An Unexpected Fate

Friday Morning

The rest of Thursday went by okay. Other than Charlie and Harvey, most people in his classes had gotten used to it. Most of the teachers were really good too, apart from Mrs Dale, Ellie's maths teacher. She spent most of the lesson giving her weird looks, but never actually said anything, so Ellie ignored it. At the end of the day, Ellie said goodbye to Freya and the girls as she met up with Abbie and found their mum's car.

"So, how was your first day?" Her mum asked.

"It went really well. Apart from a few people, everyone was dead nice." Ellie said as she fastened her seatbelt.

"They didn't do anything to you, did they? The few people?"

"No, mostly just staring and making comments. But it's fine, I just ignored them." Ellie said.

"Okay, as long as you don't let them get to you." Her mum smiled as she started to pull away. "What about your new friends? How were they?"

"They're great. We're getting along really well. They invited me to a sleep over tomorrow." Ellie said.

"A sleep over?" Her mum asked.

"Yeah. A sleep over on Friday, then they were gonna go shopping on Saturday." Ellie said. She was trying to gauge her mum's reaction, but her mum was looking the other way to see if any traffic was coming.

"Do you want to go?" She said once she had pulled out of the junction.

"I thought we were gonna go shopping at the weekend, so I wasn't sure." Ellie shrugged.

Much to Ellie's surprise, her mum just laughed. "If you wanna go shopping with me, we can go, but if you'd rather go with your friends, you can. They probably have a better fashion sense than me, anyway."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Ellie asked. She didn't want to upset her mum, but at the same time, she did want to spend more time with her friends.

"I don't. Go with your friends. Be a teenage girl for a few days." Her mum said, smiling.

"Thanks." Ellie said. She pulled out phone and text the group chat, letting them know she was coming.

"If you are going with them, I'll teach you how to properly shave your legs and arms. I also grabbed you some underwear stuff so you don't need to keep wearing boxers if you don't want to." Her mum said as they turned a corner into their street. "And I'll just give you the money I was gonna spend on you anyway."

Ellie was lost for words at this point. A week ago, this conversation would've been some nightmare-ish dream. But being treated like a girl, being treated like a daughter... It made her happier than she could ever have imagined.

***

The following morning, Ellie felt less anxious and more excited. Last night, her mum had spent some time with her, teaching her how to shave properly and helping her learn some slightly more feminine mannerisms (mostly not spreading her legs when she was wearing a skirt). She got out of bed and towards her uniform. Along with her uniform, her mum had also left out a pack of boyshort underwear, training bras, and a pack of tights.

Ellie took a pair of the underwear out of the pack, inspecting it. It felt softer and was a bit more stretchy than boys underwear. She got undressed, sliding the boyshorts up. At first, they felt nice and comfortable, but then they seemed to get tighter. She looked down, realising that the male instincts in her brain had kicked in. She felt awful.  She was overcome by a feeling of guilt as she looked down at herself. If I go to school like this, everyone's gonna think I'm a perv... She thought to herself. She sat there for a few minutes, trying to think of how she was going to deal with it. Thankfully, however, it seemed to go away on its own.

With nature no longer taking hold, Ellie quickly slid her tights on. It was a weird sensation, feeling them against her now smooth legs. It was a feeling she liked. Although, to keep nature at bay, she tried her best not to focus on it too much. If I can't even get dressed, how am I gonna handle tonight? She thought to herself.

With that done, she tried her best not to think about it. She took one of the training bras and fumbled around with it for a few minutes, trying to figure it all out. Eventually, she managed to unhook the back. She put it on, fumbling around for a few more minutes as she hooked the back up again. She took a second to look at herself in the mirror. It was weird, she thought to herself, seeing her reflection. Two days ago, she would've seen a boy staring back at her. The same sight she saw for 16 years. Yesterday, when she caught a glimpse of herself, she still looked quite boyish with her hair and the slight touch of stubble and her hairy arms and legs. But today? A wide grin grew across her face. There was a girl looking back at her. Not "Ben in a girls clothes", but Ellie. Ellie, who now had no stubble and no body hair. Ellie, who now looked more feminine with the way her mum had styled her hair and slightly thinned her brows. She couldn't help but feel happy and a sense of utter pride and glee.

She finished getting herself dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Abby was already down there, finishing up some homework. As Ellie grabbed a bit of toast and sat down, her mum came in. "Morning, Ellie. How do you feel?"

"Better. I'm really excited for today." She said.

"Good. It's nice to see you happy." Her mum said as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"I was wondering, mum... Would you... Could you do my makeup for me?" Ellie said, hesitantly.

Her mum looked a little taken aback. "Of course I can. But I thought you were waiting until Monday?"

"I was, but when I was getting dressed, I looked in the mirror and I felt really happy. I figured why not just go all out today." Ellie said.

"Okay. Once you've brushed your teeth and washed your face, I'll work my magic." Her mum said as she drank her tea.

Ellie finished her breakfast and went back upstairs. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and pretty much ran back downstairs. During this time, her mum had laid out a mirror and a bunch of her makeup stuff on the kitchen table. When Ellie sat down, her mum pulled her hair back and tied it into a very, very short ponytail. Then, she took some moisturiser and began to rub it all over Ellie's face. Once it was dried in, she took some liquid foundation and applied that, along with concealer. The feeling of the brushes was weird and the liquids were colder than Ellie was expecting, but she loved it.

Next came some eye makeup. Carefully, her mum gave her a natural-looking eye shadow, before going to apply some eyeliner. "Do you want normal eyeliner or winged eyeliner?"

"Uhm, winged is cute." Ellie said. She felt the sharp tip of the eyeliner pen drag against her eyelids. It hurt a little, but it wasn't too bad. Her mum carefully drew along her upper eyelid, before Ellie felt a bit of a swish just at the side of her eye. Then, she felt the pen get dragged along her bottom eyelid. With that eye done, she felt the same movements across her other eye. With her eyeliner done, she felt a tug at her eyelashes as her mother curled them then applied some mascara.

Finally, it came to the lips. "Red or pink?"

"Pink." Ellie said without giving it much thought. She felt her mum's lipstick press against her lip and get dragged around it. It was a very weird feeling, but after a few seconds, it felt normal. Once that was done, her mum took a step back. Ellie opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. She could hardly believe that the girl staring back at her was actually her. She looked so much different from how "Ben" looked. She loved how smooth her skin looked, how nice her lips looked, how pretty her eyes looked. A lump was starting to form in her throat, but she fought it off. "T-thank you. I look amazing."

As Ellie was admiring herself in the mirror, Abbie came back into the kitchen. "Someone's had a glow up. You look great!"

"Thanks, Abs." Ellie said, blushing a little.

"Come on, we need to leave or else we'll be late." Abbie said as she grabbed her jacket. Ellie thanked her mum again and quickly ran upstairs to grab her bag. She zipped up her jacket and left with Abbie for school, ready to face the new day.