Girlfriends

Cameron takes a women's studies class and ends up learning a lot about himself.

**
I actually didn't write this story, my sister did, but she was nervous about posting it, and also thought that people who liked what one of us wrote might also like stuff by the other one. I'm not sure if it's a good fit for this site or not, but I think it's very cute and also mostly pretty realistic to my actual life.

**
Cameron walked slowly into the lecture hall, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. He hadn’t really wanted to take Gender and Women’s Studies 12, but it was the only open class that fulfilled his university’s social science requirements. This wasn’t a subject he really knew much about, having been raised by his dad in the middle of Indiana.
He sat down near the back of the hall, slumping slightly in the hard plastic chair and running his fingers impatiently through his spiky blond hair. Looking around, he saw that the class seemed to be almost all women, which maybe wasn’t so surprising. Well, maybe that wasn’t so bad: this could be a good way to find a girlfriend.
As if in response to his thoughts, a short girl with purple hair and a pointy nose sat down beside him. She was breathing a bit hard, apparently having rushed to class.
The professor coughed a bit, then began speaking. “Welcome to GWS 12. Throughout this semester, we’ll be discussing queer and feminist ideas about American culture and society. Just to get started, I’d like you to turn to the person next, preferably someone you don’t know, and introduce yourself. Then, I’d like you to discuss for a minute about what you hope to get out of this class.”
Cameron slowly turned toward his new seatmate, saying, “Hey. I’m Cameron. I’m majoring in mechanical engineering. I don’t really know what I want from this class, but I do know that it fulfills a requirement I need.”
She responded, “Hi, I’m Madison, she/her pronouns. I’m really interested in learning about like queer theory and stuff like that. I’m planning to study English. It’s nice to meet you! What pronouns do you use?”
He looked her over a bit, thinking that she was actually kinda pretty. The purple hair and stuff was a bit weird, but he actually though it looked kinda nice on her. “Uh,” he said. “I don’t really know?”, not quite sure what she meant.
“Well, I understand that,” she continued, “I’m planning to go to this like student group thing later. Do you wanna come with me?”
“Sure!” he said, hoping that maybe this could be a chance to get to know her better.

**
Shortly before the meeting, Cameron was staring at himself in a grimy university bathroom mirror. He wished he wasn’t so short and chubby, but other than that he thought he looked nice. He had dressed up a bit to try to impress Madison, even wearing a tie and button-up shirt.
He ran his fingers through his hair, then walked out and over to the small classroom where the meeting was happening. Madison waved, clearly excited to see him. Desks had been arranged into a circle, so he went and sat down in the one next to Madison.
Once the meeting started, people started introducing themselves, going around in a circle. A lot of them were quite alternative-looking, and there were a number of women with very short hair. A lot of the people said their name and then “pronouns,” which Cameron once again found a bit odd. He could tell if someone was a boy or a girl, they didn’t need to tell him what to say.
When it was his turn, he just said his name and major. He didn’t really think it seemed necessary to say any pronouns, so he just skipped that.
People started discussing different topics. A lot of the conversation went over his head, and people kept using terms he didn’t know. He noticed that people seemed to be talking about “queer culture” and stuff like that a lot. Maybe this was a study group for the class he was taking?
After the meeting was over, Cameron, Madison and two other group members started walking over to a coffee shop near campus.
As they walked, Madison gestured around, saying, “Everyone, meet Cameron. She’s in one of my classes this semester. Cameron, meet Ava and Denise.”
“Wait, did she say ‘she’?” Cameron wondered, before dismissing the thought, assuming he had heard wrong.
Ava was an Asian women with close-cropped black hair and a nose piercing. Denise was tall, pale, and had curly green hair. They started talking to Cameron, asking normal introductory questions like “Where are you from?” and “What year are you in?”
When he said he was majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Denise nodded a bit and said, “I’ve heard that there’s not a lot of women in that field. Has that been hard for you at all?”
Cameron jokily replied, “I mean, I wish there were more women. Maybe it would be easier for me to get a date then, haha.”
Madison nervously said, “Well, if you ever want to go on a date with me …” and blushed slightly.
“Oh! Of course I’ll go on a date with you,” Cameron said. Wow, this was moving faster than he had expected.
Ava and Denise were both smiling at this exchange, clearly pleased.

**
Cameron and Madison had just finished up a date at a cafe near campus. They had clicked really well, discovering that they both liked a lot of the same music and TV shows.
Madison had invited Cameron to come back to her apartment. Cameron was quite excited, hoping that maybe he was finally going to lose his virginity.
He was a little sensitive about letting anyone see his body, though. For whatever reason, he had gained a lot of weight around his hips and chest the past few years. He kind of had “man boobs”, and so he usually tried to avoid taking off his shirt. On top of this, his penis was quite small, only maybe three inches in length. Well, Madison was nice, and she seemed to really like him, so hopefully everything would be okay.
They walked up the stairs to her apartment. Madison asked, “Would it be okay with you if we watched something on Netflix or something?” Cameron said yes, so they settled down onto a beat-up couch and started watching a movie on her laptop.
A few minutes into the movie, Madison snuggled up closer to Cameron, gave him a kiss, and murmured, “Is it okay if I … touch you?”
Cameron whispered back, “Yes! Of course!”
Madison began slipping her hand under his shirt, moving to squeeze Cameron’s pecs. She began to gently stoke one nipple. It wasn’t what Cameron had expected, but he shivered a bit with arousal. Normally, he was self-conscious, knowing that his nipples were strangely large and sensitive for a boy, but in this moment he didn’t care.
He reached out and began to caress her back. He was amazed at how soft and smooth and full her breasts were. As far as Cameron was concerned, this was the most thrilling moment of his life.
She began to slowly wiggle her pants down her legs, exposing her black, lacy underwear. He held his breath in anticipation as she slowly revealed herself to him.
She guided two of his fingers into her, and he began to slowly thrust them back and forth inside her. He watched as her face flushed, listening to her gasps of pleasure.
She begin to unbutton his pants, then suddenly paused. A look of surprise flitted over her face, but she seemed to shrug it off as she started to gently stroke him.
They kept touching and kissing and rubbing, their pleasure slowly building in intensity, finally reaching a shuddering, wonderful finale.

**
A few days later, Madison announced that she wanted to try giving Cameron a “makeover”. He decided to go along with it: he assumed that this was just a normal part of having a girlfriend. He sat in a chair in her room, kind of zoning out as she did all sorts of things. She kept handing him clothes and messing with his hair. He tried to object as she started to apply some sort of makeup to his eyes, but she said, “Look, I know that you’re, like, butch, but this is just really minor eyeliner. Even some like guys wear this sometimes. Okay?” He said, “Alright, I guess it’s fine,” and so she kept applying it.
Around 15 minutes later, Madison finally seemed satisfied. She led him over to a mirror and asked, “What do you think?”
Cameron stared at his reflection. Madison hadn’t done anything major, yet somehow the combination of small tweaks really changed his appearance. She had him wearing a plaid red jacket and skinny jeans. His hair slicked forward in a slightly androgynous style, and there was some light makeup on his face. He thought that he looked a bit a girl, but whatever reason, he actually kind of liked it. He gave Madison an awkward thumbs-up, saying, “Yeah! It’s nice”
She gave him a kiss and said, “I’m glad you like it!”
They ended up making-out again.

**
Cameron had been really embracing his new style, because Madison seemed to really like it. She’d compliment him almost every time she saw him.
He had noticed though, that he seemed to be treated a little bit differently. Guys kept trying to hold doors open for him, and he swore that people kept checking him out. He assumed that he was getting more respect because of his fresh new appearance, and he was actually pretty happy about it. He thought he heard people call him “ma’am” a few times, but maybe they had been talking to someone else.
After a few weeks, though, something rather odd happened. Two engineering students had walked up to Cameron as he was leaving an afternoon class. One of the students, who Cameron only vaguely recognized, said, “Hey, Cameron, I’m Dave. This is my friend Michael. I’m in MechE 182 with you. I, uh, wanted to ask you something.”
“What?” Cameron asked, assuming Dave had a question about homework or something.
Dave said, “Umm … well, would ever want to go on a date with me sometime?”
Cameron was very confused. Did Dave think he was gay or something? Why would he think that?
Cameron replied, “No, dude. I don’t swing that way. I have a girlfriend and everything.”
Dave said, “All right. Well, it was worth a try.” He walked off, and Cameron swore he heard Dave’s friend say, “See, dude! I told you she was a dyke.”

**
Cameron had been thinking a lot about the recent strangeness in his life, and he had come up with a theory. Maybe people had been mistaking him for a girl! That seemed unlikely to him, as he was clearly quite masculine, in his opinion. It wasn’t as if he was flouncing around in skirts and pigtails or something. But that theory would explain a lot ….
The next day, he decided to check what Madison thought. While they were hanging out together on campus, lying on the grass, he gingerly asked, “Do you think I look like a girl?”
She responded, “Yes, of course! I know you’re sort of butch, but it’s not like you look like a dude or something.” She gave him a kiss and continued, “You’re my adorable girlfriend, and I love just the way you are.”
Cameron was strangely pleased by this answer, and blushed a little. “Awww,” he said, “I love you too.” But wait … she thought he was a girl too?
He slowly started to say, “I don’t know why everyone has been seeing me as a girl recently … even you. I mean, I’ve been a pretty normal boy my whole life and I never really even thought about that until recently …”
Madison replied, “Well, when I first met you in that GWS class, I thought you were a butch cis woman. Later on, I realized you had a, um, penis though, so then I thought you were just a really cute trans girl. I’m sorry for making assumptions, though, I should have just asked earlier, but it was kind of awkward to bring up. Do you not consider yourself a woman?”
“I don’t know!” Cameron said. “Until I came to college, I never realized I had any choice in the matter. I was born as a guy, and I thought I had to be a guy my whole life.” He nervously continued, “But I can say, I liked it when you called me your adorable girlfriend. It felt … really right somehow.”
Madison gave Cameron a kiss, saying, “Well, then, I’ll say it again. You’re my super adorable girlfriend.”
Cameron blushed a little and then kissed her back, saying, “And you’re MY super adorable girlfriend.”