“Are you really going to do it?”

“Sure, why not?”

Fred looked to each side before replying, “Your mom.”

“You don’t get it Fred. If I can’t stand up to her, then I might as well forget all of this. She at least has a chance of still loving me after I do this, but others will be much harsher. My cousins will instantly disown me, and I will be an instant target at school. My Mom . . . well, I honestly have no idea what my mom will say.”

“You can crash at my house,” Fred said with a chuckle. “At least until my mom finds out I am hiding a girl in my room.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me.”

“Why’d you pick me to do this with,” Fred asked as they entered the store. “Wouldn’t Ellie have been a better choice.”

“Yeah, but she had a thing with her grandma this weekend and next week she has that math competition. I am tired of waiting. I can’t put this off anymore.”

Finding the rack with the dress she wanted, the proper size was quickly found.

“Come on,” Fred said as he saw a sales lady looking at them. “This place creeps me out.”

The two of them headed to the register and stood in line.

“How are you so calm?” Fred asked as he kept looking around.

“I’m not calm. I am nervous as hell, but I want this so bad that I will fight through it.”

Nothing was said by the cashier, other than the minimum needed to complete the purchase. The two headed out of the store and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now what,” Fred asked as he looked up and down the street.

“The rest of what I need is in my backpack, so we could do this anywhere. I think however, it would probably be best if we go back to my house. My Mom should get the first opportunity to yell at me.”

Putting the new purchase in the backpack, the two got on their bikes and headed out. Soon the bikes were sitting on the front lawn as the two entered the house.

“Mom. Fred and I will be up in my room.”

“Okay,” Mom called back from the kitchen.

“You sure you want to do this,” Fred asked?

“Definitely, you stay out in the hall, and I’ll get changed.”

A few minutes later the bedroom door opened, “Dam, you’re hot. Here I thought you were going to look like a dude in a dress. Where did you get that wig?”

“Ellie got it from her mom’s closet. She never uses it after recovering from the cancer treatments.”

“Now what?” Fred asked looking his friend up and down.

“Time to face Mom.”

The two of them headed downstairs and into the kitchen, “Mom, I think we need to talk.”

Stirring the food cooking on the stove, she never turned around, “What about?”

“I want to change my name. I was thinking about Brenda.”

Mom turned around and stood still as she took in the scene. After what seemed like hours, but only a minute, Mom turned around, turned the heat off and moved the pot off the burner. Going over to the kitchen table, she sat down, “I guess we do . . . Brenda.”