Bully me - 2

Loud creaking, the kind they always use in old horror movies, tore through the silence of the theater, making Mia jump in her seat. Her fingers clutched the fabric of her pink dress, and her shoulders tensed up. ‘Fuck! — flashed through her head. — Why is this so scary?! It’s just a movie!’

— Hey, it’s okay, — a whisper sounded beside her. A warm hand landed on her shoulder, and she almost jumped again. — It’s just a movie, you little scaredy-cat.

‘Scaredy-cat?! Me?!’ she boiled inside, but the next sudden scare on the screen made her press even tighter against her date. ‘What the hell?! Again?! Is this movie going to have anything besides damn jump scares?!’

She desperately tried to get a grip on herself, to make her body stop shaking, stop leaning into this guy. But instead her narrow shoulders only curled tighter from fear, seeking safety against her date’s shoulder, like she was some timid little girl. It was humiliating. She, Jaycee, who once loved scaring people like that, now trembling at every shadow on the screen like some pathetic bitch.

— It’s just a movie, — Ryan repeated, her… her boyfriend, and his fingers gently squeezed her shoulder. — Look over there, the first row, — he stretched out his other hand and pointed at two silhouettes twisted unnaturally in their seats. — Look how scared they are. It’s funny.

Mia blinked, dragging her gaze away from the flickering screen, puffing up her full lips, which somehow looked even fuller now from embarrassment. ‘What the actual fuck… — she thought as she looked at the terrified viewers. — …stupid damn curse. Now I feel like crying. Damn. Damn-damn-damn! Hold it together, damn it!’

She pulled air in through her nose, trying to drown out the lump tickling her throat. It had already been a month since she became Mia. A month of humiliation, with Kyle watching her with mockery as she learned to walk in heels, wear skirts, and put on lipstick — because her body, her nerves simply wouldn’t let her do otherwise. She felt physically wrong whenever she tried to wear anything even remotely close to men’s clothing. Sick to the point of throwing up.

To everyone else she was just shy, sweet Mia, a quiet and modest straight-A student. The kind of girl who blushes at any loud word and is afraid of her own shadow.

And the fact that her boyfriend turned out to be Ryan — one of the guys Jaycee used to bully — was the peak of irony. He found her after one of the lectures, when she was sitting in the library completely lost, trying to understand how this new reality even worked. Trying to somehow fix it, but running into nothing except stupid romance novels and makeup advice, in which her mind, already pushed to desperation, drowned instantly. And he was so… sweet. Even though he acted like a complete “nerd” and “geek,” while trying to look like a “cool” guy — which, no matter how hard she tried to hide it from herself, turned her on like crazy.

— Oh! — she squeaked when something boomed on the screen again, and she instinctively pressed into his shoulder. Her thin fingers with long, neatly painted nails clutched at his shirt. ‘God, why! Why did I end up with this nerd?! And why the hell does he have such a nice shoulder?! This is all so… wrong!’

— It’s okay, princess, — Ryan whispered into her ear, and his warm breath sent a weird chill down her spine. Princess… Jaycee would’ve ripped his balls off for calling him that. Mia only froze, feeling her ears burn and her heart pounding so loud it seemed like you could hear it even over the roaring movie. — It’s just dumb special effects. You know I study 3D graphics.

She nodded, suddenly feeling some kind of pride that he was so smart. ‘Fuck, that’s so hot!’ flashed through her head, and immediately she imagined herself sitting at a desk in a slutty schoolgirl outfit, with two pigtails, trying to learn this stupid subject, while he, the teacher, stood in front of her with a ruler in hand and said in a strict voice: “Ms. Marshall… another F… you need punishment.”

Her cheeks burned even hotter, and she turned away from him, trying to hide her embarrassment. She hated him for this. She hated herself for this. And the dumbest thing was that Kyle, the one who caused all of this, didn’t just shove her into this “cute” body. No, he added something extra. He didn’t just change her body — he wove into her mind… this creepy little pervert who now kept thinking about how to “have a really good time” with this “geek.”

And then he just disappeared. Vanished like nothing ever happened. Like there had never been any Kyle. Like there had never been any Jaycee. Like there had never been his curse. Like there had always been only this… “Mia.”

Sweet, modest, slightly shy Mia.