The following day, Taylor was excited, since Aunt Agnes had assured him that it would be the day that her personal shopper was picking up her groceries, and with it, the nail polish remover that would solve all his problems. Of course, that still meant he had to spend a few hours with Emily before it arrived.

“Taylor check it out! This is perfect for you!” Emily continued her search to find Taylor an outfit from the closet.

“Emily, I really don’t think… Absolutely not!” Taylor remarked when he saw what Emily was holding.

She was holding a two-piece bikini, in pink of course, that was a far cry from Taylor’s speedo and rash guard that he’d grown to tolerate.

“Come on! It’s not like I’m asking you to wear it to the mall! It’s just out in the backyard!” Emily said. “Logan’s busy with dad, so you don’t need to worry about anyone but me and your aunt seeing you in it!”

That did provide Taylor with as much comfort as was possible, but he was still unhappy with the entire arrangement. If only Aunt Agnes could have moved up her delivery schedule, but because she had a specific delivery driver that she liked, it was impossible. Just a few hours left, though! And it would all be over!

Taylor changed in the bathroom, having a bit of trouble with the halter-like straps of the bikini, but he’d gotten decent at putting on his increasingly feminine wardrobe. Skills that he’d no longer need soon. At least it was padded, so he didn’t have to figure out something waterproof he could use to stuff the cups.

“Just let me put your hair up, no sense in ruining what we had done yesterday.” Emily remarked as she put Taylor’s hair into a simple updo.

“Thanks.” Taylor replied, eager to just get it over with.

Taylor and Emily did some swimming, but Emily seemed far more interested in sunbathing, and left Taylor alone in the water to dry off and find a nice place in the sun. Taylor eventually got bored and climbed out of the pool.

Taylor yawned,

“Swimming first thing in the morning after a late night game binge is tiring work…” Taylor dried himself off and settled down onto one of the lounge chairs, positioned in the shade. “I’m gonna take a nap.”

“Okay! I’ll wake you when I’m done!” Emily smiled.

As Emily caught some rays and idly checked her phone, Taylor put on his borrowed sunglasses and dozed off. The funny thing about the sun, is that over the course of a day, it moves. And where once was shade, sometimes becomes a path for direct sunlight. So when Taylor awoke a few hours later…

“Tay… Tay, wake up!” Emily shook her sleeping friend.

“Huh? I’m up, what’s going on?” Taylor asked.

“I finished sunbathing… and I think you might want to get out of the sun.” Emily replied.

“Why?” Taylor looked down at his legs, which were now slightly darker than he remembered them being. “Oh my god!”

Taylor’s stomach felt like it was doing aerobics inside his body.

“Yeah, I’m surprised you tanned so well. You even rolled yourself over onto your back in your sleep. You’re an expert at this.” Emily complimented.

“I didn’t… I was in the shade… why didn’t you wake me up when the sun moved?” Taylor demanded angrily.

“Sorry! I didn’t notice, I was already on my stomach facing away from you, and when I looked… the damage was already done. If you didn’t want color, you really should have reapplied after swimming…” Emily put her hands up in mock surrender.

“You’re… right, it’s not your fault. I think I’m just gonna go inside, I don’t feel like hanging out anymore.” Taylor sighed, grabbing his towel.

“You’re that concerned about skin cancer?” Emily asked.

“Uh… yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Taylor replied.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Emily the real reason he was now sick to his stomach.

“Well, if you feel better, drop in, I know Logan will probably want to play more of his video games.” Emily said, putting her hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “It’s not that big a deal, really, plus you look cute with a tan! I know Logan will think so.”

Knowing that he looked cute with a tan did little to make Taylor feel better as he was staring at his shirtless form in the mirror a few minutes later, with a quite conspicuous imprint of a bikini across his chest and waist, though he didn’t dare take off the bottom because he didn’t want to see it.

“Taylor! You’ll never guess what just arrived… oh dear.” Aunt Agnes said as she walked into the room carrying a bottle and saw Taylor’s chest as he turned around. “That’s going to make what I was going to say far less exciting…”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do! Maybe it might have been better to just let them think I was a freak…” Taylor sighed.

“It’s not the end of the world, you have shirts that will cover it up, right?”

“That’s not the point! It won’t go away for at least another week!” Taylor exclaimed. “They’ll know who I am if I show up in my regular clothes with the same tan! That means another week stuck as a girl.”

“Well, I hate to say it, but you’ve adapted pretty well despite everything.” Aunt Agnes said. “It doesn’t seem all that hard for you, so what's another week?”

“For one thing, I can’t stand these stupid nails and Emily’s driving me up the wall with all the makeup and skin-care stuff.” Taylor said. “I don’t know if I can last any longer.”

“Well, it’s up to you… though I guess after this long it would do more harm than good to just fess up, right?”

“You’ve got that right…” Taylor sighed.

All Taylor could do now was wait and hope that this would all be over soon.

A few hours later, Taylor was sulking in bed, staring at the bottle of nail polish remover sitting on the nightstand. It was the thing that he’d been anticipating for so long, but now the idea of removing them felt pointless, since he’d still be stuck dressing like a girl until the tan faded. As Taylor reached out for it, his phone started buzzing.

Taylor quickly grabbed his phone, seeing that he was receiving a call from Emily. His finger hovered over the decline button, but the sight of the pink fingernail reminded him that if he didn’t pick up, with all likelihood, Emily would show up at the front door, which he wanted even less, so he tapped the accept button.

“Hello?” Taylor asked.

“Tay! Are you feeling better?” Emily got straight to the point.

“Sort of.” Taylor said. “What’s up?”

“I was worried about you!” Emily exclaimed. “I’m really sorry I didn’t wake you up.”

Despite Emily’s overbearing personality, Taylor was touched.

“I’m fine.” Taylor said. “And it wasn’t your fault, I was just mad at myself for forgetting to reapply sunscreen.”

“Great! I just had an idea, you’ve been cooped up in your aunt’s house for how long?” Emily asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “We should have a sleepover tonight!”

“I don’t know…” Taylor started.

He knew it would just be him and Emily, but even still, he counted on having privacy to keep his secret from getting out. Nighttime was the only time he could forget about the feminine web he was trapped in.

“Come on! I’ll even let Logan in on it if you want.” Emily said.

“Emily…” Taylor started.

“Or we could do it at your aunt’s place if it’s okay with her.” Emily quickly added.

“No! That’s… your place is fine.” Taylor said, knowing Emily wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Awesome! I’ll see you later tonight! And bring cute PJs.” Emily quickly hung up the phone.

Taylor lay back in bed once more wondering what he’d gotten himself into.