Stephanie, Part 6 free porn video

"Hi mum," I whisper hoarsely. "Hi dad. I- I'm Stephanie..." My legs shake harder and I almost collapse to the floor as, with a stoic expression on his face, dad slowly rises from his seat and walks toward me... "...It's nice to meet you, Stephanie," dad says, embracing me in a fatherly hug. "Umm," I say, shocked by the sudden turn of events. "Hello, daughter," mum says, standing up and joining in the hug. "Mum?" I ask in a small voice, confused by the unexpected outcome of my 'coming out'. "Did you really think we wouldn't accept you for who you are?" Dad laughs. "I'll admit, it came as a shock at first, but you're a grown ma- a grown WOMAN." "After Dr Phillips called us on Friday," mum explains, "we Googled her name, discovered that she was an expert on gender identity issues... With you living away, your long hair... It wasn't hard to put two and two together." "And you- you don't mind?" I whisper. "Why would we mind?" Mum laughs. "It's your life, you should live it the way you feel is best." "All that worry for nothing, eh?" Jamie asks, giving me a playful nudge. "Now, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" Dad asks. "Dr Phillips says that you're a singer, is that right?" "Yeah," I say, still struggling to believe just how well the meeting is going. "Um, our band's name is 'Out of Heaven'..." "I've heard of them!" Mum says. "Think I saw an article in a magazine... I probably looked right at a photo of you without even realising that it was you!" "You regularly buy magazines with teen girl bands in?" I ask, making everyone in the room laugh whilst mum gives me a playful shove. "It was a newspaper magazine!" Mum laughs. "Pity that your sense of humour hasn't changed with your gender... Isn't that band meant to be a big deal?" "I like to think so," Kayla says. "I'm Kayla, Kayla Ford, nice to meet you." My eyes go wide as Kayla introduces herself- my parents surely won't think it's a coincidence that she has the same name as my so-called 'girlfriend'... "Oh," mum says. "So you're-" "-The friend I told you about during our calls, yes," I say. "She's also a member of the band. This is Lauren, Lauren McTavish, we've been living together for the last few months." "Well, Steve- Stephanie, sorry, did say that she was living with a colleague," dad shrugs, shaking Kayla and Lauren's hands. "And this is Jamie-Lee Burke," I say as Jamie rises from her seats and shakes my parents' hands. "Ooh, are you the same Jamie-Lee from that reality show?" Mum asks. "If you mean The Angels, yes," Jamie says with a proud smile. "I've been sort-of 'mentoring' Stephanie and the other girls over the past few months. You should be really proud of your daughter." The sideways glance Jamie gives me as she praises me, however, tells me that she herself is NOT proud of me... "I'm sure we will be," mum says. "Hopefully she'll trust us enough not to keep any secrets from us in the future..." "So," dad asks hesitantly. "Are you going, umm, 'all the way'? Hormones, the old, umm, 'snip snip', that sort of thing?" "Yep!" I lie, forcing a happy grin on my face. Well done, Steph, I think to myself. Think you killed mum's expectations in ten seconds flat there... "Either way, we have a LOT to catch up on," mum says. "Thank you for bringing our daughter back to us, Dr Phillips- we'll not take up any more of your time, I'm sure you have your own family to get back to." "It's my pleasure," Beverly says with a smile. "Always happy to bring families back together." "We'll let you get on with it too," Jamie says. "I'm sure you three have got a lot of catching up to do!" "Thank you," mum says, leading dad and myself out of the office. "I'm glad to see that Stephanie has such good friends and co-workers. Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future!" Just what I need... I think to myself. "I know I shouldn't say this," dad says as we get in his car, "but this is probably the weirdest day of my life! Steve- Stephanie, sorry, that's going to take a little getting used to! Stephanie..." "'Steph' will do if that makes it any easier," I say. "'Steph'," dad says. "Why- why didn't you tell us earlier? More to the point, why did you feel the need to, well, dress up as a boy every time you came home? That must have been really hard for you..." Yeah, but probably not for the reasons you're imagining, I think to myself. "I- I couldn't stand the thought of losing contact with you two," I say, relieved to finally say something truthful. "I'm much more offended that you feel we'd reject you than by you choosing to live life as a woman," dad says. "You're our child, and that means we have a lifelong commitment to you regardless of what- or who- you choose to be. And believe me, there are a billion things you could have chosen to do that are worse than wearing make-up and a skirt!" "Will Tom and Danny feel that way?" I ask. "They'll do as they're told!" mum says firmly. "I will admit," Dad says, "When we were expecting you- heh, twenty years ago- we were actually hoping for a girl. I mean, we did already have two boys... We wouldn't have chosen 'Stephanie' as your name, though." "What would you have chosen?" I ask. "Alana," mum says. "Ooh, this is so exciting! It's almost like we have actually got a brand-new child!" "And you- you don't miss 'Steve'?" I ask, nervously straightening my skirt. "You're still the same person, aren't you?" Mum asks. "Well, same person who's an up-and-coming megastar, anyway! I can't wait to show you off to all my friends, tell everyone at the hospital..." "Yeah, umm, about that..." I say. "When I applied for the band, I, um, I kinda... Kinda told the bosses that we were estranged..." "What?" Dad asks, anger creeping into his voice for the first time since he was introduced to 'Stephanie'. "Was this- was this while you were still actually living at home with us?" Mum asks, sighing angrily when I nod. "Boy or girl, we didn't raise you to be a liar. I hope you've set this straight with your managers? I wouldn't want the whole world thinking that we were bad parents..." "I have," I say. "Jamie's one of the 'managers' of the band, she knows the truth." Part of it, anyway... "Any other lies we should know about?" Dad asks, his anger slowly subsiding. "No," I say in a feeble voice. "Just- just that one..." Much to my relief, dad simply smiles. "I'm sorry, I know this can't have been easy for you," dad says. "If I felt that I was forced to hide who I really was for twenty years I'd probably act irrationally as well." Much to my surprise, a few seconds later, the three of us pull up outside my home- my parents' home, the house where I grew up. "What are we doing here?" I ask, watching with surprise as my parents get out of the car and immediately head up to my bedroom. "Aha," dad says as he opens my wardrobe and removes an armful of my clothes- 'Steve's clothes. "You won't be wearing these anymore!" I freeze to the spot, watching aghast as my mum hands my dad a roll of black bin bags, and all of my male clothes slowly disappear into them. My old favourite jeans, jumpers, t-shirts... All gone in an instant. "Well if you're not going to wear them," mum says, "might as well give them to someone who'll want them, say, to Oxfam or somewhere like that." "I'll take them in before work tomorrow evening," dad explains, before I wince as he opens my 'Stephanie drawer', which contains various items of female underwear, skirts, tops, cosmetics... "Heh," dad chuckles as he carefully lays the drawer on my bed. "No need to get rid of these!" I force a smile on my face as mum starts sorting out the clothes, sorting them into their own drawers whilst taking some to iron. "How long have you been dressing up behind our backs, anyway?" Mum asks. "Um, not that I'm angry about that in itself, of course." "...Since I was sixteen," I say. "Part of my first pay cheque, I, um, kinda bought a skirt with it..." "Just as long as you didn't dress up in any of mine!" Mum laughs. "Okay," dad says. "That's your clothes all gone... You won't be needing any boy's toiletries either, mind if I use your deodorant and shower gel?" "Um, sure, I guess..." I say, still trying to wrap my head around what's happening. "Do you still need to shave?" Dad asks. "Uh, yes, actually!" I say, before wondering when I became enthusiastic about shaving- the one male activity I hated the most. "I'm getting laser treatments on my face to remove facial hair..." "...But they've not had a full effect yet," dad says. "Okay, your shaving kit can stay for now. Was going to get you a new one for Christmas, guess that'll have to be a Ladyshave or a waxing kit instead!" "Yeah," I whisper as dad starts gathering up all the sports-related ornaments and posters on my shelves and walls. Previously, I couldn't have cared less about them, but now, I want more than anything to grab them out of dad's hands so that I could have them just one second longer... "I've called your brothers," mum says, returning to my bedroom with a wide grin on her face. "Wh-what?" I ask with terror in my voice. "Don't worry, I didn't tell them outright," mum says. "I know that's something you'll want to do yourself, so I've asked them to drop round tomorrow morning before work, around 8:30." "Umm, I have my ballet class tomorrow morning at around that time," I say, making mum coo happily. "Oh, you do ballet? How cute!" Mum giggles. "Well we've both got the morning off, so can we come and watch it with you?" "Umm, sure, I guess," I say. "I'm not really any good at it, though..." "I thought all girl singers were great dancers?" Mum asks. "Well-choreographed dancers who have several takes when filming their music video," I say, laughing for the first time since dad set about systematically eradicating all traces of 'Steve' from the bedroom. "Is your video on YouTube yet?" Mum asks, her voice rising with excitement as though she'd just remembered something. "...It is," I say, cringing as my parents suddenly drop what they're doing and head downstairs, switching on the smart TV box and opening the YouTube app. "What's your band's name again?" Mum asks. "'Out of Heaven', wasn't it?" "Yes," I sigh, plopping down on the sofa and burying my face in a cushion as mum almost instantly finds our 'Heaven is a Place on Earth' video. Five minutes later, after the music stops, I lift my face from the cushion, smiling at the looks of sheer pride on my parents' faces. "You are BRILLIANT!" Dad says, giving me a quick, playful hug. "You really are talented," mum says. "If we'd known you were this talented when you were younger we'd have got you professional singing lessons!" "Thanks," I laugh. "I'm just one of five girls in the band, though..." "The BEST one in the band!" Dad laughs, before his eyes turn back to the entertainment unit. "There's another thing you won't need any more..." My eyes go wide as dad slowly starts reaching for my Xbox. "No!" I yell, my voice briefly cracking back to 'Steve's voice. "Umm, I still like to play on it..." "Yeah, but it is a bit 'boyish', isn't it?" Dad asks. "And aren't you going to be too busy to play games, what with your dance classes and your celebrity parties?" "...Still, though," I say. "Huh, it's your Xbox, I guess," dad says as he sits back down. "I take it you still enjoy regular food, you don't only eat at ?200 a meal restaurants run by Heston Blumenthal or someone like that?" "No, I still eat proper food," I say. "Good," mum says. "I'll get started on dinner. And then you can get on Facebook and tell the rest of your friends that you and your parents aren't so much 'reconciled' as 'never estranged in the first place'!" "Will do," I sigh as mum heads into the kitchen and starts preparing our evening meal. After we eat, I follow my 'orders', and fill all of my friends in on the development. Obviously, a lot of them are unhappy at being lied to, but the general consensus seems to be that they're happy that my parents have accepted 'Stephanie'. As I climb into bed- climbing into 'Steve's bed for the ever time as 'Stephanie'- I can't help but feel as though I've lost a large part of who I am. My parents' home used to be my haven, a place where I could escape from 'Stephanie' and be 'Steve' again, even if just for a short while... Now, thanks to my lies, it looks like 'Steve' is gone for good. I moan as faint sunlight streams onto my face, waking me from my slumber. As I open my eyes, I briefly panic- it takes me a few seconds to realise that the bedroom I'm in indeed belongs to me- or rather, belongs to 'Steve'. After showering and shaving, I head back into my bedroom, where I have a moment of panic when I open my wardrobe to find it completely empty. Sighing, I reach into my wardrobe's drawers and pull out a handful of cosmetics that I apply to my face, before pulling on a fresh bra and thong, followed by the girdle, top and skirt I was wearing yesterday. "Morning, Steph!" Mum says with a smile as I pad downstairs, trying to enjoy the feeling of my skirt pulling on my legs with every step I take- a feeling that always sent tingles of excitement through my body in the past. "Morning," I say, clearing my throat so that none of 'Steve's voice can be heard. "What time are Tom and Danny getting here?" "About ten minutes," mum says. "I'll talk to them first, then you can make an appearance- just like at your doctor's yesterday, okay?" "Okay," I whisper as mum shoves a cup of hot coffee in front of me. "Nervous?" Mum asks. "Yeah," I say. "Not as much as yesterday, but still..." "Well as I said," mum says. "If they don't accept you for who you are, THEY'RE going to be the ones in trouble!" I giggle, but deep down, there's a small, shameful part of me that almost wishes that Tom and/or Danny DO reject me. Every shred of acceptance 'Stephanie' receives feels like a rejection of 'Steve'... And will make it harder and harder for me to ever be that boy again. A short while later, I hear a knock at the front door, followed by the unmistakable sound of my brothers' voices. I briefly make use of the downstairs toilet- chuckling at how, for the first time ever, I entered AND exited it dressed as 'Stephanie'- before my mum calls me through into the living room. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, and remind myself one last time that no matter what my brothers say, my parents will always support me- whether I like it or not. "Hi Tom, Hi Danny," I say as I step into the living room, flinching as my brothers stare at me, their eyes widened by shock. "Say hello to your sister," mum says to the two young men. "Um, hi Stephanie," Tom mumbles, clearly unable to even look at me. "Hi Stephanie," Danny says, blinking twice and taking a deep breath. "Okay, this is... This is new. Have- have you always been like this?" "For as long as I can remember," I say, sitting down with my knees pressed tightly together. "And, um," Danny continues. "Have you- have you taken it-" "Daniel!" Mum snaps, silencing my brother. "Sorry, sorry..." Danny says. "Well, 'hi sis', I guess!" "Tom," mum says to my eldest brother, who has remained silent. "Is there something you want to say to your sister?" "Hi sis," Tom mumbles, before getting up. "I have to go, I'm late for work..." "See you later, bro," Danny says as Tom hurries out of the living room. "Don't mind him, Steve- Steph... Nearly did the same thing myself..." "I'll talk to Tom," mum says. "I'm sure it's just come as a shock to him, that's all." "He's not alone," Danny laughs. "I've- I've got a million and a half questions..." "I'm on Facebook," I say. "As Stephanie, I mean. Feel free to ask whenever you want." "Believe me, I will," Danny says. "Guess this explains why you skipped my birthday last week... I've got to get going to work too, I'll um, I'll see you around... Steph." Awkwardly, Danny and I both stand up and walk toward each other, eventually sharing a very brief, uneasy hug before the young man follows our brother out of the door. "Well, that went bloody awfully," I moan, slumping back down in my chair. "Now be fair," mum says. "It is a lot for them to take in." "It was more for you and dad," I retort. "Very true," mum says. "But I'm sure your brothers will come around. Now come on, you need to get ready, don't want to be late for your dance lesson!" I force a chuckle past my lips as I head back upstairs to grab my handbag, before getting in mum's car with her and directing her to the dance studio, where we meet up with dad, fresh from his night shift. "How did it go with Tom and Danny?" Dad asks. "...Not great," I sigh. "Not a disaster, but I think I may need to keep my distance from them for a while." "Ah, that's a shame," dad sighs. "I'll go round to their homes and crack a few heads, see if that might help." "You will NOT," mum says, making dad chuckle nervously. "Let them come in their own time, they won't reject their sister now that they know they have one. Now come on, I want to see you dance!" I force a smile on my face as I head into the dance studio and am greeted by Kayla and Lauren, the latter of whom hands me my dance bag. I take a deep breath before heading into the studio's small changing rooms, where I strip off my skirt and top before rolling my soft pink tights up my leg and stepping into my tight black leotard, ensuring it's smooth and wrinkle-free before tying my satin ballet slippers to my feet, tying my longish brown hair into a ponytail and heading back to the studio's reception area, where my parents are deep in conversation with my dance teacher. "Ah, here's the ballerina!" Mum says, making me blush slightly. "Bit of an exaggeration," I mumble. "Kinda like the way you 'exaggerated' about your relationship with your parents?" Krystie says in an accusatory tone, before giggling and giving me a playful hug. "It's okay, it's okay, I forgive you... God knows you've not exactly had it easy these past few months. Come on, let's see if we can't dance away some of your stress!" I smile as Krystie leads me into the dance studio where all of my other friends are waiting for me. After tying my hair into a ballerina's bun (and doing the same for Jamie and Nikki, in a sort-of pre-lesson ritual), Krystie lines us up at the barre before addressing the class. "Girls," Krystie says with a wide grin. "Today is a VERY special day. It was special already, what with Miss Hutchinson's return to the class-" I, along with the rest of the class, turn and give a brief round of applause to Charlotte as she does a graceful curtsey. "-But it became even more special when I arrived this morning," Krystie continues, "And found those two lovely people waiting in my reception area. Ladies, say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Samantha Abbott, our Stephanie's mum and dad!" I blush as mum and dad stand up and take their bows, before Krystie gets the lesson started. All throughout- and especially as Lauren, Kayla and I still receive extra-close tuition during the 'lesson'- I feel my parents' gazes burning a hole in the back of my neck. Of course, I know that their stares are ones of pride and love, but I still wither whenever I catch them looking over at me dancing. I dread the end of the lesson, expecting Krystie to produce a massive tutu in which I'd be expected to dance, but much to my relief, when our hour ends, Krystie sends us on our way just as she has after every other lesson. "I reckon if I told Tom about you dancing with fifteen attractive young women, he'd be a bit more interested!" Mum laughs as I head to the changing rooms to pull my skirt and my top back on. "Two of them are actually transgendered, like me," I say. "Jamie and Nikki, the girls who had their buns tied with me..." ...And who would be ballistically angry if they ever found out the 'real' truth about me... "Well, obviously, you're more beautiful than either of them!" Mum laughs. "Do you have to go to the studio today?" "Yeah," I sigh. "There is sometimes actual work to do in my job!" "Well, at least you know now that you can drop round any time wearing whatever you want," mum says, giving me a long hug before getting in her car with dad and heading home. "Aww," Becca teases as she skips over to me. "Your parents seem SO nice... Can't believe you'd ever think they'd reject you, especially as you're the baby of the family- which, as we all know, is the most awesome sibling!" I giggle as the rest of the band also gather around me, giving my parents all the praise they deserve. Every word of praise they give to my parents had a double meaning, though- it tells me just how much they DON'T respect me for lying to them. When the five of us arrive at the agency, Becca, Adeola, Kayla and Lauren head into the studio to get ready for the day's recording session, but I'm intercepted before I can go in and directed up the stairs to the offices. I take a deep breath to try to steady my nerves as I knock on the door of the agency's owner and am permitted to enter. "Take a seat, Stephanie," Joshua says in a voice much darker than his usual jolly, bombastic tone. "I- I'm sorry I lied-" I mumble in a feeble voice. "As you should be!" Joshua booms, barely restraining his temper. "For the last five months you have lied to my face whilst taking my money!" My bottom lip starts to quiver as Joshua raises from his chair and stares out of his window, turning his back to me. "I'm not sure what's worse," Joshua continues in a slightly calmer tone. "The fact that you lied or the fact that you felt you couldn't trust me with the truth. Either way, I have severe concerns about your character." "Do- do you want me to leave the band?" I ask, blinking back tears. "It's a bit too late for that now!" Joshua snaps. "We've spent thousands of pounds on promotional material, the album is almost done... This is money that cannot be written off. And ultimately... Your lie was mostly harmless. It will be easy enough to pass this off to the press as a simple reconciliation. It's your parents who you should be apologising to- THEY'RE the ones who will have to be contrite to the press." "I- I know," I whisper. "Frankly, if you were my daughter I'd be more upset at being made out to be a bigot," Joshua sighs, finally sitting back down. "Go back downstairs! Start doing what I pay you to!" "Can- can you forgive me for this?" I ask, wiping a lone tear from my cheek. "Eventually," Joshua concedes. "Now go and sing!" I blink back more tears as I leave Joshua's office and head downstairs, but I know that everything Joshua said is true- and I brought it all on myself... And it still has the potential to get a lot worse. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as I slink into the recording studio to be greeted by the blank stares of my band mates, and they only get redder as I pull on my headset and take my place at my microphone. "Thank god the studio's soundproof," I mumble, making Adeola- of all people- wrap a supportive arm around my shoulder. "Okay," Stuart says once we're all ready. "Not got much more to do, so the sooner we get done, the sooner you five can enjoy a well-earned break! Two, three, four..." The introduction to one of our songs- a slower, ballad-like song written my Stuart- begins, and I try to put my telling- off behind me as I focus my voice into doing the best possible job of the music that's been put before me. Fortunately, I must've done a good enough job as Stuart lets the five of us go just after 2:30pm- though my heart skips a beat as I see Stuart head into Joshua's office as I leave the agency. "One thing I don't get," Lauren says as we (and Kayla) had back to our flat, "is how your parents knew that you had long hair? I mean, when I first met you, it was medium length- for obvious reasons, admittedly- but not noticeably long for a boy..." "We, um, we skyped a few times," I lie. "When I had no make-up on. Just seemed easier..." "Hmm, okay," Lauren says, though I can tell she doesn't fully believe me- which given the events of the last few days, is understandable. I breathe a sigh of relief when I arrive back at the apartment. There's nothing I want to do more right now than crash on the sofa and watch Netflix for the rest of the day, but first I want to change out of the clingy dancewear I'm still wearing underneath my street clothes. When I reach for the door handle of my bedroom, however, I get an unexpected shock when Kayla reaches for the handle at the exact same time. "Umm, I'm flattered, but don't you have a boyfriend?" I ask, making Kayla smirk. "Sorry," Kayla laughs. "Just- when it was obvious you weren't coming home last night, I kinda slept in your room rather than the sofa... Hope you don't mind." "No, no, it's fine," I smile, opening the door and frowning with confusion at the sight of a lot of Kayla's clothes piled up on the bed. "Umm... How did you get all that in an overnight bag?" I ask. "I, um, may have asked my mum to bring a case up from Southampton this morning," Kayla mumbles. "Oh, now be fair," Lauren says after stripping out of her own dancewear. "Given how well it went with your parents, we thought you'd just naturally move back in with them." "And I do really, really need a place in London," Kayla says. "Getting sick of a two hour commute each way..." "Hi girls!" An unexpected female voice shouts from the kitchen, momentarily startling me. "How was work?" "Oh, um, hi mum!" Kayla says. "Mum, this is Stephanie, the girl I told you about this morning!" "Oh, hi Stephanie!" The middle-aged woman says, giving me a limp, feminine handshake. "Hi, Mrs. Ford," I say. "It's so good of you to let Kayla have your room," Mrs. Ford says, giving her daughter a playful cuddle. "Okay, I'd have preferred that she waited until she was eighteen before moving out, but it's better than her spending most of her life on a train!" "Why weren't you at ballet this morning?" I ask. "You could've met my parents..." "Believe me, I wanted to be!" Mrs. Ford laughs. "But I needed to stay here, clean this place up- you can tell two teenagers live in this place, it's an absolute sty! Apart from your room, actually, everything was very neat and tidy..." My eyes go wide as a moment of panic grips my body. "Did- did you go through my drawers!?" I ask, my voice raising and startling the three other women. "No, of course not!" Mrs. Ford laughs. "Just because I have a parental obligation to not respect Kayla's privacy, doesn't mean I can't respect yours!" I breathe an internal sigh of relief and let out a small giggle- if she's discovered my 'Steve' drawer, it'd have been seriously awkward... "Umm, it's going to take me a few days to get everything moved," I say, wondering when exactly I agreed to get kicked out of my own home. "We got time," Lauren shrugs. "In the meantime," Mrs. Ford says, "I've had a look at your fridge and it is foul! Let me cook the three of you a PROPER meal for once..." "That'd be nice," I say as I crash on the sofa with Lauren and Kayla. After calling my parents- and actually having to remember to use my 'Stephanie' voice as they pick up the phone- we while away the rest of the evening watching Netflix, as I'd hoped, but as I head to bed, I can't help but feel that my 'independence' will soon come to an end. I enjoyed having my own place- well, half of my own place, anyway- and being effectively forced to move back in with my parents, especially by the girl who let me stay at her own parents' house just last week, is truly galling. When I wake up the following morning, I go to enter the bathroom, only to find it locked for the first time since I moved in five months ago. "Sorry!" Kayla yells from inside the bathroom. "I'll be out in a second!" Just over ten minutes later, the tiny blonde girl emerges from the room, her hair and body wrapped in two towels- MY towels. Sighing, I get two spare towels from the airing cupboard and jump under the shower, shaving off what little facial hair I have and letting the hot water wash away some- but not all- of my stress. The telling-off Joshua gave me yesterday is still ringing in my ears, and it would be a perfect irony if I start to live life as a woman full-time only for my job- the whole reason I'm living as a woman full-time- to suddenly be in jeopardy. After drying myself off and pulling on a fresh set of underwear, I apply my make-up for the day and dress in a tight red t-shirt and a short denim skirt, under which I pull on a thin pair of tights, despite the heat outside. Lauren and Kayla are both wearing almost new designer dresses to the studio, of course- both have very quickly settled into the lifestyle of a national celebrity and the appearances that need to be kept up as a result. When we arrive at the studio, Becca and Adeola are already present, but surprisingly, Stuart is nowhere to be seen. "My brother's been talking to Joshua all morning," Becca says as she gets herself a glass of water. "Some talk about an upcoming gig, I think." I nod quietly as I get myself a drink, but as I sit down, I feel an unexpected presence also sit down next to me. "Hey," Adeola- the band member with whom I've probably interacted the least- says. "You okay?" "Umm, yeah, thanks," I say. "Only I know you kinda copped a bollocking from Uncle Joshua yesterday," Adeola continues. "Take it from someone who's been on the receiving end of a lot of them, they ain't fun!" "I'll live," I say, making Adeola giggle. "Why did you lie, anyway?" Adeola asks. "Not just to us, but to your parents?" "...Because despite Jamie's best efforts, the world really isn't friendly toward people who believe that they're a different gender to the one they were born into," I sigh. "Especially when it's their own flesh and blood..." "Okay," Adeola says firmly. "One: that 'flesh and blood' thing is a load of crap. Your parents proved that yesterday. And two... Take it from someone who knows, hiding away from discrimination only ever makes it worse." "No offence," I say delicately, "but, umm, isn't London one of the most multi-coloured cities in the world?" "The city, yes," Adeola retorts. "But don't forget I was raised by my uncle and he wanted the absolute best for me, including the best school... After two years at the boarding school I went to I was literally begging Uncle Joshua just to send me to an inner-city school, ANY inner-city school." "Was- was it bad?" I ask. "Woke up every morning with a banana beside my bed," Adeola sighs. "Thought it was some sort of weird nutritional scheme at first, then I realised none of the other kids were getting them... Once went into class and found my chair filled with a stuffed monkey. PE class, every time we worked on climbing apparatus, I'd get Tarzan chants yelled at me." "That- that's despicable," I whisper. "Didn't the teachers do anything about this?" "The teachers were even worse," Adeola spits. "First year I was there they spoke extra-slow to me as though I couldn't even speak English, when it's my first bloody language... Lunchtime was by far the worst, though. I'd keep my distance from the other kids but the dinner ladies would always find a way of leaving some little remark, 'you can't hide any more, this isn't the jungle', that sort of thing..." "It's amazing how they can get away with this," I sigh. "This is supposed to be the 21st century, isn't it? Why did your Uncle even tolerate this?" "He didn't!" Adeola laughs. "Second he learned about it he pulled me straight out of there, sent me to a local school instead... Yeah, I didn't get the best GCSEs in the world but I at least didn't end up hurling myself off a tall building..." "And now you're part of the hottest girl band in the UK!" I say, making Adeola giggle. "WE'RE part of the hottest girl band in the UK!" The dark-skinned girl laughs. "Soo," Becca says, sitting down on the other side of Adeola. "What are we talking about today?" "Our school days," Adeola giggles. "Which I'm betting were a lot tougher than yours, Miss Eighteen-grand-a-year private school!" Becca blushes and giggles as her best friend teases her, though for once her bashfulness actually appears genuine and not an attempt to centre everyone's attention on her. "Well, depends on where Steph went to school, I guess!" Becca laughs. "...Just my local comprehensive," I say. "Parents aren't poor but couldn't exactly afford eighteen grand a year, especially not for three kids!" "AND their kids' university as well," Adeola teases Becca. "Whenever you decide to go back to your studies, anyway!" "Hey, I finished my second year, didn't I?" Becca protests. "So I'm not quite as academic as my brother or my sister, whatever. Steph, either of your brothers go to uni?" I blink twice as Becca asks me this question- even though we've been bandmates for five months, we're not exactly 'friends', and she's never really shown any interest in my family before... "Erm, nah," I reply. "Tom join the Army when he was 18 but left after five years, Danny went straight to work when he was sixteen. My mum went to university though, I think." "She's a nurse, isn't she?" Becca asks. "Yeah," I say, still finding it hard to believe that Becca is this knowledgeable about my family. "Either of your brothers single?" Becca asks with a cheeky grin. "Obviously not asking for myself, but for a friend..." I giggle as Becca places her hands on Adeola's shoulders and playfully massages the tall girl. "Ehh... I like Adeola too much to inflict that on her!" I say, making both girls laugh as Stuart returns to the studio, but the laughs subside as Joshua walks in behind Stuart with a serious expression on his face. "Girls," Stuart says, grabbing our attention and making me start to shake with nerves. This is it, I think to myself. Back to the unemployment line... "My heavenly singers," Joshua announces, the smile returning to his face. "How familiar are you with the aviation industry?" "I know it involves planes," Kayla says, making our manager laugh. "Indeed it does!" Joshua booms. "It also involves airports, and pilots, and flight attendants... And big, big business!" "Is this about sixty-three?" Adeola asks, earning quizzical stares from the rest of us. "It's good to see that education was worth every penny I paid for it!" Joshua says, giving his niece a playful hug even as she clearly didn't want any reminders of her school days. "Antoine Masson," Joshua continues, "the founder of Soixante-Trois Airlines, is opening up a new hub in Heathrow. Next Monday he's throwing a huge launch party for the press and he wants Britain's biggest girl band to sing at the launch! I assume none of you have any objection to singing whilst dressed as air stewardesses?" "As long as I don't have to serve anyone any drinks!" Becca says, making Joshua laugh his booming laugh once again. "No, no, only music to their ears!" Joshua laughs. "I've sent his tailors all your measurements, your costumes will be here on Friday." "They've sent along a list of songs they want you to perform at the opening," Stuart explains. "Don't worry, it's all in English, no French. Mostly stuff like 'Come Fly with Me', but we'll need to get rehearsing anyway so we're going to push polishing off the album back for a week to concentrate on this." "Starting immediately!" Joshua booms, springing the five of us into action as we finish our drinks and grab our headphones. "Stephanie, may I have a word in private, please?" "Umm, okay..." I say nervously, feeling my bandmates' stares burning a hole in the back of my head as I follow our manager into a side room. "I promise I haven't lied, I swear-" "Stephanie!" Joshua says with his usual wide grin. "I am not going to bollock you today! Calm down!" "Umm, okay," I say, taking several deep breaths as Joshua and I sit down. "I'm not sure if you know the story of Soixante-Trois Airlines," Joshua says. "They're a 'boutique airline', following old-fashioned principles- specifically, sixties principles. Which I why I personally love them so much! They only have female stewardesses, but some time ago the EU Supreme Court forced them to allow males to apply for these roles. Soixante-Trois agreed- as long as they followed the strictly female dress code." "So... What?" I ask, struggling as hard as I could to follow Joshua's story. "They only hire transgendered stewardesses?" "Not 'only'," Joshua says. "But mostly, yes. I wanted to make sure that you were comfortable with this before agreeing to the gig on Monday- I wouldn't want to put you in a position that you would find awkward." My jaw drops as Joshua makes his request- yesterday I was worried he would fire me, but today he'd be willing to turn down what sounds like a lucrative gig if I veto it? "Umm, I've got no problems with it," I say, making Joshua laugh out loud and give me a gentle pat on the back. "Fantastic!" Joshua booms. "Now get back in the studio, you have practice to do!" I smile as I get up from the chair and all but swagger back into the studio, putting on my headphones with a smug smile that confuses Lauren and Kayla but brings genuine chuckles to Becca and Adeola's mouths. We spend the next four hours running through the songs for the gig, perfecting our harmonies and working out any extra 'twists' we want to put on the songs to add our own unique character to them. Eventually, at 4pm, Stuart gives us permission to leave, though as I leave the studio, I find myself not walking out with Kayla and Lauren, but with Becca and Adeola instead. "Eee, this'll be so cool!" Becca squeaks. "Do you remember Valentine's 2014? Flying back from Paris to Dublin on that airline?" "I remember only being seventeen and my uncle not allowing me any booze," Adeola giggles. "You ever flown with Soixante-Trois, Steph?" "Funny you should mention that," I say with fake enthusiasm. "...No I haven't." Becca and Adeola both giggle at my joke as the three of us head into the ladies' toilets. "I also remember you being involved with a guy during that trip