I look him dead in the eye. I could play the game. I could act coy, brush my hair back, ask if he wants another drink. That’s the SissyPov script, right? The fantasy of being desired, of passing, of the thrill of almost being caught.
A text from my boyfriend, Alex: “How’s my favorite Hooters girl? Home soon? I have your fuzzy slippers ready.”
The end of the shift is just the beginning of the dream. SissyPov - Jackie Femboy Hooters Hottie - POV-
My name is Jackie. To the world passing by the neon-lit owl sign, I’m just another Hooters girl—a flash of orange shorts, a low-cut white tank top, a tray full of beer bottles. But look closer. Let your gaze linger past the eyelash curlers and the gloss. I’m what you might call the secret ingredient, the special on the menu they don’t print. I’m the femboy Hooters hottie.
He takes a breath. “Whatever it is that makes you… you.” I look him dead in the eye
There it is. Not a fetish. Not a trick. A recognition. I let my mask slip, just for a second. I let him see the boy I was—the one who used to stare in the mirror and feel nothing—and the woman I am becoming. The me that exists in the hyphen between genders.
I smooth down the front of my top. The padding inside is subtle but deliberate, giving just enough of a curve to make the double-takes last a second longer. My waist is cinched by a thin black belt, the orange shorts hugging a pair of hips that I’ve sculpted through squats and a genetic lottery I still don’t fully believe I won. My hair—a cascade of auburn waves, not a wig, all mine—brushes my shoulders. I check my reflection in the mirrored tile behind the bar. Eyeliner sharp enough to cut glass. A beauty mark drawn just below my left eye. The faint shadow of stubble is gone; I exfoliated for an hour this morning. That’s the SissyPov script, right
He knows. Or he suspects.
Tonight is a Friday. The air inside is a living thing: a roar of sports commentary, clinking glass, laughter that borders on hysteria, and the low thrum of male anxiety. My manager, a gruff ex-linebacker named Rick who never questions why my uniform fits a little too well, just points to Section 4. “Table 12, Jackie. They’ve been waiting. Turn on the charm.”