The Trouble With Kacey

The trouble was that Kacey was innocent — and the girls refused to believe him! Even Carly didn’t believe him — and she was his sister! Carly and Kacey’s mutual friends, Sarah and Maren, were furious. Never mind that Ned and Tom, their other so-called friends, were the true culprits. The girls believed that Kacey was to blame!

Ned and Tom always had been mischievous, especially Ned. They enjoyed playing obnoxious but harmless jokes on people. Normally, they did such things as putting food dye or salt in someone’s drink or loosening the top of a salt shaker so all the salt would dump onto the plate of the poor sap who picked it up. This time, however they had gone too far — and Kacey was on the hook for it!

Poor Maren had made the innocent mistake of leaving her backpack unattended with her diary inside. The backpack was sitting near the front door at Sarah’s house. Ned went snooping in Maren’s backpack and found the diary. He showed it to Tom and the two of them snuck off to Sarah’s room to use her computer for Internet access. Once online, they began posting Maren’s personal secrets on a crude web page they made just for the purpose. Within five minutes, they had thrown the crude website together and emailed the web address to the entire group of all of their friends. Kacey walked by Sarah’s room on his way back from the bathroom and caught the two scoundrels with Maren’s diary.

He knew what it was because he had seen it in Maren’s room. He had noticed its beautiful, ornate cover and picked it up to admire it. He had no idea that it was Maren’s diary until she immediately asked him not to open it or read it. Kacey readily relinquished Maren’s diary, apologizing profusely and putting it carefully back where he had found it.

When Kacey saw Ned holding Maren’s diary and sitting at Sarah’s computer with Tom looking over his shoulder, he knew they were up to serious no-good. He stopped dead in his tracks, with his mouth open wide.

Kacey had a diary of his own in which he described, with great detail, his own secret — and his secret was of sufficient magnitude that he felt he would be unable to return to school if it got out. Kacey had a deep, innate respect for the private thoughts of others and he cared very deeply for Maren. Finding Maren’s diary in the hands of Ned and Tom put a chill in Kacey’s heart.

“Hey, you two! What’s going on? What are you doing with Maren’s diary?”

“See for yourself.”

“What in the hell did you do??”

They turned the screen toward Kacey, whose eyes opened wide. Kacey got enough of a look at the screen to know that Maren’s private thoughts were plastered all over it. He gasped as he clamped a hand over his eyes to avoid having any part in violating Maren’s privacy like that.

“Oh my God! What in the hell is the matter with you? Shut down that website right now!!”

“No!”

“Yes, you asshole! Shut down that web site before your friends start reading it!”

“Why don’t you make me, girly boy?”

Kacey hated being called a girly boy. He was furious with Ned and Tom and someone he cared about very deeply was about to be horribly humiliated. He was pushed to his limits and he could feel his emotions swelling.

“Come, on!! Shut it down before anyone sees it!! Hurry up!!”

“Hey, what is going on in here?”

Sarah appeared in the doorway, followed closely by Maren. Moments later, they were joined by Sarah’s younger sister Rachel and Rachel’s friend Abigail.

“What are you three doing in my room--”

Maren gasped.

“Is that my diary?? What in the hell are you three doing??”

You three? No! Kacey began sputtering as Maren grabbed her diary from Ned.

“Wha–but I didn’t–”

“Oh my God!! You put my private thoughts on the Internet!! You fucking assholes!! How could you??”

At that moment, Sarah’s parents appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, hey, hey! What is going on in here?”

Sarah turned to her parents.

“Those three bastards took Maren’s diary from her backpack and put all of her most private thoughts on the Internet.”

“Whoa! Wait a minute! I had nothing to do with this at all!”

Maren whirled around to shout in Kacey’s face, tears streaming from her eyes. The look on Maren’s face almost traumatized Kacey. The poor girl was so filled with hurt and rage.

“I heard you telling them to shut down the computer before anybody saw it, you shit!!”

“What?? No!! I was telling them to shut down the web page!!”

Maren clearly did not believe Kacey — nor did anyone else, other than Ned and Tom. Sarah looked like she wanted to strangle Kacey with barbed wire. Kacey’s heart was filled with a potent mix of anger, frustration and hurt because of what Ned and Tom had done to Maren. He was becoming very emotional. Kacey glared at the two boys.

“Tell them I had no part of it, you two! Tell them!”

“It was your idea, Kacey!!”

Kacey was so stunned that he nearly fainted.

“Wh-wh-what??? That’s fucking ludicrous!!!”

“How could you do this to me, Kacey?? What did I ever do to you??”

“Maren, I didn’t!! I would never do this to you — or anyone!!”

Kacey was on the razor’s edge of bursting into tears and his voice was quavering.

“I tried to stop them!! I swear to God!!”

“All right, that’s enough — all of you!”

Sarah’s father took over.

“You three boys are to take this all down, right now. Do it!!”

Ned and Tom began to remove Maren’s private thoughts from the Internet.

Sarah’s mother jumped in.

“As soon as you are done, you boys are to go straight home and tell your parents to expect a phone call. I think we ought to let the girls decide your punishment,” Sarah’s mother glanced at her father, “because only Maren truly knows how hurt and humiliated she is. The girls will be deciding your punishment and you will do whatever it is they tell you to.”

Maren screamed. She was standing in front of Sarah’s computer screen staring at it in horror.

“Oh my God!!”

Sarah put her arms around her friend.

“What is it?”

“The fucking site already has a hundred hits!! You fucking bastards!!”

Kacey felt so awful for poor Maren! Maren began to sob and Kacey could no longer hold his emotions back. He ran out of Sarah’s bedroom so the other kids wouldn’t see him crying.

“Where do you think you’re going, young man? We’re not done talking to you!”

Kacey continued running home, the tears flowing down his face as soon as he got out of Sarah’s room. In his mind, all he could see was the image of Maren’s face filled with hurt and overflowing with tears. He couldn’t get that image out of his mind. He ran out of Sarah’s house, down the street, and into his own house. He ran up to his bathroom and locked the door.

He was overwhelmed with emotions. He knew that Ned and Tom had probably destroyed his friendships with Sarah and Maren. He felt enraged at them. How could they be so stupid and thoughtless?

Kacey knew that Maren felt beyond awful and he felt beyond awful for her. As Kacey sat in his bathroom and cried, his teenaged mind insisted that if he had been born a girl in the first place — like he should have been -- they probably would have believed him.

Kacey had been in the bathroom for approximately ten seconds when Carly began banging on the door.

“Kacey, you little shit! Open this door!”

“Go away!!”

Carly banged on the door again.

“Open the door!!”

“I said go away!!”

By now, Kacey was sobbing heavily and there were enough tears in his eyes that he couldn’t see straight.

“Carly! What is all this noise about?”

Kacey and Carly’s mother was now standing outside Kacey’s bathroom door. Carly told her that she had received the email — which claimed that Kacey was the mastermind of this abomination. Carly told their mother the wrong version of the story. Naturally, their mother was now seeing red.

The phone rang and Kacey’s mother stormed out of his room to answer it. Kacey knew exactly who was calling and began to think that he was about to lose the trust of everyone that he cared about. Very shortly, Kacey’s mother was back.

“Kacey Ensen Williams, open this door. Now!!!”

Kacey slowly opened the door, unable to stop crying. Carly looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Why are you crying? You’re not the one whose life is ruined!”

But Kacey’s life was ruined! His friendships with Sarah and Maren were probably beyond repair and he didn’t have any other good friends. To make matters worse, when he walked into school everyone would think he was a soulless asshole.

Kacey tried to answer, but only sobs came out of his mouth. Carly and their mother began shouting at him. Kacey wasn’t paying attention because all he could think about was Maren and how she would feel the next time she had to walk into school. All Kacey heard was something about waiting until his father got home and something else about giving Sarah and Maren carte blanche to dole out his entirely unwarranted punishment — with any help from Carly that they needed.

Finally, Carly and her mother left Kacey’s room and he returned to the bathroom to continue crying. He briefly wondered what unfair punishment he would have to endure, but he didn’t care. He only cared about Maren. He thought about calling Maren and trying to comfort her somehow but he knew she wouldn’t take his call — since she believed that he was the mastermind. The only thing he could to do help her now was to defend her however he had to at school.

* * * * *

“I hate them. All of them! Especially Kacey! Why would he do this to me? Why??”

Maren wailed as she vented her rage against the three boys whom she believed responsible for emptying the contents of her diary onto the Internet.

“I don’t blame you, Maren.”

Sarah put her arms around Maren again.

“Everybody’s going to know my most private thoughts!”

“No they won’t.”

“How can they not know? A hundred people visited that web site. It’s going to be all over school!”

Maren wailed at her predicament.

“They won’t know because we’re going to tell everyone that everything on that site is complete bullshit. I can guarantee that Kacey will be doing that because if he doesn’t we will tell the entire school that he ran home and cried after he got caught!”

Maren looked at Sarah with total surprise.

“He’s crying right now?”

Sarah smiled devilishly.

“Yeah, you didn’t see his face?”

“No. I was looking at the computer screen.”

Sarah laughed at Kacey’s sensitivity. Some measure of doubt registered in Maren’s mind when she head that Kacey was crying, but she knew what she had heard. Whatever had crossed her mind was done with its trip.

“So what are we going to do with those three assholes? I think they should be just as humiliated as you.”

Maren cringed at the thought of her facing humiliation.

“What do you suggest, Sarah?”

Sarah thought for a moment and her face lit up with an idea.

“I know what we should do! The senior dance is coming up soon, right?”

“Yes!”

Sarah was becoming more enthusiastic by the second. Maren was very interested in hearing the rest of Sarah’s idea.

“I say that we make them come to the dance dressed as girls for the entire night. I’m talking about dresses, pantyhose, makeup and hairdos, just like us!”

“I have to admit, I like that idea!”

“But wait! There’s more! The school rock band will be performing at the dance for part of it and there will be a stage set up for them. The band will be taking a break during their act. So, during the break, the three dolled-up low-lives will be getting up on stage and announcing to the entire school that everything they posted on that website was complete bullshit, that they are responsible for the website and that they are dressed as girls for their punishment! It’s only fair that they should be humiliated, too. Besides, I’m sure it will direct plenty of the shit away from you and onto them.”

Sarah jigged up and down in her seat.

“Oh, I love this idea — and it will be even better if we make them stand at the door and greet everyone as they arrive, too!”

Sarah threw back her head and laughed.

“Let’s do this, Maren! That’ll teach those fuckers!”

Maren fully agreed that the villains deserved swift, harsh punishment, but she wasn’t relishing Sarah’s idea the way Sarah was. It felt more like vengeance to Maren, and vengeance was not in her nature. Maren believed that evil was evil, deserved or not, and she wanted nothing to do with evil.

“Are you okay, Maren? I’m sure that we can think up something worse.”

“Oh, I think your idea is plenty punishing, Sarah. It’s not that. It’s just that it feels so ‘eye for an eye’ and, well, you know me; I don’t believe in revenge. I don’t want to stoop to their level, you know? I’m not like them.”

Maren was telling the truth when she said that, but there was something else to it that she didn’t want anyone to know. One of the secrets that Ned and Tom had broadcast on the Internet was that she had a strong crush on Kacey. They knew about the crush now, but they didn’t know that the idea of humiliating Kacey was just not appealing to her.

“Are you saying that because of the crush you have on Kacey?”

“No. I don’t have a crush on him anymore.”

That was a slight fib. She didn’t know how she felt about Kacey anymore. She had had a very strong crush on Kacey and she had some trouble believing that Kacey would do something like putting her diary on the Internet, and yet she had heard him tell Ned and Tom to shut down the computer before anybody saw them — and according to Ned and Tom, the whole thing was Kacey’s idea. She just didn’t understand.

* * * * *

Kacey’s sobbing had subsided, but his eyes were still leaking when his mother knocked on the bathroom door.

“Kacey, come out here, please. The girls have decided their punishment.”

“Isn’t that wonderful,” he thought miserably.

Kacey let out a forlorn sigh, stood up, wiped his eyes one more time, and opened the bathroom door. He had no idea what to say, and he just stood there, looking at his mother pitifully.

“Kacey, the girls have decided that you, Ned and Tom will be attending the school dance dressed as girls. That means a dress, nylons, hairdo, makeup, and everything else that the girls will be wearing. Then, once you are at the dance, you three will stand at the entrance and greet all of the guests. When they have all arrived, you will get up on stage during the band’s break and tell the school what you did, that the site was full of crap, and that you are dressed as girls as your punishment. You will also remain dressed as girls until the dance is over. You are going to do everything and wear everything that you are told to. Do you have any questions?”

Kacey shook his head.

“Good. You and I are going shopping after school sometime this week to find you a dress.”

“Okay.”

Kacey’s mother let out an exasperated sigh.

“Well, your father just got home, so I’ve got to go downstairs and tell him all about this. You are to stay in your room for the rest of the night and think about what you have done.”

“Think about what I have done, Mom? Fuck you,” Kacey thought bitterly.

“Okay, Mom.”

Kacey’s mother huffed downstairs to talk to his father and Kacey lay down on his bed hugging a pillow and staring out his window. The irony of the situation was excruciating. Kacey had dreamed of attending the school dance as a beautiful girl but now that he was getting his wish he didn't want it. He wanted to attend the dance as a girl because he was a girl, not because it was a punishment that was supposed to be a display of embarrassment.

Kacey realized that the girls had quite possibly picked the worst possible punishment for him. He had been largely ignored at school. Nobody had paid him much attention. Thus, his shoulder-length hair hadn’t raised many eyebrows. Kacey was terrified that this would change once he was in the spotlight at the dance, dressed as a girl. People would be paying attention like never before. When they saw how perfect Kacey’s shoulder-length hair looked with him dressed as a girl, would they realize why he really grew it so long? He was afraid that they would. Not only were his friendships with Sarah and Maren over — in all likelihood — the whole school would probably begin mercilessly harassing him. Kacey’s life really was over — but still, his mind was commandeered by thoughts of Maren. He was still haunted with the image of her angry, hurt, tear-streaked face and it made him want to cry again.

* * * * *

During the following week at school, Maren went through hell and neither she nor Sarah would talk to Kacey at all. On more than one occasion, he had even bumped into Rachel and Abigail, who attended the same school. They wouldn’t talk to him either. As if that weren’t bad enough, their entire class was pointing and whispering at Kacey. Kacey had never felt so reviled — or so alone.

He wasn’t the only target, however. He seemed to be surrounded by people who were snickering at Maren’s expense. Maren didn’t deserve that, even if she didn’t want anything to do with Kacey anymore. Whenever someone started in, Kacey walked over to them and explained to them that the web site was a hoax and they shouldn’t believe a word of it — or the email.

On more than one occasion, he had seen Maren at the brink of tears. He wanted badly to go over and comfort her, but every time he got within ten feet of her, she and Sarah would glare at him.

* * * * *

When he got home from school and wearily put down his backpack by the door, he took two steps toward the kitchen for a glass of juice before his mother came down the stairs.

“Put your jacket back on. Your headmaster has been notified of your punishment — and she readily approved it -- so we are going dress shopping.”

Kacey sighed and complied. He was very afraid of being seen at the mall shopping for girls’ clothing, but he knew that arguing with his mother would be a marvelous display of futility. He slowly put his coat back on and reluctantly followed her to the car.

On the way there, Kacey’s mind was filled with images of him running into his schoolmates and seeing them laugh at him for buying a dress. He stared out the window in glum silence, thinking of everyone he cared about and lamenting the way that they were passing out of his life like the scenery going by.

Kacey’s mother found a parking place fairly quickly. Before they got out of the car, she ordered him to remove the rubber band from his usual ponytail and hand over the rubber band. Kacey realized that this would help him look more like a girl, since he usually dressed in androgynous clothes, and under the circumstances, he was more than happy to comply. With his hair down, they walked into a department store and headed for the girls’ lingerie section. Kacey’s mother intended to pick out a bra and panty in nude and another in black since she didn’t know what color dress Kacey would be wearing. She found a package of three panties and several bras that were on a three-for-one sale, so she picked a bra in white, black and nude to match the panties. Next, she picked out three full slips in nude, black and white.

When she finished, they headed for the girls’ dresses section and Kacey’s mother began browsing the dresses while he watched. He loved every single one of them and he wished that he could be wearing one to the dance under different circumstances.

Kacey’s mother chose three dresses for him to try on and marched him toward the ladies’ fitting rooms. Kacey became very nervous about making a scene walking into the fitting rooms, but they walked into one quickly enough that anyone looking wouldn’t notice anything.

“All right, Kacey, honey. Let’s try the emerald chiffon first.”

She wanted him to try on one of the bras to make sure she had the right size and she held one out to him.

“Try on the bra you’ll be wearing to the dance to make sure the dress hides it properly.”

Kacey tried to make his voice sound softer and a tad higher in pitch in case anyone was even casually listening.

“Okay.”

His mother noticed what he was doing and understood that Kacey wanted to keep his embarrassment to himself. Kacey removed his shirt and put the bra on. He fumbled with it for a moment, but he got it on and his mother adjusted the straps. She had judged his size well; it fit nicely.

“All right, go ahead and take your pants off, sweetie, so we can see how the dress hangs on you.”

“Okay.”

Kacey slipped his pants off, took the slip that his mother held out for him, and slipped it on over his head.

“All right, now the dress.”

Kacey’s mother held the dress open while Kacey stepped into it. She pulled it all the way up and Kacey put his arms into the dress. He held his hair to one side while Kacey’s mother zipped up the dress behind him. She stood him in front of the mirror so that they could both look at the dress. The dress felt wonderful to Kacey and he hoped his mother wouldn’t catch on.

“Well, I think that looks very cute on you. What do you think?”

“I think it’s really cute, too.”

“All right. Let’s try the purple satin dress.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, I see this one has a built-in slip, so let’s get the other one off.”

“Okay.”

Kacey’s mother unzipped the dress for him and he carefully stepped out of it. A few seconds later, he was looking at himself in the mirror and admiring himself in the purple dress.

“That one looks adorable on you, too.”

Kacey loved that dress. He would choose the purple dress over the emerald in a heartbeat if he had any say in the matter.

“Yes, I look very pretty.”

His mother found his choice of words a bit odd, even under the circumstances, but she let it go.

“All right. One more to try.”

Kacey stepped out of the purple dress, put the slip back on and stepped into a black velvet dress with red puffy satin sleeves and red satin skirt. He liked that dress, but his favorite was the purple one. He looked beautiful wearing it, and purple was his favorite color.

“Well, that one looks nice, too. They all do. Which one do you like?”

Kacey looked up at his mother and paused for a moment, unsure exactly how to put it.

“Um, let’s go with the purple one. It… um… I look really pretty in it.”

Kacey’s mother paused for a moment and shrugged.

“All right. The purple dress it is. Let’s go.”

They put the dresses back where they’d found them, except for the pretty purple one, and headed for the counter. They found the hosiery section along the way and Kacey’s mother picked out two pair of nude pantyhose for him.

After they paid, they headed for the shoe section, where they found a lovely pair of purple pumps with a two-inch heel that matched the dress perfectly. Satisfied with their shop, they turned around and headed for the exit. They were almost there when Maren walked in. Maren and Kacey stopped in their tracks when they saw each other. Kacey felt a rush of potent emotion flood his heart and his mind. Maren looked away from Kacey and tried to hurry past him.

“Maren, wait! Please talk to me! Please!!”

“Shut up and leave me alone. You’ve done enough.”

She continued walking without turning around.

The image of Maren’s pained, tear-streaked face sprang into Kacey’s mind again and his emotions abruptly swelled until tears began to leak from his eyes. A sob escaped from his mouth before he knew it was coming and Maren stopped. She turned her head around and looked over her shoulder at Kacey just in time to watch him run out of the mall exit in tears. She turned fully around and watched, while her hands absent-mindedly played with one another, as Kacey ran right into a bunch of guys from school who immediately began to laugh and harass Kacey for crying — and wearing his hair down like a girl. They called him names, including ‘girly boy’ and that was all Kacey could take. He bolted for the car as the tears streamed down his face.

Maren saw the whole thing. She realized that she was actually feeling bad for Kacey — just a little bit. This wasn’t part of the punishment, after all. She knew that he had been largely left alone until now and after the dance he would probably have to deal with harassment like that until the day he graduated. That was also not part of his punishment.

She sighed, turned around, and went back to her business.

Kacey’s mother also watched those guys humiliate her son and she felt bad for him. Like Maren, she understood that it wasn’t part of the punishment. Fortunately for Kacey, the guys didn’t know his mother and since they hadn’t left the store at the same time, they had no idea that the dress she was carrying -- in completely transparent plastic -- was for Kacey.

* * * * *

The next day at school, Kacey was fifteen feet away from Maren when a particularly mean-hearted girl walked up to her and began making fun of her. Maren looked like she wanted to cry and that really pissed Kacey off. He stomped over to the bully and stood between her and Maren.

“Hey, bitch!”

The girl glared at him, but Kacey stood his ground.

“Yeah, you. Bitch. Leave… her… the fuck… alone. The web site was bullshit, and so was the email. Tom and Ned made it all up. All of it. Got it??”

“Whatever… girly boy.”

She giggled evilly as she walked away. Now Kacey was even more pissed off. His breathing was rapid and shallow and he felt his emotions rapidly building up. He closed his eyes for a moment as he fought for self-control… but he lost the battle. Maren knew that he was going to lose it.

“Are you okay, Kacey?”

“Excuse me.”

Kacey darted for the men’s room — but he couldn’t see very well through his tears and he ran into the ladies’ room instead. Maren heard the shouts and epithets hurled at Kacey. The two girls who were in there demanded that Kacey leave, but Kacey silently refused. He went into an empty stall, locked the door, leaned against the wall, and cried. It would not have been any better in the men’s room. Any guys who happened to be in there would be harassing him. The hallway posed the same problem.

As he wallowed in his despair, Kacey heard a knock on the stall door.

“Kacey? It’s me, Maren. Look, um…” She sighed. “Let me take you out of here before a teacher comes in here and--”

“What do you want, canker lips?”

One of the girls -- who had clearly read the web site -- made fun of Maren.

Kacey’s anger and frustration were almost to the point that he couldn’t handle it anymore. He angrily threw open the stall door and screamed at the girl who had made fun of Maren.

“Leave her alone, you bitch! That whole web site is bullshit that Tom and Ned made up — and so is that fucking email -- so stop that, goddamn it!”

Maren knew what was coming next and tried to get Kacey to leave.

“Come on, Kacey. Let’s just go.”

“Yeah, girly boy! Get out of here and take canker lips with you!”

They left the bathroom and headed outside to walk home. When they got out of earshot of the school, Maren stopped and Kacey stopped with her.

“Look, Kacey, um… I still think that you did what you did, and I still don’t understand why,” her voice quavered, “but you’ve obviously been dealing with as much shit as I have and I think you’ve been punished enough. You don’t have to go to the dance as a girl.”

“Thank you, Maren.” For a moment, neither of them spoke. “Maren, um… are we… still friends?”

Maren looked down at her hands as she paused for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Kacey, but I can’t forgive you for what you did to me.”

“Maren, I had nothing to do with that! Why won’t you believe me?”

“Because I know what I heard!”

“Well, you heard wrong!”

“Ned and Tom said it was your idea!”

“Ned and Tom were lying, can’t you see that?!”

“Kacey… ugh!!”

Maren paused as she clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides. Her exasperation was growing. It hurt Kacey to see her like that.

“Look, Kacey, let’s just go our separate ways before either of us says something we’ll both regret, okay?”

Maren turned around and walked away. It was now official that Kacey’s friendship with Maren was over. Kacey began to cry again. Wary of being seen by anyone at school, he ran for home, passing Maren on his way. She stopped again, watching him run home. She still couldn’t forgive him, but she didn’t hate him any longer.

* * * * *

On Wednesday morning, Kacey arrived at school to find everyone around him whispering about something as he entered the building. He sensed that something new was afoot. He didn’t have much time to wonder what.

The same mean girl that Kacey had confronted in the hallway while defending Maren approached him with a very satisfied yet evil grin on her face.

“Hey girly boy, I hear you’re going to the dance dressed as a girl for what you did to Maren. Shit, I had no idea you did that.”

She giggled evilly at him — as did everyone around him.

“I didn’t do that. Ned and Tom lied to everybody about me being involved and for some twisted reason everybody believes them.”

“Why would anyone believe them?”

“Beats the shit out of me.”

Kacey began to walk away.

“Maybe because you did it, girly boy?”

“Fuck you!!”

Kacey stomped away. Twenty feet away, Maren silently rounded a corner after watching Kacey endure his latest round of crap. Kacey knew he was in for a long day — and he was right. Ned and Tom got harassed about their punishment, too, but Kacey didn’t care. Seeing other people suffer never did anything for him.

* * * * *

That week was one long run of the gauntlet for Kacey and Maren. They were both relieved when the weekend arrived.

Kacey had not told his family that Maren had released him from the punishment. He had chosen instead to voluntarily attend the dance as a girl, hoping that it would make a big enough splash to make everyone forget about Maren. Kacey had given that idea a great deal of thought. All of his friendships were dead and his life was over, anyway. It no longer mattered if he embarrassed himself; he had nothing left to lose. Maren’s life, on the other hand, could be salvaged and she deserved for that to happen. She still had friends to defend her — including Kacey. Kacey was surprised to find that he had little difficulty making a firm decision to go through with it.

Unaware that Maren had released Kacey from his punishment, his mother had arranged for Kacey to have his hair, makeup and nails done and an hour before the dance started, he was ready. As he stood in his room, looking at himself in the mirror, he could not help smiling at the girl who looked back at him. She looked beautiful and he wished, with all of his heart, that he could be that girl.

* * * * *

Sarah’s sister, Rachel, felt quite envious watching Sarah doll herself up for the dance. She wished fervently that she could be getting dressed up so beautifully. Sarah left early for the dance since she was helping out with the decoration and preparation, and after Rachel watched her sister leave their house, she sighed with envy and walked back upstairs to her room.

Bored, she picked up the video camera that she and Abigail had been using the day that those three boys put Maren’s diary on the Internet. She played back the pretend newscasts that she and Abigail had recorded. At the end of the final newscast, Abigail had put the camera down on Rachel’s desk, and she had left it recording. By pure chance, it was pointed in the direction of Sarah’s bedroom door. The doorway was fully visible in the center of the screen. Rachel could hear her conversation with Abigail in the background. Rachel began giggling. She found the camera idiot-proof and wondered how Abigail hadn’t.

“Abby, you idiot!”

She continued giggling at her friend’s silly mistake — until she saw Kacey walk by Sarah’s bedroom door and stop in his tracks. Her laughter was abruptly silenced as she watched raptly. Maybe Abby wasn’t an idiot after all!

“Well, now the proof will be in the pudding, won’t it, Kacey. Asshole.”

She watched as the entire scene unfolded before her eyes — proving that Kacey was utterly innocent. Rachel gasped as her brain processed the truth.

“Oh, my God! Kacey was telling the truth the whole time. I have to do something!”

As she stopped the tape, Rachel thought about Kacey enduring as much hell as Maren during the week, and she thought about her sister Sarah, who was upset about the demise of her friendship with Kacey. She had to find a way to help them both. She put her coat on, and grabbed the camera. Then she stopped for a moment. She realized that Kacey, Ned and Tom were supposed to be telling everyone that the web site containing Maren’s diary was full of bullshit. She had to get rid of the sound where Kacey asked Ned and Tom what they were doing with Maren’s diary or everyone would know that everything on Ned and Tom’s impromptu website was true. Rachel picked up her cell phone and called her friend Nicki, who had a talent for video editing.

* * * * *

Kacey arrived at the dance a few minutes before Ned and Tom were expected and he walked right in to find Maren. He admired the decoration. The committee responsible for making the dance happen had done a great job. They had chosen to use twin video screens on either side of the stage to display photos of the seniors at various times during the year. Kacey thought that was a lovely touch.

Kacey resumed his search for Maren. It didn’t take long; she was one of only four students in the school’s gymnasium, where the dance was being held. Maren had just finished taping up some crepe paper ribbons when she turned around and saw Kacey standing there, dressed beautifully as a girl. She gasped as one hand flew to her mouth.

“Kacey? You’re dressed as a girl.”

He looked at her resolvedly.

“Yes, I am.”

“But why? You don’t have to.”

Kacey glanced at his purple shoes and took a deep breath. Then he looked Maren in the eyes.

“I’m hoping it will shock people enough to make them forget about your diary.”

Maren had to search her mind for words.

“Oh, Kacey… I-I can’t believe you did this. I mean…”

She took a breath.

“I still can’t forgive you, Kacey…”

Kacey flashed her a weak, rueful smile.

“I know, but I want everyone to stop tormenting you… whether you forgive me or not. I’m hoping that this will attract enough attention away from you to make that happen.”

They were both becoming emotional. Kacey sniffled as he felt tears coming and he tried to make a joke to relax them both.

“Christ, I don’t want ruin my makeup before the party even starts. That’s all I need.”

Maren couldn’t help giggling at him. Kacey gave her one last sad smile.

“Anyway, um… I guess I’ll leave you alone now.”

Kacey turned and walked away.

“Okay,” Maren murmured after he left, watching him go.

Kacey set his mind to figuring out how to get himself as much exposure as possible in hopes of drawing the brunt of the teasing away from Maren — if not all of it. He had nothing to lose. He decided to join Ned and Tom at the door while they greeted the incoming seniors so that every single one of them would see him dressed as a girl. After Ned and Tom had accused him of being the mastermind of Maren’s torment, he knew that they would try to get as much attention off of them as possible and dump it on Kacey — and that was exactly what Kacey wanted.

Naturally, as soon as Kacey got within ten feet of Ned and Tom, they began making fun of him.

“Dude! Kacey, what the fuck are you doing dressed as a girl? I thought Maren said you didn’t have to!”

Kacey looked at them expressionlessly.

“She did.”

“Whoa, fuck, dude! You’re dressed like a girl even though you don’t have to?!”

Kacey gave them the same stoic look.

“Yes. Some people improve other people’s lives instead of destroying them -- not that you would understand that.”

“Well, shit, listen to Little Ms. Goody Two-Shoes over here.”

Kacey felt tears coming, but he fought them back.

“Uh oh, looks like Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes is about to become Ms. Goody-Tissues!”

They laughed out loud at Kacey, but he refused to acknowledge their crap. Besides, the first attendees were arriving. The first ones to arrive were a group of three girls and their dates — and the girls were friends of Maren and Sarah. The boys started in right away with loud, lecherous whistles.

“Well, hello, girly boys! Nice fucking dresses!”

The guys laughed at them. When they were done, the girls chewed them out.

“You guys are the biggest assholes ever!”

Kacey found inner fortitude that he hadn’t known was there. He looked them firmly in the eyes as he spoke.

“Actually, I’m innocent of the whole thing.”

“Nobody believes you.”

“Yeah, I know. Oh, by the way, Maren released me from this punishment because she felt that I have been punished enough already, as you have no doubt witnessed this past week.”

“So you dressed as a girl anyway?? What the fuck did you do that for??”

“So you’ll take out whatever your problem is on me instead of Maren.”

Kacey marveled at how that shut them up. Ned and Tom were glad to have all the attention directed onto Kacey and they didn’t say anything.

“Whatever!”

The girls rolled their eyes as their dates escorted them inside. That scene repeated itself more times than Kacey could count. He made the same speech with more confidence each time. It made him feel better, much to his pleasant surprise. He might not be able to resurrect his life from its ashes, but at least he was proving to the world that he was a good, strong person with a lot of guts.

Half an hour later, the flow of arriving attendees slowed to a trickle. Maren and Sarah approached Kacey, Ned and Tom to tell them they were due on stage since the band would be taking its first break after the current song ended.

“Wow, Kacey, you really did dress like a girl even though you didn’t have to. So why the hell did you?”

The band finished the song and the school’s principal, Ms. Fillmore, asked them up on stage. Ned and Tom walked up on stage like dogs with their tails between their legs. Kacey however, did not. He had dressed as a girl voluntarily and for a very good reason. He strode onto the stage with a great deal of confidence.

“Now then, class, these three culprits are here to tell you something. Go on.”

The principal held out the microphone and Ned pushed Kacey toward it. Before Kacey took the microphone, he looked briefly at Ned as though he were something that had been scraped out of a septic tank. Then Kacey took the microphone and turned to face his audience.

“Good evening, everyone. I am standing here to tell you that Ned and Tom did something horrible to Maren–“

“So did you, you little asshole!”

Kacey recognized the girl who had shouted as one of the first three to walk in the door. He turned, looked directly into her eyes and responded to her calmly but firmly.

“Wrong. I had nothing to do with it whatsoever. I know that I have no chance in hell of ever convincing anyone of that,” Kacey looked into Maren’s eyes, “especially the one I want most to believe it -- but honestly, I really don’t care anymore.”

Kacey scanned the audience as he continued speaking, looking confidently into each pair of eyes he encountered.

“I know that I am completely innocent of any of this and that is enough for me.”

“Hey Kacey, why are you dressed like a girl if you’re so innocent?”

It was the same girl, and Kacey stared her down again. He walked a couple of steps down the stage toward her and responded to her with his confidence and his poise in tact.

“I told you that at the door. I dressed as a girl voluntarily so that people would leave Maren alone and pick on me instead. Did you think I was kidding?”

Kacey challenged the heckler, who had no answer.

“Did you think I was lying?”

The heckler remained silent.

“If you did, there are several people in this room who used to be my friends and who can tell you that I do not lie to people.”

Kacey looked at Maren as he finished that sentence. Maren looked severely conflicted.

“Anyway, I want you to know that Ned and Tom are dressed as girls as their punishment. I got so much shit this week that Maren released me from doing the same. I’m doing this for Maren. I know she’ll never forgive me and because of Ned and Tom our friendship is dead — and my friendship with Sarah.”

Kacey shrugged.

“I’m doing it for Maren anyway. It’s the only way I can help her now. Before I give the microphone back to Ms. Fillmore, I have to tell you that the web site that Ned and Tom put up on the Internet did not contain anything from Maren’s diary. It was just a bunch of bullshit, so you really do need to leave Maren alone. If you don’t, then you will have to deal with me — and believe me, I will be pissed!”

Kacey handed the microphone back to the principal. For a few moments, nobody spoke and the room was quiet. The silence was interrupted when the screens abruptly went black and the crowd began murmuring. A home video commandeered the twin screens. Kacey, Maren and Sarah instantly recognized Sarah’s bedroom doorway — and the incident that had evidently been captured on video.

Kacey watched himself walk by Sarah’s bedroom door, stop and address Ned and Tom. He noticed that Maren’s diary had been altered in the video so that it appeared to be a magazine — and it was one hell of a convincing job.

“Hey, you two! What’s going on?”

“See for yourself.”

“What in the hell did you do??”

They turned the screen toward Kacey, who gasped as he clamped a hand over his eyes.

“Oh my fucking God! What in the hell is the matter with you? Shut down that website right now!!”

“No!”

“Yes, you asshole! Shut down that web site before your friends start reading it!”

“Why don’t you make me, girly boy?”

“Come, on!! Shut it down before anyone sees it!! Hurry up!!”

“Hey, what is going on in here?”

Sarah appeared in the doorway, followed closely by Maren.

The video ended as abruptly as it had begun. The crowd began murmuring. Kacey looked cautiously over at Maren, hoping against hope that she would finally believe him. Maren ran up on stage and threw her arms around Kacey. She looked him in the eyes and tried to say something, but a sob threatened to come out instead and she closed her mouth. Kacey just held her warmly.

“I know, Maren. I know.”

Music began playing through the loudspeakers while the band took the remainder of its break. Maren regained her composure enough to speak.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you, Kacey. I feel awful about that.”

Kacey gently stroked Maren’s chin.

“You have nothing to feel awful about, Maren. I know how it looked until now and… I have learned from my own private experiences that some things in this life are just damned confusing and it takes time to see the truth. Heck, Maren, nobody else believed me either.”

She smiled at Kacey.

“I know, but I still feel bad. It must have felt awful that we didn’t believe you.”

Kacey looked her in the eyes fighting back his tears.

“Well, yeah, it did.” He sniffled. “But that’s over now.”

Maren continued smiling at Kacey. Kacey noticed that their faces were drawing steadily closer to one another. While he dared not hope that they would kiss, he knew that he couldn’t kiss her without telling her his secret. He had to tell her just in case.

“Maren, I want to share my own big private secret with you.”

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to.”

Kacey smiled at her. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath.

“Maren, um…” He took another breath. “I need to tell you that...”

He paused as he thought about how to say it.

“Do you know why I hate being called a girly boy so much?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve wondered about that. Tell me.”

“I hate that because…” Kacey took one more breath. “…because I’m not a boy, Maren. I am girly and that’s supposed to be normal for me because I am a girl. Being myself is not supposed to be something people make fun of. Anyway, that’s my big secret. I’m a girl. I’m a girl who has Harry Benjamin Syndrome.”

“Harry Benjamin Syndrome… what is that?”

“That’s when a girl is born with the body of a boy–or vice versa.”

“Oh, I understand now. You’re transsexual.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I kind of knew that, Kacey.”

Maren smiled at him.

“Really? Well, I guess that’s not so surprising. It’s not like there wasn’t any clue.”

Maren giggled.

“Yeah. You have always reacted to things and thought about things a lot more like a girl than a boy. I always knew you were special. That’s why I like you so much. You’re not a big, dumb animal like so many men.”

Kacey smiled.

“Thank God for small favors!”

They giggled together, still in each other’s arms.

“You really didn’t read my diary, did you?”

“No, of course not. I would never, ever do that to you or anyone else, but especially you.”

Maren smiled at him.

“Especially me?”

Kacey nodded at her with a smile on his face and looked into Maren’s eyes.

“Especially you. I’ve, um… I’ve liked you for a while now. More than a friend, I mean. A lot more.”

Kacey sheepishly looked down at his purple pumps.

“Well, there’s one secret in my diary that it’s time you knew about.”

Their faces drew closer.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Maren kissed Kacey fervently in a passionate lip-lock.

“I feel the same way.”

Kacey smiled at her.

“Excellent!”

Kacey reciprocated Maren’s kiss.

“So, Kacey. Would you like me to continue calling you Kacey or would you prefer to use a different name while you’re dressed as a girl?”

Kacey smiled at Maren.

“That’s a good question. Please call me Lacey.”

“All right, Lacey. Well, come on. I think Sarah has something she wants to say. She’s been standing there for a couple of minutes now.”

Maren giggled at Sarah.

“Okay. Let’s go talk to her.”

They walked down the stairs from the stage, hand in hand, and met up with Sarah.

“Hi, Sarah.”

“Aw, shit, Kacey, I should have believed you! I don’t know what I was thinking to believe those two jerks.”

She hugged him.

“Oh, hey, as I was telling Maren, nobody else believed me, either — not even Carly believed me, and she’s my sister!”

“Poor Kacey!”

“Yes, poor Kacey!”

“Hi Christine.”

It was the girl who heckled Kacey during his speech.

“I’m really sorry, Kacey. I owe you an apology.”

“That’s okay. Hopefully, this is all over.”

“You know, it really was gutsy to come here dressed a girl voluntarily to try to save Maren — and it’s working miracles, by the way. It’s all everyone’s talking about.”

Kacey chuckled as Maren smiled at him.

“Great! I am so freaking glad to hear that!”

Kacey smiled at Maren. Anyway, that wasn’t the only reason I came as a girl tonight.”

Sarah and Christine looked at Kacey with interest.

“It wasn’t?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Okay. So… what was your other reason?”

Kacey took a deep breath and looked at Christine. He felt Maren’s hand squeezing his.

“I’m a girl, Christine. I always have been and I always will be. My body’s all wrong, that’s all.”

“So you are transgendered then. A rumor is already going around about that.”

Kacey smirked.

“Good. Just call me Lacey.”

They laughed.

“I am tired of being in the closet anyway. Besides, they’ll leave Maren alone even more now.”

Maren looked at Lacey with an indescribable look on her face.

“Lacey, I still can’t believe you did this for me.”

“Yeah, well, believe it!”

Lacey giggled as Maren kissed her passionately again and Lacey readily reciprocated.

Christine and Sarah exchanged glances.

“So, Maren, this must mean that you’re--”

“A lesbian. Go away!”

She kissed Lacey again and they let love lead the way for a while. Lacey realized that she was wearing the dress of her dreams to the dance of her dreams and kissing the girl of her dreams. Life was good!

THE END

[ Other Stories By Mona Lisa ]