Adam stood in front of the mirror in his dorm room. His eyes darted to the items assorted on the shelf underneath it. The ‘vanity,’ as people called it.

  When you were a girl, you were supposed to do stuff like that, right? When you went out. Adam was well aware of the clichés of women taking longer than men, of how girls tended to be extra prettier for nights out or dates in various tv shows and movies. Since he was going out with friends… that counted, right?

  Naturally, all that was stuff expected of girls, that Adam felt a draw to emuting.

  So why did he feel so frozen in pce?

  It was easy, right? Supposedly. That’s how media always made it look, after all. Makeup and stuff just came naturally. It wasn’t like this was the thing that would finally expose him, would it?

  Suddenly the door opened.

  Adam instinctively jolted, ready to dash to his bed and pretend he wasn’t doing anything. But instead he hesitated, and stayed still. That’s right, unlike before his transformation, he didn’t have to be as mindful of how weird he’d look showing interest in or standing close to ‘girl stuff.’

  As it turns out, it was indeed just Tori who entered. Not like there was any reason to assume the worst, but still…

  “Oh, um, are you thinking about ter?” She asked, standing next to him and following his eyes to the vanity’s mirror.

  Adam didn’t feel the need to nod, realizing how easy he was to read. Instead, he sheepishly shied away.

  “What? Nothing to be ashamed about if you’re looking forward to it.” Tori scoffed. “It’s not like we’re sneaking out, for the record. Students are free to go out te so long as it doesn’t affect our studies.”

  It wasn’t that, but Adam somewhat appreciated her assurances nonetheless.

  “...Hey, feel free to call me crazy,” Tori paused, unsure of her words. “But this wouldn’t have anything to do with… Evan, does it?”

  Adam froze. Where had that come from?

  Tori had brought up something like this before, hadn’t she? About Evan looking at him a lot?

  Adam quickly shook his head, though he felt awkward at the question. What was she implying with that?

  “S-Sorry, that came out of nowhere.” Tori brushed the topic aside, pushing some hair behind her ear. “It’s not for me to judge if you’re trying to impress someone, or… whatever it is you’re thinking. Maybe I’m just assuming.”

  Impress him? Oh. OH! She meant that in a romantic way, Adam realized. Right, since he’s a girl, and Evan’s some type of boy. Somehow, his own hypothetical perspective as a hypothetical girl hadn’t crossed his mind regarding the topic.

  Did he like Evan in that way? Would he want to… impress him? It’s not like Adam was gay. At least he was pretty sure, since he tended to like looking at girls more.

  But wait, this wasn’t about Adam. It was about Aria, the girl he was acting out as. What would she think? What would she do?

  Did she like Evan? Would she want to impress him?

  …Maybe? It certainly fit more than if Adam tried to consider it as himself. It made sense as a girl to want to be with a guy, for one.

  It was just the matter of Evan as a person. Not like she, or rather he, had gotten to know him that much.

  Suddenly Adam got lightly nudged forward, and he’d realized Tori had snuck behind him.

  “Either way, come on. If you’re thinking about makeup, I already told you I’d be down to help.”

  A part of Adam wanted to shake his head, push the topic aside and come up with an excuse. But a part of him also wondered… wasn’t this perfect? It was a good excuse, Tori had no reason to think he was secretly a boy during this whole ordeal, right?

  So instead he just sat down, and followed her instructions.

  “It’ll be alright. Not like there’s much time to let you practice when we’ll be heading out soon.” Tori added.

  From there, the conversation led to idle talks of the recent week. School life, what teachers sucked, though it was pretty one-sided. There were moments Adam’s head was too occupied being worked on for him to give his usual inaudible response. But still, it was nice.

  It was only for a few minutes, but Adam really felt like that for a second… that he really was being a girl, right now. This was probably what it felt like, right? Strange how it felt no different to his life as a boy, yet all the same like a completely different world.

  As Tori was about to finish, she paused. Adam felt her eyes on him curiously.

  “Would you…” She began, pausing for a moment as if unsure of her words. “Would you say that these past few days… have felt like a dream to you?”

  The boy was caught off guard by the question. Even so, he found himself answering with a quick but hesitant nod.

  “And was it worth it?” She y a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Was it worth the risk?”

  Adam thought he felt her hand shaking. What was she asking him?

  “Please, just… answer.”

  While utterly confused by the question, Adam still found himself thinking about it. If she just meant coming here and get to live as a girl, then obviously it’d be-

  But no, then again…

  Before he could answer though, there was a knock on the door.

  “O-Oh, come in!” Tori awkwardly stood back up, shuffling over to the door to see who it was.

  “Heyyy there,” Adam heard Grace call in an uncharacteristic tone. “‘Sup girl! Hey, could you come and help me and Maddie with something?”

  “Oh, sure. I was just in the middle of-”

  While they talked, Adam figured to look at himself in the mirror. He almost yelped in shock seeing the type of difference the products made on his face. His skin looked smoother, his eyeshes slightly thicker, even the soft pinker tint on his lips did its part in making him look more appealing. At least, that’s how he felt.

  Adam doubted that Tori was any professional, he could still tell that much. It wasn’t as if he looked like some model. But despite that, it was hard not to feel like it.

  “She seems like she’s doing well for herself.”

  Adam’s head jolted back, remembering the conversation taking pce on the other side of the room. He could tell that Grace’s comment was about him specifically, as the two looked at him. The poor boy in a girl’s guise found an embarrassment growing. They didn’t think he was weird seeing him gawk at himself in the mirror like that, right?

  “What do you think, Aria?” Tori asked.

  The tone was earnest, genuine. Was this about the makeup? Yet again, where Adam thought he’d be met with shame, he found gentleness. Like those other times, he felt a hesitation to answer, but Adam clenched his fist. He didn’t want to hesitate. After all this time, he knew how clear the answer was.

  He nodded back heartily. “Thank you so much!” He mouthed.

  “Yep, definitely happy.” Grace giggled.

  Tori smirked and gave Grace a side-eye, “Be nice.”

  “Come on though, we really need you for a sec.” She pulled at Tori’s side.

  Adam’s roommate seemed a bit concerned by the gesture, but as the two were leaving, called back to him, “W-We’ll catch up with you ter!”

  Huh. Adam internally wondered to himself what that was about. But he didn’t mind their business. Instead he once again looked at the mirror.

  The doubts kept getting sillier with time. Maybe it was alright for him to admit to himself, that it was okay for him to be here. To love this version of himself.

  “But to repeat,” Solomon continued, “You can’t actually tell us the details?”

  “I swear!” Ray answered.

  By this point, the two had let Ray sit down on the staircase while hearing him out. It’s not like they were pnning to be violent with their cornering. This was about answers.

  “Bullshit!” Flynn called out.

  “Flynn, don’t you remember? Adam said the same thing,” Solomon expined. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

  “You think this guy would want to turn himself into-!” He paused, realizing what he was almost about to say in front of the boy. “That?!”

  “It doesn’t have to be the exact same thing. Whatever phenomenon did that to Adam may have occurred to more people,” Solomon continued, hands cupping his chin in thought. This was the thought that, once in his head, bothered him the most. That this could be bigger than he’d even considered. “It doesn’t have to be so drastic. It could be granting desires that are more common, like better looks, or improved academics.”

  Flynn blinked, “I mean, but if something like that was going on, people would-” His eyes widened.

  “Hence the vow of silence, magically bound, I’d wager.” Solomon looked back down at the poor boy listening in. “How much can you tell us? Are you at least able to confirm my theory?”

  Ray kept his mouth shut, staring back at Solomon with a fearful look in his eyes.

  “Speak up, dipshit!” Flynn bent down again to try and grab his colr. “This shit is important!”

  Solomon didn’t feel quite as bold as Flynn right now, however. The implications were bothering him, borderline disturbing depending on how far this conspiracy extended. Ray and Adam were just students too, if someone or something was taking advantage of them, that’d be a massive problem on its own.

  He opted to think through his questions. If Ray and Adam’s silence was bound by the same rule, then there were things Adam had shared that Ray should also be able to divulge.

  “What did you get?” Solomon asked.

  The other two looked at him.

  “You were promised something, right? Adam said he gave up something else for it, too. Expin.”

  Ray quivered for a short bit, but then drew his breath. “I-I just wanted to be more popur, to have more friends.” He expined. “A lot of guys here went to the same middle schools, i-it was hard to get into any groups and I just felt left out.”

  Solomon frowned. It was that straightforward, huh? “An understandable issue, if I could be honest. A common insecurity for teenagers…”

  “Yeah I bet you’d know you squirmy little-! GOD, FUCK!” Ray excimed at himself. “Sorry! Like just, god! I didn’t mean that!”

  “Do we need to listen to this guy, Sully?”

  Solomon sighed, “Let him continue.”

  “Right… Well I got what I wanted, and yeah, it’s basically magic. It was kinda obvious once it started happening, a lot of the guys just weirdly agreed with me on everything, thought what I said was more important. Felt creepy for a while…”

  Flynn furrowed his brows, “I don’t like you, though.”

  “Y-Yeah, because-!” Ray stopped for a short second, “I messed up. I was told it’d only work for as long as I avoided seafood, but I only forgot for a night, and then…”

  “You mean the price? You gave up seafood for popurity?” Solomon questioned.

  “N-No! That’s different!” Ray interjected. “What I was told was that you needed to give something up, but you also needed a condition to like, strengthen it or something. It’s more like two things you’re giving up.”

  “But… Adam only mentioned one price.” The honours student furrowed his brows, looking back at Flynn to confirm.

  “Maybe he just didn’t want to out his weakness?” Ray suggested. “Why did he tell you guys, anyway?”

  “None of your business!” Flynn hit back. “It’s weird though… But wait, what do you mean someone told you?! Who?!”

  Ray met back with a silent stare.

  “It’s a someone that’s responsible, for sure.” Solomon grimaced.

  “But why all of this bullshit?” Flynn questioned the boy. “Why are you walking around as Adam?”

  “It’s just a favor!” Ray expined. “I-I really shouldn’t be telling you guys any more, it might screw with-!”

  Flynn rolled his eyes, “Oh, come on! For a known douchebag you’re sure being nice to whoever messed with you!”

  “Hold on a second,” a thought occurred to Solomon. “The price you paid for your popurity. Could it be that it has something to do with…?”

  Ray looked like he might start sweating.

  “Your little impulse from earlier. You told both of us you didn’t mean it.”

  Flynn narrowed his eyes, “You’re shitting me. But I thought this guy broke the whole thing?”

  “Well, that depends.” He looked back at Ray. “If you buy something, most stores won't give you your money back once you break what you purchased.” Solomon could tell that the same logic was dawning on Flynn, “But sometimes, they might ask you to work to pay it back…”

  “Okay fine!” Ray admitted, drawing their attention back to himself. “I can’t control it! I gave up keeping my mouth shut for popurity, but I didn’t think it’d matter! The other guys just think it’s cool even after it all broke so I’ve been rolling with it, but I fucking hate it! I know they feel bad but just don’t wanna say it! Seriously, I don’t wanna fuck Finn’s mom! She let me stay over for spring break once, she’s so sweet!”

  “Shit!” Flynn cursed. “But wait, Adam gave up his voice, so what does that mean for-?”

  “His fucking VOICE?!” Ray yelled. “Dude, you gotta tell him!”

  “He doesn’t know?” Flynn questioned. “Are you telling me Adam’s voice might be gone for good, even if he turns back?!”

  “I didn’t know until I screwed up! It’s just a fucking scam, dude!”

  But Solomon kept trying to think. What did this mean? There were things being kept from them, Adam included. But why did this entity make Ray do this specific favor? To cover up for Adam’s absence? Why go that far?

  And more importantly, just how far did this go?

  “You’re not pretending to be Adam every day, are you?” Solomon asked. “Based on what you were told to do, I mean.”

  “O-Only some of them,” he answered. “I was told the specific days.”

  “Holy moly…”

  “That settles it.” Solomon responded. “It’s a conspiracy. To what end, though…?”

  As Flynn faced the tutor again, he couldn’t help but start wondering the same. “Why bother getting people to cover up for Adam, though? Just to be nice?”

  “I’ve also been wondering about the situation concerning Adam’s enrollment.” He eyed Flynn. Neither of them were really engaging with Ray anymore, but Solomon knew he needed to be careful with his words. “Don’t you think it was strange, what he’d told us back then?”

  “It did seem weirdly easy…” Flynn noted.

  “This goes farther than I’d worried for, if my hunch is correct. It could also start to expin other oddities, like the raid on Adam’s room.”

  “What? But that stuff was before Adam made that deal.” Flynn furrowed his brows.

  “Exactly.” Solomon breathed in. “Which is why I’m beginning to fear the worst. I don’t think any of this is a coincidence. Whoever’s behind this, they…” But he paused. He’d been going off trying to connect the dots, but right now the details didn’t matter.

  “...Shit,” Flynn let out. “You mean this whole thing’s a trap?!”

  “Either way, come on.” Solomon began walking away. “We need to go find Adam, figure out what’s really happening here.”

  “Y-Yeah, definitely!”

  As they made a beeline back up to the first floor, Ray called behind. “Um, good luck, guys!”

  Adam walked out of St. Marie’s front entrance. After Tori had left, Adam didn’t have too much trouble picking something out for the trip to the carnival. It was a bit basic, he’d ultimately just gone with one of the outfits he’d bought with Tori a few days ago. A mid length pid skirt, blouse and cardigan. The only shoes he had were the ones from the uniform, but they were nice and he liked them enough. It worked.

  He’d been expecting to meet back up with Tori and the others at this point. But strangely, looking forward, he only saw Evan standing by the school gates.

  “Oh, hey the-!” The boy awkwardly greeted. It looked to Adam as if Evan was about to say more, but he stopped for some reason. Was he okay?

  Adam looked behind himself, half-expecting to see something weird that had caught the boy’s attention. But nope. He then cocked his head at the boy, as if to ask, “are you okay?”

  “N-No, yeah! I’m fine. Just, you surprised me, that’s all! Made me jump.”

  Adam had thought he’d made his presence pretty known, but apparently not. He felt a bit bad now, mouthing ‘sorry…’

  “It’s okay! My mistake, I swear!” He hurriedly excused. If he was willing to move past it, then Adam supposed they might as well.

  “By the way,” He continued. “It’s uhh, kinda awkward, but Grace and Maddie are sick today, so it doesn’t look like they can make it.”

  Adam cocked his head again curiously.

  “And uhh, it sounds like Tori might have caught something too, so it looks like it might just be the two of us?” He added, sounding a bit unsure of himself.

  Tori looked fine earlier today, but maybe she just caught something after going to talk to Grace.

  As Adam was thinking, Evan rubbed the back of his neck, conspicuously gncing at Adam as he spoke. “Would, Would it be okay still? If the others aren’t here, I mean.”

  Adam briefly thought about it some more, and shrugged, then nodded. He didn’t really mind. Sure, it’d suck to be missing his new friends. But Evan was also nice, and it felt like a waste not to go after getting himself ready.

  “Sick! I-I mean, nice! Probably a bit weird to use that word when our friends are missing out because of being si- You know what, nevermind.”

  Adam held back a quick giggle, rolling his eyes. Evan was kind of an oddball, but if anything it made Adam feel more at ease. It meant he wasn’t the only one constantly questioning everything.

  He nudged his head in a direction outwards, to which Evan coughed, “Yeah, guess we should go.” He chuckled to himself.

  But as they started walking, Adam felt a faint fluttering sensation. The realization hit him that it was just the two of them, and what that would look like to an outside observer. The fact he’d made sure to get himself ready, too. Adam wouldn’t go so far as to say he was a ‘pretty girl’ but- no, that’s probably what it looked like anyway.

  If Evan was a boy, did that mean he felt like a boy about him, too? The same way the boys at Hanssen’s would sometimes talk about models or actresses, and the… things they’d do. Did Adam being pretty make him… feel things?

  Adam felt his face warm up. Why did that feel embarrassing? Of course it would, but it shouldn’t actually be that big of a deal. He’d also feel awkward if someone like Flynn or one of the guys saw him like this, surely.

  But it’s not even just embarrassment, but… something else. Not joy. Excitement? Exhiration? The type where you’re scared or embarrassed, but it also feels good. That’s how it was, right now.

  It had to be nothing. Just some fleeting feeling. As much as Adam was willing to admit to himself how happy with his life he was, there were some things he just wasn’t ready to consider.

  After all, wanting more, wouldn’t that be greedy of him?