Circumstance by Design - (or Damn the Clich's, Full Speed Ahead)
by Joe Six-Pack
"Come on Derek!" she said. "What could go wrong?"
"What could go wrong? What could go wrong!?" Derek replied. "My... butt
in a sling, that's what could go wrong!"
"Derek!" she said, stretching out his name as long as she held breath.
"Please?" she said with a pout. Her large, moist, blue eyes squinted
and pleaded. Her beautiful red shiny lips frowned. Her head dipped atop
her pencil-thin neck. Blonde hair, held high on her head in a pony
tail, swayed and shook. The features on her face were small and
delicate, and her skin was so smooth and new that just the graze of a
feather might ruin its' perfection. No man alive could look upon this
girl's face and not cave into her requests. Derek would resist, but
eventually he would give in. And it would feel so good.
Although for now, Derek was standing as firm as his will would allow.
"No, Becky!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, and gently as a young
man his size could. "I step one foot inside, and I loose everything!
My scholarship, my place on the Dean's list, my spot on the football
team! Everything!"
"No one's gonna know," Becky said, not letting her disappointment be
obscured in any way. She shuffled her feet. "It's just that..."
Derek's ears pricked up. It could be the first part of a sentence he
had long wanted to hear. "...I wanted tonight..." That was the second
part of the sentence. "...to be..." Third part. "...special."
Jackpot! Cash all chips!
"B... B... But. Um. Oh," Derek burbled. Any words would have done. It
gave him a vital pause. He wanted to at least look like he was using
his brain in making this decision. Truthfully, his brain was not
involved. "Okay, I guess," he said. The poor boy was way far gone now.
All Becky had to do has gently tug at his arm, and he would follow. And
he did. Becky led him by the hand out of his dorm, down across campus,
through the dark night and under the dim street lamps all the way to
Sykes Hall.
Sykes Hall struck an imposing silhouette against the sky of the full
moon. It was one of those old red-brick ivy-covered buildings, built
like a castle and as permanent as the pyramids of Egypt. Most
importantly, it was the forbidden fruit of the college campus, the
holy grail of many young men who attended the school. It was the
girl's dorm. No men allowed. It was only right when he was face to
face with the sign on the side of the building that Derek's wits were
brought back to him.
"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Derek said, reclaiming his hand. "There's
no way I'm getting past security, Becky! And there's no way I can climb
these walls!"
"Shhh!!" Becky admonished. She placed her hand over his mouth to stop
any further noise. Derek was tempted to keep talking just to make her
touch him like that again. "I got it covered!" Becky looked around and
found a small nutshell discarded by a nearby tree. She tossed the shell
at a third-story window in what could only be described as the epitome
of a 'girlie' throw. The shell hit its mark, however. Derek hoped it
ws a lucky throw. He was uncomfortable with the idea that she had
learned to do it by practice.
A few moments after it hit, a window opened up and a large bundle was
tossed out the window. It hit Derek squarely in the head, knocking him
to the ground. Becky tried to muffle her laughter.
"What the!?..." Derek tried to ask.
"Shhh!!!" Becky protested. "Just do what I say." Catching another look
at the girl's beautiful face in the moonlight made it easy for Derek to
go along with her wishes. Becky removed a few items from the bundle. A
long coat, a hat. "Take your shoes off. And socks," she commanded.
"Stand up."
She fed his arms through the sleeves of the coat and slapped the large
floppy hat on his head. In the dark, it was very tough to see what was
happening. And he didn't much care, with her hands swirling all over
his body. "Lift your left foot," Becky said. Derek complied, enjoying
the feeling of his bare feet in this girl's hands. She slipped a shoe
on his foot. With a heel! A high one!
"Wait a minute," Derek said, "just wait a darn minute here." He
immediately figured the plan out right there. He was in the middle of
a bad B film all the sudden: Boy dresses as girl to sneak into girl's
dorm, mix-ups occur, wackiness ensues.
Not missing a beat, Becky stood up straight, balancing on her toes and
planted a long, deep kiss on Derek's lips as she caressed his face with
her fingers. Derek knew it was just to keep him quiet. Still, he let
nothing in this moment go unfelt. He probably had then let Becky put
his right foot in the remaining shoe. He wasn't sure, because he was
mentally somewhere south of Bermuda. Becky placed a pair of cats-eye
sunglasses on his head and brought him to the front door. She buzzed
the intercom and waited for the reply.
Behind the glass door Becky and Derek saw the unimposing figure of the
300-pound five-foot nothing security guard, Wayne. He slowly approached
the door, grasping his belt to look like he held some authority. Becky
gave him her brightest smile and cutest little wave. Wayne recognized
the young girl, as he had often spent a good many evenings and
afternoons in his bedroom working the ol' butter churn while imagining
her face.
She was a longtime resident of the hall. He would let her in after he
could get a good look at her. Becky's taut little body was the sort
that you didn't believe until you saw it. And once you had seen it, you
had to keep checking to see if was real. Her waist was just thin enough
for a big man to place both his hands around so they almost touch. From
the waist down, the two and a half feet to her ankles went on for
miles. Her legs were slim, but still shapely.
Wayne's favorite part was the gap in between her thighs that was at
least an inch, maybe two. One of his many fetishes! The waist up,
though, was the best part. From the thin waist, her torso seemed to
expand out like and inverted cone, curving until it reached her
breasts. Beside the fact that her breasts appeared to make up a third
of her body weight, they also hung in midair, suspended at the tip by
invisible threads from above. Unreal beauty!
Wayne pretended to not recognize her for another minute, before he
broke his gaze. As for the football player in drag next to her, he had
a tough time trying to figure that one out. Was she trying to sneak
this guy in? Sometimes these kids must have thought he was a moron. The
guy was six-five, 280 pounds, all muscle. There was at least three
days' beard on his lantern-like jaw. His forearms were as big as hams,
and they made mink coats with less hair on them. He was a gorilla in a
trench coat.
Becky gave him the sign. Wayne saw it. He shook his head in disgust, he
felt so dumb. The sign indicated it was one of those 'special' cases.
He quickly remembered it was indeed the fifteenth already, and this had
all been arranged long ago. It meant another easy six hundred in his
paycheck for looking the other way. He buzzed open the door.
"Good evening, ladies," Wayne said, making way for them to pass. Derek
was tempted to swat the guy in the head for being so blind. Thank god
this rent-a-cop wasn't guarding Fort Knox. But Derek kept his mouth
shut and eyes forward. Once they got to Becky's floor, Becky went over
to one of her neighbor's rooms and gently rapped on the door. It opened
a crack as the occupant peeked through.
"Thanks, Dee!" Becky whispered. A single eye was visible in the crack.
Presumably, it was one of a pair that belonged to 'Dee'. It gave Derek
a look.
"Ugh. So much for that hat. You owe me!" Dee whispered back. The door
closed silently. Becky then made a show of quietly opening the door to
her room and ushering in Derek. Once inside, Derek flipped the light
switch on and Becky quickly flipped it back off.
"No need for that," Becky said.
In the darkness, Derek scrambled to get out of the coat. Once he had
discarded it, somebody was helping him with his shirt. Once Derek's
hands had found Becky, he started to tug at her top. The scramble of
clawing limbs got faster and more desperate in just a few seconds.
Derek heard fabric tear, but wasn't sure at all who did it. In record
time, he was pretty sure we was naked, and feeling Becky's arms
locked around his neck indicated she was nude enough to get to the
good stuff. She slowly drew him down to her.
Derek, with the greatest hesitation and overwhelming temptation,
started to run his hands along her body. He felt the incredible,
luscious contours. He then felt her hands run up his torso and grip his
chest hair, as she brought him closer to her. Once he was close enough,
her hands let go and she brought them around to grip his ass. Derek
grunted in surprise. Since she had set the tone, he grabbed her
breasts. She giggled.
That was enough to start sending sensations racing up and down Derek's
body. Becky had just surpassed everything he had ever thought of as
sexy. All buttons pushed, his dick now started to respond in full
force. He felt sirens go off in his head. Opening his eyes he was
surprised to see red flashing lights in his vision. Having actual sex
with a girl was sure different than masturbating, he thought. Becky
then pushed Derek away. He squirmed and pawed for her, like a newborn
baby denied milk in mid-meal. But as he opened his eyes, he realized
the sound of sirens and the flashing red light were not limited to his
imagination. It was actually happening.
"Shit!" Becky said. "Fire drill!"
"What the...." Derek asked himself. "Fire drill?"
"Fire drill!!" Becky confirmed. She leapt off the bed, taking a sheet
with her, as she started to look around in panic. She turned on the
lights and started to go into a minor fit. In reflex, Derek covered
himself with a pillow. He looked down on the floor for his clothes,
and grabbed his pants, only to find out exactly what had gotten
ripped a minute ago.
Becky started hopping in place. "They'll search the rooms in five
minutes, we've got to get out of here!"
Derek tried to think. "Calm down, Beck! I'll just..." Jump out the
third floor window? "I can..." Hide? "If I... " Reason with them? Damn
it, he had no ideas. Just then, out down the hall, Derek and Becky
could hear the heavy pounding that the dorm's Head Resident was making
on each room.
"Let's go girls, let's move!" The pounding got nearer and nearer. When
it got to Becky's door, the noise sent Derek scrambling under the
covers of the bed. "Get a move on, people!" the woman called. But the
door didn't open.
"Here!" Becky said, tossing something at Derek. He turned his head back
at Becky to notice that she had discarded her sheet, and was now
standing stark naked as she dug through her dresser. Deep in the
recesses of his mind, he wolf-whistled. Becky found a giant night
shirt and covered herself with it. Now that the show was over, Derek
looked at the item she had tossed him a minute ago. It was another
night shirt. Pink. With bunnies on it.
"Well?" Becky asked.
"What about pants?" Derek replied.
"We college girls don't sleep in pants." Becky said, hoping Derek would
catch on.
"But I don't see..." Derek blinked. "Oh, come on!"
"We've got two minutes!" Becky grabbed the shirt and pulled it over
Derek's head. On Becky, it would have been loose and flowing. On Derek,
it stretched tight. She grabbed a giant polka-dot handkerchief and
placed it over Derek's head, tying two corners under his chin. That
way, Derek looked like "she" had her hair up for bed. She then grabbed
a handful of socks and stuffed them down the front of his shirt,
sculpting them into a pair of malformed boobs.
Becky examined him closely. If someone were legally blind, drunk and
five miles away, Derek could get away with it. But it was the best
anyone could do. Which was pretty sad. She opened up the door and
shoved Derek out into the hall. She then banged on Dee's door, her
other neighbor Carolyn's door and a couple of other friends. Of course
her friends were all laughing at Derek, but Becky's determination to
not get caught got the girls to calm down. They formed a tight convoy
around Derek, as he bent down a bit to try and blend in.
They shuffled out, went down to the ground floor, left the building,
and gathered next to a nearby sculpture. It was what they were
supposed to do, in the event of a fire. Derek peered over the heads
of the girls to see what was going on. He was scared to death that the
building was actually on fire, and that he was stuck out here. That
would be a nightmare. Correction. More of a nightmare. But every time
he stuck his head up, Becky would grab it and push it back down, trying
to hide him. He had to check for smoke though. Visions of his
scholarship going up in flames were drifting through his mind. Finally,
Becky spied the Head Resident coming, and pushed Derek's head down as
firmly as she could.
"And stay down!" she added.
"All right. Pretty sloppy, girls," the Head Resident said. "We're gonna
need to do that many more times! I'm going to go over safety procedures
again!" She let out a deep sigh of disapproval. "Roll call!" The crowd
of a hundred girls groaned. If one listened carefully, they could hear
a deep baritone voice amongst them. Two and a half hours later, Becky's
entourage of girls dropped her and Derek off at her room. "Whew!" Derek
said. "That was lucky.
"L-U-C-K-Y. I tell you. I don't want to go through that again. Boy oh
boy. So when do you think I can get out of here? I think we wait a
couple of hours and..."
He then noticed Becky had passed out face-first on her bed. Derek
checked the clock. It was three A.M. Realizing how tired he felt, he
decided enough was enough.
"Move over," he said.
---
"Just hold still," Becky said to Derek, "hold still!" She grabbed his
face and brought it back facing her. It was a little past noon, and the
two students had blown off classes for the day. They had slept in a
little, fooled around a bit and then decided on a plan of escape from
the dorm. Really, Derek had to admit, it was Becky's plan and he was
just a helpless pawn in her scheme at this point.
The plan was that Derek had to exit the building in broad daylight and
make his way to a safe place to change. He was gonna have to get past
all the residents of the girls' dorm, past the security. He had planned
to find a bathroom nearby and change, but there simply wasn't that sort
of privacy at any of the bathrooms on this side of campus. Not to
mention that he didn't have much to wear right now. He had lost his
sneakers at some point, and his pants were torn right up the inseam.
This meant that he was going to have to walk the half-mile back to his
dorm unit in disguise.
Derek had rationalized it by taking the approach that he could look as
ridiculous as he thought he did and not worry. As long as no one could
identify him as Derek Richards, football star, he was going to be okay.
If people thought it was just some poor frat pledge or whatever, great.
As long as he didn't look like himself, everything was going to be
fine.
Using this logic, he had let his girlfriend pluck his eyebrows, which
is what she was doing right now. This way, his eyes would be looking
very much not his own. He had shaved his trademark beard stubble as
close as he could, and Becky had covered it with half a tube of
foundation. Becky had then pushed the envelope of what make-up could
achieve in trying to make Derek's face appear as feminine as
possible. It didn't really do much to make him look attractive, but
it did make him look completely unlike his usual self. In fact, he
would have made a fairly passable East German female weightlifter.
Becky had packed him into some clothes she said she had borrowed from
one of her larger neighbors. A pale blue tank top covered a frilly-
edged white T-shirt. Over that, a denim jacket. A gargantuan pair of
drawstring cargo pants seemed to be baggy enough to cover Derek's quite
masculine legs. Somewhere in the dorm, Becky had wrangled up a large
poofy wig, long and dark brown. All the better to cover Derek's face as
much as possible. With a pair of white tennis shoes, Derek was ready to
go. As Becky got herself together, Derek hesitantly examined himself in
the mirror. He was a bona-fide heifer, but the most important thing was
that he didn't look anything like himself.
He panicked for a brief moment as he remembered that the number of six-
foot five people on campus was a very limited group, and some budding
Sherlock Holmes might deduce his identity. But he had to calm down and
not worry about it. He had to look cool, calm and collected. More than
his pride was at stake. Becky stuck a couple of strands of hair behind
her ear and proclaimed herself ready. She had done the right thing,
dressing way down, so as not to attract attention. But on her, it was
wasted effort. No fabric known to mankind could have hid her beauty.
But Derek hoped for the best.
They made it outside the building with only some passing snickers from
those in on the joke. When they passed security, Becky flashed the sign
behind Derek's back at the guard on duty. He nodded compliance, and got
one the phone.
Stage two was to begin. Derek noticed nothing, and the two started to
make their way across campus. Derek kept telling himself: Cool, calm
and collected. Nothing wrong here. Just a couple of girls going to
glass. No reason to look twice. Just walking along. And it seemed to be
working. Derek just kept on his way, not making any false moves. He was
worried about people staring, but so far nobody had even looked at him
with any suspicion.
Of course, it was a different story behind Derek. Out of sight, there
were plenty of caveman imitations and goofy faces being made by the
many class clowns who attended this university. But at the very least,
no one suspected the true depth of strangeness they were witnessing.
"Smile!" Becky admonished, jamming her elbow into Derek. He complied.
Everything normal here. No problems! To his great relief, Derek could
now see his dorm building above the treetops. He had seen no sight
sweeter since... well, Becky last night actually.
"Beck!" Derek heard from behind. He grabbed Becky's arm firmly, to send
the unspoken message that if she dared to turn around she would lose
that limb. "Becky! Where ya goin'?" the voice persisted.
Alongside the two "girls" a car then pulled up and parked. Out came a
guy Derek didn't recognize. But Becky apparently did. She quickly took
the initiative and steered Derek to cross the street before this guy
could catch up to them. Traffic, unfortunately, was not going to let
them escape.
"Hey, didn't you hear me?" the guy said, placing himself squarely in
front of Becky. Faced with no way out, she suddenly seemed to recognize
the existence of the person addressing her.
"Oh, hi, Gordy!" Becky said, smiling brightly and tilting her head.
"Good to see you!" She then tried to get past him again. He simply
moved a step.
"You forgot, didn't you?" Gordy said. "I can't believe you forgot!"
A low groan detectable only by Derek came from Becky's throat. "The art
show," she said, trying to sound whimsically aloof. Gordy feigned a
look of good-natured bemusement.
"Yeah, I came to pick you up and..."
Derek's head filled with the sound of his eardrums rumbling in fear. He
had made some unsubtle attempts to free himself from Becky's grip, put
she refused to let go. Derek realized that she was under the twisted
delusion that this could still work. Derek then considered the
possibility of picking up this Gordy character and tossing him into a
hedge. His brain vetoed the idea only after many stages of debate.
"...I said hi. Hello?" Gordy was still taking. Derek realized Gordy was
talking to him. Derek looked at Becky with desperation in his eyes.
Becky bumped herself into Derek, to prompt a reply. "Gordy Drake, this
is... Bree... Sa..." Becky was floundering. "Sabrina Peterson. Sabrina,
this is Gordy."
"Once again, hi Sabrina." Gordy said.
"Hi" Derek squeaked.
"So," Gordy continued, trying to rescue a very uncomfortable pause.
"What do you say we get to the art show?"
Becky was delivering her best turn-down. "Uh, well, gee, Gordy, the
thing is I've got to do this paper. Due tomorrow. Today. In an hour.
Paper due in an hour," she smiled, magically bypassing the reality of
her obvious lie.
"You said that the last time, Becky," Gordy countered, "and the time
before that you had a science project."
"I did, huh?"
"Yeah. I'm beggining to think you don't like me," Gordy said, with
insincere sadness.
She doesn't! Derek thought to himself. You're a jerk! Go away! Becky
was a trooper.
"Well, Gordy, the truth is... You see... I've got to.." Then she found
a valid point. "Well, I can't desert my friend Sabrina here, can I?"
Gordy had an answer. "No problem, she can come along!" Check.
Becky moved to block. "I wouldn't want Sabrina to feel like a third
wheel."
Gordy sprung the trap. "No problem, we can double." He turned to his
car. "Hey Mack!"
Derek was familiar with that name. He knew a 'Mack'. But it couldn't be
that same 'Mack', could it? Out of the car stepped Mack Wilson,
starting right tackle for the football team Derek was on. He stood up
tall, displaying his six-ten height and three hundred pound frame.
"See?" Gordy said through a beaming smile, "They were practically made
for each other!"
Check and mate. Derek thought that surely, even if this idiot Gordy
hadn't seen through his disguise, Mack would. They had known each other
for three years now. Heck, they even showered together. Derek started
to sweat and breathe rapidly, and was going to start hyperventilating
very soon. He was going to be discovered. Derek's mind then got a shot
of the adrenaline usually only produced under conditions of imminent
death. But it did the trick. He suddenly had an idea.
"Hey great!" Derek said. Becky twisted her head around so fast, you
could hear her neck crack. Her eyes jumped out of their sockets in
shock.
"Umm..." Derek continued, trying to find the right tone for a 'female'
voice. It actually sounded somewhere in between a drunken chipmunk and
the voice of a gay children's puppet, but it was good enough. "Sounds
great, Gordy. What do you think, Becky?"
Becky's face seemed to indicate that reality had dropped away from her
for a moment, but Derek hoped she would trust him. She followed his
lead. "Yeah. Okay. If you're up for it, Sabrina."
"Cool!" Derek bubbled.
"But we've got to get our acts together." Becky saw the light. "Yeah!
Yeah, we're not dressed for an art show. We gotta change. Why don't we
go... home... and change?"
Derek nodded his head. Yes. Good girl. She was on the right track.
"Home," Derek repeated for emphasis. He was going to get out of this
after all.
"Oh, you look fine," Gordy said, flippantly. "Let's go!" Derek cussed
himself out, mentally. Damn. Damn. Damn. Why didn't his brain ever
think things out before he spoke? Stupid brain!
---
The show was an slothful afternoon of walking three feet at a time and
looking at some abstract paint accident on the wall for five minutes.
For Becky, it was a bore beyond bores, a fate worse than death or
attending a lecture series. She seemed to have the hardest time trying
to sound interested and art-literate at the same time. For Derek,
however, it was an afternoon of electric excitement. Not a dull moment
for him. He tried to maintain a distance from Mack, and move the
procession along without coming off as nervous. All of the time there,
Derek was trying as hard as he could to behave like a girl on a casual
date. He was referencing TV shows he had long forgotten so he could
mimic the actresses. He was coming up with entirely new things to do
with his pocket-less hands, plastering his face with a smile, and
occasional attempts at batting eyelashes. He had almost perfected a
polite laugh that was the best he could do when it came to a giggle.
He was acting like a bit of a loon, but unfortunately or Derek, Mack
seemed to be more and more interested in him. Derek had seriously
misjudged how much a man of Mack's size would excuse in strange
behavior, just to date a "girl" close to his own size. Those attempts
to act more girlishly had backfired.
And now, when Derek was trying even harder to get Mack to back off,
the opposite was happening. As they exited the show, it was about five
o'clock, and Derek had realized that four hours had passed at the show.
He was sure he had been inside there for a fortnight. The sun was
setting, and Derek was watching the daylight fade as he was feeling
every ounce of energy slipping away from him. It had been a tough day.
Gordy and Mack escorted Derek and Becky out to the parking lot. Derek
stared a 'this is your fault, you know' look at Becky. She had a look
of 'don't look at me, pal' on her face.
Derek countered with a strong 'we'll continue this later' expression.
They shuffled into Gordy's car. As they got underway, Derek's butt was
working overtime, slowly inching it's way to the very farthest distance
away from Mack. The back seat of Gordy's Honda was unfortunately not
wide enough to accommodate the size of the the two people on it, and
Derek was powerless but to remain in contact with Mack every single
moment.
Derek could also see that up front, Gordy was using his free hand like
a tentacle, trying to wrap up Becky in an embrace she wanted no part
of. Houdini didn't have the escapability Becky was demonstrating,
getting out of every attempt Gordy was making. But Derek had little
time for sympathy. He had his own problems.
"So," Mack said to Derek, "you like to party?"
Derek swallowed his tongue. At that moment, the car screeched to a
halt. Derek said a silent payer to God. This nightmare was finally
over.
"Everybody out!" Gordy said. As the group extricated themselves from
the car - and each other - Derek was horrified to find themselves on
the outskirts of town, at a roadside bar far from the lights of the
city. Had Derek been not otherwise occupied, he probably would have
noticed the route Gordy was taking.
Becky and Derek then turned on their heels and made for the car door
handles. Ka-chunk went the locks. Buh-Beep! Went Gordy's remote key
alarm.
"Hey, drinks are on us!" Gordy beamed with pride. "It's ladies night!"
Derek hated cosmic irony.
---
It had started out nicely enough, in a terror-stricken-eternity sort of
way, and Derek had started to loosen up a bit, finding himself more
relaxed and at ease with himself. The four vodka-tonics helped, too.
The interior of the bar was dark and smoke-filled, obviously the sort
of place where just about any sort of behavior was tolerated, and just
the sort of place where a college boy could easily take advantage of a
college girl. Gordy must have calculated that no one would be brave
enough to stop him from making some very overt moves on Becky, as the
two giants in his company would easily take anyone in the place.
Gordy was using this advantage, practically humping the poor girl in
the small booth the group shared. Derek wasn't worried too much about
Becky, as she had whispered in his ear earlier that she could handle
the 'little weasel' by herself. She really was putting up with a lot
for his benefit.
Derek and Mack both had become quite plastered, and were now chatting
about the 4-3 defense's advantages to the 3-4, along with other such
matters of heaven and earth. But Becky's protests and body language
became increasingly more adamant, and had lost any tinge of politeness.
When she shrieked at the top of her lungs, Derek took notice.
"Hey!" was all he said - at first. But now, sitting in the county jail,
Derek had begun to reconsider the chain of events that brought him
here. Truthfully, he regretted little of it.
Gordy had wound up being hoisted into an ambulance, with splints and
bandages on every square inch of his body. No regrets there. He had
clocked Mack over the head with a chair, when Mack had tried to defend
his friend. Again, no regrets. When the bartender and bouncer both
tried to subdue him, he had tossed them clear across the room, like
pitching horseshoes. Not an iota of regret for that.
The cop he had punched in the mouth - that he regretted. When he had
been booked at the police station, he was drunk, ranting and dangerous.
They used tazers to control him, and then locked him in the drunk tank
for the rest of the night. Early that morning, he went through
fingerprinting, mug shots, and had a full body cavity search. Well,
not exactly. When Derek was dragged into the examination room, all
the attendant there said was, "Your girlfriend must want you to
herself."
Derek didn't get it. "Five hundred dollars to keep it that way, at
least."
They just continued to look at each other for a minute, before she
removed her unused rubber gloves and rang a buzzer. Derek was led out
again. Later, he found out that Becky had bribed the woman to avoid
discovering anything that would have made things tougher on him. But
quite the opposite had occurred.
When he was arraigned as "Sabrina Peterson" Derek fully realized that
the ruse was still in effect. Since he had no ID on him, the cops must
have assumed that the name that Gordy had given them was real. And now,
he was legally obligated to carry on as such. His trial had been
arranged quickly, as Derek had insisted on the quickest trial possible
- in fact, he never even posted bail. But this left little time for his
public defender to work up a competent defense. And now, here he was
sitting in jail, sentenced to eight months for four counts of assault,
assaulting an officer of the peace, disorderly conduct in public,
resisting arrest and destruction of private property.
Soon, he was trying to get used to the idea of prison, as well as the
ridiculous and terrifying problem of doing it in the women's wing. He
had pulled a trick early on, shedding his wig and getting a slight
trim from the prison's barber, and then telling the prison guards he
had a 'buzz cut'. This also identified him as a "possible lesbian" and
he was given a private cell and allowed to shower by himself. It was
all Becky's idea, God bless her, and she had been by to visit every day
she could.
He felt a jab in his ribs from a baton, bringing him back to the
present. "Hey, Princess, I don't see you listening to your tapes."
Princess was Derek's prison nickname, given to him for his special
treatment and a joke on his enormous size. Prison humor really is the
funniest kind of humor. The person who had jabbed him in the ribs was
Flat-top, a prison guard who had taken a 'special interest' in Derek.
She had good reason to. She knew the truth about Derek.
Her real title was Corrections Officer Rydell, but her military
haircut earned her the nickname. She seemed to enjoy it. She was a
cruel woman, who had found her calling in life. It's much easier to
find your place in this world if you have an unpleasant personality,
because there is always a market demand for jerks. It was in the
shower, when Flat-top wanted to get a 'good look' at the new inmate,
that she got an eye full of something she'd never forget. She seemed
angry and ready to bust Derek's ass. But instead, she wanted to make a
deal. So every month, a fresh check was sent to Flat-top's mailbox for
'security services rendered'.
Derek asked Becky to take what little money he has stashed away and
take charge of mailing the checks. In exchange, Flat-top looked the
other way. But unfortunately for Derek, this woman wanted 'guarantees'
that his true identity would never be found out. If he was, Flat-top
said she would lose her job. She demanded that Derek work hard to
maintain the disguise.
Therefore, his "tapes" - or actually audio books on CD - were a
selection of instructional and motivational messages on how to be
more feminine. Titles like "Your Feminine Power", "10 Ways to a
Successful Relationship", "The Five Things Every Woman Should Know",
and the one he was required to listen to three times a day, "A More
Ladylike You for the Man You Love".
And he was a quick study, thanks to the polite raps on his back from a
truncheon every so often. Flat-top was going to make sure that Princess
was in every obvious way a woman. Derek didn't even look at Flat-top
after his ribcage-bruising reminder. He put his headphones on and
pushed play. He didn't want any more trouble. Although the words on the
CD were loud and clear, Derek was so used to it now that he could
certainly recite the entire set of books from memory. His mind drifted,
and he found himself looking down the hall at the clock. He had a
couple of hours before his daily "appointment".
Later, a rap of a baton on the cell bars woke Derek. A guard motioned
it was time to go. He went through the delicate and choreographed dance
of exiting the cell, and proceeding through various gates, before Derek
arrived at his destination. It was the prison health ward, where Derek
was led into the pharmacy area. He was dispensed his pills and a small
cup of water. He took the pills under tight observation, and drank the
water. He then opened his mouth, and his teeth and cheeks were checked
for any unswallowed items.
The pills were under prescription, after Becky had alerted the prison
staff that her friend was under hormone treatment for her "advanced
hirsuitism". Derek had personally okayed the idea, as Becky had slowly
convinced him that the hormones were for his survival at prison. They
would control his hair growth and smooth his skin, and give him a
'superficial' feminine appearance, as Becky put it.
Derek grudgingly agreed. The more female he looked, the better. When he
was back in his cell, he heard the bell for the afternoon exercise
period to begin, and he settled in further to his seat. He wasn't
allowed to participate, as the exercise period was largely organized
weight lifting and conditioning.
Given his size, the prison officials had determined that "Sabrina" was
a threat to "misuse" the equipment for "disruptive purposes". The
restriction made life duller than it had to be, and it led to other
problems as well. With no exercise and a supply of estrogen in his
system, Derek had started to fatten up a bit. So he had cut back on his
eating. Way back. He was down to two hundred and ten pounds, and yet he
felt sluggish and tired. But he was going to keep on the diet, so he
didn't leave prison a butter ball. Derek watched - at foot level - the
other prisoners shuffle by. In prison, you avoid eye contact. Once
everybody had left, Derek checked the time and decided that another
nap was the only thing he was really interested in. It would be another
three hours until dinner. He put his head down to rest, and tried not
to think about how alone and miserable he felt.
Even deeper inside, he was afraid. Deathly afraid of his little secret.
Before he could let those thoughts fester in his brain, he popped his
latest CD in the player: "Sleep Yourself Thin, Subliminal Empowerment
To Achieve Your Ideal Body."
---
Derek was buzzed into the visitor's reception area, and seated across a
plexiglass window before his one remaining hope in this world. Becky.
She smiled politely, with tears in her eyes. Derek had seen the same
thing every time she had visited over the past seven months. For a
one night fling, he was impressed that this girl had remained so loyal
to him. And apparently, she was in love. Or if she was pretending, it
was one hell of a ruse.
Becky adjusted the microphone in front of her. "Hey, Bree," she said,
her voice breaking. "They treating you good?"
Both Becky and Derek knew that these conversations were monitored, so
they had to carry on as if Derek were who he pretended to be. She had
gotten into the habit of shortening "Sabrina" to "Bree" over the
months. Derek desperately wanted to just talk to her and tell her how
much he deeply appreciated everything she had done for him, he wanted
to reach through the glass and stop her crying, he wanted to tell her
how much he truly loved her.
"Yeah. I'm hanging in there... babe," Derek said. The two had adopted
the pretense of being lesbian lovers, and Derek could at least express
some of his affection that way. But it didn't even begin to communicate
what he wanted to say.
"How's school?" Derek asked.
Becky swallowed hard. "Same old junk. Skipping classes, spending
Daddy's money." She tried to smile. "I miss you... baby." She sniffled.
Derek wanted to hold her tight. Instead all he could do was think of
something dumb to cheer her up. "It won't be long now. Thirty-five
days. Maybe even less." Becky couldn't even lift her head to look at
him.
"Hey," Derek said, desperately trying to make her laugh. "In no time
at all, we'll be out with friends at our favorite lezzie bars, gettin'
tattoos and shopping for combat boots."
Derek finally got her to smile. It was well worth the effort to see it.
It made him feel like this was going to all work out. Flat-top tapped
her baton on the table. "Time's up, Princess." Derek got up.
"I'll see you in couple of days, honey-pie," Becky said. "Don't worry,
every..." The microphone was switched off, and all Derek could see was
her pantomiming the rest of her sentence. She gave him a thumbs up, and
wiped away a tear.
When Derek turned away to face the exit, Becky flashed Flat-top the
sign. Flat-top nodded back. Phase four was ready to begin. The
automatic door slammed shut and locked, and Flat-top and Derek
proceeded on back to the cell.
"Hey, honey-pie," Flat-top said. "Some kinda sweet little girl you got
there."
"Yup. She sure is," Derek said.
"Uh. Yeah. Sweet. I've been lookin forward to her visits as much as you
have, I bet. What a looker. You know what I'd like to do to her?"
"No, what?" Derek replied. Flat-top wasn't having any luck trying to
goad him. She changed the subject.
"Hey, you know what they put on checks?" she asked thetorically.
Derek thought for a second. "Numbers, codes, what bank issued the
checks..."
Flat-top interrupted him. "Addresses." She slowed her speech down to
give it as much menace as she could. "Sykes Hall. Room 375," Flat-top
said nonchalantly.
"Mean anything to you, Princess?"
Derek tried to recall what that was. He had heard of Sykes Hall, maybe.
But where?
"You know, a badge can get you into a lot of places," continued the
guard. "A lot of places. People don't even question it."
"I would think so," Derek said. This conversation is all over the
place, he thought to himself. Was there a point to this?
"You can get into houses, apartments, dorm rooms." She checked to see
if she was getting to him. "Wherever you want to go." She went on, "You
know what I saw on TV the other day? They were advertising for one of
those spy cameras. So small you can put 'em anywhere. Really cool
little things. You've seen those ads, haven't you?" She smiled
wickedly.
"Oh, yeah, I've seen those! They've got these pinhole lenses and..."
"You'd be surprised at the quality of the image you get off those.
Here." She removed a number of pictures from her shirt pocket, and held
them before Derek. "Take a look for yourself."
Derek recognized the images. It looked like the inside of Becky's dorm
room, just as he remembered it many months ago. His hands started to
tremble. His legs felt like lead. Flat-top flipped to another photo. "I
like this one, good contrast, rich color."
It was Becky. Changing clothes. Naked. Derek's full rage came alive
right there and then. He had snapped. He took his cuffed hands and
swung them into Flat-top's jaw. Derek heard the bone crack. Flat-top
reached for her tazer. Derek swung his hands back to punch her in the
stomach. She fell back and hit her head on the cement floor. She
was out cold.
Derek bent down and grabbed her keys to undo his chains and cuffs. He
had no idea what he was doing anymore. He could only think of escape.
It was all his brain could process at this moment. Once free of the
restraints, he made for the nearest gate. He unlocked it, but he was
still many doors away from getting out. An access door to Derek's left
led to a stairwell, and he found that one of the keys worked the lock.
As soon as he was through, alarms sounded throughout the cell block. He
decided to go up, rather than down, to work back against where the
guards would assume he was headed. Two floors up, he found himself on
an administrative level.
It had been evacuated, as was the procedure during an alert like this
one. Looking around, he saw nothing. No options. No way out.
"Hey!" he heard from behind. It sounded like... Becky? Derek turned
around to find no one. But there was a door open that he hadn't seen
before. It led into a hall. There, he found a janitor's closet,complete
with a change of clothes. He discarded his bright orange corrections
outfit for the drab blues of a janitorial uniform. Derek pulled a
baseball cap low over his head and made his way down the hall. He
found an elevator with the doors open, ready to go. When he arrived
at the ground floor, a guard was waiting for him.
"C'mon! You're supposed to be evacuated by now!" the guard yelled at
him. He waved Derek through to the main hall. "Get your ass in gear,
lady!" With that, Derek exited the prison right through the front door.
It was almost too easy.
---
She tapped a few keys on her keyboard, and found what she was looking
for. "Okay, yes, if Carolyn can push her subject up to phase three by
December, I think we can get Dee's guy into phase two in about five to
six days from now."
Becky adjusted her headset and sat back in her chair to think deeper.
"Well, I know it's slow, but it's all we can do with the funding we
have. If we could expand..."
She slumped her head in exasperation. "I know you're doing your
best..." She turned to her friend Dee who was leafing through a copy
Of 'Covert Operations Quarterly'. Becky made a gagging motion at her
neck. Dee snickered back.
"Okay, Bill, I'll give you a ring when we can get more specific on
dates and times." Becky pretended to ram her head against the desk.
"Talk to you later! Bye!" She struck the hang-up button on the phone.
Becky waited a moment to collect her breath, and then grabbed her
Headset and pretended to be breaking it in half. "Arrrrrrggh!"
"Bill giving you the usual run-around, chief?" Dee said, not breaking
her attention from the 'Reexamining Iranian Intelligence Gathering
1979-1984' article she was engrossed in.
"He's in one of his poopy moods," Becky said, releasing the anger in a
deep breath. "Wanna get something to eat?"
"Yeah, sure." Dee flipped shut her magazine. "Just how many Ayatollahs
are there anyway? Like, a million?"
"Tell me about it." Becky then felt her pager go off. "Hold on," she
said, checking it. "Yes!"
Dee was curious. "What?"
"Yes!!" Becky yelled. She pumped her fist in celebration.
"What!?" Dee repeated.
"Bree.. I mean Derek." She started to hop in place. "He's outside!"
Dee scrambled to her feet. "Here? Jeez, it's been long enough."
"Ten days isn't that long really - about average. He must be waiting to
see if I stop by." Becky rushed to a mirror and checked herself. "Okay,
I'm gonna go out and let him find me. You do surveillance." Becky took
off her sweatshirt and pulled a tight t-shirt with 'strawberry
shortcake' on the front. "If he talks to me, and we leave together,
make the calls for phase five."
"But I'm hungry!" Dee protested. Becky spun her hand like a clock. Time
was being wasted.
"Wish me luck!" she said, leaving the room. Dee waited a moment and
then dug through Becky's desk until she found a powerbar. She then
walked over to the desk, pressed a hidden button, and a bank of eight
video screens revealed themselves along the wall. Derek was on most of
them.
---
The car's wheels screeched as Derek stepped on the accelerator. "Anyone
following us?" Derek asked.
Becky looked out the back window. "No. No one I can see," she said,
lying. She turned back around to look at Derek. Derek had missed her so
much. Her support, her humor, her friendship. It meant the world to
him, and he knew that even if everything went against him for the rest
of his life on, he would never regret coming back to see her. Becky
hugged his arm.
"What are we gonna do, Bree?"
Derek kissed her on the head. He then refocussed his attention on the
road. "I don't want you to get mixed up in this, Beck."
"No!" Becky insisted. "No, don't get all... mister protective on me!"
"Beck.."
"No! You never would have gotten into all this if it weren't for... I
just feel responsible, somehow." Becky released her grip on Derek.
He ignored the other cars for a moment and addressed her. "Don't be
stupid. This isn't your fault. These have been all my decisions. I'm
the one who's responsible for this mess." Derek turned back to traffic.
"You've been incredible. You've been there for everything. I don't
deserve you. And I'm not going to get you in any more trouble."
Becky screwed up her face in disbelief. "Are you done?"
Derek's look of heroism evaporated. "Yeah."
"Good, turn here."
---
The first stop they had made was at the pharmacy. Becky bought hair dye
and some clippers. Next, the mall. She bought Derek a mini-wardrobe of
jeans and t-shirts. After that, she had rented a motel room and snuck
Derek inside. Derek was looking forward to shedding the effeminate look
he had been maintaining for so long. He thought that it was to his
advantage that the police were looking for a woman. When he was
officially Derek again, who would suspect him? When they had settled,
Becky took to the task of making over Derek. She mixed together the
chemicals of the dye and worked it through his hair.
"Blonde?" he asked.
Becky wagged her finger under his nose. "Well, turning your brown hair
black doesn't really make you look all that different. This way, it's
like you'll be a totally different person."
"Next, cut it," Derek said, "short." His hair was almost down to his
jaw, having let it grow in prison for a while.
"Yeah," Becky agreed, "it just kinda 'blah' the way it is."
"Sure is," Derek agreed.
"Okay, now we wash it... and then I'll wait an hour to cut it," Becky
instructed. After the gunk was washed out, Derek got into his new duds.
His standard-issue men's uniform of Levi's and T-shirt felt good in his
hands. On his body, though, it was a different story. They hung like
drapes on his thinner frame. He had dropped loads of weight, and was
now a skinny shadow of his former self at 180 pounds. But the
distracting part for Derek wasn't the way the clothes were too large,
it was they way they "tented" on him. To be blunt, he had breasts. They
weren't big on his large frame, but still large enough to be very
noticeable. The estrogen he had been taking had more of an effect than
he had been prepared to admit to himself. With the women's corrections
clothes on, it looked all right. Now, in his preferred clothes, his
chest looked bizarre on him. He tried to press them in, he tried to
slouch a bit. They would not go away.
Derek tore a length of cloth from the bed sheet and wrapped it around
his chest, trying to bind himself down. That helped, but it also
revealed another problem. His butt. It was about the same size it
always had been - unfortunately the rest of him had shrunken
considerably. Without his breasts to set it off, his ass was looking
large enough to sell advertising space on. And there was nothing he
could do about it.
Becky was trying to look the other way, but finally she had to say
something. "It's not working."
"No, it's fine," Derek said. He was not ignorant, he just thought
fibbing might bend reality a bit in his favor.
"I don't think so, Bree."
"Derek."
"Right, Sorry."
Derek tugged at the shirt. "Well, so I look strange. At least I'm not
'Sabrina' anymore."
"Um," Becky said. "Yeah."
"What?"
"Well... Don't take this the wrong way..." Becky got up from the bed
and wrapped her arms around Derek to try and soften the emotional blow.
"But you don't look like Derek, either."
For the just a quick instant, he was very angry with Becky. He hadn't
gone through eight months of hell to hear this. It took some willpower,
but he held his emotions in check. Reluctantly, Derek looked long and
hard in the mirror. It wasn't him. He had to agree.
"First thing we do," Becky said, "is pick a spot on the map and go
there." She snuggled up to Derek again. "And never look back."
Derek thought about what Becky said, and then came to an hard
conclusion. "You're not coming with me."
"Haven't we been over this?" Becky groaned. She flopped down on the bed
again.
"I'm not putting you in danger," Derek insisted, "they find me, they
arrest you."
"Arrrgh!" Becky yelled into the air. "Who do you think you are, Clint
Eastwood?" She sat up and got direct with Derek. "I only feel alive
when I'm with you. End of discussion."
Derek really didn't think he deserved such loyalty. It truly touched
him that this girl was going to stay by his side. He had no idea what
he had done to inspire this kind of loyalty and trust. But it warmed
his heart to know that he had it. She was right - he wasn't going
anywhere without Becky. Still, he wasn't going to ask her to give up
college and her future for a life on the lamb. The only way to move
on would be to stay. And the only way to keep living would be to do it
as someone else. And the way he looked right now, that 'someone else'
wasn't going to be someone he wanted to be.
He looked at his face. There wasn't much of a beard there anymore, a
small tuft at his chin, peach fuzz for a mustache, and wisps of hair
where his sideburns should be. Along with the weight loss, he looked
like he was fourteen again. No. That wasn't right. It wasn't just
youth. He looked like a woman.
"I look like a woman," Derek said, abruptly.
"No you don't," Becky assured him.
Derek knew the truth. "Yes I do."
"It's those pants. They make you look fat."
"I didn't say I looked fat, I said I looked like a woman." Derek
twisted in the mirror. "You think I look fat?"
"No, no. You're not fat at all," Becky reassured him. "It's just that
your butt could use some... toning."
"Toning? You mean I'm fat."
"You're beautiful." Becky suddenly realized how stupid this
conversation was. "So what do we do now? Where do we go?"
"We stay. You go to school, and I'll.. I don't know. I'll figure
something out." Derek scratched his head. He glanced at Becky who was
looking less than impressed.
"So what do you think we should do?" Derek asked. What followed
was five hours of deep thought and long conversations. A few things
in the motel room were broken in anger. There was a lot of crying, some
nervous laughter and quite a bit of staring into space. What Derek had
to decide on what nothing less than his future. Becky told him that
when 'Derek' had gone missing eight months ago. His one remaining
parent - his stepmother - had sold most of his personal items and filed
to have Derek declared legally dead. And what friends he had probably
wouldn't have even recognized him anymore. Really, he didn't want them
to. The career in playing football he had wanted to pursue was gone. He
no longer had the pedigree it took to play in college or the pros, and
he certainly didn't have the body either.
And there was a chance that the police were looking for both 'Sabrina'
as well as Derek. As Becky pointed out to Derek, they certainly were
looking for 'Sabrina', but if ol' Flat-top had told them the truth,
then it was a matter of time before they would figure out who 'Sabrina'
really was. So neither identity was safe.
And what about the future? Besides just escaping the police, how was he
going to make his way in life? He had nowhere to run to, and no skills
to get a job. Suddenly, what was once just a frightening future became
a horrific fate.
"I know this doctor lady," Becky said quietly.
"Uh huh," Derek said, knowing this was going to be something didn't
want to hear.
"She taught my health 101 class my freshman year. She and I used to
talk some, and she's got this medical... project she's working on."
Becky cleared her throat a little. "She's looking for paid volunteers."
"Yeeeeeah." Derek was waiting for the bad part.
"It'd be really great! She's paying $5,000 for one day, and a couple of
follow-up exams, you could have all the money you need to get a place
and..."
"What limb does she want to amputate?" Derek said, not entirely
kidding.
"No! It's not like that," Becky tried to reassure him. "It's this bone
regenerative thing." She gave Derek a look to see if she was still
being listened to. She was. "This stuff is supposed to rebuild bone
marrow for cancer patients! It'd be so, like, important to humanity and
stuff!" Derek still hadn't heard the catch.
"And?"
"And..." Becky led into the bad news. "It might shrink you an inch or
two in height."
"A-ha! I knew that there was..." Derek suddenly felt his brain shift
from fifth gear into third. "Wait a minute." He wagged his finger
indicating he had a point. "That would help."
Becky didn't seem to understand. "If I lost a couple of inches, then
the police wouldn't believe that I could have been Sabrina or Derek!"
Derek was getting excited. "That would solve everything! Who ever heard
of someone losing height? I'd be in the clear! And I'd have $5,000!"
Derek had only one question. "How soon can we do it?"
---
It was a squat little building in the maze of nondescript offices that
made up the west side of campus. Few students ever went to this part of
the school, as no classes were held here. These were the labs and
studios that housed professors who were shooting for federal grant
money.
Becky rapped on the door of 671-D and waited. The intercom burst out
static with the startlingly loud voice of the occupant. "Yes!?" It
said.
"Uh, hi," Becky said, nervously. "It's me. I called." Silence.
"Becky?" More silence.
"Beck-kee?" she said, insisting that the listener recognize her name.
The door buzzed open. The interior of 671-D was brightly lit and
decorated with plants and old furniture, a stark contrast to the dreary
exterior of the building. Derek's nerves were still on edge though.
A woman in her mid-thirties rounded a corner and gave a cheery wave.
"Hyee!" she said to Becky. She then turned to Derek. "Wow. You're a
tall one, aren't you?" She seemed dazzled by Derek's height. "You
must be Nicole." Derek nodded his head slowly. "Well, come on! Let's
get you all ready!" She motioned for Derek to follow her. She led him
to a small changing room, and left him alone. Derek stripped himself
down and fit himself into the paper gown one finds at doctor's offices,
and gingerly entered what looked like an examining room. The woman was
waiting there, preparing a set of instruments on a metal tray.
The woman patted an exam chair for Derek to rest on. "By the way, my
name is Doctor Marylin Whitaker, Nicole. And I really have to thank you
for volunteering for this treatment. It could help a lot of people,
and..."
"Are those syringes?" Derek abruptly asked. He pointed at the tray with
a trembling finger. "Those huge things? Are they syringes?"
"Hmm?" Doctor Whitaker said. "Oh, those. Yes. I had to get those from
the zoo. Normally they only use those on elephants."
She turned to Derek. "But they'll do just fine for us." Derek got a
little woozy.
"Becky, would you be a dear and roll in the next tray?" the doctor
called out. Becky then brought in a tray with fifty or so of those
syringes on it. Derek blacked out.
"Finally!" Becky said.
"Normally, when they see the first one they go out like a light."
"Well, he's a strong one." The doctor then injected Derek with a
anesthetic that would keep him under for a while. "Okay, you know the
deal, let's get to it." The doctor used a cotton pad to swab and
disinfect a spot on Derek's arm, and then took one of the larger
syringes and stuck it into his arm. She then grabbed a mallet and
struck the syringe to get it into the bone. Only then did she proceed
with the injection. Becky did the same to his other side.
"Hey, did you get that whole problem with the marrow depletion ironed
out?" Becky asked. Swab. Stick. Whack.
"Oh, yeah. Didn't Bill tell you?" Swab. Stick. Whack. "That's all
history. You shouldn't have any problems with that anymore. No more
calcium supplements."
"Cool." Swab. Stick. Whack. "These are bigger than I remember them."
Becky said, referring a syringe marked 'Left Humerous'.
"Oh! Well, he's a big guy." The doctor shrugged. "I figure in about
five to six weeks, we'll see a three or four inch overall decrease in
height, and a little less in the wingspan. It'll pick up quite a bit
after that." Swab. Stick. Whack. "When you're done there with the arms,
do the hand, ribs, leg and foot on your side. I'll do my side and the
skull, spine and pelvis afterwards. Then we'll do the sub dermal
hormone implants."
"Okey dokey, Doc." Swab. Stick. Whack. "Six down, two hundred to go."
Becky worked out a kink in her neck. "Coffee on?"
"Yup." Swab. Stick. Whack.
---
When Derek woke, he was feeling a little sore. He spent the next day or
two or five in bed at the motel, and they worked out the rest of the
plan. Derek let Becky take him to a place where he got a fake I.D. and
a birth certificate. Becky told Derek she had used this service to
"enhance" her age from eighteen to drinking-age back in high school.
Soon after, they established Derek in a cheap apartment. Derek was
hoping for better - he really didn't want to make his home in the
meager red-light district - but he had no choice.
Rent was insane these days. The one good thing for Derek was that the
apartment was located near a gym, and Derek gravitated quickly to it.
It also seemed the ideal place to get together without suspicion. They
both signed up for membership, Becky under the name of Carrie Peters
and Derek as Nicole Jansen, his latest alias. The two arranged to meet
there regularly each day.
Derek had a ball at the gym, taking to the equipment like a kid to a
playground. He had practically grown up on weights and resistance
machines, and he started right away on his plan to mercilessly abuse
his body. Or building back up his muscles, as he thought of it. Before
you knew it, he'd be back to being the real Derek. With all the time he
put in on the machines, it wasn't long before the manager approached
Derek.
"Hi there, I'm Drake Davis," the manager, a large, spectacularly
sculpted man said.
Derek quickly sat up straight, letting his weights fall, and looked
around for the cops. There were none. He then realized he was going to
have to respond. Derek was a little hesitant to use his voice. It had
seemed to be breaking lately, working it's way up an octave or two. But
it seemed to be okay if he just tried to speak in the higher register.
"Hi," he said.
"You like workin' out, huh?" Drake said.
Derek returned to the weights. "Yeah," Drake pressed.
"You really seem to know what you're doing there."
"Been doin' it long enough." Leave me alone, Derek added in his head.
"I'm looking to hire some good people around here," the manager
insisted on continuing, "and you've got some... unique talents you
usually don't find in girls." He was expecting a reply to his
compliment, but didn't get one. "Any chance I could interest you in a
job?"
Derek finally finished fighting with the nautilus machine and decided
he was going to have to get rid of this guy with more direct language.
"That's nice of you, but..."
"Hi, Nick!" Becky chirped.
Derek was always amazed at how quickly she took to using his new names.
She had just arrived for their rendezvous. "What's up?"
"The manager guy here was saying something or other about working,"
Derek said, piecing together bits of a conversation he had been
ignoring.
"A job!" Becky piped up.
"That'd be fantastic! You'd be able to get some stuff for your place
and pay your rent! Great! When do you start?"
"No, I wasn't gonna..." Derek interjected.
Drake interrupted him. "She can start tomorrow."
"Congratulations, Nick! A real job! Let's go out and celebrate!"
Becky said, in her impossibly bubbly way. She hugged Derek, shutting
him up and distracting him. She then flashed the manager the sign. He
nodded. Time for phase seven. And so began the fictitious life of
Nicole Jansen, fitness trainer. Hopefully a short life, if you asked
Derek.
Over the first few days at work, Derek had to reluctantly admit to
himself, that this was a damn near perfect job he'd fallen into.
Lifting weights all day, hanging around other lifters and 'motivating'
poor schmucks by yelling at them. It was a lot of fun. The only thing
in his way from making the perfect job - besides the whole guy in drag
thing - was the jazz aerobics class he had to 'teach' every day for an
hour. To get through that, he just found someone in the class who knew
what she was doing and followed her moves. He could practically sleep
through the class that way. Which was good for Derek, as Becky had
insisted on purchasing the most annoying little radio alarm clock for
Derek to violently waken him from bed every morning.
The gym was where Derek spent almost all of his waking hours. Under the
new arrangement, the gym was the only place that Derek could see Becky,
as they didn't want to risk being too closely associated. To make the
best use of their time, Becky had asked for special one-on-one sessions
with the 'new girl' for 'intense' workouts. The other members had no
idea how intense they were.
Life settled into a pretty regular routine after that. Just your normal
gender-challenged fitness trainer and his co-ed girlfriend evading the
law.
---
As Derek slept, he twisted and turned, trying to let sleep have its
way with him. But he couldn't quite go under. He wasn't restless at
all. He was in fact very, very tired. He desperately wanted to sleep.
But he would drift off and then wake up only minutes later. Like
something was silently buzzing in his ears, interrupting his slumber.
He'd feel consciousness slip, then abruptly return. In that instant as
he was awakened he could picture things in his mind, hear a voice in
his head. But it would quickly waft away and he couldn't recall it. It
happened repeatedly, for hours. Finally he would drift off after a long
night of torture. And in the morning, he would wake to the clock radio,
feeling sluggish and wiped out. But he remembered nothing.
---
Derek had been mopping himself off with a towel when he saw Becky's car
pull up alongside the gym. Derek bought it for her using a couple of
thousand he had earned at his job. It took him two months to save up,
but it was the least he could do. He felt he owed her so much more.
He slid into the front seat, making a zipping noise as the vinyl seat
Rubbed his track suit. Derek gave Becky a quick peck on the cheek. It
was a lunch date, and as is customary with such things, both Derek and
Becky were in a rush to get back in time. They had decided on an
Italian place that was in a slightly nicer part of town, and the quick
trip there shaved off even more precious time.
"Look at you!" Becky said to Derek, as they got out of the car.
"Hmm?" he replied.
"I hadn't noticed it before - you're shorter!"
"Oh."
Derek was a little shy about that. "Yeah. I'm now about 6-1. Or there
abouts."
Becky knew that was a slight lie. If he was 6-1, he must be standing on
his tip-topes. She thought it was more like 5-11. "Have you seen Doctor
Whitaker?"
"Yes," Derek shook his head. "She's happy about the regeneration, but she
said that the shrinkage was a little more than she expected, thank-you-
very-much." Derek didn't like it. "I asked her if I was going to shrink
any more and she said 'probably not'. I mean, 'probably not?' I need
more info than that, I don't want to wind up a munchkin! I mean, my
god, it's just my health we're taking about here." Derek gestured to
the heavens in exasperation.
"But now, no one will mistake you for our old friend 'Sabrina' anymore,
will they?" Becky tried to cut off any moreventing.
"No," Derek said, pouting. Once they were seated a