"Oh, my lord!" she cried. "You have to wear a dress every day for the next two weeks?" She actually sat down on the sidewalk, she was laughing so hard. I wanted to smack her, I was so mad. "We're going to have to do some shopping!" She clutched her sides.

"Oh, Marcie," Ms. Price said with a concerned frown, "What happened to you? I thought you'd get here ahead of me."

In answer I looked up at the Queen of Hearts lookalike standing next to me. I wanted to say, What happened to me? She happened to me. That's what happened to me. Then I looked from Ms. Price's eyes to the hand on my arm, to try to tell her, I'm her prisoner now.

     Looking up into Richard's eyes, Christina did not think about whether or not what she was about to do was a good idea. In fact she didn't think it all. She wrapped her arms around Richard's shoulders, and her right hand found the back of his head. Guiding him down, Christina parted her lips and drew Richard into the most passionate kiss they had ever shared.

     "You can't be in here. This is girl space."
"I don't recall 'girl space' being outlined in the zoning regulations."
     "This," Christina stated manically as she outlined a square around her body with her hands, "is a girls-only establishment, hence girl space." She drew a square around Richard and said, "That is boy space. Boy space is not allowed in girl space. You have to go outside."

Christina whispered, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I thought I was kissing you," Richard joked. He leaned in and said, "Let me try again, and you tell me if I've got it wrong."
 

"So, you do like this man?"

"He's a nice guy, Uncle Alek, but he wants me to be his girlfriend, and it's just never gonna happen."

“I do other things beside sell cosmetics, but I don’t want to get into that right now, let’s just enjoy our meal.”

“You know you cannot drive without a driver license,” screamed the nicely dressed non-intoxicated policeman.

“Sure I can. I put something in this here hole next to the wheel that the nicely dressed intoxicated gentleman uses to stir things with and I put this thang here in “R”, get my book about Dick and Jane and Spot and put my foot on that thang down there and the car goes, but there is always that there tree in the way.”
 

Alek stood up and pointed around the room, "Tina, you will pack up all of these things right now, and you WILL come home, and that is FINAL."

Christina screamed, "No way! This is MY life, and I say I'm staying RIGHT THE FUCK HERE!"
 

Poor ole Joe Bockkernodd . Upset with life. Work, work all the time. Whenever he saw a girl with her boyfriend, a wife with her husband, he thought, “Oh how lucky they are. Never having to work. Always having somebody to take care of them. Oh, if only he was one of the lucky ones with someone to take care of him.”

A tear ran down Christina's cheek. "You have to talk to me Nina," she cried. "Please?" she whispered as she dropped her head and sobbed quietly. "Nina, you have to open the door. I'm leaving soon, and I don't know if I'm ever going to see you again. Please, don't be mad at me."

 

Synopsis: Cindy and Allyssa are convinced Terri doesn't need to be so depressed at her situation. They begin trying to change her attitude and self image. They want her open up a bit more.

Christina couldn't stand the devilish look on her aunt's face. "I know," Christina explained, "I got up early to cook something for lunch." She looked pleadingly towards Misha in the hopes she would let the subject drop.

Christina had reached an entirely new stage of embarrassment; she could feel heat pulsating throughout her entire body. "Aunt Misha, I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that at all," Christina protested.

"Come back tomorrow," he beamed.

Blushing, Christina said, "I think you'd work faster without any distractions."

Richard answered seriously, "I need you around to answer any questions that may arise." In a much more playful tone, he added, "Besides, you are far and away my favorite distraction."

Abby shrugged and continued, "Not a word of that, but they did say you two made quite the couple on the dance floor."

"Yeah," Christina admitted with a sneer, "There might have been some dancing."

"If Richard took you to the Clairmont, then he must have you in his sights."

"Is that his thing?" Christina asked.

Abby leaned in and warned, "That Richard Masters is one smooth talker. I swear he has dated more girls than a crocodile has teeth!"

"You don't say."

"Just watch your back, Sugar. He's not one for settling down."

"Oh I will," Christina assured. "I've seen him in action. I'm sure he has all the girls eating out of his hand. But I'm not all the girls. I'm not... even one girl."

        Doing her best to pretend that nothing was wrong, Christina spent most of Friday helping Misha and Nina with household chores. Her attempts to savor her time with Misha and Nina were crushed by their concerned looks. When she looked into their faces, all she saw was worry. The women carried on all day, making small talk and doing chores. None of them dared to address the complications that that were tearing Christina in two.

        Christina felt utterly lost. Had she ever felt so disconnected? Perhaps, when Amy had dumped her, but this was far worse. There was no way she could hold on to her family, and she doubted that even her gift, if Andrei could pull it off, would mend the rift that had formed between her and Alek.

        Pulling the pillow off of her head, Christina forced her eyes to focus on the alarm clock. "Crap," she yawned. It was already past eight; she'd slept late yet again. She had spent most of last night Googling taxation problems to no avail. Dropping her bare feet onto the cold floor, she went into the bathroom. Her eyes winced in the pale light as she took stock of what she saw. As usual, after her Oak Grove vacations, Christina was still a girl. Even without her false breasts in place and with her disheveled morning hair, there was no doubt about it. Her powder blue cotton pj's, which were covered from head to toe with yellow chicks, certainly didn't help her cause. She was in a difficult spot- she would be returning home for Christmas, so she did not have the luxury of getting a haircut. She'd just have to find some way of making herself a convincing boy in the meantime.

Synopsis: Terri gets to meet the Council and quite a few things are revealed. Like who might be responsible for all her problems...

Mike’s purchase on TG-Bay has unexpected features and consequences.

        Christina could feel time stalking her all day. She'd called Steph last night after dinner to give her all the bloody details of their double date.

        Steph, of course, had been absolutely elated. She'd explained that the Clairmont Inn was a small bed and breakfast on the edge of town. Its dining room was the closest thing to an extravagant restaurant Oak Grove had to offer, and it was certainly the most romantic place anyone could have picked.

        Had Christina known this, she would have insisted that they go anywhere else, but it was too late now. While she was sure that the day was dragging for Steph, she could feel the minutes slipping away. She wondered if this is what it felt like to be on Death Row.

Darla and Molly

by Maggie O'Malley and shalimar

Note: The Transgender element is based on previous stories.

        Pulling the still-hot load of towels out of the dryer, Nina piled it into the laundry basket. Taking a towel off the top, she started folding.

        Christina took the next one, folded it, and placed it on the stack they were building on top of the dryer.

        "Thanks for helping out with my chores," said Nina.

        Christina responded, "Your chores are my chores."

        "In that case, do you want to write my history report?" Nina joked.