“What do you want to eat?” She asks.

  “You choose.” I say. “As long as they have veggie options, I’m happy.”

  “How about Habanero?” She asks, pointing to a small Mexican restaurant at the back of the court.

  “Sounds good.” I say.

  She leads me to a seat by the window, and sets our bags down. “Watch our stuff, and I’ll get food. What do you want?”

  “Just a veggie quesadil.” I say.

  I people watch while I wait, and see a friendly face walking through the mall.

  “Paige!” I shout.

  I see her turn in surprise, and meet my gaze. “Emmy!” She shouts back and walks up to me, two girls trailing behind her. I stand up and she pulls me into a hug. “How are you?!”

  “I’m great.” I say happily. “Just out shopping with my mom.”

  “That dress looks amazing on you.” She says with a smirk. “If you weren’t already dating Holly…”

  “And if you weren’t dating May.” I say, doing my best to ignore the meaning behind her words.

  “Actually…” She says softly. “I broke up with her.”

  “What?!” I ask, a bit too loudly. “Why?!”

  “It’s not your fault,” she assures. “But mostly because of the stuff with you.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, Paige…” I say softly. “I didn’t mean to cause any problems…”

  She pulls me into another tight hug. “You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise.” She says. “I could never be with someone who treated you like that. It was wrong.”

  “It wasn’t really her fault…” I say. “She didn’t know…”

  Paige looks at me for a moment, then takes my hand. “Right…” She sighs deeply. “Emmy, I don’t know how to tell you this…”

  Before she can speak, my mom walks up with our food. “Hey, Emmy.” She says. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Right.” I say with a smile. “Mom, this is Paige. Paige, this is my mom.”

  “Call me Evelyn.” My mom says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too.” Paige says. “I’ll get out of your hair, Emmy.” She says. “Before I go though, can I get your number? We should talk ter.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I say, and give her my phone number.

  She types it into her phone, and smiles at me, before giving me another hug. “I’ll talk to you ter, okay?”

  “Sounds good.” I say. “I have a date with Holly ter, so I might not respond until tomorrow.”

  “Right…” She says softly. “I hope you have fun…”

  “I will.” I say happily, thinking about my girlfriend. “Bye, Paige.”

  “Bye, Emmy…” She says, and then walks away with her friends.

  “She seems to like you.” My mom says as we sit down.

  “Yeah…” I say softly. “I’m a bit worried about that honestly…”

  “Why?” My mom asks.

  “I’m with Holly.” I say. “I don’t want her to ever have to worry about competition.”

  “You’re young.” My mom says. “You and Paige can still be friends, as long as she doesn’t break any boundaries.”

  “Yeah…” I say softly. “You’re right. Let’s eat.”

  I open my wrapped quesadil, and immediately start munching on it. I really needed this. Once we are about halfway through, my mom coughs uncomfortably.

  “Emmy, can we talk about you and Holly.”

  “What about?” I ask, confused.

  “I just…” She says, and looks around before continuing. “You said you weren’t safe about it.”

  “I um…” I say. “I… This is really awkward…”

  “I know, dear.” She says. “It’s important though.”

  “I didn’t… You know…” I really don’t want to say it.

  “Oh.” My mom says. “Um… What happened?”

  I sigh. “I… Mom…” I really don’t want to do this… She just stares at me expectantly. “I didn’t have the name Emmy at the time… When she… you know… she called out Emmy. I got scared and stopped everything, and she expined that it was the name she had been using for me in her head.”

  “Emmy…” She says. “I don’t want to assume the worst…”

  “No,” I assure. “It’s okay, I thought that too. She immediately gave me her phone though. Told me to look through it for as long as I want to prove that she wasn’t seeing anyone else.”

  “Did you?” My mom asks.

  “No.” I reply. “The gesture was enough for me. I trust her.”

  “Okay good.” My mom says. “So um… for next time you do that with her…”

  “I’ll be safe, I promise.” I say. “I’ll go to the pharmacy before and get…”

  “I’ll buy them for you.” My mom says. “Just… Promise me you’ll use them.”

  “I promise.” I say. “I don’t know if we’re going to be doing that again anytime soon anyways. We haven’t since then.”

  “When you do.” She says.

  “When we do.” I reply. “With that awkwardness out of the way, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes.” She says, and stands up.

  We throw away our trash, and head out to the car. After putting the bags in the back, we hop in, and she drives us to our next destination. She pulls into a parking spot on the street, and we walk along the sidewalk to a building entrance.

  We enter the small building, and my mom walks up to the woman behind the counter. “Hi, my daughter and I want to get a mani-pedi.”

  “Okay.” The woman says, a soft accent peaking through in her voice. “We can get to you right now. Please follow me.”

  “Oh um,” My mom says. “Can we do a facial waxing for my daughter as well?”

  “Absolutely.” The woman says as she leads us to a row of comfortable looking chairs. “Take your shoes and socks off, and please put your feet in the water.”

  We do as she asks, and take our seats. The warm water bubbles slightly around my feet, and actually feels really nice.

  “Emmy.” My mom says.

  “Yeah, Mom?” I ask.

  “Wanna chat while we wait?”

  “Sure.” I say with a smile. “What about?”

  “Tell me about Holly.” She says happily. “You’ve been together for a few weeks now, and I know next to nothing about her.”

  “Well…” I say thoughtfully. “She’s super sweet and caring. She’s always really conscious about my feelings, and is really good at helping me through tough spots.”

  “That’s sweet.” My mom says.

  “She came up with this code we use, where I can squeeze her hand for different things.” I expin. “One squeeze for I’m doing fine. Two means I’m uncomfortable. Three for I need help.”

  “Have you had to use them?” She asks.

  “A couple times.” I admit. “I’ve had a couple of rough days, but she’s helped a lot.”

  “That’s really nice.” She says.

  Two women approach us, one standing in front of me, and the other in front of my mom. “Hi.” The one in front of me says. “Are you ready to start the pedicure?”

  “Yes please.” My mom says.

  The two women sit down in front of us, and I jump slightly as the woman grabs my foot. She starts gently massaging along my calf and my ankles, before working on my sole and toes.

  “You don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to,” My mom says. “But, you said she helped you figure things out. How did that happen?”

  “I…” I pause, thinking. I did just buy a trans colored key chain so that people could recognize me. Plus, who cares if these people know I’m trans. “So, it all started the third day I was there.”

  Should I tell her everything…? I think for a moment, before coming to a decision. If there is ever a time where I don’t want to tell her something, that’s probably the most important thing to share.

  “She confessed her feelings for me, but said she was scared and confused, because she’d never been into a guy before.” I expin. “She said she was worried that she only was attracted to the feminine parts of me, and that our retionship would fall apart as we grew up.”

  “Oh.” She says softly. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not.” I say with a smile. “If that hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have figured out who I am meant to be.”

  “That’s true.” She says with a smile.

  The woman pulls my feet out of the water, and starts scrubbing them with stones that almost look like wood.

  “So I showed her my real voice, and she loved it, and kissed me immediately. Then she asked if she could try putting me in makeup.” I regale. “I figured that if I didn’t like it I could just take it off, say that we wouldn’t work out and just stay friends, but I loved it.”

  “Was this before or after you came home in her clothes?” My mom asks.

  “After.” I say truthfully. “That truly was an accident. Some guy wasn’t paying attention, and bumped into me, knocking me into the pond.”

  “I see.” My mom says. “Continue.”

  The woman begins trimming my nails and my cuticles while I talk. “So I was already in makeup, and she let me wear some of her clothes, and we took a bunch of pictures, and I just felt… I don’t know, good. I was happy. I am happy.”

  “That’s good.” My mom says.

  The woman below me dries my feet and holds up a rge booklet. “Choose a color please.”

  I take a moment to look through the book, and see a deep blue purple, the exact color I want my hair. “That one please.” My mom chooses a dark teal, and we keep talking. “So, from then on every time I went there, she did my makeup, and put me in her clothes, and I got more and more excited about it. I was actually getting depressed when I had to take them off, or when I couldn’t see Holly for a few days, and was stuck in my own clothes.”

  “So, how did you realize things?” My mom asks.

  “You know that girl we just met?” I ask, and my mom nods. “Well, Paige asked me a question.” I expin. “She asked, ‘If you could go back to being a boy full time, and knew that Holly would stay with you and be happy, would you?’ and I didn’t have an answer.”

  “I see…” My mom says softly.

  “So I thought about it for a while, and realized that no, I wouldn’t want to go back if I could. Things were kinda obvious from there. I called my friends on Harmony and expined everything to them, oh it was so funny.”

  “Sorry to interrupt,” The woman below says. “Can we move to the manicure station?”

  “Of course.” My mom says, and starts to stand up.

  “Put these on first.” The woman says, and sets a pair of flip flops by each of us.

  We put them on, and carry our shoes and socks over to the long counter. We sit, and the woman smiles at me. “Do you want the same color as your toes?”

  “Yes please.” I say.

  The woman dips my fingers into a water bowl, and my mom speaks up. “So what was so funny about the interaction with your friends?”

  “So, I expined everything to them, that I had been talking in a girls voice on video games for over a year, and all my friends already thought of me as a girl, and then I was wearing girls clothes and makeup for a few weeks, and felt really happy about it, and that I didn’t want to go back.” I say happily, remembering the conversation. “And my friend Nova said something I can’t forget. She said ‘You know you’re an idiot, right?’”

  “You’re not an idiot.” My mom says sternly.

  “Oh, but I very much am.” I say with a smile, and wince as the woman starts clipping my cuticles. “Looking back on my life, I should have figured it out so long ago. I’m just gd that I figured it out now. If I hadn’t met Holly, I might not have realized for a long time.”

  The woman finishes clipping and filing my nails, and starts with the painting.

  “I’m gd you met her then.” My mom says happily. “She seems like a really good influence on you.”

  “She is.” I say happily. “I um… I think I love her.”

  My mom squeals in delight, and apologizes to the woman doing her nails. “Sorry…” She then turns to me. “Emmy, I’m genuinely so happy for you.”

  “I’m really happy too.” I say. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Did Holly get you that ring?” She asks, and nods towards my hand.

  “Yeah…” I say softly. “She asked me, if we were still together after highschool, if I would want to marry her. I said yes.”

  “That is a lot for how young you are.” My mom says warily.

  “That’s assuming we actually stay together throughout all of highschool.” I expin. “Although, I really hope we do.”

  “Well,” My mom says. “I hope you do too.”

  Once our nails are painted, the woman walks around the counter and smiles at me. “Are you ready for your face?”

  “Yes.” I say, and follow her to a back room. “What does this entail, exactly?”

  “I’m going to shape your eyebrows with some wax.” She expins. “Please y down.”

  I do as she instructs, and close my eyes. After a few moments I feel something warm on my forehead, and then her fingers rubbing it in.

  “This is going to sting a bit, please stay as still as you can.”

  “Okay.” I say, and try not to tense.

  I feel a sharp pinch on my forehead, and then more of the warmth above my other eyebrow, followed by another sharp pinch. She continues to wax between my eyebrows, underneath them, then to the sides of them.

  Once she’s finally done, I feel her apply a cool liquid to my face, before pulling away. “And we’re all done.” She says, and holds up a mirror. “What do you think?”

  The wax has removed a bit of my makeup, but not enough to be a problem. My eyebrows however look amazing. They are slim and have a gentle curve that looks very feminine.

  “I love it.” I say with a smile.

  “I’m gd.” She says happily. “Go ahead and put on your shoes, and you’re good to go.”

  I pull the socks and shoes on, and we head out to pay. My mom spends another hundred or so dolrs on me, and I feel the pit in my stomach expanding again. This is way too much… She’s spent nearly a thousand dolrs on me today. This is really just too much…

  My mom and I walk out of the salon and back to the car. “How are you feeling?” She asks.

  “A bit worried.” I admit. “We spent a lot of money today. I know what you said, but it really was a lot.”

  “It’s fine, Emmy.” She says, and squeezes my shoulder. “I’m happy to give my daughter a wardrobe she likes. I cannot wait to watch you grow.”

  “I can’t wait either.” I say happily. “Especially my tits.”

  “Emmy!” She shouts, but starts ughing as she does. “Right, that actually reminds me, I need to make a phone call.”

  We sit down in the car, and once it's turned on, she taps on her phone a moment before setting it on its stand. The phone trills as we drive away, and after a moment picks up.

  “Hello,” A soft masculine voice says through the car speakers. “This is Saint Joan's pediatric center, how can I help you?”

  “Hi,” My mom says back. “My daughter is a patient of doctor Ellis, I wanted to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.”

  “If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please hang up and call nine, one, one.” He says.

  “No emergency.” My mom says. “We just have something we need to discuss with the doctor.”

  “Understood.” He says. “Can I get the patient's st name and date of birth?”

  “Valera,” My mom says. “October twenty-seventh, two thousand and one.”

  “Danny?” He asks.

  “Yes,” My mom says, and squeezes my wrist as I wince. “Although we need to update that.”

  “I see.” He says. “Has the name been legally updated, or just a preferred name.”

  “Preferred for now.” My mom says. “We’ll be updating it legally soon.”

  “What’s the new name?” He asks.

  “Emmy.” My mom says.

  “Is there a new middle name as well?” He asks.

  My mom looks at me, and I panic for a moment, before coming to a decision. “Luna.” I say.

  “Got it.” He says and I hear muffled typing in the background. “Alright, it has been updated to Emmy Luna Valera.”

  “Thank you.” My mom says.

  “Alright, what is the purpose for your visit?” He asks.

  My mom gestures to me to expin. “I um,” I pause. “I want to discuss getting on hormone blockers, and HRT.”

  “I see…” He says softly. “We had a recent canceltion. I can fit you in on Monday at two. Does that work?”

  “Oh wow.” My mom says. “That’s really soon.”

  “Is that too soon?” He asks. “The next appointment would be three weeks from now on a Thursday.”

  “Can we do Monday, please Mom?” I ask.

  “Yes, Emmy.” She says. “Monday at two works.”

  “Sounds good.” He says. “Alright, I’ve got you on the schedule. Please be here fifteen minutes early for the appointment.”

  “We will.” My mom says. “Have a good day.”

  “You too.” He says, and the line goes dead.

  “Thank you, Mom.” I say happily. “It means a lot.”

  “I’m just happy to help you.” She says. “By the way, I have another surprise for you.”

  “Moooommmmm!” I whine. “You’re doing too much.”

  “I think you’ll like this.” She says, as we enter our neighborhood. “I printed out the paperwork for your name change st night.”

  “Oh…” I say softly as she pulls into our driveway. The moment the car is in park my seatbelt is off and my arms are wrapped around her. “I love you.”

  She holds me tight to her, and murmurs into my ear. “I love you too, Emmy.”