Six Forty-Five, Part 2:

The day everything went crazy started off seeming no different than the day before.

I woke at six forty-five, got out of bed, and got dressed, socks, underwear, pants, and then shirt, just like every day. I did my teeth and ate my breakfast and walked to school in the morning twilight. I didnt see the janitor, but I tried the door, and it opened.

Nothing seemed different until I was sitting in front of my classroom door, reading. I glanced at the school clock, and noticed it read “Six forty-five.” I watched it for a while, and realized it wasnt moving. I shrugged. I figured it was probably just a blown fuse, or something.

Then I checked my watch.

It also said “Six Forty-five.”

I put the watch to my ear, and couldnt hear anything.

Then I started to get anxious. I dont like not knowing what time it is. I started tapping my fingers with my thumb, which sometimes helps.

It helped a bit, but I could feel my anxiety swirling within me.

I tried to get back to my book, but I could feel my throat tightening. I knew I would have to do something soon, or I would be in real trouble.

Desperate, I tried to think of anything that might help me cope, and a very strange idea came into my head. I went down the hall, and into the girl’s change room.

I didn’t dare hesitate, I undressed, and put on the cheer uniform.

Immediately, I felt better.

But I knew it couldn’t last. Someone would come into the school, find me in the skirt, and then bad things would happen.

And yet the idea of putting on my own clothes brought back my anxiety.

Finally, not knowing what else to do,, I decided to go to the principle's office. I figured, that way, when someone came, I would have the best chance of having an authority figure nearby.

Not that I had much hope of explaining what happened to me.

i took out the book I had been reading, and got back into the story.

It wasnt until I finished the book that I finally decided no one was going to come.

I thought about the wish I had made.

Could I have really wished everyone away? And what was I supposed to do if I had?

Normally, I was totally dependent on routine - going to school, home, and back again. But, thanks to the skirt, for the first time I felt confident enough that I could actually do anything I wanted to.

But what did I want?

To be a girl?

Or at least as close as I could get?

After all, if there wasn’t anyone around, nothing bad could happen to me for doing it.

But why would I want that?

So much about me didnt make any sense. Why was I so anxious all the time? Why did I need to feel safe in routine? And why did I suddenly feel better dressed in a skirt?

Something had happened to me, didn’t it?

But what, and why didn’t I remember it?

If people had been around, I could have tried to ask someone, maybe the school councilor. But without others, how could I solve the mystery?

Then it hit me. I had lost memory. What did my mother tell me to do if I lost something?

Retrace my steps.

So where could be the last place I knew I had it?

I had been like this for at least since I started junior high. So what was before that?

“Elementary, my dear Watson.” I said aloud, and giggled at my joke.

Still wearing the cheer uniform, I left the school, and headed for my old one.

When I stepped outside, I saw that the sun hadn’t moved since I had come to school, which had to have been more than an hour ago.

A thought came to me, based on all the science-fiction stories I had read.

I was between moments.

Somehow, I was stuck at six forty-five.

That might explain where everyone else was. They were in normal time, and I wasnt.

“One mystery at a time.”

Everything was still, and quiet. For the first time, I realized how much noise is around me all the time. Something I couldnt have realized until it was gone.

I kept walking until I was in my old neighborhood. We had left here right after I had graduated from the elementary, but I still remembered where things were.

Shortly, I was at the door to my old elementary school, and suddenly started to feel afraid.

Something bad had happened in here.

I didnt think I was strong enough to face it, at least not yet.

But how could I get stronger?

“Well, if being in a skirt helps me, what if I was wearing all girl clothes?”

There was a mall across the street from the school, so I headed there. When I got there, it occurred to me to wonder how I was going to get in.

I tried the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked.

I went in, and strolled from shop to shop, trying to find what I was looking for. I started in a store that sold women’s underwear, and after a few tries, found a pair of panties that would fit me. Then, I added a bra, and wondered why I knew how to put one on so well.

Then it hit me, I had worn one before.

And somehow forgot it.

I added some nylons to my outfit, and then left that store to find the next items on my list.

Heels.

Once I put a pair on, I was almost not surprised to discover I knew how to walk in them.

Soon, I was done, and as prepared as I could be to go back across the street to the school.

I glanced at the rather pretty young woman a mirror, and took a breath.

“Here goes.”