"Are you sure about this, Anne?" Chris asked, as he clutched the small vial containing the PrincX pills in one hand, the other wrapped protectively around Anne's waist. The two were sitting on the bed in Anne’s apartment, gazing at the substance that promised to make them royalty for a night.
Anne smiled at Chris's worried face and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I promise it'll be fine. It's just for a night, and it'll be fun. Trust me!"
Chris was still skeptical. He didn't know how these pills worked, but if what he was told was true, then the effects were going to be quite dramatic.
He was about to turn himself into a princess. No, not a prince. PrincX, ironically enough given its name, didn't do that. The pills would, supposedly, turn anyone who ingested them into a prissy pretty proper princess. And 'anyone' really means 'anyone'. Chris just happened to be Anne's 'anyone', and he had no idea if he would be able to cope with the alleged mental side-effects of the drug, not knowing if he could even be considered himself when he would take it.
Anne sensed Chris's doubts, and moved her hand to his lap, resting her hand on his. This entire idea had been of her doing. Anne's catalyst. She had always been fascinated and excited by the idea of becoming a princess, ever since she was a young girl. But as the years had rolled by, the dream started to seem like an impossible and silly goal. She matured. 'Grew out of' her princess phase. Although, that would be a bit of a lie. The thought always lingered in the back of her mind. Just what would it be like to be the premiere of femininity and elegance? And then the pills came along. Magic pills, to be specific. The little things had been making waves in small social circles on the internet. And Anne saw them as one thing and one thing alone; an immediate chance to switch from being the down and out, unsuccessful girl from a normal family into the prim and perfect princess she had always dreamed of.
"I... don't know. I don't think I can do this. I just can't believe this is real," Chris sighed, "this is insane."
"Chris, it'll be fun! Just think about it. For a whole night, you can feel like a princess. I bet you've always wanted that. A cute guy like you, it's just too good an opportunity to pass up," Anne said.
"You know, most guys don't think about what it feels like to be a princess." Chris chuckled.
"Maybe so. But you can't deny, even if you didn't, that you'd love the opportunity to try it out. Just for a night, what's the harm? No one will know, and I'm here for you every step of the way. Please? For me?"
Chris sighed. He wasn’t going to have to do it, was he? This wasn’t something he wanted. He had heard what happened the last time some poor sap did the same as he, and that alone was a huge deterrence from following through with this.
...Wasn't it?
With Anne's insistence and her attempts to give him what he never knew he needed, a little seed of an idea began to flower in his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right, the thought of turning into a princess did intrigue him. At least a little bit. What would it be like, he wondered, to live life as the opposite gender? As perceived royalty? Even if it was just for a few hours. What would the pill even do to him anyway? What if for some reason it didn’t work? Everything he heard about the pills was hearsay anyway. And if it didn't work, and he remained the same, well, he'd be able to get back at Anne for even suggesting the idea.
He looked up at the walls to the sides, still not ready to say yes, until he noticed a small shelf Anne kept in their room, the centerpiece of which was a beautiful tiara. The girl had really grown up loving the stereotypical princesses of modern pop-culture, and still considered it to be a symbol for what she could do if she worked hard enough. It wasn't big or elaborately decorated enough to have ever touched a real royal. Really it was just crappy plastic gems and whatnot. But it was a sentimental keepsake all the same. Seeing that reminded Chris why they were doing this and he felt a lot better. This was Anne's fantasy, and his job was to keep his love company.
"Well... Alright. Count me in."
"Really?!" Anne beamed.
"Yes, really." Chris sighed, semi-reluctantly handing the pill bottle over to his girlfriend, "So... what do we do?"
"We just take the pill, silly. It's easy! Literally magic! Once the pill is absorbed, we'll be transformed into the perfect princesses."
Chris nodded, "I know how it works. I was asking if there was anything special that had to happen, you know, before the pill was taken."
Anne smiled as she handed Chris a pill, "Just a little bit of water and you'll be a princess," she said.
Chris took his pill, holding it up to his face to examine it. It was small, no bigger than the top joint of his pinky. As it rested in his palm, the sunlight shone off of the tiny pink diamond embedded in the top.
"Together? Like, at the same time?" Chris asked.
"Yup! I want us to turn at the same time. That'll be fun."
The two lovers looked each other in the eyes. Chris could see the excitement in her eyes. Anne was practically bouncing with joy. Chris, meanwhile, was more anxious than anything. He was about to take a pill that could very well change his body, his personality, the way he looked at the world, and he was scared. But he also knew it was the best option.
"1..."
"2..."
"3!"
The two put the pills in their mouths and swallowed.