The morning of my first full day as a girl dawned like any other, and was heralded by the shrill alarm of my phone.

I sat up in bed and shut off the alarm, groaning. 

“Good morning, Emma,” I said to my reflection in the mirror on the back of my door.

She looked back at me, a bed-headed mess. 

“I hate you,” I told her. She mouthed it back at me.

At least we’re in agreement.

Dragging myself out of bed and going through the new routine of dressing myself in the feminine clothing I’d purchased with Ada over the weekend took longer than my old routine of grabbing whatever boxers were clean and hastily pulling on my uniform. Now everything had to be put on, strapped, fastened, then the uniform was more annoying to put on… plus the stockings and the smaller shoes. Who decided all womens’ clothing should be a pain to put on?

Assholes.

I made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth and do something with my absurd amount of hair. Ada had shown me some hair-care tips, but I really didn’t care if it looked awful, so I just yanked it back into a messy ponytail.

My phone chirped with a reminder.

[Presentation Day - Wear Your Costume]

Thanks, past-me.

At least one of us remembered.

I trudged back over to my room, grabbing the garment bag off the back of the closet door.

Inside was a frilly gothic dress, all black except for the red ribbon lacing up the faux-corset. Ada had insisted when I told her about the costume extra credit points. 

So here I was, struggling into a “sexy dracula” dress. 

The black thigh-highs and high heels that went with it were… not optimal.

I hated it. But what didn’t I hate about this situation?

I took a look at myself in the mirror, and realized I was going to have to figure out the costume makeup myself, too. Ada’s crash course, don’t fail me now…

With the time it took to get ready, I very nearly missed the bus. I got just as many weird looks as I thought I would. My initial fear was that people would recognize I was a guy in womens’ clothing, like some kind of weirdo freak. 

It wasn’t long before I realized the nature of their stares was very opposite. They thought I was a girl. A hot girl worth checking out.

I focused on minimizing any vampire magnetism I was giving off. Ada said to be careful of that, because apparently vampires are passively more attractive to the opposite sex.

Great.

As if I didn’t have enough ‘plus sides’ to this situation. 

Upon arrival at school, the crowd parted for me like it was the Red Sea and I was Moses. If the Red Sea was a bunch of horny teenagers, and Moses was a stacked vampire girl.

Shut up, it totally works.

As I approached the desk I had stolen from Miyu, I bumped into a catgirl in a maid outfit.

Wait. Catgirl in a maid outfit?

“...Miyu?!” I asked, looking her over head to toe.

She nodded.

“Woah. You look… cute,” I said, blushing a bit.

“Oh, thanks, uh, you too?” she mumbled, blushing right back.

The compliment hit like a bucket of ice water poured directly into my veins. I grumbled and fidgeted with my skirt. It felt way too short, stopping about two inches above my knees, and seriously close to a dress code violation. I had hoped the classic Dracula cape would help keep me more modest, but it really didn’t. 

“This is… the kind of costume girls usually wear, right?” I muttered.

“I guess it is, but you don’t seem too excited about that…” Miyu said, frowning, her ears folding down a little.

“It’s just for extra credit. I packed my regular uniform to change into after first period.” My regular uniform. Yeah right. There was nothing regular about the girls’ uniform. Although I guess it was my new regular uniform. Until I could get new uniform pants that fit this gigantic ass, at least.

“Oh, right, me too,” Miyu said, awkwardly hesitating for a moment before reaching into her bag. “Oh yeah, I made you something!”

I raised a brow, watching her. “Huh?”

She pulled out a sports bra that looked too small to fit me and my cantaloupe tits.

“Thanks, Miyu, but I already bought bras…”

Was she mocking me by handing me one in front of everyone?

“Ah! Nyo! It’s not a bra, it’s a binder!” she spat out, thrusting it at me. “You put it on and it hides your chest!”

I stared at the garment, considering it. Putting that on would hide my breasts?

But they’d still be there. I’d still know. I’d still have to sit to piss. Still bleed once a month. 

I’d still be a girl.

“No thanks, Miyu… hiding them doesn’t make them go away. This is my reality now. I just have to deal with it.” 

“But–” Miyu began, before she was cut off by the arrival of Mr. Johnston.

“Good morning, class,” Mr. Johnston said as he walked to the front of the classroom. He was dressed in wizard robes that looked like they’d come straight from ‘Harry Potter’. Ugh. And he was a Ravenclaw, too. Of course. Bloody know-it-all history teachers.

That’s not even going into the thorny patch that is J.K. Terfing’s general existence and social media presence.

I might not be trans, but even I knew she was a fucking nightmare to the trans community.

He proceeded through role call, surprised when Miyu chimed in with her new feminine voice, but he marked her present.

“Evan?”

“Here,” I replied. “It’s Emma, now.”

If Miyu surprised him, I must have shocked him. I missed his class Friday, so… I was a completely different person than he’d seen on Thursday.

He took a moment to recover before marking me present and moving on without further comment to the next student.

All eyes were suddenly on me.

I wanted to shrink into nothingness and disappear.

I could see them sizing me up - guys and girls alike - was I hot? Was I DTF? Was I a threat looking to steal the cute boys? Did I look like a complete mess? Was my outfit hideous? Did I do oral?

Those were just a few of the questions I imagined my observers were thinking.

I hoped they’d find something more interesting to focus on. But it was just our luck that by random chance, our names came up first in the draw for presentations… 

Miyu took my hand as she stood up. “Let’s go, Emma… we’ve got this.”

She smiled at me, andI forced myself to smile back. 

Together we approached the front of the classroom with the thumb drive containing our project.

“We did our report on Nyew Haven,” Miyu began.

As the day progressed (and I changed into my proper uniform to be free of that vampire outfit) I began to feel strangely cold and detached from everything that was going on. The more I was called Emma, the more I was treated like any other high school girl, the more people gave me supportive messages about being ‘so brave’ to come out as trans so suddenly. As if any of this was a realistic way to come out. Who just woke up female one day? Nobody.

Except me and Miyu apparently.

And a bunch of people in those fiction stories that Ada linked me to, I guess.

I wasn’t like all the ones that wanted this - that enjoyed being a girl - the ones like Miyu.

But if I let people know that, I’d lose all their support. I wouldn’t be the brave trans girl. I’d be the freak. The outcast. The boy who became a girl. 

A huge pervert.

So I did what I do best.

I masked it.

I started smiling. I pushed down the disquiet within me. 

I let myself put on the character of Emma. A shy, awkward girl who just happened to be a vampire.

Hiding behind that mask, it was easier to make it through the rest of the school day.

I could just keep doing this.

I could mask for the rest of my life.

I could bury Evan behind Emma.

It’s fine. I’m fine.

Totally fine.

“Cheers!” Miyu cheered as we clinked our plastic cups together.

The project had gone off flawlessly, and we needed to celebrate, plus we owed Ada and Sachi some thanks for the massive amount of help they had given us.

“I saw your costumes this morning,” Sachi said to us. “You two looked super cute!”

Ada didn’t seem quite as impressed. “A bit stereotypical for a catgirl and a vampire though, don’t you think?”

“T-Tell that to Sachi and Yuki! They’re the ones that picked my costume!” 

“Who are you calling stereotypical when you picked my costume?” I mumbled into my drink.

It had been her idea to wear that stupid gothic outfit.

Did she just do it to make fun of me?

“You rocked that maid dress, girl!” Sachi cheered at Miyu, grinning.

Yuki meowed - probably agreeing with the catgirl. I wondered if it was weird being able to talk to your cat.

“This is bullying,” Miyu whined.

We were all quiet for a moment, before the girls broke down into a fit of giggles. I forced myself to smile after a short delay.

“You okay, Em?” Ada asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, doing my best to sound fine.

“Um…” Miyu um’d. 

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Sachi’s phone pinging, and a declaration that she needed to borrow Miyu. The pair left me and Ada at the table together.

“So,” Ada said, leaning forward a bit. “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “I’m just getting used to all of… this.”

“Being a vampire, or being a girl?” she asked.

“Both, I guess…”

“You looked great in your dress, by the way. Very cute.” She was watching me like a hawk as she spoke.

I was sure she noticed me flinch when she called me cute.

“You know, you can tell me anything, right?” Ada offered.

“I know, I just…” I stared into the depths of my cup as if my drink had answers. “...I can’t get used to this. I know it’s only been a few days, but I can’t do this. This body… I hate it, I hate these huge tits, this huge ass, these mile-wide hips, the hair, the softness, the emptiness between my legs, it’s not me, Ada, it’s just not!” I realized I was crying, hard, by the time I finished.

She moved around the table to pull me into a hug, and I sobbed into her shoulder. 

“Shhh… it’s okay, Evan. It’ll all be alright. We’ll fix this.”

Hearing my name broke me into even smaller pieces, and any chance I had of stemming the tide of tears was long gone.

I bawled my feelings out into her shoulder, soaking a patch of her shirt.

Not that she seemed to mind. She just kept patting my back in a maternal fashion. “It’s okay, Evan… trans guys exist and are valid. You got dealt a bad hand. We’ll help you fix it.”

“Trans guys?” I asked, sniffling.

“Yeah. Did you think trans girls were the only flavor of trans? You’re a guy in a girl’s body… so you’re like a trans guy. You just had an unconventional route to ending up as one.”

I buried my head back in her shoulder, feeling fresh tears coming. A trans guy. That’s what I was now. I didn’t have to be miserable as a woman forever.

“What happened?” Sachi asked as she returned with Miyu.

“Evan finally admitted some things to himself,” Ada said, loosening her hug and patting my back once more.

“I-I’m not–” My voice caught in my throat for a moment. “I’m not a girl… I’m a guy, and I hate being like this!” I fought down another round of tears, worried that if I kept crying I’d dehydrate. “I… I need help.”

Sachi and Ada traded some kind of meaningful look, and Sachi glanced back over at me. “We’ll help you get it. Sorry gi– dude. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Yuki bounded out of Miyu’s bag and plopped a pack of tissues next to me, before licking some of the tears off my cheek. I hope she didn’t get any of my runny mascara, or she was probably going to get sick.

Or maybe not. She’s a fucking magical cat, after all.

The cat dove back into the bag to Miyu’s consternation, and after a brief discussion with the meowing, jiggling backpack, she reached in and produced the binder (and Yuki.)

“I guess you’ll be wanting this now, huh?” she asked, offering it to me.

“Yeah,” I nodded, taking it gently. “Thanks, Miyu… sorry for being a bitch and a shitty friend.”

She tilted her head cutely. “Huh? You haven’t been a bad friend at all! Having a bad week doesn’t make you a bad person, ok? So chin up!”

Ada sighed. “We’re all friends here, so it’s only natural for us to have each others’ backs.”

Miyu picked up my drink and offered it to me. “C’monya, we’re here to celebrate! Then we can figure out what to do after that… together!”

I felt a genuine smile part my lips for the first time since this had all started. “Yeah, together… Thanks, girls.”

Being a girl - well, in body, at least - wasn’t ever something I wanted, but if there’s one positive that came out of this whole week, it’s that I made friends with some awesome girls. Miyu, Sachi, and Ada all took me trick-or-treating, and even got me a more masculine costume. It didn’t hide my curves or change my voice, but I felt way more at ease wearing it.

I didn’t even care when it started pouring down rain, and I laughed as Sachi sprinted back to the cafe with Miyu in tow, sheltering a bedraggled Yuki.

I glanced over at Ada and smiled.

We stayed up talking into the early morning hours, perched on the roof of the cafe under a patio for employees to eat lunch at.

She kissed me as the moon broke through the dissipating rain clouds, and I kissed back.

It wasn’t the Halloween I would have imagined a few days ago, but it is definitely the best Halloween I’ve ever had.

~The End

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Thanks everyone for joining me for this Halloween special! Writing a story collaboration in just under a week was a challenge, but I had a blast knocking this out with Ninichu. If you're interested in seeing Miyu's side of the story, check it out here!