Jonatha had never felt nervous when he went to Jade's house in the past, but tonight he was. Since the locker room talk, he had felt strangely calmer. He was following Jade's orders to a T, and it was working.
He wasn't overthinking his outfit; he picked out a nice dress he might have skipped just a few days ago and a pair of high-heeled sandals that made his silhouette longer and slimmer. While he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed how long his hair had gotten and felt like he'd been neglecting it. Eight days of stress was just too much. The perception that his hair needed more care nudged him toward putting it in a large, voluminous bun. Then he looked at his nails, cracked from stress. They looked like they were covered in a mosaic.
He decided to walk down to Eckerd and follow his instincts. He bought a light pink nail polish, matching his cheerleader uniform, plus a hair care mask and a combination shampoo/conditioner. As he headed toward the register, he stopped at the hair dye and paused for a moment. Should I go blonde? Blonde like Brandi Jolie, blonde like Chrissy Hemsworth, blonde like Rose Flowers. Like Nic likes her boys. After vacillating for a moment, he decided to skip the dye. He'd never dyed his hair before—he'd been (un)lucky enough to help Mikelle the other day—and he didn't want to go through all that.
After checking out, he made a beeline for Jade's. Jonatha had the misfortune to walk past two college girls playing basketball on the driveway in front of a home.
"Hey sis, check out that hottie!" Both of them stopped playing to watch Jonatha walk.
"Oh girl, he's my type," the other girl said, holding the ball.
When Jonatha was about to leave and pass by the house, the second girl smiled and threw the ball in Jonatha's direction, hitting him in the back and giving both girls chance to get closer.
"Are you fine?" Mo'Nic, the second college girl, asked, leering over Jonatha's body.
"I'm okay. You should be more careful."
"I'm careful. It's my friend over here who has butter fingers," Mo'Nic chuckled, staring into Jonatha's eyes.
"I see," Jonatha said, already sensing he needed to get going now before these girls did anything.
"Are you sure you aren't hurt? Because I am pretty sure an angel like you should be hurt after falling from heaven," Mo'Nic flirted.
"No, I am fine," Jonatha growled. "Now excuse me, I am late for an appointment." Jonatha walked quickly toward Jade's house, two doors down, and made it in with a sigh.
"I think I had escaped from something," Jonatha told Jade, a worried expression on his face. "Two girls tried to do something with me."
"Relax, it's just Mo'Nic and Jackyl. They share a house here with other two college girls. They are the worst, but they never tried to do anything than use lame pickup lines. I got used to them, but Ash helped make sure they didn't flirt with me."
"Oh, thank you." Jonatha was visibly relieved. "Now I am ready for the sleepover. I bought PJs and some nail polish and hair stuff—"
Jonatha was interrupted by the doorbell. Jade smiled and opened the door to reveal Buffie had come along.
"Hey Buffie! Thanks for showing up," he added. He turned toward Jonatha. "This is the second stage of the intervention. That stuff you bought will come in handy. You can't be this town's hottie looking like the scared and stressed boy you've been lately." Buffie smiled and nodded. "Let's go up to my room." As the three walked up, Jade suddenly remembered something. "Oh, that's right, you left some stuff here last time you came over."
Once Jonatha, Jade and Buffie all settled in and put their stuff down, Buffie spoke up. "Jade had me come by so that we could get you nice and ready. Not just for regionals, but to take back Nic."
"Really?" Jonatha looked at Jade, who nodded.
"We're here to build you up. Isn't that what friends are for?"
"I...I am speechless" said Jonatha, still processing his feelings. "But why?"
"Because you're our friend, silly," said Buffie. "And because you are going to be the first star produced by BMI."
Jade nodded "Now, remove your clothes, we are going to take your measurements so Buffie can make sure everything perfectly fit for your body and face,"
"What?" asked Jonatha, surprised.
"Chop chop, time is vital here, because you need to sleep early to keep your beauty at its top." Buffie pulled out his phone as Jonatha removed his dress and wore off his sandals and stood front of Buffie just wearing his underwear. "Underwear included, Jonatha. I need to capture your front and back volumes."
Jonatha closed his eyes, undoing his bra and then his panties letting his penis on the loose. With nothing on, Buffie and Jade had the chance to scan Jonatha's body inch by inch—a process which took over 30 minutes, because both Jade and Buffie had to work in sync to get a body scan as good as the top shops' body scanners.
"Aaand done," Buffie announced to Jonatha, who promptly put his underwear back on.
"And what happens now?" Jonatha asked, searching for his dress and not finding it.
"We wait for my computer to build the virtual model and Buffie to do his digital magic," Jade replied. "In the meantime, we can talk."
"Alright... Where did you put my dress?"
"It's in my closet. But tonight, you're gonna stay like this."
"Why?"
"Boy, we need to build you up, and you need to see how cute you are!" He was so distracted that he didn't notice that Jade and Buffie were also in their underwear.
"I don't feel that cute. I mean, I know the girls think I am cute, but I feel I am just me."
"And you are wrong. You need to feel cute, wonderful, because you are that. Look at yourself. Your body has a better proportion than mine. Your top and bottom volumes match in size, and your legs are to die for. And you are a true friend and you are almost like a sister to me. We can fight, but I am always going to forgive you, even if it takes a while," said Jade giving time to Buffie manipulate the Adobe CLO program to build Jonatha's new looks.
"I see, but—"
"No buts. I am here to help you to be the boy you should be. I want you to do an exercise. I did it and it worked for me," Jade said, sitting on the bed and gesturing Jonatha over.
"What do you want me do?" Jonatha asked, sitting down next to his friend.
"Close your eyes and hold my hands. Now take a deep breath and try to remember the first day of school."
Jonatha nodded, closed his eyes and tried to picture it in his head. Suddenly, he was shocked. He was smiling and walking carefree, wearing a short skirt and a semi transparent blouse with his hair tied in a ponytail. He exuded happiness, and the girls were drooling at him.
"So what do you remember?"
"I'm at school, walking like I was the school king. And I am... sexy?" Jonatha said, wondering if any of this was real. "Am I a lollipop?"
"No you're not... You were like an iconic boy. Many boys tried to copy your style," said Jade. "You just need to let this Jonatha come to you. The boy who had a fake Snapchat profile under Jonni Merlin just to tease the girls and pose for more spicy pictures, just for fun."
"I did it for fun?" Jonatha asked in surprise, questioning himself.
"Yep! Now let's try and remember homecoming... It was your best day before you and Nic became a thing."
"Do I need to?" Jonatha protested with hesitation. "These memories are confusing."
"Just try it, alright?" said Jade, hoping that Jonatha would remember he was like a playboy—a carefree boy who wasn't ashamed of his body, who wasn't afraid to be a boy or a man.
Jonatha took another deep breath and let the first images come. He was flirting with Nic, and she came like a gentlewoman. By the end of the night, Nic and Jonatha were Valley Lake High's queen and king, and during the coronation, Nic kissed him in a very passionate way.
Jonatha, still taking in the new memories, opened his eyes. "I think I know now what you meant about remembering. And I think I wasted a little over a week...dazed and confused."
Jade just smiled and hugged his best friend. "You're back!"
"I never went away, I just felt weak... and I still am weak. Now I just know what I should be, bestie."
