Josh was able to mostly forget the embarrassment of the beach and the tournament over the week. He put his energy into his workouts, extra long showers, and a few extra long sessions with his toys while Gym Bro was out of the house. He was a little sad he wasn’t able to take another soothing bubble bath and that Gym Bro didn’t give him a nice massage on Friday.

  Gym Bro seemed a bit distracted all week. He’d confirmed with Josh on Monday that he got tickets for the afternoon game on Saturday, but he’d been mostly quiet outside of asking Josh to bring in some packages that were delivered. Gym Bro would get home, they’d chat a little over dinner, and then Gym Bro would lock himself away in his room.

  They did spend time together Friday night watching a movie, and Josh got verbal confirmation that they were still going to the game the next day, so he assumed everything was fine.

  On Saturday morning, even though he didn’t need to, Josh cooked a nice healthy breakfast inspired from one of his past meals on the schedule. Gym Bro was sleeping in, so Josh ate alone before jumping into the shower. He thought he heard the sound of a woman giggling coming from Gym Bro’s room when leaving the bathroom, but that was a ridiculous idea. Despite being an objectively attractive man, Gym Bro never had women over.

  Josh sat down at his desk and finished with his hair care routine. He preferred to do the st steps of his body care ritual inside his room since the steam buildup from his long, hot showers tended to make it difficult for the oil and creams to soak into his skin quickly.

  By the time he was done brushing his hair, Josh was perfectly dry, so he selected a bra to wear and slid some panties on. Next he sifted through his closet to find a respectable, casual shirt to wear. He grabbed the trusty pair of jeans off the floor and squeezed himself into them. He’d been following his meal pn and exercise regimen to the letter, and Josh felt like some of the clothes were starting to fit a bit tighter than usual. Which was a good thing. Probably.

  He contorted himself around to try and get a good look at himself in the small mirror sitting on his desk. He figured he looked feminine enough for a simple baseball game. This was his usual style of outfit for Zoe when he had to go out shopping or run other errands. He was always a bit nervous about his chin and facial hair even though he shaved every day and his skin looked and felt smooth enough.

  After turning his head a couple of times and rubbing his hands over his chin, Josh was satisfied with how today’s Zoe look turned out. Then he decided to put his hair into the pigtails again. It was something that added a bit of extra femininity after all and it required very little effort.

  Josh walked out into the main area and was happy to see Gym Bro in the kitchen making himself a protein shake. It was close to lunch time, but Josh already decided he was going to get food at the stadium. He smiled and said, “Hey dude, I’m ready to go whenever you are. I like getting to games early to breathe in the atmosphere.”

  Gym Bro turned around with a smile on his face. It immediately dropped when he saw Josh. “Oh,” he said, “that’s what you’re wearing?” Josh was confused. “What?” He looked down and started to look himself over for holes or weird stains. He hadn’t washed the jeans in a while, but he only wore them for a few hours once a week, so they looked perfectly clean. He looked back up at Gym Bro and asked, “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  Gym Bro scrunched one side of his face and tilted his head to the side. “Nothing, it’s fine. It’s just…” he trailed off. Josh replied, “It’s just, what?” Gym Bro scratched his chin. “Well, for one thing, I can see your bulge.” Josh immediately looked down.

  Gym Bro continued, “Also, I thought, especially given what happened st week, you were going to start putting more effort into looking like Zoe when we went out.” Josh looked back up and squinted. “Why would I want to look more like a woman than I have to?”

  “I mean, st week you went all out with the skirt, and the nice top, and makeup. Don’t get me wrong, I notice you changed your hair a little, but I thought you would do more.”

  Josh replied, “I only did all of that because I was going to be surrounded by a bunch of men staring at me. I couldn’t risk them seeing through my disguise.” Gym Bro’s voice elevated, “Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. I know you’re always nervous about people looking at you. Wouldn’t it make sense to make yourself look as much like a woman as possible whenever you go out?”

  Josh creased his forehead as he processed Gym Bro’s words. It was true, nobody at the party had questioned Zoe was a real woman. He took another look at his crotch, but it was hard to tell how obvious his bulge was. He said, “I guess I could wear a skirt or something to hide the bulge.” Gym Bro nodded his head. “Yeah, that should help.”

  Josh returned to the room and opened the closet. Most of the skirts were a bit too revealing for his taste. The skirts from Gym Bro’s Ex were all exceedingly short like the one he wore at the party. The ones from Alice were longer, but they all had giant slits up the side. Josh shook his head. What was even the point of a longer skirt if you were going to have an opening that came all the way up to your thigh anyways? Women’s clothing was so dumb.

  Josh decided his best bet was to wear one of the more casual dresses from the Alice selection of clothing. Josh picked out one that looked like a pin, short-sleeved shirt tucked into a flowy, long skirt. There was no zipper, but Josh was able to wiggle his way into it by sliding it over his head.

  He adjusted himself in the new outfit so that the shirt section sat snugly on his torso and the skirt section flowed neatly over his legs. The thought crossed his mind that it was weirdly pleasant feeling the soft fabric swish against his smooth skin. He started to walk out the door only to immediately step on the end of the skirt and almost fall on his face.

  That was a problem. He tried hiking only the skirt section up on his body, but it simply fell back down the moment he moved around. He needed to be taller. A spark went off in Josh’s mind. He carefully shuffled back to the closet and looked in the back. There; he found them.

  He shuffled back over to his desk and carefully applied the same lip stuff simir to how he did it st week. Then he slid his feet into the high heels from his st date with Alice. Josh felt a pang of sadness hit his chest. He paused for a moment and looked at himself in the mirror.

  Zoe looked pretty cute, but also a tad silly. Jen pulled Zoe’s hair out of the pigtails and let it flow neatly across their shoulders. That was better. He stood up and carefully walked out of the room to present himself to Gym Bro.

  Gym Bro smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said, “you look much better now.” Josh grinned. Sure, it was a bit weird to be happy about looking like a woman, but he reminded himself this was only temporary. “Thanks,” Josh said. Gym Bro held up a finger. “Voice,” he said, “Go ahead and get into the rhythm now. You’re lucky nobody caught it over the noise during the tournament, but I caught you slip up a bunch of times. Especially when you were excited.”

  Josh’s hand came up and covered his mouth. He hadn’t realized he’d been that close to outing himself. He focused on his throat and tried again. “Better?” he asked in the Zoe voice. Gym Bro nodded his head. “Try not to forget when you’re cheering, okay?” Josh nodded his head with conviction.

  Since it was a special occasion and they weren’t going anywhere dirty or muddy, Gym Bro decided to take the sports car. Josh loved the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair as they sped down the highway. He’d had a bit of trouble letting himself sort of fall into the lower seat of the car while in heels and a dress. Then he had to sort of awkwardly gather the skirt part into the car with him after sitting down. He made a mental note to gather the skirt before sitting down next time.

  Josh felt full of excitement and glee as they pulled up to the stadium. He hadn’t been to a professional game since he was a kid. The atmosphere was exactly how he remembered it. He saw all the fans with their team shirts, hats, and fgs. He could hear the excited mumbling from the thousands of people gathered together. He could even already smell the hot dogs.

  Gym Bro found a decent parking space and helped Josh get out of the car. Josh quickly realized why most of the women he saw were wearing tennis shoes and sandals instead of heels. Not only were they sort of difficult to walk in, but Josh’s feet started hurting by the time they made it to the gate.

  Josh knew better than to compin. After all, what kind of man makes a big fuss about his shoes hurting a little bit? Especially when there was no other option. And when that man needed to wear heels so his dress didn’t drag on the ground. Besides, Josh would be sitting for most of the game. He squashed his discomfort down and followed Gym Bro to their seats. Josh was eted to find out they were behind home pte.

  A spark in his mind reminded Josh to pull the skirt so that the extra fabric was in front of him before sitting down. Much better. He started scanning the stands and looking at all the different people who all gathered to celebrate the amazing sport of baseball. Gym Bro said, “I’m going to grab some drinks and snacks. You want anything?” Josh replied, “A coke and a hot dog please.” Gym Bro nodded and walked off.

  Josh was having such a great time already and they still had plenty of time before the game started. He pulled out the papers they handed everybody at the front gate. His eyes widened when he saw the name of the enemy team.

  “The Colorado Rockies?” he thought to himself, “but, then that means.” Josh searched through the roster list.

  “Oh,” he said aloud.

  He put the papers down and smiled to himself. This was fine. Everything was fine. He gnced at the pitcher’s mound. Yep, totally fine. He was only going to have to stare at the guy over and over again for the next three hours. Josh closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing.

  “There’s no way he’s going to see us,” Josh heard in his mind.

  Josh nodded his head. That was right. “And, even if he did,” Josh thought, “it’s not like he would recognize us now.”

  “Exactly,” the voice replied.

  Josh felt himself calm down. He opened his eyes and felt the atmosphere of the stadium flood back into his senses. Gym Bro came back and handed Josh some items before sitting down. “What did I miss?” he asked. Josh smirked. “Basically the whole game.” Gym Bro chuckled. “As if. I was already considering coming to one of the games this weekend. I love the Rockies.”

  Josh snapped his head to look at Gym Bro. He said, “You like the Rockies? But, you’re from Florida.” Gym Bro squinted his eyes and jerked his head back. “I’m from California.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, I grew up in California, did my undergraduate and Master’s in Colorado, and then moved to Florida for work. Have I really never mentioned that?”

  Josh turned his face forward. “I guess not,” he said. Gym Bro took a bite of his burger before continuing. “So yeah, I became a big fan of the Rockies during college. They never win, but you can’t always cheer for the winners, you know?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Plus, I’m super excited for this year. They got this new pitcher, Malcolm Young, and I think he’s going to help them get to the World Series again.”

  Josh’s eyes widened as far as they could go. His voice felt too small and too loud at the same time. “You know Malcolm?” Josh said. Gym Bro gave him a questioning look and replied, “Yeah. Do you know Malcolm?” Josh coughed. Gym Bro rubbed his back and asked, “You okay Zoe?” Josh nodded his head. He opened up his drink and took a swig. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He took a breath and then chugged more of his drink.

  Gym Bro observed Josh for a second before continuing. “Yeah, I know about Malcolm Young. He’s a rookie in the major leagues, but I think he has star potential, you know?” Josh quietly nodded his head. He listened to Gym Bro ramble about statistics and pyer picks while he tried focusing on eating his hot dog and quickly downing his soda.

  Instead, memories of his time being Malcolm’s best friend ran through his mind. They were ughing over milkshakes and fries. Then Josh was jumping and grabbing onto Malcolm during a scary movie. Then they were holding hands and walking along a ke in the park. Then they were pying catch after school. So many good memories and Josh couldn’t feel worse reliving them all knowing how it ended.

  Gym Bro was able to grab Josh two more drinks before the game finally started. Josh had to endure Gym Bro cheering and drawing attention to them when Malcolm was announced. Josh couldn’t help but follow the man across the field as he warmed up.

  Malcolm didn’t look too different from how Josh remembered him. He was a bit far away and didn’t have any binocurs, but he could tell Malcolm was bit more filled out than he was in high school.

  A voice in Josh’s head said, “No duh, it’s been over five years since we saw him. Of course he changed.”

  Josh tried not to be too obvious with his staring as py started. By the third inning, he was able to take his eyes off of his former best friend long enough to get back into the spirit of baseball. The game was intense with a zero-zero score by the end of the fifth inning. That’s when the real trouble started.

  Josh felt a pulling sensation in his gut that quickly spread to a building pressure in his groin. He tried to ignore it and focus on the game. Maybe he could hold it until they got home. The current batter was already at two strikes. Yeah, he could definitely hold it; the game was going fast.

  Foul ball. Foul ball. Foul ball. Ball. Ball. Foul ball.

  Josh was beginning to lose it. “You doing okay?” he heard Gym Bro ask. Josh squeezed a smile on his face and nodded his head. Gym Bro wasn’t convinced. “You know, if you need to use the bathroom, you should go now. Everybody rushes for it during the seventh inning stretch and you know how slow women are using the bathroom.”

  Josh shook his head slightly. He said in a hushed voice, “I can’t use the bathroom here dude. I can hold it.” Another foul ball. Gym Bro said, “What do you mean you can’t use the bathroom?” Josh gestured at himself with his eyes. “Uh duh,” he said.

  Gym Bro replied, “Yeah, duh. Use the women’s like the other women, Zoe.” He put emphasis on the st word. Josh suppressed another surge of pressure in his groin. It was getting bad. But, getting arrested for being a pervert would be even worse.

  Gym Bro continued, “You’re actually making yourself stand out more by not going at this point. And, if you go now, there will be less people in there.” Josh felt a little drop slip out. He tried closing his eyes and slipping into that deep focus mode to stave off his bodily functions. Something snapped into pce.

  Josh couldn’t go into the women’s restroom while he was pretending to be a woman. But, if he were actually a woman, then there would be no problem. It was just like Alice’s stupid hypothetical. He just needed to be Zoe. Josh opened his eyes.

  “Be Zoe. Be Zoe,” he repeated to himself in his mind.

  He stood up and carefully made his way to the stairs. “Be Zoe. Be Zoe.” He slipped and almost tripped over his dumb heels. “Be Zoe. Be Zoe. Be Zoe.” He navigated through people who were standing in pathway watching the game on the television monitors. Finally, he stood in front of the women’s restroom.

  “Be Zoe.”

  Josh walked through the entrance. He tensed his muscles and waited for an arm to go off or for the mom changing her kid’s diaper to gre at him. He expected to see a maze or some sort of women’s only design that would immediately confuse him and out him as a fake.

  But everything was fine.

  He tip toed towards one of the stalls and flinched at how much noise his heels made against the tiled floor. He subtly gnced around but nobody was looking at him. Sure enough, the bathroom was basically empty right now. Josh locked himself in a stall and took a deep breath. He’d made it this far.

  He faced the toilet bowl and saw his next challenge. How in the world did women pee in dresses? He knew women sat down to pee, but sitting down in a normal seat with the long skirt was hard enough. How was he supposed to pee with a skirt underneath him?

  He hiked up the skirt and gathered it into his arms. He had to be extra careful not to let any of the fabric slip out of his hands and nd in the toilet water. He carefully backed himself over the bowl while trying not to slip on the tile because of his heels. He lowered himself onto the bowl and then realized he still needed to take his underwear off.

  He stood back up and briefly panicked that somebody might be watching his feet and notice that he obviously had no clue what he was doing. He stood still for a few moments, but nothing happened. Josh kept his skirt tucked under one arm and used his other hand to wriggle the panties down below his knees.

  Josh slowly descended back onto the toilet seat. He used his left hand to tuck his penis so it was aimed down at the bowl. “Why do women go through all of this just to pee?” He wondered to himself.

  “Real women don’t have penises,” he heard in his mind.

  Josh shrugged. That was true, but he didn’t see how not being able to aim made sitting any easier. Wouldn’t their pee spray forward and possibly hit the door? Josh took a breath and, finally, let his pee out. After a couple of taps, he stood back up, stepped forward a little so he wouldn’t drop his skirt in the bowl, and pulled the panties back up.

  He straightened his dress out and stood proudly. Second challenge complete. “Okay,” he thought to himself, “Become Zoe again. Zoe, Zoe, Zoe.” Josh left the stall and tip toed over to the row of sinks to wash his hands. He briefly wondered if women washed their hands in a particur way. He click ccked out of the bathroom and stood proudly directly outside of the entrance.

  He gnced around but nobody seemed to be giving him any sort of special look. “I did it,” he thought to himself. He’d managed to radiate enough feminine energy to make it in and out of the bathroom even if he felt a little drained afterwards. Josh made his way back to his seat.

  He turned, grinned at Gym Bro, and waited for his praise. Gym Bro didn’t notice Josh staring, so Josh helped him out by nudging his arm a little. Gym Bro turned and said, “What? You okay?” Josh widened his eyes and tilted his head. Gym Bro furrowed his brow. “You hungry?” Josh sighed and returned to watching the game.

  It didn’t matter anyways. It wasn’t like they were some child who needed to be praised for every accomplishment. Josh grinned internally as he thought about his victory and took a swig of his drink with confidence.

  The game continued without much fanfare into the seventh inning stretch. Josh was gd that they put the words to the famous song on the rge screen so he could sing along. However, he quickly realized that while he had plenty of time practicing talking in Zoe’s voice, he had no clue how to sing with it. He switched to mouthing along with everyone else in hopes that nobody would notice his little slip.

  Josh considered using the remaining time in the break to grab something to eat. He was finally starting to feel hungry again. Just before he stood up, they started pying footage of the crowd on the big screen. Josh loved when they did this, so he sat back down.

  He watched some kids dance around like little idiots. One old couple had a sign saying they’d been coming to games for over twenty years. Then they put up the kiss cam. Josh wondered how the people in control of the camera were able to find people comfortable with kissing on screen.

  One after another, each couple gave a little smooch for the camera. Until it stopped on this one couple with a really handsome buff guy and some cute girl who didn’t seem to know what was going on. Josh watched the girl’s face change as he stared more intently at the screen.

  Then, he felt a hand caress his cheek and turn his head. He saw Gym Bro’s mouth approaching and reflexively closed his eyes. Their lips connected. Josh forgot everything in the moment. He ignored the rapturous appuse and cheers. He ignored the swelling pain in his chest. All he felt was a desire to keep kissing.

  However, Gym Bro broke the kiss and turned away. Josh blinked his eyes open and turned to see what Gym Bro was looking at. He finally recognized the face on the big screen. It was him. He saw the man sitting behind them reach forward and pat Gym Bro on the back. Gym Bro turned and did a cool, manly handshake with the stranger.

  Josh heard the crowd erupt in cheers and appuse once again. His eyes flicked to the screen to see that same old couple hugging and kissing. The atmosphere died down quickly as the game resumed. Josh leaned against Gym Bro and whispered, “Did you just kiss me? Why did you kiss me?”

  Gym Bro replied in a hushed voice, “It was the kiss cam. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” He leaned away from Josh and stared intently at the field. Josh straightened his posture for a moment. Then he shook his head rapidly. Don’t make a big deal out of it? They kissed! They were both guys! This was a very big deal.

  “And we need to figure out how to make it happen again!”

  No.

  He leaned over and whispered again, “But, we’re both guys. Don’t you feel weird?” Gym Bro leaned over and replied, “Do you really want to talk about this right now where people can overhear you?” Josh quickly turned his head and looked around. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be listening at the moment, but Gym Bro was right. This was a dangerous conversation to have in public.

  Josh straightened out once again and tried to focus on the game. Only to immediately lock his gaze on Malcolm again. As he stared at Malcolm and thought about his kiss with Gym Bro, memories of sneaking off under the bleachers and quiet moments sleeping in Malcolm’s bed…

  NO.

  Josh shut it out. There was a reason they didn’t go around kissing guys no matter how much fun

  NO.

  They didn’t kiss guys. Ever. Never did; never will. Even though Alice was sort of a guy and they’d loved kissing her. Except that didn’t count because they thought she was a woman. And this didn’t count either because they were sort of a woman right now. Except, no, they’re a man. A normal man.

  “Which means we’re gay.”

  No. We’re not gay. We are a normal, straight, man.

  “With boobs.”

  With a fbby chest.

  “In a dress.”

  Josh didn’t have a comeback for that one.

  The world came into focus for Zoe. She looked around to catch her bearings. They were at a baseball game. They felt slightly dizzy and fuzzy. Gym Bro was giving her a strange look. “You okay?” Gym Bro asked. Zoe reflexively smiled and nodded her head. Gym Bro shrugged and focused back on the game.

  Zoe tried to take inventory of her thoughts. She still had their purse, phone, wallet. They were fully dressed. She could feel something on her lips. Makeup. That’s right; they’d done makeup today. Because they wanted to look pretty and feminine. For the baseball game. They liked baseball. And they’d just kissed Gym Bro. Zoe’s fingers lightly grazed her lips.

  Oh.

  Well, this was fine. Gym Bro obviously wasn’t angry. They didn’t need to make a big deal out of things. And they were missing the game. Their hand fell back into their p and they looked back over the field. The teams had switched pces once again. It was the top of the ninth inning and the score was still tied with zero runs.

  Zoe gnced at Gym Bro and saw him smiling. Josh grinned internally. He knew a lot of people thought baseball was a sport where nothing happened and went too slowly. He was gd to be at the game with somebody who found the intricacies of the game as exciting as he did.

  It was the bottom of the ninth. The Ray’s failed to score which meant any run scored by the Rockies would win them the game. If the Ray’s managed to strike out three pyers, then they would go into overtime innings. Josh leaned forward in his seat as the first person came up to bat. Things were getting intense.

  Strike one. Josh felt a wave of relief go across the crowd. Except for Gym Bro who was obviously cheering for the Rockies to win. Strike two. Another wave of relief. Strike three. The crowd cheered and cpped. Gym Bro cursed.

  The next batter came up. He connected with the ball and the crowd collectively gasped. Only to all calm down as the ball flew out of bounds. Strike one. Then a ball. Another ball. The batter made connection again, but it flew out of bounds once more. Strike two.

  The Ray’s pitcher paused as the catcher came up to discuss strategy. Gym Bro spoke, “They’re going to change pitchers I bet. This guy has his number.” Josh nodded. “Either that or walk him.”

  “Voice.”

  Josh’s hand whipped across his mouth. He’d gotten so focused on the game he’d completely forgotten his situation. The pyers took their pces. The pitcher threw two more obvious balls to allow allow the batter to walk to first pce. Gym Bro cpped his hands together a few times. “Okay,” he said, “we can work with this.”

  One out and one man on base. Things were really tense. The next batter came up; Malcolm. Josh nodded his head in understanding. Pitchers were notoriously bad at batting; most teams used designated hitters. The Ray’s obviously thought that it would be easier to let the previous guy walk and strike Malcolm out to guarantee another out and put extra pressure on the next batter.

  The first pitch. Malcolm swung and made connection with the ball. It flew high in the air across the field. Josh felt himself rising out of his seat as the ball continued to fly up. Up. Up. No way. The crowd’s voice began to rise just as the ball finally started to fall.

  Josh saw the Ray’s outfielder running to meet up with the ball. It was flying right to the wall. The outfielder leapt as high as he could only to come several feet short of where the ball fell: in the crowd. A small section of the stadium erupted into cheers. A home run.

  Josh colpsed back into his seat. Gym Bro roared and whooped and hollered. Josh watched the previous batter and Malcolm run the bases. Malcolm was swept up into the arms of his whole team. The Rockies won 2-0.

  Gym Bro sat back down full of energy. “I told you!” he said, “I told you that guy was something special.” Josh faintly smiled. “Yeah,” he replied, “you told me.” Gym Bro shook his head and spped his hands across his thighs. “Man, what a game. That ending? Man.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in the seat. Josh watched as people began to file out of the stands as the announcer made closing remarks for the game.

  Finally, Gym Bro stood up to signal Josh it was time to go. Josh grabbed his things and stood up to follow him. Gym Bro said, “Come on, we’ve gotta go down to the area where the Rockies come out. I want to get Malcolm’s autograph.” Josh froze.

  “What?” he said. Gym Bro didn’t hear him and started walking away. Josh hurriedly tried to follow behind him, but got cut off by the exiting crowd. It was easy enough to follow Gym Bro through the crowd, but Josh wasn’t able to get close enough to talk to him and he didn’t feel comfortable in his voice to try calling out.

  Eventually, the crowd dissipated since they were going in a different direction that the parking lot. Josh noticed several people decked out in Rockies memorabilia lining up near one of the doors. He came up behind Gym Bro and tapped him on the shoulder. “Maybe we should hurry to the car so we can get dinner,” he said.

  Gym Bro replied, “What? No. I have to get this guy’s autograph on the poster from today’s game. I’m telling you, he’s going to be a huge star one day.” Josh started, “But,” before cutting himself off when the door opened up. Was it Malcolm? No. It was one of the other pyers Josh didn’t recognize.

  The fans all cmored closer and some asked for the man’s autograph. The door opened again and Josh’s body tensed up once more. It wasn’t Malcolm. A part of Josh thought that they had the chance to walk away before Malcolm arrived, but their body wouldn’t move on its own. Gym Bro didn’t seem satisfied with high-fiving the other pyers as they came out of the room, so he wasn’t going to be any help with Josh’s desire to leave.

  More pyers came out and started signing autographs. Josh recognized that they definitely could have moved by now. Malcolm still hadn’t arrived. They could still move away before that happened. He looked to Gym Bro. His heart was pumping hard. The door opened again and Josh’s eyes snapped to attention. Malcolm.

  The fans’ volume increased which made it obvious Malcolm was the one they were all waiting for. Josh’s eyes locked onto Malcolm and looked over his body. He was even more handsome than Josh remembered. He’d grown a small beard that he kept neatly trimmed around his mouth and chin. His brown eyes still had that warmth in them.

  Malcolm was busy taking photos with some fangirls and signing other people’s things. He was slowly making his way toward where Josh and Gym Bro were standing. He still hadn’t seen them. They could still move away before he had a chance to notice them. Why wouldn’t his body move? All he could do was stare at Malcolm as he got closer and closer.

  Malcolm turned and locked eyes with Josh. Josh felt a smile creep onto his face. Malcolm raised one eyebrow. He skipped over some other fans and walked straight towards Josh and Gym Bro. He stopped and stared at Josh’s face. From the side, Gym Bro thrust his poster in front of Malcolm.

  “Hey man, that was an awesome game,” Gym Bro said. Malcolm broke eye contact with Josh to look at the poster. He pstered a grin on his face and said, “Thank you.” He grabbed Gym Bro’s poster and quickly signed his name over his face. Gym Bro stuck his hand out, so Malcolm shook it and grinned.

  Gym Bro said, “I’m not only talking about that big hit at the end either. You pitched a whole game as a rookie. It’s clear the Rockies see a lot of potential in you. Malcolm continued grinning and nodded. Josh noticed his eyes flicker over to Josh’s position. Malcolm said to Gym Bro, “I appreciate that, but I still have a long way to go.”

  His voice. It was a little deeper than Josh remembered, but he still recognized that deep, soothing voice.

  “Real men,”

  Josh shook his head. He didn’t want to hear that again right now. He wanted to make new memories of Malcolm’s voice. Or to escape and never see him again.

  Gym Bro replied, “No way man. I’ve been a big fan of the Rockies for a while and I think you’re what they need to make it to the World Series this year.”

  “You came all the way to Florida for the game?”

  “I live in Florida right now, but I used to live in Colorado. I saw you guys were pying this weekend and had to come see you live.”

  Malcolm turned his gaze on Josh as he gestured at Josh and Gym Bro. He said, “I’m sorry, but are you two together?”

  “We’re friends!” Josh heard himself blurt out. Crap. He forgot the voice again. He saw Malcolm’s eyes widen. Josh spoke again, correctly this time, “I mean, we’re fans. Big fans! Of baseball. And you. But, like, also just baseball.” He managed to shut himself up and smile.

  Malcolm was looking at Josh’s face critically now. Malcolm said, “Well then, I hope you guys come to see me at tomorrow’s game. Maybe we could,” He started to take a step closer when one of his teammates csped his shoulder. “Young,” the man said, “let’s go. Coach won’t do the wrap up without you there and we want to eat.” Malcolm nodded his head. “Yeah, coming.” He turned and followed his teammate out of the stadium. He turned one st time to look back at Josh. Gym Bro waved goodbye. “Good luck tomorrow!” he shouted.

  Josh nervously click ccked his way behind Gym Bro back to the car.

  He knew. There was no way Malcolm didn’t know. What did they do now? Somebody knew they were a fraud.

  Gym Bro helped them into the car before running to the other side and starting it up. “Whoo!” he said, “that was an awesome game. And getting to see Malcolm Young at the end?” He shook his head and smiled. “He came right up to me. You see that? I think he could tell I was one of the real fans. Those other people waiting were fans of the Rockies, sure, but I bet they only knew about Malcolm because of that st py.”

  Gym Bro pulled out of the spot and got into the line of cars making their way out of the stadium lot. He continued, “I wonder if he’s going to be pitching tomorrow. Maybe I should see if there are any seats left.” Josh felt energy surge through his body. “No!” he said suddenly. He immediately withdrew himself back into his seat. Why did he keep having these random outbursts?

  Gym Bro replied, “Yeah, you’re probably right. He’s still a young guy, but you have to protect your pitcher’s shoulders. The other guys are good enough to probably win again tomorrow. Malcolm may not even dress out for the game, so we probably wouldn’t get to talk again. But you see what he did? He tried to get us to spend more money on his team. He’s a sly one, that guy.” Josh nodded his head and said, “Yeah, yeah. That’s right.” Gym Bro took a deep sigh. “What a game,” he said again.

  As they pulled closer to the exit, Gym Bro spoke again, “You have any idea what you want to eat? I’m thinking of going to a barbeque pce. Maybe get some ribs. Or a steak. Maybe both.”

  “Yeah, that sounds fine,” Josh replied in a quiet voice. In truth, he couldn’t feel much of an appetite. He stayed quiet during the drive and nodded his head along as Gym Bro ordered their food at random sports bar that was still open. Josh could only pick at his food and nibble on his fries. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but he was certain he was feeling too much of it.

  Josh figured things would be better after he went to sleep. He started to make his way to his room when he felt Gym Bro grab his arm. “Hey,” Gym Bro said, “You feeling okay? You’ve had this sort of crappy attitude all night.” Josh looked down. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  “Are you still freaking out about the kiss?” Gym Bro said. Josh’s mind surged. He’d forgotten about the kiss, sort of. His arms crossed against his body. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I feel bad about it.” Gym Bro leaned over and pced his hand on Josh’s shoulder. He said, “Don’t feel bad about it. It’s fine.”

  Josh pulled away and turned his back to Gym Bro. “But we’re friends. And guys aren’t supposed to kiss.” Malcolm’s face fshed in their mind. Josh felt a weird sense of deja vu. Gym Bro scoffed. “The way I see it,” he said, “I didn’t kiss a guy.” Josh turned his head around. “What?”

  Gym Bro continued, “I went to a baseball game with my roommate, Zoe. A woman. So I didn’t kiss you; I kissed a woman named Zoe.” Josh’s mind tried to sort out this weird possibility. “But,” he started to say. Gym Bro interrupted, “Unless you’re saying that you’re actually gay and were pretending to be a girl to kiss me.”

  Josh turned around fully and waved his hands in the air. “No! Of course not.”

  “We sort of did though,” he heard in his mind.

  Gym Bro shrugged his shoulders. “See? Not a big deal. Besides, if anything, it would have been awkward for you to try and expin why the of two us couldn’t kiss in front of the whole stadium, you know?”

  “Y-yeah,” Josh said.

  Gym Bro continued, “Especially since you’re not the best at summoning Zoe whenever you want. You’re not great at being a woman.” Josh nodded his head in shame. Everything Gym Bro said was true. He gotten totally lucky with going to the women’s bathroom, he kept slipping with Zoe’s voice, and a guy he hadn’t seen in years was still able to recognize him.

  “I’m sorry,” Josh heard himself say. Gym Bro stepped forward and pced both hands on Josh’s shoulders. “It’s fine, seriously.” Gym Bro pulled Josh into a hug. Josh felt the warmth spread between their bodies. He didn’t deserve such a good friend; someone who understood Josh’s mistakes and was always there to comfort him afterwards.

  They broke from the hug. Gym Bro was smiling, so Josh forced one onto his face. He still felt a little weird and sad inside, but he figured it was about time to stop compining. Otherwise he might do something crazy like cry in front of his friend.

  Gym Bro crossed his arms and moved his face in a weird way. “You know, this is going to sound weird, but maybe you need more practice pulling Zoe out whenever you need to.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I was thinking of adjusting your program a bit to accelerate the changes since I can see you’re getting anxious.”

  “That would be great!” Josh felt a bit lighter. Gym Bro nodded his head. “While I’m at it, I can add in some other ways for you to practice summoning Zoe. You know, practicing skills that women have so that you don’t need to worry as much when you go outside. I know you’re nervous about your bulge, your voice, using the bathroom. With some practice, I’m certain you’ll figure it out all in no time.”

  Josh was a bit confused. “But,” he said, “I only need to be Zoe when I go out shopping. That’s not much.” Gym Bro replied, “What about the video game tournament? And the beach? And today? Who knows what other kinds of situations you’ll need her for.” Gym Bro was right again.

  Josh recalled all the moments where he’d either almost given himself away or had been completely found out. If he’d been better with the disguise, Gym Bro wouldn’t have felt the need to cover for them with the kiss. If he’d been better with the voice, he could have called out to stop Gym Bro before reaching the signing area. If he’d been better with walking in heels, he could have walked away faster. If he’d been better with makeup, Malcolm wouldn’t have recognized him.

  Sure, he might be able to escape anything happening with Malcolm if he swore to never go to another baseball game again. But what about Devon? What if he slipped up during a voice call while pying Minecraft? Or when he saw Jack at next month’s tournament?

  “You’re right,” Josh said, “I need to get better.” Gym Bro smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”