Not One Of The Girls - Part 14

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As we left the office, I was only vaguely aware that Morn had asked me a question. Coming to; I shook my head slightly and looked over at her. "Am I still dropping you over at Kiera's for dinner?" she asked me again. Her eyes laughed brightly at my absentmindedness. "Um, if it's still ok with you?" I inquired. Mom nodded slowly as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

We chatted about the appointment as we made the drive over to Kiera's house, I was, of course, excited at the prospect of the HRT, but I wasn't so naïve that I didn't realize there were risks too, we discussed those risks at length, I think my mom was a little surprised at just how much research I had done into the whole situation, even to the point that I knew what to expect when it came time for my surgery, even though that was at least a couple of years away. We pulled onto Kiera's street and I heard Morn give an appreciative whistle as she looked around at the vast houses. "What did you say Kiera's Dad does again?" she asked simply as we rolled up outside my friend's house. "Um...like, police chief or something, I think" I murmured as I unclipped my seatbelt and grabbed my backpack.

I hesitated as I began to climb out of the car, I leaned back in and hugged my mom tightly. "Thank you for taking me to my appointment, I love you" I mumbled as I pulled away. "I love you too, sweetie" she grinned as I stepped out of the car and shut the door, I waved to her vigorously as she honked the horn before pulling away, I then turned and jogged up to Kiera's front door.

Just as I was about to ring the bell, the door swung open and I was grabbed by several pairs of hands. "How did your appointment go?" "So, what do you think of my mom?" "Did she ask anything really personal?" "Did she give you any hormones yet?" were just some of the questions I was assaulted with as I was dragged towards the grand staircase. I answered as best as I could as Kee shouted to her mom that I had arrived. A few moments later we were all sat on Kee's floor, chaffing about the appointment as I ran through the girl's notes for our current assignment.

We then moved on to our other homework as we chattered about various subjects. "You're still being evasive about Damien" Chloe observed sometime later as she fiddled with my hair. We had mostly finished our homework, and the notes for our final assignment lay scattered across the floor as the mousy girl positioned herself on Kiera's bed behind me and was currently doing God knows what to my hair. Whatever she was doing though, it felt nice.

I sighed as I thought for a moment about still being evasive, instead though, I swallowed before stating, "I know he likes me, and I do like him too" There were a couple of excited gasps and giggles that died off quickly as I continued "but I don't think a relationship could work, given...you know... my birth defect" I felt tears forming as I murmured, "I mean it's an established fact that I look like a girl, but what happens if we become intimate and when he sees you know, down there...he's repulsed...I don't think I could take that kind of rejection". There were a couple of pitying looks before Emily chuckled, "Honestly, babe; I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself".

I frowned as I demanded, "How so?" "Well for a start, you're only just becoming a girl. So you should be more concerned about just finding your feet with the whole dating thing" she insisted sagely to which Chloe added, "Yeah, she's right, I mean sex is great and all, but..." she suddenly went incredibly quiet and blushed brightly as all eyes turned to face her.

Even with my hair wrapped in her hands, I found myself looking up at her. "You haven't mentioned that you were even dating, let alone getting some" Kiera teased as she climbed to her feet and walked towards the younger girl. "You don't have to be exclusively dating to have some flan" Chloe purred, continuing to fiddle with my hair as the other girls all climbed to their feet.

Realizing the precarious position I was in; I began gently tugging out of Chloe's grip. Just as well too, as I freed myself from her grip, the rest of the squad launched an all-out assault on her. Between the four of them, they were pinning her to the bed and tickling her ferociously, even though she was giggling madly she refused to give up a name. Emily looked over at me and grinned manically, "Time to play dirty...Allie, get her feet". Chloe squealed as I raised my eyebrows in puzzlement, I looked around at the rest of my friends and they all nodded excitably.

I shrugged as I walked over to where Chloe's feet were and although she fought valiantly, after a moment I had her sneakers off and was tickling her feet. "It's for your own good Chloe!" Kiera gasped as Chloe tripled her efforts to break free as she struggled to breathe through her laughing. I had to give her credit though, she refused to break, even at the point where she began gasping that she was going to wet herself. We were forced to stop the tickle assault as there was a light knocking on the door with Mrs Fellows informing us that dinner was ready.

As the assault gave out, Chloe disappeared into Kee's bathroom to relieve herself. When she reappeared, she had a smug look on her face. "This isn't over" Emily insisted as we all headed down to eat. We were hit by the incredible smell of the food as we reached the bottom of the stairs and as we entered the kitchen and took our seats around the island table, I saw the spread that Ari had laid out. It looked as good as it smelled, but I felt a little awkward as the six of us sat waiting with Mrs. Fellows and Kiera's younger brother Luke, seemingly waiting for Mr. Fellows.

After a few minutes, the patriarch entered the kitchen. "Ladies" he greeted the assembled girls as he walked past. "Good evening Mr Fellows" Emily and Kat greeted, though Cass and Chloe seemed quite shy towards the man. "You must be Alexis, right?" he asked me with a courteous smile as he stopped beside me and reached out his hand, I nodded quickly, my ears turning pink as I reached up and accepted it. "I'm glad you could join us tonight" he stated as he shook my hand gently,

"Um...thank you for having me, sir" I mumbled shyly, looking down at my knees determinedly as the man walked away to greet his daughter affectionately, he then stopped to kiss his wife on the cheek and tousle his son's hair before taking a seat almost directly opposite me at the island. "Ari, as always, you've outdone yourself, I see you've made your mother's amazing Jerk Chicken. Alexis...you're in for a treat" he winked at me as he began handing the various dishes out and everyone began to help themselves to the various foods.

A decent level of chatter arose as the two adults asked the assembled kids about school and Mrs Fellows asked about her husband's day at work. I found myself curious as he spoke briefly about a kidnapping case that was perplexing his team currently, he seemed to notice me listening in and stated that it wasn't really a dinner conversation. He then looked at me fully and asked, "So...Alexis, are you on the cheer squad with the other girls?" I shook my head slowly as I finished the bite of chicken, "No Sir, I'm more what you would call; the brains, of the operation" I explained, making Chloe giggle as Emily pouted, "You say that like we're all stupid or something".

I looked around at her pointedly. "Oh Em, you're not stupid, maybe a little dim, but certainly not stupid" I cooed as I winked at her playfully, she mouthed the word `Bitch' at me in response. I'm fairly certain that Mr. Fellows saw Emily's retaliation as he barked in laughter before saying, "Am I to assume you're the reason the girls have been doing so well in their coursework recently then?".

I blushed as I murmured, "Honestly; I was only messing about them being dim, they're actually quite smart, they just needed a nudge in the right direction is all" I insisted. The man nodded his acknowledgment, but it was Kee that piped up, "Girl don't be so modest" She grinned at me as she stated, "I don't think I told you Daddy, but Allie is one of only a handful of students in our grade that is maintaining a four-point oh". I blushed furiously and rolled my eyes at the redhead before looking back over at her dad as he asserted, "Wow, that is quite the achievement young lady.

Are you involved in any extracurriculars or is your GPA just from your core subjects?". "Just the core subjects, I've never had much of a social life, so there's nothing to distract from my studies" I smiled shyly. A couple of the girls giggled at my hesitant response. "So, what are your plans for college? With such good grades, I assume you're aiming for a scholarship?".

There was a sparkle in the man's eyes, I got the feeling that he'd tried initiating these kinds of chats with Kiera, but given her propensity to get distracted, I doubt he got far. "A scholarship would save me for" I faltered as I made to say `folks', but obviously given the interactions I'd had with my dad recently, I was no longer sure if he'd be around when I finished high school. I sucked in a deep breath as pitying looks were cast on everybody's faces.

Well, all except Kee's brother Luke, who was busy picking his nose. "A scholarship would save a tonne of cash, but honestly, I haven't really spent much time thinking about it, I've had a lot going on at home, so I've been a little distracted recently" I trailed off into an awkward silence as I looked down at my nearly empty plate. After a moment, I looked back up to see Mrs. Fellows smiling at me gently, I wondered for a moment if she knew the truth about me, although I didn't think Kee would just 'out' me to her parents, the way Kee's mom was smiling at me; almost with an understanding sadness, had me curious.

Putting it out of my mind for the time being, I sighed heavily before saying, "I really like Art though, so I may look into something in that field". Mr. Fellows nodded briefly, "Yes, Sara told me you have a keen eye for the classics". Mrs. Fellows nodded quickly as she interjected, "She had the Lorrain in the hallway figured within a minute" She smiled broadly as she turned to directly address her husband. "You remember the one Scott Townsend painted for me a couple of years ago?".

Mr. Fellows nodded his acknowledgment before saying, "Well, you seem like a determined youngster, I imagine once you set your mind to what you'll be doing after you've finished school, you'll get to it. Unlike a certain young lady, I could mention" he frowned playfully at Kiera who blushed slightly and grumbled, "I know what I want to do Daddy, I just haven't figured out the best courses for it yet". "Well, you've only got what's left of your senior year to figure it out.

You need to start thinking seriously about it, it'll go quicker than you realize" the man insisted as he looked around at the girls determinedly. Shortly after that, the conversations fell back to being menial ones and Ari appeared to collect the now very empty dishes, I thanked him for the meal and complimented him on how amazing the chicken was as I scooped up my plate as well as any that were near enough for me to grab and handed them to the colored man.

After the table was cleared, Mr. and Mrs. Fellows disappeared with a knowing look between them, leaving the six of us chattering away. I hadn't realized that Luke was actually still in the kitchen, as he was so quiet, it was only when I had climbed to my feet and entered the main part of the kitchen to offer Ari my assistance with the washing up, that I found Luke curled up on the floor next to the large freezer unit.

He had a large carton of ice cream set firmly in his lap and was happily spooning it into his mouth. "Um...is he supposed to be eating that?" I asked as the young boy looked up at me with a goofy grin. "Ah, yeah...don't you worry none, that's his Thursday treat" the black man laughed as he turned briefly from his cleaning. "Oh," I mumbled as I turned towards the sink. Walking over to the unit, I leaned around the chef and grabbed a cloth to start drying the stuff he had already washed up. He looked round at me a little surprised, but he didn't offer an argument to my helping. "Um...Everybody helps out cleaning up after dinner at home.

I'd feel odd in not doing something" I explained as my ears turned pink. He smiled briefly and shrugged as he turned his attention back to the sink. Whilst helping the man with the cleaning I found out a bit about him, he was apparently of Jamaican/American heritage. His Mom's family had moved to the States somewhere in the early eighties when his mother was a teenager, she had grown up and married a local and even though Ari was a local lad very much like his father, his grandparents, and his mom had made sure he was steeped in their family's culture.

He had an easy personality and I loved listening to him talk. I didn't even realize that we had long finished washing up; I was sitting on the counter beside the sink with Ari leaning against the prep counter opposite me. It was only when the girls wandered in to find out where I had disappeared to, that either of us realized how long we had been chatting. "Oh, we see how it is, ditching your girlfriends for the hunky chef huh?" Emily teased as she nudged my leg playfully.

I blushed furiously as Ari; apparently just realizing the time, chuckled, and declared that he was leaving us to it. "What will Damien think?" Cass giggled as Emily joined Kee and Chloe in digging through the freezer for their preferred ice cream. "We were just chatting" I whined "Besides Damien's a guy, so I don't think there's much thinking going on, period." "Preach, sister" Kat grinned as the other girls; apparently finding the desserts that they wanted, gathered around and dug in.

We continued to chat until Kat mentioned something about her shifts over the weekend, this caused Chloe to blurt out, "Ooh that reminds me, Mlle you need to have some black emus with you tomorrow". I looked over at her quizzically, though the look on her face clearly stated she wasn't going to divulge any more information. "You can either wear them as part of your outfit or bring them to school with you, but you'll need a pair of black jeans" she insisted. Still confused; I bugged for details, but Chloe just smiled knowingly before moving on to the next topic.

For a short time, the conversation tilted toward our plans after we finished school. Mr Fellows had clearly achieved his goal of getting the girls to start thinking seriously about their plans for college. Emily had every intention of following her mom into Psychology. Chloe was adamant that she wanted to be a vet and Kat decided that she wanted to become a doctor; stating in no uncertain terms, that she wanted to practice 'real' medicine. This of course elicited disgruntled reactions from the younger two girls.

Cass and Kiera were still very much undecided on the fields that they wanted to go into, though Cass did state that as she enjoyed working with materials and that with her family being well off enough that she might look into starting her own clothing company. I frowned as I reminded her that starting her own business would 'not' be a cakewalk, I did promise that I would put her in touch with my Aunt Ellie though, as she was a wealth of information in that department.

After the seriousness of planning for the future, we fell back to chatting about guys, more specifically about Damien. I blushed furiously as Emily recounted that I shouldn't rush things and the others agreed that I should allow it to play out. It was during a moment of quiet when Chloe spoke hesitantly, "I've been sleeping with Akira Kaneda" The rest of our group looked around at her slowly causing her to blush. "Wait! As in Stick and Puck; Akira Kaneda?" Cass demanded.

Chloe nodded slowly, she seemed unable to look any of us in the eye. "Um, somebody fills me in?" I asked softly, regretting it instantly as Em sniggered, "I think that's Damien'sjob" I rolled my eyes at her. "Asshole" I purred before turning to the other girls "Who's Akira Kaneda?" Cass and Kat frowned as Kiera began to explain, "He's on the varsity hockey team" she murmured. "Ah, the nickname.

I guess I should've figured" I grumbled but Emily cut me off, shaking her head, "No! See he is a hockey player but...that isn't where the nickname came from". More than a little confused, I asked, "So, where did it come from then?". There was a moment of hesitation before Kat explained, "Sometime during middle school, his older sister was attacked, apparently by her boyfriend. When Akira found out, he went after the guy and shattered his knees with a hockey stick". I 'Oohed' at the thought, but apparently, that wasn't the end of it.

"And then he smashed several of the guys' teeth out with a hockey puck" Cass finished. I grimaced as I turned my attention to Chloe, who had been unusually quiet throughout the conversation. "What the hell made you decide to hook up with him Chlo?

He's a flicking psycho" Emily asked as she also turned to face the younger girl, "It just kinda happened...and that's hardly a fair statement, Allie hooked up with Damien Lynch and you're all cool with that" "Uh, we haven't actually hooked up" I interjected as I flushed from ear to toe. Chloe wasn't done with her tirade though, so my comment fell by the wayside. "and some of the rumors about him are actually a lot worse" she defended.

"Yeah, but they are just that; rumors, unlike Kaneda, who actually left a guy in the ICU" Kiera growled. I was now familiar enough with the redhead to sense when her temper was building, she was obviously only concerned for Chloe's safety; but given her hot-headedness, it came off as an attack on her independence. "I knew it would be a bad idea to tell you" Chloe huffed as she crossed her arms sulkily. "Yeah, cos you knew we'd talk some sense into you" Kat growled as a couple of the other girls nodded their agreement. "I don't think Chloe's that naïve to put herself" I began, but on receiving a scathing look from several of the girls, I held my hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'm going to go finish my homework" I mumbled as I hopped down from the counter and headed out of the kitchen.

I stopped as I bumped into Mrs. Fellows in the main dining hall, she had a 'glow' about her, and my naive mind suddenly realized where she and her husband had disappeared off to after dinner. "Everything ok dear? You look upset" she asked me kindly, I nodded slowly but then stopped myself I grumbled, "Just now realizing how much of an outsider I am with a group of cheerleaders".

Mrs. Fellows sighed softly before pulling out one of the dining chairs and indicating that I should sit, I sighed huffily and dropped into the offered chair as she lowered herself into the seat beside me. "So, what's eatin' ya?" she asked flatly, I looked around at her quickly, the way she had spoken was so common, nothing akin to how she normally spoke. I giggled, causing her to smile broadly.

"Believe it or not, I used to speak like that all the time. It took some years of refining before I could speak without the drawl" She chuckled, then with her smile becoming more serious she asked, "So what's the matter doll? I know the girls can be a little cliquey, but you seem to fit in so well?". I nodded slowly before explaining, "It all blew up about Chloe, um...seeing a guy that the others don't agree with. Apparently the guy is a bit, uh...well he's a bit of a loose cannon and they're concerned about her safety".

Mrs. Fellows nodded slowly as she mulled over what I was telling her. "I just objectively stated that she wouldn't knowingly put herself in danger" the redhead winced slightly, causing me to pause questioningly. "You've only been a part of their friend circle for a short time" she sighed "but I'm sure you've already discovered that Chloe is her own worst enemy. She's impulsive and emotional" she looked thoughtful for a moment as she toyed with an ornament on her necklace "she tends to get herself into situations that could be easily avoided if she just took a second to think about it.

It sounds rather derogatory, but sometimes the only thing you girls can do as her friends is put your foot down and tell her 'No' I nodded thoughtfully; although I only had limited experience in dealing with Chloe, I had already witnessed the large range in her personality, from the shy and timid to the precocious and at times pushy. "I guess I just felt a little put out that they had disregarded my comment so out of hand" I relayed with a sigh. Mrs. Fellows laughed lightly, "Yes, you need to be a unified front when trying to get Chloe Granger to see sense, any hesitation is a chink in the armor, and she will use that to argue her point.

Honestly, by the sounds of it, the best thing you could've done is stepped out when you did". I felt a little better at her words. I realized that the girls weren't closing me out of the group, they were being tactile in trying to make Chloe see the inherent danger of hooking up with somebody who was actually violent, even if the guy apparently had a reason for being so. With a feeling of relief and a thankful smile on my face, I began to climb to my feet. "What about you, hon.

How are you doing with everything going on at home?" Mrs. Fellows asked me gently. I hesitated as I looked around at her cautiously, again unsure if Kee had told her the truth about me, I found my concerns were unwarranted though as she then stated, "I figured from the way you spoke at dinner that things aren't so good between your mom and dad, did you want to talk about it?".

I stood thinking for a second before mumbling, "There's not much to talk about really, my dad is" I struggled to find the words to describe the predicament, without blatantly stating my situation "Well he's old fashioned and he's being prickly. My mom is a patient; if not stubborn, woman, so it goes to reckon how bad it is that he's rubbing her the wrong way" I faltered again before fixing Mrs. Fellows with a hesitant smile and sighing, "We'll be ok though, if nothing else, me and my brother Jake are just as stubborn as our parents, so if Dad can't see reason, then it'll just be Mom, Jake and me for the foreseeable future".

Although Mrs. Fellows fixed me with a sad smile, her eyes glowed with respect at my determination to keep moving on. "Well Edward and I are here for you should you need us" she asserted. I nodded stiffly as I flushed pink and grumbled, "Thank you, Mrs. Fellows, it means a lot". The woman had climbed to her feet and I found myself wrapped in a 'Mom' hug before she let go of me and disappeared out into the kitchen. I sighed heavily before heading out to the main hall and up to Kiera's room, where I finished going through our group's notes and began packing away to go home.

I was just finishing tidying everybody's stuff away when the girls appeared, every one of them looked sheepish as they apologized for making me feel ostracized, it seemed that although Mrs. Fellows had treated me to a placid explanation of the girl's behavior when she had arrived in the kitchen amidst the heated debate between Chloe and the others, she had let loose on them. So, after a round of hugs and some tearful apologies, we all grabbed our backpacks and got ready to head home.