Chapter 20

After seven straight hours in the air, the group had finally arrived back home in the small city of Eden, Nevada.

The air was dry, but chilly thanks to the mid-October weather. People would always give Gabe the side-eye back in college when he’d tell them about how cold it gets back home. Everyone outside the state seems to forget Las Vegas is about as south as you can get in the state, and they were as north as you could be without legally calling yourself an “idaho-er”, and Gabe was thankful he never had to call himself something that stupid.

He remembered growing up how he wished they could have moved somewhere nicer than this no-name town. Even Carson would be nicer, though his mother refused to live that far south. She always lived in fear that the supposed criminals down in Vegas would come up north and ruin her peace and quiet. The only time she ever got politically active in their town was when that third casino almost got built up here.

Not like there was much business for them up here anyway. The casino failed to be built there, but there was no stopping progress… or at least greed, as the builders moved to the next town over. Where there were plenty of what his mother politely called degenera got their fill of sin, or so Gabriel his mother saying. Gabe never went to one himself, he never felt the need to gamble. That and his mother would kill him if he ever did.

Thoughts of growing up in Nevada flooded back into Gabriel as they landed as did thoughts of the first time he got away. He was so happy to leave the state when he got into college. His madre didn’t even believe him when he told her the great news that he had been accepted into Dartmouth. It wasn’t like she didn’t have faith in him, his grades were good, but not perfect. He had even managed to pull off a scholarship, it wasn’t enough to cover the education, but with it there was no way she could tell him he couldn’t go off to New Hampshire. Gabriel had never been happier to be away from his boring life. What he had never considered was how much of an outsider he would be off on the east coast with only a handful of Hispanic students.

Living up in New England for years to get his Masters degree definitely made Gabe miss some parts of home. Missing things like the authentic food he’d get to eat, not feeling so alone despite being in a fraternity, but most of all, he missed being “that kid who was so smart, he’ll definitely end up being successful.”

There was something encouraging being recognized for being brilliant as he was, even if he did get bullied for it back at school. In college, it was another world. Everyone was either rich, or smart and in some cases both. So many of the former would sneer and call him a charity case because of his small scholarship and lack of funds. Other than a rare few cases from teachers his mind was ignored, he was just another kid. The most attention he ever got was when he pushed himself with fraternity brothers, getting sick from the amount he drank, but he kept going, needing the validation of their attention.

“Gabriella! You’re lagging behind, keep up with the rest of the class!” The words from the school principal jarred Gabriel back to the present where he could practically feel those same sneers from his students. None of them saw him as their superior like they should, it was like being around those rich elites all over again, only worse.

To them all, he was just Maria’s dimwitted daughter who only got to even come on the field trip because she was the teacher’s child. Gabe didn’t even care about being a good educator at this point. The fact that he had to hide his intelligence anyway infuriated him to no end.

Regardless of them all being future business leaders of America, a group name that sounded absurd to Gabriel considering he knew what grades some of them would have gotten if he didn’t grade on a curve. Because of that, he knew he was superior to them as far as intellect was concerned. It was impossible to take his rightful place when he had to lazily follow the students and respond to any of their inane small talk like he was from the valley. After three days of behaving like a vapid dim-witted bimbo, he was starting to worry that if this took any longer to reverse, he’d find himself stuck with the feminine idiot verbal tics after he went back to wearing pants.

Walking along Samuel noticed the hispanic girl once again get a blank look on her face as her walking pace once again slowed down. Her lack of focus made him wonder if she should be tested for ADHD and made a mental note to speak to Maria about it. He wasn’t sure how she would take it, some parents acted like he was insulting their kids. For now though he figured conversation would help her stay in the now and keep up with everyone as they went to baggage claim. “So Gabriella, what classes do you like the most?” He had swayed to the back of the group to be with the girl, gently putting his hand over Gabby’s back to make sure she kept up with the group's pace.

Jerking slightly, being startled by the man’s large hand touching him, Gabe blinked a few times, giving the impression of a girl fluttering her lashes. “Uh, um, math?” Gabe meekly spoke under his breath, unsure if it was the right answer. It was the correct answer for him, but it didn’t feel right for Gabby. ‘What would Gabby have said?’ He asked himself, his answer already given.

“Wow, what a coincidence.” The answer surprised the older man, expecting her to mention something creative like her mother. “Did you know your uncle actually teaches Math at our school? When he shows up again, I’m sure the two of you will have a lot to talk about.”

Gabe unconsciously slumped his shoulders as they walked, it hitting him what that really meant. He still had yet to give Banks a real credible reason for why he failed to show up to help the students with the tour with zero notice and so far that piece of the puzzle had eluded him. Then there was the problem of removing himself from that stupid new system the man had brought to the school to test for Mega Corp. He needed to remove himself from the fingerprint file as a student or his life could fall apart the second the school tried to set him up as a teacher. It would make everything he went through worse than moot. They could think he was some sort of sexual deviant and put him in prison. Freedom from skirts and makeup was almost here, but he had had to get this done to save his career and his life.

Noticing the comment about the girl’s uncle making her sad, Sam mentally kicked himself for once again putting his foot in his mouth. Unable to leave things alone he did his best to fix the problem he just made. “Hey now, don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” The man’s first thought was how odd it was that she was so hurt by the man missing, not thinking they had even met yet, but she had lost the family she knew. The fact that he had just gone missing without a word must have hurt her a great deal. Making his employees' actions that much worse in his mind. “Princess, I can tell you care deeply for your family.” Mentally he patted himself on the back for not adding something stupid like “Whether you have met them or not.” He did want to help her, the girl's plight broke his heart. “Look, I’m sure his phone got damaged and he’s just having trouble getting in touch. It’ll all be ok.”

Shifting his gaze, Gabriel made eye contact with the much taller man for just a split second before looking away. ‘Please just go away and stop talking me.’ he mentally pleaded.

Seeing the teen look away so demure and not a smile, fake or not in sight he was sure he wasn’t helping Gabriella at all and tried to switch his tactics. “Well this being your first time in Eden Nevada, there are a few things worth seeing.” Samuel himself hadn’t been in the city, let alone the state for terribly long, hadn't been to a lot of places, but he had made a list. “I heard there is a place you can go gold panning, from what I understand it is mostly for tourists, but it sounds fun and I read one story online of someone actually finding enough gold to pay for his entire vacation.”

The story sounded like a load of crap to Gabe, the very premise of people coming to Eden for a vacation was absurd, but he nodded along. Giving the man that stupid vapid smile for it and each of the places he mentioned, trying to think of an excuse to walk away. ‘Maybe if I mention the word period I can make him feel uncomfortable enough to fuck off.’ He believed the idea had merit, but one problem with it was the fact that it made him uncomfortable too. Before he could work up the courage to put his idea into action or cower away from it his thoughts were interrupted by a pair of airline employees coming up to the group.

“Is there a Mr DeLeon in the group?!” the female employee asked, knowing this group had the person she was looking for. “I’m so glad we caught up with you. We’re so sorry about the mix-up!” Gabe’s heart sank as he saw a woman dressed up in the airport uniform, followed by a man carrying what was very obviously his bag. The bag he thought he would never see again at this point. The dark blue duffle bag that contained his clothes, cologne, and everything else he thought had been lost by the airport.

Ecstatic to see his property Gabe almost jumped up, hopping in place with his hand raised like some energetic child saying “Yes! Yes! This is mine! I am Gabe DeLeon and these are my manly items!” but he felt the looming presence of the principle behind himself. ‘If I did that, I would be dead.’ There was no way for him to talk to them in private without heavy suspicion. His masculinity wasn’t worth the cost of his job and possibly his freedom if society decided to lock him up for all of this. ‘Mierda, mierda, mierda.’ Gabriel thought, his bag, his clothes were so close and there was nothing he could do.

Taking note of Gabriella halting in place, her eyes locked on the bag, the young girl paralyzed with what he assumed was social anxiety. He had just stuck his foot in his mouth with bringing up her missing uncle and now these people that she had never met was coming up to the group with his bag, looking for the man. He was sure they thought he was here thanks to the ticket that was in his name that got transferred to Gabriella.

Glancing over to Maria at the front of the group he saw her stare at them in what he assumed was shock. So far his impression of her was that she was quick to act, not the type to freeze up in an emergency. It was her brother who was missing though and he didn’t have an idea of what this moment was doing to the two. Feeling the need to fix things, to make them right and protect them, at least protect the teen girl under his charge, Samuel put his hand on her shoulder and gave a light and hopefully reassuring squeeze. On this trip at least he was in the role of protective patriarch and stepped in.

“I’m sorry but this is actually Mr DeLeon’s niece. Gabriel DeLeon is still off in DC, isn't that right dear?” He leaned down and gave Gabe a pat on the head.

The two employees hadn’t been addressing Gabe directly at all, they had been looking over the group, but now they looked at the young woman the tall man was talking about, confusion on their faces, unsure what he was talking about.

For Gabe the grip to his shoulder and now the hand on his head left a physical and emotional weight on him that pressure only added to his addled sense of security he had towards his masculinity. If he agreed, he’d be denying his manhood and even his adulthood. He’d be admitting functionally to the world that he was just a child. There was no way he would live that down. Even if no other person would know the truth, and at least Maria would, it would haunt him forever. The looming dread of being exposed and all that came with it brought a tightness to his chest, like a rubber band around his lungs.

The best Gabriel could do was stumble out a few words that he could barely think through. “Uh, I, uh, don’t know?”

Smiling down at the girl, Sam patted her head once more before sliding his hand down to her shoulder once more. He would protect any of his students, do what he could to help them, but never before had he met someone in her situation. “She is right, we do not actually know the whereabouts of Mr. DeLeon, but we are hoping he will reach out soon. Gabriella here did have her uncle's ticket put in her name, so maybe that is why the wires got crossed.”

Not understanding the situation yet doing her best to keep using her customer service voice the airline employee extricate from the situation and wished the policy to get everything in writing they could wasn’t in place. “I'm sorry for the inconvenience. For insurance and policy sake though, can we have it for the record from her herself that she’s not Mr DeLeon?” she said as the elderly male staffer bent down to look at the hispanic girl like he would to address a child.

“I know it is silly, just tell us who you are and we all can be on our way.” The man said, pulling out a notepad.

Being addressed like a kid, while dressed like a teen girl made the feminized Gabe very much feel like he was a child all over again. “Um, I- am not… English.” Gabe said out loud, the last part supposed to be a mental reminder after slipping into Spanish so often over the last few days. “Not Mr DeLeon. I am Gabriella DeLeon. I'm a seventeen year old girl.” The gray haired older man gave a small snicker at how much information the girl gave when questioned. Considering how she answered it seemed like a practiced response to make sure she was understood.

The words of an innocent girl, or at least that is what they sounded like to everyone when the employees had asked a ridiculous question. Yet to Gabe, admitting that he isn’t himself, just a teen girl, echoed in his mind like it was a vast chamber. The words lingered, taking on a life of their own, infecting everything they touched. The weekend had gotten worse and worse, he was wearing a dress and pantyhose and had made out with a male, an eighteen year old boy. The name Gabriella… Gabby seemed to define reality around him… and he feared his new reality.

“Well, we’re very sorry for the disturbance. Please, tell Mr DeLeon, if you hear from him, that company policy is that we will hold onto this for a week before we return it to its listed address on the tag, unless he can come in person to claim it.”

Standing in silence, Gabe watched his bag being taken away. Knowing that if they had it here, the bag more than likely never left the state, something he wished had been true for himself as well at this point. This fiasco was coming closer to an end, he had more clothes and shoes at home, but not a lot. Gabriel wasn’t exactly a shopaholic, but the bag with his things inside felt like it had turned into a metaphor for his whole life, for his sense of self. Gabe needed that bag and when he got it, everything could be left behind. He would reclaim his manhood. Leaving him hope for what was to come, just not something he could claim right now.

Looking across the crowd of students Samuel made eye contact with Maria to give her what he hoped was a comfortable look before addressing her daughter. “Gabriella, don’t you worry. From what I have heard your uncle is an intelligent and capable man. Once he comes home I’m sure he is going to tell you a story about some misadventure.” The large man said, not wanting to add any of the negative things he had heard about the man to the girl or his dark thoughts of what could have happened.

It wasn’t long before Gabe found himself reunited with the pink backpack that contained all of Gabriella’s earthly possessions. The fact that he had to walk away from his actual bag and take this one added enough emotional baggage to the pink container that it felt heavier on his shoulders. Glancing around, he saw happy face after happy face on the teenagers, despite the incredibly long flight, feeling longer for some… like himself, each of them, even if tired, were energized to come home.

It was a hard contrast to himself. The smile on his face was for show. It was how Gabby would look after all. Things were coming to a close, once home he could remove the feminine garments. The purple pantyhose on his legs kept bunching and the bra dug into his shoulders. The end of the tunnel was just a few steps away all he had to do was carry on.

With all the bags being properly tagged the task of getting all the students their bags was more organized than Maria would have expected. Each of them being more motivated to pay attention now that they were home than when arriving in DC helped. Then in the middle of the pack, looking out at nothing she saw her little brother. The cute pinafore dress and purple tights made him look… she considered him for a moment longer before coming to the word, adorable.

He had his problems, for heaven’s sake she knew he had problems. Lack of focus and spacing out hadn’t used to be one. She would have thought it was exhaustion, but considering this had been near a constant thing on the trip she wasn’t sure if this was more part of the act or an odd mental defense mechanism to handle all the stress of pretending to be a seventeen year old girl. Walking up she bent her knees slightly so that her face was level with his. “¿Estás aguantando bien?” she asked if he was holding up okay in a soft voice.

“Hmm?” The smile on his face grew till it touched his eyes, a hint of his teeth showing. “Better than I was before, will be better real soon.”

The reply and sweet smile on Gabriel’s face, Gabriella’s face, brought one to hers as well. “Some of the students, like Alice, have already been picked up by their parents. Once they are all gone we can head out, Mom should be here in about half an hour to pick us up.”

Taking a half stumbling step back from his sister, Gabe’s eyes went wide. “She is coming here!?” He hadn’t even considered facing his madre in a dress. “Why didn’t you park here?” While his voice quivered slightly a bit of anger slipped into his words. It only made Maria scoff.

“And pay those rates? No thank you.” The happy smile on her face turned into something closer to a smirk, the idea of their mother seeing him looking like this was going to be a delight.

Standing there trying to process what was in store for his immediate future, Gabe squatted down, putting his backpack down so he could unzip it and pray to a higher power that there was something inside that would allow him to be himself. There was no such thing within Gabriella’s things, but it had been long enough that the medication he had been given had worn off and panic was once again able to set in.

That was where Becky found her friend, going through her bag like she had lost something. “Gabby, are you okay? Did you leave something back in DC?”

Hand still in the backpack Gabe looked up at the dark haired teen. “My… abuela.” He paused for a moment, almost saying his mom. “Grandma is coming to pick us up and…” The feminized man wasn’t sure what to say next, it wasn’t like he could confess any truth to her.

“Ohhhhh.” Becky nodded, understanding Gabby was nervous meeting her grandma for the first time and more than likely wanted to look her best. “You look perfect, Gabby. Stand up.” Becky said with one hand on her hip.

Gabriel didn’t look perfect, he looked wrong in so many ways, but in his fright he did as the girl said, standing back up instead of questioning her like he would normally do. That was when he felt her arms wrap around him, hugging him tight. “Ahh…”

“I’m super glad I got to meet you Gabby. I just wanted you to hear that before I left. My Mom…” She rolled her eyes just thinking about the tall blonde woman. “She is here to pick me up. I hope to see you again real soon.”

With more than a little hesitation Gabe hugged the girl back. There wasn’t any arousal from the contact, but still it felt good to be embraced when his mind was running a thousand miles per hour, fueled by his panic. “Yeah, me too.” Was the best he could come up with to reply and then before he knew it Becky was running off.

One by one, two by two, the students vanished and soon enough all twelve had departed, leaving the three adults. The only one who didn’t know Gabriella’s real identity was the next to leave. Gabe watched him give his sister an awkward handshake that made it clear he wanted to do more, while his sister looked back at him purposely acting coy.

If he had the headspace for it he might have told them to get a room, or gagged, one of the two. Instead he stayed silent, an idea of using what he was seeing bubbling up in his mind, a way to fix the little security system with his finger prints.

The thoughts didn’t get far when it was time for the big man to say his goodbys to him and gave him a large hug. The man’s arms easily wrapped around him and Gabe was sure he could pull him in half if he wished. It was that thought and how inappropriate the action was if he really was a student that brought a rosy blush to his cheeks. The pure embarrassment of being wrapped up like a child.

“You are home now, princess, I look forward to seeing you in school.” Not being embraced back didn’t bother the man, he was just trying to put the girl at ease and make sure she knew that she wasn’t alone. The heavy blush on her cheeks once again reminded him of the crush he thought she might have and did his best to not let out a sigh. “You take care of your Mom, she is a good woman and the two of you deserve one another.”

When the awkward parting ended Gabe gave a hard look at his sister, the smile falling from his face. “Great, now it is just us. We can finally stop all the bullshit you got me into. Let’s hit the gift shop so I can put on a pair of pants and a t-shirt before Mom sees me like this.”

A bit shocked at the abrupt change in her sibling, Maria pressed her tongue the the inside of her face to keep her mouth busy instead of ripping into the dress wearing man. She wasn’t going to do that, wasn’t going to make a scene, even though she very much wanted to correct his own bullshit. “Gabriella, I think you look adorable. No need for you to change before meeting your grandmother. No need to be nervous, hija.” She added the word daughter just to dig it in.

“Maria…” Gabriel almost told the milk cow exactly where she could stick it, but he didn’t have any money. “Please, don’t do this to me.”

Actually saying please was enough to soften the heart of the thirty one year old woman, considering how often she had heard him say that word to her. Yet it wasn’t enough, he had gotten himself into this mess, sure she lent a hand, but he picked up a shovel the second he got into DC and never stopped digging, making every problem worse. “This trip was expensive, you made it more so. I’m not going to stand here and be blamed for your problems and then hand over my hard earned money.”

Crossing his arms under the fake breast line, Gabe pressed his lipstick covered lips into a line. “Come on… You know I will pay you back once I get access to my bank account.”

Instead of addressing his problem Maria just leaned in a little closer. “Careful Gabriella, your voice sounds a little manly, you are going to make people question you.” His voice had slipped down an octave, but between speaking almost constantly for days as Gabby and his lack of a deep voice to begin with she didn’t expect anyone to pay him a lick of attention.

The poke into his fear of being discovered played out perfectly for Maria, for the rest of the time they stood their ride to arrive he didn’t say a word. Though it did appear to her with each passing minute he was pulling more into himself, looking like he was slipping back into the role of her demure daughter.

Driving the little Toyota car that used to belong to her daughter, before she had gifted it to her when her own broke down, Camila Gabriella DeLeon pulled up to the curb next to where Maria stood with her suitcase. A smile came to her face seeing her eldest child was not just safe but appeared to be in a good mood. She paid no mind to the teen girl with her till they both got into the vehicle.

The young hispanic girl looked cute in her outfit, her makeup was flawless and Camila was ready to ask who the student was, assuming she needed a ride home when it hit her. It wasn’t a girl at all, it was her baby boy. “Gabriel!”

The deepest shame Gabe had ever felt rushed through him when his mother said his name with such shock as he got into the back seat. “Hola Mami.” he said in a small voice.

The high ponytail on Camila’s head whipped about as she went from looking her boy over, then to her daughter and then back to him. “What is going on here?” She asked, having just enough presence of mind to put the car into park so that she didn’t need to keep pressing on the break.

An almost musical laugh erupted from Maria, unable to contain it any longer. “Mami, you are not going to believe the story about what happened on the trip. Though I am sure you are going to love hearing about your son Gabriel turning into your granddaughter Gabriella.

In the back seat Gabe crossed his arms once more, harrumphing and feeling the dire need to look away from his mothers eyes as they trailed over him, like her stare could pull out the story from him.