Aurora - Chapter 1 - The Plan

Printer-friendly version
Aurora Book Cover/Image

Brian just wants to be normal like everyone else. His best friend helps hatch a plan that will make that happen. How will it all turn out?

...we both looked down at my torn pants and started to tell the story.

This is the first chapter, in what I hope to be a near novel length book. Chapter 2 is with editors, and work has progressed well on Chapter 3. Your comments and encouragement will help speed me along.

This story will always post FIRST to LG Tales, then to TG Fiction dot NET and then to BigCloset.

-JulueChristine

Aurora 

Dedicated to Kimberly Elizabeth Fox
(08/28/1950 - 06/11/2008)
Without you, I would have never had the courage to share my works. I miss you!

Thanks to Maggie Finson, and Catrina Lochley for your help with story development and charecter ideas. Also thanks to Annette and Karen Page for always encouraging me to continue writing, despite how frustrated I made them.

Chapter One – The Plan

 

The Light
 
I’m not quite sure what scared me more. Was it the light at the end of the tunnel? Or was it the reality of what awaited me if I chose to not follow the light.

I’m honestly not even sure what happened to get me to this point where I now was. I’m not even sure where I am. It’s like I’m somewhere but nowhere at the same time.

I remember the other day, breaking the news to my mom that I wanted to go Trick or Treating with Amanda and her parents, because they were going to be hitting all the “good’ neighborhoods. My Mom was very disappointed. She really wanted me to Trick or Treat around our house so that she could see me wearing the little cowboy costume she had bought me. I reminded her that she’d be able to see me before school because I was going to wear my costume to school. She told me it just wasn’t the same but if I wanted to go with Amanda that was okay with her. I really hated hurting my Mom’s feelings, but I had a secret that I just couldn’t let my parents find out. 

Amanda and I had come up with a plan that would let me keep my secret. We desperately hoped it would work.
 
The Secret
 
You see Amanda and her older sister, Tracy, knew my deepest darkest secret. Amanda and I had been friends since pre-school. I wasn’t surprised that Amanda was ok with my secret when I told her; I mean we were best friends. I had tried to tell her several times, but couldn’t find the right words. Finally, I just had to tell her, and it all spilled out in a flood of words. She hugged me and was ok with it. 

But when her sister walked in on us that one fateful day, and discovered my secret, I thought for sure I was never going to be able to visit Amanda again. There I was, in Amanda’s room, sitting on her canopy bed talking with Amanda when Tracy walked in to the room without knocking. The only problem was that I as in one of Amanda’s dresses. It was a lilac colored sundress. My hair was mussed, and in a sad approximation of a girl’s style.

Tracy looked at me a little strangely, then smiled and asked me what my name was. I was tempted to tell her the icky name, but instead, I told her the truth. My name, my REAL name was Aurora.

At that news, she smiled even bigger, which I didn’t think was possible, and hugged me tight. She then sat down to play with us. She even helped me brush my hair out, and gave me a headband to make it lay right. When she was done it looked cute. 

Tracy had even helped us come up with the plan for Halloween. She was so awesome. It made me wish I had my own big sister to teach the things Tracy taught Amanda. Unfortunately for me all I had was an older brother whose sole enjoyment seemed to be picking on and teasing me.

I guess I was never really the kind of boy most parents expected or wanted. In fact, my mom once told me that she was sure I was going to be girl when she was pregnant with me. When she first saw me was certain the doctor had made a mistake; I was so pretty.

Every day I wake up in the morning, wishing that the doctor had actually made a mistake. I knew that he was wrong, because I knew I was a girl.

Trick or Treat Morning

But back to Trick or Treat, I remember waking up on Friday, and making my to the shower. I washed my hair which was shorter than how I wanted it, but longer than most the boys in my class. My Mom called it shaggy, and was threatening to get it cut, but with her working full time, and dad having left us years earlier, I didn’t have to worry that much about such things. Things like getting haircuts, going clothes shopping and doing fun things like going to the movies are always getting postponed or even canceled.

I think that’s part of why my Mom was upset about us not trick or treating near the house. She had gone out of her way to get the night off, but I had a plan, and that’s all that mattered to me.

Anyways, it was Friday, and it was trick or treat. It wasn’t actually Halloween, that wasn’t until Monday, but our town held trick or treat always on Friday, and since that was the case, the school always celebrated Halloween on the same day.

After my shower, I went to my room and started getting dressed, but instead of my usual school uniform, I was going to wear my cowboy costume to school. Now normally not having to wearing the boys uniform would be great, but I also didn’t want to go as a cowboy. But I put on a pair of blue jeans, and the actual leather like chaps my mom had bought me, with the fringe, and I even had a pair of actual cowboy boots to go with my costume. So after putting on my boots and my socks, I dawned my flannel shirt and picked the hat off my dresser. I thought about wearing the belt with the 2 holsters, but I thought better of it, as our school didn’t allow toy guns anyways, and I thought it would just look stupid with out.

When I walked into the kitchen to make my bowl of cereal, Denny was there and he laughed at me. I expected nothing less of course, I mean he was in 8th grade, and I was in 6th grade, and felt this costume was probably a little bit juvenile for meat my noble 12 years of age. But mom thought it was absolutely adorable and just had to have it.

About 5 minutes after I finished eating, mom came out of her room dressed for work, and both Denny and I grabbed what we needed for school.

Holidays at school were always ok and “light days”. Because of the excitement ahead, the teachers usually just showed us movies and let us play quiet games and whatnot. But for me, the day couldn’t have dragged on more slowly.

I tried to get into watching the movie the teacher put in, but it was something I had seen many times. And My heart just wasn’t in any of the games we played. I was distracted all day, and I think the teacher noticed, but as soon as school was out that day, I perked up. As I ran out of the classroom door, with Amanda in tow, I noticed Tracy outside, standing beside their mom’s SUV, waiting for us.

The Plan

 

“Slow down there” she said to me with a chuckle, at which point I did, giving Amanda a moment to catch her breath. I don’t think she liked being dragged along by her backpack strap, but I just had to get to her house. Tracy came forward and hugged us both. Now I know that doesn’t sound like a normal teenager, but Tracy was different. She seemed to really care about Amanda and even me, which made me feel good.

One the ride home, Tracy asked me if I was ready, like she couldn’t already tell, but I replied yes none the less.

When we made it to Amanda’s house, I was a little more calm, but still excited. I was too busy at that point, chatting with Amanda to notice the familiar car sitting on the street outside.

Well, whilst I was a bit calmer than at school, that didn’t mean that I wasn’t in a hurry to get inside and put our plan into action. The car had only just been stopped when Amanda opened the rear passenger door and I was trying to climb over her nearly to get out. Now that I reflect on this, I wonder why I didn’t just use the door on the other side.

Amanda and I ran inside, hand in hand this time, and straight up to her room, I hear her Mom call from the kitchen shortly after, and Tracy reply that we were here, and that Amanda and I had gone upstairs.

Now, normally when working on a plan like this, I know that the ideal thing is to wait. It’s best to pull it off when everything is just right, but I wanted to make sure to have enough time to get into my costume. See, our plan was for me to accidentally “rip” my costume in a way that wasn’t immediately fixable, and for Amanda to have the mischievous idea of dressing me in the costume she wore last year.

See despite me being a boy, we were actually quite similar in size, except I think I was an inch or so shorter, but I’d never admit it to her.

So there we were, in Amanda’s room. We were a bit nervous, and I was a bit sad to hurt my costume, I mean my Mom did go out of her way to make sure this wasn’t some cheap store box thing. I really did love my Mom, but I was just so afraid. Afraid that she would hate me for making her youngest son disappear. I longed so much to be her daughter that it just hurt sometimes.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Amanda coming at me with a pair of scissors. Not in a menacing way mind you, but with a hint of an evil gleam non the less. You see our plan was this. We would make a small cut into my jeans, and then when rip it larger. Our story would be that I had accompanied Amanda into her restroom (with the door left open of course) whilst she fixed her hair. I had been sitting on the tub/shower stall and when I got up, my jeans caught, and tore on the railing/track thingy that the shower door sits in. We would then head downstairs and tell Amanda’s Mom what had happened, and then Amanda would produce her “evil grin” yet again, and say “I have a plan” and drag me back upstairs.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans for us tonight.

Like a Deer in Headlights

 Well, having successfully made the cut in my jeans, and being careful to not catch on my leather like chaps, we tore the rip in what we seemed was a believable way, to an amount that just made it not possible to go any further. Unfortunately this also left my underwear exposed to a degree.

At this point it was Amanda’s turn to pull me by the hand downstairs as I was a bit embarrassed by having my white briefs exposed. After spending so much time planning this stunt, and waiting expectantly for the time to come, I’m just not sure why this never occurred to me.

As we descended the stairs, Amanda decided to beckon her Mom in that way only a Tween/Teen girl can. That is to say that she did not scream for her Mom in a way that was rude, nor did it sound like this was a life or death emergency. It somehow carried just a hint of pleading urgency like she just really needed some help.

Her Mom entered the living room from the kitchen and we both looked down at my torn pants and started to tell the story. What we had failed to notice was that my Mom had followed Amanda’s out of the kitchen.

When we looked up, and saw my Mom standing there, we were both frozen like deer in headlights. Thankfully our Mom’s just mistook the stare as being worried about my Trick or Treating ability. I swear if Tracy hadn’t been there we would have been well and truly stuck. 

It was then, that after only a few seconds, (even though it felt like years to us) Tracy took charge of the situation. Knowing what our plan was (as it was partially her idea) she said confidently “Oh no! Well, I think I have a solution” and took me upstairs to Amanda’s room.

I was slightly surprised when Tracy locked the door after I entered, leaving Amanda outside to deal with our Mothers. Really, if you listen to how she tells the story, she’ll say she was answering questions for hours, and honestly, despite my being so anxious for all this to happen, it just might have been.

You see, at this point I was more than just a bit petrified at getting dressed and going out in front of my mother. In front of Amanda’s Mom was okay as I had Tracy and Amanda to back me up from here on when I was here, but now I was going to eventually have to deal with my Mom talking about this, and I also knew that Denny was bound to find out now. I would just never live this down.

Under Tracy’s careful ministrations I had undressed down to my unders and Tracy gave me a simple pair of white cotton panties to wear, fresh from a new bag in Amanda’s drawer.

At that point, I started to cry. I just wanted to back out, and maybe put on a pair of Amanda’s jeans. I was so scared that my mom was there, and I just didn’t know what to do.

At that point, Tracy wrapped me in a hug, letting me cry on her shoulder. She didn’t admonish me for being scared, or try to talk me out of wanting to walk away. She just held me and let me cry, and funnily enough, that seemed to do the trick.

As I calmed down, I started to think about things, and figured if I didn’t do this now, I was never going to be able to be Aurora. 

Once I was fully composed, and ready to continue, Tracy helped me weith m costume. She had already pulled everything out of Amanda’s closet, and set it out on the bed to make sure everything was ready. She had me first put on a silky vest like item, that she said was a bra for girls that don’t need bras, and then a full slip that went over that. 

Then she held out a petticoat for me to step into, and pulled it up around my waist. At that point, it was time for me to become Aurora. She lifted the dress over my head, and helped me fish my arms through the sleeves, and my head through the collar. After zipping up the back, fixing of the decorative lacing, and general fussing with the way the skirt fell onto the petticoat, it was time for Tracy to do something with my hair.

I thought Tracy was just going to brush my hair in a style like she’d done in the past, something that would make me look more like a girl, but instead, she picked an object out of a bag on top of Amanda’s vanity.

It was a long wig that I swear was glowing almost magically as the lights of the vanity bounced of the honey blonde masterpiece. It flowed with gentle body, but no real curls, and had a cute fringe on the forehead.

After combing my hair back, and affixing the wig on my head, she pulled out a pink ribbon and some how managed to tie it into a bow on top, that managed to lift the back of the wig and make it hang in a cute young girls style. The next thing I knew, she was placing a delicate tiara on my head. I was sure it wasn't expensive, yet it didn't seem cheap either. 

I was beaming in the mirror, looking at it from the left and the right and straining to somehow see the back, when Tracy reached into the small purse she carried, and pulled out a tube of deep pink lipstick.

“Now, normally a girl your age shouldn’t really be wearing makeup” she said. “But I feel this will match your bow so perfectly, and just make everything so completely perfect.”

The tears had started forming as she tied the bow, and were flowing freely by this point.

It wasn’t that I was scared any more, or sad in any way. Instead, I saw for the first time, the girl that I really knew was inside. To see that girl in the mirror for the first time was just so amazing.

I saw through the mirror, Tracy looking at my reflection too, with a huge grin on her face. I couldn't help but smile back, and try to beam my thoughts to her, as words were failing me. She seemed to know though, as she wrapped me in another warm hug from behind and then insisted we go.

up
140 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

Fun Story

RAMI

This seems like a fun story. Now, how will mom react? Did Tracy, plan it this way and arrange for Aurora's mom to be there?

Rami

RAMI

So far, both those answers

Piper's picture

So far, both those answers are answered in chapter 3... I hope to have it out in about a week. Minor tweaks needed so far before it's ready, but I want to have more of Ch4 done before it's released, that way I know I'm not gonna need to go back an revise ch3 :).

I'm glad you like the story, it's an idea I've had for ages, but wasn't till this year that I actually managed some headway on it.

-HuGgLeS-

-P/KAF/PT/JulieChristine


"Science is just magic with an explanation, and bumblebees are just tiny little fairies in disguise. :)" Submitted by Erin on Sun, 2010/04/04 - 6:37pm.



"She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them."
— Geraldine Brooks


Aurora - Chapter 1 - The Plan

Like the story with it's sense of innocence and wonder.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

places a bet both mom's knew or least had idea

something like this would occur. my mom i'm sure never figured out things ever, but i know a couple of aunts & my grandmother had long B4 I ever came out.

very cute

very cute story.... Maybe we should name the Friday before Halloween TGFriday and everyone could have fun.

K.T. Leone

My fiction feels more real than reality

Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)

Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life