On Hallowe’en, Danny goes to school dressed as a Gothic princess.

“Thanks for getting me ready,” Danny offered his sister. “Especially for helping me with the corset.”

“That’s okay, Bro–or should I say, ‘Sis’?” Teri giggled.

“Well,” he began his sheepish reply, “as they say, if the shoe fits…”

She giggled again. “And in your case, they fit quite well!” Teri teased her brother. “But I have to admit, your legs look great with those stiletto pumps! You should really wear skirts more often.”

Danny blushed almost crimson enough to match his lipstick. But his sister’s remark actually made him feel better about being dressed up.

“Well, you’re a hot-looking babe yourself, Sis!” he conceded returning the compliment. Teri was wearing a shiny black catsuit that hugged every curve of her body with a black velvet mask. The mask had long kitty whiskers extending from each side. She also wore two large matching black velvet bows in her hair in an effect that recalled the comic-book character “Catwoman.” The jumpsuit was Mom’s, but she had agreed to let Teri wear it after a lengthy argument.

“Thanks, Bro!” Teri replied. “This is going to be a fun day, us going to school as sisters!” She smiled at Danny, carefully placing the onyx and silver tiara in his French-braided hair. She gently put her hand on his shoulder, turned him around, and then tied the ribbons of a back velvet facemask behind his head. Of similar design as her own, it covered her brother’s face from the top of the cheekbones to just above the browline, with the almondine corners exaggerating the rhinestone-encircled openings for the eyes. It looked intense, mysterious, alluring, and very feminine. Then she helped him with the silver and onyx earrings and other matching jewelry.

“Now don’t forget to put your things in that big shoulder bag Vanessa gave you yesterday,” she reminded him. “That looks big enough even for your books.”

“That’s why she’s letting me use it. But I’m still nervous about going to school like this, Sis,” he confided in her.

“You’re my sister, now,” she assured him quietly. “It’s Halloween. Everyone’ll be in costume. When we were all together at Giuseppe’s yesterday, no one thought of you as anyone other than the pretty girl dressed as the Goth princess. Be yourself and act in the moment, just as you did then. We all love you for being who you are, and that so happens to make you a little more like us than like other guys. Well, we girls all like that about you! All of us girls are totally with you. Besides, you won’t be the only guy there in drag today–just the prettiest!”

“Oh? Who else?” Danny inquired of his sister.

“Bonnie and Geoff are going as Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter.” She looked at herself in the mirror, applying some lipgloss as a finishing touch.

“Geoff? She’s got our quarterback dressing as a girl?”

“Uh-huh!” Teri giggled, nodding to her brother as she sputtered, failing in a mock effort to suppress a grin. Unaware of his own behavior, Danny joined her in his own fit of giggles.

“If Geoff can pull this off,” Danny mused, “we might even get away with getting girled-up when it’s not Hallowe’en!”

“Then we’d have to get you a whole new wardrobe. You could just stay my big sister!”

“But wouldn’t you miss your big brother?”

“Not when he’s dressed up like he is now!” Teri replied with an almost evil gleam in her eye, giggling yet again. “Besides, I think I like having a janegirl for a brother!”

“What’s a janegirl?” Danny wondered aloud.

“The opposite of a tomboy,” Teri answered very non-chalantly. “It’s a boy who likes to dress and act like a girl.”

“What’s the difference between a janegirl and a sissy, then?”

“A sissy is ashamed of it, but a janegirl is proud to be who he is!”

“So, you think I’m proud of dressing like a girl?”

“Of course!” Teri answered me. “And in your heart of hearts, you know you are, too.”

“If you and Vanessa have your way, I’m not going to get to dress like a guy ever again, am I?”

“Never!” she said, kissing my cheek. “Remember, we love you–Danielle! You don’t understand yet just how special you make all of us girls feel.”

“What?” I queried?

“It’s not complicated. But Vanessa said she wants to be the one to explain it to you. We agreed to that–all of us. After all you are her boyfriend!”

“Is there something else to this I need to know?”

“Yes, but like I said, we agreed that no one ’cept ’Nessa should tell you. And it will be at the Hallowe’en party. So, I’m not telling!” Teri flicked her tongue out at her brother.

Mrs. Margaret Wiseborough was waiting with a camera for Teri and Danny to come downstairs for breakfast. This would be a trying day for her, with her son going to school crossdressed and her daughter wearing that shiny black catsuit that she had found rummaging through the attic. But she had wanted Teri to dress more feminine and, well, the catsuit was that if anything. Still, she thought it might be just a little too risqué for a teenage girl to wear.

“G’morning, Mom!” Teri greeted her mother as she stalked down the stairs. “Happy Hallowe’en! So–whaddya think?”

Mrs. Wiseborough held her breath–and her tongue!–as Teri strutted from the staircase toward the kitchen. Mom did not quite like this, but she knew that Teri was playing her. Teri would not be really be doing that at school. So she decided not to comment too strongly on her daughter’s role as “Catwoman.”

“Well, you did promise to start dressing more feminine,” her mother recalled. “You certainly kept your word.”

Teri giggled as Danny carefully stepped down the stairs in the stilletto pumps. One additional touch that Teri had added to her brother’s attire before letting him come downstairs was a pair of elbow-length black satin gauntlets.

“Oh my baby! You’re so pretty! “The mask is a nice touch, too,” his mother remarked, smiling as she put her arm around Danny.

If he didn’t quit blushing, Danny figured that soon he wouldn’t need any more makeup for his face.

“That was Teri’s idea,” he told Mom. “I don’t feel quite so–exposed wearing it.”

“Well, we don’t want Danielle too exposed, do we?” his mother phrased her rhetorical response. “Oh! Have I ever warned you about boys?”

“Mom!“ he yelled as Teri giggled uncontrollably.

“Just be careful–both of you!” Marj warned them. “And Teri, your brother’s less experienced than you are at getting oggled by boys.” Their mother could hardly keep a straight face.

A simple breakfast of cold cereal and milk, buttered whole wheat toast, grapefruit juice and coffee awaited them in the kitchen. As they all sat down to eat, Marj said nothing as she noticed her son carefully smoothing the pleats of his short skirt under him. She smiled as she appreciated how well Danny could function in girl mode. He was getting very good at it. As much as her son’s crossdressing worried her, she was proud that he did it so well. His bond with Teri had strengthened, literally overnight. She had so showered her brother’s feminine persona with so much pent-up affection and kindness, Marj was shocked that her daughter was capable of such sisterly love. Yesterday had been as much an epiphany for Teri as for Danny.

They ate breakfast quickly, except for Danny. Usually he would wolf his down and require perhaps an additional slice of toast, or another helping of cereal. But never having worn a corset before, he found that it restricted his appetite as well as his physique.

“Danny,” his mother began, “corsets not only hold in your waistline, but they also restrict your intake of food simply by squeezing your tummy smaller. For years, the corset was a girl’s main tool in keeping slim and trim.”

“Now you tell me,” Danny moaned.

Teri–and Mom–giggled again.

That morning, Mrs. Torre would drive Teri to school as well as Danny and her own daughters. Erica was wearing what appeared to be a beautiful formal gown in turquoise and soft ballet shoes in silver lamé. She wore a small tiara and two silvery antennae on her head. Her pretty, butterfly-style wings and matching magic wand were stowed in the trunk. Vanessa was dressed in her dirndl-style Lombardic costume with a few touches to suggest a strega, perhaps from northern Italy. But she also wore a traditional conical black hat for those who’d need another hint. Even Mrs. Torre wore a pair of antennae on her head to acknowledge the day’s theme.

“Omigosh!“ Vanessa squealed when Danny climbed into the backseat with her. “You’re going to school crossdressed! I can’t believe you’re really going through with it!”

“That makes two of us, ’Nessa!” Danny retorted as they kissed very gingerly. “Happy Hallowe’en, sweetheart!”

Teri squeezed her brother in between herself and Vanessa. “He had to wear it! He doesn’t know this, but while he was sleeping, me and Mom secretly packed up all his boy’s clothing for the Salvation Army!” Then she sputtered into another fit of giggles as Vanessa joined in.

“You hear that, buster?” Vanessa piped at Danny. “It’s pantyhose and high-heels for you from today forwards!”

“But I have a date with a new beau Saturday evenin’ and not a thing to wear!” Danny drawled, exaggerating a Southern accent. Everyone in the car giggled along with him as his corset-squeezed tummy gave his stressed-out feelings up for happier ones. He had resolved quite consciously to embrace any teasing today as much as he possibly could.

“You seem in a better mood today, Danny,” Mrs. Torre observed.

“When we were at Giuseppe’s yesterday, we all agreed and promised to be supportive and nice to him–well, her!“ reported Erica.

“If you can’t beat’em, join’em! Isn’t that right?” he confirmed. “Oh! And for today–the name’s Danielle! And I want to be as girlish today as possible!”

“Uh-oh!” Teri remarked. “I guess I overdid the morning pep talk just a little!”

“Ya think?” Erica retorted with a sarcastic grin from the front passenger’s seat.

“Oh! Not at all, sisters!” he answered, and then in a soft, breathy voice, “Because today, I feel–loved!”

“So, who are you and what have you done with the real Danny?” Vanessa asked, struggling to keep, at least momentarily, a straight face.

“I am Danielle! And he is trapped, tucked away deep inside soft, luxurious, and enchanting garments of silk and satin and lace, whence he cannot escape. For the insanely devious servants of Aphrodite wish him to become as they are–feminine!” Danny answered wide-eyed, again in his breathy voice. He was amazed that Teri, Vanessa, Erica and even Mrs. Torre were now giggling at every word he said, if not breaking into outright laughter.

“Girls, Danielle is on a roll!” Mrs. Torre remarked.

“I’m headlining at The Dolls’ House tonight through Sunday evening, everyone!” Danny quipped in his best imitation of Conan O’Brien’s voice. “Sunday afternoon will be a special command performance for the President of Finland by invitation only.”

“See what I mean, girls?” Mrs. Torre added. “Vanessa, your experiment to feminize your boyfriend has already gone out of control!”

“Yeah, Mom,” Vanessa said laughing. “We can all see that now! Didn’t anyone bring a change of boy clothes for him in case we have to cool him down?”

“Don’t look at me,” Teri warned. “I thought you wanted Danielle’s new look to replace his old wardrobe. Why, the Salvation Army will have already promised all of his old clothing to other poor children! We can’t not give them away now,” she giggled.

Danny attempted to suppress a grin unsuccessfully. Their teasing was now causing him to feel warm and tingly all over. And he was liking it. He’d never thought before that teasing could feel pleasant, but he decided that he’d go with it so long as it did. Then he turned to Vanessa and planted an unexpected and passionate kiss on her lips.

“I guess, ’Nessa, that means you and Erica can bring me the rest of your old clothes,” he argued. “And Teri will have to share her pretty lingerie with me.”

“Danny!” fumed Teri.

“That’s Danielle to you!” he corrected his sister.

“Get your own lingerie–Danielle!” Teri retorted, crossing her arms and turning her head away from him.

“Settle down, girls!” Mrs. Torre cautioned them. “I’m driving, so you don’t want me to get too caught up in the fun.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Vanessa apologized, “but Danielle seems to be responding better than expected to getting teased.”

“That’s not too surprising after what you told me after yesterday evening,” Mrs. Torre concluded. “Danny, I’ve never asked you before, but how do you feel when you dress up like a girl? Be honest with me.”

Danny was not at all ready to answer such a question candidly.

“The first time, for the Fall Concert, I felt silly and stupid–and paranoid. Then when I was at the music festival, I was really nervous and scared, but once I had focused on the music, I felt fine. When I’m just dressing up with ’Nessa, I don’t feel so anxious, but silly instead. I don’t mean silly like stupid, but silly like–like when girls can be silly because they’re supposed to and because they’re allowed to enjoy silliness because it’s–it’s–fun and relaxing and for girls very, very nice. Girls can feel special when they’re silly. Like, maybe, I really do enjoy it–dressing up, I mean.”

“You do seem more like a girl, Danielle,” Erica observed. “And it’s not just how you look when you dress up. There’s more to being a girl than just clothes. It’s how you move and talk, and most important, it’s how you think and feel. At dinner yesterday evening, you were like, so into being a girl! The way you talk and laugh with us. You even giggle and squeal like us. And it’s not because you’re trying. You just do it! Like you’ve always been a girl. You just didn’t know it until now.”

“That’s why I said to you what I did this morning–Sis!” Teri interjected. “Remember? I told you just to be yourself and act in the moment today. That’s because I know you can. I saw it at dinner. We all saw it.”

“You’ve always been like this, Danielle,” Vanessa told her boyfriend, placing her hand on his nylon-clad knee. “When we were little, you’d always want to play with me and the other girls. Even then you’d choose to play the more nurturing and caring male roles, like a daddy or a doctor or a priest. D’you remember that one Christmas, I think in first grade, you got the toy medical kit? You went around to all of us and gave all our dolls check-ups.”

“You remembered that?”

“Of course. I went home and told Mom that I wanted to marry you.”

“Yes, she did,” Mrs. Torre added.

“Oh geez!” Danny exclaimed, blushing over a similar memory. “Once I asked my parents if I was supposed to marry you when we grew up! I wonder if Mom and Dad remember that?”

“I like the idea,” Vanessa mused. “Hmm? Maybe we could wear matching wedding gowns?”

“That would be a little much, even for me,” he replied. “But maybe matching lingerie and stockings under my tux?”

“But Danielle,” Teri whined, “I wanna be your maid of honor!

“But I wanna be yours, ’Nessa,” Erica pouted in a similar tone.”

Mrs. Torre stopped at the waiting zone in front of the school. “Here we are girls. Have fun today. Don’t forget anything, especially not your violins. Erica, you still need your wand and wings.” Her mother popped the lid of the trunk. Erica kissed her mom on the cheek before getting out of the car. Vanessa appeared leaned forward to do the same as Teri and Danielle exited the driver’s side, offering their thanks and goodbyes.

Since Vanessa and Danielle were encumbered with books, bags, and violins, Teri offered Erica help affixing her white nylon mesh wings, lined with silver lamé, which required matching lamé belts to be wrapped over her shoulders, between her breasts, across her back, and around her waist. Then Erica held a long, clear, glittery wand, wound with a helix of silver lamé, tied with silver-corded tassels, and crowned with a crystal jewel. Teri then shut the lid of the trunk and she and Erica waved to Mrs. Torre as she drove off.

So the odd-looking foursome of a teen-age catwoman, a Gothic princess, an Italian witch, and a fairy princess, made their way slowly up the stairs to the school’s main entrance, the others helping the Gothic princess face his first full day as a girl, wearing four-inch stiletto-heeled pumps.

Danse Macabre
By Charles-Camille Saint-Saá«ns
Olivia Krueger, violin
Christi Zuniga, piano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMI3A9ar-Xw