Out Of The Woods

Chapter 4

She sits on her bed as I sit on mine, leaning against the wall, unwilling to meet her eyes. I play with the blankets on the bed, the ones we bought last year, her not even giving a second thought to the fact that they were pink and yellow instead of blue.
I remember all the times where she would talk about girl stuff to Olivia and say that I wouldn't get it. All the times that I did understand, shocking Olivia but not her. I look up from the blanket and see her frowning slightly. She plays with her hair, running it across her lips every one in a while, a habit she had picked up a year or two ago.
"So you want to be a female?" She asks me, letting her hair fall back down her back. I nod and she thinks about this for a while, making me ever the more anxious. I start rambling about how I can't dress or act like it because of my grandmother and she stops me.
"And your name is Aubrey?" She says. I look at her confused and she explains that she's seen me write it on my whiteboard sometimes and that she always thought it was a girl that I liked. I shake my head and assure her that that it my name. We sit in silence for a while.
"You're staying here," she announces suddenly. I stare at her blankly. She sighs and walks over to my bed, sitting down next to me. She tells me to grab all the stuff I need from my grandmother's and bring it here after school. I nod and relax back into my bed.
"Have you told anyone else?" She asks. I shake my head, watching her grab her phone from off the table in the middle of the room. She texts some stuff and then looks at me again. She sets her phone down and grabs my arm.
"Lets go shopping. Mike, Reed and Olivia will be there," she says. I nod and let her pull me off the bed. She goes into her closet and picks out an outfit before changing into it, us being used to changing in front of one another. She pulls out a shirt and some jeans and hands them to me.
"Change," she demands. I nod and change into the clothes. Once I realize that they fit I smile and look at her. She points to the mirror and I walk over, gaping at my reflection. The shirt has lace on the top of it, but not too noticeable. The jeans for nicely and don't show off any unwanted parts of me.
"You look great, now let's go!" She exclaims, pulling me by the hand through the front door. She tells her parents where we're going and then we're in the car, driving towards the mall. I stare out the window, tapping my fingers on the dashboard.
"We're going shopping for clothes that are girly but not noticeable as it unless someone was looking really hard. And before you ask, no, we do not have to tell them about it if you don't want to," she says as she parks in front of the mall.
I nod and we get out of the car, walking over to the store we all agreed to meet at. Reed runs over and gives me a hug, surprising me immensely but I hug him back. Olivia smiles at me and winks. I shake my head and blush as we walk off to whatever stores Alice and Olivia decide to go to.
I would never admit it to them but I like a lot of the stores that they go to, they are really nice. Alice buys a things at the stores for me, saying I should try them on as a joke and come out, Reed complimenting me each time. I don't know if he actually means it or if he's teasing me but hey, I'll take what I can get.
Mike doesn't say I look bad or good, that might be because of the fact he's to focused on Olivia to tease me. I roll my eyes and lean against the wall. He's had a crush on her for a long time, and she's had one on him. He always says it will be better to just forget and not iron their friendship and that's why he has a girlfriend that he doesn't even like right now.
We finally get out of the mall, me helping Alice haul the clothes to her car after we say goodbye to the others. We throw them in the backseat and get in our seats. She drives off and while we're on the highway my phone starts ringing.
She glances over at me and I look down at my phone, frowning at my grandmother's number. I decline the call and shove my phone back in my pocket, electing to ignore the worried glances Alice keeps throwing my way.
She pulls up to her house and takes her keys out of the car. I open my door and step out into the dark driveway, grabbing some bags from the backseat and following her inside the house. Her parents sit at the kitchen table, with mugs, of what I'm guessing to be coffee, in their hands.
We walk past them and upstairs, seeing the clothes on my bed before walking back downstairs to join them for some dinner. We eat dinner, them treating like any other, being used to me coming over uninvited at least once a week.
Her mom takes out dessert and puts a couple of pastries on my plate and a mug of hot chocolate in front of me. I eat the pastries and then drink the hot chocolate, I would be crazy to dip them. We get up from the table, thanking her parents and walking up to her room.
I sit down beside her on her bed and we scroll through different apps. I show her my Instagram and Tumblr that I actually use and she nods, following me on both platforms. She turns music on and we listen to it as I post a update about how my day went.
I soon get tired and walk over to my bed, gently setting the new clothes on the ground. I pull the covers up over my head and it doesn't take very long for me to fall asleep.