Not One Of The Girls - Part 8

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As we were tired from shopping all afternoon, we decided that we would grab some take-out on our way home. After wrestling the shopping into the house and up to my room, we headed down to the kitchen and began organizing the food, with Mom grabbing the plates, I started to unpack the take-out.

I was about halfway through when I heard the clinking of keys in the front door and found myself holding my breath. I relaxed; if only slightly as I heard Jake talking animatedly with Jenny as they walked along the hall and entered the kitchen. Realizing they weren't alone, they both looked over to see Mom and me at the counter. Jenny fell quiet as Jake looked at me with mild surprise. "Wow...you actually look like a girl," he said nonchalantly as he walked over to the unit and grabbed a couple of extra plates for the two of them. "Jake!" Mom growled to which Jake shrugged, "What? She was always wearing baggy hoodies and jeans; it was hard to tell".

He winked at me as he and Jenny sat at the island and began helping themselves to the take-out. I smiled shyly as I sat on the other side of Jake and had to wrestle across from him to reach some of the food. He decided to be an ass and moved it further away until Jenny scolded him and handed me the refused dish. "Well, I think you look nice Alex," she said kindly. I blushed lightly. "Thanks, I'm trying something different" I mumbled as Mom sat on my other side. Our conversation was a little wooden, to begin with as Jake hadn't really told us much about Jenny; this was not unusual, given his very Casanova way of handling girls, but as we ate, we got to chatting about a lot of things.

I found out that Jenny was really into cars, she loved working on them almost as much as Jake did. It wasn't the only thing they had in common either, it turned out that she loved being physically active and was part of several of their college's athletic teams and she often did sponsored runs for various charities; she was apparently trying to encourage Jake to get involved in some of the projects with her. I thought it was unusual for my brother to date a girl with substance and I said as much receiving a nudge in the ribs from Jake as his girlfriend laughed heartily.

After we had finished eating, we all helped clear away and the conversation moved into the living room. At some point during dinner, Mom had popped open a bottle of wine which she shared with Jenny and me. I really wasn't sure about the wine, to begin with, I had fried some of Mom's at her encouragement and it had a tang to it that I decided was weird, but by the time I was halfway through my own glass, I decided that I liked it, we had brought the remainder of the bottle through along with our glasses. Jake had asked Mom if he could have a beer and she had replied that he was more than welcome to call Dad and ask his permission to have one of his beers.

The look on Jake's face told that he knew exactly what our old man's answer would be. So, he sullenly made to take a seat beside Jenny on the sofa until Mom burst into laughter and told him he could have a beer. With some indignation Jake disappeared into the kitchen and returned moments later sipping on a beer, he then petulantly dropped onto the sofa beside his girlfriend where he was teased mercilessly by the three of us until he could no longer maintain the sulking facade. We spent a couple of hours just chatting about everything and nothing. I thought it was hilarious when Jenny admitted that her guilty pleasure was a fighting game that she played every now and then on one of her dad's old consoles.

"I don't know what it is, the graphics are terrible and there's no story to it or anything. You literally just mash the buttons and beat the crap out of each other, it's a great film" she laughed. I found myself becoming fond of her. Although it had only been a light jibe that she was the only girl Jake had ever dated that had a personality, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was kind of true.

The airheads that he normally dated only wanted to be with him because he was good-looking and could drive them around. Jenny was probably the first girl that actually liked any of the things he liked. It occurred to me that even though my brother always had a girl with him; he was pretty much always alone. I really enjoyed the chat with Mom, Jenny, and Jake, we laughed and joked and chatted late into the night, but at some point, my low tolerance for alcohol hit me. I began to doze off.

I'm not sure how long I was dozing on the sofa, but I jumped as I felt myself being lifted. "Hm?" I murmured groggily. "Shh...you're ok, I'm just taking you up to the bed," Jake said softly. He had picked me up easily from the sofa and was carrying me carefully up the stairs. There was a dull clunking as he used his knee to push down the handle on my bedroom door. He then laid me carefully on my bed and pulled the comforter up over me. I rolled slightly as he walked towards the door. "Jake?" I mumbled. In my tipsy haze, I saw him turn to face me "I love you" I groaned as I rolled over onto my other side.

"I know" he replied gruffly, causing me to giggle sleepily at the reference. The door closed with a light click and I fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke on Saturday, I sat up groggily and looked around at all the bags of clothing that I would have to sort through. Sighing heavily, I climbed out of bed and headed for my shower, I took extra time to wash and condition my hair, after which I set about shaving my legs and my underarms. By the time I had finished, I was vehemently cursing at the crappy water pressure in my private bathroom. I really needed to get Jake to look at it later. I wrapped a towel around myself with a smaller one for my hair and wandered back into my room.

I started hunting through the bags from the lingerie boutique and feeling full of confidence, I selected a racy set of underwear which I pulled on, before picking out a simple white top and black jeans for my actual attire. I headed down into the kitchen, to see my mom sitting at the breakfast bar reading a magazine as she munched on a bowl of cereal. She looked up at me briefly and mumbled, "Morning" before returning her attention to her magazine.

I smirked as I walked over to the counter and shoved some bread into the toaster. I got the impression that after Jake had put me into my bed, the three of them had sat and had more drinks whilst they chatted. The issue was that my mom was not really a drinker, it wasn't like she was 'hungover' exactly, but she was definitely feeling it. "How are you feeling Mom?" I teased as my toast popped. She just grunted in response as I sat down at the bar beside her. "Foggy what have you got planned for the day, hon?" she asked me as she put her magazine down and looked at me.

"Um, I need to sort my clothes out and I was thinking about messaging Kiera; see if I can head over to hers for a bit later" I mumbled through my toast. Mom her understanding. "I'll sort out some sacks. If you bag your old clothes, I'll get Jake to drop them at a thrift store later". "What am I being volunteered for?" Jake grumbled as he wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes furiously and yawning as he stumbled over to the coffee maker. "Are you feeling the effects of the alcohol too?" I taunted as Jake poured out two cups of coffee.

He looked at me gruffly before sneering, "You can talk, you got to snoring so loud, I had to take you up to bed so we could talk without shouting". I blushed furiously at his jibe as Mom conferred, "Can you run some of A.J's old clothes out for her later?" Jake took a sip of his coffee and grunted, "Yeah, I suppose so...I don't think Jenny and I are doing much else today anyway". As he spoke there was a clinking of keys in the front door, and we were joined momentarily by Jenny herself.

She walked into the kitchen with Jake's keys in her hand. "Morning" she chirped as she grabbed up the second cup that Jake had poured. "Um," I grumbled as I took in the leggings and sports bra that she was wearing. "Oh yeah, she's a morning person" Jake growled, rolling his eyes as his girlfriend dropped into the seat beside me. I grinned when I saw the `WTF' look that my mom gave the younger woman.

"Um, I need to sort my clothes out and I was thinking about messaging Kiera; see if I can head over to hers for a bit later" I mumbled through my toast. Mom her understanding. "I'll sort out some sacks. If you bag up your old clothes, I'll get Jake to drop them at a thrift store later". "What am I being volunteered for?" Jake grumbled as he wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes furiously and yawning as he stumbled over to the coffee maker. "Are you feeling the effects of the alcohol too?" I taunted as Jake poured out two cups of coffee.

He looked at me gruffly before sneering, "You can talk, you got to snoring so loud, I had to take you up to bed so we could talk without shouting". I blushed furiously at his jibe as Mom conferred, "Can you run some of A.J's old clothes out for her later?" Jake took a sip of his coffee and grunted, "Yeah, I suppose so. I don't think Jenny and I are doing much else today anyway". As he spoke there was a clinking of keys in the front door, and we were joined momentarily by Jenny herself. She walked into the kitchen with Jake's keys in her hand. "Morning" she chirped as she grabbed up the second cup that Jake had poured. "Um," I grumbled as I took in the leggings and sports bra that she was wearing. "Oh yeah...she's a morning person" Jake growled, rolling his eyes as his girlfriend dropped into the seat beside me. I grinned when I saw the `WTF' look that my mom gave the younger woman.

Both Mum and I were early risers; generally being up about six o'clock pretty much daily, But for Jenny to be up and going out for a run this early was alien even to us. "I'm going up for a shower," Jake said to his girlfriend as he kissed her on the cheek. He then turned to me and grumbled, "Let me know when you're done sorting through your clothes". "Awesome. Thanks" I replied as he disappeared. "So, Alex, you ever think about going running in the mornings?" Jenny asked me before sipping her coffee.

I looked round at her with a raised eyebrow, "It's an established fact that I like you" I stated "but if you think you can drag me out to go running before the sun is even up, I think I may have to re-evaluate our friendship" I groaned to which Jenny laughed lightly. "Is that a challenge?" she chirped as she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. "What about you Mrs. Evans?" she then asked Mom politely.

Mom who had gone back to reading her magazine was quiet for a moment before stating bluntly, "I run around a house after two kids and a husband all day. I get all the exercise I need thank you". I looked over at Jenny and we shared a raised eyebrow look before silently laughing. I made small talk with the two women whilst I grabbed myself some coffee and sat sipping the brew. I messaged Kiera about going around to see her later that day, and she replied pretty much instantly that she would be happy to see me, though I would need to leave it until after four o'clock as she was at work until at least three. I confirmed that would be fine, before putting my phone away, I then rinsed my coffee cup before heading towards my room.

I was stopped by Jenny at the bottom of the stairs. "Do you need a hand putting your new clothes away?" she asked kindly. I thought about it for a moment. "That would be pretty cool actually...thanks" I confirmed. So Jenny followed me up to my room and asked what I needed her to do, I had her empty the bags of new clothing onto my bed as I went through and stripped out all my old clothing into the sacks Mom had organized. We got to chaffing animatedly as we rifled through the clothes; folding them and/or hanging them as needed before deciding on appropriate places to store them.

Jenny had some really useful tips for wearing certain items as well as for caring for the more delicate items, she did tease me about some of my lingerie choices which made me blush furiously. She went quiet for a moment before saying, "You know, you're really brave for going through with this". I looked at her confused. "Urn I sort of figured it out; you are being trans between what your mom said and what Jake didn't say". I frowned, causing her to look hesitant. "Don't be mad at them, it was my fault, I was curious" she insisted as she sat on the end of my bed. "After Jake and I saw you in town that day, I badgered him about you, to begin with, he wouldn't talk about it...just said it was a complicated situation. "I just assumed that your folks were like really conservative or something, and that they wouldn't be happy with how you were dressed, but then after you officially introduced yourself to me. I found myself even more curious.

"I kept asking Jake about you, he kinda slipped up when he used some male pronouns for you. So, I asked about that, but he just said it wasn't his place to talk about it. "So...last night when he brought you up to the bed, I asked your Mum about you; she was hesitant to speak about your situation, but eventually I worked it out. "I'm sorry. I guess I can be a bit pushy sometimes..." Jenny's cheeks flushed pink as she trailed off. I sat down on the bed beside her. "It's ok" I murmured "I think Jake probably would have told you eventually anyway" I conferred. Jenny looked round at me curiously. "What makes you think that?" she asked quietly.

I sighed softly before explaining, "Jake has always been something of aum" Jenny gave me an encouraging look, and I just sighed again before speaking, "Well he's always been a bit of a Casanova" I murmured flushing pink as she chuckled dryly, "Oh Yes I'm very much aware of his dating history". I nodded stiffly as I continued, "Yeah, but he's never bothered taking the time to introduce any of his girlfriends to us his family. "I've seen girls coming and going, but he's never sat down to a family meal where he invited his girlfriend to join us.

There's definitely something different about you" I trailed off. I felt myself blushing deeper and upon looking over at Jenny, I realized she was too. We looked at each other for a moment before laughing. We were laughing for a couple of minutes before there was a rough knock on the door.

Jake didn't even wait for an answer before opening the door and strolling in. "Hey!" I grumbled as Jenny stated bluntly, "Jake! You can't just walk into a girl's room". My brother just frowned and retorted, "Why not? I knew she was already dressed" To which his girlfriend growled, "That's beyond the point. We could've been doing anything in here". Jake looked from her to me before chuckling, "I don't know if I should be more concerned about my girlfriend influencing my little sister or the other way around are you done bagging up your old clothes?" he looked at me pointedly.

I nodded to the corner of the room just behind the door where we had ditched the bags. "Are you two going to help me take all these out to the car?" he asked gruffly as he grabbed up several of the bags. I made to jump up, but Jenny grabbed my arm. "Nope. It's men's work" she insisted.

Jake grumbled something under his breath about equality. "What was that?" Jenny purred causing Jake to blush. "Nothing, dear" he grumbled as he stepped out into the hall. He was about halfway down the stairs when I ran out and called, "Oh Jake can you look at my shower later? The water pressure sucks". I heard Mom laughing from the living room as Jake ranted.

After Jake had loaded my old clothes into his car, he then almost sulkily waited while Jenny had a shower and got dressed.

He argued that it was almost midday by that point, as Jenny had pointed out though; they could get lunch together after dropping off the clothes, she then leaned forward and whispered something in his ear, which made him cheer up instantly. He disappeared out to the car as Jenny winked at me before pulling me into a light hug, I thanked her again for helping me sort through my new clothes and for running my old stuff out. She conferred that it wasn't an issue before heading out after Jake.

I spent the early part of the afternoon pottering about helping Mom with some housework, after which we sat down and ate a late lunch together. I admitted to her that I had some concerns about school the next week. It didn't bother me so much that people would see me as a girl. That had pretty much always been the case anyway.

My concern lay in how much attention I would get; as I was so used to just kind of merging into the background, I felt that it wouldn't be possible; given my radical wardrobe change. "Well, you'll have to get used to it" Mom stated flatly "You're pretty, even without going to the effort of putting on make-up. You're going to get a lot of attention, especially from boys" She looked over at me knowingly. I flushed pink as I groaned, "Great, I'm already regretting my decision" Mom laughed lightly before responding, "You'll get used to it. You just kind of learn to ignore it, mostly". She went quiet for a moment before asking, "So, I meant to ask you yesterday; who's Damien?". I blushed deeper as I looked down at my plate. "You were talking to the nurse about him when I arrived"

I was genuinely surprised that they didn't have a thicker door in the nurse's office. so much for privacy right? "He's just a guy in my class" I murmured looking at Mom sidelong. I was hoping to leave it at that, but the look on her face, as she leaned forward, told me that she wasn't going to let up. "He wouldn't be who you've been skipping classes with, would he?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, causing me to blush even more furiously. "I um yes" I stammered "but it's not what you think" I added hastily. "He's just been a good friend, helping me get my head around my situation" I murmured. Mom nodded thoughtfully. "So, he knows about your past then?" she asked softly. I nodded stiffly as I continued, "Yeah, we got to chatting earlier this week.

He has a reputation for being this `bad boy' but he's actually kinda sweet" I smiled weakly, causing Mom to frown slightly. "Well, I'm not happy about him encouraging you to skip classes" she stated "but your grades don't seem to have been affected too much. I'll let it slide this time; if only because you've been dealing with a lot" she looked at me sternly as she continued, "I meant it though when I said don't make a habit of it. And I promise you this; if I ever meet Damien, I will have more than a few stern words for him". I nodded my understanding. After a few moments of silence, a worried expression crept across Mom's face. "What's up, Momma?" I asked quietly.

She hesitated slightly before voicing her concerns, "I'm just worried about how your father will react to all of this". "It's not going to be easy, is it?" I asked softly. She just shook her head slowly. I saw tears trickling down her face as she whispered, "He was silent for a while after you told us how you felt, then he just kind of burst. He said some truly awful things; he blamed me for coddling you. He blamed Jake for not being a good enough influence on you. "When he got to the point where he was bleating on about this potentially damaging his reputation that was when Jake snapped.

He told your Father to shut up. It took us both by surprise, but he was far from done. "He began shouting about how the whole situation was tearing you up inside, he explained that you were so worried about how it would affect your father's reputation and my feelings that you were internalizing it all. He finished by saying that your dad was being selfish" she paused for a second, blushing furiously. "Well, I won't repeat the word he used.

But after that, your father disappeared off to Jack's". I looked down at my knees as tears formed in my eyes. I was causing a rift between Dad and Jake, and I wondered if it would be the same with, him and Mom. I felt myself being pulled around; Mom lifted my chin gently until she was staring directly into my eyes. "Don't you dare blame yourself for any of this" she insisted. "If anybody is to blame for any friction in this family, it's your dad and his bastard selfish-ness". I couldn't help but smile, my mom wasn't generally one to swear, so it was always amusing to hear it.

She smiled warmly as she pulled me into a hug. "I promise you; I won't allow your dad to interfere with your transition" she murmured before letting go of me. She looked down at her watch and chuckled, "You need to get ready if you're heading out". She twisted her arm slightly to show me the time. "Ooh, Kiera's gonna kill me" I gasped jumping up and running upstairs to get ready.