Acclimatisation

Whilst the gods believed they’d honoured her by leaving her endowments intact, Crystal could not believe she was anything other than cursed. Hermaphroditus could blow their trumpet endlessly, and she'd still sorely hate them for making her a freak.

Eventually she just stopped responding to Hermaphroditus. Hard to do since he followed her everywhere, and she’d slip up so easily due to a spike of excitement before remembering who she was talking to.

Crystal instinctively tried to live her life as normal, she'd tell nobody of her freaky secret and try to forget she even had boy parts. Somewhere down the line it will certainly make it hard to be intimate with the boys she liked, and dressing for gym class will be a nightmare around those already bullish girls. But when life throws a curveball, you've just got to swing your bat at it.

Although, within the first day of suffering with her new problem, she found something vastly different about herself. The boys she liked always smiled at her, horrible to everyone else but not to her. She never could piece together why. She always enjoyed their smiles, and they made her feel warm inside.

But she was passing the front gates of the high school, and the usual three guy posse was there, draped across the railings like a protest banner but they simply just wanted to draw everyone's attention to themselves. The fit one that Crystal crushed on winked his handsome eye at her, and instead of feeling that warm fuzzy feeling, her stomach decided to hurl and churn in repulsion.

To say she was physically sickened was an understatement, vomit literally covered the concrete and sent every kid in a few metres of her “ewwwing” and scattering as far away as they could get. The handsome boy was put off obviously and scarpered himself.

Crystal came back up, immediately feeling better bar the taste of sick in her mouth. A warm hand found her shoulder. “Are you alright Crystal Miles?”

She was too grossed out by her sickness to ignore him this time. “I think so, I must be bus sick.”

“Hmm, yes perhaps. Might I offer a suggestion, try not to look at good-looking males so much” Hermaphroditus advised.

“Huh?”

“Actually, try not to look at boys at all if you can”

Crystal felt annoyed again. “Shut up, don't tell me what to do. If I want to look at cute boys I will look at cute boys.”

“Right...I’m sorry” Hermaphroditus knew he’d be endlessly watching her throw up by the end of school, every time she looked at an attractive boy. But to tell her that would be foolhardy, she wouldn't understand for one and she wouldn't listen to him regardless. Sometimes you have to go through a horrendous labyrinth to work out which way is up, you don't get directions.

Hermaphroditus retracted his hand from her shoulders, but it was replaced by a softer one. “Crissy, I just heard you'd vomited outside the school. Oh dear me” the smooth British accent of her female best friend came with it, her silky brown-haired noggin dipped down to look at the mess upon the ground. “We must get you to the nurse, what did you eat for breakfast this morning?”

Crystal couldn't answer straight away, or coherently, being too distracted by the weird pinkish hue she saw around her friend Kip. In actual fact she'd seen it around every girl she'd encountered so far that morning, but none of them as outlined as Kip. “Err...just a banana and an apple. I think I might be bus sick.”

“Chrissy, you cannot catch travel sickness overnight.”

“Not true, that girl from History class used to ride the bus all the time. Then she got sick and puked on Jason's rucksack. She never rode the bus again.”

“Oh no Chrissy, Tilda didn't vomit because of a dicky tummy, Tilda was four weeks pregnant.” Kip’s eyes palpitated in shock. “Chrissy, is your hymen intact?”

If Crystal thought that was an obtrusive question she didn't display it through her response. “I think so.”

“When was the last time you...checked?” Kip knew if she said masturbated she'd be there all day explaining what it means.

“I...don’t know how to check...should I ask the nurse to look?” Crystal asked unsurely.

Kip didn't think that was a good idea. “I don't think the nurse would be allowed to do that, I'll tell you what we'll see how you go for the rest of the day. And if you're sick again we'll go straight to Nurse Williams.”

Crystal nodded, without realising that if she did happen to get checked, there would be a VERY BAD THING for that person to discover. Crystal swore to herself that she would not be sick again today. A voice in her head, Hermaphroditus’ voice, said “just don't look at the boys, trust me.”

Despite her annoyance with this invisible boy that follows her around, she was more than willing to trust him on his advice.

Finally the two best friends, and the invisible boy, entered the school. They were stopped on the way by the Principal. “Kipper Osbourne, I hear you abandoned your hall monitor duties without permission.”

Kipper was Kip’s official name. She hates the full use of her name, for the obvious reasons. It was at best a pets name, not a persons name. She blamed it on her cockney mother, who did stand-up comedy for a living. Her Cambridge educated father always made sure to call her Kip, and it's how everyone knows her.

“I’m sorry Mr Greene, but I heard my friend was unwell by the school gates and I had to see if she needed help.”

“I heard, are you alright Crystal Miles” the girl herself was sick of being addressed in full. It was hard enough that the Principal constantly addressed her this way in school, now she had an annoying boy doing the same outside of school.

“I’m feeling much better now sir” she wasn't looking at him directly, after all the Principal did used to be a boy...a long, long time ago. But Hermaphroditus did say “attractive boys” and this man didn't qualify in that sense.

“Well alright get to class, both of you. You are late.”

Crystal got through Math and Science classes with the help of Kip. They shared desks close to the front of their classrooms in both, and anytime a boy of any description came in her line of sight, she'd just turn to look at Kip. She still had that pink hue around her, and the longer the day went on the stronger it became.

At recess they both sat down on a wall outside, and were promptly joined by their skater friends. There was Jason, a cute boy with baggy pants and a fringe that nearly always covered his eyes. Crystal felt nauseous again when she saw him, but she held everything back this time.

His girlfriend Minx, or Mindy officially, accompanied him like always. The black-haired punky skater girl, with the blood-red lock over her brow, also had a pink hue around her. Stronger than most other girls, but not as strong as Kip’s now was.

At this point Crystal realised she might actually have caught some weird virus. “I think I might go to the nurse after all” she said, interrupting the conversation going on around here.

Kip immediately grabbed at her hands, and unlike every other time she does that, this time it was literally electric to have her skin on hers. “Are you feeling sick again?”

Crystal deliberately avoided Jason’s concerned eyes and replied. “No, I'm okay for now. But I keep seeing things.”

“Like hallucinations. Sorry...um, things that aren't really there, is that what you mean?”

Crystal followed the pink outline around Kip’s head. “I think so.”

Without hesitation, Kip pulled Crystal onto her feet and already began walking off with her in tow. “Hold up you guys, we'll come with you” Jason assured, also concerned about Crystal. He handed Minx back her empty cereal bar wrapper that she offered him half of, and she grunted in disapproval. “Thanks Jerk” she called after him before tossing the wrapper into a waste bin and jogging after them.

The four of them were then gathered in the nurses room, Crystal had accepted a thermometer into her mouth and Nurse Williams was inspecting it closely. “Well, you don't seem to have a fever. Is it just the sickness and the vision that's the problem?”

“Yesh maam” Crystal tried to speak, and slobbered over the instrument in her mouth. Nurse Williams tried not to look grossed out over the drool on the thermometer, she retracted it and shook off the saliva in a casual manner. “When did this sickness start?”

“She vomited outside of school this morning, but other than that she's been okay since” Kip reported on her friends behalf. “Until just now when she said she was having hallucinations.”

She spoke to Crystal directly this time “describe these hallucinations for me.”

“Well, I keep seeing pink.”

“Pink? Like the whole room is pink, or blotches of pink?”

“No. It's like a line, or glow.“

Just as she said this the room froze, except for Crystal. She was able to look around and see Jason perfectly still and his hand stuck in the position where it was scratching his head. Minx beside him was still also, it's unclear to Crystal what exactly she was looking at. Minx was in fact checking the room to see if she could see this pink hue Crystal mentioned.

Nurse Williams was stuck with her arms folded, and Kip’s facial expression was stuck in her trademark confused state. One eyebrow up, one bent downwards, and a soft smile that was trying to say “what the heck” without actually saying it.

For a few moments, Crystal was stuck (not literally in this case) staring at her best friends cute little face. She stepped closer on instinct and, without thinking, she raised a thumb and forefinger to Kip’s chin and stroked her finger across her cheek.

Then she was interrupted by Hermaphroditus’ voice. “Okay, I had to get permission from up high to stop time like this, so you're going to listen to me Crystal Miles.”

Crystal turned around and saw Hermaphroditus right in front of Nurse Williams. “You can't go round telling people these changes that you’re experiencing, you are not sick and they will find you nothing short of a lunatic if you continue.”

“But” Crystal answered back. “What’s wrong with me?”

“There is nothing wrong with you. When I gave you my blessing you accepted more than just the body parts. You have a role now Crystal Miles, you are like...a God in a way. You have certain powers, just like the Gods of Olympus, the only difference is they can control their powers. You cannot. I wish I could make you a full goddess but that is not my decision to make, and I'm incapable of making that happen anyway.”

“Why do I puke when I look at nice boys?” Crystal asked.

“Because you are not meant to find them attractive, the old you is still sexually attracted to males but your new powers are keyed towards females. As a defence your body fights against your attraction to boys.”

“Why can't I look at boys? What's wrong with boys?”

“Its...just not part of what the gods expect of you. They are not your concern. Now, it doesn't mean you can never look at a boy again. For example your Principal, you don't find him remotely attractive so you don’t feel unwell by looking at him. The boy at the gates you liked very much, which is why your ailement was instant and violent.”

Crystal felt annoyed again, hating these gods more and more with every stupid thing that messes up her life. “So what's with the pink?”

“That is the power which will enable you to fulfil your role. Every female on earth will have this hue around them. Your mother, your friends, your teachers and strangers you've never met. It will start off weak, and will develop through your interactions.”

“What’s it for? Does it do anything cool?”

“It measures how compatible you are with these females, and as it strengthens you find yourself feeling more and more attracted to that person. When a lightning shock feeling is exchanged she in turn will start feeling attracted to you.”

Crystal looked back at Kip's frozen body and felt a swell of warmth that she felt before, but couldn't identify. “I, like love my best friend?”

“If her compatibility continues to grow then most certainly you will fall for her. You can have great compatibility with many girls, but who you fall in love with will ultimately be down to what your heart wants.”

Crystal felt genuinely happy for the first time that day, she already loved her best friend the most out of everyone, except her mom. It wasn't romantic before but it almost felt like it always was. Kip was a wonderful, caring, beautiful person. She saw that before so clearly nothing has changed except she desperately wanted to kiss her...and do other things with her.

“Crystal Miles”

“Just call me Crystal” The blonde bombshell replied, still distracted by the new feelings about her best friend.

“Crystal, I'm truly glad to see your love blossom with Kipper Osbourne, I'm happy for you both. But you must not forget, your journey is open to many others. Bear that in mind, else it may negatively impact your relationship with Kipper.”

Crystal pouted and turned to the son of two Olympians. “I don't want others. I want Kip.”

“Of course you do, your heart will never lie to you. But your body will fail you, your powers will fail you. Mindy Allinson for example, unless you keep your distance from her you will continuously build up compatibility. You'll be attracted to her, and eventually she will be attracted to you. If you can't break the growth in compatibility, you'll desire her as much as you'll desire Kipper.”

Crystal frowned and stared at Minx. Yes, there was indeed a part of Crystal that wanted to kiss her as well, but she couldn't do something so horrible to a friend. “But she's Jason’s girlfriend.”

“That is a shame, truly. This quest of yours will test a lot of things like morality and loyalty, and all the relationships you currently have will more than likely change for better or for worse. But at the end of it you'd have done a tremendous thing for the human race.”

Crystal still didn't understand what that tremendous thing was, why did she have these powers? What did the gods want her to do? But just as she was about to ask, the room spun and passed in a blur.

Crystal was scared of what was happening, cowering into herself until it all stopped. She only looked up again when she heard Kip’s voice “Chrissy, don't faint on me.”

Crystal was outside the nurse’s room again, Kip was beside her. Jason and Minx were approaching them. Crystal was still mightily confused, how did she get back outside? “Did...what did the nurse say?”

“We haven't gone in yet, we were just about to knock...here” Kip knocked on the door to a melodic tune, probably God Save The Queen or Rule Britannia. Crystal’s best friend was very patriotic.

So it took Crystal a while to work out time had gone back to before she'd confessed her weird colour hallucinations, and this time Crystal did not mention the pink hue. Nurse Williams put her illness down to something she'd eaten. Apparently sometimes when people who don't eat a lot of fibre consume heavily fibrous foods in a short time window, it can cause stomach and digestive issues. Crystal just accepted her advice and they went to their next classes.

Crystal had an arts lesson after recess, and Kip was swapped out for Minx. Crystal followed the same behaviour as the morning lessons, this time looking at the punk skater girl instead of the boys...though there were only a few in art class to begin with.

Knowing what the pink hue meant, Crystal couldn't look at Minx the same way as she did before. Minx wore only eye-based makeup, had tiny splotches of acne and really did need a haircut. But she was pretty in her own right, and her figure truthfully was better than Kip’s. Crystal blushed bright red and excused herself to go to the bathroom. So Crystal learnt how her first erection feels like.

Crystal didn't share a lesson with a close friend again until after lunch, I the meantime she just stared at her desk the entire time thankful that the English teacher didn't ask her to read from the book she was meant to be reading.

Just as she was leaving the English classroom, a girl shoved her from behind and she fell on top of someone. The pusher just laughed and carried on, Crystal huffed and simply said sorry to whoever she was laying on, to which the girl she landed on replied. “It’s okay, I saw you get pushed. But could you maybe get off me now, the floor ain't very comfortable.”

Crystal got to her feet, and helped the fallen victim onto her feet. She had a pink hue around her of course, and her face was almost lost between the shine of both her hue and the light streaming through her white-blonde hair. “Oh, you're Crystal aren't you?”

“Yep, but call me Chrissy”

“I’m Phoebe. Phoebe Mitchell. I never thought when I said I’d love to bump into you, that I would do exactly that.” The beautiful blonde offered Crystal a friendly hand. Already her hue was growing stronger. Crystal took Phoebe’s hand and for the second time that day, an electric shock was exchanged from Crystals hand.

Crystal was flummoxed at how quickly within meeting this girl she'd developed compatibility. The girl was gorgeous, but even still that was damn fast. A voice in her head interjected her thoughts “hmm, it seems this girl already has a liking to women...you in particular.”

Crystal squeaked in surprise and startled Phoebe also. “Err, I'm sorry. Electric shock.”

“Yeah, I felt it too. A little delayed though wasn't it...meh, who cares” Phoebe smiled wide and looked around to see if they were alone. “Umm, Crystal...sorry, Chrissy, would you like to...sit with me...or rather eat with me...or no, share lunch...no what am I talking about...” Phoebe floundered and it made Crystal giggle and swoon at the same time. “I’d love to grab lunch with you Phoebe.”

Phoebe folded her arms behind her back and her smile got larger if that was possible. “Great, that's great. Err...this way then.”

Safely and without more crashing into people, they made it to the cafeteria. Phoebe waved at a group of people, seemingly her friends, and indicated she was with me. A few of them whooped and wolf-whistled, to which she glared venomously back. Crystal meanwhile took her place at an empty table, Phoebe quickly joined her on the opposite side.

There was an awkward few seconds before Phoebe overdid the excitement of her icebreaker, “So” her tone sounded like a tune made on a violin string, she cupped a hand over her mouth in embarrassment and started again. “Does the cafeteria food suck or what?”

Crystal giggled. “It’s really bad. But the nurse told me to stay off food for today and just drink a lot of liquid.”

“Oh, are you sick or something?” Phoebe questioned with concern.

“Not so much now, but I was this morning.”

“Oh, actually...I did hear...it was you who threw up wasn't it? Honestly, everyone is overreacting, like they've never puked before. I hope you're feeling better now though.”

“I am.”

Phoebe smiled, then she gasped in realisation. She dug around in her school bag and returned with a packed lunch, and a drink. “Here you can have my water, you like flavoured water right?”

“Oh sure, my favourite flavour is mineral” Crystal replied. She slid the water towards her and popped the cap off.

“No, mineral is a type of water, not a...yeah, it's great ain't it” Phoebe was quick to check herself and started unwrapping her lunch.

Crystal watched her with fascination, and as if on autopilot she said “thank you.”

Phoebe looked up again dropping her lunch onto the table. She blushed at the intensity of Crystal’s gaze. “Erm, you're welcome. I, err, it was nothing really. I never finish it anyway.”

“Still, thank you very much Phoebe.”

Phoebe blushed even more and seemed suddenly incredibly interested in her New York bagel. Crystal caught movement from over Phoebe’s shoulder, enough to detach her gaze from the blushing blonde.

Kip was standing by the entrance to the cafeteria, transfixed upon Crystal having lunch with this new blonde girl. Kip was frowning, in confusion and something else Crystal couldn't make out. She eventually hurried off and took her seat at Jason and Minx’s table.

Crystal was snapped out of her staring again, this time it was the blonde tearing her gaze away from the brunette. “Can I just say, I hate how people treat you?”

“What people?” Crystal asked.

“Like that girl who pushed you into me, and those guys that laugh at you then ogle you right after, they're assholes the lot of them. You didn't ask to be bottom of the class, and because you don't let it get to you and you shake off everything, they feel insecure and take their jealousy out on you. It's horrible.”

“That’s silly, who could be jealous of a stupid person like me” Crystal replied evenly.

“I am” Phoebe sharply answered, too sharply. “I mean, I wish I could be like you. I think everyone wishes they could be like you. You're anything but insecure, and if you were smart you'd be the epitome of perfection. And everyone knows it, but the assholes attack you for it. But I don't, I admire you like...I don't know, a celebrity. You’re an important person, and anyone would be lucky to be friends with you.” She looked like she was fighting herself but something else won out over her efforts to stop it. “Anyone would be happy to be with you.”

That was it. Crystal couldn't take any more of this happy fuzzy feeling, she was either going to jump over this table to ravage her new lunch mate in front of the entire school, or she was going to lead Phoebe to the nearest unoccupied space and ravage her there. Crystal decided on the latter.

Crystal knocked her water bottle away, swiped Phoebe’s lunch away, and got to her feet. She loomed over Phoebe with an intense passionate demeanour that had Phoebe quaking in her shoes. “Follow me. But not too close.”

Crystal didn't know where this energy came from, she guessed it was probably another power she had. But she had the confidence to stride across the room, accentuate her delectable rear and not look back to see if Phoebe was watching, for she somehow knew she was.

On the way she caught Kip staring too, biting her lip and following Crystal in a trance. Crystal stopped at the doors and pivoted her head. She peered through the gaggles of people who also got ensnared by Crystals alluring walk, finding Phoebe’s flabbergasted face and winked at her.

She knew Phoebe knew that was her signal, and Crystal didn't stop until she found the nearest unoccupied girls lavatory. Crystal went to the first cubicle, closing it behind her. All the other cubicle doors were completely ajar, meaning Phoebe would know exactly which cubicle to go to.

Thirty seconds Crystal waited for, then the squeaky hinge on the door broke the silence.

The soft padding of footsteps followed, leading all the way to her cubicle door, then stopped again.

Nearly a full minute of silence and no motion whatsoever followed, before the door opened and the girl entered Crystal’s cubicle.

“Kipper?”

“Chrissy.”