Fate wore a pony tail and a red dress. We were both attending a large group ballroom dancing lesson along with perhaps two hundred other kids our age, all of whom attended schools in town. Our mid-lesson break had just begun when the lovely girl headed my way.
Christina was a very pretty girl with pretty blue eyes and shoulder length, light brown hair. She wore a red, short-sleeve, cotton dress that hung just below her knees and had a sparse floral pattern on it. She wore suntan nylons, and black, leather flats — and she was headed my way.

“Hi, Kelly. How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks, and you?”
“I’m doing pretty well myself, thanks.”
“That’s good!”

“Yeah, so what are you doing Friday night?”
“I don’t know yet. Why?”
“I’m throwing a party and I’d love it if you could come.”
“Sure, I can come. Sounds like fun!”
“Great! Come by about eight and we’ll party until around midnight. The address is 3456 Mariner Ave.”
“Okay, cool!”
“Yeah! I’ll see you then. Bye!”
“Bye, Christina! Thanks for inviting me!”
“You’re welcome!”

It felt good to have been invited to a girl’s party. I was a bit shy, but I was glad to be going. I knew that I would have a good time, and I looked forward to seeing Christina again.

* * * * *

I stood in front of Christina’s house at ten minutes after eight. The wrought-iron gate to her sloping driveway was easy to find, and I could see the party at the bottom end. I walked through the open gate and down the driveway toward the party. Christina’s house had a two-car garage and both garage doors were wide open. The cars that would normally occupy the garage were parked on the street, and there were tables and chairs in the garage and the adjacent driveway. There was great music being played, mostly dance music.

I found Christina within a minute or two and greeted her, complimenting her on her house and the arrangement of the party. She smiled at me, invited me to make myself comfortable, and promised to come and chat soon. I walked around the party, mingling here and there, greeting a few of my classmates who were in attendance. I chatted with a few girls as well in my usual nervous style.

Half an hour later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Christina standing there.

“Hi, Christina!”
“Hi, Kelly!” She leaned close to my ear so that I could hear her over the music. “Do you want to come upstairs and hang out with me and a couple of my friends?”
“Yeah, sure!”
“Come on!” She smiled at me and led the way. We walked inside the garage and through a door in the left-hand wall. When we arrived at the top of the stairs, we met up with Christina’s friends, who were waiting for us.
“Hi, Kathy. Hi, Sarah.”
“Hey, Kelly! Coming to hang out with the girls?”
“Yeah, I am!”
“Cool. Let’s go!”

Christina led the way to her bedroom. She and I sat down on her bed and Sarah and Kathy used a couple of chairs in the room. One was the chair from Christina’s desk and the other was a yellow bean bag. I felt nervous being around three pretty girls at once — especially when alone with them — but I was glad to be included.

I looked around Christina’s room as we chatted. It was painted a nice lavender color, and everything was coordinated. Her furniture was white, and her bed had white sheets and a lavender bedspread. There were a couple of stuffed animals on her bed, resting against her pillow, and she had various posters on her walls. I saw a poster of a Van Gogh painting depicting a vase full of flowers, a poster of Madonna, and a poster of Mel Gibson, among other things. Christina had a lovely room and it felt nice in there, except for the loud music playing in the driveway.

Sarah got up to use the bathroom and Kathy went with her. They closed the door behind them, leaving Christina and I alone. There was something about the way they closed the door that made me wonder what was going on.

“Kelly, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Okay.” Christina readjusted her position before she continued. “Well, I think you’re a total cutie… and I love your shoulder-length hair.” She paused for dramatic effect. “I would really love to dress you up as a girl. May I? Please? I think you would look really pretty, if you don’t mind my saying so.”

My eyebrows went up. I didn’t really know what to say. I was surprised that I hadn’t immediately declined. I felt very nervous about the idea of dressing as a girl, but I had always admired girls’ clothes. Every time I saw a pretty outfit on a girl I wanted to wear it, too. I had never dressed as a girl before, but I knew that I had always wanted to. I was perfectly tantalized with Christina’s proposition.

“Now? Here?”

“Please? I would like to have Kathy and Sarah help me dress you up, but nobody else has to know. This would just be between us, I swear! I would really love to dress you up.”

I swallowed hard, but I was a sucker for a beautiful, sweet girl like Christina and I gave in to my temptation.

“Okay. You can dress me up as a girl, as long as you don’t make me look slutty or silly —- and as long as we don’t get caught.”

Christina looked thrilled. She seemed positively giddy.

“I promise you’ll look pretty! This will be so much fun.” She paused as she remembered something. “Oh, and just so you know, I have a plan in place to avoid getting caught. I added a fake name to the guest list so that in the worst case scenario, you can pretend to be a girl named Lisa, my friend from summer camp.”

I stiffened slightly. Would I really have to pretend to be a girl? I hadn’t been prepared for that.

“That’s only the worst case scenario, though, and I can’t imagine it will come to that. We’re just going to hang out in here at first and the rest is totally up to you. If you want to leave the room, great! If not, no problem!”
“Okay.”

I tried to smile. Christina probably knew I was nervous.

“Great! You’re really awesome to do this.”

Before she could finish, Kathy and Sarah returned to the bedroom and closed the door.

“We’re back. Did anything interesting happen while we were gone?”

Sarah and Kathy obviously knew about this idea, but Christina did say she would like their help, and I knew what that meant.

“Guess what? Kelly wants us to dress him up!”

Sarah and Kathy cheered while I looked over at Christina. She saw my face turn aghast and put one hand on my arm.

“I’m just kidding Kelly. They know this is my idea.”
“Well, okay. I’ll still let you dress me up.”
“Thanks so much, Kelly. It will be fun and we will keep this a secret —- we promise!”
“Okay.”

Christina got up and scampered to her closet. She pulled out a purple, long-sleeved, cotton top and a black, knee-length, velveteen skirt. She placed those items on the bed and got out a pair of black, leather flats. Next, she went to her dresser and opened the top drawer. She selected a purple, satin bra, a matching pair of panties -- and a pair of sheer, off-white tights.

As I watched her assemble the outfit on the bed, I wondered what I was getting myself into. I had not realized that Christina had bras, panties and tights in mind. I figured they would throw on a dress over my trousers, braid my hair and maybe add a dab of lipstick for good measure, but I was way off. They were going to dress me up as though I were a girl! I remembered what Christina had said about adding a fictitious friend to the guest list and suddenly, it was clear that her backup plan would only work if I looked like a real girl!

I really hoped that nobody at the party would find out about this stunt. If anyone knew, everyone would know —- and in short order. I worried about Christina’s parents —- or my own -- finding out that I had dressed up entirely in girls’ clothing. I wondered what would happen.

As the stereo downstairs began playing Aerosmith’s Dude Looks Like a Lady, I realized that I was doing nothing to stop these girls from turning me into one. I stared at the pretty female clothing on the bed, and felt unreal knowing that I was about to dress up in it.

“I think this outfit will look really cute on you, Kelly!”

I felt very nervous, but I reminded myself that Christina had a backup plan which we were unlikely to need anyway. I felt confident that this incident would remain secret.

“That is a very pretty outfit.”
“Do you really like it, Kelly?”
“Yes, it’s… it’s very pretty.”
“You are going to look adorable, Kelly!”
“Absolutely,” Sarah couldn’t help but chime in.

I tried to smile. The girls could barely contain their excitement. They really were thrilled to be dressing a boy as a girl.

“Okay, let’s make you pretty!”

Half an hour later, I was totally dressed as a girl from head to foot. I was wearing the satin bra and panties and I was wearing the white tights. All of my nails were painted red, and my face was painted with lipstick, lip gloss, mascara and eyeliner. I was wearing a gold necklace with a heart shaped pendant on it as well as clip-on, gold hoop earrings — that looked quite real -- and two rings. One was a “friendship” ring that looked like two hands holding a heart. The other was a simple gold band with five amethysts set in a row. My hair was styled very girlishly, curled and held back with a couple of barrettes.

“All right, Kelly. You are now a girl.”
“I am? How do I look?”
“You look awesome! Come here, I’ll show you.”

Christina took me by the hand and gently walked me over to the full-length mirror on the closet door. When I saw my reflection, my jaw hit the floor. It took me a few seconds to speak.

“What do you think, Kelly?”

Sarah and Kathy left the room to get us some snacks. Christina went to the bed and sat down while I stared at my reflection.

“Oh, my God! Is that really me?” I paused for a few seconds. “I’m looking at a girl in the mirror! This is incredible!”

I turned this way and that, riveted by my female reflection. Christina couldn’t help giggling. Suddenly, an unanticipated question arose in her mind. She knew it would be best to ask me privately, and her friends would be eager to return. If she wanted to ask, she had to do it right away.

“How do you feel as a girl? Do you like it?”

I opened my mouth and, for several seconds, nothing came out.

“Uh… oh, my God, I can’t get over this!” I glanced at the door and looked Christina in the eyes. “Do you promise to keep this conversation secret?”

“Yes, of course. I give you my word it’s between you and me. It won’t leave this room.”

I glanced at the door again.

“Okay, good.”

I looked back at my reflection, wondering how to explain my answer to her question. I spoke almost in a whisper, in a way that revealed something deeper and more profound than simple excitement.

“I love this, Christina.” I began walking back and forth across the room, watching myself in the mirror. “I feel so…” I searched for the right word, but nothing came. “I had no idea I could feel like this.”

Christina’s face took on a surprised look. She had been hoping I would enjoy dressing as a girl enough to let her dress me up from time to time —- and she was certainly getting her wish —- but I was responding to feminine exploration in ways that she had never imagined.

“What are you feeling, Kelly?”

I paused to assemble my thoughts, still pacing the room and observing myself in the mirror.

“I feel really good. I feel really comfortable. I feel like…” I paused, looking at my fingernails as though the answer were written on them. “I feel like I make sense.” I looked back at Christina. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Wow.” Christina paused for a moment. “Would you like me to call you Lisa?”

I glanced over at her, my eyebrows raised, a smile slowly spreading across my face.

“I would love that.”
“Okay, Lisa. Then that’s what I’ll call you.”

I stared at myself in the mirror for a few moments.

“I just can’t get over how wonderful this feels.” As I let the wonderful feeling sink in, I began to feel concerned that it was so strong. “What do you think it means that dressing as a girl makes me feel like this?”
“I’m not sure. But, I’m more than happy to help you look into it, if you would like me to. For what it’s worth, this is totally okay with me. I think you’re great just the way you are.”

I looked over at her and smiled again.

“You’re pretty great yourself —- and I would love your help.” I hurried over to Christina and gave her a great big girly hug. “Thank you so much, Christina. That’s so nice to hear.”

I sat down next to her on the bed.

“You’re welcome, sweetie. What are friends for?”

As Christina spoke, we heard Sarah and Kathy coming back. The stereo downstairs began playing Hey Now, Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. The door opened and Sarah and Kathy walked in with diet sodas and a bag of pretzels. They closed the door behind them and placed the snacks on the desk.

“Thanks for getting the snacks, you two.”
“You’re welcome, Kelly.”

I looked at them and smiled.

“Please, call me Lisa.”

Sarah and Kathy sensed that something unforeseen was happening and they exchanged interested looks.

“Okay, Lisa. We’re happy to do that.”
“Yeah. Look at you smiling! I guess you’re really enjoying being dressed as a girl, huh?”

I shyly leaned my head to one side and glanced down at the tights on my legs. I rolled my eyes upward to look at the girls.

“Yes. I really am enjoying it.” I straightened my head and turned to Sarah and Kathy.
“Can I trust you two with a secret?”
“Yes, definitely. I would never tell a secret.”
“Neither would I.”

I looked at Christina.

“I can vouch for both of them, Lisa.”

I looked back at Kathy and Sarah. We all began noshing on the pretzels.

“Okay, I trust you.” I paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Christina and I were talking while you were downstairs…”

* * * * *

“Oh, my goodness, Lisa. You never knew until now?”
“Not really, no. There has always been a part of me that loves girls’ clothes and always wants to try on everything I see on a girl. I have slipped on my mother’s pantyhose a bunch of times, and I’ve been doing that since I was three, but I have never fully dressed as a girl before tonight. There were never any girls’ clothes around my house and so I never really had a way to explore this. I've never really felt that I fit in with boys, but with girls, well, it's a whole different story.”
“You know, you really seem natural as a girl.”
“I do? Really?”
“Yeah, you do. When you first arrived at the party, I thought you seemed rather awkward. You seemed really nice, too, don’t get me wrong. You just seemed shy and maybe a bit lost. Now you seem really natural.”
“Wow. I guess that should surprise me, but… somehow it doesn’t.”
“This is really amazing.”
“Yeah, it is.”

We heard a knock at the door and before we could react, Christina’s mother opened it. I didn’t have to glance at Christina to know that her heart was sinking. I was certain that her intent was to keep this exploration of mine strictly between the girls and that she hadn’t wanted me to be embarrassed or hurt in any way. However, we were now executing Christina’s backup plan, and Christina had given her assurance it wouldn’t turn out like this. I made a mental note to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault when I got the chance.

“Oh, hi Mom! What’s up?”
“Hi, girls! There’s a phone call for Kathy.”
“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Blue!”

Kathy left the room to take the call.

“Hello there, have I met you?”
“Hi, Mrs. Blue. I’m Lisa.”
“Lisa’s my friend from summer camp, Mom.”
“Oh, you're the Lisa from summer camp!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Aha! Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lisa. It’s nice to put a face with your name.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Blue!”
“Well, I’m going to let you girls get back to your fun, but before I leave, I wanted to tell you a couple more things. Ashley is looking for Sarah, and–“
“Thanks, Ms. Blue!” Sarah left the room.
“You’re welcome, dear,” Mrs. Blue called after her before returning her attention to us. “Anyway, Christina, I think some of your guests are wondering what’s happened to you, so you might want to go back downstairs.”
“Oh, good call, Mom. Thanks for the re-mind!”
“That’s what mothers are for. See you girls later!”
“See you later!”

Christina’s mother left the room and Christina realized that she was going to have to go downstairs. She felt like everything was turning to shit and she felt awful. She put her arms around me.

“Lisa, I am so sorry. I really thought we could avoid all of this. Are you embarrassed?”

I put my arms around her.

“Actually, no. The first thing I felt was… alarm, I guess. But, when your mother showed no sign of catching on, I relaxed. I honestly didn’t mind.” I paused as I studied Christina’s eyes. “Actually, I had been wondering what it would be like… to be dressed as a girl in public, and… part of me wanted to be seen. Besides, it’s not your fault your mother opens the door without waiting for an answer; you don’t have to feel bad.”
“Thanks, Lisa. Well, like I said, it’s up to you what we do from here. If you want to, you can change back,” Christina shrugged. When I hesitated to speak, she intimated that she had another possibility in mind. “Or…”
“Or what?”
“Well, if you feel up to it, Lisa, you could come downstairs with me just as you are.”

I felt that mixture of nerve and temptation coming on again. I released Christina and went back to the mirror to look myself over. I saw a girl who didn’t look like Kelly. I turned to face Christina, and took a deep breath.

“Okay… I’m coming downstairs with you.”

Christina smiled at me.

“Excellent! We’ll have fun fooling everyone. Remember we’re not telling anyone.”

“I remember.”
“Okay. Are you ready?”

I took another deep breath.

“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. Let’s go downstairs.”

* * * * *

We stopped by the kitchen to deposit the remains of our snack in the trash can and we ran into Sarah and Ashley. Sarah was amused to see Lisa tagging along with Christina.

“Hi, Lisa. Glad you could make it!”
“Yeah, me too!”

Sarah gave me a hug and introduced me to Ashley. I found myself pleased to be making another girl friend. We chatted for a few minutes, until Christina decided to continue making her rounds. Christina and I walked down to the garage and joined the rest of the party. Christina introduced me to many of her friends, including some mutual friends. I had to pretend that I’d never met them. One of them remarked that I looked like Kelly and I informed him that Kelly was my cousin. After an hour of socializing, I let Christina know that I needed to take a break. We decided to go back upstairs to Christina’s room for a few minutes. Sarah caught up with us and decided to come along.

* * * * *

We got to the top of the stairs and walked into Christina’s room, where Christina and I plopped down on the bed again. Sarah dragged the bean bag chair close to us. As she flopped down in the bean bag, she stopped and looked around the room with a puzzled look on her face.

“Are you okay, Sarah?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just… where are Kelly’s clothes?”
“I left them hanging in my closet.”

Christina went over to her closet door and threw it open to show Sarah.

“See? They’re right in–” Her eyes went wide. “Where the fuck are they?”
“Oh, shit!”

Christina and I looked at each other. All of my clothes were missing. I didn’t know whether to be amused or scared. I went with amused.

“Well, hang on; they’ve got to be here somewhere.”

Christina began searching her room, and Sarah and I joined in her efforts. She looked under her bed, under her comforter, in her dresser drawers and everywhere else she could think of.

“They’re not here. What in the hell is going on?”
“I have no idea.”

Sarah was as perplexed as the rest of us.

“Lisa, I’m really sorry. I will find your clothes, I promise,” Christina began to apologize. I smiled at her and put one hand on her arm.
“It’s okay, Christina. This is clearly not your fault.”

She smiled back at me.

“Thanks, Lisa.”
“Yeah, Christina, it’s not your fault… and I have an idea who’s behind this. Where’s Kathy?”

Sarah looked out the window toward the party.

“Why?”
“Well, I sure as hell didn’t take Lisa’s clothes, and only the four of us know about Lisa. Kathy’s our only suspect. She probably finished her phone call, came back up here to join us, found the room empty, and played a prank on Lisa.”
“I bet you’re right. Where is that bitch?”

Christina stomped out of the room and we followed her as we broke out in a fit of giggling. I was a bit nervous about being stuck as Lisa, but I had not seen a single indication that anyone other than Christina, Sarah and Kathy knew what was going on. I was enjoying my experience. As long as I got my clothes back in time to change before my parents arrived to pick me up, I was happy to have an excuse to be a girl a while longer.

As we arrived at the garage in search of Kathy, Ashley approached us.

“Hey, you guys. Where’s Kelly?”

I fielded the question.

“Oh, he took off to another party, the jerk.”

The girls laughed at me. Fortunately, Ashley had no idea what was going on.

“Damn! I was going to ask him to dance!” We all began giggling at poor Ashley. “What??”

She looked around at us wondering what on earth we were snickering about. Again, I fielded the question.

“We’ll tell you later — when we’re sure it’s blown over.”

Ashley looked at me as though a tree were growing out of my head. She raised her eyebrows as she replied, “Er… right.”

Christina was still determined to find my clothes.

“Hey, Ashley, have you seen Kathy?”
“Yeah, she just left. Why?”

For several seconds, Christina showed no reaction whatsoever. Then she turned ever so slowly to look at Sarah and me.

“That bitch.”

Sarah and I burst out laughing.

“Oh, my God, what did she do?”
“That’s… what I’m about to find out.”

Christina stalked back inside, with Sarah and I close behind. Luckily, Ashley was wigged out enough that she didn’t want to know what was going on. Christina marched upstairs to the kitchen, went straight to the phone, and punched it into speakerphone mode. Then she dialed Ashley’s phone number. Approximately three seconds later, fireworks began. Christina started in before Kathy could speak.

“Kathy, what the hell did you do?”
“I took Kelly’s clothes, duh! Have fun finding them!”

Christina’s eyes widened.

“What? Oh, no you don’t! Where are they?”
“You’re just going to have to find them!”
“I repeat: Where the fuck are they?”
“So sorry, no speaka eengleesh!”

Again, Christina turned slowly to look at us. She decided to put Kathy through the proverbial wringer.

“Fine, bitch! Let’s see, it’s Steve you have a crush on, right?”

Now Kathy sounded nervous.

“Uh… yeah, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to tell him you have a crush on someone else —- like Ashley!”
“No! Don’t you fucking dare!”
“So sorry, no speaka eengleesh!”

Christina flashed an evil grin and we could hear Kathy shriek as Christina hung up on her.

“Don’t worry; I’m not really going to tell him that. I’m just making Kathy squirm for a while.”

We broke into laughter as the phone rang, knowing exactly who was calling. Christina punched the speakerphone button again.

“Why, Kathy, is that you?”
“Christina, please, please, please listen before you tell Steve I’m a lesbian. Please?”

Christina folded her arms.

“This had better be good.”
“Look, I was only kidding about playing a prank on Lisa. I did go back into Christina’s room and find the room empty, but I left the clothes alone. Then, before I could get halfway back to the door, I saw Christina’s mother walk by, chatting on the phone with someone. I wondered what would happen if she found Lisa’s clothes. Then I realized that, when Lisa turned back into Kelly, someone might pick up on the timing and figure everything out.”
“Go on.” Christina believed Kathy and so did I.
“My parents are out tonight and my sister and I have the house to ourselves. I figured it would be safer and easier for Lisa to change over here. That way, if things got dicey over there all Lisa would have to do is leave. I have to admit, I wondered if Lisa might actually like having an excuse to be a girl for a while. If guess I figured that if I took your clothes then you would have that excuse. I knew it might freak you out when you discovered your clothes were missing, but I was hoping that would only be momentary and then you would have fun. I swear to God, I was coming straight back to let you know about the change of plans when you called. I’m sorry, Lisa, I guess I crossed the line. I live right across the street, and you’re welcome to come over and change whenever you’re ready. I have your clothes safely locked in my closet, so you can take your time.”

Christina was softening and I was relieved. Yet, I was somewhat disappointed that we had found my clothes so quickly. I had been hoping to remain a girl for a while. I resolved that I would. We still had time before my parents would be arriving.

“Thanks for telling me, Kathy. I’ll probably change in an hour or so. Is that okay?”

Christina looked at me with interest — as did Sarah.

“Sure, that’s great. My parents won’t be home until tomorrow morning, actually, so take your time. Like I said, your clothes are safely locked away.”
“All right. Thanks, Kathy!”
“You’re welcome. Christina, are we still okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay. I didn’t say anything to Steve, by the way. I’m not that much of a bitch.”
“Thank God! I don’t think you’re a bitch either, but you had me going for a while.”
“All right then, Kathy. We’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, bye!”
“Bye!”

After another round of munchies, we rejoined the party in the garage. I found my self socializing more than I ever had as a boy. Everything about being a girl felt natural for me.

At one point, one of the boys popped a balloon right behind me and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Oh, my God!”
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”
“Yes, you scared the shit out of me. I’m okay, though.”
“Sorry about that!”
“It’s all right.”

The balloon-popping jerk went away as Christina and Sarah came closer to check on me. They had been startled as well.

“Are you okay, Lisa?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. How embarrassing, though!”
“Awww! It’s okay. He popped that balloon right behind your head. I probably would have screamed had it been me.”
“I would have, too, if I didn’t think it would give me away.” We shared a giggle.

I was amazed how natural and wonderful it felt for me to share my feelings with the girls — and to admit to the jerk that he had scared the shit out of me. As a boy I would have had to pretend I hadn’t been scared and all of that bullshit.

I had immensely enjoyed my time as a girl, and I had lived more than I could have imagined was possible. However, when the rumor began floating that a game of “spin the bottle” might be afoot, I decided it was time for Lisa to make her graceful exit. I wanted to kiss girls, not boys! I whispered to Christina and Sarah that it was time, and Lisa said a few goodbyes before we excused ourselves.

When we got to the top of Christina’s driveway, we ran into Kathy, who was fuming mad.

“Kathy? What’s the matter?”
“My fucking sister locked me out of the house!”
“What did she do that for?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Her boyfriend made a surprise appearance and she threw me out. Literally.”
“Oh shit! Lisa’s clothes!”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, Lisa. Your clothes are still in my closet. I was downstairs when she dragged me out the front door and locked it behind me. You should have seen her. She was literally dragging me out while ordering a pizza on the phone. I’m dead serious.”

Christina got a wry look on her face as an idea occurred to her.

“Your sister and her boyfriend order pizza a lot, don’t they?”
“Yeah, they do, it’s like their thing. They met at a pizza parlor so now they eat pizza. Some people have a song. They have a pizza. I hope they both get really fat!”

We erupted in laughter, including Kathy, but Christina wasn’t done formulating her plan.

“Does your sister look through your peephole before she opens your door?”
“No. She’s a complete idiot about that. I mean, a rapist could be at the door but she just throws it open like a fucking ditz.”
“Good. That’s how we’re getting back into your house.”
“Huh?”

Kathy wasn’t getting it. For a moment, I wondered if being a fucking ditz ran in her family.

“It’s simple. We wait for the pizza to arrive and we stand at the front door with the delivery person. Then we push our way in.”
“Ah, you are devious and clever, Christina — but you just gave me an even better idea.”

All eyes turned to me.

“Do tell, Lisa!”
“I say we intercept the pizza before it reaches the front door. We pay the delivery person, and wait until said delivery person leaves. Then we ring the doorbell and tell those assholes that we’re holding the pizza hostage until sis pays us and lets us in.”
“Oh, that’s way better! Then, if my sister refuses to let us in we can sit on the front steps and start eating her pizza!”

We laughed at the image of us gorging on the pizza with Kathy’s livid sister watching. We headed back into Christina’s house to get enough money for the pizza and waited outside.

Half an hour later, we saw a car coming our way that had a pizza delivery sign attached to the roof. We walked across the street to Kathy’s house and waited for the car to pull up. The driver got out, and we paid for the pizza, complete with a tip. We waited for the driver to leave and walked quietly up to the front door. Kathy rang the bell and waited for her sister to answer.

“Who is it?”
“Guido’s Pizza!”
“Ha! Nice try, Kath! Fuck off.”
“Okay, fine, but this pizza smells delicious. Let’s take it back to your party, Christina!”
“Okay, cool! Bye, Janie!”

Now Janie ripped the door open.

“Get back here with my fucking pizza!”
“If you want your pizza then you’ll have to let us in and pay us since we paid the delivery guy.”

If looks could kill, Kathy would have dropped dead on the porch.

“Fine, let me get some money.”

Janie stormed upstairs to her room and Kathy couldn’t resist mocking her behind her back.

“Let’s review, shall we? There could be a sleazy, scummy, sexually predatory pizza delivery guy standing here and my sister leaves the door wide open while she goes upstairs to get the money she forgot. What’s wrong with that picture? Better yet, what’s wrong with her?”

We all burst into laughter. We couldn’t help ourselves. Kathy hadn’t had enough. She was pissed at her sister for treating her so poorly. She remembered that Janie and her boyfriend always had pepper on their pizza.

“Hold this for a second, please!”

She handed the pizza to Christina and snuck out the front door. She grabbed a small handful of dirt, crept back inside and opened the pizza box, grumbling under her breath.

“If you’re going to treat me like dirt then you can eat dirt, bitch!”

She took a good pinch of dirt and carefully sprinkled it all over the pizza. It blended right in with the pepper. Smiling at her revenge, Kathy closed the pizza box and went back out front to dispose of the remaining dirt. She came back inside and returned to her place seconds before Janie came down the stairs.

“Just tell me how much it was and get upstairs, got it?”
“No problem. It was thirty-five dollars, including the tip.”
“You always were an over-tipper. Here!”

Janie slapped the money into Kathy’s hand.

“Thank you!”

Kathy did not react at all. She simply smiled, took the money and handed it to Christina.

“Come on, girls.”
“Yeah, let’s get Lisa’s clothes. I’d better get back to my own party soon.”
“Okay.”

We walked into Kathy’s room and she went to her closet. Kathy took her key out of her pocket, put it in the lock and turned the key. She opened the door and brought out the bag containing Kelly’s clothes.

“Here you are, Lisa. You can change back whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Kathy.” I looked at her clock to check the time. “Let’s see, my parents will be here in half an hour. I guess I should probably change.”

I hesitated for a few seconds while I stared at the clock, severely tempted to stay a girl for another twenty-nine minutes. Meanwhile, the girls looked at each other knowingly. Christina approached me and put one hand on my arm.

“Lisa, if you ever need to… you know… be yourself and have some fun, you can always call me. I’ll always be happy to help.”
“Me, too, Lisa. Mi wardrobe es su wardrobe!”

We all laughed and I was so touched that I couldn’t help giving them both a big girly hug.

“You two are so cool! Well, I guess I have to change now.”

I said it with more than a touch of nostalgia and the girls picked right up on it. Christina wasn’t done reaching out to me.

“I’ll tell you what, Lisa. Why don’t you come back tomorrow and we’ll have some fun?”
“Really?” My face lit up.
“Yeah, I mean it!”
“Kathy, are you in?”

She had been great to me and I wanted her to share in the fun.

“You bet your ass I’m in — besides, I’ll probably be locked out again!”
“Great! Tomorrow, then!” I glanced at Kathy’s clock again. “Oh, shit, I have to change!”

We all giggled as I dashed into Kathy’s bathroom and closed the door. I unzipped the duffle bag and pulled out my pants… and my shirt and my underwear and even my shoes. My clothes were super glued together! My jaw dropped as I gasped at my predicament. Kathy, Sarah and Christina were so nice I couldn’t imagine it was them. Janie immediately leapt into my head.

“That bitch!” I swore loudly.

“What’s the matter, Lisa?”

I opened the door and walked out, holding up my glued mess of clothing.

“This is the matter. I know you girls would never do this.” I looked at the door. “Kathy, I’m thinking it was--”
“Janie! That bitch!”
“Oh, shit, Lisa! I’m so sorry. Your parents are going to be here and you have no boys’ clothes to wear.”
“Not that I really want them.”

As I dropped my clothes on the floor, I looked at Christina, took both of her hands in mine, and looked her in the eyes.

“Christina, you have nothing to be sorry for. You have done nothing wrong. I certainly could have refused to be dressed up, but I didn’t. I fully agreed to it! Hell, I wanted to be dressed up! I meant everything I said up there in your room. I’m so comfortable as Lisa. I love the way I feel when I’m Lisa. I make sense as Lisa. Janie is the villain here, not you. If not for her, I could simply change back and there would be no problem at all!”
“Yeah, Christina. Janie’s the queen bitch, not you,” Kathy defended.
“Okay. Thanks for making me feel better, you two!”

She hugged Kathy and then me. I couldn’t help but notice that she kept her arms around me —- and I was in no rush to let go of her.

“You’re welcome, Christina. You know what else?”
“No, what?”
“I’m going to tell my parents that there was a game of Truth or Dare, I accepted a Dare, and some asshole from some other school played the prank of destroying my clothes so that I’d be stuck —- and by the way, I’m going right back to the same house in the morning.”

My little joke seemed to help. Christina looked cautiously relieved.

“Will they buy it?”

She was one wise girl. I looked at my nyloned legs for a moment.

“I suppose I’m not 100% sure, but I think so.”
“Okay, I’ll have to trust you, Lisa!”

We smiled at each other, sharing a steady gaze.

“Well, Lisa, you probably should get going.”
“Yeah, I have to go.”
“I’ll tell you what. I need to pee but when I’m done I’ll wait in front of my house with you.”
“Thanks, Christina. I’d like that.”
“You’re welcome.”

Christina released me from her hug, went into the bathroom, and closed it behind her.

“Hey, Lisa. Come here a sec.”

Kathy motioned me to come close. I leaned in to hear what she had to say.

“I can’t help but notice that Christina put the friendship ring on your finger with the heart facing toward you. You know what that means, right?”

I glanced down at the ring on my finger and looked back up at Kathy, astonishment in my face.

“Does it mean that…?”
“Yup, it means you’re taken!”

I smiled as my mouth opened in a soft gasp.

“Oh, wow. I mean, I thought I might be getting a vibe, but I figured it was just me. I guess not!”
“It ain’t just you, honey. Trust me!”
“Oh, this is so wonderful! I really like her!”
“I think the feeling’s mutual, but listen, before she comes out do you want a piece of advice?”
“Sure. Please!”

Kathy whispered in my ear.

“Kiss her goodnight!”
“Really?”

I felt my face light up. Christina began turning the bathroom doorknob and Kathy snuck in a “thumbs up” before the door opened.

“Okay, I’m ready. Goodnight, Kathy.”

Christina gave her a hug.

“Yeah, goodnight, Kathy. This was fun! We’ll see you tomorrow!”

I gave her a quick hug and Christina and I turned to leave.

“Good luck with your parents, Lisa! I guess you can have this.”

She handed me the duffle bag with the glued ball of clothes in it.

“Thanks, Kath! It’ll probably be okay.”

Christina and I left Kathy’s house and walked hand in hand back to hers.

* * * * *

Christina and I sat down on her front step to wait for my ride. I looked down at the friendship ring on my hand, turning it back and forth around my finger. I rolled my eyes up to look at Christina and smiled at her. She seemed excited that I had noticed the ring, even if it had taken me a while.

“I love this ring, Christina.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah. Especially the way the heart is facing towards me. Is that just… random, or…?”

Our eye contact was steady.

“It’s not random. I knew what I was doing.”

She moved her face within inches of mine.
Want a piece of advice? Yeah, sure! Kiss her goodnight!

“Well, I don’t care what happens to me tonight. It couldn’t be more worth it!”

As she smiled, I gave her a long, full kiss on the lips. Without breaking the kiss, she put her arms around me and I gladly reciprocated. When we finally pulled away, we sat there with our arms around each other, surrounded by the love in the air. We stayed that way until a tiny pair of headlights pierced the distant darkness and the sound of an engine approached.

“That’s probably my ride.”
“I hate to see you go.”
“I hate to go.”

Christina glanced at the approaching car and took advantage of the last few seconds of the night.

“Lisa, about the friendship ring…”
“Yeah?”
“I want you to keep it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Oh, Christina! What a beautiful gesture. Thank you! I will treasure it!”

I kissed her again.

“My pleasure -- in more ways than one.”

I smiled at her.

“Shall I walk you to the car?”
“Please do.”

We stood up as my mother pulled up in her car. She seemed to look right past me, so I waved.

“Hi, Mom!”

She turned on the interior light and rolled down the window.

“Kelly, is that you?”

My mother was moderately shocked when she saw my new look.

“Yes, Mom. It’s me.”

She turned to Christina as she remembered her manners.

“Hi there, Christina. Nice to see you.”
“Hi.”
“Kelly, what on earth…?”

Christina put a hand to her mouth as she giggled.

“You know what Truth or Dare is, right, Mom?”
“Yeah, sure. What happened, did someone hide your clothes?”
“Worse.”

I opened the duffel bag and pulled out the glued mess of clothes that I no long wanted anyway.

“Oh, my God, will you look at that!”

My mother laughed at the antics I’d been exposed to. She had no idea of the real story, but I resolved to tell her all about it -- just as soon as she got out from behind the wheel.

“Well, at least you seem like you had fun!”
“You have no idea, Mom. Oh, by the way,” I put my arm around Christina and she did the same, “I would like you to meet my new girlfriend.”
“Whoa, you had a great night!” We shared a laugh. “Seriously, though, I’m thrilled to hear about this.”
“I’m glad that you feel that way, because I’m coming back tomorrow.”
“No kidding! Well done, Kelly!”
“Thanks, Mom!”
“You’re very welcome, but, would you mind getting in the car now, please? I’m freezing!”
“Yeah, I guess we have to go. Goodnight, Christina.”

I gave her another deep kiss before I climbed into the car.

“Goodnight, Lisa.”
“Lisa??”

[ Other Stories By Mona Lisa ]