When Mika woke up in the morning, her chest was slightly itchy and she had some hair in her mouth. It was most certainly longer than she remembered. Almost instinctively, her hand flopped onto her nightstand, where a half-used tube of anti-itch cream had been left laying. She didn’t realize until halfway through applying it that something was off.

“... What-” she stopped. Her voice seemed somewhat higher than before, not by a great deal, but definitely had lost its masculine edge, as if she had been practicing speaking in a female voice for quite a long time.

“It’s tooooo eeeearlyyyy...” Crystal whined from the trundle bed, hiding her head under the pillow as the morning light shone through Mika’s rosey pink curtains.

“Crystal?” Mika whispered. “When did you get here?”

Crystal slowly pushed off her pillow and stared at Mika like she had lost her mind. “I’m on the trundle because you kept pushing me out of bed last night..” she groaned.

“Oh... Sorry,” Mika giggled. “I was having a bad dream. More like a nightmare, about how things would be if I hadn’t started hormones yet, and waited until like, yesterday, when Daddy...” she trailed off. “Oh God, that’s why I’m so fucked up this morning... Daddy,” she sighed. She definitely remembered the accident.

Crystal nodded, “Sunday, and that asshole who ran him off the road goes to court on Monday.”

“Did... Did they have a huge fight, or was that the dream?” Mika asked, rubbing her temples.

“I think you should ask your doctor to change your hormone dosage Mika..” Crystal stared at her.

“I think so too,” Mika sighed, sliding down off the bed onto the trundle so she could cuddle with Crystal. “God my head. Feels like I’m waking up from a very long, very bad nightmare. I don’t want to even think about it anymore. Just tell me one more thing?”

“If it means I can go back to sleep for another hour?” Crystal asked with a half-grin. Mika laughed a little.

“Are we dating?”

Crystal groaned, “We’ve been dating for like three years now.”

Mika squealed happily and kissed Crystal as she snuggled closer. “Perfect.”

“Lets move back to the big bed ok?” Crystal groaned as she slinked over to the big four post king sized bed, with Mika right behind her.

Mary peaked her head into the bedroom, but didn’t say anything, she always checked on the girls once before bed and once in the morning, not really to make sure they weren't breaking any rules, because there really wasn’t much rules to the two dating. She went back to the kitchen with a smile on her face and started the coffee.

“We raised a good daughter Christopher,” she said with a sigh.

“Mom do you have my prescription card?” Mika called out from the bathroom, “The bottle’s almost empty, and Crystal and I are going to walmart.”

“Um...” Mary said, “Try my purse? If it’s not there it’s definitely in the bill holder. No wait, I used it to refill your allergy medication. It’s in my purse,” she said.

Mika giggled as she left the bathroom wrapped in a towel and Crystal entered, “Are you and Angela going to go for dinner tonight?” she asked her mom, as she quickly entered her bedroom to get dressed.

“We talked about cancelling actually, given what happened with your father. It just doesn’t feel right,” Mary sighed.

“He was just coming over to talk to you about my 16th birthday present mom, you and Angela shouldn’t cancel your plans because dad got into a wreck and died.” Mika sighed.

“I know, sweetheart,” Mary said as she walked up to the door. “We’ve been separated for going on seven years now, but he was still my friend.”

“Crystal and I don’t think it’s weird that you and her mom are dating mom, we think it’s cool.” Mika giggled as she put on a purple skirt and a matching top, then went to the door to open it.

“Your Uncle Sean is going to take care of all the funeral arrangements, so at least there’s that,” she said, handing Mika her prescription card.

Mika leaned up and kissed her mom on the cheek, “I did all my crying for daddy yesterday mom, I miss him, but he did leave us.”

Mary nodded as she hugged her daughter, and then kissed her forehead. “I’m proud of you for being so strong, sweetheart. I think I’ll call Angel and tell her we’re back on for tonight.”

“Tonight we are sleeping over at Lins’ place if thats ok?” Mika asked.

“Oh, that’s fine sweetheart.” She paused to grin, “That means we can stay out late without feeling guilty,” she teased.

Mika threw one of her socks at her mom, “I want that back.” she teased.

“Have fun sweetie,” Mary laughed.

Crystal came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, and another neatly wrapped around her hair, “Hey mom.” she smiled, “Did Mika ask you about staying at Lins?”

“Yes, and the answer is no, you can’t have a wild drug fueled orgy at Lindsey’s,” Mary mock-glared.

Both girls pouted, “Oh mom, you’re no fun!” they both said at the same time.

Mary laughed out loud. “Of course you can both go.”

“Lins just got a PS4.” Mika pouted, “Can I get a PS4 for my birthday?” she changed the subject.

“Well...” Mary trailed off, but couldn’t fight the grin. “How can I say no to that face?” She didn’t see the harm in it. After all with Angela’s latest book sales figures going up, and her own career taking off, it wasn’t as if they were hurting for money.

Mika smiled and jumped up after both her socks were on and hugged her mom again, “Oh and Sunday after the funeral I’m going to be staying at Crystal’s because my school stuff is over there.”

A strawberry blonde girl - Tiffany, one of the girls from cheer, approached both the girls at Walmart, “Hey Crystal, hey Mikaela, you guys going to Lins’s sleep over?”

“Totes,” they answered in unison and giggled. “I wasn’t sure Mika’d be able to come,” Crystal added.

“My dad just passed away,” Mika explained, “But I’m okay. I could definitely use some sleepover though.”

“OMG Im soo sorry to hear that Mikaela..” Tiffany squeaked out and hugged Mika tightly. The cheer squad had always been very open and accepting of Mika, in part because of Crystal.

“Thanks,” Mika said as she hugged Tiffany. “It was sudden - car accident, but he hasn’t been a big part of my life in a long time, so I’ve mostly made peace with it. Like I told Mom, I got all my crying done last night.”

“Well you know you can talk to any of us if you need a shoulder to cry on. God knows you guys listened to me enough when Brad dumped me,” she giggled out.

Mika giggled, “Brad was a pig, like most guys, all he wanted was to add you as a notch to his belt.”

“Yeah. I keep hoping there’s a nice guy out there, but in the meantime I’m staying happily single ... At least until prom,” Tiffany joked.

Crystal giggled, “So what brings you to walmart?”

“Oh, you know, some nail polish, a hundred pound jar of mayo, some paper clips,” Tiffany giggled. “Actually I’m just helping Mom with some grocery shopping, but I wanted to see if you were coming. Like half the cheer squad’s confirmed so far.”

“Lins has some really fun sleepovers.” Crystal agreed, “Too bad we couldn’t talk her into joining the cheer squad, but she is definitely part of the spirit squad.”

“Oh, heck yeah!” Tiffany laughed. “I’m going to try and convince her again. I mean she’s athletic enough for it. Anyway, I’ll see you guys there. Sorry again about your Dad Mikaela,” she added, giving her another hug.

“Good luck; Lins has a phobia of skirts.” Mika giggled and hugged Tiffany back.

“You know,” Crystal giggled, “She calls you Mikaela instead of Mika because she thinks you’re too pretty to be a ‘Mika’.”

Mika blushed, “I think Mika is just easier. it’s a good nickname.” She trailed off and a comfortable silence fell over them as the perused the shampoo aisle, picking up a few essentials.

After Mika had picked up her refills though, she glanced up at Crystal again. “Hey Crystal, do you think I should start going to school as Mikaela? My therapist thinks I'm ready and it won't be long before my body says so too.”

“Oh, God yes. Everyone who matters already knows you’re a girl. And even the tools who would say something are too scared because they’d never get any tail again,” she giggled.

“I’ll talk to Mom next week about it then, after things settle down.” Mika smiled and grabbed Crystal’s hand as they walked to the shoe aisle If the pair were going to start running again, they needed better running shoes. “Remember no heavy shopping. I still don’t get it.” she winked.

Crystal laughed. “If I was taking you on a heavy shopping spree we definitely wouldn’t be starting here,” she teased.

As the girls rounded the corner, Mika spotted Luci out of the corner of her eye, wearing a pair of white sneakers with Barbie pink laces. She grinned and waved at them before disappearing around the corner.

“Okay, tell me you didn’t just see her?” Mika asked, but Crystal was distracted, staring at a pair of white running shoes with bright green-yellow accents.

“What?” she asked, glancing up again.

Mika rolled her eyes. “Nothing.”

Mika was sitting in the bleachers, staring at Crystal while she was doing her practice, watching Crystal move like fluid artwork. After all, just because they got out of school for the day, didn’t mean that Crystal could skip cheer practice. Mika always sat with the spirit squad, but she had never joined, unlike Lindsey.

“It’s not too late to join the spirit squad.” Lins smiled, “We are always looking for volunteers.”

Mika jumped a little, glancing up at Lindsay. “I’m seriously considering it honestly. Especially since I’ll be starting school as Mikaela soon anyway, so there’s no ‘only guy on the spirit squad’ crap to deal with.”

“Oh cool! You finally decided to stop wearing frumpy boy clothes?” Lins giggled.

One of the other girls heard Lins and smiled, “About time Mikaela,” Meygan, a black-haired girl, had been living full-time since before she moved here, though a handful of students, including Mika, knew.

Mika blushed a little and nodded. “Let’s just say I’ve gone through more anti itch cream this month than in my entire life before. My body’s ready whether or not I am,” she giggled. “Plus you guys make all this hard work look like fun,” she teased.

“Oh yeah.” Meygan said, trying not to laugh, “I’ve been meaning to give this to you and Crystal.” she pulled out a flyer and handed it to Mika.

“Oh!” Mika said after reading the flyer. “I’ve been talking to Crystal about joining the GLBTSA. She’s worried about not having enough time to devote, since she’s a senior scout too.”

“It’s a pretty big group,” Meygan answered. “We even have organized events that are funded by the school. We work around all the clubs and stuff, like some of our members are part of boy/girl scouts, cheer, science club, and we have a few in the auto club too.”

“We even have a couple of members on the yearbook staff,” Lindsay giggled out. “Yes, I’m a member. There, I said it.” She stuck out her tongue at Mika before she could ask.

Mika giggled, “I’ll talk to Crystal about it, I don’t know if I want to go if she doesn’t.”

“Cool!” Meygan said. “You don’t have to of course, and it’s not really like we do anything weird. It’s just a chance to hang out and be able to talk openly about what’s going on in your life.”

“Exactly,” Linds added. “I mean, Meygan here is happily single, and I’m unhappily single because my would-be girlfriend lives a billion miles away,” she teased.

“I’m working on it!” Meygan giggled. “But it does sometimes feel like Lindsay’s going to join the cheer squad before I find someone. That’s the kind of stuff we talk about at meetings though - building each other up, having fun, promoting awareness and stuff.”

“Sounds fun.” Mika said. She turned to see Crystal waving at her with a smile.

“What are you three giggling about over here?” Crystal teased as she approached, mopping the sweat from her face with a plain white towel.

“How much effort it would take to get Linds into a skirt,” Mika teased, causing Lindsay to balk.

“More than you can handle,” she shot back with a laugh. “Nah, we were just recruiting your girlfriend for the GLBTSA.”

“I told them I won't go unless you do,” Mika said as she gave Crystal’s towel a playful tug.

“It sounds like fun,” Crystal said. “I’m thinking about quitting the Scouts anyway - or at least cutting way back. It’s just not as fun as it used to be, so I’ll have more room in my schedule soon.”

Meygan smiled, “No need, we work around all the groups schedules, as I was just telling Mika.”

“Yeah,” Crystal nodded, “But I have to make time for homework somewhere too.” She giggled. “I’m going to go shower, then I’ll be ready. But if Mika joins, you can def count me in too.”

Mika smiled as she watched Crystal leave, and then glanced back at Meygan and Lindsey. “She’s really good at cheer, and she has soo much fun at camp, I don't know if I want her to drop either of them.”

“Well,” Lindsay said thoughtfully, “Don’t tell her I told you this, but I think part of why she wants to quit is because of that crap a transgirl got from her local troop over in ... Wherever it was. Colorado? Somewhere out west anyway, when she asked to join. I mean she knows that one group of idiot soccer moms doesn’t represent the opinion of the whole, but...”

“Oh,” Meygan giggled, “is that all? No, it totally doesn’t. Officially the GSA council has tried to remain neutral, but the scouting handbook I was loaned does say ‘Any race, creed, or gender’. I’m thinking about joining, honestly.”

“I’ve wanted to.” Mika answered. “I hear they teach you how to ride horses and stuff.”

“You should sign up with me then,” Meygan said with a grin. “It’ll be harder for them to say no to two of us!”

Mika laughed. “Sure,” she answered simply.

“Yay!” Meygan said, and both looked at Lindsey.

She looked between the two as they both gave her a puppy pout, and then sighed. “FINE. But I am not wearing that ugly as sin khaki uniform... thing.”