"She just had to leave me all this stuff, didn't she?" the well-dressed man sighed. He was standing before a big pile of boxes that had been inadvertently bequeathed to him.

A few months prior, the man's aunt had been at work when a robber came in and shot her. The murderer had been apprehended, and paramedics had promptly arrived, but it was too late. The man's aunt quickly died of her wounds. Since his aunt had no kids of her own, and her sister (who was the man's mother) had died of breast cancer the year before, the man ended up getting his late aunt's stuff. Why had he not bothered to actually go through it until now? For one thing, he'd never much liked his aunt. For another, he was the CEO of a science and research facility, which meant he was very busy. But now it was time to sift through his aunt's old junk and see if he could find anything of value.

The man opened the first box and saw nothing of interest. Just a bunch of boring tax forms and company paperwork from the bookstore his aunt had managed. He shunted the box aside and went to the next one. This one was sealed off with packing tape, which meant the man had to get a knife to open it. But here he found some more interesting stuff. There was a potion-making kit, an old spellbook, and glass beakers wrapped in bubble wrap. This wasn't a surprise to the man. He was aware that his aunt had been a witch, and this was part of why he'd stayed away from her. But he faltered when he saw a small notebook lying atop a stack of glass phials. It had a green cover and was bound by a thin metal spiral. It probably only cost eighty-three cents. On the cover, however, it had the words "Mirna Abbot's Diary" written in Sharpie.

"No way," the man chuckled. "Mirna actually kept a diary." He picked up the diary and flipped through it, wondering what a woman in her fifties could possibly have been writing in a diary about. But when he skimmed through the last few entries, he stopped cold. According to her diary, Mirna had cursed a young man named Gene who'd sexually harassed one of her employees. As punishment, Mirna had turned Gene into a girl named Genesis so she could learn a lesson about respecting women. What's more, she'd used a mass memory-altering spell so that the rest of the world would remember Gene as Genesis. As if that wasn't bizarre enough on its own, Mirna had written in her final entry about how she was considering whether it was a good time to change Genesis back. The entry was dated October 30, 2023-the day before Mirna was killed.

"Wait a minute," the man thought to himself. "Does this mean she never got to change Genesis back?" Come to think of it, one of the paramedics who'd been on the scene reported that a young lady had come rushing in while they were putting Mirna on a stretcher. The young lady had demanded Mirna for something, but Mirna had declined. The paramedic had sounded unsure of what the young lady was talking about. But now the man had a good idea.

"Genesis Rookwood," the man said to himself. "I think you might be the solution to all my problems."

***

Genesis could not have been happier.

It was just a few weeks before she and her stepsister Ramona Dunby had led their cheerleading squad to victory at the regionals. This was the first time in years that Eastern Plains High had won the cheerleading regionals, and it was a moment of glory for everyone involved. Suffice it to say, Genesis had become a celebrity at school.

On the afternoon of Thursday, January 18, 2024, Genesis had gotten her lunch and was going to sit down at her lunch table. She and Ramona had a table of their own in the cafeteria where they sat with their friends. Today, all the regulars were there-Ramona, Charlotte, Cassy, and Modesty.

"Hey girl!" Charlotte said when she saw Genesis.

"Hi Charlotte," said Genesis. She sat down with her sandwich and bag of chips. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty well," Charlotte answered. "Gary Frank just asked me out."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I'd think about it."

Genesis laughed. "Good answer," she said.

Modesty looked Genesis up and down like she was seeing her in a new light. "Hey, um...Genesis?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it true? That you were...you know..."

Genesis looked at Ramona. "Did you tell her?"

Ramona shrugged. "I figured she deserved to know."

"Know what?"

"That you used to be a boy."

Genesis sighed. Since the witch who'd turned her into a girl had used a mass memory altering spell, almost no one outside Genesis and Ramona's family knew that she used to be Gene. Charlotte and Cassy knew, but Genesis hadn't been counting on telling Modesty-at least, not yet. "Yes, it's true," she said.

"Wow," said Modesty. "Did...you not want me to know?"

"No, it's okay," said Genesis. "Ramona's right. If you're part of our friend group, then you have a right to know the truth."

Ramona breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried you'd be mad," she said.

"It's okay."

"So you're, like, actually a girl who used to be a boy," said Modesty. "And not a trans girl, either. You got a full physical sex change."

"Yes, I did. At first I didn't like it, but now...I love it."

"You're like those girls who defeated those witches."

"Who?"

"You know. Lanie Evans. Olivia Walker. Zoe Fletcher. Saige Johnson. Rachel Miller."

"Oh yeah..." said Genesis. Like everyone else, she'd heard the story. A year prior, it was made public knowledge that there was a group of misandrist witches who wanted to turn all the world's men into women, and a bunch of their victims had banded together to stop them. A lot of the people who'd worked to bring down the witches had been in the same situation as Genesis. They were once teenage boys who, by various magical means, were turned into girls. They'd come to terms with their new lives, of course, but they knew not everyone else would be able to adjust to life as a woman. Hence why they'd put an end to the witches' schemes.

"Do you ever think about, you know, going down to meet them?" Modesty asked.

"I mean...it would be pretty cool," said Genesis. "But we're in Virginia. Lanie Evans and Rachel Miller live down in Georgia. Zack-slash-Zoe Fletcher is in Kentucky, and Olivia Walker is in Illinois. And...that's where Saige Johnson lives too, right?"

"It's where she's from," said Ramona. "But I'm pretty sure she's still doing college in Massachusetts."

"Well, that's what I'm saying," said Genesis. "They all live pretty far away from here. It would be kind of expensive to travel all the way to even one of those states just to meet them."

"Maybe you could ask your parents," Cassy suggested. "Maybe they can take you as a gift for graduating in a few months."

Genesis smiled. "I think I might," she said.

Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Would Genesis Rookwood please come to the front office?" said the voice of Mrs. Agnes, the school's vice principal.

All eyes turned to Genesis. "I...guess I'd better go to that," she said.

***

When she got to the office, Genesis was greeted by her homeroom teacher Mr. Aaron. "Good afternoon, Genesis," said Mr. Aaron. "The principal would like to speak with you about something."

"Uh-oh," said Genesis.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," said Mr. Aaron. "In fact, you'll find it's quite the opposite..."

Genesis entered the office of the principal, Mrs. Velasco. She'd seen Mrs. Velasco on numerous occasions before, but she was surprised to see someone else sitting beside her desk. It was a man in his mid-thirties dressed in a beige suit coat and matching pants. He had light Caucasian features, smooth black hair, and teeth brushed so white it would've made a dentist swoon. "Good afternoon," the man said in a smooth baritone. "You must be Miss Rookwood."

"Uh...yeah," said Genesis. "And who are you?"

"This, Genesis, is Mr. Lucas Jacobson, founder and head scientist of Pride Laboratories," said Mrs. Velasco. "I'm sure you've heard about our school's internship program working with his facility to provide him with potential candidates for him."

"I have read your transcripts," said Lucas, "And I must say, I'm very impressed with what I've seen. You have a 3.6 GPA, and you're part of the cheerleading squad that just won the regionals. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, based on your transcripts, I think you'd be a good fit for the internship that my laboratory offers," said Lucas. "What the internship entails is helping with laboratory experiments and procedures. My facility specializes in genetics, so you'll learn more about the genomes of humans and related living beings. You'll have laboratory staff overseeing you as you do your job-unless, of course, you end up being my personal assistant."

Genesis didn't know what to say. She'd never been that into science, but on the other hand, doing an internship might look good on her college applications. "Do I get paid?" she asked.

"Yes, you do," said Lucas. "A lot of internships for high school students are nonpaying, but that is not the case with my facility. You will be paid thirteen dollars an hour for your work."

"Okay," said Genesis. "And I'm guessing it'll be an after-school thing?"

"Of course," said Lucas. "We'll have you work three days a week, from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. And, if you put in a good performance, we'll have you work on weekends, too."

"Then I accept," said Genesis. "Is there any paperwork that I have to do?"

"Well, since you're eighteen now, you don't need your parents to sign any sort of permission form," said Mrs. Velasco. "But yes, there will be some paperwork to fill out before you can start working."

"Alright then," said Genesis. "It's a deal."

"Excellent!" Lucas exclaimed. "Thank you so much for accepting my offer. We'll look forward to having you work with us."

Genesis nodded. "And I'll look forward to working with you," she said, since it seemed like a polite thing to say.

"You'll contribute a lot, I know it," said Lucas. He leaned back, still smiling, and said more softly to himself. "Yes, you most certainly will contribute a lot..."

To be continued...