Girl

"You look amazing, too! Literally a show-stopper if the reaction was to go by."

I sighed. "Thanks, haha." My good mood had been drained. I could keep up to Jenna, only as another girl. I knew it was never to be, which is exactly why I wanted her around less, and less, but seeing her here, no doubt, the prettiest girl here, no, that I had ever seen, confirmed to me what I knew. I needed Maya. This is why I became her. Life would no longer place someone or something so unattainable as Jenna was to me, in my sights! We could be great besties; afterall, we did like a lot of the same things. But sharing the same genders, meant that I wouldn't have to secretly be in, uh, like her. We'd just have a normal 50-50 friendship. This was our lot. Okay. I could deal with this. Normal girls, talking about normal girl things, just like my sister. "So, where's your date?" I asked.

She laughed into her hand, "Don't have one."

"How not? Does anyone have eyes?"

"Well, that's what I'd ask a certain person that I know." Jenna looked at me, with a weak smile. "Anyway when it comes to asking me out, everyone knows it's a foregone conclusion."

"Wow, so you ice-queened them away?"

"No," she laughed, "I'm not that bad!"

"Why did you come then?"

"I kind of help with these things. It was a great honor. You came without Scott?"

"Yeah, I was bored, and I kind of want to see how these things are. Haven't been to one yet," I said truthfully.

"Oh, okay! Well, enjoy yourself!"

"Thanks, see you around!" We hugged again, and Jenna scurried off. My first school dance. Maybe this would be something if I were a cool kid, or maybe a true girl at heart. I didn't want to dance with anyone, and frankly, I was bored. I walked around, had some punch, sat around, browsed on my phone. I did notice that during some dances, some of the guys would be looking at me as they spun, unbeknownst to their dates, it was amusing. I think my looks may have been intimidating, no one wanted to speak to me, despite the fact that every guy was oogling me, including non-students...

'Chad' I thought to myself. I'd seen Chad and Amanda, and Amanda had just excused herself, maybe to the ladies' room. It was going to be time for a little fun. I walked up to Chad saying, "Aren't you a sight!" I ran my finger along his muscled abs and chest, much as Nikki had done to my not- so-muscular abs and chest.

Chad looked around sheepishly. "Whoa, babe, you're stunning. I mean, the hottest thing here by far!"

"You're just saying that," I said, pretending to be coy. I was actually still rubbing his chest, as it was feeling good. "Let's dance."

"Where's your boyfriend?"

"Out of town, I came all alone," I said playfully.

"Yo!" Chad called to one of his friends I remembered from the incident, he whispered, 'keep Amanda occupied, I'm gonna bag this!' He thought I couldn't hear him. Asshole.

"Well, then, where were we?" I asked. I placed my arm on Chad's shoulder, and used my other one to guide his other arm to the small of my back. I then pushed myself closer to him, as to make my valley of cleavage more appealing. Once he finally took his eyes off them, he moved his hand lower than I wanted.

"Where's your girlfriend?"

"What girlfriend?"

"Amanda? I hung with you guys once or twice."

"Her? We broke up."

"Awww. I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be, everything is much better right now."

"Hmmhmm, I agree", I said in husky tones, I think I was actually getting turned on. No way did I mean to sound that sultry! I could feel my nipples poking into the dress, and by Chad startled look away from my chest when I looked at him, I think he did too. I'd felt this way with Scott as well; I thought my desires as Maya were tied to Scott, but it must be more natural that that. I could clearly tell that Scott was a good looking guy, and of course Chad was as well. How could I be thinking this!

"CHAD!" We both looked to see an angry Amanda failing to be held back by Chad's friends. "You fucking asshole!"

"Whoa babe, babe! She just wanted a quick dance while you were in the restroom, that's all!" Chad expertly grabbed her, calming her down. "Babe, I promise."

Amanda shot a look at me. "You get the hell out of here, whore! I knew you weren't a good two shoes. Go get some elsewhere you bitch in heat! Chad is mine!"

"he said you guys were split!" I shot back. She looked at him. probably about to unload, and I quietly slipped away. I wanted to mess with them, but I had a feeling that they'd probably just have make-up sex, or they'd be able to screw anyone else they wanted tonight if they didn't make up. I'd almost be a willing partner....GRRR, opposite effect.

As I sat reeling from everything, I felt someone sit down on the bench next to me.

"Hey, Maya!"

"Jenna"

"You're a bad girl!" She smiled mischievously

I put my hands to my face in mock shock. "Who, me!? No way!" We laughed, then somehow both sighed in sync.

"Say, what are you doing now? Wanna get a bite to eat?"

"Yeah, why not, I've had my excitement. Won't you be needed?"

"I won't be missed at this point. It's okay!", Jenna smiled. Damn. I followed her outside, and as she paused to fumble with her purse, I finished walking to her mother's car. She unlocked it as she came towards, and we entered.

"I guess we'll head to Maxburger. We can easily beat the after dance crowd."

"Sounds good."

~~~~~

We sat down at our normal table, and the waitress, Judy took our orders. "Jenna, what're you girls doing here this early?"

"We didn't have dates, so we ditched early."

"What, two girls as gorgeous as you?"

"Can't win em all."

"So, what will you have tonight."

"Just a grilled chicken plain, fries, and tea,"

Judy turned to me, "And you?"

"Let me get my usual, Judy!"

"Come again?"

"Oh, right, I'm sorry. I thought I was..somewhere else," I explained. "I want a double Maxbuger, only onions, extra cheese, add bacon, and BBQ sauce. Loaded fries, and the fresh lemonade."

"That's the same thing her little boyfriend gets!" Judy, smiled. I had just realized, not only did I act familiar with Judy, I'd ordered my normal meal. Maybe Jenna would only see a coincidence.

Jenna laughed nervously. "Haha, you're embarrassing me in front of my friend."

"I'm just saying sweetheart. That boy is blind!" With that, she went away. It was me that she was speaking about, and I wasn't blind. Jenna was right in front of me, and again, I was facing the fact that she was something, someone that wasn't for Mike.

We looked at each other, laughing nervously. I considered browsing my phone, but I wanted to be better company than that. I struck up a conversation about things that I knew we had in common, and in no time, our food had arrived.

"Man, I'm done! I only finished half of what I normally eat. I feel pregnant!" I distended my stomach, which was actually a little bloated, to our laughter.

"Ew don't say that! It might happen!"

"By Chad!" I laughed. "Or Scott!"

Jenna looked down, then fidgeted with her hair. "You ready? I wanna kill a little time, is that okay?"

"I'll go anywhere with you, Jenna!" She stopped briefly. Then continued.

~~~~

"So, where are we going?"

"Just to a little spot I like. It's relaxing." As we drove, I began to recognize our location. We were going to the Overlook. I thought about the last time we were there. Jenna and Mike were having a pretty good time, and Chad came and ruined it. Wait, what did Chad ruin? I realized again, I was her friend at the time, as I was now. It was much easier to have that realization now; what ever she would do, whoever she would be with, I could support her fully.

We arrived at the parking area, with Jenna going and getting the blanket out of the trunk. I saw Jenna remove her shoes, and I followed suit. I was wondering how we were going to actually walk in the grass. We reached the summit, and had a breath taking veiw of the city. We'd been here a couple times, but never at night. I had a new appreciation of our city. "Spectacular," I said.

"It is. I like to come up here, sometimes, alone." I looked at Jenna, who continued, "The serenity this places affords is just awesome. You can clear your mind, get away from things."

"You have thoughts like that?"

"Sure. We all do, sometimes."

"I...I never knew."

"You had your own worries, and were dealing with them in your own way, right?"

I looked down sadly, answering, "Yeah..." Wait...what? I slowly faced Jenna, with my mouth surely agape, and I was met with a kiss. "Jenna?!" my male voice called out, "The dress! My body!" The kiss caught me off guard, and I changed into Mike in front of Jenna.

"Oh. Wow. It really is you!" Jenna put her hands to her mouth in awe of the spectacle she'd just witnessed. I don't want to know how ridiculous I looked with make-up on, and in the dress. I'd just die.

"Jenna," I said, back in the form of Maya. "How did you know?" I noticed that my hair wasn't fixed as I had it before the transformation.

"Scott told me."

I was taken aback, "Scott? Why would he...?"

"Because he cares about us."

"Huh? I don't follow?"

"Do you ever?" Jenna smiled. "Scott had his reasons, but he told me that somehow you gained the ability to change into a girl, and that you were Maya. It took some convincing, but eventually I believed him enough to see for myself. As he pointed out; Maya's not in our school, you're both never around at the same time, and bigger than all, you look like your sister. I mean, wow," She brushed her hair aside, "I thought that you felt familiar when we first met, and I guess I see why. Tonight, you definitely gave yourself away, now that I was paying attention. That is your sister's dress, how you acted when we met eyes, you knew my mom's car, and even your meal was the same thing you always ordered.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I..."

"It's okay. It's not like you used the ability to do bad things to me, or any other girls."

"Yeah, but I did go for recon; that outing at the mall, when Amanda said all those bad things about me, those words stuck with me; it was like she confirmed all the worst thoughts that I ever had about myself."

"Is that why you were distant?"

"Partly."

"What's the other part?"

"I feel ridiculous saying this like this," I motioned to myself, "but Jenna, not only did she confirm that I wasn't a speck worthy of anything, I knew it was true. Why would a beautiful, smart girl like you hang around us? Scott, I can understand. Me, however, not so much, and with that being the case, I honestly didn't want a reminder of what I couldn't ever have. You know, like Amanda said, until I have an uber job to take care of their kids by Chad."

"I didn't know you felt that way. I didn't know that you were witness to what she said."

"I know. And yet you took up for us, regardless. You're great, but Amanda spelled it out in truthful words. But then I was able to become Maya, a girl whose beauty and desirability is literally unnatural. There is no need for Mike. I have all his mental strengths, and none of the physical undersirabilities. I am much better than he."

Jenna pursed her lips, and looked in deep thought before saying, "There is one thing that Mike has, that you don't!" I cocked my head in question. "My love."

My grandeur deflated instantly. "What did you say?"

"Mike, the things I do- things we do. I don't do them randomly, or to play with you. I love being with you. I want to be more than a best friend. I've turned down every guy who's ever asked me out, because I had my ideal guy the whole time. I spent a lot of time wondering if you felt the same."

"I, I, don't know what to say."

"I'm not done," her look darkened slightly, "however, recently you've treated me pretty badly. I've gone home crying- I've come here, crying, trying to figure out what I did for you to treat me like you did."

"I was so selfish, and short-sighted." I sniffed. "And despite you saying such good, I still don't deserve you."

"That's not what I'm saying, at all! I just want you to be responsible for me."

"Jenna, I'm so sorry. You're the perfect girl, and I knew that! But what did I do? Because I couldn't have you, I pushed you to the side. I wish I could make you understand how I felt. Not that it would make it right."

"It's okay." Jenna grabbed my face. We locked eyes.

"Jenna...?" I began.

She shook her head rapidly. "Nonono! Don't ask me, not like this!" She looked down to my cleavage. "Let's get to your house. Do you have decent clothes for the dance?"

"Sure, let's do it!" We drove quickly to my house, where my sister opened the door before I reached the house.

"That Jenna?"

"Yeah," I said running up the stairs. "I gotta hurry!" With that, I quickly got out of the dress, and changed back into Mike. I used make-up removal wipes to quickly get rid of the make-up on my face, and washed my neck to get rid of the feminine smell coming from the perfume I had on. I quickly rutted through my things, finding a simple blue polo, slacks, and dress shoes. It was really all I had time for. Giving myself a once-over, I headed back down. "Later sis, it's a story!" I ran to Jenna's car.

"Let's try to make the last dance."

~~~~

Back at the school, the dance was just about wrapping up. I'd forgotten my ticket, but I was on the list, and I don't think anyone really cared by this point. Jenna and I made our way back to the gym, just in time to hear the DJ call out, "Grab your honey tight! This is the last one for the night!"

We both straightened our clothes out, looked each other in the eyes. "May I have this dance milady?"

Jenna smiled brightly. "Of course!"

Much as I had one with Chad earlier, Jenna placed my arm to the small of her back, while my opposite arm rested on her well toned upper back.

The DJ chose "My Girl" By the Temptations.

As the song ended, my gaze upon jenna went from serene to serious. We broke apart slightly. "Jenna, will you give me the totally undeserved honor and privilege of being my girlfriend?"

Jenna beamed brightly. "I thought you'd never ask! Yes!"

The room was silent, with all eyes and ears on us. I looked around, then back to Jenna. I brought her back close to me, telling her, "I love you so much, you've made me the happiest and luckiest guy on the planet!"

We shared a long passionate kiss in front of the entire student body, with many ooh's, ahh's, and aww's. I didn't care, nor did Jenna.

~~~~

Monday on our way to school, we'd formed our normal trio of Scott, Jenna, and I. The main difference was that Jenna and I were holding hands. She was close to me, as she usually was, but now, this beautiful creature was mine; the closeness was welcomed, and very much wanted.

"Scott," I began, "Well, we all know everything, so I want to have this conversation."

"Eh, sure." Scott was nonplussed, as usual.

"Why did you tell Jenna that I was Maya?"

"Mike, Jenna was hurting, I could see it. You just wouldn't get it. But I also knew how you felt about everything. Without a direct confrontation who knows what you would've done?"

"So, did you never plan to, you know, be with Maya?"

"Well, let me tell you, it was very hard to ignore the 'perfect' girl. But I did not plan to. I am aware of my looks, I just tried to play it off for you bro, because I know how you feel. But I know I can get a girl whenever."

"Wow, Scott, you are a great guy," Jenna added giving him a big hug.

"No worries, Jenna," Scott said, turning to me. "There were still the issues of the aftermath had we gone farther. Times where you would have had to be male. But more importantly, in the meantime, I had to keep you close, I didn't want you running off and being with someone else. I felt that you got something that you weren't used to, and may have made a mistake if allowed."

"Thanks. You played it perfectly."

"Well, I don't want to bring up and stingers and all, but you were treating Jenna like garbage. I know how you were thinking, man, but anyone else could see that she was plainly in love with you. I had to figure out a way to make it happen. I figured Jenna would be able to get through to you."

"Man, you are the best friend I could have ever asked for. You could've taken Maya for yourself."

"I don't have any regrets. No. Ragerts!" Scott said, mocking a meme. "I may not get Maya, but a girlfriend is something I can get whenever I'm ready, and I honestly don't care yet," He shrugged. "But, I could tell you guys needed each other. Jenna loves you very much, and I know you were in love with her as well. The whole Maya thing was a distraction."

"You are better than me, Scott." I looked to Jenna, apologizing again. "I'm so sorry, I was being selfish."

"Not to excuse him, Jen, but he was in love with you as much you were with him. This guy of course - couldn't get it, he's all about the hard numbers. The things that girl said really got to him. He was afraid that you'd get into a relationship, and he'd be the proverbial BFF to cry to."

Scott put it all out there, but I'd asked for it. "I, I just thought.."

"Not much of me, huh?" Jenna asked.

"I'm sorry, facts, data, even circumstantial and anecdotal evidence said that you wouldn't be interested in me."

"And I don't how it's impossible?" Jenna answered. She pulled out her phone, which she'd changed the background to a selfie of us together. "Does this look like Beauty and the Beast?"

Honestly, we looked good together. I was so stupid. "She eats with ME or she doesn't eat at all!" I exclaimed. We all had a laugh at that one.

As we walked to school, I made Jenna a promise, "I swear, I will make up for what I've done, I will never make you sad, or cry again, and I will make you the happiest woman alive."

Jenna kissed me. "Mike, those things are part of life. I will accept them as such, but I believe your last promise."

"I love you so much, Jenna."

"And I love you too, Thomas."

~~~~~

It was now 7 years post high school. Scott and myself were taking it easy. We'd graduated highschool at Wooster, and later got our B.S's. Throughout school, we were engrossed in our hobby, which became more than a hobby, building games. By the time we'd finished school, we had a few very successful games on mobile platform, and were featured in tech articles about the graphics and physics engine that we'd created, robust in features, and light in resource consumption.

We had a few different games under our belt on mobile platforms. We'd started out making small apps back in highschool, kind of like practice, they were utility apps, things you could already do, but our goal was to 'perfect' them, with better code, better resource use, and such. We'd tried our hands in college, and made a few games of varying genres, mostly generic copies of games already out. We wanted to optimize the play experience in various ways; better graphics, sounds, interface. Things that people who played on consoles on PC would appreciate.

We eventually crafted original titles within the shooting and RPG genres, and these games were very successful. We sat down, crafted our storylines, the world, the lore, and it was a labor of love. Eventually our success had major publishing studios knocking at our doors. We created 2 IP's and they wanted a cut. This would work for us as well, but history told us that wouldn't be long term, and that we could kiss a lot of our original work goodbye if we took an offer. But, with solid exit plans, we did take an offer.

Our new publisher, or partner gave us immense resources, and a new studio. We were to create a specific team for nearly every aspect of the game, and the publisher moved some people around from their acquired teams to fill some spots. Scott and I had mostly creative control, but the publisher did have ideas they wanted incorporated into the project. We were given a target date of Spring of the following year, so there were 18 months that we had to come up with the game. The publisher didn't want to compete with the fall and winter craze. The last part of the deal was to port our engine to bigger platforms, fully working with the same benefits as mobile, and share the source code, so that the publisher could publish games through other studios using it. We received a very nice bonus for that part.