Zoe woke up the next morning with a sense of relief washing over her. There was no more pressure for her to be the best, she could just be herself—of course, she wasn’t looking forward to telling Coach the news.
That, however, was a problem for tomorrow. For now, she could just enjoy herself—well, a slightly different self, but a better one.
Sitting up in her bed, Zoe looked around her room taking in everything. She was looking forward to having some of her old stuff back, but she had decided that she’d keep the wallpaper, even if it was blue. There was no point changing it back, and besides, it was lighter than the black wallpaper that she once had.
Yawning, Zoe tossed the covers off. and swung her legs out, slipping her feet into a pair of slippers. Crossing over to the window she pulled back the curtains to reveal that it was pouring outside. Oh well, Zoe thought. Guess it’s a day of watching TV.
After watching the rain for a few minutes, Zoe decided to get dressed. One thing that she had enjoyed as a boy was that it was so much quicker to get ready. All you had to do was throw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Zoe opened up her underwear drawer and made a mental note to ask her dad to get her old clothes out of storage as, for now, she would have to go braless.
Grabbing a pair of white boxers, Zoe picked out a T-shirt and jeans. It’ll be good to be wearing skirts again, Zoe thought. Maybe she could go shopping with Jonchelle and pick out some new clothes that weren’t black. It might be fun, especially since Jonchelle seemed to know much more about fashion than Zoe ever did.
Zoe chuckled, thinking about her sister. With Zoe back in the family, there would be four girls in the family. Her mom and big sister were already fashionistas, and it looked like Kiera was following in their footsteps. Zoe had decided that she wasn’t going to be one of those girls.
Checking to see if the shower was free, Zoe crossed the hallway and into the bathroom, where she started to get ready for the day. After the shower, she dried herself off and then wrapped a towel around her chest and another over her short hair, the familiar old routine slotting back into place as if she was riding a bicycle. Zoe also decided that she would grow her hair out again but, until then, it was a pixie cut for Zoe.
Back in her room, Zoe got dressed and then tried to style her short hair as femininely as she could. She paused for a moment, thinking and then wandered out into the hallway again as she knocked gently on Jonchelle’s door. Jonchelle was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when Zoe knocked, so she permitted her to enter.
“Hey sis,” Zoe chirped as she entered. Jonchelle responded with a similar greeting. “I was wondering… Can I borrow some of your makeup? Only until I get some of my own of course.”
Jonchelle beamed at Zoe and nodded.
“Of course you can, Zoe!” She paused for a moment. “Wow, that’s going to take a bit of getting used to again. I had gotten so used to the idea of you being Zach. Oh yeah, and it’s not like some of this wasn’t yours anyway...” she giggled.
Zoe nodded, joining her sister at the vanity table and picking up a tube of lipstick. “Yeah, but Zach’s gone now and... honestly, I feel so much better for it. I learned a lot about myself, but it’s time to move on.”
“That’s good to hear. I’m happy for you.” Jonchelle looked at Zoe’s outfit. Smacking her lips after putting some lipstick on, Zoe turned and followed Jonchelle’s gaze.
“Yeah, I know. It’s the best that I can do until Dad gets my clothes out of storage.” Jonchelle nodded but looked thoughtful. “What?” Zoe asked.
“I know that none of my tops would fit, but maybe we could find a skirt to match that top?” Jonchelle suggested.
“That’s a good idea... I didn’t think about that.” With that, Jonchelle jumped up and bounded over to her closet which she opened up to reveal rows of dresses and skirts.
“Wow!” Zoe exclaimed, whistling. “I knew that you were high-maintenance, but I didn’t realize that you were such a clotheshorse.”
Jonchelle giggled, blushing a little as she started ferreting through her collection, eventually pulling out a blue pleated skirt that matched Zoe’s blue polo shirt.
“How about this one?” She offered. Zoe took it and was about to ask Jonchelle to turn around but then realized that Jonchelle was a girl now, and Zoe thought of Jonchelle more as a girl than boy; it suited her. There was no need to hide from her—she was her sister, after all.
Jonchelle let a little gasp out as Zoe simply dropped her pants down in front of her but remembered that girls were often more comfortable with getting changed in front of each other than boys, especially sisters. Jonchelle smiled as she took it as a sign that Zoe was getting more comfortable with the idea that Jonchelle was a girl.
Pulling up the skirt, Zoe gave a little twirl. “How do I look?” she asked.
Jonchelle studied her sister for a moment and frowned. “It’s not great but it’ll do better than those tatty jeans. Maybe we can go shopping at some point and get you some new stuff.” Zoe smiled.
“I was hoping that you would say that.”
