Over the course of the summer, Taylor’s life had changed in numerous ways, but the most noticeable change was in his morning routine. After agreeing to join the cheerleading program, Taylor was then quickly roped into Emily’s morning jogs, so that meant being up early and in a tight running outfit. Once the run was over, Taylor would return to Aunt Agnes’ to take a shower, which was a whole production, since he had an entirely new hair and skin-care regimen courtesy of Emily’s cajoling. Special shampoo, special conditioner, a special face wash, a special body wash, not to mention having to shave his entire body, lest he be forced to let Emily nair him down again, a process that Taylor was not eager to repeat.

Then, Taylor had to pick out a suitably “cute” outfit, and coordinate his makeup. At least he had to in order to ensure that Emily wouldn’t take it upon herself to give him a makeover once he arrived at her house. Somewhat positively, on days that they had cheerleading practice, which Taylor had attempted to quit no less than six times so far, only to be forced to back down by Emily and the girls, who promised to help him get better, Taylor didn’t have to pick out an outfit, and just had to be dressed in his practice uniform, a lycra tank top over a sports bra, lycra skirt, and athletic socks and sneakers. While it was undeniably feminine, Taylor could at least take solace in the fact that it was comfortable. Which can’t be said of a lot of the outfits Emily had forced him to wear.

Today, however, Taylor would be tested the most, since apart from cheerleading practice, it was the day that the new “Captain Wonder” movie premiered, and Taylor would be seeing it with Logan. On the one hand, Taylor enjoyed spending time with Logan, because he wasn’t constantly trying to force Taylor to do girly things, but on the other hand, if Logan thought this was a date…

Taylor shook his head and tried to banish the thought, for the moment anyway. As he took one final look in the mirror, he adjusted his skirt, examining his fingernails, which now sported elegant french tips, as did his toes, courtesy of a trip to the nail salon with Emily.

“At least it isn’t pink…” Taylor muttered as he grabbed his duffel bag and headed out of the room.

Descending the stairs, Taylor saw that Aunt Agnes was in the midst of another nail appointment with Deb, and Taylor waved as he headed towards the door.

“I’m off to practice, I’ll be back later!” Taylor shouted.

“Have fun, Taylor!” Aunt Agnes replied as Taylor walked out the front door, shutting the door behind him.

Deb did a double take at the door, before turning to Aunt Agnes and opening her mouth slightly as she tried to process what she’d just seen.

“It’s a long story,” Aunt Agnes said, shaking her head.

As cheerleading practice ended, Taylor was packing up his bag as Emily, Dayna, Zoey and Mari discussed the upcoming school year.

“I really hope I don’t end up getting Mrs. Wojowski again, she’s such a hardass!” Mari whined.

“Is it too much to hope that she retired over the summer?” Dayna asked.

The girls chuckled and continued talking, but were distracted by a loud whistle. The girls, and Taylor, all turned around to see Coach Roberts standing near one of the football goal posts.

“Taylor! Can I speak with you a moment?” Coach Roberts shouted.

“Oooooooooooh.” Zoey giggled. “Someone’s in trouble!”

“Taylor? Trouble? No way!” Emily interjected.

“I’ll be right back.” Taylor quickly finished packing his bag and slung it over his shoulder, rushing over to Coach Roberts. “What’s wrong, Coach?”

“Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to let you know how impressed I am with you. I mean, coming from being a complete beginner, and the improvement you’ve shown in only a few weeks, it’s incredible, I’ve only ever had a few girls who picked it up this quickly. I think you’ve got a future in cheerleading. I don’t suppose there’s any chance of you joining our team, is there?” Coach Roberts asked.

“Sorry, coach, but once summer is over I’m headed back home.” Taylor replied. “And I’m not really looking for a future in this, I’m just here for my friend.”

“Still, I’d consider joining the team back home if I was you. It looks good on college applications. Might even get you a scholarship.” Coach Roberts said.

“I’ll think about it…” Taylor said. “See you next week, Coach.”

Taylor headed back over to Emily and the girls and told them the reason that she’d called him over.

“It’s not a bad idea to consider, truthfully, it’s the only reason I’m doing it.” Mari said.

“And you really are good,” Dayna said. “You’re one of the most graceful cheerleaders I’ve ever seen. Most newbies are still tripping over their own feet at this point.”

Taylor blushed at the comment, distressed at how good he was an activity that he shouldn’t be good at.

After packing up their things, Emily and Taylor said goodbye to the girls and headed back to the car. During the drive home, Emily mostly made conversation by asking about the movie, in particular what Taylor intended to wear.

“I dunno, probably a t-shirt and shorts. It’s a superhero movie, not a French restaurant.” Taylor said.

“That’s no excuse not to look your best, especially if you want Logan to notice…” Emily said.

“I don’t.” Taylor said.

“Sure you don’t…” Emily giggled.

Taylor just rolled his eyes, like he usually did. There was no bringing Emily down from her fantasies about her brother’s girlfriend being her bestie. Once they got back, Emily headed home to shower, but once she finished, she headed right over to see Taylor.

“I’ve gotta leave for my hair appointment soon, but I want to help you pick an outfit out… Let’s see…” Emily started digging through the closet.

“I think I can handle dressing myself, you’ve seen what I’ve picked over the past week, right?” Taylor said.

“Yeah, but this is special. Besides, I’ve seen every girl my brother dated, I know exactly how to impress him. Ooh, if you guys do a long distance thing, you’ll probably visit more…”

“Emily, this isn’t a date. We’re just friends.” Taylor insisted.

“Sure, just friends now…” Emily giggled.

Taylor shook his head, he clearly wasn’t getting through to her. A few hours later, Emily had gone to her hair appointment, and Taylor was putting the finishing touches on his outfit. He’d accepted Emily’s choice of a skirt, since the embarrassment of wearing one had worn off weeks earlier, and he knew that she’d surely ask Logan if he saw him in it, but wouldn’t budge on wearing his Captain Wonder t-shirt. Of course, it fit slightly differently with a bra underneath. As he adjusted it a few times, Taylor grimaced as he realized he looked like the cute nerdy girl that he always wished he could date.

“It’s just a movie…” Taylor whispered to himself.

After grabbing a purse, since the skirt didn’t have pockets, and heading downstairs, Taylor said goodbye to Aunt Agnes, and walked outside, where Logan was waiting with the car.

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that Logan was wearing just a hoodie, and not something that implied that this movie was anything more than just two friends watching a movie. Taylor hopped inside, being careful not to accidentally flash his underwear, and Logan began driving.

“I’m so excited for the movie! It looks like it’s gonna be awesome!” Logan exclaimed.

“I know, right?” Taylor said. “When they released the teaser back at Comic Con, I was so pumped!”

“I’m just glad we’re seeing it before all the spoilers are all over the internet.” Logan said.

“Absolutely, I had the last Justice Sentinels movie spoiled for me and it sucked!” Taylor whined.

The conversation continued all the way to the theater. Arriving at the multiplex, Logan parked the car and he and Taylor made their way towards their theater. After saving their seats, Logan headed out to the concession stand, returning a short while later with snacks and drinks, which was a soda each and a large popcorn to share, since it was cheaper than two mediums. After getting settled in and watching the previews, the film started.

“Sometimes, life throws you curveballs, and you’ve just got to field ‘em.” the main character narrated as the tail-end of an epic superhero fight played on the screen.

For the first time since this entire mess started, Taylor was able to forget about how he was dressed, and who he was here with, to just enjoy the experience as the film played. As highly anticipated as the film was, Taylor was glad to see it in theaters instead of waiting for it to come out on streaming, which is what he’d probably have done if Emily and Logan hadn’t moved in across the street. However, twenty minutes in, Taylor began to shiver. Taylor admitted to himself that a skirt and a t-shirt were probably not the wisest outfit choice, despite Emily’s insistence, because a lot of him was exposed and the air conditioning was cranked really high. Logan must have taken notice because he quickly handed the large popcorn tub to Taylor.

"Hold this." he whispered. “I figured it might be chilly.”

Logan, unbeholden to the requirements of wearing a “cute” outfit, nor needed to keep the entire outfit together for the sake of coordination, unzipped his hoodie and draped it over Taylor’s shoulders, before taking the popcorn tub back. Taylor pulled the hoodie over his arms and zipped it up, happy to be warm and to be wearing men's clothing again.

"Thanks." Taylor whispered.

"No problem." Logan smiled as he whispered back.

While watching the movie, there were a few embarrassing instances where Taylor accidentally brushed his hand against Logan's, which were all punctuated by a small nervous giggle and furious blushing on Taylor's part, and a smile on Logan's part. But Taylor was enjoying the movie, that is until Logan reached his arm and put it around Taylor's shoulder.

Taylor immediately froze, he knew that he should pull away, but he didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the theater. More importantly, it was a really climactic scene, and he didn't want to miss any of it.

He wasn't sure if it was the warmth of the hoodie, combined with the... honestly reassuring feeling that came from Logan's arm, but Taylor soon forgot that Logan's arm was even there as the hero on screen took down the villain in a spectacular action scene.

"Yes!" Taylor pumped his fist as the hero landed a good punch.

Logan turned to him and started to chuckle, with Taylor joining in with a giggle.

Taylor felt Logan adjust his arm and watched as Logan started to move his face closer to Taylor's.

Taylor thought that Logan was about to ask him a question, and turned his head but was taken entirely by surprise when Logan went in for a kiss. He was so surprised that he froze, while his brain tried to make sense of what was happening. There were a lot of feelings and emotions running through his mind.

“Does this mean that Emily and Aunt Agnes were right and this is a date? Did Taylor accidentally give him the impression that he wanted a kiss?” Taylor frantically thought as the kiss continued, too surprised to pull away.

It was an explosion on the movie screen that finally snapped him out of his reverie. Logan pulled away and smiled as Taylor blushed furiously, sinking into his seat and hoping that he'd be swallowed into it.

...No such luck.

After the movie ended, both Taylor and Logan headed for the bathroom, with Taylor using the women’s restroom for the first time, and debating rinsing his mouth out in the sink, before deciding against it, because however gross he felt after kissing another boy, a public sink was far grosser. He also realized that it was far more crowded, since it took three times as long as usual to get into a stall, do his business and get out. After washing his hands, Taylor exited the bathroom, finding Logan waiting to the side by some posters for upcoming films.

“Hey, sorry I took so long, it was super crowded in there.” Taylor said.

“No worries… Listen, I’m sorry if the kiss made things weird… it just seemed like the thing to do at the time…” Logan wrung his hands as he spoke.

“Oh… uh…” Taylor felt a pang of guilt. Sure, he didn’t want the kiss, but he didn’t want Logan to feel bad about it. It wasn’t Logan’s fault that Taylor wasn’t actually a girl. “It’s not that… it’s just that… well, I’m going to be going home soon and…”

“I get it. We’ll probably never see each other again.” Logan frowned.

“Yeah…” Taylor said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Although whether the sadness was for Emily, Logan or Aunt Agnes he couldn’t figure out.

After putting a reassuring hand on Taylor’s shoulder, Logan started walking towards the exit of the theater.

After arriving home, Taylor greeted Aunt Agnes before quickly heading up to the bedroom, ignoring the probing texts that Emily had begun sending shortly after they’d left the theater. All Taylor wanted to do was sleep, and he quickly pulled off the skirt and bra, laying in bed in just a pair of panties and the Captain Wonder t-shirt. Much like the first night after Aunt Agnes’ prank, Taylor fell asleep eager for the day when he could go home and put the entire summer to a permanent rest.