Ellin takes her daughter, the one she thinks is Breanne, to the Mall.

Chapter 3

Ellin glanced across the car to her daughter in the passenger seat. Breanne, having been caught out for wrapping her breasts, was totally shaken. Her cloak of usually far too sure of herself confidence was stripped away. Ellin had never thought she could have got her daughter into the blouse she was currently wearing. She just had to take her to the jewelry store, and show her the earrings. They were clip on too. So she can let Breanne do her whole spiel on never getting her ears pierced, and then show her the dangling sliver and sapphire butterfly clip on earrings. Then Breanne will have a vested interest to wear this outfit again, as they go so well together.

Probably should start with clothes first. Move from the necessary, correctly fitted bras, on to matching panties? She’d probably not be able to go truly pretty there, unfortunately. Then tops as Breanne’s current outfits were too tight to wear. Hence, why Ellin had got her into the current blouse, as it was one of the loosest tops Breanne owned, that wasn’t ugly. Could she get her into dresses and skirts? She’d got Breanne to wear the denim skirt. That Breanne had not demanded to wear her usual jeans was quite surprising. Yes, Ellin thought she should likely be able to make ground there. She had a greater chance at that than being called Mum at least, unfortunately. She wasn’t too sure how to end that thought.

It hurt that both her children adamantly stuck to calling her step-mum. However, at least it wasn’t evil step-mum. She was determined to be the best step-mum ever. Well she could try. They’d saved her. Hopefully she could be good enough that they valued her as an acceptable step-mum one day.

Thinking back to where she was, when she first saw them, got her thinking of the past. Ellin was back in the American hospital. She was coming down from her latest drug induced escape. She was in one of those few and far between momentary lapses of normalcy. Down from the madness and fog of oblivion, but prior to the claws of drug withdrawal tearing her apart, and causing the sweats, and shakes. She’d run into the children’s ward by pure accident, in her intent to find an exit to escape into whatever U.S. city she was currently in. Thereby, escape the agents that were going to arrest her, and hold her for deportation. She knew now it was Baltimore, but then it was another city the band was playing in.

The band, boy did she ever mess up there. The concert to end all concerts, and her ticket out, rather than returning to ‘no-where-ville’, Northern Territory, as a college drop-out, prior to even finishing one semester. Well ‘no-where-ville' was appropriate, the closest place with a population of barely two hundred was Mataranka, and that was the height of civilization compared to actual home. Home, a lean-to-trailer, and less than half a rod of land to scratch some food out of in the middle of swampland, that came with all the poisonous and dangerous critters the Aussie outback could throw at you. Yes, back to the trailer-trash life, where she’d be lucky to be someone’s ‘Sheila’. The life that she’d fled to Darwin, to escape. Being one of the Jilkminggan school’s top students didn’t get her to stay out, it now seemed. Well one last bash before heading back. A few bands had actually chosen to come to Darwin. Darwin, population that had somehow finally exceeded one-hundred-thousand, one ‘huge’ city.

Ellin had landed the back-up bass guitarist for ‘The Schicks’. Yep the back-up’s back-up, score! Yeah right. Then again the lead bass scored a few girls, and didn’t take any with him back to the US. However, at least Brian put in the effort to get her a visiting visa, passport and paid for the flight out of ‘no-where-ville’. Then how did she repay that? When she thought she had a chance with the lead singer she’d jumped ship. He was just being a dick, or in need of using one, and she fell to being a band groupie. No longer any of the band's actual girlfriends. Brian had left the band too. A bad abortion ensured she couldn’t have children. Another reason to escape the world with drugs. To not admit the hell she was living.

The kids had left their psychologist, as she barreled around the corner, then slowed down to try to blend in. The Doctor was neither bad nor good, Ellin later found out. Unfortunately the grandmother was the client and she wanted the children to have grief counseling for losing their mother at birth. If their grandmother hadn’t spent time hammering the sacrifice her daughter made so the twins could live, they probably wouldn’t need counseling. Their mum died during child birth, and most likely just wanted her kids to be happy, rather than moping in depression of their mother’s death.

A comment from her son-in-law sent the grandma off, and as the grandmother screamed about the sacrifice her daughter made, Ellin knew the children needed help. Funny that when she pushed her effort into trying to help someone else, she finally was able to help herself. The drug withdrawal, a pain that could suddenly be ignored. Oblivion to hide in, not needed when two wounded kids needed her. She’d fallen in love with Marcell too, but that came later, and was more of an evolved mentor friendship than romantic fiery love. He wasn’t quite old enough to be her Dad, but it was closer than her being old enough to be the children’s mother. She was twelve years the twins senior, while he was fourteen, hers. The children always were what had got her though. Best drug treatment clinic ever. Their problems left no time for her to worry about her own.

She’d been all set to get Breanne into a girls’ soccer program. It was over beyond Parramatta though. So in the hope she could get her interested in the field hockey at North Rocks she’d pushed her into that first, and Breanne came alive on the hockey field. It really was like a completely different daughter. No longer was there a moody over aggressive, and competitive really mannish tomboy, suddenly there was a more excited, and actually alive girl thriving. Too bad the hockey season was over.

Her obvious interest in Leah Martins was tempered on the hockey field, and it seemed with organized interaction actually had a better chance of developing. Mary, Leah’s mum, had told her stories of her daughter pulling her hair out in despair. The young lady had confessed to her mum that she was positive she was a lesbian, and had said she could easily see herself in a relationship with the girl on the hockey field, but not the Breanne that shows up at school.

Leah did swimming and dance too. Perhaps she could find a way to get her into the same dance class? Carefully pulling into the mall parking lot, she decided she needed to call Mary, and let her know she was shopping in the mall with the Breanne that shows up on the hockey field.

Douglas was positive that he was currently in hell. He was loaded down with multiple store bags in both hands. Bags filled with girls’ clothing he despised. Well he figured he should modify that statement. The bags were filled with girls’ clothes that he would like to see being worn by other girls. Unfortunately they were going to be clothes that he would be wearing, and that was where the despising was coming in to play. His entire morning, and a good chunk of the afternoon had been wasted being dragged from store to store and forced to try on just about every style of female clothing known. He had only succeeded in two victories against what his step-mum wanted. She had won everything else and he now had clothes that he knew Breanne would never have worn before, as they were too girly for his tomboy twin.

He also now knew things he had never wanted to know or be. He was apparently just shy of a 28B cup up top. In two things bought he was a junior size four, nearly a third of his purchases were a size two, and then the weirdest size was for most of his new clothing that included a handful of unwanted skirts and dresses. For these he was a size zero, which just sounded nuts as a clothing size. He wondered for girls smaller than himself if there were negative numbers too? Otherwise what would those sizes be? He would have to ask Breanne. Further, how could his size vary so much between manufacturers? I mean they had to be using a standard didn’t they?

His feet had stayed the same size six that Breanne’s shoes were. Of course even saying that he had plenty of shoes back home, this didn’t stop his step-mum getting a few pairs more for the new outfits. His step-mum stated that those shoes, in Breanne’s closet, wouldn’t work with some of what they had just bought. Go figure.

His two victories were more won as he recalled how Breanne had stated she would never do them so he knew her arguments, having heard them so many times espoused by her before, and thus enabling victory now for him. He had loudly exclaimed in the jewelry store that having your ears pierced was just like a farmer tagging his cattle with ear tags to declare ownership, and he wanted to never have pierced ears. The jewelry store assistant actually came in on his side stating that for someone with such strong feelings against getting ears pierced, those feelings should be respected.

Unfortunately she still managed to agree that a pair of clip-on silver earrings that each had a dangling small silver butterfly with pale light blue sapphires mounted as both eyes and smaller ones in their wings were just perfect to go with the peasant blouse being worn and must be bought. Thus he currently kept noticing the pinch and swing as his head moved, and had to stop himself from accidentally reaching up and touching them. This was just another burden he found himself having to bear.

Douglas was sure that the commission from the expensive earrings obviously played into the associate championing Douglas’s right to not have his ears pierced. It was a poor consolation as he was still stuck not only with multiple girly outfits, bras, panties, but also wearing the pair of clip-on earrings that apparently matched his peasant blouse. Along with the earrings his second change to the outfit his step-mum had forced him to the mall in, was that he now was wearing one of his new bras that better fit his boobs than Breanne’s bra had. His boobs, well there was an expression he never thought he would be using, coupled with shopping for girls clothes and jewelry.

The other victory was against high heels. Again copying Breanne’s argument that she didn’t like the pressure on her toes, nor the way her body moved and would never wear them. Further, he would destroy any heels his step-mum bought by breaking the heels off and using the sharpest blade he could find in the garage to destroy the shoe, way before he ever got used to wearing the torture devices. Due to this he ensured no higher heels were bought other than those with at most one inch wedge heels, like the sandals he was currently wearing. So he had kept it down to five pairs of new un-needed shoes, and three of the sets were flats.

“Hey Breanne, nice blouse.”

“Breanne!” Douglas’s step-mum tugged his arm turning him, while telling him, “Your friend complimented you on your blouse. I told you that you looked good in it. I am so glad I finally got you to wear it.”

“Wow earrings too! I never thought I would see the day, Breanne.” Leah exclaimed. “You look really pretty.”

Douglas in embarrassment looked down at his feet. Could anything more go wrong? “They’re clip-ons. I will never get my ears pierced.”

“What, not even for me?” Leah asked and Douglas was speechless. “Well even if clip-ons, they match the outfit, and I think they’re the first pair of earrings I’ve ever seen you wear. This is the prettiest you’ve ever dressed. I always despaired at your prior casual clothing. I swear if it wasn’t for the school uniform, and hockey I would never see you in a skirt.”

“Breanne, why don’t you spend some time with your friend? I’ll take the bags filled with your new style in outfits to the car.” His step-mum just had to emphasis the victory in getting him new girly outfits. He had failed completely in stopping his step-mum in feminizing Breanne’s look.

“New outfits! Let me see,” and Leah was diving in to the bags.

Of course after holding two summer dresses against Douglas and declaring how she wished she could have been here to see her in them she stumbled upon the new bras. “Oh I thought you looked different.” Leah declared while staring at Douglas’s chest. She still seemed to be able to see his boobs even when Douglas covered them with both arms in shamed embarrassment.

“Leah, why don’t you come home with us, and Breanne can show to you the new style she has bought. Douglas is likely to be out with his dad. So we can have a girl’s day, okay?” Douglas’s step-mum quickly changed the subject to gloss over how Breanne had been obviously wrapping her breasts to look smaller before. Also she saw how embarrassed and shy Breanne looked around her friend Leah. There was mutual interest too, and more important the dominant male mannerisms were absent. If it took her daughter being interested in another girl to jump-start her development out of tomboy, then she was going to find ways to ensure Leah was around more often. This might be the only hope she had to keep a daughter.

“I’m hungry, and I am not playing dress up anymore today. Also I deserved to go out with the roadster. I spent hours working on it.”

“Breanne, I don’t think you worked on it once. Definitely nothing compared to the time Douglas spent helping Dad on it. Why don’t I pop everything in the car while you treat Leah at the food court? I will meet you there in about an hour or so. I have a couple of things I want to get done.” Without waiting for Douglas to agree she handed him some money and left with the bags.

Leah waited to ensure they were alone and then pounced. “Okay Douglas, spill. What the hell is going on!” Leah exclaimed.

“What… I am Breanne!”

“Yeah right! No, I know you’re Douglas and not Breanne. Are you transitioning?”

“What?”

“Have you finally realized you should have been the girl twin, and Breanne the boy? Or are you just experimenting with being a girl?” Leah asked. After waiting and realizing that obviously Douglas needed some prodding she continued. “Look Douglas, I’ve run interference all year so no one else on the hockey team worked it out, but I figured it out fairly early on. It’s pretty obvious when I am interacting with two people that are both interested in me...”

Douglas gasped and tried to leave, but Leah held his arm too firmly while changing tracts and trying to not be quite so aggressive.“Douglas, you are not as forceful as your sister. So I know that you, and your twin swap places at times. The only reason I never said anything was because I knew Breanne would never play hockey, and you made our team so much stronger.”

Though Douglas quickly latched onto the fact that it appeared Leah had a vested interest to keep things quiet, he still felt he could muddy the water and pretend to be Breanne. It definitely helped that he was now a real girl. “Leah, I must act differently at different times without knowing. But I am Breanne, and I play hockey. I am not my brother Douglas. He plays soccer.”

“Douglas, I don’t mind. I actually think that you make a better girl. I am okay with you being on the team while transitioning. The breasts are amazing they really look real.” Leah then grabbed Douglas, and as he shot away from her obviously conflicted, Leah was momentarily confused. Those breasts felt real.

“What the hell, Leah! Shall I just grab yours?” Douglas said trying to work out how Breanne would act.

“Do you want to?” Leah asked and as Douglas blushed she pounced. “I knew it. You are Douglas. Breanne wouldn’t have blushed. She would have likely tried to help herself to that offer. Are you actually both girls? What the hell is going on, Douglas?”

“Call me Breanne.”

“No, that is your sister.”

“Well she is being me currently, so I would appreciate you calling me Breanne.” Douglas stated.

“I’ll call you Bree, if you honestly tell me what the hell is going on. Are you both girls?”

“Currently, yes.”

“Come off it! I asked for honesty! You don’t suddenly change from being a boy to a girl the next day.”

“Um, that’s about what happened.” Douglas admitted.

“What! Explain!” Leah demanded. So after ensuring they were still alone Douglas explained the three a.m. wake-up discovery, and Breanne’s decision to change places full time. He didn’t mention his problems with the lights and the weird problem he had with time, as he was still totally confused about those things. Then how having agreed to swap places with Breanne; He still was unsure how that happened. This then led to him being in trouble with the steps for Breanne’s binding of her chest. Coupled with Breanne getting out in the roadster while he was stuck in shopping hell explained his surliness. How it wasn’t fair considering he had worked on the roadster, but all the good things he had done were now awarded to Breanne. He would also now sit Breanne’s after school detention for the rest of the coming school week.

“So if you were a boy, why did you willingly dress as a girl and play hockey?” Leah asked.

“Breanne hates hockey and loves soccer, but both steps demanded she do a girls sport as she couldn’t keep playing soccer in the U15 boys’ league. I didn’t really want to keep playing soccer, and Breanne is better at it than me, and you play hockey…” Douglas gasped and looked at Leah stopping suddenly, realizing he might have said too much. Actually, there was no might about it. He’d said something he never intended to say.

“Seriously you were willing as a boy to dress as a girl just to be with me?”Leah watched Douglas’s blush and enjoyed the feeling of power. “You are so sweet! Thank you.” She grabbed Bree into a hug and started thinking how she should handle this. After a few minutes she swung away so Douglas wouldn’t see her grin. Having thought back her interactions and recalling how Douglas had looked yesterday in his soccer uniform versus the prior times. “You played soccer yesterday and Breanne went to detention. That’s why you were playing at midfield instead of striker?” Leah figured if she asked enough questions she would work out what was really going on. As if gender flipped while sleeping, did he really think she bought that?

“Yes, I prefer playing midfield, and our step-mum caught us trying to change places before the game.” Douglas answered.

“You really were a boy yesterday weren’t you?” Leah asked recalling how he had looked in his uniform. Of course he could have stuffed something in his pants too, but it was unlikely that parents would demand only one twin to act like a girl if they were both girls. So was Douglas in the process of transitioning and trying to pretend he was a girl down there? As Douglas only nodded she knew she needed to work out a way to get him talking so he tripped up some more, and thus enabling her to discover the truth.

“So you are saying that yesterday you were a boy, and now you are a girl.” Leah waited and after Douglas nodded continued. “So you’re fine with both of us going into the women’s bathroom and proving it to me that you are now a girl?” When Douglas cutely blushed almost crimson while nodding, Leah grabbed an arm again, and dragged him into the women’s restroom. Well if he was only going to nod she would have to get drastic to force him to confess. She would get to the bottom of this, and when she sees his thing she can use that to force Douglas to do something she figured. If he completed transitioning he could be a good girlfriend.

The lady touching up her make-up watched them in the mirror as Leah forced Douglas into the disabled stall and locked the door. Both eyebrows rose when she heard one girl tell the other that they didn’t believe them, and had to lift up their skirt to show it, for proof. Overcoming her initial embarrassment Marcy nervously called out. “Do you need help? I have my cell phone with me.”

Quickly thinking of a possible excuse having run through her mind what words she had obviously said a little too loudly. “No Bree’ told me she got a piercing, and I called her bluff.” Leah said through the door.

“Is that true Bree? You can tell me, and I will help you. You don’t have to show anything. Do you want to come out?”

As Leah constantly used eyes and head to indicate to Douglas to say something, he pulled in a nervous breath. “I don’t need any help. I am okay. Thank you for offering but I don’t want you to call anyone.” Douglas finally gambled out in a rather unconvincing scared voice. At the same time he nervously lifted his denim skirt.

“Bree is your Mum at the mall? Are you with anyone? I really want you to both come on out or I’ll call the police.” Marcy decided that the second girl sounded far too nervous to be a willing participant in the other girl’s actions.

While the conversation was occurring through the stall door Leah had pushed Douglas’s hands and skirt up higher. After boldly reaching in and pulling his panties to one side she had been shocked, and lost any train of the conversation having now seen Douglas’s vagina. He was a girl! She staggered back until she was pressed against the opposite partition wall. She was so sure that Douglas was a boy. Her parents must be evil to force one twin to dress as a boy, and name her with a boy’s name.

So it was actually Douglas who gained bravery due to his fear in the woman’s threat of calling the police, that adjusted her clothing, and unlocked the door. He quickly exited the stall leaving a stunned Leah in it. “See I am fine. You don’t need to call for help.” Douglas forced out hoping to stop this going really bad.

Marcy was completely confused by the shift in dominance between the pair of girls. Now concerned for the girl she thought to be the aggressor she stepped in and shook Leah’s shoulder gently. “What’s wrong?” Marcy asked.

Leah’s brain was failing to reboot. She kept seeing Douglas’s vagina appear as she moved his panties to one side after having hiked up his skirt. “But... it… there… has…” she mumbled.

Marcy of course drew the wrong conclusions from the snippets of conversation heard as to what Bree’s friend must have seen. That of course led to her being worried for Bree. “Bree how old are you?”

“Fourteen?” Douglas confusedly replied, sounding more like asking a question.

“Does you Mum know you are pierced down there?” Marcy asked Bree, assuming the shock of seeing Bree’s pierced labia, had caused the other girl's meltdown.