It was a nice evening, and Jerry walked me home. He put his arm around my shoulders and steered me so I could dig into the bag. There was a little coral-colored teddy bear, a brand new Barbie, and a small baby doll.

"Ah," Jerry said, as I showed him my presents, "It's remedial, you know? She's trying to get you caught up on the girly stuff you missed."

Monday night I had dinner again with the Auburns. I returned Nina's stroller and bag, and she lent me a book called A Little Princess by Frances Burnett.

Cassie looked at me in disbelief. "How old are you, nine?"

"I never read it," I protested.

"What's next? Are you going to join Nina's Brownie troop?"

"I'm a Junior Girl Scout!" Nina protested. "Brownies is for little girls."

"Sounds just about Marcie's speed, then," Cassie quipped.

"I think she likes me," I said in a stage whisper as Nina led me upstairs. Cassie scoffed loudly below.

Nina showed me her room. She pointed out that her bookcase was chock full of books, and offered to choose the best "girl" books to lend me. She cautioned, "You can only borrow one at a time. I need them back."

I liked her room. It was definitely a little girl's room — it couldn't be mistaken for anything else. There was a canopy bed, lots of stuffed animals, baby dolls and Barbie dolls. Nearly everything was white, soft blue, or pink. "Pink is my favorite color!" she said as she held up a pink gift bag. "This if for you, but you can't open it until you go home, okay? I'm gonna put it by the front door, so you don't forget it. Remember: no peeking!"

Nina had also organized Wednesday night: I was invited to see The Princess Diaries. "But you can't get all mushy with Jerry!" she warned. I smiled.

It was a nice evening, and Jerry walked me home. He put his arm around my shoulders and steered me so I could dig into the bag. There was a little coral-colored teddy bear, a brand new Barbie, and a small baby doll.

"Ah," Jerry said, as I showed him my presents, "It's remedial, you know? She's trying to get you caught up on the girly stuff you missed."

"She's so nice," I said. "I have to get her a thank-you gift."

He shrugged.

"Oh," I suddenly remembered. "I have to talk to you about something. Did you know that you're my boyfriend?"

"Uh, well, I kinda, but, um, what..."

"All the teachers think we're boyfriend and girlfriend. Ms. Tandy does, the cafeteria lady..."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. They spy on us. They think they know everything. Does it bother you?"

"The boyfriend part, no." We smiled at each other. "Them knowing, yeah. That does bother me. I didn't like it when the cafeteria lady knew my name. It's not like I'm a troublemaker."

"No, but you do stand out."

"Hmmph."

He smiled and stopped. "Hey," he said, "If you're my girlfriend, how come we've never kissed?"

My aunt was reading a magazine when I came in. "Have a good time?" she asked.

"Yep!" I replied.

"What's in the bag?" she asked. I showed her the dolls, the bear, and the book.

"I see," she said. "I remember this book. Trying to make up for what you missed, huh?"

"I guess," I said.

"Oh, I have some news for you," she said. "I was talking to your father today. He said they're closing on your old house this Thursday."

"Closing? What's that mean?"

"It means the sale is final. The closing is when the buyer and seller sign all the papers and the money is exchanged."

"I thought they sold our old house when we left."

"No, no, these things take time." She looked like she was going to say more, but stopped herself.

"Hey, check this out!" she said, reaching behind her. "I got a digital camera today, and I haven't used it yet. Mind if we try it out together? I can get a shot of that outfit."

"Okay," I said happily. I posed for a couple of shots, some with my teddy bear and others with my baby doll. We looked at them together. I'd never used a digital camera before. I was impressed by the way we could check out the shots and delete the bad ones. In fact, we re-took a few of the shots until we both liked them.

"Great," Aunt Jane said. "I think I got the hang of it now."

Then we sat down and had a long chat. She wanted to know how things had gone with Ms. Tandy. That led us naturally to Jerry. Somehow she guessed that we'd kissed on the way home, so we had a pretty frank chat about boys and being careful. At first I was worried about what she'd say, but I think she made an effort not to judge or lecture me — she wanted to be sure I'd keep on talking to her.

While we talked, I noticed that Aunt Jane was unusually upbeat and happy. I wondered whether something good had happened to her.

"Oh, I cleared something up today," she said, in a mysterious voice. "I kind of ironed out a problem that was hanging over me."

Tuesday was uneventful. It was my first day of gym class since I'd started school, and it worked out fine. I wore my gym suit under my clothes, so I just had to slip out of my skirt and top and change my shoes for sneakers. I took a locker near the door, and after class, I quickly slipped my clothes on over my gym suit and headed out. Eden is in my class, and I was surprised to see that she and several other girls had done the same.

"I can't use those showers here! Ugh! They are so disgusting!" one of the girls commented as we left the building.

"Are they really that dirty?" I asked Eden.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I didn't look. I'd just rather shower at home."

After we got outside Eden asked me, "Hey, Did you hear about the show? The school is doing Bye Bye Birdie."

"No, I don't know anything about it."

"I can lend you the movie. It's pretty fun. I'm going to try out. I can't sing, but I'm a good dancer." She smiled and pointed one toe. "Do you know how to sing, Marcie?"

"Only in the shower."

"Do you want to audition with me?"

"As a dancer? I can't dance."

"Are you sure? Come over my house, and we can see. I'll show you the audition routine I worked out. And I can teach it to you!"

"I don't know..."

"Come one, give it a try, Marcie! It'll be more fun if we do it together."

I was doubtful, but Eden was persistent. She weedled and cajoled, and finally I thought, Why not? It could be fun.

"I'll try," I told her. "But I can't promise anything. I've never danced."

And so the two of us trooped off to Eden's house. It was pretty close — about as close to school as my house, but in a different direction.

Eden's mother made us a snack of fruit and sandwiches. After we demolished that, Eden led me to a big, empty family room.

"We don't have enough furniture to fill the house," she said, "But I like it this way. It's my dance studio. Now watch. This is part of a song from the show."

She put on "Telephone Hour," a 50's-style song about "goin' steady," and danced to it. She really danced. I was impressed, and told her so.

"I've been taking lessons pretty much my whole life," she said, proudly. "Now you try it with me."

We worked for a couple of hours. Eden was very patient, and pointed out mistakes I didn't realize I was making. In the end, I could do most of the moves, but couldn't remember how they fit together.

"You'll get it," she said. "We just have to practice. Can you come over tomorrow? Are you free this weekend?"

"Tomorrow I'm going to Jerry's, and Thursday my aunt's taking me out. But Friday and the weekend are good."

She looked a little disappointed, but said, "Okay. We could work lunchtimes, I guess. And if we work hard this weekend, I think we'll get it. Auditions are next week, though, and that's not much time. They didn't say which day the dance auditions are, so we have to use every day — we don't know how much time we've got. The routine's got to be rock solid."

"If I can't learn it, promise me that you'll audition by yourself? I don't want to drag you down or keep you out."

"You won't drag me down," she said. "You'll get it."

I still had my doubts, but I was determined to try. I walked home, passing the school on the way. As I walked, I wondered: When I go back to being a boy, will my life still be as interesting and fun as it is now? Or can my life only be this way while I'm a girl?

© 2006, 2007 by Kaleigh Way