Chapter One
I watch her walk out of the dressing room, her shoulder-length red hair swaying with her step. The light from the shop window cascades across her dress. I smile a little,
“Well, how do I look?” she asks in a slightly quizzical tone.
I manage a “Fine” in response, but she just puts a hand on her hip and looks at me with a raised eyebrow “C’mon, I need your honest opinion.”
I sigh, "It looks great, is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Are you- blushing?”
“No…”, I respond.
She giggles before going back into the dressing room to try on another outfit. I nervously chew on one of my nails and retrieve my phone from my pocket to check my notifications, nothing. I put it back into the front pocket of my jeans.
Another few minutes pass and eventually the dressing room curtain is again drawn. I can’t help but gape at the sight before me, Emory’s hair is pulled back in a ponytail and they’re wearing skinny jeans and thigh-high boots with a T-shirt and long overcoat that hangs past their knees. I just sit there, staring.
Emory looks at me before letting out an “Ahem”, before taking a few steps towards me.
I recoil, jolted back to reality, and am able to regain speech “You look really good. Like, really good.”
Emory takes a good long stare at me before retreating “Well, If you like it, then I’ll buy it”
Still in shock of their sheer beauty, I stay silent.
“I think I’ll buy the dress too though, that’ll work for more feminine days. ”
“So you’re not female now?”
“Well, now that you mention it… I think I may have shifted, yeah,” they reply, “but you know how it is, some days are more feminine, some more masculine, and some are completely androgynous.”
I nod. They smirk at me before returning to the dressing room to change into their normal clothes, and I wait patiently.
A few more minutes pass before the shuffling from the changing room subsides and Emory draws the curtain once more. They now wear long, baggy trousers paired with a chequered vest. I stand up, and they hand me the dress and drape the rest of the clothes on one arm. We both begin to walk towards the counter before Emory remembers something, “Oh, I almost forgot the boots, silly me, would you mind?”
“No problem,” I reply.
I walk back to the changing room to grab the pair of thigh-high black leather boots, which almost glisten and shine as I approach them. I glimpse myself in the mirror, I mean I’m nothing special, I have short-cut blonde hair and wear a hoodie and a pair of jeans. I grab the two boots with one hand and walk back to Emory, who has their head cocked to one side, giving me a questioning look.
“Admiring yourself?” they say
I tense up. “Quite the opposite, actually I was just-”
“Thinking about me?” They giggle.
“No, don’t be silly, I-I”
“Looks like someone has a crush, oooh,” Emory teases.
Defeated, I relax and move towards the counter.
“Oh come on, I was just teasing.”
I dismissively reply with “Yeah, yeah.”
And they follow me to the counter, the cashier tells us the clothes will be around $350. Emory pays in cash, and we pack the outfits into bags and make our way out of the shop.
Teasingly, Emory asks “Are you gonna walk me home?”
I blush “Sure.”
I notice she blushes back too. She turns her head away from me so I can't see her face. She eventually turns back around to me before exhaling and linking arms with me.
“Whoa, I-”
“Just act naturally,” she interjects.
Blushing heavily, we begin our walk to Emory’s place.
Along the way, I spot a couple of girls from our school. I put my hood up to avoid contact, and Emory ignores them too. A few minutes pass, and I turn my head to look at Emory, but she catches me looking and smirks at me. I turn away embarrassed, but I could’ve sworn I saw her blush too.
We continue to walk down the street, we reach the end of the block.
Emory stops and clears her throat, “I thought I’d tell you, since you kinda cared about my gender stuff earlier, but I switched back to female.”
“I could… tell.”
Emory unslips her hand from my arm and turns to face me,“How so?”
“I just sort of knew.”
Taken aback, she pauses for a moment before resuming to walk.
“You think you can pick up on my gender changes?” She asks.
“I mean, I think so,” I respond.
Emory mutters a “Mmm” in acknowledgement.
After about half an hour of walking from the store, we finally reach Emory’s place. She looks at me up and down, before thanking me for walking her home.
I reply with “No problem”
Emory then wraps her arms around me and hugs me tight. “No, really, thank you.”
I manage a muffled “You’re welcome.” before she lets me go.
We’re both blushing, she turns and unlocks the door to her house and waves a final goodbye, before entering and closing the door behind her. I pull out my phone and check the time. It reads: 2:30. It’s about another forty-five minute walk to my place, so I begin my solitary walk towards my house.
There aren’t many people walking around on the streets, so it feels pretty desolate.
When I finally reach my house, a mere forty-seven minutes later, I unlock and open the door and walk into my house, closing the door behind me. I slip off my shoes and start to walk down the hall. My little sister comes running down the stairs: “William!” She exclaims.
“Hey Lily,” I reply.
“So, did you have fun?”
“Yeah.”
“Are they nice?”
I nod.
Lily raises her voice, “Dad, William has a crush!”
Dad walks in from the kitchen, carrying a mixing bowl and wooden spoon.
“Hey, how’s it going, son?”
“Fine, Dad.”
“You wanna talk about this crush of yours now?”
Lily pipes up “Dad, It’s Emory.”
I blush.
“Lily, William doesn’t have to share anything he doesn’t want to,” Dad replies in a slightly stern tone.
“Hmph!”
“I think I should go upstairs,” I say.
“Sure, just be sure to come down when dinner’s ready.”
“Kay Dad”
I make my way upstairs and into my room, carefully opening the door bed and slump onto my bed and lie, staring at the ceiling.
I get a notification on my phone, it’s Emory. Her text reads: “Hey, you wanna come over to my place tomorrow?”
I reply, “Sure, what time?”
She replies, “How about 9?”
“Yeah, okay” I text back.
She sends “See you then” with a blushing face emoji afterward. I recoil for a second before managing to send a heart with shaking fingers. Awaiting a response, I place my phone beside me on the bed, and resume staring at the ceiling.
Finally, I get a notification from Emory. She’s sent a heart emoji back.
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