Topiary: noun
The art or practice of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes.
Topiary Genetics:
A privately held research group thought to do significant business
with the United States Defense Department.

At times like this Hailey liked to pretend she was Morpheus from the old Matrix movies. In a way, she really was offering a choice that was just as momentous as the choice of Morpheus' blue or red pill. There was little difference except she never dressed in leather. Well not when meeting anyone professionally anyway. According to the information on her tablet the man she wanted to contact should be in the middle of his regular routine. Mr. Martin Green was nothing if not a creature of habit. Home by six from his job at the accounting firm where he was one of the senior managers, unless it was tax season. He would eat and be browsing the internet by seven. Online Hailey knew he was a much different person from what the people who thought that they knew him would recognize. He was careful not to reveal personal information online. Indeed it had taken the cooperation of a secret national surveillance group within the NSA and a very sophisticated algorithm to tag him as a candidate for the Topiary Genetics study.

Hailey made her way to the front door of Mr. Green's neat brick home trying to calm her nerves. Initial contact was always a touchy time. It is not every day that someone showed up at your front door telling you they knew your innermost secret and what's more they could make it come true. But... and here was the really tricky part they would disappear forever and they would have to trust Hailey and the company she worked for. She hoped that this would not be one of those times when the person decided they were being blackmailed and became violent. She hated hurting people.

Hailey took a calming breath and rang the bell. Soon a man opened the door. He looked like he was in his late fifties or early sixties. He was a little shorter than average with thinning brown hair that was going gray.

"Yes? Can I help you?" the man said. He smiled at her. He had a pleasant voice and the kind of face that looked like he smiled and laughed a lot.

"Hello, Mr. Green. My name is Hailey Benton and I represent Topiary Genetics. You came up as someone that fits the profile as a perfect candidate for our latest round of research. I would like a few minutes of your time to tell you about it."

"I'm really not interested..."

"I will give you a hundred dollars for fifteen minutes of your time," Hailey said cutting him off before he could finish giving her the brush off. "Cash." She flashed the bill with Benjamin Franklin's portrait that she had palmed before leaving the car. The contact team had tried lots of things but nothing else had been as successful as the offer of cash for listening to a short sales pitch.

Martin appeared to be skeptical but could apparently not find a catch in the offer other than the loss of his time. One of his favorite authors had posted a continuation of her latest story and he was anxious to read it but for a hundred bucks he could put it off. "Fine, make your pitch."

"Could we step inside? This isn't the kind of thing either of us probably wants to be blabbering on about in front of your neighbors. I promise that you won't regret it."

"Come inside then. Pardon the mess. I don't usually have company." Inside Martin lead her through the living room which was clean enough but had a basket of socks that looked like they were waiting to be folded on the couch and some books on the coffee table, into the kitchen where the dinner dishes were in the sink. By no means was this the messiest home Hailey had visited on this assignment. After setting down at the table across from Mr. Green, Hailey slid the hundred across the table.

"I just need you to sign here on my pad to affirm that you have received the money and that you will not disclose the contents of our conversation today with anyone else. It is a pretty standard NDA."

After Martin scanned through the NDA he signed without hesitation. He just wanted the quick cash then he would get back to his life. What could this blond twenty-something woman have to say that he would want to tell any of his acquaintances anyway?

"Great. Now that the formalities are out of the way I can tell you that my company, Topiary Genetics is refining a cellular rejuvenation process. We are at the point where we have been granted the right to begin a large scale clinical trial. We are recruiting men and women that fit the criteria laid out by out psychology team. People who can mentally handle looking and feeling much younger."

"People who can mentally handle looking and feeling much younger." Martin Repeated. "So , everyone over forty? I think I would have heard about something like this," Martin said. "I follow the news. I have never heard anything like this and I know I have never heard of Topiary Genetics or whatever the company is."

"People usually say something like this," Hailey said. "This all began as a secret project some years ago to re-grow lost limbs. After a series of discoveries the project was expanded. Topiary Genetics is a private company and has only one client, the United States government."

"Fine, let's say I believe you. What makes me such a good fit?"

"As I said the process is at the point where we can begin larger scale human trials. To date we have only been able to rejuvenate people singly or in smaller groups. So far we have used it on women up to 93 years old with great results. Our oldest male study participant was in his late eighties. The catch, if you want to call it that is that male or female every person to undergo our process to date has not only become much younger they have all become women. For many men this would be a flaw. For the right men it might be seen as a feature. We think you are one of those men."

"That is quite an assumption."

"Oh, please! Mr. Green, we work with the part of the government that collects data on everything. Even your service provider knows what web sites you go to if they care to find out. Can we just stipulate that you feel that your privacy has been violated and move on? The time I bought is running short."

"Fine," Martin said in a tight voice. "Please continue."

"I am not here to embarrass you sir. I am here because we think you have some undiagnosed gender dysphoria which would make you amenable to our offer. You are in good health for your age with no implanted devices. Also you have no close connections. You could make the transition to a new female identity with a minimum of fuss. Your wife died in three years ago in an auto accident. Your two children live hundreds of miles away and neither has children. They love you and would undoubtedly miss you but our information is..." Hailey paged through the information on her tablet to find the fact she knew was there. "You talk with them once every few weeks via phone. Occasionally communicate via various social media but have little personal interaction. The last time you saw either of them was a visit to your oldest son last Christmas."

"My life sounds really crappy when you put it like that."

She knew that she had his interest now. He wasn't throwing up needless objections. He had probably decided there was no point after she had revealed that she had his life at her fingertips. Sometimes they protested the legality of her having that amount of private information. She had an impressive legal opinion to flash in that event, the thirty six pages of legalese could be boiled down to 'good luck trying to do anything about it because this is all secret and you will be crushed if push comes to shove,' She had only needed to show it once. Demonstrated practicality was a major selection factor in their algorithm and most people realized that whether or not they chose to join the study there was nothing to gain by protesting the violation of privacy that her visit represented.

"I wouldn't say that your life is bad, Mr. Green. Rather that you are in a comfortable rut. What I am here to offer you is not comfort but an adventure. A new life as the girl which you should have been born. I am proof that this plan works. I was once a man like you, an army ranger in fact. I was lucky that my own deep secrets were not as well hidden as I had thought. My left arm and leg were damaged in an explosion and had to be amputated. Once I was stable someone stopped by my bed at the VA the day that they had planned to fit me with my first prosthetic leg. She had a very similar offer. In my case I had nothing to live for so I took it without hesitation. That day the old me died and I began the process of becoming the women you see now."

"What if after hearing the details I say I am not interested."

"Then I go on to the next person on my list and you abide by the NDA. No one would believe you if you tried to sell your story. Also if you were that foolish you must realize that your life would soon be ruined. Tax audits. Being added to the no fly list, involuntary commitment, etc. The group that we are partnered with is serious about secrecy.

"Okay. Good to know."

"That was not a threat. More like me passing along good advice. Like, don't walk through a den of hungry lions wrapped in a blanket made of meat."

"A what?'

"Never mind. You get the point."

"What I don't understand is why you are only recruiting men. Wouldn't just women be easier?"

"We recruit equal numbers of both men and women. That's what the Big Brains want. I'm told that it is important for the science to progress that we have both sexes represented."

"Fair enough. So what happens if I say yes?

"Assuming you agree to be part of the study you would be given a secure website with an exhaustive questionnaire to complete our profile. Then one of our psychologists would interview you here at your home. If they feel that you would be stable after the transition you would be given a date and time to be someplace. After that some kind of accident would happen and Martin green would be dead. Later the new you emerges and are placed in an appropriate school. Everything will be completely paid for by the study.

"Like college? Can I choose what school?"

"We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. Let me walk you through everything from the top..."

***

The room phone rang with his 3:30 a.m. wake up call. This was Martin's last chance to back out of the deal. A bus would be at the front door of the hotel in a half an hour to take him to a different future than he had ever thought possible. Once he was on the bus there would be no turning back. This day had been all he could think about since the young woman had shown up at his house a few weeks ago. She knew things about him he had never told anyone about. Then she had made an offer that he had never dreamed possible. He would not back out now.

He quickly got ready then went down to check out. There were many other men checking out as well. He assumed that they were also taking the bus. Like him they were mostly in late middle age or even older with a couple of others that looked like they might be in their late twenties. The story if anyone asked was that they were on a two week long guided fishing tour that would take them to several lakes and rivers.

No one was talking much this early in the morning which Martin found to be comforting. He had always been rather uncomfortable with new people. Frankly he had always been uncomfortable with himself as well. Anyway he was still tired from the short night.

The bus driver soon came in holding a sign saying 'Fishing Tour' to collect the men. They shuffled out and loaded their luggage and equipment into the storage compartment of the motor coach covered in over-sized graphics of fish. Soon they were on their way. Their destination was not a lake though, instead the bus soon pulled up to the local federal office building. The area was as deserted as the downtown of a small city ever gets.

An army officer boarded the bus. "Please put your wallets, watches, jewelry and any other personally identifiable items in the storage bags the driver is handing out. Please leave them in your seats before continuing into the building. Once inside proceed into the stairwell and descend to the bottom then follow the signs to the briefing room."

***

Martin looked around once they got into the room. It looked like a college lecture hall. There were three levels of desk seating arranged in a semicircle facing a projection screen and a podium. The officer shut and locked the door behind them.

The military man began speaking, "Okay everyone, grab a seat. The project representative Hailey Benton will be here momentarily. I am Major Tom Williams. I will now remind you that from this point forward you are part of a top secret project and will be subject to harsh penalties should you improperly divulge anything, to anyone... ever." He then walked to the back of the room and took a position in front of the door.

A side door behind the podium opened and a young looking woman entered the room. "Good morning everyone," she began. "It is nice to see you all again. I am glad that you all got on the bus. When I recruited each of you I had hoped that you would be brave enough to be here today. I can now tell you much more of the story than I was able to during our earlier conversations.

"As you know I work for Topiary Genetics Corporation. A private partner with the Department of Defense. We have developed a process that has the potential to someday cure almost any malady or mishap, provided that the patient is not too far gone when we start. You all will be receiving the fifth generation treatment. In our interviews I shared with many of you that I am a recipient of the third generation process so I understand what you are about to endure. The process involves reverting much of your cellular mass to stem cells through our proprietary process and then instructing those cells to form new, rejuvenated tissue and organs.

"One challenge that we face is that all reverted tissue has two X chromosomes. We are looking into introducing hormones early in the process, or provide some other trigger to generate the Y chromosome in other experiments. That is outside of the scope of what you will be involved. We hope to someday soon have that kind of control. For now though our techniques for grooming ones genome to eliminate various health issues are seen as too promising to wait for the gender selectivity part of the project to catch up. We have the green light to proceed provided that we have a pool of suitable volunteers." Hailey smiled at them. "Volunteers just like all of you.

"If the Topiary Genetics project only turns out women why not just use women as test subjects, you may ask? The answer is that we are doing that as well. You will be meeting those women later. You are only one group that is scheduled to go through the process. There is another all male group and two that are exclusively women. You will all be brought together next summer for the intensive conditioning portion of the study.

"You each were chosen because you met our specific needs. You are in fair health. You are all mature adults. You do not have any prosthetic devices which would need to be surgically removed. You have a rather distinctive electronic footprint including visits to certain fiction sites indicating a willingness to consider this offer. You each have affirmed through various methods of inquiry that you all would have been just as happy to have been born women, but for whatever reason did not pursue available methods of achieving that goal. None of you are overly burdened by close relationships. You generally get along with the people in your lives. And most importantly from our point of view, you will not be overly missed.

"This is the timeline," she said bringing up a graphic on the wall screen. "Today we will complete your paperwork and transport you to our facility at an undisclosed location. For the next five weeks you will each receive three different shots twice a day. This is the most difficult part of the process to endure. The shots are prepaid your body for the process of reverting your cells. By the end of week three the discomfort that you will be experiencing will become almost unbearable. Be assured that the staff will do all that they can to keep you comfortable during this time. You will not die though you may wish to do so.

"After the fifth week you will each be placed in a tank we call the metamorphosis chamber. The chamber is designed to keep you alive and protect the structure of your brain from drastic changes during your body's reformation. You will not be conscious for the next eight weeks. During this time we will to snip out any defects that have been discovered in your DNA and replace the bad sections with good. Then your new body will rebuild itself to conform to the new DNA instructions. Following your metamorphosis you will have a month of bed rest while your body is induced to begin maturation, or puberty. You will be kept asleep during most of this phase. After you are all reliably awake and alert, you will all undergo four months of physical therapy, and instruction on how to interface with society in your new gender. We have found there is an unavoidable need to reestablish neural pathways for all of your motor skills. You will need to relearn how to walk, talk, eat, and write and everything else. You each already have all of the skills needed to function so recovery will be a matter of weeks not years as can be the case with a brain injury. Your teeth hair and nails will grow in at a much faster than normal rate during this time as well due to lingering effects of the rejuvenation process. After that it is on to another location for the baseline testing phase. We will then continue to monitor your progress for the next few years."

Hailey continued, "As mentioned, the process will revert your physiological age to sometime between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. We are trying for an age roughly between fifteen and seventeen. You and the other groups that are receiving this generation of treatment will provide the data needed to fine tune our understanding of the mechanism that determines starting age.

"Initially you will find your appearance startling. You will not have much hair, or any teeth. Do not be alarmed this is part of the process. You will look like normal girls by the time we transport you to summer camp. On the positive side your skin will be as perfect as a baby's skin with no environmental damage."

The next slide showed group of buildings. "We will move you out to this picturesque location as soon as you are all strong enough. Here you will meet all of the other study participants and undergo ten weeks of physical and cultural conditioning. Not only will we be building your bodies we will be grounding you in everything people of your new age should know about.

The slide changed again showing an aerial shot of an old public high school. "We have established the Sutton Academy for orphaned 'unadoptable' older girls based on the boarding school model. We also have established a sister school for a control group of normal girls. We are very proud of these facilities. Aside from being a good cover story, we will be helping hundreds of girls who would otherwise not have a chance for a good education and a stable life."

"This is your school - your home," she said gesturing to the image. "We have purchased this unused school building and converted it for our needs. You will each participate in physical training in the morning followed by a full load of high school college prep classes. We will be measuring project participants against our other school and all of you against the general population. Collecting data on your progress is vital to the project and we will expect all of you to uphold your part of the agreement. Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a grant sufficient to cover tuition and fees at almost any university that accepts you. Now I will take questions and answer what I am able," Hailey finished.

A man behind Martin asked, "Will we have any say about what we look like?"

Hailey smiled, "I expected this one. I asked it myself not so long ago. You will not have much say in the final outcome. Essentially you are going to look like one of your own relatives. However we have seen that as genetic issues are fixed the end result has tended to turn out better than expected. There is a large body of evidence that beauty is an indicator of health and fertility. Each of you will be extremely healthy. As our scientists go through your DNA they will replace any of 5300 identified undesirable sequences. They will attempt to take some of your personal requests into consideration. However you will never be informed about which changes have been implemented. There is a questionnaire that you will fill out later which will ask for your preferences on different things such as hair color. There is some overlap between this and the pnline psych evaluation but please answer every question thoroughly because this information goes to the genetics group. You may also be interviewed by one of our staff at some point. That level of direction is something that will be marketable in the long run and has not been available to study volunteers before now.

"To sum it all up, I am a product of the third generation of the process. I have neither nearsightedness nor my family's predisposition to get diabetes. While I am no supermodel, I think I turned out well. Again, physical beauty is an indicator of health. All of you will be at least as healthy as I am, so at minimum you will be a pretty version of yourself as a teen.." Martin thought to himself that Hailey was not stretching the truth he would be quite pleased with the results.

"What about all of our things? I had two houses, what will happen to my stuff?" asked a deep voiced older man from across the room.

"You were told that participation in this project would result in the public death of your old identity. That life is gone. Your things will be dispersed according to your will or to your next of kin if you had no will. Secrecy about a workable process that can restore youth has been deemed vital to national security. See the Major if you think your wealth is more important than what we are offering."

"Why didn't you just recruit transsexuals?" asked a small white haired man.

"As I mentioned before, part of the reason you were all chosen was that none of you have any implanted devices. No artificial hips or pacemakers or breast augmentation. Many trans people have breast augmentations. Even those who don't often are using various hormonal therapies by the time they reach our minimum target age. We recruit based on limiting factors, anything which would complicate our data sets has to be excluded from this phase of testing. Someday I hope this process will be available to anyone. Heaven knows our current process would be well received by transwomen. For now though we are offering it to you."

"Is this process going to affect my memory?" asked Martin when it was his turn.

"You will probably not remember much that happens after the next few days. If you're like me you will have a memory of pain, nausea and boredom. Some people experience uncontrollable itching. Then you will wake up in your new body feeling frustrated that you can't speak properly. As far as long term memory goes you will unavoidably lose some of your current memories as your brain changes along with the rest of your body. You will almost certainly remember who you have been and all of the things that are central to your being. How much and what kinds of memory are one of the areas on which we will be doing further testing."

An old and wrinkled man was next. "Just how many people are going to be with us at this school?"

"Assuming that none of you die from now until then, there will be about 240 students roughly spread over four grade levels." Hailey said.

After a few more questions that Martin felt had been covered adequately in the presentation, major Tom opened the door and wheeled in a cart of bagels, coffee, and juice. "I know that it has been a long morning so let's break for some breakfast and then we can go over your in processing paperwork..."

***

The questionnaire Hailey mentioned was almost 100 pages long. It took Martin until lunch time to finish it. Everything from personal physical preferences to questions about his earliest childhood memories was asked. For Martin the most interesting section was at the end 'personal preferences' it was fun. For him this section boiled down to what his expectations and desires were.

Finally there was a list of 2,000 names. These were the most frequently used girls' names for the groups new 'birth year'. The men were asked to choose their top five preferred names with the disclaimer that these were not guaranteed to be in their final identity packet.

When they were finished all of the men were allowed to go across the hall to an improvised lunch room where boxed lunches were provided. This was the first time that Martin felt like talking to any of the others.

Martin grabbed a box lunch and a bottle of water. He sat down at a table nearby that had a few open seats.

"Hi, I am Frank," said the man across from him. Frank was the guy worried about his property. "We were just talking about the setup here. I mean this is some real cloak and dagger stuff. Cover stories, sneaking into a government building before anyone comes to work. I bet they hustle us out after dark too."

"Kinda tough to hide fifty old guys. I wonder what is going to happen to us. Officially I mean." The chubby bearded guy beside Martin said while chewing his sandwich. "I bet they blow up the bus and then blame it on terrorists."

Major Tom was sitting at a nearby table overheard the comment. "After lunch we will all find out on the news. You all have a unique opportunity that most others never get. You are going to find out what people really thought of you. Also there are sixty of you."

The conversation continued with various speculations about the future. Everyone seemed optimistic. Martin was happier than he had felt in years. He was excited for a fresh start. Getting the chance to do everything over with the advantage of already having made a lifetime worth of mistakes would be fun.

***

At the same time Hailey was sitting in a conference room on the top floor of the building having the same boxed lunch with the CEO of Topiary Genetics Simon Graves, and representatives of the projects government sponsors.

"I understand how far you are putting your neck out for us General Richardson, especially since you just took over the program from General Willis." Simon was saying to General Rodney Richardson who was sitting across from him. "You don't really have a down side here though. Let's say you don't find your super recruits in this batch. It is our first large scale try. At minimum the DOD, or whoever you really work for, gets some excellent data on the potential of the process and NIH," he nodded to Dr. Helen Madden the middle aged woman in a red pants suit sitting across from Hailey, "gets a large body of data on the effects optimum nutrition and physical activity have on the development of young women."

Rodney replied, "What about the expense. I have seen the numbers and this is going to cost the taxpayers a pretty penny. I can see some areas where changes need to be made in order to align this program to national needs. I will find ways to get positive results from this boondoggle. There is a second star in the future for me as long as you and these sexual deviants don't ruin my chances."

"It is not much of an expense considering what Topiary Genetics has already demonstrated through its previous process recipients," Simon said, nodding to Hailey. "We have already brought the cost down by more than three million per client. Think of the applications that might be developed from spin-offs of the process technology. Soldiers not doomed to life on disability because they may be able to receive new eyes or limbs. New organs grown with no chance of rejection. Rodney this is an easy sell. You just need to look at the big picture."

General Richardson said, "It's just these men -- it's unnatural. What kind of man would even want this? It is hard to respect them."

Simon lightly kicked Hailey in the ankle to let her know that she should keep quiet. "Did you know that our project facilitator was once an Army Ranger as well as one our five third generation process recipients?" He said, gesturing again at Hailey. "Back when that young man came to our program he was missing an arm and a leg due to a roadside bomb. He also had a desire to be a woman that he had thought was secret. We found his secret and his suitability for the project through then colonel Willis. Rodney, this desire is more common than you may think. The generic term for this spectrum of conditions is gender dysphoria. Hailey is much happier now than she ever was as a man, and through Topiary Genetics she is still able to serve her country as a reserve captain as well as the project facilitator. She will be continuing on with those men to help them successfully adapt. If you can keep your preconceptions in check for a few years, I think we will eventually get the male to male process working. With luck we will have everything figured out in time for you to have your own second chance at youth. Think of what you could do with that opportunity."

Hailey's phone rang with the tone she had reserved for this one call. She answered and spoke briefly to the caller. "Excuse me that was Tom. The bus has been successfully destroyed. News crews are already on the way. I need to go down and tell the guys that they are all dead. It should get them focused nicely."

***

After lunch the men were summoned back to the presentation room. The wall projector was showing a live helicopter shot of something burning on a highway. The sound was off but as the last man was taking his seat Hailey started speaking.

"As of a few minutes ago you are all dead. Let's listen to the report."

"...Fiery collision between a tour bus and a truck hauling motor fuel. Residents are advised to avoid the area. Carol, do we know anything about the accident? "

The view changed to a reporter standing well down the road from the burning vehicles. "Well Randy, it appears that the fuel truck veered across the center line, striking the tour bus head on. I had a chance to ask a fire department spokesman about injuries and was told there were no survivors. Back to you Randy."

The men all were engrossed in the coverage of their deaths. They all agreed that a body burned beyond recognition was a good cover. Major Tom let them know that the next of kin would be getting boxes of ashes back after a suitable time for the bodies to be 'identified' by the coroner who was apparently in on the scheme.

By 11:30 pm. everyone was sick of the being in the basement and getting sleepy. It had been a long day. Some relatives had been found for comments and the coverage had become rather emotional. It was a big deal locally. After a couple of hours they had turned it off. It was not pleasant to continually hear about ones death.

Hailey came into the room where they had been watching a rerun of some detective show.
"Hey all, listen up. In ten minutes the first van will arrive to take you to the center. When it arrives Major Tom will text me and we will leave moving at a quick walk. Once you are on the way you will be given a sedative to help you sleep. It has been a long day and to be honest the less you know about the exact location of the Topiary Genetics facility the better our friends in the D.O.D. will feel.

***

Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoy it.

I originally posted this on FM years ago titled Genehancement but I was never very happy with it. The story has since been removed at my request. I have been rewriting the story and have chosen to go a new and much less dark direction for second half of the story.

I expect there to be at least 15-20 parts to this story with more possible if it seems people enjoy my work.

Metamorphosis

The vans had driven five hours from the meeting site to the Topiary Genetics facility without incident. The group exited the vehicles and was quickly brought through the painted steel door.

Hailey turned the men over to Dr. Erin McCullough, she then staggered to staff quarters for some much needed rest.

Erin assigned each of the men to what looked like standard double occupancy hospital rooms. Staff members handed them each a set of pajamas close to their size and a sedative as they moved toward their rooms.

Dr. McCullough said "It's been a long day for all of you, even with the enforced sleep during the drive. Try to get some more rest in what remains of the night. Tomorrow will be another long day. We will wake you in just a few hours for processing and orientation.

***

At 8:30 Martin awoke to Hailey's voice over the PA inviting everyone to an orientation breakfast meeting in the cafeteria at the end of the hall.

The men assembled in the cafeteria after going through the breakfast line. Martin was setting at a round table with several of the guys he had become friendly with the day before. Everyone quieted down as Hailey entered the room from the opposite side from which they had come.

"Good morning again everyone. While at this facility you will all be confined to the patient area. That includes this cafeteria, the hospital rooms, the therapy room, or the lounge at the opposite end of the hall. At no time are any of you to pass through any of the orange and black striped doors. Each of you will find several comfortable track suits for daily wear as well as other appropriate clothing in your size when you get back to your rooms.

"All of the staff which you will meet are part of the program, but you are asked to keep your conversations to the task at hand. To keep you busy now and test your memory later you will each be given a journal and a list of things to write about. At other times you will be interviewed on camera or otherwise recorded. We want to have several methods of checking what knowledge you may have lost or retained. My own experience is that more recent memories were the most easily lost and everything through my childhood seemed to still be there when I thought about it. Unless something big happened in the last few days all of your most treasured memories should still be available to you," Hailey reassured them.

Martin and his fellows received their first shots shortly after the meeting. Martin and his roommate were lounging in their beds watching a detective show rerun when the nurse arrived. The two shots in his upper thighs were painful but Martin had resigned himself to a bit of discomfort for the chance of a new life. Nothing happened at first but later his body seemed to itch all over. It was an itch that seemed to be about an inch beneath the surface of his skin that he could not scratch. Martin could track the progress of whatever they had given him by tracking the itching sensation. It had started with his upper legs then radiated down toward his feet and up into his torso then down his arms then upward into his head.

After a couple of hours the feeling went away and he headed to the lounge to try and relax. As he entered Frank waved him over to the pool table.

"Those shots are a hell of a thing." Frank said."I already wish this part is over. I felt like my bones were on fire but I feel better now."

"Worth it all in the end I hope." Martin replied. "You know, when I was a kid I used to try to make deals with God late at night. Just change me into a real girl and I will be the best person ever. Stuff like that. Now that my prayer is about to be answered it feels wrong to complain about the discomfort. I probably will though."

"Yeah, next shots at bed time. We get a sedative with them to keep us out for the worst of it. I asked the nurse about it."

"So what's your story, Frank?"

"Same as the rest of us I suppose," Frank replied, "I was in equipment sales. I traveled a lot for work. I read lots of stories on the sites that they were apparently monitoring. I even set up a couple of female profiles online but never did much with them. One evening I got a knock on my door. It was Hailey. She showed me the file she had on me and made me the offer. I accepted. She collected my DNA with that cheek swab thing and told me where to go for my med check and psych evaluation and here I am."

A large African-American man who had been sitting on the sofa chimed in, "Except for the job that could be me you just described. I'm Joe. I was an electrician. Kind of frightening what people can find out about us if they have a mind to."

"Yeah," Martin said. "Something to keep in mind the next time around."

"So, you guys want to play pool?" Frank said.

***

Two weeks later Martin didn't go to the lounge anymore. No one else did either. The itching was nearly constant, his muscles felt like they were on fire and his joints hurt to put any weight on them. It surprised him when two nurses showed up at his bedside with a wheelchair at the time he normally received his shots.

"No shots today?" Martin asked hopefully.

"Not until later. Today we have to take you upstairs," his normal nurse said.

"Through the doors we aren't supposed to go through? Aren't they afraid I will see something?" Martin said in a snarky voice. He hated behaving that way normally. Everything annoyed him lately and he couldn't help hemself.

"Not anymore Martin, you are at the point that you are unlikely to remember anything but not so far into the treatment that you have to be sedated all of the time. We are taking you to meet the geneticist that has been working on your case."

"Sounds great, but I am hardly dressed for a visit," he joked weakly.

"He won't hold it against you," she chuckled. ""Now let us help you into the chair."

Soon Martin found himself sitting in a rather average looking office cubical which was notable only for being somewhat larger than a standard office cube and for the astonishing amount of superhero comic collectible items scattered about.

"Hi Martin," said a balding younger man. He had the slight paunch of a man who spends most of his life sitting at a desk. "I am Lewis Alvarez. I have done your initial work up. Would you like to see an
approximation of what you will look like?"

"That sounds great Mr. Alvarez."

I have a PhD, so it's Dr. Alvarez, but I prefer Lewis." he said with a grin while typing a password to unlock his screen.

It was a really large monitor, maybe a 27". Martin could clearly see the image of a naked woman with her arms held straight out from her shoulders rotating in the center of the screen. There were boxes with sliders and different numbers arrayed on each side of the image. They were all labeled with headings describing what they referred to.

"This is our best guess of what you would look like without any changes to your DNA. As you can see you would be around five feet tall, slight build, medium brown hair etc." Lewis said pointing to the readouts on the left side of the screen. "Let me zoom in on the face so you can get a closer look."

Martin saw a conventionally pretty girl with medium brown hair, light brown eyes and a small upturned nose. Not bad at all but not exactly a head turner. She looked like an average girl, essentially a female version of him as a teenager.

"Now let me load the changes that we will be making," Lewis said clicking on an icon in the corner.
Martin looked closely at the new image. This girl was the same but somehow better. It seemed like the positions of the eyes and mouth had shifted slightly he couldn't quite say what exactly was different. Maybe larger eyes? A better waist to hip ratio? He would have rated the first face as pretty but this second image was very pretty.

"As you can see," Lewis continued, "things change as we eliminate troublesome genetic markers and replace them with known healthy sequences. We have access to a remarkable genetic database of over a million annotated samples. I have very high confidence in the changes we will be making to your DNA and of course you will pass on the superior genes to any offspring you might have. By the way, your health was probably going to go south within the next couple of years. I took out your predisposition for three types of cancer, and replaced everything related to your heart. The med team said your valves were in bad shape for a man of your age and condition. You should now have a good long life barring any bad luck on your part. "

"This is amazing!" Martin said. He could not take his eyes off of the image of his future self.

"That is not all." Lewis grinned, "What if I told you that you have some cosmetic choices that you can make? Part of what we are trying to do is develop the ability to change ones appearance as well as restore youth and vitality. You are one of the lucky ones that have been selected for this addendum to the study"

"That sounds great. What can I control?"

"Let's start at the top and work our way down. There are some limits to what we can do. For example I can't give you Asian features in your face without affecting the rest of your body somewhat. I cannot give you a different body type. And I cannot give you an unnatural hair color such as bright red. Also I am not allowed to make changes that are far outside of the norm such as straight platinum blond hair on typically African features and skin tone. There is still plenty of room within your genotype to make adjustments."

"How will this work?

In simplified terms, what happens is that if we decide to change your eye color to blue, our program will compare your corrected DNA with all of the blue eyed people in the database and find the nearest match to your revised DNA sequence which has not been flagged for eye problems. I will then copy the eye color sequence from that sample into yours. Then I recheck my work to be sure nothing has been adversely affected. Everyone gets new eyes by the way. I hope you like having better than 20/20 vision."

"Sounds great," Martin said. "So, my understanding is that I can make some tweaks but keep them reasonable given my genetic starting point."

"Exactly. So what do you think about hair color?"

Lewis and Martin worked their way through the list and in the end Martin was pleased that he would be at least a couple inches taller than five feet. He would have chocolate brown hair and hazel or green eyes. Martin had never been fond of the light dusting of freckles on his face so he asked for his skin to be as unmarked as possible. He also requested just slightly larger than normal size breasts for his new body. He wanted them to be noticeable but not unusually large for his new female frame. He had known several women with back problems due to having large boobs and he did not want to deal with that or with them sagging as he aged. Lewis agreed to make those changes and had also said he would try to manage smaller feet and more of a cute button nose.

"Thanks for this Lewis," Martin said as the nurse arrived to wheel him back to his room." I will remember our meeting as the most enjoyable hour I have had in years."

"When you come out on the other side you won't remember this at all Martin. It was great getting to know you though. I am really pleased with my work on you. I think you will be too."

The treatments continued with no break from routine after that. It didn't matter, by the middle of the third week Martin had stopped going to the cafeteria for meals because of the constant nausea. A few days later he was being sustained by an IV drip and was sedated most of the time. By the time all of the patients were sedated it was a relief for everyone who worked on the patient ward. All of the screaming and crying had really put the staff on edge.

***

"Is that the last of them?" Hailey asked Dr. Daniel Yamata the inventor of the gene rejuvenation process. He had just locked down the last latch on a large stainless steel tank.

"Yes," he said turning the valve which flooded the tank with a special fluid. "Number 60, Martin Green."

"Not for too much longer," Hailey chuckled. "How are you holding up? This is the largest group yet."

"Not badly. I am at the upper limit of what I can personally manage but Blake and Erin are becoming quite capable. We have groomed all of the DNA sequences and I think the recipients will be pleased."

"Will she be hot like me?" Hailey said nodding at the tank which contained Martin.

"Oh, absolutely," Daniel chuckled. "All of these subjects received some form of enhancements. Simon is worried about our continued funding under General Stick-Up-His-Ass so we are doing a full array of both cosmetic and therapeutic enhancements on each subject." Daniel said.

"Do you really think we will be able to offer the process to regular civilians if the grants dry up?"

"I think we are at the point where this is almost as safe as conventional surgery," Daniel said. "The only real drawback is the cost. Simon believes that there is money to be made offering our services discretely to certain high net worth individuals if we have to look elsewhere."

"Do you think we will ever be able to roll this out to the public?"

"That's the dream, Hailey. How cool would it be for people who are ready to retire, the age when most people are slowing down due to age related health problems, could go to a clinic and come out young again in a matter of months. Bad heart, don't wait for a transplant just get rejuvenation treatment. Inoperable cancer just get rejuvenation treatment. Lose a limb, get rejuvenated. And obviously once we get the male switch figured out we will have the perfect solution for folks with gender dysphoria."

"Will you be able to get the costs down? I know right now we are looking at more than a million for each procedure.”

"As we scale up the cost of the equipment and material will go way down. Right now we have to formulate everything in house. If we can get to the point where we are actually mass producing rather than hand crafting our equipment, drugs, retroviruses, and nutrient fluids we will significantly lower costs. The genetics lab is also hopeful that they will someday be able to automate at least the first pass of DNA grooming which would save about twenty hours of work per client. Don't get me wrong, Hailey this will never be a cheep process but in time I hope we can make it comparable to a heart transplant or a cycle or two of cancer therapy."

"I look forward to my next rejuvenation then. Our health plan better cover it, buster!"

"With your stock you should be rich enough to cover it out of pocket by then. Seriously, I think this is doable from a science and engineering standpoint. We just need enough time and money to solve our current challenges. The social challenges of greatly extended lifespans will be something else to solve. That's another reason we prefer to work through the government Our security is top notch. If the wider world thought we were doing anything other than trying to regrow amputated limbs and regrow organs things could get dangerous for even our least knowledgeable employee. Now, if you will excuse me I have to initiate the first set of gene splices."

"No worries." Hailey said. "Simon wanted me to help with the next batch of recruits today. Talk to you later."

Daniel sighed as he watched Hailey walk out of the warehouse-like space. He loved his wife, but he could still appreciate the beauty that he had helped to create. Hailey had a first rate ass.

***

Daniel was reviewing some data on the current group of test subjects when Simon called. "Hello Simon," he said answering on the first ring. He had set Simon's ringtone to "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" by Modest Mouse because a call from Simon with great news usually meant Daniel and his team would be up all night preparing materials for Simon's next big meeting.

"Daniel. I need to give a status presentation to our friends in government next week. What are the high points I can hit?"

"Everything is going as planned. The enhancement packages seem to have been incorporated successfully. They are recognizable as human forms now rather than giant blobs of cells. I can send you some images. The changes that we made in the protocol seem to be working. These subjects are 2.73% more developed as compared to the same point in the last version. Best of all there is no sign of the toxic rejection syndrome which occasionally bit us on the ass during the first trials. That may be due to the overall better health of this group. It was difficult to stabilize people who were already dying while prepping them for cellular metamorphosis. I am pleased to report that all of these subjects should live and be exceptionally healthy. The next group of men will be ready to go into the tank next week. If everything continues to go well we will be on track to have the natural born females done by the time the men have finished the basic socialization module."

"Great! Put it all together in a power point with appropriately impressive handouts and have it for me to review by Friday."

"Thanks for the long lead time," Daniel said sarcastically. "I cannot wait to turn everything over to the health and fitness group for the summer. Honestly Simon, when I told you we needed to scale up our numbers I was thinking less than 240 at a time."

"Hey buddy, it could be worse. You could have to go and deal with General Richardson. Every time I go he insists on going drinking on our dime, and I have to smile and pay the tab. I never would have thought in college that strip clubs would get old. Anyway Dan we sold the idea as a way to heal large numbers of critically injured soldiers. We kind of need to demonstrate that. We have been at this for fifteen years and are largest group was the ten we did last year."

"Way to take one for the team Simon. I will remember your sacrifice in my spare time. Are you sure that you don't want to trade responsibilities?"

"I bet your wife would love it that," Simon said with a sarcastic laugh.

***

I know that this is a very slow buildup to the actual change but I think it is more plausible that such a big change would require quite a bit of time.

Thanks for staying with me. I will probably post the third part this week then move to a weekly posting schedule so that I don't have a big gap when I finally catch up to my new writing.

Wake Up Time

Lewis and Daniel watched as the slimy naked girl was lifted from the tank onto the gurney where Daniel would do his initial assessment. Lewis was there to take samples and make a visual assessment about the accuracy of his computer models prediction of the participant's appearance. This was the last girl to emerge from the tanks. Lewis remembered talking to the old guy, his name was Marvin, no Martin, whatever - he had done well by him.

Lewis Alvarez was a happy man today. He felt that his group E-33 to E- 44 were going to turn out better than any of the others. The researchers had been working together on a new gene selection algorithm until he had a difference of opinion with Howard Strickland the group leader. Dr. Yamato himself had then been called in to resolve the issue. The result being that Lewis had been given permission to develop his method independently. Even fresh out of the tank goo Lewis thought that his girls looked healthier than the others. If his work was as good as he expected, his eleven girls would live much longer, age slower and more easily maintain health and fitness as compared to other study participants.

Daniel began dictating into a small recorder. "Participant E-44. All vitals nominal. Height, five feet four inches, weight 85.3 pounds, eyes respond to stimulation, reflexes normal," He said as he tapped her knee with a rubber mallet. "Approximate age to be determined after the first round of hormone therapy."

"What color were her eyes Daniel?" Lewis interrupted. "I remember this one and eye color was one of the attempted changes."

"Oh didn't I say? They are hazel. Here I will open one so you can photograph it for your records."

"Thanks." Lewis said taking a close up of the girl's eye. It had been a good day for him. He was pretty happy with all eleven of his girls. It was a gratifying to see how close his results were to the outcome his computer model projected. He would bet his results were more accurate than Strickland's. With luck this would lead to Topiary Genetics adopting his modeling methods and he could get a big fat bonus check and even a promotion.

***

The Topiary Genetics main conference room was filled with all of the staff that weren't absolutely essential to the immediate well being of the sixty freshly decanted young women in the basement hospital suite.

"Congratulations everyone," Simon Graves was saying. "We did not lose any of the clients and Daniel assures me that they are all in good health."

Simon waited for the cheering to die down. "The next few weeks are going to be stressful on all of us. We have a lot of work to do. This is the largest group of clients we have ever had, and we have three more groups in process. I know you will each give it everything you have."

Simon continued, "Having fulfilled the first milestone of our contract, Daniel and I have decided to grant each of you stock options based on your salary and years of employment." There were more cheers. "What this means for you is that even young Mr. Alton our newest patient care assistant should be able to retire comfortably in a few years when everything is public and FDA approved. Also there will be a bonus in your next pay check. Thank you all for sticking with us. You are all as dear to me as my own family and we want you to know that we appreciate everything you do. Now there are refreshments in the cafeteria for those that can spare the time. Daniel, if you could please stay. We have some more things to go over."

***

"Now that everyone else is down at the celebration let's video conference in Rodney and Helen and get them to release the next round of funding," Simon said.

"Good afternoon General Richardson, Major Williams, Dr. Madden," Simon said as soon as the secure connection had been established. "It is a great day for the project. Our initial assessment is that all participants are free of adverse effects. However we have a month of work to do before any of them will be alert for long enough to test much of their higher brain functions."

"I thought that you had real results to report," Rodney said.

"This is a real result, Colonel," Daniel said. "This is the exact result specified in our contract for release of the next round of funding."

"Tom?" Rodney said to alert his subordinate to take over.

"Yes sir," Tom began. "What Dr. Yamata says is true. You and Dr. Madden will need to certify the results for the funds to be released."

"Dr. Madden, have you made your assessment?" Colonel Richardson asked.

"The data is very positive. My view is that Topiary Genetics is exceeding our expectations. I was impressed during my review of the facility last week. I would have loved to have been there for this phase but I have to give a talk in the ethics of using DNA in therapeutic treatments tomorrow in Boston."

"I see. I have been highly involved with other projects. I'm relying on Tom to stay abreast of things on the Topiary Genetics project," Colonel Richardson said. "Perhaps Dr. Yamata would give us a summary of the project to date and briefly cover next steps."

"Certainly Colonel," Daniel said, smoothly switching to lecture mode. "As you know each candidate went through a rigorous selection process. We then spent weeks saturating their systems with a precisely defined cocktail of hormones and pharmaceuticals to prepare the subjects to receive the process. During the last week of preparation we induced the majority of the subjects' cells to become, in essence, stem cells. At that time the subjects were placed in life support tanks where the body could reconstruct itself to the new specifications, with a few enhancements and alterations. Today we have removed the subjects from the tanks and will begin..."

"What enhancements were these?" The General asked.

All of the others present were wondering if the General had read any of the material that had been sent to his attention over the last six months. All except for Major Williams that is, who knew for a fact that he had not.

"As you know we groom the patients DNA to eliminate known genetic disease markers. During that process we also have been experimenting with altering physical attributes. Aside from the potential commercial applications, the DOD expressed an interest in having soldiers who undergo the process come out being naturally stronger, faster or having more endurance. To that end we have done what we can although from our past efforts I expect only minor success. Our previous effort gained only a one half percent increase in muscle strength over the general population. We were also able to show a slight increase in oxygen utilization efficiency which should translate to a small but measurable increase in endurance. Cosmetically we asked each subject to list, for example, hair and eye color preferences in descending order and tried to comply."

"Are those the only physical changes you can manage? No super powers?" The colonel asked with a smirk.

"Sorry. We can't do super powers. It goes without saying, all of the subjects wanted to as be attractive as possible. We are fortunate that in general, and with some notable exceptions, physical attractiveness is an indicator of overall health. Broadly speaking those who come through the process are generally as attractive as the base genetic material will allow. This is due both to our efforts in eliminating bad genetic sequences as well as the fact that the body emerges from the process never having been exposed to adverse environmental factors. The major drawback so far has been that they tend to be shorter than one would expect. This is due to the amount of free energy available to the body as it changes itself. We have seen from our women volunteers when we compare them to their former selves that they have somewhat more symmetrical features than before, however they lose an average of an inch in height every time they undergo the process."

"I understand," Colonel Richardson said. "What's next?"

"After this meeting I will begin overseeing the process of rebuilding their immunities. We saved samples of blood from each patient and we will repatriate them with their donors. We will also be transplanting samples of fecal matter into their intestines."

"You are going to what?" The General barked.

"The blood contains a lifetime of antibodies. It will boost the patient's immune system in the short term. The feces are needed because our bodies have huge amounts of bacteria on and in them. We can't live without our colonies of microbes to help us. For the patients to live, we have to re-colonize their systems with appropriate microbes. Even with these steps and a vaccination program they will have a tendency to become ill easily for some time to come without proper care. That is one of the reasons why we have to quarantine them at site two before sending them on."

"So at this point if a soldier needed this process he would come out as a shorter female version of himself who might have almost as much endurance as he did as a man but not be nearly as strong. So... basically useless," Rodney said with his usual tact.

Simon stepped in. "Rodney, this is still early days. Every time we do this we learn a lot. I imagine once these girls start training up their bodies we will get a lot of good data that will not only help this project but will help the armed forces in how new recruits are fed and trained. Remember it will be months before we have enough data to judge which changes had the desired effect, which were negative or if a change did nothing measurable. This is science, but it is not an exact science. That is why your predecessor pushed for this large scale test. We will be receiving a massive amount of information that we can work with to overcome our current challenges."

"Fine, I will release the money. If you will excuse me, I have another meeting to get to," Rodney said cutting his connection abruptly.

"Asshole," Daniel muttered.

***

Hailey looked down at the sleeping brunette. She had been busy all afternoon piercing all of the girls ears and was glad this was the last one. She still felt that she had the better job today as Dr. McCullough had been through this morning checking their IV tubes and dialating all of the girls that had opted not to deal with the hassles of first time sex. Erin would have to repeat the process several times before the girls were fully conscious. She didn't seem to mind though. Erin always struck as the cheerful and helpful sort.

She quickly placed the silver studs in the lobes of the comatose girl. She was happy that the patient care associates would deal with cleaning and rotating the posts. Hailey thought that it was a great idea to get as much as possible dealt with while the new girls were sleeping.

***

Martin opened his eyes to find himself in what seemed to be a hospital room. Had there been an accident? He was having trouble moving his head and focusing his eyes properly. "Perhaps I've been in a car crash," he thought. His mind was a confusion of different impressions. The bed seemed very large. There was someone in the other bed. He was very cold. There was no pain. He did not itch. That seemed to be important for some reason. Soon after he was had drifted off again.

Sometime later he awoke. Martin tried to sit up but he wasn't able to control his muscles. He began to panic. "Have I had some kind of stroke? I am in a hospital, the nurse will be able to tell me what is going on." he thought.

"Nuawwwa," was what came out. This was bad. At least he didn't itch. Why was he obsessed with itching? His voice sounded strange. The tone was higher, perhaps his throat had been damaged in the accident or whatever had happened.

He heard footsteps coming down the hall. Someone entered the room. "I am Pam, your therapist. It's great to see you awake finally. I will try to answer all of the questions that you are unable to ask. First, you are a volunteer in a medical research project. As far as we can tell you came through the process with flying colors. All of you did. We have had you in a medically induced coma for several weeks. You are weak as a kitten. You are going to tire quickly because you need to develop some muscle tone, which is part of what you will be doing here.

"You are not going to be able to speak properly for a while. That is expected. You need to experiment with sounds. Don't try for words yet just work on making different tones. Try for vowels, those are the easiest. Also work on focusing your eyes at different distances. I will let the others know that you are up, then I will be back and we can begin working on your gross motor skills. Give me a long ahhhh sound if you understand. "

"Ahhhhhhhh," Martin sounded.

Pam beamed at him in pleasure. “Excellent. Be back soon.”

Martin closed his eyes in thought. At least he could manage to do that much. He was beginning to remember more about the project. Pam had said that he had come through with flying colors. He remembered a strange lady coming to his home one night and offering him a chance to change. That meant that he was no longer a he. That also meant he was no longer old. He was getting a second chance at life and he, uh she had better not waste it. With that thought she drifted back to sleep.

***

The next time Martin opened her eyes she saw Hailey standing at the foot of her bed.

"Good morning Martin or I should say good morning Kelli," she said. "I am so happy that you are finally awake. Anyway, I like being the one to tell each of you your new name and officially welcome you to your new life. You name is Kelli Renee Bellamy. We will get you a packet with your official personal history in a week or two. Your sleepy head roommate is Nicole. She may be awake again soon. Please put forth as much effort as you can with the various therapists while they are available to you here. Early effort will pay off in the long run. Good fine motor skills mean better handwriting so you can upgrade that chicken scratch you signed in with to something more appropriate to a young lady. We will talk more when you can actually talk." Hailey gave her a big smile and a wink as she walked out.

'Kelli,' she thought to herself. 'Not my first choice but at least it was on the list.' With that thought she fell back to sleep.

The third time Kelli woke she found her roommate looking across the gap between the hospital beds at her.

"Awwww," the other girl babbled smiling. It seemed that she was pleased to have company. Kelli interpreted the sound as 'Hello I am pleased to see you awake.'

"Ooooo," Kelli said back. She was trying for 'I am happy to see you also,' however her tongue and jaw seemed not to be team players at the moment. Oh well. Time to have a look at the new neighbor she thought as she continued to make happy baby noises at her new friend.

The girl, Nicole, she remembered, had a light fuzz of blond hair on her head, perhaps an inch long. She had very fine dark blond eyebrows, making her blue eyes appear very large. The girl was frail looking, laying as she was in her thin hospital gown. Even so, her face was beautiful. Kelli hoped she didn't look so birdlike but knew that she probably did. She wondered what she looked like right now. With luck she would turn out to be pretty as well.

The two girls continued to make noises at each other and occasionally laughing at the absurdity of the situation until Pam showed up some time later.

"You two are doing great," she said with enthusiasm. "This is exactly what we are looking for at this stage. Our first job is to get your diapers changed then start to have you relearn speech. If you girls are ready we will start with the vowels..."

***

After a couple of weeks the girls were starting to be able to form almost all of the words that they wanted to although the 's' and the 'th' sounds were difficult to make. Kelli also was starting to get solid foods if one considered apple sauce and mashed potatoes to be solid. The girls had been getting most of their nutrition from baby bottles for the time being. It was the most reliable way to get the calories they needed into them, even if it was a bit humiliating. Kelli was beginning to feel her new teeth starting to break through her gums and wished that they would hurry the hell up.

As a matter of fact she wished everything would hurry. She knew she could walk if her legs would just get strong enough. The therapists had needed to warn her about overdoing her exercises. She felt she could do more though. Even though she quickly ran out of energy she usually lasted longer than the other girls in her group.

The room Kelli was in now was much nicer than the windowless room that she vaguely remembered from before. She had didn't think that this was the same location she was at initally but at least the lighting was better. She had been told that this would be her home for the next few months until they were ready to move.

"Hey Nikki," Kelli said to her roommate, who was lying in her own bed building a tower of Lego blocks on her tray table to develop fine motor skills.

"Hmm?" she replied, not taking her attention from her hand as it wavered toward the place she intended to deposit the next block.

"Do you miss it?" Kelli asked. "Your life from before? I have been trying to remember and it is almost like I am remembering a movie. It's like the past few years are something that happened to someone else. The memories get more solid the further back I try to go. I remember the beagle that I had when I was a kid in detail. I remember my kids. I know I had two cats recently but I have no recollection of what they looked like or if they had anyone to look after them after I left. It is really bothering me I don't think that I would leave them to starve. I am not that kind of person but I can't remember making any arrangements."

"I'm sure that they are fine." The blond girl said. "You probably left them with someone before you left. Remember that Hailey told us we had all been on a fishing trip as part of the cover to get us here. I am a little shaky on the run up to being here. I don't even remember agreeing to do this. I have no doubt that I did agree though because it seems to me that I'm much happier now. I do remember longing for something like this to happen but never having the nerve to do anything about it. Wishing to be a girl, I mean. Anyway I am sure that you provided for the cats. You should ask Hailey the next time she is in if you said anything about it."

***

It turned out that Hailey could help her out. As part of the memory sub-project each of the participants had recorded hours of video answering questions about their lives during the first weeks at the old location as well as a brief message to their future self. As soon as she asked Hailey about her cats, Kelli was given access to her message.

Hailey had dashed out of the room to get her lap top and accessed the message that Martin had recorded. "This should put your mind to rest. Do you want privacy or would you prefer me to be with you in case you have any questions?"

"You can stay. I want Nikki to hear what he has to say as well so we can talk about it later."

"Okay, I will put it on both of your screens," Hailey said as she busied herself pulling their monitors around on their swing arms to a comfortable viewing distance and connecting her laptop. "Here we go."

On the monitor in front of her, Kelli saw an older, somewhat overweight, man with thick glasses. "Hello girl," The man began. "If you are watching this everything worked like they said it would. They tell me that you may have unpredictable memory gaps so I am going to run through all of the important stuff that wasn't covered in the video interviews we have been doing." The man took a drink before continuing.

"I updated the will last year, so we are all good there. Before the trip I sent letters to the kids letting them know I was going to try to stop being such a recluse. I tried to sound upbeat about the trip and tried to leave them with a good memory of me. I left the cats with the neighbor I believe she will find them a good home or keep them after she learns of my death. They tell me I, we, I am just going to use we and us, this is weird. We won't need glasses anymore and our ankle shouldn't hurt anymore when the weather changes like it has since we broke it in college. As a matter of fact we shouldn't have any health issues. So, we have that going for us. Which is nice.

"I don't have much else to pass on that won't be covered in the memory tests. Hailey says we will be able to fill in the gaps when we start on that after some recovery time. I will just leave you now with the hope that we do better the second time around. Have more fun and less fear. Be the open and friendly person that we have always wanted to be. Good luck kid."

"Oh wow, I didn't realize I was that old and ugly," Kelli said after the screen went dark.

Hailey then played Nicole's message for the girls before leaving them to talk.

***

Thank you all for reading. The next part will be posted next Monday.

Getting Stronger

At the end of the third week since the she woke in her new body, Kelli and her roommate Nicole were still practicing their fine motor skills by stacking blocks and hooking paper clips together on their tray tables.

"I can't wait," she said, "until they let us up by ourselves. I want to use the bathroom by myself."

Nicole replied, "At least we are out of diapers. I never thought I would be happy to use a bed pan before this. Pam said that by the end of next week we should be using walkers to get around."

"This morning in therapy, I was able to stand by myself for almost a minute," Kelli said. "My balance is coming back and I hope I will be strong enough to walk soon."

"Pam mentioned tomorrow they are going to get all of us together on mats in the cafeteria and let us meet each other again. It will be cool to see everyone, not just the people we see during sessions. I think that this will be the first time in years I am excited for a group activity," Nicole said.

***

Finally all of the girls and staff were together in the cafeteria. The girls were all sitting or laying on the floor which had been covered with exercise mats. The staff had positioned themselves along the back wall.

"Good Morning everyone Hailey said as she entered the room followed by a graying Asian looking man in a lab coat. "I now have the pleasure to introduce Dr. Dan to our young ladies. The doctor has a last name obviously, but for security reasons we aren't supposed to use it. He will have some brief statements that will probably clear up many of the questions that all of you may have."

The new young women turned their eyes to Dr. Dan in anticipation. "I am happy to see all of you doing so well. You may not realize it but you are recovering from the process an average of six percent faster than our next most recent protocol. I know that you have all been curious about the changes to your bodies and have asked the staff many questions for which they do not have answers. I will try to cover many of them now. It should be clear that you are all experiencing an accelerated version of normal childhood development. This has been a frustrating time for some of our previous girls. We are aware of the difficulties that you will face as you adapt to each new situation. I promise you that we will provide you with the support that you deserve."

Daniel felt a sense of accomplishment as he looked at the newly minted young women. He thought that even if they never were to control the Y chromosome reversion in his lifetime, he and his team had truly done something to help mankind.

"Speaking of support, you are done with the first round of hormonal therapy to kick start puberty in your bodies. Most of you will soon begin to ovulate, Some of you who came out on the lower end of the biological age range may need another round. The wellness team will be in constant communication with each of you to document the changes and ensure your good health."

Daniel paused to take another look at the attentive faces of his audience. "Both group and individual psychotherapy sessions will now become more frequent. Please remember that talking about any issues that may come up is vital to your future mental health. If anyone of you begins to feel depressed or think od self harm please contact any staff member for help. We can then look for the causes and try to fix it. At this stage of your new lives such issues are likely to be caused by a hormonal imbalance which we can and will correct. Now onto what is going on with your bodies. Please pardon my point by point delivery but I have a lot to cover."

"Your skin is like a baby's skin. It has never been exposed to the sun. You will begin getting very short daily UV exposure in the tanning both outside of the examination rooms next week. We will start with just 15 seconds and work up to five minutes of daily exposure to acclimatize your skin and promote vitamin D production.

"Growth. Like it or not you are all at nearly your full height, and it is probably not as tall as you would wish for. We cannot tell you exactly how much more you may grow, figure an inch and a half maximum future growth depending on your personal genetics.

"Teeth. The ones coming in are your permanent teeth. Due to the constraints of the process all of you will need the services of an orthodontist. Braces will be fitted as soon as practical while you are at this facility.

"Hair. You may not have noticed in the short time that you have been awake but your hair is growing in at about twice the average rate. This is an artifact of the process and will slow to the average rate of approximately 1/2 inch per month within one year."

Hailey spoke up at this point. "One of your on site mentors was once a Hollywood stylist and owned a high end salon. She will style your hair as soon as it is long enough. When she arrives she will also be in charge of what I am calling 'How to be a girl 101' it will be a one hour session every day."

Daniel smiled at the interruption, "Trust Hailey to keep track of what is truly vital." Everyone in the room chuckled. "What's next? Oh yes, muscle tone will also begin to come back rapidly though coordination is somewhat slower to develop as all of you have been experiencing.

"Breast development will not be noticeable for a week or two. The rejuvenation process is quite a shock to the system and so even though we have given your bodies an estrogen jump start, you will not begin to notice any development until your body has reached the appropriate stage of equilibrium. Please let the staff know of changes that begin to occur in your body so that we can capture the data as accurately as possible. Next..."

Daniel spoke for almost an hour before making his last point. "Some of you may have noticed that you lack a navel, or belly button. This is because there was no umbilical cord during your transformation. Unfortunately it was not safe to do this procedure before your bodies had begun to recover. So beginning next week I and my staff will be performing umbilicoplasty on each of you to provide a proper appearance. Before you ask, everyone is getting an innie."

***

After Dr. Daniel had left Hailey and the therapists encouraged them all to reintroduce themselves.

"I am Courtney, though you might remember me as Joseph," the light brown skinned girl sitting behind Nicole said.

"I think I might remember you, I'm Nicole. This is Kelli," she said nodding to her roommate.

"Hi Courtney," Kelli said trying to memorize the name. She had never believed names were so important before her transformation. Now every time someone called her by name she felt warm inside. It was as if her true self was being affirmed. "Is the screen in your room only able to get kid shows too?"

"Yes. Hailey told me that we were going to only be able to watch certain shows for some time in order to understand all of the cultural references that girls our age should know. It kind of makes since to me. Who knew some of these cartoons even existed? Besides I really liked 'Frozen'. I think that by the time we leave here we should be up to date. "

"I hope so, I am kind of concerned about fitting in," Kelli said. "Listen to us we are still choosing the same words that older adults would choose. I don't want anyone to start speaking with me and think that I am strange."

Courtney replied, "That is probably another reason that they are restricting the media that we have access to. Total immersion in youth culture should enable us to fit in better. I do miss the news hour on PBS though. I can't imagine many sixteen year old girls choosing to watch the news when anything else is available though."

The three girls laughed at the idea.

"I am sure there are a few. I think that those kids would certainly stand out in a group. I get the impression that they would prefer us to fit in rather than call attention to ourselves," Nicole said.

"I don't blame them," Courtney said. "Can you imagine the advantage this technology will give our security agencies once they work the bugs out."

***

The girls had been broken up into four groups to simplify scheduling. Hailey had named three of them after the Powerpuff Girls cartoon characters, Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles. For the fourth she had chosen Barbie to keep with the B theme. Kelli found herself in the Buttercup group with her new friends Nicole, Michelle and Olivia.

Kelli soon found herself in a daily routine of group therapy, then physical therapy followed by speech therapy and personal health education, then lunch, then more physical therapy, this time for fine motor skills, then 'Girl101' as they were calling it and once a week she met individually with Holly, her psychologist. At five they had dinner. As soon as the girls could use walkers or canes to get around they had begun taking meals in the cafeteria. After dinner they had free time but the only entertainment that was available was age appropriate music and shows. They were doing about a year per week and were told that they would be up to date by the time they were transferred to school. Kelli had decided that the Barbie movies were really not bad at all.

They soon began learning yoga with Hailey and that was her favorite part of the day. There was just something about the slow stretching exercises that made her feel good. It was slow going relearning almost everything but the rewards were worth any temporary frustration to Kelli. She found herself actually counting her blessings whenever things began to overwhelm her. The list was becoming something of a mantra for her. 'No debt, I'm a girl, no joint pain, I'm a girl, good vision, I'm a girl, great hearing – no more ringing, I'm a girl, I have hair, I'm a girl, I'm getting in shape, I'm a girl.'

Sometimes they were quizzed on their background stories as if they were talking to someone outside of the project. Each girl had been given a packet with the tragic details of her life. Kelli's packet was a sparse 15 pages detailing a family that moved around a lot until her unemployed parents had died when their house had exploded as they had been cooking meth while Kelli was at school. She had been hoping for something better but had not been given a choice. She was studying her packet while lying on her bed when she realized that she had to hurry if she didn't want to be late for her session with Holly the psychologist.

***

"How are you finding your new life this week, Kelli," Dr. Holly Graves said.

Holly looked quite young to be in charge of the project's neuropsychology group, but she had explained to Kelli that she had been deathly ill. As the older brother of Topiary Genetics CEO, she had been asked to be the first human test subject for the process. That was only twelve years before. The first generation of the process had left her with the body of a thirteen year old and about half of the memories of the man that she had been. Subsequently she had been fast tracked through high school and entered college as sixteen year old prodigy. The changes in her brain had given her a fascination with memories and how they are formed and maintained. Simon and Daniel had recognized what a great fit she would make to the team and offered her a job even before she had finished junior year.

"My life isn't exactly what I was expecting," Kelli replied.

"How so?"

"I never expected to be so tired all of the time. I walk on tread mills and do yoga and even practicing handwriting makes my hands hurt. My mouth feels funny with the new braces too. I thought it would be easier."

"Do you regret your decision?"

"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I know that I need to work my new body to make it the one I have always wished for. You know how in the movies when the main character needs to train for something and then there is a two minute montage of training scenes, then presto, the hero is now an expert. I was kind of hoping it would be like that," Kelli said in a wry tone.

Holly laughed. "Do you think you would value your new situation as much if things were easier?"

"I don't know, Dr. Holly. I just want to see some progress. Look at me. I look so plain. My body doesn't look so much like a scare crow anymore, but my face is so plain. I mean most of us are pretty average looking so it isn't like I feel ugly. I actually like my face better than before. I was just hoping to be pretty like Hailey. You are very pretty as well. What happened with the rest of us?"

"Trust me, every one of you are far above average in the looks department. The process is actually still going on in your body giving you a somewhat unfinished look. Also you haven't been given the girls secret weapon yet. Makeup," Holly said. "Go to the media room and do an image search for stars without makeup in your spare time. Believe me, none of you have anything to worry about." Holly was thinking to herself that the geneticists may have done too good of a job with most of these girls. How were they going to explain an entire high school filled with nearly flawless orphan girls. At least it wasn't her problem. Hers was making sure each girl came through this transition mentally stable and confident in herself.

"Why haven't we been given makeup?"

"There is no time for it yet, and with all of the perspiring you girls do it would not be a good idea. Marissa will teach you everything about it soon."

"Is it difficult to learn?"

"It takes practice. When I first started I would spend hours trying to get things to look good. Now it is second nature. I suspect that all of the transformed men will be highly motivated to learn the skill. What else have you been thinking about?"

"I have been wondering how long term I should be thinking once I am on my own. I mean by the time I am old again the process may be commercially available. Are we effectively going to be immortal?

"I have wondered about that myself. The answer is no. At least until there is a major breakthrough. Part of what makes the process attractive is that it shields your brain from altering so much that you lose all of your memories. As we live we constantly add and subtract memories from our brain. Experiments on animals indicate that after the second time through the process subjects are just not as coherent. Personalities alter significantly in rats and monkeys appear to exhibit signs of dementia. Like it or not it looks like two times through the process is all that one can have unless we have a breakthrough. We haven't tested this on humans yet obviously, but that is our assumption."

"Still that gives all of us the chance at a really long lifespan."

"True but I can tell you that the process will always be expensive. There is an enormous amount of resources involved. Probably the cheapest it will ever get will be the cost of a major operation coupled with a long hospital stay. If you really want to try for a third youth some day you either need to stay involved with the project or get very rich."

"I will have to keep that in mind. Maybe I will find myself a sugar daddy," Kelli chuckled. "Though at this rate I wouldn't know what to do with one."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that I am bothered that I haven't yet experienced any sexual urges. I am what, about sixteen? I know that many normal girls sometimes masturbate from an early age. My younger sister would wear the faces off of her stuffed animals as a kid using them to get off. She told me about it once when I asked her what happened to her stuffed rabbit, that was a bit awkward for teen guy me. Anyway, I have tried playing with myself and I got nothing out of it."

"Kelli, you have to understand that while you are one hundred percent girl now, it is going to take time for your body to reach equilibrium. As far as your brain is concerned it is trying to recover from something like a stroke. The metamorphosis that you have been through is both mentally and physically taxing. Even though you know that you are feeling better than you probably have in years, all of your systems are still reacting as if you have just come through a major trauma. I see on your chart that you are still sleeping nearly fifteen hours every day. This is a sign of your body and mind are coming to terms with this new situation. You will be here for two more months before we move the group out for summer conditioning. Try not to be too concerned about it. By the time you leave here, you will be a fully functioning young woman. Just do your best to follow our guidance and everything will be fine."

"It just seems to be taking so long." Kelli said.

"I understand. It has only been two months since you have been out of the can and one since you have been awake. So many things have happened in that short time that all of us not experiencing it are amazed at the progress you have shown."

"I will try to be more patient." Kelli said with a sigh. "I have wanted this for so long though. Do we need to talk about anything more?"

"How is your memory doing? What is the last thing you remember before your change?" Holly asked.

"I remember playing pool with a couple of the guys and missing easy shots because I couldn't concentrate. Mostly I just remember itching and pain."

Do you remember what you did for a living?"

"I remember that I had been an accountant."

"Were you a CPA?"

"I think so. I remember studying for the exam but I cannot remember taking it."

After a few more questions about the details of Martin's career Holly felt it was time to try a different set of memories. "Okay let's try places that you lived..."

***

Kelli's second favorite part of the day were the sessions with Marissa White and Hailey. Their 'girl 101' class covered everything about presenting yourself to the world as a young woman. From fashion to dealing with someone trying to grope you, nothing was out of bounds for discussion and they never acted like any of the girl's questions were stupid. It had been stressed repeatedly that they needed to learn to blend in. The last thing the project wanted was to have a school full of weird girls. That might cause people to wonder where they had all come from.

One of the most surprising things Kelli had learned was that girls talk to each other in public restrooms. Even though she had always longed to be female she just assumed that the unwritten rules of no prolonged eye contact and silence were universal.

Many of the things that they covered were about health and beauty. It seemed that every day they talked for at least a little while about skin care. Kelli assumed that this was because their recent sudden rush of hormones had caused them all to begin experiencing acne and it was especially troubling for people who had not had to deal with a gross whitehead zit for decades. Kelli religiously followed the prescribed skin care regimen and was happy to note that her skin was much less cluttered with red eruptions than many of the other girls.

Most of the girls had been agitating for makeup lessons from Marissa who had spent several years as a makeup artist before opening her own salon and fashion consultancy where she had created looks for many famous and scores of not-so-famous Hollywood personalities.

"Please Marissa. I don't see why they won't even let us have concealer," Jessica, the chief whiner was saying.

"I would love to give all of you lessons. The people in charge of the study have decided that they don't want any unnecessary outside influences on your systems for the time being. The lab is evaluating the products that I gave them and I hope to be cleared to begin soon," Marissa replied.

"It seems unfair. They turned us into girls and now they don't want us to act like girls. Just look at us. All we have to put on is gym clothes. They won't let us have makeup and we all have this ridiculous short hair," Jessica continued to rant. "We are going to look like a school for bull dykes if things don't improve.

"That is not fair to us or the staff," Marissa replied calmly. "We are working hard to make sure that everything reasonable has been done to prepare you for the future. You have to realize that the science has to come first. Each one of you already represents several million dollars of investment by Topiary Genetics. You made a deal and it's a pretty good one. You get poked and prodded and give blood every other day and in return you get a new life in a new body. I think that you can wait a few weeks to put on the war paint. Don't you?"

"I guess so. I am just impatient," Jessica pouted.

"Moving on," Marissa said brightly. "Let's go over some scenarios. Let's say you are walking through a crowd and someone grabs your butt what would a proper reaction be? Anyone?"

Hands raised around the room. "Ok, Kelli. You're up."

"Well," Kelli began. There are two choices. I could either confront it of ignore it. It depends on the situation. If I felt threatened I might choose to avoid confrontation however my inclination would normally be to call the guy out about his behavior in the most embarrassing way I could manage."

"Fair enough. How about you Courtney?"

***

It was during the last week of third month of her new life that Kelli got her first period. She was not alone. At lunch on Wednesday, Courtney had begun to spot. On Thursday Kelli was nauseous and had terrible stomach cramps all day. At dinner her flow came but having talked extensively in group sessions and with Courtney about what to expect, she was as prepared as possible. By the end of the week all of the girls had the experience.

It had been an awkward week for everyone. On Sunday, by special permission from the head nutritionist, they had a small party to recognize their new status as women.

Hailey was again standing in front of the girls in the lounge. "Congratulations ladies! You should now be convinced that all of the plumbing is in working order. We thought a celebration was appropriate. You all have been allowed a special dispensation from the optimized diet we have had you on. There is cake and frozen yogurt in the cafeteria if you will please follow me."

The girls all followed Hailey down the hall avidly discussing what kind of cake they might be getting. As they entered the cafeteria they quieted down immediately. All of the tables had tablecloths and the room was lit only by the tea lights at the center of each table. Many of the staff had come in on their day off. They were waiting across the room as the girls filed in. Dr. Dan stepped forward.

"This has been an important week for all of us. Important to you for obvious reasons. Important to us because we now have confirmation that things are working as expected. Please be seated and it will be our honor to serve you." The staff gave the girls a round of applause as they took their seats.

Kelli and her table mates thought that the party was a nice touch. That night she went to sleep feeling happy and content with herself.

***

Monday morning they were greeted with a change in routine. The group therapy and 'girl 101' sessions were going to be combined for each of the four groups. The psychology staff had decided that they needed to discuss some of the events that were likely to happen over the next few weeks. Kelli's Group, was the first up.

"Today marks the official beginning of the next phase of your development," Dr. Holly began. "Things are going to get emotional for a while. You may find yourself thinking about sex a lot. This is normal. It will pass, but be aware that for some time you are going to be really horney, for lack of a better term. I encourage you to take this time to explore your own bodies. Masturbate. Have sex with each other if you are so inclined and can find a consenting partner. We know that almost all of you had exhibited bisexual tendencies before the change so we won't be shocked. We will be limiting staff access to the participant areas from now on to give you some required privacy," Holly winked and the girls gave a nervous laugh.

"I cannot stress this enough, if you find yourself unable to concentrate, you are probably suffering from sexual frustration. If you are in an inexplicable bad mood, you are probably suffering from sexual frustration. If you find yourself behaving in an uncharacteristic way such as being aggressive or argumentative without cause, you are probably suffering from sexual frustration. I can tell you from my own experience that the next couple of weeks will be surreal. You will probably have some form of sex with more frequency than most people can imagine. Don't worry about it too much. You are not becoming sex maniacs. It is a side effect of the process and every one of your predecessors has gone through the same experience. Relax and try to enjoy the experience until it passes. I am now going to introduce you to my colleague Constance Salazar who is also a recipient of the process. Connie."

A young woman with long dark hair who had been standing quietly at the back of the room strode forward to stand before them. She was dressed in business casual tan slacks and a navy knit shirt with the Topiary Genetics logo on the breast.

"Hello girls, I'm Connie I will be with you for the next couple of years working on the study and being one of the dorm mothers at the school. I recently finished my masters in psychology and my area of study is human sexuality. I encourage all of you to talk to me whenever you have any questions about anything that is happening to you. But today I am here to introduce you to a new friend."

Connie caught something Holly tossed to her from the back of the room. "Meet your new friend," she said holding out the purple object so they could all see it. "This baby has almost everything you could want. Statistically average six inches long, with a realistic ball sack and a suction cup for firm attachment to any convenient smooth surface. Made of durable, body safe silicone this bad boy is just the ticket to stay happy and sane for the next few weeks and beyond. I still have the one I was given during my change. Trust me, it is a lifesaver."

Today I am going to show you how to keep it clean and hygienic and answer any questions about using it, either alone or with a friend. When we are done each of you will be given one of your own. First let's talk about cleaning..."

***

That evening Kelli and Nicole were lying in their beds watching an American Idol episode from a fewf years before and talking. Nicole had her dildo stuck to her nightstand and was idly flicking it with her fingers to make it wobble back and forth.

"Just when are we supposed to try those things out," Kelli said. "It is not like there is a ton of privacy around here."

"We are in private now," Nicole replied.

"Yeah, we are, but I am not."

"Oh, please! I watched them changing your diaper just a few weeks ago. I don't have a problem with you knowing what I am doing."

Kelly pointed to the still wobbling dildo on the nightstand. "Really? I don't see you jamming Mr. Purple there up your vag."

"Well, I want to see who wins. I thought I might experiment after lights out."

"I remember this one. The chubby guy wins," Kelli said while getting up to hit the lights. "There. The lights are out. Don't let me stop you."

"God, what's got into you? There is no need to get snarky about it. Wait. I do know what's gotten into you, or rather what needs to get into you. They told us that if we are in an abnormal mood it would probably be sexual frustration. Kelli, how long have you been wound up like this?"

"I am not snarky," Kelli started then thought better about what she had been planning to say. "Okay I have been feeling like my nerves are all jangly since breakfast. Nikki, I feel like a horney kid. It is really uncomfortable and I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Kelli, you are the best friend I have had in a lot of years. You and I should never be embarrassed about anything with each other. Here, I will go first and you can watch me if you want. That way you won't have any reason to feel awkward."

"I don't think you understand the meaning of that word."

"Shut up. You know exactly what I meant," Nicole said then blew a raspberry at Kelli. "Are we gonna do this or what?"

"Fine, but you have to go first."

"Okay, but you have to take your clothes off. If you are gonna watch me play, I want something pretty to look at."

"Pretty plain you mean," Kelli said. But she took her nightshirt and underwear off in spite of her protest. Kelli had been thinking about how beautiful her friend was for several days. Nicole's blond good looks had been featured in a couple of her more erotic dreams as well. Now that she was sure that Nicole wouldn't think that she was a freak, Kelli was becoming excited about the situation.

Nicole was rubbing herself while watching Kelli in the light of the television. Kelli stood beside her bed watching the show the blond girl was putting on for her. It was amazing. Nicole looked so sexy. After a while Kelly found that she was breathing hard and had begun to touch herself without thinking about it.

Nicole asked in a low sexy voice, "Like what you see, babe?"

Kelli could only nod in reply, too caught up in the moment to do more.

"It's time to put it in. I want you to do it for me. Kind of make it a little more special."

"Nikki, I..."

"I am not asking you to be my girlfriend but sex was always more fun with a partner and..."

Kelli interrupted. "No, silly. I was going to say I would love to do that for you. Now hold still for a second..."

***

Later as they were cuddled together Nicole asked, "Do you feel better now?"

"Mmm, yeah. I feel so relaxed. Thanks for helping me out with that. How about you? I feel like I shortchanged you."

"It was perfect. Although if you feel like more later I wouldn't say no."

***

Dear readers. I originally had a more elaborate sex scene than the final cut you just read. I debated about including it and decided that the suggestion of sex was better than trying to do such a scene justice.

There will be other times in this story where sex will come about in what I intend to be a natural way that will hopefully help to further the plot or define a character.

I would be interested in hearing your preferences.

Things were progressing nicely

The topic of the day in 'girl 101' was their wardrobes. Their instructor Marissa had told them that she would be starting to bring in basic items from discount and second hand stores for each of them. By the time they got to school they would all have a decent, if generic wardrobe to build on. First though she wanted to review what she considered a good basic wardrobe.

Marissa began. "We are going to start simple and build up. I know that most of you want to develop your own style, and I will be happy to help. However you all need to first learn to fit in and learn what the rules are before you can successfully decide to break the fashion rules to stand out.

"Let's start with an overview of what you need to get in order to have a good basic clothing selection. It will still be summer when you arrive at the school so warm weather looks is what we will be focusing on today. Continue to read the fashion magazines that are available in the lounge during your off time. Many women care nothing about fashion trends and keeping their wardrobe up to date. None of you have that option at this time. I suspect that you will all prefer to look as good as possible. The plan is to get you all of the basic items before you go to school so that you are all familiar with dressing as a normal teen." Marissa walked to the table at the front of the room where she had examples of all of the items they would be discussing.

"You will need a few basic tees. Generally, doing dark or colored bottoms and light or neutral tops is the easiest to style, so I'd suggest white, cream, or heather gray tops similar to this one to start off with." She held up a white tank with crocheted lace trim. "Later we will add some colored tops according to your preference. Everything does not need to be plain, but simple uncluttered clothing is much easier to style. After you have mastered the basic middle American teen look, I want you to consider including a few visually interesting shirts. Ones with cool embellishments, cool graphics, patterned tops and so on. You will also need at least one nice blouse. After you have received your basics. I will show you how to layer items to extend your wardrobes.

"For bottoms denim shorts are easily style-able. Toward the start of the school year you will want a couple of pairs of denim jeans. I think that darker washes are generally preferable. I will encourage you to buy skirts or some light summer dresses as well when we finally get to go on a shopping trip, but on your first outing try not to buy more than one or two. Getting a good fit can be tricky if you are unaccustomed to what you need to look for. For the weather at the school location I suggest skirts in cotton, chambray or linen. We will stay away from anything tight or synthetic at first.

"Because you are now all young women it is almost a requirement to have more shoes than a boy can imagine having. In addition to the athletic shoes which have been supplied, and which will be your only choice while you are at this facility, there will be a lot of choices to make. In order to achieve maximum versatility on your budget I am going to suggest the following to start with. A pair of comfortable sneakers. I like Vans but the case can be made for chucks if you perfer. A nice pair of sandals. A couple pairs of flip-flops. You are going to want to have at least one pair of ballet flats because they are so versatile. We require Black or brown shoes for school I prefer a mary jane style for comfort and durability. Consider getting a pair of boots if your personal style leans that way."

Marissa now held up a pair of trousers. "Kaitlin, you know what these are?" She asked the girl with light brown hair in the front row.

"They look like Capri pants," Kaitlin answered.

"Correct. They are always a choice but I don't like them personally. Either put on real shorts or proper trousers, I say. Capri's are as hot as regular long pants and don't look as good on a fit girl as shorts do. In my opinion they are mostly worn by women trying to disguise the size of their thighs."

Marissa held up the next item. "Brittney, what can you tell us about this item?"

"It's a dress." said the blond girl who was sitting next to Kaitlin.

"Yes it is a dress. Specifically this is a sun dress and it is one of my favorite things to wear in the summer heat. It is cooler than shorts looks and feels better..."

The class continued with Marissa talking about the merits and drawbacks of each item. Before they were dismissed she informed them that there would be no class for the rest of the week because she would be out shopping for them. However they were to use the fashion resources available in the lounge and have a paragraph written about what looks each of them would like to try to pull off in the future. She wanted them to be thinking about a personal style.

***

"Good afternoon Kelli," Holly said. "Is there anything you want to talk about today before we do memory review?"

"I don't know. Well, actually yes there is, but it is embarrassing."

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about. You are going through a huge change. It is only natural to have some confusion or concerns."

"What if I can't fit in? What if I never fit in with normal society? I spent my first life feeling like an outsider, like people knew I was different. Well, I really am different now. I don't want to go to college and end up being the weird girl. But I hate most of the music that we are allowed to listen to right now. Seriously, I am absolutely not a fan of One Direction, but I have to listen to them every damn day when we are doing treadmill work. I have no desire to wear Uggs. They are ugly. I have no idea how to talk like a seventeen year old. I sound like a teenager that is trying to sound like an adult. I sometimes can't sleep because I am so worried," Kelli said as she finally ran out of breath.

"These are all valid things to be concerned about. Let me help you address them as well as I can. I know that you have all been working on appropriate speech patterns for your age group. Already you are adapting. I have noticed that you and the others are using more contractions. Your vocal tones are more melodic, more appropriate to a young girl than they were after you first relearned to speak. Your hands were flying all about just now as you were voicing your concerns. That too is appropriate.

"About the music, and the television shows as well, I apologize. That is all my idea. It is important that you each have all of the appropriate cultural references that other girls of your apparent age have. If I were to ask you which you preferred, Barbie's, or Bratz, what would you answer?"

"Barbie. The huge heads on Bratz creep me out," Kelli replied. Her eyes got wide as she realized that until asked she did not even know that she had an opinion of which kind of doll she might prefer. She had watched the Bratz movie and several Barbie shows a few weeks ago with everyone else because that was all that had been available on their free day.

"Let's try another. Who is Miley Cyrus?"

"She was 'Hanna Montana' then she had that melt down now she has re-branded herself as kind of a bad girl."

"Did you know who Hanna Montana was before?"

"No."

"You are going to have two years to become comfortable with who you are before you have to be out on your own. Even then, we will be here to help. I believe that you are more of a young Midwestern teen than you know. We've structured things so that any weirdness, as you put it, can be blamed on your upbringing. There are reasons that you all have such horrible back stories. As for Uggs, well no one will make you wear them and they aren't quite as popular as they once were. There may be a time when you feel differently about some of the fashion fads. Sometimes we do things we don't especially like in order to be a member of a group."

"You've given me a lot to think about," Kelli replied. It was always comforting to talk about things with Holly. Not just because she was a shrink but because she had been the first man to undergo the process. She had been through the same emotional roller coaster that Kelli and the others were going through without anywhere near the same level of support.

"If you have no other concerns we can go over a few things from your career. Tell me what you remember about depreciation of assets..."

***

"They used to tell us, pain was weakness," Olivia gasped, "leaving the body."

"And fifteen" Kelli said. What the hell does that even mean?" She asked as she helped the tiny Asian girl guide the weight bar onto the bench press rack. They had ended up being workout buddies due to their similar sizes.

"I have no idea really. They also said 'harden the fuck up, pussy'. Who would want a hard pussy? That never made any sense to me. Whatever works to motivate the guy that is struggling I suppose."

"That's not how pain works though-"

"Just go with it Kelli. Did anyone ever tell you that you over think things? Your turn. Fifteen good ones and then we can do curls." Olivia said as she began to blot the sweat from her face with a towel.

"Oh joy. I don't understand why we have to lift weights anyway. We do yoga and aerobics every day. All of this exercise is killing me. They really should give us a break."

"Weren't you listening during the health lecture? Dr. McCullough went over all of this shit. You can't get in peak shape without lifting. Look at those posters on the wall. You don't get bodies like those with only aerobic exercise and flexibility. You know that they are trying to see how fast we get into shape. I don't mind though I want a great body."

"I know. I know," Kelli said. "It's just that I never don't have sore muscles and I am so tired.

"Really? Never don't? We're all tired. Just remember what Hailey keeps saying. 'Skinny girls look good in clothes. Fit girls look good naked.'"

"Yeah, yeah," Kelli lifted the bar "Keep count for me."

***

While waiting for the rest of their group to finish the two girls relaxed on the mats at the end of the room. "You know, you are doing pretty well in spite of all of the bitching that you do." Olivia said. "Your legs already are getting nicely toned and your butt looks great."

"Thanks, I'll try to not complain so much. I know it gets on your nerves. It's just that I have not really done anything that made me sweat in decades and I am not used to it."

"Well until recently you never had blood ooze out of your crotch every twenty-eight days either."

"You have a charming way with words," Kelli said shooting a grimace at her friend.

"Yeah, it is a special talent. Look Kelli, I used to be in the Marines and in spite of this being a civilian project I can tell that our training has been set up by someone with a similar background. There is just something in the way everything is structured here. The best thing you can do for yourself is to quit fighting the plan and let the system work for you."

What do you mean by that? I think I'm doing plenty of work here."

"Whoever designed this did it to efficiently build up our bodies as quickly as possible. Think about it. Every meal is individually prepared for optimum nutrition. I get a different plate than you do because I ended up with a fourteen year old's physique and you look a bit older. Courtney and Nicole both look almost eighteen and they are both much taller than either of us and so they usually has bigger portions of everything except the occasional sweet desert we get on the weekend. We have our performance measured and evaluated in almost everything we do. We get a complete physical every single week. Embrace the program. In the real world you could never afford this kind of training for yourself. These are the bodies we have. Why not make them an amazing?"

"So you are saying that I should treat this like an expensive fitness retreat."

"Abso-damn-lutely, and you are stupid if you don't take advantage of the opportunity," Olivia said with a stern look.

***

Kelli was happy to be sitting in the meeting room for the first girl 101 class in several days. "Great news girls," Marissa said. "We have been given permission from the lab to start using makeup. So we will begin as soon as we can put together a starter set that works with your skin tone for each of you. It won't be Chanel or Sephora but decent drug store brands appropriate for average teenage girls.

"Today I have another surprise for you. I have purchased a bunch of separates for each of you to be able to put together a few basic outfits. This is so you can start to get used to choosing and matching your own clothes again. Also the track suits are boring. After you get to school you will spend most of the day in your uniforms but you will also have ample free time when you will be able to dress however you like, as long as it conforms to the schools official dress code."

Marissa opened door to the hallway to let Connie and Hailey push wheeled carts overflowing with paper shopping bags into the room. Each bag had a girl's name on it. "Okay, when one of us calls your name come grab your stuff. When you have it I want you to go back to your rooms and put it away. You will notice that I also included several different kinds of undergarments. Think of it as a sample pack. Nothing too crazy. You will find thongs, boy shorts, hipsters and bikini styles. They all provide differing amounts of coverage and some like the thong should be worn with certain styles of clothing. Thongs are great with yoga pants or tights because you don't get a panty line across your ass where everyone will see it. Believe me, people will be looking at your ass in yoga pants or shorts too. They make your butt look amazing.

"Anyway, put your stuff away, put on a new outfit and hustle your little butts back here and we'll talk about your choices."

***

Kelli found Nicole waiting in the hall for her after she had retrieved her bag of clothing. "Hey, sexy," Nicole said. Let's go check out the loot. I can't wait to put something different on."

"Let's go. I have been looking forward to getting into something more feminine. It's amazing that five outfits fit in this one bag."

"Yeah, girls warm weather clothes don't use a lot of cloth. I can't wait to see you in the thong."

"You are so bad! I thought you and Courtney were getting together tonight."

"We are. That doesn't mean I can't fit you in after dinner. Or hey, you could join us."

"Were like this as a young guy?"

"This is probably a little more intense but not too far off. Back then though I had a lot more trouble finding a friend to cuddle up with though. Unless you want to call my hand a friend."

Kelly got into the room and dumped her clothes on the bed. The shirts were all tanks and tees in various rich colors which she noted would probably look good against her pale skin. There were also black yoga shorts, three pair of dark washed denim shorts and a last pair in bright blue. There were also three new bras which were a pleasant surprise. Kelli had stopped wearing her older ones because she had already outgrown them. Although still not very large the training bras had become uncomfortable. It didn't hurt that she thought these were cute.

Nicole walked over from her side of the room to check out the outfit which Kelli had laid out on her bed. "Oh, these are nice," she said picking up Kelli's new blue lace push up bra and matching bikini panties. "It is a shame to cover those up though. You have the cutest little boobies."

"You're one to talk about cute boobs. Most of us are jealous of yours. With your height and those boobs you could be the next Kate Upton."

"I think hers are bigger. I did get everything I ever wanted though. I don't know how they did it but I look exactly like I had always fantasized about. Further from a family resemblance than I had expected but I am not complaining. Platinum blond and the rug matches the drapes. Once we get into shape and I learn how to apply makeup I am going to need a stick to beat the guys off."

"You must have forgotten a lot more than me if you think that you use a stick to beat off a guy."

"Shut up! You know what I meant," Nicole laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

"Now hurry up and get dressed. I don't want to be late. You know that she is going to pick the last one in to talk about first," Kelli said.

Kelli tried to play it safe with her blue bra and panties, distressed blue jean shorts, and a light blue crop top tank which showed off her flat belly. Nicole wore a pair of dark gray yoga shorts and a tight blue and gray raglan top with a graphic that said 'dream' with little hearts around it across the front. Kelli had a similar shirt except hers said love on it.

It turned out that they didn't need to worry about being last. Brittney and Kaitlin were the last into the room. Kelly giggled when she noticed a new hickey forming on the side of Kaitlin's neck.

"Some people need to learn to control their urges," Nicole whispered.

Kelli gave her friend a look. "If you had your way we would be back in the room still," she whispered back.

Nicole just shot her a mischievous grin.

"All right, settle down. I think that everyone is back now. Brittney, why don't you come up here so we can talk about your outfit," Marissa said while waiting for the waifish looking blond to come to the front of the room."Britney has a black graphic tank with deep arm holes paired with light washed denim shorts with frayed hems. Overall a good luck for a young girl. Give us a spin please."

Everyone watched as Brittney slowly turned so they could see the whole effect. Kelli appreciated the way the blond moved. With a little more muscle development she was going to be truly beautiful. She was not jealous of the blond girl, her own features were everything she had ever wanted. It was really amazing how close everyone had come to their ideal image.

"Anyone want to comment before we move on? Marissa asked.

Kelli's friend Olivia shot her hand up. "She has a lot of side boob going on"

"That's right," Marissa said, "A lot of you are just now growing out of the flat stage. It doesn't seem like you need a bra and honestly you may not always need one. However this shirt absolutely needs to be worn with a bra, even if you are flat as a board. Okay who wants to go next?"

***

"Holy crap! I hadn't realized that it would be quite like this," Simon said. He and the senior project staff were in the conference room at site two. Simon had come down to get a better understanding on the slowdown in memory data collection. They had just finished watching a video compilation of some highlights of the last few days.

"What you have just watched is only some of what has been going in and those shots are only from the public areas, We limited it to R rated only. For the most part the girls have been pretty good about keeping things private." Holly said. She had completely given up trying to collect any more memory review and recovery data until the girls had gotten past their current period of hyper sexuality.

"This is our largest group of participants to date. Frankly I dropped the ball. With the smaller groups we had been doing it was possible to isolate one participant from the group for long enough to get them on task for the time we needed. In this setting they all take up every session with questions about sexuality and the mental changes which they are experiencing. This is an interesting time for them. Their brains have recently experienced a radical transformation to an adolescent configuration. Now suddenly new hormones are flooding their systems triggering this phase of redevelopment. Think of it as a form of sexual ADD.

"This was all in the plan. What was unforeseen was that having them all bunched together like they are would create this hedonistic atmosphere. There is not a single girl that has not had sex with at least two other separate partners, most girls have had more than that. That includes those few in this group who would normally only be attracted to men. We selected all of them for group compatibility and in that it seems we were wildly successful."

"Can we do anything to stop it?" Simon asked.

"It would be unwise to try anything like that Simon," Holly said. "They retain most of what they were before their metamorphosis however as with any teenage brain the frontal lobe is undeveloped as compared with an adult brain. If you recall, that is where impulse control is located. To try to enforce anything on the girls would invite rebellion on their part. They are still complying with the rest of the program it is just that for the next couple of weeks they are going to be focused on sex."

"Daniel, Can't we give them a shot or something?"

"I am afraid not, Simon," Daniel replied. This has always been part of the process. There is just more of a feedback loop with so many in the same group. The only thing we can do medically that wouldn't screw up the rest of the research would be to slow down some of the changes to the brain however that would draw out this period and probably not achieve the desired result."

"I assume the next groups will behave in the same fashion," Simon grumped.

"The all male group should be similar. The natural born women... I don't know. They asr mostly heterosexual as far as my records indicate but I am not sure what will happen given the close quarters and sexually charged atmosphere that will probably come about."

"Can we give out the sex toys and do the sex talk later?"

"No," Holly replied. "That would just be mean. Also it probably wouldn't solve the problem. The girls don't actually need them. We give out the dildos to encourage the girls who want to know that that feels like to not try and seduce the male staff. You do recall the incident don't you?"

"Fine, I'll deal with Rodney about this slippage in the schedule. By the way, he has been anxious to recruit a couple of the participants for what he says is an easy job soon as they are minimally ready.

"There are a many participants that would be receptive to such an offer. That is, if he can wait for the current bit of promiscuity to work itself out. I will send you their files if it will help sweeten our dear contract manager."

Simon brightened at this new information. "Great. If you think that a couple of the participants would be up for whatever job Rodney has for them then it will buy the time we need to gather the data. He did reassure me it would be something low danger and low effort on the part of our girls."

Moving on

Kelli sat in the conference room with a dozen other girls wondering why she had been called out of aerobics class this morning. The topic of discussion among them was what could be more important to the program than increasing their fitness scores. The feeling among the girls was that there was probably some kind of bonus for the Topiary Genetics staff associated with fitness levels. No one had any reasonable idea why they were there though. Kelli thought some of the reasons they came up with were pretty funny though.

"I bet we are in trouble," a girl Kelli knew as Madison said.

"How could we even do anything to get in trouble?" Kelli asked. "We are either sweating, studying or sleeping with no time for anything else."

"You forgot screwing," a stunning looking Latina said from further down the table. "But yeah, there is no way we are in trouble. What did you do, Maddy?"

"I may have went upstairs for a look around a couple of nights ago. Nothing to see though just a generic office building."

The redhead blushed brightly as the other girls all stared at her.

"What? Aren't you all bored?" Madison said in a loud embarrassed voice.

Just then Holly and Hailey entered the room followed by a man in a gray suit. "Well Madison, if you are bored then you are in the right place. This man," she said pointing the suit is Major Tom Williams and he has an opportunity that he would like to discuss with all of you."

"Hello, ladies," Tom began, " I'm Tom Williams, you probably don't remember me. I met all of you in your former lives. I am the project liaison and we have been approached with an opportunity to help provide cover for an operative on a fact finding mission. You are all here because Holly thinks that you have the right personality to meet our requirements. Before I go on I would like any of you who are not interested or don't feel they can keep the following conversation a secret to please return to your normal routine."

None of the girls got up from the conference table.

"Alright then. What we need is a couple of girls to act as window dressing – the agents daughter and her friend. The chosen two will accompany the agent to a foreign country and basically act like teens on vacation. Spies do not typically bring their children to work so your presence will bring with it a cloak of legitimacy. We give this operation a very low chance of failure and consider it a very low risk.”

Tom looked around the room. "Anyone want out yet?"

There were head shakes all around the table.

"Great! I am now going to ask a series of questions to begin to find the best four to interview for the two spots. If you are eliminated you may tell the others that management wanted to have a quick focus group to discuss the pace of your recovery. By show of hands is anyone afraid of either flying or being on the ocean?

A blond girl named Alison sitting diagonally across from Kelli raised her hand. "I have mild aquaphobia. I would probably be fine on a cruise ship but anything smaller with all of that water around me and I would be a nervous wreck."

Tom smiled at Allison."Thank you for your time this morning. There will probably be significant time on a small yacht so this isn't something for you. You can go back to your business."

Tom continued to ask his questions until they were down to six girls, Kelli, Madison, Brooke, Paisley, Skylar and Heather. None of them were girls that Kelli hung around with much outside of the normal group activities but she had had 'encounters' with both Skylar and Madison a couple of days ago and thought they might become real friends when they were given more free time. She was starting to imagine hanging out on some tropical beach with one of them when Tom asked his next question.

"Who hasn't had much experience with firearms?”

Kelli and Skylar both raised their hands. "Thanks girls. We don't expect those chosen to ever even be near a gun but having the skill is better than not having it. Thanks for your time." Just like that Kelli found herself heading for lunch.

***

Two weeks later Simon was back. "What is the status of our girls, Daniel? Will we be able to move them to the camp next week?" Simon asked from the head of the conference table. He had been spending his time at Topiary Genetics's office in Virginia. The progress reports that Daniel has sent to him were informative, however Simon was a big believer in checking on the important things. Meeting the move date was a major milestone in the project and there was a performance bonus on the line.

"Relax Simon," Daniel replied. "The girls are developing better than expected except for three girls who are right on target. Erin or Holly can give you specifics. They have been running the show on a daily basis. As you know I have been dealing with the other groups that are in process. From my point of view all participants will be ready for the conditioning phase on time."

Holly stood and began her report. "All of our clients have developed nicely. Each girl meets or exceeds all minimum criteria for the current phase. Meaning they are at least as fit now as the average American teen. They can walk at a rapid pace for at least 45 minutes on the treadmill for example. Hailey has been leading them in an hour of yoga each morning and they are developing an extraordinary range of motion. Their endurance is good, however that will become even better over time."

"Excellent. Hailey, in your view how are things set for the move?" Simon asked.

"Everything is in place, sir. All of the required materials are at the base including appropriate clothing and footwear. Phase one of the movement plan will begin after dark. The buses will have the windows covered in craft paper to limit visibility and make for a more restful sleep. The girls will be tired out by the time they have done all of there normal exercise and packed there belongings. We also plan to offer a mild sedative after dinner. There isn't much to see around here and by the time they wake up all of the buses will be several hours away from their starting facility. They shouldn't know what part of the city we are located in. They may not even realize that they were moved from Lab One to Chicago. This location is not critical so we aren't taking extreme measures to disguise it from the girls.

"We will have granola bars water and sack lunches on-board as well as three qualified drivers on each bus. All of the study participants, whatever their point of origin, will make it to the old Glasgow Air Force Base sometime in the late afternoon to early evening. As you know our partners from Defense have caused some of the buildings to be made ready for our use. I understand that the air conditioning just needed a gas recharge so we are in luck there

"I will be riding with the girls from this facility and it should take between eighteen and twenty hours for us to get there. The other facilitators will stay with their girls as well. The plan is to get them assigned to their quarters and then give them a day to rest and get squared away before we begin the real fitness program."

"You slipped into lecture mode mode," Simon remarked smiling. "Good job. We can expect site inspections from Major Williams or the General so stay on top of things. Holly, is there a plan in place to deal with any friction between the participants that are newly female and those who have always been so?"

"As you know, all participants were chosen in part, because they have accepting outlooks about others beliefs or orientations," Holly began. I believe based on my interviews that most of the women from groups three and four will be delighted to help our transformed men be the best women that they can be. They will see it as a challenge and possibly look on the former men as little sisters to be guided. If there is any friction it will be because they are trying too hard to help. Frankly I am more concerned about generational issues rather than gender issues. The youth culture media saturation program should take care of most of the major gaps in our girls' pop culture knowledge but I expect that for a while they may still seem a little odd to people of their age group."

"What about the hyper-sexual behavior?" Simon asked.

Holly pursed her lips in thought trying to find an easy way to explain what she thought was happening with the girls. "Groups three and four – the F to F transition – are just now hitting that point in the program. I expect there to be much less sexual interaction among the groups that have always been women. They are nearly all firmly on the heterosexual end of the scale and came to maturity during times that did not encourage same sex exploration to say the least. The two groups that began as men however all have men who have had at least some sexual relations with women. It was part of the selection criteria that the Defense Department insisted upon. God knows why. Anyway, because those participants grew up being encouraged to see women as desirable sexual partners, and indeed had all been with women in the past. They saw no issues with sexual experimentation among themselves. We just have to accept this as a data point and perhaps broaden our selection criteria to include men who are currently identifying as gay or even actual trans-women that otherwise fit our profile."

Simon gave a noncommittal grunt to the comment about including trans-women into the program. That would continue to be a nonstarter as long as the current oversite was in place.

"What about the generals new focus on developing these women as agents or soldiers or whatever?" Simon asked.

Daniel stood to take this one. "We think that all of the participants will become superior physical specimens. They will be slightly stronger than women of the same size and have somewhat faster than average reflexes. Our last round of exams confirmed that the vision upgrades were a complete success. The visual acuity of everyone tested so far is between 20/10 and 20/15. With that being said mentally we do not think the current batch of girls will be suitable for anything that requires high aggression. Holly, do you want to take it from here?"

"Sure," Holly said. "Simon, as you know our key secondary requirements were for individuals who would wish to form a close knit and nurturing group in order to insure project security. You may find many that could act as bodyguards and the like though. From my sessions I know that most of them would be very protective of anyone in their care especially anyone weaker than themselves. They all also have a sense of curiosity or they would not have taken our offer. Maybe some kind of intelligence gathering job would be appropriate. I don't know this is all way out of my wheelhouse."

"It sounds like everything is well in hand on that end. Move in day is only twelve weeks away. Summer conditioning will pass quickly. Don't be afraid to delegate at camp in order to make sure everything is in order at the school. Speaking of the school how is the age range distribution? Have we finalized the classes?"

"Simon, as you know, we have narrowed the apparent age range to a roughly four year window of four-teen to eight-teen. We have observed a fairly even spread as expected, skewing slightly to younger end of the scale. We have tried to control for as many variables as we can. With the new data we should at least be able to shrink the target range. These large groups were treated almost identically and we still have the variation in physical development inside the tanks. It will take more study and research to find everything that factors into determining that outcome. "

"I expected that but I had to ask. Let's take a short break when we are back I want to talk about the funding for the Sutton foundation. Hailey, why don't you and your counterparts reconvene in conference room two at that time and go over your agenda items? I trust you to work out the details among yourselves."

***

"Well Kelli, this is the last check-up before you are off to summer conditioning." Dr. McCullough said as she looked at her chart on the exam room computer. "You are right on track. Your weight is still a little low for your height. Your BMI is 16.5 and I would expect to see it at about 19 when I see you in six months. Don't worry too much we are making sure that all of you are gaining weight sensibly."

"I thought I was looking pretty good," Kelli replied. "I do think it will be better when I get some more muscles. I don't like the way my knees look so big compared to my thighs."

"That won't be an issue," Erin said with a little laugh. "You've gotten off to a very good start, and I've had a look at Hailey's training schedule. You will all be very fit young women if she manages to keep to the plan."

"What should my actual target weight be?"

"A BMI of 19, which is still probably under weight considering all of the muscle mass you should develop, will put you around 110 pounds. Don't worry about looking like a power lifter though. With the training schedule fit and sleek will be better adjectives for you than powerful and blocky."

"No one has said anything specific. What will we be doing for all of this exercise?"

"You will continue with the yoga, aerobic exercise, and moderate resistance training, and add daily running and gymnastics. I think she is also planning to teach some form of self defense. There have probably been some revisions since I looked at it. We will be monitoring all of you when you do the weekly assessments. Without the need to burn off excess fat I expect you all will continue to show excellent results."

"How am I doing otherwise? I what I mean is, when am I going to start growing more in the chest area? Not to complain, because I am really happy with my situation, it's just that I assumed that there would be bigger boobs by now. I don't think that I really even need that bra except to keep my nipples from getting raw," She pointed to the chair next to the examination table where her clothes were piled haphazardly.

"Well there has been some growth over the past weeks. Many women never get bigger than your current size. Let me just check your file," she said while pulling up something on her pad. "You may not develop very much more either according to your DNA profile. Maybe a big B cup at most. There is even a note that says per client request. Apparently the previous you did not want anything too large. You shouldn't dwell on it too much. In time your breasts will grow to their full size, and you will reach your adult height. For you I think that will be about 162 cm or 5'3"."

"Okay, thanks."

"That's all I need. Get dressed and go back to whatever you need to do." Erin said as she left the room. Exam day was always busy for the medical staff.

Putting on her clothes Kelli reflected that it was a little strange that she had just had a fairly casual conversation while setting on the examination table wearing only a stupid paper gown. Not that it would matter after being given another thorough physical. She was happy that she hadn't been turned on by the exam. Kelli and the others had become much better about controlling themselves over the past few weeks. She couldn't decide if her body chemistry had evened out, the newness had worn off, or if she had just developed better will power. Whatever the reason Kelli was happy with the thought that she had not turned into some kind of bimbo.

***

"What are you wearing for the ride?" Nicole asked Kelli as the two girls walked back to their room. Tonight they would board a bus to their summer home. Someplace up north. They had been shown photos of some buildings on an old air base called Glasgow Air Force Base. They had been leased to Topiary Genetics for their use as an out of the way summer camp.

"I don't know. Something comfortable to sleep in. We are going to be on the bus for a long time. "I think I am going to travel in a pair of gym shorts and a tee-shirt. I will take my red top and high waist denim shorts for when we get there." Kelli said. "How about you?"

"Yeah me too. I want something comfortable to change into though on our rest day. Probably my dark blue shorts and the pale blue tank - the one with the giant arm holes- with my blue bra under it." Nicole replied. The girls had been told that they wouldn't need anything from here for the summer except for a change of clothes, personal items, toiletries and makeup if she wanted to practice with it. "I am going to miss picking out my outfits though. I really like the way my body looks in my new clothes."

"I like the way your body looks in or out of clothes," Kelli playfully said. "Olivia says that this is a very well thought out program. Think of how much better we are going to look after eleven weeks of workouts. Besides all of our stuff will be at the school when we get to Thompsonville."

After the briefing they had been given a large box and a gym bag to pack their clothes in. The gym bag, A black nylon zippered thing with yellow straps and a bee imprint that said Sutton Bee's on it was for a change of clothes and toiletries. The box was for the rest of their wardrobe. All of their possessions would be delivered to the Sutton School for Girls. Kelli was excited at the pace of her new life after the stagnation that she had let her former self fall into.

***

Fifteen or twenty of what Kelli thought of as her extended group of friends were laying on mats in the aerobics room talking. The usual afternoon sessions had been canceled because most of the staff were either traveling, finishing last minute items related to the move or getting the facility ready to shut down until the next group came through.

"So, is anyone else worried about what the real girls are going to think of us?" Courtney asked.

"You were a real girl the last time I checked," Skylar smirked.

"That isn't what I meant and you know it," Courtney replied.

"Brittney and I have talked a lot about this," Kaitlin said. "We think that they may be willing to be out mentors if we approach them right."

"If you think about it," Brittney said, "TG wouldn't have recruited bigots and assholes for the program. They want data from us, not attitude. My hope is that thew are all really sweet and open minded."

"I suppose that makes sense," Courtney said. "I am just anxious. As an African-American I have always had to be concerned that an otherwise nice person might turn out to be a closet bigot. After sixty-four years it is second nature to be concerned."

"It's going to be fine," Nicole soothed taking Courtney hand. "Remember Reagan? 'Trust but verify.' That is what we need to do here. Trust that everything is fine until something seems off. Just communicate with each other."

"I heard Holly say that most of the people who were always women are strictly into guys so we probably don't want to shove any of our extracurricular activities in their face." Kelli spoke gesturing to Kaitlin and Brittney who were a real couple unlike the casual hookups that most of the girls in the group were prone to.

"I agree," Olivia joked in her usual off color way. Shoving our vaginas in the other girls faces is probably not a good way to make friends. Guys however..."

***

After the girls had carried their boxes to the cafeteria for the staff to take away, Hailey announced a movie marathon until it was time to leave. There was not a lot to do until time to go right after nightfall. They would be traveling all night and most of the next day on a chartered bus and should arrive some time the next evening.

A few hours later Kelli found herself boarding a large bus in the dark. She carried her new gym bag and a small tackle box with her makeup, bracelets, earrings and other small stuff. She looked around to try to figure out where they were but there was nothing to see. They had come out of a nondescript glass and steel building in an office park filled with similar buildings. There were some evergreens screening a parking garage off to the right and she could just make out a McDonald's sign peeking between two of the buildings. It was the end of May and it was hot. This information narrowed her present location down to almost anyplace.

Once on the bus Hailey came down the aisle and gave each of them a bottle of water, a sedative and a sleep mask, then she returned to the front of the bus. Within twenty minutes all the girls were asleep and masked for the first part of the trip. The buss was then able to make it's way through the suburbs to the interstate. When they awoke the girls would not be able to do more than narrow down the location of the rehab facility and none of them would have a clue where the actual transformation happened.

The bus traveled for a few hours before stopping at a rest area where they changed drivers for the next leg of the trip. The sun was starting to rise as they passed St. Paul Minnesota. When Kelli woke up about an hour later she was able to view the outside world for the first time in months. It was relaxing to watch the farm fields go by. She had always enjoyed watching the scenery on long car trips. Soon Nicole woke up as well and she could make her way to the rest room. Kelli was stiff from the long trip even though she had slept through most of it. They would have a long boring day of riding but it was still seemed like an exciting change. Today was another turning point. This was her new start, and she couldn't wait to begin.

Summer

Within an hour of their arrival several other charter buses had arrived and Kelli found herself surrounded by hundreds of other teenage girls as she waited under a tree with her friends for the leaders to give some direction. It was startling to her that there were so many others that had also been through the same process. There had been no secret about the other groups but actually meeting them was entirely different to her way of thinking. Four groups of sixty, 120 men and 120 women were now 240 teenage girls. They all looked really cute and she was glad that her sex drive had moderated over the past few weeks.

When the last bus had disgorged its passengers and driven away, a pretty redhead with flawless skin used a bullhorn to direct them into the base recreation center. They were told to go to the gym where they would find staff members who would direct them to their rooms.

Kelli quickly found the A through G table and eventually she got a folder with her schedule a base map and her room assignment. She made her way across the parking lot with a stream of others curious to see where she would be living. The building she was assigned to had been a 1950's era enlisted airman's barracks. It reminded her of her college dorm from the late seventies. When she walked in she found her new roommate was already there. She was a cute brunette, perhaps a little taller than Kelli with brown eyes and something about her look that made Kelli think she had Italian or Greek ancestry.

"Hi, I am Leanne Berolotti. It looks like we are going to be roomies for the summer," the girl said.

"Hi, I am Kelli. Kelli Bellamy. Sorry I am still getting used to the new last name."

"Me too. That is why I try to use it so often. Do you have a preference for either bed?"

Kelli saw that Leanne had not started to unpack. She had obviously been waiting for Kelli to show up. "I don't have a preference. I imagine I will be too tired to care for most of the summer."

Leanne laughed. "That's what I hear too. I'll just take this one then."

"It's weird not really having much to unpack," Kelli said as she hung her red top on one of the hangers in her closet.

"I know. I heard that we would get our stuff tomorrow some time," Leanne said.

"Good. It is a little bit cooler here than I am used to for late May."

"Kelli, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure, no problem," said Kelli.

"I don't know how to put this so it doesn't sound odd, so please bare with me," Leanne began. "What I am wondering is if you always played for the girls team or if you have recently changed sides? My head mentor Victoria told us that half of the people here were recently men. She was the redhead with the bullhorn earlier. I have been looking at everyone and I haven't been able to pick anyone out as being mannish."

Kelli laughed and held out her small hand as if to give Leanne a high five. "You mean you can't tell from my meaty man hands that I shouldn't be here?"

"That is not what I meant at all. I am just curious."

"Okay, you've caught me, Leanne. I used to be a guy. Is this going to be an issue between us?"

"Oh, heavens no. I think it's wonderful that you are getting this opportunity. I've always loved being a woman and think you will too. I was kind of hoping for someone like you as a roommate. I just want you to know that if you ever have any questions I will be here for you."

"That is really sweet. I will take you up on it. It will be nice to have a mentor. I wish you had been around four or five months ago when they first hatched us."

"You have been out that long? I only finished rehab a couple of weeks ago."

"It kind of makes since to me though. Someone needed to come out last and they needed to teach us lots of basic stuff that most girls grow up knowing."

"I think that they may have gone a beyond the basics. Did you do your own makeup?"

"I put some on during the bus ride. I was bored."

"Well it is obvious to me that someone who knows what they are doing showed you how. Most girls go a little overboard when they are first learning."

"Marissa, the woman who taught our group, used to be some kind of big time stylist. She cut my hair too. She is here with us so you will probably meet her."

"I wonder if she will cut my hair, yours is so cute. Do you think she might, Kelli?"

"It never hurts to ask. Do you want to go back to the rec center? The reception should be starting soon. I would like to introduce you to my friends."

"Sure, I want you to meet mine too."

***

Kelli woke even before the alarm clock buzzed. Today was another big day and she was excited to get going. Yesterday she had been issued her summer workout clothes and had a tour of the areas that they would be using. They were on only a small part of the unused old base. The girls had three old barracks for single enlisted personnel, the rec center and a large field. They also had the use of one the hangers which had been set up as a gymnastics area. It had been a little surreal walking around the old empty base. There seemed to be wind blowing all of the time and there was no unnatural sounds that they were not making themselves. One of the mentor group mentioned that it was ten miles to the nearest farm house and more than 25 miles to the nearest inhabited town which was also named Glasgow. Kelli could not think of a time in her former life when she had been this isolated, although being able to see for miles was a nice change after bring in the windowless rehab facility for so long.

She quickly got dressed. She had been given two pair of trainers and eight identical sets of clothes. Socks, underwear, shorts tee shirt and track suit. All in black with Bellamy and the number 44 in yellow like a sports team would have on each item so there was no time wasted on clothing choices. She and Leanne, who was number 225, managed to get ready and be at the chow hall with some time to spare.

The two grabbed their morning snack, which consisted of a fruit cup, yogurt and a glass of juice. Nicole and her new roommate Emily were already at one of the long tables so Kelli and Leanne joined them. Within the next few minute the seats all filled up with excited girls. There was a pleasant buzz of conversation mostly girls getting to know their new friends and speculation about the coming weeks until the doors opened and about a dozen people filed in to the front of the hall. Kelli recognized Holly, Hailey and the other mentors from the rehab phase as well as Vicki, Leanne's redheaded mentor and many others whose names she did not know yet.

Holly waited quietly until all conversation had died before beginning to speak. "This is a big day. I hope everyone has taken the time to study the schedules you were given. If you haven't just stick with your group. We will meet here every morning except Sunday between five and five thirty. Everyone is required to be here, no sleeping in. After morning snack we will go out and practice yoga for an hour as the sun comes up. Always wear your track suit. Even summer mornings can be chilly up here. You can shed the outer layer after you get warmed up. After yoga we will have morning run before breaking into groups for dance, weight training, self-defense, gymnastics or sports. There is sunscreen at each station. Reapply every hour. Even with the UV treatments your skin is similar to that of a young child. Sun burn is no fun people so take care of yourselves.

"Breakfast is not until after the first group activity. Lunch is between third and fourth. After your fourth activity you have personal time from two o'clock to four o'clock to shower and change. We will then meet in small groups. Check your schedule for your group assignment. In groups we can discuss anything. This is a new situation for all of us and we need to know what is and is not working for you. Think of it as a cross between a therapy session and a focus group. At six you will be done for the day. There are video lounges set up in the rec center as well as in your housing. Lights out at 9:30 so be sure to have any laundry in the dryer by 8:45. Washers and dryers are available in the basement of each housing unit. Any questions?"

Brittney, who was sitting not far away, raised her hand. "Is it okay to switch rooms if everyone agrees to the change?"

"We assigned roommates based on compatibility profiles," Holly said. "It is important that you all integrate with the girls from other groups. Management feels that the secret is more likely to be maintained if you all feel like part of the larger group. I know that some of you have become very close with other individuals, and we are not discouraging that. However the group dynamic is an important part of the summer program. So, no I am sorry Brittany but there will be no room swaps this summer. It may be possible at the school if you still feel strongly about it."

A waifish looking blond that Kelli didn't know was next. "What if we can't do some of the activities? I've always been prone to hay fever and allergies and in school I could never do P.E. during my period due to cramps."

Leanne leaned over and whispered, "I think that girl was either a hypochondriac or really sick all of the time before the process. She complained all the way through physical therapy."

"Well Megan, if you are having medical issues just report to the nurses office in the rec center. However, in light of the process that you have undergone you should not be afflicted with any allergic reactions and cramping should not be as severe as you remember it. You are all much healthier on a basic level than at any previous time. I think you'll be surprised at what you are now capable of doing."

Holly answered questions for a few more minutes before turning them over to Hailey who lead them outside for yoga.

***

One week later summer camp was becoming routine. The girls were rapidly getting in shape due to an optimum diet and plenty of exercise.

"Holy crap, I am tired," Leanne said. "You can shower first Kelli."

"Oh, come on. It was not that bad. I just came from gymnastics and it was so fun. I did my first ever cartwheel."

"Congratulations," Leanne said in an exhausted voice. "I think you might have more energy than I do. I am just glad that we made it through the first week."

"I appreciate you letting me go first. I think I am getting the hang of doing my hair and makeup but it takes me so long."

"Well you are doing a great job of it from what I've seen this week. Don't take this the wrong way, but I think that you first time girls are way more enthusiastic about the traditional girly things than most of us who are doing a repeat. Being young again is amazing. I look better and will be in way better shape than the first time around but I have had a lifetime of hair and makeup. It is just another chore for me."

"Yeah, I can see that. I admit that I am enjoying everything about this experience. For me it is kinda like my fairy godmother came down and granted my fondest wish. It would be totally ungrateful not to try my best to be the person that I always wanted to be. We were talking in small group about it the other day. Some of us -- me included, are worried about being caricatures of what a real girl should be. I am going to have to depend on my more experienced friends to not become a Barbie."

"You can depend on me. I imagine you are going to be a girly girl in most ways, even more than the others. I promise won't let you go overboard with it.

"Oh, I heard some of the girls with mechanical experience talking about building some kind of cable ride from the top of the gymnastics hangar. Want to see what they are up to later?"

"Sure, Kelli said." Maybe after dinner we can check it out."

Fifteen minutes later Kelli returned, wrapping a towel around her head. Leanne was sleeping face down on the bed. Kelli almost let her sleep but didn't want Leanne to have to rush through everything for group time. They were fined five dollars from their maintenance accounts for being late to anything. Kelli was still not clear on how the money part was going to work in practice. Each day they participated in the study their account accrued a small amount towards the purchase of personal items less any penalties. They would be given access to the money as soon as they were settled into the school.

"Hey Leanne, time to wake up," Kelli said giving her roommate a gentle shake.

"Come on, ma. Five more minutes."

Kelli let her sleep as she moisturized her face applied foundation. She eyed a pimple near her hair line wondering if it needed concealer or if her hair would cover it. She walked across the room and gave Leanne's bed a tap with her foot.

"Hey, wake up. Time to shower. You stink!"

"Do not," Leanne said as she pulled her pillow over her head.

Kelli walked back to the mirror and decided that she could move on to a light dusting of powder like Marissa had taught her. She began to hum both to annoy Leanne into wakefulness and because she was happy. Next she added eye shadow before her next attempt at waking Leanne.

"Hey! Last call sleepyhead. I am about to attempt eyeliner and mascara and you do not want me to be waking you if it goes badly again."

This time Leanne sat up. "Oh all right. There is no need to threaten me like that," she said grabbing her towel.

"It was a friendly warning. I hate it when I turn myself into a raccoon."

"Well it looks like you are doing alright so far," Leanne said as she gave Kelli's face a close inspection. "You really are doing better than most girls of our apparent age normally do. Not too heavy handed and nicely blended. It looks natural. I don't see why they are making us wear makeup at all."

"I think it is mostly for people like me. You have to admit that makeup is different for a girl at sixteen than a woman of, about seventy-five."

"Okay I admit it. I just don't see the point."

"Because they want us to behave as if we were the middle of the bell curve as much as we can. Most girls our age wear at least some makeup and so we do too. Olivia was saying that she thought that this was like boot camp where they want all of the recruits to look act and dress alike. I kind of see the point. I do feel closer to everyone here than I have been to anyone in years. They should lighten up a bit once this is over. "

"I guess so," Leanne said. "Try to be done when I get out. I don't want to be late for my group again."

"But that's why I was trying to...," she trailed off as the door closed behind Leanne.

***

The big news of the day was Brooke and Madison were back. The two girls had disappeared a few of days before the move to summer camp. Kelli knew both of them although not well. They had not been in any of her activity groups. The two had been so overwhelmed with people who wanted to know where they had been that Holly had suggested that they be allowed to address all of the girls at camp. Permission was granted by no less than General Richardson for the two to give a redacted version of their time away.

Some of the staff had been asked to take the defense instructors out for what passed for a night out at the best restaurant in easy driving distance. Truth be told they were happy to get away for a night out. Even better, Holly had made arrangements to cover their dinner and a hefty bar tab in advance. With all of the people not cleared to know out of the way, Brooke and Madison could tell their story once and have done with it.

Kelli and all of her close friends were sitting in a group. They were as interested as everyone else to hear the story. Holly introduced the two girls for the benefit of those who had never met them. Madison quickly grabbed the microphone and began to talk.

"Hi everyone, I'm Maddy," she began. "Everyone has been asking what we have been up to. Apparently no one anticipated how interesting we would be to all y'all. I will start from the beginning. We were asked by our sponsors to help with a little project that they had going. Our job was to pretend to be a nice ladies daughter and her incredibly hot friend," she posed a bit to indicate that she was the hot friend, "while her 'husband' attended a professional conference. I am not sure if I supposed to tell you where it was so I am not going to tell you that it was Brazil. There is not much else to tell really. Our job was to hang out at the hotel and go for walks on the beach and do touristy stuff with and without Brooke's 'mom' and basically have a good time. Apparently it is unusual for spies to bring obviously underage girls on a mission."

"It was totally fun." Brooke said, taking a turn with the mic. "It was also strange. We haven't got a clue what we were down there for or if 'mom' accomplished whatever it was she needed to do. We hung out, flirted with guys went on a few tours. We took a ton of pictures and bought lots of souvenirs but they didn't let us keep any of that. That annoyed me but all in all it was a good experience. We were told that Maddy and I should take some questions now so if you have any raise your hand and we will try to get to you."

The two girls took questions for another hour. They were the first new thing to happen in weeks and everyone was happy for the entertainment. Kelli noticed that the two were happy to go on in detail about the hotel and the tours that they went on but talked hardly at all about the people who they had been with. That was fine as far as she was concerned. She did not consider herself the type to go on secret government missions. That was the kind of information that she really did not want to know. Brooke and Maddy were fun to listen to and the time flew by. Too soon it was time to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day.

***

"I hope that we aren't cramping your style by coming up to see the girl's progress," Simon Graves said as he and Daniel Yamata walked with Holly across the tarmac. They had arrived just minutes before. The corporate jet sat behind them waiting to be readied for its return trip.

"It is no problem. At this point they all know the routine, so you have me for as long as you want."

"Good work, sis. Why don't you start by giving us the no bullshit version of what will be in the quarterly report."

"My reports never contain any bullshit. It is not my fault that your eyes glaze when you see our results written up in a form suitable for publication in any peer reviewed journal. Daniel will back me on this one."

Daniel laughed. "It's true, Simon. You are a great organizer and salesman but..."

"Fine," Simon huffed. "It is a fair division of labor, and I still want to hear from Holly how she feels things are going."

"As we anticipated there were a ton of things that did not go as planned but we quickly got all of it sorted out. Haley has been invaluable in that regard. The girls have really taken to all of the exercise. They are also very forgiving when the facilities are not state of the art. They have worked hard to simulate present day teenagers. By the time we are at the school next week I do not think any of the locals will find them too much out of the ordinary. "

"Really?" Daniel asked. "I would think the various age and gender gaps would take longer to resolve themselves."

"There is a group dynamic that has developed where the girls will call each other out when one does something anachronistic. For example one of the participants initially had issues with learning self defense because it was too unladylike, however some of those who were of younger generations walked her through some of the realities of being a modern woman and she is now one of the better students."

"So compared to the last group that you helped through the process how do these girls stack up?" Simon asked. He needed all of the information he could get to prepare for his next budget meeting.

"Oddly," Holly said, "in many ways having a large group has been much easier than even the last group of twelve. The girls have formed into interlocking circles of friends that they can turn to for emotional support. All of them have been able to work through any issues that they had with suddenly being young again."

"None of the men had second thoughts?" Simon asked. "Not even a small regret?"

"Not one. We screened them carefully after all. The men actually have taken to the changes with more enthusiasm than those who were born female. The data cannot yet confirm it, but I believe that having received their deepest wish, they are simply more determined to make this second lifetime the best it can be. At the moment that means exercising all day and eating an optimal diet."

"So what you are telling me is that all of the girly girls will be from the male born groups," Simon said.

"To an extent. On a percentage basis I think so. Whether this is due to them being less confident in their femininity or if it is the participants embracing it wholeheartedly comes down to the individual. Truly the biggest hurdle has been changing them from an older person's mindset to that of a teenager. However through overloading them with only media targeted to their new age group and focused group and individual therapy sessions all of them can function without suspicion as modern teens. Any anomalies can easily be explained by referencing their individual histories and the insulated nature of a boarding school environment."

"Not to change the subject," Daniel said, "but the numbers that you sent for the latest round of physical tests are exceptional. Every one of our girls ranks in the top twenty percent for that age group nationally. That is in all categories. Are you sure that the staff has been completely accurate when recording these measurements? There will be hell to pay if the group from the DoD comes to observe and reality doesn't match the data."

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Danny," Holly said with a big smile. "Not only are all of our participants enjoying having youthful bodies free of arthritis and whatever else they were suffering from. All of them remember much of their doctors' advice to be more active. I know from personal experience what a gift the opportunity to get a do over at life is. All of them have been focused on improving their new and improved bodies all summer. There is fierce competition to be among the best in each area. The stand out girls are not always those who I would have thought they would be when I look at who they were before."

"I am glad to hear that things have been going well, Holly," Simon said. "I know that I have not been able to be as hands on as in the past. You know I would have been here if I could have been. I can let you know now that we have been in talks to make this a long term project. we have funding for up to 100 individuals per year. Things are looking good. Now that I am here could you show me around? I would love to see some of the girls in action."

"I have to take a rain check on that tour," Daniel said. "I want to go over some things with my people while I am here."

"Certainly, Daniel," You will find most of them in the large white building over there," Holly said pointing to the old rec center.

***

Holly walked her brother around to all of the classes. It was nice to have him all to herself. These last years had been hectic. They had gone from her little brother Simon and Daniel saving her life when they were first starting their R&D company to them all almost being jailed for the disappearance of her masculine self and then plunged into the weird world of being a contractor for the secret parts of the government. It had not been the path either of them would have chosen but it had been interesting.

"I have saved the best for last," Holly said as she stopped in the shade of a nearby tree. "In just a minute the classes will change and that grassy area will fill with girls getting ready for the self defense class. We chose to have the girls learn Krav Maga.

"I thought we were doing Judo or Karate."

"Our government liaison recommended this group of trainers. They teach Krav Maga to corporate security teams and they have the contract to train the State Department's guys. I couldn't say no."

"What the hell is Krav Maga anyway?"

"It is an Israeli style of martial art. The core philosophy of Krav Maga is the best fight to have is the one that never happens. So they teach ways to avoid fighting and situational awareness. They teach how to recognize signs of trouble before it is too late to do anything about it. If in spite of the students' best efforts to avoid a fight then the girls are being taught the best option is to finish it as quickly as possible. Attacking the most vulnerable points on an opponent to either disable them or get away. They are learning to counter aggression with speed and maximum effectiveness. It is a very practical skill set."

"So they are learning how to fight dirty?"

"No such thing as dirty fighting when losing means rape."

"Good point."

A short time later the two watched the girls spar. They were in groups of five with two having a practice bout while the others watched. When one would tap out they would briefly critique the bout and change places. Simon watched the instructors circulating among the girls giving pointers or occasionally stopping a match to demonstrate something.

"Have you had any issues with fraternization among the participants and the staff? We are just signed the new deal and I would hate for anything unprofessional to happen."

"No. Most of the girls would jump at the chance but the contractors all think they are high school kids and want to keep out of jail. Besides there have been plenty of our folks who have been willing to relieve any tension that may build up instructing our nubile young participants."

"What do the outside contractors think we are doing here?"

"Just what we tell everyone: that we are doing a study on the effects of optimal fitness and nutrition on our young volunteers in exchange for an excellent education. Except for the self defense classes, we run everything with in-house instructors who know the score. All of us except for the medical and food service staff have been through the change ourselves. It has been helpful for the girls to have so many people that share the same life changing event all in the same place."

Simon grunted in agreement. It had been Hailey who had suggested training earlier test subjects to lead and council the huge group of girls rather than clearing outsiders for the secret. It had saved them a lot of capital as well as kept a large amount of past participants where they could keep track of them. The secret would eventually come out and Simon wanted to have an iron clad lock on the technology by then. Besides it gave him a chance to provide good jobs to some people who he felt deserved everything he could do for them. For all of his hard nosed business sense Simon had a soft spot for his girls. Each and every one of them was like a daughter... well more like a niece, to him.

Holly shocked him out of his woolgathering with a light punch in the shoulder. "Hey man, you are going to want to watch this one." She pointed to the nearest sparing area. "Do you see that really small girl squaring off with the taller African-American girl? The small one is Kelli and the tall one is Natasha. Who do you think will win?"

"This is where I am supposed to back the bigger girl and you take my money isn't it?" Simon said. "I am not falling for it. Why don't you just tell me what you think is about to happen."

"You're no fun!" Holly mock pouted. She really did love being with her brother. It was too bad he had never found anyone to settle down with. "Fine. Kelli is just incredibly quick. Even the instructors have a harder time getting hold of her than most of the others. Watch what happens now."

One of the other girls gave the signal to start. The two girls slowly circled each other then Natasha tried a quick punch to Kelli's face, however all she hit was air. Kelli had moved around Natasha's punch and gave her a kick to the back of one knee. As Natasha collapsed, Kelli jumped on top of her delivering a few quick pulled strikes before regaining her feet and moving away to indicate that she had made her escape. The entire bout had lasted about five seconds.

"Wow, I am impressed. Do you think that the same tricks would work with a man though?"

"The combat instructors assure me that they are effective techniques. I can say I wouldn't want to be the man who tried anything on that girl that she didn't want to do. She isn't the only one that fast either. I was curious if there was any correlation between the girls who were the most gifted physically and you may be interested in what I found. All of the top girls in gymnastics, defense and even running were part of Group E. Not only one set but all four sets of rejuvenated girls. Whoever did the work on those girls achieved better results than any other group."

"Daniel said that he had something of a prodigy on his team. Please make sure Daniel is aware of these results. We are awash in data and it could be months before something like this gets noticed even if it is the kind of breakthrough we are specifically trying to achieve."

"Will do. Let's go grab something to eat before the official staff meeting?"

A new home

The town of Thompsonville appeared abruptly through the bus window. One minute they were passing newly plowed fields then a wooded area and over a bridge and suddenly there were houses and businesses. There was a sign proclaiming that they were now in Bulldog country and that the Thompsonville Bulldogs were recent class AAA state basketball champions. The bus turned left onto Main Street and made its way through the business district for a few blocks before making another left onto 10th street. She saw the school for the first time. It looked like the photos that they had been shown but in person it seemed more massive to Kelli.

The school building had been the town's high school until a few years ago when a new one had been built. It had remained unused for several years until it came to the attention of Hailey who had approached the School board on behalf of the Sutton Foundation. After a series of talks with the city council and the school board the property had been donated to the Sutton Foundation on the promise that the building would be brought up to code and that at least twenty permanent full time jobs would be created. The old building had been extensively updated in order for the girls to live there, and a new dorm wing had been added, but the old red brick and limestone exterior had been retained.

As they rounded the corner the girls admired a new landscaped sign on the large front lawn near the flag pole letting them know that they were arriving at the Sutton Academy for Girls.

The bus pulled into the small front parking lot which ran along the entire length of the school. It stopped not at the large arched front entry to the older looking portion of the school but near the much less ornate entrance to what must be the renovated dorm wing. All of the girls were talking to each other excitedly about their new home.

"All right, settle down," Hailey said raising from her seat at the front of the bus. "I know you are all excited to explore your new home but there are some things that we will need to take care of first. Mrs. Frasier our nutritionist has been down here for a week getting the kitchen staff up to speed and they will have a nice breakfast ready for all of us in the cafeteria. We will drop our bags in the lobby and you can have a few minutes to freshen up before we eat. At breakfast I will distribute room keys. "

"Before we exit the bus I need to remind you again that since we are now out in the world all public speech about any time before today should conform to the life history of who you are now. Any violation of this policy could lead to loss of your scholarships or even imprisonment should the violation be deemed severe enough. Basically the same rules that applied at summer camp apply here except there are many more people to hear if you slip. I know that you are all good people so let's help each other not make any mistakes in front of the school staff."

Kelli didn't think that that would be an issue. After the first couple of weeks of summer camp neither she nor any of the girls she hung around with during free time talked much about what life had been like before the change. Yer restored youth and energy had made her want to look to the future, not the past.

Hailey collected herself for the next announcement. "A few more items before we go. As of now you all need to limit any public displays of affection to occasional hugs. I realize that you've all got past the uncontrollable urge stage. I am also aware that many of you also have cuddle buddies. In the dorms when no guests are about you all are free to do whatever you like with each other as long as both parties consent. However, we are in the Bible belt and it is important to keep up a respectable appearance. By respectable I mean don't do anything to make waves with the town. Speaking of the Bible belt there are several churches within walking distance, I and the rest of management would appreciate it if some of you chose to attend regularly. We know from our background checks before we approached you that none of you are particularly religious. However church is a great way to plug in to the community. Any who choose to attend services regularly will find an extra clothing allowance in their account and an extra hour of pay each week to cover continued extra clothing costs and something for the collection plate. See me by next Friday if you want to participate in the church program. Now we are going to walk in single file..."

***

Breakfast was similar to what Kelli had become used to; a hard cooked egg, a fruit and yogurt cup, and a piece whole wheat toast. To drink there was a large glass of filtered water and a small glass of unsweetened apple juice. The Mentors Now Floor mothers and administrative staff circulated around handing out envelopes with room assignments keys and school Ids.

After breakfast the girls were directed to the gym where they found the boxes that had been shipped down for them. Kelli hauled her stuff up to the third floor suite which was to be home for the next two years. She and Leanne were going to share the suite, which was fine with Kelli. She wondered what was keeping her friend. Kelli supposed that Leanne's stuff was probably at the bottom of the pile. She opened the door and slid the box into the room with her foot. She found herself in a dim windowless room. There was light streaming in through the open bedroom doors. She could see a couch and a comfortable looking chair as well as a low coffee table. After finding the light switch, the first thing that she checked out was the bathroom. It was much nicer than she had expected. White tiled walls a double sink with a large mirror and best of all a real bath tub with a detachable hand held massaging shower head. They had talked about other uses for these in group sessions. Kelli was excited at the thought of trying it out.

After finishing in the restroom she explored the bedrooms. They were exactly alike with the exception of being mirror images of each other. Two sets of fresh linens were stacked neatly on the end of each bed. Kelli thought that the room which shared a wall with the sitting room might be slightly louder than the one opposite the bath so she chose it. She decided that she would wait to make the bed.

Leanne arrived and Kelli confirmed that she had no real preference about room assignments the girls stored their belongings. There was not much to put away. They would be getting their uniforms tomorrow. According to the clock on the wall of the sitting room it would soon be time to get back to the lobby for the school tour.

***

The school itself seemes like any other school. White boards and desks in the class rooms and white tiles on the floor. There were occasional yellow and black accents and a large freshly painted bee logo on the wall of the main entry. Hailey who was to be the program administrator and dean of students introduced them to Mr. Weinberger the school principal when they got to the office. Kelli was kind of glad that he was a fifty-something year old with a paunch rather than a younger man. She did not want to complicate her life with any fantasies about the school principal. However she thought that there might be something to be said about role playing a naughty schoolgirl. None of the other staff were due to start until next week although Mr. Weinberger said they were all ready to go and had been in to start setting up their class rooms.

The best part of the school in Kelli's opinion was the student lounge which took up most of the first floor of the dorm wing. There were several conversation areas, a game room with foosball, darts and pool tables. There was even a pinball machine. There were two television lounges and a small kitchen where they could make snacks. Hailey explained that after their last physical before school started they would be able to began making some of their own food choices including eating out at local restaurants occasionally.

"How can we eat out?" one of the girls asked. "We don't have any money."

"You've been accruing money all summer. Also there is a lot to do around the school," Hailey said. "We will let you work up to ten hours a week at one and a half times minimum wage for spending money. With that and the monthly stipend you are allowed as part of the study I am sure that you will all manage.

"What stipend?" Asked another girl.

"It was in your information packet. You will all get a lump sum for the previous months as soon as we get bank accounts set up for all of you. We are going to be quite busy over the next few days. In addition to our new workout schedule we have a lot of details to take care of. Tomorrow will be a rest day except for yoga, running and school uniform distribution. After tomorrow the afternoons will be used to take care of new state identification cards with this address, bank accounts and all of the other little details. By the end of the week you will all know the school code of conduct and have your books in case you want to read ahead."

***

After lunch Hailey took the girls on what she called a 'fun run'. After running through their stretching routine she lead all 240 students plus some assorted staff a couple of laps on the track then up the hill, past the school and into the town. They ran across town and around the park. Kelli saw the new school, several restaurants, made note of a clothing consignment shop. She was able to get a good sense of the small town of Thompsonville. She was happy to note that the library was only a few blocks away from the school. During their lap around the nice little community park many people were openly curious about the large group of unfamiliar girls running about. Kelli smiled and gave a friendly wave whenever she noticed anyone looking.

When they got back to the school Hailey called a halt. "What you have just completed was our morning warm up run. I think in the future I should break you up into blocks of twenty so we don't cause traffic problems. It is just over three miles. That shouldn't be a problem for any of you after this summer. Now go clean up and explore the place on your own. I will see you at six for dinner."

***
Kelli adored her new uniforms. After they had been issued she had practically ran back to her room to try them on. She had been given a jacket with the schools crest, six blouses, two pair of trousers, two skirts, a couple of nice sweaters also with the school crest, a pair of mary jane style shoes and assorted leggings, socks ties and belts.

Fridays were dress down days but they were to dress in uniform the rest of the time. The information packet included with her clothes had included helpful information about how to wear the different bits of her school kit.

Presently she was showing Leanne how to tie the tie correctly in thanks for being shown how to adjust the length of the skirt by folding the waistband. It wasn't that she wanted to show off for anyone in particular, she just thought that as a smaller girl the skirt needed to be shorter as well.

Kelli was really looking forward to the start of classes. She wanted to see everyone looking all cute and studious. They were going to look amazing.

***

Classes were going to be tougher than Kelli expected. The curriculum was nearly identical to a well known Ivy League feeder school. Thanks to Simon's connections the school in question had been pleased to provide much valuable advice during the planning phase of the project. As a new junior, Kelli felt that she was in over her head. Chemistry 2 first hour, then Algebra 2 followed by English Lit. All of it before lunch!

There was so much that she did not remember from her first time in high school. She was pleased that there were plenty of extra study materials in the school library to help her get caught up. Some of the girls had already been talking about forming study groups and the first day was not even over yet.

The teachers had been all business, handing out the syllabi and assigning reading for the next day. That along with stern lectures about proper classroom behavior had been the bulk of her first day. She was slightly resentful of the lectures on behavior because the principal had gone over the discipline policy during the official orientation yesterday. It was all part of being a teenager again. Automatically being assumed to be irresponsible was just part of the deal.

At dinner in the cafeteria all of the girls at Kelli's table were talking about their classes and who they were sitting near, which teachers would be the toughest and which guy teachers were hot. After so many months it was no longer difficult to act like the young girl that she was now. Her entire attitude was different. Hopefulness had replaced sadness and excitement had overwhelmed boredom. Today had been another new beginning in a year of so many beginnings. In a couple of years she would go to college and build a better life. All she had to do was just follow the plan and not get caught up in any teen drama.

***

A few weeks later Kelli was in a hurry to get back from the city library. She had found the required three sources for her paper on the causes of the First World War and the books were in her back pack along with the guitar strings that Samantha the lead guitarist in Nicole's band had asked her to pick up from Holton's Music so they would have more time to practice. It was only a block out of her way. She was happy to do the favor because they were one of the three bands deemed ready to play at the weekly Saturday dance and karaoke night. A karaoke machine had been the first thing bought by the student council because they had all had so much fun with the one Holly had rented for them during the summer.

Since the beginning of the school year a large number of girls who were into music and had previously played instruments had wanted to form bands. With no sporting events to play at students taking music classes had been allowed the freedom to learn whatever they desired. Kelli had heard that Mr. Dawkins the teacher could play anything and seemed to be delighted at the change in focus from his last job. He had guided his students into forming several groups with like minded girls. Although they were allowed to focus on any style they wanted, he made them also do other styles to show their range. The guy apparently lived for the music. Kelli didn't really get it but she was happy that some of her friends were getting to do something that they probably hadn't had the opportunity to pursue in their former lives.

It had been fun to help Nicole craft her image for the show. Leanne shortened and altered a second hand turquoise prom dress to fit Nicole and had showed Kelli how to sew even more sequins onto it so that Nicole would sparkle in the stage lights. They were doing several hits from the disco era and flash and sparkle seemed appropriate. For some reason Nicole and her group were obsessed with disco.

Kelli was busy imagining seeing her friend on stage tomorrow as she trotted down Main Street. Up ahead across the street there were some guys horsing around in the parking lot of the sandwich shop on the corner. Great, she had to go right past that lot to get back to school. It looked like there might be a fight soon. Kelli decided to cross on the opposite side of the road instead of cutting across the lot like she normally did. As she got closer she could make out three bigger guys tossing a smaller guy back and forth between them and laughing.

"Dammit guys! Let me go," the one being tossed about said in a high pitched screech.

"Not 'til you tell me what you were doing with Rick the other day," the one in the camo said. "I told you we weren't through."

"We are not going out any more. You have no say about who I see," The girl said. She could now easily tell the figure in the middle was a girl with collar length brown hair. She was wearing dark yoga pants and a gray top with an open zip-up North Face jacket.

Kelli was just across the street now and had slowed to an easy walk mesmerized by the drama going on. One of the other guys, a red head in a jean jacket, was now holding the girl from behind so that she couldn't get away while camo boy was talking to her. The third guy had leaned back against a car to watch the show. Kelli did not think that any of them had noticed her yet.

"Look I told you that Becky came on to me." The apparent ex boyfriend said.

"I found you two naked in your bedroom when I came over to surprise you on your birthday, asshole. Did you think I wouldn't care?"

"That is still no reason to go slutting around with Rick."

"I wasn't the one naked. We had already broken up. He gave me a ride, and yes he did ask me to the dance but I told him I was not ready yet. I am not a slut, but you are absolutely an asshole."

The camo boy moved forward and reached into her top, grabbing her breast hard enough to cause a yelp of pain. "You are or you wouldn't have let me play with these on the first date. You are a slut because if you weren't I wouldn't have been able to put my fingers here the next night. Now let's go for a ride."

Kelli watched in disbelief as he slid his hand under the girl's waistband.

The guy leaning against the car opened the door anticipating camo boy and the redhead tossing the girl into the car.

"No!" The girl screamed lashing out ineffectively with her foot.

Before Kelli thought much about it she had shed her backpack and was trotting silently across the street. None of the people involved in the drama saw her coming. Weather it was because it was just getting dark or because she was small and moved quietly Kelli did not know or care. Before the girl could call out again Kelli had grabbed Camo-boy by the neck from behind using leverage and her momentum to put him face first on the ground. She delivered three quick punches to what she hoped were his kidneys then was up looking for the next threat as she had been taught. The guy with the hoodie had let go of the girl and was almost on top of her. She ducked and stepped to one side managing to trip him as he passed. Kelli went down as well though and found herself laying beside hoodie-guy. She wasted no time in smacking him in the head with an elbow strike as he started to get up. His head made a hollow thock sound as it smacked into the hard pavement. Camo-boy was just getting to his feet with his back to her so she kicked him in the back of his knee and gave him an elbow to the head as she turned to look for the third guy. It turned out that she didn't need to worry about him because the brunette had apparently kicked him in the balls and he was laying on his side clutching his genitals in pain.

"Come on," Kelli said. "You can call someone from my school, it is just up the street," she said pointing to the school two blocks away. "You go ahead. I'll catch up in a sec."

Kelli retrieved her book bag and easily caught up to the girl before matching her pace. They ran in silence until they were in the schoolyard.

As they walked across the yard the girl finally spoke. "Holy shitballs, that was amazing. Thank you so much. I'm Jen." She stopped and bent over continuing to gasp for breath. "Are they coming?"

"I think they are still trying to figure out what happened. I'm Kelli. Come on I need to report this to the Dean of Students."

As soon as the girls were buzzed into the lobby Kelli asked the girl running the front desk to summon Hailey. Several girls had began to gather and ask what was going on by the time Hailey arrived. Kelli had put off all questions with a simple 'tell you later' and motioned her new friend Jen to a seat in the corner where she could finish catching her breath.

Hailey arrived in a hurry. Something about the tone of the girl on desk duty let her know it was urgent. She had Jen call her parents while Kelli gave her a rundown of the event. She then called the police to have someone come by the school. Jen's parents arrived just as she cut the connection with the police dispatcher. Hailey ushered them and Jen into one of the nearby study lounges while evicting the students who had been using it. She then asked the parents to wait with their daughter until the police arrived. Hailey put in a quick call to the schools law firm and returned to sit with Kelli.

"Hey Kelli Belly, How are you doing?" Hailey asked softly.

"Honestly? I feel great. For the first time in my life I feel powerful. The training worked. I even saved the damsel in distress. I just hope I didn't mess anything up, Hailey. I thought they were going to toss that girl in the back seat of that car and drive off."

"You made a snap judgment. I think it was the correct one. Now we just have to keep you out of trouble."

"The main douche bag squeezed her breast pretty hard it might not be a bad idea to get the bruise documented."

Hailey sent one of the gawkers to get the good Nikon from the AV closet and walked off to talk to Jen's parents who had just arrived. Later, while Jen's mother had documented bruising on her breast and upper arms. Kelli had been touched when the big man had stopped thank her.

"So you are the little girl that saved my Jennifer?"

Kelli nodded. "Yes, sir"

He held out his hand. "I'm Ben Malone."

Kelli shook the offered hand. "Kelli Bellamy."

"So how did you manage to take down three varsity football players?"

"Just two, your daughter gave one of them a heck of a kick in the crotch." Ben laughed while Kelli continued. "We had a really good rape prevention course at camp. I just hope I don't get in trouble for assault."

Ben began to laugh uncontrollably. When he calmed down he said, "I know the fathers of two of those knuckleheads. They won't want the embarrassment of their big tough boys getting their butts kicked by a little girl to last any longer than it has to."

The police officer arrived to take the girls statements. By a small stroke of luck it was Officer Kevin Vonderheid. He was a handsome young guy who had recently started seeing Marissa, Kelli's floor mother, so he was somewhat familiar with the Sutton girls. He seemed more amused than anything until the Malone's showed him the bruises on Jen's arms and told him about the others. He quickly radioed in to the station to look for the boys. After he had finished taking the girls statements and was reassured that the Malone's wanted to file charges he congratulated Kelli on her quick thinking and walked out to his squad car accompanied by Marissa.

Saturday morning after yoga Hailey pulled Kelli aside.

"Jennifer Malone left her purse here last night. Why don't you jog over there to return it instead of running with the group today? They are a few blocks from the park on Elm Street, It shouldn't be hard to find."

"Oh yeah? Watch me get lost. I would be happy to take it to her though. She seemed nice."

"It's okay to ask directions, you are a girl after all," Hailie smirked. "Why don't you invite her and a friend or two to the dance tonight? I'd like to develop closer ties with the town. This is an excellent opportunity to start making friends."

"Okay I'll do that. It'll be fun."

***

Later Kelli found herself on the front porch of a well kept brick home. Mr. Malone opened the door

"Oh, hello. Kelli, right? Come in. What can we do for you?" Mr. Malone turned and called into the family room. "Lisa, the girl that helped Jen is here. Can you find her please?"

A sleepy looking Jennifer and her mother entered the living room within a minute. After thanking Kelli once more and making her promise to call them Ben and Lisa, Jen's Mom and Dad went back to whatever they were doing before.

"How did you know where I live?" Jen asked.

"You left your purse at the school last night. We found the address inside. Since I was going to be out running around Hailey asked me to drop it by."

"Thanks. I would have been looking for that soon. Last night was such chaos, it's a wonder I got home at all. My dad and mom took me to get my car after we left the school. Apparently Dylan, Zach and Andrew, the guys who were bothering me, smashed my car windows and keyed the paint on my car after we ran off. We had to file another report and didn't get home until late. The cops brought them in while we were at the station. Those guys are in a lot of trouble. Idiots. They were drunk. I don't know what I saw in Dylan."

"Well he is probably pretty cute when he isn't being a jerk."

"Yeah," Jen smiled. "He is really built too. But damn, does he have a temper!"

"Anyway, you seem really cool and I was wondering if you and a couple of girl friends might like to come to the school tonight. We are having a dance slash karaoke slash battle of the bands night. Except for the bands we do this every week. I promise you will have fun."

"Dance? Are you asking me out to a dance. Look, I'm not into girls..."

"No, I am not asking as a date. I like guys. Well mostly, but that is not important right now. Having a dance gives us a chance to dress up. It would be better if we had guys to dance with but you will be the first person ever invited over, so until we meet some nice guys it is just us," Kelli said in a rush.

"I would love to. Let me call a couple of friends. Come on back to my room." Kelli followed Jen through the house. As they passed an open door in the hall to Jen's room Kelli noticed a young man sitting at a desk painting something.

"Was that your brother?" Kelli asked.

"Yeah, that was my super nerd big brother. All he ever does is play computer games and paint miniatures for his stupid Dungeons & Dragons games."

"Is he a big D&D player?"

"He was until some of his buddies went off to college this fall."

"Interesting."

"Um, do you play? Sorry about the nerd crack."

"No I don't, but one of my friends used to and has been trying to get a group together. If you come over you'll meet her."

"Hang on let me make a couple of calls." In the end Jen's friends Sydney and Lauren agreed to come with her. They would arrive just after six. Kelli had told them to get there early so she could introduce them to her core group of friends.

***

After Kelli returned to the school she spent a little time letting some of the others know that they would be having guests that evening and asking them to spread the word so that nobody would be surprised by the new faces. This took much longer than she had anticipated because people kept stopping her to hear her story about the scuffle. Truth be told, it made her feel good to talk about it. It was hard to do anything really notable among her peers. They all had the same conditioning. No one was better off economically. Nobody was at all bad looking, average was about as bad as any of them could be described. There were several girls that Kelli thought were stunning and she secretly thought the plain girls would be considered at least cute in any other group. Grades had not come out yet but they all seemed to be working diligently at their studies so she figured a B would be a bad grade. It felt good to stand out a little bit even if it was due to an accident of circumstances. Others had done less violent things to assert their individuality. The band girls had their different musical styles. The car club girls had their projects. The sewing circle expressed themselves with fashion. Other groups were starting to form around shared interests and she was part of several of them. Still, it was hard to rise above the crowd and the attention felt good.

Perhaps she was over thinking it. After all, in a couple of years she would be off to college and the only thing she would have left of this place would be the friends she made and her education. Kelli was sure that in college she would begin to shine. Having lived in her new body for a few months she had decided that she was pretty enough now in a baby faced, girl next door way but she suspected that she would approach the beauty her friend Nicole had as she matured. Some girls just took longer to grow into their beauty. It was a first world problem.

After spreading the word about the visitors Kelli went to help set up for the evening's entertainment. Her work crew had setup today and she wanted to be done quickly so that she could be ready when the girls from town arrived. It was not to be, one problem after another cropped up as they were dealing with all of the extra equipment and electrical needs for the bands that would be playing that evening.

The intercom sounded. "Kelli Bellamy to the front desk. You have visitors. Kelli Bellamy to the front desk."

When she got to the front, Kelli saw that her guests were surrounded by curious students. They were chatting amiably but the two girls with Jen seemed a little overwhelmed. "Make a hole," she yelled as she made her way to Jen and her friends Sydney and Lauren. When she got there she made a brief informal introduction. "Hey all. These are our guests for the evening, so be nice. This is Jennifer and these are her friends." Having no idea which girl was which Kelli continued. "Sydney, wave to the girls. Now Lauren. Sydney and Lauren these are some random girls who you will have a chance to meet later. Now all of you run along and give me some peace to talk to our new friends please."

The three visitors seemed to have no idea how to respond to being mobbed by so many people who were interested in them. They seemed a little relieved as the well meaning girls began to go back to the things that they had been doing before their arrival.

Kelli smiled at the three girls. "I hope that you will pardon us for being like this. You are our first real non-adult visitors. We really need to get out more, I know. Come on up to my room and I will introduce you to my best friends. Then we can show you around before the fun starts."

Jennifer, Sydney and Lauren followed her as she led the way to the stairs. "I am up a couple of flights. There is a freight elevator but no one gets to use it without permission. My roommate and I have not really done much decorating yet but I really like my room. We have a cool setup here where we each get our own room and share a little sitting room and the bath. This floor is mostly seniors. Next is my floor. The poor freshmen are at the top."

Sydney said. "I expected this place to look like a school inside. Not freaking Hogwarts."

"Oh, yeah, the wood paneling is great. The old school part still looks like a regular school. The dorm wing looks very Ivy League I think. It is part of the experiment they are doing on us. You must have heard. Take a bunch of poor little orphans and put them in a fancy prep school, give them a great education and see what happens."

"Yeah, it was in the paper when they did the big remodel. We see y'all running before school, too. What is that all about?" Sydney asked,

"There is a lot that we had to agree to in order to be here. They want us in good shape so there are a minimum of four hours of exercise every day. We also have to eat what they tell us most of the time.

"Here we are. This is my place," Kelli said as she stopped in front of her door and used her key to open the lock. "Come on in and have a seat."

The three other girls entered and found themselves in Kelli and Leanne's sitting room. The bedroom doors were open to let some natural light into the windowless room. They saw the rather plain and obviously sturdy love seat and chair provided by the school and a couple of generic inspirational posters on the wall. The floor was regular gray institutional tile not the nicer faux stone tile of the halls. The bedrooms were surprisingly neat.

"So, yeah, Kelli continued, "We have this whole clean living thing going on but I think it will be worth the effort."

"Why?" Sydney asked.

"I am in the best shape ever. Believe me I was pretty pathetic before all of this exercise. And I love, love, love doing yoga. I never would have thought something so simple could make me feel so good."

"You do yoga?"

"Every morning."

"Can you show us something?" Lauren asked. "I have always wanted to try but I have no idea where to start."

"We started out really easy and worked our way to more advanced positions. I am so much more flexible than I ever expected to be," Kelli said.

"So show us. What can you do?"

Kelli thought for a second. "I am not really warmed up and these jeans are not great. I have to change soon any way. Give me a sec and I will throw on a pair of shorts." Kelli walked into her bedroom not bothering to close the door. After the last few months of communal living and weekly exams the body shyness she had as a man was long gone. She quickly peeled off her jeans and slipped on a pair of shorts. She walked back into the sitting room and sat on the floor where she could see everyone and began to stretch out.

"They are really big on being properly warmed up around here. Just give me a minute and I will see if I can do the standing splits."

The girls chatted about how much nicer the school was on the inside than what they had expected. All of the locals had been inside the old school before and were amazed at the changes to the dorm wing. In the old days, the half that wasn't new construction, had all been classroom space.

"Okay, here goes," Kelli said getting to her feet. Slowly she pivoted her left foot out and raised her right leg up. She grabbed her ankle with her right hand and slowly raised her leg toward the ceiling. At the same time she brought her left arm over her head to grab and support her right leg as it pointed to the roof. Then she let go with her right hand and brought her arm through to the front and extended it to the side to help hold her leg in place. She held the position for a five count then let go while bending her torso sideways and down so that she ended with her head next to her left ankle and her right leg still vertical. She knew that she was being a showoff but consoled herself with the thought that they had asked first.

"How long did it take to be able to do that? Jennifer asked.

"We have been doing yoga every day since the beginning of the summer but I also like to stretch out in the evening before bed. I was pretty flexible before we started though. Your mileage may vary. Make yourselves comfortable while I ask someone to show you around. I was helping with the setup for tonight and things took way longer than I expected. I need to shower and get ready. "

"That's okay. We don't mind hanging out here if that isn't going to bother you," Jennifer said.

"Whatever suits you works for me." Kelli replied.

Without thinking about it Kelli went to her room and stripped to her underwear slipped on her robe and headed for the shower.

After she had closed the door Sydney looked at her friends and said, "How do we get into this place? Did you see her body when she put on her robe? And that vertical split thing she did. If I could do that Mitch would faint as all of the blood rushed into his giant boner."

"That is not how boners work dumbass." Jen said.

"How do you know? Can you do that? No? That's what I thought."

Lauren said. "Enough. I want to talk about the school. This place is not at all what I expected. It is really nice. And the girls we talked to down stairs aren't what I thought they would be either."

"What were you expecting? A reform school?" Jen said.

"I don't know. Maybe. I think I expected them to have poor grammar and everything to be all run down," Lauren said.

"Well, whatever they are, just don't piss off our host by bad mouthing her friends," Sydney said. "From what Jen said she could kick all of our asses without breaking a sweat. It is hard to believe that that little thing beat up Dillon, Zach and Andrew."

"I didn't say anything bad!"

"Technically she only beat up two of them. I kicked Andrew in the nuts," Jennifer said proudly.

Soon the shower stopped and the unmistakable sound of a blow dryer took its place. The girls continued to chat among themselves until the door to the bathroom opened. Kelli walked out in her robe running a brush through her hair.

"I have to lotion up. This time of year my skin gets so dry and itchy it is crazy," she said walking into her room and shut the door. "I will be done as soon as I can."

A minute later Kelli interrupted their conversation again. "Can I please get one of you to do me a favor? I can't get the lotion all over my back."

The three looked at each other silently trying to figure out who should go. After a few seconds Sydney spoke up. "Sure, Kelli I'll give you a hand."

"Thanks so much."

Sydney looked at the bottle Kelli handed her and said "My sister uses this one. I didn't think that you girls would shop at specialty places."

"We have some money to spend on ourselves. The trick is knowing what to buy. For everyday I use the unscented stuff from Walmart. When I get to dress up I like something nicer. For example my outfit for tonight is thrift store gold and my boots are borrowed. We all try to share our nice things when we aren't using them. It is kind of like having 239 sisters who will lend you their stuff. Our IT club even built a sharing database to make borrowing easier."

Sydney rubbed the lotion into Kelli's back. Her skin was smooth and she didn't have any visible acne. Her muscles were firm to the touch. There was very little fat on the girl, however Kelli was not thin or underweight like she imagined a model would be. When she finished Kelli pulled on her robe.

"I'll just let you finish getting ready," Sydney said.

"Don't leave. Ask Jennifer and Lauren to come in too. We can talk while I put on makeup for this evening. "

The others sat on the bed while Kelli sat at the built in desk and began to apply her makeup for the evening. Looking about the room the three could tell a little more of the personality of their host. There were a dozen black and white photos in inexpensive black frames on her walls. The subjects were obviously other girls from the school. They were quite striking. Each photo seemed to tell the viewer something about the girls in the picture.

"Do you like the photos?" Kelli asked when she noticed them looking. "They were shot by my friend Olivia. She is awesome. They are done in the style of some famous photographer that she practically worships. She says that eventually she will photograph all of us but that may take a while."

"Has she taken your photo yet?" Lauren asked.

"Yes, but I thought it would be weird to hang a picture of myself."

"Can I see it? She seems like she is trying to show your personalities in these shots. It would be cool to see what she thinks you are like."

"Sure. If you look in my closet on the shelf beside the plastic storage tub is a photo album."

Lauren took the album down and sat between her friends so that they could all see. She opened the album and on the first page was the portrait. The picture showed a closely cropped view of Kelli with her head thrown back laughing. The light caught her eyes so that they sparkled. To her new friends, she seemed filled with joy just to be alive. The shot made Lauren want to be friends with this girl. She wondered if that was the true representation of Kelli. She turned the page and there was nothing else in the album to see. No other photos.

"What were you laughing at in the photo?"

"I can't recall. We had been messing around in the photo studio that they set up in the old student newspaper room. We were just bullshitting about the teachers. I didn't even know I was being photographed until the lights flashed. "

"Why aren't there any other pictures?"

"That is going to be my school album. We haven't really been here long enough to have done a lot. Besides none of us have phones and I've not bought a camera yet."

"No way!" Sydney said. "No phone is like a cruel and unusual punishment."

"It is not so bad. Everyone that I know except for you three live right here." None of us have any family or friends outside so there is nobody to call. If you want to reach me call the front desk and leave a number and I'll return the call. After what happened the other night Kaitlin has been trying to make the case that phones are needed for safety. I hope the school decides to spring for phones for everyone but if I need one I can always buy a prepaid."

"Do you have any photos from... when you were a kid?" Jennifer asked.

"I have a few but I don't look at them. Bad memories," Kelli said hoping to keep things vague. She hated the back story she had been given. The last thing she wanted when starting a new friendship was pity.

Soon enough Kelli finished her makeup. She walked over to her closet and slipped off her robe. Quickly but without rushing she pulled her dress over her head. After she finished she turned to her guests.

"So, what do you think?" Kelli said. She had on a standard little black dress With some interesting crochet detailing at the waist paired with black nylon thigh highs. Over it she had slipped on a short jacket with metallic threads to catch the light and a chunky necklace. She had borrowed some nice zip up ankle boots with three inch heels from Olivia to complete the look. "This dress and jacket are my best thrift store find ever."

Her three guests looked at each other obviously wondering if they were too under dressed. Kelli had gone from girl next door to teen club hottie in about a half an hour. She seemed confident and even powerful. The kind of girl you see at parties in teen movies, the one that all the guys are trying to impress.

"Don't worry about what you are wearing. You will fit right in. I just love skirts and dresses and never pass up the chance to wear them. One of our floor mentors helped me with this look. There will be a lot of people in jeans and a top though. Some girls might even show up in flannel pajamas. The dress code is pretty wide open. If you want to change we can try the database to see what we can put together."

Lauren laughed. "I don't think any of you are my size. What are you a size two?" she gave a self deprication laugh, "It's okay. I know I could stand to lose a few pounds."

"If you are sure that we won't look like idiots I think we will pass on the offer," Jennifer said.

"I think you are all beautiful. You'll look fine as you are, you'll see," Kelli said. "We have some time before they open the doors. I want you guys to meet some people before we start. I have a feeling you are all going to be very popular. We don't get to meet many other people. Most of the people from town don't seem to want to talk to outsiders.

"What can we say? It is a small town and it is tough to meet anyone if you weren't born here." Sydney said. "Believe me though. Everybody has been talking about you all. Especially the guys."

"None of them has really spoken to us, unless you count catcalls. Hailey, our Dean of Students told us not to respond to provocations like that," Kelli said.

"It was probably for the best. The talk around town is you are all either kind of stuck up or trailer trash," Jennifer said hesitantly. "That is partly why we accepted your invitation. We were curious. You seemed really nice last night, not stuck up at all and I cannot imagine any of you that I've met so far as trashy."

"Thanks."

Nicole burst into the room before Kelli could say anything else. She was holding a sparkly turquoise dress and looking frazzled. "Is Leanne in here? I can't find her anywhere. I need her help."

"No, I think she is in the auto shop helping sand down the Chevelle. She should be back to get ready any minute though."

The stitching on the zipper of my dress is coming lose and if it breaks during the show I will be showing everyone, including Mr. Dawkins, my boobs. I would die of embarrassment."

"She should be back soon. Let me see it. It might be something I can fix. I still have the stuff from helping sew the extra sequins on."

Kelli examined the Zipper and thought that she could secure the zipper with no problems. "Chill. I can fix this but I need you to relax. You are getting too wound up. Did you even notice that I have guests? Nicole, these are my new friends Jennifer, Lauren and Sydney."

"Ohmygawd, I am sorry to be so rude'" Nicole said to the three girls from town. " I'm Nicole. You must think I am a total bitch."

The girls talked over each other assuring the beautiful blond girl in the doorway that they didn't think anything of the kind.

"Tell you what," Kelli said "If it is alright with our guests, I will fix the zipper and you can take them around the floor and introduce them. This will take about ten minutes."

"If it's cool with them, it is fine with me. I've been wanting to meet some new people."

The three girls readily agreed and left to meet some of Kelli and Nicole's friends. Kelli grabbed her sewing kit and got to work on the zipper. She hadn't sewn a stitch before she met Leanne. It was nice to have a roommate that wanted to teach her. Apparently Leanne had grown up poor in a time when that meant making most of her own clothes. She was very good at sewing and made it fun. The two of them had been looking for a decent machine that they could afford together. The school had made a couple machines available to the students but there was usually a long wait time. Marissa had them hooked on thrift stores but the best finds usually needed to be altered.

***

When Nicole and the girls returned they brought Samantha, Alana and Grace, the other members of Nicole's band. The band members were anxious to get Nicole back so that they could get one last rehearsal in before they were to perform. This would count as a test grade for them and they wanted to ace it. Nicole was in such a hurry that she changed in Kelli's room. When she emerged, no longer dressed in comfy sweats even her close friends were stunned by the change. She had taken the time to tease her hair out and changed her part in an approximation of Debbie Harry the lead singer for Blondie. With the sparkly dress and heals she looked like a Hollywood starlet.

"I'm going leave my stuff here. Is that okay?" She asked Kelli. "We really need to run."

"Sure, no problem," Kelli replied.

"You're the best," Nicole said. Then she gave Kelli a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug. "Let's go. I want to run through 'Call Me' a couple more times. I think we are still rushing through the beginning."

"Wow, she cleans up well too," Lauren said. "Are they any good?"

"No clue. Mr. Dawkins hasn't let anyone not in music hear any of the bands. I suspect that they will be good for first timers. The bands are only doing a few songs each. Nicole's group are doing all disco songs. I think stuff from Blondie, Donna Summer and Amii Stewart."

"Who?" Jennifer asked.

"They are oldies. Never mind. You'll see soon enough. Come on. Let's get to the gym. The doors open in a few minutes and I want to get a good table."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"This is our big event for the week. There can be some competition for prime spots and I want to be able to see the stage and the dance floor."

Dance, dance dance

When they arrived at the gymnasium there were already about twenty girls in line. Kelli was okay with that because the big round tables each had eight seats and it looked like there were girls from just four other groups that usually hung out together ahead of them. Her friends Olivia and Leanne were just a few girls ahead and they would all be sitting together. As they chatted the line behind them grew longer and longer. When the doors finally opened they followed Olivia and Leanne to the left. Kelli grabbed the table next to theirs to hold until the rest of their friends arrived.

The girls from town looked around. There were at least a couple dozen large round tables covered in yellow tablecloths surrounding a cleared dance floor near the stage. Hanging from the roof there were several mirror balls scattering spots of light in every direction. There was a karaoke setup on the stage and some instruments. Soft jazz was playing through the speakers. Near the back of the gym refreshment tables were set up.

As the hundreds of girls streamed into the room Jennifer was fascinated by them. Kelli had not lied to her. There were a few girls in pajamas and a fair number in jeans. Some were in nice pants but the majority were in dresses or skirts. It only took a few minutes for the tables to fill up and the spotlights to come on. A willowy blond girl walked out of the back stage area and made her way to the small podium that Jen had not previously noticed at the corner of the stage.

"Hey everyone," she said when she got to the microphone.

"Hey Brittney!" all of the Sutton girls yelled back.

"Welcome to club night. This evening in addition to our regular program of karaoke and dance music we are going to have live music from some of our friends." She had to pause as the gym burst into applause and whistles. "Also, we have some new friends with us tonight so try to make them feel welcome. Sydney, Lauren and Jennifer please stand up." The girls stood as a spotlight found them. The Sutton girls applauded them too. "I had the chance to meet them a little while ago and they seemed very cool. Thanks girls I won't embarrass you by going on about how nice you all are. I'll let everyone else figure that out on their own. One more thing. I know I don't really need to but let's go over the rules so everyone is on the same page. What is the first rule of club night?"

The audience responded "Don't be an asshole!"

"That's right. There are no other rules. Before I open up the dance floor I had a special request from Olivia Nguyen. Olivia if you could come up."

Olivia popped out of her seat and walked across the floor to the steps up to the stage. Jennifer could hear the sound of her heels clicking across the hard wood. She took the microphone and nodded to the girl running the karaoke machine.

"In light of recent events I would like to dedicate this song to our own little Hit-Girl Kelli Bellamy. Everyone sing along if you know the words. Kelli, please stand."

Kelli stood and a spotlight found her. Just then she heard the unmistakable intro to Queen's 'Another One Bites The Dust'. She could feel her face heat with either pride or embarrassment, she was unsure. Olivia was having a great time dancing and singing on the stage doing an almost passable Freddie Mercury, if he had been a five foot three Asian schoolgirl with a midwestern accent. Jen was not completely sure but it looked like she was throwing some martial arts moves into her impromptu choreography.

When it was over Kelli sat down and leaned over to speak with Jen. "I think they are trying to make me embarrassed in front of you three."

"I thought it was kind of sweet."

"Well whatever," Kelli mumbled in embarrassment. "There will be a few dance songs before the first round of singing. Not sure when the bands will be on. There are only three tonight so they will probably just mix them in. What do you think so far?"

"It's ...a lot more than I expected."

"I can see that. You'll have fun with the karaoke. Even if you can't hold a tune in a bucket it's a blast. Just try to go with the flow tonight and you should have a good time."

***

Jen and her friends had an amazing evening. It seemed that everyone they met was interested in them. They answered all kinds of questions about the area and the kids they went to school with. The incident with the boys was obviously a big topic of discussion. When talking to one girl she learned that every one of the girls at the school had learned the same fighting techniques that Kelli had demonstrated on Friday evening. All of the girls that she spoke to seemed to have several interests. Some were restoring old automobiles with the help of Red Knox from Red's Automotive in order to sell for money to buy tools. Others she met were part of a fashion club and were proudly showing off the dresses they had made. They all seemed to know lots of stuff about almost everything. It would have been intimidating if it weren't for how friendly they all were.

Soon it was time for the first band. Everyone made their way back to their seats to watch as the girls came out on stage. They did their songs but Jennifer didn't know any of them except for an old Fleetwood Mac song that her dad used to play all the time. They weren't bad though. After the band was done they played more dance music while the next band got ready. Jen and Lauren sat at the table while most of the others went back out on the dance floor. It was hard to believe the amount of energy these girls had.

Soon the next band was ready and everyone again streamed off of the dance floor. When the stage lights came on Nicole was standing at center stage. The spotlights made her platinum blond hair glow. It seemed that these girls were as popular as the last group because everyone whistled and clapped. Jen was ready for another average performance.

Nicole tool the mic and stepped to the edge as the music started and began to sing 'I Feel Love'. There was something mesmerizing about her voice. Everyone streamed back onto the dance floor as soon as they realized the group was doing dance music and not some avant garde weirdness. They moved so smoothly through their other songs that it seemed just a few moments before they were taking a final bow and everyone was clapping and whistling. It felt like being at a real concert for that moment.

A few minutes later Nicole sat down at their table. She seemed happy and super excited by her experience.

"What did you guys think?"

"You were amazing," Kelli and Olivia said at almost the same time.

Everyone else chimed in with some variation of that sentiment.

"What is the name of your band?" Jen asked.

"We have not thought of one. I want to go with something pretty. Alana and Grace want to name the band 'The Shtupid Goofballs' because they thought it sounded hilarious. Samantha says she is still thinking. Speaking of Sam, She is waving me over. I'll be back after I make the rounds.

"Hey, Jen," Kelli said. "Remember how I said I had a friend that was into D&D?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Nikki is my nerdy D&D friend. I think we should introduce her to your brother. Hell, maybe they will hit it off."

"Really? Nicole? She seems so cool. I think my brother would faint. She is so stunning. He is not exactly Mr. Smooth with the ladies. Honestly, she is way out of his league."

"All the more reason to introduce them. If nothing else happens I think hanging out with Nicole will help him to be better in social situations. She is genuinely nice. And even if they just play D&D it will keep her from pestering me to learn to play."

"If nothing else it would be hilarious to watch him get all twitchy. Let me think about it for a few minutes. If he thinks I am trying to embarrass him I will be walking to school for the rest of the winter."

"When Nikki gets back we can talk details. Come on let's dance while we can."

"What is it with you and dancing? You've barely been off of the dance floor."

"I never danced before I came here. I didn't feel comfortable with my body. Here we are all about our bodies. I feel like I am in amazing shape for the first time ever and it's just so joyful to be out there moving with the beat."

"Okay, but just a couple dances. My feet are starting to hurt."

"Just 'till the next round of karaoke, promise."

Sometime later Nicole, Leanne, Kelli, Olivia and the three girls from town were relaxing at the table. Kelli had just finished explaining to Nicole that she should talk to Jen's brother Nathan. Nicole immediately began asking Jennifer all kinds of questions.

"What edition does he play?"

"I have no idea," Jen said.

"How many people usually play? Is he the DM?"

Well there used to be six or eight of them they would take over the basement all weekend. I don't know what a DM is, and no offense, I really don't want to."

"Fine. I guess I will just have to ask him myself. When can I meet him?"

Sydney and Lauren laughed at that.

"What is so funny?" Nicole asked.

"Lauren spoke up."The thought of Nathan talking to a girl who looks like you do is just funny?"

"What's the matter with me? Is it the boobs and blond hair? I'm really not a bitch."

"It is not you," Lauren said then turned toward her friends. "No offense Jen but your brother is the kind of guy that other nerds tease for being a nerd."

Jen giggled. "There may be a bit of truth to what Lauren is telling you Nicole. Nate tends to get interested in things like Dungeons and Dragons and model rockets. He is the treasurer of the chess club. He goes to math competitions with the school team. And lastly he has never had a girlfriend. He just kind of goes into a shell when girls are around."

"Aren't there girls on the math and chess teams?"

"I suppose. It's not my thing but there must be a couple."

"I think you might not be giving your brother enough credit. He is probably fine around girls who share his interests. I knew a guy like that once."

"Alright can you and Kelli and maybe one or two others come to my house tomorrow afternoon? Sydney and Lauren are staying over but they should be gone by then."

"No way. We want to see this too," Lauren said. "Have them over earlier and then we can all go to brunch at the Chuckwagon."

"Will that work for you guys?" Jennifer asked. "I know that you all have these weird food restrictions."

"Brunch sounds great. We can eat what we want on the weekends we just have to log it for the study. Will your brother have a problem with it?"

"He might. Lauren and Sydney aren't his favorite people. Tell you what, show up around ten. If you two hit it off with your dragon thing then you can get something on your own. That will probably work out better anyway. Too many pretty girls will make him go catatonic."

***

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Jen said bounding onto her brother's bed. "It is time for another great day."

"Jesus, Jen! What the hell?" He looked at the clock noticing the time. It's Sunday I want to sleep."

"Not today, Nate. Today one of the hottest girls I have ever met is stopping by with some friends to meet you, my little nerdling."

"Huh?"

You remember my friends and I went to the private school last night with that girl that helped me out with Dillon and his buds?"

"You mean you went slumming at the orphanage, don't you?" Nate snarked.

"One, it is not exactly an orphanage, it is more like a private school. Two, it was not slumming the place is super nice. And three if any of those girls hear you speak that way they will crush you."

"Whatever."

Jen punched her brother in the shoulder. Hard.

"Ouch!" Nate whined.

"Shut up and listen, jerk. In about two hours some new friends are coming over. One of them is into your little fantasy game. She wants to play. Talk to her. Be nice. Do not embarrass me. If things seem to be going well ask her to go to lunch with you. She is super nice and probably won't realize that she's out of your league."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Dude, I love you but this girl has her own band. She is super pretty and seriously nice. Oh yeah and when she and my new friend were dancing together it was hot enough that you probably would have popped in your pants. Here take a look," she said, waving her phone in his face so that he could see one of the photos she had taken last night. "Now get in the shower and I will pick out something for you to wear that isn't gross."

After waking her brother, Jen hurried down the hall and woke her friends who were sprawled out on her king size bed. She sent them home to get ready for the day. Last night after Jen's dad had brought them home they had made plans to take the Sutton girls around town. Sydney was borrowing her mom's minivan so they would all fit in one vehicle. After brunch they would all go back to Sydney's to hang out. They agreed that the three of them would be ready and be at Jennifer's by nine, just in case their new friends were early.

***

"Do I look alright?" Nicole asked for the third time since they had left the school. She was dressed in heavy black leggings with big white polka dots paired with a long charcoal gray sweater that she had borrowed from Samantha and her leather jacket.

"Oh my gawd!" Olivia said. "Enough! You look really hot. Honestly, you of all people should know he probably won't notice what you are wearing. He will just be wondering what you look like naked. Although those leggings are tight enough that he won't have to wonder very much."

"Sorry. I am nervous. I have never really met a guy outside of the program. Well I have before but that is not the same."

"Stop stressing," Leanne soothed. "He will be a hundred times more nervous than you are. It will be fine."

"It is just a few blocks away, so it is too late anyway," Kelli said.

***

"Do I look alright?" Nate asked his sister. Jen could tell he was excited and nervous. He probably suspected that she might be getting back at him for the toad incident during their family vacation.

"You look fine. I picked out your clothes and it isn't like that buzz cut needs combed."

"Why do Sydney and Lauren need to be here? Couldn't they have come by later to pick you up?"

Lauren heard the complaint from the living room where she was sitting. "We are here to watch you, Nerd-boy. If I weren't going directly to brunch I would have brought popcorn."

"Be nice Lauren," Sydney said. "There is no need to be like that."

"But it's so fun. Fine, I'll behave."

***

The bell rang. Jen raced to the door. She had to admit to herself that she wanted to be friends with these girls. They seemed so confident and self-assured that there was no need for them to cut anyone else down. Not that her friends weren't great. They were. Sometimes though it could be a little much dealing with Lauren when she was being catty. And Sydney was always trying to outdo her with the latest clothes and newest phone.

"Hi, come on in. Everyone is in the living room," Jen said when she opened the door. Kelli, Leanne, Olivia, and Nicole walked in and greetings and introductions were made.

The last girl to be introduced to Nate was the blond. "Hi, Nate. It is nice to meet you." She said with a warm smile. Jen tells me that we share a hobby."

"We do?" Nate said feeling rather stupid. This was the same thing that happened every time he talked to a pretty girl. His brain disengaged just as his mouth shifted into gear.

"Oh yes." Nicole said ignoring his conversational slip. "Kelli told me that she saw you painting miniatures yesterday so I made your sister tell me everything she could. It wasn't that much because i's not her thing. What version does your group use?"

"We just switched to the fifth edition last year. We had been playing second edition. Three and three point five were horrible."

"It seems like I haven't played in a lifetime," Nicole said. "Would you mind walking me through the rule changes? I'm sure the others wouldn't mind going to brunch without me."

"Really? I'd be happy to. Come on back to my room I've been working on a new campaign for when my friends are back home for winter break. I've been dying for someone to give me some feedback on a couple of the scenarios."

***

At brunch Jen was worried about her brother. Sydney and Lauren had made a couple of snide remarks about his awkwardness but had stopped when Kelli and her friends had not joined in. When asked if they thought it was weird for a girl like Nikki to be interested in such a nerdy past time Kelli had only replied "It's good to have hobbies."

"Do you think he is being too much of a dork?" Jen asked.

"You shouldn't worry about Nate," Kelli said. "He seems like a good guy. Nicole has been pestering the crap out of us about that game for so long she is probably being even more of a game nerd than he is. When we are done eating we'll probably find them still looking at the campaign thing he was talking about."

"You're right. I shouldn't worry. It's just that even though he is older I have always felt like the big sister..."

"He may just be a late bloomer. Anyway Nicole is good with people. She will bring him out of his shell and keep the conversation moving."

***

Brunch at The Chuck Wagon had been amazing. Kelli had not had waffles like that ever in this new body. They had been cooked perfectly and served simply with fruit and powdered sugar on top. The only thing that cast a shadow on the occasion was the dirty looks she received from the customers at one of the other tables. Judging by the camo and muddy boots, the four men looked like they had been out hunting that morning and were stopping for a bite before going home.

"What is their deal? Kelli asked Jen indicating the table of men who were glaring at their table."

"That is Mr. Daniels, in the Bass Pro hat. He is the head wrestling coach and assistant football coach. Mr. Jones, the fat guy across from him is the football coach I don't know who the one in the orange vest is, but the other guy beside Mr. Daniels is John Talbert's dad. John is in football and wrestling. He is a total douche."

"They are kind of creepy," Leanne said.

"Are they mad at us because the boys were assaulting you?"

"Yes, probably. Around here there isn't much besides sports. By helping me you made them look bad. By pressing charges I made it a thousand times worse."

"That is asinine," Kelli said.

"That is just life in a small town," Lauren said. "Where did you live before?"

"We moved around a lot before the accident. But you are right. I've always lived near a big city or in a larger town." Kelli said.

"I take it Thompsonville is full of manly men?" Olivia asked.

"You couldn't tell from all of the trucks, beards and camo?" Lauren snorted.

"I like trucks," Sydney said. My dad has a truck."

"Your dad is as big of a Bubba as the rest of them. You're lucky that your step dad is normal," Lauren replied. "Let's pay and get out of here. I want to go back to your house so Olivia, Leanne and Kelli can teach us some of those dances they were doing last night."

***

The next couple of weeks were mostly pleasant for the Sutton girls. By now school was a familiar routine for all of them and presented only the usual academic challenges. Nikki was able to convince three other girls to play D&D with Nate and his friends and after they had so much fun during the first night they planned to make it a regular thing. A few Sutton girls began to develop outside friendships now that Jen and her friends had broken the ice but they were mostly the church group. Hailey and Holly had both talked to the student body to ask that they all do their best to present a positive image at all times.

The third week after the incident with Jennifer and Kelli a few things happened that cast a shadow over the girls lives. The first incident happened to Emily Decker, one of the 'younger' Sutton girls who was walking home from the public library after doing some research for a paper in her freshman American history class. It had not been too difficult to find what she was looking for. Her paper was on the Kent State incident where four student protesters had been shot by the National Guard. She had been going to high school in Cleveland where her dad worked as an auto mechanic at the time. She remembered the incident quite clearly.

As Emily made her way down Dubois Street a pickup truck had cruised up slowly behind her. She had glanced over her shoulder sensing that something was not normal just in time to get hit in the forehead by one of the eggs the boys in the back had begun to hurl at her. The truck accelerated off after the boys had shouted obscenities at her and emphasized that her kind weren't wanted.

The next incident happened at the local Hardees. Several girls from school were getting a snack on Saturday afternoon when a girl from town 'accidentally tripped' mashing a full condiment cup of ketchup into Brittney Armstrong's blond hair. It was obvious that the girl had hoped to provoke an incident when she yelled at Brittney for being in the way. She had not considered that Brittney wouldn't play along. Instead of confronting her Brittney had began apologizing in a sugary sweet voice for having gotten her hair in the way. Apparently the look on the girls face had been quite comical as Brittney's apologies had gotten ever more ridiculous. It was later confirmed that the town girl was a cousin of one of the boys from the Jennifer incident.

The next malicious attack came when Kelli and Leanne had been walking to Jennifer's house. Jennifer had finally got her car back and they had planned to go to Walmart together. On the way a car passed then and whipped into the next driveway. Kelli recognized the man who got out as one of the coaches that had glared at her at the Chuck Wagon a few weeks before.

"I hope that you are pleased with yourself, little missy. You have pretty much ruined those boys' chances at a scholarship with your antics. Does that make you happy?"

"I didn't cause anything," Kelly said. "They were the ones assaulting Jen. They were the ones that vandalized her car and were dumb enough to get caught. All I did was..."

"Was to sucker punch a couple of them. You may think you are hot shit but those boys families have friends on the city council and I think that things are going to tough over at the orphanage. Y'all are either going to learn your place or get run out of town."

She was pissed now. "That it? You done now? If so get your lard butt off of the sidewalk. We've got stuff to do."

"You watch that mouth or someone's gonna shut it for ya."

"Come on Kelli," Leanne said taking Kelli's hand. "Let's go. He is not worth the trouble."

The two girls had then jogged around Coach Daniels and continued to keep the pace until he was out of site. Once at Jennifer's house they had immediately called the school and talked to Hailey before continuing with their plans for the day.

For her part Hailey was alarmed that an adult had become actively involved in the harassment of her students. After she was done speaking with the two girls she proceeded to Holly's office to discuss options.

"Got a minute?" Hailey said from the doorway.

"Grab a seat. What's up?" Holly said

After briefing Holly on the latest developments Hailey asked if she could see any ways to defuse the situation.

"I think that we should continue doing what we have been doing and see what the girls do. It's not like they are actually a bunch of teens with no real life experience. I imagine that within a few days they will be coming to us asking for support for their own solution. Remember part of why we chose these people was because they were all outsiders who were longing to truly belong to something bigger than themselves. They have already started to gel as a group and I am interested to see what they do."

Winning hearts and minds in Thompsonville

Today really sucked, Nicole thought. All because some idiots valued having a good sports team over the health and safety of people her friends lives were getting worse. A bunch of butt-hurt rednecks had caused this problem. Butt-hurt was a new phrase that she had learned in her D&D group. She thought it aptly described the people that had been causing the problems.

Nicole decided a walk would help her think. She grabbed her hoodie and headed for the track behind the school. Since all of the incidents had been happening they were confined to the school grounds unless they were in a group of at least three. She hoped that she could get permission to host her D&D group in one of the activity rooms, otherwise she wouldn't be able to play. There must be something they could do to speed things up she thought for about the hundredth time. The problem was that the situation was too big for her to do much to solve it on her own. When Kelli saved Jennifer Malone from a bad situation, the boys involved had made matters worse and ended up in enough trouble to keep them from playing sports. Because they were star athletes some people blamed the Sutton School girls and Kelli in particular for the problem. They became 'butt-hurt' and took out their anger on the Sutton girls. It was a shame, Nicole thought. There were probably only a few bad apples but no one would come forward to identify them.

Her musings had finally brought her to the track. Nicole began to trot around the track at an easy pace. Easy now anyway. When she had come into the program as a seventy-two year old retired distribution manager, even one lap around the track would have left her old male self wheezing for breath. Now Nicole found that the exercise cleared her mind. Lap after lap she ran but no magic solution occurred to her. The things that did keep coming to mind were that any solution that had a chance of success would need all of them working together. They would need to turn public opinion in favor of the school and also in favor of poor Jennifer Malone and her family. They would need to be organized, motivated and focused. When put that way she knew just who she needed to talk to.

***

Nicole finally found the girls she was looking for playing ping pong in the recreation center.
"Britney and Kaitlin," she said, "You are just the people that I was looking for."

"Uh-oh," Kaitlin said. "Let's hear it. My dad always said that when someone comes to you wearing a smile that big they want to sell you something or they want you to do something."

"Well," Nicole said, "he wasn't wrong. At least not right now."

"What do you need Nikki?" Britney said.

"I think that the situation with the townies sucks," she began. "Things are only going to get worse if we don't do something. I think we need to get the town on our side. We need a charm offensive and I think you two should lead it."

"Wait, what?" Britney said.

"Why us?" Kaitlin said at nearly the same time.

"You two are always the ones to organize everything. We've all noticed that when you are in charge things get done and everyone seems to have a good time. You two are probably our best leaders and organizers and I think that this is a situation that calls for everyone to do what they do best."

The two stood there looking at her for a few seconds before Kaitlin spoke to Britney. "She has a point. We do like to be bossy bitches and it is probably worth it if only for the good public relations."

"I agree," Britney said, "but I want Nicole to be our public face. It was her idea after all. Besides it is hard to dislike someone who's that beautiful and still nice." With that said, she gave Nicole a once over that made her feel like a sheep at a wolf convention.

"If we agree to help, will you be the public face for us?" Kaitlin said twirling a strand of her dark brown hair around her finger. "Britney has a point. Even with so many pretty girls here you have to be in the top five for looks and those five so close it comes down to personal preference. Plus you sing in a band so being in the spotlight won't be too hard. I know it doesn't seem like it but I've always been somewhat introverted around people I've never met. Any plan we make will necessarily involve lots of meeting new people to win them over. Will you do that part?"

"I am in, I'm going to want Kelli to be a big part of this though. She seems to be where most of the ill will is focused." Nicole said.

"I agree that Kelli needs to be heavily involved," Britney said "How is she with new people?"

"I think she'll do fine. What do you have in mind?"

"Not sure yet," she said distractedly. "Grab Kelli and meet us in my room for a brainstorming session."

* * *

The four girls batted the problem around for a little while before deciding that they needed more input. One after another they asked others what they thought and each one thought of at least two others that might contribute something to the plan. Soon they needed to move their rapidly growing group to one of the multipurpose rooms before eventually ending up in the old auditorium. Nicole and Kelli were not surprised at how smoothly the meeting ran. Both Kaitlin and Brittney knew how to keep a meeting on track and what issues to sideline until consensus was reached. They also had been clever about the order in which they had brought in student leaders. By the time everyone was involved the general shape of the plan had already been determined. In the end the entire student body was gathered in the auditorium. Nicole was thankful that none of the teachers were around to run them out for having an unauthorized meeting without supervision. Sometimes it was hard to remember to act like a teen.

"Well, that looks like enough of a plan to present to Hailey and Holly," Kaitlin said referring to the rolling white board that they had hijacked from one of the classrooms. "If any of you have a major issues with the outline now is the time to say so." When the room was silent for a few more seconds she continued. "I move that by a show of hands that Nicole, Kelli, Britney and myself be empowered to present our ideas to the school management. All in favor?"

Nicole watched a sea of hands go up from her perch on the edge of the stage.

"Opposed?" Kaitlin asked. No hands were up. "The motion carries with the unanimous consent of the student body. If the club and activity leaders could be back here in an hour we will report back whatever we learn. If we run long we will try to send someone to let you know what's going on."

There was a momentum to these kind of things and Nicole had just been the first to feel the need to deal with the issue. Now that everyone was fired up Kaitlin knew that they needed to direct that energy to constructive uses as soon as possible. To do that they needed permission from the administrators and some funding to make it happen. She thought that Hailey and Holly would jump at the chance. They tried Hailey's apartment first, then Holly's before trying their offices. She had not expected them to be working late on a Saturday evening. Eventually they found them in the conference room with some tired looking men. She thought she recognized one of them as Simon Graves, the CEO of Topiary Genetics but she could not be sure.

"Hello, ladies. What can we do for you?" Hailey said.

"We had some ideas about getting the town on our side so that our students will stop being hassled," Nicole said. They had agreed that they needed a spokesperson on the way and the other three had elected her. "We can come back at a better time. We didn't know that you had visitors."

Simon looked at the quartet of pretty girls standing just inside the doorway. He briefly wondered what they had looked like before Daniel had worked his magic. Things were just too big now for him to have much personal involvement with the volunteers. He was happy that he had a good team in place to see that they were taken care of. The last thing he wanted was to treat people badly. He and Dan had started this whole thing to help people. "Why don't you three join us. I am Simon Graves, the Chairman of Topiary Genetics. These two gentlemen with me are Mr. Andrew Hansen and Mr. Edward Dobbs. They are outside experts and are here to help get to the bottom of the current trouble. Please, introduce yourselves and tell us your plan."

Nicole quickly introduced Kelli, Kaitlin and Brittney then moved into the scheme that the students had come up with over the last few hours. "We think we need to become more integrated with the community. We want to sponsor a festival here at the school to coincide with the fall festival down town. We thought that we could use the event to raise money for the VFW. Mr. York and Mr. Knox are cosponsors of the auto club that some of the girls have started and both of them belong to the local post. We know they need a new roof. Anyway we thought we could put together some events like a car show a free concert and some activities for kids since we are so close to main street we could get some of the people circulating through from the parade and craft show. Right now it is just the shell of an idea. We would need permission to contact the Festival organizers to see that might work with their plans," Nicole said before taking a big breath and continuing.

"All of the student clubs have expressed enthusiasm for the idea. Getting involved would let more people see us in a positive light. Not that we have ever done anything wrong in the first place. Some people are just mad because outsiders showed some of their own to be less than what they thought they were and are lashing out at us from anger and stupidity. We think we need to charm them enough to make it socially unacceptable to continue behaving badly toward our students. We feel that a big splash at Fall Fest as well as a looser policy on interacting with people from town will provide us the opportunities we need to achieve our goal."

"What do you guys think?" Simon asked the adults at the conference table.

Hailey and Holly were smiling but nodded to the experts to go first.

"I don't have a problem with this," Dobbs said. "This should all be well supervised and pose little risk to the young women. It won't hurt and may help us find out the information we need to pursue the avenues that we were discussing earlier. What do you think, Andy?"

Mr. Hansen was quiet for a few moments. Obviously ordering his thoughts before speaking. "There are some issues of liability and proper permits that will need to be worked out. Other than that and the risk of bad elements disrupting the event I think that the proposal can only strengthen our hand. I would let them proceed, Simon."

"Sis, I think I know what you are going to say so spit it out," Simon said to Holly.

"I think this will be a great exercise in team building for our students. If for no other reason than that I approve of the suggestion."

"Your thoughts now please, Hailey."

"It is a much better idea than some whispers about taking things into their own hands that I have heard. The last thing we need is for more townsfolk to get hurt by our girls – no offense Kelli. This idea will focus their energy in a much better way. I am sure that Principal Weinberger will also think it is a great idea but he will probably insist that the girls also incorporate other forms of community service to the plan. The biggest hurdle is that we don't have any money for this kind of event. "

Simon paused a moment to think before addressing himself to the students. "I will bankroll this project out of pocket. I will want a strict accounting of every dime when it's over and some preliminary numbers before you start. Can do?"

"We can do that" Kaitlin said. "I will have our finance committee drop something with Hailey by tomorrow afternoon. Is that acceptable?"

"You already have a finance committee?" Simon asked.

"We will have in about an hour. If there is nothing more, may we please be excused. There's much to do."

"We will be interested to see your results."

***

"Your students seem to be exceptionally well organized," Ed Dobbs said. This situation hasn't really been going on for long. This is quick work, especially considering they are all from broken homes. Amazing work."

"We are very proud of them," Hailey replied. "They really bonded during our summer camp. I think that Holly could give you a more in depth answer but basically they think of themselves as a big family."

"On the security side," Andy Hansen said, "I think I should higher on a few guys to walk the grounds in uniform to keep people from making any bad decisions."

"Great," Simon said. "We can address that later. You were about to tell me what you found about our troublemakers. What have you got, Andy"

"From what I can tell it is a small group of people mostly related to the football team members and coaches. The boys that your girl dropped-- and I still find that pretty unbelievable -- were star players, up for scholarships at mostly second tier state schools but around here that is still a big deal. Those folks are mad and they blame your girls, not their boys for the trouble. I have a list. After checking records we found that most have at least one family member employed at the electronics plant. They are spread out on what church, if any that they belong to so that won't give us much leverage. Ed has been figuring the legal side while I did my investigation. Maybe he has a silver bullet for you."

Ed Dobbs smoothly transitioned into his part of the presentation. "Simon, the truth is that legally they haven't done anything we can prove. Other than a couple of the coaches we cannot place anyone near the girls during the incidents and with the coaches it is their word against your girls. In any local setting their word holds much more weight than an orphan that just moved to town. Working through the courts will probably backfire on us."

Simon leaned back in his chair rubbing his temples in thought. The silence around the conference table stretched out until finally he spoke. "Well, it looks like we can either back down and be on the defensive forever or we can fix this problem. Ed, I want you to find out who owns the electronics plant here in town and see what it would cost to buy the thing. If we have to hurt the local economy to get them to play nice then we will. Don't do anything more than a few inquiries yet. I want to see if the girls can fix this for themselves. Hailey, I am fully behind the charm offensive that your girls are working on. Just be sure to keep me in the loop. I think they understand what needs to be done but I want you to steady them if they get overenthusiastic. If there is nothing else I have a conference call in ten minutes.

***

The hastily formed Suttonfest finance committee had worked late into the night to get a rough breakdown of what they were going to need and when. Simon had approved the plans and everyone sprang into action on Sunday morning beginning with those girls who had chosen to become members of a church.

The school encouraged the girls to attend church in order to better fit in the town and nearly a quarter of them attended regularly. The girls who had joined a local church did so mostly to meet new people. As one girl pointed out there were a lot of cute guys in the youth group at the United Church of Christ. They would begin the outreach by speaking to their pastors, ministers and priests and letting them know the way the girls were being treated by an evil minority of the population. With luck the pastors would want to help. Getting the clergy on your side in a small town in the bible belt was half way to winning the fight as far as the Sutton girls were concerned.

After church let out it was time for others to do what they could. The different clubs met to figure out what they could do for the proposed Suttonfest. Nicole met with the bands to hash out details of what they were going to do. Brittney made contact with a member of the fall fest organizers to set up a meeting to see what kind of involvement they were interested in.

Emily Decker who was president of the Sutton Car Club contacted Mr. Greg York of York Auto Body and Mr. Albert (Red) Knox of Red's Auto Repair who were both outside sponsors of her club. They provided the actual instruction while Mr. Phillips the faculty sponsor just was there because state law required it. Greg and Red were also members of the local VFW. They agreed to meet her, Nicole, Kelli and the car club's secretary Madison and a few others at the school's old bus garage after Emily had outlined the plan to them.

Mr. York and Mr. Knox had arrived with another old guy from the VFW post. The stranger turned out to be Matt Smith the post commander. After greeting the men Emily suggested that they all sit at the big work table to discuss how they all might help each other.

"Thank you for coming guys," Emily said. As I mentioned to Mr. York and Mr. Knox on the phone we have a problem with how we are being treated and we think that we might be able to help ourselves by helping your post fix its roof. Nicole here is going to give you our sales pitch if you don't mind."

It was easy to see that Emily and Madison had Mr. York and Mr. Knox wrapped around their fingers. With their easy friendliness and girl-next-door good looks they were both pleasant to be around. Kelli also knew that in her former life Emily had been the owner of a small town garage and knew older cars from the inside out although she had lost much of her knowledge of how to fix newer models during the treatment. Emily had told Nicole that she had passed it off as things she had learned from her grandpa. It had been Emily's idea to start the club and it had taken her a couple of weeks to get the old men to support her. After their initial hesitation the men and their wives had made a complete turn around and now looked on the car club girls as nearly like daughters.

Nicole gave them her best smile. "Like Emily said, we want to help you raise money to put a a new roof on your building and maybe help with some other projects. If the school lets us we will even help do the work. We want to do this because we need to improve our image to the point where knuckle heads will no longer be seen as anything more than bullies when they mess with us. Emily pointed out that you all had a problem that we could help with and that you were good people. That made the VFW our first choice. We, that is the student body, are trying to set up a small festival of our own that will compliment the Fall Fest that is coming up. We want to sponsor an auto show and have a battle of the bands and maybe some other things. We have already got a promise of funding for prizes and such from the school. We just need to get everyone else to agree to let us participate. So, gentlemen may we please help you raise some money to fix your roof?

"I'm not one to turn down help but the way I heard it your girl and another girl from town made up stories about those boys to get them in trouble because of a breakup or something," Mr. Smith said. "They are saying that there never was any real problem until the lady that runs the school called the police. The paper never said much about it other than that the police had hauled those boys in that night."

Nicole stiffened an urge to scream in anger that anyone could believe such a thing. "I understand how stories can become unclear when they aren't reported accurately. I can clear up some of the facts for you. My best friend Kelli was the girl from our school that was involved. Why don't I let her tell you what happened?

Kelli spoke up, "I'd never met Jenny Malone until that night although we are all friends now. I was walking home from the library when I saw Jen being harassed. I used what we learn in our self defense classes to help Jen get away. We ran straight to the school and called our dean. The rules say anything involving violence must be reported so Hailey, the dean, called the police. What happened later is those boys got drunk and busted out the windows on Jen's car and beat up the body. By the way, she just got it back from York auto body. Your guys did a great job of getting the dents out Mr. York. Jen gave me a ride to Walmart the other day and I couldn't even tell where they took a bat to the fenders."

"That's the straight story Matt," Greg York said. "Pretty close to what Ben Malone told me too. The Briggs boy's parents paid for the repairs. I don't think they would have done it if they didn't think he did anything wrong."

"I suppose you are right," the old guy replied. "I just had it told to me different and didn't want the post to look bad."

"Probably a lot of guys have it wrong," Mr. York said. "Tell you what, let's get a bunch of the guys and the auxiliary together at the post and grill some burgers this evening. We can have the girls here and maybe their dean and a couple of others over and get everyone on the same page. I think that they are good folks and if they think we can help them by letting them help us I am all for it. I think everyone else might be too."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Red Knox said stroking his mostly white beard. "I like these girls. They work hard and don't bitch about the small stuff. I think that the rest of the guys will like them too. What do you say Matt? Do we give them a chance."

Matt Smith thought about it while looking at the pretty girls sitting across from him. Their story sounded better than the one he got from Jim Briggs who was Dylan's uncle. It wouldn't hurt to let everyone else hear their side. Just like that he realized which story he believed. Football star or not young Dylan was the kind of entitled little shit that was ruining the country in his opinion. "I suppose we could do that. I have to say these girls changed my mind. I will make the calls if you two can go by and check if we need to pick up anything for the kitchen.

* * *

After the men had left to see about their impromptu meeting the two girls went to find Hailey. After relating the details Hailey was thrilled to have such a good opportunity to connect with the community. With luck there would be a good crowd. She suggested that Brittney and Kaitlin come as well as Marissa because she was slightly older and might be more approachable.

The local VFW or Veterans of Foreign Wars post was a low brick building just two blocks from the school on North 12th Street. The Sutton women had walked over arriving at precisely five o'clock. As they walked through the parking lot Nicole admired the landscaping in front of the building The centerpiece was a magnificent Japanese maple in full color surrounded by a well tended array of plantings. It was obvious to her that this place was well cared for and wondered how the roof had become so bad. As she followed Hailey up the stairs to the front door she took a moment to admire the shapely rear end in comfortable jeans before her. She then briefly reaffirmed her promise to herself not to let this body go to flab as she had her original one.

After they entered she looked around and saw a fairly standard bar. The place was not badly decorated if you went in for red white and blue. The floor was red white and blue linoleum tile. The tables and counter tops were all red white or blue. The back wall had all of the service flags displayed. Behind the bar in a red velvet case was a display of rifles starting at the top with a musket and the bottom looked to be an M16. She had never been a real gun guy but thought it was a pretty cool centerpiece for the bar.

There were more people inside than Nicole had expected. Not all of them were old like she had expected either. When she thought about it, the younger faces in the crowd made sense but having grown up the first time so long ago she still had kind of thought of the old WWII vets she remembered as what she would find here. Matt Smith was there with Red and Greg from the auto club to greet them. They offered to introduce the girls to people before the meeting. Hailey Madison and Kaitlin wandered off with Mr. Smith to talk to some older guys at the back. Red Knox grabbed Emily and Marissa and steered them through a side door where Nicole saw pool being played. That left Brittney, Kelly and her with Mr. York.

"You girls stick with me for a minute," he said. "I got a couple of guys that I want you to meet then I'm going to turn you over to my wife. She can introduce you to all of the gossipy old biddies she hangs out with and you can tell your story to them."

After being introduced to the owner of the local Ford dealership and a guy named Phil that was a the vice commander for the post Mr. York brought them into one of the meeting rooms where most of the women were congregated. "Ladies, this is my lovely wife Maryanne," Mr. York said. "Maryanne is on the Fall festival committee as well as a couple of her cronies that I see lurking around back here. Why don't you tell her your ideas while I go find myself a beer."

Maryanne was a sharp white haired lady who refused to let the girls call her Mrs. York. After they made their pitch and explained their reasoning to her Maryanne seemed angry.

"Excuse me Maryanne," Nicole said. "Did we say something wrong?"

"Oh no, Dear. I am just mad because of what those people have been telling everyone." The way she said 'those people' made the words a potent curse. "I think your ideas about linking your celebration with the Fall Fest make a lot of sense both for you and the Festival. If nothing else it will bring more young people down town if only so the boys can drool over you girls. I've met all of the girls in the car club and now you three. Don't think that the fact that none of you seem to be homely hasn't been a topic around town. It is probably why so many old crows have been happy to repeat that other story. Don't worry. We can fix that. Let me introduce you to some ladies that might help."

* * *

To say that the Sutton women were pleased with the results of their dinner meeting would be an understatement. In just three short hours they had managed to get assurances that the VFW would support them and be happy for any funds they could raise. They had also been assured that the Fall Fest committee would do whatever they could at this late date to integrate them into the Fall Festival. The girls had also gotten agreements from several businesses to let them hold Saturday car washes in the weeks before and after the Fest to raise as much cash as they could for the roof. That had not been a hard sell. Kelli had overheard several remarks that it would be great if the weather warmed up enough for the girls to wear bathing suits. Appreciative chuckles usually followed along with glances toward her or another of the Sutton contingent. She didn't care if they looked, she was rather proud of her new body.

The Sutton girls spent the next week making lists, assigning tasks and getting things ready. The first event coming up would be a car wash at the First National Bank of Thompsonville on Saturday although somewhere in all of the time spent meeting people some of the people on the library board had asked of the Sutton girls would help get the library cleaned up for their winter busy season Saturday Afternoon. There had been plenty of volunteers for both projects even with all of the other activities promoting the Sutton additions to the Fall Fest.

** *

Sadly, in the weeks that led up to the fall fest incidents of vandalism and harassment still happened occasionally. Since the girls now went everywhere in groups the direct harassment took the form of name calling for the most part. Olivia Nguyen began keeping a tally on her arm in sharpie of every time she had been called something derogatory when she was away from the school. One Friday night someone spray painted 'FUCKING CUNTS' in large red block letters across the doors of the bus garage. The next day was to be the last car wash before the Fall Fest.

"Did we bring the icky sponges," Nicole shouted to the rest of the car wash crew. She had just spotted the same three muddy trucks that had come to every other event. The guys who drove them were huge douche bags in her opinion. They obviously dumped buckets of mud all over each truck before arriving at the wash. To make the situation even more douche they never donated more than a dollar and usually just a hand full of change for all of the effort. There had been a lot of debate about whether or not to let them get their trucks washed but the consensus was that it was better for their image to just get through it as fast as they could without making a scene.

"I have 'em," Kelli said. "I take it our friends are coming back?"

"You know it. At least they came during a down time." There was only one car in line to get washed. They had taken in almost $2,500 in donations over the last three weeks. Nicole didn't mind that at least half the reason most of the guys that brought their cars through was to watch the girls. She liked being looked at as long as that was all they did and nobody got creepy.

Soon enough they were hosing off what one of the girls called a metric ass-ton of dirt and doing their best to get the trucks perfectly clean. Each one took about twice as long as any other vehicle that they had washed that day and when they were finished with the last one the boy who drove it made a production of dropping two pennies into the donation bucket before getting into his truck and driving off.

"Asshole," Kelli muttered to herself as she watched him go. She heard some of the others laughing behind her.

"Nikki and Kelli, you've got to see this," Olivia said when she stopped laughing.

Wandering over to the table where the donation bucket was she saw everyone was looking at Connie Salazar's phone. She was a dorm mother and was there to provide adult supervision to the event.

"Hang on, I'll rewind it," Connie said. "Everyone hush so they can hear." She handed Nicole her phone and it showed the muddy truck getting washed all the way to the guy dropping his two cents into the bucket. Nicole could hear his voice but had a hard time understanding what he was saying with the wind and the traffic noise.

"What is he saying and why is it funny?"

Olivia said using an over the top redneck voice, "Here's two cents, cuz that's all you bitches is worth." She continued in her normal voice, "Please note he actually said 'bitches is worth.'"

"How is a gender slur and bad grammar that funny?"

"It isn't funny," Connie said. "What is funny is that I have this guy getting out of his super muddy truck and driving away with it all shiny and clean. I am going to post the whole thing for everyone to see. By the way Nikki you look really hot in the video especially when you had to stretch to get the center of the hood. The guys are going to watch that part over and over again."

"Karma is a bitch," Nicole laughed. It was a pretty good revenge especially because the sign on the table clearly showed it was a charity car wash, complete with a little hand drawn graphic showing how much they had raised.

Glen Dunn was the enterprise reporter that weekend for the Thompsonville Gazette, the local newspaper. The nice thing about a small town paper was even though larger papers were going out of business a tiny local one would be viable long after he retired. The reason was no one outside really cared about the things that happened in a small community but the people who lived there cared a lot. Of course it would be nice if they had the budget for a dedicated photographer. As the enterprise reporter it was his job to fill the front page news hole for the coming Monday paper with something. He had gotten his car washed this morning by those new school girls. He should have got some filler shots but it would have probably been wasted effort. His boss Jake Lukas had laid down the law that whatever they were doing it was not news. He had been driving around all day and had not yet found anything. If nothing came up in the next ten minutes he decided he would swing by and take a few photos anyway. In his mind it was never a bad thing to have cute girls on the front page.

"Ten minutes to quitting time," Nicole said. "I don't know about you all but I am way ready for lunch."

"Come on and help me tear down the first wash station," Kelli said. "You could have a bagel. I think that there are still a few."

"I don't want to get too far off plan."

Glen turned the corner and was disappointed that there were no cars being washed. It looked like they were starting to put away their supplies already too. Oh well at least they were doing something. He decided he could pull over here and get a few shots before they noticed then go over and find out how much they had raised or whatever. If Jake didn't like it he could go start a fire or something. The town was just dead today

"Do you think we need new sponges for the next one of these?" Nicole asked Kelli as she squatted to retrieve a tire brush.

"It probably wouldn't hurt," Kelli said, walking over to give her friend a hand up. It did not seem to matter how fit they were, four hours of this kind of effort made you tired.

Glen noticed movement in his viewfinder as he framed the two girls. That blond was just stunning and the little brunette girl was really cute too. This shot was probably going to turn out well. He pressed the button and held it to take a series of pictures. He had found that when he did it this way there was usually at least one shot that everyone had their eyes open.

Kelli screamed as something cold and slimy cascaded over her head and down her body. She heard Nicole cursing too. She wiped her eyes clear of what looked like and probably was mud to see two figures in ski masks running back around the side of the bank. Without another thought both she and Nicole bolted after the running figures.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Glen was sure that his first sequence had the two men appearing and advancing far enough to launch the muck from the large buckets they were carrying at the two unsuspecting girls. He hoped that he got at least one good shot showing the muck splashing all over them. He would check later he had to keep photographing this. The girls were now running after their attackers and it looked like the other car wash girls were going to join in. This was going to be a great story.

***

Their prey had gotten away by climbing into the back of a familiar looking pickup and speeding away. Kelli did not know yet whether she was relieved or angry about that. She was pretty sure that if she had caught one of those guys she would have hurt him badly and that wouldn't have helped at all. After they had caught their breath She and the other girls walked back to finish putting things away. At least there was still one hose out so she could get some of the filth off of her. As they rounded the corner they saw Connie who had stayed with the money deep in conversation with a middle aged man in a blue oxford shirt and tan slacks which was pretty weird thing to wear on a Saturday in Thompsonville. Connie seemed to be in a way better mood than the situation warranted.

Connie saw them before the man did and called Nicole and Kelli over.

"Girls, this is Mr. Dunn from the local paper. He happened to be taking pictures of the two of you cleaning up when you were attacked. The pictures are amazing. This is actual proof of the harassment our students have been suffering. I think it also proves that our students aren't the problem."

"Well I guess some good might come of this," Nicole said before turning to face the newsman. She glanced at her hand before continuing. "Forgive me for not shaking hands but mine are unexpectedly dirty."

"I quite understand. May I ask a couple of quick questions about the incident before the police arrive?"

"Police?" Kelli asked.

"I called 911 as soon as I saw what happened," Connie said. "This was an assault whether or not people call it a harmless prank. If nothing else it needs to be documented like all the rest."

"Can we do it after we get dry? I am starting to get really cold," Nicole asked.

"I am pretty sure Hailey won't mind if you stop by the school," Kelli added.

* *

Glen hung around long enough to get a promise from the officer that responded to the call to fax him a copy of his report in exchange for emailing him the whole photo sequence then headed back to the office to get a better look at the photos. This was going to be a great story. It had drama and violence and some back story. They would be likely to sell a lot of papers. Hell the AP would probably pick it up based on the photos alone. Before he got too far ahead of himself he decided to call Jake. He would blow a gasket if he weren't called about something like this.
By the time Jake arrived he had Crafted a pretty good lead and had a credible first draft of the events of the day. He thought a sidebar with a timeline wouldn't be a bad idea if he got the overtime approved for it.

"Okay Greg, show me why I had to leave my nice chair and the Kentucky game to see this."

I made a gif of the images to post for the web edition. It is on the graphics computer in the other room. I will tell you everything while you have a look."

Greg briefly went over the facts again before waking up the computer and revealing the image sequence that he had left cycling.

Jake watched the images from the first where the girls were innocently cleaning up the work area to the to the last one with mud splashed all over them. He swore he could practically hear the startled screams coming out of the open mouths of the muddy girls in the photo. This was excellent. He had promised his sister who married into the Briggs family that he would try to keep Dylan out of the paper as long as nothing else happened. Even with the police reports, going against the local coaches would not have been the best move. In a this small town high school sports sold a lot of papers. This however, was too good to pass up. They had a great visual and a great narrative, With luck this whole thing would take weeks to play out. The Gazette could really use some bigger circulation numbers going into the Holiday season and Jake wasn't above stirring the pot once in a while.

"Here's what we are going to do. I am going to clear the entire Monday edition of the usual filler from the wire. Then I am going to call Judy and see if she can do a backgrounder. I want that last shot as big as we can get it above the fold. Crop in as tight as you can on their faces. Those screams are probably good for another couple hundred papers. Inside I want a photo page to run opposite the jump page move adds around if you have to."

"Got it boss. I will be going over to the school in a while. Want me to wait for Judy? She could probably dig up some human interest on the girls." Just then Greg's phone buzzed with an incoming message.

Unknown: Greg, this is Connie from the school. You might also be interested in the linked video that I have just posted to YouTube.

Greg showed Jake the message then clicked the link. Connie had posted the video of the kid giving two cents.

"I know that kid," Greg said. Isn't he..."

"Yeah that's Randy Conway. He is my sisters nephew. Stupid little shit is overdue for a lesson in manners."

Kelli walked into their tiny common room on just shorts and a sport bra and flopped onto the comfy chair.

"It looks like you got all of the mud washed off. That was a really long shower," Leanne said.

"My hair felt so gritty," she gave an exaggerated shiver. "It was disgusting."

Leanne laughed. "It could have been way worse. Dead fish or dear guts or something like that."

"I know. I just wish we had caught one of the jerks. I feel like everyone hates us and we haven't done anything to anyone that they didn't have coming to them."

"Give it time. I've been helping Mrs. Conway, the old lady the senior center hooked me up with, after school a few days a week and she has been very complementary about us."

"That's probably because you always bake when you are over there, Leanne. By the way thanks for sneaking that apple pie in tonight. That really helped my mood."

She does love to bake. With her macular degeneration its hard for her to get the measurements right. She also likes when I read to her. You should come with sometime. I think you would like her."

" I might take you up on that," Kelli said. "I wouldn't mind helping someone who needs it and the cookies are a great incentive."

"If you really want to help the Senior Center could hook you up. There are a lot of older people around here that could use a hand. Most of them live in the older parts of town near us too."
She wanted to talk but said she would try to catch you before bed. Are you two still a thing?"

"We were never a thing, Leanne."

"Oh, please. The way you look at each other and do that silent communication thing. Everyone says two are simpatico. Like Brittney and Kaitlin or Megan and Skylar."

"She is a special friend. We woke up after the change in the same room together. We have slept together and laughed together. Like you she is one of my closest friends, but we aren't a couple. If you haven't noticed she hasn't stayed over for the last few weeks. We talked and we want to be friends more than lovers.I think we are both very bisexual and want to try out everything. I think her and her band mates may be getting very close. I've been flirting with Madison but I'd really like to try out a guy."

"Well good luck with that." Leanne laughed. "Both Hailey and Principle are big on keeping us away from the town boys."

"That's not totally true. Hailey said that she just needs to meet their parents and we would have an 11:00 curfew. They actually want us to form good relations with the town. Just not so good that we steal all the guys from the local girls. Not to worry. I can wait until college if I need to."

"I have to admit," Leanne said. "Sometimes I wish I were just a little into girls when I see people snuggling together in the lounge. Its great to have friends but I'm a little lonely."

"Oh, sweety! Not everyone snuggled up is having sex. Is that what you were thinking? The need for touch is a real thing and I feel terrible for not paying better attention. Get your brush and I will brush your hair for you. Maybe give you a neck rub. I promise no funny business."

***

"Guys. I don't think people will show up just to here our school bands play. Nobody outside of us really know how amazing the different groups are," Nicole said. She was eating lunch with Kelli, Brittney, Kaitlin and several of the other girls in charge of organizing the festival activities for the school. "I think we need to add some outside groups."

"That sounds great," Kaitlin said. "How are you going to get them."

"I don't know. I can try to round up some prize money and convert the concert into an all day battle of the bands. That might bring in some of the bands from the university. They are only thirty miles from here. Maybe talk to Mr. Dawkins. He was in a somewhat successful group back in the mid 2000's. Maybe he will have an idea."

"Whatever you think can do to make it a success we will help," Brittney said. "You come up with a plan and we will get some volunteers to help."

"I think us band girls and maybe the theater club should be on this one. The theater club was going to do sound and lighting anyway. Don't worry, I got this."

***

Later that evening in Nicole's room, while she was trying to relax with the other members of the her band she brought up the problem. "I am so screwed. I talked to Mr. Dawkins and he said that he would be happy to help us but for a really good amount of interest from other bands we would need at least five grand in prizes. He said if we could come up with at least that much he would make some calls to some old friends to recruit some celebrity judges."

"Who can he get?" Alana asked.

"How the hell should I know?" Nikki growled. "When 'Atomic Tomatoes' were popular with all the young girls I was listening to oldies and worrying about my retirement fund."

The girls worked out the shell of a plan and met with the other band girls before lights out to get their opinions and agreement. With just over 20 girls available Nicole divided the work among them. Girls who were already working on other projects became the phone solicitors. That left Nikki with six girls for face to face begging. Tomorrow at lunch she and maybe a couple of others would go off campus to see what Holton's Music was willing to do. Samantha, her lead guitarist pretty much had Mr. Holton wrapped around her finger. He always seemed to get a kick out of it when she showed up after school in her uniform and asked to play his old Rickenbacker Model 360. Samantha was an amazing player and had been classically trained before she became involved with Topiary Genetics. She kenew how to play jazz and flamenco as well as bluegrass and rock.

***

"...So we can list you as the main sponsor and you will be able to write off the full value of the donation," Nicole was saying as Samantha eyed the guitar amps on display."

"You should think about going into sales. Let me look in the store room I think I have a few high end things that I need to get off of the books. People around here just can't afford the really nice stuff anymore."

In the end Mr. Holten donated a wireless microphone, a Gibson Les Paul with the premium cherry sunburst finish worth more than $3000 and five $100 store credit vouchers. Nicole had convinced him throw throw in the store credits to get the bands to try his store. It was an extreamly well stocked music store, more because Mr. Holten was an enthusiast than because he was making a great amount of sales. He even offered the use of some of his rental equipment for free so that they could set up a second stage.

When Nikki met again that evening with the others several girls had been successful in getting sponsors. She was amazed that they had been able to secure all of the donations that they needed in just one day. All together they had come in just short of $9000 to award in prizes if you took the retail value of the donated items into account. Nikki couldn't wait to talk to Mr. Dawkins in the morning.

***

Nicole rushed through her morning routine after early P.E. She wanted to be sure to be at the door to the band room before Mr. Dawkins arrived. This had started as a way to bring together the community but she found that she was really enjoying her new leadership role.

"What are you doing here, Nicole?" asked Mr. Dawkins. He was surprised to see her here so early. He thought it was probably because she was not having much luck with donations.

"We rounded up the donations that you said we would need. I wanted to give you as much time as I could to make the calls that you promised to make."

"Really? I didn't expect you to be able to raise five grand so quickly. Lets set down and you can tell me about it." Mr Dawkins unlocked the door and led Nikki to the side of the room away from the instruction space where he had his desk.

"Well it's closer to nine," Nicole said before explaining all of the different donations that the band girls had been able to come up with.

"Wow! I must say I am amazed. I'll make the calls after lunch. With any luck some of the people will talk to me. I didn't exactly leave the business on good terms with everyone. A little fame can turn you into a real jackass. Remember that for when you're famous young lady."

"Don't be silly. We just want to be cover band to earn extra money through college. Fame and me would not get along."

Nicole left Mr. Dawkins sitting at his desk shaking his head at the beautiful teens parting words. He would need to work harder on encouraging those girls. They had so much more potential as performers than any number of popular music groups. In his experience stunning good looks plus above average ability should be enough to get them a deal if they wanted it enough.

* * *

Holly was eating lunch at her desk. She had been looking at the latest data on the rate the new girls had been adapting themselves to social norms. It was really too bad that her work was only available to a small circle of people with the proper security clearances. It would be interesting to learn what her colleagues would have to say about her study. Her phone vibrated and she glanced at it. It was Simon so she couldn't just let it go to voice mail as she would have preferred. In spite of the interruption she was always happy to talk to her brother.

"What's up, bro," she said.

"Hey Holly, I need to pick your brain before I make a decision. Got a minute?"

"Always for you, Simon."

"Great. My guys have done everything they can without letting anyone outside the organization know we are planning something. Before I pull the trigger I want to know how the girls are doing with the PR issue. If need be I will happily buy that local factory and find reasons to not rehire ate relatives of the troublemakers. The investigators have come up with some dirt on the adults that can also be used to crush them. I would hate to do it and there would be some push-back but we can't give in on something that concerns the long term safety of the girls or this project. Even that is better than the option of letting General Richardson's group handle it. He seems like the kind that would go too far."

"In that case I have great news. There was a triggering incident last week that got the media on our side. Sympathy for the girls had been on the upswing anyway, however it skyrocketed after two of our girls had buckets of mud dumped on them while a local reporter happened to be photographing them. You should probably read the report Hailey is planning to send on Monday after the festival. It will have all the supporting material attached. Anyway I would advise you to hold off on doing anything."

"That is excellent news. It would have really strained our budget to buy the factory. The R.O.I. was not great. At best we would manage to break even in seven years or so. I am thinking of coming in tomorrow to see the girls in action. Will it be worth my time?"

"You've never been a small town festival kind of guy. I would love to see you again though. I miss my little brother. How about I give you an overview and you decide for yourself."

"I miss you too, sis. If it is any consolation, your work will guide our efforts as we go forward. It's critical that we be able to predict how the mental state of our future clients will be affected by the changes brought on by Daniels process. I wouldn't trust anyone else to keep an eye on our girls even if we could find anyone as good as you.

"Aww, that's sweet. It's also a load of crap,” Holly said. “Okay, so tonight our girls have been invited to the football game and the dance that follows by the public high school student council. It's a good will gesture on their part. Tomorrow morning is the big parade. Some of the girls managed to put together a nice float and a bunch of girls have volunteered to walk along with it and pass out candy to the kids."

Holly continued. "We also will have a car show which got a lot more interest than I expected. Emily, the club president told me she had received lots of inquires from individuals and collector clubs wanting to enter after they asked there contacts to personally call people that they knew of with show cars. She expects at least one hundred cars. Luckily we have the room in the school lots to accommodate that many and more. It helps that the news has really played up the orphans helping veterans angle. During the show the different student groups will have the usual sorts of booths set up games, hotdogs, popcorn and whatnot. When the car show ends at two we have an hour to get ready for the battle of the bands.

"Somehow Nicole, our spokesperson and the music teacher managed to talk Lindsay Beacon, into coming down see the bands play. She's a nationally syndicated music critic out of Indianapolis. With all of the things going on at the main Fest just a couple blocks away on Main street I think it will actually be a pretty good day."

"Alright you have convinced me to come. I want to see you too and it wouldn't hurt to talk to some people personally. When we were spending millions redoing the school they were much nicer. It wouldn't hurt remind them that the school is a great benefit to the local economy."

"It may mean more coming from you. They should know though. Hailey tells them often enough. She was a good choice to be the dean of students. That lady is never afraid to take a fight if she feels justified."

"I have always been lucky to have great people working with me, sis. Starting with Daniel and you. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care."

* * *

It turned out that Mr. Dawkins was able to get a fairly well know media critic from Indianapolis to judge the contest. She had been the publicist for his band Atomic Tomatoes back in the day. He had also been surprised that the Tomatoes' lead singer Curt Bonny had agreed to drive in from Chicago where he had been living since his solo career stalled after the band broke up. Trevor Dawkins and Curt Bonny had been the two biggest personalities in the group. They had not parted on the best of terms but neither of them remembered the exact details anymore. Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Holten would also act as judges.

In order for there to be no hint of favoritism it had been agreed that the Sutton bands would play twenty minute long filler sets throughout the day long battle on the side stage while the competitors set up on the main stage at the other end of the athletic field. that way they could play for the crowd but would not be eligible to win any prizes. The girls were actually okay with that arrangement because it took the pressure off of them to win and they could just enjoy the experience.

With the five Sutton bands and eight local and regional bands signed up it looked like the battle would be a success. During the last week before the event it had been heavily promoted by area television and radio stations. Nicole suspected that the Topiary executives had reached out to their network of friends to get the extra coverage. She was not wrong but is didn't hurt that she was the spokesperson for the event.

* *

Kelli had not been to a football game in forever. After the public had invited the entire Sutton student body to the game and the post game dance she had become excited about the idea. She and Nicole had jogged over to Jennifer and Nate's house to make sure that their friends would be there.

Nate had summed up his attitude when he had asked, "Why would I want to go watch guys I don't like play a game I don't like when I could be playing video games with my friends?"

"So you can socialize with other people. Make new friends."

"Not going," he had replied.

"Nate, are you gay?" Nicole asked. Jennifer started laughing. "Not judging, nobody can choose who they are attracted to but I had thought from some of the looks I get when we play..."

"According to his browser history he is definitely not gay," Jen interrupted, laughing even harder at her brothers discomfort.

"Hey! That's private," Nate said indignantly. "I'm not gay. And some people need to not be so nosy. Why would you think I am gay?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kelli said. "You are one of the few boys that know any of us. Here is your chance to hang out with like two hundred hot, lonely girls. Let me explain it in a way that might be easier to comprehend. You have nerd cred, have you watched 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail?'"

"Sure."

"Do you remember the scene on the convent?"

"With the sex crazed nuns? Yeah."

"We are kind of like that, ya dumb-ass," Kelli said running her hand suggestively on his chest. "Come to the game and bring your nerd friends. Remind them that one needs to talk to girls to actually get a girlfriend."

"Uh..."

Nicole took pity on Nate. She liked him as a friend, he was smart, funny and cute. He did lack confidence and Kelli calling him a dumb-ass probably had not helped. "Please come and bring the guys. I will make sure that everyone gets introduced around. Who knows? You might meet someone who thinks you are amazing."

Jennifer laughed even harder at the look on Nate's face. He looked equally captivated and terrified with the prospect of meeting all of those girls.

* *

After getting Nate to promise to bring the D&D crew Kelli and Nicole made plans with Jen to meet at the game. Jennifer was planning to go with her two best friends Sydney and Lauren. This would be the first game she had gone to since the trouble with her ex boyfriend Dylan. He had been one of the starters but now was off the team. Since then she had not really had much of a social life at all.

"I hope this goes okay. People have not really been nice to me lately. You'd think I was the one that did something wrong. At least I know who my real friends are now."

"Most people suck anyway," Kelli said. "Has anyone tried to hurt you?"

"No, but they egged my car and wrote some nasty things on the windows with soap. They threw toilet paper into our trees and not many people even say hi at school anymore."

"I think things are about to change," Nicole said. "People are starting to think those guys deserve what they got and their supporters are even worse bullies. All of us have agreed that we are going to be extra nice and friendly to everyone we meet."

"I saw the pictures of you two in the paper. I have to say that I hate you both a little for being able to look good even covered in mud."

"You look good. You just don't give yourself credit," Kelli said. "Seriously Jen, all that you lack is a little self confidence to put you over the top. You dress well, you arent overweight and you have a really pretty face. You just need to own it."

"We have a thousand things to do to get ready," Nicole said moving toward the door. "We'll see you at the game."

***

With the addition of the Sutton students the stands were packed. Kelli was wearing jeans and a cute tee umder her Sutton hoodie. They had arrived well before the kickoff and all of the Sutton girls had been pleasant to everyone that they talked to. A couple of times boys had yelled lewd suggestions at them from a distance but they had all agreed in advance to not respond. Hailey had even made an announcement that anyone caught feeding the trolls would regret it. Some of the comments from the local girls were harder to deal with. It was difficult not to respond to nasty with nasty however having a previous lifetime of experience definitely gave them an advantage a real group of teens wouldn't have enjoyed. Most people were quite friendly though.

Kelli and Nicloe had split off from their friends in order to work the crowd before kickoff. By now they were on good speaking terms with many of the adult community leaders. As the two wandered around behind the bleachers to get some popcorn they were stopped by Maryanne York from the Fall Fest Committee.

"Hi girls. I'm so happy we bumped into you. I want you to meet a friend of mine, Beth Watts. Beth these two young ladies are Kelli Bellamy and Nicole Lawson."

The ladies greeted each other the Sutton girls hugging Maryanne and shaking hands with Beth.

"Nikki and Kelli have been working closely with the us on the fall fest. In fact I think that because of them and the rest of the Sutton girls we are going to have much bigger attendance this year. Nicole has been a great spokesperson."

"I've heard good things about what you girls have accomplished. I could not have done better myself," Beth said.

"I forgot to mention Beth is an Executive VP for Schwartz and Stockton. A PR firm in Chicago. We went to high school together but she went off to the big city and now just visits occasionally."

"I guess Maryanne has told you about us then."

"Yes she has. Bringing in the Veterans on your side was a great move. You have to be real scum to badmouth orphans who are trying to help vets."

"That thought may have cross our minds," Nicole said with a grin. "Beth, if you are around tomorrow please stop by the school. We'll make sure you get a chance to tour the old place. It probably changed a bunch with all of the renovations they did for us. Ask for Hailey Benton she is the dean or Mr. Weinberger the principal they will be able to find us."

"That sounds fun. I'm visiting my brother's family this weekend and we may take you up on that."

"Great, we will hope to see you there."

Kelli and Nicole moved on around toward the concession stand.

Kelli saw Brandon and Mike, couple of younger guys from the VFW that she recognized and waved. They were standing with a group of guys that looked to be mostly in their mid twenties to early thirties. One of them motioned her and Nicole over to the group.

"Guys this is Kelli and Nikki, a couple of the girls that we were just talking about," Brandon said gesturing to them. "Kelli, maybe you can help us understand somethin'. The newspaper said that after you and your friend got mud dumped on you that you two lit out after them. Lance over there, he was wondering what y'all were gonna do with 'em if ya caught 'em?" Most of the guys chuckles as if what Brandon said was the funniest thing ever.

"We would have kicked there asses," Kelli said favoring lance with a big smile.

"You mean, you would have tried," Lance replied.

"Nope. Pretty sure I meant what I said."

"There is no way. Not against those boys."

Nikki let out a laugh at that. Because of the troubles Hailey had been teaching an extra self defense class every day. For all of her tiny build Kelli was one of the best among them at anything to do with fighting.

"You sound like you know them," Kelli said.

"Well if I did I wouldn't tell. Still, you are so tiny you don't look like you could hurt a fly. Ya know, a pretty little girl like you should also know better than to tell tall tales."

Kelli took a moment to judge how the others were reacting to Lance. She did not think he realized how big of a jerk he was being. The other guys in the group had subtly moved away from him. Lance was a pretty big guy, he was starting to go bald, had a bit of a beer belly but he looked like he had been pretty hot back in the day. Probably was an athlete in high school. She decided that she could afford to take a little chance.

"Hmmm," she frowned. "Are you up for a friendly little demonstration? I'll try not to hurt you."

"What kind of demonstration," Lance asked warily. He wouldn't want to hurt a little girl.

"You try to take a swing at me. Open hand, we want to keep things friendly. If I get the upper hand within fifteen seconds you buy my popcorn and soda."

"What do I get if I win?"

"The satisfaction of slapping my pretty lying face," she smirked.

"I am not going to hit a girl."

"I said open hand but that is a pretty good excuse to avoid being embarrassed. Anyone else want to try?"

"I will give it a shot," Mike, one of the vets said with a grin.

Kelli thought he had been a marine or a ranger or something like that. She was pretty sure the school's training was not up to beating him but what the hell. She was not about to back out of her boast now. “Sounds good, Mike.”

"No, Mike. I was just trying to avoid a problem," Lance said. "I suppose if it is open hand and she is actually asking for it then I guess I can do it. You aren't gonna go crying to the police when you get slapped are you girly?"

“Nope. Unless one of us goes to the hospital I think it's all good.”

“I've got that on video for what it's worth,” Brandon said.

Kelli was glad that Lance had changed his mind. She assumed that Mike, the veteran had known how Lance would react to his offer to step in. She gave Mike a little nod and walked to a position in front of Lance. "Alright big boy, let's see what you've got." She could tell he was getting worked up as the other guys teased him as friends do.

Lance looked her in the eye for a second faking a couple of swings before sending an openhanded roundhouse her way. It was as if he wanted to knock her head off and not just win the bet by delivering a quick slap. His desire to go big helped Kelli out a lot. She was confident that she could handle anything he did but the way his face had scrunched up right before he began his swing had given her plenty of time to act. She quickly ducked under the path of the blow and moved behind Lance. She grabbed his hair with her left hand while reaching around to place her palm under lances nose. She used pressure on his nose to guide him backward until she had him on the ground then she delivered three quick mock blows to his face and jumped back out of his reach. Once it was clear that she could have got away she walked forward to offer him a hand up.

"That's the kind of stuff we learn in self defense class."

Lance laughed as he accepted the hand up. "I've got to admit you have skills. If those are the moves you used on my cousin it is no wonder he told us the story that he did."

That explained his earlier dickishness, Nicole thought. This was a golden opportunity to make a friend in that family. "If it is any consolation Kelli is one of the best of us at self defense. She is so quick that most of us usually can't touch her, even if she does hit like a girl."

"I suppose that's something anyway," Lance said ruefully.

The two then spent a few minutes showing them how Kelli had been able to best the bigger man before claiming hunger and telling them all how nice it was to meet them.

"Come on. Let's go get this bet paid off. Popcorn and a pop wasn't it?" Lance said. His earlier sour disposition had been replaced by what was probably his normal easygoing personality. In line at the concession he introduced Kelli and Nicole to several people and related the story of their little demonstration more than once before they reached the front of the line. It was like he was proud of them or something. Guys could be so weird! When they finally parted the girls felt that they had made a convert in the enemy camp.

* *

On the way back to the stands they found Nate and his friends and brought them back to the area of bleachers that their friends had staked out.

Because they had played Dungeons and Dragons one Sunday at the school the guys had met most of Nicole's friends at least once. Nikki made sure that they all got paired up with someone to sit with. All of the girls had volunteered to help her make sure that the boys had a good time. When she had asked around at lunch Lexi , a pretty dark haired girl with bright blue eyes who she usually didn't hang out with said, 'Sure it will be fun to just flirt and watch him blush. Count me in.' She been sure to make the girls promise to be nice to her D&D friends.

"Kyle," Nicole said to one of the guys. "This is Lexi, she told me that she wants to hang out tonight with a nice boy. You're nice, so you sit with her. After the game you can go to the dance together."

"Um... I don't dance."

Lexi looked at Nicole who shrugged. "Is it a religious thing?" She asked.

"No."

Lexi grinned. "Okay it is settled then. I'll teach you how to dance."

"But I am really not that coordinated."

"Sweetie, relax. It's a school dance, not Dancing with the Stars."

"It's just..."

"Is it because I am not pretty enough? Do you not want to be seen with me" Lexi said which was ridiculous because she was gorgeous.

"Oh god no. But you are way out of my league." The poor guy was so red that Kelli thought he might have a stroke right there.

"Look Kyle, you seem nice enough but we need to get a few things straight. And you others listen up too because Nicole has found friends for all of you to hang out with," she said to the four other guys in the group. "I am the only one who can decide who is in my league. If you don't make the effort to interact with me I'll never get the chance to decide. So Kyle and the rest of you are going to hang out with us girls and you are going to dance and we will all see if we like each other. It will be fun and the fun begins now. Got it?"

The boys all nodded.

"Great. Nikki would you please continue the introductions?" Lexi said demurely.

***

After the game they attended the dance in the High School cafeteria. Nicole had chosen Nate as her date which had pleased her friend Jennifer. She was a good sister and wanted her brother to be more popular. There was no way that his reputation would be hurt by being seen with Nicole. As far as Jen was concerned the girls at Sutton could do no wrong. Over the past weeks as her own class mates had been ignoring her. To a lesser extent Lauren and Sydney had been excluded too, they had been meeting more of the girls from Sutton and really liked them. At first she had been hurt that Nicole didn't have a lot of time to hang out but Olivia had shown Jen Nicole's schedule and told her about the charm offensive that they were involved in and she had begun to feel better about not seeing her new friend.

At the dance there weren't any incidents and several of the Sutton girls had made the acquaintance of various town kids. The rules that Brittney and Kaitlin had drummed into their heads were that they should be nice to everyone and to avoid any boys that seemed to be in a relationship. They knew that nothing would hurt them faster than if the Sutton girls developed a reputation as boyfriend thieves.

By the end of the evening the Nicole's D&D boys had all learned to dance and plenty of photos were taken by them after the guys had stopped being stunned by this unusual turn of events. Kelli had danced with all of them impartially as had many of their other friends. Nicole had even given Nate a good night kiss before Hailey gathered them all up for the walk back to the Sutton School.

The Big Day

Saturday morning everyone was buzzing with excitement as they returned from their morning run. On Saturday the run was not required but most of the girls continued with their normal daily routine anyway. To say that everyone was highly motivated to keep their bodies healthy would have been an understatement. Having grown older and much too heavy the first time around Kelli had no desire to repeat the experience. With all of the high calorie foods that would be easily available today she wanted to be able to sample them without feeling guilty.

Most of the Sutton Student Council and numerous volunteers had constructed a float that was a chicken wire and paper sculpture of the schools bee mascot. One of the girls in the art club had done some work on Hollywood monster movies in the early seventies. She had taken charge of the fabrication of the bee and Kelli thought it would probably be among the best floats in the parade. She and everyone not involved in getting something else ready were going to be walking near the bee giving candy to kids. They had decided that everyone would wear yellow and black. She had chosen to wear a yellow Sutton Bees tee under a really soft black and yellow plaid flannel shirt that she had found at one of the thrift stores with black leggings and her comfortable black leather boots with low heels. Her boots had been another thrift store find. The heals had been bad but everything else had been in good shape. She had probably saved a couple hundred bucks by having them resoled, not that she could have afforded them new.

Kelli was glad that it was going to be sunny and slightly colder today. It was shaping up to be the perfect fall day. They were all gathered at the bus garage where Mr. Matheny one of the Science teachers was hooking the float up to his truck. She looked around and it looked like everyone that had signed up was here. Hailey caught her eye and motioned Kelli over to where she, Nicole and Holly were standing.

"I got a strange phone call this morning. Do either of you know a man named Lance Briggs?"

Kelli remembered the guy she had taken down in her impromptu self defense demo. She wondered if she was about to get in trouble. She thought they had parted on a good note though. "Yeah, I met him at the football game. Seemed like a good guy. What did he want?"

"He told me that you two had convinced him that the boys who were involved in the incident with your friend Jennifer were and I quote 'feeding him a line of shit.' He then wondered aloud that if he happened to know who did the recent vandalism to the school if I would be willing to not press charges if they made things right. I told him I would think about it and call him back. I have a call into our lawyer to see what he has to say. I want to know how you changed this guys mind. He has the same last name as one of the kids that got arrested that night and family means a lot around here."

Briefly Nicole outlined their interaction at the game, including the part where Kelli had dared him to hit her.

"Kelli, what were you thinking?" Holly asked. "He might have hurt you."

"It was a calculated risk. I knew exactly what the attack would be and I was pretty confident that he wasn't fast enough to touch me. That particular take down is one that we've practiced a thousand times. I didn't think he could dislike us any more than he obviously already did. So I figured that the least that might happen is the word might spread that assaulting any of us would be tougher than people probably think. As it turned out he seemed to actually respect me for being able to do what I did to him. We had a nice conversation in the line when he bought us snacks to pay off the bet."

"This makes a lot of sense, Hailey," Holly said. "The people who spray painted the school buildings are probably some relation to him as well. Probably not the original boys. They are out on bail and from what I have heard around town their parents grounded them. Even though they dispute what happened to that girl and her car the underage drinking charges are solid. This Lance guy is probably really pissed about being lied to by whoever did it."

Hailey thought about it briefly. "If the lawyer gives the go ahead I'll agree to not press charges as long as the people who vandalized the school clean everything properly and at their own expense and repay us for the restorations that we have already made. Also they will agree to be photographed by the newspaper and admit their guilt in an interview with Glenn Dunn from the paper. He started the good coverage so it is fair that he gets to wrap it up. Thanks for your input. Please don't say anything yet. I'll make an announcement if things fall into place.

"Yeah, no problem. It looks like we are about to head out I need to grab a candy bag for the kids."

* * *

After the parade was over the crowds began to disperse to the different activities. Kelli and Nicole stopped to talk to Maryanne York on the way to help direct things backstage at the athletic field. This year there seemed to be a lot more people in attendance according to Maryanne. Nikki invited her to come see her sing later then the two girls hurried off to get things ready.

At the school Kelli took off to help with the kids games and Nikki headed for the band area.

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When Nicole arrived the first few bands were beginning to haul their stuff to the big tent that had been set up as a combination storage area and green room. Nicole directed them to the area that had been marked off for their gear and told them to be sure to be around for the pre-show meeting in an hour. She then asked Alana to see that the food that had been donated would be ready to offer the assembled band members for lunch. More than anything she wanted everyone to have a good experience. Happy people got along better. Low blood sugar made people crabby, therefore providing food was a priority.

An hour later with all of the out of town bands unloaded and happily munching their food she called them all together.

"Hi everyone. I'm Nikki Lawson. We're going to get started soon. I'm just going to go over a few things so we are all on the same page. This is all new to us so please be patient if there are snags getting your gear on and off the stage. We want to bring things on from the east side and off of the west. We have volunteers to help you transport anything to and from the stage but we will not touch any equipment without your direction, so feel free to ask for help from anyone dressed in black and yellow," she said while pointing to a group of Sutton students.

"You will be happy to note that we were able to expand the prize pool a little bit so all of you will get your entry fee back and the top five bands as assessed by our panel of judges will get cash and valuable merchandise.

"Detailed rules are posted over on the whiteboard by the door. There are two rounds. After the first round the top three bands as determined by the judges will play this evening. The best two scoring bands of the rest will receive a $100 voucher from Holtens music and a gift assortment of donated items. Our little school bands will try to keep the crowd going from the small stage during the stage changes. Any questions?"

Looking out at the crowd she saw that there weren't any so Nikki continued. "Great. First up will be Closet Monsters followed by Graphic Plaid. So if you all want to get ready I will signal everyone that the show is about to start." She signaled to Samantha that it was time.

Samantha made her way to the side stage that the Sutton bands would be using. It was at the west side of the tent and not nearly as nice as the main stage but hooked into the same sound system and that was a fine thing in Samantha's mind. She had chosen to dress in her normal school uniform as an homage to Angus Young of AC/DC. However it was Jimi Hendrix that she was thinking about as she took the stage alone. She plugged in her guitar, walked to the mic and said, "Please rise for our national anthem," and began to play. She did a good job and went easy on the distortion because she didn't want anyone accusing the School of being disrespectful. People could get really touchy about stuff like that.

As soon as she was done Courtney, who had volunteered for the job of MC, took the main stage. She spent a couple minutes getting the crowd warmed up as the first band got ready to take the stage. When the lead singer finally gave her a thumbs up she concluded with "Please give a big Thompsonville welcome to the Closet Monsters!"

There was a really good mood on the old football field. The crowd was loud and seemed to be enjoying the competition. It was hard to know how many people were there because they hadn't sold tickets. People could come and go as they pleased but Nicole thought that the crowd usually hovered at about seven hundred, sometimes more. The old bleachers were filled with people and the open areas in front of the stages were usually packed. She hoped that there would be standing room only for the finals.

When Courtney took the stage to announce the final three bands Nikki was happy that Graphic Plaid, her favorite of the day, had made it. Closet Monsters, and the Crow Magnums, completed the lineup.

Now it was finally Nicole's turn to shine. Her band was up during the intermission. This would either be really great or it was going to give her nightmares for months.

The sun had sunk below the trees and the stage was lit with red and blue lights. All of the girls had changed into their disco queen outfits that they had made for their first appearance in front of the students. The dress felt too short in the cool October evening. Maybe they would look like stupid try- hards in their glittery outfits. She thought they should have just worn jeans like Samantha wanted but that really wouldn't have worked with the music that they would be performing. There were butterflies the size of eagles in her belly. Finally she heard Courtney finish the introduction and the band took the stage. They were staring with their Blondie covers beginning with Atomic. As soon as they got through the intro the butterflies were gone. Nicole had argued that this was the best song to start with because it was really hard to mess up the words, there being so few of them. They segued into 'Knock on Wood'. By this time all eyes were on her. The girls running the spotlights were both focused on her as she danced back and forth along the front of the stage. Her blond hair and sparkling turquoise dress reflected the spotlights in a way that drew everyone's eyes to her.

As soon as the cheering stopped after 'Knock on Wood' she nervously began talking to the crowd. "Thank you so much. It should be pretty clear that most of us here at the school are into older music. Our teacher Mr. Dawkins says that we will never be able to do anything new if we don't understand what's already been done. With that in mind we are going to finish up this set with a few of our favorites from the 80's."

The girls launched into their version of B-52's 'Love Shack' followed by 'Relax' from Frankie Goes to Hollywood then finished strong with Prince's 'When Doves Cry' just as The Crow Magnums were ready to take the main stage. Nikki felt like electricity was surging through her Having the so many people cheer for her was amazing.

Once back in the green room the band felt like they were walking on air. In the tent lots of friends were there giving them high fives and even some members of the competition bands told them that they had done well. After a few minutes the well wishers drifted off to do other things and Nicole wandered over to get some hot chocolate. She felt someone come up beside her. Turning her head she saw it was the lead guitarist for Graphic Plaid. A very cool girl with a trendy asymmetrical haircut in bright blue and the coolest thigh high leather boots that Nikki had ever seen.

"Hey, I didn't realize you weren't just one of the organizers. I watched your set. You have an amazing presence on stage. I'm Libby. You're Nikki right?"

"Yes," Nicole said. " I love the boots, by the way. Your band is amazing. I think that you will walk away with first place. The closest in talent are out there now but I don't think Mr. Dawkins is that into metal."

"Thanks, we try. We have a producer and studio time lined up for early next year. We have been working on a bunch of new songs Sebastian and I have written together. He is the guy with long hair over there. Our keyboardist and music arranger."

"He's hot. Your boyfriend?"

Libby cracked up. "No he is my best friend but he is totally into boys. He will be thrilled to know that the most beautiful girl here thought he was hot. Speaking of that can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"How come none of you are ugly? Wait, that didn't come out well. I mean they told us that you were all orphans. All of you, the girls in black and gold are really good looking and you are probably one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. How come no one adopted you?" then she stammered, "I mean if that is not too personal. Shit, sorry sometimes I just blurt things out."

"It's okay. We get that a lot. Let me take it in parts. First our looks. We work out for like four or five hours every day and eat a very controlled diet as part of the deal to be here. That means all of our bodies are as good as they will probably ever look. Then we have a dorm mother that knows everything about hair and makeup and skin care. She has been giving us classes. Without makeup we all look super normal. You should see us at morning yoga. Naked faces and sweat all around. Now the other part. This is a great option to stay out of foster care. There are lots of great families I'm sure but there are also a lot of horror stories. Without exception we ended up in the system kind of late. Anyway the exercise, diet, great school and other stuff is all part of the big experiment they are doing on us."

"Experiment?"

"Taking people at the crap end of the spectrum and treating us to a high level of healthcare and education. They are going to pay for our college and then see how we turn out. I think it is the whole nurture versus nature thing. Anyway it is really not a bad deal. I gotta say I love my body and don't mind all of the work that it took to look like this.

"Where was I?" Nicole asked herself. "Oh, adoption. We were too old to really be considered for adoption when we were orphaned. Who wants to adopt a girl right when she hits her teens, right?

Libby laughed. "I see your point. I think mine would have sent me to a boarding school if they could have managed it just so they didn't have to deal with my drama? So tell me about your set. Those were some pretty sexually suggestive songs. Are you going to get in any trouble. I mean Relax is all about sex, combined with those sexy dancing moves you were doing with the other band members... I think I know what all of the guys and many of the girls in the audience are going to be thinking about tonight."

"We won't get in any trouble. We might have got a bunch of nasty comments before things turned around with the town, but we are golden now," Nicole laughed. "The school knows we will all behave. They don't go in for censorship."

Libby laughed. "You don't sound like a normal high school girl."

"None of us here are what you would call normal."

"So... all girls school...and sexy dancing with your band mates...?"

"If you are asking if I am a lesbian, the answer is no. If you were asking if I am bi, the answer is a big yes," Nikki said laughing at the look on Libby's face.

"Wow, you just lay it right out, don't you? How old are you anyway?" Libby bit at the ring in her lower lip as she gave Nikki a long slow once-over with her eyes.

"I've been working on self-confidence," Nicole returned dryly. "How old am I? I have the mind of a senior citizen in the body of an eighteen year old."

Libby cracked up with laughter. "I don't think I have ever met a more confident person. During your set. You just took control of the audience. I think you are a natural."

"Thanks for the compliment. We have been working hard to get better in stage, It helps that our music teacher used to be in Atomic Tomatoes."

"I imagine so. How long have you all been together?"

"As a band? We got together as a group in September just after school started"

"So you are that good after just a couple of months? That's amazing."

"Well it isn't like we write our own music or anything. We just plan on being a cover band. It should keep us in rent money during college."

"I think you could probably do more that that if you chose to."

"I won't have time. I plan to double major in electrical engineering and business."

"Wow! That's going to be quite a load. I can only do 12 credit hours a semester if I want to pass and still have the band. Sebastian and Derrick are in the same boat she said, naming two of her band mates.

"I hope I can handle it." Nicole said. "I'm getting all A's and it's a tough curriculum. Right now I think I can manage but we will have to see what happens next year."

"I'll catch up to you later. I need to get ready for our set," Libby said.

***

It took the entire time the Closet Monsters were on stage to wipe down and pack the instruments. Nicole didn't have an instrument so she helped out were she could. Nicole looked around and saw that Samantha, Alana and Grace were ready to haul there instruments back to the school with help from some of their other friends. She called to them. "What can I carry?"

Grace, the drummer waved at all of the girls around her. "We've got it covered Nikki."

Alana said, "I think that we ought get together to talk about our performance at breakfast tomorrow. Right now Grace and I are going to go chill in my room after we put our stuff away."

"Sounds good," Nicole said. "What are you doing Sam? I'm going to find Kelli and Leanne in the crowd. You are welcome to come with."

"Thanks. I'm going to find Piper and Tegan but we might see you out there."

Nicole was glad that the band had different circles of friends. They spent so much time practicing with each other that she thought it was healthy to get a break from each other. The thing between Grace and Alana was new though. She hoped it was something casual that wouldn't mess with the band dynamics.

It turned out that Kelli, Leanne and Olivia were outside the tent waiting for her to finish with her band mates. Kelli gave her a big hug while the others offered their congratulations.

"Sorry we weren't back here sooner, but it took longer than I thought it would to get through the crowd," Kelli said. "Everyone is having a great time and they all want to see the last two bands. How much longer will Juliana and Kasey be on before the final round starts?"

Nicole looked over at the white board where the appearance order had been updated for the final round. "They probably have another ten minutes then Courtney will introduce Graphic Plaid. They will play for a half hour then Courtney's group will play during the changeover. Crow Magnums are next with Britney's group doing the changeover and last will be the Closet Monsters. They are supposed to announce the winners around eleven, eleven-thirty."

"Let's find a good spot to watch the show," Olivia said.

Juliana and Kasey were just finishing up there filler set when the girls made it to a spot much nearer to the main stage than Kelli thought possible. People in the crowd had recognized Nicole from her performance and had let them get closer whenever Nikki would turn on her thousand watt smile and ask to get closer so she could watch her friends band. The people had just stepped aside while complimenting her on how great she was for a high school kid.

Graphic Plaid was amazing even to Kelli's untrained ears. They had taken a risk and played all original songs during their forty minutes on stage. Kelli, Nicole and their friends had happily danced along with the music with the rest of the crowd. The lead singer Derrick seemed a little full of himself but at least he could back up the attitude with a great voice and the girls in the audience seemed to love him. When the set was over everyone had cheered for a good five minutes while the band took their bows.

The next Sutton girls band went straight into their first song as soon as Graphic Plaid left the main stage. Courtney Warren was singing. Nicole loved her smooth vocals as she sang an old 10,000 Maniacs tune. Without a doubt Nicole thought Courtney and her band had a much more sophisticated style than her own group. Nicole didn't feel any need to change what she was doing though. They were all friends and they chose to play what made them happy. Courtney's group wanted to feel cool and Sophisticated, while Nikki and company liked to feel sexy and powerful with a lot more energy in the mix.

Kelli was just wondering how Nicole's new friend was going to fight through all of the people to meet up with them when she saw the blue haired singer striding across the main stage. Libby, jumped down into the crowd and threaded her way to Nicole with practiced ease.

"Hey, friend," she said, giving Nicole a hug.

Nicole quickly introduced Kelli, Olivia and Leanne.

On stage Courtney began to sing a cover of Pure Morning by Placebo.

"I am really amazed at how good all of your school's bands are," Libby said. "It's too bad you can't compete. I think that most of you would have done well."

"Yeah, that might have been fun but we organized it. Also, the judges are the local music store owner who knows all of us, our music teacher and two of his friends from back in his time as a pop star. There would have been drama if any of us won. Trust me, drama is the last thing we want. We have been trying hard to polish our reputation for the last couple of months. It'd be a shame to waste all that effort."

During the rest of the evening Libby found herself fascinated by the Sutton girls. During the brief periods when nothing was happening on stage they had chatted and she had found herself liking all of them Kelli was a cute and friendly little brunette that seemed like she would be everyone's favorite little sister. Olivia was a beautiful petite Asian girl who seemed really competent and could participate in their conversations while wielding the big-ass camera she had brought with her. Leanne seemed like the mother of the group, making sure that they all could see and providing snacks and bottles of water from the giant tote bag she carried. Nicole was the one that had her focus though. All of the girls were really pretty but the blond singer was on another level.

Libby found herself completely infatuated with Nicole. The girl wasn't like anyone she had ever met. The first things that had drawn her to speak with Nicole were her beauty and energy. Her command of the audience had been raw but natural as if it would be unthinkable for people not to watch her every move. After talking only briefly she had realized how smart this girl was too. Libby was developing a bit of a girl crush.

At one point Olivia complimented Libby on her great looks and it surprised her. Her body was not as toned as the Sutton girls but she was no couch potato. She was so focused on her flaws that she really didn't see her own beauty. She had colored her hair bright blue to draw attention away from what she had always felt was an average face and body. She was floored when the others all agreed with Olivia's assessment.

"It's not just her good looks, it's her confidence," Nicole said. "Did you all see how she owned the stage when she was playing? I am so jealous of your poise and raw stage presence Libby. And you were amazing during your solos. Then, throw in how pretty you are and your killer sense of style. Damn! I wanna be just like you when I grow up."

Kelli laughed. "How do you really feel Nikki?" She thought that Nicole and Libby might have the beginnings of a mutual crush. It would be interesting to see if anything became of it.

"Oh please. I look like a plane Jane next to Nicole," Libby said.

Olivia felt the attraction between the two as well. "Don't say that, Libby. You have your own beauty just like anyone else and more than most. Leave me an email address and I will send you a couple of my better shots. I think I got some good ones while you were on. Now can I get you and Nikki to stand with your arms around each other and face me."

The rest of Graphic Plaid soon joined them. Kelli thought that they were an interesting group. Sebastian and Derrick were hilarious. Jill the drummer was a little aloof but she figured it was because she was older that the others having started grad school the year before. Cody the bassist seemed like a bit of a dick at first. He lightened up after a few minutes and soon found himself flirting outrageously with all of the Sutton girls.

Near the end if the second finalists set the group had moved over to the bleachers. The Sutton girls had been on the go since six that morning and they wanted to get off their feet. Olivia was sitting in Derrick's lap Kelli and Leanne were sandwiched between Sebastian and Cody with Jill lounging against Cody's legs on the next lower row. Nicole and Libby had disappeared for a short time and now they were cuddled up under what looked like Nicole's comforter in front of Leanne and Kelli.

The two had been away for longer that it took to just run up to Nikki's dorm and back. Kelli wondered if they had done more than just fetch the cover. She also wondered if she was jealous of Nicole for the attention that she was getting from the blue haired cutie. Nicole was one of her best friends but they weren't as close as they had been when they were sleeping together. Nikki also needed to spend a lot of time with her band so Kelli had been hanging out with other friends much more than before. She decided that she was maybe just a little envious but probably only because she wasn't receiving similar attention from anyone else.

Since this 'charm the town plan' had started Kelli hadn't been with any of the other girls in a sexual way. She had also found herself fantasizing about guys most of the time when she had needed to relieve her own sexual tension. It wasn't that she didn't like girls any longer it was just that she wanted to know if men were more satisfying for her. She made a mental note to talk about it in her next group session. Maybe some of the other girls were having similar thoughts.

The last band was nearly done with their set when Nicole and the members of Graphic Plaid headed back stage. As finalists Graphic Plaid were guaranteed at least a thousand dollars worth of prizes. Nikki had to be there to help organize everything and also wanted to be with her new friends to celebrate. Olivia said she needed to get closer to shoot the awards ceremony giving Kelli and Leanne a little wave as she left.

"I'm feeling a little deserted," Leanne said.

"Yeah. I wish I had some musical talent so I could have gone with the cool kids," Kelli joked.

"Well I think your cool just the way you are, sweetie," Leanne said in her best motherly voice.

Kelli snorted.

***

Eventually the judges took the stage to announce the winners. Nicole and the back stage crew got all of the bands lined up to take the stage. There was a lot of nervous joking among the three finalist bands. They all would be getting something the only question now was how what prize they would get.

As Nicole had expected Graphic Plaid won first place. She made arrangements to stay in touch with Libby. They had several hundred dollars in store credit at Holten's Music so lunch some Saturday in the near future seemed like the best plan. Before she knew it the crowd was gone and the bands had headed out. The Sutton girls spent an hour putting away equipment and picking up loose garbage. Tomorrow they would do the bulk of the cleanup. Everyone went to bed feeling good about having brought about such a striking change in the towns view of them in such a short time.