4
Amanda Undercover

“Amanda, can we talk?” my dad asked, knocking at my door.

I had been left alone after Mom assumed I was trans, and I spent the time taking off my makeup and dress. I just washed it off with water, which I’m pretty sure wasn’t the right way to remove makeup, but whatever. I had been getting some schoolwork done when Dad came to my door.

“Yeah, come in Dad,” I said, although I didn’t particularly want to hear what he had to say. Dad walked into the room and took a seat on my bed. “So, how long did you know?” he asked me, sighing.

“I think you all have the wrong idea here,” I said, trying to clear things up. “I was just asked to dress up as a girl for a party, I’m not actually trans or anything.”

“It’s okay Amanda, you can be honest with me,” he said, looking and sounding like he was about to burst into tears. I never saw my dad like this before, and honestly, it surprised me a little bit. I didn’t want to disappoint him and make him cry more, so I decided to just go along with it.

“Fine,” I said. “I’m trans. Transgender, I mean.”

“I’m glad you decided to be honest with me,” Dad said, wiping a tear from his eyes. “I’m glad to know I have a daughter now.”

Dad stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. I felt oddly emotional, for some reason. I wasn’t trans, but still.

“Sleep well, Amanda,” he said, releasing me from the hug and moving to the door. “Have a good night.”

***

My alarm went off and I was forced into the world of the living. I yawned loudly, I really did not want to get out of bed. I couldn’t be late for school though, so I got up after about a minute. I opened the closet and saw the dress. I quickly moved it to the side and changed into a T-shirt and shorts. I looked down at it, it was a little nasty now that I looked at it. Maybe I should rearrange my closet.

I walked downstairs, greeting my mom. Dad had already left for work since he worked super early or something.

“Did you take your vitamins, Amanda?” Mom asked me.

“Yeah, I’m taking them now,” I said, swallowing some Vitamin D. I sat down at the kitchen table, where food for me was already on a plate. I dug in with a fork, the food tasted really good. I had always been super skinny and unable to gain weight no matter how much I ate. It was weird. I finished breakfast and downed a cup of orange juice. It was time to go to school now.

“I’ll get going now, Mom,” I said, picking up my backpack.

“Bye Amanda, have a good day,” she said, smiling at me.

I walked outside and over to Shane’s house. We always walked to school together, since it was nearby. I spotted him exiting his house.

“Hey Shane,” I said, waving to him as I ran over.

“Hey Adam,” he said, seeming exhausted. He trudged over for me, barely lifting up his hand in the form of a wave.

“You okay?” I asked, frowning.

“Yeah, just didn’t get much sleep,” he said, sighing. “I was endlessly mocked by Claire, and then I had to do my homework, so I only slept for like three hours.”

“Oh, that sucks,” I said, feeling bad for him.

“How about you?” he asked, looking over at me.

“Well, my parents think I’m transgender now, so that’s great,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“They saw you like that?” he asked, standing up straight all of a sudden. “Shit man, why do they think you’re transgender though? You could’ve just said it was because of me.”

“Well, I tried, but they just wouldn’t listen,” I said, sighing. “They just assumed the only reasonable explanation for me being dressed up like a girl was that I was trans. Then my dad almost cried, so I kind of felt obligated to say I was trans. I’ll clear it all up later.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Shane said. “What’s the worst they can do, right?”

“Right.”

***

We arrived at school and separated to each go to our respective classes. I was walking to class when someone stopped me.

“Wait,” I heard a girl’s voice say from behind me. I turned around to see Kayla, the girl who I saw at the party yesterday.

“What is it?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“Here, follow me,” she said, extending a hand to me. I instinctively grabbed it, and she led me into an empty classroom. She looked at me seriously, before asking me a question. “Were you the girl I saw yesterday?”

My heart sank.

“What girl?” I asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.

“You know what I mean, at Hailey’s party,” Kayla said, rolling her eyes. “The girl looks like, identical to you.”

“Are you talking about my cousin, Amanda?”

“No, I’m not talking about your cousin Amanda, how would Amanda know my name?” she asked me.

Shit, she caught me there.

“Uhh.”

“Yeah, uhh, it’s obviously you,” she said. She reached over and pulled back my hair. “You even have earrings on.”

“Oh crap,” I said, moving my hand up to my ears. I had forgotten to take them off after the fiasco with my family.

“Also, your legs are shaved,” she said. “Your hair changed as well, it went from some mop to what it is now.”

“Gee, thanks for calling my hair a mop,” I said, offended. What was with everyone insulting me? First my clothes, now my hair.

“That’s literally the least of your concerns,” she said, shaking her head.

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked, nervously tapping my foot. Was she going to blackmail me or something?

“Well, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to join the cheerleading squad!” she said excitedly. “You see, we have an empty space on the team, and we need one more person to fill it. Nobody else in the school wants to.”

“I think you’re forgetting I’m a guy,” I said. I thought this was a one-time thing, I didn’t want to be a girl for the rest of the school year as a cheerleader.

“Well, you look like a girl,” she shrugged. “Why were you even dressed up like that if you’re not a girl?”

“Well, it’s a long story,” I said, not wanting to explain things. Nevertheless, I did end up explaining everything, starting from Shane’s stupid plan.

“Wow,” she said, after hearing me out. “I’m surprised you agreed.”

“Well, a hundred dollars is a hundred dollars,” I shrugged.

“Anyways, I’m not going to expose you or anything,” she said, much to my relief. “I was just hoping you would join the squad.”

“Yeah, sorry, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Ugh, fine,” she said, looking defeated. “I guess I’ll have to find somebody else. I have to get to class now, so see you.”

“Bye.”

***

I was heading to lunch with Shane as always. We walked over to the corner of the cafeteria, where it was us and a few of the other losers. We hung out with each other more out of convenience than anything, I was mostly only close with Shane.

“You guys up for Call of Duty later?” Jake asked, biting into a chicken tender.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, idly drinking some milk.

“Where were you two yesterday?” Max asked, looking straight at me. “You weren’t online.”

“Uhh, I was busy with homework,” I lied.

“Well, I went to Hailey’s party,” Shane said, smiling. God damn it, Shane, couldn’t you have lied? Now they would ask questions.

“You got a date?” Jake asked, dipping his chicken tenders in milk. Don’t ask me why he ate chicken tenders with milk. “How did you manage to do that, Shane?”

“It’s a whole thing,” he said, waving them off. “Anyways-”

“Hey, I thought you went to another school,” I heard a voice say. My head jerked to see who just spoke, and I saw Owen. Shit.

“Do you know this guy, Adam?” Shane asked me, looking confused.

“Uhh, let’s go somewhere else,” I said, standing up. I motioned for Owen to follow me, and led him to an empty hallway.

“Why’d he call you Adam?” Owen asked, frowning. “You’re the girl I danced with yesterday, right?”

“Uhh, yeah that’s me,” I said, trying to spin up a lie. “I - Uh - I.”

“You don’t have to be so nervous,” Owen said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Take your time.”

“I’m sorry, I just had to dress up as a girl because my friend Shane needed a date for the party,” I said apologetically, putting my head down. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh,” he said.

“Yeah?” I asked, my hands shaking.

“That’s okay,” he said, chuckling. “I was really hoping to meet that cute girl I danced with yesterday again. This was not how I expected to see her.”

“Thanks for understanding,” I said, relieved. I was worried he’d be angry.

“Yeah of course,” he said, giving me a warm smile. “Do you want to meet up after school to talk about it? I’m really curious as to what the story is behind all this.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, just happy that he wasn’t strangling me.

***

“Hey,” I heard Carter say as I was sharply pushed into a locker. I winced in pain, holding onto my shoulder. “What’s up.”

“What is it, Carter?” I asked, sighing. I guess I should’ve expected this, I got bullied by Carter almost daily. Since I was heading to my last period, I was hoping that I wouldn’t get bullied today, but I guess I was wrong.

“You know, I met your cousin yesterday,” he said. “At the party which you weren’t invited to. Obviously, no losers allowed.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said, rubbing my shoulder. “What about her?”

“Well, she was pretty damn cute, I’ve got to say,” Carter laughed. “She’s like you if you were a girl.”

“Yeah, I mean, we are cousins,” I said. I wasn’t worried about having my identity exposed, Carter was too dumb to recognize me. Kayla was perceptive, but Carter had about a single brain cell bouncing in his brain around like a game of Pong.

“Sadly, it seems she is just as lame as you are,” Carter said, shaking his head. “Tell her the next time you see her that I want a piece of that ass, okay? Tell her to be less of a boring bitch.”

“Sure,” I said, almost vomiting internally. Carter wanted a piece of my ass? I’d rather die.

“That’s all for today, dork,” he said, pushing me into the locker one last time.

***

“Hey, Owen,” I said, catching up with him after school ended. Shane had asked me where I was going, and I said it was to clear things up. I was still in a pretty bad mood after what happened with Carter, but I felt a little better now.

“Hey, Adam was it?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I said, happy that he remembered my name. “So, where are we going?”

“Just to the local taco joint, if that’s okay with you,” he said, smiling. “Do you like tacos?”

“They’re pretty good yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”

We started walking, as we often did in this small town. It was silent for a while, as we walked on the sidewalk. I stepped on some leaves as we walked, liking the satisfying sound they made. Eventually, we arrived at the taco place. We both slid into a booth on opposite ends of one another and ordered.

“While we’re waiting for the food to arrive, we might as well chat, right?” Owen asked, leaning back in his seat. “I’m still really curious about what happened.”

“Well, what I told you is basically what happened,” I said, shrugging.

“Why did Shane even want to go to the party that bad?” he asked.

“Oh, he has a massive crush on Hailey,” I said, giggling. “So he was hoping to get to her.”

“Yeah, I know quite a number of people who have crushes on Hailey,” Owen said, chuckling. “Still though, you really agreed to dress up as a girl for him?”

“Look, he offered me a hundred dollars,” I said, raising up my hands as if I was guilty as charged. “How could a guy refuse.”

“Right, I wouldn’t refuse either. Not like I could dress up as a girl or anything, look at me.”

I looked at Owen carefully, he was honestly pretty attractive. It looked like he worked out, but not enough to look too big like a bodybuilder. Just the right amount, I suppose.

“Yeah, I think you’d have a little trouble dressing up as a girl,” I said. “Me on the other hand, well, let’s just say it wasn’t too difficult.”

“Yeah, I honestly thought you were a girl when I spotted you in the cafeteria,” Owen said. He burst out into laughter, barely finishing his next sentence. “I was like, what is such a cute girl doing there with such nasty clothes on?”

“Wow,” I said, looking down at my clothes. “I really need to change out my wardrobe, everyone’s been calling my clothes nasty.”

“Heh, I was exaggerating, but you could do with a wardrobe refresh,” he said. “You looked much better in that dress. You were adorable.”

I looked down, and I could feel my cheeks heating up again. Why did it feel so good to be complimented?

“Sorry, I hope that wasn’t inappropriate,” Owen said, looking a little worried. “I assume you don’t like looking like a girl? I don’t know of many guys that would.”

“It’s okay, I do get bullied over it sometimes though,” I said, sighing. “Carter, Evan, people like that.”

“They bully you?” Owen asked, clenching his fist. “Sorry, I didn’t know you that well until now, or else I would’ve never allowed that to happen. I hate Carter and his cronies.”

“Yeah, Carter just shoved me into a locker twice just after we met in the cafeteria,” I said, not wanting to recount that memory. “He said he wanted a piece of Amanda’s ass, super disgusting.”

“Who’s Amanda?”

“Oh, that’s my alter-ego name, I guess,” I said, laughing a little at the fact that I had an alter-ego now. It was like Amanda was a superhero and I was the undercover civilian version of her.

“Ah, I see,” he said, nodding. He was about to speak up again but the food arrived. I just ordered a single burrito, since I wasn’t very hungry. Owen on the other hand ordered a whole feast, getting a party pack for himself.

“Do you really eat that much?” I asked, frowning. I don’t think I ate that much in a whole day, let alone a single meal.

“I guess so,” he said, looking down at his meal. “I exercise a lot and I’m pretty tall, so I need a lot of food.”

“How tall are you?” I asked, tilting my head. I tried to guesstimate how tall he was, probably around 5’10.

“6’1,” Owen said.

“You’re a whole foot taller than me,” I said, looking down at how short I was. Sometimes I had to get clothes from the kid's section because nothing in the adult section fit me.

“Hey, height doesn’t matter,” he said, digging into a taco. He finished a bite before speaking again. “I mean, some girls care about height. But in my opinion, if they’re not willing to accept you for who you are, regardless of height, they aren’t worth it.”

“Wise words,” I said, nodding.

“Yeah, I’m a philosopher,” he said, chuckling.

I finished my single burrito in a few bites, while Owen was having no trouble at all finishing his meal. I awkwardly sat there, waiting for him to finish. Eventually, he put down the last taco, having finished the entire party pack by himself.

“That was… impressive,” I said, not quite believing he ate that entire thing even though I saw it with my own two eyes.

“Thanks,” he said, wiping his nose with a tissue. “That tasted really good. Thanks for explaining things to me, Adam.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I said, smiling.

***

“Amanda, welcome home,” my mom said, hugging me tightly. “Where were you today?”

“Uhh, I was just hanging out with a friend,” I said. I guess that was technically the truth.

“I have a surprise for you,” Mom said, heading to the stairs. “Here, come up with me.”

“Huh?” I asked sheepishly, following Mom up the stairs. We made it to my room, where she opened it up. I was a little scared that everything would suddenly be painted pink, but nope, it was just my room. Grey walls, boring old wooden desk in the corner, a small twin-sized bed in the other corner. “What is it?”

“Open your closet,” she said, a sly smile on her face. I hurried over and opened up my closet to see it was full of skirts, dresses, and blouses. My mouth opened in horror, what did my mom just do? Where did all my clothes go?

“Isn’t this just great, Amanda?” she asked, hugging me from behind. “Everything will be alright, my little girl. I’m sorry I didn’t notice earlier, but I’ll do my best to be as supportive as I can now.”