XYXX (Camren)

Chapter 3

        He stared at himself in the mirror, wearing nothing but the boxer briefs the wardrobe department stocked his closet full of. His skin was pale and familiar, but there was a roughness about it that made him feel unwelcome in his own body. He was lean and cut, something that translated over well from his female body. Abs and muscle were something he had cultivated on his female body, but to a light degree, but on this body, the muscles were even more accented and noticeable.

And the hair – God, the hair. Although the top of his head wasn’t filled with long locks, his stomach and legs were hairier than his own ex-boyfriends’ and it was a little disturbing to him. At least he still had his eyes. He brought his hands up to the mirror, fingers resting on the reflection of his face, and he looked carefully into his eyes.

They were still green and striking – something he was always proud of – so he was glad that he didn’t lose them. He noticed a little stubble growing around his lips but he wasn’t about to mess up his face with a razor – who knew how that’d affect him when he took the 1-hour pills for the concerts and singings? Having cuts all over his female counterpart face would be a little difficult to explain.

He had to admit he made for a handsome man. It was a bit of an ego boost, although, at the same time, extremely disturbing. He wanted nothing more than to be back in his old body, but the damage was done and if he had to deal with this, he might as well make the best of it. With a sigh, he walked over to his newly changed closet and stared at his cute little skirts and tight studded dresses that he had been hoping to wear before, well, all this happened.

“Hey, Lauren, I brought us some –“

“Ah!”

Lauren hurried to cover himself with his arms as Camila walked into the room holding a box of pizza. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the disheveled, half-naked boy. There was an awkward moment of frozen silence before Camila burst into laughter.

“What are you doing naked?” Camila laughed, putting the pizza box down on the bed and closing the hotel room door behind her.

“Stop it.” Lauren said, hiding his face behind his hands. “I was trying to get comfortable with this.”

“Looks like you’re plenty comfortable.” Camila joked, pushing his shoulder.

“Jerk.”

Camila grabbed a slice of pizza and curiously watched Lauren as he looked through his closet and picked out something to wear. He pulled on jeans and a white t-shirt before pulling on a long-sleeved plaid button up to put on over. Folding up the sleeves, he buttoned the plaid shirt halfway up and tucked the white shirt underneath into his pants.

“Hey, at least you dress nice.”

“I spent, like, hours of my life dreaming up my dream guys and the clothes they’d wear. This is ridiculously easy for me.” Lauren grinned, before pulling on a pair of sunglasses. “And I’m tired of being inside so let’s go somewhere.”

“But pizza!” Camila motioned, pouting.

“Please? I’ll buy you ice cream.” Lauren pressured, “I haven’t gone outside since this whole transformation thing and I could really use some sun.”

“I can’t complain about free ice cream.” Camila sighed, jumping off the bed and looping her arm around her best friend’s.

As soon as they left the building, Camila could sense the rising anxiety in her best friend. Although his eyes were hidden by the shades, she could see all the tell-tale signs – the jumpiness, the clammy hands, the hurried pace. Camila quickly grabbed his hand in hers, running her thumb over the back of his hand to calm him down. Eventually, his breath slowed down and they made it to the front of the ice cream store without incident.