Not One Of The Girls - Part 9 (Patreon)

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I was about twenty minutes late arriving at Kiera's. It hadn't actually taken me that long to get ready, but as I made my way to Mend's house, I kept having to divert my course as several streets along the way had been cordoned off. It wasn't until I was approaching Kiera's house that I realized why though It was Halloween. I never really had much to do with the holiday in the past and given that I was absorbed in my own issues for the last couple of weeks, I was quite oblivious to the preparations going on around me.

I rang the doorbell which had been retrofitted to sound creepy and was shortly greeted by Mrs. Fellows, who was dressed as Morticia Addams. It was a little cliché, but she pulled it off well, she didn't look a great deal like Anjelica Huston, but with her exquisite make-up and the temporary dye in her gorgeously long hair, she looked amazing. She smiled warmly and complimented me on my new style as she allowed me into the foyer, I blushed furiously as I thanked her before heading up the staircase and round to Kee's room.

I heard voices chattering inside as I knocked on the door, it went quiet for a moment before Kiera herself opened the door. She looked at me for a moment; scrutinizing me and squinting as though finding it difficult to recognize me. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" she demanded causing me to blush as she stepped back chuckling. "I guess I deserved that" I mumbled as I walked into the room.

I was nearly bowled over as Chloe launched herself at me and pulled me into a fierce hug, "Mlle! We were so worried about you" she squealed as she almost crushed me. "Uh, hey Chloe" I managed to gasp as she finally let go of me. "Yeah, when Kee said you wanted some space we were expecting a day or two. We weren't expecting you to cut us out of your life completely" Emily muttered with a bitter tinge before she also hugged me. "I'm really sorry, I just needed time to figure some stuff out. You know?" I whispered almost tearfully. "Hell Allie, we should be apologizing to you" Cass insisted as she took her turn to hug me "It was only supposed to be a stupid bet. We never meant to cause you to have a breakdown" she grumbled.

I shook my head fervently in response, "No, no, I should be thanking you all. Spending the day with you made me understand a whole lot about myself, as I said, I just needed some time to get my head around it". Cass let go of me and I turned to face Kat, she had a rather sly smile on her face as she said, "You know, I've got to be honest; I'm finding it hard to feel bad about the situation. You look really good" I smiled shyly as Kat and I hugged before we all grabbed cushions and dropped onto the floor to chat. "So, what exactly happened?" Cass asked softly. "Yeah" Chloe added energetically "I mean after your messages to Emily on Sunday. Everything seemed super chill" she stated "Then come Monday lunchtime; you told Kee you needed space and you haven't spoken to any of us since" I frowned.

"When you say it like that, I sound like an asshole" I murmured to which Emily sneered, "Well, that was the point we were getting at". I poked my tongue out at her before saying, "I had so much fun with you all on that Saturday. It was really nice to have friends and to be comfortable just being myself, but the more I thought about the idea of telling my parents how I felt, the more it began to scare me".

I felt tears trickling down my face as I explained, "I tried to tell my mom a couple of times, but every time I would think about my dad's reaction to my hair being up and it made me hesitate. "It was only after spending some time chaffing to Damien; that I really began to come to terms with it" I sighed. "Wait! Damien? As in Damien Lynch? You told him about your situation?" Chloe gasped.

Cass suddenly looked thoughtful as I smiled, "Yeah, he's actually really nice, he kinda just plays off the whole 'bad boy' thing" I paused for a second before quickly adding, "Don't go telling anybody I told you that". A couple of the girls chuckled before Cass asked, "Were you with Damien when you were skipping classes all this week?". She had a wry smile on her face that made me hesitate before answering, "Um, yeah, we were just hanging out. Why?". I looked around at the girls, they were all smiling at me knowingly as Cass explained, "Well, as you were both absent from several classes, there have been some rumors going around about the two of you, you know".

She used her fingers to indicate that she meant that people thought Damien and I were having sex. "Oh no," I gasped as I began to turn red. "Yep. I'm not surprised the rumor mill went into overload though 'the quiet new girl and the psycho bad boy it's a hot topic" Cass explained "And after Kickstarter sent you to the nurse yesterday, Damien got really fidgety, he wanted to make sure you were ok. And now there are rumors about you being pregnant with his baby and everything".

I blushed furiously as the girls laughed. "Oh god, that's the last thing I need" I mumbled to more laughter. "Tell us about the wardrobe change!?" Kat insisted, leaning forward and tugging at my top playfully as the laughter calmed down. "Um, well my dad got wind of my skipping classes" I explained to some pitying 'oohs' "It blew up when I got home on Thursday.

He told me that I needed to 'man up' so I asked him how he expected me to do that when I shouldn't even be a man at all" I looked around at the incredulous looks on the girl's faces. "Wow, you did not actually say that to him?" Kiera grinned. I nodded quickly. "Oh, I did as you can imagine, that went down like a lead balloon. I then went and locked myself in my room; I was so embarrassed. "Mom said Dad got really angry about it, but it was Jake that shouted him down. After that Dad decided to go stay with his brother for the weekend, so I haven't seen him since". I sighed heavily as I thought about my old man.

"Um, obviously I was still reeling from the confrontation the previous evening. That's why I was so upset yesterday Kick starter sent me to the nurse, who called my mom to collect me. "She took me out for lunch and then we went shopping, hence the new clothes" I indicated myself with my hands as I finished speaking. "So, your mom is cool with it then?" Kiera confirmed. I nodded. "Yeah, she was more upset that I didn't talk to her about it. She felt like she failed me somehow, I feel so bad about that".

I felt my eyes stinging as Emily shuffled over to me and pulled me into a hug. "So, what about you and Damien?" Chloe asked me bluntly. "Huh?" I grumbled. "Are you going to hook up with him?" she asked me quite casually. I hesitated before saying, "I don't think so, we're just friends" to which Kiera snorted, "Girl, from the way he was acting, he definitely wants to be more than friends". I blushed as I thought about that for a moment.

We spent the next hour or so with the girls bringing me up to date with the goings on at school. Although I only skipped a couple of afternoons and then left early on Friday, I had apparently missed a lot, I was actually really surprised to discover the hidden politics of the school, like the who's who of the dating pool It was never something I had cared about before, but I found myself becoming engrossed in who some girl called Tammy Rafferty might be dating next and which member of the faculty was rumored to be sleeping with his students.

After another hour or so, I decided that I should probably head home, I was just climbing to my feet when Chloe suddenly said, "Wait! Allie, you should totally come to the Halloween party with us tonight". I hesitated as I looked down at the mousy girl, a couple of the other girls were nodding in agreement. I looked over at Kiera as she explained, "There's this old manor out on the edge of town, it's really run down and supposed to be haunted or whatever, but every year there's a party there.

Apparently, nobody's ever figured out who actually hosts it, but it's super popular, so I think it'll be worth checking out". I frowned, I wasn't sure if I was ready for a party, I was only just really discovering myself. I decided I was going to politely decline I shook my head slowly and then as always, I put my foot in my mouth. Instead of just saying 'No' I grumbled, "I don't have a costume". There was a snort of laughter from Emily as a couple of the other girls just grinned at me. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" I turned to look at Kiera as she jumped to her feet and walked over to her closet.

It took her a few minutes as she was rifling through to the back, but eventually, she came out pulling a pretty, white, and blue pinafore dress with her. "Uh," I garbled as the redhead turned to face me with a wink. "This is from the Alice in Wonderland play we did in our freshman year at Ryden, should fit you well enough" she explained. "Zombie Alice!?" Chloe gushed excitedly. "Zombie Alice" Kiera beamed in confirmation. I rolled my eyes as I realized that I had totally been set up.

It took about an hour and a half for the whole squad to get ready, Emily was in the process of doing the final touches on each girl's make-up when Mrs. Fellows knocked lightly on the door and called, "Girls We need to head out soon, I still need to take Luke trick or treating as well". "Ok Mom, we're nearly ready just a couple more minutes, ok?" the younger redhead hollered back. "Is Alex joining you for the party or are we dropping her at home on the way?" Mrs. Fellows then asked. "Oh, she's definitely joining us" Emily called out with a sly grin. I poked my tongue out at her. "Actually Mrs. F, we could do with your appraisal, if you don't mind?" Emily added with a snigger as I blushed furiously. The door clicked and Mrs.

Fellows peered around it cautiously. "We're all decent Mother" Kiera admonished playfully. "Well, I can't be too careful, especially after that incident with Carter" her mom sighed as she stepped fully into the room. I looked over at Kee as it was her turn to blush, I would have to remember to ask for more details about that situation later. "Well Em, you've certainly outdone yourself" Mrs. Fellows beamed as she looked from one girl to the next. Chloe had got all dolled up as Harley Quin from the DC comics, although the movie version was the more popular to dress as, Chloe had decided on the original black and red chequered body suit and slippers with the white collar, though she did go with the movie's pink and blue pigtail tips, which I asked her about.

She explained that she didn't like wearing hats or masks, so she would not be able to wear the original headpiece, she had decided that the compromise would work in her favor though as a lot of people in our age group weren't too familiar with 'original' Harley. Cass had on a beautiful day of the dead-inspired dress that she had apparently made herself. It was kind of sexy but really elegant too. I found myself in awe that she was so capable with a swathe of material and a sewing machine. She also had this creepily realistic-looking skull mask that was actually glued to her face with a mild costume glue, every time she spoke the skull jaw would click gently, it really added to the spooky effect.

Kee had gone with a slightly, erotic version of Pennywise from the movie; It. She was wearing a short white dress that was accentuated with red pompoms and thigh-high striped stockings with chunky heeled boots. Her auburn hair had been tied into loose pigtails with more pompoms and between the exquisite make-up and the red contact lenses, she embodied a cruel mix of sexy and sinister, the whole look was finished; of course, with a helium-filled red balloon that was tied securely to her wrist.

Kat had decided to go with the eponymous Beetlejuice. Although she had replaced the classic pinstriped suit with a decidedly sexier striped dress with heeled boots, her make-up was spot on in replicating the mossy decayed look of the character. Like with Mrs. Fellows, Kat had opted to use temporary dye in her hair and had used a ridiculous amount of spray and other products to get the flyaway to look right. Emily was probably the most jaw dropping though. It wasn't specifically her outfit although it was clear she had taken some time to get it just right it was more the 'character' she had chosen.

She was dressed as Mikasa Ackerman from the AMme, Attack on Titan. I looked at her with incredulity as I growled, "And you had the audacity to tell everyone that I'm a geek?" to which she laughed and retorted, "What!? I don't watch the show. It's more Kyle's thing, I just think that Mikasa is a badass" she insisted as Mrs. Fellows turned her attention to me. She raised an eyebrow as she took in the dress and the make-up.

"So, you're being dragged along too huh? Well, I hope the girls didn't strong-arm you too much". She looked at the other girls accusingly as I stammered, "It's ok Mrs. Fellows really I'm trying to be a bit more outgoing, Kee reckoned tagging along to this party might help with that, I guess it's lucky that we're pretty much the same size huh?". The woman chuckled as she agreed that we all looked incredible, she then insisted that we bundle in for a group photo before herding us all out into the hall and down the stairs towards the garage.

The girls chattered practically non-stop on the way across town to where the party was. Before we were allowed to exit the van, we were treated to a lecture about being careful. I got the feeling that these were fairly regular from the way the girls rolled their eyes at the; don't accept drinks from strangers and keep an eye on each other type statements. "And don't think for a minute I won't know if you've been drinking alcohol, that goes for all of you" Though Mrs. Fellows leaned round and addressed the group as a whole, she looked at Kiera and Emily pointedly.

"It was that one time and we were with the guys. We weren't in any danger" Kiera whined as the elder redhead asserted, "Not true at all, if I recall correctly; both of you regretted it for most of the next day, and just because your big footballer boyfriends were with you, it doesn't mean you aren't at any risk, a lot of unwanted pregnancies happen through drunken dalliances you'd be wise to remember that fact" she admonished, making both of the girls blush furiously. "Now are we all clear on the rules?" Mrs. Fellows then asked. "Yes, Mrs. Fellows" we chorused.

Happy at that, the woman then smiled kindly, "Great, you girls have fun, I'll be by at midnight to pick you all up" With that, we climbed out of the van. I shivered slightly, although the dress I was wearing was knee length, I wasn't wearing pantyhose or tights underneath, so the late October chill was hitting me. With some grumbling from Kee about overbearing mothers, which earned a lowkey disdainful look from Chloe, we bundled into the building to find that there was already an atmosphere as some cliched Halloween music played from speakers all around the rooms.

The decorations were incredible, fake webbing was interspersed with what I assumed to be real cobwebs and some of the props were eerily real looking, to the point that Kee nearly screamed as a motorized trapdoor spider lurched out of an opening in the skirting board and latched lightly onto her foot as we made our way towards the living room. After almost kicking the thing from the rail it slid out on, the redhead blushed as we all giggled at her obvious fright.

I separated from the group slightly and walked up to a bandaged mummy, I stared at it intensely for a moment, almost certain that I saw it blink. I turned slightly as Cass and Chloe walked up beside me. "These statues are so realistic" Chloe admired as Cass leaned further forward to inspect the thing before us, "Uh Cass, I don't think you want to" I began to say.

Without any warning, the mummy lurched forward with a pitiful moan. Cass shrieked as she stumbled back away from it, I had to simultaneously step aside to prevent her from stepping on my feet whilst leaning forward to grab her as she stumbled and almost fell on her ass.

Chloe's reaction was the most unexpected though, she lunged forward, and full-pelt punched the guy in the gut. "Jesus" he wheezed as he doubled over in pain "I was only messing about" he coughed painfully as Chloe gently grabbed Cass' still shaking arm and began to guide her away. "You don't mess with my girls, asshole" Chloe huffed as they disappeared through the double doors to where the living room.

"I would say I'm sorry about that" I giggled "but you did kinda deserve it" I sighed as I waited for the guy to recover fully. "Ah jeez, I seriously didn't expect to get sucker punched like that. Your friend packs a wallop. I'm Jensen by the way Jensen Errol". The guy held his hand out for me to shake. I took it warily and with a raised eyebrow, asked, "You emphasized your last name, am I supposed to know who you are?". He seemed surprised at my indifference.

"Do you seriously not know who my family is?" he asked curiously. I was about to respond when Emily appeared in the doorway, "There you are, we thought mummy's boy had kidnapped you in retaliation for Chloe socking him" she sniggered as both Jensen and I looked around at her. "I'm coming" I grinned as I turned back to the mummy. "Well, I'll see you around, I guess" I asserted as I began to walk away. "Wait! You didn't tell me your name!?" the guy hollered after me. I just smiled at him wanly, before following Ern through into the main party. Although we had only arrived somewhere within the last fifteen minutes, the manor was already buzzing.

It was pretty obvious that alcohol was being passed around some of the partygoers, some of them were slurring as they spoke and others were blatantly passed out. I wondered for a moment why any parent would allow their kids to attend a party like this, but within a few moments, some surly-looking guys in suits appeared to fish out the drunkards, I would find out later that the unknown benefactor was well-connected, and had a security team keeping an eye on things.

The drunks were normally dropped into cabs to be taken home, or angry parents were called to collect their wayward kids I discovered that Mrs. Fellows' warnings of 'keep an eye on each other' also held credence, I had figured that with partygoers from three rival schools in attendance, pranks were likely inevitable, but I was still surprised when some poor schlep had his drink spiked with laxative, after the fallout from that stunt, I along with the rest of my group were more cautious about where we got our drinks and certainly who we left them with.

Chloe caused some alarm too when she disappeared for several long minutes, Kee almost went into a meltdown until she reappeared and apologized profusely, stating that she needed to use the bathroom and that she had bumped into somebody she knew from outside of school on her way back to the group. Within an hour of our arrival, the whole manor was truly buzzing, literally, hundreds of people were wandering about chatting and just having fun and I found myself being introduced to tonnes of them. I knew I wouldn't likely remember most of them, but it was certainly an experience as I was dragged from one group to another.

By the time Mrs. Fellows arrived to pick us up just after midnight, I was really buzzed; I was tired that went without saying but I'd had a lot of fun. I ended up being dropped off first as my house was the closest to the manor, as I climbed from the van with cheerful goodbyes to the girls and Kiera's Mom, I was surprised as Kee herself hopped out too.

I turned to look at her as she held out a decent-sized bag for me to take. "What's this?" I asked dimly to which she chuckled, "It's the outfit we bought for you for the bet. Seeing as you decided to actually become a girl, I thought you might like to keep it". I smiled weakly as I mumbled, "I doubt somehow, I'd look that good in it without Emily doing my make-up, though". "Are you kidding me?", Kee grinned "You'd look gorgeous in a bin bag" she insisted "But, you actually reminded me; I added some make-up to the bag. It's nothing special; just some odds and ends, so that you can practice" she winked at me as I turned bright red. "Uh thanks, I guess" I murmured.

I was about to thank Kee for a great evening when we were interrupted by the car window whirring as it slid down. "You'd better not be apologizing again, young lady" Emily teased as she leaned out of the window. "Actually, I was just saying thanks" I grinned as I looked past Kee to the raven-haired girl. "Seriously thank you all of you and I really am sorry that I shut you all out". Cass shook her head fervently as she leaned around Emily. "Mlle, seriously, stop apologizing, you had a lot going on. We're all just happy that you're ok". The other girls agreed quickly. "So, see you at school then?" I murmured as I returned my attention to Kiera. "Of course.

Will you actually join us at lunch now?" she teased, causing me to frown. "We'll see how Monday morning goes. I don't even know how I'm going to survive school dressing as a girl, let alone socializing as one" I grumbled causing Kiera to give me an odd look and giggle, "You were just at a party with literally hundreds of people I think you're going to be fine". "That's different" I murmured indignantly "I didn't know any of those people". Kee shook her head with a playful grin. "You don't really know anyone at school either" she teased. I frowned petulantly, but realizing she had a point, I shrugged my acceptance and smiled shyly.

"But seriously" she purred "I reckon that some people might be surprised, but I doubt anybody would call you out, and even if they did; you're friends with some of the most popular girls in the school and we've got your back promise". I smiled shyly again as she leaned forward and hugged me gently. Then with a final farewell, the girl climbed back into her mom's van. I turned and walked up the short path to my front door, I called out to my mom as I closed the front door, and she responded from the kitchen, so I headed out that way.

She didn't quite scream upon seeing me, but she nearly hit the ceiling from jumping, "Jesus, A.J. what the hell? I know you said you were going to a party with the girls and that you would likely be back late, I wasn't quite expecting the reanimated corpse of my youngest child to shamble in though". "Yeah, Emily is something else when it conies to make-up" I smiled whilst dropping onto the stool opposite her. "Did you have fun?" Mom asked coolly as she got up and went to hit a couple of buttons on the microwave. "Yeah, we drank way too much alcohol and got really high" I joked, causing her to look around with a raised eyebrow. "I'm messing momma, some of the kids snuck in some alcohol, but they were removed in short order, turns out there was an actual security company paid to keep an eye on things".

The raised eyebrow remained as Mom chuckled, "Sounds like a rather expensive affair". I nodded stiffly as a plate of food slid across the bar to me. "Seemed to be, the decorations were something else, there was this spider". I happily explained the evening's events to Mom as I demolished the plate of food that she had warmed for me.

I didn't realize just how hungry I was, I guess; even though I'd had a late lunch, it was about nine hours ago. As I finished eating, Mom quickly washed up the plate and cutlery, we were in the process of discussing our plans for Sunday when I yawned loudly. "Time to head up I think-" Mom grinned as she finished organizing things in the kitchen "You're going to need make-up wipes to get rid of that grotesquery" she teased, I shook my head slightly as I grumbled, "Kee's got me covered". I wiggled the bag with the outfit and the makeup in it. "All I gotta do is figure out how it all works" I mumbled as Mom flicked the kitchen light off and we headed up the stairs.

I turned to face her as we reached the top. "You'll get there hon, I'm glad you had him with the girls tonight" she asserted. I nodded quickly. "Yeah, me too, I love you" I hugged her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as she returned the sentiment before I headed into my room and set about removing the make-up before collapsing into bed.