirror, his eyes darting to her exposed legs.

Her face flushed a furious red, the heat rising from her neck to her cheeks. She snapped her legs shut, tugging the skirt down as far as it would go, the IVR’s hyper-realistic sensation amplifying her embarrassment. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath. The driver’s smile widened, but he said nothing, focusing on the road. Trixie’s heart pounded, a mix of shame and anger. She wasn’t this girl, this object of leering gazes, yet the IVR **** her into this role - she had to find out who she was, not just for herself, but to escape this degrading reality.