As Pete walked through the door of his high school on Monday morning the was greeted by an enthusiastic "Damn Pete! You look like crap!"

"Feel like it, too," mumbled Pete.

"Say what?"

"Didn't get much sleep last night."

"So who was she?"

"Your mother, but don't tell your dad."

"Oooh, feeling a little testy, are we? Sheila dump you before you even had your date?" asked Dave.

"Jesus, does everybody in this stinkin' world know we're going to go out?"

"Only those of us that count, old buddy."

"Then how the heck do you know about it?"

"Damn! I hope you get laid when you take her out. Maybe you'll stop being such a grouch." Lance drawled.

"Just 'cause you're green with envy doesn't make me an Oscar. And Lance, old buddy…"

"Yeah?"

"Unlike you, I'm a gentleman. There are other things gentlemen do on a first date besides fuck."

"What? Don't tell me that the big, bad Scout won't be prepared for his date?"

"Scouts are also 'friendly, courteous and kind', which is why I don't see you at any meetings."

"So what's to stop you from getting real friendly and courteously asking 'wanna screw?' "

"I give up, you're all hopeless."

Just then the warning bell rang and the group mercifully broke up. Even if his friends were all assholes, Pete felt a bit better after the badinage, and so headed off to classes in a much better mood.

The distractions of the school day kept Pete's mind off of the bag waiting for him in the shed behind the house, but there was little else on his mind on the way home. Unfortunately, the family was all home and the bag stayed by it's lonely self for the next several days.

Thursday was the first day Pete was home alone and within seconds of having the last of his family bid him good-bye he was unlocking the shed in the back yard and toting the bag to his bedroom. With a grunt he upended the bag and spilled its contents on his bed. Ignoring the Girl Scout uniforms for the moment he picked up the pink bra that had so captured his attention and looked at the label. 38B, it would fit! Hastily removing his shirt he snapped the bra around his body, then removed it to let out the straps. Whoever had used it before him had much smaller shoulders.

For the first time, Pete was wearing a bra that fit him properly. The worn-out old thing he had plucked from someone's discards was too small, the only reason he could put it on was because the elastic had stretched to virtual unusability. This bra fit snugly, and felt just right!

He couldn't help it, he had to look in the mirror. Sadly, the cups hung forlorn and empty. Digging in his drawers he filled them with balled up handkerchiefs and such, which resulted in lumpy breasts - but still they were breasts. Breasts upon his very own body. Reveling in the feeling he sorted through the other goodies from the bag. All told, there were two more bras and two slips that fit his body. Sadly, there were no panties, but since he had been buying his own clothes for some time he had a drawer full of hip briefs that were close, even if they had that crossover flap on the front that only a boy would need. There was even a garter belt, a truly strange object that he had to Google to understand what it was. The thing was so odd that it took several clicks of the Show More button to find a picture of what the devil it was. Then he remembered seeing a couple of packages of 'gartered stockings' among the pantyhose as he surreptitiously eyed the racks while waiting for his mother and sister to shop. Did he dare actually buy a pair?

The joy of prancing around in bra and panties soon faded, even if they still felt good on his body, so he checked out the uniforms and was delighted to find two of them were a reasonable fit. Admiring the image in the mirror, Pete couldn't help but snicker at what Brock would think of him in this uniform. What would it be like to hike through the woods in a dress? Would real breasts bounce when chopping firewood? Would he have to squat to pee in the woods just for authenticity's sake?

Pete emptied his forlorn stash from the suitcase and replaced it with his new clothes, then bagged up the things that didn't fit and took the bag back to the shed, feeling very daring going into the fenced back yard in his Girl Scout uniform. Of course, nobody could see him through the high fence, but being outdoors in a dress was exhilarating

Pete was closing the back door with a sigh of relief - no matter how good being outside felt there was still a what if someone sees me? in the back of his mind. But something felt wrong. It took a few seconds to realize that the bra had worked its way up his body and was trying to nestle under his chin. How did real girls cope with this?

Oh wait, real girls didn't have to cope with this sort of thing - they had real boobs to fill their cups, not old underwear. Real boobs were, at least according to the sex ed classes, made up of fatty tissue. Offhand Pete wondered what the girls thought of being told their boobs were nothing but fat, but back to the amazing raising bra. Fat had weight to it, so maybe if he could fill the cups with something heavier they would stay put,

Now, being in the kitchen for this revelation could be right handy. Crisco - that's fat. But how could he keep it confined? A balloon? Nah, how would he manage to squeeze the stuff into the little tiny neck of a balloon? Besides, he didn't have a balloon. A baggie? Maybe, but he remembered the time the baggie full of chicken broth had unzipped as he took it out of the refrigerator for his mom. Not a good idea, it would ruin his pretty new bra and be hell to wash off.

So, something dry then. Something that wouldn't create havoc in case of a wardrobe malfunction. Too bad he didn't have Janet Jackson's boobs. Careful Petey boy, such thoughts could be misconstrued. Besides, she probably had sixteen hulking security guards surrounding her and her boobs. Did wearing a bra automatically turn you into a blonde ditz? Where did such thoughts come from?

Concentrate Pete! Beans? They might work, but there weren't enough beans in the cupboard to swipe them without being noticed. Small, heavy and dry. Rice! Filling a baggie with a cup of rice, Pete inserted it in his bra cup and ran to the bathroom to look. Not bad, no lumps or bumps, but maybe a little bit more? Another quarter of a cup, then repeat with another baggie. Just to be sure he doubled the bags to be safe. As a test he ran up the stairs to his bedroom and the bra was still firmly in place.

Success!

Just then his phone started to warble - Sheila was calling. This was going to drive him crazy. More crazy if the image in the mirror had anything to say.

"Hello?"

"Hi Pete. Whatcha doing?"

"Uh, just doing a little experimenting with rice in the kitchen."

That was true enough.

"You cook?"

"Of course I do. Mom wouldn't let either of us out of the house without mastering all the life skills needed to have our own place. I can sew, too. At least enough to repair a tear in my jeans."

"A renaissance man, already."

"We still on for Saturday? I talked the folks into the car for the day."

"Why do you think I called?"

"My magnetic personality? You were exceedingly bored and would do anything to pass the time?"

"From one extreme to the other? More like after working so hard to get you to go out with me I wanted to be sure we were on the same page. I think spending the day alone with you would beat sitting home and licking postage stamps."

"Does anybody actually send paper mail these days when you can text or dash off an e-mail?"

"Poetic licence, dear boy. Have you no romance in your soul?"

"I'm going out with you. Does that qualify?"

"Right answer, Pete.

"Poetic licence, dear girl."

"Ouch!

"At the risk of sounding like I'm handing you a pickup line, would you be interested in taking the scenic route to the coast?"

"Not the submarine races?"

"Even I wouldn't be so naive to try that one on you. You know how maps have the Interstates in Green and the secondary roads in red and the local roads in black?"

"Sure."

"Well, the road I think we should take is printed in light gray."

"So it's the 'we're lost and need to snuggle up for warmth' ploy?"

"You have a very suspicious mind."

"I'm female. You're a teenage male. Need I say more? Just how did you find this practically invisible road"

"There were unindicted co-conspirators involved."

"And…"

"One of the unindicted co-conspirators had the car for the day and wanted to give it a workout. The Meadow Lake Road twists and turns and corkscrews through some pretty remote territory so there wasn't much chance of getting caught."

"You haven't gotten to the part about why I should care."

"Because it's a beautiful drive. There's even the McGuire Reservoir along the way. They won't let you near it, though, because it's the water source for the town.

"Why not? Beats sitting thru some awful action flick watching them blow up all those cars and the hero dodging every bullet fired at him."

"Somehow after all the mass shootings these days I've lost my taste for shoot-em-ups."

"You're definite boyfriend material, Pete."

"Now who's putting out the cheesy pickup lines?"

"I don't put out."

"Uh…"

"At least on the first date."

"Urg…"

"I bet you're blushing again, Pete."

"Senator, to the best of my recollection I have no knowledge of the subject of your question."

"You get a lot of use out of that line, boyfriend-to-be. You gonna make us a picnic for Saturday?"

"I suppose I could. Since I'm experimenting with rice, how about a rice salad. I know we have plenty in the house."

It was hard not to laugh at that one.

"I can rustle up some steaks and we ought to be able to find some corn at the Safeway even if it's out of season. You've got to have roast corn with a steak on the grill."

"You like iced tea?"

"Of course."

"And chips."

"Salt and vinegar?"

"Of course."

"You have good taste, Pete. Sounds like you're eating chips while we talk with that crackling."

The baggies had been crackling in his bra as he moved, but he hadn't really noticed. Damn!

"Nah, just putting stuff in baggies."

"How domestic. You'll make someone a proper wife, my friend."

"Are you proposing already, Sheila?"

"As opposed to propositioning?"

"Even if I wasn't several miles away from you I'm not dressed for the occasion."

"Come as you are, my boy."

"No car. I'm home alone."

"Seen the movie, no way I'm going to try and get into your place if you're home alone."

"Some proposition."

"Wait until Saturday."

"This dating business is suddenly more interesting."

"And I wasn't interesting before?"

"Senator, to the best of my recollection I have no knowledge of the subject of your question."

"I'm glad I'm not in politics, then."

"Unless you move to California. There the politicians talk about propositions all the time."

"And the ones in Washington proposition people like me all the time."

"They know a good thing when they see it."

"Why Peter! You romantic devil, you."

"I'm just glad you can't see me right now."

And how!

"You're blushing again, right?"

"Uh, something like that."

"And you're not dressed for the occasion."

"Like I said…"

"This wouldn't have anything to do with that lingerie you made off with the other night?"

"Sheila, this conversation is getting weird."

"And here I thought it was getting very interesting."

"Uh…"

"No sweat, cuz. Most people wouldn't notice, but your second cousin knows you pretty well."

"Just how well?"

"Well enough to notice how when you check out a girl you aren't trying to look down her dress, you're looking her dress. Am I right or am I right?"

"Uh…"

"And you notice little things like how clothes match, how earrings and jewelry compliment an outfit. I've seen you wince when one of the girls is wearing something really ugly but you never make nasty cracks about it."

"Is that your crazy way of saying I'm a nice guy?"

"You noticed! I'm not into Ugh the Caveman types. We girls like to check out the guys just as much as you guys like to check out us girls, you know."

"So you've been checking me out?"

"Sure. Enough to know I'm going to enjoy our date. Enough to see that longing look when you opened that box of lingerie. So did any of the stuff fit?"

"Uh… some?"

"I knew it! Was it the pink bra? I liked that one but it wouldn't fit me. You're going to have to show me someday, Pete."

"When pigs fly."

"Oink, oink"

"Planning to grow wings?"

"Planning to grow boobs?"

"Sheila, I would never ask a woman about her breasts. I'm a gentleman."

"A gentleman with a pink bra. Wait a minute!"

"I can wait as long as it takes for you to come to your senses."

"Experiments with rice… crackling plastic… by any chance would that rice have ended up in your bra cups. Your pink bra cups?"

"Senator, to the best of my recollection I have no knowledge of the subject of your question."

"I knew it, girlfriend. Don't go into politics, you're a lousy liar. So you're wearing a pink bra while we're talking, aren't you?"

"Uhhh…"

"C'mon Pete. Tell the truth."

"Yes."

"I knew it!"

"I guess that means the date is off, right?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Now you know I'm wearing a bra."

"So am I, what's the big deal?"

"But you're a girl!"

"I'm glad you noticed. Sometimes I have to wonder about you."

"You'd still go out with me even knowing I want to wear a bra?"

"Heck, I wouldn't even care if you wore it on our date. Probably best to leave the rice home, though."

"Wow!"

"I like you, Pete. You're a good egg, even if you're a bit cracked."

"Trustworthy, loyal helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Not one word about my underwear."

"I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. We Girl Scouts have our spiel too.

"Say - you'd look pretty cute in a Girl Scout uniform, and then you'd be my sister and my cousin."

"I suppose I do."

"Wait a minute! How would you know?"

"There was more than lingerie in that bag."

"You're wearing a Girl Scout uniform? Now?"

"Two of them fit me, so I tried them on. It's a lot more interesting than the Boy Scout uniform. But only until my family gets back, which is any time now. I'm going to have to resume my secret identity and stop talking."

"You are one confused puppy. I thought Pete was your normal identity and the Girl Scout in the pink bra was your secret identity."

"I'm not so sure, really."

"Interesting. I'm looking forward to Saturday, it ought to be the most interesting date I've ever had."

"It's the only date I've ever had."

"Zowie! We better make it pretty special, then."

"Let's not get too excited. Friends, OK?"

"Friends, for sure. I want to know both of you better."