The bus rocked him from side to side, inevitably bumping shoulders with the men sitting next to him. Jamie desperately tried to straighten himself but it wasn’t long before he knocked against those to his sides again.

Today of all days his car had decided to break down. Today of all days he didn’t have money for a taxi. Today of all days he didn’t take a spare change of clothes to work and now he crumbled his dress in his fists. Today of all days.

And here he was, pressed against two strangers on a crowded bus on a hot summer day. The situation reminded him of something Elias had told him… All he needed now was a fateful meeting.

“As if.” Jamie laughed to himself, drawing eyes to himself.

He cleared his throat, realizing his laugh had been far from sounding like a girl. That’s right, in that moment he was a girl, his wig fell over his shoulders with chocolate waves, and his mint-colored summer dress was layered by a cantaloupe-orange cardigan. Thankfully the fabric of his top layer was thin, or else the heat would be too much to bear.

Suddenly he felt a knee press against his. Jamie tried his best not to turn to the man to his side, who had purposefully been doing so since sitting there.

“The nerve with this guy.” Jamie closed his eyes, remembering that his EarPods were reproducing music. Yes, music, he was planning his new mix. “Concentrate.”

But it was hard to concentrate when the jerk on his left kept “bumping” into him. He considered himself a patient person, but reasonable? Not much. He even thought of taking his wig off, or flashing the man by lifting up his skirt. “That ought to teach him.” He humored. But what if the guy was a pervert and it only made things worse? And he also didn’t want to bother the other people in the bus, his disgrace wasn’t their fault.

He also thought of complaining to the men to his sides, and to anyone who could listen, about how they kept their legs widely spread. Unnecessarily widely that is. He was a guy, of course he could understand, even at that moment he wished he could spread his legs if even a little, but these guys were downright abusing and using up space that others could use.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he opened his eyes to see an older lady standing in front of him. She was shorter than himself, her gray hair up in a bun, and she balanced herself with the groceries cart she had with her, unable to reach the handle beam over her head.

Without a second thought, Jamie reached to gently touch her shoulder, calling her attention to him.

“Excuse me ma’am, would you like to sit down?” He said with a sweet voice that matched his outer appearance.

“Oh, thank you sweetie.” The woman said with relief, exchanging places with Jamie.

Looking around, he was glad he offered his seat. No one else would have offered. He looked at his used-to-be neighbors, now with the old lady between them. They both averted their eyes, focusing on whatever they could find, like a stone rolling on the bus’ floor or a fly that looked for a way out. Or his legs.

Music. The mix. “Concentrate.”

He tried, he really tried to concentrate on what he was listening to, but he would feel the stares. The lady was nice, she would smile up at him from time to time. The guys though…

The guy on the right was decent enough to look away when he turned to him, but the guy on the left, the one that had been bumping to his knee, he even dared to meet eyes.

“Oh my gosh he’s actually trying to flirt…” Jamie rolled his eyes. 

More gazes, more bumping, and even a wink.

“I think I’m going to puke…” The boy disguised as a girl looked out the window, hoping his stop would be in sight soon. “Just a few more minutes Jamie, just a few more minutes.”

He checked his phone, maybe if he called Elias, he’d come pick him up. He did feel bad asking for favors right now, but he was getting a bad feeling from the pervert sitting in front of him. Elias would surely come pick him up, and then he’d feel safe.

But it was still too early for Elias to be out of work.

Clicking his tongue, Jamie shoved his phone back in his purse, now avoiding meeting eyes with the man that shamelessly looked him up and down.

“Calm down. He’s just some random pervert that I’ll never have to worry about once I get down the bus.” Jamie thought, keeping his eyes ahead.

The guy was probably single. He wasn’t a bad looking man, but if that’s how he normally behaved, there was no way he’d be able to keep a relationship for long. Not that he was one to talk, but his circumstances were different. This guy was a creep, a pervert, and disgusting.

He was close enough to his stop, he could see the shopping center just right ahead. Kindly, he turned to smile at the lady that had taken his seat, and she smiled back. Without missing a beat, he pushed through the crowd towards the bus’ entrance.

Just a few more steps and he’d be safe.

Or at least that’s what he thought. When he was walking down the steps of the bus and felt a firm grip on his bottom.

A yelp almost escaped him, but he wasn’t going to give this freak the satisfaction of it. Jamie hurried his steps, trying to lose him in the sea of people inside the plaza, but his pursuer was insistent. In his hurry, Jamie failed to notice that his cover of people had scattered, living him out in the open. Before he could run, he felt a hand pull his wrist.

“What’s the hurry, sweetheart?” Asked the man of about thirty years, mimicking the old lady when she had taken up Jamie’s seat. His face was covered by a trimmed beard, his hair slick back.

“Uh, the hurry is to get away from you? Let me go.” Jamie demanded, his voice failing to be his normal pitch.

“Don’t be like that.” He sang. “Why don’t we go for a drink? Come on, it’s on me.”

“Sir, I have pepper spray on me and I won’t hesitate to use it. Please let go.” Jamie threatened, reaching his free hand to his bag.

“So mean.” He laughed. “It’s not like I’m actually doing anything to you.” He leaned closer. “If you actually had it with you, you would have used it from the start.”

Jamie’s hand curled to a fist, reading himself for the impact. He was ready to throw a punch when he felt two hands pulling him back by the shoulders. When he looked up, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Excuse me sir, but I think she asked you to let go.” Her voice was commanding, far more threatening than Jamie had been earlier.

Her eyes were obscured by her cap, but her green irises glowed with dangerous intent.

Jamie felt the grasp on him loosen. He pulled his hand away and stepped closer to his savior. He pressed against her side, but glaring daggers at the man, who only looked at them with knitted brows.

“Whatever.” He finally said, turning on his heel. “She’s not even that pretty.” He grumbled, walking away with a hunched back.

Jamie kept his glare on the man until he was out of sight. Next thing he knew, his knees gave out under him and he was on the floor.

“Oh dear! Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah.” Jamie nodded, smiling at her through teary eyes. “Thanks, Citara.”

“Do I know you?” She tilted her head.

“It’s me, Jamie.” He laughed.

“Jamie?” She questioned. “Oh my gosh! Jamie! A-Are you alright?” She helped him up, gently pulling on his arm.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You really saved me back there.”

“What a gross creep.” She turned to look in the direction in which the man had left. “Does this happen often to you?”

“Not really…” He sighed. “It is one of the main reasons why I bought a car though. It just had to break down when I didn’t have a change of clothes on me.” He laughed again, a trembling laugh.

“So does it happen often or not?” Citara chuckled.

“Guess it does happen pretty often…” Jamie said, disheartened.

“Come on, let’s get you an ice cream or something that’ll calm you down.” She smiled, causing his cheeks to color.

“Thanks.” He said, following after her.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, walking next to her. Today too he looked adorable, she just couldn’t believe it was actually a guy at her side. But even when he was dressed as a girl, Citara found it… Uncomfortable. The talk she had with Mia earlier that week was the clear culprit. She had been preparing mentally to face Jamie, boy Jamie, since then, and now they just had to bump into each other when he looked like a doll. A really pretty doll.

Maybe she would just leave the serious talk for later, he already had a bad day from the looks of it, and she didn’t want to pile anything else to that.

“Ah, that ice cream shop over there is the best.” Citara pointed to the shop a few meters away. “I was actually on my way there when I saw you and that weird guy.”

“Do you live close by?”

“Hmm.” She thought. “Kinda? I wouldn’t say super far but I wouldn’t say super close either. It’s on my way to work so I left home early to drop by.”

“Then why come here? I’m sure there’s something closer to your place.” Jamie asked, following her inside the shop. 

“I like this place.” Citara shrugged. “It’s nice and quiet, and they have a big variety of flavors.”

“I see.” Jamie said flatly.

He actually wanted to talk more, but it was hard. His chest felt tight, his face was hot, and his mind kept running down memories of the last time he had been at Madame Moon. If it wasn’t for her talking to him from time to time, he’d be unable to escape his mindscape.

“So what’s your favorite flavor?” She asked him, looking over the sample bar.

“Oh um.” He looked at the flavors, looking for something familiar. “Maybe strawberry, or blackberry cream cheese.”

“Uuuh, that sounds exotic.” Citara giggled, making Jamie blush again. “Oh, I see it there.” She pointed. “Do you want blackberry then?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Alright.” She called the girl behind the counter. “Two blackberry cream cheese cones please.”

They sat in the quiet shop, the soft pop music that revered in the space the only comfort in the awkward silence that followed as they ate their desserts. Jamie didn’t seem to mind, simply staring at the table as he slowly licked away at his ice cream scoop. Citara on the other hand moved her leg up and down to the beat of the music in the background, looking about the store in search of something that might spark a conversation, her shoulders becoming stiff the more she looked.

Hearing a deep sigh in front of her, she turned to face Jamie, who looked intently at her.

She was often told that her eye color was beautiful, but there was something about Jamie’s greens that sucked her in. It was like a summer day up in a hill, the wind blowing and swaying the tall grass that brushed against her knees.

“Citara.” He called her name, his voice that of a man, clashing with his appearance.

“Y-Yes!” She jumped in her place.

“You look lovely today.”

It wasn’t her intention, but Citara stared at him, feeling her cheeks grow hot. He just smiled at her, as if waiting for an answer, but she couldn’t find one other than “You’re crazy”. Of course he was crazy. How could he say that when she was literally wearing the first thing she pulled out her closet? A black loose tank top that showed her sports bra under it and green sweatpants that could have passed for gray. 

“T-Thank you.” She brought her cone up to her lips in hopes of hiding her face. “Y-You also-”

“Don’t.” He interrupted.

“I’m sorry.” She immediately continued.

“I didn’t want you to see me like… This…” Jamie scoffed. “Actually, today was the worst possible day for you to see me. You even ended up saving me from a creep, which I’m thankful for but…”

“... The other day at the bar.” Citara said after a moment. “I’m sorry I told you you didn’t dress up.”

Jamie sighed. “That’s alright. You don’t have to apologize.”

“But-”

“I didn’t dress up today either, like I didn’t pay much attention to what I picked. This is just how I dress sometimes. For work, for myself. I like- I like looking cute, but I don’t like it when you say I’m cute.” He admitted.

“Why not?”

“...” He kept quiet, resuming his ice cream eating.

Dropping her shoulders, Citara rested her elbow on the table, and her cheek on her hand. She had managed to apologize but why did it feel like things between them were worse than before? When they first met it had been so much fun, but somewhere along the line it was like Jamie looked miserable with her in the same room. So far she knew her mistake had been calling him cute, but that didn’t seem like reason enough to treat her like this.

No, it definitely wasn’t enough reason.

“Well I don’t care.” She said bluntly. “If I want to call you cute I will. I’ll call you whatever I want if I feel like it’s appropriate at that moment, and right now you’re a big asshole.” She pointed an accusing finger at the wide-eyed crossdresser in front of her. “Besides, you call me lovely when I’m in rags, you make less sense than I do.” She finished, leaning back on her seat and crossing her arms over her chest.

For a moment Jaime sat in silence, his eyes wide opened and his mouth ajar until he let out a burst of laughter. Not only did Citara stare at him with raised brows, but so did the shop vendors and the other customers.

He laughed until he had to bend over to hold his stomach, only stopping when he realized his ice cream was melting and running down his fingers. Reaching for napkins, he took deep breaths, slowly stopping his giggles.

“I’m sorry.” He finally said between laughs. “You’re the second person to call me that- well besides my dad- and I just couldn’t help it.”

“... And who was the other person besides your dad?” Citara asked curiously.

“Elias.” He laughed.

“Really? I can’t imagine him talking so colorfully.”

“He has his days.” Jamie shrugged. “Speaking of Elias… What do you think of him?”

“He’s a nerd.” Citara said without a second thought.

“Besides that?”

“Hmmm.” She pondered for a moment. “He’s nice I guess. Totally not a people’s person but friendly once you get to know him.” She told him things he already knew.

“And as a man?” He questioned.

“... Mia’s future husband.” Citara answered with a big smile.

Once again Jamie couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. Citara laughed with him, earning them more stares than before from those inside the shop. It was nice to be able to laugh so freely after being at odds with each other. 

Jamie shook his head as he laughed, scolding himself mentally for having behaved so poorly towards his friends. And now, as he laughed with Citara, he was finally able to let go of his anger and frustration.

He was ready to talk with Elias.

Of course things were never going to be perfect, they’ve never had, and as far as his friendship with Citara, he had no idea where that would lead and that was fine. They had taken an honest step forward, all that was left was to keep moving ahead.

Their conversation went on for a while longer, as he apologized for being such a jerk before and in general just getting to know each other a little better. Things they liked, things they didn’t like, what was work like and other trivial things. It had been a nice afternoon as they finished their ice cream cones among laughs and a toast to a long friendship.