Bringing A Dream To Light

Just ten more steps then I will finally be at the dress shop, Alexis thought, once the guys disappeared.

"Come on Mom, let's keep looking."

His heart was racing, as he struggled to maintain a calm, non-committal manner. Without saying anything he paused, turned, and started into the dress shop.

"Where are you going? I don't think this place will have anything for me," said his mom, as he entered what was obviously a young girl's clothing store.

"M- Mom, can we please just take a quick l-look?"

"But, why would you ever want to go in there? Do you really want to go in there," she asked, surprised that he had chosen this store.

Desperate, Alexis pleaded, "Will you be supportive? Let me explore a bit." He hoped the paraphrase of Aunt Alexandra's advice would get through.

Beth paused, waiting to see if he was serious or if he was going to back out of his decision. After what seemed like an eternity, she gently smiled. "Well, I guess so. But, let's not waste too much time."

To Alexis, this answer seemed midway between totally oblivious and mildly accepting.

"Thanks, Mom."

As he crossed the threshold Alexis suddenly felt very hot, and he began to grow quite a bit more nervous, his heart still racing. At this point, he realized that he had not properly planned his next steps. BIM had not been specific about what was supposed to happen at the dress shop, and all of Alexis's focus had been on getting his Mom this far.

Beth paused at a front display table, watching Alexis out the corner of her eyes as he as began to walk slowly down one side of the store, past circular racks of clothing, gently touching the merchandise, feeling the delicate textures, and looking at the exciting colors.

Shopping for boys' clothes was never like this.

Alexis knew his mother was probably watching him carefully. He also became aware that the store owner and a younger girl were watching him from behind the cash register counter.

"Looks like you have a customer, Bri," the older lady behind the counter remarked toward the younger one, referring to Alexis.

"Yes, I'm sure he is, mom," the girl replied.

In her mid-teens, Brianna always came to work in stylish clothes carefully selected to motivate customers by holding out the hope of them being able to look equally as fabulous as she.

"Did you see that he dragged his mother in here, not the other way around," the older lady observed.

"He looks very nervous, mom. Very nervous."

"Yes, but also fascinated."

"I bet he's sweating and completely tongue-tied."

"You know they usually are on the first visit."

"Well, let's do our thing, mom. I always love to help out a new customer."

The two started moving through the store like a pair of lionesses on the hunt, preparing to separate the target from the herd.

In a flash, Ann positioned herself next to Beth, as her daughter slipped up behind Alexis.

"HI, I'm Ann Mitchell. The owner of this store," Ann began.

Meanwhile, on one side of the store:

"Hello, my name is Brianna Isabella. May I help you?"

Alexis nearly panicked at the sound of someone talking to him. He turned to look at the attractive girl a few years his senior.

She was stunningly beautiful. Her skin flawless and perfectly sun-kissed. Her makeup dramatic, but not overdone: translucent, dewy skin, accented eyebrows, long thick lashes, shiny, kissable, soft red lip, and deep, bold pink nails.

Wavy brown hair with blond highlights cascaded past her shoulders, and a stylish headband kept it all pulled back from her face; all that is, but one whispy sprig hanging down over her right temple.

A maroon sleeveless top with plunging neckline revealed a hint of her lacy, light teal colored bra supporting well-developed cleavage. Her short skirt and 2 inch peep-toe high heels, matching the color of her bra, accented her fashion model figure and shapely legs.

She smiled as she continued to stand there, quietly waiting for Alexis to finish checking her out.

Talking to sales personnel in a dress shop, or even any clothing store for that matter, was not something he had practiced, nor was he very comfortable doing. Especially, when shopping with his mom, he said very little to the staff.

Alexis was feeling quite anxious and just wanted to turn and run, but this would ruin everything. Worse, running would call attention to himself in public.

What if those tough guys returned and saw him racing out of the dress shop? Besides, Brianna was blocking the way to the exit, and Ann had Mom cut off from helping him, even if she realized she was needed.

Alexis felt his face flush. He tried to calm down and repeated BIM's assurances that things would work out for the best once he got inside the shop.

Brianna leaned in close to Alexis. He could smell her sweet floral perfume as she put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're hands are shaking. Take a deep breath. It's gonna be okay," she assured Alexis, in a calm, quiet, comforting tone, almost whispering in his ear. "Relax. Trust me, you don't have to be scared. You're not the only boy to ever shop here. Not by a long shot."

Alexis struggled to remember what BIM had told him was the secret password. "I, I like ... p-pink," he whispered.

Brianna smiled with a twinkle in her eye.

"Okay, got ya. You're going to have a great time today. Let's go over there, where we can talk."

She took Alexis's hand, and he realized he had little choice but to follow her.

As they moved out of earshot of his mom Alexis noticed her well-shaped and beautifully manicured nails and enjoyed the cool, calming, gentle touch of her fingers.

He had let himself be convinced by internet chat, that visiting here was going to do magic for communicating with Mom, but what was Brianna going to do with him now?

"This is my first time," Alexis informed Brianna.

"I figured as much. Don't worry. I know what I am doing and I'm going to help you. This is so totally not my first time."

Good, he told himself.

"Okay, here's my assessment of you. You're interested in girly things and dressing like a girl. To the point you've actually had dreams about being a girl and you even sometimes you wish you were born a girl. How am I doing so far?"

"Y- you're right. All of it."

Just saying that out loud to another human being did two things to Alexis; it freaked him out, making him even more nervous, but at the same time it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"How much does your mother know? Not much, I'm guessing?"

"Nothing. I've never been able to tell her anything."

"Your coming here will speak for you."

"How do you know?"

"Well, you're not the first boy we've helped, not even close. What's your name? You were too much in shock to tell me when you came in."

"Alexis."

"Is that your birth name or one you chose for yourself?"

"My birth name."

"Charming," Brianna replied with a wink and a smile. "It's a name that could be either boy or girl. You're very lucky."

Alexis had never been sure why his mom had given him that name. In public situations, like school roll-call, he found it embarrassing when the name caused someone to expect a girl then showed surprise at seeing it belonged to a boy. But he was also thrilled to see occasional advertising in the mailbox addressed to Miss Alexis Evans.

"It's an okay name," he responded.

"Silly, it's a really pretty name and it totally fits you. Speaking of fit, let's look around and find something that you might like to try on."

Alexis again got that nasty, sickening, sinking feeling in his stomach. This was way more than he had planned. He had not anticipated anything beyond browsing in the shop for a few minutes and then somehow expecting something to happen that would open a conversation with Mom. But, shopping for himself? BIM never said that would happen.

Alexis glanced across the store, toward his mom.

"Don't pay any attention to them. Just act natural. Play along," Brianna advised Alexis.

She then started to pick outfits from the rack and show them to Alexis, explaining details and features as she went. At first, she just displayed the dresses in midair as she bubbled with enthusiasm.

After a while, she began to notice Alexis becoming a little more comfortable with the situation.