The icon this “Skylar, 17, she/they” provided for Embyr is a little blurrier than you were expecting.
Judging from the selfie, she doesn't worry much about her own presentation; short cropped auburn hair, a t-shirt and jeans, peace sign at the camera. Her nose is pierced with a stud on her left nostril, but other than that, she looks like any other green-eyed, freckled high school senior from the area.
“Slut for a mediocre hamburger joint,” proclaims her tagline. “DM me if you know a place.”
“Huh,” you remark. You don't recall seeing anyone wandering the park this person's age, besides the girl who approached you just now, so you shake your head.
She takes her phone back timidly, holds her rose close to her chest and sighs. “They were really laid back in the chat… I was really hoping to grab some fries with them. It's a dang shame…”
You are about to respond when you feel something tingly in your stomach. Maybe her mentioning food has gotten you realizing how hungry you are…
“Sorry, best of luck to you,” you mutter, and pull out your own phone, hoping the girl will get the hint and leave you be. She wanders back to her spot, leaning on the railing, giving you a chance to focus on your increasingly queasy gut. Only it was starting to feel less like hunger, and more like something was shifting inside of you…?
Your phone vibrates in your hands, and you glance down at it. A notification pops up: a firey symbol next to text reading:
“where are you? :c ”
The pit in your stomach intensifies.
Isn't that the Embyr icon? Wait a moment… You don't have Embyr installed, do you? You didn't even know what it was two minutes ago.
Naturally curious, you press on the icon, and your screen briefly goes white. A loading screen is briefly present, then your messages finally load.
…
Your fingers dance across your screen before you can think. You don't even know this Ash, but it feels so easy to respond to her.
You blink, and regain enough awareness to realize your phone feels different. It's larger in your hands… or maybe your fingers are smaller?
You wiggle them back and forth, as if to get a sense of their size. They are… getting smaller? Hmm. That doesn't seem right, you think. They've always been too small. You tried playing guitar once to impress your upperclassmen, but the frets were always too wide apart, so you kind of gave up on that.
You blink again. That memory isn't right… it feels a little foreign for some reason.
You try to stand up from the bench, but vertigo takes you, and you feel yourself swaying just to keep upright. Your center of gravity feels lower, then lower still. The ground is even closer. Ugh. How much closer? You always wanted to be tall… having an early growth spurt meant you were taller than most boys a few years ago, but at this point your classmates were starting to surpass your 5'4 height.
You reach your hands down a little, appreciating the black nail polish you put on today. It's not your normal look, but you thought for some reason it might be nice to do something special today. Your phone buzzes yet again, a cheery pop up notification sound causing you to check again.
_< >
You giggle a little. Of course she'd say something like that. You text back.
You think for a moment… something's clearly changed. Has your screen always been cracked?
Well, duh. Mom knocked it to the floor last week while vacuuming. You're not getting a replacement until Christmas, so for now you have to put up with this shit. You huff in annoyance, and instinctively run a hand through your hair.
Slowly tickling your scalp, you feel its density increase even as it softens and gains a light dirty blonde. Even though it's six inches long, it appears much shorter thanks to the magic of too much pomade. The minty smell of the product lingers in your hair, and you hope it's not too overwhelming.
The feeling in your gut eases a little, and then your pants begin to tighten, pressing up against your thighs, calves, and groin. You gasp, and struggle against it. You feel your underwear shrink too, impossibly, pressing up against what should be… what should it be? You were sure for a moment that there should have been…
…no, you wished it was different, but you were like most girls, right? It made sex stuff easier that way, since you know yourself and your equipment better than any dude might. Though you always feel weird about the whole affair. The monthly cramps… the bleeding. It's unfair that boys don't have to deal with that shit.
You suppress a groan as the hemline of your pants begin to scoot up, first past the knees, then up to your mid-thigh, until you find yourself wearing a pair of jean shorts. Comfortable. Kind of girly, but within the margins of your style nonetheless. The waist extends upwards just a little, cinching at your belly, which pokes out just a little bit. It's okay to take pride in a little bit of chub.
Your shirt shrinks as well, until it's snug against your chest. Snug, because you've barely made it past training bras. There's some weight; you're not a board like some of the girls on the swim team, after all, but it's not like you need too much support. A burning sensation briefly tingles your nips, and you curse. Your luck as a tomboy is going to run out soon, mom keeps reminding you.
Eventually you'll even have my charms, she always says.
Doomed to a D cup life, you guess.
You grunt a little, annoyed at all of this, and kick your sneakers together. Your thighs, the one feminine part of you that you actually appreciate, feel a little chafed from all of the walking you did to get here today. You sit back down on the bench so you can surreptitiously address the aching with some TLC from your palms, and are reminded just how tender your skin can get in this evening weather.
Hopefully it'll be worth it, you think. Ash promised you some good fries, so that's like, the baseline. Plus she's cute.
Your brain fog is starting to lift, and you think of a genius plan. Opening up your phone camera, you go to take a selfie so you can show Ash where on the boardwalk you ended up.
Though it's evening, your face is lit by the screen. It's hard to tell, but your piercing on your cute sloped nose and emerald irises are still visible. An otherwise clean face accented by the stud and freckles. Thankfully the lighting doesn't reflect off the product you put in your hair.
Snapping a few good pics while holding a peace sign, you pick a good one and send it.
“Oh!”
You look up as a soft voice greets you.
A girl stands in front of you, hands behind her back, and your eyes widen a little. It's definitely the girl from Embyr. Her black dress is too adorable, and that choker… wow, you can hardly contain yourself. This date is already sweeter than you had imagined.
“Skylar, right?” she says.
You nod as casually as you can. “Yep. Ash?”
She nods excitedly. “Oh! Oh wow. I thought you weren't going to show up after all.”
You think for a moment, then chuckle it off.
“Wouldnt miss local burgers for nothing,” you reply whimsically. It's kind of amazing how natural you can be around the ladies.
Ash grins.
“So… I got a secret for you, but you'll have to promise not to look until I put it in your hair.”
You put a soft hand behind your head and make a teasing grimace.
“Really? Ugh, fine...”