Part 4 of 7

Chapter 9
"Well, you seem to have a rosy glow about you this morning"

"You bet, Doc! My sisters clubbed together again and got me a new pair of breast forms for my fifteenth birthday. They tell me I have to keep up with the way my body is growing, but if they keep at it I may end up with the biggest boobs in Texas by the time I'm in college."

"I do believe you could carry this 'everything in Texas is bigger' philosophy too far. Besides, I have no doubt that when you turn sixteen I will be prescribing hormone supplements for you when the law allows me to."

"Cool. I guess I just have to wait, huh?"

"Patience is a virtue, another bit of trite philosophy. Ancient as I am, I still remember how hard it was to wait for the important things at your age. At least you won't have to worry about doing a real life test when your body stops growing."

"There's another test I'm worried about, though."

"And…"

"I get to start high school in the fall. I don't know how well I can do with that. My sisters all tell me that I'll make the transition from home schooling to regular school just fine, but…"

"You will be facing some challenges they didn't have to confront."

"I like how you call problems challenges."

"Your point-of-view can change how you handle things, you know."

"I guess."

"Am I right in thinking your concerns are more about meeting new people and new situations than in having anyone guess you were born male?"

"Are you reading my mind?"

"Doctor Mysterio knows all and sees all. For the price of a simple dime she will reveal the future. I'm afraid I left my jewelry and crystal ball at home, but the talent still works."

"Wow! A shrink that is actually cutting her rates!"

"Nice try, kid. For you the price just doubled."

"Price gouging! Really!"

They both were getting very silly, but the doctor and Rosie Ann had developed a very good relationship over the years. Although she wouldn't admit it to anyone, having a transgendered client who had grown up happily as a girl in a loving family was a very refreshing change from many of her usual clients coping with the guilt and repression so common to the transgendered.

They spent the remainder of the session strategizing about how to be a high school student and how to be a high school girl. The doctor explained about sending a letter to the school explaining Rosie Ann's transgender status and the accommodations she would need, but finished with this advice:

"Talk to your sisters, they've done it before you and they'll be your best source of help. They obviously love you and will be there for you, so take their advice and go out and be the best high school student you can be."

"You make it sound like I'm joining the army."

"Let's hope your school won't be quite as regimented as the army."
 

"Hey Pete - who's the new girl?"

"Dunno. Where?"

"Over there. Just got off the bus. Long hair, green top, cute skirt."

"Jeez Phil, you gotta be kidding. Notice the other two long-haired girls with her? Rhoda and Rita Jordan? She's got to be another of the Jordan sisters. Magnificent Seven?"

"Oh yeah."

"You ever heard them sing? No chance they'd hang around with a guy like you who makes a bullfrog sound like a choir of angels in comparison."

"Hey! Mr V says I have a distinctive voice."

"With emphasis on the stink part."

"Nice way to treat a friend. I get by on my sparkling personality and superior intelligence."

"Yeah. Don't look now, but I think your brains must have leaked out over the summer."

"Unlike you who never had any to leak."

"I'm not the one who can't extrapolate from the data in front of my eyes."

"Well la-te-da! Extrapolate? Screw this data stuff, I'm more interested in a date."

"As if she'd give you a second glance."

"Better than screaming in horror when she sees you."

"Screw you!"

"I'd rather…"

"Don't say it, buddy. Those Jordan girls got class. You want to go out with the little sister you got to develop some good manners."

"Says you, Mr Authority."

"We'd better get our asses moving or we're going to be late on the first day of school."

"Alright, already. I still want to meet the new girl."

"Get in line, bozo."
 

"Jeez - is it always this crazy, Rhoda?"

"Just wait until you hit the halls when classes change."

"This is worse than moving the herd between pastures!"

"Just be glad nobody is riding a horse or you'd get trampled."

"I wish I were the one on the horse."

"At least with cattle you don't have to worry about them hitting on you."

"NO!"

"Be ready, little sister. The boys are going to be heading your way pretty quickly."

"Maybe I need a cattle prod?"

"Patience and a sense of humor usually works better. Save the cattle prods for the jocks. Some of those types have a hearing deficiency when the word 'no' is spoken," Roxy advised.

" 'Course as a freshman you're reasonably safe from the jocks, and most of the boys are OK if they aren't trying to impress their friends," Rita said.

"Home schooling was a lot simpler."

"Got to get out in the big, bad world sometime, little sis. You can do it."

"Who's your homeroom, Rosie Ann?"

"Mr Michelson?"

"He's OK, just follow me and I'll show you where it is," offered Rita.

"Thanks, sis."
 

Lunchtime.
"Hi Rita. Who's your shadow?"

"Shadow? I'm the light of her life," Rosie Ann snarked.

"This is Rosie Ann, the bane of my existence and my littlest sister. Mom gave up trying to teach her anything so she had to start high school. This is my friend Dory."

"Nice to meet you. Do you go by Rose or Rosie Ann?

"Usually Rosie Ann, but I'm thinking now that I'm in high school maybe I should just be Rose. And before you say it, I'm not the Yellow Rose of Texas, her name was Emily."

"See why my little sister is such a pain?" quipped Rita."

"She ought to make Mr Weaver happy if she knows so much about history."

"Gonna suck up to him, sis?"

"My sister already sucks enough for the both of us."

"Whoa! Can I sell tickets for the catfight?"

"Only if I get 10%," demanded the newly renamed Rose.

"Five! And I won't go any higher."

"I get the other five, Dory," Rita protested. "Share and share alike."

"You two are weird!"

"Here comes the rest of the gang. Hey guys, meet my little sister Rose…
 

I have to apologize, you two," said Rose at they got off the bus.

"That's cool," said her sister Roxy. "What are you apologizing about?"

"I used to think you guys were drama queens about having to ride the bus to school. I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong!"

"Ass a little sore, sister?"

"That and I need a nap. How do you guys do it?"

"You get used to it. Too bad by the time they'll let you take hormones so you can get some padding on your tush you'll be done with school."

"You are just so encouraging."

"Anything to help, Rosie Ann."

"She's decided she's just Rose now."

"Habit. My little sister is growing up."

"Not too far, I hope!" declared Rose.

"Let's go in and see if Mom got to spend the day relaxing now that we're all in school."

"Fat chance. She's probably out tending the goats or chasing rabbits out of the garden. You know Mom."
 

Chapter 10
"Can I sit here or is this table only reserved for Jordan family members?"

"I don't know. Do you have a reservation?"

"I have a lot of reservations about sitting with triplicates, but I'm a brave man."

"Rhoda, he's trying to pull the old 'I can't tell them apart' trick."

"Rita, should we let him get away with it?"

"He's only a boy, you have to make allowances," spoke Rose.

"I was warned, but I didn't listen."

"See - he's male so he has a hearing problem and he can't take advice."

"I don't know, girls. Should we take on a big project and attempt to rehabilitate him?"

"He is in Rosie's class, so there may be time to see the results. I don't know if four years would be enough, though."

"Ladies, please. I'm just a simple boy who is foundered by your collective beauty."

"How could they pack so much crap into a simple boy, I ask you?"

"Now sisters," pleaded Rose, "he may have some redeeming value."

"Uh-oh! Rosie has a boyfriend!"

"I do not!"

"Hey! All I asked is if I could sit with you, I didn't mean to start a war. I certainly know better than to be crossing the Jordans."

"That was despicable!"

"I thought it was pretty good, myself," opined Rose.

"Shall we gather by the river…" sang Rita.

"And stay to push the bugger in," finished Rhoda.

"You're welcome to join us, Luke."

"Oh ho! She knows his name!"

"Of course she does, we sit next to each other in English class."

"Nice save, Luke."

"Can we stop talking long enough to eat lunch?" asked Rita.

"Can you walk and chew gum at the same time?"

"Jeez, for sisters known far and wide for their harmonies, you three really get into it."

"Some of us know the score, others need the score in front of them to know what they're doing."

"Shut up and eat!
 

"Come in, Miss Jordan. Have a seat."

"Thank you, Mr Pettyjohn."

"I understand you've been creating a disturbance in history class, Rose."

"I don't see it that way, sir. I simply pointed out where the textbook was misleading and offered a more complete view of what was done to native children by the government. Simply saying that the government wished to 'Americanize' native children whitewashes the fact that they were tortured, not allowed to speak their native language, not allowed to practice their religion and forcibly removed from their parents."

"Perhaps you could have been a bit more restrained in your criticism?"

"Why? I understand that the Texas Board of Education is trying to hide the racism and sexism of the state and I don't feel any need to try to justify such immoral behavior."

"That's very harsh, Rose."

"It's true. You do realize that Texas ranks 34th in educational excellence among the fifty states? The quality of the textbooks in this school is really quite low. I'm glad that I was homeschooled so I know what's really going on in the world."

"Unfortunately, I am quite aware of the limitations imposed on educators in Texas. Still, I would ask you try not to get carried away in your criticism of the textbooks."

"I can back any of the arguments I put forth, Mr Pettyjohn.."

"I'm sure you can, Rose, but try to keep it in the range of lively discussion and not on the edge of riot in the classroom."

"I think you would have to speak to those who were screaming objections to me, sir. I tried to keep my arguments objective."

"A laudable goal, but do remember the effect you have on others. And I have spoken to young Mr Harris about his objectionable language, I assure you. I don't want to have you compromise your principles, but try to keep it civil, OK?"

"I'll try, sir."

"Good. And I must say that I'm almost sorry you're the last of the Jordan sisters to attend this school, your family has made my job both interesting and enjoyable. Now get back to class, young lady."

"Yes, sir!"
 

"Hey Rose!"

"Hey yourself, Luke."

"So what did old Pettypoop do to you?"

"Why Luke, we had a mature discussion."

"Right! You can leave the horseshit out on the ranch, Rosie. I know better."

"Look Luke, you're cute but sometimes you're an ass."

"Which is where the horseshit comes from when you're not flinging it."

"Well, you certainly seem to be full of it today."

"C'mon! What happened?"

"I promised not to start any more riots and he agreed our textbooks were lacking a great deal. Like I said, a mature discussion."

"That's all?"

"That's all. I suppose it helps that my sisters went through the same crap before me and my parents didn't put up with any crap then, either."

"And I'll bet Pettypoop won't be heartbroken when you graduate."

"Could be, Luke. Could be."
 

Hey Luke! How they hangin'?"

"Yo Gary. They're hangin' 'bout the same place they usually do. What's up?

"Not much, same old same old…"

"You have much trouble with the upperclassmen?"

"Not really. The admin keeps a pretty tight reign on that shit. You going out for soccer this year?"

"Nah, I'm trying out for the chorus. I screwed up my knee over the summer and the Doc doesn't want me to play for a while."

"That's tough. Wait a minute…"

"I'm waiting…"

"This couldn't have anything to do with you sitting with those Jordan girls at lunch, could it?"

"Jealous, Gary?"

"Shit yes! You're one smooth mover, Luke, but you better be careful."

"Hey Gary, just because you're a lummox doesn't mean everyone else lumbers around like a dinosaur with the girls."

"Smartass. I mean those Jordan chicks have a rep. My older brother tells me how one of the football jocks kept bothering one of their big sisters and he got his ass whupped."

"Really, Don't look like they could be whuppin' too much ass. They ain't the biggest gals in the state."

"Tricky, though. When this football type kept bothering her, they set it up and when he tried one too many times one of the other sisters dropped a loop over the guy sweet as you please and hog-tied him like a calf. Left him lying on the ground for the rest of the team to untie."

"Feisty ladies, aren't they?"

"Just be careful hanging around them, bucko. I'm not so good at untying knots."

"Hey - I just sat with them at lunch. It's not like I'm about to propose marriage or anything."

"You just want to make beautiful music together, eh?"

"Even I'm not stupid enough to use a line like that, Gary."

"Couldn't prove it by me, dude."

"I'm not that anxious to be sporting rope burns. Unlike you, I have some cooth."

"But you're still going to join the chorus, I bet."

"Of course. I like to sing."

"And the Jordan babes have nothing to do with it."

"Well, Rose is kind of cute."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Oh stuff it, Gary."