Love Less -9- Pink Toothbrush

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Would he dream of being a girl?

Love Less
Love Less -9-
Pink Toothbrush

by Erin Halfelven

 
After getting the closets sorted out, with one large pile to go to charity, Les and Pris lay sideways across Pris’s bed under the larger of the two bedroom windows and talked about school.

“It’s a very nice school, Evandale Academy Middle School. That’s grades six to nine. What grade are you in?” Pris asked.

“Sixth,” said Les. “I got held back one year because we moved around so much, and I got sick, so I missed most of the second grade.”

“That sorta sucks,” said Pris. “But that means we’re in the same grade.” She turned sideways and grinned at him. “And you look younger than thirteen anyway. Has your chest started developing yet?”

Les blushed and resisted the urge to giggle nervously. “Uh, no,” he admitted.

“Pretty soon, then,” Pris suggested. “Mom says the next thing for me is probably my first period.” She made a face. “She’s got me wearing panty-liners to school ‘cause she says it could be any day now.”

“Yikes,” said Les and they both giggled for entirely different reasons.

“You’re wearing a bra even though you don’t need one?” Pris observed.

“Uh-huh,” he said, embarrassed even more than hearing about Pris’s looming period. During the trying on of clothes, Pris had opened the bathroom door a few times and seen him in his underwear. And she still didn’t seem to suspect that he was a boy. Wearing two pairs of panties had successfully kept everything out of sight, apparently.

“Did Maddy buy it for you?”

“Maddy bought everything for me,” Les told her. “All I had to wear was a pair of dirty pajamas.”

“She must have not wanted you to be embarrassed about not being developed yet,” Pris offered as a guess. “Your first bra?”

Les nodded, unable to even grunt an agreement.

Pris sat up and tugged him up into a hug. “Won’t be long,” she whispered in his ear. “You’ll be a big girl, soon.”

Heart pounding, Les hugged her back. He almost wished it could be true, that he really was like Pris and looking forward to growing up to be a big girl, too. And not just a boy trying to avoid the hell of juvenile detention.

***

The elder Davenports came in to say good night a bit before the two youngsters started feeling sleepy.

Jessie, Mrs. Davenport, chided them both to brush and floss. “Here’s a new brush for each of you, throw the old one away, Pris.” She handed out the equipment, one pink and one lavender.

Les ended up with the pink one. Of course, he thought. But it had been some time since he’d had a new toothbrush, frequently making do with his finger, so he accepted with a murmured, “Thank you.”

Owen, Mr. Davenport, reminded them that it was a school night and that they should be in bed before nine, then relented and allowed them a bedtime of ten with a wink. “I guess Elle doesn’t need as much beauty sleep as you, Pris, so you both can stay up. Wouldn’t be fair otherwise,” he said.

“You’re funny, Daddy,” Pris accused with a mock scowl. Les knew he must be blushing and said nothing at all.

Hugs were offered and accepted, Les feeling very strange about this ritual but comforted none the less. He couldn’t remember the last time a man had given him a hug. Jessie added a kiss to each forehead then the parental units departed to send the “twins” down the hall to bed, too.

When they had gone, Les stared at the door for a long time. “Your folks are nice,” he said at last.

Pris nodded, watching him closely. Les had a slight smile on his face and one tear rolling down his cheek. She said nothing about it but instead opened a drawer and took out a pair of nightgowns. “It’ll be cold when they turn the heat down, but I don’t think cold enough for flannel.” She handed one to Les.

He accepted the garment, noting that both gowns were pink this time and made of some almost sheer material that still felt like cotton. He smiled wider and wiped away the single tear.

“You go first,” Pris offered, gesturing at the bathroom. “I’m going to dig out one of my old school uniforms that should fit you. You can try it on tomorrow.”

“Okay,” said Les. What was one more dress fitting, after all?

After brushing and flossing, he changed out of the last dress he had tried on—a lovely if utilitarian blue corduroy jumper—and into the nightgown, leaving the bathroom for Pris to use. She had already changed into her gown and only needed to clean her teeth which she did with the door open, chattering away with a mouth full of foam.

“I’m wearing my bra to bed because I’m tender up there and the padding keeps me from scratching in my sleep. But I can see your bra straps and you don’t need to wear one except for looks, so why wear it to bed?” she asked.

Les blushed which made Pris giggle. “I want to get used to wearing it,” he said. Honestly, he had not thought to remove it. Or his jewelry, he realized, taking off the necklace and bracelet now and putting them on the dresser.

“Okay. I understand that. In fact, I think I did the same thing with my first bra. I just didn’t want to take it off.” She giggled and he laughed, too, still blushing.

Les clambered into bed awkwardly, a bit unsure of how to manage the skirt of the nightgown without flashing his panties. I’ve really got myself into a mess here, he thought, but everyone is so nice to me. He pulled the covers up to his chin and snuggled into the cool, clean sheets. He wouldn’t even be here if they knew he was a boy, Maddy said they only took in girls here.

Pris turned out the lights on her way to bed, leaving only a peanut bulb glowing in the bathroom and the small amount of light from under the hallway door. Above both beds, a suburban darkness filled the windows and a sliver of moon sailed through cloudy shoals illuminated from below by the distant city.

They talked a bit in the darkness. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to ride the bus in the morning or if Mom or Bettina will be taking us to school, since you will have to register,” Pris said.

Les felt a pang of anxiety, would someone at the school discover his secret? How could they not? He must have made a noise because Pris was quick to reassure him.

“Don’t worry, Aunt Maddy will have taken care of most of the paperwork, like she always does,” she said. “Good night,” she added, turning over.

Les lay still in the darkness for some time then the quirk of acoustics brought him voices from downstairs again.

Owen Davenport was saying, “Elle is such a pretty thing but so shy.”

“From what I heard from Maddy, she has reason to be timid,” Jessie commented.

“Mmm. Well, whatever else her parents did wrong they managed to raise a sweet, polite and really lovely daughter,” Owen said.

No, they didn’t, thought Les.

“She’s ours now, probably for at least a few weeks,” said Jessie. “Let’s not mess it up. Doesn’t she wear clothes well?”

“She does that. She has a careful grace and a vulnerable awkwardness at the same time that is very endearing,” agreed Owen as the two moved through the spot downstairs where voices carried upward through the vents.

Les lay still, comforted by the voices but still worried about the morning. What would school be like? He’d be wearing a dress out in public, wouldn’t someone notice that he was a boy? At his last school, sixth grade was at the elementary level, would going to a middle school be different? And it was a private academy which meant a lot of rich kids, he didn’t know if he could fit in.

A lot of rich girls, he corrected himself. How on Earth could he fit in?

Pris was nice, though. All of the Davenports were nice to him.

They wouldn’t be if they found out he was really a boy, though. And just how long could he keep that a secret?

He had to try. He was even going to be sleeping in a dress. Would he dream that he was really a girl?

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Comments

Fitting in

My5InchFMHeels's picture

I don't see Les having a problem fitting it, especially with Pris as a guide. I don't think the secret is as secret as Les believes either. I may have read more into the comment about wearing clothes well, but it seems almost as if they are saying they know Les' gender already.

Nicely Done

BarbieLee's picture

Cute story of a child caught up in the same meat grinder his parents had dealt out to themselves.
thanks
always,
Barb

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl

Les Has No Problem

joannebarbarella's picture

Nobody wants him to be a boy!

Poor kid

Samantha Heart's picture

He was kind of forced into this situation buy looks like the feminine side is coming out of Les & he eants to be s girl now just so he can stay where there are nice people.

Love Samantha Renée Heart.

incremental acclimation

laika's picture

I'm loving the slow, almost real-time progress of this story. Many authors (myself included, probably) in their rush to turn Les into a girl would already be using Elle and female pronouns exclusively by now, but your use of male ones shows that Les still isn't really sold on this being-a-girl business, except for fleeting thoughts that maybe it would have its advantages, and his balking a little less with each chapter at the new wardrobe or things like a pink toothbrush. Which I'm really glad was already pink from being made of pink plastic, instead of what I thought for some reason when I saw the chapter title, that it was going to have its bristles appear pink from bleeding gums, like as a symptom of malnutrition, or (knowing how negligent his parents were) possibly radiation poisoning, although---if I know my TG fiction---this would not only turn him into a girl but a superhero too...
~hugs, Ronni

Nice

It’s nice that Les has gotten into a home with obviously loving and caring parents (even if the are fosters).

That is the question

Jamie Lee's picture

When trying on clothing Pris wanted him to try, Les mainly went along with what she wanted; maybe to keep from being found out.

His fears of being found out by the Davenports and the school are capturing his thoughts right along with, what happens if/when it's discovered he's a boy? That is, unless that is already known, but because of his looks they allow him to present as a girl.

Another question that may yet to be answered is how will Les react if/when he learns his secret is already known but no one cares, that they are only concerned about him as a person?

Others have feelings too.