Chapter 7

The appointment at the fashion house was on a Wednesday morning so I made an appointment with Hector at his rehearsal rooms in the late afternoon and worked my butt off putting together a folio of drawings for him and the troupe to look at.

We had eight different guys, all built a bit differently but, thankfully all reasonably slim and about the same height. I had a basic shape but each had subtle differences to suit the individual characters.

Austin, Texas
Early August, 2016
Tuesday, Afternoon

It always amused me, most people put on makeup to look prettier or more exotic, I put it on to make myself look more normal and drab.

The Late Unpleasantness

Seven / Crooked Judges

A Story from THE ONE

Ariel Montine Strickland

How will Danielle rescue Susan from the treachery of the crooked judges?

Gakkou No Kaiden
The Futakuchi-onna

This story was told to me by a student in classroom 1-B. According to her, some years ago a mysterious transfer student by the name of Yuna Kagesaki joined the school halfway through the school year. And by all accounts she was a true beauty to behold with long, straight black hair, porcelain skin, heart shaped face, almond shaped eyes and petite frame she became an object of desire for all her male classmates who flirted endlessly with her. Though with demure charm she rebuffed all their advances.

Another writing exercise, exploring a breakup and possible outcomes.

Gakkou No Kaiden
Kimodameshi

Dela felt Alexander fall to his knees in the real world. She couldn't blame him, sobs wracked her imaginary body, they shouldn't be here, they couldn't be here.

Beverly arrives home to discover the family she thought was out of her life, has no resurfaced but not for the reasons she suspected.

Chapter 5

Back home I got my bag out of her car, gave her an air-kiss, and walked to my house. It was a lovely evening and I was feeling great. I let myself in and was greeted by my mother and Suzette who wanted to know how my weekend had gone.

I told them that I had been careful but had fun and that the concert was great. I didn’t think they needed to know any details. Back in my room I separated out the items for the laundry and put away the ones I had not used.

The Houstons entered their home together as a family.

“Boys, please change out of your uniforms and wear something casual,” said Jeff once they were all inside.

Heather followed Ryan to his room as he still hadn’t the privilege of choosing his clothes. Entering his room, Heather went straight towards his closet, chose a white sweater with skinny grey jeans, and left the bedroom so Ryan could change.

Ryan didn’t mind that much with mom choosing his clothes. The only problem was that everyone constantly mistook him for a girl. If he’s going to be mistaken for a girl, he may as well do what he likes. Ever since he was five, that was the reason he decided to let his hair grow.

I think unless something happens soon to change his life significantly, something that gives him a place in life, a rôle, a purpose and some light at the end of the tunnel he’ll end up committing suicide before long. Such a mind set is dangerous in people who have kids they care about because their minds become so disturbed they often take the kids with them rather than risk them ending up in even worse circumstances. Keep that to yourself. None else who can’t reason it out for himself needs to know. His lack of self confidence and the fear he’ll lose the children is crippling him to the point of being barely able to function. Christ his whole life has been one unending pile of shite, whatever happens has got to be an improvement. A decent single bloke with no life experience worth a damn and even less self confidence who has clearly been reviled and abused all his life by women as well as men was given the custody of his sister and brother in law’s three orphaned kids because his parents are too old and his sisters already have a family and cant afford to take the kids in, and with no bloody support at all he was expected to cope playing mother and father both to the kids. He’s doing his damnedest, but what the f*** were the powers that be thinking of?”

The Courtship of Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
Chapter 9: Mother's Advice

I don't think there is anything more precious to a daughter than spending time with her mother. Since becoming Cerridwen my mom has made a point to spend more time with me, guiding me if you will down the fable path of womanhood. At first I tried to hide the fact that I was seeing a boy from my mom. But people talk in this small town and my mother has an ear for gossip. Plus, she was a hairdresser by trade, and people love to gossip while getting their haircut, colored, styled, and washed.

The Late Unpleasantness

Six / Shark Tank

A Story from THE ONE

Ariel Montine Strickland

How will the Danielle survive in the Shark Tank for practicing her religion?

Freedom, oh freedom I was longing for you
Sitting alone in the dark, feeling so blue.
Pretending to be someone I didn't even know.
Stopping me from ever being able to grow.

Freedom, oh freedom what a crazy concept to think about.
I have been working hard to find you, feeling almost burnt out.
I was worried I will never find you, feeling empty inside.
I felt like staying in the dark, which was my only place to hide.

Gakkou No Kaiden
The Curse of Tsumugi-chan

If you ever go into the principal's office you will notice that sitting right of the desk is an old fashioned doll that is sealed in a glass case. At the bottom you will see a sign that reads. “Warning: This doll is cursed, please do not touch it, and please do not touch the glass case.” Many think that this is a joke. But there is a good reason for the doll being sealed up and locked away in the principal's office.

Bev is forced to remain as much as possible away from Earth until things calm down. Then family events return to haunt her.

Louis Vaughn, could never quite figure out what it was that he had done but he'd become a man in demand. That demand had come about very much either by accident or the luck of being in the right place at the right time, he’d carved out a second career as an escort. No, not the dirty sort of escort but a person who could be relied upon to behave properly when they are in the company of women and in particular the women who called upon his services. The other sort of escort was not what Louis was about.

Another self-contained short story about a gender-fluid boy, his mom, and an understanding hair stylist dealing with contemporary issues. How will Jackie handle an upcoming road trip through a state with bathroom laws?

Changing Roles
By Julie Dawn Cole
Chapter 11
I was on a high and no way would I be able to sleep and since it wasn’t too late I messaged Sally to see if she was still up and available for a chat. Within minutes she called me back, keen to know what Emily had wanted to discuss with me. She was worried in case it was bad news. She immediately sensed that I was on a high and that I had so much to tell her that I was having difficulty getting the words out.

Chapter 3

Saturday morning we were all up bright and early and, after breakfast, we went off to the station in the little car. When we got there I could see why they used it as it was very easy to park. We caught the first train that arrived and travelled the forty minute trip into Victoria Station.

My mother told me, once we had walked to the Victoria Underground, that when I started at the Chelsea College of Arts I would need to take the Victoria Line to Pimlico and walk a couple of blocks.