Chapter 8: Sugar Rush

  Rio’s was of course the central hub of campus, a medium-sized disco bar set over the central square and attended upon by a little boulevard of smaller shops and burger-bars. But there were other bars too, littered around campus as though they were pnets orbiting a great star, and of these smaller drinking holes, Rikki Tikki’s Tavern had always been Holly’s favourite. It wasn’t a traditional pub; in the sense that it was open and spacious, and there was usually only a single craft ale on the menu at any one time, and almost nobody wore a ft cap. But somehow it still had something of the living room to it and the tables were usually filled; by day with small groups of students doing their assignments over a beer and a burger, or by night with a noisier rabble beginning the long and often ruinous road to Rio’s. And it was as good a pce as any for the girls to refresh themselves after a hard practice.

  “Three Smirnoff Ices and – Are you sure, Holly? – Ok then, two pints of Coors Light as well, please.” Violet smiled, passing a crumpled tenner over to the barman.

  “Cheers, Vi,” Holly said, making a galnt effort to handle the pint gss, which was apparently three sizes bigger than she remembered.

  “Thanks babes,” Big Steve McIntyre smiled, taking his pint and treating himself to a deep sip. “Aye, It’s good stuff this Coors, ain’t it Holls?”

  “It’s alright,” Holly agreed, bringing the flower-vase of a gss up to her lips and taking a careful sip. Honestly, she found European gers more fvourful, but she’d been running about all afternoon, and when you just wanted something frosty and refreshing, Coors went down a treat. That and it was only ￡2 a pint.

  Gwen picked out a pstic drinking straw from the tray and slid it neatly into her bottle of Smirnoff. “I’ve never really been a beer drinker myself.”

  “Once in a while is alright,” mused Anita Nowak, “But the Coors – erm, not so nice, I think.”

  “Come on, there’s a table freeing up.”

  They trooped over to the corner booth, where a pair of ds in familiar purple jackets (rugby pyers, judging by the size of them), were draining the st of their drink.

  “Hey… Excuse me, are you guys done?” Gwen asked.

  “Yeah, table’s all yours,” the first of them said, cheeks flushing slightly.

  His friend, a burly d with a sort of squashed nose that made him look like he had run headfirst into a brick wall, caught Gwen’s eye from over his taller friend’s shoulder. “You alright, Gwen – You coming out to Rio’s tonight?”

  “Not tonight,” she shook her head, “I’ve got an assignment due on Monday.”

  “Ahh right you are, coursework’s a killer, isn’t it? But you’re coming out next week though? Valentine’s day special, and all that.”

  “Maybe,” Gwen shrugged impatiently, “Not sure yet.”

  “Fair enough, we’ll probably see you out and about, then?”

  “Yeah, maybe; Look are you done with the table, or…”

  “I think they don’t know how to leave, those two,” Anita gnced over with irritation as the two ds bustled out of the front door, trying a st wave over to Gwen as they went. “What is it you say here – fuck off?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far, chick,” Gwen pulled a face, “They’re just being friendly, I guess.”

  “Do you know them at least?” Violet asked.

  “Eh kind of, Gareth I think he’s called, or Gavin?” Gwen rolled her shoulders as she scooted into the booth. “He was at that party a couple of weeks ago, you know, the superhero thing…”

  “Aye, I know the one you mean – it was a good night, that one, actually,” Big Steve chuckled, pulling up a stool. “You and Kate went as Batman & Robin, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s the one,” she replied fondly, “But maybe next time I should be Batman – at least she got to wear pants.”

  Holly could have ughed. She wasn’t surprised, exactly - She had seen reality mucked about with enough in the st couple of days for that - but it was still a little unsettling to learn that as far as everyone else was concerned, Kate hadn’t attended that party as Catwoman to Harry’s Batman. It was easy enough to see the gist of it though. As far as this reality was concerned, Kate didn’t have a boyfriend to go out with, so why not go stag with her best friend, Gwen?

  It also begged the question of if Holly herself had attended, and if so, exactly which superheroine she meant to have dressed as; though when it came to it she couldn’t quite figure out how to frame the question without it sounding like she had amnesia and, after a moment spent browsing her mental catalogue of mini-skirts, capes and thigh-high PVC boots, she shuddered and decided that on this occasion ignorance was probably bliss.

  “So, how do you think we measure up? Against Bownd College I mean?” She asked, finding herself eager to get back on mission before someone decided to pull out a poroid of her strutting about dressed as Wonder Woman.

  “We should beat them, no?” Gwen considered, “I don’t even think they’re in the Final Four.”

  “They’re fifth at the moment, but that’s why they’re dangerous,” Violet nodded. “If they beat us, they could still make it. Our girls are better, I reckon, if everyone’s pying. But you know how it is, since we qualified, everyone seems busy all the time…”

  “Rose said she’d not miss next week, though, Aye?” Steve said reassuringly.

  “Yeah, my sister will be there, and I want to ask Mads as well.”

  “The wee German ss?” he raised his eyebrows, “The quiet one - Can she py?”

  Gwen nodded enthusiastically, “Don’t let her fool you, she’s really good - probably be our best defender if she wasn’t busy all the time.”

  “I don’t think she’ll make it though,” Holly said, “She’s promised to help Georgie Williamson up at the hospital on weekends. She’s – erm – really committed.”

  Violet nodded, “Yeah, I saw her leaving this morning, she looked dog-tired, poor girl.”

  “Bless her, she’s got a good heart, has Maddy,” Gwen smiled fondly. “Still, if she could spare time for a game, we could really use her.”

  “Yeah, I’ll ask, next time I see her.” Holly answered, snorting slightly into her beer at the thought of ‘good-hearted little Maddy’. She didn’t think anything would come of it – Matt would of course be as committed to fulfilling his task as Holly was her own – but still, if there were even a chance of helping the team, she had to at least ask.

  “As long as we have you and Kate up front,” Violet was saying, “I think we’ve a chance to take on anybody.”

  “Yeah, I mean, thanks Vi, but we’re a team at the end of the day. We all need to be at our best.”

  Gwen furrowed her brow. “Did she look Ok to you – Kate I mean? In the changing rooms, she was white as a ghost.”

  “She looked a little sick – perhaps something she ate?” Anita agreed.

  Holly felt a pang of shame as she thought of how Kate had fled the changing room. She couldn’t have followed at the time, of course, half-dressed as she was, but somehow in the half hour since she had allowed herself to drift along as her band of friends herded themselves to the pub. Kate had looked a bit peaky, she had told herself, but the Tavern was on the way to Kate’s block anyway, so she could allow herself a quick pint with her teammates before checking up on her.

  “I’ll give her a ring, see how she’s feeling,” she said.

  “It’s cool, babe, I’ve got it,” Gwen smiled as she punched in the number, “Best-mate duties and all that.”

  “Actually, I didn’t think you and Kate were so close?” Anita turned to ask Holly.

  “They’ve been getting along better recently,” Violet shrugged. “Kate was round the other night pying FIFA, wasn’t she? And didn’t you say something about hanging out on Saturday as well?”

  “Oh yeah?” Gwen raised her eyebrows, “Not fancy that Valentine’s disco thingy, then?”

  Holly felt her stomach do a little lurch. “Sounds a bit naff, doesn’t it? We were just going to have a bit of a movie night, single girls with no dates and all that. You – er, you’re welcome to hang out if you fancy it?”

  Gwen regarded her a moment, “No, I’m good. I’ve got a date, actually.”

  “Oh really,” Violet smiled, “You’re back on the market then?”

  “I wouldn’t put it quite that way,” Gwen shrugged casually, “But you know, New Year, new start and all that.”

  “So, who’s the lucky guy then? And what’s the pn?”

  “We met at the pub st week; Tuesday I think it was. He erm, He said he has something in mind to surprise me, so hopefully that means he’s got something fun pnned.”

  “Steve’s taking me to Octavia’s,” Violet pressed on proudly, “He had to book it before Christmas to get a table.”

  “Bravo Steve,” Gwen smiled as she tapped her fingertips together in appuse. “Outdoing yourself there!”

  “Oi, don’t let my looks fool you, I know how to treat a beautiful dy,” Steve shot Violet a fond gnce and received a prim kiss for his efforts.

  “Right, hang on a sec,” Gwen said, lifting her phone to her ear and holding up her hand to shush them all. “Kate? It’s Gwen. Are you alright my lovely? How are you feeling?”

  *

  “Honestly, it’s fine,” Kate said again, making another circuit of her bedroom as she spoke. “It was probably that burger I had in town st night. I should’ve thrown it back at ‘em, to be honest, it smelled about three weeks old.”

  “No, you don’t need to come over, I’m just going to get into bed and have a bit of a rest, ok sweetie?”

  “Sure, no worries. Look, I’ll call you in a bit, Ok?”

  Kate tossed the phone on her bed and dared to breath again. It was hard enough to speak to Gwen right now, she only prayed the girl didn’t take it upon herself to come round anyway. She might have curled up and died with embarrassment now, were she to try to look her best friend in the eye.

  She cast her eye around the room once again, looking for a change, something to prove that what was going on in her head wasn’t some kind of mental breakdown. The room was basically the same, certainly there was nothing to match Holly’s scented candles and half-naked David Beckham, but if Kate too was truly under the same curse, then surely there had to be something that would serve as definitive proof.

  The trouble was, if she really was… different now, it was hard to think how her room would even reflect that. The posters were the same as ever, a big cinema style motif of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, and the signed shot of her favourite nu-metal band, Ded Lizard, and that picture of Victoria Pendleton winning the Olympics – she was Kate’s hero after all. Her duvet was maybe a bit untidy – it had sort of half-fallen on the floor, but after a moment she remembered that was just the way she’d left it, and she told herself for the umpteenth time to get in the habit of making her bed in the morning.

  And whoever she was now, she didn’t seem to have lost her love for Disney movies, though in her desperation she pulled out her little collection of DVDs and inspected them one at a time before discarding them on her bed. She rummaged through Beauty and the Beast sharing their ballroom dance, and Addin and Jasmine on their magic carpet ride. They didn’t seem the sort of thing she ought to enjoy now – that is, if she truly had been changed, but perhaps that was only her being judgemental.

  Her phone gave a little chime:

  Message:

  Holly Owen: “Hey, is everything…

  She left the handset chirping on her desk and continued the search. There had to be something! She came to the st of the DVDs, Hercules, and since the case was empty, she let her feet carry her over to the DVD pyer and tapped the little eject button.

  ‘Sugar Rush?’ Kate furrowed her brow as the machine ejected not Hercules but instead a pink disk with the words embossed in stylised white graffiti.

  She stared at the DVD in mild bewilderment – she didn’t own that movie; she’d never even bloody heard of it. Once, she might not have thought anything of it, might have supposed that Gwen or someone had got so far as to put the disk in the machine before they went off to do something else. But that was before she had spent the st two days dealing with the fact that her lovely bloke was somehow now her cute little friend Holly. This unknown DVD was exactly the sort of weird little change she was looking for, and at the moment it was about the closest thing she could find to proof that something no less welcome was happening to her.

  Her hand trembled as she slipped the disk back into the drive and turned on the TV. The disk seemed to work at least, but it was one of the ones that made you watch a five-minute lecture on copy protection before the content loaded and after a few seconds she found herself kicking her heels against the bed in frustration. It would be strange, she considered, were this strange DVD not to have a pstic case to go in, but amongst the Disney stuff and the other slightly less embarrassing tapes there was no sign of anything like that at all.

  There wouldn’t be, though, would there? If the bloody thing was what she suspected, then she’d hardly have the bloody thing on dispy with Simba and Ariel. Instead, she’d have hidden it away, where Gwen and Violet and the rest wouldn’t have seen it. Kate scrambled over to her wardrobe, yanked out the bottom drawer and chucked half a dozen pairs of jeans and leggings across the room. There, as she’d expected, beside her little green dildo (Percy), she found what she’d been looking for.

  It wasn’t porn, as she’d half been expecting, but a pretty normal TV show. Season 1 apparently, and the design showed nothing more sinister than a couple of high school girls eating ice cream together by the beach. She hoped, for a moment, but then she flipped it around and the summary on the back was enough to confirm at st what she had felt back in the changing room.

  ‘Sugar Rush Season 1 – Contains the entire first season of the riotous show, which explores the life, loves and lusts of Kim, a young female lesbian living in 21st Century Britain…’

  That was it, then. Kate sank onto her bed like a defted balloon. Apollo-Artemis, or the Lord-and-Lady, or whatever the fuck They wanted to be called, had had Their fun with her as well. She hadn’t been changed into a great hairy bloke, and she supposed she should be thankful for that much at least, but that Greek Bitch-and-Bastard had cursed her all the same.

  It had been Violet Bradshaw that started it, floating around topless as she lectured the girls on their upcoming game. Kate’s eyes didn’t suddenly boggle out of her head at the sight or anything, it wasn’t so full on as that. Instead, it was no more than that a little chime went off in the back of her mind, ‘Wow, Vi’s got nice boobs.’

  She’d seen Violet in various states of undress before, they’d shared a changing room dozens of times over the past couple of years, but she’d never even given it a second thought. Today though, while it wasn’t exactly red-hot cardinal lust, she was just aware enough that something in her felt, well, attraction, that she flushed red with shame and couldn’t quite meet her friend’s eye.

  Gwen was far worse, of course. Though she had at least wrapped herself in a towel, the girl was a goddess, in a way in which Kate had never fully appreciated before, and being Kates’s best friend it was much harder to avoid the way she caught her eye, searching for a familiar shared smile that Kate couldn’t bring herself to return because the way her heart stopped in her chest made her feel like she was guilty of an awful betrayal.

  Nor was Holly safe from Kate’s newly lustful gaze. While she wasn’t quite capable of stopping cars in the street like Gwen (one of her best traffic-jams had even made local radio), Harry’s new persona was more than cute in her own right, with pretty, sky-blue eyes, rosy cheeks and a sweet little smile. Moreover, she was Harry, and they were – or had been – together, and the warm, fuzzy feeling he had given Kate in the pit of her stomach was still very much going strong.

  But even this felt like its own kind of betrayal. She’d fancied Harry – the old Harry – since first year, and though it had taken him a while – and some strong hints from Violet Bradshaw – to get the message, it turned out they fitted together pretty bloody well! And yet the curse had robbed her of all that they had built, all the intimate moments that they had shared turned to sand in her memory.

  She remembered him of course, but her heart didn’t do a little flip when she thought of him smiling at her. Instead, he was just one of the football guys, the one she happened to be dating. She tried harder, closing her eyes, trying to remember how good it felt to pull off his shirt, to let her hands wander on the rippling muscles of his shoulders and nuzzle at the nape of his colrbone. His breath would quicken, of course, and he’d flush red in the cheeks. But that only made her want him more. She’d hold his eye, sultry and lustful, to show him how much she craved him, and then pnt little kisses down his abdomen as she unbuttoned his jeans and…

  …And she wasn’t going to touch that bloody thing, thank you very much! She sat up straight on the bed and ground the heels of her hands into her temples. She’d loved those moments, she was sure of it, and Harry was gorgeous, just what she liked - or had liked - in a man. It was just that now so much of it, the squareness in his jaw, the broad shoulders, and the big sweaty hands and feet, it honestly made her want to gag.

  That was it then. Though it had taken longer to manifest, or more likely for her to notice, Georgie’s curse had changed the very fabric of Kate’s life just as it had Harry’s. For a moment she wanted to reach out for Harry, or Holly, as she had promised to think of her now, but what was she possibly going to say? ‘Hey Holls, I’m feeling a bit better, but just to let you know, I’m gay now, apparently.’ It sounded stupid even in her head.

  It fitted, she supposed, if you looked at it from the point of view of a slightly demented Olympian god. If her man was going to be a girl, then why not make Kate herself into a lesbian? A perfect match, no? And, if she thought on it, it seemed as though her feelings hadn’t really gone anywhere. They were still a team, after all. They’d gone traipsing around all day looking for Georgie, till Kate had blisters on her instep, and she’d never for a moment thought she should be anywhere else. And when she’d arrived back home at half past one in the morning and fallen into bed, a bit of her had wished the other girl – wished Holly, were still there for her to cuddle up to.

  Nothing could ever come of it, she realised at once. Not only was it fucked up to have her very identity switched around like it was a sort of cosmic joke, but it just wasn’t who she was, it couldn’t be. Her mother would kill her for one thing. And it was hardly fair on Holly, either, for her to suddenly be the object of Kate’s creepy new desires. The poor thing had already had her world turned upside down, didn’t she already have enough on her pte dealing with her strange new body without Kate leering at it every five minutes?

  She took a deep breath, held it in for ten seconds and then released. Just like she’d been taught. She could do this – she could handle this. She was a Niijima, and she was strong. It wasn’t the worst thing for her to be a bit attracted to Holly, she supposed, in fact it might be good for them. They’d be close still, like friends, but there would be that extra bit of spark as well, to remind them how they truly felt. Then, when they’d been fixed, everything would just go back to normal, the way it was supposed to be.

  They could do this.

  She’d been clutching something, she realised, and she lifted her hand to see that somehow her Hercules DVD case had found its way back into her hands. She examined it joylessly, taking one more gnce at all the Greek myths and magical mumbo-jumbo on the box art, before she cast the bloody thing down in disgust.