The Lesbian Gene (Lesbian, Gay, GirlxGirl)

Chapter 31: Into the Fire

Chapter 31: Into the Fire

"You want me to what?!"

Neil pointed to the costumes, gave me a deadpan look, started again as if I hadn't heard him the first time. "I want you to wear that, Leighton. I want to see you wearing only that."

That was a very twisted Titanic. I almost barfed. We were inside the costume shop now after having to fight our way through the crowd. Neil was leading the melee, as usual. And after choosing among the racks among racks of clothes, the sale after sale items that everyone seemed to grab, we ventured upon the darkest, tiniest corner, in the shop. And after a thorough search on both of our parts, he decided that— yes, this was the perfect costume for me.

I didn't even want to mention what that thing looked like.

Neil took it from the rack, held it next to me. "See?" he said. "It perfectly fits you. Well, maybe not on some places, but we can definitely remedy that."

"Stop staring at my boobs!" I said.

"Chill. I don't want what you offer."

Still, I quickly draped my arms over my chest, but Neil didn't look interested. In fact, he had already moved on to the next costume, which was perfectly in sync with mine. What a horrible, horrible idea.

"I won't wear that." I refused.

"Not even to get my respect?"

Was he kidding me?

"I might get your respect for this," I said, "But I'll lose everyone else's."

"How about if I tell you that Audra likes this short of shit?" he said.

I gaped at him. I mean, I really, really gaped at him.

Knowing that he had grabbed my attention, Neil took the other costume from the rack as well. "So it's decided then," he said. "You're wearing that. And I'm wearing this. I told you, Pax. I get whatever I want."

Outside the store, I still couldn't believe how he conned me into buying this, much less even think about performing that "thing" on the stage. I would have never have imagined myself wearing such clothing. But even while on the counter earlier handing over the money that Hanz provided, Neil kept on mentioning Audra and how she would be impressed if I managed to pull this off. For once, I wanted to surprise her.

Amaze her. Even at the cost of my own dignity. All, according to Neil, for the sake of fun.

Neil wasted no time by dragging me back to the deck. "We barely have time to do everything," he said. "Let's go."

Another thing I never thought I would do in my life was spend more time with Neil than necessary. But he didn't tell me to get lost or anything. He even steered me towards the makeup store. That one was starting to pool with people too. Particularly those who were interested with joining the contest. A costume was never complete without cosmetics.

Neil avoided the sale's person by going to the sale rack. "What do you know about makeup?" he asked me.

"None."

He clucked his tongue, shuffled through the selection. There were a couple of make-ups sets that he was browsing through with interest.

Afterwards he said, "It's important to make yourself presentable at all times, especially when you have someone in your life."

"You mean, Audra?"

"Duh." Neil finally made a choice. Taking one makeup set from the selection, he opened it up, sniffed it like a foodie, snapped it close, beckoned to me. "I'll teach you everything, Leighton. Hold on to your panties."