Ester didn’t say much on Sunday. After the disaster of the night before, she didn’t really want to confront Stephanie or Isaac or April. She didn’t even want to meet up with Duela like they’d planned to do. So instead Ester huddled up in her room with her laptop and tried her best to forget she even existed.

She hadn’t even gotten dressed. Ester was still in her pajamas from the night before, and she’d been sweating from her nightmares. They weren’t as bad anymore. She couldn’t help but be a little grateful, even though it meant that the curse was almost over and she’d be stuck like a girl forever.

“One more day?” she asked herself, squeezing her legs together, “Two? Three?”

Hunger pain rippled through Ester’s stomach. She hadn’t eaten yet today. Ester picked up a shirt and sniffed it, then retched. It was time to do laundry. Everything was piled into her hamper and Ester finally opened the door.

“Hello, honey,” Stephanie cooed from the kitchen, “How are you feeling?”

“Just a little hungry,” she mumbled, then gestured at the laundry in her arms, “Gonna throw this in the wash.”

She trudged upstairs, but grimaced when she saw that April’s door was ajar. Ester tried to keep her eyes down as she passed. Part of her really expected to hear April call out to her.

For a moment, she glanced up, and her eyes briefly caught sight of April watching her in the mirror of her vanity.

Ester dropped her clothes into the machine and sighed. She wondered what she was going to eat. Would Stephanie make something for her?

Her train of thought was broken when she passed by April’s room again and glanced inside. April was in there, lying in bed with her face pressed into a pillow. Even though she was trying to be quiet, Ester could see that she was shaking from sobs.

Ester’s heart broke.

“What am I doing?” she asked herself, descending the steps slowly, “She’s still my friend. And I’ve barely been talking to her. Of course she’s miserable. And it’s my fault.”

When the got to the bottom of the stairs, Ester heard Stephanie call out, “I’m making fetuccine if you want to help.”

“Maybe next time,” Ester mumbled, returning to her room and closing the door.

Once she was alone, Ester pulled out her laptop and navigated her way back to the website. Two of the members of her little gender council were online. She messaged them both quickly, asking if they could set up a call. They both obliged.

“What’s going on, Ester?” Zora asked when she picked up.

“Is everything alright?” Tara asked.

“Um… I need to tell you guys something, and can you promise me that you won’t tell anyone?”

“Sure,” Zora said slowly.

“Of course,” Tara replied instantly.

“There’s something about the curse I didn’t tell everyone. I know how to break it, but it involved hurting someone close to me.”

Ester went into detail about what the curse entailed and how she didn’t want April to blame herself. They listened quietly while she explained how hard it was to talk to April now and how it was hurting her anyway. When she was finished, Ester fell silent and waited for them to cast judgment.

“That’s rough,” Zora said.

“I can’t believe that you’re going through so much all at once,” Tara added, “No wonder you had to curate what you were sharing.”

“What are you going to do?” Zora asked.

“I don’t know.”

Things fell silent for a moment, then Tara said, “I understand why you don’t want to break the curse, even if it’s not really about you. That’s a very selfless thing to put someone else’s needs first.”

“Is it?” Zora asked, “She needs to take care of herself, doesn’t she? Clearly not breaking the curse is hurting her and her friend.”

“But it’s not hurting her as much as seeing her friend blame herself.”

“It isn’t good for her to hide the truth,” Zora insisted.

“Please stop fighting over me!” Ester cried.

“You said the curse was almost finished?” Tara asked.

“Yes, I can feel it winding down. Soon it won’t matter what I do.”

“Then you have to make a decision now,” Zora told her, “And you need to ask yourself if you can live with this.”

“And what if I can’t?”

“Then you have your answer, Ester,” Zora replied.

Tara interrupted, “Do you want her to recant the wish?”

“Yes,” Ester insisted, “I need to know that I matter more than just being a piece of someone else’s life.”

“Do you think she’ll recant it if you ask?”

“Absolutely.”

“And if you don’t ask,” Tara continued, “then will it destroy your relationship with her anyway?”

“…I guess.”

“Then I have to agree with Zora,” she said, “The best thing for you to do is tell her the truth. Even if she feels a little bit of pain now, it’s better than seeing your friendship with her poisoned slowly.”

“Alright…”

Zora asked, “Are you going to be okay?”

“I think so. Thanks, girls.”

“Be strong, Ester,” Zora whispered.

“Maybe this is selfish to say,” Tara added, “But I hope that you’re still a girl when you break the curse.”

“Honestly? So do I.”

They bid their goodbyes and ended the call. For a minute, Ester sat alone in silence. What was she supposed to say to April? Did she have the strength do to this? Either way, she seemed destined to lose April as a sister.

Then Ester heard a knock on the door and Stephanie told her that dinner was ready.

Ester got dressed and sat across from April. She spent the meal staring down at her food. April’s eyes were dry, but a little puffy. She didn’t want to look directly at Ester either.

“Are you feeling better?” Isaac asked Ester softly.

“Yeah, I was just real emotional last night,” Ester said, forcing herself to chuckle, “But I’m going to be okay.”

Isaac frowned, though. He exchanged a glance with Stephanie. It was clear that neither of them actually believed her. Ester tried to smile and returned her attention to her meal.

Briefly, she glanced up at April, who locked eyes with her.

“Hi…” she mumbled.

Ester grunted in reply.

She finished her meal first, but she didn’t excuse herself. Ester waited, occasionally answering questions with one-word responses. April finally finished eating. Ester followed her into the kitchen and started rinsing off her plate.

April’s expression was pained, and she didn’t want to look directly at Ester.

“Can we talk?” Ester asked.

April’s jaw clenched, but she nodded.

“In your room?” Ester added.

April glanced over, confusion in her eyes.

“I guess so,” she said, shrugging.

Ester followed her upstairs slowly. She was full but her stomach was turning over and over. What was she supposed to say?

April closed the door once they were both inside and sat down on the bed. After a moment of wringing her hands, Ester followed her lead. They were both quiet for a few moments.

“What did you want to talk about?” April asked.

“Well, you see… you know how I’m… I mean the curse is almost…” She took a deep breath. “In another day or two, the curse is going to be finished and I’ll never be able to break it.”

“I’m sorry, Ester,” April said, wrapping her in a brief hug, “I know that you were so disappointed when the doctor said there wouldn’t be time.”

“Yeah, I know. And I’m sorry that I’ve been such a jerk lately.”

“It’s okay. We’ll get through this, I promise. You and me. Sisters, right?”

Ester didn’t respond.

“So what did you want to tell me?” April asked again.

Ester sighed.

“God, why is this so hard?” she asked.

“What’s the problem?”

“I’m trying to tell you—” But she couldn’t get it out. “We can’t be sisters.”

“What?!” April cried, “Why not?”

“Because… just because, alright?”

“No, it’s not alright. What’s going on, Ester? Really? Tell me. I get that you’re depressed, but you’ve been stuck like this all week and won’t accept any help. Why are you trying so hard to avoid me when I want to be part of your life?”

“Because I don’t want you to own me!” Ester cried, standing up.

“What are you talking about?!”

Ester took a deep breath, then admitted, “I lied.”

“About what?”

April stood up too and tried to take Ester’s hands in her own, but Ester pulled away.

“There is time to break the curse,” she admitted, “And I know exactly how.”

“You do?! That’s great! Right?”

Ester shook her head.

“The only way to break the curse… is if… the person who made the wish in the first place recants it.”

April blinked in confusion. Then she took a sharp breath as comprehension dawned on her. Finally, her legs gave out and she fell onto the bed.

“No…”

Ester closed her eyes and nodded as tears streaked down her cheeks.

“That’s not… it can’t… oh my God, that’s why you were so awkward about it… oh shit. Shit! Shit!”

Then April shook her head and said, “That can’t be true. Tell me I’m wrong, Ester.”

“No, that’s the truth,” Ester replied, shaking her head.

“Bullshit! I can’t… it can’t be my fault.”

Ester opened her eyes and April was pulling at her hair.

She mumbled, “I didn’t mean… I didn’t want… how?!”

“Faery magic,” Ester replied quietly, “It wasn’t your fault. There’s no way you could have known.”

“But it is my fault!” April cried, standing up, “I made the wish! I wanted a sister so bad… I didn’t want this.”

“April, it’s okay,” Ester lied, grabbing onto her arm softly.

“No, it’s not!”

April pulled away and started pacing around the room.

“What do I have to do?” she asked, “What do I have to say? How do I fix this?” Before Ester could respond, she cried out, “I take it back! I don’t want this. I don’t wish for a sister. I want everything to go back to normal!”

She threw herself onto the bed and buried her head into her pillow. Ester stood there, her mouth dry, absolutely still. April was sobbing. Ester didn’t move to comfort her.

A weight had fallen off of her shoulders.

“Go!” April cried between sobs, “Go back to your old life, Eli. Just leave me alone. I’m sorry!”

Ester stood still for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room.

Downstairs, she saw that Stephanie and Isaac were in the backyard. They hadn’t hear a thing. Good.

Once she was back in the guest room, Ester pulled out her backpack and slipped her laptop in there. She opened the drawers and pulled out her clothes—underwear, pants, shirts, a couple of bras, whatever would fit in there. Maybe she wouldn’t need them in the morning, or maybe she’d still be a girl and she would. Either way, they were hers now and she wanted to take whatever she could fit in her backpack.

Then Ester picked up her phone and blocked April, Stephanie, and Isaac’s numbers. She put the phone on silent and slipped it into her backpack. Finally, Ester put her shoes on and walked out of the room.

“Goodbye,” she told the house.

She stood with her hand on the doorknob for a few moments. But ready or not: her time in this home was over. Even if breaking the spell somehow didn’t make them realize they didn’t really love her, April wanted nothing more to do with Ester. She wasn’t welcome here.

So Ester opened the door and walked out into the late evening.