Most people go through their lives not knowing what they really want. I've never had that problem and I've known what, or really I should say who, I want since I was 5. That person would be my best friend and it was love at first sight. He just... captivated me. It's been 11 years that we have been by each other's side and never once have my feelings wavered. I have no idea if he feels the same way as I do and I'm more than a little afraid to confess my feelings to him.

If you're curious how he captivated me, it was his smile. Of course, him being drop-dead gorgeous never hurt either. Trust me when I say that I could happily get lost in those brilliant blue eyes of his and I want to cuddle with him as I run my fingers through his shoulder-length blonde hair all day long. Other things as well, but we don't need to go into that.

Anyway, today is our last day of 10th grade and then it's summer vacation before we start our junior year of high school. I promised myself that I would finally confess my feelings to him once we got out of school this year. Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm Ethan Mitchell and my best friend is Aiden Wilson.

So, after the final bell rings for the day, Aiden and I head out and make our way home to play some games on his PS 9. You might remember it's the first console that is capable of multi-user full dive VR. We head upstairs to his room, set down our backpacks and take a seat.

Fidgeting nervously, I finally look up at him and ask, "Aiden?"

Still fiddling with the console, he distractedly murmurs, "Hmm?"

My heart is beating so fast I am sure it's going to come out my chest as I continue. "I have something to tell you, so please, don't freak out, alright?"

He looks up at me with a confused expression. "Why would I freak out?" I'm almost panicking and more than a little tongue-tied at the moment, so I simply sit there and look at him until he shakes his head and in exasperation demands, "Well? Are you going to tell me or not?"

I close my eyes and nod. Taking a deep breath, I gather my resolve to see this through just like I promised myself I would and I blurt out, "I-I like you!"

He chuckles and rolls his eyes. "I like you too, you moron."

I catch my breath as my eyes widen, and my heart flutters intensely, until I realize he means that he likes me as a friend. "No, damn it! Aiden, I'm in love with you!"

His surprised expression slowly transforms into a doleful stare and a moment later he shakes his head slightly as he replies, "I'm sorry, Ethan."

Inside I'm screaming, 'No, not that! Please, God, no!'

"I just don't feel that way about you. You're my best friend and always have been, but I don't feel that way about guys." I can almost hear the sound of my heart shattering as he sighs and picks up where he left off, "I've kind of always wished you were a girl. I mean, look at us, we get along so well and if you were a girl it would have made things perfect."

All of my strength abandons me and I did the only thing I was capable of at this moment, I buried my face in my hands and cried. My breath comes in short, labored gasps as I do. It only makes it that much worse when he slips his arm around my shoulders and quietly tells me, "I'm sorry bud. More sorry than you know, but I can't change who I am."

Unable to take it anymore, I surge to my feet and run for home as fast I can. Slamming the front door behind me, I run to my room. I throw myself on my bed and bury my face in the pillow as I sob.

Sometime later, I flip my wet pillow over, roll over, lay back down and think, 'What am I supposed to do now? Things will never be the same between us.' Sighing, I reach over, grab the remote and turn on the TV in an attempt to distract myself. I stare at it blankly until an infomercial comes on about Gen Tech.

"Are you tired of dealing with your dysphoria? Have you always known that you were born the wrong gender?" The lead in definitely captures my attention and I sit up to watch. "Or, do you just want to see what it's like to live as another gender?" The camera focuses on a seated man. Smiling, he says, "Hello. I'm Dr. William Cantor of Gen Tech and if any of that pertains to you, we can help. Our patented process takes just a few short days, and we can also help with any mental adjustments you need." The camera pulls back as he gestures beside him to reveal a smiling woman. "I'd like to introduce Dr. Alicia Cantor, not only is she my wife and co-founder of Gen Tech, but she was our first client."

I watch the whole thing in rapt attention as Aiden's comment, 'I've kind of always wished you were a girl,' echoes in my mind. In the end, the decision is more or less made for me since I don't want to lose Aiden. I write down their phone number, so I can call them tomorrow.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about permission. My parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was 14 and my uncle was appointed to be my guardian and everything was fine until I found out he was draining my inheritance money from my parents to fuel his drug habit. So, when I was 15, I hired an attorney and filed for emancipation. As you can guess, I won.

Grinning, I close my eyes and soon fall asleep.

The next morning, I almost bounce out of bed, excited to call them. After I clean up, dress and eat, I impatiently wait until they are open, then make the call and set an appointment with them for 2:00 today.

At 1:00, I gather the paperwork that I am sure I will need, jump in my car and head to Gen Tech. Once I arrive, I announce myself to the receptionist, and she has me take a seat. A few minutes later, I'm called back and led back to an office where I take a seat in front of a desk. A moment later, Dr. Cantor comes in and I stand as he shakes my hand and says, "Welcome. Sit down, sit down. I'm William Cantor, how can we help you?"

He takes a seat and I begin. "Well, I'd like you to change me into a girl."

He nods. "Okay~, but we'll need your parents permission since you are a minor."

"Umm, no we don't. I'm emancipated."

I pull out the document and hand it to him. He takes his time as he reads through it, then leans forward and dials an extension on his phone.

"Yes?"

"Hi Dave. Would you come to my office? I need your opinion on something."

"Sure. I'll be there in a moment."

After he disconnects, Dr Cantor leans back in his chair. "I don't think there will be any problem, but I need to make sure... If you don't mind, may I ask why you want to be a girl? Why won't affect whether we change you or not, I'm merely curious."

I shrug. "I'm in love with my best friend. The problem is he is straight."

He smiles. "I see... Well, assuming that Dave agrees that it's legal to proceed, we can definitely help with that."

Dave walks in a moment later and Dr Cantor gestures to me. "Dave this is Ethan Mitchell, Ethan this is Dave, he's our attorney." After he shakes my hand, he takes a seat beside me.

Dr Cantor hands Dave my emancipation document, and he takes his time reading through it. When he finishes, he looks up and says, "I don't see any issues here. He's legally considered an adult with this and can make his own decisions."

Smiling broadly, he declares, "Excellent! I thought so, but I thought it best to check with you."

Dave stands. "Ethan, it was nice meeting you. Have a good day."

After he leaves, Dr Cantor leans forward and places his elbows on his desk. "Now, let me explain a bit about how we do what we do here. We use nanites to change you into what you want to be. By that I mean, the AI reads how you want to look, etc... and programs the nanites to make the genetic changes to accomplish that. The process takes about 3 days on average and is perfectly safe. We've had thousands of clients and never had an issue of any sort." He pauses for a moment and then continues. "Now, I don't know if you'll be interested, but we also offer... Uh, well, we call it mental patterning. Basically, it doesn't change you, it just installs the knowledge of how to act like the sex you choose to be. Gestures and the like. It makes acclimatizing much easier."

He stops and looks at me for an answer. I think about it for a few seconds, but it definitely sounds like something I may want. "I do have one question. I love gaming with my friend. Would the patterning change that?"

He shakes his head adamantly. "No. Not at all. As I said, it doesn't change the basic you, although it's quite likely that you will enjoy shopping and other such things like a normal girl. That varies from person to person. The AI that does it takes what you want into account when it's being done."

"Okay, then let's do that as well."

"Excellent. Now, let's discuss price. The basic change is fixed at $65,000. The patterning is another $5,700. We have financing available, but there is a 20% discount for cash payments. Also, $2500 of that price is for clothes. Once you're done, we'll have whatever clothes you want brought to you."

"No problem, I'll pay cash."

Smiling happily, he says, "Even better. Now, the process takes about 3 days as I said, but there is some variation there depending on what the nanites have to do. The longest time we have seen is a week and that's because there were a lot of changes that had to be made. By the way, you will be fully female. By that I mean that you will have XX chromosomes, have periods and be able to have children. Any questions so far?" I shake my head. "Okay. Just so you know, we sedate you during the process, so for you, it will seem like you go to sleep and then wake up changed with the patterning done. Everyone says it feels as if they had always been that way. So, when do you want to do this?"

"Today, or as soon as possible."

"I was hoping you'd say that since we have a few beds open right now. We just need to sign the contract, receive payment, and we can get started immediately."

He turns to his computer, types for a bit and then prints out the contract. I read it over, sign it and hand him my card to pay for everything. After everything is done, he picks up the phone and asks someone to come to his office.

A minute later, a technician comes in and introduces herself, "Hi. I'm Charlotte. If you'll follow me, we'll get you started." She leads me to another room. She gestures to a recliner. I take a seat in it, and they lower a metallic dome around my head, cutting off my vision.

"Alright. Relax, close your eyes and imagine what you want to look like. There's no hurry, so try to include as much detail as possible."

Closing my eyes, I think back to the conversation Aiden and I had about girls not too long ago. He said his perfect girl would have waist length or longer, golden-blonde hair; large, green eyes; a cute button nose; full lips and be around 5'3". When I asked him how she should be shaped, he said she should have no larger than B cup breasts, slim with long, shapely legs and a small, cute butt. Honestly, I should have known then that my confession wouldn't get me anywhere, but I suppose I simply ignored it because I wanted to believe he would accept me.

A few minutes later, Charlotte quietly murmurs, "Good. You have an excellent imagination. That's going to make this so much easier."

She lifts the dome and points to a full length hologram of a gorgeous blonde haired girl on it. I'm not into girls, except as friends, but even I have to admit she is gorgeous.

She hands me a control. "Look her over and make any changes you'd like. The control is a voice interface to the AI, so it's really easy to use. Simply tell it what changes you'd like and I'll be back in a few moments."

She leaves the room and I stand up to walk around the hologram of the nude girl. The only things I can see that I want changed are her legs need to be a little more toned and her butt just a tiny bit bigger. I tell the AI what I'd like changed and after a little back and forth, she's exactly as I'd like to look.

When she comes back, she asks, "Finished?"

"I am."

She leads me to another room, has me change into a gown and then lay down on the bed. She hooks up an IV, a cardiac monitor and then pulls a blanket up to cover me. Then slips a metal ring around my head and secures it into place. "There. All done. That is for the patterning. The AI will do that while you are asleep as well. So, why don't you relax and watch some TV. It will be about an hour while they program the nanites."

Slightly over an hour later, she comes back in with Dr Cantor. She hangs another small bag and connects it to the IV. "She just hung a sedative that will keep you asleep while the nanites make the changes." He holds up another with a greenish fluid in it. "These are the nanites, so this is your last chance to back out, are you sure that this is what you want?"

Adamantly, I state, "I'm positive."

He smiles and nods. "Alright. I didn't think you would but I have to ask. Have a good nap and we'll see you in a few days."

She opens up the sedative and soon, I fall asleep.