Playing her way 2 - Chapter 5

© D.L.

The silver Ford Focus turned in through the tall metal gates onto the brick weave drive. Arnold swung the car around and pulled up in front of one of the garage doors, parking next to the white Fiat 500 already parked there.

Emily recognised the other car as the one belonging to her Aunt Molly and cousin Susan.

Arnold opened the rear hatchback and handed the bags to his passengers to carry inside.

Anna took in the building before her. She had heard from Emily and her parents that Bill and Liz were doing well, and liked to show off. The house in front of her was probably four times the size of the Bridge's residence. When not at school, she had been in the company of millionaires, both business associates of her father, and premier level footballers, so had seen plenty of mansions.

In comparison to most, this was quite modest, but still larger than the average home. From conversations with Emily, she knew it contained six bedrooms, all en-suite.

Liz greeted them at the door, directing the two younger guests in the direction of the games room.

Emily, once again dressed as Jason in a pair of black trousers and a red Christmas jumper with a reindeer on the front, led the way.

Anna, on the other hand, had gone all out. It had taken some convincing by Emily that she shouldn't hold back. Emily had insisted that her friend should make her jealous, and to not worry about it.

Therefore, Anna had gone for a classic little black dress, finishing only halfway done to her knees. The low-cut top maintained modestly by having a lace insert going up to the neck. Anna had found some tights on the internet that were black fishnet style with a holly pattern.

Her look was completed by a pearl necklace and earrings.

~o~O~o~

The games room was about the size of a double garage. Becky and Susan were stood at a pool table that took up nearly half the space. A game was in progress, with Susan leaning over the table to take a shot. Both girls were wearing matching red dresses with white fake fur trim. The only difference in their outfit being that Becky had a silk scarf round her neck.

Jack was sitting on a bean bag holding a controller. The x-box was hooked up to a 40-inch flat screen TV. The familiar sight of Rampaging Squirrels filling the screen.

Tom was sat at a desk in the corner. The triple monitor PC setup had BioShock running on the middle screen, with Twitch chat on the right-hand monitor, and recording software on the left. A small web camera was pointing at Tom's face, and the feed could be seen on the left monitor that was being inserted into the top corner of the live stream.

Both Anna and Emily immediately recognised the software. Emily used the same software when doing live streams.

Tom quickly glanced across, "Hi, I'll be with you in a minute, I'm live on the internet at the moment doing a speed run. For those viewing, more of my family has just arrived, so I will be ending this stream in a short while. Time is coming up in about three minutes."

Emily positioned herself so that she could watch while remaining out of sight of the camera, just in case anybody viewing might recognise her. She didn't think it likely, as she always disguised her voice and appearance online, but caution was always prudent.

Becky, Susan and Jack came across to stand with the two newcomers to see the finally.

Tom was the eldest of the younger generation, being fifteen. His younger brother Jack was thirteen. Becky being the youngest sibling at eleven. Their cousins, Susan and Jason, along with Anna, where all fourteen.

"Time," Tom shouted into the microphone on his headset, "47 minutes 28.4 seconds."

The gathered audience politely clapped from off camera.

"Not bad for a casual run," Tom continued, "well, that is all for today, I have to go. Bye."

Tom shut down the transmission, turning to greet the latest arrivals.

"Great time, that must be close to record pace," Emily stated.

"It's about a minute off my personal best," Tom replied, "I'm actually forth on the record table. I was third until KPCzombie put in a 41:20 a fortnight ago. My best is a 43:50 when you exclude the loading times. That's a 46:03 on a live time."

"Respect," Emily stated, "I struggle to get under an hour when I try. I can potentially get sub fifty-five if I match the combination of my best sectors."

"If you manage it, you should try posting it to YouTube, if you have the capability," Tom said, not realising he was speaking to a YouTube celebrity, "you could potentially get yourself on the top 40 leaderboard."

"Congratulations," Anna stated, "I didn't realise Jason had such a talented family."

"Everyone, this is Anna Kwon," Emily introduced her friend, "We met at boarding school. Her trip home had to be cancelled, so I asked if she could join us."

"Nice to finally meet you in person," Susan said, pulling the other girl into a hug, "beats phone and video conferences."

"The tall one here is Tom Roberts," Emily continued, "the other boy is his brother, Jack, and this young lady is Becky, Tom's Sister."

"I see you're a Squirrels fan," Anna addressed Jack, "is that expert mode?"

"Yeah," Jack stated shyly, getting tongue-tied speaking to a girl, "I've completed the game on normal mode, but I'm completely stuck on level 15."

"I've offered to help, but he's refusing to accept help from a girl," Susan countered, "as if only boys can play games."

"I've shown him how to skip the level," Tom offered.

"I want to complete the game properly," Jack replied. "Once I've done a glitchless run, I'll consider the speedrun techniques."

"That level is virtually impossible," Tom stated, "each jump has a fifty-fifty chance of failure, and there must be thirty jumps to make."

"Twenty-eight," Anna corrected. "Fourteen if you have stockpiled enough health packs to rocket jump over two at a time."

The level in question is played from a top-down perspective and involves jumping between floating icebergs while being fired on by a missile launcher. The missiles destroy the iceberg you are currently occupying, plus one of the two icebergs you can jump too. On normal mode, it is possible to see the missiles coming before you jump, so as long as you get the timing right, you can easily jump to the correct iceberg.

On expert mode, you are forced to jump before you can see the second missile, so you can't predict which of the two options is correct using visual clues alone. The speed increases throughout the level.

"Susan, how many attempts did it take you to complete the level?" Emily asked.

"Got it first go on normal. Took ten attempts on expert, until I worked out how to tell which was the right platform. I can now complete it 90% of the time on expert and about 50% of the time on insane mode," Susan replied.

"I haven't managed insane mode yet," Anna stated, "I struggle on expert without the game running at double speed."

"Would you like me to teach you the secret to level 15 on expert?" Emily asked, "Since its obvious neither of you boys have figured it out yet."

"Okay, this I've got to see," Tom stated.

Emily picked up the controller and sat down with her back to the TV.

"Becky, can I borrow your scarf please," Emily asked.

Puzzled, Becky removed the silk scarf from around her neck and handed over the garment to her cousin. Emily rolled the scarf and tied it around her head.

"You are going to attempt expert blindfolded?" Jack asked in amazement.

"No," Emily replied, "I'm going to attempt it on insane. It might take me a couple of tries, I usually only do this with headphones. I'll need the volume up, and for you all to remain quiet."

Susan created a new game in an unused save slot before using the level select to start the game in insane mode at the start of level 15. Once ready, she handed the controller to Emily.

Taking a deep breath, Emily hit start. The sound of the heavy-rock backing track, playing at double tempo, filled the room. Listening closely to the music she waited for the sound of two rockets firing. Immediately after the second rocket sound, the next beat in the dynamically generated background music was a snare drum. With lightning quick reactions, Emily simultaneously hit the jump and left buttons. The thud of the player character landing amid two explosions signalled the manoeuvre was successful.

Less than a half second later the process repeated. This time the beat after the second rocket was a bass drum, indicating the need to jump to the right.

Susan and Anna, having witnessed the feat before, grinned to one another as the other three audience members watched on in astonishment as jump after jump was timed to perfection until the end of the level was reached.

Emily removed the blindfold and handed the scarf back to Becky. Clapping could be heard from the doorway.

"That was mighty impressive," Bill stated as he walked further into the room. "How did you do it?"

"You have to listen for the audio cues. It is possible with visual cues only, but they are all on the extreme edge of the screen and a very easy to miss, especially as each platform has a different hint. You either have to learn the position of 48 single pixel flashes, or learn two sounds."

Turning to Jack, Emily continued, "next time you play, listen to the percussion. If you get a snare drum immediately after the second rocket launches you need to jump left, otherwise jump right. You have three beats to make the jump. You will be in the air for two beats. If you get the timing right, you will be jumping on every eighth beat."

"I wish I recorded that," Tom stated, "that was awesome."

"Once the next patch is released, the whole game will be able to be completed blindfolded," Emily added, "There is currently a section in level 18 lacking audio cues. Once Alan finishes the coding, John will push the release. It was supposed to be done in time for Christmas, but Alan's wife broke her arm, so he's had to spend more time looking after their baby. I'm planning on making a blindfolded run and uploading it to YouTube in the new year."

What Emily didn't say was that she had already done a developers commentary on her channel for the levels she designed, including level 15. It had been her idea to base a level on audio feedback instead of visual feedback. The other developers weren't sure about the idea, but after the level was successful, they decided to make the whole game playable by audio, allowing it to be speed-run blindfolded, joining a select few games that can be run blindfolded, and the only one specifically designed to allow it.

The new patch was going to add a new challenge mode where the visuals are totally replaced by a troll-face over the top of a psychedelic background.

"I came in to say that we are ready to start handing out some presents, as the Phillips have arrived, if you would like to come through," Bill stated, revealing the reason for his presence.

~o~O~o~

The large living room was packed with guests as the younger generation filtered in.

The room was a large square. A large fireplace was on one wall. A flame effect gas fire was alight for decoration, but not putting out a lot of heat. To the left of the fireplace stood a 50-inch flat screen TV. On the other side of the fireplace was a large Christmas tree stretching up to the ceiling.

A coffee table stood in the middle of the room, and around the outside where three three-seater couches.

On the couch next to the tree, Emily's parents, Arnold and Marilyn, sat with Emily's Uncle, Dean Phillips.

Directly opposite, Dean's wife Helen was sat with her sister, Molly Bishop. Susan took the spare place on the couch next to her mother, Molly. Becky smoothed her dress under her as she knelt on the floor in front of Susan.

Tom and Jack took seats on the couch directly opposite to the fireplace. They joined their cousin, Eddie Phillips. Eddie was the youngest of the children at only eight and was the son of the youngest of the four sisters, Helen. Liz was the eldest, followed by Marilyn then Molly.

Emily and Anna decided to sit on the floor in front of Marilyn and Arnold. They could have pulled rank on Jack and Eddie but decided they didn't want to sit with the boys. Emily quickly introduced Anna to the remaining guests.

Bill was at a drinks cabinet, distributing sherry to the adults. Liz went to the tree and knelt down next to the pile of presents that had been gathered underneath.

"So that everybody has at least one present to open," Liz started, "I thought we would do a Secret Santa this year."

Liz began to pass around presents. The anonymous gifts were mainly boxes of chocolates or biscuits. Becky got some costume jewellery, but the fun really started when Susan unwrapped a second-hand book - Fifty shades of grey. This caused her do both blush and laugh. She was soon joined laughing by the boys on the couch.

"I was waiting until someone pulled a prank," Liz stated, "Sorry Susan, it seems you pulled the short straw".

Liz pulled the next present from the pile and read the label and gulped. Bill, seeing his wife hesitate asked, "What's the matter?"

"I think this next one might be a prank as well," Liz replied, "Jason, if you want to skip this, or open it in private, you can do."

Emily took the package. It was slightly larger than some of the others. From the size and shape, and the fact it was soft and bendy, she guessed it may be an item of clothing. Emily examined the label. It was printed off on a computer in a handwriting font, so that the was no way of identifying the originator.

"Jason, since you looked so jealous of the girls last year, we thought you might enjoy joining in this year," Emily read aloud. The room had gone silent, some looking on in puzzlement, others in anticipation.

Carefully, Emily turned the package over and broke the tape. Blue fabric became visible from underneath the paper. Unfolding the garment, she held up a blue dress decorated with white snowflakes.

"Wait, is that..." Susan Started to ask.

"The dress I wore last year," Becky interrupted. Becoming slightly agitated, she continued, "I swear it wasn't me."

By now the boys were roaring with laughter.

"Susan?" Emily enquired, figuring as the only other relative of similar age that knew her secret, she was the prime suspect. She knew it wasn't Anna, as she had to buy a tin of shortbread for Liz. Emily also didn't think it likely to be a stunt pulled by any of the adults in the know.

"Don't look at me," Susan replied. "If it was me, I would make sure it would fit. Besides it would have to be someone living here to have access to it."

"It may be a bit short, but unless Becky has grown considerably in the last year, it will probably fit you," Anna assessed. "No offence intended to Becky, but she is heavier build. Whereas you may be taller than your cousin, I don't think you are any wider. You can fit into skinnier styles."

"I think you should try it on," Anna suggested. Playing on the fact that everybody was assuming she was Jason's girlfriend, she practically purred, "for me? I think you'll look really sexy. I'll make it worth your while."

"I think perhaps the culprit should be made to wear it," Bill stated, "Which one of you boys would like to admit it?"

"You are not getting me wearing it," Tom responded, "It wasn't me, and besides it's less likely to fit me than Jason."

"Oh, I'm sure I can find something in my wardrobe that would fit you, young man," Liz stated, much to Tom's embarrassment.

"We could always make Eddie wear it," Helen stated, causing her son to stop laughing, "he is laughing the hardest, and he's small enough to fit in it. That is, unless you want to make Jack wear it."

"I wouldn't want to deny the opportunity to Jason," Jack responded. "He always looks so longingly at Susan and Becky. The way he's gripping that dress, I doubt you'll manage to tear it away from him anyway."

Attention returned to Emily, who was now breathing deeply near panic. She turned and looked worriedly at her parents.

"It's up to you dear," Marilyn stated softly. Arnold nodded agreement.

Emily slowly got to her feet and hung the dress in front of her to access the size.

"That looks a little tight," Susan stated. "I have a suggestion. I happen to know what is inside one of the other presents. It would be a better fit. I doubt you will wanting anything too tight given we are about to eat one of the biggest meals of the year."

"You didn't," Molly almost shouted.

"Of course I did," Susan replied, "However, I wasn't necessarily going to reveal the presents if she didn't show up by herself. I know the rules, and given the boy's reaction, I can see it's probably justified. Car keys, please?"

"Wait, you were going to pull the same stunt?" Dean asked.

Susan smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at her uncle as she disappeared outside, returning a minute later to present Emily with another package. This time the label simply said, "To Emily, Merry Christmas, love from Susan."

Emily unwrapped the present. I was a dress identical to the ones Susan and Becky were wearing. Red with white fake fur trim.

"I see I'm not getting out of this one," Emily replied. "Since everybody seems to think I would be better off dressing as a girl, I guess I should get changed."

"You can use one of the guest bedrooms," Liz stated.

"Here, take these with you," Susan handed Emily a carrier bag with some more wrapped items, "you may need them."

Emily handed the blue dress to her uncle, as he was stood nearby. Bill took the dress and then turned to the boys. By this time only Eddie was still laughing, finding the thought of his cousin dressing as a girl hilarious.

"As you find this so funny, Eddie, I think you just volunteered to wear this."

Bill looked to Dean and Helen, who both nodded that he could go ahead.

Only Tom, due to his close proximity, noticed the sigh Jack let slip. Suspicious of his brother, he decided he needed to have a quiet word with him.

"I'll see that he gets changed," Tom offered, reaching for the dress. His father handed it to him. "Eddie, come with me. Jack, I need you as well."

~o~O~o~

Gulping with fear, Eddie did as his elder cousin ordered. Tom led them upstairs and ordered Eddie into the bathroom with the dress, under strict instructions not to come back out unless he was wearing it.

"What's going on?" Tom asked, "You looked disappointed, and actually annoyed."

"I was supposed to end up in that dress," Jack admitted, barely above a whisper.

"We had an agreement," Liz stated, appearing next to the boys, with Becky following her. "Jason isn't the only boy in the family who was getting jealous. I found out Jack has been trying on Becky's dresses for months. When I noticed the blue dress was missing, I confronted him."

"I tried to deny it by saying it was for a prank to get Jason in a dress," Jack replied.

"I don't get it, why let the joke go ahead?" Tom asked.

"So Jackie would have an excuse for being in a dress for Christmas," Liz answered. "It was going to be punishment for pulling the prank."

"So it backfired," Tom reasoned, "I'm guessing Dad wasn't in on it. Although you were lucky Susan also had the same idea, as I get the feeling Jason was seriously considering putting that dress on."

"Oh, we planned for that," Liz stated. "Susan beat me to it. The is another one of those dresses in Jason's size hanging in my room. Your cousin is transgendered. I found out when I went to Norfolk. She has been living at a girls boarding school for the past few months."

"So, Jack can wear that one instead," Tom suggested.

"It's too big," Jack answered.

"Come with me," Becky stated, grabbing her younger brother's hand and leading her to her bedroom. "I'll find something for you to wear."

"You don't mind?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Who do you think tipped Mum off? I knew it couldn't be Tom, he is bigger than us so would need to borrow off Mum. I figured it was you ages ago. We kept a close eye on that charity bag of my old clothes to see if you would take the bait."

"So, who's getting the dress intended for Jason?" Tom asked.

"Are you interested?" his mother replied.

"Well," Tom hesitated, "I would never normally even consider this, but if it will make the other boys feel more comfortable, I'm willing to wear it, at least until after dinner."

Liz smiled and led the way to the master bedroom.

~o~O~o~

Meanwhile, in the guest bedroom, Emily unwrapped the other gifts in the bag. Having read the labels, and noting the instructions to open alone, she guessed what might be inside.

The first package was a set of three panties. As she was already tucked and wearing two layers of girls underwear, these weren't immediately needed.

The second package contained a padded training bra. It would be needed for making the dress sit right. It wouldn't have been a problem for the blue dress, as that was designed for a pre-pubescent girl.

Emily took off the jumper and the plain white blouse hidden underneath. Neatly folding the garments she placed them in the carrier bag, followed by her trousers. Plain skin coloured tights already covered her legs. She had chosen to wear a pair under her trousers and socks.

Wrapping the bra around her chest, she fastened the clasps and positioned the cups into a comfortable position.

Lifting the dress over her head she let it flow down over her body before zipping it up the back. Emily grinned at the reflection in the mirror. The dress was a perfect fit. Pulling the elastic out of her hair, she let the low boy style ponytail disappear.

Looking at the final present from Susan, a small makeup kit, a silly idea came to her head, "If Jack wants to make me look like a little girl, then perhaps I should oblige him."

Emily carefully applied some lipstick and blush. Using the wrong end of the makeup brush, she applied some fake freckles to her face.

She then proceeded to mess her hair up, before pulling it into two uneven bunches above her ears. One slightly higher than the other.

Laughing at her reflection, she packed up her stuff and headed down the stairs. The sound of laughter was emanating from the main room.

~o~O~o~

Emily entered the room to find the adults laughing. Eddie was sat on the couch, the dress scrunched where he had dropped down, making no effort to arrange it neatly. His arms were folded across his chest and was not looking amused, a scowl evident on his face.

Helen had her smart phone out, taking photo's of her son, much to his annoyance.

A cough from behind her caused her to look round.

"Excuse me, you're blocking the door," Tom stated.

Emily stepped aside to let the two brothers into the room. Gasps went around the room as Tom entered, now dressed identically to Susan, Emily and Becky.

"I knew that would look cute on you Jackie," Becky exclaimed as Jack followed his older brother into the room. The younger boy was now dressed in a green sleeveless dress. To make it a bit more seasonal, he was wearing a Christmas blouse underneath. It was white with small reindeers printed all over. The collar and end of the sleaves were black satin.

"Jason, come here," Marilyn said sternly, pointing at the floor in front of her. "No daughter of mine is going to go around with wonky pigtails. Sit!"

Taking a hairbrush out of her purse, which was sat next to the couch where she was sitting, Marilyn pulled the elastics out of Emily's hair and started to brush it.

"Oo, good idea, Jackie, come here," Becky instructed. Jack looked at his sister, smiled and sat down in front of her. His hair was shorter, but just long enough to pull into short, inch long, pigtails. Liz briefly left the room and returned, handing her daughter some hair accessories.

Susan grinned at the two other boys. Eddie shook his head and put his arms over his head so that she couldn't mess with his hair. Tom politely declined to participate further, "No thanks, but I think I've gone far enough. Eddie, stop being such a wuss. These clothes might feel odd to us, but they are not that uncomfortable. It's not that you're the only boy in a dress, nobody here under the age of thirty is wearing trousers."

"There, that's better, Emily," Marilyn stated, emphasising her daughter's name as she finished putting in two bunches. This time level, neater, and slightly further back, just behind Emily's ears.

Bill snuck out and retrieved his digital camera. It was a professional quality SLR with screw in lenses.

"Okay, boys, and I use that term loosely, I think we should mark the occasion with a few photos," Bill stated.

"Do we have too?" Eddie moaned, "It's bad enough Mum having pictures of me like this."

"Don't worry, I have no intention of publishing these on the internet," Bill replied.

Emily, Eddie, Jack and Tom posed for individual and group photos. Various photos were shot, of the individual families, and finally of the whole group.

"I lied earlier," Bill stated, "I will put these up on the internet so that you can download them, but it will be a password protected drop box file."

"You're being awful good sports about this boys," Dean observed, "Only Eddie seems bothered about having his photo taken."

"Everybody I know has already seen me in a dress before," Emily replied. "You've seen the photo's of the St. Trinians uniform I wore for charity last year. I'll probably post a selfie when I get home."

"I could probably live it down in the unlikely event that my friends got to see it," Tom added, "and nobody is likely to pick on Jack with me about. I know a few people who would come to our aide should anybody decide to make trouble."

Joe, the chef employed to cook the Christmas meal, appeared at the door and announced that dinner was ready to be served. He had been pre-warned by Bill what was happening, so wasn't shocked by seeing a bunch of boys dressed as girls. The only slight surprise was that he couldn't identify the fourth boy. He had previously met Tom, Jack and Becky when he arrived, so was able to recognise them. The youngest child was obviously not happy with the situation, so he rightly assumed that person to be male. However, he couldn't make out the last boy. The remaining children looked to all be girls.