38. BFFs

The following week, Taylor spent a lot of time outside of school work, thinking about Astrid and every thing she had told them about her life.

Being around, and learning about her, caused Taylor to think a lot about his own situation. He now had more questions than answers.

Then, on Monday afternoon, out of the blue, and for no reason that Taylor could determine, Carissa suprised him with a gift.

It was after dinner. Kaylee and Taylor cleared the table, placing drinking glasses and silverware in the dishwasher, as was the norm every night. There really wasn't much to do, since Carissa rarely cooked at all without Craig there.

Most nights, if they didn't go out Carissa ordered dinner from a delivery app. Tonight had been one of those delivery nights.

Once everything had been put away, Carissa called Taylor into the living room, where she presented him with a rectangular box wrapped in plain brown paper and tied up with a ribbon around it.

As he started unwrapping the box, Carissa began to explain.

"Taylor, I know Craig thought he was doing the best he could to take care of you, but there were, well, things he didn't do for you that he should have and some that . . . he, um, he just couldn't do because those things need a woman. I want to try to be a better parent to you than he was. I know he tried his best, but he is your brother and he's, well he's male. Men are weak, simple minded creatures that can't possibly raise a girl like another woman can, especially a special girl like you."

Taylor now had the ribbon off the box and had discovered what was inside, three little training bras with tiny, foam molded cups.

Taylor picked the first one up and held it out away from his body as if he feared it might give him cooties to get too close to it or that it might suddenly cause large breasts to sprout from his chest.

"Sweetie, I've been trying to think of how I could support you and help you to feel comfortable as a girl. You're at the age when the girls around you will soon starting getting breast, some are already. I know that if it hasn't yet, it soon will start to make you feel uncomfortable that they're getting womanly curves and you aren't, so I figured this might help boost your confidence."

And who knows, maybe," Carissa explained with a cheeky grin, "once you start wearing them your body will get the hint and start trying to fill them for you."

By now Taylor had discovered there was something else underneath the bras, and wasn't exactly paying attention to what she was saying at the moment.

Taylor discovered a smart phone box was nestled between sheets of tissue paper underneath the bras and he had it open by the time Carissa finished.

As Taylor removed the phone from its box and started it up, Carissa began explaining, "All young ladies need their own phone, for safety. Having one affords you the opportunity to call for help anytime you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation or anytime you just want to check in with an adult. Now that you have a boyfriend, you need a phone so you can easily talk to him or call me when you're out with him and he tries anything. 'Cause no boy can ever really be trusted. None of them. Ever. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Taylor replied. "Thank you."

"Also, you need all the help you can get in your quest to transition into the beautiful young lady you are becoming. You deserve the privacy to be able to look up anything you need to without having to sneak around and worry about anyone else seeing your undeleted, late night internet search history. A smart phone with internet at your fingertips will become an invaluable tool for helping guide you along this beautiful journey."

Taylor was so excited about getting his first phone, he didn't realize what Carissa just said about seeing his search history. He was anxious for her to finish so he could go show his phone to Kaylee and start downloading apps.

"Bottom line, you're developing so wonderfully, that I wanted to reward you and let you know how commited I am to making sure you have the positive encouragement and exposure to information, so you can successfully transition into the girl you need to be."

Taylor leaned in and quickly gave Carissa a big hug. When she released the embrace, Taylor intended to run find Kaylee, but before he had a chance to go anywhere, Carissa began to speak again.

"Taylor, make sure you get that's girl Astrid's phone number from Kaylee and put in your phone. I think she could be a good person for you to have in your life, a great influence. After all, you two are just alike."

"Yes, ma'am, I will."

Taylor agreed with Carissa about Astrid, in that he also wanted to be able to talk to her more about her situation. He was becoming quite curious and wanted to figure out if they really were alike or not. Even Carissa seemed to think they were.

"Okay, now run along. I know you're dying to share your phone with Kaylee."

Later that night, as Taylor lay in bed looking at photos of trans girls on Instagram, his pretty, painted nails began to fly across the virtual keys of the onscreen keyboard, making a uniquely feminine clicking sound as he sent a message to Astrid.

>hi it's me, Tay. Guess

what? I have a

phone now

Very quickly a response came back.

>>cool! Congrats.

that's awesome.

So, I had a great time hanging

out with you and Kaylee.

I hope we can become close friends

Taylor read Astrid's response then paused for a moment before replying.

He absent-mindedly tapped his nails against the glass screen as he began to think about all the fun he'd had hanging out with her and how he had been sad when she had to go.

She is a pretty cool person to hang out with, Taylor thought. She's smart, interesting, pretty, hilarious, knows what she wants, and can help me figure all of this out.

With a grin on his face, Taylor knew how he wanted to response.

>yeah, I'd like that

very much

Taylor reached up and twisted the piercing in one ear while he waited, what seemed like an eternity for Astrid to finish typing her reply.

>>Tay, thank you for accepting

me and not being

judgmental like most

everyone else is.. You'll

never know just how much

that truly means to me.

I need other girls like you

and Kaylee in my life

Once Taylor read this reply, he almost didn't respond. He started to feel like a fraud and feared she's hate him if she found out he wasn't really a girl.

After a few minutes he had convinced himself he had nothing to worry about, besides, he desperately want to hang out with her again.

>hey, would you like

to come to the game

Friday night?

>>ummm, yeah if my

mom will let me, that

sounds like fun

Over the next few days Taylor and Astrid began to text each other quite a bit. They were fast becoming good friends.

Astrid did show up at the game Friday night, but she was there with her protective mom who was afraid to leave Astrid there on her own, afraid she's be made fun of, or worse, attacked.

By Saturday evening, Taylor was feeling confident enough with Astrid to start asking her more personal questions.

>so, the other day,

remember how

you said I could

ask you anything

Is that still true

>>yeah, sure

>okay, I've got something.

it might be a little too far

but you said, anything

>> and I meant it. Just ask

Trust me, it can't be worse

than some of the things I've

heard

>I dunno, maybe it could

😊

So, um

you still have a d***?

The last word of his text was blocked.

>d@mn auto censor

won't let me use

that word.

I meant *p****,

you still got one?

It happened again.

>D@mn it, not again. Willie, weener, c0ck. Do you still have one?

>>😂

for now, yeah

until I'm old enough

for surgery

>surgery.

That's when they'll cut it off?

>actually, no

>??? how's that work

>>non-graphic version:

they don't "cut it off"

They use it to create

external and internal

female parts

>really? 👀 how?

>> . . .

There was a long pause while Taylor's screen indicated Astrid had started to type.

>you don't have to

answer that I

can look it up

Astrid deleted the long explanation she was trying to craft and replied with:

>>good, I'll send you a

link to a site later

that explains

>won't it be hella painful

>>painful but not too

bad they give you really

good pain meds

even if it is, I believe it'll

still be totally worth it

>how old you gotta be

>>in this State, 18,

can't wait

Taylor lowered his phone and let the thoughts in his head run wild. He found it pretty strange, while at the same time intriguing, that the attractive girl he was talking to, who was born a boy and had a penis, was also excited about some day getting her penis cut up and somehow turned from an outtie to an innie that other boys could possibly one day stick their outie into.

Tayor shuddered and quickly tried to dismiss the thought that had now entered his head. It was a visual of himself looking down at his crotch to find his own penis missing and a "love tunnel" in its place.

As bad as he thought that was, it wasn't the most alarming part. In addition to seeing girl parts where his manhood should have been, in his mind he also, without consciously trying to, visualized Johnny on top of him, attempting to insert his manhood into this fleshy female mound.

Taylor tossed his phone to the foot of the bed and picked up the TV remote. He turned on the television and tried to find something that would distract his mind and keep it off of those thoughts. He needed a Marvel movie or maybe some Star Wars to keep him occupied.

About twenty minutes into The Force Awakens, Taylor had fallen asleep and began having the strangest dreams he'd ever experienced. Dreams he could never tell anyone.

Dreams of him doing things with Johnny, things that would have shocked, and embarrassed him and probably freaked him out if he'd had consciously thought them when he was awake.