Danny recoiled. Pearl had told him he was a girl because he could see the pink mist around the lamppost, and now he was seeing pink mist again, around a letter that hadn't been there moments before. He wasn't a girl! At least the last time he'd stood to piss he wasn't. He snuck a hand down to check and felt the familiar bulge and was reassured till he looked in the mirror and saw the made-up face, hair, and shoulders of a person who looked disturbingly like Cristina Aguilera, definitely a girl. What the hell was going on!? He tried once again to change his face back to a more masculine look by reaching for the makeup remover. Blinkswitch! He found himself with a piece of paper in his hand and the opened envelope on the vanity. Glancing in the mirror and seeing no further feminization, he decided not to push things and read:

Dear Danielle,
Or maybe it's still Danny. Pearl said she couldn't predict the speed of the process. I told her she was crazy, that there was no way my brother was a girl. She said to write this anyway. While I know I've said teasingly a number of times that I wish you were my sister, I really hope you never read this. If you are, three things: 1) Don't think badly of Pearl; it will be hard at times, but she really is a force for good. 2) Go about things as you always have despite how you look. If you get the reaction you expect, it will most likely be from Valerie. Don't worry; she'll come around. 3) MOST IMPORTANT: When you get the urge to return to Vaginia, CALL ME FIRST; call my cell. Don't call me till then, there's no point.
Love you no matter what (or who), Penny
PS - You might want to pick a different name than Danielle or variations as it'll help keep things separate - for awhile, anyway. I've always liked Monica.

Danny was more confused than before. First Pearl, and now Penny saying he was a girl!!?? Suddenly the urge to get out of his sister's room was overwhelming. He broke for the corridor and ran to his own room; maybe leaving Penny's room would wake him up from what was surely the worst nightmare of his life. (*Are you suuuure you want to wake up?* whispered Danni in his mind.) He skidded to a halt facing away from his own full length mirror, which was on the back of his quite ordinary closet's door. He closed his eyes and turned to face the mirror hoping against hope that he would see Danny not Danni (*Monique,* she whispered in his mind, *not Danni.* She agreed with Penny about the name, and Monica was nice, but just a tad too ordinary. She would NOT, she thought to herself, be ordinary!) He opened his eyes and cringed; there was Dann ... Monique staring back at him.

As previously noted, Danny was one of the most level headed teenagers around. He had disciplined himself to be that way, and that self training stood him in good stead now, as he pushed Monique into the mental background. He didn't know about trusting Pearl, but he did trust his sister. The two had a bond that, had he ever thought in that direction, Danny would have recognized as being much more like the girls he knew had with their sisters than the boys he knew had with theirs. He would follow Penny's advice and let the chips fall where they would. He had a baseball game that afternoon and he wouldn't miss it just because he happened to look like a female pop star from the neck up! He figured he should be freaking out now, but decided there was no point at the moment to considering why he wasn't. *Damnit, Penny, you had better be right about things!* he thought as he got into his uniform - thankful to note that it was still HIS underwear and HIS uniform and HIS shoes he was getting into.

As he left his room, his curls fell across his eyes and he brushed then aside with his hand, thinking that the hair would be annoying on the ball field. Blinkswitch! Monique entered Penny's room and quickly rearranged their hair back into the retro updo of earlier. Blinkswitch! Danny continued down the hallway and down the stairs. He stopped in the kitchen and started to make himself a PB&J sandwich for ball game energy. Blinkswitch! Monique prepared a quick grilled chicken salad with light vinaigrette dressing and ate. Blinkswitch! Danny exited the house, got his bike from the garage and pedaled to the ballpark. So solidly had Monique sprayed the updo in place that he didn't notice his hair and forgot about his face as thoughts of the upcoming game became paramount.

He arrived at the ballpark, swung off his bike, and bent over to lock it into the stand. He straightened up just as one of his teammates wheeled his bike into the rack. Mike Miller stared at Danny. Danny began mentally slipping into martial arts mode, as Mike and he were rivals for the shortstop position Danny currently held and had never been friends. If this whole sissy thing was going to blow up on him, it would be now, from Mike.

"New hair look Sweet." commented Mike, and he wasn't sneering. "I like the red; it suits you." This was said in a normal, perhaps even complimentary tone of voice!

An amazed Danny just decided to go with the flow. "Yeah, I decided I'd been in a rut lately, and my sister left some of this red hair coloring in the bathroom when she went off to college."

As he said this, another teammate, Marty Hanson, joined them. "Hey Danny, like the updo, but isn't it a little formal for a ball game?" he asked, in a friendly questioning way.

*This just keeps getting weirder!* thought Danny as the three boys began walking toward their dugout. *Neither Mike or Marty seems to think there is anything wrong with how I look.* He mentally threw up his hands and just kept going with the flow. "Keeps the hair out of my eyes." he answered Marty, and then, "Who's pitching for The Cougars today?" The three boys continued to the dugout discussing the upcoming game as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

As they reached the dugout they were greeted by Christy Sharp, one of the three girls on the team. "Hiya Mike. Marty, don't you EVER wash that shirt? Ewe, and use some deodorant!" She wrinkled up her nose as she turned to Danny. "Wow, Danny, going retro on us, I see. The pearls are a nice touch; they for good luck?"

*Go with the flow!* he thought. "Yeah, I'm betting we win by at least two runs." he said fingering the two pearls.

Christy gave his face a closer look. "Nice makeup, too. You've been practicing." She suddenly smiled. "Hey, can you come over early next Saturday and fix my hair like that for the team the party? I'll talk to the other girls; we can have a pre-party party and make it a retro theme!"

"Damnit, Sweet!" Mike exclaimed, completely ignoring Christy's reference to 'the other girls' that seemed to include Danny, "You have all the luck with the ladies. WE" - He indicated the rest of the male members of the team with a sweep of his arm. - "don't get invited to spend extra time with them."

"Yeah", echoed Marty, still in a joking manner. "Why you when there are more studly men like us around?"

*Go for it!* thought Danny. "Well, Hell, you losers," he said in their same joking friendly manner while patting his hair with one hand and doing a sweep to indicate his made-up face with the other, "if you took a little trouble to look good for them, maybe they would."

Christy laughed. "Danny's right, you two. He shows he appreciates what we go through, and he does it better than us sometimes! And you, Hanson, for God's sake take a shower every once in awhile!" She punched Marty in the shoulder to show she was only kidding ... maybe. "Come on, you guys, let's play ball!"

In the third inning, the Cougars first baseman hit a hard line drive to left field. Danny made a leaping catch and whirled to throw the ball to first and the Aardvarks were rewarded with a classic double play. In the fifth, he hit a home run over the fence, making the day of a five year old boy on the street behind right field who caught it and who had been waiting patiently (well, patiently for a five year old) for just such an opportunity. As he rounded second, he thought to himself that whatever had happened to him hadn't affected his playing ... so far. However, as he headed for home, he glanced into the stands and saw his girlfriend, Valerie, just seating herself. He saw her look up and notice him, and instead of seeing the look of pleasure that seeing her boyfriend completing the trip around the bases from a home run that he would expect, he saw a look of shock and horror develop. *Oh oh!* he thought as he crossed the plate and high fived the rest of the team as he entered the dugout, *Danger, Will Robinson!"

The Aardvarks won by two runs, but it was in the 11th inning. The story of the two pearls had made the rounds, and as they were leaving, Johnny Ferrell, another teammate, slapped Danny on the butt and exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear, "Hell, Sweet, if two pearls works, wear nine more for just nine regular innings next game. I'm beat!" There was a chorus of assent to that, and Danny cringed inwardly, knowing that a baseball superstition had just been born and that that meant pearls in his future regardless of what happened with his new situation.

He was passing a large old Oak on his way to the bike rack when that thought crossed his mind, followed by "Youccch!" as a hand snaked out from behind it and pulled him back.

"What on Earth are you doing, Danny? Why does my boyfriend have girlie hair and why is he wearing makeup?" Valerie stepped back and took a closer look at her rapidly reddening boyfriend. "Although I have to admit you're a 1960's prom dream from the neck up, not a drag queen look at all. What happened? Did you lose some kind of bet? I'm surprised Coach Benson let you play like that. How could you do this to me? I'll be the laughing stock of the junior class. I ... I... Oh, talk to me Danny. Should I start writing your name with an "i" instead of a "y"? What IS going on?" Finally wound down, she stopped and waited for a reply.

Danny answered in order. "Whatever happened, Val, it didn't happen on Earth. A woman - at least she looked like a woman - named Pearl in a place called Vaginia is responsible, I think, with possible help from Penny. Thanks for the prom queen comment; I'll take it as a compliment. I didn't lose a bet, although being nosy probably has a lot to do with it; curiosity feminizes the cat rather than kills him in this case. As far as Coach Benson, he and the team have just taken my look in stride. Christy even asked me to come early to the team party next week to help her and Shelly and Babs have looks like mine, so the party will be a retro theme for us girls' ..." he looked at the ground as he realized that he'd just included HIMself as HERself with the three other girls. "... and Mike and Marty even acted envious of me for it. So I don't think you have to worry about being a laughing stock. And, actually, it started out as Danni with an "i" but now it's Monique."

"Monique?" Val was starting to become more intrigued than angry. "'Us girls', including you? And what the hell kind of campy name for a country is Vaginia?"

Danny tried to explain. "Look, Val, I seem to be fighting some kind of battle for my manhood here. Danni is too close to Danny. It's easier to keep the girl in me at bay with a different name. Penny suggested Monica. SHE picked Monique. I know Vaginia sounds like a bad joke, but that's what Pearl called the place where we were. And I don't know whether Christy considered me a girl today; I don't think so, but if not, she certainly didn't see anything wrong with me being a partially feminine male." He looked pleadingly at her. "Come over, Val. Give me a couple hours to tidy up the house. I'll fix a nice dinner for us; I know there are some chicken breasts in the freezer and I can make Chicken parmesan, some garlic breadsticks, and a salad. We can relax, and I'll try to explain more and show you what happened.

Val was gobsmacked. Tidy? Danny never used words like tidy. Hell, as far as she knew he never did any housework. And his cooking heretofore had been limited to burgers and brats on the grill. She sighed. "Ok, 'Monique' she said, trying and almost succeeding in keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. "If I can sneak into the liquor cabinet, I'll bring a bottle of wine. I know Danny doesn't drink, but I think you may, and I know that I sure as Hell will want to!" And with that, she turned and started walking toward her car. When she looked back, she could tell it was Monique walking toward her boyfriend's bike. Danny never walked like THAT.

As Danny walked through the front door, he glanced into the mirror that he had rarely used himself, but that Penny had used religiously to check herself before leaving the house. He stopped dead in his tracks, reached in her pocket for a lipstick that hadn't been there before, and freshened her lips. As Monique entered the kitchen, she automatically grabbed Danny's mother's pink hostess apron that had been hanging on the back of the door and slipped it on over Danny's gray T-shirt, effortlessly tying a neat, perfectly symmetrical, bow in the back. Her red hair was down and hanging to the bottom of her shoulder blades in spiral curls, and there were three pearls on the gold chain around her neck.

To be continued.