Lilly opens her eyes and quickly sits up, looking down at her body. It looks just the way it did yesterday. She lets out a sigh of relief and falls back onto her pillow. Yawning loudly she grabs her cellphone. It’s still 5:00 AM.
She opens up her wardrobe and looks at all her new options. It is much more colorful than before. She picks up a white t-shirt, a red flannel shirt and some jeans. The hiking boots compliment everything nicely.
On the way to the shower she passes Jake.

- Up so early, sis? Oh, sorry. Bro.

- Don’t worry, you can call me sis.

- Oh? Alright!

- Jim is picking me up for that thing right now.

- Cool, cool.

She goes into the bathroom and once again looks into the mirror after taking off her clothes. This time she focuses on different details. Her shoulders are much smaller, for example. Every little thing she notices makes her smile a bit more.
She takes a slow and deep breath and looks into her eyes.

- My name is Lilly.

The words make her light up. She giggles and moves away from the mirror, walking into the shower. She feels the hot water on her body and closes her eyes. The feeling of having a new body is still quite strange, but after the last day she was starting to really feel like herself again.
After the bath she puts on her clothes and brushes her hair. Wanting to try something knew she styles it in a small ponytail. She’s finally happy with the way she looks and leaves the bathroom, getting a backpack ready with things for the hike. When she looks at the clock again it’s already 5:58.
She goes out of her house and waits for Jim to show up. A few minutes later he does, with three other people in the car. He honks once and rolls down the window.

- Hey! Time to go!

Thankfully he left the passenger’s seat for her, it would’ve been awkward to sit right next to people she didn’t know. She leaves her backpack no her feet and puts on the seat belt.

- Alright, Lilly. Hope you’re ready to walk. We’re gonna drive for a few hours, should be there at about eight or nine. Then I hope you’re ready for some walking.

- I am!

- Good. Oh, by the way this is Philip, Naomi and Evelyn.

- Hey! - The guy in the blue shirt raised his hand and spoke in a calm and low voice. - Good to meet ya, friend.

- Hi! Nice to meet all of you.

The trip is a little awkward at first, but after just a few minutes they start to talk to each other. Lilly sometimes chimes in but is mostly quiet. But she notices every single time someone talks about her using the words “she”, “lady”, and of course her new name. It feels right.
Jim sometimes looks at her and asks if everything’s alright, if she needs anything or if she wants to turn back. He looks worried.

- Just tell me if anything happens, alright? I’ll totally understand.

- Jim, you really don’t have to worry. I promise, I’m fine.

- Alright, alright. Sorry if I’m being a dork.

- Hah, you’re always a dork though.

They talk during the trip and Lilly learns a bit more about Jim and his friends. Phillip is a chill guy, and apparently just on the road to relax and get away from the city for a bit. Evelyn seems to be there just to be with her friends, and Naomi is really excited to go camping.
When they finally arrive it’s almost nine in the morning, and Lilly is just happy to finally stretch her legs again. They all get their things from the car and start walking. She’s never done something like this before, but it’s really interesting nonetheless.

- Alright! - Jim says while picking up his huge camping backpack. - This is going to be a long trip. It’s been a while since the last time I went camping.

- I never have. - Replied Lilly. - It seems fun!

They ignore the path and start going into the woods.

- Hey, guys? Don’t you think it might be best to stay on the path?

- Huh? - Naomi turns around to face Lilly. - Oh, don’t worry. I know this place well, we’re going to my favorite camping site. Just stay close to me and you’ll be fine, hun.

They move slowly through the woods following Naomi. The track gets rough at times and often they need to climb walls. Lilly has never been the athletic type, and gets difficult to pull herself up. Her foot slips and she nearly falls, if not for Phillip, who catches her arm.

- Hey, watch out, lady. Some of these rocks are slippery as hell.

-Thank you! - She says back, trying to catch her breath. - I just... haven’t done anything like this before.

- You’re doing well, then. - He gives her a thumbs up and swiftly keeps moving forward.

The sky is getting harder and harder to see as they move further into the forest, the leaves block the view. The trees are much taller here than where Lilly lives. The path is getting harder to traverse, there are rocks on the way and often her boots sink in mud. She’s thankful for having purchased those.
The others are way in front of her, but Phillip lags behind, waiting for her.

- All good? - He asks, looking at the girl tripping and struggling to catch up.

- Yeah, just... - She stands on a large rock, taking a deep breath. - Not used to... all this.

- You get used pretty quick. You’re totes gonna love it. Oh, and check out what I found!

Phillip gently lifts up a small purple lily, letting out a small chuckle.

- A lily?

- A lily for a Lilly. Thought you’d like the pun... And the flower, of course.

- I do! Thank you.

They move side by side. The others seem to notice that they slowed down, and are now taking a break below a particularly large tree. When they approach, Evelyn throws an energy bar for each of them, which Lilly barely catches. Naomi is drawing something in her sketchbook, and Jim is just drinking a can of beer.

- Come on now, Jimmy. Cracking one without your boy? - Phillip says while sitting next to him.

- Hey, you’re twelve feet from us, it’s fine. You can finish this one, by the way.

Lilly awkwardly stands there, looking at them. Finally, Naomi looks up from her sketchbook and nods.

- Sit here for a bit, we need to rest.

- What are you drawing? - She asks, sitting beside the girl.

- Just drawing all of us together walking. I don’t really like taking pictures, so this is how I remember these moments.

She shows her a sketch that seems to be of all of them together, going down the path in the woods. There’s only three people sketched yet, none of them look to be her.

- That’s really nice! Can I see the full thing when it’s done?

- Why not?

She looks at the flower in Lilly’s hand for a few seconds, then looking back at her sketchbook and back to her.

- Oh, Phillip gave this to me. Since it’s a lily, it’s kind of silly but I think it’s nice.

Naomi picks up the flower and delicately places it on Lilly’s hair, just above her ear.

- There you go. You look cute like that.

She blushes and turns away. She was never called cute before she changed, and now it seems like the go-to compliment everyone had for her. She didn’t see herself as cute or adorable, but it was certainly nice to hear it that much.
They stay there, talking and laughing for a few minutes. Soon enough, Naomi puts her sketchbook and pencil back in her backpack and gets up, stretching.

- Alright now, nerds. Let’s get going, we still need to set up camp.

As they walk, Jim and Phillip share a second can of beer. Lilly hears her name being mentioned, and she doesn’t know what to make of it. Choosing to ignore it, she rushes back to Naomi’s side and walks beside her.

- So, what’s the place like?

- Well it’s... I’d like for you all to see it first. Describing it or even drawing doesn’t have the same feeling. But we’re making a little stop soon. There’s a nice lake nearby where we can swim. Hope you brought a swimsuit.

- I did! - She excitedly says. - Jim told me to bring one, I haven’t gone swimming in so long...

- Well, you’ll love it here. Especially at night. - She leans in close to her, pointing at her bag and whispering. - Don’t tell the others yet, but I’ve got some marshmallows. Keeping it a secret ‘till we can make a campfire.

- Will do!

- No, won’t do.

- Oh, oh yeah. Won’t do.

- Oh, we’re here. - Naomi shouts so the others can hear - Hey! Move slow, don’t fall into the lake, losers!

They all stop as she moves closer and looks down an edge. The others follow her and do the same, looking down at the clear water below. It seems quite deep, which is good considering they’re quite high up. Lilly approaches carefully, holding on to a nearby tree.
Jim and Phillip drop everything they’re holding in a safe spot, take off their shirts and look at each other. With a quick smirk and an understanding nod both get a running start and jump to the lake, excitedly screaming the whole way down. They dive and come back to the surface, laughing and high-fiving.

- Hey, you gonna jump or what?! - Jim shouts from below.

Naomi and Evelyn do the same thing as the guys, except taking a beach ball with them. They are both wearing bikinis, and that makes Lilly somewhat regret her choice of bring the one-piece swimsuit. Not much to do about it now.

- Hey! - Naomi screams. - I was supposed to go first, you dorks! Watch out down below!

As she jumps, Evelyn turns back to Lilly, who is nervously starring at everything from a few feet back. She approaches and crosses her arms.

- Aren’t you jumping?

- I totally will! It’s just that I need to put on my swimsuit still, I don’t have it on under my clothes.

- That’s fine. Want me to wait here with you? You can change behind that tree.

- Sure! Sorry, I’m just nervous. I’ve never gone swimming with other people like this before. I’m kind of embarrassed.

- Of what? - Evelyn leans against the other side of the tree, looking at the clear blue sky above.

- I don’t know, I’m just... shy.

- Listen now, we’re all friends. You’ve got nothing to worry about, babe.

Lilly gets ready and gets out from behind the tree. Blushing and with a really elevated heartbeat she looks at Evelyn.

- I don’t know, I’m having second thoughts.

- You don’t have to worry about a thing, I promise. Seriously, once you’re in the water, you won’t even think about it anymore.

- Alright. - Lilly takes a deep breath. - Alright, let’s go then.

- Good girl.

Evelyn winks at her, turns around and dives into the lake. Lilly blushes more than ever before, letting out a silent ‘gasp’ at the compliment. She shakes the feeling off for now, takes a few steps back and runs to the edge. She closes her eyes right as she jumps. The free fall is scary, but somehow freeing at the same time. Once she hits the water she quickly swims back up.
As she looks around, everyone seems to be having fun. At first she’s self conscious of her body. She was scared of someone thinking she’s ugly, or of someone somehow recognizing that she’s different, perhaps. But as she swims, she starts to notice that no one actually cares about that. Even Jim, who knows about the change, is just doing his thing. It doesn’t take long for her to loosen up and approach them.

- Hey Lilly. - Jim says, calmly approaching her. - How are you doing so far?

- Pretty good actually. - She shyly grabs her arm, breaking eye contact. - I was scared of meeting new people like this, but it’s not that bad.

- Yeah, they’re pretty cool. I’m just glad you’re alright.

- Don’t worry.

Lilly feels more and more comfortable as she swims with the others. They spend some time racing each other from one end of the lake to the other, playing volley ball and sometimes just sitting with their feet in the water to rest and talk. The more time she spends there the more comfortable she feels with her body. It just seems natural now.
It starts to get dark, and one by one they leave the lake. Lilly has her eyes closed, just letting herself float and breathing slowly. This is the happiest she’s felt in a while. It’s freeing to just be able to let go like that, talk to people and do the things just the way you want to. She always used to worry about doing things the ‘manly’ way, but now she can be as feminine as she wants without judgment. It’s as if the entire world around her changed, not just her.

- Lilly! - Naomi shouts as she’s leaving the lake. - We’re setting up camp, come up soon, okay?

A few minutes later she does just that. It’s getting dark and difficult to see, not to mention cold. After getting out of the water she slips and falls on a rock, letting out a surprised shout. She finally gets to where they’re setting things up, and everyone looks right at her, noticing the wound.

- Sorry, I fell on the way up.

- Hey, that’s alright. It’s nothing serious. - Evelyn gets up and helps her sit down. - We’ll get the fire going so you can get warm, I’ll dress your wound and then you get changed, okay?

As Evelyn grabs a first-aid kit, Philip approaches and sits next to her, placing the flower once again on her hair. Jim tries to light the fire while Naomi quickly draws on her sketchbook with the help of a small flashlight on her shoulder.

- Hell yeah! - Jim shouts suddenly as he successfully lights the campfire. - I’ve still got it!

The fire is warm and Evelyn is helping her with her cut. She’s never seen so many people concerned about her like this, especially with such a small accident. She thinks it’s probably more to do with the way she acts now rather than any other changes. It’s a lot easier to let herself be vulnerable now, and everyone else must be noticing. She smiles. It’s been a really nice day.
Once she’s no longer feeling cold and Evelyn is done, Lilly gets up and goes inside one of the tents to get changed. She ponders about what happened, she doesn’t care anymore about finding a way to change back. Not that she ever tried, anyway. Hopefully it doesn’t happen suddenly like it did before. She doesn’t want to go back.
As she’s just finishing getting dressed, she hears a guitar. Going back out to the campfire, Phillip is playing while Naomi hums a tune.

- Sit down, Lilly. - Evelyn says with a soothing voice. - We’re going to be telling stories now. As soon as the song is done, at least.

She sits down besides the others and listens to the song. The night sky is beautiful, the fire warms her and she’s among friends. It seems like it’ll be a really nice night.

End of Part III