Chapter 5 - Chapter Five

Chapter Five


Saturday was a standard meetup time for Summer’s core group of friends. She couldn’t afford to miss it, especially not when this week’s chosen activity was to shop for new winter clothes. The only place they could find that sold new winter clothes during the hot summer months was the mall’s sports equipment store. Becky, Janet, and Gracy were holding up jackets, cracking jokes, and overall having a good time.


Summer pulled out her compact mirror and checked her lipstick. This must have been the hundredth time she’d checked it since she left the house, but she was glad that she did this time. A bit of the pink rose color on her upper lip had been smudged, revealing a sliver of black underneath. That had been this morning’s big surprise: Summer’s lips were now a rubbery black color, and they had lost some of their luscious volume as well. She pulled her lipstick out and touched up the smudge, being sure to overapply a bit to restore her original lip shape. 


As she was about to close her compact, she noticed something strange in the hair near her forehead. She looked closer and brushed the hair aside. There were two small brown protrusions emerging from her head just behind her hairline. They were stiff, about an inch and a half long, and covered in soft, suede-like skin. Antlers. Of course. They must have grown in since that morning, and now they were large enough that there was no way her hair would cover them. 


“Hey, Summer,” Gracy’s voice startled her. Summer’s tail strained against her underwear as it reflexively flagged. “Do you think this scarf works with my eye shadow?”


Thinking quickly, Summer stashed the mirror and flipped up her hood before turning around.


“It really pops. You look great.”


“Thanks,” Gracy smiled. “So do you. Why are you wearing your hood? Isn’t it hot?”


Summer winked. “I’m wearing it because I’m cool.” 


“Oh I get it,” Gracy giggled. “Very good. It looks good on you. You know,  I’ve never noticed how tall you are.”


“Be sure to hype people up on this whole ‘winter in summer’ thing when you give your big speech on Tuesday,” said Janet. She was sporting a pink pom pom beanie and snow pants. 


“Don’t worry, I will,” reassured Summer. Her voice was getting deeper. She had to consciously try to speak in a higher register to sound the same. “They’ll eat it up.”


“Speaking of eating,” said Becky. She was still wearing warm weather clothes. “I heard that Summer had a date at Restaurant Liandra last night, and it wasn’t with Alex.”


The girls gasped excitedly.


“So either your parents were visiting or you’ve got a new date for the Ball.”


“Who was it?”


“I heard it was Cynthia,” whispered Becky with a devilish grin. Summer tried to come up with an excuse. 

“No way!” said Gracy


“Gods, Summer if you and her are a thing I just want you to know you have my complete support,” Janet said, placing her hand on Summer’s shoulder. 


“No, no it’s nothing like that,” said Summer. 

“What? So it’s true? But why?” asked Gracy.


“She is pretty weird,” remarked Janet.


“It’s because. . .” Summer was out of time. “She has a lot of really hot gossip.”

“Cynthia?”


“But she never talks to anyone!”


“Yes, but she is always watching. She’s picked up on some interesting things.”


“Like what?” 

“Yeah, what did you learn?” 


Summer had talked her way into a corner. She didn’t want to ruin any more mutant’s lives by ousting them, and she didn’t have any fresh gossip of her own.


“All in good time. I want to make sure it’s all true, so you’ll just have to wait.”


“No way! Bum deal!” Janet cried. “I’m going to talk to her myself.”


“Me too.”


“Suit yourselves.”


Internally Summer was panicking. Her friends were like a pack of sharks, and the lure of exclusive gossip was like blood in the water to them. They each had their own unique ways of extracting information. Cynthia would be tricked, bribed, blackmailed, and bought by next week, and she had way too much sensitive information for Summer to be comfortable with that. But alas, it was too late to call them off now. 


The Saturday hangout continued without any further incidents. Summer felt very distant as her friends laughed and talked and enjoyed themselves. She felt like a ghost, lingering around where she didn’t belong. She was starting to realize that she couldn’t do this forever. Maybe she could still graduate, but she would need to find some way out of the spotlight. 


That evening she settled on a new plan. She would make the speech as scheduled on Tuesday. That was the last official action as Class President that she needed to perform, and after that she could fade away and still graduate with Presidential honors. She would be ‘sick’ for the ball then take a special leave of absence with home study. She could have Cynthia turn in her homework and tests for her. 


The one other person she wasn’t willing to just leave behind entirely was Alex. She thought about him all the time. Certainly she was infatuated, but she could also see herself falling deeply in love with him. 


==___ ;,-,y___==


Summer was completely on edge the next morning. Her date with Alex was that night, and she had resolved to tell him about her condition. It was the only way she had a chance of salvaging this relationship. She kept rehearsing different ways of breaking the news to him. Fantasy Alex was sometimes okay with it, sometimes not. She developed contingency plans for every scenario. 


Summer turned on all the lights in her dark room, stood naked in front of the mirror ,and examined herself for new changes. This had become part of her daily routine. The creature in front of her almost looked more like a deer that had evolved to stand on two legs than a human. She sighed and started to dress herself. 


First she slid a big pair of men’s briefs up her legs. She had quit women’s underwear last week. They always clutched her ballsack like they were angry about being worn by someone with male genitalia. The briefs were more forgiving. Her hips were still wider than a man’s, so she wore extra large. It was just as well, though, because she used the extra room to fit her balls and tail. She just pushed her tail down between her buttcheeks. She had no idea deer tails were so big. The long black hairs on the tip reached halfway down her thighs. After shoving all this into her underwear, she took a moment to adjust herself. It was pretty uncomfortable.


Socks were next. She now had honest-to-goodness hooves instead of toes. Her feet had become long and narrow, and she couldn’t bend her ankle to walk on the flats of them even if she wanted to. The answer here was stockings made for little girls. The pattern was pink and white stripes with cute bird embellishments. A few hairs of fur poked through the fabric as Summer pulled them up. It wasn’t a look that she would normally choose, but they were snug enough to stay up on their own.


Her final piece of underwear was a pair of thin, black tights that she pulled up around her hips. They were stretchy enough to fit around her oddly-shaped legs, and if anyone caught a glance beneath her other clothes, they would hide the fact that her legs were covered in fur. Of course anyone looking closely would notice the little hairs sticking through. She picked up a long blue skirt and pulled it down over her head and shoulders until it rested on her hips. It really didn’t make much sense with the winter themed outfits she was wearing these days, but even the puffiest, loosest snow pants would reveal just how much her legs had changed. 


The first piece for her top was a long-sleeve exercise shirt. She gave up on bras last week. Her nipples were now black, and they stuck out past the delicate fur of her breasts and rubbed pretty bad. This layer helped keep that to a minimum. Next she put on a larger long-sleeved cotton shirt that she got at the second hand store. She didn’t recognize the logo on the chest, but it at least reached all the way down to her wrists and hips.


She sighed with disappointment as she looked at her face. It was a different face than the one she went to sleep with. Her nose was wider and darker. Her nostrils were larger. Her jaw and nose had pushed out into the start of a narrow muzzle. Her antlers were almost four inches long and stood proudly out from her hair. Her ears were big paddle-shaped things that stuck out the sides of her head. She could flick and twist them around.


She had almost become used to having her body’s identity stripped away from her, but there was a certain finality to watching her recognizable facial features morph into something alien. She wondered if people would even recognize her if she walked outside naked. Probably not. 


Summer pulled a beanie over her head and tucked her ears up into it. Her antlers strained against it in a pretty obvious way. She was planning on using a scarf to cover up her neck anyway, so she tried pulling it up over her lower face. She could just picture it sliding off. She pushed it down and went to plan B: a white surgical mask that she had purchased just in case this exact thing happened. This one left a little extra space in front of the nose and mouth, and it covered her nascent muzzle nicely. 


Almost done. She slipped on her boots and laced them up tight, shoved her hands into a pair of gloves to cover up her black fingernails and fuzzy, elongated palms, and threw on her big black overcoat and hood. There. The only part of her that anyone could see were her eyes, which were still very much her own. Overall it was a terrible outfit to wear on a date or anywhere for that matter, but Alex would understand after she told him.


She stepped out into the summer afternoon and walked to town. It was an especially hot day, and she was immediately uncomfortable. She saw a few other people wearing winter accessories. A scarf here, a hat there. No one was taking it as far as she was. By the time she arrived at the restaurant, she was practically panting trying to cool herself off. It was a much more casual place than the one she went to with Cynthia. This place was all booth seats, cheap food, and friendly atmosphere. 


Geg was waiting outside reading a menu. He was wearing big fuzzy earmuffs, a puffy jacket, and long pants. It was more winter gear than anyone she had seen on the walk over. She took a deep breath and greeted him. She was so sure he would immediately laugh at what she was wearing, but he didn’t. He just smiled and warmly returned the greeting. He seemed happy enough to see her, and it put her a bit at ease. In fact, the topic of fashion didn’t come up until they were seated and had already ordered.


“I like your outfit,” he said, nursing his beer. “The gloves are a really nice touch.”


“Oh thanks,” Summer blushed. “It might be a little much. Your jacket and earmuffs are very fashionable.”


“Thanks! I’ve been trying to get the other track and field guys to join in on the ‘winter in summer’ trend.” 


“I appreciate that.” Summer didn't feel like it was the right time to explain the true origin of the trend.


“What's with the face mask?”


“Oh, I’m just feeling a little under the weather.” It was at this point that Summer realized how foolish it had been to come to a restaurant when she had a face mask that she couldn’t take off.

“That’s a shame,” Alex said. “Feel free to take it off for dinner. I don’t mind getting sick.”


“Trust me. You don’t want what I have.”


“It’s up to you. What are you going to order? You have to try their pizza.”


“I think I’ll just have. . . “ Summer quickly scanned through the menu for something she could eat without removing her mask. “A milkshake.”


“That’s it? Just a milkshake?”


“I’m doing an all-liquid diet this week.” 


“Okay but next time, you’re trying the pizza.”


They ordered their food and chatted for a while. It was another truly enjoyable time together, despite everything stewing in the back of Summer’s mind.  She wondered if this was going to be the last time she went out with Alex. Even if he was okay with her being a mutant, which was unlikely, it seemed impossible that he would still want to date when he found out she had a bigger dick than he did. Their food arrived, and she realized she was running out of time. It was now or never. 


Summer took a deep breath and asked, “What do you think about what happened to Sasha the other day?”


“Sasha? Oh, the mutant.” Alex thought for a moment. “It was kind of sad to be honest.” 


“Sad how?” Summer asked hopefully. 


“Oh, she just seemed seemed like such a normal girl before.”


“You really think her mutation changed her that much?”

“You saw her! She had those udders and that horrible obscene tail.” Alex stuck out his tongue. “Plus she had clearly gone insane. Stripping naked in public like that.”


“Yeah. I guess it is sad.” Summer stuck the straw under her mask and took a long sip of her milkshake. “What if she hadn’t changed mentally? Could you ever see yourself being friends with a mutant?”

Alex scoffed. “What? No way. They’re too weird. I mean, could you imagine hanging out with her? ‘Hey wait up guys, I need to milk myself! It’ll only take a minute!’”


He jokingly pantomimed milking a pair of imaginary breasts. Summer laughed with him.


“But seriously. You wouldn’t give it a chance? Even if it was someone you knew before?”


Alex thought for a moment. “Look. I’m just a regular guy. I don’t want to be around mutants. They’re gross, and generally crazy.”


Summer nodded and took another sip of her drink. She felt like all her organs had weights tied to them. This was basically what she expected. She chided herself for hoping for anything different. 


She took a deep breath. “Alex I, have to tell you something. . .”


He looked at her and swallowed his bite of pizza. “Yeah?”


She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t bring herself to tell him. She’d rather draw out these last few bittersweet moments of pretense. They finished up the dinner. Alex made a few great jokes, Summer said one or two insightful things, and the milkshake really was good. It should have been a great time. 


“This milkshake is delicious.” 


Alex nodded and went back to eating. “Yeah. The food here is pretty good.”


They split the check and walked together as the sun set. Summer hadn’t noticed just how tall she had gotten. Alex was a few inches shorter than her now. She even caught him standing on his tiptoes a bit as they strolled through a park.


Alex grasped one of her gloved hands. 


“Summer, I had a wonderful night tonight. I love spending time with you.”


“I love spending time with you too, Alex.” Summer said, quietly. 


He stopped and turned her to face her. They gazed at each others eyes for a moment. Alex gave a half-laugh.


“What’s funny?” Summer asked, heart pounding.


“I want to try to kiss you, but it would feel kind of silly with you wearing the mask.”

Summer’s mind was racing. “I told you. I’m sick.”


She felt the familiar sensation of a growing erection as her penis throbbed in time with her heart.


Alex smiled. “I’ve given it some thought, and I think it would be worth it.” 

Summer nodded and leaned in. Alex slowly brought his hand up to her face.  He gently grasped the mask and started to tug. 

“No!” Summer clasped her hand over the mask and pulled back. “I can’t! I just can’t. I’m sorry!”


And with that she turned and ran. The image of Alex’s shocked face, lips still puckered, was all she could think about as she ran back to her dorm. 


She slammed the door behind her, tears streaming down her face. She ripped off her mask and beanie, freeing her chafed ears and allowing her to breathe easily. Despite the awful whirlwind of emotions, her penis had refused to fully retract back into its sheath, almost like it was holding out some sort of impossible hope that the night might still work out in its favor. 


After a while, she took deep breaths and started to calm down a bit. It wasn’t the most graceful exit, but she had to accept the fact that things were over between her and Alex. She had been mentally preparing herself for this. She moped around her room for a while, but eventually grew bored of pitying herself. She wished she could go meet up with one of her friends and talk about what happened. That always made her feel better. She was so accustomed to being surrounded by people. It felt awful not to have a single person she could vent to without revealing her horrible secret.


Then she realized there was one person she could talk to. Cynthia. She didn’t really relish the idea about opening up to her any more than she already had, but it was better than nothing. Summer’s phone had two missed calls and a few text messages from Alex. She clicked past them without reading and dialed Cynthia’s number. Her tongue was feeling swollen. She ran it around her mouth. Her teeth didn’t feel right either. 


“Hello?” Cynthia’s tinny voice answered.


“Hey, Cynthia? I need someone to talk to. Can I come over?”


“Of course. I’ll be ready.” 


