Alexa Chapter 4: A Night Downtown

We made our way back downtown so we could drop Katie off at her waitressing job at AJ Dunham’s. Wishing her good tips, we make our way back to our apartments. As we walk into Jenny and Katie’s apartment I realize that I have not been into my own apartment since the infamous Chicken incident almost 24 hours prior. It seems like it was weeks ago. Who would have thought that my life would change so much in the last 24 hours? While it was exciting, I also started to think about the reality that would come crashing down around me on Sunday when this ‘experiment’ was over.

I’m not sure if Jenny sensed that something was bothering me, but she did kind of have a sympathetic look on her face as she unlocked the door to her apartment. She then asked if I needed anything out of my apartment. I nodded and ran in and grabbed my laptop and backpack. I am a student after all. As I closed the door a haunting feeling started coming over me. I kind of felt like that I was closing the door on Alex. I got a sudden chill up and down my spine. Is this where I am heading? Was my life going to change even more. A tear came to my eye as I entered into the girls’ apartment.

I didn’t notice Jenny as I came through the door, I suddenly felt a tight hug around me from behind. This did not feel like a ‘friendship’ hug, it felt like something more. ‘Are you doing OK Alexa?” a voice in my ear says. It was a sympathetic voice, a caring voice. My heart stated racing, my head started spinning. What was happening? What is up with Jenny? Has my luck changed? I turn around in Jenny’s arms and return the hug and thank her. I assure her nothing is wrong.

“Something is bothering you.” Jenny says. “Go sit down in the living room and I will grab some wine. We need to review some of things that happened today anyway.

I give Jenny a smirk, “More wine? Is there any left from last night?”

Jenny giggles and pushes me towards the living room as she enters the kitchen and grabs a bottle of Chardonnay from the refrigerator and two glasses from the dishwasher. “Of course there is. One nice thing about my parents, they buy so much wine they never know what is missing. I think I took two cases last weekend.” Jenny informs me.

Jenny enters the living room with the bottle of wine and two glasses. She pours the two glasses and we both collapse on to what have become our respective seats over the last few days. Jenny stares at me with a smile, but it is an uneasy one. It reminded me of this morning. Before I can make any comment on it, she asks what I thought of today’s adventure as Alexa
into the real world.

“Where do I begin?” I ask rhetorically. “Well at the beginning I was scared shitless! Walking out the door of this apartment was nothing like last night. Last night I did it without thinking, but today I went knowing what I was doing. I was scared that Brandon or Steve were going to come walking down the hall at any minute. They would have been dying of laughter if they had seen me dressed like this.” As I am saying this I start thinking how could be even worse. Brandon is an extreme homophobe. I lived on the same dorm floor with him freshman year. Two of the guys on our floor were caught in a ‘compromising’ position. Brandon harassed the shit out of them until both of them finally moved off the floor. He strutted around afterwards, proud of himself for ridding the floor of the ‘fags” I had not taken him into consideration during all this. I will have to remember to avoid him.

“How did you feel when we were at the restaurant?” Jenny asks.

Her second question seemed a little direct, kind of like her ‘clinical’ responses early this morning. That unnerves me a little. I want to open up to her and tell her everything, but it is like she is trying to keep some distance. The moments like the one when I came through the door seem to be few and far between. I don’t understand it. I try and formulate an answer as best I can through my confusion. “I was definitely nervous at first. I thought I would get laughed at. I thought everyone would know that I was a man in women’s clothing. But no one noticed. I think that is what got to me the most. No one made a fuss. I was so overlooked I felt like I fit in.”

Jenny nodded in agreement. I noticed a faraway look in her eyes. As she ponders what I had just said. I am not sure if she is thinking about me or her paper. I just sit there and wait for her as she snaps herself out of her thought. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking how I was going to word this paper and trying to digest all of this.” What does she mean by the last part I wonder? She continues into her questioning of my experience moving on to the shopping trip. I tell her how much fun I had. I confess that I wish I had tried on more things but I realized that time was not on our side as we had to get Katie to work. Jenny giggled at that. “I wish you would have said something. We could have dropped her off and hit the stores downtown.”

I shudder at that thought. With campus being so close to downtown, I am glad we didn’t continue our shopping trip. I would have been even more nervous than I had been. Can you imagine turning a corner and bumping into Brandon and Steve or someone else from school. I would have died on the spot! No, I was glad we went to the suburbs for my first shopping trip. If we had stayed in town I would have been even more nervous than I was. Tonight was going to be a big test. Was I ready? Jenny brought me back to the present as she started in on what she noticed.

“From what I saw I think it went well. You seemed to act like any girl out there. You blended right in as we looked at dresses in Nordstrom and you acted perfectly when you asked that girl for help in the dressing room. No one could have told you were not 100% female. The one time you seemed out of place was when we went to Victoria’s Secret. You blended in but you just seemed really nervous.”

“I was! I don’t think that I have been ever so nervous in my life! I tried as hard as I could to blend in but it just felt like I was under a microscope.” I could see Jenny smile and nod as I said this. I didn’t have the heart (or balls) to tell her that another reason I was so scarred was the fact I wanted to buy everything!

Jenny than started in about the shoe shopping. She said she wished we could have tried on more but we were on a mission. I did comment that I thought we would have too. The next thing she said threw me for a real loop. “Did you notice the salesman checking you out?’

“What?” My head completely spinning from Jenny’s question.

“He was totally checking you out! When you walked over to the mirror to look at the shoes, he was totally looking you over. And that smile on his face wasn’t just the typical plastic salesperson smile. He was liking what he saw!” Jenny informed me. “And he wasn’t the only guy that did that. Remember leaving the restaurant? The young guy in the suit who held the door open? He had the same lecherous grin that Joshua the shoe guy did! You did look hot today so I can’t blame them.”

I sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe what I had just been told. Guys checking me out? I was completely lost now. I was struggling to get my head around it. Before I could even make a comment about it, Jenny’s phone rings. “Shit. I need to get this, excuse me.” Jenny stands up and moves towards her room and I can hear her answer, leaving me alone on the couch with what I have just been told. I had guys checking me out when I was dressed as a woman. That is crazy! I didn’t want that, I wanted Jenny! I don’t like guys, I like Jenny. My head just seemed to keep spinning. I grab my glass of wine and drain in one long gulp. I sit there trying to compute all this. Suddenly a new thought hits me. That is kind of cool. I am actually kind of flattered that guys would actually think I am attractive as a woman. My confidence begins to soar in my being able to present myself so well but I can’t hide my feelings for Jenny. As has been the case the last couple of days, confusion once again dominates my thoughts.

Jenny returns from the bedroom with an extremely unhappy look on her face. I ask her if anything is wrong. She takes her seat on the couch and lets out a big sigh. “I completely forgot that tomorrow night is a big birthday party for my Grandmother. She is turning 85. My parents are hosting it at our house. I have to be there at like 5:00 tomorrow. I so wanted to go out with you and Katie tomorrow.”

I can see how sad Jenny is. She just seems real down. I think fast and say. ‘Don’t worry about it. There will be other nights.” What am I saying? Am I agreeing to go out again as Alexa? I try and think quickly. “Why don’t we go to dinner a little later than originally planned and we grab Katie after she is done and head out for a little bit.” Hopefully that will distract her from ‘other nights’ comment.

Jenny at first gives me a shocked look and then I smile creeps across her face. “I don’t know if I can deal with Alexa.” She says.

“Why?” I say somewhat defiantly.

“She is a much more take charge than that dumb old Alex.” Jenny says as she breaks into a giggle fit which is soon joined by me. That is the second time today that I have stepped out of my normal comfort zone and spoken up. Alex would never offer up a plan. One of Alex’s favorite sayings is ‘sure, whatever’. He just went with whatever anyone else thought. But Alexa has proved to be very straight forward and confident in how she acts. I love both Alex and Alexa, but Alexa is proving to be something Alex, or should I say I, have never been. And I like it even more than I thought. As I am thinking this, I am feeling Alex slipping away even more and right now I don’t even care. Tonight Alexa is going out into the world to have a little fun!

“Well then let’s open up some more wine. Katie is not going to be done until around 10. If we head out about 8:00, we can get down there eat and then wait for Katie to finish up.” Jenny agrees with my plan and heads off for another bottle of wine. I am discovering another difference between Alex and Alexa, Alexa definitely enjoys having a drink or two. Alex was good for a couple of beers at best. I’m going to have to keep an eye on that in the future, but not tonight. Tonight Alexa is going to ‘let her hair down’ so to speak.

Jenny returns with a bottle and we continue our idle chit chat about the day and the night before. Jenny continues to tease me at how much more assertive I have been as Alexa. I try to adopt a little bit of a snooty air to me. “More wine young lady” I say to her as I hold out my glass. Jenny responds with a “Yes my lady. Is there anything else you need?” Causing more laughter between us.

Jenny looks at me quizzically after we gain our composure. She asks me what I am thinking about everything that is happening, how am I handling it? I tell her that I really don’t want to talk to deeply about it tonight, maybe tomorrow. I want to enjoy a night out as Alexa I tell her. We can deal with how I am handling it tomorrow. I can’t believe I told the truth to Jenny on that. But it is what I want. Why should I be ashamed of it? I apologize to Jenny for being so frank with her. I explain that I want to experience all I can as Alexa at this moment. That something has opened up inside of me. Saying it out loud to her starts to begin more questions in my head. One question is one I definitely do not want to deal with tonight, but another might be. Can this new found confidence and persona get Jenny to like me?

I ask Jenny what she thinks of everything. Jenny looks at me for a second then looks away. It seems like she is trying to compose herself. She looks me in the eye and says “I’m having a great time with you.” That comments shocks me. I think that this was the first time that I Jenny has not referred to me as Alex or Alexa. She said ‘you’. Have I become Alexa more than I thought? Jenny continues on, “You seem to enjoy shopping, you are willing to tease your friends and more importantly you get guys all wound up!”

Blushing at Jenny’s words, I try and change the subject immediately. I look at the clock on my phone. ‘It’s 7 o’clock. We should get ready.” Jenny gets all excited rushes to the kitchen table where we left my new dress laying over the back of a chair. She tells me to go wash off my makeup and meet her in her room. I complete my task and I find Jenny digging though the bags from her shopping trip yesterday. She produces a new bra for me and keeps digging. She finally finds what she is looking for and pulls them out. These two items are the same black color as the bra, but they are two items I never have or never thought I would wear. I am now shaking. Is it from excitement or nerves? As I feel a smile spread across my face I realize that it is from excitement. I am almost jumping up and down as she hands me the thong and garter belt.

Jenny asks me if I have ever worn these kind of items before and I tell her no. “Well I think you can probably figure it all out. One tip, make sure you put the garter straps under the thong and not over. It will make it easier when you have to use the bathroom.” I giggle at this comment. I suddenly realize that I have not yet used the ‘ladies room’ yet in public. I can’t believe I had completely avoided that step while on our shopping trip. Well, I am sure that will change tonight. I gather up the lingerie and dress and head towards Katie’s room before Jenny calling my name causes me to stop. “You are going to need these too.” Handing me a package of nude stockings. I can feel my heart beat even faster. “Just do them one at a time. Don’t rush in putting them on. I didn’t buy many pairs.” Following her advice, I finally make my way into Katie’s room to give myself some privacy.

I lay them items on the bed and take a long look at them. I can’t believe that I am going to get to wear these clothes! I am about to don more clothing of the type that I had only dreamed of. Not only that I am going to be dressing sexier than I ever have. Did I just say sexier? I had never thought of looking sexy when I was wearing women’s clothing. It had always been done as a form of relaxation. A form of feeling comfortable. But here I was talking about looking sexy in women’s clothes. And I was excited by it. I wanted to look my best. To be considered beautiful was a huge step for me. It was a step that I wanted to take, and take badly.

I quickly strip off the skirt and top I had been wearing. I pull the forms out of my bra and place them on the bed before sitting down and slowly taking off my pantyhose and panties. I stop when I think about what is going through my mind. In my mind I had referred to all of these items as mine. Not Alexa’s or one of the girls but mine. This is a big step but not as big as the one I am anxiously about to take. I step into the tong and slide it up. I adjust myself as best as I can to ensure that nothing peeks out and slide the thin rear piece up my bum. WOW! Is that a different feeling, I will definitely have to get used to up but it feels kind of good. I hook the garter belt in front of my waist and spin it around my waist, remembering what Crash Davis had said, the rode goes in front. Remembering the tip Jenny gave me I thread the garters through the thong and sit down once again and remove the stockings. Taking one, of the stockings I roll it into a donut and slip my foot into it and slow deign to slide the stocking up my leg. I don’t think I have ever felt anything so incredible in my life. I hook into the garter and repeat the action on my other leg and I stand up. My legs feel like they are wrapped in a silken heaven! I could get used to this. I walk around the room a little bit and I feel incredible! Between the thong in the nylons I feel like I am floating on a cloud!

Jen pulls me out of my dream like state by telling me to hurry up. I go back to Katie’s bed and put on the bra and insert the breast forms. I reach for the dress, MY dress, and remove it from the hanging bag and step into it. Even though I had worn it before, this was the first time I had ever put on a dress that I actually owned. I get it on and work the zipper up myself, This is an almost impossible task. I padded into Jenny’s bedroom and asked her for some help. She zipped me up and then instructed me to sit down at her vanity. She explained to me she was going to make my make up a little more dramatic than she previously had. It was going to be more of a night time look. She also said she was going to try something with my wig. I noticed that a towel had been placed over the mirror again. I can tell that Jenny is spreading the foundation on a little heavier last night and the eye makeup seems absolutely heavy. She pulls out what I now know is an eyelash curler and instructs me to sit still and open my eyes wide while she manipulates the tool. She follows this with many strokes of mascara and extreme outlining of my eyes. Jenny then began brushing out my hair and pulling sections of it towards the back, I hear a click and I realize that something had been attached in the back. Jenny tells me to turn around and hands me the shoes. I slip them an and fasten the ankle strap.

Jenny helps me and has me stand as she takes a step back to take me in. She gasps and her hand moves to her mouth. “You are stunning Alexa.” I blush slightly at her comment, not knowing if she is trying to be nice or if it is actually true. Jenny takes my hand and leads me to the full length mirror at the back of the door. Unlike last night, I am not told to keep my eyes closed as Jenny closes the door so I can see myself slowly come into view. OMG! I can’t believe it. If I thought I looked good last night I looked gorgeous tonight. The dress seems to give me a little wider hips. And draw in my waist a bit. I turned around and could believe how good my butt looked. I always had kind of a bubble but, now it looked incredible. Maybe it was the effect the thong was having on my rear. It seemed a little more pronounced, even more than this afternoon at Nordstrom. I continued to move up the body and settled on my face. This was not the look of a typical college student. This was the look of a young woman ready for a night on the town. It was much more glamourous. My eyes seemed bigger and more oval. My lashes were long and very dark. I turned my head slightly and saw what appeared to be a semi-large round rhinestone piece that pulled back part of ‘my’ hair and kept it off my face. In short I looked HOT!

Before I could say anything Jenny told me to go out to the living room, pour myself a glass of wine and wait. I left her room and somewhat ignored what she had told me. I went and got the glass of wine but instead of sitting down I made a beeline for Katie’s room. I stood in front of her mirror and restarted the checkout of this beautiful girl that Jenny had introduced me to. I couldn’t get over how good I looked. I realized that I was truly an attractive girl. Alex never looked as good as boy as I do now as a girl. And then it hit me. I had to sit down as I began crying. I realized this what I truly wanted and was never going to be able to be. Jenny happened to step out of her room at just about the same time as I began the waterworks. Jenny turned towards me and presented herself for inspection. If I thought I looked good, Jenny looked incredible, like a model or an actress. Her beautiful champagne colored dress looks absolutely gorgeous as it wraps and hugs her curves. She is perched on what look like incredibly high 4 inch heels giving her legs a long Slight I can honestly say I don’t think I have seen anyone more beautiful in my entire life. Jenny saw the situation I was in and ran over and put her arm around me. “Are you okay?” She asked with genuine concern in her voice.

Here was the girl I was madly in love with her arm around me trying to console me as I was dressed as a woman. The conflict in my head was enormous. I didn’t know if there was any way I could have both Jenny and the dressing for longer than just this weekend and like everybody I wanted it all. I tried to gain my senses and come up with as vague an answer as I could. I decided to just comment on my appearance, that might be safer. “It’s that I just look so much like a woman I can’t believe it. I never would have dreamed that a short skinny boy could look this good. This far exceeds anything I had ever thought about.”

Jenny pulls me into a huge hug. “You look beautiful Alexa. I agree, knowing what Alex looked like I never though you could look so good.” Jenny assured me. ‘Now let’s go fix your makeup and have a glass of wine before we get a cab to take us to dinner.” With that Jenny helps me up where she touches up my makeup and return to living room where we await the cab Jenny had just called and ordered. We sip on our wine and enjoy some small talk before Jenny has a semi meltdown. “You need a purse for tonight!” She yells and runs of to her room returning with a very small black bag, not much bigger than a paperback book. It has a strap around it. She reaches into the bag and pulls out a small women’s wallet. She instructs me to put my ID and credit cards into it as she adds a small compact, a small brush and a tube of lipstick to the purse. After I return the wallet to the purse, Jenny hands it to me and instructs me to place it over one shoulder. “Perfect” she announces as we sit back down to finish our wine.

Soon the buzzer for the security intercom announces that our cab has arrived. I grab ‘my’ purse and head towards the door. Jenny stops me before I can get to the door and reaches into the closet and grabs Katie’s long black coat. “Just in case” Jenny says. I take the offered coat from her as she grabs her own coat. Jenny asks “You ready?” I nod my head and get a huge smile across my face. We head downstairs to meet the cab, passing a few other tenants of building. Thank god I don’t know them. As we get in the cab, Jenny tells the driver ‘AJ Dunham’s and make it fast.” We both start giggling hard. And the cabbie obliges and we make to the restaurant in under 20 minutes. I slip the driver a $20 from my purse and we walk into the restaurant.

Walking in with my head held high and my shoulders back I stride right up to the hostess stand. I wait for a moment before a hostess comes up, “How many tonight ladies, just the two of you?”

“Yes,” I say “and if possible could we be sat Katie Fahey’s section?”

“I don’t see it being a problem. Let me check and see what’s available.” The hostess replies and moves off. We wait just a minute before she returns. “It will be just a few minutes. Would you care to wait at the bar?”

“That will be fine.” I reply and Jenny and I move over to the bar. As we enter, I can feel several pairs of eyes turn towards us and check us out. This is an odd feeling. I can see several men checking out Jenny and I don’t blame them. I have been checking her out all night. However, I notice almost as many eyes looking at me! I really should feel disgusted by this, after all I’m not attracted to men, but I find it exhilarating! People thinking, I am actually attractive as a woman! This is more than I had ever hoped for when I had done my “splurge and purge’ moments. I want to take full advantage of this. I want to see what it is truly like to be a woman in the town. Forget all those misgivings I had. I want to paint the town red with my new best friend. Alex can stay home and play Call of Duty!

Jenny and I each take a seat at the bar. I attempt to cross my leg seductively while n the bar stool. Jenny whispers a few hints I find myself sitting comfortably at bar looking every bit the picture of femininity. The bartender walks over and asks us for our order. Before Jenny can even open her mouth, I order to Cosmopolitans. The bartender smiles, “Can I see your ID’s ladies?” I start to panic, I’m legal but my ID says I am a Male named Alexander Michael Quinn. Jenny looks at me in astonishment that I would be so brazen. I slowly reach for my purse and pull out my ID and Jenny fishes hers out. I hand it to the bartender who takes a brief glance at it, smile and hands it back and does the same with Jenny. After reviewing our ID’s, he just announces “Two Cosmopolitans, any particular Vodka? Jenny lets him know Absolute would be fine.

After the bartender moves off, Jenny leans over and says in a low voice “Oh my god Alexa. You are a bold one!” I smile and nod my head.

“I thought I was busted after he asked for my ID. I had to carry through with it? Do you think he noticed the M on sex? I respond.

“Not a chance. He barely looked at your ID. He was too busy looking at you.” Jenny responds laughingly

Adopting as snooty an attitude as I can, “Not my type.” As I break out into a fit laughter.

“You are such a tease Alexa.” Jenny confirms as she joins into the laugh fest. We are getting some looks from the other patrons of the bar, so we must be a little loud. We bring it under control just as the bartender returns with our cocktails.

We sip on our drinks giggling and making comment on the other people in the bar for a few minutes before the hostess comes up to us to let us know our table is ready. Jenny and I slide off of our bar stools grab our purses and jackets to follow the hostess to our table where we are promptly seated. I see Katie at the Waitress Station and situate myself so my back will be to her as she comes up. I can’t wait to see the look on Katie’s face. It is only second before I can sense someone coming up from behind me and as the person gets closer I can begin to hear Katie speaking.

‘Good evening ladies, my name is Katie and I…” Katie suddenly stops and I can see both her eyes and mouth go wide. Katie has seemed to have lost all ability to speak. I just smile at her as demurely as a guy dressed like this can. I look over and see Jenny covering her mouth trying not to laugh out loud as her eyes dart back and forth between Katie and I. Katie finally gains some composure but never stops staring at me. She leans forward and whispers in my ear. “You look amazing” and straitens up and begins her normal waitress speech. Her eyes never leave me though except for a brief second to take a giggling Jenny’s order of a chcicken breast. I order a piece of broiled walleye and a side salad. Katie tries to keep her composure as best she can but finally reverts to her normal self and accusses us of both being drunk already. We just smile at her accustation.

Dinner was excellent, I do love a good piece of walleye and the company was even better. Jenny and I chat away as we have been all night. As the talk dies down I notice her kind of looking around again like something is on her mind. I ask if something is bothering her. She stares at me for a few seconds and takes a deep breath like she is trying to sommon up the strength to ask me a question. Finally, she leans forward in a quiet voice and asks me what I think of all these men checking me out.

“What do you mean? I respond with a quizzical look on my face.

“Oh come on Alexa. You have had guys checking you out all day. First it was that shoe salesman, then the guys in the bar and then the bartender. Alexa has been a big hit with the men of Twin Cities today. How does that make you feel?” Jenny asks.

I really have to think about it. Tonight has been fun. A real adventure. One that boring old Alex would never undertake. But as Alexa I am enjoying the attention. That thought strikes me odd. What is happening to me? It seems like every time I am taking a second to realize what is going on around me, I realize that I am pushing Alex farther back. Is that what I want to happen? If you asked me at this moment I would have said YES in a very loud voice, but there was still a voice in the back of my head saying stop. The voice had been there for the last few days, but the volume had been decreasing every time I heard it. As I try and deal with the confusion, Katie mercifully returns to our table. She looks around and then leans in,

“I can’t believe you two,” Katie says with a huge smile. “Jenny you are dressed to kill. But Alexa, you even outshine her.” I blush at Katie’s comment. “I’m almost done so we WILL be going out for at least one drink shortly. I need to see this raven haired beauty in action.”

“Well if it is anything like the bar, there will be action. She had all of them checking her out.” Jenny says.

Katie giggles at all of this and straightens back up and move into her official waitress mode. “Will there be anything else for you ladies this evening?” Katie asks. We both decline, hoping that it will get Katie out of work sooner. We continue to sip the wine we had ordered with our meal as Katie processed our payment. Soon she returns with the credit card slip for Jenny to sign and says “I am out of here in about 10 minutes. I will change in back and why don’t I meet you next door at Brady’s.” We agree and grab our coats and purses and begin to make our way to the door. Jenny stops before we get to the front.

“We should probably use the bathroom here. It will be much quieter here than at Brady’s.” Jenny says. Agreeing with her I am about to cross into a completely new world. The women’s restroom. In all the excitement of dressing, shopping and dining, this one thing I have never thought about. I had not thought of the little things that I would have to deal with as this adventure had unfolded over the last few days. Dealing with guys checking me out was a little odd as was trying to get in and out of vehicles, but I had picked those up pretty well. But now I was truly entering “no-man’s” land. I don’t know why I was so scared about this. I know it was more than just being busted. I mean I had used the “family restroom” at the mall today, but that was a private restroom. This was a Ladies’ room. Maybe it was symbolic that I was crossing the last line of change from Alex to Alexa. I could feel myself starting to tremble slightly. Jenny grabs my hand and tells me “Take a deep breath. It’s just a bathroom. No one will know the truth, just follow my lead. Just one thing.” Unable to speak I looked at her with a quizzical look.

A big smile comes across her face and she says “Just remember to sit when you pee.” That comment definitely settled me down as we both broke into giggles again as we entered into the ladies’ room. I noticed one middle age woman at the mirror touching up her lipstick. She turns and looks at us and says with a smile. “You two girls sure look like you are having a fun night and you both look beautiful. “In my practiced feminine voice, I thank her for the compliment and the two of us each enter a stall. Remembering the advice Jenny had just given me and hike up my dress and lower my thong and take care of my business. Realizing it will be difficult to complete my task as I have in the past as Alex, I grab some TP and wipe. I get myself back in order and move to the sink and mirror. I wash my hands and reach into my purse and grab my lipstick. The word ‘my’ doesn’t seem to bother me anymore. I smile at myself as I begin to touch up my lipstick, following the lead of the woman we met as we entered the ladies’ room. I am soon joined by Jenny who tells me I am a natural as she proceeds to the same tasks I have completed and currently working on.

We complete our touchup and depart the ladies’ room and head for the restaurant exit. A 50-ish looking gentleman thanks us for coming in this evening. We thank him for the great meal and praise our waitress on her excellent service. The gentleman, who must tbe the manager, tells us he will have to let her know as we leave the restaurant giggling away. We make our way next door to Brady’s, not exactly a college bar, there isn’t beer spilled all over the floor and loud Neanderthal guys having chugging contests but it is popular with a younger crowd. We scan the place looking for either a table or a seat at the bar and find a table near the front window. We grab it and wait for Katie to appear.

We don’t wait for long as Katie strolls in and we wave her over just as a waitress comes up to take our order. Katie orders a Corona, while Jenny orders a glass of wine. Feeling a little empowered from my night at the restaurant, I order another Cosmo. As the waitress checks our ID’s. Katie’s eyes grow as large as dinner plates. The waitress appears satisfied that all three of us are of legal age and moves off. Katie begins to mockingly admonish me. “You are so brazen. I can’t believe you just handed her your ID! And she didn’t even blink. Then you order a Cosmo! Not only is Alexa a bold one but she is a drinker too!” The three us laugh at this as Jenny informs Katie of our mini-adventure next door as we were waiting for our table.

“That would explain this.” Jenny says as she reaches into her purse and pulls out a slip of paper and hands it to me. I begin to open it and Jenny asks Katie what it is. “It’s Rob the bartender’s phone number. He asked me to give it to the ‘hot’ brunette I was waiting on.” The giggles evolve into out and out laughter from my two friends as I sit there holding a piece of paper in my hand blushing.

We spend the next few hours drinking and laughing. We danced a little bit with each other, at least I did. Jenny and Katie both accepted dance offers from various guys in the bar. I always refused, using an excuse that I had just broken up with my boyfriend and one of the girls always made sure I was not left alone. I don’t think we paid for a drink after that first one. It was all a very eye opening experience. I couldn’t believe how bold guys could be when they are trying to pick up a girl. At one point, when it was just me and Katie, I asked her if I was that bad. Katie laughed at my question. “Alexa, Alex would never have had the guts to talk to someone as good looking as you.” I felt like I had been by a 2 x 4. I know I had always been somewhat shy around women, but I didn’t know I had been so obvious, I had tried to act all macho to get a girl in the past, but it just wasn’t me. To have my friend say it out loud really was a shock.

But another thing hit me at that point. I realized as Alexa I wasn’t the wilting flower I had been as Alex. While I had refused to dance with any boy, it had not stopped me from talking to them. I was joking with them, teasing some of them but generally just being part of a larger group that had seemed to ebb and flow as we sat at the table at Brady’s Pub. I don’t think I had ever had as much fun as I was having now in my whole life. I don’t think I was flirting, even though Jenny accused me of it a couple of times. I was just having fun. Alexa was having fun. The whole night was becoming a revelation. The most fun though were those few times I was able to sneak out on to the dance floor with Jenny alone. I was getting the chance two live two dreams at once the last few days and it mostly thanks to the beautiful blonde in the Champagne colored dress.

Soon it was 1 AM and both Jenny and I were feeling the effects of a long night of partying. Thank god Katie spent most of the night working because she was a perfect caretaker for the two us. After ushering us out of the bar, Katie hailed us a cab and we made our way back to the apartment. Katie kept telling us to be quiet as Jenny and I stumbled down the hall, laughing very loudly. Katie was finally able to push us through the door and into her and Jenny’s apartment. Jenny tumbled and pulled me down with her. The two of us laid on the ground laughing harder than ever while Katie stood over the two of us with a very stern look on her face. “All right you two lushes get up. You two need to get to bed we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so let’s go.”

“Yes MOM!” I say as Jenny and I have to make a couple of attempts to pull ourselves up from the door. Finally, we are on our feet, sort of, and begin stumbling towards the bedrooms. Katie grabbed the two of us by the arm and guided us along the way. She playfully shoved Jenny towards her bed and continued guiding me towards her room where she unceremoniously dumped me on her bed. Half slumped over, Katie came behind me and unzipped my dress. “You need to get out of this dress. You don’t want to ruin it.” Coming around to the front of me she helped me off the bed she continued helping me (OK actually stripping me) off with the dress. When she saw what I was wearing underneath. I was too drunk to be embarrassed but not too drunk to ask Katie what she thought. “You look smoking hot! Good thing Rob can’t see now. I don’t think your virtue would make it!” Katie says laughing at me. She slipped a long t-shirt over my head and pushed me back on to the bed where I promptly passed out.