A Blank Page
Chapter 14
By Flummox

“…Happy birthday Amy-lie,” the assembled crowd sang in their loud, alcohol-fuelled voices. “Happy birthday to you!” The crowd cheered as the two young women at the front of the room- both of whom worse bright sashes with the logo ‘birthday girl’ written on them- blew out the two candles on the large cake in front of them.

“Ah, thank you, thank you!” Amy giggled. “But you are NOT calling us that!”

“I have been called worse,” Amelie shrugged as she barely suppressed a giggle. “But you are right. We do not want people to think that we are a couple, do we?”

A Blank Page
Chapter 12
By Flummox

A Blank Page
Chapter 11
By Flummox

So You Think You Can Prance?
(c) 2017
Haylee V

"Yeah, Doing pageants is, like, soooo frickin' hard. I mean, come on, Cyndi. Really? All you have to be is blonde, busty, and a bimbo. Try actually working for a living, and then tell me how tough you have it."

Photo Courtesy of Myrtle Beach Safari,

“Mom, when do I get to take this off?”, Willy whined, one hand behind his pink-clad hip, the other hand on the bent knee of his bare, chalk-dusty leg. Light reflected off his shiny pink leotard as bright camera bulbs flashed in his vision, causing him to blink his mascara-shadowed eyes.

Carter sat leaning over his knees, which were pressed together so his panties weren’t visible beneath his skirt. The TV was on and the commercials were droning on, but he was looking at Victoria.

She was sitting beside him, off to the side so she wasn’t too close. She was looking at him too, some disposed-of tissues on the side table nearby. Her eyes were still a little red and puffy, and she looked… defeated.

Carter sighed. He was so bored.

“So…” he said, shifting in his seat and trying not to ask about magic, “How’s school?”

It all started when I was 12. You see I was quite short for my age and very skinny, with long scruffy brown hair. I lived in a cul-de-sac in the near a park in the town of Mount Horeb, WI and in this cul-de-sac lived the only people in the world that I could call friends. Across the street lived Sophie (13) and her brother Timmathy(9), whilst right next-door lived Kaitlyn (14) and her little sister Harpher (8).

Carter paced back and forth across his room for a while, occasionally glancing back at his door as if it would suddenly become unlocked. Eventually, he was shaking so much he had to sit and take a breath.

He was losing control. How could he possibly fix this situation? What could he say to Victoria to convince her to change him back? What would happen if somebody came by to check up on them? Who would believe him, the way he looked now, over Victoria?

He almost didn’t believe it himself.

The book. Carter scrambled, pulling open his backpack and grabbing the book.

Wouldn’t you know it, where before I’d found trouble without looking for it, now I couldn’t find any.

There was nobody outside when Carter glanced out the front window, but he still nervously glanced around anyway. All it would take was a stray neighbor with a phone to catch a picture of him and alert his parents that something was wrong.

A strong gust blew away some of the crispy brown leaves, but everything else was still.

Carter closed the blinds, and pulled the curtains shut just to be sure.

Victoria was waiting by the couch. Carter took the Wii remote from her, feeling more than a little silly as he followed her instructions to put the wrist strap on. She was literally blowing dust off the console, and practically bouncing with excitement as she put the game disk in.

Victoria plopped down on the couch and motioned for Carter to sit, informing him that they were playing Mario Kart first.

Carter groaned and tried to get comfortable. Normally, the plushness of the couch would be super relaxing, but the way it made him sink into the cushion caused his shirt to bunch up, making his chest shift and squish as well. At this point he was seriously considering whether a bra would help or not.

Carter knew that he was awake, but didn’t want to open his eyes. What time was it? Maybe it was still early and he could get another few hours in before checking in on his sister.

Ugh… the thought still bothered him. He was glad his parents hadn’t gotten them a babysitter for the weekend, but this was the third trip out of state since the school year started. Didn’t they know he needed the weekends to himself and his own friends?

He still needed to know what time it was.

“I like being a girl. It feels better than being a boy, at least for me. But remember Jamie is a different person; still a lot like me, I mean we’re both still a lot like we used to be, but just because he turns into me at night doesn’t mean he’s gay or transgender. If anything, from what Bobby tells me, he’s more macho than we were before.”

“Please don’t be mad at him. He’s embarrassed about changing into a girl and is afraid of how people will react. If you freak out, it will make him feel justified in keeping my existence secret, and I’m just as real as he is. Both of us remember being the original Jamie, but both of us have changed.”

“He said you’ve changed your name to Artemis? Why? Jamie works fine for a girl as well as a boy.”

 

Better for a girl than a boy, I thought, remembering some of the teasing I’d had to put up with. No sense bringing that up now, though.

“No,” I said firmly, shutting the magazine and handing it back to him. “Do not want.”

After we were driving for a while, everybody seemed tired and therefore the talking stopped. Mary fell asleep after her long flight. Her head leaned on my shoulder while she was sleeping. I gently touched her hair and face and whispered: Get some nice rest, big sis. Soon we will be home. Dad seemed tired too and it was slowly getting dark. I felt so happy and loved in this very moment. My best friend, mentor and role model was finally with me again. I have been feeling more and more confident since I met Sammy and her friends.

I got to know Doug so quickly in fact that it felt like I knew him my whole life. Nothing seemed out of bounds, except my dark secret. And even there Doug got to know me better than I know myself. The real me.

Copyright © 2017 by AuP reviner

Ginny helps Jasmine get ready for her date. Jasmine realizes that there's more to being a girl than being a girl. Mom walks in on a makeup lesson. Chapter 2.