“I hear footsteps!”
“Your parents!” Fred’s voice was a choked whisper, “What do we do?”
Billy looked around, desperate, “Just… hide under the covers!”
Fred scrambled to the bed, the foreign weight on his chest throwing him off balance. He dove beneath the covers and pulled them tight.
Billy slipped into the covers beside him and tried to compose himself, forcing a shaky smile just as the door swung open.
It was his mom.
She peered into the room, her face a mixture of curiosity and concern, “Is everything okay in here? I heard yelling.”
Billy nodded too quickly, “Yeah, we’re just… we’re just playing.”
“Are you sure? It sounded like someone was hurt.”
Fred held his breath, his body stiff under the sheets. He could feel his heart hammering.
He couldn’t help but notice how his new body smelled, sweating from nervousness. Body odor.
Was this how grown-up women always smelled?
Billy’s mom stood there for a moment longer, scrutinizing the scene, her eyes flicking to the awkward lumps beneath the covers.
“Well, keep it down, okay? Don’t stay up too late.” She hesitated at the threshold, then closed the door softly behind her.
Fred exhaled, the tension leaving his body a little. They lay there silently, side by side in Billy’s bed.
Billy turned his head, eyes wide, “What now?”
Fred pushed back the covers, sitting up slowly. His hair fell in a cascade over his shoulders.
“I don’t know,” he said quietly, his new voice reverberating inside him.
Billy sat up, staring at Fred.
Fred couldn’t help but notice the way Billy looked at him now. He looked …nervous. Shy, even. He noticed how Billy's eyes would briefly flicker down to his chest, exposed by the popped buttons of his pajamas.
Fred crossed his arms over himself, embarrassed, “You’re staring.”
“Sorry,” Billy said, tearing his eyes away, “You’re just… so different.”
Fred sighed, feeling the soft weight on his chest shift with the motion.
Billy watched him, nervousness etched across his face, “You have …boobs.”
Fred let out something between a laugh and a groan, “Yeah, I noticed.”
Billy’s eyes darted back to Fred’s chest and away again, like he couldn’t help himself, “How does it feel?”
Fred searched for an answer, “Weird,” he said finally, “Really, really… weird.”
They sat there, neither knowing what to do or say. The enormity of what happened crept in on them, bizarre and undeniable. Fred felt the hair brushing against his neck, the shoulders of his pajama top pinching tight. Everything unfamiliar.
Billy finally spoke, breaking the thick silence, “Can I… You know?”
Fred raised an eyebrow, “What?”
“Touch them?” Billy asked, his voice small, almost vanishing into the air between them.
Fred’s face burned.
“Not like that!” Billy said quickly, “I just want to see how real it is.”
Fred raised an eyebrow, “Sure. Whatever.”
He unbuttoned the rest of his top.
Billy’s hands hovered, unsure. He looked at Fred, a question in his eyes.
Fred shrugged, feeling strange and exposed, “Go ahead.”
Billy touched lightly at first, fingertips brushing against the surface. Fred’s skin tingled under his touch. It was somehow even weirder than Fred had expected.
Billy paused, eyes wide with wonder, an incredulous look on his face.
He touched again, more firmly this time.
Billy’s hand trembled. Fred’s breath caught in his chest.
Billy squeezed again, gently.
“It’s… it’s so real,” he said, breathless with the revelation.
“Yeah,” Fred quickly buttoned himself up again.
“Dude, this is like that movie, Shazam. Except you’re a normal woman instead of a superhero,” Billy’s face broke into a grin, “Should I call you Freda now?”
Fred shot him a look that was both annoyed and amused.
“No, seriously. What are you gonna do about your name?”
Fred hesitated. He hadn’t thought that far.
“Everyone will think you’re a girl, Fred,” Billy said, “Not ‘Freda’ girl, but a real girl. Like, a woman-woman.”
Fred ran a hand through his hair, the new sensation still startling, “I guess I’ll have to be… I don’t know… Erica or something.”
“Erica,” Billy tested the name out loud, “Yeah, that works.”
Fred’s eyes met Billy’s. He could see Billy was excited, almost thrilled by the strangeness of it all.
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