I was on my way back to the high school when the st of the adrenaline finally left me and I ended up doubled over, dry-heaving into some bushes. Luckily I'd barely eaten anything in over a day, so there wasn't much to come back out. Then my whole body started shaking from the shock and fear and everything, while I struggled to get myself and my emotions under control.

  Fortunately I was well away from the main roads, and nobody seemed to be around to see my little breakdown.

  I'd followed the same advice I gave Harper and avoided the main intersection. Where he had to drive another kilometre or two east then take a side-road south before heading west, I was able to cut behind some houses and through some overgrown empty lots. Not that anyone would recognize me, they'd just see a strange girl with pink hair. My pink outfit was kind of hidden too, under my big bck hoodie. At least the bustier and skirt were hidden. My bare legs and bubblegum-pink boots were still on full dispy, unfortunately.

  It took me another half minute or so before I was ready to keep going, then I picked up my backpack and started walking again. I could have ran, and knowing how fast I could go that would have got me to the school in no time. I didn't want to attract any attention though. And a random teenage girl cutting through empty lots was entirely forgettable. I had a feeling a pink-haired girl breaking world sprinting records would be a lot more memorable.

  So I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my hoodie and kept moving. After another minute or so I reached Highnd Drive and the community centre, then finally headed west towards the main street. There was already traffic backed-up from the crossroads and I could hear more sirens on the way. That sent another little wave of nausea through me, but I forced myself to keep moving.

  There was no way to avoid being seen when I crossed the road, but I tried to time it so there weren't too many cars there when I cut across. Then I hurried down the side of the school building, and felt a wave of relief when I saw Harper and Ellie standing next to his pick-up truck. They both looked worried, plus there was a growing bruise on the side of Harper's face.

  "Bke!" Ellie sounded just as relieved when she spotted me a moment ter.

  I dashed up to the both of them, then had to force myself to be gentle as I pulled the tall blond jock into a tight hug.

  "Thank you so much Harper!" I half-sobbed. "I've never been so scared in my life! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

  He hugged me back as he replied, "You're welcome Bke. I'm just gd you're ok."

  Ellie joined in and we ended up in a three-way hug for a solid minute or so before we all finally let go of each other.

  Then I asked, "How come you two were at Crawford's anyways? And how'd you know to check around back? Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond grateful you came by. Just curious what brought you there?"

  "I wanted to stop in and see how you were doing," my best friend replied. "I was worried about you, since you seemed so down today."

  Harper nodded, "It was Ellie's idea. But when we pulled up you weren't behind the counter. And there was that bike there, and the cube van, but nobody around? I knew something was up, so I told Ellie to wait in the truck while I checked it out. I heard some noise from around back, and you know the rest."

  "Well I don't," Ellie frowned. "So what happened? Harper said two guys were trying to mug you, they wanted to steal the ring?"

  I felt myself shaking again as the events pyed out in my head once more. I finally nodded, "Yeah. The biker guy said they were sent to get it back, he said it didn't belong to me."

  "Someone hired them," I added. "I don't know who, I didn't get a name, only that they were working for a woman."

  My friends exchanged a worried look. Then Harper suggested, "Maybe whoever your mom got it from wants it back?"

  Then he lowered his voice and said, "Maybe it was stolen in the first pce? Maybe that's why your mom didn't want to talk about it?"

  "That's one possibility," Ellie frowned. From her tone I could tell she had some other theory in mind, but she didn't seem eager to share it yet.

  Instead she asked, "So what happened? You weren't hurt, were you?"

  "Yeah," I sighed as I looked down at my left hand. It was fine now, there was no pain and no indication my pinkie was ever injured. I slowly flexed my fingers as I admitted, "I'm pretty sure the biker guy broke my little finger when he was trying to get the ring off? And the other guy hit me twice. He punched me in the gut, then he hit me across the face..."

  "What?!" Ellie gasped as she stared wide-eyed.

  Harper commented, "I don't see any bruises or anything. And your finger looks like it's fine."

  "I know my folks are going to have some questions for me when I get home," he added with a grimace, as he lightly touched the left side of his jaw.

  I sighed, "All that happened before I changed? When I activated the ring it healed me up. Or um, maybe when I change back I'll end up with a busted finger again."

  Ellie's eyes widened again, "Oh crap! Bke it's been like fifteen minutes now right? Since you transformed? That'll be around six hours in your normal-girl form, if you change back now."

  "I know," I sighed again. "But if I do that, I'll be weak and helpless. What if we get attacked or something?"

  Harper frowned, "You can't stay like that forever though. Can you? I mean, what about school and stuff?"

  I shook my head, "I don't know."

  The three of us were quiet for a few seconds, then Ellie suggested "We should probably get moving? Folks are going to notice if we keep standing around here next to the school."

  "So let's go," Harper said as he turned and opened the door to his pick-up. "Where are we heading? My pce, or Bkes? Or somewhere else?"

  Ellie and I climbed in as well, and as usual I was in the middle again. Except in my magical girl form I was small enough that it was actually kind of comfortable sitting between my two friends, instead of feeling squeezed in.

  I offered, "We can go to my pce, but mom and Amelia will probably both be there."

  The ravenette tomboy suggested, "Why don't we go down to Dundalk? Maybe we can grab something to eat at that new wings pce? I'll chip in for gas."

  "Yeah ok," Harper agreed as we pulled out of the school parking lot.

  We headed south, away from the crossroads where all the emergency services were dealing with the motorcycle crash.

  "So what do you figure's going to happen to the guy who attacked you?" my best friend asked after another minute or so. "I saw the biker get away, but Harper said you knocked the other one out?"

  I felt another shudder go through me, along with a wave of nausea. I shook my head, "The biker didn't get away. I don't know if you saw, but I hit him with a bottle of brake fluid or something?"

  Ellie frowned, "I saw you throw something at him, but the way he was speeding he had to be more than a hundred meters away by then."

  "I hit him," I half whispered. "He crashed his bike in the intersection. That's why it's closed, that's what all the sirens were for."

  "Oh," she mumbled as her eyes widened and her face went a bit pale. Then she asked nervously, "And the other guy?"

  By that point I had a hand over my eyes, like I was trying to hide my face or something. I felt sick, and guilty, and even though they were trying to seriously hurt me and even talked about killing me, I still felt awful thinking about what I did in return.

  I was still almost whispering as I finally responded, "I kicked him in the groin. But I forgot how strong I am like this? And um, I might have broken his pelvis."

  "Holy crap," Ellie mumbled.

  Harper gnced at me then reached over and slipped an arm around my shoulders. He pulled me into a side hug while his left hand stayed on the wheel.

  "I can only guess how you're feeling Bke," he said, "But please don't beat yourself up too hard, ok? For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing."

  He continued quietly, "Those guys were evil, they were going to seriously hurt you. And if you'd let them just walk away, they'd only come back and try again. Or maybe they'd go on to hurt other people too, people who aren't as tough as you."

  I sighed and let myself lean against him, while my head rested against his strong shoulder. "I'm not that tough. And I still feel guilty for what I did, but thank you Harper. For everything."

  Ellie reached over and took one of my hands in hers while I stayed leaning against Harper. All three of us were quiet though, for the rest of the short drive. It was only a few minutes ter that we made the turn into Dundalk. It was another vilge, but more than five times rger than our tiny community. And that meant there were more shops and restaurants and things.

  Harper pulled into the parking lot of a little mall, with a grocery store at one end and a barber shop at the other. In the middle was a retively new pce that specialized in wings. We climbed out of the pick-up, then headed inside and got a table.

  I still didn't have much of an appetite though, so when the waitress came over to get our order I asked for a half dozen honey bbq wings. That was the smallest size they had, and I figured that and a gss of co would be more than enough. Ellie got a dozen maple chipotle wings and a side of fries, while Harper went for a dozen mild buffalo wings and a rge order of onion rings on the side. And they both got co to drink as well.

  Then as we sipped our drinks and waited for the food my best friend gave me another worried look. She asked quietly, "I don't mean to pry or anything Bke, but you're not on a diet or something are you? I don't think I've seen you eat much of anything since Saturday night."

  "Ellie's right," Harper agreed. "You skipped breakfast yesterday, and at lunch today all you had was a few spoonfuls of yogurt."

  I grimaced then shook my head and sighed, "I'm not dieting, I just haven't felt much like eating. Because of uh, all the other stuff going on?"

  "Oh," Ellie frowned. "I'm sorry Bke. I know it's rough, but I hope you feel better soon."

  "Thanks," I mumbled, although I didn't feel that optimistic. Between dealing with dysphoria when I was back in my original shape, mom keeping a bunch of secrets from my sister and I, and literally fighting for my life with some hired thugs it felt like things were probably only going to get worse before they got better.

  Harper pulled his phone out to check something, then looked to me. He kept his voice down as he let me know, "I don't know the exact timing but it feels like almost a half hour now since you changed. You remember what Ellie said, right? I don't know the numbers, but sooner or ter you're going to hit a point where you won't change back in time for school tomorrow."

  "Well she can't change back here," the tomboy pointed out quietly. "We're in public. And the waitress already saw what she looks like."

  I grimaced as I added, "I don't even have any clothes that fit my girl-me shape. If I turn back now my pants and shoes will fall off."

  "Huh," Ellie said as a thoughtful look settled on her face. "How about we head over to my pce when we're done here? Then you can drop the magic-girl thing, and we can get your measurements? I might actually have some old clothes that'll fit you, stuff I've outgrown."

  That whole concept left me feeling a little weird, but maybe in a good way. Like having Ellie take my measurements and stuff got some butterflies going in my tummy, while the thought of getting some hand-me-downs from when she was younger might be a bit awkward. I was still sort of processing the idea when the waitress came back with our food.

  She was only a couple years older than the three of us, she looked to be in her early twenties, and she was sort of conventionally attractive with blonde hair and blue eyes and all that. And as she set my little pte of wings down in front of me she gave me a friendly smile and commented, "By the way I love your hair. It's really cute!"

  Suddenly my cheeks were on fire, and I felt myself smiling back at her as I mumbled a surprised "Thank you."

  She grinned at how flustered I was, then she turned and headed off again while both Harper and Ellie looked like they were trying not to ugh.

  "You go girl!" my best friend whispered as she leaned in closer. "Maybe I need to start colouring my hair too? Seems like that's the trick to catching pretty girls' attention."

  Somehow my mouth reacted about two seconds before my brain could catch up, as I found myself responding "I don't know about that, you've had my attention for years."

  And just like that Ellie's cheeks looked as pink as mine felt, while Harper just grinned at the both of us.

  "Maybe we should eat," the handsome jock suggested. "Before it all gets cold, I mean?"

  "Right," I nodded as I picked up one of my wings.

  It was actually better than I was expecting, and that in turn made me realize just how hungry I really was. I ended up going through all my wings in no time, plus Harper let me have some of his onion rings as well. And I probably gobbled up half of them too. By the time we were all finished eating I actually felt better.

  There was a little smile on my face as I looked back and forth between my two friends and said, "Thanks for this. It's helped a lot."

  "You look happier," Ellie commented. "I'm gd we could cheer you up."

  Harper nodded, "Any time Bke."

  PurpleCatGirl