Homework was done for the weekend. Maya and Brielle were lying out on the pristine white couch in the living room. The curtains were drawn closed and the last season of Skysails was up on TV, ready to stream.

The two were arguing.

“It’s not fair that you get it all the time!” Maya cried, reaching out and trying to grab the phone from Brielle.

“I’m talking to Eric!” Brielle told her, holding the phone up out of reach. “You can have the phone later.”

“You had it all of yesterday. All of last night, too. I never get to talk to our friends.”

“You have the computer!”

“The computer’s not here. I want the phone!”

Brielle growled, “You keep stealing it from me when I’m not looking.”

“I keep taking it because you won’t give it up willingly,” Maya whined.

“Alright!”

Brielle sat the phone down on the armrest and continued, “We’ll figure this out. Obviously, we need to take turns, right?”

“Right! I should get it one day, and then you the next.”

“That’s not fair! I’ll only get to talk to Eric every other day.”

“I barely get to talk to our friends at all! Besides, it’s just until Mom or Dad gets us another one.”

Brielle snorted and nodded.

“Alright,” she said, picking the phone back up, “But let me say goodbye to Eric first.”

Maya rolled her eyes, but leaned back and got comfortable on the couch. After a few moments, Brielle tossed her the phone and Maya caught it. She logged out of Brielle’s account and onto her own.

“You ready?” Brielle asked.

Maya nodded and grabbed her bowl of pretzels off the coffee table. Brielle hit play and the show began.

“I can’t believe we’re stuck only watching stuff on the weekends,” Maya said. “School really gets in the way of the important things in life.”

“Yeah, nobody deserves school,” Brielle agreed. “What a terrible idea.”

The episode began where the last season’s cliffhanger left off: the protagonist Chiyoko was imprisoned by the nefarious Izumi, queen of the sky pirates. She was all alone with only her trusty bobby pin and magic compass hanging from her belt. Her friends had no idea where she was or how to save her.

“You know,” Brielle said, between bites of popcorn, “this whole situation could easily be resolved if Chiyoko just seduced Izumi already.”

“I know. They’ve been teasing the chemistry between them for three seasons now!”

“I mean, sky pirate or not, nobody with an outfit like that is completely straight. Come on.”

“I’m still worried they’re going to pair Chiyoko with Hiraku.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Brielle said, rolling her eyes.

“What are the odds she’ll end up dating both of them?” Maya asked.

“With this studio’s track record? Not great, sadly,” Brielle replied.

On screen, the protagonist grabbed one of her enemies’ sabers and started swinging it around. The pirate queen Izumi drew her own electrified saber and countered her blow. The two characters shared a smirk.

“I am really glad I didn’t lose my taste in anime,” Maya mused, glancing at her phone to see if she’d gotten any replies to her last post.

“Me too,” Brielle agreed. “I can’t imagine having to go through life and not enjoy anime. Wouldn’t be worth living.”

Maya chuckled, then coughed and had to clear her throat.

“You know,” she said, “if you had told me that watching anime was better with someone to talk to the entire time, I would probably have balked at the idea. But I’m really enjoying this.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They locked eyes for a moment and grinned before the sound of an explosion from the TV grabbed their attention again.

They were halfway through episode two when Maya’s phone gave her a low battery message.

“Dang it, Brielle,” she said, “You keep draining the battery on this thing.”

“Just go upstairs and grab the charger,” Brielle retorted, pausing the show.

Maya grumbled, but set her pretzels aside and got up off of the couch.

“And hurry!” Brielle called after her.

Maya walked swiftly up the stairs, but didn’t make nearly as much noise as Brielle did. It took her a few minutes to find the dang charger, hiding under one of Brielle’s discarded shirts. Brielle had probably started the show again. Maya cursed under her breath as she walked down the stairs.

“I just don’t understand why it’s such a bad idea!”

Maya stopped on the stairwell. That was her mother’s voice.

“Can you stop, Mom?!” she heard Brielle ask. “It’s not going to happen! End of story.”

Maya gulped. Things had been tense between them and their parents, but it hadn’t escalated to shouting before now. Maya stepped quietly down the rest of the stairs, but stopped just outside of the living room.

“Think about it,” she heard her mother say. “You already used magic to change your body once. So you know you can go back and forth.”

“I’m not going back!”

“It wouldn’t have to be permanent. Just for a few years. Just so we know for sure that this is what you really want.”

“I have known for years, Mom!” Brielle cried.

There was the sound of something hitting the floor. Probably a bowl of snacks. Maya winced.

“I’m just saying. You’re clearly not like your… sister. You don’t wear dresses. You don’t have a high pitched voice. You don’t act very feminine at all. And you said that the magic drew from your subconscious. Maybe the reason you didn’t take to ‘the change’ is because you weren’t actually ready, and that’s why you’re still so much like a boy. Isn’t it possible?”

“I’m boyish because there’s no wrong way to be a girl,” Brielle snarled. “I know it’s hard for you, but I was out of options. And I’m not going to fucking detransition because you still can’t believe what’s right in front of your eyes.”

“Don’t speak to me like that, young man!” their mother warned, “I will take away both your phone and your computer.”

Maya’s breath caught in her throat. This was it. This was where Brielle snapped and got them into serious trouble.

There was the sound of movement in the other room, then Brielle rounded the corner and brushed right by Maya before bounding up the stairs.

“Jackson!” their mother cried, stepping out of the living room and into view, “Don’t you think that this is over. We’re not done talking about this.”

Brielle didn’t react, just kept walking until she was out of sight.

Beside Maya, her mother sighed and buried her head in her hands. Maya stood perfectly still. After a moment, she heard her mother sob before taking a deep breath and raising her head.

Finally, she seemed to notice Maya, because she placed her hands on Maya’s chin and turned her face up to look at her.

“Oh my God,” she mumbled, “You really do look a lot like me.”

Maya didn’t know what to say. She was so uncomfortable. She’d never seen her mother like this before.

Her mother continued, “I’m looking at the daughter I never had. I… I…” She gulped, then let go of Maya. “Go upstairs. Play with your… whatever he is now. Just go. I can’t deal with this right now.”

Maya nodded and took a few steps back toward the stairs, then turned around and ran. She couldn’t get her mother’s tear-strewn face out of her head. When she got to the door of her bedroom, Maya grabbed the knob but found it locked.

“Brielle, let me in, please,” she begged, hammering on the door.

After a moment, the lock clicked and the door opened. Brielle was standing there with fresh tears across her face. She grabbed Maya’s arm and pulled her into the room, then locked the door again.

They didn’t say anything to each other. Brielle collapsed onto bed and buried her head in her pillow. Maya sat down at their desk and just sank into the chair. After a few moments, she started drumming her fingers on the desk.

Eventually, Brielle groaned and sat up. She clutched the pillow to her chest and leaned back against the headboard. Maya and her locked eyes for a moment, but Brielle broke eye contact and bowed her head.

“So you heard all of that, I take it?” she asked.

“Yeah… I’m sorry.”

“Better me than you. I can take it. I just…” Brielle sighed. “I hope she doesn’t try pulling that shit with you.”

“You think I’d let her do that to me?”

Brielle shook her head.

“No, but it would hurt you a lot if she tried.”

“Yeah…”

They fell quiet again. Maya opened their computer and went to their games library, looking for something to do. She couldn’t find one she wanted to play. Her mother’s face kept coming back to her and souring her mood.

“Maybe,” Brielle said suddenly, “we should have just chosen to live with the witch. Nobody misgendering or deadnaming us, probably a bunch of fun magical mishaps to get involved in, we’d just never have to see Mom and Dad again…”

“You’d hate it,” Maya told her.

“How do you know?”

“Because I’d hate it,” she replied. “I was looking forward so much to seeing my friends again and getting to live my life as a girl. I wouldn’t have given it up even if the witch offered us the chance.”

Brielle grunted and replied, “You’re probably right. I just wish Mom and Dad would treat me… treat us like we’re goddamn people already. I hate not getting any respect from them.”

Maya nodded, but replied, “Maybe you’re being a little too harsh on them?”

There was a long pause.

“What?”

"I just mean—”

“Did you not hear what just happened downstairs?! She threatened to punish us for daring to stand up for ourselves.”

“I know!” Maya cried. “It’s just… they’re going through a lot too, right now. We didn’t tell them what we were going to do, and they couldn’t have expected that there’d one day be two of us.”

“We tried to tell them!” Brielle said, “They wouldn’t listen!”

“I know! But they’re still processing this.”

“And hurting us in the process,” Brielle said, scowling. “I don’t care what their excuse is. They shouldn’t be taking out their frustrations on us! I can’t believe you’re defending them!”

“I’m not—”

“Yes, you are,” Brielle snarled, throwing the pillow at Maya and narrowly missing her, “This is all wrong! The spell was supposed to fix things. Everything was supposed to get better. And it just… everything…”

Brielle was shaking.

“I just want them to love me,” she sobbed.

She collapsed, weeping openly. Maya sprang from her chair and pulled herself up onto the bed. She grabbed Brielle in the tightest hug she could.

“It’s going to be okay,” Maya promised. “I’m here for you, sis. I’m always going to be here for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Brielle said, clutching Maya tightly. “I’m supposed to be strong for you. I’m a complete mess. I know you’re not really trying to excuse their actions. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Maya cooed. “They’ll come around. I promise. They’re going to see we’re happier like this, and they’re going to recognize us as their daughters. It’s going to happen.”

“Thank you, Maya.”

“How about I get us some snacks and we finish watching Skysails on our computer here. Just you and me, where no one can bother us.”

“I’d like that. But if you keep feeding me I’m never going to lose this extra weight.”

“Glad to see you’re in good spirits,” Maya said, giving Brielle’s hand a gentle squeeze.

She got up and headed for the door. Maya needed a second to calm herself before heading downstairs. If her mother was still down there, Maya wasn’t sure she’d be able to face her. Fortunately, when Maya did get to the kitchen, it seemed like no one was around.

She just started grabbing bags from the pantry. Chips, pretzels, trail mix, whatever she could carry. At the last minute, Maya opened the fridge and managed to grab a small jar of salsa for her and Brielle to share.

Then she heard the back door open in the living room. Her parents were talking as they came inside. Maya ignored them and started heading for the stairs. If they didn’t see her, Maya wouldn’t have to talk to—

“—and I just don’t understand the other one at all,” her mother said, and Maya froze. “It’s just… we suddenly have a daughter. What are we supposed to do about her?”

Maya’s heart sank.

“I don’t know,” her father said. “Yesterday she asked me about getting another phone so they could each have one. And I just can’t wrap my head around there being two of them now. We barely had a handle on one.”

“And now he’s gone and done this to himself. Are they even… are they both boys or is Maya really a girl?”

“I don’t know,” her father said again. “But at least I can look at her. My heart breaks every time I look at Jackson. I feel like I’ve lost my son, Jo.”

“So do I. I just wish he’d listen to reason. None of this had to happen.”

Maya tightened her jaw. She had to or she’d start bawling. They didn’t want her. They’d never believed she was a girl. They were never going to love her.

She walked slowly, being careful not to let the stairs creak and give away her position. Maya could barely see through the tears forming in her eyes. Somehow she managed to get upstairs without making a sound and knocked on the door.

After a moment, the door opened and Brielle let her inside.

“Maya? Are you okay?”

Maya shook her head and dropped everything she’d brought onto the bed. Then she turned back to Brielle, who was setting a soda from the minifridge down on the desk. Her brow was furled in concern.

“What’s wrong?”

Maya opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was a sob. She was shaking now. Her knees were weak. Maya stepped forward and placed her hands on Brielle’s shoulders, then collapsed into her arms and started to cry. Brielle continued to ask her what was wrong, but Maya couldn’t hear her over the sound of her sobbing.