=::= Tally's PoV =::=

"What do you think?" Beth asked as she led me into the house. "Want to mess with clothes first? Or maybe we should get lunch?"

I'd been feeling more and more overwhelmed all morning, then talking with my mom on the phone just about crushed me. Beth and her mom were amazing though, they knew what to do and what to say to help me feel a little better.

Then the whole drive here Beth kept playing with my tail. It felt weird and awkward but at the same time it was really nice. Now I had some butterflies in my stomach and I kind of wanted her to play with my tail again, but at the same time I felt really embarrassed and confused about how it felt.

So for now I was making sure not to let her get behind me so she couldn't grab it.

"Um," I hesitated. "Both sound really good? But maybe food first? I uh, haven't had much to eat since yesterday morning..."

Beth gave me a sad look, then led me into the kitchen. I stayed back while she opened the fridge and freezer. After a few seconds she grinned, "We have frozen pizza if you like?"

I rolled my eyes and grimaced, "Seriously Beth, there's other foods you know? And your mom said to have something healthy for lunch. How about we just make sandwiches or something?"

She pouted but closed the freezer and asked, "Tuna? Ham? Something else?"

"Tuna please."

Beth got a can of cola out of the fridge and offered it to me, "Have a seat, I'll get lunch ready."

"Could I get water instead?" I asked as I felt my cheeks colouring. "I can't drink soda anymore, the bubbles are too weird on my tongue."

My girlfriend suppressed a giggle as she put the can down on the counter for herself, and got a bottle of water out instead.

I mumbled a quiet thanks, then moved to the kitchen table. I sat sideways on one of the chairs, it was the most comfortable option to avoid squishing my tail. Then I sipped my water and watched as my girlfriend made us lunch. It took her a couple minutes then she brought two plates over to the table, along with her soda.

"Thanks Beth!" I grinned as I dug in. It tasted great and I was hungry enough that I got through my whole sandwich while she was still eating the first half of hers.

She offered, "If you're still hungry you can have the other half of mine."

I shook my head, "No thanks. I was really hungry, but I'm full now."

"Ok Tally." She added with a smirk, "I'd ask if you liked it, but judging by how fast it disappeared and how much your tail's flapping back and forth I can guess it was ok."

My cheeks went bright red and I sank down in my chair, then sipped some water so I didn't have to reply.

When she was finished eating we left all the dishes and stuff in the sink, then went upstairs. We stopped in the hall just outside her room and she gestured, "That'll be your room for now. Technically it's Sadie's room, like technically my room's Amandas? But they both moved out to go to college."

"Are you sure it's ok though?" I asked. I couldn't help feeling a little anxious about just taking her older sister's room. I knew if I ever went in my big brother's room Dylan would kick my ass.

Beth nodded, "It's fine. Sadie won't mind, and if she knew why you were staying with us she'd be even more certain it was ok."

That almost brought tears to my eyes again. It was crazy how my emotions kept swinging hard in every direction. Happy, nervous, sad, happy and sad at the same time. It almost seemed like up till yesterday I was only half alive or something, then since I became my real self I could suddenly feel things for the first time. And I wasn't used to it, so everything kept overwhelming me.

"C'mon Tally," Beth said as she took my hand in hers again.

She could probably tell how I was feeling, I remembered Stacey said my ears and tail would tell everybody all my emotions. So I let her lead me into her bedroom, and we sat together on her bed. I knew my tail was in danger of being petted again, but for now I didn't mind.

"You and your whole family are just so nice," I said softly. "You're all so loving and caring and everything. Like your mom even let us skip school?"

My girlfriend shrugged, and I caught something in her expression. Like she was going to say something then stopped at the last moment. She looked sad for a second or two, then finally said "It wasn't always like this Tally. Three or four years ago, things were kinda rough here? We're better now, the last couple years we've all been a lot better and happier. And I guess since we've all been through that rough stuff, we want to help other people too? Like I'd want to help you anyways since you're my girlfriend, but my mom, my sisters, they'd want to help just because you need it."

That left me with another bunch of emotions to work through, and I had to wipe away some tears. "I wish my family was like that. My big brother Dylan's a bully and a creep, my parents..."

"It's ok," she said when my voice trailed off. "Let's just focus on right now, ok? Let's not worry about the past or the future, just deal with the present. Want to try on some clothes?"

I took a couple deep breaths the nodded, "Yeah. I'd like that a lot."

"Cool," Beth grinned. "Just relax, I'll start pulling out things I think might work for you ok?"

I nodded and stayed on her bed for now, as I watched her move to the closet first.

I was sort of excited at the thought of trying on some girly clothes. Everything I owned was either so loose and baggy it was about to fall off, or it was almost impossible to deal with my tail. The fact that I might be able to fit into some of Beth's clothes was a kind of lucky break.

Just like the ears and tail, turning out so small had been an unexpected surprise. Except same with the ears and tail, it made sense after I thought about it. I liked foxes, especially silver foxes, so it fit that I'd end up being part silver fox. And maybe I was just a tiny bit envious of Bethany for being so small and cute, so turning out small and cute myself sort of made sense too.

Soon enough Beth had a small bundle of dresses and skirts and tops over one arm. She put them in a pile on the bed next to me, then went to her dresser and started looking through that. She pulled out a couple pairs of leggings, and had one or two small packages in her hands. Finally she moved to stand in front of me.

The leggings joined the pile of things next to me, and she held out two packages. One was opened but had something folded up inside, the other was still sealed. "These are new panties, I haven't worn them yet. There's still two pairs in here, that'll do you for today and tomorrow. And this is a new bra I haven't worn yet. It's a sports-bra, so it's stretchy and size isn't as critical."

She added, "Mom got it for me to wear at gym but I never bothered with it. You can change in the bathroom, or if you want to change in here then I'll go out to the hall so you have some privacy. Once you're in the panties and bra, then we can start trying out the rest of the clothes."

I thanked her as I accepted the two packages, then when she got to the part where she was going to see me in nothing but panties and a bra my cheeks went red.

"Can't I try on the clothes by my self?" I asked nervously.

Beth glanced at the pile of clothes then nodded, "Sure if you want. I was going to help, just in case. Or provide moral support. But if you'd rather do it alone I'll go back downstairs. Just keep track of what works and what doesn't, then you can take everything that works into your room and leave the rest here."

After a few seconds hesitation I nodded, "I think I can manage. I'll call if I get stuck or something."

"Ok Tally," she grinned, then she headed out and closed the door behind me.

It felt kind of weird being alone in my girlfriend's bedroom, getting ready to try on a bunch of her clothes. Weird, but maybe good. At least it was better than doing this in some dressing room in the mall.

The panties were white and the bra was sort of beige, they totally didn't go with anything but they both fit ok. And I felt a massive surge of euphoria as I stood there in girls underwear. There was a mirror on the wall over Beth's desk and I must have wasted five or ten minutes just staring at myself.

My ears were standing straight up and my tail was wagging again as I took in the image. I loved my short black hair and my cute rounded face. My eyes were amber now with flecks of brown, and when I smiled wide enough you could see my little fangs. I hadn't had much reason to smile that wide in the last two days, but right at that moment I sure did.

For a few blissful moments I forgot about all the other problems and troubles. I was Tally Amelia Lambert, and I was a cute foxgirl. I was going to pick out a cute outfit of girls clothes, and I was going to be adorable.

I finally moved back to the rest of the clothes and started going through them. Unfortunately none of the skirts worked. If I wore them over my tail, then my tail would stick up and my behind would be visible. If I wore them under my tail, they were too low and looked and felt kind of weird. It felt like I was showing off the top of my behind, even if it was hidden by my tail.

Dresses were mostly the same, my tail was too big and too floofy and too lively, so the back of the dresses were always being pulled up and I'd end up showing off my behind again. Beth didn't bother putting any jeans out for me, she already knew they wouldn't work. That left the leggings, and those actually worked ok for me. There was a black pair and a pink pair, I went with the black ones since they matched my fur and hair. I loved how they showed off the shape of my legs and everything, and even though they had to sit low at the back it didn't feel as strange as the skirts did.

With that sorted, tops were a lot easier. All the bright sunny colourful ones went in the pile with the dresses and skirts. There were a couple darker ones that went with my hair and fur and leggings, and I ended up with something that was more like a cross between a long top and a short dress. And it was perfect.

I basically just had one single outfit, and it wasn't even mine. But it felt nice, and I spent another ten minutes staring at myself in the mirror and grinning happily. Eventually I tore myself away and went back downstairs, where I found Bethany watching TV in the living-room.

She looked over at me when I appeared in the doorway and her eyes lit up. "Wow! Tally you look amazing!"

Her reaction was perfect and put that huge smile on my face again. My cheeks coloured slightly and my tail started flapping back and forth, but I didn't care because I just felt really good.

I sat down next to her on the sofa with my tail wrapped around between us, then told her this was basically the only thing that worked. I explained why the dresses and skirts didn't work with my tail, but at least I had one outfit that fit and looked good.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV together, and somehow my tail ended up in her lap while she cuddled and pet it and played with it. Which was still kind of awkward but also felt kind of amazing.

At about quarter to four we heard the front door open and Ms. Watson called out that she was home. Me and Beth got up to go greet her, but instead of Ms. Watson it was Jenny who came into the living-room first.

Jen was less than two months older than me, and only about six months older than my girlfriend. And while Beth was one of the smallest girls in school - now I was too - Jenny was one of the tallest. She was even taller than Ms. Watson.

I was actually a little scared of her since she broke my brother's nose in grade nine, even though I secretly wanted to thank her for doing it. It happened before me and Beth were friends, we didn't really get to know each other till last year. And we didn't start dating till two months ago.

Jenny was dancing as she moved past us, she had her earbuds in and was obviously enjoying her music. Then she came to a sudden stop as she finally noticed me standing next to Beth. Her eyes went wide and a huge smile formed on her lips.

She pulled out her earbuds as she demanded, "Oh my Goddess was I right? That's really -"

Fortunately my girlfriend cut her sister off and stated forcefully, "Her name is Tally."

Jen giggled, "When mom said we had an unexpected guest I thought she meant someone from work, not your girlfriend! Hey does that mean you got turned gay like Amanda?"

Bethany glared, "Jenny that's enough! Just leave us alone ok?"

I found myself cringing, despite my girlfriend's support. I was afraid the tall slim blonde was going to bully me and Beth as long as I was here. On the other hand I was kind of surprised at the tone in my girlfriend's voice. She almost sounded like a mom, the way she sounded angry, impatient, and disappointed all at the same time.

Jen just grinned and reached out to poke Beth in the tummy as she teased, "You must think you're cursed or something, right little sis? Every guy in your life keeps turning into a girl!"

I remembered Beth said almost the same thing this morning. I frowned at my girlfriend and asked in confusion, "Who are all these trans girls you know? Seriously, how do I not know about this?"

Before she could answer Jen giggled, "I'm one of them. Magical transition when I was twelve!"

Ms. Watson came into the room in time to see Jenny pop her earbuds back in. Then the tall blonde started dancing away as she sang, "My four year Jenny-versary is next month, and I demand presents!"

I frowned at the singing and dancing blonde, "But the spell's only been around for two years. How could you..."

My voice trailed off as I caught the expressions on Beth's and Ms. Watson's faces. My girlfriend had a sort of worried cringe going on, while her mom actually facepalmed. Obviously Jenny wasn't supposed to mention that stuff in front of me.

I turned and looked at Beth, then her mom. "How's that possible? There's only been magic for just over two years. Right?"

Beth and her mom exchanged an uncertain glance, like neither of them knew what to tell me.