After a few looks, they slipped into a side street and took a few slow breaths. “You aren't Sam. You're Samantha, a girly girl who loves the attention of boys and all things pink.” They closed their eyes, repeating that a few times before shifting their posture and opening their eyes.
 

They started to walk around again, and this time it was like there was a wall of glass between them and the surrounding people, like the looks didn't matter, or even the thoughts of others. As they walked around, they thought more about the character they were. They took a while walking around as Samantha before heading home.
 

When they got home, they decided to make a male character called Sammy. They snuck into their parent’s room once again, this time to steal a suit from their father. Though after trying it on and finding it uncomfortable, they decided instead to pick out some clothing they would only wear when they were Sammy.
 

Sam rushed to work the next day to tell Evelyn what they had decided. When they were finished telling her, they watched Evelyn carefully. “So…what do you think?” Evelyn nodded their head but didn’t say anything heading towards the back room. Sam followed them, looking around as they did. “Evelyn?”
 

“I’ve always said you should use whatever you can.” They grabbed two name tags and started to write on them. 
 

“But what if someone gets mad at me?”
 

Evelyn turned to them and handed them the name tags, one with Samantha and one with Sammy on it. “If they were stupid enough to get tricked, then they didn’t need the money, anyway.” Sam looked at the name tags for a moment and then smiled.
 

After that day, Evelyn started to inform them on what days women or men members of staff usually got more money for tips. With that knowledge, Sam would choose which character to be before going to work.
 

It quickly became an inside joke of the staff to see everyone fall for the character. Because of that, Sam actually got closer to other members besides Evelyn. People would even get Sam to deal with troubling customers to get some revenge by making the customer pay a little more.
 

With the extra big tips, Sam was able to put food on the table for both themselves and their parents, leaving their parents to pay all the other bills. But even so, it wasn't enough. Sam wanted more money but didn't know how to get it. They couldn’t work more hours even if they had finished school.
 

Then he walked into the bar. His name was Elbert. 
 

He was handsome, which Sam wouldn't mind staring at. He was kind, which meant Sam thought they could win him over easily. But most importantly, he was rich: they could tell from the way he spent money and refused to let others pay, no matter how hard they begged. They knew this was their ticket to do everything they wanted in life and more. 
 

All they had to do was figure out which gender he preferred, put on the act and set themselves and their parents up for life. 
 

He had come in on one of the nights where they gave men discounts, a night when Sam was being Samantha.
 

That night Sam noticed he couldn't keep his eyes off them. It was hard for Sam to keep a smile off their face whenever he turned down advances from other bartenders and waitresses. The only thing left was figuring out if he was a regular, and if he was when he came in since Sam hadn’t seen him before.
 

Luck was on Sam’s side because he seemed to only come in when they were working, multiple times a week in fact, seemingly just to talk to them. It seems like he came in on almost every one of their shifts. It started as a problem as Sam needed to hide on nights they were being Sammy, but Evelyn was able to convince him that Sam just didn’t work those nights.
 

On the nights they were Samatha, they used every trick they knew to make him fall for them. After a few weeks of constant flirting and light touches, he asked Sam out. With the biggest grin, they accepted it, moving on to the second part of their plan. 
 

From there, things flowed easily. One date turned into two, two into three, three into more, soon their first anniversary came up, and then another and another until Sam lost count. First, they celebrated their first date, then their first month and then a year.
 

On their year anniversary, Elbert planned the whole date. He got food from Sam’s favorite restaurant and brought it to a lake on the edge of town that Sam went to when they were younger to destress.
 

The two had a picnic, enjoying the food and each other’s company. After they finished eating, the two just sat there looking at the lake and talking. Sam had just finished telling Elbert a story about the time they got a guy banned because he was creeping on the other woman members of staff. 
 

“You're so cool, Mousie,” Elbert said with a loving sigh. 
 

Sam looked over at him. "What did you call me?”
 

“I called you Mousie.”
 

“Why'd you call me that?" Sam asked, looking back at the lake.
 

“Well, you said you didn't like the usual nicknames like baby or honey or sweetie.” Sam nodded and Elbert continued. “So I decided to come up with something special for you.” He reached out to hold their hand. "You're very smart and cute." Sam blushed slightly. “And the only animals I can think of that have those qualities are rats and mice.” Sam frowned slightly. “And while I think rats are cuter I believed you would not be happy about being called ratty.” 
 

Sam huffed, “you were correct.” 
 

Elbert nodded. “And that's why I chose Mousie.”
 

Sam thought about it for a moment before leaning against him. “I guess I’ll allow you to call me that.”