The next two chapters of an old six chapter voluntary body swapping story of mine. There are two sequels on top of that.

CHAPTER THREE - New Friends, New Deal
By Cleo Kraft
-------------
I went over to Mikes house Thursday afternoon. He was busy on his
paper route so I had a chance to talk with Kristen again.

This time she had a couple of her girlfriends over.

Kristen brought me into her room and shut the door.

"Andy, this is Tanya and Heather," she said indicating the blonde
and redheaded girl in that order.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"Tanya goes to tennis practice with me and Heather just hangs out,"
Kristen explained. "They both go to my school. I told you I go to
a girls only school, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Gristenson School for Girls," Tanya said. "You'll have fun."

"Kristen, have you been telling your friends about our agreement?"
I asked slightly disappointed.

"I told you he wouldn't like it," Heather said elbowing Kristen.

"What's going on here?" I asked. "Have you been telling them everything?"

"They're my friends," Kristen explained. "And they know about my
body switching amulet because I used it on them with my Snowy."

"Bein' a cat is nice," Tanya smiled looking up at the ceiling dreamily.

"Never mind that now, so you girls don't mind this arrangement?" I
asked.

"No," Heather said folding her hands in her lap. "Thing is, we want
in on it too."

"What are you talking about?" I asked Heather then turned to Kristen.
"What is she talking about?"

"They want to be boys," Kristen explained. "I mean, they want to
know what it's like to be a boy. So I figured you must know some guys
at school who might not mind taking a little change of pace in their
existence. We could arrange it for them just like you and I made arrangements.
Doesn't that sound like fun, Andy?"

"The only guys I know that might, and I mean MIGHT, be interested
in something this kinky are a couple of dorky looking guys in the
chess club. They're all around my age and you girls are what? Thirteen?"
I asked.

"I'm fourteen," Heather said proudly jutting her chest out in some
attempt to exaggerate her features.

"Come on, girls, this is nonsense," I reasoned sitting beside them
on the edge of the bed. "There's no way we can pull off three body
switches without at least someone finding out that something is kooky.
I mean, how long do you all want to stay switched? Certainly not
as long as Kristen and myself."

"We want at least two months," Heather said crossing her arms.

"And I don't want to be stuck in a geeks body either."

"Don't you girls have brothers?" I asked.

"Yeah," they said together.

"Then why not just ask your brother?" I suggested.

They looked at each other and giggled.

"They're geeks too," Tanya said laughing and brushing her blond tresses
back with her hand. "Or we could just take turns borrowing your body.
Let's see....two months apiece....that's about six months you'd be
stuck as a girl."

"I'll see what I can do," I said. "But you'll have to settle for
geeks. There's no way I'm gonna get my face busted up asking one of
the football players if he wouldn't mind being a girl for a couple
months."

"Thanks Andy," Kristen said hugging my waist. "You're the greatest,
and as soon as you bring two boys to switch with my friends, we'll
talk about our own body switch. Okay, Andy?"

"Okay," I said reluctantly. This deal was getting worse all the time.

__-----__

"King to Queen Bishop two," Ben said.

"Queen takes pawn - checkmate!" Lou said.

"Hey guys," I said after waiting a whole hour watching my friends
play chess. "I have to talk to you both in private. You ever been
over to Mikes house?"

"No," they both said.

"Well, I'm inviting you. He's going to be delivering newspapers
this afternoon so we can talk about stuff then," I said.

"What's this about?" Lou asked gathering up his chess pieces and wiping
his greasy brow.

"You both know what role-playing is, right?" I asked.

"Who doesn't?" Ben said pulling out a miniature dragon and making
it fly through the air with his hand. "I am the dragon king! Prepare
for a barbeque!"

"That's nice," I said ignoring the idiocy of it all. "Well, my friends
sister has -"

"Sister! Yuk! We don't play with girls!" Lou interrupted picking
up the chessboard.

"Yeah, girls are sissies," Ben added pinching his nose. "Ewww! And
they wear that nasty smelling perfume stuff too. Yuk!"

"Come on, guys, we're all eighteen here," I said.

"Seventeen," Lou corrected.

"Sixteen," Ben said.

"How come you're both Seniors then?" I asked.

They pointed to their heads.

"I can speak for myself here as I am a genius," Lou bragged.

"Me too, but only because my dad said so," Ben said folding his arms
and nodding.

"Well it doesn't matter," I said. "The point is, girls are a fact
of life so don't play like you're not interested in them."

"Repulsive," Lou said plugging his nose.

"Icky," Ben agreed.

"Just come with me over to meet Mike's sister. I have a role playing
game that is better than any you have ever played,"

I promised.

"Okay," Ben said.

"Yeah, if it's that good, we'll put up being around a girl," Lou
admitted. "But it better be a good game or we're leaving."

"Yeah," Ben said swooping his miniature dragon through the air. The
dragon king will permit a damsel if great hoards of snacks and soft
drinks will be there."

"I'll buy pizza and soda," I said. "Now you two got bikes?"

"Does a scooter count as a bike?" Lou asked.

"We ride scooters," Ben told me. "If you have a bike, we could rig
up some rope and you could tug us along like water skiers."

"We'll walk," I said trying not to slap myself too hard for trying
to put up with these morons.

__-----__

" . . . And that's the story," Kristen said finishing her proposal
to the Ben and Lou.

"What do you think?" I asked them.

"You want us to be girls for a couple'a months?" Ben asked in deep
thought.

"This is kinda sudden," Lou admitted sipping some soda before continuing.
"I wasn't planning on being a girl, oh, until next summer or something."

"Cut the sarcasm," I said closing the pizza box. "Kristen, show them
the bird."

"Whoa! No need to be vulgar!" Ben said standing up and covering his
eyes. "I'll consider it if you toss in an extra pizza."

"No, you don't understand," I said and turned to Kristen. "Show them
your pet Mort. Give them each a demonstration so they know this is
for real."

Ten minutes later, Ben and Lou sat there on the edge of Kristen’s
bed quaking with fear at what had happened to them.

"That was a rush," Ben said at last.

"Yeah, what a rush," Lou agreed clutching his stomach. "Couldn't
you have done that before we started eating? I feel sick."

"You believe me now, though, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," they said together.

"So, then, you'll do it?" I asked.

Lou turned to Ben and then looked at me with wide eyes,"Yeah, just
as long as crackers and birdseed aren't part of the deal."

"I'll do it too," Ben agreed.

Kristen stood up and said to the closet,"You hear that, girls? You
can come out now. They've agreed."

Tanya and Heather came out of the closet and stood before Ben and
Lou.

"I want this one," Tanya said sitting beside Ben with a suggestive
smile.

"I get this one then," Heather said looking at Lou and sitting beside
him. "We're gonna get to know each other real well before we switch,
okay?"

"Okay," Lou agreed with a gulp.

"Now this is a secret between only us," Kristen reminded everyone.
"So only we will know who is really who. Now you guys go outside to
the patio and talk over the rest of the details. Mike will be back
here any minute and he'd probably kill you nerds if he saw you here."

"So it's not safe to be here?" Ben asked getting up quickly.

"We're history," Lou said heading for the bedroom door.

After they all left, Kristen closed the bedroom door and it was just
her and I.

"So," I said shrugging. "This is it, I guess."

"Now, Andy, you know I've been looking forward to switching with
you for quite a while now, too, but we have to talk this over some
more, okay?" she said sitting beside me crossing her legs and brushing
her hands along the seam of her brown skirt.

"You don't want to switch right now?" I asked feeling let down.

"No, I really want to," she said. "It's just that we have to get
your friends ready first. Okay? When they are ready and everything
is all worked out to perfection, then we're going to switch all of
us."

"But I'm ready now," I complained. "It's not fair to make me wait
any more. Look, Kristen, ever since you suggested I could take your
place, I've been thinking about it and I want to try it out."

"You really want to be me?" she asked a little shocked at the idea
that I'd lower by age and social status willingly.

"Look," I said picking up her stuffed rabbit and looking at it. "You
got my curiosity up is all. I never actively had thoughts about being
a girl before but you showed me it's possible to take on new perspectives.
This is a fantastic opportunity for both of us. We can both learn
from this. So, yes, Kristen, I want to be you. I want to experience
your life for a little while and you can experience mine. Don't worry.
I'm no monster. I'll take care of your body while you're away."

"You know," she said smiling. "I didn't think anybody cared for me.
My brother is always mean to me and I get stuck doing all the chores.
I never get to do anything fun except girl things and that's the
same old thing. You were the only one who ever cared and defended
me. I wouldn't have shown you my body swapping trick if I didn't trust
you. Thank you, Andy."

I looked at her and said,"Come on, Kristen. Let's swap right now."

"But I told them I wouldn't swap until they were ready to," she said.

"This is between us," I told her. "Besides, you can swap back with
me when it's their turn. They won't know the difference and you'd
still be swapping with me."

Her eyes brightened up,"What about the final switch back after that?"

I thought about it for a minute,"Well, either we don't, or we do.
If we do another switch, it'll put me back in your body. Sounds interesting
if you ask me. We might even want to make that one a permanent one
if you'd like."

She clutched her medallion and jiggled it under her neck.

"As long as I get to keep the medallion," she said sniffing and wiping
a tear from her eyes.

"Sure thing, Kristen," I said smiling at her. "It's your toy. you
get to keep it."

She stood up.

"Lay down," she said gently pushing my stomach so that I sat back
on the edge of the bed. "But take off your shoes first."

I took off my sneakers and let them drop to the floor.

I saw her on the other side of the bed removing her shoes.

I stretched out and laid down on my back.

She lay there beside me, clutching her necklace.

"It's more than the medallion," she explained. "This is the ju-ju
box."

I looked up at the white canopy above me and wondered what it was
really going to be like to be a girl.

"Close your eyes," she said gently.

I closed my eyes.

I heard a popping noise in my ears.

A loud hissing noise traveled about the room.

I kept my eyes closed tight and clutched my hands into fists in
excited anticipation.

Then everything was calm.

I opened my eyes and saw the white canopy above me.

I could feel my smaller lungs breathing in and out, making my chest
rise and fall in a delicate manner.

I could sense a smaller body that I now inhabited.

A youthful vigor filled me up and I giggled happily.

I sat up and looked down at the brown skirt I now wore and the pair
of girls legs that came out of it.

I wriggled my bare feet and gave a nervous chuckle.

Some hands reached around my neck and unclasped the necklace.

"I'll be taking that," I heard my old, male voice say to me.

I hopped up off the bed and ran to the mirror with all the energy
of an adolescent girl.

I saw pretty blue eyes and a small girls nose on a well proportioned
face outlined by auburn curls.

I smiled and marveled at how white my teeth were.

I turned and saw my old body standing there beside me.

He flexed his arm muscles, which were really not much but certainly
bigger than my girls arms.

"Thank God it's Friday," he said at last with a satisfied look on
his face.

He seemed to have the look of a man who just conquered the world.

"If you have any questions, remember the tablet is under your pillow,"
he said combing his hair.

I looked up at him nervously.

"Don't worry," he said patting me on the shoulder. "You'll do fine.
You are no longer Andrew Smith, but Kristen Tiederov, okay? Now let's
go out to the patio and talk to the others."

"Okay," I said looking up at him. "This is going to take some time
getting used to."

I felt different but somehow it wasn't what I expected. I expected
some sort of inside-out-feeling or a feeling of flying
or some grand feeling of winning a race or something but instead
I felt small, weak, and a bit shy. I had a lot of bubbly energy in
me now but with it came the understanding that I was just a girl now
and probably anything I ever did from now on wouldn't make much of
a difference unless I really outdid myself. I was just the little
sister of a big, bully brother and couldn't begin to wonder how I'd
ever manage that situation.

We went out onto the patio and I sat down beside Heather.

"Hey, babe," Heather said to me. "These boys seem ready enough. Let's
give 'em the old switcheroo right now."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," my old body said.

"Andy is right," I said smoothing my hands along my skirt. "Let's
all meet back in a week and do this, okay?"

"Oh, all right," Bob said let down. "Just when I was starting to
like the idea."

They all left out the front gate and I was by myself in my new life
even if it were only for a short while.

I picked up Snowy and pet her as I walked in the house and closed
the sliding door behind me.

I walked in the kitchen and saw Mrs. Tiederov there.

"Want to help with the dishes?" she asked.

I set the cat down and shrugged,"Sure mom."

I stepped up to the counter and got on my tiptoes and started rinsing
dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.

Mrs. Tiederov started dinner.

"Uh, I sort of already ate, mom," I said.

"That's okay, pumpkin," she said. "It's not for us anyway. It's for
your father and brother. You're on a vegetarian diet with me, remember?"

Vegetables? Yuk! I hated this deal already.

Dinner was horrible and my new brother, Mike, avoided talking to
me.

Afterwards I helped clear off the table and then my mom scooted
me up to my room.

"Isn't it a little early?" I complained.

"You have your studying to do and then it's bedtime," my new mother
told me. "Don't forget you have tennis lessons in the morning."

"Goodnight mom," I said.

She turned and glared at me as if I said something she never heard
before.

"Good night, young lady," she said and walked to my door. "Don't
forget you have tennis tomorrow morning."

She turned and closed the door as she walked out, leaving me alone.

I sat at my dressing table looking in the mirror for awhile.

My feet barely touched the ground so I swayed them back and forth
under the stool.

I felt like I didn't belong here. I felt like I was some sort of
spy hiding out in this young girls body.

"What am I doing?" I asked my reflection in a girls voice. "I'm supposed
to be an eighteen year old boy, not my best friends little sister."

If I were an eighteen year old girl, it might be different and things
might be fun. Now I started getting paranoid of my age and my lost
adulthood. Why didn't I ask Kristen to swap me with a girl my own
age?

I wish she left me with the medallion, if not for comfort at least.
I needed to feel secure and safe in this deal. Instead I felt insecure
and afraid.

I looked at the girl in the mirror and waved at myself, gazing at
my little hands in disbelief.

I opened up the jewelry box on the desk top.

Gentle music played and I ran my fingers through the necklaces, plastic
bracelets, and earrings.

I closed the jewelry box and opened the desk drawer.

I saw a small wooden box and pulled it out and set it on the desk.

Inside I found Kristen’s makeup that she kept hidden from her mother.

I swayed my feet back and forth under the stool and felt kind of
bored so I put the makeup box back and closed the drawer.

I hopped off the stool and walked across the carpet and over to the
bed.

I reached under the pillow and pulled out a tablet that Kristen left
for me.

I read the fist few paragraphs to myself,"Hi there! I hope by now
you're starting to get used to being me. I bet mom made you do the
dishes tonight, right? Well, you'll get used to the chores.

Okay, tomorrow is your tennis practice. You're really going to have
to try to make the best of it as you said you only tried tennis once.
I recommend you soak in the bathtub tonight before you go to bed.
Tomorrow mom will wake you up around seven in the morning. Don't forget
the white tennis skirt!"

I set the notepad back under my pillow, then walked across the carpet
over to the bathroom.

I looked in the mirror and saw myself again.

I couldn't get over the fact that I was now a girl. More than that,
I couldn't get over how trapped I felt now in this young body.

I completely undressed and tossed my clothes into a hamper.

I stepped into the bath tub and turned on the hot water, then the
cold.

I pulled up on the stopper so the water would fill up the tub.

Then I rummaged around the sink and found some perfumed bubble bath.

"Might as well do as she asked in her notes," I said to myself with
a shrug. After all, I didn't really know what I was supposed to do
in this body. I wanted to try out her schedule and then eventually
tailor it to my own needs.

I poured some pink powder into the tub and set the box of bubble
bath back on the sink.

Then I stepped in the tub and slid the glass sliding doors closed.

I sat down in the warm water and watched as the bubble bath grew
with the rising water level.

A few minutes later I shut off the water and lay back and relaxed.

I couldn't get over how slippery my bare legs were under water and
how soft my skin was now.

I held my breath and stretched out under water.

To my amazement, I was so short that my feet couldn't reach the far
end of the tub when fully stretched out. I was short!

I emerged, sitting up with bubbles all over my face and wiped my
eyes with my small hands.

I dunked under water a few more times just for fun, then I relaxed
for nearly a half hour or more just lying there in the warm bubbly
water.

I got out of the tub smelling all perfumed up and pat dried myself
with a large white towel.

I wrapped the towel about my body and looked in the foggy mirror.

I saw the distorted image of myself again.

"I sure wish I was an older girl," I said with a sigh.

I wondered if Kristen would let me switch with her again some day
after this was all over.

I wondered if I could ever experience being a real woman or if I
would be confined to spend the rest of my life back as a man again.

I tried a blow drier on my hair and brushed out the wet tangles.

Then I read the notepad again and was reminded to apply a green face
mask of beauty cream before going to bed.

I stood by the mirror and applied a cool, green, slimy paste to my
face. Then I washed my hands and brushed my teeth.

I shut off the bathroom lights and walked over to my dresser.

I dropped my towel and opened some drawers, looking for something
to wear to bed.

In the end I opted for some white cotton panties, and a rather embarrassing
pink nightgown.

"Got to fit the role," I assured myself slipping into bed and turning
out the lights.

I felt the heavy blanket press down upon my small body as I lay there
on my back. I especially felt weird as the blanket pressed heavily
upon my crotch, making me fully realize I was no longer a man anymore.
No more hard-ons or wet dreams. I felt trapped and put here in this
young girls body in some trick of agreement that I had not fully thought
out before. Now it was too late. I was a man, too full of curiosity
about being a girl. A man put in his place to fit the role of being
his best friends little sister whether he wanted to or not.

As soft and wonderful as my new, female body felt, I just couldn't
get aroused over this. I kept expecting a hard-on to develop but there
was nothing. No feeling of sexual excitement - nothing at all. I
was trapped, punished every moment by feelings of need, want and desire
to experience something I was no longer able to. I just lay there,
staring up at the dark canopy above me, wondering what I had really
gotten myself into here.

I slipped off into sleep and dreamt of all the dolls and stuffed
animals that surrounded me on my bed.

"Time to wake up dear," I heard my new mother's voice say to me as
she gently shook me by the shoulders. "Come on, Kristen, time to get
ready for tennis."

I sat up quickly and looked up at her and said,"Oh, Mrs. Tiederov!
I just had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was..."

I looked down at myself and realized it wasn't a dream after all.
I was really Kristen. A girl.

"Why did you call me "Mrs." ?" she asked looking at me with a puzzled
and concerned expression. "Oh, never mind. Now get up and get dressed.
I have breakfast waiting for you downstairs. Now hurry."

She walked out of the room and shut the door.

I wondered what was in store for me today and how I would cope with
trying to fit in this new role.

CHAPTER FOUR - Ready or Not
------------
I slid out of bed and turned around shoving my arms deep under my
pillow. I pulled out the notepad and read what it had to say I needed
to do for Saturday.

It read: "Wake up sleepy head. Today you need to get ready for tennis.
Hurry up and take a quick shower and get dressed or mom will be mad
and that means more chores."

I yawned and walked across the carpet to my dresser mirror and saw
my tired looking face and messy hair. For a young girl, I looked pretty
bad so I got out of my clothes and went straight for the shower.

After a quick shower, I dried off and started blow drying my hair
when my new mom came in and saw me standing there in a pink bath towel
trying to brush out the tangles.

"I told you a million times, young lady," she said angrily. "You
should have worn a shower cap. Now we'll be twenty minutes late because
you got your hair all wet. You washed your hair last night, right?"

"Yes," I said feeling guilty for some reason.

"You could have washed your hair after tennis," she said glaring
at me.

"I'm sorry," I said shrugging. "But my hair was all messy when I
woke up."

"No excuse young lady," she said wagging her finger at me. "If you
had short hair like your brother, I wouldn't mind. You want me to
cut your hair short like his?"

For a moment I actually liked the idea. It sure would save time
getting ready if I had short hair again like when I was a boy.

"No," I said at last, realizing Kristen would kill me if I did that
to her hair. I started to worry about what trouble she, herself, might
be getting into while she was in my body.

"Come on," she said grabbing a brush from the counter. "You're taking
forever. I'll help you get most of it dry, then you're wearing a hat.
I don't want the other mothers at the country club seeing my daughter
with messed up hair. You tell me before you get ideas like this again.
Do I have to write it down on paper for you?"

I thought of the tablet under my pillow and held back a laugh.

"No," I said feeling the brush tug painfully against a snag.

"Ow!"

"Stop your whining."

"Okay," I said looking in the mirror at my mother towering over
my shoulders, brushing my hair for me.

A few minutes later she was fed up with it and told me to just get
dressed.

I went over to my closet and took out the white tennis skirt.

Actually it was all one outfit with a little zipper on the back.

I didn't know if I should step in through the open zipper or pull
the outfit over my head.

I awkwardly stepped in through the zipper and pulled the skirt up.
It felt so weird that I decided next time I'd try just pulling it
over my head like a t-shirt.

I had a tough time getting the zipper up in the back but finally
managed.

Then, I went over to my dresser and pulled out some panties.

Heck, I didn't know what order I should be getting dressed. This
was too weird.

I pulled the cotton panties up under my skirt, then got some socks
from my dresser.

"Do I wear socks for tennis?" I asked myself, hesitating.

I wondered if showing my ankles was okay or not. I decided to wear
socks but still wasn't sure if I was dressing properly.

I sat on my little stool and pulled some simple, white socks on
my feet.

Then I went over to the closet and took out my tennis shoes.

So many to choose from, I had no idea which ones to wear. The pink
ones looked kind of funny with my outfit and the other ones were too
sporty. I decided on plain old tennis shoes.

I sat on the carpet and put my shoes on and tied up the laces.
I couldn't believe my feet were small enough to fit shoes this size.

I stood up feeling snug all over and I grabbed a white baseball
cap off a shelf on the way out of my room.

I walked downstairs and sat at the kitchen table for breakfast that
was getting cold.

"Young lady," Mrs. Tiederov said taking by chin firmly so I looked
in her face. "Are you wearing your training bra?"

"No," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Go back upstairs this instant and put it on. You're really making
this difficult, Kristen. Now hurry up!"

I didn't know how she could tell I wasn't wearing a bra since my
chest was only just starting to bud out. Then I realized the fabric
of my outfit would probably have shown signs of straps being on underneath
or something. That's what I get for wearing tight clothes.

I went upstairs and tried desperately to get the zipper undone on
my back but it was stuck.

I went back downstairs and she yelled at me, taking me by the ear
and dragging me up to my bedroom.

I felt humiliated as she unzipped my back and pulled down my top.

She tossed my bra in my face and said,"You're really making me mad
right now. Why are you doing this? You never act this way.

Now hurry up downstairs and finish your toast and milk. I'll be out
in the car waiting. And don't forget your purse. You're walking home.
I'll get your racket. You'd probably forget anyway. Now hurry it up.
This is ridiculous."

I put on my training bra and fumbled with the zipper on my back
again while walking back down the stairs.

My first morning as a girl and I kept messing up. This was going
to take some getting used to.

"Hey little brat," I heard Mike, my best friend and now big brother,
say. "Keep it quiet down there. I'm trying to sleep!"

He wasn't much of a best friend to his little sister, that was for
sure. I ignored it. He was just a jerk around his sister and I was
sure to find that out more and more.

He peered down the stairs as I walked away and into the kitchen.

"You twerp!" he said and I heard his door slam shut.

I took a couple more bites of toast and downed the rest of my milk.
Then I walked through the open side door and into the garage.

"Come on!" my mother said honking the horn.

Suddenly, at the most inconvenient time, I realized I had forgotten
something rather important.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I said turning and running back
in the house.

I also forgot my purse so I ran back upstairs and into my own bathroom.
I didn't have time to think about what I was doing. I finished up
quickly and grabbed my purse off my desk.

I was about to go down the stairs when I saw Mike standing there,
wearing just his shorts.

"You keep making noise," he snapped and poked me in the shoulder.

"Let me pass," I said trying to get around him so I could get out
to the car.

I heard mom honking a few more times.

"Shut up," he said poking me again in the shoulder. "You keep making
noise."

"Come on," I said trying again to pass by. "Let me go. Mom'll kill
you if you don't let me go."

He pulled out a toy water cannon and shot water all over my skirt.

"No she won't," he said with a grin. "Because now she'll think you
wet yourself."

I was about ready to kill my best friend just then but realized
I couldn't do a thing as I was smaller than him and I was a girl.

"Let me go," I said.

He squirted more water on me,"Sister have a little accident? Better
go put on some dry clothes."

"I don't have another tennis skirt," I said.

"I know," he smiled back. "But now you'll know to be quiet when
I'm trying to sleep."

He squirted some water in my face.

I felt like I was going to cry. I was helpless against this bully
and he was getting me into more trouble than I already was.

He took my hat off and threw it on the floor before he went back
in his room and slammed the door again.

I picked up my hat and ran downstairs crying.

My mother had gotten out of the car by now and was heading in the
house.

"What in the world?!" she asked looking at me. "You're all wet!"

"Mike poked me and sprayed water on me with his water cannon," I
cried. "I don't want to go to tennis lessons now. Please don't make
me...."

I fell down to my knees on the linoleum floor and cried.

"I'll deal with him later," she said angrily. "Now get out in the
car. You're going to your tennis lessons no matter how you look at
this point. So deal with it."

She picked up my purse from my shoulder and headed back for the
car.

Reluctantly I got up and followed.

I didn't know how I was going to handle living here another moment.
Kristen definitely got the better end of this deal. I wanted to try
being a girl for awhile but not like this.

I sat in the back seat of the car and thought about the sacrifice
I had made so Kristen could be me and get to know her brother without
him treating her so awful.

Now I was her and I had to take whatever problems this new life
had and learn to live with it. I hoped Friday would get here soon.