A Boy Called Brook: Autumn 4 by Clara Copyright© 2022 Clara Schuman   Brook meets with his mother and then prepares to go to the homecoming dance in an elegant gown.

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Author's Note: Sadly, this is the end of the Brook/Brooke series, at least for now. I know there are a lot of aspects that could still be explored, but I have to take a break from these characters. Thank you, again, for all of the reviews and emails I've received about this series. I truly appreciate all the support. Please stay well! I am giving a shout out to Sephrena for assisting me with the html layout for bigcloset! Thank you very much! As for me, I am currently battling my 3rd round of COVID. Nothing too horrible this time, but I do wonder how many vaccines I will need before I no longer get this freaking virus?? Oh, well... I'll be back with another story at some point. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ~Clara.
 
 
Autumn 4
 

The next morning, Brooke and I were at The City Line right on time, waiting for my mother to arrive.

"We can leave if you want," Brooke said, seeing that I was nervous.

"No. I should at least talk to her. Maybe get her out of my hair, you know?"

My mother came in about fifteen minutes late and sat in the booth across from Brooke and me. She never apologized for being late or acted as if she had any reason to apologize. She just sat and smiled, ordered a black coffee, an egg white omelette and a side of bacon, then looked at us.

"So," she finally said, "when did my little boy become a little girl?"

I just looked at her for a moment. "I'm not your little boy or your little girl and that's none of your business."

"Oh, isn't it? I am your mother, after all?"

"No." I said, emphatically. "You birthed me. That's all. A mother would have raised me. You're a stranger."

She smiled even more broadly. "Fair enough... but maybe if you knew my side of the story, you'd understand why I left."

"I'm all ears," I said.

"Ok," she smiled and shrugged. "So... I started dating your 'daddy' when I was fifteen, Brook. Fifteen. I had just turned sixteen when I missed my period and I knew I was pregnant. I didn't love your 'daddy'... we were just dating." Every time she said 'your daddy' she said it as if it was an insult. "It was just a high school thing, you know? I mean... If you hadn't come along, we probably wouldn't have even thought about going to prom together. As it was, by the time prom did roll around, I was five months along and my tits were starting to get bigger every day. It didn't really matter though, because your 'daddy' had already dropped out and everyone knew that he'd knocked me up, so he wasn't allowed to go to prom and I was stuck at home."

I think she wanted me to say something, but I waited for her to continue - which she did.

"So, what I wanted to do was have the baby, have my mom help me raise it (yep, 'it' - that's me - 'it') and then go back to school, but oh, no! My parents wouldn't hear of it and your father was all about getting married and playing house. So, they all teamed up together and forced me into a life I never wanted. I stuck around as long as I could, but eventually... I just couldn't handle it any more. I had to leave."

Our breakfasts arrived at that point, so our conversation stopped and we waited till the waitress left before we said anything.

When she'd walked away, my mother said, "I suppose it goes without saying that your 'daddy' is not exactly a great catch - am I right? I mean... a high school dropout... no prospects... working at the lumberyard his whole life... Not exactly what I signed up for, if you know what I mean."

She giggled at her own words and began preparing her breakfast to be eaten. "So, you see what I'm saying, right?"

I looked at my eggs and I thought about what she'd said. "I understand that you were young, sure, but..." I let that hang there for a bit as I thought some more.

"You know, babe," Brooke said, "maybe you should just let this go, you know."

"Babe?" My mother laughed. "Are you two a couple?"

"Yeah, why?" Brooke asked, a bit defensively.

"Well," my mother smirked and looked at Brooke, "it's just that it would seem to me that a girl that looks like you could... I don't know... maybe could find a boy who was more... masculine than my little slugger, here."

"Little slugger?" I said, shocked at her insensitivity.

Brooke put her hand on my forearm and stopped me, though, "Look, Ms Ahern, I don't know quite why you think that you're God's gift to the world and that you're somehow superior to everyone else in the world, but I'm here to tell you that I find you to be one of the rudest and most insensitive people I have ever met in my life."

My mother's smile never faltered. "You probably think that I've never heard that before, don't you? Well, let me tell you something, young lady... When you're a successful woman in a man's world, you need to be harder and less sensitive than the women at home reading bedtime stories to their smelly little children. You need to call them like you see them and that's what I do. I call them like I see them."

Brooke was flush with anger and about to explode, but I stopped her and looked at my mother. I was calm and spoke evenly. "Look... 'mom'... I... You... Your story is definitely understandable. I get it. You were young and you were in trouble - yeah I get it, but dad was young and in trouble, too, and you know what? Dad stayed. Dad took care of me."

"Did he?" she asked, with a good deal of snark. "Because I have a friend on the police force who tells me that he put you in the hospital this summer. Is that how he took care of you? Or did he take care of you by dressing you up like a Barbie doll? Explain it to me, Brook, because from where I'm sitting, it looks like 'daddy' did a pretty piss-poor job of raising you."

She still had that grin, that shit-eating grin, plastered to her face.

"Don't get me wrong, though," she said, taking a sip of her coffee, "I like the whole Barbie doll look. I think it's really working for you. I guess I just assumed that, if you worked that hard to look like a girl, and a pretty girl at that, then I just assumed that there were boys involved. So, I made the assumption that you were gay. My mistake.'

I'd had enough. "I think we should go," I said to both Brooke and the woman sitting opposite me.

"Why? Did I upset you?" She put down her coffee and suddenly actually looked concerned. "What did I say? I thought that we could discuss all of these things freely in this day and age. Come on. Sit back down. I'll be more diplomatic."

"More diplomatic!?" I snapped, but speaking in an angry whisper. "You've already insulted me, insulted my father, told my girlfriend she can do better than me... my God, how are you possibly going to be diplomatic, now?"

She smirked, again. "I never insulted you, Brook. In fact, I said you looked very pretty. I never insulted your 'daddy,' I just gave you my opinion - which I kind of thought you would share, since he put you in the hospital a few months ago. And I never... ok, I may have implied that Brooke could attract a more manly man than you, but I've already explained that I assumed that you were gay. Now, come on - look at yourself. Anyone seeing you and knowing that you're a boy is going to assume that you're gay. That's not an insult - that's common sense."

I looked at Brooke who looked as angry and confused as I did.

I looked back at my... mother. "If I stay... you have to behave and be polite."

She picked up her coffee again. "Promise." She took a sip and indicated that we should sit, again.

For some reason, we did.

"Well, I guess you're curious about what I've been doing since I said goodbye all those years ago..." Truly I wasn't, and she hadn't actually said 'goodbye' at all. She just left without a word, but she went into a ten minute homily about how she'd shaken off the dust of her old life - that would be me, I guess - and started over in a nearby city. She got her realtor's license and done well for herself before moving her business to Orlando, Florida where she'd done even better.

"I just love fall in New England, though," she said, looking out the window of the diner at the red, orange and yellow trees, "so I always come back for a few weeks in the fall. I stay with your grandmother at a house I bought before I moved south. She moved in there after my 'daddy' died and we sold their ramshackle place."

Grandmother? I still had a grandmother? I hadn't even suspected that I might still have a grandmother. Dad's mother was gone before I was born and his father had moved away when I was little. I heard he'd passed away somewhere in Arizona a few years ago, but I didn't know him enough to have any feelings about him. It seemed to bother dad for a few days. He drank pretty hard for a week or so, but then he seemed alright.

"So, what have you been up to since we parted company?" she asked. I took note of the way she couched everything in terms that would indicate that she was not solely responsible for leaving. Frankly, though, the idea that I might still have a grandmother had so surprised me that I didn't say anything. Brooke spoke for me instead.

"Well, Brook is a senior at Tech. He's in the culinary academy, training to be chef. He's one of the top two chefs in his class, he's a sous-chef in their kitchen. This year, he bravely came out as gender fluid and is killing it dressing in his feminine mode... Oh... and, of course, he has a smoking hot girlfriend."

Brooke smiled at her last, playful statement, took my hand and laced her fingers through mine.

My mother nodded and looked at Brooke. "And do you also go to Tech?"

"I do," Brooke smiled.

"Let me guess - hair and makeup, right?"

"Cosmetology, yes."

"And I'll bet that my son's 'smoking hot girlfriend' played a big part in his decision to become 'gender fluid.'" She formed air quotes around the last two words.

"Well, I may have helped, but I never..." Brooke began to speak, but I found my tongue.

"You know, you're a few years late to impose your values on me, Ms Ahern." I said. "I'm nineteen years old, about to graduate from high school and head out on my own. I am an A/B student who has never gotten into trouble and I have taken care of my house, my father and myself since the selfish woman who gave birth to me didn't show up to pick me up after school one day when I was in third grade."

"I just explained..." she tried to say, but I wasn't hearing it.

"That you had other priorities, yeah, I heard you, but unfortunately, at that age, I didn't even know what priorities were. I was just a kid whose mother didn't love him any more."

"Ok, babe," Brooke said, trying to calm me down. "Why don't we just get going."

I looked at my girlfriend and I wanted to calm down - I really did - but I was just so damned... angry.

Brooke smiled, though and rubbed my upper arm. "Brook, baby, you're letting her get to you for no reason."

I looked from Brook to Ms Ahern and then took a breath. "Unfortunately, there is a reason." Damn it. My eyes were starting to water. I really didn't want that to happen. I looked at Ms Ahern and shook my head in disappointment. "I think... I really wanted to have a mother, but... I got you, instead."

Then I looked at Brooke and nodded. "Come on. Let's go."

I stood and Brooke got out of the booth behind me.

"You have a mother sitting right here," the woman I left behind said.

"I wish that were true," I said and left.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and put her behind me. I wasn't going to let her hurt me any more. Between Alex and her crowd and my 'mother,' I was developing thick skin when I needed it. And I really needed it right then.

We returned to Brooke's favorite salon, 'The St Onge Salon,' in the city and got the full treatment. Facials, hair, makeup, nails, everything. We were there four hours and when we left we looked like we were about to attend a royal wedding or something, rather than a high school homecoming dance. Brooke's hair had a bit of a crown to it, but still fell luxuriously down her back. Mine was piled high in tight curls with little pearls placed throughout it to coordinate with the appliqués on the gown. I have to admit... I looked pretty amazing. Brooke, of course, looked breath taking.

When we got back to the Kerr's house, dad and Mrs Kerr were exiled to our place until we were ready to leave for homecoming. We wanted to surprise them - Well, Brooke wanted to surprise them. To tell you the truth, I was a little nervous about dad's reaction. I mean, I knew he was cool with everything and all, but... this was a lot of femininity to deal with.

Melissa and Elena were excited to act as our dressing assistants. I think they were as excited about the evening as Brooke and I were.

In a few minutes, Brooke was dressed in a beautiful, white lace bra and panty set and I was wearing a pretty blue, silk and lace, hi-cut panty.

Then came my stick-on bra. It was an interesting contraption that was obviously designed for smaller breasted women. Brooke attached adhesive strips to the bottom, insides of the plastic cups of the bra, which, incidentally, were not connected to one and other. Then she attached the cups to my breasts.

"Now the magic happens," Brooke smiled and she pulled the two cups together and connected them to each other with a hook and eye that sat between the, and, yes, nearly magically, I had small breasts appear on my chest. They weren't impressive, but they were there.

"Hey look," Elena giggled. "Little boobies."

"Not so little," Elena said, pulling her shirt tight and standing beside me to compare. "I'd say we're about the same size, still."

"Yeah, but you're padded," Melissa teased her sister.

"Nope," Elena shook her head. "It's all me, now. I'm done with padding."

"Good for you," Brooke said and kissed her sister's cheek. "Let's get Brook into his dress first. We need to lace him into the corset top so that it gives him a little more support."

"And boob," Melissa said.

"And boob," Brooke chuckled and agreed. "Before we do that though, go to the potty, babe."

I looked at her, confused. "But... I don't need to go."

"Well, I suggest you try," she laughed, "because once you're in that big gown, it's not going to be easy to go."

"Oh," I said, as I realized she was right.

"It'll be a lot harder than going when you're wearing a romper," Elena chuckled. 'I mean, you'll never be able to hold up all those skirts by yourself, and then, how would you wipe, and..."

"Yeah, ok," I said, with a smile. "I'll be right back."

Moments later, I was back in the bedroom, having tinkled the little but I was able to purge. Brooke had my blue tulle gown spread like an area carpet on the floor with a hole in the center.

"Ok, babe," she smiled, standing there in her beautiful lingerie. "Time to become a princess." She offered me her hand, which I took, and I stepped over the sea of blue tulle and into the hole and just stood there as my ladies in waiting, Elena and Melissa, raised the top of the dress up my torso, running the delicate, lace bands of material that would hang decoratively over my biceps up my arms.

I lowered my arms to hold the dress in place as Brook began to tighten the lacing of the corset-top. She pulled it very tight, allowing the boning within the dress' bodice to do its job and create even more cleavage where the new bra had already created some.

"Wow," Elena whispered to me. "I think you've got me beat, now." That made me let out a little snicker.

Once Brooke had tightened the laces completely, she tucked the excess laces into the back of the dress and began buttoning up the long row of teeny tiny, blue pearlescent buttons that ran up my back.

When, finally, she was done, Brooke let out a huge, dramatic sigh. "Whew! That was hard work! Good thing all the fun parts are still accessible through the bottom."

"Oh, gross!" Melissa said, while making a face, but Elena laughed hard.

"I probably shouldn't have said that in front of you two, huh?" Brooke scolded herself, but smiled at them because she'd shared a very grown up joke with them. "Ok, El, can you grab Brook's pumps and help him with those? Mel, can you help me get into my dress?"

I sat on the bed and, as delicately as possible, pulled back my layers of tulle until my feet were visible and Elena could ease them onto my feet.

By the time I stood, Brooke was fully dressed in her deep red mermaid dress with the gold highlights and gold shoes. That was the first time I realized that she was wearing platform heels for the evening. She was always a few inches taller than me, but now... now I could barely see over her shoulder. It made her look more goddess-like and made me feel more small, defenseless and feminine than ever. It was as if I only existed from the waist up. Everything below there was just absorbed into the meringue of blue tulle that blossomed from the bottom of my dress' bodice and just touched the floor. I felt beautiful, but I didn't feel beautiful IN the dress, I felt beautiful BECAUSE of the dress. Like the dress was the beautiful thing and it was allowing me into it to help display it. So, I shared in its beauty.

"Wow," Elena shook her head. "You guys look... I was going to say amazing, but I think 'beautiful' is a better word. You both just look beautiful. And you look so beautiful together."

"Aww, thanks, El," Brooke actually blushed a little. "What do you think, Mel? Do you approve?"

She shrugged. "You're not too ugly, I guess."

We all smiled at that.

"Hey!" Mrs Kerr called up the stairs. "Any chance you two might be coming down sometime soon? Vic and I would like to take some pictures before the limo gets here."

"They're coming!" Elena yelled back down.

I took a deep breath. "Ok. Here goes. Someone have a phone ready to call nine-one-one in case my dad passes out."

Brooke smiled. "Now remember to hold your skirts and walk slowly and carefully down the stairs. We don't want you to take a tumble in that gown."

"Yes, mother," I said, but immediately regretted having brought up such a terrible human being.

When we reached the top of the stairs, the two younger sisters ran downstairs and told dad and Mrs Kerr where to stand so that we could make our grand entrance. Brooke came along side me and took my arm in her's, then made sure I had my tulle skirts properly gathered before we began our descent.

The first reaction I noticed was Mrs Kerr's gasp. "Oh, my," she said in a tearful, maternal voice. "Vic... they're beautiful."

I was pretty focused on not falling down the stairs, but I definitely heard my dad whisper, "Holy cow."

Then I heard Mrs Kerr say, "Oh Vic... I know. He looks beautiful, though, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," he sniffled. "Yeah. They both do."

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, both Mrs Kerr and dad came over and hugged us both and showered us with compliments.

We took somewhere between a dozen and eight hundred thousand pictures by the grand staircase in the entrance of the Kerr's house until, at last, the limo drove into the driveway.

"Mom, we need to go," Brooke said as Mrs Kerr attempted to take more pictures.

"Ok," Mrs Kerr said, with a smile. "Let's get some shots by the limo, too!"

Out we went, with Elena and Melissa leading the way, followed by Brooke and me, then Mrs Kerr and dad.

We were on photo number three hundred and eighty when I noticed a woman walking over from our house and calling to my dad. "Victor! Victor! Is that you?"

Dad heard her and turned to see who was calling his name. "Eleanor?" Dad asked, confused. "Eleanor. What are you doing here?"

I had no idea who the woman was, but dad seemed perplexed by her presence.

The woman looked a little confused... well, maybe flustered is a better word. "Victor..." she said, looking for words. "I... well... umm... Victor... Beverly... well, Karen... told me that she had breakfast with my grandson today."

I felt a rush of nervous warmth flush over my body. This woman was my grandmother.

"Victor," she said... "I was told... all this time I thought..." the woman was nearly hysterically upset.

"Eleanor," my dad said as calmly as he could, "what did Karen tell you?"

The woman took a deep breath. "Victor. She told me that she took Brook to Florida with her and that she'd sent him to a private, boarding school. I assumed that she was just... keeping him away from me for some reason. Victor... I had no idea that my grandson was still living four miles away from me all these years."

Dad half-glanced in my direction. "Umm... Eleanor... this may not be the best time..."

"Victor, you and Brook must think I am the most horrid woman. All these years I've neglected my own grandchild. That girl of mine... don't get me wrong, Victor, I love her to death, but sometimes I do not understand her." She shook her head and looked back at our house. "Anyway... is Brook home? Can I see him, Victor?'

Dad bit his lower lip. I could see what was going through his head. He wanted that night to be nice for Brooke and me, not a dramatic scene created by my mother's chaotic whirlwind. "Eleanor... I understand how much mayhem Karen... or Beverly... or whatever she's calling herself, can create, but..."

"Nana?" I said, stepping forward, unable to wait any longer to make a connection with my grandmother, who, unlike my mother, actually seemed interested in seeing me.

The woman looked at me for a solid twenty seconds before recognition seemed to dawn on her. "Brook?" A smile slowly formed on her face. "No? Really? Is this Brook?" She stepped towards me in disbelief and raised her hands to touch my face. "My God... I can't believe it."

She touched both of her cool, soft hands to my cheeks and shook her head. Then she kept her hands there and turned to talk to dad. "I can't believe this, Victor. Look at him. He looks exactly like Karen at this age."

My father nodded. "Yeah. I've noticed."

My grandmother returned her gaze to me. "Oh, Brook... we've lost so much time together." Then something seemed to occur to her. "Oh, my God. I just realized how rude I've been. You're not a boy any longer, are you? I'm so sorry. Forgive me, dear. This is all new for a woman in her sixties."

"No, nana," I smiled. "I'm still a boy."

"You're still...?" She looked at me, then Brooke, then my dad and Mrs Kerr. "How is that possible?" She looked at my dad. "Vic? He looks so... natural?"

My dad nodded. "I know. Umm... Eleanor, I can't explain what happened, but over the last year, Brook just... changed. He went from being a quiet and - I think - not very happy boy to the beautiful, self confident person he is now."

She shook her head, but I don't think she was passing any judgement.

"I was a little freaked out by it at first," dad admitted. "In fact," he sighed, "I was pretty opposed to it all... violently opposed, in fact." He looked down and shook his head. "But as the new Brook began to appear... well... for the first time, my son was happy, Eleanor."

She smiled and patted my cheek once again. "Well, that's wonderful."

"Umm..." Brooke got our attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt. Hi, Mrs Ahern. I'm Brooke. I'm Brook's girlfriend. I don't want to break up this reunion, but we were on our way to the homecoming dance and..."

"Oh!" my grandmother said and then looked at me as if realizing for the first time that I was wearing a very elaborate gown. "Oh... yes... of course... The hair, the gowns... you both look gorgeous. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hold you up."

I looked at my grandmother and really wanted to talk to her, but the time just wasn't right. "Nana... I'm sorry, I really do need to get going, but... maybe we could get together next week or something..."

She smiled. "That would be nice, Brook. Thank you." She kissed my cheek. "I will give your father my number. You two have a wonderful night, now."

"We will, nana."

I nodded and let Brooke lead me to the limo. Behind me, I heard my grandmother say to my dad, "Victor... I think we need to talk."

"Wait till the kids leave, Eleanor," dad said quietly, but I was listening closely. "Then we can talk."

The homecoming dance was at a local public country club. Not really fancy, but nicer than the school gym. There was a live band that was led by the father of one of my classmates - I know that might sound like they weren't good, but they were really, really good. There were seven people in the band and they seemed to know every song that had ever been written. Even when we arrived, the dance floor was filled.

The front desk, where we checked in, was manned by teachers and parents to ensure that no one got in that wasn't supposed to be there. Mr Casey, my homeroom teacher, was there and went out of his way to tell me how lovely he thought I looked. I thought that was really nice of him.

We went in to the hall and we were immediately surprised by how great everyone looked. Most of the boys were in tuxedos or nice suits and all of the girls were dressed very well in formal dresses. There were lots of sparkly dresses and lots of hairspray had been used to hold their hair in place. Most girls wore shorter dresses that showed a lot of leg and plunged deep to reveal lots of breast, but there were plenty of girls in actual gowns, like mine. Well... not like mine. Mine was pretty extravagant, but it was not out of place at the event, either.

Over to the side of the room, there was a table where we could vote for homecoming king and queen. This was an honor that typically went to someone popular and on the football team and his girlfriend, but we went over to cast our votes, anyway. You had to ask to have your name added to the ballot for prom king or queen, but I knew that, at the encouragement of a lot of our classmates, Henry Diaz had put his name on the ballot. Both Brooke and I voted for Henry for king and Lina, his girlfriend, for queen. We knew he wouldn't win, but it would be nice if someone we knew and liked did win for a change.

This table was manned by football players and their girlfriends, which seemed a bit suspect to me, but who cared, really.

"Oh, my God!" I heard the obnoxious voice of Alex Winter from down the table. Of course she'd be hanging out at this table with her boyfriend, Jack Gallagher, and the other football players and their girlfriends. "It looks like the fairy must have a godmother who got him dressed for the ball."

Jack and his friends chuckled.

"Ignore them," Brooke said, quietly. "They're just morons."

I just shook my head, complete my form to vote for Henry, and I dropped my ballot into the box.

We found our assigned table where Henry and Lina were already seated with Brooke's friends, Olivia and Marci, and their dates, chatting. When he saw us approaching, Henry stood and pulled out a chair for me while instructing Marci's friend to do the same for Brooke.

Just before I sat, Henry leaned down to speak into my ear and said, "Wow! You look amazing!" Then, before I could thank him, he surprised me by very casually giving me a friendly hug and a peck on my cheek. "You even smell great."

I sat and arranged my copious skirts before Henry gently pushed my chair in. When Henry sat beside me, I thanked him for his help, but reminded him that I wasn't really a girl. "You don't have to leap up to help me like you did."

He laughed. "I know that, Brook, but there's no way that someone wearing a dress like that could get herself into chair and pull it into the table without some help. I'm just being a gentleman."

"That's very nice of you," I smiled. "Thank you, again."

The food was safe and not really interesting, but well prepared. Chicken breasts, baked and served boneless with a thin, safe sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to write home about, either. Most of our dinner conversation was about school, mutual friends, shows we were streaming and video games. Teachers wandered by and talked to us from time to time. They all teased about how nicely we all cleaned up, but Mrs Simpson knelt down next to me and spoke for a good long while.

"You know, Brook," she said so that only I could hear, "you're a very lucky young lady to have not only found herself, but to have found someone who loves you like Brooke does. I hope you're counting all these blessings."

I smiled. "I am, Mrs Simpson, but you just called me a girl. Remember that I'm still a boy in here."

Then she smiled. "I didn't call you a girl, Brook. I called you a lady. You may be a boy, but you are definitely a lady as well."

After dinner, we danced. We danced a lot and you know how girls like to dance with their arms up in the air? Well, because if all of my skirts, I found I had to that, too. I don't think I'd ever had that much fun on a dance floor before. Well, that was a given, I guess, since I don't think I'd ever been on a dance floor before.

But all of that jumping around after a meal did have consequences, though, and pretty soon I needed a restroom and I needed it quickly.

"I told you to go before we left," Brooke laughed at me.

"I did," I said, in a near panic. "I have to go again."

She just smiled, though. "Number one or number two?"

"Both, I think."

She took my hand. "Well, you're going to need some help. Come on."

"Where are you going?" Henry asked when he saw us leaving the dance floor.

"My date needs a rest stop," Brooke said.

Henry nodded. "There's a couple of single occupancy handicap rooms by the entrance. I noticed them when we came in."

"Thanks," Brooke smiled back at me.

"Wait!" Lina said. "I'll come with you."

"Why?" Henry asked. "It's a single person room."

Lina tsk-ed at her boyfriend. "Have you ever considered going to the lavatory in a dress like that? Brook will need help."

"Wait..." Henry thought for a moment. "... but... he's a guy... and you're going to be helping him... pee... or whatever."

Lina looked at Henry with a smirk on her face. "Would you rather help him? Because someone has to. It's up to you."

He considered that for a moment. "Umm... I'll get us all some more lemonade and meet you at the table. Ok?"

Lina smiled and kissed his cheek. "Yeah. That's what I thought. We'll be right back."

We headed to the entry way where we passed the football players and their dates. "Oh, I hope you're not leaving so soon," Alex Winter cooed sweetly at us. "You simply must wait until the homecoming king and queen are crowned."

I ignored her, but I think Brooke was about to say something before she was preempted by Lina. "Stuff it, Alex. We have other things to deal with."

We found the restrooms and, thankfully, they were fairly spacious inside.

"Ok, let's get the back up, first," Brooke instructed. She and Lina lifted the layers of skirts high and I felt my panties being lowered. "Alright. Now back up and sit on the seat." I did. "Is the front aimed down?"

"I... I don't know," I answered honestly.

Brooke sighed. "Can you hold up everything back there?" she asked Lina, who said she could. So, Brooke raised the front of my skirts and said, "Give me your hand." I did and she guided it to my limp penis. "Ok, sport," she smiled at me. "You're in charge."

I wasn't easy to go with the two of them standing around me waiting, but they were a necessary distraction at that moment. Eventually I was able to relax enough to pee and once that happened, the other function came quickly, too. Luckily, it wasn't a lot of number two, nor was it particularly messy.

"All done?" Brooke asked.

I nodded, much more embarrassed about what was about to happen than by what had already happened.

"Well... stand up, then," Brooke sighed, wadding up a few pieces of toilet paper.

Lina grabbed a few pieces as well and raised the front of my skirts without so much as a second thought and dabbed the tip of my penis a few times. I guess I must have looked shocked because when she saw my face she said, "What? It needed to be dry before we pull your panties back up? Don't get so upset. I have three little brothers. I've seen boy's winkies before."

I might have said something about my 'winky' being a little different than her little brother's, but the sensation of suddenly having someone else wiping my butt became the sole focus of my attention. It was certainly a new and not very pleasant experience. I must have let out a 'yip' or something, because both girls giggled.

"Well, not terrible," Brooke said from behind me, "but I have to tell you, babe... there are no more mysteries in our relationship. Once you've wiped your partner's bottom, the bloom is off the rose."

"I'm sorry," I muttered, utterly embarrassed, but both girls just laughed.

"She's just teasing," Lina smiled. "Honestly, come prom night, we have to help out a lot of girls like this."

"All done," Brooke said, with a brisk slap on my bottom. "Stand up straight and let me pull up your panties."

Minutes later we were walking back into the hall with the band playing that old song 'YMCA,' so the dance floor was filled. We went on search of Henry and found him at our table with fresh drinks of lemonade for all of us. We sipped it and the song ended and Principal Kemp took the stage.

"Alright, everyone, settle down for a minute. It's time to announce our homecoming king and queen."

There was some applause from everyone.

Mrs Elliot, a teacher who always seemed to be involved in every event at school, but never seemed to be in a classroom, came up onto the stage with two envelopes. "First, the king," she said. There was a lot of applause and whooping, more than you'd expect from the football team and their dates. Mrs Elliot made a big show of opening up the envelope and pulling out the card with the winner's name on it. "And the winner is... Henry Diaz!" she announced with great flair.

The football team went crazy with excitement.

"Congratulations!" Lina said, hugging Henry.

Henry looked dubious, though. "I think this is a set up," he said. "Look at them. They look way too happy."

We all looked in that direction, and Henry was right. They should have been ticked off, but they were applauding like crazy.

Henry shrugged and walked to the stage where Mrs Elliot congratulated him and placed a cheesy, rhinestone crown on his head.

Now, normally, the homecoming queen would be a given. If Henry was king, Lina was queen.

But Henry was right. This was a set up.

"And the homecoming queen," Mrs Elliot announced as she slowly opened the next envelop, "is..."

I glanced towards the football contingent and I knew that something was about to happen. They were all staring at me with smiles on their faces.

And then I knew exactly what was about to happen and I whispered, "Shit."

"What?" Brooke asked, just as Mrs Elliot finished her sentence.

"...Brook Chapin."

My heart sank as the football players and their girlfriends went insane with laughter and applause.

"Those bastards," Brooke hissed.

Lina leaned in an said, "You should just go up and get the tiara, Brook. Fuck 'em."

"Brook, Brook, Brook!" the football assholes shouted. "Brook, Brook, Brook!"

I didn't know where to look, or what to do, all of a sudden someone took my hand and pulled me towards the stage. It was Henry. "Come on," he said. "Let's show them how to be dignified."

It was at that point that I realized that there were three different groups of people applauding for me. The first, and the loudest, was the football contingent who were all jeering at me. Second was a big chunk of the school who had no idea who I was and were just applauding to be polite. The final group, who were applauding almost as loudly as the football group, were people who knew me and were actually supporting me. And weirdly enough... they were the largest group.

When we reached the stage, Mrs Elliot carefully put a tiara into my hair and smiled. "Well... this is a first," she said with a stressed smile. Then she turned to the crowd and said, "Well, normally this would be the time for our king and queen to dance, but..."

"Dance, dance, dance!" the Neanderthals shouted from their tables.

"Come on," Henry said, quietly, but firmly. "Let's dance."

He escorted me to the dance floor and turned to face me. He bowed very theatrically and put his arms around me in the classic dance position as the band began playing 'All of Me' by John Legend, driving the football crew into howls of laughter. I'm sure the band had no idea why the students thought that it was hilarious that they were singing,

'Cause all of me loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges. All your perfect imperfections...,' but they were still laughing.

At least at first.

As the song went on, though, they seemed to lose interest. They seemed get ticked off that their joke wasn't being appreciated by the rest of the student body.

"Are you ready to be dipped?" Henry asked me.

"Dipped?" I asked, not sure what he meant, but before I knew what was happening, he laid me nearly backwards in his arms. The rest of the kids applauded and howled with appreciation. That seemed to completely shut up the football team completely and they wandered away to pick on somebody else.

When the dance was done, Henry continued to hold my right hand in his left while he waved to the rest of the kids at the dance. I followed his lead and waved as well as he led me back to our table, where we found Brooke and Lina pretending to dance just as Henry and I had been dancing a few minutes earlier.

"Very funny," Henry laugh.

Without saying anything, Brooke dipped Lina very low, then they both looked at us, wide eyed and innocent before they said in unison, "Oh... hi."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Henry laughed. The band started playing 'Can't Stop The Feeling,' a great song for dancing. He let go of my hand and took Lina's. "Come on. Let's dance."

Lina got herself upright and shrugged. "Oh. Ok. If you have time for me." She was only teasing, but I think a part of her had been hurt by the cruel joke played on Henry and me.

Regardless, I stopped Henry as he turned to go. 'Hey... Henry..."

"Yeah?" He stopped, a big smile on his face.

"Umm... thanks," I said.

He winked at me. "No problem, Brook. We're buds, right? It's what buds do."

That made me grin. "Yeah. Thanks."

When they walked away, I turned to Brooke, who was looking at my tiara. "Well, we are going to have a heck of a story to tell our children, aren't we? 'That's right kids, your dad was homecoming queen.' We need to have this tiara mounted, or framed or something, so that we can show it off forever."

I shook my head. "That could have gotten ugly if it weren't for Henry."

"Yeah, but you had Henry, babe," Brooke smiled. "There's always going to be assholes in the world. The way to beat them is to surround yourself with friends. You just never did that before."

I nodded.

"Now, come on." She started to sing as she took my hand and backed towards the dance floor while looking at me the whole time.

"I got that sunshine in my pocket,
Got that good soul in my feet.
I got that hot blood in my body when it drops, Ooh.
I can't take my eyes up off it,
moving so phenomenally.
The room on lock the way we rock it,
so don't stop..."

We danced the rest of the night and I had the time of my life, realizing that Brooke was right. Over the summer I'd found a great girlfriend in Brooke, a great new family in Mrs Kerr and my new sisters Melissa and my amazing Elena, and now I had a great group of friends in Henry, Lina, Olive, Marci and all of the kids at Tech who know who I was, knew what I was and still supported me. Even my dad had become a new person who was working hard to show me how much he loved me, and even though my mom was no great prize, I had just reconnected with my nana, who seemed very accepting and just wanted a relationship with me.

Sure, there were always going to be the Alex Winters of the world, and her friends and their fathers who hated for no reason, and there'd always be self centered people like my mother who couldn't see past their own self interests, but look at what I had found...

I had found happiness.

I had found the real me.

I had found someone to love me.

I had found a pretty darned good life.

And most importantly, I had found me.
 
Finis!