Return of the Sister: Part 3

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Bobby was actually feeling pretty good. All it took was one look at the doctor’s note and a little coughing, and his mom had immediately gone into doting mode, postponing the photoshoot and staying home with him all day Sunday to make sure he was taken care of properly. He had seen his parents go to any lengths to baby Serena when she was sick, but for him it had usually been a couple Tylenol and a reminder that moaning and groaning didn’t help anything.

Now, as “Barbie,” he was finally getting the Serena treatment -- and it was amazing. Sure, he could have done without the fuzzy pink pajamas, facial, and manicure, but that was a small price to pay to have his mom’s undivided attention. All he had to do was clear his throat, and she was instantly there bearing drinks, a combination of healthy and not-so-healthy snacks, or a damp cloth to wipe his forehead with. She had even gone to three separate grocery stores searching for mango-flavored Vitamin C supplements.

Even better, his dad was on his flight back from Rio at last, which meant he would soon have two parents to spoil him. Yes, it would be a little weird acting like “Barbie” around his father, who he’d always tried to live up to as a macho athlete. But now there was a timer on the whole thing, anyways.

So long as he was taking the little pink pills Dr. Skito had prescribed him -- the color choice was clearly a bad call on the pharmaceutical company’s part -- he could rest assured that things were on their way back to normality. Heck, since they were male hormones, maybe they would even give him a little boost. He sure wouldn’t mind a bit of a growth spurt, and putting on some muscle would be a bonus. Just enough to make sure nobody would ever look at him and think he would fill out a dress.

For now, he resolved to get what he could out of the situation. In this case, it was being treated like the favorite child for once. Bobby was curled up on the couch watching Netflix when his mom announced she was heading to the airport to pick up his dad. She refilled his orange juice, plumped his pillows, and gave him a peck on the cheek before leaving. She was being so nice that Bobby almost felt bad for faking sick.

Maybe the photoshoot wouldn’t have even been that terrible -- dress up in some dumb outfits, do some dumb poses, whatever. Serena did it all the time. He was almost drifting off in front of the television when he heard the sound of his mom’s Range Rover in the driveway. He listened as she and his dad came inside, talking excitedly, and for some reason it sounded like there was a third voice, too…

“Barbie, I found your father,” his mom sang. “And guess who he brought home from Rio with him? Honestly, you should have told me, I would have picked up a bottle of that nice Merlot we had last time you visited.”

“Oh, it’s no problem, mom,” came the voice Bobby had despised for most of his entire life. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Bobby’s stomach plummeted. He was so surprised he could barely think, let alone move, as his older sister Serena swept into the living room, just as tall and beautiful as ever, wearing a chic leather jacket and fashionably torn skinny jeans. She plucked a pair of sunglasses from her head and smiled down at him with absolutely no hint of warmth.

“So here’s my new little sister,” she said. “I’ve been hearing so much about the new you, Barbie. I just couldn’t stay away. Not when I could be here to... Support you.” She looked him up and down, studying his body with a clinical air, and Bobby could feel himself flushing with embarrassment. “And you’re wearing my old pajamas,” she said through her teeth. “So cute.”

“This is going to be just lovely,” Bobby’s mom said, coming into the living room with his dad’s arm wrapped around her. “Both our daughters under the same roof! How long can you stay, Serena?”

Serena was still staring down at him with an expression of ice-cold hostility. “Oh, who knows?” she said sweetly. “As long as it takes to really get to know the real Barbie, I guess! I feel like we have so much to talk about.”

“And what better way to bond than over Barbie’s first shoot?” Bobby’s dad said, grinning. “The agency thinks she has real potential. With a Vickerson sisters collaboration, we could really get the hype train rolling.”

For the first time, Serena’s perfect smile faltered a bit. “That would be great,” she said. “Dad, can you run my stuff up to my room? I’m a little tired.”

“Sure thing, honey,” Bobby’s dad said, grabbing her suitcase by the handle.

“I’ll get fresh sheets on your bed,” his mom added. “Barbie, are you feeling any better?”

Bobby nodded weakly, still not trusting himself to speak. His parents bustled up the stairs, leaving him alone with his sister. She was still inspecting him, her gaze lingering on his long blonde hair, his glittery pink talons. Her lip curled.

“Halloween all over again, huh?” she asked, in a soft, dangerous tone. “Except this time, you went big. All my friends were asking about you. I had freaking strangers asking me about you. Striving for realness! Boy to babe! Jesus Christ, Bobby.” She shook her head. “You might have Mom and Dad fooled with this bullshit, but not me. I see right through you, and it’s pathetic. Pretending to be trans? Taking freaking hormones?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know if it’s funny or just sad, honestly. But I’m not letting you just waltz in here and take the spotlight. This charade is over, got it?”

Bobby’s mouth fell open. He felt like he was ten years old again, wearing one of Serena’s old prom dresses so his mom would take him trick-or-treating, then being totally humiliated when his big sister saw through his ruse and reminded him his parents would never care about him as much as they cared about her. He could feel his face flushing red. But he was not a ten-year-old anymore, and there was no freaking way he was going to let Serena push him around.

“You think I did this to get attention?” he asked scornfully, using his very best version of his girl voice. “Wow, Serena. That’s really, really ignorant of you.”

Serena glared at him. “Oh, you do not want to play this game with me, Bobby,” she said.

“It’s Barbie,” Bobby corrected. “And I’m not going anywhere, big sis.” He smirked. “You know, maybe being my sister will get you some extra followers. If you want me to retweet you or anything, just hit me up. I know you’ve never trended on Twitter before.”

Serena’s face twitched for a split second, then her flawless smile returned. “Okay, little sis,” she said. “If you want to be Barbie, I’m here to support you, one hundred percent. Let’s see how much ‘Barbie’ you can handle.”

Bobby knew his older sister had him outmatched when it came to brains, charm, and sheer vindictiveness, but he had never been one to back down from a challenge. “Can’t wait,” he said. “These pajamas are super comfy, by the way. Where’d you get them?”

He reached for a carrot from the snack tray and used it to scoop out a big glob of hummus, then slowly, deliberately, dropped it onto his fuzzy pink pajama top.

“Oh, you little shit,” Serena breathed. “You’re going to regret that.”

Bobby clapped a manicured hand to his cheek in mock horror, fluttering his eyelashes. “Oops!”

#

Kimberly was kicked back in a late-night bubble bath, surrounded by scented candles, enjoying some much-needed R&R. She had pulled it off. Bobby was now eagerly taking Skeeter’s high-powered female hormones of his own volition, thinking they were male hormones designed to reverse his feminine development, and if any well-meaning busy-body asked him about HRT he would happily tell them he was already being treated by “Doctor Skito.”

She had already relayed the good news to Josh, accompanied by a cute candid photo of Bobby perched in the passenger’s seat fixing his makeup -- she knew he could never get enough of “Barbie,” so it was a good way to keep him invested. Their third partner in crime, Skeeter, had told her he’d actually had the time of his life pretending to be a half-Japanese doctor from Texas, but Kimberly could only hope she wouldn’t have to call on his acting skills ever again. Some people were better off sticking to drug dealing.

She was feeling drowsy and content, and considering adding a little more hot water, when Bobby’s ringtone went off. She opened her eyes with a slight groan. Hopefully her ex was just panicking over an invitation to a slumber party, or something. She reached down and put her phone on speaker.

“Hey, Barbie,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Serena’s back and she knows the truth,” Bobby blurted -- she couldn’t tell if he was doing his girl voice or was just panicked.

Kimberly swallowed. “Uh, the truth?” she echoed. “Which truth?”

“That I’m not actually trans,” Bobby hissed, whispering now. “She thinks I’m just doing all this for attention. Can you believe that? Like I’d be a chick just for attention!”

Kimberly sat upright in the bubble bath, heart pounding. If Bobby admitted that he wasn’t really “transitioning,” and told his sister about the blackmailer, her whole plan was in jeopardy. “What did you tell her?” she demanded.

“I told her to get bent,” Bobby said, slightly indignant. “Did you think I was going to admit I got duped by some perv on the internet into telling the world I wanted to be a girl? I told her I’m ‘Barbie,’ and she’ll just have to get used to Mom and Dad paying attention to me more than her for a change.”

Kimberly sank back into the tub with a smile growing on her face. She had never exactly understood the rivalry between Bobby and his big sister, but she knew Serena had always been the favorite -- in fact, finally winning his parents’ affections was one of the things currently keeping her ex in skirts. That meant Serena’s return could actually be a good thing for the “girlify Bobby Vickerson” mission.

“If she’s suspicious, that means you’re going to have to work extra hard to sell the story to everybody else,” Kimberly said. “What did she say? Did she back off?”

“She said she’s going to ‘support’ me,” Bobby snorted. “But, you know, she said it in the bad way? While trying to murder me with her eyes?”

Kimberly considered that for a second, then her smile got even bigger. She knew the simplest way to expose Bobby would be to get him to incriminate himself, just by making his life as “Barbie” too humiliating and miserable to justify carrying on the deception. If Serena was even half as smart as Kimberly was, she had to know it, too.

“Well, you can’t let her win,” Kimberly said decisively. “You have to just keep pretending ‘Barbie’ is the real deal until she gets fed up and leaves. You’re taking those male hormones now, right? So in a few months, you’ll be able to quit on your own terms. Not because Serena makes you.”

“Yeah,” Bobby said, but he sounded slightly nervous. “You’ll help me, right?”

“Of course,” Kimberly said. “What are girl friends for? I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Barbie.”

She hung up the call, then, with a contented sigh, started adding more hot water to her bath. For now, it looked like her and Serena had the same general goal: make Bobby’s life terrible by pushing “Barbie” to the limit. She just had to somehow work Josh Delacroix into the picture, too...

#

Bobby took his time getting ready for school the next morning, consulting Kimberly via Snapchat for help picking an outfit, then plunking down in front of the vanity to follow a YouTube makeup tutorial featuring an almost-painfully bubbly fourteen-year-old girl. She knew her stuff, though, and Bobby needed all the help he could get. He ended up having to completely redo his eyeshadow twice, but by the time he was finished he had to admit he was impressed with his own handiwork. He brushed out his blonde tresses and added some hair spray for volume, then went to the full length mirror to inspect himself.

Since he needed to show Serena he wasn’t messing around, he’d put on his highest heels, a pair of strappy, five-inch stilettos, and paired them with a pretty much indecently short denim mini. He hated the way the shoes made him wiggle -- the guys at school were going to be staring at his butt all day -- and he knew his feet were going to be killing him by the time he got home. But Kimberly had persuaded him it was worth it to send a message to his sister.

At least his stripy pink top actually covered his midriff for a change, though the stripes also had the effect of making his bustline look bigger -- and he wasn’t a fan of how the thin stretchy fabric showed the outline of his bra underneath, either. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it might have been Serena’s top at one point. His closet was now overflowing with so many clothes that he couldn’t differentiate between the stuff from his sister’s room and the stuff from shopping with his mom.

Bobby made a final adjustment to his hair, then snapped a selfie to send to Kimberly for approval. He winced looking down at the image on his phone -- as much as it killed him to admit it, he was easily as hot as any of the Instagram thots he used to jerk off to. It was a disturbing thought, but it also gave him an idea. Ever since his “coming out” had blown up his socials with new followers, he’d been avoiding Instagram entirely, preferring to just not think about the fact that hordes of people all over the internet had seen him in a sexy red cocktail dress.

But if there was anything that could get under Serena’s skin, it was the fact that those hordes of people, at least for the moment, were more interested in Barbie Vickerson, trans teenager, than they were in Serena Vickerson, fashion model.

Kimberly’s reply appeared on his iPhone screen: Perfect! See you at school.

Bobby went to his Instagram account, ignoring the legion of waiting DMs, and prepared to post the selfie. He debated internally for a moment, weighing his desire to piss off Serena against his desire to not attract any more online attention -- the last thing he needed was another psycho hacker to deal with. All it took to make up his mind was picturing his sister’s sneering face.

Grinning slyly, Bobby tapped out a caption, posted the selfie, and headed downstairs for breakfast. His mom and sister were seated at the kitchen counter, while his dad was busy making blueberry pancakes -- something he only ever did when Serena was home. His eyes bulged slightly at the sight of his son mincing into the room in a skirt short enough to stop traffic, but he recovered quickly.

“Good morning, Barbie,” he said. “We were just talking about you.”

For a split second, Bobby was stunned and delighted. His parents, talking about him, when Serena was home? But then he saw the triumphant look on his sister’s face, and the feeling of delight took a nosedive into dread.

“Um, what about?” Bobby asked, smoothing his skirt as he took a seat at the counter, crossing his legs with girlish grace.

“Hi, sweetie,” his mom said, leaning across for an air kiss. “Don’t you look adorable this morning! I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Here, I made you a smoothie.”

She handed him a glass. Despite the fact that Serena was out to get him, despite the fact he was stuck trying to convince the world he wanted to be a blonde bimbo named “Barbie,” Bobby felt a wave of sheer happiness.

“It’s...mango,” he said, tears of emotion welling up in his eyes.

“Isn’t that your favorite?” his mom asked, looking slightly puzzled.

Bobby just nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and took a gulp of his smoothie.

“Serena had a look at your headshots,” his dad said, over the sizzle of the frying pan. “She’s as good a judge of talent as anyone, and she saw what we saw. You’ve got real potential, Barbie.”

“So much potential,” Serena said brightly. “You just need someone to help bring it out.”

“Serena’s agreed to help coach you,” Bobby’s mom explained. “Think of it as modelling bootcamp. Every day after school, from three to six, she’ll be teaching you the ropes. Isn’t that exciting, sweetie?”

Bobby glared at his sister suspiciously. “What do I have to learn, exactly?” he asked. “I mean, don’t people just take photos of me?”

Bobby’s dad chuckled, his sister looked revolted, and his mom briefly closed her eyes with a pained expression. “Oh, Barbie, there is a lot more to it than that,” she said. “But you get to learn from the best!”

“It’ll be so fun,” Serena said, with a wicked smile. “I’m already thinking up all kinds of little exercises for you.” Her iPhone suddenly buzzed, and she picked it up. Her mouth fell open momentarily, then she snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes. “Cute selfie,” she said.

“Thanks,” Bobby said defiantly. “I figured it was time to start posting on Insta again.”

Completely oblivious to the cut-it-with-a-knife tension hanging between her two children, Bobby’s mom reached for her own phone. “Oh, I love it!” she exclaimed. “I’m so excited for you two to really bond. As sisters.”

She slid her phone across the counter to show Bobby’s dad the Instagram post, and Bobby caught another glimpse. The photo showed a typical pouty blonde hottie in front of the mirror, long tanned legs on full display, but the caption was the important part: Wearing some of big sis’s things… Hope @officialserenavickerson doesn’t mind ;) #BOY2BABE #LEGS4DAYS #JUSTSISTERSTUFF

“Well, it all starts today after school, right, little sis?” Serena asked, with about ten layers of menace beneath her cheerful tone.

Bobby swallowed nervously, but put on an equally false smile. “Can’t wait,” he chirped.

#

Kimberly had to hand it to her ex: his passive-aggressive Instagram post, complete with a tag to Serena’s own account to ensure cross-traffic, was a thing of beauty. In most areas Bobby wasn’t the brightest, but after a childhood spent living in Serena’s shadow he obviously knew how to push his older sister’s buttons. The selfie had already accumulated several hundred “likes” -- she was checking in on it as they walked towards the cafeteria.

“These shoes are killing my calves,” Bobby grumbled. He was still sashaying along in his stilettos, causing several cases of whiplash on the way down the hall. The clatter gave guys a nice excuse to look up, and once they did Kimberly noticed it seemed pretty hard for them to look away.

“Think of it as leg day,” Kimberly quipped.

A couple football players openly ogled said legs as they passed by, making Bobby turn bright red. Instead of barking at them, Kimberly was amused to see him nervously touch his hair and look down to avoid their gaze, eyelashes fluttering. One of the football players wolf-whistled loudly. Bobby looked physically pained.

“Guess they approve,” Kimberly smirked.

“Assholes,” Bobby muttered. “Nobody even watches the football games.”

He ducked his head and quickened his stride, which only managed to exaggerate the swing of his hips even more, as they entered the cafeteria. Beverly and the other cheerleaders were already waiting at the usual table, but as soon as they saw “Barbie” their eyes lit up. Kimberly suspected why -- Ally had already messaged her to confirm the rumor that Serena was visiting.

“Hey Kimberly, hey Barbie,” Beverly said. “Those shoes are so girl boss.” She exchanged a look with Ally. “Are you, like, practicing for the runway already?”

“The runway?” Bobby echoed -- Kimberly had spent enough time around him to know he was currently visualizing a plane landing.

“I saw your post with Serena,” Beverly said. “Sister stuff. So cute. That’s really cool that you guys are getting along, finally.” She smiled a little too brightly. “Serena’s in town to visit, right?”

“Yep,” Bobby said, looking wistfully down at his yogurt cup. “She sure freaking is.”

“Well, introduce me, bitch!” Beverly said, probably sounding more playful in her head than she did in reality. “We need a selfie together.”

“We just took one in math class,” Bobby protested.

Beverly rolled her eyes. “I mean with Serena,” she said, to which Bobby looked almost hurt. “Come on, she’s an actual fashion model. She’s also really, like, inspirational. I read an interview with her in Elle…”

“I read that one, too!” Ally chirped. “She’s so cool, but also super down-to-Earth? And that shoot with Jan Van Antwerp was sex.”

Bobby now had the look on his face of someone who’d just swallowed glass. “Serena is a total bitch,” he said flatly. “And not in, like, the fun way you say it. I mean the bitch way.”

Beverly frowned. “Are you sure you’re not just jealous of her?” she asked skeptically. “Like, growing up together would have been tough, since I know you wanted to be a girl, and she’s basically perfect...”

Normally, this would be the point where Kimberly jumped in and defused the situation. As fun as it was to watch him flounder into the deep end, pissing off Beverly would just make life more complicated than necessary -- the girl hadn’t gotten to be head cheerleader by being nice. But maybe she could play it another way.

“I’m not jealous of Serena!” Bobby snapped, his “girl voice” breaking slightly. “Who said I was jealous of her?”

“It’s pretty freaking obvious,” Beverly snapped back.“Oh, my God, I just wanted an introduction? I’ve been trying to help you fit in, and figure yourself out, and all this shit I read online about, like, affirming your identity, and you can’t even do one nice thing for me because deep down you’re still a selfish prick, Bobby!”

The table went silent. Beverly clapped her hand over her mouth, realizing what she’d said, and blushed bright red. Kimberly was taken aback herself -- normally Beverly’s composure never slipped, even when she was verbally destroying someone for messing up a cheer routine or wearing a hideous outfit.

For a moment it looked like the head cheerleader was going to apologize, but instead she took a deep breath, turned to Ally, and started chatting about the next pep rally as if nothing had happened. Bobby, meanwhile, was sitting there stunned, his pretty pink lips parted in surprise. Then he abruptly stood up, gathered his purse, and stalked out of the cafeteria, stilettos clicking.

Rather than running after him to reaffirm her role as his one true friend and confidante, Kimberly stayed right where she was.

Beverly shot her a suspicious look. “Well? Aren’t you, like, attached at the hip to her?” She enunciated the “her” very carefully.

Kimberly took a large bite of her sandwich, chewed, and swallowed. “I’m honestly getting a little sick of her,” she said. “And that skirt is way too short.”

“Oh, my God, yes,” Ally chimed in. “Thank you! She looks like a freaking slut.”

Kimberly didn’t need to say anything more. The other cheerleaders immediately jumped in with a categoric list of every single one of “Barbie’s” flaws. She listened with a smile on her face as she finished her sandwich, sending a quick message to her ex to assure him she was still behind him, one hundred percent, and was trying to cool Beverly off.

Serena was turning up the pressure at home, and now Kimberly was going to turn it up at school, too. If she could keep Bobby high on stress and low on friends, it would be that much easier to drive him right into the well-defined arms of a certain Saint Ceylan’s basketball star.