Piper sits on the bleachers after school and watches the cheerleaders practice. Piper has always liked watching cheerleaders practice their routines and create new ones. He wishes he were back at his old high school, where people were used to how he looked and where his friends were.

He misses his old foster home and wishes that the couple he has been staying with since he was eleven could adopt him. But, for some reason, they couldn’t. It wasn’t that they didn’t want him, but that they didn’t meet some requirement.

He tries to concentrate on his homework, but his mind isn’t on it. Instead, he watches the cheerleaders as they practice. He loved watching them because they looked so athletic and beautiful.

He has watched many different cheerleaders before coming to this high school. He was even a cheerleader on a few local cheerleading teams when he was younger. He still had his uniforms packed away. He didn’t trust the boys in the group home where he was currently living.

Piper watches the cheerleaders until the end of their practice. He had asked the teacher in charge of the cheerleaders if he could try out, and a smirk had appeared on her face. She informed him that their cheer squad wasn’t coed.

He has run into this problem before and hated the answer each time. He had the training and skills to become a cheerleader. But ever since middle school, he had attended or asked to join a local cheerleading league, and they had turned him down.

The excuse they always used was that they weren’t coed. Every local league had said the same thing. Some places only wanted girls because of the stereotypical perception people had of cheerleaders.

Once Piper puts his books and pens away in his backpack, he leaves the bleachers and heads towards the front of the school, where his bicycle is chained up. His bicycle was made for a woman because of how women’s bodies were. It was pink and purple, like his backpack.

He puts his book bag in the saddle basket and secures it. The reason he rode a girl’s/woman’s bicycle was that men's bicycles were too big for him. He didn’t have the arm reach for the handlebars, and the handlebars were set too far apart as well. The seats on a male’s bicycle didn’t fit his ass when he sat down on it, and his feet were smaller, like women’s feet were. When he went shoe shopping, he always went to the women’s section to pick out his shoes.

He mounts his bicycle seat once he takes the chain off and drops it in the other saddle basket. Piper starts biking towards the all-boys homes he had been placed in. He wishes he were back at the foster home he had been in. The ride back to the house took 30 minutes, but since the weather was nice. Piper took a little longer to pedal to the group home.

He was careful on some of the busier streets and major roadways. Some of the drivers around the new town he was sent to were terrible. He almost got hit three times on his first ride to school. He didn’t like taking the school bus because two of the bullies he tried to avoid were on it.

By the time Piper arrived at the group home, dinner was being served. It was watered-down bean soup and ham again. The past three days, it has been the same thing for dinner and overcooked oatmeal for breakfast. He hated both of them, so he didn’t show up for dinner.

Instead, Piper heads to his bedroom on the second floor of the old hotel that had been converted into a boy’s home. The building still retained many of the same features as when it was a hotel, before being converted into a boy’s home. He was lucky he didn’t share a bedroom with another boy.

If he did, the other boy wouldn’t believe he was a male. Because when Piper took off his clothes, the body beneath the clothing concealed the fact that he had a girlish figure. His chest had two perfectly formed, round mounds.

His body started to develop breasts like a teenage girl when he was younger. Not only had he started to develop breasts, but his body started to develop like a female’s body does when they go through puberty. The foster parents he had at the time were surprised that his body was developing more like a girl than a boy. He wore a full-coverage bra under his shirts to hide the fact that he had breasts.

When he was younger, his foster parents at the time saw how he was behind in his development for a boy, but not for a girl. He never developed as he was supposed to, and his body never formed like a boy’s. There were a bunch of small things about him that didn’t make sense.

Piper takes off his panties and tosses them into the dirty clothes bag he keeps. He didn’t want the other boys at the group home to know he wore girl panties and bras. He walks into the bathroom and takes a shower.

When Piper comes out of the bathroom, he is wearing a clean pink pointelle tank set. His former foster mom bought it for him for his birthday. She figured it would feel better against his soft skin than pajamas made for a boy.

Piper takes a small blow dryer out of the top drawer of the dresser in the bedroom and dries his shoulder-length, red, wavy hair. Instead of blue eyes, he had bright emerald-green eyes with gold flecks.

Piper knew the room check would start around nine o’clock. The people assigned to monitor them always did room checks to make sure each boy was in their hotel room. Also, to see if they needed anything.

Once Piper was done tending to his hair, he put the hair dryer away and locked the drawers. In the past, Piper has come back to his room to find someone had gone through his stuff. That was before he went to his last foster home. When he came here, he asked permission to install a lock on his dresser.

Piper takes out his schoolbooks and starts working on his homework. He got most of it done while watching the cheerleaders practice, but needed to finish several more assignments. Around quarter to nine, Piper looks at the door to his room when he hears a knocking sound.

“Come in.” Piper puts his pencil down.

Freddy slowly opens the door to Piper Welch’s hotel room. He didn’t see Piper at dinner or breakfast this morning.

“I was wondering where you were hiding. You weren’t at breakfast or dinner tonight.” Freddy noticed how Piper was dressed.

He was so surprised to see Piper look so girly, dressed in the pajamas he was wearing. He could tell that Piper had breasts like any teenage girl his age would. At first, he and his supervisor thought Piper was taking hormones and puberty blockers to become a girl. But when they looked at
Piper’s medical file. Those suspensions were laid to rest. Piper was born with a rare genetic disorder where he was born with both organs. He had been born with testes and ovaries. After he had his testes removed when he was younger due to cancer, his body started developing like a girl at puberty, instead of a male.

According to Piper’s medical file, Piper was born with testes and a penis, but had to have his testes removed when he was four years old due to testicular cancer. That’s when the pediatric doctor, his first foster parents, took him to discover that Piper possessed female organs/ovaries.

Piper looks at Freddy, “Sorry, I was meeting up with my counselor at school this morning. As for dinner, I wasn’t hungry because I stopped and
had a hot dog and a bag of chips at Circle K on the way home.”

Piper was lying through his teeth. He knew if Freddy or Mr. Wilkerson found out he was skipping breakfast and dinner on purpose. They will insist that he comes home early to eat dinner and wake him up early to eat before he leaves for school.

They kept a record of every boy in the group home, so the funding didn’t get cut. For each boy sent to live at the group home, they got a certain amount of money. The only way the group home could account for the money, was by making sure each boy was accounted for.

Freddy still wonders why Piper was sent to live at the group home. Because he didn’t look like a boy at all, but a young teenage girl.

“I want to see you at breakfast and dinner tomorrow, Piper.” Freddy looks intensely at Piper when he spoke.

“Yes sir.” Piper didn’t want to eat the oatmeal. He missed the eggs, pancakes, sausage, and bacon his foster mother uses to make. Even the cereal he liked for breakfast.

“I’ll see you, then. Also, lights out at ten o’clock.” Freddy knew Piper was good at obeying the rules.

“Yes sir.” Piper goes back to finishing his school work.

Freddy closes the door and continues doing his bed check. By the time he was finished, it was quarter till ten. He stands on the balcony and watches as each rooms light is turned off. Most of the boys were good boys.

The next morning Piper shows up for breakfast, but barely eats the oatmeal. He knew the boy behind the table he was sitting out liked it.

“Hey Danny, I’m not really hungry this morning. Would you like some more?” Piper was keeping his voice low because Freddy and another supervisor was monitoring them.

Danny looks at Piper and in a low voice “are you sure?”

“Yes.” Piper was one hundred percent sure he didn’t want the food.

“Okay.” He hands his empty bowl to Piper, as Piper hands him his empty bowl.

“Thanks.” Piper sits there with the empty bowl and pretends he is eating. After a few minutes, he gets up and takes the empty bowl and spoon to the kitchen.

Piper notices Eddie, Calen, and Samual have kitchen duty. He wonders why the three of them had kitchen duty.

“Here you guys.” Piper hands over his dirty bowl.

“Wait until you have kitchen duty, Piper.” Calen looks at the red hair boy.

“You mean I have to work in the kitchen?” Piper didn’t know he had to work in the kitchen.

“Duh! Everyone here has chores he is assigned to do.” Calen was surprised Piper didn’t know about that one requirement.

“Okay. When are those chores assigned?” This was new to Piper.

“Next week, the new assignments are posted on the main board in the reception area. Check there to see what your assignment is.”

“Okay and thanks.” Piper leaves as quickly as he can and head back to his hotel room to grab his backpack.

By the time Piper leaves and pedals towards the high school he is attending. He has forty minutes to get there. He stops at the nearest convenience store and grabs a premade sausage croissant breakfast sandwich and a pint of milk.

He heads towards the cashier and pays for the items. Once everything was paid for, Piper mounts his bicycle and pedals to school. He eats the sausage croissant on the way to school. When he arrives, he still had a few minutes left and chugs down the milk.

As he dismounts and secure his bicycle, to the bike rack. He tosses the empty milk carton and sandwich wrapper away in the trash bin. He walks into school and heads for his first class, which was math. After math, he had Social Studies, then home room, which was on the other side of the building. After that, he had English. Then Spanish, after that. Piper heads to lunch after Spanish.

The lunch room was serving Classic Chef Salad w/Croutons, Assorted fruit cup, and he grabs a Chocolate milk to drink. That was selection Piper made for himself. There were other items, but Piper always tried to eat healthy, like the Cheerleaders did. He wanted to sit over near the cheerleaders, but the table near them were taken up by the basketball team and the football team.

He locates the table where the misfits in the school sat to eat. Since he didn’t currently have any friends here at the school. He sat by himself, instead.

As Piper is eating his lunch the bullies he tried to avoid came into the lunch room. He watches as they bullied their way into the lunch line and get their lunch. They head over to a table they claimed as theirs since the first day of school and sat down. He was just glad that he has managed to avoid the bullies as long as he has so far.

He eats his lunch in quiet and when the bell rings, he tosses his trash away and leave his tray stacked on top of the others. The next few classes were boring and he was trying very hard to stay awake in them. Between the teacher and the subject matter of the class, it was hard to take any interest in the classes.

The last class he had was physical education, but luckily, they were in the class room this week. Next week they would be in the gym and that is when the physical fitness test would start. He hated them and his teachers always made him live up to the male standards. His body didn’t have the upper body strength that a male body had.

The medical report that the foster agency had on him and given to the school said he had a female build, including his skeleton structure. When his body hit puberty, he developed like a girl, that included his hips and skeleton. The doctors that examined him, said that they had never seen anything like it before, but because he had been born with a penis at birth, instead of a vagina. He was classified as a boy, but developed like a girl.

His old school had him change in the single sex bathroom that had. But this school didn’t have one and he couldn’t change in front of other boys because of his chest. He had fully formed breasts and his groin area looked like a woman’s, with his tiny penis hidden from view.

After gym class, he heads outside to the bleachers to watch the cheerleader’s practice. He works on his classwork, while watching them. The teacher and even the girls knew he was there, but he couldn’t join them. He could easily do their cheers and moves, because of his background.
But ever since the state passed a law saying males can’t participate in any female sport. He was sidelined, along with his dreams.

When the girls leave to go home after practice. Piper puts away his books in his backpack and head towards his bicycle. It was to early to had home, so he goes for a long ride instead. As he is peddling down main street, he spots a diner that had a help wanted sign posted in the window.
Piper figures that he should apply for a job, since in three years he was going to be kicked out of foster care. Plus, it would mean he didn’t have to eat the terrible meals the group home made either. He stops his bicycle at the diner and chain it up, before going inside and filling out an
application.

He learns that the position that they were hiring for was for a dishwasher. It wasn’t what Piper wanted to do, but it was better then nothing. It paid minimum wage which was $7.25 an hour. Piper figures he it was better then nothing. He was told to show up after school tomorrow to be trained. The diner was open until ten o’clock.

Piper thanks the diner manager and peddles back to the group home. When he arrives, he informs the director and Freddy that he got a job at the Bluebird diner and that he would be working from when he got out of school until ten o’clock. He gives them the diner’s manager’s number to verify his employment.

Neither man liked that Piper would be returning after ten o’clock, but they wouldn’t stop Piper from working. They knew Piper was one of their better boys, even though he looked like a girl. Piper heads up to his room and finishes up on his school work before turning in for the night.

Piper wipes the sweat from his forehead as he washes the dishes. Ever since he started a few days ago, he has been pushing himself to increase his speed so the dishes don’t pile up as much. He finally found a groove that worked for him and kept up with the work. He learned he was one of three dishwashers the diner had.

There was Charlie, who worked as a dishwasher during the daytime. Then there was Joseph, who worked part-time like him. He was married and had a little boy and a little girl. Then there was Tracy, who worked as a dishwasher and as a waitress. She had been covering the afternoon shift until he was hired.

When Piper was bogged down with dirty dishes, he tried to help the cooks. He also took the trash out. The people in the back were surprised when Marty introduced him. He knew what people saw when they first saw him.

They saw a teenage girl with wavy red hair, a petite build, and lightly tanned skin. After Piper was introduced to everyone in the kitchen and trained, he got to know his coworkers better during the last few days. He even got to know the homeless people who lived in the alleyways behind the diner.

Marty didn’t mind him giving them the leftovers instead of throwing them away. He thought that was nice of Marty to do. Piper missed watching the cheerleaders practicing their cheers. The thing was, he wished he could have joined them.

Freddy had him check in with him before he went to bed. He wanted to make sure Piper had gotten home safely. Freddy understood when Piper didn’t show up for breakfast. He knew Piper wasn’t getting home until almost quarter till eleven during the week and a little after midnight on the weekend.

As for Piper’s homework, Piper normally worked on it during lunch and study hall. Since Piper didn’t have any classes during fifth period, he used that time to work on his homework. As for his paychecks, he deposited them into the same account he opened when he lived with his foster parents.

The bank he had his account with had a local branch here in Biscoe. He deposits his first paycheck into his account. Afterward, he took some money out and bought himself a small leather hand purse. A bunch of the women at the diner had asked him why he didn’t wear makeup or carry a purse. No one other than the manager knew he was equipped like a guy.

The first time he went into the women’s bathroom, he was nervous. At school, he couldn’t use any of the bathrooms or didn’t want to. The one bathroom he could use was in the teachers' lounge, and that would draw attention to himself—attention he didn’t want on him.

At work, he didn’t have a choice but to use the bathroom. There were times he either had to pee or do number two. Also, when he changed out of his school clothes and into the work clothes he bought. He didn’t want to get his school clothes dirty or smelling like food waste.

The bullies at school stopped him one day on the way to school. They had ambushed him by tossing a stick into his front wheel, causing him to flip over his handlebars and damage the spokes in his front wheel. At the same time, he was lying on his back. The leader of the bullies, Eric Pickles, pressed down onto his chest as hard as he could. Piper could feel the pressure and pain in his breasts.

“You thought I forgot about you, bitch. You might have the others fooled, but I know what you are. You’re just a pervert and pedophile. Now, give me all your money before you get a beating you’ll never forget.”

Piper looks up at Eric and his gang members. Most of them had their faces covered, wearing their sweat jackets backward with eye slits so they could see out of their hoods, or wearing their hoods with their eyes covered by dark sunglasses.

“Sorry, but I don’t have any money for you, bigfoot. Why don’t you go and fuck your friend Ralph there?” Piper points to another boy standing nearby.

“Why, you little bitch.” Ralph kicks Piper in his ribs as hard as he can.

Piper grits his teeth because he isn’t going to give these punks the satisfaction of screaming. He winces when Ralph kicks him on the side of his rib cage. He felt something break on his ribcage.

“Let’s teach this prick a lesson.” As all four guys start kicking and punching Piper.

Piper tried to protect himself as best he could, but was punched and kicked from different directions. The only thing keeping his head from being kicked hard was the helmet he was wearing. Just before he passes out from several blows to his chest, he hears police sirens and watches as Eric and his companions split and run off in different directions.

Officer Lupe Sterling spotted four hooded boys beating a young female with red hair and an overturned bicycle lying nearby. She blares her siren and flashes her lights. She watches as they scatter like cockroaches. Lupe calls for paramedics as she exits her patrol car and runs over to the young girl.

When she approaches the young girl, she kneels next to her and checks her over. She noticed the girl was unconscious and had blood coming from her mouth and a split lip. She also noticed the girl’s right arm was broken and the bone was sticking through the skin. Officer Sterling heard the sirens of the approaching ambulance as it drew closer.

She spots the girl's backpack and looks inside for an identity card. She spots a tag attached to the inside of the backpack and notices it lists the boys' group home as the address. She finds the girl’s purse and opens it. Inside, Officer Sterling sees the girl’s wallet and locates her state-issued identity card. It had the boys' group home address listed on it and said she was male.

Officer Sterling takes a second look at the girl, and there is no way this girl was male with the way she looked. This girl had real breasts, and her body was fully developed as a normal girl would be. The ambulance stops near the officer and the unconscious red-haired girl.

Officer Sterling locates an emergency number for the young girl among her things. She dials the number while the paramedics treat the girl. She still couldn’t bring herself to believe that the red-haired girl was a male.

“We've got to take her to the hospital, officer. She is bleeding internally.”

“Alright. I’ll meet you there.” Officer Sterling takes several pictures before she lets the paramedics remove the girl. She also takes several photos
for her report.

She puts the girl’s bicycle into the back of her squad car and the girl’s backpack in the car with her. Officer Sterling calls the emergency number that was listed on the tag inside the backpack. She informs them that Piper Welch has been attacked and is heading to First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital.

Piper wakes up two days later feeling like crap. She had an oxygen tube going down her throat and was hooked up to several machines. She starts to panic and tries to pull the tube out of her mouth.

A nurse comes running into the room and manages to calm Piper down. She and another nurse removed the tube going down her throat. Piper notices her right arm was in one of those new casts the hospitals were switching to.

She felt pressure on her torso from the bandages wrapped around her chest. It hurt to move her body. Her face felt like someone had used it for a punching bag. She notices she was wearing a pink, floral paper gown.

Nurse King looks at the young red-haired teenage girl, and still couldn’t get over the fact that she had a tiny penis. Her fellow nurse, Nurse Jones, couldn’t believe that this teenage red-haired girl had a penis either. Dr. Cartwright had informed both nurses that the boy suffered from a rare genetic condition that caused him to develop like a girl.

Nurse King looks at Piper, “Would you like something to drink, sweetie?”

Piper nods her head yes to the question. Her throat was dry and sore from having the tube down her throat. Nurse Jones grabs the pitcher and
walks over to the sink to fill it with cold water. Once the pitcher was filled, she took it back over to the bed and filled a cup with the cold water.

“Easy, sweetie.” Nurse Jones hands the cup to Piper.

Piper accepts it and slowly sips it. He noticed the nurses were addressing him as if he were a girl, which he didn’t mind. He slowly sips the water and sighs in relief as his throat starts feeling better. He looks at the nurses, “Where am I?”

“You’re at First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital, sweetie. The group home you are living at already knows that you’re here. Do you remember anything about your attackers?” Nurse King was informed to call Officer Sterling when Ms. Welch woke up.

“Yes, ma’am. I know who they are, even with their faces covered up. How long have I been out?” Piper remembered everything from the attack.

“I’ll let Officer Sterling know. She’s been coming by to check on you. As for how long you have been out. It’s been two days since you were attacked, sweetie.” Nurse King felt sorry for the poor girl. She couldn’t think of Ms. Welch as a boy.

“Thank you.” Piper knew she needed to let her work know what happened, and maybe Freddy at the group home.

The problem is, she didn’t know where her backpack was. It held her cell phone, her schoolbooks, and her work clothes. She rests against the bed and tries not to move.

The next few days are boring for Piper. Officer Sterling came by and questioned her about the attack and who attacked her. She asked if she knew who her attackers were, but she could only identify Ralph and Eric Pickles. The others, she didn’t know their names, but she did know what they looked like without their disguises. She tells Officer Sterling everything that happened.

Officer Sterling told her that she had taken her backpack and handed it to her. She also had her bicycle, and her uncle was fixing it.

“Thank you, Officer Sterling.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. I’ll keep you updated about the case. You get better.” Officer Sterling smiles at Piper before she leaves.

Freddy stops by and informs Piper that social services was picking up her medical bill, since she was underage and under their care. He was going to take her home.

Piper’s doctor informs her that she could be discharged, but she’ll need to take it easy. Her ribs were still healing, and she’ll have to wear a cast on her right arm for at least three months. Piper was glad that she could get the new cast wet without having to cover it.

The following weeks are hell for her because of her injuries. The doctor said she was lucky she was wearing her helmet when she flipped over her handlebars. Officer Sterling’s uncle did a nice job fixing her bicycle. He informs her that when she picks it up, he can install an electric motor for her.

She thinks about it because she could get back and forth to work and school faster. She gives the okay and pays him in advance to do the work. Piper figures it would be a good investment for Eric and Ralph. Officer Sterling manages to capture them. Even though it is a he-said-she-said attack in court. Officer Sterling did witness them attacking her and had it on her dash cam. After enhancing the video, they obtained a clear image of the two boys.

Because they were under 18, the only place they were going was juvenile hall for punishment. They were going to get a nice stay for a while. Piper knew she would have to go to court, but she didn’t mind. As for the other two bullies, one was busted for stealing a car. The other boy picked on the wrong kid at school and got a royal beating from the kid’s older brother.

As for work, Piper had a hard time doing the dishes, but her boss understood and had one of the part-timers come in to help her. She worked hard, pushing herself while her ribs were healing. She found time to watch the cheerleaders and attended some of the home games.

She records the games, but mostly concentrates on the cheerleaders. She still wants to be one, but she knows she will never be on a cheer team. It would have to be a competitive cheer team for her to be on one, and she hopes she can wear a female cheerleading outfit instead of the ugly guy cheer outfits.

One day, while she was out at a major thrift bazaar. She comes across a woman selling old cheerleader uniforms. Some of them were from her high school, and she knew they would fit her well. She buys at least four of them from different high schools in the area. She also buys some proms and the shoes that go with each school.

Halloween was coming up, and her school always put on a Halloween dance for the high schoolers. She figures she could show up dressed like the singer Toni Basil from the music video Mickey. She had watched that music video over and over again. Plus, she had her own cheering moves she could perform.

On the night of the Halloween party, she got permission from her boss to go. Her arm was still in the new cast, and her ribs were still a little sore, but manageable. She got dressed in one of the cheerleading outfits and made sure she looked good. She grabbed her pom poms and took a cab to the party.

When Piper entered the gymnasium dressed as she was, she turned heads. Even the girls on her cheerleading squad saw how sexy and cute she looked dressed like one of them. Several of the girls couldn’t believe how she looked, and when she asked to perform a cheer for the school, the principal said yes.

Piper performed an outstanding cheer for everyone present and even impressed the cheerleaders and the cheer coach. No one knew she was a member of the school. When the girls of the cheerleading squad asked her where she learned to cheer the way she did, she told them by watching them and from the other schools where she had been a cheerleader.

The girls met with their coach to see if there was any way for Piper to join their group. Coach Garth said she would talk to Principal Hogan about it. Coach Garth already knew what the answer was going to be because of the state rules, unless they changed what type of cheering squad they were. But she had to admit that Piper Welch did an outstanding cheer for the school.

Piper has fun at the school party, and most of the cheerleaders hang out with her, with their dates. A few guys who don’t know she is a guy ask her to dance. By the time the dance ends, she is happy and catches a ride home with one of the guys she danced with. She makes sure he drops her off a block near the group home, so as not to give away that she was really a boy.

A few days later, Principal Hogan summons Piper to his office. She was surprised by the request as she walked into the office.

“Can I help you, Mr. Welch?” Mary looks at Piper as if she were a strange bug.

“Yes, ma’am. Principal Hogan summoned me.” Piper knew Mary didn’t like her very much. She doesn’t know why, because she has always tried to be nice to her.

“One minute.” Mary turns and goes back to her desk and dials Mr. Hogan’s extension.

After talking with Mr. Hogan for a few minutes, she puts the headset down and walks over to the door to let Piper behind the counter.

“Follow me, Mr. Welch.” Mary escorts Piper to Principal Hogan’s office.

Mary knocks on the door before opening it.

“Enter.”

Mary opened the door and allowed Piper to enter. She watches as Piper enters the office and closes the door behind him.

Mr. Hogan looks at Piper Welch and wishes he didn't have to tell her the bad news.

“Please have a seat, Ms. Welch.” Mr. Hogan motions to the chair in front of his desk.

“Thank you, sir.” Piper walks over and sits down on the chair.

She turns her attention to Mr. Hogan and watches as he sits down. She could tell he was concerned about something.

“How has your school year been so far, Ms. Welch?” Hogan couldn’t bring himself to address Piper as a boy, not the way she looked.

“Okay, I guess.” Well, all except that incident with Eric and his buddies. She was still recovering from the attack.

“I know you have been wanting to join the cheerleading squad, and as the cheer you did at the Halloween party was really good, you did this school proud. However, as you know, this state has a policy about boys interacting or joining teams that are just for girls. I know you don’t look like a boy, Ms. Welch, but because your birth certificate says male on it. The superintendent of schools isn’t willing to bend the rules for you, and it's too late for me and Coach Garth to change how the cheer squad is.”

Piper tries not to cry as she listens to Mr. Hogen speak. She looks at him, “Thank you, sir.”

“Maybe, there is another club or activity you can join instead. I know….”

Piper didn’t give Mr. Hogan a chance to finish his sentence as she grabbed her backpack and ran out of his office with tears streaming down her cheeks. She runs towards her bicycle and, through heavy tears, takes the chain off, shoves it and her backpack into the saddlebags, and pedals as fast as she can away from the school.

She nearly gets hit by four cars while pedaling as fast as she can. The tears just kept falling from her eyes as she pedaled as fast and as far as she could. By the time she wears herself out, she collapses onto some soft grass and passes out from exhaustion.

Why is she passed out? Her cellphone rings several times in her backpack. She sleeps throughout the night, where she collapsed without anyone harming her. She shivers throughout the night, but she didn’t care.

When morning arrives, Piper wakes up and rubs her eyes. She was still upset about everything, and her legs hurt like hell. She looks around and notices she is in someone’s flower garden. She sits on the ground, trying to remember how she got where she is. She slowly stands up and brushes the twigs and leaves off her body.

Her bicycle was lying nearby. She looks around the garden and spots a concrete bench she could sit down on. She picks up her bicycle, walks over to the bench, and sits down. She still hated what she was told and hated that she had been born the way she was.

She didn’t believe in God, because what God would put someone through what she was going through? She knew there were other people with bigger problems or who were dying from terrible diseases. She sits there brooding and being pissed, as she shivers. She tries to remember why she came here, but nothing comes to mind.

After about two hours, Piper stands up on sore, tired legs and makes her way out of the garden. She had no idea where she was. She pushes her bicycle down the lone highway, thinking about what she was going to do with the rest of her life, or should she take her life and end the way she feels.

By the time Piper arrived back at the boy’s group home, it was late in the afternoon. She was tired, sore, and thirsty. She had switched over to the motorized motor that Officer Sterling’s uncle installed on her bicycle. Her legs were cramping up from the long ride.

Piper knew she was going to have to face the music after running away as she did. The group home had strict rules. She secures her bicycle and heads inside, and towards Freddy’s office. She takes a breath and knocks on the door.

“Enter!” Piper braces herself as she enters the office.

Freddy looks up towards the door as it slowly opens. He has been trying to find out where Piper Welch disappeared to. Piper hasn’t been answering his cellphone.

He is surprised to see Piper walking into his office. He stands up and points towards the chair in front of his desk, “Sit!”

“Ye, sir.” Piper walks over, sits down in the chair, and watches as Freddy sits down.

Freddy looked at Piper and could tell he was tired. He wonders where Piper had been and why he didn’t come back.

“What happened to you yesterday, young man?” Freddy had gotten a phone call from Mr. Hogan over at Piper’s high school.

Piper looks at Freddy’s face, “I, I got mad and upset at what Mr. Hogan told me yesterday.”

“And what did he tell you?” Freddy knew it took a lot to upset Piper. He’s been observing the boy since the boy arrived at the home.

“He said that this moronic, backwater state wouldn’t allow me to join the cheerleaders, after I performed for them at the Halloween party.” Piper’s voice had some anger in it.

“So, it's about being a cheerleader, again? You need to realize, Piper, that you’re a boy and you have to follow the rules the state has establishfor you. Nothing you do is going to change that.”

“Do I look like a boy? Do I sound like a boy? No, I don’t. I have breasts that I have to cover up under my clothes. I have the body and the skeleton of a girl. Plus, the emotional state and temperament. I’m forced to live in this damn place because I have a useless piece of flesh that resembles a penis between my legs. Do you know how that affects me? How much of a lie I am living because of the stupid laws of this damn state and the morons who are running it?” Piper had let out how she was feeling.

Freddy could see how upset Piper was. True, Piper wasn't your typical boy. He and director Wilkerson had thought Piper was taking hormones to look like a girl. But after looking through Piper’s medical record, that theory had been proven wrong.

“Look, Piper, your birth certificate says male, so you have to follow the law in that aspect. As for hiding who or what you are. It’s for your safety here. Mr. Wilkerson and I have tried several times to get you transferred to a girl’s group home, but because of your congenital disability and your birth certificate. The agency isn’t going to budge or break state law. So, you're stuck here until either someone adopts you or you age out of the system.”

“It sounds like I would be better off dead. Because what you and the state are saying, you fucking don’t care how it affects me.”

Freddy tries to keep his cool. “Look, I do care about how it affects you, Piper. It’s that my hands are tied, and all I can do is try to protect you as much as I can while you are under my care here. I think it might be best if you see a counselor about how you are feeling and what happened to you. I’ll have Mrs. Chapman arrange a visit with a counselor to help you with how you are feeling. As for your punishment for last night and running away from your school. I’m grounding you for a week. You’ll be allowed to go to work, school, and come home; that’s it. I will check on you and make sure you are here. You’ll also have kitchen duty for a week every morning before going to work.”

“Fine.” Piper was still angry.

“Now, go and take a shower to cool down and be at dinner. By the way, we are having sloppy joes, French fries, and a chef salad for dinner tonight.” Freddy figures it might cheer up Piper. He knew Piper didn’t like the food served lately.

“Yes, sir.” Piper gets up and leaves Freddy’s office.

She goes upstairs to her hotel room and opens the door. She starts undressing and removes the tight sports bra that flattens her breasts so that she can look like a boy. She rubs under her breasts to relax them as she steps into the bathroom to take a shower.

After taking a shower, Piper dries off and checks her hair length in the mirror. She notices she’ll have to get her hair cut, so she doesn’t look so girly. She hates having short hair, but if she were going to pass as a boy while living in the group home and attending school. She needs to keep pretending to be a boy.

She takes a pair of scissors and trims her hair until she gets to a barber shop to get a real haircut. Her room phone starts ringing, signaling that it's time for dinner. She throws on a pair of sweats that will hide her breasts and hips.

She heads down to the dining room and gets in line to be served dinner. Piper looks at the sloppy joe being served and can already tell she doesn’t want it. The fries looked soggy and undercooked, and the salad was premade. It was just like the salads they served at school.

As hungry as she was feeling, she ate everything. She hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday morning. After Piper finished eating, she went back to her room and checked her cell phone. She saw that several people tried to contact her yesterday, including her boss. She’ll have to explain to them tomorrow about why she didn’t show up for work.

Since she doesn’t know which assignments she missed today, she reads several chapters from the different classes she has and practices her French and Spanish. Since she doesn’t have anything to do after practicing her Spanish and French, she watches a few episodes of Yellowstone until she slowly falls asleep.

Freddy does his daily bed check, and when Piper doesn’t answer the door. He uses his master key to enter her room. He spots the television on and several of her schoolbooks open. He spots Piper, sound asleep, in the clothes she wore to dinner. He turns the television off and turns her overhead light off, leaving the lamp on the nightstand on for her.

He leaves the room and checks on the other boy’s room to make sure everyone is in their hotel room. Freddy makes his rounds and then heads to his own room after completing his room check. He looks at all the records he has to double-check and make sure they are in order.

Piper is woken the next morning and shows up to help prepare breakfast. Today it was scrambled eggs, bacon, frozen sausage patties, biscuits, and grits. She was put in charge of the dishes and cleaned the dishes that had been cooked in. During the morning rush hour, she helped out on the line, serving everyone. She was instructed on how much everyone was supposed to get.

After breakfast was served and the dishes were done. Piper heads up to her room and changes her clothes. She hurries to get ready for school. She rushes downstairs, mounts her bicycle, and pedals to school.

Even in November, she rides her bicycle to school. She still avoids riding the school bus. She prefers the freedom she has with her bicycle. She planned to ride her bicycle to school, even if there was snow on the ground.

Once Piper arrives at school, she goes to her classes and gets the work she missed the day before. She plans to work on it during her lunch hour and later in the evening after work. She avoids the cheerleaders and doesn’t want to attend the winter festival dance the school is planning. She plans to avoid anything that involves school pride or school spirit.

During her lunch hour, she hides in the library and works on her schoolwork. She wanted to get as much done as she could before she left for work. After lunch, Piper goes to her next class and does as much as she can.

By the time her classes end, she has most of her schoolwork caught up. Piper heads down to her bicycle and mounts it. She pedals towards work and thinks about everything she still needs to do.

Piper wasn’t looking forward to the holidays this year. Normally, she loved Christmas and Thanksgiving, but she has to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and maybe Christmas Day as well. The restaurant manager wasn’t sure whether they would be open all day as usual or just in the evening for Christmas dinner.

She went ahead and volunteered to work the day. Normally, she would fight to have it off, but living a lie in the group home has turned her off to the holidays. She didn’t blame her last foster parents, but she does blame being born and looking like a girl.

While Piper is riding to work, she receives a text informing her that she has an appointment with the counselor Freddy said he would set up for her. She adds it to her cellphone calendar. It was in two days, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Piper shivers as she peddles her bicycle in the November cold air. She was bundled up and wearing gloves. She makes it to school and chains her bicycle up. She covers it with a custom cover she made for it to keep it dry when it snows or rains.

When Piper enters the school and goes to her locker to change out her school books. Several folded pieces of paper fall out, asking her if she would go to the winter dance with them. She tosses the notes away because she doesn’t feel like going.

The first half of the morning goes without a hitch. Around lunch time, while Piper is getting her lunch. She spots one of the guys who bullied and attacked her that day in the lunchroom. She was sure the judge would throw the book at everyone. How did Mike get early release? How was he able to be at the school as well?

Piper made her lunch selection, which was tacos. She grabs a small salad, but nothing else. She had her sports jug with her, filled with a single packet of Cool-Aid.

Piper walks over to her normal table and sits down. She watches where Mike sits down and with whom. Some of the guys she knew, but the others she had no idea who they were.

Piper watches them as she eats her lunch. She wasn’t looking forward to gym this week. She’ll have to change in the gym teacher's office and put her clothes in the lockers near the office.

After lunch, she heads towards gym class. Piper heads into the men’s locker room without anyone seeing her. She makes her way to the gym teacher's office and changes into her gym uniform: shorts, a school t-shirt, and matching tennis shoes.

During gym class, after they did their warm-up exercises. The boys and girls separate into teams to play basketball. Piper is picked last for a team, which she doesn’t mind. She hates basketball.

During the game, she gets elbowed and tripped on purpose by a few of the girls on her team and by a few of the guys. Mike and two of his goons corner her and ram her into the bleachers, folded up. Another student trips Piper, and she lands on her knees.

Coach Lesser walks over and helps Piper up off the floor. She looks at Piper, “Are you okay, Piper?”

“I think so.” Piper looks at Coach Lesser when she answers.

She tries to put some weight on it, but winces when she feels pain. She grips Coach Lesser’s hand when she feels the pain.

“Let’s escort you to the nurse.” Coach Lesser motions to the male gym teacher to let him know she was escorting Piper to the nurse.

Piper spends some time with the nurse and is sent back to class. She makes it through the rest of the day. When school is over, she bundles up and rides her bicycle to her part-time job at the restaurant.

She spends the night popping aspirin for the pain she was feeling coming from her knee. She works through the pain, and when it was time to close for the night, she could barely stand anymore. Because of the weather, her knee pain, and the road conditions. She arrives back at the group home later than normal. She texts Freddy to let him know she arrived.

Instead of taking a shower, like he normally does. Piper fills the tub with hot water and soaks her leg. She popped two more aspirin into her mouth before lying down to sleep.

Dr. Elizabeth Pratt’s Office,
Piper looks at the older woman who sat across from her in a leather chair. Dr. Pratt was a psychologist who specialized in gender dysphoria. The thing was, Piper wasn’t having problems identifying who she was, but with the requirements she was forced to follow.

Dr. Pratt looked at the Piper as she sat across from her on the sofa. According to Freddy, over at the boy’s group home. Piper was biologically male, according to her birth certificate, but physically looks female. The thing is, Dr. Pratt could see for herself that there wasn’t anything male about Piper, except maybe between her legs.

“Piper, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?” Dr. Pratt prepares herself to make notes.

“What do you want to know?” Piper felt uncomfortable sitting in the office.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen a psychologist about how she looked and was treated. The only reason she didn’t blow off this appointment was because of Freddy. He noticed that her attitude lately has been antisocial.

She wasn’t taking part in any of the holiday celebrations. Her teachers at school had informed Freddy that she wasn’t participating in class either. She wasn’t rude to the people around her; she didn’t care about the subject matter or the class.

“Well, tell me about what you like to do when you’re not in school.”

“The only thing I do when I’m not in school is ride my bicycle. Other than working and pretty much keeping to myself, because of the way I look. I don’t have a social life.”

“What do you mean, because of the way you look?” Dr. Pratt was curious about that.

“Dr. Pratt, how can I socialize with anyone when I live at a boy’s home? I look like a girl, but I have to disguise myself so I look like a damn boy. The morons of this state have made my dam life difficult, all because of their stupid beliefs and fear mongering of governmental politicians.”

Dr. Pratt writes this information down on her notepad. She looks at Piper, “When did you notice you were developing like a girl?”

“When my testicles were removed due to cancer. The doctor who operated on me discovered I was born with both a female and a male reproductive system. The doctor who did the removal of my testes told my foster parents at the time. That I had a uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, when they removed my testes, the ovaries started to do their job when I hit puberty, even though I still have a puny penis. And since this damn state bases your gender on what is between your legs. I am treated like a male, instead of the female I am developing into.” There was anger in Piper’s voice when she spoke.

For the rest of the session, Piper and Dr. Pratt talk. Piper informs Dr. Pratt that she has recently been experiencing periods. She informs Dr. Pratt that she discovered blood coming out of her penis and never told Freddy about it. She has kept this secret from everyone until now.

When Piper leaves Dr. Pratt’s office, it is cold outside, and there is a slight breeze as well. She shivers as some of the cold December air manages to find its way past her heavy jacket and the heavy sweater she is wearing underneath her coat. She had on her thermal underwear underneath the cargo pants she wore to school.

Piper mounts her bicycle and pedals back towards the group home. Tonight, she was supposed to help out in the kitchen again. It seemed that Freddy liked the way she did things in the kitchen. Tonight, they were having homemade pizza. Normally, they bought frozen pizzas and dressed them up a bit, but Joe and Owen knew how to make pizza from scratch.

They were in charge of making and baking the pizzas. Her job was to set out the premade salads and plates. When she arrives back at the group home, Piper changes out of her clothes. After changing her clothes, she heads to the old hotel's restaurant and helps out in the kitchen, doing whatever she needs to.

The smell of the pizza cooking made her mouth water. She was surprised that Joe and Owen were good at making pizza from scratch. They had all the fixings to make different styles of pizza. Joe and Owen sometimes made a half-and-half pizza, so everyone got what they liked.

After dinner, Piper heads back upstairs to her room and starts on her homework. She doesn’t socialize that much with the other guys at the home. She wasn’t into what they were into.

Over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, Piper works as many hours as she can. She buys small gifts for some of the younger boys at the group home. She may not want to get to know them that much, but some boys didn’t have much.

She sees Dr. Pratt once a week and is informed that she has a group that meets on the third Saturday at the local free clinic to talk and support one another. The next meeting they were going to have won’t take place until after the holidays. She might want to come and meet a few others like her.

On Christmas Day, Piper spends it in her room. She wasn’t interested in celebrating the holiday with anyone at the group home. She sleeps in and wakes up when she has to go to work. When she opens the door, she discovers a few gifts that were left for her. She sets them on her bed and pedals to work on her bicycle.

The restaurant was already open by the time we arrived. She secures her bicycle in the back storage room and puts on her apron. She helps the chiefs who decided to come in to work with fixing some of the food and chopping up ingredients they needed.

Throughout the night, she stays busy doing the dishes and helping to clean off the tables. Piper couldn’t believe how busy they were. She figured most people would spend the holiday with their families or with friends.

By the time the restaurant closed, Piper was tired. The owner of the place gave everyone who worked a small Christmas bonus. It wasn’t much, but it was the thought behind the gift that counted. She pedals slowly and carefully back to the group home.

Piper stops and gives a homeless veteran some of the tip money she earned tonight while she was working. She has seen him out on the streets, sleeping on the ground behind the gas station. Sometimes he went to the men’s shelter down at Dawn and Sunset Ave. She didn’t know what his problems were, but she felt sorry for him.

By the time she made it back to the group home, she was tired and cold. She makes her way to her room and enters with her bicycle. Once her bicycle was secured and she had stripped out of her weather clothes. She sits down on the bed and opens the gifts that were left for her.

One of the younger boys whom she had given a gift to made her a necklace made of plastic beads. There was another gift from another younger boy; she helped with his reading and math. He made her some sugar cookies and frosted cookies.

Piper knew Mrs. Collins liked showing the younger kids how to cook and make things. As for the other four gifts, they were from the staff and were the standard things you give a teenage boy. A personal grooming kit, a sewing kit, and from Freddy, his gift actually contained something she could use. Two new packages of girls’ underwear in her size, plus some socks as well.

She puts the gifts she was given away and takes a nice, relaxing, hot shower before lying down on her bed. She was still too energized to fall asleep and didn’t have kitchen duty tomorrow morning. She pulls her laptop out and watches one of her favorite anime shows.

She ends up watching six episodes of her favorite anime before finally drifting off to sleep. Piper doesn’t hear Mr. Deir knock on her door in the morning.

Mr. Deir didn’t see Piper at breakfast that morning and knew she had come back last night. She had checked in with the night guard on duty. He uses his pass key to unlock Piper’s room door and finds Piper sound asleep, with his laptop near him.

He shuts the door quietly and heads back downstairs to the common room to check on the other boys. He had to agree with Freddy and the other counselors at the group home, Piper does look like a girl when he isn’t covered up.

Piper wakes up at one in the afternoon. She glances at her clock and notices she slept past lunch. She didn’t care because she kept emergency food supplies in her room. She leans over her bed and reaches under it with her fingertips. Her fingers touch the lip of the plastic storage container she keeps under her bed and pull it out.

She pulls out a cup of noodles that she can eat. She closes the container and slides it back under her bed. She gets out of bed and walks into the bathroom to run the water until it is hot and fill the cup of noodles. She lets it sit while she uses the toilet.

She knew her period was going to start in a few weeks. She still hasn’t told Freddy about having a period. Who would believe a girl with a penis could have a period like a normal girl? She never knew it was possible because it wasn’t covered in health class.

She had to look up the information on the web about guys having periods. It seemed that she had everything a girl does, except a vaginal opening. The menstrual blood from her period passes through the urethra that is connected to her penis.

She was lucky that when it first started, it happened here in her room. If she had been at school, it would have been bad. There would have been no way she could have hidden it.

Piper wanted to go and get birth control pills, but how do you explain to a doctor that, as a male, you have a female reproductive system and a dick? Plus, the doctor would have to inform Freddy or Mr. Wilkerson about what she was doing.

Once Piper was done doing her business and washing her hands afterward. She grabs the cup of noodles, sits down on her bed, and watches one of her favorite shows currently playing. She was still hungry after finishing the noodles. She eats some of the cookies Charlie had made for her.

Some of the cookies had crispy edges and brunt bottoms. However, they were still edible. She enjoys a few of them and puts the rest away for later.

By dinner time, Piper goes to enjoy dinner with the other boys at the group home. Tonight, they had turkey and ham subs with potato chips. They came premade, so there wasn’t much prep to do.

After dinner, Piper plays a few games with Charlie and Arnold. She doesn’t mind playing games with them and enjoys it.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day:
New Year’s Eve, Piper manages to leave the restaurant early. They closed by midnight, and she joined a few of her coworkers at the park for the fireworks display. She watches as the fireworks shoot up into the air and explode, creating beautiful showers of color.

Piper spots some of the people she goes to school with enjoying the fireworks with their loved ones, or their boyfriends or girlfriends. She feels lonely when she notices how close the couples were. She stays till the end and makes her way home.

When Piper finally makes her way home. She goes up to her room and enters. She shuts the door behind her and locks it. She walks over to her bed, removes her work shoes, and takes off her socks.

She rubbed her feet and was happy she could finally get off them. She strips out of her work clothes and tosses them into her dirty clothes hamper. She notices she needs to wash her clothes. She rubs under her breasts to relieve the red lines that form when she wears a tight sports bra to hide her breasts. She needed to hide them because she had to appear like a boy even at school.

She wiggles out of the bikini-style panties she wears under her pants when she works and goes to school. She tosses them into the hamper and heads to the bathroom for a nice soak. She was glad she had a private bathroom and didn’t share her room with another boy.

She remembers the first time she went to a boy’s group home. She shared a room with three other boys and had no privacy. The foster parents she had before she was put back into the group home. They gave her her own bedroom. They had their own bathroom, so she had to share.

After soaking and nearly falling asleep in the tub, she gets out and dries off. She brushes her hair out, so it doesn’t tangle, and puts her favorite nightshirt on. She doesn’t bother with putting on any panties. She was going to allow her private area to air out.

Once Piper was dressed for bed, she crawled under the covers and fell asleep instantly. She was so tired and worn out that all her body wanted to do was sleep. Since she didn’t have school, she doesn’t bother turning her alarm on.

Piper sleeps in late, and when she wakes up, it's ten in the morning. She knew either Freddy or Mr. Deir would have checked on her to make sure she came home last night. The two of them were good at making sure all the boys in the group home were accounted for.

Piper grabs a Pop-Tarts from her hidden stash and eats it. Since she had the day off from work, she was going to go out and do some shopping while her laundry was washing. She gathers up all her dirty clothes and puts them into the military duffel bag she bought at the army-navy surplus store.

She puts on some warm clothes and a new bra she bought. She wanted to see if it was as advertised on television. It didn’t have any underwire, and it should make her chest look flatter. Not that it mattered, because she was wearing it under a heavy sweater, which she bought to stay warm.

She checks her appearance before leaving to make sure she doesn’t look too girly. Her facial features had softened, and it didn’t take much for her to look like a teenage girl. She signs out with the security guard on duty and heads towards her favorite laundry mat to do her laundry.

It only takes her a few minutes to arrive at the laundry mat. It was cold outside, and she could feel her nipples harden. It was good she was wearing a heavy sweater, or people would have seen her nipples poking against her bra. She walks over to an unused washer and separates her laundry into three loads. One had her work clothes in it; the washer next to it had her underwear, bras, nightgowns, and socks. The one on the other side of the first one had her sweaters, school clothes, and her normal relaxing clothes.

She puts the laundry detergent into the three washing machines and gets them going. Instead of leaving the laundry mat, Piper sits down and starts reading an eBook on her Kindle. She liked to stay and watch as her laundry was being washed.

Every time the door opens, she watches as people enter either to drop their laundry off for washing or to do it themselves. Some were women with small kids in tow or single people like her who didn’t have washing machines or dryers at home. Sure, she could have done her laundry at the group home, but she didn’t want to take the risk of the other boys discovering her secret.

After a few hours, her clothes are washed, folded, and put back in the duffel bag. She makes sure everything is safely put away and doesn’t forget anything. She leaves the laundry mat and stops at Wendy’s to pick up a late lunch.

Once Piper has her lunch, she heads back to the group home and checks in. She makes her way to her room, puts away her clothes, and then enjoys her lunch. Piper turns on the television and watches a random show. She had nothing else to do.

As Piper was sitting on her bed, her cell phone started ringing, and when she looked at the number. She notices it was work. She presses accept “hello?”

“Piper, it's Barbara. I need you to come in and work tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” Piper ends the phone call.

She changes out of her normal clothes, puts on her work clothes, and grabs her heavy work jacket. According to The Weather Channel, the temperatures were going to drop tonight, and there might be snow that would turn to ice. She hopes it doesn’t ice up, because riding a bicycle in the snow was difficult enough, but adding ice makes it even harder. It became even more difficult.

Piper uses the motorized motor to get to work as fast as she can. She noticed there was a bunch of dishes piled up. She gets started right away, and just as the dishes are getting lower, more dishes come in to be washed. She works through her break time and dinner time. There were just too many dishes to stop.

Piper loses herself in doing her work, and by the time she was down to the last load, it was time to clock out. She finishes the last load and puts them away. When she steps outside after cleaning her work station. She notices it's snowing, and it's coming down heavily. She bundles up and starts making her way home.

She has several accidents on the way home. The first accident was a car that slid toward her when the driver stepped on the brakes at the stoplight. She tries to avoid the car and runs right into a pole. The second time, she lost her balance after hitting a slick surface and fell forward off her seat. The third time, as she entered the driveway of the group home, there was a layer of ice, and she lost control of her bicycle, hitting the ground hard on her right side. She knew she was going to have a bruise from hitting the ground.

She was in pain as she rode her bicycle to the entrance to check in with the guard on duty. It was hard for her as she carried her bicycle up to her room. She could feel the pain from hitting the icy parkway.

When Piper starts removing all her clothes, she notices a large bruise forming on the side of her right hip and thigh. Not only that, she felt her abdomen starting to cramp up. From everything she learned, she was starting her period.

Piper strips out of her work clothes and makes her way to the bathroom, where she fills the tub with hot water. She pops some Pamprin into her mouth and lowers herself into the tub. She leans back in the tub and relaxes as the hot water soaks into her skin.

Piper stays in the tub until the water starts turning cold. When she gets out and notices the bruising on her hip is getting darker. She dries off and heads towards her bed. She throws on her nightshirt and crawls into bed.

During the night, the pain pills she took for her period helped with the pain from the bruise on her hip. Piper has to be careful as she sleeps, because every time she rolls onto her side, the dull pain from the bruise wakes her. She fell back asleep and was going to enjoy having tomorrow off.

When morning arrived, it was snowing again, and there was at least two feet of snow outside. There was no way she could make it to work. She sends a text to Barbara letting her know. She receives a return text, letting Piper know she understood and to stay safe.

Piper puts on her cold-weather gear, grabs the broom she keeps in her bedroom, and starts cleaning the landing outside her room and the others'. She makes sure the whole landing is cleared and the steps leading down.

Piper is careful as she clears the steps and the walkway towards the main entrance. She changes out her snow-soak broom for a snow shovel and another broom. Several more boys join her in clearing the landing and the parking lot. At least the staff and the other boys, especially the younger boys at the group home, could enter the main building, which includes the restaurant, washroom, main rec/group room, and reception area.

Some of the boys who had kitchen duty made soup from scratch for everyone and hot chocolate with marshmallows. Normally, Piper tries to avoid socializing with everyone, but after being outside and removing the snow. She sits down, enjoys lunch, and watches some of the guys play games on the PS4 someone donated to the group home.

After lunch and socializing for a while, Piper walks outside and stands there, watching as the snow plows plow the roads and spread salt on them. They should have done that last night, so there wouldn’t be so much snow to melt.

Piper makes her way back upstairs to her room with her broom. What areas she missed originally, she sweeps those areas again. She puts the wet broom in the bathroom, in the tub, to drive out the smell.

Dr. Pratt’s Support Group:
Piper looks around at the people sitting in the support group. She was sitting in a chair between a young teenage boy her age who was a femboy. He went to a different high school from her. On Piper’s right sat another person in their late twenties, dressed as a normal young woman. The only way you could tell the person wasn’t a woman was from her facial features.

The person was wearing so much makeup that it was caked on. No normal woman would wear so much makeup. Sitting next to her was a mixed couple: boyfriend and girlfriend. The boyfriend was a female-to-male person who already had her breasts removed and sculpted to resemble a male’s chest.

Her girlfriend was a male-to-female transgender person and was Asian. She looked pretty good and had some surgery to appear more feminine. She even had breast surgery and was on the big side.

The other person in the group was an African American post office worker. He was a female-to-male transgender person. He was sitting close to Dr. Pratt.

On the other side of Dr. Pratt was a male-to-female who looked to be a little older than the others in the group. The woman looked like she had already had some surgery to blend in with the crowd. Piper learns that the woman started transitioning around the same time Piper did. But the woman didn’t live in this city until recently and found the new laws that were passed to be a bother.

During the meeting, Piper shares what she is experiencing and how frustrating it is. She couldn’t even go to a gynecologist because they would have to inform the director of the group home she was in, and how do you explain why a girl with a penis is there? She looks at everyone present.

Yua looks at Piper: “You actually have a fully developed female reproductive system?”

Piper looks towards Yua. “Yes, when I had my testicles removed due to cancer, the doctor I was taken to discovered I was born with both
reproductive organs of both genders. So, after my male organs were removed, my female organs started working. I just recently started having a period.”

“How is that possible?” Carol looks at Piper. She was the older woman wearing too much makeup.

“It seemed that my body just jump-started the organs. It’s a pain in the ass because during my time of the month, my menstrual blood comes out. Well, you know where.”

“Do the people at the group home know about your situation?” Thomas looks at Piper when he asks her that question.

“Yes, but because of the new laws. I can’t be transferred to a female group home or treated without special permission from the group home's director. As far as the state is concerned, I’m male because of what is between my legs, and not by what my body is doing.” Piper was getting tired of living a lie.

“Damn! That does suck.” Richard, the postal guy, looks at Piper with sympathy in his eyes.

“Yes, it does.” Piper hated hiding what she was.

“How do you hide what you are at school?” Quinn turns in his seat to look at Piper, since they were both the same age.

“At school I dress and act like a boy. Even when I have gym class, I bind my breasts, so I have a flat chest and have to meet all the standards for boys.”

“That has to be hard on you.” Quinn knew it was hard for him to hide how he felt. However, a small group of girls who knew him protected him from some of the bullies.

“Does anyone at your school know about you?” Thomas looks at Piper when he asks the question.

“No, sure, some people suspect I’m hiding something, but they don’t know the truth.” Piper has heard the rumors about her in school.

Some of the rumors said she was gay. Others suggested that because she lived in a group home, she hurt someone or was a thief. No one really knew the truth about her because she transferred in the middle of the year.

The meeting continues for a while. After the meeting, some of the people get together and go out for an early dinner. Piper doesn’t join them. Because where they were going, people there knew her.

Instead of joining the others for dinner, Piper heads to work to help out in the kitchen and bus tables, rather than washing them. She has helped out before as a busboy. She makes sure any tip money left behind is given to the waitress who worked that table.

Piper enjoyed talking to others like herself. Some of the others at the meeting have had it almost as difficult as she has. Some of them lost their jobs or got weird looks from people. Some have even been bullied or lost their jobs.

After work, Piper takes a little longer to get back to the group home. She wasn’t in a hurry to get home, so she was taking it easy. At the same time, Piper was biking home and being careful. She feels something hit her in her back several times. She leans on a nearby truck as a hot, wet feeling spreads down her back.

The driver of the truck Piper was leaning against came out of the store he had gone into. He spots a person leaning against the front of his truck.
“Hey, get away from my truck.”

Hick spots a person wearing a bright blue ski suit with reflective straps, leaning against the front of his truck. The person looked slumped over the fender of his truck, and there were three red spots on the person's back.

He walked over to the person and saw they were sitting on a female mountain. The bicycle was leaning against his truck, supporting the person on the bicycle. He pulls his cell phone out and dials 911. He lets the operator know about the person slumped over the fender of his truck.

Several people had stopped to see what was going on. Hick doesn’t touch the person and tries to keep people away until the police show up. Once the police show up, they secure the crime scene and keep the crowd back. Once the paramedics arrive, they check Piper over.

Officer Lupe Sterling was on her way back to the police station when she heard about a shooting victim over on Slate Street. The description of the person and the bicycle reminded her of the one Piper Welch owned. The same one her uncle fixed for Piper. She turns on her lights and heads over to Slate Street.

When she arrived, there was a crowd. She makes her way through the crowd and spots the bicycle and the paramedics working on Piper, trying to stabilize her. Officer Sterling makes her way to a nearby officer she knows. “What happened to Piper?”

Officer Crooks looks at Officer Sterling: “You know the victim?”

“Yeah, her name is Piper Welch, and she is a transgender person.” Officer Sterling didn’t know Piper was a true female.

“You better let Moore know, because this might be a hate crime. Someone decided to use her for target practice and shot her three times in the back.”

“Did anyone hear anything?” Officer Sterling watches as Piper is stabilized and loaded into the ambulance.

“That’s what the other officers are doing.” Officer Crooks looks at Officer Sterling.

She watches as the ambulance drives off and heads towards the hospital. Officer Sterling sticks around and manages to secure Piper’s bicycle so she could give it back to her. Officer Sterling heads towards the hospital to check on Piper’s condition.

First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital:
The ambulance arrives at the emergency entrance, and Piper is rushed towards the operating room. Her clothes are cut off her as she is lifted onto the operating table, and her blood type is cross-matched. The doctors do everything to keep her alive. One of the bullets had hit one of her ribs and shattered it. Another bullet had damaged her left lung, and the last bullet missed her spine by just inches, but damaged the upper area of the same lung the second bullet had hit.

Officer Sterling made it to the hospital to check on Piper. The doctor working on her said she was lucky her spine hadn’t been damaged. Officer Sterling waits in the waiting room, hoping that Piper will make it.

First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital:
Officer Sterling had stopped by the hospital after her shift and was waiting in the waiting room of the hospital. She was concerned about Piper and what condition she was in. The doctor had come out once and explained to her that the damage they had previously sustained was worse than they had previously thought.

Piper’s left lung was too damaged to save, and it would have to be removed. As for other injuries, she was lucky that the bullets had missed her spine. If they hadn’t missed, Piper would be paralyzed for the rest of her life. As for the bullets they removed, the doctor turned those over to the forensics team from the police department to determine which gun they came from.

Officer Sterling knew there was no way Piper would be able to get the recovery care she would need at the group home. She was still living with her parents and was helping take care of them. So she couldn’t take Piper in, but there was someone she knew from her college days who might be able to help.

She pulled out her cellphone, walked out of the hospital, and dialed the person she was thinking about. She listened for a while, hoping the person would pick up.

Somewhere in Fergus County, Montana:
“Get back here, you asshole!” Marshal Russel Givens was chasing after a suspect he had been looking for for a while and finally located him hiding out at an abandoned ranch. The suspect had been on the run for the past few months and made the mistake of coming to Montana.

Russell came across the suspect by accident and started tracking him. He managed to track the suspect to an abandoned ranch that the suspect was related to, but lost it due to financial problems. Now the suspect was running across one of the old pastures trying to outrun Marshal Givens.

The thing was, Marshal Givens had been on his college track team and won several state awards. Marshal Givens managed to catch up to the suspect and tackle him to the ground. He rolled the man over so he was lying on his stomach, twisted his hands behind his back, and put his handcuffs on him.

“Why did you make me chase you, Sam?” Marshal Givens helps Sam up off the ground.

“I don’t want to go back to jail, Givens.” Sam knew that was where he was heading.

“Well, you should have thought about that before you went on the run, Sam.” Marshal Givens started marching Sam Masters back towards the ranch where his pickup truck was parked.

“You could let me go, Givens. You know I have connections and could make it worth your while.” Sam was hoping Givens was one of those cops he could buy off.

“And get my ass kicked by my wife? No thanks, Sam. I like my job and love my wife. If she ever found out I turned into a crooked cop. She would kick my ass and put me in the hospital for months, before arresting me.” Marshal Givens knew his wife Gloria was a badass and had a strong sense of right and wrong.

The last person she learned was on the take of a mob boss or the cartel, ended up in the hospital with most of his bones broken by her. She wanted you to live and pay for your crime, instead of taking the shortcut of dying. His wife believed in karma and what you needed to do in order to pay that karma back.

He marches Sam Masters back to his black Dodge Ram 3500 extended cab and secures him in the backseat. He climbs into the driver's seat and adjusts his light brown custom-fitted cowboy hat. He puts his sunglasses on, starts the truck, and heads back toward Billings, Montana.

He figures he’ll get there by four in the afternoon. He looks in the rearview mirror towards Sam. “You know, you could have saved yourself more time by not escaping, Sam.”

“How the hell did you know I was hiding out on my Uncle’s old property?” Sam was wondering how Givens found him.

“I spotted you at the gas station getting fuel for that Mustang you stole; that’s how. That was a dumb move driving around in a stolen car.” An evil smile appears on Givens' face.

Sam couldn’t believe he made such a stupid mistake by doing that. He was mentally kicking himself for that mistake.

The Regency Office Complex, Main Street, Billings, Montana:
Gloria Givens was watching the crowd as the limo she and her partner were in pulled up in front of the office complex. The VIP they had been assigned to protect while he was in Billings had received several threats from some major hitters connected to the Dixie Mafia. The information she and her partner had been given said Henry Brit put out the hit on their client. According to the information they had, Mr. Brit didn’t like the fact that their client wouldn’t play ball with them on a new casino he was building. So, to keep the Casino from being built, a hit was put out on their client.

The reason they were in Montana instead of Biloxi, Mississippi. Was because one of the backers who was willing to loan money to their client lived here in Montana and wanted to meet in person. So, she and her partner flew down in the company jet, picked up the client, and flew back to Montana with the client on board.

Gloria’s partner exits first from the limo and scans the crowd before giving the all clear. The client was next, followed by Gloria. Gloria’s partner, Jake Summerset. He escorts them inside the building and up to the floor where the meeting was going to be held. Jake enters first and makes sure everyone is who they said they are before letting the client inside.

Once Jake was outside the conference room, Gloria and Jake took up guarding the door. Both of them were used to doing this type of work. Originally, Gloria had been an NCIS agent stationed onboard an aircraft carrier. But after doing that for several years and marrying her husband. Gloria decided to leave NCIS and go to work for a company named Dark Angel Protection Agency.

This way she could spend more time with her husband, instead of being out at sea so often. She hadn’t planned on marrying so young, but the two of them hit it off so well. It was like they were made for each other. She knew he was a Marshal the first time they met.

While Gloria is standing outside the conference room door, her cell phone starts vibrating. She looks at the caller ID and notices it was her college friend Lupe Sterling. Normally, you weren’t supposed to take personal calls while on duty, but since she and her partner were waiting outside the conference room door and there was no one else on the floor. She pressed accept: “Hello, Sterling, what can I do for you?”

“Hey Gloria, do you have time to talk?” Sterling knew her friend was busy.

“Not right now, I don’t. I can get back to you later on tonight.” Gloria knew she couldn’t stay on the phone.

“Alright, call me back tonight, please. It’s very important.” Sterling figured Gloria and her husband might be able to help Piper.

“Can you at least give me an idea what it is about?” Gloria was curious.

“It’s about the safety of a transgender girl. I’ll explain more about the situation tonight when you call.”

“Alright. You be safe.” Gloria knew her friend was a cop.

“You too.” Sterling knew Gloria did a lot of different jobs.

Sterling ended the call after saying goodbye, then went back into the hospital to check on Piper.

First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital:
Machines beeped as they kept the young teenage girl alive. A nurse had checked on her several times, bringing in flowers, get-well cards, and balloons. A giant pink teddy bear and several smaller plushies sat near the hospital bed.

The machines kept a steady beeping sound as the tube going into Piper’s mouth kept her breathing on the healthy lung she had left. The doctor had managed to remove her damaged lung, and so far Piper wasn’t showing any signs of infection in her other lung.

Officer Sterling sat next to Piper’s hospital bed, holding her hand. Sometimes she spoke to Piper, letting her know she wasn’t alone and that Detectives North and Forrest were on the case. As for the investigation into who shot Piper, the case was moving slowly.

Detective Forrest had informed her that the striation marks on the three bullets that were removed from Piper’s body had the same markings from six other unsolved cases. The victims from those attacks had all died, and their cases haven’t been solved yet.

The gun that shot those bullets was used in all six crimes, and there was nothing else linking the victims to one another. Each victim was killed at different locations around town or in their home. They varied in ages and were of different ethnicities.

As for Piper’s safety, there was a guard posted outside her hospital room. The department didn’t want to take the chance of whoever shot Piper trying again. As for her friend Gloria, she and her husband, US Marshal Givens, were flying in tomorrow to talk to Child Services. She explained everything to Gloria and her husband last night about Piper.

She also spoke with Judge Reardon about getting access to Piper’s foster records. Judge Reardon was a family friend and had been the one who suggested she should go into law enforcement. She couldn’t decide what she wanted to do. He made arrangements with a few friends for her to ride along with them on patrol.

Sterling wonders if Piper knew who her birth parents were and why they abandoned her. She had been wrong about Piper’s gender as well. According to Piper’s birth certificate and medical report when she was born, she had been assigned the genitals of a male. But when she got testicular cancer, the doctor discovered she had the organs of a female.

However, since she was designated as a male at birth. It has caused problems for her. Even Sterling thought Piper was a boy, pretending to be a girl. However, after the first time Piper was taken to the hospital. Sterling learned that wasn’t true.

Officer Sterling gets up and walks out of Piper’s hospital room. It has been a long day, and her friend was coming in tomorrow. She takes the stairs down to the first floor and exits the hospital.

Sterling drives home and pulls into the driveway. She spots her middle brother’s pickup truck parked behind their father’s work truck. Something didn’t feel right when she parked behind her mother’s car and got out.

She walked into the house through the garage door. She spots her parents in the living room with her mother sitting on the sofa with her oxygen tube. Her father was sitting in his recliner and his right arm was covered up.

Officer Sterling watched as her brother came walking into the living room, and his left arm was wrapped up as well.

“What happened to you and Dad today, John?” Sterling had walked over and sat down on the sofa near her mother.

“Someone didn’t drain the hot water heater before trying to cut the pipe.” Henry looks over towards his middle son when he answers.

John looks at his father and sister and wanted to say something, but decided not to. He knew it wasn’t going to do any good. He walked over and sat down on the other recliner.

“How was your day, sweetie?” Mary looks towards her daughter.

She knew Mary had taken an interest in the young girl who got shot recently. It was the same girl that had been attacked by bullies on her way home.

“It was nice and quiet, which is a relief. And before you ask, Mom. I did check on Piper, and she is still unconscious. The doctor said he was keeping her under until tomorrow. They are worried about how she will respond to having her left lung removed.”

“Why did the doctor remove this girl’s lung?” John looked towards his sister and didn’t know she knew the girl who got shot yesterday.

“They had to remove her lung because the bullets bounced around inside her body and turned her lung into Swiss cheese. There was nothing they could do to save it, except remove it.” Sterling knew the doctor who had talked to her had wanted to save Piper’s left lung, but the damage was just too severe. There was no other option, except to remove the whole lung.

“Dam, I feel sorry for the poor girl. Before you got home, I went ahead and ordered dinner for all of us.” John knew normally his mother or Sterling made dinner.

“That’s fine. I’m going to go ahead and get out of my uniform.” Sterling stood up and headed to her bedroom to change out of her uniform.

The next day, Piper is woken up. At first she felt extremely groggy as she tried to recall what happened to her. All she could remember was choking on her blood and passing out. She had reached out and balanced herself against a pickup truck. As her head finally cleared, she noticed she was in a hospital room with an older man standing near the bed she was lying on. Next to him were two nurses.

“Ms. Welch, can you hear me?” Doctor White stood near the hospital bed and looked down at the young girl.

Piper nodded her head yes to his question. She was finding it hard to breathe and felt that her chest was tight. She was still feeling a little lightheaded from the drug they used on her. She noticed an oxygen hose was around her neck.

Piper felt pain in her chest when she tried to sit up or moved suddenly. She winced as she stayed lying on her back. She wasn’t going to try moving any time soon.

Doctor White looked down into Piper’s eyes. “We had to remove one of your lungs because it had been damaged too severely. Also, you have three broken ribs in your back. So, you might not want to move around too much.”

Tears start streaming from Piper’s eyes as she listens to what Doctor White was telling her. She had felt the bullets enter her body from behind and penetrate her lung. She had started choking on her own blood, as her air supply had been cut off.

A nearby nurse wiped her eyes as Piper cried. The nurse wondered why anyone would do such a mean thing to a young girl. Doctor White informed Piper that she might find it weird for a while breathing with one lung. However, her body will adjust, and her good lung will become stronger.

The doctor stayed for a while, making sure Piper understood everything, and informed her that she’ll have to get up and move around. Which was something Piper wasn’t looking forward to, because of how her ribs felt. After the nurses were done with her, they asked her what she wanted to eat. She lay there in bed and looked around the room.

Piper noticed balloons with "Get Well" printed on them, plants, and plushies. There was a huge pink teddy bear sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed. She wondered who sent it to her.

Later In The Afternoon that Same Day:
A white and gold 2007 Gulfstream G200 lands at a private airfield. The plane taxis to an empty spot and parks. Gloria looks at her husband. “Admit it, I’m a good pilot.”

“I never said you weren’t. I just hate flying, is all.” Russell has never liked flying that much. He would have preferred to drive to meet the girl.

A smirk appears on Gloria’s face as she exits the plane. She had gotten her pilot’s license while she was in college and while she worked for NCIS. The plane she bought from another college buddy that goes around buying old planes and fixes them.

She knew he flipped planes for a living and was well respected as a mechanic. There wasn’t a plane he couldn’t fix. A smile appeared on her face when she spotted her old college roommate Lupe Sterling standing near a black SUV.

“Lupe, it's nice to see you after all these years.” Gloria hugged her old roommate.

“You too, Gloria, and you as well, Givens.” Lupe looked at Russell as he stood nearby.

Lupe knew Russell was a deputy US Marshal stationed in Montana, but originally came from Lexington, Kentucky. The man had been well known on the track and field circuit in college. She also knew that he and Gloria had met while she was working for NCIS. They weren’t married then, but got married a few years later.

After Lupe hugged Gloria and Russell, she helped them with their bags and loaded everything in the cargo area of her SUV. Before they drove away from the airfield, she looked at Gloria. “I made arrangements for you two to stay at the Marroit, downtown. It’s not far from the hospital or city hall. Judge Reardon said he would be willing to handle any legal matters.”

“It sounds like you have been busy, Lupe. What do you know about this girl that you haven’t already told us?” Gloria looks at her friend as she drove.

“Not much, other than what I’ve already told you. The poor thing has to pretend she is a boy. The state won’t acknowledge that she isn’t what she appears to be.” Lupe knew that the state she and Piper lived in wouldn’t change Piper’s birth certificate.

“That does cause a problem. You said her birth certificate says she is male, but she is developing like a girl.”

“Yes, she was born with a penis and testes, but inside she had the reproductive organs of a female as well. She didn’t know she had them until she got testicular cancer and had to have her testes cut off. Once that happened, her body jump-started her female organs, and she has been developing like a girl, while still retaining the penis she had been born with between her legs.”

“Are the doctors sure her penis is a penis and not a clitoris that grew weirdly?” Gloria was curious about that.

“As far as I know, her medical records say it’s a penis.” Lupe was thankful to Judge Reardon for letting her look at Piper’s medical records.

“Getting a new birth certificate for her in this state is impossible. Even with a judge’s order, the state won’t do it.” Russell knew how some state laws worked, and getting them to change things isn’t easy; if nothing else, it was impossible.

“So, why did you call us?” Gloria knew there had to be a reason Lupe called her.

“I need you two to adopt her. She needs to get away from here and somewhere where she can be herself and be safe. This is the second time she has been attacked, that I know of, and we don’t have any idea who is trying to kill her.”

Russell looks towards his wife from the back. “That’s asking a lot from us, Lupe.”

“I know, but if there is anyone who can give this girl a chance to be herself and be safe, it's you two.” Lupe knew Piper would be safe with her friends.

“I don’t know.” Gloria didn’t know if she was the motherly type.

“Look, just meet with her and talk about it. If I could adopt her, I would, but I’m taking care of my mother and my father has problems of his own.” Lupe knew her father had health problems that would soon sideline him.

“Alright. But first, let’s check in and grab some lunch.” Gloria was hungry because she skipped breakfast.

“I know the perfect place.” A smile appeared on Lupe’s face as she continued to drive.

Gloria and Russell’s Hotel Room Marroit, Downtown:
Gloria wakes up first the next day and gets up out of bed, without waking her husband. She didn’t sleep too well, as she walked towards the bathroom. What Lupe had suggested to them over lunch about adopting the girl got her thinking. They paid a visit to the hospital and saw the teenage girl sound asleep with machines connected to her.

The reason she and Russell didn’t have children of their own was that she couldn’t. She had too much scar tissue inside her uterus, and her fallopian tubes had scars from several surgeries she had to get from being attacked. Her doctor said she’ll never be able to have children.

The same could be said about Russell as well. He had been injured in his reproductive organs during his career as well. So, the chances of them having kids of their own were slim. She sits on the toilet and does her morning business, then heads back toward the bedroom. She looks over towards her husband and wonders what he wanted to do. They had talked about adopting the girl last night before going to bed, but nothing had been decided.

Gloria walks over and kisses Russell on the cheek. She knew that her husband felt her presence near the bed.

“I know you are awake, sweetie.” Gloria could tell when her husband was asleep and awake.

Russell turned onto his back and pulled Gloria towards him. As she lay on top of Russell, he looked into Gloria’s hazel eyes and kissed her. He held onto her as she lay on top of him.

Gloria kisses her husband back. She lay on top of him and looked into his grey eyes. “You know, I still don’t know what to do about Lupe’s request.”

“I know. If we agree to adopt her, and she feels uncomfortable being with us, what can we do? Also, with you traveling and doing jobs for your company and me doing jobs for the Marshal Service. Who is going to watch her while we are doing our jobs?”

“Well, she is sixteen years old and knows how to take care of herself. It’s not like she is a toddler or anything.” Gloria figures Piper was old enough to look after herself.

“True, within a few years, she’ll either go to college or a trade school. Hopefully, she doesn’t get pregnant at a young age.” Gloria figures if Piper
was having periods, she was able to have children as well.

“So? Are we going to adopt Piper or what?” Russell keeps looking into Gloria’s eyes.

“If she is willing to move to Montana, and if the courts here approve, then yes. The ball will be in her court now.” Gloria figures she could use the company law firm to handle the adoption.

“Let’s get some breakfast and talk with Lupe before we go and talk with Piper. It also might be best if Lupe introduces us to her before we discuss this with her.” Russell figures Lupe should be the one to approach Piper and explain things to her before they offer to adopt her.

First Health Montgomery Memorial Hospital:
Piper felt so weak and sore as she leaned against the nurse helping her walk. She was having a hard time breathing because she was missing a lung. It felt so strange only to have one lung.

Piper looks at the nurse helping her. The woman was old enough to be her mother. “Can we go back now?”

Nurse Hathaway looked at Piper when she asked that question. She knew the poor girl had been wondering why anyone would try to kill her. The detectives had come by this morning to see if Piper was awake and question her.

When the detectives left, they didn’t look too happy. They had a look that said that this was going to be a long investigation.

“All right, I think we can go back to your hospital room now.” Nurse Hathaway escorts Piper back to her hospital room.

Once Piper is back in the room, she sits down on the edge of the bed and carefully swings her legs up onto the mattress. She winces a few times because of her broken ribs and the bullet holes in her back. She looks towards Nurse Hathway. “Can I get an aspirin or something, please?”

“Is it your ribs or where the bullets enter your back?” Nurse Hathaway looks at Piper’s face for an answer.

“Both of them. If I move too much, my ribs hurt, followed by the holes.” Piper wonders what else the bullets did to her when they entered her body.

“Okay, but I’m going to give you only half of a pain pill.” Nurse Hathway gets the pills and gives them to Piper.

“Thank you.” Piper pops them into her mouth and drinks some water from a cup.

Nurse Hathway leaves her hospital room. Piper sees that her favorite stuffed animal from her hotel room at the boys’ group home was brought in.
She picks it up and hugs it really tight. She wonders why someone tried to kill her. She has never done anyone any harm or been rude to them.

She carefully lays back on the bed and wonders if foster care is going to take care of her medical bills. Because she doesn’t have any insurance at the diner she worked at. She lay back and tried to get comfortable. She picked up her Kindle and started reading one of her favorite books she bought.

Grand Max Used Cars:
“How incompetent can you be, Mike?” Jeremy looks at Mike as he sat in front of him.

“How was I supposed to know she would survive? I did what you asked me to do, and I proved that I was willing to do it.” Mike looked at the older man standing in front of him.

He was instructed that if he wanted to join Jeremy’s crew. He had to prove himself by shooting and killing a random person. He had chosen Piper Welch to prove he wanted to join. He had watched him and learned what he does during school and after school. He managed to slip an Apple AirTag onto his bicycle so that he could track him. He spotted Piper going home after work. He knew with all the noise and traffic, it would hide the sound of the rifle he used.

He thought he had killed Piper, but according to a nurse who worked at the hospital. Piper had survived the attack. There was no way Piper knew who shot her, but Jeremy didn’t like it when the target lived. It was now going to be his job to finish the job properly.

Jeremy walks over to a wall and moves aside the picture covering the safe behind it. He inputs the combination and opens the door. He reaches into the safe and pulls out a wrapped weapon. Once Jeremy has the item he wanted, he closes the safe and slides the picture back in place.

He turns and walks back over to Mike and hands him the wrapped item. Jeremy looks down at Mike. “Finish the job, or don’t come back. I’m sending Ervin with you to make sure you do the job right.”

Mike unfolds the item in his hand and notices it was a Glock 19. He noticed it had an extended barrel with threads on it. He knew the threads were for a silencer and flash suppressor.

“I’ll make sure it's done.” Mike stood up and walked out of Jeremy’s office.

He knew his friend Archie had a silencer for the Glock 19 at his job. He’ll go by there to ask him to borrow it. As for Piper, he doesn’t mind getting revenge for what happened to his friends.

Mike walks out to his pickup truck and drives to Archie’s job. It was a good thing that Archie worked for his father, so it wouldn’t look strange for him to be there. Also, Archie could always make him a silencer with everything in the shop.