Curses! - Ch.12 - That's Enough Magic For Now (Patreon)

"How's this?" I asked as I did a little twirl. 

Tabby was relaxing in my gamer chair sipping her cola, but she gave me an appreciative look up and down. Then she smiled, "You look really good Cheryl. It kind of suits you? Are you going to stick with that, or do you want to try something else next?"

I frowned as I looked down at myself. It was the third or fourth outfit I'd tried on, and I still had like two thirds of my closet to get through yet. I hadn't even meant to turn our afternoon into a fashion show, but once I got started I began to have fun and wanted to try on all the things.

Except I knew Tabby needed to get home to deal with her folks, and I promised to be there for that. And my current outfit was comfy and I thought it looked good. 

I was wearing a short-sleeve pastel purple sundress with a deep scoop neck. The skirt part came down to my knees, and it went all spinny when I twirled. Underneath it I had a sexy-looking bra and panties, both in pink. And finally I was wearing some white thigh-high socks with purple stripes, and I had cute white and pink sneakers on my feet.

"Do you think I look presentable enough to meet your parents?" I asked.

Tabs rolled her eyes, "Cheryl you've known my parents for what, four years now? It's not like they'll be meeting you for the very first time. But yes I think you look presentable. You look cute to be honest. Maybe brush your hair and put on a bit of make-up and you'll be all set."

That made me blush, "I don't even know if I have make-up. I saw some in the bathroom and assumed it was Avery's. But I don't know what to do with it, like how to use it or anything."

"It's not that hard to learn cutie," my friend responded. "You figured out how bras work pretty quickly, you can learn make-up just as easily. I can help, or there's plenty of how-to videos online. How do you think I learned?"

Before I could answer she continued, "Anyways you definitely don't need any make-up just to go and meet my parents. So if you're happy with the outfit how about we head over there?"

I nodded as I grabbed my little purple hoodie and my purse, "Sure Tabs. Do you think they're going to freak out or anything?"

She sighed, "When I had dinner with them last night I was ten centimetres taller, I had long brown hair, my voice was different, my body shape was different, and oh yeah, I didn't have cat ears or a tail. I think maybe they're going to have some difficult questions."

"And I hate to say it Cheryl," she added, "But obviously they won't recognize you at all. I might have to deadname you when I explain who you are."

I shrugged, "That's fine. I get that it's going to be awkward. Oh, should we bring the curse book? Like to show them, incase they have questions about it?"

"Absolutely not," she stated. "If we bring it then someone's going to be tempted to try and use it, and that's the last thing I want happening around my parents. Let's hide it somewhere though, so nobody else can find it while you're out."

We ended up hiding the book in my bed, tucked between the mattress and box spring, then the two of us headed out together. The weather was ok, it was about three in the afternoon on the last Saturday of May. There were some clouds and I vaguely remembered hearing something about rain later in the day or evening, but the sun was out for the short walk from my place over to unit thirty-one where Tabby lived with her parents.

I actually had some butterflies in my tummy as the two of us walked past the other townhouses. Even though we weren't even leaving the complex and it was literally less than two hundred meters from my place to hers, it was still my first time out in public as a girl. And my first time in a dress. 

It was exciting, and a bit scary, but also sort of fun. I enjoyed the way the dress skirt swished around as I walked, and the way my legs felt sort of free. The thigh-high socks felt a bit like leggings, except they didn't go all the way up and that felt sort of exciting too. Just as exciting was the way my dress showed off some cleavage, which was only accentuated by my tight little hoodie that I could only do up part-way. The hoodie was actually fairly impractical in terms of keeping me warm, but I was so used to always wearing one I felt kind of naked without it. Plus it was the only thing I was wearing that had pockets.

While all that was going through my head I also noticed my best friend seemed to be having some similar thoughts or emotions. Her ears were alert, twitching and pointing in different directions as they tracked all the sounds around us. And her tail was doing the same, twitching this way and that, like she was equal parts excited, anxious, and maybe even happy.

By that point we were already there, Tabby and I walked past her dad's car in the little driveway. She unlocked the front door and led me inside, then turned and closed it again behind me. Her place had the same exact layout as mine, all the units in the complex were pretty much identical. 

There was a one-car garage next to the front door, which opened onto a small hallway and a hall closet. Then a half-staircase led down to a basement utility room and another half-staircase led up to the living-room. That featured a really high ceiling and had a sliding door out to the small backyard. From the living-room yet another half-staircase led up to the dining area and kitchen, which was basically overtop of the garage and front hall. The dining area had an open wall that overlooked the living-room below. And from there a full-size staircase led up to the top floor, where there were three bedrooms and the bathroom.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" Tabs called as she kicked off her sneakers. 

Her dad called back from the living-room, "Hi hon! Are you ok? Your voice sounds off."

"Hi Tabby!" her mom called from further away, probably the kitchen.

I took my shoes off as well, then looked to my best friend to see how she wanted to do this.

Tabby took a deep breath then gestured for me to follow. She led me up the stairs and into the living-room as she responded, "I'm fine dad. I need to talk with both you and mom about something though and it's going to be a little bit weird."

Mr. Gardner was sitting on his big leather chair watching TV, but he turned towards us as we got to the top of the stairs. His mouth was open like he was about to say something, but instead he just sort of froze and stared at Tabby.

"What did you want to talk about?" Mrs. Gardner asked as she came down the stairs from the kitchen. Then she stopped and stared as well, as soon as she saw me and Tabby standing there.

My friend cringed slightly, with her ears kind of down to either side while her tail tucked itself between her legs. The tip was slowly swishing back and forth though. She grimaced, "I can explain, but it's a bit of a story and it's kind of weird."

Her mom recovered first, "Tabitha what have you done to your hair? And why are you wearing those ears and the tail? Is this some sort of costume?"

"Can we all just sit down and I'll explain everything?" she asked.

Mr. Gardner finally snapped out of his shock as well, he nodded "Ok hon. And maybe you can introduce us to your new friend as well?"

"Right," Tabs nodded as she motioned me to come and sit down with her.

Tabby and I sat next to each other on the sofa while Mrs. Gardner settled onto the love-seat to our right, and Mr. Gardner stayed in his chair on the left. He turned it around though to face towards us, after he turned off the TV.

"Alright," my friend said after another deep breath. "First things first, introductions. This is my best friend for the last four years, Cheryl Weaver from unit seventy-four..."

She gave me an apologetic look before telling her parents my guy-name and explaining that I had an unexpected instant magical transition yesterday. Which her folks obviously didn't believe, they knew there was no such thing as magic and that was impossible and all that stuff.

I was quiet while the three of them talked, and my guy-name got thrown around a couple more times. Tabby's folks also misgendered me a couple times too, when they were talking about guy-me. I didn't expect any of that to bother me, like hearing my old name or them using he him pronouns for me. After all I wasn't trans and this whole thing was all just a big accident and everything.

Except it actually did bother me, which caught me off-guard. It reminded me about stuff Tabs told me, like back when she first came out and was just starting her transition. She told me how much it hurt when people used the wrong name or addressed her with the wrong pronouns. I always made sure to get it right for her, and to let other folks know if they were getting it wrong. It still surprised me though, to find myself feeling that way now.

Meanwhile the conversation between Tabs and her folks was still going on. She was telling them about her own experience with the magic book, and she stood up then turned around to demonstrate how her tail wasn't a costume. She had it flicking around so they could see it moving, and she even undid her jeans and slipped them down just enough that her parents could see the tail really was attached to her body.

Her mom reached out and gently touched my friend's back, then ran her fingers over where the tail emerged. Her eyes widened and she gasped, "Oh my god it's real!"

Mr. Gardner had to get a closer look too, then both her parents looked at her ears. That led to some more low-level freaking out as they realized she didn't even have human ears anymore, like the sides of her face just went from cheek to scalp. It was pretty weird when you actually looked closely, but it also made sense in a way. Like she had working cat ears ontop of her head, so she didn't need the normal kind.

After they got past all the shock and surprise about the ears and the tail, her parents were a little more calm about the rest of Tabby's changes. Like the fact that she was ten centimetres shorter wasn't that big a deal, and they were actually happy for the rest of her changes. They obviously knew how much some aspects of her old body still bothered her, like her voice and some other stuff about her old body she thought was still too masc.

And best of all was the fact that she got to skip having bottom surgery, and she wouldn't need to keep taking hormones and all that stuff. So after about a half hour of conversation her folks seemed to have calmed down and accepted things, more or less.

I noticed through all the conversation and explanations, my friend avoided referring to the magic as curses. In fact she never mentioned curses at all, which I realized had to be intentional. I figured she was doing that to keep her folks from getting worried or something, like maybe they'd start freaking out again if they found out their daughter was cursed or whatever.

There was a brief pause in the conversation while Mrs. Gardner went and got us all drinks. Me and Tabby had soda while her parents both got coffee.

Then when things picked up again the attention shifted back to me, which made me feel a little awkward. At least they stopped using my old name and didn't use he him pronouns anymore. They asked how I was doing and how I was coping with the sudden changes and stuff. I told them the same things I'd told Tabby and Avery, that it was fine and I was managing and I was ok and all that.

"How's your sister handling this?" Mrs. Gardner asked. "Or does she know yet? I honestly can't believe you've changed so much just in one night!"

I grimaced, "Avery was surprised and stuff, but she got over it pretty fast. I think she's ok with it now?"

Then Mr. Gardner asked, "So what are you two girls going to do about college on Monday? I know people will recognize you Tabby, but they're going to have a million questions. And Cheryl, no-one's even going to know who you are."

"People are going to be staring at you wherever you go hon," Mrs. Gardner added as she gave her daughter a worried look. "Having cat ears and a tail isn't normal. It's going to raise questions. Have you thought about maybe trying to reverse this? Or at least getting rid of the feline parts?"

Tabby sighed and shook her head, "The magic can't be reversed. Becoming a catgirl was unexpected, I didn't mean for it to happen, but I think I'm stuck with it?"

Then she blushed and added, "And even though it's been less than twenty-four hours, I'm actually kind of used to this already? I don't think I'd want to give it up even if I could."

"Me too," I admitted, while my cheeks warmed up as well. "I definitely didn't mean to turn myself into a girl, but I'm stuck this way? And I kind of like it."

Both Tabby and Mr. Gardner rolled their eyes, while Mrs. Gardner looked like she was holding back a smile. And I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever secret Tabs and Avery were keeping from me, the Gardners were in on it too. I ended up pouting a bit as I sat there blushing, then finally distracted myself with a sip of my cola.

"Anyways," Tabby said, taking the attention off me which was nice. "I know things are going to be a bit weird when we go back to classes? But me and Cheryl will deal with it, one way or another."

"Things went ok with my math tutor this morning," I added. "She was surprised and stuff, but it didn't take long to convince her I was me. Then we did math stuff like usual."

My friend gave me a look and rolled her eyes, and I knew she wanted to disagree with me about things going ok with Miss Holly. She didn't mention any of that in front of her parents though, which was just fine with me.

"What are you girls going to do about ID?" Mrs. Gardner asked. "And clothes? Actually where did you get those outfits you're both wearing now? Have you two already been shopping?"

Tabby smiled, "After Cheryl turned herself into a girl her sister found some magic that would update her clothes and stuff? And I used that as well, after I changed. After we're finished this conversation I want to go upstairs and check, but my entire wardrobe should already be changed to fit the new me."

"Our ID is already updated too," I added. "The magic did that, so everything's already got our new pictures and info."

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were both surprised to hear that. Tabby even got out her drivers license and student card to show her parents how they'd changed. Then all four of us went up to Tabby's room to have a look in her closet. And sure enough everything in there had changed, some stuff more than others.

She still had several pairs of jeans, but they'd all shrank to fit her new size and all of them were modified to accommodate her tail. There were skirts and dresses too, which all had either a hole or a slit for her tail. Her collection of tops had changed as well, and while some of them were sort of normal, most of them were tighter or more skimpy-looking. Same with the contents of her dresser. Her undies were all kind of sexy now, lots of silk or lacy thongs and g-strings and sexy bras and stuff.

"Ok," Mr. Gardner sounded embarrassed as he headed for the door, "I think I've seen enough ah, magic for now. I'm glad you're all right Tabby, and that you're happy with how things have changed. I might need another day or two to get used to the idea that my daughter's grown a tail, but that's on me. You girls have fun, I'm going back downstairs."

Mrs. Gardner's cheeks were a bit pink as she followed her husband, "Same. I have some things I should be doing. Tabby, Cheryl, I'm glad you two are happy but maybe that's enough unexpected changes for now?"

"Ok mom," Tabby grinned. "Thanks for not freaking out."