Alice asked, "How will you handle tomorrow? What are you going to do? How are you going to explain to everybody?"

They all looked at me, and I looked back at them. A slow smile came to my lips, and Alice said, "No! You're not! You... you can't! You're not going to pretend to be a girl, are you!?"

"Stop!" I told her. "It's not funny any more. I never said I wanted to be a girl! Or even pretend to be a girl!"

"Trust me, Marcie-Mark," Jane told me. "I'm your responsible adult. You're in my care. And I'm telling you, this will be good for you. You'll like it. You'll learn all kinds of useful things about girls, and you even can write a book about it when you're older.

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

Silly dress? Look at me now: my first day of high school in a new town, and I was dressed like a girl.

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

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

Bill’s wife has had enough of him bugging her to wear sexy clothes, so using Hugglebugs technology, she gives him a chance to see how it feels to dress that way. In the the process, they gain a deeper understanding of each other.

“What’s so bad about a cute guy like Josh kissing you?” Victoria asked with indifference.

“Because I’m not attracted to guys!”
 

“Did Josh do anything to you? Did he touch you, or say anything to you that you didn’t like?”

“He….. he kissed me.” Erika was reeling. Did Rachel know? Or didn’t she?
 

The double doors of the Chapter Room opened and the group of us walked in. The walls were all hardwood and had been lovingly cared for, almost gleaming. There was a picture of the Shield of the House or whatever it was on one wall and a painting of some Victorian era woman on the wall opposite. There were no windows in the room, and it was big. The whole House could probably fit in here, which was probably the point come to think of it.

This is the last chapter in the current story arc. Enjoy.

College Girl
By poetheather
Chap 23

College Girl
By poetheather
Chap 22

I was walking through the University Center, the wind billowing around my legs and up my skirt. I was heading to the food court, weaving my way through people. The crowd was pretty dense but I was a not so big person, so I was able through to slide through several holes in the mass of people.

I slid through one such mass and ran into someone. Whoever they were smelled heavily of Old Spice, which made me think of Bruce Campbell. “Watch where you going!”

I drove to the University Center with thoughts rolling around in my head. I managed to get a spot close to the entrance but I just sat there in the car for a bit, letting my thoughts sort of quiet down. I looked at myself in the mirror and I closed my eyes as I felt a tightening in my chest that had nothing to do with my bra. I sighed and opened my eyes again. Richard didn’t look back from the rear-view mirror, Caitlin did.

Disclaimer

“Eric was an outcast, right?” Samantha posed. “Erika however is the envy of every girl in Camp Kumoni. She is fun and thoughtful.”

“Yes, but you have to do it correctly so that the camp doesn’t think you are a bitch, or a snob or else you’ll end up just as secluded as if you were back at school.”
 

“I need help to figure out how to disguise my ‘maleness’ while wearing my bathing suit.” Erika bit her lip.

“It’s true..."
 

Are you a fan of Penny Reed Cardon's wonderful Education in the Hills? Have you been wondering how to keep track of all the fascinating people in this series? Wonder no more! By popular demand, we proudly present the Immigration Manor PDA! Just click on the PDA below and get things started, then click on the tabs and page buttons at the top of the screen to start browsing. Enjoy! :)

“Good afternoon Columbine girls.” A friendly voice sang from the door to the cabin. In stepped a young woman with copper hair, twisted up and clipped to the back of her head. Her fair skin was dotted with freckles and her green eyes were warm and sparkling with merriment. She was wearing shorts, flip-flops and a lavender Camp Kumoniwanalaya T-shirt that clashed with her warm coloring and orange hair.

“Is everyone here?” She asked looking around taking a head count. She nodded to herself and plopped down on the bed next to the door. “My name is Phoenix and I’ll be your counselor for the next two months.”

The girls all greeted her with smiles and a murmur.

“I hope you like this cabin, I had to fight to get it, it’s further away from the boys, and close enough to the showers that we don’t have to hike to them, yet far enough that we won’t hear them every morning and night.” Phoenix smiled. “As my name is Phoenix, I like to give my cabin-mates the opportunity to ‘burn’ their past and be ‘re-born’. So shed who you were before you got on that bus this morning. Toss it aside and think of the next few weeks as a time of change so that you can emerge a new person."

In more ways than one... Erika thought to herself.

After reading the story “The boy who wasn’t seen, and the Girl who couldn’t speak” by Rankan, I got to thinking about that storyline and decided to try out my own ideas. I hope that is okay.
 
 
“Here, lets get this sized for you.” Samantha held out a bra.

“What?” Eric’s face went white.

“You’re going to have to wear one at camp. Try it on.” Samantha’s soft voice took on an edge.

Eric put his arms through the holes while Samantha fastened it in the back and adjusted the shoulder straps so that it fit properly. Well kind of. It was in the right place, it just didn’t have anything to fill it out properly.

“I don’t think this is going to work.” Eric said showing her the deflated cups.

“I’ve got it covered.” Samantha reached into the box and pulled out two flesh colored things. “These are breast forms.” She explained to Eric. “When a girl doesn’t have enough chest, she cheats and uses these.” She tucked them into the bra, filling them out.

Eric looked down and couldn’t believe his eyes. It looked like he had breasts.

“Here try this on.” Samantha handed him a purple cotton top. He pulled it over his head and looked in the mirror. His jaw went slack. He could hardly recognize himself. There might be a chance yet.

After reading the story “The boy who wasn’t seen, and the Girl who couldn’t speak” by Rankan, I got to thinking about that storyline and decided to try out my own ideas. I hope that is okay.
 
“Why?” he looked into her incredible brown eyes. “Why are you doing this… Going to a summer camp with a guy from school who is considered the plague?”

“Because I owe you so much, Eric. You have been such a friend to me and helped me in so many ways.”

Now Eric was really confused. It must have been written all over his face, because Samantha continued.

“Do you remember my sister, Summer.”

Of course he did. Summer and he were in art class together and shared an interest in comic art. Summer committed suicide a year and a half ago. The whole school had to go through group counseling. Eric nodded.

“After Summer left us, I went through her stuff.” Samantha explained. “I found her diary and sketch pad. She wrote a lot about you and how talented you are. How you made her bad days a little bit better. How your drawings and your sense of humor helped her make it through each day. After I got closer to Summer through her stuff, I found you on line. I started reading your comics, and admiring your art. That is when I started to email you. I wanted to get to know you better. To see everything my sister saw in you. I just couldn’t do it at school, I’m not strong enough to deal with all the cliques and pressures. Anyway, I thought by spending the summer with you, I could get to know you better, like my sister did. Maybe through you, I can understand her better. Besides, it sounded like you needed a friend, and I felt it was the least I could do to help you out.”