With mixed feelings, I say, “I don’t know how this will all end, but yes, I will do my best to put away Boy Chris and become Girl Tina. This means that I must stop thinking of you as my girlfriend, Laurie. That’s the hardest part of all and will take sometime to implement. We’ll have to make some modifications to our ground rules for this to happen. You will have to treat me just like any other girl and I will need to behave like one. I just hope that we can make the transition back to what we had when this is over at the end of the summer but I’ll try not to worry about that until the time comes.”

Laurie and I embrace each other with tears that could either be happiness for our new relationship or sorrow for the one we are giving up. They could be mix of both. It is hard to say.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I confide, “I’m so afraid that, if I let myself go, I’ll like it too much to go back.”

“Well, girl, it seems to me that you’ll have to go back to being Chris. After all, how would you explain Chris’s disappearance? I would miss him terribly. Just think, if you didn’t switch back then we’d both need to find new boyfriends; and let me tell you, girl, guys like Chris are rare and very hard to find. Anyway, letting yourself go may make the transition back to being Chris harder, but not unbearable, and I think that it will make your summer much more fun. Think about it, girl friend.”

I do think about it–a lot–before I finally get to sleep.

Chapter 20: Race Day

Crystal Friend Chapter 2 By Mildred Ki'Lya Edited by Sephrena Lynn Miller

“You have nothing at all to fear from me, please! I never kill. And, I do not need much blood.” Blushing a deep rose red, she continued lowering her eyes, “It’s not the blood itself I need - it’s a gift of life, the blood is just the medium. That is different from how you are thinking of what the word ‘vampire’ is.”

Ashley was dumbfounded by what Meryl had told her.

Yes... I like Tom. He is a good guy and comfortable to be around. Throughout the conversation Laurie has to send me silent signals to remind me to not slip back into boy mode while we talk. I find myself slipping back towards guy mode as we relax around each other. I think Tom likes talking to a girl who acts more like a guy–he is obviously not trying to impress me, just normal guy to guy talk.  It feels good.

Chapter 18: Shopping With The Girls