The sissy games

Part 16; Do it myself?!

"So all this was just extra?" Alex asked, feeling defeated.

"No," Ember explained again, "as I said before, you gain points. You have 8 points now because you're in first place. Next comes another game where you can earn more points."

"Great... just great. So, what's this second game?" Alex asked, frustrated.

"Hey! Come on, we won, and trust me, it wasn't for nothing," Ember said, feeling a bit attacked.

"But you knew there were more rounds, and you didn't tell me," Alex said, disappointed.

"I know, I'm sorry about that. I guess I thought you knew, but of course, you didn't," she apologized.

Alex let out a sigh. "I hope whatever you won is worth it, and share with me if it's money," he said, jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

Ember felt a bit relieved that Alex wasn't angry with her. "It is, and I promise!" she replied. "Let me tell you a bit about the next game. Everyone, even those who were in last place, participates in this game where, again, points are awarded to the players. In the next game, you'll be put at a makeup table and have to make yourself look the prettiest," Ember explained.

"I have to do what?" Alex responded, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"Put makeup on," Ember said nervously.

"I can't, and I won't," he replied firmly.

Just then, the doors opened, signaling that the mentors had to leave and the players had to proceed. As Alex walked through the door, he heard Ember call out, "You don't want to lose!"

He was separated from the rest, placed in a small pink room with just a makeup table, a chair, and a large clock ticking down from 10 minutes. A camera moved around to film the boys, and another was mounted on the mirror of the table itself. Alex sat down, staring at the products scattered around. When he opened the drawers, he found even more.

"I'm not going to embarrass myself any further. I won't do it," he told himself, sitting there doing nothing as the time slowly ticked away. He thought to himself, "The others won't do this to themselves either, right?" But he couldn't see them—he was alone. He looked at all the products in front of him, recognizing a few. He could distinguish between lipstick and lip gloss, but the thought of applying them to himself made him look away in disgust.

"I won't do it," he kept repeating to himself. Yet, his mind started to waver. "If I don't do it and everyone else does, I'll end up in last place." But applying it himself felt like admitting defeat. His thoughts swirled, battling like knights to the death. "The others won't do this, right?" his mind raced. "But what if they do?"

Alex snapped out of his thoughts as a buzzer sounded, marking that only half the time was left. He admitted to himself that whoever designed this "game" was very clever to keep them all separated. Meanwhile, Ember, who was watching the screen, hoped Alex would do it and win.

With only 2 minutes left, Alex didn't want to have worn the fairy costume for nothing, nor did he want to end up in 8th place and face a punishment worse than the haircut he was staring at in the mirror. He searched through the makeup for a green lipstick and hesitantly applied it to his lips. The sight of his now green lips made him feel disgusted with himself. "I'm doing this to myself," echoed in his mind. He shook off the thought, and with only 1 minute left, he recognized a product as mascara and quickly applied it, hurrying to powder his cheeks with blush. The time was up. He looked in the mirror at what he had done to himself. His green lips stood out awkwardly against his pale, powdered cheeks. The mascara was hastily applied, clumping in his lashes, making him look more disheveled than anything else. He felt profoundly uncomfortable with his appearance.

He quickly stood up and walked through the now-open door. There, he saw the others. Each of them had given in to the thought that the others would do it too. All except one—Danny, the boy who had been painted red, whose color was finally fading. After a bath, he might finally be back to normal. As Alex looked at them, Danny suddenly yelled, "You all are horrible! Look at yourselves! You did exactly what they wanted you to do! You don't deserve to be boys!"

Alex could only swallow hard. In some way, Danny was right, but he also understood that becoming last would be a worse fate. Everyone was silent except for Erik, who shouted back, "Better this than last place!" The argument escalated but was soon interrupted by a woman stepping onto the stage.

"Sorry for the wait, my dear guests. It's time to see what our judges think of our pretty fairytale characters," the voice announced. Each of the boys was presented to the judge, who was the princess from the previous round. They were judged on how well their makeup was applied, how the colors matched their costume, and how much was applied. Danny, who had refused to participate, received just 1 point, the lowest possible score. Alex was given 3 points. He had barely applied any makeup, and what little he had put on was done quickly and poorly. However, he did receive some points for the green lipstick matching his dress and nails. Jake, who had been sent to the beauty salon as punishment for becoming last in a different game, had to apply his makeup himself like the others. Apparently, he had learned a few tricks, as he came in first and was awarded 8 points.

"Mirror, mirror, on the makeup table, who is the prettiest of them all?" the voice asked mockingly. The rankings were then displayed on the screen. Alex, due to his low points, was now in 3rd place. Tom and Chris were tied for 1st.

Alex stared at the rankings:

1st place: 13 points - Tom / Chris
3rd place: 11 points - Alex
4th place: 9 points - Jake
5th place: 8 points - Erik
8th place: 6 points - Jorn / Steve / Danny

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him: "Phew, I was scared you were going to do nothing in there." He turned around and saw Ember.

"I didn't want to, but it's like Erik said—I don't want to come in last. Yet I feel defeated... Danny is right," Alex sighed.

"He might be right, but if you win, you can leave and never have to do this again," Ember said, trying to cheer him up.

"You're right. If I win, we can leave," Alex said, feeling slightly better. Yet Danny's words lingered in his mind.

"Good luck in the next round. It seems it's about to start," Ember said.

"But what is the game?" Alex asked quickly before she left.

"I don't know either," she replied. The door opened, and the final round was about to begin.