Fifteen - Love

Anyone who tells you that tennis is a gentle sport is lying through their teeth. At the grass roots level, it is populated by eager children with overbearing parents, and overbearing competitors with overbearing managers and trainers at the professional level. In my experience, the best time to be a tennis player is the bit in between, where you can shed the parents clutches, and before someone wants to be your ‘guardian’.

Carrie begins to take over Cory's life, and big decisionshave to be made.

Jason had always been intrigued by his sister's clothes. The delicate fabrics, the vibrant colors, and the way they made her feel confident and beautiful sparked a longing in him. Today, with his mom and sister out shopping, he found the courage to explore a part of himself he had only dreamed of before.

We'd Like to Help You Learn to Help Yourself
By Angela Rasch
(inspired by the Aria Nova image)

“Plastic. . .,” My sister said in an accusatory tone.

We sat in the living room of the Hinsdale, Illinois house we had inherited from our parents -- enjoying Sunday morning mimosas. Citrus and champagne tainted the air.

“Plastic?” I teased. “Is that a reference to that sixties’ movie with Dustin Hoffman, Katherine Ross, and Anne Bancroft?”

“The Graduate?” She shook her head.

I woke up Saturday morning with two legs, much to my relief. I showered and returned to my room. As I looked through my closet I noticed the one pair of jeans I had purchased just a handful of days ago. Reaching for the jeans made me feel funny on Thursday. Today, I picked them up off the rack without my compulsions complaining about it. I put them on and still there was no problem. I had to admit I liked the way they hugged my body. When I finished dressing I went downstairs for breakfast. Mom and Daddy were already up.

Chapter 5

We had been on the A3 for a while and then turned off just before Guildford. He must have been reading my mind.

“It’s no good seeing where we go, Maxine. We have been using tonight’s venue for a few months and will find somewhere else for when we next meet. We don’t stay anywhere for more than six months.”

“Obviously nowhere that’s cheap, though.”

Chapter 4

The appointment was for nine on Tuesday, so I rang Hassam to book him from eight until twelve. He told me that he had his car back and it was now a lot quieter. Lena wanted to know how my weekend was, so I told her that I had been invited to the dinner on Saturday evening and met Barry Bishop, AKA DI Abbott, and had a frank discussion with him.

I was relieved when Larry and the head cheerleader drifted apart. I should have been concerned when Bob asked Larry for a date. The truth was that I was just too curious to see what would happen I just aided and abetted instead. Larry was even lovelier that night. They left and about a minute to midnight I heard Bob’s car drive up again. Of course I had prepared an unobtrusive view of the porch. Yes, there was a good-night kiss. Not a bad one. Really not a bad one.

The Manchester Early Summer Carnival 
A “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: I became a Girl” Gaiden
by
Rebecca Coleman

-1-
A Proposal

So Larry was without girlfriend. While I had not expected him to be single for long (what a change from the beginning of the year!) I had NOT expected Bob (the baseball captain) to be the next one to ring the bell and ask for Larry.

What it is to be a Queen

I am Banrigh, the most sucessful hive queen in our history on the planet, at least so far I am. My gratitude that our memories and awareness are passed on when we pass is beyond the comprehension of those of other species. Members of other species die and their descendants are left with what they remember of what they have seen and have been told. We remember as if we were the one experiencing what our entire line of direct ancestors remembered of their lives and experiences. For those of us with ancestors of influence, or ancestors who subsequently became to be recognised as major contributors to our current thinking, that puts us in a powerful position in society today.

I had expected Larry to get into trouble at the studio with his lilac tights. Just shows how clueless I am. The teacher loved that Larry wore lighter color tights. That allowed him to see better how Larry’s leg muscles worked. Black really isn’t a good color to wear in class but tell that to teen boys who already are body conscious. And, of course, the girls in his class loved it even more now that they got a better look at his quite nice legs. Good thing for Larry that he already had a girlfriend. Otherwise he’d have been under siege.

Cory gets drawn deeper and deeper into his role as Carrie at the Hotspot club, not realising the effect it would have on his life.

A Grumpy Old Man’s Tale 58 The Heller of All Hellers

Daphne said, “Most women I know, including me, have an awful lot of clothes. Not Stephen, but that skirt suit is genuine Harris tweed and cost a small fortune. All his clothes are the same, he doesn’t have wardrobes and wardrobes of them but what he does have is all the ultimate in quality. He should have been a woman because his dress sense is far better than mine. However, he’s a hundred percent man. He just likes dressing up in what other people call women’s clothes, but he doesn’t see it that way. He says, ‘I’m a man. They’re my clothes, so by definition they’re a man’s clothes.’ I suppose he does have a point.”

I proceeded to tell my parents everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. Well, not everything, obviously. I deliberately omitted the specific details of flirting with the hunky Italian waiter (whose number was still tucked away in my jeans pocket) as well as having snogged Darnell at the nightclub. But I did tell all regarding becoming Tabitha and playing for the girls' football team.

The next day the same three girls invaded the house once more. There was one addition this time. Peter, the geekiest geek imaginable and the closest thing to friend that Larry had had before, had joined them. Peter also wore the very short lilac pleated skirt. And I noticed he had shaved legs. Very recently, and not expertly, shaved legs by all signs.

Chapter 2

I woke early from an uneventful night. I peeked out of the window and Mo Man had gone. I expect that when I went back out, there would be someone else waiting to follow me. If that was the case, they could follow me back to the town house.