Danny came upstairs to the delightful surprise of the smell of pizza. He joined his family at the table around several boxes of Dominoes.

"Sorry guys," Mom said as they reached around each other to get to their preferred kind of pizza, "me and Dad weren't just really in the mood to cook anything tonight."

"I wish you and Dad would be in that mood more often," Jason said as he stuck some meatlovers into his mouth.

"I second that," Sammy said.

"We can't give into that impulse every night," Dad chuckled, "we'd lose leverage in getting you three to get anything done if we rewarded you all the time."

"Then we're rewarding Danny for getting done with his pre-calc test," Sammy said.

"That's right," Mom said, "did you get your score back yet?"

Danny quietly said "91 out of 100." Even when he got good grades in classes, it still was nerve wracking to say them for some reason.

"That's good to hear," Dad said. "How did you do though talking to people at Sammy's party?"

Ugh.

"Some of us," Danny said, "just... aren't really social."

"He didn't talk to anyone," Sammy said directly. "All he did was eat their food."

"That's not very nice," Danny said. "I thanked them for it. I only had one burger."

"But you didn't talk to anyone," Sammy said. "You go to parties to socialize and have fun."

"I dunno about you but sitting off by myself is really fun. And I also talk to the voices in my head."

"Ha ha ha," Sammy sarcastically laughed. "Seriously though, you just need to swallow your anxiety for a moment and talk to people. Everyone feels a bit awkward talking to new people."

"Not everyone," Danny said, in a more serious tone, "has to deal with what I have to."

The mood immediately dampened at the table.

"Of course I don't want to talk to people when they're staring at my abnormality," he said further.

"Danny," Mom said, "you have this condition, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of boys deal with it a bit when they go through puberty."

"Yeah," Danny said, "but it doesn't usually stick around for years afterward. And it doesn't get this bad. Everyone at school either makes fun of me or feels really awkward around me. All the while I'm chafing... them, against my shirt."

Everyone was quiet, and wasn't really eating. Mom sighed.

"We know it's tough for you Danny," she said. "We feel really bad for you that you have to deal with this. Here at home, we don't want you to ever feel judged about what you're going through. I think that having some good friends would really help you."

"I'd rather spend the Summer alone."

She sighed again. "Just try to be social, even though it might be hard. Not because we want it, but because having people to do stuff with will make it easier to get through things."

Danny set down the crust of his second slice of pizza. "I guess I can try."

"And about your chest," Mom said, "I think that we really should follow the doctor's advice and have you start wearing a bra."

Danny made a harsh swallow.

"I'm sorry Danny," she said, "but I think that it would help. That can't be comfortable."

He hung his head, and shook it back and forth. "No, it isn't."

"If you want, you can limit wearing it to when you're at home."

"I guess."

"Sometime soon we can go to the mall and get you some bras that are fitted for you," Mom said. "But for now, you can borrow some of Sammy's."

"Alright," Danny sighed.

"I think that it would also be good for you to get a haircut maybe this weekend, so your hair is shorter."

Danny fingered his hair. It extended about halfway between his ears and his shoulders. He'd been wearing it longer in the past few months at the suggestion of one of his friends.

He thought over what Mom said for a moment, and then had a sudden jolt. He absolutely could not get a haircut. Not if he had the slightest hope of coming off as a girl to the mermaiding group.

"Um, Mom? Do I have to get it cut?"

"You want it to stay long?" Mom asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Jason said, "having long hair is only going to make people more likely to think you're a girl."

Danny cringed at Jason laying out his fears so explicitly. "I... I know," he said. "But I like my hair long."

A good lie, he thought. It was technically true. He'd be willing to part with his long hair if it wasn't for his potential plan, but he'd still miss it.

"Again Danny," Dad said, "we just don't want you to be uncomfortable. Keeping your hair long might make things harder for you."

"I... I can handle it."

"I guess," Mom relented. "But I think you still need a haircut. At least to make your hair look a bit less messy."

"Okay," Danny said.

He got up from the table, and started walking towards the stairs.

"Sammy," Mom said, "can you go help your brother with a bra?"

"Yep," she said, getting up and walking after me.

Danny groaned quietly as they went downstairs, but felt a little relieved. His chest had been hurting, and this would probably help. At least it would only be at home.

They went into Sammy's room, and he stood there awkwardly as Sammy looked through some drawers. She held up a bra, and stared at him for a moment.

"What?"

"Aren't you gonna take off your shirt?" she asked.

Danny's muscles tightened up, and he pulled off his t-shirt. He averted his eyes from his sister's reaction, only catching a glimpse of her shock.

"Wow... I... I hadn't realized that it had gone that far..."

Danny had gynecomastia, a condition that caused him to develop breasts. Many boys had some amount of it during puberty, but his case had been severe, and unlike most cases that resolved in two years, his breast tissue had remain swelled until now at the age of sixteen.

"I... I think that my bras will fit you better than I thought," Sammy said.

Danny kept his eyes tightly closed to keep tears from coming. His sister didn't have very large breasts, in comparison to some other girls Danny had seen, but it still hurt him deeply.

"Hey," she hugged him close, his breasts pressing against her, "it's gonna be okay. Riding out life till you can have them removed will be hard, but I'll be right there with you."

He continued to hold to her. "It's just... really hard Sammy," he said. "It's not just the breasts. I don't have much body hair and no facial hair. My hips are wider than they should be. And I've got my stupid larger butt from Dad's side of the family."

"Stop that," she scolded, ending their hug. "This is difficult for you, but you shouldn't shame your body. You have a lot to be grateful for with it. Other than your condition, you're healthy, you're not overweight, and annoyingly, you haven't had as bad of acne as me."

Danny let out a small laugh.

"Don't be ashamed of your body Danny. And more so, it's cliche, but what matters is what's on the inside."

"My stomach."

"Ha ha," she said. "But seriously, you're a cool person."

He mumbled.

"What?" she prodded.

"A girly person," he whispered.

"I don't think you're girly," Sammy said. "But who cares anyway. Be yourself. You don't have to worry about being the super strong tough guy. You're different. We all are. A lot of girls want to be around guys like you."

 In his heightened emotional state, Danny felt the urge to tell his sister about his interest in mermaids - undeniably girly. And in his view, when you put together the sum of his behavior, it all seemed very girly.

Sammy's eyes almost seemed to know he was hiding something. Aughhh.... he couldn't take the feeling of hiding it...

But somehow, he held back.

His sister put the bra on him, and instructed him on how to put it on in the future. It was a harrowing feeling. He was wearing a bra. But he couldn't deny that it made his breasts feel better. It felt like they were protected now, and he it felt good to have something support them.

"That feels better doesn't it?"

"Yeah," he answered. He pulled his shirt back on. To his dismay, his chest was a lot more obvious.

He sighed.

"Remember," Sammy said, "you only have to wear it around us."

"But now," Danny said. "I'm honestly dreading being in public now, and being bra-less. I just... aughhh. It just feels like this would all be easier if I'd been born a girl. I already look the part."

Sammy gave him a nervous smile. It looked like she was trying to form thoughts in her mind.

"We love you Danny," she said. "It'll be alright."

He walked through the bathroom to his room, making a concerted effort not to look in the mirror. There was a noticeable difference in how it felt to walk, now that his breasts were held in place.

A lot of thoughts were swarming through his mind as he laid down on his bed.

But they were all scattered with a new explosion of thoughts. In checking his phone, he'd found that the mermaid group had responded.

>Nice to meet you Cindy! I'm Lucy! It's great to hear from another fellow mermaid! :) We'd love to have you come over and swim with us sometime!

Ohhhh...........

It had happened. The opportunity was there. He could ignore it. It would be rude, but he could get out of this without any personal risk. But the mermaid in him longed to be freed.

>Hi Lucy!

He'd responded. Now it would be even more rude if he pulled out now.

>Hi!

She'd responded back. Danny made his decision. He wasn't turning back. He was going to stick to this, and plan it out. He began typing in response, and began formulating more detailed plans...