Lauren had never really gotten a chance to dress up. One time, in her first year of middle school, she’d found a lovely camisole and a cute skirt to go with it off a catalogue. Her dad had bought them for her after she’d begged, and she was so excited to reinvent herself, to be so much more than the sad sack she’d been throughout elementary school. 

And then Charlotte had made fun of the outfit all day, and Becka dumped her lunch on Lauren’s lap. The next day, Lauren was back in her usual bland, dark outfits, with a hoodie to cover up her body and make her seem like she wasn’t there.

Honestly, it had kind of slipped Lauren’s mind that she could dress up, could feel good about herself, could look in the mirror and actually admire what she saw. But not with her current wardrobe. 

So, here she was, wandering the local mall and browsing stores looking for new outfits to stock her closet with. She still wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted to look like, but she did know that she was done being bland, boring Lauren. She strolled into a nearby store, and began to scan the shelves for something that caught her eye.

A cute t-shirt with a warm pink colour. Lauren did like it, but… she sighed in frustration. Anything she picked today would have to necessarily continue to cover up most of her body. Her scales became more visible at her extremities, and they were becoming even more noticeable lately, their pink sheen undeniable. 

So, Lauren continued on. Oddly, the cute, traditionally feminine clothes that girls her age were expected to wear didn’t call to her much. She found herself drawn to more neutral clothing—even masculine. T-shirts which had torn sleeves, or the logos of obviously masculine interests like metal bands. Jeans with tears in them that were loose and didn’t conform to the body at all. Even hoodies, when they were cut for men, seemed more appealing that way. 

It was strangely thrilling, Lauren thought as she picked out some options and prepared to head into the changing rooms to try them on. Was this who she was? A masculine girl? Not a tomboy, exactly, but… didn’t they have a name?

Butch. A butch lesbian. That’s what it was.

That was who she was.

The woman who greeted her at the changing rooms was pretty, Lauren noted with a soft smirk. She had wavy ginger hair and an easy smile, plus a major rack. God, wouldn’t it be nice to just take her for a night and have her way—

No. No. No getting horny in the middle of a clothes store. Lauren forced herself to focus on her task, closing the curtain behind her as she entered one of the changing rooms. 

Her libido hadn’t been this bad before, had it? Before her eighteenth birthday, Lauren barely ever thought about sex. But now she was having thoughts like this more often than not. It was… it was probably just a consequence of finally not having to be repressed anymore. She was coming into her identity as a lesbian, and she was having a ton of sex on the regular. Of course her body was more ready to jump into sexual thoughts at a moment’s notice. 

Considering the matter settled, Lauren stripped down and began to try on some of the options she’d picked out. And she really liked what she saw. A masculine girl, a butch, that was who was reflected in the mirror, and it fit. And best of all, Lauren would actually get to wear these clothes to school without getting mocked!

Satisfied, Lauren put on her original clothes. She heard footsteps outside, and then the voice of the changing room attendant. “How are you finding everything, miss?”

Lauren settled her choices over her arm and opened up the curtain. “Good, actually. I’m going to—”

She was cut off by the reaction of the attendant. The redheaded woman let out a shocked gasp, taking a stumbling step backwards, her eyes wide and locked onto Lauren. What? What was wrong?

Panicking, Lauren turned around and glanced at herself in the mirror. Shit. Fuck. Her horns were growing to their full length, sprouting out from under her bangs, and her skin was visibly covered in scales and getting pinker by the second. What was happening?? This never happened without her express intent before!

The attendant made to run away, maybe start screaming, but Lauren, with reflexes faster than she knew she had, grabbed her and pulled into the changing room. “You won’t make a damn sound, and you’ll stay right here,” she commanded. 

The woman’s mouth stayed shut, though it was clear from her posture and how she kept glancing behind her that she was utterly terrified. Lauren reached behind her and pulled the curtain shut, leaving them in privacy.

Fuck. This wasn’t ever supposed to happen! Lauren was supposed to be in control! How did her true form just slip out? And in front of a stranger, no less?

The attendant was still trembling in front of her, and it occurred to Lauren suddenly that this woman knew who she was, and was now trapped in this changing room with her. Lauren could take her, do whatever she wanted with her, and erase her memories once she was done. No one would see, and no one would know. 

An aching, burning sensation filled Lauren’s stomach and traveled lower. Her horns reached their full length, curling above her head, and her skin was now fully pink and scaly. Her fingernails even seemed to be sharpening into claws. And as she stared at this woman—absently, she noted that her nametag read ALICE—the yearning, horny need inside of her only seemed to intensify, driving her forward. 

She wanted this, so much. To dominate. To take. 

Licking her lips, Lauren reached out and groped the woman’s chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, her breathing sharpening, but she couldn’t stop Lauren. Lauren’s pussy clenched as she continued to feel Alice up. God, her tits were huge, and they felt so good in Lauren’s hands, even through her top and bra. 

There were tears in Alice’s eyes. She was terrified. 

“This feels good,” Lauren commanded. She began to unbutton the woman’s top. “You like what I’m doing to you. You like it when women touch you.”

Alice’s eyes went wide, and she looked shocked, and whatever protest she wanted to make was stymied by both Lauren’s prior command and by the way Lauren shoved her bra up and exposed her tits. God, they looked delicious. 

Lauren dove in, taking a nipple in her mouth and sucking on it. She played with it with her tongue, and nipped at it with her teeth. Alice was forced to take it, though it was obvious from her extreme blush that she was deeply, deeply aroused. Probably also still scared, what with those tears streaming down her cheeks. Lauren had enhanced her pleasure, but hadn’t suppressed her terror.

Should she? She could, right now. She could completely warp this woman’s mind so that she loved every second of this, craved it, with no complications and no hangups. She could turn her into her personal bitch, waiting hand and foot to do Lauren’s bidding. She could—

A cold sensation of clarity suddenly slammed into Lauren. She pulled herself away, and with great effort mentally commanded her body to return to its human form. This was horrible. She’d just violated this woman! Completely and utterly, with no justification other than her own insufferable libido. At least with Charlotte there had been an element of revenge involved. But this… this was undeniably awful. 

This wasn’t her. She wasn’t supposed to be like this. How could she have let it get this far?

“F- Fix your clothes,” she commanded the woman, who began to do so. “When you leave this changing room, you’ll have no recollection of what I just did to you.”

Lauren glanced in the mirror, and confirmed that she didn’t look out of sorts. She reached up, wiping the tears off the woman’s cheeks, and then turned her around and pushed her out of the changing room.

Alice took a stumbling step, then looked visibly confused. “What was I…”

“You were asking me how I was finding everything,” Lauren said, and gestured to the clothes on her arm. “I’d like to buy these.”

Alice still seemed a bit off-kilter, but she put on a customer service smile and guided Lauren to the checkout. Lauren purchased the clothes, thanked her, and quickly legged it out of the store. 

Fuck. What was that? That wasn’t like her at all. How had she simply let herself do that? All she needed to do was erase the woman’s memory, fix her appearance, and move on. She didn’t need to molest her! 

Lauren reached up and felt at her horns, such as they were. They were back down to just being nubs hidden behind her bangs, but they seemed longer than they were supposed to be, even in this dormant state. 

What the fuck was happening to her? 

~

Okay. Okay! Becka could be normal. She could absolutely be normal. It was just a normal day on a normal week, hanging out with her very normal friends. There was absolutely nothing different about this. No reason for her to freak out at all.

Joanna told a joke, and Natalie laughed, and Charlotte grinned, and Becka stared at that grin for a completely normal amount of time. Because Becka was, as she established, normal.

God, why the fuck was this getting in her head so bad?

Charlotte was a lesbian. Big deal! Loads of women were lesbians! It didn’t mean anything. And sure, Becka still felt like shit about the fact that she’d bullied countless girls at school on the premise that they were secret pervert dykes, but she was vowing to stop that, for Charlotte’s sake. And Charlotte clearly didn’t hold it against her anyway. 

So what was the problem? The school day went on, and Becka did her best to focus on schoolwork, and on her friends, and yes, on making fun of the school losers and virgins, but without fail her mind always came back to Charlotte. It was intrusive. Her brain kept reminding her of what Charlotte was, of what she’d always been, all this time. It recontextualized so many moments in their childhoods. Little comments Charlotte had made, and times where she’d been staring at a girl across the way. 

And sometimes, before she could help herself, Becka would imagine Charlotte kissing a girl. See them, in her mind’s eye, pressed close, their hands all over each other, their lips pressed sloppily together, their tongues trading saliva, the sounds of their moans slipping out. And it made Becka’s heart pound in her chest. It filled her body with sensations she was not used to associating with her best friend, which was why she forced herself to shut down those thoughts as quickly as she could.

The four of them were standing around Charlotte’s car, vaping and chatting, and Becka was forcing herself to look anywhere but at her best friend. She wasn’t sure why her brain kept spinning out of control about this, but she knew that none of it mattered. Only her friendship with Charlotte did. So she kept it all locked away, so none of them, least of all Charlotte, would ever find out.

“Soooo…” Natalie began. “I know that last time I brought up the idea of us going to a party it didn’t exactly go great, but…”

“It’s okay, Nat,” Charlotte said. “We worked things out. Say what you wanna say.”

“Well, it’s just, my brother Elliot is throwing a party this Friday. I’ve been inviting a ton of people, cause it’s gonna be a big event. Our parents are out of town and everything. And I, er… it would be really cool if you guys came.” 

All eyes turned to Charlotte, who had blown off the last party suggestion.

“God, you act like I’m gonna explode at the idea of going out.” Charlotte smiled and ruffled Natalie’s hair. “Of course I’ll come. It’s important to you, right, Nat?”

Natalie nodded sheepishly.

“Then I’m going. I’ll even dress up.”

Dress up. Dress up to impress girls, right? Because she didn’t care about guys anymore, that was for certain. So she’d be trying to catch the attention of girls, right? Maybe grinding up against one on the dance floor?

Shut up Becka, jesus!

“Awesome!” Natalie exclaimed. “And the rest of you are coming too, right?”

“Absolutely,” Joanna said with an easy grin. “I’d never miss a party at your place.”

Becka didn’t trust herself to open her mouth, so she just nodded. She wasn’t sure why, but the idea of going to a party full of horny teenagers and alcohol and music made her heart thunder, and it had everything to do with the girl next to her.

The days leading up to the party involved a whole lot of Becka going through her closet and trying on a million different outfits. She needed to look her best. She needed to knock it out of the park. She needed to dazzle, to stun everyone who set eyes on her. Because this was important. Maybe the most important night of her high school career.

Why was this so important again?

In the end, nothing satisfied her. All of the outfits she threw together were combinations that Charlotte had seen before. They wouldn’t impress her. So, Becka went out by herself to pick out a brand new outfit, scouring all of her favourite high-end department stores for something that would be just right. It was a bit odd, to be doing this alone. Normally she at least had one friend at her side when she went shopping, but for some reason she didn’t want anyone to know just how much a simple outfit meant to her. 

Finally, she selected a dress that was perfect—even a little slutty—and combined it with some dark tights and a pair of striking heels. Becka grinned at herself as she tried it on in the mirror. This was perfect. She looked perfect. 

Friday finally arrived. Natalie headed off early to set up the party, but Becka, Joanna, and Charlotte went to Joanna’s house to do their makeup and change. In a strange, impulsive moment, Becka offered to do Charlotte’s makeup, but Charlotte refused, and Becka’s stomach twisted in on itself. 

And then, the outfits. Joanna wore a sexy black off-the-shoulder top, cropped high enough to expose a sliver of her stomach, along with some high-waisted short shorts. Charlotte herself was a smokeshow, as always, wearing a gorgeous dark red dress with her regular pink jacket. Clearly she wasn’t dressing up to the nines like Becka was, but she didn’t need to—she was effortlessly beautiful, and Becka couldn’t keep her eyes off her. 

And then, Becka stepped into the room, dressed in her tights and her heels and her navy blue dress with a hem just a little bit too high and a tasteful stretch of lace that ran up from where the dress cupped her boobs to encircle her neck. Combined with her makeup, which was heavy and striking, Becka looked like she was ready to break hearts. 

And god, did she savour every second of Charlotte’s reaction. As soon as she’d stepped into the room, Charlotte’s eyes were locked onto her. She stared at Becka’s tits for a solid few seconds before wrenching her eyes away, her face flushed, and making a muted comment about how she looked good. Becka couldn’t resist the grin that spread across her lips. There was something that was just so thrilling about seeing Charlotte be utterly undone by her outfit. Knowing that Becka was the one to provoke that reaction. 

Joanna told Becka she looked amazing, and then informed the two of them that it was time for them to head to the party. They all hopped into Joanna’s car and drove off, with Joanna carrying a lot of the conversation. Charlotte stayed quiet, and though Becka bantered with Joanna, she was unable to stop herself from stealing glances at Charlotte up in the passenger’s seat. 

At last, they arrived at Natalie’s house. Even here, parked on the street, they could hear the pounding of the bass. The three of them walked up to the party and strode inside, where Natalie greeted them.

“Hey guys!” she exclaimed, running over to hug both Becka and Joanna at once. Once she stepped back, Becka could look her over: she was wearing a cute, stylish blue dress and a nice mauve cardigan to go with it. “I’m so glad you made it! Welcome; over there’s the snack bar, and over there’s the dance floor. Feel free to mingle!”

“T- Thanks, Nat,” Joanna stammered.

“Come on, Charlotte!” Becka looped her arm around Charlotte’s and towed her off down the hallway. As she went, her eyes were on a swivel, scoping out the party and getting a feel for it. She definitely recognized a ton of people here, but a lot of them were older, too. Elliot’s friends, probably. She was a bit surprised that he was allowing high schoolers to crash his party, but she had heard that Elliot and Natalie had a good relationship. 

“Hey—Becka, where are we going?” Charlotte finally managed.

“Dunno. Just wanted to scope out the place with you. Hey, Lauren isn’t going to be coming to this one, is she?”

Charlotte shook her head. “Not this time, apparently.”

“Good!”

“Look, Bec, I know you don’t like her, but—”

“Shush. Come on, let’s go get our drink on! It’s like, basically criminal to be at a party and not be at least tipsy.”

Charlotte sighed, but relented with a fond smile that made Becka’s grow larger. The two grabbed some shots, slamming them back. Becka shivered as the burning sensation filled her chest. Distantly, Becka noted the DJ saying something to hype up the crowd before putting on a song with a solid beat. 

“Come on, Charlotte! Let’s dance!”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “No, Bec. I’m not gonna embarrass myself by trying to dance.”

“Boo. You think any of the people around us are professional dancers? Who cares! Just let loose! Isn’t that a part of the fun of being at a party?”

“Maybe for other people. But I—”

“Come onnnn,” Becka said, and towed her by her hands towards the dance floor. Charlotte’s face went red as she was suddenly surrounded by partiers drunkenly dancing, but Becka’s grin successfully pulled a laugh out of her. The two of them then started to dance, and yeah, Charlotte didn’t really know what she was doing, but that didn’t matter. As soon as she stopped caring, all the anxiety left  her body, and she looked beautiful. Radiant. 

There was a press of bodies against them. The song had reached a slower tempo, and now Becka was stumbling up against Charlotte. Her hand briefly braced on Charlotte’s hip, and the other girl blushed and laughed and then danced in such a way that it forced Becka’s hand off. Becka bit her lip, and went back to dancing, but fuck—for a moment there, she really just wanted to grind up against Charlotte. 

~

Was it just her, or was Becka really touchy tonight?

Charlotte was rapidly realizing she wasn’t much of a party person. Ever since she let herself be honest, it became clear to her that the only reason she went to parties was because it was expected of a popular girl like her. But tonight was important. Tonight was for Natalie. So she’d come. And she’d even let Becka pull her around to wherever the girl wanted to go. 

But, fuck, this was weird, right? Becka kept grabbing her by the arm, by the hands, by the wrist. She kept leaning against her. And now, they were dancing, and Becka kept bumping up against her at every opportunity. Why? What the hell was going on? Charlotte wracked her brain but she couldn’t come up with an instance of Becka being quite this glued to her in their shared past.

The song switched, into something with a low bass and a steady beat and a sensual melody. Charlotte felt her heart leap into her throat. This tune… this was meant for horny, drunk teenagers to touch each other to, to grind up against each other. And that meant Charlotte had to get out. Because she was gay, and she didn’t want some guy getting frisky with her, and more than that she didn’t want to know what Becka might do with a song like this playing.

She slipped out of the throng of people, and Becka called out her protests behind her, but Charlotte didn’t stop. She continued, until she’d reached the snack bar, with Becka on her heels.

“What was that??” Becka exclaimed, hands on her hips. God, why did she have to wear something like this tonight? Every time Charlotte tried to keep her head clear, her eyes were drawn to the vast expanse of leg exposed by Becka’s short dress.

“I was just getting suffocated, okay? I needed a break.” 

Becka looked like she wanted to protest some more, but sighed, relented, and grabbed some snacks of her own. Charlotte’s tension released a bit. They could be normal. They were normal, weren’t they? Just two friends at a party, snacking and drinking. No big thing. 

But shit, maybe she needed to be a bit more drunk if this was how the night was gonna go. 

“Hey guys!” 

The two of them turned to see Joanna wandering over, a drink in hand. Charlotte waved, as did Becka.

“Hey, girl!” Becka said. “Getting your buzz on, eh?”

“You know it,” Joanna said with a grin.

“I’m surprised you’re not with Natalie,” Charlotte noted, then inhaled sharply. She shouldn’t have implied that, should she have? 

“Oh, yeah,” Joanna said, and her expression dimmed a bit. “Well, she’s busy with organizing the party and keeping everyone from destroying the place. So, I’ve been giving her some space. I’m just happy to be here for her, and to get some free booze.” She held up a bottle. “Speaking of, grab some solo cups! Let’s get fucked up!”

Becka cheered, and Charlotte managed a half-hearted cheer of her own, as Joanna poured them some drink. The plastic cups bumped mutely against each other in a cheers, and each of them took a hearty gulp. Charlotte enjoyed the tingling buzz that flooded through her as the alcohol did its thing. This was a night she didn’t want to be sober for. 

Joanna and Becka began to chat, about this and that, and Charlotte tuned out, simply letting herself bob faintly to the music while her eyes idly scanned the party. She kept expecting Lauren to show up, in blatant defiance of all established social conventions, but for some reason she’d decided to dip out of this one. What was the occasion? It wasn’t like her father was around enough to catch Lauren in some family outing. Maybe she was sick. Could succubi get sick?

Charlotte’s train of thought immediately halted as she laid eyes on Natalie Hempe making out with Kyle Decker up against the far wall. His hands were looped around Natalie’s waist, and her hands were tangled up in his hair. As far as Charlotte knew, those two had hardly spoken at all ever, yet here they were, trading spit. 

“Uh… Joanna?” Becka said, pulling Charlotte’s attention briefly away. 

Joanna was stock still, her knuckles white around the head of the bottle. Charlotte felt her heart sink as she traced Joanna’s gaze back to Natalie, french kissing some guy. That was the last thing Joanna needed to see tonight. 

“I’m… gonna get some air,” Joanna managed, stumbling away. 

Becka stared at her as she went. “What was that about?”

Charlotte sighed. “She has a crush on her, Bec.”

Becka’s eyes widened. “What? Really? On Nat??”

Charlotte nodded gravely.

“Well… Shit. That’s gotta be a kick in the ovaries. Think we should go after her?”

“No… Joanna prefers being alone during moments like this. Remember when her grandma died? She wouldn’t let anyone come see her for like a week. And then she showed up on Monday feeling completely better.” I just… hope that this is similar. 

“Well, good,” Becka said, looping an arm around Charlotte’s. “I’d rather spend tonight doing things that feel good.”

Charlotte pulled her arm away, her heart pounding. “I’m not going back to dancing, if that’s what you mean. I’ve had my fill of that for tonight.”

“Oh come on, Charlotte! I didn’t even get to—” Becka cut herself off.

“…Get to what?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

God, what the fuck was happening? This wasn’t good. Maybe Charlotte should take a cue from Joanna and just head home early. Whatever was going on with Becka was going to kill her by the end of the night.

And fuck. Her drink was empty, and Joanna had taken her bottle with her. The music changed to something faster and louder, and it made Charlotte feel like she was going to throw up. 

“I need to—fuck.”

“Charlotte?” Becka placed a concerned hand on her arm.

Charlotte flinched away, and began to drunkenly shamble away from the dance floor. “Music is—way too much,” she said by way of explanation. Becka was also being too much, but Charlotte didn’t need to tell her that. She could just leave her there to enjoy herself on the dance floor, and Charlotte could have a moment of peace and quiet, and maybe she could track down one of the stoners and take the edge off of tonight. 

She stumbled down a hallway, and eventually found herself inside what looked to be a washing/drying room, small but thankfully empty, and the music now distant enough that it didn’t trigger her gag reflex. 

“You know, we could go outside, if you think some fresh air would help.”

Charlotte spun around to see, with unease, that Becka had followed her. “God, Bec, what are you doing here? I just needed a break. Go and—and enjoy getting drunk and dancing. Okay? You deserve it.”

Becka, disconcertingly, shut the door behind her. “I don’t care about getting drunk and dancing. I care about you.”

“You shouldn’t,” Charlotte muttered before she could stop herself.

Becka frowned, taking a step closer. It made Charlotte back up, only to press against the drier. “Don’t say that, Charlotte. You’re a wonderful person, and I’m so lucky I get to be your friend.”

“What the hell could possibly be all that wonderful about me?”

“You’re funny,” Becka said, taking another step forward, “and strong, and fierce, and beautiful, and courageous, and a million other words! I love you, Charlotte Daniels. You can’t stop me from loving you.”

Charlotte’s heart thundered from its place caught in her throat. This wasn’t right. Becka shouldn’t be saying these things. “Y- You think I’m beautiful?” was what came out of her mouth when she opened it. Why the hell was that what she’d decided to focus on??

Becka just nodded, and reached out a hand, taking a loose lock of Charlotte’s hair and tucking it behind her ear. “Extremely.”

Charlotte’s head felt like it was spinning, and her heart was thundering way above the healthy limit, but none of that mattered right now. Her eyes dropped, lingering on the tantalizing curve of Becka’s lips. 

No. No. This isn’t right.

“Bec…” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say.

“Charlie,” Becka whispered. Her gaze was intense. Her eyes focused on Charlotte’s, like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered. 

And then, before Charlotte could react, Becka had leaned forward to kiss her.