Ash's unique experiences continue to change everything.

Day Five I

I woke up and felt just a little bit of awkwardness. Then I remembered that I was going to the movies with Grant after school and awkwardness was replaced by a genuine feeling of excitement. I felt a stirring in my panties, but I decided against jerking off in favor of getting ready for school. Specifically, I needed to hop in the shower, and then get my outfit picked out.

I pulled the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I stretched and yawned at the same time, clearly still fighting off fatigue. I tugged at the hem of my nightie as I stood up. A part of me wondered if I should wear something a little more… Enticing, I guess was the word? Something at least a bit more special than plain clothes. I dunno. I’d figure it out when I went to get dressed.

I walked down the hall to the bathroom, shut the door behind me and pulled off my nightie and my panties. Something seemed a little off about me, but the thought faded quickly as I stepped into the shower and felt the nice warm water cascading over top of me. It was a feeling I’d never really paid any attention to, but it was so wonderful that I couldn’t understand why I’d never given it any thought before.

After washing my hair, I reached for my shaving gel and stopped just before spreading it on my face. Why would I be shaving my face? I didn’t grow hair on my face. Weird. I instead started applying it to my legs and armpits. I took my razor and started to shave carefully, so as not to nick myself. It wasn’t difficult, but I’d been doing this for years. Laurie could stand to shave her legs every once in awhile, but she almost always wore pants anyway.

Besides, Chrissie had told me once that she liked Laurie’s hairy legs. I couldn’t exactly understand that, but I guess Grant did look more… Rugged? I guess. It wasn’t really something I thought about on other people, I just knew I hated having hairy legs, so I shaved. Same with my armpits. It was nothing that I really gave much thought to.

I dried off and wrapped a towel around my chest. After that, I blow-dried my hair and tied it into a short ponytail. I’d always wanted to grow my hair out some, kinda like Laurie did. I never understood why she had such long hair. It made her look weird. It was just her style, I guess.

On the subject of Laurie, she stumbled into the bathroom as I stood there checking my face in the mirror. She was wearing nothing but a gray shirt with a hole in the stomach and a pair of matching boxers that probably only matched by accident. Her hair was a disheveled mess and actually looked shorter than I remembered it. “Jesus, I thought you were done,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “Almost.”

“Well, hurry up. I’ve gotta take a piss.”

“Whatever,” I said as I turned back around to the mirror. I noticed the beginnings of a zit on the side of my chin. I groaned at it, annoyed by its very existence. I liked having clean skin, and this was a very important day for me, so of course I get a zit today. I saw in the mirror that Laurie hadn’t left yet, and was looking at me kinda funny. “What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I dunno. Just… Y’know, I really don’t know what’s up right now, but something feels like it is.”

“You’re just out of it because you’re up early,” I said. And she was. It was rare for Laurie to be awake before seven thirty, but here it was just about six twenty-five and she was awake.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She walked over to the toilet, dropped her boxers and sat down just as I was leaving the bathroom.

I tossed my nightie and panties into my hamper and then the towel followed closely behind. After that, I grabbed a fresh pair of bright orange panties and a light orange tank top. My chest was still weirdly sensitive, just like yesterday, but not as uncomfortable being touched by my shirt. Maybe tank tops were the way to go until whatever this was finished up.

I plopped into my desk chair an worked on more coloring. If we were lucky, the first three chapters would be finished before we decided to launch the site. Then we'd have a good buffer zone of content for regular updates. I didn't want us to need to start scheduling breaks until it was absolute necessary. Nothing bothered me more than people with irregular updates.

My text ring went off, a pleasant melody that I'd heard on the radio one day last week while coloring. But it wasn't just for anybody's texts.

It was Grant!

I let my hair out of the ponytail for whatever reason. We were just texting, not like he could see me or anything. That made me wonder if he wanted to FaceTime, but I put the thought out of my mind. I was being stupid and too… Crushy.

hey i got some ideas i want 2 run past u

kewl go ahead I texted back.

so i started drwing this guy in the bkgrnd of a few panels and i rlly kinda like drwing him

I was interested. ok

at 1 point hes staring at brenda lk hes got a crush on her is that ok?

Hm… We’d already decided to make Brenda’s friend her love interest, but there was nothing to say we couldn’t have her try out other options. We were already going with that lesbian girl based on Kat for a love triangle sort of thing, maybe a love square wouldn’t be too much escalation.

how many pgs he in so far?

um 9

Wow. I wondered how many pages he’d added, because I didn’t think I’d given him that many more pages that he hadn’t drawn yet. I was excited about new scenes to write based on his artwork now. I wondered if there were any other characters I could pick out of the background like that.

lemme c the pgs I texted.

Not five minutes later, an email notification popped up on my browser. Grant really did decide to draw more pages than I’d written, because he sent me about thirty pages that didn’t correspond with my script pages. Either he was really getting to love the comic, or he just found a tangent he didn’t want to pass up. And, honestly, that made it a tangent I didn’t want to pass up, too.

I looked over the black and white penciled artwork and found the character he was talking about. The guy looked to be in the background of most of the pages. When he was colored, he’d probably have dark red hair, maybe a bit of a tan. He was clearly checking out Brenda like he had the hots for her.

Somewhat surprising me was Grant’s choice for Brenda’s outfit. I hadn’t described what I wanted her to wear for the first couple chapters, we’d discussed having her trying to wear boy clothes for the first few days and then transitioning to girl equivalents of boy clothes soon after as she discovered that boy clothes just weren’t designed for her body. The outfit he had her in on these pages, however, was a sleeveless turtleneck sweater and a checkered skirt with knee-high boots. It was a cute outfit, but I wasn’t sure she’d wear it so early in her transition from thinking of herself as male to accepting herself as female.

whats with brendas clothes? I texted.

another idea i had he responded, since weve got maya wearing sexy clothes she would try to get brenda to wear some early on

I rolled my eyes. Maya had been Laurie’s idea, a girl who wore the skimpiest outfits imaginable. I’d been trying to get Grant to change her looks up for days now, but he liked the idea that Allana would be the more conservative kind of friend who didn’t show a whole lot of skin while Maya would be the one trying to get Brenda to show as much skin as possible.

It didn’t help that he’d also vetoed my request to tone down Maya’s chest. Brenda was a C-cup, Allana a B-cup and Maya was a DDD-cup for whatever reason. Grant was just really focused on making her look like a hooker. I guess it was probably some “don’t judge a book by its cover” kind of deal, because aside from trying to steer Brenda too far into femininity too early, Maya was Brenda’s best friend. She’d been the first person that Brenda went to after the change. So, I guess her having at least a little influence over Brenda’s clothes would make some sense.

Still. I wish Grant would make her a little less like a hooch.

so what do you think of the guy? i was thnkin his name wld be gray btw

It wasn’t a bad name. Made me think of Fifty Shades of Grey, but I doubted this guy had a BDSM dungeon in his basement. Unless…

hes nice to look at I sent with a wink emoji.

figured youd say that he responded with a kiss emoji. I giggled at the possibility that he thought I had a crush on this guy.

you decide what movie yet? I asked.

figured wed choose at the theater

Hmmm… Seemed to me like he just didn’t want the responsibility of choosing what movie to watch. Or he just wanted to be cute and romantic. I liked the second one more.

gotta get ready for school I texted. see u there

He sent back see u 2

I set my phone down and felt a warmth spread throughout my body. I couldn’t wait for the bus to show up, because Grant would be there. I just imagined cuddling up beside him while we worked on the webcomic. And then would come the movie later, where we’d be sitting beside one another in a dark theater. It would be so very wonderful.

A part of me wondered why I was feeling this way all of a sudden. Grant had been my best friend almost my whole life, we’d known each other longer than I could remember, and yet only now did it seem like I had this big crush on him. What was up with me? Was it just some weird reaction? Had I seen him every day for years and only just now realized that he was kind, warm and attractive?

Then I realized that that was obviously exactly what it was. He wasn’t the first guy I had the hots for, and he probably wouldn’t be the last. Though, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he was. He had been my best friend the majority of my life, and if I ended up with him for the rest of it, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Are you texting your boyfriend?” Laurie asked. I spun my chair around and saw her standing there, leaning against my door frame in a pair of ratty blue jeans and a loose tee-shirt. “That’s just adorable.”

I blushed. “He’s not my boyfriend!” I then meekly added, “Yet…”

She laughed. “Whatever. I’m ready before you are, y’know.”

“It takes you like two minutes to get dressed!”

“And it takes you fifteen or twenty, point is we’ve got about twenty minutes until the bus gets here and you can sit with your boyfriend. You probably wanna get ready.”

Shit, she was right. I quickly pushed her out of the room, shut and locked the door and attacked my closet like a monster. I pulled off my tank top and pulled on a light orange camisole in order to keep my shirt from irritating my chest. On that subject, my chest seemed kind of… Puffy. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I didn’t feel outrageously uncomfortable, so I just ignored it. Next, I grabbed a light red long sleeved shirt with a V-shaped neckline. I wanted something so that my necklace could touch my skin and still be visible. A pair of blue jeans that looked about as ratty as Laurie’s were pulled over my hips, the difference being that these were supposed to look torn at the knees, while hers were just old and she didn’t like buying new pants. Last came a pair of flip flops.

I slipped on my necklace and adjusted it so that it would land at the edge of my shirt’s neckline. I then grabbed a pair of diamond stud earrings I hadn’t worn in forever and slid them into the holes in my earlobes. Grant had asked me yesterday why I hadn’t worn those for so long, so I figured I’d treat him with them today. I glanced at the clock on my phone. Less than ten minutes. Not as long as I’d like to take planning an outfit, but I looked presentable and cute, and that was all that mattered to me. I grabbed my book bag and then ran downstairs to wait on the bus.

Later…

When Grant saw me, his eyes lit up. He looked me up and down, and then quickly scooched over in the seat to let me sit down. There was something in his eyes, something like he didn’t exactly know what he was looking at, but then he probably realized he was looking at me.

“Hey, Ashe,” he said as I parked my ass in the seat.

“Hi.”

“What did you come up with for Gray and Brenda?”

I pulled out my notebook. “I was thinking about this big relationship thing where we’ve got Yelena - ”

He cut me off. “Yelena?”

“Yeah, sorry, the lesbian girl based on Kat. I just came up with the name a little while ago.”

“Yelena. I like it.”

I felt myself blush. “Yeah, so I came up with this thing where Brenda’s got this triangle of people around her who are really attracted to her. Yelena, who doesn’t know that Brenda used to be a boy; Joey, who’s known Brenda since her days as Brian and is deeply in love with her because of who she is; and Gray, who moves to town and is just a general purpose ladies man who’s attracted to Brenda because she’s not throwing herself at him.”

He nodded. “Okay, so I assume we’re not gonna have her hook up with Yelena, because her orientation doesn’t change during the transition and she was already into guys as a guy.”

“Right. And she won’t be into Gray, but he’ll be trying his damnedest to win her over.”

“Yeah… We’re going head first into her and Joey ending up as the alpha couple?”

I nodded. “Uh, duh! They’re fucking adorable together, why wouldn’t we have them end up as a couple?”

He laughed, then, without my noticing, he put his arm around me. “Fine, fine. They are a cute couple. Right now, Gray’s just in the background, when will we actually introduce him?”

I looked through my notes for the upcoming chapters, trying to find a place we could organically introduce Gray. I couldn’t easily find one, so just added him in on the margin of one page. “Right there, chapter… Six, when Brenda’s at least a little more comfortable in her skin and then he comes in and she starts having some lapses.”

He ran his index finger across my notebook, reading what I’d written. “Okay, so until then, he’s a background player. I can draw a few characters in the background at school gossiping about something, and you could write them talking about him.”

I nodded. “I like that. It’s good foreshadowing. Should we do the same thing with Yelena?”

He rubbed at my shoulder. “I think she should just come in at some point, no build-up. We can introduce her at the end of this chapter and then you can write her into some scenes in the next one.”

I scribbled that in the margin of the page I was on. “That can work. She doesn’t need to be heavily involved right away, so adding her into scenes she wasn’t in won’t be too difficult.”

He sort of hugged me close to him. It felt really good, and I didn’t want him to stop until we got to school. Hell, I didn’t really even want him to stop then. I just reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek. It surprised him, but I could tell it wasn’t uncomfortable to him.

And then he hugged me closer.

Later…

Wheeler seemed to be looking through me, or something, when we got to school. I wasn’t entirely certain what was going on there, but it quickly subsided. “Hey, you guys aren’t… No fuckin’ way!”

“What?” I asked. “He finally asked me out last night!”

Charlie appeared from out of nowhere. “About time, man!” He smacked Grant on the shoulder. “So, what are you two doing to mark the occasion?” He put his hand on my shoulder. Had I always been a full head shorter than him? Duh, of course I had. Stupid me. “Think Coach would actually let you play today?”

I giggled. “Please, I just watch. Football is way too rough for me.”

“Yeah, but then you could say you’re on the same team as your boyfriend! Bet you’re a better player than him, too.”

Wheeler put Charlie in a headlock and pulled him away. “Hey, now, hands off! Ash is Grant’s yard line now, let him get at least one field goal before you start flagging a pass.”

As demeaning as it really was, it was still kind of cute that they were referring to Grant scoring with me in football terms. Boys would be boys after all, and at least they were comfortable talking like that in front of me. Then again, these guys had been my friends for years, so it almost was like I was just one of the boys.

It made me think for a brief moment that I should be one of the boys. I mean, I was a boy, right? I had been since the day I was born, about two and a half minutes after Laurie. Why did it suddenly seem so strange that they talk about this kind of stuff around me? Shouldn’t I be joining in with these crude innuendos?

But something told me that was wrong, that I wasn’t that kind of boy. Honestly, the idea that I was even a boy at times felt wrong, like I shouldn’t be one. Maybe I wasn’t one, really. After all, I did have the hots for a cute boy, a boy that was taking me to the movies after school.

No, I really wasn’t a boy, and I didn’t understand why I even thought that I was.

I saw Chrissie and Kat waving to me, so I waved back. “See you boys later,” I said to the guys. I gave Grant a little peck on the cheek before walking away, and he gave me a corresponding pat on the ass. I wasn’t entirely sure we were really at that stage of our relationship, but honestly, this relationship was such a long time coming I may as well let him have that one early.

The girls gave me weird looks as I finally caught up to them. “Are you dating one Grant Harrison?” Chrissie asked, a hint of gossip in her voice.

“Uh, duh,” Kat answered for me. “Those two have been BFFs forever, it’s about time Grant finally asked Ash out.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “Are you saying you’ve got a problem with it?” I asked.

Chrissie shook her head. “No, but now the school’s top jock is dating the school’s top reporter.”

Kat seemed offended. “Hey! I run the school paper!”

“Yeah, but you have Ash do all the work!”

I giggled. “She’s got a point,” I said.

“That’s what a good editor does!” Kat nearly screamed.

I put my arm around her shoulder. Not in the intimate sort of way Grant did with me, but in a friendly way. “Hey, you’re the best editor we’ve ever had.”

She pouted. “Good. You better see it that way.”

“So,” Chrissie said suggestively while clasping her hands in front of her chest, “how about this party tomorrow night?”

Shit, I’d forgotten all about that! Laurie could have reminded me when she barged in on me texting Grant this morning, but would she? Of course not! She was just the worst brother a guy could have sometimes.

I composed myself and answered, “My dad leaves at about noon today, Laurie and I are heading out to get the stuff after school.”

Oh, crap! After school! I’d have maybe an hour or two to buy party stuff before Grant and I went to the movies!

“Shit, I need to go find Laurie…” I whispered.

Chrissie’s face lit up. “Can I come?”

I sighed. “Yeah, you can.”

Day Five II

“Lemme get this straight,” Laurie said as she pulled books out of her locker, “you want my permission to go to the movies with your boyfriend instead of getting the stuff for the party we’ve had planned for two weeks?” She slammed her locker shut and leaned against it. “How the hell are we supposed to get the drinks if you’re not there to flirt with the guy at the liquor store?”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t flirt with him! He’s just sweet on me.”

She made some odd motion with her head. “Whatever.” She took a long look at Chrissie, and I could tell that the two of them probably wanted me to leave. “Okay, fine, I’ll get the drinks, you go smooch your boyfriend in a dark movie theater.”

Chrissie elbowed me. “Look at that, you got permission! My brother never lets me kiss my boyfriends at the movies.”

Laurie wrapped her arms around Chrissie’s waist. “Hey, your brother likes me, remember?”

I just sighed. “Okay, you guys go do whatever it is you wanna do. I’m gonna go spend time with my boyfriend before class starts.”

“See you at lunch!” Chrissie exclaimed with big wave.

I waved back, with this nagging feeling that there should be something off about Chrissie referring to Laurie as her boyfriend.

Later…

Grant was busy drawing the webcomic when I got to Art. Mr. Yates hadn’t arrived yet, so nobody was really doing anything class-related. I slid into my seat beside him and gave him another little kiss on the cheek. “What was that for?” he asked, his tone amused.

“Do I need a reason?”

He smirked. “I guess not.”

I pulled my notebook out of my bag. “What page are you on?”

He flipped through the binder of scripts that he had. “Chapter… Four, page eighteen.”

“Oooh, I like this one.”

He gave me a look that said he wasn’t surprised. The page in question was Brenda and Joey on a Ferris Wheel, having been tricked to being there together by Allana, who knew there was more than just mild attraction between the two. This wasn’t when they actually started their relationship, but it was a catalyst that would lead to it.

There was a clicking sound from the hallway, getting closer. Not a second later, a woman I'd never seen before walked into the room. She was a good six feet tall, but then I realized she was wearing heels. Maybe in her upper 30s, lower 40s. Bright red-orange hair, and piercing blue-green eyes, with a winning smile. She was dressed in a dark red dress that would be better suited to a ballroom than a classroom, with a navy blue half blouse left unbuttoned over top of it.

“Good morning, class,” she said, “it's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Mrs. Morfran, and I'm your new Art teacher. I'm told Mr. Yates found better prospects elsewhere, but I don't know much more than that, so I can't really tell you anything.” She wrote her name on the dry erase board at the front of the room. “Now, I know this isn’t the start of the semester, but it's our first day together and I have but one question for you all.” She wrote in big letters on the board, under her name, How many of you are artists?. She then spun back around to face us, and the smile on her face turned into a shit-eating smirk. “Well?”

Grant raised his hand, as did a couple others.

She shook her head. “No. None of you can be considered artists quite yet, because none of you have found beauty.”

I didn't understand that at all. Beauty was a sub --

“Beauty, as you all should be aware, is subjective. In the eye of the beholder, as the old saying goes. While this is very true, the path to beauty begins with one very important step: Change.”

I was starting to wonder if Mr. Yates was going to run in here and save us from this crazy lady who'd hijacked his classroom. Seriously, what the hell was she getting at?

“True art is change. Transitioning one thing - say, a blank canvas - into another - an image, perhaps?” She very quickly took three markers and began to do… Something. I couldn't really see from where I was sitting. Eventually, she stepped away from the board and my jaw almost hit the floor. Where was once blank white space was now a very detailed flower, made to look kinda like it was made with watercolor paints. “Transform what's before your eyes into what's in your heart.”

Okay, crazy or not, Mrs. Morfran was very much a legit art teacher. How she did that with three markers in so little time was… Jesus, I didn't know how to describe that. I suddenly felt like my meager drawing skills weren't going to be enough to pass the class.

Hell, Grant's art was amazing and he might not even be able to pass now… Shit…

Art just got way more interesting than it had been.

Later…

I walked into the locker room and saw everybody getting ready. Swim class, finally! I’d been waiting since the semester started for this, just as an excuse to wear the bikini I bought at the beginning of the school year. I knew Chrissie was just as excited as I was, and we’d picked mirrored sets.

“Yo, Ash!” Kristie called. Chrissie was standing beside her, and the both of them were already in their bathing suits. Kristie’s was a very simple black and white set, in sort of an X like pattern. Her top was black on the left and white on the right, while the bottoms were white on the left and black on the right. “C’mon, we’re almost ready!”

I giggled. “Jesus, the boys aren’t gonna be out there any earlier than we are, gimme a second!”

“Still, girl, hurry up!”

I sighed. Kristie could be a little… Well… She kinda had a school slut reputation, but I knew better. She dressed the way she did to lead guys on, only had half as many boyfriends as people liked to claim she had. Plus, she had a huge crush on Charlie, so any guy she had dated was just a warm up for the one she really wanted.

I pulled off my clothes in the restroom stall just off from the locker room. I didn't know why I did that, but I always had. I was really self-conscious when I was younger, and I guess I just never grew out of it. Nobody criticized me for it, thankfully.

I slid the bottoms on. Pink and white horizontal stripes were the design, going from top right to bottom left. After that came the top, which was easy thanks to being a clasp rather needing to tie it together. Once again, the pattern was pink and white stripes, but here they were making a V shape. The stripes on the right went top right to bottom left, the stripes on the left went top left to bottom right. It served as a kind of attention marker, in a way. And it was cute, like me.

Like I said before, Chrissie's bikini was the mirror image of mine. We'd done that on purpose, because we bought them together. Her's was still pink and white, but her top had an inverse V shape, pointing up instead of down, and the stripes on her bottoms went in the opposite direction. Naturally, the similarities in our bikinis caused some heads to turn our way, but that was the point.

Kristie asked me, “Which guy do you think will look better in a Speedo?”

I smirked. “Well, you only have eyes for Charlie Wilkins, so he's obviously your choice.”

She turned beet red. “Hey!”

I continued as if I hadn't noticed her discomfort. “I’d havta say… I'mma go with my crush, Grant.”

Chrissie came between Kristie and I, throwing her arms around both of us. “Ladies, you're both wrong. Clearly, the hottest guy in a Speedo is Laurie.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ugh… Can you not say that again?”

The two of them just burst into a giggle fit until everybody filed out to the pool.

Later…

“C’mon, you pantywaists!” Coach shouted at the guys. I sorta winced, because Coach was loud when he yelled. He turned to Kat and I and said, “I hope you’re not writing down everything I say.”

Kat just giggled. “Don’t worry, only the good bits.”

I wasn’t even writing down anything he was saying. This article was about the team, not the Coach. He was still an important piece of it, so I wasn’t going to smear his record by bringing attention to the fact that he was relatively foul mouthed. Plus, not like anybody didn’t know.

Coach just nodded. “Good.” He turned back to face the team. “You girls need to move! Move like your boyfriends are waiting to hump you!”

I nearly choked my drink. Wow. I didn’t think Coach would ever go that far. He was much milder during Gym than he was for the guys on the football team. It reminded me of Ms. Hansen, the other Gym teacher who also coached volleyball. I'd had to do an article on one of her practice sessions, too, and she was brutal there.

I specifically kept an eye on Grant, for obvious reasons (wink wink), but I watched Wheeler and Charlie, too, to see how well they were doing. If I was honest, the team wasn't doing very well. I didn't quite understand why, since I knew the team was usually better than this. They also looked like they were down a player, but I figured he just ditched today or something.

“Your boyfriend is probably doing the best, y'know,” Kat said, with a hint of amusement in her voice. “He’s the only one that isn’t total shit.”

Defensively (these guys were my friends, after all), I said, “Wheeler and Charlie are doing just fine.”

“Well, yeah, but the team as a whole is just kinda… Yeah, not great.”

I leaned back in my seat. “It’s only been a rough couple weeks. They’ll be back to full strength soon.”

She sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. At least, they better be.” She nudged me with her elbow. “Hey, why don’t you tell Laurie to try out? Bet he’d do great.”

I honestly didn’t know why Laurie wasn’t on the football team. She loved to play football, and had with the guys for years. Of course, I’d played with them more than once, and I didn’t feel any need to join the team. Maybe Laurie just wasn’t interested.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I knew Grant’s would be in his locker, but I still felt the need to text him something funny about what I was seeing him and the guys doing. u look hot in ur uniform I sent, with a heart emoji after hot. He wouldn’t see it until after practice, but I was certain he’d get a good kick out of it.

I looked down at what I’d written for the article and realized I’d mentioned Grant way too many times. I mean, sure, if Kat was right, he was the best player on the team, but I’d written his name probably eight times, and the only player close to that was Tim Hyun, who’d been mentioned twice just because he’d been injured on the field six times this season.

Crap… I quickly crossed out his name a few times to cut down on how often I mentioned my boyfriend over everybody else. This was an article about the whole team, not just Grant. I was surprised I let myself do that, but then again, it was Grant I was writing about, so it made some sense. Maybe I could mention poor Tim a couple more times.

Coach Brandt shouted, “Alright you limp-dicked sissies! You’re makin’ me wish the cheerleaders were out here running these plays! We’ve got a game tomorrow and I damn well better see you kick ass on the day, understand me? Go hit the showers.”

Kat stood up. “What say we go bombard the players with questions as an excuse to go into the boys locker room?”

I smirked. “Hmm… Half or fully naked guys standing around for us to look at while we ask them questions about their practice… I’m game.”

Later…

“Tell me, Mr. Harrison, how it is you felt when the coach dumped new plays you were unfamiliar with on top of you?” I asked Grant, who was standing there with just a towel wrapped around his waist and an embarrassed look on his face.

“Seriously?” he asked.

I giggled. “Hey, this was Kat’s idea, and I just took advantage.”

Both of us glanced over in Kat’s direction, where she was half asking questions, half flirting with Tim Hyun. At one point, she lightly poked him in his probably still sore rib, and made him double over in pain.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Grant said. He sat down on the bench beside the locker row. “Um… To answer the question, Coach drops this kind of thing on us all the time, especially after a bad game. He’ll introduce plays that he knows we can do, even if we don’t know if we can do them. He never pushes us too far, even though he can seem a little… Abrasive. Sometimes he throws us really difficult plays when we’re not prepared to run them, but that doesn’t happen often.”

I quickly jotted down what he’d said. He was actually the last member of the team that I was interviewing. Kat and I each took half the team, though she seemed to purposefully leave Wheeler, Charlie and Grant for me. I’d thank her for Grant, but Wheeler spent the whole time trying ask me what Grant and I were doing to celebrate that we were dating while Charlie was pretty much just talking about girls he liked.

Suddenly, there were loud footsteps coming into the locker room that sounded like somebody dropping a sledgehammer on the ground every few seconds. I turned around and saw Coach and a much taller man standing behind him.

“Well, well, well… No wonder your team lost to us last week, Gene. They’re busy fucking girls back here.”

I felt myself blush. Even Coach wasn’t that bad.

Coach, thankfully, stood up for us. “Kathy Myers and Ashley Johnson, editor of the school paper and head reporter. You wanna suggest my boys are performing… Untoward actions with these two young ladies, Barry, you’re making a big mistake.”

Kat was suddenly beside me, nudging me in the elbow. When I turned to her, she kinda motioned toward the big guy with her eyes. I could tell she wanted me to ask him questions for the article, or maybe even to just ask him to shut up about us. I was kinda insulted that he said that about us.

Coach, instead, decided to introduce the guy to everybody. “Team, ladies, this is Barry Waters, coach of Weston High’s football and swimming teams. He came by to observe us on the field prior to our big rematch tomorrow night.” Coach turned to him. “And came by late.”

Mr. Waters folded his arms across his massive chest. “And what I see today is nothing!” he shouted with a hint of laughter.

I felt a surge of disgust for this asshole. Our team was fantastic, and they worked their asses off. Why the hell he thought he could come in here and call them nothing just sent me over the edge. “Excuse me, Mr. Waters, but like Coach Brandt said, you came in after they finished running their practice plays. You didn’t watch them work and sweat and tire themselves out. They’re not nothing, and they’re gonna whup your ass tomorrow night!”

The locker room fell so silent that I almost though a tumbleweed would roll past. I looked around at everyone else in the room. The guys all looked like they were about to shit their pants, Coach looked somewhat annoyed, Kat looked amused and/or impressed, and Mr. Waters looked like he was about to burst into laughter.

“What?” was all I asked.

Finally, Mr. Waters did burst into laughter. “This one’s got bigger balls on her than the rest of your team, Gene! Put her on the field and you’d probably win tomorrow!” He smacked Coach on the shoulder. “I’ll see you on the field, Genie!” He then turned around and walked out of the locker room, still laughing.

Coach sighed, then looked at me. “Good job, Johnson. I think you just gave us the biggest advantage we’ll have tomorrow.”

“I did?”

“Now he thinks we’re a bunch of wusses that need a woman to win our games. We’re gonna show him just how wrong he is!”

The team roared a cheering… Noise, I guess, that sounded like monkey grunting. It was a weird sound, but I felt like I'd heard it before at some time. I probably had, since the guys probably did it all the time. Plus, I'd followed the football team for the paper since freshman year, so I should have heard it more than once.

Guess on top of school journalism, school spirit was probably one of my strong suits.

Day Five III

I checked my wall clock and saw that I only had forty minutes until I had to meet Grant at the movies. Not a lot of time, but not too little to ruin anything. I just had to take a quick shower, choose a cute outfit and then call Kat when I was ready to go.

Laurie was off with Chrissie buying the stuff for the party, so I had the house all to myself until I left. The place was quiet, but that was to be expected. It was weird not seeing Dad watching TV, but he should be on a plane to Kansas for the weekend. It was the most time he'd spent out of the house since losing his job, and he was visiting Uncle Cletus, so it was for the best.

I quickly stripped down to just my panties and wondered for a brief second why that seemed odd to me, then quickly hopped in the shower. I had this second weird sensation that the water seemed warmer than usual, but I ignored it. I assumed it was just me feeling all hot and bothered or something. Nothing to really worry about.

My hair seemed longer, though. Weird.

I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and wrapped a towel around my chest. As I blow-dried my hair, there was a knock at the door. Was Laurie home already?

Dad answered my silent question by asking, “Ashe, is that you, honey?”

Oh shit! If Laurie came home with all the stuff for the party and Dad was still here…

“Yeah, Dad!”

“Where’s your brother?”

Great, I had to answer that question. “I think he’s on a date with Chrissie.” I had to ask, “Weren’t you supposed to be on your plane by now?”

“Delayed for some weird ass reason. Taking off at about six tonight.”

Six, was only an hour away. Granted, the airport itself was less than a half hour away, and it was tiny, so Dad probably wouldn’t need to wait too long to get on the plane. We only had a tiny airstrip with like three planes in total. This town wasn’t huge or anything.

I could use that to my advantage. The movie theater wasn’t too far from the airport, I could get a ride from Dad and wouldn’t need to call Kat. That would save me some of her annoying teasing, though I’d need to worry about Dad giving me “the talk” about how to deal with my boyfriend.

I opened the bathroom door and he was standing there, doing something on his phone. “Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?” He looked up from his phone and had this weird look on his face, almost like he wasn’t sure what he was looking at.

“Can you give me a ride to the movies?”

“Oh, seein’ something tonight?”

“Yeah. I dunno what yet.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Who are you going with, young lady?”

I reached around behind myself and grabbed my other arm. “Grant,” I answered, knowing my face was beet red.

“Really? Hmmm… Football player, your best friend… Have you two been foolin’ around?”

I’m pretty sure my face went from beet red to tomato red. “Dad!”

He laughed, then patted me on the shoulder. “Oh, calm down, honey, I know you better than that. Yeah, I’ll take you to the movies so you can spend a couple hours in the dark with your boyfriend.”

I smiled, threw my arms around him and almost squealed, “Thank you, Daddy!” I hadn’t called him “Daddy” in years. I felt like a little kid again, for whatever reason.

I hurried into my room and unwrapped the towel and let it drop to the floor. Getting him to take me to the theater would be another benefit, because then Laurie and Chrissie could get home while he was taking me, and then he’d drive off to the airport. This would actually all work out just fine, it seemed.

I opened my underwear drawer and rooted through my panties to find just the right pair. I found a cute pink pair and slid them up my legs. I knew exactly what bottom I was going to wear, so I quickly retrieved the little black miniskirt and stepped into it. Next I pulled on a pink bra. For whatever reason, it felt like I’d never worn one before, but I knew I had for years now, so whatever was wrong with me was something I’d need to deal with later. I grabbed an orange tank top out of my closet and dropped that over top of me, making sure it covered my bra straps well enough. Didn’t want Grant getting any ideas, after all. Last but not least, I slid my feet into a cute pair of bright pink flip flops.

Fifteen minutes left before we needed to go, I sat down at my vanity and started painting my nails. Yellow was my absolute favorite color, but today I wanted to go pink. Maybe it was just because I had a boyfriend, or maybe I just wanted a change for a day. Like Mrs. Morfran said, “beauty is change”. Grant, hopefully, loved me either way, though.

A little blush, a little eyeliner, some bright red lipstick, my makeup was finished and perfect. Next came jewelry. I put my cute heart necklace on, then grabbed a silver charm bracelet. My last piece of jewelry was a pair of heart shaped stud earrings that I bought alongside my necklace. I hadn’t worn them since I bought them, and this seemed like the best time.

I took a quick look in the mirror and realized that I hadn’t really styled my hair. It just fell in loose curls, just barely hitting my shoulders. I liked that look a lot, especially as the ends brushed past my shoulders. I wondered how long I’d had this sort of casual “style” without realizing it. I cursed myself for not noticing sooner.

I almost slid down the stairs, I was moving so quickly. I’d just managed to finish getting ready before Dad and I had to leave. I stopped in front of him and did a little goofy runway pose. I used to do that all the time when I was a kid. It’s how I got my nickname, “Flashy” Ashley. I’d just put on cute clothes and model them for Mom and Dad. I hadn’t done it for awhile, at least since Mom died. It made me miss her some more.

“You’re seeing a movie dressed like that?” Dad asked.

“What? I wanna look good for Grant.”

“Trust me, if he’s anything like I was at your age, he’s probably gonna be picturing you naked most of the time, anyway.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dad…”

He chuckled. “I’m just givin’ ya shit, honey, don’t worry about it. Now get your ass in the truck so I can drive you to your boyfriend.”

I just smiled.

Later…

I gave Dad a quick hug before getting out of the truck. He just gave me a pat on the shoulder and told me to have a good time before driving off to the airport. We just managed to miss Larry and Chrissie showing up at the house, and luckily they didn't pull any bags out of Chrissie's car.

I couldn’t remember the last time Grant and I went to the movies together, but this was a very different situation. Today, we weren’t just going as the best friends we’d been ever since we were kids, it was as a boy and a girl seeing a movie together on a date. As far as I knew, we were just seeing a movie, though I couldn’t say I’d be disappointed if we ended up going to dinner afterward or anything like that. It’d be romantic. And, honestly, romance was something I’d be very interested in.

Grant was waiting for me in the lobby. When he saw me, it was just like this morning on the bus, his eyes were so bright it was like he was seeing me for the first time. Actually, though, it was probably just him realizing that the girl in front of him was his girlfriend, not just a girl who was his friend. In a way, he really was seeing me for the first time.

“Hey, Ashe,” he said as I got closer to him, “you look… Wow…”

I giggled. “You’ve seen me in stuff like this before.”

He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I know, but… I mean… This is the first time we’ve been here like this. It’s the first time you’ve dressed like that for us.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged myself close to him. “I didn’t dress this way for us. I dressed this way for you.”

He laughed. “Okay, that was kinda sappy.”

I kissed him and then lightly tapped him on the nose with my finger. “Hey, you lemme have a soap opera moment.” I giggled again. “Just remember, you’re gonna havta draw moments like this when we get Joey and Brenda together.”

He nodded. I noticed his hand was on my ass and I didn’t have any problem with it. “I guess you’re right.”

I smirked. “I’m your girlfriend, I’m always right.”

He rolled his eyes. “Already with that stuff, huh?”

I kissed him again. “Yup.”

He smiled. “I shoulda known. Well, how about we go decide what to see?”

The theater had this big billboard with the posters for the movies they were currently showing. It dominated one wall of the lobby, right behind the ticket booth. There were sixteen screens, though we didn’t get every movie that was out in our theater. It was mostly the big ones. There were some we’d already seen together, and I wasn’t really sure what it was I wanted to see.

“Um… Slender Man or The Meg?” I asked.

He scratched at his chin. “Are those really our only choices?”

“We’ve seen almost everything else already.”

He chuckled. “We shoulda started dating earlier this year, then.”

“Hey, you just needed to ask.”

He kissed my cheek. His lips were so warm. “I’m up for The Meg, how about you?”

Not like there was much choice. “I’m game for Jason Statham fighting a super shark,” I answered.

Like a classic boyfriend, Grant paid for the both of us, which was a good thing, because I didn't even realize I didn't bring my wallet. I coulda sworn I had my purse with me, though in my haste to leave before Laurie got home, I probably forgot about it. He even got the popcorn and drinks, too, which was an extra I wasn't expecting. I was so glad he didn't try the whole “cut a hole in the popcorn bucket and slip your dick through” trick on me. Wheeler once told me of a time he did that to his now ex-girlfriend Valentina Hodges. She converted to lesbian shortly after that.

When we walked into the theater, I was amazed. Friday night and the place was almost completely empty. It was us and another couple who were already busy making out in the third row. I wanted this to be a classic date, where Grant and I sat in the back row and we could cuddle as much as the crappy seats would allow.

Lucky me, he obliged.

The lights dimmed for the previews shortly after we sat down. I held my soda with one hand while Grant held my other. I don't know what it was, but there was something so… Unique about this whole situation, something I'd never felt before. Certainly I'd gone to the movies with other boyfriends, why did this feel so new and exciting? What was different about this one?

Then I realized exactly why this one was different. This wasn’t just some guy I saw with a good looking body and a winning smile, this was Grant. He’d been my friend for so long that this went beyond mere boyfriend/girlfriend like it had been with every other guy I’d dated. He’d always been sweet to me, and while this was our first real date, we’d always been close enough that people had treated us like we were dating. Hell, Kat was amazed this was our first date, because she thought he was my rebound guy whenever I was between boyfriends.

The lights finally went out and the logos (there were a lot of logos, like almost a minute of logos) went by. The theater still hadn’t populated at all, so it was still just us and that other couple that I swear had moved from making out to having sex, because I could hear something that sounded like moans.

I looked over at Grant and saw that he looked like he was about to fall asleep. He looked so cute like that, but I didn’t want him to fall asleep because I knew I’d fall asleep at that point. Instead, I took a chance I didn’t even realize I’d been wanting to take: I climbed on top of him and pressed my lips to his. He woke up with a jolt, but as soon as he realized what was going on, he grabbed hold of my hips and held onto me. I could tell by his “reaction” (if you know what I mean) that he had exactly zero problems with what was going on.

Later…

I gave Grant another kiss as he left me at the front door. He then walked back to his house and I enjoyed a wonder view of his ass as he did. The cool breeze blowing up my skirt then reminded me that I needed to get inside or else I’d probably stand there just thinking about all the making out we did during the movie.

Y’know, now that I think of it, I had no idea what happened during that movie. I was laying on top of Grant the whole damn runtime, enjoying his tongue mixing with mine. Oh, and I let his hands slip around places I probably wouldn’t have with any other guy on a first date. I felt he deserved a treat.

Larry was sitting on the couch watching TV, already drinking one of those beers he got with Chrissie this afternoon for the party tomorrow. “Jesus, you spent like fifteen minutes on the porch kissing,” he said, with a laugh.

“Who are you? Dad?”

“No, but you coulda texted me and warned me about that.”

“I was busy. I didn’t even know he was still here until I got out of the shower.”

He patted the couch cushion beside him, so I sat down. He then handed me a beer. “Well, we got lucky. And from the way you were watching Grant walk back to his house, you got pretty lucky tonight, too. Am I gonna be an uncle?”

I coughed and nearly spat some beer out. “Uh, we didn’t fuck, you asshole. It was a movie, we just made out for two hours and then he walked me home.”

“Hey, don’t act like it didn’t cross your mind.”

I legitimately couldn’t deny that. Letting Grant have his way with me wouldn’t have been the worst thing to happen to me, and hell, even being pregnant with his child wasn’t something I was completely against. Still, I was sixteen and that was way too young to be thinking about making babies with my boyfriend. “It didn’t, and that’s all I’ll say on the matter,” I lied.

He put his arm around me. Larry could be an asshole, but he was still a great brother. “If I told you that Chrissie and I have had sex in the movie theater, would that put you at ease?”

“Uh, no, and you haven’t.”

“But how would you know?”

“Because Chrissie’s my friend and I’d know if you two had sex anywhere, including the movies.”

“What if I told you I had pictures?”

“You don’t have pictures.”

He sighed. “You’re right, I don’t.”

“And besides, if Chrissie had had sex, she’d have blown up her Facebook about it using vague but obvious terms, like that time you two snuck out Biology to grope one another.”

He smirked. “Good times.”

“Whatever.” I gulped down the last of my beer without even realizing I’d drank so much of it, got up, walked to the kitchen and dropped the bottle in the trash. “I’m gonna go do some writing and then head to bed. Don’t forget, we’ve gotta get up early to get everything ready, since the party has to end before the game.”

He raised his bottle in affirmation.

I walked upstairs, then into the bathroom to wash off my makeup. After that, I went to my room to change from my skirt and tank top into a nightie. I tied my hair into a cute ponytail and sat cross legged on my bed. I figured I’d get about a half a chapter done on the webcomic and then some done on that story for Creative Writing.

As I worked on the webcomic, I realized about seventeen pages in that I’d created a new character that shared their name with the lead in my Creative Writing story. Huh. Looks like I’d accidentally created a shared universe between something Grant and I were doing for fun and a school project that I was just having fun doing. I wondered how he’d react to that. Maybe when we got the website set up for the comic, we’d set up a section for side stories I could write. I could come up with a whole town full of characters that each had their own story, kinda like Stephen King did with his stuff.

My phone buzzed. I grabbed it and saw that Grant was texting me that he’d gotten home.

c u tmrw big sexy I texted with a wink face emoji.

c u babe Babe! He called me babe! I felt butterflies in my stomach. Words couldn’t explain how excited I was that this new stage in our relationship had happened.

About an hour and a half later, I pulled my blanket over top of me, shut off the lamp on my nightstand and went to sleep thinking of what I’d wear during our party tomorrow. I’d even try to work it into the webcomic to make Grant draw it eventually.

Tomorrow would be a day to remember.