He looked at his surroundings, people, mostly women, walking by with piles of clothes on their arms. Behind him was the dress section of the store, and in front of him was the dressing rooms. He could tell that some of these women would shoot gazes at him from time to time, and he would let out a sigh whenever they did.

“How did I even end up here on a Sunday?” He wondered out loud to himself.

Recounting his weekend so far, he tried piecing the puzzle together. Saturday he had gone to have dinner with his family, Jamie with him. They got home at about ten and went right to bed. He then read his book, which made him cry when one of the characters had a tragic death. After that he fell asleep.

In the morning… Jamie had slammed the door to his room open and pulled him out of bed. It hadn’t been that early, but he hated being woken up by loud sounds. After calming his heart, he showered and then went down for breakfast, by then, Jamie was already dressed up.

“Oh no…” Was all he remembered saying.

And now, there he was, awkwardly standing in front of the dressing rooms in which Jamie, Mia and Citara had walked in.

The girls had met them at the mall- or more like they met the girls? They were already there by the time he arrived with a dolled-up, auburn-haired Jamie. He found Citara’s reaction quite amusing, who asked “Where’s Jamie?” when she saw the tall boy walk up to them. Thankfully, that had allowed them to explain the boy’s hobby before a misunderstanding happened like when he met Mia.

Citara had gasped loudly and nearly threw herself over Jamie’s shoulders, rubbing her cheek on his while declaring how cute he was dressed in that oversized cyan-shirt that hung over one shoulder, revealing the thick strap of his fuchsia under tank top. He sported white shorts that only reached to half his thigh, and sparkly sheer stockings that complimented his holographic sport-shoes.

The crossdressing boy had had a hard time hiding his red face after that, and since then, spent most of his time hiding behind his wall-of-a-friend. That is, until the girls pulled him inside the dressing room despite his protests.

“It’s my vengeance.” Elias had said as he waved good-bye to his friend that was being dragged away. He had been dragged to the mall himself after all.

Scrolling down the summary of a book he was considering buying, he then saw his friend walking out of the dressing room. The boy had his face a deeper shade of red, something Elias couldn’t believe was possible. Standing before the tall boy, Jamie glared up at him.

“Traitor.” He said in his girl voice.

“To be fair, I only allowed it because you wouldn’t be alone.” Elias grinned. “And I owed you as much for waking me up today.”

“Traitoooor!” Jamie cried, weakly swinging his fists on his friend’s chest.

“Sure, sure.” He patted Jamie’s auburn head. “So, where are the girls?”

“They allowed me to come out ‘cause they're going to try out some lingerie…” His face reddened again.

“Oh.” But Elias smiled wickedly. “So, did you get a good view?”

“I hate you right now.” Jamie sniffled.

“Come on, let’s have a look around while they come out. Help me look for something that’ll fit Emily.” Elias wrapped his arm over Jamie’s shoulders.

“Oh! I saw something earlier!” Jamie beamed.

“Then lead the way.” Elias chuckled after sending a text. “Just told the girls to let us know when they’re done.”

“So considerate.”

“Of course.” Elias nodded.

***

Mia walked with Jamie’s arm linked to hers, while the taller ones in the group walked a few steps ahead. She noticed how the boy looked at the pair, his brows knitted ever so slightly and he bit his lower lip. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, he looked terribly cute even when troubled.

“What’s wrong, Jamie?” She asked, gently nudging at his side.

“Ah.” Jamie looked down, his knitted brows falling as he tried to hide his face. “They look good together… Don’t they?”

Mia blinked at their tall friends. It seemed like Elias was recommending a book, and Citara listened intently. Did they really look good together? Mia tilted her head. Elias was dressed as always, but now that she paid attention, he walked with a straight back, making him look taller than he was.

To his side, was her friend, wearing a basketball jersey that was way too big for her, wearing a short-sleeve shirt under it. And those cargo shorts… Had she picked all the oversized things she owned and put them all into her outfit? Not only that, but Citara had tucked her long hair under a baseball cap.

Now that she looked at them, carrying bags of clothes they had bought earlier, Elias and Citara looked like…

“It looks like they’re our boyfriends.” Mia laughed.

“W-What?” Jamie looked up, raising a brow.

“Citara is beautiful, but today she looks like she could be Elias’ gaming buddy.” Mia giggled. “To me, it looks more like we’re on a double date- and we’re gossiping while the guys talk about, well- guys stuff.”

“I guess.” Jamie let out a stifled laugh.

“You’re overthinking this.” She comforted him. “If you want, we can change dates for a while.” She winked.

“Change dates?”

“I’ll steal Elias away so you can spend some time with Citara.” She grinned.

Jamie let out a gasp, pulling away from her. “So that time at the fair, you guys planned that too?” His fists trembled at his sides, clenching the fabric of his shorts.

“Well- It’s not like that.” Mia tried amending, reaching for the boy who only backed away when she tried getting closer.

“Jamie?” They heard Elias call from the front, but only Mia turned to look at him.

She could feel her face contort as she desperately wanted to apologize. She hadn’t meant to make Jamie feel bad, she didn’t even know what exactly she had done wrong. Was suggesting giving them some time alone that bad? Why was he so upset?

Without waiting for an answer, Elias walked back to his friend and pulled him into a side hug. Jamie had resisted a little, which Elias found strange. He looked up at Mia for answers, but the girl was too shaken to even notice he was looking at her.

Just what had happened?

“What’s wrong?” Citara called out, Jamie instantly holding on to Elias and hiding in his embrace.

Elias let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Not sure. I think I should take Jamie home.”

“B-But-” Mia made to talk, but when her eyes locked with Elias’, her lips closed shut. She looked down, ashamed of herself.

“It’s alright.” She heard Elias’ gentle voice and felt his hand on her head. Turning up to look at him once more, she saw his tender smile. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Here, I can take the rest of our bags.” Citara offered.

“Aren’t you guys heading to work from here?” Elias asked.

“It’s okay.” Citara reached for the bags in his hands.

“Alright, if you say so.” Elias tugged Jamie a little closer. “Sorry we couldn’t drive you girls.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Citara said calmly.

Looking at Jamie, Mia noticed the boy flinching whenever Citara spoke.

“Bye then.” Elias waved at them and walked away, pulling Jamie by the hand.

“Jamie looked pretty bad… Think he’ll be alright?” Citara asked, still looking as the boys walked farther away from sight.

“Yeah.” Mia rubbed her arm.

“Wow, looking at them from afar, you really would think they’re a couple.” Citara let out a chuckle.

“I know right..?” Mia laughed. “Let’s go too, might as well be early for work today.”

“Hmm, let’s go.”

***

Jamie stormed to his room, slamming the door behind him. Elias closed the front door of Jamie’s apartment and left the shopping bags on the couch, the ones Citara hadn’t taken because they were Jamie’s, having left his own in the car. He walked up to the door that had just been shut and knocked.

“Jamie.”

“Leave me alone.”

“What happened bud? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this.”

“Gee I don’t know. Maybe it’s because my best friend and a girl we barely know tried to set me up with another girl we barely know.”

“Whoa, hold on a minute.” Elias huffed, clearly upset. “No one set anyone up. You two were as stiff as statutes that day and were using me and Mia as excuses not to talk with each other. We left you two alone so that you could break the ice, since it seemed like it wouldn’t happen with us there.”

There was a moment of silence, neither of them saying anything. The door squeaked open enough for Jamie to peek out, looking at Elias standing tall, his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed.

“I am deeply offended by your accusations, mister.” Elias grumbled.

“Sorry… But I’m still upset.” Jamie opened the door, looking a little funny still in his outfit but without the wig.

Elias sighed. “That’s alright.” He pushed his hair back. “Come on, let’s watch a movie and talk it over.” He pointed to the couch.

Jamie nodded. “Let me change first.” He gave his friend a faint smile, heading back into his room.

Sitting on the couch, Elias pulled out his phone to see unending texts from Mia.

'Are you guys home?'

'Is Jamie okay?'

'I’m so sorry, I didn’t think he would react like that.'

'I really am sorry…'

And he continued to read until he reached the bottom.

'Don’t worry, Jamie is ok. Everything is ok. Just focus on work :)'

Mia looked at her phone’s screen, her brow still knitted with worry, but if Elias said everything was alright, then she’d believe him.

“Alright!” She patted her cheeks. “Let’s get to work!”