The sights. The sounds. The colors. Tiffany looked around and had trouble taking it all in. How had she not known about this place before?

Ralph rolled his eyes as he felt himself get dragged along. They had been to four stores already. In her sparkling green eyes, nothing was perfect.

They soon stopped in front of a store: 'For Girls'.

"Now this place sounds right."

"I'm sure", Ralph stated as he rolled his eyes.

Tiffany skipped into the store. Ralph stood outside, looking around. A feminine hand dragged him inside, causing him to yelp.

XxXxXxXxX

"What do you think about this?" Tiffany wore a navy blue, spaghetti strap top with a black skirt and strappy heels.

"It's fine, I guess." Pretty much what Ralph said about the last few outfits.

"But I don't want 'fine'. I want 'freaking awesome'. I want guys to fantasize about me, even when they're with their girlfriends."

"A fine goal, to be sure."

She turned around to check how the outfit flowed. "Don't laugh. I've seen those looks you give me. It's already working."

Ralph glanced off to the side, hoping to prove her wrong. "So, do you want it?"

Tiffany looked to the pile of clothing next to him. "I want them all."

XxXxXxXxX

Tiffany exhibited a confident stride as she walked across the campus. Her black skirt and blue top combo seemed an appropriate choice; the way she wore the outfit and her coquettishness landed a one-two punch on several males who were looking her way.

Walking behind her with his hands in his pockets was Ralph. He didn't want to be with her, but he felt obligated to protect his roommate. After all, it was still Tim's body that Tiffany was flaunting.

"Can we just get back to the room, you know, in case Tim comes back?"

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport." She blew a kiss to a student, who promptly walked into a lamppost. "I'm sure that there's plenty of time."

"Tiffany!"

The brunette looked over to the source of the voice. "Virginia!" The two girls walked toward each other and hugged.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Not much, just did a little shopping in town." Tiffany spun around, showing off her new duds. "You like?"

"I love." For the first time, Virginia noticed the unhappy-looking young man next to the girl. "And who is this?"

Tiffany grabbed his arm. "Oh, this is my friend, Ralph. I couldn't have made the trip without him."

Ralph's slight shrug understated his contribution to the excursion; it was his car that took them to the mall and his 'only in case of emergency' credit card that paid for the wardrobe. He wasn't too worried about the latter. If anything, his parents would be glad that he finally met a girl.

Virginia extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Ralph."

"Hey."

"Well, we need to get going." As Tiffany took off, eliciting the first spark of enthusiasm from Ralph in several hours, Virginia tapped her shoulder.

"You know, you were something in class today. Is there any chance that we could get together for a study session sometime?"

"Sounds nice. I'm sure I could show you a thing or two."

"I've got something to do tonight, but how about tomorrow?"

"That would be wonderful." She leaned back to Ralph. "Are there any classes that need to be covered tomorrow?", she whispered.

"Only in the afternoon."

She looked to Virginia. "How about tomorrow morning?"

"Hmmm…all right. Tomorrow morning. About nine."

"Great. See you then." Tiffany took Ralph by the hand and walked off.

As Virginia walked away, Ralph leaned closer to Virginia. "What makes you so sure that you'll be able to meet her tomorrow?"

"I just have a good feeling, Ralph."

XxXxXxXxX

Ralph opened the door of his room. He ushered Tiffany in and shut the door. He collapsed on his bed, while Tiffany dropped her bags to the floor and sat down.

"This is getting to be such a headache."

"Oh, you worry too much."

Ralph forced himself to sit up. "Well, one of us should. Now that I think about it, you're the one that should be worried about what happens to that body, not me."

"What's gonna happen to a body like this?"

"I shudder to imagine it, but let's leave it at…well, being violated."

Tiffany scoffed. "Like any guy is going to get this without working for it, first."

"Some guys out there aren't into work. They like to play."

"I'll handle it. And, by the way, you were a great help on the trip, today. I really appreciated it."

The young man chafed under the sarcastic tone. "Well, excuse me if I don't have better insight on the needs and wants of women."

"Whatever." Tiffany clutched her stomach and groaned.

"This is more like it."

"'More like it'? I'm dying, here!"

Tiffany's hair shortened and her face reverted to a more masculine form. Ralph could see the girl's skinny extremities thicken with muscle. "Maybe you should take that off."

"This is a hell of a time to get perverted."

Ralph rolled his eyes. "No. Take your clothes off so they don't get ruined."

"Oh." Tiffany quickly unbuttoned her skirt and pulled her blouse over her head. However, she was still in a bra and panties. As she reached for them, another cramp forced her onto her knees.

Her breasts deflated, causing her bra to fall flat on her chest. Her waist and stomach gave way to a fuller figure.

Her feet seemed to grow within her shoes, so she tried kicking them off. To her relief, she succeeded; black strappy heels like that don't come cheap.

With one last yell, the person in the bra and panties stood up.

"Whoa." Tim put a hand to his head. He was clearly dizzy.

"Welcome back."

"What? Was I her?"

Ralph nodded. "Oh, yes."

"Well, that's strange."

"Yeah. Anyway, now that you're back, maybe you can think of a subject for your project."

"Couldn't you just ask that girl? I mean, she takes pretty good notes."

"No. I think this is something that you need to keep separate from her." Ralph got an eyeful of Tim's current garb. "Speaking of things that one really should keep from the other…" He pointed his finger.

"What?" Tim looked down at himself. "Oh…my…shit." To the surprise of both men, the panties just barely fit. Tim rushed to his drawer and pulled out a pair of briefs and a pair of slacks and rushed to the bathroom.

After a minute, Tim came out, looking more manly. "Okay, so there's a slight hitch to the arrangement."

"No kidding."

He waved his hand, as if it were weightless. "No problem. God, I'm starving." He put a hand on his stomach. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I grabbed something while I was out."

"I can't stand this." Tim slipped on a t-shirt. "I'm going to get some food." Ralph watched Tim as he left the room. He almost did a double-take as the door closed; it almost looked like he was skipping out of the room.

XxXxXxXxX

Tim sat at a table in the student union. In front of him were a salad, a diet cola and a candy bar. The hemming and hawing spent over the latter in line caused a number of annoyed whispers.

The candy bar was already half eaten. As Tim picked it up for another bite, Virginia walked over to him.

"May I sit down?"

"Oh, sure, sweetie."

Virginia was somewhat confused by the greeting, but, figuring it was better than nothing, decided to sit down.

"You weren't in class, today."

Tim took a swig from his diet cola. "Well, I've just been busy. You know, working on...stuff." His hand waved around as if it had a life of its own.

"Huh. I'd almost thought you were playing hooky."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Your cousin was in class, though."

"My who?"

"Tiffany. I'm guessing she's a distant cousin?"

"No. She's pretty close." With his fork, Tim stabbed at the crisp lettuce of his salad and put it in his mouth.

"I can't believe how intelligent she is; what she knows about chemistry. It's amazing." Virginia rested her head in her hand. "Are you sure she's your cousin?"

Tim simply swallowed the bit of salad he had eaten.

"It's so nice to have someone smart to talk to. My roommate…it seems like the only reason she entered college was to pledge a sorority. She thinks I'm jealous, but I think she's nuts."

"You know, you ought to try some blush. It'll really bring out those cheeks of yours."

Virginia shook her head. "I beg your pardon?"

"Really, and some blue eye shadow; maybe purple will enhance your eyes. You shouldn't hide them, darling."

She stared at Tim. Was she really hearing this from him? "Okay…" She stood up. "I guess I'll see you around."

"See you later." Tim waved, wiggling his fingers. Virginia bit her lip as she walked off.

XxXxXxXxX

The knock at the door garnered Ralph's attention. He opened it and Tim skipped in. It wasn't his imagination.

"Oh, thank you so much, Ralph. I didn't want to be out there too long."

"Yeah, sure. Tim, I'm really concerned about the last couple of days. I think that something may have happened to you."

Tim lightly swatted his roommate's arm. "Oh, that's insane."

"Is it? You've been acting very girly lately." Ralph started to pace. "Also, and I'm ashamed that I didn't think of this before, I think Tiffany has something to do with it." Tim simply sat on his bed with his hands on his lap. "It's a little weird, but I think that her natural girlishness is starting to overwhelm your personality."

Tim scoffed. "You sound like some kind of horror movie."

"One that's gonna have a very unpleasant ending unless something is done."

"Come on", Tim said as he jumped up. "Nothing's happening to me. I…" The thought was cut off by a loud groan. Ralph watched the changes before his very eyes. Within a matter of minutes, Tim was gone and Tiffany was back.

"I still can't get used to that."

Ralph checked his watch. "That was only a couple of hours." He turned away, as if thinking to himself; his theory was correct.

"Yeah. Go figure." She went over to the dresser and picked up a bottle of blood red…

"Nail polish? When did you get that? More to the point, how did you get that? I didn't buy it."

"Well…you kind of did. There was a five-dollar bill hanging out of your pocket and I thought of how hot my nails would look…"

"That was supposed to be my dinner!"

"You were gonna eat the five?"

"You know what I mean!"

Tiffany sat at the edge of Tim's bed and kicked off his bulky sneakers. She stripped off his socks and opened the bottle. The smell immediately caught Ralph's attention. He covered his nose and moved away.

"Do you really need to do that, now?"

"But my toes need to look cute. Do you really want to deprive them of cuteness?" Tiffany wiggled her unpainted toes, which already looked cute.

"That smell is murderous. I'm outta here." Ralph walked to the door. "Oh, and crack a window. The last thing I need is that stench giving me a headache."

"Whatever, Captain Whiner." The girl waved as the young man disappeared behind the door. She shook her head, as if she pitied him.

XxXxXxXxX

Holding a can of root beer, Ralph stood outside the chemistry lab. It wasn't like he hadn't been in the room before, but he didn't know what he was looking for.

He went in, expecting the room to be empty. To no great surprise, it was.

Ralph surveyed the various lab stations, looking for something out of place. However, everything was as neat as a pin.

He glanced at a chemistry book left on the shelf. It was outside the bookends, as if someone forgot to file it away…or forgot to take it with them when they did an assignment. Quickly assuming the latter, Ralph took the book down and sat on a stool.

He flipped through it and, for the first couple hundred pages, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He fought off a huge yawn, indicating that he needed sleep. Then, something in the book caught his eye. It looked to be a smattering of drops of liquid, only they had dried up and warped the page. The experiment the drops landed on called for tellurium astatine and selenium silicate.

Ralph closed the book and walked toward the exit. He tripped over a wastebasket, knocking out the contents: a broken beaker, a few rolled-up balls of paper and an empty can of diet soda. He scooped the trash back in the basket with the book and looked up at a sign on the wall: 'No food or drink'.

With a determined look, Ralph walked out. He wasn't sure, but he may have been onto something.

XxXxXxXxX

"I'm so glad you could come over." Virginia closed the door, welcoming in Tiffany, who wore a magenta top with a red skirt.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss this for anything." It was thought by Ralph that Tiffany had changed back at some point during the night. Strangely, she slept as herself for the entire night.

"So, what shall we go over?"

"Ladies' choice." The two girls laughed. "Seriously, though, you choose."

"Okay."

"Will you two shut the hell up?"

Tiffany looked past Virginia toward the lump cocooned in the covers of the four-poster bed. A head of flowing blonde hair peeked from under it. "I mean, can't a girl get her beauty rest?"

"Who is that?"

"My roommate, Harley. She…partied a little too hard last night." Virginia made the 'drinking' hand motion, causing Tiffany to giggle.

"Hi, Harley", Tiffany whispered.

"Stop yelling, whoever you are." Harley closed the blanket over herself.

"So, I guess we're going elsewhere?"

"Yeah." Virginia pointed her finger. "The central library."

"Then let's hit it." The door closed and the two girls left. A loud groan came from behind the door.

XxXxXxXxX

Ralph was in his English Lit class. He knew the materials well enough that he could afford to daydream every so often. He decided that now would be one of those times.

He doodled on a piece of paper. The scribblings consisted of the abbreviations of tellurium astatine (TeAt) and selenium silicate (SeSi) arranged like a math problem and the answer was a sketch of Tiffany in a bikini. He drew a question mark next to Tiffany.

Next to the problem was a sketch of a can of soda. Ralph tapped his pen on the desk.

XxXxXxXxX

Tiffany and Virginia sat at a table in the library. Even though they barely knew each other two days, they were laughing like they'd known each other for years…at least, when the librarian wasn't paying attention.

"Man, I can't believe how well we get along. And it goes so much deeper than chemistry."

Virginia wiped her eyes. "Yeah. I'm gonna let you in on something." Tiffany leans in close. "I'm only taking this class for fun. I don't even really need it."

Tiffany's laughter died down. "Why take a class you don't need?"

"Boredom. I may as well have some fun while I'm here. I used to play with chemistry sets when I was a kid. My parents never could figure out how I was so good at it. Growing up, though, I never could find anyone who liked it as much as I did. Your cousin certainly isn't a fan."

"Oh, we don't need to talk about him, do we?"

"Nah…but I still think he's cute." Virginia started to blush.

Before she could stop herself, much less be aware of what was happening, Tiffany planted a kiss on Virginia's cheek. As she broke away, Tiffany's eyes widened. Virginia reacted in much the same way. The tension was as thick as stone.

After one of the most awkward minutes in recent history, Tiffany got up from her chair. "See you later."