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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

*  *  *

Chapter 31 - Revelations

"Megan Campbell?" the nurse called out from where she was standing near the reception desk of the L.A. Gender Clinic.

I gulped, but stood up. I wasn't sure what they were looking for, and it was making me nervous.

"Come on back," the nurse said with a smile as I approached her. I looked over my shoulder to make sure that Mom was following me. There was no way I was doing this alone. I followed the nurse down the hall and into an exam room.

"Mrs. Campbell," the nurse said after we had entered. "You can take a seat on one of those chairs. Megan, I need you to take off your clothes and put on the gown lying on the exam bed. You may leave your underwear on for now."

For now? I didn't like the sound of that. Before I could ask for clarification, the nurse had already left the room.

With a lot of trepidation, I started to undress. There was a small curtain in one corner of the room that I could have used for modesty, but I wasn't really very worried about my mom seeing me in my underwear anymore. Once I had my clothes off and folded on a chair next to where my mom was sitting, I glanced over at her. She smiled a reassuring smile.

"You look beautiful, honey," she finally said. "You truly are my little girl."

I started to blush. I hid it by turning back to the examination bed and picking up the hospital gown. It was one of those lousy ones that tied in the back and did nothing to cover the backside. At least I was still wearing underwear to hide any unsuspecting looks.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before the nurse returned.

"Okay, Megan," she said while motioning for me to lie back on the bed. At the same time she pressed a button on the bed to lift the back up to meet me. Once I was in a semi-inclined position, the bed stopped rising.

"Have you ever had an ultrasound before?" she asked me while grabbing a cart and pulling it over to the bed before taking a seat on a wheeled stool.

"No," I told her honestly.

"Well," she replied with more cheer than I could muster. "Other than a little bit of pressure and the initial temperature of the gel, there really isn't anything uncomfortable to worry about."

She turned the monitor to face her, but in the process she positioned the monitor so that I couldn't see it.

"Do I get to see?" I asked. I was still nervous about what would be on the image, but I still wanted to see it.

"I'm afraid not," the nurse said with a slight frown. "The doctor has asked that I do not show you the results today. She doesn't want to worry you unnecessarily before your appointment on Friday."

That had the unfortunate and opposite effect of making me worried.

"My name is Stephanie, by the way," the nurse said as she lifted the gown up far enough to expose my abdomen. I guess it still provided some modesty, but I was left wondering why I had even put the gown on in the first place.

"We're doing a pelvic ultrasound today," Stephanie said. "I know this might be embarrassing for you, but it will give us a better picture of what's going on inside of that tummy of yours."

She gave me a reassuring smile, but that didn’t help at all.

"This next part might be uncomfortable for you, but remember, we're all girls here." Her smile this time did have me smiling back. It really felt nice when people said that. She then picked up a bottle from the cart, uncapped it, and started squirting a cold liquid onto my abdomen before starting to smear it around. At one point she pulled my panties down slightly, and I was afraid she was going to expose something, but she stopped short. When she was done, she picked up the thing that they always run across the bellies of pregnant women on TV.

"Alright," she said. "I need you to try to hold still. If you can keep your breaths shallow, it will help. If not, I might ask you to hold your breath for a bit. I'm just going to move this transducer around your tummy and stop at a few places."

"Okay," I said. I just wanted this to be over with.

She then started moving the transducer over different sections of my lower stomach. She'd pause every so often and press a key or two on the computer. I was a bit uncomfortable when she moved the transducer lower, but she was able to help control my anxiety through the process. I watched her, hoping to get some indication of what she was seeing, but her face stayed impassive for the next twenty minutes or so that it took to perform the ultrasound. Whatever she was finding, I wouldn't get to hear about it until Friday.

Eventually, she placed the transducer down and grabbed a towel.

"Good job, Megan," she said. "I think we have some really good images that the doctor will be pleased with."

She started to wipe up the goop that she had placed on my tummy earlier. After she had most of it off, she handed me a couple of wet wipes to finish off, leaving the more intimate areas to me, thank goodness.

"You're all set," she said while pushing the cart back and standing up. "The doctor will have your results by Friday. You're welcome to leave once you get dressed."

"Thank you," I said, even though I didn't know why I was thanking her.

She smiled and then left me to get dressed.

*  *  *

We were sitting in our front room with Emily and her parents a few hours later. Dad had invited them over for dessert, but hadn't told them why. Emily had kept her word and hadn't told them my secret either.

I helped Mom pass out the banana splits we had made to everyone while Dad started on the specifics.

"Have you two heard of Sarah Carerra?" he asked Dan and Sharon Prescott. I saw both of them nod before Emily's mom replied.

"Yes," she said. "She's that young new singer. Emily has been going on and on about her all weekend."

I almost dropped the bowl that I was handing to Emily, which led us both into giggles for a few moments. But it wasn't just my mishap that had caused our mirth. I knew how excited Emily was to learn of my alternate identity. I just hadn't expected her to go on and on about it.

"Sarah is one of my clients," Dad said. "Emily helped write a couple of her new songs, and Sarah wants to make sure that she is given both credit and her share of the proceeds."

Both of Emily's parents were startled by the news.

"You helped write some of her songs?" Dan asked his daughter with some skepticism. Emily nodded.

"Megan and Emily wrote the songs," my dad explained. "But Sarah is going to perform them. However, it's a bit more complicated than that."

Dad looked over at me as I grabbed my own bowl and sat down next to Emily. Emily's parents followed his gaze. I had wanted the words to come from me, and now I was being put on the spot.

"I'm Sarah Carerra," I told them bluntly. I didn't want to sugarcoat it at all. The looks I received in return from my revelation were of skepticism instead of understanding, so I explained. "We created Sarah as a way to keep my normal life separate from the fame that Sarah is going to receive. It's why my career was so secretive up until now. It's why I couldn't tell Emily."

"Why are you telling us now?" Dan asked.

"Like I said," Dad took over the speaking. "Sarah...Megan wants Emily to receive her share of the profits for the songs they wrote together. That will require a guardian’s signature to complete the paperwork. We wanted you to be aware of what's going on because we'll be using a pseudonym for Emily."

"Why a pseudonym?" Dan asked.

"We're trying to protect Megan's true identity as much as possible," Dad explained. "To allow Emily and Ethan to go to different events with Megan, we need to disguise them to keep anyone from making the connection between Sarah’s and Megan's friends."

Thankfully, both of Emily's parents nodded at the logic Dad was using. I was half-afraid that they wouldn't let Emily go through with this.

"What name did you choose?" Dan asked, directing his question at Emily.

"Chloe Carpenter," Emily responded. "It sounded somewhat starish, I guess."

Her dad nodded, then we slipped into an uncomfortable silence for a moment or two.

"Can we hear the songs?" Susan, Emily's mother, finally asked me. "Emily always said that you had a good voice, but I've never really heard you sing before. Megan, you sounded really good at church, but it isn't quite the same as hearing you sing alone."

"Yeah!" I said excitedly. I'd wanted to share my singing with them since they had brought it up over lunch the week before. Now I had the chance!

"Let me get my guitar," I said while I stood up and ran down the hall to Sarah's room, where my guitar case was being stored.

I retrieved it and walked back down the hall to the assembled group. I sat back down next to Emily and opened the case and pulled out my new pride and joy. I slung the shoulder strap over my neck and strummed the strings lightly. Before I started I looked up at the many people sitting around the room.

Susan looked very excited, Dan looked intrigued, Dad was smiling a knowing smile, Emily was beaming, and my mom...Mom was almost crying! It was then that I realized she hadn't heard me perform as Sarah. She hadn't come to any of our sessions at the record company, and I hadn't played the songs at all while at home.

She caught my gaze, and smiled widely as tears started to slide down her cheek. I smiled back warmly. I was going to take the time to play all of my songs for her sometime soon, perhaps even tonight. She deserved the chance to hear them.

"These two songs are kind of fairy tale-ish," I told them. "Emily and I wrote them about three months ago."

"Start with 'Ever After'," Emily said before I could start playing. Then she turned to her mom, "It's the good one."

"'Ever After' it is," I said with a smile. I then started strumming the guitar and started singing the song. It felt so good to be singing again. It felt so good to finally let other people hear my voice and not be ashamed by it. The realization that I had come to on Sunday was more than evident in my singing. I didn't have to hide my voice anymore.

About halfway through the song Austin walked into the room. He'd been hanging out in his room, but hearing my singing had caused him to come out and investigate. He sat down on the couch next to Mom with a large smile plastered across his face.

I continued to sing, returning his smile with one of my own. The song seemed to have everyone in the room entranced, myself included.

When the song ended, I could feel the rush flow through me that I had started to recognize as the joy I had in performing. The excitement and the emotion were all so much more tangible than it had ever been when I was Brett.

"That was awesome, Megan!" Austin was the first to speak. He hadn't ever really heard me sing either. His compliment brought another smile to my lips. "When did you get that guitar? It's pretty cool."

"Thanks," I told him. "Dad bought it for me last Thursday."

"Sarah bought it herself," Dad interceded before Austin could complain about not getting anything expensive. That clarification made me frown. I thought it was a present from him, not something that was bought with my earnings.

"The song was lovely, Megan," Susan Prescott said. "You really do have a beautiful voice."

"Thank you," I replied, but I could feel the beginning of another blush.

I continued to sing some of my songs for them for the next half hour or so. It was great to be able to share this part of my life with the people I cared most about. If only Ethan had been there, it would have been perfect.

By the end of the night, I had sung all of the songs for them, except for the cover of Rock Star. They had nothing but praise for me, but perhaps that was to be expected from family. I was sure there was still plenty I could improve on.

Falling asleep that night was easy after they had poured so much of their love into me.

*  *  *

I was nervous walking to school the next day. Finals were over, and I didn't know what that would mean for me regarding the harassment I had been receiving. The threat of being suspended without being able to take the finals was no longer there to prevent others from doing something to me. It was either going to be a very bad day, or a very good one.

"Are you guys coming this afternoon?" I asked Emily and Ethan while we walked. We hadn't talked about them coming, but they knew I was meeting my choreographer.

"I can't," Ethan said while frowning. "My mom is checking me out early. We're going up to my uncle's this evening."

I nodded. Ethan's family often made the long, two-hour drive up to his extended family's house.

"What about you, Emily?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I want to go to a couple of classes after lunch and get my teachers to sign my yearbook. But I really, really, want to come with you too."

"It might be boring today," I tried to tell her. "I don't know what I'm going to be doing with the choreographer."

"Mom said she would drive me down later if I wanted to come after classes," she said hopefully.

"That would work," I told her. "I don't know exactly where it is, but I'm sure we could get the address from my dad."

"Sounds like a plan," she said while smiling.

*  *  *

Yearbook day was one of the best days of the school year. No pop quizzes, no assignments, no teacher lectures, just people hanging around signing each other’s yearbooks.

We still had to go to class though. They passed the yearbooks out during first period, and other than free time at lunch, we only got to see the people in our classes throughout the day. Luckily, I got to leave at the end of lunch to meet my choreographer.

I had no problems getting to my first period class. I did get a couple of dirty looks from a couple of football players, but they didn't try anything. They seemed to be even more upset with me since the incident with Jared. I was certain they blamed me for the whole thing, but nobody else had tried to do anything to me. I hoped that streak continued throughout the day.

Ms. Carson was happy to sign my yearbook. She really seemed to be friendly to me since Friday's incident. Most of the other students were the same way. It felt weird to be writing messages to the people I'd known throughout the school year and signing them as Megan, but at the same time it also felt right.

Second, third, and fourth period also went by without a hitch. I was signing more yearbooks than I had ever done in previous years. I'd apparently made a big impression on people with my change, and they wanted to remember me, for better or worse.

When lunch started, I managed to stop by the classrooms of a couple of teachers whom I wanted to get to sign my yearbook. Even Coach Madsen had been willing to sign it.

Dad was picking me up just before the end of lunch, so I had enough time to find some of my friends whom I wanted to have sign my yearbook before I had to leave. I also had enough time to grab some lunch. After getting my food, I sat down next to Emily at our usual table. She immediately grabbed my yearbook and I grabbed hers. The yearbooks then continued to be passed around the table until our small group of friends had time to sign each one. I even had a few others come up to me and ask for me to sign their yearbooks while we ate.

Toward the end of lunch, when I was getting ready to meet my dad in the office, I noticed Paul Johnson nervously looking at me from where he was sitting at another table. Paul had been my lab partner in biology last semester. He wasn't the most social person, and it had taken most of the semester to get him to finally open up to me. I liked Paul, but we hadn't really seen each other much after biology had ended. I did have a good idea of why he was hesitant to talk to me, though.

"I'll make sure my dad gives your mom the address," I said to Emily as I stood up. She nodded back to me and I grabbed my bag and empty tray and walked over to the table that Paul was sitting at.

"Hi, Paul," I told him while sitting down across from him. "Will you sign my yearbook?"

I handed him my yearbook, but he looked like he was going to have a heart attack just taking it from my hands.

"Paul," I said with a genuine smile. He looked at me, and I had the sudden thought that he might just throw up if he tried to talk. "It's me, you don't have to be scared to talk to me, okay. We got past that last semester, remember?"

He nodded, and he started to look better, but he was still shaking slightly.

"Is it because I'm a girl now?" I asked him. He nodded and dropped his eyes. Paul had admitted to me that he was scared of girls. He choked up every time he tried to talk to them. He was a really nice guy, but no girl had ever been given the chance to know him because he couldn't communicate with them. "I'm still the same person, Paul. Don't think of me as a girl. Think of me as a friend."

"But you're so beautiful," he finally managed to speak. Immediately I started to blush, which only served to make him embarrassed on top of the discomfort he was already feeling.

"Thank you, Paul," I reassured him. "But you don't have to be afraid to talk to me, okay? We're friends, and I'll be there for you if you need anything."

Paul really needed a good friend. He'd come to me a few times since the end of the last semester when he needed someone to talk to, and I didn't want that to stop just because I was Megan now. I felt bad enough that I couldn't do more for him, but being his friend would have to suffice.

"Will you sign my yearbook?" I asked him a second time. This time he smiled. I think he was happy to still call me his friend, and I hoped he could learn to get past the changes that I had gone through.

"Only if you sign mine," he said.

I smiled and picked his yearbook up and flipped through it to where my picture was located. It of course still listed me as Brett, since they were printed long before last Monday, but I had made sure to cross it out and write Megan for any book that I had signed. The funny thing was that the picture was actually a picture of Megan. Sure, I was Brett at the time it was taken, but I didn't see him in the picture, I could only see me. It seemed fitting to me.

With care, I wrote 'I'll always be there when you need me,' and signed it 'Megan'.

*  *  *

"Hi Dad," I said when I entered the main office a few minutes later.

"Hi, Princess," he replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"Almost," I told him. "I was hoping to get Principal Hall to sign my yearbook first."

"He's in his office if you'd like to ask," the secretary helpfully interrupted.

"Okay," I said and walked over to the Principal's door. I gave it a light knock, not sure if this was a good idea or not. After a moment or two, the door opened and the principal was standing there.

"Hi, um, Principal Hall," I stammered.

"Hi, Megan," he responded with a grin that helped to put me at ease. "What can I do for you?"

I lifted up my yearbook for him to see. "I was hoping you'd sign my yearbook?"

He took the proffered book and stepped back into his office, where he grabbed another book and a pen off of his desk.

"Only if you sign mine," he said with an even larger smile. This one wasn’t forced.

"It would be my pleasure," I replied with a smile matching his own.

*  *  *