Chapter 2: Sarah and Ben

It was coming up to Easter when, one evening in the coffee bar the group sometimes used Ben turned to Simon and put a proposition to him. They had become good friends over the months going out together on occasion and visiting each others houses to listen to music or just chill out. They shared the same taste in music and video games which they played late into the night. The affinity was strong but never questioned or analysed. Both were mature enough to recognise that many allegiances were made and broken during teenage years and they were happy to simply enjoy each others company for a while.

"My Sister is going away for the weekend with her husband, Geoff, and she asked me if I would stay there for a few days to look after the dogs. Fancy coming? We can relax for a day or two and have some fun." said Ben.

"Yes all right," replied Simon, "where does she live?"

"In Stratford, we can go across by train it's not far. They leave Friday morning and return on Monday night, so I though we could pack a few things and go over Friday afternoon and come back after lunch on Monday. Stratford's a great place with lots of good clubs if you know where to look."

Ben arrived at one o'clock the following Friday and they walked to the station. Each had packed a games machine, lots of games, CD's and videos as well as a few clothes. The journey took about twenty minutes and it was only a short walk to the house from the station. It was a large, nineteen thirties, detached house with its own drive and high hedges in a small close just off the Alcester Road near to the Stratford and Avon canal.

"Wow this looks grand" said Simon gazing up a the ivy covered walls looming high above him.

"Yea, Geoff's got a really good job, running some sort of computer agency in town. They are planning to start a family soon and they got this cheap when it came on the market for a quick sale."

Ben had a spare key and they went in. The dogs were in the conservatory where the door was shut. Ben liked the two terriers and they seemed to know him too especially when he made a fuss of them and gave them chocolate biscuits.

"We'll need to take them out for a walk a least twice a day but it's a nice town and not very big so we can go together," said Ben.

"Sounds good to me, where's the bedroom?"

"It's upstairs I'll show you," said Ben. He shut the conservatory door and the dogs settled down again.

"Here we are. Linda said we could use the spare rooms. You can have this one and I'll have the bigger of the two, the one with the double bed, since she is my sister." Ben smiled and went to his room to unpack his things. He returned a few minutes later and saw that Simon had just tipped everything on the bed and was about to put his clothes away.

"How about we rent a video tonight and get a pizza?" asked Ben "What's the matter?"

Simon had opened one of the draws to put his clothes away and found it was full of Linda's underwear - panties, bras, tights and slips. He opened another draw and found that it was also full of her clothes.

"Look, am I in the right room, these seem to be full Linda's things?" Simon asked slightly alarmed.

"Yea, this is right, their room's is down the hall. She was always magpie at home, never threw anything away."

Ben went to the built in wardrobe and opened it. It was full of her older dresses, skirts coats and shoes as well as out of season outfits.

"I remember some of these things from when she was at home, she hasn't worn them for ages." He pushed the hangers to one side holding out the dresses so Simon could see them. Simon eventually found an empty draw at the bottom of the chest and put his things away.

"Mmmm, that does give me an idea though," said Ben his eyes sparkling.

"What do you mean?" asked Simon nervously, curious to know what he might have planned.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you later, it will be fun you'll see" and they went downstairs to feed the dogs.

That evening they stayed up late playing computer games and watching TV. The next day was Saturday so they both slept in late. As the morning drew on they took the dogs out to the common to give them their exercise.

"So what are we going to do tonight," said Simon as they sat down on the sofa with some coffee. Ben had prepared lunch and used the last of the food since Linda had almost emptied the fridge before she left. Ben sat down close to Simon so that there shoulders were touching.

"Well, I have an idea which I think you might like," said Ben, "How about we take the dogs about for a walk this evening only this time I take someone else?"

"I don't understand, what do you mean? Who are you going to take?" asked Simon puzzled.

"Well, my young friend, we could have some fun. How about if you got dressed up in Linda's clothes and we went out with you as my girlfriend. I have a feeling that you might like that, mmm?"

Simon turned to Ben alarmed.

"Dress in Linda's things? I don't know. What would she think and what if someone saw us? I'm not sure. If we got caught we'd be in real trouble," said Simon nervously.

"That's interesting, I notice you haven't objected to doing it though, am I right?"

Simon lowered his eyes and nodded. "Yes I think I would like to be your girlfriend," he said quietly after a long pause, "but I don't know if it would work."

Ben gently lifted his chin until their eyes met.

"Simon, I have had boyfriends as well as girlfriends but you have always been different. When I have been with you it always seemed like I was with a girl, or rather it feels like something in between. It's odd but its not like being gay at all. You could easily pass for a girl especially with you long hair. Why don't you get ready and we'll see how you look. Believe me I don't not want to walk around town and feel embarrassed either so if I don't think it is going to work I'll tell you, in which case we can just stay in and have some fun here instead. What do you think?

"I suppose so, but do you think Linda will mind?" asked Simon.

"She won't ever know. I just told her I would be bringing a friend and I think she assumed it would be girl in any case. Besides everything you need will be in your room I'm sure. Like I said Linda never throws anything away. You won't need to go into her bedroom or use her things at all."

"Go on, you get ready while I go to the shops to get us some food for the week-end and I'll see you when I get back. I think this won't be your first time dressed either so I'm sure you'll look great. We'll decide what to do then."

Ben got up to check what was needed in the kitchen and Simon went upstairs to get ready. As he entered his bedroom the full realisation of their decision begun to dawn on him and his stomach turned over. He was thrilled at the opportunity that had arisen but extremely nervous at the same time. Afterall this would be the first time he had ever been out fully dressed including wearing make-up which he hoped he would find in the wardrobe.

First he went to run the bath using more perfume salts than he should have but he really wanted to look and smell his best for Ben tonight. If he was going to do this it had to be perfect. He quickly got undressed and slipped in to the hot, steamy water thinking about what he might wear. Linda certainly has wonderful choice of clothes and that is just the ones she no longer wore. He washed his body with the creamy soap and checked his legs which were smooth. He still had little body hair which seemed to be a family trait and certainly made life easier for him. He got out and wandered back to his bedroom and started to gather all the things he would need. In the draws he found a matching set of underwear but then had to decide between tights or stockings. He chose the tights in the end since he wanted to wear on of Linda's short dresses which he knew would show off his nice legs. He pulled up the pink, shinny nylon panties and tucked his cock into the gusset. He was very excited now and his breaths were coming quickly but his cock stayed soft which was good because he did not want to ruin the line of the dress.

He had noticed recently that he never played with himself as much as he used to in the early days when he got dressed. It still excited him sexually but he much preferred the feeling of tranquillity and comfort of 'being a girl' sometimes without masturbating at all. He began to wonder if this more than just a fetish and whether there were deeper changes occurring.

He found a pair of dark tan tights and pulled them over his arm like he had done hundreds of times. He loved the feeling of pulling the soft smooth nylon up one leg and then the other. He pulled the waistband over his hips and cheeked himself in the large mirror by the wardrobe. He turned a few times and saw how shapely his legs looked and noticed how much better they will be in high heels. He put on the bra and used some of the stockings from the draw to give him a nice feminine shape. It wasn't perfect but good enough to pass he thought. He then went to explore the depths of the wardrobe and found an assortment of things he would love to wear. It then occurred to him that if this was successful and especially if Ben really liked what he had done, he might be able to stay as a girl the whole week-end since no one around here knew him in any case.

He also found a small case of make-up in the bottom of the cupboard and a box with some Jewellery. It wasn't expensive but just simple things to go with the different costumes. This room was turning out to be a real treasure trove for him. He found a short dress in blue with long sleeves and white cuffs which looked simple but sexy at the same time. He stepped in to it and pulled it up his legs feeling the nylon lining on his tights. He leaned back and pulled up the zipper and attached the clip. It was good the way the dress pulled in tight giving him a shape. Perhaps he'll try one of those basques in the lower draw while he was staying at the house. That would certainly pull his figure in he thought. He slipped on a pair of blue medium heels and set to work on the make-up.

He used a very light cream which hardly showed when it dried but gave his face a lovely smooth texture. He applied the eyeliner and shadow choosing a blue to go with the dress. Then the mascara for his eye lashes. He put it on thick which really made the difference to his appearance and finally a deep red lipstick. He checked in the mirror and was pleased, not overdone but very effective, he was getting good at this he thought. He heard the door slam and Ben shouted up.

"Don't come up, I'll be down in a minute," Simon called back.

He found some clip on earrings, two rings, a slim necklace and bracelet, with some perfume from the bathroom completing the task. He was now ready to tidy up his hair. Once dry it had gone thick again so he simply parted it in the middle and backcombed the front section. This gave him the very femme appearance he wanted. He stood up once again and turned a few times checking in the mirror all the which for the slightest discrepancy or possible problem. He could found none and was very pleased with his appearance, more to the point though he hoped Ben would appreciate his efforts. He found a short coat that went with the dress and went downstairs to the kitchen where Ben was putting the last of the groceries away.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Simon standing in the doorway in a deliberately softened voice. Ben turned and his jaw dropped.

"My god, is it really you, I can't believe it" Ben went quite and just looked Simon up and down.

"You look... well... beautiful, fantastic but how... ?" He stopped again, running out of words and just stood there looking some more. Simon lowered his eyes.

"I do look nice then?" Simon asked sheepishly misreading Ben silence.

Ben walked over, held Simon by the arm and kissed him on the forehead.

"You look absolutely ravishing, I just can't believe it's the same person I left and hour ago, you look older and I can still see it is still Simon but your different, you're beautiful," Ben smiled, "but we can't keep calling you Simon, do you have a girls name?"

There was hint in his voice that he knew Simon would have given himself a name when he had dressed previously.

"I was thinking about it while I was getting ready and I think I like the name Sarah." Simon had remembered his time with Sally all those years ago.

"That's a nice name and it suits you very well. Come on then my gorgeous Sarah, do you feel like going out now?"

"Do you really think we should?" Sarah was nervous again.

"Of course, the only problem you're going to have to face is fighting off the boys. Here let me help you with your coat and then I'll go and get the dogs."

They left the house, crossing the road into the industrial estate and walked up the hill. Halfway up was a gap in the hedge that led down to the canal path. The canal had been built in the early nineteenth century by a contingent of Irish immigrants desperate for any work they could get. The water was murky and had probably never known a time when visibility was more than a few centimetres. The path by the side of the canal was narrow and the dogs were enjoying themselves exploring the hedge rows and long grass. Ben had let them have a long rein which they took every advantage of. The sky was cloudy but bright with few other people using the path even though it was the week-end.

Sarah made little conscious effort to assume her new role, it just seemed to come quite naturally. Her steps were short and her feet were more in line when she walked than a boys would be with her wrist turned slightly out. She enjoyed the feeling of the nylon on her legs and the slight chill on her thighs and calves. She also noticed the sound of her high heels as they tapped along the path. She sighed audibly which Ben immediately noticed.

"Are you OK?" he asked also sensing the tension in her arm as she held on to him while they walked.

"Yes I'm fine," she said, "I was just thinking how nice this feels and how natural" said Sarah. "I am beginning to think that I don't want to stop."

"Well, you don't have to, for a while anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I can see this wasn't the first time you have dressed as Sarah but you have never been out like this, right?" Sarah nodded. "So, we are here until Monday and you can stay as Sarah until then if you want to. I have to warn you though, if you carry on looking like that I will not be responsible for what I might do" they both laughed. Sarah fell silent for a few minutes and then spoke softly.

"I think I should like to stay as Sarah for while so long as you don't mind. In fact I was rather hoping you might do something rather irresponsible at some point" she said quietly. They stopped walking and Ben turned towards her. He smiled and their lips met, fleetingly at first but then deeper as they shared there first kiss together.

They walked slowly on her arm resting in his as they stopped at the lock to watch the boats negotiating the artificial water steps. They passed a quay where there were a number of old looking narrow-boats tied up, some with their owners drinking early evening aperitifs at he back. Although they looked similar they were nothing like the original haulers of the industrial age. They were the long boats, not of the Viking hoards but of a more recent warrior, the builders of a modern industrial empire. The genuine boats would have been filled to the brim, not with the amenities one would need for a comfortable holiday on the water, but with coal. The owner's family would have lived at the end of the boat, near the rudder in just a few square meters of very cramped space. And their horse would have spent its life on the river bank hardly ever having the time to frolic in the fields even though they would pass many during the day. They watched one of the narrow-boats enter the single gated lock which was designed and built with space for just for one boat, no yachts or cabin cruisers were welcome here. They passed under the narrow bridges and followed the path round and doubled back on themselves to cross a small bridge.