Chapter 3

The next morning, Ed avoided Lou -- visibly -- on three separate occasions. Mike wasn't as visible -- in fact, he wasn't visible at all. Finally, Ed approached Lou at his otherwise empty lunch table and said humbly, "I'm sorry, Lou. I don't know... Mike... The gay stuff... The things he said... I thought..."

Ed ground to a halt like a freight train whose engine had shut down, unable to explain what had happened the night before. Later -- not much later, by some time scales -- Lou more or less put it together: Some slip on Ed's part had alerted Mike, who was at least bisexual and a master manipulator. Mike had blackmailed Ed into an invitation to a jerk-off party, and in the process had discovered that Ed had a latent homosexual streak. Mike had then invited Ed to a party at his place, where the tools of temptation were available, and had seduced him into homosexual sex. Next on the agenda had been extending his sphere of control to Lou -- but Lou had been prickly. That, and Lou's limitations as a male, had occasioned a comparison between Lou and teenage girls...

Ed, who had been put into serious conflict by the fact that he was engaging in homosexual activity -- and enjoying it too much to stop -- seized upon this, visibly. Mike caught on; Ed needed to avoid facing things -- and for that, he needed a girl... Mike spun it out; Lou was just like a girl -- he got all stuffy when you got close and he played and played but didn't put out. He even looked like a girl, and that teeny dick -- was it real? Too many things fell into place in Mike's rationalizations for the whole thing to be coincidence. Lou HAD to be a girl -- because Ed needed for him to be, if nothing else -- and everything else was gravy. So Lou was a girl -- Ed convinced himself, based upon his need and Mike's evidence -- and therefore Lou had been teasing him all this time, denying him the pleasures that they could have had... Lou had been a guy when they were kids, but he'd changed -- not grown, not kept up -- gone girly...

From there to the set-up where Lou was forced to provide the sex (s)he'd been theoretically withholding all this time was a hop, skip, and a jump; Mike set it up and Ed cooperated by pressing Lou to go -- and waiting while Mike set the trap. He also held to the pretense that Lou was female -- more or less because it was the path of least resistance...

Later, looking back, Lou would see that it all made a kind of twisted sense -- and the added complications presented by his odd mental flip were ironic -- but that morning, there was only the pain of the betrayal, and it was VERY fresh. Forgiveness wasn't even discussed between them. In fact, nothing much was said at all, after Ed ran down. He settled himself gingerly across from Lou and they ate in silence, until late in the meal, when Lou erupted, "Ed, what do you see when you look at me?"

Ed blushed. "I... don't know..."

It was the answer that Lou half-expected -- but it certainly didn't help any. He finished his meal and got up and went to the boy's restroom and spent a long time looking in the mirror. What he saw was, well, androgynous -- not surprising, since his best friend had suddenly decided he was a girl. Maybe he should try to grow a moustache? Yeah, right -- with what? Did he really have boobs? His nipples were a little pointy, but did that count? Fat kids had a LOT more than he did... He turned around and looked at his ass in the mirror -- and got caught doing it by some freshman, who he frowned at and hoped that was enough discouragement -- but the kid's nervous giggle rankled. Dammit! He was a guy -- wasn't he? Or were Ed and Mike right? He thought about the cheerleading team; if the guys thought he was a girl, and the girls thought he was a girl -- and his dick really wasn't a major source of proof, one way or another... Maybe he WAS a girl -- a broken girl, who had been given a couple of improperly fitting parts...

They all avoided one another for a while. Mike didn't SAY anything, but he got this grin on his face and snickered a lot in Lou's presence. Two weeks went by and during a mundane conversation, Lou decided to reach out. "Hey, do you want to go to the burger place?"

Ed blushed scarlet. "Uh, I'm goin' over to Mike's..."

"Yeah?" Lou was surprised; this was the first indication he'd had that Ed and Mike were even approaching the way thing had been.

"Yeah." Ed looked away. "I... can't do without -- not now, not when I know how it is..."

Lou took him aside. "You guys are...?"

"Yeah." Ed's eyes pled. "It's not like it used to be, with you -- but it's better, in some ways. You know how I get..." That Ed was perpetually horny was a given -- Lou had known it for years. Mike was apparently providing him with a whole new class of release... "It'd be great if you'd..."

"I... don't think so," Lou choked out. "Mike..."

"Maybe... just us... sometime?" Ed asked hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe." Lou was really saying no, and they both knew it. Lou was positively scared to death of what would happen to him if Ed presented him with a cock to suck -- and it WOULD happen, sooner or later...

"Okay. Well, I gotta go..." Ed got out of there -- the discomfort level was just too high.

A couple of days later, Mike appeared to taunt Lou. "Ed misses you."

"I miss Ed," Lou replied, thinking, 'and you, you sleazy bastard, have ruined our friendship!'

"There's room on the couch," Mike said, grinning evilly, "and Ed needs a girlfriend..."

Lou turned bright red. "Fuck you, you pervert!" He couldn't beat Mike's ass, so he left, moving rapidly -- with Mike's mocking laughter following him.

It was the next Thursday that Emmylou broke her leg. They were practicing a new lift sequence, and Emmylou over-rotated and lit wrong. There was a snap and a wail and it was time to call the ambulance.

Everybody was dumped out. Not only was Emmylou a major force on the team, but there was a competition coming up on Saturday, and she was in the subset of the squad going out to compete. They were screwed, because the only other team member was Lou -- and you didn't even bother to show up if you couldn't field an all-girl team...

Practice on Friday was the pits -- Emmylou was devastated. Lou was devastated. EVERYBODY was devastated! "We're screwed," Kitty summed it up.

"Yeah," Marlene agreed. "There's no way that we can train anybody to replace Emmylou, and we can't compete with a guy on the team -- no offense, Honey..."

"None taken," Lou replied, leaning down and pulling up the leg of his sweatpants to scratch his calf. "I could just cry..."

Marlene sat staring at Lou's exposed calf. "Lou, Honey, do you shave?"

"My face? No."

"Your legs."

"What?"

"Do you shave your legs?"

"No..."

"Can I...?" Marlene waved at his sweatpants. Lou blinked and lifted the leg as far as bunching the cloth would go. "Point your toe, Honey." Lou, totally lost, did so. "Nice calf."

"Thanks?" Where was she going with this?

Kitty eyed the leg, looked thoughtful, looked at his face, then put her hand out to run it through his hair at the temple, pushing it back. Emmylou suddenly snickered. Marlene eyed him and asked, "Honey, have you ever worn nylons?"

Lou goggled, nonplussed. "No -- I'm a..." Then he shut up. He was a guy, right?

"We need a girl for the competition," Marlene said quietly. "Want to try out?"

Lou, dazed, asked, "Is this what it sounds like?"

"If it sounds like we're going to be trying out lipstick shades on you, then, yes, Honey, that's it..." Marlene replied.

Fuck! "Nobody can know," he croaked. "Nobody!"

"Of course, Honey! If someone found out, we'd be disqualified!" Marlene cocked her head.

"My house at six, everybody," Kitty announced. "We'll see if this is doable. Frankly, we've got a lot more to work with than we could have..."

"I'll pick you up," Marlene told Lou.

Forty minutes later, Lou was standing outside his house when Marlene pulled up. "Are you game for this, Honey?" she asked.

Lou made a face. "If you really think we can pull it off..."

"Let's go find out."

They sneaked him in Kitty's back door -- the rest of her family was in the living room, listening to Becky and Emmylou describe the accident. Once upstairs, Marlene directed, "Strip down to your shorts, Honey -- we have to see what we're dealing with." Embarrassed, Lou did so; Emmylou, hobbling through the door, muttered, "I've got sisters worse off..."

The other girls agreed. "Razor?" Kitty offered.

"Nope," Marlene replied, her head cocked. "Trim the muff, maybe. Get some panties."

"Panties?" Lou swallowed.

Marlene nodded. "Can't have someone penetrating your disguise by seeing your tightie whities." She looked up at Kitty. "Go with granny panties if you have to, but find something."

Kitty dug in a drawer and came up with some French cuts. "Try these." They sent him off to the bathroom to try them on.

Lou came back bright red, but... "Turn around," Marlene directed. Lou did so. "He looks cuter in those than you do, Kit!" she chuckled. Lou blushed, but said nothing, hoping no one would mention the size of his dick. Marlene cocked her head. "Are you comfortable in those, Honey? You know, you MIGHT be able to wear a thong..." That got a couple of giggles -- even Lou smiled.

Then they got down to business. "Bra?" Kitty fished out an old one of hers with an A cup. Lou got into it and Emmylou made to fasten it, but Marlene stopped her. "Do it yourself, Honey," she directed, "You may have to." Lou struggled briefly, but managed it. "Practice at home. Who knows? It might help you at some time in the future..." Marlene grinned. "Next!"

They had him climb into pantyhose and Emmylou's cheerleading outfit -- which was too big, Emmylou being stocky. "I have my spare," Kitty offered, and dug it out -- and it fit better.

"Fortunately, we don't have to teach you to walk in heels," Marlene chuckled, "although that might be fun. Walk for me." Lou moved around as best he could in the small room. "Let it sway some," Marlene directed. "Let's take it out in the hall."

"Is that safe?" Lou asked.

The girls shared a glance. "It's safe," Marlene told him.

In the hall, Marlene and Emmylou critiqued his walk, "Let it sway some, Hon. Rock your hips -- that's a girl..." Marlene turned to Emmylou, "What do you think?"

"I've seen worse -- but maybe if we tried heels, it might help..." Emmylou advised. "I brought some..."

So Lou slid his feet into Emmylou's heels and went off, navigating on stilts. It DID help -- it forced him to shift his weight and straighten his legs.

"Come here, umm, Louise," Emmylou muttered. "Point your toe... Shit, she has better legs than me!"

"Walk a bit," Marlene directed. "Get comfortable. Your ass is doing the right things -- feel it and remember, so you can do it in sneakers."

"See what you're doing with your arms?" Kitty pointed out. "That's good..." Lou had them up a bit in case he tripped -- apparently, that was normal... Up and down, up and down, one end of the hallway to the other -- with the girls critiquing...

"What are you doing up there?" Kitty's mother called upstairs.

"Oh, Louise is breaking in a new set of heels," Kitty called back.

"Louise? Have we met?" Kitty's mother came up the stairs.

Everyone freaked until Marlene said, "It had to happen sooner or later..."

"Hi, I'm Donna." Kitty's mother took Lou's slightly shaky hand.

"Hi." Lou looked at the floor.

"Heels are such a pain, aren't they?" Donna said, smiling. "The things we do to look good..." She eyed Lou's outfit. "Are you going to try to replace Emmylou?"

"She can't be replaced," Lou said softly, glancing Emmylou's way, "But somebody has to go through the motions."

"Yes..." Donna nodded. "Well, nice meeting you, Louise. I hope you can help the team -- this is a disaster."

"I'll try..." Lou husked. Donna smiled and headed off.

Lou turned to find all four of the girls grinning. ""Back in the room!" Kitty twittered. Once inside, they worked their way down the list. "Hair?" Kitty asked.

"It's curlier than mine!" Becky complained.

"Fake nails?"

"Polish," Marlene replied, shaking her head.

"Makeup?"

"Some -- not much. Eyeliner, lipstick -- just a touch of blush," Becky opined.

"Let's get on it..." Marlene announced. "And from now on, it's Louise, understand?" Everyone nodded.

Forty-five minutes later, Louise stood before them, nails polished, made up, and in heels. "Walk, Honey," Marlene told her. Louise walked out of the bedroom and up and down the hall, then stood hipshot in her heels. Marlene circled her and returned to stand with the others. "I say we call Coach!"

Karen Cartwright didn't expect any phone calls; she was busy stewing over losing out on a championship cheerleading unit and the recognition and additional resources it would have brought in. Sure, Emmylou was a little big and a little clumsy, but a broken leg? Well, they were screwed, starting tomorrow... "We've found a replacement," Marlene said without preamble.

"Yeah, right -- you taught somebody all of our routines in twenty-four hours," Karen said flatly.

"No, we didn't have to -- there's been someone on the sidelines all the time," Marlene replied.

"Who, Louis? If we go out with him, we might as well stay home," Karen declared.

"So you just insist on kissing the whole thing off?" Marlene pressed. "Meet us at the gym, Coach. When you've seen her, then you can tell the rest of us it won't work -- but you won't..."

"Her? You REALLY have a girl you think can do this?" Karne demanded.

"Come to the gym, Coach," Marlene replied, and hung up.

Karen had two choices: she could ignore the whole thing and have them tell her she'd screwed them out of the championship, or she could go down there and prove them wrong. Waste of time that it was, the latter course was the way to go...

Twenty minutes later, she pulled up in front of the gym to see all six girls suited up. Six? Eyeing them, she closed in, trying to figure out who they'd dragged in in the gathering darkness.

"Open up, Coach -- we need to practice some with Louise," Marlene demanded.

"Louise?" Karen eyed the new girl, cocking her head. She looked vaguely familiar... "You're all wasting your time bringing in someone who knows nothing, but I'll let you prove it to yourselves..." She unlocked the door and went off to turn on the lights.

When she came back, the girls were moving through their routine, the new girl moving very well, looking like she knew the basics and only had minor issues with Emmylou's positions. Emmylou was coaching her, yelling, "Come on, Hon -- it's just one position over! I turn left, here..." It was going well -- the girl had the proper bounce and seemed to know all of the moves, basically... As she got closer, Karen eyed her, unable to shake the idea that she knew the girl from somewhere... She stood through the whole routine, watching from a distance where she could see the patterns -- and they were very seldom being broken; the girl was less clumsy, actually, than Emmylou...

When they were done, Marlene strode forward, eyes blazing, triumphant. "See?" she demanded.

"Yeah, I see," Karen replied, trying not to hope. "But I'm not sure what..." She strode forward, eyeing the chestnut-aired girl in the ponytail. "And you are?"

"Louise," the girl replied, "Louise Wilson." Her lips curved in a smile.

Karen knew when she was being taken for a ride. "Wilson? Louis has a sister?" She bored in -- that was it! The resemblance, close up, was striking...

"Sort of..." Marlene grinned.

Karen stooped a bit to look even closer. "You're kidding me, right?" She stepped back. "Louis?"

"Not like this," the girl replied. "Like this, I'm Louise."

"And you didn't know!" Kitty crowed. "If we can fool you, why can't we fool everybody else?"

"Oh... My... God!!!" Karen circled 'Louise'. He -- she -- was perfect! "I don't believe it! You're... amazing!"

"Thanks!" Louise dimpled.

"Unbelievable..." Karen couldn't believe her eyes! Louis made a better girl than some other girls she'd seen -- and worked with! "Do you think you can carry this off?"

"You should see her in heels!" Becky crowed.

"This is all day Saturday, and all night Saturday night," Karen mused. "You'll have to go to the Ladies Room and dress in the girl's lockers..."

"I can't survive in the showers," 'Louise' replied, "but other than that, with help, I think I'll be okay..."

"We'll come up with something," Karen decided, adding, "Girls, if we get caught, we'll not only be out of the running, we'll be blackballed!"

"Then let's not get caught..." Marlene replied.

"Okay, one thing," Karen told them, "Your name is Lois, not Louise -- we don't want anyone making the leap, mentally.

The van driver had been released, but given the situation it was decided that everyone would carpool. Lou told his dad that he was going to watch the girls at the competition -- which wasn't new or surprising; a call to Coach Cartwright confirmed that they had room for him. "He IS a team member, after all," Karen told Lou's father. Coach picked Lou up, and they went to Marlene's for the transformation; Marlene couldn't resist waving a thong in front of Lou, grinning. "Try this!"

It was a bitch to get used to, but it had some benefits. They got her into a jean skirt and a tank top over her hand-me-down bra from Kitty and wedge -heeled flip-flops, then headed for the car. Marlene spent her time with Lois' feet in her lap, applying a French pedicure on the way to the competition while Becky watched, giggling. They went for crimson on the fingernails, though, figuring that a good, hot color would be better than the French look. Becky gave makeup tips, but Lois did the work, learning how to do eyeliner while riding in a car -- something that Marlene, laughing, described as a survival skill. Coach kept looking in the rearview and saying, "I don't believe we're doing this..."

But by the time they arrived, Karen was committed. Gathering the girls outside her minivan, she cautioned them, "Okay, you need to shield... Lois... from the other teams -- not TOO obviously -- so nothing untoward happens, but if you're ready..." she eyed Lois, "We're going to do this thing." Three minutes later, when the admissions person asked, "Where is your male member? Louis Wilson?" she replied positively, "That's spelled wrong -- it's Lois. If you'd fix that, I'd appreciate it. Come along girls..."

They were committed.

Lois spent the first two hours of the competition sitting between Kitty and her mother, listening to Donna prattle on about how wonderful it was of her to rescue the team. There was a little confusion over the change of name, but Kitty convinced her mother that she'd misremembered it. Then it was off to the lockers to change; the other girls shielded her, but there was nothing to see, anyway, except the thong. That was a wry thought that intruded into Lois's consciousness, causing her to smile enigmatically while she pulled her uniform over her head; this was one time when a lack of a huge cock was of benefit... That was the farthest that Lou came out all day, from the moment he was dressed at Marlene's -- she was Lois, living the role.

The routines went well -- better than in practice -- and Lois sat excited with the others, waiting out the rest of the competitors, commenting on the mistakes. Then it was off to the hotel, where Coach had her share her room rather than split one with one of the other girls. When they got to the hotel, wardrobe surfaced as a problem -- and was a quickly dispatched; it seemed that everyone showed up with SOMETHING extra along for 'Lois' to wear...

Dinner was an arranged event for all of the competitors -- and no one bothered Lois at all. Socializing after went fairly well, too -- Lois kept her mouth shut and let the likes of Marlene and Kitty carry conversations. Then it was off to bed...

The girls returned to the hotel and mobbed up in Marlene and Becky's room; Kitty had to put up with her mother. They checked Lois over from head to foot to make sure she continued presentable and they weren't forgetting anything -- but never mentioned the fact of her sex. Everyone had quietly agreed that for the duration, Lois was Lois -- and no one else -- and that's how everyone played it.

Coach Cartwright hadn't been in on that conversation, so she was a bit nervous when Lois returned to her room -- but Lois quietly donned a nightie, turning away to shield her breasts from undue notice, and climbed into bed. Coach changed in the bathroom -- and that was fine with Lois... Coach shut off the light and Lois lay there in bed, thinking about how the day had gone.

In point of fact, the day had been superb -- absolutely nothing had marred it. Wearing women's clothing came almost naturally; a nightie, for instance, left more room for movement in it than a pair of pajamas. There had been no 'guy gaffes'; once Lois had settled in, she operated naturally. It was like she'd been there all along... She drifted off to sleep, content with her lot.

Morning announced itself using Marlene's knuckles. "Coach! Lois! Are you up?" This precipitated an ungodly rush; Lois and Coach kept ducking each other as they rushed to prepare for the day. Marlene came in to help Lois with her hair while Coach showered, mumbling "I wish MINE was curly like this..." and giggling while Lois dashed around in her bra and thong. Dressed and packed, they checked out of the hotel and endured Donna's cheerful ebullience on the way to the communal breakfast. Kitty made the only off-color comment: "So, how did the night go, Coach?"

Karen pinned her with a glance. "Okay, I guess -- I slept through most of it." That shut Kitty up...

The second routine went almost as flawlessly as the first -- Becky slipped once climbing the pyramid. The girls then went back into the stands to see the other teams do their thing and await the results.

When the judges announced that they'd won second place, Lois screamed and jumped around with the other girls, then acted bummed out with them because they hadn't won. "This one is rigged, anyway," Marlene declared. "Central has most of the judges on the take. We won it."

"There will be other competitions," Coach replied, "and it's all about total points. If we place second in every competition, we'll be the champions..."

"It's still crap," Marlene complained -- which got her censured by Coach Karen.

They got back by four -- and then had to disassemble Lois. Aside from nail polish, it was pretty simple, actually -- a face wash and different clothes an Lou was standing there -- only Marlene and Becky and Emmylou all kept looking at him oddly. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm trying to figure out what we forgot," Marlene replied. "You still look like Lois."

Becky pursed her lips. "You know, he always did..."

Lou didn't know what to say -- or think, for that matter. He went into the bathroom and took a look in the mirror -- yeah, that was him all right -- but it might as well be her... Satisfied that they'd done everything necessary, he headed for home -- only to hear Marlene yell, "Lou! Lose the walk!" as he headed off. Stunned, he realized that he'd been swaying his hips...