Be a girl

It was reasonably simple to convince mum to allow me to go suit shopping with dad. Convincing her to let us bring James along was much more challenging though. She did not see any reason why James needed to come with us, but she thankfully relented and allowed him to come after some convincing from dad. It wasn’t like the trip was going to take very long in the grand scheme of things, only a few hours. She’d live.

We caught the bus together into the city, and found the closest men’s formalwear store. Looking at all the available suits, none of them really interested me. Unsurprising. I didn’t care for suits in the slightest – so bland and uninteresting. But what else could I wear to a formal?

Dad pulled out one that he liked, and held it up to me, checking both whether it was roughly the correct size, and whether I liked it. It wasn’t very interesting; just a navy blazer with matching suit pants, to be worn with a white button-up shirt underneath. I forced a smile, pretending as though I liked his choice. He immediately frowned.

“It’s not too late back out,” he said, “We don’t have to do this.”

“It’s fine,” I lied, “I need a suit anyway.” I thought about how I would not only need a suit for the upcoming formal to which Claire invited me, but also for my graduation at the end of the year. Really, this was a future investment.

“But do you want one?”

Well, no, but I couldn’t very well tell him that. But I did need one, and I’d dragged him all the way here, so we might as well get one now. “I need a suit,” I repeated flatly.

“That’s not what I…” he said, exasperated. He sighed and shook his head. “You know what, fine. We’re already here. We’ll just get you a suit.”

I nodded, and grabbed the suit he was holding. I quickly made my way to the changing rooms and tried it on. It fit ok; well enough at least. I didn’t really care for how it looked, but that was hardly a shock. I didn’t spend too much time viewing myself in the mirror. I exited the changing room to show off the fit to my father and brother.

Dad held out a tie for me – plain red, nothing too fancy – and urged me to put it on. I stared blankly at it in his outstretched hand, unwilling to take it. Not only because I hated those accursed things – always making me feel on the verge of choking – but also because I had no idea how to tie them.

Noticing my hesitancy, dad shook his head and muttered something about how I should have learnt how to tie a tie after several years of wearing one at school. Of course, what he had failed to take into account was that I merely loosened the knot whenever I took off my tie, to make it easier to put it back on the next day. Why would I bother retying my tie every day?

Dad wrapped the tie around his neck and tied it up for me in mere seconds, making it look easy. He then pulled it off and handed it to me to put on. I looked at myself in the mirror once again with disinterest, taking care to avoid looking at my ugly face. I sure was wearing a suit and tie.

Satisfied that this would suffice, I told dad that I’d go with this one. Sure, it was the first one he’d picked out, but trying on more attire which I had no real interest in wearing was not my idea of a good time.

“Is that it?” James said, disappointed that we were done so soon.

“Seems like it,” dad replied.

James sighed. “I wanted to spend more time away from mum…” Poor kid.

“I know dude, I know,” dad said. “How ‘bout we go grab a bite to eat before heading back?”

“Alright.”

***

Upon returning to school on Monday, I informed Claire that I had a suit ready for the weekend. She smiled and thanked me again for agreeing to help her with this, especially on such short notice. She explained that she herself hadn’t been given much notice either, and had scrambled to find an outfit of her own over the weekend. I quashed a sudden pang of envy, knowing that she had gone dress shopping, when that was a distinct impossibility for me.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I was nervous, of course, for the upcoming event, but I did my best to distract myself from it all. Playing games with Claire and Oscar after school helped immensely in that regard. Dad was still quite unsure of my idea, which I gathered from how uneasy he acted around me throughout the week, though he didn’t say anything that clearly indicated his disapproval. He just gave me a few too many worried glances.

Finally, the day of the formal arrived. There were only a few hours between the end of school on Friday and the start of the formal, but it didn’t take me long to get ready. I simply showered, combed my messy hair into something looking at least somewhat presentable, then donned the suit. Dad wished me good luck for the night as he dropped me off at Claire’s. He was still worried for me, but there wasn’t much I could do to reassure him that I would be fine.

To my surprise, Claire was still wearing casual attire when she answered the door: a plain shirt and some jeans. Hardly appropriate for a formal, but I figured she simply hadn’t yet taken the time to get ready. Highly unusual for girls, but I reminded myself that she’d only been a girl for a couple months at this point. It was still surprising, however.

“I’m surprised you’re not already dressed up,” I commented as I entered my friend’s home.

“Hmm? Oh, I’ll be getting dressed up at the venue,” she replied cheerfully. “I’m getting turned into a boy first, remember?”

Oh, right. I supposed that made sense. After all, she’d lost over half a foot in height when I’d transformed her, so she’d likely regain that when her friend transformed her back. Whatever outfit she had picked out for the night likely wouldn’t fit her, and I suspected she didn’t want it damaged before the event had really begun.

Out of a plastic bag resting by the doorway she pulled an elegant, sleeveless dress in a deep green, and showed it off against her body with a beaming grin. The colour complemented her features well, and I was sure that the dress would look much nicer once she was wearing it. It was surprisingly long, going all the way down to her ankles, which had me curious as to how she managed to procure it; she was unusually tall for a woman after all. Having proudly shown off her beautiful dress, she carefully folded it back up and placed it back into the bag.

As she put the bag back down by the doorway, I noticed another bag hanging off a nearby hook: a suit bag, similar to my own. “What’s that for?” I asked curiously, pointing at it.

“Oh! That’s my friend’s suit,” she answered with a smile, “His mum’s forcing him to wear a dress to the venue, but there’s nothing stopping him from changing once we’re there. Just don’t tell his mum.” She winked and shot me a cheeky smirk as she finished speaking.

“I see,” I said.

We headed further inside the house while we waited for Emily – our chauffeur for the night – to “get her shit together” as Claire put it. The nerves present between the two of us were enough to be felt within the air itself. It was somewhat unusual seeing my friend so anxious, but that was to be expected. It thankfully didn’t take too long before Emily was ready, and we soon headed off to the formal.

Before getting into Emily’s car, Claire moved the passenger seat as far forward as it would go, then sat down in the backseat behind it. I wouldn’t have minded if she sat in the front seat, while I sat alone in the backseat, but she seemed determined to sit next to me. I didn’t say anything. It was a nice gesture.

“This has gotta be one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard,” Emily noted as she clicked her seatbelt into place.

“Well, what would you suggest then?” Claire griped.

Her sister shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you could have found a guy willing to help you get in?”

“And how would I have done that?” Claire said accusatorily, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Beats me. Ok, what about if your date wears his suit while you pretend to be the one that goes to his school instead?”

“Yeah, like that’d work,” Claire scoffed.

“Whatever. It’s your stupid idea anyway,” Emily shrugged again, starting the car, and pulling out onto the road.

“So, how did you meet this guy anyway?” I asked curiously.

“Kinda just bumped into him one day,” Claire chuckled.

“Literally,” Emily added.

Claire ignored her. “He asked me for my number, we started texting each other, and things went from there. He seemed nice.”

“What’s he like?” I didn’t know much about him at this point, and I was intrigued to at least know a little before I met him. I’d need to convince him to change my brother and father back to normal, so that kind of information could prove useful.

“Well, he’s very headstrong for one. He doesn’t give up easily. And he’s protective of the people he cares about. He’s also really sporty and loves soccer. We actually played against each other a few weeks ago, funnily enough. That’s how Rachel met him. He kinda reminds me of her, come to think of it.”

“You forgot something,” Emily interjected.

“What’s that?”

“He’s cute.”

“Oh my god Emily, shut up, not this again,” Claire said, exasperated. That got me curious as to what they were talking about, though I didn’t interrupt them.

“That boy is so obviously into you,” Emily snickered. Oh. I was suddenly no longer interested in this conversation.

Claire rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, shut up! We’re friends!” She huffed and angrily faced away from her sister.

“Keep telling yourself that.”

I was glad to keep out of that conversation.

We arrived at our destination shortly. Finding a carpark would have been impossible given the location – the Convention Centre – so Emily simply dropped the two of us off. I stared up at the enormous building, wondering what kind of school Claire’s friend attended that could afford to hire such a venue. Some posh private school that cost thousands of dollars per year in tuition no doubt.

Claire slung the suit bag over her shoulder as she exited the vehicle, holding onto it by the hook of the clothes hanger, and asked me to hold her dress for her. I was surprised when she directed us inside the venue through the front door. I had assumed we would meet up with her friend in a secluded area, away from prying eyes, so that he could transform her before we went inside.

The crowd was overwhelming, with hundreds of teenagers in formalwear roaming around and chatting inside the foyer. Two trestle tables stood near a set of large double doors, each with a short queue of teenagers lined up and waiting to be allowed entry to the hall. I took a deep breath to steel myself, trying my best to tune out the raucous cacophony of the crowd. It was loud, overwhelmingly so, but I was doing this for my friend, and my dad and brother. I could survive. Though in hindsight I probably should have brought some earplugs to help smother the noise.

Claire scanned the crowd intently, looking for her friend. Meanwhile, I simply surveyed everyone, admiring the pretty dresses all the girls were wearing. There was such a wide variety. A stark contrast to the boys, who all wore similar looking suits with minor colour variations. The only distinct differences were the ties, which I had to admit were quite diverse.

“What the fuck is he doing here!?” called a voice from the swarm of teenagers mingling about. Whomever it belonged to did not sound pleased. Having caught my attention, I turned to face its source.

Approaching Claire and me were two girls, all dressed up in fancy, though fairly conservative, formal dresses. They both looked very similar, with shortish brown hair that had definitely been professionally styled. They appeared to be around the same height, though one was ever so slightly taller. Their makeup also seemed to have been professionally done. While their dresses were different styles, they’d clearly been chosen to complement each other, as though they were part of a matching set.

The slightly shorter one was furious, and her rage frightened me. She stormed over to Claire and me, with the other trailing not too far behind. As they both approached, the similarities between the two made me wonder if they were twins. Their overall face shapes were alike, and so were their builds. Both looked quite athletic and muscular.

And then it struck me. The irate one was awfully familiar to me, and it didn’t take long to deduce exactly who it was. It was a face I could never forget, even if it was all done up in fancy makeup. A face which had changed slightly since the days we both went to the same school, where I was subjected to torment day in and day out. A face which I never wanted to see ever again.

Jesse.

What the fuck was he doing here!?