NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23 – Enthralled
Apparently, there were about six quadrillion types of bras. Or at least that’s what it felt like after we were finally done with the lingerie shop.
As a girl, I still had a lot to learn. Not knowing the basics of clothing was unacceptable.
On that note… even though I was a girl, there still, er, certain parts, that didn’t exactly belong on a girl. We had gotten into the discussion while in the shop, and I found out about the various surgeries and treatments I could undergo.
Although, since I was a minion of a supervillain who could build high-tech equipment, I was hoping he would have some kind of machine that would help me skip all of that.
But, that also meant I would have to tell him about who I really was… and even though he was a cool guy, I couldn’t be sure how he would react to that.
Ugh… why was the old fear creeping back? I didn’t like this… maybe I should just go with the regular treatments instead of relying on Fractal. Yeah, that might be easier. And anyway, It wouldn’t be fair to have an easy way out while everyone else suffered.
But enough of that gloomy stuff. Our shopping trip was proceeding smoothly until Miranda and Kelly suddenly decided to split off the party and left me alone with Fern. Kind of odd they decided that they urgently needed to buy sunglasses and insisted on going with just the two of them, but eh, I wasn’t going to pry.
“So now that we are alone on our date, where do you wanna go next?”
“Wha--?!” I whipped my head around and froze.
Date?! What date?!
“Come on now… I don’t like beating around the bush. And I’m not that stupid. Suddenly calling me that something happened to your outfit and that you need to go shopping? Sounds like an invitation to a date to me.” Fern grinned.
…
Oh… well, when she put it that way, that meant I had been the stupid one for not realizing I had invited her to a date. But I hadn’t even meant to!
“And we’re lucky your friends eventually understood as well.”
Wait, was that why they suddenly left after that murmuring session the three had?
“So?”
I couldn’t just betray Iron Pack! I’d worked so hard to meet her, to impress her, and I’d even saved her…! After she had saved me, but that didn’t matter!
But still… even if my stupid self hadn’t realized it at the time, I had sorta invited Fern to this date, so I had to take responsibility.
“Okay! Let’s… uh… get something to eat?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
I quelled my sudden surge of nervousness and we started toward the snack bar. Unfortunately, my new friend was relentless and began a conversation as we walked.
“So, what do you do for a living? You seem to be pretty well off.”
Uh oh, was she on to me?
“I’m an assistant. I, uh…” -- scour the internet for a certain villainess -- “Help with paperwork… sort information, that kind of stuff.”
“Oh, interesting.” Her eyebrows rose. “I always thought these kinds of jobs didn’t pay all that well. Which company are you working for?”
Fractal, Inc.
“It’s a private company… I got hired by chance, I don’t think they normally hire like this… but the boss was really happy with what I could do, so he hired me on the spot.”
Somehow, I still hadn’t told a single lie. I truly was a master of lying without lying.
Fern chuckled. “I see. You’re pretty lucky, huh?”
Oh, you wouldn’t believe just how much.
“Uh, yeah. A little bit.” I scratched my head, thinking about the hotel incident. I then shook it off and attempted a counter-attack. “What about you? What do you do for a living?”
“Me? Hmm, I’m more or less a freelancer. I work with animals.”
“Oh, something like walking other people’s dogs?”
“Ehh, not quite.” She made the so-so gesture with her hand. “It’s a bit difficult to explain. There aren’t many others with this kind of job and it’s hard to succeed, but I’m doing pretty well for myself.”
Huh, was she some kind of entrepreneur? That sounded interesting.
From then on, we talked about everything we could think of. From clothes, and make-up, to foods we liked, and our favorite flavor of pizza. Luckily, she wasn’t one of those pineapple heretics, which made me like her even more.
I didn’t even notice when we finished eating what we’d ordered. Heck, I didn’t even remember what I had ordered. I had just been so engrossed in our conversation. So engrossed with her.
It felt strange. I’d tried dating girls before this, but it always felt off. There was nothing wrong with the girls, but there was everything wrong with me. But now that I allowed myself to be a girl? Everything seemed to have changed. I didn’t mind letting others get close to me anymore. I let myself be enthralled by the girl in front of me, much like what had happened when I’d first encountered Iron Pack.
Even as we said goodbye and parted ways, I still couldn’t shake it off. Things had changed. Iron Pack wasn’t my first crush because she was different from other girls. She was my first crush because I had been different from my usual self when we first met.
“There are more fish in the sea,” Troy had said.
Ah, crap.
