Becoming Lexi

Alex agreed. He was also surprised he had an opinion on the matter one way or the other. Remembering his part, he finally said something, "Isn't Juliet essentially going to bed during this scene? Wouldn't she have removed her jewelry?"

Tracie looked impressed. "You're probably right if we're trying to stay pure to the material. But we're not. I need to go fit the other girls"

Feeling more comfortable Alex said, "I could help with that."

"Careful, therein lies the path to wanking in a closet. Go down the hall a bit and look in those drawers for a necklace. Pick out a few that you think would work, and I'll be right back."

She disappeared through the door, and Alex fumbled his way off of the fitting platform. He tried not to let any of the pins slip and walked rigidly down the hall as a result. Finding the drawers Tracie mentioned, he started looking through piles of fake jewelry for something he could wear. Again, his lack of fashion sensibilities reared its ugly head, and he picked out three gaudy gold chokers and silver chain. As he started to close the drawers, he noticed a silver ring tucked away in a corner.

The ring had a vine like patter wrapped around a star and blended into the band. Alex picked it up, and its weight surprised him. Everything else in the drawer was plastic or at least had a hollow feeling to it. The ring had the heft of real metal, and Alex wondered if it hadn't fallen off someone's hand and simply been stuck in the drawer. Out of curiosity, he slipped it on his finger and found it fit perfectly, though it did not seem to be a man's ring. As soon as the thought occurred to him, he tried to pull the ring off, but it wouldn't budge past the knuckle.

He picked up the necklaces and headed back to Tracie's station, taking a seat at the desk and continuing to fiddle with the ring. Tracie returned a few minutes later. "What'd you find then?" She grabbed the necklaces and wheeled Alex to the mirror. "Oh these are all awful," she said as she moved them quickly to and from his neck. "Tell ya what, you don't need a necklace for this anyway. One less thing to worry about. I like the ring though, let's keep that."

"Mind if I wear it out?" Alex asked. "It's sort of stuck on for the moment, but I can probably get it off. Been standing up for so long, fingers are a bit swollen."

Tracie grabbed his hand and examined the ring. "Hmm, not one of ours, but you found it in the jewelry collection?" Alex nodded. "Well, keep it then. But hang on to it for the dress rehearsal. Now then, blonde or red head for the wig?"

"Uh, blonde, I guess?" Alex said, and Tracie disappeared into another room.

While she was gone, Alex pulled and twisted at the ring, but it wouldn't budge. After a while, his attention turned to the multiple pictures on Tracie's wall. One drew his eye, and he leaned closer. "Mother fucker..." The picture was a black and white copy of Julie. A picture which Alex had taken.

"I see you're admiring my collection," Tracie said upon her return.

"Oh, uh, yeah. So you know Julie?"

"Of course, everyone knows Julie. It's a wonder any of us manage when she's not around. Do you like that picture?"

Alex swallowed. "I took it, actually."

"Really?" Tracie said, spinning him around to look him in the eye. "Well, the collection was quite good. You should ask Julie to put on a show. We all thought it had been done by a professional. I mean, well, you know what I mean."

Alex had no idea what she meant. Tracie put a curly haired wig on his head as he stared at the naked body of his friend once again. A strange sensation crept through his body, and his hands moved up to his chest as he looked at Julie's large bosom. He imagined those same breasts filling out the dress and his own hips replaced by those of his curvy friend. His head swirled, and Alex saw himself in the mirror. No, that's not me, he thought. That's just someone who looks like me.

"You alright?" Tracie asked, turning him back away from the mirror.

Alex's head cleared up. "Oh. Sorry, I think I was dozing off or something."

"Well, we're done for the day. You can head back out to the stage for your rehearsal. Get dressed first though."

Alex quickly put back on his street clothes and headed back towards the stage. All the while, he rubbed at the ring on his finger and thought of the woman he'd seen in the mirror.

***

On the third day of class, the actors did their first run throughs with the stage direction and lighting. The majority of it involved standing around and chatting with one another as other groups did their part. Alex discovered he wasn't the only one cast in a female role. It seemed about half and half.

Mark continued to be a curmudgeon about the whole situation, but other than their thirty minutes on stage, he was at least somewhat personable. He and many of the others were fascinated by the idea of the theater culture. Alex had not been the only one to encounter something strange backstage. One group of guys had mistakenly stumbled into a shower at the end of class. Impossible as it was to believe, somewhere in the bowels of the theater was a fully functioning shower and locker room. This was not a typical modern shower though, but a communal shower that was fully occupied at the time by a half dozen busty coeds and two guys who, as the other newbies told it, "weren't even looking."

As they drove home after class, Mark explained his fascination with the idea. "Julie was right. Nudity is as common as oxygen around that place. No one cares. Half the guys I've talked to have slept with the majority of the women. How did we not know about all this? Why didn't someone come and tell us as freshman? We could have been part of it all. I was talking with one of the stage hands. His whole major is about rigging up lights and cables and shit. I could have done that."

Alex replied blithely, "I wanted to be an English Major though. If you'd have done theater, we'd probably never have met. The only reason we know Julie is because we met her at a party."

"So we'd have never met then," Mark answered with a shrug.

"You're my best friend?" Alex said, trying to subdue the surprise in his voice. Mark's quick dismissal of their relationship had hurt.

"Course I am. Could have been as well had we not met when we did. Or you could have been like a play writer instead of wanting to be an author. Then we'd have wound up crossing paths." Mark smiled, and Alex noted how charming and disarming his friend could be. Alex looked away quickly.

For the past two days, strange thoughts had been filling Alex's head. The night before, he and Mark had been sitting at home watching a movie. At some point, Mark slipped his hand in his shorts to hold his balls, not something even a little uncommon, but for the first time Alex watched him do it and wondered what it would be like if it were his hand instead. "So what time is this party then?"

"We're to be there at ten, I think. I'll drop you at the apartment so you can shower and then head down to the liquor store. You'll be done by the time I get back. I'll shower. Then, we'll load up and go." They had been invited to their first theater party, and Mark was beside himself with excitement. It had been Tracie who suggested they attend, but she cautioned them that it was early in the summer and not to expect anything outrageous. The car rolled to a stop in front of their apartment, and Alex hopped out and headed upstairs.

Alex looked through his closet for a shirt to wear before heading to the shower. He turned on the water and steam started to billow up from behind the curtain. He looked at himself in the mirror after trying to get the ring off once more. His form looked slighter than he remembered. The definition on his chest had faded, and he was gaining weight around his hips. Too much beer, he thought and made a mental note to go running over the weekend.

As he waited for the temperature to adjust in the shower, his skin prickled and itched. Anxious for some relief, he jumped in the shower and was met with a hot blast that made him twist around in unbelievable shapes until he was able to turn the knob. The itching vanished as he started to wash himself. The warm water felt amazing on his skin. He did not think that he had been stressed, but his muscles soothed and relaxed under the torrent of steamy water. He lost track of time and didn't snap out of it until he heard a knock at the bathroom door.

"Fuck, hurry up in there, I need to shower, and we're already going to be late," came Mark's voice through the door.

Alex got out of the shower and started to dry himself off, but noticed something wrong. For as long as he could remember, water had been wicked away from his body by his body hair, but he could feel it instead beading up on his skin. He looked in the mirror and gasped at the sight. The whole of his body was smooth and pale with the sudden lack of hair. His hand touched his chest to be certain it was him. Moving his hand down, he felt nothing but slick, wet skin. He reached his crotch and found his cock and balls entirely smooth. Checking his neck and face, he found no stubble or hint of facial hair. On the whole of his body, only his eyebrows and head hair remained. Mark knocked on the door again. "Alright!" Alex yelled back. He finished drying off and wrapped the towel around his waist.

"Did you shave your chest?" Mark asked when Alex opened the door.

Alex didn't want to talk at all, but strangely Mark was the last person he wanted to talk to. "Uh, yeah, part of the prosthetic thing they have me wearing for the class really itches so they recommended shaving my chest."

"Oh, right," Mark replied. His eyes looked more intently at Alex, as if searching for something else off about his friend. "Well you better not have clogged the fucking drain." Mark ducked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Alex sighed in relief and rushed to his room.

Alex tripled checked that the door was locked before going to his closet door mirror and dropping the towel. What's happening to me? How is that even possible? He combed through his mind, trying to think of any explanation for sudden and total hair loss, but only below the neck. He pulled at the tuft of hair on the top of his head and found that it held firm. The more he looked at himself, the more it felt like he was looking at a stranger. He turned around and craned his neck to see his back. Are my shoulders smaller? Wait...holy shit.

Alex turned sideways and looked at his profile. Earlier he thought that he was gaining a belly, instead his stomach was flatter than ever while his hips looked wider. Still, the shocking thing was his butt. For his whole life, he'd had a flat ass, to the point where it was troublesome to keep pants on. To his astonishment, that was no longer an issue. Tentatively, he touched the new curve of his ass, wondering how it could be possible. His hand pressed into his rear and sunk into soft, supple tissue. This is the kind of ass a girl would kill for? What's it doing on me?

Thoroughly unnerved, but at a loss for what to do, Alex started to get dressed. As a troublesome reminder of his changes, neither his underwear or jeans fit comfortably. He put on his shirt and immediately the unpleasant itching sensation returned, concentrated around his nipples. Pulling off the shirt, he looked closer at the area, but saw nothing out of the ordinary other than the lack of hair. He added an undershirt and finished getting dressed. Despite his worries, his final inspection in the mirror pleased him. Maybe it's not all bad. I haven't had a shave this smooth in years. And my junk looks huge.

Mark barely bothered to dry his hair, throwing on a polo and some shorts he found on the floor. Alex thought it was peculiar that he noticed how his roommate was dressed at all. As they returned to the car, Alex was overwhelmed by the smell of Mark's cologne. It wasn't unpleasant, but too powerful. Alex started to mention it, but thought better of it.

The drive to the party was short, but incredibly uncomfortable for Alex. He couldn't stop looking at his roommate. The two had lived together for years and Alex had not once noticed the line of Mark's jaw or how his forearm flexed when he turned the wheel. The thoughts intruded as very unwelcome guests until the itching sensation returned to his chest and started to spread down his body until it felt like his crotch was on fire.

They arrived at the party, and Alex received some relief as he put some distance between himself and Mark. It's the cologne, maybe I'm allergic. He consoled himself with the thought, but knew that his friend had worn that same cologne for four years and never once provoked a scratch. The party itself provided an additional distraction. They were in someone's home. The claustrophobic rooms evoked the same mood as the back of the Small Theater. The lighting was darker though and loud music thrummed through the whole building. A quick assessment led both of the guys to see no difference between this party and any of the others they'd been to during college. Tracie emerged from a bedroom, the smell of weed following close behind her, "Oh hey guys! Glad you made it. Put that stuff back in the kitchen and come play cards with us!" As quickly as she had appeared, she vanished back into the crowd. Alex was disappointed as her presence had made him feel an immense relief. It's Mark himself. Something he's wearing or...doing.

The kitchen was the most crowded room by far. They squeezed through, pushing on by Mark's determination to find a glass to pour himself a drink. Alex followed closely behind him. As a gap closed behind Mark, Alex impulsively reached out for the larger man's hand, but snatched himself back at the last moment. They reached a counter where large coolers full of ice stood. The area was moderately clear, but the crush of people constantly shifted around it. With an aggravated grunt, Mark cleared a spot on the counter and dropped the liquor they'd brought with them. He grabbed a bag that had once been filled with cups, but pulled out only one. "Here, you take this one. I'll grab some more," he yelled over the din. "On your back."

He pushed the cup into Alex's hand and started back the way they had came. Mark's hand pushed lightly against Alex's back as the former started to squeeze through the crowd. It was a tight fit, and Mark's body pushed into Alex from behind as he moved. Alex could feel his friend's chest press into his back and crotch press into his ass. As Mark slid away, Alex's body started to tingle and burn. The feeling spread as if thousands of fire ants had suddenly decided to bite, radiating out in a careful pattern from the place Mark had touched him. I have to go...somewhere.

Desperate, he started to shove his way through the crowd, moving through the waves of people like a man in a panic. A few patrons blurted out curse words as he shoved through them, but most of them seemed to barely acknowledge his passing. Alex considered calling an ambulance or screaming out for help, but instead he was driven by a mad desire to simply get out. He turned a corner and crashed into someone, bowling them both into a corner. "Well nice to see you too, Alex," said a familiar voice. Julie stood him up and looked at him up and down, "Wait, you're different."

Alex pushed out the feeling ravaging his body. He wanted to speak, but knew she wouldn't hear him over the noise. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "Somewhere private, please?"

She nodded silently and led him towards the back of the house.

***

They made their way to one of the back bedrooms. A few younger girls were sitting on the bed as Julie barged in the room. Alex saw that one of them was crying and immediately turned to leave, but Julie held him in place. She didn't say a word, but glared at the girls with a ferocity Alex had never seen before. After a few terse moments, the girls composed themselves and left the room. Julie shut the door behind them and locked it. Behind the bedroom door, the music was a low thrum that shook the walls, but could easily be spoken over. "What's happening to you?" she demanded. "Did you take something?"

Alex struggled to find words for his predicament. The obvious problem was the burning sensation, but he couldn't stop thinking about Mark. Not knowing how else to express himself, he pulled off his shirt. "Look!"

Julie looked. "What am I looking at?"

"No, you're not...feel my arm," he said thrusting his arm out to her. Her face remained alarmed, but she ran her fingers across his skin. Every place she touched became a cool spot of relief on his aggravated skin.

"Ok, you shaved your arm, and I'm assuming your chest. Are we dealing with a bad razor burn problem because if so this is a bit over dramatic."

"No, Julie, look at me," he said, frantic for someone to understand. "Try to remember what I looked like a few days ago and compare it to now. My hips! Hell, look at my ass!" He turned in profile and bent over, feeling absolutely ridiculous, but he heard Julie gasp.

"So, that's new," she said. "Hang on, stand up straight." She went to him and started moving him like a marionette, positioning him however she wanted. Alex happily gave in. As her hands flitted across his bare skin, more and more of the horrid feeling went away. She was close to him, and he could smell her, an earthy scent of perfume mixed with sweat. "Nothing for it then, take off your clothes."

"I'm not—"

"Do you want my help or don't you?" she asked, sternly. Her hands went to his pants after he unfastened them. With a difficult tug, she pulled them down and tossed them aside. She paused, running her hand up his calves, marveling at the smoothness of his skin. "I could shave four times a day and not have legs like this. Is it...everywhere?" Alex's embarrassment had finally broken. Something about Julie's touch caused the burning to stop, but the worst of it remained in his crotch. On the off chance that she might be able to sooth that last spot, he shucked off his boxers and kicked them to the side. "Oh," was all Julie said.

Alex could feel the room's slight air current shifting around his body. At that moment, Alex understood how in tune a person can be with the body they've had their whole life. Each inch of his skin tingled and responded to the slight breeze. An electric sensation gripped him as Julie moved closer, as if he pulled to her by a magnet. Julie peered at his crotch with a curiosity that would make the most confident man cower in shame, but Alex understood why without having to look. He could feel the difference, however slight, though he couldn't define it as balance or core of being. He moved his hand to between his legs, a motion he had done thousands of times before, to grip his cock, but nothing was there. Instead, he found a smooth mons which preluded the wet lips below. A mingle of horror and excitement gripped him as his fingers slid against his pussy. My pussy. I have a pussy. I'm touching my own pussy. What the fuck. He felt a rush of blood and a wave of dizziness before falling back on the bed.

Instantly, Julie was over him, giving him rapid slaps to the face. "No, no. Can't have you passing out on me. That would be difficult to explain to anybody. 'Hey Julie, how come you were locked in a room with Alex and now his junk is gone?' Some questions you shouldn't have to answer."

Alex remained on his back on the bed, trying to stay calm. He could feel the air moving over his bare pussy lips and the more he thought about it, the more he could feel the emptiness behind them. Is this what a girl feels all the time? This void? He knew the answer almost immediately. No. This is specific. Images of Mark flashed into his mind, bare chested and pushing against him. His friend being intimate equally excited and revolted him as his new dual being waged war inside his body.