The answer

By Lynda Shermer

Chapter 3 - Travels to My Aunt

So I was out of town for all of halloween, which is one of my favorite nights of the year. My aunt Phyllis wasn't any trouble, being an eminently practical person, and didn't object to how we'd have to rearrange things in her house so she could live entirely on the ground floor for awhile.

The answer

By Lynda Shermer

Chapter 2 - Desperately Avoiding Susan

My jaw dropped. I was still talking like Susan?

Alice walked around the end of the desk, "Look at how you are sitting. Normally, you sprawl in that chair. But you are sitting upright, straight spine, feet together, no! Now, legs crossed at the ankles!"

Bang! ‘Freak!’ Bang! ‘Weirdo!’ Bang! ‘Faggot!’

Bobby Simpson was preparing to hit my head off the school locker when a large pair of hands grabbed him around the neck and lifted him off the ground.

‘Stop hitting him!’

Bobby gurgled in response.

‘Do you know who I am?’

‘You’re Beatrice the Beast’.

‘Call me that one more time and you’ll wake up in hospital.’

She dropped Bobby who stumbled, just avoided a face-plant and ran whimpering around the corner of the corridor.

‘You saved my life. My hero!’

This is the story of two gender non-conforming teens back in the benighted 1980s. Two kids trying to find their places in the world and finding a kindred spirit.

Thanks to Lizzy Bennet, editor and friend extraordinaire.

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Fall 1983. Spencer’s Gifts in the Nanuet Mall.

Lyle and Josh were flicking through the racks of posters, the clicking sound getting faster and slower.

The doctor looked at the chart, "Well, you'll be glad to know, there's nothing wrong with your heart. You've just spent too long not eating right and sitting behind a desk. I'd say you should start with walking, stretching, warm up exercises, calisthenics, and only then try something more strenuous."

Wow! It's been a little while since I posted a story, or even a chapter. I've had a sore left arm due to a bone spur growing into a ligament. I finally got a shot to reduce the pain, and I've been able to type again.
Once more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.

Chapter 2

August 27^th, 2021

9 AM

Because of her age, Gloria's doctor was keeping a close eye on her and her baby. Each ultrasound had shown a healthy child, but Gloria was still concerned.

She wanted this baby between her and Mike to be perfect. It was silly, she knew, but she and Chester had a wonderful son in Chet. How much better would a child from her and Mike be?

She tried to put that thought behind her. Chet was an incredible young man, and she was very proud of him. Marcia and Amber were wonderful girls too.

There was something about a child that was both hers and Mike's. It was a testament of their love. She knew, though, that it would be easy for her to favor the new baby over the others, even if only because he or she would need more care than the others, and while Marcia might understand, Amber probably wouldn't.

My freshman year in high school was quite remarkable. I managed to go through an entire year without making anything at all out of it. Well, scholastically I did reasonably well. Socially? I might just as well not have existed. I failed to get into any sports team. I failed to excel in any other way. I failed to get even ONE date, and that was definitely not for want of trying. I had no real friends. I had a few acquaintances that socially were as remarkable as I but that was all.

At the end of that year the school had come to the realization that the cheerleader team couldn’t possibly be at all events where they were wanted. The decision was taken to create a JV cheerleading team. Cheerleading was an exclusively female thing in our school. However, there was nothing in the rules that stopped a boy being a cheerleader provided he followed the rules. The rules would be the same as for the senior team. Same conduct rules. Same dress code, including wearing the skirted cheerleading uniform on match days and a nice dress at required obligatory social events.

I may have been a bit deranged but I decided that this was my opportunity to stand out, and get close to cute and popular girls. Best case, even share a locker room with them! I mentioned it to Carl, the nearest thing I had to a friend, and he just looked at me and shook his head. Well, I wasn’t to be discouraged by that.

Chapter 1

“Hi… Mind if I sit here?”

Glancing up, I found a cherubic face looking down at me with her coffee cup in hand. She had a gloriously broad smile and sparkling green eyes to match.

“Sure…” I smiled up at her.

Kaleb was in gym class talking to his friend Kara. The two were both seniors this year but Kaleb felt like he was letting his final year of high school go to waste, telling Kara this she thought the best thing for him would be a change of view on things.

“Ok what are you going to do to me.” Kaleb asked Kara as she led him into the parking lot and out to her car

I fidget nervously in my seat as I watch the drama unfold in front of me. I’m sat in an audience not unlike the spectators at a Roman Amphitheatre, only instead of watching two gladiators fight it out, we’re enthralled by the sight of two middle-aged men sat opposite each other. One of the men is one of the most famous (and infamous) television presenters in the country, while the other is my father- and the prize on offer is far greater than any ancient gladiator could ever have dreamed of.

By: Kokopo618

"Hey, what's up dude?" I ask, walking in to the kitchen, seeing my roommate make his protein shake that he makes every morning.

"Nothing much, just about to head for the gym," He says dumping protein powder into his flask.

"Cool, cool," I say still looking at him. He's got an amazing body, I mean, I'm a guy, but damn. I guess going to the gym all the time pays off.

"What's wrong, Ryan," Jack says, turning to me.

The Arctic Fox 2

Once more, special thanks to Malady for his help editing.

– Rosemary

Chapter 2.1

August 19^th, 2021

9 AM

Marcia Chatham ran out of the house and jumped into the old Mustang beside her boyfriend, Darryl. After their good morning kiss, they hurried to their first yard of the morning as part of their jobs working for Marcia’s older brother, Chet, doing yardwork for different people on the Air Force Base. They crossed McDonald Place, where two days before, they had discovered something in the ground. They didn’t know what it turned out to be, as Darryl’s dad, the CO of the base, had ordered that it be kept secret until they could determine more about it.

“So, where are you going on vacation, Mouse?” Diana looks at her friend as she packs.

“New York, New York. My Uncle Jack has an apartment I can stay in while I’m there and my Aunt Anika is going to pick me up at the airport.” Mouse has never been on vacation by herself and she was surprised that the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service was allowing her to go to America.

What Wish?

It felt like Christmas or one of the best birthdays I ever had. I walked into the thrift store over in the next town to look around for some new used clothes: well, new to me. I frequent the store and old Mrs. Flagstone knows my name. She looked up from the large box she was going through as I walked through the door.

“Good morning Corey.”

“Good morning Mrs. Flagstone. What do you have there? Did a new consignment arrive?”

“Well yes. It’s from one of my neighbors. Mr. Flagstone just brought it in. Terrible thing.”

Cedric scrupulously audits 'Donna's Dungeon of Domination'.