Walker's Path

Chapter 5 Curiosity

The world, while I had my ears covered, was slightly different. It was quieter, of course, but the silence, over time, brought a stillness. It was like life was less harsh somehow.

Shower curtains pushed against my back and two big feet stepped into the bathtub. When I looked up, Sam was standing there. I scooted away from her.

She sat on the other side of the tub. It was an extremely weird experience sitting in a tub with someone so big in—

Suddenly an image of a tiny me, bathing with my parents came to mind. Maybe it's not so strange? I thought.

I turned to see if Gina was still behind me. No one was there and the door was closed.

Sam motioned for me to remove my hands. If I didn't listen to her I wasn't sure what she was going to do to me. I was hesitant but removed them. It was still quiet.

"Do you really have to get custom clothes?" she asked.

I sighed. "Yeah."

"Almost all of mine are handmade."

When I took a peek at her she wasn't looking at me. She was staring at her nightgown. I knew she was just trying to distract me from the stuff they were doing to me.

"Why ar—"

"Which clothes do you have to get modified?" she interrupted.

"Uhm." I looked down. "We usually buy clothes that are too big for me. Then we will fix them so that they fit me without really changing how they look."

"Who fixes them?"

"My mom."

"My Aunt makes mine."

I nodded.

We sat there for a while letting the silence overtake us.

"Do they really trust you enough to have the door closed?" I asked.

"Yeah."

That seemed like a lot of trust to give a friend. My friends were trustworthy, but I didn't know that I would trust many of them to be alone with my girlfriend.

"Walker."

I looked up at her.

"If you don't want us to do this anymore we won't. I'll make them stop."

There was no doubt in my mind that she could too. "It's not— I mean, they keep calling me her, and she."

Sam looked at me. She was really beautiful. Her red hair kept getting in front of her blue eyes, and every so often she had to tuck it behind an ear. "I can talk to them about it if you want?"

"Over the last year I've been petrified I'd be called a girl. Even as the changes were happening I was afraid to tell my mom because I didn't want her calling me a girl."

"Are girls that bad?" The full brunt of Sam's stare was on me as she leaned back.

"I like girls but..."

"You don't want to be one?"

I nodded.

"I wish I wasn't a girl."

The hell? "What?"

"If I were this tall as a guy no one would care."

"But, you're so pretty."

Sam crossed her arms. "Well, so are you!"

I hadn't expected that and wasn't sure if it was a compliment or her snapping at me. "Why do they want to dress me up?" I asked.