His computer roared as the ventilator attempted to regulate the temperature of the technological device, while it’s owner bore stares at the screen, ignoring his coworker’s own fierce glare on him. Elias had been suffering from Adam’s accusing eyes all morning, and it was getting harder to avoid as the last hours of work slowly ticked by.

Dropping both hands on his desk, Elias turned to Adam, determined to get this over with.

“What?” Elias asked, annoyance evident in his voice.

“You have a girlfriend.” Adam announced boldly, a few chairs turning and ears peeked with interest around them.

“I don’t.” Elias said, dryly.

“You’re a big fat liar.” Adam glared. “I know that stupid smile, and you’ve been texting all day whenever you’re not avoiding me.”

“I’m texting Jamie, for goodness sake.” Elias huffed, showing proof by lifting his phone with the last message he had received. Whoever was eavesdropping lost interest then.

“Oh, so you made up with Jamie?” Adam leaned his cheek on his hand. “About time.”

“Dude, I told you this days ago.” Elias pouted. “Haven’t you been paying attention to anything I say?”

“Oh!” The bulky man let his fist fall on his palm. “You did tell me, huh?” He laughed. “Sorry man, Sophie and I have been so busy with the adoption, sometimes that’s all I think about.” 

“That’s alright.” Elias turned back to his computer. “How’s that going?”

“It’s hard.” Adam slouched, his spirit nearly leaving him.

“No one said it would be easy.” Elias chuckled, just looking at his friend from the corner of his eye. “Jamie and I are going out today, wanna come? Looks like you need a break.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Adam waved a hand in dismissal. “Sophie actually has the afternoon off so we want to chill at home. Besides-” Adam grinned. “I don’t wanna ruin your date.”

“Alright, sure.” Elias rolled his eyes. “Bring Sophie next time, let’s make it a double date.”

Adam clicked his tongue. “It’s no fun if you play along.”

“You should know by now that those jokes don’t work on me.”

“Just you wait, when you get an actual girlfriend I’ll tease you to no end.” Adam raised a fist, shaking it with determination, only causing Elias to laugh louder.

“Good luck with that then.” The bespectacled boy gave his coworker a toothy grin. “Come on, we need to turn in this report before the end of the day.”

“I hate this work.” Adam grumbled, sliding down on his chair as his eyes fixed lazily on his screen.

“I know, I know.”

***

“Have fun on your date!” Had been the last thing Adam had said- or more like shouted for all to hear- as a last attempt to tease Elias when leaving work. It had worked a little, but that was mostly because of all the bystanders that had heard the loud father-to-be.

“I’ll get you back for this.” Elias threatened under his breath to no one as he drove home, where he found the familiar white car already parked inside his garage.

“He’s making me drive?” He leaned forward on the wheel after parking, letting out a puff of air to move his hair out of his face. It just fell back in place.

Getting out of the car, he reached for a curl that hung over his nose bridge, pulling on it until it almost reached his upper lip. “Maybe I should get a haircut.” He considered as he made his way to his door.

“I’m home.” He called out, but there was no immediate answer.

He dismissed the lack of answer when he heard some clattering upstairs, and resumed by taking off his shoes and heading to the kitchen.

Closing the fridge with a jar of lemonade in hand, Elias turned to see a dolled-up Jamie rushing down the stairs. It had been a while since he saw the crossdresser put this much effort into his guise, it almost made his eyes open wide. Almost.

“I’m ready!” Jamie chimed loudly, puffing his stuffed chest.

His honey-brown wig fell with swaying waves over his shoulders, and his usually lawn green eyes were now hidden behind sky blue lenses. His natural make-up gave him a mature- yet youthful- glow to his features, accentuated by soft tones of peach on his eye shadow, blush and lips. His dress, billowing in a baby-blue that faded to white, moved like the ocean just above his knees. On his feet, rested sandals that hid his toes, with white ribbons that wrapped around his foot until they tied to neatly done bows at his ankles.

Elias whistled. “What’s the special occasion?”

“Us being best friends of course.” Jamie smiled widely. “I thought of just going as myself, but that’s no fun.” He walked up to the kitchen and took his friend’s wrist. “And now that I look like this, you gotta look the part.”

“Heck no.”

“Heck yes.” Jamie didn’t wait for a protest, simply pulling Elias with him up to the tall boy’s room, where clothes were already on the bed ready for him to change into.

“I said no. What’s wrong with my clothes right now?”

“Nothing.” Jamie said as he walked up to the bathroom. “Other than I'd look like a super cute girl that totally deserves better than a nerd that doesn’t know how to dress and that urgently needs a haircut.”

“I do need a haircut, huh?” Elias ignored the rest, pulling one of his curls to see up to where that one would reach.

“Change.” Jamie ordered as he peeked from the bathroom. “Then come over, I’ll do your hair.”

“Fine.” Elias sighed, defeated. “Isn’t this a little too much? We’re just going to the arcade.”

“Come on! What’s so bad about going all out once in a while?” Jamie shouted from the bathroom. “Especially you. Not even I can tell when you use a different shirt because all your stuff looks the same.”

“And yet you managed to put an outfit together for me, without buying anything.”

“That’s because I buy you clothes that you never wear!” Jamie blared, throwing something from the bathroom.

Elias dodged, looking how the projectile landed on the wall behind him. It was a floss pack.

“I got you that shirt for your birthday. It’s pretty much September and it still has the tag!”

“You shouldn’t throw stuff around.” Elias simply said, walking up to the bathroom after picking up his dental floss. “What if you hit me?”

“That’s the point.” Jamie pouted. “I’m glad the clothes fit though.” He sighed, examining his friend. The light blue button shirt was short sleeved, and it matched well with the white pants  and brown casual shoes. He heard Elias grumble about how their outfits made them look like people at the beach, but he ignored it. “Tuck in your shirt and then come sit down. We’re gonna do something about that mess in your head.”

“That mess is called hair.” Elias complained, doing as told. “No wigs.”

“Oh honey, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish you had used a wig.” Elias went pale as Jamie stood behind him, the boy’s smile reflected on the mirror they faced.

***

Elias looked at himself on the glass of the store while Jamie leisurely surveyed the outfits displayed, saying things like “Wouldn’t this look great on Citara?” or “Citara would definitely rock this outfit”. It’s not like Elias wasn’t paying attention, but he just couldn’t help looking at his reflection without first getting scared and then realizing it was himself. 

Jamie hadn’t done any sort of miracle by any means, or maybe he had, with what little gel and hairspray he had used to keep his friend’s hair off his face. And that was exactly what made him look so much like a stranger to himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had looked at his face so clearly, without his curls framing his features and his bangs obscuring his eyes. He was glad he had managed to convince Jamie to let him keep his glasses and not make him wear contacts, or else, he’d be looking at someone he didn’t know in his own reflection. 

“Elly! Come on!” He felt a tug at his wrist before Jamie slid his hand in his, pulling him along.

“Arcade time?” Elias asked, hopeful.

“Arcade time!” Jamie giggled.

As spacious as it was, the arcade was swarming with people, just like the rest of the mall. Elias walked closer to Jamie, which caused more stares that he’d like to land on them. He tried his best to keep his poker face on, knowing full well his friend was enjoying the curious eyes, a sweet smile hiding his mischievous nature.

“It’s just funny to see all those idiots fawn over me even though I’m a guy.” Jamie had told him when they first became friends. “But it’s scary to go out alone… Some of those idiots turn out to be creeps.”

So here he was, acting more as an escort than a date. He didn’t mind it, he was used to it, and it’s not like Jamie actively tried to catch the eye of those around him, they just gravitated towards him on their own.

“OH EM GEE!” Jamie shouted, giving a few jumps where he stood before drawing Elias along. “It’s that VR music game everyone is crazy about!” He beamed, getting in line behind a teenager in his school uniform.

“Yeah, I’m not playing that.” Elias stood next to Jamie, but out of the line.

“Might be for the best.” Jamie nodded, thinking of the last time Elias had tried using a VR set.

“Can you just forget about that already?” Elias grumbled, knowing well what his friend was thinking about.

“Nope.” Jamie giggled, his melodious voice making head turns.

With a long finger, Elias poked the perfectly disguised boy, his innocent laugh a perfect, undetectable falsetto.

After almost twenty minutes of waiting, it was Jamie’s turn at the game. The excitement in his eyes was hidden as the head piece was over him, and he gripped his hands comfortably around the controls. Elias waited outside the railing that kept the game apart from the walking path, looking at how Jamie moved slowly as he selected the song and difficulty, his gameplay displayed on a big screen for all to see and hear.

The girl-looking-boy had picked an easy difficulty to start off, hitting the different colored boxes that floated his way. Jamie missed a few at the start, but he soon picked up the rhythm and box after box was sliced in half until he reached the end. Nothing too outstanding.

For the next song, he picked the normal difficulty, and soon a crowd was forming around the game.

“Dude…”

“Just how good is she?”

“Has she missed any beats?”

“This has to be rigged.”

“Those legs man.”

Said the voices behind Elias. There were a few murmurs from girls sprinkled among the many whispers of young men. He looked back, and surely enough, most of the people in the crowd were boys in uniforms, a few other college students and a handful of girls. Even then, more people came to see what the whole fuss was about. He looked back at his friend who gracefully continued to play, unaware of what was going on outside the game.

Last level, expert difficulty. The crowd was entranced by the screen before them and the girl who was basically dancing as she effortlessly hit every glowing box that came her way. Even the arcade worker in charge of the VR was amazed and didn’t know if to look at the screen or at the player.

When the song was over, a cheer exploded in the arcade. The young man in staff helped Jamie off the headset and he looked back to see the crowd clapping and cheering excitedly, all their eyes fixed on him. Jamie bit down a smile until he saw Elias at the front, also clapping, but rolling his eyes when they looked at each other.

Jamie let his smile take over his lips and he ran towards Elias, jumping to reach his neck.

“Did you see that!? Did you see that!?” Jamie asked.

“Sure did.” Elias laughed, hugging Jamie back, almost carrying him off the floor. The railing between them.

“Of course she has a boyfriend.”

“Damn, and she was so cute.”

“I’d like a boyfriend like that…” This was said by one of the girls.

Elias and Jamie just laughed, pretending not to hear anything that was being said about them.

***

“See? Even you got compliments tonight.” Jamie whirled his spoon like a wand before stabbing it in his frozen yogurt.

“Not like I care about that.” Elias dismissed, eating his own yogurt.

“Aww don’t say that.” Jamie stuffed his mouth.

“Can we please just dress normally next time?” He received a glare. “You know what I mean.”

“Hmm depends how I feel that day.” Jamie chortled. “How about this?” He suggested, his falsetto never failing. “Let’s take a picture, and if I like it, I’ll even let you wear your pjs next time we go out.”

“I hate pictures.”

“I know.”

Elias pondered for a moment. It was just a picture… But Jamie would surely send it to everyone they both knew. Was it worth it? It’s not like Jamie forced him to be fashionable all the time… Maybe he could risk it.

“I wonder what we’ll wear next time.” Whispered Jamie, loud enough for his friend sitting across from him to hear.

“Fine.” Elias relented. “But just one picture.”

“Until we take one that I like.”

“And you’ll erase the failed ones?”

“Sure.” Jamie smiled, lifting his shoulders innocently.

***

Ping.

“Oh, a message from Jamie.” Said Mia, leaning over the bar as she looked at her phone’s screen.

“Same here.” Citara walked up to her.

The bar was empty, and most girls were at the back. Mia opened the message, and so did Citara, silence coming over them.

“No way.” Citara stifled a laugh.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Mia took a hand to her mouth, her cheeks coloring.

“There’s no way that’s Elias!” Both girls shouted.