Chapter Three

Stella takes Rachel on a shopping day while deciding a new name for her to use as an alias.

This was the worst night's sleep I've ever had. I had the worst nightmare. I had woken up in the middle of the night and I had been turned into a guy. Then this girl told me that she did this to me, and that she was a witch. All of this was just too much. Thank God I was dreaming. I thought that until I woke up. Stella was leaning over me, blue eyes locked onto mine. "Good morning!" she cried cheerfully.

 

My surprised expression turned into a slight glare. How could she be so cheerful after what happened not even six hours ago. It wasn't long before I noticed how little sleep I got. I quick checked under the blanket to see if I was still myself. I had then remembered I left my shirt off due to the hot weather. That was probably the only high point I could find.

 

I dropped the covers in defeat. I looked up to see Stella was still staring at me. She looked thrilled to be here, but I was mortified. "You know," she said, "you make a super cute guy."

 

I rolled my eyes and pulled the covers over my head with my arm. I wasn't going out like this. Soon, I felt someone shaking my arm gently. I threw the covers off angrily. "Stella, stop-" I started.

 

It took me only two seconds to realize my mother was the one shaking me. "Oh, uh, good morning," I told her.

 

My mother nodded to meand said nothing. I knew my father worked in the day; that's why we were here. He had gotten a new job here in Nevada, and, in order to keep this job, we had to move here. Stella looked way too cheerful for my taste. "I was thinking we'd leave around eleven thirty," she said.

 

Mom nodded to her. "That's fine," she replied.

 

Eleven thirty came, and I borrowed some of my father's clothing. Stella worked really hard, but eventually she dragged me out of the house. I think I put a good fight, though. My first shopping day in two weeks, and I couldn't even enjoy it! We were in Target faster than I thought we would be. We were in the men's department, and that just bummed me out all on it's own. By twelve, we already picked out some jeans, because there isn't much variety to them.

 

I picked a bunch of shirts I thought looked good, and tried some on. I thought I looked pretty good, actually. On the way home, Stella seemed a bit out of it for a while. I noticed that I kept looking to her, wondering what she was thinking. Why did I care? She should be thinking of how she's going to make me a girl again. My not knowing was killing me soon enough. "What are you thinking about, Stella?" I asked.

 

"Your name," she replied. I gave her a look. "Well, Rachel isn't a name for a guy, so I'm thinking of an alias for you."

 

I nodded slowly. I guess I could understand that. I could only imagine how many guys would look at me funny if I used my real name in this condition. "What did you come up with?" I asked. She had my attention.

 

"Rocco, Rodney, Richard," Stella stated a few.

 

"No," I laughed, shaking my head, "no, and no."

 

Stella seemed deep in thorught then. I never saw her so serious within the day I knew her. She looked up to me again suddenly, her eyes glowing. "How about Ryan?" she asked.

 

I ran it through my head. It didn't sound so bad. "Actually, I like that one," I agreed.

 

"Alright then," Stella said happily. "From this day forth, you will be known as Ryan Green."