Lee's adventures continue. His old life is careening out of his control, his new one coming at him head-on. Can he survive the clash of old and new and still keep his sanity. Will his mother's attempts at helping make matters better or worse. It's anyone's guess. For sure, Lee doesn't know.

I want to thank Maggie Finson and all the other authors for creating the Whateley Universe. This story is Fan-fiction and may not conform to Canon rules or timelines. I am only playing in their sandbox. I also want to thank Connected and my wife for all the editing work put in to turn my scratchings into a readable story.

Please note that all of the categories checked do not apply to all chapters.

Saturday
October 26th

Lee jumped to his feet, drawing another cry of pain as he jarred his wrist. He stood there, staring at Jim. Embarrassment made the blush on his face grow brighter with each passing moment. His mouth worked soundlessly, before he turned and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door.

He threw himself onto his bed, his head spinning. He’d been astonished to learn that Jim was also a mutant; surprised that Jim already knew or at least suspected about Lee being a mutant; and been thrilled when Jim had accepted him and his changes. All of these though had paled in comparison with the shock he felt when he realized he was curled up on Jim’s shoulder, like - like a girl, and he liked it; liked the way it felt with Jim’s strong arm around him; liked feeling safe and protected; and even liked the way Jim smelled. It was a severe body blow to Lee’s already battered male ego.

—————

Jim sat there confused, until he began to pick up on the mortification Lee was announcing to the whole house with his glamour. Lee’s mother came into the room wiping her hands on her apron, sighing.

“Jim, Lee’s having a hard time adjusting to all this. He just learned a few days ago about becoming a girl.” She said quietly. She had heard most of the exchange between them from the other room.

“I don’t know what happened.” Jim looked confused. “We were just sitting here and I put my arm around his shoulder. We’d been sitting there for a couple of minutes, and he’d started to relax, then suddenly he jumped up looking shocked and ran upstairs like I’d done something.” Jim was clearly confused and a little hurt. “I don’t even know why I put my arm around him. It was like I had to do it.”

“Oh!”

“Well, Jim,” Kathleen paused, trying to figure out how to explain what she knew had happened. “I suspect that Lee suddenly realized he was reacting to you like a girl would to a boy, — and you were acting like a boy with a girl. I’ve seen him do it in little ways with other guys when we were out for a couple of weeks now. A glance here, or a smile at a boy in the mall, as I said, little things.”

“What you don’t know is he seems to put out a pheromone or glamour that makes people attracted to him, feel protective of him or both, especially when he’s feeling insecure. The wizard who’s been teaching him to control his magic tried to explain it to me, but I didn’t really understand it, and to tell the truth I’m not sure she does either.”

“I suspect just now, Lee, at least in his subconscious mind, is discovering that he’s beginning to feel like a girl. That’s going to be really hard for what’s left of his male ego to deal with. I think it would be best, if you went home now. He’ll call you when he’s ready to talk to you. I’m glad you came over, Jim. Lee’s going to need your friendship now more than ever. Some of his other friends have been less than supportive and they don’t even know he’s a mutant.”

Jim stood and started toward the door, shoulders a little stooped. He stopped and turned back, concern on his face. “Tell Lee not to tell Chuck.”

“Oh really, why’s that?”

“Well, Chuck’s favorite cousin was killed by a newly manifested mutant a couple of years ago. I don’t think the girl meant to kill him, but he’s dead just the same, and Chuck’s whole family has hated mutants ever since.”

—————

Kathleen waited a few minutes, before she made her way up to Lee’s room. She listened for a moment, but didn’t hear anything so she knocked gently on his door. Still hearing no response, she spoke to him, “Lee, can I come in?”

Lee still didn’t answer, so she slowly opened the door a little. “Lee, are you alright, honey?” She could see him sitting on his bed staring blankly. “Lee?! Are you alright?”

He looked up at her, terror written all over his face. “No! I don’t think so.”

She was surprised and a little worried that he wasn’t crying. That had seemed to be his typical response lately to the everyday traumas he was going through. Now he seemed almost catatonic.

“Jim’s concerned about you. Said you ran off from him, like you were afraid of him. Are you?”

“No! No. Well, not exactly. More afraid of me, I guess.” Lee’s face slowly became a little more animated. Kathleen was still peering through the crack in the door, not wanting to intrude if he really didn’t want her there, but not wanting to leave him either.

“Can I come in so we can talk?”

“Yeah, I guess. You might as well. I guess I got to talk about this stuff with someone, might as well be you,” Lee’s calm colorless tone scared her worse in many ways than the crying fits and tantrums he’d been throwing in the last couple of weeks. It was like there was a bomb hidden in that skull, and she knew one wrong word from her could cause it to explode. It was making her very nervous.

“So, what’s up, Sport? It looked like you and Jim were getting along fine when I left the room.”

“Yeah, I guess.” His voice giving lie to his words.

“Then why did you run out like that?” Her soft words tried to sooth his troubled mind.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled.

She paused watching him squirm on the edge of the bed. “I think you do, don’t you?” She was sure that this had to be resolved as soon as possible, before his mind could fasten onto some explanation that would mask the real reason. She was pretty sure she knew what was troubling him, but getting him to admit it could be traumatic and hard; probably on both of them.

“No! I was just uncomfortable that’s all.” His voice was surly and defensive.

“Why were you uncomfortable?”

“I don’t know! I just was, okay!” His voice rose and anger creeped in.

She paused to collect her thoughts and then said, “Lee, I think you do know. Now what’s up?” She needed for him to say it.

That was what the psychologist told her. She”d had several sessions herself to train her how to deal with Lee’s changes, and Dr. Janice Bennett had been adamant that Lee not be allowed to retreat behind barriers, but rather face his monsters. Kathleen was uncertain. She felt like she was tiptoeing through a minefield. She wasn’t trained for this, and her few sessions with Dr. Bennett weren’t enough. She hated causing Lee more pain, but Janice said it would cause him even more pain in the long run, if it was allowed to fester. So she picked at the raw wound, not letting it scab over.

“Jim’s your best friend. Did he say something to hurt you? Did he do something?”

“No.”

He managed to put a lot of sullen frustration into that single syllable.

She walked over to the bed and sat beside him. Reaching out, she cupped his chin and pulled his face toward her.

“Lee, what’s the matter?” She needed to get him to say it.

He lifted his eyes to her full of glistening unshed tears. “I’m so bewildered. It was great with Jim when I found out that he was a mutant too. I thought at least I can go through this with my best friend, and we were talking and even laughing a little. Then I told him I was turning into a girl and things started getting weird. He was cool about it, and I thought it was going to be alright, but then I was getting scared and upset, and he, —— he put his arm around my shoulder.” He stopped, unable to continue.

“It’s alright, sport.”

“No! It’s not! Don’t you see? I liked it! It felt good and I felt safe - and wanted. He felt good; and was warm; and strong. Oh, Holy Mother, I LIKED IT, momma. Don’t you understand? Guys aren’t supposed to like that with other guys. Maybe all those a-holes at school are right. Maybe I _am_ a queer! Maybe I’m damned for these feelings. Isn’t that what the church says.”

Kathleen was silent for a few moments. She had known the gist of what was wrong, but she still hadn’t been prepared for this. “Lee, first off, all you did was take a little comfort from the company of your friend. That’s what friends are for, so we don’t have to face the world alone. There’s nothing wrong with that. That doesn’t make you a homosexual.”

“But, Momma, guys aren’t supposed to comfort each other that way. That’s for gi—girrr,” She silenced him with a finger laid gently on his full soft lips.

“Secondly, even if what you said is true, you know you’re becoming a girl, maybe faster than you realize. In fact, one way of looking at it is that since you are becoming a girl, then to like other girls would be homosexual.”

“And your body that is starting to look a little more like a tomboy’s body than a boy’s. Is it any wonder you’re confused — or that Jim is? He just wanted to comfort his friend. A friend whose body — and actions — and maybe even smells were starting to tell him that his friend was a girl.”

“I smell like a girl?” Bewilderment and fear was creeping back into his voice.

Kathleen sighed again. Sweet Mary, how do I tell him just how much he’s starting to become a girl. She knew he still had his man parts, and in a way that was making this more difficult. It was keeping him from seeing the other things that was happening to him.

“Well, not exactly, Honey. All the same, you don’t exactly smell like a boy either. I’ve noticed that as I’ve washed your clothes. Teenage boys have a distinctive musky odor from the male hormones. You are starting to lose that muskiness. Your body odor is becoming less pungent, more like a teenage girl’s.”

Lee felt lost in the sea of his changes. When this started, it was scary, but it didn’t seem like that big a deal in a way. He would stop being a boy and become a girl, but it wasn’t like that. He was being jerked and tossed between them, neither fish nor fowl.

Looking deep into his eyes, she asked. “So, what would you have done before all this started, if you saw a friend who looked and smelled like a girl and who was obviously in distress?”

Lee looked at her with dawning comprehension, but still his mind rebelled at the thought of being a girl who boys would want to cuddle and protect. Maybe worst of all was his traitorous mind that was telling him, that he wanted those feelings. He sat there and thought for a long time.

“Maybe you’re right,” Lee said softly, “but it’s hard, momma. It’s so very, very hard!” The tears that had pooled in his eyes began to flow down his cheeks, as his mother swept him once more into her arms and crushed him to her breasts and let him cry it out, knowing he needed to cry for his lost manhood. “Of course, it is, baby. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but you’ll get through this just fine, — and maybe, just maybe with a little help from your friends.”

————

She finally left him sleeping softly on his bed. As she covered him, she took time to really look at him, and realized he really was starting to look like a girl. When had that happened? Coach assured them repeatedly that it would take a long time for his transformation. Suddenly, she realized it’d been three months since all this had started. Could it really have been that long? At this rate, Lee might be fully a girl by Easter or before. That was an incredibly short amount of time for her to teach him - ?her? - all the things that his sisters had learned over their whole lives.

She stood back astonished. She thought she would have so much more time to teach him the things he needed to know, but between jumping from one crisis to the next, that time was slipping away.

This incident with Jim made her realize for the first time that mentally and emotionally Lee was changing almost as fast as he was physically, if not more so. Kathleen came to a sudden decision as she eased from the room and softly closed the door. She would need the help of Lee’s sisters and maybe Evelyn. She guessed she should check with Dr. Janice Bennett before she started something this profound and potentially traumatic.

————

Lee’s dad had been traveling a lot lately. While travel wasn’t unusual with his salesman job, the amount of travel he’d been doing was unusual. When he was home, he had little to say to Lee.

Lee needed to talk to his dad about all this, but most of the issues were too embarrassing for Lee to seek him out about them. Even though his dad had been distant and angry the last few years due to all the H-1 stuff, Lee never really thought he was angry at him. They did things together, and he had always treated Lee like a son. At its worst, Lee always felt he could go to him with his problems, but now he wasn’t so sure. They weren’t doing much together anymore, and Tom seemed uncomfortable when they were together.

————

Before the rest of the family got up the next morning, Kathleen was up and working on her plan. She called Dr. Bennett who listened to Kathleen as she explained what happened yesterday and her realization how Lee’s changes were whipsawing him so intensely. She explained that she’d done little besides offer him comfort. She hadn’t done anything to prepare him for the emotional or physical changes that were coming, and she feared that he was probably going to resist most of her efforts. Most of all though she was worried that with Lee still seeing himself as a boy, these changes were going to be even more traumatic.

“Dr. Bennett, what I was thinking was that we need to help nudge Lee along in his realization of his changing status. I think that something is needed to encourage him to stop thinking so much of himself as a boy in a body that is becoming that of a girl. I was thinking that maybe the best way to do that is a little public role play in a situation where he would get feedback from people outside his family. This Saturday may be the perfect time for him to do that without outing himself as a mutant.”

“Even though Halloween is technically on Wednesday. Amanda Carter, Lee’s friend and old flame, always has her Halloween party on the Saturday after Halloween and it’s always a costume party. No one allowed in without a full costume, and Lee already has his invitation, but I know he isn’t planning to go.”

“My idea is that a little role play’s needed to help shift Lee’s thinking. I think Lee needs to go to this party - as a girl.”

Dr. Bennett didn’t respond for a moment. “I don’t know. That’s an awful big step.”

Kathleen then described to her the incident yesterday, and Lee’s reactions. “It made me realize that time is getting away from us. Lee’s going to really be a girl before we know it. Yesterday, just showed me how quickly things are moving. We’ve been two steps behind where Lee is now. I really think some drastic action is needed to help Lee change his body image, so he can better deal with his emotional issues.”

Dr. Bennett was silent for another long minute. “I understand what you’re saying, but there are so many ways, this could go wrong. I want to think about this some more and I will call you back later.”

Kathleen decided to go ahead with her planning since time was so short. After all, if Dr. Bennett vetoed it, she could just stop and Lee would be none the wiser.

Dr. Bennett called back about thirty minutes later. She somewhat reluctantly agreed, provided Kathleen could finagle her an invitation. She wanted to be there if things went too badly wrong; and so she could observe both Lee’s reactions and the reactions of the rest of the people to Lee as a girl.

Kathleen agreed. Dr. Bennett also suggested that since Lee had an appointment with her on Tuesday, she would assign going to the party as a girl for therapy, thus hopefully overcoming at least some of Lee’s objections since they had already been doing a lot of role play.

Kathleen was glad that Dr. Bennett would be there. She had her own misgivings about this, but it was the best idea she could come up with on short notice, and she really felt like they needed to be more pro-active.

————

Next on her to do list was getting Lee’s sisters out of bed and briefing them on the plan, before Lee got up. Their help would be critical. She thought Lee would take their help with looking feminine with less resentment and resistance than he would hers.

Eve and Beth drug themselves to the kitchen table bleary-eyed and still half asleep. “Why’d we have to get up so early? It’s Sunday. Are we going to early Mass?

“No, girls. I need to talk to you, before Lee gets up. You know Amanda’s Halloween party is next Saturday.”

“Yeah, it’s always a great party,” Eve interrupted. “I can’t wait.”

Beth piped in, “Can I go this year?”

“Maybe, Beth, but for now just hush. Girls, this is important.” Beth looked crestfallen, like she thought her mother wasn’t going to let her go. “What I want to talk to you about is Lee. I think he needs to go, and I think he needs to go as a girl. This is the perfect time to introducing him to girlish things in public, before he has to know them, and because it’s a Halloween party, he can do it without much of the embarrassment.”

“That’s a great idea, Mom! We can help him dress up and everything.” Eve’s excitement was palpable, and Beth was nearly as bad.

Trying to dampen their enthusiasm a little, Kathleen cautioned them. “This is going to be serious therapy for Lee; so serious that his psychiatrist coming to observe. We can not get to carried away. It must be a gentle approach. The idea here is to make his costume help him change how he looks at himself. One that will make him think that being a girl might not be the end of the world but, we absolutely can not to make a clown out of him or a tomboy.”

“It’ll be great, Mom, Julia Ottinger’s boyfriend is already planning to go in drag according to Maryanne.” Maryanne was one of Eve’s friends, all of whom had been talking about the party for weeks. Beth piped in, “I heard that Gary Haskins is dressing as a girl, too.”

“That will help, of course, but we still have a fine line to walk. One slip and we could really hurt Lee’s self image and make him a laughing stock.” Kathleen replied, “Dr. Bennett and I are nervous about it as it is.”

They discussed various ideas, colors, and makeup and how much they thought he would stand still for. The whole plan was that when they were done Lee would see not a boy-in-drag, but a budding girl in the first blush of womanhood; to show him what he might become and hopefully make him like it or at least accept it. They mutually decided to wait to let Dr. Bennett assign this to him as therapy before they started on him.

Most importantly, Kathleen told them, “The costume must not make Lee a figure of ridicule in front of his other friends. However, I also, want Lee to see a little of the girl he going to become.” Kathleen said, “I want something that will definitely look like a costume, while still being feminine.
Beth looked thoughtful then ran to her room, coming back with a large library book. She flipped through the pages until she came to one particular picture. Pointing at it, she said, “I think a late 1890’s period costume like this would be better than trying to make him look like a contemporary girl.”

Kathleen and Eve crowded around the book and talked about the pros and cons of the outfit. It would clearly be a costume but you couldn’t get much more feminine. Kathleen finally decided she liked the idea. It was the perfect balance between femininity and what was clearly a costume. Kathleen sent the girls went back upstairs to work on making a list of the things they would need for the costume.

Kathleen then called Evelyn to get her take on this. Evelyn also had reservations but agreed that if it worked it could help. “It’s probably for the best, considering the news I need to give you all when you come in tomorrow to discuss the latest test results.” Kathleen began questioning her, but Evelyn didn’t want to get into it over the phone.

————

Monday Afternoon
October 28th

Lee and his mother sat in the Evelyn’s plushly appointed office instead of a cold examining room which was unusual and a little scary for Lee. What did she have to tell him that required this level of privacy?

“Kathleen, Lee, there’s not much point in beating around the bush. I know what’s causing your stomach problems. It’s these little growths right here.” She pushed a blurry ultrasound picture across the desk.

“Tumors?” Lee asked almost hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. “You are developing female sex organs. See, you can see the uterus, and here are the ovaries.” She pointed to she pointed to a triangular darker area with horns and two little ovals with her pen as she talked. “And if you look really close you can also see the fallopian tubes.” She said pointing to the tiny horns on the triangle.

“But I’ve still got my —,” he paused embarrassed to discuss his privates with a woman, even if she had seen and handled them.

“Yes, I know,” she said gently, “and you probably will have for some time yet, although I can’t say how long. It will depend on too many variables for me to even make a guess. Your mother has given me permission to discuss your case with Coach and Doc Widget.

“Since I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of change, I discussed this with them. None of us were expecting to see this happening yet, at least not to this degree. You now have the internal organs of a ten or eleven year old girl. The cramps and nausea you’ve been feeling is caused by your abdomen trying to make room for the new additions as well as changes caused by the new hormones in your blood.

Your original male sexual organs are also beginning to show definite signs of atrophy. Your testicles are only marginally functional anymore and they are beginning feel smaller and less firm that is normal for a boy of your age.” She hesitated before speaking again, “I know this is embarrassing question, but when was the last time you masturbated or had a nocturnal emission?”

Lee’s face turned crimson as he mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“Except for in here the other day, I haven’t, you know, in at least month.” Lee snapped back, feeling flushed and reddened to his toes. “Is that what wanted to know?”

“Lee, take it easy!” His mother jumped in. “Evelyn is trying to help you.”

Lee’s mother turned and asked the doctor. “Is there anything we can do to delay this?” She had seen the horror creeping into Lee’s face.

Evelyn looked thoughtful but said, “I really don’t know what it would be. I know you have already been told of the dangers of things like hormone treatments and surgery. This is all such unknown territory. Even the one’s this has happened to, don’t talk about it, and the doctors can’t.” Evelyn replied with as much compassion as she could put into her voice.

Lee just sat stunned. He knew this was going to happen. He thought he was prepared for it, but he realized he wasn’t. He felt like what he imagined cancer patient must feel when given their diagnosis.

“That’s not all,” the doctor continued, “I told you the last time you were here that your blood work was beginning to show a little higher level female hormones than was normal for a boy your age. Well, your current blood work indicates that your new ovaries have begun to pump out a lot more hormones especially estradiol, while your testes are basically shutting down testosterone production. In short, your hormone balance looks more like that of a pubescent girl than a lot of young girls your age.”

“No!” Lee stood suddenly. This was too much, he couldn’t handle anymore. He turned and ran from the room.

Lee’s mother sighed and began gathering her things. “Thank you, Eve. It’s not what we wanted to hear, but I guess you’re used to that with your patients.” She started to stand.

“Oh, Kathleen, you never get used to delivering bad news to your patients. At least, I hope I never do, but there’s a couple more things you should know. Lee left before I could get to them.

“His chest and body hair seems to be falling out. Also, when I examined Lee, I noticed that he has breast buds forming behind his nipples and his nipples and areolae are all ready a little bigger than I would expect for a male. Since this has already started, you need to prepare him for his breasts to develop.”

Kathleen stood there with her mouth open. Even though they had talked about Lee’s impending girlhood, she suddenly realized there were soooo much that she was going to have to teach him very quickly. She had been talking to Eve and Beth about these things for years, and still they were being shocked by the changes brought on by puberty. How was Lee ever going to cope?

Evelyn stood, walked around the desk, wrapped Kathleen in a tight hug, offering what comfort she could to her dumbfounded friend. When they separated, she smiled, “You know if you ever want me to talk to Lee, or if you just need to talk, Kate, call me.”

“Thank you and I’m sure I’m going to be taking you up on that. I don’t know how Lee can handle this, because I’m loosing my mind and it’s not happening to me. I better go and see about my son - or is it my daughter now? I’m so bewildered myself. I can’t imagine how confused Lee is.” She rushed out the door.

She found Lee sitting rigidly in the seat of the car staring blankly at the dash. She slipped in and slipped her arm around his shoulders, murmuring soothing sounds and soft words, knowing there was little else she could do for her disorientated child.

————

Finally, Lee sniffed a couple of times and sagged in her arms. “What am I going to do, Momma?” He asked plaintively, his voice heavy with anguish. He hated sounding so whiney.

“Baby, I wish I could tell you that it’s going to get easier, but I’d be lying to you and I won’t do that. I will tell you that you can get through this. You’re strong, and you’ve got a family that loves you no matter what comes. Together we will get you through this.”

“I don’t know, momma. I feel so helpless, so hopeless. All I can seem to do is cry. I must have cried more in the last six weeks than in the last six years!”

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that. You’re going to cry a lot easier as you change. Girls cry. They cry when they’re sad. They cry when they’re happy, and sometimes for no reason at all. It’s not like you don’t have something to cry about. I know you’re confused, frightened, and you’re starting to feel things you don’t understand. Part of that is the new soup of hormones starting to circulate in your body, and you’ve this coming on top of learning to be a teenager. Under the best of circumstances being a teenager is confusing and frightening, and this is certainly not the best of circumstances. If you were not confused and frightened by what’s happening to you then you’d be a fool, and I didn’t think I’d raised any fools.” She said giggling and then grinning a wry smile at him. In spite of himself, he grinned back for a second.

“It’s okay to cry.” She continued. “I’d be crying too, and have cried many times for a whole lot less reason. No, don’t worry about crying. You can come to me and cry on my shoulder any time you feel like it. I may not be able to do much about what is happening to you, but I can give you a shoulder to cry on.”

————

She paused thinking about what Evelyn told her as they left. Well, rip the bandaid off fast and get it over with.

“Lee, Dr. Sharpe told me something else after you left the room.” She hoped she was doing the right thing telling him now, still the die was cast.

Lee looked at her and groaned. He knew he wasn’t going to like this.

———

“Breasts?! I don’t want breasts! I mean I do, but not on me.” Lee was pawing at his chest. He had noticed his nipples were tender and itching and that there was a little swelling behind them, but he hadn’t thought anything of it until his mother told him that Dr. Sharpe thought they were the beginnings of breasts. In spite of all the changes, and everything that he had been told, it all had seemed so surreal to him that he could be changing into a girl. That some morning, one of these tests were going to come back and tell them that is was all a big mistake. Now though, it was suddenly real to him.

In spite of the reality of it though, he was calmer than he had been earlier. Maybe because it was becoming real, or maybe the emotional roller coaster he was on had jerked him around too many times and his emotional responses were getting languid.

“Mom, how am I going to deal with this? I could handle the hair and all the little stuff, but breasts? I’m not ready for this!” Lee’s voice was calmer and without the angst he was expressing a few minutes ago.

“Honey, no one ever is. Don’t you remember the histrionics Eve threw when she discovered her breasts were starting to grow? You’d have thought that she was building the pyramids of Egypt on her chest when in reality they were tiny little bumps. And don’t get me started on her reaction to her first period!”

Lee blanched at that thought. At least, he didn’t have to worry about that yet, since he still had male external genitalia.

Tuesday Morning
October 29th

“Liam Cook - Report to the front office. Liam Cook - Report to the front office.” The announcement came over the intercom at the start of second period. His teacher looked annoyed at the interruption, but nodded him toward the door.

Lee walked nervously into the office. He didn’t know why he was here. Had he been found out or was it something else? He swallowed to try and wet his mouth. The secretary looked grim as she told him to go into the Principal’s office.

Once in the office he saw Mr. Keesling, Ms. Long, Randy Jenkins and Principal sitting around his desk, all looking at him. Ms. Long’s face was twisted into a look of hatred, but with a smug warped grin. The look on her face almost said, ‘I’ve got you now’. I knew she didn’t like me, but this was taking it to a new level.

“You called for me?” I said to Mr. Garcia, the principal.

“Mr. Cook, there have been allegations brought that you cheated on your algebra test yesterday.”

“Sir! I absolutely did not! Who said that I did?”

“Mr. Jenkins claimed that he caught you copying from his test.”

“Yes, and I’ve suspected you of cheating in my class.” Ms. Long interjected with venom in her voice. “I spoke with your teachers at the middle school, and you were a mediocre student at best, but suddenly you’re making all A’s.

“That’s enough, Ms. Long!” Mr. Garcia said sharply. “I’m not sure why you’re even here. Do you have any actual evidence to present here?”

“I know something is not right. Mr. Cook is very strange. Just look at him,” she said, “You can see he’s not right. He looks girlish. He’s dressed in girl’s pants. I think he’s one of those funny boys, who thinks he ought to be a girl. We need to get him out of this school before he contaminates the other students.” Her face was twisted with hate.

“That’s enough, Ms. Long. I think you’ve contributed more than enough to this. You’re free to go.” Mr. Garcia was clearly annoyed with her.

“But —“

“I said you can go!” He said with dismissal clear in his voice.

“Very well,” She gave Lee a scathing look like it was all his fault that Mr. Garcia was put out with her.

After she shut the door, Mr. Garcia turned to Mr. Keesling, “So, Mr. Keesling did you actually see Mr. Cook copying Mr. Jenkins test?

“Uhhh, no, sir. Mr. Jenkins came to see me with Ms. Long.” Mr. Keesling looked distinctly uncomfortable now that Ms. Long was no longer there. “But I felt I had to investigate the allegation. She was so sure.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT MS. LONG THINKS!” Mr. Garcia voice echoed in the office and his face was red with anger. “I only care about what you saw and what these two boys have to say. Is that clear?”

Mr. Keesling gulped and answered meekly, “Yes, sir.”

“Now did you see Mr. Cook cheating?”

“No.”

“Do you have any actual other evidence that he has been cheating?”

“No.” Mr. Keesling squirmed in the chair under Mr. Garcia’s gaze.

He turned his attention to Randy. “Mr. Jenkins, you claim Lee copied your answers.”

“Yeah, he was copying all my answers. I saw him. That freak needs to be out of this school.” A scathing look silenced Randy.

“Mr. Cook, do you set next to Mr. Jenkins?

“Yes.”

“So you could have copied his answers?”

“Yeah, but why would I? He’s an idiot!” Lee said with contempt.

Randy jumped up and attacked Lee, grabbing Lee’s shirt and jerking, ripping it. Mr. Garcia seized Randy and slammed him back into his seat. Lee frantically closed his shirt, hiding the tiny bumps on his chest.

“Mr. Jenkins! You just bought yourself a week’s detention, now settle down before I suspend you.”

“Mr. Keesling, have you graded those papers yet?”

“Yeeess, sir.”

“And—

“Mr. Cook made a perfect score.” He said like that proved Lee was cheating.

“And Mr. Jenkins?” Mr. Garcia was clearly tired of this exchange.

“He scored a 59.”

“And based on this, you wasted my time!” His voice filled with scorn.

Mr. Keesling sank deeper into his seat. “Well, Ms. Long, felt tha—-“

“I don’t care what Ms. Long thinks, and you obviously don’t think for yourself at all. I will be discussing this further with both you and Ms. Long.”

“Mr. Jenkins, your accusations are obviously baseless, and a waste of all our time. The next time you make such a groundless allegation against another student, you will get worse than detention, as it is I think I will make your detention two weeks, and if you attack another student in my school you will be expelled. Do I make myself clear.”

“Yeaah.” He muttered.

“What? I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, sir.” He said sullenly.

You are all free to go. Mr. Cook, I apologize for these cretins.”

—————

In the hall outside the Principal’s office

“Cook, I guess you think you’re pretty smart. You tried to make me look stupid in there. Don’t think you’re going to get away with it.”

“Randy, you don’t need my help, you’re do such a good job yourself.”

“Huh! Well, — Well, you better watch yourself, I saw those bumps on your chest. You’re taking those hormones. You’re some kind of sissy boy - or is it worse than that. I think you are a mutant, and I’m going to make it my business to make sure everyone knows it. So enjoy your little victory, because when my dad and I get done with you, you’ll be run out of this town, — or dead!”

Tuesday Afternoon
October 29th

The trip to Dr. Bennett’s office had left Lee filled with anxiety. He hadn’t wanted to go to Amanda’s party before, but to go dressed as a _girl_, that was too much. Wasn’t he being humiliated enough by his own body, did they have to make it worse by dressing him up like - like _some_ clown.

As his mom was driving him home she was talking about how they could dress him up and make it so nobody would make fun of him or only good natured fun if they did. She obviously didn’t know his classmates. He would never live something something like this down. Her assurances that Gary Haskins would be dressing in drag also made no difference. Lee knew that Haskins would play it for laughs, not really trying to look like a girl, which is what they wanted him to do.

He tuned out his mother’s droning on about what they could do, because he had no intention of going to that party and certainly not as a girl. What would Amanda think of him? She had acted a little weird at first but she was acting normal now.

He really liked her and thought she liked him, but he had been avoiding her most of the time, even though she tried to talk to him several times. What was the point? What could he talk to about now? Shopping, hairstyles, _boys_! He sure as hell couldn’t date her now. He knew he was hurting her feelings by avoiding her, but what else could he do?

“Lee! Are you listening to me?” His mother sounded miffed.

“What? Oh! No, not really Mom, sorry. I don’t want to go to this party. I’m not ready for something like this.”

“Lee, just when do you think you’re going to be ready? When you have to sit to pee? Or after your first period? Just when are you going to be ready?” His mom’s voice was sharp. Dr. Bennett suggested some shock therapy to get him moving ahead mentally

“But, Mom,” Lee absolutely hated his voice when he whined.

“No buts, Lee.” Then her voice softened, “Lee, I’ve tried to give you time to adjust and I know this is hard, but the changes are happening — fast, faster than either of us want, whether we want them to or not. You don’t have enough time to adjust, especially if you won’t start embracing the changes. I told you what Evelyn said. You are going to start growing breasts — and other changes will follow. I know you are scared, and I know why you don’t want to go to the party. But this is a real chance to start getting used to the changes and if you handle it right, a chance to do it without a lot of embarrassment.”

“How can this not be embarrassing? I’ll be dressed as a girl!” Lee groused.

“Because it going to be a Halloween party,” she explained as if to a five year old. “You can be anyone or anything you want to at Halloween. If they laugh, you laugh with them. If they start making fun of you, then you play it up for more laughs. You do that and they’ll soon be laughing with you; not at you. Do you think you can do that?” Her voice was gentle and encouraging.

Lee thought about it for a minute. “I don’t know, — maybe.” His voice was still filled with uncertainty.

“Of course you can.”

—————

Wednesday evening

If he’d known what she and other torturers had in mind, not only wouldn’t he have agreed, he’d have lit out for the hills. Oh well, hindsight’s 20/20 as they say.

The first step in his transformation was learning to wear a corset; yes, a corset. Well, to be truthful, first was learning to wear the whole set of undergarments that a young lady born in the late 1880s would have worn. The best thing he could say for all this was that between them they totally concealed his true shape from any prying eyes, so he didn’t have to worry about his changes being an obvious problem.

THEN came the corset, OMG! Whatever monster came up with this torture device deserves to be horse whipped.

“Hold still!” Mom said for the tenth time as she tried to lace him into this contraption, obviously invented by the Spanish Inquisition, with his sisters help. Where she’d found a genuine whalebone bustier style corset was a mystery, but found one, she had. He suddenly realized that this whole idea was not something thought up after his trip to the shrink. Mom had all this stuff on hand and they weren’t things that you could go to the neighborhood Target and buy. He’d been had.

“It’ll be fine once it’s tied up, you’ll see,” Eve piped in.

“How would you know? He wouldn’t have thought that his own sisters would hold still for their brother being tortured like this.” He hissed as he struggled to draw a breath. The little monster had the audacity to giggle at him.

“It’ll make you look like a real girl,” Beth piped in.

He gasped and squeaked out, “But I don’t want to look like a girl!”

“Lee, hold still for just. one. more. minute.,” Mom said as she yanked on the laces a final time. He could feel her stop pulling as she began tying off the various laces. She stood back and gave a huge sigh. “There. Now how does that feel?

A more ridiculous question, he’d never heard. “Like I’ve been put in a giant vice!” He gasped with the effort of breathing and talking at the same time. “Haven’t you got this thing too tight! I can hardly breath.”

“No, in fact, it’ll have to be tighter for you to get into the dress that we’ve got coming for you.” He’d never thought his mom capable of an evil grin. Boy, was he wrong!

“Now, we need to create the illusion of at least a small bosom. She said as she pulled him close and slid her fingers into the top of the corset, pulling the loose flesh into a bunch at the top on the right, then she did the left. His face had quit blushing a half an hour ago.

“Owww! That pinches,” He complained. She grabbed the top and shook it a little, jerking him around with it, but it did relieve the pinching.

“Okay, well we got it this far, now get me out this thing.” He gasped for breath between words.

“Oh no, honey. You’ll need to wear this all evening and every evening until the party to train your body.”

“Yeah, you don’t think you can just put something like that on and wear it out the first time, do you?” Eve giggled, obviously enjoying this way too much.

He stood there in bloomers, chemise, and corset and just stared from one to another of them as they stood there grinning. How had he let himself be talked into this? The worst thing was he had let his Mom weasel a promise out of him that he’d go through with this, although if he’d known it was going to include a corset, he’d never have promised.

“So what am I supposed to wear with this? I can’t wander around the house like this. What if one of my friends comes over?” I am so massively screwed, he thought.

Both Eve and Beth were trying to assure him that he looked great. He was a little snappish with them about not wanting to look great, he was afraid, as tears welled up in both their eyes. That did it, he sighed, he could never stand their tears. He tried to bend over, and had to settle for squatting a little as he gathered them in his arms and hugged them both.

His mom left the room and came back with a silky dressing gown, which she said was called a peignoir. As he slipped it on, he realized it fit perfectly, more evidence of the conspiracy going on around him, because with his new added height, he was already considerably taller than his mom’s 5’ 5”, and his shoulders were still wider than hers too.

He groaned. “How long do I have to wear this?”

“Oh, just a couple of hours tonight, we’ll do longer tomorrow.” She answered. He sighed.

“Do you want to see?” Mom took him by the hand and lead him in front of the full length mirror in the hall.

He looked in the mirror and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He stood looking dazed. The boy with narrow hips, washboard abs, and wide, strong shoulders was gone. He’d known that his shoulders were getting a little narrower and his hips a little wider, but he wasn’t prepared for the person staring back at him out of the mirror. He had a mental image of himself as everyone does, but that image was built around a buff, athletic boy who, if a little short, was still very much a boy on the brink of manhood.

The creature staring shyly out of the mirror looked very little like that boy. This person was truly a girl. A girl on the brink not of manhood but womanhood. He stood there stunned. The changes the corset made in his/her body seemed to highlight the changes in his/her face and the boy remaining in him saw that she was really cute.

Tears began to run down his face as he realized that no matter what happened at this party, that boy/man was gone forever. Mom stepped up beside him and gathered him in her arms and hugged him silently. He felt his sister’s arms slip around him too.

“It’s never going to be like it was, is it?” He asked plaintively as he stared at the stranger in the mirror with tears running down her face.

“Oh, baby! It never _is_.” Mom had tears in her eyes as well. “Even if you stayed a boy, there would come a day when you’d look in the mirror and not recognize the person staring back. It’s part of growing up. You’re just getting there quicker and with more unexpected changes, but it will work out one way or another. Life keeps changing us, and we all have to struggle to maintain who we are.” She pulled a kleenex out of the pocket on her apron and began wiping the tears from his face.

“Go wash your face with cold water to reduce the puffiness and then come on downstairs, I need to show you how to walk and sit with that thing on.”

He panicked and started hyperventilating. Only the fact that he could only take very shallow breaths kept him from passing out. “I can’t go down there! Dad’s down there! I can’t let him see me like this.”

“Honey, Dad knows you’re changing and he knows what we are doing up here. He’s waiting for a glimpse of what his new daughter might look like.”

————

Saturday
November 1st

He was in full blown panic mode. I can’t do this, he thought, as he sat rigidly in the back seat of the van outside of Amanda’s house. Of course, rigidly was the only way he could sit in this costume. The corset had only been the first course. It was now buried in several petticoats, 19th century hosiery, button-up shoes with two inch heels. All of this was covered by an underskirt and a formal overdress the design which originated in the 1890s and whose hem brushed the floor. It was high necked with lace frills and had a lace lined chevron-shaped opening that created a dipping opening that highlighted the convincingly fabricated hint of creamy cleavage. His waist had been cinched down to a delicate 23 inches, accenting the swelling of his hips making them look like a real woman’s, and giving the perception of a swelling bosom.

His glistening dark chestnut hair was augmented by something called rats and was piled on top of his head interwoven with strings of faux pearls. His ears had been pierced (several times thanks to his regeneration closing the holes before an earring could be inserted) and long pearl drop earrings dangled down his long slender neck.

He thought back over the last week and especially this evening. His mom had brought out a long slender box tied with a silken bow just before we left and handed it to him. “Every young girl should have a nice piece of jewelry. These belonged to my mother and I want you to have them.”

He gingerly untied the bow and opened the box. There wrapped in tissue were a double strand of pearls. He knew these were the real thing. He stared at her wide eyed, not at all ready for something like this. He started to hand them back, but she cupped his hands in hers closing them over the box and smiled lovingly at him.

“I know you’re not really a girl yet, Lee, but you are tonight and all to soon you will be. I want you to have these, and they are the perfect accompaniment to your costume.” She emphasized the word costume as if to reassure him that this didn’t mean that he was really a girl, but he knew when he looked into that mirror that he could never completely go back. A part of the boy that was Lee had died in that reflection.

Mom took the pearls out of their box and hung them on him as she fastened them around his neck. He couldn’t help notice the resemblance to a noose.

She quickly adjusted them tucking them under the shoulder panels of the dress so that a double string of pearls seemed to appear out of nowhere from under the material covering his shoulders and dipped down into the opening on his chest. There was a large pearl drop matching his earrings that hung from the bottom strand highlighting illusion of a cleavage. He sighed as the women oohed and aahed over his body wrapped in these foreign trappings.

His face had been powdered, and primped. His eyelashes were long and curled thanks to the magic of mascara. The waxing of his eyebrows leaving only a narrow strip that arched over his brilliant green eyes was another interesting form of abuse. Yes, brilliant green eyes, Evelyn and his mother decided that he could leave out his contacts and tell anyone who asked that this color was created by Halloween contacts.

Mom and his sisters had spent three long days teaching him how to walk, sit and move like a girl, well, a nineteenth century girl, anyway. That was a little different from a modern girl. The stiffly upright posture enforced by the corset pulled his shoulders back, and the layered underskirts, skirt, overdress and shoes demanded that he maintain a good posture. The high collar forced him to hold his head back perpendicular to his shoulders. The heels made his backside sway from side to side as he put one foot in from of the other as Mom insisted was necessary. They even taught him the rudiments of dancing like a girl. He didn’t know it at the time, but all the training this costume gave him, would help him walk and move like a modern girl when the time came.

Once again, when he was completely made up and ready, they stood him in front of that terrifying full length mirror and made him face a person who just couldn’t be him. I was beyond merely cute. I was bordering on beautiful. Luckily, Mom thinking ahead had used water proof mascara and makeup, so his tears did little damage as he backed away from this frightening vision. His sisters looked faintly jealous.

After another session of being hugged and comforted by not just his mom, but by his sisters, Evelyn, and Dr. Bennett, he sniffed a few times and after a little repair allowed himself to be lead down to face his Dad.

The look on his dad’s face, almost made it all worth it. Emotions conflicted on his face as the anguish brought on by the realization that his son was soon to be gone forever, warred with pride in the birth of his new daughter. After a few moments, he came forward and swept her/him into a hug. It felt wonderful, feeling his strong arms surrounding her/him with their promise of a safe haven from the world. Briefly, the thought stole through his mind; What would it be like to held like this by Jim? Then what was left of his male mind recoiled from the thought, and he would have run back upstairs and stripped everything off, but a touch of his mother’s hand on his cheek, coupled with a small nod and look of understanding stopped him. This too, he would have to face, best start small with this party.

Dad took him aside. “Lee, I’m sorry if I’ve been distant the last few weeks. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with losing you as my son.

I've not been a very good father, again. I know it’s not your fault and that this is the last thing you want, but that didn’t help much with the way I was feeling. I’ve been very selfish, thinking only of myself when you needed me the most.

“I know that’s no excuse, but I’ll try to do better. I have and always will love you.”

After an interminable series of photographs first with his Dad, then his sisters, and finally his whole family (taken by Evelyn), we were off. He sat in the back of dad’s van since there was more room for his voluminous skirts and petticoats there. Dr. Sharpe drove her own car since she had finagled her own invitation, under the pretext of doing research for a paper she was preparing on teenagers and their mating rituals. Sounded kinda lame to Lee, but apparently it worked and no one would know she was there to watch over him. There to make sure he didn’t get in over his head emotionally. Equally, lame, he thought since he’d been in over his head since this idea had first been brought up.

After sitting there in silence for several minutes, Mom gently asked, “Are you going in?”

He turned his head (that being the only part of his body he could really turn in this outfit) and once again plaintively asked, “Do I have to?”

“No, but just remember someday probably sooner than you think, you are going to have to go out as a girl for real, don’t you think that some practice when you can pretend it’s make-believe, is a good idea.”

He sighed. We’d been over this same ground many times in the last week, and the answer was always the same, even for Lee. He reached for the door latch.

Mom leaned over and kissed my cheek lightly. “You’ll be fine, Leah.”

He jerked back, looking back at her. “Who?”

“Leah, that would have been your name if you had been born a girl. You don’t have to use it. You can pick your own if you want, but that’s what I would have named you. You can still even go by Lee as a nickname, if you want.”

My eyes began to mist again, as I leaned over and kissed her cheek, “Thank you, momma, for everything. I know I’ve been a holy terror to be around the last few weeks, but I couldn’t have survived this without you - and, of course, Eve, Beth and Dad, but mostly you. I’ll always be proud to carry any name you chose for me.” Then doing something frighteningly girly, he giggled, “but if you don’t mind, I think I will just go by Lee tonight.” With that he got out of the car and walked as confidently as he could to where Amanda’s mother was greeting her guests secure in the knowledge that his family was there with him in spirit supporting him as they had always done.

————

The party was a raging success. Randy and his buddies weren’t invited having made themselves persona non grata the year before. The kids from the Evangelical Church would never attend anything that celebrated Halloween, so most of the people there were either friends or good acquaintances of his and after a nervous moments, he was laughing and having fun with his friends. He even tried to dance a couple of slow dances with Jim, and he liked it.

Oh, he got a few good natured jabs about his costume, but also a lot of complements, especially from the girls. A few were frankly envious how he looked. He ended up having to describe in great detail how they had achieved the look of a real girl. He left out the most important part, of course.

Actually the worst moment had come at the door, when Amanda’s mother didn’t recognize him and wanted to know if he was at the right party. It took a minute or two to convince her of his identity and even then she gave him a few strange looks throughout the evening.

————

The party broke up about ten and Kathleen watched as the kids filed out of the door. She was shocked when she realized that the young girl bouncing down the walk with Eve was Lee. She grinned. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the party and the costume had been a success.

She listened all the way home as Lee described the party in detail. The kind of detail that only a girl would. Lee talked about the costumes the other girls were wearing and even what the guys had on. Lee would never have noticed the kinds of details he was reporting before. He was also excited over the fact that he had won the prize for the best costume. But she was even more surprised by his descriptions of dancing with Jim. Kathleen winced a little inwardly when she heard this, fearing maybe they had done too good a job make Lee into a girl.

Kathleen knew a turning point had been reached in Lee’s transformation. The party had been just the ticket to kickstart the process, but now would come the hard part. The fact that he won the costume contest would be all over school Monday, and she was afraid that Lee might be in for a rough day when the other kids who weren’t there heard about it. She sighed hoping she hadn’t swapped one problem for another.

————