An Unexpected Fate

The Talk

Ben and Freya spent the rest of the evening putting on a fashion show for each other. Ben tried on a mix of different tops, skirts, dresses, jeans, leggings, and shorts. He had never felt more comfortable and relaxed, but as the night went on, he became more and more aware of the difficult conversation that was waiting for him when he got home. As it drew late, Ben took off the dress he was wearing and got changed back into the top and skirt Freya had given him. Although they had initially changed in separate rooms, by this point they had gotten comfortable enough with each other that they just got changed in the same room.

Freya walked Ben home and, although the walk was in pretty much complete silence, Ben really appreciated it. It was a weird sensation to be outside in a skirt, Ben felt. He became very aware of the wind against his leg and very, very conscious of his skirt blowing up. As he drew closer to his home, he could feel his heart beat violently in his chest. He felt almost sick. Before he could say goodbye and thank you to Freya, she pulled him in for a tight hug.

"Good luck." She said.

"Thanks." He said weakly as she let go. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

"I'm in here." He heard his mum call from the kitchen. Slowly and nervously, he made his way into the kitchen. The kitchen wasn't a big room, but it was big enough to double as a dining room. Sitting around the table was his mum and his sister, Abbie, who were chatting as they drank some tea. As Ben entered, they stopped and looked at him. "You look nice."

He could barely say anything as he sat down across from Abbie. "Thanks."

His mum stared at him for a few more seconds before she began to speak. "Look, I don't want you to talk about anything you aren't comfortable talking about, but Abbie and her friends overheard your conversation with your friend at lunch. She told me because she was worried. I'm sorry about the uniform, I didn't even notice and I didn't know until Abbie told me. I just want you to know that if there's anything you want to tell me, you can."

Ben thought for a few minutes as the room fell silent. He was annoyed that Abbie had told his mum about his conversation with Freya, but at the same time, given how he was dressed, it would probably have been hard to hide the fact that something was going on with him. "I think I might be transgender..."

His mum smiled. "Thank you for telling me. Do you mind if I ask how long you've felt like this?"

"I'm not sure... I never really fit in with the guys and I kinda forced myself to like the things they like. But like, I always felt weirdly jealous of the girls in my year. I didn't really know why, but I think between the dream I had yesterday and everything that's happened today, it feels like maybe I'm not... I'm not really a boy." Ben shrugged. "When I was at Freya's, I tried on a bunch of her clothes and we did, like, a mini fashion show and it felt nice to be treated like one of Freya's girl friends. I was really happy tonight, I don't know when I was ever as happy and relaxed as I was tonight."

"I'm glad you had fun tonight, Freya sounds like a good friend." His mum said. "If this is the route you wanna go down, I'll support you."

Abbie laughed. "I've always wanted a sister. I've got some old clothes you can have."

Ben smiled. "Thanks, I think."

"That's all fair and well, but there are some other logistics we need to work out. Firstly, school. What are you planning to do about that?" His mum asked.

Ben shrugged. "I haven't really thought it all through. I left my boys uniform in school and the trousers I had on today ripped."

"I'm surprised they didn't rip after lunch, they were extremely tight." Abbie said, acting as if she was gagging.

"Abbie, do you have any spare trousers?" His mum asked.

Abbie shook her head. "I've only got the one pair and I wore them today."

His mum sighed. "What do you want to do?" She asked, turning to Ben.

"I don't really have a choice but to wear a skirt, do I?" Ben asked.

"Unless you want to stay off."

"If I'm going through with this, at one point, I'll need to start wearing the girls uniform. Might as well rip the band-aid off." Ben said. He tried to play it cool, but his heart was pounding. Despite everything having fallen into place tonight, he couldn't help feel as though everything was moving too fast.

"I have a spare skirt and blouse you can borrow until the weekend. It's only two more days. And some tights too. I might also have a spare pair of shoes in your size, I'll have a look." Abbie said.

"Thanks, Abs." Ben said.

"The other thing is what about your name? Ben is hardly a girls name."  His mum said.

"What would you have called me if I was born a girl?" Ben asked.

"Well, our options were either Alyssa or Ellie."

Ben thought for a second. "Maybe we can try Ellie? It's cute."

His mum smiled. "Ellie it is. I'll come with you to the school tomorrow and we'll explain everything to Miss Wilcox. Abbie, can I trust you to keep on him, sorry, on her tomorrow?"

Ben got a weird feeling of joy and euphoria being referred to as her.

Abbie nodded. "I will. If anyone bothers you, I'll set Dana on them."

The three of them laughed. "Anyway, unless there's anything else you want to tell me, it's getting late."

"Uhm, can you, at some point, teach me to shave my legs and that?" Ellie asked.

Her mum laughed. "I'll show you tomorrow night. If you're feeling up for it, maybe the three of us can go for a little shopping trip at the weekend? Get you some stuff of your own?"

Ellie shrugged. "I'll see how I feel, thanks."

"That's fine, we'll take things at your pace." Her mum said.

With nothing else to discuss, Ellie and Abbie stood up from the table. They walked upstairs, Ellie's mind racing about everything that had just happened. As soon as she was alone, she text Freya with everything that had happened.

That's great, Ellie! We'll talk more tomorrow! Meet me at the front gate again?

Ellie smiled to herself. She still felt like everything was moving too fast, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing... Either way, this was probably her life now and she was ready to embrace it.