"Yo!! Doc!!"
I shot up from the chair, my heart pounding. The hospital room was quiet except for the low hum of the lights above me.
"Are you saying that from now on I'm gonna live as a girl for the rest of my life?!"
The doctor sighed softly before answering. He looked tired, like this wasn't the first time he had to say something like this.
"Unfortunately, yes."
He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.
"I'm sorry… and congratulations."
That last word hit me hard.
"Wahh… why does this keep happening to me?" My shoulders dropped as the weight of it finally sank in. I stared at my hands, realizing nothing was going back to how it was before.
"Just my luck, right??…"
The room felt smaller. The ticking clock on the wall suddenly sounded louder, reminding me that time wasn't stopping just because my life had changed.
Two days ago…
The classroom was filled with small, familiar sounds—the steady tick of the clock, the soft scratch of pencils against paper, and a gentle breeze slipping through the open windows, fluttering loose sheets and curtains.
Just one hour left.
I sighed and let my face slump onto the desk, the cool surface pressing against my cheek.
This sucks…
"Hey, lis, wanna hit the PC bang after school?"
I lifted my head lazily.
"Heck yeah."
The voice belonged to Ethan Collins.
He sat beside me, relaxed as always. His messy yellow hair looked like he'd run his fingers through it one too many times. A sharp jawline gave him a serious look that didn't quite match his easygoing nature, and his build was slightly muscular, nothing excessive—just enough to show he stayed active.
Ethan was the type everyone respected without trying. Calm, composed, and friendly, he never acted superior, even though his grades were always near the top. Top 50 in the whole school, every time. Teachers liked him. Classmates trusted him.
The exact opposite of me.
I was lazy, barely paying attention unless I had to. P.E. was a nightmare—slow, weak, always the last one picked. Academics? Let's just say my report card and I weren't on speaking terms. Dumb, some people would say. I didn't argue.
But somehow, Ethan never minded.
We'd been friends for as long as I could remember. I couldn't recall how we first met—those memories were fuzzy now—but I was sure of one thing.
No matter how bad I was at school, no matter how useless I felt sometimes…
Hanging out with Ethan was the one thing I genuinely enjoyed.
And for reasons I couldn't explain, he always chose to hang out with me too.
And one more thing my name is amaryllis, Amaryllis Shane.
Sounds pretty girly, right? Amaryllis is my first name, and Shane is my surname. People are always asking me why my name sounds so feminine.
Like, how should I know? And do you want to know what makes it worse? I can't do a single thing about it.
Just my luck…
~~~
The bell rang, echoing through the halls, signaling the end of another long school day. I stretched my arms as high as I could, feeling the satisfying pop of tension release.
"Yo, Ethan! Let's go!" I called out.
He grabbed his pencil and books, shoving them into his bag with his usual calm efficiency.
"Sure, I'm coming."
We stepped out into the street, the afternoon sun low but warm, casting long shadows across the asphalt. The city smelled faintly of fried street food and exhaust, mixed with the crisp scent of wind from the nearby alleyways. We took our usual route, weaving through a narrow alley lined with old brick walls and graffiti, the sounds of distant traffic mixing with the occasional bark of a dog.
"So… what's it gonna be today?" I asked, swinging my bag over my shoulder.
Ethan smirked. "Dota, maybe? Or LoL?"
I shook my head, grinning.
"Nah, too serious. Let's go for BattleRealms. You'll get crushed."
He laughed, his calm demeanor cracking just a little.
"Oh, please. You mean I'll crush you while pretending to be generous?"
"Keep dreaming, Collins." I shot back, elbowing him lightly. We both laughed, the kind of easy, effortless laughter that only comes from years of knowing each other. We argued playfully over game strategies, mocking each other's "skills" and "terrible builds," letting the minutes pass without notice as the PC bang came into view at the end of the alley, its neon sign flickering in the dimming light.
We played BattleRealms for an hour, shouting and laughing the whole time. Every mistake, every bad strategy, became fuel for endless insults.
"Are you seriously building a barracks there? What are you, blind?!" I yelled, smacking the desk lightly.
Ethan smirked, leaning back, fingers dancing over the keyboard. "Better than your lame-ass dragon units that die in two hits!"
We got heated, our voices bouncing off the PC bang walls, but underneath it all, it was fun—the kind of fun that made all the small frustrations of school disappear.
While Ethan kept playing a suddenly thought arcross into my head
"Hey Ethan"
"Yeah what's up?"
"What do you think of my name?"
The sound of the keyboard, clicking of the mouse suddenly stops, he looks at me..
"Uhh I mean your the only one who's not bothered by it even though we've known each other for a very long time so I was wondering why that's all hehe~~"
I said it playfully, but the truth was… I was expecting something more.
He glanced down at the floor, pausing for a moment, like he already knew the exact words he wanted to say.
But before he could speak, he froze again—and this time, it was different. His eyes shifted from thoughtful to worried, scanning me carefully.
"Hey, Lis… you good?" His voice was gentle now, serious. "You're sweating a lot… like you're going to pass out."
To be continued...