Chapter 7

I wondered if I’d been thinking about myself as a lamb being carried to its fate. When we got to the TV studio, I realized that I had dressed mostly in white, from white underwear to my white slip, and white satin dress being worn for the first time.

I had added a light pink sweater because it was a bit chilly. But beyond that -- I had dressed as a virginal bride!

At the TV studio, Allan was waiting for us. He told us that he had renegotiated our arrangement with the TV station, seeing that we hadn’t actually signed anything, and he had signed a new contract with them on our behalf. He said that we would not be doing the two big shows alone as he had a number of acts in his own stable that would fill out the show. That was a relief because it had been weighing heavily on us, seeing that we also needed to prepare for the end of the year exams.

We all looked different tonight, not really being used to being just individuals.

Allan told us that he wanted each of us to be more unique on stage in future so that the fans could fixate on the one they liked most.

The interview went well after we’d been totally made up for the TV lights. Shirley had done her homework, and asked each of us, in turn, how we got to be in the Pixies. I revealed that I was a late addition when the group was using my studio for practice.

Donna brightened. “She fitted right in -- as if she was made for us.”

It came out that three of us were in our last year at Wayne and that two were nearly at the end of their beauticians’ course. Over the next half hour, we managed to get plugs in for our favorite eating places, our new soon-to-be friends at the salon, our favorite dress and costume shop and Harry’s venue.

Towards the end Josie blurted the news that we were recording an album and that we hoped it would be out in the New Year. The last bit was a surprise. Instead of having another guest for the second half hour of the show Shirley announced that their cameramen and audio guys had recorded one of our shows and that they had put together a half hour special called ‘Pixies Live on Stage’ which would follow us.

I’d almost forgotten about that time they had filmed us.

Bruce and Charlie had been in the studio audience. They met up with us when we got out of the unmaking session and had re-applied normal make-up.

Charlie looked at me with wonder in his eyes. “Edie, you’re so beautiful tonight. Would you care to join me for a drink?”

I drove him. Josie went with Bruce in his car.

We ended up at the same place we had first kissed.

As we went in, he stopped me. “Edie, love, there’s something I need to tell you which shouldn’t become known at the school. This place belongs to my family and there’s a door which leads to the hotel next door, also ours. I don’t want the others to know because they could think that I’m just doing college for fun. I’m really serious about doing well because I may be taking over here, sometime.”

I agreed to keep it quiet. We went into the bar and dance area. His explanation told me why the staff seemed to know him so well the last time we came. Bruce and Josie joined us, and we had a couple of drinks and danced a bit until I saw Josie give me a little wave as she went through a side door with Bruce.

“Is that the door to the hotel?” I asked.

When he said it was, I added, “Bruce is now way ahead of you. Aren’t you competitive?”

He laughed. “Edie, I only want things to go at your speed.”

“OK, Chuck, let’s go and find out what speed I have. I think that I may be ready now. If I say ‘stop,’ please do so and we may be able to try again.”

I picked up my bag and he held my hand as we went from the public area to a small lobby.

“We have school in the morning, so we have our outfits with us.”

“It’s going to be hard for you this term, seeing that you have those shows to get ready for, Saturday nights to do, and an album to cut.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry; I think I’m up to speed with our classes and Josie is on top of her studies, as well.” We got in the elevator, and he pressed a button that looked fairly high in the building. When we got out, I could see that this wasn’t a usual part of the hotel.

“Welcome to my home, sweetheart. It’s not grand but I like it.” When he opened the door, we walked into a very nice apartment with leather covered settees and chairs, an enormous TV screen with a blinking light. “That’s recording your show tonight,” he explained. We then moved through to his bedroom and one of the biggest beds I’ve ever seen.

“Wow!” I gasped. “How many maidens have you deflowered on that baby?”

He laughed and whispered, “I’m not saying, but you’re the first in this room that I love. The rest were just finding out what it was all about.”

I put my bag down.

He took me in his arms, and we kissed, and then kissed some more. He put his hands under my sweater and eased it up and I allowed him to pull it over my head. He put it on a bedside chair.

“My bride,” he breathed. “You’re my dream girl.” He took off his jacket.

We took turns removing an item of clothing until I was standing there in my bra and panties, and he stood there breathing heavily with a big tent in his boxers.

“Looks like we’re almost naked,” I said. I put my arms behind me and undid my bra, allowing it to drop on the floor. They may have been false but the effect on his body was very visible. We stood close and he pulled my panties down as I eased his underwear over what was fast becoming my last hurdle.

On the bed, we kissed, and he caressed my breasts, even though I couldn’t feel a thing.

I felt it when he went lower and started kissing and licking my slit. I started panting and groaning and he finally had his head between my legs and tickling the end of my poor penis with his tongue when I came into his mouth.

He sucked and licked, and I shuddered with a very long feeling of climax. When he came back to my head and kissed me, I could taste myself.

It was time for the main event, and I was ready for him as he lubed my anus and put on a condom. With my legs up under his armpits he kissed me as I felt the end of his penis pressing against my rosebud then, all of a sudden, I relaxed, and he was in.

What I hadn’t expected was the immense feeling of desire that surged as he started to move in me. I crossed my ankles behind his back as he kissed me and told me he loved me.

I had no other option but to tell him I loved him as well. He stroked faster and came deep inside me as we kissed deeply.

Josie was right; it had been the final hurdle and that moment decided my life. As his weight held me to the mattress and his tongue probed my tonsils, I could feel him still throbbing while my nails raked his back.

When we uncoupled, I had a sense of something now missing. We took turns in the bathroom to tidy up. When I went in, I took my nightie with me and when I came out I stood in the doorway so he could see my silhouette with the light behind me.

“You really are every inch a girl,” he said. “Come back here and let me cuddle.”

So, I did and we slept for a little while and both woke in the night. He made love to me again and this time was better than the first, now that I knew what to expect.

He had an alarm on for six, and he kissed me awake. I pushed him back on the bed and used my mouth on his morning glory. Then we went into his shower and laughed as we washed each other.

When I was dressed in the outfit, I had brought with me for school and he had dressed from his own wardrobe, we went down in the elevator to a dining room where Bruce and Josie were already sitting with some breakfast in front of them.

“Come on, lazybones,” Josie said. “School waits for no woman.”

When we had finished, we took our bags and, after kissing our boys for a few minutes, went out to my car, and then drove the short distance to the campus.

All Josie said was, “Over that hurdle, then?”

“Twice -- and it was wonderful. You?”

She laughed, “What a man. Four times and every one of them a winner!”

We went through the day as usual, and I found that everything now seemed clearer and sharper than earlier in the week. It was a bit hard sitting for long periods, but I wiggled a bit to relieve the pressure. The boys joined us for lunch. Charlie said that they would be at the Dude Saturday night, and we made a tentative date for drinks afterwards.

That evening, when we got home, Mom was waiting to be told about our night of sex and we gave her an idea that we had both enjoyed it.

Josie went off to look at my old room and we made up the bed. She pulled enough things in from the stable for a couple of days. I would be sleeping alone for the first time in months. I was, at first, sad about it. Then I realized that sleeping with her was no longer the right thing for us. Overnight we had become more than lovers, we had become sisters -- and sisters stay with you for life.

Shortly into the session in the home studio, the next evening, we all decided that we were good enough with the repertoire as it stood. It would see us through the next four weekends before the Christmas show.

Donna had an email from Allan telling us that he had two other groups that would open. We just needed to have about five seasonal songs with the last one to be “Jingle Bells.” He had a singing star to be dressed as Santa ready to do it with us. This would be the last song with the credits rolling as we waved to the crowd and snow fell on us.

Pet now had some seasonal words to a couple of her own songs, so we just needed to perfect another three. That took a big load off of everyone. As far as New Year was concerned, there would be a bigger line-up with us doing linking pieces and introductions.

Allan had said that we would all need to be involved and had sent a list of other acts which he wanted us to look at and pick out which ones each of us would introduce. The idea would be that we did a number that led up to midnight and then the show would feature lots of laughing, kissing, and hollering as the station went to a live fireworks display.

What had been looking like a huge wall of work had become very doable and still left us time for our studies. We finalized a list for Saturday and called it a night. Josie, Donna, and I would be hitting the books on Friday evening to start getting ready for exams. Janet and Emily had tests of their own to study for and Pet said that she was meeting up with Flora to talk about suitable songs for our end of year shows. Flora possessed a wealth of knowledge about songs.

Friday was an early finish, and we went home to study, asking each other questions to check our knowledge. During the evening, we moved all of Josie’s things into the house. I surveyed what now looked like a half empty wardrobe and wondered about a good shopping trip.

Before we went to bed, we all sat and watched the show from the Wednesday evening. I could hardly believe that it was me, looking just like a teen girl. The show afterwards was very well done and showed each of us as good singers and players. Mom hugged us both and told us just how proud she was, and my father did the same.

Saturday morning, I moved the latest batch of chicks in with the bigger ones and cleaned out their area. When I got in for breakfast Dad told me that he had asked for a break with the hatchlings to give me time to sort things out. We wouldn’t be getting another batch until the New Year, so my mornings were free. I think that Mom had told him that I may not be around some mornings. Josie got a call from Donna who had taken on board what Allan had said about outfits.

Tonight, we would all be wearing a different outfit from our collection. We had either of the leather skirt sets to pick from and Josie chose the black. That left me with the red. I smiled as I wondered if I may end up just being known as “The Red Pixie.”

The Saturday show went well. We breezed through the songs and the only difference was that sometimes, while I was playing a complicated solo, I could hear the odd shout of “Go, Red!” Maybe I look good in red, but I know I feel great in white.

At the end of the show, we mingled again. Charlie was there with a couple of older people who turned out to be his parents. I could see Josie going over to speak with Bruce, sitting with some of the other guys, so I went over to Charlie and gave him a kiss on the cheek before taking the spare seat.

His folks were introduced as Charles and Tanya Wilson and Charles was the third. That meant that Charlie was the fourth, something he’d also left off his school records. Must be a distinguished bloodline, I expect, but yet another secret of his.

The parents told me how good we all were and that they had viewed a recording of the interview and show after. Tanya then looked at me. “I think you need to powder your face, dear,” and stood.

I’d been a girl long enough to understand the desire for a private discussion, so I agreed and we left the table and went to the ladies toilet. Once in the line waiting for the “never enough” free cubicle she said, in a low voice, “Edie, I know that you spent Wednesday night with my boy. This makes me happy because the only others he has spent the night with have been guys. Bruce was a regular for a while. His father was very angry when he came out to us and is also relieved that our son may have turned a corner.”

I kept my cool. “How do you know all this?

She told me that all the passages in the hotel and the lobby had CCTV for security and they had monitored Charlie whenever the bartender had notified them that he had been with someone. I went along with her inside and did my ablutions in a daze. I was redoing my lipstick as she stood beside me.

“You’ll be a good addition to the family, my dear,” she gushed. “With those hips I can see a whole new generation of Wilsons to keep the dynasty going.”

When we were walking back to the table I said, “Sorry, have to mingle,” and veered off to find Josie.

She was with some patrons, so I just whispered to her, “We have to talk.” Then I started out for the dressing room, stopping to talk with some more of our fans on the way.

I was out of my stage outfit and into the dress I had brought for going home, when she came in.

“What’s up?” She asked.

I told her to sit down and then divulged what I had learned. Charlie and Bruce had been gay lovers and Charlie was lying when he said that he would wait until I was a proper girl. “Instead of a girl experience, Wednesday I’d been the bottom in a homosexual partnership.” I started crying. “I’m only a smoke screen for Charlie to stay sleeping with a boy while pretending I’m his girl. I don’t know if I should be pleased that he thought I was good enough to get away with it, or mad at him for hiding his true intentions!”

Josie comforted me. “You did enjoy it, though, didn’t you?”

That made me think about my feelings for a few seconds. If he wanted me act as his woman, it was all right. I would do it again anytime with a real man, and I might do it that way until I had the proper equipment to be loved as a true woman.

That was the first time I had seriously considered that Edie was here to stay and not just a device to help out the Pixies. I think Josie had seen it earlier when she had decided to sleep apart.

When the other girls came in to change, Josie told them that I wasn’t feeling the best and we would see them Monday evening at the recording studio. We also arranged to meet at the stable on Thursday to work on songs for the end-of-year shows. We would keep Wednesday and Friday open for study.

I told Josie that she didn’t have to sever her relationship with Bruce because of this. She admitted that I’d solved a dilemma for her. Bruce had not been all macho man, as she had originally told me. He had tried to take her in the butt. She had insisted that he do the right thing, seeing that it was there for the taking. We would have to fend the guys off, starting Monday. I was sure that together we would come up with a plan.

When we got home Mom raised her eyebrows when she saw us in the kitchen having a cup of hot chocolate. We told her that our little affairs were over. We hugged and I went off to my lonely bed to think about my future. There would be people to see, plans to be made, and body changes to arrange if I was going to go down that path. The alternative was to return to Eddy, hopefully reconnect with Josie and change my name back at Wayne.

The biggest problem with the latter plan was the Pixies. I’d been a loner, but now had become an integral girl in a bunch of girls on track to being music stars. It was too heady to give up easily. Would they miss me if I dropped out of the group? Would it change the sound? As I drifted off to sleep, I knew that Josie and I were going to have a very serious discussion on Sunday.

Because there were no chicks to see to, I didn’t have the alarm set and I slept until the normal breakfast time. I just pulled a gown on over my nightie and went up to the house where I found both Mom and Josie similarly attired.

I sat with a coffee while Mom got things going. As she had things sizzling in the frying pan, she looked over her shoulder at us.

“What happened last night that has the two of you so quiet?”

Josie sighed. “We both found out that the guys we’d spent Wednesday night with had been gay lovers. Edie’s guy was trying to pass her off as a girl while actually using her as a gay partner. Mine wanted to ream my butt.”

“Oh, my!” Mom said as she plonked eggs and bacon in front of me, “That doesn’t sound nice. Both of them must have been convincing to get you into their beds in the first place.”

I snorted. “Yeah, plus some wishful thinking and a couple of glasses of bourbon and it seems I’m an easy lay.”

Josie shook her head. “No, it’s my fault for pushing you in that direction. Don’t be hard on yourself. Charlie had me fooled as well. Bruce was adequate in the sex department, in the end. It was nice to be thoroughly reamed.”

Mom looked at me. “You’re not so good in that direction, honey?”

I told her that my libido had faded since I’ve been Edie, even when I was only using a gaff during the day.

Josie looked embarrassed and then admitted that I hadn’t been totally satisfying in that department, for some weeks, but was very good with my tongue and fingers.

Mom frowned. “Next week, Edie, we’re going to get you to a doctor to see if there’s something odd with your hormones. I know one who can look at you. You may need to get testosterone injections and go back to being my Edward again.”

“No! Not that! I love being Edie,” I almost shouted. “I love being a Pixie and I’m not going back. If I’m going anywhere it’s going to be with real breasts and a vagina. I want to be a woman because that’s when I’m most alive. I want to be up there on a stage with a skimpy outfit and strut my stuff. Dammit! I want to be one of the Pixies!”

They both looked stunned.

Josie recovered first. “Good for you, girl. I know you can be one of the best. You’re already one of the prettiest in the band.”

Mom looked at me. “That sounds like you have your mind made up. I’ll need to speak to your Dad, but I think he already realized that his son and heir already moved out.”

I giggled and told them that Tanya Wilson had declared that I was a good choice because my child-bearing hips would have “guaranteed an extension of the dynasty.” That broke the seriousness of the occasion, and we all had a laugh.

Josie and I sat in my old bedroom and did some studying --- but my mind wasn’t in it.

“Josie, how about we get dressed and you come over to the studio. We can work on a couple of songs that would be just duets for the two of us. It may settle me down enough for school tomorrow.”

So that’s what we did.

By lunch we had three songs that we had recorded on her phone with just piano, guitar, and two voices. They were wistful lyrics I had written years ago which suited our mood perfectly. Up at the house for lunch Josie played them for Mom, who told us we should do some more while we had this creativity going.

It was good for both of us. We were back as the best of friends and the best of sisters. We ended up with seven tracks that we had on both her phone and my laptop.

I burnt a few CDs for us. One I gave to my mother at dinner, thanking her for her sage advice. She put it on as we ate, and both of my parents got up and gave us both hugs. My dad said that we sounded beautiful together and that he was so proud of us. What could have been a really crap day turned out well.

Monday, we were both invigorated and the morning class was good. We were now into exam time and were going over what we needed to know. At lunch, the guys came and sat with us.

“You two dashed off Saturday night. What’s wrong?” Charlie asked.

“Charlie,” I soothed. “Our problem was that we found out that you’ve both been lying to us as well as to your parents. Your mother thinks that I would be a good woman to carry your babies and I didn’t tell her that it wasn’t possible. Now, you can just leave us alone but remain as friends and you can go back to playing ‘hide the sausage’ together, again. I won’t be your ‘butt buddy’ ever again.”

Josie looked at Bruce. “Whatever she said.”

Charlie looked sad. “Friends?” We both nodded.

Then he asked, “Secrets remain between us?” We nodded again.

The two of them then stood and took their meals over to his usual band of mates who welcomed them with hoots. No doubt there would be a rumor started that they dropped us because we were “frigid bitches.” We didn’t care about that; we had a lot of things on our minds besides boys.

Monday night at the recording studio we put down another two tracks and Flora asked if she could sit in on our next session at the stables. Tuesday we were not bothered at lunch, and we added another two tracks that night. At this rate we would have a twelve-song album worked out by next week, which would be good as we needed to be ready for the exams.

Allan joined us on Tuesday. He told us that he wanted to bring along a couple of others to our Thursday evening session to start setting the agenda for the Christmas show.

Marianne Gregory © 2022