Driven from Normal .

Simon McKenzie started his week normal enough, but after a series of events he now finds himself standing in a bar wearing a cocktail dress. Chapter 14.

4:58am the clock on my phone showed. The short, brief sleep hadn't done the inside of my mouth any favors, the horrible taste was only slightly more unpleasant than the dryness. I stood up, stretched and headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, tip-toeing past the half awake zombies peeking out from blankets everywhere I looked.

After opening almost every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen, I found a glass and drank two glasses of water very rapidly. It definitely helped ease the dryness but did nothing for the terrible metallic taste in my mouth, even after a sneaky gargle and rinse spitting it out in the sink.

Big Red Craig was fast asleep, he hadn't stirred at all when the lights came back on and was snoring loudly. Evie's boyfriend was also still asleep, sitting up straight in a chair with his head bent back and mouth wide open, Evie sat in the chair opposite, breaking up some crackers into smaller pieces and throwing them, trying to get a lump in his mouth for shits and giggles.

Dylan had got up and headed to the toilet as I returned to the couch marginally more hydrated, Mel looked up and smiled at me, all sleepily lookin' but still cute as hell. She cuddled back into me as I sat back down, sitting in silence just looking out of the windows at the rain now visible again against the outside lights with the wind blowing it past in gentle waves. It was so soothing and hypnotic that I didn't even notice Dylan's return, or him stretching an arm along the back of the couch behind my head. Brad had dimmed the lights down to let the sleepers sleep, and had wound the heating back up. The house was still warm if I was completely honest about it, and it was probably more thinking I was feeling the cold, rather than really being cold.

The wind and rain outside, the fireplace and being snuggled up inside with Mel set a calm relaxing ambiance and a level of serenity I struggled to recall feeling before. It would have been hard to imagine a better place than there, at that very moment. I wiggled my toes through the thick fluffy floor rug and absorbed the heat from the fireplace, I closed my eyes, smiled and relaxed my head, letting it fall backwards onto Dylan's arm.

I heard him say something to me but didn't catch what it was, I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was already starting to brush my cheek softly with the back of his fingers staring longingly into my eyes. I opened my mouth to ask what he had said but my throat was still dry and no sound came out.
Dylan leaned closer and our lips touched for the briefest of moments, before he pulled back.
I smirked, mostly because he snuck a kiss in I think, but never moved away. I couldn't, between his arm and Mel there was nowhere to go.
He moved back in close and kissed me again, softly nibbling my bottom lip then starting slowly with his tongue, as it worked its way in to explore my mouth.
His hand, firm but gently held my head up, keeping us locked together. After a few moments his finger trailed ever so softly along my cheek and down my neck to my shoulder, before moving down to rest on my breast, I guess if it had been real I would have felt something, but I didn't. Nothing at all, other than the slight tugging from the glue against my skin.

I don't really know why I even let it continue for so long, and I definitely don't know why I had started to kiss back. What I do know, is that while it wasn't the greatest kiss I'd had, not even close, it was far from the worst.
It was just a kiss, nothing more. I didn't feel a spark or tingly shiver like when Mel kissed me.
It was just an average kiss at best.
I'd done some very random shit when I was on the booze over the years, but this was right near the top of the list of dumb shit. It may have even claimed the top spot or started a new sub category. Dylan had a glazed look on his face, and a goofy smile when he pulled back to check my reaction. The complete lack of one reduced his goofy smile to a look of disappointment.

"Nothing? Not even a wee hint of something, maybe?" He asked.

The flat tone in his voice indicated he already knew what the answer was.
I shrugged, not sure how to put it politely that I hadn't felt anything back.

"Bugger. I had to try. Not knowing would have played on my mind forever."

I have him a hard pat on his chest,
"You're just not girly enough for me"

He lowered his hand and placed it on my leg, giving it a quick friendly rub.
"Never mind, I'm sure there's another amazing, funny, smart super babe that can drive the wheels off a kart out there somewhere for me"

He lay back, pushing himself deep into the couch and let out a long exaggerated sigh that lead into a chuckle. I let my head relax back again and closed my eyes, Mel was fast asleep and her regular soft breathing drew my focus in and I drifted back off, happy, relaxed and slightly relieved that there hadn't been a spark when I'd kissed a guy.
Not that there would be anything wrong with that, but it wasn't me and it was a weight lifted nonetheless, I was already having enough internal conflicts about enjoying dressing as a girl more than I thought I should have.

Light tugs on my earring woke me from a good dream, Mel was right in my face smiling and swatting at the earrings like a frisky kitten,

"Morning sexy. Good sleep?"

"It was. Someone woke me up"

I pulled her in for a long kiss, I could feel the tingles when her hand brushed against my inner thigh, then moved up under the miniskirt, tingles that weren't there from Dylan's kiss. The trapped morning wood really wanted freeing, but here in the living room of someone else's house wasn't appropriate, no matter how keen I was to make love to the stunning woman half straddling me.

"Should I book a ride back to your place to continue this in private then?"

"Tell them it's super urgent or an emergency or something!" she pulled something from the small hip pocket on her denim miniskirt, examined it then held it up.
“Tell them that there’s a shiny twenty cent piece, aaaand a Mentos wrapper in it for them if they don't muck around getting here!”

I grabbed my phone, for fuck sake, still no service!. After trying a restart and it had rebooted, it came back on with a flurry of alert noise. The Facebook and message notifications came in thick and fast, which was strange considering I was still logged in under the Simone profile. I figured they could wait, and booked a ride back to Mel's flat. Still being early (just before Seven) there weren’t many drivers out and about and the ETA was around ten minutes.
Plenty of time to find my shoes and put them on, we worked on collecting our belongings as quietly as we could trying not to disturb anyone still sleeping. Mel stirred Kamyla enough to tell her we were heading away and to pass on our thanks to Brad and Kelly for the party as well as the couch for the night. Dylan was still fast asleep so we left him alone and worked around him, getting the last of things gathered up.

Mel opened a side door leading outside and we slipped out to the very cold morning air. The fresh wind cut straight through me, my exposed legs and the thinnish sweatshirt covering my bikini did nothing at all to prevent the cold alpine wind chilling me to the bone. Mel was in the same boat, dressed almost identically.
It didn't help that we had gone out the side of the house facing directly into the wind, so to make sure we wouldn't freeze to death before our ride showed, I quickly checked the app. Thankfully it showed the car turning on to our street and was less than a minute away.

We shivered our way to the front of the house, timing it perfectly with the car arriving. We piled in, and asked the driver to set the heater to the highest setting he had, before anything else happened. There were a few fallen tree branches covering the road in places other than that, the storm hadn’t caused too much damage that we could see on the trip back to the flat. Definitely no sign of downed power lines, what we did see was the bright orange and pink sunrise against the clearing storm clouds, a truly spectacular sight adding some interest to an otherwise uneventful ride.

Spending the least amount of time outside in our pool clothes, meant a fast dash from the Uber to inside when we arrived home, it wasn't a lot warmer inside, but there wasn't any wind which was a welcome relief. The heating was very quickly set to “melt” and we ran a hot shower jumping in together to take the edge off the cold. Stripping down, I found it quite funny that my legs had full covering of goosebumps apart from the still smooth prosthetics attached to my hips.
Mel had asked me to leave the wig on to give it a quick wash with shampoo and conditioner in the shower. As I lathered it up, she cleared her throat, and in a serious tone asked,

“So, what was the story with you and Dylan last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“That kiss you had on the couch, it appeared to be full on from where I was?”

I felt a chill of guilt surge over me. The last thing I wanted to do was upset Mel and lose what we had started, I also didn't want to make things worse and lie to her to try to save my arse.

“Ahhh. Well, he kissed me out of the blue! It didn't mean anything, I don’t like guys!”

“Mmmmm, it took a while for you to end it! Are you sure you don't like guys? Maybe even just a tennie-weenie wee bit?”

I cleared the shampoo from my eyes and turned to face her, with a panicked look on my face, she tried to hold it in but started to giggle.

“I'm absolutely, one hundred percent positive I don't like guys! At all!”

“Ahhh, I don’t know?”

The giggling had now increased to the point where I knew she was trying to wind me up, it was working as well. I grabbed her and pulled her in close, poking her with my erect cock, she placed a hand around the shaft and in a deep low voice asked me,

“Do you want me to pretend to be Dylan for a bit?”

“No, I want you and you only!” I paused looking at her angelic face “I’m sorry, I shouldn't have done it. I don't even know why I didn't it? It was friggin' stupid. I sure as shit wouldn't want to risk fucking whatever this is up!”

“Nah, I'm just havin' ya on mate!” her laughing continued and then she paused, “It was sort of a bit hot though. Mmmm, I could happily imagine it going further. But, that's probably a bit weird, aye?”

“A guy with fake tits, who's been dressed as a girl for nearly a week, isn't the best person for an opinion on what’s weird or not”

“Yeah true! You’re still way weirder than me!”

She yanked my cock, pulling me closer and started kissing my neck, moving up giving my lower lip a soft bite. The shampoo was still running down my face into my eyes as we made love, it could have been acid and I still wouldn't have stopped me. I was pleased that Kamyla wasn't home, Mel’s very vocal climax would have been embarrassing for someone to have overheard. I rinsed the shampoo from the wig, applied some condition, then Mel removed it from my head so I could wash my own hair underneath.

The bathroom was nice and warm getting out from under the hot water, we dried off, then ran through the now familiar post shower routine of moisturizing with the selection of creams laid out on the bathroom counter top. By now the heater had done its thing to the rest of the house, warming the air to a comfortable level. Even so, a lack of warm clothes in my suitcase that would fit me was a minor concern. I put my bra and knickers on then had another look in the case hoping a warmer option had magically appeared.
Nope, everything was floaty, light weight fabric items, best suited for the warmer sunny days we’d had over the past few days.

The closest option was the long blue bodycon dress, as I held it up Mel suggested I could borrow something of hers. She dug through her draws and wardrobe producing two items for me to put on. Starting with a pair of thick black tights. Next was a grey, long sleeve, turtle neck bodysuit that I put on over them, instantly feeling much warmer. Mel said to put my miniskirt over the top, and if we needed to go out anywhere she had a coat I could use. She had a long sweatshirt dress on, that came down to her knees and thick tights on as well. The fact she said “if we needed to go out” sounded like we were spending the day inside. That sounded good to me.

I was now warm and dry, I had the pleasure of Mel’s company and not a care in the world. I flopped down on the couch tucked my legs under my bum and watched the rain start to fall again outside as Mel and I enjoyed a coffee each. We must have talked for a good hour or so about the night before ,and the goings on at the party.
Mel brought up the Facebook profile I had started, remembering the earlier notifications, I opened my phone and we started looking at the ones that had come through.

Most were just “likes” on photos, there were several friend requests from some really random people. Some from mutual friends of the contacts I already had, and a few from members of the TV crew.
We accepted a few including ones from people we knew like Megan, Anna, Mark and even Gerry, after a bit of deliberating. Then declined a few others that look dodgy, the rest we ignored for the meantime. There were a few invites to pages that ranged from makeup and beauty products, to modeling pages, even a few fan pages of various car owners.
There were also several photos that had been posted from “GAD Studio” asking to confirm permission to be tagged in them. It didn't take much to work out that it was Gerry’s photography company after we scrolled through his photos.
There were dozens of me, or Simone more to the point, on set either posing or candid shots between takes; getting makeup and hair touch ups, talking to the crew and some driving shots as well.

Mel thought I looked “Smokin' hot” in all of them and found the page on her phone to like them. When we had cleared all those, I checked the messages, there were dozens and dozens of new message requests in Simone's inbox, mostly all “dick pics” from some very odd admirers seeking my attention, I couldn't hit the delete button on those fast enough.
Mel and I were laughing so hard at some of the messages my side hurt, random messages translated to English that, had not feared well. Why these men thought a blurry photo of a penis would make Simone want to travel overseas just to hook up with them, most likely at their parents house, was a mystery?

Those aside, other messages included requests of “Collab's” from various companies. Some messages from friends of Big Reg Craig’s ex, asking who I was and what I was up to, I ignored them all as well. Similar messages from Mark, Gerry Anna and Megan all asking what I was up to, but generally thought it was a good idea to separate myself online. While I was logged in I sent myself a friend request, now feeling confident nobody would pick the connection between my original profile and the persona. I also flicked one to Mum and Dad's joint account, Dad hardly used it but Mum was a typical Boomer online, sharing all sorts of shit to her friends and making comments on everything I posted.
Within seconds she'd accepted the request. I was wondering if she would work out if it was me when my phone started ringing, not surprisingly it was “Mum’s Phone” displayed on the screen, I answered, ran through some pleasantries before she got straight to the point.

"Who's this Simone Lilly on Facebook?, is that the girl you're staying with?"

"No, I'm staying with Mel remember. What about Simone?"

"Who is she? I just had a friend request on Facebook from her. She looks familiar but I can't work out how I'd know her. I see you're friends, so who is she?"

I left Mum guessing as long as I could before finally putting her out of her misery, explaining why and what we'd done with the new profile. Without being rude, by shit it was a battle getting her to understand that it was me, and in the end I had to wait while she got her tablet and opened Facebook to confirm what I was telling her. I suppose until then I think she had only seen a selfie I'd sent her from the first day on set and another close up of the makeup, never a full body photo or anything showing my enhanced curves.

She was amazed at the transformation and thought all the images must have been all photoshopped with me looking so pretty and girly. She then spent a few minutes trying to find a photo of Dad's auntie, who Mum thought I was a dead ringer for. I managed to avoid potentially hours of listening to her flick through old photo albums by changing the subject explaining how the name had evolved. I'm sure I heard a slight quiver in her voice when I said why I used Lilly, it hadn't dawned on her till then that it was her name.

Mum and Dad knew why I was still done up as a girl, but we're surprised to hear I'd been out and about like that. Mum put the call on speaker and Dad joined the conversation, I'm pretty sure he was deeply concerned about the bikini photos with Big Red Craig.
Even after I told them the story, I could sense some apprehension in his voice, I assured them I was fine and knew what I was doing, and yes I was being careful and staying safe. Mum offered to pick me up from the airport the next morning as long as I was happy for her to do some quick jobs near the airport before she dropped me off at home. She had also said a few times throughout the call that she was gutted not to be able see me all done up, but the photos would have to do. Her and Dad both promised to keep Simone on the down low and not blow my cover by sharing photos or making obvious comments. Dad reckoned it would cost me, and joked that using Simone might have been a good way to sell a few motorbikes to some punters. After ending the call to Ma and Pa McKenzie then a debrief with Mel, it was close to lunch time. The fridge and cupboards didn't have a lot to offer even after lowering our standards and looking again.

"I feel like a decent pub feed, like an all day breakfast or something" I told Mel.

She thought soup and garlic bread was the answer, so that was settled and the more we discussed it, the better it was starting to sound.
Mel dried and restyled my wig so it was ready to go, then decided to give me a lesson on how to attach it myself using the glue along the front edge. When I queried the relevance of needing a lesson as from tomorrow I wouldn’t need it again, she just smiled and said “You never know…”

While the glue set, I had a second lesson on applying eyeliner and mascara to myself. Keeping a steady hand and not poking myself in the eye was the hardest bit, the more I concentrated the more my hand seemed to shake. Wearing makeup had almost become like a security blanket, even just a bit of eyeliner, mascara or lip gloss, felt like a mask I could hide my true identity behind. Dressing up and going out as a girl still felt scary, but with makeup it didn't seem anywhere near as bad, the chances of being outed as a guy in a dress seemed to almost disappear completely from my thoughts. Even looking in a mirror, I really struggled to see the guy beneath.

I knew he was still in there, somewhere. Hopefully!

I found my earrings still sitting on the bathroom bench from the shower earlier. I held them wondering if I should put them on, I shrugged and snapped them onto my earlobes adding the matching necklace over the collar of the bodysuit, I was well and truly over being concerned about wearing girls clothes, I felt good, looked good so why worry myself about any social stigmas. And anyway, so far everyone I’d met thought I was a girl. Maybe if I’d been outed as a guy things would be different, but I hadn’t been yet, I figured the more girly I looked the better the chance to remove any doubt anyone may have had.

The first two selections I made for footwear choices met with a firm “No” from Mel. The black Puma shoes, absolutely no way, then the new white sneakers had a marginally better response, but still a no. She insisted on the black boots, a futile argument about sore feet never gained any traction with her, so I gave in and zipped them up. Mel opted for a pair of tan knee high boots with a low heel. I was handed a black puffer jacket from Mel’s wardrobe, she had a short bomber style coat with a fur collar. We grabbed our handbags and headed for the car, I was hesitant stepping outside, I assumed the short skirt would do nothing against the cold wind but I was surprised at how warm I felt in the tights, bodysuit and jacket. The cold wind hitting my face was a stark contrast to the rest of me and it was still a relief to get into the car away from the breeze.

The Ale house was a no-brainer for a good pub meal, another huge bonus was that on a cold shitty day they always had a big fire going. Mel found a car park as close as we could, and we headed in, spotting a free table right beside the fireplace.
We didn't bother to wait for anyone to seat us and made a dash to secure it. There wasn't anyone else waiting, but it felt like a win anyway. The waitress welcomed us when she brought over two menus, then took our drinks order. I went for a lemonade, after last night even the mere thought of a beer wasn’t cool and a coke would have probably still tasted like it had some bourbon in it.

Reading the menu was a waste of time, I didn't need to even look at it, a full all day breakfast was what I needed more than anything. Mel spotted the specials board and liked the sound of the pumpkin soup on offer. When our waitress came back with the drinks we placed our order, and she confirmed what we wanted she gave me a peculiar look. I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it or not but when she walked off, Mel said she thought she had seen it as well.

“Pfffffft, who knows?” I said and we started talking while we waited for the meals to arrive.

It didn't take long at all for the plates to be placed in front of us, the lack of other patrons probably meant the kitchen staff didn't have a lot to do. The waitress placed my meal down then gave me the same look as before, I was a little uncomfortable and gave her a nervous half smile back.

“I’m really sorry to be rude, is your name Simone?”

I nodded, now feeling very confused about how this girl would have known me, the look on Mel's face suggested she was also in the same boat.

“I’m Craig’s sister, I think you were with him last night at Brad Rutland’s party?”

“Ohhh right, Yes we were” I replied, waving my arm towards Mel so she could be included in whatever was coming next.

“Thanks for helping him out. He hasn't really been handling things very well over the break up. I was messaging him last night and he said what you were all up to. I think that was really cool…. Anyway, thank you again and sorry, I’ll let you get on with your meals… Enjoy!”

For a brief second I thought she may have been the Ex and our meals would be full of spit, a wave of relief that I felt was awesome, and I could enjoy my lunch without a worry. And enjoy it, I did. There's not much better than a good, full English cooked breakfast when you’ve had a big night on the booze, the greasy bacon, sausage and eggs makes everything good in the world. When I finished, I wiped my mouth and placed the napkin on the plate covering my cutlery. I looked at Mel, who had a huge grin.

“Fuck, you made short work of that!. I think I saw sparks coming off your knife and fork at one stage”

“I was hungry! And I didn't come here to Knit!” I grinned back, “How’s your soup?”

“Mmmm, really good. Do you want to try some?”

“I’m good thanks, I don't think I could fit anything else in. So what do ya wanna do next?”

Mel shrugged, taking another spoonful of soup in.

“We could have a wander around town, or go up the gondolas for a look?”

“Ahhh yeah, we could have a go on the luge !” I suggested, raising my eyebrows up and down as encouragement for Mel to say yes.

She frowned,
“Not very practical in a dress or heels.”

Instantly killing my hopes of a hoon on the down hill. While Mel finished, I checked my phone. More Facebook notifications for Simone. Mum had gone through every photo and liked it, and commented (Stunning) or (Gorgeous) to a few. I knew she wouldn't be able to help herself. Luckily, there was still nothing to tie Simone back to me. After lunch we had a walk around the shopping area browsing the windows mostly, I was looking in the window of a shop at a new phone, and didn't notice that Mel had walked on a bit. In an effort to catch back up with her, I actually sort of skipped a bit along the footpath and grabbed her hand, linking our fingers together. She gave me a huge smile and her big doe eyes near melted me on the spot. We walked on and I noticed the smile disappearing from her face, replaced with a sadness I hadn't seen in her since we had met.

“Are you Ok? What's up?”

She stopped walking, turned to me with her eyes starting to fill with tears.
“This is our last afternoon together. You’re away tomorrow and I’ll really miss hanging out with you.” she paused for a long breath trying to gather her composure,
“I’ve really enjoyed this week with you. It’s been great to spend time with someone I think I might actually really care about…. I don't want you to go home!”

I wrapped my arms around her and drew her in for a big hug,
“I feel the same way. I’m just getting to know you and I don’t want, whatever this is, to end. We haven't even had a proper date, as boy and girl yet.”

I went quiet for a bit to make sure she was ok and not crying,

“Normally, I’d be off with my mates after a shag to brag about it. With you it's completely different. You’re the mate I want to tell everything to, and spend time with. And, keep being with.”

“It’d be hard to brag to your mates looking like that” she snorted, still pressed into my jacket in the hug.

“Come on, let's just enjoy the afternoon. We’ll sort something out. It’s only a six hour drive, so I might be able to commute everyday. “

Mel laughed and looked up.

“Nice nose dribble” I told her, causing her to laugh louder, she then wiped her nose across the front of my jacket. “Gross! I don't think the lady that owns this jacket will be very impressed with you.”

...to be continued.