My dad was at a loss for what to say and asked Gil about sports and other things he liked. Finally, he said, “I respect, someone willing to speak up for himself. But what do you expect to come from this?” …Gil blushed, “Sir, I’m just asking her to dinner and a dance. I’m hoping it is okay, I don’t really have any expectations pass going out. I’m hoping she’s serious about wanting to be a girl.” …Mother asked me, “And Shelby what do you have to say for yourself?...” “Well, we were friends, but I never expected to be going out with him,” I said. “I’m a little bit surprised to be holding his hand in front of you. But somehow, I’m comfortable with it. I only see him as a guy and me as the girl I always imagined…”

Now: It was Tuesday, and Tonya and Beth were helping me to learn to dance like a girl. I was starting to get more comfortable about my dancing as I relaxed and became a little giddy along with Tonya. We were down in our finished basement and at the end of one dance where Tonya swung me out and brought me back. I heard clapping coming from the stairs. “You might want to confirm it with Angie, but I think you are getting the swing of it.”

I asked, “Why do I need to confirm it with Angie?”

Mom replied, “I asked her when she thought you were able to dance properly; I suggested she help you get some more clothes. I thought you might enjoy her helping you more than your mother.”

I turned to Beth and Tonya and asked them. Beth was the first to speak, “You’re not finished learning. You need to dance enough that you are more familiar with it.”

Tonya said, “If Shelby comes over to my house tonight, I’ll have Travis dance with her a few times. He’s planning on taking me to the dance. He won’t dance with her there, but he will help tonight and maybe again on Thursday.”

Mom asks, “Would you like that Shelby?”

“Mom,” I said, “It might be a good idea, but it will feel odd to be dancing with a boy.”

It felt very unusual when Travis held me for two slow dances. He laughed at me, “I have trouble believing I’m dancing with a guy from my old high school.”

I stomped my foot at the end of the dance, “You are not going to say anything like that at the dance are you?” Tonya chided him and asked him to apologize. Travis gave me a one-arm hug, “Sorry, I think you make an attractive girl.”

Angie danced with me after we were both home on Wednesday. She asked, “How are the other students responding to you at school?” She said, “I liked the outfits you wore the past two days?”

We stopped at Mom’s flower shop on the way to shop for my clothes. We ended up covering at the store as my mom was gone. We got a special flower arrangement that was to go out pronto. We found the cute container it was to go in as well as the green foam block that the flowers were stuck in.

No, big judgment but Angie’s not good at arranging flowers. Putting twelve roses in a box with tissue and baby’s breath she can handle. Angie said, “Shelby this is your chance to shine.”

I said, “Nothing to it; look at the picture and use the flowers it calls for.”

Angie says, “But it calls for an orchid and rose corsage to be put in the center.”

I did the arrangement and Angie and picked a white orchid along with a pink one, I looked where the order was to go and decided on three pink budding roses to go along the edge of the orchids. The green leaves framed the corsage. I had watched my mom and Maisy wrap the stems before and then bind the stems as one. We put in two large pins and put the corsage in clear plastic wrap. I lightly pushed them between some flowers knowing when the corsage was lifted that the arrangement would still look good.

We put the arrangement in the refrigerated showcase. We had more customers as we waited for mom to return. We learned Maisy had been in an accident, and fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Maisy, needed our mom to take her home and it was up to us to finish delivering the orders.

Angie gave me her car keys, saying, “We can’t wait on that arrangement any longer. You need to deliver it to Mrs. Ruth Dauber; she’s Patsy’s mother. If Patsy isn’t a friend of Shelby’s she will be after she sees the arrangement you made.”

Angie took a picture of the arrangement to show our mother.

I wasn’t sure, what the Dauber’s or Patsy would say about me delivering the arrangement. I was happy that I got it to their house and out of the car in one piece.

Mrs. Dauber, Patsy, and her older daughter greeted me, and Mr. Dauber was standing a few steps away. It was the arrangement that caught their eyes. Cathy the older sister asked, “Why are the center flowers wrapped in plastic?”

“It’s a corsage that lifts out to be worn, by the honored person.”

Mrs. Dauber looks up to see who’s talking. “You’re not Maisy or Angie; I’m sorry I don’t know you. Tell Pam she outdid herself on this one.”

I said, “I think the credit goes to the person who ordered it for you. But I’ll tell my Mom that you like it.”

She looked to me again, “I’ll thank Mr. Dauber well enough, but he couldn’t have put this together. It is beautiful, you must tell your mother… Your mother, who are you?”

Patsy smiles, “This is Shelby Strayer mom; Angie’s new sister, doesn’t she look pretty.”

“I hope you enjoy them,” I said, as I stepped away. Mr. Dauber called to me, “I have a tip for you.” I didn’t go back, but got into the car and left.

Mother and Angie were closing up the flower shop as I returned. Mom hugged me, “I saw pictures of the arrangement and the corsage. You did a magnificent job young lady.” Mom had already had a call from the Daubers. Thankfully it was my mother after hearing how beautiful everything was; she told them that I made the arrangement and the corsage. Patsy even asked if I would be helping to make corsages for the prom.

It was later than we planned when Angie and I got to the mall. Angie picked out a beautiful skater dress with a sexy lace slip that showed below the skirt. I saw it, I knew right away it needed to be Angie’s, not mine.

I was glad she had found two other dresses and asked me to choose which one I wanted to try on first. I said, “I’m willing to try on the pink satin dress if you’ll try on the skater dress. I think you also need to get a dress!

She smiled at the idea but faintly resisted, “Mom said, we’re to be shopping for you.”

I said, “You picked out the skater dress that screams your name. You’ve helped me so much, you deserve something for you. I won’t even buy one dress if you don’t try this on and buy it if you like it.” She and I both knew I was correct.

I was surprised about how wonderful the pink ruched dress felt and looked on me. I had stepped into it and pulled it smoothly up my legs. The ruffle of the sleeves sent goosebumps down my arms. I brought both arms and hands around my back to find the zipper. The dress was snug, and as I brought up the zipper the dress hugging my body felt sensational. I slipped my feet into my shoes but stood as though I were wearing heels. “O my,” I said. "It's too um, Mom I can't wear this yet, it's too..."

I heard Angie in the changing room next to me, “I thought you’d love it.” Then Angie asked, “If you’re about ready to step out, let’s do it together.”

It took a moment and then Angie counted, “One, two, three…” And we stepped out to look at the other. I loved the look of Angie’s dress and how the lace slip made her look sexier than I ever saw her.

Angie had her phone and automatically I posed for her picture. She showed one picture to me, and it was even better than looking in the mirror. There was a string holding closed a small slit up the side of the dress. Angie said, “Let me cut that string so you can see how fantastic it looks on you?”

I said, “Don’t it is already too short; I don’t want the skirt sliding up my legs any higher.”

Angie said, “Get your hands away, of course, you want the skirt to slide. It is just more than my former brother is ready for.” She was correct, Russ’s thinking creeps in here and there all the time. It comes from years of getting into her clothes and worrying that she or mom would find me in their clothes.

What a wonderful feeling it is to have my sister looking at me and happy for the joy it is bringing me. She asked, “What has you smiling like a cat who just swallowed the canary?”

I said, “You can’t imagine how I felt excited or so afraid that you’d find me dressing as a girl. It was terrifying, yet it was so satisfying like Mom holding my package. I saw her joy as well as her anger. When she had me change; she and Darlene were happy to see me as Shelby.”

Angie held out her hands, “Yes, we’ve all been amazed to see the girl we had missed seeing so many times before. All those times you practiced being Shelby, have paid off.” She took me by the hand and we walked to the three mirrors together where we got a much better look at our dresses.”

There was no argument, Angie was buying her dress, as well as the one I tried on. I did find a skirt and two tops to go with it. I tried arguing against another dress for me, but I didn’t argue too hard. Two dresses and a skirt outfit, this girl was especially excited. I was kind of forced to buy more panties, pantyhose and several camisoles, and two bras. Angie said, “We got a wide variety and you’re going to find it especially nice to have a choice of panties. There will be some you prefer and others you’ll not like. Mom knows that and Dad won’t even want to know.”

Thursday, as I once again practiced dancing, I was becoming nervous. I became more so when Beth and then Tonya announced they saw Chad Smith staring at me. It wasn’t like I wasn’t looking back. He’s a linebacker in football and it has been said he’s liked some other boys, all smaller than himself.

Come Friday at school, Tonya, Rose, and Beth were keeping a close watch on me. They even recruited several other girls to make sure I wasn’t ever left alone. It was at lunch that I learned why. Beavis Johnson came up behind me. Tonya and I turned to face him. He spoke, “Sometimes your friends aren’t going to be there and there may be consequences?”

I asked, “Are you threatening me, what do you plan to do?”

He said, “I’m just saying things happen and you shouldn’t want to get hurt.” I saw the cafeteria monitor and Chad Smith stand up and then Beavis walked away.

Beth mentioned, “Did you see that white knight stand up and look this way?”

It just so happened that Chad was in my last-period chemistry class and he moved quickly to make me his partner when we did our lab experiment. It was one of those where we needed to determine an unknown compound. While I like the class, this is not my favorite kind of experiment. I had failed in two of these experiments before and this threatened my B grade.

I helped set up the equipment, but Chad took over from there. He had us wait a little longer than I would have in putting the unknown substance into the heated solution. Did it make a difference I don’t know? When our solution turned red it indicated an alkaline presence and gave us the answer.

I was ready to hug Chad to thank him when he lifted his hand for a high-five that was more appropriate for school.

He commented before the class ended, “I hear you have a date and I wish you well. I just want you to know there are other possibilities.”

Tonya was walking over, so I shyly said, “Thanks, that is nice to know.”

Walking away with Tonya and now Rose; Tonya asked, “What is nice to know?”

I calmly said, “None of your business.” We quietly walked to our lockers and left school together.

I had dreamed about dressing prettily and going to a dance, but now it was happening and I was nervous. Mom and Angie both found times to get me alone and suggest a feminine pad, as waiting to use the women’s room could take longer. TMI. Well, it proved nearly prophetic.

Gilbert was there as we agreed and the restaurant was nice, but I didn’t want a giant half-pound burger. Instead, I ordered a salad with strips of chicken. I wasn’t used to making conversation so the wait for dinner was quiet.

I did get out of him which university he was looking to continue after community college. He reiterated how he liked how feminine I looked and that there was little sign of the other me.

Once we were at the dance, we relaxed. We had our first set of dances before seeing either Tonya and Travis or my sister Angie. I wasn’t into overindulging but I did enjoy sipping the spiked punch.

That my sister was with a guy named Austin who was new, but then again I had a better impression of him than her previous two dates. I like that my sister doesn’t get very serious about most of her dates. It went along with what Tonya had suggested to me.

She and Travis have dated for three months and do have strong feelings for each other. She reminded me that she was going away to college and their romance would probably be old history.

Tonya asked if it was okay to take a picture of me and to post it. I was glad she asked but surprised that one of the first likes was from Chad.

It was nice being with Gil and we expected to go out again, but nothing was set up. Tonya and I both wondered about having no other date and no mentioning of the prom.

Saturday, I did get a call from Chad and he wanted to see me on Sunday. “I’d like to get a chance to talk and get to know you. It is a little difficult to do when we’re at school.”

I was nervous as Chad mentioned about meeting at the mall, but then going someplace. It was funny as I got into my car to leave for the mall. Gone were the old smells of a boy’s car and fragrances were taking over. It hadn’t hurt that I had cleaned out my car and vacuumed it real clean and discarded junk I hadn’t thrown out before. It had been a clean car for a boy, but now it was a girl’s car.

It was seven in the evening when our home phone rang; those calls are usually for my parents and something about their work. Mom answered, and I could hear her say, “Yes, this is the Strayer residence… We hadn’t decided but yes, Grace Church is one of our considerations… Let me have you talk to her…”

Mom called to me, “Shelby, there’s a girl Kristy wondering if she might see you at Grace Church tomorrow. Come and talk to her.”

I met a few people last Sunday but hadn’t remembered any names. “Hi,” I answered, “this is Shelby.”

Once she began to talk, I recognized the voice and could picture the girl. She asked me, “Shelby do you still find yourself ever attracted to other girls?”

I wanted to say right there, ‘Yes, especially if one is you.’ But I asked instead, “Do you know that I’m transgender?

“Yes, that is part of the reason I find you so attractive as a girlfriend. I’m attracted mostly to girls, but I go to a school that is still in the 20th century. It’s my senior year and I want to go to my prom. My school won’t let me attend the prom with another girl. But then they consider trans-girls to be boys… I know this is forward and pushy, and it would depend on if we would like each other. I was hoping you’d consider going to my prom with me. I’d pay for the tickets and dinner.”

I cover the speaker of the phone, and ask, “Mom, I’m thinking of going to the second service at Grace Church tomorrow. I will drive myself as I need to talk with Kristy.”

Mom reminded me I was to meet with Chad Smith later tomorrow. Kristy and I talked for another five minutes, but as soon as I was off the phone Angie and my mother both wanted to know what I was doing.

Angie said, “I wondered if this might happen, especially when you and Gil didn’t plan anything after your date.”

“Give me a break,” I said, “That was one time; we already talked about taking one day at a time.”

Angie giggled, “But tomorrow, you’re going to take an interest in two people at different times of the same day…”

Story to be continued…