Carol drove the van, stopping first in front of the Huston’s house. George and Jeff removed the shopping bags from the back.

“Alright, I will just help Erinna pack her bag and bring her over,” Heather said, leaving the van followed by Erinna.

When Erinna stepped into the house, Jeff quickly lifted her in the air as she squealed loudly. Jeff held Erinna in his arms and spun her around, making her giggle.

“I’ve caught you now,” Jeff said as he started to tickle Erinna making her giggle even more and try to wiggle out of his grip.

“Daaaaaddy, stop it,” Erinna whined, making Jeff chuckle and put her down.

“Thank you,” Erinna sighed, making Jeff chuckle again. Erinna just huffed and walked up to her room, where her mom was backing a backpack for her.

Heather packed a couple of pairs of underwear, a camisole, and a silky blue nightie with long sleeves. Heather then turned to Erinna and smiled. “You will be having breakfast outside tomorrow. Would you like to have pants or a skirt?” Heather said, taking out a couple of skinny jeans and a couple of skirts with matching tops.

Erinna looked at the skirts and the jeans that Heather had laid out. She started to think for a second; jeans were not a new experience, but skirts were. She didn’t hate the skirts while she didn’t like them either; she wanted to get used to them. With that in mind, Erinna spoke. “I think I will wear a skirt, mommy,” Erinna replied, surprising Heather a bit.

Heather didn’t expect Erinna to choose a skirt again, but she smiled when Erinna did. “Alright then, let’s get a package of tights as well; which skirt would you like to wear then?”

Erinna looked puzzled again but decided on a denim grey skirt with a black sweater. Heather added a package of black tights to the pack and put a sleeping bag next to Erinna’s backpack.

With the backpack ready, they both walked downstairs, where George stood waiting for Erinna. He was to walk her to the Collins’ house since it was already past six and it was getting dark outside. They used to do this with Erinna as a boy and would not stop it with Erinna as a girl. They had even more reason to do this now that they knew Erinna would have the boys’ eyes on her.

Arriving at Collins’s house, Erinna could see Carla getting down from a motorcycle. She took off her helmet and handed it to an older boy, who looked around 18 or 19. George recognized him from the bike; it was Johnny, Carla’s big brother. He was someone that George liked to hang out with, even with the four-year age gap between them. He was cool, and George enjoyed hanging out with older boys.

Johnny took off his helmet and spoke to Carla before they were close enough for Johnny to see them. “Yoh, George, nice game yesterday, man,” Johnny commented. Johnny is a star player on the basketball team at his university, and he played point guard and was the team captain even with being a freshman.

“You saw that? I thought you guys had a game yesterday?” George replied as Johnny parked his motorcycle, and they both walked with Erinna and Carla to the front door.

“I watched it after the match; why did you get so angry when he tackled player number 7?” Johnny said, making both Erinna and Carla giggle while George blushed. Johnny smirked at George’s face; he knew that player number 7 was a girl, although he didn’t realize it was Nancy until he saw George’s reaction.

“Oh, I see.”

Blushing hard, George knocked on Collin’s front door, and Carol immediately opened it. Carol stood looking at them and smiled.

“Carla, Erinna come on in,” Carol said, stepping aside to let the girls walk into the house. “Now, girls, Oliver doesn’t know this yet, but we are celebrating an early birthday party for him,” Carol said, and both girls looked at each other, confused since they didn’t have any gifts.

Although Erinna had bought him a gift, his birthday was still two days away, so she didn’t bring the present. “Mrs. Collins, I left Oliver’s gift at home; I didn’t bring it with me,” Erinna confessed, walking into the house with Carla. She wouldn’t have come to Oliver’s birthday party without a gift, especially how he tried to defend her today; it made her feel warm from the inside.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Your moms already gave them to me,” Carol said, increasing the girls’ confusion even more. “Oh, by the way, you two should come in as well, no arguments,” Carol said to the boys who were standing outside. Both had nothing to do, so they really couldn’t argue.

All of them hung their coats and settled into the living room. George was worried about not bringing a gift to Oliver, who was like a little brother to him. They walked into the living room, and an unfamiliar face was waiting for them. A boy around 12 years old with brown hair and brown eyes was sitting on a sofa. His eyes immediately settled on Carla and Erinna, and both realized he was staring at them, but they decided to ignore him. However, Johnny and George gave him the best nasty glare they could muster. They didn’t appreciate someone staring at their sisters.

“Carla, thank you for coming,” Nancy said as she entered the room. There were only two years between them, and they were close friends. Leaving that aside, Nancy helped Carla settle down and embrace her new femininity since she had been in the same situation.

“Everyone, this is Brandon, our cousin. He will stay with us for a while until my Aunt and Uncle return from Australia,” Nancy introduced the boy, who smiled.

Nancy could see the mean glares from both Johnny and George, which made her roll her eyes. She knew there was only one thing that would make them both upset. Nancy couldn’t believe that her cousin had just arrived not two hours ago and he was already causing trouble. She hoped he wouldn’t pull any of his stupid stunts in front of these two.

Oliver chose this moment to enter the room with everyone else. They were all laughing, but the moment Oliver saw his cousin, his face dropped. He was not looking forward to this.

“Oliver, can you show us your Avatar in the game? I want to see your new gun,” Ron spoke, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“Sissies, don’t play video games. Why don’t you go play with your dolls or something,” Brandon mocked, making Oliver shift uncomfortably in his place. He hated Brandon for a reason.

Everyone in the room glared at Brandon, but he didn’t seem to care. Nancy sighed and shook her head while Erinna wanted to do nothing more than punch him in the face. George was upset at Brandon. Here was this boy he had just met, who called his adopted little brother a sissy, but then an idea popped into his mind. It was an evil idea, but he would make Brandon pay for his nasty comments.

“If you are going to call someone else a sissy, you have to prove that you’re a man yourself. I am sure everyone here will agree,” George said with a smirk. Everyone in the room agreed with George’s idea. “Since everyone here agrees, you must prove that you’re a man, or else you can’t call someone a sissy when you’re the real sissy here,” George teased, playing on Brandon’s insecurities. He was going to make him pay for what he said.

“I’m not a sissy, and I will do whatever you want to prove it,” Brandon said confidently, not realizing how he was falling right into George’s trap.

“Alright, to prove that you’re a man, you must defeat Dakota, my sister Erinna and Oliver in an arm wrestle, but if you lose against all three, you must stay dressed as a girl until the holidays end. Deal?”

“What do I get when I beat everyone?”

“Oliver will have to dress like a girl.” Oliver’s expression was one of shock, and his face went white.

George had picked the three of them, knowing that Brandon couldn’t refuse to play against a girl and both Erinna and Dakota looked way stronger than Brandon. He also wouldn’t refuse to play against Oliver, and George knew Oliver would easily win.

“Don’t tell me you’re so scared you won’t do it?” George said, adding more fuel to the fire.

“Fine, I will do it,” Brandon replied, leaving his seat. Just as George had predicted, he was overconfident in his ability to defeat the three of them, and not once did he realize the trap George had laid out for him.

“Who’s first?” Brandon asked.

“Let’s pull this table out, and then Dakota will go first,” George said and left his seat to get a small table from the corner of the room, placing it at the center of the room, making sure it was in the full view of everyone. George looked at Dakota, and she was hesitant at first, unsure if she could win against someone two years older, but she just grinned and decided to do it anyway.

Dakota left her seat and approached the table where Brandon had already seated himself, with his hand waiting. Dakota sat on the floor in front of the table, put her arm in position, and the game started. She struggled a bit at first, but then her arm began to push Brandon’s arm down until it touched the table.

“You lost round one. Now you will face my sister, Erinna,” George said, looking at Erinna with a smug smile. She was enjoying this.

Erinna confidently sat in front of the table, placed her arm, and waited for Brandon to recover from his loss. He put up a good fight against Erinna once he was over his initial shock, but he failed miserably. For two or three minutes, Erinna kept her arm locked in place, and no matter how much force Brandon tried to apply, Erinna’s arm didn’t budge. Feeling bad for humiliating Brandon too much, Erinna decided to end it. She slowly put pressure on Brandon’s arm until it was flat on the table.

“So, that’s round two. I am sure Nancy will be able to find a cute skirt for you. Who knows, maybe some other accessories as well,” George mocked, causing Brandon’s face to turn red from embarrassment.

Nancy just smiled and nodded, adding to Brandon’s shame. Oliver was her favorite; he didn’t have a foul mouth as the rest of them did, and he was much nicer and more intelligent than most. When Oliver was still a girl, Brandon and his cousins constantly tried to bully him. They also tried to bully Nancy, but she was a tough target for her cousins, so they gave up quickly.

“Now, Oliver, why don’t you take your place? I want to see how strong Brandon is,” taunted George as he encouraged Oliver.

Oliver was slightly nervous; he wasn’t sure he could win against Brandon. He, however, was not sure about this. Brandon made a big mistake in underestimating Dakota and Erinna, as both were athletic girls. Oliver took his place in front of Brandon, who glared at Oliver as he put up his hand.

Oliver closed his eyes and held Brandon’s hand firmly, causing Brandon to almost yelp. Oliver’s grip almost crushed his hand. Oliver waited for George to say start and gave it everything he had. He kept his eyes closed, and within seconds he heard a thud. Oliver opened his eyes to see Brandon’s arm flat on the table. He was amazed and delighted. The whole room cheered while Brandon was in shock and was unable to speak.

“Be a man enough and hold up your end of the deal,” mocked Johnny adding to Braedon’s shame. “Unless, of course, you want to face someone your age. In that case, I am sure Carla would be more than happy to prove to everyone how much of a sissy you are,” taunted Johnny.

Brandon almost cried; he was utterly humiliated and couldn’t find a way out of his predicament. Brandon always had a big mouth, and usually, no one would bully him, but today it was the other way around. Two ten-year-old girls and Oliver, whom he considered a sissy, had soundly defeated him. Brandon tried to protest, but since both George and Johnny kept the pressure on him, he finally capitulated and followed Nancy upstairs to her room to accept his fate.

“So, Oliver, I believe you were about to show them your avatar in the game, right?” George asked, gaining everyone’s attention.

Oliver just smiled and walked to where the game console was. Oliver had received this expensive game console as a gift from his uncle when he came to live here, and it was the 4th generation VG console. Aside from the large 65” screen, surround sound speakers, and wireless controllers, it had advanced VR headsets, making you feel like you were inside the game.

Turning on the device, Oliver logged into his favorite game, New Total World or NTW, an open-world game with many different weapons and skills. He used two Scimitar swords, each in one hand, and a machine gun hung on his back. Oliver displayed his Avatar on the screen.

“Wow, those are legendary swords with a maximum buff. How did you do that?” Steven asked, observing Oliver’s Avatar.

Everyone looked at Steven, surprised since no one had expected the quiet and usually shy Steven to be a fan of this video game.

“I got help from a pro,” Oliver answered simply with a smirk glancing toward Erinna. Erinna and George had a big VG console, but they usually played the game on their regular console in their bedrooms.

“That’s not fair, you’re not even a general rank, and you have three legendary weapons,” Dakota said with obvious jealousy in her tone. “Who helped you? Come on, tell me, please.”

“She’s sitting with us in this room, and she doesn’t even want to help her big brother with it,” George commented, laughing. Erinna turned and stuck her tongue at him, making everyone laugh.

“Come to think of it; I have never seen Erinna’s Avatar. How come you have never shown it to us?” Dakota quizzed, looking at Erinna, who just gulped.

There was an excellent reason Erinna didn’t want to show her Avatar in the game.

“I can show it to you from my friend list,” said Oliver cheekily, making Erinna glare at him. Before she could protest, however, Oliver was already going through his friend list until he stopped in front of Erinna’s account and brought it up on the screen. Ruby was the character’s name, a female character with a long red riding hood, a white top, a red kilted skirt, a scythe in her hand, and a sniper rifle on her back. The Avatar had the same hair and eye color as Erinna.

“No way,” Dakota said with eyes wide and mouth open. This user, Ruby, was legendary in the game. Ruby was one of the few mythical ranked accounts, and she was quite possibly the highest-ranked Avatar in the NTW game. Many companies interested in holding E-sports tournaments had tried to contact Ruby’s owner for a long time but to no avail.

“You’re Ruby? The Red Riding Hood?” Dakota asked, trying to contain her shock.

Erinna blushed but looked at Dakota with confusion. “Who’s Red Riding Hood? I only have one Avatar and one account named Ruby,” Erinna responded. She played the game for fun, so she permanently blocked everyone who tried to contact her with an offer.

Dakota slapped her forehead as everyone laughed. “Seriously? You don’t even know your nickname? Don’t you realize how famous you, Ruby - The Red Riding Hood, are in NTW? You are legendary in the game.”

Dakota looked at Erinna, trying to tell if she was serious or not. She only groaned when Erinna’s expression showed that she was oblivious to her fame.

“Dakota, why are you groaning like that?” Nancy said, entering the room, with Brandon trying to hide behind her. “Stop trying to hide,” Nancy said, pulling Brandon out in front of her, “You don’t even look bad.”

Brandon was wearing a straight brown skirt with a green blouse. A pair of white tights covered his legs, and a couple of black flats were on his feet. Nancy had brushed Brandon’s long brown hair, and he was wearing a black headband on his head. Brandon looked like a cute teen girl with light makeup on her face. A pretty necklace, clip-on earrings, and bracelets completed the look.

“Well, I didn’t say you had to look that good, but don’t you bully Oliver ever again, or we’ll make you look like a real sissy,” George commented, looking a bit surprised at how good Brandon looked as a cute teen girl. Unlike Oliver, who was already developing a muscular body, Brandon had almost no muscles.

Poor Brandon, his secret was out when Nancy forced him to undress. Now, even Carol knew about his secret, and she would talk about it with Erwin and see what they could do for the boy.

“You look so cute, Brandon. Why are you embarrassed?” said Carol, as she pushed a cart with a cake on it, and Erwin followed behind her. When his eyes fell on Brandon, he looked surprised at first, but then Nancy whispered something to him, and he just smiled and shook his head.

“Why is this cake here?” Oliver asked, looking at the cake, confused. With eleven candles on it, it was clear to everyone that it was a birthday cake.

“So, Oliver, you forgot that your birthday is in two days?” Carol teased, making Oliver blush a bit but smile widely. He celebrated his last birthday alone with his new family, Nancy, Erwin, and Carol. A small party was fun, but Oliver never had many friends. It was his second birthday as a boy, and he hoped he wouldn’t get any more girly gifts that he never liked.

“Now, why don’t we light the candles before opening your gifts,” Erwin said, placing the box he was carrying that was full of gifts on the floor in front of Oliver.

Carol lit the candles, and everyone sang happy birthday to Oliver.

“Make a wish,” said Nancy, as she smiled at Oliver.

Oliver closed his eyes and made a wish. Oliver wished all the people he loved would stay with him forever. One person, in particular, was very special to him, and Oliver wanted to keep close to her. His feelings toward her were strong, and he knew he couldn’t ignore them. “I wish Erinna will be attracted to me as much as I am to her, and I will love everyone in my new family forever,” Oliver silently wished and blew out the candles.

•••••••••••••

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please tell me if you like it and how I think I could improve it. Any comments or thoughts on the story are appreciated. I would love to hear from you.

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