Zoom Doom.
Ben Crayshaw's eyes lit up, he was in social isolation, someone in his class had tested positive for Covid and they were all pinged to stay home and use the online app for continuing their education. The school had invested in new technology, so in theory, Ben could do his schoolwork on Zoom. He wasn't sure about the latter but a week or two off school would be good, at least in the short term views of a fourteen- year-old, it was.

Ben lived with his mother, a nursing sister at the local hospital, and his sister, Debbie, who was away at university. They talked on Zoom once a week when their mum was available to take part, so everyone was well but more than a bit socially distanced.

Ben was quite pleased with the absence of the other residents of his house because it enabled him to indulge in his latest game of wearing his sister's clothes, the stuff she left at the back of the wardrobe, so wouldn't miss or realise they'd been used by someone else. He'd also discovered some of the specialist websites which catered to cross-dressers, selling products, books and various other overpriced items. Being four years younger than his sister he could get into her clothes and, very fortunately, some of her shoes fitted as well, mainly sandals and some of those had quite high heels. So perhaps he'd get a chance to practice walking around in those while he was off. He'd decided he was going to shave his legs and paint his toenails and he would do so as soon as his mother went off to work.

He promised to do a few chores as well as his studies and at five pm to switch the oven on to heat the casserole she'd made the night before. She didn't usually get home until 7.00 pm, sometimes later so, he'd have plenty of time to dress in Debbie's old clothes and get changed back before his mum came home. The day seemed perfect in prospect to the teen and as soon as he heard his mum's car start he was in the shower and washing his longish hair, to style as best he could. He'd watched some videos on Youtube so had a few ideas, his mum had heated rollers and Debbie had left her curling tongs behind this time as she'd had her hair cut short.

By half-past eight, Ben was dried and dressed in a pink mini-dress, complete with bra, panties and his makeshift boobs. He'd found some old balloons and by measuring some rice on the kitchen scales had produced two same sized falsies to fill out his bra and the front of his dress. He'd quickly shaved off the few leg hairs he had and also painted two coats of dark red nail varnish on his toenails. Pulling on the three-inch tall wedge sandals, he strutted up and down Debbie's bedroom admiring how he looked.

His makeup took longer and he realised he needed to get some more mascara, as it wasn't good to use old stuff or to share it with someone else as it could cause eye infections. That would have to wait, he needed to get on his school's network and do some work before his mother got a snotty note about his lack of commitment.

As the computer warmed up, he brushed out his hair and using the mirror alongside his laptop finished his makeup with some pink lipstick. For the next hour, he worked on the lessons online, he felt safe because they asked students to avoid using their webcams to save on bandwidth. He couldn't believe his luck, there he was wearing girl's clothes and no one was any the wiser, while he 'attended' school. If only he could do that for real, it would make school much more enjoyable - except the reality would be that the bullies would have a real treat beating him up or terrorising him.

Thinking about the reality, he felt less happy, then decided to enjoy what he could while he could and make the best of it, but to get some mascara when he could. He was eating his lunch, a cheese sandwich when his phone peeped and his mother asked if he wanted anything as she'd try and get it on the way home. He almost texted back mascara, then realised it wasn't a good idea.

The afternoon was like the morning with more downloaded work to do until casserole time, when he changed back, hiding his painted toes in trainers. He still had the panties on but the bra showed under his tee-shirt, so he had to leave that off. He agreed he would put the washing machine on as that enabled him to wash all the clothes he'd borrowed from Debbie.

That evening he went for a walk and popped into the supermarket and bought a bottle of Red Bull and mascara, using the self-service checkout. Seeing no one paid him any attention, he decided next time he'd treat himself to some nail varnish and eyeliner. Wearing a face mask, no one would recognise him anyway and he could almost walk there in his sister's clothes and no one would know. The idea was dismissed as crazy, but then so was painting his toenails last week.

The week progressed and Ben felt fine, so he hadn't contracted the dreaded lurgi and he was getting much better at makeup and doing his hair. Sometimes it was a pain having to take off all the stuff and wet his hair back to a scruffy boy style, but so far his mother hadn't sussed him, so he felt quite good about things. After dinner on Thursday, he asked his mother to show him how to iron things and he'd help with it to save her time - she was looking ever tireder as the volume of work at the hospital increased and staff were off isolating or sick.

His offer wasn't quite as altruistic as it seemed to his mother, who nearly collapsed in shock, she thought him washing the dishes occasionally was verging on miraculous. She nearly said something but listened to his reason, it would be useful when he went off to university and she was struggling to do things, so he felt he ought to offer. Before he could change his mind, she had the ironing board up, the iron filled with distilled water and the basket of washing standing by.

An hour later he knew how to adjust the heat setting for different materials and how to iron and press things to minimise wrinkles. If the clothes were tumble dried they needed less ironing, but it wasn't suitable for some delicate garments, as it got too hot being an old dryer. Ironing some of his mum's clothes meant he was pretty sure he could manage all the stuff he'd borrowed from his sister and he felt it also fulfilled a sort of growing need inside him that it wasn't just a game of looking pretty, which he thought he did, but of doing some female things and housework, cooking and laundry were amongst them. His mother wondered why he'd suddenly changed his behaviour but as she was indeed struggling with her job and the housework, she was grateful for his help without questioning his motive.

That night the local news was full of the stories that the local schools had all closed as they didn't have enough teachers to cope and the children were also contracting the virus. Ben couldn't believe his luck. The online teaching was going to continue and he knew he could continue developing his time as Beth, who was his rapidly growing alter ego. He knew he needed more makeup and while the supermarket was okay in a basic way, he wanted to get some different eye colours and liners and that meant going to Superdrug and dealing with a human checkout.

The idea that he could buy whatever he wanted if only he was a girl, he had the money and now he'd have the time and wearing his sister's clothes and the way he was learning to do his hair and makeup, meant that no one would recognise him, so why didn't he just dress up and go?

He tossed and turned after he went to bed the urge to go shopping was growing like some force inside him. It would give him a chance to prove to himself that he really did look pretty good as a girl. He had various dreams which showed he was correct and one which did the opposite and he was discovered when his dress blew up and he discovered he wasn't wearing his panties. That one woke him up in a lather, but he soon went off to sleep again and the next thing he knew was his mother telling him that she'd left a shopping list and some money on the dining table, and he could have a couple of quid to buy himself a treat for all his hard work.

He dragged himself from his bed to see her off to work, it was only half seven and yawning he waved to her as she drove off. He drank a coffee and ate a slice of toast and then decided he was going to go shopping - as Beth. He raced into the shower and washed and conditioned his hair checked all his bits for unwanted hair, he had none on his face yet, then put rollers in his hair, pulled on his bra and panties and started on his makeup. Despite his slight tremor due to the excitement he was feeling, he made a reasonable job of it and then dressed in a skirt and top with a pair of two-inch heeled knee boots his sister no longer wore. He just wore short socks with them as his legs looked quite good in the short fitted skirt. Being fairly tight to his legs and bum, he knew it wouldn't blow up in the wind as in his nasty dream.

Waiting for his hair to dry he shaped and painted his fingernails - another first - which once they were dry, he finished his hair. Adding his sister's old watch and a bracelet and he was nearly ready. He looked as good as he'd ever been and then discovered it was raining. That was okay, he would borrow his sister's coat with a hood and take a brolly in case, which was what he did then realised he needed a handbag - no problem he took one of his sister's after emptying out all the old tissues, dried up pens and some unidentified object which may have started off as a chocolate. He picked up the list and his mum's old purse with the money in, pulled on the coat and opened the front door when the first notion of it being a less good idea assailed him. In fact, he began to think it was a completely stupid idea. He shut the door and sitting down at the table looked at the list of shopping. He had to visit three shops, he had little reason to speak except to say hi, to any checkout staff and thanks when he left. His voice was light so that should be okay. He'd be wearing a facemask - he'd bought one which was quite girly with teddy bears all over it - so what was the risk?

People on the net had told him it wasn't illegal to wear women's clothes or to appear to be one. It was only an offence if he was doing for some illegal reason to solicit sex or some criminal enterprise. He'd had a wee just before he put his coat on, so he'd not need to visit a loo and anyway they were all shut under lockdown. So why was he vacillating? Sheer terror, which seemed as good a reason as any. Maybe he should just change back and go as his boy self, but that was boring and he'd just realised he didn't have any nail varnish remover neither did his mum, she never wore it. Poo, he'd have to go as Beth, which was what he wanted anyway. It was ten o'clock and he needed to get the shopping and do some schoolwork and his washing, well Beth's washing and ironing. He needed to get a move on either way.

It was the third time he went to the door and actually shut it behind him and with his heart beating nineteen to the dozen he set off for the half-mile walk towards the shops. The light rain meant he kept his hood up, which was good as a boy he knew from school walked past him on the opposite pavement. So far no one had paid much attention to the pretty young woman wrapped up against the inclement weather and he began to relax and enjoy his act of audacity. He began to wonder how many other boys could look as good as he did and pull off going into the shops as a girl. Very few, they were all either too ugly or stupid or chicken. He was a hero, but sadly he couldn't share that with anyone because his act of skill and daring would be seen as anything but by most, no, he'd be seen as a sissy or some sort of poof. His spirits fell and he noticed too that the boots weren't quite as low as he'd thought, or there was a difference wearing them around the house and walking a couple of miles in them. His legs were aching and his toes felt as if they were rubbing. He nearly turned around and went home again, except time was now against him and he needed that bloody varnish remover before his mother came home. No, he had to see it through, even if the fun seemed to have washed out of it in the rain.

Donning his teddy bear mask which he hoped wouldn't smudge his lipgloss, he walked uncertainly into Superdrug, having had to queue for several minutes beforehand as they limited the number of customers in the shop at any one time. Several times he felt like running away but he was here now and he needed to complete this, even if he never went out en femme ever again. It would be one of his memories of which he'd put in his brave but dumb category.

Ten minutes later he'd bought eye-shadows and liners, a new mascara and some new lipgloss, as well as a brow pencil thing reminding himself he needed to pluck them into more shape. He was thirty pounds less wealthy than when he started his escapade, but he was happy with his purchases. He'd loved to have bought shoes or clothing as a girl too, but all those shops were shut, he could do it online but that wasn't the same as doing as Beth.

He queued to buy potatoes and carrots and a chicken then remembered the broccoli and had to queue again. His bag was quite heavy walking home and his feet were now quite sore and he still had to do his washing - no, she still had to do her washing and she'd do a bit of Ben's as well as hers and her mum's. This week, it seemed Ben only existed while his mother was there, otherwise, he'd been almost entirely absent, except for signing in for the school online network, so some sort of register was being kept.

Beth felt exhausted when she got back in, grateful that none of the neighbours had seen her. She removed her boots and on checking her toes found one blister on each foot which she covered with a plaster. then she pulled on her sandals, her favourite wedge ones. Once the shopping was put away, she sorted the laundry as her mum had shown her and put it in the machine. With all the things she'd worn all week, it was a good load. While it was washing she examined her purchases and redid her eyeliner with the new one. It was quite dramatic but she liked it, the very dark grey line, almost black, and she slapped on another coat of the supa-dupa maximising mascara and her lashes really did look longer and fuller. She loved the new look and all the trauma evaporated, she'd had fun. It may have been very risky, but she pulled it off and it felt good, except on the two sore toes.

She made herself a drink and afterwards touched up her lipgloss again, she kept chewing it off as she worked. She was too excited to eat anything, except a banana but she thought she ought to watch her figure anyway. If only she could grow her own boobs instead of these balloon things - then she got the silly idea that perhaps the rice could be useful if ever she got lost in the jungle - at least she wouldn't starve to death, laughing at the fact that the nearest jungle was several thousand miles away and that eating the rice after it had spent days in sweaty balloons, didn't appeal one bit.

She loaded the first wash into the tumble dryer and put the next lot into the washer, then it was sorting the chicken and the vegetables for tea, she now appreciated how hard her mum worked and she wanted to be seen as a good daughter not, some lazy, good-for-nothing boy. By this time the dryer was ready for ironing and the second load of washing was ready to be dried.

Setting up the ironing board she filled the iron with distilled water and began to iron her things first, hanging things up on hangers as she went, then the chicken was put in the oven and the veg put ready to boil on the top of the cooker. Goodness this being a woman stuff was hard work, no wonder boys weren't keen to try it, and she began to seriously think that girls were the superior sex, boys were lazy wimps.

She really did feel worn out and making herself a drink sat down for a few minutes rest, she hadn't intended shutting her eyes but they seemed to be out of her control and she nodded off to sleep.

"Gosh, that smells good, Ben," were the words that woke her as she wondered where she was This was followed by, "Who are you? Where's Ben?"