That was the last of our contact with the mysterious Mr. Solitare for now. Melissa let me and Lily know that they weren't following her on social media, but they'd purchased a few of her movies and photo packs. Only the ones where I was with her though, so it seemed like they weren't interested in my friend, just me and Lily.

On Monday it was back to our regular classes and stuff at college for me and Melissa. Tuesday after class I bought her a nice pair of prop glasses as a thank-you for her computer help on Sunday. Then while we had dinner she practiced acting more like a stereotypical bimbo without them, then acting like a nerd with them.

It was pretty funny and we both had a good laugh thinking about what sorts of reactions she'd get at college with that kind of performance.

After dinner I decided to show her how I could make the horns and tail re-appear. Melissa was really surprised by that. Both that Lily taught me how to do it myself, and that I enjoyed having them enough that I wanted to be able to have them appear whenever I wanted. It surprised me a little too, when I realized I actually sort of missed them for the past two days.

My horns inspired Melissa to switch up her act from 'bimbo' to 'horny bimbo', including the obligatory puns. She proceeded to give me a 'horn job' which started out as part of her silly act, but considering how sensitive my horns were things quickly got heated up. Then I showed her some of the tricks I'd learned with my tail, and the two of us pretty much spent the rest of the night in bed together. Neither of us got much sleep, but it was worth it.

Wednesday morning she took the prop glasses to school, and started using them now and then when she needed to 'act smart'. I struggled to keep a straight face at first, but did my best to go along with the gag. I had a feeling it was going to be a lot of fun, for both of us.

Lily was quiet through much of the week, and I couldn't tell if it was because she was worried about that mystery person or if it was just her normal quiet.

And at long last, Friday rolled around and I was looking forward to my date with Susan. We texted each other around noon to confirm we were still on. As soon as me and Melissa were done with our classes we both hurried home to get ready. She had a date with a guy we'd run into at lunch on Thursday while she was doing her ditz act. So she was going to play that up for her date since he seemed to be into it, while I was just planning on looking nice and normal.

Me and Susan weren't going anywhere fancy, we were meeting at a typical chain 'restaurant and sports bar' place. The main attraction wasn't the food or the ambience, but the location. It was adjacent to the mall across the street, so it wasn't too far for me to walk there. I didn't actually know where Susan lived or if she drove, but she picked the place so I figured it was either convenient for her too, or she was just being gracious.

It didn't take long to pick an outfit. I opted for black leggings, a mid-length black skirt, and a pretty black blouse. I wore my sexy black lace lingerie underneath though, incase the date moved on that far. My make-up was my usual slightly-goth look. Over-all it wasn't too flashy or too fancy, just nice and one or two steps up from casual.

As I finished with my make-up, Melissa joined me in the washroom. She stood next to me at the mirror to check herself out. She was in blue skinny jeans and one of her tight pink tops with a very deep scoop neck. Between that and the bra she picked, it was almost like she was serving her boobs up on a platter. And as usual her make-up was bright and cheerful.

"I take it your date's into those?" I asked as I sort of eyed her chest in the mirror.

She smirked, "Yeah, he barely looked me in the eyes once when we met yesterday. And I wasn't even wearing anything special. I want to see if he'll be able to finish any sentences when I'm sitting across from him like this."

For emphasis she leaned forward slightly which gave an even better view of her cleavage, then jiggled her boobs for added effect.

I rolled my eyes, then frowned and asked "Wait do you even like him? Like, are you even interested in this guy at all? Or are you just going out with him to tease him or something?"

Melissa shrugged, "Just going out for some fun, I'm not looking for a boyfriend or a relationship or anything like that. And if I was, I sure as hell wouldn't be looking for it from him."

That made me frown slightly. I wondered for the thousandth time what exactly she asked Lily to do for her, and what Lily wanted in return. It felt at times that my friend had changed a lot more than just physically, and sometimes it left me feeling a little uneasy. It also made me wonder if I'd changed, and maybe I didn't even realize it.

"Melissa?" I asked, "Have I changed much since I became Mara? I don't mean the obvious physical stuff, I mean like, my personality or whatever?"

She gave me a puzzled look, then put on her ditzy act and teased "I need to go get my glasses to answer that, silly girl."

I frowned at her, "C'mon Melissa, I'm being serious."

"Sorry," she sighed.

She was sort of studying me in the mirror with a thoughtful frown, then finally answered "Not a lot? You're still a bit of a goof sometimes, and you still get into trouble. There's some differences for sure, but it's more like stuff that was always there, now it's coming out? Like you've always been a kind, caring person? But before you didn't really have the self-confidence to speak up and involve yourself. Now when you see someone's upset or hurting, you'll offer hugs and compassion, you'll reach out and talk rather than just being sad for them without trying to interact."

She added, "That's another thing, you're a lot more touchy-feely now? I mean, you're more willing to give and receive hugs. And I guess over-all, you have a lot more self-confidence. And of course you're way happier, you smile more. But like I said? I don't really think you've changed in any significant ways. Being Mara has just allowed your real personality to shine through a lot brighter."

That brought a smile to my face, "Thanks Melissa. That's really nice of you to say."

She smiled back, "So what brought that on?"

I shrugged slightly, "I don't know, I was just sort of looking at the two of us in the mirror and thinking how different we both are now, to like what we were like five months ago?"

After a brief hesitation I asked, "What about you? Do you think you've changed much since your transition?"

I was still watching her in the mirror, and I almost thought I saw a brief flicker of doubt in her smile. Then her expression shifted to a smirk and she shrugged "Yeah of course. I'm like a million times sexier, and I've got hips and a fantastic ass and amazing boobs now!"

"You know what I mean Melissa," I sighed. "Not physical stuff, like inside stuff."

She sighed as well, then shrugged "Sure. Like I was saying about you? There's a lot of stuff I kept hidden. Like buried way down deep inside, because I was embarrassed and because my folks would have shit themselves if I let it out when everyone still thought I was a guy. I even kept stuff from you, because I had no idea how you'd react? I worried you'd think less of me, or you'd think I was a freak or a pervert or something."

"Sorry Melissa," I turned and pulled her into a hug. "I didn't mean to bring you down or anything. Like I said, I just started thinking about how different we both are."

She hugged me back, then asked "Is it because I'm dating guys now? Or because I'm mostly just looking for a good time and not a relationship?"

I blushed. Of course she'd know exactly what I was worrying about.

"Yeah, I guess that's part of it." I admitted. "I get why you never let on about being bi back when you were in the closet, because of your folks. The relationship stuff, I just don't know what to think I guess?"

"I'd say I'm pan rather than bi," Melissa replied. "And yeah, my folks wouldn't have even heard 'pan' or 'bi'. They'd have assumed I meant gay. They'd have probably assumed you were too and we were a couple? And yeah, they'd have flipped. As for the other stuff, I guess I'm just making up for lost time? Like all the awkward high-school dates and crushes and whatever, all that stuff we missed out on because of dysphoria and low self-esteem? I think I'm just making up for that. And maybe I'm going a little wild about it, but you know me? I'm being careful, using protection, and I'm having fun. So don't worry about me, ok Mara?"

I smiled, "Ok Melissa. And yeah, as long as you're happy that's the important thing."

We were still hugging, and she gave me a little squeeze. "Are you happy too?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I love my life, I love that you're happy and got what you wanted. And I'm happy about how things worked out for my mom too."

"Then don't worry about me," she said with a grin. "Because I'm just as happy about all those things as you are. Now you go have fun with your Jedi girlfriend, I'm going to go give Jake the night of his life. Or Jack, or Jim, or whatever the hell his name is."

I could tell from her smirk that she was just teasing about not remembering her date's name.

"Ok Melissa," I grinned. "Thanks."

We finally let go of each other, and after one last check of my hair and make-up I figured I was ready.

"I think I'm good to go," I said quietly, with more than a hint of anxiety in my voice. This was actually my first real date, and I was a little scared of messing it up.

"You'll be fine," Melissa said confidently. "Just try and keep out of trouble? Maybe don't accept open drinks from dodgy guys?"

I blushed and rolled my eyes, "One time! It happened once!"

She nodded, "I know. Just be careful. It's great you have a guardian demon watching your back, but try not to make your guardian demon work too hard."

My cheeks remained red as I finally left the bathroom. I pulled on a warm black jacket and slung my purse over my shoulder then said "Have a good night Melissa, have fun!"

"I always do," she replied.

A couple minutes later I was down at ground level, and made my way out of the apartment building. It was already dark out, but it wasn't too cold yet. There was a bit of a breeze but nothing terrible. I probably would have been better off in jeans rather than a skirt, but I wanted to keep the option of having my tail and horns appear later on. Pants would have made that impractical or impossible, but with the skirt and leggings it was doable.

Five minutes later I was cutting through the mall parking-lot as I hurried to the restaurant.

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