Mom was waiting for us by the front door. She looked angry, and I could tell she had been crying.
I averted my gaze as we walked closer to the house.
“Sorry,” I finally said.
Mom didn’t reply; not at first. She suddenly hugged me. “Never do that again… Please.”
I returned the hug. “I won’t. I’m really sorry.”
Dad was sitting on the couch when I entered. “Finally done with your tantrum?” he asked, looking behind him. His eyes widened briefly when he saw my face.
He grabbed the remote and paused the movie he was watching. “Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“Did something happen?”
Yeah, and it was your fault.
“No,” I responded. “I’m okay.”
“Then stop crying.” He straightened himself and hit play. “Men don’t cry.”
Mom didn’t say anything. She placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me upstairs. Andrew followed.
We entered my room and returned to our previous positions. Andrew sat next to me on the bed.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Mom admitted.
I did.
“That was stupid of me,” I said. “Leaving like that. After dark.” I fought hard to prevent more tears from coming out. “I… I was really scared.”
Andrew ruffled my hair. “Lesson learned, then?”
I looked at him and nodded. I knew I had been lucky. Our neighbourhood was safe. The chances of something happening were low, but they weren’t zero.
Had it been someone malicious instead of Hayden…
I didn’t want to think about it.
“What did you do to your Dad’s beer, Vera?” Mom asked in a serious tone.
My breath caught. I felt Andrew tense up as well.
“I thought it was strange for you to offer to get it. Maybe you just needed a break from the conversation,” she explained. “I didn’t think you’d go ahead and add something to it. What was it?”
I didn’t know what to say. I looked at my brother again. He was watching me with disbelief.
“It wasn’t enough, by the way,” she added, handing me my phone. “Ruby said more was needed.”
Stupid.
I’m so stupid!
Of course, she would check on it. Even if she didn’t know the pattern, the message preview was still available.
“It wasn’t anything bad,” I finally said. “Just something that would hide my changes from him a bit longer.”
Both of them relaxed instantly.
“I want to correct you on one thing, Vera,” Mom continued. “Even if it wasn’t anything dangerous, it’s still wrong. You should know better than to trick someone into drinking a strange substance.”
I gritted my teeth at that. She was right.
“I’m sorry…”
“Never do that again, Vera. To anyone. It could even get you in jail.”
I nodded silently.
“It wouldn’t work anyway,” Andrew added.
Whatever he knew, Mom didn’t. She looked just as confused as me.
“The antidote counters all magic, right? I didn’t think it would be important anymore, so I said nothing, but Dad drank it.”
“How?” Mom frowned at him. “I put it in the freezer.”
“And you forgot to make more ice,” he countered. “He found an alternative.”
I had completely forgotten about the antidote. Not that it mattered at this point. Even without it, I doubted Mom would let me try again.
“Might be for the best,” Mom said, as if reading my mind. “There is one more thing, and it’s the main reason I wanted you here, Andy.”
My brother raised an eyebrow.
“I’m assuming that you already know about Vera’s coming out at school.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Ah.” Andrew smiled smugly at me. “Yeah, that spread fast.”
“We’re planning to make it official with the school as soon as possible,” Mom continued. “But we don’t have any documentation for her transition.”
“Okaay, I don’t see how I play into that,” Andrew commented.
“I know someone who can help us with that,” Mom said, smiling. “I’m taking Vera to her tomorrow, and that’s where you come in. If Dad asks, Michael went to school as usual. If anyone at school does, Vera is sick at home, okay?”
---<>----------<>----------<>---
The next day came.
Having no other female clothes besides the blouse, my options were quite limited. Most of the new ones were out of the question since we’d be trying to return them after seeing Mom’s friend.
A doctor. That’s all I knew.
I shook my head out of that thought and returned to the task at hand.
I was pretty much left with two choices. The grey v-neck and flannel I’d worn previously, or something from Mike’s old wardrobe.
The choice was easy.
I grabbed my outfit for today and went to the bathroom before Andrew could. I needed to be as fast as possible for the plan to work. Once more, the extra hair-care routine would have to wait.
Once clean, I put on my underwear and then the v-neck t-shirt. As I looked down to grab my jeans, I was presented with an unexpected sight and the warmth from the spell.
Oh…
Is it even proper for me to wear this now?
I lifted my face and saw my reflection. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as it looked from my point of view. Still, I didn’t know how to feel about having actual cleavage, much less about it being somewhat visible to others.
More importantly, the blouse incident from yesterday had already taught me not to rely too much on hoodies.
“Hmm.”
Then again, isn’t Dad the only one who still thinks I’m a boy?
As long as he doesn’t see me without a hoodie, I’m safe.
Not to mention…
I continued staring at my reflection and bit my lip. As embarrassing as it was to admit it, I suddenly found myself thrilled at the idea of Ryan looking at me as I wore this.
The thought didn’t last long, however. I deflated at the reminder that he was probably not in the least interested in that.
He told me he needed to think about it, but what is there for him to really think about?
It’s not like he could change his orientation out of nowhere, right?
Was it possible for someone to like another person so much that physical attraction became secondary?
I didn’t have an answer.
Sure, I could tell I liked boys in general.
I actually found Hayden to be very attractive.
However, Ryan was the only one who made me feel this way.
I found myself both dreading and awaiting his reply.
There was a knock on the door. “Stop hogging the bathroom to yourself, uh, squirt!”
“Squirt?”
I giggled at the sudden nickname. I remembered a time when I probably would’ve hated it.
“Just a sec!” I yelled.
I finished getting dressed and grabbed the blowdryer from its cabinet.
“All yours~” I said, walking past him and into my room.
As soon as I entered, I noticed something out of place.
A small box lay on my bed. It was fully wrapped and had a tiny ribbon attached to it. There was a note underneath.
[It’s better if you have your own. Love - Mom]
I carefully removed the paper and gasped at the contents. It was mascara. Just like Mom’s. I found myself smiling and, yes, tearing up a little.
I wanted to try it on, but it wasn’t the time, so I carefully stored them in my nightstand’s drawer.
Once Andrew was ready, he knocked on my door, and we both went to have breakfast.
It was early. Too early for Dad to be here. This was stage one of our plan. It felt more like dinner since it was still dark outside.
We ate at our own pace. There was no rush. All we needed was to be done and ready before he was.
The sun began to rise, and with it, Dad emerged from his room. He greeted Mom and did a double take when he saw us at the table.
“Well, colour me impressed,” he said with a smile. “What’s the occasion?”
“Mike’s trying to impress a girl he met at school,” Andrew responded.
I’m what?!
I was glad I was done eating, or I’d have choked after that announcement.
“Is that so? What’s her name?” he asked a bit too enthusiastically.
A bitter smile grew on my face. Why couldn’t he have the same reaction over things I actually did?
“Uh, Sable,” I finally responded.
I’m sorry, Sable.
Dad nodded. “You should invite her for dinner sometime.”
Andrew laughed. “Oh, I’m sure she’d be happy to meet you, Dad.”
She’d likely have a few choice words for him.
“In any case,” my brother continued. “It’s best we leave for now. Come, squirt. It’s—” he snorted. “It’s time for you to become a man!”
“Dramatic much?” I said as soon as we were out of the house.
Andrew shrugged. “I’m not apologising.”
I raised my hand and swung.
He dodged.
I chased after him, and he kept running away, snickering.
Suddenly, he stopped. My hit finally landed, but he didn’t even stagger.
His grin only increased, but before I could complain, he whispered, “We’re past the window. Time to get you back inside.”
We went around the house like a pair of burglars, careful to duck under any windows Dad could be looking at. Andrew made a detour and carefully grabbed Dad’s ladder from the toolshed. He brought it with him and placed it against my windowsill.
“Up you go, sis,” he whispered.
I nodded and slowly made my way up the ladder. I breathed a sigh of relief as I got to the top and opened the window. I was glad I remembered to unlock it.
Once I was back in my room, my brother returned the ladder and waved at me before disappearing behind the house.
---<>----------<>----------<>---
The sound of an engine put an end to my doomscrolling.
Mom knocked on my door moments later. “Ready to go?” she asked, peeking through.
I got up and walked to her. “Yeah, let’s go.”
“Wait.” She grabbed my head with both hands and inspected my eyes.
She smiled and shook her head. “You just couldn’t wait, huh?”
“Does… Does it look bad?”
She giggled and patted my back. “No, it’s okay.”
I pressed my lips in response. “Just okay?”
She opened her purse and brought out a small packet. She opened it, revealing a single makeup wipe. “You got some on your eyelid. Here,” she said as she wiped the stain off.
With my mistake corrected, I followed Mom into her car.
“Can you finally tell me where we’re going?” I asked as she started the engine.
“One of my friends is a doctor,” she answered. “I thought I told you.”
“There are many kinds of doctors.”
Mom gave me a brief side-eye as she drove. “I’m taking you to a gynecologist.”