“A talk?”, I asked.

“Yes.”

“About what?”

“Wait for Amy’s mother to get here, and you’ll see.”

“That’s what worries me.”

My mother just smiled at us.

A few minutes later Mrs. Grant knocked at the door, and my mother let her in. As they walked into the kitchen, I said, “Hi Mrs. Grant.”

She looked at Amy and me, and said, “Hi kids.”

Our mothers sat down at the table with us, and my mother said, “I don’t want either of you to be mad. But Amy’s mother and I have been talking about the two of you.”

Amy and I just looked at each other than at our mothers.

My mother continued with, “We started talking when you two had your problem. We knew that both of you were very upset, and we were trying to figure out how to help you. Everything we tried didn’t work, but we were happy when you solved it yourself.”

Mrs. Grant added, “We’ve noticed something about the two of you that concerns us a little. The little kiss that Amy gave Tommy the day you two made up was cute. But, we and others have noticed all of the hand holding.

“And we’re just concerned that you are getting too serious. You’re only thirteen, and have your whole life ahead of you.”

“Mom.”, Amy said. “Tommy and I just like each other. We’re friends. Close friends. Best friends. We’re too young even to know what love is. We have a lot of other friends that we also spend time with. And, yes I kissed Tommy on the cheek. It was just to show him how happy I was that we were friends again.”

My mother looked at me, and asked, “Tommy. How do you feel about Amy?”

I looked at Amy, and said, “I think she is a sweet girl. She’s cute, smart, and fun loving. I enjoy doing things with her. And with all of our friends. I know what her kiss was for, and it surprised me when she did it.

“She and I do like a lot of the same things, like ice skating, the library, swimming, the park, and other things. And there are things that I like, and she doesn’t. And I have to agree with her, that it’s a best friend kind of friendship.

“What’s this all about?”

Amy’s mother said, “We just don’t want you two getting serious.”

“Mom.”, Amy said. “We both enjoy other people. We just happen to live next door to each other and are the same age. We go to the same school, so we walk together. We even have a couple of classes together and should study together. It's a friendship, a best friend kind of friendship. But just a friendship.”

Our mothers looked at each other, then my mother said, “Well Betty. It looks like it’s what we expected. Just a close friendship.”

I’d been thinking about something else. So, I asked, “Mom. Just what else did you two talk about, it didn’t include the other thing. Did it?”

With an I’m sorry look, all my mother said was, “Ah.”

Now I knew they had. I buried my face in my hands, and said, “Oh God no.”

“Young man. We don’t talk like that in this house.”

“Sorry. But did you have to tell Mrs. Grant?”

“Honey. When we were trying to figure out how to help you, I had to tell her what I knew about what happened between you two.”

I looked at Mrs. Grant, and said, “I’m surprised that you’d still let Amy be friends with me.”

“Tommy!”, Mrs. Grant said, “Why would you say that?”

“Because ... Because I’m weird.”

“Tommy! Stop that!”, Amy said as she touched my hand. “We’ve talked about this. And you are not weird. You are just a little different, and curious. It’s part of who you are. You can’t help it.”

“Amy.”, her mother said. “I couldn't have said it any better. Tommy, you are who you are. And, from what I've heard from some people, you are a very nice boy. Probably one of the nicer boys around. I'm also a very open-minded person, and I have no problem with you being friends with my daughter.”

“Honey.”, my mother said. “We also know that Amy has a curious streak in her. And we weren’t surprised that she wanted to meet Tammy.”

Sunday, after church, Amy was coming over for lunch, to meet Tammy. And I was nervous as hell. My thoughts went back and forth from, Amy’s going to be okay with this, to Amy’s going to hate me.

When we arrived home from church on Sunday, I went to my room. I looked at my limited choice of clothes for Tammy. I only had the poodle skirt outfit or the pleated, black and gray plaid skirt outfit. Amy had seen the poodle skirt, so I guess it was going to be the pleated, black and gray plaid skirt, a white blouse with puffy short sleeves, a yellow vest with a black belt, and the saddle shoes.

As I stood there looking at the clothes, I heard my mother walking down the hall, she stopped at my door, looked in, and asked, “Honey. What’s wrong?”

“Everything.”, I replied.

“It can’t be that bad.”

“It is.”

“Tell me?”

“Amy’s going to hate me.”

“Honey. No, she's not. She's going to love Tammy.”

“No, she's not.”

“Trust me. She is.”

“How do you know.”

“Honey. I talked with her a lot around the time of the accident. And, the way she talks about you, I wouldn’t worry. She just wants to know you better.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, honey. That girl likes you.”

“Okay. What am I going to wear? All I have is the poodle skirt outfit, and she’s seen that. And the black and gray plaid skirt.”

“Oh. That’s right. We never did go shopping. You know you did look good in that plaid skirt.”

“You think?”

“Yes, I do. Try it and see.”

“Okay, mom. I hope you're right?”

“Trust me.”

Mom left my room, and I started to find Tammy. I removed all of my boy's clothes, opened a drawer in my chest of drawers, removed a pair of yellow panties, and slipped them on. Then put on my bra. I pulled the box down off of the shelf in my closet, took the nylons out of it, and stuffed them in the bra cups. Then slipped on the pink ankle socks. Next came the white blouse with puffy short sleeves, and the black and gray plaid skirt. I looked at the yellow vest and decided that it was too fancy for today. So, it stayed in the closet.

Next was the wig. I took the wig box down off of the shelf and removed the wig. It looked a little different like it had been to the beauty shop again. I knew that when I tossed it in the corner, that it hadn't fared too well. In fact, I didn't clean up my clothes that day. My mother must have had my wig redone.

I took the wig into my parent's room, carefully placed it on my head, and looked at it. It was different than last time, now it fell to my shoulders, and the ends were rolled under. It looked really cute.

I walked back over to my room, retrieved the saddle shoes from my closet, and put them on. Then, took the black frame glasses and lipstick out of the box, and went back to my parent's room. I stood in front of my mother's full-length mirror, applied my lipstick, and slipped on the glasses. Then stared at the girl in the mirror. Mom was right, the black and gray plaid skirt and white blouse do look good. And I couldn't help but smile as Tammy smiled back at me.

I slipped my lipstick into the small pocket on the skirt and walked to the kitchen. My mother was just starting on lunch, and as I walked in, I said, “Mom. Tell me the truth. How bad do I look?”

As she turned around, I did a twirl. When I stopped, she was smiling at me, and said, “Honey. There is no way that you could look bad. In fact, you look very cute.”

“I like what you had done to the wig.”

“Thanks. You left it in a real mess when you threw everything in the corner.”

“Did ... Did you pick it up for me?”

“Who else.”

“Thanks and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not. Going to help me with lunch?”

“Sure.”

I walked over, retrieved an apron, and put it on. Then set four places at the table, and helped mom with some other things.

There was a gentle knock at the back door. I felt a knot in my stomach. My mother said, “Go on. Go and answer it. She’s your girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”, I said.

“Well, she’s a girl and a friend. Isn’t she?”

I just looked at her, she smiled, and she said, “Go on. It’ll be fine.”

I wiped my hands, walked over to the door, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Amy was standing, looking very pretty. All I could say was, “Hi.”

She didn’t say anything right away, but as she started getting a smile on her face, she said, “Hi.”

“Are you ready to run away?”

“Why would I?”

“Seeing me dressed this way.”

“Why. What’s wrong with a pretty girl dressing in a nice skirt and blouse? I just love your apron. Your hair is just so pretty.”

“If I was a pretty girl then you’d be right.”

“That’s what I’m seeing. A pretty girl. Are you going to invite me in or not?”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Come on in.”

I stepped back from the door allowing Amy to walk into the kitchen, as she did, she said, “Hi Mrs. Young.”

“Hello, Amy.”, my mother said. “My you look very nice.”

“Thank you. And so do you, Mrs. Young.”

“Now Tammy. Didn’t I tell you that you looked very nice, and didn’t Amy just confirm it?”, my mother said.

“Tammy.”, Amy said as she looked at me. “It takes a lot for one teenaged girl to tell another teenaged girl just how good she looks, and mean it. And you do look very nice, and your hair is just fantastic.”

I looked at Amy and said. “Thank you. And you, as you always do, look beautiful. And I'm sorry that I'm so negative.”

“You really shouldn’t be. The pictures that I saw didn’t do you justice. You are very pretty.”

I said, “Thank you.” Then I thought, ‘Maybe what everyone has been telling me is true. I do look like a pretty teenaged girl when I dress this way.’

“Tammy.”, my mother said. “Would you please go and tell your father that lunch is ready.”

We sat and had a nice meal, and the four of us talked about various things. Once we finished eating, my father excused himself, and my mother asked Amy, “Well Amy, what do you think of Tammy?”

“I think she’s very nice.”, Amy replied with a smile. “And I hope that we can be friends.”

“That would be very nice.”

“Tammy’s father accepts her, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. Her father is very liberal, and sees that she’s just a part of Tommy.”

“I see that too, and it’s interesting. Oh. By the way, my mother said that she would like to meet Tammy sometime.”

“Well, that would be up to Tammy.”

“Maybe, but I don't know.”, I said. “After the talk, you and I had the other day, maybe she could. She knows that Tammy exists. Let me think about it.”

Amy and I went into the den, and we sat on the couch. I tucked my feet under me as a girl would do, and Amy smiled as she sat almost the same way. Then she said, “You even sit like a girl.”

“Thanks.”, I said. “I try to be as much of a girl as I can be when I dress this way. And my cousin, when I dress like this, pushes me to act as a girl would.”

“And you put up with it?”

“It’s not so much putting up with it. It’s me wanting to do the best job at it that I can.”

We sat there and looked at each other for a minute, then Amy said, “Do you remember when I came over to visit right after you were back home from the hospital?”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember me telling you, that your mother had shown me the pictures of you in a dress and that if you were a real girl that I’d want to be your girlfriend, but I’d also hate you?”

“Yeah.”

“I was wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“Yes. “I’d still want to be your girlfriend, but I wouldn’t hate you.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“No. I like you too much to hate you.”

I smiled, and said, “Okay girlfriend.”

She smiled, and we sat and talked some more. My mother stuck her head in the door, and asked, “Would you kids like something to drink?”

Amy said, “Sure Mrs. Young. Anything cold would be great.”

“Me too mom.”, I said. Then I added, “Why don’t you call Amy’s mother, and if she really would like to meet Tammy, and have her come over.”

“Are you sure?”, Amy asked.

“Sure. She knows about Tammy, and she might as well meet her daughter’s new girlfriend.”

My mother was back in a few minutes, and asked, “Would you like to have your drinks on the front porch when Amy’s mother gets here?”

“Sure mom.”, I answered.

Amy and I walked out onto the front porch and sat on the glider. My mother brought four lemonades out, set them on the table, and sat in one of the chairs. And we just chatted as we waited for Amy's mother.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Grant walked up on the front porch. She looked at me and just shook her head. I asked her, “Is there something wrong Mrs. Grant?”

As she sat down, she started to say, “Tommy ... “

Amy interrupted her with, “Mom it’s Tammy.”

“Yes. Tammy. Sorry. You also look so comfortable being dressed this way. I don't see Tommy at all, and it surprises me as to how pretty you are.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Grant.”, I said. “I am comfortable. I don’t know why. It just feels so good.”

“When your mother first told me about you, and what she'd read about it, I didn't understand it at all. I'd never heard anything about a boy doing something like this. Though the more she told me, the more I understood and saw you sitting here like this, just makes me smile. You look so comfortable. And it appears that Amy also likes this.”

I smiled back at Mrs. Grant, and said, “Thank you. I wish I understood why I like to do this. I don’t want many people knowing that I still do it. But you guys are okay.”

“Mom.”, Amy said. “This is just a small part of Tommy. Tommy is still a boy most of the time. And Tammy is my newest girlfriend.”

We sat there and talked for another hour. Not about me, but about other things. About the new neighbors. About the latest fashions. About the two new woman’s stores downtown, and other things.

After our mothers had left us, Amy and I continued to talk. Amy asked me, “How often do you dress?”

“Usually only on rainy days when no one is around, except for maybe my mom.”

“Why only on rainy days?”

“I guess there’s less of a chance of one of my friends coming over and seeing me.”

“That day I saw you was a nice day.”

“I know. Like I said we were going clothes shopping.”

“For Tammy?”

“Yes. I don’t have very many clothes, and I just wanted some other things to wear.”

“What do you have?”

“Just this outfit, and the poodle skirt outfit.”

“Oh. That does sound like you need more things.”

“I know.”

She sat there in thought for a few seconds, then said, “Still want to go shopping?”

“Ah. Yeah. Kind of.”, I replied.

“Since you missed that shopping trip, why don’t we put a girl’s shopping trip together.”

“You mean you and me?”

“Sure. Of course, either your mother or mine would have to go with us.”

“Yeah. That might be fun.”

It was a while before we could put our shopping trip together, and in the meantime, it had turned cold. My mother had surprised me with a new one-piece dress that had buttons up the front. It was pink with white trim, a high neck, three-quarter sleeves, and a flared skirt that went just below my knees.

We finally had a day off from school for a teacher’s training day, so the four of us, yes Amy’s mother went with us, went shopping. My mother had heard of a very nice teen girl’s shop in a city just south of us, so we headed down that way.

It was in the downtown part of the city, so we parked and started walking towards the shop. And it was cold. Thank goodness my mother had found one of her coats that fit me. That helped, but the cold air on my legs, and up my skirt was something else. Amy, on the other hand, as well of both of our mothers were wearing pants.

By the time we were at the store I was shivering, and I asked Amy, “Do you ever get used to the cold on your legs?”

She smiled, and said, “Maybe. Welcome to being a girl.”

We wandered the store and saw all kinds of cute things, from dresses, to skirts, to tops, to pants, to shoes, to all sorts of lingerie. I was in heaven, and I forgot the cold.

By the time we left the store, I had some new things. Two new bras, more panties, a white slip, more socks, a pair of off-white flats and a pair of pink sneakers, a skirt, a gorgeous sweater, some tops, two pairs of girl's jeans, one in pink and one in brown, and a pair of black peg pants. I thought my dad would go crazy when he saw the bill.

Amy also found some adorable things. A new dress, and some socks.

We took everything back to the car, and then found a nice restaurant for lunch. I was cold again. As we were eating, I said, “Dad’s going to go crazy when he sees the bill.”

“That’s all right honey.”, my mother said. “I used some of my crazy money that I’d been saving.”

“You shouldn’t do that.”

“Honey. It’s been fun watching you shop.”

“Yes, it has.”, Amy added. “It was like a little kid in a candy shop.”

“Well. Wasn’t it a candy shop?”, I asked with a smile.

Everyone laughed.

When we arrived home, my mother and Amy’s mother went into the kitchen to make coffee. Amy and I went to my room to put my new things away, with a warning from my mother to “Keep the door open.”

As Amy and I walked into my room, she said, “Yucky. This looks like a boys room.”

I turned, looked at her, put my hands on my hips, and said, “Well it is a boy’s room. Most of the time.”

With a little smile, Amy said, “Oh. I forgot.”

We put my new clothes in my closet and chest of drawers. Luckily, mom and I had set aside one drawer for Tammy’s things. Then we went to the kitchen to join our mothers.

We, Tammy and Amy, were able to get together when we could, which was only on rainy days and then only when my mother was home. And when we did we had fun as two girlfriends would. We’d look at fashion magazines. We were young, but we tried makeup. Sometimes we made a real mess of each other's faces, and we'd have a good laugh over it. At other times we came up with some cute looks.

One rainy day when my mother wasn’t home, Amy called on the phone. We chatted like I figured that two girls would. Then, I heard her mother say, “Amy. Why don’t you ask Tammy to come over for lunch?”

“Hey, Tammy. Would you like to come over for lunch?”, Amy asked me.

“Ah. Yeah. Maybe.”, I replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well going out of the house dressed this way.”

“Tammy. It’s just next door. You wouldn’t have to go out to the street, just come through the back gate.”

“Yeah. I could do that. But, what about your little brother?”

“Don’t worry about Billy. He’ll just think that you’re another one of, as he puts it, ‘my dumb girlfriends.’ He won’t bother us because he hasn’t figured out girls yet, and we’ll be doing dumb girl things.”

We laughed a little, and I said, “Okay. It’ll be fun.”

“Great. I’ll watch for you at the back door.”

“Give me fifteen minutes. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I looked out the window, and it was still raining. Not hard, but raining. I grabbed an umbrella and walked over to Amy's house. As I walked up to their back door, Amy opened it.

Amy said, “Hi, girlfriend.”

“Hi.”, I replied.

We walked into the kitchen where Amy’s mother was making lunch, she turned, looked at us, and said, “Hi Tammy.”

“Hi, Mrs. Grant.”, I replied. “Thanks for inviting me for lunch.”

“You’re welcome honey.”

Billy walked into the kitchen looking for lunch, looked at me, frowned, and asked, “Who’s she?”

“She's my new girlfriend, Tammy.”, Amy replied.

“Not another one.”

“Billy.”, Amy’s mother said. “Be nice. Amy’s nice to your friends. Now sit down, lunch is almost ready.”

As we ate lunch, Billy kept glancing at me. It made me a little nervous, but Amy, her mother, and I kept talking about girl things. And, as soon as he had finished eating, he asked to be excused, and his mother told him to go ahead. Amy’s little brother just ran out of the kitchen.

“See I told you he wouldn’t be a problem.”, Amy said.

“Why would he be a problem?”, her mother asked.

“Tammy was worried about Billy figuring out something.”

“Oh that. Billy hasn’t found out about girls yet. So, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

After lunch, Amy and I hung out, watched a little television, played a board game, looked at magazines, and stuff like that.

This started a regular rainy day thing. If my mother was home, Amy came over here. If my mother wasn’t, I went over there. It was nice to have someone to be with on rainy days.

The rest of this school year was great. And, my grades were excellent. And Tammy was around more. Amy also enjoyed her times with Tammy, even though we didn't go anywhere. We also continued our walks in the park and did other things with our friends.

Then it happened ...

Today became the worst day of my life. Worse than the day of the car accident. Worse than when Amy and I had our problem. Should an almost fourteen-year-old have these feelings?

It was a rainy Friday evening in late May, and we'd just finished dinner. Dad was down in the basement in his workshop, mom was just finishing cleaning up the kitchen, and I was sitting in the den studying. I know, it was Friday night, but there were only two weeks left in my final year of junior high school, and next week exams started. Then, I heard a knock at the back door.

My mother answered it, and I heard her say, “Hi Amy. Honey what’s wrong!?”

I heard Amy say, “Where’s Tommy?”

“I think he’s in the den.”

I heard Amy almost run towards the den. I was looking at the doorway as she ran through it with tears running down her cheeks. I stood up, and she knocked me back down on the couch as she wrapped her arms around me.

“Amy.”, I said. “What’s wrong?”

She didn't answer me but just kept crying. My mother had walked to the doorway into the den and was standing there with a puzzled look on her face. Then she mouthed, ‘What's wrong?'

Looking at my mother, I shrugged my shoulders, and mouthed, ‘I don’t know.’

Then I said to Amy, “Amy. Calm down. Please calm down. It can’t be that bad.”

All she could do was whisper a, “Yes it can.” Then she held me tighter, and continue to cry. I looked at my mother, and she had a concerned look on her face.

“Amy.”, I said. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

Between sobs, Amy said, “I don’t want to go.”

“Go where?”

“I just don’t want to go.”

“Amy. Look at me and tell me what’s wrong.”

She finally sat back, and just looked at me. Her eyes were very red from crying. And all she did was continue to cry. There was another knock at the back door, and my mother went to answer it. Amy went back to holding me and crying.

I heard my mother answer the back door, and say, “Hello Betty. What’s wrong with Amy?”

“Oh good. She is here.”, I heard Mrs. Grant ask.

“Yes. She’s in the den with Tommy.”

“I thought I saw her run over this way.”

As they walked towards the den, I heard my mother say to Mrs. Grant, “Betty what’s happened.?”

I heard Mrs. Grant reply, “Fred’s been transferred back to his companies home office, and we’ll be moving there.”

My mother said, “Oh no!”

Then Mrs. Grant said, “When we told Amy, she ran out of the house in tears. And I hoped that I’d find her here.”

I thought, ‘Oh no! They can’t move away.’

I saw my mother and Mrs. Grant walk up to the doorway, just stand there, and look at us. Then Mrs. Grant walked over to Amy and me and sat on the couch. She put her hand on Amy's shoulder, and said, “Amy. It'll be fine.”

Again between sobs, Amy said, “No it won’t. I don’t want to move. I don’t want to leave all of my friends.”

“Honey. These things happen, and you just have to accept them.”

“No. I don’t want to move.”

“Honey. I’m sorry. But we have to.”

“No. No, we don't. Daddy could get a job here.”

“No honey. You knew that this could happen.”

“But, why now.”

Mrs. Grant looked up at my mother, and said, “I knew she’d be upset, but not this bad.”

“Mommy.”, Amy said.

“Yes, honey.”, her mother replied.

“Can ... Can you and Mrs. Young leave us alone for a few minutes.”

“Sure honey. I have to call your father and tell him that I found you.”

Mrs. Grant stood up, and she and my mother walked out of the den. Amy continued to cry for a little while. Finally, she sat back, looked at me, and I asked, “When?”

“When what?”, she replied.

“When are you moving?”

“Right ... Right ... Right after school is out.”

“That soon!”

“Yes. And I don’t want to leave all of my friends.”

“You’ll make new ones.”

“None of them will be as special as the ones I have here.”

“As your mother said, these things happen, and we have to just go along with it.”

“But ... But I don’t want to.”

“I know. It’s your family. You need to be with them. If there was some way that you could stay here, wouldn’t you miss your mom, dad, and brother?”

“Yeah.”, she replied. Then with a forced smile, she added, “Except for my stupid little brother.”

“You love him too. Even though he can be a big pest.”

“Yeah. But I’ll never see you or my other friends again.”

“Amy. Never is a very long time. And, knowing you, I’ll bet you’ll stay in touch with everyone. And, I’ll bet that you’ll even see everyone again.”

“Promise me that you’ll write to me?”

“I’ll write you every week. As long as you’ll write me.”

“I promise that I’ll write.”

“I promise too.”

“Okay. Let's go find our mothers.”

“Not yet. Just hold me a little longer.”

We sat there, just holding each other. Then Amy said, “I’m going to miss your birthday.”

“I know. And I’ll miss yours too. But I promise that I’ll send you the silliest card that I can find.”

“You would do that. Wouldn’t you?”

“You know I will. Now I think we need to find our moms.”

“Okay. Can I use the bathroom first.”

“Sure. I think you know where it is.”

I walked to the kitchen, and she walked to the bathroom. Our mothers were sitting at the table drinking coffee and talking. They looked at me, and Amy’s mother asked, “Where’s Amy?”

“She went to the bathroom?”, I replied.

“I’ve never seen her like this.”

“I know.”

“Do you think you could figure out how to help her.”

“I’ll try.”

On Saturday, the rain had stopped, and Amy and I went for our usual walk in the park. We stopped at the bench by the lake and sat in silence for a little while. Then Amy said, “Do you think we'll see the Eagle?”

“We might.”, I replied.

“That would be nice.”

“Are you okay?”

“No. Not really. Being with you helps.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you told anyone else yet.”

“I called and talked to Maria last night, and we had a good cry.”

“Did it help?”

“Kind of. I still can’t believe this is happening.”

“I know. It has to be hard moving away,”

“Yeah. Knowing that you’re still here and we can write, kind of makes it easier. I’m going to miss everyone.”

“I know. We’ll miss you too.”

“Hold me.”

I pulled her close, and we cuddle on the bench. Without looking at me, she whispered, “Tommy. You’re very special, and I’m going to miss you more than anyone else.”

“Amy. I'm going to miss you very much too. In the past year, you've become a special friend.”

“Promise that you’ll never forget me.”

“Amy. I will never, ever, forget you.”

On Sunday. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to see Amy. Her family had plans for after church. After my parents and I had come home from church, I said to my mother, “Mom. I need Tammy. Do you think dad would mind.”

“No honey.”, my mother replied. “He knows that there are times that you need to be Tammy. He’ll understand.”

I went to my room and looked at Tammy's things. I chose a pink pair of panties and a matching bra. After I'd put them on, a used some nylons to fill out the bra cups. Then it was the white shorts and red top. I took the blond wig off of its form and carried it into to my parent's room. Looking in my mother's mirror, as I carefully placed the wig on my head and brushed it a little. And there was that blond, blue-eyed, girl again, looking back at me.

I went back to my room, took out my compact and the tube of pink lipstick that Amy had given me. I applied a light coat of the lipstick to my lips, picked up the glasses, and slipped them on. Then I found my pink sneakers and slipped them on my feet.

I walked back to my parent's room, looked at myself in my mother's full-length mirror, and there was Tammy with the look that Amy likes. I didn't smile, but just thought, ‘Amy. I’m going to miss you.'

I walked back to the kitchen, and my mother was working on lunch, and I asked, “Mom. Need any help?”

She turned looked at me, and said, “Sure honey. Would you set the table.”

“Sure mom.”

After I’d set the table, my mother asked me to tell my dad that lunch was ready. I walked into the den, where I knew my dad would be reading the Sunday paper. I stuck my head in the door, and said, “Daddy. Lunch is ready.”

He looked at me, and said, “Ah ... lunch ... Ah yeah sure. I’ll be right there.”

“Daddy. I’m sorry that I look like Tammy. But, it helps me to relax.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You know. This thing with Amy’s family moving.”

“Going to miss her. Aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir. She's my best friend.”

“These things happen.”

“Yes, sir. I know.”

I turned and walked back to the kitchen, and my dad was right behind me. We sat and ate lunch. As we were finishing lunch, I said, “Daddy. I hope you don’t mind that Tammy is here.”

He smiled at me, and said, “No. Your mother and I have talked about this at length. I do understand your need to do this, and it appears that it does help you to relax.”

“Yes, sir. But I’m still worried about Amy.”

“I know. I know that she is having problems accepting the move and that you're trying to help her come to terms with it.”

“Yes, sir. I just hope I can help.”

I spent the rest of the day as Tammy. Most of that was spent studying for next week's exams. As I was getting ready for bed, I wished that I had a nightgown.

On Monday, Amy and I walked to school as we usually did. When we met our friends outside the school, it appeared that the word of Amy’s moving had made it through our group of friends. There were hugs and tears. I just stood there feeling very bad, not for myself, but for Amy.

Maria walked over to me, and said, “Tom. She’s going to be okay. She tough. And we’ll support her the best way we can.

“Besides, she has you. And you’re the best thing that could have happened to her. She really likes you.”

“I know.”, I said. “I’m really going to miss her. I’m doing everything I can to make this move as easy as I can on her.”

When we arrived back home after school that day, there was a for sale sign in Amy’s front yard. When we saw it, we just stood there and stared at it for a long time. I put my arm around her, and she started to cry quietly. I knew that this wasn’t just a bad dream.