(Authors Note: This story is based on my pets and me.)

"Torey I'm going out for a while," called Alizabella her cloud Ixi. "I'll be back in time for dinner, don't worry!"

"Hang on a minute!" she called after her. "Where exactly are you going? If you don't tell me then you're not having your dinner!"

Those words were pretty pointless by then because Alizabella had already zoomed off down the road, leaving the door wide open in her wake. She must have been really bored to want to escape so quickly, but it wasn't until she heard Eylora, her baby Cybunny, having an almighty temper tantrum upstairs that she realised why. Nobody wanted to deal with a moody baby. That was why she was always left to Torey.


Alizabella walked from her NeoHome in Neopia Central to a clearing of trees just north of where she lived.

"This'll be a great place to let off some steam," she said to herself. "I don't know how much longer I could have withstood Eylora having one of her temper tantrums."

She sat underneath a huge tree that covered the ground with its huge shadow. It was sweltering hot even though it was only the beginning of May, so Alizabella rummaged through her bag and pulled out a nice, cold Chocalotta Ice Lolly, which she had stolen out of the freezer. After licking off all of the chocolate on the outside, she was left with only the ice cream in the centre, so she threw it on to the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" shouted a voice from behind her. She turned around to find a red Usul standing there looking abashed. "Why on earth did you just throw an entire Chocalotta Ice Lolly onto the floor?"

"Actually, it wasn't an entire Chocalotta Ice Lolly, miss! I ate all of the chocolate off it, and I don't like the middle bit!"

Alizabella wondered what she had said wrong at that point. The Usul looked even more abashed now than she did when Alizabella had thrown the ice lolly onto the floor. Her face contorted into a sudden rage that made her look quite scary.

"Did you just call me MISS?"

"Er... yeah, is that a problem?"

"Well yeah! I'm not a girl, I'm a... a boy!" He began to turn bright red in the cheeks. Alizabella snorted and looked him up and down.

"You're not serious are you?"

"Deadly," he replied, hanging his head. "You're not the first one to react the way you did though. People automatically think that all Usuls are female, just because they look like girls. It's not fair on the male ones; they get all the stick and get laughed at."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realise."

"It's not just that either." He began to get even redder now. "My name's... my name's... BlossomTailz."

Alizabella snorted a little, trying not to laugh. Her cheeks were beginning to bulge as she tried to contain herself.

"Can you help me?" BlossomTailz said, making Alizabella stop laughing.

"How? I mean, what can I do, make you more like a boy or something?"

"Yes! There's gotta be a way to make me more like a boy, there has to be! But... where do we start?"

Alizabella looked him up and down. Where could they start? He looked like a girl and there was no doubt about that. What could they do to his appearance to make him more boy-like? Alizabella drummed her hoof on her head and thought and thought.

"I know!" she shouted some time later. "How about a Grarrl morphing potion or something?"

"No, I think that's going a little over the top don't you?"

"How about if you dress like a male then?"

"That's a good idea, but I don't have any NeoPoints…"

"Oh, don't worry, I've got some! But before we even think about getting some boy clothes, we have to remove those bows! You can't have bows on if you want to look like what you are: a BOY. B-O-Y."

They reached the clothes store a while later and looked at the notice board outside the shop door. It read:

All clothes half price. Hurry! You don't

want to miss out on this bargain!

"Great!" said Alizabella happily as they both stepped inside. "We can get tons of stuff for you to wear!"

As Alizabella sifted through the rows of boy's clothes, BlossomTailz was busy looking at himself in a mirror, wondering just how they could change his appearance. After a couple of minutes Alizabella stormed over to him with her arms full of clothes. She pulled him to one side.

"Here we are! Try these on!"

She handed him a pair of jeans with a skull and cross bones stitched on the one side and the knees in holes, a black hoodie with the words 'I am evil' written on the back, a dark red cap and black and white sneakers.

BlossomTailz gulped and headed off toward the changing rooms.


"How do I look then?" he asked, brandishing his new clothes. "Do I look like a boy now?"

Alizabella looked at him, her eyes wide open and her mouth turning upwards into a smile.

"You look great!" she said, not taking her eyes off him. "You look just like a boy now!"

"Thanks!"

"Anyway," said Alizabella. "Shouldn't we be getting back home now? We've been out for nearly an hour and Torey, my owner wants me to be back in time for dinner."

"Yeah okay."

Alizabella noticed that BlossomTailz wasn't wearing his joyful smile anymore, but instead, bore a look of worry. She decided to leave it for now. Maybe there wasn't anything troubling BlossomTailz; maybe she was just imagining it. Maybe he was just trying to appear more gruff.

As they were walking back home, BlossomTailz suddenly turned towards Alizabella. His troubled face was even more troubled than it was before. Alizabella actually thought he was going to burst into tears right in front of her.

"Alizabella, I don't think I want to dress this way anymore. These clothes... they're just... not me. Sorry!"

Alizabella's face contorted with a sudden anger. "You what? You mean I just spent ALL of my money to buy you some new clothes, and now you don't want them?"

BlossomTailz was just about to speak, when Alizabella angrily stamped the ground with her hoof. That's when he decided to run, with an angry Ixi hot on his tail. "I'll get you!" she yelled as she pelted after him.

The End