So, Here I Am
by Hilltopper

CHAPTER 12

Best laid plans!

When I arrive back at my room, I filled out the application to join the Peace Corp. It looked like it would take about two months to process. Well, I was not going any where.

Since I did not have a shower, I would go over to Sara’s apartment to bathe. I tried to go when she was at work. This allowed me a little time to be me. I had taken my shower and was drying off when I saw a pack of pills in the trash. It turned out to be 3 packets of birth control pills. Oh, boy! This was a surprise. I took them with me and went back to my room. I knew that 3 months of pills would not do anything much but it was a temptation I just could not resist. So, I took one. I know it was illogical but just the taking of the pill made me feel feminine. I decided that I would take them until they ran out. This would at least keep me calm until I left for the Peace Corp.

Arriving at work that night, I got a surprise. I had been transferred back to the floor that Carol and Karen worked on. I was a little afraid that there would be some tension but both of them welcomed me back with big smiles. We talked off and on through the week. I think that I was getting some feelings for Karen. I agonized over this for several days. I thought that maybe she might go for a plane ride with me. I had been checked out in a Piper Cherokee which was a real nice plane. Finally on Friday, I got up the courage to ask her.

“Hey Karen, I am going to rent a plane for an hour tomorrow. Would you like to go up?”

“Well, I am a little scared to fly. Let me think about it. I will let you know before we leave.”

“OK, sure. It is a real safe plane and has 4 seats.”

About two hours later, she got back to me.

“John, I will go with you flying if my friend Mary can come too.”

“Yes, that would be fine. Be there a little before five.”

Well, this was not what I had in mind but maybe it would be best having someone with her. I would be scared to death as it is. So, we went flying. It turned out that Mary was a new working a different floor. I had seen her at hospital but had gotten the feeling she did not like me. They both said they enjoyed the flight and would like to do it again. I thought, maybe next time, Karen can go alone with me. A few days later, I went up to Karen at work.

“You want to go flying this Friday?”

“Let me check and I’ll get back to you.”

“OK, just let me know.”

A little while later she came over to me.

“Mary and I would love to go again.”

“Great! How about five again?”

“Sure, that would be fine.”

Early Friday afternoon, my phone rang.

“John, I have to work today but Mary is going with you. OK?”

“OK, sure, that’s fine.”

“See you later. Bye.”

This was just not working out right. The whole purpose of this is to get Karen to like me. Oh well!

I took Mary flying and she seemed thrilled. After we landed, she rode with me in my MGB to a park. She was very easy to talk to and, before I knew it, I had told her my life story. Well, except for the big secret that is. She was divorced and it turned out that she was the Mary that was Betsy’s friend whose pigtails I had pulled in the park when we were kids. Wow! Small world. I told her that I was trying to date Karen and she said that she would be glad to help.

“I will arrange for you to come to Karen’s apartment so that she and I can have a dinner for you to thank you for the plane rides. When you arrive, I will give an excuse and leave. Thus, Karen and you will be alone together.”

“But, what about Carol?”

“Don’t worry. She has a new boy friend and is gone for the weekend.”

“OK, that sounds like a plan.”

I took her back to the hospital and headed home. This plan might actually work. There was just one problem that I had just noticed. I think I am having feelings for Mary as well. The fact that she was the girl I had played with years ago intrigued me. Things were getting complicated. I knew just the thing to soothe me. I went to Sara’s. Being there reminded me that I had started on the second pack of birth control pills. Of course, nothing had happened. I found a plaid skirt and a black blouse in her closet and quickly donned them. I was afraid to use any of her under wear so this had to do. I sat around for a while thinking. I was really confused.

The next day, I went to Karen’s apartment as planned. When I got there, Karen had her uniform on.

“Hey, John.”

“What’s going on?”

“I have to go to work. Dinner is ready. You and Mary will have to eat it.”

“But……”

“Look, I am sorry. I really enjoyed the plane ride but I want us to just be friends. Anyway, I have to go. Bye Mary.”

“Bye. I’ll take good care of him.”

I think I smelled a plot in here some where. It seemed the plan had been reversed.

“Sorry about that, John. I ended up telling her the plan and she then told me that she had a new boy friend. She did not want to complicate things by having dinner with you.”

“I feel like such a fool.”

“Don’t be that way. Come on, let’s eat.”

So, we ate. Since it was a warm night, I invited her to go for a drive in my MGB with the top down. We drove around for a while and then pulled into the same park as last time. We were talking and then, the next thing I knew, we were kissing. I thought ‘Wow, this can not be happening.’ I took her home and kissed her goodbye.

“You are a great kisser.”

“I am?”

“See you tomorrow at work.”

“OK, bye.”

This night had certainly turned upside down. I start out to woo Karen and end up with Mary. Gees! And I thought I was confused before. As for the kisses, how could I be a good kisser? The only kiss I ever had was with Carol and she kissed me. There was no doubt in my mind that I now had tremendous feelings for Mary. I guess I had better go to sleep before my head explodes!

The next Monday, I had to go into the hospital to have my wisdom teeth cut out. I woke up with my mouth frozen almost shut. Turns out, a clamp had slipped. What next! That afternoon, I woke up as Mary entered my room.

“How you feeling?”

“I can’t open my mouth.”

“Well, I’ve got something here that will help.”

She handed me a strawberry milk shake.

“You are a life saver.”

It did taste wonderful. She left after about 30 minutes. I have to admit that I really was glad she came to see me. I was released the next morning and went back to work that night. My mouth was still frozen almost shut. The doctor said it would take a couple of days to loosen up. At supper time, I got a big surprise.

“John”

I looked up to see Karen and Mary approaching.

“We have your supper all fixed”, said Mary.

They pulled a whopper out of a sack along with a milkshake. They cut the whopper up with a scalpel and fed it to me small pieces at a time. The pieces barely fit between my teeth. It was nice to finally have great friends especially Mary.

Two weeks later, my parents came down to visit Sara and me. I brought Mary to Sara’s apartment to meet them. My dad took to Mary immediately. I drove my dad’s car to Grant’s Plaza to get something. As we were leaving, I got really turned on. Mary suggested that we go to my room. This was the first time that I had felt this way. By the time we got to my room, I was actually hurting. We started to have sex but I needed to pee. When we got back to it, I could not do anything. I felt sure that Mary thought I was hopeless. I sure believed that I was. I took Mary home and went back to Sara’s.

A short time later, my parents left for home and Sara went to work. I took a shower and noticed something strange. Behind each nipple were small hard lumps. I was scared that those pills had caused this. I was about half way through the third packet. I decided to throw them away and hope nothing bad was wrong.

Later that week, Mary rented a nice apartment. I started staying at her place a lot. We even tried sex again and it worked, sort of. I was still pretty much a dud. One day, Mary looked at me hard.

“We are spending a lot of time together. I really do like you. I think you should give up your room and move in here.”

“That would be great. Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

So, I did. Of course, now I had access to a whole wardrobe of women’s clothes. I was like a kid locked in a candy store. My orders to report to Atlanta for the Peace Corp came through. The trouble was, now I did not want to leave. I figured the best thing to do was ignore it for now. Over the next couple of weeks, Mary and I became closer and closer. We even talked about maybe getting married. We both had a vacation coming, so we decided to spend a week in the Smokey Mountains. On the trip up to the mountains, I had a lot of time to think. I did not believe at this point that Mary knew about my secret. It wasn’t just that I was wearing her clothes when she was not home; I knew that deep down I was a woman. There was no way we could get married with a secret like that hanging in the air. I had to tell her even if it meant her leaving me. We arrived at our motel and settled in.

“Mary, there is something I need to tell you.”