My mom, Mary and I got up simultaneously and all three of us walked over to hug my dad. I was so proud to be his daughter. A little more crying happened and after a short while, we settled back down.

“Okay girls. We need to get ready for shopping soon. Mary, I will give you some money too so you don’t feel treated unfairly.” mom announced.

“Hooray! I am not going to say no to that .” Mary said excitedly.

“What about your friend Samantha, Riley. Maybe she wants to hang out at the mall with us?” mom asked me.

“OMG! I totally forgot about Sammy. I have to text her asap. Oh no! I think my phone has probably no charge at all. She is going to be so mad that I didn’t text her all day yesterday.” I said feeling close to tears.

Mary came over to give me a hug.

“It will be okay, babe. Just explain to her what happened yesterday and she will be understanding.” Mary said trying to cheer me up.

“Let’s go upstairs and find you some of my old clothes and charge your phone. Once you got a bit of a charge you should ask her if you can call her. Explain to her what happened and ask if she wants to meet us at the mall.” Mary instructed me.

“If you say it like that, it sounds so easy,” I replied.

Mary smiled and nodded and then we were on our way upstairs. I went right to my room and looked for my phone. I found it sitting on the corner of my desk and of course it was turned off. I plugged it in and it started to charge. I left my room again and entered Mary’s room.

“Hey sis, I plugged in my phone. I will call Sammy as soon as the phone has a bit of a charge. Now, did you find anything cute to wear for me?” I asked smiling at her.

“Patience, sis. I have a few ideas. How about some cute jeans and a nice top. I fortunately still have some of my old jeans from a few years ago. And I also have some cute panties with lace you can wear and keep. They are also from when I was younger.” Mary suggested.

“Great. Thanks, Sis! You are the best. I will take the clothes, go to my room, get changed and see if I am able to call Sammy.” I said and left her room.

I went back to my room, put the clothes on the bed and checked my phone. It had a bit of a charge. I saw I had 17 text messages. All from Sammy. The first few ones were friendly, the ones after that sounded worried and the last ones were just angry. I texted her saying that I was sorry asking if I can call her. She said yes. I called and explained my situation to her. Her anger slowly disappeared. She was friendly again and sounded excited about my adventures.

“Wow, that is so cool. I wish I could have come with you to the mall. It sounded like you girls had fun.” Sammy told me.

“Actually, we are going back to the mall. Would you like to meet us there if you are not doing anything else?” I asked her hoping she would say yes.

“Heck yeah! You don’t have to ask me twice. I will ask my mom. She was talking about going shopping today. I am sure she will be able to drop me off.” Sammy said sounding very excited.

“That is wonderful! Can’t wait to see you again. I missed you. Oh, I still have to tell you the details of the discussions Mary and I had with our parents. I am hoping we could have a bit of private time when we are all at the mall or after shopping. I am sure my sister and my mom want to go to some stores we are not interested in.” I explained.

“Yes. That sounds good. I would love to have some private time, sweetie. Not just for talking.” Sammy said sounding very excited and a bit flirty.

My heart started to beat faster and maybe it skipped a beat.

“Fantastic. Let’s meet at the mall in about 45 minutes. Can’t wait!” I told her.

“Me neither. See you soon.” Sammy said and hung up.
I changed into the cute clothes Mary gave me. I checked myself in the mirror. I liked what I saw. I really looked like a cute girl. The girlie jeans Mary gave me fit me perfectly and looked super cute.

I took my phone. It was charged a bit. I kept it plugged in when I talked to Sammy. I will charge my phone in the car a bit more when we are on our way to the mall. I walked downstairs and saw that mom and Mary were already waiting for me.

“Wow, look at you, sis! You look cute in those jeans.” Mary complimented me.

“Aw, thanks,” I told her smiling.

“Yes, you do look super cute.” my mom agreed.

“I think so too.” dad stated.

“Oh, thanks mom and dad,” I said walking towards him giving him a big hug and then my mom.

“What are you going to do this morning?” I asked my dad.

“Well, I think I am going to work around the house and do some more research so we can find you a therapist,” he told us.

“Thanks, daddy. You are the best. I appreciate that a lot. However, I think you should do something fun too today. Maybe you and I can do something when we are back from the mall?” I asked.

My dad seemed thrilled and answered that this is a great idea. We got in the car and left for the mall.

“Oh, Sammy will meet us at the mall,” I told my mom and sis. They smiled at me and seemed excited.

On the way to the mall, we started talking.

“So, what clothes are you most interested in?” Mary asked me.

“I think mostly nice skirts and dresses,” I answered.

“You are going to need a completely new wardrobe. That included bras, panties, stockings, socks, tops, jeans and leggings” my mom said joining into our conversation.

“Agreed. I will need a whole lot of clothes. I also like the ones you gave me, sis” I told Mary.

“You are welcome, babe. So, let’s change the subject. I am excited to finally meet your friend Sammy.” Mary said seeming thrilled.

“Yes. I am sure she is excited to meet you too.” I said.

“So are you two going to smooch again?” Mary teased me a bit.

“What do you mean with again?” my mom jumped in sounding a bit concerned.

“Well, Sammy and I kissed,” I told my mom trying to be honest.

“Interesting.” my mom stated matter of factly.

“Oh, come on mom! This is no big deal. Riley is old enough for that.” Mary also said matter of factly.

“Alright. I am just a bit disappointed you did not tell me, Riley.” mom said sounding a bit hurt.

“I am sorry, mom. There was so much going on and when I was still Randy I felt much more shy about these things.”I explained.

“It’s okay. I think we need to talk about kissing and sex sometime soon. I think this is important. Maybe Mary can be a part of this discussion too?” my mom asked.

“Sure. I will gladly give my expert opinion.” Mary said jokingly.

“Thanks, doctor sex,” I said smiling.

“Mom, can you believe this. Look at how sassy Riley has become.” Mary pointed out.

“I noticed that.” my mom said almost laughingly.

We finally reached the mall. We found a place to park and walked to the main entrance. Sammy texted me saying that she is already at the food court. We made our way to the food court and Sammy and I found each other. I almost ran up to her and we hugged each other tightly. Then we kissed for about three seconds.

I turned around to introduce Sammy to my mom and Mary who both had a huge smile on their faces.

Mary and Sammy hugged.

“Hey, Sammy. It is nice to finally meet you. I am glad you have been such a great friend for my baby sister.” Mary said.

“Of course. Thanks. I am also happy to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you. Riley talks about almost nothing else but her big role model Mary.” Sammy replied.

Mary actually blushed a bit and smiled.

“Hi, Sammy. It is nice to see you again.” my mom said.

“You too!” Sammy responded while shaking her hand.

We decided to split up. My mom gave me an envelope with cash and wished us three girls fun going shopping. We agreed to meet in about two hours at the food court again.

Mary, Sammy and I walked into a clothes store that had fashion for people my age. I tried on some dresses, skirts, and jeans. I also looked at shoes. The three of us had a lot of fun. I was happy that Mary and Sammy seemed to get along. At least this was my first impression.

The three of us went from store to store to find clothes and all kinds of accessories. I needed a purse and I wanted some cute sunglasses. The next store we visited was Macy’s. The place where it all began. Sammy and I smiled at each other when we walked through the main entrance. All of us carried heavy bags with clothes.

“I want to look for some pantyhose and maybe try on a few dresses. I think after that I need a break.” I said feeling a bit exhausted.

Sammy and Mary both nodded in agreement. We went back to the food court. It was about time to meet my mom there anyways. We settled down for a bit and started talking.

“Well, Riley. Are you happy with your purchases?” Sammy asked me.

“Very much so. What do you ladies think we should do after we are done shopping?” I asked.

“Why don’t we all go back to our house and examine our loot? We could even try on a few outfits. If Sammy wants to join us and her mom is okay with it?” Mary suggested.

“That would be awesome. I will text her right away.” Sammy said sounding thrilled.

“Hey girls! How was everyone’s shopping trip? Did you have fun?” mom asked us coming up to our table.

“Yes!” all three of us said at the same time.

“Mom, can Sammy come with us to the house to hang out?” I asked her.

“Oh, I suppose so. If Sammies’ mom is okay with it.” mom answered.

“She just texted me back. I have to be home by seven for dinner. Until then I can stay.” Sammy let us know.

“Alright! Then we shall go home. Sammy, please tell your mom I want to talk to her later this afternoon.” my mom told Sammy.
“Will do!” Sammy replied.

All of us made our way back to the car with many big bags. Once we settled in the car, everyone started talking loudly.

“What a fun day this was so far. I really enjoyed going out shopping with you lovely ladies. Thanks for all the good styling advice.” I told my sis and my friend.

“Are you kidding me? This was so much fun. I have to thank you, Riley and Mary.” Sammy stated.

“I enjoyed myself so much shopping with my little sis and her cool friend,” Mary told us.

“You girls are just too cute. Let’s get you home.” mom said while we were making our way through my beautiful hometown.

Mary and Sammy started talking about makeup and a listened closely while I was still able to observe the outside world going by. It was about three in the afternoon and the sun was thinking about leaving us for the day. A lot of people in my town had beautiful Christmas decorations and festive lights. I always liked to walk around town in the evenings and admire the people’s creativity.

As we were slowly making our way to our house, I felt even more excited. The prospect of another fashion show thrilled me. We finally arrived and us four ladies walked into the front door. My dad was right there seeming to have waited for us.

“Hello, ladies! How was shopping?” my dad inquired.

“It was good. As you can see we found a few things.” I said jokingly down playing our huge shopping bags.

“Haha! I can see that. Oh, hi Sammy. It’s nice to see you again.” my dad said to Sammy.

“Thank you. You too. Thanks for having me over.” Sammy said sounding very polite.
“Why don’t you three girls go upstairs and try out your new wardrobes. I have to talk to Riley’s & Mary’s dad.” mom said sounding a bit serious.

We all went upstairs with our big bags and decided to use Mary’s room for our fashion show. I threw a lot of my clothes on Mary’s bed and started sorting it out and rearranging many things. Sammy and Mary did the same thing. All three of us decided to try on different things, hanging out in just underwear sometimes. Once the outfits we put together were complete, we documented our fashion show by taking a million pictures. Sammy decided to post some of those pictures on Instagram.

After trying on a few more outfits, we all started to feel tired. We settled down on Mary’s bed and started talking about this wonderful day.

After a short while we heard my dad asking all three of us to come downstairs. We followed this request and as soon as we were in the kitchen again, my dad told me he had a surprise for me.

“What’s the surprise?” I asked.

“Come into the dining room and see for yourself,” he told me.

Everyone walked into the dining room and there was a big cake.

“Why did you get this big cake, dad?” I asked feeling rather confused.

“Go take a closer look.” he insisted.

I went closer to the cake to get a better look. The cake said “Happy Birthday, Riley.”

This was even more confusing. My birthday was not until June.

“Dad, my birthday is not until summer,” I said trying not to sound rude.

“You mean Randy’s birthday is not until summer. Now that I have a wonderful new daughter I thought that we could….” dad tried to say.

He did not get to finish his sentence because all four females in this room started screaming and jumping up and down. Everyone stormed over to hug my dad tightly who almost lost balance and seemed a bit startled.

“Dad, this is so wonderful. What a great gesture.” I said feeling overwhelmed.

“You did well, dad!” Mary agreed.

“That was first class!” Sammy added.

“The girls and I have the best husband and father in the world.” my mom said proudly.

My dad did not seem sure about what to say. We all had delicious cake and had a fun time talking.

“Oh, honey. Did you look at the mail yet today?” my mom asked my dad.

“No, I put it on the kitchen table for you. It looks like there is a lot of junk mail.” my dad pointed out.

“I will take a quick look.” my mom replied and went into the kitchen. After about two minutes she came back holding a letter in her hand. She seemed very serious and concerned. I realized right away that something was wrong.

“This letter is addressed to Riley. Riley, who else knows that you are Riley and not Randy anymore.” my mom asked me her voice shaking a bit.

“Well, besides Alyssa, Sammy and a few of her girlfriends. Nobody else at school knows.” I said starting to feel dizzy.

“Open it!” my dad said taking the letter out of my mom’s hands and giving it to me.

I carefully opened it up and there was a picture of me, Alyssa and Mary walking out of a store at the mall. Underneath it said:

“You are a fag! We don’t want sickos like you in our town. Leave or suffer the consequences! We know who you are!”
I could not finish reading it. The last thing I remember was a sharp pain hitting my head while falling into a black hole of nothingness.