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Part 6

I honestly didn't know what awaited me that night. Plans had been tossed around for the past few weeks, but nothing solid ever formed. Tiffany's spontaneity seemed refreshing at times. Yet it was the other times that concerned me. Those times when even Tiffany didn't seem to have any sense of direction, I found especially dreadful. However, she always seemed to amaze me, and that's why I went along with the things she did.

It had grown a little cooler in the past week. Tiffany's bus driver had turned the heat on, and the bus felt quite stuffy. Though I thought a few times about cracking the window next to me, I knew it probably wouldn't be appreciated by the other kids. It didn't matter anyway. My mind seemed completely wrapped around the possibilities that awaited me at Tiffany's house. She claimed it would be special, and I had no doubt that it would be. Still, the suspense was thick enough to cut with a knife.

I could now see her house from where the bus stopped upon the hill. Expecting to see Kate's car in the driveway, or even Melanie's, I was surprised to see none at all. Her parents had certainly grown more trustworthy. Unless they didn't know I was coming over after school. I turned my head to look at Tiffany. She simply turned her head and smiled at me. Then she put her hand on my arm.

"This is going to be so much fun tonight," she said. "Did you bring everything?"

I held up a duffle bag, one I had been worried about keeping in my locker all day. Inside of the bag were quite a few questionable items. Paranoia got the better of me around midday, when I started getting this bad feeling that someone might find out what was in it. Now, only one stop away, I would welcome my first breath of fresh air. Maybe I could even relax after I got off the bus.

I'd grown accustomed to the strange looks the other kids gave me. It was as if they knew everything about my condition, but didn't know anything about me personally. They stopped staring when Tiffany would kiss me at school, or when they'd see her take me by the hand. She did that now. I felt her hand wrap around mine, as she dragged me to the front of the bus. She seemed more excited than me, and she could hardly contain it as we stepped down the steps of the bus, and heard the sound of it pulling away.

"I love Halloween!" Tiffany said, still pulling me rather than walking with me.

I had my breath of fresh air, but only momentarily. I didn't get to enjoy it, or savor it. Tiffany and I jogged up her driveway. We stumbled up her front steps. By the time we reached her front door, she already had her house key out. A few seconds later we nearly toppled over into the entryway. The door barely shut before she was all over me.

Tiffany wrapped her arms around me. They slid up my sides, hooking under my own arms. She let her hands creep up my back until they were buried in my hair. Her breathing grew ragged, and I could feel the warmth of it upon my neck as she moved her cheek to mine. She pushed her soft lips against my skin, leaving a delicate kiss on the area in front of my ear. Another kiss followed, more forward on my cheek. Then I felt her lips on mine.

I licked my lips as Tiffany pulled away. The distinctive taste of cherry remained from her lip gloss. While I mused over the fact that I had watched her apply it on the bus, obviously awaiting this moment, Tiffany's lips went back to kissing my left cheek. Like a hummingbird going after nectar, her lips danced upon my skin. They kept going back further, and all I could do was let out a gasp when she licked my earlobe with her tongue.

"Ready to be my girlfriend tonight?" she asked, in a faint, breathy whisper.

Her breath on my ear made me melt. Tiffany had this way about her, which made me feel weak. It wasn't a controlling thing either, as she seldom used it to her advantage. I knew from watching television that some women could get whatever they wanted by turning up the heat a little. However, Tiffany seldom asked anything from me. She definitely had the power over me to do so.

"If it means more of this," I said, "then definitely."

Tiffany pulled back and looked into my eyes. "Maybe we can find a nice quiet spot at the party tonight."

When one of her pretty hazel eyes closed in a slow wink, I knew she was serious about the offer. She really didn't have to go to any trouble at all. Tiffany didn't demand, or even ask for me to go as a girl to Rachel's Halloween party. She merely assumed with the recent events in my life, that I might have fun doing so. I already knew my costume involved a dress, and since I had no other options, I wasn't going to back out of our unspoken arrangement.

"I think you're going to be happy with your costume," Tiffany said, taking the duffle bag from my hand.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nice try, but it's still a surprise," Tiffany said, moving away from me. "I'll go sort this out." She held up the bag. "Meet me in the dining room please."

I watched her disappear down the hallway and into her room. Then I moved my own small frame into her dining room. As I neared the dining room table, I noticed a whole array of things spread out on top of it. Several bottles of nail polish were set out in a neat row. There were towels and toe spreaders. I marveled at it all as I sat down in one of the chairs. Tiffany came into the room only a few seconds later.

"Unfortunately I did my own nails last night to save time," Tiffany said, holding up shiny, metallic blue painted fingernails. "So you get all of the attention today." She gave me a smile and wink. "I'll make it up to you though."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I said, "but I know you're good for it."

Tiffany smiled, and started perusing some of the items on the small dining room table. She opened boxes, moved bottles and cotton balls around, and made it to where half the table was filled up with just about anything to make nails look perfect. Eventually she had turned the room into a makeshift nail salon. She draped a small towel across the tabletop, and gestured for me to put my hands upon it. I did as requested. My nails looked dull. At Tiffany's request, I had not painted them.

Tiffany took my left hand in her hands. She studied each fingernail for a few seconds, and then brought out some nail clippers. I watched as she carefully cut each nail a little shorter, and made them look more uniform in appearance. Then she repeated the process on my right hand, taking just as much care as before. By the time she finished the last nail, she had already moved a bottle of nail polish remover over.

She dabbed the polish remover on a cotton ball, and set about cleaning my nails. I found it kind of odd, as I had no polish on them. Not even a spot of polish remained, as I had been very thorough. Still, she cleaned them carefully anyway. I soon found out why Tiffany cleaned my fingernails first. While the nail polish remover quickly evaporated from my nails, Tiffany uncovered a small box.

I watched Tiffany remove the contents of the box. Several little clear disc-shaped objects spilled out across the top of the table. As Tiffany pulled out a small bottle of liquid from the box, it finally dawned on me what the objects were. Tiffany had gotten a false nail kit for me. She certainly wanted to make the evening special. A feeling of excitement washed over me, as she started matching the nails up to my own for size.

"I thought you might want an opportunity to try these once in your lifetime," Tiffany said. She looked up at me with a smile. "They're not the best, but you could make them last the weekend if you wanted to."

"I think you're spoiling me," I said.

"I want you to feel special tonight," Tiffany said, lowering her face back down to the task.

"I already do," I said. "I'm with you aren't I?"

Tiffany shot her eyes up to look into mine. She gave me a nervous smile, followed by a very noticeable blush. I definitely caught her off guard with my charm. After lowering her eyes again, she finished matching up the nails. Then she reached for the bottle of glue, and shook it for a minute. Before applying the nails, she looked up at me. She had a solemn look upon her face, like she meant business with what she was about to say.

"These are far from permanent," Tiffany said. "So don't freak out once they're on."

"I wasn't planning on it," I said, amused she would even suggest such a thing.

"Most likely you won't," Tiffany said, "but guys see glue and usually freak."

"I'm enjoying the special attention," I said, reassuring her with a smile.

"Well just the same," Tiffany said, slightly returning the smile. "They can come off by soaking your fingers in warm water for a while." She laid out the nails for each finger. "If you need help, just ask your mom when you get home. I'm sure she knows how to get them off."

"I'm not worried about it," I said. "Don't you go worrying for me."

"Okay, okay," Tiffany said. "I'll just put them on then." She gave the glue one last shake, and then unscrewed the cap from it. "They're going to feel kind of weird. My mom got longer ones than I asked for. I guess she thought they were for me." She shook her head, as if chiding herself. "She overcompensates on everything feminine now, trying to turn me back straight or something by making me more of a girl."

"Tom tried to get me to do manly things to make me more of a man," I said. "So I know how that goes."

"I guess we're a lot alike in that respect," Tiffany said. "People are always trying to change what doesn't need changing. I'm actually pretty girly to start with, but I think these are probably too feminine for even me."

"More feminine is better for me anyway," I said. "Will make me blend in better." I added a nervous chuckle in an attempt to get Tiffany out of her temporary mood, but it failed to hit home.

"I guess that's true," Tiffany said. "Though you don't have to try so hard to blend tonight. It is Halloween after all." She moved the bottle of glue closer, and pulled the little brush from it. "I've only done this once, so bear with me."

Tiffany brushed a small even coat of glue onto the nail of my left pinky. She put the brush back into the bottle, and picked up the corresponding nail to my pinky. With the care of handling a breakable object, she rested the edge of the fake nail against the inside edge of my real nail. Then she pushed it down, and held it for a few seconds. She checked it carefully, and seeming pleased about it, she went on to the next nail.

Right down the line, one by one, Tiffany put a fake fingernail over each of my real nails. I admired my left hand, after she had moved to my right. They felt weird, as Tiffany had said they would. It mostly seemed like extra weight, but also like my real nail wasn't there. I knew they would take some getting used to, but they weren't a horrible feeling. They simply felt different, and different at that time in my life was always something I looked forward to.

"We'll let the glue set up for a minute or two," Tiffany said, removing herself from the table. "Then I'll shape them for you."

I sat there in relative silence for a moment. Tiffany had left the room, most likely to get something else ready. I wiggled my fingers, letting the false nails dance in the dining room light overhead. The nails still felt weird, but now seeing them on both hands, they felt extremely feminine. They were also pretty long, at least by my standards. From the end of my own fingernails, the false ones stuck out almost half an inch. I started to worry about how I would function with them tonight, when Tiffany slipped back into the room.

"I can probably start on the left hand," she said, sliding into her chair.

Tiffany spent a moment digging through her box of nail equipment. She had more things to use on nails than any of the other girls I knew, and I had seen them all do their own nails. While most of them liked painting nails, Tiffany liked grooming hers. She spent great detail at it, as if it were her own personal work of art. No doubt she had the best looking nails among the rest of us.

I thought about this little quirk of Tiffany's, as she spread out files and buffers. It wasn't like an obsession with her, as I had seen her spend as little as two minutes on her nails, but it happened to be a quirk I liked about her. There were several tiny things she did differently, that made her special to me. I mused about this one in particular, as she set about filing my false nails.

She put as much care into shaping my nails, as she put into an extensive session of caring for her own. The tiniest little things she took her time with, made things just a tiny bit better in my opinion. Tiffany liked to dot her I's with little circles. She tittled all of her T's and lowercase F's with a mark that looked like a tilde. It made her letters to me that much more delightful. When she put a heart over the I in my name, I knew it was something special.

"Do you…" Tiffany said, but shaking her head before finishing her thought.

"Do I what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Tiffany said. "I was just…" She put her file down, and placed her hand over it.

"Are you okay?" I asked, trying to look at her face.

Tiffany reached for another file, and lifted my ring finger up. "Do you think we'll ever be left alone?" she asked.

"We're alone right now," I said.

"No," Tiffany said, filing the rough plastic away at the edge of the nail. "I mean, do you ever think people will leave us alone?"

"You mean stop picking on us?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she said. "Or stop trying to change us."

"Sadly I don't think that will ever happen," I said. "It's like Nathan said. Some people are just out to make other people miserable." I let out a small sigh. "I think sometimes even people who love me don't always have my best interest at heart. And Tom's just a wildcard at the moment."

"Nathan sounds like a nice guy," Tiffany said, obviously steering away from the tougher subject. She reached over to switch files again. "Vince said pretty much the same, but he's optimistic that it'll all change one day."

"You like Vince huh?" I asked, letting disdain creep into my voice.

"He's nice," Tiffany said. "Easy to talk to about stuff."

"Easier than me?" I asked.

"In some ways," Tiffany said. "You're different though." She finished filing the nail on my ring finger, and switched files again for my middle finger. "In a lot of ways."

"I'm different?" I asked. "You mean more girly?"

"Well that's just a small part of it," Tiffany said. "I guess it's because I care about you so much. I can open up to you more, but not everything is easy to talk about with you."

"What about Vince?" I asked.

"What about him?"

"Do you care about him?" I asked.

"Well of course," Tiffany said. "He's a good friend."

She flipped a fallen strand of her black hair from her face, and tilted her head to the opposite side. I didn't want to read too much into that gesture, but it made me recall an article I read. The article was about how women displayed different signs to show they were interested. Needless to say, I shouldn't have been reading the magazine in the first place, but I got bored waiting in Rajan's office, and entertained myself with some random teen magazine.

At any rate, the article claimed a girl might play with their hair when discussing a boy. If they did, it could be a sign that they had a crush on the boy. Recalling the article didn't help put my mind at ease, but Tiffany had just said Vince was a friend. I didn't want to lose it, and start throwing accusations at her. She could have simply been moving pesky hair away from her face so she could work.

"So you like him?" I asked.

"About as much as you like Nathan I suppose," Tiffany said, without looking up to get my reaction.

The truth happened to be that I didn't know which end was up with Nathan. I really liked him, but not in any sort of way that could be misconstrued as an intimate relationship. We were simply close friends, or perhaps not entirely close at all. Tiffany obviously knew this, as I had pointed it out several times to her, but now the issue even confused me a bit. So was I to assume Vince was no more than a good, understanding friend to Tiffany? I couldn't assume. I had to know!

"Do you think he's cute?" I asked.

"Who?" Tiffany asked, looking up at me in surprise. "Vince?"

"No… Nathan," I said. "Of course Vince."

"Well…" Tiffany lowered her head. "I guess so."

"So you don't think he is?" I asked.

"Well maybe just a little bit," Tiffany said.

"How much is a little cute?"

"Hmmm…" Tiffany sighed. "He is cute. I have to give him that at least. Nathan's probably cuter than Vince if you had to choose. You're way more cuter than both of them though." She hesitated to go back to filing my nails. "What do you think?"

"About?"

"Vince," Tiffany said. "Do you think he's cute?"

Obviously Tiffany had misunderstood my prodding questions as girl talk. We were now officially discussing boys, and whether or not they were cute. Being in with a group of girls had gotten me quite accustomed to this ritual. While I was in my female persona around the girls, all bets were off. They never made me feel uncertain of my sexuality, as they deemed me a girl, and therefore I was free to discuss boys with them. Still, I always had this voice in the back of my mind telling me not to get too involved with the discussions.

"He's okay," I said.

"Oh come on," Tiffany said, looking up at me. "Just okay?"

"Okay he's cute," I said. "Not my type though."

"So now you have a type?" Tiffany asked, a smile quickly spreading on her face. "Is Nathan more your type?"

"I didn't mean it that way," I said. "He's a bit too… I don't know… preppy for my taste."

"Lies!" Tiffany said, shaking her head. "You like preppy." She put her head back down to finish my thumbnail. "If preppy had lips, you'd be making out with it."

"That's so unfair," I said.

"Maybe just a little unfair," Tiffany said. "I can't blame you though. I like the preppy look too."

"Like Jillian the other night?"

"She was too cute in that outfit," Tiffany said. She paused on my nails for a moment, and sighed. Most likely she was picturing Jillian. "But we were talking about Vince," she said, snapping herself back to attention.

"Do you…" I took a deep breath. "Do you want to go out with him?"

Tiffany dropped the nail file onto the table. "Are you crazy?" she asked, looking up at me.

"You seem to like being around him," I said.

"Of course," Tiffany said, going back for her buffing stick. "We're friends. I like being around all of my friends. Not like we're…" She stopped to look up at me. "Is that what you thought?"

"Huh?"

"You thought we were on a date the other night," Tiffany said. "That's what you thought… And I kind of ran off and ignored you." She pulled my hand into hers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you thought that way." She started to run her other hand up my arm. "We're just friends, I swear."

"So you don't…"

"Not in the slightest," Tiffany said. "Sorry I've been kind of neglecting you lately. I should have told you."

"Told me what?" I asked.

"Vince…" She took a deep breath. "I've been going to counseling." She sighed. "My mom put me up to it. It's a group thing. Some place for me to discuss my 'lesbian tendencies' as she puts it." Tiffany let out another long sigh. "She still thinks she can cure me, and I'm probably too young to even be thinking about all of it."

"I know the feeling," I said, thinking of Tom and Rajan in the back of my mind. "I don't even understand half the time what I'm dealing with."

"I know it's been an eye opener for me," Tiffany said. "Most of what we talk about is pretty mature. There's some high school kids in the group even." She let a little air pass through her lips. "Makes me feel older than I am, but it's a new perspective."

"So that's how you met Vince?" I asked, trying to get her mind off of whatever made her sigh. I felt bad knowing this was partly a result of my spending the night on the Fourth of July.

"Well Vince is in my group," Tiffany said. "And believe me… you're more his type than I am."

"What?"

"Vince is gay," Tiffany said, giggling a bit about it.

"Wait! Really?"

Tiffany nodded. "But don't spread it around like Danielle would." She set about buffing my nails. "I don't think he's ready for the whole school to know about it."

"I know how that feels too," I said.

"You should come to our group," Tiffany said. "There's some pretty nice people there. A few go to our school, but I totally trust them."

"I don't know," I said.

"Thought I would offer," Tiffany said.

"I'm finding it hard enough to talk to Rajan half the time," I said. "I don't know about a group of people our age."

"Well I won't push you into it," Tiffany said.

"Hold on…" I said. "Vince said he heard a lot about me. Does he know?"

"He… does," Tiffany said. She bit her lower lip as she looked up at me. "I know I promised I wouldn't tell anyone else, but then I couldn't stop talking about you. He kept wanting to know more about my relationship with you, so I kept telling him more." She took a quick breath. "Eventually he put it all together and realized it was you. I had to say something so he'd keep it to himself." Her eyes grew watery. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I said. "How could you hide it?" I laughed a bit. "I mean… here you're telling him that you're a lesbian, and kissing a boy at school."

"Yeah…" Tiffany said. "And you're way too special to keep to myself."

"Thanks," I said, blushing a bit. "You're special to me too."

"Thank you," Tiffany said.

"Wait…" I closed my eyes for a moment. "That means the others in your group know about me by now."

"I've never asked," Tiffany said, "but I assume they do. They never bring it up either."

"So you think more people know I'm a girl on the weekends?" I asked, opening my eyes and letting out a sigh. "At this rate I might as well come out."

"No don't do that," Tiffany said. "That's something you need to be totally sure about."

"Is this what's been bugging you recently?" I asked.

"Well… that," Tiffany said. "Among other things."

"What things?"

"Have you…" Tiffany shook her head again, a habit I had noticed becoming more frequent. She seemed to be second-guessing herself more. "Do you ever think about being a girl?"

"Isn't that obvious?" I asked, trying to be cute.

"I'm serious," Tiffany said. "I mean really considered it."

"I have," I said. "I even asked Rajan to stop testosterone treatments."

"Really?" Tiffany asked, looking up at me. Her face displayed a genuine aura of excitement at the news. "You never said anything about that."

"Well," I said. "It's pretty recent. I'm going back to his office Monday to discuss it."

"Are you going to start female hormones?" Tiffany asked.

"I'm not sure yet," I said. "We're going to look at what's down the road."

"Do you want to be a girl?"

"I've thought about it," I said. "I'm still not sure."

"I still think you'd make a cute girl," Tiffany said. "Cuter even than the real girls we hang out with."

"I think you're biased," I said.

"Maybe a little," Tiffany said, "but I'm also being honest."

"I guess I'll just have to see what Rajan thinks Monday," I said.

Tiffany nodded. "Seriously though… I think you and Tawny have the most going for you, as far as looks."

"Really?" I asked. "Tawny?"

"Oh yeah," Tiffany said. "She's right behind you in the cute race."

"Maybe if she'd drop the Goth look," I said.

Tiffany giggled a bit. "No, that's not Goth. That's like skater crashing into grunge."

I had to laugh at her remark. It was true enough. Tawny had the attitude and everything, but she never looked quite right in the style she was going after. That is to say if she was even going for a particular style to begin with. Though Tiffany did confirm one thing I secretly thought about on my own. Somewhere beneath the messed up style and cynicism, there was definite beauty in Tawny.

"I sometimes wish she'd let it out," I said, realizing my thought had entered the realm of spoken word.

"Who?" Tiffany asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"You're talking about Tawny aren't you?" Tiffany asked.

"I was just picturing…" I looked into Tiffany's curious eyes. "Yes. I'm talking about Tawny."

"So you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking," Tiffany said. "You'd like to see Tawny all dolled up for a change?"

"It couldn't hurt," I said.

"Well…" Tiffany grinned at me. "If Megan got her way tonight, you might get your chance."

"Really?"

"Megan is in charge of their costumes. Guess we'll see," Tiffany said, as she looked over at the clock. "I better get busy finishing these," she said. "We still have to paint them."

Tiffany soon became engrossed in filing and buffing my fake nails. She had no problem picking up the pace, and soon had files flying from one hand to the other. I simply sat and watched her, trying to pick up some tips as she worked. As I sat there in silence, I thought about the question she asked. Did I want to be a girl? It was definitely something I was willing to discuss, but I decided it best to leave it up to the professionals.

The minutes to follow seemed like a blur. Between small talk and even smaller jokes, Tiffany managed to get my nails filed, buffed and ready for painting. She cleaned up a few of the items she dragged out to work on them with, and put them off to the side. In keeping with the spirit of letting her do my entire costume, I let her pick the nail color as well. She gathered up what she needed to paint them, and then gave me an odd look.

"What?" I asked.

"I just can't believe you're doing this tonight," Tiffany said, stepping over behind my chair.

"Going to a party?" I asked, jokingly.

"You know what I mean," Tiffany said. "If you knew how much this meant… to let me do your costume…" She put her arms around me from behind, and bent down to rest her chin on my head. "This is going to be a fun night. I can tell."

"I'm excited about it," I said.

"Well we should stop wasting time then," Tiffany said, quickly removing herself from around me. "Could you turn your chair please?" She stepped around the table. "It'll make it easier for me to paint your toenails."

"Sure," I said, standing from the chair. "Did you decide on a color yet?"

"I did," Tiffany said, "but first…"

She stepped over to where I was standing, and quietly turned me around to face her. Before I could realize which way I was facing, Tiffany had her arms up and around my neck. I nearly lost my balance, as she almost fell into my arms. It was like her body went limp, and she hung on my neck and shoulders. The shift in balance caused me to reach out, for anything, to steady myself.

I ended up holding Tiffany around the waist. She pushed nose beneath my chin, and used it to push my head back. A sigh escaped me, as her soft lips kissed up my neck and chin. They kept ascending, until finally they reached my own lips. We didn't kiss. Instead, Tiffany held back from me, not letting our lips touch. My need to kiss her led to her walking me away from my chair.

She took my wrists. I felt my arms moving up, but all of my attention was focused on stealing a kiss. Tiffany would not kiss me though. I vaguely remember her hands sliding back down my extended arms. They slithered down my sides, and slipped in underneath my shirt. Now I knew her intent, and I gladly let her take my shirt off. By the time my shirt had slipped from over my head, Tiffany's lips were back, hovering an inch away from mine.

I could hardly contain the urge to just lunge forward to kiss her. It kept growing inside of me. Tiffany must have seen it in my eyes, for when I attempted to steal a kiss, she moved back just out of reach. I tried again, and my lips met the index finger of her right hand. She pushed the finger against my lips, and from behind it her head slowly shook back and forth.

A moment later, Tiffany's hand went for the zipper and button of my baggy jeans. Once the waistband gave slack, the jeans slid down easily over my pink panties. Tiffany smiled when she saw them on me. I wore them under everything, not only for the sake of convenience, but also the fact I didn't want to be completely nude in front of her, or Kate for that matter. For a moment I imagined how embarrassing it would be for Tiffany's older sister to see me naked.

Though Tiffany had seen me naked, it still felt uncomfortable to be that vulnerable. Right now she had an unfair advantage, as she stood totally clothed in jeans and a green hoodie. She hadn't even removed her green Converse All-Stars, let alone anything else she had on. Kate would've been fully clothed as well, making the situation even more humiliating. I couldn't deal with two girls standing over my naked body.

Tiffany seemed to marvel at the fact that I still couldn't grow any hair on my body. At least it appeared that way, as she stooped down to look over my smooth legs. She ran her hands down my legs, gazing upon them with genuine curiosity. Maybe she thought I should have hair on them by now, or maybe she thought I shaved them for the occasion. My jeans pooled at my feet, and Tiffany helped me step out of them, as she slid my sneakers off.

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

"Not enough," Tiffany said. "The party's at seven, and we haven't really even started yet."

"I meant how much time alone?" I asked.

"Definitely not enough for what you're thinking," Tiffany said, giving me a sly grin.

"You don't even know what I'm thinking," I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"I think it's safe to assume," Tiffany said, pushing me back into my chair. "And if you were thinking what I think you were thinking, I think you better stop thinking about it." She started slipping my ankle socks off. "Because I don't think I would be able to think clearly enough to finish what we're supposed to be doing, if we started thinking about the other thing."

"What are we supposed to be doing?" I asked, hoping she'd forgotten already. "Because I think we could find time."

"Kate's bringing Melanie over," Tiffany said, as she put her hands on my thighs. "They're going to help us with our hair, but she said to have your nails done before they get here. So we have even less time than I think we do."

"I could do my own," I said. I noticed the vague look upon Tiffany's face, and thought it warranted further explanation. "My mom showed me how to do a few styles."

"Oh…" Tiffany said. "Your hair. That's awesome!" She smiled at the newfound information. "But they're going to do a whole… thing… curls and stuff."

"You really went all out for this," I said. "Getting your sister involved."

"I told you I wanted to make it special for you," Tiffany said, using my naked thighs to push herself back to a standing position. "Incase you decide you don't want to next year." She gathered up my clothes. "Melanie and Kate volunteered to be honest. I didn't really have to ask them."

"They get a kick out of this don't they?" I asked.

"They really do," Tiffany said. "Kate really likes you. She thinks it's fun that you're willing to dress, and Melanie…" She lifted my sneakers and put them on top of the pile of my clothes in her arms. "Well… her boyfriend is that macho type that thinks it challenges his masculinity or something. Her words, not mine. So I guess it's fun for her to have someone to play around with too."

"Should I get dressed or something?" I asked, suddenly calling attention to my own nakedness.

"I don't want your costume to get ruined," Tiffany said. "We're all used to seeing panties and bras, but if you're uncomfortable, I could get my robe for you."

"Can't I just put my clothes back on?" I asked, letting out a nervous laugh.

"No silly!" Tiffany said. "Then they might get ruined. Besides, we'll lose the spirit of things." She stepped over to the doorway of the dining room. "We still have to paint those nails. Your toes too. Then Melanie might decide to wash your hair when she gets here." She paused to take a breath. "I'll get you my robe."

I couldn't argue, nor could I do anything about my predicament. Even if I wanted to throw my clothes back on, I couldn't anyway. She had left the room already, taking them with her, most likely to her room. I knew I wasn't allowed in her room unless someone was home to watch us. If her parents found out, she'd be in big trouble. It all wasn't worth getting Tiffany in trouble, especially on Halloween.

However, what if her parents came home now and found me in my current state. Little could be said in my own defense of why I was sitting in their dining room in nothing but panties. I hoped Tiffany got back with the robe very soon. Even Kate and Melanie would think this was odd. I was almost ready to go meet Tiffany halfway, when she came back through the kitchen. She carried, over her arm, a white robe with small floral decorations around every hem.

"It's kind of girly, but…" Tiffany looked at me with an amused smile.

"I'm not complaining," I said.

"I put your school clothes in your duffel bag," Tiffany said. "You can change at Rachel's to go home if you want, or just wear your costume home." She gestured for me to stand up. "Either way, the costume's yours to keep."

"I'll probably just wear it home," I said. "It's Halloween anyway, so I'm not worried about Tom."

Tiffany smiled, and walked the robe over to me. "Be careful with your nails," she said, as she held the robe up for me. "Catching them on something like this will hurt like crazy." She quickly yanked the robe away. "Wait! I got an idea!"

Tiffany tossed the robe onto the back of another chair, and scurried out of the room. Once more I waited, unsure how long it would be until she returned. This time I didn't wait long at all, as she burst back into the dining room. She had what appeared to be a one-piece swimsuit in her hands. It had navy blue and white horizontal stripes covering the entire piece. Tiffany held it out to me.

"It goes underneath your costume anyway," she said. "I thought the extra coverage might be more comfortable for you."

"Thanks," I said, taking the item of clothing from her, and looking it over. "Are we going swimming?"

"I tried to find just a bodysuit for it," Tiffany said, "but they didn't have one in our size. I mean your size." She gathered the robe up in her arms. "So Kate suggested a swimsuit." She nodded toward my panties. "And you can wear it without those. It'll be less bulky that way."

Her suggestion made me a little nervous. I felt like she wasn't exactly hinting at me to take them off, but rather telling me. So my initial reaction was to move to the bathroom to change. Then I noticed Tiffany looked on at me with an anxious, yet curious glint in her hazel eyes. My panties were the last little thin cotton piece of defense I had left. I think she wanted me to take them off right there in front of her. She had seen everything I had to offer before, but now she seemed interested in seeing it again.

"It's not mandatory," Tiffany said. "Just think you'd be more comfortable without them."

"Uh…" I glanced around the room. "I'd feel less comfortable without them right now."

"There's nobody here," Tiffany said. "Besides, I've seen it before."

"I know…" I looked into her eyes. "It just feels… I don't know…"

"You want me to turn around?"

"No," I said. "It's okay."

"It's not like I'm going to stare," Tiffany said. "Just go for it. Get it over with."

Her abrupt words of somewhat expressionless encouragement got me moving. Once the panties slipped over my hips, I had no more hesitation. Sure, I was nervous as hell, but now they were already coming off. Another few inches and they just dropped lifelessly to the floor. Tiffany didn't stare, but she did glance. I knew she wouldn't be able to constrain herself from getting a peak. I would have done the same had it been her in my position.

The whole scenario felt so straightforward that my mind wandered more than Tiffany's eyes. For some reason I wanted her to take advantage of the situation. It was an odd feeling, and one I never felt before with anyone else. However, with her totally clothed, and me totally nude, I wanted her to start making out with me. I wanted her to tease me into a frenzy like she had done so many times before.

Before I knew it, I had the swimsuit sliding up my legs. Tiffany watched me dress, but her expression didn't change much. I was pretty sure she got in a few more glances of a certain object between my legs, but I didn't want to call her on it. The swimsuit wasn't exactly my size, and Tiffany soon came over to help me get it on. It seemed to be squishing me everywhere.

"It's not as stretchy as some of the other swimsuits," Tiffany said, as she pulled the straps over my shoulders. "I got the same size as the one you wore this summer, but that one had more give."

"It is a little tight," I said.

"Well…" She gave the swimsuit a tug and pulled it up my body another inch. "You want it to be tight in certain… areas." Her eyes moved down.

"I guess that's true," I said. "It's not uncomfortable though."

"I didn't think it would be," Tiffany said. "Plus Kate decided to add the extra padding, so you won't have your breasts moving."

"Always a plus," I said. "Can't have breasts roaming around on me."

Tiffany smiled, shaking her head. She gave the swimsuit a few more minor adjustments, including a light smoothing rub between my legs. Then she turned to get her robe and held it up for me to slip on. After my hands came through the sleeves, she wrapped it around me while embracing me from behind. We stayed like that for a moment, her hugging me, and me holding her arms around me. Eventually she tied the belt of the robe for me, and then motioned for me to sit again.

It didn't take long at all for Tiffany to decide my toenails needed a little work. I'd been trying to keep up with them on my own, but I admit I'd neglected them a few times. Tiffany knew more about it than I did at any rate. She busied herself with trimming, shaping and filing, as I looked on and enjoyed the pampering. Why she cared so much about fixing something up that would never be seen tonight, was beyond me.

"You should get a pedicure before winter hits," Tiffany said. "Kate takes me to this great place at the mall." She looked up and smiled. "You're welcome to come."

"I'll think about it," I said, thinking more about not wanting to be seen in a nail salon by kids in our class.

Tiffany went back to the small task at hand. I say small because I did take decent care of my nails. In no time at all she had my toes in her lavender spreaders and finally unveiled her mystery color. She picked fuchsia. I wasn't too surprised about it, as she normally went for shades of pink on me. It was just hard to imagine these large talons now on my fingers as being bright pink.

Normally I got into this more. I'd gotten used to painting my own nails, and liked to do so at least twice a week. When someone else did them, like Tiffany, I felt pampered and special. Maybe she knew this, and added it as one more thing to make me feel special. The only problem was the fact it was all lost on me today. It didn't feel the same as it had so many times before. False nails aside, today it felt like any other day when I would paint them myself.

I watched Tiffany. She didn't take her time, but neither did she do a hasty job. Maybe it was because of this that it felt more like a natural occurrence than something unique. It felt like business as usual, like a girl simply helping another girl out with her nails. Something about it felt routine. Was it no longer special to me, or had I crossed some point where it felt like this is just what girls do?

Maybe I wanted to be a girl more than I thought. It would definitely be something to discuss with Rajan on Monday. Perhaps I'd come so close to barriers on things that the barriers started to disappear. I don't think Tiffany noticed the change either. How could she possibly know the inner workings of my mind? How could she know that something she thought as a special event, had turned into further evidence that I should be a girl?

"You probably won't get to do this as often pretty soon, huh?" Tiffany asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Tiffany finished up my last two toes. "You're going to have gym next semester." She stood to get the hand towel off of the table, and draped it across my lap. "Probably better that you don't have them all painted up for the guys to see."

"I'll just wear socks to cover them," I said.

"Well you can't wear socks in the shower," Tiffany said, giggling.

"True," I said, "but it's last period. I can shower at home."

"What if they make you shower?"

"I don't think they do that anymore," I said. "Some law against it."

"There's no law against it," Tiffany said, laughing at the suggestion.

"Then I'll see the first week," I said.

"Better safe than sorry."

Tiffany had me put my hands on the towel. After pulling a chair over, she started painting my fingernails. She went a bit slower on them, taking her time to make them look nice. They would be seen after all. My toenails were just like a little added bonus, a secret beneath everything that only Tiffany and I knew about. Thinking about it that way, made it seem a little more special to me.

"I wish I could just stay in art class," Tiffany said. "I have to take gym too."

"Art is by far more fun to me," I said. "I won't get to see you, Tawny or Vanessa either."

"Not unless we do coed stuff," Tiffany said. "And according to Tracy, that only has happened a few times this semester for her." She looked up at me suddenly. "Hey! You'll get a chance to get to know Vince at least."

"Oh," I said. "He got stuck with gym then too?"

"I think we all pretty much did," Tiffany said. "About half of our art class is going to be in gym."

"That's not going to be too bad then," I said. "Except the other half worries me."

"You'll be fine," Tiffany said. "Just act all competitive and they'll think you're one of the guys."

"Way to stereotype," I said.

Tiffany and I shared a slight laugh. Our small little conversation had nearly taken us through the task of her painting my nails. She finished up on three more, and then left the room with my panties in her hand. While Tiffany was out of the room, I heard her front door open. Then I heard Kate's voice as she loudly conversed with someone with her. Melanie's voice rang out in response to Kate's, and the two of them continued to talk down the hallway to Kate's room.

A moment of silence passed. It seemed boring to me, to sit by myself waiting for someone to come into the room. I had the urge to go greet the two high school ladies, but figured I'd somehow mess up Tiffany's hard work. So I sat. I sat with nothing to do, but wait for the paint to dry, or rather the polish. If I strained a bit, I could hear the three talking softly in the other room.

"Well where is she?" Kate asked, somewhere close to the kitchen.

"Dining room," Tiffany yelled to her sister.

"There's my girly girl!" Kate said, as she strolled through the kitchen.

Kate's hair looked amazing. She had told me what she planned to do with it, but I'd forgotten. Her silky black hair had been put up into flowing tresses of endless curls. They bounced as she hurried over to me. I suddenly recalled our discussion about her getting Pam, Melanie's mother, to do her hair. Then I recalled her saloon girl outfit, and how amazing it would probably look now with the hair.

"Not very talkative," Kate said. "Are you in shock?"

"I was just…" I looked up at her, my eyes probably straining in their sockets. "Your hair looks amazing."

"Aw," Kate said. "Thanks." She put her hand up to lightly touch it. "So you like the curls?"

"I love them!" I said.

"Good!" Kate said, somewhat mocking my excitement. "Because Melanie's going to give you more than you can handle." She looked down. "Ooh, the nails came out great. Let me see!"

"Don't touch them!" Tiffany said, bursting through the door. "I just got them painted."

"What have you been doing all of this time?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister.

"The false nails took longer than I thought they would," Tiffany said, giving me a knowing look. "I need to give everything another coat."

"Why don't you let me finish up?" Kate asked. "Melanie can start on your hair."

"Work, work, work," Melanie said, coming into the kitchen. "My job is never finished. Hey Bailey."

"Hi Melanie," I said, a bit shyly. It wasn't everyday that pretty high school girls addressed me.

"You haven't even started your job," Kate said.

"And who put all the bells and whistles on your costumes?" Melanie asked.

"She's been busy," Tiffany said, more to me than Kate.

"I know," Kate said. "I'm just giving her a hard time."

I couldn't help sneaking a peak at other areas of Kate's body, as the three of them quibbled. She had on a pair of short, tight jean shorts, and a rather snug blue turtleneck sweater that left little to the imagination. Her legs sprung from her shorts like tightly coiled springs, clad in black nylon tights and showing off every little bit of muscle. Kate had amazing legs, even in sneakers, and her only rival in the room at the moment happened to be Melanie.

Melanie cheated, however, with her constant wearing of three or four inch heels. They made her legs seem more sculpted. Together with the light sheen of her pantyhose, Melanie's legs stood out beneath her flowing green and blue plaid skirt. Her sweater happened to be more modest than Kate's. It was light gray, a bit loose on her, and had one of those oversized collars that could be slipped off the shoulders. Though Melanie wore it like a proper lady.

"Well let's get you started," Melanie said, holding out her hand to wave Tiffany forward. "I'll be back to fix your hair up Bailey."

"Looking forward to it," I said, giving Melanie a pleasant smile.

Kate stepped over and turned the dining room light up on high. "Are you excited about tonight?" she asked.

"I'm a little nervous," I said.

"Why's that?" Kate asked, as she carefully lifted my feet onto her lap.

I watched her pick up the nail polish and start on my toenails before responding to her. "I know it's Halloween," I said, "and you can dress up and pretend to be something you're not."

Kate finished another toenail, and then looked up at me. "You don't feel like you're pretending?"

"I used to feel like I was," I said. "Now I just feel like I'm pretending to be someone that's pretending to be someone I'm not." I paused for a moment to think about what I said. "Does that make sense?"

"It makes perfect sense to me," Kate said. "Maybe not the way you said it, but I understand." She finished one foot, and went on to the next with the fuchsia nail polish. "You're thinking you feel more like a girl, pretending to be a boy sometimes?"

"Sometimes," I said. "But tonight I feel like I'm having to be a girl who's pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl."

"Are you saying you're afraid of enjoying it?" Kate asked, finishing another toenail.

"Something like that," I said.

"Well that's just silly," Kate said. "You should enjoy this night more than anything." She started on the next toenail. "All bets are off on Halloween. I say you go out and play the part. Have fun with it."

"You mean actually be a girl?" I asked.

"Absolutely," Kate said. "This is probably the one night of the year you can fall into character and nobody will care one way or the other." She finished up another toenail. "I just wish it was like that all the time for you."

"So I shouldn't try so hard to hide my true feelings?" I asked.

"No," Kate said. "Have fun! In fact, you'd be better off letting your feelings out tonight. It'll make you appear more natural." She paused before painting the last nail. "I mean, don't be stupid, but do make the most of it."

"I won't do anything stupid," I said, smiling at her.

"And Tiff was right," Kate said, looking at my feet. "You could use a pedicure." She looked at me and smiled. "I'll take you both. My treat."

"You really don't have to do that," I said.

"I insist," Kate said. "We'll make a day of it. Lunch and a movie, or something." She patted my bare legs. "It'll be fun."

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"Nope," Kate said, giving me a grin.

Kate helped me ease my feet back to the floor, and then she repositioned her chair. She had me put my legs under her chair, so that my feet rested against the cross rail in the middle. I found that with my heels on the floor, and the balls of my feet resting on the rail, there was very little chance of me messing my nails up. It was a rather clever technique. Kate situated herself so that she sat straddling my legs and facing me.

"Tiff did a pretty nice job on these," Kate said, examining my fake nails. "Think I'll put another coat on them, and a top coat on everything." She reached for the bottle of fuchsia polish. "It'll have plenty of time to dry while Melanie does your hair."

I didn't offer any resistance, as I'd gotten tired of fighting girls today. Instead I tried to maintain control, as every time Kate shifted forward to paint a nail, her tights would rub against my bare legs. Not only that, but each time she leaned forward, my nose would detect a light hint of her perfume. Mixed with the scent of the nail polish, I felt like Kate had trapped me in some sort of lair of femininity. I pictured her, for a brief moment, holding me against my will, and using her feminine wiles to keep me prisoner.

"You know…" Kate said, as she carefully put an even coat of polish on my right middle nail. "If you're ever serious about not pretending anymore, our offer to teach you still stands."

"Teach me?" I asked, still trying to climb out of my daydream.

"To be more feminine," Kate said. "Remember Melanie and I talked about it with you?"

"Oh," I said. "Right." I watched Kate finish up my index nail, and move to my thumb. "Like I said, you'll be the first person I go to."

"In all seriousness," Kate said. "We'd be more than willing to help you."

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," Kate said. "Just let us know."

Kate looked up at me with a genuine smile upon her face. She leaned over closer to me. Her perfume overpowered the smell of the nail polish for a brief moment. Soon her lips, soft as a rose petal, were pressed against my forehead. I didn't know what to do. All I could think to do was shut my eyes. My girlfriend's sister was kissing me! I started to panic, thinking any moment Tiffany would walk in and see us, but then Kate removed herself and went back to painting my nails.

"I like you girly girl," Kate said. "You're like another sister, or slightly effeminate brother to me." She paused before painting the next fingernail. "And I don't mean the latter to be insulting. So I hope you don't take offense."

"I don't," I said. "I mean, it doesn't bother me much anymore."

"Less talky, more do-y," Melanie said, strolling through the kitchen.

"I was just telling Bailey that our offer to train her still stands," Kate said.

"Oh," Melanie said. "Does she want to?"

"No," I said. "I mean, not at the moment, but I'm considering it."

"Okay," Melanie said. "Sure though. No problem. Just let us know if you want to start, and we can start whenever."

"What do you need?" Kate asked, watching Melanie dig through a bag.

"I'm looking for the ribbon," Melanie said.

"It's in the bag on my bed," Kate said. "Did you figure out what to do with the front?"

"I just gave her curls off to the side," Melanie said. "I think your mom would flip if we cut her bangs."

"Probably," Kate said. "Might be too tomboyish for her." She turned back to look at me, and rolled her eyes. "How much longer you got in there?"

"Not much longer," Melanie said. "Should I do one or two ponytails?"

"I think one," Kate said. "Go for the classic."

"Alrighty," Melanie said. "I'll be back to go all Shirley Temple on Bailey."

I waited until Melanie left the room before I said anything. "What did she mean by that?"

"What?" Kate asked.

"Who's Shirley Temple?" I asked.

Kate stopped what she was doing. She abruptly looked up at me. With her eyes she searched for any inclination that I might be joking. Her face carried a solemn look, like she hadn't understood my question. I thought that maybe I should interject and claim I was only kidding, but perhaps I'd waited a bit too long on it. She already knew I was serious.

"You don't know who Shirley Temple is?" Kate asked.

"Should I?"

"Well…" Kate said. "It's probably not going to be on any history exam, but it wouldn't hurt for you to know." She went back to painting my fingernails. "She was an actress, mostly known for stuff she did as a kid, but also known for the big curls in her hair." She finished the nail she was working on. "That's what Melanie meant by it. She's going to give your hair great big bouncy curls."

"Well now I know," I said.

"And don't you forget it!" Kate said.

I laughed a bit at her fake seriousness. She finally finished my fingernails, and after checking my toenails, decided to put a top coat on them. I honestly didn't need a top coat, as they weren't going to be seen all night. One of the few things I knew about my costume, was that it was being worn with white tights and my silver ballet flats. That's how I knew not one toenail would be seen all night long.

Kate continued to offer small talk with me, asking me about school and home. I asked her a few questions about high school, to which her answers surprised me a bit. Everything sounded bigger and better, yet the classes sounded harder and longer. Still she got my hopes up for more variety in choosing the classes. She finished my toenails, and I pushed my feet back under her chair.

Melanie returned to the dining room soon after. While she set up curling irons and other hair products, Kate talked to her about something that had happened that day, or the day before. I felt completely out of the conversation, so I sat there in silence. As I recall, it did involve something about a boy Kate seemed interested in. She never mentioned him by name, but from various clues I concluded the boy to be an athlete of sorts. Oh, and he was charming apparently.

"We can probably put the top coat on now," Kate said, carefully checking my fake nails. "Then I gotta help Tiff with makeup."

"Better get started on your hair," Melanie said.

I soon felt girls attacking me from all angles. Kate busied herself with brushing a shiny clear coat over my fake nails, while Melanie went through my hair with a brush. It felt like she was trying to pull my hair out, as she brushed it all up. She called it teasing, but it felt more like bullying. It didn't get any better, as she pulled large strands at a time up and twisted them around a curling iron.

I started to wonder how girls ever managed to abuse themselves like this and still put on a smile when all was said and done. Then I started to recall them taking a lot longer to get ready. Maybe most of that time was spent consoling themselves. Kate finished my nails, and with a pat on my thigh, she left me to be tormented by Melanie. I pushed myself to steal a peak at her legs when she left the room.

Melanie didn't seem too talkative. I hadn't seen her in awhile, so I figured she'd want to catch up. However, she seemed like she was dealing with something of her own. I didn't really know what to say to her, other than mindless conversation. Not that it mattered anyway, as soon she had the hairdryer going. I guess conversation was pretty much out at that point. Instead, I just sat back and tried to endure the torture of looking beautiful.

Minutes passed, seeming like hours. My hair flopped around like a fish in a boat. It was everywhere. Melanie was everywhere. She moved about in a frenzy, curling, brushing, wetting and blow-drying my hair. Maybe I mistook her silence as concentration rather than disinterest. She probably just wanted to do a good job.

"Oh wow," Kate said, yanking my attention toward the doorway of the kitchen. "That looks adorable."

"I gotta say," Melanie said. "Bailey has some amazingly workable hair. It does just about anything you want it to do."

"But that's incredible," Kate said. "I thought Tiff's looked good, but…" She stepped over to get a closer look. "Wow. Just wow."

To be honest the compliment kind of scared me. I didn't exactly want to be the "wow" of the party. In fact, I wanted the least amount of attention at the party. My only hope in this endeavor, was that Kate was being overly nice in her compliments. Maybe my hair just looked good, and wasn't the "wow" factor she built it up to be. Perhaps other people would just see it as a nice hairstyle.

"I think I went overboard," Melanie said, suddenly squashing my hopes. "Think I went all homecoming queen on her hair, when she just needed a cute hairstyle."

"No," Kate said. "I love it!" She set a makeup case next to me on the table. "And who knows when or if she'll ever want to do this again."

Before I could find some excuse to get up and look at my hair, Kate had sat down across from me. Her legs straddled mine once more, and she pulled her chair even closer. Melanie pulled up a chair to sit next to me. Her knee brushed against my thigh as she crossed her legs. She played with my hair, making a few quick fixes. I could feel the weight and recoil of big bouncy curls on my head.

"Girly girl here didn't even know about Shirley Temple," Kate said, as she sorted out makeup.

"You're kidding," Melanie said. "I thought everyone knew about her."

"Kids these days," Kate said, smiling at me.

"In all fairness," I said. "I don't watch a lot of television."

"Still…" Kate looked at me. "Shirley Temple…"

"I think we did her justice," Melanie said, playing with my hair.

"Definitely," Kate said. "Now we need to figure out makeup." She studied my face for a moment. "Older, or stick with her youthful innocence?"

"What did you do for Tiffany?" Melanie asked.

"Total awesomeness!" Tiffany said, bursting into the room.

I looked up to see a slightly older version of Tiffany. Her hair had been pulled up into a high centered ponytail, with half a roll of light blue ribbon wrapped tightly around it four to five inches up. Melanie had wrapped the ribbon around the base of Tiffany's ponytail, and from the other end of the ribbon her hair exploded out in wavy and curly tresses. Her makeup looked perfect, complete with eyeliner done in some Egyptian or Persian style where it came past the outside corners of her eyes and feathered up.

"Her hair looks so freaking cool!" Tiffany exclaimed.

Tiffany made haste over to the table to join us. She reached up to lightly touch one of my curls. When she tried to play with it more, Melanie slapped her hand away. Tiffany walked over behind Kate, and stooped down. She checked my toenails, and content that they were dry, removed the spreaders from between my toes. Then she walked over and sat across from us at the table.

"You look amazing," Tiffany said, and then tried to look busy by putting the nail products away. She honestly could not keep her eyes off of me.

"I think we should keep the innocent look," Melanie finally said.

"That's what I was thinking," Kate said. "Maybe just a hint of mystery."

"Try the gray eye shadow," Melanie said. "I liked that on her before."

Between guesses and second guesses, amidst all the gabbing and fawning, Melanie and Kate eventually landed on a look for me. It all ended in rosy pink cheeks, with a light touch on my nose and chin, slightly darkened eyebrows, and light blue eye shadow, which made my steel blue eyes come to life. At least those were Kate's words. They powdered it all up, and finished me off by coloring my lips a subtle cherry blossom pink. Tiffany added her own touch, with her own cherry lip gloss.

"Perfect," Tiffany said, as she backed away from me.

"You look really pretty," Kate said.

"We did good," Melanie said, standing from her chair. "You two better get into costume."

"I want to see Bailey's first," Tiffany said.

No sooner did she speak the words than I felt her hand around my wrist, and she was pulling me up. We nearly knocked Kate over, as she tried to get off of her chair. Tiffany literally pulled me into the living room. I noticed she had put my costume out, as the blue dress instantly brought back the memory of me trying it on. Though the dress looked a lot different. Before I could detect what all of the differences were, Tiffany handed me my white tights.

"Um…" Kate said, from the doorway. "Normally I would never offer this as a suggestion to my little sister, but you might want to help Bailey put those on." She held her own hands up. "Nails and all."

"Oh," Tiffany said. "Yeah. Let me help you."

Tiffany took the tights from me, and led me over to a chair. She checked my nails once more, and then lightly dusted fuzz from their carpet off of my left foot. As I looked on, Tiffany eased my foot into the tights, and pulled that leg halfway up my lower leg. She repeated the whole process on my other foot, and soon had the tights smoothed up past my knees. Then she had me stand up, opened my robe, and finished pulling the tights up.

"I'll do your shoes too," Tiffany said. "Might be hard for you." She brought my silver ballet flats over, and knelt at my feet. "If you ever do false nails again, you better learn how to cope with them."

We gave each other a knowing smile. Then she helped me put on my shoes one at a time. With Kate and Melanie in the other room, Tiffany took a moment to caress my legs through the tights. It felt so good, that I didn't want her to stop. Her hands slid up under the robe, and eventually she rose to stand in front of me. She kept going up to my shoulders, until finally she got the robe over them, and it slid off of me.

"Ready for your costume?" she asked.

"I'm excited now," I said.

This wasn't a lie either. All of this anticipation had built me up to the moment. Tiffany herself had commissioned the creation of my costume, and with help from Melanie and Kate, had custom-made something just for me. It made me feel special in that moment, but sad that I couldn't return the favor. I watched as Tiffany removed the dress from the back of her couch, and brought it over to me.

"I hope this fits," Tiffany said. "Or you're going as an unusually dressed swimmer."

I chuckled at her remark. She held the dress out for me, and together we managed to slip it on over my head. The material was mostly velvet, but had some Lycra in it for a bit of stretch. Tiffany pulled it down as far as it could go. The hem of the skirt danced around mid-thigh, while the capped sleeves barely covered my shoulders. I finally realized what the costume was, as I looked at all of the features of the dress.

Most people would have known just with the colors alone. They were a dead giveaway for anyone thinking clearly. The navy blue dress had been taken in on both sides, and the stitching gave the appearance of a fake panel in the middle. On both sides of this panel were gold buttons, sewn in with no other function than decoration. The hem of the dress had gold piping around the skirt, and a thin white rope belt sat on my hips; again all for decoration.

Sewn into the top of the dress, stretching from the v-neck to the back, was a white jumper flap with navy blue piping around the border. The v-neck sat over the white and navy blue stripes of the swimsuit, letting it show a bit from underneath. As my hands went over the outfit, I noticed a small little gold anchor fixed to a chain. It hung from the rope belt as kind of a special little afterthought. Finally my mind put it all together. Tiffany had made me a sailor girl.

"Wow," Tiffany said. "You look good. I mean we got the fit perfect and everything."

I think we were both shocked at how well it fit. Even though we checked the size a few weeks ago, I didn't expect to fill it out so well, and I don't think Tiffany expected it either. It wasn't tight, like I had gained a few pounds, but instead it formed rather well to my body. Tiffany had slipped one hand up under the skirt, and was rubbing my thigh when Kate walked in. Her hand quickly flipped to the outside of the skirt, and she pretended to be straightening it.

"Bailey got back!" Kate said.

I looked dumbly at Kate and let fly from my mouth the most intelligent response I could muster. "Huh?"

"Your…" Kate moved her hands down to gesture at her own hips. "Well your…" She started to circle her hands around to her back. "Never mind." She gave me a pleasant smile. "You look absolutely adorable."

"Thanks," I said, blushing at her compliment.

"Oh!" Tiffany said. "The hat!" She ran off to her bedroom.

Kate strolled over to me. "You are the cutest thing," she said, running her index finger gently along my chin. "Why can't more boys be like you?"

"Maybe they're all scared of looking this good," I said.

"Ooh," Kate said. "Sassy!" She grinned at me. "Our little girly girl is growing up."

Tiffany rushed back into the living room. "Found it…"

Tiffany took a moment to catch her breath. Then she held a white sailor hat up to my hair. There wasn't anything special about the hat, but it definitely completed the costume. Without it, I would probably just appear to be wearing a nautical dress with white tights. Melanie walked in about that time, and gave me a nod. She didn't seem to show much emotion about where she leaned on the subject of my outfit.

"Will probably need to clip that on," Melanie said. "It's a little windy out."

"And all the dancing she's going to be doing," Kate said, giving me a wink.

"Probably going to be asked to dance a hundred times," Melanie said. She gave me a concerned look. "Hope you don't freak out if it's boys doing the asking."

"Ugh," I said. "I didn't even think about that."

"Don't worry about it," Tiffany said. "You can always say no."

"Or…" Melanie said. "You could live dangerously!" She turned her solemn look into a wicked little grin.

"Ooh Bailey!" Kate said. "You have got to dance with a boy!"

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

"Just to try it!" Melanie said.

"At least once," Kate said.

"I don't think so," I said.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Tiffany said.

"You don't even know what you'd be missing," Kate said.

"Seriously…" Melanie said.

"Just think," Kate said. "Some boy thinking you're cute enough to ask for a dance."

"That's a huge compliment," Melanie said.

I grew repulsed just thinking about it. "I…"

"And then if they didn't even know your secret…" Kate said.

"Guys!" Tiffany said, bursting into the conversation. "Enough!"

Kate looked surprised. "We're just saying --"

"I know what you're saying," Tiffany said. "I don't want you to make Bailey feel pressured to do it."

"I don't feel pressured," I said.

"Maybe she'd have fun doing it," Melanie said.

"I doubt it," I said.

"Why are you talking like she's not even here voicing her opinion?" Tiffany said, growing a bit more defensive. "She keeps saying no."

Melanie and Kate both looked at Tiffany like she had gone crazy. Melanie, turned and strolled into the other room. Kate, on the other hand, moved away from us and sat on the couch. The room grew deathly silent. On the mantle of their fireplace, a small clock clicked out second after second. It became the only sound in the room for several of those seconds. Tiffany gave me a concerned look.

"I want you to have fun tonight," Tiffany said, finally breaking the silence. "Don't feel pressured to do anything." She sighed. "And please forgive my idiot sister and her friend for even bringing something like that up."

"Hey…" Kate said. "I was just going with the moment."

"Well it was a stupid moment!" Tiffany said, a little louder. "She doesn't like boys." Tiffany looked up at me with a flash of pain in her hazel eyes. "Neither one of us likes boys!"

With that, Tiffany turned, tossed the hat to my costume at her sister, and stormed off down the hallway. I stood there, dumbfounded, and simply watched her disappear into her room. The door slammed several seconds later. I looked over to Kate, who looked like she had misplaced her head for a moment. Neither of us moved, and I didn't know if Tiffany was mad at me, Kate, or both of us.

"I'll go talk to her," Kate said, finally taking some action.

She passed Melanie on the way, and handed the sailor hat to her. Melanie whispered something to Kate, and Kate in turn whispered something back. They both eventually nodded. Kate continued down the hallway to her sister's room, while Melanie came strolling over to me. She gave me a reassuring smile and started to affix the hat to my head. Kate disappeared into Tiffany's room.

"What in the world was that about?" I asked, breaking the mind-numbing silence.

"I'm sure it's something they can work out," Melanie said. "Tiffany's just been under a lot of stress lately."

"Stress?" I asked. "From what?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Melanie said. "I just know things aren't entirely favorable for her right now."

I didn't even know how to take what Melanie had just said. Aside from the whole group session thing Tiffany had to deal with, I really didn't know what else could be getting to her. She said she was dealing with that among "other things," but I didn't know the other things in question. Melanie's words were almost cryptic in nature, like she knew, but didn't want to say. She continued to busy herself by pinning my hat to my hair. Her silence was deafening.

"Do you know anything about it?" I asked.

"All I know is that her life has not been exactly picture perfect lately," Melanie said. "The best advice I can give you at the moment, is just be there for her."

"Be there for her?"

"You know…" Melanie put another bobby pin through my hair. "Listen to her. Talk to her. Even if what she has to say might not sound good to you, I think she needs someone to talk to about her life." She stopped to put her hands on my shoulders. "She's growing up fast, and needs someone mature enough to handle her."

"What if I'm not able?" I asked.

"Then be ready to step aside," Melanie said. "Not just for her, but for the both of you." She paused to look in my eyes. "Be willing to let someone else fill that role if you can't fill it."

"Melanie," Kate shouted from the other room. "Could you bring me the bag I left by the couch?"

"Duty calls," Melanie said. Her right hand moved up to my cheek. "Hang in there though. You two have something special."

Melanie grabbed a plastic bag by the couch, and headed down the hallway. When she disappeared into Tiffany's room, I felt kind of out of the picture. Everyone was off working on some big secret costume thing, while I was in here alone. Surely it wouldn't be long until they got Tiffany situated and came back into the room. I wandered over to a decorative mirror they had hanging near the fireplace.

It took me a few seconds to recognize my own face in the mirror. Large bouncy curls erupted from underneath the slightly tilted white cap on my head. I reached up to gently pull on one. The long pink nails caught me off guard for the briefest moment, but my attention shot back to the curl springing back up to where I pulled it from. My face looked extremely youthful and innocent, perhaps even a bit younger. It all looked amazing.

I had to wander over to a chair to sit. For some reason I couldn't contain myself. Was it possible I could look this good everyday if I put a little effort into it? There were absolutely no traces of boyishness on me anywhere. I calmly fixed my skirt, crossed my legs, and tried to sooth myself back to normal. The next few minutes of my life were spent running my hands along the velvet material of my dress, and trying to breathe easy.

I must have wondered myself into a daze, as I almost didn't notice the three girls coming back into the living room. Melanie and Kate walked in first, obscuring my view of Tiffany's costume. They turned and held their hands out for Tiffany, in a sort of unveiling. I think my brain and mouth went numb when I saw her. The rest of me stood and stared. I should've known from the hairstyle and makeup what her costume would be.

Tiffany had on baggy royal blue velvet pants, gathered at the bottom into three-inch-wide gold cuffs. She had on a gold belt, which went from three inches wide to a four-inch-wide point at the middle. They had decorated it with gold tassels along the front, and loops of gold chain with coins resting against her hips. The belt stopped right under her bellybutton, and left the rest of her navel exposed.

Her top, also royal blue velvet, just covered her bust and ended with a couple of inches of royal blue tulle at the hem. The full sleeves of Tiffany's costume were also tulle. They stretched from cuffs, identical to the ones around her ankles, to a gold vest just big enough to cover her shoulder blades and rest on her shoulders. She had on several rings, and even a few toe rings. Together with her metallic blue toenails, the toe rings stood out against her strappy gold sandals.

Tiffany walked toward me. Her lips curled up into a smile beneath a tulle veil. The veil covered the bottom half of her face down past her chin. Kate busied herself getting her digital camera ready, while Melanie looked on with a smile. Now only a foot away, Tiffany reached up with the back of her right hand. Her metallic blue fingernails slid gently down my cheek. I finally mustered the courage to say what was on my mind.

"You look amazing."

"You've released me from my prison sailor girl," Tiffany said. "Your every wish is my command."

Melanie smiled at me from behind Tiffany, most likely the culprit who fed Tiffany the line she had just delivered. She gave me a wink, and then wandered off to Kate's bedroom. Kate took a few pictures of us. Then she took a few more with us posing. She wanted to keep taking more, but Melanie reentered the room and reminded her of the time. Kate still had to drop us off and come back to change. Melanie added a final touch to both of us, dabbing us with some of Kate's perfume. I immediately had doubts about this, but we were soon whisked out the door.

The drive over to Rachel Ford's house was as predictable as it could be, what with two wound up balls of anxiety and a calm, sophisticated high school senior packed into a Honda Accord. I'm sure Kate thought we were nuts from the way we gabbed to excess over nonsense. She had to act cool though. It was something all high school kids had in them when forced to drag their siblings around. For once in her life, Kate actually let both of us ride in the back seat. She despised this kind of "chauffeuring" as she called it.

Rachel greeted us, naturally. Showing off her princess costume, she twirled in entryway, and then paused long enough to feign interest over our own costumes. Her princess costume was nothing more than a pink ball gown, adorned with jewelry, and topped with a rather suspiciously real looking tiara. She simply held up her hand to go in, and then disappeared to places unknown. I probably wouldn't see her for the rest of the night.

We had all told our parents that Rachel's parents would be present at the party. As much as they knew, this was true. However, it was never mentioned that her parents were also entertaining guests downstairs, and they would make very little, if any, attempt to spy on our party. Her father usually blasted away liquor at these parties, and wouldn't be sober until morning, while her mother would now and for always be known as the aloof buffoon of all of our mothers.

These factors alone saw the slow, yet steady, decay of Rachel's morals. None of us would have been surprised if she had made it to second base by now with her current boyfriend. I personally wouldn't be surprised if she was rounding third and heading home. We never meant any of this to be cruel, but rather it was just the way Rachel turned out. Part of me felt sorry for her, but only part, as I had always wondered what it would be like to do some of the things Rachel had done in her short life.

"That dress turned out fantastic!"

I turned to find the face that matched the all too familiar voice coming at me. What greeted me happened to be a rather bubbly looking ladybug. Beneath two springy antennae, Tracy peered at me with a huge smile and eyes the size of the polka dots on her red and black dress. A set of transparent wings bobbled behind her, as she lifted her hands in an impending hug. I braced myself for it.

"You look amazing Bailey," Tracy said, and then switched to hug Tiffany. "You too genie."

Tracy stood slightly shorter than Tiffany and I, yet she still stuck to her flat shoes. She hated wearing heels, but somehow managed to find cute designs on whatever she wore. Her ballet flats, red with black polka dots, matched her dress and gloves. The black leggings under her tutu skirt, slimmed her legs quite a bit. Tracy, along with her sister Rebecca, had nicely developed swimmers' legs, but neither sought to do anything with them. I always thought they'd make good anchor swimmers, as they both practically lived in their pool.

"No," Tracy said to Tiffany. "He's around here somewhere."

I watched Tracy look around the room. She seemed a bit confused; to be expected at a costume party. Finally she spotted the thing, or rather the person, she was looking for, and pointed him out. I followed her gaze and found Jason on the other side of the crowd. He waved to us. Following the lead of the other two girls, I waved back. Then I realized I may have waved a bit too demurely, stuck in my feminine mode, and worried that Jason may have caught it.

Jason knew about me, yet I still didn't want to be acting the part around him. Part of me felt like he would start being my protector, or some other weird relation. I studied him for a moment, as he went back to his friends. His costume was extremely basic; sword, eye patch, tattered clothing and bandana around his head. The black sneakers went with his costume as much as a bad joke went with a funeral, and the one special thing he tossed in was costume makeup to make himself appear dirty.

As I laughed inwardly about Jason's costume, I found Vince in the crowd. Vince had put even less thought in his costume than Jason. He had on black pants, with a white shirt and black vest. His cape and fangs were supposed to be his ultimate selling points on an otherwise cheesy vampire costume. To be honest, I thought he would've tried harder. He was a rather gifted artist in our class. Maybe he just didn't like Halloween, but was fake blood too much to ask for?

"Well…" Tracy said. "They didn't wanna bring their drama to the party."

"Who?" I asked, thinking I'd missed vital information again.

"Vanessa and Danielle," Tiffany said.

"Neither one came?" I asked.

Tracy shook her head. "They both basically said they didn't want to come and spoil the evening for the other." She shrugged. "So they both missed out."

"That's a shame," I said. "At least they're sounding more civil. I was hoping to see them though."

"You just wanted the attention from Vanessa," Tiffany said, smiling.

"Right…" I said.

"Oh!" Tiffany said, as if remembering something. "There's Vince." She turned to give me a measured look. "Mind if I go say hi?"

I shook my head. Tiffany squeezed my hand, and then smiled. As I watched her dart through the crowd, another familiar face came my way. She almost floated toward me, carried by silvery wings, and sparkling in the dim lights throughout the room. White flowers littered her pale blue dress, which puffed out at the skirt like a cloud. Her olive skin shimmered with glitter, from her naked arms down her hosed legs, until everything pooled into pale blue ballet flats, which seemed to glide across the carpet.

"Megan…" I managed to stammer. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," Megan said. "You look adorable."

Megan pushed herself forward on her toes, and gently kissed me on the cheek. I barely recovered fast enough to brush her cheek with a kiss of my own. She seemed to exhibit a natural playfulness and joy in her eyes. Her messed up hair really gave the impression of a true pixie. Once our greeting ceased, Megan took my hands in hers. She looked over my nails a few times, and then gave me a smile.

"You really went all out," Megan said.

"It's mostly Tiffany's doing," I admitted.

"Well, whoever's idea it was, it all looks incredible," Megan said. "I love the curls…" She reached up to play with one. "And the nails…"

Megan couldn't stop playing. It seemed like she had to touch every single aspect of my costume. Maybe she didn't believe it was real. She continued to play with my cap, skirt hem, belt rope and the small anchor attached to it. At one point she even pointed out the gold buttons on my dress had little anchors on them. This was a tiny detail I somehow missed in all of the excitement.

"Where's Tawny?" I finally asked.

Megan looked confused at the question for a moment. "Um…" She snapped out of her daze long enough to glance around. "She was around here somewhere." Her eyes came back to me. "You probably wouldn't recognize her unless I pointed her out." A smile spread across her face. "She's coming up behind you."

With a little help from Megan, and another chance for her to run her hands over my velvety dress, I turned to face something incredibly remarkable. That night I saw an entirely different Tawny. She didn't have her usual haughty air about her. Instead, she walked cautiously up to Megan and I, with her eyes slightly turned down. She looked as if she were walking down a dark alley, alone, scared someone would jump out at any moment to grab her.

"She's kind of having a self-confidence crisis with it," Megan whispered in my ear. "So go easy on her."

I think I soaked in every inch of Tawny that night. While I still remembered most of the costumes of others, I never forgot Tawny's costume. Maybe it was because she looked so entirely opposed to her normal self. Perhaps the costume was just that appealing to me. Whatever it happened to be, I think my slight crush on Tawny hit full swing at that moment. She simply looked amazing to me.

Normally I would be opposed to matching costumes on friends. It lacked creativity in my mind. I understood themes, or events where everyone wore the same costume. They were all well and good, but Megan and Tawny managed to get away with a fashion faux pas that night. Somehow they both came as pixies, but managed to make them so different from each other that they worked well together.

Tawny struggled a bit, teetering on the three inch heels of light pink, patent ankle boots. Like Tracy, Tawny hardly wore heels, let alone narrow ones. I knew it was a struggle for her, and it reminded me of my first time wearing heels. For once I saw the skin of Tawny's legs, wrapped in purple fishnets, and rising up to a skirt. Tawny actually wore a skirt! I had to alert the media the first chance I got. This never happened.

Not only did she wear a skirt, but the skirt was part of a pale pink dress. The skirt itself looked like a flower petal. Rows of lacy purple tulle exploded from under the skirt, while even more purple tulle wrapped around the outside. They made swirls and decorative flower and ribbon patterns all over the dress. Her lower arms were encased in purple and pink arm wraps, which had the same petal pattern as the hem of the skirt.

From Tawny's elbows to her shoulders, there was nothing but smooth bare skin. I imagine she felt incredibly vulnerable from this, as she never liked to wear anything off of her shoulders. Around her shoulders she wore a harness of sparkly purple wings. Body glitter, makeup, and perfectly manicured dark purple fingernails all came compliments of Megan. She looked like an angel regardless of what her costume said.

The best part of all happened to be Tawny's hair. Her usual mundane, straight, black bob cut, had been teased and messed with until it stood out like Megan's pixie cut. Several strands were colored purple and pink, enough to offset the uniformed black. Random ribbons and bows, of the same colors, streamed from her hair. I could see some of them danced and tickled her shoulders as she walked closer to me.

"Hey," Tawny said. Her demure attitude surprised me.

"You look pretty," I said, not wanting to suffocate her by overdoing the compliments.

"I look like I got stabbed with a unicorn horn," Tawny said.

"I'm not exactly sure what the result of that may be," I said, giggling a bit, "but I don't think it would look this good."

Tawny looked up at me and smiled. She took a moment to look over my costume. Just as Megan had done, Tawny seemed interested with touching it. I guess velvet held that sort of attraction. Her hand immediately went for my hair. Something about pulling a curl down, and watching it bounce back up, had major appeal for my friends that evening. Tawny watched it for a moment, and then smiled. Then she noticed I was watching her, and shyly pulled back half a step.

"You look really good," Tawny said. "I mean…" She glanced over my outfit again. "If I had a sailor like you coming home, I'd definitely wait."

Megan cleared her throat. "If you two would like to make out like her ship just came in, I can come back."

"She likes to be missed too," Tawny said, winking at me.

Before I could remark, Megan grabbed Tawny by the hand. They disappeared into the crowd behind me. A fast song started up, and half of the room started dancing. I honestly didn't feel like dancing at that point. Something about going onto the floor alone seemed a bit too intimidating. So instead I hung out at the edge of the expansive living room, trying to find anyone past the crowd that I might know.

"Hey!" Tiffany said, coming up beside me.

"Did you find Vince?" I asked.

"Yeah," Tiffany said. "Would you like to talk to him?"

"Maybe later," I said. I pretended I had some other wilder place to go to somewhere in the crowd. "I saw Megan and Tawny."

"How'd they look?" Tiffany said.

"They both looked cute," I said.

"Cute and Tawny don't quite mix well," Tiffany said. "They're like oil and water." She gave me a cross look. "I think you're understating it."

"You'll have to see for yourself," I said, smiling. "Words cannot explain."

"Wanna dance?" Tiffany asked.

"Sure!"

Tiffany took my hand and we wandered into the crowd. We somehow found Tawny and Megan dancing together. Tiffany had to express her approval of both of their costumes, only she did so nonverbally. The music was a bit too loud for anything else. Megan pulled on one of Tiffany's sleeves, expressing her own delight in Tiffany's costume. Tawny shyly approved of it too. It was funny and refreshing seeing Tawny act the way she acted tonight.

"Tawny looks hot," Tiffany said in my ear as she came back to me. "I mean they both look good, but…" She became speechless.

"I know," I said back to Tiffany. "I can hardly believe it myself. They both look incredible."

Most people already knew about Megan and Tawny. So seeing them dancing close to each other wasn't exactly something new. However, the other kids found it hard to keep their eyes off of Tiffany and me. I would've chalked it all up to Tiffany looking amazing in her costume, if it were up to me. Yet, as we continued to dance, and more people continued to look on, I realized I was drawing half of the attention.

That's when I noticed boys starting to move in closer. They weren't doing anything constrictively rude, or interrupting our good time. Instead, they were moving in for closer looks. Some boys were watching my legs, and I caught a few checking out my bottom. Still others were intently following where Tiffany's navel would go next. By the time the next song rolled around, boys were circling us like vultures.

We continued to dance. The boys and girls sifted in and out of the crowd. Now several new boys were seeing how close they could get to view us. I looked around, and realized it wasn't just us they were stealing peaks at. They were doing it to all of the girls. I guess girls pairing up to dance just happened to garnish a little more attention. Then again, I wasn't a girl, but they didn't have to know that to stare.

A slow song hit the room like breaks on a semi truck. Most of the crowd bowed out, not having anyone to dance with. I quickly took Tiffany in my arms. She seemed pleasantly surprised at the move, and pulled herself closer to me. Some of the boys stuck around. They glanced around at the girls, probably waiting for an opportunity to strike. I was so involved with watching them, that one caught me off guard from behind.

"May I cut in?"

At first I wondered who they meant. Then I realized they had tapped me on the shoulder. This of course meant they wanted to dance with Tiffany. According to the rules of etiquette on the dance floor, I had every right to say no. Tiffany had that right as well, but she took the girl's way out. She looked at me. Reluctantly, I let my dancing partner go to a tall blonde who had somehow managed to turn his baggy clothes into a hip hop artist costume.

He looked like a clown, but a clown who made me look like one now standing alone amidst the crowd. I really had no idea what to do. As he twirled away with Tiffany, I went into some strange helpless girl mode. Random kids just looked at me, while some of the boys went in for the kill. I was like a helpless bunny trapped amongst the carnivores. They all looked hungry.

"Care to dance?"

I turned around, ready to spray venom. Instead I found myself recoiling. There in front of me was the worst looking vampire I had ever seen. Vince had even taken his false fangs out, but they made his smile look ten times better. He smiled down at me with royal blue eyes, and for some reason I felt safe. I almost turned him down for the dance, but when I saw the other boys awaiting my response, I quickly nodded.

Vince took my right hand in his left, and put his other hand at my waist. It felt strange at first, having to fight him for a moment over who would lead. He stuck it out until I quit trying to fight it. I finally fell into sync with him right as the song neared the end. The DJ seemed quick to keep the feeling going, and put on another slow song. Vince held onto me, smiling as we danced into the next song.

I failed to even look around for Tiffany. This new experience had managed to take away the majority of my self-awareness. If anyone asked me now what the song was that we danced to, I would never be able to tell you. That's not to say it wasn't special. Like all new experiences, it felt special to me. Perhaps I would've chosen another boy to share my first dance with, but that wouldn't have changed much about it.

"You look pretty tonight," Vince said.

"Thanks," I said, noticeably blushing.

He leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, but I thought it should be said."

"It was nice of you," I said, as he pulled his head back. "You look nice as well."

"Thanks." Vince studied me for a moment. He couldn't resist pulling my hand up with his, and giving one of my curls a gentle tug. "I like the curls."

"They seem to be pretty popular," I said, displaying a subtle smile.

"I hope we didn't get off on the wrong foot," Vince said.

"We kind of did," I said, nodding to our feet on the floor.

Vince chuckled. He almost sounded like Nathan when he laughed. That might have been a huge part of why I didn't run away screaming. Like Nathan, Vince had this gentleness about him. I could see why Tiffany liked him, and why she could talk easily with him. He didn't seem like a bad guy at all. In fact, he seemed charming and nice.

"Well…" Vince said. "Dancing jokes aside. I didn't want you to think of me as a bad guy." He gave me a half smile. "Tiffany said you were concerned."

"I don't think that anymore," I said.

"What do you think?" Vince asked.

"I think you're nice," I said, giving him a thoughtful smile.

"Well good," Vince said.

With that, Vince caught me off guard with my first ever twirl. If he hadn't been around to catch me, I would've fallen flat on my face. All of these new experiences brought new feelings. When Vince had twirled me around, I felt delicate almost breakable. The gentleness and spontaneity of the move had me feeling carefree and a bit invigorated. My hand in his felt safe. His watchful gaze felt like a shelter.

Melanie and Kate were right. Even though I didn't expect to follow their suggestion tonight, it had just occurred randomly. It arose from an odd circumstance, but I'm glad it did. There really was no other feeling quite like dancing with a boy. I couldn't figure out earlier why they were pushing the issue, but now I knew. Tiffany had gotten worked up over…

"Tiffany…" I said.

"What about her?" Vince asked.

"I lost her," I said, looking around the crowd.

"She's over there," Vince said, nodding his head in her direction. "She's fine. I've been watching her." He looked down at me. "It seemed like you needed rescuing more than she did." He glanced back at her. "Though she doesn't look too happy about it."

"I should really go check on her," I said.

"I'll make you a deal," Vince said. "If the next song's a fast one, you can go." He smiled. "If not, I get another dance."

I glanced back and forth from Vince to Tiffany. Finally I looked up at Vince. "Okay," I said. "But only one."

"Aw," Vince said. "I was hoping for a few later too."

"You're pushing it," I said.

I shook my head at Vince, but I couldn't help smiling. He was definitely growing on me. Maybe I would dance with him later. I didn't want to give him the wrong impression, yet something felt extremely comfortable about him. It would remain comfortable for the moment, as another slow song came up. Vince smiled down at me, a small victory in his corner.

As we danced through that song, I forgot about all of the prying eyes around us. Nobody looked familiar anyway, as my friends had all but vanished in the crowd, and the costumes hid people I otherwise would have recognized. So I simply lent Bailey to Vince for the next few minutes. I managed to shyly steal glances at him when I thought he wasn't looking. It all felt natural, so natural that I almost wanted another slow song to come on so we could continue.

Alas, the song ended. A steady stream of beat mixes flowed in, trying to pump blood back into the dwindling dance crowd. Vince seemed sweeter than ever when we parted. He gently brought my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. When he did that at the fall festival it seemed creepy. Now it just seemed charming.

"I'll see you later then?" Vince asked.

"Perhaps," I said.

Vince let me slip back into the crowd. It didn't take me long at all to find Tiffany. I approached her while she was in the process of pushing another boy away from her. She rolled her eyes at some comment he made, and walked closer to me. When she saw me, her eyes lit up, and she smiled. I drew closer to her, and the boy seemed to back off. Tiffany came over and kissed my cheek.

"You would not believe what that boy just said," Tiffany said.

I looked at the back of the boy's head, then motioned for Tiffany to tell me.

"He said he would like to rub against my lamps all night," Tiffany said, showing her disgust throughout the statement. "Can you believe that?"

"You want me to talk to him?" I asked, now staring the boy down.

"No," Tiffany said, giggling as she looked at me.

"What?"

"I think he'd probably ask if he could put his ship in your harbor," Tiffany said, still giggling after her comment.

"At least I could tell him where to stick his anchor," I grumbled.

"Oh, come on," Tiffany said, walking me off to the side. "You're more girly than me at this point." She rubbed her hand around my side and down my bottom. "Besides, I want you to keep this costume in one piece for awhile." Her lips turned up into a mischievous smile. "We might wear them again later."

"There you are," Tracy said, coming over to Tiffany. "I've been looking for you."

"Did you get it?" Tiffany asked.

"I did," Tracy said, "but it comes at a price." She held a key up for Tiffany to take. "Rules too."

"What rules?" Tiffany asked, looking confused.

"Don't get too loud," Tracy said. "Don't turn on any lights that can be seen from the house."

"Is that it?" Tiffany asked.

"Oh," Tracy said. "If you get caught, say it was unlocked and hide the key under the mattress."

"What are you planning?" I asked Tiffany.

"A surprise," Tiffany said. "I'll fill you in when we get there."

"We?" I asked. "Wait. You and me?!"

"Careful around the pool," Tracy said. "I'll hit the lights for you." She turned to look at me. "Have fun."

Nothing clicked in my head at all. It felt like Tiffany and I were going on a secret espionage mission, yet only one of us had any information. All I could gather was that we were sneaking into something locked, and avoiding detection at all costs. Tiffany hadn't even questioned Tracy when told this would come at a price. What price? She didn't seem to care either.

Tiffany took my hand, pulling me into the crowd. We kept to the outside, and slinked close to the walls. She expertly navigated us into the kitchen, where several kids were drinking and eating a smorgasbord of party favorites. Suddenly she stopped. We were so close to each other that I nearly walked up her back. She nodded to Tracy, who stood next to the back door, and then pulled me toward the door leading out to the garage.

"Will you help me grab some more drinks?" Tiffany asked.

I looked at her strangely. Somehow I found the ability to nod in her direction. With my acknowledgement, Tiffany pulled me out into the garage. She shut the door behind us. Then after a quick check if the garage was empty, she pulled me over to the side door. After flashing me a smile, she pushed the door open, checked around the corner, and then pulled me outside.

We stepped out into the chilly autumn night. I'm sure Tiffany felt it worse than I did, but my costume wasn't exactly built for warmth either. I wondered why in the world she would bring me outside. Did Rachel's parents have some secret alcohol stash? Surely Tiffany didn't want to drink. I knew her better than that, at least I thought I did. She wouldn't touch the stuff even at her own house.

Tiffany waited by the corner of the house. She seemed fixated on the back lights. Suddenly all of the lights went off. Tiffany rushed across the yard, pulling me closely behind her. It wasn't until we reached the pool house that I knew of our destination. She put the key in the lock, and quickly pulled us inside. The door shut behind us almost as fast as we opened it. Almost immediately the lights outside came back on.

"Private party," Tiffany said, near a whisper.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, whispering with her. "We could get in trouble."

"You know all of those times I said I'd make it up to you?" Tiffany asked, still whispering as she led me carefully through a makeshift living room. "Well tonight I'm going to make them all up to you."

"You don't have to do that," I said.

"I want to though," Tiffany said.

"I don't know…"

Tiffany stopped and turned into me. "If you're not comfortable with this we can go back."

"I'm comfortable," I said. "I think…" I could smell her perfume and hair so close to me. "What if we get caught?"

"Nobody even knows we're out here," Tiffany said. "Besides… it only goes as far as we want it to." Her hands were now running up and down the front of my velvety dress. "Okay?"

"I just don't want things to get out of hand," I said.

"They won't," Tiffany said. "I promise." Her hand slid back into mine. "But we have to go to the back room."

We couldn't even make it that far. By the time we reached the hall back to the bedroom, we were kissing and pawing at each other. If we didn't have rules to go by, we would've collapsed on the floor right there. Somehow we managed to get into the bedroom, where a few pastel colored nightlights lit up the room. Soft music was playing on the bedside radio. Tiffany took her veil, which she removed earlier in the hallway, and tossed it onto the bed.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed a rather familiar voice from over on the bed.

"Tawny?" Tiffany asked.

Another voice entered the room; one with a distinctive Korean accent. "Tiffany?"

"Megan?" I asked.

"You hit me with your veil," Tawny said. "How did you get in here?"

For a moment I saw Tawny sit forward on the bed. The moonlight seeping through the window, along with the nightlights, cast a shadowed light upon the pale bare chest of Tawny Simmons. I didn't mean to see them, but they had just popped into view. Suddenly I felt very shy at the moment. Tawny pulled her costume up over her shoulders, while Megan turned her back to us.

"I didn't know anyone else was in here," Tiffany said. "Tracy got the key… and I thought…" Tiffany let out an exasperated sigh in the darkness. "I'm so sorry you two."

"No, it's my fault," Tawny said. "We always sneak off back here."

"Not always," Megan said, trying to appear modest.

"Well…" Tawny said. "I didn't think anyone else knew about it." She stood and walked over closer to us. "What brings you two here anyway?"

"Um…" Tiffany fidgeted next to me.

"I mean, I know why you're here," Tawny said. "Obviously." She reached out and pulled Tiffany over to the bed. "Special occasion?"

I followed them both over to the bed. Megan seemed to cower a bit in the shadows. By the time I got to the foot of the bed, Tiffany and Tawny had already made themselves at home. Tawny had crawled back up on the bed, and was kneeling next to Tiffany, who casually pulled her sandals off to sit on the bed. I slipped my shoes off to join them, and noticed Megan reaching out for my hand.

"I don't know how special it is now," Tiffany joked. "We were just coming in here to have some time alone."

"It's as special as you make it," Megan said.

I felt myself sliding onto the bed knees first. Eventually I found myself kneeling between Megan and Tiffany, and facing Tawny. I still couldn't shake the image of her breasts from my head. They were at least a healthy b-cup, but I'd never seen Tawny wear anything tight enough to show them off. In fact, they were almost as nice as Tiffany's breasts. I suddenly wanted a pair of my own, when I realized I was the only one without them. Even Megan had a budding a-cup going for her.

"We could leave if you like," I said. "You were here first."

"No," Tawny said. "I don't wanna ruin your 'special' night."

"Why would you say it like that?" Megan asked, poking Tawny in the ribs with her elbow.

"Maybe we could just hang out and talk," Tiffany said, all but giving up on the occasion.

She straightened herself, and moved onto her knees across from Tawny. Her right hand slid into my left hand, and I noticed Megan still held my other hand. I watched Megan, as she slid her hand along Tawny's thigh. She leaned over and whispered something into Tawny's ear. Tawny giggled, another characteristic uncommon to her, and whispered something back to Megan.

"Are you sure?" Tawny asked.

"Yes," Megan said.

"What are you two whispering about?" Tiffany asked.

"Megan was wondering…" Tawny said. "Or rather she's been wondering about it for a long time now." Tawny looked over at Megan. "I don't know how to ask it."

"I've never talked much about this," Megan said. "For a long time I've been wondering what it would be like." She lowered her head. "You see… My parents are very strict, and what is done with Tawny is mostly done like this. In the dark, and away from home." Her hand tightened around Tawny's, and her head tilted slightly toward her. "I thought since we were here, away from the others." She sighed, and looked up at Tiffany. "Since we had the opportunity. That maybe I could have this one chance to try it." Her head turned to face me. "To kiss another transgender girl."

It sounded cuter still when Megan said it with her slight accent. I had watched her go from shy wallflower to miss popularity. Now she knelt next to me as if none of that popularity got to her. Inside she was still the same shy girl I talked to before school. It took me a few seconds to realize what she was asking, and that I was the intended target of her kiss. At the moment, I wish she had just done it, gotten it over with. Instead she asked, and now it felt a bit awkward.

"I…" They all just kind of stared at me.

"I know it's a lot to ask," Megan said. "I can understand if you say no."

"I don't know," Tiffany said, still looking at me. "I guess it's up to Bailey."

"Up to me?" I asked, not wanting the burden of it. "Are you sure about that?"

"Well…" Tiffany said. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I told you it would come out sounding strange," Tawny said, looking at Megan. "How about we make it fair?"

"Fair?" Tiffany asked. "Is that even possible?"

"What if we all got one kiss from each other?" Tawny asked.

"It's starting to sound like that movie now," I said, obviously trying to cut the tension in the room.

"I know… Indecent Proposal. It sounds lame," Tawny said. "But then we can say it's all even."

"Or we could just stay even and not do it," I said.

"Hmmm…" Tiffany said. "It won't leave this room?"

"Never," Megan said.

"We won't say a word," Tawny said. "I'm kind of curious too."

"Curious about what?" I asked.

"Kissing another girl," Tawny said. "I mean Megan's top notch, but…"

"I am technically a boy," Megan said. "She's been wanting about kissing an actual girl."

"And we trust you two," Tawny said.

"Completely trust you," Megan said.

"Well we trust you both too," I said. "Still…" I looked at Tiffany.

While Tiffany mulled it over, I had some of my own thinking to do. I had never kissed another girl, unless you count those childish pecks on the cheek in first grade. Usually I would wind up running away afterwards. So kissing Tawny would be kind of scary, but nothing I would run from. Then the unsettling worries trickled in on me. Technically, as she said herself, Megan was a boy. I knew we regarded her as a run-of-the-mill girl in life, but we all knew the truth.

For the past two months I had thought about kissing a boy, but I had never gotten the nerve up to do it. A dream involving Nathan was the closest I came to the act. This almost felt like a dream in itself. Then there was Tawny's somewhat enlightened scheme where we all won in the end. Something told me she had an ulterior motive. The quiet talk in the room became a muted whisper. Somehow I had missed a vital piece of the conversation, while delving in my thoughts.

"Okay," Tiffany said. "Just one? No seconds?"

"If anyone goes for a second, we all get a second," Tawny said.

"Wait… what?" I asked.

"This might be fun," Tiffany said, squeezing my hand. "Kind of a learning experience. Like the stuff you'd do in camp or at a sleepover."

Had I totally missed the boat? Before I knew it, Tawny and Megan were "breaking the ice" and kissing each other. I got lost watching them kiss. It looked amazing, and I wondered if Tiffany and I looked the same when we kissed. As the urge to protest came back to me, I felt a hand under my chin. My head turned quickly, but gently, and my protest was muffled by Tiffany's lips joining mine. The sticky reluctant cling of our lip gloss gave way as the kiss departed.

"That wasn't exactly your best," Tiffany said. "Hope you do better at least for Megan's sake."

"She's just nervous," Tawny said, reaching out to pat my leg. "Maybe we should go boy girl next to get her lips working again."

Tawny's words didn't even register in my head. I simply watched her lips move. Perhaps this wouldn't be too bad. I would get to kiss Tawny as a lovely bonus. Her lips moved into a smug smile. I assumed it had something to do with the last thing she said, but again, I couldn't even recall her words. I felt myself bracing for the inevitable. My body straightened as I came forward a bit on the bed.

Just as I thought Tawny was about to go for the kiss, Tiffany's face blocked half of my view. Megan's face soon moved into the other half. The girls closed in the remaining gap. Their lips melted together like soft candy. Both of them enjoyed the moment, Megan lingering a second longer; to savor the taste of Tiffany's cherry lip gloss no doubt. What lasted for mere seconds, burned a lasting image in my mind. All too soon it was over.

"That was pretty sexy," Tawny said. "Ready sailor?"

"Just relax," Tiffany whispered in my ear.

I felt her hand running over my back. It felt soothing, methodic, and eased me up to the point where I could meet Tawny halfway. She looked so beautiful tonight. In fact, I happened to be surrounded by the three most beautiful girls at the party. Oddly enough, they considered me as one of the cutest girls there. This had to be a setup. Any minute one of them would call it off and they'd all break into a giggle fest. But why would Tiffany go as far as she did?

Tawny's hands slithered up my nylon-clad thighs. I suddenly realized that all three of them were putting their hands on me. They were trying to make me feel more comfortable. Megan's fingers were on the verge of tickling, as the gently caressed my bare arm. Tiffany continued to move her hand up and down my back. As this went on, I felt a pair of hands sliding around my hips, and then back down to my knees.

Tawny's green eyes penetrated the darkness. They seemed to have a life of their own as they floated toward mine. Even if I wanted to turn back now, I couldn't do it. I had to know what Tawny's kiss felt like at least. Her lips were so close I could feel their soft pink glow. So close now, but I knew they would take me miles from where I was kneeling on this bed. My eyes shut. I pushed myself forward. There was no turning back.

Her lips crashed against mine like a roaring wave. There were sparks, and passion. It lacked nothing, and I gave it everything. It felt warm like the grass in spring. Her lips felt as firm and tender as a ripened grape. Interestingly enough, they tasted like grapes. They actually tasted like grape lip gloss… and a bit of cherry. My eyes jerked open.

Tawny's eyes did not greet me. Instead I found a pair of chocolate brown eyes, shaped like two perfect almonds, surrounded by glitter. Megan's eyes closed, and continued the kiss. After the initial shock had settled, I found my own eyes closing. I relaxed into the kiss. It appeared that it didn't matter to me where the kiss had come from. I simply knew that it felt good. It tasted good. I had started kissing Megan, and I didn't want the kiss to end.

"I'm sorry," Megan said, breaking the kiss. "I wanted it to be real and pure."

"No," I said. "It's fine."

"I thought if you anticipated it too much, it would lose something," Megan said.

"It was good," I said. "I liked it."

"You liked it?" Tawny asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," I admitted. "It was tender and sweet."

"Would you like to kiss again?" Tiffany asked, obviously intrigued by what had just occurred.

I knew the answer to Tiffany's question had a heavy weight attached to it. If I admitted I wanted to kiss Megan again, Tiffany might be upset. It could change the whole dynamic of our relationship. On the other hand, if I didn't handle it gently enough, Megan might be hurt by me turning her down. I stared in silence at Megan. In all of my life I had never been more thankful for having Tawny around, than I was at that very moment, on that very night.

"Rules are in place," Tawny said.

"Of course," Tiffany said.

Megan simply nodded, and retreated back to her corner of the bed. For the next minute of my life I had to suffer through a jealous flare up my spine, and a hundred questions going through my mind. Tawny and Tiffany shared an amazing kiss. I could hardly describe it, but seeing two girls come close and exploring such a tender and intimate moment; it took my breath away. My breath was soon taken away again, as Tawny came after her kiss from me.

Out of the three there that night, the gentlest and most passionate kiss surprisingly came from Tawny. I couldn't escape the taste of Tiffany's cherry lip gloss, as everyone was wearing it now. So while the taste wasn't unique, Tawny's technique was far different. She had a way in which she moved her bottom lip up and down, that made it feel like the kiss kept coming. It was almost as if she wanted to push the kiss into you somehow.

"No offense," Tawny said, pulling back from me, "but you kiss like a girl."

"I…"

"Relax," Megan said. "She said the same thing to me."

"Humor," Tawny said, smiling at me. "To lighten the air."

"We better get back to the party," Tiffany said.

"Aw," Megan said. "You just got here."

"I think it would be a good idea if we all went back now," I said, looking away from the three of them.

"Can I borrow your shoes Bailey?" Tawny asked.

"No," Megan said. "You put your heels back on. One night won't kill you."

"Will kill my feet," Tawny said.

"You'll live," Megan said. "And we're dancing more too."

"Fine," Tawny said, obviously disgruntled.

"Speaking of shoes, where are mine?" Tiffany asked. "I can't see a thing in here."

"Just feel around for them," Tawny said, as she slid off of the bed to help.

I watched the two of them go down to the floor in a frantic search for shoes. Right before I got off of the bed myself, Megan handed me Tiffany's veil. Our hands touched briefly, and I could see Megan smiling in the faint light of the room. She pushed herself forward and put her lips against mine once more. As the other two girls kept busy looking for shoes, Megan and I shared another pleasant kiss.

It felt a bit strained and stiff at first, as I had been caught off guard, and it was a spur of the moment thing. Eventually I relaxed, and Megan relaxed. The tenderness from our first kiss returned. Though I wasn't sure, I thought I felt a bit more passion this time on her end. I felt the first kiss was more of an experimental trial, but this one seemed more real. This kiss felt soft, sticky and sweet, all of the things needed for a good stolen kiss.

"So that's what it normally feels like to kiss you?" Megan asked. "I liked it." She leaned further to whisper in my ear. "Both times."

"Found one of yours," Tiffany said.

"Damn," Tawny said. "Was hoping you wouldn't."

Megan pulled away. Her index finger flew to her lips, giving me the universal signal to keep silent. She slid from the bed without effort, and came around to the foot of it. After a moment she stood in front of me with my shoes. She held my right foot up, and slipped that shoe on. I welcomed the help, as I still had not gotten used to the false nails. As she slipped my other shoe onto my left foot, her hands slid up my leg.

"You two ready?" Tawny asked. "I don't think I can run in these things."

"How did you get out here without being seen?" Tiffany asked.

"We walked along the fence," Tawny said. "Can't see it from the basement window."

"Good to know," I said.

"Let me find my shoes," Megan said.

Megan dropped to her knees. With one hand she felt around for her shoes. Her other hand stayed on my nylon-clad leg. In soft, light strokes, her hand gently slid up and down my calf. I think I had totally missed the boat on something. Megan acted as if we had suddenly become an item after one kiss. Okay, it was two kisses, but still… I didn't want to be her new girlfriend, or boyfriend. Now I had even confused myself.

"Found them," Megan said, finally taking her hand from my leg. She quickly slipped her shoes on. "We better check makeup."

"Oh yeah," Tawny said. "Here." She flicked on the light in a small bathroom.

"Tawny!" Tiffany said. "Won't they see the light?"

"Relax," Tawny said. "This is the one safe room of the pool house. Luckily it's the bathroom."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.

"Experience," Tawny said.

"We come to a lot of Rachel's parties," Megan said.

We all crowded into the bathroom. Tawny and Tiffany stood behind Megan and I at the mirror. Megan quickly gussied herself up, and had to turn and help Tawny. It seemed kind of funny that she had to help an actual girl with makeup. I smiled at Tawny, and she rolled her eyes. I looked away to start on my own touch up. It was then that I felt a squeeze on my bottom, and I instantly looked at Tiffany.

That had to be Tiffany. Only it couldn't have been Tiffany. Both of her hands were up at her hair fixing her veil. She handed her lip gloss to me, and my eyes roamed back to Tawny. It had to be her, as Megan wasn't even facing me. Tawny kept a poker face though, causing me to simply go back to fixing myself up. Again, a hand grabbed the same cheek and gave it a firmer squeeze.

"Okay," I said. "Cut it out."

"Cut what out?" Tiffany asked.

"I know it's you Tawny," I said.

Tawny burst out laughing, causing Tiffany to join her. "I'm sorry," Tawny said, amidst laughter. "Tiffany told me to do it."

"Lies!" Tiffany said, trying to hide a mischievous grin.

"What are you doing to the poor girl?" Megan asked.

"Just this," Tawny said, grabbing my bottom once again.

This time I jumped, making Tawny enjoy it even more. Tiffany reached down and grabbed the other cheek. I turned around, fuming a bit at the teasing. Both girls just giggled and smiled, turning to each other to relish in their little inside joke. Then out of nowhere, I felt another hand grab my backside. Megan had gotten into the act now. She giggled when I jumped to face her.

"I'm sorry," Megan said. "Peer pressure."

"Well all of the pressure is on my bottom," I said, backing out of the room.

Tawny couldn't contain herself now. My statement made her lose control. Tiffany came toward me holding her arms out. She gave me a look like she wanted to consol me, and I let her wrap her arms around me. The next thing I knew, she had both hands on my bottom. She squeezed both cheeks, and pulled me into her. Unfortunately she couldn't turn it into a serious moment, and let go of me to go join Tawny in laughing.

"Okay," I said. "I'm going to go now."

I slapped Tiffany's lip gloss in her hand, and stormed out of the bedroom. Behind me I could hear awing, like I had pulled the life out of their little party. Tiffany caught up to me in the small living area of the pool house. She wrapped her arms around me, turning me into her for an actual hug. This time she genuinely consoled me. I wasn't extremely mad, just frustrated at the teasing. However, it was nice to know that she would come after me like she did.

Megan and Tawny soon joined us. Tawny put her hand on my shoulder and rubbed the top of my back. Megan got in on the hug and squished Tiffany and I together more. We stayed like that for awhile. Then Megan moved over to peer out the window, and Tawny soon joined her. Tiffany didn't want to let go of me, and I didn't want her to either. The comforting hug felt wonderful.

"We have to slip out, and quickly go around behind the pool house," Tawny said, watching the house. "Then follow the fence back to the garage, and try to slip back into the party."

"Should we all go together?" Tiffany asked, still running her hands up and down my back.

"Better that we do," Tawny said. "If we go one at a time, that's four chances for them to spot us." She looked at Megan. "And I really don't want to get caught sneaking into their pool house."

"We should've never come out here," I said, resting my chin on Tiffany's shoulder.

"Coming out here was totally worth it," Tiffany said, breaking our hug. "Just getting caught going back won't be."

"If we don't get caught," Megan said. "We'll be able to do this again."

"You do come out here all the time don't you?" I asked.

"Maybe," Megan said, grinning.

"Megan and Bailey go first," Tawny said. "You two have the brightest costumes."

"Why didn't we have Tracy stay at the back door?" I asked. "She could've hit the lights for us to sneak across again."

"That wouldn't be fair to make her stand guarding a door all night," Megan said.

"I guess that's true," I said. "Never thought about that."

"We'll be fine," Tawny said. "Just stay close."

With that said, Tawny eased the door open. She snapped the lock on it, and waved Megan through. Megan took my hand, and I in turn took Tiffany's hand. Our little train quickly made its way around the corner of the pool house. Tawny caught up with us, struggling in her heels. I knew we would eventually hear about how much she hated them, but right now we stuck to the task at hand in silence.

Cautiously we sneaked down the fence row and made our way to the side of the garage. Tawny moved to the head of our pack, and carefully opened the door. She popped her head inside, and then gave us the all clear. We all piled into the garage, relieved to be out of the bitter autumn air. It wasn't much warmer in the garage, but at least there wasn't any wind. Tawny led us all over to a big refrigerator, and opened it up.

"Take some soft drinks in," Tawny said. "Nobody will wonder why you're out here."

Tawny started distributing cans to us, two at a time. Megan took hers and headed for the door. Soon she disappeared, back into the house and the party still in progress. Tiffany went next, so it didn't look like Megan and Tawny were out here alone. I started to go, but Tawny stopped me. She waited until Tiffany had been gone a moment. Then she grabbed her own two cans, and shut the door.

"I wanted to…" Tawny looked around like there were more people in the room. "That kiss back there…"

"It was nice," I said.

"Yeah," Tawny said. "Nice…" She looked confused for a moment. "I think it was a little more than nice." She gave me a half smile. "I really liked it."

"Really?"

"Well don't sound so surprised," Tawny said. "You make an amazingly sexy girl with a little effort."

"No," I said. "I mean… I liked it too." I bit my lower lip. "I just don't know what to think, or what to say about it." I sighed. "It's just all so new to me. Plus it sort of felt… I don't know."

"Yeah," Tawny said. "I don't want to complicate things for you. I mean, you're with Tiffany."

"And you're with Megan."

"Right," Tawny said. "Maybe it was nothing, but I just wanted to tell you."

"Maybe…" I said, gazing at Tawny longingly.

"We should get inside," Tawny said. "I'm freezing my butt off in these girly clothes."

"Actually," I said, as Tawny brushed past me. I waited until she turned to face me. "You look really pretty."

"You think?" Tawny asked.

"Yes," I said. "You should wear stuff like that more often."

"Like this costume?" Tawny asked with a slight laugh.

"More feminine stuff I mean," I said. "Colors like that, and I like the skirt. You look cute in it." I looked down. "You've got nice legs too."

"Thanks," Tawny said, offering up another of her rare blushes. "I'll think about it."

I watched Tawny walk to the door. She looked over her shoulder at me. After flashing me a subtle smile, she opened the door and walked into the house. I stood for a moment, trying to anchor myself in the waves of the feelings and emotions washing over me. This had been a strange night, and it was far from over. I still had to make it through about two more hours of party. I shifted the cans in my hands, and walked to the door, prepared to face the music inside.

"There you are," Vince said, as I walked into the house. "Been looking for you."

"Me?" I asked.

"Of course," Vince said, taking the burden of the drinks from my hand. "I thought we might share another dance or two." He winked at me. "Maybe more than two?"

"That…" I looked over to see Tiffany giving me a sly smile and two big thumbs up. "Sounds nice," I said, taking Vince's hand.

---

 
 
To Be Continued...