5. Clothed

I felt another one of those flutters in my stomach when I got into the car. With the seat in its normal position, I was just barely looking over the steering wheel and had trouble reaching the pedals. I blushed and grinned as I spent a few minutes getting the seat and all the mirrors adjusted.

As I did all that, Kelly sat quietly in the passenger seat and watched me with an uncomfortable look on her face.

Our first stop was the big discount-mart. I figured they'd have everything in one place, from underwear to outer wear to shoes. And it'd be cheap. The plan was just pop in and get one outfit and some sneakers, then change into that and go visit a nice boutique.

That was the plan. What actually happened was I got carried away and we spent about an hour in there as I loaded up a shopping cart. I got a couple packs of panties, a half dozen pairs of socks, two pairs of sneakers... Hey, it's not my fault I couldn't decide between the purple ones and the white ones. Then there were a couple pairs of leggings, two really nice-looking pairs of jeans, and six or seven tops.

The only thing that stumped me was a bra. All that other stuff I could either try on in the fitting room or just wing it, but I had absolutely no clue how bra sizes worked.

Kelly helped out though, she picked out a package of sports bras and explained, "The fit isn't critical with those and it'll get you through the day. If you want a fancy one for tonight, we'll visit a proper boutique and get you measured. But you'll want to wear one of those first."

I nodded, "Thanks Kelly!"

On the way out, I spotted the purses and took a few minutes to pick out one I liked. It wasn't fancy, just black canvas, but it had pockets for everything, and a comfy shoulder strap.

There was just one last thing I needed. We found the make-up section, and soon enough I had it. Purple lipstick that matched my hair. I grinned, "Perfect!"

It wasn't till the cashier was ringing everything up that it finally hit me. I'd basically bought half a wardrobe's worth of clothes. I only needed one outfit, and here I was with a week's worth. I mean, it was honestly a lot of fun, but I wondered why Kelly didn't say anything.

When it came to pay, she fished my debit card out of my wallet in her purse. I managed to avoid looking at the name embossed on the card, my eyes firmly fixed on the machine as I slid the card in then tapped in my PIN.

Then we loaded everything in the car, and wound up heading back to my place so I could get properly changed.

Kelly opened a can of cola as she waited on the sofa while I carried my bags of clothes into the bedroom.

I fussed for a few minutes before finally picking what to wear. I went with the black skinny-jeans and a dark green t-shirt, and the purple sneakers. I also switched from the panties Kelly loaned me to a new black pair I'd just bought.

Getting the sports-bra on was an interesting experience and it gave me some more of those flutters in my stomach. The package had three of them, one white, one grey, one black. I went with the black one, I thought it looked sexier, and it matched my panties.

Finally I loaded up my purse. My phone, all my cards, my cash, everything had a spot. Even the lipstick. I hadn't actually put that on yet, I planned on asking Kelly for help with it later.

When I emerged from the bedroom Kelly looked up at me. I had a huge smile on my face, but she just shook her head slowly, looking worried again.

"Tegan, you look..." She hesitated, then finally said "Happy. You look really happy."

I didn't know what to say to that. I moved to the sofa and sat down next to her, feeling a little confused.

After a minute or two, I asked "Kelly? Why didn't you say something at the store? When I was getting carried away? I mean, I went in there for like five things and came away with what, six complete outfits? A week's worth of clothes? It's going to be kind of weird taking most of that stuff back tomorrow, after I'm back to my old self again."

She had a sip of her soda, then admitted "You looked like you were having fun. I've never seen you enjoy shopping before. I mean, especially not clothes shopping. Usually you just bee-line to what you need, grab the cheapest or blandest thing, then bee-line back to the registers to pay."

After another sip of her drink, she continued "I thought that's what was going to happen today. I thought we'd be in there less than ten minutes, and five of them would be spent at the check-out."

She turned to look at me and asked, "What's different? Why was it so much fun for you today?"

I bit my lip and frowned, thinking back to how I felt at the store. What was I thinking, as I went from one rack to the next, loading up the cart.

I blushed when I realized the answer.

"It's because I'm cute," I half-whispered. "I was excited thinking about the different cute clothes, thinking how I'd look wearing them. I got excited about playing dress-up, I guess?"

After an awkward pause I added, "I've never been cute before. I was always just, boring bland old me. Didn't matter what I wore, it'd still be the same plain boring me. So clothes weren't fun, they were just... Utilitarian. And shopping wasn't fun, because I had to ignore all the cute fun stuff. I knew it wasn't for me. Shopping wasn't for me."

Kelly looked thoughtful as she sipped her drink. Finally she looked at me and in a slightly nervous tone she asked, "Tegan, are you trans?"

I just stared at her for a moment, I had no idea how to respond to that. Finally I laughed, "Seriously Kelly? We've been together over a year, you know I'm not."

She sounded serious as she pressed, "You already had a girl's name chosen for yourself. You basically just admitted you wanted to wear cute clothes, but felt like you couldn't until now. And honestly, you just seem so happy and comfortable like this..."

She added, "It sounds to me like you're experiencing gender euphoria right now. And maybe you had some dysphoria as your normal self."

A slightly uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach as her words sank in. Thinking about it was making me more uncomfortable though and I quickly decided to push those thoughts away and change the subject.

I forced a relaxed smile, "It's like I said earlier, I'm just getting into character. Don't worry about it Kelly."

Finally I pointed out, "It's almost two o'clock now. Do you want to go out and get a bite to eat? Then we can go hit a boutique or whatever." I added with a smile, "You still need to dress me up pretty for our date, remember."

"Yeah, ok." Kelly nodded, though she still looked kind of uncertain and thoughtful.

She poured the rest of the soda in the kitchen sink, and the two of us headed back out. Wearing one of my cute new outfits, with my purse hanging off my left shoulder, I already felt fantastic. I couldn't wait to see how I'd look and feel after Kelly got through dressing me up.

We wound up going a ways out of town like she'd suggested last night. We found ourselves in a small upscale community about forty-five minutes north of the city. Since our dinner date wasn't actually that far off we passed on a full lunch and just had a light snack in a pretty cafe.

It was nice and felt kind of neat. Just two young women having 'afternoon tea' before visiting the little shops on main street.

As we enjoyed our coffee and fancy sandwiches I asked, "So what kind of outfit were you thinking about dressing me up in?" I tried to keep my tone casual, but I'm pretty sure Kelly could tell I was excited.

She bit her lower lip as she looked at me. I honestly couldn't tell if she was trying not to smile, or if she was trying not to frown. I knew I was making her uncomfortable with how hard I was leaning into being Tegan, but I hoped she'd roll with it. We both knew it was temporary, so why not enjoy it? That was my theory, at least.

Finally she nodded "Ok. My original plan would have had you sort of, 'sophisticated-sexy'. But that's out the window. No offence babe but I don't think 'sophisticated' is a look you'll be able to pull off."

She had a sip of coffee then said, "So instead I think we'll do like you said earlier, about getting into character? You're really into the whole 'cute' thing, so that's what we'll do. But this is a date, so it's going to be 'sexy-cute'."

I tried and failed to suppress a grin, "Are you going to make me wear a skirt?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly. I'm not sure which part of my question gave her that predatory look but it sent another flutter through my stomach.

Then she nodded and smiled. Her voice was low and almost haughty as she said, "Oh yes, Tegan. There's a lingerie store up the street, we'll be visiting that first. Then a little shoe store, and then the dress shop. I'm going to make you wear heels, hose, and a lacy bra. And then I'm going to put you in a skirt, and a blouse."

I swear I needed a minute to settle down after that. I'm not sure if it was the look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, or what she said. Maybe it was all three. But that flutter in my stomach dropped about six inches and I could feel my cheeks going red. All I could think about was I should have brought a change of panties because holy heck...

Kelly was either oblivious to the effect she'd just had on me, or maybe she knew exactly what she was doing. Either way she took a bite of her little cucumber sandwich and casually said "Best finish up your lunch, cutie. We've got some shopping to do."

"Y-yes ma'am," I half whispered.

She looked at me again with one eyebrow arched, and I gulped. Her lips twitched but she held back her grin. Instead she said in that haughty tone, "If you want to be formal about it, then it's 'yes mistress'."

This time the flutter skipped my stomach and just started in between my legs. I might have even squeaked softly. I knew my cheeks were beet-red as I stared down at my coffee and struggled to get control of my breathing.

Kelly just smiled as she sipped her coffee.

That was the last of the teasing for now, un/fortunately. After all, we had a lot of shopping to do and time was limited.

I wish I could say the bra-fitting was fun or at least interesting, but honestly it was just awkward. The woman was kindly and patient, but she was also old enough to be someone's grandmother.

Once she had my measurements, Kelly picked something out for me. I wasn't allowed to offer any input. Not even the colour. She also picked out some stockings and a garter to match. I just about choked when the old lady rung it up and I saw the price, but Kelly paid without batting an eye.

Next we visited a shoe place. I was honestly a little worried about that. I mean, it's fun letting your girlfriend dress you up, but it's less fun falling off a six-inch stiletto heel and breaking your ankle. I assume.

Fortunately she didn't go crazy there. She had me try on a few different styles, but settled on a pair of shiny black kitten-heels. The heels were about an inch and a half high, but I managed them ok when Kelly had me walk around the store in them.

Our last stop was an actual clothes boutique. It seemed fashionable though, and the staff here were more my and Kelly's age. Loud pop music was playing and I was quickly drawn in, looking at all the cute outfits and fun accessories.

Kelly let me wander around the store while she did the actual shopping. In the end I know she wanted to surprise me, but she also needed to make sure things fit so I wound up in the change room. She had me try on four different skirts and three tops, so I guess the surprise would be when we got home and I found out which ones she actually bought.

The skirts were all similar styles, they mostly varied in colour and length. The tops were all different styles and colours, one of them was even translucent.

Everything fit though, so I really had no idea which ones she'd selected. After I modelled them all for her, she left me to get back into my jeans and t-shirt while she took the blouses and skirts back to the counter.

By the time I emerged from the change-room with my clothes and shoes back on, she had the purchases in a bag and we were ready for the drive back to my place.

PurpleCatGirl