Aka Amy

Tess and I were still sitting in the car, in the little parking lot at the conservation area. I was staring at that text message from my mom, as I imagined countless ways that dinner could go badly.

"Could you miss the family dinner?" Tess asked softly. "Text her that you're sick or something, that you can't make it?"

I quickly thought that through. Mom would be disappointed, she'd make sure I knew it was Hailey's twenty-fifth and it was important. And more to the point, I couldn't do that forever.

"That's just prolonging it," I sighed. "I'm going to have to deal with this sooner or later."

Tess sighed as well, "Yeah. Good point."

I was still staring at my phone as I tried to figure out a way to do this without it turning into some kind of catastrophe. Having my big coming-out at my sister's birthday dinner wouldn't have been my first choice in any event. So I asked myself, if I was doing this my way how would I do it?

It came to me a moment later. "Ok, maybe there's a better way. Divide and conquer. Hailey's pretty cool, maybe I can talk to her about it first? Come out to my sister first, and if I can get her on my side then that might make it easier to deal with my parents."

Tess asked, "I take it you figure your sister's more open-minded than your mom or dad?"

"Yeah," I nodded as I started tapping out a message to Hailey. "She's pretty cool, and she's fairly open-minded about a lot of things."

As soon as it was done I read it out to Tess, to see what she thought of it.

"Hey sis, happy almost-birthday! Quick question: would you believe me if I told you I was trans, that I was actually a girl, and I'm changing my name to Amethyst?"

"It's direct and to the point," Tess commented. "Obviously I don't know your sister, but what do you think? How do you expect her to react?"

I frowned for a few moments as I thought it over. "Fifty-percent chance of disbelief followed by a bunch of questions then acceptance. Twenty-five-percent chance of excitement and acceptance, followed by a bunch of questions. And twenty-five-percent chance of some kind of a freak-out."

As soon as I said that I tapped the send button, before Tess could respond or say anything to stop me. With the message sent I tucked my phone into my purse and asked, "So it's a little after three o'clock, what do you want to do next?"

She shook her head, "I don't have any preferences right now. It's too early to eat again, even if we take a scenic route and drive slowly we'll be back at my place at around four. Is there anything else you want to do? Or we could just go home and take it easy, maybe wait to see how your sister responds?"

After a moment's thought I suggested, "How about a scenic drive back to your place, then a quiet afternoon and evening. Unless Hailey responds then who knows what'll happen."

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

And now that we had something of a plan, I was feeling a little better. I was still stressed about having to see my parents on Tuesday, but I'd already taken the first step towards coming out to my sister and that left me feeling a little excited.

I was just reaching for the ignition to start the car when my phone pinged again, so I pulled it back out and checked the screen. I couldn't suppress my smile as I told Tess, "It's from Hailey."

When I opened the message I could practically hear my sister's loud squee in my mind. She'd literally texted "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Is this for real??"

When I showed it to Tess she smiled, "So that would be option two? Acceptance and excitement, and we can expect a barrage of questions soon?"

"Pretty much," I was still grinning at my sister's reaction as I started tapping out another message to Hailey. Like before I told Tess what it said then tapped send.

"Yes it's for real! Followup question: Would you believe me if I told you I've already transitioned and changed my name?"

My phone went back into my purse and I started the car, then we pulled out from the conservation area. We'd just got on the road when my phone started ringing.

I already suspected it was my sister, but I glanced at the display on the dash and confirmed it.

"Sorry Tess," I warned her. "I'm going to answer and see what happens."

"Good luck," she replied.

I took a deep breath then tapped the answer button and said "Hi Hailey, it's Amethyst. Or you can call me Amy for short. Just so you know, I'm driving and I have a friend with me."

There was no response, only silence. I glanced at Tess, she looked as tense and anxious as I felt. The silence continued and I thought maybe the call dropped, but a glance at the display confirmed my sister was still on the line.

After a few more seconds I asked "Hailey? Are you there?"

She finally spoke up as she demanded "No fucking way! Is this some kind of bullshit prank or something? There's no way in the world you sound like that!"

It was pretty much what I expected might happen. My voice was so completely different now, there was just no way to explain how it happened. At least, not without mentioning magic and the goddess and all that stuff.

I sighed, "It's a long story ok sis? It's really me. I know I sound really different but it's me."

Hailey stated "You know I don't believe you. You're probably sitting there with your mouth shut and letting some girl pretend to be you."

"So how can I convince you I'm me?" I asked her.

She asked "Switch to video call?"

"I'm driving sis," I reminded her.

Hailey sighed, then asked "Want to meet up somewhere? Are you in town, can you drop in here?"

My stress was slowly creeping upwards again. Texting her had been kind of fun and maybe a little exciting. Talking to her was making me uptight. Meeting her... I had no idea.

I glanced at Tess and asked her, "What do you think? Do you want to meet my sister?"

Tess still looked anxious as she replied, "It's up to you. If you want, then I'll be there with you to support you and back you up."

"Who's that?" Hailey asked.

I turned the car south at the next side road and started heading for the highway as I replied, "I told you I had a friend in the car with me. Her name's Theresa. I'll do the introductions when we get there. We're coming to your place sis, but it's going to take us about an hour or so, depending on traffic."

My sister responded, "All right. This should be interesting, but I'm looking forward to it."

I tapped the disconnect button, then let out a deep sigh. "That got a little more stressful than I hoped. But I'm not surprised how it went."

"How are you going to explain the instant transition?" Tess asked.

"I don't know," I replied as I shook my head slightly. "Maybe start with the truth, then hope for the best? Like I could say it was an accident with magic and a goddess, but I won't tell her you were involved?"

I added, "We can try and do the old trope, ask me something only I would know? That kind of thing? It might work to convince her who I am, even if she doesn't believe how it happened."

We got onto the highway and I started us heading east towards the city. Tess was quiet for a minute or two, and when I glanced her way she looked thoughtful again. She still looked a little stressed or anxious too, which mirrored my own feelings.

Eventually she commented, "Thanks for offering to keep my name out of it, but if it comes up don't lie to cover for me. I'm involved, maybe I'm responsible. At any rate, I'm the one who tried to summon the Goddess on Friday night, so however it happened I'm the one who started it off."

After a brief pause she said, "You know if you try and explain an impossible transition by saying it was magic, she's not going to believe that. Telling her it's because of a mysterious Goddess probably won't help either. Unless there's some way you can demonstrate that stuff? Like demonstrate how the magic's been happening around you?"

She was right, but the thought left a cold feeling in my stomach.

"I've been really careful to not think about that," I responded. "We still don't know what happened with Mike, if the goddess or magic or whatever affected him somehow? I really don't want that to happen to my sister."

I added, "We don't even know if it might still be in effect? All that stuff happened yesterday morning right?"

Tess replied, "I understand Amy. And I get that it might be scary to try tapping into that? But maybe you can do it in a way that doesn't affect your sister. Something she could see, something to convince her, without actually affecting her directly."

She hesitated, "This might come across as a bit harsh and I'm not trying to upset you? I'm just trying to think about how she might respond to all this? Ignoring the magic and the Goddess, basically you're going to look and potentially act like a stranger to her. She doesn't know me either. We're a couple complete strangers who know her name and her phone number, and we've got her brother's car. You don't have any of your old clothes or your old ID. But if you did have your old ID that might just leave Hailey thinking you stole it."

I didn't respond right away. I was still focusing on the drive, but I knew she was right. As far as Hailey would be concerned, as far as my parents would think, the old me was a missing person. And some strange girl with a different name had stolen his car and was squatting in his apartment and accessing his bank account and credit card.

That cold feeling in my stomach got colder and heavier.

"You're right," I finally sighed. "And I really don't know what to do about it? I'll think about what you said, that maybe there's a way to prove the magic's real? Because if I can't convince Hailey then I'll never be able to convince my parents. And in that case I may as well just give up. They'll be searching for the old me's body while they have me arrested for stealing my own car and phone, and using my credit card and stuff."

Tess was quiet again, and I didn't know what else to say either.

Traffic wasn't too bad and we made pretty good time getting into the city. My sister had a little apartment in the north end. It was right by a subway station so she had relatively easy access to uni. Technically she was off for summer, but I knew she was probably working on her thesis or something along those lines. She was pretty serious about her studies, and this would be her last year starting in September.

She wasn't working now either, our folks paid for her tuition and were helping her out with the apartment and everything. They offered the same sort of deal for me, but my grades weren't great and I wasn't interested in either university or college. Now and then I regretted that decision, but I figured it was too late now. I was out on my own, with nothing but a high-school education and some retail experience to my name.

Then it struck me, I didn't even have that anymore. The diploma and the work experience were in my old name.

I pulled off the highway when we got to the right exit, then it was another fifteen or twenty minutes heading north again, with traffic and lights and all that. I pulled into Hailey's building, and luckily there was a spot available in the visitor section.

After a few deep breaths to try and calm myself, I got out of the car and slung my purse on my shoulder. Tess followed as I led her into the lobby. I texted Hailey and she buzzed us through, and a few minutes later we were in the elevator on our way up to see her.

My heart rate felt like it was rising in sync with the elevator, and so did my anxiety.

When we got to her floor I led the way to her apartment, then before I could have any second-thoughts I reached up and knocked at her door.

Hailey must have been waiting nearby for us, she opened the door after just a few seconds. She didn't say anything though, she just stood there and stared at both me and Tess.

I stared back at her as a wave of vertigo hit me. I'd managed to forget about the height thing, but standing face to face with my sister brought it back full blast. Even though she was four years older than me, I'd been taller than Hailey since I was sixteen. Now I was looking up at her again, like when I was a little kid.