“Oh, be careful!”

“Hmm?”

And like that, I fall off a (thankfully low) bridge into a shallow stream. I’m not hurt, thankfully, but I look like an idiot in front of my sister and her daughter. Moreover, I’m wet.

My sister rushes down from the bridge, and offers me a hand. “Come on! Let’s get you back home and dry before you catch a cold!”

My older sister has always been somewhat motherly, but of course she’s been ever more so after she had her daughter 12 years ago. Thankfully, it isn’t a long walk back to her house. The cold country air is threatening to give me a cold, though.

I get back to my sister’s place, and throw my clothes in the washer. Then I start filling the bath. As I soak, I try to relax. Today’s been a manic day, with me just having driven 16 hours to get here. As I’m sitting in the tub, I consider the fact that my car, and with it, my clothes, are over at my brother’s house, over 30 minutes away. I’ve got a slight issue until my clothes are dry, but it won’t be too long, I guess.

“I’m leaving some clothes out here for you!” my sister tells me. I guess I don’t actually have all that long to worry after all. She must have had some spare clothes hanging around that belong to her ex or someone.

I step out of the shower, and carefully open the bathroom door. On the floor is a pile of folded clothes and a towel. I grab them, and hurry back into the bathroom before anyone can see me naked. There, I get a good look at the clothes.

“What the heck?” I mumble, staring at the girl’s clothes laid out for me.

My sister is way larger than I am. Her daughter, though, is pretty skinny, just like me. I’m also really short, which has always made it difficult to get clothes that fit, especially pants. I have to go into the kid’s section, which has always made me feel awkward. This is even worse, though, as these clothes belong to her 12 year old daughter.

“Becky, what is this?” I shout at her.

“Spare clothes! It’s all we’ve got that will fit you!”

“These are girls’ clothes!”

“And? You can’t walk around naked, and you can’t fit in my clothes!”

I groan, and take a look at the clothes one more time. The top is a frilly white blouse with some flowers on it. There are also some denim shorts. Like, really short shorts. Moreover, there are panties here.

“Don’t worry! The underwear has never been worn!”

“That doesn’t make it better!” I shout, going red staring at the black panties with a butterfly on the back. They seem to be made of some kind of stretchy material.

I stand there for five minutes thinking about it. With no better option, I go ahead and pull the panties up my legs. They fit surprisingly well. I was worried that there wouldn’t be much space down there, but it’s fine. I then pull up the shorts, which fit perhaps a bit snug, but are okay. I then pull the blouse on over my head, then step out.

“Oh, you look adorable!” my sister says, running up to me with a brush in her hand. She starts brushing my hair, which seriously needs it. I left my brush and comb back at my car.

Her daughter, Nina, looks me up and down.

“You almost look like my twin sister,” she says.

“Yeah, well, I can’t help it! As soon as my clothes are done drying, I’m changing back into them!”

“Uh, about that…” My sister coughs awkwardly. “The dryer is kind of busted. We’ll set the clothes out to dry once the sun comes up, but it’ll be a while until then! Sorry! You’ll just have to stay dressed like that for now! Of course, if you want our brother to see you dressed like this, I could take you back to his house.”

“No way.”

“I didn’t think so.”

My brother would probably kill me if he saw me like this. He was already angry enough about me growing me hair out. He insisted that I at least grow a beard out too, but honestly, I couldn’t even if I wanted to!

So, despite how embarrassing it is, I’m stuck like this for the night. But I guess it isn’t all bad, I could be naked. Or it could be longer than a night. At least it’s only around my sister and my niece.

“Have you ever worn girls’ clothes before?” Nina asks.

“Of course not!” I tell her.

“Really? You look better in girls’ clothes than boys’ clothes.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right! Look, this is the first and last ever time I’ll wear girls’ clothes!”

“Do you at least want to look in my closet and see if there’s anything better?” she asks.

I think about that for a second. It makes sense. Maybe something less feminine.

“Okay, sure. Let’s see what you have.”

She grabs me by my hand, and takes me over to her room. She opens the doors to her closet, and I just see dress after dress after dress. Come to think of it, I pretty much only ever see Nina in dresses.

“Do you seriously never wear anything but dresses?” I ask.

“I have some skirts, too. Also some shorts, of course.”

“Ok, let’s see the shorts, then!”

She opens up some drawers and pulls out some shorts. But it looks like my sister chose the least childish and feminine of them all, as the rest are either dolphin shorts, or denim shorts with butterflies and hearts on them.

“So those are your options unless you want to run around in just underwear or totally naked,” Nina tells me.

I groan, and lay back on the ground. What a pain…

“Can I play with your hair?” Nina asks after a minute or so of watching me lay on her floor.

“Fine, I don’t care.”

I sit on the edge of Nina’s bed, and she sits behind me with her legs dangling to either side. I scroll through a social media app on my phone for a while as she has fun.

“Done!” she finally says after quite some time.

I stand up and look at myself in the full length mirror in Nina’s room. Behind me, I can see my sister smirking, and with good reason, as I totally look like a cute young girl, maybe even younger than Nina! The twin braids are cute, but they don’t fit a 16 year old man like me!

“This is stupid!” I growl, and start undoing the braids.

“Aww! I worked hard on that!” Nina complains.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t look good with them.”

“But you look pretty much just like me!”

“You’re a girl! And 12! I don’t want to look like you!”

Nina is frowning, and seems to be on the verge of tears.

“Now, now,” I mutter, walking over and patting her on the head. “You’re a very cute girl, alright? But I’m a man. I can’t look like you.”

“But you look cute! That’s all that matters!”

“Looks aren’t everything. Though, I guess they do matter. For a man like me, cute isn’t what we go for.”

“Then why the long hair? The hairless arms and legs?”

“I like my hair long, and I don’t like body hair. That’s all there is to it. I’m doing what makes me happy, just like you do.”

Nina pouts, and turns away from me, hugging a pillow.

“You know what might make her happy?” Becky asks.

I glare at my sister, not eager for her answer. “What?” I ask.

“What about playing dress up? You should try some of her other clothes on!”

Nina looks at me with big puppy dog eyes. I groan in annoyance.

“Fine! Just one outfit, though!”

I look at the pile of feminine shorts, and the dresses in the closet. I sigh. I hate this so much. But I promised her that I would, so there’s no backing out of it. I go to her closet, and pick out a plain black dress with a small bow on the front. I throw the blouse off, then pull on the dress. Once the dress is on, I throw the shorts off.

I look myself in the full length mirror, and blush. I see nothing but a cute girl. I walk towards Nina, and the knee length dress sways as I walk.

“What do you think?” I ask.

“Ugh! You look better than I do in a dress! No fair!”

Becky laughs. “Alright, I think that’s good. Good job, Jack. I think it’s probably about time to head to bed, now, so get changed into something comfy.”

Nina is wearing a sleep dress. It turns out that she sleeps in nothing but sleep dresses, so I’ve either got to wear that, or some of her every day clothes. I opt for some soft shorts, instead, pink with hearts on them, along with a blue and white striped tank top with a kitten on the front.

I sleep on the couch. Although, truth be told, I barely get any sleep. I’m not used to wearing clothes like this and they’re… well, I wish I could say uncomfortable, but they’re actually fairly comfortable. I’m kind of excited to wear cute clothes like this, though it pains me to admit it. I’m sure my trouble with sleeping, though, has more to do with being in an unfamiliar place, and sleeping on a couch.

As soon as the sun comes up, my sister puts my clothes on a clothesline in the backyard to dry. Her daughter comes running out of her room in just a swimsuit – a pink and white polkadot one piece.

“You heading swimming?” I ask.

“Yeah! Are you coming?”

I shake my head. “Nope. I left my swimsuit back at my brother’s place. Maybe another day.”

“I could let you borrow a swimsuit,” she tells me.

“Oh, no, I can’t–” before I can totally shut her down, the doorbell rings, and Nina runs to answer it. She opens the door, and two girls around her age walk in.

“Oh, who is this?” One girl, a black girl wearing a green two piece swimsuit with frogs on it, asks.

“This is my… cousin,” Nina answers.

“She’s so cute!” her other friend, a white girl wearing a blue floral one piece bikini, says.

“Is she coming with us?” her first friend asks.

“No–” I begin, but am cut off by Nina.

“Yeah! She just left her swimsuits back at her uncle’s place, so she’s gotta borrow one of mine!”

“Hold up!” I say, but am dragged to Nina’s room before I can say much.

“Listen,” she says, “what do you want me to say? Oh, this is my uncle? Come on! And besides, we’ll have plenty of fun at the river!”

“I can’t let people see me like this!” I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. “Nobody would ever imagine that you’re a guy. Besides, there’s never anyone else there, so it’ll be fine!”

“Nina, I’m a man! Even putting aside the whole crossdressing thing, it would be rather obvious if I were to wear a girl’s swimsuit!”

“Oh, I actually have one with a skirt, hold up!”

“That’s not the main issue! I’m still not wearing a girl’s swimsuit to swim with a bunch of young girls!”

“Mom’s coming, too!” she says, tossing a two piece swimsuit at me.

“That isn’t the issue! I can’t do this!”

“Sure you can! Look, how about you just try the bikini on?”

“I can’t!”

“Are you nearly done?” one of her friends asks. “I’m ready to go swimming!”

“Come on! They’re tired of waiting around! Just get changed!”

“No!”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a baby, seriously. Do you have any idea how good you look in girls’ clothes? Moreover, you look so happy when wearing my clothes! You should at least try it on!”

I groan, and tell her to turn around. I then change out from the shorts and tank top that I slept in to this two piece swimsuit. It’s got a striped bottom with a navy blue skirt, and a striped top with a navy blue bow. I look myself in the mirror, and have to admit that I look rather amazing. I lift the skirt up, and, honestly, don’t even notice anything. I put it back down, then turn to Nina, and tell her to turn around. She gasps.

“Oh! You’re so cute! The boys at school would kill to get a date with you!”

“Don’t get any weird ideas. I don’t like guys, for starters.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. Are you ready to go, now?”

“Hold on,” I say, but she grabs my hand, flings the door open, and shoves me out.

“Oh! You look so cute!” Becky says. I glare at my sister, but she seems to be genuinely smiling, and not making fun of me.

“Thanks,” I mutter.

“Let’s get going, Jackie!” Nina shouts, dragging me out of the house.

The girls and I walk about two miles down the road in nothing but our swimsuits. Barely any cars or people pass us by. We do pass by a few houses, though, and I can’t help but think that they’re watching us, and that they can tell that I’m a dude.

Finally, we arrive at the river. Or maybe it only counts as a stream. It’s about 10 feet across, and only goes up to about my chest. At least at this depth, we’re able to swim, but don’t really have to worry about drowning.

At first, I’m super anxious about everything, and just walk around near the girls, while giving them their own space. But the girls aren’t up for that.

“Come on! Let’s ran across the river!” Nina says, taking my hand and dragging my to one end of the shore. I decide to purposefully go slow so that nobody can end up behind me to see up the swim skirt.

Eventually, I do kind of let go a bit and have fun with the girls. My aunt and niece really push me to try and enjoy myself, and at this point, it’s best to just let go and have fun. I do enjoy swimming, so I actually do have quite a bit of fun despite wearing a girl’s swimsuit. I get splashed in the face a bit, but it’s all in good fun.

After a while, my sister runs off to a nearby grocery store to get some popsicles and soda for us. As she does, we all sit on a large rock by the edge of the water, and the girls pump me for information.

“I didn’t know that Nina had a cousin! And you look so much like her! I bet you drive all the boys at your school wild!” her black friend, Hana, asks.

“Oh, uh, I don’t know about that,” I mutter.

“What? You don’t like guys?” her other friend, Karen, asks.

“Must run in the family,” Hana mutters. Nina slaps her hand across Hana’s mouth, but not fast enough.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

The three girls share a look.

“Nothing,” Hana says, finally.

I want to question them more, but I hear some footsteps coming from behind. I turn around, expecting my sister, but instead, a teenage boy is walking over to us.

“Oh, Brian! I didn’t know you were coming!” Nina says.

“I was at the store when your mom came in! I figured I ought to come say hi, but I didn’t expect to see two Ninas!”

“Hi,” I say awkwardly. “I’m, uh… Jackie.”

Brian sits down right next to me – uncomfortably close.

“So clearly you’re not her sister. Who–”

“I’m her cousin!”

“Ok, cool. Same age?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“Awesome! I’m Brian, and I go to the same school as the girls. We’re good friends, I think!”

“Be careful, he’s a massive flirt,” Hana warns me.

“Or if you would rather not be careful… well, we can turn a blind eye if you want to go home with him,” Karen says.

“Gross! No!”

Brian looks hurt. “Am I that ugly?”

“No, no! I just don’t like… guys…”

“Oh! I can respect that! After all, I like girls, too, you know?”

“Right…”

He looks over at Nina and starts to say something, but she signals for him to shut up. He shrugs, and gets up.

“Alright, well, I don’t want to ruin your girls’ day out, so I’m gonna head back home. If you change your mind, though, Nina can hook you up.”

“I’m good, thanks… Have a good day.”

He nods, and leaves.

Hana leans in and whispers to Nina, “you know, considering the fact she likes girls, too, you could just tell her.”

“Tell me what?” I ask.

Nina is beet red, and seems to be annoyed at her friends. But finally, she sighs, and tells me, “I’m a lesbian. So is Becky. Actually, Hana and Karen are my girlfriends.”

“Wait, what? You’ve got two?”

“Yeah! Jealous?”

“Kind of, yeah! I don’t even have one, jeez! I can’t believe you’ve got more game than me, especially in a small town like this!”

Karen laughs. “It’s tough when you’re the only three lesbians in town! At least of our same age. We can’t exactly pair up, you know? But I’m personally more than happy to date two super cute girls at once!”

“Although, with you here, we could potentially double up,” Hana notes.

I can only imagine how red my face is. “What? No! I couldn’t!”

“Why not?”

I don’t even know what to say. I look over at Nina, who shrugs. “I can’t. I’m not really a girl, and I’m 16.”

“We already knew that. Jeez. But as far as I can tell, you are a girl! I don’t care what you’ve got down below! You look like a cute girl! So, what do you say?” she asks, crawling towards me and taking my hand.

My whole face is burning, and my mind is spinning too fast for me to comprehend. Hana is really cute. But is this really right?

Hana seems to have grown tired of waiting, and leaps on me. She throws her hands over my head, and leans in and kisses me on the lips. Nina and Karen gasp, but certainly don’t try to stop her. Instead, they inch closer to one another, and hold hands. I’m just lying awkwardly for a moment, before I finally bring my hands up. I bring them to her back, though after a second or so, I do slowly bring one down towards Hana’s butt.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for a public space,” my sister says.

I look up, and she’s standing nearby with a bag full of soda and popsicles.

“You two can continue your little date, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you,” she warns.

I just want to hide my face. “I’m sorry…”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Just don’t try anything funny, alright?”

“Right…”

“She knows all about you, so there’s nothing to feel ashamed about. Moreover, if wearing clothes like this makes you happy, then there’s also nothing to be ashamed about. I know your parents, especially dad, aren’t exactly open minded, but I’ve always got room for you if you want to live freely.”

I look at my sister, and then at the other girls around me. Nina and Karen are cuddling and holding hands. They’re also smiling. They’re truly happy. So is Hana. So is Becky. And if I join them, then maybe for once in my life, I can be happy too.

I take a deep breath. “Alright. It may take some time, but I’ll definitely move down here eventually. And when I do, Hana, we can really start things as girlfriend and girlfriend.”

Hana throws herself on top of me one more time, and starts peppering me with kisses on my face.

“You have no idea how happy I am!” she shouts.

“I think I have an idea,” I laugh.

I really never could have expected this when I came down to visit. I thought this was a backwards little town like where I lived, but yet people here can live freely and happily. I do have to wonder, though…

“Hey, Becky?” I ask my sister.

“Yes?”

“Does lesbianism run in the family?”

“Why do you think I broke up with my husband? It totally does!”

I laugh. Maybe that’s why things never really felt right to me. But now, everything seems like it’s lining up perfectly. Once I move down here, I’ll be free to dress as a girl, and I’ll already have a girlfriend! I can’t imagine how things could be better. Oh, I guess I get to see my sister and niece often. That’s good, too!