Cousins in arms 5(5) The bell rang

Note to readers. Don't read if you don't like poor grammar, this is rough.
This is a work of adult fiction. No resemblance to reality should be inferred or expected.
Copyright… are you kidding?

Edited by Amanda Lynn and Rosemary.

I lived at Granny’s place after Grandfather and my brother, Martin, passed away. Granny’s arm after the car accident healed completely. But her wrist wasn’t fully functional and it never would be. That was the main reason I stayed with her. Things were getting better at home, as mom didn’t need to stay there and could return to her job as a dental technician.

Cindy’s puberty started at last. She got all the feminine forms most of her friends already sported. I was the next on puberty’s visiting list, but there were still no signs of puberty in my appearance.

It was one year later, when Cindy was a senior, that Dad agreed finally to move to Granny’s home after Cindy graduated. That was a great relief for me and Granny. I could graduate from the high school I was attending now. At the same time, Granny wouldn’t be left alone.

I still babysat Ozzie’s sisters, Erica and Melody. Melody was already eight and Erica started elementary school that year. Ozzie was dating and partying, but he worked on weekends. That’s why I was spending more and more time with the girls this year.

I was coming home regularly, visiting with my rents and sis. I enjoyed the time with them and I liked to help. It was my family and my real home. There I was, helping mom and Cindy with laundry - a real mega-load. We were busy with everything, chatting, and having fun.

Then dad came home. “Oh, how nice to see all Spencer girls together.”

Mom and Cindy broke into a fit of giggles. Me? I rolled my eyes.

It was happening more and more often. A few times, first mom, then dad tried to start a conversation about the entire boy-girl thing, but there was nothing to talk about. I never tried to position myself as a girl. On the contrary, I always emphasized the point I was a boy.

I was waiting for puberty to come and it started eventually. My voice broke. First I thought it was kind of a cold. But it wasn’t and Doc said it was puberty. All other changes had to start. My voice recovered and I wasn’t kid soprano anymore. It was determined as a mezzo-soprano, not a very manly kind of voice. I then got underarm and pubic hair, but there wasn’t much of it. The doctor inspected me again. He ran some tests and declared that my puberty was over. Some minor changes might take place in the future, but not much of it. The most important thing was I’d got my growth spurt up to five-seven. I was now almost as tall as Cindy - almost still, and it was unfair for my sis to be taller than me.

After my puberty spurt, I expected to not be confused as a girl anymore. I allowed myself some relaxation and had to pay for it immediately. As I was growing I needed some new clothes and I bought running shorts for PE as they were part of the uniform. Boys’ running shorts are kind of down to the middle of the thigh and their material was a bit coarse. I bought my shorts as a three-pack of black, navy, and olive in size ‘S’.

They were spandex short shorts hugging my hips tightly and concealing my boy bits. Well… Those bits weren’t as big as I wanted them to be. Spandex made them almost invisible. Especially after I tucked my dick down and balls popped into some cavity. Why did they do that? It was too small to be shown. At five-seven I wasn’t a little kid anymore and male bits should have been bigger.

Other boys were looking funny at me during gym class. As I was changing in the office they didn’t know how big the parts I was hiding were. As I found out later, most of them thought there wasn’t anything at all.

Girls avoided me because I portrayed myself as a boy and not them. Boys were curious about me. I was a boy but I didn’t look like one. I didn’t act like one of them. My behavior was determined by the duties I had to fulfill. Like babysitting.

I was getting teary when exposed to cuteness, like puppies, or kittens, or babies. Mentally, I knew it was wrong for a boy to be teary. I couldn’t do anything with myself emotionally.

Ray was still my only friend at school. We were eating lunch at the same table. Ray’s companions there were his team-mates or a girl he was dating. Ruth Crammer was his latest girlfriend. The time was a week before spring break. Three of us were at the same table eating when Ray unexpectedly said, “I’ve asked Ruth to come with me to Saco rides. Kind of a date, you know…”

“That’s lovely,” I said.

“But there is a minor problem,” Ray offered and nudged Ruth.

“My mom will kill me if I don’t take Sarah,” Ruth explained. “Sarah is eight and I have to babysit her the entire spring break.”

“So…” I predicted what they wanted, but they had to say it.

“We want you to take care of Sarah,” Ray said, “while we enjoy each other.”

“Will you?” Ruth asked.

“I have Erica and Melody to babysit,” I said. “Can I take them with us?”

Ray and Ruth looked at each other grinning wide.

“Sure!” Ray said. “I’ll take my mom’s minivan.”

It was Wednesday morning when Ray picked all three of us up at Granny’s home. Ruth and Sarah were already in the car. Sarah and Melody were attending the same classes at Falmouth Elementary. Melody was very protective of her lil sister Erica, and Sarah soon adopted the role of aunt for Erica. Sarah was the shortest among those three despite being the eldest.

The ride to Saco wasn’t long and we were shortly dropped off in the Funtown parking lot. Ray and Ruth went to Old Orchard Beach pier and they said they’d pick us up at six.

I had enough time and money for almost all the rides. We had voted against the Excalibur Roller Coaster because of girls’ age. To tell the truth, I wasn’t excited about it myself.

After a few rides, we had some light snacks at the food court and went on with rides. We got a separate cradle in the Astrosphere. When we were leaving the ride and our heads still spinning, Sarah whispered into my ear, “I have to go.”

That could be no problem. Not only kids have to go from time to time. The problem was that Sarah looked pale and she was wobbly on her feet. I grabbed her in my arms and hurried to the nearest restrooms with Melody and Erica following me. I went to the ladies’ room because it was a safer environment for the kids and well, they were girls.

Unexpectedly there was a line of four women waiting for the stall.

“Ladies, please, we have an emergency here,” I pleaded and was ushered into the stall. As a boy, I wasn’t facing a problem to sit on a public toilet. Now I had a problem with the not sanitized seat. I put some toilet paper on the seat before letting Sarah sit down. I stayed with her in the stall as I wasn’t sure she would be able to clean herself because she was getting all wobbly. She did her deed and oh, it was loud and smelly. I helped her to clean up and before flushing, I inspected the result. It was something watery with small pieces of undigested food and no blood.

After we got out of the stall I helped her to wash her hands. When I was drying her hands with a paper towel Sarah suddenly puked. One young woman helped me to clean Sarah again.

“Don’t worry. It’s probably the three-day fever,” she said.

“She’s eight already,” I said. I remembered my brother Martin having a three-day fever. Mom said it was usually for kids up to three-four.

Then I called Ray. There was no other way than to interrupt his time with Ruth. I grabbed some paper towels and a couple of paper bags from the restroom. I was carrying Sarah in my arms and Melody with Erica were following me. My brother Martin felt sick very often. Mom carrying him in her arms or sitting with him in her lap was a relief for him.

We were waiting for Ray to arrive when Sarah puked again. It helped that I had those paper bags and towels. Ray showed up when I was finishing the cleanup.

The strange thing was, Ruth didn’t take Sarah from my arms. She stared at me kind of funny. Even stranger, she stayed with Ray in the front seat while I rode in the back with Sarah in my lap. It was against the rules but…

At Ruth’s home, the only thing she did was turn on the TV for Erica and Melody. I took Sarah to her room and my girls, despite the TV being turned on, followed me.

Something similar had happened to Erica a year ago, and Granny said what to do. This time I did the same. I made black tea with a lot of sugar and gave it to Sarah. It was everything I could do now.

“Haven’t you called your mom?” I asked Ruth. She looked sort of estranged from everything happening to Sarah.

“She’ll be home in a while.”

Some twenty minutes after Sarah had the tea she puked again. With the help of Erica and Melody, I cleaned her. I took her in my arms and sat down on the armchair instead of leaving Sarah on her bed. Sarah was probably very exhausted while she drifted to sleep. Melody turned the TV off and we were waiting for Sarah’s mom in silence.

Two days later girls insisted on visiting Sarah. She was getting better, but Ruth wasn’t. She had to babysit her sister and was extremely unhappy.

I met Ray and Ruth again after spring break. We were eating our lunch and I could sense that something was wrong between them. Was that my fault? I didn’t know. We’d almost finished when Ruth broke the silence.

“Why don’t you two go together? You seem to have so much in common,” Ruth offered.

“We are cousins, it’s why,” Ray retorted before I could say a word. Why did he say we were cousins? The only reason was I wasn’t a girl, “I’m a boy,” I blurted.

“Ah, this? I don’t understand you, Ari. You are more lady than any other girl I know in this school,” Ruth complained. “How distant cousins are you anyway?”

“We are cousins in arms,” Ray announced proudly.

“You have to be kidding! Is this some sort of game?” Ruth inquired.

“Our fathers are brothers in arms, that makes us cousins in arms,” Ray explained.

“It’s the very first time I hear an excuse so lame,” Ruth exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. “Ray Samuel Fisher, I thought better of you!”

“What did I do wrong, Ruth? What are you talking about?”

“Will you do everything for Ray?” Ruth turned to me.

“Sure I will,” he was my friend, how it could be otherwise. I still couldn't follow Ruth’s thoughts.

“I got to know Ari more than two years ago at the Halloween dance party. She was your date. Even though she was around, you asked other girls to dance with you. That happened till the very end of the party, while she waited patiently. Because of you she denied herself and pretended to transition. So my answer to your question about Prom is ‘No’. You have a date already. Don’t ask for more or you may lose what you already have.”

Putting it mildly, I didn’t expect such a turn. And I was sure everyone at school saw me as a boy after I’d cut my hair and after my growth spurt.

“It’s your turn,” Ruth nudged Ray with her elbow.

“What turn?” Ray wondered.

“Oh boy! You’re so stupid sometimes. Ask Ari to the Prom, you silly boy.”

“Ariel, will you be my date to the Senior Prom this year?” Ray asked me.

“Do you mean it, Ray?” I pondered. “Or are you asking just to satisfy your friend?”

“Yes, I do, Ari.”

I noticed a bunch of students, mostly Ray’s friends, were watching us. Well… That wasn’t a proposal, Ray wasn’t asking for my hand. He was asking about Prom. I suddenly realized I was ok with it. That’s with being Ray’s date with all consequences like holding hands and dancing… What was I thinking? I was a boy. Was I …?

“Earth to Ariel,” Ruth interrupted my musing.

“Huh… Oh…” Why had it to be in such a public place?

“So?” Ray inquired, “or are you waiting for the bell to rescue you? You may say ‘No’ if you don’t want to,” he assured me.

“I want,” I said hastily, maybe a little too fast. “Yes, I will. I will be your date to Prom.”

“YES!” Ruth exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. There was some hand clapping and there were some cheers.

Then the bell rang announcing the end of the lunch period.