A New Style of Education: Hidden Gifts
By: Annette MacGregor

An authorized story, based on the characters and environment of A New Style of Education by Karen Page.

---

Part 6

I know I showered and brushed my teeth before going to sleep, but I don’t remember any of that. The first thing I remember was Renee nudging my shoulder the next morning.

"Mom, let me sleep some more. I’m tired."

"Come on Dan, we need to get our work done."

"Wha... You’re not mom." I wasn’t coming awake very well today. That wasn’t normal for me. I usually was up pretty quickly. "Who?" I said sitting up, then things finally hit me. No, it wasn’t my mom. And it wouldn’t be for years. I guess the stress of the past few days had finally hit me. I broke down crying. It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like much longer, but I finally slowed my crying, and realized someone was sitting behind me and holding me.

"Renee?"

"I’m here Dan. You were there for me yesterday. I couldn’t do less for you. Are you going to be okay now?"

I took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, I think so. I don’t know what happened to me. I guess it finally sunk in that it’ll be years before I see my mom and dad again. But, that’s not fair to you."

"Dan, I came to terms with my family’s death a few years ago; even then, it still hits me once in a while. At least your folks are still there, and you know you’ll be seeing them in a few years. That should help you, though." We were sitting beside each other at that point, and I turned and gave her a hug of thanks. "I’ll be here if you need me Dan," she said quietly.

"Oh, we’d best get a move on. What’s first?"

"Go wash your face, I’ll get my stuff in here and we can work on maths."

After that start, the day was quiet, well it was until dinner. As we were eating our dessert, those of us that had been able to order it, anyway, Renee suddenly jabbed me. I looked over, and then seeing she was looking at another table, I followed her gaze and saw Mr. Hobson standing up.

"Good evening. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but wanted to let you all know that this Monday will be a ‘Mix-up Monday’." He walked over to our table as the kids at the rest of the tables started chatting animatedly. "From all of your perplexed looks, I see I’ll have to explain it to you, like I do most first years. We periodically run Mix-up days, and Monday will be your first. Here’s how it works. Any of you presenting yourself as male, will be expected to dress and act as females. Any of you presenting yourself as female, will be dressing and acting as males." He looked around at us. "If any of you had been presenting as androgynous, you’d wear male clothing in the morning and female in the afternoon. All of you will attempt to appear androgynous after orchestra rehearsal until you go to bed."

"You’ll get a good laugh on Monday then!" chimed in Mark.

His reaction caused me to look at the rest of the year. Ingrid was looking thoughtful, as was Sally. Fran was looking very upset. I think I knew why. I’d have to ask her. Wayne, well he was withdrawn into himself like I’d come to expect. Sally was looking a bit worried, I wondered how she was going to hid her figure. Pru looked like she couldn’t care less. As slim as she was, she probably could bring off the androgynous look fairly easily.

I rubbed my hand through my short hair, "Mr. Hobson, how can someone present as a girl, with hair as short as mine? I mean how many girls do you know that have hair this short?"

He chuckled, and then looked around. "Well, you’re the only one with THAT issue right now." He looked over at the other tables, and then nodded. "I’ll hook you up with someone that can help you with that after the meal. Do any of the rest of you have questions?" He turned back to me and smiled. "Come on over and see me after everything is picked up." He returned to his table, and appeared to be sending something on his PDA.

It wasn’t long. "I’ll catch up with you guys back in the rooms," I said when Ingrid looked my way. Then, I made my way over to where Mr. Hobson was waiting. I wondered why Andy was also coming over.

"Hi Andy, what’s up?"

"I dunno, he just had me come over, but I can guess. Hi Mr. Hobson."

"Dan, Andy will help you with your hair issue." Turning to Andy, "Here’s a challenge for you, Andy. Let’s see how the two of you make out on this. Oh, hello Renee, I didn’t see you standing behind these two big guys." Wow, I’m not as big as Andy, but it’s nice to be called that. With that, Mr. Hobson left us.

"Andy, how come he asked YOU to help me."

"I guess some folks think I’m good at this stuff, and you’ll see more of the reason on Monday." I nodded. "Let’s walk and talk a bit. Do you mind your study partner tagging along?"

"No, please, can she stay? You can’t imagine how much help she’s been so far."

He gave us a look. "Well, in that case come on. As I see it, you’ve two choices for Monday. One is, we trim some more of your hair into one of those pixie styles, but it wouldn’t be good with your bone structure. It’d also be hard to deal with, when the second half of the day showed up. The other choice is a wig. There are probably two or three in your wardrobe. We’d just need to style one you’re happy with." At my questioning look, he continued. "Yeah, I was a bit surprised when I got here as well. That, along with the rest of the stuff they have in there, should fit well." I exchanged a look and smiled at Renee. "Is there something I need to know?"

"No," we said together.

He raised his eyebrows, "Right, well never mind for now." We had arrived at my room by then. "Let’s see what choices they’ve given you," he said as he opened my closet door.

"How do you know where the stuff is?"

"All of the rooms are arranged the same way, at least when you get here. After you’ve been here a while, you’ll personalize things a bit." He came out with one wig that looked like my hair. "There’s a brunette one, and one with longer hair in there, as well. But I figured you wanted simple to start with, and this page cut."

"Huh." Yeah, I know, brilliant conversation there. "Like in a book?"

"No." he said laughing. "It’s similar to the style of hair you’d have seen on pages in old movies of the middle ages. Here, let’s get it on you, and show you how to put it on." He turned to Renee. "Are you going to be helping Dan on Monday?" She nodded in agreement, so he showed her how to position it on my head. "Go take a look at yourself in the mirror, and let me know what you think."

"Do I have to?"

"Come on Dan, it’s not that bad." said Renee.

I complied, and saw myself. "I hate to break it to you too, but nobody would take THAT as a girl."

Andy laughed, quite loudly at that. "Sorry, Dan. Actually, it wouldn’t take that much to get that hair style to work for you. A bit more curl at the end, maybe taper it a bit. I’m getting the feeling that a longer style might be easier for you to carry off right now. Let me go get the longer one." He took the page back into the closet and I looked to see where he was going. There was a small cupboard with these foam heads in it. He pulled out the other one that matched my hair color. "Renee, let’s see you help him put this one on." He turned to me. "Let’s help a bit here, Dan!" He said with a chuckle, and I realized I’d best bend down some. She got it on my head, and then I stood up and looked in the mirror. This one was certainly longer. It tickled a bit, so I batted the hair out of my face. "Well, you got that right. I think this is actually better for you. You’ll have to work a bit more, I’m afraid, but it suits you better."

I looked, and turned my head from side to side. The hair was over my shoulders, which felt kinda funny. "I guess it’s better. What else do I have to do?"

"I can give you a quick run down on your options if you like." He leaned back with a grin on his face, and continued, "Or, you can have the same fun most of us had on our first Mix-up."

"Umm. Is that fair?"

"Sure, it’s not a secret or anything. You’re welcome to ask for help anywhere and from anyone at any time. It’s part of being here at the school."

"Why do they have us do this?"

Andy got a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I never actually asked that question, but I can give you my guess."

"Would you?"

"Okay. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten around to describing this out loud, come to think of it." His voice trailed off at the end. There was a brief pause while he had a thoughtful look on his face, then he continued "Having to spend a little time experiencing how the other half lives should give us a better appreciation of what they have to deal with and go through. Some of us are transgendered in different ways. I’m sure you’ve heard that much. Mr. Hobson probably told you about that in his first introduction." We both nodded agreement. "Well, this serves to give some folks that may be unsure the opportunity to try it on for size, if you will. And, finally, for those that think they are for sure going that way, a few chances to make sure. I know some of the girls like to dress up as guys even though they have no intention of living that way. After all, our line for the loo tends to be somewhat shorter at concerts."

This last drew a big laugh from both of us. "Thanks, things were getting a bit serious there Andy. But please, some suggestions would be a help."

"Okay, you could go for the clown effect. Oh, I don’t mean actually clown, but exaggerate things so you’re a caricature of a woman, or a man, in your case Renee. Or, you could try to carry it off as best you can."

I looked at Renee, and then back at Andy. "I don’t think I could poke fun at women by doing that, so I’d best try to carry it off."

"All right then, let’s go pick out an outfit for you. Come on you two. I may as well go over the whole thing." He said, as he led us into the closet. It was a little crowded, but not too bad. I mean we weren’t going to be living in here. I’d had smaller bedrooms! "Renee, as you may have noticed, your closet’s made up the same way as Dan’s. Here on the left is what you’ll have to choose from for Monday. Hmmm." He turned to me. "Dan, why aren’t there any trousers in here?"

"They made a mistake with my measurements and they’re being altered."

"Then what do you have to wear?" He started, then looked at me more closely and broke into a laugh. "Sorry," he said still laughing. "I didn’t notice before cause they fit so well. You’ve already availed yourself of the clothing on the other side."

"How did you know?" I said with a sigh. "Dan said most folks wouldn’t notice."

"It’s the zipper. Those open backwards from men’s trousers. You’re actually lucky that fits so well! Most of us end up having to compress our waists and pad to get the trousers to fit so well." Then after he thought a bit he asked, "Whose idea was that?" I pointed at Renee. "Way to go girl! You’ll often find your partner is your best resource here! Always be honest with each other, and don’t try to hid things. In any event," he turned back to the other side, "since we’re on this topic, here on the right is the women’s clothing. Top drawer is the bras." At my flinch, "You found them, I take it?"

"Found is the word alright! I came out of my first shower, and realized I’d forgotten to grab unders. I opened the door, and found those and panicked! I gave Dan a quick call on the computer and he explained where things were." Andy laughed at that.

"With the camera on?"

"No, I had the sense to turn THAT away!"

He chuckled at my response. "I’d be willing to bet that someone has forgotten. But back to the clothing and such, the support staff usually explains that, while introducing us to our rooms. The explanation precludes most from having THAT experience. I’d have loved to have been a fly on the wall to have seen it, though!"

"Umm, I guess it’s funny now, but at the time I was not a happy guy!"

"I can imagine. Maybe in a while, you’ll be able to tell the story for a laugh. Anyway, you’ve got various unders over here; let’s start with a basic cotton set." Through a laugh, he added, "You can get sexier later." I just looked at him. "You’ll see, don’t worry about it for now. Hmmm." Andy got a thoughtful look. "I think it had best be a skirt rather than a dress. You’ll find it easier to deal with the first time." At my questioning look, he made a gesture and I realized what he was referring to, and Renee giggled.

"Why not just wear trousers like I am now?"

"Well, the skirt will help YOU remember that you’re supposed to act like a lady."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"And, while high heels would be effective, I doubt you’re ready for them. Not only that, an inch is about the highest you can expect to find in here at this point. I’d suggest wearing a pair with a narrow heel around the room in the evenings to see if you can. If so, wear them too. That, along with the skirt, will remind you more how to act. If the heels don’t work out, those flats would probably be okay with a plain skirt. And, you want one of the blouses that’s on the loose side. You’ll be subconscious enough without that reminder as well."

I nodded, then looking at the bra he’d given me. "I don’t think that’s much of an issue. I don’t stick out in the right places for that, unless I’m supposed to stuff some socks in here." I said indicating the bra.

That got a good laugh out of Andy, and then shaking his head. "They’ve thought of that too. Take a look in there." He said indicating a drawer I’d not gotten around to exploring.

I went over, and opened it, wondering what the heck he was talking about. I reached in, and felt something and jumped. Andy howled. "What is it?" I said. Renee walked over, and opened the drawer more, and reached in, and then her eyes got really big.

"You’re kidding, Andy!" He was still laughing so hard he couldn’t say anything. He just nodded confirmation.

"Dan, they’re breast forms!"

"What?"

"Fake breasts, you put them in the bra and they look real."

Andy was finally getting hold of himself. "Sorry mate. I couldn’t resist. It was obvious you didn’t know about them. Yes Renee, that’s what they are. After you put the bra on, you put those in, to fill in the cups. If you decide to go full time, they can even give you glue to keep them on most of the time."

I stood there kinda stunned.

"Thanks Andy. This really helps, even if Dan’s a bit shocked by it." She came over, and grabbed my hand. "I’ll help, Dan. Honest!"

"Thanks Renee!" I said, pulling her into a hug. Then, remembering that Andy was still there, I jumped back. "Umm. Thanks Andy. You’ve helped too."

"Don’t forget after orchestra on Monday you come back and change into some of the stuff on the back rack. You can go without the wig for the androgynous look. If you need help, just call. We percussionists need to stick together." He turned toward the door, and saw the keyboard. "Wow, that’s way nice! You play, I guess. Can I beg a demo in payment?"

"I, umm, I don’t know what to play."

"Just do the same first numbers you did for me Dan." Renee whispered in my ear.

I nodded. "I’ll probably muck it up, but here goes." I turned on the keyboard and positioned the pedals again. A little warm up. And then I was playing. I was a bit shaky at first, but settled down once I was playing. When I finished, I turned around.

"Wow mate! That was awesome! I can’t wait until I can hear that on one of the Grands! I understand why you picked up the glockenspiel so quickly. You really know your way around that keyboard!"

"Umm, thanks, Andy."

"No problem mate, it’s true. I’d best get a move on. Stacy and I have some studying to get done! By the way, the hair suits you," he said as he was walking out the door.

I just stood there, wondering what he was talking about. Then, as I brushed the hair out of my face again, I froze, realizing. I reached up and pulled the wig off my head. How could I have forgotten I’d still been wearing the wig? I guess I was more dazed by things than I’d thought. Sitting down, I said. "This’ll never work, Renee."

"We’ll get through it Dan! I mean, from what Andy said, all the other kids have gotten through it in the past. Can you imagine HIM as a girl?"

I snorted. "Andy? You’ve got to be kidding!" I laughed at that, and then remembered. "Wait, Renee, remember we all have to do it, and he’s not stressing."

"Oh my, do you think he can actually pull it off?"

"I guess. We’ll see Monday some time, but it is hard to believe. What’s really amazing is that I forgot I had this wig on. Can you believe that?"

"It did look nice Dan. By the way, why hadn’t you looked into that bedside table?"

"Oh, I just figured it had a Gideon’s in there. I mean, that’s what’s in those things in all the hotels back in the states." That got a laugh out of her. "Don’t tell me they’re over here too?"

She nodded. "I wonder what else you’ve forgotten to check out." She said, as she looked into the drawer to see more. "Well, there’s these heavy unders, or at least I assume that’s what they are."

"Ummm. If those are as tight as they look, I don’t think they’ll be very comfortable." I said with a shake. "Let me put this wig away, and we should get to work on our homework."

"Good point. Don’t forget the heels like, Andy suggested." she said with a giggle.

"Okay." I said sighing. "Let’s see if I can walk in any of those things." I put the wig on the foam head that was missing hair, and then looked at the selection of shoes. Good grief. Well, my shirt’s got a maroon and green plaid, and I remember mom saying something about matching colors there. Is there anything close to either color in here? There’s no way I’m wearing plaid shoes! Hmm — open toe, but it should match the maroon pretty well. I picked up the shoes, and held them up, yep, color matched fairly well. I kicked off the shoes I was wearing and put them away. As I was walking out I saw Renee had already booted my computer and brought up our assigned reading. I walked over in my sock covered feet and sat down to put on the heels. "Danged, these things are tight!" I muttered to myself.

Renee turned and gave a giggle. "That’s ‘cause you still have your socks on."

"I’m not wearing shoes without them! I’ll have a blister in no time!"

"Of course not, Dan. You might wear some flats or your trainers with socks, but those are dress shoes. Nice choice, by the way. Here, I’ll show you what you need." I put the shoes down, and followed her back into the closet. She pulled open yet another drawer. It seemed filled with nylons.

"I have to wear pantyhose?" I said in shock.

"What?"

"You know, those stocking things that include panties?"

"Oh, tights!"

"Huh. I think we found a language gap. Aren’t tights those tight lower body covering things that dancers wear?"

"Yes, but they can also be thin to transparent, and lots of colors."

"The thin stuff is what my mom calls pantyhose. My older sister used to wear tights when she danced."

"Okay, but you’re here, and it’s all tights. Got it?" I nodded. "Back to the topic, you don’t wear tights with trousers." she said pulling out a small pair of something. "These knee highs are all you need. On Monday, you might need tights, depending on which shoes you end up wearing. But for this evening’s practicing, these knee highs are all you need, and they are easier to put on too! When you put on the tights, you’ll have to be careful to not run them."

"Oh, I remember my mom complaining about that! She had this clear nail polish she used to stop runs."

"Yeah, that works. Well, let’s see how you do."

I sat down, and pulled off my socks and wiggled my toes in the air letting them dry a bit. Then I went to pull the stockings on the way I was used to when Renee stopped me.

"It’s easier if you do it in stages Dan. Put the toe in, then get it all across your heel and position the stocking heel, and THEN pull the rest up your leg." I did as directed, and had to pull up my trousers to get them up, but they were on. The shoes were easier to put on now, but it felt kinda funny with my heel up and toes down.

"Why is it open at the toes, anyway?"

"Just for appearances, if you’d painted your toes, the nails would show."

"One more thing to coordinate!" I said with some pain in my voice.

"There’s a lot to it. That you even think of that puts you one up on most guys I’ve known Dan."

"Oh. I guess my mom drilled that coordination thing in to my head pretty well," I said with a chuckle. Standing up was easier than I’d expected, but my balance seemed off a little. So I shifted my weight around a bit, to feel my new center, and then walked over to the computer. "What’s tonight’s look like?"

The next few hours were spent working, and then we needed some rehearsal time. I walked Renee down to one of the practice rooms and told her I’d be in on the piano where I’d been tested, if it was tuned. We agreed that whichever of us finished first, we’d make sure the other was done, too. I set a loud buzz on my PDA to alert me, figuring that its jarring sound would get my attention if I were in the middle of playing something. I didn’t want to be late getting back to my room so early in the year! When I got to the piano, I quickly checked to see if the key had been tuned, and smiled as it sounded beautifully with the rest. This piano had such a great sound. I sat down to start playing, and as I was testing the pedals, I realized I still had the heels on. How could I have missed that? And Renee didn’t say anything either. I hoped nobody actually saw me. Well, I’m here to play. Hmmm. The heels make things feel different with the pedals. I tried taking them off — but with the knee highs it was almost bare foot playing and that wasn’t going to work either. So, I put them back on, and decided I’d do as best I could, and hope they wouldn’t distract me enough to throw things off. Initially they did, but eventually, I was able to loose myself in the music.

BZZZZZZZZ. I jumped. And then remembered I’d set the alarm. Whoa! Time to clean up in here, and go check on Renee. When I got there, she was packing up her trumpet, and getting ready to take it back to storage.

"Why not bring it back to the room, Renee? You may as well take advantage of the soundproofing there."

"That’s a great idea Dan! I can’t believe I was able to just walk in and take the first room I got to."

"Want me to carry it for you?"

"Nah, it’s not heavy, and I should carry my own instrument."

I laughed at that. "I hope they don’t ask me to carry that grand around!"

"Shall we stop at the year room, to see if anyone’s in?" I asked

"No, I think I want to get back and rest some more, Dan. I’m still tired from our first night."

"I’m sorry Renee. I didn’t mean to keep you up."

"No. Don’t try to claim all the credit yourself Dan. We both needed that chat, and I’m sure we’ll need more before the year is out."

I nodded agreement. "You won’t get any disagreement from me!"

We ran into Ingrid and Fran heading down the hall at the same time we were. "Hi Dan, nice shoes!" said Fran.

I’m sure I turned twenty shades of red at that, as I froze in my tracks.

"Dan was practicing walking in them for Monday, Fran!" Renee said, jumping to my defense.

"Hey, there’s no way I’d criticize anyone for wearing heels!" I looked at Fran as she said that, and relaxed a bit.

"It’s a good idea, Dan. I’ve been wondering if I should offer to help Wayne or Mark. But neither has asked, and I hesitate to intrude."

Finally getting my tongue, "That’s a nice thought, Ingrid. I don’t know how they’d take it either. I’m really worried I’ll look foolish on Monday, though these shoes have been easier to walk in than my mom’s complaints had led me to believe."

"I don’t know how they did it, Dan, but everything fits so well! It’s amazing." Renee and I shared a glance before she continued. "Well, we’d best get into our rooms before we all turn into pumpkins."

With that, we parted. The two of us went into Renee’s room, her door being the closer one.

"I’m sorry I forgot to remind you to take those off, Dan."

"Don’t be, Renee. Somehow I also forgot, and I’m the one wearing them. I didn’t remember until I was trying to play the piano. Then, the heels got in the way."

She giggled at that. "Well, I guess we know you can wear heels Dan!"

I sighed. "We can try some more tomorrow, I guess. Are you going to need any help?"

She thought for a minute. "I don’t know, now that you mention it. I mean the clothes are easy, and I don’t have that much to hide, unlike some in our year."

I nodded. "Why don’t you take a quick try with trousers, a shirt and shoes? There’s no need for us both looking foolish!"

"Good idea. Why don’t you go hide for a minute, then I’ll come show you."

I went over to my room, and sat down to take off the heels. I was still surprised that I’d forgotten they were on. Maybe I SHOULD try some higher heels tomorrow. No, these looked like the highest in the closet, so let’s stick with these for now. I don’t want to tempt things. It’d be no fun getting around here in crutches! As I stood up to go put the shoes in the closet, I felt a little pulling in my calves. That reminded me that I’d not done my Kata for a few days, or even much in the way of stretching! I’d be way out of shape by the time they got around to seeing if there was a judo teacher available. After putting the shoes away, I did some simple stretching, thinking I’d set my alarm for a half hour early to do more in the morning.

"What’s up, Dan?"

"Oh, my calves were tight when I took off the shoes, and I figured I’d do some stretching."

"That’s a good idea. I heard somewhere that walking in heels can shorten your calf muscles unless you take pains to avoid it."

I nodded, thinking it made sense. "Well, let’s see you?"

She spun around.

"Okay, walk to the door and back Renee."

There’s no way someone would mistake her for a guy. She has hips that move. That’s how I recognized her when Dan brought her out to the car!

She came over to the bed where I was sitting. "Well?"

"Ummm." I took a deep breath, she needed an honest answer. "Not good Renee. You look like a girl in guy’s clothes. It’s the whole impression. When you’re standing still, you’re okay. But that spin, and your walk! You have a very distinctive walk, Renee."

She just stood there a minute. Then, I think she was starting to tear as she turned. I quickly jumped off my bed to catch her. "Renee, what’s wrong?"

She turned, and threw herself into my arms. I could feel her shuddering, so I held her.

"Renee, come on over and sit down. Somehow, we’ll get through this together!" I pulled her over to the bed, since it was much closer than the settee. We sat there, I don’t know how long. Eventually, she did settle down.

"I’m sorry Dan. I didn’t mean to break down like that."

"Renee, we WILL figure out how to get through this, even if we have to go to the staff for help. I mean, the other years seemed to have gotten through it, and even find it fun." She shook a bit at that.

"I, I guess, Dan" she still sounded a bit choked up.

"You can stay as long as you need, Renee!"

"Thanks!"

I guess we fell asleep hugging, because I remember waking up with her still in my arms.. I eased out from beside her and carefully laid her down. Hmmm, should I just go sleep in her room? No, I’d best be here when she wakes up. I went around to the other side of the bed. I guess it’s a good thing these things are so big! I mean, I’d not had to share a bed with anyone for years! At least we were both still dressed! I lay down, as far away as I could get, and went back to sleep. It was good that she could sleep through my moving around.

I woke up before the alarm the next morning. When I wasn’t exhausted, I had a habit of doing that, when I set a different wakeup time the night before. Something was strange though. Then I realized what it was, a strange weight was across my back. Before moving, I listened and heard light breathing behind me, and realized the weight was Renee’s arm. Moving carefully, so I didn’t wake her, I slipped out of the bed, and went around to the table and shut off the alarm. I figured I could wake her easily enough in time, and if she’d slept through the night, she must really have been exhausted.

I went into the closet and grabbed some sweats, and went into the bathroom to change. I need to remember to call it an en-suite! I thought to myself.

When I came out, I looked around. I didn’t think I’d make that much noise, but I decided to go into her room to warm up and go through my Kata. I left the door open, in case she was startled or something I dunno. Only then, did I realize what had happened last night. I’d actually slept with a girl. Well, if she didn’t remember it, I’d not tell her or anyone else.

When I finished with my last move, I held it briefly, and then returned to my center. It felt really good to have gone through my Kata this morning! I sat, and relaxed. I planned on sitting for just a few minutes, but almost as soon as I sat down, I heard a scream from the other room. I’m not sure if my feet touched the ground more than once, I moved so fast to get in there. Renee was sitting bolt upright in the bed, clutching my pillow and breathing pretty hard.

Arriving at the bed, "Renee, are you okay?"

"What am I doing here, Dan?" she said with a look of panic.

"You fell asleep last night Renee. I didn’t want to wake you, so I sorta eased you flat on the bed where we were sitting."

She sat there gulping air, with a frightened look, "And nothing happened, RIGHT?"

---

Author's Note: I want to thank Karen for allowing me the pleasure of continuing this story and I hope you all get as much pleasure out of reading it as I've had writing it. I also want to thank the two individuals that proofed and commented on the story as it developed (Karen Page & Penny Cardon). Their comments and criticisms helped immesurably! I also want to thank Holly Logan, the person that gave the chapter a final review to hopefully reduce the mechanical errors (typos and the like). Any problems remaining are mine and not that of any of these remarkable ladies.