"Hey, I wanted to ask you guys," I said. "Do either of you read any girls' magazines? You know, like Cosmo Girl or Elle Girl or—"

"Or Barf Girl," Carla interrupted. "Pull-eeze! Are you serious?"

I fell in love with David in high school and married him right after college. What was it about him that I loved so much? In this chapter: To go out or not? And, if so, how far.

I borrowed a top from Alice that was as daring as I dared to be. "Um," she said, "I don't know if you're old enough for that top, but one thing I do know for sure: if you're going to wear it, you have to take a jacket, so you can close it up. You need the option."

"I don't know how parents survive!" she exclaimed. "You've been with me for what — five or six weeks now, and I feel like I'm either going to have gray hair or a heart attack or both! And the thing is, you're just skipping along, tra la la, and — oh! I'm a girl! oh! I have a boyfriend! oh! I climbed the school building! oh! I have breasts!"

"We love you and if this is part of you, then we have to accept it. We don’t necessarily approve of it, but you are our friend/brother/son and we will always care." This, to me, was a revelation and, to not have to hide anymore was the most wonderful feeling in the world!

I fell in love with David in high school and married him right after college. What was it about him that I loved so much? In this chapter: He tells all. Or, does he?

Orphaned at 14, Angelo is a shy, sensitive boy who is helped to become the girl he always felt he was by a caring new foster mother. He becomes a prettily dressed teenaged girl who finds new friends and enjoyment. At the same time, a dark cloud is overhead, threatening his future.

"Yeah, whatever," he said. "Hey, I can only give you a quick kiss with my parents watching."

I smiled. "I understand." I got up on tiptoe, and he gave me a peck on the lips. Resting my head on his chest, I hugged him tight. Then I noticed that my left foot had "popped," like the girl in The Princess Diaries, so I put it back on the ground and let go. "Thanks. I had a lot of fun."

"Oh," I said. "Remember when I told you that I'm not supposed to date? Well, I'm really not supposed to have you over when no one's home."

"You'll be home," he said playfully.

An upperclass girl came in to use one of the toilet stalls. I didn't look at her, but I heard her sit down. At the same time, there were noises from the boy's bathroom, which is on the opposite side of the wall. In a vague way I remembered Carla once telling me to never use this bathroom, but she didn't have a chance to explain why. I suddenly found out.

"Do you want to start again?" I asked.

"No, no. Let's just... Okay. Here's what we'll do. I'm going to tell you what I see and hope it makes sense to you, because it doesn't make any sense to me. Okay?"

"So," Miranda asked, grinning, "Is that your doll?"

"Yes," I replied. "Her name is Madison. I named her myself."

"That was very clever of you," she replied, "especially since her name is already Madison when you buy her in the store."
 

She started laughing, but I cut her off.

"I know that everything I do is oh-so-funny, but I'm really scared. Should I tell my parents? Or hope that they won't find out? And are you going to narc me out just so you don't get in trouble?"

The Nostalgia Train

by Maggie O Malley and shalimar

After we tried some of the normal rides in the amusement park Eric and I saw a ride called the Nostalgia Train and were curious what it was all about so we went to the information booth connected to it and found out.

"You certainly owe me and your mother an apology," he said. "If you wanted to do this, you should have called and told us before you did it."

"Would you have said yes?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "I wouldn't."
 

"It was pale yellow," she recalled. "I could sort of see it through the dress."

"Uh, it wasn't a bra," I replied. "It was a bathing suit."

"Oh," she laughed. "A bathing suit?"

I sighed. How much was I going to have to admit to?
 

It was a nice evening, and Jerry walked me home. He put his arm around my shoulders and steered me so I could dig into the bag. There was a little coral-colored teddy bear, a brand new Barbie, and a small baby doll.

"Ah," Jerry said, as I showed him my presents, "It's remedial, you know? She's trying to get you caught up on the girly stuff you missed."

"Look, Diana," I said, "I'm sorry I had to tell you no. I wanted to go with you, and I thought that I could." She started to say something, but I put up my hand. "Wait. The thing is, Miranda is smart. She's fun to be with, and she's the same size as me —"

"Come on, Chapters!" she scolded, "Nobody gives a bleep about your bleeping height!" (Yes, she really did say "bleep" and "bleeping"!)
 

"Good Lord!" my aunt exclaimed as she looked at my arms and listened to my story. "How many days is it? Not even four days as a girl, and your life is an adventure!"

I'm glad to say that nothing wild happened in church. No one recognized me; there were no slapstick moments. I think Miranda was a little disappointed, until we ran into the odious Robert outside.

"Hey, baby," he said to me. "Did you get my little gift?"

"Don't call me 'baby'," I told him, "and yes, I did get it."
 

"We'll also get your legs waxed, and we'll take a peek at your chest and back to see if you need any waxing there."

"Waxing?" I asked. I'd never heard of it before. "What is that like? Is it like waxing the floor?"

"Ahhh, yeah, it's a lot like that," Alice said, tongue in cheek. "It's fun, you'll like it."

Cassie cut in with a question to me. "I was thinking about what you said before. You came here to Tierson without any clothes? Without any at all?"

"Were you naked?" Nina giggled.

"No," I said, blushing yet again. "I had some clothes, and I did bring a big box, but it was all boy clothes."

"WHAT!?" Cassie cried. "Boy clothes?"