The girls just wanted to see their treasured friend again – and help her take a baby step. That’s all it was supposed to be!

This was an alternate opening to the story that I submitted for the New Year’s Resolution contest. My muse has finally revealed that this was to be a story all its own.

Disclaimers
* No characters were harmed in the making of this story.
* This story is not related to that of Lilli from my earlier story, Budding Lilli.

Steven yearns for acceptance. His sister and friends want to put makeup on him. In exchange, his sister offers honorary sisterhood among her tight-knit group of friends. When they see how he looks, they want to dress him en femme and for this his sister promises full sisterhood if he accepts. However, another member of the group is more protective of this sisterhood than the others. Having justifiable concerns about allowing a boy to be part of that circle, she insists upon including an initiation to ensure that he is worthy of their sisterhood. What will Steven have to do?

It's been awhile! For the last few years, life's journey has been taking absolutely everything I have to give it. However, I have cranked out this modern take on the theme of the Fates messing with your life, thrusting you into the kind of situation that makes you feel trapped and teaching you the harsh lesson that control is an illusion. Writing about that metaphorically was a great exercise that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this story!

Imagine that you are enjoying a warm summer afternoon on your back porch. Your mother is at work and your father is out of the picture. Your best friend, Aimee, has left town on a plane to visit relatives and your mutual best friend, Kim, has gone to an isolated, disconnected cabin with her family and wont be back for three weeks. Aimee calls while waiting at Baggage Claim and clearly has something on her mind that's bothering her. You offer to talk to her, but she tells you that it's girl talk and she wishes that she could talk to Kim. What do you do?

Chapter 1 – Saturday, October 4, 1986

How am I going to do this? Chris wondered as he glanced around the party full of thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds. A dozen tables stood along one side of an enormous, brick driveway and balloons hung from the stately, brick Edwardian house on one side. The remainder of the driveway served as a dance floor. His eyes roamed amongst the girls, admiring their clothes as much or more than anything else.

Kyle has purged and is trying to be "normal" - only to find it impossible. After two years of misery, his sister Christine dares him to put on their sister Taryn's dress. Can he resist? What happens to Kyle - and what does his mischievous sister have in store for him?

This time: How will Mom react? What will happen to Lilli?

Kyle has purged and is trying to be "normal" - only to find it impossible. After two years of misery, his sister Christine dares him to put on their sister Taryn's dress. Can he resist? What happens to Kyle - and what does his mischievous sister have in store for him?

This time: What will Lilli do about Mira, the girl she loves?

Kyle has purged and is trying to be "normal" - only to find it impossible. After two years of misery, his sister Christine dares him to put on their sister Taryn's dress. Can he resist? What happens to Kyle - and what does his mischievous sister have in store for him?

Lasting Love
by MonaLisa

A strong desire to find the one
To set the moon and raise the sun
A wish to all the powers above
A dream of finding lasting love

A heart so full of deep chagrin
A melancholy tale to spin
A wish to all the powers above
A dream of finding lasting love

A latent hope so very deep
A drowsy prayer and restless sleep
A wish to all the powers above
A dream of finding lasting love

A Purge of Emotion

This story is dark because I am having thoughts of ending my own life. I am hoping that by doing so symbolically here, I might avoid doing so in actuality, in the nearest garage. Please bear with me, and if you feel so inclined… please pray for me. At this point, I really don’t want to live anymore. Normally I welcome all comments, but in this case… whatever you do, please, if you feel inclined to comment, please leave only kind words. I assure you that I am painfully aware of my shortcomings because I have been cut too many times by people rudely pointing them out to possibly be unaware of them. If you feel the urge to reprimand perhaps parts of my attitude or my beliefs, then please know that your words will most certainly cause a great deal of harm — of a magnitude that neither you nor I can predict right now - and will be of absolutely no help whatsoever. Thank you for your consideration.

The Presence Of Other
By MonaLisa

Lily knew that her backdoor was the entrance to a completely different life — or at least it would be the moment she stepped through it. The only problem was that she didn’t know whether the difference would be wonderful or disastrous. All she knew was that something had to give. She had been keeping a secret from her family and she was literally wasting away inside.

Mom went back for her own plate and we started in. Before long, she sat down, smiling at us mischievously.

“I have great news!”

“What’s that, Mom?” Carly playfully challenged her through a mouthful of garlic bread.

“We’re going to Paris for the last two weeks of July!”

Mom clapped her hands together and beamed across the table. Carly and I went silent. I stared at Mom as I digested the news, my fork frozen on its way to my mouth.

“Well, don’t all cheer at once!” She gibed, as her furrowing brow betrayed a taint of hurt.

It was amazing how one simple question could bring back so many memories. Some of those memories were heartwarming and others were frightening, but they all came rushing back when Ricki innocently asked that one simple question.

"So, Letti, how did you and Meg meet?"

The Trouble With Kacey

The trouble was that Kacey was innocent — and the girls refused to believe him! Even Carly didn’t believe him — and she was his sister! Carly and Kacey’s mutual friends, Sarah and Maren, were furious. Never mind that Ned and Tom, their other so-called friends, were the true culprits. The girls believed that Kacey was to blame!

Ned and Tom always had been mischievous, especially Ned. They enjoyed playing obnoxious but harmless jokes on people. Normally, they did such things as putting food dye or salt in someone’s drink or loosening the top of a salt shaker so all the salt would dump onto the plate of the poor sap who picked it up. This time, however they had gone too far — and Kacey was on the hook for it!

Katie was not in a great mood that night. Her mother had just divorced her father and they had moved across the country to be closer to her mother’s family. They had stayed in a noisy hotel until the day before the movers were expected to arrive at the new house because they decided to travel by airplane while their belongings made the journey in a mover’s truck. When they stepped off of the plane and went to baggage claim, Katie’s suitcase was nowhere to be found. On top of that, when the movers delivered their belongings, it was discovered that Katie’s clothes were missing. To add insult to injury, they’d spent her twelfth birthday on the plane.

“What the hell...?”

He knew that he hadn’t seen that piece of paper before, and it hadn’t been in his locker when he closed it up the previous afternoon. Someone had shoved it between the venting slats after he left the previous day or before he arrived that morning.