The sissy games

Part 48; love and a game

Lying close together on the picnic blanket, Alex and Ember watched the sky. Ember turned toward Alex and smiled, her eyes soft in the fading light. Alex noticed and faced her, his heart warming at her expression.

"I wish we could spend the whole night here," she said quietly.

"That would be perfect," Alex responded with a smile. "This place feels so magical... and romantic."

"You're the magical one," she teased, giggling softly. They leaned in, sharing another kiss, a quiet moment of tenderness between them.

After enjoying each other's company for a bit longer, it was time to leave. They packed up their things and started walking back, past the little streams and through the vibrant autumn forest. For a while, they walked side by side in comfortable silence, but then Alex decided to grab her hand. Ember glanced at him, a soft smile on her lips, and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"I still can't believe you fell for me," Alex said, gesturing to his hair and makeup. "I look like this most of the time."

"I don't care about the girly stuff they put on you," she replied, her voice sincere. "It's the boy underneath, the real Alex, that I fell in love with."

Her words brought a huge smile to his face, and he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I do," she laughed, the sound light and full of joy.

They reached the car and headed back to the facility. After Ember brought him to his room, she went to make dinner. Normally, Alex would stop by the mirror and feel ashamed of how they'd dressed him up this time, but today, he barely noticed. Instead, he lay on the bed, daydreaming about all the things he wanted to do with Ember once they escaped this place—going to the movies, visiting the forest again, maybe even working out together. The smile he had from their time in the forest hadn't left his face for a second.

When Ember returned, they ate dinner together. But after a while, she sighed, setting down her fork. "Sadly, we don't have much time. There's another game today, and this is your hint: 'Crawl to avoid gloss.'"

"Got it. Thanks," Alex said, nodding, mentally preparing himself. He wasn't thrilled about another game, but at least he knew what to expect.

They walked hand in hand through the halls until they reached the main arena. The familiar sight of the brightly lit room and the other contestants greeted them. Alex looked around, seeing the usual faces—each of them wearing minor makeovers compared to him, except two. One guy was still in his Halloween costume from yesterday, and another was caked in makeup, his face completely transformed into that of a girl.

The lights turned green, signaling the start of the games.

"Welcome, dear guests, to the 148th Sissy Games!" the voice boomed over the speakers. "Tonight, our boys will face a series of makeup challenges, and don't worry—if they fail, they'll only get prettier!" Laughter echoed through the crowd.

The wheel spun to determine the first contestant, landing on Jeremy. He was relatively new, and Alex hadn't seen him much lately due to the different games they'd been competing in. Jeremy approached the now-iconic slide, which was present in most of the challenges. He slid down and launched himself toward the swinging mascaras—giant bristles designed to knock contestants off. If you fell here, you were guaranteed to be painted for the next three days. Jeremy jumped from bristle to bristle, but when he hit the next platform, a lip gloss shot out and knocked him off. He tumbled into the pink, glittery substance below.

Alex was up third. He slid down the slide, grabbing onto the black mascara bristles and swinging across to the lip gloss platform. Remembering the hint, he crouched low, crawling carefully to avoid the lip gloss projectiles. As he neared the end, a gloss shot out. He ducked just in time, but when he stood to jump, a second gloss caught him off guard, pushing him into the glittery goo.

Most of the other boys suffered similar fates, getting knocked off at various points. Only two contestants made it past the third obstacle and completed the course. The screen flashed the names of the four semifinalists—Alex was one of them. It had been a while since he'd made it this far, but today, something felt different. His time with Ember had given him a renewed sense of determination.

After the round, Ember greeted him offstage. "Great job, Alex!"

"Thanks," he said, rinsing off the sticky glitter in the shower. "I'll never get used to smelling like this stuff."

Ember laughed. "It's not that bad."

"I'm glad you think so," Alex grinned. "Well, one more to go. If I do as well as before, we'll be in the finals!"

When the lights turned green again, Alex re-entered the arena. This time, the challenge involved a giant, rotating eyeliner pencil. "Our beauties are clean and ready for the semifinals!" the voice announced. "The rules are simple: stay on the rotating platform. That's it. Good luck, girls!"

The pencil started to spin slowly, and Alex, along with the others, walked in the opposite direction to stay balanced. But as the speed picked up, it became harder to keep up. Suddenly, the pencil stopped abruptly. Alex lost his balance and tumbled into the pool of glitter below, the first of the four to fall.

Swimming to the platform, Ember was waiting for him with a towel. "I didn't expect it to stop like that," Alex said, still catching his breath.

"Neither did I," Ember replied, her voice soft and comforting. They headed to the bathroom together, where Alex dried off quickly. Ember handed him a new set of red, lacy underwear. He sighed but put it on without complaint.

Together, they waited for the results, chatting, kissing, and enjoying each other's company. When the screen finally lit up with the results, Alex saw his punishment—fake nails.

"Ugh, why?" he groaned internally. He hated those nails more than anything.