They dropped me off at my place just after four. Susan and Ginger were wanting to do something next Friday night before Ginger had to fly back to Chicago on Sunday. I suggested something a little more sedate than clubbing. Ginger asked if I'd prefer to do it as Mike, instead of Monica. I said I wasn't sure. It had been sort of fun, but I'd also felt uncomfortable at the same time. Susan said she'd call me the next day after I got home from working so that we could plan out what we were going to do this coming week.

Work at the Old Folks home the next morning went quickly, and Sam was even up and ready early. On the way home she asked about my weekend, to which I told her that Susan and I had gone into San Fran with one of her friends from her old school. She commented on my haircut, saying it was a little strange. It couldn't make up its mind whether it would stay combed back, or fall forward to frame my face. I asked what she had done over the weekend, to which she said nothing, she'd just stayed in. If I hadn't had gotten to know her so well over the past couple of weeks, I'd not have realized how depressed she was about it. It wasn't what she said, or how she said it. It was just something in her eyes.

When I got back home, there was three messages on the phone. The first was from Dad. He would be down for a couple of days at the end of the week for work, and would need to stay Thursday and Friday nights. He was originally going to be here next week, but something had come up with one of his clients, so he'd changed his plans. The next call was from Dave. He was starting Summer School classes tomorrow, and asked if I could help him out a little with study time later this week. Lastly, Susan had left a message. She wanted to come over, but had chores to do, and had to stay home to look after her sister. She asked if I could come over after lunch, so we could spend the afternoon together.

After a shower, I managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep. It was almost 1.00 when I arose from the bedroom. I called Susan to say I would be there shortly, then went across to the subway to get some lunch. When I got to Susan's, there were six other young girls there, friends of Susan's sister, Crystal. They were all running around dressed up like faeries and princesses. Susan had joined in the game, pretending to be the evil stepmother, and I was asked to be both the valiant prince, and the terrible dragon. I thought it was funny that I had to kill myself.

After the girls all went off to play upstairs, Susan and I got to have some quiet time in the living room. Susan was working at Walgreen's for her mother for the next three days, but had Friday off. Next week she was going to start volunteering at the hospital. She was scheduled for mornings next week, and afternoons the week after, then back to mornings for her last week. At least we'd have finished the volunteering at the same time, and would have three weeks together before school started up again.

We got around to discussing what happened at the club on the weekend. I told her that although it had been fun in some ways, that I'd felt very uncomfortable at the same time. Most of my discomfort stemmed from her behavior with Peter. Jealousy mostly, but I wanted her to understand that as 'Mike', watching her kiss someone else wasn't fun. She was sorry about that, but I was there as 'Monica', and she didn't have any problems if Monica wanted to make out with Jake. I asked her to consider what she'd have thought if I was there as Mike, making out with another girl. I think she saw my point, but tried to justify her behavior as just having a little fun.

I also said I was a little unsure about Ginger. She was very much a 'party girl', and that although she was fun, wasn't the sort of person I'd be friends with. Not that Susan couldn't be friends with Ginger. Maybe it was just my reaction to how she woke me up that was freaking me out.

We then moved on to this coming weekend. Susan and Ginger were wanting to do the same again as last weekend. I told Susan that my dad was in town Friday, not that that meant we couldn't go into San Fran again, but that I'd need to check in with him to see if he wanted me around. Plus I was working at the old folks home and wouldn't be back home until after 2.30, so it would be another late trip back down. But I didn't mind if she wanted to go into San Fran with Ginger without me.

Susan's mum arrived home and invited me to stay for dinner, which I accepted. All of the girls that were playing with Crystal were staying as well, and Susan's mom handed me the barbecue utensils, and I was put in charge of cooking the corn, peppers, sausages and chicken strips on the barbecue.

While Susan was chasing the girls around the backyard, Susan's mom came out and offered me a lite beer while I was cooking. I was surprised. She put down a pile of plates, and a couple of hot-dog buns.

"So, Mike, how is the new apartment? she asked as she sat in one of the sun-chairs.
"Pretty good" I responded. "A lot smaller and easier to keep clean than the house, but I miss that as well"
She nodded knowingly, and waited while one of the girls can and went.
"And how is Monica?" she asked.
I blushed a little.
"Staying quiet" I responded.
"I don't mean to be nosey, but have you been Monica lately?" she asked.
"Only once since, you know, no, twice, I forgot prom night, but we didn't go out then" I replied. "We, Susan, Ginger and Monica went into San Fran last weekend, to a club"
"And, did you enjoy yourself?" she inquired, sitting up to get a little closer.
"It was ok, but I felt uncomfortable a lot of the time. After the Mark incident, I couldn't relax a lot" I said.
"How did Susan take that?" she asked.
I looked at her, trying to figure out what she was trying to find out. I wasn't sure if she was checking up on me or on Susan.
"Well, we were just discussing it earlier" I said. "She wanted me to have some fun, and kept telling me to have fun, and seemed a little put off that I wasn't having as much fun as her and Ginger."
She sat back on the chair and I continued to turn the sausages.
"What do you think of Ginger" she asked.
"Well, I guess she's ok. She's very, umm, confident and loud I think" I replied.
"Did she drink alot, or do drugs?" She asked.
"Not that I saw" I replied. "I mean we each had a couple of drinks, but nothing out of hand."
I was about to mention the weed, but thought better of it. I hadn't actually seen Ginger smoking, and it was obvious now that she was fishing for something.
"Susan mentioned that you may go back this weekend" she said.
"I'm not sure yet" I replied. "Dad is coming down this week, and I don't know if I can go."
"So you still haven't told your folks about Monica?" she asked.
"No, I hope not to. It would really upset my dad I think" I said. "Besides, I don't do it much now, and only with Susan. She likes having Monica around"
"How does that make you feel, having to be Monica for Susan?" she asked.
"Its ok, way better than trying to be Monica by myself, but sometimes its weird that she wants to party with Monica, but not with me."
She was looking at me strangely again, and nodding.
"And the sex?" she asked.
"Umm, what do you mean?" I asked back.
"It's ok Mike, I am Susan's mother" she said quietly, "I was just wondering if you two were still active, as boy and girl"
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"Nothing really" she replied, "I was just making sure she wasn't pushing you into something. Susan can do that sometimes. I know that she finds it hard without a father figure, and I also know she knows who and what her father has become."
"Oh" I replied. "I think she thinks you don't know she knows"
"I guessed that" she said. "I was checking up on you more than her. Her perception of people like you, that is, having gender issues, may be skewed a little because of her father and I don't know Ginger all that well now that she's been away on her own for a year. But it seems you are ok. I'd be concerned more if you were dressing a lot, and she was forcing you to do so."
I nodded my understanding.
"Please, Mike, if she does start pressuring you more, please let me know. I do want to help and keep you safe."
At that point, a couple of the girls ran over to check out the barbecue. The sausages were ready, and Susan's mom got up to get the sauce and mustard.

After dinner, I told Susan about the conversation. She was almost as surprised as I was, and didn't have any idea at what its purpose was.

The next two days went quickly. After working at the old folks home, I went to the pool to do some laps since it was getting really hot during the days. I didn't get to see Susan at all, but we spoke on the phone each night. Wednesday afternoon, Dave came over with his study for Chemistry. He was having troubles with remembering where everything was in the periodic table, and hence couldn't work out how many bonds each element had. So we worked on mnemonics to try to get him to remember the first 36 elements.

Dad arrived just after dinner. He was happy with the state of the townhouse, and I think he was glad that Dave had been here, that I hadn't lost contact with my friend. He asked about work at the old folks home, and whether I was looking for a job for after school. I mentioned the positions at the grocery store, and that I hadn't applied yet. He told me to get on to it quickly. He also asked about Susan, and her family.

Soon after that he retired to the spare room with the phone to call Maria.

The next morning we had breakfast together. He was going to be late that night, with a client meeting, but wanted to know if I was home Friday night. I mentioned that I was thinking about going out with Susan and one of her friends on Friday night, but I'd let him know in the morning.

On the way to the old folks home, Samantha asked if I wanted to go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter next week. I told her I thought it would be pretty cool to go, but I hadn't spoken to Susan about it, it hadn't crossed my mind. She told me that her Dad could get a couple of extra tickets, but he'd need to know by Sunday. After work, Sam said that her and Roni (one of the girls on her white team at work) were thinking of making it a go in costume as one of the Harry Potter characters. Roni said that with a few adjustments to the Dioceses uniform they could make it look like Hermione's one, and that Roni would lend Sam one of hers. She was actually very excited, and it was the happiest I'd seen her in some time.

When I dropped her off at her place, Sam asked if I was going to the pool today. When I mentioned I was going shortly, she said she'd see me there later. I was almost finished my laps when Sam came and sat on the edge of the pool and watched me. When I had finished a couple more lengths, I swam over to her. She laughed when she saw how long my hair had become when I took off the cap. While we sat talking, a couple of her volleyball friends came over. Word had got out that Sam had tickets to the Midnight showing of Harry Potter, and about half of them inquired whether she had any left. Some of them even asked if I was going. I guess that some of them had seen me hang out with Sam so much they were more comfortable speaking to me.

On the way home from the pool, I stopped in to see Susan at Walgreen's. I asked what her and Ginger were planning for tomorrow. When she mentioned that they were still planning on going back into San Francisco, I told her that my dad was expecting me home, so I wasn't sure if I would go. I asked if they could just go down to Sacramento. She said she'd check with Ginger. Next I asked if she wanted to go to Harry Potter on Tuesday night. I also told her that Sam wanted to go in costume. She told me she'd check with her mom and call me later when she'd spoken to Ginger as well.

I didn't feel like cooking that night so I ordered a Pizza. While I went over the road to pick it up, I missed Susan's call. She left a message telling me that Ginger really wanted to go back to San Fran tomorrow night, but they'd stop over at my place in the afternoon before they headed out to see if I changed my mind and wanted to go. She added on the end of the message that she'd like to go to Harry Potter if I could get the tickets.

I was just finishing up the first half of the pizza whilst playing X-box when Dad arrived home. He seemed happy, and when I asked, said he'd closed a really big opportunity. He said that although the economy was pretty bad at the moment, there were still a lot of people with lots of money looking for companies to invest in.

When I got back from the old folks home the next day, Maria was there at the apartment. She said she'd come down to have dinner with Dad and I tonight to celebrate. She said its not everyday that Dad secures an opportunity that may net us over 6 figures in the next year if the economy rebounds as he expects. It took me awhile to get my head around that, it was a big number.

Susan and Ginger turned up a little after 4.00. When they came in and saw Maria, Susan guessed I wouldn't be going with them. I apologized to her, I told her I wasn't expecting Maria to be here, that I thought my Dad just wanted to get takeout or something. Susan said it was alright, family stuff happens. Ginger acted like she was disappointed that I wasn't going, but I could tell she was actually pleased about it.

After they left, Maria asked who Ginger was, and that she seemed sort of familiar. I told her that Ginger had worked at Kelly's Hairdressers, which was where she used to go. She thought about it, then said that was probably right.

Dinner was great. Dad took us down to Sacramento, to the Firehouse. It is well known as being one of the better restaurants around, and by the way they greeted my Dad, it was one of his favorites. It was pricey too. We started with the sampler, which consisted of crab-cakes, brie and steak strips. For my entree, I chose the Huckleberry Duck, which although a little dry, was very good. Dad had the Filet Mignon, and Maria had the Salmon.

After dinner, on the way home, I caught up with what was happening to 'grandpa' Jack. He had finished another round of chemotherapy, and it had been hard on him. Although he wasn't always sick, he was basically stuck in a wheelchair, as he had lost most of his strength. The doctors gave him 6 months, maybe a year at most if the chemo had arrested the cancer spread.

Maria and Dad had requested to parcel off some of the land to build a new house. That way they would be close to 'Grandma' Eve. The money they paid for the land would pay for the renovations to the house and any shortfall in Medicare coverage for Jack. I couldn't believe what they told me the old folks home up there wanted as payment to look after him. They had decided it would be more financially responsible to pay a nurse to visit a couple of hours a day, and have Eve and Maria share the care instead of handing the money to the old folks home.

We arrived home around 10.30. Because the spare room bed was smaller than mine, I gave up my bed for Dad and Maria. I grabbed my book, cellphone and pj's from my bed and went back to the spare room. My cell phone had a couple of texts from Susan, the last one from about 20 minutes before. They had gone back to the same nightclub as last week. I was just settling into bed, reading my book when my cell phone started ringing.

"Hello" I said quietly into the phone.
"Is this Monica?" the male voice said. There was a lot of background noise.
"Why, who is this?" I asked.
"Umm It's Jake, from last week, from the club" he said.
"Ah, ok" was all I could say.
"I know I shouldn't have probably called, but I was wondering where you are. I can see Ginger and Susie here at the club" he said.
"I didn't go tonight. Why are you ringing?" I asked.
"I wanted to know if you were here. I'm sorry for how I reacted last week ok. You caught me by surprise." he said. "And when you took off last week, I didn't get to say sorry. I just couldn't believe it. If it had been Ginger I'd have understood" he said.
"Understood what?" I asked. I was starting to get a little angry.
"Well you know, being a guy, a tranny." he said. "I mean, we were in a club that sometimes is frequented by trannies, but you and Susie"
"It's Susan" I interrupted.
"Right, sorry, Susan, well you seemed so girly. Ginger seemed more out there, flashy I guess" he said. "I'd never had guessed you weren't a girl."
He paused for a few seconds, and when I didn't say anything, he asked "Are you there?"
"I'm still here" I replied a little coolly.
"Oh good. Anyway, I was just seeing if you were around here, but I hadn't seen you."
"No, I didn't want to go into San Fran tonight. I had other stuff to do, not as Monica." I said.
"Oh, are you Monica a lot?" he asked.
"No. Not really. Usually just with Susan. Last weekends outing was just something special for Ginger" I replied.
"So you're not a full time tranny?
"Hell no. Dressing up is just for fun. I'm not gay or anything"
"Oh pity. You are very believable. And sexy" he said
"I didn't think you were like that Jake?" I teased.
"Well neither did I" he paused. "I'll admit that when I saw Ginger earlier, I was sort of hoping you'd be here too so we could talk. I did think about calling you during the week, but I chickened out."
"So, what are Susan and Ginger doing?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.
He seemed relieved.
"Well, Pete is dancing with Susan right now, and Ginger is chatting up three guys at their table" he replied.
"Sounds like Ginger" I stated.
"And that creep from last week is here again. The one you girls were talking about." he said.
"Mark?" I asked
"Yeah, acts like he owns the place. Pulled up in a stretch limo, and about six people got out and jumped the queue to get inside. Is he some sort of celebrity or something?" he asked.
"I don't think so, His mom was a Porn star years ago, and his Dad was a producer or something. I heard they have some money, but he's certainly no celebrity." I said.
"Well, he's lording it up in here. They got one of the private rooms and everything" he said.
I laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked.
"Hey, can you go and see if they're serving alcohol in there. If so, tell the Manager that he's underage. His name is Mark Rogers, and he's only just turned 17."
"Oh I get it. Good one. What did he do to you to make you so mean?" he asked.
"He drugged me and tried to rape me" I replied.
Stunned silence.
"You're kidding right?" he asked.
"No. Do it. I'd like to see him get kicked out of there." I said. "And text me back what happened. If you want confirmation, ask Susan what happened."
"Ok, sure thing."
"I got to go, catch you later" I said, then hung up the call.

I'll admit that I felt good about asking Jake to do that to Mark, even if it was mean. I waited for about 30 minutes for a text message then fell asleep.

Maria and Dad hung around until just after lunch. I hadn't heard from Susan, so I headed for the pool for a workout. When I got home around 4.30, I still hadn't heard from Susan, and her Mom wasn't answering their home phone either.