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Image Credits: Title Picture purchased and licensed for publishing from

123rf.com. The model(s) in this image is in / and are no way connected with this story nor supports nor conveys the issues and situations brought up within the story. The model(s) use is solely used for the representation of looks of the main character(s) of this particular story. ~Sephrena

Divider licensed for use in publishing from Photoshopgraphics.com ~Sephrena.

Author's Note: This second edition of Camp Shoni replaces the 16 previously posted chapters at both Crystal's Story Site and a few other archive sites and is revised and with 5 new chapters. ~Pamela.

Historical Versions: Originally posted at Crystal's Storysite in 2004, and Fictionmania in 2011. ~Sephrena.

Legalities: Archiving and reposting of this story *unchanged* is permitted provided that: 1) You must have contacted the author, Pamela, and have asked permission first and received said permission to host this particular work. 2) No fee be charged, either directly or indirectly (this includes so-called "adult checks") or any form of barter or monetary transfers in order to access viewing this work *and* (3) PROVIDED that this disclaimer, all author notes, legalities and attribution to the original author are contained unchanged within the work. 4) The author of this work, Pamela, must be provided free account access at all times the work is hosted in order to modify or remove this work at her sole discretion.

The characters, situations, and places within this work are fictional. Any resemblance between actual people (living or dead), places, or situations is entirely coincidental.

This work is the copyrighted material of the respective author. ~Pamela.

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Chapter 16
 
The next week was an overnight hike and camping trip for girls up to and including Lauren's age. The older of the girls would carry backpacks containing their sleeping bag, clothes, and whatever else they felt was important to have with them. The hike was billed as arduous, following a route that took them over and around a few mountains. The plan was to sleep out under the stars, but if it rained, the camp would supply two-person tents for everyone.

For many of the girls the trip was a highlight of the summer, but for Lauren, as nice a diversion as the hike might be, the crowning jewel of the summer would have to be the cotillion. In fact, she would have been more than happy to stay behind alone in the cabin so she could go through the closet with the cotillion dresses and check them out one by one. To feel the different fabrics and study the details of the pretty dresses would be totally exciting. Hiking through the woods carrying a heavy backpack was something more suited for boys, at least from her rather singular point of view.

Lauren worried about her stamina and particularly whether or not she'd be able to carry a backpack a long distance. The night before the trip the girls were given the chance to put on their backpacks to see if they could handle them. For Lauren her worst fear was realized when she felt the dead weight on her back. It was very uncomfortable and when Marilyn asked the girls if anyone was having a problem with their packs, Lauren's face gave away her answer.

"What's the matter Lauren?" Marilyn asked.

"I think my pack may be too heavy," Lauren said sheepishly.

"It's as heavy as that of any of the other girls," Marilyn said.

"I know, I know," Lauren said. She couldn't believe that no one else felt like she did. There must be bunnies and bunnies. The pack really did seem too heavy for her.

"Maybe it's having to carry your big boobs also," Marilyn said and the girls laughed. Even Lauren had to stifle a chuckle.

"I don't think so," Lauren said. That, in fact, was the one great things about the trip. She'd be able to walk along in the forest feeling as much if not more like a girl than her friends. No swimming or boating activities to make her have to take her boobs in and out. With her bunny tee shirt pressed tightly over her breasts she would look and feel wonderfully grown up. Her plan was to concentrate on being as graceful as she could be on the hike. Hopefully she wouldn't come across any bugs or animals that might scare her.

As it turned out, Eileen also spoke up about her heavy pack and Marilyn assured Lauren and her that it if turned into a major problem something would be done about it. Lauren was relieved that she wasn't the only girl who was anxious about carrying too much weight.

Before they went to bed, Joan and Thalia told Lauren they could sympathize with her. They were also nervous about the hike, but they also liked the challenge of being self-sufficient.

"The packs are heavy," Joan said, "but I think it's worth the effort."

"Particularly if boys can carry them," Thalia said, "then I like to feel that I can too."

"Exactly," Joan said.

Their remarks made Lauren wonder about herself. She might not be a real girl in some sense, but she certainly wasn't a boy either, if for no other reason than she knew that she really wasn't strong enough to carry the backpack without it hurting her. Anyway, if she had to lug it along on the hike she would do so and try and not complain.

That night she tossed and turned before going to sleep worrying about the backpack and the length of the hike and every other little thing. She finally fell off to sleep and awhile later suddenly awoke having to pee terribly.

An extensive and complicated dream that she had been having, when she woke up, poured into her consciousness. It had been about searching for her favorite panties and not being able to find them. She had had to go pee very bad but for some reason she had to first find her panties. She walked about the cabin naked looking for them with her hands trying to hide her penis. It was evening, but all the girls were awake and hanging out in the cabin. The girls didn't seem to notice what she was doing.

Finally she saw what must be her panties in one of the girl's cubbies, but she was too afraid to ask if they were hers. She hesitated not knowing what to do. The need to pee kept increasing and she had to concentrate on not having an accident. What should she do, what should she do? Then she thought that no one was watching her and she held up the panties to look at them carefully and saw that they weren't what she was expecting. They were close to hers, pink with little hearts on them, but the hearts were the wrong size. The panties also had a bow that was the wrong color and was on the side and not the front. Her bladder ached to pee, but she couldn't afford to give up the search for her panties.

Finally, the pee urge had gotten so strong, she abandoned the panty search and realized she had better find a bathroom. For some reason the normal camp bathrooms were inaccessible and she had to wander around a strange building crowded with people looking for an alternative. She found one, but it turned out to be locked.

Then she started running around desperately looking for another bathroom until she found one on a different floor of the building, but when she entered it, she saw that it did not have any stalls. Desperate to pee, she found another bathroom and luckily it was unlocked and had stalls but all the stalls were taken. She had to go so bad she couldn't wait for the girls in there to finish peeing so she left and looked elsewhere on another floor.

Then she found a men's room and she was terrified to go in it, but she had to pee so strong she had better do it. The men's room was right there. She could go in and pee. No one would see her.

Then she remembered that she was really Lorin. If she wanted to, she could just turn into him and go in and pee and be done with it. It would just take a second. But then she remembered that she was now somehow wearing pantyhose and a dress and she didn't know how she would be able to use a urinal. She'd have to pull down her pantyhose. But she'd have a dress on and she'd have to raise the dress up and hold down her pantyhose and her panties. Someone would see her. A man would come in and see her struggling. She had to pee; it was so awful she couldn't stand it. Anything was better than the pain in her bladder and then she woke up, sweating terribly, her heart beating a mile a minute.

She knew she was about to wet her bed and she got up and ran to the bathroom.
 

 
Before dawn, even before the normal time to get up, Marilyn woke up the girls telling them it was time to get dressed for the hike. They assembled, had an early breakfast and then the whole lower camp formed a long line starting with the youngest girls and ending with the girls of Lauren's age. Each age group of girls hiked together with a five minute departure delay between groups. The path they were to follow was marked by white dots painted on the trees. The idea was that each group of girls would have to make sure they saw the dots, or they would end up getting lost.

Lauren was talking with Thalia and Joan when Marcie came up to them and joined in the conversation. The counselors announced that the girls had to pair up for the hike and as it happened Thalia and Joan were standing next to each other and agreed to become partners while Marcie took Lauren's hand and said that they would be partners.

"Great," Lauren said, "I hope I'm not too slow for you."

"I'll make you keep up," Marcie said.

"I don't know if I can carry my backpack the whole day," Lauren said.

"Maybe you should be with the little girls - they don't have to carry backpacks. I'm sure that they could find an 8 year old that could trade places with you," Marcie said.

"I know I might sound like a baby," Lauren said, "but I've never been very strong. I can't lift very much. My dad and older sister always carried anything I needed to carry."

"Like I said once before. You set back the women's lib movement a hundred years. But I like you that way. Somehow it works for you. I don't know why just yet, but it does. You make me want to take care of you. My little Lauren pet," and Marcie laughed.

Lauren felt a great urge to kiss Marcie but they were standing next to many of the other girls so she just whispered in Marcie's ear, "if we were alone I'd give you the biggest kiss that I could."

Marcie laughed and squeezed Lauren's hand and then whispered back to her, "we'll get alone and I will make you kiss me!"

Lauren blushed and she felt her heart beat more rapidly in her chest. The thought of Marcie demanding a kiss from her seemed terribly exciting.

The older girls finally got the signal to move on out and they set out, two by two following the marked path through the forest.

Almost immediately Lauren felt weighed down by her pack. It seemed like she was carrying a load of bricks, but it was just her sleeping bag and a change of clothes, a flashlight and a few other things. She and Marcie walked behind Joan and Thalia. Lauren looked around at the other girls. No one that she could see seemed to be weighted down by their packs like she was.

"What's the matter?" Marcie asked, seeing the frown on Lauren's face.

"I'm suffering with this backpack," Lauren said.

"Give it to me," Marcie said, "let me see how heavy it is."

Lauren took off the pack and handed it to Marcie. "It's no heavier than mine. You're like one of the eight year olds."

"It's not funny, Marcie. Some girls are just born stronger than others. Like I said, I've never been good at lifting and carrying things."

"Let me feel your muscles," Marcie said. "Flex your arm."

Lauren tried to make a muscle appear in her arm but nothing showed up, no matter how much she tried.

"No sign of a muscle," Marcie said feeling her arm with her hand. "I think you've got the girliest arms I've ever seen. Pure girl through and through. But they are very pretty. I think you've got very pretty ballerina arms."

"Ballerina arms?" Lauren said, secretly happy. "That sounds nice."

"You've got the body for the Mariinsky or Bolshoi. You ought to take up ballet."

"Really?" Lauren's imagination started to take off. She could see herself dancing.

"You're like one of the best in the chorus Line."

Lauren giggled and Marcie continued. "I'd love to see you in a tutu, your perfect little buns in a ruffled panty and your thin pencil legs and arms. We should see if Marilyn has got a tutu that fits you." Marcie was still carrying Lauren's backpack. "Let me put some of your stuff in my pack, maybe that'll ease the load for you."

"Thanks Marcie, you're sure you don't mind?"

"It's nothing. You've got enough to do with just carrying your boobs," Marcie said laughing and proceeded to put everything except Lauren's sleeping bag in her own pack and returned Lauren's backpack to her.

Lauren put it on. "That's much better." She looked down at her lovely boobs and thought that yes indeed she was carrying them around. And maybe Marcie would get some benefit from them that night, if she wanted to.
 

 
After lunch, they hiked another hour when the line of girls came to a halt. In short order a rumor spread down the column of girls that there was a river up ahead that they had to cross. The girls carrying their packs would have to walk over a monkey bridge consisting of a single thick rope to step on and two hand ropes for stability.

For the girls who were too scared to do the monkey bridge, they could walk across the river on extremely slippery rocks or they could have a counselor carry them across. For girls who were brave, without their back packs, they could pull themselves across the river dangling upside down from a single rope. To Lauren none of the alternatives seemed OK. The bridge and the rocks seemed really scary, the single rope was beyond ridiculous and having a counselor carry her across was humiliating. Lauren had a mental picture of Marilyn carrying her across the river with the other girls watching. It was way too embarrassing. She would have to take the monkey bridge like most of the girls. Somehow, someway she would have to find the courage to do it.

After an hour of waiting, Lauren's group made it to the river. Lauren felt anxious and fearful and fought the urge to cry. Marcie excitedly said, "look at the rope. I'm going to do that."

She noticed Lauren's face and said, "you look like you've seen a ghost."

Up to this point Lauren had imagined Marcie being behind her on the monkey bridge ready to grab her if she fell. "I'm a little nervous about the monkey bridge. I'm not totally sure I can do it."

"Lauren," Marcie said, "the little girls have all done it. Are you going to be like a little baby?"

"That's not nice Marcie," Lauren said.

"I'm sorry Lauren. Don't you think you're being a tad silly. You shouldn't say you can't do it until you've tried."

"You're right," Lauren said, feeling a nervous tightness in her tummy. "I'm sorry. I will try to do the monkey bridge."

"Just remember to push out to the side with the hand ropes and you'll be OK. You won't fall in."

"You're sure?" Lauren said.

Marcie put her arm over Lauren's shoulder. "You're going to do just fine."

Lauren felt comforted by Marcie but was still worried. "I was hoping that you would be going behind me. That way you could save me."

"Sweetie, you're being way too dramatic. I want to do the rope. You've got three counselors in the water who can catch you. Of course, you're not going to fall. It's ridiculous." Lauren forced herself to visualize the counselors below the monkey bridge rushing to catch her as she fell and bringing her gently to the ground on the other side of the river. That might be humiliating Lauren thought, but not as humiliating as not even trying the bridge.

"OK, Marcie." Lauren was a tiny bit hurt that Marcie did not care more about protecting her than crossing on the rope but then scolded herself for being so selfish. It wasn't that Marcie didn't love her. It was because Marcie respected her that she didn't join in with Lauren's paranoia about the monkey bridge.

When they got closer to the bridge, Marcie headed off to the rope while Lauren, Joan and Thalia lined up to take the bridge. "This is so cool," Joan said.

"I wish so," Lauren said, "I think it's scary."

"What Marcie's doing, that's scary," Thalia said.

"She's incredible," Lauren said, "I could never do half of what she does."

"If you're scared," Joan said, "why don't you go in between Thalia and me. That way you can look at how Thalia does it and I'll be behind you in case you have trouble."

"Oh, that would be so great," Lauren said. There were now about ten girls in front of them lined up behind the start of the bridge. Lauren could start to see the bridge and river through the trees.

When they finally got right up to the bridge the scene in front of Lauren was as scary as she had imagined. There was a steep drop down an embankment to the river that was rushing wildly. The monkey bridge seemed to be twenty feet in the air and stretched a long distance from one side to the other. There was a line of girls on the monkey bridge slowly making their way across the river. Below them counselors in wading boots walked back and forth underneath preparing to catch any girl that might slip off. Nearby was the rope that the girls could use to pull themselves across the river and Lauren couldn't believe her eyes as she saw several girls rapidly scampering across the river upside down.

Then she saw Marcie going across and Lauren, Thalia and Joan yelled encouragement to her. Downstream from where she stood, Lauren could see the slippery rocks and no one was even trying them. One girl who was a couple of years younger than Lauren seemed to be sobbing and a counselor was carrying her across the river.

In short order, Thalia proceeded to enter the monkey bridge and Lauren inched up to the edge behind her. Lauren raptly watched Thalia's progress.

"Come on Lauren," Joan said, "it's time to go."

Lauren turned to look at her and then turned back to face the monkey bridge and she began moving out. She went out a yard or two and Joan yelled encouragement to her to keep on going. Thalia turned her head around to look and said, "great Lauren!"

Lauren gave her a forced smile and said, "it's so scary."

"Don't worry, keep going," Joan urged and Lauren moved out over the void below her.
 

 
On the other bank stood Amy Rovelstad who surveyed the scene in front of her. She noticed Lauren hesitating to go across the monkey bridge and then slowly start out. The poor girl is shaking like a leaf, she thought and then corrected herself: the poor boy or maybe perhaps girl was shaking like a leaf. She was about to direct one of the counselors to get underneath Lauren when she saw two of them heading directly there. They were good at picking out the girls who were frightened and might end up fainting or freezing up. One year a girl had actually fallen off the bridge and luckily had been caught unharmed.

Amy walked closer to get a better look at Lauren. She focused her eyes on Lauren and then looked away quickly trying to decide if she had the impression of seeing a girl or not. The image she had in her mind's eye was of a thin, frail girl, unusually well endowed wearing a pretty pink tee shirt and shorts. She stole another glance at Lauren this time concentrating on Lauren's legs and decided that they were definitely not boy legs. There was a shape to them and a softness that only girls legs had.

Of all the girls that she had seen cross the river that day, Lauren and just a few of the youngest girls seemed to be terrified. If she were a boy, then Lauren would be unlike any boys Amy had known. By now Lauren had made it half way across and seemed to be gaining some self-confidence. It was cute to see her friends ahead and behind her giving her support. That was another thing to consider, Amy thought. Wouldn't the girls in Lauren's cabin be the first to notice that she was not acting like a girl? And thus far there had not been the slightest hint that any of them were suspicious of Lauren's gender. At least as far as Amy knew.
 

 
When Lauren got to the other side Marcie and Thalia were waiting for her and cheered loudly. In a second Joan joined them and congratulated Lauren on toughing it out. "I know I wouldn't have made it without you," Lauren said. "I can't tell you how frightened I was."

"We could see it plain as day," Joan said, "and we're as relieved as you are that you made it. I was so worried you'd panic and fall off the bridge."

"The counselors would catch her," Marcie said.

"We hope," Thalia said.

Lauren enjoyed the attention and was especially pleased to know that the girls cared so much about her. It was also nice to think that girls actually helped each other out, as against the boys. Lauren was sure that in the same situation, Lorin would have been laughed at by the other boys. They'd call him a sissy. He could imagine the boys shaking the bridge just to get him to fall. Another thing about boy's that Lauren did not regret leaving behind along with Lorin.
 

 
After another couple of hours the girls reached a large open field that would be their campsite for the night. It had gotten cloudy during the late afternoon and a few drops of rain had fallen. The counselors decided that they should distribute tents and have the girls put them up. There was just enough daylight to get the job done. Both Lauren and Marcie immediately grasped the significance of their sharing a tent instead of lying under the stars. They would have some precious privacy to kiss each other.

Lauren and Marcie pitched their tent next to that of Joan and Thalia. When all the tents were up, the girls assembled for dinner at a large campfire where they roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. As night descended and it still wasn't raining more than a few drops, one of the counselors told a scary story about a white hand that roamed the forest, sneaking into tents and strangling the girls inside. The thought was too frightening for Lauren and she put her hands over her ears trying to muffle the sound of the counselor's voice. One of the girls in Marcie's cabin yelled out "there it is!" and many of the youngest girls screamed in panic while the older girls laughed. While Lauren shivered quietly wishing the terrible story would end, suddenly it started to rain in earnest and the campers ran to their tents to stay dry.

Once inside their tent, Marcie and Lauren tied the flaps closed and Lauren double checked to make sure there was no way that a white hand could get in. Marcie observed her and laughed, "you are such a baby Lauren."

"I'm sorry Marcie. I know I won't be able to sleep if there is any way that the hand could come in here."

"There is no hand," Marcie said.

"I know that," Lauren said, "but I'm still afraid."

"I'll be right next to you the whole night," Marcie said. "If anything tries to grab you, I won't let them."

"You might be sleeping."

They had spread their sleeping bags side by side and were sitting on them. Marcie got out their flashlights and turned one on. "I think it's possible to zip the two sleeping bags together to make one large one," Marcie said.

"I'll be OK," Lauren said realizing that maybe things were getting out of control. She had not anticipated being in the same sleeping bag with Marcie. Sharing a tent was great, but sharing a sleeping bag meant that any time during the night Marcie might suddenly find out about Lauren's secret. Just a stray foot or hand would be all it would take.

"No, Lauren. I think it'll be a lot of fun. You'll see!"

As Marcie unzipped the two bags and then arranged them to zip together Lauren pretended to be helping and said, "I guess it can't be done."

"Not so fast," Marcie said and then added, "see it works perfectly. Go get into your nightie," Marcie said. "I'm almost done."

Lauren obeyed her. She had taken a pink gown with her and she fetched it out of Marcie's back pack. Turning her back on Marcie she changed into it. "You sleep with your bra on?" Marcie asked.

"I love sleeping with my breasts. Is that OK?"

Marcie laughed. "It's fine with me. You know I love feeling you up, though I do love your skinny little figure also. I can pet you either way."

Lauren laughed, "pet me? That sounds funny".

"You are my little pet aren't you?"

"Like a bunny?"

"Cuter, like a little kitten. I'm done with the zipper. Now you can slip inside the sleeping bag while I change. I don't like to wear anything when I sleep. I hope you don't mind."

"No, I guess not," Lauren said, her mind already imagining what it would be like to be lying almost naked with Marcie in the sleeping bag. She wondered what Marcie had on her mind to do with her in the dark. The thought stirred up emotions in Lauren that quickly overwhelmed her worries about exposing herself to being found out. The night was going to be fun in ways she could only guess.

Unlike Lauren, Marcie wasn't shy about taking off her top and she did so facing Lauren so that Lauren could see her bra the moment it was revealed. It wasn't the first time Lauren had seen Marcie in her bra. At the rehearsals for "A Chorus Line," the two of them were often in the dressing room together getting into their leotards and tights. Marcie tended to wear tee shirt bras that were smooth underneath tee shirts. They were always white with no ornamentation and that was the case for the bra she was wearing now. Marcie was on the large side of a B cup and when she took off her bra, Lauren saw her ample bosoms for the first time. Marcie then undid her belt buckle and slid her shorts off until she was wearing just her panties. Uncharacteristic of Marcie, her panties had a design of small hearts on them. Lauren wondered if they were the panties in her dream the night before.

Marcie climbed into the sleeping bag. Out of sight of Lauren she pulled down her panties and took them off. Her knee brushed Lauren's thigh just an inch below her panty and Lauren felt a jolt of anxiety. Just inches from her face Lauren could see Marcie's bare white bosoms protruding from her chest, capped by bright red nipples.

"What's the matter Lauren? Still scared about the hand?"

"Yes," Lauren said. It wasn't exactly a lie.

"You're all tensed up. I want you to relax."

"OK," Lauren croaked.

"Isn't this nice. You and me together in this little tent. In bed together."

"Yeah," Lauren said. Marcie was right, it was nice and she reminded herself to stop worrying about what had not happened and was likely to not happen.

"You're trembling like a little fawn in front of a wolf," Marcie said and laughed. She suddenly rolled over on top of Lauren and looked down at her. Lauren pulled a few stray hairs from her own face and looked up at Marcie. Marcie leaned down and put her lips over Lauren's and they kissed. It was a nice gentle kiss that gradually heated up as Marcie gently slid her tongue inside Lauren's mouth.

Lauren felt herself relaxing and losing all inhibitions in the pleasure of the intimacy. It was nice kissing Marcie and feeling her naked body pressed against her. Though her filmy pink gown was between them, the warm soft presence of Marcie was a powerful elixir that made Lauren drunk with happiness. Marcie's thigh was pushed between Lauren's legs in exactly the way Lauren had imagined would make her secret vulnerable to exposure. There was no way Lauren could turn or move to lessen the risk that Marcie might feel the tell tale bulge against her leg. But Lauren felt resigned to her fate and she let all worries about her secret fly off into the night.

After a good fifteen minutes of deep, satisfying kisses, Marcie rolled to the side a bit so that one of Lauren's large breasts within her bra swung in between her naked breasts. Lauren felt Marcie's hand over her bra, gently massaging the large protuberance of her breasts. "You can touch me," Marcie said, "I would like that."

Lauren raised one arm and gently laid it on Marcie's rear end and slid it gently around feeling the perfect shapely swell of her butt as it rolled down to her thighs and into her crack. Lauren used her other hand to cover Marcie's breast; the solid bulk of it was surprising and the hardness of the erect nipple seemed to indicate the extent of Marcie's arousal. This was a crazy thing. Two girls in the same sleeping bag, hidden in their tent, while all around them a hundred campers innocently went to bed. Only Marcie could orchestrate such a forbidden gambit. It fit in with the stories that circulated in camp about her exploits in past years.

Marcie slid her hand inside Lauren's bra and underneath the breast form and then covered Lauren's boy's breast. Marcie gathered Lauren's small nipple between her two fingers and squeezed it slightly. It was the first time Marcie had done that. The feeling was immensely pleasurable and Lauren felt herself craving the attention Marcie was giving to her breast more than anything else in the world. Lauren imagined her life spinning around Marcie's steady caressing of her sensitive nipple. Almost absentmindedly Lauren continued to play with Marcie's breasts.

"You have the most sensitive breasts I've ever heard of," Marcie said.

"I would do anything for this pleasure. Don't ever stop," Lauren whispered.

Marcie giggled, "you have the most amazing body." She gave Lauren another long kiss while squeezing the nipple on her other breast and Lauren moaned softly with the rapture of the sensation.

After awhile both of Lauren's breasts tingled with a wondrous glow of pleasure and Marcie lay on her back next to Lauren and turned out the flashlight. She put her arm across Lauren's back and gathered her in so that Lauren's cheek rested on her breast. Thus cradled in Marcie's arms, Lauren smiled in the dark with the pleasure of feeling so completely loved and cared for. She felt tired from the long hike and the excitement of the river crossing and she began to nod off. Some time later she heard Marcie's voice coming from very far away.

"I know who you are Lauren," she was saying.

Lauren's eyes popped open in the dark. Marcie didn't say anything else and Lauren wondered if she had imagined it, and she drifted off back to a half sleep. Then Marcie said, "I know you're a guy."

In the pitch black Lauren looked up into Marcie's face and tears formed in her eyes.

Marcie rolled over toward Lauren and slowly moved her free hand down Lauren's chest to her stomach and then stopped at the top of Lauren's panty.

"Don't Marcie," Lauren said. Tears rolled down Lauren's cheeks and she felt Marcie hold her even tighter.

Marcie's hand gently landed on top of Lauren's panty and felt the small bulge underneath, and then moved away.

"I realized that you didn't have breast buds. No girl is as flat as you are."

Lauren was openly crying now but muffled the sound as much as she could since the other tents were very close by.

"I'm not going to tell anyone. You know that, so there is no need to cry."

Lauren whispered to Marcie, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" Marcie said.

Lauren thought for a minute and said, "because I deceived you and because you're stuck here with a guy in your sleeping bag."

Marcie laughed. "I don't know exactly what kind of boy you are Lauren, but you're not like any boy I've ever met. You may have a penis, but that is about all. Right now I still think of you as a girl, even with your penis. You're like a weird girl who's got a penis. Not a boy pretending to be a girl. You think and act like a girl and if you have any muscles like a boy I have yet to see them. Besides, you cry at the drop of a hat like some girls do. As far as that goes, I think I'm more boy than you are or will ever be."

"I love you, Marcie," Lauren said, and snuggled her face tighter into Marcie's breasts.

"You're my little pet, Lauren, and I intend to take care of you. I want to protect you," Marcie looked down at her.

"What if somebody else finds out about me? You might get punished too."

"You and I know I haven't done anything wrong. That's good enough for me."

Lauren threw her arms around Marcie's neck and hugged her.

Marcie shook her head back and forth and began to laugh. "I always saw myself as the one person around here who wasn't afraid of the rules. But damn if you don't make me look like a Sunday school teacher. I want to hear the whole story. Every bit of it."

"It's a long story."

"We've got all night."

And Lauren told her everything. How she had been disappointed about the cotillion and about changing the application from Camp Dan to Camp Shoni. About her trials and tribulations in finding clothes and every other girlish thing she needed for camp. About her joy at getting her cotillion dress. About how Beth taught her to be a girl, about getting her hair cut at Poughkeepsie. And especially about how certain she was that she was a girl through and through except for a stupid biological mistake.

"It breaks my heart to think what will come of you later. After camp. What will you be doing then?"

"I was thinking of going home as Lauren and just facing the music," Lauren said.

Marcie laughed. "Really, like it's that simple? You'll get crushed. No one will allow you to be yourself. Getting hormones? Wishful thinking."

Lauren covered her ears and began sobbing. "I'm sorry Lauren," Marcie said, "but the one thing about me is being a realist. If you had the greatest parents in the world then maybe they would help you live as a girl. I pray that is how they are."

Lauren calmed down and said, "I guess you're a good friend to tell me the truth, at least as you see it. I don't know, maybe I'll chicken out and go back as a boy. But the one truth is that when Marilyn gave me the bra and breast forms and I put them on, then it was like all the clouds and vapor that had filled my head and made me wonder what I should do had blown away and I felt like I was now me - in the full clear light of day. I was a girl and I would never willingly give it up again, never ever let it be taken away from me! I don't know if anyone else can ever know the pain I will feel if I have to be a boy again!"

"You're the one thing I'll never forget about this summer," Marcie said and gently massaged Lauren's back while hugging her. "You'll always be my pet."

Lauren smiled and Marcie moved her face towards Lauren's and gave her a long tender kiss.

"It doesn't bother you that it's no longer girl to girl?" Lauren asked when Marcie pulled back to take a breath.

"Honey, it's still girl to girl," Marcie said and hugged Lauren more tightly.

Marcie had Lauren lie down facing her on her side so they could talk, hold each other and occasionally kiss.

"How did you manage to hide your secret from the other bunnies?" Marcie asked.

"Well, I took a bunk that is sort of in the corner and if I face the corner I can pretty much change my top, or bra without anyone seeing how pathetic I really am."

"Hey!" Marcie said, "don't say things like that. Remember you're my little pet and she's a wonderful and very special little girl."

Lauren smiled at the thought. "OK, Marcie, you win. Anyway, the other thing is I usually change my shorts and panties when I go to the potty."

"What about bathing?"

"That's why I volunteered to be the gonger. I bathe by myself every morning. Well one time Marilyn sort of barged in on me and almost caught me. It was the closest call I've had."

"But she didn't see anything?"

"She might have had a glimpse of just a little, but I had covered it with so much suds that I'm pretty sure she could not have fully guessed what she had seen."

"So what do you expect to happen with your friend Peter? If he tries to feel you up."

"I won't let him get that far, besides he's not aggressive like you!"

Marcie smiled, "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"I do worry about Peter finding out since from his point of view he would think that he had kissed a boy. But like you say, I'm really a girl so it's not like there is total dishonesty there. I think the main thing is that I feel like the summer wouldn't be complete if I didn't have a boy friend. I think having a boy friend reassures me that I'm a girl. I want to go to the cotillion with a boy like the other girls, so my fantasy of the cotillion as a perfect evening where I'm a princess with my handsome prince will be fulfilled. It's what my first fantasy was, even though it is crazy. On the other hand, I guess things are different now since no matter how much I might love Peter, I'll always love you more."

"That's so sweet of you to say. Do I make you feel like a girl?" Marcie said, and she rolled over on top of Lauren and pinned Lauren's hands over her head and kissed her.

"You know that you do. Being more of a girl than you are, makes me more of a girl than being a girl with Peter, if you know what I mean."

"I think I do," Marcie said and gave Lauren another long kiss.

When she was done with the kiss, Lauren collected her breath and said, "you really do. You make me feel very pretty and desirable. I'm sure that I love being your pet, it means as much to me as being Peter's girlfriend."

After a moment Marcie said, "does it ever stick out?"

"I found a way to tuck it away in my panties I guess, if that's what you mean."

"No, what I mean is when we're kissing or let's say you're making out with Peter and you start getting hot. Does it stick out?"

"Well maybe I do feel a little something down there. But I tend to always feel like I have the same as a real girl, so I can't imagine it doing what it does for boys."

"Let me take a look at it," Marcie said.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Lauren protested.

"I haven't seen many of them and never up close."

"OK, Marcie. I'll let you because I love you."

Marcie gave Lauren a quick kiss and took the flashlight and burrowed down in the sleeping bag. She raised the bottom of Lauren's gown and then pulled down Lauren's panties. Marcie touched Lauren's member with her finger and Lauren said, "don't, please, Marcie, don't!"

"Sorry," Marcie said. "It's really cute. I find it very interesting."

"I don't think of it that way," Lauren said and then realized that there was a sort of chasm between Marcie and her. Even though Lauren knew that she was a girl inside, she probably didn't have anywhere as much interest in penises as real girls did. After all, she had one to deal with every day in her own way. Perhaps the one exception was Peter's and maybe Brian's for that matter, but it would definitely be best if she had no contact with one at all. That would be fine too, she supposed.

Lauren and Marcie talked to the wee hours of the morning until they both drifted off to sleep, wrapped up in each others arms. In the morning, they were aroused by the sound of a counselor beating on a cooking pot. As their eyes fluttered open, they looked into each others eyes and smiled with the memory of all that they had experienced the night before.

"I love you, Marcie," Lauren said.

"I love you too Lauren," Marcie said.

Their minds dwelled upon the fact that they now really did know who each other was. From her side, Lauren was overcome with affection and love for the girl who had completely accepted who she was and understood her. From Marcie's point of view she admired Lauren's courage in trying to be whom she really was inside.

"I think the counselors are going to make pancakes over a campfire," Marcie said.

"Let's hope they know what they're doing," Lauren said and the two girls got dressed for breakfast.
 
 
Chapter 17
 
Lauren and Marcie got up, dressed, washed up at the communal washroom and joined up with Thalia and Joan for a breakfast of pancakes that had been cooked on a campfire. It would be an act of kindness to call them even edible, but that was the only breakfast and the hungry girls swallowed every last bite of the pancakes that were offered to them.

"Did you sleep well?" Thalia asked Lauren during breakfast.

"Oh yeah. It was so much fun to be in a tent," Lauren said.

"I know, Joan and I must have stayed up till midnight telling jokes and talking about Owen and Fred."

"You mean Joan is getting serious about Fred?" Lauren asked surprised.

Thalia nodded her head. Joan, who was sitting on the other side of Thalia from Lauren said, "Fred? What about Fred?"

"You're seeing Fred?"

"I'm sorry Lauren. I didn't want to put a hex on the possibility that Fred is falling for me, so I didn't tell anyone, well except Thalia made me confess last night in the tent." Thalia and Joan looked at each other laughed.

"That's OK. I think it's so exciting!" Lauren said.

"He's so much fun, though a bit crude and has a wandering eye, but I guess that's the price we have to pay for going out with hunks!" Joan laughed.

"It makes me wonder if I might have gotten Brian to fall for me, but to tell you the truth I'm very happy with Peter. I think he's got his own special charms even if they're a lot different than Brian's."

"Now you're being smart," Joan said.

"I agree," Marcie said. "I'd be really worried if you were alone with Brian the night of the cotillion!"

"Why is that night so special?" Lauren asked.

"You know, it's the last dance. There is nothing to lose after that point. The guys are all trying to hit home runs. It can get pretty steamed up in the woods and along the lake outside the dance hall."

Lauren thought about what Marcie had said and wondered what she should expect from Peter that night. "I'm glad you warned me!"

"Guys like Owen and Peter will not be a problem. It's the Brians and Freds that you have to worry about," Marcie said and this time she was looking at Joan.

"Well, that should make for a very interesting night," Joan said.

"So it looks like Joan, Thalia and I have dates for the cotillion," Lauren said, "but who are you going with Marcie?"

"I don't know yet. Four guys asked me at the last dance, and I think that there were four more who wanted to ask me but were afraid to. So I think I'll wait a bit to see who most rings my chimes."

It was obvious to Lauren why so many boys wanted to be with Marcie. Besides being pretty and sexy, she had a kind of self-confidence and maturity that probably led the boys to believe that she knew about sex and probably wasn't afraid to do it if she wanted to.

"Cool," Lauren said. She couldn't help but think that going to the cotillion as Marcie's date would be as nice as going with Peter. On the other hand, part of Lauren's fantasy was to be held in the arms of a boy as she danced with all her skirts fluttering around her. Unless Marcie wore a tuxedo or something like that, having Marcie as her dance partner would not lead to the degree of romance she had in mind for the evening.

In a short while, the counselors called for the girls to pack up their gear and Lauren and her friends went back to the tents and got ready for the return hike back to camp. Lauren was pleased to find out that the route back was different than the route going so that there would be no monkey bridge to cross this time. Just a regular wooden bridge that offered nothing to be anxious about. Just before supper the girls would all be home.
 

 
As Lauren and Marcie hiked along together Marcie said, "I've read that boys who take girl's hormones can grow breasts."

"Really?" Lauren said.

"Yeah, not big ones, but breasts that are noticeable. I think it depends on how big your mom is. You can get within two cup sizes of your mom."

"Two cup sizes?"

"Yeah, say your mom is a C cup, you could probably make it to an A. If she were a D you could make it to a B. How big is your mom?"

Lauren had never had a chance to look closely at his mom's bras, but she figured that her mom wore at least a C cup and maybe even a D. She was definitely pretty well endowed. "I think she is around a C or maybe D."

"That's great, since if she were an A cup you probably wouldn't get too far."

"I have no idea how to get hormones. Is it possible I could get them?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say. I could help you do that if you wanted to, it's purely up to you."

"You can get me hormones?"

"I take birth control pills that have a lot of estrogen in them. I could give some to you."

"You mean that all I'd have to do is take your pills and then I might get breasts?" It seemed miraculous to Lauren and definitely too good to be true.

"I have a whole bunch of extra pills. I changed prescriptions just before I left for camp and ended up taking pills to camp from both prescriptions because the doctor was checking something out about the new ones. Anyway, I'm supposed to only be on the new ones and am supposed to throw out the old ones. There's a few months worth of those and I can give them to you. It might make a difference. Who knows?"

"That's so sweet of you," Lauren said. "Sure, I'll definitely take them. It would mean a lot to me if I could at least have some small breasts by the time of the cotillion."

"I think you might develop a little, and definitely have breast buds!"

"Cool," Lauren said. Just imagining the fact that she might actually see some little growth of breasts in the next few weeks seemed beyond wonderful. And since she knew that she would fervently wish for them to develop that would probably aid their growth also.
 

 
When they got close to camp, Lauren said, "I'm going to miss spending so much time with you."

"Don't worry about that. There's so many activities going on here that number one, you'll be too busy to think about me and number two, we'll be in the play together and we sometimes swim and go boating together."

"I know all that Marcie, but yesterday and today we've had so much time together. It's been so special."

Marcie looked at Lauren. She was so much a gentle and loving soul. Who would ever want to harm her, yet Marcie could just imagine what was in store for Lauren at the end of the summer. "It's been special for me too. Let's try and sneak off together sometimes."

"Really?"

"It's easy. At night we can sneak out of our cabins and rendezvous somewhere."

"Aren't you afraid of getting caught?"

"Caught by whom? Most likely some of the older girls who are also sneaking out."

"I had no idea."

"No one talks about it to the young campers. You can well imagine that the older girls want to meet up with the boys from Camp Dan."

"Holy cow, that sounds so scary."

"Once a week at the dances isn't enough."

"The counselors don't know about it?"

"They probably do, but how would you like to go running around the forest in the middle of the night looking for girls? It's a lot easier to just look the other way. Besides, no doubt that many of the counselors were once campers and they did the same thing."

Lauren realized that the rumors she'd heard about Marcie must be true - she really did go out at night sneaking off to who knows where. For her own self, Lauren wondered if she would have the courage to sneak out. And what if she went to meet up with Marcie? Being alone in the dark with her again like they had been in the tent would be terribly exciting. "I think I may be too scared to do it, unless somehow you could be waiting outside my cabin for me," Lauren said.

"Sure Lauren. Let's plan on doing it in a few days or so."

"Great!" Lauren said. She would be totally dependent on Marcie. Wherever Marcie wanted to take her and whatever Marcie wanted to do with her, would be out of her control. Since Marcie knew her secret there would be no need to fear anything.
 

 
The evening after they got back to their cabins, Marcie came by Lauren's bunk with a bag containing her surplus birth control pills. She advised Lauren to perhaps start slowly, with one or two pills to make sure there were no side effects and then to increase the dosage. When Marcie had gone and no one was looking her way, Lauren took out one of the long pill cases containing 28 pills. Seven of the pills were white which Marcie said were just placebos and should be tossed away. That left 21 pink pills in each of the cases and there were seven cases so that meant 147 pills. Lauren felt somewhat trepiditious about taking the hormones; there might be some side effect that only a doctor would know about. On the other hand, Marcie said they were safe and she should know.

Lauren put two of the pills in her mouth and swallowed them with a glass of water. After that she would take four pills a day. That would be enough to last through the rest of camp. Then when she got back home, she'd have to figure out some other way to keep on getting pills. Maybe Marcie could mail her some, or maybe Beth could get them for her. It would be sad if she developed breast buds to then lose them because she ran out of pills. Anyway, the main thing was her hope that she would notice a difference in her breasts. She felt sure that something would happen. No doubt she already had a lot of girl hormones in her blood; she just needed a little more to get her over the top and start becoming a real girl.
 

 
It took a day or two for life to get back to normal after the big hike. The disruption was felt particularly strongly at the rehearsals for the "Chorus Line" production, where girls seemed to have forgotten a lot of what they had previously learned about the dance routines. There were many collisions and Marilyn said that they were darn lucky that no one had suffered a major injury. Marilyn was so distressed by the setback that she scheduled a couple of extra rehearsals so as to bring the girls back up to speed. Both Marcie and Lauren loved having the extra time dancing together. Of all the girls in the play the two of them had achieved the least error prone performance of the various dance steps and Marilyn showered them with praise.

Halfway through one of the rehearsals, during a break, Toni remarked to Marilyn that she had seen that there was a rack of tutus being stored in the back. "It would be great fun if we could wear them during practice, at least those of us who have the girls' parts in the show. Can we wear them?" she implored Marilyn.

Marilyn thought it over for a minute and said, "that's a great idea. Maybe if we more clearly mark who the girls and boys are you might remember your dance steps better." With that Marilyn retrieved the rack of tutus and wheeled it to the front of the stage. Lauren gazed upon the tutus with much excitement. There was no doubt that she would love to dance wearing one, in fact, every time she had seen a ballet performance on television she had thought about how nice it would be to be one of the girls in their tutus. But like so many other fantasies she had had about being a girl, it had seemed so far out of reach that she wouldn't even let herself think about it. Of course the tutu she would wear would have to be the pinkest pink and when Lauren saw the row of sparkling tutus in many different colors in front of her, she made a bee line to the brightest pink one and took it off the rack. Fortunately, none of the other girls had their hearts set on that one and she was able to claim it as her own. The tutu had eleven layers of stiff skirts attached to a matching leotard with a glittering floral design on the bodice. She hugged the beautiful outfit and let her fingers run over the stiff skirts.

After each of the girls had selected a tutu they ran into the dressing room to change into them from their usual leotards. In a few minutes the seven "girl" girls came out happily fluttering and skipping across the dance floor. Marcie came up to Lauren and watched her gaily prancing and preening in front of a mirror. "Oh Marcie, I feel so pretty. Am I?"

Marcie nodded her head and said, "you were made to wear a tutu. It becomes you."

Lauren smiled appreciatively at Marcie. It didn't matter if she meant what she said or not, Lauren loved hearing it.

Marilyn had to raise her voice to get the attention of the girls who were excitedly running around the dance floor allowing the stiff skirts of their tutus to flap up and down as they pirouetted and leaped with girlish glee. When finally all was in order she directed the girls to line up with their dance partners and seriously practice the entire show as an ensemble. As Marilyn stepped back to watch the action she could not help but feel a tug at her heart as she watched Lauren gracefully and seriously practice her steps. She looked as if she had been born in the tutu. She had a delicate femininity about her; she looked so vulnerable and fragile. Not many girls had that, a sort of girlish charisma that no one could learn: you either were born with it or you were not and Lauren had it in spades. Particularly surprising was that the gift was only apparent when she danced, for when the music stopped Lauren seemed like a regular and somewhat awkward girl. Even possibly a boy if one wanted to believe Amy. It was not hard to imagine a career for Lauren in a professional ballet company. She was special, there was no doubt about that. It was really too bad that Lauren had not yet had any ballet lessons. To see her execute a perfect pirouette in her cute costume or to see her get up en pointe would be delightful. Marilyn reminded herself to write a note to Lauren's parents suggesting that they seriously consider her having a career in dance.

A minute later Marilyn laughed to herself. What if Amy was right and Lauren was a boy? Imagine the look on his parents face getting a letter from the counselor at a girls' camp suggesting that their son become a ballerina. As quickly as she had laughed Marilyn then got the strange thought that it wasn't beyond possible that Lauren's parents were in cahoots with her. What a strange family that would be. Marilyn scolded herself for allowing herself to daydream such weird thoughts. The fact of the matter remained that Lauren was absolutely delectable in a tutu and it was fun to see her and the other girls flitting about like little fairies. Before the rehearsal was over, she got out her camera and took some pictures of the girls and especially some of Lauren posing in her tutu. These will be perfect for next summer's camp brochure, Marilyn decided.
 

 
Lauren had been taking several of Marcie's birth control pills each of the last few days and they had been making her feel a bit flushed and strange. While it might have just been a placebo effect, Lauren felt for sure that her skin was softer and that there was a slight swelling and tenderness to her breasts. Even more so, between Marcie's acceptance of her being the girl in their relationship and the fact that she definitely had some significant estrogen in her arteries and veins, Lauren felt that she had reached a new level of feeling feminine. She could see that her natural, unforced movements had become girl-like. The way she walked and held her arms, the kind of things she said to the other girls, how she got dressed and bathed, how she ate, all of these things she did as if she were a true girl and not a boy pretending to take on the attributes of a girl. The status quo for Lauren had now become "girl" and she no longer had to be vigilant to the possibility that her "boy" self might show up at some importune moment. If anything, Lauren began to worry that she had so much forgotten how to be a boy that she would never be able to regain her Lorin persona. Her parents would flip out wondering why their son had come home from camp acting like a girl. Well, of course, having small breasts by the time she went home would be kind of a problem also, but she figured that she could just keep herself covered and her parents would not notice the difference. If they did, she would just chalk it up to the camp food being too fattening.
 

 
As promised, Marcie arranged to rendezvous with Lauren at her cabin late at night the week after they had returned from the hike. Lauren had managed to sleep only fitfully until one AM when Marcie said she would give a slight tap on the window near Lauren's bed. With that signal, Lauren would sneak outside through one of the bathroom windows. Marcie would be there to help her climb out. It was an unusually warm night and instead of wearing her usual nightgown Lauren had gone to bed wearing the clothes she would need later: a sleeveless blouse and a short skirt. With her sexiest bra and her large breasts she felt extremely sexy. The memory of her night in the tent, every detail of her intimacy with Marcie was vivid in her mind. She realized that she had a great hunger to be swept off her feet by Marcie. She wanted to be kissed and held and made to feel that she was Marcie's favorite girl friend.

Lauren listened to the soft sound of her sleeping cabin mates. Despite the fact that she was expecting to hear Marcie's tapping on the window, she was nonetheless a bit startled when it happened. She waved at the dim form of Marcie's face outside the window and tip toed into the bathroom carrying her sandals. The bathroom window was already open as far as it could go and after she undid the latch holding the screen in place, Lauren was able to climb out with Marcie grabbing her torso and lightening her descent to the ground.

Outside of the cabin Lauren stood next to Marcie and looked into her eyes. The light was dim, but not so dim that they couldn't see the gleam of each other's eyes. Lauren felt ecstatic with happiness and she leaned in moving her lips toward Marcie. Marcie whispered, "not here, follow me," and took off quietly along the side of the cabin and headed into the nearby forest. Lauren followed her making every effort to keep as close to her as possible. Underneath the canopy of leaves it was very dark and mysterious and despite the fact that Lauren had walked down this very path before in the daylight, it now seemed foreign and even scary to her. She was amazed at Marcie's fearlessness as she plunged along in the dark.

After what seemed like a half hour and was in reality just a few minutes, they came to a grassy clearing that overlooked the lake. In the distance were a few lights from Camp Dan. Lauren saw that Marcie was carrying a blanket that she spread out on the ground. Lauren sat down with her. A shiver passed through her back as she anticipated what was to come. Marcie put her arm around Lauren's back and then gently pulled her down onto the blanket. Marcie sat up over her looking down at Lauren's face.

"You are very pretty," Marcie said.

Lauren giggled softly and smiled up at her. "That's so nice of you to say that, I mean all things considered."

"No, it is true. I feel certain you're prettier as a girl than you are handsome as a boy."

"Do you like to kiss pretty girls?" Lauren said and then laughed gaily.

"You betcha," Marcie said and she leaned down and kissed Lauren tenderly on the lips. With one free hand she felt up Lauren. First outside her blouse and then she snuck it inside and surrounded the filled out cup of Lauren's bra with her hand. Lauren heard Marcie give a low grunt of pleasure. A minute later Marcie put her hand underneath the bra and the breastform and felt Lauren's nipple.

She broke away from the kiss and said, "Oh my God Lauren," you've really got some nipples there.

"I know, I've been feeling like a change has been happening. Kind of a full feeling in my breasts and my nipples tingle a lot."

"There's definitely some puffiness around your nipples that wasn't there a few days ago."

"I'm so happy about it," Lauren said.

"You're going to have a nice little pair of boobies pretty soon. Just you wait and see."

"I don't know why you stopped kissing me," Lauren said. She reached up and put her hands around Marcie's neck and pulled her down toward her.

Before they kissed Marcie said, "I think the reason that you've changed so fast is that you are already partly a girl."

Lauren smiled up at Marcie and they kissed for a good long time. Lauren had her tongue wrapped around Marcie's and she had worked her hands up inside Marcie's blouse and felt her bra strap. The two girls were crushed boob to boob and Lauren couldn't get her hands onto Marcie's breasts though she did stroke them along the side.

Lauren felt Marcie's hand sneaking toward her thigh. It was no secret between them that Marcie found the idea of Lauren having a penis as utterly fascinating. To her it was as if one of her girl friends had a penis - something right out of the pages of "Ripley's Believe It or Not."
 

 
After an hour, the girls made there way back to Lauren's cabin, Marcie helped Lauren to climb in through the bathroom window and said goodbye. Before returning to bed, Lauren turned on the light, lifted up her blouse over her head and took it off. She then carefully took out her breast forms and reached behind her back and undid her bra and took it off.

She stood in front of the mirror over the sink and examined her breasts and nipples in detail. She placed her right hand gently over her left breast and cupped it. Definitely there was some more heft to it than there had been even a week ago. Her nipple seemed a bit wider and thicker and when she pinched it gently she felt a stab of sharp pleasure run through her body. Her right breast was about the same as the left. Lauren leaned forward a bit and did a quick shimmy to see if there was any jiggling. To her amazement there was a definite jiggle - a sort of back and forth sway to her breasts. It was ever so slight, but so much more than there ever had been before.

Who knew what would happen in another week?

The thought that she might actually see small breasts appear was certainly the most joyous possibility she could imagine.

Oh my god, she thought I so wish it happens!

She retrieved her bra and put it back on together with her breast forms and snuck quietly back to her bunk. She fell rapidly into a deep sleep and almost missed getting up to ring the gong the next morning. Luckily, she had become so programmed to waking up to do that, that her body forced her awake before she would be noticeably late. She had to scurry across the field but she did get there on time.
 

 
Marcie had made it quite clear to Lauren that their relationship should have no bearing on Lauren's relationship Peter. She fully encouraged Lauren to not feel any regrets and she herself would not be jealous. There was plenty of time for the two of them to also get to further their relationship. At the same time Marcie hoped that Lauren would not feel jealous of the guy she ended up deciding she wanted to go to the cotillion with.

It was nice to hear Marcie talk about things like this and Lauren felt comforted against feeling guilty for loving Marcie at the same time that she was also loving Peter. Of course, she didn't have to feel guilty because Peter had no way of knowing about her love for Marcie and Marcie knew full well that she was Lauren's number one love.

Halfway through the next Saturday night dance, during a slow dance, Peter cleared his throat and said, "Lauren, I think you know that I like you?"

"Like me? What a surprise," Lauren said and laughed.

"You know I'm crazy about you," Peter said.

Lauren was touched. Here was a boy baring his soul to her. "How sweet to say that," Lauren said.

"The thing is, I would love for you to go to the cotillion with me, if you are so inclined."

"So inclined?" Lauren said stifling a giggle. It was precious and endearing the way Peter phrased his question.

"I think that might be arranged," Lauren said.

"Oh, cool!" Peter said and hugged her tighter.

Lauren rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. This was a moment that she had often imagined in her fantasies about the cotillion. A fine, handsome and caring boy would ask her out for the night. They would be just in the early stages of love when everything they did was so new and memorable. The cotillion would lie before her as a great stage where she would come as a princess in her pretty dress and spend an enchanted evening with her ever solicitous beau. Surely Peter had every one of her desired characteristics. Lauren was so happy.
 

 
A couple of days after the dance, Lauren, Thalia and Joan were in a row boat heading out to the middle of the lake. Lauren sat in the back while Thalia and Joan rowed, it being decided that the two of them were stronger than Lauren and could row a lot faster than she could. As they plowed along Lauren could see that many canoes from Camp Dan were out on the lake also. One of them separated itself from the others and began coming their way.

"I think I see the boys coming!" Lauren said, "yes I'm sure it's them." Though the distance was still great Lauren could sense the unique profiles and body movements of Peter and Owen. There was a third boy whom she couldn't quite identify.

"This is so cool," Joan said.

Lauren raised her arm to wave and one of the boys waved back. "I think Owen is waving at us," Lauren reported. "There's a third guy, who I can't identify. Wait, I think it's Fred!"

"Fred!" Joan said and swung around to look. "Yes, it's him." She now waved also.

Thalia turned around to look and saw that the canoe was moving rapidly and would be soon upon them. She stowed her oar and Joan did the same. Now all three girls waved at the boys spurring them on to paddle even faster. In a minute the canoe pulled up to the row boat and Peter grabbed a hold of the gunwale and held the two boats together.

"What are you three doing together out on the lake?" Joan said.

"Fred was spying on the girl's camp with a telescope," Peter said.

"Spying?" Lauren said. "How terrible."

"He saw that Joan was heading out in a rowboat and then he got Owen and me to join him."

"What do you boys have in mind?" Thalia said.

Before they could answer, Joan, who was wearing a very flattering pink bikini, stood up and dove into the water on the opposite side of the row boat. In a second Fred scrambled out of the canoe and swam around to her. Owen got up and stepped into the rowboat sitting next to Thalia who was wearing a green, flowery, one piece suit. Lauren felt a bit ashamed to be wearing her old fashioned suit with a little skirt and was particularly worried that she looked to be too flat chested. However, when she had put on the suit that day she had felt sure that her nipples were more visible than they had been the last time she had worn it.

In any event, it was lucky that she had not worn her breast forms out onto the lake, since it would have caused her to have to explain to Peter where she had suddenly gotten such large breasts. If Peter was in any way unhappy with the fact that Lauren was not developed, he didn't let on in the slightest. In fact, it seemed quite the contrary: Peter was enamored of Lauren and followed Owen's lead by sitting on the seat next to her. He put his arm around her and then the two of them kissed just as they had at the dance a few days earlier. After a minute, Lauren said, "maybe Fred isn't the only one with a telescope."

"Yeah, we probably don't want the counselors to see what we're doing."

"I think we could jump in the water," Lauren said.

They could see Joan with her arms around Fred's neck as he held onto the side of the boat. With his free arm, Fred enveloped Joan and brought her in tightly to him. Needing no convincing Lauren dove into the water followed by Peter who had to stop to take off his tee shirt. Peter and Lauren took up a position on the opposite side of the boat from Fred and Joan. While Peter held on to the side Lauren snuggled in tightly putting her arms behind his neck. Then Peter brought her in tightly and they kissed. Lauren body lay along the full profile of Peter's body and she relished the delightful novelty of the sensation.

A gentle current kicked up by the wind pushed Lauren's dangling legs in closer to Peter's. She felt a gentle push against her stomach that initially thought might be Peter's hand and then she realized what it really was. Clearly she had stirred up Peter in a way that she hadn't thought about before. There was something primeval about the sensation; the raw maleness of Peter asserting itself against her. He would no doubt want her to touch him there but she wouldn't do it.

No, she hoped she wouldn't do it, at least not now. Of course, the cotillion was a different story.

As the girls had told her all kinds of things happen there because it would be the end of the summer and the last chance to see the boys.

After fifteen minutes passed, Owen said, "we better get back guys. It looks to me like all the boats are heading back in."

With the help of Owen, Lauren climbed back into the row boat followed by Joan. Both Peter and Fred stayed in the water. "Come on," Owen said, "we'll be late."

"Yeah, we've go to go too," Thalia said.

Lauren and the girls watched as first Peter and then Fred got into the boat. They were both crouched over as if afraid to stand up. Joan started to laugh and then Lauren had a hard time suppressing her laughter. At first Thalia didn't get the joke but then she too thought it was hysterical. "Tents," Joan said causing a new outbreak of laughter.

"Come on you two," Owen said shaking his head. "I can't believe it."

Gingerly Fred and Peter got into the canoe without upsetting it. Before they took off Lauren noticed Peter's tee shirt lying in the rowboat. It was a Camp Dan tee shirt like the kind Lauren's dad had expected her to get and she called to Peter, "can I have your shirt?"

"Sure," Peter said, "you can keep it!" In a minute the three boys were racing the canoe back to shore. The girls smiled at each other and then Thalia and Joan picked up the oars to run them back in.

"That was so much fun," Joan said. "It's unbelievable how much one can do in the water."

"I know, it's so sensual and yummy," Lauren said.

"Fred was so turned on. He was poking me with his thing."

Thalia and Lauren laughed and Lauren said "tell me about it. Peter was just like that. Did you see the two of them trying to hide it."

"Guys are so ridiculous," Joan said.
 

 
A week after Lauren and Marcie had snuck out at night, they did it a second time. This night there was a clear sky and a full moon and Marcie had spread out a blanket on the grassy knoll overlooking the lake. The two girls lay down next to each other gazing up at the moon and looking off into the distance as the light reflected off the lake surface. It was a supremely serene and calming moment. They kissed and held each other and after awhile they fell asleep in each others arms.

A loud screech from an owl woke up Lauren and after seeing that she had moved apart from Marcie she moved in close enough to feel her warmth. In this private little moment in her life she felt happy. She felt happier than she had ever felt before. The certain knowledge that Marcie loved her as the girl she knew she was meant that she should never doubt that this kind of love was possible. She would not be deluding herself to believe that as she grew up she could meet people who would know and love her as Lauren. It was so different than with Penny.

As much as Lauren loved Penny, Penny expected Lauren to be Lorin and that made Lauren feel like the relationship was a lie. She would never be able to escape the guilt she felt for deceiving Penny. With Marcie she had no guilt. She could tell Marcie that she was a girl, that she wanted to be a girl and she felt no shame, no fear, no judgment.

Lauren snuggled in even closer to Marcie until she was touching her along the side of her body. Marcie stirred and opened her eyes and smiled at Lauren. Lauren moved her lips to Marcie's mouth and kissed her. Marcie laughed quietly and put her arm over Lauren's shoulder and moved her in tightly against her. Lauren rested her cheek on Marcie's breast and said, "I'm so happy."

"I'm glad," Marcie said.

"I know terrible things are coming, but they're not here now. I've decided that right down to the bitter end, I'm going to enjoy myself and be happy."

"My brave little pet," Marcie said. "I'll always be your friend, and if you ever need me, I'll be there for you."

"I know you will," Lauren said.

"Next week is the big show and then after that is the Cotillion," Marcie said matter of factly.

A tear formed in Lauren's eye and glistened in the moonlight. Marcie saw it and said, "now, now, Lauren, you just got through saying how you're going to enjoy yourself!"

"I think the tear is a tear of happiness. I've craved the cotillion for so long now and to think that it's finally going to arrive." Lauren knew she was lying. She was scared. She wanted to always be with Marcie. She wanted the security and love that she offered. All that would be lost and shattered when she went back home.

"You're such a BS'er," Marcie said. "Just remember that one day you'll be grown up and then no matter what your parents or anyone else says, you'll be able to be Lauren the rest of our days."

Lauren wanted to tell her that as true as that was, it would only be OK if she knew that Marcie would be there waiting for her. But that was unfair to Marcie and so she kept silent.

A few minutes later Lauren said, "I think I have small breasts now. I was looking in the mirror while I was waiting for you and I'm sure that I do."

Marcie turned quickly toward her. "That's so cool. Let me take a look. Take off your blouse and your bra and boobs so I can get a good look."

Lauren did as she said. Sure enough looking down at herself in the moonlight it was clear that she had a little something there. Marcie put her hands on Lauren's chest and closed her hands over her nipples and felt. "Oh my God Lauren I've got them in my hands. I mean I can really feel some breast tissue inside. Go ahead and jiggle them. I'm sure they can jiggle. You're probably like a double A or something like that."

Lauren shimmied a little and watched in amazement as her little titties bounced back and forth several times. Her nipple seemed brighter red than she remembered them ever being and when Marcie touched them there was a heavenly feeling.

"Just look at those boobs, they're so pretty!"

Lauren spontaneously began to cry. She had crossed another barrier. It was something tangible about her body that was now definitely like that of a girl. She had taken a very big step to where her heart and mind wanted to take herself.
 

 
The performance of the Chorus Line by Marilyn's motley group of girls came to pass on the Sunday prior to the Cotillion. Right down to the last dress rehearsal girls made blunders, momentarily forgetting their steps or their lines. Marilyn cringed at each error, the worst part of it being mistakes that had not happened in previous rehearsals. The one truly bright spot was the superb and consistent dancing of Marcie and Lauren. They no longer made mistakes and best of all they always looked like they were truly enjoying themselves.

The show went on in the evening after dinner. Marilyn played the piano and queued the entrances and exits of the cast. She had decided that allowing the girls playing girls to wear their pretty tutus during their rehearsals within the play added a nice sort of balletic touch to the musical.

During the performance if one stepped back and let oneself enjoy what was going on without looking critically at the flaws, then it was a very nice production. Each of the girls who danced was a star in their own way. Certainly Lauren was perhaps the most fragile and delicate of the girls. She looked like one could easily break her in two. It was darling the way her tutu bounced and gyrated around her waist as she deftly stepped through her routines. With her breast forms she was the most developed of the girls. She made a perfect little center of femininity on the stage.

From a seat in the center of the audience, Amy found herself transfixed by the dancing. The show was maybe the nicest the camp had ever put on. And that Lauren was such a pretty sprite. It was hard to think of her as a boy but still Amy had her doubts about Lauren. Letters for Lorin Baxter had kept accumulating at Camp Dan and some were from China and Japan. It was crazy. But at the same time Lauren Baxter received quite a bit of mail herself at Camp Shoni. So maybe it was just the craziest coincidence.

If only Marilyn had cooperated then surely by now they would have obtained their answer as to whom she was. Well, with just two weeks left in the summer, it was probably too late to ever find out what the story was.

When the show was over, Amy made a point of coming up to Lauren and giving her a hug. "You are heavenly, young lady. I can see you on Broadway or in the ballet. You must keep it up. promise me?"

Lauren blushed crimson. "Oh, Ms. Rovelstad, you've made me so happy!"

Amy felt a tug in heart. Life was often so much more complicated than anyone could imagine.
 
 
Chapter 18
 
The pretty dresses hung in the closet throughout the summer and now finally the girls would take them out and wear them. Anticipation of this very moment, this moment when Lauren would get to put on the dress that never failed to take her breath away had been the prime mover in everything that had happened to her that summer. The thought of wearing such a pretty dress had driven her hand to forge her identity as Lauren and in so doing change the entire course of her life. Not a day had gone by that summer when she hadn't dreamt about this day when she would go to the closet and take out the dress and put it on and then feel like a true princess come to her realm. And now the moment had arrived.

In view of the long day ahead of them, Lauren was excused from gong duty that morning and she had to admit that she loved the chance to sleep a bit longer and wake up with the other girls. There was a definite air of excitement in the cabin. Each girl in her own way thought ahead to what the cotillion would be like. Only Eileen had not secured a date; she had been asked by more than one boy, but she wasn't enamored of them enough to say yes. She thought she would have more fun hanging out with lots of different people rather than being trapped with a guy who was just so-so.

Before they left for breakfast, Marilyn assembled the girls in the cabin to tell them how the day would be organized. The camp knew full well how important it was for the girls to get ready for the cotillion so they were going to go out of their way to help them. First of all, when they got back from breakfast the girls would shower and then they would go to have their hair done and set. For those who wanted they could get their nails polished. For this purpose several women from a nearby salon had set up shop in the camp beauty salon.

When all the girls were done up they would go for lunch and when they came back they would make sure their gowns and shoes and all else were ready, then they would dress and assemble, while there was still plenty of daylight, for a group picture in the field near the gong. Dinner would be available as a smorgasbord during the Cotillion which would start at 6 PM and last until midnight.

The plan sounded completely wonderful to Lauren though the part about taking a shower reminded her that she had better make sure that she was the only one in the shower room when she took one. That would be easily taken care of by pretending to take care of various things around her bunk so that she would be the last one to go. As far as her hair went, she had been very good about maintaining the style that Gus had created for her.

Over the summer her hair had gotten a few inches longer and by following the examples of Joan and Thalia she had learned how to give it extra body and fullness while accommodating the basic style which she felt accentuated the femininity of her face. During the two months of the summer her nails had grown out fully and Lauren had spent much time keeping them shaped and long. It had been a couple of weeks since she had put on polish so she was especially excited about having them done by a professional manicurist.
 

 
After breakfast, back in the cabin, Lauren lounged on her bunk pretending to straighten out the clothes in her cubbies, write a couple of letters and otherwise look busy. While she did so, she observed the other girls who one by one and in groups of two got undressed and went to the shower. Joan was one of the first to go and when she came back wrapped up in a towel she asked Lauren, "are you going to shower?"

"Of course. I just have to take care of a few things."

The explanation seemed to be good enough for Joan who busied herself by unwrapping the towel and patting down the last few wet spots on her body. Lauren could see the sparkle of water droplets on her pubic hair and watched as Joan dabbed at them with wet towel. Then Joan took out a fresh pair of panties and stepped into them and then a bra which she put on somewhat absentmindedly. Lauren envied her the matter of fact way Joan would lift her bra to catch her breasts in the cups and then make sure they were comfortably in the right place. Even after wearing a bra virtually night and day the whole summer, Lauren felt a special sense of delight every time she put on or took off her bra. She had not gotten completely to the point where it was as natural as Joan and the other girls. Perhaps after her newly developing breasts reached their full size, she might finally cross the last remaining barriers to feeling like a natural girl.

Across the room Lauren saw Ann and Susan coming back from the shower together and by her calculation that meant that everyone had had one. Lauren got up and took off her blouse and then her bra. At that moment Joan looked up and said, "Whoa Lauren. Look how you've developed!"

Lauren blushed and said, "I have been feeling lately like my body is changing!" She looked down at her newly forming breasts and yes it seemed like there had been a change even from the day before. There were cute little breasts there. Enough that one might theoretically say that she ought to wear a bra. Certainly she could wear her 34A bras without any degree of embarrassment and if that evening at the cotillion she decided that she would let Peter feel her up, there would be nothing to worry about. He would find that she had breasts, enough for any 13 year old boy to be quite happy with. Breasts that no boy would ever have.

Lauren took off her shorts so she was just in her panties. She had become extremely proficient in learning how to tuck her private part up backwards between her legs and pulling up on her panties to keep it in place. From the front she looked exactly like a girl. Lauren gracefully walked to the shower holding her soap, shampoo and towel. As she expected, the shower stall was empty and she proceeded to take a shower. She was very careful to keep her back facing out in case anyone walked past her. And while she shampooed her hair she made sure that her front was covered with soap suds.

Later on she would relive this moment a thousand times in her mind, but right after she had rinsed the shampoo out of her hair she felt the presence of someone and looking back saw Marilyn coming in to take a shower also. She was very well developed and had thick dark curls of hair between her legs. "Hi Lauren," Marilyn said gaily.

"Oh, hi," Lauren said keeping her back toward Marilyn and reaching for her towel. As she had done the previous time when Marilyn had surprised her, she let the water rinse off her torso as she moved to the hook containing her towel. At that very moment Judy came running into the shower saying, "Sorry, sorry, I forgot my shampoo!" She came around Marilyn and Lauren to reach for a bottle of shampoo that was sitting next to Lauren's towel. It was so fast and surprising that Lauren could do nothing. Just after Judy picked up the shampoo, she turned around and her eyes swept over Lauren's naked front, and Judy shrieked loudly. It was blood curdling in its horror.

"What?" asked Marilyn startled. Judy did not say anything but pointed at Lauren who had put her hand over her penis.

"Let me see," Marilyn said severely and she grabbed Lauren's hand at the wrist and pulled it away to expose his small penis to the view of herself and Judy. "God dammit but she was right," Marilyn muttered. "Cover yourself up!" Realizing that she was stark naked herself, Marilyn said, "stay right here! Don't move!" She and Judy exited the shower stall while Lauren waited. She heard a loud commotion in the other room. Lots of voices shrieking "Lauren is what?? Is what??"

Lauren sat down on a bench and began crying. After a few minutes Marilyn came back in fully dressed. "Come with me," she said and Lauren followed her as she led her to her bunk. Lauren hurriedly wrapped her towel around her waist. Staring and glowering at her in pained looks were the girls of the cabin. Joan and Thalia were in tears. "I don't believe it!" Joan said with a heart wrenching sob.

Marilyn pulled Lauren's towel away from her so she was exposed again. "Oh, my God," Susan said. "How could you do this to us? We all loved you so much!" She burst into tears joining Thalia, Joan and several of the other girls. Lauren collapsed onto her bunk weeping with her head buried in her pillow.

"Are you going to throw her out of camp?" Eileen asked Marilyn.

"I don't yet know what to do. I suppose I've got to get Amy involved in this." She was going to say that Amy had long suspected Lauren of being a boy, but decided that the less the girls knew about that the better. This was definitely something that would have to be handled with utmost discreteness and quickly, there being the cotillion to go to.

"I can't believe that this whole summer I have a boy watching me naked. It's so gross," Eileen said and the few girls who weren't crying agreed with her. Then Susan said through her tears, "I feel so betrayed. How could someone be so mean?"

"Or perverted?" Judy added.

Throughout all of this Lauren lay convulsing in tears. Her body shook and her chest heaved. Though her face was buried in her pillow the sound of her gasps and wails could be heard loudly throughout the cabin.

"I think we've got to decide what we're going to do," Judy said. "All of us with Marilyn, we have to think of what we do!"

Among the girls Thalia and Joan could not help but be aware of the agony their friend Lauren was going through. This gentle and loving friend with whom they had shared so many experiences was in abject pain and torment. To some extent they couldn't tell if they were crying for her or for themselves.

"There's no way that Lauren can go to the cotillion," Eileen said.

"Of course she, I mean he, can't," Marilyn said.

From Lauren's perspective she did not know if her tears came mostly from letting down all her friends, or from the certain knowledge that her hopes and dreams of going to the cotillion had been dashed just a few short hours short of her goal. Marilyn saying that she couldn't go was just confirming what she already knew.

"This is so awful," Eileen said again.

Marilyn said, "if you can calm down enough Lauren, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Lauren turned over facing the girls. Her nose was wet and dripping from crying and her eyes were bleary from tears. "I'm sorry. I, I don't know what to say. I never wanted to hurt anyone." She began crying fiercely and again hid her face.

"It's hard to imagine the audacity of a guy doing this," Judy said.

While the girls and Marilyn pondered the sorry spectacle of Lauren lying on her bed, Marcie, who had arranged previously with Lauren to come by to check out her dress and other preparations for the cotillion, entered the cabin and saw the commotion.

"Hey, what's going on?" she said.

Ann turned around to face Marcie. "Marcie, this isn't a good time."

"Why is Lauren crying? And Thalia and Joan? What in heaven's name is happening?"

"Marcie this is a problem for just our cabin," Marilyn said, "you should go now. It's for the best."

Ignoring her, Marcie pushed through the girls and ran up to Lauren. "What happened Lauren?"

"She's a boy," Eileen said. "A boy who's been spying on us all summer!"

"Spying? How do you mean spying?" Marcie said.

"A boy sneaking into a girls camp."

"A boy? You think Lauren's a boy? So what if she has a penis. She's no boy!" Marcie said.

"She's a boy," Marilyn said, "and this boy is going to have to vacate Camp Shoni as fast as it can be arranged."

"You mean she can't go to the cotillion?" Marcie said.

Eileen laughed. "Are you crazy Marcie? She's got a penis?"

"I've known that for awhile," Marcie said.

"What do you mean that you know that?" Marilyn said.

"I found it out on the camping trip. We shared a tent and I found out by accident."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Marilyn said sounding shocked.

"Why would I? You know, it takes a lot more than a penis to make a boy. And I challenge any one of you to name anything else about Lauren that is male. Anything at all!"

There was silence.

"To tell you the truth," Marcie continued, "I think it's more than a little mean that you're acting so angry and hurt. You're just totally forgetting everything you know about Lauren the person in favor of one little fact. Sure it's filled with connotations, but it is just one little piece of the whole Lauren."

She stopped to catch her breath. Marcie was excited and felt a rising anger and passion inside herself.

"You can't blame the girls," Marilyn said.

"Is Lauren stronger than us? Is she a better athlete? Is she smarter or braver or less sensitive? Does she care less about clothes than us, or less about her hair and nails and makeup? Is she less vain about her body or less concerned about having tits? Does she not care more about finding romance with the boys? Has she not fallen for a nice boy no different than any of us would? Is she any less graceful? Do you remember her in the show? Was she not the most graceful and feminine of all the dancers?"

There was more silence and then Joan stood up and said, "you're so right Marcie!"

"I agree!" Thalia said.

Joan got up and sat down next to Lauren and put her arm on her shoulder.

"I love Lauren as my girl friend," Joan said. "She's been the best buddy and pal that any girl could ever hope for. She's never done anything to act like a boy the whole summer. She's never done anything that ever made me feel like she was boy."

"Everything Joan says is true," Thalia said. "If Lauren happens to be born a boy, I mean biologically, that's got nothing to do with her as a person. I think what's really weird is to think that she could ever act like a boy at all."

Marcie came over in front of Lauren and said, "sit up now honey. Let me clean you up." Lauren sat up and Marcie took a tissue from a nearby box and wiped Lauren's face and helped her blow her nose. The assembled girls could see plain as day that Lauren had small breasts that swayed and jiggled a bit as she blew her nose.

The girls had become speechless and no one was dry eyed. After a very long silence Marilyn said, "thank you Marcie. I think we all agree that you've saved us from doing a great injustice."

"Did you hear that Lauren?" Thalia said and squeezed her.

"The only thing is that we do need to hear your story. How is that you ended up here this summer as a girl? Are you a girl back home? Do your parents know about this?" Susan said.

"Go on Lauren," Marcie said. "You can tell them everything because I know it comes straight from your heart."

Marcie sat down next to Lauren. With Marcie on one side and Joan on the other she faced the girls. In a tiny voice she said, "it started with the cotillion. I was going to be in the upper camp and then the brochure said that they had changed things so I couldn't go to the dances. I saw the cotillion picture and I wanted a pretty dress and I wanted to be one of the girls in the picture so much so that it hurt. It hurt my heart so much, that, I don't know, I decided that I had to go to the cotillion as a girl. I think I've always wanted to be a girl, at least from the time I could think about things like that. In my heart I know I've always been a girl. I don't ever want to be a boy." Lauren was now crying again and Marcie held her tightly until she calmed down.

"I was so mean to you Lauren. I should have given you a chance to explain yourself," Judy said.

"Yes, all of us," Marilyn said. "In our surprise we lost sight of everything that had happened over the summer."

"Thank goodness Marcie came by when she did," Joan said.

"So are you going to let Lauren go to the cotillion?" Marcie said to Marilyn.

"Sure. Look, my ass is on the line more than any of you if word gets out that Lauren is actually a boy. So I'm willing to say nothing about it to Amy as long as everyone here swears on their sacred and solemn oath that they won't tell anybody about Lauren. Is that OK with all of you?"

"Yes, Marilyn," Eileen said, "I realize that I flipped out but it was so unexpected and so shocking."

"I'm sorry Eileen," Lauren said and Eileen came over and gave her a hug.

"Judy?" Marilyn said.

"I don't want to ever hurt Lauren," she said and she came up and also gave Lauren a hug.

Marilyn called out each of their names, one by one: Joan, Janet, Ann, Susan and Thalia and each one swore to secrecy and sealed the promise by giving Lauren a hug.

"Last of all is Marcie," Marilyn said and Marcie put both her arms around Lauren and gave her a long tender hug.

"So it's done. Now I suggest we devote all our energy to getting ready for the cotillion. First of all, we need to head out to get our hair ready!" Marilyn said.

The girls now proceeded to once again focus their attention on getting ready for the cotillion. With the exception of Joan, Thalia and Marcie the girls quickly left to get their hair and nails done.

"We'll wait for you to get dressed and we can go together to the hair salon," Joan said.

"Thank you, Joan," Lauren said. The extreme peaks and valleys of the previous half hour had taken their toll on her and she felt mentally exhausted, despite the happy outcome. "I'm so sorry I let you all down. You have been such wonderful friends to me."

"And you to us," Thalia said, "and you never let us down. We might not all understand exactly how a boy can see themselves as being a girl, but we know you are telling the truth. I will always see you as being my girlfriend and I do now. Obviously you could not just come out and tell us about yourself, so we understand that as well. Actually, I'm really happy that you are who you are. It makes you a very special kind of girl."

While they were talking Lauren fetched her bra and put it on and then a tee shirt and a short skirt and sandals. She looked at her face in a hand mirror and said, "it really looks like I've been crying."

"It'll be OK by the time they take the picture. Anyway we'll make sure you have on the right make up."

Lauren was ready to go and Marcie said, "before we go let me see that pretty dress of yours that you've been blabbing and boasting about for two months!"

The thought of the dress and that she would get to wear it soon brightened up Lauren to the point where she was almost back to being her usual self. She led Marcie to the closet so that she could get a look at it. "My oh my, if that dress doesn't shout Lauren Baxter, nothing will," Marcie said.

"I think it's the most beautiful thing ever made," Lauren said as she held out the skirts and ran her hands over the pretty fabric.

"And that's why you are who you are," Joan said.

"And why we love you," Thalia said.

The four girls then left to join the others getting their hair and nails taken care of.
 

 
Many of the girls individually made a point of telling Lauren that they were sorry for their earlier outbursts and Lauren for her part said over and over again how much she was the one who should apologize for having duped everyone all summer long. She was appreciative, however, that they all understood why she had had to do it and why there was little choice in being honest as to what her birthright actually was.

The more Lauren got used to her new status among the bunnies the more she realized how much better it was for herself. She could see that there was a difference between the girls in the cabin accepting her illusion that she was a girl versus the girls in the cabin seeing her as a girl despite the fact that they knew that technically speaking she was a boy. It proved to Lauren just how much she had moved over to being a real girl. Really, at this point all that separated her from real girls was her penis.

The girls went straight to lunch after getting their hair and nails done and finally arrived back at the cabin ready for the arduous task of putting on their make up and getting dressed for the cotillion photo. When the photo was done, they could undress temporarily until the cotillion would start. Lauren had a special pair of pantyhose set aside for this day. She was already wearing the panty and bra that she thought were her prettiest. She didn't want to overlook any little detail. For example, if for some reason Peter got the chance to see her bra, she really wanted it to be her sexiest. Lauren also had a particular slip she planned to wear and she put that on. She gazed at her profile in a mirror and particularly at the fact that her breasts did show up as small protrusions in her bra and slip. She had a figure, plain and simple.

With all the girls in the cabin now wearing their slips and stockings they gathered in groups to help each other with their makeup. For Lauren, Thalia and Joan were her advisors and the three of them gathered on Joan's bed where they proceeded one by one to apply makeup while being supervised and directed by the others. In Lauren's case, she still wasn't as skilled as her friends and so they did most of the work putting on her facial cream, foundation, powder, rouge, eyeliner, mascara and some eyeshadow. After her dress was on, Lauren would apply her lipstick.

In short order, the girls were going one by one to the closet and taking out their gowns. Lauren carefully lifted hers, which was in a protective cover, out of the closet and hung it on a hook near her bunk. She unzipped the cover and took the dress out. Lauren grew faint with excitement as she reacquainted herself with the gown that was worthy of a true princess. It was as nice as the one Cinderella wore to the ball.

She delicately moved her fingers through the many layers of skirts and touched the starchy crinoline inside. She unzipped the back zipper and lifted the gown up over her head with her arms raised and let the dress settle in over her. Joan and Thalia quite had their breath taken away by the sight of the gown. Several other girls came over to take a look.

"It's just the prettiest gown," Thalia said, "I'm jealous!"

Lauren giggled and blushed. "It was love at first sight, and they almost were sold out. I was lucky that the mannequin happened to have the dress in my size!"

Ann touched the skirt and said, "it's so soft and delicate and I love the pink flowers you can see faintly in the ivory colored skirt."

"I like full skirts like that myself," Susan said.

"Puffy!" Ann said.

"Exactly," Susan said. "It's like a Quinceanera dress my sister's friend wore. They often have puffy dresses like that, and you wear them with a hoop so they really stick out."

Joan zipped up the back of Lauren's dress and then while the other girls were getting into their dresses and finishing up their make up, Lauren put on pink lipstick that matched her dress. The last step in getting ready was to put on her high heels. She sat down on her bed, spreading the skirts out carefully and put on her shoes. Later that afternoon, when she did her final preparations for going to the cotillion she would put on a few drops of perfume on her neck so that if Peter leaned in while they were dancing he would be captivated by the scent.

Marilyn walked through the cabin checking out each girl one by one exclaiming how grown up they looked and how beautiful. Finally when everyone was ready she escorted them to the field to have their picture taken. Lauren could see that girls from all the other upper camp cabins were making their way to toward the field.

In the distance there was a long row of chairs set up in the grass near the flag pole. A narrow concrete sidewalk ran from one side of the field to the flag pole and the girls were making their way to the sidewalk so they could avoid walking through the field in their heels as much as possible.

Lauren held her skirt on either side as she walked to lessen the amount it swayed back and forth. It was a bit awkward walking in high heels, but judging by the other girls walking near her, everyone was having about the same degree of difficulty. Marcie joined up with Lauren and walked together with her and Joan and Thalia. Since the girls could only go single file along the sidewalk they bunched up in a knot waiting for their chance to go forward to where the chairs were.

While Lauren waited in the line she observed the dresses of the girls near her. Quite a few had dresses like hers, though hers was definitely the prettiest. Many of the dresses were sleeker and somewhat more sophisticated, such as the silky violet dress that Marcie was wearing. As one would expect from Marcie, the front of the dress was decidedly too low cut and one could easily partake of a view of a goodly portion of her breasts.

"That's a very pretty dress, Marcie," Lauren said.

"Lauren, nobody out does you in the pretty department. You're like some fairy princess."

As each girl reached the row of seats, one of the counselors directed them according to their height and the way they were dressed to either sit or stand behind the chairs. Lauren and Joan were directed to sit and Marcie and Thalia were sent to the back. Lauren and Joan sat down side by side about a third of the way from the center of the chairs to the left side from the photographers' vantage point. Marcie stood directly behind Lauren and Thalia stood behind Joan.

It was a bit comical as Lauren attempted to sit and the crinoline puffed up half covering Joan. She got up and this time she gathered her skirts and lifted them up in the back as she sat so the front of the skirt did not rise up. There was a lot of skirt bunched up around Lauren and she rested her hands gently on the front of her skirt and kept her knees tightly together. Just like the photo she had seen of last year's cotillion, the camera would record not only herself and her pretty dress, but some of her underskirt and the crinoline and her pretty stockinged legs ending in her high heel shoes.

While Lauren and the others waited for everyone to assemble, Eileen sat down to Lauren's right. Her dress was also held out with crinolines and it took some adjusting so neither of the dresses of the two girls covered that much of the other one. Eventually everything worked out satisfactorily. Marcie rested her hands on Lauren's shoulder and Lauren turned around and looked up at Marcie and smiled. This moment was as perfect as she imagined it would be.

In short order, all the girls were seated or standing as they were supposed to and the photographer, a young man with a beard, proceeded to adjust his equipment and offer a few directions to the girls. "I've never seen such a group of princesses all in one place. Can you all give me a very special royal smile that will be remembered for the ages?"

There was some snickering from the girls and he said, "No goofy smiles. Good. I'll count to three and everybody make sure you're smiling and looking right at the camera. Very good! One. Two. Three!" Then the photographer took about a dozen shots in rapid fire succession. Through them all, Lauren grinned as happily as she could and she sat up as nicely as she could on the chair making her small chest push out as much as she possible. She hoped that next year when the camp brochure came out she would see how truly pretty and gorgeous she was. It was nice to think that many girls who were thinking of going to Camp Shoni might see her happy smile and beautiful dress and decide that that was where they wanted to go to camp! How especially ironic it would be if somewhere another boy like Lauren saw her picture and made plans just like she did to go to Camp Shoni.

The photographer thanked everyone and the girls proceeded to depart back to their cabins to await the start of the cotillion. Once again Lauren and the others had to wait while every girl negotiated the thin sidewalk in their high heels that led off from the center of the field.
 
 

End Part VI
 
 
The Story Conclusion... Next!