NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: The Machine
Jay
“So then what happened?” Jay asked when Steph finished telling her story.
“I kept it to myself for a bit,” she replied. “I told my online friends, but that was it for a couple weeks. When I went back to school in January, I decided to start wearing nail polish. Clear polish at first, then some polish with some sparkles in it. No one noticed, obviously. Then I started wearing some light blue polish, and no one said anything, so I, uh… I got a couple pairs of women’s jeans. Started wearing those. No one noticed. Hell, there isn’t really that much of a difference outside of men’s jeans actually having pockets.” She scoffed. “Whatever. Anyway, my parents left preparing for prom entirely up to me, so I decided ‘fuck it’, and went all out.”
Jay’s eyes widened. “You mean-”
“I wore a dress to prom,” Steph said. “I didn’t really come out. I just showed up to prom and let people figure it out for themselves.”
“That’s… really badass, Steph,” Jay said, her eyes wide.
Steph smirked. “Thanks. I was nervous, though. Like, I had committed once I bought the dress, but I was worried. But it was fine. Some people raised a stink, but the teachers pulled them aside and told them to behave. After that, I just started being myself full time and tried to ignore anyone who had a problem with it. Of course, I had a long talk with my parents after I got home from prom, but they were supportive. I had my estrogen by the start of summer.”
Jay nodded. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had asked Steph about all of this in the first place, but she had a newfound respect for her. It was really brave of her to do what she did. Jay wished she could be even half that brave.
Steph
After their conversation, Jay stood up and headed back to her room. Steph wanted to follow, but something told her that her girlfriend wanted to be alone for a little while. She stayed sitting on the couch and took out her laptop. To play some games to pass the time.
After a couple of hours. Jay came back out of her room. She was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Something was clearly bothering her. Steph paused her game and closed her laptop.
“Jay!” she said. “What’s up, cutie?”
Jay shrugged. “Nothin’.” She sat down next to Steph, and Steph put and arm around Jay, pulling her in close to snuggle.
They continued snuggling together like that. Jay eventually pulled out her phone, pulling up some story or another to read. Steph tried to avoid looking at it in an attempt to respect Jay’s privacy, but what little Steph could gather indicated it was trans fiction of some sort. Interesting.
Eventually, Steph asked, “what are you reading, Jay?”
Jay stiffened. “Uh, it’s like this, um, sci-fi thing? There’s like this machie that can transform people, and ummm…” she trailed off blushing.
“Let me guess,” Steph said, smirking. “It turns people into girls?”
Jay nodded. “Yeah, um…”
Steph giggled. “Well, you and I both know that’s not how it really works. You are your gender. That machine just… gives people a body typical of cis girls.”
Jay nodded. “Um, yeah, I guess. The protagonist just got transformed, and he- um, she? Might be she, idk. They’re trying to pretend they don’t like it, but they do.”
“What’s it called?” Steph asked. “I might give it a read, see if it’s any good.”
“Uh…” Jay showed Steph the title on her phone. “I’ve only just started it. Found it this morning.”
“Do you read a lot of stories like that, cutie?”
Jay’s blush intensified. “No comment.”
Steph giggled, but didn’t press Jay further about that subject.
“Do you have any pictures?” Jay asked. “From prom, that is.”
Steph wasn’t expecting Jay to ask that. “Oh. Yeah, I’ve got a few. You wanna see?”
Jay nodded. “If you don’t mind sharing.”
“Not at all!” Steph said. She pulled out her phone and then the photos app. She scrolled to near the bottom, then opened up a pic. “Here you go,” she said, handing the phone to Jay.
Jay was looking at it, transfixed. “You look good in this,” Jay said.
Steph blushed. “I dunno. I didn’t have boobs yet. And my stubble was just barely hidden with some concealer…”
“No, you look really pretty,” Jay says. “Did you, like, stuff something in your bra?”
Steph nodded. “Rolled up socks, yeah. It wasn’t perfect.”
“It looks good enough to me,” Jay said. “And your makeup looks really good, actually.”
“Thanks!” Steph said. “I was actually really proud of that, to be honest. Also, that’s not a wig there, I’d been letting my hair grow out since Christmas for this.”
“It looks pretty,” Jay said. “Did you do something with it?”
Steph nodded. “Yeah, uh, I spent an awfully long time styling it for this. Like, several hours until I managed to get it to look right.”
“Do you think you could do something like that with my hair?”
Steph glanced up at Jay’s head. Her hair was longer than Steph’s had been back then. She nodded slowly. “Your hair is longer than mine was. I think I can do something, yeah. What do you have in mind?”
“Something like you did for prom,” Jay said. “Or, I dunno, what do you think will look good?”
Steph smirked. “Oh, so you’re giving me free reign over your hair, huh cutie?”
Jay nodded shyly. “Um, yeah, guess so.”
Steph grabbed Jay’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Alright, babe. Come on, I’ll help your hair look nice and pretty.”
Jay
Once Steph finished, Jay was left staring at her reflection. Again. It was becoming a running theme that she was left speechless, gaping at her own reflection. Steph had started by brushing Jay’s hair. That left it hanging down to her neck. It was actually a bit wavy, which Jay had never noticed before. Her hair hadn’t been this long until after covid started, and even then, she’d let it get tangled and messy. Now it looked actually really pretty.
She looked really pretty. She turned her head to the left and right, trying to see if somehow the illusion would break, and she’d see the ugly boy she knew was hiding under the makeup.
But from every angle, she only saw a cute girl. A happy cute girl. It didn’t make sense. Jay had never been happy seeing her own reflection. The opposite, in fact!
“You like it, babe?” Steph asked.
Jay nodded mutely. She continued examining in the mirror, looking for anything giving away that this wasn’t really what she looked like, but, stubbornly, her reflection continued only showing her a cute girl.
“Is this real?” She asked.
Steph rolled her eyes, smiling. “Yes, Jay. This is real. You really do look like that. I see you moving around trying to find some flaw or something. There is nothing, cutie. You look pretty.”
Jay blushed. Steph had noticed her investigating. “This is ok, right?”
Steph nodded. “Of course, babe. Very ok.”
Jay sighed. Her mind still screamed with a voice that sounded suspiciously like her dad at her that something about this was wrong, but she let Steph’s words push that voice away, making it easier to ignore.
