Stephanie’s Deal by Jennifer Brock Eleven-year-old Steven Brooks had been punished for violating his parents’ trust and looking at his presents by agreeing to spend his entire Christmas vacation pretending to be a girl. Stephanie just had her first date with a boy on New Year’s Eve, including her first kiss, and spent the night. It’s now a new year and only one day before Steven has to go back to school, and then the deal is over and he’ll get his Nintendo Wii. Or will he?

Episode 9

Brian was still asleep when Stephanie woke up, she watched him sleep for a while, and then got up to use the bathroom and get dressed. Her special tape had broken in her sleep, so she needed to change it. She put on her fresh bra and panties and put her slip back on from the day before, then dressed in the blouse and jumper her mom had picked for her to wear. She did like the knee socks. They were a whole lot less hassle than pantyhose. She brushed her hair out and put on her headband, then changed her earrings into stars and put on the coordinating pieces. Her makeup for the day was simple brown mascara and Brian’s favorite strawberry lip gloss.

Brian had awakened while she was getting ready. He was still in his pajamas, but he’d added a robe over them. He told her she looked pretty, better than before in a way because the previous night she looked too grown up and out of his league. He realized he wasn’t saying what he meant, and muttered an apology. He’d rolled up her sleeping bag for her while she was dressing and had put the room back in order. He said his folks were still sleeping. If she wanted breakfast, he could make her some, as long as she liked cereal. That was fine with her, so they went up to the kitchen for a bowl of Froot Loops each.

Over breakfast, Brian talked about what a shame it was that it was her last day of existence as a girl. He would have liked to have her around again. She told him about her role in Grace and Matt’s wedding, and how that meant she’d still be in dresses every so often through June. Brian brightened up at that, and asked if that meant maybe she’d be available for other things in the future. She said she’d probably be willing, but he’d have to ask about specific things. He said he’d let her know, and made sure he had the right phone number.

The kitchen was kind of a mess, so Stephanie felt like being a good guest and helping out. There was a stack of dirty dishes in the sink, so she took her bracelet off, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work. She asked Brian to go fetch the serving dishes from their snacks downstairs, and to check the living room for any stray dishes. She put what fit into the dishwasher and set aside the larger pieces to be hand-washed.

Brian showed her where they kept the soap, and she told him to get a towel; he’d be drying as she washed. He whined that she could just leave the wet dishes in the rack, but she wasn’t sure how delicate some of the serving trays were. She reached out and touched his face and turned it towards hers. With her mouth inches from his, she whispered, “Do this for me and you’ll be rewarded.”

His eyes grew wide, and then he stepped up really close to the counter and agreed to pitch in with the dishes. Brian’s mother’s rubber gloves were a little big on Stephanie’s hands, but she didn’t want to ruin her manicure so she wore them anyway. It was a pity she didn’t see an apron anywhere, but her jumper was corduroy and could probably handle a few drops of water. It kind of looked like an apron anyway.

She only had three big bowls left when Brian’s mother wandered into the kitchen, looking like she had the flu. She’d tied her robe kind of lopsided, and her pretty nightgown was showing. She had a really decent figure even though she was someone’s mom. She rubbed her forehead and muttered, “Oh hey, kids. Morning. Honey, stay out of your room for a while. Uncle Max had to sleep over, and we put him in your bed.” She had a kind of confused look on her face.

Stephanie smiled. “I’m sorry if the noise of the dishwasher had disturbed you; I didn’t realize it would be so loud. Brian was an excellent host and served his guest a satisfying breakfast, so you don’t need to worry about that. I guessed you might be like my folks in the morning, so I started a pot of coffee brewing.” She pointed over at the coffee maker,

Mrs. Somers poured a cup of coffee and slumped into a chair. “Thank you, but Brian didn’t need to make you do dishes.”

“He didn’t. This was all my idea. I didn’t want to be an ungracious houseguest.”

As she sipped, she said “You make a mean cup of coffee. Brian, this girl’s a keeper. Don’t let her get away.” Her brain started waking up. “But, hang on! You’re not really a girl, are you? It’s so easy to forget. You look too cute not to be a girl. Brian, this girl/boy/whatever person-thing is a keeper.”

Stephanie didn’t like being reminded that she was a phony, so she hurried up and finished the dishes. They had about an hour to kill before Stephanie’s sister Michelle would be coming to drive her home, so she suggested to Brian that they go back downstairs and play some videogames until she got there. He was more than eager to leave.

She tried to figure out how to turn the game on, and he showed her what buttons to push on which remotes. He leaned in close to her and whispered, “What about my reward?”

She pretended not to know what he was talking about, and fluttered her eyelashes innocently, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You promised me a reward if I helped with the dishes.” He leaned his face toward hers.

“Oh, that!” She teasingly turned her head to the side, away from his. “I don’t think I said I’d give you a reward. I believe what I said was that you would be rewarded.” She realized he’d gotten his arms around her. She couldn’t wiggle away. “The satisfaction of a job well done is always a rewarding experience.” She tried to keep a straight face, but it was tough.

“You sneaky girl! Already using your feminine wiles on me!” His hands were around her waist, keeping her within reach, but he didn’t have her so tightly that she couldn’t break away if she tried. He was only playing. “Maybe I should punish you for tricking me.”

Stephanie leaned forward, catching him by surprise. She planted a tender kiss on his lips. Remembering their “experiment” the night before, she opened her mouth a little and brushed his lips with her tongue. That was all the encouragement he needed. His lips parted, and soon her tongue found a playmate. She threw her arms around him and held on, letting her fingers slightly knead his back and shoulders. His hands started gently stroking her, and maybe one of them was slowly drifting down her back. But then she noticed something, and she suddenly broke the kiss and backed away from him.

Brian was confused. “Why did you stop? Is something the matter? Did you see my Mom on the stairs or something?”

“Your robe is kind of thin, and I think you might have forgotten to fasten your pajamas. You were sort of poking me.” She pointed at the tent in the front of his robe.

He looked down and turned beet red, then ran into the bathroom. “Ohmygod! I’m so sorry!”

Stephanie had to sit down on the couch to settle her nerves. Kissing Brian had made his penis want to have sex with her. That made the whole dating game become seriously real. Steven had learned about sex in school, but he’d never actually thought about doing it with someone. He’d always figured he’d probably grow up and marry some girl and make kids with her, but that’s just because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

Stephanie didn’t know if she wanted sex with Brian or any boy, but she was sure that she liked kissing him. She also kind of liked it that he wanted her, or that at least part of him did. It was like he was saying she was definitely, positively 100% girl. But in reality, she actually wasn’t, which would make that whole sex thing pretty difficult, and probably disappoint his boy parts when they found out she didn’t have any proper girl parts for them to try to make a baby with.

He sure was taking long in the bathroom. How long did it take to make sure your pajamas are fastened properly, anyway? Stephanie killed time by fetching her purse to check her makeup. Her tube of lip gloss would not last much longer.

Brian eventually came out, and still looked really embarrassed. “I’m sorry about, you know. I’d go get dressed, but my parents’ drunk friend is in my room. Maybe we should just stay separated until you have to go.”

Stephanie didn’t like that plan. She was hoping for another kiss or two. She pointed at the door. “Have you got anything in the laundry room you could wear?”

He shrugged. “Only what I had on yesterday, and I don’t know how I’d explain it to my mother that I wanted to get dressed up again.”

She chewed on her lower lip while thinking. “Um, ok. So how about you go in there and put on yesterday’s underpants under your pajamas. Maybe that would hold things in better?”

Brian took her suggestion. When he came back out, it looked like everything down there was under control. But in the interest of science, Stephanie gave him a deep, wet kiss and then looked down - nothing had popped out. The experiment was a success!

Brian was kind of nervous, and pointed out that his mother might be listening in, so they probably ought to start playing the game. Stephanie agreed to play tennis again, but compromised by saying that whenever someone scored a point, the loser would have to give the winner a kiss. Brian couldn’t bring himself to turn down that arrangement, so he accepted.

They were on the fourth game of a five-game match when the doorbell rang, and Brian’s mother called down stairs to let them know Stephanie’s sister was here to take her home. She got her coat, Brian carried her bags, and they went up.

Michelle smiled and took Stephanie’s luggage from Brian. “Hey, Little Sis! Give your boyfriend a goodbye kiss and we’ll be on our way!”

Stephanie gave Brian a little hug and a quick kiss on the lips (keeping her mouth closed) and then thanked him and his mother for having her over. They walked out to Michelle’s car and she threw the baggage in the trunk then opened the door for Stephanie to get in.

As they pulled away, Michelle said, “I was just teasing you about the goodbye kiss but you went through with it! I’m impressed.”

Stephanie shrugged. “It was no big deal. It’s not like it was our first kiss or anything.” She realized too late that she might have wanted to think about it before telling her sister everything. “I mean, you told me I’d have to give him a kiss at midnight last night, so I did.”

“You kissed him? Did you like it? He was kind of blushing a little back there.”

Stephanie checked the vanity mirror and touched up her lipgloss, trying to act cool. “I think so. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I mean, I’m a girl and girls like to kiss boys, so why shouldn’t I?”

Michelle chewed on her lower lip nervously. “Um, it sounds like you’ve got a lot to think about. You know, if you ever get confused or something and need to talk about it, you can call me any time. I’ll always love you no matter what, and won’t ever judge you.”

“So, can I ask you a question about dating?”

“Sure, kiddo. What do you want to know?”

“Is it slutty to French kiss a boy on the first date?”

Michelle had to pull over and stop the car. “Whoa. Well, first of all, where’d you get a word like that? It’s sexist and rude.”

“There’s this kid at school, Tommy Peters. He knows stuff. He was saying that Susie Dawson was a slut because she was French kissing Mike Webster behind the shed, but I didn’t know what that meant until yesterday, because I didn’t want to ask Tommy and look stupid.”

“Okay. So Tommy is a dumb-ass. Stop listening to him. And no, there’s nothing wrong if you were Frenching Brian. If a girl wants to let her guy get to first base on the first date, that’s perfectly reasonable. Was he a good kisser?”

“I guess so. I don’t really know what to compare it to. I liked it. Why do you call it first base?”

“Because boys are stupid and competitive, and like to brag about how far they get with girls, so some guy like in the fifties invented this code that they all use and we’re not supposed to know what it means, but everyone knows so it’s not much of a code. First base is a good wet kiss. Second base is when he gets his hand in your bra, but you probably don’t need to worry about that; all you’ve got in there is padding. Third base he gets into your panties, and a home run is actual sex. Boys are stupid.”

“Okay, since I haven’t got the stuff for any of the other bases, I guess I can’t go any further anyway. No boy’s going to stick his pee-pee in my hoo-hoo because I don’t have one.”

Michelle shook her head. “The sex ed. class in your school is so broken. Sweetie, if you still have to refer to your genitals in baby talk, you’re not ready for sex, but when the time is right, you and your boyfriend will be able to do plenty of things for one another’s pleasure. Gay people can and do have sex with each other. Just make sure you’re safe.”

Stephanie was getting a little upset. “I’m not gay.”

“Honey, you just told me you liked kissing a boy.”

“Yes, but I’m a girl right now. It’s not gay for girls to kiss boys.”

“Um, okay. I won’t push you about it now. But whenever you do want to talk about it, I’m here for you.” She leaned over and gave her little sister a hug.

“Thanks. Tomorrow I get to be a boy again and go back to school, and I can just forget about all this kissing nonsense.”

“Maybe not. You haven’t seen the news this morning?”

“No, Brian’s parents were sleeping late today. What’s that got to do with me forgetting kissing?”

“You probably don’t have school tomorrow.”

“Why not?”

“There was an accident. It’s all over the news - they’ll probably still be showing it when we get home. There’s about six different people arguing over whose fault it was, but somehow last night an administrator at Roosevelt Middle School noticed that there was money left in the 2007 budget, and called for a fuel oil delivery. The truck driver got there late, and he was the guy stuck working on New Year’s Eve, so he probably had the least seniority so didn’t know what to do when things went wrong. It appears that he hit an ice patch at the top end of the driveway and turned the wrong way and skidded down the hill. The truck slammed into the building on the first floor of the north wing, you know where the English classrooms are?”

“Yeah. Is the guy okay?”

“He was still in the hospital last I heard. Anyway, when the truck hit the building, the tank ripped open, and oil started pouring into the school. And either the heat from the engine or a broken wire or something provided enough heat to set it on fire. So there’s this big hole in the building, burning oil is pouring in, and then the sprinklers come on. Do you know what happens to burning oil when you pour water on it? It flows downhill faster, because now it’s floating.”

“Wow.”

“The oil pretty much settled in the cafeteria, and burned a hell of a mess in there before the fire department showed up. The classrooms where the sprinklers had gone off were all covered in ice. The TV guys went in there; it looks kind of pretty. The top two floors over where the truck went in were kind of sagging the last they showed them, so the school committee is having an emergency meeting right now to figure out what to do.”

“Really? Or are you just trying to trick me?”

“It’s real. I’d take you over there to see it in person, but I tried on my way to get you and the cops are keeping people away. I’m sure it will still be on the news when we get home.”

When they got home, Mom and Dad had been enjoying having the house to themselves, and hadn’t been watching the news either. Dad had a surprise for Stephanie; he’d hooked up Steven’s new Wii so they could play with it an extra day early. He’d already checked out his new golf game, and it worked great! He thanked her again for it. She gave her dad a hug, but was really more interested in the news.

Michelle tuned to the station she’d been watching, and sure enough it was still showing coverage of the Middle School disaster. The reporter outside the school committee meeting said that so far all that was clear was that the school would not be open for the next two days, but anything after that was still to be determined.

Stephanie went up to her room and checked her copy of the contract where she’d agreed to be Stephanie for eleven days. But that’s not what it said. Instead of a calendar date, it said that Steven had to dress and act as a girl until the day he went back to school. Part of her was mad at how unfair it seemed, part of Steven wanted to try to weasel out of the deal, but part of Stephanie was happy to be a girl for another couple of days. At least it would make going to dance class easier.

She brought the paper and went downstairs to tell her family that she understood that the point of her punishment was to teach her to be responsible and trustworthy, and that it was important to be true to your word and keep your promises. Since the deal that they all agreed to said it would last until school started again, she let them know that she would honor the agreement and continue to be Stephanie until the school reopened.

Dad looked kind of proud that she was showing integrity, but Mom seemed a little disappointed, like maybe Steven should have waited until they asked him to continue the deal. Michelle winked knowingly at her little sister, probably thinking that she just wanted more time to kiss boys.

Stephanie went back to her room to put her paper away, and to tell her doll how her date went. She wondered if dancing with Grace’s brother Christopher would be as fun as kissing Brian. She’d know soon enough.