How I Spent My Summer Vacation

by C. Sprite

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

As much as I thought I wanted to stop changing personas, I couldn't help myself from becoming Michelle every day after arriving home from school. Since the first day back, Mom hadn't seen Jimmy again because I only became him when it was time to go to school in the morning, and she quickly adapted to calling me Michelle.

At school, Jennifer paid attention to me like never before. She made sure that she always sat next to me during lunch, and she put her arm on my shoulders when we walked together through the halls. She kept asking me for costume suggestions or making suggestions of her own. I nixed doing the Sonny and Cher bit again, and also nixed the idea of going as Gabrielle to her Xena, Warrior Princess. Each day she'd have a new suggestion for costumes, but most of her ideas had me in a dress.

On Friday night I used adhesive on the breast forms, intending to remain as Michelle until Monday morning. After the dishes were washed, Mom and I sat in the living room watching the tapes of me doing the weather and news in Illinois. We had been watching a few every night, in chronological order, and we had only made a dent in the pile. Mom always critiqued my presentation and told me she could see a real improvement over previous shows. I had to admit that I did seem more at ease with each new night.

 

On Saturday, Mom announced at breakfast that we were going shopping. "We'll take a ride and stop at the first Mall that we find more than an hour away. We won’t run into anyone we know."

"Okay, mom. When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as we can clean the breakfast dishes and get ready."

 

We didn't arrive home until after nine o'clock. We had eaten a light lunch at the shopping mall, and stopped at a small restaurant on the return trip; the rest of the day had been spent in the stores. We had found several new outfits for Mom, clothes that gave her a much more youthful look than the ones that she would have picked out for herself, and a few things for me. I tried to talk Mom out of buying anything for me except the jeans that I needed by saying that I had more than enough clothes already, but she insisted by saying that I needed a couple of things that didn't advertise my body quite so explicitly. I couldn't argue with that and would up with two skirts and a dress that I wouldn't have to struggle to get into.

 

Jennifer resumed her efforts to settle the costume issue on Monday, reminding me that we only had six weeks left to get them ready. She'd find me between most classes so she could pitch her latest idea as I hurried to reach my next classroom before the bell rang. While trying to shake her off so I could get into my sixth period classroom I agreed to go as bride and groom just to get away from her. I expected to see her again after class, and talk her out of it, but she was nowhere in sight as I walked to my bus for the ride home.

 

Mom was wiping the table, while I washed the dishes, when I heard a knock at the kitchen door. Turning towards the door, I saw Jennifer's face staring at me through the glass. Callers usually go to the living room door in the front of the house, but we use the kitchen door, located on the side of the house close to the driveway, as our family entrance. Jennifer had been to my house a number of times when we were growing up, and it was the entrance she chose tonight. I stood in front of the sink, frozen in place, my plastic gloves dripping soapy water, as I stared at her. Mom walked to the door after seeing the look on my face.

"Yes," she said to Jennifer as she opened the door.

"Hi, Mrs. Ashley. I'm Jennifer Crowley. We met last year."

"Yes, Jennifer. I remember you now. You and Jimmy went to the Halloween dance last year."

"Yes, that's right. We're going together again this year and I brought over Jimmy's costume," she said, motioning to the garment bag that she was carrying.

"Won’t you come in?"

Jennifer stepped inside. "Thank you."

Mom looked at me. "Michelle, you're dripping water on the floor."

Mom's words unfroze me and I realized that my dripping gloves had created a tiny puddle on the floor. Grabbing a couple of paper towels I bent and wiped the floor.

"Jennifer, this is Michelle."

"Michelle?" Jennifer said, smiling. "I thought you might be Ashley James, the famous newswoman from Illinois."

"No, she's Michelle Ashley," Mom said.

"Hi, Michelle," she said.

"Hi, Jennifer," I responded as I rose up.

"Jimmy isn't here right now, but I'll be sure that he gets the costume," Mom said.

Jennifer looked at me intently, unsure of how to respond. Mom's act wasn't fooling her.

"Good try Mom, but she knows it's me. We've been friends since we were six years old."

We stood there like that for several seconds, everyone unsure of what to say. Jennifer finally broke the silence with, "Michelle, you're beautiful, absolutely stunning. I love your hair like that. How come you're using the name Michelle now?"

"Using Ashley here in the house was confusing." A few more seconds passed without words so I added, "It's a little awkward having you see me like this."

"I know. When I saw you by the sink, I didn't know if I should knock or just leave. I'm glad I knocked." She paused for a couple of seconds. "Wait til you see the great gown I brought. It'll look great on you."

"Gown?"

"Yes, so we can be a bride and groom. My mom is going to get a tux for me to wear."

I looked at Mom, who just looked back.

"I didn't know that you wanted me to be the bride. I can't do that," I said.

"Jennifer, going to a function dressed in a wedding gown might cause Jimmy to be the recipient of great ridicule." Mom asked.

Jennifer looked first at Mom, then back to me. "Certainly not from me."

"Perhaps not, but everyone isn't so– enlightened."

Jennifer had only looked away from me briefly, but now she put the garment bag over the back of a kitchen chair and looked directly at Mom. "It's a Halloween party, Mrs. Ashley. There will be any number of other boys there dressed as girls. Last year there were at least six guys wearing skirts or dresses; no one will give it a second thought."

"But how many were trying to make themselves look passable as a woman, and how many were doing it as a joke?"

"Uh, I guess that none looked really passable."

"Jimmy's size and features make him more than passable. People might not understand it was a joke."

"But it's Halloween. A lot of people go to great lengths to look authentic in their costumes. One of the girls went as a witch last year, and she looked so realistic that she could have been made up by a Hollywood special effects person."

"I understand, but surely you can see my point. Can't you?"

"Mrs. Ashley, the other girls in our crowd and I would never do anything to hurt Jimmy." Looking at me she said, "We all love him. And the boys would never do anything either, or they'd really learn how terrible a woman's wrath can be. I promise you that no one will dare poke fun at Jimmy."

"Uh, Jennifer," I said, "I don't think I can do it. If people at school were to find out about me, we'd have to move away. Mom and I discussed that last week."

"Move away? Why?"

"Not everyone would be as understanding as you are. Even if the other girls accepted me as Michelle, the guys are another matter. I know that you'd try to protect me, but it probably wouldn't be enough. Right now I'm kind of invisible because most people don't pay any attention to me. But if I was to show up dressed as I am now, nobody would be able to ignore me any more."

"I think you underestimate people. This isn't the twentieth century anymore."

"Jennifer, remember back in the fifth grade when you were the tallest girl in our class? You were taller than all the boys except Mike Browne. Remember what they called you?"

"Beanpole," she said, grimacing. "But they stopped after a while."

"But not until more of the boys grew taller than you."

"But that was years ago. We were children. We're adults now."

"It wasn't that long ago. And remember that new substitute teacher last year. I think her name was something like Miss Sazay. She left after only three weeks because everyone teased her unmercifully about her pockmarked face. Her students were calling her Acne Annie. It wasn't her fault that she was born with a skin problem that left her face scarred. Do you really think that we're all adults?"

"Okay, so we do have a few jerks around who will never grow up. But if you're afraid of someone finding out, why are you dressed as Michelle now."

"When I get home from school, I need a sense of normalcy."

"Normalcy? You mean you always dress like this outside of school?"

"Well, I did all summer. It's a long story, but I'll try to summarize it. I lost a bet with my cousin Lizbeth in Illinois and I had to attend a dance dressed as a girl, where I was seen by a man from a television studio. He arranged for me to be interviewed for a job that paid so well I couldn't refuse it and I spent the entire summer living as a girl. You saw me on television so you know that I'm passable."

Jennifer smiled. "I can't wait to hear your essay for Mrs. Baldwin's class tomorrow," she said, giggling.

"Jennifer," I whined, "obviously I can't tell the truth. I've made up some lies and used half truths."

"How much were you making as a reporter?"

"I was being paid five thousand a week when I left the station."

Jennifer coughed. "Oh my God. Five thousand a week? I'd wear a chicken suit, sit on a hard boiled egg, and cluck like a hen all summer if I got paid that well. But you're doing it now without getting paid?"

"Like I said, dressing like this had become normal for me. When I got home from school today I retreated into my alter-persona."

"That's some persona. If I didn't know you so well, I'd never guess that you aren't a real girl. Not in a million years." Jennifer paused and scrutinized me. "Uh, you aren't really a girl, are you?"

"Don't you know?"

"I thought I did, but seeing you like this up close, I'm not so sure. You look more like a girl than most girls I know."

"I fooled a lot of people this summer."

"Nobody found out?"

"No one. Except you that is."

"I'm the only one?" she said brightly.

"As far as I know, only you and my family know that Ashley James and James Ashley are one and the same person. As I said before, my mom and I were discussing moving out of state."

"No, you can't move away; not because of this; and not because of me."

"If you don't tell anyone, and no one else finds out, we can stay."

"What happens to Jimmy?"

"Jimmy will be back at school tomorrow morning."

"And Michelle?"

"I don't know. Maybe she'll be here from four o'clock on, until it's time to leave for school the next day."

"You make one sexy lady. I wish I were half as beautiful as you are. I was really looking forward to seeing you in the gown I brought."

"If you'll promise to keep Michelle's secret," Mom said, "I'm sure she'll consent to trying on the wedding gown for you."

"Will you, Michelle? Of course I'll keep your secret."

I was trapped. I knew that Mom was just trying to get Jennifer to commit to keeping the secret, but I hadn't wanted to encourage her Halloween idea by putting on the gown. If I tried to back out now, Jennifer might get angry. "Okay, I'll try on the wedding gown." 'Why not', I thought. I had tried on tons of clothes over the summer. One more dress, more or less, certainly wouldn't hurt.

"It's not actually a wedding gown. It's bridesmaid's dress that I got for my sister's wedding, but it looks a lot like a wedding gown. I wore it a few years ago and it's too short for me now, but I thought that it might be just right for-- Jimmy."

Jennifer picked up the garment bag and followed me to my room. I unbuttoned my blouse and skirt and removed them while she took the gown out of the bag.

"Your room isn't very feminine, Michelle. I could help you fix it up if you'd like."

"Thanks Jennifer, but I think it should remain as it is, in case anyone visits."

"Oh, okay. But just a couple of simple changes wouldn't give away your secret. A lot of guys have rooms decorated by their moms. Are you wearing a corset?"

"Yes. I have to. My clothes are all tailored for a very small waist."

As she lifted the gown above my head, I noticed Jennifer staring at my breasts.

"They're breast forms," I said.

"They look so real," she said in amazement.

"Yes, once attached to the body properly, they simulate real breasts. It's probably the reason why no one ever caught on during the summer."

"Can I-- touch them?"

I smiled. "Sure. I don't feel anything."

As Jennifer fondled the breast forms, she said, "I bet you had all the guys drooling and licking the television set. Your breasts are large for a girl your size who hasn't had implants. Lift your arms, dear."

Jennifer let the gown settle around my body. It zipped easily and wasn't nearly as tight as the clothes I was used to wearing, except in the bodice. It was more than a little long though.

"I wasn't as well endowed as you are," she said. "Hell, I'm still not as well endowed. And I was taller, even back then. Put on your shoes."

I put on a pair with five-inch heels but the dress still dragged on the floor.

Jennifer pulled and tugged, straightening the gown as much as possible. "We can let it out a little in the chest, take it in at the waist, and hem it to the right length."

Mom, standing by the door said, "I'll get some pins," and disappeared.

I hoped that the hemming was just so Jennifer could see me wearing the dress tonight. Mom returned a few seconds later and she and Jennifer got down on their hands and knees to pin the bottom so it didn't drag on the floor. Mom got almost as excited as Jennifer seemed to be at seeing me in the gown and together they gently pulled and tugged at the garment, talking about taking some in here and letting some out there, using pins to alter the fit. When they were done, Mom went to get her camera because she wanted a picture of me in the gown. Jennifer walked to my closet and opened the doors as if invited to look in.

"Oh, Michelle, you have so many clothes."

"I was Ashley all summer, and I couldn't wear the same clothes every day. I even had a second wardrobe provided by a boutique that got free advertising. I didn't get to keep the clothes, of course."

"Oh, wow. I wish I was out there. I wish that I could have seen you on the air."

"You can see her, Jennifer," Mom said as she entered the room with her camera. "We have an entire box of video tapes that contain her broadcasts. She wanted to leave them in Illinois, but I wanted to see them. We can watch a couple after we're done here."

Mom posed me and took a number of pictures. It was always the same when she said she wanted to get a picture of me. Afterwards, Jennifer helped me remove the gown, then placed it back into the garment bag as I wiggled back into my clothes.

"Can we see the tapes now?" Jennifer asked my mom as I brushed my hair and fixed my makeup.

 

By ten o'clock we had watched two weeks worth of weather reports. Either Jennifer or I had jumped up to change the tapes as each finished and was rewound.

"Michelle," Mom said, "you were wonderful from the beginning, but I can still see improvement with each new day."

"I learned a little more each day and became more comfortable in the job. I doubt that you'll see much improvement from here on out. By the end of my first month I was pretty much over the pre-broadcast nervousness."

"I think you were fantastic," Jennifer said. "I can't believe you were able to stand up there, live, in front of tens of thousands of viewers and announce the weather. I would have been so nervous I would have pee'd my pants the first night."

"I was nervous at first."

"You'd never know it from looking at the tapes," Mom said.

"I'd never have guessed," Jennifer said in agreement.

"I just pretended that I was speaking to the cameraperson and ignored the fact that it was going out as a live broadcast. It was easy."

"It's getting late. Do you need a ride home, Jennifer?"

"No thanks, Mrs. Ashley. It's less than two blocks walk. I'll be home in a few minutes."

Jennifer retrieved the gown from my bedroom and I said goodbye as she left. As Jimmy I would have walked her home, but I feared going out in my neighborhood while dressed as Michelle. The streets were well lighted and it was still early.

 

At school the next day Jennifer came up behind me and squeezed my tush while whispering, "Hi Michelle."

"Jennifer, don't call me that," I whispered back. "Someone might hear."

She put her arm on my shoulders. "Don't worry, babe. I looked around before I said it. There wasn't anyone close. You're a lot shorter today."

"I'm not wearing five inch heels today."

"That's true. I like you this way."

"I thought you liked me the other way?"

"I do. I like you both ways. I'll see you later, sweet cheeks."

 

I had just begun to prepare supper on Wednesday when a knock at the kitchen door made me freeze. Looking towards the door I saw that it was only Jennifer again, so my heart dropped back into my chest and I went to open the door.

"Hi, Michelle," she said as she pushed past me and walked to my bedroom carrying two shopping bags. Jennifer immediately dumped the contents of the bags on my bed and began sorting through the stuff she had brought.

"What's this?"

"I had a bunch of stuff I thought you could use," she said, as she began placing things on my dresser. While I looked on, my dresser took on a decidedly feminine appearance. A crocheted tissue box holder and several small stuffed animals, plus a couple of ceramic ballerinas and a ceramic matador were carefully arranged by Jennifer. "What do you think?" she asked when she was done.

"Uh, it's very nice, and very generous, Jennifer, but I can't accept your gifts. If someone was to come into my room, they might get the wrong idea."

"And what would they think if they opened your closet and saw all your clothes, shoes, and pocketbooks. Or if they opened your drawers and saw all your other pretty things. How many people besides me have been in here in the past few years?"

"Okay. Thanks, Jennifer. It was very considerate of you to think of me."

"I can't seem to think of anyone else since school started. Now go work on dinner and leave me alone to work. I want it to be a surprise."

I walked back to the kitchen and continued the food preparations. I figured that Jennifer couldn't cause too much mischief by dinnertime.

 

Once the food was cooking I returned to my room. I found that I now had several posters of boy bands, in almost erotic poses, on my walls, and Jennifer was hanging new curtains on one of my windows.

"Oh, you ruined the surprise," she said. "I didn't want you to see it until it was done."

"I'm surprised," I said honestly, looking at the posters.

"Aren't they hot?" Jennifer asked. "Shelly Petropulos gave them to me. Her uncle works at a record company."

"Yeah, hot," I said. "Who are they? I don't recognize anybody."

"Shelly says that they're three new bands that are cutting records his month. We'll be hearing their names a lot in the future. What do you think of the curtains?"

I looked at the new curtains that now graced my windows. Stripes of red and hot pink undulated gently from side to side from the ceiling to the floor. "Kewl," I said. "They're bright."

"I just loved them when I saw them. I knew they were exactly what this room needed to bring it to life."

"They certainly do that," I said. Looking around I saw that my nightstand now wore a tablecloth and the light shade was draped with a light pink scarf.

"When you turn on the light, it bathes the room in pink. You can remove it if you want to read."

I nodded and continued to look around. My dresser top was wearing a light lime colored chenille cover and my small desk had been turned into a makeup table. I'd kept all my cosmetics hidden in one of the drawers until now. There was no denying now that this was a girl's bedroom.

I helped Jennifer put up the other curtain set, sat down on my bed, and said, "I don't know what to say," which was very true. I added, "Thank you, Jennifer."

"You're welcome, Michelle. I couldn't stand to see you sleeping in this room the way it way it was before, all stark and colorless. It had no identity. Now it makes a statement."

"It does that, all right," I said, realizing that the room until now had been an accurate reflection of me. Like the room, I had no identity. I was jumping back and forth between two worlds, without much more than a toehold in either.

"I love you in that miniskirt," she said. "You have such great legs. My knees are ugly but yours are beautiful. I'm so jealous."

I didn't bother looking down because she was wearing jeans, but I had to say something. "I always thought you had great legs. Your knees aren't ugly."

Jennifer had walked towards me as we talked and was now standing just a few inches away. She reached out and I offered my hands so she could pull me up from the bed. Once I was up she pulled me gently to her. With my five-inch heels, she was only a couple of inches taller than I was, and she wrapped her arms around me and lowered her face to mine. I knew what was expected and put my arms on her shoulders as we kissed. I licked at her tongue lightly as it invaded my mouth.

After a long kiss we separated. She said breathlessly, "Are you sure you're not a woman? You sure kiss like a woman."

"Have you kissed many women?" I asked, shocked.

"Not many, but I've experimented by kissing a couple since Madonna started doing it on stage. Women are always much more gentle than guys; like you are. When I hold you and kiss you I feel like I'm kissing a woman."

"Right now I am a woman."

"But when I kissed you at school on the first day back, while you were dressed as a male, it also seemed like I was kissing a woman. That's how I knew for sure that I was right about you being Ashley James, and it's also when I first got the idea for us switching roles when we go to the Halloween party. By the way, my mom is going to make the alterations so she'd like you to come over on Saturday."

"But Jennifer, I can't go to the Halloween party as your bride. I know that Michelle is okay with you, but I also know that it wouldn't be with a lot of others. Wait a minute; did you say that your mother is going to do the alterations? Did you tell her that I was going to wear it?"

"Of course. She thought that it was a great idea. She loved the way that we looked last year as Sonny and Cher."

I groaned. "But you promised that you wouldn't tell anyone."

"I didn't tell Mom about Michelle. I only told her that Jimmy and I were going to switch genders for the party. She's going to speak to a friend about getting a rental tux that will hide my shape and make me look more like a boy. It shouldn't be that hard, since I'm not as well endowed as you."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"About Michelle? No."

"Good. Please don't."

"Don't worry. I want it to be a complete surprise at the dance."

"Jennifer," I whined, "I can't. Look at from my side. The day after the dance, guys will be calling me fag and queer in the school corridors."

"I promise you that won't happen."

"How can you promise?"

"Because if they do, I'll make sure that they never get another date with a girl while they're in high school. They'll have to take their sister or mothers to the graduation prom."

I looked at her skeptically.

"I will," she said assertively.

I knew that I wasn't going to dissuade her. She had decided that we were going as newlyweds and that was that. I knew that if I refused, she might spread my secret out of anger. She might as well have stuck a fork in me because I was cooked.

"My mom's expecting you on Saturday. I'll come over early and walk with you so you won’t feel nervous."

"You want me to go to your house as Michelle?"

"Of course, silly. She can't very well fit you as Jimmy. The gown will never fit on Halloween."

I knew that I couldn't refuse so I agreed. "Okay. Do you want to stay for dinner? I'm making eggplant parmesan."

"Ummm. I'd love to."

 

I was already up and dressed by the time that Jennifer got to my house on Saturday. I guess she suspected that I would find some excuse not to come if she didn't come get me, and I might have because I was nervous about walking two blocks in my home neighborhood dressed as Michelle.

Mom only said, "Bye, dear," as we left to walk the two blocks. I didn't want to ask for a ride, but I wouldn't have refused one if she'd offered.

As we walked, Jennifer put her arm around my waist. She could sense my nervousness. "Were you this nervous about walking a couple of blocks when you were in Illinois?"

"No, of course not. But out there I wasn't maintaining dual identities. People only knew me as Ashley. In this neighborhood, people only know me as Jimmy."

We reached Jennifer's house without incident and I breathed a sigh of relief. Of course I still had to make the trip back. Her mom was in the basement when we arrived, but she came upstairs when she heard us come in.

"Hi girls," Mrs. Crowley said to us.

"Hi, Mrs. Crowley," I said while Jennifer said, "Hi, Mom."

"Where's Jimmy," she asked.

"This is Michelle," Jennifer said.

"Hi Michelle. But where's Jimmy? I thought that you went to get him?"

"Yes, Mom," Jennifer said. "This–– is–– Michelle."

Mrs. Crowley finally got it, without the proverbial house having to fall on her. She looked at me for several seconds with her mouth slightly agape, and then began to approach me slowly as she continued to stare intently. When she reached me, she looked me up and down very slowly, as if I was a piece of artwork that she was considering for purchase. Putting her hands on my waist, she said, "Turn around slowly, Jim– er, Michelle," she said.

I turned for her, at the speed she indicated by the pressure of her hands, while she scrutinized me from head to foot. When I was facing her again, she ran her hands lightly up and down my arms, examined my hands, and then touched my hair before closely examining my face.

"I can't believe it. I thought this was supposed to be a drag gag. But you look too perfect, Michelle; it'll never come off as a simple Halloween prank."

"That's what I've been trying to tell Jennifer."

"You have a beautiful figure, Michelle," Mrs. Crowley said. "It's nothing at all like a boy's. Your narrow shoulders, high, tiny waist, and weighty posterior practically shouts 'woman'. Your legs are shapely instead of muscular, your skin is soft, and your face is delicate. You're really Jimmy?"

"Mom," Jennifer said sharply. "Her name is Michelle today."

Mrs. Crowley looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Michelle. I'm just so blown away. You aren't at all what I was expecting. Your makeup is perfect, but Jennifer wasn't gone long enough to have helped you. Did your mother help you get ready today?"

"Uh, no," I said nervously.

Mrs. Crowley nodded. "How many other people know your secret?"

I hadn't expected this. "Maybe I should go," I said.

"Mom, what's with the twenty questions? You're making Michelle nervous, and you're embarrassing me."

"I'm sorry, dear. I'm sorry, Michelle. There's a valid reason for my questioning you. I have to know if I'm to help you properly with this project."

I looked at her for a couple of seconds. She didn't seem to be prying simply for the sake of curiosity so I said, "Only Jennifer and my family know about my cross-dressing. I never did it before this past summer; it started as the result of a lost wager."

"But now you like it," she said matter-of-factly. "In fact, you feel much more comfortable dressed as a woman than as a man, and you do it as often as you can."

I nodded, and hung my head slightly.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Michelle. As part of my business I've helped many males with their female wardrobes. Men's bodies are different than ours, and women's clothing usually has to be specially tailored to look good on a male frame. That's not true for you, however. I don’t know what God intended for you, Michelle, but it wasn't to be a male; not with that body and gorgeous face. Come downstairs, girls."

I hesitated but Jennifer pulled my arm until I followed. I hadn't expected Mrs. Crowley to quiz me about my being Michelle, and I was feeling a little embarrassed, despite her statement about helping men with female clothing.

As we descended the stairs to the basement, it was my turn to be amazed. I had never been down there before as it was off-limits when Jennifer was growing up. Mrs. Crowley operated a small alterations shop in the basement, and it even had its own entrance on the side of the house. The area of the basement that I could see had racks of clothing, most in plastic bags like you see at a dry cleaner's.

"Remove your skirt and blouse, Michelle," Mrs. Crowley said as she disappeared through a door.

"Mom, my gown is already out here," Jennifer said.

"I know. I'll just be a second."

"That's her storeroom," Jennifer said by way of explanation.

I had finished undressing by the time Mrs. Crowley returned, carrying two garment bags that she hung on a bracket extending out from the wall. She immediately opened one and removed a taffeta and organza ruffled petticoat before turning to face me.

"The fact that you're wearing a corset will make this easier," she said. "Raise your arms, dear."

Dropping the petticoat over me and tying the drawstring waist, she fluffed up the multi-shirred ruffle that the gown would rest on, giving it the very full appearance.

Watching her mother, Jennifer said, "Mom, the gown won’t fit over that petticoat. The skirt isn't large enough. That's designed for a full ball gown."

"I know dear," she said. Opening the other garment bag she withdrew a beautiful wedding gown. "But it will fit under this."

Jennifer walked over to get a closer look at the gown; a beautiful creation with a white satin bodice and pink accented beaded lace. The fitted bodice ended several inches below the waist over an Organza skirt. "This looks like Adele's gown. She told me she got rid of it."

"It was," her mother said. "When we were cleaning out her apartment after she separated from that clod Mooney, she told me to throw it in the dumpster behind the building. But I couldn't throw something so beautiful away that had only been worn once, so I sneaked it into my car and brought it home. I knew that I'd find a use for it someday."

Jennifer turned to me. "My sister separated from her bonehead husband after only three weeks of marriage. She's divorced now."

"I tried to tell her not to marry that big jerk, but she wouldn't listen," Mrs. Crowley said to me. Turning away, she said, "I have some pictures here somewhere of Adele in the gown." She disappeared into the back room again, emerging with a small wedding album of the type usually given to the parents. "Here it is. I have to hide it or Adele would destroy it. I trashed all the pictures of Mooney, but she doesn't want anything else around to remind her of the wedding. Here's a picture of Adele standing in the vestibule of the church." She held up a picture of a beautiful brunette in a wedding dress.

"Here's a picture of Adele standing in the vestibule of the church," Mrs. Crowley said.

I looked at the picture of Adele. She looked as happy as any bride should be on her wedding day. "Adele is beautiful. Her resemblance to Jennifer is striking. And the gown is gorgeous. I can understand why you didn't throw it away."

"Jennifer does look very much like Adele, except she sprouted up until she towered five inches over her older sister," Mrs. Crowley said. "I knew that she'd never be able to wear this dress, but I'm happy that someone will get some use from it. You're a lot closer to Adele's size, with maybe a slightly larger bust, but that's not a problem. I had to alter it for her and I didn't cut the excess material, so it can be let out."

"But what about the other gown?" Jennifer asked.

"That was fine when I thought this was supposed to look like an obvious gag, but not once I'd seen Michelle. Her costume must be perfect, so she can honestly tell everyone that her appearance is the result of work by experts, or she could be the subject of ridicule after the event is over. There's no question that Michelle would fool everyone at the dance without my help, but with a genuine wedding gown, expertly fitted, she'll have a plausible excuse to offer once she unmasks, if she wishes to keep her Michelle identity a secret."

"I do," I said.

 

I spent the rest of the morning playing dress mannequin while Mrs. Crowley fitted the dress, and by noon she had let out the bodice and re-sewn it. We took a short break for lunch and then returned to the basement where she had me stand on a raised platform as she prepared to adjust the length, but after her examination she announced that it was perfect right where it was. I stepped down, thinking I was done, but Mrs. Crowley started looking at the bodice again. She wasn't satisfied with the fit so she made a few more marks and had me take it off so she could alter it. It was almost four o'clock before she announced that it was perfect.

"You look so lovely," she said, "that it's a shame you aren’t really getting married. When you do find a husband, make sure he isn't a knucklehead like my former son-in-law. A handsome face, muscular body, and overactive libido doesn't make a man a good mate."

"Mom!" Jennifer said.

Mrs. Crowley looked at Jennifer and realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, Michelle. I forgot myself while I was working because there's nothing about you to remind someone you weren't born a girl." Looking at my face closely she said, "Do you shave?"

"Only my legs and underarms. I don't have a beard, if that's what you mean."

She nodded slowly. "We're all done here, ladies. You can get dressed now, Michelle."

With her help I removed the gown and petticoat. As she and Jennifer placed it into the garment bag, I put on my miniskirt and blouse.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Michelle," Mrs. Crowley asked.

"Thank you, Mrs. Crowley, but I don't want to impose."

"Don't be silly; it's no imposition at all. Better call your mother though, and tell her you're eating here. Better yet, invite her to dine with us also."

 

Mom did come for dinner and we enjoyed a delicious meal of stir-fried vegetables and rice. Mom helped Mrs. Crowley prepare the food while Jennifer and I sat at the kitchen table and talked.

After dinner Jennifer and I cleared the table and loaded up the dishwasher before leaving our mothers to talk. We went to Jennifer's room and listened to her new MP3 player. She had already recorded a few dozen hours of music.

"You're mother looks so young next to mine," Jennifer said.

"She's only thirty-two," I said. "When we were talking about moving away, she joked about telling people she was my sister."

"You're not going to move, are you?"

"Only if we have to. There have been a lot of cases where people who were a little different were beaten up and even killed by good, moral people who objected to their differences."

"Good, moral people who beat up and kill other people?"

"I was being facetious. Actually, they're just homophobes and psychotics hiding behind the pretense of religion."

"Are you homosexual?"

"No. At least I don't think so. I like girls. Does that make me a lesbian when I'm Michelle?"

Jennifer giggled. "Not as long as you keep switching back and forth."

"How about if I stopped switching?"

Jennifer stopped smiling and looked at me intently. "And stayed as a boy, or as a girl?"

"A girl."

"Then I guess you'd be a lesbian," she said softly as she moved closer to where I was sitting on her bed, "and a very pretty one."

"And how do you feel about lesbians?"

"There's one I'm quite fond of," she said as she pushed me down onto the bed.

"Anyone I know?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," she said, as she lowered herself over me, "someone very close."

Jennifer pressed her mouth to mine and I felt her hands roaming over my body as we kissed. I was unsure what to do with my hands, but I didn't stop her from exploring, as I had George. Finally I started to massage her breasts. Her breathing got quicker and heavier, and her kissing grew more forceful until– suddenly she stopped.

"No," she said, pulling away. "Not here. We can't do this here."

"Kissing?"

"Not kissing. I'm talking about more than kissing, but we shouldn't even be kissing because it leads to other things." She pushed herself up and walked to her makeup table. "Better fix your face," she said.

I retrieved my purse and repaired my makeup while Jennifer fixed hers. Not that I was wearing very much, and what lipstick I'd had on earlier had mostly disappeared during dinner. I applied a fresh coat.

After completing our repairs we returned to just relaxing and listening to music until Jennifer's mother came in to say that my mother was leaving. I picked up my purse and we followed her back to the front door where Mrs. Crowley handed me the garment bag, saying, "Don't forget your dress, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Crowley. I'll get it back to you as soon as Halloween is over."

"Why don't you keep it, Michelle?" she said sweetly. "I've been hiding it in my storeroom but I've been so afraid that Adele would find it on one of her visits and cut it into little pieces. It's much too nice a gown to be destroyed like that, but she's still extremely bitter towards her ex. They had only been married for three weeks when she came home and found the SOB in their bed with some bimbo he'd picked up in a bar."

"Oh, Lord," my mother said, "in her own house? At least my ex didn't start cheating on me for nine years, that I know of, and then he had the sense to keep it away from the house."

"My ex only waited seven years," Mrs. Crowley said, "and I threw the bum out the day I learned about it. The stupid jerk even admitted it to me when I confronted him, and then acted like I had to take it, and like it, because I needed him. I showed him how much I needed him; I parted his hair with a table lamp. Men!"

After venting her anger, Mrs. Crowley calmed down and we said our goodbyes. I thanked Mrs. Crowley one more time before I left.

 

I began seeing a lot more of Jennifer after that day. She would usually come over to my house during the week and I would go to hers on weekends. I knew that Mrs. Crowley had wormed my secret from Mom on the day that I had been fitted for the wedding gown. Mom hadn't been able to talk with anyone about my situation, and Mrs. Crowley, with her knowledge of male cross-dressers gained from her contact with customers, seemed like the perfect source of information.

Mrs. Crowley was always wonderful towards me and I never came home without another new dress or skirt, sometimes two. Mrs. Crowley said that they were old things of Adele or Jennifer that she had altered to fit me, but a lot of them didn't seem to have ever been worn. Whenever I visited I wore something she had given me so she could see that it was getting used. Jennifer always worn jeans or slacks and Mrs. Crowley complained a number of times, both in front of Jennifer and when she wasn't in the room, that getting her into a skirt or dress was an almost impossible chore.

Mom was almost as excited about the Halloween Dance as Jennifer, and over the next month, after I got the gown, she picked up a number of accessories for me. She bought me a pair of white, satin, opera length gloves, white stockings, a blue garter, and a veil. Mrs. Crowley made the mask that I would wear. It was shaped like those cheap, plastic, dime store masks that cover half your face, from your upper lip to your forehead, leaving an inverted 'v' cutout for your nose, but instead of being made from plastic, it was made from several layers of stitched fabric, covered with white satin to match the gown. Additionally, rhinestones had been glued along the entire perimeter. It was exquisite, and must have taken her a lot of time to make. She had also made a white satin stole for me since it was the end of October and the days were getting chilly.

I continued to change into Michelle every day when I arrived home, but by October I began to wonder if that was such a good idea. The skin on my chest had continued to stretch from wearing the heavy faux breasts, and although I had begun wearing a tight tee shirt under a loose tee shirt to hide what seemed like small breasts from the other kids at school, even that wasn't enough anymore to completely hide my changing shape. Luckily it was getting colder so wearing sweaters and bulky clothing was appropriate, but I wondered what I was going to do come springtime.

George had been sending me emails since first arriving at school, and I always responded the same day, but as the days grew into weeks, the frequency of his emails began to drop. I knew that he was busy with school and studying, but I suspected that time spent with new friends was playing a part. And it would be natural if not all the new friends were male.

 

Halloween would arrive on a Sunday this year, so the dance was to be held on the Thursday night before so the students could wear their costumes on the following day, and I hurried home after school and immediately began getting ready. My preparation would probably take every minute until Jennifer arrived, so I didn't waste any time. I bathed, shaved my legs and pits, and set my hair before beginning to work on my face. I plucked a few stray hairs from eyebrows, which had never 'grown out' following my 'barbeque accident', and examined every millimeter of my face, before moving onto my neck and shoulders. When my examination was complete, I began to dress, stopping before I put on the ruffled petticoat to work on my hair.

When my hair was perfect, I worked on my face, keeping the look subdued, clean, and fresh. Mom arrived home while I was finishing up my face and came into my bedroom.

"I've gotten used to coming home to a waiting dinner," she said as she bent down and kissed my cheek. "You've spoiled me."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I just have too much to do before Jennifer gets here."

"I'm not complaining, dear. I can prepare something for myself. Do you feel like eating?"

"No, my stomach is tied up in nervous knots. I'm scared about going to this dance. I can't imagine what the kids will be saying at school tomorrow, to me and about me."

"Just keep telling everyone that it was a gag, a costume for the dance."

"Yeah, I hope they'll believe that. I have a feeling that nothing is ever going to be the same again."

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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