How I spent my Summer Vacation: I became a Girl
By 
Rebecca Coleman

Note to reader: The “How I spent my Summer Vacation: I became a Girl!” is an ongoing in-universe serial that appears each Saturday Evening in the “Benton Evening Post” the story focuses on the ongoing struggle of Emil “Emily” Anderson as she strides to adopted to her new life in a small southern town that straddles the hills and the delta. The story chronicles her life as she tries to figure out what direction she wants to take her life.

-2-
Being Discovered

Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day. And in the south we don't skip on breakfast. And as I entered the kitchen I felt a little smile forming on my lips. And I loved cooking because it made me feel so feminine, also I loved the praise that came from cooking a good home style meal. Breakfast is also one of the simpler meals one can prepare. So as I entered the darkened kitchen and flipped the light switch I tried to focus my mind on the task at hand.

Whistling the opening theme to Pretty Celestial Soldiers, I walked over and took down on the apron's aunt Flora had laying around. This apron happened to be pink and was trimmed with lace. I felt a little smile crossing my lips as I wrapped the apron around my thin frame and tied the strings in a bow behind my back. With that done I started to tackle the task of cooking.

First order of business, place the skillet on the stove, turn the eye on four, and wait till the skillet is warm to the touch. While the skillet is heating up, go to the fridge, get two rolls of pork sausage out, get a knife and with the blade skills of a ninja slice the roll of sausage into ten perfectly round disks, around a half of an inch thick. Remove wrapper and then toss sausage into skillet and wait for it to start sizzling. 

As I  cooked I started to whistle the opening theme of Pretty Celestial Soldier, I started to move my hips a little. I nodded my head too, and started to twirl around. I twirled toward the fridge, pulled open the fridge door, reached in, pulled out an egg carton, set it on the table, bent down, pulled out another skillet from the stove, set it, dialed the eye to four and started to heat it up. I twirled again toward the coffee maker, and soon the smell of freshly brewing coffee filled the kitchen along with the smell of sausage frying.

I was so wrapped up in all of this, that I did not hear the door to the kitchen open nor did I hear my front door being pushed open. It was only when my aunt said,

“Wow... So Emil has a girlfriend?..” 

I blinked and spun around and there in the doorway stood my aunt. She was leaning against the door frame and her eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief. She looked tired though, and I could tell from the rings around her eyes it had been a hard night on the cutting room floor.

“So. I'm going to be blunt here. Did you cash in his v-card last night? Is that why you're prancing around my kitchen at four o' clock in the morning cooking breakfast? Or was last night your first time too?” She said as she walked over to the drainboard. She quickly fetched one of the bone white china mugs from the side and without waiting for an answer she poured herself a cup of strong coffee. She raised the mug to her lips and took a sip.

“Good coffee.” She said as she smiled at me. “So, what is your name?” She said as she walked over and eased herself down into one of the chairs that surrounded the kitchen table. She smiled a little and then leaned over.

I blinked and blinked again.

“Aunt..” I said blushing as I walked over and flipped the sausage. The sausage patties made a sizzling sound as the perfectly brown side was flipped over and the uncooked pink side was placed in the hot surface of the skillet.

“Aunt, that's a strange name, young lady.” She said, smirking a little. “But then again who am I to know what is cool and hip these days. So, how did you meet my nephew Emil?” She asked as she took another sip of her coffee. She arched her eyebrow and grinned. The look she was giving me kind of reminded me of a cat that had cornered a mouse and was now just toying with it before deciding to finish it off. 

I blushed and looked around the kitchen. Unsure what to do, I cracked a half dozen eggs in the skillet and started to stir them, quickly I added salt and pepper. Aunt Flora who was now on her second cup of coffee only walked over, peered over my shoulder and into the skillet.

“Add a few more eggs honey, unless you don't plan on eating. Emil can eat like a Sumo wrestler and I'm famished. So lay them on honey bunches.” She said grinning as she turned toward the table. “Unless you are Emil.. then in that case I'm sure I'm going to be enlightened as to why my nephew is wearing an extra large Pretty Celestial Soldier shirt, and booty shorts, and has his hair in pigtails.” She said smiling. “If that the case, then I want to know if my nephew might really be my niece and if that the case what her name might be.” She said as she eased down at the table and turned toward me.

“I..” I blinked and quickly finished scrambling the eggs, I then flipped the sausage and rushed over to get the toast in the oven. Aunt Flora just giggled as she watched me rush around the kitchen like a chicken whose head had just been removed by the kitchen cleaver. 

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Aunt Flora said after a moment of watching me stumble around the kitchen holding a loaf of brown bread and a tray of butter. “A simple question requires a simple answer. And yet, you act like I asked you the meaning of life or to carry the ring into Mordor.” Aunt Flora said as she rolled her eyes.

“Emily!” I said blushing it was the first thing that popped into my mind. “Emily Hannah Anderson!” I blurted out. It was the name I'd given my female avatar on “Happy Animal Village” , a slice of life game where you moved into a town populated by well talking animals. The game was simple, but the gameplay was addictive. I mean all you did was dig for fossils, fish for fish to sell, plant fruit trees, play the in-game stock market.. really that all, but there was something addictive to it, it was also a huge drain on my free time.

“Okay.” Aunt Flora said smiling. “Emily.. I want you to know your eggs are burning.” She said, smirking a little as she watched me stumble around the kitchen. “Also sit down girl before you hurt yourself.. I'm not mad Just amused.” She said grinning. “I mean this is the last thing I expected  to find this morning.” She then stood up and placed a hand upon my shoulder and then gently guided me toward the table, she pulled out a chair and gently pushed me down.

“Hot Chocolate?” She said smiling. “Or would you like your normal glass of chocolate milk?” She said as she flipped the sausage again and cut the fire that was burning under them off. She did the same with the eggs and then without skipping a beat she  butter the bread that I was too flustered to butter and put it into the toaster.

“Hot chocolate?” I said blinking.

“Coming right up princess.” Aunt Flora said, smiling a little as she set about making the hot chocolate. I felt my cheeks flush red when I heard my Aunt call me 'princess' now I know most mothers often call their daughters princess among other things. But that was the first time somebody had and it made me feel emotions I'd never expected to fell.

-3-
Jack the Paperboy

Normally I'm the one to fix Aunt Flora's plate in the morning. I normally fix her plate while she reads the morning paper. But the paper boy was running late that morning. Instead she fixed my plate, and she and I were about to settle down when the doorbell chimed. Aunt Flora just looked at me and smiled a little as she leaned back in her chair. 

“Mind fetching the paper for me Em?” She said grinning. 

“Dressed like this?!” I said blushing a little as I peered across the table at Aunt Flora. Who only shrugged her shoulders. 

“I don't see a problem with how you're dressed. I mean right now you look like a teenage girl who just binged watched her favorite anime in one night. Plus, you don't need to shave right now, if you did I won't be sending you out to fetch the paper. Your hair needs washing and brushing out though. And you need to take a bath. Jesus girl you smell like Orc.” Aunt Flora said as she cocked her head sideways.

“How do Orcs smell anyway?” I asked as I stood up and started toward the front door. My heart was pounding in my chest and I could feel each and every pulse surging through me. My hands started to tremble a few seconds later when I was opening the door and there in the doorway stood a boy, it was not the old guy who used to deliver our paper. 

The boy was around my age, had jet black hair, was as slender as a willow branch, had green eyes, that kind of reminded me of the eyes of a cat. And had this smell that seemed to hang around him. The smell kind of reminded me of how that one weird store called Gothic Topic, the one that had those spiked collars and bracelets, those black leather gloves and trench coats, and those adorable mini skirts that kind of looked like Catholic Schoolgirl skirts but only shorter.

And the smell, well, to put it into a bucket it kind of smelled like, fake leather, teenage anger, angst, with a hint of desperation added in for flavor with a hard edge of self-loathing. Yes, that kind of smell and for some reason smelling that gave me goose-pimples. The fact he was wearing enough eyeliner to do any Goth proud really made me shiver for some reason.

“Hey.” He said as he blew a strand of jet black hair from his eyes. “Here is your paper.” He said holding the paper out to me. With trembling hands I reached out and took the paper from him. I wanted to say something, something cool? Something flirty? Something romantic?
“Oh thanks.” I said, trembling as I reached over and took the paper from him. He nodded his head, turned around. I could see the outline of his butt in his tight black jeans. And the outline of his shoulders and his slim chest through the paper thin shirt he was wearing. He nodded his head.

“See you around then?” He said reaching up and removing a few strands of jet black hair from his eyes.

“Sure..” I said as I closed the door. As soon as I closed the door I dropped down to the ground and took a deep breath as I peered toward the starry heavens. I swallowed hard and then I buried my face into my shirt and a second later I squealed! 

A few seconds later my aunt popped her head from around the corner and peered at me. She just blinked and blinked again. A look of slight worry and amusement appeared across her face as she noticed me, sitting on the wooden floor of the doorway, squealing like a piglet and blushing up a storm. Slowly she pulled her head back into the kitchen.

“OH MY GOD! He was ADORABLE!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.

“Glad to hear it princess. Now come get your breakfast before it gets cold!” Aunt Flora called out.

“But I bet he thinks I'm a total dork! Really! A Pretty Celestial Soldier t-shirt! And a pair of booty shorts and pigtails!” I groaned. “Talk about making a good first impression! Thanks a lot Aunt Flora!” I shouted as I picked myself off the floor.

“Well next time, come to the door wearing some spicy lingerie! And also remember you still not too big to go over my lap young lady! Don't make me say your full name..” Aunt Flora called from the kitchen. 

“What?” I said picking myself off the ground. 

“EMILY HANNAH ANDERSON!” Aunt Flora called out. 

I froze and blinked. So that's what she meant by calling out my full name I felt myself starting to shutter a little as I bolted toward the kitchen. A few seconds later, I was sitting across from Aunt Flora looking as meek and mild as a scolded child.

“Oh this is going to be fun.” Aunt Flora said smiling. “This is going to be fun.