OOTD

 

Office Lady

Red-eye night before

Victoria's Secret

 If it were possible for a Norgessian to frown, Nantha would have frowned at the sight on the control panel.  The space ship, in orbit around a planet that was known to its inhabitants as Terra was in serious trouble.  "Why did I ever volunteer for long-distance surveying?" Nantha thought while fighting to regain function in the ship's failing systems.

It was no use.  Nantha would have no choice but to land the vessel on Terra.   That wasn't the problem.  Through the use of a space-time continuum inverter, the ship would remain unseen by the Terrans.  They could walk right through it without realizing it was there, since it didn't exist in the same space at precisely the same moment.

The problem was that even using the F-T-L radio to send a message home, it would be years before a rescue mission could be sent.  Nantha would have to exist on Terra during that period and do so without being detected.  "It's funny how that silly television program they have about space exploration has exactly the same Primary Instruction that we Norgessians have.  No interference, no contact."

The landing wasn't too bad.  The ship, like all Norgessian ships was invisible to all forms of detection available to a primitive society like the Terran culture.   Nantha would have no trouble avoiding the populace as the ship landed miles outside of any population center, in a land that was known on Terra as the United States of America. 

Nantha would have to live off of the planet's resources.  The ship's engines could run from generation cells that harnessed the energy of the nearest star to maintain computer, life support and other electronic systems, but food required both energy and matter to create.  So Nantha would have to gather organic matter for subsistence.   "I have a few planetary rotation periods to figure out what to do" Nantha thought.  "Have to remember to use the Terran terminology from now on.   They are called days."

Mark Sullivan ran the sequence again on his computer.  He'd been using his new digital video recorder to capture the view through his other new purchase, a much stronger telescope than he'd ever known before.  A "shooting star" had come into view and he'd tried to follow it down.  Having captured the image helped greatly.   After he spent several hours calculating angles of trajectory, he realized that it had quite possibly landed less than 100 miles from his home on the outskirts of the Los Angeles area.  He decided to go looking for it right then.  After putting all the gear away, he got into his car and drove off.

Nantha went into hibernation period after landing and securing the spacecraft.   There was no point in composing and sending the rescue request message immediately.   The reply would ask for a detailed report on the conditions and prognosis for extended survival.  Nantha decided to conduct an extensive survey over the next two "days" and then send out the rescue request.  Before going into the hibernation chamber, Nantha set the space-time continuum inverter to ensure the ship wouldn't be seen.

Mark stopped his car alongside a desert road.  He checked his location on the map and then pulled out a portable GPS unit.  Mark's fascination with gadgets knew no limits.  Using the GPS and his measurements from tracking the shooting star, he figured that it had landed two or three miles off of the road.  He pulled his car all the way off of the two-lane road and left a note on the windshield to let anyone who stopped know that he wasn't broken down but was trying to locate a meteor that had fallen that night.  Then, hauling the backpack with some of his equipment he headed off into the desert.

An hour passed before Mark's portable GPS told him that he was in the vicinity of the area in which the meteor had landed.  A peek at his watch showed that it was almost 2 a.m.  and Mark decided he would just camp out right there and search for the space rock in the morning.  On a whim, he put up the digital video recorder up on a tripod and set it to scan throughout the night.  He figured that he might be able to make a neat time-elapsed movie stream of the night sky.

Nantha's hibernation period ended on schedule.  The computer had generated an audio signal that had awakened Nantha.  The computer notified Nantha that a Terran had moved close to the ship.  Within 100 of the unit of measure the Terrans called "meters".  Nantha, thanking Tralfazz, the Norgessian deity of fortune for this stroke of good luck, began to scan the human with the highly sophisticated surveying equipment on board the ship.  Nantha had used the hibernation period to learn sixteen of the major languages in use on Terra, including the language this Terran apparently spoke, something called "English".  In an effort to more easily assimilate during the survey period, Nantha decided to think and speak in only English until the survey period was complete.

As soon as this decision had been reached, Nantha had a problem.  Norgessians do not have gender.  Only those Norgessians who visit other worlds to survey had to try to comprehend gender.  Every Norgessian has the capacity to bear offspring during the "reproductive" phase of their lifespan.  Once past, they could no longer give birth, but still cared for the child.  Nantha had left on this last survey mission and had originally been scheduled to return to Norgessa before beginning the reproductive phase of life.  Whether or not this would become problematic would depend on how long it took to get rescued.

But the presence of the Terran had solved two problems for Nantha.  One was that since the Terran would provide the template for Nantha's first facade, Nantha's first experience with gender would be as a male.  This allowed him to think of himself as male, at least for now.  The second problem was gathering data for a facade, a difficult process when done at the astronomical distances it was normally done at.   Instead of taking hours to gather the data necessary, it took only minutes to collect enough information about the Terran who slept outside of Nantha's ship.   "So his name is Mark" Nantha thought as he scanned the computer's record.   Once he was done dumping a copy of the facade's datastream into the templater, he went back through the computer record of Mark to see how to most easily conceal it.

The templater was the most amazing development of Norgessian technology and had been the big breakthrough that enabled them to visit other inhabited worlds without disturbing the local residents.  It used Nargolian's Fourth Law of Matter/Energy relationships to allow organic matter to be restructured at the subatomic level to allow massive, instant alterations of the matter.  While Nantha hadn't yet been on a survey, he had spoken with another surveyor who had journeyed to a small planet in the group of stars that Terrans referred to as "Orion".  The local residents of that planet actually called themselves Skowe and were a race of very tall, slender, purple amphibians.   Much different than the Norgessians.  Nantha looked out again at the sleeping Mark and realized that they were about the same size, and similar in appearance although Nantha's third eye and light coating of fur from head to toe would have definitely set him apart from Terrans.

Nantha worked with the templater for several Terran hours to complete the facade he wanted.  Something similar to Mark, but different.  He drew from Mark's memories of other Terrans and finally finished.  The templater was programmed with all the information that Nantha had created using Mark's memories of himself and other humans.   Once Nantha put on and activated the templater, he would be Steve Blake, a thirty-one year old computer programmer who was self-employed and lived in a house at a vacant lot near Mark's own home.

Nantha then went to work on another set of templaters and soon was ready to journey from the ship.  He packed up his equipment into a small bag, slipped the templater on and activated it with a thought-command.  Instantly he transformed into Steve.   Donning clothes that were provided by the matter/energy converter in the ship, he slid the bag over one shoulder and after confirming that Mark was still asleep, used the vessel's relocator beam to leave the ship.

Rather than take a chance on waking Mark, Nantha walked quickly towards the highway where Mark's truck was parked.  He'd taken care to beam out of the ship to a point that was out of the range of Mark's digital recorder, so as to not risk detection.   Once on the highway and certain no one else was around, he activated another templater.  It turned itself into a Terran vehicle known as a Ford Explorer, and Nantha, now Steve got in and drove away.

Mark awoke when his watch's beeper went off at eight in the morning.  After spending a few minutes getting organized, he closed up the digital camera and began to look for the meteor he'd seen fall the night before.

The Ford driven by Steve pulled up to the vacant lot.  He set down a templater when he was sure no one was watching.  It became a mail box with the name "Steve Burke" written on it.  Steve then got back into the Ford and drove away.

Mark's search for the meteor had gone on for several hours and he'd had no luck.   The GPS showed he was in the right place, but there was no sign of anything resembling a rock from outer space.  Discouraged, he decided to head for home.

Steve drove to a nearby hotel room.  He walked into the lobby and up to a waiting desk clerk.  In his bag was a surveying scanner that would template everyone he came in contact with, for later templating and data analysis.  He noticed the clerk's nametag.  "Good morning, Nicole." "Good morning, Sir.  May I help you?" "I hope so.  I was looking for a room for a few days." "Certainly Sir.  If you could just fill out this registration form." Steve filled out the form, using his recently acquired knowledge of the language to answer the idiotically simple questions.  "Very good sir, and now I'll just need a credit card." Steve pulled out the credit card he'd prepared using the information he'd gathered.  It worked, thanks to the incredible sophistication of the Norgessian computer array on board the survey vessel.  As on other worlds, it had identified the methods by which commerce was conducted and make arrangements for the survey team to purchase whatever was needed during the survey.  "Here is your key Mister Burke.   Do you need assistance with your bag?" "No thanks, Nicole.  If you could just point me in the right direction..." "Certainly.  Around the corner are the elevators.  Room fifteen-thirty-two is on the fifteenth floor.   Enjoy your stay, Mister Burke." "Thanks, Nicole" Steve said as he lifted his bag and headed towards the elevator bank.

After a long night of camping out and the fruitless search for the meteor, Mark was ready for a quiet day at home.  He showered and cleaned his gear.  Then he decided to watch the digital recording of the night sky.  He fast-forwarded the recording through the night, enjoying the change in the color as dawn approached.  As the sun rose on the screen, he slowed the image to normal speed and watched in amazement as an occasional gleam of a reflection popped in and out of the picture.  It puzzled Mark.  There was nothing to be seen that should have reflected light that way.   But it kept going as the sun continued to rise.  He tried fast forwarding the recording, but that didn't help him interpret the reflections any better than normal speed.

The last templater in Steve's bag became a high-powered laptop computer that he connected to the second phone line in the business suite he'd rented.  He would use Terra's own limited computer systems to gather information for his survey, while conducting a personal survey of the area.  He left the room, after ensuring no one entering would see anything out of the ordinary.

Mark was puzzled as he tried running the recording at faster and faster rates of speed, without success.  Finally, he ran it at a slower pace and was rewarded.  The slower the speed, the longer period that the glare could be seen.  He slowed the playback more and more until the glare was at its largest size.  Slower speeds didn't enhance the image.  While he couldn't be sure, he knew something was there and he resolved to see if he could locate it.  He packed up more equipment and planned to head back out as soon as it was dark.

It was a tired but happy Nantha who removed his personal templater back inside the survey vessel that evening.  He'd spent the day surveying various places, gathering data for other templating.  His computer in the hotel room was gathering data from Terran computers around the planet and downloading it to the main computer on board the ship.  He decided to work on one last project before beginning that night's hibernation period.  He set the ship's computer to auto-create templates as well as store information on real Terrans, to be used by other personal templaters.  His goal was to finish at least one hundred, so that a proper detailed survey could be done at some point in the near future.  "I'll do twenty a night until I'm done.  By then, maybe they'll have rescued me, or figured out another way for me to fly home" he thought before beginning hibernation.

Nantha was well into his hibernation period when Mark arrived at the vessel's landing sight.  The ship was still cloaked by the time-continuum device and Mark was able to see nothing.  But this time not only did he set up the digital recorder, he also set up a brilliant strobe light, in an attempt to create other glare.  He set up other lights.  Once, he walked right through the ship's location, but because his body didn't exist in the same space at the same instant in time as the surveying vessel did, he didn't have a clue that he'd just walked through its walls.

When Nantha's hibernation period ended and he awoke, he was shocked to see the bright lights outside of the ship, through the window.  He immediately ran to the control room and started scanning the outside.  "Ah, Mark has returned and he thinks he can locate the ship." Nantha's amusement turned to fear when he realized that as primitive as Mark's equipment was, he might be able to capture enough of an image that scientists might be able to enhance the image enough to make it possible to detect the craft.  This could not be permitted.  Nantha thought for a moment and then hit upon a course of action.  He pulled on his personal templater, now stocked with literally hundreds of templates in its memory and the ability to create more almost instantly at the thought-command of its wearer.  He assumed the facade as Steve again and went outside to deal with Mark.

"Pardon me, stranger, what's with all the light?" "Who the hell are you?" "My name is Steve.  I was just out looking for a meteor I saw fall out here last night." "Really? Then I wasn't the only one who saw it?" "Guess not.  I couldn't drive out last night, so I waited until tonight." "How did you track it?" "Oh, I plotted the trajectory, you know, the usual.   Lucky guess I guess." The two shared a laugh.  "So what is with all the light?" "Oh, I was camped out here last night and my digital camera recorded some intermittent glare and I thought it might be something weird, so I came back to look for it.  But so far, nothing."

Mark didn't know that only sunlight would produce enough glare to reflect off of the survey vessel's composite windows during phase-shifts.  So he was wasting his time and Steve surmised this immediately.  Still, there was a risk.

"Well, I think I'll make camp myself just down a stretch, wouldn't be able to sleep with all these lights." Mark smiled at Steve.  "Actually, would you mind if I came with you.  I just wanna move down around two hundred yards or so, to get far enough away for my own sleep." "Great."

During the night, once Mark was asleep, Steve went and erased the digital recordings of the glare from the prior night and then moved his survey vessel two miles further from the road.  "If he finds it again, I'll have to make a larger move, but this should work for now."

Mark woke to find the stranger who had called himself Steve was gone.  He went to check his night's recordings and found to his dismay that he'd not only forgotten to turn on the recorder, but had also somehow erased the prior night's recordings.  Angry at himself, he reached down to grab a rock to throw.  Hurling rocks was one of Mark's ways of letting off steam.  As he bent over, he noticed something shiny next to the table the digital recorder was standing on.  He picked up the shiny object.  It was a grey-metal ring.  A plain ordinary circlet.  He slipped it onto a finger and it felt warm on his hand.  "Wish I'd found my missing class ring instead of that worthless hunk of junk." To his surprise, the ring changed form and was now an identical duplicate of the class ring Mark had lost in the desert some years before.   "I gotta be dreaming" he thought as he tried to take the ring off.   But it held fast to his finger.  He shrugged, packed up his gear and left for home.

Nantha was relieved at having avoided discovery.  So relieved that he neglected to inventory the templaters he'd used in fooling Mark.  Instead he packed several into his pack and headed for his hotel room to check and see how the computer research was going.  He was pleasantly surprised to learn that the survey vessel's data storage banks were now loaded with 23% of the entire contents of Terra's "world-wide-web".  He scanned the data and found some of it intriguing.   He started reading about Terran sexual practices, which were particularly fascinating since Norgessa had no parallel.

"Amazing.  How much of this world's productivity is lost due to the mindless obsession with looking at and talking about the act of reproduction." Steve started making notes for his survey report.  He scanned some of the sites that were full of images of women that men found arousing.  As he examined the pages, he found himself growing aroused.  "Wow, this feeling is pretty darn good" he thought.   "Perhaps a closer examination of how this works specifically is in order."

Steve reverted back to his normal state as Nantha and then reprogrammed his templater.   This time it would make him into an identical replica of Mark Sullivan.  Once he was again a Terran, he sat back down at the computer and started "surfing the web" as Terrans called it.

He found that Mark's and now his responses differed depending on the items being viewed or read.  Stories about what were known as homosexual liaisons, or images of men alone or men having sex with other men were revolting to him.  Stories about heterosexual liaisons or images of men having sex with women were arousing, and when they included images or descriptions of Mark's fantasy woman, a famous actress named Bridget, the arousal approached the maximum achievable level.

Next he scanned stories and images involving what Terrans called fetishes.  These were so detailed and yet broad-ranging, that Nantha/Mark worked straight through until it was time for his hibernation period.  He contacted the survey ship through the computer and found all was in order, with no Terrans within 2,000 meters of the vessel.   Secure in the knowledge that his situation was secure, Nantha/Mark decided to just sleep as a Terran would, as soon as he did a little more exploration of the amazing Terran obsession with fetishes.

The moment that he hit the first web-site that dealt with men dressing like women, he knew he'd hit on something big within Mark's sexual arousal index.  His templated genitals grew large within moments as he read a story about a man being changed into a woman as a penalty for infidelity.  Infidelity was another concept foreign to Nantha.   On Norgessa, once bound to another, the two were bound for their lifetime.   But as he read more stories and looked at pictures of these "transgendered" men, Nantha/Mark found himself experiencing his first orgasm as a human male.  Added to the length of the day he'd experienced, it was all Nantha/Mark could do to clean up the mess he'd just made before falling into a deep sleep beneath the crisp clean sheets of the hotel room's comfortable bed.

Mark had spent some time trying to remove the ring on his finger without success and had finally given up.  He then called his current romantic interest to see if he could entice her into an evening out within the next week.  "Susan, it's Mark." "Well, Mister Mark Sullivan.  How nice to hear your voice.   It's been so long, I was wondering if you had forgotten I was alive." "It's only been a few weeks." "Yes, a few weeks, after you promised to call me a day or two after our last date to see about going somewhere really nice for a change.   Well, don't bother calling again, Mark.  I want a boyfriend who remembers I'm alive more often than every few weeks." She slammed the phone down before Mark could utter another word.

The depression Mark had felt so often returned full force.  He knew he should have called her sooner, but he'd been so busy with his new gadgets that he'd lost track of the days.  Sighing heavily, he did what he always did to combat these dark feelings.   He booted up his p.c.  and headed for his favorite kind of spot on the Internet.  He loaded a transformation story and began to read.

This story was about how a husband and wife had been arguing about how life was more difficult for a woman than a man and to prove his theory it wasn't, the husband had been changed into a woman.  Mark began to imagine he'd been the one transformed.   When he was excited enough, he left the p.c.  and went to his bed.   Laying there, fondling himself, he continued to picture the woman in the story as his new form.  At the moment of his orgasm, Mark felt as though he was actually slipping fingers inside of a slit, rather than massaging a cock.  As he exploded with pleasure, his consciousness faded.

Nantha awoke in the hotel room and immediately realized that things had changed during the night.  The templater on his finger had given him a new form.  He got up and went to check out his form in the mirror.  He gasped at what he saw.  What she saw.  For the templater had changed Nantha into the woman he'd been reading about on the internet the night before.  After a moment's thought, Nantha realized this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since it would further the survey.  So she went to work at the computer, to create a new false identity for this template.

Sarah Edwards walked out of Steve's hotel room.  She was wearing a black dress and high heels.  Nantha giggled as she recalled all the stories he'd read that had discussed how the transformed men had suffered greatly in adapting to walking in heels.   Sarah walked as though she'd been a woman all her life.  Sarah's destination was a beauty salon, in an effort to listen in on women's conversations and attempt to get a better understanding of the difference between the genders.

The sensation of having his hair pulled woke Mark from his dream.  In it, he was sleeping next to a famous lesbian actress, in the body of a famous fashion model.   The actress had her head between Mark's thighs and was thrusting her tongue deep inside of his cunt.  "Damn, why is it only the good dreams that get blown up right in the middle" he thought, as he untangled his long blonde hair from the pillow.  "Long blonde hair?" he thought.  He sat upright in bed, feeling the breasts dangling from his chest and he wanted to scream. 

Instead Mark ran to the bathroom.  There in the full length mirror that hand on the back of the bathroom door, he saw his new reflection.  Susan's reflection.   He'd been transformed into an identical duplicate of Susan.  Now he screamed.   Again and again, until he collapsed into a sobbing mass on the bathroom floor.

Nantha/Sarah had spent the day shopping and ended up returning to the survey vessel with her purchases.  She was very near the point in her survey where she could send in her rescue message.  She had decided to compose it that night, spend one more day surveying and then transmit the rescue request.  She arrived at the vessel and after cloaking her car with the time-continuum device, re-entered the ship.

The alarm signal from the console immediately got Nantha/Sarah's attention.  She raced to see what had triggered the alarm.  The computer had detected unauthorized usage of a templater.  "I've misplaced a templater? Oh no!" Nantha/Sarah knew she would have to search for the templater.

That would be difficult.  One of the original reasons for development of the templater had been for the Norgessians to be able to disguise themselves as their enemies, to infiltrate enemy armies.  As such, the templaters were originally designed to escape detection and as the technology had improved, so had the anti-detection capabilities.  Nantha/Sarah conducted an immediate inventory of templaters to ensure that only one was missing.

The inventory made Nantha/Sarah's concerns worse.  There were actually four templaters unaccounted for.  One question had already been answered.  Could they be used by the Terrans was something that wouldn't have been known until a test had been run.  Nantha/Sarah's carelessness had completed that test, albeit unintentionally.   Knowing what a serious breach the loss of the templaters was, Nantha immediately resumed his natural state and sent off an emergency message to Survey Headquarters on Norgessa.

Mark's sobbing fit passed and she started taking stock of the situation.  She was naked, except for the ring she'd found the night before and that she'd been unable to remove.  As she looked down at it, she thought how incongruous a man's class ring looked on her finger.  She watched in awe, as it changed shape to become a ladies ring.

Mark had read stories on the net about magical devices that allowed people to change their gender and shape.  Could she have run across one out in the desert? How did it work? Could she change her form back to normal? She decided to start there and went back into the bedroom.  Once in the bedroom, she laid back on the bed and began concentrating.

A pacing Norgessian is not a pretty sight.  Nantha had learned about pacing from his exposure to being a Terran for an extended period and he found himself pacing up and down the corridors of the survey vessel.  It would be hours if not days by Terran standards before his message would be answered by Survey Headquarters.  Rather than enter hibernation for an extended period, he decided to go back to surfing the Terran computer network.  "I might as well enjoy the experience" he thought, so he used a templater to revert to being Steve Blake, and he began reading the transformation sites that had given him so much pleasure the night before. 

Mark found himself back to normal after an intense period of concentration and better yet, he was able to remove the ring, which transformed itself back to the simple grey circlet he'd first found in the desert.  Now that he knew it would work, he decided to spend a little time enjoying its capabilities.  But first he'd need to do a little shopping.  Making sure to grab his ATM card, Mark headed out to finally purchase the kind of clothes he'd always wanted to wear, but had never had the body for.

Nantha/Steve awoke to find himself sitting in front of the computer.  Not being able to remember entering hibernation, he recalled the computer log of what happened before he fell asleep.  His eyes were glued to the monitor as he watched his Terran body masturbate itself to orgasm after orgasm, while reading stories on the internet about men becoming women.  His Terran body spent, he'd fallen asleep straightaway.   Quickly, he erased that portion of the log, so no one else could see his self-abuse.

Then after resuming the Steve template, he went off to re-trace his steps while he'd been carrying the missing templaters.  Nantha/Steve knew that if he let the Norgessian technology fall into the hands of Terrans, he would not only be banned from future survey missions, but would also be imprisoned for a very long time.

Mark walked into the mall just after the majority of stores had opened.  The temptation to enter all of them was almost overpowering.  He decided he'd start in the forbidden zone and work his way outward on his new alter-ego's appearance.  He headed for the larger of the mall's two Victoria's Secret stores.  Kathy Silver, the manager had just opened the steel grating that served as the store's door when she noticed the man heading for the store.  Tall, slender and dressed in her favorite black suit with sheer black stockings and a nasty garter beneath the short skirt, Kathy was exactly the kind of woman that one imagined when browsing through the store and its catalogs.   Mark was captured by the lovely woman who looked at him quizzically as he walked into her store.

"Can I help you with something, sir?" "Yes, please.  I'm shopping for a friend." What he didn't know was Kathy had been through a really rough morning.   Her boyfriend had moved out a few weeks earlier and had called her screaming over her refusal to lend him some more money.  His final words repeated themselves in her head.  "Look bitch.  I'm sorry it didn't work out, but that ain't no reason to be doing me that way." As if he wasn't way out of line by calling and asking to borrow money because he couldn't come up with his share of the first and last for the apartment his new girlfriend wanted to move into.  So Kathy wasn't as patient as she might have normally been when her first customer of the day turned out to probably be a crossdresser.  While she normally tolerated them, knowing the large purchases they made boosted her quarterly bonuses, she was simply in "man-hate mode" that morning.  "Of course you're shopping for a friend.  You men are always coming in here shopping for a friend.  I'll bet she's about your size though and you'd love it if you could try some things on.  Does that about size it up, sir?"

The hurt look on Mark's face seemed to confirm her suspicions for a moment.  Then he smiled at her in a sad, knowing way.  "Is that how you think of all men, or just me? The friend I'm shopping for wears a size seven dress.  So I think you'll agree with me that I'm not shopping for me, won't you?" Kathy looked at the man again.  There was no way this guy would ever squeeze his body into a size seven dress.  She'd made a mistake.  "I'm so sorry, sir.  Please accept my apology." "Only if you'll call me Mark and stop apologizing.  Now how about showing me a few things."

Kathy led Mark inside the store.  "So is this your girlfriend?" "No.  We're just cousins.  Her birthday is coming up and I want to give her something she wouldn't normally have suspected for once." "How sweet! She's lucky to have you for a cousin.  Maybe a nice peignoir or a set of baby-dolls?" "That sounds like a good place to start." "I am really sorry I went off like that." "Do crossdressers bother you that much?" "Oh no, not at all.  I'm used to them.  In fact, it's kind of interesting talking to them.   But I broke up with my boyfriend a few weeks ago and we had a big argument on the phone this morning, so I was cocked and loaded, ready to go off on the first male I saw." "I'm glad it was me and not one of your regular male customers.  I'd have hated to see you lose the business." "Yeah, especially since I get paid partly commission and those guys are some of my best customers.  Here, how is this?"

Kathy held up a set of pajamas that were a silvery satin.  A pair of baby-doll panties and matching nightie.  Mark loved them.  "I'll take them." "Terrific.  Anything else?" Mark was torn for a moment.  He wanted to buy a whole bunch of stuff, but Kathy might be a woman he'd be interested in.   "No, that's all for now." As Kathy rang up Mark's purchases, she looked at him again and thought to herself, "He isn't a hunk, but he's not a bad looking sort either.  I have to stop picking losers like Ted.  Maybe it's time for me to take a positive step myself." To Mark she said "hey Mark, would you let me buy you dinner some night to apologize for going off on you like that?" Mark was surprised, pleasantly so.  "You don't need to do that." "I know, but I want to." "Well, alright, but we'll go Dutch and just enjoy a nice dinner." "Maybe we'll arm-wrestle for the check at the table." "My number is on the credit card slip, so just give me a call and we'll go." Kathy vowed she would call him that very afternoon and make a date, maybe even for that night if he was willing.   It was time to take some chances that might turn out for the better.

Nantha/Steve searched the hotel room again.  He had brought several templaters into the hotel room, but none were to be found.  After wishing for the forty-third time that he had something that could detect the presence of some part of the templater, he decided to go back and retrace the routes he'd used to go between the vehicle and the room on his visits to the hotel in the past.  Then he realized that he'd better get that rescue mission off to Norgessa.  He went down to the car and started driving back to the survey vessel.

"Thank you so much sir." "Thanks for all your help, Susie." Mark said as he gathered his purchases.  "Not at all.  I hope she enjoys it." "Oh, I'm sure she will." Mark had driven across town to another mall, so that Kathy wouldn't hear about or see him buying a bunch of women's things.  After hiding his crossdressing from her, he felt it wouldn't be a good idea for her to find out about it accidentally.

Mark walked to the car with one last load of purchases.  He hadn't totalled up how much he'd spent on the mystery woman he would hopefully recreate with the magical ring he'd found, but she would certainly be well-dressed.  As he looked at the bags in the back of the car while backing out of the parking slot in the mall's garage, he took mental inventory of what was in all those bags. 

In the bags from the two shoe stores he'd visited were pumps and flats, sandals and a pair of stiletto heels in black patent that would go perfectly with the expensive evening gown he'd purchased.  Black, off the shoulder, he'd arranged for the woman to bring it in to be fitted.  "When she shows up, that'll answer their doubts they might have had that those clothes were for me" he thought.  He'd gone to another Victoria's Secret and loaded up on panties and bras, slips and teddies.  Several stores had been the site of purchases of dresses, skirts, blouses and sweaters.  All in all, he'd bought what might have been a full wardrobe, although it would be a limited one.  Now the only thing to do was go home, unpack his new clothes and switch back to that beautiful body so he could be she and try on her new stuff.

Nantha took off the Steve template to compose and send the rescue request to Norgessa.   The computer estimated the transit time for the message as 9 Terran hours.   That meant assuming some time for his message to be received and discussed before a response would come, it would be approximately one more Terran day before he'd hear an answer.  Barring a miracle, Nantha's days as a surveyor were over.  He decided to take an extended hibernation while waiting for a response.

Mark spent the better part of two hours unpacking all his purchases in one of the spare bedrooms of his house.  He had decided on the way home that the best way to handle this find of his was to keep "her" life separate from his as much as possible.   He changed the sheets on the bed in the spare bedroom, put fresh towels in the bathroom and then realized he had little in the way of feminine toiletries, something he'd forgotten.  "Well, she can just go out and get her own".  Mark pulled the ring from his wallet where he had stored it for safe-keeping and put it on.  He laid down on the bed and began concentrating on the ideal woman he wanted to be.  The woman for whom he had shopped that day.  As the image came into his mind, his flesh again transformed, changing shape and texture.  Soon she sat up, her long blonde hair falling back into her face.  She pulled the hair back and smiled, her angelic reflection in the mirror across the way sending a delicious chill up and down her spine, radiating right down to her brand new clitoris.

This wasn't Susan.  It wasn't Kathy either, although there were elements of both to be seen in Mark's new form.  As she decided upon Erica as a name, she didn't notice the internal workings of the templater saving this new template with the label Erica.  All she knew was that she needed to make one more quick trip out to pick up a few feminine articles before she would start the process of making herself gorgeous for going out, for the first time.  She went to the now fully-stocked dresser and pulled out a pair of panties and a pair of tights.  She pulled the wispy piece of fabric up her legs and marveled at how it gave her the same feeling of "coverage" that her old jockey shorts had given her when she had more "bulge" to protect.  She slid the tights up her legs and then slipped her feet into a pair of chunky heeled pumps.

Standing and walking easily on her heels, Erica took a skirt from the closet and stepped into it, pulling a blouse over her head and tucking the top into the skirt at the same time, showing off her very flat tummy.  "Oooh, my first time out and I'm going braless." That wouldn't be a problem for the new woman, her newly formed breasts were firm and hadn't yet fought the ravages of gravity.  She brushed her hair back and used a butterfly clip to secure it into place.  Then, grabbing her purse and wallet, she headed out of the front door.

She drove quickly to the nearest drug store and bought feminine deodorant, razors and other various sundry items that are found in any self-respecting woman's bathroom.   "That will be thirty-six seventy-eight with tax, Miss." Rather than worrying about yet another expense, Erica smiled.  "Sure thing." She reached into her purse, pulled out two twenties and dropped them on the counter.  She took the change and the bags and headed for home.

Back at her home, the new woman began to enjoy some mundane things that many women take for granted.  She drew a bath and laid in it for an hour, enjoying the feeling as she shaved her legs and underarms.  Her skin seemed to drink in the moisturizers in the bath salts she used and when she finally emerged from the tub, she seemed energized.   She was sitting in the guest room, using a compact to apply makeup when the phone rang.  Without conscious thought, she answered the phone.

"Hello".  Even her new voice oozed out the feminine qualities of her new form.  "Is this five-five-five, one-two-eight-three?" "Oh no, she thought.  It was Kathy." "Yes, it is.  Are you calling for Mark?" "Yes.  How did you know?" "Well, I'm his cousin Erin and since I snuck in to crash in his guest bedroom for a few days and no one in the world knows I'm here, anyone calling would have to be calling for Mark."

"That's a relief" Kathy thought as she sat at her desk in the store's office.   "Is he there?" "No.  He went out to run a few errands.   Could I take a message?" "Yes, please.  Tell him Kathy called.   I wanted to see if I could buy him that dinner we discussed tonight after work." "I will have him call you as soon as he gets back." "Thanks, Erin.  Bye."

Erin leaned back in the chair and smiled.  "This is so great.  She likes me.  She wants to meet me.  Well, him." She ran to the bathroom, scrubbed the makeup off of her face and then went back into Mark's room, to change herself back.   It took noticeably more concentration this time, but Mark attributed that to the extended time he'd spent in the female form this go-round.  He decided to wait a bit before calling Kathy and spent the time tidying up the "Erin" bedroom.

The phone rang at Victoria's Secret and since Kathy was in the middle of a sale, Jenny picked it up.  "Thanks for calling Victoria's Secret.  This is Jenny, can I help you?" "I was calling for Kathy." "She's in the middle of a sale, would you like to hold?" "Please." "Can I tell her who is calling?" "Tell her it's Mark." "Okay.  Hang on." Jenny walked over to the register where Kathy was finishing a big sale to an elderly couple who looked like they were planning some serious fun when they got their new purchases home.   "Kathy, someone named Mark is on the phone." "Tell him I'll be two minutes."

Mark listened to the hold music for awhile and then Kathy's voice came on.   "Mark?" "Hi Kathy.  I'm so glad you called." "When I dialed the number and a woman answered, I was a bit worried for a second." "No worries, my cousin dropped in unexpectedly.  She does that every once in awhile, when she gets tired of Los Angeles." "It sure is nice of you to let her do that." "Oh, I've got this spare bedroom that I never use, so she practically keeps it for herself." "Anyway, I wanted to know if I could take you to dinner tonight.  I don't feel like cooking and I still feel awful about how I went off on you this morning." "As if I could ever wear a size seven skirt" Mark said, having just removed one only a few minutes earlier.  "Well, if you lost a bit of weight...." "Hey.  I'm not fat." "No, no.  You're just right.  So, about dinner..." "Sounds fine.  Where are we going?" "I thought we'd go to Vinnie's.  Ever been?" "Sure.  Best Italian in town.  What time?" "I'll meet you there at eight."

Mark wore his best dress shirt, with a tie and sportcoat.  He'd debated what to wear for almost an hour after taking a shower.  "Damn, you're starting to think like a girl even when you're a guy." But in the end he knew he'd made the right choice.  Vinnie's was upscale, and Kathy was waiting in the suit she'd worn to work that morning.  As he walked up to her, she smiled.  "May I help you sir?" "Yes, I was looking for some lingerie." "And is this a gift, or for yourself?" "Oh, I don't know.  What would you recommend?" "I'd recommend we go inside and get our table." They laughed and Mark felt an electric shock go through his body as Kathy slid her arm through his.

They sat talking after dinner until the waiter started to glare at them a bit.   "Oh goodness.  I'm sure that they want this table for another couple." Mark looked at his watch and shook his head.  "I imagine they are getting ready to close up." Kathy looked at her own watch and gasped.   "Goodness, I had no idea it was so late.  I better be going." "Let me walk you to your car."

Kathy and Mark stood next to her car in the nearly deserted parking lot.  He smiled shyly as she waited for him to say something.  "Kathy, I know you just broke up with someone recently, but I like you and was wondering if I could call you for another date sometime." "I'd like that Mark." She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card.  Using her own gold Cross pen, she wrote her home phone number on the back of the card.  "The store number on the front, home number on the back.  Call me at either.  Just call me.  Soon.   Okay?" "I will." Then, he chastely kissed her on the cheek and after she was safely inside her car, he walked away.

His heartbeat was pounding as he walked back into the house.  Now he was alone, and could spend the rest of the night as Erin.  Earlier, he hadn't had time to really enjoy the experience of cumming as a female and he intended to do some serious exploring of that sensation as soon as he could transform himself back into Erin.  He smiled at the thought of his latest purchase, made on the way home.  The large vibrator was safely nestled inside of a grocery bag.

Mark was Erin again as soon as he could undress and lie down in her bedroom.  Soon she was laying on top of the bed, completely naked and inserting the pulsating vibrator inside of her cunt.  She gasped involuntarily as it entered the first time, and then nearly screamed as she pushed it in more deeply, having never before experienced the other side of such a thrust.  The feeling was so incredible that she came only two minutes later.  But unlike prior sessions of self-pleasure, this time she was ready to go again in moments, rather than the much longer periods of time it takes before a male can achieve erection a second time.

Erin lost count of her orgasms at nine as she used the vibrator and her own fingers to pleasure her flesh over and over.  Finally, she shut the vibrator off, went and pulled on her babydolls and fell into a deep sleep in the bed.  This night, all her dreams featured her as a woman.

The next morning, she changed herself back to Mark reluctantly, to go and see a man Mark knew.  It took him two hours to get all the information together, but Mark took comfort in the knowledge that within 48 hours, Erin would have her own identification so she could wander around in the world outside of her bedroom.  "Then again, given how good it can feel to be her at night, I might never leave that room again if I buy enough food and batteries."

Once home, Mark picked up the phone and called Kathy.  He wasn't going to repeat his mistakes of the past.  She answered the phone at the store herself.   "Hi, Kathy.  It's Mark." "Well, this is a pleasant surprise." "I wanted to call and tell you how much fun I had last night and see if you wanted to go to dinner and a movie tonight." "I'd love it." "Listen, how about if I pick you up after work and we run by my place together so I can change and we can drop off my car." "That's fine." Mark gave her directions and then after they had agreed on six as the time for her to pick him up, they said good-bye.

Erin reappeared only a few moments later.  She took a long, hot shower and then went into her bedroom to get dressed.  A grey skirt, sheer black nylons, plain black pumps and a white blouse, with a bra and panties this time and soon she was sitting behind the wheel of Mark's car.  She went first to get the requisite pictures Mark's friend would need to arrange some identification for her.  Then it was off to the mall for yet more shopping.

While walking down the mall, Erin suddenly realized that without meaning to, she'd walked directly from her car to the Victoria's Secret store where Kathy worked.  Did she dare walk in and shop there? Would Kathy suspect anything? She window-shopped outside and saw Kathy working, but decided not to go in.  "I like this girl, I don't want to risk anything." Instead she walked past the store and went into a little dress shop to try on a blue dress she had found attractive the day before.

After the dress shop, Erin found herself in an accessory store and the clerk was so eager to help.  "Miss, I just noticed your ears aren't pierced.  We're having a special today where you get free studs and a pair of hoops at half-off if you get your ears pierced today." Erin thought for a moment.  "Why not?" She sat down in the chair at the clerk's direction.  "Now I'm going to mark the spot where you want the stud to go.  When I have the pen in the right place, say when." A moment later, Erin said "when".  Before she knew it, there was a pinch and she could feel the weight of her new earring.  The process was repeated on the other ear and she looked in the mirror at her newly pierced ears happily.   "Oh, I love them." "You'll be so happy you did.  Now, let me get you some cleaner and the instructions." After the ear piercing, Erin headed back into the mall for more shopping.

Her arms once again full of packages, Erin walked into Mark's house to see the answering machine light was blinking.  Dropping the bags in her bedroom first, Erin hit the "listen" button to hear who had called.  "Hi, Mark, it's Susan.  Call me." There was a beep and then another message.  "Mark, it's Susan.  I need to talk to you.  Call me as soon as you get this." There were two more messages from Susan, each more urgent than the one before.  As the tape was erasing the messages, the phone rang again.  Erin answered.   "Hello." "Who the hell are you?" "I'm Erin.  Who are you?" "I'm Susan, Mark's girlfriend.  Now just who the hell are you to Mark, you bitch." "Ease up.  I'm Mark's cousin.  But he told me that you dumped him the other day." "Well, I .....wait a minute.  I'm not telling you a damn thing.  You have that asshole call me as soon as he gets home."

Erin laughed and took her time unpacking her new clothes before transforming herself back into Mark and returning Susan's call.  He chuckled to himself as he dialed her number.  "Hello?" came Susan's voice.  "It's Mark.  I got a message that you called." "I left four messages.  What took you so long to get back to me and who the hell is that bitch who answered your phone?" "What's it to you? You dumped me, remember?" "Yeah, well, that was before I heard you were wining some bimbo at Vinnie's." "Look Susan.  I'm sorry that I took so long calling you back that last time, but it was your choice to call things off.  I wasn't out with a bimbo, but a very nice girl.  She has made me see that I deserve someone who is nice and treats me as well as I will treat her.  So, even if you were calling to take back your dumping of me, I'm not going to go out with you again.  So, please just leave me alone." Mark hung up the phone and sat down on the couch, feeling very pleased with himself.

Kathy called just as Mark was about to shave and shower for their date.   "Hello?" "Hi Mark." "Hi, Kathy.  What's up?" "I was just calling to confirm." "Kathy, I'm not that last guy.  When we make a date, I will be there unless I call and say otherwise.  Don't worry so much." "I'll see you at six.  Will I get a chance to meet your cousin?" "I don't think so.  She said something about going out early tonight." "Ok, see you soon."

Pulling on a robe as he stepped from the shower, Mark went to shave.  As he glanced at himself in the mirror he noticed that even though he'd taken the earrings out as soon as he'd gotten home, before transforming back from Erin to Mark, his ears were still clearly pierced.  "Maybe Kathy won't notice" he thought to himself as he shaved.

As Mark opened the door for Kathy, he was surprised to find her in his arms for a hug.   As they disengaged from the embrace, she kissed him chastely on one cheek.   "It's so good to see you" she said, noticing his ears were pierced." "It's good to see you too, Kathy." "Mark, I didn't notice before that your ears were pierced." "Oh, something I did when I was young and foolish." "And you're not foolish anymore?" "Naw, still foolish.  Just not young." They laughed.  "Would you like the nickel tour before we go out?" "Sure."

"We'll start here in the living room.  The house was my folks, they left it to me and I moved back home about five years ago." "And you work out of your home as well?" "Yeah, but I don't work all that much anymore.  I got lucky a few years ago." "Oh?" "Yeah.  It's a combination of two things.   Software and music.  I wrote a hit song that still brings in a ton of royalties every year.  It was a fluke." "What song?" "You promise not to laugh?" "Yes.  Well, it was 'Foolish and Girlish'." "No way.  The song by Andrea Dayton?" "Yeah.  Andrea and I were friends and one night we were fooling around on the piano and I came up with this song." "It was so sad when she died." "Yeah.  Anyway, the other thing I did was write some software and between the song royalties and the software royalties, and the occasional software consulting gig, I'm pretty well set.  So I spend most of my time..." "I know.  Watching the stars and walking in the desert." "Now back here is my office/laboratory.  And down the other hall are the bedrooms." "What's in the lab?" "Just electronics and computers and telescope stuff.  I have another telescope in the backyard." "How many bedrooms?" "Three.  One is the master, that's mine, then there's Erin's and the spare room." "Erin went out early?" "Yeah.  She said to say she'd love to meet you though." "Tell her to come by the store sometime." "I will."

The date went well and Mark found himself kissing Kathy goodnight outside of her place.   "I want to go slowly, Mark.  Otherwise, I'd invite you in." "I understand.  When can I see you again?" "I'm busy tomorrow night, dinner with my folks.  Maybe in a couple of days?" "I'll call you day after tomorrow." "Great."

As Mark drove home he realized how turned on he'd been by the closeness of Kathy's body against his, her lips on his.  He knew that even if he hadn't found the magic ring on his finger, he'd have been doing something that night to ease the tension in his loins.   He was transforming back into Erin within moments of getting home.

As Erin lay on her bed, masturbating to her fifth orgasm, Nantha's hibernation period was interrupted by the ship's computer.  The message from Norgessa had been received.   Nantha went to the main control console and brought the message up on the monitor.   It read (translated into English):

"To: Nantha Aboard Survey Vessel 9157DYX

From: Survey High Command

Subj: Rescue and Loss of Templaters

1.  Rescue mission is enroute.  Estimated time of repair vessel's arrival is approximately 26 Terran days. 

2.  Loss of additional templater devices cannot be risked in an effort to locate the missing items.  You will remain on-board your ship until the rescue mission arrives.  Rescue mission commander will deal with the missing templaters.

3.  A complete review will be undertaken to determine your future suitability for survey missions.

Signed:

Nascho

Chief of Surveys

Nantha was stunned.  He went and reset his hibernation cycle to 25 Terran days and reentered hibernation.

At about the same moment, Erin had her seventh orgasm of the evening, and exhausted, rolled her eyes back, and fell into a deep sleep.

Erin was awakened by the sound of the ringing phone.  She answered it.   "Hello?" "Erin, it's Kathy.  I need to talk to Mark." "He's sleeping." "Please wake him.  It's important." "Ok.   Give me a minute." Erin put down the phone and went into Mark's bedroom.   She laid down on his bed and began concentrating.  For a moment, she feared the task of transforming was too much for her.  But a moment later, the shift occurred and Mark was laying there, clad in a babydoll nightie that didn't come close to fitting his form.  "Kathy, what's wrong?" he asked as he picked up the phone.

"I'm sorry to bother you.  Can you come over?" "Sure.  Be right there." Mark took a quick shower and within 40 minutes was knocking on Kathy's door.  Inside a shaken Kathy sat sipping coffee.  "Thanks for coming." "What's wrong?" "My ex.  He showed up here this morning, banging on the door.  Said that he'd heard I'd found a new boyfriend and he wasn't happy about it.  So I said what about his new girlfriend and he told me he was tired of her and wanted me back.  I said no.  He got ugly and I got scared.  Finally, he left."

Mark didn't hesitate.  Kathy was the one for him.  He had known that inside of his heart from the moment she'd first smiled at him.  "Pack some things.   You're going to come stay with me."

An hour later, Kathy and Mark were unpacking her things in the spare bedroom.   "Where's Erin?" "I don't know.  Maybe she left while I was gone." Mark looked in Erin's room.  "She must have been in a hurry.   I'll just make her bed real quick." "Wow, you're incredible.  You'll make her bed too?" "I'll make yours too if you forget in the morning.  Now do you need anything else? That bedroom has a private bathroom too." "No, I'll just get ready for work." "I'll make some breakfast."

After breakfast, Kathy had to leave for work.  She was in a much better mood before she left though.  She smiled at Mark.  "Sweetie, thanks." "For what?" "For caring enough about me to open your home." "It's not a big deal.  Besides, since you're staying here for a little while, it'll be easier to get a date."

After Kathy had gone, Mark decided it would be fun for Erin to have lunch with Kathy.   So after spending the morning as Erin, she changed clothes for a trip to the mall.   A black mini, black hose, black heels and a soft white blouse, with a black cardigan sweater was the outfit she chose.  She loved the way her heels clicked as she walked down the center of the mall. 

Walking into the Victoria's Secret store, she saw Kathy waiting on a customer and smiled at her.  After the sale was completed, she walked up to Kathy.  "You must be Kathy.  I'm Erin." "Mark's cousin?" "Yes.  I came by to take you up on that lunch invitation." "That's terrific.  Let me get my purse."

It was at lunch that Erin made the fatal slip.  The two had been chatting like old girlfriends after a few minutes.  Then Kathy said something about Erin's social life and she smiled without thinking and said "oh, it's gotten better since you and I started dating." As soon as she realized what she'd said, Erin stopped and turned a pale white.  Kathy looked at her strangely.  "What do you mean?" "I meant since you and Mark started dating." "No, I don't think that's what you meant." "Oh God, please don't let me blow this with you.  You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." "Mark?" "Yes." "That's impossible." "No, it's very possible.  But come home after work and I'll explain.  Alright?" "Okay."

Mark was sitting in a pair of bike shorts and a big oversized t-shirt when Kathy came in.  "Now Mark, care to explain what happened at lunch today?" "Come with me into Erin's room and I'll show you." Kathy followed Mark into Erin's room and watched as he laid down upon the bed.

Mark focused and as the transformation completed, Erin heard a scream.   "Kathy, don't panic." "You're some kind of monster." "No.   I found this in the desert." She pulled off the ring and handed it to Kathy.   Somehow, it lets me change my shape.  The funny thing is now I can only take it off when I'm Erin." "This is so strange.  How do you change shape?" "I just focus on the shape I want to be." "Change back to Mark."

Erin put the ring back on and a moment later, Mark was laying on the bed.   "Now, shift into someone else." "Who do you want me to be?" "Anyone but Erin." Mark smiled and focused.  A moment later, Kathy was looking at a duplicate of herself laying on the bed.  "Mark?" "Still me inside." "Go back to being you."

Mark did and Kathy led him back into the living room.  "So, level with me.   You were shopping for yourself that morning, for your alter-ego?" "Yeah.   I'd just found the ring and Erin didn't have any clothes in her size, so I had to shop for her." "But you were a cross-dresser before you found the ring?" "Yes." "Since you've found it, has Mark dressed up at all?" "No way.  Why would I do that? Dress up like a woman, when I can be a beautiful woman in the blink of an eye?" "Well, Mark.  I'm a bit surprised and overwhelmed by this and I wish you'd been honest with me, but I can see where you were frightened I wouldn't understand.  So I'll forgive you.  But tonight, I won't go out with you." "No?" "No.  I'm going out with Erin on a girl's night out."

Erin and Kathy walked into the bar and half the heads in the room turned.  The male half.  Kathy was wearing a little black dress and a pair of heels and little else.  Erin was in a formfitting red dress, matching pumps and the dress was cut low enough that it appeared her cleavage was in danger of falling out of her dress.  As Erin perched herself up on a barstool, Kathy commented to her "it's strange, you move like you've been a girl all your life." "I know.  I just do things naturally after I've been Erin for a few minutes."

The two moved to a table when one became available and at Kathy's insistence, Erin danced with many men who asked.  So did Kathy.  But at the end of the evening, they were back at Mark's house, in Mark's bedroom, and Mark and Kathy made love for the first time.  Kathy was amazed at Mark's staying power, but didn't question it.   She just enjoyed.

The next morning at breakfast, Kathy turned to Mark, a sudden idea having popped into her head.  "Does Erin have a complete set of identification?" "No.   I could get her one though?" "How long would it take?" "A day or two." "Get it.  I have an idea." Kathy's idea was that Erin would work in the Victoria's Secret store.  An idea that Erin loved.

After a few days, their lives settled into a routine.  Mark was Mark all the time, except when working with Kathy.  Or when Kathy would insist on a girl's night out.   Their future was bright.  Until the rescue mission arrived.

Nantha was waiting when the rescue vessel landed.  A repair crew began working on his ship while he reported in to the commander.  "So Nantha, you've had problems on this survey." "Yes.  I know I've made a mistake." "Fear not, Nantha.  We've brought a device that will assist us in ensuring the templaters are not mis-used.  Do you continue to detect the usage of the first one you discovered missing?" "Yes." "Excellent.  When we get the next transformation message, we will use a new experimental device, that will hopefully render it non-functional." "But how? We can't home on the signal of usage?" "I don't understand the technology either, and it is experimental.  We will set it up and wait."

Mark was running behind that morning.  Kathy had opened the store, but Erin was working a later, shorter shift.  So Mark had slept in.  He shifted into Erin and went in to take a shower.  As she showered, she felt a strange tingling in her ring.   Worried, she shifted back to Mark.  While it took a bit more effort, it worked.  Relaxing, he shifted back into Erin and finished her shower.

The message confirming the continued use of the templater was a disappointment to Nantha and the rescue mission commander.  It meant they would not be able to recover the four missing templaters, nor render them harmless.  "Nantha, you will remain in orbit around Terra once your vessel is fixed and monitor the planet.  If you see great evil, you will review it closely to make sure someone isn't misusing a templater.   If you detect such use, contact Norgessa immediately.  Otherwise, I suspect that four Terrans are going to have a lot of enjoyment from the unintentional gift you've given them.

Epilog: Mark and Kathy were married a few months later.  The staff at the hotel in Las Vegas were amazed at the happy couple who had brought along the groom's cousin on their honeymoon. 

Nantha waits in orbit around Terra, waiting to see if anyone will find the other three templaters.  If you see a strange, grey ring in your travels and find yourself transformed.  Be careful.  Your ending might not be as happy as Mark's and Erin's were.

Drill2

 "I'm sorry Lynn, there just aren't any summer session classes that give P.E. credit. The one you were signed up for was the only one and its been cancelled due to lack of sign-ups." "But Ms Johnson, if I don't get a P.E. credit this summer, I won't be able to graduate on time. I need six P.E. credits and even if a P.E. class is offered next summer, that will only be five." "However did you get in this mess?" "I was sick my freshman year and couldn't take any P.E. classes." "Well... there is one possibility." "Anything." "The girls drill team has a special summer class so that they get credit for practicing. It doesn't just last six weeks, it runs all summer, all day. But, it offers two P.E. credits." "Great, sign me up." "Not so fast, you need instructor approval to get in and I don't know how Ms Thomas will feel about enrolling a boy in the girl's drill team class. Go and see her and if she will sign your enrollment slip, you're in."

So Lynn walked down to the Girls Gym and spoke to Ms Thomas. "Excuse me Ms Thomas." "Yes, what is it?" "I'm here to talk to you about signing up for your summer session P.E. class." "You've got to be kidding, it isn't really a P.E. class, its a training session for the girls drill team and cheerleaders." "I know, but I really need the P.E. credit." Lynn went on to explain how he needed the credit to be able to graduate with his class in two years. "I see your dilemma, but we've never let anyone into this class unless they were a member of the drill team. I can't see making an exception in your case." "Isn't there some way I can take the class." "Tell you what, there is a team meeting in a few minutes, I'll introduce you to the girls and we'll let them decide."

Ms Thomas introduced Lynn to the team and explained his problem. She then instructed Lynn to leave the room while the girls decided whether or not to let him into their class. After some argument, Betty Ann James stood up and motioned for silence. As a senior and 3 year veteran of the team, she'd been elected one of the two captains for the upcoming year and commanded respect. "Girls, the way I see it, this is a very simple problem. The class is only for members of the drill team. We don't have try-outs, anyone who ever wanted to be on the team was automatically admitted. The only rule was that girls who didn't meet the team standards didn't get to march in parades or games until they could meet our standards. I think it is up to Lynn to decide if he wants to be on the team and abide by team rules. If he wants to be on the team, he can take the class." Then, Anita Jones, the other senior captain stood up and spoke. "How do we know that he won't just spend the summer in our class, take the credit and then quit the squad." It was Ms Thomas who answered. "That's easy, by signing up for our summer class, Lynn will also be signed up for girls drill team class for the whole year. Not only that, but we can make his credit for the class conditional on his remaining on the squad the whole year. If he quits, no credit for him." Anita said, "we'll be made to look like fools with a boy on the team. Betty Ann replied, "you're not thinking very straight Anita. If Lynn becomes a team member, he has to abide by team rules, all of the rules. I think that anyone, boy or girl, who was forced to go by all our team rules won't even be noticed when we march at the opening football game of the year. Now lets vote."

Anita and Betty Ann came out of the gym with Ms Thomas to give Lynn the news. Ms Thomas said, "o.k., here's the deal. If you want to take the class, you have to join the drill team." Lynn replied, "but its the girls drill team." "Doesn't matter, the class is only open to team members and so if you want to take the class, you have to join the team." "Can I quit after the summer?" "No, if you sign up for the team, you will have to take drill team as your P.E. class all year and stay on the team. If you quit, you will lose credit for the summer course. What do you want to do?" Before he could answer, Anita said, "remember, if you join, you'll have to abide by all of the team rules, just like all of us do." Lynn thought for a second and decided he needed the P.E. credit more than anything else, so he said, "o.k., how do I join?" "Summer session starts a week from Monday. Be at the football practice field in gym uniform and sneakers right at 8:00 a.m."

That afternoon, Lynn told his aunt, Amy what had happened at school. Lynn's parents had died years earlier and his aunt has been his guardian ever since. They had no other family. "How funny, I was on that drill team when I went to the high school. Guess times have changed, with the team going co-ed." "I don't think the team has gone co-ed, they just made me join to take their summer session class." "So, does that mean my nephew is on the girls drill team?" "Guess so Aunt Amy. Wonder what they meant by following the team rules?" Aunt Amy smiled knowingly and said to herself "you'll see my little nephew, you'll see."

At the first class, Lynn was bright and early, dressed in the gym uniform he'd worn all year long. It showed signs of the numerous wearings and washings it had endured. As the girls began filing out onto the field, he noticed that instead of the normal girls gym uniform, all the girls were wearing bright red shorts and white t-shirts with "Lady Panthers" and their first names written on the front, the team logo (a marching drill team member) on the back. Several said hi to him, but most ignored his presence. A few minutes later, Anita walked up to him, carrying a sack. "I wanted to get this to you earlier, but it wasn't ready until Saturday. Here, go and put it on." Lynn started to ask a question, but she cut him off with, "listen and learn. You are just a rookie here and when a sergeant, or especially one of the captains tells you to do something, you don't question the command, you just do it. Now go back to your locker room and change."

Lynn ran back into the locker room and looked in the bag. Inside was a pair of red shorts and one of the t-shirts he'd seen the girls wearing, with his name on the front. "Guess I can wear this thing while we work out," so he changed and made it back to the practice field just in time for the start of class.

"Good morning girls, we'll skip inspection until this afternoon, we need to work out hard and fast to get our newcomers in shape. But there is one matter we have to attend to before we can begin. We have a number of new team members with us. All new members, front and center." Lynn ran to the front of the class along with the other new members. Ms Thomas said, "now, you will take the oath of the Lady Panthers. This is your last chance to back out. No one will be criticized for backing out. Just remember, once you've taken the oath, you are committed to the team until the last day of school for the year. Anyone want to leave now?" No one moved, so Ms Thomas continued, "repeat after me. I am now a Lady Panther. As a Lady Panther I know that I am joining a group with a long, proud tradition. I promise to live up to the standards of this tradition. I swear my solemn oath to comply with all team rules as long as I am a student at Oakfield High." After the oath had been administered, Ms Thomas said, "congratulations, you are now all probationary team members. If you meet team standards at the end of the summer session, you will become full fledged team members. Now lets get to work." She then proceeded to lead the class through the most grueling workout Lynn had ever experienced. Finally, after 4 hours of exercise and marching drills, she called a 30 minute break for lunch and/or rest. Lynn wasn't hungry and just sat down to take a break.

After lunch, the class formed up into a new formation and then Ms Thomas said, "o.k., new team members report to the drill team locker room for inspection and weigh-in. The rest of you, break into your squads and the squad sergeants will lead you through another work-out."

Lynn lined up outside the drill team locker room with the other new team members. He was the last in line. One at a time, the new members went into the locker room and about 15 minutes later, another would be called in. Finally, it was Lynn's turn and he went into the locker room.

Inside were Ms Thomas, Anita and Betty Ann. Anita said, "I'll be doing the inspection after we weigh you in." "Weigh me in?" "Yes Lynn, we have weight standards that all team members must abide by. Until you make your assigned weight, you aren't allowed to march in parades or at games. If you don't make weight by the end of the summer, you might not get credit for the course." They weighed Lynn and Ms Thomas said, "based on your height, it looks like you'll have to lose at least 15 pounds to make weight, but 20 would be better." Lynn was already kind of thin for a guy and losing 15 pounds would reduce him to toothpick like proportions. But he refrained from saying anything except, "what am I supposed to do to lose this weight?" "You need to take a team physical anyway, so when you see Doctor Williams tomorrow, she can prescribe a diet for you. But don't worry, you'll be surprised at how fast those pounds fall off in our workouts. Now, for the inspection." Anita told Lynn to stand in front of the mirror that covered the entire west wall of the locker room and then she began walking around him. "Legs need shaving, 10 demerits, arms and underarms the same, 10 more demerits, not wearing make-up, 5 more demerits and this hairstyle is totally unacceptable." "Now hold on a minute, I agreed to join your team, not shave my legs and arms." "You agreed to follow all of the team rules and among those are no visible body hair when in the team uniform or practice outfit, no facial hair, and you must wear a minimum of make-up anytime you are out in public. Remember, you took the oath, so you are a Lady Panther from now until the last day of school. Here is a rulebook, so you don't make any more mistakes." Anita handed him a three ring binder filled with mimeographed pages of rules and said, "if you can correct all your discrepancies before tomorrow's class, we'll forgive the demerits." "What happens if I don't?" "At the end of the summer, your demerits will be totaled and you'll be assigned extra duties during the school year to clear them away. Those duties might be extra team practice, doing errands for the captains and sergeants or Ms Thomas. One rookie got so many demerits last year that she ended up having to work at my part-time job while I got to keep the money she made. Maybe that will happen to you Lynn, if you don't straighten up and fly right. Now, go home and be in compliance with team standards tomorrow morning or else."

That evening when Lynn's Aunt Amy came home, he was sobbing uncontrollably. "What's the matter honey?" "These stupid rules, that's what. They want me to shave my legs and arms and wear make-up, just like a girl." "Well, you could always quit the team." "No I can't. I called Ms Thomas and asked if I could quit. She said it was too late and that if I quit, I'd get an F for the summer. That would ruin my chances of ever graduating on time or getting into a college. Worse yet, my counselor Ms Johnson is acting principal this summer and she says that whatever Ms Thomas says for this class goes. What am I going to do?" "I guess you'll have to go by the rulebook after all Lynn. Can I help?" "Please Aunt Amy, can't you do something?" "Except for helping you meet the rules, I don't know of anything I can do Lynn. I do know the drill team rules pretty well, I was on the team for 4 years and was a captain my senior year. I expect that they just want to make you suffer this summer to earn your P.E. credit, I can't believe they'd make a boy follow all the team rules. Now, lets go up to my room and get to work."

It was a different Lynn the next morning at class. He was dressed in his freshly washed practice uniform, but he looked markedly different from the previous day. His legs were smoothly shaved and instead of his non-regulation sneakers, he was wearing his aunt's high-top L.A. Gear sneakers and slouch socks. His arms and chest had also been shaved and he was wearing one of his aunt's bras under his shirt, although he didn't fill it very well. His aunt had applied the minimum of make-up to meet team standards to Lynn's face, mascara, blush and lip gloss.

As he'd walked out the door, she had handed him a purse saying, "there's make-up inside in case you need a touch-up during class. Good luck honey." Betty Ann did Lynn's re-inspection and after a careful once-over said, "perfect, no demerits." Anita glared but didn't say anything.

After two hours of class, Ms Thomas called a halt and said, "new team members report to Doctor Williams for their physicals. Lynn and the rest of the new members went into the locker room. Lynn was ushered in first.

Doctor Williams was an attractive woman in her early 30s. She smiled at Lynn as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm Doctor Williams and you must be Lynn. I heard a boy was joining the drill team. Are you one of those types who are trying to shove equal rights back in the faces of women?" "No, Doctor," and Lynn explained his predicament. "O.k., I understand. Here is a diet for you to follow to lose the 15 pounds you need to make team standards. I couldn't help but notice you've got a little rash on your legs." "I'm not used to shaving there." "Here is a lotion that will help the irritation. You might want to consider using a depilatory or waxing instead of shaving. Good luck, I'll reexamine you after fall classes start."

Summer became a blur of classes for Lynn. Most nights after class, the new team members were required to go to one of the captain's homes for classes on make-up, hairstyles, the history of the team, and other subjects. For Lynn, the days would start out early with Aunt Amy helping him get ready for class and wouldn't end until late at night when he would arrive home, toss his uniform into the wash and fall exhausted into bed. Between the exercise and the doctor's diet, Lynn managed to lose not 15 but 23 pounds and was now so thin, he could even wear some of his aunt's clothes. She had dug out her old drill team uniform and was delighted when it fit perfectly. "Too bad they've changed the style, this could have saved us some money." "I still don't believe that they will go through with me buying a real uniform and marching with the team during the year." "I think that they are just making fun of you this summer. I don't expect to be sitting in the stands at any football games this fall to watch my nephew marching with the drill team."

There had been a few problems, such as Anita pointing out that Lynn's bra didn't fit properly, and his hairstyle not meeting standards, but Aunt Amy had risen to each occasion. She'd taken Lynn out and bought him several training bras, along with taking him to her beautician who'd cut Lynn's hair into a wedge that could be turned into a boy's hairstyle with some mousse. But, Lynn had managed to pile up over 100 demerits, thanks to Anita's constant harassment. He didn't know what the result of those demerits would be, but the Friday before school would start, at the final meeting of the summer he and the other new team members found out about their demerits and were welcomed to the team.

That morning, Aunt Amy had to leave town on business. "Sorry Lynn honey, but I've got to go to this convention. I'll be back Wednesday or Thursday. There are plenty of groceries and I've left money on my dresser." "Can you drop me off at school, there is a team meeting." "I thought yesterday was the last day of class." "It was, but they want all of the new team members to come to this meeting. I'm supposed to find out what happens to my demerits." "Boy, they sure are trying to make you sweat, aren't they." "Yeah, but I'm sure that this is my last team function." "I'll bet you'll be glad to get out of bras and make-up." "Not to mention shaving my legs." They laughed as they got into the car. Aunt Amy dropped off Lynn at the gym and before driving away said, "I probably won't have time to call and see how you're doing, but if there is an emergency, Mrs. Simpson next door will look after you."

Lynn went into the gym and found the new team members seated in chairs, while returning members lined the room. A tailor was standing at the front of the room with a tape measure in her hands. Anita said, "sit down, we've been waiting for you so we can start." As he sat down, Betty Ann began the meeting. They began with the tailor measuring the new team members for their uniforms. The tailor promised to have the uniforms ready in two weeks. Then the tailor left. Betty Ann said, "o.k., rookies, I'm happy to report that you are have met all team standards and are now all full fledged Lady Panthers. Congratulations. But, with your new status as team members come other responsibilities. Our drill team has been the best team in the state for a long time and as such we have an image to uphold. All of you will be expected to maintain that image. Along with the rules you learned this summer comes a dress code. All team members are expected to comply with the dress code anytime they are at school and while traveling to and from parades or competitions. I'll go over it with you now, so that there aren't any misunderstandings. If any of you don't have the right kind of clothes and can't afford new ones, we've made arrangements with Smith's Department Store to give you credit for new wardrobes which you can repay by working in the store on weekends. Here are the rules. No blue jeans or shorts, ever, even off-campus. Slacks can be worn, but must be dress slacks and if there are any pockets they have to be empty. Sneakers can be worn, but only on casual Wednesdays, and only with a skirt, not with slacks. Then again, who'd want to wear sneakers with dress slacks anyway?" No t-shirts, except at practice and on casual Wednesdays, and t-shirts must have the Lady Panther logo on them. With the exception of casual Wednesdays, anytime you wear a skirt, you will wear pantyhose or nylon stockings and appropriate shoes. On Dress Thursdays, all team members will wear dresses or skirts and blouses. On Fridays when there are games, team members may wear regular clothes to school, but after the lunch-time pep rallies, must wear their uniforms back to class and to the games. Team members not marching at the game will sit in the stands in a group to the right of the pep squad and take part in pep squad cheers. Of course, you will continue to meet the make-up and hairstyle rules. It has been a tradition for all new team members to get their ears pierced, even if they're pierced already, so that in four weeks, you can all wear the present you are about to receive from your fellow team members. You will now get a sponsor to be your helper in meeting team standards. Your sponsor will be your big sister for the next year." She read off a list of names and to his horror, Anita would be Lynn's sponsor. After this the meeting broke up and everyone except Betty Ann, Anita and Lynn left the room. Unnoticed, Ms Thomas came into the room. Anita smiled at Lynn and handed him a box saying, "here little sister, open your present from your fellow team members." He opened it and inside was a pair of gold hoop earrings, identical to the ones he'd noticed each of the other team members wearing. Anita said, "you've probably noticed that we all wear identical earrings. It adds to the team appearance. After your ears heal, you can wear your pair. We'll get your ears pierced tomorrow at Smith's." "What do you mean at Smith's? I'm not going to dress up like a girl." Betty Ann said, "Well Lynn, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately. You are the only boy I know who wears a bra, mascara and lip gloss, not to mention having the smoothest legs of any boy I've ever seen. Besides, you're a Lady Panther now and have to go by the same rules as the rest of us. It wouldn't be fair to make an exception for you." "I only did that to get the P.E. credit I need to graduate on time. I never thought you'd really want me to stay on the team." "Of course we do, we need every member we've got." "I don't care, I'm not going to dress like a girl." Ms Thomas stepped out where everyone could see her and said, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice anymore Lynn. If you quit the team, I'll be forced to change your grade to an F and you'll lose credit for the class. You don't want that, do you Lynn?" "No, I don't." "I'm sure you will get used to this. Now, I'll leave you in the good hands of your team captains to help you make arrangements." She left and Anita said to Lynn, "you will need a new wardrobe, won't you?" Lynn hesitated and Anita went on, "unless of course you've got a closet of dresses at home." "No, you know I don't." Good, meet me at Smith's at 10:00 sharp, we've got a lot of work to do. Betty Ann, do you want to join us?" "No, I'm sure you can handle Lynn's new wardrobe just fine by yourself."

Resigned to his fate, Lynn met Anita the next morning at Smith's. After a visit to the jewelry counter where his ears were pierced with a set of starter studs, Anita led Lynn to the junior department. The department manager, Ms Thompson greeted them. "Hi Ms Thompson, Lynn here is a new member of the Lady Panthers and he needs a new wardrobe to meet the team dress code." "Isn't that nice Lynn, can you afford to pay for these clothes?" "No maam, my aunt is out of town and I don't have any money." "Do you think your aunt will pay for a new wardrobe for you?" "I don't think we can afford it right now." "No problem, we'll just put you to work right here in the junior department until you've paid us back. Now, lets get started.

Anita picked out most of the clothes with some help from Ms Thompson. When Lynn tried to get more pants instead of skirts and dresses, Anita said, "no, little sister, I think one pair of pants is plenty. I'm the best dressed girl on the team and I want my little sister to be second-best only to me." "What about casual Wednesdays?" "Don't worry, little sister, you've got two denim mini's for Wednesdays and dressing casual is only optional, not mandatory.

Thanks to Labor Day weekend and two days of orientation, the first full day of school was Thursday, a Dressy Thursday. Lynn had hung his new wardrobe in his closet and hadn't touched it since he and Anita had brought it back from Smith's. He skipped orientation, managing to convince Mrs. Simpson to call in and say he was sick. He wasn't sure what to do and was lost in thought on the subject Wednesday when the phone rang. It was Anita. She was insisting on spending Wednesday night at Lynn's house, so she could help him get ready for his first day of school as a team member. He started to protest but when she said, "I just want to help you little sister" he knew he was licked. That night she waxed his legs, arms and chest, as well as using a facial depilatory on his face. Afterwards, they watched t.v. until bedtime. They were sound asleep when Aunt Amy returned from her convention. They didn't wake up when she peeked into Lynn's room. Aunt Amy was puzzled by the strange girl sleeping in the spare bed, but decided she'd find out about it in the morning. So, she went to bed.

In the morning, Aunt Amy was still sleeping when Anita and Lynn got up. Anita dressed first, then after Lynn had showered, she styled his hair, which now reached well below his collar. Then she helped Lynn dress in the outfit she'd picked out for him. She helped Lynn into black pantyhose, and then had him step into a skirt. She pulled it up into place and then zipped the short, black pleated skirt up the back and fastened the button closure. After fastening Lynn's bra, she helped him into a cream colored blouse, and closed the button at the back of the neck. She motioned to the black patent flats on the floor and Lynn slipped them on. Then, Anita sat Lynn down at the dresser and did his make-up herself. For the first time, Lynn's face was covered in foundation, which gave him a smooth complexion. Anita added blush, eyeshadow, mascara and finally lip gloss. The finishing touches were a ribbon in Lynn's hair, and several bangle bracelets. Then, Anita took off Lynn's starter stud earrings and put on his team hoop earrings for the first time. "Don't you just look wonderful. Check yourself out in the mirror."

Lynn looked in the mirror and to his horror, saw a teen-aged girl staring back at him. He didn't remember when, but somehow Anita had found time the night before to sculpt a set of long red fingernails onto his hands and as he touched his face, he felt how awkward the nails made his hands feel. "Don't worry about the nails, you'll get used to them after a couple of hours." Worse yet, as he turned to see Anita, he saw she was wearing the same outfit as he was, except for a black jacket that matched the skirt. But, she handed him a jacket of his own and said, "come on little sister, lets get going, we don't want to be late." "But, we're wearing the same outfit, I thought girls didn't do that." "Silly girl, its tradition for big sisters and little sisters to dress alike on the first day of school. Now, don't forget, when you sit to smooth out your skirt first, and then cross your legs at the knee. Now, we have time for a light breakfast before we leave."

They were sitting at the dining room table, eating toast and drinking juice when Aunt Amy came downstairs. She saw what looked like two teenaged girls sitting at the dining room table. To herself she thought they could be sisters. Out loud she said, "who are you and where is Lynn?" Lynn answered, "I'm right here Aunt Amy, we didn't hear you come in last night." "I'll just bet you didn't and whatever are you doing dressed like that." "Boy am I glad to see you." "You sound silly using the word boy while you're dressed like that. Now I'm going to ask you just one more time, why are you dressed like a girl and who is that dressed as your sister?"

Lynn introduced Anita and then recounted the events of the past week and when Aunt Amy asked to see his new wardrobe, Lynn led her upstairs and showed her his closet. "Those things must have cost a fortune. Where did you get the money for all of this?" "The store gave me credit and said if we can't pay for it, I'll have to work in the store to pay for it." "Well, I'm just going to go with you to school and have a talk with your counselor and if that doesn't work with the principal herself." "Thanks Aunt Amy, I'll just change clothes first." "No honey, we don't have time for that, it will take several hours to get rid of those nails and hair. After we talk to the principal, we'll just bring you home."

Anita insisted on driving herself to school and left a few minutes before Aunt Amy and Lynn. In the car on the way to school Aunt Amy looked at Lynn and said, "I still can't believe how much you look like a girl." "I know Aunt Amy, I couldn't believe it either when I looked in the mirror this morning." "Well as long as you are dressed that way, you'll have to act like one so no one thinks you are a boy in drag." "What do you mean?" "I mean you have to sit like a girl, with your legs crossed. Also, remember when sitting down to smooth that skirt out behind you." "What's the difference, I'll be out of this outfit later today." "Just the same, remember what I said, if you are dressed that way, you have to act like a girl."

At the school, Aunt Amy and Lynn were ushered into Ms Johnson's office right away. Ms Johnson said, "look Ms Myers, I am sympathetic to Lynn's situation, but he agreed to be on the team all year in order to take the summer class. It wouldn't be fair to the other students to let him back out now. I know of at least two girls who joined the team for the same reason, to satisfy their P.E. credit requirement to graduate." "Well, we will just see what the principal has to say about this." Ms Johnson picked the phone and called to see if the principal is free. "She is free and is waiting for us. Lets go."

The principal was waiting for them and along with her was Ms Thomas, Anita and Betty Ann. The principal, Ms Donna Dean said, "come in and sit down, we were just discussing this situation. I wanted to get a look at Lynn myself before making any kind of decisions. I must say Lynn, if I didn't know it was you, I'd swear you were just another teenaged girl. Now Ms Myers, what do you propose we do about this mess?" "Let Lynn resign from the team and go back to the things were." "I've discussed that alternative with Ms Thomas and the team captains here and that is acceptable, as long as you realize that Lynn will receive not one but two F's for P.E. for this past summer's class." "But not only will I have to make up the P.E. credits, that will ruin my grade point average for good. I'll never get a scholarship to college." "Yes, that is a problem. But, one of my teachers made a decision and the administration has to support it. I think that the deal that you and Ms Thomas struck to get you into the class was fair and I think you have to stand by your word and oath. Now, here is what I propose. Ms Thomas says as long as you stay on the team all year, you deserve the A you got this summer. The team captains say that as long as you meet team standards they will support your membership on the team. If you will stay on the team and follow the team rules, at the end of the year, you can resign and things will go back to normal for your senior year. If you decide to go along with this, I will instruct the entire student body not to say or do anything to bother you. Boys who tease you will be forced to join you as a member of the drill team, while girls who tease you will get detention as well as having to assist you with your efforts. Now, its up to you and your aunt. We'll leave the room for a moment to let you discuss this."

"Aunt Amy, I can't spend a year dressed as a girl." "Lynn, I don't see any other choice. You know I don't make enough money to send you to college without a scholarship. Two F's will ruin your future. I didn't realize before that you had taken the team oath. You gave your word and you'll just have to keep it."

Ms Dean, Ms Thomas and Ms Johnson came back into the room. "Well, what is it going to be?" "Lynn is going to keep his word and stay on the team." "Excellent. Why don't you and I discuss this a little further while Lynn goes to class. Lynn, Betty Ann and Anita are waiting for you. I've moved you to their homeroom for this year. Here's your new schedule. Have a good day in class."

"So Lynn, what is it going to be?" "Well Anita, I'm sure you will be happy to know that I'm going to stay on the team. Ms Johnson switched me to your homeroom and we need to get there. She gave us tardy slips. Wonder why I have to change homerooms." "Because silly, you can't go to a boys homeroom looking like that. I'll just bet they changed your whole schedule of classes." He looked and saw that Anita was right.

Homeroom was different, he would be in a homeroom for junior and senior girls. Of course, his gym class was gone, replaced by Drill Team. Math, Science and English were the same, but his foreign language had been changed from Spanish to French. The auto shop class he had waited for two years to get into was gone, replaced by design. "What is design class?" "Its a class on fashion design and modeling. You'll love it."

In the principals office, Ms Dean, Ms Thomas and Ms Johnson were talking to Aunt Amy. "You realize this will be difficult for Lynn, don't you." "Of course I do, but at least this way he still has a chance at a college scholarship." "You are so right Ms Myers and I want you to know we will do anything we can to help out your niece, I mean nephew." "Might as well call Lynn my niece, that is the way things will be for the next 9 months." Ms Thomas said, "what about the wardrobe Anita picked out for Lynn at Smith's?" "Ms Thomas, I'm a single woman with a teenager to support. We worked for some time to come up with a boys wardrobe for Lynn, I'm not in a position to replace it now. What do we do about that?" "Maybe you should call Ms Thompson at Smith's. We made an arrangement with her so that students needing new clothes that couldn't afford them could work at the store to pay for them. Lynn could work nights and weekends at Smith's." "I'll call her later, I've got to get back to the office. Thank you."

In homeroom, the teacher said, "we've been expecting you. Girls, I'm sure you know Lynn here. Everyone say hello Lynn." The class rang out, "Hi Lynn. Welcome to our homeroom." The teacher explained, "we welcome all new students this way. Just have a seat ladies, we still have five minutes before 1st period." Lynn felt very uncomfortable and thought everyone was looking at him, but he went and sat down and waited for the bell to ring. When it did, the teacher asked him to stay for a second.

"Lynn, I don't know why you are doing this, but I want you to know that I will help you in any way I can." "Thanks Ms King, I appreciate it. But I wonder why no one made fun of me." "I guess you haven't seen this memo. I was instructed to read it to class before you arrived. It was read at every homeroom in the school this morning." She handed him the memo and he read it:

Lynn Myers, a boy, has joined the school drill team. As such, he will be required to follow all the team rules this year and that means he will be dressed as a girl. No one is to make fun of, tease, or otherwise harass Lynn. Any boy doing so will receive detention along with joining Lynn on the team and dressing as a girl. Any girl doing so will receive detention and will also have to help Lynn in meeting the rules of the drill team. I expect all of you to support Lynn in his difficult task. To make things easier on all of us, from now on we will refer to Lynn this year in the feminine. For example, I want all girls to be nice to Lynn if they encounter her hallway. When Lynn needs to use a restroom, she will use the nearest girls restroom by announcing her presence first so any other girls that wish to leave may do so. Signed, Donna Dean, Principal

Lynn found that another girl from the team was in all of his classes. Janice James was also a junior, had been on the team for the past two years and was a stunning blonde who seemed to tower over Lynn. As he looked at her he realized that the high heels she was wearing made her look taller and she was actually the same height he was. "Hi Lynn, I see we have the same schedule." "Yeah, isn't that a coincidence." "I really like that outfit Lynn, its really cute. Did you pick it out?" "No, Anita went with me to Smith's last Saturday." "Really, I work there and I don't remember seeing you." "We were in the juniors department for nearly three hours." "Oh, that explains it, I've been working in women's temporarily. Ms Thompson wants me back though, so its back to juniors for me this weekend. Maybe I'll see you there." "I think you're right, I've got to work there to pay for this unless my aunt will come up with the cash." "Come on, we're going to be late for Math."

After classes and an hour of practice, Lynn headed for home. He'd forgotten his bus pass and by the time he went back to the parking lot, there was no one to give him a ride. So, he had to walk the 1.5 miles home in his new patent flats. His feet were a little sore as we opened the door and walked in.

Aunt Amy was there and she was on the phone. He heard her say, "well Ms Thompson, I'll talk to Lynn and then call you back. Thanks." "Oh hi Lynn, I was just talking about you." "I heard, was that Ms Thompson from Smith's?" "Yes, we were talking about how to pay for your new wardrobe." "I don't want to work at that stupid store in a dress all year." "Lets go up to my room and talk about it."

In his aunt's room, she motioned Lynn to sit on the bed and said to him, "honey, I'm not sure there is any way around you working at Smith's. We don't have the money to pay for that wardrobe. In fact, aside from what you're wearing, I can't afford to pay for any of those clothes. What else can we do?" "Couldn't I wear your clothes for a while until we can save some money?" "I thought about that honey, but I don't think it will work. Aside from work clothes, all I have are blue jeans and shorts." "What about your work clothes?" "All I have are dresses and suits and even if all of them fit you, I don't have enough clothes for both of us to wear day in and day out. Besides, I don't think my work clothes will fit you." "What do you mean, your old uniform fit me just fine." "Yes, but it wouldn't fit me. You are much thinner than I am. But, see for yourself, try on that suit hanging on the closet door."

Lynn undressed and put on his aunt's suit. Unfortunately, she was right, the skirt and jacket were just too big for him. "Besides, they just aren't right for a teenage girl to wear." "I'm not a teenaged girl, I'm a boy." "Honey I love you, but for this school year you are going to be a teenaged girl. You just have to face that fact." "O.k., guess I have to work at Smith's, huh." "Yes, you do and they want you to start this weekend."

Friday was much like Thursday and after practice, Lynn went to Smith's. Ms Thompson greeted him and after filling in his employment forms, she started training him. "Until you get the hang of the register, you will work on the floor. When you see a customer, walk up and ask if you can help her. If a customer wants to get into a dressing room, use your key to unlock the door. If she is done trying things on and doesn't want to buy them, take them and hang them back on the appropriate rack. Any questions?" "No Ms Thompson, no questions." "Good and one more thing, you need to get a pair of heels, that outfit doesn't work with flats." "How can you tell something like that?" "First of all, good salesgirls always wear heels, they make the leg look longer and more shapely. But, when Anita picked out that suit I told her you would need heels for it. Did you buy a pair?" "No, she picked one out, but I put them back." "Lets get you down to the shoe department and get you some heels for work before you go out on the floor."

Ten minutes later, Lynn was on the sales floor, trying to keep his balance perched on three inch white heels that went with his creme colored suit. Ms Thompson had also insisted he needed heels in black, red and blue and had said, "no problem, we'll just add them to your bill."

He went on the floor and the first customer he waited on was Anita. "May I help you?" he asked. "Yes, miss, I need to go into a dressing room to try this dress on. Can you help me?" Gritting his teeth Lynn said, "of course, right this way." He opened the door for her and as she went in Anita said, "thanks miss, oh wait, I want to know what you think of this dress." Lynn stood outside the room and when Anita came out, she asked, "so, what do you think of my dress?" "It looks just lovely, shall I wrap it for you." "No, I want to take it to the gift wrap booth. Its a present for a good friend of mine from the drill team." As Lynn turned away, Anita said, "thank you miss, I'll make sure you get a commission for this sale."

That night, he came home and found his aunt twirling a baton. "What are you doing Aunt Amy?" "I was moving some stuff around and found this old thing in the garage. Its my old baton from my senior year. Did I tell you that I was one of the majorettes that year?" "No, but it looks like fun." "Come out back, I'll teach you to twirl a baton. As long as you are on the drill team, you might as well learn everything.

Monday, Lynn got a note from the school office telling him he was scheduled for an appointment with Doctor Williams that day after school. He was excused from practice to go to the appointment. Doctor Williams had heard that Lynn was being forced to dress as a girl, but wasn't prepared for what marched into her office. A teen-aged girl, in a dress, nylons, with full make-up and even pierced earrings walked in at 3:15 and said, "o.k., Doctor, I'm here for my check-up." "Are you Lynn?" "Yes I am, is something wrong?" "No, I'm just surprised at your appearance. You look just like a girl." "I guess that's the idea of the team rules, isn't it."

The doctor examined Lynn and found him perfectly healthy. But, she said, "it appears that you've developed a vitamin deficiency. I'll give you a shot and then some pills to take. Until it clears up, you'll have to come in for a shot every other week."

The days settled into a routine over the next two weeks. Janice told Lynn to call her J.J. and they were well on their way to being best friends. Like Lynn, J.J.'s parents were dead and she lived with her aunt. When she invited Lynn to spend the night, she didn't tell her aunt that Lynn was a boy. But, when they arrived, it didn't take long for J.J.'s aunt Denise to discover Lynn's secret. They had gone to J.J.'s straight from practice and Lynn was coming out of the shower when Denise walked in to hand him a towel. Lynn had wrapped a towel around his waist, but it was clear from one look at his naked chest that Lynn was a boy. She didn't comment, just said, "here's another towel. I'll be in J.J.'s room talking to her."

"J.J., what in the world is going on here. That Lynn is a boy, not a girl." J.J. told Lynn's story to her aunt and after she was done, Lynn came in. He'd thrown on a denim skirt and white sweatshirt in the bathroom and had redone his make-up. He had hoped that Denise hadn't seen him, but that hope was dashed when she said, "well aren't you the prettiest boy I've ever seen. Don't worry, J.J. told me the whole story. I think it is great and want you to know that I'd love to help you if I can. I'm a beautician and have my own salon. Come by anytime, I'll work on you for free. In fact, why don't I fill those nails of yours right now. Who did them?" "Anita, one of the girls on the team." "Well, they aren't bad, but lets just take them off and show you what a professional set of nails looks like."

After she removed the nails from Lynn's hands, Denise went to work. She glued a set of tips to Lynn's nails and then overlaid them with acrylic, which she filed and shaped. While she worked, J.J., who had been learning the beauty trade from her aunt, went to work on Lynn's feet. He started to drift off to sleep but was still awake when Denise asked, "want me to do your hair when I'm done with your hands?" Lynn nodded yes and then fell asleep.

A few hours later, Lynn woke up, sitting in the salon chair Denise used at home. Lynn had been born with brown hair and it had stayed brown all his life. When his "year among the girls" had begun, his aunt had said, "guess you are a brunette now." But his hair had somehow become blonde and that wasn't the only change. Instead of the simple wedge cut he'd had before, Denise had teased, sprayed and moussed his hair into a style similar to those she and J.J. wore. He'd always thought of styles like this as "big hair" and now that he had one, he kind of liked it. It framed his face and he had to admit it was much more attractive than the wedge he'd been wearing. But, when he shook his head to see if it moved, he got another shock. Before, his hair had only reached just below his collar. Now, he felt it touching his arms. As he twisted around, he saw that there was thick blonde hair hanging all the way down below his shoulder blades.

"So, Lynn, what do you think of your hair?" "Why did you do this?" "Hey, I asked if you wanted me to do your hair. Just to be sure I phoned your aunt and she said it was o.k. It will make sure that no one suspects you are a boy in a dress. Do you like it?" "I guess, after all, don't blondes have more fun."

At school, Anita complimented Lynn on her new hairstyle. That afternoon at practice, Lynn found her drill team uniform waiting for her in her locker. Along with it was a note saying that today's practice would be a dress rehearsal. So, Lynn put on the uniform. The short skirt fell barely to the middle of Lynn's thighs. The top was also short and tight, designed to show off the fine figures that the Lady Panthers maintained. The shiny white boots with tassel, white gloves and the matching hat completed the uniform. Lynn grabbed her purse, closed her locker and went to examine herself in the new uniform.

Lynn examined the figure in the mirror from toes to top. The shiny white boots were new and perfect, with long, smooth, tanned legs coming out of the boot tops. The legs ended at the bottom of the short, tight skirt. She noticed that she hadn't put her gloves on yet and as she slipped them on, her bright red nails could be faintly seen under the white cotton fingers. The top was also tight, showing off what appeared to be the pert breasts of a teenaged girl. No one could tell that the breasts weren't real, but the creation of a padded bra that Lynn was wearing. She reached into her purse for a compact to check her make-up. Her face was perfect, pouting pink lips shiny with gloss, rose cheeks, a complexion made smooth and perfect by the use of foundation, long mascara covered lashes, and a hint of shadow on her eyelids. The hat sat on top of a head that was covered with blonde hair, filled with curls and ringlets that hung down well below her shoulder blades. If it hadn't been clear to her before, Lynn now knew that she had indeed become one of the Lady Panthers. Lynn didn't hear Anita walk in, but he did hear her say, "well isn't that cute, our little Lynn checking her make-up from a compact. Lynn, you look just smashing in that uniform. Maybe you'll be a captain next year, you haven't gotten a single demerit since the year began." "I don't think so, since I don't plan on being on the team next year." "Nonsense, once a Lady Panther, always a Lady Panther. Unless you're planning on setting your sights higher and becoming a cheerleader." "No, after all, if the great Anita Jones couldn't make cheerleader, I wouldn't stand a chance. Now let's get up to practice."

The practice went well, the weeks of hard work obviously paying off. The next day, Lynn decided not to wear her uniform to school, but to change before the lunch pep rally. She found that most of the other team members had followed suit and the locker room was crowded as the team got ready for the rally.

The rally had been uneventful, as had the rest of the day's classes which Lynn attended in uniform. After school, Lynn joined the rest of the team on the bus for the ride to the game. The team sat in a special section of the stands and at halftime, Lynn was marching with the rest of the team as part of the half-time show. Aunt Amy was in the stands, but had real trouble picking out Lynn from among the other team members. Ms Johnson was sitting next to Aunt Amy and she asked, "can you see Lynn?" "No, I can't seem to pick out Lynn from the rest of the team. They all look alike in those uniforms and hats. Wait, there she is, second from the end of the row on the far side." Ms Johnson noticed that Aunt Amy had referred to Lynn as she, but didn't comment on this, but just smiled."

The next few weeks were more of the same, with Lynn dressed as a girl every day, going to school, practicing with the drill team and working on weekends at Smith's. She also went to the doctor every week to get her vitamin shot. When the doctor asked if the shots were making her feel any better, Lynn said no, except for a tingling sensation she felt in her chest. Lynn and J.J. spent most of their free time together, studied together and J.J. helped Lynn adjust to her new life among the girls. They were fast becoming best friends. Aunt Amy continued to show Lynn how to twirl a baton and she was getting quite good at it. She showed J.J. how and they practice together.

It was after 8 weeks of this that Aunt Amy was helping Lynn get dressed for school when she noticed that Lynn's bra didn't fit right. "That's funny, this bra is too small for you now." "I know, all of them are too small. In fact, this is a new bra I bought two weeks ago at work, and now it's too small too. I don't get it." "Maybe all the weeks of dressing as a girl are making your chest grow, ha-ha." They both laughed, but Aunt Amy was a little nervous. That afternoon after practice, she took Lynn out and in buying her new bras, couldn't help but notice that Lynn not only did need a C cup, but his chest measurement was four inches longer than when she'd first measured him.

It was three weeks later that Lynn was going to spend a Saturday night at J.J.'s. They had planned to stay home and watch t.v., but when Denise came home she said, "get dressed girls, we're going out to dinner and then to a movie. Business is great and we're celebrating." "But I didn't bring anything dressy." "No problem, you can borrow something from J.J. Part of the fun of being a girl is borrowing clothes from your friends."

They went into J.J.'s bedroom and after searching her closet, picked out dresses. Lynn chose a black knit dress. J.J. looked at Lynn's selection and said, "that'll look better with a black colored bra, no white colored straps peeking through." "Can I borrow one of yours, I don't have one with me." "Sure, but it will probably be too big, its a 34C." She reached into the drawer and pulled out the bra. For the first time in some time, she saw Lynn without any clothes on and realized that there were real breasts on Lynn's chest. She didn't say anything, just watched as Lynn put on the borrowed bra and looked blankly as Lynn said, "fits perfect. Thanks."

After the night out, after Lynn had fallen asleep, J.J. went into her mother's room. "Mom, I think that Lynn is growing breasts." "Nonsense child, he just looks more like a girl now because he's been that way so long." "I don't think so, I loaned him one of my bras to match that dress he wore tonight and it fit him pretty well." "That is odd, I'll talk to his Aunt about it tomorrow. But, even if it is true, it'll just help him passing as a girl until the end of the year." "Mom, he already passes without any trouble. Even I have trouble remembering that Lynn isn't a real girl, just a guy dressed up like one." "Don't worry, I'll look into it first thing tomorrow. Now off to bed with you." Unfortunately, Denise had had several drinks before her conversation with J.J. and the next morning, she forgot all about it.

The next week was the last football game. Lynn was ecstatic, no more marching in that uniform. But, he didn't want to show his excitement about it, so he went along with the other team members and said he was sad that the season was over. When reminded that there were still several parades coming up later in the year, Lynn said, "I know, but I'll miss the weekly performing."

On the Monday following the last game, a special assembly was called and all girl's homerooms had to report to the auditorium. There, the principal, Ms Dean read a statement. "It is my sad duty to inform you that we have a cheating scandal on our hands. It involves all the cheerleaders, most of the song girls and some of the drill team. All the ladies involved have been notified and will be suspended for one week beginning this morning. They have all already left campus. In addition, all of the involved parties have been removed from all extra-curricular activities. This means that we will be needing replacements for all of them. There are six cheering spots open, 10 of the 12 song girl spots and 8 slots on the drill team. Anyone interested in trying out should report to Ms Thomas immediately. This concludes this assembly." Ms Dean walked out as the girls began whispering to each other.

J.J. turned to Lynn and said, "come on, lets go and try out." "No way, I don't want to be either a cheerleader or song girl. Its bad enough that I'm stuck on the drill team." "Yeah, but I bet cheerleader will look better on a college application than drill team will. Maybe it won't raise so many questions about your junior year. Besides, it means we probably don't have any classes until after second or third period." "O.k., why not?" Both girls ran to the front of the room to join the crowd gathered around Ms Thomas. Lynn found himself standing next to Anita. She noticed Lynn and said, "I see our little Lady Panther has her sights set a little higher. You'd make a great cheerleader, but I don't think you'll make it, the competition is too tough." J.J. replied, "I'll bet Lynn stands a better chance than you do, after all we all know your only talent aside from marching is in the prone position." Anita fumed but kept her cool and said, "what do you mean about a bet?" "I'll bet that either both of you, or just Lynn makes the cheering squad." "What do you have to wager?" "If neither of you makes it, the bet is off. If Lynn makes it and you don't, you have to get a job at Smith's for as long as he is a cheerleader and contribute half of what you make to pay off his wardrobe. If both of you make it, you have to do all of Lynn's personal chores while he is a cheerleader, but you don't have to go to work at Smith's." "And if I make it and she doesn't?" "Then I'll go to work at Smith's and contribute half of what I make to buying whatever you want." "Not good enough, all the rest is fine, but if I make it and little Lynn here doesn't, both of you have to contribute half of what you make at Smith's to my account there as long as I'm a cheerleader, which will be until I graduate." "Its a bet." "Great, ..." at that point Ms Thomas spoke up. "I'm glad to see so many of you willing to try out for these slots. I want all of you to go to the gym and change into your practice uniforms, or gym clothes if you aren't already on a team and meet me on the practice field."

As Lynn and J.J. walked to the locker room, Lynn said, "how could you make that bet with Anita. I'll be working at Smith's until next year already just to pay off what I owe. If I don't make that team and she does, I'll be there all my senior year." "Don't worry, its in the bag. Anita is a great marcher, but she doesn't have any gymnastic or dance talent. Thanks to our baton twirling practice, you do."

The tryouts were simple, some basic dance steps, some tumbling and cartwheels. Lynn was a natural dancer and acrobat. His Aunt Amy had taught him all of these things while training him to twirl the baton, saying if he could twirl while dancing or tumbling, it would be far easier to do it while just marching. When the small group that included Lynn came forward, Ms Thomas giggled as she checked out Lynn's appearance, but her giggles turned to amazement as she saw Lynn dance, cartwheel, somersault and handspring rings around the other girls. After she had seen all the groups twice, she dismissed them to shower and change and said the results would be posted by the time they were done.

J.J. was the first one out of the locker room and by the time Lynn could catch up, she was jumping up and down. "Lynn, we both made it. Unfortunately, so did Anita. But that means she will have to do all your chores for the rest of the year." Just then Anita came up and after seeing the list of names, turned to J.J. and said, "you win. I don't welch on my bets. But just remember, your friend Lynn is still subject to the same rules as she was as a Lady Panther, including dress code." "We know that." "But there is more. I know that this year the cheerleading squad is going to the National Cheerleading Tournament in Orlando, in May. That means we'll be practicing like crazy to make up for lost time. I can't wait to see little Lynn dancing on television in her little skirt and pom-poms."

The chosen girls had to go back into the locker room for uniform fittings. Ms Thomas walked over to Lynn and said, "congratulations, you were the best of all the girls trying out. I'm sure you'll be a great cheerleader and fill out that uniform with pride." She smiled strangely and walked away. "J.J., what do you think she meant by that?" "I think it is time we talked about the way you are changing. Meet me at lunch in the quad."

At lunch, J.J. was waiting for Lynn and led him to a quiet spot. "O.k., lets talk about how you are changing." "I can't help but change, I'm a boy who is having to dress as a girl and pass in public. I can't help but act different." "It's not how you are acting that is the problem. Haven't you noticed the changes in your body?" "Aside from this blonde mane and long nails I got courtesy of your mother, what changes are you talking about." "I'm talking about a boy who was flat chested when school started, but now can fill out my 34C bra just fine." "I noticed my chest swelling, but thought it was due to the tightness of those bras." "I don't think so. I think you should ask the doctor about it at your next check-up."

The doctor had to change Lynn's next appointment from that afternoon to Friday. She couldn't see him any earlier. So, that afternoon, Lynn, J.J., Anita and the other three new cheerleaders began practicing cheering routines under Ms Thomas's watchful eye. If her drill team workouts seemed rough, they were child's play compared to what she was putting her charges through now. By the time they were finished, all six of them were exhausted. After showering, Anita said to Lynn and J.J., "see you tomorrow." "Not so fast, you have some chores to do at Lynn's house. There's the cooking, the laundry and the house needs cleaning." "I hate you, but I won't welch. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

By Thursday afternoon, their cheering uniforms had arrived. White sweaters with a large blue P emblazoned on the chest, with the word Panthers written across it in gold. Over the left breast, each girls name was stitched in red yard. The skirts were blue and gold pleats and each girl received a pair of white sneakers with the manufacturer's logo in blue and gold, and white socks. Ms Thomas said she wanted to introduce them to the school at Friday's pep rally and also wanted them to be more familiar to the school. So, they were to wear their uniforms all day at school on Friday.

Friday morning, Lynn got up early, as he wanted to be dressed and leave before his Aunt awoke. She knew that something had happened, thanks to Anita doing Lynn's chores, but didn't know what. Lynn didn't want her to see him in his new uniform until he thought of a way to explain why he had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. He shaved his legs, although it seemed like they needed it less and less as time went by. While his chest had stopped growing when it reached a 34C, he still didn't want to believe those mounds on body were anything else except the result of wearing tight training bras, so he avoided looking at them. After putting on bra and panties, he pulled on the yellow leotard that Ms Thomas had given each team member, saying, "don't forget this, if you do, people will see your undies when you do any stunts. He stepped into the skirt, fastened it and then pulled the sweater over his head. Covering the sweater with a towel, he did his make-up. After all this time, he applied it as well as any girl could. Then, he removed the towel from his hair, used a blow dryer to dry it and a curling iron to finish it off. He put on his earrings and then checked himself out in the full-length mirror Aunt Amy had moved into his room (girls need to look at themselves more carefully she had said).

In the mirror was the reflection of a beautiful teen-aged cheerleader. The hours of practice in the sun had only deepened Lynn's tan and his skin was the bronze of a "California Girl". This was especially true of his legs. The blonde mane was perfectly styled, full of curls and ringlets and hanging down to the middle of his back. His face couldn't have been better made up if Denise herself had done it, which makes sense since she had taught him some advanced things. The figure was that of a girl of more than average endowment and the fact that he no longer wore falsies made him a little nervous. Worse yet, his waist had shrunk while his chest grew and now in the tight sweater and skirt, he noticed this for the first time. He tried and tried to find something male in the image before him, but there was nothing to find. "Face it, I don't know what's going on here, but no one can tell I'm really a boy anymore. I only hope that I can go back to being a boy after this year."

The day was uneventful in class, but just before lunch, Lynn was summoned to the principal's office. In Ms Dean's office was Ms Dean and Lynn's Aunt. Lynn went in and was told to sit down. Amy spoke first. "Lynn, why did you go out for cheerleaders? I thought you were tired of having to wear skirts." "I was, Aunt Amy, but I kind of got used to it and since I have to do it all year anyway, I figured I might as well go whole-hog." "I see." Ms Dean chimed in. "Lynn, I think you're a fine cheerleader and a good student. And a credit to our school. But there are rumors floating around that you were never a boy to begin with, or that you're undergoing a sex change. I just don't know what to do now, and wonder how in the world you'll ever switch back to being a boy for your senior year." "Can't we worry about that next year, Ms Dean?" "If your Aunt approves, that's fine with me." "Please, Aunt Amy?" "Under one condition, young lady." "What's that?" "That you're a girl full-time for the rest of the year. No going back. You're burning your bridges behind you for the rest of this school year. I don't want you coming to me crying because you're tired of bras or high heels, or makeup in a few months." "I promise, Aunt Amy." "Okay, Principal Dean. Take good care of my niece here."

Lynn's Aunt Amy had already talked to the doctor and discovered the vitamin shots were actually strong doses of female hormones. She was fine with the idea. Over the course of the year, Lynn blossomed and when June rolled around, found herself being asked to the prom by several seniors.

On prom night, she wore a sequined prom dress that hugged her chest tightly, showed off her now tiny waist and was slit up one side to show off those legs. She walked easily in high heels on her date's arm. Anita was furious that Lynn was there, but as J.J. had pointed out to Lynn, Anita was just jealous that Lynn was now prettier than her.

Decision day came a few weeks later. It was time to plan the summer session for the drill team. Lynn found herself being asked to stay on with the drill team for another year, even though it meant she'd graduate in a skirt. She said she'd have to sleep on the question and would give Ms Thomas her answer in a few days.

It took a week, but Lynn walked into Ms Thomas's office on a sunny afternoon. She was dressed in an almost androgynous outfit of denim shorts and a t-shirt. Well, it would have been androgynous, except for her hair, nails and long smooth legs. Lynn smiled at Ms Thomas who told her to sit down. She did, crossing her legs and admiring them in the mirror on the wall. "Well Lynn, did you decide? "Yes, Ms Thomas." "What did you decide?" Lynn didn't answer, she just tossed something onto the desk. Ms Thomas reached over and picked it up. It was a driver's license, issued just two days earlier to Lynn. It had her photo on it, and read F under sex. "Aunt Amy got it for me and it will fit for another year, at least." "Sure will, Miss Greene. Now run along, young lady and I'll see you at practice."

The End