An arm bred in Josh’s ears. He jolted awake and frantically searched for the source of whatever was disturbing his sleep. His eyes fixed on a smiling Gym Bro who was already fully dressed in his work clothes. Somehow, seeing Gym Bro made Josh’s heart rate speed up even after the adrenaline spike from the rude awakening. He said, “Um, hello?”

  Gym Bro smirked and said, “Sorry about this, but we have a lot to go over and I didn’t want to wait around for hours for your zy ass to wake up at noon. Meet me at the table.” Gym Bro turned on his heels and strode out of the room. Josh rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to get his brain online.

  He let out a sigh. He would have liked to sleep in a bit more after all the hard work he’d done the past two days. He’d basically uprooted his entire life in the span of one week, so he deserved a chance to sleep in for once. However, a voice in Josh’s head reminded him how much Gym Bro helped him in this transitional phase of his life. Josh could grant him this one slight.

  Just this once.

  Josh met Gym Bro in the kitchen and sat down across from him at the table. Gym Bro had a ptop open in front of him, a multitude of pill bottles and open packaging, and a few sheets of paper scattered around. It was clear that he’d been setting things up and working on something while Josh was still sleeping. Josh checked the clock and saw it was only 7 AM.

  Josh started, “What’s all this?” Gym Bro slid a stack of papers over to Josh and tossed him a pen. He said, “sign on the highlighted lines. It’s our roommate agreement. It gives you legal protection saying that I won’t charge you rent for six months, I’ll buy groceries and food, and that you’re allowed to use my truck.” Josh gnced over the document. It had a lot of big confusing words he didn’t fully understand, but Gym Bro said it was for his protection, so Josh signed where Gym Bro told him to sign.

  Gym Bro slid him some more documents. “Next,” he said, “sign and initial on the pces I marked. This is our agreement saying I’ll invest money for you. The term says I’ll be your personal account manager instead of it going through the company I work for. But, of course, you can access your money any time you want by asking me.” Josh signed everything. He was so excited to have a financial expert making him money.

  “Great,” Gym Bro said, “I’m still working on the details for who will be in charge of what as roommates, but the basics are that I can handle paying for most things while you make sure the house is a nice pce to live in. Seem fair?”

  “Yeah, fair enough,” Josh replied. Gym Bro nodded his head. “Of course,” he said, “you don’t need to do all of the household chores. I’ll handle the garbage, we’ll take turns washing dishes depending on who cooked, and I’ll clean my bedroom and the spare room.”

  Josh said, “That reminds me. Would I be able to switch into the other bedroom since I’ll be living here?”

  “Hmm,” Gym Bro scratched his chin and thought about Josh’s question. “I don’t know. I use that room mainly to store a lot of things, so moving things around to make it a usable bedroom would be sort of difficult.”

  “I don’t mind,” Josh interjected, “I’ll have some free time anyways, so I can do everything while you’re at work.” Gym Bro nodded his head. He said, “I’ll think about it. Anyways, you’ll be a bit busy today no matter what. I’m going to lend you my truck so you can go grocery shopping for us.”

  Gym Bro stood up and grabbed a list from the refrigerator. He handed it to Josh. “Everything you need to buy is on here. I tried to make it very specific and clear so you wouldn’t need to interrupt me at work. The grocery store nearby will have everything.”

  Josh looked over the items. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary or unusual. He was also gd that he didn’t have to be the one who made the list. Gym Bro said, “Try to be back home by five so you have time to cook. I’ll be home around eight tonight.”

  Josh looked up concerned. “Cook?” he asked. Gym Bro replied, “Yeah, cook. At least until you find a job, I think it’s only fair that you’re in charge of making breakfast and dinner for us during the week. Obviously I’ll handle things on the weekend.”

  “It’s just that, well, I’ve never been that good at cooking.” Truthfully, Josh knew he could cook decently well thanks to the lessons and encouragement he’d received from Alice. But he also knew cooking took time. Time that could be spent sleeping.

  Gym Bro leaned down and pced his hands on Josh’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. Josh felt shivers run across his body. Gym Bro said, “I have faith in you. I bet you’re a natural cook.” That settled it. Josh was going to make the best meals anyone had ever eaten in the history of eating.

  “You can count on me,” he said. Gym Bro nodded and stood back up. Josh felt sad to have the subtle weight of Gym Bro’s grip release from his shoulders. Gym Bro said, “I went ahead and made breakfast again today, but tomorrow, it’s your turn. Let’s eat.”

  Josh returned to the pink room after breakfast and started searching through the boxes for some clothes to wear to the grocery store. However, the only box with clothes in it was the box of women’s clothing he intended to sell. There was no way he could wear the clothes from the past few days since they were basically drenched in sweat from all his efforts during the move.

  He leaned out the door and called out, “Hey, dude, where did you put the boxes with my clothes?”

  Gym Bro walked over and stepped inside the bedroom. He looked around and then pointed at the box. “All the clothes were in that box.” Josh walked back over and dug through the box again. All he saw were bras, panties, dresses, and skirts.

  “What about all my clothes? These are all women’s clothes.”

  Gym Bro shrugged. “Most of the clothes I found when we were packing up were ratted or torn, so I threw it all away except for the stuff you had saved in that box. I figured I’d take you out shopping tomorrow if you wanted more.”

  Josh stood up and started pacing around the room. This was bad. He didn’t have any clothes to go outside. It was great that Gym Bro already pnned to take him out to get more, but then how could he run the errand today?

  Josh said, “Can I borrow some of your clothes so I can go out? I’ll get the groceries and a few basic items like t-shirts and shorts before we go shopping.” Gym Bro went over to the box and started digging around.

  “What’s the big deal with wearing this stuff? It fits, right?”

  “I mean, yeah, it probably fits, but,”

  Gym Bro interrupted. “If it fits then wear it. I’m only asking you to make a quick trip to the grocery store. If this is too difficult for you to manage, I’m not sure how our time together is going to go.”

  Josh felt himself panicking. “No, no, I can do this.” Josh looked at the box of women’s clothing. He said, “It seems risky though. These are clothes my Ex bought for me, so,”

  Gym Bro interrupted, “If she bought them for you then they’ll definitely fit.” He smiled and dug back through the box. He pulled out some underwear, a shirt, and a pair of jeans Josh hadn’t noticed before. “Here,” Gym Bro said as he handed Josh the selected items, “try these on.”

  Josh thought about it. The shirt was a pin red V-neck and the jeans were the same ones he’d worn to Universal. The underwear didn’t have any frills or ce on it. Maybe it would be fine. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll give it a try.”

  Josh and Gym Bro stood silently for a moment.

  Gym Bro said, “Well?” Josh’s eyes widened. “What?” Gym Bro slightly shook his head and gestured with his hands. “Try them on,” he said. Josh felt his heart skip a beat. “Go outside,” he said in a quiet voice. Gym Bro chuckled.

  “What?” he said, “are you nervous about being naked around me? I’m pretty sure you’ve seen me naked before and it wasn’t a big deal.” Memories of Gym Bro’s wonderful cock sprung into Josh’s mind. He felt like a part of him was teleported back to that time in the locker room.

  He thought to himself, “seeing Gym Bro naked was a very big deal.”

  He said aloud, “Just go out the door really fast.” He waved his hands and felt himself bushing. His nipples were tingling. Gym Bro continued to chuckle, but he walked away and made a big show of slowly shutting the door. Josh went to quickly lock the door to prevent any pranks, but noticed there wasn’t a way to do so.

  No matter, all he had to do was change really quickly. He turned his back to the door and quickly took off the pajamas he’d borrowed from the dresser in the room. He slid on the panties and the jeans first. Like before, the jeans managed to stretch around his legs and butt well.

  Next, he slid the shirt over his head. It fit comfortably and didn’t seem overly feminine thanks to the simple red color and ck of design or pattern. However, the material was very thin and soft; almost airy. Josh felt his nipples tingle as the fabric lightly brushed across it.

  Not to mention that the total ck of compression made his chest feel extra rge. The globes swayed, jiggled, and bounced with even the slightest movements which caused the fabric to rub over his overly sensitive nipples. Josh slid the shirt back over his head. “You ready?” he heard Gym Bro ask through the door. Josh csped the shirt to his body to cover his chest and spun around. Thankfully, the door was still closed. “No!” he said, “wait a second. I need to put a bra on.”

  Josh paused.

  He went back to the box and saw a couple of sports bras. “If we wear those, they’ll show through the V-neck of the shirt,” a voice in his head pointed out. Josh felt like he’d been trying to put an outfit on forever. He was holding Gym Bro up from going to work. He seemed incompetent. He didn’t have time to search through all the clothes in the house to find a good option.

  He grabbed one of the regur bras and quickly put it on. He slid the shirt back over his head and tried to look at himself. For the first time in a long time, he wished there was a mirror nearby so he could get a good look at himself.

  He timidly opened the door and presented himself to Gym Bro. “Um,” he said quietly, “How do I look?” Gym Bro answered quickly, “You look great.” He cleared his throat. “I mean,” he continued, “I don’t think anyone will think you’re a guy. Especially if you can talk like you did a few days ago.”

  Josh wasn’t sure how to feel. Hearing that Gym Bro liked the way he looked felt really nice, but it also seemed like he was saying Josh looked like a woman. He asked, “Why wouldn’t anyone think I’m a man?”

  Gym Bro gestured down with his eyes. Josh looked down and looked at his cleavage. “Oh,” Josh said. He took a few steps back and tried to expin. “I’m not doing this on purpose. I swear I’m a man. It’s just, the gynecomastia, and I had to put this bra on because the shirt felt weird. And I’ll get normal clothes ter, I promise. Plus there’s no mirror in here, so I can’t even see what I look like, so it’s not like I did this on purpose.”

  Gym Bro stepped forward and put his hand on Josh’s shoulder. That felt nice. “It’s fine,” Gym Bro said, “I understand.” Josh felt his breathing slow down. Gym Bro continued, “Look, you’ve been through a lot already and it’s going to take some time until you feel normal again. But the best way to get through tough times is to keep moving forward.”

  Josh tried to take some deep breaths. It didn’t work. “But,” he said, “what about my face?” He started rubbing his hands across his chin and neck. He actually couldn’t feel any stubble growing yet, but he was certain his super masculine face was way too obvious.

  Gym Bro replied. “Your face looks fine. I mean, women usually have at least a little makeup on even when they go out for errands.” Josh let out a snort. “Me? With makeup? Can you even imagine?” Gym Bro leaned down and stared intensely at Josh’s face. “Yeah,” he said, “I think it would work.”

  Josh felt his face growing red. Gym Bro chuckled and said, “Or maybe you can just try to keep your face like that.” Josh’s body shook. He couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Part of him wanted to hide and another part wanted Gym Bro to keep saying nice things about his face.

  “Well,”” he said in a quiet voice, “if you think it’s okay.”

  “Of course it’s okay. Besides,” Gym Bro said, “If anybody gives you shit, I’ll kick their ass.” The two of them ughed together. It did ease Josh’s nerves knowing he had a big guy on his side that could protect him though. Josh resolved himself to make things work. “Okay,” Josh said, “I can do this. Besides, it’s only this one time, right?”

  “Exactly.” Gym scratched his chin and cocked his head. “You need a name though. You can’t go around calling yourself ‘Josh’ if you’re ciming to be a woman.” Josh felt a twinge in his mind. He said, “Definitely, but anything except Jen. It’s what my Ex called me as a nickname.”

  “Understood,” Gym Bro replied, “it’s a shame though. Jen is a really cute name.” Josh’s heart fluttered. Maybe he could go by Jen again. Besides, he vaguely felt like being Jen was a good thing. But also a bad thing? Going by that name almost felt like being a different person.

  Gym Bro interrupted Josh’s thoughts. “I’ve got it,” he said, “Wilma!”

  “No way.”

  “Velma.”

  “Like in Scooby Doo? Pass.”

  “Lily?”

  “That feels too feminine.”

  “Well, I don’t know. I’ve never named anyone before.”

  The two of them stood quietly and thought about things. Josh said, “Maybe Katie?” Gym Bro shook his head. “No way I can call you that. Katie is the name of one of my exes. She was totally crazy in the bedroom but also in life.” Josh had an image of a crazy, blonde-haired, party girl dancing with Gym Bro in a club. For some reason he felt angry thinking about this woman he didn’t know.

  Gym Bro snapped his fingers. “Zoey.”

  “Zoey?” Josh repeated.

  Gym Bro nodded his head with confidence. “Yep, Zoey. Z-O-E. It’s short, it’s sweet,” he paused and winked at Josh, “Just like you.” A part of Josh’s mind lit up. Gym Bro continued, “It’s also distinctly a girl’s name, but it has a sort of coolness to it. You know?” Josh nodded his head. A part of him felt comfortable enough with the name and didn’t want to risk disappointing Gym Bro by turning down another option.

  “Then it’s decided.” Gym Bro took a quick look at his phone. “I’m going to head out. Text me if you have a serious problem or if the card doesn’t work. The truck is easy enough to drive, so you shouldn’t have any problems. Keep an eye on the tank in case you need to fill up.”

  Josh followed Gym Bro to the front door as he tried to sear all of Gym Bro’s st minute instructions into his brain. Gym Bro continued, “If you can’t find something in the nearby grocery store, there’s another one only a few miles past it, so check there. And remember, if anybody gives you shit for being a woman, you call me.”

  Josh’s mind twinged at the wording of the st sentence, but knew what Gym Bro meant by it. Gym Bro finished putting his shoes on and stepped out the door. “Okay, I’ll see you ter,” he paused and winked at Josh again, “Zoe.” He closed the door and locked it behind him.

  Josh took a deep breath in and out. “Zoe,” he said aloud to himself. “We can work with that.”

  ———————————

  The moment they stepped into the grocery store, he could feel people’s eyes following them. It even felt like the security guards were intentionally following them on the cameras. He tried to calm their breathing as he grabbed the cart.

  “Keep calm. I’m a normal woman, like most of you,” he told himself.

  He kept their head down and hunched their back. Then he stood up with their chest out. He wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Is it better to make sure people can sees our breasts or to hide them so nobody notices us?” he thought to himself.

  No answer.

  He pulled out the list from Gym Bro and started looking around for where to start. The grocery store was fairly rge and didn’t seem too crowded. He also noticed that there was a self checkout ne.

  “Maybe we can get through this without needing to talk,” he thought.

  He set off into the store.

  “I’m Zoe. A normal woman named Zoe. Look at my tits and not my ugly face please. I have long hair, so I must be a woman, right? I’m Zoe. I’m Zoe. Just ignore little ole Zoe.”

  He was making good progress with the items. Already halfway done.

  “Ho hum, just a normal woman shopping for groceries. Like normal. Ho hum.”

  He paused in the cereal aisle to search for the specific whole grain grano mix Gym Bro specified on the list. He knew they weren’t used to eating this kind of cereal, but how bad could it be? Maybe he could get a separate box of the normal Sugar Fkes they liked. But then Gym Bro might be mad about them getting something that wasn’t on the list. They couldn’t afford to make Gym Bro mad.

  He felt their hair stand on end. He gnced to the right and saw a young man standing nearby. He seemed to be looking for cereal as well.

  “Please ignore me. I’m just Zoe. Looking for cereal.”

  The man got closer. For a split second, it felt like he took a look at them.

  “Don’t talk to me. There’s no need," he thought.

  “Excuse me?” the man said.

  Josh snapped his head towards the direction of the voice. “I’m Zoe!” he practically screamed. The man moved his head back in surprise. Josh cleared his throat. “Sorry. I mean, I’m Zoe. That’s my name.” He fshed a smile.

  “Oh,” the man said, “I’m Devon.” He stuck his hand out and then quickly withdrew it. “Sorry, not sure why I did that.” Devon ughed nervously. Josh kept smiling and nodded their head. Devon continued, “I’m sorry,” he paused. “Sorry, I don’t know why I keep apologizing.”

  Josh took the opportunity to take a closer look at Devon. He was a tall, nky young man with short bck hair. He had gsses on, so he probably couldn’t see them too clearly. Maybe they could point that out if he ever tried to accuse them in court.

  “Your honor, look at his eyes, how can we trust that the pervert he saw was really me?”

  Devon’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Anyways, what I’m saying is, well, I don’t usually do this. Actually, I’ve never done this before. And if I’m bothering you, then you can totally just tell me to leave and I won’t cause you any more trouble.”

  Josh kept smiling. Smiling made people happy. Keep people happy and they don’t call the cops. Nobody gets in trouble. They could finish their shopping and get back home. Well, Gym Bro’s home. Which is also their home now. Sort of.

  Devon continued, “Look, what I’m trying to say is,” he took a deep breath and looked directly into their eyes, “I think you’re really pretty and I was hoping I could get your number.”

  “That’s unexpected,” he thought. “He’s kind of cute,” he felt himself think.

  Josh had to agree. Devon didn’t have the same kind of sculpted physique Gym Bro had, but he had clean teeth, nice hair, good skin. He took a closer look at Devon.

  “Yeah, he’s cute in a nerdy kind of way,” he thought.

  “Why?” he felt himself ask.

  “We need to do the voice!” he urged.

  Josh cleared their throat again. “Sorry,” he said, “but I’m a little surprised. What do you want my number for?”

  Devon grinned nervously. “I don’t know,” he said, “maybe we could talk. Get to know each other a little. Do you py any video games?”

  “Of course. Who doesn’t love video games?”

  “Yeah, totally. They’re so much fun. My favorite game is Minecraft. Do you py?”

  Josh felt himself ugh internally. Minecraft was a game for children, so they’d never pyed it before. This was good news though; if Devon was into children’s games, then he likely wasn’t a threat. Still, it would be best if they continued to py nice.

  “No, I’ve never pyed that before. I like racing games, first person shooters, fighting games, you know, that kind of stuff.” Devon seemed to rex his body. “Really?” he said, “I never would have guessed.” Devon chuckled. “Goes to show that you can’t always judge a person based on what they look like.”

  “He has no idea,” Josh thought to himself.

  Devon rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, look,” he said, “you don’t have to give me your number or anything. I’m gd we got to talk a little. I’ll leave you alone now.” Devon turned and started to walk back the way he came.

  “Finally. This loser is leaving me alone,” Josh thought.

  Yet, a part of him wasn’t happy about that. Actually, a lot of Josh felt kind of bad about it. And about calling Devon a loser even if he was the only one who knew it happened. Sure, Devon wasn’t the coolest or hottest guy they’ve ever met, but he was nice enough. Plus, he could empathize with the courage it took to approach a woman in public.

  “Hey,” Josh found himself speaking before he knew what was happening. Devon instantly turned back around and said, “Yes?”

  Josh felt more words flow out of his mouth. “I’m not done shopping yet, and I wouldn’t mind some help getting some of the items. Maybe we could chat while I shop.”

  Devon’s eyes lit up. In two big strides, he made his way back over. “Yeah! I can totally help you with that,” he said excitedly. He took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer voice. “Also, if you ever want me to leave, I totally understand. I will walk right out this store and you don’t need to worry about hearing from me ever again.”

  Josh chuckled to himself. It was so clear how nervous Devon was. He wasn’t sure why he was bothering to be nervous about the guy in the first pce. A simple conversation would be no problem at all.

  “Dude,” Josh said, “rex.” He gave Devon a light punch on the arm to emphasize his point.

  A thought ran through Josh’s mind. “Wait, that’s not very dy-like. What do women do to calm men down?”

  He tried giggling. Devon smiled, so it must have worked. Josh continued, “help me find this cereal.” He showed Devon the list. Devon widened his eyes and started speed walking down the aisle while scanning the shelves.

  “Huh, that’s quite a response,” Josh noted.

  Within seconds, Devon returned with the correct cereal. “Here you go,” he said enthusiastically, “What’s next?”

  The rest of the shopping went by in a breeze. All he had to do was give Devon an assignment and he would track down the item they needed in no time at all. In between, the two of them talked about some of their hobbies, the games they pyed, and their jobs.

  It turned out Devon worked at a pizza restaurant; thankfully a different one from where Josh used to work, so they were able to ugh and bond over their shared experiences. Also, even though Devon was definitely a huge nerd, it was nice to listen to him be excited about obscure anime and comics. It sort of reminded them of listening to Alice.

  After checking out, he decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to give Devon their number anyways.

  “Z-o-e, Zoe.”

  “Awesome,” Devon said. He smiled at them. “I will definitely text you ter, okay? Maybe we can try pying Minecraft together sometime. Or, if you let me know in advance, I’ll get you a free pizza from work.”

  “Really? That’s very sweet of you.”

  The voice in Josh’s mind said, “Sweet, yeah, that’s something women say.”

  Devon said, “Anyways, um,” he stood there awkwardly. To be fair, Josh wasn’t quite sure how to end the interaction either. He did a quick little wave and smiled at Devon. “Yeah, bye!” he said. He turned and pushed the cart towards Gym Bro’s truck.

  “What a nice guy,” he thought to himself.

  ——————————————

  Josh woke up early the next morning and got to work making breakfast. He wasn’t sure where the time went yesterday, but he hadn’t done undry yet, so he was still stuck with either borrowing pajamas from Gym Bro’s Ex or wearing the clothing from Alice.

  Somehow, he’d also totally forgotten to stop at a store after grocery shopping to get some basic men’s clothing. He paused as he waited for the pancakes to cook on one side. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember much after getting to the grocery store.

  No, that wasn’t quite right. He could remember shopping, meeting Devon, driving back home, taking an hour to figure out the best pce to put everything, and looking up a pasta dish to make for dinner. Yet, it almost felt like he was watching a movie when he thought about things. Obviously he did all those things, but he it was like he didn’t remember wanting to do any of it.

  He couldn’t let his forgetfulness distract him or depress him though. Gym Bro was going to take him shopping today. He felt a part of himself questioning how weird it was going to be go out dressed as Zoe to buy men’s clothing. Josh chose to ignore that. Nobody gave women crap for buying men’s clothing. It was a total double standard if you really thought about it.

  Josh finished setting the table by the time Gym Bro came out of his room.

  “Hey, this looks good,” Gym Bro said, “I told you you could handle cooking.” He smiled at Josh as they sat down to eat. Josh felt warmness flowing through him. Because he was recently standing over a hot stove. Probably.

  “So,” Josh said, “I was thinking we could go to a basic department store today. Or, if you know any good thrift stores, I can go there. I don’t want to spend too much money after all.” Gym Bro set down his fork. Josh felt the mood of the room drop.

  Gym Bro said, “I totally forgot to tell you, I can’t take you out shopping today.” Josh let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, is that it?” he said, “I thought you were about to say you’d changed your mind and I needed to move out by tomorrow or something like that.” Josh ughed nervously.

  “Why did I say that out loud?” he thought to himself.

  Gym Bro smirked. “Of course not. I told you, I like having you here.” He picked up his fork and stabbed it into the pancake again to lift it into the air. He continued, “And if you keep cooking like this, I might never let you leave.” They both ughed.

  Gym Bro continued, “No, I found out yesterday that I have to go visit a client.” Josh replied, “Oh, okay, that’s fine. I can go shopping by myself I think.” He grinned to himself. He hadn’t told Gym Bro about his interaction with Devon…for some reason. He was feeling more confident in his ability to fool people into thinking he was a real woman when out in public.

  “About that,” Gym Bro said, “I need you to stay at the house to sign for a delivery.”

  “Not that confident,” Josh thought to himself.

  “Oh?” he said nervously, “So I can go after it shows up then.” Gym Bro cocked his head. “Probably not. Thing is, the client I’m going to meet is out in the country somewhere, so I don’t want to risk getting my sports car stuck in some mud.” He smiled at Josh. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.”

  Josh’s heart skipped a beat. Gym Bro continued, “First of all, the delivery is actually for you. I ordered it express yesterday. Second of all, I’m going to treat you to some quality shopping this weekend to make up for the dey.” Josh’s heart sank.

  “This weekend?” he asked. Gym Bro replied, “Yeah, we could go to the mall. Maybe catch a movie afterwards. Is that a problem?” Josh shook their head. “No, no, not a problem at all,” he said, “I’m really grateful.” Gym Bro smiled. “Good,” he said.

  “It’s just,” Josh said, “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable talking to a delivery guy. Like, I can try to wash my guy clothes before they get here, but then,” Gym Bro interrupted, “Don’t worry about that. Wear the clothes you already have. I put the delivery under the name Zoe anyways.”

  Josh blinked in stunned silence.

  “Huh?”

  Gym Bro shrugged his shoulders. “The delivery is for some furniture and some other stuff. They people will have to bring it into your room, and I figured you wouldn’t want strangers knowing you as ‘Josh’ before bringing it into your pink room. Better to make it clear you’re a woman named Zoe, right?”

  Josh thought about it. It sort of made sense.

  Gym Bro continued, “So put on a dress or something and be Zoe again. It shouldn’t take long for them to do the delivery. You sign your name, they put the stuff in the house, and then you never see them again. Easy.”

  “Okay,” Josh felt himself say.

  They finished their meal in silence before Gym Bro headed off for work. Josh saw him out the door and then returned to the bedroom to stare at the box of women’s clothes.

  “Should we wear something extra feminine this time?” he thought to himself.

  They turned to the closet with Gym Bro’s Ex’s clothing. Wearing something like that would definitely scream “woman” to anybody who saw them wearing it. The closet was filled with pastel colors, frills, and ces. He ran their hands through the different dresses, bodysuits, and tops.

  Something was eating at his insides. He couldn’t shake the bad feeling that something terrible would happen if he wore something from the closet. He decided to dump the box of clothes from Alice onto the bed to get a better look at everything. The options seemed way more reasonable. The clothing was obviously for a woman, but nothing was super frilly.

  After holding a few options against his body, he decided they should wear an airy blouse tucked into a skirt that fred out. It was definitely girly, but he could tell part of him also felt really cute.

  “Weird,” he thought to himself, “we can’t even see what we look like.”

  He warmed up some left over pasta for lunch and lounged on the couch flipping through streaming services for over an hour without ever picking something to watch.

  “I guess I never got to pick what we watched before,” he thought to himself.

  He paused for a moment.

  Things were weird tely. For what felt like the first time, he felt like he was really in control of moving himself around. Before, it always felt like he was behind the scenes; shouting at a screen. He moved his arm around and stared at it. This was definitely weird. He could actually feel his arm. Which, obviously he could always feel his arm.

  At least, he must have always been able to feel his arm. Who couldn’t feel their own arm? Yet, this time felt distinctly different. He stood up from the couch and moved more limbs. He noticed the clothes on his body and had the thought that they should change into something else.

  He moved from the couch and went to the undry room. Unfortunately, all he could find were some of Gym Bro’s old clothes and all the sports bras he’d worn the st several days; all freshly washed.

  After tossing the sports bras onto the bed, he searched for another thirty minutes around the spaces he had access to, but never found the few male clothes he’d worn during the move. It didn’t really matter. They didn’t need to go anywhere important the next few days, and he could take over for the shopping trip to get some proper clothes this weekend.

  “Honestly, wearing women’s clothing isn’t all that bad,” he thought to himself.

  *DING DONG*

  He quickly ran over to the door and shook his body loose.

  “Be Zoe. Be Zoe. Be Zoe.”

  He opened the door and was surprised to see two beautiful women standing at there.

  “Hello, is there a ‘Zoe’ here?” the woman on the right asked. “Yeah, I’m Zoe,” he replied. The woman smiled and nodded her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am!”

  “Oh thank goodness,” he thought to himself, “I wasn’t sure if the voice would fool an actual woman.”

  The dy at the door continued, “We’re from Bechdel Delivery. I’m Piper and this is Leona.” The other woman nodded her head and said, “Nice to meet you Zoe.” Piper continued, “We’ve got a few items for you that you ordered express delivery.”

  “Yeah, my…roommate mentioned you needed to bring them inside?”

  Piper nodded her head. “Absolutely! Can we take a quick look inside to pn out our route? Some of the items are pretty heavy.”

  “Oh, um, yeah,” he said. He moved out of the way so the women could take a look around. Leona spoke again, “Which room is your room? One of the pieces of furniture needs to go in there.”

  “Oh, this one,” he said as he walked over to the door to the bedroom. Piper walked forward, so he quickly backed out of the way.

  “Can’t let them get too close and figure out what’s wrong,” he thought to himself.

  Piper stepped into the pink bedroom and looked around. “I like your decor,” she said, “It’s very cute.” He nodded their head nervously. He felt like his throat was tightening up. Piper strode back out of the room. He followed behind her.

  “Is my skirt riding up? Is it too short? Too long? Does my outfit go together?”

  Piper’s voice cut into his thoughts, “Alrighty! Let’s get your stuff off the truck and into your home.” She and Leona walked back outside. As they were leaving, he felt a thought form in his mind.

  He needed to keep the women from figuring out he was only pretending to be Zoe, so keeping quiet and out of the way would help with that. At the same time, this was the perfect opportunity to get some up-close observations of how women moved around and spoke in case he needed to use the Zoe disguise again.

  He tip-toed to the front door and held it open as he tried to listen in to Piper and Leona talking to each other.

  “Careful, careful.”

  “You got it?”

  “Ugh, yeah, I got it.”

  “Coming down.”

  “Here we go. Watch out ma’am. We’re coming to the door.”

  “Don’t forget there’s a step at the door. A little closer, okay, step up.”

  “Got it.”

  “To your right, a little more.”

  “Easy, easy. Your hands clear?”

  “All good.”

  The two women stood up and took a deep breath.

  Leona said, “I don’t know about you, but that feels way heavier than seventy pounds.” Piper nodded her head. “Maybe there’s more stuff in the box.” They turned to leave back through the door. Leona replied, “But why wouldn’t they include that in the total weight? It’s all one box.” Piper shrugged her shoulders as they got closer to the truck.

  She jumped up into the back to get the next item. She pushed another rge cardboard box to the edge. “You ready for this one?” she asked Leona. “Ready.”

  “Here we go.”

  “I got the edge.”

  “A little more.”

  “Got it, this feels way easier.”

  “Okay, I’ve got the edge, pull.”

  The two women pulled the box off the ledge and held it in their arms with Leona’s back facing the house once again. “Let’s move,” Piper said, “don’t forget about the step.” Leona replied, “Yeah, I know.” They easily navigated into the house again and made their way to the pink bedroom.

  “Where should we put it?” Leona asked. She turned her head around to try and see if there was a good pce. Piper replied, “Just put it down here, we’ll take it out of the box and put it against that bare wall.” They, once again, took a deep breath after setting the box down.

  “Where do you want to start?” Leona asked. Piper put her hands on her hips and looked between the two boxes before pointing at the one in front of her. “I think this will go faster since it’s already put-together.” Leona nodded her head and pulled out a small tool from her back pocket and used it to cut the tape holding the box shut.

  “Go ahead and cut the edges too. That will make it easier to lift,” Piper said. Leona replied, “Good point.” They pulled the edges of the box apart and then carried the piece of furniture to pce it against the wall opposite from the bed. “Where’s the mirror?” Piper asked.

  The two women looked around for a bit. Leona squatted down to look through the paper wrapping still left in the box. “Wait,” Piper said, “found it.” She opened the long drawer in the center of what looked like a fancy wooden desk. She pulled out a mirror and attached it to the top of the desk. “Perfect fit.”

  Leona asked, “Is there a way to lock it in pce?” Piper replied, “Sort of. There are slots and then you push the mirror to one side to lock it in the slots.”

  “Simple, I love it.”

  Leona returned to the living room and started cutting open the other box while Piper collected all the remains and carried them to the truck. Leona already had the other item out and on the floor by the time Piper returned. Piper squatted down and sifted through the loose packing paper left behind.

  “There’s no other parts? Why did this feel so much heavier than the vanity?”

  Leona put her fists on her hips and shook her head slowly. Her tight bun didn’t allow a single hair to swish around. “I think it was the weird shape. Everything was all off bance, you know?” Piper made a soft noise in response. She gathered all the cardboard garbage and carried it to the truck.

  Leona walked back over to Josh. “Okay Zoe,” she said, “that’s one exercise bike and one vanity, delivered, unpacked, and ready for use. If you find any problems in the first week, then give us a call and we’ll get the item repced for you within two days at no extra charge.”

  She patted her pockets on her pants. “I need your,” she paused. Leona walked towards the door and called out to Piper, “is the signing sheet in there?” Piper lightly jogged back to the house with a clipboard in one hand and some sort of seat in the other.

  “We almost forgot the chair!” Piper said in an elevated voice. Leona took the chair and walked back into the house.

  Piper turned the clipboard towards them. “Sign at the bottom to confirm you received the items and all the garbage was removed from your home.” He grabbed the pen and started to sign ‘Joshua Newberry” before remembering that they were supposed to be ‘Zoe’ right now. It was easy enough to change the ‘J’ to a ‘Z’, but he got stuck on what to write for their st name.

  Piper spoke up, “Last name too sweetie.” This was bad. They didn’t have a st name. Or, Zoe didn’t have a st name. What name did Gym Bro use for the delivery? They probably had to match. He quickly scanned the document and found the name written at the top: Zoe Tucker.

  He finished signing the document, awkwardly and silently waved goodbye to the women as they left, and then colpsed on the couch as he waited for their heart to slow down.

  Before they had a chance to calm down, he realized they should text Gym Bro and let him know the delivery was fine, so he wouldn’t be worried during his important client meeting. They also needed to cook dinner tonight. He tensed their body and stood up from the couch.

  “We can’t mess this up,” he told himself.

  ————————————————————

  Josh barely heard Gym Bro enter through the front door over the sound of the cars racing in game. He felt an urge to jump up and rush to the door to greet Gym Bro. Thankfully, he’d changed into his normal double sports bra combo, so his chest looked much smaller and jiggled way less. It did feel a little difficult to breathe, but that was probably because he was a bit out of shape.

  “Welcome back,” Josh said. Gym Bro looked at him and smiled for a short moment before looking confused. “What happened to your other outfit?” he asked. Josh replied, “My other outfit?”

  “Yeah, when you sent me the photos earlier, I saw your cool dress or whatever in the mirror.” Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to look for the image in question. Gym Bro continued, “And are you wearing my sweat pants?”

  Josh paused what he was doing. “Yeah, sorry,” Josh heard himself say, “I was looking for something a bit loose and comfy, but I couldn’t find my other clothes. I thought maybe these were a pair of my sweat pants, but then, obviously they didn’t fit, but they were super comfy, so I was hoping you wouldn’t mind.”

  Josh questioned why he’d slipped into the softer voice almost on instinct.

  Gym Bro’s face softened. “I wish you’d asked me first is all. But it’s fine since it was a one time thing. Seriously though, you have that whole closet and all the clothes from your house that you can wear no questions asked.” Josh felt himself smile. Gym Bro smiled back.

  “Anyways,” Gym Bro continued, “How do you like your new gifts?” Josh was a bit shocked. “Gifts?” Gym Bro gestured towards the new exercise bike sitting in the living room and towards the pink bedroom. “You need to keep working out, but don’t want to go to the gym, right?” Josh nodded his head. “Yeah…” he said.

  Gym Bro got more excited and strode over to the room. He flung open the door and gestured at the desk with the mirror. “Plus, you were compining about not being able to check your appearance and maybe wanting to try makeup, so I got you this.”

  “Makeup?” Josh asked.

  “Oh right, wait here.” Gym Bro dashed past Josh out of the room and back to the truck. Josh slowly stepped towards the mirror desk and looked it over. Gym Bro returned with a big bag and a small bag. He put both on the bed before taking a bunch of boxes out of the small bag and putting them on top of the desk.

  “The dy at the store was super helpful. She said it would be better if you came into the store so they could color match you properly or something like that. But they gave me this stuff which is supposed to be good for keeping your face clean, some mascara, eye stuff, two nail polishes, and,” Gym Bro paused for a second. “Actually, I’m not sure what the rest of this stuff is,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess you’ll have to figure it out.”

  Josh numbly picked up the different boxes and vaguely stared at the letters without really reading anything. Gym Bro startled him by speaking again, “Oh!” He turned back to the bed and pulled out some clothes from the bag. He said, “I know I said we’d go shopping this weekend, but I figured I could get you some workout clothes right now.”

  Josh took a closer look at the clothes. They didn’t look like his usual gym shorts and compression top combo. The colors were also a little off with light greens, blues, and a few pink items. He was aware of Gym Bro standing proudly to the side as they sifted through the bag.

  He felt increasingly uncomfortable as it became increasingly clear that the workout clothes Gym Bro bought for him were all from the women’s section. “Um,” he started to say.

  Gym Bro interrupted, “I know, I know. It seems like a lot, but I know you want to get started getting in shape as soon as possible. I’m almost done creating a solid workout pn for you. I was thinking about things while I was driving today, but I still need to write everything down. Maybe I’ll be done by tomorrow.”

  Josh didn’t know what to say. He tried to smile, but his face wasn’t doing what he wanted it to. He knew he should try to project happiness, but he felt frozen and cold. He did notice Gym Bro’s mood begin to drop as he picked up on the signals Josh was failing to hide.

  “You don’t like the gifts,” Gym Bro said with a frown.

  Suddenly, Josh felt an energy surge into him. “No!” he said in the weird girly voice, “I’m really grateful. But,” he felt himself thinking, “but, I’m not sure how I’m going to pay you back for everything. This had to cost a lot of money.” Gym Bro smiled again.

  “Thank goodness,” Josh felt himself think.

  Gym Bro said, “These are gifts, so don’t worry about paying me back this time.” He pulled Josh’s body into a big hug. After separating, Gym Bro held Josh at arm’s length by the shoulders and leaned down to be face to face. He said, “Let’s eat, yeah?” He strode out of the room and into the kitchen.

  Josh tried to get his mind in order. Gym Bro’s hug felt so nice, and he really liked staring into his eyes. But then all the gifts were horrible evil things. But he’d already said he liked them, for some reason, so he couldn’t suddenly tell Gym Bro the truth.

  “We saw what the truth got us st time,” he heard himself think. Visions of Alice fshed through their mind.

  Josh shook his head and looked back at the weird makeup table, the women’s gym clothes, and the rest of the pink room. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt himself walk over to the door and call out to Gym Bro, “One second, I need to change.” Josh watched himself strip out of his clothes and grab a body suit from the closet and a pair of the tiny pajama shorts.

  His body went into the kitchen where Gym Bro was already sitting down with the food Josh cooked earlier. Gym Bro’s eyes lit up when he saw Josh. “Hey, now that’s how you look comfortable and cute at the same time.” Josh felt himself blush at being called cute. And also terrible. He didn’t even know why he was wearing this girly, sissy outfit.

  Still, he sat down at the table and ate peacefully with Gym Bro.