A College Outing, Part 3

A College Outing, Part 3.

The next morning, she had a surreal experience putting on the boy’s jeans, sweatshirt, shoes, and ball cap she had gotten yesterday. She checked herself in the mirror to see what she looked like. She couldn’t help but stare at her reflection. She remembered back when she kind of thought she looked like a boy dressed like a girl, but now, there was no way she could be anything but a girl dressed as a boy.

Tracy’s body had reacted well to the hormones. She’d been taking them since she was 17. She’d convinced her mother that they were anti-depression pills to get her permission. Her mother hadn’t really payed her too much attention since she’d written Tracy off as a “pervert,” so she didn’t look into what medicines her doctor was prescribing.

There was a tap at Tracy’s door. “It’s open,” she called.

“Hmm, I could have sworn you were supposed to wear boy clothes today,” Mary commented. “But on you, even those clothes look designed for girls.”

Tracy smiled at Mary. “Good morning to you too. You look nice.”

Mary was sporting a blue flannel button up shirt and a pair of boy’s jeans. “Thanks. I’m just leaving for school. I’m gonna spend the day there because of opposite day. Want a ride?”

“Sure, I wasn’t really looking forward to driving by myself anyway. Let me grab a breakfast bar though.”

“We’re out. Alice took the last one on the way to school this morning. But we can stop by Denny’s and get breakfast. My treat.”

“Then I guess I’m ready to go.” She locked her room on the way out and followed Mary to the car.

The freeway was surprisingly fast for rush hour and they made it to their exit in only a few minutes. When Mary went to down-shift her car to get off the freeway, her hand instead found Tracy’s own hand which was laying on her lap. Tracy felt another spark shoot up her arm and her heart skipped a beat. Mary’s only visible reaction to the touch was to move her hand back to the gearshift. “Sorry about that.”

A few minutes later, they pulled into an open parking place in the Denny’s lot and went inside. “Party of 2? Sit anywhere you’d like girls.” The waiter gestured toward the seating area. Tracy chose a table near the back of the room and the waiter followed them with their menus. “You two are college students, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“The manager’s giving 10% off to anybody who does Opposite Day today. About 5:30 a couple of boys came in. The waitress asked them why they were wearing dresses when they obviously weren’t girls. He explained about Opposite Day, and our manager loved the idea. He said that he’d do his own bit to help along anti-discrimination, so 10% off to any college student who is doing their part.”

Mary almost told them that Tracy was the one they were supporting, but stopped herself first. She realized that Tracy might not want to be outed to the restaurant as well as the college.

“So, can I get you something to drink?”

“Coffee for me please,” Tracy asked.

“Raspberry Tea for me,” Mary asked.

“Coming right up.” He handed them their menus and went off to get their drinks.

By the time the waiter made it back with their drinks, both girls had decided what they wanted. “I’ll just have some pancakes,” Tracy said.

“I’ll take the All American Slam,” Mary asked when the waiter turned to her.

The waiter took their menus and left.

“How many people do you think will do it?”

“Do what?”

“Opposite day.”

“I’m not really sure. I think a few thousand probably. There are 11,000 students at our school, so there’s bound to be lots of people on your side.

“But what if there aren’t?”

“Then we can either go home or stand strong alone. I’m with you one way or the other.”

“People were so upset,” Tracy’s eyes ears up. “Why would they change their minds in less than 24 hours?”

“James did, if you remember.”

“Yeah, but he’s different.”

“How is he different? He’s a normal college boy. The only difference is that he hasn’t drunken himself silly yet this semester.”

Tracy couldn’t help but laugh at that. Mary had a knack for making her feel better in the strangest ways.

The waiter returned with their orders.

“Enjoy your meals.”

“We will, thank you.”

Just before they took their first bites, James and Robert walked in. Mary tried to conceal a laugh but it came out as a snort. “Silly” was the only word Tracy could think of to describe how the boys looked. Robert was wearing a mini-dress and stockings and James was had gone all out. He was wearing over the top everything: makeup, sparkly dress, 2 inch heels, and hair included.

Mary’s giggle-snort caught their attention and they made their way over. Tracy slid over to allow them to sit down, but Mary hesitated.

“You guys look... nice,” Tracy said while trying to hold in her laughter.

“You really think so?” James asked, sitting down next to her.

“Oh most definitely,” Mary chimed in, finally scooting over for Robert.

The waiter followed them over with a couple more menus. They both declined the menu and ordered their usual.

“What brought you guys here?” Tracy asked the boys.

“Oh, we always come here. Once a week, every Thursday since we were both in high school.”

“Except two weeks ago, when he decided to take his girlfriend out for breakfast instead,” Robert pretended to complain.

The waiter brought the boys orders. “Enjoy.”

“You know, I just realized something. We kind of table crashed. Do you guys mind?” Robert asked.

“Actually, I was kind of hoping for a moment alone with Tracy,” Mary admitted before Tracy could tell the boys it was fine, which Mary knew she would.

Tracy’s mind went into overdrive. “Breakfast alone? Like a date? Don’t be silly, it’s just too friends having breakfast, that’s all. Right?”

“Oh, that’s fine. We’ll just move to another table.”

The boys picked up their plates and silverware and moved a few booths toward the entrance.

Tracy’s hands were shaking as she she ate her breakfast. Mary noticed, but attributed the nerves to the upcoming day rather than the current situation.

Soon their plates were empty and Mary went to pay the bill. Tracy slipped off to the washroom. She had a moment of hesitation where she wondered what people would do now that she was outed, but shrugged it off and went in the lady’s room anyway.

When she came out, Mary was waiting for her. “Ready to face the college?”

“Not really, but let’s go anyway.”

“I’ll at your side most of the day. I don’t have any classes on Thursdays. And when you you do have class, I’ll hang out at the cafe. You have my number.”

“Thank you, Mary.”

“What are girlfriends for?”

“Relax, Tracy! She just meant friends who are girls. She didn’t mean girlfriends.”

The girls climbed into Mary’s car and drove the short distance to the college. Tracy checked her cellphone’s clock. “I’m supposed to be in Trig in 10 minutes.”

“Supposed to?”

“Todd is in that class. I’m not really sure I want to deal with him today.”

“Then don’t. It wont hurt you to skip one class. But have you decided what you want to do about what he did?”

“I …. I don’t know. I could report him, but without witnesses, it would be his word against mine, and I am sure he will try and use my ‘perversion’ against me.”

“I will be with you either way. Skip that class today, and think about how you want to handle it though. I don't want you to have to fail the class because you can’t attend it.”

“O...okay. I will think about it.”

Mary parked her car and the girls climbed out. There were a few other students getting out of their cars. Tracy noticed that out of the three boys and other two girls in the parking lot, two of the boys and one of the girls were dressed as the opposite gender.

“Morning, Tracy,” the other girl said as she passed Mary’s car. “Sorry, I couldn’t find any boy clothes last night, but I still support you.”

“Thank you...” Tracy breathed.

“Can’t chat too long, gotta run off to Bio. See ya around.”

Tracy’s surge of hope was squashed as the boy who wasn’t dressed as a girl walked by. “Pervert,” he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

“Ignore him,” Mary told her. He’s outnumbered five to one in this parking lot. People care about you and your right to be you.”

The girls made their way to the campus cafe, which seemed much busier than normal. But that was partially because of all the people who had gone all-out for opposite day.

“I can’t believe you’re dressed as a girl!” A loud male voice yelled in the far corner of the cafe. “I can’t believe you support that sissy boy!”

“Tracy is not a sissy boy. Tracy is a girl.” Another boy spoke loudly, but much less threatening. “And I support her. It’s because of idiots like you that people like her have to be so scared to be happy.”

“Are you some kind of sissy boy too?”

“Mark, you need to go away. We can talk later when you’ve calmed down.”

“Hey Tracy!” David broke Tracy’s attention on the two young men in the corner. “Look at today’s newspapers.”

He held out both the city’s newspaper and the college’s paper. The city’s paper talked about the opposite day event and applauded the students for coming together so quickly for a civil rights protest. The college’s paper printed an apology letter to Tracy herself.

“Look around, Tracy. 7 out of every 10 students I’ve seen today is cross-dressed today. And every single one of them is here to support your right to be a woman. And for the right of transgender people everywhere to be who they are.”

“I … I see. and it is … fantastic.”

“You deserve it. But I am late for class. Take care”

“You too, David. And thank you”

Mary and Tracy sat in silence for a minute. Tracy found herself sneaking peeks at her friend, and thinking, “She looks beautiful, even dressed as a boy.... Wait, why am I thinking that?”

Another minute passed, and then Mary said, “Tracy, I have to go use the bathroom. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

“I’ll be fine,” she promised.

“I’ll be right back.”

Mary got up and headed for the bathrooms. The nearest ones were in the bookstore about 3 minutes away. Unfortunately Todd chose those few minutes to show up. He didn’t say anything, but he sat down at the table right next to Tracy and glowered at her.

Tracy stood up immediately and headed out the door. She bee-lined straight for the bathrooms, and the person she felt safest around. She made it about 50 feet away before Todd followed her out of the cafe. She didn’t turn around, but she felt him behind her.

She didn’t run, but she had a very brisk walk. She could almost feel his breath, and the memory of his attack was replaying in her mind. She made it to the bathroom, and slipped inside quickly. She had just taken a deep breath when she heard a familiar voice saying “What do you think you are doing in here?”

It was Alice.



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