Hidden Within

Narration:

The girls noticed how Zoe fell asleep and just smiled at each other. The movie was almost at it's end so they decided to wait until it ends before they take Zoe back to her room.

"I can't help but feel like I got a younger sister!" Mackie whispered to Rama with a warm smile.

"I know right? As much as he hates it but he's.. she's just adorable!" Rama agreed.

"Imagine how hard it must be for him... All his life as he knows it just changed and he had to keep it to himself for so long.. I'm happy we found out when we did and not later, at least we were able to slightly help him with everything." Mackie added.

"True, and the fact that he can stay with us now must be a big relief for him. I don't know much about his private life but it seems like it would have been bad if his family found out right away." Rama said.

Zoe's pov:

"Hello? Anyone there?" I said to no one in particular as I found myself standing in an empty blue space. "I can't remember how I reached this place.." I wondered.

I walked along this empty space until I reached a paved road so I decided to follow it. After a few minutes I reached a division with a sign in the middle that had a pink arrow to the right and a blue one to the left. I stared at the sign for a few seconds and then I heard an all too familiar sound on the left.

"Does it really need all that thinking?" I looked at the guy and I found my male self staring at me.

"Honestly it must be obvious!" Another familiar voice from the right this time.. my female self.

"Let him decide for himself! You stay out of it!" The male me told the female one.

"Same to you, let 'her' decide!" She made sure to emphasize the word 'her' "if she looks down she's gonna know the answer immediately anyways." She stated.

I looked down and found myself in my female body wearing a cute yellow dress, I was shocked and took a few steps back.

"Backwards is not an option I'm afraid." The male me said.

"What are you waiting for?" Another voice, this time an unfamiliar male one said from behind me. I couldn't see his face or any distinct detail on him and I didn't know why. All I knew that he was urging me forwards.

"Here I'll help you." He lifted me princess style and headed towards where my female self was standing. "Let's go my lady." He added, I tried struggling but it was futile, I was afraid of this road.

"There should always be a way back!" My male self shouted as we slowly made our way through this track. "Just trust your heart and go with what you believe is right!" He added.

"Let's have some fun!" My female self told me. I was still trying to fight and struggle but when I couldn't do much to the guy I gave up, I relaxed my body and let him take me, all be it against my will. I realized what was happening, it would seem that I've taken some steps down the feminine route... I think.... I felt myself getting emotional and my eyes tearing up a bit. I suddenly opened my eyes.

Mackie's pov:

"Okay I'll take Zack to his room now." I told Rama as soon as the movie ended, and Rama nodded in agreement as she started collecting the dishes to take them to the kitchen.

I put my right arm under his back and my left one under his knees and carried him princess style and to my surprise he was massively light! I mean I knew he was light as evident by his shortness and petite body but he must be barely 40 kg!

"He's light!" I whispered to Rama.

"I'm not surprised." She chuckled.

I could feel how he suddenly tensed up and after a few moments relaxed again. Then, a tear started forming up under his right eye. I was about to reach his room when that tear dropped and he suddenly opened his eyes.

"Hi, sorry didn't mean to wake you up." I said with a smile. Which to my surprise he just relaxed his head and put his face against my shoulder (clearly avoiding my chest). He must have been dreaming the poor soul. I entered his room then put him on his bed. I decided to sit at the side of the bed for a while. He wrapped himself with his hands and curled himself up almost out of fear. I couldn't tell fear of what but I didn't want to ask either. I noticed a few tear drops falling from his eyes so I sat there for a while patting his back, I even started humming for him. After a while he seemed to relax and fell asleep again.

I left his room once I made sure he was asleep and turned off the lights. Once I was out again, Rama had already finished the dishes.

"Asleep?" She asked to which I replied with a nod.

"Seems like he had a nightmare or something." I said.

"Poor him.... hey umm.. How hard do you think would it be to actually change genders like he did?" Rama wondered.

"It must be terribly difficult, especially since it seems like he had close to no support! Imagine if we did not notice!" I explained.

"Do you think it would have lead to him hurting himself?" She asked with a scared expression.

"Maybe... I honestly don't know what would have happened. From what he said, only his mom knew and she only knew yesterday! He's been changing for over a month!" I exclaimed.

"But you know what? I think this is a blessing in disguise... A change in scenery is very good for him, and he can leave that stressful atmosphere that he was in. I just hope we're not somehow hurting him without noticing... Do you think we are?"

"I believe that this is a blessing in disguise as well, as for wether we are hurting him or not, I don't think so. He's slightly relaxed and he could finally feel our support. When he woke up from his nightmare he rested his head against my hand and relaxed a bit, although it was clear he was deliberately avoiding my chest" I smiled. "But he still was glad to find someone to comfort him, and he fell asleep quickly as I was with him." I continued.

"That's great to hear... Look at the time! It's already 11 pm!" Rama exclaimed.

"Oh wow you're right! Guess we'll have to call it a night then. When's our first lecture tomorrow?" I asked.

"It's gonna be at 10 am thankfully! Then we have another one at 12 then that's all for the day." She answered.

"Ok cool, then I guess I'll say good night then." I replied.

"Good night to you too, sweet dreams." She said back with a smile. We turned off the lights and each headed for her own room.