Synopsis: Alex is a young boy who wants to be a girl, but has hidden this from everyone around him. That is, until he is saved from a bully by an older girl who makes him an amazing offer: Work with her as a waitress at her sister’s themed café!

 

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Been sick again >.> Stupid Melbourne weather. Thankyou for reading! Comments and Kudos are very much appreciated! And kitten cookies too :3

Once I finished showering I hurried back to my room and changed into my sports uniform, which consisted of a black jumper, a white shirt and black pants. We weren’t supposed to wear it to school, only change into it during sports class, but I didn’t care. Even before I’d started taking hormones I was harassed because of my small body and feminine face, making changing rooms an absolute nightmare. It’d only gotten worse since I’d started hormones, so much so that I just wore my sports uniform to school so I could avoid it altogether. I always got in trouble for it, but a few lunchtime detentions were far more preferable than being called a shim or a tranny.

Besides all of that, the sports uniform was unisex so unless you already knew I was a boy then it was impossible to tell. Without the gendered markers of the normal uniform then I was constantly mistaken as a girl by strangers, making school just a little bit more manageable.

When I finished dressing myself I went over to the bookcase next to my bed, which was overflowing with books, video games and figurines. The top shelves were where I kept the things that were important to me, such as a photo of Jared, mum and I in front of a lively ocean, and my collection of old picture books. The bottom shelves I tried to keep as boring as possible so nobody would be tempted to look through it. I kept schoolbooks on them, as well as any bad video games that I’d been given over the years. It was my hope that anyone who saw the bookcase would be drawn to the top shelves and ignore the bottom ones, as something special was hidden down there.

Sally the seal! A white soft toy baby seal that mum had given to me on my fifth birthday. She’d been my best friend growing up and now she had an even more important role; storing the hormones I was stealing from Ashley.

I knelt down and carefully reached behind a pile of old math textbooks to pull out my fluffy friend, and then lay her down on her back. She wasn’t too big, about half as long as my arm, but she had a lot of stuffing in her so was quite chunky. It was the perfect place to hide the hormones because the woolly stuffing was so thick that you couldn’t feel them inside of her, even if you squeezed her really hard. I’d cut a hand-shaped hole in her stomach so I could reach in and out of her, and kept it shut with three safety pins just in case.

‘I’m sorry, Sally,’ I said as I pulled out the pins and reached inside of her. ‘But I still love you! I wouldn’t trust anyone else to look after my hormones!’

Her large black eyes looked proudly up at me from the ground and I couldn’t resist kissing her fluffy nose. Urgh! I missed being allowed to have soft toys so much! Dad had banned me from having them when I was ten, deciding that it wasn’t appropriate for me to have such things anymore. I’d come home one day to find my gigantic collection of squishy kittens, snuggly puppies and baby bunnies all gone, and had naturally been incredibly upset. I’d demanded to know where they’d gone and he informed me that he’d taken them all to an op shop so I’d never see them again.

It’d been one of the worst days of my life, and gave birth to the seed of hatred that I harboured for dad.

Sally had managed to survive the purge because mum had taken her to get repaired at a clothing store on the day of the purge. She’d been furious at dad when she found out what he’d done. They’d argued worse than I’d ever seen them before and she made him promise to never do something like that again. He said he wouldn’t and he hadn’t, but I’d been too scared to buy any more soft toys since then so it didn’t really matter. He’d won.

I pulled out the small plastic bag that I kept the hormones in and removed two of the small orange pills, then quickly put the rest back in Sally and hid her away again. Once she was out of view I went over to my computer desk and took the pills with the water that I kept there just for this occasion. I’d been do-
‘Hey!’
I choked in surprise as my bedroom door swung open and Ashley barged in. Some water spilled out of my mouth and I pushed it back in with my hands, scared that one of the tablets might slip out. I swallowed as hard as I could and then stared at my sister with huge eyes.
‘What the hell are you doing! I could have been naked you jerk!’ I said with a cough, but she just smirked.

‘Whatever. Here, mum told me to give you this in case it rains.’ She held up her hand and realised that she was holding a small black umbrella.

‘Oh. Thanks.’ I took the umbrella from her and waited for her to leave, but she just stared at me. ‘Umm…you can go now Ashley.’

She shook her head slightly and then gestured at my clothes. ‘You…you look like a girl in those clothes.’

‘What?’ I blushed happily and looked away. ‘No I don’t.’

‘You do!’ She reached out to touch my face but I bounced away. ‘Why do you look so girly? It’s weird.’

‘W-what? No it’s not.’ I swallowed nervously and looked away from her, my heart starting to beat faster.

‘It is.’ She tugged at her shirt sleeve and ran her eyes over my upper body. ‘I was thinking before when you almost ran into me about how small you are. When I grabbed your shoulders they were tiny, and you’re so slim.’

‘So?’

‘So, it’s not normal! Even Jason is larger than you.’

‘W-well, that’s because he’s started puberty. I haven’t.’

‘But you’ve changed.’ She said sharply as her eyes widened. ‘You’re not as short as you were last year, and your body’s more…slim and…and…curvy…’

I cried out in surprise as she lunged at me, her hands trying to grab my sides. I ducked under them and jumped onto my bed, holding the umbrella out in front of me and shaking badly.

Oh god. She’d noticed the changes!

But that was impossible! Not even mum had noticed and she spent far more time with me than Ashley did. What was going on? Just because she touched my shoulders she realised how feminine my body was? No…she was just guessing, but if I let her touch me then she’d figure it out! Especially if she touched my chest.

‘Stay away!’ I pointed the umbrella at her as she walked over to the bed, and she stopped with confused smile.

‘Why are you so defensive? I’m not trying to hurt you, I just want to feel your ches-’

‘Umm…’ a soft voice said and we both turned to see Jason standing in the doorway, looking confused. ‘What’s going on?’

Oh, thank god. A distraction!

‘Nothing.’ I jumped off the bed and ran behind him. ‘Is it time to leave for school?’

‘Uh, yes.’ He looked back at me and then at Ashley. ‘Are you both ready to go?’

‘Let me grab my bag.’ Ashley said and slowly walked out of my room, giving me a weird look as she did so. ‘We’ll…talk about this later.’
‘No we won’t.’ I said and made sure Jason was in front of me as she walked down the hallway.

‘We’ll see about that.’ She smiled crookedly and then disappeared into the living room.

I scowled after her and then took a shaky breath, trying to calm myself down. This was really bad. If Ashley figured out that my body was female then it wouldn’t be too long before she realised I’d been taking her hormones and there was no way she wouldn’t tell dad about that. And when that happened then I was screwed. I needed to start avoiding her as much as possible, or at least wear more sets of clothes to disguise my body’s shape more. Maybe she’d even forget about it if I just stayed out of her way for a while…

‘What was that about?’ Jason asked and I shook my head.

‘Nothing good.’ I muttered darkly and followed him down the hallway, feeling sick.

Today definitely hadn’t started off well.

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Ashley, Jason and I all went to the same school, Rise Grammar. It was a large senior school near the very heart of our city, situated on a small rise overlooking the café district of town. It was quite old now and had been in the middle of renovations for the past two years, which had been causing quite a lot of chaos. Currently, an entire block of old art classrooms were being demolished along with a gymnasium. New classrooms were being built at the very back of the school as well, and I’d heard rumours that we might actually be getting a pool soon. Construction workers were a common sight walking amongst the students, and the awful sound of drills and saws endlessly droned on like horrible background music to a bad video game.

Dad had gone to Rise when he was younger and had loved his time there, telling anyone who’d listen about how he’d been a school leader and captain of the football team, leading them to victory three years in a row before he’d injured his arm. He wanted his kids to have a similar experience and as such had enrolled us in it as soon as we were of age. Ashley was now a year eleven student while Jason and I were both in year nine, but in separate classes.

It was a twenty minute walk from our house to the school, and Ashley went ahead of us so she could meet with a friend who lived nearby. Jason and I walked together, occasionally talking about various video games we were playing, but mostly staying silent. I wasn’t in the mood to talk, too anxious about what had happened with Ashley, and Jason had never been much of a talker anyway. We fell into a familiar comfortable silence and made our way to school, each lost in our own thoughts.

The main entrance to school was at the end of a street full of small clothing stores and busy cafes, some of which had delicious scents wafting out of them. My stomach grumbled as we walked past one that was selling fresh cupcakes and I slowed down, remembering that I hadn’t had breakfast yet. A cupcake and a bottle of coke seemed amazing right now. Just what I needed to cheer me up!

‘Hey, Jason.’ I said and stopped in front of the café, which was called “Heart pastries”. ‘I’m going to grab something to eat. Did you want anything?’

‘I’m not hungry.’ he said and looked disapprovingly at me. ‘And you’re going to be late if you go in there.’

‘It’ll be fine. You want to join me?’ I asked hopefully, not too comfortable with being in stores by myself. ‘I’ll buy you a coke or something.’
‘No. I’m going to go to school.’ he said and started walking off. ‘See you later.’

‘Bye.’ I scowled at him as he left, knowing he hadn’t meant to come off as judgemental but still feeling annoyed. He could be annoyingly correct sometimes.

I sighed and walked into the café, which was packed full of other students from Rise, as well as a few adults. Its interior was a calming light blue and petite white chairs and tables were arranged in a large circle in the centre. Waitresses dressed in cheery blue outfits bustled about serving the various customers while a woman behind the serving area called out coffee orders over the chorus of excited voices coming from the customers.

My eyes lit up as I saw the cupcakes that smelt so good, large pink and black ones sitting on a platter at the end of the serving area, and I eagerly slipped through the bustling seating area to reach it. One of the good things about being small and slim was that it made it easy to move through crowd, and barely anyone noticed you.

I grinned as I reached the cupcakes but as I went to grab one my attention was drawn to the colourful array of pastries displayed underneath the service area, behind a long glass barrier. To my delight all of them were themed after various cute animals, from cupcakes with monkey faces, tiger vanilla slices and ladybug doughnuts. What really caught my attention though were a collection of large chocolate-chip cookies that had cat ears and whiskers on them. Kitten cookies!

Oh my god. I needed them. I’d buy two for me and two for mum. She’d love them!

I went over to the counter and leant on my toes so I’d be more noticeable, and after a few seconds the lady working the coffee machine came over with a smile. I excitedly ordered four of the cookies and a bottle of coke, then dug my wallet out of my pocket to order. Mum gave us fifty dollars every Monday so we could buy food from the school’s canteen, and because I didn’t eat much I usually had money left over. As such, there was just over two hundred dollars of random notes in my wallet last I’d counted, and so many coins that I’d started storing them in a piggy bank in my room. For a while now I’d been trying to think of something big to buy with the money but nothing had come to mind. I’d initially wanted to buy some girls clothes but mum was in and out of my room every day, either to wash my clothes or just to talk, so there was no way I’d be able to hide anything clothing-related from her. And I constantly borrowed video games and comics from Jason so I didn’t need anything in that regard. At the moment it was fine to just have the money as a safety net in case I really needed it.

The woman handed over the cookies in a small brown bag and I took them off of her with a huge smile, and then slowly walked around the seating area. I probably did need to get a move on before school started but there were still a lot of students from school inside the café, and if they weren’t worried about being late then why should I? I wanted to enjoy the taste of the cookies as I walked to school, not scarf them down as I hurried to class.

I slipped one of them out of the bag and grinned as the sweet scent of its icing met my nose, and I couldn’t stop myself from immediately chomping down on it. Only on one of the ears though, as I didn’t want to ruin the kitten’s cute face yet. The delicious taste of chocolate icing and moist cookie consumed my mouth and I let out a delighted moan, followed by an involuntary squeaking sound as I chewed on it. It was amazing! I don’t know if it was just because I was so hungry, but it tasted better than any-

‘Oh my god.’ A delighted girl’s voice said and I flinched, tearing my eyes off of the cookie and seeing a tall girl standing a few feet away. She looked to be around Ashley’s age and was also dressed in the school’s sports uniform, although she was wearing a pair of knee-length compression leggings instead of the usual pants. ‘You’re perfect!’

‘Hhu?’ I said through the mouthful of kitten cookie, utterly confused. Was she talking to me?

‘What’s your name sweetie?’ she asked, stepping over and staring down at me with her wide blue eyes. She had long black hair that was layered and brushed over her right side so that it emphasized her heart-shaped face and olive complexion. A thick pink scarf was neatly wrapped around her neck and there were little black kittens adorning the ends of it, which caught my attention for probably longer than they should have. I quickly swallowed the mouthful of cookies and shook my head slightly.

‘Um...I’m Alex.’ I said and focused on her face, which was very beautiful. Her eyes were large and deep, her lips full and pink, and her nose and cheekbones sharp and well-defined. She was wearing some slight make-up too, enhancing her eyelashes and making her lips shine.

‘Hi Alex!’ She offered me her hand and beamed. ‘My names Jen. It’s nice to meet you!’

‘Uh…’ I looked at the hand for a moment before awkwardly grabbing it. ‘Hi.’

‘I’ve never seen you around before.’ She said as she shook my hand, engulfing it in pleasant warmth. ‘Is this your first day at Rise?’

‘Oh, no, I’ve been going here for years.’

‘Really?’ she looked me over with an intense gaze. ‘What year are you in?’

‘Year nine.’

‘So you’re fifteen! That’s great!’ she said with such enthusiasm that I was taken aback for a moment.

‘Umm…n-no, I’m thirteen.’ I blushed and decided to add to that. ‘I turn fourteen next month though!’

‘Ah! Well, that’s still fine!’ she grinned and squeezed my hand. ‘You’re ridiculously adorably, Alex. Once of the cutest girls I’ve seen at our school before. And you’re not even wearing make-up or doing anything with your hair!’

‘W-what?’ I turned bright red and wondered if she was joking, but her expression was now serious.

‘Have you ever thought about working as a waitress?’

I blinked. ‘Huh?’

Her eyes shone excitedly and she squeezed my hand even tighter. ‘My sister and I are opening a café next week and we need cute girls just like you to work for us! I think…let me just…’ she patted her tights and jumper, then scowled. ‘Dammit! I don’t have any flyers on me, but I can get you one tomorrow. Is that okay?’

‘I…yeah?’

‘Thanks!’ she beamed and I blushed. She was so friendly! ‘So, one of the girls who was going to work had to drop out, so I’ve been looking for a replacement and I think you’d be perfect! Have y-’

‘Jen!' another girl from our school shouted from a table a few feet away. She was shorter than Jen and was wearing the usual school uniform. ‘Get over here!’

‘What? I’m busy!’ jen shouted back, her pleasant demeanour fading for a moment.

‘I don’t care!’ the girl said, brushing her red hair behind her large ears. ‘We only have like two minutes before school starts and if you don’t finish this biology homework then Park’s giving you a detention. Again.’

‘Aww shit!’ Jen’s brow furrowed and she looked back at me, biting her bottom lip. ‘Crap! Okay! I need to go take care of something. Is that okay?’

‘That’s fine!’ I said in relief. There was no way I could be a waitress so this conversation, while really nice, was pointless. I’d been dreading the moment where I had to tell her that I was a boy.

‘So you’re in year nine, right?’ she asked quickly. ‘Your lockers are in the lobby of the IT building?’

‘Yes, b-’

‘I’ll meet you there at recess then! I might even have a flyer in my locker, which would be great!’

‘Hold on, I-’

‘I’ll see you soon then!’ she said and smiled widely. ‘Bye Alex!’

‘B-bye.’ I said and watched as she jogged over to her friend and dropped down onto the table. She looked back at me with a smile before hunching down and staring at a piece of paper her friend slipped over to her. ‘Crap…’

I was going to have to avoid her for the rest of the day, which wasn’t going to be. I’d probably have to avoid her for the rest of the week too! Urgh…

I’d love to be a waitress though…wearing a cute skirt and top, taking peoples orders and getting their food for them, with everyone treating me as a girl. It’d be amazing! But when Jen found out that I was a boy then she’d probably be disgusted like most people were, or just disappointed. Either way she wouldn’t let me work with her, and if she somehow did then there was no way mum or dad would be okay with it. It’d be insane for me to even bring it up with them! They’d figure out I wanted to be a girl immediately and I couldn’t let that happen.

Still…

‘She’d called me cute.’ I said and bounced happily out of the café’s entrance. ‘And ridiculously adorable! Hee!’

I took another bite of the cookie and lost myself in imaginations of being a waitress as I walked along the emptying street. If I somehow was able to work as a waitress then I’d get mum to cut my hair really fancy, with a cute fringe and layers too maybe. And I’d tie it back in a ponytail and wear a red headband! And I could get my ears pierced! Oh god! I’d always wanted to get my ears pierced! Maybe I could g-

‘Hey there, faggot.’ a horrifyingly familiar voice said and I cried out a large hand grabbed the back of my shoulder. ‘Let’s talk for a moment.’

To be continued...

Note: Thankyou for reading! I hope this chapter was as good as the last, because I was very surprised and pleased with the reception it got :D I'm really enjoying writing this story. If there were any problems with this chapter let me know so I can fix them :) I want this story to be as good as possible.