The Progress

Saturday arrived quickly after that. The next couple of days at the new station were relatively quiet. Amanda didn’t show much progress as she continued to dress like an e-girl, though her voice was more breathy and she seemed to ask for my opinion a lot more than I was used to. Jennifer continued to come to work in her cropped blouse and slacks, giving everyone in the office a nice view of her belly button as she put together all the details she needed for her story and got the rundown on how everything was moving.

Janice told us that Savannah was overjoyed to find out that the position had finally become open. The first night we watched the news from Jennifer’s dressing room, she hadn’t been able to stop crying. Savannah had even covered up more and was dressed like Jennifer had not long ago.

I comforted her as best I could, but eventually, she heard the whispers of what a lot of people were saying: “She’s like a younger Jennifer.” She was undeniably good, and her and Bert even had amazing chemistry on screen together. It was going to be very difficult for Jennifer to ever get her position back unless something happened. As I held Jennifer in my arms—something that had become a lot more common—I glared at my backpack and wondered if the remote had charged yet. I wanted Jennifer, but I also wanted her to have what she wanted, and right now that was impossible with Savannah in the way.

But it still wasn’t working, and by Friday, Jennifer seemed a lot more content and free. She didn’t even cry when Savannah came on the news at night as we talked about our plan for Saturday.

Which is why, on Saturday, I woke up so excited at six in the morning. I hadn’t wanted to wake up that early, but there are those days when you just look forward to something so much that you have your clothes ready on your chair next to you and you’re waiting for that alarm all night. Since it was still dark out, I went ahead and took a shower, got changed, and went to our dorm balcony that overlooked a parking lot. The smell of cigarette smoke filled the air from a nearby dorm where three guys were sitting and sharing a cigarette. Main campus was about a mile away, and even though people tended to not go to these events, they had promised free food, free drinks for students over 21, and 50 "dragon points." That part was less important to me, but who doesn’t like free merch?

If my theory was correct, this ray was changing women into fantasy versions of themselves. From what I noticed—including her vocabulary, her outfit changes, and her skin seeming to become tighter and more firm—Jennifer was getting younger. I would estimate her current age to be early 30s. That was kind of a wild guess. However, based on how she reacted during the interview, I had a hunch that maybe there was something to this where being around those that can influence your change further helps to advance the transformation.

The alternative example would be that if I let Jennifer hang out with all the old people in the newsroom, she would eventually just revert back to "normal" Jennifer; so, by having her here at the college, it might speed-run her progress. I haven’t exactly figured out how to test this with Amanda, but I had a few plans I was working on.

For today, it was easy. In a couple of hours Jennifer would be arriving; we would do the whole news report thing. I’d even managed to convince her to convince the station to let me operate the camera so it would just be the two of us. And then after lunch, we would ditch the pretense and just have fun. It would be the perfect day, except for the smell of that cigarette smoke which was giving me a headache, so I went back inside and played some Xbox until finally, a text from Jennifer:

im in the parking lot

coming down

She was dressed in brown slacks with a tan blouse that was tied up over her belly button. Her hair was in a ponytail, and the moment she saw me, she smiled. “The equipment's in the back! If you don’t mind grabbing it.”

She had still gone all out despite the demotion. The camera was heavy and professional-looking; the tripod was light, but we had some extra lighting equipment which left me feeling like a pack mule. “Wow, this is more stuff than I expected.”

“And this is our ‘light pack’ for on-the-move events. It’s totes lighter than our normal equipment, so get used to it.” She looked back at me, “But not too used to it.” And then she looked to the horizon, “We will be back in the studio soon.” A part of me kind of regretted changing her. She had been on such a good career path until I came along and selfishly made her more my own. She started to walk towards the campus. Perhaps she would have started to like me anyway; maybe the ray just caused her to get younger but didn’t influence her feelings towards me.

As we walked forward—and I got to walk behind her with a nice view of her butt in those slacks as well as her toned back—my reservations melted away. I sped up my walk so we could walk side-by-side underneath the covered walkways of the Gothic architecture of our old university to escape the sun. “Thanks again for agreeing to do this, Jennifer. I know there’s probably way better stories out there.”

She pushed her ponytail back and said, “Are you kidding? In this town, we need to, like, look out for our youth.” She bumped into me. “You know, it wasn’t too long ago that I was here.”

Perfect chance to ask her age. “How long ago?”

“You know that’s rude to ask,” she teased.

“Well—”

“10 years ago.”

“10, huh?” That was definitely wrong. I wondered if it would destroy her mind to look at a yearbook right now.

Eventually, we made our way to The Quad, where the preparations for the event were well underway with staff members setting up a rock climbing wall, balloon popping stands, bouncy houses, and a variety of other events. Only students in organizations were around, but I had made plans for my roommates to “conveniently” arrive around lunchtime. Jennifer had me set up the camera to film some B-roll and then we positioned her in front of the team mascot.

I tried to emulate a director as best as possible as I set up the lighting and prepared her for the take. I couldn’t believe it, but during all my scheming and horniness, I had actually picked up some things. “Action!”

As soon as I said the word, it was like a switch flicked on and that beautiful smile spread through her along with a confidence which made her undeniably believable. “Hi! I’m Jennifer with Channel 11 News. We are at Stony Brooke University's totally awesome fundraiser for their engineering program. It’s going to be super awesome, so come with us!”

She stayed smiling until I announced, “Cut!”

“How was that?”

Why did she care what I thought? “It was great! So fun.”

“Fun? Yeah, fun is good.” She glanced at her feet and then back to me. “Let’s, like, get some interview questions with the organizers and students.” So we wandered around as I lugged the heavy equipment everywhere, while Jennifer talked to the people in charge as well as a number of students who started showing up as the event got underway. By the time we were done with the first set of interviews, it was hard to maneuver through the massive crowd. Those who weren't distracted by Jennifer’s teasing neckline and belly button were able to give some pretty solid answers, and I was even able to suggest some questions for the beautiful reporter.

She wasn’t acting any younger, though, and I was starting to regret not working out more as the heat and weight of the day were starting to get to me. AND I WAS WEARING GRAY. Don’t ask me what possessed a sweaty guy like me to wear gray on the day where I’d be hanging out with my crush, but it made me ask for way too many breaks. She was very sweet about it, though, and during one break next to the snow cone machine, she bought one for each of us.

We took turns licking the sugary dessert until finally, I decided to test my luck again. “Hey, Jennifer.”

“Yeah?”

“Tonight, after everything is wrapped up, would you want to go grab a drink with me?” I squinted my eyes slightly, trying to look as handsome as possible. Maybe a sort of Clint Eastwood vibe.

She laughed. Around us, groups of students moved from station to station enjoying the music, food, and atmosphere. “Jean, you’re really sweet. Maybe if you were a couple of years older, but it would be wrong for me to date an intern.” She leaned her head against my shoulder. “Oh my god! Thank you, though. I’ve been, like, feeling kind of old lately, so it feels kinda nice to have a guy closer to my age show some interest in me.”

“How could I not? You’re—” hot, sexy, beautiful, perfect, seraphic, gorgeous, wonderful, my dream girl. “So cute.” She kept eating her snow cone.

“You’re pretty cute too.” I was so in.

“You know, if you want to hang with a younger crowd, I have some friends who are grabbing lunch in the commons if we want to join them.”

“That sounds reeeally fun, but we should probably eat quick so we can get back to work.”

Normally, I’d take her word as gold, but I had to try my theory, and this was the best way possible. Plus, my roommates are lame and said they weren’t coming to the event, so this was the only way to prove to them that I actually get to work with the Jennifer Strauss. “In a way,” I reasoned, “we are working by gaining more info on the local population…”

She looked at me like she knew exactly what I was up to. “You’re tired of holding those bags, aren’t you?”

“My arm feels like it’s going to fall off.”

“Let’s go see your friends.” She patted my back and I led the way.

The dining hall didn’t have a lot of people since most of the on-campus people were at the fundraiser, but my friends and some of their girlfriends were at the table and, as luck would have it (it wasn’t luck), there were two open seats. We went and grabbed some plates, served ourselves some Mexican food, and sat down.

”Everyone, this is my boss, Jennifer Strauss.”

She nodded, “Hi, I’m Jennifer, anch—I mean reporter at Channel 11 News.”

They looked at her as if she were some strange animal at the zoo. I don’t blame them; I would too if this beautiful girl sat down with me. Thankfully for me, my bet had paid off—the girls my roommates brought were just as vapid and modern as I had expected. Each of them was wearing a tight athletic skirt and tank top with an exposed navel, as was the trend.

”Hi Jennifer, can I, like, call you Jenny?” one of the girls said.

”Your outfit's, like, so cute, where’d you get it?” another one added.

As they kept talking, our roommate Simpson—the one who gets out the most—looked at me. “Dude, I gotta give you props. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

”Yessir. Working side-by-side all summer.” Beside us, I heard Jennifer let out a little giggle alongside the rest of the girls.

”It’s Jennifer,” she said, “but Jenny’s kinda cute, so either one’s okay.”

A huge step forward. Looked like my theory had some merit after all.

Terry tapped my shoulder quickly. “Bro, are you hitting that?” I was surrounded by cavemen, truly. I mean, I had been planning the same thing, but I wouldn’t ask that out loud.

”Nah, man. Strictly professional.” But as I said it, I reached my arm back and maneuvered it slickly, slowly over her shoulder until my hand was comfortably resting there, with a little squeeze to bring her closer. I knew I was being risky, but I hadn’t tested how far this thing could go, and I’m still in college—I want to show off to my friends.

She stopped talking and looked at me with a mean look. “You’re, like, on my hair,” she said. She moved my hand, lifted her ponytail, and left that space open as if waiting for me to replace my arm. So I did, holding her possessively. I gave my boys a wink. We both kept talking to our respective genders while my arm rested around her.

By the time we were done, thirty minutes had passed and the groups were more mixed as Jennifer talked, open and smiling. Her hair seemed to be growing blonder, as if returning to a natural color, and her skin was becoming clearer. Even her breasts seemed to get perkier as they stretched her blouse higher, causing more of her beautifully tight belly to become visible, along with her perfect hip dips and cute little belly button.

”No!” one of the girls, Natasha—a pretty brunette with wavy hair that flowed out like a lion’s mane—said. “You don’t have to go to school to audition for the cheerleading squad, technically, since we, like, use outside funding and stuff.”

“Shut up! I could not!” Jennifer said.

”Jenny, you, like, so could,” one of the other blonde ones said, standing up. “It would be, like, so cool to have a cute news girl on our team.”

She looked so happy, but she shook her head. “No girls, that sounds sooo fun.” The words seemed to drip from her mouth rather than the careful pronunciation I was used to. “But I work so hard. I couldn’t do both. Plus I’m just too old.” Jennifer stood up, so I grabbed the equipment.

”Totally,” they agreed. “Just keep working hard and don't stop having fun, girl.”

”For sure,” she agreed.

”I’ll see you guys later,” I said. They all waved as we made our way back out to the colorful music and crowded atmosphere of the engineering fundraiser.

”Your friends are fun,” she said.

”Yeah, they are.” I gave her a slight poke. “Jenny, huh?”

”Shut up,” she laughed. “It’s still Jennifer to you, silly goose. I was just... trying it out, I don’t know.” Then it looked like she had an idea. “Speaking of which, those skirts the girls had were so cute. We should, like, totally go get some.”

”We?” I asked. We found our way back to the middle of it all where I set up my camera near the dunk tank, funnel cake, and ring toss area.

“Oh, you’re right. I should just send my lowly intern to go do it, since that’s the kind of boss I am.”

I expressed fake shock. “You wouldn’t!”

”Try me,” she stuck her tongue out.

I looked around and finally settled on the dunk tank. “How about a bet then?”

”Like, what kinda bet?”

”Hmmm. I bet you that if you get on that dunk tank, I could knock you down.” She already looked like she was going to say no, so I continued, “If I do it, I go shopping with you and get to pick out one outfit. But if I miss, I’ll get your favorite coffee every morning—weekends too—delivered to your door before you’re even awake, huh?”

She pondered it. “Hmm, I’ll think about it. But for now, let’s get to work.”

For the next four hours, she was as professional as a burgeoning valley girl could be. She even managed to get the university president to tell her exclusive information on the contents of the lab.

”So, like, Mr. President, is the lab going to be super basic or will it be totally modern?”

I’m pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to say anything, but he was disarmed by those baby blues and the giggling reporter.

”I can’t believe you got him to spill like that! You’re seriously impressive, Jennifer.”

”Well, I didn’t get to where I am because I’m not talented,” she said smugly. Without her even noticing, I had walked us to one of the food carts providing free drinks and grabbed us two margaritas.

“Here you go, ma’am,” I said.

”Don’t call me ma’am. I’m not fucking thirty,” she said, taking a big drink while I almost spat mine out. I don’t think I’d heard her curse before. The question remained as to whether this was a new, young version of Jennifer or if she was returning to a previous version of herself. Either way, it was very attractive. “What am I even doing? Drinking on the job.”

"It’s almost 5 PM," I reasoned. But even as I spoke, she continued to drink anyway. “Plus, we’ve got a bunch of great footage. I promise the audience will know everything they could possibly know about the Engineering Fundraiser. So let’s kick back and have a great time.”

We looked at each other. I checked out her beautiful body, that knotted shirt that left her looking so tantalizing. Her waist seemed to be getting smaller and slimmer which made that crop end even higher and left her pants slightly loose at the top. I extended my glass for her to clink. She let out a deep sigh. “Fine. One drink.”

”One drink.”

Of course, that one-drink promise didn’t last long. After we had drank two more margaritas, I left the camera equipment in an empty classroom as we went to the fair and enjoyed it to its full extent. We rock climbed, popped some balloons, and I even got to watch jealously as she showed me that she could ride the bull without falling off. That was quite the spectacle as a number of guys gathered to watch her well-shaped ass move back and forth while her quads gripped the mechanical monster. Thankfully, her waving ponytail and the changes to her appearance from the ray seemed to keep anyone from recognizing the drunk bull rider as Jennifer Strauss.

I had honestly forgotten about the bet until Jennifer stopped me by my chest and gave me a mischievous smile. “Hey.”

”Hey,” I said.

”You’re on.”

”I’m on?”

She started walking. Following closely behind, my eyes were glued to her butt in those brown slacks, which also seemed to have gained more of a bubble-butt shape that left her professional pants looking the slightest bit unprofessional. Sexy, even.

I barely even noticed as she paid the $10 ticket price to take her spot on top of the freezing cold water of the dunk tank. She sat and crossed her legs, removing the ponytail and allowing her hair to come down around her shoulders. The old guy working the game gave me three balls.

“Well, this isn’t fair.” I tossed the balls up in the air, getting a sense of their weight and size. “You got me drunk just so you could get your free coffee.”

I had played baseball for 10 years before college. I had even been a travel ball pitcher with plans of going D2 or NAIA before a wicked shoulder injury left me with two possible paths: have a very difficult recovery process that would leave me with an arm at 90% and a higher chance of injury, or stop playing baseball competitively and drop a piece of my identity. At the time, choosing to be "nothing" rather than being unable to give my 100% made it feel like I had wasted ten years of my life. Now, with the chance to get my longtime crush soaked, it felt like everything happened for a reason.

I dropped the other two balls to the ground. I would only need one. As I’d practiced my whole life, I lifted my left leg, loaded the weight onto my back leg, and drove forward at maximum intensity. I could almost feel the glove on my left hand and the baseball cap as I released the ball at my point of maximum extension.

It flew forward, splitting the air. I didn’t even need to see it. Instead, I closed my eyes and waited.

Ding! Splash.

She splashed into the water. “Oh my god, I, like, cannot believe you!” I couldn’t tell if she was mad or happy, but I was damn proud of my throw regardless. I felt a slight sting in my shoulder and I massaged it gratefully.

When she finally got back on the solid grass, she pushed her hair back and it became blatantly obvious that her shirt had become see-through; the outline of her bra as well as her nipples were clearly visible. I could’ve melted. Her expression was a mix of anger and playfulness. I realized what she was planning next.

"No, no, no." I started backing up towards the buildings and away from the fair as she started chasing me. “This is my nice shirt!” But since I was looking at her, I tripped on a bush, nearly losing my footing as Jennifer tackled me to the ground, getting me soaked. We rolled for a little bit until she ended up on top of me, her wet hair dripping onto my face.

”You hold so much water; you’re, like, a sponge.” I couldn’t break eye contact, except for when I did to look at her lips. And maybe I’m crazy, but I thought she looked at mine too. My hands were wrapped around her lower back and hers were on either side of my head. Her chest was pressed against mine. I was tempted to move my hand down and cup that ass I’ve been dreaming about, but this moment was great too. No reason to let my greed get in the way now. I leaned closer to her as if going to kiss her, and the moment I saw the surprise in her eyes and felt her grip loosen, I knew I had her as I flipped her onto her back, being careful to not let her head hit hard.

“I didn’t know you could pitch like that?”

”Oh yeah, I should have brought that up when I made the bet.”

”You know, I’ve always thought baseball players were hot.”

”Too bad I’m not a baseball player anymore.” I stood up and helped her to her feet. I figured I had a slight chance now, but the longer I could play hard to get, the more I could understand the effects of this ray. “Now come on, let’s get you some new clothes.”

We made our way back to my dorm, where Simpson had asked Natasha to grab some clothes for Jennifer, whom I let into my room to change.

She opened the door a peep and called me over. “Do you mind if I take a shower?” Her bare shoulders were visible, and the thought that Jennifer Strauss was naked in my bedroom made me incredibly aroused. “Jean?”

”Oh, yeah, no worries. There’s towels in the closet. Take your time.”

”Real slick, bro,” Simpson said.

Simpson and Natasha just chilled on the couch, making out and eating pizza. He was the only roommate who had no sense of PDA or didn't care if he did. I sat at the bar section of our cheaply made kitchen, checking my phone.

When Jennifer emerged, I had to double-check my eyes. She emerged like a butterfly in a tight white athletic skirt which ended halfway up her strong thighs and showed off her beautifully toned legs. Her top was a cropped tank top that made it impossible to wear a bra underneath, as it showed the top of her cleavage. The skirt finished right above her belly button and was tight enough that it showed her tightening stomach.

"Wow,” I said.

“It’s not too much?” she said.

“No. Not at all.”

ENDTAG:

Thanks for reading this commissioned story! On my Patreon you’ll get access to the next chapters, and I also upload 1-2 new chapters every week which the community sometimes has opportunities to vote on, so it’s the best way to get consistent MC from me and see your fav stories come early ;)

For feedback or to talk about commissions, email me: [email protected]