Chapter 3: School Days

I entered the familiar hallways of Huntington High School. Noting the football schedule with the game on our field a week from today, Friday night. I walked into my old counselor's office to find Mr. Bennett busily working on some papers without looking up, "Be seated, I'll be with you in a second." I sat down to wait for him gazing about the familiar room. Finally he looked up and smiled at me. I had my hair in a ponytail, halter top and tight jeans with sandals. "You're new here. The registration office is down the hall. That will be Room one-oh-two."

"I'm not new, Mr. Bennett. I've been a student here for my first two years," I smiled inwardly to myself.

"Oh? I don't recognize you," Bennett frowned. "What's your name?"

"Sara Brandt."

I watched his face do a double take. His eyes widened and mouth opened. His bald head reflected the light from the neon tubes above him. "Sara?"

"Changed, haven't I?" I beamed.

"You certainly have. What happened?"

Smiling warmly, I gave him the fairy touching me with a wand story I told Martina a few nights ago. I watched him silently chuckle as his pot belly shook. "Oooooooookay," he grinned reaching for my schedule. "Sara, this year you have the usual English, Math, then Science two, and an elective. Anything in particular?"

"May I have honors history?"

"Of course, I recall your interest in history. You have been excused from Phys Ed. I assume you want to do the same?"

"No, I'd like that now."

"Phys Ed, it is," he wrote that down. It took him a few moments to write out my schedule. "Here it is. Honors History is first right after Home Room." He handed me my agenda. I folded it and place it into my purse. "I must say, Sara. You have made some remarkable strides over the summer. You are an attractive young lady."

"Thank you, Mr. Bennett," I smiled, knowing he wasn't a dirty old man. He was married to the Home Ed teacher and she was a very beautiful middle-aged lady. I returned to my old locker and spun the lock. I cleaned out some debris from the old Sara and pitched it all into a trash can down the hall. I exited the building to return home. Johnny was at practice so I wouldn't be seeing him until tonight. We were scheduled to see a movie but if he was too tired I was content to sit on the porch with him. Since Martina's outburst we were seeing each other every evening. Johnny had dinner with my family and I had the same with his. I felt very uncomfortable getting the third degree from his parents about my change, but I covered it up well by telling them about my summer in Oregon.

The weekend flew by. Johnny and me saw the movie on Sunday afternoon. Knowing he didn't have much money, we went Dutch. He mildly protested but gave in when I showed him I had more than enough cash with me. I had deposited the fifteen thousand Aunt Penny gave me in a CD to accumulate some interest. I had to have Daddy co-sign for me since I wasn't eighteen yet. Also I got my learner's permit for Driver's Ed at school when I turned sixteen in a few weeks. After the movie, Johnny and me walked hand-in-hand to the mall and looked at all the stores. Many of the students at Huntington High heard of my transformation but not caused by the hornet's attack. Lucy Wo, a little Chinese girl, very pretty, ran into us.

"Sara, if I didn't know ahead of time I would have never recognized you," she smiled. Lucy was one of the very few who never mocked me. We weren't close friends but acquaintances. We chatted a little but that was the extent of our relationship.

"Hi Lucy," I smiled. "Pretty as ever."

Lucy blushed. "Thank you, Sara. You're very pretty too."

"I'm pretty too," Johnny joked.

"Pretty handsome," I giggled.

"Well that's what I meant," he laughed.

"What period do you have lunch?" Lucy inquired of me.

"Fourth."

"Me too," she sounded excited. "Wanna sit together?"

"Sure, love to," I replied. Johnny had fifth period so he was out of the picture. He could have swung fourth but by the end of football practice he'd be famished for eating so early.

"I've got to meet my Mom now. I'll see you Monday at the cafeteria if not before," Lucy smiled.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said then we split up.

That Monday I walked into home room for attendance and announcements. Luke Vander, a real slob who drank heavily and did drugs was seated on one stool in the science lab and had his feet on the other. Which was mine. I grabbed one of the legs and gave it a hard yank causing his feet to fly out and fall off the stool landing his butt on the floor.

"One stool per student," I snapped wiping where he had perched his feet with a Kleenex.

"Who in the hell are you?" he sneered.

"Your worst nightmare if you do this again," I snapped back.

Mrs. Jensen started roll call. When my name was announced, I shouted, "Present."

I wish I had a camera to catch the expressions of Luke and Mrs. Jensen. They were priceless. Some of the other students did a double take upon seeing me too. Luke had zits all over his face but I couldn't hold that against him because I was far worse than him a few months ago. In fact I felt sorry for him.

Two big events happened at school. Martina transferred to a private school just outside of town. Then I attended my first football game. Johnny was the star. We won 42-0 against Summerville. I can't tell you I knew any of the rules of football but I knew what a touchdown was and cheered as Johnny passed or ran for all seven scores. I sat with Lucy and was joined by a few of the girls who used to make fun of me. I had intended to reek some revenge against them but I decided it best just to wipe the slate clean and start all over again. I didn't want to seem like someone who was petty. The first day of classes teachers and fellow students couldn't believe the new Sara Brandt. I was beautiful on the outside and wanted to be the same way on the inside of me. No grudges, I told myself. I became quite popular because of my looks and the fancy wardrobe Aunt Penny bought me. Now to add a sweet personality to that and I'd feel I had accomplished something.

Johnny told me he would be gone most of the summer at two football camps and some campus tours from colleges wanting his athletic abilities. He also carried a 3.56 gpa. I was a 4.0. So when Aunt Penny called for me to be her maid-of-honor at her wedding to Greg next June I jumped at the chance. Since Johnny would be gone most of the time this coming summer looked pretty lame for me.

One night Johnny came over, totally exhausted from practice. He would do his homework in the morning by getting up at 5am. It was the only time he had to get it done. I suggested that we take a walk in the park. He agreed so we went out my backyard walking to my favorite spot holding hands. I took us to the place where I was attacked by that hornet. It was a chilly night so both of us wore jeans and sweatshirts. The fading sunlight was just about gone as I told him the blow-by-blow of that night. We ended up kissing a few times. His hand lowered to my breast. I pulled away to tell him that there were two reasons why I didn't want him to do that. I didn't want to get carried away plus I wanted to stay pure for him for our wedding night. I just turned sixteen a weeks ago and I knew it would be a long time before the event. He agreed and said he just started to get carried away. I smiled and kissed him on the cheek, reaffirmed my love for him, and walked back home. I knew he was badly in need of a good night's sleep.

The months went by quickly. On Thanksgiving week, Huntington High won its first state championship ever. Monmouth High had a great team but with less than a minute left, Johnny scored on a quarterback sneak to win us the game. He gave all the credit to the linemen who opened the hole for him to plunge in. There was a parade on Thanksgiving Eve where everyone turned out to cheer their heroes. Lines of cars decorated "State Champs" plus the school bus slowly made their way down Main Street. Businesses closed up for an hour so the owners and employees to join the crowds. It was a cold day as I sat all bundled up on the rear seat of a convertible next to Johnny while his parents sat below us in the back seat. Excitement was in the air everywhere. Johnny was called up to the stand where the mayor called for him to give a speech.

"I'm not good at talking in public. But this isn't about just me. It was the entire team. Subs and even the equipment managers. If it wasn't for the guys on the line blocking for me, we wouldn't be here today. Why don't you give them a big cheer. They're the ones who deserve it." Applause came from all over. I was thrilled that Johnny gave all the credit to everyone else except himself. All the people knew that Johnny was the reason that we won, but he shared it with his team. He had one of the freshman subs walk up to the platform and raise the state championship trophy. "These guys worked just as hard as me during every day practices. I know I have a year left but they are your future team once all of us are gone to hopefully bigger and better things. Thanks for coming out." He helped the sub with the heavy trophy as they walked down the stairs of the platform. The mayor got up and gave a short speech. Mostly about the upcoming election in February but kept it to a few words because everyone was cold.

Thanksgiving was fun. Johnny and I ate at my house then we went next door to watch some pro football until the turkey was done at the Wilson's. We had the entire weekend together before he had to start basketball practice on Monday. A whole weekend!! Or so I thought. The very next day I fell on a patch of ice breaking my right thigh. I would be in a cast for six to eight weeks. Bummer! I learned not to count my chickens before they hatched.

I was hobbled with this monstrosity of a cast past the New Year. The new millennium arrived. All the scares of computers crashing all over the world went for nothing. I missed only two days of school and managed to attend all of Huntington's home basketball games. We started poorly. Losing our first three games. Then we turned things around and started winning. By Christmas we were 6-3. There was a holiday tournament about one hundred miles away so I stayed at home listening to our games on our local radio station. We won all three games to bring another trophy home. We were now 9-3 going into league play. Despite all of this, I managed to practice on the piano and my violin at least two hours a day.

I decided to make a study of hornets. Daddy checked out as many books on them as the library had. I also went online. I read an interesting article posted where a new breed had been discovered by a Winston Turner a few years ago in a remote Amazon rain forest. Whitman University was only five miles from where I lived. The hornet's venom was very toxic and stings ranged from odd changes in a person or even death It never explained what kind of mutations caused by persons stung but I certainly had a very good idea what happened to me. I wondered if there were any transgender changes. I also thought if it would have anything to help transsexuals in their sex changes? I understood what happened to me was for the better. I read every word of the article before Johnny came over to see me. Now I knew for sure where this thing came from. I downloaded the article onto my hard drive and a 3&1/2 floppy to store away if I ever had a computer crash.

I quit the crutches when I returned to school after the Christmas break. I used a cane instead. One of the guys on the football team picked Johnny and me up every morning in his old auto. It beat walking in the snow with a cast. He even drove me home after school while Johnny stayed for basketball practice. Our dates were few and far between but we saw each other frequently when he came over for a light smooching session. I felt very comfortable with my head on his chest and his strong arm about my shoulders or waist. My parents made themselves scarce when he came over. They retired to our small den to watch the other television having no taste in what we liked to see.

In late February Huntington made it to the state basketball tournament for the first time ever. Unlike the football championship, we lost in the second round to a fine Covington team. They had a good strategy against us. Knowing they couldn't stop Johnny, they pressured the other four to shut them down. Johnny scored 38 points but it wasn't enough and we lost 62-53. The team was subdued but they had broken the ice in getting us as far as we did. There was a pep rally for a job well done. They removed my cast a week before. My leg was thinner than the other one but the doctor told me to walk a lot and it would soon have the muscle mass of my left one. One great thing, no more hanger to scratch the itch under that cast. Now that it was off, it didn't itch any longer.

The girls surrounded me with nasty looks on their faces. I had no where to hide or escape. Martina, her friends and a few other guys were teasing me again. Calling me all those hurtful names. I woke up soaking wet in my silky nightgown. The wetness from my body made the material cling to me. Frantically I raced to the bathroom to look in the mirror. It was the girl with red hair, green eyes, and pretty face. In my dream I was back to the old Sara again. I peeled my nightgown off me, did my business on the toilet, then jumped into the shower to cleanup. I shampooed my hair but didn't use the conditioner. I soaped my body and rinsed off. As I was drying off there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Sara, are you all right?" Mom asked softly.

"I am now."

"Can I come in?"

"Yes."

"What happened?" she inquired, entering and closing the door behind her. I think for the first time since I was a baby, Mom saw her daughter completely nude.

"Same nightmare, Mom," I finished drying and put the towel around me.

"It's too bad you never told us about the abuse you went through," Mom lamented. "We could have gone to the school and had it stopped."

"It's over and done with now."

"Yes, but a child should never have to go through what you had to endure."

I shrugged, going back to my room with Mom in tow. I put on a pair of panties and threw a flannel nightgown over my head.

"I don't know why I never told you. Maybe because I was afraid to."

She shook her head sitting on my bed with a tear running down her face. I walked over sitting beside her giving her a big hug. "It all worked out for the best. I love that hornet now."

That cheered Mom up and she smiled. She returned my hug. "Will you be all right now?"