The Mirror

The clear water in the marble sink slowly turned to a dark pool as the slim faced, teenage boy rang out his once golden hair. Black dye dripped over his face for a moment before he wiped it off with a silk towel. The now stained towel was thrown to the floor in a heap as the boy looked his now jet black hair over in the mirror with a proud grin; this would really annoy his mother....when she saw it. His mother always wanted a girl to continue her legacy and she played into the stereotype of blonde hair and blue eyes. Alistair did have these traits but that was not enough for his mother.

Looking to the wardrobe the boy let out a small sigh as he approached it. Opening the door he reached inside and pulled out a long golden wig, picked up a brush and gave it the once over before placing it on his newly dyed scalp. He was careful not to ruin both the wig and his own hair as he fixed the wig in place, letting the false locks fall down his back.  Letting out a forced and false giggle he looked back to the mirror; where once stood a teenage boy with jet black hair, now stood a blonde haired, blue eyed, stereotypical girl. An exact double of his mother at this age. Alistair was forced to be Alice. 

Alistair looked back to the wardrobe. Hung up inside was a frilly blue dress, white lace tied it up at the back. Pulling out the dress he took it off its hanger and slipped it over his head and over his almost bare body. Pulling tightly on the lace the dress became fitted as he tied the loose ribbon into a neat bow. Then he added the finishing touch, a small pair of black shoes, black enough to match his newly coloured hair. He stepped out of the bathroom and headed downstairs to greet his mother's guests.
'There you are Alice, what took you so long?' her mother asked as she arrived downstairs.
'Nothing Mother, I was just getting ready. A girl has to look her best, doesn't she?' she explained timidly with a grin. 
Her mother nodded, left the hallway and entered the living room to meet and greet their party guests. It was Alice's 16th birthday; 16 years of being a girl. She grew tired of her charade and wanted a change. Soon her mother returned to the hallway before ushering her into the living room, much to Alice’s dismay. This meant seeing each and every over paid, upper class snob you could ever want to see in one room, and of course, their just as lousy, rotten children; the spawn of upper class. Just because they were born into a respected family, did not mean that they were respectful and polite children, they were in fact quite the opposite.
Alice navigated her way through the crowds. The sneering children chattering to one another obviously about her, or him as the case may be. However, no one knew of the family’s secret and they never would as long as Alice’s mother was to have an input. 
Upon reaching a large table filled to the brim with gourmet appetizers and champagne for the adults and juices for the children, Alice took hold of a pitcher and poured herself a drink into a nearby china cup; it was unsurprising for her family to go all out on their ever so popular parties.
“It’s a chance to meet people.” That is all Alice’s mother would say when asked about why they had so many.
Several hours had passed and Alice had grown tired of playing the humble hostess’ daughter; the fake smile that was once plastered firmly across her lips sank away into a somewhat sinister scowl. Slowly she planned her escape; it was quite a masterpiece, she would wait until Mr Thompson, a rather round gentleman who was owner of the local horse ranch, was in front of her mother trying his hardest to gain her attention and simply dart for the nearest exit, whether it be a window or a door. She simply wanted to leave, go to her room, rip off this itching wig and spend her last hours of consciousness that day as her biological gender; a boy.
Alas it was not so, however not because Mr Thompson did not follow his subconscious orders, but because Alice’s interest was caught for a only a moment, but it was only a moment that this ‘girl’ needed to become fascinated with what it was she had seen and had almost instantly fallen in love with. As she drew closer to the target of her new found obsession she let out a silent gasp; the sight she had become fixated on was one that would lead to something socially frowned upon by all of her current company. 

Slowly she gathered herself once more as it was not often she was lost for thought, usually her mind churned over excitedly with ideas. Right at this moment however, Alice’s mind was completely blank. Her eyes focused upon her target; a young male, looking just a little older than herself, perhaps a year or so. He looked well kept compared to the other teens that resided in the room; a slim waist covered by a pin striped waistcoat was followed by a matching jacket and  trousers that fell to just below his ankles and hugged the rim of his pointed shoes. Slowly Alice crept across the varnished floor, careful to not make a sound. The teen ran a hand through his Jet black hair, his face was unknown to her at this moment. Alice’s breath grew louder and her pace quickened, so as not to lose the boy if he had the opportunity to move from his current position, she drew closer.  Alice’s mind began working once more, but alas this only made her jump causing her to crash to the floor in a bundle of silk and ribbon, quite like an overgrown bluebell.

Suddenly she was surrounded by grimly grinning guests, all with their own opinion as to how she looked. Just as quickly as they appeared they were shooed out of the room and slowly the whole house; the party was over, what brilliant timing one might think to end the party on such a sight. This was the furthest thing from Alice’s mind and her eyes darted back and forth as she struggled out her silken coffin in frantic search for the boy she had seen earlier.  Her heart started to race, the thought that this was unacceptable in her family’s eyes did not cross her mind; why does the sex of someone matter as long as you truly love them?
Yes, this was a very rash decision, but perhaps it was simply hormones, living as a girl must have taken a toll on poor Alistair in someway. He was told to be a girl from the day he could walk; living his life as a “Mirror of his mother” the most common phrase he would hear in his life but now he simply wanted to break free and be himself even if he would not be fully accepted as an individual. Perhaps his parents were to be blamed? Perhaps it was for the best, for if he was to live his life as a girl he must like the same gender, in theory it was more of a head start on the situation.  Slowly Alice got to her feet and looked about once more, a sigh escaped from her crimson coated lips as she gave up hope on her search. A soft voice from behind made her jump once more. She quickly braced herself on the doorframe.
“Careful, you don’t want to ruin such a beautiful dress” the teen explained with a soft smile; the smile was not the only detail taken in by the breathless Alice who was currently too busy studying each detail of the older boy’s face and resisted the urge to reach forward and run a hand over the boy’s visage.
Slowly Alice came to speak “I…I’m Alice” she explained trying to sound as genuine as possible when one was lying through their teeth, but she let this through as she smiled widely at the boy and awaited a response. She would find out all she could about the boy she had fallen for quite literally.
“I’m Alexander” he replied with an equally wide grin, causing them both to chuckle quite abruptly as though they had known each other for even longer than they had in reality. 
         Slowly the room emptied and it left Alexander, Alice and her mother, who slowly made her way over to the two teens with a look of curiosity on her face.          “Alice, you had better let young Alexander leave, he probably has to get home to his parents.” she explained in a clear attempt to break the teens apart,  which was quickly foiled as Alexander turned to face the elder with a soft smile “That’s alright, my mother and father aren’t actually in the country at the moment. I’m home alone.” he replied briefly causing Alice’s mother to scowl crudely and leave he room. “Well, don’t stay up too late.” she hissed rather cruelly compared to her earlier, sunnier disposition.
         As her mother disappeared from sight Alice turned back to face Alexander with another wide grin which slowly dissolved into a blank expression as she tried to think of something to say. This caused Alexander to let out a light chuckle as he moved ever so slightly closer to Alice. Blushing lightly Alice now had to look up into the boy’s eyes, making her look quite timid.
         Looking about for only a moment the boy leant forward slightly and touched his lips to Alice’s cheeks quite quickly before pulling away once more with a proud smirk planted firmly on his face.
         However, it did not last as Alice took hold of his face with both hands and roughly kissed him in reply. This would not have startled the boy as much as it did if it had not been for him noticing something quite odd about he girl upon closer inspection. Slowly, his eyes made their way over and across from Alice’s fringe and found what appeared to be a darker hair, quite a few in fact. Unfortunately, in the excitement Alice had knocked her wig askew and her now earlier dyed hair showed prominently against the blonde of her wig.
         Alexander moved his hand from it’s resting place on Alice’s right shoulder and tugged rather roughly on the now apparent wig causing it to come off quite easily. Alistair now embarrassed and unsure of what the other boy would say stayed staring at the ground for quite some time, tears welling in his eyes.
         Meanwhile Alexander had taken several steps back, the wig clutched firmly in his fist. His eyes darted from it to the newly discovered male in front of him. He had no idea what to say, he was disgusted, not for the fact that this boy had been masquerading as a female but that he had just moments ago been kissing the aforementioned male, and enjoying it more than he should.
         Slowly Alistair raised his head and tried to look the other boy in the eyes but failed as the other teen turned away briskly, the wig falling to the floor as he whispered softly. “I’m sorry.” and made his way swiftly out of the room and then the house leaving Alistair alone in the grand hall, with only a few words left to escape his lips for the night.
         
         “Please don’t go…”