Authors' note: This is a preview of what I'm currently working on. I don't predict that it will be finished until later this month but I will end up posting it when it is complete. This is just the prologue and first two chapters. This preview may disappear without warning...

Samantha

Allen had just gotten out of the shower and was wandering around the house naked. Normally this would have posed it's own problems, not the least of which would have been that everyone else would have been home. This was how he found him self standing in front of the large mirror in his sister's bedroom, with it's pink walls and four poster canopy bed covered in pink and white sheets and stuffed animals. His sister was 15, and was more girly than most of her peers. He looked around her room, very clean compared to his. Her vanity had a bunch of makeup on it, in a variety of colors, some contrasting against the white surface. Laying on her bed was the navy satin night gown that she had worn the night before. He picked it up and held it against his still damp skin. The fabric was cool as the air conditioning had been running in the house, the satin holding the ambient temperature of the room. Allen had guessed it at about seventy two in the house. The night gown would hit just below his knees if he were to put it on. Oh how he wanted to, just once. He envied his sister, getting to wear the clothing that he loved to see on her and others, but wanted to wear just like them. Allen sighed and placed the night gown back on the bed the way he had found it and went off to his own room, more upset at himself than anything for not being able to go as far as slipping on the night gown, yet again...

You see, Allen wasn't your usual thirteen year old...

Three weeks later, Allen was sitting in front of the TV, watching something that he thought was supposed to be a comedy, but he didn't find it funny. He switched the TV off and walked up the stairs toward his room. Maybe something on the computer could hold his interest on this rainy saturday. He almost wanted to go somewhere to wander around, burn off some energy that he had been bottling up. It had been raining for close to a week, and it was a good thing that the drainage systems in the area were as good as they were. As Allen waited on the computer to boot, it suddenly dawned on him that he might be able to see if these feelings that he kept having were normal. The downside would be that he would have to sift the noise from the signals and get the right answer though. Once the computer was on, Allen connected to the internet and launched the web browser to begin his research.

Allen looked at the clock when he heard the garage door open and blinked. He had been at his research for several hours, that or lost in a day dream, he still wasn’t sure which. He saved some of the stuff that he had copied into files buried deep inside the folder structure where he hoped no one would find them.

“Allen, we’re home. I brought some food, your sister and I still have to go out looking for a dress for the dance coming up at school.” Allen’s mom, Katherine said.

“What did you bring for food?” Allen said, heading down the stairs. This is a good thing, I can continue my research…Allen thought walking into the kitchen and smelling roast beef. His mom had stopped at a national chain restaurant and gotten him his favorite: a roast beef and cheddar sandwich. He presumed that this was because her and his sister would be gone all day. His sister was a rather picky girl that was very talented and smart, although her dishwater blonde hair led to the typical jokes. Her grey eyes sparkled in the little bit of light in the kitchen. “I figured it was the least that I could do for you, we’ve been gone all morning, and, will probably be gone most of the evening as well. I’m just glad that we can trust you to behave when you are home alone.” His mom said, grabbing a glass and getting some water from the dispenser that was built into the front of the fridge.

“I would probably be bored to tears if I had to go with you…” Allen replied, taking a bite of his sandwich. The truth was that Allen would have loved to go dress shopping. It would have made the outside of his body partially match the way the inside of his body felt. He had been feeling this way for quite some time, and was unsure how to break this feeling to his mother or father. Allen brushed a few pieces of his shoulder blade length blonde hair out his eyes… When he had started growing it, he had expected more of a fuss from his mom and dad, but had received surprisingly little in the way of it.

“Carly couldn’t get her boyfriend to go shopping with her for that very reason…” His sister, Heather said… “It’s a pity, he’s really good at fashion…” Allen glanced over at Heather, she had on a simple heather grey tunic and black leggings. He presumed that this would be easy to remove when she was trying on dresses. She wouldn’t have to remove the leggings, just the tunic and try on the dress. Allen offered her a potato bite, which she accepted.

“Todd whats-his-name is good at fashion?” I knew of Todd, there had been some speculation the he was actually gay, not that I cared.

“Yeah. He has a knack for it. He really should go into fashion design. There are some days that Carly lets him pick out her clothes.” Allen blinked.

“I didn’t know that.” He said, finishing off my sandwich.

“Heather, we should get going. I just hope this rain lets up before we get to the mall…” Mom said. Heather picked up her purse, smiled at me, and went out to get in the car. “Be good, Allen. I’ll call you if nay thing changes.” She said, and then kissed the top of my head, and went out to the car. As he finished the potato bites, he heard mom pull out of the garage and the door shut again. he tossed the bag that contained the remains of his dinner in the trash, grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge, and went back upstairs. Allen reopened all of the research that he had done so far and got back on the internet.

Around eight pm Allen stood up and stretched, stripped, grabbed his robe and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. Mom and Heather still weren't home yet and Allen predicted them to get home around nine thirty. He walked in the bathroom and as he dropped his clothes in the hamper, he noticed the skirt and shirt that Heather had worn the day before laying on the top. It was a black long sleeved shirt and a pink and black plaid skirt. He pulled them out and held them to his body, noticing that he was small enough, or so it seemed to wear them. Allen looked around the bathroom, and then locked the door. He didn't want anyone to come in on him while he was in here. The skirt had a thick black elastic waist band and every time he had seen Heather wear this skirt, she had the shirt tucked in. He slipped the shirt on, noticing that the fabric, even though it was cotton just like most of his shirts, felt softer. He picked the skirt up and looked at it. Allen had been having feelings for quite some time that he was supposed to be a girl, and his limited research told him that he was defiantly not alone in his feelings. He stepped into the skirt which swished around his legs as he pulled it toward his waist, pausing momentarily he tucked the shirt into the skirt and then turned to the mirror on the back of the door. Looking back at him was a younger version of his sister, down to the dishwater blonde hair and grey eyes. Looking at the mirror, Allen realized that he needed a name, one that wasn't distinctly male, but more feminine... He could tell that he was going to be a girly girl and when he came clean with his feelings that he needed a name that shouted girly...

"Zoe." He said, looking at his reflection in the mirror. "Zoe Elizabeth" He smiled and then took off the top and skirt, and got into the shower, The image of Zoe burned in his mind for ever. As he showered, he looked down at his body and it's relative lack of hair and he briefly wondered if anyone would notice if he shaved his legs...

Allen had just laid down in his bed, a faint glow coming from the monitor of his laptop as it hadn't fallen asleep yet and he didn't feel like closing the lid. He tossed and turned for a little bit, trying to find the sweet spot in the mattress. He couldn't get the image of Zoe out of his head. He wondered what his mom, dad or sister would say if they knew about Zoe. He actually thought that they would spaz and then kick him out of the house or something. Kick him out or no, they would make sure his life became a living hell, he was sure of it. Right as he fell asleep, he thought that he heard the garage door opening and his mom's car pull in. That meant that mom and Heather were home, and that meant that he needed to try to not mention Zoe to anyone...

Allen rolled over the next morning, still thinking about the way that Zoe looked in the mirror. He wondered how it would feel to be free enough to let the world meet Zoe, and also to wear a skirt all day long. He didn't shave the peach fuzz that grew on his legs, not that any one would notice it if he were in a skirt, it was all blonde like the hair on his head and so fine that you barley felt it as you ran your hand down his legs. Allen slipped on a clean pair of jeans and a tee shirt and went down toward the kitchen. As he expected, his mom was there, and Heather was no where to be found, so Allen presumed that it was just him and his mom at home.

"Morning sweetie. You want some oatmeal?" His mom asked. Allen just nodded, which caused his mom to look at him. He hadn't slept well the night before, and apparently it showed"You ok,; you look like you didn't sleep well last night." He looked at her and thought before he answered.

"No." He said softly. "I haven't been ok for a while." This caused his mom to stop bustling around getting the oatmeal ready and just stop and examine her son. She could see Heather in him, as he looked just like she did at the young age of thirteen. He had always looked like Heather, and she was guilty of dressing him in her dresses when he was a baby to make diaper changes easier.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting her coffee cup on the counter and devoting her attention to her son.

"This." Allen replied running his hands up and down his body, as if to indicate that it was the whole body that was screwed up. "Last night when I said I would have been bored to tears going dress shopping with you, that's not quite the truth. I would have loved to gone with you guys and maybe even tried on a dress or two. Last night I tried on that black top and black and pink plaid skirt that Heather wore the other day because they were in the hamper. No one would know right? I don't have to tell you that part; but when I looked into the mirror, I saw Zoe looking back. She looked happy, I haven't looked happy for a while. I haven't been able to get the picture of her blue eyes sparkling out of my head since then..." Mom just blinked, and let me finish talking.

"Who's Zoe?" Katherine asked. Allen blinked, not expecting that question, but rather expecting to be told to get out of the house...

"Me." Allen said quietly. "I am Zoe"

Katherine had taken her son's hand and led him toward the living room which would be more comfortable to sit in than the kitchen. After she had sat him on the couch, she sat on the love seat.

"So Zoe seemed happier than Allen's been in a while?" Katherine asked.

"Yes. I can't explain it. Putting on Heather's skirt and top just felt right. For once the outside matched the inside." I responded. "It made me happy to have them both match." Katherine watched as Allen folded his legs up on the couch, very much like she and Heather would do when they were reading a book. She smiled.

"You do act like your sister some times." Katherine said, with a smile. "What do you think we should do about this?"

"I don't know. I think that talking to someone may be a good first step. I just don't know who to talk to."

"I don't know who to talk to either, and as this is Saturday, I think that talking to someone today may be kind of hard, so why don't you go get a shower, and since your sister is staying the night at Carly's, and your dad won't be home from Denver until at least Wednesday, I'm going to go find you something to wear and we can discuss this further, Ok?"

"I took a shower last night before you and Heather got home."

"I know. I want you to go take another one, use some of your sister's scented body wash this time, ok?" Allen nodded and went off to do as his mom suggested.

Allen walked back into his bedroom after taking a shower and using the body wash. He currently smelled of lavender and, to be honest, he liked the smell. Laying on his bed was an ankle length denim skirt, pink sweater, and a matching pink polkadot bra and panty set. Allen looked around the room and then heard his mother on the other side of the door.

"Put everything on. I think your sister's shoes will fit you, I have a pair out here for you to put on after you get dressed." Allen shrugged, the panties were pretty self explanatory, the bra, however was not. Allen struggled with it for a few minutes, before finally getting it on correctly. Allen slipped the skirt on and then pulled the sweater over his head. Allen brushed his hair out and taking a deep breath, opened the door to reveal his mother standing there. She looked him up and down, and he waited for her to start laughing.

"My God, Zoe, you are beautiful." Katherine said. Zoe smiled and blushed at the same time.

"Thank you." Zoe said in a voice that was softer than her normal voice. She watched as her mother's eyes widened in shock.

"Lets see if Heather's shoes fit you. I think that they will." She sat a pair of black mary jane wedges on the floor next to her new daughter's feet. Zoe slipped the shoes on and were surprised to find that they fit. She crouched down and buckled the thin straps. Katherine smiled at her new daughter again. "Zoe, are you sure that you've never worn anything of your sisters before?"

"Yes. This is the first time other than the skirt and shirt from last night. It's something that I've dreamt about though..."

<<<<>>>>