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.

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Part 11

I found myself in another part of the building where I had not been before, but it did not seem very different. There were no signs or other markings on the doors here either, which I found rather peculiar. I guess it was true throughout the school. Then again, maybe my curiosity was more from nervousness than anything else. With directions, I could have found the room, I'm sure. It would have been easy, had there been labels on doors, and on the various halls and such. One of these days, I'll need to explore the whole building, and figure out what is where.

I realized I was just putting things off, hanging around in the hall, thinking, so I knocked on the door. I heard an acknowledgement and entered.

"Hello, Sophia, welcome," came from someone who looked like a slim Santa Claus.

"Dr. Mayhew?"

"In person, and how may I help you, my dear?" He paused, and I guess since I was still standing there in the door, "Oh, do come in, young lady, I won't bite you."

I walked in, but it felt a little strange, the way he kept referring to me as if I were a girl. "Ummm, Doctor."

"Yes, Sophia?"

"You do know I'm really a guy?"

He laughed out loud. "Yes, Sophia. I'm well aware of your genetic background. However, it's the school's policy to address a pupil using pronouns and such, based on the way they are presenting."

"I know, but you're a doctor. I figured it didn't apply."

"No, my dear, but if you're uncomfortable with this, why are you doing it?"

"It's not that, sir. It's just that I'm not used to it."

"You're not doing this because you believe you're a girl?"

"Huh?" I know, not very good conversation, but I was totally shocked by his question. I guess I probably shouldn't have been, but I was.

"How about going back to the beginning and starting again. Why don't you tell me why you're dressed as a girl and visiting me?"

"Well, sir, when we almost had the mix-up day, I tried to dress, but it just didn't work. I felt like I was being a mockery of a girl. I didn't want to do that, and I don't have it in me to clown it up. If I add in the fact that a few girls here were born wrong, I feel like if I were to act as a mock girl, it would be as if I didn't respect them."

"That's a nice thought, but, how does that get us to where we are today?"

He's such a nice old gentleman and so easy to talk to. "Well, I figured that if I couldn't be a clown, I had best learn how to make folks believe I was a girl. So I arranged to get lessons with Kelly, and she asked how fast I wanted to learn. I figured faster was better than slower, so I'm doing it full time."

"Not all of the students that decide to dress full time need to see me, at least not right away. Did something happen that caused you to need to see me?"

It was getting easier to talk to him. "Yes, I take judo lessons, and my teacher said that if I was serious about doing this full time, I needed to do it during judo practice as well. He's right. These, uh, things do affect my balance a little, and there's a chance a, er–a breast might pop out in mid exercise. That could cause someone to get hurt." I felt like I was blushing big time, but got it out.

"I see," he said "That would be–I guess the best word is surprising. I know I'd be surprised in such a situation."

I laughed out loud and saw him chuckling along. Danged, he even laughs a little like Santa.

"Well Sophia, that helps me understand where you're coming from. Thank you. We have two areas we need to address. The first and most obvious is your breasts." I jerked at that. "Is there a problem?"

"No, sir. I'm just not used to thinking of them that way."

"You will be, by the time you finish this course, assuming of course that you do stick to it." I winced at the 'stick,' since I guess I knew what was coming next.

"Okay, I guess stick wasn't the best word to use but it is, nonetheless, accurate. Why don't we take care of your preliminary checkup, since you're here today, and I can describe care of the devices, if that helps you talk about them, as we go, and at appropriate points."

He gave me as complete a checkup as I'd ever had, and even took some blood for what he called normal tests. All the while, he interspersed checking various things with discussing the options I had to attach the forms more permanently. That went from something that sounded a LOT like Velcro and ended up with an adhesive that was directly applied. I ended up going with the adhesive route, since it seemed the most secure and least conducive to accidents. In the same way, he also provided me with some adhesive to hold the wig in place.

Once that was decided, he took care of my concerns about caring for the forms. It didn't sound too bad, but time would tell. He said I'd do fine, but I was convinced I'd screw it up the first time anyway.

"You can get dressed again now, and when you're ready, we can go on to one more topic."

I was curious now. What else could there be to worry about? I mean, my hair and breasts were now attached. No, he couldn't mean that. I mean HOW?

I guess my shock showed up in my face, because he continued "Don't worry, Sophia. It's something to discuss, that's all. There's a piece of clothing that will hide things down below–just like some of the girls need to hide their breasts when they emulate boys."

I nodded with relief at that. "I may as well find out, though, since I'll be in skirts for a good while I probably won't need that device any time soon."

He chuckled at that, and went on to explain that most of the boy's rooms had the garment under the breast forms, and that if more was needed in that front, more elaborate devices existed, up to and including the quality of the breast forms.

To say I was amazed was putting it mildly. "Wow, I had no idea such things even existed."

"That's understandable, most probably don't, until they need it. Some of the devices are MUCH more elaborate than they were when I started practicing. I don't want to think about how many years ago that was"

I laughed at this, thinking it must be his usual joke. He DID seem pretty old, but then, so did Kate.

"Well, young lady," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "Is there anything else we need to clear up?"

"No, sir, you've given me a lot to think about. If I run into more questions, I'll be sure to look you up." I said smiling. I could recognize a dismissal, even if he'd not meant that to be one.

Just then, my PDA chimed. Pulling it out I was reminded, "I've got ten minutes to a meeting with Kelly. Oh, and Becky's appointment is right after that." I sighed, "Looks like it'll be homework in the evening again. I hope Renee doesn't mind."

He looked perplexed at my mention of Becky, "I thought you were assigned to Dan from the support staff?" he queried.

"I am, but, this morning, Becky said she wanted to talk to me later this afternoon."

He nodded. "You'd better run along then," he said with a laugh. "You don't want to keep Kelly waiting or she might give you higher heels."

I laughed in response. "Thanks, Dr. Mayhew. I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

The walk to Kelly's was quiet. I had a lot to think about after talking to Dr. Mayhew. What he told me was fascinating enough. There was so much to learn here, and it seems we can learn from everyone on the staff and they're all ready to help us. I shook my head. It's a little strange where he hesitated to answer, and what questions he worked his way around. More to file away and think about, I guess.

I checked my PDA as I arrived at Kelly's door. I had a minute, so I did a quick check of my skirt and blouse then, with a little trepidation, wondered what would happen in this session, I knocked on the door.

Kelly opened it, "Come in, Sophia. Let's see how you're doing today. Walk across to the seating area."

I walked over, wondering what she meant, and then it occurred to me. She wanted to see how I was walking after most of a day in these heels. Sorta like how Simon wanted to see Renee walk, I bet.

"That's very good, Sophia." She indicated that I should sit down.

She's watching me like a hawk. I didn't even have to think about my skirt, as I sat down.

"How are the shoes feeling?"

"They feel fine? They're a whole lot lighter than my old sneakers." I laughed. "It's almost like they're not there a lot, and then I get to the stairs and have to come down or I try to stretch my legs out to go faster and I get a quick reminder."

"Yes, sandals do tend to be lighter, well, women's sandals anyway. I guess that answers my question though. Do you want to try higher heels?"

"Ummm. Not right now, if you don't mind. These are okay, but I do feel a little tightness in my lower legs. I can't imagine going all day in higher heels. One of the few things I remember my big sister complaining about was her feet and how her shoes always hurt. She complained louder with some really high things, well, they looked high to me, anyway."

Kelly laughed. "No, I'm not laughing at your sister, Sophia. That's a common complaint many of us have. More often than not, the pain is caused by shoes that do not quite fit properly. The rest of the problem is the body complaining that it wasn't designed to work like that. Many of us do override our bodies' signals and, I'm sure, if you wanted to, you could be wearing significantly higher heels in a few weeks." I guess she saw me give a start. "Oh, I'm not going to push you there, by any means. A two inch heel is more than enough to achieve your goal, and provide a nice line. In fact, once you're really used to it, you may well choose to go to a shorter, or even no heel for some things. But, that's for the future. For now, since you're doing well with those, I'll arrange for a selection of other shoes with similar height heels to be delivered to your wardrobe so you have a wider choice of outfits."

I nodded at this, despite how comfortable these were, I wouldn't want sandals on a day I needed to go out to the gym in the rain.

"Now, as to outfits, did you pick that one yourself?"

"No, Renee helped me."

"The two of you did a good job. The wig works well for you, too. That your choice too?"

"Well, Andy helped with that selection over the weekend, back when we were preparing for Mix-up Monday."

"I should have known. How did you get introduced to my star pupil?"

Her STAR? Now things begin to make more sense. I STILL can't picture him as a girl, but if Kelly says that, he must know what he's doing. "He's the section lead for percussion, but Mr. Hobson actually suggested he give me a hand."

"I see. Well, you could go a long way and not find a better advisor. So, if you have questions and I'm not around, don't hesitate to ask him, or his study partner, Stacy."

I wondered how SHE could have suggestions for a guy learning, then, "She went through this with him. Of course, that makes sense." Seeing a strange look on Kelly's face, "Oh, I mean she was there while he went through all of this and helped him, the way Renee's trying to help me, so she would have seen many of the blunders he made."

"Yes, I'm sure Stacy will remember that time well."
"
"I see. Well, let's see if you can surprise them a little with how well you can do."

I smiled, liking the idea.

"I take it you've not met Brenda, then?" At my questioning look, "From your look, the answer's obviously no. Look the name up, and you'll understand. Now, why don't we work on care of that wig a bit today? You'll need to work on it a bit more than you might like. Longer hair DOES take more work than short styles." Kelly stood up at this, and indicated I should follow.

"Ummm, excuse me, Kelly."

"Yes, Sophia?" she said turning.

"I should tell you that Dr. Mayhew gave me stuff to fix it to my head more securely."

She looked at me. "That's unusual. Did you ask for it?"

I nodded, "Yes, I was talking with Mr. Smith earlier today, and realized I needed to not just act like a girl. For me to achieve my goal, I really needed to BE one, at least when it was needed, and that meant REALLY twenty-four by seven, including Judo. And, it'd be bad if the wig was to come off. And if one of these was to pop out while exercising, well, someone might get hurt."

"Well, that's a very mature attitude you're taking, Sophia, and it will make things both easier and more difficult."

I must have had a quizzical expression on my face then.

"You don't want to be constantly removing and reattaching the wig using the adhesives, as that will drastically reduce its life. It also adds some unnecessary time each time you do it removing the adhesive from you and the wig." I must have taken a step back or something, "Oh, you will take it off, using the schedule I'm sure Dr. Mayhew provided, but not every day."

"How does it being stuck up there make things more and less difficult?"

"Let's go on into the other room, and I'll get Jo to show you."

I followed her next door, and found what looked like a really fancy beauty parlor, like my mom would occasionally go to. She'd not forced me to go along in years, but I still recognized the chair and mirrors and stuff.

"Hi, Jo. This is Sophia. She's new to long hair, and needs some guidance."

"Yes, I can see that. How'd she let that wig get into that shape?" She tutted. "Well, young lady, let me have it."

"I'm sorry, miss. It's glued on."

"What? Why ever did you do such a thing?"

"So it was harder to get off by accident."

She turned to Kelly. "I thought you said she was a first year?"

"Jo, this is Sophia's first day dressed, and her first with a wig." She turned to me. "That is correct, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am, except for a couple of hours on Saturday, where I wore the wig 'cause I'd forgotten I was wearing it."

"Why did you wear it then?"

"Andy came over to help me get ready for Mix-up Monday."

"Andy, that boy should KNOW better. He will hear about this!" Jo jumped in. "He KNOWS how to properly take care of a wig. Now, where did you get the glue for the wig?"

"Jo, Sophia did that correctly," interrupted Kelly. "Bill provided it, and gave her instructions on applying it," turning to me "didn't he?"

I just nodded. "Andy didn't know I was going to be dressing full time until last night, and he didn't know about the glue. That's my fault. I'm sorry if I did something wrong."

"No. I just see so many kids abusing the wigs, or worse, their own hair." She paused. "Let's start again, shall we? Now, why don't you tell me why you're wearing a wig in the first place, and then why it's glued on, and we'll go from there."

I explained things again. At least I'm getting better at telling the story. When I was finished, she began a lesson in caring for the wig throughout the day, and at night, if I were going to wear it sleeping. She also explained how to keep it clean.

"You may want to stop by the salon periodically so I can check on the wig and give you pointers. We'll also need to take care of your hair, which WILL continue to grow under all of that." I laughed a little nervously. "Oh, don't worry. For most people, hair grows at about 150 millimeters a year. You probably used to get it cut about every four to six weeks didn't you?" At my nod, "That was about a ten millimeters or a bit more of growth each time you went."

That sounds about right. It'd be about when my hair was getting to my ears." I said understanding. "I was about due when I came here."

"I'd like to take a look next time you've got your wig unglued. I'd also like to see how you care for it as well. So, why don't you stop by, or make an appointment for some time next week, so we can do both."

"Make an appointment?"

"Sure, on your PC or PDA. The salon's in the address book."

"This isn't the salon?"

They both laughed at that. "No, Sophia. This is more of a classroom. The salon is MUCH nicer."

I looked around. "I don't think I want to know yet." They laughed some more.

Kelly continued. "This room only has the basics for hair and makeup, Sophia. The salon is full service, which you'll probably eventually appreciate."

About that time, the chime went off on my PDA.

"Let me guess, that signals that our time's about up." Looking at it, I nodded. "Well, since that's the case, do you have any other questions for either of us?"

"I don't think so. I'm off to a meeting with Becky now."

"I thought Dan was your advisor from the support staff?" Kelly rejoined.

"He is, Becky just said she wanted to talk to me." I wonder why everyone's surprised that I'm talking to a different support person. I hope I don't get in trouble over this. No, they said we could talk to any of them, if we needed to.

"Well, off you go then, and as I said, you should find a bigger selection of shoes available to you. I'll include a few higher pairs if you decide you want to try one. But, as I said before, do it only if you want to. Shoes like the ones you are wearing will achieve the goals we set."

I thanked her, and headed for Becky's office.

These PDAs are amazing. I don't know how I'd find my way around this place without the mapping function. Hmmm. I wonder how they know what floor we're on, though. Before I had time to think about that any more, I arrived at Becky's office. Taking a breath, I knocked on Becky's door.

"Please come in, Sophia" she said, opening the door.

I walked in, and looked around. Nice furnishings.

"Admiring the furnishings?"

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry."

"Don't worry, Sophia. I take it you've not been to visit Dan yet? His office is much like this one.

"No, ma'am, not yet. Should I have?"

"Have you needed to?"

"I don't think so. Everyone's been so very helpful to me."

She smiled at that. "So I see. Well, I invited you up to chat because Tracy thought I should get to know you better." I'm not surprised that the shrinks talk about us, but what's with Tracy suggesting this? It's getting confusing. She went on to talk with me about my classes and teachers, and my relationships with the other kids in my year. Knowing she was a shrink, I wasn't surprised that it was easy to talk to her.

"I understand you were nervous about Mix-up Monday?"

"Yeah, I guess. I really was," I said with a little laugh.

"It's not that common for a first year to experiment with clothes in the first week, except for Mix-up Monday, and my calendar says that it's Tuesday. Am I correct in thinking that something changed between then and now?"

"Yes and no. Now that I think about it. Having Mix-up Monday thrust on us REALLY made me start thinking."

"Can you elaborate?"

"I did a LOT of thinking over the weekend, and more yesterday, and even today. I've come to the conclusion that I need to learn to be a girl." I glanced at her face, and noticed that Becky had gotten a look in her eyes, strange isn't what I'd call it, but it was different. 'I wonder what that look means?'.

"You never thought this before coming to the Hall?"

"That I needed to learn to be a girl?" I laughed. "No, the thought never occurred to me."

"I see. Is there any particular event that was more powerful in driving you to this conclusion?"

The shrinks ALL have to know about Fran. But, I promised I'd not talk about her. Okay, something else that's true. "Well, it was a combination of a lot of little things, really. Not one single event." I'm sure she's going to ask for more, but at least this way, I've a bit more time to think.

"You were nervous about Mix-up Monday over the weekend, but you seem very comfortable today? As I said before, it seems like something has changed for you."

This went on for a while. Becky trying to get me to describe my feelings about what I was doing, and I was trying to be honest, while not betraying things I'd been told by others like Fran, or what I was starting to guess. I most certainly wasn't ready for THAT conversation. She also went into my relationships with the others in the year; which, I guess I can understand. I was just surprised I wasn't having this conversation with Dan.

"I think Tracy was right, you should see Dr. Bill again, soon. You need to understand the options you have. I'll set it up for you. It's really too bad we had this conversation after you'd already seen him, but no harm done."

"Ummm, okay, if you think it's necessary."

"It's not critical now, of course. But, the sooner you talk to him, the sooner you will understand."

Okay. What is it I'm supposed to understand? "Ummm, thanks."

She stood up. "I'll make the appointment for you. It'll probably be sometime tomorrow, unless he's booked. Sophia, I want to thank you for coming to talk to me."
"
Like, I had a choice? I guess I technically did, but I'm not ready to push THAT envelope, nope. "Yes, ma'am. Is there anything else?"

"Just one little thing, Sophia." At my start she laughed, "No, no more questions, just a request. Please just say yes, or call me Becky. Ma'am makes me feel so old."

I smiled at that as well. "I'll try to remember, m-m-m, Becky. But, my mom'll not be happy if I forget how to be polite to folks in authority." She was smiling again, but I could have sworn she had hardened her expression there a minute.

"Feel free to drop by any time, Sophia."

I nodded acknowledgement, as I left her office.

That was a mixture of odd and what I'd expect. I wonder why she had the chat with me about how I'm doing and not Dan. Maybe I should ask him next time I see him. And, does she figure me for the class leader or something? Now she's got me scheduled to see Dr. Bill again tomorrow, to discuss options should puberty suddenly hit and mess with my plans. I can't see any other reason to have me learn this, except maybe to know, so I can pass it on to the others if it comes up. Really strange. Was she looking for something? Maybe she was testing to see if I either knew about Fran, or how far I'd go to protect a classmate's confidences. But, that doesn't really make any sense, either. Maybe one of the others will have an idea later. After a bit, I had another thought. Maybe Becky's just taking the chance to get to know me. If I get meetings with the others soon, that's probably what it is. Though, it still was kinda strange stuff to talk about to get to know a person, or I think so anyway.

I continued on to my room, with a LOT on my mind. Walking in, I could hear Renee on her practice chanter. I'm really glad it's in pitch! I can't imagine having to suffer through her practicing one that couldn't be tuned somewhere. The slightly sharp scale doesn't bother me now, since I understand it was intentional… And the scale is internally consistent.

When she stopped, "I'm home, Renee."

She called back "Welcome home, Dan. I'll be over in a minute."

I sat there, thinking about what we'd both said. Is this place already home to both of us? I'd not really noticed it when I said it, but her response made me realize what I'd said and made me think.

"Thinking heavy thoughts, Dan?"

"Ummm. I guess so, and thanks for the Dan."

"Ooops. It' supposed to be Sophia, isn't it. Sorry."

"No, when it's just the two of us, I don't mind what you call me. I don't think the powers really care either."

"K, so how was your afternoon?"

"It was all over the place. I saw Sensei again," I saw a brief questioning look then I guess she remembered I'd called him that before. "And he was the one that arranged for the extra block of time."

"You had another lesson this afternoon?"

"Not exactly, or not with him anyway. She sent me to see the doctor. No, I'm healthy. Sensei just pointed out that if I'm doing this," I pointed at myself, "full time, then I needed to do my exercises and sparring this way too. Once he pointed it out, I agreed. And, if I'm ever good enough to teach, I think the experience will help me with my girl students."

Renee nodded at that, but still had a quizzical expression on her face. "What does that have to do with seeing the doctor?"

I laughed. "Sorry, he pointed out that if I sparred, I could loose my wig or one of the things, okay, breasts, might pop out." This produced a giggle. "No, I'm serious. Either I or my sparring partner could get hurt should one of them pop out unexpectedly. The simplest accident would be stepping on it. Oh, I know they're soft and all, but they're big enough that if you were to unexpectedly step on one, you could easily twist an ankle, or worse."

"Okay. I still don't see what the doctor had to do with that. I mean, he didn't glue them on or anything, did he?" She was looking at me, and I must have jumped or something, 'cause she continued, "He did? Wow."

"Um, yeah. There's supposed to be some solvent and more glue in here now, for them, as well as for the hair." I reached up, and gave my hair a pull.

"You're not very sure about it, are you–sister."

"Yeah, I guess I sorta am, aren't I. That goes back to what I was thinking about when you came over." I stood up, figuring if she was standing, I probably should too. "I was surprised a bit when we both called this place home. I really didn't expect that. I mean, where mom and dad are is home. But, here, with you, sorta is too, if that makes any sense."

"I guess it does, at that. I've not felt like this about a place since my parents…"

She started to turn away, so I'd not see her crying I think, but I caught her. She tucked her head into my shoulder and cried. I just held her, like I had before. After a bit, she seemed to stop crying, and I realized she was laughing.

"What's so funny, Renee?"

"You poke me differently than before, "she said between laughs, "and your hair tickled."

I joined in her laughter. "Well, I guess we'll have to get used to them. Unless you want me to stop this."

"No, you said you needed to do it, so I'm with you."

I hugged her tighter in thanks.

"Eeek. You're strong, sis."

Letting go, "Sorry about that, I'll be more careful."

"Oh, don't be silly. I'm just teasing you." Shaking her head, "I can tease my sister, can't I?"

"Of course."

"What was your discussion with Becky all about, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It was a little strange. She did ask me about how I was getting along and how I was interacting with you and the rest of the year. But she seemed to want to spend all the time on why I need to become a girl." I paused a moment to gather my thoughts. "She asked me things like when did I first realize I needed to be a girl, whether I liked wearing the clothes, if I'd ever worn my sister's or mom's and stuff like that. She also kept coming back to how I was so comfortable today, when I'd been so scared over the weekend."

"I'd wondered a bit about the last, myself."

Laughing, "It's kinda simple really, or I think so anyway. I was surprised and startled, and, quite honestly, scared, then. I couldn't see clowning my way through, what with Fran as a friend and all. But, now I've a plan to learn, and see some benefits that will come from it. It's also my idea, this time. That makes it all better. Course, I couldn't say anything about Fran. So, I had to find other reasons."

"You made them up?"

"No. I wouldn't do that. I just implied a few of them were more important than others. The strangest thing is, that she has me seeing Dr. Bill again tomorrow, to talk about puberty and stuff."

"Why would she do that? Surely you had classes in that in your previous schools."

"Yeah, we did. Most of us thought YUCKY. I'm not worried. I figure the biggest change will be growing hair. I might get bigger, too, who knows. I figure it's already started, cause I got a bunch taller last year in school." Seeing a question in her eyes, "I used to be the class runt. In any event, I'm guessing that it was just the luck of the draw, I happen to be the first person in the year to see Dr. Bill, so I'm getting the info in case others need it and don't know where to ask."

"I guess that makes sense, though I presumed they'd have just gone through it with all of us together, rather than pick one of us to pass the info on."

"That was my first reaction as well, but then I remembered how the year leader would sometimes get info to pass on to the rest of the year."

"You want to be the year leader, Dan?"

"No way."

Renee laughed. "Well, you'd best watch out, or you'll find yourself elected."

I shuddered a little at the thought. "I'll have to figure out how to get someone else elected."

"Don't you dare look at me!"

That caused me to laugh. "Okay." I thought a bit. "You know, it was Ingrid that got you all into skirts to support me this morning. I bet she'd do a great job. I was going to suggest that we have a chat with them about this stuff after dinner, anyway."

Renee giggled.

"What's that about?"

"I had a silly and, I'm afraid, not very nice thought. What if we picked Mark or Wayne?"

I thought about the two. "Wayne's smart enough, that's for sure. That'd be one way to force him to communicate more, I guess, but I've gotten the impression that the school would discourage forcing something like that. Mark, now he's a question, isn't he? I mean, he clowns with the best of them, but when I suggested he and Wayne study together, he was all for it. He might well work out, you know."

Renee shook her head. "We'll see, and we'd better get SOME work done before heading to dinner."

I agreed, and we spent the remainder of the time we had before dinner getting our lessons done. Dinner itself was much of a letdown after all that had happened during the day. Not that I was complaining at the time. Becky didn't say anything about our earlier chat, and seemed to act as if nothing had happened, which seemed a bit strange. Anyway, through some sequence of events, Fran, Ingrid, Renee and I all ended up in Ingrid's room.

"Dr. Bill was a nice enough guy. But, I really wish I didn't have to go see him again tomorrow."

"What do you mean, Sophia?"

"Becky seems to think I need to hear about puberty, and what could conceivably be done to postpone it, Fran."

"That's weird, Sophia." I nodded agreement with Ingrid here. "I mean, we all had puberty stuff in classes last year, or the year before."

Ingrid and Renee nodded agreement with Fran.

"I mean, you're not like me, and dreading puberty." She got a strange look on her face. "You do still plan on being a guy when you're done with all this, don't you?"

I laughed. "Of course! Well, I guess mostly anyway. Like I explained to Sensei today, if I'm going to learn to do this right, I need to learn to not just act like a girl, I need to learn to be one. So, at least for a while, I guess there are some who might question my plans. But I don't plan to stay a girl, anyway."

They nodded as if they understood, and I hoped they did. "I'm depending on you all helping me through this and out the other side."

"Of course, Sophia." Ingrid stated. I was mostly looking at Renee though, and she nodded, and reached over to hold my hand.

"So, Sophia, why do you think you got picked to do this?"

Taking a breath, "I was talking this over with Renee earlier, and the only thing we could come up with was that this was how they were getting the info to the year quietly." Turning toward Fran, "I mean, if they'd talked to you about it, I guess it'd make sense for something private. But, this way, I can't imagine they want me to hide it."

She nodded. "I've talked to Kate about what might happen to me, Sophia. She said that when the issue comes up, she'd make sure I talk to the doctor so I can explore my options from the medical end."

Remembering my promise to Dan to not talk about them being shrinks, I just nodded agreement.

Ingrid interposed, "Not changing the subject this time, why do you think you got singled out, Sophia?"

"Besides being the only one that's acting strange? Only one reason came to mind, Ingrid. We don't have a year leader yet, and I guess I was convenient. If you'd decided to spend a few days as a boy, she might have picked on you."

Laughing, "I guess that makes sense. I do wonder why she was talking to you about this, instead of your support person."

"I dunno, either. I figure I'll ask Dan about it the next time I see him. But, the thought that they might be using me for an info funnel, well, I figure we should select our year leader pretty soon."

"Not just the four of us, Sophia. It needs to be the whole year."

I nodded agreement with Ingrid's statement. "Well, yeah, d'ya want the job?"

"I don't want to talk about it now. How about we have a year meeting to discuss it?"

Fran and Renee both nodded agreement, and I said, "Okay by me, why don't you arrange a meeting? Then maybe we can elect someone." I smiled at Ingrid as I said that.

"I can do that much, anyway." Then, her voice dropped off a little as she thought out loud. "We all end up back in the year room after dinner, most days. Maybe that'd be a good time." She nodded to herself.

We all laughed, at her planning. "Way to go, Ingrid," Fran rejoined.

We chatted about other things for a while longer, then, since I'd had such a busy afternoon, Renee and I begged off saying we needed to get some more studying done.

Actually, we needed to, and put in a few hours. "Well, that gets us all caught up. Thanks, Renee."

"We're a team, Dan–Sophia–whatever." She seemed a bit flustered.

"You can call me anything you want you know, Renee. If it's easier, just call me Dan where nobody else can hear."

"You sure? I don't want to make things harder on you."

"Actually, it's nice to hear my own name once in a while. I don't think I'll forget Dan, but this high intensity stuff is kinda scary in a way."

"D'you want to ease off?"

"Oh, no, not that. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. I just wonder sometimes, if I might do too good a job and lose Dan."

As we had been sitting on the sofa, she reached out, and we hugged. I was able to relax after a bit. I guess my tenseness had been noticeable.

"You're relaxing now."

I nodded agreement. "Thanks. I never used to get twisted up like this, well, not since I was a kid, anyway." Then, realizing what I'd said, I laughed.

Renee released me then, but I held on to one of her hands.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I implied I wasn't a kid, and, I guess really I still am one. I mean, I'm not close to being a grown-up."

Renee joined my laughing at that. "Well, if you're going to be okay, we'd best get our pyjamas on and get ready for sleeping. Our judo lessons are early tomorrow."

"Good thinking. Thanks again." We stood up.

"Ummm, Dan, I can't go yet."

I looked at her kinda blankly.

"My hand."

I looked down, and only then realized we were still holding hands. "Thanks, for being there," I said, as I released her hand.

Getting ready for bed wasn't a big chore. The hair and the things got in the way a little bit, but getting into bed was where I started getting into trouble. My hair kept getting in my way, and once I got that out of my face, I discovered I couldn't quite sleep on my stomach. I squirmed around a bit, and eventually got comfortable.

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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 individuals that proofed and commented on the story as it developed and moved toward what you see posted here (Karen, Penny, Gabi and Holly). Their comments and criticisms helped immesurably! Any problems remaining are mine and not that of any of these remarkable ladies.

Comments are greatly appreciated! (Needed too!)