The two of you talk more about what's happened

You were speechless for a minute as Randall leaned over you, his breasts inches from your eyes. The incongruity of Miss Card - who was always so well-spoken and proper - grabbing her breasts and cursing completely threw you off, even though you knew she was actually Randall.

He stood in front of you for a few moments, breathing heavily, clearly frustrated. Then he noticed your stunned expression as you starred at him. He looked down at himself and then turned his head to see his reflection in the mirror on the wall. The image was of Miss Card in a small hospital gown, looking somewhat disheveled and frantic as she almost pushed her breasts into your face. A hint of a smile twitched the corners of his mouth as he shifted his gaze back and forth from the reflection to you and he burst into laughter.

It sounded so different from your friends normal guffaw, starting as a girlish giggle and growing into a deep-throated chuckle. He plopped back down on the bed, sitting to face you as he laughed. That broke you out of your trance and you found yourself starting to giggle too, as if Randall's laugh were infectious. The two of you laughed for several minutes, tears running down Randall's face.

Finally your laughs trailed off and you both had to catch your breaths. "Sorry, dude, but I guess I needed to let some of the shit out," Randall said. "I guess that did seem weird to you. Can you see Miss Card ever behaving like that?" He gave another slight chuckle. "God, this IS fucked up, isn't it!"

You were close enough to Randall that you normally could be pretty open about with him. But seeing him this way, in this body, made you feel much more uncomfortable expressing yourself. Still, he was your closest friend - like a brother to you - and he needed your support. So you awkwardly reached forward and patted his hand. "Yeah, it is a 'fucked up' situation. But you know how it is - I've got your back no matter what. Just ask and I'll do what I can to help."

He gave you a sincere smile - finally an expression that seemed perfectly in place for Miss Card's face. "Thanks, man, I know. And you better believe I'll need it. This whole 'pretend to be Miss Card' thing is gonna be tough. I don't know shit about being a woman - or a teacher."

"Oh, yeah, I hadn't really thought about that stuff," you admitted.

He signed in resignation. "Part of the package, I guess. Good thing, though - both your mom and Allison offered to help me out with all the 'woman stuff'. Gonna give me a crash course." He gave a another little laugh. "Guess I'm finally going to learn all those mysteries of how and why women do the things they do ..."

You gave a **** laugh. Randall and you had often joked about not understanding girls and wishing you could read their minds - or something similar to 'understand they way they think.' Now Randall was going to get the chance, albeit from a perspective neither of you had ever considered.

"They say I've got to work on the way I talk, move, everything. It's gonna be a bitch. Good thing school doesn't start back for awhile - gives me some time to figure this crap out, " Randall continued.

You just nodded, unsure how to respond to that.

Randall abruptly switched the subject. "The doc says I'm getting out tomorrow. Want to go with me to check out Miss Card's place?"

"Tomorrow?" you repeated in amazement. "So soon?"

Randall shrugged. "I'm 'perfect' they tell me. Of course I'm supposed to have a follow-up next week. But I think they just want to get me out of here before anyone starts asking more questions - trying to sweep all this under the rug. Still, I'm alive and healthy, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much - it could have been alot worse," he admitted.

"Yeah, I guess..." you agreed. "Sure, I'll go with you. I'm curious."