Hey, before the chapter, I want to say that I've scrapped the two versions idea because it was dumb.

After Julian left his sister’s room, he went on with his day. On occasion, he would stop to stare at his nails, and appreciate how cute they made him feel. Over the course of the week the week his nails wore out. He was staring at his nails more, this time with disappointment.

“I really wish they hadn’t worn out,” he thought. Suddenly, he had a realization! “I could just ask Anna to do them again, but I don’t know. At least it wouldn’t be a problem considering mom and dad are away for the summer.”

He walked out of his room to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. As he finished making it, his sister walked in. Anna noticed his nails.

“Hey, do you want me to remove the polish after you eat?” she asked. “It’ll be quick.”

“Yeah, that’d be good.” They talked for a while, and after he was done, they went to her room. She pulled out the box again, this time pulling out a bottle full of a thin purple liquid and some cotton balls. As she removed his polish she struck up a conversation.

“So you didn’t remove it the day after like you said you would,” she said. “What happened?!”

“I don’t know, I just kinda liked it,” he said. He went quiet for a moment, nervously debating whether to ask. He decided to go with his gut. “Hey,” he said nervously, “could you maybe paint my nails again?”

Anna smiled. “I would love to do that! Why don’t you go wash your hands to get any remover off, while I set up.”

When he returned, his sister was ready, though she had a few other things out. There was some weird foam thing that Julian couldn’t identify, and a large nail clipper.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Oh, I was wondering if you maybe would let me paint your toes too?” she said, with a goofy smile on her face. Julian considered it for a moment, before agreeing. He couldn’t think of a reason he shouldn’t in fact, it was quite exciting! “Alright, I’m going to start with the pedicure, why don’t you look for a color while I begin!”

Julian looked through the box again. It was hard to decide. He took out the yellow immediately, but he didn’t want to rule other colors out. There were so many good ones! He ended up with five just in time for his sister to be ready.

“Hey, Anna, can you help me decide on a color this time? I’m really not sure what to go with.”

“I’d be delighted to!” she said. She began to look through the five. He had the yellow again, but also chose some brighter and darker colors. He had the coral she wore last time, fuschia, a dark blue, and metallic pastel pink. “Wow,” she thought, “these are some really cute colors, no wonder he can’t decide.” After moments of consideration, she made a decision, “I think that the pink would be super cute!” She began painting his toenails. He was smiling the whole time during the manicure and pedicure, even though he tried to hide it.

“It’s so silly that he’s trying to hide his enjoyment,” thought Anna, chuckling internally. “He literally asked me to paint them again.” When all was said and done, they began talking. Hours passed.

Over the next few days, Julian went about his normal business, being very careful to not chip the polish. He had no idea why, but he loved it so much. On the third day, he was unhappy.

“Hey Anna, I want to remove the polish,” he said.

Anna was surprised. “I thought you really liked it, what happened? It’s not like the polish is chipped or anything, you’ve been so careful!”

“I do like my nails being painted, and I do like getting them painted, I just don’t like the color anymore.”

“Oh! Okay, come to my room and we’ll remove it.” After removing it, Anna asked if he wanted her to give him a mani/pedi again.

“Yes, I would love that,” said Julian excitedly.

Anna stopped for a moment. “Hmm,” she said. “How about I teach you how to give yourself a manicure, so you can always do it, even if I’m not here!”

“That sounds great!” Julian had a big smile on his face.
She showed him how to buff his nails and push back his cuticles, demonstrating on his right hand. After he did it on his left hand, they moved on to filing the nails, which he did with ease.

Finally it came time to put on the base coat. She demonstrated:

“You put a drop of it on the base your nail, then you drag from it to the middle, the repeat on the left and right, before finally filling in an areas that need it,” she said.

After she did his whole left hand, he tried on his right.

“Wow!” exclaimed Anna. “You did it like you’ve done this a million times before!”

“Thanks!” said Julian. He beamed with pride. “I wish that I had done this a million times!” He thought to himself.

When it came time to choose a color, he went with the yellow again. He painted them with even more ease than with the base coat. After the manicure was done and dried, he looked at his hands, even giddier than the first time his sister did them. He hugged his sister.

“Thank you so much for convincing me that first time, it makes me feel so pretty, and now I can do it myself!!” Julian covered his mouth. “Did I just say i feel pretty?” He thought. Looking at the reaction on his sister’s face, he definitely had. He spoke again in an upset tone. “That slipped out of my mouth, I-I-I didn’t actually mean to say that out loud!”

“Oh, don’t be upset. You’re just embracing your feminine side a little more than you already are! And you know what, I want to give something to you.” She went over to her desk and grabbed a box. “In here is all the supplies you need to do your own manicures and pedicures. I really hope you appreciate it!”

Julian was still a little upset, but he could help accepting the gift with as many thanks as possible.

“Also, you can put as many polishes of mine in there as you want! Trust me, there’s plenty I don’t use that you’ll probably use more! Here’s that yellow you love so much for starters!”

Julian looked through all her polishes, choosing a few, as he didn’t want to feel like he was being greedy. He ended up taking 4 other colors alongside the yellow, even though he loved the yellow so much, and he wasn’t even sure he would use them.

For 2 days, he wore the yellow, but he was excited to experiment. When he finally removed the polish, he decided to try something new. He took a neon purple and lilac polish, and alternated them on each nail. He smiled the whole day, it made him so happy. Whenever Anna saw him, she would smile too. It was so nice seeing him so happy.

The next day, he decided to try another color. After going through the whole process of the manicure, he was about to apply the top coat, when he had an idea. He went to his sister’s room and knocked on the door. She opened it.

“Hey Anna, do you have any white polish? I didn’t think I would be using it but I just thought of an idea that requires it,” Julian asked.

“I think I do, but let me check,” she said, getting up from her bed. “Why, what’s your idea?!”

“I’ll show you when it’s done, I think you’ll like it!”

“Well I’m very excited to see it!” she said, rummaging through her box. “Ah, here it is! I really can’t wait to see what you’re doing!”

Julian thanked her and went back to his room. “Now what am I going to use to do this?” he thought. “There’s probably a tool for it, but I obviously don’t have that. Maybe a toothpick will do?” He wandered out to the kitchen, and grabbed a few toothpicks. When he got back to his room, he pulled out a piece of paper from a drawer and put it on his desk, where he had been giving himself a manicure. Sitting down, he opened the bottle of white polish. He created a small blob of it on the paper, using it as a pallette.

“Oop, I should make sure my nails are dry before doing this, i wouldn’t want to ruin them!” he said out loud. He checked, and he was glad he did; they weren’t quite dry yet. After making sure that they had properly dried, he continued.

Taking one of the tooth picks, he dipped it into a new blob of polish he had made, as the other one had dried out too much, becoming stringy. Taking the toothpick, he pressed it down on the nail of his index figure, leaving a small dot. He did this again, before dipping it into the blob again to replenish the polish. He repeated this a few times until he finished the nail. He giggled.

“I’m so glad this worked, it looks exactly how I want it to! I can’t wait to show this to Anna!” he thought to himself, a big smile on his face. He continued, until he had made polka dots on every nail. He made sure that they had dried, and then applied a top coat. He was very pleased with the results of his experiment.

He went over to Anna’s room and knocked on the door. He waited for a few moments before knocking again. The door opened:

“Sorry! I didn’t hear you knock the first time! I was listening to music, probably a little too loud” Anna said, headphones resting around her neck. “Did you finish your nails! Show me, I’m so excited to see what you’ve done!!” Julian showed her his hands. She grabbed them and pulled them closer to get a closer look. “OMG, that’s so cute!!! It looks so good!!”

Julian blushed. “Thanks, I’m really proud of them.”

Continuing to compliment his work, Anna finally asked a question “I love them so much, can you please please please please do mine! Having matching nails would be so cute!!!!”

“I’d love to!” he giggled. “Go to the table and I’ll bring my kit and set up!” Julian went into his room, smiling to himself, and put both the blue and the white polishes back in the box, making sure that none of the tools were left on his desk before closing it. Before he left the room he grabbed the paper he had been using, reminding himself to get more toothpicks as he had used them all up. “Alright,” he said, placing the box and paper down, “put your hands out, you know the drill!” He couldn’t help himself from laughing, and Anna joined in. When they finished laughing, wiping tears from his eyes, Julian got to work.

“Your hands are clean, right?” he asked.

“Of course!”

He continued, wiping the nails with polish remover, making sure that there was no remaining polish from the last time she had a manicure. Her nails did not need to be clipped, so he began filing them into the slightly rounded shape that his were in. He buffed the nails, and grabbed the base polish. As he carefully painted her nails, Anna commented on his work.

“Wow, you’re really getting into this! I’ve never seen someone paint nails this carefully, not even at a salon! This is incredible!”

“Thanks,” he said slowly, as he carefully painted her left pinky. “What can I say, I really enjoy doing this, and if I enjoy it so much, why would I not put as much care into it as possible?”

“Certainly makes a lot of sense. I do the same, but I’m not nearly as good as you!” she giggled.

“Can you please stop giggling for a moment? I’m almost done, but if you keep moving it’s going to take a lot longer to get the base on.” Anna stopped giggling as fast as she could, even though she had some difficulty.

After the manicure was done, Anna thanked him many times, complimenting him on his work. Julian blushed.

“Hey…” Anna said, “Can I take a picture of us holding hands and post it? I Promise that all you be able to see is our hands, and I won’t tag you or anything! It’s really okay if you say no.”

Julian sat for a moment, before with some hesitation he said sure. On one hand, he was so proud of their matching nails, but on the other hand, he was scared someone would somehow recognize him. But in the end, his pride outweighed his worries. She took the pictures and posted.

“I love you bro, and I’m so proud of your feminine side!”