45th Annual Gala of Tiresias: 4

 

Skyler's prep for The 45th Annual Gala of Tiresias continues and he has to make a decision about
how seriously he is going to take his prep work.

---

 
Author's Note: Thank you again for all the comments, reviews and even the emails regarding this story.
Please continue to offer your opinions. It's always great to hear from all of you! ~Clara.
 
This version of 45th Annual Gala of Tiresias: 4 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

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Chapter 4
 

Tuesday found a much more cooperative Skyler in Regina's room. That day, Regina chose a sky-blue dress with a square neckline, a shirred bodice that snugged up to his breasts, wide, flounce sleeves that reached his upper forearms and ended in gentle elastic with wide bell cuffs, and a overly wide skirt that ended above his knees with a four-inch ruffled hem. It was extravagant and eye-catching.

"Are you sure this is ok to wear to school?" Skyler asked, finding the dress pretty ostentatious, even for his fashionista sister.

"You want to be noticed, right?" Regina smiled. "Well, I guarantee that you'll be noticed in this dress."

"Why would I want to be noticed?" Skyler asked, surprised by the suggestion.

"All girls want to be noticed, Sky. Why do you think we spend so much time on our hair, makeup and picking out our clothes?"

"Ok," he shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about it." He touched the dress' material.

"It's soft, isn't it?" Regina smiled. "Nice, right?"

"Yeah. It's soft."

"It's one of my favorite dresses. Believe me, you wear this to that college of yours and both boys and girls will be staring at you and wondering who 'that girl' is." She smiled at him. "You already look cute as heck and you're still wearing your curlers and I haven't put any makeup on you, yet. Come on, let's get you ready.
 

~^~
 

"Oh shit," Hanna gasped as she caught sight of her boyfriend in that dress, with his wavy blonde hair hanging down his shoulders, back and even some over his breasts, his makeup perfectly done by the expert hand of Regina and his feet in adorable, platform sandals.

"Funny," Kathy snickered, "that's exactly what I said when I saw her. She doesn't look much like my brother anymore, does she?"

Hanna's face was flush with warm, sexual excitement. This was a huge thing. She and Skyler had been taking things nice and slow, but... shit... she wanted this creature in front of her and she wanted her badly.

"How do I look?" Skyler asked as he entered the kitchen. "What do you think? Reggie says it's good for school, but I think it might be a little... much."

Hanna let out a long, steadying breath, which actually made Kathy let out a quiet chuckle. "I think it's perfect," Hanna smiled.

They arrived on campus and headed to their first class, which was a lecture on 'Legal Protection and Exploitation of Musical Materials' that they shared. It was a class that focused on copyright laws and publishing practices in a digital marketplace. It might have been an interesting subject if the lawyer/professor who taught the course had had a personality of some kind. But he didn't. He just droned on and on and expected everyone to take copious notes for the irrationally difficult tests he'd be giving at the mid-term and end of term.

As they approached the lecture hall, a female student passing in the other direction said, "Hey, I love that dress," to Skyler.

"I do, too," the female student's female companion joined in with a broad smile. "It's really cute.'

"Oh," Skyler smiled at the compliment, "thank you."

"Well, well, well," Hanna smirked, "look who's the popular fashion plate."

"That would be Reggie," Skyler smiled.

"It's Reggie's dress, but you're making it work," Hanna laughed. "You know, I've noticed a big change in the way you're moving today. You're standing straighter... you seem more confident... you're walking with one foot in front of the other, just like Reggie does. I think you're actually getting into this 'being a pretty girl' thing."

Skyler smiled up at his girlfriend. "I think you're getting into it more than I am."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. I saw the way you got all red in the face when I walked into the kitchen this morning. You like me this way, don't you?"

"Sky - I like you any way. I don't care if you're wearing an army uniform or ball gown, I think you're just about the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

He blushed a little. "But these clothes turn you on a little, don't they?"

"Sky... those two girls that walked by were turned on by seeing you in that dress. God, if every man could look as sexy in a dress as you do, no one would ever wear pants again!"

He smiled at the compliment, but worried, just a little, that Hanna would never see him as a guy again.
 

~^~
 

"Just stand there and sing along with the karaoke track," Professor Marino instructed. You've got the vocal range; you should be familiar with the lyrics and I'm guessing that you're feeling pretty attractive looking the way you look. So... just get into it and I'll stop you if I need to."

"Ok," Skyler nodded, bit nervous to sing in front of the Musical Theater professor. He'd sung a million songs while playing the piano as well, but this... just standing there, in a small room, with Professor Marino just a few feet away watching his every move... and add to that the vulnerability he felt wearing the short, feminine dress... this was odd and nerve-racking.

The professor began playing the backing track.

"I'm one of a long line of good girls," Skyler sang,

"Who choose the wrong guy to be sweet on

The girl with a face that says welcome

That men can wipe their feet on..."

"Ok, stop," Professor Marino said, stopping the backing track. She looked at him and sighed. "Who is singing this song?"

"I am."

"No... you are an actress, playing a part. Tell me about the character."

Skyler shrugged. "I... I don't know. I've never seen the show. I'm just singing the song."

"And the song tells your character's story. Now... tell me about yourself."

He took a big breath and thought. "Ok, well... I guess that she's a..."

"No. Not 'she,'" the professor stopped him. "I asked you to tell me about yourself as the character. So, what's the correct pronoun?"

"'I'" Skyler said, understanding what she meant.

"Good. Now, start again."

He nodded and thought. "Ok... well, I guess I'm essentially a good girl..." that felt odd to say "... who makes a lot of bad decisions."

"What kind of decisions?"

Skyler shrugged. "I fall in love too easily."

"And?"

"And... with the wrong kind of... man..." that felt even weirder to say.

"Ok, so how do you feel about that?"

He sighed. "I don't know, exactly... I guess I feel... insecure and... like... I don't know... like... a little ashamed, but I really need someone."

"Why do you need someone?"

"Because... I don't know... Maybe I'm lonely."

"Or maybe just needy," Professor Marino said. "Ok... thinking of the lyrics, who does your character have a crush on?"

Skyler thought for a moment. "My boss," he finally answered.

She nodded. "That's what I was thinking, too. Again - just thinking of the lyrics, what kind of a guy are you attracted to?"

"Umm... it says, 'riff raff,' so I guess I'm attracted to rough guys who don't think about women very much."

"And how do you feel about being in this situation?"

Skyler blinked. "Do you mean me 'Skyler,' or me the character?"

She shrugged, looking theatrically indifferent. "Is there a difference?"

He sighed and said, "Well... I guess I'm a little ashamed, but... I think there's a little bit of pride there, too. Like... yeah, I've made a lot of bad choices, but... hey, I'm a pretty independent person."

"An independent, what?"

"An independent woman," he smiled, brightening up his face dramatically.

"Ok," the professor said, "no movement, yet. Just stand still and sell this song to me. We'll put in a little movement later, but for now, just stand still and sing."

When he started singing, he started with more confidence, but he was still pretty self-conscious. As the song went on, though, he began to understand the character's point of view better and better. When he finally reached the part that went, "I go for the riff-raff, who're treating me so-so, if I can play the second fiddle, I'm a virtuoso..." he felt like he understood the song a lot better and he stopped thinking about the motivation and just sang.

When he was done, Professor Marino applauded. "That's what I'm talking about!" She stood and hugged him. "There's our starting point, Sky. Now, don't back off and don't think about 'pretending to be a girl,' just be one and keep moving forward."

Shocked by the teacher's sudden hug, he sputtered a bit when he responded. "I... I will, Professor. Thank you for helping me."

"Oh, it's a pleasure, Sky. A real pleasure."
 

~^~
 

"PLEASE!!!" Regina begged her brother over the phone. "It'll be fun, and you'll learn a lot about how girls act by being with me and my friends."

"You just want me to come so I can try on clothes for you, and you can see what you'd look like wearing them. I'd be nothing more than a mannequin for you and your friends would laugh at me." He spoke quietly into his phone so that no one else in the cafeteria could hear him.

"No, they won't," Regina assured him. "They think you're really cool."

"Yeah, I bet," he scoffed.

"Okay, okay... how about if it's just you and me and Paula? You know her and she's not a giggly as the others," Regina suggested.

"Reggie..." he hesitated.

"Oh, please, Sky, come on! We never had anything that we could do together before, and I've had a great time helping you. I really just want to spend time with you. You know... sister time. Like Amanda and Kathy have together. Even when I get to do stuff with them, I'm still the baby sister. It'll be a lot more fun with you. It's just a little shopping. Come on."

Skyler sighed. She was right. He'd never felt as connected to his younger sister before, but now he was very dependent on her and... that wasn't so bad, really. She was happy to help him out, and she was genuinely proud of him when he achieved something that Regina acknowledged as another step down the road to feminine demeanor which only brought him closer and closer to doing well in the upcoming pageant. She was a good sister and spending time with her, learning from her, well... that would be a good thing, right?

"Ok," he finally relented. "But it'll have to be a little later. My piano professor booked me ninety minutes on the Steinway in the performing arts center at one o'clock. Then I have to work at Uncle Bill's store for three hours. So, I can't get to the mall until at least six-fifteen."

"THAT'S PERFECT!" Regina bubbled through the phone. "I have dance class until five thirty. I'll have mom drop me off at the mall and we'll all meet in the food court, near the Panera. Then you can drive us home. Ok?"

"Meeting at Panera is fine," Skyler said, "but I can't drive us home. I don't have a license anymore - at least not for the time being. Remember? I had to surrender it to mom last night."

Regina giggled on the other end of the call. "Oh, yeah. Sucks to be a kid again, doesn't it? No worries. I'll talk to Kathy. She'll pick us up, I'm sure."

He let out another sigh. He'd given up a lot already for this pageant. Hopefully it paid off. "Ok. See you at six-fifteen."

"Great!" Regina said, sounding very self-satisfied. "Love you, sissy,"

"What!?" Skyler asked, shocked and insulted.

"I said I love you," Regina replied.

"And you called me a sissy," Skyler whispered angrily.

"Oh... well... I didn't mean it like I was calling you a sissy, Sky. I meant like... well, like I do when I call Amanda or Kathy sissy. It's just something that a sister calls a sister. I guess I just think of you like a sister now."

"Oh," he replied. He'd heard his sisters call each other 'sissy' a dozen times a day for nineteen years, now. It just never occurred to him that the term of affection would ever be applied to him and, since he'd always been a lot smaller than the other boys his age and he always spent more time playing piano than playing sports, he'd been called 'sissy' a lot, but never out of affection before. "Ok. See you then."

He'd barely disconnected the call when a voice sounded right beside him. "Oh, hi. Sky, right?"

Skyler looked up to see the boy who'd spoken to him the day before. "Oh. Yeah. I'm Sky. Alan, right?"

"Yeah," the boy smiled as he pulled out a chair and sat at the cafeteria table with him. Skyler glanced around the room. There couldn't have been more than fifteen or twenty people in a room that contained a couple of hundred chairs. Alan had definitely sought his chair out and chose to sit with him. "So... how's your day going so far?"

Oh, good. Small talk.

"Ummm... ok, I guess," Skyler said. "Look, Alan..."

"Yeah, I know. You and Hanna are a couple, right? I get it. But we can still be friends, right? I mean, Hanna and I are friends... well... friend-ly, anyway," he laughed. "I just want to get to know you."

Was this normal? Did boys usually impose themselves on girls in this way? He'd never done so, but then again, he'd always been rather passive and quiet. Alan was obviously outgoing and confident. And he had reason to be. He was very good looking. Skyler guessed that Alan was about six foot one and very trim. There was probably a set of six pack abs under the vintage-looking Led Zeppelin tee shirt that hung comfortably over the boy's torso. He was the kind of boy who naturally attracted girls. He probably viewed Skyler's reticence to his come-ons as a challenge.

"I see," Skyler muttered, uncertain of what else to say.

"So... what track are you in?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm a Pop-Music Performance major with a Traditional Comp minor."

"Oh, cool," Alan nodded, digging into his pocket for something. "Vocals?"

"Umm, no. Piano."

"Really?" Alan looked surprised. "I thought I heard you singing in Professor Marino's office earlier. I wasn't being nosy; I just heard a song that sounded interesting, and I looked in to see who was singing. If it wasn't you, then you have an identical twin... and she has the same amazing blue dress as you."

The last compliment made Skyler blush a bit. "Oh... well... funny thing is, I do have a younger sister and we do kind of look like twins and... this is her amazing blue dress."

"No kidding!?" Alan laughed. "So that was her I heard singing in Marino's office?"

"No," Skyler giggled. "That was me. But it is my sister Regina's dress."

"I bet she doesn't look as good as you do when she wears it," Alan said with a broad grin.

Skyler felt a wash of warmth pass over him. The handsome boy opposite him had just paid him a very nice compliment and that compliment made him feel... what?... Pretty. Yes, it had made him feel very... pretty. What was happening. Change the subject, Sky. Change the subject.

"Ummm... what track are you in?" That should get the boy talking about himself instead of Skyler.

"Oh, me? I'm in the Screen Writing track. I take classical guitar lessons as well, though. That's how I know Hanna. My lesson is right after hers. She's a really good player, though. I'm kind of a hack."

That made Skyler laugh. "Hanna is a great player. I'm a hack on guitar too. I like to say that I 'play' my piano, but I 'beat up' my guitar. I'm just a pop music strummer."

"Oh, I bet you do better than that," Alan laughed. "So, if you're a piano major, why are you taking lessons from Professor Marino?"

"Oh," Skyler blushed a bit deeper, having to explain this to the boy. "I'm in this... thing... in a few weeks and I have to have two talents prepared. So, I'm playing a Chopin piece for my first talent and singing for my second."

The boy thought for a moment. "Umm... correct me if I'm wrong, but Chopin isn't exactly a pop-music artist, is he? I mean, I don't know my music history very well, but he's been dead a few years, hasn't he?"

"Yeah. He's been dead awhile. Since eighteen-forty-nine, actually."

"Ohh, someone knows their music history," Alan said, sounding impressed.

"It helps that his dates are written below his name on the music I use, and I've done a couple of his pieces."

"Really? Why? If he's not pop-music, why are you playing his stuff? I mean, shouldn't you be playing, like, Adele or Lady Gaga or something?"

"You'd think, wouldn't you? I auditioned for the program playing a whole bunch of stuff by John Legend and Alicia Keys, but my private piano teacher thinks that I need bigger challenges than just playing pop music, so she keeps throwing Romanic Period composers at me." He used his right hand to push his hair back from his face, smiling as he did so, kind of enjoying the conversation and beginning to forget that he was dressed and made-up the way he was. He was smiling now, and Alan was finding that smile very attractive.

Alan nodded and smiled. "I get it. My professors know that my classmates and I are here to learn how to write for TV and film, but they're always demanding that we read Shakespeare and Shaw and O'Neill... I mean, I'd like to write something like a 'Jack Ryan' kind of thing, but they're always having us look at things like 'The Iceman Cometh,' or 'Pygmalion' - and not the cool, Greek mythology 'Pygmalion,' but the tedious George Bernard Shaw 'Pygmalion.'"

Alan laughed at his own joke, which made Skyler laugh, well, giggle actually, as well.

"So, is this thing you're doing like a talent show, or a beauty pageant or something?" Alan asked.

"Umm... kinda a mixture of both, I guess."

"Well, you'd win a beauty pageant in a heartbeat, even without having all the talent you have."

"I'd..." Skyler didn't know what to say. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I just mean... you know... you're so... pretty... Oh, heck, you know you're beautiful, right? I mean... Someone as pretty as you must be told that they are beautiful all the time, right?"

"No," Skyler replied, thoughtfully. "Not even once until a few days ago, actually."

"What? How is that possible?"

At that moment, Hanna appeared at the table. "I'm not interrupting, am l?" She asked, smiling.

"Oh, no. Not at all," Alan smiled. "I was just getting to know your girlfriend." He said that in that way to indicated that he knew that Hanna and Skyler were a couple. "That's all."

"That's nice," Hanna said. "Sky, I need to go to the dorms and grab a couple of things. You want to walk with me?"

"Oh, sure," Skyler said. He swung his legs to the side and stood, absentmindedly straightening his dress as he did so. "It was nice talking to you, Alan," he said with a smile.

"You, too," he smiled. "I'll see you around."
 

~^~
 

"You really think he has a chance of winning the grand prize?" Professor Marino asked her colleague.

Professor Kramer finished chewing a mouthful of her tuna salad sandwich and nodded. "Sue, I spent a lot of time at the Gala a few years ago and no one looked as convincing as Sky does right now. He's one of the most talented students I've ever had and he is wasting his talent in the pop music track."

"I don't know, Alma," Sue Marino said, shaking her head, "there's a lot of money to be made in pop music and there's not much to made in the classical world anymore."

The piano professor rolled her eyes. "Education isn't about making money, Sue. It's about improving yourself. Sky can play any piece of pop music put in front of him. He needs the challenges of legitimate music to broaden his mind and improve his skill."

Sue nodded. "So... you have him playing a Chopin piece and I have him singing an old style, pop-ish song from a little-known Broadway musical. Do you think I'm under-utilizing his abilities?"

"Not at all," Alma smiled. "You picked out the perfect song for him, and it is obviously a challenge for him. No, I think we both chose well for him. It'll take some work, but we'll make a girl out of that boy, yet."

They both chuckled a little at that.

"You know," Sue Marino shrugged, "I think his girlfriend and his family may have already done that. All I really need to do is make her a believable actress."

"Well, if anyone can do that, it's you," Professor Alma Kramer said with a smile.
 

~^~
 

"What do you need?" Skyler asked as they entered Hanna's small dormitory.

Hanna closed the door, put her arms around Skyler and planted a firm, passionate kiss on his lips. "I need you," she whispered as their lips parted.

She kissed him again. "I have needed you since I walked into you house this morning and saw you in that dress. My God, Sky, you are gorgeous. And you smell absolutely beautiful too."

He wanted to thank her, but the sensation of having his ear and neck kissed was too exciting for him to be able to gather his thoughts.

Within seconds, Hanna's hands were pulling up the skirt of Skyler's dress and she was caressing his pantied bottom with her soft hands. The sensations were coming so fast and so furiously that Skyler couldn't even think.

"Lay on the bed," Hanna grunted in a heated rush.

He didn't really have to move on his own because Hanna practically picked him up and dropped him where she wanted him.

The whispered grunt that escaped Skyler's lips was a reaction to his skirts being lifted, his panties being pulled down a few inches, his penis being pulled free and Hanna's lips and tongue suddenly devouring his member while he struggled to grasp what was happening.

He looked down his torso to where Hanna's head was bobbing up and down. Between her head and his face, the soft fabric of the blue dress either clung to his body or flowed about him in feminine disarray. It was impossible not to notice that there was a pair of breasts heaving in his bodice as well.

"I'm going to..." he started to say, but Hanna shook her head with his appendage still trapped in her mouth and he could not manage to utter anything more than little gasps and high pitched moans. He bent his legs and tried to raise and lower his pelvis to meet her rhythm, but it just wasn't possible. She was moving too fast and pushing with too much force for him to lift his butt off of the bed.

Skyler began to feel light headed and his lips began to tingle as the pressure in his body began to focus on one point in his groin.

"H...Hanna..." he gasped, "I'm... I'm close... I..." but that was all that he got out before he exploded into Hanna's throat, but she never faltered for a moment. She swallowed every drop down and even kept him in her mouth as he relaxed and softened.

When she was sure that he was done and he had become limp against her tongue, she carefully released him, grabbed for a tissue and wiped him down, drying him completely. "There," she smiled as she tucked his flaccid boyhood back into his lace covered panties, "I feel much better now. I bet you do, too."

He was still trying to catch his breath as he sat up, slowly, and fluffed his hair a bit before bushing any hair from his face with his fingers.

"That was great," he said, standing and going to a mirror. He pulled a brush from his purse and used it to carefully repair the damage done by having laid down on it. Then he grabbed a couple of tissues and dabbed the sweat from his forehead before taking his lipstick from his purse to touch up his lips.

Hanna smiled as she watched him behaving so much more girly than she'd ever acted in her life. "Wow. Reggie really has you trained, doesn't she?"

He shrugged as he returned the lipstick to his purse and straightened his dress, also checking that in the mirror. "Maybe, but she put a lot of work into getting me ready and I still have a long day ahead of me. I should try to look my best, right?"

Hanna walked over to him and hugged him from behind, sharing the mirror's reflection with him. "I guess," she smiled. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Did you ever really like being a boy?"

He stopped and looked at her, a bit surprised. "What do you mean 'did I?' I'm still a boy. Remember what we just did? That's not something a girl can do."

"Of course she could," Hanna laughed. "If I weren't afraid of messing up your makeup, I'd ask you to do it to me right now."

"Ok, but... this is just until the gala, though. You know that. You pushed for me to do this as much as my mother did. I'm just doing this to try to win the money and scholarship."

Hanna nodded. "Yeah, but... you seem to have adapted to being a girl very quickly. You obviously enjoy it."

"A little, I guess, sure. I mean... I like being attractive for a change, instead of scrawny. And... well... look if this is getting too weird, then I'll just stop."

"Are you kidding?" Hanna's smile spread. "This is just getting fun. I love this... you like this, I mean. I just wonder if you'll ever go back to being a boy."

"Of course I will!"

"Oh, come on. Look at you, Sky. That hair, your makeup, the way you carry yourself... Now, I never knew that you wore your sister's clothes before, but it's really obvious that you enjoy it a lot."

"I only wore Reggie's clothes as a dress model for my mom when she was sewing. The very first time I ever wore a dress outside of the house was that night at the dress shop."

"And?"

"And what?"

"And... now that you're wearing dresses all the time... come on... admit that you love them, and it'll be hard to go back to being a boy."

Skyler closed his purse and shrugged. "Yeah. So what? I do love looking like this. I like the way I feel in these clothes, I like the way people look at me in these clothes and... yeah... it'll be hard to go back to jeans and tee shirts. So, I'm going to enjoy it while I can."
 

~^~
 

"Hi, Uncle Bill," Skyler said as he hustled past the front end of the store to get to the employee cubby area as quickly as possible.

"Hi, Skyler," his uncle called back, but then he did a double take and looked again. "Regina?" The person in the blue dress didn't answer, though. Instead, the person hurried into the door on the side of the store.

"Excuse me for a moment, please," Uncle Bill said to the customer he'd been chatting with.

He walked to the side of the store and opened the door to the back room, stepping in and looking around. There she was. His niece, Regina, putting an apron on over her head.

"Regina?" The person turned and looked at him. "It is you. Regina, honey, you're too young to be working here and this area is for employees only. Look, sweetheart, if you need a little extra money or something, then I can find some odd jobs for you to do back at my place, but there are strict rules about..."

"It's me, Uncle Bill," Skyler said, a little embarrassed. "It's Sky. I just... look... like Regina."

The older man blinked a few times as he gathered his thoughts. "You're a bit over dressed today, aren't you?" Skyler just shrugged, so his uncle persisted. "Is there a reason for this, Sky?"

Skyler nodded and proceeded to explain the circumstances that had led to his current appearance. "So, if I win, I'd be all set for college. Maybe even some grad school."

Uncle Bill nodded and looked at his nephew, who was, without question, a carbon copy of his niece. "Ok," he mumbled as he nodded and thought, "but take that apron off. People won't react well to seeing a very well dressed fourteen-year-old girl stocking the shelves."

"But Uncle Bill, I'm still Skyler. I can still do the same job."

His uncle sighed. "Sky... I'm not sure how to say this, but... seeing you like this... you're NOT the same person. Not by a long shot."

"Uncle Bill..."

"Sky... I don't know what you think you're doing, but... I've known guys who have... well, I guess 'crossdressed' is an out of fashion phrase, but that's what we used to call it... and they never looked or moved like you do. YOU are not just wearing women's clothing, Sky. YOU... look... sound... move... even smile or frown like a woman... well, like a girl, really. I think there might be a lot more to this than you're letting on."

Skyler shrugged. "I'm really just..."

"You know, Sky... not everyone is born with the body their brain desires." He looked around the stockroom, suddenly feeling
uncomfortable. "I guess what I'm saying is...If you're going to invest this much time and effort into this... disguise... think about what it really means to you and... make sure that you make the right decision before giving up this new life of yours."

Skyler blinked, confused. This was truly the oddest conversation he'd ever had with his Uncle Bill.

Coincidentally, his Uncle Bill was thinking the same thing.

"Alright..." his uncle said, shaking off the moment and handing Skyler a sleeveless, longish vest with the words 'Bill's Neighborhood Grocery' embroidered on the left breast. "For the time being, you're working the front end checkout. Ok?"

"Ok, Uncle Bill," Skyler mumbled, taking the uniform and putting his arms into the armholes, the dark blue vest seemed to emphasize the soft, light blue color of the dress he wore, and the large, blousy sleeves stood out even more against the dark color. If anything, he looked even more over-dressed now than he had before.

He worked his short shift at a register, ringing up groceries and chatting with customers - all of whom seemed much more friendly than they had been when he had worked the front end in the past.

The only other person working a register that day was a high school girl named Lynn who had been working for Uncle Bill for a few months. She was a pretty girl. A little chunkier than curvy. She dressed well and she was always well presented, at least from the waist up. Oddly, though. she also typically wore a long, denim skirt. It wasn't as stylish as the rest of her outfit, but it was a staple of her attire. He had even seen her wearing the heavy skirts in the hot weather.

The first hour and a half was pretty busy, but as the afternoon wore on, things calmed down a bit.

Skyler checked his supply of bags and realized that he was running low. The bags were stored in a metal cabinet at the side of the front end, so he headed there to get some more.

"Do you need any bags?" He asked Lynn.

She glanced under her counter and nodded. "Yeah, I could use a few."

Skyler closed the cabinet, then dropped off a pile of bags at Lynn's station before returning to his own. He was loading his bag into their storage location when he heard Lynn speak.

"It's a sin, you know?" She said.

Skyler looked up, then looked around to see to whom Lynn's remarks had been directed, but no one else was around. "I'm sorry?" He asked.

"It's a sin, I said," Lynn said, looking a bit superior. "What you're doing.. it's a sin."

"Restocking the bags is a sin?"

"A man dressing as a woman is a sin," she clarified. "It's in The Bible. Deuteronomy 22:5. It says quite clearly that there should be no articles of men's clothing upon a woman and no articles of women's clothing upon a man. What you're doing is a sin."

Skyler nodded. Suddenly the unfashionable denim skirt worn everyday by his coworker made some sense... but only SOME sense. "I think that the people who wrote The Bible would understand if they knew WHY I was dressed this way."

"God wrote The Bible, not 'people,' and HE wouldn't understand."

"Hmmm..." he knew that this was a no-win argument, but what the heck? She brought it up. "I'm not really a church going person, Lynn, but I have read The Bible for a class last year and if God wrote The Bible and every rule in there must be followed to the letter, then why are you wearing makeup? It specifically tells women not to braid their hair and adorn their skin. You're also wearing a gold chain with your name on it. Wearing gold jewelry is forbidden for women, too."

"Those aren't sins, though, Skyler. Those are just guidelines."

"Because they apply to you they're only guidelines, I guess," he said, shaking his head and finishing up stowing the extra bags.

"So, if you disobey the rules because you want to eat bacon or ham, or that lobster salad wrap I picked up for you at the deli last week, then that's ok, but if I NEED to dress this way in order to try to win a scholarship, then that's a sin?"

She snorted. "Yeah. Win a scholarship... I'm so sure that's why you're dressed that way."

"Why do you think I'm dressed like this, then?"

"Because you're queer and you want to attract a man," she said, as if that was the most obvious reason for anything.

"Lynn... you've met my girlfriend. You know I'm straight."

"I know you WERE straight, but obviously you're not anymore. Somehow you got yourself turned gay and now... this."

He took a different approach. "Wait, back when it was really, really hot out, I remember you wearing shorts. Shorts are just pants, so they are men's clothes. Isn't that a sin?"

"My shorts?" She laughed. "The shorts that went last my knees and have flowers all over them? You think those are men's shorts?"

"They're pants."

"Made for women."

"And if I wore a dress made for a man?"

"There's no such thing!" She laughed.

"Of course, there are. If the dress was made for a man, then it would be a man's dress, so that would be ok, then, right?"

"Of course not," she said, as if he was an idiot. "The only reason for a man to wear a dress is because he wants to have sex with another man."

Skyler's face screwed up into a look of confusion. "Is this what they talk about at your church?"

Lynn shrugged. "It's what my father tells me, and my father is a very wise man."

"Who could sell you into slavery if he wanted."

"What!?"

"According to The Book of Exodus, if you are not taken as a wife, then your father can sell you as a slave and you would then be betrothed to your master. That's laid out very clearly in The Bible. I remember it very clearly because I couldn't believe what I was reading. But it's in there."

"That's not what it means, though. That's just there because women couldn't own property or anything and fathers needed to make sure they had a husband before the father died, so she wouldn't be destitute."

"It says slavery."

"That's not what it means though. You should come to my church on Sundays. Then you'd understand these things."

Skyler sighed. This was pointless. "Look, Lynn, until just now, I thought you were a nice person..."

"And I didn't think you were a gay until today," Lynn sneered. "I'm just trying to help set you back on the path to righteousness, Skyler."

He shook his head and continued. "... as I was saying, I thought you were a good person, but you've said some pretty hurtful things to me in the last few minutes and I don't see the point in fighting, so I think we should probably just work side by side and not chat any longer."

"Alright," Lynn said, behaving as if she'd won the argument. "But if I see you trying to seduce a man, I'm going to tell him what you really are."

Skyler shook his head some more. "And if I see you trying to seduce a man, I'll do the same."

"What does that mean?"

"I'll tell him what you really are a mean, self-righteous jerk who'd rather belittle people than be nice to them."

Lynn harrumphed and turned away from him.

Skyler felt badly about this interaction, though. He didn't like confrontation at all, and he'd been a little more aggressive than usual with Lynn, but... come on... she'd mean mean first and he couldn't just roll over and take it.
 

~^~
 

"I'm going to have some chicken from the Japanese food place before we start shopping," Paula said with a happy smile, thrilled to be in her happy place - the local, high-end mall. "Dance class killed me tonight. Im starved." She was wearing a pair of tight fitting, black yoga pants paired with a white, long sleeved, turtleneck, light weight sweater that was designed to expose her very trim mid-drift, so her pierced belly button and its elaborate, pendant decoration were on display.

"I know," Regina chuckled. "Sometimes I think that Miss Tabitha has a sadomasochistic streak in her. She really seems to enjoy torturing us."

"Speaking of torturing someone," Paula's eyes brightened a bit, "where is that brother of yours. I can't wait to get him into some pretty, little dresses."

"Oh, come on. Be nice. He's really trying hard to learn how to be a girl so he can win that money."

Paula's grin broadened. "You 'come on.' I know you're enjoying seeing your older brother brought down a peg or two and being made to look like your twin sister - or maybe your younger sister. Admit it. It's fun."

"It is fun," Regina giggled, "but I don't think of it as taking him down a peg or two... I think of it as elevating him. Sky was..." she sighed, "... substandard... as a boy - and I'm not saying that to be mean. I'm saying it because it's true. I mean... as far as boys go... he was too short, too thin, too weak... and to be honest, too pretty to be a boy. Now... I think he's turning into a pretty awesome girl."

"Oh... My... God," Paula said, separating each word. "You put Sky in that awesome blue dress you bought last month?"

"Yeah," Regina smiled. "He... well... she looked so cute in it! You should have seen her."

"I can see her... him... no... her. She's headed this way. Reggie... she looks as hot as you do! Oh, this is too good! Can we do my brother next?"

"Your three-hundred-pound brother who only plays video games and eats Doritos all day and night? I don't think it'll work as well for him."

"Shh. Here she comes."

"Hey," Skyler said as he approached the girls. "He was walking more naturally in his heels than he had been a day earlier, and his posture and manner both screamed 'look at me. I am a beautiful girl.'

"Hi," Regina smiled. "So... what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Skyler asked.

"I mean... well... you were kind of slouched and acting a little... boyish... when you left the house. Now... well... you look... hot. Your hair and makeup haven't changed. Still the same shoes and dress, so... what's up?"

Skyler smiled. "Well, I started embracing the New Me today and, see, this girl who works for Uncle Bill... well, she kind of got into my face about how dressing like this is evil and... I don't know... I guess that now I feel like I have something to prove. I may not win this pageant, Reggie, but I'm going to be the best girl there. Screw everyone else, I'm going in there looking and acting like you do. Like I'm the prettiest girl in the world."

Regina looked at Paula and after a moment, both burst into laughter. "Sky, I don't think I'm the prettiest girl in the world. I just try to exude as much confidence as I can to impress the judges. It's just bluster. You make me sound kind of stuck up."

"That's not what I meant," he said, apologetically. "I didn't mean to insult you. I'm just trying to be like you."

"Great!" Regina smiled. "Then you're going to love this shopping trip. Paula and I LOVE shopping time. You will too." She took Skyler's right arm under hers, Paula did the same with his left arm, and they started walking towards the Japanese take-out counter.

"You're making a good choice, Sky," Paula said. Then a thought occurred to her. "Ohh, you could come to school as Reggie and see what it's like to be a popular girl."

"I'm not going back to high school, Paula. End of story."

"I was just saying that it'd be cool for you to spend some time at school as Reggie," she smiled. "Ohh - and Reggie could go on a date with your girlfriend!"

"Yeah," Regina laughed. "That WOULD be cool."

Thinking back to the scene in Hanna's dorm room a few hours earlier, Skyler blushed a bit as he said, "Ummm... yeah... well... let's just put a pin in that idea for now. I'm pretty hungry."
 

~^~
 

"Hello?" Jenny Jacobs, the winner of last year's 'Gala of Tiresias' answered her phone. "This is Jenny."

"Hi, Jen," the gala's coordinator, Ben Phillips replied. "How is everything going?" Ben was a fairly well-known celebrity having hosted several game shows on network television over the last few years.

"Very well, Ben. I'm working with the team to coordinate all the rehearsal times for next weekend."

"Any issues?"

"Well, we do have one girl who is playing piano, and the hotel is giving us a little grief about using theirs. They're acting as if it's some kind of precious treasure. It's just a Yamaha baby grand. I don't know why they're making such a big deal about it."

"Hmm," Ben mumbled as he thought. "Is it just the one contestant using a piano? No one's singing with an accompanist or anything like that?"

"Nope. Just the one."

"Alright," the coordinator concluded, "if the hotel doesn't let us use their piano, just tell this girl that she's S-O-L and she'll have to find another talent."

"Wait... but Ben... I'm sure we can find her a piano to use. I mean, with all the individual items we rent to make this whole event work, a piano seems like a small item. Besides, at the hotel, it's just for rehearsals. There's a piano at The Ansonia Mansion for the performance."

"No, they're bulky and in the way and expensive to rent. She needs to rehearse for us. If the hotel says 'no,' then the answer is 'no' from us as well. Ok?"

"Ok, Ben, but..."

"No buts, Jen. It's too expensive to rent something like that for one contestant. So, it's the hotel's piano, or no piano. Ok?"

"Ok," Jenny said, sadly.

"Thanks, Jen. I'll see you over the weekend."

Jenny didn't bother to say goodbye because the call was disconnected before she could. Instead, he called the hotel once again and when someone answered, Jenny's voice shifted from her natural male sounding voice to a higher, sweeter voice as she spoke. "Good afternoon. Would you please connect me to the hotel's manager? Yes, my name is Jenny Jacobs, and I am the personal assistant to Mr Benjamin Phillips. Yes, that is the same Benjamin Phillips who hosted 'Brainiacs' on NBC." Jenny had spoken to this same person several times but had always used her legal name and natural voice, and had gotten nowhere. Now, the man was impressed by the celebrity of Ben Phillips, and he was willing to spend some time flirting with this interesting sounding lady on the phone.

"Yes," Jenny continued, "I know that someone else from our organization spoke to you earlier, but Ben asked me to call and speak to you directly - and, of course I was only too happy to have this conversation..."
 

~^~
 

"Oh, that's the cutest dress I've ever see you wear!" Paula praised as Regina looked at her reflection in the three-way mirror at the high-end store that anchored the local fashion mall.

"It's a little revealing," Regina said, looking at her own cleavage. "My mom would never let me wear this out in public."

"Oh, come on," Paula laughed. "I've seen you wear bathing suit top that barely cover your nips before."

"Yeah, at pageants, but not on the street. When it comes to winning a pageant, my mom knows how serious I am, but when it comes to day-to-day clothes, she's much more prudish."

"That's crazy," Paula laughed. "Besides, you don't have that much to show off, anyway."

"They're not big, but they're perky," Regina laughed. Then she looked at her brother. "We have ample breasts, don't we, Sky?"

Skyler blushed a bit, knowing his current breast size was based on his younger sister's size. "I guess?" He shrugged.

"Trust me," Regina giggled at his shyness, "we have plenty." She returned her gaze to the mirror and sighed. "There are times that I wish I had 'big ol' jugs like you, Paula, though. You do get to show yours off more easily than I do."

"Hey,"Paula laughed. "I am, what my mother refers to as, 'well endowed.'"

Regina rolled her eyes. "I thought that was just a way people referred to guys with big junk in their pants."

"Or their panties," Paula giggled, looking at Skyler. "Right?"

"Alright, change of topic," Skyler insisted, not as amused as the girls. "This conversation is inappropriate for either of you."

"Oh, lighten up," Paula laughed. "This is how girls talk, Sky. Besides, if anyone were to look at us, they'd definitely think that I'm older than you." She put her arm around the older boy's shoulders and turned him towards the mirror.

"Me too," Regina said with a huge smile. She put her arm around his back from the other side, "and I LOVE having a little sister to teach all about clothes and fashion."

"Umm, excuse me, ladies," a voice came from a few feet beyond Paula. All three turned and saw a very good-looking woman in her mid-twenties, dressed casually in a slightly oversized, cable-knit sweater and a very tight pair of jeans and very fashionable boots. "I hate to interrupt, but I couldn't help but notice the three of you."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Regina said, grimacing a bit, "are we getting too noisy?"

"Oh," the woman chuckled, "no. I'm not with the store, I just, well... I know this sounds a little crazy, but, well, I'm a fashion photographer and I was just wondering... have any of you done any modeling?"

"Not professionally," Paula said, "but we've all done pageants."

"Well, we have," Regina corrected, pointing to Paula and herself. "Sky is just about to do her first."

"I see," the woman nodded. "Well, all three of you are just gorgeous... and I was just wondering if you might be interested in doing some modeling for me. I pay a good rate - higher than most local photographers - and I work around school hours. I assume you're all in high school."

"Yes, we are," Regina said before her brother could say anything and ruin this for them.

The woman dug out some business cards and handed them to Paula. "Here. Have your moms call me and I'll talk to them. My name is Fawn Wernick - it's a terrible name, I know, but I didn't pick it. Anyway, I'd love to work with you girls." She was about to leave, but stopped and said, "Oh, by the way, I do pay extra for twins. I look forward to hearing from your moms." She left.

Paula kept one card for herself and handed the other two to Regina saying, "Isn't that just great? Finally, a dream comes true! An actual fashion photographer offers me the opportunity to become a professional model and you're STILL going to make more than I will. It's not bad enough that you've beat me in every pageant for the last two years, now you're going to beat me at this too." She was smiling as she said this, but Regina could see that there was some truth to what she was saying.

"Oh, come on," Regina said, looking at the card. "We don't even know if this lady is legit. She might just be some kind of weirdo who wants to get three girls alone in her house. Besides, she'll only pay more fore TWINS. Sky and I are NOT twins, so..." she looked at her brother and so did Paula.

Sky saw that both girls were waiting for him to say something. So, he did. "No. No way. I just want to get to the gala and then go back to my boy-clothes and my old life. I don't need a whole bunch of pictures of me in fancy dresses published in magazines or catalogs. You're right: We are NOT twins, so let's just get that out our heads right now."

Regina looked at her friend and shrugged. "See. She may look like a girl, but she's still just a cowardly, little boy under all my clothes and makeup. Even though I'm helping him, Sky will never help me. I mean, he won't even try on a couple of dresses for me so I can see how I'd look in them. Here she is, with us, not helping. I made her look so pretty that a professional photographer thinks she'd make a great model, but he's not going to help with that, either. This is just a one-way thing for Sky. I help her, she does nothing."

Skyler shook his head. "Oh, fine. I'll try on a few dresses, but that's all. I am NOT doing any modeling. Where are the dresses?"

Regina smiled. "In the second dressing room. The ones on the left as you enter are the ones I haven't tried on, yet."

He shook his head and sighed as he headed into the dressing rooms.

Regina pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Paula asked.

"My mom," Regina said with a smile. "I'm going to ask her to check this photographer out."

"Are you going to tell her about the 'twins' thing?"

"Of course," Regina giggled. "Sky is doing all of this to make money, right? If I can help her make a little more, then... well... I mean what kind of a big sister would I be if I didn't help my protégé make as much money as possible?" She pushed the contact button for her mother's cell phone, and as she waited for her mother to pick up, she said, "And I'm telling her girlfriend, too. She'll be so into this!"

"Really? His girlfriend is enjoying this?"

"Oh, so much! Turns out she's a super freak with all this girly stuff. I think she's more..." suddenly her tone changed. "Oh, hi, mommy. It's Regina. I just wanted to talk to you about something that just happened to me at the mall, today. Well, me and Paula. Well, to be honest, me and Paula AND Sky, but he'll never do this... Oh, nothing like that. You see this lady came up to us out of the blue and started talking to us..."
 

~^~
 

"Mom, come on! This is getting ridiculous!" Skyler said as his mother went over the numbers with him. "If I do this, then everyone will know that I'm dressing as a girl. All of our relatives... all the people I went to high school with... everyone."

"Now YOU'RE being ridiculous," his mother said. "Skyler, you've already invested a lot of time, money and effort into this gala thing and there is no guarantee that you'll win a penny there. This is a guarantee of one-hundred-dollars-per-hour for at least seven hours, possibly twelve. Just the seven hundred dollars is enough to payback everything that any of us has spent on your clothes and makeup in the last few days. Besides, even if we're not talking about just you, it's money that Regina could use, and it might even be an opportunity for her. You never know what something like this could lead to."

"She can do it without me."

"Yes, but she'll lose out on thirty-five-dollars-per-hour. That's the increase in pay for twins."

Skyler shook his head, then looked at Hanna. "What do you think?"

Hanna shrugged. "It's just one afternoon, Sky. It'll mean a lot to Reggie... and it'll be another exercise to help prepare you for the gala. And I don't think that EVERYONE will see it, it's just a layout for a store in Boston. The chance of anyone you know actually seeing the photos is pretty small, and the chances that they'll recognize you are pretty close to zero."

Skyler shook his head. How had things gotten so far out of hand? When he'd agreed to try to win the gala, he assumed there'd be A LITTLE dressing up at home to prepare. Now... Now he was dressing en femme full time, his hair had been dyed and styled, Regina put it up in curlers every night, his ears had been pierced, his eyebrows had been sculpted...heck, even if he gave all this up and returned to wearing his regular clothes right then, it'd take weeks for him to start looking like a guy again!

This would mean a lot to his younger sister, too. That much was true. Regina had wanted to try her hand at modeling since she learned what a model was. Who knows. Maybe this could be a break for her. He had no way of telling how things would work out, but he knew for certain that, if he didn't do this and things went badly for Regina, she'd blame him for it forever. He didn't want that.

"Alright," he finally nodded, "but this is as far as I go. Nothing girlier than this."

"What could be girlier than this?" Cathy laughed. She and Amanda had been mere observers of the conversation.

"Maybe," Amanda said with a smirk, "breast feeding a baby while wearing a Swan Lake tutu."
 

~^~
 

"It's coming along really well, Sky," Professor Kramer said when he finished playing the Chopin piece. "Now that you have the notes laying comfortably under your fingers, you should start increasing the tempo a little at a time. Use a metronome."

He nodded. "I always do. I have an app on my phone and on my watch."

"Good. Don't just rush ahead on the tempo. Add a few beats per minute each time you practice and by the time you come back to campus on Monday, I'll be telling you to slow it down."

He chuckled at that.

Professor Kramer looked at her student sitting by the Yamaha C-2 baby grand piano in one of the school's recital halls and she couldn't help but be impressed with how far he'd come in just a week. Not just with the Chopin waltz, she expected him to do that, but with the whole look he'd cultivated - or someone had cultivated. He'd been wearing the hair and makeup all week, now, but he'd seemed to have become very accustomed to it and now moved a lot more naturally than before. He tossed his hair more femininely. Smiled more easily. Sat more gracefully - well, that was necessary in the clothes he wore. Everything was high-end and a lot of the skirts were pretty short. So, gracefulness was required.

On this Friday morning, for instance, he was wearing a very tiny, but very flouncy, black skirt that was covered in a print of bold red, yellow, orange and blue flowers with bright green leafs and stems. The skirt was so short that it barely reached the palms of Skyler's hands when he stood and had his hands by his side. Above that, he wore a loose, very soft, pale yellow, cable knit sweater and a deep red 'infinity' scarf hung loosely around his neck. Those scarfs were a look that the professor loved, but never seemed to be able to pull off herself. Here was a boy doing it with ease.

Below the very short, very flouncy skirt, he wore hose of some kind that were sheer enough to allow the pale skin of his very shapely legs to show through, but opaque enough for the sheer black material to offer a complimentary shading to enhance the shape of his legs. On his feet he wore the cutest, dark gray, low boots she'd ever seen. They had a nice, two-and-a-half-inch heel and looked as comfortable as they were stylish.

She'd been around boys and men pretending to be girls and women before, of course, but Skyler's transformation had been nearly unbelievable. She had to let him know how remarkable she found all of this.

"You know, Sky... you've really done a remarkable job in just a week."

"Oh, thanks," Skyler replied with a shy smile. "I guess I just thought that 'The Minute Waltz' was going to be a lot harder for me, but it's really well written. Like, it's written by a player, so everything lays out nicely on the keyboard and..."

"No, no, no..." the professor interrupted. "I mean... yes... you're doing a great job on the Chopin, but I expected that. You're a much better player than you give yourself credit for. And you're doing great on the song you're going to be singing, too. I heard you singing in Professor Marino's office yesterday, and I swear, if I didn't know it was you, I would have sworn it was a woman singing it... and... THAT'S what I'm getting at. Sky... last weekend, when you sent out that email to tell us all about participating in The Gala of Tiresias, well, I thought, 'Skyler can do this. He's small, slight and talented.' But Sky... when I saw you Monday morning, I was shocked. I mean, you didn't look at all like a boy in a dress... you looked... lovely. But now... Skyler... looking at you sitting there and playing, I can't see any indication of a boy at all. You don't just look like a girl, Skyler... you've actually become a girl."

Not sure whether or not this was a positive critique, Skyler, just waited for her to go on.

"So... I guess I need to ask... Is all of this JUST for the gala, or are you thinking about making a more... permanent... change?"

The boy looked surprised. "Permanent? No. Of course not! I'm just... you know... trying to win this thing. That's all."

The professor nodded. "Ok... but... if you need to talk to someone... you know I'm always here for you, right?"

He nodded, a bit confused.

"Now, before you play through the Liebestraum Number 3, tell me... What are your plans for the weekend."

He sighed and tried to change the subject. "Professor Kramer... couldn't I just play something from my pop-music project? I've been working on that Elton John song..."

"No. You're too talented to concentrate on something that simple. Even if you choose to do that for the rest of your life, I'm going to make sure that you know how to REALLY play this instrument before you graduate."

"But... my girlfriend, Hanna... she's a classical guitar major and she can't play any pop music at all. I don't think that the techniques of classical music always translate well to..."

"I'm sorry. Am I Hanna's private tutor?" The professor interupted. "No. Is that an eighty-eight stringed guitar in front of you? No. I am SKYLER'S tutor and that, young lady, is a piano. The instrument on which all modern western music is based. It's my job to make you proficient on that instrument and that means technique, interpretation and reading skills - all of which you'll need in order to make a living in ANY GENRE for the rest of your life. So, play Elton John at home. Play Elton John at bars. Play Elton John at parties, but in my lessons, we're playing REAL piano repertoire. So, the Liszt piece is up next. But you are avoiding my question. What are you doing this weekend?"

He sighed. "Tomorrow morning, I have to go to a meeting with the coordinators of the gala. Then, tomorrow afternoon, I have a..." the end of his sentence was quiet and garbled.

"What are you going tomorrow afternoon?"

He sighed a bigger sigh. "I have... a... modeling job."

"Modeling? Modeling what?"

"Clothes."

Professor Kramer laughed a little. "Clothes? Girls' clothes?"

He nodded.

"How on earth did that happen so quickly?"

He explained about the chance encounter at the store and how important all it was to his younger sister.

"So... you'll be a twin model with your fourteen-year-old sister?"

He nodded.

She shrugged. "Well, either you're the most generous brother in the history of mankind, or..."

"Or what?" Skyler asked when she let her thought hang.

"Nothing," she said, brightly. "Let's hear the Liszt, please."
 

~^~
 

"Good evening, ladies," the well-dressed waiter said as Skyler and Hanna entered the restaurant. "Just the two of you this evening?"

"Yes, thank you, Richard," Hanna answered, reading the man's name tag and displaying far more control of the situation than Skyler had ever felt he could display.

"Table or booth?"

"A booth, please," Hanna said, then she smiled and said, "something private, if possible."

"Of course. This way, please," the waiter said, grabbing two menus and leading them into the restaurant.

He led them to a booth near the rear of the restaurant that appeared to have been set aside for people who asked for a bit of privacy.

"Your server will be over on a few moments," the waiter said as he placed the menus in front of each of them. "Enjoy your meals."

Hanna was wearing a pair of fairly expensive, black leggings and a belted, tunic length, emerald green silk blouse. She was also wearing evening appropriate makeup, a rare thing. She looked stunning, but while her makeup was designed to make her look more mature, Skyler's makeup and clothing definitely had the air of youth about it. He looked like Regina, and she was still very young.

"Can I get you something to drink?" A waitress said, approaching almost as soon as the server who had seated them left.

"Oh, two cold, bottled waters, please," Hanna replied for both of them.

"Of course. Our specials tonight are..." she launched into a description of the non-menu food being offered, then left, promising to return in a few moments with their drinks.

"This is a fancy place," Skyler said, looking around the high-end restaurant. "Why did you chose this place?"

"I don't know," Hanna smiled. "I guess I just wanted to show off my new girlfriend a bit. You've looked so nice all week, while I've looked like an unmade bed. I just thought it'd be nice to take you someplace worthy of your new look."

Skyler smiled and blushed a bit. "Aww. Thanks. I mean, this is mostly Reggie's doing, but I'll take the compliment anyway."

They discussed what looked good on the menu, then when the server returned with their drinks and asked if they'd made a decision, Hanna said, "Yes. I'll have the pork roast and The Lady will have the Cobb Salad with no dressing. Oh, and can you ask them to be sure that the chicken in The Lady's salad is baked and not fried? Thank you."

"Very good," the woman said and left.

"Umm, I was going to get a burger," Skyler said. "I mean, a Cobb Salad is fine, but I'd intended to have a hamburger and steak fries."

Hanna shook her head. "Not for the next couple of weeks, I'm afraid, sweetie. According to your beauty consultant, James, anything that might bloat you or impact your skin is off the menu until after the gala. That includes bread, potatoes, anything pan fried or deep fried... all of it is verboten."

"When did you talk to James?"

"I didn't. He emailed Reggie and gave her the information. He also said to go easy on the avocado in the salad. They are high in fat."

"Then why can't I just have some fries," Skyler pouted. "I mean, if I'm eating something high in fat, why can't I eat something high in fat that I enjoy."

"Because the fats in an avocado are mostly unsaturated fats, so your body won't reject them and cause acne and bloating."

Skyler shook his head. "This isn't fair."

"Oh, pouting," Hanna laughed. "That makes you look very manly."

"I didn't think I was supposed to look manly."

"You're not, and you don't. You look adorable, Sky, and I'm loving it. You know... I think you might be acting even girlier than Reggie at this point. Everything about you just screams 'girl.' It's amazing."

"I can't help it," he shrugged, still pouting a bit. "It's these clothes. They just sort of make me act this way. Like... wearing them REQUIRES a certain attitude and behavior. You know what I mean?"

"I do," Hanna smiled, "which is why I tend NOT to wear things like that. I prefer the feeling of slacks and a top that covers me well."

"So do I."

"Oh, come on," Hanna laughed a bit loudly. "Look at yourself, Sky. You are in your element dressed this way. That body of yours may have a penis, but it was meant to be soft and feminine. Maybe not female, but feminine."

"I don't agree," Skyler argued, although not very convincingly. "All of this is just a means to an end," he insisted, "and you know that. I didn't chose to start wearing these things. You and my mom... and Reggie... did. As soon as the gala is over, I'm right back to my jeans and tee shirts."

"Well, that would be a shame," Hanna replied, shaking her head, "because I think that would be a wasted opportunity for you. Not everyone finds themselves by becoming someone else, but you did. It would be a shame to give that up."

Skyler squinted at his girlfriend. "Hanna... I haven't found myself... I've... become a version of Regina because Regina wins pageants and I want to win this pageant. That's all."

Hanna smirked a bit. "Is that really all, babe? I mean... You let Reggie pick out your clothes the first couple of days, but you've been giving her your opinion for a couple of days, now, haven't you? Don't get me wrong, you're as cute as hell in that outfit, but I can't imagine someone picking out something that cute without loving how it looks and feels on her."

Skyler stared at his girlfriend, surprised by what she'd said and her use of a feminine pronoun.

"Come on," she smiled seductively, "admit it. You like looking like a cute girl, don't you?"

Skyler blushed and looked around, feeling a bit trapped by this conversation.

Hanna continued. "I'll admit that I find you incredibly sexy this way. I mean, don't misunderstand me, I always found you sexy. I guess I'm just kinda attracted to men who are... you know... a little... dependent on me. Not in a motherly way, but more like... I guess... I just always preferred to be 'the man' in the relationship. The one who protects and provides, you know? Now... I kinda am 'the man' for real, right? And I find that... exciting."

"So..." Skyler considered what Hanna had just said. "... are you saying that you're... a lesbian?"

"Oh, my God, no!" Hanna laughed. "I like having you looking nice and pretty, Sky, but I wouldn't be attracted to you if I didn't know that you had a cute little wiener down there in your silken panties. But what difference does that make? I mean... most couples love to have silky lingerie as part of their sexual playtime, right? Sure, usually the woman wears it, but the woman is usually the smaller and less powerful one. In our case, the woman is the taller, stronger and more dominant one, right? So, in our case, the woman will 'wear the pants,' as they say." She ran her hands along the material of her trousers. "Usually, that's a metaphorical term, but in our case, it's both metaphorical and literal. And..." she leaned forward and smiled almost lasciviously, "...I really like things this way. I hope that you do, too."

Skyler stared at Hanna as the weight of her words settled on him. She preferred him like this. Small, pretty and vulnerable. Why? Didn't women want men who could take care of them? Wasn't that what evolution had bred into women?

But...

Since they'd started dating, even though it had never really been discussed, Hanna had always been the more dominant member in their relationship. She had asked him out originally. She always paid for dinner. They always took his car because she didn't have one at the college, but more often than not, she drove - and now she actually had his car and he had to rely on her to get anywhere he needed to go. When they were intimate, Hanna always took the more aggressive role, guiding the events and usually on top.

"So..." he thought about her words as he formed his own, "...I've always been 'the girl' in our relationship?"

Hanna shrugged and grinned. "In a way, yeah, I suppose so. I've always been the one in charge, right? So that kinda makes me 'the man.' So, if I'm 'the man,' I guess that makes you 'the girl.'"

'The girl.' Not even 'the woman.' She was 'the man,' and he was 'the girl.' Little, young, defenseless... her pretty little companion.

How did that make him feel?

Could he live with this?

Could he be 'the girl' for his 'man?'

Maybe...

Probably...

He sighed.

Yeah... he could. In fact, if he was honest with himself, he liked it when she took care of everything for him. He liked being pampered by Hanna - he even liked the attention he now got from his mother and sisters. It was almost like he was part of their team, now. They treated him differently. Very differently and he really liked it. Like... he liked it a lot.

He was still processing all of that when their meals showed up. "Who has the pork roast?" A new server asked.

"That would be me," Hanna said.

"And the Cobb Salad for the pretty, young lady," the server said as she placed the dish in front of Skyler. "Watching your figure, huh? I suppose that a girl as pretty as you has to make sacrifices for her beauty, huh?"

"You have no idea," Skyler smiled.
 
 
MUSIC LINKS:

Liszt Liebestraum Number 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InKk1aowFZ4
 
 
To Be Continued...