Not One Of The Girls - Part 10

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I spent pretty much all of Sunday morning watching tutorial videos online, trying to learn about make-up. I got frustrated several times as the girls in the videos made it look so easy, I had to keep reminding myself that most of them had years of practice, I'd only been at it a couple of hours. It was as I was fiddling around with a mascara brush that there was a light knock on my bedroom door. "Um come in" I called out as I just about avoided gouging myself in the eye. "Hey, Alex. Jake and I are heading out to oh".

Jenny stopped as she took in the small collection of make-up on the end of my bed. "Hey, Jen. I'm Just working on my technique" I smiled shyly as I paused the video I was currently watching "The girls in the videos make it look so easy" I groaned, causing the older girl to chuckle. "Yeah, it's a lot like cooking. It's easy to learn how, but a bitch to perfect anyway Jake and I are going to get some lunch from that new bakery in town.

Did you want anything?". I thought for a moment before smiling. "Could you grab me a sausage bake?" I asked softly to which Jenny grinned knowingly, "You know you're going to have to start watching what you're eating, right?" I sighed heavily before responding, "Yeah, I know. I think I deserve a treat after the stress of learning to put make-up on though". Jenny looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I can't argue with that logic. Tell you what, after lunch, I'll sit down with you and help you with your technique. If you want".

I smiled weakly. "That would be pretty cool, thanks. Only if it isn't a bother for you though?". Jenny laughed heartily as she stated, "Not at all. Jake has a game later this afternoon. I would normally go with him and spend the time chatting with friends, but most of them are working today. I don't really want to be sat there all alone. So yeah, we'll be back soon with lunch and afterward, I'll show you how to doll yourself up" She smiled kindly at me before heading out of my room. I clicked the video to play again and continued fiddling with the make-up whilst I waited for Jenny and Jake to get back.

About thirty minutes later I heard keys rattling in the lock, I jumped up from my bed and jogged down the stairs. "It's about time, I'm absolutely starving" I grinned as I entered the living room. My smile slid as I saw it was my dad standing in the living room. "Uh, hey Dad" I grumbled awkwardly as the man looked at me and grimaced. "What the hell are you wearing?" he demanded as he rifled through the post on the unit just inside the living room door.

I turned pink as I looked down at my outfit; it was a fairly conservative choice, consisting of a white, lightly flared knee-length skirt with a simple black top. "You're strutting about dressed like a goddamn fairy, I can't believe your mother is actually feeding into this bullshit" he sneered as he walked past me towards the kitchen. "Where is she anyway?". There was a barely restrained anger in his voice as he stopped at the kitchen door and turned to face me. "Um she left for Aunt Ellie's this morning" I explained.

I was looking down at my feet as I spoke and with my anxiety at his aggressiveness; my voice came out in barely a whisper. "Speak up boy, I can't hear you when you mumble" my old man snapped harshly. I felt tears forming in my eyes at the way he spat the word 'boy'. "She's at Aunt Ellie's" I repeated, forcing myself to look up at him. He looked at me for a moment before he snarled, "Are you wearing make-up?". I felt the tears beginning to flow as I nodded stiffly. "Jesus, where the hell did we go wrong with you?" the man demanded with angry desperation as he walked out into the kitchen for a moment.

"I mean there isn't anything wrong with Jake. He's normal" he berated from the other room. I heard a couple of the cupboard doors slamming, even though he was in a different room, the slamming doors made me flinch. "I reckon your mom gives you too much freedom, it's made you soft. We should just make you get a haircut and end this bullshit once and for all" he barked as he returned to the living room.

I maintained looking down at my feet, feeling really self-conscious. "What? You suddenly have nothing to say to me?" he sneered "You were all chatty the other night when you had the stones to swear at me" he continued as he walked over to me. I stood there, shaking slightly as he inadvertently inhaled the perfume that Mom had given me. "Are you wearing your mom's perfume?" he demanded angrily. I shook my head as I whispered, "She gave me a bottle that she didn't use".

Tears were still streaming down my face and for a moment my mind wandered to the jeez, my mascara is going to run thoughts before I was snapped back to reality by my dad growling at me, "I'm going to take a shower. If you aren't looking normal by the time I've finished, so help me I'll". My anger at his ignorance began to overflow my grief as I interjected, "How do you expect me to look 'normal' exactly? I got rid of all my old clothes after Mom and I went shopping on Friday".

My Dad just looked at me disbelievingly, before brushing past me and clomping up the stairs, not sure of what he was going to do, I rushed after him. He barrelled into my room and wrenched open my closet, seeing nothing but female clothing, he growled angrily before beginning to rip all of my clothes out.

"What are you doing?" I gasped as he threw the items into a loose pile on the floor. "No son of mine is going to go around dressed like a faggot" he barked as he walked past my bay window to my bureau. "Dad, please stop?" I sobbed as the man began pulling the various drawers out and ditching the contents onto the floor, as he reached the drawers with my underwear in, he froze momentarily; just staring at the bras and panties.

Then with a visible physical shudder, he made to pull those drawers out too. Again, my anger welled up and I pushed myself between him and what was left of the dresser, I flung my hands up and shoved at his chest as I screamed at him, "Just leave me alone!" He took a step back as I shoved at him again. "Get the fuck out of my room!" I shrieked. Dad just looked down at me, apparently surprised by my ferocity, he recovered quickly though and as I made to shove him a third time, he grabbed both of my arms with one hand. "Maybe you do need a firm hand after all" he hissed as he raised his free hand to slap me.

I flinched as I anticipated the hit. But it never came. I slowly looked up to see Dad turning to find Jake holding his wrist; to stop him from hitting me. "What the hell are you doing Dad?" Jake demanded as he slowly let go of the older man's arm. Jenny pushed past the two of them to cradle me as I dropped to the floor sobbing. "Where the flick do you get off scaring your own kid like that!?" Jake roared. I don't think I ever saw him so angry.

"That" Dad snarled as he jabbed a finger in my direction, "is not my child. I have two sons...not one son and a goddamn drag queen". I was shaking so violently by this point that as Jenny hugged me tightly to comfort me, she was almost vibrating, "I think you should leave. Mr Evans" she insisted. My Dad faltered for a second before turning to glare at the blonde, "What the hell gives you the right to demand that I leave my own house?" he barked, causing the girl to recoil slightly. "No! She's right Dad-" Jake sighed heavily, "If you can't accept that this is happening; that Alex is happier as a girl. Then maybe you shouldn't be here without Mom as an intermediary".

There was a moment of tension as neither Dad nor Jake moved, they just glared at each other before Dad looked down at me and with a final grimace, he pushed past Jake and out into the hallway, he then marched off to his and Mom's room with Jake just behind him. I just sat huddled on the floor with Jenny rocking me gently to try and calm me. After several long minutes, Dad walked back past my door with a large bag in his hand, he disappeared down the stairs, with Jake still a couple of steps behind him, my brother looked into my room on his way past, with a sad but determined look on his face.

As my shaking dissipated, Jenny finally let go of me, I looked round at her and she smiled at me sadly before climbing to her feet and beginning to tidy the mess of clothing. I climbed to my feet and began gathering some of the items up, but Jenny grabbed me gently and guided me onto the end of my bed, she smiled at me again as she set about putting all of the clothes away once more. After about five minutes, Jake reappeared.

"You ok?" he asked gently. I swallowed hard to prevent a fresh wave of tears and nodded stiffly. "He was so angry" I whispered as Jenny finished putting the clothing away and sat on the end of the bed beside me. "Well, he's gone now, come on let's go get lunch" my brother asserted as he squeezed my arm gently. "Um, you go ahead babe. We'll be down in a minute" Jenny insisted, to a curious look from Jake "I'm going to help A.J. get cleaned up a bit" she explained. Jake looked at me for a moment before shrugging and heading out of my room. Jenny then turned to me and grabbed a make-up wipe. "You look like a raccoon" she teased as she gently wiped my face.

I felt tears streaming again as I mumbled, "I've never seen my dad like that. Maybe he's right maybe I should just" Jenny grabbed my face gently and pulled me up, so she was looking directly into my eyes. "Don't do that to yourself" she purred, "you're so brave for undergoing such a massive change. Don't let people make you doubt yourself like that" she insisted. Jenny then smiled kindly as she poked the end of my nose playfully. "Now, let's go and eat. I'm starving".

She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, she was still holding onto me as we walked out into the hallway and headed down the stairs. "Once we're done with lunch, we can set about getting you all dolled up" Jenny confirmed as we entered the kitchen to find that Jake had already started reheating our pastries.

We made small talk as we ate and by the time we had finished, I felt a lot better. "I think I'm going to skip this game" Jake sighed as he washed the lunch plates. "Are you sure babe, it's an important game for the team, isn't it?" his girlfriend frowned as she took the plates from him to dry them. "It is, but I called Mom after Dad left, naturally, she's pissed as hell. She left Aunt El's pretty much straight away, but it'll still be a while before she's back and I don't want to leave A.J. on her own" Jake explained as they finished washing up and returned to the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee each.

"I'll stay with her" Jenny insisted, "I was going to mention it anyway, but there's not going to be many of our group there today, so I'm not really going to have anyone to talk to whilst you're playing". Jake looked thoughtful for a moment, he seemed hesitant before nodding stiffly. "Well, if you're sure, but if our old man turns up, just call the police ok," he said coldly, his attitude towards our dad surprised me a little, he really seemed to take it to heart that our old man just blatantly refused to accept me as I was.

Jake finished his coffee and after rinsing his cup he kissed Jenny before disappearing to collect his gear together. Jenny and I just continued chatting for several minutes until we heard the clunking of Jake coming back down the stairs. "Right. I'm heading out then. I'll see you both in a few hours" he declared. He kissed Jenny again before disappearing through the living room and out of the front door with a dull clunk.

After enjoying another cup of coffee together, Jenny decided it was time to get to work on my make-up lessons. After looking through the make-up that Kiera had given me, she stated that my friend had given me a decent selection to practice with, though she did disappear for a moment and returned a moment later with her own make-up bag. "Over time you'll develop your own style, obviously that's what we want, but for now; I'll run you through the basics of how to apply each item" The older girl grinned as she climbed onto my bed and sat opposite me cross-legged. "I'll apply the item on you so you can see how it should look.

Then we'll clean it off and then you can give it a go sound good?" "Yes ma'am," I said with an excited nod. It was a little awkward, to begin with, Jenny would; as she had stated, apply each item whilst explaining everything she was doing to show me how it looked, then she would have me remove it and redo it myself. As I mentioned, I found it a little tricky to begin with, but I was soon getting used to how to blend the make-up properly and although I still had issues applying the eyeliner, I was really proud that I had managed to make myself look presentable.

I was really hesitant when the older girl mentioned over-lining my lips though, I'd seen some really bad attempts at it online, to the point the girls in the videos looked like clowns. After Jenny took the time to talk me through it though, I felt confident that my lips looked nice and full. I'm not exactly sure how long we sat there doing my make-up, but eventually, there was a rattling of keys followed by two exuberant female voices. One of the voices was clearly my mom, it took me a second to recognize the other voice though, and as soon as I did, I jumped up from my bed and rushed to the stairs, I reached the top just as Mom called out, "A.J, you up there, lion?" I jogged down the stairs with Jenny following at a slower pace.

I entered the living room to see my mom with a look of relief on her face, "Oh baby, I can't believe what your father did to you" she gasped as she rushed over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm ok Mom, Jake, and Jenny intervened before it got out of hand" I grumbled as I looked over Mom's shoulder at the person she had been talking to. I saw tears in the rich dark eyes of my Aunt Eleanor as she took in my attire and my make-up. "Aunty El what are you doing here?" I asked curiously as Mom let go of me and pulled Jenny into a hug with a feverish thank you, for her looking after me. Jenny stammered slightly as she insisted it was fine and it was a pleasure to spend time with me.

I walked over to my aunt and smiled weakly as she continued to observe the 'new' me. "Well, your mom was just getting done telling me about you, when she received a rather alarming call from Jake. Naturally, your mom wanted to head home to make sure you're ok, I just decided to tag along" she explained as she pulled me into a warm hug. "You look beautiful, love" she whispered as she kissed me on the top of my head. "Thank you I've really missed you" I murmured. I had an overwhelming urge to burst into tears, but I was adamant I would not ruin my make-up.

Ellie released me from the hug, but she placed her hands gently on my cheeks and turned my face up to look at her, "You'll learn in time that men are often like a different species, love. Don't let your dad's stubbornness get you down, he'll come around eventually" she insisted as she let go of me to remove her coat. After she had hung her coat in the hall, she bustled out into the kitchen calling, "Come on girl child, come help your old aunt cook some Dinner for your mom". Mom blanched at Ellie's comment, it was extremely rare that anybody cooked for her and it was never in her own kitchen. "El you don't need to" she stammered as she began to rush after her older sister. "Nonsense, Bridge you deserve a good meal every now and then; that you didn't cook.

When was the last time that your husband cooked a meal, or even took you out to a nice restaurant, for that matter?" There was a slight debate between the two until eventually, Ellie won out. Now, I honestly would never say my Aunt Eleanor was pushy, but she was definitely stubborn. When she set her mind to something, it was difficult to get her to change it. Mom and Jenny sat at the breakfast bar and we all chatted whilst Aunt Ellie guided me in what needed to be prepared for dinner.

She was curious about the circumstances leading up to my life-altering decision, so I took her through the story of how I had come to terms with it and my revelation to my parents. She of course knew a fair amount through my mom having told her, but she wanted me to tell it in my own words. When I mentioned what Cass had said about Damien maybe liking me, Mom and Jenny gave me a knowing look as all three of them encouraged me to open up about how I felt toward the school 'bad boy'. I blushed furiously when I mentioned the incident on the promenade and the flutter that I had felt when he had pulled me closer to him.

I was then teased warmly as Aunt Ellie and I began to serve the food. We were just taking our seats when there was the telltale rattling of keys as Jake entered the house. "Well, you timed that right didn't you" Jenny called out softly "How was the game?" she asked as she began to tuck into the meal whilst Mom handed out glasses for a bottle of wine that she had opened. "Well, we won just about. The team we were playing against was something else" Jake grunted as he entered the kitchen. "Oh hey, Aunt El" he greeted as he saw the woman at the end of the breakfast bar. "Hey, kiddo.

How's my favorite nephew?" she grinned as she jumped up and made to hug him. He passed on the hug with the indication that he was all sweaty from his game. The woman just shrugged her acceptance and climbed back onto her stool, she took a swig from her glass as Jake chuckled, "Well technically, I'm your only nephew, so" I felt myself blushing as I poked my tongue out at my brother causing Ellie to chuckle dryly. Jake made a comment about the food smelling nice before he kissed Jenny on the cheek and disappeared for a shower. When he returned, Mom ran his food through the microwave for a minute to ensure it was piping. "Mom this is amazing" he grunted as he dug into the food.

"Um it was your aunt and your sister that cooked it" Mom blushed, she still seemed uncomfortable with the fact that somebody else had been cooking in her kitchen. I smiled at her awkwardness. "A.J. did most of the work. I was mostly just guiding her" Ellie insisted. I blushed at her compliments but as I thought about it; I realized that she had really meant it, she had helped with some of the prep, but aside from that, she spent a lot of time chaffing to Mom and Jenny as I cooked dinner. As with Friday evening, after dinner, everyone got involved in cleaning up, so we were done in no time. We then once again moved into the living room.

As I drained my third glass of wine, I was beginning to feel really buzzed, Ellie offered to top my glass up, but I refused, I was determined to remain awake, to spend time with her. As a family, we had always been close to her, but because of how far away she lived, we only saw her maybe every few months, ordinarily.

She owned a small chain of fairly successful businesses in her hometown, which also kept her busy, she had people to run those businesses for her of course, but she always insisted on being involved with them as much as possible. She always said it was to provoke a familial feeling within her teams - you know the whole boss is just one of us' type thing? that was just the sort of boss she was. So, after giving us an update on everything Ellie, she then steered the conversation onto us, or more specifically, our schooling, she wanted to know how Jake and I, and even Jenny, were doing and what we had planned for after school, that sort of thing.

I had to admit, although I was a straight-A student, I hadn't given too much thought to where I was headed during college let alone university. Jake actually hesitated more than I did; he had always determined to become a lawyer like Dad, but with recent events unfolding the way they had, he said he wasn't so sure. He looked at Jenny for a moment before stating that if he could get the money together, he would like to open a garage. I had a random fleeting image of him and Jenny working out of a garage together, with a couple of kids running around.

My thoughts then idled as I began thinking about the idea of having kids myself. What sort of parent would 'I' be? I like to think I'd be like my own Mom, firm but fair, loving, and always ready to listen, but ready to put the kids in their place if needed. I was so busy with my thoughts that I completely missed the question that was pitched to me. "Um sorry?" I grumbled as everyone laughed, making my ears turn pink. "I said with most of your friends being cheerleaders, is that something you see yourself doing?" Ellie asked kindly.

I thought about it for a second before shaking my head, "No, I don't think so. The girls on the squad, they're all really graceful and super flexible. I don't know if I'd be able to keep up" I posited "and then, of course, there's the social aspect. I mean they regularly perform in front of hundreds of people, so I" I flushed darker pink as I finished with a grumble "I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable with that". El smiled softly whilst nodding her understanding, before thinking of something else to ask about. We chatted some more before the day's events finally began to catch up with me.

I climbed to my feet as I groaned that I was going to head up. I went and rinsed my wine glass before saying good night to everyone, I hugged both my aunt and my mom, then I turned my attention to Jenny and Jake. "Urn, thank you for today. I don't know what Dad would've..." I felt a little choked and wasn't able to finish my sentence. Jenny climbed to her feet quickly and with her eyes glistening with tears, she hugged me. "Hey! As I said earlier, don't do that to yourself.

Your Dad may be being an asshole about it sorry Mrs Evans" I heard my mom grumble behind me about 'no harm in calling a shovel a shovel' as the blonde continued, "but don't allow him to dictate who you are; it's your decision, it's your life, you know?" she insisted as she let go of me and sat back down. I looked at Jake and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that it's causing friction between you and DadnI didn't mean to". Jake frowned and shook his head before snapping, "Don't" he looked at me fiercely from his seat on the sofa, "As Jen said this is on Dad, you aren't to blame, he is" he smiled at me determinedly.

I just nodded my acceptance before heading out of the living room and up the stairs. As I washed off my make-up and got ready for bed, I thought about the events of the day, I felt a sort of calmness settle over me as I decided that they were right, why should I allow my dad to tell me who I am? Why should I allow anybody to tell me who I am? I fell asleep quickly and I don't recall waking up at all that night.