“Do you have everything?”

“Yes.” Elise said to her mother, irritation apparent in her voice.

“Are you sure? Does Devin need money for a ticket?”

“Mom, we’ll be fine, okay?”

“Alright…” Julie said reluctantly.

“Hey.” Ronald said just before Elise walked out the door. “Keep good watch of that boy. I hear he’s afraid of rollercoasters, right?”

“He’s not a big fan of them, no.”

Ronald shook his head. “Scared of dogs, scared of rollercoasters, man, why’d you have to date such a wimp?”

Insulted, Elise groaned and bitterly said “good bye” before walking out the door.

Ronald was on the receiving end of a glare from Julie who dragged him to their room to have a talk.

Emma though, who was off to the side, found his comment funny.

***

Sierra tapped her foot impatiently in the passenger’s seat of Elise’s car. What was taking her so long? It’d been twenty minutes since she went in.

Running a hand through her forehead, Sierra looked down and reminded herself of why she couldn’t go into the house.

She was wearing Elise’s clothes, a pair of women’s athletic shorts on her legs and a simple T-shirt on her body. Her breasts were clearly visible and her makeup hadn’t faded yet. If someone were to look at her, they would without a doubt say she was a girl. Her short hair couldn’t change that.

Elise had mainly wanted Sierra to wear her clothes in order to get it across to Amanda that she was a girl. It took some convincing, but eventually Sierra caved in. It was important to try new things and expand one’s horizons, after all.

If only it wasn’t so intimidating.

After what seemed like forever, Sierra finally saw Elise walk out from her front door and get into the driver’s seat. She sighed in relief when the car was turned on and she felt the cool air from the AC hit her skin.

“I know I’m stating the obvious but it’s ridiculous how hot it is.”

“Maybe we should go to the waterpark sometime today… you still have your swimwear in your bag right?”

“Yeah, do you really think we’d have time to do that?”

“I don’t know, we’ll see.” She said.

Elise pulled out her car and began the short but daunting drive to Amanda’s house.

***

Sierra hadn’t talked during any part of the drive. How could she talk, knowing what she was about to do? She had tried very hard to win Amanda’s approval over the past year, and now she could very easily be throwing all that away.

If Amanda thought she was a pervert, or a creep, or a delusional madman… madwoman, then what would become of her and Elise’s friendship? Sierra hated the thought of making them split apart, she’d probably die of guilt if that happened.

Emma was a bratty, annoying little sister who acted much younger than she actually was. Her views carried little weight toward Sierra. Admittedly, it did kind of hurt to hear Emma say what she did, but ultimately, Sierra could live with it. But Amanda… she had been Elise’s best friend for years. If she didn’t take well to this, then how would Ryan react? How would Elise’s parents react? How would her parents react?

A ton of emotions were going through Sierra’s head as Elise pulled her car into Amanda’s driveway. Fear mostly, but also frustration and guilt at the fact that she was once again anticipating the worst out of people. Amanda was not a bad person. She was nice, she was understanding, why was Sierra expecting the worst? Internally, she chastised herself.

“So, how do you want to do this?” Elise asked. “Do you want to tell her or do you want me to tell her?”

Sierra was staring at Amanda’s front door. “This is something I have to explain myself.” She turned to Elise. “But it’d be nice if you could just… tell her I have something important to say before I come out… in more ways than one. Can you do that?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.” Sierra smiled.

Good timing, as soon after Sierra said that, Amanda had walked out the front door. Elise quickly gave Sierra a kiss on the forehead before getting out of the car, making sure the door didn’t open wide enough for Amanda to see anything.

“Did you get that text about going to the waterpark if we have time?” Elise asked

“Yeah, what do you think the bag’s for?” Amanda answered. “I’m guessing Devin was too afraid of the dog to come out?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures, you know being afraid of dogs is something he should really fix. With how many people have dogs and all.”

“Amanda.” Elise said seriously. “There’s something really important I need to tell you about Devin.”

Amanda’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What? It can’t be that you broke up. You wouldn’t have brought him here… right?”

“No, we didn’t break up.” Elise affirmed. “It’s just that he’s been going through a few things and wants to start opening up to people. He opened up to me a week ago… kind of, the details aren’t important. But he trusted me and he’s been a lot happier since.”

Still confused, Amanda asked “what is it? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“He can explain it a lot better than me.” Elise said. “Just know this is very important and this is a very sensitive time for him. He needs all the support he can get.”

Amanda looked startled. “Okay.” She said almost worriedly.

“Alright, he’ll be coming out now, just be aware he may look a little bit different than you might think.”

Elise sent a text to Sierra’s phone, “you can come out now”.

Sierra, scared out of her mind, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and somehow found the confidence and courage she needed to step out of the car. With a swift motion, she opened the passenger door and walked around the front of the car, coming into clear view of Amanda. It didn’t take long for her to notice the makeup, the visible breasts, the pixie cut, and the smooth, hairless skin.

Amanda was too stunned to speak.

“Hey Amanda…” Sierra said. “It’s nice to see you.”