Tight Knit - Volume 1: Part 4

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TKtitle.jpg
Jesse continues to
wrestle with his predicament.

Tight Knit

Volume 1

Part 4

By Taylor Ryan
Copyright© 2016 Taylor Ryan
All Rights Reserved.

Volume 1: Part 4

Altogether we had visited four stores in Greater West Allis. After getting over my sulking in the thrift store, I actually found some things in the women's section that I liked. I managed to find a few pairs of jeans that weren't overly girly. They had plenty of neutral t-shirts to choose from, though some of them fit tighter than I normally liked. Tory talked me into a few sweaters for colder weather, and somehow found a way to get me to purchase a couple of skirts.

Although I was convinced I would never wear the skirts, Tory did seem pretty convincing when stating they'd go better with tights. In fact, the mere mention of tights made my head fuzzy. So I went along with Tory's suggestion. If anything it got her to shut up about it, and saved me the headache. I started to wonder if that's how she won most of her arguments. Regardless, I had to admit to myself that I didn't have the body of a boy anymore.

The next stop happened to be a discount shoe store. Tory wasted no time here, leading me straight to what she considered the essentials. She had me pick out a pair of sneakers, while she looked at some dressier flats and boots. I had a hard time figuring out my size at first. For one, the size on the bottom of my borrowed flats had been completely worn off. So I had no idea of determining my size from there. Tory had already walked away, and left me on my own.

Instinctively, I reached for my usual size eleven, and learned immediately they were enormous on me. My feet were practically swimming in them. I pulled out a box of tens, and they were too large as well. Frustrated, I kept going, pulling out a pair of nines, then eights, and then sevens. By the time I had slipped a pair of size six shoes on, Tory came back to join me.

"Sixes," I remarked. "Can you believe that?"

"What are you talking about?" Tory asked, now noticing the boxes spread all over the floor.

"I went from size eleven all the way down to six," I said. "That's five whole sizes!"

"That's not entirely accurate," Tory said, a little hesitantly. "You wore an eleven in men's. That's like a twelve or twelve and a half in women's. So you lost six whole sizes, or so."

"Great," I said, hanging my head. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I sighed. "I've lost half of my feet."

Tory restrained her laughter. "It's not that bad," she said, as she stooped down to help pick up some of the boxes.

"Maybe for you," I responded. "You probably changed hair color, or skin tone. I literally lost my manhood."

Tory sat down next to me. "You didn't lose anything," she said. "At least… not if you still feel inside that you're the same person."

"That's just it," I said. "I'm starting to feel like I'm not."

"Really?" Tory asked. "Like how so?"

"Just little things," I said. "Like I don't feel comfortable at all in this body. Yet, I feel like I have to make it look feminine to fit in. The whole thing is giving me a massive headache."

Tory put her hand on my shoulder. "Look… I know Leann gave you a hard time about being a girl. But I'm going to tell you right now, not to lose that piece of you that wants to be a boy again. Don't ever let go of what makes you unique, or all is lost."

"What else is there to lose?" I asked rhetorically.

"Hope," Tory said. "Don't ever lose hope."

I never would've thought shopping to be so emotionally draining. My mind had moved on to thinking that shopping was probably not the best thing to be doing right after a magical body change. Even saying that in my head began to sound crazy. Our next stop at the lingerie store didn't help matters either. If anything, it managed to bring up more decisions on what kind of girl I wanted to be.

Luckily I had Tory there with me. She attempted to keep me thinking practical throughout the process. Had I been alone, I probably would've fallen victim to my… male desires when it came to picking out lingerie. And that was, for the most part, my problem. I still thought like a guy, wandering around trying to think of how to look like a girl. At least I still had thoughts, for the moment. When we hit the tights and pantyhose, however, I became a mindless robot.

~ ~ ~

Tory slapped the button to start the dryer, then jumped up to sit on it. We had been shopping for the past few hours, and had stopped off at a laundromat to wash some of my purchases. That is to say they were my belongings, but I had no money to pay for them. Tory had somehow pulled together enough money to pay for everything. I thought maybe they had some secret stash of money to help other girls out. Maybe they took donations.

Tory smiled at me from her perch upon the running dryer. "See Jesse," she said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"If you say so," I grumbled, as I neatly folded pieces of my new wardrobe.

"I thought I was never going to get you out of that tights store," she said. "We must've been in there for over two hours."

I looked up at her, a little embarrassed. "Does it really get better?"

Tory nodded. "It does," she said. "It just takes some time."

"Like what are we talking here?" I asked, continuing to fold clothes. "Days? Weeks?"

"Maybe a month or two," Tory said.

I sighed. "Well it's better than a year or two, I guess."

"Yeah," Tory said. "It's really not a huge deal. You'll still want to wear them, but you won't have that whole 'I can't survive without them' feeling anymore. It helps to feed the urge early on."

"So I have a concern that's been bugging me," I said.

"What's up?" Tory asked, helping me slip a few of my new belongings into a bag.

"Well…" I looked down at the pile of clothing. "It kind of has to do with all of this." I took a deep breath. "That is to say, how can you afford all of this?"

Tory smiled. "Normally we don't tell all of the girls this, but…" She looked me over. "I have a good feeling about you." She leaned in closer. "Can you keep a secret?"

I turned to face her. "I am the best secret keeper in the world," I said, cracking a smile.

"Here's the thing," Tory said. "We have a few thousand years of history behind us." She paused. "I mean, not me personally, but collectively." She held her hands up as if to wave that comment off. "Anyway, years and years of history, and years and years of collecting. Currencies, trinkets to sell. Well… you get the picture. We're kind of sitting on some wealth." She loaded some more of my clothes into a bag. "And the fact that we save a ton of money on food helps a lot."

"Wait a minute," I said. "We don't have to eat?"

"Have you been hungry or thirsty since you changed?" Tory asked.

I thought back for a moment over the past twenty-four hours. After my change, I had a glass of water, but it wasn't because I was thirsty. I hadn't had a bite to eat either. In fact, I hardly saw any food at all around the theater. Beyond all of that, it was now apparent that I wasn't even hungry or thirsty. Oddly enough, I felt fine. I found myself silently shaking my head in response to Tory's question.

"There you have it," Tory said. "We can eat if we want, but we can also go without food or drink."

"For how long?"

"Indefinitely," Tory said, with a chuckle. "We can't die, Jesse."

"Wait…" I looked up at her. "Leann said we could die to things like being shot and stabbed."

Tory's face turned sober. "She… lied," Tory said quietly.

"She what?!"

Tory sighed. "She lied," she said. "She tells new people that they can die to things like that. But it's for a good reason."

"To build trust?" I scoffed.

"Think about it," Tory said. "Think back to several hours ago. You were in shock. You were questioning everything. If you ran away scared, you at least wouldn't run away with the knowledge that you're invincible as well."

"Don't you think that's the choice of the individual?" I shook my head in disbelief. "Are you scared of us running off and becoming vigilantes?"

"No," Tory said. "We're scared of the opposite." She looked straight into my eyes. "Imagine if they got the silly notion in their head that they're unstoppable. Imagine if they used that knowledge to do harm to others… like the Nymphs."

"The what?" I asked.

Tory groaned. She slapped a pair of folded jeans down on the counter. "I really wish Leann would tell new girls everything. Her sister really was better at orientation." She looked up at me. "You know those bad people we told you about? The other ones?"

I nodded quietly.

"We call them the Nymphs," Tory said.

"What? Like they have sex a lot?"

Tory gave me a look of disgust. "That's a nymphomaniac," she said. "I'm talking about nymphs. Mystical spirits that take on the form of young maidens. Usually dragging young men into the woods to trick them. At least that's what they do in the stories," she trailed off.

"Oh…" I said quietly. "So… they're like our enemy?"

"I wouldn't say enemy," Tory said. "We're just… opposed to each other in how we see things. They like to use their immortality for devious purposes, while we try to help." She shrugged her shoulders. "Think of it as we're the ones who want to lift the curse, and they're the ones who want to remain immortal. But it's not like we're at war… yet."

"So Leann's group had a falling out with them? Is that what happened?"

"You could say that," Tory said. "You're better off getting the whole story from Leann." She sighed. "If she'll tell you, that is."

"What's the deal with her sister anyway?"

Tory shook her head. "Another thing you should ask her."

~ ~ ~

A couple of hours later, we returned to the theater. Tory showed me to a more… intimate room with an actual bed and dresser. While it was still down in the basement, it was like a private office, compared to the cubicle I had stayed in the night before. It even had a door with a lock, making it more like a dorm room. We spent a little time putting some of my new belongings away, before Tory introduced me to the communal bathing facilities.

It felt a little overwhelming at first; staring at an open room full of showers. I had only started showering with the guys in gym class, and even that felt uncomfortable. Tory droned on about how they had converted a lot of the underground facilities themselves. I had to admit, I admired their tenacity. Not to mention their knowledge on indoor plumbing. Of course, I had to factor in their years of combined research and schooling.

"So… we all shower in here?" I asked, my eyes drifting over the large tiled room.

Tory put her hand on my shoulder. "You get used to it," she said. "I hardly even look at the other girls now."

I turned my head slowly to look at her. Tory's face beamed with a mocking smile. "That's not exactly what I was concerned about," I said.

"I know," Tory said. "I know." She gestured toward the shower room. "If it makes you feel any better, it's pretty quiet this time of day. Would be a good time."

"Well… I kind of wanted to talk to Leann," I said.

Tory glanced at her watch. "She's not due back for another hour or so," she said. "You should…" Tory shifted uncomfortably. "How do I put this without it being weird?"

"Really?" I asked. "What about the past day has not been weird?"

"Good point," Tory said. "I was going to suggest that it would be a good time… to explore your new body." She shrugged. "I'm sure you're curious."

"Okay… that did sound a little weird," I said.

"Told you," Tory responded. "I never can think of a way to make it not sound sexual." She shrugged again. "I could guard the door if you'd like?"

"Could you… just bring me a towel?"

"Sure," Tory said, giving me a knowing look. "I'll leave it right outside here." She gestured to a bench on the other side of the shower room's wall.

"Thank you," I said, sheepishly.

"No problem," Tory said. "You can leave your clothes on the bench too. I'll take care of them when I come back."

"Tory," I said, catching her before she walked out.

"What's up?"

"Thank you… for everything today," I said.

Tory simply smiled at me. "I'll leave you to it," she said, turning to walk out. "I would suggest the body wash in the pink bottle. It's amazing!"

I waited for a moment, making sure Tory had exited. In my solitude, I took another gander around the larger room. There were toilet stalls off to the far side, and several sinks lined the opposite wall from the bench. I stepped over to the nearest sink, and peered into the mirror. It had been about the fifth or sixth time I had seen my new self, and it still left me in a state of horror and amazement.

Before the change, my hair had been on the lighter side of brown. It had been short, with a tapered style. Now it sprung forth from my scalp, like a fountain of black wavy ribbons. My nose seemed smaller. Although that could have been due to that fact that all of my features had become smaller. Thin, neat eyebrows bent in quizzical worry above my hazel eyes. Oddly enough, my eyes seemed to be the only thing that met with subtle change.

Everything else seemed like a far cry from my former appearance. My ears were smaller. The small cleft in my chin had gone away; replaced with a slightly more rounded point. It looked as if my entire face had changed from chiseled angles to nearly oval. One benefit I did notice was an improved complexion. My acne had completely vanished. I watched as my new pouty lips moved into a smile at this realization.

"Oh…"

Tory's voice startled me. I spun to look in her direction.

"I thought you would have started by now," she admitted. She held up a large fluffy towel. "I can just leave this."

"Sorry," I said. "I was just looking at some of the changes."

Tory placed the towel on the bench. "I get it," she said. "It can be pretty harsh. That's why I thought you might want some alone time."

"I don't know what I want," I said, turning back to the mirror. "Honestly… I never really did." I sighed, looking at this new reflection mimic my movements. "I spent most of the past few years trying to figure out where I fit in. And doing some pretty stupid things in the process."

"Well," Tory said. "I'm not qualified to answer where you fit, but you should know that you're welcome here. For as long as you need."

"You mean I'm not a hostage?" I asked, smirking at her.

"That was never our intention," Tory said. "We just try to help other gir… others like us. Some stay, others move on. Attempt to make it on their own. Our only goal here is to get them on their feet, and try to pass on some knowledge."

"Tory," I said. "You can call me a girl."

"I didn't want to upset you," Tory said. "You've been through a lot."

"I know," I said, turning to face her. "I also know that you're all girls here. So it's probably best that I try to fit in for now." We stared at each other, for a moment, in awkward silence. "Think I'll get that shower now," I finally said.

Tory shifted her position. "Sure," she said. "I'll be close by. If you need anything just shout."

I nodded silently. Tory turned and made her way out of the room once more. After one final glance in the mirror, I made my way over to the bench. Sitting next to the towel, I contemplated getting naked in this strange place. It's not that I didn't trust anyone. They could have murdered me in my sleep if they wanted to go that route. I simply felt uneasy about the massive changes.

In less than one day, my entire life had been flipped on its side. I was vaguely aware of where we were in the city, let alone where I might end up in the end. My father had probably spent a sleepless night wondering where in the world I had gone. Even in my most rebellious phases, I had never run away from home. Now I felt miles from home, and worried that I could never return. Taking a shower in some strange place seemed to be the least of my concerns.

I slipped off my borrowed shoes; now wondering where they had come from. Did these girls keep a small collection for people like me? I laughed inwardly, reminding myself that I was the only girl like me. They had told me I was the first, and only, boy to change into a girl in their magical world. However, I also had the thought, in the back of my mind, that Leann could have lied to me about that as well.

"What is the truth?" I quietly asked the empty room.

Slowly I removed the rest of my borrowed clothing. I placed it neatly on the bench, next to the towel. There seemed to be an internal struggle when it came to taking off the tights. Somehow I prevailed, tricking myself into thinking that by removing them, I could wear a new pair. It seemed to work, as I soon found myself completely naked; stepping toward my first shower in my new female body.


 
 
To Be Continued...
 

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Comments

Thanks

Thanks Dorothy. I've had a lot of projects that I've been trying to juggle, but I'm still truckin'. Some days (every day) I wish I could write full-time. ;)

~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.

I can't believe it has been

I can't believe it has been seven months but the story came back quickly, it's a good one and I hope your personal life is able to permit you to write more.

It's moving along nicely, loved that there is something more to it than just a curse. A preview of potential conflicts? Maybe there was a turncoat with Leann's sister? Or worse? Lots of things going on and lots of questions arising :)

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

Thanks

Thanks for the comment Ef. I'm trying hard not to blab about spoilers on this one, but it definitely is going a lot deeper than just a curse. ;)

~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.

Exploration

Jamie Lee's picture

A new day dawns when changes are made which lead toward a different path. Everything on that path is new and can be frightening when first glimpsed. It's only after the fear wears off that individual aspects of the path can be seen.

That's Jessie's life now. His once trodden path has changed and the new path she is on has her frightened and unsure of the changes. It will take time for her to become comfortable on this new path, comfortable enough to stop and examine the aspects of the path.

Others have feelings too.

What comes next???

Diesel Driver's picture

I'm wondering what the truth in this story is too. From the originality so far it's bound to be far out.

Chris