(Life after Camp Kumoni) By Anistasia Allread Edited by Nick B “Where to next, oh Goddess of shopping?” Leeza asked, bowing to Samantha. “Let’s check out Journey’s. Sometimes they have some good shoes for next-to-nothing.” |
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With pillow, sleeping bag and duffle in hand, Eric knocked on Tricia’s front door.
“Eric!” she squealed as she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug.
His arms already full, all he could do was stand there and weather the embrace.
“Eric’s here,” Victoria called up the stairs.
Tricia released him and took up his duffle. Eric turned and waved to his mother who waved back before driving off.
“Did you bring your ‘other’ stuff?” Samantha asked.
“Yes. It wasn’t easy keeping them hidden. They are rolled up in the sleeping bag and inside my pillow case.”
“Were you able to get money for school clothes and stuff?”
“I’ve only got fifty dollars,” he apologized.
Samantha cocked her head a moment. “We can do a lot with fifty.”
“Let’s stow your stuff.” Tricia led Eric into her home.
She led her up stairs to a large den/game room. A large flat screen T.V. hung on one wall. Pillows blankets and duffels were scattered about the room.
“Get changed so we can go.” Samantha stated.
Eric pulled his gaffe, breast forms and clothing out of their various hiding places and entered the bathroom.
Five minutes later, Erika stepped out wearing white shorts, a red tank top and flip flops.
“I get to do her make up,” Tricia called.
“Make it quick,” Samantha instructed.
“I’ll get her hair.” Victoria joined Tricia and Erika in the bathroom. Leaving her long bangs out, she deftly plaited Erika’s hair into two Dutch braids*. While she was doing that, Tricia expertly applied a light eye shadow and mascara to her eyes, a caress of blush to her cheeks and some lip gloss to her lips.
“Erika, you are so beautiful,” Leeza greeted them from the doorway.
Erika blushed slightly. She was in awe of Leeza. She was one of the most beautiful women she’d ever met and to find out that she was a post op transgender, it was enough to blow one’s mind. “Thank you, Leeza.”
“I’m the designated driver and chaperone tonight.” Leeza winked at Erika. “Some yahoo deemed me an adult. Who knew? Are you girls ready?”
Erika stuffed her I.D. into her shorts pocket along with her fifty dollars and nodded to the other three.
The drive to the thrift store was fairly short. The three girls piled out of the Suburban and invaded the store.
“Pants, skirts, tops and shoes,” Samantha reminded them.
“Sweaters?” Krystal inquired?”
“Yes,” Samantha answered. “Jewel tones,” she instructed.
“What size pants do you wear in men’s?” Leeza asked.
“Twenty nine or thirty,” Erika blurted and Leeza rushed off to the men’s department. “I thought we were looking for Erika’s clothes?”
“We are. We girls raid the men’s department from time to time. About a third of all jeans worn by a girl are taken from the men’s department.” Samantha soothed, “Besides your mom will be looking for you to bring home guy’s clothes and jeans will work in both worlds.”
Less than ten minutes later all of the girls converged on Erika at the dressing room. Samantha had Erika stand still as she held up different clothes to her. She handed some of them to Krystal and others to Leeza. “Tricia, did you pick any clothes that weren’t pink?”
“I picked some things that would go with pink too,” she defended.
“Okay, try these on.” Samantha handed the clothes from Krystal over to Erika. The others are either stained, won’t fit or too worn.”
Erika went into the changing room and began the seemingly never ending fashion show. When all was said and done, she had a stack of clothes, which Victoria was holding.
Erika looked from the clothes to Samantha. “I don’t think fifty dollars will buy all of that, no matter how good a shopper you are.”
Samantha smiled. “We’re not done yet.”
She and Victoria quickly sorted through the remaining clothes and organized them on a rolling clothes rack. “Let’s start with pants.” She flipped through the various pairs of jeans, capris and hip huggers, pulling a few of them off the rack, holding them up and setting them aside. Next she did the same with the skirts then took all of the remaining pants and skirts and slid them off to one side. “We won’t be getting those.”
Samantha took the remaining bottoms and spread them out on the rack then sorted through the blouses. She then held a few of them up to the various pants and skirts. Some she discarded to the end of the rack, a few she kept. “Okay these should do, they aren’t too far out of fashion and the most of the tops will go with most of the bottoms.”
“That still looks to be more than fifty dollars,” Erika pointed out.
“What you don’t know is that each of us has pitched in twenty dollars, so now you have one hundred and fifty dollars. Add to that, it is ‘Thrifty Thursday’.” Samantha stated as if that was all she needed to say. “Everything that is marked with an orange tag is forty percent off. Plus I have a coupon for ten dollars off when you’ve purchased forty dollars or more.” She smiled.
The rest of the girls just stared at her.
“I know, when you are good, you are good.” Samantha beamed. “I told you I know how to shop.” She took the others in with her gaze. “We need shoes. Sandals, boots, tennis and dress shoes–nothing that looks too worn or might be uncomfortable.”
The girls took off to the shoe department. “Erika, you go to the purse isle and start looking for purses that you like. You’ll need one black one and one brown one, but other colors are good too. I’m going to take these up front. I’ll meet you back there.”
Erika walked back to the racks that dripped with purses of all sorts. She looked at them blankly not knowing what she should be looking for.
Samantha joined her. “Did you find any?”
“I don’t know what I should be looking for.” Erika admitted.
“Something useful that can carry your make up, wallet, cell phone, odds and ends and tampons.”
“Tampons?”
“You’ll need to carry a few in your purse, so that when you’re in the bathroom and some girl in there has started her period and doesn’t have any, you can befriend her by giving her one or two. Believe me, when you are cramping and bleeding like a stuck pig, anyone that has a spare tampon is your best friend. That reminds me, you’ll want to carry a bottle of Midol too.”
Erika picked up a black purse and held it up for inspection.
“Here, look through the pockets. Make sure there aren’t any holes in them and who knows you might even win the thrift store purse lottery.”
“Huh?”
“Women sometimes forget they put money in certain pockets of their purses and their forgetfulness becomes our pay day.” Samantha coached as she quickly went through pockets.
Erika looked at the black purse and began looking inside. She set it aside and picked up another one. One of the pockets had a major hole in the bottom. She sorted through a few more and pulled out another.
“Jackpot!” Samantha grinned. “Twenty more dollars to add to your budget.”
“Really?” Erika looked surprised.
Samantha held up the twenty dollar bill.
In the end, Erika selected one black purse one brown purse. They were both small to medium in size. Samantha found two dollars in another purse and a few purses yielded some change adding up to a dollar thirty-two.
When they met the rest of the girls in the shoe department, they had chosen ten pairs of shoes for Samantha to weed out and Erika to try on.
The girls took the shoes and purses to the front where a sales lady was holding the chosen clothing. She rang up the purchases, taking the discount off the orange tagged items. Samantha handed her the ten dollar off coupon. She handed Erika the twenty-three dollars and thirty-two cents. Erika handed that over to the sales lady along with twenty five more dollars.
Each of the girls left with an arm load of clothing. Leeza opened the back of the Suburban and they piled it all in.
“Where to now?” Leeza asked Samantha.”
“Why the mall of course.”
Leeza blasted the radio as they pulled out of the parking lot and the girls all screamed the lyrics to the music as they bounced and swayed in the vehicle as they made their way to the mall.
“Let’s see.” Samantha figured as they entered the mall. “You started with one hundred and fifty and found twenty-three more, taking you up to one hundred and seventy-three. You spent fifty at the Thrift store which leaves you now with about one hundred and twenty. You need a good pair of Mary Janes, two pairs of flats, one black one white, and you need at least one more bra and a couple of tops. Other than that you need make up, jewelry, a jacket and odds and ends.”
“I’ve got a jacket for her.” Victoria perked up. “My sister got one for Christmas last year that she doesn’t like. It won’t only fit Erika, but I think she’ll like it too.”
“Awesome, Scratch a jacket off of the list.
“I have some jewelry that I won’t be wearing,” Leeza put in.
“Same here,” the others piped.
“So, only an item or two for jewelry.” Samantha beamed. “Victoria, were you able to convince your sister to get rid of some of her tops?”
“I’ve got a couple for sure, but others, I’ll have to work with her on.”
“A good pair of Mary Janes is a staple.” Samantha informed Erika, “It’s like a little black dress. We’ll want some that are nice, but aren’t going to wear out in a month. So lets head down to Sears first. Typically you want to buy your shoes at someplace like Nordstroms, but at this time, they are out of our price range.”
The girls all walked out of Sears with a pair of Mary Janes and a bra and headed down the mall.
“Dude, ladies at eleven o’clock,” a voice muttered.
Erika looked up to see several jocks from school checking them out. Her heart jumped into her throat. What if one of them recognized her as ‘The Plague’?
“Check out the brunette,” Erika overheard one of them say after they passed. She flushed. The other girls continued walking in silence, each a little flushed.
“Not yet.” Samantha muttered just loud enough for the girls to hear. She led them into the next store. As soon as they were out of sight, all of the girls burst out laughing. Erika just looked at one to the other, not knowing what was going on.
“What’s so funny?” She asked.
Krystal smiled. “They were checking you out.”
“Do all guys do that?” Erika was appalled.
“Only if they like what they see.” Samantha smiled.
“Are they all so obvious about it?”
All of the girls nodded their heads yes.
“I’ve never been obvious about it,” Erika stated.
Leeza smiled. “That’s another reason why you’re a girl.”
“Wait until school starts,” Victoria told her. “It will be more along the lines of ‘check out the new girl’ or ‘Dude, there she is, that hot new girl everyone is talking about’ or something similar.”
“Where to next, oh Goddess of shopping?” Leeza asked, bowing to Samantha.
“Let’s check out Journey’s. Sometimes they have some good shoes for next-to-nothing.”
”Why not just go to Payless?” Erika asked.
“Because they hurt your feet and won’t last very long,” Samantha sighed.
The girls left Journey’s disappointed. They didn’t have carry any of the kinds of flats that Samantha was looking for.
“Ambercrombie?” Victoria suggested.
“Or she may be more of an American Eagle shopper,” Tricia put in.
Samantha stopped in the mall. She faced Erika and looked her up and down, “I think you’re right. She’s more of an American Eagle type.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Erika looked to the others for help.
“That’s because Eric has been shopping too long at Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters, and Zumiez,” Samantha scolded. “We’re trying to give you some taste.”
She and the others started walking down the mall with a little more purpose this time.
“But I like Hot Topic,” Erika practically whined.
“It’s okay to get an item or two there, but not an entire wardrobe,” Tricia smiled.
“What are we getting here?” Erika asked as they entered the store.
“You need a good hoodie.” Samantha decided.
“I have a couple of hoodies at home.” Erika protested.
“I’ve seen them,” Samantha patted Erika’s shoulder, “You need a good hoodie.”
The girls all split up looking for the perfect hoodie, and started arguing about what color it should be.
“I’ve got it,” Krystal said holding up a white hoodie, “Try this on.”
“That is perfect, Krystal!” Samantha praised, “Where did you find it?”
“Clearance,” Krystal smiled.
Erika pulled it on over her tank top and looked in the mirror.
“Great find, Krystal,” Victoria agreed.
Leeza took the bag as they left the store. She looked at Samantha, “Lead on.”
“She needs a couple of more tops and flats,” Samantha thought aloud. She looked to Erika, “How much money do you have left?”
Erika pulled the bills out of her pocket and flipped through them, “Forty-four dollars.”
“We’ll have to forget the flats for now, or borrow a pair from one of us.”
“My feet are too small,” Tricia shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Let’s go check out Old Navy.” Krystal suggested. “They sometimes have good sales on their basic tops.”
“Good idea.” Samantha agreed.
The girls changed directions and went down a different wing of the mall.
–o0o–
The five girls, loaded with bags, climbed the stairs to the rec room converted sleep over room.
“Wow, you did as well at Old Navy as you did at the thrift store,” Leeza said awed by their shopping spree.
Samantha grinned. “One pair of flats and three tops, not bad at all.”
“Well, I just found my new shopping partner.” Leeza winked at Samantha. She set the bags down on a beat up, but comfortable sofa. “I’ll call for pizza, any requests?”
“No green peppers.” Samantha requested.
“No pineapple for me,” Erika pleaded.
“I like pineapple,” Victoria stated.
“That’s nice.” Erika looked up from her bags, “You can have pineapple on yours. I just request that we have a pizza without pineapple.”
“Any other restrictions?” Leeza looked at the other girls.
“I’m fine.” Krystal shrugged.
“You know what I like.” Tricia dumped one of the thrift store bags out. “We need to wash these before you can go wearing them.” She bundled the clothes up and headed down the hall.
“What movie are we starting with?” Victoria inquired.
“I brought ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘An Affair to Remember’ Samantha piped up.
“I brought ‘Mulan Rouge’, ‘What a Girl Wants’, and ‘Down with Love’ Victoria added to the list.
“I brought ‘Pride and Prejudice’,” Krystal put in.
“Which one?” Victoria asked.
“Both of them. The one with Collin Firth and the one with Keira Knightly. I also brought ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and ‘Little Women’.”
“I didn’t bring anything,” Erika admitted. “I really don’t own those kinds of movies and if I did, I wouldn’t know what to bring.”
“Let’s start with ‘Roman Holiday’,” Tricia suggested.
“Are we in for the night?” Victoria asked.
“I didn’t plan on going anywhere else.”
“Pajama time girls,” Victoria dug in her duffle, “You brought your P.J.s didn’t you?”
“I brought my nightgown from camp.”
A few minutes later, all of the girls, in their pajamas were gathered around with pillows and blankets, lying across and against one another, absorbed in Audrey Hepburn’s tour of Rome.
“Pizza’s here,” Tricia’s mother called up.
“I’ll get it.” Leeza eased off the sofa.
Four pizzas and several bottles of soda were brought upstairs. Tricia’s mother, brought paper plates, cups and a basket of snack foods, chips, cookies, crackers and chocolate. The girls thanked her profusely as they loaded up their plates with cheesy goodness and settled back into their comfortable positions.
Erika found herself leaning up against the sofa with Tricia lying up against her chest, Erika’s arm draped casually over the blondes shoulder, hand laid lightly between Tricia’s breasts. Samantha was lying across the floor, her head resting on one of Erika’s legs, while Victoria, sitting on the sofa next to Leeza had her leg bracing Erika’s other shoulder.
Tricia’s dainty, silky, fingers slowly caressed Erika’s hand as they watched the movie. Erika’s mind was pulled out of the movie as she realized that all of these girls, these friends had accepted her not only as one of them, but as an intimate friend.
A lump formed in her throat as she remembered what they all had been through over the summer, especially she and Samantha. Her eyes became misty as she thought about the good times that they had spent together, how they had loved one another, each in their own way.
Leeza casually passed a box of tissue down to Erika who grabbed a few sheets and dabbed at her eyes. She missed Katie, who would no doubt be balling during these movies. She missed Dani who was so small, yet so big in so many ways. She even missed Rachel with her crass moods and sharp wit.
Tricia raised the back of Erika’s hand to her lips and lightly kissed it getting her attention.
“You alright?” she whispered.
Erika smiled and nodded. “How could I not be, surrounded by such wonderful friends?”
Tricia smiled. She kissed Erika’s hand again and then held the back of it to her cheek which she slowly stroked across it.
This is where I belong, Dr. Barts, Erika thought to herself. This is where I want to be, and this is who I need to be.
To be continued…
Comments
pass the tissue
Thats really sweet, but the coming train wreck gives me chills. Thanks, can't wait till next week!
Train Wreck?
More like several depending on how things go. Be strong Erika and overcome!
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
The cover picture says it all
We all want the little duckling to not only make it but for her to shine. I feel like I am watching this unfold from the other side of a glass wall knowing there are all sorts of baddies out there and am powerless to help.
Great writing, I'm certainly sucked in :)
GREAT chapter!
This is SOOO cool...Erika is coming to realize who and what she should be! Once again...great writing. I look forward to more of your eloquince and obvious insite into what it means to be transgendered. :) Hugs, Kristin
kristyn nichols
WOW
you just put me through a wringer squeezing me out what a wonderful rollercoaster ride so far so much love but I fear for what is to come
from the ass-holes in the school I love big sister leeza LOL LOL
I am well and deeply hooked reel me in
Clothes Hunting
That was fun. It sounds like you've had some fair amount of experience with shopping. You sure know your stores. I wonder which mall, if any, inspired you. :)
I love the slumber party but you sure listed a lot of movies. There's no possible way they'll be able to watch them all! Silly girl. *giggle*
The very end was the key part. Dr. Barts is going to be busy with Erika. That's for sure. *sigh*
Thanks so much and please keep up the good work.
- Terry
I found this such a tender scene
Don't you wish this kind of thing could be preserved forever?
"Erika found herself leaning up against the sofa with Tricia lying up against her chest, Erika’s arm draped casually over the blondes shoulder, hand laid lightly between Tricia’s breasts. Samantha was lying across the floor, her head resting on one of Erika’s legs, while Victoria, sitting on the sofa next to Leeza had her leg bracing Erika’s other shoulder."
As others mentioned, makes the expected "train-wreck" all that much more painful.
Woody
It's a Kumoni Moment! *Flash!*
a picture of how they are now! It's perfect! :) Great Chapter!
Sephrena Lynn Miller
BigCloset TopShelf
I Have the Feeling...
...that Dr. Barts won't buy it. It's still going to come across like "I have friends this way, I have enemies the other way -- let's go the way with the friends." But I'm certainly prepared to be wrong.
Eric
So What Happens WhenEric/a's Mom Finds Out She Was Deceived
RAMI
Some how Eric/a's mom is going to find out that Eric was Erica at the sleepover. Perhaps a little makeup that was not properly removed completelyor something similar. The agreement which all the girls parents, especially the host parent agreed to was that Eric was to be at the party, not Erica. not five minutes pass and he is full time Erica.
Eric's mom (yes Eric, not Eric/a) will no longer trust Eric, the girls or most importantly, Tricia's mom. That Tricia's mom is in on the deception shows bad judgementon on her part. If she was ever going to build trust with Eric's mom, to advocate on Eric/a's behalf, she has blown her chance. Any parent, being deceived likeErica/a's mom was, has the right, not to trust that person ever again. Same goes for Leeza. Instead of showing she was mature enough to be a good role model, she becomes one of the conspiritors.
I fear dire consequens for Eric/a if this happens. The punishment could range from being cut off from his friends to being sent to a different school(using a normal tg story threat, perhaps a military school - in context it would not be Aunt Jane Thompson's).
On another note keep writing these, I look forward to reading them every week. When I last checked on Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m. (EST) and it had not yet posted, I feared that maybe this story had gone the way of other TG stories that just disappear. I was happy to see it this morning.
RAMI
I dunno...
I agree with SOME of that. But, despite appearances, the kids friend from camp still is a genetic boy... So he was there. My reading was that the other parents were informed that Eric would be there... There was nothing said about what he would be wearing.
Eric's mom will have reason to be upset, and may well be suspicious of many things in the future. I can think of two ways for Eric to avoid this catastrophy, but we'll see.
Annette
It Is Time That Erika's Mother Faces Reality
Erika's mother will have to face reality and understand that she has a daughter. Her father will have to come to terms with it as well. Her mother witnessed this first hand when she saw her at camp. She is a much happier person as Erika than she ever was as Eric. Her mother is also starting to get a glimpse into the hell that Eric has been dealing with at school. There is one thing that must be done regardless of how this comes out. The bullying has got to stop. The school has to take steps to punish the kids responsible for doing this. I think that the most realistic scenario would be for her to go to a school where no one knows who she used to be. I guess that is not possible because of the cost involved. It would be nice for her to be reunited with the rest of the Lavender Ladies at some point. Great story so far!
Hugs,
Jen
Apples and Oranges
I'm still not totally convinced that Eric has GID. He probably does, but that theory is far from being definitively tested.
If I was 'the plague,' and I found friendship and love by dressing up like a centaur, I would probably conclude that I was a centaur in a human's body.
To even the playing field, we really need to see if Eric can do well as Eric without his past hanging around his neck like a noose. Of course, that may be impossible -- even if he could be magically transported to another place. If he was still with his friends, he would want to relate to them as a girl. If he was taken from them, he would miss them and resent those who stripped him of the only friends he has ever had.
With proper guidance, the opportunity to interact with his girl friends as Eric, and the opportunity to leave specter of 'the plague' behind, he/she may be able to make a well-reasoned choice. He/she may well decide that hir wants the best of both worlds -- if that is possible in this world.
Ray Drouillard
Agreed
I have to agree whole heartedly with Ray. The current set of circumstances does not lend itself a a clear diagnosis of GID. Far too many TGs become involved in the "Fun" aspects of assuming a new or different role for many different reasons. They then go to doctors who specialize in gender issues who help them along. Unfortunately, many TGs go through SRS only to find out that it didn't solve their problems. As we used to say, they weren't any shorter and their teeth wasn't any whiter. While there is little in the way of definitive stats to prove it, I dare say a good number of post-op TSs commit suicide because they realize too late that SRS was not the answer and enduring all that it entails only made their life worse. This is why I shutter every time someone recites a definitive time line that takes them through all the steps from the starting blocks through SRS.
Exploring the question of gender and taking the trail that leads to SRS is a journey, not a foot race.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
It's nice to be accepted
It is wonderful to be appreciated, loved even. But it's no valid reason to change gender. That is, if you'd have to call it that: _Change_ gender. But I digress.
No, it's not that I grudge Erika's true found gender, far from it, but I seriously doubt a professional like dr. Bart won't properly dissect these kind of circumstances and hinge any or all of Eric's behaviour and feelings on these, in lieu of Erika's -suddenly- found and proclaimed GID.
There's a long way to go, and Erika will have to come up with some true and valid reasons to sustain any claims on GID from Eric's past, before dr. Bart will eventually concur. Notwithstanding dr. Bart can have strong convictions that GID is something aching to a 'simple' psychological issue that can be treated and solved with proper care and counselling. Let's not forget there are reputed psychological and psychiatric professionals who -at the very least- doubt the findings and protocols of HBIGDA SOC.
And, I agree with others, then there are these train wrecks waiting to happen. Is she frozen on the spot of a single track with trains racing to collide with her, or rooted in the middle of two tracks.
I can hardly wait, a week never seemed longer.
Jo-Anne
So far...
Eric's just lived as a girl, not taken any of the steps that would make him not able to function as a male, should he desire to do so. It wouldn't surprise me to see "him" end up (after some time - and high school over) somewhere inbetween... Where, I don't know. Perhaps he lives as Erika. Perhaps not, perhaps she just comes out for "special" occasions. I really don't know, nor does anyone else (Maybe AA - but the author has said that the end is not currently known)...
I do worry about what happens, when Erika attempts to attend school... Things will probably get VERY sticky then, or soon thereafter. If Erika attends, instead of Eric, it will get to his parents. This might be important for the doctor to hear about. And, after a period of detention and/or suspension for the "gang" perhaps Erika might be at school, legit.
It did sound like Eric will be more open with the Doctor in the future... This should help!
It's interesting watching it happen.
Thanks,
Annette
Most Expect The Worst
Several commentors talk about train-wrecks and a certain unsympathetic attitude on the part of Dr. Barts. But from what I've read Dr. Barts is NOT unsympathetic. The fault lies squarely with Eric in that he/she has to get past that teenage attitude/ suspicion of adults and open up a little more, then the Doctor will influence Mom much more positively. Mom has shown that she is amenable to persuasion already and, let's face it, what teenager doesn't lie to their parents? Even if it's only white lies.
The problem with the school deception is making it work. How to explain the absence of an enrolled boy and the presence of a mystery girl. I suggest we wait and see how our intrepid authoress handles this scenario. She may just switch points and put that train onto a different track.
I am an optimist,
Joanne
I knew a teenager that didn't...
lie to her parents... She was very boooring (and hid a few things so she wasn't asked questions she wasn't prepared to answer). *sighs*
Annette
Eric Has Never Fit In
I think that when Erika decides to open up to Dr. Barts, she will start to look back on her early childhood and recall things that she may have blocked out to keep her from dealing with the pain of being different. From all indications, Eric has never fit in. I wonder if others noticed him acting effeminate or doing things that call into question gender identity and that is why He/she is ostracized? I have seen and experienced so many of the same things growing up. I tried to act like everyone else thought I should, but I just couldn't pull it off. Eric may have always felt this way, but didn't really know what it was until he became Erika. Suddenly, everything felt "right" for the first time in her life. Erika's mother and her friends have noticed a complete turnaround in her whole attitude as Erika. She is way more outgoing than Eric is. Even when she isn't around the rest of the girls, she sleeps in her nightgown and dresses as Erika in her room. That says that she is happier in her own mind as Erika. If it was just crossdressing when she is around her friends, Dr. Barts might have more reason to suspect that it is just the popularity issue playing into it. She sees herself as Erika and her family's disapproval is the thing that is keeping her from doing it fulltime.
A very enjoyable interlude.
We all know that there could be serious problems with her parents. Fantasy and living it are often very different. Still, I am encouraged that she knows what she wants while she is young.
AA has already written in some backup alternatives.
Nice job Anastasia.
Gwen
Getting the ducks in row
is a bit a hard to do. You can never can get them to walk in a straight line. They all congregate together as a group.
Hello A.A.!!! ^____^ ;-D
There's major hotel here in Orlando. They have the Duck Parade down the main concourse. The management wanted them to wear little black top hats. Yeah, it sounds cute. So, one by one a duck would wear a top hat. Well it seems the other ducks don't like it, so they stay away from the one duck with the top hat. Then the second duck wears one. Well the two ducks with the top hats stay together now. While the other ducks stay away. Soon, all the ducks are wearing top hats and everyone is happy that everybody is the same now.
So, if Erica is going to wear girl clothes. Does this mean she will be comfortable wearing them in a group of girls? Already she senses the competition that girls go through with guys. It is one thing to be noticed at Camp Kumoni. Now it is going to be the entire school. I hope Erica does not collapse in shock from all of the attention. But her other girlfriends laughed that she was noticed for different reasons.
Either way, excellent chapter Miss Allread. We know we are still laying the foundation day for fun ahead. Getting the ducks in a row for the big unveiling. I just hope nothing goes wrong with their good intentions. They will be needed for protection and picking up the pieces.
Have a wonderful week everyone. Orlando is experiencing it's first cold snap of 29 degrees F down here. Phah, that's nothing. If it gets to 22 degrees F. Now that's trouble. That's when oranges freezes on the trees and becomes frozen concentrated orange juice.
Rachel
A flotsam of/jetsam esoteric suggestions/thoughts
Interesting that no mention was made of places like Marshalls and TJ Maxx ( here out on the East Coast of the US ), who sell good stuff pretty cheap though not as cheap as thrift of course. Also, my local thrift store chain also offers stuff like half-price day where everything is half-off during that day and also a discount for having a membership card.
Eric only got 50 dollars for school clothes ? That was enough ... for 1968 !
Just a thought on finding money in the purses in a thrift store - does that money belong to the store given that the purse was donated to the store ? If so, technically, you can claim ownership of the money by buying the purse that was holding the money in the first place as together it constitutes the item for sale. Hey it is not the buyer's who needs to tell the store that they are selling a purse for a dollar ... with you getting a hundred dollar bill in the bargain, for instance.
Finding joy with her friends does not GID make of course and I agree with the consensus here that she needs Dr Barts as a spotter on this quadruple somersault with 2 and half twist in a pike position of a life changing experience. Leeza should be the one who should be interceding a little more at this point given what she knows. So far she is just a supportive player but she should be providing more of a reality check for possibly a TG/TS-wannabee. And don't forget, support groups are pretty useful too.
There are certainly a lot of bumps coming up the road. Boy troubles - avoiding them. Possibly losing Tricia in a year - recall that Tricia's family moves around a lot and in Kumoni she mentions that she will probably be only around for a year.
So far the story is not as Kumoni like in the sense that it is not as atmospheric. There are fewer descriptions of the surroundings of the characters eg. what is the school environs like - whereas in Kumoni the author really tries to plug you into the scenery the character is in at the moment.
Errata ? In the sentence when the THREE girls piled out of the Suburban to invade the store ? I thought there were FIVE. I do believe there were only 3 genetic girls in the group. Hmmmm ?
We all pray she makes the right choice.
Kim
I'm just going to enjoy the moment
Nice chapter. I know a girl who's a super-shopper like that. she manages to put together beautiful outfits with almost no money.
Bravo
I love this story just for the acceptance, you write about it so well it makes me feel warm, which only makes me sad for the innevitable
Disaster
I see a disaster coming at school, I hope the doctor saves them.
hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna
"This is where I belong, Dr. Barts"
I hope in the end, her parents agree.
blank chapter
blank chapter
Uhhh... No chapter?
Why is this chapter completely blank? There is nothing here...
Blank?
Yeah, I've been loving this story so far, but I'll second what the last two comments mentioned - how come this chapter only has 45 words? I can tell there was a lot more by the older comments, but it's all gone now.
Thank goodness for Wayback Machine, I was able to find this missing chapter there.
Someone or something ate the text of this chapter
I read this series years ago (it and Camp Kumoni are old favorites of mine), and I'm pretty sure there was more story here at one time. Also, the comments from back when it was posted are very extensive and refer to events more complex and nuanced than "Hey, let's go shopping!"
Maybe PM the author and let her know something ate her chapter? Anistasia still shows up here at BCTS about once a year or so.
~hugs, Veronica
What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
author seems to be away
I dmed the author after i reached this point in the story about a month after she did the edit that accidentally erased the chapter. No reply of fix yet. That was back in mid 2020. Hope the author is alright.
Really would love to finish reading this story one day.
Wayback Save
I don't normally post Wayback addresses publicly, but this is sort of the reason the site exists. Here's the most recent snapshot, from 8/6/2018:
(address is here:)
Last PM I got from the author was 1/21/2022. As Veronica says, she visits here occasionally, though not often.
Eric