"Mate, can you hurry up?" Christian called out. His voice was kinda muffled by the dressing room door.

"Just a second," I called back.

We were at Target, the final stop in a hurried shopping trip that had also included Priceline (for some cheap makeup) and Daiso (for a cute little choker that may technically have been an actual dog collar).

I was committed to the challenge, alright? And, look, maybe there was a part of me that was getting a little sick of the whole cishet boy act. If I had a chance to express some femininity without totally outing myself, I wasn't gonna waste it.

I finished my mascara and pulled back from the mirror. Fuck. I may have gone a little overboard.

I did look cute though.

I had really leaned into the whole uwu 🥺👉👈 softboi thing. Just enough makeup to make my eyes look big and sooky and pleading, and my lips look pouty, and... yeah, alright, a little more makeup after that, since I was doing it anyway.

My outfit was totally on theme though. An oversized jumper that was so long it almost totally covered the pleated miniskirt I was wearing underneath, plus the choker/dog collar, plus knee-high socks that were technically part of my soccer uniform but still looked mad cute.

If this wasn't submissive and breedable, I didn't know what was.

I turned to the side a bit and hesitated. I had taken off the sports bra I usually wore under my school uniform, but it might have been the wrong decision. My boobs were still really small, but... they were definitely there, forming soft peaks under my jumper. I pursed my lips contemplatively. For a closeted trans girl, there was a fine line between "femboy costume" and "just an actual woman".

"Come on, man," said Christian, "Footy's on tonight."

Fuck it, I decided. Boys were dumb. He wouldn't notice anything.

"I'm ready!" I said, and opened the door to the dressing room.

"Great," Christian said, "Let's... oh, fuck."

I clutched my hands to my chest and shimmied my shoulders, faux-shyly, "Hiiii. How do I look?"

Christian for a sec, mouth agape. Then he blinked and said, "You look... really pretty."

"Oh my god," I broke character and smacked him on the arm, "Just say it, you weirdchamp."

"No, it's true!" Christian protested, "You look... fuckin’ beautiful."

I groaned. I really was not into this weird game Christian was playing. I had devised this look for a specific purpose, and it was not for him to give me a bunch of bullshit fake compliments that were uncomfortably close to stuff I actually wanted to hear.

"Just say it, you simp!" I held up my hands, "Look! You see how the sleeves of my jumper are, like, too long, so my fingers are just sticking out the end like little paws?"

"Oh yeah," Christian grinned, "That's really cute."

I smacked him on the arm again, "Say it baka! I look two things right now. What and what?"

"Alright, jeez," Christian rubbed his arm, "Okay. Bro, you look... really submissive and breedable right now."

"Thank you! A common me dub," I said triumphantly, "See? It's not just a gay thing."

"Yeah," Christian said, but then he hesitated for a second.

"What?" I said.

Christian looked away, "Nah, nothing. Just... nah, it's nothing."

I shrugged. Alright. Well, I got what I wanted. Now it was time to take my makeup off, and change back into my school uniform — or actually, soccer training would be starting soon, so...

Hang on.

Christian was now studiously looking at his phone. Based on the expression on his face, he was just very intent on figuring out when the next bus back to his uncle's place was coming. But... his ears were very pink.

His ears were extremely pink, actually. About as pink as I'd ever seen them.

"Heyyyy, Chris," I said. Christian looked up, with a guilty expression on his face, "What were you about to say just then?"

"Nothing!" Christian said, too quickly, "Nothing, I just... yeah, nothing."

"Nah," I said, "Get fucked. I said "It's not just a gay thing," and you said "Yeah," and then you paused." I pointed one of my little jumper paws at him accusatorily, "Sus. Very sus. One might even say sussy."

"Nah, yeah," the pink had spread from Christian's ears to his face, "It's just... just, like... maybe it is?"

I tilted my head, "What?"

Christian shrugged, "Maybe it is a gay thing."

My jaw dropped, "What?"

"I dunno!" said Christian, "It's just... you look really good right now! And, ya know, you're funny, and you always make me do stuff I wouldn't usually do, and you know all this weird internet shit, and it's weird but it's kinda cool, and... I dunno! I never thought I was into guys, but I'm kinda into you right now."

I blinked. That was... a lot. I didn't really know what to focus on.

He thought I was funny?

I mean, I knew I was funny, but... I didn't realize that was, like, a hot thing.

He thought I was weird?

"And, yeah, you look submissive and breedable," Christian continued, "And I'm into you. So maybe it is just a gay thing."

Well, that brought things into focus.

"Nice try, fucker," I said, "That actually means it's not gay, because I'm a girl."

"You're..." Christian blinked, "What? You're a girl?"

"Uh-huh. I'm trans. I'm a girl," I grabbed his hand and brought it to my breast, "See? I got titties and everything."

"Oh, fuck," Christian said.

"Yeah," I smirked, "So I... um..."

Christian's hand was still cupping my boob. He squeezed it gently.

"S... so I'm right," I said "It's... it's not gay to—"

Christian's hand slipped down a bit, and he rubbed his thumb against my nipple.

"Oh!" I gasped, "Um. Wait a sec."

I pulled Christian into the dressing room and closed the door behind us

I locked the door and turned back to Christian. He backed into the opposite corner of the room, looking very embarrassed.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "That was really... I shoulda asked... I mean, I shoulda just not done that."

"Wait," I said, "Just give me a second."

Christian nodded quickly. I tried to collect my thoughts. Okay. That was... maybe not the best way to come out to someone. And maybe not the best reason to do so. That said...

"First of all, I was right, yeah?" I said, "You're into me, I'm a girl, so it's not gay, so it's not a gay thing to say."

I arched an eyebrow at Christian until he nodded again.

"Good," I smiled, "Secondly... you're into me?"

Christian blushed, "Yeah."

"And I'm a girl," I said.

"Yeah," said Christian.

"Do you get that?" I said, "Like, I'm trans. You know what that is?"

"Yeah," Christian nodded, "Like Viktor from Umbrella Academy. But, like, backwards version of him."

"Um," I said, "Yeah. Pretty much."

Christian nodded, “Do you… uh, do you have a name? Like, a new name?”

“Um…” I hesitated. I wanted to tell him, but there wasn’t really any way to say it without just saying it. I couldn’t couch it in ironic twitchspeak. And that was… kinda scary…

But Christian looked at me with those big, innocent farmboy eyes, and I realised that he wasn’t gonna make fun of me.

And even if he did, I could sledge him back way better.

“Lisa,” I said.

Christian nodded, “Lisa. Cool.”

"And... you're into me?" I said again.

"Yeah," Christian said, "But, uh... I can be... not into you. If it's too weird, or..."

"Oh," I said, "Well. I dunno. Maybe we should go to a pub and, like, have a drink, and you know, think about it."

"Sure," said Christian.

"Cause it’s not like I'm into you too," I said, "I mean, necessarily. Like, no offence or anything."

Christian shrugged uncomfortably, "Yeah, nah. That's fine."

"Like you're definitely good-looking," I said quickly, "And I like how, um, thoughtful you are. It’s very... sweet."

Christian nodded awkwardly, "Thanks."

"And it's cool how you're, like, very eager to learn my weird internet stuff," I continued, "Like you're very open-minded. Like the fact you were so willing to consider that you might be... I don't know, that's kind of hot? In a weird way? Like that you weren't too insecure to think about it?"

"Uh..." Christian started.

"And the whole farmboy thing is definitely a really hot vibe," I was having trouble stopping now, "And you're really cute when you get nervous."

Christian was smiling now. He stepped towards me.

"Like your ears go all pink," I said, "It’s so cute, and it makes me want to tease you all the time, and I really..."

Christian was right in front of me now. He put his hand around my waist and pulled me towards him.

"I— I really," my hands went to his chest. Almost unconsciously, my fingers slid to the middle and started unbuttoning his shirt, "I really..."

"You're being really submissive and breedable right now," Christian said.

I giggled, and tightened my grip on his shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss.