Chapter 12: Peter and Heather Transform
Wednesday.
Peter had spent the last two days in bed, even missing crew practice the day before. After I shaved and got dressed, I pulled the blankets off his bed and told him he had to get up or I would get the entire swim team over here to tease him, including Heather.
"Fuck you, Ward," he grumped.
"Fine," I said, "but I won't tell you what Molly has planned to get Heather to see your point of view."
"Heather?" he muttered, "What?"
"I'll let you know at lunchtime . . . in the dining hall," I said to entice him.
"Okay, I'll get up," he relented.
"You need to be shaved and showered," I told him.
"Yes mother," he said sarcastically as I left.
Molly and I had arranged to meet up for breakfast to go over our planning for giving Peter and Heather the gender changing potions we made. Mornings were the perfect time for making plans. Very few students were up or bothered to go for breakfast, so it was easy to find a table in the corner someplace where we could talk in private.
"I'll bring Heather over at 6, you should bring the pizzas at that time," Molly instructed.
"Do you know how long it takes for the potions to take effect?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," she replied, "You know, I was thinking about that. We should note the time so we can have a good idea when they start to change back."
"I can't believe we've gotten this far with this crazy idea of yours," I remarked.
"Agnes said they'd fall asleep just before they start to change," Molly informed me, "We need to hang around so we can switch their clothes and reintroduce them with their names. Since they're going to think they're still themselves, otherwise."
"That makes sense," I said, "But what about after 12 hours when they start to change back? What are we going to do then?"
"I'm not sure," Molly replied, "Maybe I can get a hold of Agnes and see if she has any ideas. Or I could call Morgana and see if she could come in tomorrow morning. At least we have Samantha Potts nearby in case of an emergency."
"I'll trust you, Molly," I said, "I never thought we'd get this far. We might just pull this off, at least I hope so."
"Of course we'll pull this off," she said optimistically, "After all, we make a great team. Oh, before I forget, I won't be able to meet you for lunch. I'm going into town to find some fancy containers for the potions."
"That's fine," I replied, "I told Peter to meet me here for lunch so I could tell him what you're up to. I'm only going to tell him about the pizza party. It was the only way I could get him out of bed. I'm not going to tell him what time until after rowing practice."
Aside from the times I was in the lab or in class, I spent most of the day worrying about what could go wrong and how we could prevent or fix it. Fortunately, Peter made it to lunch and to rowing practice. His mood was better, but he was under the impression that Molly was only going to bring Heather around to his point of view. He had no idea what was in store for him.
We were back in our room by 5:30 and I had to go to pick up the pizza. That's when I told Peter that Molly and Heather would be here in half an hour. I suggested he clean up and try and put the closet door back on its hinges.
Of course, the pizza parlor was crowded. By the time I got back, I was 20 minutes late. Things were not going well. Heather was sitting on my bed and Peter was on his bed. Neither one wanted to say anything. Molly was in the middle, trying to get them to talk with each other. I put the pizzas down on the desk and turned to face Peter and Heather.
"Okay you two," I said, "Molly went through a lot of trouble to set this up. The least you can do is to make an effort to cooperate. Give her a chance to work her magic on you."
Maybe I need to work on my phrasing.
"Now, the first thing we need to do is to move the beds towards the center of the room so we can sit closer to each other," Molly said, urging Heather to stand up and help her move my bed.
"You too, Peter," I said as I pulled him off the bed.
Once that was done, I repositioned Heather and Peter, so they were both sitting on Peter's bed. Molly brought over one of the boxes of pizza and set it down on the bed between them, along with the extra napkins that I took from the pizza place.
I sat on my bed, while Molly brought the second pizza over and set it down on the bed between us. Peter was opening the box and was about to pick up a slice when Molly stopped him.
"I wanted tonight to be about rebuilding relationships," she announced, "and it starts here. Heather, I want you to serve Peter a slice of pizza and Peter, I want you to serve Heather."
Molly demonstrated by handing me a slice of pizza. I set it down on a napkin and then handed her a slice.
Peter folded his arms across his chest. "This is bullshit."
"Peter, Molly said this was a trust-building exercise," I explained. "Let's give her a chance."
Heather glowered at me.
"Who are you to tell me about trust-building? I can't even trust you to keep your mouth shut about my personal life."
"I am really sorry, Heather," I said sincerely, "I understand how you must feel about me, and I guess I deserve that. But I never meant to hurt you and I hope you can give me a chance to earn your trust again. I was only trying to find a way of getting the two of you back together again and to remind Peter how much you two enjoyed being together."
"And that's our goal tonight," Molly added, "By the end of the night, we want you guys to really enjoy being together."
Peter picked up a slice of pizza and started to eat it.
"Peter, you're supposed to serve Heather as a way of building trust," I reminded him.
"Let's just eat the pizza," he said, "I'm starved."
"Peter, if you want Heather to understand you better, you need to get her to trust you," Molly explained, "This is just the first step towards rebuilding that relationship."
"Don't waste your time, Molly," Heather interjected, "He only cares about himself."
"Fine," Peter grumbled, "Here's your slice."
He took another slice from the box and pushed it in her direction. He then went back to eating the slice that he already took out of the box.
"Now it's your turn to serve Peter," Molly said to Heather.
"But he already has a slice," Heather replied.
"Give him another one," I suggested, "I've seen him eat a whole pizza by himself."
We all ate quietly to ourselves. No one talked and the tension in the room was palpable. Molly was watching Peter and Heather carefully for some kind of opening, but it just wasn't happening. Heather was finishing her slice just as Peter was nearly finished with his second and before he could reach for this third slice, Molly stopped him.
"The next step is to feed each other," she said, "I'll feed Ward and Ward will feed me and you two feed each other."
I thought the whole idea was corny, but I went along with it, in hopes that Peter and Heather would pick up on it.
After Heather and Peter had taken a couple of bites from the slices held by the other, Peter was the first to give up. He allowed Heather two bites before he decided he didn't want to continue.
I looked over at Molly and saw a look of exasperation.
"How about we play a little drinking game while we eat?" she announced.
She pulled out four colored, ceramic bottles, each stoppered with a cork. She placed the pink bottle in front of Peter, the light blue bottle in front of Heather, the red bottle in front of me and the dark blue bottle in front of herself.
"Here's how the game works," she said. "Each of us is to ask the person sitting beside us a question. But the question has to be about something that only person of the same sex would know. So, that means that Peter and Ward would ask us girls questions that most guys could answer, and Heather and I would ask questions that most girls could answer. If you answer your question wrong, you have to drink the liquid in the bottle. Whoever drinks their liquid last wins the game."
"What's in the bottle?" Peter asked.
"It's a wine that my sister brought from Romania last year," she answered.
"Who wants to start?" Molly asked.
No one answered.
"I'll start," I volunteered, "Molly, what is the most sensitive part of a man's penis?"
"That's easy," she said, "it's the underside near the tip."
