For the third morning in a row Gwen and I took turns in my ensuite bathroom, while Chelsea went upstairs to use her own washroom. Although I couldn't help thinking it might have been quicker for my friend and I to both shower at the same time. On the other hand we might have ended up getting distracted if we did that, in which case it would have taken even longer.

  Either way by the time all three of us were clean and dressed there wasn't enough time for breakfast. So I went to grab my backpack, before I realized I might have a problem. Up until Friday I was doing all my course work on the refurb ptop that I bought from Frank st year. But I hadn't seen that ptop since my bedroom was redecorated and the two new towers appeared.

  I couldn't haul one of those to college though, which meant I had to have another ptop around somewhere. Apart from the pink one that is, I was pretty sure I wasn't using that to take notes or submit assignments in my computer csses.

  Fortunately that little mystery was solved almost immediately. As soon as I found my school backpack, which was now bck with a pink flower pattern, I realized there was another ptop inside. It was nothing like my old refurb though, instead it was a sleek skinny 'Air' type, and it seemed almost brand new.

  I stuffed my books in there with it, while my phone and the contents of my purse went into the side pockets. Then my attention turned to that little pink ptop, which was sitting in the charging dock on my desk. I wasn't sure if it was safer to leave it at home, or if I was better off keeping it with me at all times.

  It only took another second or two to make the decision. I couldn't use it if it was hidden away here, and I was still a little worried about what was going to happen when we got to school. As much as I wanted to believe we wouldn't run into any trouble the fact was both Gwen and I looked completely different now. People weren't going to recognize us. And it would be even worse for Chelsea, after all the ways she'd changed over the weekend. So I tucked it into my backpack before hurrying up the stairs.

  "Are you ready?" the little catgirl asked from where she and Gwen were waiting by the front door.

  Chels was dressed in a cute knee-length skirt and a tight scoop-neck blouse that showed off all her curves. She had some white sneakers on her feet, and a backpack with all her school stuff slung over one shoulder. Her feline ears and tail were all on full dispy, she'd made absolutely no attempt to hide them. Her kitty colr just made it even more btant.

  Gwen at least had made an effort to conceal her most obvious non-human features. She'd styled her long bck hair this morning so it was kind of wavy, and had it hanging down overtop of her pointed ears. She was dressed in a pair of low-heeled bck leather boots, bck skinny jeans, and a tight bck silk blouse that looked kind of elegant with her bck chain choker thing. Even her backpack was bck.

  To be fair I couldn't really compin about the two of them looking so different, when I'd changed completely as well. I couldn't even cim to be completely normal, thanks to my pink hair. Although I was sure people would assume it was dyed rather than natural. As for my outfit, I was wearing faded blue jeans, a pale purple top, and sneakers. I also had my hoodie, even though it was early June. I just felt kind of naked without it.

  "Yeah I'm ready," I nodded. "Anxious, but ready."

  Chels smiled, "Don't worry Lisa. Everything's going to be fine, I'm sure of it. Now let's go."

  We all filed out through the front door, then Chelsea locked it up before we moved to her car. I'd never been inside it before, but as far as I could tell it looked the same as always on the outside. Apparently that wasn't the case though.

  "Oh huh," Chels commented as she unlocked the doors with the remote. "I should have guessed this would change along with everything else."

  "What's different about it?" Gwen asked as the three of us climbed inside.

  I figured out the obvious thing as I settled into the passenger side. The driver's seat was already pushed all the way forward and raised all the way up, so the little catgirl could reach the steering wheel and everything. There was even a tail-friendly cushion for her to sit on, and obviously none of that would have been the case for the original Chelsea.

  "I used to have the 'Sport' model," Chels replied with a grin. "Now it's the 'Deluxe' edition."

  Music came on when she started the engine, it was some kind of girly pop music with an upbeat tempo. And as soon as it was pying the catgirl started singing along with it, almost dancing in her seat as she checked the mirrors and put the car in reverse.

  "New tunes as well?" I asked.

  "Nah," Chelsea smirked. "This was my own private space, so even the old me could get all girly in here if I wanted."

  We'd just started backing out of the driveway when she paused. A frown settled on her face as she looked to me, "Hey Lisa? What do you suppose happened to my dad's car?"

  My eyebrows crept up as I considered, "That's another thing I hadn't thought about. It probably still exists, but it might be very different now? I'd assume it's still at the airport parking where he left it."

  Ed used to drive a big bck pick-up truck, as part of his 'tough guy' image. I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance that it was completely different now, to match his new life as a weak skinny janitor.

  "Any way you could transfer it over so it was yours?" Gwen asked from behind me in the back seat. "Like you did for the house?"

  I shrugged, "Probably? I'm not sure that I want his car though, I don't really need it. I guess I'll look into it ter. No point leaving it where it is."

  Chels agreed, "I'm sure the long-term parking pce would cim it eventually, like if dad never comes back to pay the parking fees? So we may as well grab it for ourselves. And more to the point, it feels like a loose end that we should take care of. Just in case."

  "Good point," I nodded.

  It still didn't seem pressing though, so I wasn't going to worry about it right away. For now I had much more important things to worry about, as Chelsea pulled up in front of the community college.

  "Here you go girls," she announced. "Be good and have a nice day. I'll be back to pick you both up after csses."

  I rolled my eyes at her 'overprotective mom' impression. Instead I gave her a look and said, "You have your phone with you right Chels? If anything goes wrong you text me immediately, ok? Or call, message, whatever. I've got the ptop in my backpack, so worst-case scenario I can use it to help if things go badly."

  Chelsea's ears drooped to either side and she gave me a sad smile. "Thanks Lisa. I'm sure everything will be fine, but I appreciate you looking out for me. I'll text you at lunch or something, to let you know I'm alright. You two take care as well, ok?"

  We actually ended up giving each other a brief hug across the centre console, before I finally opened my door and got out of the car.

  Gwen emerged as well, then leaned back in and added, "Thanks again for the lift Chelsea. See you ter!"

  Chels waved, then once the doors were all closed she pulled out and set off towards her university. Meanwhile my best friend and I slowly started approaching the front doors of the college together.

  "This is going to be a little weird," she commented quietly.

  "Yeah," I nodded. "Or a lot weird."

  As we got to the doors Gwen suggested, "We've got about fifteen minutes before our first csses start, want to hit the cafeteria? We can grab some coffee, maybe get something to eat?"

  "Yeah ok," I agreed. Then I braced myself as the two of us stepped inside.

  Despite my concerns nobody freaked out as soon as entered the building. Nobody pointed at us and called us freaks. No-one noticed Gwen's pointy elf ears, and nobody made a fuss about my pink hair. In fact it was almost like everyone just took us for just another pair of college coeds.

  So we did get some attention after all, and while it wasn't anything unusual I really hadn't been prepared for it. As Gwen and I walked through the hall together I noticed some guys were checking us out. Some were trying to be subtle about it, but the confident ones were pretty btant.

  I grimaced slightly and whispered, "Those guys over there are checking us out."

  "I didn't even think of that," Gwyneth responded just as quietly. "But we're both pretty hot, so of course people are going to be interested."

  "Are you ok with that?" I asked as we reached the cafeteria.

  Gwen shrugged, "I guess? It doesn't really matter, you can't control what other people think. Anyways let's grab a quick bite then get to css."

  I couldn't argue with that. We both ended up getting coffee and a muffin, blueberry for me and chocote chip for Gwyneth. Then we found an empty table and sat down to enjoy our breakfast. We didn't have enough time to drink our coffees, but both of us finished the muffins before it was time to get moving again. We took our drinks with us as we headed back out into the hall.

  "Meet you back here for lunch?" Gwen asked.

  We actually shared a couple csses, but our schedules were mostly different. I was taking a computer programming course, while she was working on a game dev program. We were both still in our first year though, so there was some overp this year.

  "Yeah of course," I nodded. "Be careful though, ok? Text me if anything comes up."

  My best friend smiled, "I'll be fine Lisa. I'm a level twenty mage, remember? I can look after myself."

  I gave her a serious look, and after another second or two she relented.

  "Ok fine. I'll text you if I run into any trouble," she agreed. "You do the same, ok? I doubt anything will happen, but if something comes up then keep me in the loop."

  "I will," I nodded. Then we exchanged a quick hug, before finally going our separate ways.

  I got to my first css with a minute or two to spare, then headed to my usual spot near the back. I got settled into my seat and set up my sleek new ptop, then had a sip of my coffee. And that's when I noticed the person in the next seat to my left was staring at me.

  Aleyna was the sort of girl who used to give me a lot of confused feelings. She was smart and computer savvy, and she was also really attractive. Her looks were sort of middle-eastern, but her style was very western. And she was into some of the same geeky stuff as me, although I could probably say that for half the css.

  I'd never really talked with her outside of normal cssroom stuff though, and we definitely weren't friends. Not that I didn't like her, I just felt really awkward around her. Like I could never figure out if I wanted to be friends with her, date her, or just be her. Thanks to Gwen and that little ptop I now understood why I used to feel envious of Aleyna. And I wasn't that interested in dating her anymore either, since I already had two partners I loved and cared for.

  After staring a bit longer Aleyna finally broke the awkward silence with a simple question, although it was pretty clear there were a lot of complicated thoughts behind it. Fortunately she kept her voice down as she asked, "What happened to you?!"

  That caught me completely off guard. I'd been expecting her to ask who I was, or why a complete stranger joined the css just before the end of the year. Except she obviously knew I was me, despite looking so completely different. In fact her question reminded me that both Gwyneth and Chelsea recognized me almost immediately back on Friday. Now Aleyna made it three for three, so I obviously wasn't as unrecognizable as I thought.

  After mentally scrambling for a second or two I was able to put my newfound confidence to work and forced myself to stay calm. Then I shrugged slightly as I replied quietly, "I'm going by Lisa now, and my pronouns are she and her. I'll ask you to please not deadname or misgender me."

  "Oh," she responded as her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then she sort of looked me up and down once more before adding softly, "In that case, congratutions. Whatever you're doing, it's working really well."

  I quietly thanked her, then she turned her attention towards the front of the css as Professor Davis walked in. He dumped his stuff on his desk, then took a breath like he was about to get started. Before he could begin though something caught his eye and he frowned at me.

  "What happened to you?!"

  And just like that, everyone else in the room was staring at me too.

  PurpleCatGirl