A Simple Life: Chapter 187

All dressed up we gather dice, books, papers and pencils and are soon on our way. Fidgeting in the passenger seat I am down right giddy, and more than a little anxious, as Winona drives us into town. Things were happening so quickly on this whole exploring my feminine side thing. It was only earlier today that I’d found the courage to show a different ‘Althea’ to Grandpa and now here I was done up in the fantasy version of her out in the world about to meet a whole group of other people. I was mostly hidden inside the truck and the group I was going to meet were all cool but it still left me buzzing with both excitement and trepidation.

Winona, picking up on my nervous mood, gives me a wink. “You look great, babe.”

“Thanks.” I smile. “You too.”

“Wanna pop by Mom and Dad’s on the way? Show them our costumes?”

“Erm.”

“On second thought, let’s leave that for another day.” She chuckles. “They ain’t ready for all this.”

“Okay.” I say with a relieved sigh. The group I think I could handle but Winona’s folks was whole different mountain to climb. Amos was awesome but I hadn’t a clue how he might react to me being a she, and Cher still scared me at the best of times. She had definite ideas about whites and men, how would she react to her daughter’s partner when she found out that I fell even further outside her preconceived mold of what a proper boyfriend should be than she thought? It helped that this was ‘just’ a costume but as Winona said, they weren’t ready for this. And neither was I.

We were about halfway to town when my phone rings. Digging it out of my dice bag, which was doubling as a sort of purse, I look at the screen.

“It’s Kayla.”

“If she’s canceling this late tell her I’m gonna kick her ass.”

I answer. “Hello?”

Catching the high, soft tone of my voice she replies. “Althea?”

I giggle. “Horny Fucker?”

“Ha!” She guffaws. “Just wait until you see me! Honestly, I think I’m even hotter as a dude.”

“I bet!” I say excitedly. “W-Winona was worried you were canceling.”

“Are you kidding? This is all any of us have been talking about.” She says. “We’ve all caught that FoF bug. And Winnie was patient zero!”

“I know what you m-mean.”

“Hey, you guys wanna chip in for pizza and stuff tonight?” Kayla says. “I haven’t had time to grab a bite.” She laughs. “I talked to Briar and she said she couldn’t cook right now if she wanted to. I guess her costume is something else. Cain and Riley are picking her up from the dorm.”

“Ooo! I can’t wait to see it.” After clearing it with Winona I say. “Y-Yeah. We haven’t eaten yet. Let’s order in.”

“Sweet. Love ya, bestie.”

I smile. “Love ya. See you soon.” After hanging up I catch my ever jealous girlfriend giving me a stern side-eye I titter. “I love her as a bestie!”

“Mm hm.”

At the apartment we discover the guest berths full with Brayden’s rust bucket in our spot as usual. The nearest parking spot we could find was over a block away causing my nerves to rise even further. After shutting off the engine Winona takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Just stay close. It’s going to be fine.”

With a grateful grin and a nod I bolster my courage and step out of the truck. When my slippered feet hit the pavement a funny thing happens. The world just kept on going as if nothing had happened. Heads didn’t turn, traffic didn’t screech to a halt, parents didn’t scream and cover their children’s eyes, the most that happens is a duo of chirpy sparrows swoop by to land in a nearby tree where they continue their fighting or courting or whatever it was they were doing.

Winona trots around the truck with her gaming bag slung over her shoulder. Out here in the outdoor light she somehow looks even more bad ass than she had back home!

“What?” She asks, looking down at herself when she notices my ogling. “Something wrong with the costume?”

“I’ll n-never get used to you as a red-head.”

“Heh.” She offers me her arm. “Ready?”

Taking her arm I clutch closely. “Lead the way.”

Along the short walk to the apartment we do eventually get a few curious glances though it was far more to do with Winona’s delicious abs than anything I was doing. She really was a sight to behold. I let us through the security door and have to button up a giggle as we swoosh straight past one of my neighbors without him even recognizing me. Despite how well it went I was relieved when we finally got to the suite and out of the public eye. The door had barely shut behind us when the next challenge presents itself.

“Avery?” I hear Brayden say from the living room.

“It’s m-me and Winona.”

“Ha!” He laughs. “What’s with your voi…” The words catch in his throat as he rounds into the hall to see the pair of us. Or more specifically, me. “Avery!?”

His face falls. His brows furrow. His eyes narrow. And his face twists into a WTF sort of cringe. Oh no! I thought he was going to be cool with this. He knew Althea was a female elf. And he’d come so far recently. But as I stood there, suddenly feeling even more naked than naked under his judgmental stare, I am reminded that until just this week he’d hung with Jack and his crew for most of his life and picked up a lot of their attitudes. Please, oh please, don’t say anything Brayden! Not only would he really disappoint me, and hurt my feelings in the process, he would set Winona off. I didn’t want our fun night to start on a sour note. Making the moment even weirder was the fact that he was dressed as…a Catholic priest?

The weird becomes downright surreal as striding up to his side is his new goth friend Onyx dressed as some crazy kind of nun. Or I assumed it was a nun based on the signature white band and black veil covering her hair and the big crucifix hung by a rosary around her neck. The rest of her habit was FAR skimpier and sexier and grungier than any nun in good standing could even dream of donning. Instead of robes she wore a tight sleeveless black dress, slits down both sides, with a ragged hem just above her knees and plunging cleavage. On her hands and arms she wore long fingerless black gloves which stretched right up to her biceps, on the forearm of each is emblazoned a stylized cross. Her legs are covered with thigh high stockings that looked like they’d once been white but were now filthy and torn. Worn on a thigh holster on her right is a heavy pistol, clearly plastic but very realistic looking, and hanging from her rope belt on the left is a pair of fighting sticks held in a specially made leather sheath. From that last item alone I knew that this outfit was not something she’d just thrown together. The skin you could see, basically her face, neck, shoulders, and thighs above the stockings were all smudged with filth and blood making her many tattoos difficult to discern. Most unnerving of all however were the big black circles painted around her eyes which were a pure milky white. Damn! I could hardly believe this was the same dead-eyed girl who served me at the pet store.

Much like Brayden she nearly stumbles to a stop when she catches sight of us. Or more specifically, Winona.

“Oh God.” She gasps as she slowly looks up and down my statuesque girlfriend. “Oh my God!” Nudging Brayden’s arm she asks. “THIS is your roomie’s woman!?”

“Huh?” Brayden snaps out of his befuddlement. “Oh, yeah. That’s her.” With a glance to Winona he snorts. “Nintendo? Seriously?”

“Fuck you.” Winona shoots back with that hard edged banter they always traded.

“Holy shit.” Onyx says, her eyes never leaving Winona. “She’s a fucking GODDESS!” Winona and I glance at each other, both a bit on our heels by the other pair’s reaction. Poking Brayden again she demands. “Introduce us! Now!”

“Huh?” Brayden was more at a loss than anybody. “Uh…that’s Winona and that’s…um…Avery?”

Winona steps forward and offers her hand. “Onyx?”

“Yeah.” Onyx steps in and takes Winona’s hand. She doesn’t shake it but just holds it while gazing up at her, awestruck. Behind her Brayden stared.

Winona gives Onyx’s hand a shake. “Nice to meet ya.” With a nod to her costume she asks. “Bitchin look. What’s this? Like a demon nun or something?”

“Oh.” She says, stepping back though it was clear she wanted to step forward. “He’s Father Caleb and I’m Sister Grace.”

“Sorry, I don’t know them.”

“They’re my own original characters.” She says. “They fight evil in a fallen world, each in their own particular way. They’re kinda superheroes, though ‘hero’ is a bit of a stretch.” She grins wickedly, and given her appearance it was pretty damned wicked. “Let’s just say neither of their souls are pure. Heh!”

“Cool.” Winona says. “Is this for a game or…?”

“I’ve got a little webcomic about them actually.”

“No way. You’re an artist?”

“Yeah. It’s not much but it’s got a little following. And its growing.” She motions toward the living room. “Wanna see my art?”

“Hell yeah I do!”

Before I knew it Winona was whisked away by Onyx…leaving me face to face with my still stunned roommate.

“Ahem.” I clear my throat and nervously shifting from one foot to the other and clutch at the skirt of my gown as Brayden stared. “I’m g-g-glad they get along.”

“Huh?”

“W-Winona and Onyx.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He says, barely paying them any mind. He just…kept…staring. My heart sinks as I sensed he had held his opinion for as long as he was going to. Just when we were actually becoming friends he was about to go say something that was really gonna suck. “Avery. Dude! BRO! Look at you!” He extends his hands toward me as if to point out what I didn’t already know. “What the fuck, man?”

“Brayden…please…”

“Dude, you’re hot!?”

Chapter 188