Nerd Girl Conclusion (Patreon)

Chapter Three

Sipping his latte, Richard found a picnic table off away from the walkways and sat down with a huff, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. One thing he had learned in business was that to make a deal you needed either leverage or incentive, preferably both.  He had nothing when it came to this Eris character.  Who was she, anyway?  He needed information.  Taking his sketchpad out of his satchel, he wrote Eris?  In big letters across the top of the page and grabbed his phone, doing a Google search.  The very first entry read, Eris: Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord.

Greek goddess?   It can’t be…. Richard thought.  He started to write it down on his sketch pad anyway, when he was interrupted by some familiar voices.

“Richie! What’s the word?”

Richard looked up to see some of the other guys from his finance class walking towards him. He gasped, closing his sketch pad, holding it against his chest to hide his t-shirt.  “Nothing,” he said, voice cracking.  “Just hanging out.”

Jesse looked at Richie, turning his head sideways.  “You look different.”

“What?”  Richard said, his voice cracking again.

“You need a haircut,” Kyle said. “You look like my little sister.”

“And what’s with your voice?” Jesse said.

“I gotta go,” Richard said.  His voice didn’t crack this time, but he was horrified to hear it come out high-pitched, like when he’d been a child.  Keeping his sketchpad pressed to his chest, he grabbed his satchel and got up.  Even as he stood, he felt like his butt was swelling, stretching out his pants. His arm bumped against his now round hip.

“Dude, what the hell?” Jesse said, laughing.

“You’ve got an ass like a stripper!” Kyle chimed in.

“You’re so full of it,” Richard piped, his cheeks blushing with shame as he hurried away, unable to stop his hips from wiggling side to side.

Now, it should be noted that very few people liked Richard.  His arrogant, superior attitude annoyed people, and the fact that most believed he was largely a pampered child of privilege who’d been born on third base only added to their irritation. Many people, however, had been friendly with Richard due to the fact he always had good drugs, and they thought maybe he would-be able to maybe help them someday after the college careers ended.

These pragmatic motives to fake friend him could not withstand the amusement they felt seeing Richard with a messy bob, and then, impossibly, with the most perfect, feminine looking ass they had ever seen.  None even paused to wonder how this could be possible, or why he sounded like a girl. The mere fact that all of this had clearly taken him down a peg or three was enough.

Richard, on the other hand, had never felt more humiliated in his life.  As soon as he got away from crew, he stopped to examine himself.  His hips now flared out from his waist, almost like a shelf, and glancing back he could see to some extent what he already felt— his booty had gotten much bigger, and now swelled out behind him like— well, he hated to think it, but stripper’s ass was not inaccurate.

“Eris!” He squeaked, unable to stop from putting his hand to his throat at the emasculated sound of his voice.  He needed to get out of sight.  He couldn’t risk having anymore people see him with his new hips and ass, so he hurried back to his apartment, struggling with all his willpower to stop his butt from wiggling.

The building, as he approached, looked even shabbier.  The exterior was dull and stained, the glass of the doors was dirty.  There was still no doorman, and the marble had been replaced by low-grade formica in an ugly green color that looked to Richard like Baby pooh.

“Eris!” Richard squeaked again.  “She’s ruining my life!”

Entering his apartment, he slammed the door behind him, sighing. Luke was sitting cross-legged on the couch, his long red hair now came down past his shoulders, curling above his breasts…

“Breasts?”  Richard said, pointing.

“What?”  Luke said, looking up from his smart pad.

“You have boobs!  Boobies?”

Luke glanced down at his chest.  He had firm little A-cups pushing out the front of a t-shirt with the picture of a flying toaster on it.  “Um, yeah?  So?”

Richard shook his head, confused and freaked.  He turned so Luke wouldn’t be able to see his plump new booty and walked sideways toward his bedroom.  “I am just walking over here,” Richard said.  “Heading over to my room.”

Luke giggled.  “You are such a nerd!”

Richard tried to laugh, but it came out as a feminine giggle, echoing Luke’s.

He slammed the door to his room, threw his satchel on his bed and ran over to the mirror, turning to the side to look at- “Oh, no, no, no…” he said, seeing the sway of the small of his back, the perfect, lifted shape of his ass.  It was the kind of ass that looked like an invitation, and turning his back to the mirror and looking back over his shoulder, he saw it was heart-shaped perfection.

Richard felt like someone punched him in the gut, and he sank to his knees, covering his face. How was he supposed to ever leave his room again with this booty?  He couldn’t!  He knew what boys would be thinking!

“Leverage,” he reminded himself.  He grabbed his laptop.  Did a new search.  Eris, he read, was daughter of an entity called Nyx, sister of Ares.  The impossibility that Eris was a Greek goddess was quickly being outweighed by the radical changes Richard was experiencing, and though he could hardly believe something so crazy, he was desperate enough to try just about anything. He searched for How to Summon Ares, and he found a spell.

His heart was racing.  Could he do something so insane?  He wiggled, feeling all the extra flesh now cushioning his as he sat.  “Do I have a choice?”  He wondered, and the thin, feminine sound of his voice was the answer.

Chapter Four

That night before bed, Richard took the teddy bear onesie and used a pair of scissors to cut it into shreds, then threw it in the garbage.  There was no way he was going to let himself wake up in that girly nerd garb again.  He also took all the panties out of his dresser, likewise cutting them into pieces and throwing them away.  He was a man, damnit, and he would go commando before he put on another pair of panties!  Or, woke up in them, for that matter. “You hear me Eris?” He said, shaking a fist at the sky. “Enough with this-- these--  you know!”

When Richard woke in the morning, he once more found himself staring up at the glowing stars on his ceiling. He sighed, rolling out of bed and looking down at his paws, immediately noticing they were now pink and white instead of brown and white.  He saw a note pinned to the back of his paw and looked:

“No teddy bears for my big girl!”  It read. “Hugs. Eris.”

“Ugh!”  Richard got up and wandered to the mirror, unable to resist the urge to see what he was-- “a bunny?”  His new onesie looked exactly like the one Harley Quinn had worn in Birds of Prey--  pink with hearts on it, and cute little ears on the hoodie. Richard touched the ears.  They were pretty cute and-

“No.  I hate cute!”  Richard squeaked, throwing back the hoodie and squeaking again.  Not only was he wearing Harley’s clothes, but he now had Harley hair!  A messy nest of white-blonde hair with red tips on one side aad blue tips on the other framed his smooth face. He dug his hands into his thick hair, pushing the bangs out of his eyes.  “How am I supposed to manage all this hair?”  He said, stomping one foot, even as he found himself resolved to watching some videos and learning how to style his hair, maybe even putting it into side braids?

He slipped out of the onesie to find he was once more wearing panties, this time checkered panties with roses and a picture of Harey.  He slipped out of them and threw them across the room, mumbling curses toward Eris.

Heading to the bathroom, he glanced in the mirror to confirm he no longer needed to shave, and as he did his face seemed to melt and reshape itself.  He screamed, putting his hands to his cheeks, staring at himself.  The first thing he’d noticed was that he had a dusting of freckles across his nose.  Freckles?  They looked-- dorky.  And there were other changes.  He looked younger, and he could not deny-- feminine.  His eyes looked bigger, his chin pointed, his nose smaller.

“How am I supposed to face the world looking like-- this?”  He could hear his friends laughing, everyone laughing. But, he couldn’t hide in his room.  He had to go to class!  Groaning, he took a quick shower, then went to get dressed, his heart sinking as he realized that all of his old clothes were gone, replaced by an entirely nerdy and girly bunch of clothes none of which he had any desire to ever be seen wearing.

Sifting through the clothes, constantly fighting with his hair, he finally just settled for a pair of jeans with a big sunflower embroidered on one hip-- trust me when i tell you they were the least nerdy pair he owned-- and a Lord of the Rings t-shirt featuring Arwen, of course, who was so powerful and brave and just the kind of girl he wanted to be like...

No. No.  No, Richard tried to tell himself, but his attempts to remember who he’d been and what he once liked or hated were becoming less and less real and seemed more and more like a nervous tic. He tied on a pair of battered red and white Chuck Taylors and wandered out to the kitchen.

The room smelled good-- eggs and fresh brewed coffee-- and Richard wandered over to where Luke was cooking.  “Egg white and spinach omelet?”  Luke asked, flipping the omelet.

“Yeah,” Richard said.  “What about you?”

“I have one in the oven waiting!”  Luke said.  “I love it when it we can share breakfast and chat.”

“Yeah,” Richard said, mildly annoyed, but he was trying to figure something else out.  There was something that didn’t seem right about Luke-- besides the fact that he had breasts, slender, rounded hips and long red hair.  Finally, Richard realized what it was.  He was looking Luke in the eyes, whereas the day before Luke had gotten shorter.  “You got taller,” Richard said.

Luke shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’m still 5’ 4”,” he said. “Just like always.”

“No.  I’m --  wait.” Richard looked down.  He rushed back to the mirror in his room.  He saw it now.  Whereas his head used to come to the top of the mirror, it now only came to the middle.  “I’m-- short!”  He gasped.  For Richard, being tall had been part of his status, part of what made him dominant, powerful.  The thought that he was now short horrified and terrified him.  He was so small!  Anyone could beat him up now!

“This can’t be happening!”  he said, feeling himself starting to hyperventilate as he stumbled back out to the kitchen. “It isn’t real.  Omigod!”

Luke, who’d put the plates on the dining room table along with steaming mugs of coffee, took Richard’s hand and led him to the table.  He was used to Richard’s panic attacks.  He was so sensitive. “Deep breaths.  Deep breaths,” he said, sitting Richard down.  “Close your eyes and take deep breaths.”

Richard did.  He just-- he felt he should listen to Luke, who’d always been such a good friend.  Richard felt himself calming. He sighed.  “Talk to me,” Luke said, as he began to eat his omelet. “What’s going on?”

Talk?  It seemed so-- girly.  And yet, Richard felt he really needed to talk.  “I just-- I feel like everything is wrong,” he said.  He realized that Luke seemed to have no awareness of the changes that were happening. “I feel like I am losing control of-- like-- everything?  Does that make sense?”

Luke nodded.  “I know.  I know, girl.”

Girl?  The word offended and scared Richard.  “Why did you just call me girl?”

“Um, you know.  Just a figure of speech.”

Richard groaned. “Nevermind.” He started eating, sipped his coffee. “Want to help me try and summon Ares tonight?”

“That sounds so cool!”  Luke said, his eyes sparkling.  “Omigod, I can’t wait!”

After eating, Richard grabbed his satchel and headed off to his sculpting class.  He knew he was now really good at sculpture and modelling, and even though he wondered if he should just not go to these classes Eris had put him in, for some reason he found he could not NOT go. It was a windy day, and the breeze kept blowing Richard’ hair into his face and mouth.  He fought it relentlessly as he made his way to class, half blind the whole way.  Finally, he got through the door and sighed with relief, pushing his hair back, brushing it out of his eyes and realizing he was going to have no choice but to learn about managing long hair.

As he made his way into the studio, he saw the only open seat was next to the green haired girl from the quad, the one who hated him.  Swallowing, he went and took a seat next to her, bracing for her to say something mean.  Instead, her face lit up and she said, “Hey, Richie Rich.”

“Um, hey?”  He said, surprised by her warm greeting.

“What do you think?”  She asked, drawing his attention to a wet, clay sculpture she was working on.

Richard’s mouth dropped open. “Omigod!”  He said, losing control.  “It’s like a Lovecraftian Balrog!” In fact, the creature did look like the merging of the Balrog and Cthulhu.  “It’s so… awesome and amazing!”

The green haired girl, who Richard suddenly “remembered” was named Agnes, giggled.  “Thanks,” she said. “I’m really into primordial entities.”

“The balrog is so all about the collective unconscious!” Richard said.  The two started chatting, finishing each other’s sentences, and Richard felt a warmth and comfort come over him, a sense of contentment that they were friends.  Of course, the old part of him was screaming, but his new self was getting more powerful and she insisted they be friends with Agnes. Besides, they were into all the same things, so, duh, right?

They worked through class.  Richard was sculpting a dragon, working hard to get the scales just right.  When class ended, on impulse he said, “Want to help me summon Ares tonight?”

“Sounds good,” Agnes said. When they both stood, Richard was mildly shocked to realize she was now taller than him, and he had to look up at her.  Remembering how he’d towered over her just a few days ago, it brought home to him how much he’d lost, how tiny and vulnerable he’d become. I have to get back to being a guy, he thought, burying his hands in his thick hair and pulling it back over his shoulders.

With class done-- Richard really needed to do more work on those scales!-- he headed toward the dollar store to get supplies for the spell he’d found to summon Ares. As he was walking down the sidewalk, he passed a couple guys, who swiveled their heads as they passed. “Nice ass,” one of them said.

“Her legs go all the way from her ass to the ground,” the other one said.

Richard froze, turning to glare at them, his mouth dropping open.  They just walked on like it was all no big deal but Richard felt-- insulted? “I’m a guy!” He squeaked, his voice full of feminine fury.

“You sure about that, honey buns?” He heard Eris say, as she slapped him on the ass.

Richard yelped and jumped, his face turning red as he turned to face her, furious.  Eris was dressed in a man’s suit now, her hair short, and she had a pipe clenched in her teeth, a strange purple smoke curling from the bowl. “Y-you!  Jerk!  Change me back!”  Richard squealed.

“Ta ta,” Eris said. “I’m off for a steam.”  She turned and faded into a cloud of smoke.

“Ahhhhhh!!!!”  Richard screamed in frustration. He jumped up and down three times, his hair all plopping down over his eyes, and he was totally unnerved to feel his booty jiggling with every jump.  Furious, he stormed off in search of his supplies.  Ares.  Ares was the answer.  He had to be!

Later, Richard found himself huffing as he climbed the hill that led to his apartment.  His arms were aching as he strained to carry the bags of supplies he’d bought up the hill.  He knew they weren’t that heavy; he was just that weak! Still, he gritted his teeth and struggled along, determined not to let his minimized form stop him from getting his payback.  As his formerly luxurious and exclusive apartment building came into view, he was depressed to see it was now a bland, cinderblock dorm.  The sign out front read Eris Hall. Richard sneered, getting to the rusty old doors, struggling to get it open with his shopping in his hands.  He managed to get it open a crack, tried to shove his foot into the open space to keep it from closing again, but a sudden gust of wind blew it closed.

Richard felt his eyes burning, tears starting to pool.  No, no no!  He told himself.  I am not going to cry like some-- girl!

Just then, the door opened, and a short, portly boy with coke-bottle classes smiled, revealing crooked, yellow teeth.  “Milady,” he said, bowing and waving his hand with a flourish.

“Haha,” Richard giggled, nervously. He forced a quick smile and stepped into the lobby, trying to keep from his body touching the dorky guy. “Thanks,” he managed to remember to say.

The boy actually blushed.  “My name is Motimer,” he said.  “And what would your name be, fair maiden?”

Richard groaned.  He was so not in the mood for this.  Just as he was about to just turn and walk away, however, he suddenly said, “Astrid, First of her Name, Queen of Godqueens, Khaleesi of the Great Pyramid, Lady Regent of the Eris Hall, Protector of Geeks, Breaker of X-Box remotes, and Mother of Cats.”  As soon as he finished his eyes went wide and he made a little squeak of fright.

The boy’s grin grew wider, and he bowed even lower. “It would be my honor to help you, Astrid, Mother of Cats, with your burdens!”

Richard giggled and tossed his hip out to the side, holding his bags out toward the boy. “Forsooth,” he said. “Thou art my hero!”

The boy giggled and took the bags.  Richard started twisting his hair around his fingers.  “You remind me of Samwell Tarly.”

“I get that all the time,” Mortimer said, taking the bags and walking Richard to the elevator.  The whole way up, Richard found himself giggling, laughing at all Mortimer’s Morrowind jokes-- he even reached out at one point and brushed some lint from Mortimer’s shoulder.  The whole time, he was screaming inside.  He knew he was not only flirting, but in his mind flirting poorly, but he couldn’t stop.

When they got to the room, Richard opened the door, eager to get rid of this geek, but as soon as he pulled the door open he froze in shock as he found himself looking at a one room dorm with bunk beads. “Whaaa?”

Mortimer walked right in with the bags.

Luke was on a chair, just finishing the hanging of a string of Christmas lights, and there were balloons floating all along the ceiling. Luke now had a clearly feminine figure, with rounded hips.  “Hi!”  Luke sang out, hopping down from the chair.  “Ta da!”

“This is sooooo cool,” Mortimer said.

Richard had gotten sort of used to the fact that his life was going to keep changing for the worse, so the change in and and itself was not that paralyzing.  But-- a shared room?  Bunk beds?  And, “Christmas lights?”

“Yeah.  For the party,” Luke said. “Who are you?”  She said to Mortimer as he set the bags down.

“I am Mortimer,” he answered, once more performing a dramatic bow. “I rescued this fair damsel.”

“I’m not--” Richard said, getting annoyed.  “Okay.  You know.  Thanks. Bye!”

“Surely I have earned a hug?” Mortimer said.

“Um…” Richard answered, crinkling his nose.

“Astrid!” Luke said.  “Don’t be rude!”  She put a hand on Richard’s back and shoved him toward Mormitmer, who wrapped Richard in his arms and pulled him to his fleshy body.

“Okay! Okay!”  Richard said, pulling away.  “Bye!”  This time, he put his hands on Mortimer’s back and started pushing him out the door.

“You should come to the party tonight!” Luke called.

“I’d love to,” Mortimer said as Richard slammed the door in his face.

Richard spun.  “How could you make me hug a boy!”

“He was cute!”

“Not!”  Richard said.

“Cuter than your last boyfriend,” Luke said as he turned his attention to arranging some Solo cups on the counter.

“My-- what?!!”  Richard said, horrified at the thought that anyone thought he’d ever had a boyfriend.  “Anyway, it’s not a party.  It’s a summoning.”

“A summoning party,” Luke said, smiling.  “I know.”

“It’s-- okay.  Fine.  A summoning party,” Richard sighed.  “Whatever.  I have to get ready.”

Richard cleared a space in the middle of the tiny room and used the red chalk he’d bought to draw a magic circle, carefully copying the Greek letters from the spell around the circle.  Then, he set up the candles at the compass points: north, south, east and west.  He set up the incense burners around the room, and placed the bottle of wine he intended as his sacrifice inside the circle.  Putting his hands on his hips, he looked it over, nodding.  Everything was in place.

“It looks soooo cute!” Luke said, clapping.

“It’s not supposed to be cute,” Richard said.

“Okay, gumpy panties!” Luke said.

The spell had to be cast after the moon rose, so Richard had some time to kill.  He decided he needed to do something about his hair, which was driving him insane always getting in his eyes, his mouth.  He got his phone out and called up a video on how to do a ponytail, then sat down on his bed, took a rubber band and started to work on his hair.  Luke watched.  “I feel like you should wear a robe,” Luke said.  “Something more magicky.”

“The spell doesn’t say anything about a robe,” Richard said, twisting his hair, which he gathered, sliding a rubber band over it.

“Have you ever seen anyone do a summoning wearing jeans?”  Luke said. “I don’t think it will work.”

“Why not?”  Richard said, using his phone’s mirror function to check out his hair.  It was okay, he decided, though there were a lot of flyaway hairs.

“Because.  It isn’t magic or something?”

“Well, I don’t have a robe,” Richard said.  “So, like, whatever?”

“I have a robe,” Luke said.  “I think.”

“Well, I’m not wearing it,” Richard said.  “That would just be so-- nerdy.”

The sun set.  The moon rose.  Somehow, word of the “Summoning Party” had spread among a bunch of the nerds who lived in Eris Hall. Agnes was there, of course, along with Mortimer and some other kids.  They were all super excited, gathered together in the dark, their faces lit by flickering yellow candle light and the flickering of Luke’s Christmas lights.  The heavy scent of sandalwood hung in the air, wisps of smoke curling from the incense burners.

Luke had won, and Richard now stood outside the magic circle in a black robe covered with stars and moons.  He read the incantation, the rest of the kids repeating each phrase in low voices:

Mighty Ares

Bless us with your presence

We, your humble supplicants

Would call your aid

There was a sudden, cool draft in the room, the candles flickering...

Mighty Ares

Come to Us

Mighty Ares

Come to Us

As they finished the last refrain, the windows burst open, a blast of wind filling the room. The candles blew out, the Christmas Lights went dead, and a deep voice called out, “Who Dares Summon Mighty Ares?”

The Christmas lights flickered back on, the candles flickered back to life.  The kids all cowered away as they now saw a shadow standing in the circle.  Richard backed away as well, stunned the spell had actually worked.

“I---  do?”  He said.

“And why do you call me?”

“I-- um--  Eris has been messing with me?”  Richard said, summoning all his courage to keep from turning and running from the room.

“I gotta go,” Mortimer said, getting up.

“Yeah, this is scary,” Luke said.

“Wait! No!  Stay!” Richard said, terrified at the thought of being alone with-- Ares?  Was it really a God?

Ares raised his hand and everyone but Richard froze.  “You wish me to stop Eris from messing with you?”

“Um, please?”  Richard said.

“Very well,” Ares said.  “I will do this for you.”

“Really?”  Richard said, heart rising.  “You will?”

“Yes,” Ares said.  “The thing is, Eris is always giving flat-chested girls a hard time.  So, the solution is simple.  You just need boobs.”

“Boobs?  No!” Richard said, but even as he spoke, he felt his chest swelling, pushing out the top of his robe, big, soft breasts forming on his chest. “Ahhhhh!”

“Oh, you look so cute!”  Ares said, as his body morphed into the form of Eris. “But, should they be bigger?”

“No!  Please!”  Richard said, cupping his new boobs in horror. They were soft and heavy, and his brain reeled at the strange new weight, the impossible reality.   “Take them away!  Please!”

“Nah!”  Eris snapped her fingers and as she vanished, the other kids started to move again, talking just as if nothing at all had happened.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work,” Mortimer said.  “But it’s still a fun party.”

Richard noticed that Mortimer was looking down at his chest.  “Um, I’m up here,” Richard said, annoyed.

“I know,” Mortimer said.  “But--  boobs!”

Richard crossed his arms over his chest and turned away, sighing and blushing with shame.  The “party” went on for a couple more hours.  It was super nerdy, with some of the kids sitting around on their laptops playing MORPs, others playing fantasy card games, and Luke and a few other kids in a circle just drawing and talking.  Richard was horrified to find every guy at the party coming onto him, staring at his boobs, his butt… in their tiny dorm room there was no escape, and he was humiliated to find himself the target of not just male attention but nerd male attention.

Having spent his whole life as a guy, he actually had no idea how to deal with infatuated boys, and some new part of his personality made him all giggly and flirty, laughing at all their lame jokes and feeling completely unable to get out of the conversations as he now found himself incapable of “being rude.”

When the party finally ended, he collapsed onto his bed, immediately aware of the weight of his new breasts on his chest, the feeling of them rising and falling, he covered his face and struggled to hold back the tears of exhaustion and despair he was feeling. Luke climbed up onto the upper bunk. “Such fun!”  He said. “We have to do another summoning party!”

“Yes,” Richard said with a sigh. “That’s a great idea.”

“The boys were all over you tonight!”  Luke said with a giggle.  “I’m so jealous!”

“I would love it if they would just ignore me,” Richard said.

“Yeah, right,” Luke said.  “Night, Astrid.”

“Night,” Richard said, for the first time fully realizing that his name, at least as far as everyone else seemed to be concerned, was now Astrid.  He thought about it.  Shrugged.  There were worse names, he decided. Then he hugged his pillow to his chest and curled up into a ball, wishing he could just disappear.

Richard found himself chained to a stone pillar.  He looked down to realize he wore a metal bikini just like the one Princess Leia wore in Star Wars. “What the heck?”

He tugged on the chain, but he was so weak he could barely even move the thick, metal links, let alone break them.  “Come on!” He called out, his voice echoing around the torch lit cave.  “This is so regressive!”

“Inconceivable!” He heard a whiny voice proclaim, and he turned to see the chubby, bald character Vizzini from A Princess Bride.

“You have to be kidding me,” Richard sighed as he once more tugged on the chain, making cute little grunting noises as he did.

“It’s time for us to consummate our marriage,” Vizzini said, leering at Richard’s nearly naked breasts.

“Stop staring at my boobs!”  Richard squealed. “And that is so not happening!”

“Oh, we’ll see!” Vizzini said, reaching toward Richard.

Richard screamed, trying to get away from the greasy, grasping hands, and just then he heard a voice shout, “Villain!”

Richard looked to see John Snow striding shirtless into the room, a sword flashing in his hand. “This female belongs to me!”

“Again, regressive..” Richard said, though at the sight of a shirtless John Snow his mouth had suddenly gone very dry.

Snow punched Vizzini in he gut and then threw him aside, snapped the chain holding Richard to the pillar and then lifted him up in his arms.  Richard felt a thrill pass through his whole body, and he parted his lips…

“Wake up!  Wake up!”

Richard felt himself shaking, then opened his eyes to see Luke, and their tiny little dorm room behind him.  “You were having your John Snow dream again,” Luke said.

“Ahhhh!”  Richard pulled his covers over his head not sure if he was more frustrated that he’d been fantasizing about John Snow or that they’d been interrupted before the KISS!.

In the morning, a forlorn Richard found himself wearing-- a black onesie.  Black.  He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.  The pink one was more fun.  He went to the mirror, and saw that this was a Dagon onesie, like from Game of Thrones, and he nodded.  It made him feel kinda powerful to be wearing a dragon onesie, which was good now that he was so small.  When he threw back the hood, he was pleased and surprised to see his white-blonde hair was no braided just like Denearys, and he was excited to realize he knew how to braid hair now-- like, seriously braid hair like a total hair-braiding maniac!

He went to the bathroom, slipped his panties down to his knees and sat down on the toilet to pee.  Only after he realized what he’d done did he process the fact that, well, he now had no choice.  He was all Astrid now, and it was humiliating to him beyond belief.  After his shower, he put his hair in a messy top bun, and gloomily looked through his bras, knowing he would need one now unless he wanted every guy in the college to have his eyes pop out of his head whenever Richard walked by.  After much debate, he just grabbed a daffodil bra that was almost like a super tight t-shirt, pulled it on, feeling like he was surrendering any last claims he could make to manhood.

And then he found himself staring at a drawer full of leggings. The leggings had appeared in his drawer over the last few days as he had changed, and he’d sneered at them with contempt because there was no way he would ever wear them-- or so he’d told himself.  But now-- they were so cute!  He had leggings with kittens on them.  Hearts.  He had leggings that said, “Clone Club.”  He had Star Wars leggings with BB8! And they were all so cool and soft.  He ran his fingers over them, held them to his smooth cheek.  He also remembered how much he loved to see girls in leggings, though, how hot they looked, how it really showed off their curves.

He knew he had a nice ass now, and sexy, feminine legs.  Guys were even making comments!  Gross! But then, a thought occurred to him as he clutched the leggings in his hands, struggling with the desire to wear them and the fear of the male gaze.   Actually, he told himself, the fun patterns on these leggings with distract people from looking at my body!  Yeah!  They’ll be all looking at BB8 and not my ass!

With that, his heart fluttered and it was settled.  He slipped one dainty foot into the leggings, and then pulled them up his calf and leg, then the other, and then he stood and pulled the stretchy waistband over his rounded hips, wiggling as he adjusted the fit, feeling them snug against his hips and the new space between his legs.  Oh!  He loved the way the leggings hugged and almost seemed to massage his legs; they were so soft and cool!

Feeling really fun and cute, he piled his hair up on his head in a sloppy top bun, then slipped on his Millenium Falcon earrings. Glancing in the mirror, he was pleased and dismayed to see how well he now filled out his Nirvana t-shirt.  You know.  The one with the frowny face with Xs for eyes all the dorky young women are wearing these days?

His roommate was sitting by the window, eating Lucky Charms while reading something on her Smartpad.

“Can I have some of those, Luke?”  Richard asked, realizing he was actually pretty hungry.

“Um, who’s Luke?” The red-haired girl in the Vampire Doll t-shirt asked.

“You---” but then he remembered her name was Lucinda. Now.  “Nevermind,” Richard said. He saw that they had a little dorm fridge and had set up something of a pantry along the shelf below the window.  There were several brands of hip, retro cereals he now realized they both loved and ate “ironically.”  Sugar Smacks.  Cookie Crisps. Corn Pops.

Richard couldn’t help himself and poured a little of each into his “Firefly” bowl, thinking it would be so much fun.

There was a knock on the door.  “It’s open,”  Lucinda said

The door swung open and a tall, rail thin boy with big hair and super pale skin walked into the room.  He wore a knee length black jacket.

“You on your way to audition for a Cure cover band?”  Richard said, thinking this kid was the biggest dork he’d ever seen.

“Good morning to you, too,” the boy said in a slightly British, affected accent. He walked right up to Richard and kissed him on the head.

Richard’s initial response was horror and a feeling of his personal space being violated, but then the world seemed to tllt for a second, and he suddenly remembered that Renard-- not his real name-- was actually--

“I have a boyfriend?”  Richard asked, even as his feeling of horror was replaced by a warm feeling and a kind of crushy haze as he looked up at Renard’s dark eyes and cleft chin.

“I-- think so,” Renard said. “Did I miss an episode of Astrid’s Wacky Adventures in Cartoon Land?”

“She’s such an airhead,” Lucinda chimed in.

“What are you doing here?”  Richard said, struggling with a whole range of feminine romantic feelings.

“Just wanted to say ‘Hi” and get my daily dose of snark before heading off to Latin class,” Renard said. “And you didn’t disappoint, hufflepuff.”

Richard giggled and shrugged, rolling his eyes and waving his hands around awkwardly.  “Haha. I love it when you call me hufflepuff!”

“Meet me at lunch,” Renard said as he grabbed a few marshmallows from Richard’s cereal bowl and popped them into his mouth.  “I’ll hufflepuff you until you turn into anime girl and can’t stop giggling.”

At that, Richard put his hands under his chin and giggled uncontrollably.

Renard smirked and walked out.

“You two are so cute together!” Lucinda said.

Richard, struggling to remember who he really was, who’d he’d been, tried to regain his composure, taking a deep breath, calming himself, but then it just burst out of him.  “He looks just like Jon Snow!”

Lucinda smiled. Maybe, she thought, but a vampire Jon Snow who had starved himself until he was almost a skeleton.  Still, she was happy her friend had found a boy, and she did think they made the cutest little couple. “Oh, so much,” she said.

Richard had his Japanese III class, which he was so excited for as he liked to read his manga in the original language.  Some of the translations were so bad!  As he walked to class, he found himself constantly stumbling, somehow tripping on his own feet. He couldn’t get used to the feeling of having breasts.  Even secured in his tight little bra, he could feel them jiggling on his chest with every step. And-- yes-- guys kept looking at them, at his legs-- just brazenly checking him out, making him feel like-- an object!

When he got into class, he struggled to get his satchel off.  The strap got tangled in his hair, and he found himself turning in circles, struggling, making little annoyed, girly sounds, feeling like the most uncoordinated dork in the world.  Then, when he’d finally gotten it off, he pulled out his textbook and a bunch of comic books slipped out and tumbled to the floor.  Richard felt his cheeks blushing as he frantically tried to pick everything up, just sure everyone in the room was watching, thinking he was the biggest nerd ever.

“I’m fine!” He shouted, waving his hands  “Just a little spill!”  When he bent over to grab his comics, his butt bumped into the kid next to him.  “Oh, no!”  He turned to apologize, his butt now bumping into the kid on the other side of his desk.  “Okay!  It’s okay!  Sorry!  Sorry!”

“No problem,” the kids laughed, good naturedly.  They were all used to Astrid and her awkward displays.

Richard, however, was not used to Astrid and her awkward displays.  He’d always been sophisticated, together. Superior.  As he finally took his seat and tried not to knock anything else off his desk, he covered his face, thinking, I can’t live like this!

When class ended, Richard carefully managed to get all his stuff back in his satchel without incident.  Then, he made his way out of the classroom, only managing to stumble once on his way to the cafeteria.  Ugh, he thought as he entered the room where the common people ate.  It was not the old school cafeteria of past years, but had been reconfigured to resemble the food court at a mall, with different meal stations around the perimeter, each serving a different theme-- subs here, pizza there, stir fry, salad.  Richard, now an obsessive Japanaphile, found himself drawn immediately to the sushi station, getting himself a plate of California rolls.  Renard was there already, sitting in a corner reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Richard felt super nervous as he sat, all the fluttey, crushy, girly feelings making his cheeks blush. Renard looked up from his book as Richard sat down and said, “You’re looking unusually rosy cheeked today.”

Richard giggled. He super wanted to kiss Renard, to hug him… it was making him crazy… and he found himself rubbing his legs together, enjoying the feeling of his leggings.  Renard noticed and tilted his head to the side. “Maybe I should start calling your Cricket?”

“You’re so funny!” Richard said, all silly and giggly.

Renard put his book down and shook his head. “No.”

Richard sat back.  The word stabbed at him like a dagger. “Did I do something wrong?”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but no.  This giggling airhead thing you’re doing is not you.  I do not like it.  You know I am minoring in Women’s Studies.”

“I-  I’m---” Richard felt a deep need to please Renard, to be exactly the kind of girl Renard wanted him to be.  This need repulsed him, made him feel like a cypher, but it was all all-powerful need he could not deny.  “What--  how do you want me to be?”

“You are a powerful woman who stands up for the oppressed,” Renard said. “A feminist firebrand.”

“I am?”

“Sit up straight!”  Renard demanded.

Richard immediately straightened his back.

“Shoulders back!  Chin up! You are an Amazon warrior!”

“Like Wonder Woman?”  Richard said as he followed each and every command.

“You are Wonder Woman!”

“I am Wonder Woman!”  Richard shouted.

“Very good,” Renard said, suddenly slipping back into his air of cool detachment.  He picked up his book. “Now, eat.  I am at a really good part.”

Richard ate, feeling himself surging with confidence and passion.  If that’s what Renard wanted, then he was Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel, Hermione and Denaerys.  He was woman! And it made him feel so good to be pleasing his boyfriend.

When they finished eating, they walked out together.  Richard’s whole body was aching.  He needed a kiss so badly. He almost thought Renard was going to just drift off to class, but then he turned and cupped Richard’s chin, tilting his head back. “See you later my little warrior!”  Renard said, leaning down and kissing Richard right on the lips.

The kiss lingered, Richard’s mind screaming you’re a guy!  A straight guy!  You should not be doin this!  But the feeble remnants of who he’d been had nothing to combat the full body thrill of the kiss, which curled his toes.

Renard walked off, the breeze sending leaves swirling around his feet as he vanished into the crowd.  Richard wandering dreamily back toward his dorm.  Part of him was struggling to fight all this, to reclaim his life, but-- that kiss!  He didn’t know if he even had the strength to leave this life.  Renard was such a good kisser!  And they’d been dating for a little while, surely they would have sex soon, and Richard couldn’t even imagine the world’s of pleasure he would experience now.

Just then, he heard shouting. “Nerds!” Some stocky jock was saying, he and his friends laughing.  Richard looked to see Agnes and her friends on the quad, once again in their role-playing garb.  They all looked humiliated, and Richard remembered how he, himself, had once made them feel that way.  He marched right up to the bully and poked him in the chest.

“Who the hell do you think you are?”  He bellowed.

The guy looked shocked at the aggression and rage coming from this dorky looking dweeb.  “I’m just kidding---”

“No.  You are engaging in harassment. If I report you, the school will come down hard!  Back off!”

The guy took a step back.  “I’m on the football team,” he said.  “I could lose my scholarship…”

“Then apologize and be on your way!”  Richard said.

The dude put his hands up in surrender.  “I’m sorry,” he called out to the group.  Then, he turned and walked away.

“Oh, my God!”  Agnes said, rushing up to Richard.  “You’re my new favorite superhero.”

Richard started twisting his hair around his fingers and made a snorting sound. “Oh, gosh.”

“Seriously,” one of the other kids said. “What a badass!”

I’m just being who my boyfriends wants me to be, Richard thought, but then a new idea occurred to him. “Hey, can I join you guys next time?”

“You can join us now,” Agnes said.

“Yeah, yeah,” everyone said.

“I don’t have a costume.”

“You can get one for the next session.”  Agnes said.  She took Richard’s hand, dragging him toward the group.  “Let’s have fun!”

Richard followed, looking at all the dorky nerds, realizing that these were his people, this was his world. Images of his dream life of penthouse apartments and dating super-models passed through his mind, feeling superior as he tooled around in a Ferrari…  Now, he was surrounded by a bunch of impoverished people with regrettable skin and and tragic hair.  This was his now, this was his future. “So, what do I do?”  He asked, standing among the group, feeling lost.

“You pretend,” Agnes said.

Richard smiled.  “Pretend?  Yes.  I think I can do that.”

Epilogue

The banner hanging above the entrance to the Hyatt Regency read:  Welcome, Warrior, Warlocks, Witches and what have yous.  Princeton-Con 2019.

Eris smiled as she wandered into the hotel and made her way to the grand ballroom.  She’d decided to come dressed as Xena, Warrior Princess and had used her magic to make herself look exactly like the young Lucy Lawless.  As she wandered among the mortals she was showered with praise and wonder for her “costume.” It reminded her of the old days back in Greece a bit, and she loved the attention. As she entered the grand ballroom, she smiled as her eyes fell on a couple of dorky little cos-players. They were dressed as Elsa and Anna, the sisters from Frozen, but dressed in Mandolrian armor, as a kind of cross-over super nerd cosplay.  Richard had his pale blonde hair in the classic long braid Elsa was famous for, his helmet cradled under his arm as he talked to a guy dressed as a sad, chubby Captain America.  “You’re so hot,” the guy was saying, “the movie should have been called Flaming.  You know.  Instead of Frozen.”

Richard snorted and tossed his braid.  “You’re sweet,” he said. “But I have a boyfriend, and if he sees you hitting on me?”

“Oh.  Sorry!”  The guy said, turning and running away.  “Sorry!”

Astrid and Lucinda giggled.  “Would you do him if you weren’t seeing someone?”  Lucinda asked.

Astrid scrunched up her nose. “Nah. But, Renard did dress up like Captain America once, and I was Black Widow!”

“You guys are always so adventurous!”

“It’s soooo fun.  Wonder Woman and Superman.  Denearis and Jon Snow! Once, I was the Joker and he was Harley….”  Richard’s eyes sparkled as he ran through his memories.  “Omigod!  I want to get him to dress up like Baby Yoda right now.”

“Astrid!”

Eris finally stepped forward from where she’d been watching, laughing.  “I did not make you THIS big of a nerd.”

Astrid looked up at her, eyes now flashing with anger.  “Don’t be so judgy, all annoying goddessy hag!”

“Hag?  Maybe I should turn you back into a boy.”

Astrid’s face filled with horror at the thought. “No.  Please!”

Eris smiled. “Don’t worry.  I like you much better like this.”  She turned and walked away.

“I love your costume,” Astrid called after her.

“Thanks,” Eris called back.

“What was that about turning you BACK into a boy?” Lucinda asked.

“Oh, you know.  Role playing,” Astrid said.

“But, Xena doesn’t have magic powers?”

“I know right?  What a NERD!”

They both laughed as they wandered toward the merch tables.  It was strange for Astrid.  She did remember being a boy once, and being rich.  It seemed she had everything.  Why would she be so happy now as a dorky nerd with no money and probably futile dreams of becoming a cartoonist?  It wasn’t hard to answer.

She pictures herself in her Princess Leia costume, Renard dressed as Han Solo, and she knew that she knew why she’d always want to be the girl Eris had made her: the sex was amazing!