I’m exhausted. This day wore me out and I bet tomorrow’s going to be worse. I might not have acted like it, but I was one giant bundle of nerves the whole time Maryam and Alyssa were here.

I could relax a bit now that Rebecca, Natalie, and the guys had left. Of course, Rebecca promised to be here early to help and I’m sure that will include Kennith and Natalie.

“Hey Sasha, " Alex called from downstairs.

I walked out of my room and looked over the railing, “what’s up Dad?” Haha, I don’t think I’m going to get bored of that reaction…

“I have a couple of things to finish up and then I’ll start dinner. Why don’t you get cleaned up and relax.”

“I can help.”

“Na, I’ve got it. Should be about an hour before dinner, so you should try the bath and have a nice long soak.”

“What about training?”

“We can do that in the morning. I think we’ve worked hard enough for today, especially you.”

“I didn’t do much though…”

“Yes; you did, you just didn’t notice it. Go. Relax.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Privately, I couldn’t wait to try the bath. I know I should have bought a hot tub instead of going through all the trouble, but I’m not a fan. I can’t stand the smell and it doesn’t go away, even after I shower.

Let me tell you, it was glorious. The new shower was amazing as well, but there’s nothing like a long relaxing soak. After about twenty minutes I was about to doze off, my stress and tension melting away in the hot water.

Drying off, something caught my attention that normally I wouldn’t think about. When we were at the beauty supply store the ladies had shoved a few bottles of lotion in my basket and I was now staring at the lavender-scented body cream. As a man, I had only used lotion for sunburns, and now my skin was as soft and smooth as silk so I didn’t figure I needed any.

Those ladies were not to be stopped, however. They gave me a lecture that was at least fifteen minutes and counting on why I needed to use a moisturizer and I folded just to get them to move on.

‘Wow, this smells really good’ I thought as I worked it gently into my skin. After going over half of my body, I blinked and stopped moving. It’s like instinct took over once again as I subconsciously did something I normally wouldn’t. “Might as well finish since I’ve done this much…”

You can’t get me to admit I felt better after I was finished. However, I will admit that the lavender was soothing and relaxed me even more.

I’m becoming more feminine, aren’t I… I’m not sure how to feel about that…

Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, and tomato; the BLT of BLTs. Okay, so maybe I’m overreacting a bit, but they were delicious. I even managed to eat a whole sandwich though Alex ate five. Maybe my appetite is coming back a bit. Orrr not… I ate way too much. In my defense, it was way too good to stop eating.

Alex, seeing me laying on the couch in a partial food coma just shook his head and laughed.

Jerk! Payback is best served at unexpected times!

What is tickling my nose? Nooo… I don’t want to get up yet. Oh no, this bed and these sheets are dangerous. I don’t want to move right now but my alarm is annoying and I really have to go. Not to mention whatever is tickling my nose…

I’ll give you one guess as to what that was. Yep, I had curled up with the wolf plushy sometime in the night. Not gonna lie here, it was super comfortable and I’m not embarrassed about it.

Huh… I wonder why?

Mooooving on………

A short run, yoga, a quick shower, and breakfast. What a good way to get the blood flowing and wake up.

I know, I know; I’m crazy for thinking that. Moving, exercising, stretching… just feels good to me.

Today was going to be hectic so I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. I chose an ankle-length lilac purple skirt with a slate blue long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirt. It was unfortunately supposed to be in the upper fifties to lower sixties today and I didn’t know how I would handle it. Before, that would be t-shirt weather, though now I seemed to get cold easier.

I discovered yesterday that I didn’t feel the need to cover my legs if I wore something that long, which was nice. It’s not that wearing hose was uncomfortable and those thigh-length socks were insanely comfortable, (I don’t want to think too deeply about that as it could destroy any dignity I might have left. Yep…… better to ignore it) but it was extremely annoying to “feel” like I had to do something.

You get that, right?

Wondering what school was going to be like, or more like trying not to panic… I was browsing their website while sitting at the small table in the breakfast nook. I found out yesterday that Plumb Valley had a homeschool program. However, when I brought up the idea of doing that instead; I was immediately shot down by not just Alex, but Rebecca, Natalie, and Maryam.

Crap……

Things seemed a little different today as I was using the materials online to study. I probably could have had mostly A’s the first time I went to school, however, I had other “more important” things on my mind like martial arts. Now, it seemed like my memory was even better than it used to be. Was it my imagination or me “knowing” the material already?

Why did I get a chill down my spine?

“Hey, Sashaaaa!”

Oh no, They’re here already. It’s still early, isn’t it? Wow, ten already… how long was I spaced out?

“Good morning, Sasha.”

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Rebecca was dressed more casually than I had ever seen in a light blue calf-length dress and two-and-a-half to three-inch block-heeled sandals. The dress had a mature cut to it that fit her well. How I knew that I didn’t want to find out.

Natalie was wearing a pair of jeans that looked painted on with an old black ‘Pantera” t-shirt and calf-length brown boots with a low square heel. Must be nice to be able to wear jeans… well, there is no way I could wear jeans that were so tight. I know I’ve said it before, but Natalie could make a supermodel blush.

No, I’m not some sicko! Even before my change, I had seen Natalie around the shop on occasion and had no interest.

Do I have to remind you to get your head out of the gutter? No? Good.

“Wow, you look so mature today! I’m a little jealous at how good that looks on you.”

“Um… thanks…”

“Haha, you look lovely today Sasha. Are you going to do something with your hair or leave it down?”

“I think she should leave it Mom. I wish my hair was as beautiful as hers.”

“I wanted to try something, but I’m not good enough yet…” Please don’t mention that I’m starting to enjoy things like different hairstyles and clothes. I’m begging here!

“Ooo; sounds fun. Tell us what you want and we’ll see what we can do.”

What I wanted to try was a common style that I wanted to add to. (Please no comments, it’s embarrassing enough already.) My reasoning was to see if I could come up with something where most of my hair was loose without "feeling" off.

Twenty minutes later, my hair was done and the two ladies loved it. There were three small, loose braids on the sides of my head that met in the back and combined into three separate braids that went the rest of the way down my back and were finished by small black scrunchies. The rest of my hair was gathered below the nape of my neck under the three braids with a larger black scrunchy.

“That looks really cute, I like it.”

“Thanks for your help Natalie, I wish I could do this on my own though.”

“Give it time Sasha, you’ll get it soon. Now, why don’t we join the boys for a bit? We can help them get ready and make sure they’re working instead of bs-ing like usual.”

“Okay, let me grab some shoes and start some tea.”

“I’ll get the tea started. Are those the jars on the counter?”

“Mm, thanks, Rebecca.”

Don’t ask why I had six large glass jars for tea. I’m pretty sure you can guess the reason, even if it’s kinda embarrassing and stupid, I’m glad I did have them now.

Thankfully Kennith brought his trailer-mounted grill and some coolers full of drinks and meat. This “housewarming” party had ballooned into something crazy. Brandon and Eric were setting up tables and chairs while Alex and Kennith were stacking wood in the grill and close by.

I was wiping down tables since the jerks wouldn’t let me help set them up when Natalie walked over with something hidden behind her back. “Here Sasha, Mom and I thought you might like one of these.”

“An… apron…? Thanks…”

Crap… on the outside, I tried to look happy while on the inside I had a weird battle going on. Part of me was screaming ‘What the HECK, why would I want that?’ while another was jumping for joy.

I’m so confused right now… Why does this stuff keep happening to me?

“It’s one of the old ones that I don’t use anymore. It will probably be a little big, but should fit well enough.”

“Thanks, Rebecca, I appreciate it,” I said as I put it on. Why did I wear it you might ask? You try looking at Natalie’s face full of anticipation and try to say no…

I dare you.

Needless to say, I let the part of me that was happy win this time. I’m only exhausting myself with these internal battles and they don’t seem to be changing me on a deeper level. If anything, I feel like I’m becoming “more”. More what? I’m not quite sure yet.

At least I still feel like myself…

I made a giant mistake… I became complacent and I now deeply regret it. It’s going to be years before I live this one down, especially since someone (not going to name names here, though it may or may not start with N…) caught it on video; almost like they were expecting it.

I can’t make any excuses either. I was in an inordinately good mood (for some unknown reason) and quietly singing some song I can’t remember while I prepared the tableware when they showed up. The ladies from Kennith’s company had arrived and I was still wearing the apron. The instant one of them caught sight of me, she squealed something unintelligible, catching the attention of the other five. I was promptly mobbed by six gushing and squealing women.

Someone… Anyone… Please stop laughing and SAVE ME!

More and more people were starting to show up and it was starting to get interesting. As per your typical barbecue, most of the guys were clustered around the grill where Alex, Kennith, and “Fluffy” (That would be Eric from work. Don’t ask how he got that nickname because I don’t know.) were already busy. I was a little worried at the amount of beer that was already being consumed, although it didn’t seem to bother anyone else.

Meh… as long as it doesn’t cause trouble…

The women were more spread out while looking around the house and catching up with friends. It was technically a housewarming party so we expected that. There were quite a few teens around Natalie’s age and three or four babies, but not anyone around my age until Dennis showed up with his wife Victoria and their twin granddaughters Isabel and Evelyn.

Dennis and Victoria were the quintessential doting grandparents. Nevertheless, when Dennis introduced me to everyone, she immediately started doting on me as well. The scarier part was, for some reason the twins got in on it too.

What’s up with the starry-eyed look from the twins?

Isabel came off as snooty and self-important while Evelyn seemed to be quiet and shy, though I had some instinct or gut feeling that I don’t understand telling me something different. With long black hair and brown eyes, they looked like identical twins but denied that with passion.

In another weird (or maybe I should say expected by this point?) turn, they went to Plumb Valley as well, however, they were in sixth grade.

“Hey Sasha, I want you to meet my family.”

Oh crap… Franks here… “Hello Frank, thank you again for your help yesterday,” I think I’m figuring this speech pattern out. It seems to be connected in part to my emotions…… Maybe? Probably?

Whatever, it’s still really annoying.

“Oh my, I can see what you were saying.”

“I told you, she’s amazing. Sasha, this is my wife Sharron, my son Caleb and my daughter Celeste. Caleb and Celeste go to Plumb Valley too, and Celeste is in your grade.”

I think I heard something bad Frank. I’m a little scared to know what you told your family about me, although I’m more worried that Alex heard you……

“Hello; Frank.”

Aaaaand… he heard you. You’re on your own Frank…

“He-hey Alex… You remember Sharron and Caleb. This is my daughter Celeste, she’s in the same grade as Sasha.”

“Hi Sharron, good to see you again. Nice to meet you too, Celeste, I’m Alex.”

That’s different, I thought for sure Alex would……

“By the way Frank, I think you and I need to have a chat. How about you give these girls a tour Sasha?”

Nope; he didn’t let it slide… Good luck Frank!

“Oh, please? Dad told me your house was amazing,” Celeste said, giving me a pleading look.

“That’s fine with me, I wouldn’t mind seeing the house that my grandfather built,” Isabel said, earning a poke on her cheek from her grandmother. “Humph,” she looked away and folded her arms, causing Victoria to shake her head with a weary smile.

Is it still “Tsundere” if they act self-important? I think there has to be a romantic element as well, so I don’t think I could call her one… I have this inexplicable feeling she is trying to hide behind a facade for some reason…

“Umm, I want to see your room. I bet it’s as cute as you…” Evelyn said something dangerous as she clung shyly to her sister. She gave off the same feeling as her sister, but why would they act that way?

“Yo, that sounds like fun.”

“Not a chance Caleb! You’re not invited and I’m not letting you near these girls; especially Sasha!” When did Natalie get here?

“Heeey, Natalie, it’s been a while. You’re looking good, as usual.”

Caleb’s voice made my teeth itch and sent chills up my spine. You could tell from the look on his face he thought of himself as some Casanova with honeyed words. To me, they sounded more venomous.

This kid was disgusting and I could see why Natalie disliked him so much. The twins were looking at him like he was slime and Celeste was almost panicking.

I’m getting a bad feeling about this……

“Ahhhh, don’t be like that Natalie…”

“Caleb, I think you and your father should help Alex for a while. Let the girls do their own thing,” Sharron was looking at her son like this was the first time she’d seen him act like that. From how Frank acted yesterday, maybe it is.

Taking advantage of Sharron’s admonition, Natalie whisked the four of us away like she was protecting us from a poisonous snake.

It kinda felt like it too…