Something Feels Strange…

Laurie is pretty impressed with how easy it was to make friends with Caitlin. My first move is ahead of schedule. We still need to find a way to connect with Andy Lang, the quiet loner that Mrs. Harrison wants us to befriend. We think that task will be much more difficult.

But first, we have to find him.

Chapter 22: The First Day on the Job

The alarm on my cell phone is playing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning"–an optimistic way to start the day.

I feel very refreshed after a night’s deep sleep–I don’t even remember having any dreams. It is five thirty in the morning and I am aware of dampness in my crotch. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to find a very bloody pad in my panties when I get to the bathroom. The thought dispels any good feelings that I was having about the morning. At least the cramping seems to have passed.

Rolling out of bed, I feel some leakage as I get vertical and head for the bathroom. No one else is up yet, so I have the bathroom to myself. The damage is worse than I thought. The thick overnight pad was overwhelmed and has stained my panties.  There is also some blood on the inside of my night shirt. With a sigh, I dispose of the offending pad and put the panties and night shirt to soak in cold water in the sink as I contemplate my next move. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a spare set of panties with me to the bathroom. This girl stuff can be a real pain sometimes.

Pondering the problem as I sit on the throne, I find a tampon within reach. I install the dastardly device to staunch the flow and it seems to work. Since I’m here, I decide to take a shower. I haven’t had one since Saturday and it feels like it.

The hot water feels extra nice today. I should have thought of this when I was cramping. I’m sure that it would have helped. While I was luxuriating in the shower, I hear the bathroom door open and someone sit on the toilet.

“Good morning, girl friend,” Laurie says in a sleepy voice, “I see that you had a problem this morning.”

“Good morning,” I say more brightly than I feel. “Would you be a good friend and go get me another pair of panties? I don’t want to drip blood all the way down the hall.”

“Morning people–you gotta love ’em,” she sighs as she flushes the toilet then runs my errand.

Finishing my shower, I step out of the shower to find that Laurie has left the requested items on the counter. It appears that she took my soiled laundry to be cleaned, which was nice of her. I install a pad in my new panties as I slip them on then wrap a towel around myself and head for my room.

Considering the clothing alternatives, I decide–in typical male fashion–that the clothes I wore last night were as good as any.  Hey! They are accessible, hadn’t worn for long, and still appear to be clean.

The push up bra did not seem to garner any specific attention last night, so I decide to wear a more comfortable one today.

Has it only been a week? I think to myself as I buckle the bra in front of me then deftly finish the installation process as if I’d been doing it for years. Running my hand over my now smooth crotch I think that I am even starting to forget what it was like to have the male equipment. The lack of obstruction is starting to feel pretty natural.

I sigh in resignation as I work to apply my makeup in a respectable manner. I guess I’ve just been so busy I haven’t had time to dwell upon the changes. In a way, I’m happy that I haven’t had the time to stew over it. Now I’ve a week’s experience of being a girl, it doesn’t seem too bad. In some ways, it’s a great adventure. I only wish I could skip the period part but then I guess most girls feel the same way.

Before going to bed last night, Laurie and I spent some time repainting our finger and toe nails then experimented with my hair. I really like pulling the sides of my hair back and using a large hair clip to keep it there, so that is what I did again today.

Before heading to the kitchen for breakfast, I remember the circular container of birth control pills that we put in one of my desk drawers. Pulling out the package I just stare at it for a few minutes. I took the first pill yesterday and now it is time for number two. Birth control pills: the very thought of what these little pills imply causes a shiver to run up my spine.

I can get pregnant now. I’ve repeated that phrase to myself a few times this week and it freaks me out.

I can get pregnant now. Getting pregnant would really change the whole landscape of my life. I bet that it would prevent any transition back to being Christopher.

I can get pregnant now. I am beginning to appreciate why some girls–Laurie for example–are so reluctant to engage in sexual relations. This little pill doesn’t look like it could stop anything! A condom has its faults too. There is risk involved with any ‘protection’. I hate unnecessary risk–particularly if I’m the one taking the biggest risk.

I can get pregnant now. I still have trouble with the concept of being the female half of sexual intercourse, but the idea does not seem quite so foreign as it did a week ago. I’ve yet to have time to thoroughly explore my new equipment. I really need to find some personal quiet time soon so that I can do that.

I can get pregnant now. I can produce a new person. Well, I could do that before, but not in the very personal way that I can now. Being a parent comes with an awesome responsibility that takes a lot more maturity and preparation than I currently have. It also takes nine months to produce a new person. Pregnancy doesn’t look like any fun; and then there is the delivery–I don’t even want to think about that.

I can get pregnant now. I don’t want to get pregnant now. It seems that the only sure way to avoid pregnancy is to avoid sex. I can do that as long as it is not forced upon me. It sobers me to think that I have to be careful to avoid situations where that might happen.

I can get pregnant now. And this pill is the only line of defence within my control that I can employ to prevent pregnancy. I don’t have control over what the male half will do.

With strong encouragement from Brain Central–safety first being its motto–I eagerly gulp down the pill. I’m really glad I’ve a three month supply.

Joining the ladies for a breakfast of fruit and bagels I am informed that girls don’t wear the same clothes two days in a row unless there are no alternatives.

“What?” I exclaim, “I hardly wore these last night! Only when we went to the Quinn’s and I didn’t sweat in them or anything.”

“Judging from the morning’s laundry,” Aunt Jen says with a sigh, “at least you changed your underwear! Tina, you’ve come a long way the last week but there is still some polishing to do before you become a typical young lady.”

I am saved from having to change by it being too late to do so.  Hay-ho it’s off to work we go.

Aunt Jen has to sign us in as visitors at the guard shack that blocks the entrance to the complex. She escorts us to the personnel office where we are passed on to a clerk. As we are ushered into a waiting area, we are surprised to see Tiff, along with several other people. She didn’t say anything about her starting work here when we saw her last night.

The next several hours are spent filling out employment paperwork and doing some basic training on time reporting, laboratory security policies, and safety regulations. Among the many forms that we fill out is are a number of confidentiality forms concerned with disclosure of classified information and on the restrictions that will be imposed as the result of our relatively low security clearances. It seems it’s a little late for these forms! By lunch time, we walk out of the personnel department with newly minted employee identification badges that are to be kept visible at all times while on the facility. The pictures are pretty good for ID badges. The young guy running the camera took several pictures of each of us and let us pick our favorite. I have an idea that he has a thing for Tiff and I’ll bet that he kept at least one of the images for himself. She flirted with him just a little. It was interesting to see what he would do to gain her favor.

The three of us meet Aunt Jen and Mrs. Quinn for lunch at an on-site cafeteria. Dr. Quinn apparently can’t get away to join us.

“How was new employee orientation?” Aunt Jen asks to no one in particular.

“Oh great, Mom,” Laurie replies, “we can now tell you all the dire consequences of having loose lips, being in the wrong place, and looking cross eyed at the security guards. And not only that, but Tiff here batted her eyes at the camera guy and he made sure to get good pictures for our IDs.”

“I did not bat my eyes at the guy,” Tiff says with some indignation. “I’ll have you know that I only winked at him. If Tina had made eyes at him, however, I think that the poor boy would have sent out for a professional photographer.”

“As if,” I pretend to pout, “I’m too young for him and he knows it. You’re more in his league, Tiff.” We all break into giggles at that. The conversation continues in that vein for a while before we need to finish up.

“Okay, girls,” Aunt Jen pronounces. “I hate to break up the fun, but it’s time to get to work.”

With that, we part company. Tiff is going to be working with one of the research projects so she heads off to report for duty. Aunt Jen takes Laurie and me to see Mrs. Harrison.

“Here are my two wayward charges, Susan,” Aunt Jen says. “You know Laurie. This one is my niece Tina. You girls behave yourselves and call me when you’re ready to go home.” With that introduction, Aunt Jen headed back to her own office.

“Girls, welcome to the Lab,” Mrs. Harrison says with a smile.

The remainder of the afternoon is spent learning our new duties as temporary office help. We are schooled in the fine arts of making copies, collating and binding reports, shredding documents, answering telephones, making coffee, etc. Real intellectual stuff–Not!

Laurie hands her old cell phone over to one of Mrs. Harrison’s assistants and, later in the afternoon, is given a new one similar to mine, with her old number.

Not one word is said about our mission. This is probably because there are other interns in and out as the afternoon progressed and, as we were told in Alaska, this is to be relatively deep cover so that we don’t discuss it at all while at work.

The closest discussion to the undercover assignment came in mid-afternoon when we chat about our plans for the summer.

“Tina,” says Mrs. Harrison, “I hear that you like to run distances.”

“That’s true, Mrs. Harrison,” I reply, “I really like to run. In fact I have already been looking for a running partner and some routes to train on while I am down here. Yesterday, Laurie and some of her friends introduced me to a girl named Caitlin Sommers who is on the cross country and track teams at the local high school. In fact, Caitlin and I plan on going for a short run later this evening.”

“My,” she exclaims, “don’t you work fast? My son Ben is also a runner and I do a bit myself. Maybe we all can get in a few runs together.” I can tell from the expression on her face that she is pleased that I have already connected with Caitlin.

“I’d like that.” I smile at her.

“Maybe we can run Saturday,” she suggests.

“Sounds like fun,” I tell her, “but I’m not sure how early I can be available. Laurie and her friends have invited me to a sleepover Friday. I’m not sure what shape I’ll be in come morning.”

“Oh, I remember those days!” she reminisces, “If the sleepover is anything like the ones we had when I was a girl, you won’t be up before noon. Let’s talk about the run later in the week. Now, for work, I have a couple of departments that need our help. I’m not surprised that you two have picked up the required skills so quickly, after all this isn’t rocket science. Since you seem to have the basics under control I’ll be sending you and Laurie on separate assignments tomorrow. I already have assigned other interns to the same departments so they can help you get your feet on the ground. I think that they will keep you busy for most of the week.”

Late in the afternoon I receive a text from Caitlin making sure that we are still on for running this evening. When I get a break I text her back confirming the appointment. I am more than a little surprised at how Caitlin is jumping at this opportunity. It is so unlike the Caitlin I thought I knew. I wonder if she is seeking friendship or just someone to train with. I guess I’ll find out tonight.

As the afternoon progresses it seems to drag on from minute to minute. I hope this gets more interesting!  The one bit of good news is that my period seems to be slowing down a bit. The last few trips to the bathroom have yielded less full pads. I certainly hope that the worst is over.

Laurie and I walk over to meet Aunt Jen at her car when we are done for the day. We spend the short drive home talking about our days. We mention to Aunt Jen that this job has the potential to be tedious and boring.

“Every job has its tedium,” she tells us. “In this case, you’re right. The work you’ll be doing is well below your talents, but that’s part of the intent of the investigation. We want everyone to think that it is at the limit of your capacity so that they will underestimate you.”

“However,” she continues, “with the right attitude, you can find ways make even the mundane tasks rewarding. The key is to look beyond the immediate task and see how it fits in with the bigger picture. You need to see the value of its contribution to some bigger purpose. For example, collating and binding a hundred copies of a report may be exceedingly boring, but it becomes worth doing if you realize that the report will trigger other actions that will go on to accomplish great things. The report is a necessary step to a larger purpose. You can also look at such tasks as helping someone that really needs it. You can see that you are helping someone near to you in a way that makes a difference for them.”

That sounds a lot like finding joy in training for distance running. The hours spent training are–in and of themselves–boring to the average person. But for those that are weird–like me–there are other rewards such as success running in competitions, time to meditate on life’s problems, and the euphoria of being physically fit–to name but a few.

Dinner is a chef’s salad that we all help create. I only eat a little since I don’t want much on my stomach for a run. I also notice that it doesn’t take too much to fill me up these days either: gone are the days of wolfing down a big burger, fries, soda, and a couple of cookies. It is doubtful that I could accomplish such a task with this body! Eating has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Just another thing to readjust to, I sigh. Eating big is something to look forward to when I change back into Christopher again.

After changing into my running clothes and ensuring that all the feminine ‘protection’ is correctly installed, I have Laurie take me over to the High School to meet Caitlin who we find waiting for us waiting by her nice new silver Toyota Prius. Somebody has some money–she didn’t buy this thing on a McDonald’s wages! I remember her with it the last part of the semester.

“Cool car,” I tell her.

“Yeah,” she says, “isn’t it? My parents gave it to me on my birthday. I have to pay for the gas, so it is nice to have a high mileage car.”

Looking inside, it is definitely a girl’s car.  It has a necklace with hearts hanging from the rear view mirror, and there are little stuffed animals strewn about. It has a six disk CD changer, a place to plug in an iPod, a blue tooth connection for her cell phone, and makeup mirrors on the visors. It is quite the car. The girl can’t be TOO miserable.

“So, girls,” Laurie brings us back to the present, “when should I come back to get Tina?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Caitlin says, “I’ll take her home.”

“Thanks, Caitlin,” Laurie responds. “I have some errands to run, so I’ll see you back at the house, Tina.”

“Bye, Cous’,” I wave to her.

Caitlin is wearing some very nice–if not skimpy–running clothes.  The shorts look more like a swimsuit bottom that really shows off her nicely formed legs and well rounded posterior. The cropped tank top leaves her navel exposed and lets the world see her slender waist. This will certainly distract a few male drivers! I look pretty dowdy in comparison wearing my loose running shorts and long Airborne T-Shirt. The T-shirt is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

The old high school is not exactly on the edge of town, but–after stretching and making small talk–Caitlin leads me on a road that heads to the edge of town and along a few vineyards owned by the local wineries.  I wonder if she knows about the shortcut between the fields?

We keep the pace much slower than I am capable of as we set off. It is a comfortable chatting pace for me. Caitlin, however, struggles a little with the pace.

“So, Tina,” she asks, “what happened to earn you banishment to the relatives?”

Time to get into character. “Oh, I don’t know,” I replied, “I met some new kids in school this year that are less intense about academics and I guess that I got caught up in their attitude. They were starting to get into some trouble around school–you know–like not taking crap from teachers and stuff. I guess that I was having too much sympathy with them. One day I told a math teacher what he could do with Algebra and got an in-school suspension for a week. It was sooo unfair! The guy is a jerk but I guess getting in his face and shouting at him was going too far. I’m sure the episode also cost me a full grade in the class at the end of the semester. I started getting relaxed in other subjects as well so my grades have been slipping. I’m not sure what the big deal is. I’m still in the top half of my class. The only problem that I’ve seen is that I’ve drifted apart from some of my long time friends. I feel bad about that. How about you and the job?”

Some guy honks at us and calls out his window as he drives past, “Hey, Caitlin, looking good! Maybe you and your friend should hop in and let me take you for a ride!”

“Get lost, Jack!” she yells back. Definitely not the polite little McDonald’s girl. All this gets her is a wolf whistle as the car continues up the road.

“Oh,” she says continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened, “I guess I got too sarcastic with my parents for their liking. They are unreasonable a lot, but can’t seem to see it. They say I dress too provocatively,”–she does–“I’m not nice to people,”–that’s an understatement–“I’m too self centered,”–an accurate description from what I’ve seen over the years–“and that I’m lazy”–well she’s not anywhere near the top of her school class and she never realizes her potential on the track and cross country teams. “They think that a service job where I have to pretend to be nice to people will teach me to overcome my ‘weaknesses’.”

I’m still trying to figure out why she agreed to go running with me. The Caitlin I know has distain for just about everyone and does not go out of her way to make friends. The few friends that she has seem to hang on because she has money and they feel similarly abused by the world. I guess birds of a feather do flock together.

“How about your friends?” I ask her.

“My parents feel the same about my friends,” she replies, “They’d like me to find some new ones. I only have a couple of friends and they are pretty self centered and can get pretty bitchy, but we hang together most of the time. I’ve only been at McDonald’s for a week and I’ve had to learn that being nice to people is probably a better way to part them from their money. My parents have been telling me that being nice to people in general might help me get along better and help me get around all the people that dump on me at school. I guess that I need to learn how to do it.”

“You seem pretty nice to me,” I tell her sincerely–trying to forget what I know about her. “It’s nice of you to take a stranger out running when I’m sure that you have better things to do.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she admits, “I just felt that it might be nice to go with someone that hasn’t pigeon holed me as a nasty bitch yet. It would be nice to have a few new friends. I also thought that this might be a good excuse to get in shape for the running season in the fall.”

It looks as I’ve caught her just as she is contemplating a life change. That is lucky for me and the investigation.

As we continue with the run, the conversation lightens up and she tells me that she and some friends are heading up to the local reservoir with her parents and their boat to water ski and have a barbecue on Saturday afternoon. She invites me to go with them. I can bring Laurie with me if I like. I tell her that I have to check with the home front before I can commit to the party. I told her about Mrs. Harrison’s offer to go running on Saturday, but it doesn’t look like that the run will work out if I go to the reservoir.

We arrive back at the school about half an hour after starting out. Caitlin is slightly out of breath and has a nice sheen of perspiration–girl’s don’t sweat–and I have barely warmed up yet. There is a great difference in our conditioning. She agrees to wait another twenty minutes while I run the track. The track is boring, but I’m not comfortable running alone as a girl yet.  I really pick up the pace to run another three miles in under twenty one minutes before cooling down. I really worked up a heavy sweat–there is no way that you can call this perspiration–which feels good.

“Wow, girl,” Caitlin exclaims as I return to where she is watching from the bleachers, “you can really run! I wish that I could run like that. Are you sure that you can’t stay and be on our team in the fall? I really think that you should be running with the boys. I know a couple that might be able to keep up with you.  Too bad Chris is gone for the summer, he’s the best of the bunch.”

I start to take my shirt off to wipe the sweat off my face before I remember that girls can’t do that. Looking across the track I see a woman stretching wearing shorts and a jog bra so maybe it is all right. I need to do something to wipe the sweat from my face and neck. I must remember to bring a towel next time. A water bottle would also be nice right now.

Taking the shirt off, I wipe the sweat from my face.

“I’ve got a towel in the car that we can put on the seat,” Caitlin informs me. I notice that she is keeping her distance as if my sweat will somehow attack her.

On the way home, we agree to run again tomorrow as she works the opening shift in the morning and will be available in the evening. She says that she’ll try to get some other kids to go with us. She seems excited about the chance to run together for some reason.  This is not the Caitlin that I thought I knew.

Laurie is home already when I get to her house. I am banished to the shower before being allowed to be in the presence of polite company.

After a quick shower I install a pad in a fresh pair of panties and wrap a towel around me before heading to my room.  When I get there, I find Laurie sitting on my bed in a nightgown fiddling with her new cell phone.

“How’d it go?” she asks without looking up.

Now this is strange. I guess the ground rules really are changing.

“I’m not sure what just happened,” I replied as I dig through my drawers looking for a fresh nightgown. “Are you sure this is the same Caitlin that we’ve known all these years? I always thought that she was pretty stuck up and bitchy. She was downright friendly.” I told her more details from our run.

“Wow,” Laurie responds in wonder, “maybe aliens came and took her away while we were gone.”

“I don’t know,” I say, “but I think that the girl is ready for a change. Her parents are forcing her into a service job in hopes that she will learn how to be nice to people.  She’s not happy but I think she is starting to see the value of treating people better.  She is a quick learner. She seems anxious for me to become one of her friends for some reason. I’m not sure if I can stomach her sidekicks though. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to get into her confidence pretty soon. Her parents seem to buy her anything she wants and they live in a very expensive home so they are either independently wealthy, getting money from somewhere other than the Lab, or are in debt up to their ears. It seems the Sommers might be a likely candidate for traitor of the year if their money comes from foreign sources.”

I look over at Laurie and see she is still distracted by her new electronic toy, so I turn my back to her and drop the towel and quickly put on my night clothes acting as if nothing strange is going on. It will take some time to be comfortable being naked around her.

“Have you checked your email since we got home?” She asks. “I bet you have a few from Alaska.”

“I check my old one yesterday, but no, I haven’t checked Tina’s. We’ve been too busy. I’ll do it now,” I reply as I reach over to turn on the machine.

Sure enough, there are emails from Don, Tom, Helen and Mom Polly. I have three from Joey.  I also have one from Marla. That’s more email than I’ve ever had in a day.

“Oh wow... look who’s popular!” Laurie says as she looks over my shoulder. “I got some from the Jeffers and Don also. They just want to make sure that we got home alright. What do Joey and Don want?”

Don and Joey also ask about the trip. Don wants to know if I plan on coming back and if we can keep in touch. Joey, seems like a love-starved puppy.  His emails go on about how wonderful it was to meet such a beautiful girl that wasn’t all stuck up. He went on and on about how cool it is that a girl can be so hot and so down to earth. My running also impressed him. He says that he is trying to convince his parents that they need to have a family vacation in California so that he can come see me. Oh, boy! I don’t think that he got the memo. And here was I thinking I had gotten things all settled on Saturday afternoon. Marla sent me one to say that she’d picked up a new runner necklace for me.

Laurie is grinning that ‘I-told-you-so’ grin. “It’s a good thing that Joey’s not a girl chasing my Chris. I could get jealous! It looks to me as if lover boy still has you in his sights,”

I spend a little time typing quick responses about the trip and how we made it safely. I only do a short email to Joey saying that it was nice the meet him, but that my plans for the summer were still fluid and he shouldn’t come to California on my account. I might not be around.

I reply to Marla’s email thanking her for getting the necklace and asking her to give the necklace to her mother to give to me at work.

While working on the email, I ask Laurie if she’s found out anything about Andy.

“I heard that he might be working at the video store on Holmes street, so I stopped in there. I asked a girl I know there if he was around.  She said that he didn’t work there. She said that that he might be working at the other branch out by the freeway so I checked there. He doesn’t work there either. I asked around a little and no one seems to have seen him since school got out. We may need to find a reason to go by his house.” The Langs live in older part of town with mid-sized homes so it shouldn’t be too hard to find him.

We just need a reason to talk with him. That stumps us. We decide to keep thinking about it. Something is bound to turn up if we keep working on it.

It is getting pretty late by the time Laurie says goodnight and heads for her own room.

Laying in the dark waiting for sleep to claim me, I review the day and feel pretty pleased with life in general. I’m feeling more comfortable as a girl and am making progress with my assignment. I’ll just be glad to get past this period. Tomorrow I can begin looking for mislaid secrets. I wonder how long it will take to find something useful. I think back to my father’s–that is, Dr. Quinn’s–statement on the way to the airport; “you will probably never know if you helped or not.”

I certainly hope that he’s wrong! I’m looking forward to some excitement.

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Editing by Gabi
Thanks again, Gabi.