Sister, page 2 (TG)

{I told you it would mess with the pacing.}

[Hey, it worked, didn't it?]

{Let's just get back to it. This page break wasn't even supposed to be here, much less this conversation we're editing in.}

[You said it yourself. Let's get back to it.]

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[] Mom and Leslie came home with several bags of clothes. "We're back," said Mom. I didn't respond. I was in my room. Leslie must've thought as much, since that's where she found me. She hadn't changed into her new clothes yet, I noticed.

"Hey," she said to me.

I was sitting on the bed, typing on my laptop. "Hey," I said, looking up. I closed the laptop and set it aside.

She sat down in a chair, which had some clothes on it but she didn't mind. There was silence for a minute or two.

"So," she started to say, but she never finished.

After another brief pause, I said, "So how was it? The shopping, I mean."

She said, "Well... It took longer than expected." She paused again.

"I'll say," I said. "It's already time for church."

"Yeah," she said.

Another pause, and I said, "So... What'd you get, then? Anything interesting?"

"Not really, no," she said. Alright. That was good enough of an answer.

But apparently not. A few moments later, she started talking again. "Mom did try to get me something girly, though."

"Oh really," I said. My intent was on her conversation, but my tone sounded like I was only half-listening. "Like what?"

"Well..." she said. "She kinda eased up after a while, but she made me a deal."

My tone showed more interest. "Deal?"

"Yeah. I wanted to get my hair cut, but she said if I did that, she'd... she'd buy me some skirts and make it so I'd have no choice but to wear them."

"That seems a bit harsh for Mom," I said.

"I figured I'd keep the hair. I don't think I'm ready for skirts just yet." She sighed. "Downside is now she'll want to play with it or something. Hooray." That last word was loaded with so much deadpan sarcasm, I thought it was gonna explode.

"So, not a good start to your first day, huh?" I said.

"Pretty much, yeah. The bright side is I have clothes that fit, and that's really stretching for a bright side."

There was a moment of silence. Relative silence, as the voices of the others getting ready for church echoed through the hall.

Then, she said, "So now what?"

"Well," I said, "I was thinking a bit about things for...well, stuff around the house, and junk. You know, beds or whatever."

"Ah," she said. She waited for me to say something. When I didn't, she added, "So...what'd you decide?"

"Well, I figured you could take the bed until we get another one."

"So. I get the bed, then. ...And you sleep...where? The floor?"

"I'll just sleep wherever. I could take the chair or the floor... We have a hide-a-bed in the living room."

"But... " She sighed as if preparing herself to do something difficult, then said, "But this is your bed, not mine."

"Like I said, for now, this is your bed. I'll sleep wherever."

"It's fine. I can take the couch."

"I'm trying to be polite. The bed's more comfortable anyway."

Leslie sighed and stared at the floor. She looked depressed. She probably was depressed. Or embarrassed. I had to do something.

"Hey, um... When the others leave, you... You wanna go play Smash Bros.?"

She was quiet for a moment. "I guess..."

So we sat there for a while. Not really doing anything. Then there was a knock on the door. "Delivery." It was Mom.

I stood up and opened the door. There was Mom with all the shopping bags.

"Here," she said, stepping in. I took some of the bags from her and we both set them on the bed. Mom then put her hand on Leslie's shoulder. "You okay?" she said.

"Mm hmm," she hummed. It was my usual response.

"Do you need anything?"

"Mm mm." That was pretty much a no.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Mom. I'm fine. I just need to be alone."

"Can I get you anything?"

"Privacy?"

I smirked at that.

"Please?" she continued.

"Alright," said Mom after a little bit. "If you need to talk-"

"I'm good."

"Okay. Come on, Jeff."

"Actually, he can stay. I kinda want to talk to him more. And don't you have to get ready for church?"

"You're right. Come on, let's get you read-"

"No! I'm not going to church! I didn't even wanna go to the store."

"I'm staying here too," I said. "You go. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Please," said Leslie. "I don't... Don't wanna go out. I'm... I'm not ready for that. I'm sorry."

Mom put her hand on Leslie's shoulder again. "Okay. We'll talk when we get back, okay?"

"Sure." Her heart didn't seem into it.

After that, Mom finally left the room, and I locked the door. Me and Leslie sat in there quietly, waiting for the others to go.

"You alright?" I asked her.

"Mm." It was barely a response. The same barely-response I was used to giving.

More silence.

"You, uh... Wanna help me find a place to put this?" I ruffled one of the shopping bags for a sec.

"I guess. Uh... Where to?"

"Well, we could... We could clear some space in the closet, or empty out the dresser."

"Or the chair." She gestured to the chair in the middle of the room, which had dirty clothes piled on it. "You know, for now."

"That too."

Even more silence. Finally, the sounds of the others disappeared and the door to outside was closed.

"So, Smash Bros.?" I said.

"Sure."

--------

{Hey! You continued it!}

[Well yeah. It is your story.]

{Yeah, but you've been stuck in the middle of that scene for a year. Literally.}

[Yep. And that scene wasn't finished yet. You kinda interrupted me just now.]

{Sorry.}

[Anyway, I gotta finish the rest of that day before midnight.]

{Right. You better not keep putting this off.}

[I will do my best not to procrastinate or get distracted.]

{I'll hold you to that.}

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{Hey! You were gonna finish this tonight, right?}

[Yeah.]

{Then stop watching Jeff Dunham on YouTube.}

[Okay. Back to the scene.]

{...knew you were gonna be lazy.}

[...Yeah, so did I. Sorry.]

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[] We stood up and headed to the door, her following behind me. We went down the hall a little to Chris's and Alex's room. A minute of setup, and the game was loading.

"Uh..." she said.

"What?"

"I..." I looked at her, and she looked kinda nervous, kinda...afraid?

"What is it?"

"I... have to go."

"Oh! Um..." This was a new one. A problem. Or...was it? "Well, um... It was gonna happen eventually, right?"

"I guess..." She didn't move towards the door. We went to the character-selection screen before I spoke again.

"The alternative is wetting your pants."
     That did it. She backed over to the door and walked into the halls.

I defaulted to Lucario, my best character, and picked the silver color scheme. After setting that, I waited. After a couple minutes, I heard a flush, and then soon, the door opening. Leslie walked back in slowly.

"Hey," I said.

"...can't..."

"I'm sorry?"

This is where she kinda broke down a little. She sat down on Alex's bed and started crying. Well, she was mostly quiet, but she sniffled a couple times, was how I could tell.

I hit the Home button on the Wiimote to shut the TV up (the menu music wasn't really fitting the moment) and sat down next to her. With the closer hand, I started to rub her back. It was more or less a habit; when Mom was upset, I'd rub her back or let her lean on my shoulder or whatever. Taking that idea, I pulled her closer.

She leaned into me and cried more. "I just..." she started.

I waited patiently for her to speak.

"I... I don't know... All this is..."

"Too much all at once?"

"Mm hmm." She sniffled again. "What am I gonna do?"

I wrapped my other arm around her in a close hug. She needed one. "We'll figure it out," I said. "You're not alone here. This is new to all of us. And we'll figure it out."

"It's just so... I can't...don't have anything. No ID, no past, nothing."

"That's not true," I said, keeping my voice soft and comforting. "You have me here. And Mom, and Chris and Alex. Nana and Grandpa Dave."

"Mom wants me to act like the daughter she never had. Chris and Alex already picked on me right after I woke up, and Grandpa Dave tried to kick me out."

"Okay, so maybe not them. But I'm still here."

"You're half the problem. My brain still says I'm you, but I'm also not. I still remember stuff from when I was you. And you're here, so I can't be you because you're you." Another sniff. "If you weren't here, I could probably still keep my ID and stuff. But you are, so I have nothing. I don't exist."

"I'm hugging you. You feel pretty real to me."

"Yeah, but-"

"We'll deal with the paperwork later, alright?"

"Y..." She sighed.

"And if I wasn't here, you'd be holed up in your room sulking, with nobody around to talk to. Or do this." I squeezed her a little tighter into the hug, before finally letting go. I kept my arm around her, though.

She sniffed again. "You're right. It's just... This is all so much."

"Then we'll take it slow. One thing at a time."

We waited for a few moments, letting what was said sink in.

"So," I offered, "you up for a game or not? It'll get your mind off things."

She didn't answer, instead slowly standing and picking up the other Wiimote/Nunchuck. She then scooted back and sat down. She went to pick Lucario too. Probably sticking to something familiar, I guessed. She tried to flip to the silver color scheme too. I was about to switch to Pit so she could have that one, but then had the idea to see how we fared in an equal match. I kept Lucario and went to the default color scheme, and she picked the silver scheme. Five stocks, no items, and the random stage selector put us at Onett.

It wasn't much of a match. She didn't exactly put her heart into it at first. She seemed too distracted and mistimed her attacks and dodges too often. I slowed up a little, not using B moves or combos. And let myself get run over by a car at one point. By the time I lost one stock, she'd already lost three.

Still, she got a little better by the end. She still lost, but she was starting to play the game like she was paying attention. I asked if she wanted to go for another round, and she just nodded. She stuck with the same character, as did I. The stage was Norfair this time.

She was a lot better at this stage, but then if you stood still on this stage, you were guaranteed to lose just by the stage's natural lava hazards. But even then, she started playing better. She only lost by one life this time, instead of four, and started using better combos.

We played a third round (Skyworld), and she beat me with a cheap shot, but I still had the upper hand until the last second. She was paying more attention, dodging more often.

The fourth round (Sky Pillar), the battle lasted longer than the ones before. Neither one of us was ahead of the other for more than ten seconds, I guessed. The fight lasted for a half hour, until I finally hit her with a fully-charged Aura Sphere at point-blank range, sending her flying off the stage.

I smiled a bit and glanced at her. "That was tough," I said.

She smiled back and said, "No kidding."

It took me a few seconds to realize. For a moment, she'd put aside her troubles and just focused on the game. I was kinda impressed she'd get over it like that.

But why should I be impressed? That didn't seem like a very good thought. Thinking she'd keep sulking over it longer than she did. That wouldn't have been healthy. Still, this was a pretty hard thing for her to deal with, and if she wasn't still worrying about it, I'd be surprised. I guessed she was just trying to get her mind off things.

Just like I suggested. Seems she took my words to heart.

It was about then that we heard the main door open. The others were home.

"Crud," I said.

"What now?" said Leslie, sounding quietly worried.

I sighed. "Well, we were taking this one at a time, right? This is next, I guess."

She was quiet for a little bit. "You're right. But... I don't want to."

"You're never gonna want to if you keep that up."

"You sound more preachy than I ever remember."

"I'm just trying to help you lighten up. It's no good to just sulk all the time."

"You would know, right? Except for class, you just hide in your room all the time."

She was actually right. I couldn't help but nod in an "I guess yeah" kind of way.

"But still-"

"Okay, so you're this surprise girl?" It was our grandmother. We just called her Nana. She was gonna meet Leslie eventually.

{} And, I guess, this meant I didn't have to go to her to talk-

[Hey, I was writing that scene.]

{Yeah, well, you were taking too long, and you were procrastinating. Again. I'm gonna see how far I can get before midnight.}

[I was doing pretty well there.]

{The longer we argue about this, the closer to midnight it gets.}

[You don't have to type what we say down, you know.]

{...Then why did you?}

[...touché.]

{} Anyway, this meant I didn't have to go to her to talk. Didn't have to work up the nerve. The conversation came to me.

At that point in time, though, I was still apprehensive about everything. I'd woken up as a girl, had a very basic health inspection, gone shopping for girl clothes, and even more recently, just peed as a girl. I still wasn't exactly in the mood to talk to people.

But she was my grandmother, and she lived there, so this would happen eventually. Time to get it over with.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm Leslie. Jeff's sister."

"Oh, I thought he didn't have sisters." She seemed a bit disappointed too. How did they explain me before? I wasn't sure if I wanted to know.

"Well, I... It's a long story. I kinda...didn't exist until this morning." What was I supposed to do? She knows as well as I do that there was zero evidence of me having a si...I mean, Jeff having a sister at all during his childhood. Mom didn't adopt, and I wasn't gonna pretend not to be related to my own mother, so what could I have said?

"That doesn't make a lot of sense."

"No, it doesn't. But I remember everything I d...he does-" I pointed at Jeff. "-up until he went to sleep yesterday. Then I woke up in a different body, like I was a clone or something. Look, I've already had a difficult morning, and I'm not... not in the mood to talk, okay?"

"Oh. Well sor-ry if I wanted to talk to the person who's gonna be living here now."

"Wait, where'd this come from? I'm just upset. Why are you getting mad?"

"Nope. Forget it." She started walking off ranting to herself. "I try to talk to the new person here and I get yelled at. It's my fault. It's-"

"What the heck?"

"She argued with this about Mom earlier, didn't she?" said Jeff. "In the car or at church, I'd guess."

That made perfect sense. When they got to disagreeing about something important, it usually spiraled into an irrational argument that Nana was without fail too stubborn to accept defeat.

"Great," I said. "Not only am I having a rough time, now Nana doesn't like me." I sighed. "This is the worst day ever."

"No it's not," he said. "At least I'm here for you to talk to. If I wasn't, you'd have to deal with this by yourself."

I had to admit, he did have a point. He helped talk me through the first few minutes, and he was trying to make me feel better just recently. Neither of those would've probably worked if he wasn't here. "Yeah, I guess."

We could hear an argument start up in the other room. Mom and Nana. Yep, that figures. I listened for a moment. Sounded like Nana was yelling at Mom because I wouldn't talk to her. I agreed with what Mom said; I could decide if I wanted to talk or not, and I didn't. Nana, why won't you listen? Seriously.

It was when she said Mom should've raised us not to be rude that I started getting mad. I'm upset, not rude. I don't feel like talking. That doesn't make me rude. When people are upset, they don't usually want to talk as much. That was me at the moment. So why was she flipping out over this? She was only making me feel worse.

I had to say something. I stepped towards the door. Towards the fire fight.

"Hey, where are you going?" said Jeff.

"I'm going to apologize, but I'm ...gonna tell her how I feel." I didn't want to go out there. But at the same time, I did. I don't know how to explain how that felt, both wanting and not wanting to do something.

So when I stepped to the edge of the hallway, my gut was full of nerves. I wanted to go back to my ro- Jeff's room. But I had to do this. But I didn't want to.

I ended up standing there, holding my tongue, listening to their arguments. I know Mom saw me; she was facing in my direction. Saying I should stay because I was family and in need of a place to stay. Nana was saying I was rude and should've grown up better. Despite her saying things by interrupting Mom mid-sentence. Great. This was gonna be harder than I thought.

"Hey." That was me. I had to get it over with. The longer I stood there, the worse I was gonna feel. I had to say something then and there. "Look, I know it's a surprise to just have to take someone else in without warning. But I am gonna stay here. But I don't want to talk. I'm going through a rough time right now, and I need some time to get over it. Sorry if that makes me 'rude', that I'm too upset to want to talk. But... But don't take it out on her that I don't wanna talk. She didn't do anything."

I was still feeling bad. I couldn't take much. So after I said that, I stepped back and headed down the hall. I almost bumped into Jeff on the way back. "Sorry," I said. I kept going back, power-walking. There was that feeling in my gut that was getting worse. Or was I just hungry? Oh, forget it.

I made it back to Jeff's room and locked the door behind me, then just sat on the bed. Waiting. Not doing anything.

And my stomach growled. Great. I didn't wanna go back out there.

After several minutes, someone tried the door knob. Nope. They knocked. "Hey, can I come in?"

It was Jeff.

I waited for a little, but I still stood up and unlocked the door. He came in and locked it behind him, then sat on the bed next to me.

What was I supposed to do? I leaned into him. It helped.

I felt...better around him. What was it? He was where I wanted to be? Or I had his memories, so he could guess how I felt? That was it, wasn't it? We were pretty much the same at that point, except I was more upset. So he was trying to make me feel better. That's it. He understands me the best.

My stomach growled again. "I'm hungry," I said. Duh. I didn't wanna talk much, though.

"I can go get you a sandwich." I'm guessing he was already considering it, because it was right away that he switched to his next sentence. "You wanna watch a movie?"

It would probably be better than going out there and talking. "Yeah," I said.

"Okay, well you pick the movie and get it set up. What'd you like for lunch?"

Lunch? "Uh, I guess a sandwich."

"PB&J or turkey?"

"PB&J."

He stood up and left the room. I went over to his little booklet of DVDs and tried to pick one out. I settled on Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Why not? I needed the distraction.

And Jeff was right. The sooner all this became normal, the sooner I would stop moping about it. What's more normal than watching a movie on a laptop? I opened his laptop and signed in, then put the movie in.

Jeff came back in as Windows Media Player was booting up. Guess I was slower to actually get the movie started than I thought. He had two plates, both with peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches on them.

"Anything to drink?" he asked.

"A glass of milk?"

He set the plates down on the desk and started to walk off, but then stopped. "Uh, hey, I just thought of something. You're, well... physically different. So are you still lactose intolerant now?"

That was a good question now that I thought about it. But there was no way I could no. And, well... "Only one way to find out."

Jeff left the room, and I sat down on the bed and started eating. I was halfway done when I heard a thumping on the door. I opened the door and he walked in with a glass of milk in each hand. I took one from him.

When we sat down on the bed, I said, "Well, bottom's up," and drank a little milk. Didn't taste any different.

We ate in silence. I mean, he usually did that anyway. And we were eating. What were we gonna talk about?

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{Darnit. Looks like we're not gonna finish by midnight after all.}

[Looks like it. Stupid me, taking too long and distracting myself.]

{Yep. Well, points for trying.}

[Of course. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't try?]

{You'd be you. It fits.}

[...Yeah, okay. So we can finish this tomorrow?]

{Try as much as you can before you fall asleep at the keyboard.}

[Which could happen any second.]

{Uh huh. Speaking of which, I gotta head to bed. Don't fall asleep until it's done.}

[What if you have a scene you wanna write from your perspective?]

{...}

[Sis? Leslie?]

{...}

[I know you're not asleep already.]

{Mm hmm. Just tired.}

[Alright. Well, we'll edit in the rest of it tomorrow.]

{Sure. 'Night.}

['night. And happy birthday, by the way.]

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[]Two hours later, the movie was finished. Throughout, she and I sat on the bed watching it, she sitting next to the wall leaning against a pillow. And I just watched the movie. And somewhere, she stopped leaning on the wall and started leaning over her knees watching the movie like me.

And, thank goodness, she didn't end up gassy. But then, it was Lactaid milk anyway. It wasn't gonna make people gassy even if they were lactose intolerant. And heck, I was the one who needed to get up and take a bathroom break.

"Alright," I said. "Now what?"

"I dunno," she said.

There really wasn't much to do except video games (which were in the other room, and I could hear through the wall that they were playing a game already), movies (which, while alright, could drag on), or going out and trying to be social (which I knew she wasn't in the mood for). We could sit and talk, but I didn't think there was much to talk about that we hadn't already. I told her the options.

"Well, we could... I dunno. Set up a game in here?"

"Sounds like they're in the middle of a game already."

"Okay, then... Then we could go in there and join 'em?"

"I thought you didn't want to be around them right now."

"Yeah, well... Well I gotta get over this eventually, right?"

"Don't force yourself. You're already way out of your comfort zone. Don't force it."

"You keep sounding like a fortune cookie."

Okay, that was kinda good. "I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, well Confucius say 'let upset girl get better on her own terms'."

"I'm trying to. Just don't force things."

"I'm trying too. I just..." She sighed. "I just wanna get it over with. You're right. I can't keep sulking about this."

"What's with the change? I thought you'd rather sulk."

"I was thinking about it during the movie. I guess... Sitting in here isn't gonna solve anything."

"You sure you're up for it? You know Chris is just gonna make fun of you, and Alex is... Alex."

"Heh. Yeah. Still... I'm sticking around, right? They're gonna have to see me sooner or later. I..." She sighed and looked at the floor. "I don't know, really. I do and don't want to say something. I dunno."

At the moment, I thought that made sense. I sighed and decided to take the plates and cups away.

"Where are you going?"

"Putting away the dishes."

"Oh."

So, I stepped out with the dishes and headed to the kitchen. Mom was out there, of course. On the computer. I put the dishes on the counter. "Hey, I think those pictures downloaded," I said. "Maybe. I didn't see if it finished."

"Okay," she said. "So, how is she?"

I was thirsty again. I grabbed a clean glass and poured some water from the fridge. "She's still kinda upset. She said she both does and doesn't want to talk to people."

"Well maybe she should sit down and talk. If she wants to-"

"Yeah, you're out here. I know. I think she should take it a little slow, let things settle down a little. But if she wants to talk, that's on her I guess."

I drank the glass of water, without stopping. Bad habit, I know. Mom was quiet during that. I dunno why, but after I was done with the glass, I started to fill it up again.

"Ask her what she wants for dinner."

I looked over at Mom. I was about to say "Huh?", but I heard her. I wasn't deaf. Unlike Nana. Heh. Kidding. Seriously, it was an okay idea. Get her something she'd like. "Sure," I said, and I walked down the hall.

When I got to my room, however, she wasn't in there. "Huh?"

I backpedaled to my brothers' room and opened the door. And she was in there, sitting on the bed. Chris and Alex were right there too. And they were talking. How come I didn't hear them through the walls? They looked over at me.

"Hey, Jeff," she said.

"Hey," I said. "So... What're you talking about?"

"Just...you know, introducing myself." She still didn't sound particularly enthusiastic. "Chris was calm. Alex..."

"Jeff Jeff. Jeff," said Alex. Obnoxious repetition was his way of getting attention. Well, that and tantrums of stubbornness. "Is she gonna sleep in your room?"

"For now, yeah," I said. "I can take the couch."

"Ooh," he said. Weirdly.

"Alex, be nice to your sister."

"Yeah, Alex," said Chris. In that accusatory tone. Sad thing is, this was routine.

"Okay, well Mom wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner."

"Hotdogs!" said Alex.

"Not you. Her," I said.

"Me?" said Leslie.

"Yeah. I guess you get to pick dinner today."

"Um... I dunno. I...I'm not sure."

"Steak," said Chris.

"Hotdogs!" said Alex.

"Guys, it's her pick," I said.

"I'm... I just don't know. Hotdogs sounds fine," she said.

"I'll go tell Mom."

{} So with that, Jeff left. Leaving me and the brothers alone again.

"Leslie," said Chris. He wasn't asking me a question. Just stating my name. "It sounds girly for you."

"Oh shut it," I said. "If I was really around all this time, you wouldn't bat an eye. And think, if you were a girl, you'd probably be Christine."

"Hey," he said.

"Alex got lucky. That name's neutral anyway."

"Hey!" said Alex.

Chris laughed.

"Don't be too quick to mock, Chrissy."

Chris kinda glared at me. Alex laughed.

"So," I continued, "yep. I'm here to stay. I have...a lot to get used to, really. But, I'm... gonna try not to lock myself in there all the time." I thumb-pointed to the right. On the other side of that wall was my r... No, that's right. Jeff loaned it to me, so it is my room. "So... How about we...do something just to try and get our minds off things?"

I was forcing it, yeah. Forcing myself to be more forward here. Jeff's right. I had to push past it.

I stood up and picked up a Wiimote.

A minute later, Jeff came back into the room. "Hey, Mom said hotdogs aren't good enough," he said.

At this moment, I-as-Lucario tossed a Smart Bomb at Chris-as-Ike. Alex was Snake, and was already down to five out of ten lives, and that explosion dropped Chris down to seven, putting me in the lead with eight.

I paused the game. "Really? I thought it was my choice."

"She said it wasn't special enough or something," he said. "You're getting along surprisingly well."

"Yeah, well we're playing a game. Kept my mind off things earlier, so why not now?"

"Jeff!" said Alex. "Come on!"

"Come on?" he said.

"Yeah. You play too."

He didn't say no right away. "After you guys finish your match," he said. He stood off to the side while the three of us kept playing, picking up yet another Wiimote.

And about ten minutes and a minor complaint later, we were having a team battle. Me and Chris versus Jeff and Alex.

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{} "Time to get ready to go," said Mom from the door.

"Go?" asked Jeff.

"Yeah. We're going out for dinner."

"Out...where?" I asked.

"You'll see when we get there. Come on."

"But... Can't we eat here?"

"Nope."

The others went to slip on their shoes. Me, on the other hand, Mom insisted I look more presentable. I'd been wearing sweats, a T-shirt, and men's underwear all day, and she wanted to fix that.

Naturally, I was against. But Mom had a very valid point that all the clothes I had were stuff I specifically picked out as being tolerable.

First, the change in underwear. Mom told me I'd couldn't wear Jeff's underwear anymore. Well, it was his underwear. I don't share underwear. I mean, come on. By myself in my room, I hesitated for maybe ten minutes before I finally took off the boxer-briefs for the third time that day, and last time ever. Again to keep me from seeing my new...parts...I quickly put on the replacement while keeping my eyes closed the whole time. I'd picked out the green boyshorts panties (I wasn't ready for the briefs-shaped ones).

It was odd. They felt... I actually have to admit that they felt snug. They were a little tighter than the boxer-briefs, or... not as loose or whatever. It was an odd feeling. And whatever material they were (cotton; I checked shortly afterwards), they were soft. It was weird. In the same way that the bra felt that morning: strangely comfortable.

Next came the rest. Socks were no different. Shoes were no different. Shorts were no different, except the button was flipped the other way. I'd have to get used to that, buttons on women's clothes being the other direction. Shirt was just a blue T-shirt.

When I walked out, though, Mom told me there was still one problem. My hair.

"Can I just leave it?" I said.

"It keeps getting in your eyes," she said. "Here." She handed me one of those horseshoe headbands.

"Maybe I could just...put it behind my ear or something?" I then proceeded to actually try to do just that. I pushed my hair back behind my ears. It...worked surprisingly well.

"Alright, now turn your head a few times."

I saw where this was going. "Well if I shake my head on purpose, of course my hair's gonna come loose. It's fine like this."

"Well, alright," she said. "Still, comb your hair. Teeth, face, hair, deodorant."

I rolled my eyes. But then realized something. "I...don't have a toothbrush." I put my hand to my forehead. "We were at WalMart right next to them, and we didn't get a toothbrush."

Then I realized I could've just faked it and ran the sink for a bit while I brushed my hair. It was a simple enough thing I did before. As Jeff. And I could've pulled it off now too, if I didn't open my mouth. Great.

"Well, just use-"

"No, not sharing toothbrushes. Gross. I'll just...use my finger."

"You should use a toothbrush."

"We'll go to Walgreens later. Weren't we in a hurry or something?" I washed my hands, using actual soap, then dried them off. Then I actually put a drop of toothpaste directly on my finger. I didn't even do this as Jeff. It was far from a perfect solution, but it's what was there.

Mom walked off somewhere during that. Probably because I heard Chris raise his voice, followed by Alex raising his voice, and so on. Figures. I took a comb and tried to comb my hair. ...Which took longer than I thought it would've. So, skirts versus long hair. Which one's the lesser of two evils?

I decided hair.

Not that getting a haircut would've solved the more immediate problem of right now.

Done combing, I tucked my hair back again and grabbed some deodorant. While I rubbed my pits with it, I was reminded of that bra I was wearing. I still can't believe I got used to it so quickly. I guess when you're comfy...

So, I wiped my face down and knocked a few hairs loose, then stuck 'em back. Before I stepped out, I took one longer look in the mirror. Staring back was the slightly-blurred image of a tall girl in her early twenties, brown hair tucked back, decent build, clean clothes... I sighed. I really looked like a girl. I knew that, but it was still all too... final. This was me from now on. A whole new person.

A new person with no past and a cloudy future.

And no glasses. Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Gave Jeff's glasses back hours ago. I needed glasses of my own still. But we only had the one pair.

That would be a problem. I'd need a medical history or an ID for that. Could be a while before I actually got glasses. Well, I didn't need them to see. So things were a bit blurry. I could deal with that for a while.

Finally, I stepped out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen. I noticed Nana and Grandpa Dave in the living room. Sighing to myself, I walked over to them.

"Hi," I said in a somewhat low tone.

"Hello," said Nana.

"What's up?" said Grandpa Dave.

"Look," I said, "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for showing up so suddenly this morning. This... Where else am I supposed to go?"

There was a moment of silence.

"And Nana," I continued, "I'm sorry for coming off as rude earlier. I just...wasn't... I'm dealing with a lot all at once right now, and I'd rather not have being called rude piled on top of all that. I... I'm trying to get over it. A lot of stuff. But I..." I sighed and sat down. This was harder than I thought, talking to them.

"Young lady," said Grandpa Dave.

"It's Leslie," I said. "That's my name." One I still needed to get used to hearing myself.

"Alright." His "alright" was more authoritative than sympathetic. But then, that's just how he talked. "If you're gonna stay here, you're gonna have to pitch in around here."

Chores? ...Well, yeah. I guess that's reasonable. "Okay, that's fair."

"And you'll need some better clothes," said Nana.

"I think I can handle my own clothes," I said. Quickly, I said, "And hair!"

"Well you'll need something to look nice in."

"Jeff doesn't wear anything more formal than a polo shirt, you don't complain about him."

"There you are. You ready?" Mom said from the arch way. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sight of her holding some extra hair stuff. It probably vanished into her purse later, but still.

"Yeah. All set," I said. "I'd still rather stay home, though." I started walking towards the door.

"We'll be back, okay?" Mom said to Nana.

"Mm-bye," said Nana.

I rounded the corners to the carport. Jeff was fixing the seat in the back of the van while Alex was in the middle row facing backwards. "Any idea where we're going?" I said.

"Nope," said Jeff. "Apparently it's a surprise."

"Wonderful," I said. "As if I needed more surprises." A thought just crossed my mind. "There better not be a bunch of people singing the birthday song in front of everybody."

"I will firmly oppose that if Mom even thinks about trying," he said.

"Please do."

"Hey, you're brightening up a little."

"Yeah. I guess... I guess I'm letting all this settle faster than I thought I would."

"Well, that's... Good, I guess. Right?"

"I don't feel as bad as I did earlier. It's still there, the worry part. But...not as up front. Ya know?"

"I think I getcha."

Chris, shortly followed by Mom, came out the door now. We worked out the seating. Alex got the middle row driver side, Chris got shotgun, Jeff in back and me in the middle right. The main point was to keep Chris and Alex apart.

We drove for maybe twenty minutes in relative silence. But at some point Mom pulled off the highway onto the feeder road. And a minute or two later, we slowed down to our destination.

"Red Robin?" said Jeff.

"Yep," said Mom. "Surprise."

Mom only came here on special occasions. Like getting her tax refund so she could actually afford it. And while tax season was far away, this was certainly a special occasion.

We pulled a chair from one of the tables in the middle to a fixed table-and-benches booth on the wall. I sat next to the wall with Chris on one side, Alex was across from me, Mom next to him, and Jeff on the end. I ordered their classic gourmet burger, and it was delicious. And thankfully, Mom never had the staff sing anything.

Near the end, Mom decided to say a short prayer. Usually we said grace at the start of dinner, but we had a habit of forgetting. Still, this time was different.

"Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for giving us a new member of the family. May You watch over her and guide her through these stressful times, so that she can be happy and healthy and with us for all time. Amen."

"Amen," said the rest of them.

Me, I was kinda silent. I was taking it in. Realizing all the weight behind all this. All that spending earlier for clothes for me and she still took us to the expensive restaurant. I started tearing up.

"You alright?" said Jeff.

"Yeah," I said. "I... I just... Thank you. For...everything." That's all I could really say. I wiped my eyes and went back to eating the rest of my burger.

The ride home was again pretty quiet. But less so than the way up, because Alex was getting tired, and he always got...crankier when he was tired. When we got back, our nerves were getting frayed.

Still, I gave Mom a hug before I headed off to bed. It was a big hug. "Thanks, Mom," I said.

After the hug, I went to my room. Jeff's room, my room, same thing. I took off my shoes and sat down on the bed that would be mine for the time being.

[] I was already in the room on my laptop. "Long day, huh?" I said.

"Eh," she shrugged. "It wasn't that bad once I pushed past the hard part."

"Heh. You're still me, you know that?"

"Not really. I mean, look at me."

"Yeah. I see someone who acts like me a little. You try to make things less of a problem by not worrying about them and doing something else."

She gave a nod of agreement.

"So," she said, "now what? I mean, it's bed time. And... Crud, I don't have any sleep clothes either."

"Hey, I sleep in my underwear and a T-shirt. Shouldn't be too different."

"Good point."

This is the part where the awkward silence kicked in. I sat in the chair in the middle of the room, she was sitting on my bed that was hers for now. And there wasn't much to do, and nothing to talk about. We were quickly becoming bored.

Apparently, though, she got the idea to start doing something. She was tapping her fingers on her thigh. There was a rhythmic pattern to it. At first I didn't recognize it, but soon she started humming. It was a low note at first, but as I listened, I realized what she was humming.

Gerudo Valley.

I started tapping my fingers along in the same pattern. My right hand for louder taps, my left for softer ones. Lining up with the beats she was using already, I tapped my right hand down once, then my left twice, then my right twice, left once, right once, left once, then started the pattern over. I started joining her in her humming, too. Every two cycles of taps was a beat, and I matched her lower humming with higher notes. Her handling the bass notes, me the treble.

We went through one play of the song, and then I switched to matching the bass she was humming. We went a few beats with this, me briefly gesturing to her with my left hand. And she took the cue. Now it was her turn to hum treble. I think we were both surprised that she hummed the higher notes without forcing her throat.

As soon as she finished that loop of the song, she stopped entirely, and I stopped a few taps later. We looked at each other. There was potential here. We knew it. But more importantly...

I started laughing. She laughed too. It was good.

"Ya know?" I said. "I think everything's gonna turn out alright."

She came out of her laugh with a smile. The smile worked on her face. Things were looking up.

"Yeah. I think they will."

----------------

[That night, I slept on the couch.]

{And I slept in my room.}

[It was the end of the first of many days to come.]

{But we knew we would be there for all of 'em.}

[Just knowing that simple thing-]

{-was enough to send us to bed with smiles on our faces.}