Twenty Weeks - 2

 

Dean, with the help of his classmates, Robin and Jade, explores more and more
of the nuisances of girlhood. Then there's the audition for the school musical and the
excursion to the movies (with boys!)...will it never end?

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Author's Note: Happy Chanukah, and Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for all of your reviews! I hope you are all well and enjoying the holiday season!!! I am still managing slightly well due to things, but I will make it!
As always, please let me know what you think about this story, both good and bad?
And leave me a review on this story? I always read them! ~Clara.
 
This version of Twenty Weeks - 2 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

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Part 2
 

She knew by the ringtone that it was her ex-husband calling. She'd been in bed with a load of financial reports, scouring them, looking at where the Board of Directors spent their money and needed a break anyway, so this was actually a welcomed intrusion.

"Hi, Frank," she said when she answered. "How are you doing?"

"Me?" He laughed. "I'm fine, but more to the point, how are you and Deano doing after your big move?"

She smiled. Amelia and Frank still had strong feelings for each other, but their marriage had been a series of miscommunication and hard feelings that ended in a fairly equitable divorce. They talked and text frequently, but seldom saw each other.

"We're ok. Dean's a little testy about his new school, but other than that, things are ok."

"It's not easy to be 'the new boy' at a school, Amelia. God knows I went through it a dozen times with my dad moving from one posting to another. The Navy was not kind about things like that, but I got used to it. You'll see, in a month he'll have made some friends and there will be boys calling and dropping by to see him. It's just a matter of time."

"I hope so," Dr Martin sighed - in fact, though, having 'boys' drop by was the last thing she wanted. She hadn't told Frank about Dean's required feminization to attend Greenwood and she was rather relieved that he'd never looked at the school's website, or that would have raised some red flags, too. "I think he has met some nice kids already, though. It's just the change that's got him riled up. He'll be ok in a few days, I'm sure."

"There you go," Frank laughed. "Do you want me to talk to him about moving and new schools? I'm the one with experience, you know."

"That's ok," she said, trying not to sound evasive, although she was pretty sure she could count the number of times Frank had talked to Dean in the past thirteen years on one hand, so she didn't think the question was really a sincere offer of help. "He'll be ok if we just let him acclimate to the situation. The less said the better, I think." She looked at her watch and realized it was only eight thirty. That meant it was only five thirty in California. Frank never stopped working until six or six thirty. "Where are you, Frank. It's too early for you to be calling from California."

He chuckled. "I'm in Charlotte, Amy."

"Where?"

He laughed at that. "Charlotte. It's the capital of St Thomas in the American Virgin Islands. My company is involved with a development company down here and I'm heading up a research project on the environmental impact of their proposed, new development."

"Sounds important," she complimented. "How's it going?"

He huffed a bit. "Not well. I'm afraid no one is going to like my report. It kind of sucks when being the good guy for the rest of the world makes you the bad guy for your company."

"I know," she empathized, "but at least you're in the Virgin Islands in January. That's a big perk of your job."

"Yeah, trying to protect their virginity," he laughed. "Hey, Amy," Amy was Frank's nickname for his ex-wife. No one else ever called her that. "It's late and I know you get up early, so I won't hold you. Give Dean my love, ok?"

"I will, Frank. Take care of yourself."

"You too, Amy. Talk to you soon. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and thought for a moment. In the previous thirteen years, Frank had seen Dean a grand total of one time. It wasn't because he didn't love Dean, he did, in his own way, he just... well, work had always been his priority and, to be blunt, he wasn't a good father. He wasn't a good husband, either. He was a great ex-husband and as an absentee father, he never forgot a birthday and acknowledged every significant event in Dean's life with a gift or a card. He would never understand why she'd asked so much of Dean, but... oh, to heck with it. What Frank didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
 

~^~
 

"Hey," Jade's voice said as it came out of Dean's phone at six fifteen the next morning. "What time does your mom leave for school?"

"In about ten minutes, why?"

"Great. Stay there. Robin's mom is dropping us off early. We'll be there in fifteen."

"Ok... but why?"

"We're sprucing up your look before school."

"My look?" Dean shook his head, a bit confused.

He could hear Robin laughing a bit further from the phone than Jade. "Don't worry, Dee," she laughed, "I won't let her go crazy."

"See you in a few!" Jade laughed and ended the call.

"Go crazy!?" Dean asked, but the connection was gone.

"Are you ready to go?" Dr Martin asked from the hallway.

"Ummm... I'll be there before school starts, mom. Jade and Robin want to meet me here before school."

"Oh?" His mother looked a bit suspicious. "Why?"

"I'm not sure," he shrugged. "They just want to meet me here for some reason."

Dr Martin considered that for a moment. "Ok, but... Deedee, when I heard you tell Robin that you loved her last night... well... I don't have anything to worry about, leaving you here alone with those girls, do I?"

Dean looked at his mother as if she was crazy. "What would you have to worry about, mom? They think I'm a girl."

"Do they?" She looked skeptical.

"What? You think I'd tell them that I'm a boy? Mom, I'd rather they'd think that I'm a girl than a sissy.'

The Chancellor nodded. "Ok... Let's keep it that way, ok? And you're not a sissy. You're just doing what needs to be done."

She buttoned her coat as she thought for another moment. "Deedee? Do you... I mean... have you ever had... feelings... for a girl? I mean... like, have you ever had a crush on a girl? Wanted to date a girl? Anything like that?"

Dean looked away from his mother's gaze and looked embarrassed. "Could we, maybe, talk about this later, mom?"

"Not if you want me to leave you here with two very pretty girls, Deedee. I need to know that you're not going to get up to anything."

He sighed and looked at her more directly. "Mom... I am not interested in either Robin or Jade as anything either than friends. I have never had 'that kind' of feeling for any girl. I like girls just fine, but I'm not interested in having sex with anyone - anyone at all. Is that good enough?"

Dr Martin nodded and touched Dean's shoulder. "Ok. I'm sorry if that was embarrassing, but your at an age..."

"Yeah, ok, mom," Dean interrupted her. "I get it, but... come on... I have given in to every single demand you have made of me so you could have this job. I gave up my life in San Diego. I gave up my friends. I gave up my name and I even gave up my gender for you. At some point, you have to back off and trust me. Alright?"

She smiled at him. "Ok, baby. I'm sorry. I'll see you after school."

Dean nodded and his mother grabbed her briefcase and headed for the door. Just as she opened it, Dean heard her say, "Hi, girls. Deedee's in the kitchen. Deedee, your girlfriends are here! Bye girls."

"Bye, Dr Martin," Dean could hear the girls say in unison and then they appeared in the kitchen.

"Good morning, sunshine," Jade giggled, carrying a small, tote bag.

"Hey," Robin said, but then she noticed that her new friend seemed upset. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean said, taking a breath in order to calm down. "My mom and I were just having a tough morning."

"Well, forget about that," Jade said, laying a number of cosmetic products and tools on the counter. "My mom and I fight at least three times a week. Now, sit on one of those tall stools and let me do your makeup."

"Makeup?" Dean half laughed as he sat. "I'll let you try, but if I don't like it..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jade scoffed. "Let me get it done before you tell me you hate it. Ok? Because you're not going to hate it - you're gonna love it."

"You will," Robin said, supportively. "Jade is really good at makeup." She grabbed a large, flat brush. "I'm going to do your hair while she does your makeup."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Dean actually kind of liked the way his hair looked with just a little bit of wavy curl to it after sleeping with it in braids. When he was living as a boy, he used to just throw his hair in a pony tail at night and give it a quick brushing in the morning.

"There's nothing wrong with your hair, Dee. I just want to dress it up a little."

As Jade went to work, she asked, "So... did you ask your mom about the movies Friday?"

"I did," he sighed. "She says it's my decision."

"Great!" Robin said. "So, we're leaving at five, now, instead of five thirty. The movie is at six and then we'll get something to eat after the movie. Probably just share some appetizers at Unos or something like that."

"Or get ice cream," Robin said. "I prefer ice cream to greasy appetizers."

"Well," Dean said, quietly, "I haven't really decided, yet."

"Why!?" Jade said, still concentrating on her work.

"Is it because of the boys?" Robin asked.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah... I guess. I'm just a little... I don't know... I've just never, you know... been with boys under those circumstances before."

"They're my cousin and his friends, Dee. Not a biker gang," Robin laughed.

"I know you never had a boyfriend before," Jade said, still focused, "but didn't you have guys who were your friends before? Just guys that you hung out with?"

"Well, yeah, of course I did," Dean shrugged, "but... I've changed since then and..."

"Oh, my God!" Jade laughed, stepping back just a little. "Do you think you're so hot that the boys won't be able to control themselves?"

"What!? Of course not!" Dean protested. "I'm just... God, this is the second uncomfortable conversation I've had this morning and it's not even seven in the morning, yet."

Robin put the brush on the counter and grabbed something else. "Ok, look, Dee... The boys are great. They won't be creepy at all. They are a necessity, though because our moms wouldn't let us go without them. Think of them as our security detail. Like the President has the Secret Service, we have Willie and his friends." She started pulling on Dean's hair and doing something odd behind his head.

"What are you doing, now?" Dean asked.

"I'm getting your hair off of your face with a hair band. You hide behind it too much. This will put an end to that."

Before Dean could reply, Jade said, "Look up," and approached his eye with some sort of odd tool.

"What's that?"

"It's an eyelash curler. Now, look up so I can curl your eye lashes."

Curl his eyelashes? Was this really a thing? Girls actually thought about something so minuscule as curling their eyelashes.

"Ok, keep looking up while I put on the mascara," Jade instructed, working quickly.

"Do you wear all of this stuff everyday?"

"Everyday," both girls said together.

"So, you'll come to the movies with us, right?" Robin asked, coming around to see her work from the front. "Ooh... you look nice."

"She looks better than nice," Jade said, nudging her friend.

"That's true," Robin conceded. "You look awesome, Dee."

"Can I see?" He asked.

"Just a one moment," Jade said. "Pucker up, buttercup."

Dean did pucker up and he felt the now familiar feeling of lipstick being smeared across his lips.

"Done," Jade said.

"With minutes to spare," Robin smiled. "Let's go."

"Wait. Let me see it first," Dean said, hopping down from the stool and hurrying to the downstairs lavatory.

"Whoa," he muttered as he looked into the mirror. Now, just a few weeks earlier, when he saw himself in a dress with his hair colored and styled, little faux-pearl stud earrings and slender eyebrows, he'd been taken aback by how much like a girl he looked, but now...

This was a new level of looking like a girl.

His skin looked smooth, his cheeks rosy, his lips a much brighter, cherry red than before and his eyes... his eyes were HUGE compare to usual. He didn't look anything like Dean. This was one hundred percent Deanne. Deanne through and through.

Then there was his hair. It was nicely brushed, held back with a white headband that had a rather large bow on it and that bow sat proudly and girlishly on the top of his head.

"Whoa," he muttered again.

"That's a good 'whoa,' right?" Jade asked. "I mean, you like it, right?"

"I... I..." he couldn't find words to describe how he felt. It was like his life had changed entirely. That was not a boy in a dress looking back at him. That was not a tomboy in a girl's school uniform. That was a girl - a pretty girl - a prissy girl, and she looked adorable. Not just pretty, certainly not sexy, just... adorable.

"She loves it!" Robin said, happily and gave Jade a high-five. "Come on. We've got seven minutes to get to class."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean said as Robin passed him his coat. "This bow in my hair. Doesn't it look a little... young?"

Robin and Jade looked at each other and shrugged.

"I wore that headband to school last week," Robin said, "but if you don't like it..."

"No... it's not that I don't like it." In fact, he kind of loved it. "I just... it doesn't make me look too much like a little girl, does it."

Jade laughed, "Deedee, the whole point of all of this is so you DON'T look like a little girl. I mean, you're what... five feet tall and ninety pounds? You need to perk up your look to blend in a little better."

"I'm five foot two and weigh one hundred and nine pounds," Dean said, defensively.

"Ok," Jade smiled, "and with that bow in your hair, your two inches taller. It helps."

That actually made some sense. "Ok. Let's go."

They made it to Civics with a few minutes to spare. It went well and so did Algebra, but Dean was a little shocked by the compliments that other students paid him in the hallway. "You look nice, today, Deedee." "I like what you did to your eyes." "That bow is so cute on you, Deanne." Etc. The girls seemed to gush over each other all the time, but Dean just found it odd to be receiving so many compliments. It certainly had never happened before.

When he arrived at his office duty assignment, the older secretary, who had yet to offer Dean her name, spoke without looking up.

"Straight into the Chancellor's Office with you, young lady," she grunted in a voice gruff from, what Dean assumed was, years of cigarette smoking.

"Oh," Dean said apprehensively.

"That's what your mom told me. She wants to see you the moment you get here."

"Ok." Dean could hear a funeral march playing in his head as headed towards his mother's office. He wasn't sure what he'd done wrong, now, but the last twelve hours or so had been rough, so this couldn't be good.

"Come on in," his mother said when he knocked, "and close the door." He sat in one on the chairs in front of her desk and waited until she finished typing something into her computer. She was still focusing on her screen as she hit 'send' and started speaking. "Deedee, I wanted to say that I'm sorry if I put too much pressure on you last night, but..." she finally saw Dean for the first time. "Oh, my..." she said as her serious face turned to a smile. "This is a surprise."

Dean heaved a sigh. "I know. This is why Jade and Robin wanted to me meet them this morning. It's a little much, isn't it?"

"No, honey, it's not. You actually look lovely. I mean that. They did a lovely job on your makeup and I kinda love the bow in your hair." She stood and walked to the front of her desk and looked more closely. "They made your eyes look just lovely, too. Honestly, I am so impressed. Do you like it?"

He shrugged. "I was a little surprised when I saw myself, but all the other girls have been really complimentary, so... yeah... I guess I like it."

Dr Martin smiled when her son said, 'All the other girls...' She was glad that he was accepting his situation. She took his face in her hands and smiled down at him. "I'm glad you like it, baby. You look just lovely."

She kissed his forehead and returned to her desk chair. "Deedee," she said, returning to her more business like demeanor, "I want to apologize for pushing you as hard as I've been pushing you. I know this hasn't been easy for you and sometimes I get too hyper focused on doing my job well, so... I guess I just push you a bit too hard... although, it seems like you may have been pushed further by your friends than I ever pushed you."

"They think they're helping me, mom. They just want me to fit in."

She nodded. "I know, but... Deedee... I want to make you an offer. Should you decide to go out with your friends on Friday... and I will not force you to go... but should you decide to go, then I will give you fifty dollars to enjoy the evening with your friends. Ok? That's all I wanted to say."

Dean nodded. "Mom... thank you for the apology. That really means a lot, and I'm going to try to relax a bit more and try to fit in as best I can until the end of the year."

Dr Martin nodded.

"As for Friday," he took a deep breath and looked around the room, "I guess I'll be going to the movie. I don't think that Jade and Robin are going to let me off the hook, anyway."

His mother smiled. "I think that's a good decision, Deedee. I think you'll have a great time and I think that once you've been out with kids your age dressed this way, you'll be able to enjoy yourself more frequently."

Dean nodded. "I guess."

"Ok," the Chancellor nodded. "There are a couple of hundred newsletters that need to be collated and stapled on the counter out there, so why don't you go out there and get to work. We'll talk some more at home."

He stood and started to leave.

"You should ask the girls what they're wearing Friday," Dr Martin said. "You don't have a lot of clothing choices, yet. Maybe they'll have a suggestion."

"Ok."
 

~^~
 

"That's all for today," Ms Highland said. "Last reminder: Tomorrow is audition day. Come prepared. Bye girls."

Dean grabbed his things and joined the class as they exited the theater/classroom.

"You never gave us a solid answer this morning," Jade said.

"Yeah, you ARE coming to the movie, right?" Robin asked.

Dean smiled, having made his decision already. "Yes, I'd love to go with you. Thanks for inviting me."

"Excellent!" Robin said.

"Oh..." Dean said, remembering what his mother had said, "... what are you guys wearing to the movie?"

"Nothing fancy," Robin said.

"Jeans and a sweat shirt, I guess," Jade offered.

"Oh..." Dean said, and the girls could tell by his tone that he had concerns.

"What's the matter?" Jade asked.

"Well... nothing... but..." he breathed a sigh. "It's just that I don't have any jeans... or... any pants, actually."

There was a moment of shocked silence until Jade said in a very concerned tone, "You don't own ANY pants?"

How could he tell them that anything resembling male clothing was put into storage back in San Diego so that he had no choice but to wear skirts and dresses?

"I did," he finally said, "but... they haven't arrived yet. Not everything from our place in San Diego has gotten here, yet."

That seemed to be a satisfactory answer for the girls.

"Alright," Robin said. "We'll wear skirts, then. No biggie."

"Yeah," Jade smiled. "It'll be fun to get a little dressed up."

"Ok," Dean said, smiling, knowing they were working hard to make him feel comfortable.

XXX

"Good morning, Dr Martin," the girls said in unison as they arrived at the Chancellor's house even earlier on Thursday morning.

"Morning, girls," Dean's mother replied, heading back into the kitchen with both girls behind her. "Here to do Deedee's makeup again?"

"Yep," Jade said with a smile. "Did you like how she looked yesterday?"

"I did, Jade. You did a wonderful job. When I first saw her, I couldn't believe that was my little girl. She looked so grown-up. And I LOVED the bow in her hair. If I'd suggested that, she would have said 'no' right off the bat."

"The bow was Robin's touch," Jade explained.

"I'm glad you liked it, Dr Martin," Robin smiled. "Leave her to us and she'll be a fashion-plate in no time."

"That's wonderful," the Chancellor chuckled. She liked these girls and she was glad that her son had such two wonderful tutors. She called up the stairs, "Deedee! Your friends are here!"

"Coming," Dean said as he hustled down the stairs, his uniform skirt billowing as he jumped the last few steps to the first floor.

"Very ladylike," his mother said, still chuckling. "Your hair and makeup team are up and ready to go before you are. That hardly seems fair."

"Trust us, Dr M," Jade said, pulling out her makeup accoutrements, "in a week or two, Dee will be as good at this as we are."

"Well, won't that be wonderful," Dr Martin said half-teasing her son.

He didn't seem to notice it was a tease, though and just nodded.

"Alright, ladies. I will see you at the school," Dean's mother said. She then planted a big kiss on Dean's cheek and made a loud 'mwah' sound. "Be a good girl, Deedee." Then she left.

The girls went to work on Dean just as they had the day before, but this time he was able to relax and enjoy the experience. After all, yesterday his new look had been very well received by his classmates.

"Are you ready for auditions?" Robin asked.

"I guess," Dean shrugged.

"What are you singing?" Jade asked.

Dean shrugged. "Whatever Mrs Tracy teaches us from the show, I guess. Ms Highland said it was fine if we did that."

"I'm so excited to be doing 'Chicago,'" Jade said, focusing on her work on Dean's face. "Last year we did Oklahoma. It was fun, but the music is so old fashioned and the story so... blah."

"Agreed," Robin said as she slipped a new Headband into Dean's hair. "But at least you got to be Ado Annie last year. I was just a member of the chorus. I like this show, though. Murder... sex... and lots of parts for girls. I'm psyched!"

"Look up," Jade said, again, as she got to Dean's eyes. He knew what to do this time, though, so he relaxed as his eyelashes were curled, then thickened with mascara. "I only got to be Ado Annie because the first girl they cast moved away."

"You still had a part," Robin said. "You were the only freshman girl to get a part. I was jealous."

The school day went by quickly, but there was a palpable excitement amongst the student body as the hour of auditions approached. The Greenwood Academy had excellent sports programs, but it was renown for its plays and musicals. Because of the remote location of the town of Greenwood, the performances were very well attended. The community loved coming to the academy's state of the art theater and enjoying an evening of entertainment. Ms Highland put on several plays each year and one, huge musical. All of them were well attended and big money makers for the school.

As the end of day bell rang, Jade grabbed Dean by the hand and said, "Come on. We've only got a few minutes."

Before he knew what was happening, Dean was running on his tip toes to keep up with Jade, and Robin was right behind him. "Where are we going? I thought auditions were in here."

"We're going to the lav to freshen our makeup," Jade said, as if Dean's question was absurd. "We have to get there before the other girls or it'll be mobbed."

They exploded into the ladies room just outside of the theater where several girls were already at the counters touching up their own makeup.

Jade laid claim to an area at the far end and pulled out her makeup tools in a rush. "Here. Get started on your lips," she instructed, handing Dean a tube of lipstick. "Your eyes look good. I'll just touch up your checks after I've done my own."

Robin had already begun touching up her own look. "I'm pulling my hair back so it doesn't get in my way. Dee, are ok with your hair as it is?"

"I guess," Dean said.

"Can you tie mine up in bun for me?" Jade asked, finishing her own makeup and turning to inspect Dean's face.

"Sure." Robin went to work on Jade's hair.

The girls were working fast and the ladies room was filling up with other girls who wanted to use the mirrors for the same reason.

Suddenly, the doors opened and a half dozen older girls entered the room. "Alright, GIRLS," one of them said in a commanding voice, "make room for THE WOMEN."

There was a definite groan from the group assembled, but the crowd of girls did part and the newcomers sauntered to the center of the counter.

"Ignore them," Jade whispered. "That's Donna Linkletter and her friends. They're rich and nasty."

Dean glanced at the new girls. "Aren't you all rich?" He asked. "I mean, I thought the school was expensive."

"Robin's family is well-to-do and I'm here on a scholarship. Donna's family is really rich. Like millions and millions rich. She's the most popular girl in the school and the meanest, too."

"She makes Regina George look like Mother Theresa," Robin whispered.

"And her friends make The Plastics look like social workers," Jade agreed.

'Oh," Dean said, having no idea what his friends were talking about.

"Oh, look!" Donna Linkletter said in a loud, self-important way. "It's Ado Annie and her best friend - Chorus Girl number seventy three."

"Shit," Jade muttered. Then in a louder voice, she said, "Hi, Donna. Break a leg today."

The older girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, I will. Tell me, why are you trying out? This isn't the kind of show that requires comic relief in the form of a poor, trampy girl who sleeps around."

"Hey!" Dean said, turning to the older girl.

"Oh, look," Donna smiled, "someone brought a sixth grader with them. How cute."

Dean could tolerate a lot, but he hated being treated as if he was younger than he really was and the idea of this bitch treating his new friend badly REALLY got up his nose.

Jade could feel him tensing up and whispered, "Ignore her."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Donna," Robin said.

"Oh would you?" Donna said with a sardonic laugh. She was about to say more, but one of her crew whispered something into her ear. "Oh... so THIS is the new Chancellor's daughter, huh? Well, listen, honey... this school is only open because my family supports it. So, in a way, your mommy works for me. So, don't you ever get uppity with me. Got it?"

"We're done," Jade announced, suddenly. She grabbed her makeup, threw it into her bag and smiled at Donna Linkletter as she pulled Dean towards the door. "Best of luck, Donna. I hope you do well," she said as she leaned against the exit door, pushing it open.

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Donna smirked.

Once in the hallway, Dean looked at his friend and said, "Why do you let her talk to you like that?"

"She's just being the spoilt brat that she is, Deedee," Jade replied. "I can't change that and I don't want to deal with her today. Besides, she's a senior. In a few months she'll be out of my life forever. So... what's the point? "

"Forget about her," Robin said. "Let's go sign in to the audition."

They did just that, then filled in the audition forms and returned them to the students who were helping Ms Highland and Mrs Tracy, the music teacher, organize everything. Soon, once everyone had checked in, they split the entire group into two smaller groups. One group went off with the choreographer to learn a short dance sequence while the rest stayed to do their singing auditions.

Mrs Tracy took over. "Look at your audition materials, girls. We're going to learn that section of 'All That Jazz.' If you want to sing something different, that's fine, too, but let's all learn this, anyway. Here we go."

For the next ten minutes, Mrs Tracy played the same part over and over again until everyone was comfortable - well, as comfortable as they were going to be - with the song section.

"Alright," Ms Highland announced, "now we're going to start the singing auditions. We'll go alphabetically. June Anderson, you're up."

The first girl did a fine job and the teachers continued to work their way through the list. Jade was the first of Dean's group of friends to sing and she sang with power and confidence that shocked Dean. He had no idea she was so talented. No wonder she got a role in last year's musical, even though she was only a freshman at the time.

Not long after Jade came Donna Linkletter who decided to sing a song from a different show. "My vocal coach recommends that I sing 'Maybe This Time' from 'Cabaret' instead of something from 'Chicago.'" She announced in a rather snotty manner as she gave the sheet music to Ms Tracy.

Dean was rather disappointed to hear Donna Linkletter sing because she was actually very good. He would have preferred that she had been terrible.

Robin was called up a few people after Donna Linkletter and Dean was once again shocked to hear her sing. She was really, really good. Maybe not as good as Jade, but very, very good.

Finally, it was Dean's turn. Now, he had sung in some plays in elementary and middle school, but it had been awhile. So, he was nervous. As he walked up to the piano to sing, he heard Donna Linkletter say, "Oh, look, the sixth grader is going to sing, too. Isn't that adorable," to her friends. They all laughed and that raised his ire substantially.

"Ready?" Ms Tracy asked, when Dean had turned and faced the rest of the girls.

He nodded.

Ms Tracy played the little introduction he'd heard her play for the twenty girls before him, and as the vocal section arrived, Dean glared at Donna Linkletter and let himself sing as well as he possibly could. "Oh, I'm no one's wife but
Oh I love my life
And all --------
That--------
Jazz--------"

When he was done, everyone applauded for him, as they had done for everyone, but he felt very satisfied when he glanced at Donna Linkletter and she looked irritated that he had done so well.

"Alright, girls," Ms Highland said when all the girls in the first group were done, "you all head to the main stage where Ms Evelyn, our choreographer, will teach you a sequence. Then, we'll let you all know who we need to stay to read."

They all headed in the direction of the bigger theater as the kids in the second group were headed in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Robbie," a male voice called.

"Oh, hey!" Robin said as she hugged the boy who was speaking. "When did you get here?"

"About a half hour ago," the boy said. "There's eight of us here to audition."

"Cool!" Robin said. "Hey, come meet my new friend. Dee, come here."

Dean walked over to where the boy and Robin were standing and said, "Hi," but he felt very odd doing it. The boy was handsome. Really handsome. And he had his arm around Robin. Was he her boyfriend? Dean hopped not, but he wasn't sure why he felt that way. Was he jealous that his friend was paying attention to this boy instead of him, or was he jealous because he wanted the boy to be paying attention to him instead of Robin?

"Dee, this is my cousin, Willie," Robin said. "Willie, this is Dee. She's coming to the movies with us tomorrow."

"Oh, that's great!" Willie said, extending a hand to Dean. "Very nice to meet you, Dee."

"You too," Dean said, shaking Willie's hand and feeling an odd relief that Willie and Robin weren't a couple, but honestly not being able to fully understand that feeling.

"I better get in there and do my singing," Willie said. "I'll see you guys at the readings."

"Hopefully," Jade said. "There's a lot of girl's parts in the show, but there's like forty girls auditioning. There's only eight of you guys, so you'll all end up reading."

"Oh, you guys will read," Willie smiled. "Gotta run," and he disappeared into the smaller theater.

The dance audition was actually pretty easy. Dean hadn't really danced before, but the choreographer just gave them a series of simple moves to see how they did. Of course, they had filled out all of their training and experience on their audition forms, so Miss Ellen, the
choreographer, knew which of them had real dance training. As it turned out, both Robin and Jade had had a lot of dance training. Dean, of course, had not, but his gymnastic training had given him a lot of 'body awareness,' and he felt like he did ok.

"One last thing," Miss Ellen said. "Can anyone do a back-flip?"

Three girls raised their hands immediately, and then Dean did as well.

Each of the girls went first. Each had had a lot of dance training and prepped their back-flips by taking several well rehearsed, very stylized steps and then performed the flip.

When it was Dean's turn, he went to the center of the stage and said, "I... ummm... I was taught to do my backflip differently. I just do it from here, if that's ok."

"Sure," Miss Ellen said, writing a few notes about the previous girl.

"Ok," Dean shrugged. He stood still for a moment, just standing there in his school uniform with the heeled shoes. He bounced just a little a time or two before he suddenly squatted and then exploded upwards and into a perfectly executed back-flip, causing the girls to scream in support of his ability.

Even Miss Ellen seemed impressed and applauded. "Can you do that anytime you want?"

Dean nodded. "I think so."

"Do it once more for me," she said, smiling.

Dean took a moment, then squatted and quickly repeated the flip.

"Excellent," Miss Ellen said.

They were all sent back into the first theater and waited as Miss Highland, Miss Tracy and Miss Ellen all discussed a few things. Then Miss Highland turned and announced who she needed to stay to read as characters. She ran down the names of the people she wanted to stay. Of course, all the boys were asked to read, but she made it clear that she was only keeping fifteen or so girls to read. She went down the list alphabetically and she'd already called out fifteen names without calling Dean's. He was sure that he wasn't going to be asked to read and was preparing to wait outside when Miss Highland said, "And lastly, Deanne Martin."

Dean was shocked. Both Robin and Jade reached over and squeezed his hands in support.

The first group went up to read from the script. Both Jade and Robin were part of that group. Dean stayed in his seat and watched. It was nothing amazing, just kids reading and trying to act as best they could. Jade was actually doing a great job, at least Dean thought so.

"Hey," a voice said from behind Dean. "It's Deedee, right?"

Dean turned and saw Willie leaning over from the row behind him to talk. "Oh, yeah... and you're Willie, right?"

"Yeah," he smiled and that smile... Dean was captivated. God, he was handsome! "So, how did you end up starting here mid-year. I thought that all of the private academies around here had a strict policy against that."

"They do," Dean giggled. He giggled? Why? "but my mom is the new Chancellor here. They let me start mid-year because that's when she started, too."

"Ahh... I get it. So... where are you from?"

"San Diego." Why was Willie smiling so broadly and why was his smile so... wonderful?

"Wow! California, huh? That's a big move."

"Excuse me," Ms Highland called from the stage in a voice meant to get the attention of everyone. "William, if you wouldn't mind joining us on the stage..."

"Oh, sorry, Ms Highland," he said, a bit embarrassed about getting caught talking. Then he whispered to Dean, "I'll be back."

When he left, Dean realized that his heart was actually racing. Why? What was happening to him?

The auditions went on for another forty five minutes or so. Dean read for a couple of parts, including one part that seemed to be entirely in Hungarian. He thought he did ok sounding it all out, though.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," Ms Highland finally said, "I think we have tortured you enough for one day. The production team and I will consult and make our decisions over the weekend. The cast list will be posted on Monday by the end of the day. Thank you all! Bye bye."

Dean stood and grabbed his backpack and joined Robin and Jade as they walked to their lockers. Willie caught up with them halfway down the hall. "Hey... so... tomorrow. We'll meet you in the lobby before six, ok?"

"Sounds good," Robin said.

"Alright. See you then," he smiled that big smile and bent to kiss Robin's cheek, leaving Dean with that odd, jealous feeling once again. Then he waved at Jade and gave Dean a wink, causing a shiver to run down Dean's spine.

What the hell!?
 

~^~
 

"How did it go?" Dean's mother asked as he joined her in the kitchen. She had a half finished bowl of salad in front of her.

"Alright, I guess," he replied. "We'll find out if we are in the show on Monday."

"And did you feel like you did your best?"

He smiled and shrugged. "Yeah. I guess... I mean... I think I did."

"Excellent, then. That's all you can do. Well, that and trust that Ms Highland will use her best judgement when casting the show. Would you like some salad?"

He considered that for a moment, but shook his head. "Nah. I think I'll just have some Ramen."

His mother scowled. "How many times have you had Ramen this week?"

"I dunno... two or three."

"Deedee, that stuff is loaded with salt and has almost no protein. It's going to give you high blood pressure and you'll gain weight with all that salt and starch. Have some salad with me."

"Ok," Dean sighed, not being a huge fan of salad, but knowing that his mother was right about Ramen not being the healthiest meal choice.

Dr Martin got up and poured some of the spinach salad mix out of its bag and into a bowl. "Dressing?"

"Ranch, if we have any," he said. "Do we have any bacon bits?"

His mother grunted, but brought her son both the ranch dressing and the Bac-Os. "Use them sparingly, now. The dressing is high in fat and the bacon bits are just smokey flavored, salt covered soy bits. If you use a lot, then it'll be less healthy than the Ramen, and a girl needs to watch her weight."

Dean just rolled his eyes.

For the next half hour or so, they discussed the auditions and Dean told his mother about how well his friends did. He also mentioned how he'd taken an instant dislike to Donna Linkletter.

"Yeah, I met her parents. Charming people. They hold money over your head like The Sword of Damocles," The Chancellor said, shaking her head.

"What does that mean?"

"The Sword of Damocles? Well, it's a long story, but essentially it means... well... if you have The Sword of Damocles hanging over your head, it means something bad is about to happen."

Dean thought about that. "You don't mean they'd defund the school if Donna didn't get the part she wants, do you?"

"Who knows," she said, dismissively. "From what you said, though, Donna is fairly talented, right? So she'll probably get a good part."

"I guess."

As they nibbled on their salads, she asked, "Were there any boys there?"

Dean nodded. "I think there were eight or ten. Robin says that they'll all be cast in the show because they need boys."

"One of the many advantages of having a penis, I guess," his mother laughed.

"I have a penis and it's not doing me much good at the moment," Dean said, a little sarcastically.

His mother took that as the shot across the bow it was meant to be, but opted to not rise to the bait.

After a few moments of silence, Dean said, "I met Robin's cousin Willie. He's going to the movies with us tomorrow night."

"Oh," she said, glad that the conversation had renewed. "And what do you think of cousin Willie?"

"He's very nice," Dean said. Then he went quite for a few moments before he said, "He's very good looking."

"Oh?'

He nodded. "I mean... you know...it's kind of obvious that he plays sports and he's pretty tall. He's, like, one of those guys who is just kind of... perfect. You know?"

"I do." Then his mother asked, curious as to where this was going. "Did you talk to this boy?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded. "We talked quite a bit, actually. He was very friendly."

"So, you liked him?"

"Yeah, sure. I liked him, fine, I guess."

Ok, where was this heading? She hadn't 'turned her son gay' had she? No. Of course not. That was impossible. And besides... he'd only been in a girl's school for four days. No one is just suddenly gay because he hangs around with girls. If anything, being surrounded by girls all day would be exciting for a straight boy.

But was Dean a straight boy?

He certainly never showed any interest in girls as anything other than casual friends. He didn't even show any interest in the one female friend who showed an interest in him.

"Are you looking forward to seeing this... Willie... again tomorrow night?" She asked, cautiously.

Dean shrugged. "I guess. Oh! By the way, I did talk to the girls about what they were wearing to the movies and we're wearing skirts and tops."

"Ok," his mother nodded and set her empty bowl aside. "And do you have a skirt and top to wear? I mean, something that you like and will be comfortable wearing?"

"Well," Dean used a napkin to dab his lips as he chewed, "I was thinking of that longish, brown skirt you had me wear to get my hair done and go shopping that first day you dressed me up as a girl. Remember? But now... I'd like something a little more..."

"Flirty," he mother blurted out.

"What? No, mom! What are you talking about? I was thinking of something a little... younger. You know, so I'd fit in better."

"Of course," she smiled. "You know, there's a nice little boutique in the town. If you want, I could call it quits around three tomorrow and we could shoot down there and find you something you'd like. What do you think."

"I'd like that," he smiled.

That was a huge change from just a few weeks earlier when he refused to get out of the car at the salon where she'd had his hair colored and styled. There was more to this than just getting comfortable in his new persona.

Interesting.

Concerning... but interesting.

That night, as Dean crawled into bed, his golden blonde hair in two, tight braids and his body wrapped in the mostly gray, soft rayon, three quarter sleeve nightshirt (his mother's term for the nightie) that buttoned all the way up the front and had a little lace to decorate the breast pocket, which emphasized the shape of the bra his mother insisted he wear at all times, and a little more lace to decorate the bottom hem that came to just above his knees, he had an urge to do something he'd not done for weeks.

Tentatively, he raised the hem of the nightshirt until he could touch himself through the soft material of his panties. Then he began massaging himself through that material.

It wasn't working.

So, he thought of a girl from a TV show he'd watched recently. Her apple-cheeks and cherry red lips. In his mind's eye, she was wearing a pink dress she'd worn on the show. The dress looked soft and flouncy and just by looking at it, he could imagine how soft if felt. How it would cling to his bra-ed chest and how it would feel against his legs. So soft and light and he'd look so pretty in that dress! Maybe he could find a dress like that tomorrow when he...

Wait!

What was happening!?

Concentrate, Dean.

The girl from the show... She was so cute. Her eyes just popped when she looked into the camera and her hair! Her hair was so pretty and blonde. She was young and just starting to blossom into being a woman and when she smiled...

Smiled...

Smiled...

Yes, she had a beautiful smile, but not as beautiful as Willie's. Willie's smile was kind and strong and kind of manly, and when he smiled at Dean, it was as if the whole world faded around that smile. As if nothing else in the world...

"Wha...!?!?"

"Oh, God!" He muttered as he released his load into his panties. "Shit," he whispered to himself as he got out of bed carefully and removed the soiled garment. He used the clean part of the panties to wipe himself up down there, then hurried to his lavatory down the hall (his mother had her own lavatory off her bedroom) and used a damp wash cloth to clean himself some more. He dropped the panties into the hamper, making a mental note to throw some clothes into the washing machine in the morning, and hurried back to his room. He pulled on a clean pair of panties and climbed back into bed where he fell asleep and dreamed dreams that would confuse him in the morning.
 

~^~
 

Dean was a good student.

He was a conscientious student.

He was an achieving student.

He never did badly in school.

He always wanted to impress his teachers, make his mother proud and make himself proud, too.

Then why was he having so much trouble that morning? Why couldn't he concentrate? All he could think about was going to the movies that night. About being out with the girls and, well, of course the boys would be there, too, but, more importantly, all he could think about was what kind of a skirt would he buy to impress everyone with how nice he would look? What kind of top? What kind of shoes?

He'd never been this excited about going out ever before and he could not concentrate on his school work at all.

"Miss Martin?" The voice was familiar, but it seemed distant.

"Miss Martin?" It intruded louder into his consciousness.

"MISS MARTIN!" The voice was suddenly startlingly loud and roused Dean from his day dreaming.

Dean blinked himself back to reality and looked into the face of his Algebra teacher, who did not look happy. "Yes, Mrs Kelleher?" He asked.

"Nice of you to join us on planet Earth, Miss Martin," the teacher snapped and a some of the girls giggled at that. "Now, if you don't mind, would you please go to the computer on the projection table and solve problem twenty three for us."

"Yes, Mrs Kelleher," he said as contritely as possible and he rose and went to the projector table where a computer was hooked up to display the work on the computer onto the white board mounted on the wall in the front of the room. He stared at the screen for a few moments, organizing his thoughts, until at last the shapes and letters suddenly made sense to him.

He began to type in the numbers and equations required to solve the problem, and then, slowly but surely, he arrived at his answer which he typed into the final box.

"Interesting," Mrs Kelleher said as she looked at the answer.

"It's correct, isn't it?" Dean asked. He was pretty adept at Algebra and he was fairly sure he'd answered correctly.

"It is, but you went about solving the problem in an odd way. There are procedures that we follow, Deanne, but you went out of sequence, yet solved the problem anyway - and you shouldn't have been able to do that. I find that... interesting."

Just then, the bell rang. "Alright, girls, you're dismissed. Deanne, stay here for a moment."

Dean was actually frightened as he waited for the classroom to empty. He'd never been in any trouble at school before and Mrs Kelleher looked a little ticked off.

When the room was empty, the teacher looked at Dean and said, "I'm going to ask you point blank, Deanne: Did someone give you that answer?"

"No, Mrs Kelleher. I figured it out myself. Honest."

She nodded but seemed unconvinced. "Walk me through your process."

"Ok." Dean began at the first angle he'd figured out and went from there, slowly explaining how he'd figured out the problem.

When he was done the teacher shook her head. "Alright, that worked, but what's going on with you today, Deanne? I mean, I haven't known you all that long, but all week you've been on top of everything. Today, you're a space cadet of the highest order. You're not paying attention to anything and, even though you got the correct answer, your order of procedures on this problem was a disaster. Where is your head?"

Dean sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, Mrs Kelleher. I just feel kind of... out of it, I guess."

The teacher nodded. "Is this your first time in an all girls environment?"

"Yes."

"It could be hormonal, then. Sometimes new girls have to adjust to all the hormones flying around this place. I swear all of you girls eventually get on the same cycle. Every twenty-eight days is a rollercoaster ride at Greenwood Academy."

She laughed, but Dean just looked confused. "Our cycles?"

"Yes, Deanne, your cycles," the woman laughed, but when she realized that Dean wasn't understanding her, she explained. "You know... your 'cycle.' Your menstrual cycle. Your period, dear, your period."

"Oh!" Dean finally understood - well he understood what she was saying, but not really understanding exactly how a woman was impacted by her period or why the teacher leapt to that conclusion. "No, I'm pretty sure that's not it, Mrs Kelleher." He smiled.

"Well, whatever it is, come back as Smart-Deanne on Monday, ok? This glazed over girl I saw today isn't someone I want in my class."

"Yes, Mrs Kelleher. I'm sorry."

The rest of the day didn't go a lot better. His mind was constantly elsewhere. What he'd like to wear. What he'd be doing with the girls. Would Willie sit near him? Would Willie be dressed up, too? These were the thoughts that ran through his head instead of Civics, Algebra, Literature or anything else.

"We'll be back to pick you up in two hours," Jade said as they all grabbed their coats from their lockers.

"Ok," Dean beamed, happy to be getting closer to the evening's events.

"And it's skirts and tops, right?" Robin asked.

Dean nodded and Jade said, "I need to get a new skirt, actually. My mom is taking me to Ella's on the way. Dee, can I change at your house if I have to?"

"Yeah, sure," Dean said. "Is Ella's the boutique in town?"

"Yep."

"My mom is taking me there, too. Maybe I'll see you." Dean said.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Robin said. "If you guys are going shopping, I'm going too. What time?"

"Around three fifteen or three thirty, maybe," Jade shrugged. "I gotta get out to my mom's car. I'll call you guys. Love you."

"Love you, too!" Both Robin and Dean replied.

"I gotta run, too," Robin said, closing her locker door and spinning the lock. "See ya in a bit. Love ya!"

"Love ya, too," Dean smiled and waved, then walked to the office to see when he mom might be ready and see if his mom was willing to meet up with Robin's and Jade's moms.

"Well, hi, sweetheart," his mother smiled from her desk chair. She pulled her glasses off and let them hang from a strap around her neck. As Dean closed the door behind him, she said, "So, one week down and nineteen to go! Not so bad, right?"

"I guess not," Dean admitted. "I have a favor to ask, though."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, Jade mentioned that she was going to that boutique in town to get a new skirt and I said I was going too, so Robin said she wanted to go as well, so... long story short... can we go at the same time they go?"

"Ok, well let me start by saying that you certainly did not make that long story short, but, yes, you can go skirt shopping with your girlfriends."

Dean blushed a bit, but felt it necessary to defend himself a bit. "Yeah, that's hilarious, mom."

"I'm not being funny, Deedee. I'm serious. I loved going clothes shopping with my friends when I was a girl. Now that you're a girl, too, it makes sense that you'd enjoy it just as much as I did."

He had no response to that. He kind of was a girl, now.

"To tell it the truth," Dr Martin said, grabbing a few files and putting them into her attaché case, "I'm glad they're coming. I think I picked some overly conservative clothes for you when I went shopping for you. It'll be nice to have the other girls there to give their opinions."

Dean nodded, trying not to show too much excitement.

"And it'll be more fun for you, too, to have your friends there," his mother said.

Deans phone rang. "It's Jade," he told his mother. "Hi," he said into the phone. Then he listened for a few moments and said. "Ok. Sounds great. See you in a few. Love you, too." He disconnected the call and said to his mother, "Can we go now? The girls will be there in ten or fifteen minutes."

"Sure," Dr Martin smiled and grabbed her attaché case and coat, then headed out the door with Dean in tow. She spoke to at least a half dozen people on the way out, which made Dean even more anxious to get out of the building.

Finally they were in the car and headed into town. This was actually the first time Dean had gotten a good look at his new environment. They'd arrived in the evening of the previous Saturday and it was already dark. Sunday was unpacking and the reception for his mother and then he'd been in school all week.

"There are a lot more trees around here than we had in San Diego." He said in passing.

"There are," his mother agreed. "I love the ocean, but I could get used to this part of the country, too. The trees, the hills, mountains off in the distance... it's kind of like living in a postcard. You know I went to college in Massachusetts, right? Not around here, but in Massachusetts."

"Yeah, it's nice here, but I don't love the cold."

"But it's not cold all year. Besides, you have more friends after a week here than you had in fifteen years in California. That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"It is," Dean admitted, "but come June, I'll lose them when I become Dean again."

"Maybe Dean could be their friend, too."

"No," he said sadly. "Not like Deanne is friends with them. It'd be too different."

His mother reached over and squeezed his hand. "I know I put you in a tough position, sweetheart, but it'll be ok. I promise. You're a stronger boy than you think."

"I don't feel like a boy at the moment, mom." His mother took that to mean that his clothing made him feel like a girl, but what Dean really meant was that he no longer felt like a boy at all. He was starting to feel much more like a girl than he ever expected he would, and feeling like a girl was starting to feel a lot more natural than feeling like a boy ever did.

They arrived in town and his mother drove to a parking area behind a few of the Main Street stores. As they got out of the car, both Robin and Jade appeared with their mothers. Both of their mothers had been at the reception on Sunday, so they both greeted Dr Martin warmly and the older women chatted as Dean and the girls hurried into the boutique.

Now, here's the thing: Dean always hated clothes shopping. Being five foot two inches tall and very slight meant shopping in the boys' department which always meant that he was shopping in the midst of boys who much younger than he was and that his clothes looked like little boys clothes. He hated that.

One thing he'd noticed about wearing the uniform was that he looked, more or less, the same as the all the other girls, which took a little getting used to, but meant that he didn't stand out as 'the little guy' any more. Yes, he was smaller than most of the other students in his grade, but not by much and his clothes didn't mark him as different any more.

So, as he approached the door to the boutique, some of his exuberance about being with his friends vanished as his old worries about shopping hit him.

But he needn't have worried.

From the moment they entered, Robin and Jade were pointing out items of clothing that would look great on each of them.

"Ooh, that's a cute skirt. It'd look adorable on you, Dee." "Jade, this top would go great with that grey skirt you have." Oh, look at this, Robin! The color of this dress would go awesome with your red hair!"

Their enthusiasm was contagious, too, and pretty soon Dean was grabbing items of clothing, displaying them to his friends and offering his own opinions and, strangely... they took him seriously! They agreed with him or offered their own critiques, but his opinions mattered! In a clothing store! He couldn't wait to show his mother what he'd chosen.

Soon, Dean was in a changing room trying on one cute outfit after another. After each outfit was on his body, he would hustle out to see himself in the mirror and hear the critiques of his friends and all three mothers.

"Only three outfits, Deedee," his mother said as he tried on his last ensemble. "Pick the three you like the most and I'll get those for you. I really liked the jean skirt with the hooded top, myself, but you choose what you want."

He actually liked that jean skirt outfit quite a bit, too, and both Robin and Jade had said he should wear that outfit to the movies. So, he picked that outfit as well as dark blue shirt with bright white flowers printed on it that went with a two piece top consisting of a pink, tank top type shirt that was paired with a button up sweater of the same color, and a rather short, tartan plaid, pleated skirt that had a long sleeved, faux-silk blouse that hung loosely about his upper body.

The mothers paid for the clothes and the boutique owner gave Dean and the girls permission to change into their new outfits in the changing rooms. This way, Jade's mother could drive them all to the movie theater from the boutique.

Dean said goodbye to his mother, who demanded a kiss before he left. Normally, Dean would have just rolled his eyes and left his mother hanging, but Robin kissed her mother goodbye, so it seemed to be the expected thing to do. He gave her a peck on the cheek and received the same in return.

They listened to music in the car, something that Dean seldom did since his mother favored NPR talk shows, and Jade freshened up everyone's makeup. They were at the theater before he knew it. They waved goodbye to Jade's mother, went inside, bought their tickets and played a few arcade games before the boys arrived.

"Holy smokes," Jade laughed as they watched Dean win level after level on a game that he knew well. "Girl, you are on fire! I've never seen anyone wipe out a game like this!"

Dean laughed. "All I did where I lived before was play video games. I'm pretty good at them, I guess."

"I guess," Robin laughed, also impressed. Then she looked over her shoulder and said, "Oh, look... the boys are here!" That caused Dean to look over his shoulder, which was all it took for the bad guy in the video game to kill his avatar, making the game play sad music to indicate that the player had lost the game.

"Shoot!" Dean scolded himself. He'd really wanted to impress Willie with a high score.

"No biggy," Robin chirped, happily, not understanding the connection between human and technology that a true gamer felt when playing a game.

The boys bought their tickets and came into the lobby where the arcade was located.

"Hi, guys," Willie said, leading the pack of young men across the lobby. "All set for a night of international intrigue and sexual encounters?" He asked, smiling.

"We are!" Jade answered, happily.

"Whoa! Why are you three so dressed up?" Willie asked, looking at all three of the girls.

"We got all dolled up for you guys," Robin teased as her cousin hugged her and kissed her cheek. "What do you think guys?"

There were four boys in total and they all offered some sort of complimentary remark.

"Let's get some snacks and go in," Willie suggested as the lobby was starting to get busy. They all headed for the line, but it was already getting long.

"You know what?" Willie said, being pragmatic. "We're going to be in line out here for a while. Girls, why don't you three go into the theater and save us some seats. See if you can get that row by the walkway that has a low wall in front of it that we can use that as a table. I'll get you what you need. What do you guys want?"

Robin took the lead. "You guys want anything other than popcorn and a drink?"

Dean and Jade said that was fine.

"Get one large bucket of popcorn and we'll share it, and three Cokes," Robin confirmed.

She opened her pocketbook to get some money, as did Dean and Jade, but Willie said, "That's ok. I'll pay for it."

"Oh," Robin shrugged. "Ok. We'll pay you back after the movie then."

"No need," Willie smiled. "I have a job now, remember. I can afford it."

"Ooh..." Robin teased. "Look at the big shot! We'll see you inside.

The row that Willie preferred was available so they sat there and held the seats, waiting on the boys.

Then Robin's phone vibrated. She looked at it and said, "Oh, Willie needs me to carry some stuff. I'll be be right back.

The other three boys arrived, not carrying much, and stepped over Jade and Dean to get into their seats.

"Why don't you move to the end," Jade suggested. "There are seven seats in the row, so if the three of us sit at the end, Willie can sit between us and the boys."

"Ok," Dean agreed and moved to the first seat in the row, next to the middle aisle with Jade sitting next to him.

Within a few minutes, Willie returned with a full tray of drinks and Robin carrying the popcorn. Willie stepped aside and let Robin step into the row first. She passed Dean and then said to Jade, "Move down a couple of sets. I'll sit in the middle and hold the popcorn."

"Alright," Jade said, a little surprised.

She got up to move one seat, but Robin said, "No, no... sit next to John."

Still thinking it was odd, she sat next to the closest boy. Robin sat next to her and looked back to Dean and said, "Come on. Move down to this seat." She tapped the seat between Dean and her. So Dean moved over one seat.

Willie stood in the walkway that divided the seating width-way across the theater, placing the tray of drinks on the low wall. He placed a cup in front of each girl and one in front of the empty chair. Then he took that end seat, next to Dean.

Dean turned and looked at Robin, his eyes wide with a 'how did this happen' look on his face, but Robin was looking at some trivia questions being projected onto the screen.

"So, what was that game of musical chairs all about?" Jade whispered to Robin.

Robin leaned towards Jade and whispered, "Willie wanted to sit beside Dee."

Jade's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my God!" She looked over at Dean, who was still looking in that direction and she mouthed the words 'OH, MY GOD! TALK TO HIM!'

Dean cleared his throat, looked at Willie and said, "Umm... thank you for the popcorn and drink. I'll pay you back, if you want."

"Nah, that's ok," Willie said, smiling. "Ummm... like I said in the lobby, you look really nice."

"Oh, well... thank you," Dean said. "You look very handsome, too." Ok, that felt weird... but good at the same time.

Willie chuckled at that. "I'm not dressed up, though. I'm in jeans and sweatshirt. You're all looking nice. You especially. I like you in civilian clothes."

"Civilian clothes?"

"As opposed to the Greenwood Academy uniform. No offense, but they're kind of... old fashioned, I guess."

"Don't you wear uniforms?"

"We have a dress code. Dress pants, dress shirt, tie and suit coat. Same thing at Saint Johns. We all look similar. You guys all look like clones." He laughed at that and smiled at Dean.

"No, we don't," Dean protested.

"Yep, you do, but... you stand out from the other clones."

Dean froze for a moment. Did Willie know he was a boy? "What do you mean?" His face screwed up a bit in a mask of concern and confusion.

"I mean... I noticed you as soon as I saw you in the hallway the other day, I thought, 'That girl is special and I want to get to know her.'"
 
 
To Be Continued...

Twenty Weeks - 3

 

A movie with a group of friends, including boys, a very special boy at that,
an audition and an enemy. It's everything a teenaged girl could ask for!

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Chanukah, and Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews.
I am very happy that so many people are enjoying the story so far.
Please let me know what you think about this story, both good and bad?
And also, please leave me a review on this story? I always read them! ~Clara.
 
This version of Twenty Weeks - 3 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

---

 
 
Part 3
 

"So, what was that game of musical chairs all about?" Jade whispered to Robin.

Robin leaned towards Jade and whispered, "Willie wanted to sit beside Dee."

Jade's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my God!" She looked over at Dean, who was still looking in that direction and she mouthed the words 'OH, MY GOD! TALK TO HIM!'

Dean cleared his throat, looked at Willie and said, "Umm... thank you for the popcorn and drink. I'll pay you back, if you want."

"Nah, that's ok," Willie said, smiling. "Ummm... like I said in the lobby, you look really nice."

"Oh, well... thank you," Dean said. "You look very handsome, too." Ok, that felt weird... but good at the same time.

Willie chuckled at that. "I'm not dressed up, though. I'm in jeans and sweatshirt. You're all looking nice. You especially. I like you in civilian clothes."

"Civilian clothes?"

"As opposed to the Greenwood Academy uniform. No offense, but they're kind of... old fashioned, I guess."

"Don't you wear uniforms?"

"We have a dress code. Dress pants, dress shirt, tie and suit coat. Same thing at Saint Johns. We all look similar. You guys all look like clones." He laughed at that and smiled at Dean.

"No, we don't," Dean protested.

"Yep, you do, but... you stand out from the other clones."

Dean froze for a moment. Did Willie know he was a boy? "What do you mean?" His face screwed up a bit in a mask of concern and confusion.

"I mean... I noticed you as soon as I saw you in the hallway the other day, I thought, 'That girl is special and I want to get to know her.'"

It only took a moment for Dean's face to relax into a smile. No one had ever said anything remotely that sweet to him before. "Really?"

"Yeah," Willie smiled and, God, that smile hit Dean hard. "I'd like to get to know you better. A lot better."

Dean smiled and Willie put his arm around Dean's shoulder and smiled down at him. At that moment, he felt a nudge from his right side. He turned and saw Robin giving him a sly, little smile that told Dean that she'd set him up. Dean smiled back and blushed so prettily that Robin laughed.

When Dean glanced beyond Robin to see Jade, she smiled back and mouthed 'OH MY GOD!' then laughed at the way her new friend was blushing. She tried to mouth 'HE'S ADORABLE,' but Dean couldn't figure out what she was getting at, so she waved Dean off and returned to gossiping with Robin.

Dean and Willie chatted for a few moments until the trailers started running on the screen. Then, Dean settled in to watch the previews and the movie in the cuddly warmth of Willie's arm.
 

~^~
 

"So, what did you talk about?" Jade needled her friend as they waited in line for ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery that was a few doors down from the cinema. After the movie, the boys had gone into Red Robin to get fries, while Dean and the girls chose some ice cream, mostly because that was Robin's favorite. They were going to meet in the heated, exterior food court area between the two businesses once they all had their food.

"We just watched the movie," Dean said, still blushing, but feeling very special after having received so much affection during the movie and then having his friends making such a big deal of it.

"You talked before the movie, though," Jade persisted. "What did he say?"

"He said he thought I was special and that he wanted to get to know me better. That's all."

"That's all!?!?" Both girls shrieked.

"Dee," Robin giggled excitedly, "Willie is like my twin-cousin. I have known him my whole life and he has never once dated a girl or even been interested in one. Trust me. If he said you're special, then he really, really meant it.

Dean's blush deepened and his smile grew. He literally felt weak in the knees. "Really?"

"Really." Robin confirmed.

"Ahhh, a Saint Mark's boy!" Jade teased. "Your mom is going to be so proud!"

Suddenly, Dean looked less blissful and more frightened. "My mom! Oh, my God, my mom will flip out if she finds out about this. Don't tell her, please!"

"Relax," Robin laughed. "We won't say anything and besides, I doubt that my Aunt Muriel will let Willie go out on REAL dates just yet. I mean, he can't drive, or anything, so if you're 'going out' with him, it's going to have to be in a group. Your mom won't find out unless you want her to know."

Dean relaxed as he and the girls picked up their cups of ice cream and headed to the food court area. When they got there, the boys had already grabbed a large table that was piled high with French fries and massive cups of soda.

"Her she comes, Willie!" One of the boys teased.

"Yeah, kiss her and tell her how much you missed her," another boy joined in.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Willie laughed, good naturedly accepting his friends' ribbing. "You're all just jealous." He stood and moved some cups to the open seats. "I got you some soda in case the ice cream made you thirsty."

"Oh, how nice," Robin smiled. "You're becoming quite the gentleman, Cousin Willie."

"Is it possible to get thirsty from eating ice cream?" Jade asked, teasing Willie as well.

"Maybe I should just stop being nice to you two," Willie said, pulling up a seat next to Dean to sit down.

"Thank you," Dean said. "It was very nice of you and I appreciate it."

"See," Willie smiled, "that's the proper thing to say when someone brings you a gift."

Everyone laughed and ate their ice cream, or their fries, or even stole a few fries to dig into their ice cream... regardless, it was fairly quiet for a little while, until Willie asked Dean, "So... are on any social media at all? I've looked on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter and I can't find you anywhere."

"Umm, no..." Dean said, trying not to sound suspicious or like a freak of some kind. "My mom is really strict about that. With her job being so public and everything she doesn't want me on social media posting stuff that might embarrass her."

"Oh, ok, I get that," Willie said, accepting the explanation.

"Then why does your brother have a FaceBook and Instagram account?" Jade asked.

"My brother?" Dean seemed surprised. "How did you even know I had a brother?"

"My mom told me that during the interview process they found out your mom had a son," Robin admitted, not sounding at all guilty about having shared that information. "When she got the job, we looked him up to see what kind of a boy we might have living on campus. We found him no problem, but then your mom said he was staying in California and you were coming in his place. Which was much cooler."

"Is he your twin brother?" Jade asked, casually continuing the conversation. "You guys look a lot alike and he's a sophomore, too."

"Yeah," Dean said, not loving this.

"Wow, a twin brother," Willie said. "Can I connect with him online?"

"Oh... I don't know," Dean could feel the walls closing in. "I think my dad made him stay off social media for awhile. Grades, or something, I think."

"You THINK!?" Robin sounded shocked. "God, there's no secrets in my house. If one of my sisters is in trouble, I know all about it."

"Yeah, well, see," Dean sputtered, forming a story, "we don't live in the same house. My parents divorced when I was really young, and ever since then, we only see each other on holidays and things like that. We switch between which parents we live with, though. So, I live with my dad for a while, then I live with my mom, etc. That's how it's always been."

"Wait!" Robin suddenly sounded very serious. "Are you telling us that you aren't staying here? Are you going back to California to live with your dad at some point?"

"That's the plan," Dean admitted.

"When!?"

"Right after school ends, I think."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Robin said with the rapid fire delivery of a red haired machine gun and the authority of someone in charge, "you are NOT going ANYWHERE!"

"Well, it's not like I have a lot of say in it..."

"Well, then we need to work on your mom before the school year ends," Robin said, looking to Jade for support.

"Yeah, we have plans for the summer. You can't leave," Jade said, equally in charge of the situation. "My family books a week at a lake up in New Hampshire and Robin's family has a house on The Cape. We always go on vacation with each other's families. We already spoke to our moms about you coming too, and they seemed happy about it."

Dean stared, shocked. He'd only known these girls five days and they were already planning to have him stay with them for vacations. He was touched and a bit scared of how telling them the truth might hurt them. And then there was Willie to think about. Damn! He was digging a much bigger hole than either he or his mother would have thought possible. AND IT WAS ONLY DAY FIVE!!!

"Oh... well..." Dean got control of himself, "... I guess I could talk to her and see if I could stay here."

"Yeah," Robin said, defiantly. "Have your brother come and visit, too. That house you guys live in is massive. It's way too big for just two people."

"Oh..." 'Now, that would be an interesting thing to pull off,' Dean thought. "I... don't know about that. I'll talk to my mom about staying, though. I'll let you know what she says."

"Great," Robin said, happier now. "And if she says your going back to California, I'll have MY mom talk to her. My mom can be very persuasive."

"She can," Jade agreed.

"We'll see, I guess," Dean said, happy that the girls liked him, but a tad worried that his time in dresses was going to be extended indefinitely. But... maybe that would be ok...

"I don't want you to leave, either," Willie said with a big smile. "I think you should stay. From what I understand, Greenwood Academy is one of the best prep schools in the world. I'm sure there's nothing like it in San Diego. You could get into any college in the world if you graduate from Greenwood."

"Oh, yeah," Robin laughed. "THAT'S why you want her to stay. So she can get into a good college. Right!"

"Well... I want her to stay for other reasons, too," Willie blushed, now. "I just meant that the academic conversation would be a good way to approach the idea of staying. That's all."

Then, it was his guy friends' chance to pick on him. "Oh, poor Willie! He finally finds true love and she is moving away in a few months," said one boy.

"It's like a Greek tragedy," said another.

"Or Shakespeare," said another.

"Maybe Willie could move out west and end up in the same public school - like in 'Grease,'" the last boy teased.

"Wait..." the first boy said, "that would make Willie Sandy and Deedee Danny! Oh, man, I'd love to see that! Willie in a dress!"

"Alright, you guys," Willie said, taking the ribbing with good humor, but feeling as if it had gone far enough. "Shut up, all of you. You're getting really loud. There are other people here and security will throw us out if we're too loud."

The gaffaws turned into laughter, then chuckles, then a little giggling, and then they got control over themselves.

By the time Jade's mother arrived to drive them home, they had all pretty much laughed themselves out. Willie gave his cousin a hug and a peck on the cheek before she got into the car. Then Jade gave him a hug, too.

"This is unusual," Willie said, quietly to her.

"If you don't give me a little kiss, then it'll look funny when you kiss Deedee," Jade explained, just as quietly. "I'm doing you a favor."

Willie gave her cheek a peck and whispered, "Thanks."

She stepped back and winked at him. "Always here to help," she smiled and got into her mother's car.

"Did you have a good time?" Willie asked Dean as they hugged.

"Best time ever," Dean said, honestly. It was not only the first time he'd ever gone out with a group of friends to enjoy himself with no adult supervision at all, but it was the first time that anybody, woman, man, girl, boy or even the first time any dog or cat, had ever made him feel special and wanted.

And he really liked that.

"I'm glad," Willie smiled, then he squeezed Dean much harder than he'd squeezed anyone else, and he laid a soft, warm kiss on his cheek. "I'll text you tomorrow."

"Text me when you get home," Dean replied, moving towards the car. "I can't wait until tomorrow."

He got into the car and closed the door.

"Seatbelts on," Jade's mother said, putting the car into gear and pulling away. "Gee, Robin... your cousin Willie was acting like a politician, kissing all of you goodbye like that."

Robin giggled. "He is certainly is. I think he's trying to act very adult and make a good impression."

"On who?"

Robin shrugged. "On everyone, I guess." She looked towards Dean and smiled before whispering, "Or maybe just on one person."
 

~^~
 

"Well, look who finally rolled out of bed!" Dr Martin laughed as Dean stumbled down the stairs the next morning. "It's nearly noon, you know? That's late, even for a teenager."

Dean just grunted and squinted in the harsh Kitchen light.

"I suggest you give your hair a really good brushing," the Chancellor laughed some more. "You went to bed without braiding it last night and now you look like Albert Einstein."

"Did Albert Einstein wear a pink night shirt with little yellow flowers on it to bed at night?" Dean asked, sarcastically.

"Not that I am aware," his mother said, "but if he did, they wouldn't write that part into the history books, would they?"

Dean laughed as he pulled a bottle of orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured a small helping into a glass.

"So, did you have a good time with your friends, then?" She asked him.

Dean smiled a bit slyly. "I had a great time, mom. It was so cool to just be us kids, you know?"

"Of course I do, baby," she smiled. She remembered her own early tastes of freedom with her friends. She'd been a lot younger than Dean the first time she'd done something like he'd done the night before, but Dean had always had so much trouble making friends... that is... until now. From everything she'd seen and every report she'd gotten from school staff since Monday, Dean seemed to be making friends with most of the girls in his grade and Robin and Jade both seemed to like him a great deal. Unusual, yes, but also a very welcome change. "Do you have any plans with your friends for the weekend?"

Dean shook his messy head. "No. Robin has a dance competition somewhere in Rhode Island and Jade is going to her grandmother's birthday party somewhere out towards Boston."

Dr Martin smiled. "Ok, then, what do you say we do a little sight seeing and getting to know our new environment a little."

"Ok," Dean shrugged. It actually sounded a bit exciting. "Where do you want to go?"

"Who knows?" She smiled and shrugged. "Why don't you go shower, then pack an overnight bag and we'll get in the car and see what happens. How does that sound?"

"Cool!" Dean said, now a bit excited at the prospect of an adventure with his mom. "I'll be right down!" He ran up the stairs.
 

~^~
 

"William!" Willie's mother called up the stairs from the basement where she was doing the laundry.

"Yes, mom?" Willie called back from the top of the stairs.

She held up his phone and asked, "Who is Deedee?"

Willie's eyes narrowed. "Were you going through my phone, mom?"

"No, William, I was doing your laundry and you left your phone in the pocket of your hoodie. I found it and put it on the dryer while I loaded the washer. Then you got a text and I glanced at it. It was from someone named 'Deedee' and said 'Thank you for a wonderful time last night.' I thought you went out with your friends and your cousin last night. Did you go out with this girl instead? You know the rules, William... you can go out, but I need to know where you go and with whom. So... where did you go last night?"

Willie smiled and sat on the landing at the top of the stairs. "I went to the movies with Robin and the guys, mom, but besides her usual friend, Jade, she brought this new girl, Deedee, along as well. That's all."

"That's all?" His mother was still suspicious. "Then why did she thank you for a wonderful time?"

He chuckled. "What do you think happened, mom?"

"I don't know, William. That is precisely why I'm asking. You know you're only fifteen, William, and a boy can make a mistake at that age that could destroy the rest of his life. Now, if you and this girl did anything improper, then..."

"What!?" Suddenly this wasn't funny anymore. "What are you talking about, mom!? I went to the movies with the guys and Robbie and her two friends. The new girl was cute and I like her, so I bought her some popcorn and a drink. Then we sat together and talked a little. End of story. Ok?"

His mother looked at him with that 'I'm not sure I believe you' look she used on his older brothers all the time. Willie was the good son, though. Eventually, she relented. "Well, ok, but I am going to check with your aunt to see if Robin was with you."

"Go ahead, mom. The only time we weren't together was when the girls went for ice cream and I went with the guys for fries... And Deedee went with Robbie that time, not me. So, go ahead and call, but can I get my phone back, now, please."

His mother scowled a bit and looked from the phone to her son and back. Finally, she sighed. "I guess so, but if I find out that you haven't told me the truth..."

"I know, I know," Willie said, taking the phone from his barely reasonable mother, "there will be hell to pay." He pushed a contact in his phone.

"What are you doing?" His mother asked.

"Calling Robin," he shrugged. Then into the phone he said, "Hey, Robbie, it's Will. Talk to my mother, please."

He handed her his phone. "What do you want me to ask her?" She was confused.

"Anything you want," he shrugged, "but do it now so that you can't accuse me of asking her to cover for me."
 

~^~
 

"Where are we?" Dean asked, looking around up and seeing a silver, semicircular shaped bridge that was ahead of them. They were about to pass over a sizable river and the bridge was arching high above, which, as anyone who grew up near the naval base in San Diego knew, was built that way in order to allow large vessels to pass beneath.

"According to the GPS, we're in the town of Buzzard's Bay," his mother chuckled at the name, "but we're about to pass over the Cape Cod Canal and then we'll be on Cape Cod in the town of Bourne. That's the Bourne Bridge up ahead."

"Cape Cod?" He asked, looking down at the waterway below. "We left Massachusetts?"

"No," she laughed. "Cape Cod is still in Massachusetts, but I though we both could use a little ocean-staring-meditation about now. What do you think?"

"Sure!" He agreed. The best part about living in San Diego was it's immediate proximity to the ocean. Dean didn't love swimming, but he could just sit on a beach and look at the vastness of the ocean for hours.

His mother didn't know much about the area, so she followed the advice of a travel guide and kept driving for another forty minutes until they reached the very quaint, and obviously wealthy town of Chatham.

"According to the site I looked at, there's always seals at the town pier when the fishing boats come in. Let's go take a look."

They parked the car in the lot by the public pier and got out. Immediately, the cold wind slammed into Dean's legs and played with the extra material of the knee length, heavy cotton skirt he was wearing, causing him to wind the extra material into his left hand as he hustled around the car to join his mother.

"It's cold!" He said, as if informing her of this fact.

"It's January in New England, Deedee. Of course it's cold," she laughed and wrapped her arm around his shoulders to hug him tightly. "You should have worn tights."

"I didn't know we were going to the coldest place on earth!" Dean laughed, cuddling close for warmth as they walked down a staircase from the parking lot, across a driveway and then up another staircase to a viewing platform attached to a building containing the town's fishing packing facility.

When they looked over the railing, sure enough, there were two fishing boats unloading their day's haul and, swimming in the icy water around those boats were dozens of seals looking to capitalize on any stray fish parts or even fish blood that was washed from the small vessels.

"Good afternoon, ladies," said a man, obviously a local, judging by his casual manner. "I don't usually see tourists here in the dead of winter."

"We're new to the east coast and wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean," Amelia replied.

"Well, there it is in all its glory!" The man said, waving his arm over the railing.

"I bet it's beautiful in the summer," Dr Martin said, taking it in.

"It's beautiful everyday of the year," the man smiled. "I think your daughter may prefer seeing it when it's warmer, though." He chuckled at Dean's obvious discomfort.

"Do they always go out fishing when it's this cold?" Dean asked, his arms folded across the front of his coat in an effort to keep himself warm.

"Fishermen go out everyday that they can," the man replied. "Unless there's a storm or the harbor is iced in, they go out to catch their limit. That's how they pay their bills. Over the last few years, a lot of women have joined the fishing force, too." He added the last part in case the little girl in front of him might have ambitions to be a fisher. "What do you say?" He asked, bending a bit to look at Dean. "Would you like to give fishing a try?"

"No thank you," Dean replied, shivering. "I think I'll get a job that lets me stay warm."

The man laughed heartily at that.

"If I might bother you," Dr Martin said to the man, "is there a hotel or something like that nearby? Everywhere we passed on the way here seemed to be closed until spring."

"Sure," the man smiled and gave her the name of and quick directions to a year round hotel nearby. "It's pricey in the summer, but a great bargain in the off-season," he smiled. "I think your daughter may be ready to get out of this wind, now."

"What do you say, Deedee? Have you seen enough?" His mother asked, squeezing his shoulders.

"I'd really like to watch some more, but I'm so c... c... c... cold!" Had added the stammer for affect.

His mother laughed. "I guess you're right," she smiled and shook the man's hand, thanking him for his help.
 

~^~
 

"Oh, I think that might be the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Robin's mother said to her sister-in-law on the phone.

"So, you don't think that anything's going on that I should worry about?" Willie's mother asked.

"No, I think everything is fine." Her sister-in-law tended to over react to everything, although her older boys had given her plenty of reason to be suspicious of what is going on when her kids are out of the house. "From what Robin tells me, Willie asked her to help him get to know Deanne. That's all. And she's a very sweet, little thing, too. Polite, smart and cute as a button. Ohh! I have a couple of pictures of the girls trying on clothes yesterday. Hang on, I'll send them to you." She fumbled with her phone for a moment, then sent them. "There. You should have them."

On the other end of the phone, Willie's mother put her phone on 'speaker' and opened the pictures in the text message her sister-in-law had sent.

"The little one in the white blouse with the big, puffy sleeves and the big white bow in her hair?" She asked.

"Yes. That's Deanne... well... Deedee. Her mother is the new Chancellor at Greenwood."

"Oh, my, she is a cutie," Willie's mother agreed. "Now that I see her, I can understand why William is attracted to her, but I have to admit... I'm actually a little more nervous now than I was before. I'd hoped that William wouldn't get girl-crazy for a while, yet, but this girl is almost too much to resist. Tiny, slender, feminine... Now I'm REALLY worried that something might happen."

"Well, don't be," Robin's mother laughed. "Robin will always be there to chaperone and as for being feminine... You should have seen Deanne last Sunday when I met her. She was awkward and uncomfortable in her dress. I'm quite proud to say that her hair and makeup are all due to the hard work of Robin and her friend Jade. They took her from a tomboy in a lace dress - honestly, she looked more like a boy than a girl - to the pretty little thing with the puffy sleeves and hair bow in the picture. So, you just relax. I'll make sure that Robin is with her whenever she's with Willie, that is until you say it's ok for Willie to date. Ok?"

"Ok," William's mother sighed. "Thank you. I'm sorry if I over reacted."

"No problem at all. Oh! I have to run. They just called Robin's dance team to the stage. Bye bye."
 

~^~
 

"Hi, Amy, how's it going?" Came the voice of Dr Martin' ex-husband, Frank, through the speaker on the phone.

"I'm good, Frank, how about yourself?" She replied.

"Nothing to complain about. I'm actually I'm Fiji at the moment. It's tropical and lovely and warm. Tough job to do, but I don't start that for another few hours. My sleep-clock is still messed up from the flight, so I'm wide awake and thought it was a good time to call. How's Deano doing?"

"He's doing well, actually. He went out with a big group of friends last night and says he had a great time."

"Wow!" Frank responded. "A GROUP of friends! That's a big change, isn't it?"

"It sure is and he seems to like them all quite a bit."

"I'm so happy to hear that, Amy. I was afraid that this move might have pushed him even further into his shell, but it sounds like he'd blossoming out there."

"He really is, Frank. He's like a whole new person. I couldn't be happier with the changes I've seen in him this week. He's been on top of his homework, he's been chatty and sharing his feelings about the move and the new school..." There was a beep on her line. "Hang on, Frank. I'm getting another call."

She looked at the screen and saw an exchange with the same preface as the school's landline. It had to be someone from Greenwood.

She accepted the call, putting Frank on hold for a moment. "Hello?"

"Hi, Dr Martin. This is Robin's mom."

"Oh, hi," Dr Martin said. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, really, it's just that, if you have a few minutes, I'd like to talk to you about an issue that my sister-in-law called me about."

"Oh, sure. Can you hold for a moment? My ex is on the line."

"Sure."

The Chancellor switched back to her ex-husband and said, "Frank? I'm sorry, but I have to take this other call. I really appreciate you calling."

"No problem, Amy. I'll be in touch in a few days. Bye."

"Bye," she answered, then switched back to the call from Robin's mother. "I'm back. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, this isn't a business call, Dr Martin. This is a mom to mom called, and I just wanted to assure you that my nephew, William, is one of the nicest boys you could ever want to be dating your daughter. He's an honor student and plays in the band and..."

"Wait, wait wait!" The Chancellor interrupted. "What exactly are you talking about? Deedee isn't allowed to be dating anyone - nice or not."

"Oh," Dean's mom could sense that Robin's mother was cringing on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry, Dr Martin..."

"Amelia, please."

"Oh, well, call me Penny. Anyway... Amelia... I assumed that Deedee had told you about her exciting evening last night. It's all I've heard about from Robin and even my sister-in-law called me to talk about it. The long and the short of it is that my nephew, Willie, took quite a shine to Deedee and... well... I think that Deedee took quite a shine to him as well..."
 

~^~
 

"This is nice, isn't it?" Dr Martin smiled at Dean who sat across the table in the wide-board, knotty-pine paneled restaurant at the hotel to which they'd been guided by the man on the pier. "Everything smells delicious, too."

"It is very nice," Dean agreed, still trying to get the cold out of his system as he looked at the menu. "I think I'm getting the New England fish and chips dinner."

"Yum," his mother smiled. "I think I'll have the same."

"Good evening," the older waitress said, arriving at the table and pouring water into glasses already set on the table. "Have you had a chance to look at the menu yet?"

"Yes," Dr Martin said with a smile. "I think we'll both have the fish and chips dinner, please."

"Ok," the waitress smiled. "That comes with a choice of salad or a cup of soup."

"What do you have for soup, tonight?"

"We've got French onion soup and clam chowdah."

"French onion and..." Dr Martin asked, not catching what the waitress had said.

"Clam chowdah," she repeated.

"Oh... chowder," Dr Martin repeated with out the woman's harsh accent.

The waitress rolled her eyes, just a bit. "Where are you from?"

"Well, we recently moved to west-central Massachusetts from California," Dr Martin explained. She was about to say more, but the waitress took advantage of her breathing to jump in.

"California," she said with a bit of disdain. "Ok, girls, let me give you some advice about living here, then. Number one, this is Red Sox Nation. You never mention another team - particularly the evil empire down in New York City. Number Two, the letter 'R' is tacked onto words for no reason and is optional. Most times we choose not to use it - I suggest you do the same. Number three, if you ask a waitress if there is tomato in the clam chowdah in a restaurant in Red Sox Nation, she is obligated to call the police who will then escort you to the state line. Are we clear?"

"As Crystal," Dr Martin smiled at the theatrical monologue she'd just heard. "We'll both have the chowdah, I'll have a beer and my daughter will have a Coke."

"Sam on tap ok?" The waitress asked her.

Dr Martin blinked blankly at her.

"Sam Adams beer on tap... is that ok for your beer order?" The waitress acted comically irritated with her.

"That will be fine."

The waitress looked at Dean and said, "We have Pepsi. Is that ok?"

"No, but it'll have to do," Dean replied, pretending to be just as irritated as the waitress.

The waitress cracked a sly little grin. "I like you, little girl." She winked and walked away.

"So..." Dr Martin said when the waitress was gone, "I think we need to talk. You know... a kind of... debriefing after your first week at Greenwood."

"Is something wrong?" Dean asked, concerned by the sudden change in his mother's tone.

"No, baby, everything is fine, I think. I've heard nothing but great reports from all of your teachers and you've done very well being Deanne. I'd just like to hear from you. How is everything going?"

"Oh," Dean relaxed a bit. "Well... it's going... good... I guess, mom. I mean... no one is suspecting anything, so... I guess it's good."

"And the whole Deanne thing? You're ok with it, now?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know how to answer that, exactly, mom. I mean... I've gotten used to the clothes, I guess. I mean... they're pretty comfortable and I've gotten used to the way they move on me and stuff, but... I guess I have to go back to being Dean again at some point."

Dr Martin nodded and smiled. "I know, honey, but... it's nice to have friends now, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes, I will admit that I am happier with friends, but..."

Dean was definitely happier with friends and he was even happier to be receiving the attention he was receiving from Willie, but he was not at all sure how permenant he wanted his tenure as Deanne to be. If anyone found out the Dean was Deedee, then all of his relationships would end, and if Deanne disappeared and Dean suddenly arrived from California and then people found out that Deedee HAD BEEN Dean, then all those relationships would end, too.

If he had to make a decision right then and there, he probably would choose to remain Deedee. After all, she was well liked and he was becoming more comfortable in Deedee's skin than he'd ever been in Dean's. But he was actually Dean, so... either choice led to the same result: He was going to be living a lie.

"... I am SUPPOSED to be a guy, mom. I just kinda feel like I am doing something wrong by being Deedee." He looked away from his mother, feeling embarrassed to discuss this at all, let alone in a public place. He looked around to avoid his mother's gaze.

She nodded and thought for a moment. "Tell me about this boy you met. William, right?"

Dean's eyes returned to his mother's gaze immediately and his blush reddened his cheeks in a heartbeat. "What about him?"

"Tell me about him?"

Dean swallowed. What was this about? "He's... a sophomore at St Mark's... He's Robin's cousin... She calls him her twin cousin because they were born just a few days apart... What else do you want to know?"

"Is he handsome?"

Dean hesitated. "I... guess."

"And do you like him?"

"Sure. I like him fine, I guess. I mean... we had a good time with everyone and..."

"I heard that he asked you out." She said it rather flatly, but Dean could tell that she wanted an answer.

"Asked me out?... I... well... I mean, he..." he took a deep breath and looked as if he might cry for a moment. "He... did... kind of... ask me out, but..."

"But what? Did you accept?"

Dean shrugged.

"Did you say no?"

He shook his head, looking anywhere but at his mother.

"Do you want to say yes?"

He took a very deep breath and said, "I don't know, mom. I'm very confused right now."

"Why?"

"Why!? Mom... I'm living as a girl, dressing like a girl, all my friends are girls and... I kind of feel like I'm a girl. Then a really cute guy - who THINKS I'm a girl - asks me out. How could I NOT be confused!?!?"

Dr Martin nodded. "You said you liked him."

Dean nodded and wiped his watery eyes.

"Do you like him as a friend, or as someone you want to go out with?"

"Too chowdahs, a Sam and a Coke," the waitress said, arriving at the table and giving Dean a reprieve from his mother's questions.

He took the time to gather his thoughts and, before speaking, dropped some of the puffy, round crackers into the soup and took a sip from his spoon. "Mmm, that's really good," he said honestly, but still hoping to change the subject.

"It is," his mother agreed. "No tomato. Now we know - New England clam CHOWDAH doesn't have tomato in it."

He laughed at his mother's attempt to imitate the waitress' harsh accent.

After a few sips, Dr Martin returned to the matter at hand. "So.... You never answered my question. This boy... William... do you want to be his friend, or... something more?"

Dean took one more sip and finally spoke. "Mom... I don't really know WHAT I want. I mean... no one has ever looked at me the way that he does, but... I'm a guy. This is all so wrong."

"Ok, well, first off, you being 'a guy' has nothing to do with anything. If you like this boy as more than a friend, then it is up to you to figure out a way to make this work. Now, you're both only fifteen, so I don't expect that anything... sexual... beyond a kiss or a hug would happen, anyway, so he's not going to find out by seeing you undressed. So, you have time to figure it out."

Dean scoffed a bit. "Mom, being a guy has everything to do with it. Willie is a good looking guy, a good student and kind of athletic. That kind of guy beats up sissies like me."

"Oh, Deedee, don't call yourself that."

"Why, mom? It's true." He lowered his voice and leaned forward. "I am a fifteen year old boy, mom and I'm only five foot two. Even if I weren't wearing a bra, panties, a skirt, a blouse, makeup and a bow in my hair, I'd still be a sissy. As is, I could never deny what I am. Look at me and tell me what you see."

Amelia put her spoon down, looked at her son and shook her head. "Ok. I'll tell you what I see. I see a very attractive young person who has turned her life around in the last few days in a way that I could never have expected. I see someone who suddenly takes their appearance seriously and has taken time to make sure that they present themselves well to others, and above all, I see someone who, even though she won't admit it, has discovered that she is much happier as a girl than she ever was as a boy and who seems to be too petrified of her mother to admit that."

Dean's jaw hung open and he stared at his mother.

"Well," Amelia asked after a few moments of silence, "am I correct? Is that what I see?"

Dean froze for a moment before allowing himself to sit back in his chair. "I don't know, mom."

"Because if what I am seeing is correct," the Chancellor said, lacking a bit of motherly warmth, "then perhaps we should be seeing some specialists to make sure that you can remain a girl."

"Remain a girl?"

"Yes," she nodded. "You know... to set you up with the proper hormone pills and, eventually, discuss the surgeries you'd need to..."

"Surgeries?" Dean looked frightened. "You mean you want to castrate me?"

"What? No! Of course not. I'm trying to help you, sweetheart."

"Help me!? Mom... I did all this for you. I gave up my life at home and moved across the country. Gave up my friends. Gave up my gender. Gave up being everything I knew how to be so that you could have this prestigious, high paying job and now you want to cut off my junk?"

"Shh, keep your voice down," she cautioned. He hadn't gotten that loud, but his agitation was catching the eyes of other diners.

She looked around to be sure she could speak, then spoke with a quiet, reasonable tone. "Deanne... you just told me that you preferred being a girl and that you had... special feelings for this boy you met last night.... William..."

"Willie."

"Ok... Willie... So, I just wanted to reach out to you to make it clear that I am open to having you explore the avenues available to you that would help you to make it possible for you to become a girl for real, and then a woman. Baby, you're still so small and pretty, but if puberty suddenly comes knocking on your door, you won't have the option of keeping those pretty cheeks and eyes and narrow shoulders. You have a very narrow window of opportunity and, if you truly want to be a girl, you need to make that decision fairly soon."

Dean played with his chowder a bit and avoided looking at his mother.

She softened her tone a bit, giving up the stern Chancellor tone in favor of a kinder, more motherly one. "I will let this drop for now, but baby, you need to give this some serious consideration. Either way, I will always be here for you and I will always be your mom. Let's return to this topic again in a week or so, though."

Dean snickered a bit dirisively.

"I beg your pardon," his mother said, "just what is that about?"

"'Let's return to this topic again in a week or so,'" Dean said, mocking his mother's tone. "I'm your son, mom, not your employee. Your treating this like a staff meeting."

"I'm trying to help..."

"No, you're trying to control everything the way that you always do. Mom... this is all new to me. The clothes, the hair, the makeup, they way that people are treating me, the way that Willie is looking at me, the way that he makes me feel - all of it is new to me and it's confusing the shit out of me..."

"Language," his mother warned, but he kept going.

"I can't just make a decision this week because that would be more convenient for you. Please... just let me find my way through the next few weeks and, when I am ready, I will talk to you about this. Alright?"

She tried to get back in command of the situation. "Deedee, all I am saying is that you have a limited window..."

"I get it, mom, but I cannot talk about it any more. I asked you if you were alright with me taking some time and then talking to you when I'm ready. If you can do that, then just say 'alright.' If you can't, then say so and I'll just go upstairs so I can be alone, because I can't take this any more."

His mother didn't look happy, but she nodded. "Alright. Come to me when you're ready."

"Thank you." He scooped up another spoonful of chowder and sipped it. "This is really good," he said in as friendly a tone as he could manage.

"Yes," Amelie agreed, taking a deep breath to force herself to relax. "If the CHOWDAH is this good, I can't wait to taste the fish and chips."
 

~^~
 

When they drove home on Sunday, Dr Martin stopped at a rather large and sprawling Outlet Shopping Center with dozens of clothing stores featuring flirty, playful clothes for girls Dean's size and he was more than willing to try on anything that his mother picked out for him. In fact, he was actually excited by some of the clothes.

Amelia Martin realized how much she was enjoying having an upbeat daughter rather than a sullen son. She'd never tell him that, of course, but it was just such a joy to have this kind of enjoyable time with him rather than the usual clothes shopping experience of whining that the clothes were too young for him, or clothes were uncomfortable, or he was embarrassed about having to use the changing rooms in the boys' department along with the much younger customers. Now, he was thrilled to be trying on anything and jumping out of changing rooms to show his mother.

One dress that both of them agreed Dean absolutely HAD to get was a short, black, sleeveless affair with a flouncy skirt and modest neckline that looked as cute as can be when he wore it. They were both excited to purchase it and then gather the right shoes and jewelry to go with it.

By the time they got home, any animosity from the previous day was gone and both Dean and his mother were happy.

Monday morning came quickly and so did Jade and Robin to help Dean get ready for school.

"I'm so nervous about the cast list being posted this afternoon," Jade said as she worked on Dean's eyes. "I was really happy with my audition. I hope I get something."

"I'm sure you will," Robin said with a smile. "You did a great job last year, stepping in at the last minute. Ms Highland won't forget that."

"You really did a great job at your audition," Dean said. "You sang better than anyone, you danced great and when we read from the script, you were actually acting while the rest of us were just reading. Honestly, I think you were the best performer there."

"Except for Donna Linkletter," Jade scoffered. "That's how it always is - I work my butt off and Donna Linkletter gets the part." She shook her head. "It must be nice to have rich parents."

"Well, I certainly would not know about that," Dean laughed. "This is the best job my mom ever had."

"What about your dad?" Robin asked.

"I hardly know my dad," Dean said with a shrug.

"Wait..." Robin said. "... I thought that you were living with your dad until you came out here with your mom?"

"Oh... yeah... I was..." Dean sputtered, afraid that he was getting caught in a lie. "...but he travels a lot for work, so usually I stayed with... someone he hired to take care of me."

"A nanny!?" Jade blurted out. "You claim you're not rich, but you had a nanny!?"

"No..." Dean tried to fend off her question. "Not a nanny, more like... a friend of my dad's who would just stay at his place."

"His girlfriend?" Robin asked.

"Kind of, I guess," Dean shrugged, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

"My dad has a girlfriend, too," Jade said with a bit of disgust in her voice. "Valerie. I do not care for Valerie. Not one little bit."

"Oh, screw Valerie," Robin said, dismissively. "It's getting late. We'd better go."

The school day dragged on that day. The girls who'd auditioned the previous week were on edge and Dean, Robin and Jade were all part of a group email from Willie asking if the cast list had been posted. So, obviously, the boys at St Mark's were excited, too."

Dean had rather resigned himself to not getting a part. He only had a little experience, he was new to the school and so many girls tried out that he figured the directors were probably going to go with the girls they knew first. He figured that was ok, though, because he could work backstage or something and still hang out with his friends.

FINALLY the end of the day was approaching. With just a few minutes left in the school day, Ms Highland excused herself and went out into the hall to post the cast list. The class, most of which had auditioned, remained silent while she was gone.

She reentered the room just as the bell rang. "I'll see you tomorrow, girls!" Ms Highland said, loudly, but they really didn't hear her. Most of them were too focused on getting to the list as quickly as possible.

Jade and Robin exploded out of the room. Dean grabbed his computer and hustled, but was far behind them.

When he arrived, he found a group of senior girls surrounding Donna Linkletter, congratulating her, which made Dean more than a little apprehensive.

Then he heard Jade scream, "YES!!!" from inside the crush of girls. She pushed her way back through and appeared right in front of Dean. "I got it! I got the part! I'm playing Roxie Hart!"

"Wow! Congratulations!" Dean said, hugging her. "I saw Donna Linkletter looking pretty self satisfied, so I thought she might have got it."

"No, she's playing Velma Kelly, the other lead. I wanted to play Roxie, though."

"What about Robin?"

Jade grimaced. "Oops. I got so excited that I didn't even look."

Just then, Robin popped out of the crowd, smiling. "Hey! I'm a Cell Block Tango girl! I've got the Ezekiel Young speech."

"That's awesome!" Jade said, hugging her.

"No, you're awesome!" Robin laughed. "Roxie Hart! Holy crap!"

"I know, right?" Jade laughed.

"So, we get to do the best dance in the show," Robin said, putting her arm around Dean.

"We?" Dean was confused.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Didn't you look? You're playing The Hunyak... the Hungarian girl. You're one of the tango girls, too!"

"Wow!" Dean laughed, relieved and excited. "Cool!"

"Yeah!" Robin's grin was huge. "Now I have to text Willie to tell him he's Billy Flynn. Man... there'll be no living with him, now!"
 

~^~
 

Tuesday, they held a read-through of the show so that everyone got familiar with their parts and where they occurred throughout the play. They were told that, if they had a smaller part on the sheet - like being a Cell Block Tango Girl, then they were also in other scenes as chorus members, which meant that Dean had a lot of music and some amount of dancing to learn. He liked the music, though. It was all kind of weird to his ears, but that kind of made it cooler.

Thursday was the first rehearsal and it was a singing rehearsal for everyone. Dean was directed to sit in the alto section and, being a bit nervous about having to sing, he sat in the second row where he could hide a bit.

"Basses behind the sopranos and tenors behind the altos," Mrs Tracy, the Music Teacher, instructed.

The boys were filing into the row behind Dean when he heard someone say, "Hey, can you move over a seat? I'd like to sit here."

"What difference does it make?" A second voice asked.

The first voice was very blunt. "I want to sit behind Deedee. So... would you mind moving?"

The first voice sighed, but said, "Yeah, ok," and moved.

Dean continued to look forward, but a smile was playing on his lips. That smile grew even larger when he felt Willie put his hand on his shoulder, leaned forward and whispered, "Szia. High vagy."

"What?" Dean laughed looking over his shoulder.

Willie laughed, too. "I probably didn't pronounce it right. It means 'Hello. How are you?' in Hungarian. At least it does according to Google Translate."

"Ahh, I get it. Because I'm playing the Hungarian character. Very funny." Dean laughed, a bit excited by the feeling of Willie's breath in his neck.

"I try." Willie giggled.

The teacher began teaching the music and Dean was surprised by how quickly everyone seemed to pick it up. They stuck to their vocal parts and when they needed to, they asked questions and Mrs Tracy would clarify. When they'd sing all the parts together, Dean was actually excited by the sound that they all produced together.

The rehearsal was three hours long, so at the ninety minute point, Mrs Tracy called for a fifteen minute break. Everyone meandered into the lobby so they could drink their drinks and eat their snacks, which weren't allowed in the theater. Dean, Robin, Jade and Willie's friends from the movies all gathered together, laughing and talking about the show, things that happened at school, whatever, while Willie used the boy's room.

It was a few minutes later that Jade nudged both Dean and Robin, then nodded towards the other side of the lobby. When they looked in that direction, they saw Donna Linkletter talking to Willie and, by her body language, she was flirting - and flirting hard.

"What is she flirting with him for?" Robin asked." She's got a boyfriend over at St Johns."

"Yeah, but Willie is the male lead, so Donna is going to try to win him over. She does it every year," Jade said, shaking her head.

"I'll go rescue him,"one of the boys said.

"No, I'll go get him," Dean said, and before anyone could stop him, he was walking across the lobby and sliding an arm through Dean's.

"Hi, Donna," he said with a grin. "Congratulations on getting Velma."

Donna Linkletter scowled at Dean and said, "Oh, look... it's the sixth grader whose mommy put her in the big girls' school."

Willie's smile faded. "What did you say?"

Donna shook her head. "Oh, nothing. I was just trying to make it clear to this little girl that when the grown-ups are talking, she needs to wait for her turn to speak."

Willie recoiled a bit, then, instead of lashing out like he wanted to, he pulled his arm free, placed it around Dean's shoulders and just turned and walked away.

"Gee, I thought she was a nice girl," Willie whispered to Dean. "What a jerk."

When they got back to their group of friends, Robin and Jade were smiling at Dean and when they had him alone, they congratulated him for his cunning.

"Girl, that was vicious," Jade said with admiration.

"You tramp!" Robin teased. "You were awesome!"

They all laughed, but during the rest of the rehearsal, any time Dean would glance in the direction of Donna Linkletter, she was always glaring back at him.

So, now, not only did he have friends at Greenwood; he had an enemy, too.
 
 
To Be Continued...

Twenty Weeks - 4

 

Five weeks into his time at Greenwood Academy, four weeks into the school musical,
lots of new friends, a new found appreciation for all things girlish, a sweet boy who likes him...
what could go wrong?
Well... lots, apparently! Let's see how Deedee copes with some adversity in this installment!! Heheh!

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Chanukah, and Merry Christmas everyone! I am so sorry for my car wreck and messing up posting here. It's a huge hassle - and a nightmare!
Thank you all for the supportive comments!
Happy Holidays to everyone! ~Clara.
 
This version of Twenty Weeks - 4 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

---

 
 
Part 4
 

Dr Martin stared the sea of girls before her, each in the plaid jumper with the white, long puffy sleeved, small collared cotton blouse, and each looking like a perfect little doll as they filled the hallways of the school that early February afternoon. It was truly a lovely site. What she wouldn't give to be that age again. Not a real care in the world, yet everything was so important - school, friends, clothes, hair, boys... everything. The truly amazing thing about this throng of girls was that one of them was her son. She shook her head in content amazement. One month into their adventure as mother and daughter and he seemed not only content, but happy for the first time in his life.

"Hi, Amelia," a voice interrupted her reverie.

She turned and saw Robin's mother. "Oh, hi, Penny," the Chancellor smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm great, actually." She looked at the crowded hallway, too. "There's a lot of estrogen flying around out there." She chucked.

"There is," Dr Martin agreed, "but I really love looking at them. So young. So eager to achieve. I'm so happy I came here, Penny, and so thrilled that my child is a Greenwood Girl. This place is a bit of a miracle."

"I've always thought so," Penny smiled. She thought back to the day she first met the new Chancellor and her boyish daughter at the reception. "I think Deedee is thriving here, don't you?"

"She's a whole new person," Dr Martin smiled.
 

~^~
 

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," Ms Highland said as rehearsal drew to a close that day, "today marks the end of week four of our eight week rehearsal schedule. That means three more weeks of actual rehearsals during which we will be stopping to fix things as we add scenery, props and costume pieces. That last week - Production week - or Hell week, as many call it - is just running the show in preparation for opening night. So, NOW is the time to make sure that you are memorizing your lines, working on your characters, practicing your songs and practicing your dances. If you wait till the end of the rehearsal cycle to do your homework, then you'll be THINKING instead of ACTING. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, Ms Highland," came the nearly unison reply from the cast.

"Ms Highland?" Came the voice of Donna Linkletter from the left side of the audience seats where the cast had been placed while the directors gave notes.

"Yes, Donna?" Ms Highland practically sighed.

"Is there anyway that we can... encourage... those cast members who only have one or two lines to actually memorize those lines instead of having to read them from a script all the time? Speaking as someone with a lot to memorize, it really throws you off, waiting for someone with a small part to get their act together." With that last phrase, she surreptitiously kicked the back of the chair in front of her where Dean was sitting.

"Knock it off, Donna," Willie snapped, looking over his shoulder at the diva.

"I will when your child-bride grows up and learns her one, little section of the show, Billy," Donna replied. She'd taken to only calling Willie 'Billy' due to his character's name.

"Enough!" Ms Highland shouted, not a common occurrence. "Donna, you are a senior with lots of experience. Now, I trusted you to not only tackle your role, but to be an example to the younger and less experienced cast members. You've been doing one of those things very well. Try harder on the other."

Then Ms Highland looked at Dean. "Deedee, I know that your speech is in Hungarian, but I do need it to be memorized. So, when we run that scene next week, you need to be off-book."

"Yes, Ms Highland," Dean said with an embarrassed nod.

"Alright, then. You are all dismissed.

They stood and as they were all grabbing their things, Donna said, "Billy, I'm having a party this Saturday night at my house. Mostly seniors and juniors from Greenwood, St John's and St Mark's. Want to come? We have an indoor pool with a hot tub. It'll be fun."

Willie looked at Dean and rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Donna, but Deedee and I have plans for Saturday."

Donna scowled at Dean. "Babysitting, huh?" She spat. "Too bad. I thought you might enjoy some time with the grownups."

Willie shook his head. "Thanks anyway, Donna."

She grunted her disapproval of his choice, turned on her heels and stormed off.

"Sorry about that," Willie said to Dean.

"Sorry about what? Did someone say something? If they did, I didn't hear it," Dean said, batting his mascara coated eyelashes in a theatrically innocent manner - a feminine gesture he'd acquired over the previous five weeks at Greenwood.

Dean smiled and put his arm around Dean's shoulders. "That's why I like you so much," he said.

"So... what are we doing on Saturday night, then?" Dean asked.

"I thought you didn't hear anything?" Willie said, looking at Dean with a theatrically confused look.

"I heard you talking to no one," Dean smiled and giggled. "I just didn't hear anyone else talking."
 

~^~
 

"Hi, Amy, it's Frank," the voice on the voicemail said. "I'm actually in Norway for a week or so. It's colder than heck here. Wow, what a change from Fiji. I didn't expect to have to come here, but the company is working with some of the oil drilling companies to minimize environmental impact caused by oil exploration... anyway. I got your email about Dean getting into the play at school. That's amazing. I know it's only the chorus, but he's only a sophomore, so if he likes it, maybe he can practice and get a bigger part next year. Anyway, tell my guy that I'm proud of him and I wish I could come to the show. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be in the middle of a month's work in Canada at that time. I know... I'm a terrible dad. I wish things were different, but that's how things are at the moment." There was a little, sad laugh on the voicemail. "Now I'm depressing both of us. Hey, I'm going to get going. I have a lot to get done and I can't let myself get into my head right now. Love you both, Amy. Say hi to Deano for me. Bye."

Amelia shook her head. She still loved that guy, but it would always be work first, the rest of the world second and she couldn't live that way. She did feel a bit bad for him, though. He sounded sad and lonely. That was never a good thing. She typed 'What time is it in Norway' into her phone's search engine and the result was '1:32am.' Too late to call, so she wrote an email.

'Hi, Frank. Got your voicemail. You sound lonely. We'll have to talk soon. Your work is important. I understand that. I have always understood that. Dean and I miss you. Talk to you soon. Love, Amy'

Dr Martin shut her laptop, grabbed her attaché case and coat, headed out the door and walked across the campus to her home. She opened the door and, instead of the usual sound of a TV or of Dean on the phone with friend, she heard something odd coming from the living room.

"No, no," the voice said, obviously correcting something. "It's steptouch -step-cross. Hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, pose. Yeah, that's it. Great!"

The Chancellor looked into the sitting room where all the furniture had been moved to the sides of the room and Robin was drilling Dean on a dance routine from the show they were both in. Rather than startle them, she just watched them practice.

"Again," Robin said, "step-touch-step-cross, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, pose. Again, step-touch-step-cross, hip thrust, hip thrust, hip thrust, pose. Good, you're getting it."

It was amazing. Here was her shy, introverted son, still in his uniform dress, practicing a dance routine with a lovely young woman and having the time of his life.

"Oh, hi, Dr Martin," Robin said, a bit surprised to see the Chancellor watching them. "I'm sorry if we made a mess. We'll put everything back when we're done."

"Not a problem, girls," Dean's mother chuckled. "I was enjoying watching you dance. You've learned a lot in just three weeks."

"We've learned a lot more than I can remember," Dean said, laughing. "Luckily, Robin remembers everything."

"Actually, the dance moves are pretty simple. I've taken dance since I was, like, four or so. Once you get used to remembering the sequences, it all gets easier." She looked at Dean. "Trust me, by the time the show opens, you won't even be thinking about what your feet are doing. It'll all be second nature."

"I hope so," Dean muttered, uncertain.

"Oh, Geez!" Robin said, looking at her smart watch. "I gotta run. My mom is outside with my older sister in the car. She has a class at the community college in like twenty minutes."

"Don't worry about the furniture," Dr Martin said, "Deedee and I can put it back."

Robin kissed Dean's cheek. "You did great! See you tomorrow! Love you!" She grabbed her coat and ran to the door.

"Love you, too!" Dean said just before she exited.

As he and his mother started to put the furniture back where it belonged, Dr Martin said, "I thought you were doing very well with the dance."

"Thanks. I'm really trying hard. The choreographer told me that I was looking a lot better, but I'm still having a hard time remembering what comes next as I'm doing it. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense," his mother smiled, "but if anyone is good at learning new skills, it's you Deedee. You'll do fine."

"What do you mean?"

Dr Martin stopped what she was doing and put a hand on each of Dean's shoulders and smiled. "Deanne... do you remember what you were like on New Year's Day when I told you that I had gotten this job and what I needed you to do so that you could attend Greenwood? That day, I was looking into the eyes of an introverted, petrified boy who kept saying that there was no way he could do what I was asking. Now... you're a completely different person. You're an outgoing, confident girl with lots of friends, and I know this is not nearly as big a deal as the other things, but you are better at doing your hair and makeup than I am. You're a phenomenon, sweetie. I am so, so, so proud of you."

Dean smiled, just a bit. "Thank you, mom."

"I'm serious, baby, and what I meant was, if you can do all of those things, then you can certainly do what you need to do for this show."

Dean's smile broadened a bit. "Wow, mom. Two compliments in one day. I think this is a first."

Dr Martin chuckled at that, then pulled him in for a hug. "Come here," she smiled. "I do love you, you know."

"Of course, I know, mom."

"Good," she smiled as she hugged him tighter and kissed his forehead.
 

~^~
 

"Hi, Amy, it's Frank. How are you?"

"I'm great, Frank. Where are you?" Amelia Wilson replied to her ex-husband. It was an odd time of day for him to be calling. He usually called in the evening, but it was not even noon yet.

"Actually, I'm in Boston," he laughed. "My flight was delayed in London and I missed my connector to Manitoba. I'm waiting for the next flight - actually, trying to work out something earlier, actually. I just thought I'd call and see how things are."

"Everything is great," she replied, happily. "Dean's very happy, he says the rehearsals for the show are going very well and his grades are excellent."

"Well, his grades were always better than either yours or mine ever were in high school," her ex laughed. "Tell him I'm proud of him though. Geez, I wish I could see that show, but from Manitoba I'm off to the wilderness. I'll be there for at least a month with only the Internet to connect me to the real world. Tell him how sorry I am about that."

And there it was... he was sorry, but unwilling to do anything to change. That was exactly why they weren't married anymore. Oh, well, no need to rehash all of that at that moment. "Ok. I'll tell him."

"Alright, Amy, I know you're working, so I'll let you go. Love you."

"Love you, too, Frank," she smiled. She truly did love him, but he sure brought a lot of baggage along with him - even when he was just calling in to check on her.

"We need to see each other, soon, Amy. I really miss you."

Ok, that was odd. Had Frank visited The Wizard and gotten a heart? "Sure, Frank," she said, knowing full well a meeting would never be arranged. "Let me know when you're available and we'll work something out."

"Alright." He sounded oddly sad and lonely. "Bye, bye."

"Bye, bye, Frank," she said and hung up the phone, but she stared at it for a solid minute, wondering what was going on with him, before she went back to her huge pile of paperwork.
 

~^~
 

"Mit keresek, enn itt? Azt mondjok, hogy lakem lefogta a ferjemet en meg lecsaptam a fejet." Dean said, passionately, as he clung to the bars of the small cell-door that was meant to indicate a prison. Each of the Cell Block Tango Girls had a similar set piece that they used in that scene. Dean stepped around it and implored the imaginary audience beyond the stage as he continued. "De nem igaz, en artatlan vagyok. Nem tudom ert mondja Uncle Sam hogy en tetten. Probaltam a rendorsegen megmagyarazni de nem ertettek meg..."

"Yeah, but did you do it?" The girl playing the role of June asked.

In his best Hungarian accent, Dean continued. "Uh uh. Not guilty."

The rest of the cast erupted in applause. It was the first time Dean had made it through the entire speech without looking at his script or calling for a line. He looked as if he knew what he was saying, which he did - he had looked up the speech online and found out what the character was saying - and he'd acted as if he was an innocent woman who was unable to plead her case due to a language barrier. It was a huge step forward in his progress as an actor.

Donna Linkletter had the next speech within the song. Instead of following her direction, she stepped forward, crossed the stage and actually pushed Dean out of the way to take center stage, nearly knocking him to the floor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ms Highland shouted, stopping the rehearsal. "Donna, just what the hell was that?"

"What do you mean, Ms Highland?" The senior asked innocently.

"You know your blocking, Donna," the teacher scolded, using the theatrical term of 'blocking,' meaning when and where an actor was meant to move. "Deedee ends her monologue stage center, then you start yours from stage right. Spotlight one goes out on Deedee as spotlight two comes up on you. Then, as you're speaking, she moves back as you slowly cross to stage center and finish there. Then, when the next refrain begins, the lights come up and the girls are all behind you. So - what just happened? Why were you stage center and why did you nearly knock Deedee down?"

The rich girl sighed as if the teacher's questions were a burden. "I don't know, Ms Highland. I guess that I was so shocked that little Deanne made it through her speech that I couldn't remember my blocking. Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Donna. Apologize to Deedee."

Donna glanced at Dean with a smirk on her face. "Sorry," she said completely unbelievably.

Dean just shook his head and looked at Ms Highland to see what she wanted to do.

"Alright," the teacher/director sighed. "Deedee, great job on the speech. Let's back it up to June's line, 'But did you do it?' then Deedee, you say your 'not guilty' line and we'll move on from there."

Dean nodded and moved back to stage center as Donna walked passed him and made a point of stepping very close to him in an intimidating way.

"Donna," Ms Highland sighed again. "Knock it off. We're all here for the same reason: to do a good show. So, join the team and start being a role model for good, rather than the this bizarre example of 'What Not To Do While In A Show' you've chosen to be recently. Have I made myself clear?"

Donna just rolled her eyes.

"I asked you a question, Donna, and I expect an answer."

"Whatever," Donna Linkletter muttered and waved off the teacher.

"That's it," Ms Highland said, slamming her hand on the stage. "I have had enough of your nonsense Miss Linkletter. Go home, Donna, and don't come back unless or until you've decided to act your age."

"You can't be serious," Donna laughed, cockily, but with a bit of uncertainty.

"Leave now or I will just replace you today."

The self appointed 'star' of Greenwood Academy stood in shock for a good long moment before she spoke. "This is just because that little..." she wanted to use a harsher word, but settled on "... CHILD... is the Chancellor's kid!"

"No, Donna, this is because you have been behaving like an over privileged jerk since the auditions. As a matter of fact, I probably let this go on longer than I should have BECAUSE Deedee is the Chancellor's daughter and I didn't want to appear to be playing favorites. I kept hoping that you'd get past all this nonsense and start behaving like the intelligent, talented young woman that I know you can be. But that hasn't happened, so... just leave and come back when you've gotten your head together. Leave, now."

Donna scowled at the teacher, then at Dean before storming down the stairs on the side of the stage. She grabbed her coat and backpack, then looked at the girls in her entourage. "Well? Come on." She demanded.

The girls looked at each other, but didn't move. Finally, one of the girls said, "I'm sorry, Donna, but if I leave over this, my mom will kill me." The other girls nodded in agreement.

"Seriously!?" Donna asked, amazed that her reign as the queen bee of Greenwood Academy was coming to an end right there and then. "Fine! Stay here with all these losers, then. I'm done with all of you." She stopped for a moment and pointed at Dean. "Except you, little girl. I'm not done with you. Not by a long shot." Then she turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming every door she could as she stormed through the school.

Ms Highland took a deep breath and let it out. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. That's over with. Now, back to rehearsal. Deedee, take it from, 'Not Guilty,' please. Stage manager, please read Velma's lines for the rest of today's rehearsal. Is everyone in their proper places? Excellent. Deedee, go ahead."

The rest of the rehearsal had a bit of a pall cast on it because of the to-do that had already occurred, so energy was low and mistakes that had never occurred before were popping up everywhere.

About an hour before the scheduled end of the rehearsal, a woman came in and spoke to Ms Highland. Dean recognized the woman as the costumer. She'd come by in the second week of rehearsals and took everyone's measurements and told them what clothing items they'd need to purchase. For Dean, his purchases included a black bra and panty set for The Cell Block Tango as well as a pair of black, heeled character shoes for most of the show and a pair of cream colored, ballet slippers for the scene in which his character, The Hunyak, is executed. That last scene is a weird moment for which the choreographer had taught Dean a little bit of ballet. He had a rope that he'd use as a prop and which would eventually be a noose. He'd do his ballet dance, which included two back-flips, and then there was a very theatrical 'hanging' of his character. It was very hard for him to conceive of how this was all going to work, but Ms Highland assured him he was doing great and the audience would love it.

Anyway - the costumer spoke to the director for a few minutes, and then Ms Highland said, "Alright, boys and girls, listen up! I think we've pretty much exhausted today's supply of energy and concentration, so I'm going to call it a day for us. Tomorrow is Friday, so no rehearsal, but we shall reconvene on Monday and pick things up from here."

There were some relieved mumbles from the cast, who were all happy to end the train wreck that the rehearsal had become.

"Now, before you go," Ms Highland continued, "I need just a few people to see our costumer, Mrs Hayes, to try on a few things. Jason, Natalie and Deedee, please meet Mrs Hayes in the costume room right now. Everyone else is free to go. Thank you, all." Then, she turned to the music director and said, "It might be prudent to have a 'swing' performer ready to step in, should Donna become an even bigger problem down the road."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Well, Jane Elliot is a senior, she's very talented and could probably do it. We didn't consider her because she was going to be away for several weeks, but now those plans have changed. I'll talk to her."

"Well, you should probably tell her to keep quiet about it. Donna and her parents will raise holy hell if they find out you've done that."

Ms Highland snickered with an exhausted sound. "Tomorrow they'll be raising holy hell, anyway."

Dean left the stage and headed to the costume room, kissing the cheeks of Robin and Jade along the way. The thought of being with the costumer was a bit stress inducing for Dean, of course, since she was the only person other than his friends to touch him since he'd taken up his disguise and he was scared to death that he would be found out.

Dean arrived in the dressing room third. Natalie, who was in the chorus, but played the character of 'Kitty,' a new murderess, at the end of the play, was just exiting with a dress to try on as Dean entered. Jason was a freshman from St John's was playing 'Mary Sunshine,' a drag part. Mrs Hayes was handing him a dress as Dean entered. "Take it home and try it on with the bra that your mother bought you," the costumer instructed. "Have her take pictures from every angle and email them to me."

"Ok," Jason said, oddly excited at the prospect of crossdressing. Dean certainly hadn't been excited when he was first told he needed to. Of course, he wasn't just doing it for a show for a weekend.

"Oh, Deedee," Mrs Hayes smiled. "Take a look at this. What do you think? I think it's perfect."

The costumer held out a hanger from which hung a timeless looking, cream colored, high waisted, scoop neckline dress with tiny cap sleeves, an Aline skirt and built in petticoats. It also dripped with gorgeous, cream colored lace.

Dean had worn a lace dress before, in fact he'd worn it to the reception for his mother's arrival at Greenwood, but that just had a little lace, and he had no desire to wear that dress that night, but now things had changed.

Now, he had developed an appreciation of women's clothing and now... this dress looked amazing to him and now... he wanted to wear that dress and he wanted to wear it NOW!

"It's beautiful," he said in abject admiration of the dress.

"I'm glad you like it," Mrs Hayes smiled. "Go try it on and I'll meet you on stage."

Dean took the dress and hurried to the girl's dressing room, where Natalie was just leaving, now wearing the dress he'd seen her carrying while leaving the costume room. It was a blue flapper's dress with fringe all over it that bounced when she moved.

"Wow," Dean said when he saw her. "You look amazing in that."

"Thanks," Natalie smiled, happy with the compliment. "Is that your dress for Cell Block Tango?"

"No, my execution," Dean giggled at the silliness of that sentence.

"Oh," Natalie giggled too. "Well, you'll make a beautiful corpse, I guess."

"Thanks," Dean laughed some more and went into the girls' dressing room to change.

"I like it," Ms Highland was saying about Natalie's costume as Dean arrived in the audience. "It's a bold color. She'll look like a murderess. Thank you, Natalie. All set. Just get changed and leave that dress in the costume room."

As she exited the stage, Dean climbed the stairs and walked over to where Mrs Hayes was waiting.

"Oh, that is gorgeous!" Ms Highland complimented. "Deedee, you almost look like a bride in that dress. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Dean smiled, touching it. "It's beautiful."

"It is, and you look beautiful in it," Mrs Hayes said, kindly.

"You do, Deedee," Ms Highland smiled. "You look very grownup."

"Thank you," Dean gushed.

"I'll tell you what," the director said, "you've had a tough day and I bet your mom would love see you in that dress. So, I am going to let you wear it home just this one time. What do you think?"

"I think my mom would love that, Ms Highland," Dean said with a grin.

"Ok," the teacher smiled, "but no eating or drinking while wearing it and it goes on a hanger when you take it off - which is ten minutes after mom sees it."

"Yes, ma'am," Dean said with a mile-wide-smile across his face. He hurried down from the stage, grabbed his coat and backpack and was nearly to the door when Ms Highland shouted, "Don't forget your uniform!"

"Oops!" Dean laughed at his own lapse of consciousness. It was just that the dress had him incredibly excited. "Thank you!" He ran to the dressing room and grabbed his uniform blouse and jumper then made a beeline for the exit.

He was nearly to the front door when someone shouted from behind him, "Deedee! Wait up!"

He turned and saw Willie jogging down the hallway to meet him. "Whew!" He breathed, exaggerating his effort. "I didn't call my mom to pick me up early because I wanted to walk you home in case Donna got it into her head to..." his words stopped as he got close enough to get a good, clear look at Dean. "Wow... Dee... you look... I mean... that dress... you're... beautiful."

Dean could tell that Willie was a little uncomfortable saying that sentence and that made the boy look even more attractive to Dean. Both of them blushed and just stared at each other for a long moment before Dean whispered, "Thanks."

They stood there another few moments before Willie cleared his throat and said, "Umm... come on. I'll walk you home."

Dean slipped his coat on and took Willie's hand.
 

~^~
 

"The goal of educational excellence is a long and cherished tradition at Greenwood Academy," The Chancellor said from the podium of the banquet hall at the local country club. She was speaking to the local Rotary Club in the hopes of engaging local businesses in supporting the school. "This tradition is only going to grow stronger under my leadership. The girls at Greenwood go on to schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth and Stamford. They become leaders in the fields of science, economics, education and the arts. They defy the societal norms of 'a woman in a man's world.' They benefit their community while attending Greenwood and beyond..." she was only four minutes into a fifteen minute speech and she was getting more passionate with every breath.
 

~^~
 

Dean unlocked the door to the house and called out, "Mom!?" The lights were on, but the house was silent.

Dean dropped his backpack, coat and uniform on the deacon's bench in the hallway and continued to the kitchen, Willie following dutifully. "Mom?"

That's when he saw the note on the counter. He picked it up and read it. "Oh... my mom is at a meeting in town. I kind of wanted to surprise her with this dress, but..."

His words ended abruptly because, unexpectedly, someone had placed their warm, soft lips on his and wrapped their arms around him, tightly. Dean assumed that it was Willie, but since his eyes were closed, he wasn't one hundred percent sure. That is, until the kiss ended and he opened his eyes to see Willie's face about two inches from his own.

It was incredibly romantic for about five seconds, and then Willie suddenly looked embarrassed.

"I... I'm sorry," he said, his eyes darting around the room. "I was just... I mean... you just looked so beautiful and I've wanted to... you know... I mean... we're never, like, alone and I've really wanted to kiss you, but there's always someone, Robin, or Jade, or..."

His speech was interrupted when Dean stood on his tip toes and planted his lips firmly on Willie's.

"So you're not mad that I kissed you?" Willie asked when he could breath again.

"Not at all," Dean smiled.
 

~^~
 

"Dr Martin," an older man with very little hair and a bright red nose called out his question, "Greenwood Academy is not a public school and doesn't 'serve' the community the way a public school would. Why should the Rotarians offer financial support to a school that already receives rather exorbitant fees from the parents of their student body?"

The Chancellor was prepared for this question. "That is an excellent question, and although we are not a public school, eighty-two-percent of our students come from this community or from immediately adjourning communities. The parents of our students are your customers. The regional high school is fine, but it is a long way from Greenwood, and their graduation rate, test scores and college acceptance rate is much, much lower than ours. Your donations would give girls from the greater Greenwood community the opportunity to attend Greenwood Academy at a reduced rate, or possibly at no cost at all..." her answer went on for another three minutes or more.
 

~^~
 

'God, how do people drive on roads like this," he thought as he cautiously maneuvered through the western Massachusetts twilight. 'The trees encroach on the road everywhere and they wind so badly that I can't see around the next bend. When an oncoming car appears, it's so dark that it's headlights are blinding. Lord, I've driven through roads in the Brazilian rainforest that were better engineered than this."

"At the next stop sign, turn left," the GPS on his phone directed.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied aloud. He was used to having conversations with his phone or tablet. He was alone most of the time and figured it was better to have a machine to talk to than no one at all.

He took the left at the stop sign. "Continue on this road for three miles. Then your destination is on the left."

"Thank you, my good lady," he replied.
 

~^~
 

An excellent presentation, Dr Martin," the red nosed man exclaimed, shaking Amelia's hand briskly. "Very well done. Our financial officer will be in touch with the school about creating a scholarship or two in our name."

"That's wonderful," the Chancellor said with a broad grin. "Thank you so much."

"Not at all, not at all," red nose smiled. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Oh, thank you, but no," she said. She'd actually been unaware that they were having a dinner after her presentation and had not told Dean that she'd be out late. "I have to get home. I have a daughter to feed. If I leave her to her own accord, she'd eat Ramen noodles every night and end up with high blood pressure by the time she's sixteen."

Red nose laughed. "I understand. Thank you for coming and for being so well prepared. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again very soon."
 

~^~
 

All along the route, he'd noticed the big, old houses on the sides of the road. "There must have been some real money here at some point," he said to no one. "There must still be some around just to heat these mansions," he said, again to no one.

They weren't mansions, really. They were just big old houses, and, yes, there had been a lot of money there before the state built a huge reservoir to provide water to the Boston area, cutting off the trade roads through Greenwood, and, yes, there was plenty of money there now for the people who wanted to live in a quiet, somewhat secluded, rural community. That was why there were so many private schools nearby as well. To serve these wealthier families.

"Your destination is on the left," his phone advised. He took a left into the driveway. "Arrived."

"Damn!" He said rather loudly. "This place is gorgeous. I can't wait to see it in the light of day. It looks like an Ivy League college!"

He followed the signs to 'The Chancellor's House' and found a massive Victorian structure set to the far end of the campus' buildings. "Damn, Amy, you're moving up in the world, aren't you?"

He parked his car in the driveway and got out. He grabbed his overnight bag from the backseat and walked up the steps to the front door. He was about to knock, when he noticed that the door was just slightly ajar. Cool! This would make his arrival an even bigger surprise.

He pushed the door open, quietly and walked into the house. It was a grand place with a formal entry. That was where he noticed something puzzling. There was a girl's school uniform abandoned and laying on top of a backpack on the deacon's bench in the foyer. Hmm, was his son up to a little 'no-good'?

He heard a noise in a nearby room and he peeked in to see a boy and a girl kissing passionately on a loveseat. He was relieved to see that the girl was dressed. She was wearing a very elaborate, lace dress. No wonder his son was attracted to her. Even though he couldn't see their faces, he could tell that the girl had an attractive body. Skinny, but attractive.

He thought for a moment about clearing his throat to get their attention, or maybe knocking on the door frame, but finally decided to go back outside, give them five or ten minutes to have their fun and then ring the door bell. After all, his son was well on his way to becoming a man, apparently, and later this evening, while Amy was out of the room, he could have 'the talk' with his son. Yes. That was a good plan. It was funny how the universe had gotten him to the perfect time and place to finally be a good dad.

He quietly left the foyer and went back out the front door, closing it quietly behind him.
 

~^~
 

It had been a successful evening. Many Rotary Club members were on board with scholarships and they even bought lots of full page ads in the program for the school's upcoming production of the musical, "Chicago." Dr Martin felt pretty darned good about herself. Life was good.

That is, until she started up the drive to her house. There was an unfamiliar car and her driveway and the silhouette of a man walking down her front stairs. What the hell!? Panicked because her child should be coming home - or was home - right about now, she sped up and pulled into the driveway, parking behind the intruder's vehicle so he couldn't escape.

She leapt from her car and approached the man as he walked towards his car. "Excuse me! Can I help you!? It is well past business hours and I have a strict policy about separating my work time and my home life. I do not see parents in my home and I..." she stopped, stared, shocked. "Frank?"

"Hi, Amy," the man grinned.

"Frank. Wha... what are you doing here?" The full weight of the situation suddenly landed on her shoulders. She hadn't told him and he certainly couldn't find out this way! She needed him to leave and leave now.

"I was in Boston with fifteen hours to spare, so I thought I'd come see my favorite ex-wife and my son." His smile showed no indication that he was aware of Dean's transformation. Good.

"Oh, well... that's... wonderful, Frank. Unfortunately, Dean is not at home tonight, and... Hey! Tell, you what! There's a great little restaurant in town. Jump in my car and I'll take you out for a nice dinner." She smiled as she tried to hide her panic.

Frank's face screwed up in a confused expression. "What do you mean 'Dean's not home?' I just saw him in the house."

"You saw Dean!?" She sounded almost panicked and Frank reacted as anyone would.

"Yeah. He was with a girl and I didn't want to interrupt. At least I THOUGHT it was Dean. I left pretty quickly. They were necking in your living room."

"Necking!?"

"Yeah. Making out. You know. Hey, if that's not Dean, then you have an intruder in there. Amy, call the cops. I'll go grab the two kids and hold them till the cops get here."

"Frank, wait!" She hollered, but he was running up the stairs already. She tried to catch up, but she was in a pencil skirt and wearing three inch heels. She couldn't stop him.

Frank burst through the door and into the living room shouting, "Alright you two, just what the hell do you think you..."

That's as far as he got before Dean shouted, "Dad!?" in involuntary shock, as he leapt off the loveseat and stood, looking as cute as a button in his cream colored lace dress.

"What?" Frank said, seeing a little something in the face of this little, teen girl that kind of looked like Dean did the last time Frank had seen him on a FaceTime call at Christmas time. "Dean?" he muttered. "What's going on here?"

At that point, finally, Dr Martin arrived, breathless and rushed. She surveyed the scene and looked at the two teenagers, surprised. "Deedee? What's happening here? Who is this boy?"

Dean stood in silence, looking from his father to his mother to William, not knowing what to say.

Willie jumped up and turned to face his girlfriend's parents. "Hi, Dr Martin... Mr Martin. I'm Willie." He extended his hand, but neither adult accepted it. "I... ummm... Look... We had a little bit of a... thing... happen at rehearsal and we quit a little early. I walked Deedee home, just... you know... to be sure she was ok. I guess I got... well... carried away, I guess... and I'm sorry. This was all my fault. Please... don't be mad at Deedee."

"Deedee?" Frank asked his wife, his face a mask of confusion.

Amelia looked at her ex-husband and shook her head in a 'not now' gesture. Then, to Willie, she said, "Well, Willie, thank you for walking Deedee home, but I think it's time that you left now so that we can talk."

"Yes, ma'am," the boy nodded, walking into the foyer and grabbing his coat.

"What the hell is going on here, Amy?" Frank said, but she held up her hand to stop him from speaking.

Before he walked out the door, Willie turned and looked at the three people still standing in the living room. "Dr Martin... Mr Martin... I am sorry we met this way, but... Deedee's a really special girl. I mean... she's not like any other girl I ever met and... well... she just wanted to show you that dress she's wearing in the show and the rest, well, that was my fault. I mean it. All my fault. And I'm sorry."

"Thank you, William." Dean's mother said, without much warmth. "I'm sure we will see each other soon, but for now, I think it's best that you go."

"Yes, ma'am." He nodded sadly and exited the house.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the house for about ten seconds before Frank said, "Would somebody mind telling me just what the fuck is going on?"

Amelia looked at her ex-husband and took a very authoritative tone. "Use that word in my house one more time and I will call campus security and have you escorted from the premises."

"Alright, I apologize for that," Frank said, "but you have to admit, I have a right to be upset. I walk in to find my son looking like a little girl and making out with a boy..."

"Wrong," she snapped. "You don't have a RIGHT to anything, Frank. You haven't been Deedee's FATHER for years, and when I asked you to help out for a few months so that I could take this job, you made it clear that your career was more important than your family. So, your rights as a parent are moot and have no bearing on this situation. This is between my daughter and me."

"WHAT!?" Frank burst out. "Amy, you don't have a daughter! You've dressed our son up and made him into some kind of a little doll, but he's still our son!"

"Now, just a minute..." Amelia started and continued in a raised voice.

"Don't start acting like you're my principal or something, Amy..." Frank shouted over her.

"No, I'm not," Dean said in a quiet voice, but the adults kept shouting at each other.

"No, I'm not!" He said louder while they shouted some more.

"NO, I'M NOOOOOOOT!" He shouted in a loud, sustained voice.

Both parents stopped and looked at him.

"What?" His mother asked.

"I'm not her son... or your son... or anyone's son," he said, quietly. "Not any more."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He sat in a chair that faced them both and spoke in a steady voice, as honestly as he could. "Mom... this was all supposed to just be for a few weeks. 'One school semester,' you said. 'Just twenty weeks.' But it isn't, mom. It's turned into a lot more. It's... changed me. A lot. You even said so, more than once. I'm not the same kid I was when I got here and I don't want to go back to being that kid ever again."

"What are you saying, Deedee? Are you saying that... you're identifying as a girl, now?" His mother took a seat on the love seat.

"Oh come on!" Frank said, shaking his head. "Your mother puts you in a dress and suddenly you think you're a girl!? Dean! You're a boy. You've always been a boy. You'll always be a boy and nothing can change that. Now, from what I've seen, you're having some gay feelings, but you'll outgrow that, I'm sure. You just need to get out of this place and out of those clothes..."

"Oh, my God, will you please shut up!?" Dr Martin shouted. "Just sit and listen and don't comment on things you know nothing about."

'Oh, for Christ's sake," he said as he flopped into a chair, looking very irritated.

"Go on, honey," she said to Dean.

He nodded, "I... don't know if I identify as a girl or not, to be honest, but I do know that I'm not a boy anymore."

"Meaning?" She asked, sounding a bit too clinical, but Dean was used to that.

He sighed. "Mom... I... I... I never really felt like one of the boys, but... I love being one of the girls, and... well... part of me knows that I'm just pretending, but another part of me never wants to stop pretending."

She nodded and waited and eventually, Dean spoke some more.

"When we first got here... the idea of being a girl for just twenty weeks scared me to death, but now... I don't want to lose my friends when the school year ends. They mean too much to me."

"Yeah," Frank scoffed, "friends like that gay boy I caught you kissing? I can see why you wouldn't want to lose him."

"Willie isn't gay, dad. He thinks I'm a girl and he likes me because of that."

His father scowled some more and shook his head in disgust.

"I'm not gay either. I mean... I never really thought about girls, but I never thought about boys until I started being a girl."

"So..." his mother was cautious, "... you're feeling... attracted... to boys, now?"

He shrugged. "I'm feeling a lot, mom. A lot more than I ever felt before and it's all very confusing for me."

"Like what?"

Dean thought for a moment. "Like... I love feeling pretty, now. Like... it's really important to me to look just right everyday. I want to look pretty for myself and... my friends... and..."

"And Willie?"

He nodded. "Mostly for Willie, I guess, but... that's not all. I feel... really jealous of all the girls at school."

"Jealous because they're girls and you're not?"

He nodded. "Mom... I see them move and I see their breasts jiggle and I'm so envious of it. I hear them talking about having children when they're older and I feel like crying. I just... ache when I think that their lives will always be filled with beauty and love and flowers and softness and mine..."

He looked up and his eyes were brimming with wetness.

"... mine won't."

He stood and toyed with the skirts and petticoats of his cream lace dress, fluffing it a bit. "When I tried this dress on, all I wanted to do was show you how beautiful it was and tell you how pretty I felt in it. I had a really bad day at rehearsal and Ms Highland seemed to sense I was upset, so she let me wear it home to show you."

"And Willie?" His mother asked. "And what happened here? What about all of that?"

Dean shrugged, sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, mom. I guess... I just felt really pretty and grown up and he... he said I was... beautiful. I don't think he even meant to kiss me. He just did and... I guess I just kissed him back, and... well... then dad caught us. That's all that happened, though, I swear it. I mean..." he let out a sad, divisive laugh, "what else could have happened, anyway?"

Dr Martin nodded and let put a deep exhale. "Quite a bit, actually, and some of it might have been very bad, Deedee." She shook her head and stood. "So... to start with, I need you to promise me that you won't be doing that kind of kissing again... at least not until you're older. Ok?"

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded, looking at the floor.

"As for what you're feeling..." She thought for a moment. "I think we need to discuss all of this more fully, but we should do it when we're not all so upset."

He nodded again.

"Now... what do you mean when you say you had a bad day at rehearsal?"

Dean gave his mother a brief summary of Donna Linkletter's behavior. "So, Donna and Ms Highland got really mad at each other and Ms Linkletter sent her home. That's why we had a shorter rehearsal and why Willie walked me home - just in case Donna was waiting for me."

The Chancellor sighed. "Well, I guess I know what my day is going to be like tomorrow."

"It wasn't my fault, mom! I didn't do anything."

"I know, but I've already had meetings with the Linkletters about their precious, innocent, little, demon of a daughter. I'm sure tomorrow will be loads of fun."

"May I ask a question?" Frank finally spoke.

Amelia nodded.

"If I were to put everything on hold, right now, and took Dean home with me tonight, put him back into boys' clothes and enrolled him in a good public school in San Diego, would everyone be ok with that?"

His ex-wife felt that the offer was not only misguided, it really was a little too little and a little too late, but rather than say those things, she looked at Dean. "I'll leave that up to you."

He thought for a moment before he replied, "Dad... I'm sorry, but that's not what I want."

Dr Martin felt strangely relieved.

"What EXACTLY do you want, then?" Frank asked.

"Honestly... I don't know," Dean replied. "But I know that I want to be here... with the girls and with Willie, though."

"You can't be serious?" Frank asked, shocked by the answer.

Amelia, though, just wanted to put an end to the conversation for the moment. "Alright, I think we've discussed this as much as we can for this evening. Why don't you go get changed and I'll make you a little something for dinner."

Dean nodded and walked sadly to the stairs to go to his room. He had just put one foot on the first stair when he heard his mother say, "Oh, and Deedee..."

"Yes?"

"That is a beautiful dress and you look lovely in it."

"Thank you," he replied, a small smile appearing on his face in spite of the stress he was feeling. He went up to change.

"Goddamn it," Frank muttered. "If I'd been a better father, this would never have happened."

"Quite possibly," his ex-wife agreed.

"Oh, well, thanks," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, let's be honest, Frank. If you'd helped me out the one time I asked you to, then I never would have had to forced our son into this deception. Then he never would have explored the world from a girl's point of view, made friends of girls and found that he had feelings for a boy."

Frank nodded.

"Or..." she continued, "...had I not led him down this path, he may still have found that he had feelings for boys, not had the support of friends, not felt comfortable enough to talk to me about it and things could have gone very badly from there. We can't rewrite history, Frank. What has happened has happened and we have no choice but to move forward from here."

He shook his head. "I don't know, Amy. I just don't know. You seem to be able to just rationalize this whole... weird... situation. I don't understand how or why it happened and I am not sure that I can leave my son in the care of a woman who would allow it to happen."

Dr Martin's eyes narrowed and when she spoke, she lowered her voice so that Dean wouldn't hear what she had to say. "Now, you listen to me, Francis Martin. Fourteen years ago, you made it very clear to me that neither your infant son nor your wife were as important to you as your career. I cried and I begged for you to stay with us, but you ignored me and walked out the door. I didn't hear from you for three years, Frank. Three years! Then you called and wanted to be friends. Ok, fine. Let's be friends, but did you want to interact with your own child? No! Video chats on birthdays and Christmas and nothing else. Frank, I still have very strong feelings for you, but as someone who loves you, I have to say - you are about the shittiest excuse for a parent that I have ever seen."

"Me?" Frank looked more surprised than hurt. "At least I didn't turn my son into a gay little sissy!"

"At least I was there when he needed me, Frank. I fed him, I clothed him, I raised him and I did it alone."

"You put him in a position that required him to be a girl, Amy!"

"And YOU put ME in the position of having to do that. You're not some innocent bystander in this situation, Frank. You left me to deal with our child by myself and when I asked for a little help, you said 'no.' So, don't get all high and mighty with me." She took a step closer. "And if you EVER refer to my child as a sissy again, I will slap your face raw."

She took a breath and shook her head to calm herself. Finally, she stepped away and asked, "When does you flight leave?"

"Tomorrow at four in the afternoon."

She nodded and thought for a moment. "We have a comfortable couch if you want to use it. We're a long way from a hotel here, it's supposed to rain and I don't want you driving on unfamiliar dark roads in bad weather and in a bad mood. The couch is yours if you want it."

He nodded. "Thanks, Amy. That's very nice of you."

"Well," she sighed, "despite everything that just happened, I'd like us to be some kind of a family, Frank, and I'd really like you to get to know your child."
 

~^~
 

"No, Mrs Linkletter, I did not insult your daughter," Ms Highland said as she, Donna Linkletter's mother & father and Dean's mother all sat in The Chancellor's office before school started the next morning. "Donna was behaving very inappropriately and very aggressively towards another student, and I dealt with it in a swift and appropriate manner. I told Donna to leave and not return until she was ready to behave in a polite and constructive manner. Believe me, Mrs Linkletter, I gave her more than enough opportunities to behave correctly before taking any action."

"You ask us to believe you, Ms Highland," Donna's father said, sounding aloof and superior, "but our daughter's version of the story is very, very different than yours and, to be very honest, we're more inclined to believe her than you."

"And what is your daughter's version, Mr Linkletter?" Chancellor Martin asked.

He glanced at his wife and she took over. "Well, according to Donna, you've been giving this new girl preferential treatment because she happens to be Dr Martin's daughter and that this new girl has been disrupting rehearsal after rehearsal without your intervention. Well, of course, our Donna has worked with professional groups and she had had enough of the time wasting, so she took matters into her own hands because you were ignoring the situation."

"Before Ms Linkletter responds," the Chancellor spoke, "I'd just like to point out that the 'new girl,' my daughter, is named Deanne or Deedee. Unless there is another 'new girl,' I'd appreciate it if we used her correct name."

Mrs Linkletter looked away, scowled and gave a subtle, well rehearsed eye roll, but didn't say anything else for the time being.

"Mr and Mrs Linkletter," Ms Highland said, calmly and steadily, "as talented as Donna is, playing roles at Theater on the Lake, or at Stage Haven hardly qualifies as 'professional theater,' and I guarantee you that, if she were to behave as poorly at those rehearsals as she did in yesterday's, she would never be cast in a local production again."

"Well, I guess it's your word against Donna's," Mr Linkletter said, "and as I've already made very clear, we are more inclined to believe Donna.

The Chancellor grunted quietly as she sat forward. "Maybe we should speak to another party, then. Someone else who was there and can give us a new perspective."

"Your daughter?" Mrs Linkletter asked. "Oh, I'm sorry... Deanne?

She over pronounced the name, but Dr Martin let that pass. "No. I will have several random cast members called to to the office. Our assistant Chancellor, Mrs Olsen, will ask the cast members a few questions to clarify what happened. We will set up a phone with a video feed turned on. We'll all sit right here while Mrs Olsen speaks to the cast members in her office and we'll hear what the cast members have to say. How does that sound?"

Mrs Highland nodded her agreement while the Linkletters looked at each other . "That will be acceptable," Mr Linkletter nodded.
 

~^~
 

Dean sat at the counter in the kitchen eating a Clementine while trying to avoid getting any of the fruit's juices onto his blouse or jumper. His hair and makeup was already done, since he'd learned how to do it himself over the past several weeks, but he still expected the girls to show up soon. He'd told them to come in quietly since his father would probably still be asleep in the living room.

He needn't have sent the text, though, because as he placed a Clementine wedge into his mouth, he heard his father entering the kitchen.

"Good morning," his father said, a groggily.

"Hi," Dean replied, not overly thrilled to be having a conversation with a man he felt didn't distant from. "There's milk and orange juice in the fridge. There's bacon and eggs, too, if you want something more filling. Bread's in the breadbox if you want toast and there's cereal in that cabinet. Just Cheerios and Total."

He nodded. "How about coffee?"

"There's K cups in that little spinning thing next to the coffee maker, right behind you."

He nodded, again. He took a K cup and put it into the machine, grabbed a mug from the strainer and placed it on the platform below the machine's spout, pushed the 'brew' button, then turned and leaned against the counter while the mug filled.

"So..." Frank said, "... how is school going?"

"Great, actually," Dean shrugged. "I'm doing well in all my classes."

"Good... good," Frank nodded, feeling very uncomfortable as well. "Look, Dean..."

"Deedee," Dean corrected.

Frank took a breath and started again. "Look... Deedee... I know that we haven't had a great relationship and that last night was... awkward, to say the least, but... I am your father and I would like to be a part of your life."

Dean half shrugged and half nodded at that. "I'd like that, too, dad, but you need to accept me as I am. I'm not even sure who or what that is right now, but if you want to be my dad, then you have to be patient and let me figure that out for myself."

Frank nodded and picked up his now full coffee mug. "Ok. I can do that."

Just then, they heard the sound of quiet foot steps in the front hall and a door being pushed closed as quietly as possible.

"It's ok," Dean called from the kitchen. "He's awake."

"Oh, hi," Jade said as she entered the kitchen more tentatively than her usual explosion of energy. "You must be Dee's dad. I'm Jade. This is Robin."

Frank nodded. "Morning."

Robin looked around the kitchen. "Did your brother come, too?"

"Brother?" Frank asked, trying to follow this new intrigue.

"No," Dean answered, "just my dad, this time."

Frank just nodded and let it slide. Life was a kind of a fiction at the moment, anyway.

The two girls passed Frank and went to the side of the counter where Dean was seated. Jade sat on a stool beside him and Robin grabbed a Clementine from the fruit bowl.

"How you doing, Dee?" Jade asked, very concerned.

"Ok, I guess," he shrugged, gathering his peels together on a paper towel. "Not really looking forward to going to school, but I'm ok.

"Screw Donna Linkletter," Robin said, peeling her own fruit. "She's a bitch and she deserved to be sent home yesterday."

"Yeah, but she's a vindictive bitch," Jade pointed out.

Dean cleared his throat and glanced towards his father.

"Oh... sorry Mr Martin," Robin said. "You don't know this girl, but she is a complete... jerk."

Frank smiled. "That's ok, girls. I think I'll go take a shower. Deedee," the name just seemed so silly to him, "I won't be here when you get home, but it was great to see you. I'll... ummm... I'll be in touch," he said as he took his coffee, grabbed his overnight bag and headed up the stairs.

"I'll be in touch?" Jade said, quietly. "Boy, he's not the type to get all warm and fuzzy, is he?"
 

~^~
 

"You wanted to see me, Mrs Olsen?" The girl asked as she entered the Assistant Chancellor's office and the crowd of people in the Chancellor's office watched on a tablet."

"Yes, Gwen. Come right in," Mrs Olsen said with a warm smile.

Dr Martin had chosen three random students from the cast list to come in to give their impressions of what had happened between Donna Linkletter and Mrs Highland the day before. Gwen was a quiet junior who was just a member of the chorus for the show and not a particular friend of either Dean or Donna.

"The reason I asked you to come in is just so you could give me a bit of a review of what happened at play rehearsal yesterday between Donna Linkletter and Mrs Highland. Could you tell me that?"

Gwen thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I don't want to get anyone into trouble, but Donna was really riding that new girl, Deedee - calling her a toddler and a sixth grader, because she's pretty small, you know? Anyway, Donna wouldn't stop. She kept trying to push that girl's buttons."

"And did the new girl retaliate?"

"No, not really," Gwen shrugged. "She seemed to be trying to ignore Donna, but then Donna, like, barged right into her and almost knocked her down."

"Why did she do that?"

"I don't know. I guess you'd have to ask Donna. As far as I could tell, Deedee was following her blocking perfectly and Donna just, like, decided to go to center stage too early and plowed right into her. She pushed her pretty hard."

"And what did Ms Highland do, then?"

"Nothing, really. She just told Donna to leave and not come back until she was ready to be part of the team."

"Ok, Gwen," The Assistant Chancellor said in a friendly voice. "That's all I needed."

The second girl, a freshman, told pretty much the same story.

The third girl was a senior and part of Donna's entourage. Mr and Mrs Linkletter exchanged glances that said this story would be different - and, in a way, it was.

"Well, Donna really hates that new girl. You know... that 'Deedee' girl. She's the Chancellor's daughter."

"Yes, I know who you mean. Why does Donna dislike her."

"Well, because she's the Chancellor's daughter for one thing. Because she started mid year, which is against the rules for another. And because the boy playing Billy Flynn in the play is smoking hot and he's into Deedee instead of Donna. Not for lack of trying, of course. Donna has been flirting non-stop with that boy since auditions, but he's more interested in that sophomore than Donna. It really pisses her off."

"That's crazy," Mrs Linkletter said, her brow furrowed. "Donna has a boyfriend." Mr Linkletter nodded, but continued watching the screen of the tablet.

"So, what happened at rehearsal?" Mrs Olsen asked.

"Well..." the girl seemed happy to dish with anyone. "Deedee, she's got this long speech in another language... Russian or Albanian or something... and she's been struggling with it, but yesterday, she said it perfectly and right in time with the music, too. So the whole cast applauded for her. I even clapped. It's a hard speech and, you know, she nailed it."

"So...?"

"So, Donna... I could see that she was burning mad about that girl getting all the attention. So, when we continued to run the scene, Donna walks over and slams into Deedee, really hard. I'm surprised that the little girl didn't fall. That's how hard she hit her. Anyway - Donna's like grinning about how she put Deedee in her place and Ms Highland told her to knock it off or go home. Donna got all diva about it and wanted me and Angela to leave with her, but neither of us would. Besides of the fact that my mother would kill me if you guys called her in for a meeting over something like that, and I thought Ms Highland was being pretty cool about the whole thing. She didn't get really mad or anything, she just sent her home."

"Alright," Mrs Olsen smiled. "That's all I needed to know. Thank you so much for your help."

The girl left and Dr Martin shut off the iPad. "Well, I think we have a good idea about what happened yesterday, don't you?"

"This is all just the gossip of jealous teenaged girls," Mrs Linkletter began, but her husband stood and cleared his throat.

"Yes. We shall have a talk with Donna before the next rehearsal. I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Dr Martin. Ms Highland, thank you for all of your hard work. In the future, I would appreciate it if you would call me and let me know if Donna misbehaves. Here is my card, come on, dear. We've wasted enough of these women's valuable time." He picked up his wife's coat and held it open for her to slide into.

"I'm not done here," Mrs Linkletter said, surprised that her husband had given up.

"Yes, we are, dear. Come. Let's go."

Mrs Linkletter choked down her anger and embarrassment and stood, silently and angrily putting her arms into the coat's sleeves. "You will be hearing..." she began before her husband spoke over her.

"Thank you Dr Martin, Ms Highland. Have a good day. I will be in touch." They exited quickly.

"Thank God that's over," Dr Martin sighed.

"Oh, you think it's over?" Ms Highland chortled. "Trust me... it is not over. It is very far from over."
 

~^~
 

"Hey, how did you make out last night?" Willie's voice came through Dean's phone.

"Not too badly," Dean replied. "At first it was pretty bad, but once everyone calmed down, it ended up ok."

"Dee, I really sorry that happened. I don't know what came over me. I just got carried away, I guess."

"Hey, it happens all the time," Dean teased.

"Yeah, I bet."

"No, I'm serious. Boys are always stopping me and kissing me. When you're as incredibly gorgeous as I am, you just get used to it." He laughed as he spoke that last part.

"I bet you do," Willie laughed as well. "So... after I got you in trouble last night, do you think there's any chance that your mom would let you go out on Saturday?"

Dean felt a tingle run down his spine. "I can ask. She'll want to know where we'd be going and what time I'd be coming home, things like that."

"I was thinking that we could get something to eat together, then there's a movie theater in Greenwood that shows old movies, and they're showing the original Star Wars movie, you know, 'A New Hope.' Would you like to see that on the big screen?"

"Sure, I'd love that!" Dean bubbled. He had watched Episode IV dozens of times, but always on a TV or computer. It would be great to see it on the big screen. "I'd need to ask my mom if she could drive me, so what time and where?"

"No worries," Willie said, proudly, since he'd planned this all out already. "My mother would like to meet you and your mother. She'll drive me to your house. Hopefully your mom will be able to say 'hi' to mine and then she'll drive us into town. We can get something to eat at the diner, then walk down the street to the movie theater. How does that sound?"

"Perfect," Dean said, nearly swooning from the idea of a romantic dinner and stroll. "I'll talk to my mom this afternoon and text you after."

"Sounds like a plan," Willie seemed happy. "Bye."
 

~^~
 

"Oh, my God, we have to go shopping!" was the first thing out of Robin's mouth when Dean told his friends that Willie was taking him to dinner and an old movie.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"WHY!?" Robin exclaimed, shocked by the foolishness of the question. "WHY!? What planet are you from!? Who raised you!? Don't they have other girls in San Diego!? You have a date! That means a new dress. End of story."

"I hate to take sides, Dee," Jade said as they sat in the cafeteria having their lunch, "but Robin is right. You can't wear what you wore the last time and most of the other stuff you bought the last time we went shopping is too formal for a movie date. We need to go shopping."

"Maybe my mom will take us," Robin suggested. "She's the most 'handsoff' when it comes to shopping. We could find something that makes you look like a fifteen year old out on a date, rather than a fifteen year old at a business meeting."

"Hey!" Dean protested, but Robin was busy texting her mother.

"Ok, I sent her a text and..." her phone chimed and she looked at it. "Oh, cool. My oldest sister, Dove, is picking me up today. She's twenty three. Mom's with her right now. Dove's cool and she'll take us to the boutique." She smiled at Dean. "Now all you need is money."

"Or permission to use your mom's credit card,"Jade said. "I always prefer that."

Robin laughed, but Dean was caught up on something that had been said that caught him off guard.

"Wait..." he said. "... your sister is named Dove?"

"Yeah, why?" Robin asked, looking at Jade to see what the big deal was.

"Because your name is Robin. I just assumed that Robin was just a normal name, but if your sister is named Dove, then... what?... you're both named after birds?"

Robin realized that this part of her life had not come up since Dean had arrive. "We're all named after birds."

Dean was surprised. He'd never met a family with a theme for their names. "How many?"

"Five sisters. Dove's the oldest and I'm the youngest."

"And... what are your other sister's names?"

"Oh, Dove, Raven, Phoenix, Swan and me, Robin. All birds."

"That's amazing!" Dean was shocked.

"It's only amazing if you think it's cool to treat your kids like an arts and craft project," Jade laughed.

"Says the girl named after a rock," Robin snapped.

"It's a pretty rock, though," Jade laughed. "AND it was my mother's mother's name, so the gem stone never came into it."

"It's not a gem stone," Robin laughed. "It's just a rock."

"Six of one..." Jade ended a conversation they'd had a few times before.

"Ok, so Dove will take us," Robin returned to the matter at hand. "You should talk to your mom after lunch so we can go right after school."

'Ok."
 

~^~
 

"Her sister's name is Dove?" Dean's mother chuckled. "Funny, her mother never impressed me as a hippy."

"I thought is was odd, too," Dean smiled, "but all the sisters are named for birds."

"You know, after living in California for decades, you assume you've heard every unusual name imaginable, but naming all of your kids after birds... I think that takes the cake."

Dean smiled. "So... can I go?"

His mother smiled. "Of course you can go. I'll call the boutique and tell them to call me with the total and I'll settle the bill over the phone."

"And the date with Willie?"

She nodded, but Dean wasn't sure if she was saying 'yes' or just thinking. Finally, she said, "Yes. You can go on the date, but we need to have a chat tomorrow, at some point before you go. Alright?"

"Mom," he said, a little embarrassed, "we're not going to do anything, and besides, I know all about the birds and the bees."

"Yes, but you only know about it from the bee's point of view. A lot more can go wrong for a bird. Especially a bird like you. We'll talk about it at home, tomorrow, though. Ok?"

He nodded. "Ok."
 
 
To Be Continued...

Twenty Weeks - 5

 

Things get better, things get worse, things get so much better
and then things get so, so, so, so much worse.

---

 
Author's Note: I do appreciate the comments, I really do. I am truly happy that so many people are enjoying the story. It's a pretty busy week, I know and I appreciate you giving me a little of your time. Happy Chanukah, Good Kwanza and Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays to everyone! ~Clara.
 
This version of Twenty Weeks - 5 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

---

 
 
Part 5
 

"That's it!" Jade announced as Dean stepped out of the dressing room wearing a very, very simple dress that resembled a long sleeved, Henley style shirt that reached down to just above his knees. The soft, heather-gray material was just clingy enough to show off his faux breast -area and then had a wider, nearly-an-A-line skirt.

"This is it!?" Dean asked, surprised.

"You look hot in that," Robin assured him.

"But... it's so plain..." Dean said, looking in the mirror and feeling very unsure about this choice. He'd tried on several fancier dresses prior to this one and this just seemed too simple. He hadn't even picked this one out. Robin had passed it into the dressing room and told him to try it on.

"Dee, you're going to the movies, not the prom," Robin chuckled. "You want to look your best, but not look like you'd rather be eating in a fancier restaurant, or doing something more sophisticated."

Jade took over the clothing analysis. "This dress tells Willie that you're a fit, beautiful girl while still looking like a night of burgers and a movie is all you require."

"Willie will love it," Robin's smile was as big as it could possibly get.

"That's cute," Robin's sister, Dove, said as she appeared from the clothes racks. "Is that what you're wearing?" She looked a lot like Robin. Older and more womanly, but red headed, too and the same facial features.

"I'm not sure," Dean admitted. "What do you think?

"Hmm," Dove considered. "I wish it was a cuter color, but you make it work. It has that 'sweet and innocent' style that our cousin Willie will love, while still looking kind of hot for a sophomore. I think it's a great choice."

Dean looked at his reflection some more, swaying a bit to see how the dress' skirt swung around his legs and felt the softness of the fabric brushing against his skin. He liked it. He liked it a lot, but is this the kind of dress that he'd like to see a pretty girl wearing, or would he prefer something... frillier?

"You really think Willie would prefer this dress to the light blue one?" He asked, lost in the romance of picking out a dress to entice a boy.

"Uh oh," Jade laughed, looking at the other girls. "She's smitten."

"She sure is," Dove laughed as well.

"What?" Dean came back to reality and realized that the others were talking about him.

Dove, the eldest of Robins sisters, found this romantically infatuated, little teenager adorable. She patted his soft hair and smiled gently at him. "Willie is your first crush, isn't he?"

What was the point of denying it? Dean nodded.

"We just find it kind of... sweet... that's all."

"So?" Robin asked, her smile as wide as her sister's, "Is this the dress, then?"

Dean looked at himself in the mirror some more. Finally, he nodded. "Yep. This is dress."

"Awesome!" Robin said. "Give us all the other things you tried on and we'll put them back while you get back into your uniform dress."
 

~^~
 

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Dr Martin smiled at her son as he bounced down the stairs that Saturday morning, already wearing makeup, his hair nicely done and wearing a very cute skirt and sweater combination she'd ordered for him from Amazon.

"Hi," Dean smiled, already excited about the evening ahead. He grabbed a banana from the fruit basket and sat at the table with his mother.

"Do you have any plans for this morning?" She asked.

"Not really," Dean shrugged.

"Good. Let's take a ride."

"Where to?"

"Does it matter?" His mother smiled. "I just feel like taking a ride."

"It kinda does," Dean said, a little serious sounding. "Last time you wanted to go for a little ride, we ended up on Cape Cod for the weekend, and I do have plans for this evening."

His mom laughed at that. "I promise that I will have you home in plenty of time to get ready for your date."

Dean blushed a little, making him even cuter. "Ok. When to you want to leave?"

"Tell you what: Take that banana with you and you can eat it in the car. I'll stop at the Dunkin' Donuts in town and get us some drinks, then we can see where the road takes us for a couple of hours."

"Ok."

There is something about taking a relaxed dive through the countryside that just seems to relax people and let them talk. Amelia bought herself the a medium hot coffee with cream and two sweet and low, and she bought Dean a Coolata, then off they went to nowhere in particular. They listened to some music for a little while until they were both pretty relaxed.

"So, you're looking forward to your date tonight, then?" His mother asked.

He nodded. "I am. It's kind of cool to be able to go out with friends.'

"I'm sure it is," she replied with a smile. "Even cooler when your friend is as sweet and handsome as Willie, right?"

Dean shrugged. "I guess."

"Yeah, you guess," his mother laughed. "You don't need to be shy about this, baby. I can tell that you have feelings for this boy, and that's ok."

He nodded. "Ok... I guess I like Willie a lot. The girls say it's a crush. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do have... I am attracted to him, I guess."

She thought for a few moments before she spoke again. "Honey... When you think about being with Willie... do you picture yourself as a boy or a girl?"

Dean looked out the window for a solid minute before replying. "I don't know, mom. I mean... I'm always... dressed as a girl... and... I always look like a girl when I'm with him... but... I... I'm not sure I feel like a girl or a... well... as dad said... a gay sissy."

"Alright, well, the word 'sissy' is never to be spoken by anyone in this family, ever again. Ok?"

Dean nodded. Actually, he hated the word, but it had been rattling around in his head since his father had uttered it several days earlier.

"And being gay is nothing to be ashamed of - that is - if you are gay. Well... you know what I mean."

Dean nodded.

"So, the question is, deep down, do you think you're a boy or a do you think you're a girl?"

He thought about it a while longer, then replied as honestly as he could. "I have no idea, mom. I'm still very confused."

His mother reached over and squeezed his hand. "Ok, baby, but... I think it's important that you think long and hard about this situation. I mean, I know that I'm the one who put you in a cute, little, private school, girl's uniform, and I'm the one who threw you into a world of girls, but, to be very honest, I half expected you to be coming to me to tell me that you had a girlfriend and I'd have to worry about where that could lead. I never expected that you'd have a boyfriend - AND DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME - I am one hundred percent ok with you having a boyfriend, no matter how you are dressed. It's just that... I don't think you've considered how quickly a night out with a boy can turn bad if the boy finds out that his date is also a boy."

"Mom, Willie's a nice boy..."

"Yes, he is and he's a nice boy who was kissing you and running his hands over your body the other night. Deedee, it is very easy for a boy in that situation to feel something he shouldn't feel. Or your bra could move to the side when he tried to squeeze your breasts, letting him know that your breasts are all padding. He could accidentally/on purpose run his hand across your lower abdomen and feel your penis. And, baby, if something like that happened, something violent could follow."

Dean nodded. "You know, there's always the possibility that he'd like the way I am. Some men do."

Dr Martin sighed. "I'd say that was a pretty slim chance, Deedee. And if he did like it, well... that's a whole other can of worms to discuss. Male/male penetration is much more complicated than male/female..."

"Oh, mom, please stop!" Dean protested. "It doesn't matter if I'm a boy or a girl, I'm still fifteen and I have no intention of having sex with anyone. I am not 'penetrating' anyone and no one is 'penetrating' me. Ok?" He was embarrassed and a little hurt that his mother would even consider that he'd do such a thing.

"Ok... well... that's good, I guess," she said, relieved. "I think that what's really important right now, though, baby, is that you give this situation some serious thought. Right now, you're a very small, fifteen year old who, so far, has not really entered puberty, but that could change at any minute. Some day, you could wake up with a low voice and hair on your chin. You're able to live as a girl pretty easily right now, but the day that the puberty fairy arrives... all that could change."

He nodded. "Interesting that you used the term puberty 'fairy.'"

"I was just making a point. I didn't mean anything by it. You know what I mean, though. If you want to go back to being Dean, then you can just ignore all of this conversation, but if you want to remain as Deedee... tick-toc... ok?"

He nodded.
 

~^~
 

An email was not his preferred way to communicate with his ex-wife, but under the circumstances, it seemed like the best way to avoid an argument.

'Hi, Amy,' he typed. 'Look, I know I behaved terribly at your place the other day and, from the bottom of my heart, I apologize. In the short time I had to get to know our son...' Nope. That might not be correct. Try to keep everything as gender neutral as possible. Backspace, backspace, backspace. 'child, I realized that you raised a remarkable young person who is bright and happy. I had no business imposing my opinions - which have changed drastically since we last spoke - upon you and our child.'

'Having said all of that, I would really like to be a part of...' Dean? Deedee? Which should he use? Either could end up biting him in the butt. Better use the name currently in use at home. '...Deedee's life. I know I can never really be considered as a father in any way other than being a part of the conception, but if there was a way that I could be a good friend of the family, I'd like to do that. I do not want to do anything that might be construed as interfering, though. Just some 'How are you?' texts every once in a while, or a birthday present. Maybe help out with some money for driving lessons or college - you know. That kind of thing.'

'Anyway, I am really sorry about my behavior that night. I lost your love through my own stupidity once and I'd hate myself if I ever lost your friendship for the same reason. Please let me know how you feel about all of this.'

'Thanks for continuing to be my friend.'

'Love, Frank.'

He read it and reread it, even reading it out loud to make sure he had written it the way he wanted it to be. It seemed ok. Contrite, which he was, and friendly, which he hoped they still were.

Finally, he hit 'send.'
 

~^~
 

"Why are we stopping here?" Dean asked as they pulled into a strip mall in town that he'd never even noticed before.

"We," his mother smiled as she reached into the backseat to grab her pocketbook, "are doing something that mothers and daughters all over the country do on a Saturdays. We... are getting our nails done."

Dean's eyes opened wide. "Cool!" He jumped out of the car and practically bounced into the store front nail salon with his mother.

Inside, the salon was nearly full with women and girls having their finger and toenails shaped and colored. Dean recognized a girl named Hannah from school. She was a junior, so they had no classes together, but both of them were in 'Chicago,' so they were acquainted. Hannah waved when she saw Dean enter and he waved back.

"Who is that?" His mother asked.

"That's Hannah. She goes to Greenwood. I know her from the show."

"Ahh," she replied and then waved as well.

"This way, ladies," a woman said to Dean and his mother.

As they sat, Dean's mother instructed, "Just my fingers today, but I'd like my daughter to have both her fingers and toes done. This is her first time, so shaping, filling... all of it. Maybe some nice acrylics on her fingers - not too long, though. Something appropriate for her age.'

The nail salon woman smiled and looked at Dean, assuming he was closer to eleven than fifteen. "Very good."

For the next fifty minutes, Dean experienced the agony and bliss of the digging, cutting sculpting, filing, filling, painting, sealing and drying of a mani/pedi, and when he was done, he had short, French manicured nails that projected just a tiny bit beyond the tips of his fingers. They were elegant and pretty and amazing and he loved them so, so, so much.
 

~^~
 

"Hey, mom," Willie said to his mother at about the same time that Dean and his mother were exiting the salon, "I need to talk to you about something."

She looked up from her cross-stitching and immediately knew by the look on her son's face that he had something serious on his mind. "What is it, William?"

Willie took a deep breath, then gave her a fairly in-depth report on what had happened at Deedee's house a few days earlier. As he wrapped up his report, he finished with, "...I apologized to Deedee's parents, mom, and I made it clear that it was all my fault. I'm the one who kissed her and then... well... I guess I got a little carried away."

"Exactly how 'carried away' did you get, William?" His mother demanded.

"Just kissing, mom, but... we were alone and I shouldn't have even gone that far."

"And why are you telling me this now and not when it happened?"

"Honestly, mom, it wasn't that big a deal and, well, just in case Dr Martin brings it up, I thought you should know."

She nodded and thought for a long moment. "William... we have had discussions about things like this many times before..."

"I know, mom."

"... and you don't seem to understand that giving in to one moment of passion can ruin the rest of your life. You know nothing about this girl..."

"I know plenty about Deedee, mom."

"...and all it takes is one mistake to destroy all of your plans for the future. You need to get that through your head, William, and you need to think with your brain, not with your penis."

"MOM!" Willie was shocked. "Could you, maybe, never talk about my penis again - ever - please!"

She huffed a bit. "You know, after this conversation, I'm not sure that it's a good idea for you to see this girl tonight, after all."

"Come on, mom," he said, knowing this was the position she would take. "I was honest about what happened, it wasn't that big a deal, and it won't happen again. I promise. Now, come on and be reasonable. I am going on that date tonight."

"Not if I don't drive you," his mother said.

"Mom, I have a job, I have money of my own, I have a debit card and I know how to use Uber. If you won't drive me, I will take an Uber, but I really want you to meet Deedee and Dr Martin. Once you do, you'll understand why I like this girl so much."

She sighed and shook her head. "Alright. I'll drive you, but so help me, William, if anything like this ever happens again, you will be grounded until you are out of college. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled.
 

~^~
 

"Arrrrrrrgh!" Dean screamed dramatically from the bathroom off of the upstairs hallway.

"What's the matter?" His mother asked through the door.

"I can't get my makeup right, I can't get my hair to hold a curl and I just dropped my eyelash curler and it broke!" He ranted, pulling the door open and pushing past his mother, heading for his room, wearing just his bra and panties. "I'm just going to call Willie and tell him I'm sick or something. I look like crap and can't do anything right."

Had he not been on the verge of tears, his mother may have actually laughed at his outburst. God, he was more of a teenaged girl than a teenaged girl! Obviously, this behavior had nothing to do with hormones and everything to do with presenting yourself as a young woman.

"Alright, now calm down. Let me help you. Go into my room and sit at the vanity."

He grunted in frustration, but was grateful for some help. He felt so knotted up with nerves that he couldn't seem to do anything right on his own. What was wrong with him!?

Once seated, his mother stared brush out his hair with gentle, but practiced strokes.

"My goodness," she laughed, "it feels like you sprayed an entire can of hairspray on this."

"I was TRYING to get it to do what I wanted, but it just fought back the whole time."

"You can't fight with your hair, baby. You have to work with it. You'll get used to it."

He let her brush a few more strokes before he said, "Mom...?"

"Yes, honey."

"You know... before... when I was a boy... you never called me anything except 'Dean.' Now, you call me 'sweetheart' and 'baby' and 'honey' all the time. Do you like me more as Deedee than Dean?"

Dr Martin thought about that for a moment. "Not better, baby, but... I guess I just feel differently about you now. Before, you were a young man - solitary and quiet. You hardly said two words to me in the course of a day. You were completely engulfed in gaming and we just didn't seem to have a single thing in common anymore. Now... now we go shopping together, you're more outgoing, we can go to the salon together and you're happier and more talkative... it's like I have my child back, again. I love you, no mater what, but... Deedee is a little easier for me to relate to. In fact, I think it's easier for you to relate to me as Deedee, too, isn't it?"

"I think you're right," he admitted.

She plugged in her curling iron and returned to brushing his hair. "I was just thinking... maybe tomorrow we could go have real facials done. You'd like that. It's the ultimate in female pampering. And besides, you'll want to look your best for the show. What do you say?"

She picked up the curling iron and wrapped a section of hair around the shaft, then turned the device to wrap that section all the way to his scalp.

"I'd like that. Thanks, mom."

"See - girl time with mom. That's not something I could share with my son."

He gave a little laugh.

His mother wrapped and curled more sections of his hair, then added another few doses of hairspray. "I'm going to let those be for a few minutes while I work on your makeup. Turn towards me."

The vanity stool allowed him to spin towards his mother and she went to work on his face.

"You know, when we first got here, you wouldn't let me put any makeup on you at all. Now, I don't think I seen you without makeup unless you're in your pajamas." She sighed. "Things have really changed."

"The girls kind of forced me to get good at it."

"And you loved every second of it, didn't you? Admit it - You love being with those girls and you love every brush full of makeup that you apply to your face. It makes you look prettier and that makes you feel better, doesn't it?"

He thought about denying it, but what was the point. She was right. He'd always been that short, weird boy that no one talked to until he'd come to Greenwood. Ever since then, he was the pretty little girl that got along with everyone - well, nearly everyone - and he loved getting attention for being good looking rather than for being odd looking. The more he utilized makeup and hair are techniques, the more compliments he got, and that made him very happy.

"Here, let me do your lashes," his mother instructed. "Look up." First she used what looked like a much more expensive eyelash curler than his to curl his eyelashes. Then she added her own, much more expensive, mascara to them, making them look richer and longer than ever.

"Relax your jaw and open your mouth, just a little," she said and she applied his lipstick. "I'm going just a little pinker than your usual nude lipstick. It'll make your lips a little more noticeable without looking like you're trying to look too grownup."

Dean liked the idea, kind of a lot.

"There," his mother said with unusual maternal gentleness. "Are you wearing a bow in your hair tonight?"

"I don't know," Dean shrugged. "Do you think I should?"

His mother smiled. "Well, it has kinda become your signature look, hasn't it?"

That made Dean smile and blush a little. "I guess."

"Ok, go put on your new dress and shoes, then bring your hair-bow back here and I'll help you with it."

He was only gone for a couple of minutes before he returned in his new, collarless, heather gray dress and the cute, round-toed court shoes with the two inch heels that his mother had bought for him on the way home from Cape Cod. He was also carrying an emerald green head band with a rather large, emerald green bow attached to it.

His mother loved the dress, the shoes and the bow. "Oh, baby... you look so beautiful. Sit. I'll help you with your hair and the head band."

First she brushed out his hair, leaving it full and wavy, and then it only took a moment or two for her to place the hair band into his honey blonde hair. "That color matches the green of your eyes perfectly, and with your eyes made up like this, your eyes are just popping."

"In a good way?" Dean asked, a little concerned about 'popping' eyes.

She smiled in a more motherly way than Dean ever remembered as she chuckled affectionately. "In a very good way." Then a thought occurred to her. "Let me give you something."

She opened the top draw of her lingerie cabinet, the draw that she used as jewelry storage, and pulled out a few items. When she returned to Dean, she was holding a beautiful, heart-shaped, emerald pendant that was suspended from a delicate, silver chain. Between the emerald heart and the chain was a small, nicely cut diamond that sparkled beautifully in the light of her bedroom.

"That's beautiful," he said in admiration of the little jewels.

She smiled at his appreciation. "Your grandfather gave me this necklace and these earrings," she showed him two pendant earrings that had a smaller version of the emerald heart and diamond on each piece, "when I graduated from high school. They are the last thing he gave me before he passed away suddenly a few weeks later. They are very valuable, both in money and in memories, but... I'd like to give these to you, Deedee. They are yours and they match your eyes just as beautifully as that headband does."

Dean's heart skipped a beat. "Seriously? You're GIVING me those?"

She nodded as she stepped behind him, drew the delicate chain around his slender neck and attached the clasp securely.

Dean's hand instinctively touched the beautifully cut heart that hung just an inch or so below his neck.

"Take out your earrings and let's put these in."

He took out his studs and, again, more gently than Dean knew his mother could be, she replaced his childish, gold colored studs with the simple, elegant pendants.

"There," she said when she'd finished, "they look prettier on you with those green eyes of yours than they ever looked on me."

Dean smiled, then turned to see himself in the mirror.

"Do you like them?" Amelia asked, truly enjoying this lovely mother/daughter moment.

"Mom, I love them! They're beautiful and I love how the the earrings dangle. They feel so different."

She smiled at his joy. "I know. They make you look pretty and the swaying of the pendants are a constant reminder of how pretty you look. Every time you feel your earrings swaying, remember that they're making you look even more beautiful than you already are."

Dean stood and hugged his mother tightly. "Thank you, mom."

"You are very welcome, my love." Just then, they heard knocking coming from downstairs. "I think Willie and his mother are here. I'll go down and say hello. You take a minute or two to get your things together, then come down and make your entrance."

"Ok," he answered giddily.

"Hi, you must be William's mother," Dr Martin said, swinging the front door open to find a very well dressed woman waiting with her son, the boy she'd seen in her house a few days earlier. "Mrs Trainer, right?"

"Yes, hello, Dr Martin," the woman practically sang with upper-middle class prevention. "It's Muriel, please." She extended her hand in a limp-wrist-ed hand shake.

Dean's mother accepted it as graciously as possible. She was used to dealing with people who had a constant need to impress everyone around them. "Very nice to meet you, Muriel. Please, call me Amelia."

"Well, thank you Amelia," she cooed as she entered the house. "Oh, my, what a beautiful home you have."

"Oh, well, thank you, but I can't take much credit for it. Almost everything here belongs to the school. We are just staying here for my tenure at Greenwood. Please, come into the sitting room and let's get to know each other. Deedee will be right down."

"Oh, are we early?" Muriel asked, making a show of checking her watch.

"No, not at all," Amelia smiled. "You know how teenaged girls are though."

"Not really," Muriel smirked as she sat in a love seat and motioned for Willie to join her. "I've got three boys, you see. They shower and dry their hair and they're ready to go."

Dr Martin just smiled and sat opposite her guests.

They chatted about themselves for a few moments before Muriel said, "I suppose we should address the elephant in the room, Amelia."

"The elephant...?" Dr Martin squinted just a bit as she tried to suss where her guest was headed.

"She means what happened Thursday," Willie clarified.

"What happened on Thursday...' she said aloud as she thought, and then she understood. She'd assumed that the boy would have kept that to himself. She found it rather admirable that he'd told his mother about the incident. "Oh! That!," she laughed. "Honestly, my ex-husband and I just walked in on the kids at exactly the wrong time. I'm afraid that my ex may have overreacted a bit, but we all talked, as a family, and things are fine, now." She was surprised by the judgmental look on Muriel's face. "I assume that you and Willie have talked about all of this as well, and come to an agreement, too."

"Yes, we certainly have," Muriel said, looking for all the world that she was smelling cabbage cooking somewhere nearby. "William, tell Dr Martin what you told me."

Looking very confused and put upon, Willie shifted a bit on the loveseat and then said, "Oh... ummm... well... I told my mother what happened and I promised that it would never happen again. I also made it clear that I was responsible for the whole thing."

Amelia smiled at the boy. "Well, thank you for being so honest, Willie. I find that very commendable." She looked at Muriel and smiled a bit differently. "Congratulations, Muriel, you've raised a very good, young man."

A compliment! Something Muriel loved to hear. "Thank you, Amelia," she grinned. "I would love to return the compliment, but... Where is this girl I have heard so much about?"

"I'll call her," Amelia said, standing and going to the foot of the stair. "Deedee? Our guests are here, dear."

"I'll be right down," Dean called back.

In truth, Dean had started down the stairs once already, but he stopped as an overwhelming feeling of anxiety gripped him. What was he doing? He was about to meet his boyfriend's mother. HIS BOYFRIEND'S MOTHER!!! He actually had a boyfriend and... was this going too far? He'd bought a new dress, gotten his nails done and let his mother do his hair and makeup for this date. A date he truly wanted to go on, but... this was for real now. He didn't need to just pretend to be his mother's daughter any more. If he did this - met Willie's mother and went on this date... he had to give up ever being Dean again. He had to be Deanne from here on out.

At least, that's how it felt, and that was a lot of weight suddenly resting on his tiny shoulders.

He couldn't back out now, and besides... he really wanted to go on this date with Willie.

"Ok, Deedee," he whispered to himself, "man up and..." he stopped and shook his head at that. He started over. "Put on your big-girl-panties and go meet Willie's mother."

He took one more long inhale and let it out slowly, then descended the stairs.

Slowly.

"Oh, here she is, now," his mother, who had yet to sit again, said from the sitting room.

Willie stood, both because of years of being told to stand when a lady enters a room, and because he really wanted to see Deedee, but when he turned to see the girl of his dreams, he actually gasped in grateful surprise. His cousin Robin had told him that Deedee had gotten a cute new dress, but... wow... the dress was great, but it was only a part of what he was seeing. He thought that Deedee was beautiful at any time of the day, but right now... she looked absolute amazing. He didn't know exactly what was different, but... she was different.

Dean went to his mother's side. She put her arm around his tiny shoulders and smiled. "Muriel, this is my daughter, Deanne. Deedee, say hello to Mrs Trainer."

"How do you do, Mrs Trainer," Dean said, uncertain as to whether or not he should offer a handshake, so he just smoothed the soft skirt of his dress with his hands so they had something to do. "I'm so happy to meet you."

"Likewise, I'm sure," Willie's mother replied. "William has told me so much about you that I feel as if I already know you."

Dean glanced at Willie, who was wearing a nice, button-down, Oxford style shirt and clean, pressed jeans, and a huge smile.

"Hi," Dean half-whispered.

"Hi," Willie half-whispered back.

Amelia smiled at the two young lovebirds, but when she looked at Muriel, Muriel did not look as enamored or the scene.

Muriel stood and looked at this girl that had so grabbed her son's attention and she understood his infatuation. The girl was tiny, barely over five feet tall, with stunning green eyes, lovely, wavy hair, apple cheek, a broad, natural smile and an intriguing look about her that said there was more to her than meets the eye.

"Well, I must say, you are a very beautiful young lady," Muriel said, causing Dean to blush.

"Thank Mrs Trainer, dear," Dean's mother promoted.

"Thank you, Mrs Trainer. That's very kind of you to say."

"And well mannered," Muriel smiled. She looked at Dean's mother. "Congratulations to you, Amelia. It appears that you have raised a very polite young woman."

"Thank you," Amelia smiled. "I certainly hope that is the case."

"Umm, mom," Willie said, quietly, "we kind of need to get going if Deedee and I are going to eat before the movie."

"Oh, of course," Muriel nodded. "Grab your things, Deedee, and I'll take you two into town."

As Dean grabbed his purse and coat, Dr Martin asked, "What will you be doing while the kids are at the movie, Muriel."

"Oh, just sitting in the car doing crosswords, I suppose," she shrugged.

"Well, please, come on back here, then. We can have some tea or wine and get to know each other better."

Muriel was about to decline the offer, but she was interested in finding out as much as possible about the beautiful little girl who'd stolen her son from her.

"Thank you, Amelia. I'll be back in about a half an hour."
 

~^~
 

"You look really pretty, tonight," Willie said as they walked hand-in-hand towards the door of The Diner. He'd been bursting to tell her how pretty she looked since she'd first walked down the stairs, but he had to wait until his mother dropped them off to say so.

"Thanks," Dean smiled, thrilled by the compliment. "You look very handsome."

Willie let out a scoffing laugh. "Yeah, right. I feel really underdressed right now. I mean, I'm just wearing a clean shirt and jeans. Other than that, I just brushed my hair and teeth and here I am. Look at you, though. Nice hair, nice makeup, a new dress..."

"How do you know it's a new dress?" Dean asked, a bit more flirtatiously than he'd intended.

Willie smiled. "Robbie called me and told me to dress well because she and Jade and you had gone shopping and gotten you a new dress." He lifted Dean's hand in his and placed a kiss on Dean's fingers. Then he looked at the little hand in his and said, "And look at that... you even got your nails done." He smiled. "Your nails are very pretty like this."

"I'm shocked you noticed," Dean smiled. "Most guys wouldn't."

"I'll always notice," Willie returned the smile as he opened the door to the restaurant and they entered. They got a booth in the corner of the old train-dinning-car section of the diner and ordered two cheese burgers, two Cokes and a large fry to share. Then they tried desperately to not look fifteen years old while they sat there, but the waitress kept checking on them, and the way she called them 'kids' and the way that she smiled at them made it clear that, even if they looked older to other diners. She knew they were put for a first date and she thought they were adorable.
 

~^~
 

"You're kidding!?" Muriel said, shocked that in just the first few minutes of conversation, they'd found that she and Amelia had several friends on common.

"I'm telling you the truth," Amelia laughed. "We were all at Wellesley together. My God, those girls could drink like they were half fish! We called them The Mermaids because they could drink at least twice what the rest of us could and hardly look drunk at all."

Muriel shook her head and laughed. "I know. They were the same in high school. We'd go to a party and be three sheets to the wind in an hour, but they'd be going strong all night long. Those girls were unbelievable." Willie's mother had really loosened up since she'd returned to Amelia's house. She didn't get along with a lot of people, but this woman, was Amelia, very funny and very intelligent. She liked her.

"And where did you go to high school?" Amelia asked, grateful that Willie's mother had relaxed, now that they'd started to chat without the kids around.

Muriel held up her coffee cup as if in a toast. "Good old Greenwood Academy," she laughed.

"You're kidding?" The Chancellor laughed. "And you and your friends were drinking while you were students here."

"Constantly," Muriel laughed. "It's a miracle that our livers survived until graduation."

Amelia shook her head. "I have to admit, Muriel, that I didn't think you had that kind of a past when I met you."

"I know, I come on strong," Muriel said with a sly smile. "My therapist says it's a defense mechanism, but, hey, it works on most people. You didn't buy it, though, did you?"

"Oh, I did," Amelia admitted. "I was just hoping that you might relax and be yourself if we had some wine or something."

"Yeah, and all it took was a cup of coffee." Muriel sighed. "Honestly, I've been a bitch for so long that I'm not sure I know how to be anything else." She took a sip of her coffee. "I like you, Amelia. You make me laugh."

"I like you too, Muriel," Dean's mother smiled. Then she asked, "So... are you ok with the kids dating?"

"I'm not thrilled with the idea that William is dating anyone at fifteen, but... if he has to date, I guess that Deedee is a good choice. She is a lovely little thing, Amelia."

"Thank you, Muriel. I'm very proud of my little girl. And I'm very happy that she's smitten with Willie."

"Oh, I hate that nickname," Muriel laughed. "William is such a strong name and he refuses to use it."

"Oh, but Willie is an adorable name."

"Yeah, but 'Willie' is what you call a dick," Willie's mother laughed. "It's all his Aunt Penny's fault, you know. She started calling him Willie when he was little and all of her girls jumped on board. Ever since he was in second grade, he's been asking people to call him Willie instead of William. I think I'm the only person still using his full name. It's a losing battle, of course, but I have to keep trying."

"I get it. Deedee hates her name, too. But... she is much more of a Deedee than she is a Deanne. At least she is since she came here. Greenwood has changed her, a lot."

"For the better?"

"Oh, yeah. She has just blossomed over the past couple of months. The idea that she'd be going out on a date was inconceivable in San Diego - AND going out with a boy!? I never saw that coming?"

"You thought she was a lesbian?"

"I didn't think she had any particular sexual proclivities at all. I didn't think she thought about boys or girls or anything else until a few weeks ago. Now... You should have seen her earlier today. She was out of her mind trying to get ready for her date with Willie. Her hair wouldn't cooperate, her makeup was mess... she was absolutely panicked... and it was the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. That was not my child in San Diego. Not by a long shot."
 

~^~
 

Dean knew pretty much every line of the movie. 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope' was one of his favorite movies of all time, but he'd always watched on a TV or computer screen. It was astounding on the big screen. Sure, the acting was still mediocre and the special effects were a little dated, but as a whole, the only movie Dean liked more than this one was it's sequel, 'Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.'

He was so enthralled in the movie, in fact, that he hadn't noticed that Willie's arm was around his shoulders and that he had been leaning into Willie's side for most of the film. As Luke Skywalker said, "It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womb rats in my T-16 back home and they're not much bigger than two meters," Dean found himself cuddled tightly into Willie and feeling rather wonderful about the whole thing.

Then, as Luke, Han and Chewbacca received their medals from Leia, Willie leaned over and whispered, "Would it be ok if I kissed you?"

Dean smiled up at him in the semi-darkness and whispered back, "It would be wonderful."

So, Willie leaned down and placed a soft, warm kiss on Dean's lips. It lasted a long time, but it wasn't as uncontrolled and desperate as the kisses they'd exchanged a few days earlier. Both of them knew that they needed to control themselves and they did.

As they walked back into the lobby, they ran into a small group of boys that Willie knew from his school. He introduced them to Dean, and then he introduced Dean to them as 'His girlfriend, Deedee,' which made Dean's heart soar.

When Dean excused himself to the ladies' room, the boys began to rib Willie, as boys do.

"Your 'girlfriend,' huh?" The first boy started. "She's cute, Trainer, but... come on... no tatas at all."

"Hey!" Willie said, defensively.

"Yeah, Trainer," the next boy joined in. "What are getting your girlfriend for her birthday? A training bra?"

"That's enough," Willie said, more forcefully.

"Hey, Trainer," the third boy began, but Willie used two hands to grab the front of the boy's shirt.

"I said - THAT'S ENOUGH." This time there was no doubt that he meant what he said.

"Ok, Trainer, ok," the first boy said, looking around to be sure that there were no staff members coming to throw them out. "We were just kidding."

"Yeah, well, enough of that," Willie said, releasing the third boy. "Besides, none of you losers could even get a girl to go out with you."

"Yeah, well, if I did," boy number two began, "she'd have bigger tits..."

This time it only took one hand to grab the boy's shirt and shut him up.

"Relax, Trainer," the boy said, laughing while pulling his shirt free of Willie's grip. "I'm just saying that I prefer..."

"Just shut up, Jeff," Willie warned. "Here comes Deedee and I don't want to have to make you cry in front of her."

"Very funny," the boy said, making a mimicking face.

"All set?" Willie asked Dean, who nodded and smiled, unaware of the strife that had occurred moments earlier. Willie took Dean's hand, then looked at the boys and gave them a friendly smile. "See you in school on Monday, guys."

"Yeah... see ya," the first boy said and they all waved and smiled.

"They seem nice," Dean said as they walked out the door.

"Oh, yeah," Willie smiled. "Great guys."
 

~^~
 

"Did you have a good time?" Dean's mother asked as he came into the sitting room where she was reading.

"I had a great time," Dean smiled and sat. He tried to see the cover of his mother's book. "What are you reading?"

She flipped the cover over and showed him the title, 'The Maltese Falcon.' "Just an old mystery. I love this book - and the movie based on it. I just felt like revisiting it tonight."

"Cool," Dean said and nodded. He looked around the room and fidgeted with the hem of his dress a bit in a way that told Amelia that her son had something on his mind.

"Is there something you want to discuss?" She asked.

"Me? No. Why?" Dean replied, surprised she'd asked.

"Oh, I don't know," she smiled. "It just seemed like you had something to say."

"Nope. What's the book about?"

"Oh," she shrugged. "Well, there's this detective named Sam Spade and his partner, his name is Archer, gets killed while investigating what appears to be a very run of the mill case, but it turns out that there are a whole bunch of people who are after this statuette of a falcon that was made on Malta. The legend is that the bird is encrusted with millions of dollars in gems, but those have been covered by a layer of black material to make sure that nobody steals it from..."

"Mom?" Dean interrupted, just as his mother had expected him to.

"Yes, sweetie?"

He took a deep breath. "I think... I think I should... maybe... see one of those doctors you were talking about."

She closed the book and set it in her lap. "Oh?"

He nodded.

She considered her words carefully. "So... have you decided that you want to remain presenting as a girl?"

Dean shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure... I want to be a girl. Like... a real girl. You know?"

His mother nodded and thought. "Alright, then, if that's what you want."

"It is."

"Ok... well... I guess we need to do some research online... find some doctors and make some calls."

Everything felt oddly still and eerily undramatic as Dean shared the most frightening revelation of his young life. It all seemed surreal and ordinary, yet profound and earthshaking, all at once.

"Are you... ok with that decision?" He asked.

His mother cracked a small smile. "Of course, baby. I'd be happy with any decision. I just want you to be the person you're supposed to be."

Dean sighed and looked around the room. It was a nice house. He liked it here. This is what he wanted.

"Deedee?"

Dean looked at his mother who had a look about her that told him she'd called his name more than once. "Yes?"

"Do you want me to help you take off that make up? Maybe braid your hair for you?"

Dean smiled and nodded. "Yes, please, mom. I'd like that."
 

~^~
 

"Well," Dr Ames said, looking from Amelia to Dean and back, "that is quite a story." The endocrinologist who specialized in sex related matters crossed his legs and looked at Dr Martin with a curious expression. "Tell me - Do you feel that, had you not insisted on your son taking on this new, more feminine persona, that we would all be sitting here today, having this discussion?"

Amelia sighed and squeezed her child's hand. "I don't think we'd be sitting here TODAY having this conversation, Dr Ames, No, but having seen how she has blossomed as a girl, I'm pretty sure that we would have been sitting in some doctor's office at some point."

The doctor looked at Dean. "How about you? Did you want to be a girl before you were forced to take on the role of being a girl?"

Dean was taken aback by the word 'forced.' "Not really. I don't think I'd ever really thought about being a boy or a girl. I was just kinda me, you know? And I really hated it at first. Being a girl, I mean. I didn't want to do it, but it was important to mom to come here, and I wanted to help. I don't think I was really forced, I just had to do it because it was a solution to a problem. But after a few weeks... I think I knew already that this was what I wanted. I was just, sorta, arguing with myself until last Saturday. Then... I knew for sure."

"And that was because..." he checked his notes... "you're boyfriend... Willie... who is unaware of your true sex, hugged you during a movie. Correct?"

"That sounds a little less romantic than it actually was, but... yes... that's the gist of it."

"I'm just trying to understand the situation as it occurred, Deedee," the doctor said, making some notations on his pad of paper.

"So, do you think you can help Deedee, Doctor?" Dean's mother asked.

The doctor finished writing a few notes and looked up. "Yes, I believe I can, but there needs to be a psychological evaluation first. I'm booking you for a meeting with a therapist next week. Dr Martin, I think you should attend that as well, and after I've talked to your therapist, and if all has gone well, then I can prescribe some medication that I think will benefit Deedee. We'll start with some testosterone blockers and get some estrogen into her as quickly as possible. That will keep her looking feminine and eliminate the possibility of male puberty beginning."

"Well, that's what we want, I think," Dr Martin smiled and looked at her child. "I am correct, right Deedee?"

He nodded, too nervous to show the world the smile that was desperately trying to spread over his face.

"Alright," the doctor said as he rose from his chair. "See Beth on the way out. She will give you a time to meet with your therapist and I'll see you back here in about a week. Lovely to meet you both." He offered a handshake, which Dr Martin accepted.

"Thank you, doctor," she smiled.

"Thank you," Dean said when the doctor shook his hand.

"You're a lucky little girl, Deedee," the doctor said. "Your mom is getting you the help you need before your body starts to grow and get manly. If all goes well, you should have very positive results."

Dean nodded, confused by what he should say in response. "Ok. That's good, I guess."

"I guess," the doctor smiled, amused by the child's response. "See you both in a couple of weeks."
 

~^~
 

"Hey, Amy," Frank's voice came through the receiver as Dr Martin listened to her voicemail, "I just called to say... well... thank you for letting me know about the decision that you and Dean... I'm sorry... Deedee reached. I am truly sorry about that. I'll get used to it, I promise. It is odd, I have to admit. Even though I really didn't know my kid, I am kind of used to telling everyone that I have a son. I guess saying that I have a daughter will just take some getting used to. Love ya. Talk to you soon."
 

~^~
 

"Next week is production week, boys and girls," Ms Highland reminded the kids as they completed a rare Saturday morning rehearsal for the musical. "We have run throughs after school Monday through Thursday and we open Friday night. Then it's Friday night and Saturday night shows at seven with a Sunday matinee at two. Questions? Great! Now, go get some rest and nobody get sick!"

They were all excited. The show was going very well. It felt like they had a good production on their hands and they couldn't wait to get it in front of an audience. The shows were selling well and there was a buzz in the community about how good the show was going to be.

"It's mall time!" Jada cried, excited about the afternoon ahead. "First the food court, Japanese chicken and rice with vegetables, then an afternoon of window shopping! I have been looking forward to this all week!"

"Me too," Robin smiled. "We need a girls' afternoon. We've had Willie with us everyday for the last few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin, but I need some real, honest to God girl time."

Dean smiled. "You don't really mind, do you? Having Willie with us so frequently, I mean."

Robin shook her head. "No. Of course not. Willie's like my brother and I'm glad you two are happy together. It's just nice to do something that's just for us girls."

"Oh, a girls' trip?" A voice said. The three friends looked up to see Donna Linkletter smirking at them. Things had gone pretty well with Donna since she'd returned and apologized to everyone several weeks earlier, but she'd been acting oddly superior that Saturday morning. "How sweet." She walked uncomfortably close to Dean and looked down on him in every possible sense of that phrase. "Trying on dresses and looking at jewelry... sounds like just the thing for a sweet, little girl like you."

"Do you have a problem with that, Donna?" Jade was obviously a bit piqued.

"No problem," Donna smirked. "No problem at all. Enjoy it while you can." She walked away.

"That was weird," Robin said.

"She's weird," Jada said. "Let's go."

Their afternoon at the mall was nothing but unrestrained fun. Trying on dress after dress, none of which any of them could afford, looking at jewelry, trying on shoes, trying out makeup, playing a few games at the arcade, and just laughing and loving being young and being with friends.

Dean thought about what his new therapist would say about this when he told her. She'd probably say that he was enjoying it so much because it was all new to him, but he looked at Robin and Jade and they were having just as much fun. This was what being young was supposed to be like! Not the solitary existence he'd had as a boy.

This.

This was what life was supposed to be. Friends and joy.

They got home around dinner time and Dean and his mother headed into the big city, Boston, to see a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance at Symphony Hall. Dean didn't know the pieces they heard that night, but they were all amazing and powerful. He loved every second of it, including the opportunity to get dressed up and made-up for a fancy evening.
 

~^~
 

"Hi, Deedee, it's your dad." Dean stared at his phone, as he road home from Boston, shocked that his father even had his phone number. "I understand that you have a busy week coming up, what with the show opening on Friday and all, but I just wanted to offer my best wishes for you. I hope that you and the rest of your cast have a great time. I sure do wish I could be there. If anyone makes a video of it, I'd really love to see it. Oh, and listen... I've been thinking a lot about your decision and... I know I'm not around much, so I don't offer much support, but, Deedee, you are a very brave kid and I'm very proud of you. I gotta run. Love you. Tell your mom I called and give her my love too."

Well that was odd. His father had never called his cell before. The world has gone crazy!
 

~^~
 

When he woke up on Sunday morning, Dean showered and dried his hair before picking a nice dress to wear down stairs. His mother had talked about going out to breakfast, then to do a few errands later in the day and Dean wanted to look his best.

When he was ready to go downstairs, he took a quick selfie and looked at it. He was very happy with how he looked, so he sent the photo to Willie with a text that read, 'What do you think?'

Seconds later, he received a photo from Willie showing him with horrible bed-head and wearing a torn tee shirt. 'Looking a lot better than I am' the text read.

That made Dean laugh. He took his phone and bounced down the stairs.

When he reached the bottom step, he could hear a conversation in the sitting room. It was his mother and a man. It definitely wasn't his father, but whatever was being discussed, it sounded serious.

"Ok, I agree," he could hear his mother say, "but surely we can work this out without making that big a deal out of it."

"Oh, but it is a big deal," the man said. "A very big deal, Dr Martin. I am shocked that you don't realize that. This shows a level of moral turpitude that I never expected from an educator at Greenwood Academy, and as a parent, I will not sit back and allow this to continue."

There was a pause as Dean walked to the doorway to hear better. His mother spoke again. "I know that the girls have not always gotten along..."

"Girls!" A female voice said with disdain. "That's a laugh. Do you even know the difference between a boy and a girl?"

Oh, shit! This was about him!

"Alright, dear," the man said. "Let her speak. After all, she needs to figure out what she's going to tell the rest of the board in the morning."

It took a moment, but when he heard his mother speak next, she sounded sad and defeated. "I can see that there is nothing I can say to you that will dissuade you from doing what you intend to do, but... if you could at least consider how you go about doing this, I would be very grateful."

"You should be grateful that we came to speak to you first and not going to the police or the newspapers instead," the man said, very calmly. "Your career has ended, Dr Martin. It's up to you how tomorrow plays out. My advice - Admit everything, face the consequences, perhaps even accept some criminal charges, and move on from there."

Dean couldn't let his mother be alone right now. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what had happened, but she needed him, of that he was sure. So, he hurried into the room and to his mother, who stood as he approached and put a defense arm around his shoulder.

"Mom?" Was all he could ask because no other words came into his consciousness.

She shook her head sadly. "Deedee, this is Mr and Mrs Linkletter. Donna's parents. They have come here today..." she she swallowed hard, then looked at the couple. "... No... actually... they were just leaving."

"Yes, we were," the man stood and then offered his wife a hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Dean," the man said. "Dr Martin..." He took his wife's hand and headed to the door.

When the door closed, Dean looked at his mother and asked, "How did they find out?"

She pointed to a Manila envelope. "They wanted to get even with us over the conflict between you and Donna. When they felt we'd embarrassed them, they hired a private detective to dig up dirt on us and he found that I'd only ever had one child. A son. From there, my story unraveled pretty quickly, I guess." She sat and rubbed her face with both hands. She wasn't crying, but she looked different than before... defeated... broken.

Dean sat beside her, his head on her slumped shoulder. "I so sorry, mom. I did my best."

"Oh, God, baby... you don't think this is your fault, do you? This is just... it's just people with more money than empathy who always get their way. I upset them, and they hurt me in return. That's all. Unfortunately, you, your friends and a lot of other people at Greenwood are going to be hurt as part of the collateral damage from this." She shook her head. "I can't blame them, though. Ultimately... this was my doing. I never should have left my last position. That put us on the brink of poverty. I never should have taken this job and uprooted our life. I never should have asked you to deny who you were and live a lie. I never should have done any of this. I should have just stayed where I was. I've ruined our lives, Dean. I've ruined everything."

Dean stood up and faced his mother. He touched her chin and raised her face so they were looking each other, directly. "Mom... look at me... Do I look like my name is Dean? You didn't ask me to deny who I was, you allowed me to discover who I really am. Like you said to Dr Ames at our first meeting, I would have figured it out eventually, but this whole thing has allowed me to figure out who I really am. Who I was meant to be. I'm very glad that you showed me a whole new world, mom. Thank you."

She stood and hugged him, very tightly. "Well, at least some good has come from all of this then." She kissed his head and let him go. "I guess we should pack up our things. There's an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors at seven tomorrow morning. I'll have to resign and..." she sighed "oh, well... I really liked this house... and this school."

Dean shook his head. "Mom... I don't really care about packing or anything. I need to talk to my friends and..." suddenly the whole situation seemed overwhelming and it showed on his face.

"... and Willie?" his mother asked.

Dean nodded. "Mom, he can't hear it from strangers." Tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm ruining the show, mom, and that's bad enough, but if they find out... if Willie finds out... from... from... from Donna..." That was all he could get out before his dam burst and he broke out into sobs.

"I know, honey, I know," his mother said as she hugged him. "Let's see if we can get together with Willie and his mom, then see if the girls and their moms are available. Ok?"

He nodded, but it was a good few minutes before he got control of himself.
 
 
To Be Continued...

Twenty Weeks - 6 Final

 

Why is this a day late? I have no idea! I must have messed up the up-load some how. I am so sorry, but MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE everyone! Whether you observe or not, it's still Christmas Eve. So, to the synopsis: Now what? Deedee had found her true self and that had led to friends, love and happiness, but the pettiness of a rich rival had torn that all away. So what happens when her friends and classmates find out she's not 'really' a girl. What happens when Willie finds out? Will it matter if Dr Martin loses her position at Greenwood Academy? Let's find out!!!

---

 
Author's Note: I do appreciate the comments, I really do. I am truly happy that so many people are enjoying the story. It's a pretty busy week, I know and I appreciate you giving me a little of your time. Happy Chanukah, Good Kwanza and Merry Christmas.

Happy Holidays to everyone! ~Clara.
 
This version of Twenty Weeks - 6 has been updated with many corrections towards spelling and grammar.~Sephrena.
 
Image Credit: Image created through the use of ai at https://perchance.org/beautiful-people .~Sephrena.

---

 
 
Part 6 Final
 

"Thank you so much for seeing us," Amelia said as she and Dean entered the Trainer house. It was a very nice, fairly new home. Big, wide open design, very bright and airy. Much more similar to the houses in California than the house in which Amelia and Dean lived on campus.

"Don't be silly. Come on in," Willie's mother, Muriel smiled. Over the last few weeks, Muriel and Amelia had gotten together several times for coffee or wine. They had gotten to like each other a great deal. Amelia knew this would hurt her and she felt bad about that.

When they were all seated, Muriel said, "So, what's up? You sounded serious on the phone."

"Well, unfortunately..." Dean's mother began to speak, but Dean stood and stopped her.

"No, mom. I think I need to say this."

Dr Martin took his hand and nodded.

Dean looked at Willie and the tears welled up again. "I..." he breathed, desperate to keep control. "Willie, I... I really, really, really like you. I mean, like, I like you more than anyone I've ever known and more than anything, I want to be your girlfriend, but..."

Suddenly, Willie stood up. "Ok... Ummm..." he looked at the two mothers in the room, then back at Deedee. "Maybe we should discuss this alone."

Dean was so focused on getting everything out, though, that he never stopped. "... I'm not who you think I am and now... now... I have to tell you something, and I'm afraid it's going to make you hate me. I think it might make everybody hate me."

Willie was still trying to stop Dean's confession. "Yeah, ok, but can we do this alone?"

"Now, wait a minute," Muriel touched her son's arm. "I think I need to hear this, too." She looked at her new friend, Deedee's mother. "What's going on?"

Dr Martin jumped in to the ongoing cacophony and began speaking along with everyone else. "You see, Muriel, I really needed this job and the other private schools wouldn't allow mid-year transfers and..."

"Ok, everyone stop!" Muriel shouted, and the room got quiet immediately. She looked at Dean and saw how upset he was, but of course, she only saw an upset, little girl, and she felt a lot of empathy for the child.

"Now, Deedee," she said calmly, "obviously you have something very important to get off your chest. Now, no matter what it is, I promise, no one will hate you. I mean, how bad could it be? It's not like you're going to tell us that you're really a boy or something."

All the air seemed to leave the room at that moment and everyone looked down at the floor.

"Oh, my God," Willie's mother gasped as she looked at everyone in the room.

Willie just shook his head and stood still for a second. Finally, he looked at his astonished mother and said, "Mom... let's not go crazy, ok?"

"You KNEW about this!?" his mother nearly screamed.

"Mom... please. Calm down."

"How did you find out?" Dean asked, nearly as shocked as Muriel.

Willie looked a little embarrassed and shrugged. "Your father, remember? That night he barged in on us? It was obvious that he thought he'd caught his son doing something with a girl by the way he looked at me. And then he got all confused and he called you 'Dean,' and went ballistic. I kinda put it all together that night."

"Wait!" Dean said. "Then... if you knew... and we still went on that date... and all the other times you held my hand and you kissed me... and... then... you knew and it didn't matter..."

Dean took two hurried steps forward and wrapped his arms around Willie's midsection, his head pressed against the boy's chest. Willie responded by wrapping his arms protectively around Dean's small shoulders.

Muriel shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Wait a minute... If you knew that he was a boy, then... William! Are you... gay?"

"What? No. Of course not." William laughed. "Mom, I'm in love with Deedee."

"And Deedee's a boy," Muriel clarified.

"Oh, come on, mom," Willie laughed. "Look at her. Deedee's no more a boy than Robin is. She's just..."

She shook her head with even more force. "William, if she has male parts, than she's a boy."

"Says who?" He laughed. "Mom, Deedee is the prettiest, smartest girl I know and like I said... I love her. I don't care about what's down there, I love her."

Muriel looked at Dr Martin for confirmation that she wasn't dreaming. This whole conversation just seemed too surreal to be happening.

"If it helps," Dr Martin said, "Deedee is currently seeing several doctors in order to, eventually, rectify her physical issues surrounding her true sexual identity."

"You mean, reassignment surgery?"

Dr Martin nodded.

"You love me?" Dean whispered to Willie.

"Well, yeah, of course I love you, Deedee. I thought you knew that," he half-laughed as he spoke. "You love me too, don't you?"

Dean smiled, his face still wet with tears. "I do."

"See. I knew that, too," Willie laughed.

Muriel stood, put one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead, shook her head and said, "Well, if this doesn't beat all." Then she put a hand on each of Dean's shoulders and asked him to face her. "Honestly, I cannot see the tiniest trace of a boy in there." She shook her head some more. "William... I understand why you're so taken with her, but..." She looked at her son and saw that he was determined to take a stand if necessary. What was the point in arguing? If he was actually 'in love' with this girl, as he claimed, then arguing about it would just make matters worse.

"Alright," she finally conceded. "If you're ok with this, then I am too, but... for goodness sake, Amelia, you could have broken this news in a more subtle manner. Why did we have to do it like this? As if it's the last scene in an Agatha Christie book?"

The Chancellor sighed and told Muriel and Willie her story.

"Wait!" Willie said as she wrapped things up, "You're not going to fight this or anything? Your just leaving!?!?"

"There's not much else I can do," Dr Martin shrugged.

"You can fight them," Willie insisted.

"Willie," she said, exhausted already and it was only approaching noon, "I can't make a big stink about this. In educational circles, a scandal like the one this could create, could not only destroy my career, it could destroy Greenwood Academy. I came here to make that school a better place. I can't be responsible for closing it."

"This is all so odd," Muriel said. "I don't mean you, dear, I mean... Look at those two, Amelia. They don't care about any of this. They're in love and they're fine with all of it."

"It's a new, more tolerant generation," Dr Martin nodded.
"Unfortunately, it's their parents who will have to make the decisions and I'm sure I will be moving out of that house in the next day or two."

Muriel shook her head.

"Look, Muriel... William..." Dr Martin said, sounding tired, "I cannot thank you enough for being so supportive and understanding, but... Deedee really wants to talk to her friends before they hear the news from Donna Linkletter tomorrow."

Muriel nodded. "Understandable."

Dean's mother looked at him and said, "Text your friends, love, and we'll have to get going."

Dean nodded.

"Can we go with them, mom?" Willie asked.

"Oh, William, I don't know. This could get messy..."

"And that's why we need to go, mom. Please. We're not doing anything here anyway. We could all meet at Aunt Penny's house and talk to Robin and Jade. If we're cool with it, maybe Aunt Penny and Jade's mom can be, too."

Muriel pondered and then looked at her son's desperate expression. Finally she nodded. "Ok."
 

~^~
 

When Dr Martin and Dean arrived at Robin's house, Jade's mother's car was already in the driveway. Willie and his mother pulled in right behind them.

"You ready?" Amelia asked Dean as they approached the door.

Dean shook his head. "Not really."

"Well, Willie took it well," she said, by way of encouragement.

Before she could knock, Robin's mother, Penny, opened the door and smiled. "Hi. Tough day?"

Dr Martin and Dean looked at each other, not knowing what she meant. After all, they hadn't let on that there was a problem to discuss.

Within a second or two, Willie arrived and excused himself as he squeezed into the doorway. "The girls are in Robbie's room," Penny said as he passed. "Come on in," she said to her guests.

The dining room table was covered with a table cloth, coffee cups, a pitcher-shaped thermos of coffee and a tray of cookies.

"I'm sorry," Dr Martin said, "are we interrupting something? Are you having guests over?"

"Yes," Penny nodded. "Have a seat and help yourselves."

"Ummm, maybe I should go talk to the girls," Dean suggested.

"Nope," Penny said with a sly smile. "They're not ready for you yet, but they'll be down when they are."

"Ready for me?"

"Have a seat."

"Oh, hi," Jade's mother said as she entered the room with a handful of paper napkins. "Are you two ok?"

Dr Martin was completely flummoxed by the casual attitude of these women who seemed to be setting up the room for a get together.

"We're f..." the Chancellor began to say, but then opted to tell the truth. "No. In fact we are very far from ok. That's why we're here. Deedee and I need to speak to you and the girls about something very important."

"No, you don't," Muriel said, pulling out a chair and indicating that Dean should sit. "Everyone here knows, Amelia. Just sit."

"You know!?" Dr Martin asked, shocked.

"Willie called us and told us what was going on," Jade's mother said.

"Now, let's discuss Willie's solution," Penny said, as she sat.
 

~^~
 

"Yeah, 4187 Walnut Road," Jade said into her phone. "See you in an hour." She ended the call and looked at her friends. "That's everyone on my list. Everyone who answered their phones said they're coming."

"I called thirty four and only two didn't answer," Robin said. "They all said they'd be here, too."

"I called the people on my list, too," Willie said. "I only had ten. They said they're coming."

"Where are we going to put them all?" Jade asked.

"It's pretty warm out today," Willie suggested, "maybe we could do it outside."

"It's like sixty people," Robin said. "I bet we could get them all out in the back yard and use the deck as a kind of stage so we can talk to everyone."

"Good plan."
 

~^~
 

The Chancellor took a deep breath. "It's not that I don't appreciate all your work," she said, "but I'm not sure how good an idea it is to involve so many people. If this gets into the papers, it could ruin the school."

"It won't get into the papers," Jade's mother said. "The board doesn't want to have all of us pulling our girls out of the school. The Linkletters aren't THAT generous. Yes, they give the school a lot of money, but if we all walk away, the school can't rely on them to fund the whole place. Even though Jade is at Greenwood on a scholarship, we still pay several thousand dollars a year in tuition and fees. I bet we pay more per year than the Linkletters donate in that same space of time."

There was a knock on the door and Penny went to get it.

"Maybe it'll be ok," Dean whispered to his mother.

"I don't know, baby," she said, shaking her head. "This is risky."

"Hello, hello," someone said as she entered the dining room. "I guess someone is a much better actress than she let on." It was Ms Highland. She patted Dean's head. "It's going to be alright, Deedee." She looked at the Chancellor and winked. "It will."

"Hey, stud," Jade said as she came into the dining room and kissed Dean's cheek.

Dean couldn't help but smile at that. "Hi."

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Jade asked, playing with his hair and the ever present bow in it.

He shrugged. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. Besides, I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Are you kidding? One of my best friends is a trans-girl. How much cooler can you get? It's so... twenty-first century." She smiled broadly as if to say that she understood everything that Dean was going through.

"So, do you know what's going on?" Robin asked.

"Kinda."

"How many people are coming?" Penny asked her daughter.

"About sixty, I think," Robin replied.

"Sixty!?" Penny said, shocked. "Who did you call?"

"Everybody in our grade and everyone in the show."

"Well, she's right. That's at least sixty or seventy people," Ms Highland said. "How many families said they'd be coming?"

"Like I said," Robin said, "about sixty."

"Robbie, if both parents come, or if they bring a student with them, that could be a lot more than sixty people."

"Oh, yeah," Robin said, not having considered that. "I guess."

"Where are we going to put them all?" Penny asked, a bit astounded by the size of the gathering.

"We figured we'd have to do it outside," Willie said.

"And use the deck as kind of a stage so we can talk to everyone," Jade offered.

It was just about an hour later that people began showing up. By then, they'd prepared things outside by the deck. Robin and Jade had run over to the house a neighbor who played a little guitar and had a small public address system. He was eager to help, so he brought a little portable PA system over and had set it up for them.

It was about two thirty that afternoon that Penny guided Dean and his mother out onto the deck off of their kitchen. The deck sat about three and a half feet above the ground, not real high, but it offered the opportunity to focus attention to the speakers without any obstructions. The view from the deck was truly shocking. There must have been three hundred people in the yard. All the people that Willie and the girls had called had called other people in turn and so most of the families from Greenwood Academy were represented at this gathering.

"Good afternoon," Penny said into the microphone. "We invited you all here today for two reasons. First, it has come to our attention that a member of the Greenwood Academy Board of Directors has taken it upon themselves to use their power as a board member to carry out a personal vendetta against the school's chancellor, and a student, who happens to be the daughter of the chancellor. Second..." she looked at Dean for a moment, knowing that the next few minutes were going to change this child's life. "... Well... the second issue involves a student. Deanne, come here, please."

Dean took a deep breath, felt his mother rub his back as a sign of encouragement, and he stepped forward.

"Now, I'm sure that all of the students know this young lady, but for those people who don't, I will introduce her," Penny continued. "This is Deanne Martin, daughter of Greenwood Academy Chancellor, Dr Amelia Martin. Deanne... or Deedee, as we all know her... arrived at Greenwood at the start of the third quarter when Dr Martin became our new, and very enlightened, leader, and the girls very quickly welcomed Deedee into their community. She is a bright, funny, intelligent and talented girl and a credit to the Greenwood Academy community."

She placed her hands on each of Dean's shoulders. "What many of us did not know until today is that Deanne was struggling in a way that none of us may have understood. See... Deanne... Deedee... was born a male and has made some very difficult and brave choices to become the girl she knew she needed to become."

There were murmurs in the crowd. All of the mumbling sounded confused, but some sounded surprised, while others, mostly the older ones, sounded concerned.

"Now, tomorrow morning, the school's Board of Directors is meeting to discuss Dr Martin's dismissal as Chancellor and the only charge they have against her is the fact that she enrolled her transgender daughter in our school and did not make a public proclamation to announce that her daughter was a trans-girl. I think that all of us can understand why a mother would want to protect her child's privacy as she deals with something so personal. As a matter of fact, neither Dr Martin nor Deedee was too happy about us organizing this meeting and letting you know about these things now. However, we felt that if this invasion of their privacy can keep Dr Martin, a very positive force in our school, and Deedee, a wonderful girl, from leaving Greenwood, it was worth doing."

There were a few moments of quiet before someone called out, "Who is leading the charge against the Martins?"

Penny sighed. "Mr and Mrs Linkletter."

"Does this have anything to do with the incident at rehearsal for the musical a few weeks ago?" Someone else shouted.

"Yes. We believe it does."

A man stepped forward and, in a very loud voice, asked, "Why wasn't the school notified that there was a transgender student in the building?"

"I CAN ANSWER THAT!" A woman called out from the crowd. It was Mrs Olsen, the Assistant Chancellor of Greenwood Academy. She climbed the stairs and stood on the deck so she could use the microphone.

When she was ready, she spoke. "The answer - we were notified. Or at least, I was. As you all know, we had a very lengthy search for a new Chancellor at Greenwood. When we found Dr Martin, it was like the angels sang! She was the perfect fit for our school. Decades of experience, more degrees than you could shake a stick at, five published books on educational pedagogy... the list goes on.'

"Dr Martin met with the Board of Directors, and as acting Chancellor, I was included in that meeting, and we all agreed, that included the Linkletters as board members, that we had found our new leader. After that meeting, I had a quiet dinner with Dr Martin and she told me her trans-daughter would be coming with her. I told her that all of us at Greenwood would welcome Deedee with open arms."

"Why weren't we notified?" The man called out. "We have a right to know that there was a boy in the school with our daughters."

"Well," Mrs Olsen smirked, "had then been a boy in the school with your daughters, you would have been told, but there wasn't. There was a trans-girl and you were not notified because, to be blunt, it was none of your business. Deedee's issues are being treated by licensed, reputable doctors, the same way a student with, for instance, a digestive issue would be treated by her doctor. That is private information and not something that we can discuss with our students or their parents, even if we are made aware."

"That's bull," the man spat. "This boy has been in locker rooms with our daughters and..."

"No sir, SHE has not. Deeded is excused from physical education due to a breathing disorder," Mrs Olsen held firmly. There were some grumbles, but people seemed to be relaxing.

"Well, I think it's pretty freaking cool that we have a trans-girl at our school!" A girl from Dean's class shouted out. "And I think you're the bravest kid I ever met, Dee. You rock, babe!"

That elicited some cheers from other students. Dean smiled at the support.

"I assure you all," Mrs Olsen finished, "we took all the necessary steps to ensure the wellbeing of every girl at Greenwood..." and the conversation continued with Dr Martin and Mrs Olsen answering many many questions.

"Thank you for that," Dr Martin whispered to Mrs Olsen when they had stepped away from the microphone.

"You should have told me the truth," Mrs Olsen replied. "That cock and bull story about twins... I don't know why I ever believed it." She shook her head and laughed at her own foolishness. She wasn't at all angry, just surprised at herself.

Dr Martin nodded. "I'm sorry." She didn't bother to explain that her son had never even considered being a female until after his arrival at Greenwood. "I owe you."

"No, you don't. I've been at Greenwood for eleven years, you're my fourth Chancellor and you're the only one who knew how to really do the job. So, let's see if there's any way that we can keep you HERE come tomorrow morning."
 

~^~
 

"On, shit," Dean whispered as he glanced out his bedroom window that Monday morning. "Mom!" He shouted down the hallway. "Have you looked out the window this morning?"

His mother ducked her head into his room. "No. Why?"

"Look." He pointed out the window.

"Oh, shit," she whispered. "I was afraid of something like this happening."

In front of the school building, several Boston area news trucks were parked. Each had a massive satellite dish on it and each had the name of the station emblazoned on it. There were also radio station vans and card with newspaper placards on them parked on the side of the road

"So much for a quiet meeting," Dr Martin said, shaking her head. She looked at her child and shook her head. "I told Penny this would happen. I'm sorry, baby. This is all my fault. This could go very badly, you know. Maybe it would be best if you stayed home today."

"Mom, if this goes badly, then it'll be my last chance to see my friends. I'm not staying home."

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh," Dean said, checking the time on his phone, "the girls are coming over early today. That must be them."

He hurried down the stairs and opened the door, but the girls weren't there. Instead, there was a mass of television cameras and very good looking men and women thrusting microphones at him and screaming questions over each other.

Dean slammed the door shut and stepped back, staring at the wooden barrier that separated him from the horde of reporters beyond.

"Where are the girls?" His mother asked coming down the stairs, but she could tell by the look on Dean's face that not all was right. "What's wrong? Who was it?"

"Reporters."

"Reporters?" She was about to call campus security when the sound of frantic banging came from the back door. "Now what?"

As the two of them hurried in that direction, they could hear voices shouting from that direction. "Dee! It's us! Open the door! It's us! Dee! Dee!"

Dr Martin opened the back door and hurried the girls in, then went to call campus security.

"Have you seen what's going on out there?" Jade asked, excited and a bit scared. "There's like five news trucks out there and there's radio and newspaper people here, too. It's freaking crazy!"

"Are you and your mom ok?" Robin asked.

Dean nodded. "I guess. I think she's as scared as I am and I'm so scared I can barely move."

Robin gave him a tight squeeze. "We're here for you, Dee. No matter what."

Dean shook his head. "I can't believe you guys. I lied to you, pretended to be something I'm not and you're still here for me. I don't deserve you guys."

"You know what?" Jade said. "I have problems with my period. Some months it's really late, and when it is, I'm in terrible pain for days. When it finally does start, it's really heavy for a few days, it smells really bad and I hate how I feel until it's over."

There was a moment of silence as Dean and Robin stared at her.

"Ok... gross," Robin finally said.

"My point is," Jade explained, "I never told you about that, but I didn't lie to you, either, did I?" She smiled. "See, I never asked you if you were a trans-girl, so you didn't lie to me."

"But I told you about my twin brother who doesn't exist," Dean said.

"And my mother told me about Santa Claus, but I still love her, and I love you, too. Understand?"

Dean smiled. "I do."

"Alright, girls," Dr Morse said. "Campus security is on its way. They're going to disperse all these people and while they're moving them off campus, we're going out the back door with a whole bunch of parents and students who are on their way over, now. That way they can't film us as we walk over to the school. Stay nice and tight and in the center of the group. Ok?"

All three nodded.

Just then, they heard the sounds of the people on the front porch being dispersed. Campus Security people were sounding bossy and reporters were sounding resentful. Amelia grabbed her coat and Dean's and they all headed to the back door. The arrived just as someone tapped on it. Jade opened it and they exited into a group of a dozen or so, fairly tall adults and students and they all walked over to the school without an interference.
 

~^~
 

The Linkletters had planned on a small meeting in the school's conference room, but unbeknownst to them, a large meeting had been set up in the school's largest theater, the same theater in which the musical 'Chicago' was set to be presented later that week.

"This is absurd," Mr Linkletter shouted, as he entered the building after pushing through the throng of media at the end of the driveway. "This is a matter that needs to be dealt with in a dignified, businesslike way and YOU have turned it into a circus. Well, if you think for one second that a few reporters will make me back down, then you have another thing coming, Dr Martin." He looked at Mrs Olsen and snapped, "Have the other members of the Board of Directors arrived?"

Mrs Olsen nodded. "Yes. The other board members are already in the theater."

Mr Linkletter took a step towards the conference room, but stopped and turned back to Mrs Olsen. "THE THEATER!?" he shouted. "The board meets in the conference room. Why the hell are they in the theater?"

"They're in the theater because the conference room could not accommodate the board members and the number of parents and guardians who showed up," Mrs Olsen explained.

His eyes narrowed. "Parents?" He looked at the Chancellor. "What do you think you're playing at, Dr Martin? I intended to handle this quietly to avoid any embarrassment for you or your son and you seem determined to make this difficult."

"Mr Linkletter," the Chancellor finally spoke, "I am fully aware of your intentions. Your child and mine had a spat. Your child behaved poorly and rather than discipline her, you've chosen to take away my income, leaving my child penniless."

"And I will be pleased to do so, Dr Martin. Maybe the next time you decide to challenge your social superiors, you'll think twice about it and stay in your own lane. Neither you nor your son have any business being here. Like it or not, this is how the world turns. I don't lose, Dr Martin, nor does my daughter. I'm a winner, Dr Martin - you are not."

"You are heartless and petty, Mr Linkletter, and I know that, having said that, there is an excellent chance that I may find myself homeless in the next few hours, but I will not allow you to use my daughter as a weapon against me or against this school."

"Well, you probably should have thought of that BEFORE you tried to pass your swishy little son off as your daughter. The very idea of bringing that little fairy into this academically renown institution so he can spread his perversion amongst our daughters and parade around like a little princess on that stage - a stage that MY FAMILY paid for..."

He had a lot more to say, but Dr Martin had heard enough. "Mr Linkletter, were you on the committee that, five years ago, voted to install surveillance cameras in this building?"

Caught off guard by the change in topic, he sputtered before answering. "What? Was I...? Well, of course I was. I led that drive to raise the money and..."

"And are you aware that the only cameras in this building that can record both video AND sound are the ones that monitor this front desk?" She interrupted again.

"Am I...? Well, yes, of course I am aware that..."

"Are you at all familiar with the rights of trans-people in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mr Linkletter. Are you aware that 'Hate Speech' on a school campus is a felony?"

He stared at her dumbly.

The Chancellor walked around the front counter, stepped into the hallway and motioned for someone. Seconds later, she was back behind the front counter and two police officers were standing in the outer office as well. "Mrs Olsen, would you please go and gather the other members of the Board of Directors into my office. Once you are in there, please show them video we just recorded here, and I believe that Sargent Hoffman will join you in there, am I correct, Sargent?"

The police officer nodded as he looked menacingly at Mr Linkletter.

"While you do that, I will go and explain to the assembled parents that we will be beginning as soon as we can."

"This is absurd," Mr Linkletter said, sounding disgusted. "When I tell them..."

"You'll be waiting right here with Officer Hayes," the Sargent said. Then he looked at his colleague. "He stays here until we find out whether or not the Board of Directors wants to press charges."

"Press charges?" Mr Linkletter look doubtful. "This would be hilarious if it weren't so insane."

"Just wait here, sir," the Sargent said, then left the office with Mrs Olsen and Dr Martin headed to the theater.

She passed the board members on her way and she nodded casually. They knew why they were there as several of them had been at the previous day's meeting, so she was reasonably sure that all of them had been updated about how the parents felt about the situation.
 

~^~
 

Dean was a wreck. He had no idea how things were going or if this was the last day he'd have with his friends. As first period ended, he walked out into the hallway and straight into Donna Linkletter and one of her friends. He knew immediately that she was there to cause problems. This hallway was exclusively for sophomore classes and Donna was a senior.

"Oooohhh," Donna cooed, "look. The little girl came in for one last day at the fancy school. Isn't that adorable?"

"Back off, Donna, or I'll go get Mrs Cohen," Jade warned.

Donna raised her eyebrows in a mocking way. "Oh, no! Don't do that!" She laughed. "Look, scholarship girl, if my father and I aren't afraid to get the Chancellor and her..." she made air quotes "... 'daughter' removed from this place, what makes you think you can challenge me?"

"You and your family don't run this school, Donna," Jade said, guiding Dean towards his next class.

"We shall see, welfare. We shall see."
 

~^~
 

"I apologize for the delay, ladies and gentlemen," Amelia said into a microphone on the stage. "I am sure that the board members will be in very shortly. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions that I did not answer yesterday, or if anyone wasn't able to come yesterday and you have questions.."
 

~^~
 

"Is it true?" A very pleasant girl named Mary asked Dean in a whisper from the back row of the history classroom. "Were you really a boy before?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah... I was."

"Wow," Mary said shaking her head. "That's amazing. I never would have guessed."

Dean shrugged, not sure how to take that.

"I didn't mean..." Mary looked upset, afraid that she's upset her classmate. "All I meant was... You seem so... natural... as a girl. I mean... obviously, this is the real you, right?"

Dean smiled. "Right." He almost felt like crying. "Thank you, Mary. I really needed to hear that today."
 

~^~
 

"What the fu.." Frank muttered, looking at his computer screen where he'd been watching the ABC morning news streaming live. The reporter was standing in front of a school. A school Frank recognized because he'd been there once before. Recently. Very recently.

"The situation began when a transgender student, who also happens to be the daughter of the school's recently hired Chancellor was outed by the parents of a school rival. Now, that parent has demanded that the Chancellor resign. There is a meeting going on right now between the Board of Directors and the parents to decide the fate of this career educator and her transgender child..."

"You all set Frank? We have to go," one of Frank's co-works asked.

"Wait a minute," Frank replied. "I need a minute to think."

"Think? Frank, There's fifteen people in the transport truck waiting on us. Come on, let's go. Time is money."

Frank stared at the computer.

"Frank?"

"Frank?"

Frank looked up at last. "Yeah... umm... look, Jim... just... umm... just go without me, ok. I have to get back to the states as fast as I can?"

"What!? The states!? Frank..." he laughed, "this is a multi billion dollar job, you can't..."

"Jesus, Jim, just fucking go without me, will you? My family..." he sighed. "...my kid... my daughter... she needs me. I'll probably be too late to help, but... fuck me... I gotta go."
 

~^~
 

Dr Martin had answered well over twenty questions. She had answered them honestly and when people had pushed back, she allowed them to express their fears and concerned, then she addressed each fear and concern as concisely and honestly as possible. It had been almost an hour, though and the majority of them had jobs to get to. So, 'antsy' would best describe the overall mood in the theater.

Just when it felt like people were going to start leaving, Mrs Olsen came onto the stage in a harried, but businesslike manner. "I apologize for the delay, ladies and gentlemen," she said, "but the board members are dealing with one last issue before they come in here to discuss the outcome of their conversation with you."

"Wait a minute," a well dressed man interrupted, standing from his seat about mid-way up the aisle from the stage, "we're all here to discuss things with the board. Not to just hear their decision."

"Yes, Mr Craymore, they will be hearing your opinions before making any decisions..." she heard something from the stage door. It was the board members arriving. "Oh... they're here. I will get off the stage and let them take over from here."

Just then, an announcement came through the loudspeakers. "Donna Linkletter, please report to the office for dismissal."
 

~^~
 

There was not a lot of teaching going on in the sophomore classes that morning. Even in the classes that Dean wasn't in. The girls were worried about their new friend. They were all too preoccupied, wondering what the heck was going on in the theater, to do any work and that announcement had made matters much worse.

"Dismissal? Do you think she's leaving for good?"

"Do they want her out of the building so we don't yell at her when Deedee and her mom get thrown out?"

"Maybe she's scared to be here."

"Alright, girls, come on. This is still a school day and there's work to be done. So... focus." The Algebra teacher was frustrated, both with the girls not doing what she asked and with not knowing what was happening in the meeting. Dr Martin had been a godsend to this school and Deedee was just the sweetest girl. She didn't want to lose either of them, but...

"Miss, aren't you even a little curious about what's going on in there?" A girl asked.

"Of course I am, Audrey, but we're not in there, are we? So we must focus on our lessons."

"In Civics, Miss, we were told that protests and peaceful civil disobedience can sometimes persuade the people who make the rules see what's really important," another girl said.

"Yeah!" Another girl chimed in, "like what Martin Luther King did. You know, just sitting at that lunch counter or marching to make sure that people couldn't forget them."

"All good points, girls, but we are staying right here and working."

Suddenly, Eleanor Barnard, probably the quietest girl in the school, stood from her seat at a desk by the windows and headed across the room towards the door.

"Eleanor, please take your seat," the teacher said, with a sense of authority that was typically met with 'yes, ma'am, especially from a girl like Eleanor.

"No, Miss, I can't," the girl replied, looking bravely defiant. "This is wrong and making us sit here while our friend's future is being decided by grownups who don't even know her is just wrong and stupid. I'm not calling you, stupid, Miss, I mean... this whole thing is stupid. So, I'm going to the theater and telling them that I really like Deedee and that I want her to stay." She opened the door and exited, leaving the room silent, dumbfounded.

The teacher cleared her throat, about to say something, although she had no idea what, when suddenly, as if as one, the entire rest of the class rose and hurried out the door.

"Girls! Girls! Please!" The teacher called out, but no one listened. As the last girl exited the room, the teacher mumbled a quiet cuss and hurried out to follow them. If they were going to fire her, at least they'd have to admit that she stayed with her girls.
 

~^~
 

"I need to charter a flight," Frank said into his phone as he drove toward the nearest airport.

"Yes, sir. Where to?"

"Boston, Massachusetts, or better still, Worcester, Massachusetts."

"Massachusetts?" The person on the other end of the call sounded a bit surprised. "Well, the only way I can get you that far south without changing flights is on one of our four seater jets. It is more costly, but if you split the cost with your fellow passengers..."

"I'm traveling alone. The cost is not important, I have a Black Card you can charge it to. I will be there in about two hours. Can you be gassed up, have clearance and be ready to go when I get there?"

"Of course, sir. See you in two hours."
 

~^~
 

As Eleanor ran down the sophomore hallway, class after class looked up to see who was running in the hall, something that was forbidden in large print in the student handbook.

When the herd of girls from her class ran past, each class leapt up to see where they were going.

As the Algebra teacher fan by last, bringing up the rear of the herd, every girl in each of the passing classrooms ran out the door and joined in the rush for the theater.

Finally, the teachers followed.

All but one teacher, that is, who still had three students who stayed in her classroom.

"I would have thought that three of you would be the most interested in what's happening in the theater," the teacher said.

"I'm only interested in my friend," Jade said, moving her chair close to Dean's.

"Mr Linkletter is just an asshole and so is Donna," Robin said, crossing her arms and slouching in her chair.

"Hey, hey, hey, now, missy," the teacher warned. "You know that foul language isn't allowed here and flinging insults at people just makes you look bad. So, never say that someone is... that word."

Robin shrugged. "He is, though, and so is she, but they're rich, so everyone in this whole town kisses their butts and lets them do whatever they want. It's just not fair."

Well, there was no point in arguing with that.

The teacher pulled a chair up to sit opposite Dean, leaned forward a bit and took Dean's hands in hers. "Deedee... I am not going to pretend to understand what you're going through, but... sweetheart... you are a smart and strong young woman. No matter what happens, you are going to be fine. The pain and the fear you're feeling now, that will pass. And if they decide in your favor, then you will be back here tomorrow and it'll be as if nothing happened. And if the decide against you... I know that will hurt and it'll be hard, but Deedee, I promise you... you will get through that too, and be a stronger woman because of it."

Dean sniffled a bit. "Miss... you don't understand...I can't be Deedee if I leave. It was too hard to become Deedee in the first place. I can't do it all over again, and..." he looked to each of his closest friends, "... I can't bear to leave Robin and Jade and..." he chose not to say Willie's name, "... I just can't."

"I know how big this all feels, Deedee, but... look... honey... I know how unfair it is to throw so much at someone as young as you, but I promise you... no matter what happens, you will be ok. Too many people love you to let anything really bad happen to you."
 

~^~
 

"Good morning," Mr Barnard, the chairman of Greenwood Academy's Board of Directors said into the microphone on the stage. "I do apologize for the delay and I thank you all for coming this morning. It has been a very... interesting morning and..."

He stopped speaking because a door in the back of the theater slammed shut. He glanced up to see who had made such an obnoxious entrance, half expecting Mr Linkletter to be returning in order to create a scene, but instead he saw his youngest daughter, Eleanor - quiet, polite Eleanor - standing at the end of the aisle, looking at him expectantly. He stared back at her and, even in the half-darkened theater, he knew that she was hoping that he would do the right thing - at least the right thing in her eyes. That he would let her classmate stay, not punish her just for being a little different.

"Umm..." he said, regaining his footing and getting back to the matter at hand, "as I was saying... it has been an interesting morning. Enlightening may well be a better word, but my fellow board members and I..."

He stopped again, this time because dozens of girls were flooding into the theater. A few teachers appeared as well and ushered the girls into seats in the rear of the hall, warning them to be quiet.

This was truly unexpected. The Board had specifically requested that the girls all remain in class that morning so that the meeting could remain as unemotional and businesslike as possible.

A teacher came up to the front of the auditorium and spoke loudly so all could hear. "I'm sorry, everyone. The sophomore girls just couldn't stay in their classrooms while this was going on. We have taught them to be powerful and to speak their minds, and, unfortunately - or fortunately, in my opinion - we are reaping what we have sown. They are here to speak their minds... if necessary."

She looked up at the stage and said, "I'm sorry, Mr Barnard. Please continue."

The chairman of the board drew a deep breath and started over.

"To the point of this meeting," he said, looking around the room. "This meeting was called to consider the removal of Dr Amelia Martin as Chancellor of Greenwood Academy and the expulsion of her child, Deanne Martin, from the school."

He had to raise his voice as he continued through that sentence because, from the back of the hall, a murmur began to grow amongst the sophomore girls followed by the sound of teachers hushing them.

Mr Barnard looked up to see what was happening. The room got darker as it stretched out before him, but he could still see Eleanor, his sweet, quiet little girl. Had she actually led the charge of girls into the theater? He could see her face imploring him to be merciful. He truly was not sure what he was going to do, but if he chose to persecute this woman just for being a good mother, or this child just for being different, how would his daughter look at him for the rest of her life.

"Although it is understandable that Dr Martin wanted to protect her child and not make their secrets public, the board does feel that her decision to not make the community aware of the presence of a transsexual child attending our school was a terrible breech of our trust and certainly something serious enough for us to terminate her contract."

Dr Matin felt the floor open up beneath her and her ears were ringing. Although she remained stoic and unflinching, she could feel her life unraveling. How could she ever recover from this? What about Dean? Well, Deedee. What about her? She had uprooted her child, forced her to take on an entirely new persona... but she'd found herself and found friends and found young love and found some measure of happiness, and now it would all be yanked away from her. How could things have gone this far wrong?

It was a few moments before she was conscious of her surroundings again and it was then that she heard an odd, rhythmic chanting. It sounded as if it was children's voices, but as she listened, more and more adult voices seemed to be joining.

"Let them stay!"

The chant went.

"Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!"

It got louder and louder and more forceful as it went.

"Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!"

She looked at the Chairman of the Board, standing by the podium looking confused.

"Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!
Let them stay!"

Suddenly, a woman from the audience climbed the stairs and walked to the podium, gently pushing the Chairman to the side. She held her hands up and the chanting began to subside. Finally, it grew quiet and the woman spoke.

"For those of you that don't know me, my name is Rosalee Jansen and I'm the president of the Greenwood Parent Association. The Board of Directors may not be aware of this, but last night, after many of heard about the Dr Martin and Deedee Martin situation, the Parent Association had a Board meeting of our own. At that meeting, we discussed this entire situation from the point of view of parents."

"Now, we understand that finding out that a boy was attending our all girls' school was shocking, but we also agreed that this mostly due to the fact that most of us had had very little experience with children - or adults, for that matter - dealing with sexual dysphoria; a recognized, medical condition. After a long conversation, we concluded that we, as parents, had nothing to fear from Deedee Martin and that, if we had a child dealing with a medical issue - say... Crohn's Disease, or depression, or even something as serious as a cancer of some type - then perhaps we might opt not to make our child's diagnosis known, either. Why put a child through unnecessary trauma by making all of their friends aware of something that will not impact the friends' health or well being? We believe that this is the conclusion that Dr Martin came to as well, and it is a conclusion that protected her child until a member of the Board of Directors hired a private detective to dig into her life in an intrusive and unnecessary manner."

"So, it is the opinion of the Greenwood Academy Parent Association that;
A) Dr Martin should not be punished for behaving the way any good parent should and would behave.
B) Deedee Martin should be allowed to remain at Greenwood Academy - and finally -
C) Mr and Mrs Linkletter should both be removed from the Board of Directors for inappropriate behavior

We further make it known to the Board of Directors that, should their decision differ from ours, that we will encourage our members, which includes every parent and guardian of every students at Greenwood Academy, to refrain from making monthly payments for the rest of this school year and look elsewhere for the education of our students in years to come."

She glared at Mr Barnard, then whispered, "Congratulations, Mr Barnard." She glanced at the other Board Member, "Other members of the Board of Directors. You are a few weeks away from being on the Board of Directors of a school with no students. I'm sure that the news trucks outside will report on that, too. That should only hasten the demise of this fine institution."

Mr Barnard returned to the microphone, quickly. "I want to stress that we have made no actual decision at this time. I was just stating that under the terms of Dr Martin's contract, that..."

"Let's hold a vote, now!" The man in the very expensive suit called out. "Let's poll the parents. We pay the bills here, after all. Let's find out what the parents want."

"Alright, alright," Mr Barnard said, looking to the other board members for support, but they all seemed to be preoccupied looking for the nearest exit. "Before we do this, I want to emphasize that this is strictly to find out what you all want. It is not a binding vote of any kind."

He expected a close vote that would allow him to dismiss the meeting so the board could discuss things in private.

"All in favor of dismissal of Dr Martin, please raise your hands."

There must have been close to eight hundred people in the theater and only about twenty raised their hands. Now it was Mr Bernard's turn to feel the ground opening beneath him.

"All in favor of allowing Dr Martin to stay?"

Nearly the entire theater rose to their feet, their hands in the air. The cheer that rose up was begun by the group of sophomore girls in the back, it was quickly amplified by the adults who saw their victory just seconds away.

Mr Barnard looked to the other members, all of whom gave him a resigned nod. He looked out at the audience and spoke clearly. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is the decision of the Board of Directors of Greenwood Academy that no action shall be taken at this time against either Dr Martin or her daughter, Deanne. This meeting is adjourned."

A huge round of applause erupted. He looked out at the crowd and saw his daughter giving him a big smile and a thumbs up. He felt relief at that. Then he turned and shook the hand of the school's Chancellor. "Congratulations, Dr Martin," he said. "Please never put us in a position like this again."

She nodded. "Thank you, Mr Barnard. You can count on it."

As he walked away, Mrs Olsen opened her arms and embraced the Chancellor. "Congratulations!" She said over the cacophony. Then she laughed. "I was just standing here trying to picture what Deedee must have looked like as Dean, when it occurred to me - You named your son Dean and your last name is Martin. You had the temerity to name your child Dean Martin. That's amazing!"

Amelia smiled. "My ex loves Dean Martin. He claimed that they were distant relatives. It wasn't my first choice, but he insisted. I guess it doesn't matter now."
 

~^~
 

There was a quiet knock on the door. "Come in," the teacher called from where she sat with the three students.

An out of breath Eleanor Barnard stepped into the room. She smiled and said, "Congratulations, Deedee. You won."
 

~^~
 

By lunch time, everyone knew that Donna Linkletter had left the school and would not be returning. This caused a great deal of concern among the cast of 'Chicago.' Donna was one of the two female leads in the show, after all. You couldn't do the show without a Velma."

As sixth period began, there was an announcement for all students involved in the musical cast and crew, to report to the theater immediately.

"Oh, well," Jade sighed, disappointed, as they walked down the hall. "So much for my first leading role."

"You think they'll cancel?" Robin asked, also disappointed.

"What else can they do?"

"Look, Jade, I'm really sorry about this. I never meant..." Dean began, Jade stopped him.

"No, it's got nothing to do with you, Dee. It was all Donna's fault. Well, Donna and her family. Let's just go get this over with."

When they were all seated, Mrs Highland stood in the orchestra put in front of them and spoke. "Alright, girls, as you all know, we've had a pretty tumultuous day and, sadly - and I mean that, girls. No one should be happy about this - SADLY - Donna Linkletter will not be able to perform in the show."

A couple of girls began to clap, but Mrs Highland gave them a look that silenced their applause.

"Now, what you probably don't know is that, earlier in the rehearsal cycle, I asked Jane Elliot to prepare as a 'swing' performer for the role of Velma, just in case things went sideways. So, Jane has been practicing with me and the other production staff members and is ready to take over the role for us."

There was a gasp of relief, followed by a big round of applause.

"Ok, so we have lots to do," Ms Highland said. "After school, get here asap and we'll start with a costume parade, then a run through. Now, back to class!"
 

~^~
 

"Can I ask you a question?" Robin asked as she, Dean and the rest of the girls stood waiting in their Cell Block Tango costumes, which consisted of a rather fancy, black leopard with a very shear, very lacy, very flouncy dance skirt that was longer in the back than the front, a pair of black tights and black character shoes with a chunky, two inch heel.

"Sure, I guess," Dean shrugged.

Robin's voice got quiet as she half giggled, "Where do you hide your junk in that?"

Dean's eyes opened widely and he looked about to be sure no one had heard that. "Where do I... why are you even looking there?"

"I'm just curious. I mean... I'm looking at everyone and, look... Margie has a camel toe... I'm pretty sure Jasmine is wearing a pad and Karen's underwear is showing through her leotard like it's got lights on it or something. But you look perfect. So, I'm just wondering... if you still have junk, where is it?"

Dean looked around again, the whispered, "I do still have my junk, and I've only been on medication for like a month or so, so it's still a reasonable size, ok? but I..." he dropped the volume of his whisper to a hiss. "I tuck it, ok?"

"Tuck it?" Robin asked, never having thought about this kind of thing before. "Where do you tuck it?"

"Between my legs," he hissed. "Now, can we stop talking about it?"

"Huh," Robin nodded, happy to have had her question answered.

"Cell Block girls!" Ms Highland called and they all took their positions so she could see the costumes. She liked everything that she saw, but she did call Margie, Jasmine and Karen over to the edge of the stage and she whispered something to each of them.

When the boys showed up, their costume parade took just a few minutes and then the run through, the first one with Jane as Velma, began. It went really, really well, too. Jane didn't sing quite as well as Donna, but she did sing well and her attitude towards her classmates was so positive that they all had a great time. Sometimes teamwork and cooperation is worth more than star power.

When the time came, Dean came out in his beautiful, cream colored, lace dress, the one that Willie had loved so much, did his little, balletic dance as he'd been taught and then he was 'hung' for the murder the Hunyak never committed.

He was back in his leotard costume for the finale and, since the rehearsal went a bit long, there was an audience of parents waiting to drive their children home in the last few rows of the theater by the time the last few scenes ran. They applauded as the cast practiced their bows.

"Excellent work, everyone!" Ms Highland said. "Let's give Jane a big hand. She did a great job!"

The cast and crew gave Jane a big round of applause.

"Ok," Ms Highland said, "go home, get some rest and come back ready to work this hard again tomorrow."

Willie took Dean's hand and they walked into the audience. They headed up the aisle to use the restrooms in the lobby to change. They were nearly all the way up the aisle when Dean noticed someone sitting alone a few seats in.

"Dad?" He asked, uncertainly.

Frank stood and walked to his child. "Hi, Deedee," he smiled. Then he looked at Willie. "It's William, right?"

"Willie, yeah," Willie smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to see you again, Mr Martin."

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Dean was confused. "I thought you were somewhere up in Canada."

"I was... nine hours ago, but I saw the news on my computer and they were right outside the school and talking about you and your mom and... here I am. I guess I'm not really needed, but..."

He stopped because Dean slammed into him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Dad. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

At first, Frank didn't know what to do, but eventually, he wrapped his arms around the little girl hugging him. It was awkward and odd, but it felt good, very good, to be this close to his own child. Suddenly, he regretted every second of the last thirteen years since his divorce. All those miles traveled and separating him from the only two people in the world who truly gave a damn about him... what was the point when this was the first time he felt loved since he'd destroyed his marriage.

"I'm glad things worked out well for you and your mom, Deedee," Frank smiled.

Dean let go and stepped back, wiping a few tears from his face. "Me too." He smiled. "I need to get changed, dad. You're coming to the house, right?"

"Oh... I don't know," he smiled and shrugged. "You may recall that the last time I was there, it didn't go that well."

"Yeah, but that was kind of our fault," Dean said, indicating himself and Willie. "I'll get changed and then we'll go to our house. Mom will be thrilled."

'Thrilled' seemed a bit strong, but he would like to see Amy. "Ok. Go get changed."

"Ok," Dean hurried up the aisle and Willie made to follow, but Frank grabbed the boy by the arm and stopped him.

"Hey... so... ummm..." Frank looked around to make sure no one was listening, "... you know everything, I assume... and... umm... you're still... with Deedee, huh?"

Willie grinned and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Frank shook his head. "That's pretty amazing, Willie. I'm impressed."

"It's nothing, Mr Martin," Willie smiled. "I like Deedee and that's all there is to it, I guess."

"None of the other stuff matters?"

"Not for now, sir, and by the time it does, I think she'll be... you know... all... better." He smiled at his own inability to form a better sentence.

Frank nodded. "I know, yeah. It's a new world, Willie. Thank you for being there for her. I plan to be around more frequently, too."

"That's good, sir. Deedee will really appreciate that."

"I hope so."

"Oh, she will. I will, too."
 

~^~
 

"I wish I'd known you were coming," Amelia said to her ex-husband, "I would have made something for dinner. It's been such a crazy day that I didn't even think about dinner. I hope you like Chinese take-out. The restaurant in town is surprising good for being so far off the beaten path."

Frank scooped some white rice from a carton onto his plate. "It'll be fine, Amy, thanks. And thanks for letting me stay the night. I appreciate it."

"It's the least I can do," she smiled as she sat at the kitchen table. "I can't believe you came running when you saw that news report."

He looked at her, then made sure that Dean was nowhere nearby. "Amy... when I left you... that was about the dumbest thing I ever did and I don't blame you for hating me, but as I get older... No... that's not true... it's not because I'm older, it's because of the last time I was here. When I realized that Dean was now Deanne and I had never even gotten to know Dean, well... that was the first time I truly realized that I was a pretty shitty excuse for a father. Since then, I have thought about you guys a lot. Now, I don't expect to just step in after all this time and suddenly be a good dad, but... if you'll allow it... I would like to be more involved. Not interfere, just... help... when and how I can."

Amelia smiled. "That would be great, Frank, and I know that Deedee would love it. She was thrilled that you came running to help today. Suddenly, you're her knight in shining armor."

Frank snickered. "The knight who arrived too late to help the damsel. The knight who saved the day was you, Amy."

"No, it was the whole community, Frank, and I think they rallied around Deedee more than they did me."

They heard footsteps on the stairs, so they stopped their conversation and were chatting about the weather when Dean entered the kitchen. They were all munching away on rice, chicken fingers, chicken wings, crab rangoon, sesame chicken and egg rolls for a few minutes before Dean asked his father, "So... when are you going back to Canada?"

"Now, that's an interesting question," Frank laughed.

"How so?" Amelia asked.

"Well, you see, my little stunt this morning sort of cost me my job. I was fired before I got onto the plane."

Amelia looked shocked. "Frank? How could they possibly have fired you? You've been working day and night for them for almost twenty years!"

He nodded and swallowed his food. "I have and I never once did anything to make them question my dedication to the job until today. This was the very first time that I ever put my own life ahead of the job. I was about a mile from the airport when I got a call from the home office. They said I needed to be back on the worksite within three hours or I was fired."

"Why didn't you just go back?" Dean asked.

Frank thought for a moment. "Deedee... do you know that I no longer have a house or an apartment?"

"No," Dean seemed surprised. "So... you're homeless?"

Frank laughed. "No. Not exactly. Homeless implies I'm I'm broke and I'm far from that. See, I sold my home years ago and rented an apartment because I was never at the house. Then I realized that I was never at the apartment either, so I got rid of that. For the past five years or so, I have lived out of a medium sized suitcase. I have five pairs of socks, five pairs of underpants, five tee shirts, seven polo shirts, three pairs of pants, a suit coat and a little case that has my toothbrush, razor and hairbrush in it. That is all. I'm not homeless, but I'm always sleeping in hotels, or bunkhouses or on airplanes. It wasn't until I thought about the world turning against you and your mother that I realized that I hadn't been living a life for the past twenty years. I'd been living job. The very first time I chose to live a real life and help my family, they threatened to fire me. So, I chose to let them do that so I can actually start living."

"What about money?" Amelia asked.

Frank shrugged. "I've saved up quite a lot. I had no place or time to spend any money, after all. It should last me until I find a job that doesn't make me travel so much. I'm a very good environmental engineer and I have a great resume... I'll find something."

"Around here?" Dean asked, hopefully. Having a father might be cool.

Frank smiled. "I don't know, honey. I haven't really had time to think about it. Although, there is a company in Springfield that I've worked with before. Is that far away?"

"Only about forty five minutes," Amelia said.

Frank shrugged and smiled at his ex-wife. "I guess your mom and I will need to talk about that, then."
 

~^~
 

"We are in the small town of Greenwood, Massachusetts where, earlier in the week, a controversy erupted when it was discovered that a student at an all girl's private prep school was, in fact, transgendered," the reporter said into the camera. "As we reported at that time, although some members of the of the Board of Directors wanted to expel the students and fire her mother, the school's Chancellor, the school's community rallied around the student. Tonight, that student and her school mates are presenting a production of the Broadway musical, 'Chicago,' to a sold out audience, many of whom have traveled quite a distance to show their support for this young actress."

The story cut away to a woman in a red dress and lovely makeup. "We've come from Hartford to show our support for the girl. I'm very proud of the way this school behaved."

"It's the twenty-first century, for crying out loud," an older man in a beige overcoat said. "This kind of thing shouldn't even be an issue anymore. I'm very happy that things worked out the way they did, though. It's nice when people act like people, you know?"

The reporter appeared again. "I guess it's a fairytale ending for this princess here at The Greenwood Academy," he said with a cheesy smile. "Back to you, Chet."
 

~^~
 

"And allllllllllllllll
Thaaaaaaaaaaat
Jaaaaaaaaaaaaazz
That jazz!"

The cast sang out as their bow-music ended and the audience stood and applauded, wildly. A lot of people had come just to support Deanne, but they all seemed to love the show, which was an undeniably good production of a very good show. Dr Martin was pretty sure that most people weren't even sure which of the girls on the stage was the girl that had been the one caught up in the controversy.

Out in the lobby, happy parents waited expectantly for the young actors to appear. When they did, their garish makeup that looked so professional and grown up on the stage, made them look comical and childish in the fluorescent glow of the hallway lamps.

Dr Martin waited with her ex-husband and Willie's mother until the happy couple, along with Robin and Jade appeared.

"There's my favorite actress!" Frank said, spreading his arms to embrace his daughter. "These are for you." He presented her with a bouquet of two dozen, pink roses.

"Really!? Wow, thanks, dad!" Deedee said, still excited by the crowd's reaction to the show.

"You were great, William," Muriel smiled and hugged her son. "I liked you better than Richard Gere in the movie."

Willie smiled and hugged his mother. "Thanks mom. I'm sure Richard Gere's mother preferred him, though."

That made Muriel laugh.

The praise of the young thespians continued with the arrival of each student, or as a parent saw a child they recognized. It was a happy and exciting event AND there were still two shows to go!

"Mom, can I go with the kids to the ice cream place in town?" Deedee asked her mother. "Robin's mom rented the whole place and everyone's going."

Her mother smiled. "You'll need to change and take off some of that makeup first."

Deedee smiled. "I know, but I can go?"

"Of course, love. Have fun. Call me when you need a ride home."

Deedee smiled and bounced up to kiss her mother's cheek. "Thanks mom."

Amelia looked at Willie and said, "You watch over her, Willie. There's still a lot of reporters nosing around here. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do, Doctor M," Willie said with a wink of his eye. Then he looked at his girlfriend. "We should get changed. My mom will drop us off."

The two kids disappeared.

Muriel looked at her friend, "They really are adorable, aren't they?"

"They are," Amelia smiled and shook her head. "I never thought that my baby would be like this. Happy and in love. It's wonderful."

"I guess things worked out better than expected then?" Frank asked.

"Certainly much better than I ever expected," Amelia said, a happy glow passing across her face. "Even her therapist is in awe of how excited she is to be entering this new life. I never expected her to be Deanne forever. Who could have guessed that this is where she'd find true happiness? This wasn't supposed to be for the rest of her life. It was only supposed to be for twenty weeks."

THE END