The first few days of class passed without incident. I went to class, didn’t show my face or speak so as to avoid drawing unwanted attention, and just generally went about my normal routine. What was strange was just how used to being a girl I was getting. Obviously there were still plenty of things I was in the process of discovering, like, for example, I got cold way easier now. Plus managing my hair every morning was a huge hassle, but for the most part it was kind of just normal? But normal in a good way; before, I’d been kinda going through a malaise, and now I felt like things were actually normal. Still, it wasn’t that concerning. Clearly, just because the initial excitement of being a girl had worn off, that didn’t mean it wasn’t a cool and interesting experience. And if, hypothetically, I saw a photo of my old self on my phone and had to take a moment to register that I used to actually look like that, that was totally okay. It was not at all cause for alarm. I was just so used to seeing a girl in the mirror, cause, y’know, I’d been spending a lot of my time just staring at myself in the mirror. And why wouldn't I? I was pretty, okay?

 

Anyway, Thursday rolled around, and, ‘cause I’m a fucking genius who had carefully built her—his—class schedule around having Fridays off, I had the night to myself. So there I was, slouching on the couch in a baggy hoodie, mashing away my controller with an open bag of chips resting on my boobs, when Tony and Will came home from, well, wherever they’d been. Tony waved a casual goodbye, and, without another word, plopped himself down next to me. “Sup?” he asked. 

 

“Sup?” 

 

“Can I get in next round?” 

 

“Yeh.”

 

“Tight.”

 

We casually played video games like that for a few hours, chatting Idly throughout. Even though it was just the two of us, I accidentally slipped up and called him Penny a couple times, which clearly was making him kind of uncomfortable ‘cause he blushed every time I did it instead of his usual reaction of scrunching up his face and looking away when I called him Tony, which was what guys normally did when they heard their name, of course. At least, it must have been, since I was doing it too whenever he called me Brody. When it became clear that both Rachel and Will had gone to bed, I found an opportune time to pause the game and turned to Tony. “Hey, so, wanna do another one of those meeting things again?” 

 

“Sure, dude.”

 

About half an hour of on and off making out later, I had to ask Penny to stop before I got way too overwhelmed. We both lay on the couch, splayed out and melted against our respective backrests as we panted and just kind of looked at one another. I managed to catch my breath first; I felt like I should say something. I mean, we’d spent like half an hour just kissing each other and calling one another girls’ names and it made my heart feel so giddy and fluttery every time I heard that pretty voice call me Heather. Clearly the elephant in the room needed to be addressed. “Uh, nice job, dude. That was a really funny prank.” Okay, phew, got that out of the way.

 

“Oh, yeah. Um, for sure. Kissing can definitely be a prank, right?”

 

“Kissing is definitely a prank. At least, it is when it’s just like, guys being dudes, y’know?” I winced a little, referring to myself that way kind of stung, especially after feeling like such a girl during all those kisses. And it made sense, cause, y’know, being referred to as a guy totally interrupted the fantasy of getting to be a girl. It would ruin it for anyone, not just me.

 

“Speaking of the prank, uh, well, how did your week go? Do any cool girl shit, b-bro?” There he was kind of cringing again, he was probably having a hard time readjusting to calling me a guy after all that time calling me a girl. And I totally felt the same way; it seemed way easier to just think of her as Penny. Especially considering we’d just kissed a bunch and I didn’t want to think about kissing a guy. Clearly he was down, so a bit of my own personal brand of enthusiasm was in order. Good thing, too, cause there was nothing I got more enthusiastic about than talking about my time spent as a girl.

 

“Oh, fer sure! I did all kinds of girly shit, bro. I like, wore dresses and shit, it was dope. And then yesterday I was in the living room and Rach came in and she was like ‘Hey, Heather, how’s it going?’ and I was like, ‘Oh I’m good, just unwinding after a long day.’ And then she was like ‘Oh, well if you’re going to be doing something private like that, then you should probably do it in your room, unless you’d like company?’ and then I just—” Suddenly my tongue started to kind of just wiggle uselessly in my mouth like a fish on dry land as I remembered that moment, the way her deep green eyes looked right into my fucking soul and wrote  ‘mine’ across it with a big red marker. I wrestled with that feeling for a while, all while my best friend and platonic girl makeout bro watched me expectantly. After taking a few breaths and closing my eyes to center myself, I determined I definitely had it under control. “And then I just… pleaugh?” Nope, that wasn’t a word, try again. “I just kinda s-squirmed a little and shook my head then she, uhm, she smilled en crolled my a grood grirl.” The memory of that seemed to finally do the trick of short circuiting my brain.

 

“What? Do I need to call an ambulance? Like, do you smell burnt toast?” He snapped his fingers in front of my face and I shook my head vigorously, blushing furiously. 

 

“She said I was goo garl,” I slurred helplessly. 

 

“Are you having a normal time right now?” He chuckled. Frustrated, I bit my lip a little, took a deep breath and forced the words out.

 

“She called me a good girl, okay!?” I was lucky both Will and Rachel were heavy sleepers, ‘cause I practically shouted that. “She called me a good girl and I fucking melted right then and there and I wanted her to eat my pussy like she was Alf, are you happy?”

 

A fit of giggles erupted from his lips and he collapsed onto his side, practically convulsing with glee. It was adorable. “No, no, I’m definitely not happy. I wish you’d never said those words, how will I ever enjoy the 1980s sitcom Alf ever again?” 

 

“This is getting out of hand, why don’t we talk about your week instead?” I told the floor. 

 

“It was alright, had like, class and stuff. And y’know, I watched a bunch of makeup tutorials and I think I’m getting pretty good at it.” He really was. At the moment he was wearing this really great eyeshadow that transitioned smoothly from a cool blue to a sparkling silver at the edges, which was accented neatly by elaborate winged eyeliner. His lips were, or rather, had been painted this navy blue, which was now likely smeared all over my face and neck. Taken on the whole, it definitely wasn’t the kind of look one would just wear out and about everyday, unless they were trying to make a pretty bold statement, but it definitely worked as an ensemble. “I’ve also been just like, kind of generally enjoying that things have returned to some semblance of normal and I’ve been taking advantage of that as much as I can. Going out and about, y’know?”

 

“Oh yeah, you and Will have been hanging out a lot recently, haven’t you? Is he like, converting you into a film nerd or something?” I rolled my eyes teasingly. 

 

Tony huffed, forming a really cute pout with those plump lips of his. “Look, he’s got good taste, alright? Like, I know we tease him for geeking out about it, but I gave him a chance and like, we went to that theater that does like those event screenings of already released movies and saw this dumb horror movie marathon and there was a cheesy little burlesque show beforehand; it was really fun. Plus, he’s not pretentious about it or anything, just genuinely likes movies. And also—” 

 

“Alright, alright. I get it, like, you know I’m just teasing right? I’m always the first to ask Will what to watch on movie night, jeez. What’s gotten into you? Why are you being so defensive, bro?” Like honestly, Will was one of my best friends; Tony surely knew this was just good-natured ribbing.

 

“‘Cause like, he told me he wished people would take his interest in film more seriously and like, he also told me that he really appreciates how now that I’m a girl I’ve been listening to him more and not teasing him as much. I think he’s actually kind of sensitive to it and he’s been really sweet with me lately and, um, we kind of, maybe, sort of kissed?” Since first settling into his new body, Tony had always felt so much more confident and outgoing, especially compared to me, considering how often he or Rachel reduced me to a blushing mess. Now, though, he appeared really genuinely small and fragile; his face was flush and his shoulders rolled inward, head slightly ducked and eyes averted. And I totally understood why, I mean, he just admitted to kissing a guy. And not like in the way that Tony and I were kissing, pretending the other was a girl. Obviously this was pretty embarrassing to admit, and probably made him feel really vulnerable. It was fine, though; I wasn’t going to tease him in a moment like this. Instead, I did what any good friend would do. I reassured him; after all, this really was true dedication to the prank.

 

“Brooooo! That’s fuckin’ great! Oh my god, it’s gonna be so hilarious when he finds out it was a prank, like a kiss between bros, comedy gold!” I clapped him on the shoulder. 

 

“Oh, uh, yeah, I know right? It was a really good prank. Like you said, kissing your bros is totally a prank, d-dude.” He flashed an uncertain smile, squirming in place as his blush only grew deeper. 

 

“Hell yeah, kissing your bros as a prank is poggers.”

 

Tony took a moment to recover from the psychic damage I had just inflicted, and continued “Um, by the way, you know what else would be really funny and totally add to the big reveal of the prank?” My interest and attention peaked immediately; so far this prank was only getting better and better. I’d had so many opportunities to act like a girl, it was super funny. So obviously, I’d jump at the chance for more opportunities, y’know?

 

“Tell me!” I clamped my hand over my mouth, that had been a particularly shrill shout of pure excitement. 

 

“Well, like, wouldn’t it be really funny like if, y’know, at the end of the prank we told them that we even acted like girls around each other? Like so for example, if you stopped calling me by my, uh, other name entirely and only called me Penny. That would be really funny. Also if you referred to me as a girl in private too, like as a she and stuff instead of a he.” I could tell by the way Penny was speaking that she was really embarrassed to have suggested this new dimension to the prank, but I was all for it; she was totally right, it would be really funny.

 

“Definitely, that would be so funny!” I said, nodding so enthusiastically it felt like my head was about to pop right off. “But um, well, I do have a condition if we’re, y’know, evolving the bet or whatever.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You have to do the same for me.”