The Big Day
by Valerie S.

     Jeff hurriedly ran inside after finding the white box on his doorstep. It contained his first "real" mask, and it was only the third piece of mail he'd received in his first two weeks in the new apartment. He had spent the three previous years waiting for this very moment. He'd been waiting to get one since 1996 when he first discovered Kerry's Lycra site while surfing the web on the junior college's computer. (He was afraid he'd get caught looking for this sort of stuff on his parent's computer, and they didn't have web access on the computers at Marina High, when he was still in high school.) As he still lived at home, he couldn't order one of the wonderful masks, as he was worried that his parents, or his little sister, Jennifer (10 months his junior) might wonder what he was up to. He'd ordered the mask as soon as he moved into his first apartment, (in West Los Angeles) when he transferred to UCLA. He'd been fascinated with masks since he was a small boy. His baby-sitter had this rubber mask she'd found at a garage sale that looked sort of like Marilyn Monroe, although he'd not realized that fact at the age of 10. His parents had gone away for the weekend, and left Sondra in charge of both Jennifer and himself. She lived in an apartment above the next-door neighbors garage, and was a student at the local junior college. Halloween fell on Saturday that year, and Sondra had brought the mask with her to wear when answering the door. He remembers what she looked like with the mask on, and how he found himself strangely attracted to her. He also remembered Sondra putting it on him, and being fascinated by his own image. He also remembered putting up a fuss when both Jeni and Sondra insisted that he also put on one of Jeni's dresses. "I'll do it if both of you promise to never tell anyone!" he protested, while secretly enjoying every minute of it. He'd been crazy for masks since that day. He could also trace his compulsion to try on Jeni's clothes in secret whenever he got the chance, (as they were nearly the same size until he was nearly 17) to this same experience. 

    The only female masks he'd been able to get his hands on, (or his head in), were inexpensive Halloween masks. He'd tried a Madonna, a Cher, even a Peg Bundy, but none of them either looked good, or fit tight enough. The best one he had was a Bride of Frankenstein, the "Bride" mask was made of thick rubber, and it zipped up the back, just like a "real" mask!) and even fit tight. It was exciting for a while, but it was, sad to say, somewhat gruesome. Sometimes, he'd "soften" the masks features by wearing a nylon stocking over it, once he used a fishnet stocking and it looked sort of like a veil. Then one day he found Kerry's site, after entering "masks, female" on a search engine and then linked to the Female Mask site. He almost passed out from holding his breath. The masks were exactly what he had been dreaming of. He followed every link on both Kerry and Marti's pages. He printed as many images as he could download. He fantasized about actually wearing one of the masks. He had read all the fiction, checked out all the movies, and even bought some of the comic books. One day, when he still lived at home, and not too long after he discovered the mask sites, he went into an adult boutique in Fountain Valley, near his JC, when he noticed, as he was driving by, a thin black rubber mask on a mannequin that was dressed in a rubber French maid's outfit. It wasn't exactly a female mask, but the mannequin had lots of eye makeup and bright red lips that contrasted with the black of the mask. He found himself drawn to the entire outfit. He had developed an attraction to rubber since trying on one of Jeni's bathing caps when he was about 14. He had been amazed at how much like an actual girl he looked to himself in her red Speedo and matching bathing cap. A little bit of mom's red lipstick, and he found himself attracted very strongly to his reflection. (The shiny material of the racing suit was also quite alluring, as well.) It took him a few minutes to get up the nerve to go inside the store, as he knew they would ask him for ID, even though he was almost 19, since he only weighed about 140#, stood barely 5' 8", and had only the wispiest of beards. Even though you only had to be 18 to enter, he still hated to be "carded". He was also scarred to death someone would see him go in to this place.

     Once inside, he was amazed at what he was seeing. He had seen this type of clothing on many of the websites he'd searched while looking for masks, but actually being able to touch, examine and smell these things, in person, was intoxicating. He wandered into a room with a banner above it that read "Transformation Room", to find it filled with wigs, boots, lots of frilly dresses, (many of them in rubber) and magazines with titles such as "Lady Like", and "Transformation". As he turned around, what he saw caused him to develop an instant erection. It was a mask, a rubber female mask, just like on the web. It was on a high shelf behind a glass display case filled with fake fingernails, gloves and makeup. It was displayed on a Styrofoam head with a bright red wig and a conspicuous price tag that read $295.00! He stared at it for what must have been an eternity, when he was startled to find a female voice with what sounded like a faint Canadian accent, asking him: "Would you like to take a closer look?" "Huh?" he stammered, lamely, as he turned beet red since he was practically drooling. She was about 25, a petite blonde in skintight black leather jeans, heels, with pointy little breasts showing through a tight white T-shirt. "Don't be shy, no reason to be embarrassed, they're fun to wear, kind of hard to breathe in that one though, the mouth doesn't open." she cheerfully stated. "You, you've worn that one?" he replied, pulling out of his dumbstruck fog. "Yeah. I tried it on when it first came in about a month ago, got my hair stuck in the zipper, and I was all alone in the shop." she voiced, giggling. "There I was, stuck in this rubber head for about 20 minutes, 'till somebody finally came back from lunch. I tried to answer the phone, and I all I could do was mutter while this voice on the other end of the line was going "What? I can't understand." , what a hoot!" she said while pulling the mask down from the shelf, "Hey, that's my hair, still stuck in the zipper, see?" as she pulled the wig off the mask to show him the blonde hair in the zipper. He wanted to try it on, but he was too shy to ask her. He fantasized trying it on, getting it stuck and having her have to help him out of it. "Well thanks, I've got to get to class," he replied nervously, as he made for the door, realizing that someone might recognize the VW beetle in the parking lot. . 

    He wanted that mask SO BAD. But how would he pay for it? Where would he hide it? Jeni had already practically been blackmailing him for the last couple of years, after she caught him admiring himself in the Madonna mask he'd bought at a costume shop, plus she'd found the "Bride" mask while snooping around in the attic. (He tried to plead ignorance, but she didn't buy it. He also suspected she knew he occasionally tried on some of her clothes.) She was a good kid, and really wouldn't tell their parents, but he did give her and her friends rides all over the place, just for insurance, and besides, most of her friends were cute. On the way home he had fantasies about the girl in the shop (as he would for the next three years). He'd got up the nerve to go into the shop again a few times, but the next time he was there, the mask was gone, and the girl was not there, either. He liked to think she took the mask with her. 

    Over the next couple of years, Jeff had explored other shops in the LA area, the Pleasure Chest (where he'd bought a thin black rubber hood on sale for $29.00. It did feel wonderful, like wearing a condom over your head, but he accidentally ripped it when taking it off in a hurry to avoid discovery by his mom, after he had it for about 5 months) in West Hollywood, Versatile Fashions in Anaheim, (scary dude behind the counter, TINY little shop) and even stopped at a place called Lydia's TV fashions (all the clothes seemed WAY too big) when he had to go pickup his sister in the Valley. He had saved up about $300.00 in a little fund so that he could buy clothes to go with the mask he'd ordered as soon as he knew the address of his new apartment near the corner of Bundy and Santa Monica Boulevard, (about 6 blocks west from OJ's place, he'd tell people). His parents had told him that they'd spring for a nice apartment, if he kept his GPA above 3.5 for his first two years at OCC, which he easily did. 

    He'd raced home everyday from either school or his part time job at the stereo store (delivery person) since sending Kerry the money order two weeks ago. He finally decided on the "Sheila" model, since it had a longer neck apron than the "Emeraald" mask that he also liked, so as to hide the edge of the mask, without always having to wear a high collar. He'd ordered it with green eyes, since he planned on wearing a red wig with it. (It took him forever to get the courage to buy the wig at the Pleasure Chest, but the clerk didn't bat an eye.) When he saw the box on the landing, he knew exactly what it was. He entered his apartment, locked the front door behind him, and then ran with the box to the bathroom, where he locked THAT door behind him. He quickly slit the top of the box with the box knife he always carried at work to open master cartons, being careful not to cut too deep and harm "Sheila". He pulled the mask out of the box, noting the rubbery sounds, and could hardly believe he was finally going to wear a "proper" female mask. He unzipped the zipper and started to pull the mask over his head. He got excited just looking at the mask in the bathroom mirror through the mouth and nose holes, as he pulled the mask back over his forehead. The wonderful intoxicating smell of rubber filled his nostrils (it reminded him of the first bathing cap he'd tried on). He had to give the mask quite a tug to get it to pull up around his face, and he sort of used his hands to flatten the mask to his face, before he attempted to zip it up. Once he could see through the eyeholes, he began the process of zipping the mask up, being careful not to catch his hair in it. The pull on the zipper as well as the pressure on his face increased a great deal (this mask was tight!) as he got the zipper near the back of his head, and it zipped all the way with a final, quick tug. 

    For a second he thought, "Oh, god, it's TOO tight, but then he sort of contorted his face a bit, and moved the mask around on his head just a bit, and it seemed to fit perfectly, if quite snugly, almost as if it snapped into place. It felt phenomenal, better than he could have imagined, sort of like the black hood, but MUCH firmer. The sensation was similar to the "Bride of Frankenstein" mask, but much more intense, and the fit was WAY closer. Like it was made specifically for his head. If it were any tighter, it would have been too tight. He felt somewhat cut off and disoriented, but in a good way. He loved the feeling of encasement and enclosure. It felt like it had become a part of him. The texture of the mask was so smooth against his face and cool to the touch. He found he was almost hyperventilating, and then he remembered to breathe through his mouth, as he'd had Kerry put in a small slit in the masks mouth. 

    If the physical sensation was more than he'd hoped for, (and it certainly was) the face in the mirror was even more exciting. It was like the first story he'd read on Marti's site, "The Halloween Trick that was a Treat"; Jeff was gone, replaced by this incredible rubber "doll". He carefully tucked the apron of the mask inside his button down shirt, and then buttoned his shirt to the collar- He pulled a hand mirror out of the drawer, and examined the way the mask fit over his head. Definitely a second skin. It was a real turn on to see how his head looked encased in flesh colored rubber. And now for the crowning touch, the red wig. He'd put it in a drawer near the sink, just for this moment. It was a "Cleopatra" model from a company called "Manic Panic", in an almost Burgundy red. He carefully pulled it out of the hairnet that he removed from the clear plastic zipper bag the wig came in. He looked carefully at the inside of the wig to see how it was oriented, and with a flourish, flipped it up over his head. He quickly pulled it down, adjusting it so the bangs were just above the eyebrows. It fit the mask perfectly, with the hair lightly brushing his shoulders, it matched the color of the "her" lips, and made the green eyes just jump out at you. Again, this was even more exciting than he'd hoped for in his wildest dreams, (this was one time when that overused cliché & truly applied!). He couldn't take his eyes off of "her". The plastic lenses affected his vision to a degree, adding a "soft focus" quality to the already surreal image that presented itself to him. It was definitely hypnotic. The wait had been worth it. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub, unable to take his eyes off the "girl" in the mirror. It was difficult to realize that he was inside that exotic creature before him. 

    The next thing, he heard the doorbell ring. "Shit! who the hell could that be?" he thought to himself, "nobody knows I live here." Now how do I get out of this thing?" he was in full panic mode, but he remembered how he ruined the rubber hood by being in such a hurry to get it off. He took a deep breath, and reached back to unzip the mask. He was grateful that it unzipped easily, unbuttoned his shirt, and Jeff reappeared in the mirror. He hid the mask and the wig under the sink, and went to see who was at the door. 

TO BE CONTINUED