After telling Aunt Agnes of what he’d agreed to, and her customary shaking of her head at Taylor’s predicament, Taylor was soon standing in front of Emily’s house carrying a small overnight bag, which he’d filled with a few gaming accessories and a pair of pink pajama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt. Taylor balled his hand into a fist and knocked on the door. After a few moments, Logan answered it.

“Hey, Taylor!” Logan said, before turning towards the staircase. “Emily! Taylor’s here!”

They stood in silence for a few moments.

“Can I come in?” Taylor asked.

“Oh yeah, sure.” Logan stepped back and allowed Taylor to enter. “Nice tan.”

“Thanks…” Taylor replied. “Wasn’t exactly my idea.”

“Emily told me. At least you didn’t burn, right?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Taylor replied.

Emily came rushing down the stairs and quickly embraced Taylor in a bear hug.

“Whoa! You just saw me a few hours ago, calm down!” Taylor exclaimed, trying to break free.

“Yeah, but I told you I was worried.” Emily said. “Anyway, let’s go up to my room, and get you set up. We’ve got a cot up there already set up.”

After setting up his things in Emily’s room, her mother popped her head into the room. Taylor had met her in passing a few days earlier, and she seemed nice enough. At least she wasn’t as scary as Mr. Jackson.

“You girls all right? Need any snacks?” Mrs. Jackson asked.

“No, thank you.” Taylor replied.

“Not yet, mom!” Emily replied.

“Well, let me know when you do.” Mrs. Jackson went back into the hallway.

“So, I was thinking that we could just chill for a bit, maybe game a little with Logan if you want, then do makeovers.” Emily said. “Sound good to you?”

“I guess…” Taylor said.

“Say, did you try that tutorial I sent you?” Emily asked.

“Oh… uh, no.” Taylor replied. “I don’t wear makeup.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I don’t have any...”

“That explains it! I was wondering why you didn’t, but if that’s all it is, I have the perfect thing!” Emily started digging in one of her drawers. “I got two of these from two different relatives and I didn’t return one. Figured I might need it!”

Emily pulled out a small zippered bag. She quickly unzipped it and started showing Taylor the contents.

“This has everything, lipsticks, eyeshadows, eyeliners, it’s great.” Emily said. “Now you don’t have an excuse.”

“Great…” Taylor said. “Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it. It’ll come in handy later.”

As it got later, Emily changed into her pajamas, a blue ruffled sleepshirt, and Taylor prepared to change into his. He opened his overnight bag and pulled out his bottoms and t-shirt.

“Absolutely not!” Emily exclaimed as she blocked Taylor’s entry to the bathroom.

“Come on, Em, just let me change.” Taylor whined.

“I told you to bring cute PJs and those are boring. You’re lucky I’m generous.” Emily said, heading over to her dresser and digging through her dresser, before she found an identical sleepshirt to the one she was wearing but in pink.

Emily walked over and tried to hand the sleepshirt to Taylor.

“I’m fine with the ones I brought.” Taylor tried to push past Emily, but she stood firm.

“Do it for me?” Emily asked. “I just think it’d be fun to match.”

Taylor hated himself for not defending his masculinity, but he also didn’t want to hurt Emily’s feelings.

A few minutes later, Taylor emerged from the bathroom in the pink sleepshirt, which sat far higher on his legs than it did on Emily’s.

“It’s a little short, isn’t it?” Taylor futilely tried to tug the hem lower.

“It’s not too short, it’s your legs that are too long. But I think it looks good.” Emily said. “Plus, we match!”

Emily struck a goofy pose, causing Taylor to giggle in response.

“Now we’re having fun!” Emily smiled.

The first sleepover activity that Emily chose to do were makeovers. After mixing together a noxious goop in a bowl and using headbands to pull their hair back, Emily spread it on Taylor’s face, before having Taylor do the same to her. As they waited for the masks to dry, they sat on Emily’s bed making idle conversation.

“This feels so gross.” Taylor whined.

“You’ll thank me later, this is supposed to be great for your skin.” Emily said.

“Yeah, if I wanted my face to smell like nachos...” Taylor wiped the goop out of his nostrils.

“It’s part of the experience, though. But I bet you’ll like the next part.” Emily said, rushing over to her vanity and grabbing a few things.

Returning to her bed, Emily dumped what she’d brought onto the bed. Cotton balls, nail polish remover, nail clippers, a nail file, and a bottle of pink nail polish that closely resembled the shade that Taylor’s fingers sported.

“Next up, pedicures!” Emily said. “Now we’ll match!”

“Great…” Taylor said. “But I think I’m good with just my fingernails. Like I said, it was my aunt’s idea.”

“And your aunt has great taste.” Emily retorted.

“Yeah, but…” Taylor started.

“Come on, you do me, I do you!” Emily said, handing Taylor the nail polish bottle.

Emily extended her foot and rested it in Taylor’s lap. Taylor picked up Emily’s foot and looked down at her bare feet. Taylor unscrewed the cap on the bottle, and the chemical smell hit his face. Taylor pulled out the brush, moving it towards Emily’s big toe. He held the brush hesitantly as he hovered over Emily’s toenail.

“You don’t know how to do it, do you?” Emily asked.

“I… uh…” Taylor’s heart began racing.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, really.” Emily put a reassuring hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “Hand it to me.”

Taylor handed back the bottle of nail polish and Emily twisted the cap back onto it.

“I guess you were more of a tomboy than I thought.” Emily chuckled. “Put your foot in my lap.”

Taylor complied, extending his left foot into Emily’s lap. Emily picked up the nail file and started to file and trim each of Taylor’s toenails. As she worked, Taylor let out a voluntary giggle.

“Tickles…” Taylor said.

Before too long, he was the owner of ten expertly groomed toenails.

"And now, pay attention." Emily picked up the bottle of pink polish.

Emily began to slowly paint Taylor’s toenails with the pink polish as Taylor watched, knowing that he’d be forced to perform the same act shortly.

Soon, Taylor had cotton balls between all his toes as Emily put the finishing touches on Taylor’s right pinky toe.

“Done.” Emily said.

Taylor pulled his foot back and let his legs rest, hanging off the bed. It was amazing what a little grooming and some color could do. He could scarcely believe they were his toes, they looked so… dainty and feminine. And pink.

“Your turn!” Emily handed Taylor the bottle of nail polish.

Taylor took the bottle and got to work. It was much quicker, even if Emily also had Taylor do her fingernails as well. They were already groomed, so Taylor was just painting, and he found that it wasn’t as complicated as it had seemed to be before he watched the process.

Once Taylor finished, Emily started blowing on her fingernails and fanning her hands. Taylor in turn started to check his toes.

“Yours are probably about dry.” Emily said.

As Taylor flexed his toes, there was a knock on the door as it opened, revealing Logan behind it, carrying a controller. After his eyes widened upon seeing Emily and Taylor’s mud masks, he smiled at Taylor.

“Anyone interested in a little gaming? I’m gonna play some Legendary Dragon Havoc. I’m looking for a player two…” Logan wiggled the controller.

A grinning Taylor shifted, about to stand up, when he looked at Emily, he didn’t know what else she had planned, but he’d wanted to try Legendary Dragon Havoc. for months. Emily rolled her eyes and sighed.

“My nails are still wet, so I can’t hold a controller, but if you wanna play, go ahead. We can’t really do anything else until I’m dry.” Emily said, before blowing on her fingers.

“Awesome!” Logan said.

“Have fun, Tay…” Emily giggled.

Taylor quickly made his way out of Emily’s room, walking awkwardly on his heels as he’d seen Emily do when she’d had to use the bathroom halfway through her pedicure. After making his way to Logan’s room, Logan motioned to a gaming chair already set up with a controller.

Taylor sat down, crossing his legs as he realized how short the sleep shirt was, and picked up the controller.

“Ready to go?” Logan asked.

“I was born ready.” Taylor replied with a smile.

The game was amazing, great graphics, interesting puzzles and intuitive gameplay. And Taylor was even happier to play it with Logan, since they had the same priorities.

“Did we get all the secrets in the last room?” Logan asked.

“Of course we did!” Taylor replied. “Look out!”

A dragon monster popped out of a secret door and started attacking their characters, but they made quick work of it and collected their winnings.

“Yes!” Logan and Taylor shouted in unison and high-fived.

“I take it the game is going well?” Emily asked from the doorway.

“It went great! We won!” Logan exclaimed. “Taylor might just be the best player I’ve ever met.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, you’re not too bad yourself.” Taylor blushed.

“If you’re not too busy, I think it’s about time to wipe the masks off.” Emily said.

“Oh yeah,” Taylor stood up and handed the controller back to Logan, their hands slightly brushing during the action. Taylor looked away, blushing even more profusely. “Thanks for letting me play.”

“Anytime.” Logan smiled as he watched Taylor exit the room.

Taylor quickly made his way back to Emily’s room where he removed all the cotton balls from his toes and he and Emily took turns peeling their mud masks off. Taylor scrutinized his face in the mirror as he checked for any remaining bits of mask.

“Look at that! We’re glowing!” Emily smiled as she put her arm around Taylor.

Taylor didn’t know enough about skincare to dispute her claim. Once they were done, Emily put on some pop music and pulled out her laptop. Motioning for Taylor to join her sitting on the bed, Emily started scrolling through social media, pointing out photos to Taylor.

“This was the time that my squad went to the cheer finals, we didn’t win, but just getting to the state finals was amazing. Ooh! And this was the Winter Formal, that’s my date, he was a good kisser but we didn’t have a lot in common, oh and this is Logan’s date.” Emily said.

The picture in question had Logan wearing a suit next to a fairly attractive girl in a dress, and Taylor’s gaze lingered on it as Emily scrolled down the page, which didn’t escape Emily’s notice.

“And this is just what I posted on social media… Oh! Speaking of, what’s your Insta?” Emily asked.

“Uh…” Taylor froze. He did have social media accounts, except for him as he normally was, and not the girl Emily had gotten to know.

“No Insta? How about Snapchat? Twitter? Facebook?” Emily asked. “Nothing?”

“I don’t… My… parents are really strict. They don’t really let me do social media.” Taylor said. “You know how parents are.”

“Duh, if you want to see overprotective just look at my dad.” Emily giggled. “Remember my date to the winter formal? My dad had a chat with him when I went back inside for my purse. He nearly crapped his pants in the limo!”

“I can see why.” Taylor replied. “So you understand why I follow their rules, then.”

“Of course. But what if you made a secret account? One just for us, your parents never have to find out.” Emily suggested.

“I don’t know…” Taylor started.

“Come on! You’re practically an adult anyway, if you don’t make one now, you won’t be able to properly document your senior year!” Emily said. “I’ll get you started.”

Emily got to quick work constructing a social media presence for Taylor, thankfully Taylor had a burner email that used his name that was unconnected to any of his real accounts.

“And a nice profile picture… Smile!” Emily snapped a quick photo of Taylor on her phone and uploaded it to the computer. “Perfect!”

Taylor’s new social media account listed his gender as female, and Emily had gone through a list of interests to tick off a list, so his recommendations for accounts to follow/interact with were equal parts video game related as well as beauty related.

“I’ll just friend me… Oh, and Logan of course, and…” Emily turned her laptop to Taylor. “Voila!”

The page was threadbare, but Emily had done a decent job of creating a presence for a person who up until a few weeks ago, hadn’t existed.

“It’s… it’s great, Emily. Thanks.” Taylor mustered up as much sincerity as he could. Though he was actually rather thankful, since it would prevent his adventures in femininity from being broadcast to his friends back home.

“Wanna add any of your friends from back home? Maybe a crush or two?” Emily asked.

Taylor could tell that Emily was fishing. He wasn’t about to give her any ammunition.

“No, I’d better not, word might get back to my parents that way.” Taylor replied.

“Smart.” Emily agreed. “And now that you have one, I’ve definitely gotta post a pic of me and my new bestie.”

Before Taylor could react, Emily had her arm around Taylor’s shoulder and her phone in her other hand to take a photo with the selfie camera.

“Say cheese!” Emily grinned.

Taylor gave a weak smile to the camera as Emily tapped the button, before quickly jotting out a caption. Taylor’s profile refreshed itself and Taylor saw that Emily had tagged his new account with her post.

“Matching with my bestie, Taylor Hughes. Best sleepover ever!”

“And I totes expect you to use it.” Emily said. “Especially when we hang out.”

Taylor weakly smiled in response.

Once the excitement of building the profile wore off, both Emily and Taylor started to feel tired. Soon, the lights were out and they laid in their beds in the darkened room. Taylor was curled up under the blanket as he tried to stay warm, given the lack of covering on his legs.

“Taylor? You awake?” Emily whispered.

“Yeah.” Taylor replied.

“I’m really glad you decided to sleep over tonight.” Emily said.

“...So am I.” Taylor replied, though more because he got to play a new video game.

Soon after that, both Taylor and Emily had drifted off to sleep.

Taylor found himself staring at a woman’s chest. His vision was distorted, but he was quickly able to discern that the woman was wearing the same dress as he’d seen in that picture of Logan earlier.

“The winter formal…” Taylor muttered, before realizing that he was looking down at the chest. He quickly moved his gaze upwards. “Sorry.”

As he looked up and saw the woman’s face, he realized that he wasn’t staring at a woman at all, he was staring at his own, if heavily made up, face in a mirror! He recognized the style of makeup and the updo as having matched Logan’s date from the photo.

Taylor felt faint and reached out to the mirror for stability, seeing that his hand, now daintier and tipped with far more ornate nails, was touching the glass.

“This can’t be happening…” Taylor said, for the first time noticing that he was wearing strappy heeled sandals that showed off similarly ornately pedicured toenails.

He stepped back from the mirror and tripped on the carpet, being saved in the nick of time from falling onto the ground by a pair of strong arms.

“Woah! You okay?”

The voice was unmistakable, before he even looked, Taylor knew that it was Logan’s.

“I tripped.” Taylor said.

“Well, I can see that.” Logan quickly helped Taylor back to his feet. “You look gorgeous.”

“Thanks.” Taylor said, blushing.

This wasn’t right, and Taylor knew that, but he didn’t seem to have any control over his actions. All he could do was take Logan’s hand as Logan led Taylor out of the room. A bright light engulfed Taylor’s vision and he was suddenly standing on the lawn of Emily and Logan’s house. In front of them were Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, the latter of which was holding a camera.

“Okay, one more you two.” Mrs. Jackson smiled as she snapped another photo.

Taylor glanced to his left where he saw Emily standing with her date, giving Taylor a thumbs up as another flash went off.

“Okay, now for one of all of you.” Mrs. Jackson said.

The bright light returned and suddenly dimmed. Taylor felt a hand on his shoulder and an arm around his waist. As his vision returned, he realized he was in a ballroom on the dance floor, while a slow song played in the background, surrounded by dancing couples. As the song swelled, Logan leaned into Taylor’s face and started kissing him on the lips.

“Mhhm!” Taylor was unable to push him away, it was like his body had rebelled! Taylor began to mentally scream until

Taylor awoke in a cold sweat, panting heavily as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and sat up. It was right then that he realized a sensation under the covers. Kicking them off, Taylor saw that his tuck had become undone, and he was now tenting the sleep shirt. Taylor glanced over at Emily’s bed, seeing even through the darkness that she was still asleep.

Taylor stood up and quietly tiptoed across the carpet into the bathroom, intent on taking care of the incident and restoring the tuck.

Hours later, after Taylor had finished in the bathroom and went back to sleep, sunshine streamed through the curtains and woke Taylor up. Well, that and the sounds of Emily rummaging through her drawers. Taylor sat up, brushing the hair out of his face to see Emily lacing up her sneakers.

“Mornin, Tay!” Emily smiled.

Taylor could tell from her sports bra and tight shorts that she was about to go for her morning jog.

“Morning…” Taylor said.

“I’ve got a spare set of exercise clothes, wanna join?” Emily asked.

“Uh, I would, but I…” Taylor searched for an excuse. “I’m not feeling well.”

“Oh no! It wasn’t dinner, was it? Or all the snacks?” Emily went into investigation mode. “You don’t have any allergies, do you?”

“It’s not like that it’s…” Taylor had to come up with an explanation that would be easy to fake. His eyes glanced around the room, before he spotted a particular cardboard box sitting on top of the counter in the bathroom. “Cramps! That time… you know, of the month?”

“Ohhhhhh.” Emily knowingly nodded. “Yeah, I don’t feel like jogging when that happens either.”

“So I think I’ll probably just head back to my aunt’s.” Taylor started repacking his bag as he grabbed his change of clothes out of it.

“Good idea, do you need a pad?” Emily asked.

“I’m good, nothing has happened yet, just the pain, but I’d rather be at my aunt’s if that’s gonna happen.” Taylor said, rushing into the bathroom to change into a casual outfit of girl’s shorts and a simple blouse.

After Emily left Taylor at the door to go on her job, Taylor headed into the house, where Aunt Agnes strolled into the foyer upon hearing the door open.

“How was the sleepover?” Aunt Agnes asked.

“Almost a disaster.” Taylor said.

“What happened this time?” Aunt Agnes rolled her eyes.

Taylor explained his night time incident, though leaving out the ending of the dream and only giving the bare amount of details.

“I’m no dream analyzer, but it definitely sounds like a stress dream. As for the other thing… I might have an idea on how to fix that.” Aunt Agnes said.

“You do?” Taylor asked.

“In the fashion world, there’s a lot of gender fluidity, and I knew a few transgender models back in the day and I know how they kept their unbecoming bits hidden. They had this special piece of fabric that kept everything tucked up.” Aunt Agnes replied. “Only problem is that I don’t remember what it was called or where on Earth to shop for them.”

“Let’s check online, I bet you can find them there.” Taylor said.

“Will the wonders of technology never cease?” Aunt Agnes asked.

After finding a suitable retailer on Taylor’s computer, Aunt Agnes found the item she was looking for.

“Ah, it’s called a gaff!” Aunt Agnes said. “And so long as you don’t pull down your underwear, no one will ever know.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Taylor sighed.

“And ordered!” Aunt Agnes clapped her hands. “I’ve got to admit, computers are a lot more useful than I’d thought. This might change my whole outlook on personal shoppers. Why wait a week when I can get anything within two days?”

“I’m glad someone’s happy about all this.” Taylor mused.

“Don’t worry, I’m not taking delight in your suffering, although I admit that had I been more receptive earlier, we might have avoided this whole crisis.” Aunt Agnes said. “I really am sorry.”

“I know.” Taylor said. “At least I’ve only got a month or so left, and then this will all be over.”

The next day, thanks to rush delivery, the package arrived and Taylor rushed inside as Aunt Agnes signed for the package. Taylor tore open the box, finding two things wrapped in plastic. The first was the gaff, but the second item, which Taylor recognized, confused him nonetheless.

“Aunt Agnes… why are there fake boobs in here?” Taylor asked as Aunt Agnes shut the door.

“I did some thinking, given the incident at the sleepover, it’s only a matter of time before you’d need to do something about your chest, and I figured if I could help you get ahead of a potential embarrassment, I should.” Aunt Agnes said.

“Thanks, Aunt Agnes.” Taylor smiled. “How do they work?”

“Well, as far as I can tell they’re reusable and self-adhesive.” Aunt Agnes looked over the two globular items. “Just peel the backs off, stick them to your chest, and there you go.”

“All right.” Taylor stared at the fake breasts as Aunt Agnes handed them to him.

“Why don’t you go try them on?” Aunt Agnes suggested.

“Good idea.” Taylor nodded and rushed upstairs to his room.

After following all the instructions and a very helpful internet tutorial, Taylor pulled a pair of shorts over the panties and adjusted the bra under his shirt. While Taylor doubted the necessity of the fake breasts, it was at least helpful to know that he wouldn’t accidentally get outed if his shirt got pulled up.

“I’m seeing less and less of myself in the mirror…” Taylor lamented as he looked at his reflection.

Staring back at Taylor was a teenage girl, between the shaved body, his new accessories and his long hair, even without makeup, he was having a hard time finding the teenage boy that he’d been just a few short weeks ago. Would he ever see himself again?