Jade Box

The Jade Box By Genni Smith

"Phone Susan," Emma, the receptionist told her. "It's your daughter."

Susan Denton looked at her watch and frowned. With a mother's intuition she knew something must be wrong. "Jade. What's up?"

"You better get home mum." Jade's voice betrayed her normally stoic approach to all emergencies.

"What's wrong? Is it Stuart?"

"Sort of. Just come home. Please."

On the twenty-minute drive back to her house all manner of possibilities ran through the mother's mind. Everything from a bad cut to a broken bone right up to a freak twister that knocked down the house leaving her son in the rubble.

She blamed herself for not being at home more often but since the divorce six years ago she had to work to pay for the little luxuries of life. Like food, the mortgage, her kids' schooling and electricity.

She also thought about her two children. Jade, at almost seventeen was a lot like her in many ways. Petite and blonde, Jade was very good looking, a fact she used to her advantage on many occasions. The girl was the student of the two and sometimes took life a little too seriously for Susan's comfort.

Her son, Stuart, two weeks from his fifteenth birthday, was much more laid back, much more like his father. At nigh on six foot tall he towered over both her and his sister. He had his father's darker colouring and winning grin and he was also a pretty good sportsman, playing both Australian Rules football and cricket for his school and A-grade tennis for a local club during the summer. In fact, the one trait Stuart seemed to inherit from Susan and not her ex-husband was a love of music. He was pretty good at the guitar and had organized a few of his friends into a halfway decent garage band.

God alone knew what was happening back at the house but as she pulled up she was overjoyed to see the place was still pretty much as she left it that morning. She quickly parked her car and raced into the house only to be met by Jade. "What?" she snapped at her daughter. "What on earth is wrong?"

"Come and see for yourself mum."

About this time Susan was ready to kill her daughter. After the terrible business trip to Hong Kong the last thing she needed was the drawn out torture she was feeling. But she followed her daughter into the kitchen where she saw a girl in her early teens sitting at the kitchen table. It looked like the girl was in shock and she'd recently been crying. Susan tried to work out what the hell was going on and why she'd been summoned from work for a girl she'd never seen before. And then she saw the box. "My God," she gasped. Hand rushing to her mouth. "It can't be."

"It is," Her daughter replied.

Susan continued to look at the girl, dressed in a pair of denim shorts and powder blue T-shirt with a sweetheart neckline. The girl hadn't even acknowledged Susan's presence. The look in her eyes told both Jade and her mother that she was off with the fairies. For the moment, Susan thought, it might be the best place for her.

"You'd better come and see this mum." Again Susan followed her daughter, this time down the hall. "Notice anything different?" The sixteen-year-old asked.

It took her a second but once again Susan simply said, "My God." In every family photo hanging on the hall wall the young girl sitting in shock in her kitchen was now in the shot.

"But wait. There's more." Jade Denton said, sounding like a cheesy presenter on the home shopping channel. She lead her mother to Stuart's bedroom and threw the door open with a bit too much melodrama for Susan's liking. The room that she had last seen before work that morning was totally changed. It had been, like most teenaged boys' bedrooms, a complete pigsty. Now it was ordered and distinctly feminine. The colour was changed. White walls and a floral bedspread seemed to leap out at her, as did the piles of make up on the dresser and a jewellery box that had once belonged to Susan's mother.

"When did it happen?"

Jade took a deep breath, something she did when she was about to launch into a long explanation. "Well," she started. "I went out shopping this morning at around ten and the little jerk was still snoring away. When I got home I found him where he is now and saw the box, put two and two together and then rang you. All I've been able to get out of him since is that he found it in your wardrobe when he was looking for his birthday presents. I guess he got more of a surprise than he bargained for."

Susan headed back for the kitchen and looked at the shocked kid who was now sitting in the foetal position. It didn't much matter, boy or girl, the scared child was hers and she hugged her and brushed away her tears. "I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean for you to find the box."

"You knew about that thing?" Stuart asked her pointing to the intricately carved Jade box on the table. "You knew and you didn't tell me?" The words hung in the air like some kind of noxious gas then the girl/boy raised herself to her full height which was now much closer to five feet than six, and announced. "Great, now I have to go to the toilet."

"Remember to sit." Jade smiled and was rewarded by a murderous look.

"That was uncalled for," Susan said to her daughter after Stuart left the room.

"Why? Look at him. He's only been a girl for a little over an hour and he's totally gone to pieces. I'd hate to see him getting touched up by some guy or be around for his first period if this is any indication of how he'll handle it."

"How can you say that Jade? His whole world it turned upside down and he's scared."

"Well as far as I am concerned he's a typical guy and a little spell on our side of the fence would teach him lessons he'd never dreamed existed."

"OK," Susan shot back. "Let me put it this way. Do what you can to help him or say goodbye to sunshine because you'll be grounded until you're thirty. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

In the toilet Stuart struggled with the button fly of the little shorts he now wore and looked over his breasts to see the white lacy panties he had on. With a snort of disgust he pulled both the tight shorts and panties down in one fell swoop and then turned and sat on the "throne." That seemed about all he was doing, sitting. He tried to clench and release different muscles but no urine flowed even though he felt like he was about to burst.

"How the hell do you do this?" he whispered to himself still stunned at the sound of the voice coming from his throat. To him he sounded like a little girl. Finally it felt like he did explode as urine came out in a hurry. There seemed to be no way to aim it and he heard the very feminine sound of water hitting water. Another thing he found out was it seemed as difficult to stop, as it had been to start, not like when he was a guy and he could turn it off and on at will. It was, he guessed, a practiced art and one he hoped he wouldn't have time to perfect. The one bright spot was the fact that his mother seemed to know what the story was with the box and so she should be able to get him back to normal, at least in theory. Eventually the flow ceased and he was about to stand and pull up the feminine underpants and a short when he realised this lovely trip to the "Ladies room" wasn't quite over. Stuart grabbed a big wad of toilet paper, not knowing the amount he needed, and dabbed his new private parts. He didn't even know if he was supposed to just wipe the pubic hair or actually go between the pink lips he now possessed but judging by the wetness he felt down there he decided on the latter.

"You took your time," Jade said, and her mother flashed her a warning look.

"So sue me," Stuart replied, understandably sullen as he slumped back down into a kitchen chair. "I've never had a... a..."

"...Vagina," Susan finished off the sentence. "In this house we call it a vagina. At least if you want to keep breathing. You might find out that all of the slang names for that part of the female anatomy aren't so funny now you have one yourself."

Stuart had already run through the long list of names as he sat on the toilet. Snatch, gash, flaps, pussy, cunt. His mother was right.

"How you feeling?" Susan asked her son sympathetically.

"How do you think I feel mum?" He snapped back at her. "I feel like I woke up in the Twilight zone. Like I am having some weird kind of nightmare. I mean I've got boobs for Christ sake. I'm shorter than Jade now and I feel like I have the body strength of a three-Year-old. I sound like a three year old too and on top of all that I've got more hair than a Old English sheep dog." Stuart grabbed a hand full of his long brown hair and then unconsciously tucked it behind his ear in a very feminine gesture.

"But apart from that you're OK hey?" Jade managed to say with a straight face.

"The only thing I want to know," the new girl said, ignoring his older sister, "is how? Why? And what?"

"That's three things."

"Jade Lydia Denton," Susan said, coming very close to the end of her tether. "How does Catholic boarding school sound to you?" That seemed to stop the interruptions from her eldest child so Susan continued. "OK Stuart," Without realising it she took a deep breath just like Jade had and then kept right on going with her story. "Do you remember when I came back from Hong Kong last week I wasn't in the best of moods?" The boy's breasts jiggled slightly as he nodded. "Well, I was meant to go on the business trip with Bob Drummond but his son was in a car accident so they sent me over there with Lou Stevens."

"Ah ha."

Susan was a Personal assistant at one of the largest Internet providers in Australia. "I get on fine with Bob but Lou is a different story. We were over in Hong Kong to try and get a contract with a Chinese firm and Lou basically worked me like a dog. I don't mind that, I get good money, especially when I am away from time to time. What really got me was the way he acted in front of the Chinese. He more or less treated me like a slave and was just about as sexist as a person could be. I could put up with even that, to a point. On the last day there I found out that while I was working my butt off Lou had one of the women from Accounting stashed away in his hotel room at night and in the day she went out and saw Hong Kong. The only bit of the Island I saw was on the way from the airport to the Hotel or out of the window on the seventeenth floor."

Susan stopped to light a cigarette and look at both her children. "I was fuming. I mean really fuming. I'm surprised I didn't burst into flames, I was so hot. I was sitting in the bar, having some wine, trying to work out what to do about it and I got talking to this lovely waitress named Mei Ling. I poured out the whole story to her and she could see I was mighty angry. In the end she gave me a piece of paper with an address and a name on it. Mamma Chow. She said Mamma Chow could help me and told me to go see her. She wouldn't elaborate on it but I got the feeling that Mamma Chow, whoever she was might well be the right person to talk to."

Taking a deep drag on the cigarette, using it almost like a comma in a sentence, Susan continued. "It was Sunday, we flew out heading for home early the next morning and I went out and saw a bit of the place. I really didn't care if I got the sack. It was wonderful, so full of people and the shopping was great but all day I just kept thinking of Mamma Chow. I didn't know how she could help me but in the end I just sort of drifted to the address I had."

Stuart inwardly groaned. He hated the way both of the women in his house used a thousand words to tell a story he could have told in two hundred. On this occasion though, his masculinity was on the line so he let her go.

"Anyway, before I knew it I was knocking on the door in this dirty little alley in one of the older parts of Hong Kong. This kid, about eight years old, opened the door and I told him Mei Ling had sent me to see Mamma Chow. He just nodded and led me up some very rickety old stairs. Mamma Chow looked like she was Eighty but she was probably more like sixty. She was wearing this blue Mao suit and didn't speak a work of English so the boy translated for us. Mei Ling had already phoned her and she knew all about my problem. That box," Susan pointed to the box that was on her kitchen table, "was placed in front of me and I was told it would turn Lou into a woman. I didn't believe it but the old woman insisted I take it. She told me that any man who opened the box would become female and the only people who would ever know the difference was the person transformed by it and anyone who knew the box's purpose. All the old woman asked was that I write to the hotel and praise Mei Ling so she might get a better paid job."

"So you left the box lying around the house for anyone to open it?" Stuart snapped.

Susan looked her son up and down. "Well if you call hidden behind my shoe rack in the wardrobe of my bedroom 'lying around' then I guess I did." The boy grimaced at that last statement. "And believe me you haven't heard the last of that." The mother said in a way only mothers can. "Of course I didn't believe it but the thought of Lou in a dress was enough to make me smile the whole flight home. When Jade picked me up at the airport I told her about my strange Sunday in Hong Kong."

Jade cut in at this point. "The thought of it made me laugh so hard I almost wet myself. You see, mum didn't know but last year, at the firm's Christmas picnic Lou had tried to put the hard word on me and he didn't look like he was going to take no for an answer. Luckily his wife wandered over to where he had me cornered and that was the last I heard of it. I didn't tell mum because I knew she'd quit her job just for the satisfaction of telling Lou where to stick it."

"That's right," Susan said. "I would have. But I thought about the box and was going to gift wrap it and leave it on Lou's desk when the contract is signed, and then wait for the fun to start."

Stuart took all of this in quietly. It would have been nothing more than bad fairy tale if he himself weren't evidence it was all true. "I take it," he said slowly and deliberately, "that there's no reverse switch on this thing?" He pushed the box away from him but he did it gingerly, as if afraid of what else it could do to him.

Susan grimaced. "No," she said simply, leaving the implications hanging in the air between them.

"Please tell me you have a plan? Something to get me out of this body?"

His mother shook her head. The three of them sat around leaving a lot unsaid. Susan was at a loss but she needed to try something, if only to make Stuart feel better. She reached for her Filofax and dialled the hotel she had stayed in Hong Kong. Turning on the speakerphone she waited until the call was answered.

"Hello, Emperor Ming Hotel," came a heavily accented female voice. "How may I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Susan Denton, I stayed at your hotel on the 15th, 16 and 17 of this month. I want to talk to a woman named Mei Ling."

"What room please?" The receptionist asked.

"No. She was a waitress."

"What room please?" was the frustrating answer.

Susan fell into the old trap when it came to talking with people who didn't speak English all that well. She slowed her speech down and raised her voice, hoping it would make things clear. "She's Staff. A waitress. Mei Ling."

"No personal calls," was the curt reply followed by the receptionist hanging up.

Stuart was not feeling a great deal better. If anything he felt a lot worse. "That went well." He said.

"That was only step one." Susan told him. "There was a guy there, Wang, who helps set up business conferences and does some translating if it's needed. I have his e-mail address somewhere. If all else fails I can find Mamma Chow if we go back to Hong Kong."

"Then let's go." Stuart said in all seriousness. "We could catch the next plane. It's about a 7-hour flight. I could be normal by the time we go to bed."

Jade had kept quiet for as long as she could. "Mamma Chow must be powerful but I doubt even she could make you normal Stuart. Male? Yes. Normal? No one's that good."

Susan looked at a smiling Jade and shook her head. "Don't you have some where else to go?"

"Nope."

"I'll put it another way Jade. Go. I don't care where. Go see a movie or a friend. Go shopping. Just go and leave this to me." She couldn't really blame the girl. Her kids were usually at each other's throats, Stuart giving as good as he got, and Susan could see this was too good to pass up but it wasn't helping anyone.

Knowing that tone of voice well Jade stood. "Well, I did tell Sandra I'd go over to her place today. We were going to try out some hairstyles for her job interview next week."

"Good."

"I'll be home later." She kissed her mother on the cheek and headed for the door. At the last minute she turned to Stuart. "If you're a good girl I'll help you with your hair when I get home."

"Goodbye Jade," Susan sighed.

Mother and transformed son were silent until they heard the car start off down the driveway. Susan took both of her son's slimmer, daintier hands and looked him straight in the eyes. "You have to know how sorry I am that this happened to you," she started. "I don't have any idea what this is like for you honey but I can understand you're upset."

"But..."

"But you have to face some realities here. I promise you I'll do what I can to make sure you spend as little time as possible as a girl. Its just there are a few things we both have to take into consideration. I'd love to go back to Hong Kong but I've used up all of my holiday time spending Christmas with you and your sister. I'd ask for more but with this China deal on at work at the moment I wouldn't get it and the plain and simple truth is we don't have the money for plane fare or Accommodation. You don't even have a passport so even if I could take the time off and we had the cash you'd have a two week wait for that."

It sounded reasonable to Stuart even though he'd never admit it. Looking down at the breasts that now dominated his view he quietly said. "How long?"

"Two, maybe three months." Susan told him. "Four months tops. Unless Wang can pass a message on to Mei Ling"

It sounded like a jail sentence to the boy, a bloody long one from where he sat. A thousand emotions seemed to flash through him at once. Anger, pain, sorrow, self-pity, fear, horror and vulnerability. "Just keep Jade off my back." Was all he said as he fell, sobbing into his mother's arms.

-oOOo-

Jade got home around ten o'clock that night, not knowing what to expect. Her mother was sitting at the computer checking her e-mail every five minutes in case she got word from Wang or Mei Ling. "Hi," Jade said, unsure of her mother's reaction.

"Oh, hello. I didn't hear you come in." Susan got up and gave her daughter a quick hug.

"Sorry about before Mum. I went too far."

"I think you know who you should apologise to."

"Yeah," Jade nodded. "This whole thing is weird and I guess I didn't think about it from his point of view... Even if he is a little jerk."

"Stuart's all right normally. He's just a typical little brother. Your uncle Andrew did far worse to me when I was your age."

"It's Strange. Sandra was asking about Amy and I didn't know who she was referring to at first and then I worked it out that Stuart is Amy. No one knows he was ever a guy."

Susan frowned a little. Feeling guilty and not for the first time that day. "Amy Jo Denton to be exact. I gave her a sleeping tablet and put her to bed."

"I might go off to bed too. Good night Mum."

"Sleep tight Jade."

Jade went to the toilet and was heading for her room when she past her brother's door. She heard sobbing and knocked.

"What?"

"It's just me Stuart. Are you okay?"

"Ah ha." He said in a voice that sounded anything but.

Jade opened the door and entered. In the little bit of moonlight that spilled into the room she could make out the much smaller form of her brother in bed. "Sorry about before."

"Whatever."

"No really. I'm sorry." Jade sat down next to him and put her hand on his arm. "Being a girl isn't that bad. You'll see."

"You Just don't get it do you?" He spat as he put on a pink bedside lamp and sat up. "You don't have any idea what it's like?"

"I am a girl you know." Jade was a little taken aback at this outburst even though her brother was now smaller than she was.

"You don't get it at all."

"So tell me Stu." She said softly. "Make me understand."

He thought about it for a bit, tears running down his smooth cheeks. "Okay. Look, I'm your brother, or at least I was, so I never say this sort of stuff to you. If you tell anyone what I'm about to say I'll deny it."

"Go on."

"You're pretty, smart, you have a good personality and most of my friends think you're hot. Things come easy to you. Now imagine you wake up tomorrow and you're a fat chick named Ethel, with glasses, pimples and bad breath. Now imagine you as Ethel are in the pilot's chair of a 747 and you have to land the plane even though you don't have a clue how. Getting the picture?"

"Yep." Now it was Jade's turn to feel guilty.

"I don't have a clue about girls. God they're hard enough to work out as a guy but now I have to be one and I don't know how."

"That I can help you with." Jade smiled. "I can teach you how to be a girl."

"I don't really want to know Jade. My whole life has changed because of Mamma Chow and that stinking box. No one saw Stuart kick five goals in the grand final last year because it didn't happen. No one saw me take a hat trick in cricket because I didn't play in the game. No one has heard me play guitar because from what I read in Amy's diary..."

"You, I mean she has a diary?"

"... Doesn't every girl?" Stuart asked.

"No. Well, back in the dark ages maybe."

"Well Amy does, or I do. Whatever. She plays the flute. I can't play a note on the thing. She does ballet." Jade giggled a little at the thought of her brother in a pink leotard. He ignored it and ploughed on. "I tried to do a pass de whatever the hell you call them and fell flat on my arse. You want to know what it's like for me? Well, from now until I get back to normal, that's assuming I do get back to normal, I will have to be acting with everything and everyone wether I want to or not."

Silence filled the air for a minute or two as Jade took all of this in. Finally she said, "I get it Stuart. I really get it. Let me do what I can to help? Please?"

He nodded and took her outstretched hand. "Okay. Truce."

Susan walked past the room and saw Jade and Stuart do something she hadn't seen since her kids were really little. Hug. She hurried off so she didn't break the clinch.

"Good night Amy." Jade said as she left the room.

"You are pushing it." Stuart said as he threw a pillow at his sister.

"Oh there is one more thing before I leave you. Exactly which friends of yours think I'm hot and what are their phone numbers?"

"Night Ethel."

-oOOo-

Amazingly his mother had been right Things didn't look as bad after some sleep. They were bad enough in Stuart's view but now they only looked Titanic bad as opposed to the Black plague bad he felt the previous night.

Stepping out of the shower he paused to look at his new body, really look at it. He still didn't like what he saw, not on him anyway. On some one else it would have been fine. What he hated about it most of all, probably even more than the femininity that seemed to leap out of his petite body, was the cutesy factor he now possessed. His face was all girl. From the cute little button nose to the dimples on chubby cheeks, each side of a pretty smile. There was a bit of a resemblance to his mother and Jade but a lot of his father and Aunts about him. Lowering his glance his eyes drifted past the wet hair that stuck to his slender shoulders and onto two smallish but very feminine breasts. They were much more conical in shape to the ones he liked to look at in playboy and on-line but he put it down to his age. Going lower still he registered the slimness of his arms and he missed he muscles he'd spent ages building up. Now they were so small they reminded him of pipe cleaners. A trim waist and a flat stomach with a belly button that stuck out rather than his old innie gave way to hips that flared just enough to make him look in proportion. He looked quickly at the triangle of pubic hair that covered a barely visible vertical cleft. He thought of all of the girls he liked and wondered if that triangle was worth all of the efforts he and his friends put in. The one in the mirror was almost a let down after all of his hormone driven fantasies about them.

"Are you ready Stuart?" Susan called from the hallway.

He wrapped the towel around himself, the same way his sister always did and opened the door having made a big decision. "You and Jade had better call me Amy Mum." He sighed. "At least for the time being."

"Are you sure love?"

"Yeah. We all know who I really am but it would look kind of weird if you're running around calling me Stuart."

-oOOo-

It was Saturday, and Susan had the day to spend with her kids who were off school for the summer holidays anyway. Normally Stuart would be out with his friends playing cricket or doing what ever it is that teenaged boys do when they're together and Jade was either at work or sleeping in. Susan herself did her weekly grocery shopping on Saturdays but this morning they all had a more pressing problem. What was Amy going to wear?

"I hope you two don't expect me to get dressed by a committee meeting every morning." Amy grumbled as she stood in her room dressed in an apricot coloured satin robe. "I can dress myself you know?"

"Sure you can sweetie," Susan said. "Just think of us as training wheels. Just for a few days."

Amy was directed to a seat in front of a vanity mirror so Jade could blow-dry her hair. "Have you heard from Wing or Dung or whatever the hell his name is?" She half shouted to be heard over the noise of the drier.

"Wang," Susan corrected. "Not yet but if I still haven't heard from him by Monday I'll talk to a guy we're using on the China contract. He's lived in China for 6 years and he speaks fluent Mandarin. He shouldn't have any problems getting on the phone and talking to Wang or Mei Ling."

It took about ten minutes to dry and comb her hair and then she was handed a pink pair of panties and matching Bra. "Well?" She said to her mother and sister. "Turn around."

"We have seen it before Amy."

"Not on me you haven't." Amy stated. "Humour me."

Both of the other women sighed and turned away as Amy took off the robe and pulled up the panties but Jade couldn't resist wolf whistling as her sister pulled on a pair of panties for the first time.

"I don't know why I can't just dag around in my normal clothes," Amy griped as her mother did up the straps of the bra and told her how to put it on the easy way, clasping it in front of her and then spinning it around.

"I know you Amy. Half the time on weekends you slipped on a pair of football shorts and that was it. If you're going to be a girl you will look the part. I don't want other people looking at you and saying I am a bad mother for letting you get around looking like......"

"...like a boy?" Amy interrupted.

"Exactly," Susan nodded. "If nothing else I would have thought you'd have learned in the last day that boys and girls are different. Besides, don't think I am going to waste my energy on fighting you about what you wear. I already have a perfectly adequate teenaged daughter to do that with."

Susan pulled out a pair of black three-quarter length jeans and a pink T-shirt with a large butterfly embroidered on the chest.

"At least let me wear normal jeans and a black T-shirt."

"Do you think people will mistake you as a boy if you wear them? Look at yourself Amy, you could wear a sack and people will still see a girl."

"At least I could be a comfortable girl."

"Please Amy, you know fighting stresses me. Do you know what happens when I get stressed?"

"I got a feeling you're going to tell me," the girl replied as she tried not to look at the figure clad only in lingerie staring out of the mirror.

"I forget things." Susan said. "It's funny, I thought I wouldn't have a problem finding Mamma Chow in Hong Kong but now? Now I am not too sure I could. I know it's off a main street with lots of Chinese people. There can't be too many of them in Hong Kong can there?"

"Okay, okay." Amy conceded defeat. "I'll wear the stupid things." He reached for the pants only to hear his mother and Jade laugh again.

"What? What did I do now?"

"You're trying to put the pants on the wrong way." Jade giggled. "The zipper goes on the back."

"How the hell am I supposed to go the toilet that way?"

"Think about it Amy."

All of a sudden a light bulb went on in Amy's mind. "Oh." She said. "You two are enjoying this far too much for my liking?"

The T-shirt followed and then Jade set to work on her sister's hair. She figured she'd tortured her enough so she just put it in a ponytail and used two little clips to keep the stray tendrils at the side out of her face. Make up was pushing it too hard so she didn't bother. Susan had gone to answer the doorbell.

"Some one here to see you Amy."

"What? Who? Tell them I'm sick or something." She stammered. It wasn't a lie. The thought of anyone seeing her dressed like a girl was making her sick very quickly.

"Don't be silly Amy." Susan brushed off the hysteria. "It's only Katie."

"Katie from next door? That's bad enough." Katie and Stuart grew up together and Katie was a bit of a tomboy so the two got on well. She could out kick, out run and out fight every boy in school when she was younger. Every boy but Stuart.

What made Susan and Jade smile was the fact that the poor girl had a huge crush on a totally oblivious Stuart. As puberty hit Katie had softened in both her dress sense and boisterousness and in the past year or so had done everything but throw herself naked on to Stuart. Sometimes Katie didn't think Stuart even knew she was a girl. A very cute blonde girl with almost sky blue eyes.

"Well it's too late." Susan stated. "She's waiting for you in the lounge room."

-oOOo-

Stuart, now Amy, felt totally strange in her pink strappy sandals as she walked out to meet Katie with about the same enthusiasm Marie Antoinette must have felt as she headed for the guillotine

Katie didn't seem to think anything was wrong. "Hi Amy," she said, hugging her best friend. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me?"

Amy was once again reminded of her new height as she looked Katie in the eyes for the first time in three or so years. "I'd rather swallow razor blades," she mumbled truthfully.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Susan jumped in saying "She said she'd love to go."

"Mum."

"Sorry Amy? my memory is going again."

"I'd love to come," Amy told her friend in a not so lady-like tone.

"Did I miss something in there?" Katie asked when the two girls got outside.

"Only a form of child abuse," Amy replied sullenly.

"You are a wicked, wicked woman." Jade Told her mother.

"Ah ha but you have to push the chick out of the nest one way or another." Susan grinned.

-oOOo-

Stuart never got shopping. He just never got it. For him it was a case of get in, get what you want and get the hell out again. About all he'd do at the mall was sit in the food court and look at the girls with his friends. Now, as Amy he was one of the girls but shopping was still a mystery. She and Katie had linked up with two other girls from School, Terri, a tall brunette who now dwarfed Amy, and Emma, who had beautiful red hair and piercing green eyes.

They spent hours going from one shop to another to try on, and even worse, discuss every item of clothing in the mall. It wasn't even until the shopping trip was about half an hour old that Amy worked out no one had any money to spend on clothes or make up.

Shopping for them was a social outing and she was amazed to find out that the shopping was just a setting for talk. Talk about boys, bands, boy bands, the school gossip and of course clothes and make up.

Stuart never got the talking thing. To him it seemed a waste to use hundreds of words when a few grunts could convey much the same message. And what he didn't get about girls is they seemed to think silence was just there to fill in with words. Around Katie, Emma and Terri, if silence were truly golden then Amy would be bankrupt forever.

Amy tried to hold up her end of the conversation but she was way out of her depth and before too long the other girls seemed to sense something was wrong. He knew this because Katie said, "is something wrong Amy? You don't seem yourself this morning."

"You don't know the half of it." Amy smiled as she sat in the food court trying not to look at the boys looking at her.

"Anything we can help you with?" Terri asked, reaching out and taking Amy's hand.

"I don't think so, unless you know someone in Hong Kong."

"Huh?"

"Forget it. Don't worry, I am OK." She smiled, finishing a salad sandwich she had bought, following the others' example, even though she would have preferred a burger and fries.

"Where to now?" Emma asked.

"I need to go to the ladies room." Katie announced.

Thus Amy was introduced to another female tradition. Going to the ladies room in groups. The women's toilets weren't half as smelly but there was a bit of a queue so the four of them waited patiently and chatted some more.

Feeling ready to burst by the time she finally got to a stall Amy struggled out of the pants and then sat and peed, feeling very relieved. Being the last in she was the last out and she found her new friends standing around the mirror either washing their hands or re-applying make up. She walked to the basin and washed her hands, only half listening to the conversation. That was until they discussed what they were doing that night and Katie mentioned the fact that she was going out with Steve Ellis.

"I thought you hated him?" Amy said.

"Hated him? I have been going out with him for over six months."

"Yeah," Emma giggled. "They're practically married."

This was news to Amy. As far as she knew Katie did hate the guy. He'd sniffed around her for a while but she wasn't interested. Steve and Stuart didn't exactly get on, coming to blows on more than one occasion especially when Steve wouldn't take Katie's answer of no. It seemed like more than her gender had changed.

-oOOo-

"How was your day honey?" Susan asked Amy a she walked into the kitchen.

"Great," Amy answered sarcastically. "We shopped, we bonded and we even peed together. The perfect day for any girl. And to top it all off nicely some nice boys invited me to show them my tits as I walked home."

"Well, as Tammy Wynette once said: sometimes it hard to be a woman."

"I have no idea who Tammy Wynette is but I would have gladly taken her word for it without this practical demonstration." Amy grumbled as she motioned to her body. "And I could have done without the shopping trip today."

"Well, you did have to get out of the house and sooner is better than later."

"I could have lived with later Mum."

"You have to get used to being Amy now. If we can't get you back to normal in the next two weeks you will just have to go to school as Amy."

The girl shuddered at the thought of the school dress she'd seen hanging in her wardrobe earlier. "I know. It's just not easy for me Mum."

"I know sweetie." Susan said hugging her. "There still hasn't been a reply from Wang though so we may well have to go to Hong Kong." Susan searched her daughter's eyes for a second and said, "There is something else bothering you isn't there?"

"Sort of. Did you know Katie has a boyfriend?"

"No but good for her."

"You think? She's going out with a real jerk."

"He must have something going for him. I mean Katie is a sensible girl and she seems to like the good guys."

"Well not this time," Amy said, wondering which nice guy her mother was talking about. To her knowledge Katie had never really liked any guy in particular. "Oh well," She added. "Terri and Emma invited me over to Emma's house to watch some stupid chick flicks tonight. But before you say anything I said no."

"So what are you going to do instead?"

"Take off this damned uncomfortable bra, put on a pair of shorts, a baggy T-shirt and then I am going to sit down and watch the football and think boy thoughts. I have had enough of girl world for one day."

Susan thought about it for a second and came to the conclusion that Amy was probably right. No point in pushing the girl too far. Besides, Susan though later as she looked at Amy stretched out on the sofa; even in shorts and a T-shirt she still looked very cute.

-oOOo-

"Oi, Face ache, get up. We've got work to do"

"Huh?" Amy said as she was wrenched from her slumber.

"I said get up," Jade repeated. "I said I was going to help and I will but I get to pick the lesson times."

"Lesson?" Amy looked at the bedside clock. "Bloody hell, its only 9:30. I didn't think it was ever this early on a Sunday morning."

"Well there's a lot you don't know sister dear. That's what today is about. I am going to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about being a girl but were afraid to ask."

"Doesn't the Bible say something about not working on the Sabbath?"

Jade nodded and smiled. "Yeah, and I may be wrong but I seem to remember something in there that goes: Thou shalt not pisseth off thou older sister. Lest older sister useth her new found height and weight advantage and slappeth you into last week."

"You ever thought about getting into motivational speaking?" Amy asked as she swung her legs out of bed and sat up.

"No."

"Good."

Jade ignored that last little bit. "You've got 45 minutes to eat some breakfast and then get that round little butt of yours into the shower. By the way, you look so cute."

Amy looked into the mirror as she stood. She was wearing the same baggy T-shirt she had on the night before and her panties just peeked out from underneath but worst was the fact that her hair had that "Just been shagged" look, as Stuart and his friends referred to it. "Forget what I said about the Bible Jade, because if there was a God he'd do the honourable thing and strike either me, or preferably you, dead."

"Hustle sweetie," Jade laughed. "You've got a lot to learn today."

-oOOo-

After two pieces of white toast and a long, hot shower Amy felt a little better, but as she wrapped a towel around herself she wasn't looking forward to Jade playing teacher. Jade for her part was anxious to get underway. "Did you wash and condition your hair?" She asked when she walked into the bathroom.

"Yep."

"Good. Now let me feel your leg."

"Jade! I never knew you cared."

"I'm seeing how hairy they are you little jerk. And they are."

"Oh no, call the follicle police." Amy sniped sarcastically.

Jade simply reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bar of soap, a tube of cheap moisturiser and a Silk care ladies razor. "Be nice Amy, it may well get bloody."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope. Any girl that doesn't shave her legs and under arms is seen as either a Lesbian or a French woman. And personally I don't know which is worse."

"Just wet the soap and cover your right leg from just above the knee down to the feet. There are just some things I won't do for you." She stopped while Amy did that. "Now watch carefully because you'll be doing most of this." Angling the blade so it was just right Jade started from the ankle and in a long, careful continuous stroke she ran the razor right up the front of her sister's calf. "It's that simple." She stated. "Just keep doing that including the back and then repeat it for the other leg. It's pretty much the same for the under arms. When you're done rub some moisturiser over them and meet me in your room."

-oOOo-

"How'd you go?" Jade asked as Amy walked into her bedroom wearing the same robe as she had the day before.

"I see what you mean about getting bloody," Amy replied showing a bit of a nasty nick on the back of her left calf.

"Call it a war wound." Jade smiled. "Now come and sit and I'll teach you some basic hair styles"

"You know that this is all being stored up here," Amy tapped her forehead. "And I will repay you back for every little bit of it."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." Jade shrugged. "Now I borrowed some books from friends, there are all sorts of styles in here. I want you to study them and there will be a test at the end of the week. Right now I will teach you the basic ponytail, how to do plait your hair and how to put it up."

"Trust you to be so helpful now. Where were you when I wanted Kelly Barnes" phone number?"

"Shut up and watch Amy and then we'll move on to make-up." An hour and a half later Jade pulled out some make up and said, "Now the trick to putting on make up is to make it look like you're not wearing it."

"At the risk of putting Max Factor and L'Oreal out of business Jade, there's an easy way to achieve that. Don't put any of the shit on your face."

"That would be too easy Amy, and much less fun."

"How did I know you were going to say that?"

It was one p.m. when Amy finally got out of her sisters clutches and got dressed. She could still taste the lipstick and smell the perfume Jade had liberally applied. Jade had been pushing for a dress but she wouldn't hear of it. Instead she put on Jeans and what he later learned was a Lavender coloured peasant shirt with a scooped neckline and cap sleeves. She didn't overly care, it was feminine enough to keep her mother and sister off her back yet comfortable enough to get around in. By this time Amy had been a girl for a little over 48 hours and she knew more about being a girl than she even wanted to know. But even she had to admit she was no closer to understanding the "Fairer Sex". If anything she was further away from that understanding than she had been when she was Stuart.

-oOOo-

She walked into the kitchen where Susan was sitting, looking at some paper work and eating lunch at the same time. "Your daughter is a sick perverted girl." She said to her mother.

"Which Daughter would that be?" Susan shot back with wry smile.

"Funny mum. Real funny. What are you doing?"

"Just working out our finances love. It's always important but if we want to get you and me back to Hong Kong we'll really have to tighten our belts."

"Well at least I have the waist for it now." Amy quipped.

"Something doesn't add up here," Susan said running some more number though a calculator. "There seems to be over 500 dollars missing from my bank account."

"Probably a bank error Mum, you know what they're like."

"True. I'll give them a call tomorrow to see if they can straighten it out. Anyway sweetie, while I've got you here there are a couple of things we need to talk about."

"This doesn't sound good." The girl said sitting at the table. "Go on then, let's get it over with."

"Well the first is your birthday." Susan said as she picked at her stir-fry.

"That's easy. It's cancelled this year. Next?"

"Not so fast princess." Amy grimaced at that. "You know what a big deal your grandmother makes for the four of you. To her, Jade's, your two cousins and your birthdays are the highlights of her year. The whole family goes out for tea at a nice restaurant. That is not going to change this year."

"Okay, but I'm not getting dressed up."

"Yes you are, Dress, pantyhose and heels. The whole deal. It won't kill you for one night. It's not your grandmother's fault you went looking for your presents early and I'll be buggered if I have to put up with her whingeing to me about missing out on a birthday meal. This is non-negotiable. If you don't do it to help me out I won't help you out by going back to Hong Kong. Got it?"

"I don't have a choice do I?" Amy grumbled.

"Good. Now, getting back to the money. I get good money at work but when I have to pay for the house, run the car and keep you and Jade fed and clothed there's not much left over. The simple fact is we need more money coming in. The sooner some one earns it the quicker we find Mamma Chow."

"Some one? I take it you mean me?"

"You're quick. I think you can do a few nights a week after school and maybe a Saturday as well. Anything you can add to the kitty I'll match dollar for dollar."

Amy got up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Susan asked.

"Just going to check my room and make sure there are no wire hangers in there. You're reminding me of some one." Amy told her.

"Keep that up and I'll get Jade to teach you about feminine hygiene. Think about that job OK?"

Amy sighed, long and loud. "Yeah, alright."

-oOOo-

"This really sucks," Amy said a little later.

"What does?"

"I'm bored stupid, Jade."

"Well that wouldn't be a long journey."

"I'm serious. There's two weeks of holidays before the new school year starts, and here I am looking like a stupid teeny-bopper girl."

"So?" Jade said as she absently flicked through the channels on the TV hoping to find something other than sport to watch.

"So, last Sunday I was playing cricket with my friends and then we spent the night rehearsing the band. It may sound stupid but I miss my friends."

"That bunch of losers?" Jade laughed. "Exactly whose turn is it to have the brain they share this week?"

"That's great coming from a girl whose friends have all of the mental capabilities of a Barbie Doll but none of her looks." Amy shot back.

"Will you stop bothering me Amy? If you miss the Neanderthals so much go and see them."

Amy seemed to look down at her cleavage and think for a second. "Uh, I might give it a pass."

Jade turned off the television and smiled. "Oh, I get it." She said. "You're worried about what your dead beat friends will make of the new you."

"No... Well, sort of. Yes."

"Plant your butt sister dear. School is back in progress." Jade waited until Amy sat on the couch and then she continued. "The most important subject of all. Boys." The younger sister was about to interrupt but Jade put her hand up to stop her. "Before you start. You know about boys as a boy. A totally different thing to understanding them as a girl."

"I don't suppose there is any way I can get out of this chat? At least let me put it off until tomorrow."

"Nope." Jade said emphatically. "It's simple really. Rule one: All boys are arseholes. Rule two: if in doubt refer to rule one."

"What can I say?" Amy asked. "That was worth waiting for wasn't it?"

"You really want me to tell you about boys?" Jade asked, a little surprised.

"No, but I guess I should know."

"Okay," Jade sat back and sighed. "The thing you really need to know is that all of the rules have changed for you. If you don't look interested in boys you're either seen as a lesbian or frigid. If you look too interested you're a slut. If you send out the wrong signals, even without knowing it, and then back off you're a prick tease. And probably for you, the worst is the fact that you'll go back to school without a boy friend."

"And that's bad? How?" Amy asked in all innocence.

"God you can be dense sometimes." Jade said, shaking her head. "It's a new school year and reputations are important. Any boy with a pulse who doesn't have a girlfriend is on the prowl. So any girl without a guy is considered fair game. I've got a feeling you're going to be very, very popular." She finished with a big grin.

"You know something Jade?"

"What?"

"I used to think you were a sadist."

"And?" Jade asked

"I was right."

-oOOo-

The next morning Susan became worried. Amy was up early and even showered without having to be pushed into the bathroom when the stink got too much. Jade woke up not long after and she too was shocked. "Bloody hell," She said to her mother. "Normally Stuart doesn't start the day before 11 am and I always thought he was allergic to water or afraid of it. What's going on?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Susan replied with a shrug.

About 15 minutes later the bathroom door opened and Amy stepped out, one towel around her petite body and another wrapping her damp hair. "Oh," she smiled seeing a curious pair at the other end of the hall. "Morning. Jade can you do me a favour please?"

"Ah... yeah, I guess. What's up?"

"Can you give me about twenty minutes and then come into my room?"

"You haven't found a gun or something have you?"

"No mum. I just need her help."

"All right. What's going on?"

"All will be revealed," Amy said somewhat enigmatically.

Amy stood in front of the full-length mirror that was now stuck on the back of her bedroom door. Dropping her towel she peered in wonder at her naked reflection. Up until now she'd been in some sort of delusional denial. Even when she was sitting to pee and wiping her new equipment, some of her long brown hair fell across her eyes or a breast shifted in her bra Amy was denying the change. Almost three days of denial had got her no closer to getting back to normal, and normal was exactly what she wanted. The sooner she got back to Mamma Chow the sooner Stuart could make a come back and Amy would be a bad dream.

"Let's do it." She said, trying to sound forceful but the new voice failed dismally.

She put on a black Kimono styled robe she had found in her wardrobe and then set to work. First she blow dried her long locks and combed them until they were soft and shiny. Next on the agenda was the clothing for that day. "This is not going to be pleasant, she thought. Strangely enough her thoughts still had Stuart's voice and it was comforting to hear. "A girl trying to get back to being a boy has to do what a girl trying to get back to being a boy has to do." She opened her underwear drawer and was once again dazzled by the choice of both styles and colours before her. Too many choices but in the end she went for a lacy white Bra and Panty set after putting them on she hesitated at the wardrobe wondering what image she wanted to present. Only one image that suited what she needed that day sprang to mind. Ally McBeal. Thank god for Television. Flicking through the clothes she picked out a short skirt in charcoal grey and a feminine, pink satin blouse and went back to the underwear drawer to get a packet of black pantyhose. The only small problems there was the reversed buttoning of the blouse and making sure she didn't put a run in the hose. That accomplished she prepared her self for the comments and called Jade in.

Jade did a double take when she entered her sister's bedroom. "If you ask me if your butt looks fat in that skirt I am calling the psych ward." Was all she managed to say.

"No, I need your help. I tried to do something with my hair but it doesn't look right. Maybe you can... I don't know... jazz it up a little?"

"Jazz it up?" The elder girl asked puzzled by the turn around in Amy. "I guess I can braid it... If that's what you really want"

"Oh would you? That would be wonderful. And then maybe some make up. I'd be really grateful." Amy tried to hide her smile, which was hard with the dimples she now possessed. This was the first time since she opened that stupid box that she had Jade on the back foot rather than the other way around and she was enjoying it.

"Ah... Yeah, if you want. Are you all right?"

"I've been a bit of a prima Donna the last few days haven't I?" Amy asked picking up a large Teddy bear and cuddling it to her bosom and added a little twirl for good measure. "Its silly really. I mean you and mum are women and so are over half the world's population and I have been prancing around like it's a punishment. Well, that's all behind me. I have decided to embrace my femininity and the world anew. What better way to start than to look as pretty as a picture."

"You're joking," Jade asked uncertainly, then added. "Aren't you?"

"Shit yeah," Amy said in a more normal tone. "I want out of this stupid weak body as soon as possible and I won't get a job as easily in jeans and a T-shirt."

Jade let out a loud sigh and slumped down on Amy's bed. "You had me worried there for a second Stu."

"I know," Amy laughed. "Anyway, can you help me? I've been looking at those books a little but I was up late last night writing up a resume."

"I don't know why I should after that little stunt. Then again it might serve you right if I make you look as feminine as possible."

"Thanks Jade, Just one more thing I need your help with."

"You're pushing you luck. Go on then."

"Does this skirt make my butt look big?"

Almost half an hour later Amy was jangling with jewellery and smelling like the cosmetic counter at the local department store. Susan had already guessed what was going on. Stuart had only two speeds when it came to doing anything. Either neutral or flat out. Why would Amy be any different? What did surprise her was just how pretty her son now was. The girl standing in front of her looked wonderful, every bit the working girl on her way to a job interview. About the only things missing were high heels but Amy hadn't mastered them yet.

"You look... Beautiful Amy. Good luck with the job hunt and good for you for taking it so seriously."

"Thanks mum," Amy smiled nervously as she licked her lipstick-covered lips and hung her handbag on her left shoulder.

-oOOo-

"Amy." Katie said when she opened her front door. "You look great. What's up?"

Amy tried not to shrink back when the girl hugged her. "Hi Katie. I'm just going job hunting. I want to see your mum actually."

"Sure, come on in. Did you watch Video smash hits yesterday? Ricky Martin's new video clip was on. God he's a babe."

"Yeah... He's... buff." Amy said with absolutely no conviction as the two girls walked through the house to the kitchen.

"Morning Amy," Mrs. Frances said. "My, my, aren't we all dolled up?"

"Hi Mrs. F." The girl replied as Stuart normally would but it sounded strange coming from her new voice. "How are you?"

"Enjoying the last week of my break love. Back to work for me next week."

"Ah, it's your job I wanted to see you about. Well in a round about way."

Margaret Frances was the professor of education at Adelaide University. "Oh. This sounds serious. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a job and wanted to see if it's okay to put you down as a personal reference." Amy said. She was a little nervous because even though Stuart got on all right with Katie's mum she did tend to blame him whenever Katie got into trouble. Probably because he was usually to blame. But her name on a reference would make a job a lot easier to get.

"Of course you can love. You didn't need to ask. You should know that I'd do anything to help."

"Where are you going to look?"

"I thought I'd start at the mall Katie," Amy smiled with relief. "It's only a ten minute walk so it's easy to get to work if I get a job."

"I think that lingerie shop is looking for a sales girl." Katie offered. "That'd be great if you worked there."

Mrs. Frances offered the girls a drink and grinned at her daughter. "Not that you'd ask for a discount or anything?"

"Me?" Katie said, all mock innocence. "The thought never crossed my mind." She turned to face Amy. "You want me to come?"

"Ah... No, it's okay thanks. I think I should go on my own. It might look a bit strange to go job hunting with a support group."

-oOOo-

"How did you go love?" Susan asked not liking the dejected look on her daughter's pretty face.

"Not good mum. Not good at all."

"You didn't get a job? Oh well I'm proud of you for trying."

"I got a job." Amy said still looking nonplussed. "You're looking at the newest waitress at the Copper Kettle."

"That little coffee shop on the upper level at the mall? Amy that's fantastic." Susan gave the girl a delighted hug.

"You reckon? The boss is a sexist jerk. I think I only got the job because I'm, and I quote, "A pretty little thing". I start Thursday and I have to wear the stupid uniform."

"What's that?"

"A short, very short, black skirt, pantyhose and a white blouse. With that and the school dress I'll never get to wear pants."

"Just think of the money love." Susan said.

"Oh yeah. Speaking of that can I borrow some, I need some more stockings and a comfortable pair of flats if I'm going to be on my feet all day."

"I think I can manage that." Susan said. "You'll just have to pay me back when you get your first pay cheque."

"What? Do you have any idea what pantyhose cost? I'm going to have to get three or four pairs every week."

"Gee, let me see. I've worn pantyhose every working day for years Amy so I think I know the price of them. You get the same deal Jade does. Anything you need for work and any other clothes you want to buy you pay for. My pay packet can't keep you two in the latest fashion."

"That's so unfair." Amy mumbled. Sounding like any other petulant teenaged girl. All that was missing was the stamp of the feet.

"Not really. I pay for your school uniforms and now you're a girl you need two summer and two winter uniforms each. That's almost six hundred dollars there. Oh and I found out some more good news too."

"What?"

"I've tracked down the missing five hundred dollars." Susan said.

"Was it a bank stuff up like we thought?"

"Not really. I found my last cheque book and it turns out I paid that money to the Adelaide Dance, Music and Drama Academy for your ballet tuition for the next 6 months."

"There is no way in hell I am doing Ballet," Amy stated forcefully. "Not a hope in hell."

"I figured you'd say that so I called the woman who runs the Academy and she has agreed to refund half of the money but only on one condition. She gets some government funding and if you pull out all together her numbers will drop and she'll lose her grant. If you want the two hundred and fifty dollars in the Hong Kong fund your going to have to do something. Acting or something like that. Otherwise we blow the whole five hundred"

Jade had walked in and was listening. "When I was doing your hair this morning we had the radio on and we were both singing to that Christina Aguilera song. You have a pretty good voice Amy. A bit of training and you'd be great."

"So?"

"So, your dead head mates can almost play music. Get them back together and you can make some money playing at some school dances and stuff."

"You're trying to make my life sound like the Blues Brothers movie." Amy complained.

"More like Pink sister." Jade smiled. "Just trying to help."

-oOOo-

Eleven days later Amy was not in a good mood. Her feet we killing her, her pantyhose were bloody hot and she seemed to be dropping a lot of stuff. Not good in a shorter than short skirt. What had Jade said about it when she saw Amy dressed for work the first time? Oh yeah. "Any shorter and the whole mall will be you gynaecologist." Worst of all was the fact that her bra must have shrunk in the wash. Talk about sore breasts Work was the pits, no wonder she had put it off so long when she was Stuart. Why was it she was thinking of Stuart as a totally independent person from herself?

"Customers at Table 13 Amy," Her boss Sam told her pointing at two women. "They don't have all day sweetie."

'Screw you Sam,' Amy thought as she made weaved her way across the coffee shop. "Hi," She dutifully smiled as she approached a table, pen and notebook at the ready. "What would you like?"

The Copper Kettle was on the upper level of the shopping mall, far away from the fast food outlets and noisy teens in the food court, so it tended to attract older clients who preferred cafŽ lattes and cappuccinos to diet cokes. Unfortunately for Amy, not all of those clients were women. More and more of the older men who work in the shops were taking their coffee in the Copper Kettle, most of who liked to watch her as she worked. Some enjoyed rubbing up against her as they took their seats.

It was after one of these "accidents" that Amy took her break. "You okay Amy?" Jenna, one of her co-workers asked.

"Not really," Amy replied as she sat, making sure she crossed her legs. "I think I overdid it on the chocolate this morning." The two had nibbled on some of the chocolate that went into the brownies and muffins and Amy kept going back for more.

"I did try and warn you," Jenna laughed. "These skirts don't give much leeway when it comes to eating."

"They are a little tight. If anything it seems to be getting tighter. The problem is I really needed a chocolate fix and now my stomach is paying."

"It was cooking chocolate, maybe it was just a little rich for you." Jenna suggested touching the other girl's arm. "You tell me if you feel really sick and I'll cover for you for the rest of the shift. There are only a couple of hours to go.

A couple of hours? That felt like a life sentence to the new girl, but these days, everything was a matter of time. There had been no word from Wang or Mei Ling despite her mother's friend's help. Amy found herself either marking off the days as they finished or dreading what was yet to come. Saturday would mark her fifteenth birthday and she was not looking forward to the family dinner and all that it entailed. If she managed to get through that she faced at least two months as a high school girl.

She and Jenna talked a little more while Amy sipped diet lemonade. "Oh well," Jenna sighed, looking at her watch. "Time to get back to the salt mines I guess."

"I'll be there in a tick. I need to..." Piss, Amy wanted to say. Siphon the python, take a leak, have a slash, say hello to my best friend. "...Visit the ladies room."

"Okay, don't take too long. You know how Sam is."

"You want to powder your nose you do it on your time missy, not mine." Both girls giggled as they quoted their boss verbatim.

Amy went through the kitchen and into a hall that ran behind all of the shops feeling grateful that the "Little girl's room" was so close. Entering a stall she lifted her skirt and happily, if briefly, pulled down her pantyhose and panties. It was when she had finished peeing and had bent over to pull up her underwear that she saw something unusual. It took about five or ten seconds, a very slow five or ten seconds for her brain to take in what she was seeing and at least as much time again for her to put two and two together.

Another woman was washing her hands when she heard a voice come from one of the stalls. "Fuck Mamma Chow," said a young sounding girl with an agonised tone to her voice. The woman would have stayed to say something about her terrible language but thought it might have something to do with drugs so she quickly wiped her hands, picked up her purse and got out of there.

Amy rushed back to the Copper Kettle and went through her handbag. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She whispered. Keys, a purse, some loose change, some old tissues and a lipstick. Finally right at the bottom she found what she was looking for and headed back to the bathroom. She was hoping to avoid Sam if at all possible but of course luck wasn't on her side.

"Hang on a second." Sam said standing between Amy and the kitchen. "Where are you off to? You just had a break cupcake."

Cupcake? "I have to go to the ladies room Sam." She almost whispered.

"Didn't you just go? What's the matter? Did you forget to re-do your lipstick? I am running a business here and I might be wrong but cafŽs don't make a lot of money if the waitresses are all gossiping in the bloody toilets."

Amy just stood there, unsure what to do next. Thankfully Sam's wife, Lena heard the conversation. Seeing the pleading look in the young girl's eyes and put two and two together. "It's OK Sam," She said to her husband. "I asked Amy to go in there and see if she can find my purse."

"You've lost your purse?" Sam started ranting. "Bloody women. You lot would lose your heads if they weren't screwed on."

"I'm sure it will turn up Sammy." Lena smiled. "Just see if it's in there please Amy."

She didn't need to be told twice and bolted off to the ladies room before Sam changed his mind.

Lena pulled her aside a little later. "You okay love?"

"Ah... Yeah. Thanks." Amy smiled.

"Catch you by surprise huh? Mine does that sometimes. Don't worry about Sam, you know how men can be when it comes to these things. Totally oblivious."

'You don't know how right you are.' Amy thought.

-oOOo-

Amy sat in the food court, sipping a chocolate milk shake and reviewing her life as it stood. Less than two weeks ago she had been a happy, reasonably well-adjusted teenaged guy. Now, she was a girl who was about to turn fifteen, she had almost no social life apart from two shopping trips with Katie from next door. She was a waitress in a coffee shop and to add insult to injury she was going through her first period.

To say the blood she had seen in her panties was a surprise would be a huge understatement. It's not like she didn't know girls had periods. Hell, she'd lived enough time with her mother and Jade to know when to keep her head down when it was their time of the month. But never in the whole time she had been female had she thought to expect her time of the month to come. At least she found one sanitary pad in her handbag. The thought of asking someone if she could lend one of there wasn't even worth thinking about.

It was now a little after two and a half hours since she had put the stupid thing on. Was that even the right phrasing? Did one put them on? Maybe the correct wording was in? Shit, she didn't even know how long before she needed to replace it. Thinking about things she couldn't remember seeing any feminine hygiene products in her room, not that she was looking for them. Maybe there were some, somewhere in her room or maybe she'd run out of them. Not liking the idea of going home and telling her mother or sister, at least not until she'd had time to get her head around it, she went looking in one of the supermarkets.

"No one makes this easy do they?" she asked herself as she stood looking at the amazing variety of products. Normally she would walk past this aisle and not even think about it, now she some how had to make a choice between maxi and mini-pads, wings or no wings, there were even sanitary products that fit in a gee string. Was this a heavy or a light day? Her eyes briefly passed over the tampons. "I don't even want to think about going there." She whispered. "Applicator or no applicator." Come to think of it, it sounded pretty stupid. Like a Hollywood Movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger is The Applicator.

She took a guess and grabbed a pack of Carefree sanitary pads without wings. "Carefree? That's a joke." She said as she headed for the checkouts.

Standing in line all she wanted to do was get out of there, get home and get into a bath. What she had thought was a stomach ache was in fact menstrual cramps, the tightness of her skirt she now knew was bloating and the chocolate craving was something she had seen in her mother and sister. Now it all made sense. She put the sanitary pads on the counter and slammed down a five-dollar note.

The woman serving tried scanning them. Nothing. She tried again, still it didn't register. To Amy's absolute horror the woman grabbed a microphone. "Price check on Carefree pack of twenties please. Price check on Carefree sanitary pads, twenties to check out nine."

Amy was sure every eye in the place was on her and she tried to shrink while she waited for some one to tell the check out chick the price. It seemed an eternity but finally she was out of the supermarket and on her way home.

-oOOo-

Lying back in the bath Amy felt a little better. Things hadn't been helped when she sniped at Jade on her return home.

"Jeez, what's wrong with you? That time or the month or something?" Jade had asked in fun. Then she saw the look on her ex-brother's face. Her hand rushed to her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle a giggle when she worked out that was indeed the problem.

"Piss off." Amy said.

"When did it start?"

"Piss off Jade."

"No. No, I promised I wouldn't make it harder for you so I won't laugh."

"Piss off."

"Actually, I might laugh just a little," Jade grinned. "I'll try to keep it to a minimum."

"What's up?" Susan asked as she entered the room.

"Should I tell her or will you?"

Amy looked at both of the main women in her life and blushed. She tried to say something about it. After all, it was no big deal. Both of them had periods. It was all totally natural for women to menstruate. "Oh...Piss off the both of you." She snarled and stormed out of the room, every inch the drama queen.

Later Susan had knocked on her door and despite another invitation to piss off she entered. "Oh, sorry. I thought it was Jade coming to rub it in some more." Amy said not looking her mother in the eye.

"Do you need some help?" Susan asked softly.

"Nothing a hysterectomy couldn't fix." The young girl churlishly replied.

"I think you and I should have a talk love."

At least she knew what she was doing now. If anything she knew too much about the female reproductive system, periods, discharge and working out her own menstrual cycle. As she enjoyed a bubble bath she hoped she wouldn't have too many more periods. As it was she was going to face three or four more days before it was over.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Stuart and Amy. Happy birthday to you."

"What?" Amy said sitting up in bed and glancing at her clock radio. "Bloody hell, it's only nine thirty. Can't a guy get a sleep in on her one day off?" Jade and her mother were standing at the end of her bed holding a cake.

"Aren't you going to blow out the candles?"

"If I do can I get another hour sleep?" Amy asked pushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Nope," Susan replied. "I just had a call from Katie, and some of your friends are going to the beach."

"Good for them."

"So are you."

"Aw mum." The girl complained. "Can't I just veg today? It's bad enough I have to get dolled up and go out with the family tonight."

"Sorry young lady. Jade and I have to get the house clean in case anyone comes back here after the restaurant. We also have to wrap your presents. I should have done it weeks ago but there was this guy who used to live here who liked to spoil the surprise."

"No."

"Look on the bright side," Susan said trying to soothe the situation. "At least your period has stopped."

"Til next month." Jade said none too helpfully.

"Great. So I was meant to be hanging out with my mates, rehearsing the band but instead I'm going to be prancing around a beach with a bunch of girls while wearing a bikini?"

"Not necessarily." Jade smiled. "

"You mean I can still get out of this?"

"No, but I have a lovely pink one piece you can borrow."

"Come on Stuart," Susan prodded. "You haven't gone out apart from work and to shop. You can't sit in your room all the time waiting for your penis to miraculously grow

again."

"Mum." Amy groaned and buried her head back under the covers.

"Well it's true honey. You need a social life and you have two choices. You can hang around with boys or girls. The girls you are going out with are the same ones who will be with you at school. You need to know how to act around them and to do that you need to be with them."

One eye peeked out from under the blankets. "I'd rather not."

"Okay then, I'll ring your male friends up and invite them over for lunch."

"You wouldn't." Amy cringed.

"I think you know her enough by now to know she would." Jade said.

"Yeah, you're right. She would." Sitting up, Amy smiled just a little as she saw the cake. Half was blue and half was pink. "Did you cook this Jade?"

"No mum did. Why?"

"Suicide was my last hope." She replied as she took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

-oOOo-

"Don't talk to me," Amy said as she entered the house, marched straight past her mother

and headed for her room.

"Good day Dear?" Susan asked somewhat dryly.

"I am not in the mood Mum."

Susan checked her watch. "Well get happy kiddo because you've got less than three hours until we go out."

"The meal is cancelled." Amy shouted back from her room. "My birthday is cancelled in

fact the whole of my life has been well and truly cancelled."

Jade came in from the back yard where she had been picking some flowers to take for her Grandmother. "What's all the commotion?" She asked getting a vase down from a cupboard.

"Just Amy throwing a tantrum." Susan shrugged.

"I heard that," a voice echoed down the hall. "I am not throwing a tantrum. Well, ok, I am." She re-entered the kitchen and slumped down at the table. "But it's a well-deserved tantrum. If anyone has a reason to throw a tantrum it's me."

"Oh?" Susan arched her eyebrow a little. "What's up?"

Amy looked at her mother like she didn't believe the question. "Oh, you mean apart from

the fact that I am a girl?"

"Ah ha."

"Where do I start? Okay, I spent my birthday almost naked on a public beach pretending to enjoy the fact that I was pretending to perv on guys who weren't pretending to ogle me. And mind you we compared each guy's butt to the last one. The conversation centred on every topic under the sun I know nothing about. I just don't understand girls."

"You're kidding?" Jade asked sarcastically. "Gee, I never would have guessed."

"How am I supposed to understand a species that act totally violated if you see them in their underwear yet they put on a bikini that makes their panties and bras look like they are neck to knee. And while we are on the subject what's the deal with calling them a pair of panties and a bra? Surely it should be the other way around."

"You're ranting Stuart." Susan said. "What's up?"

"Up? Nothing. I spend the day in a bikini and now I have to get ready to go out with my family. I am about to go into my room, pick out a dress, some pantyhose, a bra and panties and then get into the shower, shave my legs and under arms then do my own make up and style my hair. On Monday I am going to put on a school dress and go to school like a good girl. Nothing is up."

Jade and Susan looked at each other as if to say "Something is up alright."

Amy ignored them both and headed for her room. She carefully locked the door and then pulled out her diary, or rather the diary Amy kept before she took over her life. Flicking back through the pages she searched for one entry that would confirm or refute what she had learned that day.

It actually hadn't been a bad day if you disregard the fact that she was comparing guy's butts with the best of them. She was enjoying the closeness with Katie, Emma and Terri, a closeness she never had with any of them when she had been a guy. Even Katie whom Stuart had always considered to be one of his best friends seemed to be closer to Amy now. Even if some of the conversation was a little outside of Amy's interests she felt totally accepted by all of the girls and even managed to relax a little.

All that changed when Katie looked at her watch. "Sorry guys, I have to go."

"Go?" Amy replied. "Go where?"

"Steve is picking me up by the Esplanade." Katie said, picking up her towel and slipping a sundress over her bikini. "Happy birthday Amy," She bent and gave Amy a quick peck on the cheek and squeezed her arm. "I hope the family thing goes off okay. Talk to you all tomorrow."

Emma and Terri seemed to take it all in their stride. It seemed to Amy that in this reality this was nothing new. Katie smiled and waved at them all and headed off up the reasonably crowded beach. "What the hell does she see in him?" Amy asked no one in particular.

Emma smiled to Terri. "I don't know. What did you see in him?"

"Yeah," Terri added. "Talk about fickle."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Amy. I think you don't like the fact that Katie is going out with Steve after he dumped you."

Amy found the entry in question. Sat : 25th Nov 2000

Wow !!! What a day! More importantly, what a night! The great day started with a shopping trip with Katie. I bought this great pink baby doll T-shirt with "Bad Girl" written in white right across the chest. It will look great with my denim cargo pants. Anyway, Katie bought this really cute top too. It's a metallic blue coloured halter-top and it shows her tummy off. God I wish I had her figure.

Later on Katie and I were at my house. Mum was out having dinner with this guy called Robert, and Jade was over at her friend Jenny's house, so I hired Pretty Woman, the director's cut and Katie and I were going to watch that. We'd only just started the movie when someone knocked on the door. I still can't believe it was Steve Ellis and his mate Martin. Martin was kind of cute. A little like a young Chris O'Donnell even though he does have a few pimples. Steve though is an absolute babe. I kind of let it slip to Steve that my mum and sister would be out when I saw him in he food court this morning, but I didn't really think he'd show up. They came in and Katie was all, "Ah... you guys shouldn't be here."

I played it cool, despite the fact that my heart was beating a mile a minute (even more when Steve looked at me, which was often) God he looks like Rick from The bold and the Beautiful, right down to that funny little dimple in the chin. I got them both a glass of coke and then asked them if they wanted to stay. Katie poked me in the ribs and pulled me into my bedroom leaving the boys alone in the kitchen. She told me her mum would go ballistic if she found out we had boys here but I asked how she was going to find out. It turns out Katie has had a crush on Marty for weeks but she has never had the guts to tell him. She was freaking because she didn't want him to know she liked him. I just told her to play it cool so we put on some lippy and went back down into the family room to watch the movie.

I sat next to Steve and he smelled soooooooo good! He told me I looked nice and I must have blushed redder than my nail polish. Martin sat next to Katie but he was further away from her than Steve was from me.

I doubt I heard a minute of the movie. I kept waiting for something to happen and I kept on sneaking peeks at him when he wasn't watching. I caught him looking down my top at one stage and I pretended it bothered me but it didn't.

Martin got closer to Katie but she kept moving away so much so that in the end she was almost sitting on Steve. Poor Marty.

About an hour later the boys were getting silly. You know boys. They started throwing chips around the room and acting all silly, trying to show off. Then all of a sudden Steve yawned and I felt his arm around me. God, I didn't think anyone actually did the old yawning thing. I would have laughed but I was afraid he'd pull his arm away. I waited so long for it to happen I didn't want it to be all over in a second. I snuggled up against his chest and watched the movie. I could have died happy then, hearing his heart. Boom boom. Boom boom. Boom boom. The next thing I know he was kissing me. My god, I almost died. He tasted wonderful and I melted in his arms. We just kissed the whole of the rest of the movie and even Katie and Martin were smooching when the video ended. I had to go to the toilet and I was really wet down there. It felt WONDERFUL but a little squishy. I wiped as much as I could away and hoped Steve wouldn't know. Maybe he could smell it. We left the TV on but it was on mute and all of the lights were out. We kissed some more and then Steve put his hand under my top. In next to no time I felt his hand on my right breast. It was a little cold and I could feel my nipple rise straight away to his touch. I could hear Katie make little moaning sounds so I did the same. God I got so wet. And then we heard Jade's car in the driveway.

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. Trust Jade to mess things up. The boys freaked. Katie freaked and I freaked. I jumped up and flicked up the light Katie picked up all of the stuff the boys threw around and I hid their cups.

Steve and Martin snuck out of the side door as Jade came in the front. She must have guessed something was up but she didn't say anything. She just smiled and Katie and I said nothing until Jade was in the toilet and then we both burst out in fits of giggles.

Amy couldn't believe her eyes. She would have read the entry again if she could cope with the mental it evoked. Her and Steve...YUCK.

-oOOo-

She was still trying to get the terrible taste out of her mouth when her mother knocked on her door. "Time to get ready honey."

Amy got up and opened her door. "I'll pay you every cent I own to call this off."

Susan grinned a little. "I've seen your bank balance Amy. No go."

"Bugger. All right, here are my rules. No cake, no singing and we get the hell out of the restaurant as soon as we've had dessert."

Susan shook her head. "Here are mine. We have cake, singing and we stay until your Grandmother gets tired."

"And if I don't?" Amy challenged.

"Do you remember that Catholic girls school I mentioned to Jade on the day of your accident?"

"All right. You drive a hard bargain. But I am not going to wear high heels."

"Yes you are," Susan chuckled as she walked off down the hall.

Amy contemplated throwing a real tantrum but decided it would be easier to just go with the flow. She headed for the shower, the only luxury of which was she could still stand to pee. She shaved her legs and under arms and then put on a robe and went back into her room. She already knew what dress she would be wearing so she picked out some black panties and a matching bra. No matter how many times she stood in front of the mirror the sight of the cute girl with the wet tresses was always a shock to see looking back. Carefully drying and combing her hair, Amy simultaneously picked out some jewellery, a pair of gold hoop earrings, a ring, a nice gold bracelet and a gold necklace with her zodiac sign, Aquarius, on a small ingot. When her hair was dry she took off the robe and pulled on the black lacy panties and bra. She didn't like to admit it but one of the only pluses to her gender change was the feel of her panties, the bras she could do without. She reached for a new pair of pantyhose and sat down at her mirror. Gathering one of the legs of them up in her hands she slid her smooth right leg into it, making sure the seam at the toes was in the correct place. She repeated it for the other leg and then stood to pull them up around her waist until they fit snugly to her flat crotch and round behind. Next came the dress. Black with cap sleeves and a square neck line it was simple but elegant and with the jewellery, make up and her hair styled Amy had little doubt she would look more like seventeen than her fifteen years. Using the trick of doing the zipper up most of the way before she put the dress on she easily reached up and pulled her hair out of the way and the zip up all the way to the top. She thought for a while about what to do with her hair. Maybe up? No, on second thought she decided on something a little simpler. She had to have two goes at it after her first attempt at loose a loose plait was a little bit off to the left. On her second try the plait ran straight down her neck and she moved on to the make up. Following Jade's instructions about less being more she simply applied some eye liner, some mascara, a little blush on her cheeks and a nice shade of red lip stick and put on her jewellery.

Finally Amy pulled on a pair of high-heeled shoes. She had practiced walking in heels for an hour a so the night before, and now she was pretty good at it, but even a short amount of time caused quite a bit of pain. One last look in the mirror and she picked up a handbag and headed out.

-oOOo-

The small Italian restaurant had been one of Stuart's favourites so Amy wasn't surprised when Jade steered the car into the car park. Getting out of the car she had a bit of an unsteady gait as she tried to negotiate the pock marked bitumen in heels. "How the hell do women walk in these all of the time?" Amy asked herself. Her feet were already hurting, the bra was digging into her shoulders, the pantyhose were hot and she could feel them some how manage to ride up her butt and sag at the same time.

"You ready?" Susan asked.

"Nope." Amy quickly replied.

"Too bad."

Amy followed her mother, sister and the waiter Dominic over to a large table. Counting the number of settings Amy tried to work out whom to expect. Twelve places were set so she ticked off the usual suspects. Her mum, Jade and herself. Grandma Nelson, Uncle Dean, Auntie Di and their two kids, Kym and Shayne. Add her Dad's sister, Auntie Pam and her two, Robbie and Johanna. Who the hell was number twelve? Amy was still contemplating that when she realised her mother was coughing, trying to get her attention. Dominic was holding a chair out, she smiled self-consciously at him and, smoothing her dress under her as her mother had taught her, she sat.

In next to no time relatives started arriving, all smiles, kisses and presents. Then, just when Amy was beginning to relax and enjoy herself she felt hands on her shoulder and a kiss on her cheek. "Hi ya Princess," A familiar voice said from behind her. "I couldn't miss my little girl's fourteenth birthday."

"She's fifteen Jim." Susan said as he gave her a quick unconvincing peck on the cheek, with a more meaningful one for Jade.

Amy's dad sat at the table with that dopey grin on his face. Amy headed for the toilet.

"I didn't know honey," Susan told her as she joined her daughter in the ladies room.

Stuart and his father never really got on. They were too much alike not to fight when Jim Denton was a member of the family, and the relationship went downhill after the divorce when Jim moved to Perth and eventually married and had a new family.

"How could you not know?" Amy asked as she looked at the alien reflection in the mirror.

"For any number of reasons. He might have heard from Pam, or maybe Amy asked him before Stuart took over." Susan paused and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Believe me, I didn't tell him."

"Now what the hell I am supposed to do?" Amy asked. "I can't go out there and play Daddy's girl. No way."

"Just be polite. Is that too much to ask?"

"God, I am so nervous now I have to pee. Now I have to pull all of this down and then rearrange it when I am done."

"Well," Susan started. "One more trick of the trade. Do you want to know how to tell if you accidentally tuck your dress into your pantyhose?"

"Not really," Amy sighed truthfully. "But I guess it might come in handy."

"Everyone will be staring at you when you come out of the ladies room.

-oOOo-

The meal was great even though Amy couldn't eat a quarter of what Stuart used to put away. She did have to mind her Ps and Qs a little when it came to the family. For reasons beyond her understanding the gender change had totally messed up her role and position within the family. Stuart was second eldest of all the male cousins, only Kym was older than he was, and the four boys were pretty close. Johanna was always left out because she was only twelve so Jade was too old to pay much attention to her. Now Amy found Kym, Shayne and Robbie basically ignored her. Even when she tried to talk about cricket, voicing exactly the same sentiments Stuart had at Christmas time, they told her she didn't know what she was talking about and to leave sport to the guys where it belonged. Johanna on the other hand sat right next to Amy and talked away like they were best friends. After a few dirty looks from her mother Amy started to be nice to Johanna in return. It was her father who caused most of the night's aggravation. It was as if all of the fights Stuart had with his dad never occurred because Jim Denton acted the doting father and was quite bemused when Amy didn't act the loving daughter. She was even more hurt when she found out her father was in Adelaide on business. Amy knew her dad enough to realise that if he wasn't there on business he probably wouldn't have even sent a card.

The other big let down of the night was the presents Amy received. They were all either clothes, make-up or jewellery. Jim Denton had actually paid quite a bit of money for a gold heart shaped locket, which he insisted, on placing around Amy's slim neck. Susan made some snide comment about him being able to afford it when he was so far behind in his child support payments. Jade, ever the peacekeeper, jumped in to stop a fight. The locket was ok but, Amy wasn't all that impressed. Jim noted his daughter didn't even open it up.

Finally, after what felt like 10 hours, Amy's grandmother announced she was tired, which was always a cue to wrap things up. Amy had to kiss her uncle Dean and her father again before she was able to head home. Her mother and father had a small argument in the car park and her dad just smiled an apologetic little smile at the girls, kissed them both again, and wished Amy a happy fourteenth.

"I'm fifteen dad," Amy said.

"Whatever. I love you princess."

Amy knew he wanted her to say it too, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. The divorce had hurt her a lot more than it had hurt Jade and she felt abandoned by him. "I know you do," was all she could manage to say.

Jim shrugged; looking a little hurt, and left heading back to Perth. -oOOo-

"You were a little mean to Dad." Jade said as both girls kicked off their high heels and sat on the sofa. "No I wasn't. I just couldn't play daddy's little girl. That's more your area of

expertise."

"You still don't like it that I always got on better with him than you did."

"The guy's an arsehole Jade. At the first sign of trouble he nicked off and left mum to do all of the work."

Jade shook her head, her hair bouncing and shifting. "You didn't see it like I did. Dad has his faults but so does mum. I love her but she would have been hard for him to live with. They were both so different and mum fell into the same trap a lot of women do."

"Oh please enlighten me with your boundless wisdom." Amy said sarcastically.

"She married him thinking she could change him. Mum was always much more serious about work and money than Dad was. She was as much to blame for the divorce, Amy."

"That's not how I remember it."

"Your sister is right Amy." Susan said as she entered the room and sat between her daughters. "I loved your dad. I still do. We just came to a point where we enjoyed hurting each other and when we did that we hurt the two of you. You have been blaming him when it was as much a joint effort as the marriage was."

"I'm going to bed." Amy announced, bringing the discussion to an end.

-oOOo-

Stuart went on stage first, followed by his mates. All of them stood there, transfixed on the forty thousand people who had come to see them play. Their debut CD had already gone platinum and Stuart was feeling very comfortable with his rock and roll lifestyle, not to mention the groupies. He couldn't see the audience because of the lights but the applause was like rolling thunder. Forty thousand people all cheering and clapping for him and his friends. Quickly glancing at his friends he reached for the microphone, plugged his guitar into the amp and launched into the worldwide smash hit single.

All of a sudden, just as he started singing he heard some one's pager go off. It got louder and louder until Stuart stopped the song and started looking for the source of the noise. Eventually, offstage, he found his clock radio beeping away. Amy woke to the incessant beeping of her alarm and sighed. She always dreamed she was still Stuart, which made it doubly hard when she woke and found herself under a floral bed spread in her feminine room. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled the nightie down her body from where it had ridden up during the night. Padding gently to the bathroom she pulled down her panties, pulled her nightie back up and sat. Of everything different in her life now, sitting to pee was the one thing Amy couldn't get used to. She could ignore the clothes for the most part and even the sway of her boobs wasn't too bad but whenever she needed to pee she was faced with the incontrovertible fact that she was now a female. She wiped herself and then pulled her panties back up. Jade was sitting at the kitchen table when Amy entered. "Morning," Jade said sounding like she was developing a bad cold. "I feel like shit."

"I need a few more hours sleep until I am good enough to feel like shit," Amy shot back.

"Worried about today?"

"Only a little bit." Amy lied. "Well a lot actually."

"School will be okay Stu. Just hang around with Katie and her crowd. I'll be around if you need me. Just try not to draw attention to yourself." Jade tried to smile a little but sneezed instead. "I'm going to have a shower. : I'll call you when I am done."

"Great." Amy groaned.

Susan rushed into the kitchen still putting her earrings in. "Morning love."

"Morning mum." Amy said trying to imitate Jade's cold. "I feel awful."

"Really?" She walked over to the girl and put her hand on her forehead. "You feel a bit warm."

"I do? Ah... I mean, yeah, I am really hot."

"Gee. Maybe you should take the day off." Susan frowned.

"Yeah?"

"In your dreams Amy. Eat your muesli then have a shower and get yourself off to school."

"I hate you."

She showered quickly and then pulled on a pair of panties and a bra. "I guess I better get this over with." She said to herself. Reaching into her wardrobe she grabbed the blue plaid cotton school dress. It was short, falling only half way down her thighs and Amy made a mental note to make sure she always crossed her legs. She'd spent too many days as Stuart looking at girl's panties in classrooms so she was determined not to give any boy the same cheap thrill. She brushed her hair and then put on a blue hair band, picked up her school bag and headed for school.

-oOOo-

Walking in to school in a school dress was probably the strangest experience Amy had had so far as a girl. No matter what she wanted there was no hiding now. She was just like all of the other girls in school and she had to act the part. "Hey Amy," She heard a voice call in greeting. Turning she saw it was Steve Ellis and before she knew it he had his arms around her slim waist and had lifted her clear off the ground. "Looking good sweet thing."

Amy didn't like to admit it but she was scared. If the sight of all of the guys she used to hang around with wasn't enough to demonstrate her new size, or lack there of, then the way Steve had lifted her like she was a rag doll amply showed how weak she now was. "Put me down you fucking jerk." She squealed pounding him with lots of punches that did absolutely nothing to hurt him.

"Calm down Amy, I was just having some fun." Steve protested as he put her gently back on feet.

"Fun? God, if that's your idea of fun you must find pubic lice hilarious." She regretted saying it as soon as it came out of her mouth. Steve's eyesight shifted from her face to her groin. "Oh just grow up." She shouted and stormed off.

She was still steaming so much she didn't even think where she was going. She almost forgot who she was when she saw her old friends. Noah Lane, Jordan Davis and Joel Warren just looked up and said. "Hey Amy."

It was the first time she'd seen them since her transformation. Lano, Davey and Rabbit were normally Stuart's partners in crime but now she was just another girl in school and all of their shared history never happened. She responded with a weak, "Hey," and walked on feeling a huge sense of loss. She met up with Katie and some girls she had barely known as Stuart. All of them acted like they were her best friends so she just tried to relax and go with the flow. It wasn't too hard because everyone was talking about what they'd done on the summer break. "What about you Amy? Do anything special?" A girl called Rachel asked.

"Not really." She said smiling. 'Just got turned into a girl,' she thought to herself. "Happens everyday."

-oOOo-

Amy was surprised at the reception she got from teachers. Normally, when they saw Stuart they groaned at least. "Not you again Mr. Denton? I hope you intend to pull your socks up this year." Now they seemed genuinely pleased to see her. "Hi Amy, welcome back." Was this girl she had become a teacher's pet?

It was her third lesson of the day that she had a new Teacher. He was old, in his early forties at least and he looked pretty square, all suit and tie.. On the blackboard behind him was written "Mr. Fisher."

Amy took a seat next to Katie and waited for the noise to quiet down and the lesson to start. That's when she saw him. He wore ripped jeans rather than the regulation grey trousers, his shirt wasn't tucked in and he had a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses on.

Fisher noticed him too. "You," he said to the new kid. "Where's your tie boy?"

The kid just grinned and pointed to his right thigh where his school tie was.

"The rules state you must wear a tie. Consider yourself lucky I am only giving you one detention."

The boy shrugged. "I think you'll find that the rules say I have to wear it but it doesn't say where it's meant to be worn."

"Where on earth do you think a tie is meant to go son? The neck, that's where."

"Sorry sir but I have doctor's advice stating that wearing a tie around the neck can limit blood and oxygen to the brain leaving the wearer with limited mental capabilities."

Fisher shook his head. "I've worn a tie every working day for the past twenty years."

"I rest my case."

"Think you're smart do you?" The teacher asked getting more flabbergasted by the second.

"That's what I am in school to find out sir."

"Do you have a name?"

"Yes sir, but thanks for asking."

"What is it?" Fisher shouted.

"Danny."

"Danny? Well Danny, after wasting five minutes of my time I think I deserve a last name."

"You have one sir. It's Fisher. At least that's what's written on the blackboard."

By now it was pretty obvious that Fisher was losing control of the classroom. At first just a few titters broke out but by now there was plain old laughter. "Your last name boy, not mine. I already know mine."

"Yeah? Then why do you need to write it on the black board?"

"WHAT IS YOUR LAST NAME?" The teacher shouted.

"Simpson, Danny Simpson but most people call me Simmo."

"Right, that's two detentions for insubordination Mr. Simpson"

"Call me Simmo, were old friends now," Danny grinned as he pulled out a Palm computer. "As for detention, I can fit you in Thursday and Friday next week. I'm booked solid before then."

"I think you should go to the principal's office."

"No need, I've already been. But thanks for the offer."

Fisher looked like his head was about to explode. "Go and then maybe I can get on with my lesson?"

"Hey, don't let me stop you."

"Get out of this room now Simpson and take off the sunglasses. There's no sun in this room."

Simmo did as requested and Amy saw the most amazing blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"All right but you won't be popular with him, he's already said that if he sees me again today there will be hell to pay.

"I'm sure I'll live," Fisher said dryly. "Now the rest of you have a copy of William

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on you desks. We'll be studying that for the first part of this term."

Amy was still transfixed by the blue eyes when he walked past her on the way to the principal's office because he grinned at her. "Don't work too hard babe." He said winking.

-oOOo-

"Hi sweetie," Susan said when Amy entered the house.

"Mum. I thought you'd be at work."

"No. Most of what I needed to do can be done here and then e-mailed into the office. I just had to go in this morning for some meetings on the China deal. How was your first day of school?"

"So so." She answered. "Is Jade back yet?"

"Not yet honey. I think she was going to Alicia's house."

"Okay, can you tell her I need to talk to her when she gets in please?"

"Will do. Anything wrong?" Susan asked.

"No, I just need to ask her advice on something. I'm going to get out of this stupid school dress."

"Okay, just do me a favour and hang it up. Don't just throw it on the floor. I'm going to be too busy tomorrow morning to iron anything."

-oOOo-

Amy was watching TV in her room when Jade stuck her head around the corner an hour or so later. "You wanted to pick my brains little sister?"

"That'd be a quick job," Amy said. "Close the door."

"Oh, this sounds serious." Jade shut the door and sat on the bed beside Amy. "What's up?"

Amy looked at her feet and said, "Listen, I am asking you something in confidence here and if you so much as even laugh I'll tell everyone at school you still wet the bed."

"Yep," Jade grinned. "This is serious all right. Fire away."

"Ah...I kind of...I sort of..."

"Do you want me to leave the room so you feel more comfortable talking?"

"There's this boy."

"Actually there are a lot of boys Amy."

"Yeah, but there's this one in particular. Simmo."

"Is this the kid that stuffed around that new Maths teacher?"

"Ah ha." Amy said. "And the English Teacher and the Social studies teacher etcetera."

"I've heard he's cute." Finally a light bulb went off over Jade's head. "Don't tell me you like him?"

Amy shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "I...He's...I think he's cute. I'm a sicko...right?"

Jade though about it for a second. "I don't think so." She said. "Look, we had to watch this documentary in Social Studies last year. It was all about the different genders and why there seem to be differences between guys and girls."

"I've kind of worked that out in the past few weeks." Amy said pushing her breast.

"I'm talking about mental differences. Like how guys seem better at reading maps and working out where they are and women are better at communicating."

"Yeah, and?"

"Well scientists say it's got a lot to do with the hormones you get while still in the womb. Your whole brain is wired either male or female when the foetus is only about eight weeks old. That's why you get transsexuals. Something goes a little haywire before they're born so they end up with a male body but a female mind or vice versa. They also now believe that the same hormone cocktail has a lot to do with sexuality and sexual preferences."

"And this helps me how?" Amy asked.

"Well, apart from you, me and mum everyone thinks you've always been female, right?"

"Ah ha."

"Well then," Jade said rolling her eyes. "Doesn't that mean that the body you're now in was always female? If that's the case it's only natural you are starting to see guys the way most girls do."

"You think?" Amy said. "Sure. It's not something you can control."

"I guess not but I still feel guilty."

"Amy, Amy, Amy. There's nothing to feel guilty about. Is this guy cute?"

"He has the most amazing blue eyes and his smile would put Tom Cruise's smile to shame. I kept looking at him all day and I just...I don't know. He talked to me at lunch time but I got all tongue tied and giggly."

"Well, you're a girl. He's a guy. Nothing unnatural about it."

"I guess not. I just hate feeling like this."

"Amy my dear, welcome to the wonderful world of being a girl."

-oOOo-

Amy was lying on her stomach on the bed trying to get used to the new feeling. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it sure was different. Until the moment she first lay on her stomach she didn't think much about the feelings the same position gave her as Stuart but now she was acutely aware of her new groin area and of course her boobs, which were pushing into the bed.

She was bored. Sure she had homework to do but why change the habit of a lifetime? Stuart always put it off as long as humanly possible, justifying it by saying he worked better under stress. Instead she was half watching TV and half flicking through the diary. Most of it was pretty boring stuff from what she could see. A lot about makeup and clothes. She was skimming through trying to find any juicy bits when she noticed red stars on some of the diary entries. The last of which were for four consecutive days, around two weeks before Stuart became Amy. She found some more a month or so before that and then another month before that. None of it made any sense to her until she counted back from when her period started. Twenty-eight days. As much as it disgusted her she knew it would also help to have her menstrual cycle for the past two years. At least now, if she was still a girl, she would know when to expect that little visitor. She was putting a star on the date she had her last period when some one knocked on the door.

"Yo?" She said sticking the diary under her pillow.

"It's Katie. Can I come in?"

Amy got up and unlocked the door. "Sure you can. Come in and park your butt."

Katie smoothed her skirt and sat, demurely crossing her legs, a position Amy still wasn't overly comfortable with. "You busy?"

"Me? Well I'd be lying if I said I was." Amy smiled. "Just trying to come up with reasons not to do my English homework."

Katie smiled weakly at her best friend, waiting for her to notice she was upset. For some reason Amy had been a little distant for the past few weeks. She didn't talk half as much as she used to and she never hugged any of her friends, it was always them hugging her. And it was kind of strange that she stopped doing ballet after seven years of it. Worst of all she wasn't as tuned in as she used to be. The Amy of a few weeks ago would have known she was upset in a second. Now she was totally oblivious. It reminded Katie of some one else but for the life of her she couldn't work out whom.

"So, what's up?" Amy asked concentrating more on the TV than her friend.

"Not much," Katie sighed. "Cool. You want to do something?"

"What?"

"I don't know." Amy shrugged. "Anything I guess."

"We could listen to some music I suppose," Katie replied sadly.

Amy got up from the bed and went over to her CD collection. This was a huge let down now. When she was a guy she had a great CD collection and loved to listen to some of the heavier bands. She had heaps of AC/DC, Cold Chisel, Nine-inch nails, some Linkin park. Marilyn Manson and Silver chair. Now it was all back street boys, N' synch, Britney Spears and other bubble gum pop. "Uh, lets pass on that."

"Okay, do you want me to paint your nails?"

Amy quickly put on some N' synch, anything to get out of a make over session. Katie couldn't stand it any more. "Steve and I had a massive argument," She blurted as she started crying. Thankfully Amy turned off the CD and then sat back down next to Katie. She hesitated before she put her hand on Katie's shoulder. "Let me guess, you're still bugging him to join the human race and he can't pass the physical." She mumbled

"This is serious," Katie bawled. "We're over, through, finished." She threw her arm around Amy and then leaned over so her head rested on Amy's breast. "Men are arseholes." She cried.

Amy tried to ignore the feeling of a head pushing into her boob but it hurt a little and felt extremely strange. "What happened?"

"He called me fat."

'Oh god, why me?' Amy thought. She said, "Yeah, you and Kate Moss. Both of you are world famous bubble butts."

"Really?" Katie asked.

"No silly. You're as skinny as a rake."

"Steve doesn't think so."

"Well Steve is a moron. Did he actually say you were fat?" Katie sat up and sniffed. "As good as."

Amy was already sick of the round about way this was all coming out. "What exactly did he say?"

"Well, I made a comment that my jeans were tight and how I must be getting fat." Katie said as she wiped her nose.

"And he agreed?" Amy asked.

"Well no. But he didn't disagree either. He just went on watching the cricket."

Ah, now it all makes sense. "The jerk," she said, even though she would have done exactly the same when he was Stuart.

"What am I going to do now Amy? I love him."

"I know you do. He'll come back, begging on his knees to get you back then you can make him pay."

"True," Katie grinned and Amy saw the light at the end of the tunnel. "But what if he doesn't?"

"Then that's his loss," Amy said giving the other girl a hug. "Now, didn't you want to paint each other's nails?"

"What was wrong with Katie?" Jade asked after the girl had gone home.

"How do you know anything was wrong?" Amy challenged.

"I saw her giving you a makeover." Jade shrugged. "You wouldn't do that even for Katie unless something was up."

Amy nodded. "She had a fight with Mr. Australia."

"Steve?"

"Ah ha. God knows why she is going out with him."

"You can be thick sometimes Amy, you know that?"

Amy just looked at her sister. "Huh?"

"When you were Stuart she wasn't going out with anyone right?" Jade asked hoping she didn't have to draw a diagram to get Amy to work this out.

"Yeah. So?"

"So now Stuart isn't around she's going out with Steve."

"And?"

"Work it out you drop kick."

Amy looked like a light bulb went off over her head. "Me? Katie had the hots for me? Nah, you're wrong."

"No I am not." Jade smiled. "Everyone knew."

"I didn't

"Well everyone with half a brain knew then."

"Fuck me." Amy exclaimed.

"She might have if you'd played your cards right." Jade laughed as she walked away.

-oOOo-

Amy woke the next morning and couldn't work out what was missing. Then it hit her, the house was quiet and that definitely wasn't right. Normally Jade was rushing around getting ready for school and her mother was trying to do a hundred things at once before heading off to work. Looking at the clock radio Amy let one word out. "Shit."

She had slept through the alarm or hadn't set it properly and now she was twenty minutes behind schedule. Then it came to her, Her mother had to go into work early, something about the China deal and Jade wanted to go over to one of her poxy friends for some project they were working on. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She shouted racing to the toilet.

"Where's my fucking dick when I need it?" She asked as she sat. "Come on. Hurry up. You're as slow as an old lady." Finally she heard the tinkle of urine hitting the water in the toilet. After wiping she bolted for the shower. In and out in record time she at first cursed her long wet hair and then she swore at the hair drier when it started sparking. She ran to Jade's room and grabbed her drier. Glancing outside she saw that it was raining and hunted down a raincoat. She threw on a pair of panties and a bra that didn't match. "It's not like anyone can see them," She told herself. Slipping in to her school dress while putting her hair up into a ponytail with a blue scrunchie, and then she grabbed her school bag and rain coat and headed out of the house.

The rain was pelting down when she got outside and Amy knew she wouldn't make it to school on time if she walked. Cursing life in general and Mamma Chow in particular she put the raincoat on and grabbed a light blue girl's bike from the garage.

"Whoa." Was all she managed to say, as the bike seat massaged her new crotch, not sure yet if she liked the sensation or not. As she pedalled like a lunatic she asked herself one question. "Am I rushing to get to school so I don't get in the shit with anyone or am I rushing to see a certain boy?" It was still unanswered when she cycled into the bike rack area.

-oOOo-

"Ah," Fisher said as Amy walked into his class. "Glad you can join us Miss Denton."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world Sir." She smiled taking her normal seat next to Katie.

"Glad to hear it." Fisher said turning back to the black board where

ROMEO AND JULIET was written. "Now, for homework I asked you to read the first twenty pages of this tragic romance. But before you graced us with your presence Miss Denton, I had some complaints from your friends that they couldn't understand it. Would you agree?"

"Ah... pretty much Mr. Fisher. All that flowery language takes awhile to work out."

"I see, well, there is an easy way to rectify this."

"Not read it?"

"And how would you learn anything then Miss Frances? No, I think the easy way to see what's happening is to see real people preform the play. Miss Denton?"

"Yes?" Amy said.

"Congratulations, While you weren't here we all took a vote and you will be our Juliet."

'Fuck that,' Amy thought.

Fisher looked at the door when a noise alerted him to something. "And here's our Romeo now."

Amy spun around in her chair to see who it was. "Huh?" Danny Simpson asked, all sunglasses and smile.

"You will be Romeo to Miss. Denton's Juliet. We are going to put on a play."

"Which moron came up with that crappy idea?" Simmo asked.

Fisher almost smiled but not quite. "Um, that moron would be me."

"I guess I'll be heading for the principal's office." Simmo sighed.

"I guess you will. Send him my best."

-oOOo-

Amy hung back after class had finished and slowly approached the teacher.

"What can I do for you Miss. Denton?" He asked.

"Um...this play thing."

"Shakespeare."

"Yeah. I...ah...I'm not good at that acting thing."

"Well now is your chance to get good then. I intend for the class to perform it in front of the school."

Amy tried another tact. "Is there any way I can get out of doing this?"

"Well one was to be on time for my class. But I guess there is one other way?"

"What?" Amy asked hopefully.

"A death certificate Miss. Denton. Namely, yours."

'Or yours,' Amy thought ruefully.

"Any luck with Fisher?" Katie asked when Amy came out of the room on their way to Math.

"Nope."

"Oh well, look on the bright side. Think of all that time you'll have to spend with Danny."

Her friend smiled. "He is so cute."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Amy mumbled.

-oOOo-

That day, after school, Amy pedalled over to Mary Anne's Performing Arts Studio. She didn't want to but if she had any hope of getting some of the money back she had to attend at least one afternoon a week.

On top of all of the hassles her gender change had caused was the fact that she had to try and look comfortable in a place where she'd never been before. That was especially true of Mary Anne's P.A.S. where she was greeted as a long time member of the family. Set back from a main road Mary Anne's studio was actually an old warehouse that had been converted around ten years ago. Stuart passed it almost every day but barely gave it a second glance, unless a pretty girl was exiting.

Now it was going to play a big part in Amy's life, at least until she could get her hands on that old Chinese woman. A woman who she'd never seen before came up and gave her a hug. "I was sorry to hear you were giving up Ballet honey. You were damn good at it."

"I just wanted a change," Amy said trying to sound convincing. The fact was she didn't want to change. Not into a pink leotard with matching tutu at any rate.

"I guess it's hard to keep up the practice ballet requires and your school work as well."

"And my job." The girl nodded.

"Okay sweetie. Have you given any thought to what you want to do here now?"

"Singing or acting maybe."

"Okay, I'll send you over to Louise."

"Louise?"

"Yes, she's the drama coach here."

Amy excused herself to go to the little girl's room. To her amazement the toilets were in the changing room and she found herself in the middle of a gaggle of girls all in various stages of undressing. She literally didn't know where to look. She wanted to look everywhere but knew how strange it would seem if this girl was perving on all the rest. Lesbian was not a label she thought suited her. Heterosexual girl scared her even more.

The lesson wasn't too bad as lessons go. At least she didn't have to write anything down but some of the exercises were pretty bloody stupid. Pretending to be a tree was a little painful when she considered the two hundred and fifty dollars she wouldn't be able to add to her Hong Kong fund.

She did meet a few more girls, some of who seemed to know her and others who were meeting her for the first time. Even Louise set some homework. She had to pick out a small passage from a book or play and perform it in front of the drama class the following week.

-oOOo-

When she got home she went straight to her room to change out of the school dress and most importantly take off her bra. She had just slipped on some comfortable bike shorts and a bright yellow sleeveless T-shirt, anything but pink, when the phone rang.

Knowing the answering machine was on she grabbed a diet coke, for some reason she now preferred that to normal coke that Stuart drank by the bucket. She listened to her mum say, "You've reached the Denton's. We can't get to the phone at the moment so please leave your message after the beep."

The caller on the other end of the phone had a shocking line and Amy listened carefully to try and work out what was being said. About the only words she could make out through the static was "Rocket." And "good bye." As well as a phone number she couldn't work out. Then the line went dead.

"What the fuck was that?" She asked. Shrugging she left it for her mum to deal with and went to watch some TV.

Jade got home half an hour later. "Hi Amy, any messages?"

"Some dopey phone seller trying to off load a toy rocket by the sounds of it. Why? Are you expecting some one to call?"

"That would be telling. How was your day?"

Amy sighed. "I might as well tell you, you're going to hear about it anyway."

"What?"

"Our English class is going to put on a play. Romeo and Juliet."

"So?"

"So guess which part I got lumbered with?"

"You're kidding?" Jade laughed, "This I have to see."

"Well it looks like you'll get your wish. Unless I can get out of it I am going to have to preform in front of the whole school."

"And I thought there was no God," Jade giggled. "My brother Juliet. Who's the lucky Romeo?"

"Simmo." Amy said quietly.

"Oh ah. Mr. Puts Tom Cruise to shame. The plot thickens."

"You're lips will thicken if you give me too much shit."

Jade shrugged. "The bee stung look is in." She paused for a moment and looked at her sister. "I saw you at lunch today hanging out with all of those other girls. You must be learning heaps about the fairer sex."

Amy grabbed her boobs. "There's nothing fair about this body. In fact it's plain sodding unfair. To answer your question, no. I haven't learnt much at all about girls."

"Nothing?" Jade asked incredulously.

"Not really. Sure I can fix my hair and do my make up but when it comes down to it I am just acting a part." Amy replied. "My drama coach..."

"You have a drama coach?" Jade interrupted.

"I do now. Anyway, my drama coach would say I was just speaking the lines and I don't really understand my character."

Jade thought about it for a second or two. "Maybe you're looking at things the wrong way."

"Oh god. This'll be good."

"Look Amy, the way I see it you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting turned back into Stuart right? I mean even if you go to Hong Kong and find Mamma Chow she might not help you. True?"

"I guess so," Amy grudgingly agreed.

"So, either you're stuck that way for good and you'll just have to get used to it, or you get turned back to normal."

"I kind of worked that one out for myself Jade." Amy said. "But thanks for the insight."

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

"You mean I get a choice?"

"Well no." Jade admitted. "Listen, the girls your hanging out with don't see you as Stuart. To them you've always been Amy. I've seen the photos and some of them were at your fifth birthday party, when were you all dressed as fairies. You don't have to act with them so they'll see you as female."

"True, I suppose," Amy mused. "But I need to keep on my toes so I don't slip up with basic stuff I should remember but don't"

"I just hope that if you do go back to being Stuart you at least understand girls a little bit. Not just understand what it's like to wear a dress or do your hair, but really understand girls."

"And how the hell am I meant to do that?"

"Well for a start you spend all of your time thinking about the differences between your old life and now, between boys and girls. Maybe you should try looking for the similarities."

"Oh, I get it." Amy said. "You mean that all Hitler had to do was say to Churchill, "Winston, I will admit we have our differences. I want to take over the world; you want to defend freedom and liberty. But we have much more in common. Both of our peoples come from the same basic stock. We both like beer and sausages. Let's forget about this silly war and we can go back to hating the French like normal. Yeah, that makes perfect sense."

Jade got up from where she was sitting. "I can't talk to you when you're in one of these moods. Just promise me you'll think about it?"

"If it'll get rid of you I'll promise to jump over the moon."

Jade rolled her eyes and headed out of the room. She stopped just before the door. "By the way," she said turning to face Amy. "Did you hear the school's putting on a formal?"

"A formal dance?"

"No, a formal apology you Nigel. Of course a formal dance."

"When?"

"In about six weeks. I am still deciding which boy I'll go with."

Amy shrugged. "Is that your only problem? I can help you out there."

"You can?"

"Yep. Always pick the guy with the guide dog." Amy laughed

-oOOo-

"I'm going out mum," Amy said just on dusk.

"Out? Where?"

"I just have to run to the Mall, I need some more pantyhose because the pair I wore the other day has a ladder in them so long you could use it to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sam goes off his face if we don't wear them, sexist prick that he is."

Susan just raised her eyebrows letting Amy know she wasn't happy with the language. Mothers must go to some sort of school to learn how to do that, Amy thought.

"Well, have you asked Jade if she has a new pair to spare for you?" Susan asked.

"Yes and she hasn't. What's the big deal mum? The Mall is a ten-minute walk away. I can be there and back in half an hour."

"The big deal is, it's getting dark." Susan said.

"So? It's never bothered you before if I go out after dark,"

"Have you had a look at yourself recently Stuart? You are a young, pretty girl. You're what? Five foot three inches? You weigh almost nothing and you have lost a huge amount of body strength."

"I'll be ok mum," Amy said trying to placate her. "What's the worst that can happen?" She regretted asking is as soon as the question passed her lips.

"Oh I don't know," Susan began. "You could be murdered, raped, and assaulted, abducted and sold into white slavery. God knows why, it's not like you do any work around here."

"I don't think that's the point of white slavery mum."

"Don't argue with me Amy. I'll drive you to the mall."

"Mum, It's a madhouse up there when it comes to parking. It'll take you half an hour just to park. I can be there and back in that time. You were never this protective of Jade."

"There are three very good reasons for that. She's older, she has a car and she's been a girl her whole life so she can read the warning signs." Susan said, nailing each point home by holding up a finger.

"I promise to walk on the main roads and not take a side street. It's not that late anyway."

"All right, but take my mobile phone with you."

"Now that I can do."

-oOOo-

Amy walked along the road feeling a little paranoid. She jumped at every little sound. She heard footsteps behind her and her heart raced, but it was only a young couple out for a stroll. The main street was well lit but there were dark patches where the light didn't reach and it was in these dark spots where Amy's imagination ran wild.

She was happy when she saw the brightly lit mall ahead and felt relieved to get inside where it was as bright as day. She paid a quick visit to the Copper Pot and said hello to some of her colleagues then headed for the department store where she purchased 5 new pairs of black pantyhose.

When she got out of the mall it was pitch black and the Stuart half was ragging on the Amy half for being scared, but it didn't stop her. She had just set off across the large car park when a car pulled up beside her. At first she didn't look at it, half expecting it to be a homicidal maniac or at best some randy guys who wanted to invite her to perform all sorts of acts. "Amy?" A familiar female voice said. "Would you like a lift, love?"

"Oh, hi Mrs. Frances," Amy said feeling a wave of relief rush over her. "That'd be great thanks."

"Hop in. How's school?"

"School's school." Amy shrugged. "You know how it is."

"It's been a long time since I was in high school sweetie, but yes, I know how it is."

They drove a little further with Amy trying to think of something to say. Eventually Mrs. Frances was the one to break the silence. "What do you think of Steve?"

"Ah... Katie's Steve? Why?"

"I'm just interested honey. Katie doesn't talk to me much these days and I haven't had a great deal to do with the boy."

"He's ok, I guess."

"You don't like him, do you Amy?"

"Is it that obvious?" Amy laughed. "No, I don't like him."

"I always thought you were a good judge of character," Katie's mother said as they pulled into her driveway. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Name it." The girl nodded.

"Well I don't think either of us want her to get hurt but if she does I'm the last person she'll come crying to. She knows I'm not keen on him. If the worst happens between her and Steve just look after her ok?"

"Sure Mrs. F. what are friends for?"

"Good girl. Thank you." The woman smiled as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Will you be ok to get home from here?"

"Yes thanks."

-oOOo-

Amy was at her locker the next day at lunch time changing her books over, when Katie said, "oh my God."

"What?"

"Don't look now Aim but he's coming over here."

Amy turned and saw Danny Simpson heading straight for them. "Oh God." She exclaimed.

"No, but he's not too far from being one." Katie smiled. "I think I need to use the ladies room and leave you two alone."

"Katie!" Amy said pleadingly but it was too late. Katie scuffled off and gave Danny a wink on her way past.

"Hi," he said.

"Ah...Hi."

"It looks like Fisher is serious about this play thing."

"It looks like it." Amy conceded trying not to blush and failing.

"Well, the way I see it we have three options. One, we can put a contract out on him. Two, we can each break the other person's legs. Or three, we act better than Laurence Olivier just to stick it up the old bastard."

Amy cursed herself for giggling like a schoolgirl, but then thought that was exactly what she was. "Well, I can/t spare the cash and I kind of like my legs as they are..."

"I like your legs as they are too," Danny smiled as his eyes turned down to have a quick look at them.

Amy couldn't believe a guy was flirting with her and she didn't feel like vomiting. "So that leaves us with a bit of rehearsing to do I guess."

"I guess so." The boy nodded. "Are you free this afternoon?"

"Oh. Sorry. I have to work."

Danny thought for a second. "Oh work. That's where you do stuff for some one for a certain amount of hours and they pay you money right?"

"So I've been told." That's it Amy girl, play it cool.

"Interesting theory but it'd never work in practice." He grinned. "Not for me anyway. I find that digging myself into and out of the shit is a twenty four-hour a day job. How about the weekend?"

"Um...I have to work Saturday morning but I'm free after one."

"Damn, and that's the time I usually set aside for robbery and murder." He laughed. "But for you, I'll clear my calendar. Your place or mine?"

Amy instantly thought of the stirring Jade would do if he turned up at their house. "Yours."

"Okay." He took out a pen and some paper from his bag and wrote down his address. "Say two o'clock?"

"That should be fine," Amy shrugged. "I'll let you know if I have something else planned."

"Cool. It's a date."

"No," Amy snapped defensively, "it's a rehearsal."

"Ok, it's a rehearsal then." Danny smiled. "By the way, we have a pool and it's supposed to be hot so bring your bathers if you want. We can swim."

Amy was going to say there was no chance of that but Danny had turned and walked away before she could get her brain into gear. "Bugger." Was all she managed to say.

-oOOo-

Amy rushed home from work on Saturday and threw on a pair of jeans and a red sleeveless T-shirt but then made the mistake of looking in the mirror. "Ugh," she said on seeing her appearance. She tried on three other outfits before settling on a denim skirt and a light blue halter neck. Her Bikini bottoms were on and she had the top in her handbag, just in case. She left her hair the way it was but did put on a little lipstick and some eye shadow, wondering all the while why she was getting so worked up about it.

"Can you give me a lift please Mum?"

"What happened to little Miss independent?" Susan asked as she looked up from the book she had been reading.

"Fine, I'll ask Jade."

"No, it's ok. I'll take you. Where are you going?"

"I have to go to a friends house to study." Amy said not wanting to give her mother a reason to laugh like Jade had.

"You? Studying on a weekend? Ok, now I am getting worried."

"Come on Mum, don't bust my balls over this. If you want me to go back to acting like Stuart I can but I thought you'd be happy I was taking an interest in my school work."

"I am sweetie." Susan said feeling a little chastised. "It's just a little surprising. Let me get my keys. Can you lock the back door for me please?"

-oOOo-

Susan pulled up in front of a large and obviously expensive house that was situated in the part of the suburb called Mortgage Hill.

"You know some one who lives here?" Susan asked.

"He said he did," Amy didn't sound all that sure.

"He? Are you sure you're just studying?"

"Not you too." Amy groaned. "It's an English assignment."

"Ok sweetie. Give me a call when you need a ride home." The mother said giving her daughter a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll stay until you get inside."

Amy slowly got out of the old station wagon and walked up the steep driveway. She grabbed the brass knocker and banged twice, ringing a doorbell for good measure.

She was looking back down the drive at her mother when the door opened and when she turned back she was face to chest with Danny who wasn't wearing a T-shirt.

Susan grinned as she saw Amy look anywhere but at the tanned muscular chest of a rather cute guy.

"Hey," Danny smiled. "Come on in."

Amy quickly waved to her mother and couldn't help but notice the grin. "Hi Danny," She said awkwardly. Still avoiding looking at his chest. It was silly, really, and Amy couldn't understand why the sight of it made her feel uncomfortable. After all, only 3 weeks ago she looked much the same. Maybe she didn't have the six-pack that Danny possessed but there wasn't much difference.

Entering the huge house she was amazed at the furniture and knew in an instant that Danny's parents weren't short of money. "Nice place," was all she said.

"You reckon?" Danny grunted. "Well I guess it's better than the last place we lived. Sit down. Do you want a drink?"

"Ah...Coke please. Why? Where did you live before you moved here?"

"I'll tell you Amy, there's nothing more scary than two hippies with a bit of money." Danny laughed from the kitchen. "Mum and Dad were both activists in Uni in the early 70"s, and they still hold on to some whacked out ideas."

"I don't understand?"

"Mum's a Lawyer, Dad's a doctor, a Surgeon to be exact. Both of them do a lot of free work. Well, they can afford it. Anyway, they got sick of the rat race a few years ago and dad sold everything off to buy a hobby farm. I tried to point out that since it was the only money we had coming in it was hardly a hobby but you know parents, they don't listen."

"So what happened?"

"They missed the rat race." Danny laughed. "And here we are." He came back into the large lounge room, passed her a drink and then sat on a chair across from her. "You look nice."

"Have you got any brothers or sisters?" Amy asked as she sipped her coke.

"Nah, I was kind of a shock to my parents." Danny grinned. "I think mum's still in shock to tell the truth. What about you?"

"I've got one sister, Jade. She's a couple of years above us in our school."

"And parents? I mean I know you've got them. What do they do?"

"Mum works at an ISP and Dad works at being an arsehole." Amy shrugged.

"Oh, he teaches English huh?"

Amy laughed. "No, he's not that bad. He lives in Perth so we don't see him much."

"Speaking of arseholes, I have been thinking about this play. Fisher has already cast the rest of the play hasn't he?"

"I think so." Amy nodded. "Why?"

"Well, get out a pen and a calendar and mark this down. I've had an idea."

"I bet that hurt Danny."

"You're a cruel, cruel woman." Danny laughed. "I think we should have a bit of a laugh at Fisher's expense."

-oOOo-

"Hi Mum," Jade said. "Hi Honey." Susan said giving her a kiss. "Where you been?"

"Over at Jessica's place. Is Amy here?" Jade asked as she sat down on the sofa next to her mother who was just watching a tennis match.

"No, I dropped her off at some boy's house about two hours go. She says she was studying."

"Ok. Can I talk to you then?"

"Sure you can Jade. It looks like Agassi has this game wrapped up anyway. What's on your mind?"

"You're not that confident about finding Mamma Chow again are you?"

Susan looked surprised and then turned the TV off. "What makes you think that?"

"I'm not stupid mum, and neither is Amy. If you were sure he'd be back to normal in a matter of months, and no one would ever know the difference, why worry about how she looks or what she wears? I think you aren't too sure about her ever getting back to being Stuart and you're getting her used to it so the news won't hit her as hard."

The mother sighed and then said nothing for a while. "I'm not sure what else I can do Jade." She finally admitted. "I feel responsible for her predicament and I know that if she can't resume her old life it will hit her hard. But if the worst happens and she is stuck then at least she will be able to handle all of the things she needs to as a girl. Until we know one way or the other I prefer that we looked at the situation optimistically." She stared off into space as if too ashamed to look at her daughter. "My grandmother always said; expect the worst, hope for the best and take what you're bloody well given. What else can I do?"

"I do understand mum. For what it's worth I think you're doing the best you can."

"Then why do I feel so terrible about it?" Susan asked.

-oOOo-

Amy was still laughing about Danny's plan when she got home and still giggling about it the next day when she went next door to spend some time with Katie. She couldn't help but look at Katie with a slightly different perspective since Jade told her about Katie's feeling towards Stuart, but she was enjoying the girl's company as much as she had as Stuart. It was a different sort of friendship but no less enjoyable. Since that day when Katie had the fight with Steve Amy relaxed around girls and just went with the flow. She knew enough now to hold her own in any make over session and could speak on most topics the other girls might bring up. About the only thing she was a little unhappy about was how quickly Katie and Steve made up.

She stayed for a traditional Sunday roast and then headed home around 2 PM, surprised to see a familiar car parked in the driveway.

Her mother was in the lounge room with her dad's sister and husband.

"Here she is," Colleen Denton said. "Hi honey."

"Hi Aunty Colleen." Amy replied, happily giving her favourite Aunt a hug. "G'day Uncle Phil."

"How are you Amy?" The man who now seemed incredibly huge to Amy smiled. "You're looking well."

"I'm pretty good thanks. I just had some roast lamb and I never get it at home." She threw a look at her mother who responded with a "so, sue me" shrug. "What are you two doing here? Where's Lachlan?"

"Phil's mum is baby-sitting for us. We have some news."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Good or bad?"

"Well we're happy about it." Phil smiled. "We want to wait until Jade gets back before we tell you though."

Jade came home about fifteen minutes later and the whole hug, and "Hi, how are you" routine started again. Then finally they got to the point. "We're going to get married." Colleen beamed.

"Ah...hello. You two are already married." Jade said.

"Well technically we are. But we didn't have a big do. It's our tenth anniversary in a little over a month and your Aunty Colleen and I have been talking about the original big day and it was pretty small. We didn't have the money to put on a fancy show. We want to do it right this time around."

"That's right" Colleen smiled and took Phil's hand. "Church, white dress..."

"You'd look lovely in that Uncle Phil." Amy grinned.

"...Tuxedo, Limos and all the trimmings." Colleen said ignoring her niece.

Jade gave them both another hug. "It sounds great. Do we get an invitation?"

"Well, we were hoping to make it a real family event. Lachlan will be a groomsman and so will your Dad. We are in the market for two young beautiful girls to be bridesmaids."

Amy didn't like the sound of this.

"I'd love to." Jade gushed. "Amy?"

She tried to think of a way, any way, to get out of it without upsetting her Aunt and Uncle and also incurring the wrath of her mother. Unfortunately none sprang to mind.

"What the hell." Amy grinned. "I'm in." What else could she do?

-oOOo-

Life settled into a routine for the next couple of weeks for Amy Jo Denton. She had school, work, acting and singing lessons. She hung out with Katie and numerous other girls and she spent a lot of time with Danny Simpson rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and even had a few fittings for her bridesmaid dress.

It wasn't like she didn't enjoy herself. If she stood back and could look at her life from afar she'd see it wasn't too bad at all. But it wasn't really her life, it was Amy's and Amy was in truth Stuart. The only truly bright spot of the week was payday when she could see her bank balance slowly creep up. Amy literally counted the day until she could go Hong Kong. One more hurdle was over come when she applied for a passport.

Money, passports and Amy's grumbling about dresses all looked pretty petty when she slept over at Katie's house on Friday night. Amy woke up early one morning, around six AM. She was on an inflatable mattress on the floor in Katie's room and after remembering where and who she was she looked at Katie's bed expecting to see the girl curled up asleep. Instead, there was an empty bed. Amy assumed Katie had woken early and had left her to sleep. She padded quietly to the bathroom to pee but the door was locked and strange sounds were coming from inside.

"Katie?" She whispered so as not to wake the girl's parents. "Is that you?"

"Ah...Hang on." The girl replied sounding like she had been crying.

Amy heard some movement and then the door opened an inch or so. "What's going on?"

"Come in," Katie sighed opening the door wider. Amy entered the bathroom and her nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of vomit. "Yuck," she said. "Did you take something that didn't agree with you?"

"In a manner of speaking." Katie said sarcastically and almost laughed.

"What?"

"More like who."

This didn't make any sense to Amy. Here was Katie, obviously head down in the toilet, bringing up last night's meal and she was trying to tell her something. "Was it the pizza?"

"I'm pregnant, Amy." Katie blurted. Amy sat down on the side of the bath. scared her legs were going to give underneath her. She didn't even know Katie was having sex. "Are you sure?" She asked, mentally kicking herself for asking such a stupid question.

"I've already missed one period and I'm late for this one. I've been speaking on the porcelain telephone most mornings. I'm pretty sure."

"Have you...do you...Is there anyway this can be a false alarm?"

"I doubt it."

"Have you been to a doctor? "

"Are you kidding?" Katie spat. "Doctor Hughes will tell my mum, and mum will go nuts."

"I don't think they're allowed to tell anyone Katie." Amy said getting her breath back at last. "But if you want to be sure then there are plenty of other doctors around."

"They'll have to tell some one Amy. I'm underage, and any doctor will have to tell the cops. Won't they? I don't want Steve to get into trouble."

At the mention of his name Amy saw red. "Steve? You don't want Steve to get into trouble? Jesus Christ, does Steve know the trouble your in? Does he even care?" She hissed.

"Amy, please keep it quiet. I don't want mum waking up."

"She's not going to be able to sleep for the next eight months Katie."

Katie put the lid of the toilet down and sat on it, looking directly at Amy. "I haven't told Steve. I'm not sure if I am going to." She shrugged.

"You have to." Amy stated. "You didn't wave your magic wand and conjure up a baby all by yourself. Your beautiful assistant had to help."

"I love him Amy. You know guys, he could run a mile when he hears."

"If he does, is he really worth having?"

The two girls sat in silence in the dawn light that filtered into the bathroom. Amy broke the silence when she hugged her friend. "It's ok honey. I'll help you through this."

"Really?"

"Hey, what are friends for? The first thing we need to do is get you to a doctor. You really should tell your mum."

"No." Katie said rejecting the idea outright.

"Ok. We'll play it your way. I'm always around if you need a shoulder to cry on. Right now though, I really have to pee or I will explode."

-oOOo-

Tuesday afternoon Amy accompanied her friend to a doctor's surgery a few suburbs away. Both girls had changed out of their uniforms in the ladies room at the mall. Katie said she didn't want the doctor looking down their nose at the pregnant schoolgirl. Amy happily put on Jeans and a top.

They sat in the waiting room, Katie jumping every time someone walked in, Amy calming her friend down. All the time Amy held the other girl's hand to give her strength. "Katie Frances." A doctor called. He was in his late thirties or early forties, dressed casually in jeans and an open collar shirt. Both girls got up and followed him down a hallway to where his surgery was.

"I'm Katie," the girl smiled nervously. "This is Amy, my best friend."

The doctor sat and looked at the pair. "You haven't been to this medical practice before?"

"No."

"Okay, I just have to ask you a few questions. Medical history, that sort of thing."

Katie answered them all as well as she could given her emotional state. "Right," Doctor Bennet smiled. "Now what can I do for you today?"

"I think I'm pregnant."

"I see," He said, his voice taking on a harder edge. "When was your last period?"

"Two months ago."

"Well, we're going to need a urine sample. You'll find a toilet at the end of the hall to the left." He said handing her a small plastic jar.

Both girls stood up again and returned shortly after with a warm container full of yellow liquid.

The doctor walked over to a bench with his back to the girls so Amy couldn't see exactly what he was doing. After a few minutes of him fiddling around he went back to his chair. "Well, you are indeed pregnant Miss Frances."

"Shit." Katie said. It was one thing to suspect it but a totally different thing to have it confirmed by a doctor. "What do I do now?"

"I would have hoped that was something you would think about before finding yourself in this predicament, not after." Amy could see Katie's body stiffen up. The Doctor continued, "Apart from pregnancy, girls like you leave yourself wide open to sexually transmitted diseases. Everything from herpes to H.I.V. Honestly, one condom could have saved you all of this and virtually stamped out any risk. If you must have sex at least be adult enough to do it responsibly."

Amy looked over at Katie who was almost in tears by now. "It was just once," Katie whispered, eyes locked on the floor.

"Well once is all it takes." Doctor Bennet said. "You know that now, don't you?"

Amy had had enough. She raised herself to her full five feet three inches and let the Doctor have it. "Talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted," She yelled. "Katie is not a slut, she's not a tramp and she's not stupid. She simply fell into a trap that women have fallen into since time began. And it's not all her fault either. I bet if a guy came in here and told you he got his girlfriend pregnant you wouldn't bat an eyelid. No, go for the easy target. Well here's some news for you, you jumped up little quack, Katie walked in here thinking she couldn't possibly feel any worse, and thanks to your caring, concerned bedside manner, somehow she does."

"Amy," Katie said. "Let it go."

"What ever happened to the Hippocratic oath?" Amy said, ignoring Katie. "Well you go home and sleep well tonight because if you're supposed to make your patients feel three inches tall you've really done your job well, Doctor Bennet."

With that she got up and pulled Katie out of the room. Katie looked like she was about to cry and Amy felt bad but she couldn't sit there and let that miserable jerk talk to her friend like that. They were outside when Katie began to laugh. "What?" Amy asked.

"Do you think we'll get a Christmas card from him next year?" Katie responded.

-oOOo-

Susan was worried about Amy. She had been spending a lot of time with Katie recently and the two were very secretive. Susan had been a mother long enough to know something was up. She had quizzed Jade on it but that hadn't revealed any new information so she let it drop. Until a week later when she received a call from Amy's school counsellor.

Amy had no idea when she walked though the door that her school had called. "Hi mum," she said a little quietly.

"Hi. How was school?"

"Ok I guess."

"Do anything interesting?" Susan asked.

"Nope. Just a normal school day."

"Don't lie to me Amy. Mrs. Cox rang. You weren't at school today and nor was Katie. Where were you?"

"Ah...We went into town."

"Oh, you two just decided that there were better things to do than go to school? You just don't think some times do you? This is something I'd expect from Stuart, not you."

"Reality check Mum. I am Stuart." Amy shouted back. "Stuart is me. We're the same person. I think you forget that a lot of the time."

Susan followed the girl down the hall and into her room. "So what did you do today? What was more interesting that school?"

"A frontal lobotomy would be more interesting than school, Mum." Amy said. "We just went in to town and...looked around. I'm very sorry. It won't happen again. Please, can we drop this?"

"Drop it? I haven't even warmed up." Amy made a huge mistake by rolling her pretty eyes. "Fine," Susan said. "You want it dropped. You're grounded for two weeks. You will go to school, work and Mary Anne's and that is it. Any other time you will be here. See? That was easy. Consider it dropped.

-oOOo-

Jade knocked on Amy's door later that night. "What gives?" She asked her little sister.

"The Salvation fucking Army." Amy spat, not even looking at Jade.

"Oh aren't we a barrel of laughs? I mean what happened with you today?"

"I wagged school, played hooky, and went truant." Amy shrugged.

"I guessed that Amy. What I want to know is why?"

"Well for once something in the world will just have to happen without Jade Denton knowing the reason."

"Are you in trouble?" Jade asked softly. "Apart from with Mum I mean."

"Nope."

"Because if you are, you can trust me you know? I know you don't like being a girl but one of the good things has been how much closer we are."

Amy looked up for the first time. "I know," she sighed. "It's not me with a problem, If it was I'd tell you. I can't say any more because Katie has asked me to keep quiet."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amy smiled. "Thanks for worrying though Jade. I really do feel closer to you now."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, but if they can cure polio I'm sure a vaccine for what I have will be out soon."

-oOOo-

Amy slid on her school dress the next morning, put her hair up in a pony tail and walked out of the house without even looking at Susan. Parents weren't the only ones who could play the silent treatment. Katie was waiting for her at the bottom of the driveway. "Hi Katie, how are you feeling this morning?" She asked rubbing the other girl's arm.

"I am happier about seeing that other doctor yesterday, she was pretty cool."

"Yeah, at least she didn't treat you like a slut. I could kill Bennet for that."

"I reckon for a moment there he thought you would kill him. You're a great friend Amy."

"Do you know what you're going to do?"

"Well, Doctor Tims was right. I guess I should tell Steve and see what he thinks."

"Hello. I said that days ago." Amy said in mock hurt. "Did you cop much shit from your parents?"

"One month grounded. You?"

"Two weeks," Amy shrugged. "But then I only have one parents anger to deal with."

-oOOo-

The girls split up at school. Amy had a history lesson to go to and Katie took Spanish at that time. "Hey Amy," Danny called. "Wait up."

"Danny. I was hoping I'd see you. I can't come over to your house after school."

"Shit," the boy said. "We still need to rehearse."

"Well we're rehearsing with the rest of the class at lunch. I guess that will have to do."

"You working again?" He asked as they walked to class.

"Nah, I got grounded for ditching school yesterday."

"Bummer. Do you think your mum will mind if I come over to your place?"

Amy found herself wanting to tell Danny that her mother would kick him out but she couldn't. Why should she? She enjoyed the guy's company and where was the harm in that? "We are doing something for school so she can't really complain."

"Cool. I've got to go or I will cop another detention for being late. I'll see you later to get the address." Danny threw her that killer smile and took off running.

-oOOo-

"Have you seen him yet?" Amy asked Katie in whispered tones, when the two met up for maths.

"Not yet." Katie frowned. "I think he's avoiding me."

Probably, Amy thought, the guys a dick head. "No way, he loves you." She told her friend. "He's probably just hanging with his buddies."

"Amy," A voice boomed across the room. "This is a maths class, not a gossip session. Perhaps you'd like to share what you were saying with the whole class?" Mr. Davidson said.

"Ah, I'd rather not Sir. It's rather personal."

"Listen up everyone. Miss. Denton is about to reveal some personal information. Go ahead."

Amy shrugged and looked at Katie who just buried her head in a book. "I was just..."

"Stand up please," Davidson demanded. "I'm sure the people in the back row want to hear it."

Amy stood. "I was just asking Katie if some one should tell you that your zipper is down Sir." She said. "I guess it's a moot point now though." She sat to laughter from her fellow students.

"Erm...Turn to page 238 of your text books please class." Davidson grumbled as he turned and pulled it back up.

-oOOo-

Amy had just enough time after rehearsal to rush to the toilet. She chose her stall, entered, pulled her dress up and her panties down and sat when she heard some one crying. It was strange, ever since she had been a girl she found it hard to pee when she knew others were listening. She sat there for a few minutes but nothing would come out. "Will you just piss off," she said to the phantom crier. But the tears kept coming and the urine didn't.

Eventually Amy gave up. "Are your all right in there?" She asked as she knocked on the door of the only occupied stall.

"Amy?" The door opened and Katie was sitting on the toilet lid with tears streaming down her face.

"Either you told Steve and it didn't go well or you ate something from the cafeteria." Amy said. She had noticed Katie hadn't turned up for rehearsals but thought that because she was only in charge of stage decoration she wasn't needed there.

"Men are arseholes." Katie cried.

"Not all of them." Amy wanted to say all of us but caught herself in time. "But I take it Steve wasn't happy at the prospect of becoming a dad?"

"He told me that it was my problem."

Amy put her arm around her friend. "Prick," was all she said.

"How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I see him for what he really is?"

"Well they say love is blind."

"Yeah but it's not supposed to be retarded Amy. Do you know how it happened?"

"How you got pregnant? I have a fair idea."

"No, I mean how we ended up doing it?"

"Tell me."

"His parents were out one night and we had a few drinks from the booze cabinet. I was drunk before I even knew it. God, it wasn't even fun. Wham bam thank you ma'am. I was left wondering if that was it. And then I missed my period."

"You can't go to classes in this condition Katie. Go home and I'll cover for you."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go home and I'll call you tonight."

"Thanks Amy," the girl said, smiling weakly. "I love you."

Amy returned her hug, wiped the tears away with her hand and then headed off to class whispering "I love you too Katie," as she went.

-oOOo-

"Hey babe," Steve said to Amy a little later.

"I'm trying to work out what's smaller, your dick or your compassion." Amy growled. "So far your compassion is winning but it's close."

"Jesus, keep it quiet." Steve Ellis said taking her off to one side. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"No? How about getting an underage girl drunk and then taking advantage of her?"

"She was all over me," Steve said defensively. "

That should have been a clue dick weed. You'd need to be off your face to find you sexy."

"Look Amy, it's really none of your business. It's between me and Katie."

"No it's not you bastard. You used her, fucked her and dumped her. Now that she's pregnant you don't want to know her."

"I said I'd help pay for an abortion."

"Oh that's big of you. Let's stick a vacuum cleaner up your arse and put it to full mate. That'll give you a tiny idea what abortions are about. You better pray she doesn't have this baby because I will personally make sure you're named as the father and then tell Katie how to get you to pay for child support."

"I don't have a job." Steve grinned. "She can have a hundred per cent of what I earn. Nothing."

"There's one small flaw in that plan. The payments will last until the kid's eighteen and even a dead head like you will probably have a job by that time. As for now, the underage guy's parents have to cough up the cash. I bet that will make your mum and dad happy."

"Are you finished?" He asked.

"Not quite. I want you to know that if you so much as look at Katie the wrong way I'll kick you in the balls so hard you'll have to open your mouth to take a piss." Amy walked away leaving a speechless Steve standing with his mouth hanging open and fear in his eyes.

Finally something good about being a girl, Amy thought. If she had been Stuart and said the same things she had no doubt that she'd have at least one black eye and maybe a few cracked ribs. She felt powerful for the first time since opening the Jade Box.

-oOOo-

"Are we going to bury the hatchet?" Susan asked when Amy entered the house that afternoon.

"Yeah. I'm sorry mum. I can't tell you why I ditched school, but please believe me when I say I had a good reason."

"Ok."

"What? You're going to let me off the hook?"

"You're still grounded but I hate arguing." Susan said giving the girl a hug. "If you have to take a day off school then at least let me know. I worry about you more now."

"You're on. Listen, I have a friend coming over soon if that's ok. We are rehearsing a play for school."

"Is this Mr. Pectorals from the other day?" Susan grinned.

"Yes it is. His name's Danny and he's a friend."

"A cute friend."

"I hadn't noticed." Amy lied.

"Well you know you can invite him to Colleen and Phil's wedding. Jade's inviting a friend."

"I didn't think she had any." Amy giggled. "I am going to get out of this bloody school dress. If Danny turns up please don't embarrass me."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Susan said.

"No, of course you wouldn't dream of it. You'd just go right ahead and do it."

"Well I have to get my fun somewhere."

-oOOo-

"Okay, I'm done. Any more learning lines and my brain will explode." Danny said later that night.

"And I am supposed to tell the difference how?" Amy laughed.

Danny was in the middle of throwing a cushion at the girl when Susan looked in on them in the family room. "Would you like to stay for something to eat Danny?" She asked. "Jade is going to have dinner at her friends house so I have heaps left. It's just Spag Boll."

"Spaghetti is fine for me thanks Mrs. Denton."

"Call me Susan hon." the woman smiled. "I'm sure Amy will show you where the phone is if you want to call your parents."

Amy and Susan were laughing at one of Danny's stories when Susan bought up the wedding renewal. "Did you know Amy is going to be a bridesmaid at her Aunty and Uncle's wedding?"

"Jesus," Danny exclaimed. "Why did you kick me Amy?"

"I was aiming for mum. Sorry." Amy said sheepishly. "She's just being her subtle self."

"I just mentioned it," Susan said in mock innocence.

"It's amazing isn't it? When us kids just mention something parents accuse us of stirring."

Susan got the hint and changed the subject. Unfortunately for Amy it wasn't a subject she really wanted her mother to know about. "So, what are you two studying anyway?"

"Romeo and Juliet" Danny shrugged. "We have to perform it in front of the school in a few weeks."

"You never told me this Amy."

"Gee, I wonder why that is?" Amy said sarcastically.

"I'll have to come and see it."

"Oh yeah, that's why."

Amy didn't want to appear rude, but she was happy Danny started thinking about leaving before Jade came home and checked him out. They were standing on the front porch, waiting for Susan to get her car keys when Danny asked if she was looking forward to the wedding.

"Well, yes and no," she answered honestly. "I was kind of hoping to ask Katie to come but it turns out she has to go down to Mount Gambier that weekend for her cousin's eighteenth."

"Bummer."

"I don't suppose you want to come? It won't be anything great. Mostly my relatives and stuff but they are pretty funny drunk." For some reason she found that she was breathing harder and miraculously holding her breath at the same time waiting for his response.

"Drunk relatives huh?" He smiled. "Sounds like my kind of thing. I'd love to come."

"Cool." Amy sighed with relief. "Well... ah... great then." He said LOVE, she thought. "It's next weekend."

"No problems." Danny grinned.

Susan came out of the house. "Found them. They were still in my jacket pocket." She said rattling the car keys.

Amy thought it was a little suspicious that her mother came out at exactly the right time but seeing as how she couldn't prove anything she let it slide.

That night Amy's second period started.

-oOOo-

Saturday morning Amy took what is colloquially known in Australia as a sickie. She rang work early and told them she was ill and would be unable to do her shift. Sam wasn't too impressed saying he was already short staffed but, Amy mentioned vomiting and diarrhoea and Sam backed down. She still put on her work uniform and then met Katie on the corner of their street. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Amy asked for the thousandth time.

"No," Katie admitted sadly. "I don't have much of a choice though Aim."

The two girls stood in silence until a bus rattled down the road and picked them up heading for town.

The building was a little hard to find. They walked past it three times before they worked out that what looked like an old house was actually the clinic. Katie took a few deep breaths before heading for the door. She was almost there when this guy in his forties came out from nowhere. Amy grabbed Katie's hand tighter with her left hand and her handbag closer to her body with her right.

The man thrust forward a picture and said "This is what they do in there." Amy didn't have time to assimilate a blurry photo of what looked like a skinned rabbit with the man's words.

"It's not to late to change your mind and come back to God." The man continued. He gestured at the photo and asked, "Is that what you want for your child?"

All of a sudden it hit Amy what this guy was about. "Get out of our way dip shit." She snapped.

"The Bible makes it clear that every life is sacred." He said and stood in front of the pair.

"Get that photo away from me," Katie screamed.

"When was the last time you were pregnant?" Amy demanded of the man.

"We are all children of the lord." The man said in that sanctimonious way of speaking that all religious people seem to get.

"Well you'll be meeting your father soon if you don't get out of the way." Amy growled, or at least she tried to. She looked up and down the street hoping someone would come along and get rid of this guy. As Stuart she would have beaten him to a pulp by now but as Amy she was intimidated by both his physical size and his zealousness. Katie was losing it, and Mr. Bible was making the most of her discomfort.

"Go home and have your child girl. If you enter this building you will not only ruin your life but murder the life inside of you."

"Lets just go Amy." Katie said, beginning to cry.

"Yes Amy, listen to your friend, she has obviously seen the error of her ways."

There was no way to argue with the man and no way to get around him. Until a police car pulled up at the kerb. "Hey Ben," one cop said. "You know you can't stand here and stop women from going inside."

"I obey the laws of god." Ben, who ever he was, said. "Well the magistrate is going to love that one. Get in the car Ben." The other policeman said as they grabbed him and pushed him into the backseat.

Amy felt like a Damsel in distress must have felt when her knight in shining armour rode up to the castle. "Sorry about him Ladies," The younger of the two officers shrugged.

Katie sat on a railing of a fence and took a few deep breaths. "Well that was fun."

"Do you want to go home?"

"No. A thousand Bens can't be worse than one mother. Namely mine if I go home and tell her I am pregnant."

"I think your mum deserves more credit than that Katie."

"Oh, I know she will support me Amy, but after all of the times she's told me about birth control I don't want to see that disappointed look in her eyes. Well, that and the I told you so look."

"Your mother is good at them too huh?"

"Aren't they all? I know this is the right thing for me at the moment."

"Okay then." Amy smiled helping her friend up. "Just as long as you know you can back out any time."

-oOOo-

Amy was exhausted. She'd been to work and then did an hour and a half at Mary Anne's. She wanted to go home, get changed into some old sweats and crash but that was not to be.

"Have a shower" Susan said as her daughter walked into the kitchen. She was preparing some trays of finger food, never a good sign for Amy.

"Huh? Why?" Amy said stifling a yawn.

"I told you this morning, were having a bridal shower for your Aunty Colleen." Susan told her. "I've laid out a nice dress on your bed. Put it on."

"A bridal shower?" Amy said. "Isn't it enough that I am going to be a poxy bridesmaid?"

"That you are doing out of the goodness of your heart."

"And this?" Susan nibbled on a celery stick. "This you are doing to get me to drop your grounding."

Amy thought about it for a second or three. "Fair enough." She said.

She went to the bathroom and disposed of her sanitary pad. Her period had been heavier this time but still it was a lot easier to cope with now she knew what to do. She quickly showered and then dried her hair. The dress her mother had picked out for her wasn't too bad, as dresses go. It was made from a silk or satin material, mostly white shantung style with little red flowers printed on it. Amy brushed out her hair, pulled on a pair of fresh panties and replaced the sanitary pad, pleased to think that there was only a little bit of blood that day, hopefully it would be over by the next morning. The dress fell to the middle of her thighs and had spaghetti straps so Amy gladly didn't worry about a bra. She put on some lipstick, eyeliner and a little mascara, slid her dainty feet into the black high heels and pronounced herself ready to face the night.

She was pleased to see Katie and her mother appear soon after. Katie had been a bit withdrawn since Saturday but Amy expected that and did what she could to help, which was to be there with a shoulder for Katie to cry on.

More and more people arrived and Katie couldn't help but think of the night the guys were having at her Uncle Phil's house. They had hired a bunch of action films and very likely a few pornographic films and were at that very moment proceeding to get rat arsed drunk. She was wearing a dress and heels and looking at a night of women sitting around giving the bride sex toys and lingerie. Where was the fairness in that? Even her father and little cousin, Lachlan, were over there with the rest of the guys and she was stuck

having a period and talking about vibrators.

The night actually wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The women seemed to either forget she and Katie were in the room, or they were just accepted as women rather than girls for the night. Some of the talk could make a sailor blush and Amy was amazed at some of the more graphic details that women talked about. She did enjoy some of the party games her mother made her play. The only weird time came when they were playing a game where they had to kiss a piece of paper, inhale a little to hold it to their lips, and then see if the next woman could take it in the same way and pass it on down the line. Amy was first in line and held the paper no problems but as she was passing it to Katie the paper slipped and Amy found her lips and Katie's were touching each other. All of the women laughed, after all, that was what made the game fun, but Amy felt weird. Her first kiss with Katie was while she was a girl. She tried to laugh along with the rest of the ladies but her mind kept locking onto that kiss.

At around 1 AM people began to leave. Colleen was exhausted and decided to sleep at Susan's house rather than going back to what was undoubtedly a pigsty at her own.

Amy collapsed on her bed after taking off her makeup and replacing the sanitary pad again. She kept thinking of the sensations she got from the accidental kiss.

-oOOo-

"You got a tick?" Amy asked as she knocked on Jade's door.

Jade looked up from a magazine. "Oh, let me just check my social calendar. Yep, looks like I have. What's the problem?"

"This wedding." Amy started. "I'll be expected to dance right?"

"That is a normal thing to do at a wedding."

"I can't."

"You can't? You can't dance?"

"Well let's just say the Bolshoi jobs are safe," Amy said. "I am supposed to have done ballet for years but I have all of the elegance of a hippo on roller blades."

"I've seen you dance Stu, you're over estimating it."

"So is there any hope you can teach me without making snide comments?"

"Not a snowballs chance in hell I am afraid." Jade smiled.

"I thought not. I'll go ask mum."

"Have you seen mum dance?" Jade asked

"Shit."

"That's what I think of her style too."

"Okay," Amy sighed. "I'll get some CDs and you can start cranking up the snide."

"I love that box."

-oOOo-

Amy woke up that Saturday morning early. It was getting easier to wake in her body but it still made her yearn for her old form. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, sat up and then marked off a calendar on her bedside table. This would be her fifty-first day as a girl. Over seven weeks had passed since Stuart first opened that box. In that time she had two periods, worn a skirt or a dress countless times, learned how to do her makeup, hair and even how to walk in high heels. She could put on pantyhose most times without causing a run in them and she now knew the difference between a sweetheart and a scoop neckline. All of this would pale into insignificance compared to the day she was about to have. Stuart Denton was about to be a bridesmaid.

She went to the toilet and then made her way out to the kitchen where Jade, her mother and Colleen were already seated enjoying breakfast.

"Here she is," Colleen smiled and gave the girl a hug. "How's sleeping beauty?"

"Better if I was still sleeping." Amy yawned. "So today is the big day huh?"

"Sure is," Susan smiled. "I just hope Phil is the right guy for you Col, you know what men are like. They run away from commitment."

"Yeah, he'll probably split right after the wedding." Jade agreed getting into the joke.

"Pity he doesn't take off now. I might be able to get some sleep and forget this whole wedding thing."

"You were always a grumpy kid in the morning Amy. I see nothing has changed."

"What's first on the agenda?"

"Well the ceremony isn't until two this afternoon so we have to be at the Salon at eleven. They'll do our hair and makeup then. We should all be out of there by one and then we come back here to get changed and we should just about make it to the church on time."

"Not too early." Jade laughed. "It's traditional for the bride to be late."

"Yeah," Amy grumbled. "How does the year 2007 sound?

-oOOo-

Amy walked into the salon not knowing what to expect. Marcel, a stereotypical gay man, met the four women. "Hello ladies," He lisped. "Well, well, well. Aren't we all adorable! If you were any more beautiful I'd be out of a job. Now, Cherise has some bubbly for you all and we'll get this all done as quick as a wink."

A tall woman bought Champagne to them and each lady took a glass. "None for those two," their mother said pointing to Jade and Amy. "They're under age."

Marcel waved away her concerns. "Who needs to worry about a little thing like the law on such a special day?"

Susan threw both of the girls a look that clearly said: Not too much. "Here's to a great day." she said as they clinked their champagne flutes together.

Amy downed her drink a little too fast for Susan's liking and then she was led over to a comfortable chair with a tray table next to it. Colleen and Susan were shown to the sinks for a wash ,and Jade waited in another chair for her turn.

Cherise started on Amy's fingers while Marcel and another guy called Simon started to wash the older women's' hair.

It was pretty fun really, if she could put the reason they were there out of her mind. Everyone was in a good mood and the stylists did their best to make it a fun occasion. When the manicure and pedicure was done Amy found herself with 1-inch nails on her fingers with both her toes and her fingernails painted a red colour to match the lipstick they would be painted with later. She felt like Freddy Kruger and kept trying to keep the long nails out of the way but it was impossible. The damn things made it hard to even pick up the champagne flute.

She moved on to the basin for a shampoo and condition while Jade took her vacated seat at the manicure table. Colleen was in the chair getting a trim done.

An hour and a half later, feeling pretty close to being drunk, Amy was coiffed and made up. She'd had her hair washed, dried, curled, styled and then topped with a floral headpiece that her Aunty had chosen for her bridesmaids. She'd contorted her face in every known way to get her makeup done and she was slowly getting used to having long acrylic nails glued on to the end of each finger. Walking back to the car was a little weird. Most people saw Colleen and the rest of them and knew straight away that they were on their way to a wedding. But it must have been a strange sight to see four, half drunk, women made up to the nines from the neck up yet still dressed in casual clothes.

Arriving home there were five or six messages on the machine, all from Phil, who was pulling their home apart to find his cravat. Colleen rang and told him exactly where it was and ended the call with, "See you at the church honey. I love you."

"We better hustle," Colleen told the others. "I know I am supposed to be late but it takes a lot of hard work to make this old girl look good."

Amy went into her bedroom to get the dress and some underwear and sound a small present wrapped and sitting on her bed. Upon opening she saw a very expensive panty and strap less bra set along with a garter belt and real silk stockings. Attached was a card that read: To my sweet niece. Thank you for being a part of our special Day. Aunty Colleen.

Amy was truly touched. Now if she could just work out how the hell to put the garter belt on and attach the stockings she'd be feeling great. Jade came to the rescue. "Make sure you put the garter straps trough your panties," She told Amy. "You can pee easier that way."

"Great. Now all I have to worry about is skewering myself with these bloody talons when I wipe down there." Amy moaned.

"Wait until you put the stockings on. They feel like heaven against your skin." Jade took the opportunity to have a little fun. "Speaking of which, I bet Danny will look nice tonight."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and help me into this damn dress."

The dress. That damn stupid dress. It was all Amy had heard about since her first sitting for measurements. It was a French Blue taffeta, ball gown silhouette dress with a square halter neckline and a Plisse bodice and a long skirt. All of this was Greek to Amy but the words had been bandied about ever since Colleen and Phil had announced they were going to renew their vows. Whatever the name of it was Amy had to admit it made her look like a princess and even though she wouldn't admit it to anyone she felt what she imagined a princess must feel like.

Amy and Jade spent the next half an hour or so helping Colleen into her dress and making sure she had something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

Eventually a large limo pulled up out the front of their house and all of them, bouquets in hand, piled, well, climbed somewhat delicately, into the back. Next stop, the Church

Amy should have been paying more attention to the minister but all she could think was "Fuck these heels are killing me. How much longer?" She'd been standing now for what seemed like hours and there were still photos to go. "Hurry the fuck up," she wanted to tell the priest. "It's not like they aren't really married."

Finally they got to the, "I now pronounce you husband and wife... again," and Amy smiled. She had to admit it was all going off rather well. Colleen was beautiful, and even her Dad had scrubbed up well. She followed the happy couple out of the church, holding her spray of flowers. Out on the steps of the old stone church they all paused and arranged themselves for the first of millions of photographs. "How you going?" Jade whispered.

"I am busting for a piss." Amy admitted.

"You too huh? Keep your legs crossed. Where's lover boy?"

"I don't think he was coming to the ceremony. He'll meet us at the restaurant." Amy told her in hushed tones. They stopped talking long enough to smile for the photographer. "And he's just a friend." She added as they passed under a shower of rice.

-oOOo-

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The M.C. announced. "Please be upstanding for the bridal party."

"That's our cue." Jade hissed to Amy.

"Give me a tick will you? It's not exactly easy to piss in this bloody dress."

Susan took young Lachlan by the hand and walked into the room

"The Best man and the Matron of Honour, Lachlan McCoy and Susan Denton."

Amy and Jade rushed out of the ladies room and Jade took her place next to Phil's brother.

"Groomsman and bridesmaid, Darren McCoy and Jade Denton" the M.C. said.

"You look wonderful," Jim Denton told his youngest daughter.

"Thanks," She smiled.

"I am glad you're wearing my present."

"Huh?" She was trying to look around the corner into the room to see if she could spot Danny.

"The locket." James reminded her. "You're wearing it."

"Oh yeah. That..."

"Groomsman and Bridesmaid, James and Amy Denton."

Amy took her father's arm and strode into the room and headed for the bridal table where the rest of the party stood waiting for Phil and Colleen.

"And now, introducing, or maybe that should be reintroducing, Mr. And Mrs. Philip McCoy."

Everyone stood and clapped as a very happy couple walked into the room. Amy was looking for Danny though. She didn't know why she cared so much that he was there but she did.

Just then she spotted him, at a table in the middle of the room. He looked great, all dressed up in a dark grey suit. She smiled at him and he flashed that trademark smile back at her.

She had to put him out of her mind for the time being though. There were speeches to listen to.

-oOOo-

Amy danced with her father first but only out of duty. All of the bridal party danced with the person they had been paired with.

"Have I done something to upset you?" Jim asked as Amy tried to keep up with the dancing.

"You mean apart from divorcing mum and marrying what's her name?" Amy replied, not looking him in the eye.

"Her name is Francesca, Amy," Jim sighed, "But you know that already."

"Whatever. Look Dad, you bugger off to Perth and remarry. You had another kid and you forgot about me and Jade."

"I never forgot Amy. You made it clear you weren't happy with me. I just tried to give you some room."

"Moving to Perth gave me plenty of room." She spat. "Just don't come and act like you're a great father."

"I know I've let you down." He said as softly as the bridal waltz would allow. "I did what I thought was right but here's a news flash, parents make mistakes too."

"Gee, I am glad you told me that, I would have never guessed."

James Denton shrugged and gave up.

-oOOo-

"So you made it then?" Amy asked as she snuck up behind.

"You promise drunken relatives and you can't keep me away." Danny grinned. "You look fantastic."

Before she could stop herself she replied, "you don't look too bad yourself."

"Do you want to dance?"

"Maybe later," again she answered without thinking. "My heels are killing me. Do you mind if we grab a drink and sit for awhile?"

"Not at all."

They made their way over to the bar and both asked for cokes, and then they found a nearly empty table. "So have you had a good day?"

Amy thought about the question this time. "Yeah," she eventually said. "Yes I have. I never thought I would, but I have."

"I thought you girls get into this whole wedding thing."

"Well in the immortal words of Racey: "Some girls do. Some girls don't."

He laughed a little and they chatted. When they came to an awkward pause she stood up and took his hand. "Lets dance."

Thanks to Jade, Amy did pretty well on the dance floor. At least she didn't look like an idiot, which was more than you could say for some of the guests as the night wore on and the drinks kept flowing. A slower dance came on and Amy was about to get the hell out of there by using the excuse she needed to pee but Danny pulled her in closer. His warm breath on her neck did strange things to her, and his hands on her back sent little electric shocks through her body. She felt more uncomfortable about the fact that she didn't want to let him go than she did about him holding her that way in the first place.

The song ended and she really did need to use the bathroom. Unfortunately Jade was already in there with her friend Jessica. She grinned at Amy leaving little doubt that she had seen the pair snuggled up close on the dance floor. She ignored her sister and entered a stall to begin the huge task of peeing in such a voluminous dress.

-oOOo-

Amy was standing on the line of guests as the Bride and groom left the restaurant. It was late and like most of the women Amy had long since abandoned her heels under one of the tables, so the long wait for Colleen and Phillip wasn't as bad as it might have been. She chatted a little more to her dad. He wasn't totally off the hook, but Amy could see he wasn't as bad as she first felt.

"Thanks love," Colleen said when she at last reached Amy. "You were much better than my last bridesmaid."

"Who was that?"

"I am buggered if I remember." Colleen laughed very drunkenly.

"Well I am glad I could do better than that then. I hope you won't forget me."

"No chance sweetie. What did you say your name was?"

"Come on," Phil said to his "new" wife. "We have to get home and get some sleep if you want to fly out to Bali tomorrow."

"I've decided I am keeping my maiden name." Colleen told him.

"I think the world has enough Dentons," Jim laughed as he hugged his sister and shook Phil's hands. After thanking Jade, Susan, Darren and giving Lachlan a hug they jumped into an old pink convertible and left waving.

"I've really enjoyed tonight," Danny said a little later as they both stood out in the courtyard.

"Me too," Amy smiled. "I'm kind of glad Katie had to go away."

"Come with me to the dance next week."

The girl blinked a few times, unsure she heard right. "Sorry?"

"I am asking if you'll come with me to the dance. You are going aren't you?"

"I didn't really think about it." Amy admitted.

"So think about it." Danny took her chin in his hand, tilted it upwards slightly and kissed her.

Amy was stunned. Stunned to be kissed by this guy in the first place and stunned that it was so good. With out thinking about it her lips parted slightly and she felt his tongue. He tasted good and Amy continued to kiss him until he stopped and looked at her. "What do you say?"

Amy looked at him for a second or two and then turned and ran away as fast as she could, pushing Jade out of the way as she went.

"I'll take that as a no," Danny said to Jade who had walked up behind him.

"Let me work on her."

"You have a very mixed up sister."

"Danny, you have no idea how right you are."

-oOOo-

Amy lay awake, replaying the kiss again and again in her mind. It was a hot night and for the first time since she opened the box she had gone to bed naked. "Why did he kiss me?" She thought. "I didn't do anything to lead him on did I?"

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed that the rough bed sheet rubbing her nipples was having an effect. It was as if the rubbing was generating some sort of electric charge that was building up into a warm ball that was situated behind her groin. Amy could feel something strange was going on down between her legs, so she tentatively reached down and let a finger explore. Since her change the only time she had ever touched her vagina was wiping it after peeing or washing it in the shower, but this was different. She was wet.

It took a few seconds to realise what this meant. Thinking about the kiss was making her horny. Once more her hand snaked its way beneath the sheet and she gently rubbed her new lips and that's probably where it would have stayed except she touched her clitoris. "HOLY FUCK" she whispered in surprise as she reeled from the sensation. Gingerly she rubbed a little more. It wasn't easy with the nails attached and more than once she jumped in pain as the acrylic poked into soft flesh but when she worked out the right way to do it she persisted through to orgasm. It only took about five minutes but when it was done she felt amazing. The first time she had masturbated as Stuart she thought she had stumbled onto something new that no one else knew about. Now she tried to picture women she knew in the same position, legs spread and hand gently caressing their genitals. "Women don't do it too, do they?" She wondered. "If they do why do they get out of bed?"

She finally fell asleep with Danny in her mind.

-oOOo-

Jade entered Amy's bedroom the next day. "You okay?" She asked. "I saw the kiss, and you running off."

"I feel like crap Jade," Amy said in a quiet voice. "It's like my head and my heart have gone to war. My heart says go for it, you love him. But my head keeps saying I am a guy, guys don't fall for other guys."

"I could always bring you the girl's survivor pack."

"Do I want to know what that is?"

"All the chocolate you can eat and some copies of Cosmopolitan" Jade explained

"Does Cosmo have an advice column on what to do if you are a guy who'd been turned into a girl and now you're falling for another guy?"

"I don't think so. It does have 100 ways to lose weight."

"That ain't going to help me."

"Do you want my advice?"

"I don't know." Amy said honestly. "Will it help?"

"It might." Jade shrugged.

"Okay, I guess it can't hurt."

"I've seen you change over the past seven or eight weeks Amy. You may not be 100% girl, but you are closer now than you know. If that's true I can save you a lot of hassle. Your heart will kick your brain's butt in any competition."

"Gee, I guess that makes me gay."

"No," Jade stated. "Just a normal girl."

"I may be a lot of things but I am hardly normal."

"I don't think you're worried that that your not a normal girl Amy. I think you're scared that you are."

"I hate it when you're right." Amy said lying back on her bed. "What am I going to do?"

"I don't know. I have never been in your situation before but I am telling you that a girl's heart always wins in the end."

"That's what I am afraid of." Amy grumbled putting the pillow over her face and pretending to smother herself.

-oOOo-

Amy was watching the football on TV later that day when she heard a knock at the door. She was expecting Katie home soon from her cousin's eighteenth so she raced to the door hoping to get some more advice about Danny.

"Hi." Danny smiled. "Can I come in?"

Shit. "Yeah, I guess you'd better." Amy sighed with a mixture of disappointment and relief. She had thought Danny wouldn't want to know her any more.

"Would you like a drink or something?" She asked motioning him to a chair in the lounge room.

"Ah... coke please."

She went out to the kitchen to get two glasses of cokes. Looking in the glass on the wall oven she tried to make her hair neater and cursed herself for only wearing sweats. In the end she shrugged and went back to him.

Both of them started talking at the same time. "Sorry," She said. "You first."

"I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark last night Amy." He said not looking at her.

"I'm sorry for over reacting."

"You... I... Ah... You're not like other girls I know."

"You're right there." She smiled in spite of herself.

"There's something different about you Amy, but I can't put my finger on it."

Amy didn't know how to respond to that one so she simply asked, "Different good or different bad?"

"Good," Danny said quickly. "Definitely good."

A pregnant pause fell over the pair of them. "I didn't mean to upset you last night you know?"

"I know Danny."

"So will you go to the dance to me? I swear I won't try anything unless..." He left the sentence hanging in the air.

"Can I think about it a little bit?" She asked shyly. "Just two days."

"Sure, if you think it will help."

"It will."

"Cool, see you at school tomorrow." Danny smiled as he passed the cup back and headed for the door.

"Well?" Jade asked as soon as Danny had gone.

"Well what?"

"Come on, its like pulling teeth here." The older girl groaned. "What happened?"

"He asked me to the dance again."

"And?"

"And, I asked him to wait a couple of days for my answer." Amy shrugged.

"You mean to tell me that a gorgeous guy who you like and who is crazy about you asks you to the biggest social event of the year and you send him home to spend not one, but two sleepless nights until he gets an answer?"

"More or less," Amy said realising how awful that sounded.

"And you're still trying to say you're not a girl?" Jade asked, shaking her head as she walked off.

-oOOo-

"Today's the big day huh?" Jade asked as the two sat down to breakfast on that Wednesday morning.

"Huh?"

"Hello, is anyone home? Today is the day you're going to give Danny your answer."

"Oh, that." Amy said as if it was of no importance.

"Yes, that. Have you seen him since Sunday?"

"We do share a few classes and we're still rehearsing for that poxy play."

"Apart from that I mean."

"Yeah, a bit."

"So, don't keep me in suspenders here," Jade rolled her eyes. "What's it going to be? Yes or no?"

"I still don't know." Amy shrugged munching on some muesli.

"You must know."

"Nope, sorry. I want to go because Katie is going, but I don't know if I want to go as Danny's date."

"Poor bastard doesn't know what he's letting himself into." Jade mumbled.

-oOOo-

"So what are you going to tell Danny?" Katie innocently asked later on that morning on the way to school.

"Sheesh," Amy snapped. "What is it with you and Jade? My life is not a soap opera just for your enjoyment."

"You haven't made up your mind yet have you?" Katie said, easily seeing through Amy's anger.

"Nope."

"I don't see what the problem is Amy."

"Well you don't have all of the information."

"You like him, he likes you. It's a school dance Amy, you're not bloody marrying him."

"But what if...?"

"My dad always says that if your aunty had a moustache she'd be your uncle."

Amy laughed at the aptness of the saying. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't really know." Katie admitted. "But it sounds good. Oh oh, looks like he's not waiting for an answer."

"Huh?"

"He's walking towards us. I'll see you later." "Hi Amy." Danny said.

"Hi Danny." All of the emotions ran through her mind in that one second. She actually felt better for seeing him, even though she knew she had to either upset him or go with him to the dance. "Is that offer still open?"

"About the dance? I was sort of thinking of asking Miranda Salisbury instead."

"You're a shit, do you know that?"

"That's Mister shit to you," he grinned and held his hand out. Slowly she put her much smaller hand to his and they walked the rest of the way to school like that.

-oOOo-

"Package for you," Susan said to Amy when she walked in from school on Friday.

"What? Where?"

"I put it in your room."

Amy rushed to her bedroom, for some reason expecting it to be from Danny. She was both disappointed and amazed when she opened the large package to see who sent it.

She picked up the note: Enjoy the dance, princess. Sorry I won't see how beautiful you look in this. Love Dad.

She took the package back out to the kitchen to show her mother. "Did you tell dad about the dance?" She asked.

"I did," Jade said as she walked in.

"So you put him up to buying me this?" Amy said accusingly.

"I didn't put him up to anything. I simply said you were going and you were nervous about it."

"He can't buy my love like this."

"Shit, he can buy mine. Let me have the dress."

"At least have a look at it honey," Susan told her youngest daughter while throwing a dirty look at Jade.

Amy grabbed the straps and slowly pulled it out of the box. It was beautiful and obviously expensive. It was a slim line; full-length dress made from red satin. "Whoa mamma," Jade whistled. "Danny is going to love you in that."

"I haven't said I am going to wear it yet."

"Oh come on Amy, we can see in your eyes that you love it." Susan smiled.

"And besides," Jade jumped in "It's not like you have other dresses you can wear to a formal."

"I was going to wear the bridesmaid dress."

"Amy," Jade squealed. "You can't wear that. Danny has already seen you in it."

"Since when have clothes had best before dates? One wear and then you have to throw them out. You women are weird sometimes. And anyway, why didn't he buy you a dress?"

"Stop trying to change the subject and just wear the damn dress." Susan said firmly.

"I'm not going."

"Why not? Did you run out of tins of dog food for the guys guide dogs?"

"You're about as funny as a fart in an elevator Amy. No, I just decided not to go."

"It must bug you like hell that even your brother has a boy to take to the dance and you don't

"I am sure it's something I'll tell a shrink in years to come." Jade said. "Hey, what's this?" Jade reached into the box and pulled out an envelope. Amy opened it to reveal a gift certificate for two at the local beauty spa. For you and Katie, the note said. Relax and be pampered. "Wow, Katie will freak over this. She is always going on about that place. I am going next door to tell her"

When Amy had left the room Susan looked strangely at Jade. "What?" The girl asked.

"Jade, I am your mother. I gave birth to you and have watched you grow for the last 16, almost 17 years. Something doesn't add up here."

"I don't know what you mean." Jade said trying not to return her mother's gaze.

"Amy gets all of that and you don't bat an eyelid. I know you, if Stuart got more dinner than you did there'd be a tantrum."

"Would you believe that I am closer to Amy than I ever was to Stuart."

"Yes, but something else is going on." Susan said.

"Okay, how about if I told you I am trying to help Amy get used to the fact she might be a girl for good, out of the goodness of my heart."

"That is a stretch. Now tell me what your father has given or promised you."

"You know that ski trip I want to go on in winter but you said no because you don't have the money?"

"Ah ha." Susan said tight-lipped.

"Ah... I need some more warm clothes."

-oOOo-

Amy and Katie were lying on tables chatting away. It was certainly a new experience for Amy, she'd been waxed, plucked and pampered all morning and now they were both wrapped in mud that they had been told was specially imported from Austria. Amy wouldn't have known if it came from the local creek. She didn't like to admit it, but she was feeling nervous about that night and not at all sure what would happen. Katie was oblivious to this and kept on chatting about this and that. Amy tried to listen and even join in but her mind was on other things.

Three hours later Amy looked into the mirror and was stunned to see the girl staring back. She was a stunner. If she was worried about what Danny would do before she was petrified and strangely hopeful. Her hair was already done and it looked wonderful, swept up and pinned expertly on top of her head. Katie well and truly took her breath away. She was always a pretty girl but now, after hours of expert ministrations she was absolutely fantastic. "I don't know about you but I think we should hit the pubs after the dance," Katie smiled. "We'd pass for legal age easily."

"Legal age for drinking means legal age for other things," Amy said quietly.

-oOOo-

Amy got home and tried not to mess up her makeup or hair until it was time to get dressed. She went to her bedroom and pulled on the strapless bra and panty set from the wedding and then pulled out a pair of nude pantyhose. She sat to carefully put them on and moved on to the dress. She carefully slid it down her body and pulled up the zipper on the side. She looked in the mirror and admired her reflection. The spaghetti straps of the dress made her neck look longer and slimmer than it was and with her hair up her face seemed to be a different shape. She slipped on a pair of red high heels, made easier by the slit that ran up to the right knee, grabbed a small red hand bag and headed out just as the door bell rang.

Danny did a double take that would have put Lou Costello to shame when he saw her. Amy could almost hear the teenaged male hormones crank up.

"You look... wow!" Danny said.

He looked great himself in a tuxedo.

"He's right honey," Her mother smiled and grabbed the camera. "You look wonderful, and your dad will kill me if I don't get at least one happy snap."

"I'll kill you if you do." Amy mumbled but took her place next to Danny nonetheless.

"We better go," the boy said.

"Hang on, one more thing." Susan handed an envelope to her daughter.

"What's this?"

"Open it silly."

Amy opened it but it took a few seconds to take in what she saw. "My god," She screamed. "My god. Thanks mum."

"You're welcome sweetie," Susan smiled as the girl threw herself into her mother's arms. Danny was discreet enough not to ask what it was even though he was obviously dying to know.

Jade had no such problems. As soon as Amy and Danny left the house she asked.

"That was the best contraception I have ever heard of." Susan laughed when she heard the question.

"You gave her some condoms?"

"Oh no, much better than that." The mother passed the envelope to her oldest girl.

Inside the envelope were two tickets to Hong Kong in Susan and Amy's name. "You're right. She's not going to try anything tonight. It's scary how well you can manipulate us."

"Years of experience Jade. Years of experience."

-oOOo-

Nothing was about to upset Amy that night. She was out with a guy she liked, she looked hot, and best of all, her days as a girl were numbered. She and her mother would fly out the day after the play and then she could say bye bye to skirts, heels, hose, periods and sitting down to pee. One more week and it would all be over.

"Do you want to dance?" Danny asked after they entered the high school gym and saw the set up for the night.

"Is this a dance?" Amy asked with a smile on her face. "I would never have agreed if I knew it was a dance."

"Okay, let's go home then," the boy said holding her hand and heading for the door.

"Well you did pay for the tickets."

"Yeah and we both look pretty good."

"Well one of us does," Amy giggled. "I just have to... you know."

"Good, I need to... 'you know,' too. Meet you back here when you're done."

Amy headed for the girl's locker rooms and once again found herself on the end of a long line. She didn't mind that so much -- After almost 2 months as a girl it was almost the norm, it was the fact that she found Belinda French standing behind her. As Stuart, Amy had pretty well ignored Belinda even though she had told a friend of a friend that she kind of liked him. Belinda was bad news. Sure, she was pretty but she was the biggest gossipmonger in the school and had a reputation more for making up stories than just spreading stuff she had heard.

Belinda was just starting to get the claws out when Amy heard her. "Did you see what Kylie Jensen was wearing?" She asked another girl who was waiting in line. "My god, you'd think a red head with more freckles than face would know better than to wear a green dress. She looks like a bloody nose."

Some other girls around laughed but Amy knew they did so only to make sure they weren't the next victims of her cattiness.

"And what about Angela Dobson? You'd think she'd realise you need boobs to try and carry a strapless dress." Then her eyes fell on Amy and she was not happy about the lack of response she was getting. "Nice petticoat Amy, did you forget the dress?"

"Did you hear that?" Amy asked. "Must have been my sides splitting. Look Belinda, I'd love to stand here and have a battle of wits, or in your case half wits, with you but I never take on an unarmed person."

"Who's your date tonight Amy?"

"Danny Simpson."

Belinda's eyebrows rose and Amy could tell she was trying for the knock out punch. "I should have known. I have heard you two are close. Very close."

"Are you here with your cousin again, or did your Dad pay some one else to ask you?" Amy shot back as she got closer to the stalls.

"Is what I heard about the wedding true?"

"I don't know, what have you heard?"

"I heard you fucked Danny in a broom cupboard."

Amy wanted to smash her lying face in but with the joy of the impending trip running through her she decided to have a little fun. "You must have really liked last week Belinda."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Because you are begging to be slapped back into it." Amy grimaced, or at least what passed for a grimace. "If I even get a sniff of you spreading that story around school I will hit you so hard your grandchildren will hurt." The look in Amy's eyes left the girl in no doubt she meant it. "Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Jeez, I was just repeating what I heard Amy." Belinda backed down as gracefully as she could manage.

"Well you heard wrong," Amy snapped as she reached a vacant stall. "Broom cupboard indeed. It was in the back of the bridal limo and he was fan-fucking-tastic!"

She tried not to laugh as she went about her business.

"You took a while," Danny said when Amy walked back across the gym to where he was standing.

"There was a queue as usual," she smiled hoping she wouldn't have to worry about it soon.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Sure. Ask away."

"Do you have any idea why all the girls are looking at me strangely?"

Amy giggled; the grapevine was working well. She could easily see the story had spread through out the whole gym. "Let's just say you owe me one."

"Okay, now what do you say about a dance?"

"Let's rock this place."

-oOOo-

It hadn't been a bad night as far as school formal dances go. Of course the decorations of the gym were pretty cheesy, and most of the music the so-called D.J. played had been recorded before any of the kids were born, but all in all Amy was enjoying herself.

Until she looked over and saw Katie.

She had seen her earlier in the night dancing with quite a few guys and felt a small stab of jealousy with each one but the guy she was dancing with now made Amy's blood boil.

She was clinging on to Steve, any closer and she'd be sharing his clothes. Although by the look of the pair that was probably what they were aiming for.

"Will you excuse me for a tick?" She asked Danny politely.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Toilet again?"

"Nope but it does involve a huge shit." She replied heading off across the dance floor.

She reached her best friend in record time, grabbed her arm and kept right on going, dragging a bemused Katie along with her. "Either you are dancing with Steve or you think he's on fire and you're trying to put out the flames by smothering them with your breasts," she snapped.

Katie looked around, down and up, anywhere but at Amy's eyes. "We...we talked. He's really, really sorry about that abortion thing."

"Oh that's all right, then. We'll just go down to the clinic on Monday and see if they can put the kid back in then shall we?"

"Don't be like that Amy," Katie sniffed.

"Like what? I am your best friend and friends are supposed to warn each other if they are about to make a mistake." Amy stopped and pointed at Steve. "He has a neon sign above him with the word mistake 10 feet high."

"He's not that bad," Katie said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than Amy.

"Not that bad. Yeah, in the same way Syphilis is not that bad. Just like mad cow disease is not that bad."

"He's all I have Amy. It's all right for you; you've always been popular with the boys. I am not as pretty or as smart as you are."

"Bull shit." Amy yelled. "There are plenty of guys who would love to go out with you and they'd treat you a shit load better than Steven fucking Ellis."

"Yeah? Who?"

Amy wanted to say that she wanted to go out with Katie but the time and the gender were all wrong. For the first time in a long time Amy was lost for words.

"I thought so," Katie said. "No one. Well I am going back to dance with Steve."

"Don't do it Katie."

"Or what?" The girl challenged.

"Or you can forget our friendship." It came out of her mouth so fast that she didn't even see it coming, let alone have time to stop it. But it was out now and there was little she could do about it.

Katie had been walking away but when she heard that she turned and looked at Amy with a mixture of sadness and defiance. "If that's what you want" She said quietly as she continued to walk back to Steve.

Amy wanted to follow her and say it wasn't what she wanted; It wasn't what she wanted at all. She wanted to hug her and let her know who she really was but there was no way that was going to happen. She'd just come across as a crackpot claiming to be a guy that no one but herself, her mother and her sister ever knew existed.

"Are you okay?" Danny asked from behind her.

"Nope." She replied with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" The boy asked as she fell into his arms and cried.

"I think I just lost my best friend."

Danny did what any guy his age would do. He hugged the girl tight.

-oOOo-

"Go and talk to her," the boy suggested later that night as the pair danced to a slow song.

"No." Amy said firmly. "She's made her bedfellow, now she can lie with him."

"Look, I haven't been at this school this long but I know Steve is an arse hole. I may not be a girl but I do have eyes. I saw him kissing Cindy what's her name earlier."

"Cindy Acton?" Amy asked, looking up into Danny's eyes.

"I don't know, blonde chick, big boobs. In our maths class."

"That's her."

"Well," Danny continued, "he was all over her like a rash."

"Tonight?"

"Yep."

"Shit." Amy said looking back at Katie. "We have to do something."

"You want me to beat him up?" Danny grinned. "I'd do it for you if you asked."

Amy thought about it seriously for three or four seconds. "No, I think this is one situation where testosterone won't help." She paused to look back at the boy. "You'd really beat him up for me?"

"I'd take on Mike Tyson for you Amy." He mumbled as he nibbled her ear.

"You old romantic, you." Amy said, starting to get turned on. "Next thing you'll be saying you love me."

All of a sudden it was as if the music stopped. Danny took a step back, let go of her small hands and looked at her intently. "Whoa. Hold on a tick there."

"Did I say something wrong?" Amy asked. She knew exactly what she said and kicked herself for saying it. She would have run a mile if some girl had said the "L" word to Stuart.

"I am fifteen years old Amy. Love is a word I use when I am talking about my playstation, my collection of playboys and my skateboard."

"But not me?" Amy asked, feeling a little hurt and not knowing why.

"Lets just say I am deeply in like with you." Danny said sincerely. He took her in his arms again and kissed her. Slowly dancing with her as their lips locked.

It was enough for Amy. She felt wonderful in his embrace.

-oOOo-

Amy didn't realise how wet she was down there until she went to the bathroom at her house. After the heavy duty kissing the pair had done on the front porch she was so bad that she needed a lot of toilet paper to wipe herself.

It was a strange feeling, not in the least unpleasant, but very different from her normal erection.

"Nice night?" Susan asked.

"Not too bad." Amy said. "Katie is back with Steve."

"Well, you have Danny," Jade smiled. "You can't be too greedy dear."

"Well what happens when we find the old bag in Hong Kong and I get turned back to normal? I have to deal with Danny as a guy and I don't know if I can."

"Sure you can love. Speaking of the trip though, you'd better come up with a good excuse for going away."

"Why? Surely if I get changed back no one will even know I was away."

"How do you work that out?" Jade asked. "By the way, your lipstick is all worn off, what have you been doing?"

Amy blushed but decided to ignore the last part of the question. "Well if the only reason for going there is to change me back, once I am back there is no reason to be away."

"Makes sense to me...Not."

Susan put her hand on Amy's shoulder. "We have to be realistic honey. We haven't heard from Mei Ling or Wang since this started and I may not be able to find the old woman again. Even if we do find her there is no guarantee she will turn you back simply because you want her to."

"You mean I might be stuck like this?" Amy asked motioning to her body. "No way, that was never part of the deal."

"The deal," Susan told the girl, "was to go to Hong Kong to find Mamma Chow. What happens from there is anybody's guess. Look, don't worry about it too much, we'll be there this time next week, and then we will do everything we can to find her. Put it this way Amy, it might take her awhile to make another Jade Box and you'll have to stay that way until she can do it. Just make an excuse for a week off school and I'll let your principal know."

"Okay," Amy replied rather glumly. "Can I talk to you for a second Jade?"

The two girls went to Amy's bedroom where Jade unzipped her sister and they chatted while the younger girl got undressed.

"I think I made a big mistake tonight, well two mistakes really."

"Like what?" Jade asked.

"I asked Danny if he loved me."

"What brand of shoe does he wear?"

Amy looked at her sister quizzically. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"I just thought you might have been able to see the brand name written on the soles of his shoes as he ran away from you."

"He didn't."

"Well that's a good start. What happened?"

Amy unknowingly took a deep breath just like her sister and mother. "I have no idea," she admitted. "We were on the dance floor and he was nibbing my ear."

"Oh," Jade said grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Forget it," Amy said defensively. "I am going to bed now."

"Sorry. Go on."

"Well I just sort of asked him but I have no idea why."

"Don't worry about it." Jade told her. "It's often been said that men play at love to get sex while women play at sex to get love."

"Huh? I didn't fuck him or anything."

"No, but I bet you thought about it tonight."

Amy hated it when her sister was right. "No I did not." She stated as forcefully as she could.

"Whatever. Like I said, don't worry about it Amy. Like it or not you are thinking like a girl."

"That's the problem. I have been thinking more and more like a girl ever since I opened that damn box. I was reading my diary earlier and I can't see where that girl stops and I start. What happens if I can't change back? When will I lose Stuart completely?"

"If that was the case, wouldn't it be easier if you could lose him?"

"No. I lived 15 years as Stuart and 2 months as Amy but Stuart is fading into the background. Even if I can never be him again I don't want to forget him."

"I don't think either mum, you or myself will forget him."

"You never liked him did you?" Amy asked.

"I couldn't stand the little prick." Jade smiled. "He was okay, as brothers go I guess."

"You're talking like he is already dead. What am I saying? He is me, we are the same person just with different packaging."

"Do you really believe that?" Jade asked.

"Yep. Sure I might know more about girls than I ever thought I would, and I might even think like a girl at times, but I am a guy and I miss being a guy."

"What's to miss?"

"A lot." Amy sighed. "I miss being able to stand up and piss, I miss not having to plan a piss three weeks in advance in case there's a queue, I miss being able to throw on a pair of short and be considered dressed. I hate the way these hormones seem to control me, my emotions, how much I eat, what I want to eat, and every damn thing. Periods I will gladly forgo. I miss just hanging out with my friends and I miss being strong enough to beat the hell out of some one when I want to beat the hell out of them."

"Okay," Jade said trying a different question. "Is being a girl so bad you can't do it if you have to?"

"I can do it." Amy said. "I may not want to do it but the past two months have proved that I can do it."

"So either way you will be okay?"

"I guess I don't have much choice do I?"

"Whatever happens, I am here for you. You know that don't you?"

"Yeah, I know." Amy said hugging her elder sister. "But as far as I am concerned I am going to do Romeo and Juliet and then go find Mamma Chow and be turned back into Stuart."

"I guess you go back to murdering chords on that guitar of yours?"

"I expect so." Amy nodded

"And your idiot mates will keep on coming to the house?"

"Yep."

"Gee, it's a tough choice for me," Jade said. "I have my so called normal little brother back or I have some one whose clothes I can borrow."

"Well luckily for me you don't have the final choice. I have a feeling that I'd be menstruating for the rest of my life if you did."

"Not for the rest of your Life Amy. Just until menopause."

-oOOo-

"No rehearsals tonight?" Jade asked as she entered Amy's room.

Amy who was in the middle of changing out of her school uniform bridled a little at the lack of privacy she now had. "Did you happen to notice that my door was shut?" She asked as she grabbed a pair of denim shorts and slid them on.

"Ah ha. Do you know what a shut door means?"

"I might be naive here but I was kind of hoping it meant that the person on the other side should at least knock and wait to be invited in." Amy grumbled.

"Yeah? Interesting concept." Jade nodded. "So, no rehearsals tonight?"

"Hello?" Amy pretended she was speaking into a microphone. "Is this thing on? I was talking about my door Jade and how you should be on the other side of it."

Jade watched as her sister pulled on an old white sleeveless top. "As much as I am enthralled by your door I have other things to worry about. Anyway, I have seen anything you might be hiding."

"Is there a point to this visit Jade or are you just enjoying pestering me."

"Both." Jade smiled. "Are you busy tonight?"

"Nope. For the first time since the start of the term I don't have homework or rehearsals or work or acting lessons. I plan on hitting the chocolate and the television."

"Good. I need you to do me a small favour."

Amy looked at her older sister suspiciously. "I know your small favours Jade. The last time you asked that I ended up fixing your car for four hours"

"Okay then, can you do me a big favour?"

"That's more like it. No."

"Oh come on Amy. Look at all the stuff I do for you?" Jade whined. "I have been asked on a date tonight and I was supposed to do something else."

"What?"

Jade mumbled something very quietly and added, "so if you could do that for me I could go out with Rob to see a movie."

"And people say you're not funny," Amy said. "I could have sworn you mumbled babysitting then."

"I did."

"You want to put me in charge of a small child?"

"Ah... Two small children actually." Jade admitted reluctantly. "The Ford kids from up the street."

"I hate children." Amy said. "And Beth and Jerry Ford are little pains in the butt."

"You were a kid once. Come on Amy, do it for me."

"Oh well if it's for you that's different. Nope."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Amy."

"I hate kids." Amy said again

"You used to like kids, you hung around with them all the time."

"I used to pick my nose and eat it too but you grow out of these things."

"You've grown out of that in a week?" Jade asked.

"I like your strategy Jade. Insulting me will really make me want to do it."

"I'll be your best friend."

"Jade, as scary as it is, you are close to being my best friend at the moment."

"Look, you do this for me and I will drive you anywhere you want to go."

"I will do it for money, and I mean a lot of it."

"Five dollars?" Jade asked hopefully.

"Enjoy your babysitting." Amy said, walking to the door.

"Ten?"

"You must love kids."

"Alright," Jade sighed. "Twenty."

"Plus what ever the Fords are paying."

"Okay." Jade said. "They/re expecting you at seven o'clock."

-oOOo-

"Amy. Hi." Mrs. Ford said, opening the front door and putting in her earring at the same time. "Jade said you'd be filling in for her tonight?"

Amy smiled weakly. "Yeah. That's okay with you isn't it?" She was hoping it wouldn't be and she could go home again. No such luck.

"That's fine. I'm glad you could do it. I have a work do to go to and it will not be appreciated if I cancel." She turned back to look into the house. "Mike. Are you ready?" She shouted.

"You're the one still getting ready." Her husband said. "Hi Amy. Come on in."

Amy entered the house slowly. She wasn't looking forward to her night with Robbie and Beth Ford who were ten and seven respectively. "The kids are in the family room playing Nintendo." Mrs. Ford explained when she saw Amy's anxious look. "They shouldn't be any trouble." With that she picked up her handbag and headed for the door. "Help yourself to some food love. We should be back at around eleven."

"Okay."

"There's a list of instructions on the fridge and the emergency numbers are by the phone but don't ring for an ambulance for anything less than a broken bone."

"Is that likely?" Amy asked.

"Only on any day with a Y in it." The mother smiled and both she and her husband headed out the door.

Amy took a few minutes to have a look around the house before she headed in the direction of the noise.

"What are you doing here?" Robbie demanded with a look of disdain on his face when he saw his neighbour.

"I'm you're baby sitter." Amy said.

"You're Jade's little sister right?" Beth asked.

"Yep."

"Cool. Jade is a soft touch so she won't even be a challenge for us." Robbie told his sister who just looked at Amy with pity in her eyes.

"When are they going to pay for a professional?" The little girl asked shaking her head.

Amy just looked at the two and mumbled. "I hate kids" and then she went out to the kitchen for two reasons. One was to check out the food and the second was to get the list. It all might work out okay. Beth's bedtime was at 8 PM and Robbie's was at nine. If she could suffer through two hours she'd be free to watch television for the rest of the night. One added bonus was that the Ford's had cable.

She had just settled on the sofa with a glass of diet coke and some re-heated pizza when the fight began.

"Amy." She heard Beth call. "Robbie is hitting me."

"Robbie, stop hitting your sister." Amy shouted back.

"Make me."

"I really hate kids." The older girl grumbled as she got up and headed back to the family room. "Robbie, did you ever see the incredible hulk?"

"Nup."

"Well it was about a guy called Bruce Banner and he'd tell everyone not to get him angry. He warned them that people wouldn't like it if they made him angry."

"So?"

"So, for some reason they made him angry and do you know what happened? His clothes ripped and he turned into this huge green guy and beat the crap out of them."

"Oh, I'm really scared."

"Okay kid, you get one warning. Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like it if I get angry." With that Amy left the room and just made it back to the sofa again when the noise hit.

"Ow." Beth screamed. "Amy, he's hitting me again."

Once again Amy got up and walked back to the family room. "Right. That's it."

"What are you going to do?" The boy grinned up at her. "If you hit me I'll tell Mum and Dad and you won't get paid."

As much as she would have liked to have smacked him across the back of the head Amy had a better idea. "What game are you playing?"

"Donkey Kong Country."

"I don't know that game. I tell you what Robbie. I have twenty dollars in my purse. If we play head to head and I loose the twenty is all yours. If I win..."

"Which you won't. Girls are useless at Nintendo."

"...If I win you go to bed now." Amy paused for dramatic effect. "Unless of course you're scared of being beaten by a girl."

"Ha. No way."

"So it's a bet?"

"Yep."

Amy sat down to play a game she'd played many, many times before. And she wiped the floor with the cocky Robbie. "Oh well," She said. "Goodnight Robbie."

"No way, you cheated."

"You got beat fair and square kid now get your peejays on and get into bed."

"I won't do it."

Amy sized the boy up. "Oh well. I'll just give the twenty dollars to Beth for telling every boy in your school you got beaten by a girl." She shrugged.

"Damn, you're good."

"Yep." Amy smiled. "Now it's time for both of you to go to bed okay?"

Robbie looked for a way out of it but in the end he had no choice but to go to bed along with his sister. Amy turned out the light in his bedroom once he was in bed. "Now, if I hear another peep out of you I'll have to do something drastic. Got it?"

"Ah ha."

"Good." Amy snapped off his light, went to check on Beth and then headed back for the big screen television and channel surfed.

Around ten minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Amy? What are you doing here?" Katie asked.

"Filling in for Jade. What are you doing here?"

"Jade asked if I'd fill in for her. I guess I'll go."

She was halfway down the driveway when Amy finally said. "You can come in if you want."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, come on in. Seeing as how Jade has gone to all of this trouble to set us up we may as well get things sorted out between us."

Katie entered the house. "There's nothing to work out Amy. I am going out with Steve and you don't like him. You made it perfectly clear at the dance that I had to choose so I did."

Amy sighed and looked at her friend. "This is silly. I miss you and I want us to be friends again K.J."

Katie nodded but she had other things on her mind. Only one person called her by her initials but she couldn't remember who. Her mother would call her Katherine Joan when she was angry, but Katie hated her middle name and very few people knew what it was. Who on earth was it that called her K.J.?

"Stuart." She whispered.

"Sorry?" Amy asked. "What was that?"

To Amy it looked like Katie was confused but at the same time as if some weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Stuart!" Katie repeated, a little louder. "Oh my God you're Stuart!"

It was as if Amy could hear something inside of her friend snap as the last of Mamma Chow's spell wore off the girl. "Stuart?"

"You are, aren't you? What on earth has been going on for the last two months?"

Amy was torn between admitting what Katie already knew so she would have yet another ally on this strange journey she found herself on, and denying it so Katie wouldn't know her embarrassing predicament. Eventually she told her friend about Susan's trip to Hong Kong, Mamma Chow and the Jade Box.

"So you're really a girl now?"

"Gee, tough question." Amy said looking down at her breasts. "I may have to phone a friend."

"You really are Stuart. Only he can be such a sarcastic prick."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." Amy grinned.

"This is too weird."

"Hello, I am the one who has spend the last two months with boobs."

Katie nodded slowly. "Ah... so it was you who went with me to the clinic?"

"Ah ha." Amy sighed.

"And you who saw me get undressed when you spent the night at my house."

"It was all me Katie. I have been Amy the whole two months. But I wouldn't worry about it, I only saw what I have been seeing in my mirror since I changed."

"Wow, for a guy you make a great girlfriend." Katie said still in shock.

"Apart from our fight."

"Steve. Shit, I forgot all about him. Why on earth am I going out with him anyway?"

"So now you don't like him?" Amy asked. "Talk about a change of mind."

"I can't stand the jerk."

The two girls chatted for about half an hour, and slowly Katie came out of her shell. She was very interesting in what Stuart thought of being a girl and what he had or hadn't done.

They were both in the kitchen a little later when Robbie came out of his room and entered the lounge room. He flicked on the TV and channel surfed.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Amy demanded.

"I couldn't sleep." The boy shrugged.

Amy turned to Katie. "Forgive him, he's under the delusion that I am as soft as Jade."

"Big mistake." Katie said shaking her head sadly.

"Go to bed Robbie."

"No. I won't go. If you make me I will tell mum you hit me and she'll believe me. You won't ever be able to baby sit me again."

"Is that all it will take? I should have hit you earlier."

"St... Amy." Katie said. "You can't."

Amy sighed as if to say, "Damn, I hate it when my creative energy is stifled."

"Okay then," she said. "What makes you think your parents will believe you Robbie?"

"Are you kidding? I can talk my way out of anything." The boy boasted.

"Reminds me of some one I know." Katie said looking straight at Amy.

"Shut up" Amy told her friend and then winked at her. "Anything huh?"

"Yep. Not like you. You're just a dumb girl."

Amy raised her eyebrows and picked up her glass of water then walked into Robbie's bedroom.

"What are you doing in here?" Robbie asked and looked anxious all of a sudden.

"Giving you one last chance to go to sleep. What do you say little boy?"

"No way." Robbie said resolutely crossing his arms.

"Oops." Amy exclaimed in mock innocence. "I dropped my glass right on you bed. I am so sorry."

A little voice called from the hallway. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Beth, go back to bed sweetie."

The little girl arrived in the doorway and looked at the wet patch right in the middle of the mattress. "What's wrong Amy?"

"Nothing honey. Your brother just had a little accident."

"I did not." The boy shouted. "You spilled your drink."

"Okay Robbie." Amy smiled quickly at Katie. "If it makes you feel better you can try telling your parents that when they get home. We know the truth."

"Robbie wet the bed. Robbie wet the bed." Beth sang.

"I did not."

"Go back to bed Beth. I'll make up a bed for Robbie on the couch in your father's study."

"Robbie wet the bed." The little girl repeated as she went to her room.

"Lets see if you can talk your way out of that one Robbie." Amy told him. "Gee, wetting the bed and being outsmarted by a dumb girl in the one night. You're having a bad run."

"I hate you."

"Then my work here is done." Amy smiled. "So are you going to go to sleep or do I need to get nasty? You play with Tom Barclay a lot don't you?"

"Yeah? So?"

"Maybe I should ring his mother and ask her if you can sleep over there for tonight seeing as how you wet the bed."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." Amy said seriously. "Of course if you go to sleep in the study I wouldn't have to do that."

"Okay." The little boy sighed. "You win."

"There was never any doubt of that Robbie."

"That was cruel," Katie said after the two girls had made a bed for Robbie.

"He insulted my current gender," Amy smiled. "What I did, I did for all women."

"Well male or female you are still a crazy bugger."

"You are such a sweet talker."

-oOOo-

Amy entered the house a little after 11 PM and everything was in darkness so she assumed her mother and sister were asleep or that Jade was still out. She saw her mum's bedroom light was on so she knocked.

"Yeah?"

"Only me." Amy said.

"Good, you're home. How was the babysitting?"

"You know about that? And you still let me go? People seem to have this strange idea that I can look after children just because my genitals have changed.

"I didn't think you could get into too much trouble," Susan shrugged. "Besides, you'll have kids of your own one day."

"Yeah but will I be the mother or the father?" Amy asked.

"Hello, I know that tone of voice. What's up?"

"Katie knows." Amy said as she sat on her sister bed.

"Knows what?"

"About me."

"What about you?"

"Jeez mum, do you need diagrams here? She knows about me being Stuart."

"What? How?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Amy shrugged. "I just called her K.J. and she seemed to come out of a trance."

"That makes sense I guess." Susan said.

"It does? You want to explain it to me?"

"Well Katie probably knows you better than anyone other than Jade and myself. Right?"

"I guess," Amy nodded.

"Okay, so you look at that magic. We already know what it did to you and that was amazing in itself..."

"Doesn't feel that good to me," Amy mumbled.

"Do you want my thoughts or not?" Susan said bluntly. Amy simply stayed quiet so she continued. "Now look at every person you ever knew except for Jade and I. That's a lot of people who had to have reality warped, even your father."

"Okay, I see that." Amy conceded.

"So the way I see it is Mamma Chow's magic didn't change reality for everyone else. She just sort of made them think that the new reality was the right one."

"Makes sense," Amy shrugged. "What am I saying? None of this makes sense. I am a girl. I have a boyfriend, I am almost used to not seeing urinals in public bathrooms and as scary as it sounds, I am even getting used to skirts. How can any of this make sense?"

"You're not making sense." Susan smiled. "Anyway, I think Katie knew Stuart so well that Mamma Chow's magic didn't work as well on her as it might have."

"That doesn't make me feel better mum. What if others start remembering Stuart? I'll be the town freak."

"I don't think others will ever know Honey. We'll be in Hong Kong within a week and then hopefully this whole thing will be over. Look at the bright side of all of this."

"There's a bright side?"

"Ah ha. You and your sister can actually talk to each other without throwing verbal hand grenades around the room for one. You've seen how girls live now so you understand us better and on top of all of that, I haven't had a single phone call from the school about your bad behaviour since all of this started. I was in the principal's office so much I had my name on a chair there."

Amy nodded a bit and looked reflective. "Hey mum?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I should go on the pill? I mean in case I don't get turned back."

Susan looked up at her daughter and Amy could see all sorts of things flash through her mother's mind. "Um... Ah... Have you? I mean... Is there a reason you would need... contraceptives?" Susan said, stumbling over the question.

"No, I just didn't want you dwelling on any perceived bright side for too long." Amy grinned and headed to bed.

-oOOo-

Amy woke the next morning and immediately switched the heater on. The weather had changed overnight, and Amy was cold with a capital C. that was one more unexpected side effect of the change, her body temperature went haywire and she found her self affected more by both heat and cold.

As Stuart she seemed to keep pretty even all the way through the year. Jade and her mum complained about the heat but Stuart just assumed they were being over dramatic and the same when the cold weather hit. While he was in shorts and a T-shirt in the middle of winter the female members of the family were shivering through winter and wrapped up like Eskimos.

Not now. Now she had suffered right along with her mum and sister on the hot days and even though it was only early autumn she had already felt colder more times than she normally did all winter.

After a lovely warm shower Amy entered her room and stood in front of the heater a little more. She glanced at her thin summer school dress and decided she didn't want to wear that all day. Going to her wardrobe she pulled out her winter uniform and, after drying and brushing out her long hair she grabbed a pair of white panties, not even realising they were the same pair she found herself in on the day of her transformation. Then she skilfully put on her bra and buttoned up the white blouse without a problem, despite the buttons being on the wrong side. She glanced at her clock radio and the rifled through her lingerie draw to find a pair of dark blue tights. They were uncomfortable at first, but she knew they'd help keep the cold at bay so she took the blue plaid woollen skirt off of the hanger and stepped in to it, zipping and buttoning it up at the back. She was almost relieved when she remembered the tie. The one hangover from her male days. In next to no time she'd tied it into a half Windsor knot and pulled on the navy blue sweater.

It was all much heavier than the lightweight summer dress but she already felt a lot warmer. All that was left to do was to put her hair into a ponytail and tie a navy blue ribbon over the rubber band and put on her jewellery and a touch of lipstick and eye shadow.

"All done," She told her self as she gave one last look in the mirror. She picked up her school bag and just had time to have a slice of wholemeal toast before it was time to meet Katie.

"My god." Katie said. "You have no idea how much money I would have paid to see Stuart in a girl's winter uniform."

"I will accept any donations gratefully," Amy grumbled. At the same time she was relieved to see Katie was in a winter uniform too. She didn't know why she should care when she had three days before she flew out to Hong Kong, but she was glad she hadn't committed some schoolgirl fashion faux pas and worn a summer uniform when every one else was in a winter or vice versa.

The girls started on their walk to school. "I still can't believe you're in there Stuart."

"It's me alright K.J. but you better get into the habit of calling me Amy."

"Amy it is, or should that be Juliet?" the girl teased.

"Not you too," Amy sighed. "I got enough shit from mum and Jade about that. Besides, Danny and I have something planned for Mr. Fisher." Amy proceeded to tell Katie what they had planned.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because we weren't talking if you remember."

"Oh yeah. Steve."

"Yep." Amy said, barely disguising the hate she felt for him. "What happens between you two now?"

"I dump the jerk." Katie said without a second thought.

They walked a bit further in silence before Katie got a mischievous look in her eyes. "It's kind of strange that the only one who has a boyfriend is a boy as well."

"All right." Amy grinned. "I guess you need to get this out of your system at some stage. Take your best shot."

"Amy and Danny sitting in a tree," Katie sung. "K.I.S.S.I.N.G."

"Pretty juvenile."

"First comes love, then comes marriage then comes..."

"Enough all ready."

"You and Danny have been getting pretty close." Katie said with a broad smile on her face.

"Yeah, well he's a nice guy."

"And he's incredibly cute."

"I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me." Amy said resolutely.

"Come on Amy. You think he's a hunk too."

"Will you shut up about it if I do?"

"Ah ha."

"Okay, the guy is cute. But apart from that he's a nice guy. If I was Stuart I am sure we'd be friends."

"Just not as close friends." Katie mumbled.

"Katie."

"Is it true you and he... you know?"

"Oh, you heard that did you?" Amy told her friend about Belinda French and the night of the dance.

"So you told her you did it in the back of the limo?" Katie asked. "God I wish I could have seen her face at the time."

"Which one?"

Both girls giggled as they walked on to the school grounds.

-oOOo-

"Have you seen Steve yet?" Amy asked Katie as the two girls walked to the gym later that day for a dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet.

"He's off sick today." Katie replied.

"Nothing trivial I hope."

"Knowing my luck it will be V.D. or something like that. How on earth did I sleep with that creep?"

"I don't know Katie but I bet he was a double bagger."

Katie looked at Amy with a blank expression.

"One bag over his head and one over your's in case his bag split." Amy explained.

"While we are on the topic, as disgusting as it is, I just want to thank you for helping me when I was pregnant. I doubt I could have done it without you."

"No sweat."

"You must think I am a big slut." Katie said eyes downcast.

"Not at all. Listen Katie, if there's one thing this body has taught me it's that it's very hard to say no to a guy you like. I didn't even have all of that nice girl baggage you have to carry but I know there were times when I wanted to do more with Danny than just kiss and times when I had to stop myself from going there and the thought still scares me to death."

"I've missed you Stu."

"I've missed being Stu." Amy said.

"But I think I am going to miss Amy more."

"I know what you mean." Amy sighed.

"Don't get me wrong, you're still my best friend, that will never change. It's just that I have all of these memories of Amy now and I never really had a close female friend growing up before this. Now I can remember us playing dress up and sleepovers, holidays we both went on with your family or mine, ballet lessons we both took. It was nice."

"I don't remember any of that." Amy admitted. "But whatever happens I will always remember the last two months, and I know I bitch about being a girl but it was almost worth it being your girlfriend."

"Are you crying?" Katie grinned.

"Fucking female hormones."

-oOOo-

With the double lesson of English before lunch there was enough time to do a dress rehearsal and all of the people in acting in the play were in costumes, Amy's being a long, flowing pink dress with an empire waistline and sleeves like bell bottom jeans. The rest of the class, who made up the crew where in their school uniforms and they all sat around on stage in front of a very stressed Mr. Fisher.

"Now," the teacher started. "I know this can be a difficult play to put on. For amateurs like you the language can be a major problem, and god knows the props aren't of great quality so things are bound to go wrong. I want you to do your best and forget that the whole school and many of your parents will be watching tomorrow night..."

"You ever thought about going into motivational speaking?" Danny, who looked particularly uncomfortable in his tights and codpiece, asked.

"No." Fisher said.

"Good. Because if you did it for a living you'd starve. Look Mr. Fisher, we get the idea, this is live so if something stuffs up we just have to plough ahead and get the show over."

"Who is directing this play Mr. Simpson?"

"You are sir."

"Exactly. Now, if all goes well I have arranged for the production to play in schools all over the city for the next 10 Friday nights..."

Everyone in the room apart from Mr. Fisher let out a long groan with a few boos a couple of hisses and one "fuck off" for good measure.

"I heard that Jamieson." Fisher said. "Consider yourself lucky that I can't replace Tybalt or you'd be out of the play so fast your head would spin. Okay everyone take your places please. Act one, scene one."

"You look wonderful Juliet." Danny said giving Amy quick peck on the cheek as they passed one another.

"Love the tights." Amy smiled. "Is that a codpiece or are you just pleased to see me?"

"A bit of both babe," Danny grinned. "See you on the balcony."

"I guess so."

-oOOo-

"Did you tell him?" Amy asked Katie on Friday morning.

"Yeah but he wasn't happy about it. Not that I care. The guy is a creep."

"Good. At least that problem is sorted."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I think he blames you for a lot of it."

Amy just shrugged. "Well I guess he's right in a way."

"Yeah but you don't know him like I do Stu. He can get pretty violent."

"I only have to get through today and then it's off to Hong Kong and I get back to normal and all of this didn't even happen."

"Okay. Just be careful. Will you meet me for lunch?"

Amy thought about it for a second or two. "I'd love to but I still have some Maths Homework to do before I face Mr. Bayment this afternoon. I figured I'd just find a deserted class room and get it all finished."

"Okay then." Katie smiled. "See you tonight before the big stage debut."

-oOOo-

The sound of applause rang in Amy's ears as the curtain came down for the final time that night. She smiled and turned to Danny. "What are you doing?" She asked as he silently mouthed something to no one in particular.

"Just counting backwards from ten." He said. "Five, four, three, two, one..."

"Simpson, Denton." Mr. Fisher shouted from stage right. "I want to see you two. Now."

"Right on time." Danny said.

Amy had never seen her teacher look so angry and she had to stifle a laugh as a vein on his forehead seemed to be dancing the mambo as his face got redder and redder.

"Is there a problem Sir?" Danny asked as Fisher struggled to find both words and breath.

"What on earth do you call that?" Fisher finally managed to blurt.

"What?" Amy asked, the picture of innocence.

"That... that... abomination you just performed."

"I believe it was Romeo and Juliet Sir." Danny shrugged.

"Oh no. No it wasn't. That was... I can't even describe what that was. The audience laughed the whole way through."

"And the problem is?"

"Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. That's the problem with that."

"Well you'd think some one would tell us it's a tragedy wouldn't you Amy?"

"It might have helped."

The vein in Fishers forehead almost did somersaults and his face seemed to take on the colour of canned beetroot. "Both of them die at the end. I would have thought that would have been a big clue. Name me one comedy where the main characters die at the end?"

"Thelma and Louise," Danny shot back. "I mean you'd think one of them would have seen the grand canyon in time to put the brakes on."

"Um...I don't think that was the point," Amy interjected.

"You mean they wanted to kill themselves?"

"Yep."

"Well it was still funny."

"Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy." Fisher shouted. "What you did to that play tonight was nothing short of a travesty."

Danny looked at Amy. "Is travesty and tragedy the same thing?"

"I don't think so Danny."

"But it's close right?"

"If William Shakespeare was alive today he'd be turning over in his grave."

"Ah...Sir. If Bill Shakespeare was alive today he wouldn't be buried."

"Shut up Simpson. Now, Miss. Denton. Juliet was not a cheap hooker."

"I have to defend her honour on that point Sir."

"Thank you Danny." Amy smiled.

"Amy isn't cheap."

"Nor a hooker," Amy added just to clear the point.

"Well why in gods name did you wear a leather miniskirt, fish net stockings and a boob top?" Fisher bellowed.

"Are teachers allowed to say Boob?" Danny asked.

"And as for you Mr. Simpson. Romeo was a lot of things but he most assuredly was not a homeboy. In fact if baseball caps were invented back then I am pretty sure he wouldn't wear it back to front."

"We were just modernising it a little." Amy said.

"A little? The line is: 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' Not: 'A rose is a rose is a rose dude.' I ask for Olivier and Vivien Leigh and I get Abbot and Costello. Your behaviour tonight is inexcusable. You acted like a couple of kids."

"I hate to state of the obvious Sir but we are kids."

The vein throbbed so much it looked like it was doing the Macarena. "You act like children and expect to be treated as adults."

"You treat us like children and expect us to act like adults." Danny said.

"Of course you realise we will have to cancel the rest of the performances?"

"I am devastated." Danny smiled. "I was planning on playing Romeo as a drug addict tomorrow and Amy was looking and doing Juliet as an unwed teenaged mother."

Fisher looked at both of them and then said. "You haven't heard the last of this." Then he turned on his heels and marched off.

"I guess that means our Invites to our academy awards won't be in the mail." Amy grinned.

"Damn. And I already have my Evening gown picked out." Danny grinned. He got serious for a second. "You were great."

"So were you. Of course, you know we are in deep shit with Fisher don't you?"

"Ah ha." He smiled. "It actually reminds me of a joke. Do you want to hear it?

"Why not?" Amy shrugged

"Cool. Well this guy goes to hell and Satan tells him he has to look behind three doors and pick his punishment for eternity. So the guy looks behind door number one and sees a room full of people poking themselves with white hot pokers. He doesn't like the look of that one so he walks over to door number two and opens it to see people being lowered into a swimming pool filled with lava over and over again. He shakes his head and opens door number three and there is a room full of people standing up to their waists in shit, all of them with a cigarette in their mouths." Danny demonstrated this part by pretending he was smoking and Amy rolled her pretty eyes.

"Are we getting to the point of this story?" She asked. "Or should I book us into a

retirement village?"

"I love it when you're impatient. Anyway. The guy thinks that's not as bad as the other punishments. I mean you're bound to get used to the smell right?"

"The smell of the shit or the cigarettes?"

"The shit. Now stop interrupting. He wades right in and just lights his cigarette when a demon shouts..."

"...Okay everyone," Amy jumped in. "The break is over. Back on your heads."

"You knew it? Why didn't you stop me?" Danny asked a little put out.

"Because you're cute when you're trying to impress me." Amy smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Well to celebrate the successful debut of Simpson and Denton in Romeo and Juliet, and to enjoy what might be our last day alive if Fisher has his way, I am throwing a party at my house for the whole cast and crew."

"Including Fisher?" Amy asked.

"Okay, everyone but Fisher. It's tonight. Would you do me the great honour of being my date?"

Amy looked doubtful. "I will have to check with my social secretary but I believe I may just be available."

"Great." Danny said. "I'll let you get changed and I'll go tell everyone about it."

-oOOo-

It was a typical teenaged party. No alcohol, loud music and a fair bit of tonsil hockey going on. Amy spent what she hoped would be one of her last nights as a girl dividing her attentions between Katie and Danny.

It was obvious that Danny was trying to get Amy on her own, and Amy was torn. On the one hand she wouldn't have minded it at all but on the other hand she knew it would make it hard for her when she became Stuart again and had to deal with Danny as a guy.

"A penny for your thoughts." Katie said as she came up and sat on the sofa next to Amy.

"Bloody hell Katie. With the amount of stuff whizzing around my mind I am going to need more then a penny."

"Do you take Visa?"

"It's Danny."

"I could have guessed that myself Amy. I want my penny back."

"I am just so mixed up K.J." Amy sighed. "My head tells me to get the hell away from Danny but my heart is telling me there's nothing wrong with us."

"I might be over simplifying it here Amy, but you are a very pretty girl and Danny is a hot guy. Where's the problem? Look at it this way, with any luck you are about to fly off to Hong Kong tomorrow and Amy will be gone for good. So what's wrong with just enjoying things the way they are?"

"I guess that's the problem I'm thinking about how I am supposed to get my head around all this when I am Stuart."

"Is that all?" Katie asked. "If I know Stuart at all he'll be too busy with his band and his sports to even think about all this. Give it two months and this will all seems like a weird dream."

Amy pondered the truth of that statement and in the end she agreed with it. She also agreed with Katie about going with the flow. After tonight she will never again be able to do what she could now.

"Katie?" She asked

"Yes?"

"When you... when you first did it... What I am trying to ask is, did it hurt when you..."

"Amy!" Katie shrieked. "Are you thinking about what I think you are thinking?"

"Sort of." Amy said quietly, looking down at her lap.

"Well it hurt like hell at first. If I could give you any advice it would be not to expect too much. Even if Danny has done it before it will probably be all over before you can count to three."

"I don't know what you're laughing about Katie. If my theory is correct your cherry will get un-popped when I get turned back to normal."

"What? That's not fair."

Amy just patted her friend's hand and then took off to find Danny.

It was a little later that she spotted Steve Ellis. "What the hell is he doing here?" She asked Danny.

"I didn't invite him. I think he's here with Debbie Winfield." Debbie had been in charge of props.

"Great." Amy groaned. "Do me a favour and keep an eye on him for me. Katie dumped him today and I don't think he'll let it rest."

"Will do boss." Danny said with a quick salute and then he grabbed Amy and pulled her to him and kissed her passionately.

Amy was slightly breathless when the pair broke away from each other. "There's a line up for the bathroom down here." Amy told her boyfriend. "Do you mind if I use the one upstairs?"

"For you? Anything."

Amy headed up stairs and quickly did her business. She'd just unlocked the door and was about to head back downstairs when a figure appeared at the door.

Steve Ellis walked in and stood directly in front of her, looking down. "You really did it this time bitch."

"Huh?" Was Amy's lame response.

"Oh come on. You've gone out of your way to split me and Katie up recently and, I have to admit that I couldn't work out why."

"That's not surprising Steve." Amy shot back. "I mean let's face it, you've only just mastered the alphabet and telling the time on an analogue clock."

"You were jealous. Pure and simple."

"Oh gee, you worked it out. I am so ashamed now I will have to hide my face."

"You see, you and I never fucked." Steve growled. "And that pissed you off."

"You're such a romantic. A delusional romantic, but romantic none the less."

"But now I know how much of a slut you are I think I can solve that."

"There go those delusions again." Amy sighed.

"Well if you'll screw Simpson in a car I am sure the floor of a bathroom will do just fine."

Before Amy could react Steve had grabbed her arms and wrestled her to the ground.

"Now you get to see what you missed out on Amy." Steve grinned an evil smile.

Amy squirmed and wiggled with all of her might but Steve's body weight held her arms to her stomach and he put one of his hands over her mouth to stop her from screaming. His other hand reached down and pulled up her skirt and he ripped her panties off. "You women," Steve spat. "Always playing silly little mind games. If this is what you wanted you only had to ask."

Amy was really panicking now. She didn't have the physical strength to fight him off and she couldn't scream. She tried to bite the hand he held over her mouth but he just pressed harder.

A cool breeze told her she was pretty much naked from the waist down and Steve reached for his zipper, which did nothing to hide his erect penis.

Amy wanted to scream, to fight, and to run. She wanted to do anything to stop what was about to happen but she was utterly helpless.

She could tell his penis had been released from his trousers as it pressed into her thighs and she tried to ready herself for what was about to happen when she heard a voice come from the door.

"Get the fuck off her Ellis." Danny said as he ran to Amy's side.

"Come on man," Steve grinned. "You had her so you should be happy to share her around."

Danny punched Steve in the kidney and then dragged him off of Amy. Next he dragged him over to the toilet, stuck his head in it and hit him with the seat until he was close to being unconscious.

He turned his attention back to a badly shaken Amy who was breathing very fast. "Are you okay?" He asked realising as he did what a stupid question it was.

"I've been better." Amy replied shakily as she pulled down her skirt and tried to sit up. She sat quietly for a few minutes and stared off into space as she relived the moment over and over again. Danny sat by her side feeling impotent. Eventually the quiet turned to ragged breathing, which soon became sobs and not long after she was crying. She threw herself into Danny's strong Arms. "Oh my god," She said between crying bouts. "I thought he was going to rape me."

Danny hugged the girl and gently stroked her hair until the tears subsided. "We should tell some one." He said in almost a whisper.

"No." Amy said as forcefully as she could.

"But the police should be called."

Amy knew Danny was right and under normal circumstances she'd agree with him but what was the point of going through all of that to have arrested when she was going to be changed back. None of it would have happened so Steve would be in school just like everyday. "I have my reasons." The girl sniffed. "I'll be fine." Amy replied, knowing it was far from the truth.

-oOOo-

"You all packed?" Susan asked Amy the next morning. She didn't know what had happened last night but she could tell by her daughter's demeanour that something wasn't right

"Yep. The question is, do you have everything we need. Tickets?"

Susan checked through her handbag. "Check."

"Passports?"

"Check."

"Travellers cheques?"

"Check"

"Credit card?"

"Check."

"Okay then, looks like we are set to fly."

Katie and Jade stood by and watched all this, but as the taxi pulled up in front of the house Jade walked over and gave her sister a hug. "Good luck kiddo. I never thought I'd say this but I am missing the little jerk."

Katie was next with a hug. "What she said." She smiled.

"Thanks guys," Amy smiled. "Thanks for everything."

The taxi driver impatiently beeped his horn and Mother and Daughter struggled out with their suitcases.

Amy looked back at Jade and Katie who stood on the footpath waving until the girls where just small dots. Now the time was here Amy was feeling quiet apprehensive.

-oOOo-

Amy put her bikini on for what she hoped would be her last time and headed for the hotel swimming pool. Things were not going well on the search for Mamma Chow. Mei Ling had quit her job at the Emperor Ming and Wang was away in China visiting his dying mother.

Susan and Amy had spent six of the seven days trying to find the corner Susan had been dropped off at almost three months before. Of course things weren't made any easier by the fact that the only real details Susan could remember was a tailor shop. Amy had no idea, until now, exactly how many Tailors Hong Kong had, and the name Chin didn't exactly help. The old phrase about a fat person -- More chins than a Chinese Phone book -- was literally true.

By process of elimination they worked out the Taxi had turned left upon leaving the hotel on the fateful day in January, so that meant the Tailor shop was on the West Side of Hong Kong Island. One thing that didn't make sense was that Amy's mum remembered a sealed off road that had been turned into a street market but there simply wasn't a Chin's Tailor shop near a market.

The warm water of the pool helped slightly to ease Amy's mind. They had been to over thirty shops in the past week and none of them had looked familiar to Susan. Amy was beginning to lose hope that she would ever be Stuart.

"Hi"

Amy looked up from the pool to see a pretty blonde girl, around her age who she had seen around the hotel. "Hi," she responded.

"Nice accent, are you English?" The girl, who had an American accent herself, asked.

"Nah, I am an Aussie."

"Cool, do you know Mel Gibson?" The girl asked.

Amy looked at the girl to see if she was serious or trying to make a joke. Unfortunately she was serious. "Yeah, I met him once at a party Paul Hogan put on." She eventually replied with a straight face.

"Really? Wow."

Australia was a country of over nineteen million people with a landmass very close to the mainland of the United States but for some reason it was assumed every Australian was intimately linked to every other Aussie. "Yeah, Nicole Kidman introduced us. It was so cool. My name is Amy by the way."

"Hi, I am Kimmi."

It figured, she looked like a Kimmi, so much for looks and brains. "So, what are you doing in Hong Kong Kimmi?"

"My dad is here on business." Kimmi said as if that explained her presence. "He's been to Australia too but didn't bump into Mel Gibson. I like your Bikini Amy."

"Thanks, I like yours too." Amy continued doing slow laps of the pool.

"Do you? I got it on Rodeo Drive."

"Yeah? I got mine from K Mart."

"Oh," Kimmi said as if Amy was deprived. "Well it still looks okay. So what are you doing here?"

"Swimming."

"No, I mean here in Hong Kong."

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you Kimmi."

"Try me." The American girl shrugged.

'What the hell?' Amy thought as she climbed out of the pool and sat next to Kimmi on the side. "This could be fun."

"Well," She started. "I am looking for an old woman named Mamma Chow."

"Why?"

"Because she's magic and she cast a spell on me so I need to find her to get it removed."

"What sort of spell?" Kimmi said without missing a beat.

"I'm really a guy but I've been stuck in this body for over two months."

"No way."

"Way. My real name is Stuart."

"Prove it."

"How can I do that?"

"You can't I guess," Kimmi shrugged. "So, if you're telling the truth why did she turn you into a girl?"

"Now that was a mistake." Amy told her. "My mum was in Hong Kong and was bitching about her sexist boss to some waitress who told her to go to Mamma Chow. Mum found the old girl; she lived up an alley near a tailor shop run by a guy named Chin and a street market. Mamma Chow gave her this Jade Box, smallish, like a snuffbox..."

"What's a snuff box?" Kimmi asked.

Jesus. "Do you watch Sesame Street?"

"Ah ha," Kimmi smiled.

"It's an old box that used to be owned by the elephant friend of Bid Birds;"

"Oh I like him, that is so cool."

"Yeah...Well anyway, The Jade box was supposed to be given to mum's boss and it was going to turn him into a woman."

"That Elephant is so smart," Kimmi giggled. "What happened?"

"I opened it accidentally and viola, tit city." Amy said looking down at the two mounds on her chest.

"Bummer. So you haven't been able to find the old woman?"

"Well I am still a girl so there's your first clue. And there's only one more day before we fly back home."

Kimmi looked like she was deep in concentration, or pain, or probably both. "So you'll be stuck like that?"

"I guess so, unless there's some sort of time limit on it that I don't know about. I need to find that tailor shop or the market."

"I'd pick the market, the shopping is great here. Not as good as Rodeo Drive but it's good."

"Well, thanks for your advice Kimmi but I need to find a specific market, one near a specific tailor shop but all of the tailor shops that could be right aren't near a market."

"I was at this really cool market last week."

"That's good." Amy sighed

"It was Sunday."

"I am happy for you but that really doesn't help me."

"It's a pity you have to go home the day after tomorrow because the market is only open Sundays."

Amy was stunned, the girl, as dumb as she was, may have just solved the problem. "Say that again Kimmi."

"This really cool market. It's only open on Sundays."

"Where exactly was the market held Kimmi?"

"I can't remember."

"Fuck." Amy said getting ready to strangle the girl.

"But I did write it down in my diary. You can come up to my room if you like and I will tell you."

"Kimmi I could kiss you right now."

"Can you give me Mel Gibson's cell phone number instead?" Kimmi asked looking alarmed at the though of Amy kissing her.

"I'll give you his address in Hollywood and call him to tell him you're coming over if you like."

"Daddy was right." Kimmi smiled. "You Aussies are really nice."

-oOOo-

"We have a winner." Amy told her mother as she looked over the phone book and street map of Hong Kong Island.

"We do?" Susan asked looking up from the television. "How do you know?"

Amy told her mother about Kimmi and had her laughing about some of the descriptions of the girl. "Well it looks like she's saved my bacon though." Amy finished.

"Okay honey we'll head over first thing in the morning. I can't believe you told that girl about your little accident."

"Well as I left her room she said, and I quote, "I hope you get your body back Amy." Talk about a strange girl."

"Err -- Amy... When it comes to strange girls I hardly think you are one to point fingers at others." Susan grinned.

"Point taken. I'm going to have a shower. I better shave my legs too. Here's hoping it's the last time."

-oOOo-

"This is definitely the place." Susan told her daughter as they stood on a busy street corner in one of the old parts of Hong Kong. "There's Chin's Tailor Shop there and that," she said pointing, "is the Alley where Mamma Chow was last time."

"Well let's go."

"Hang on Amy. We are so close, the last thing you need is to rush across the road and be run down by a car. Let's slow it down a bit huh?"

Soon enough they were knocking on an old wooden door. Amy started feeling butterflies in her stomach. Now that it was this close she was having doubts. Not second thoughts exactly but doubts that Mamma Chow could, or would be able to help her.

"What?" The same boy asked Susan through a peephole.

"Hi, I don't know if you remember me but I was here about two and a half months ago."

The boy shrugged ambiguously.

"I...we need to see Mamma Chow please."

The boy thought about the request for a second or two. "You wait." The peephole snapped closed

It took around five minutes for the door to open, it felt like five years to Amy.

"Mamma Chow see you now." The boy said. Amy looked him up and down. He was probably ten years old and he way he was dressed he looked more suited to New York than Hong Kong. It seemed even China had homeboys. "You come."

Amy and her mother followed the boy up the narrow staircase to a third floor room. If the stairs and halls were old fashioned, Mamma Chow's room surprised Amy. It looked like any small flat in Australia ,with the one exception being a large area in the main room that looked like an altar or shrine, complete with large statue of Buddha.

Sitting in a kitchen chair was a little old lady who could have been aged anywhere from sixty to one hundred-and sixty. She said something in what Amy assumed was Mandarin.

The boy translated for her. "She say what took you so long."

Susan started to explain but the old woman seemed to yell something at the boy and he offered both Amy and Susan a chair. "Sit."

They sat. The old woman studied the girl closely, as Amy tugged at the hem of her dress, and crossed her legs. Mamma Chow said something in her language and the boy translated as well as he could. "You no like her box?" Came the question.

"I'm not sure now if the problem is with your box or mine." Amy said a little sullenly.

The old woman barked something else to the boy and he offered both women a drink, which Susan politely declined. Amy asked for a coke. When the boy returned from the kitchen Mamma Chow turned her attention back to Amy.

"You no like being girl?" The boy asked for her.

"Me not thrilled with idea. No." Amy said imitating the boy's speech patterns.

"You want go back?"

The question bothered Amy and it bothered her that it bothered her. This one should be a no brainer. Getting turned back into Stuart was what had kept her going the past two months and here she was, in front of someone she assumed was the only person in the world to grant the request, and she was seriously thinking about it.

Being Amy had certainly opened her eyes to more than a few things. It helped her relationship with her sister and Katie. It had made her infinitely more patient with people and to top it all off there was Danny to consider.

"Say yes," her brain kept shouting. "Say yes now. The longer you fart around with it the more it looks like you want to stay a girl. It's not hard, engage mouth and say yes. Bloody hell girl, look at the shit you got in with Steve. If Danny wasn't there to act as the knight on the white horse you'd be more deflowered than a Vietnam jungle after agent orange was dropped."

Amy wanted to say yes at that point. The attack by Steve had affected her more than she wanted to let on to her mother. She had woken in a cold sweat after having nightmares about that night on more than a few occasions.

All her heart could manage was "Sure it's a pain in the butt sometimes. Periods suck and sitting to piss can take a masters degree in logistics but look me in the eye and tell me you aren't a better person for the experience of the last two months."

"Shut up heart," the brain told it. "For one thing you don't even have eyes and for another I do the thinking. Just shut the hell up and pump some damn blood up here. I'm feeling dizzy."

"See?" Amy's heart shot back. "You'd be screwed without me. Listen to me Amy. What about Danny huh? You can't tell me you don't have feelings for that guy."

Susan, the boy and Mamma Chow were all looking at Amy when she finally managed to silence most of her bodily organs. Her stomach was still giving her hell over a spicy meal she'd had the night before but as yet it hadn't offered an opinion on her gender.

"For Christ's sake say yes!" Her brain managed to say at the last minute.

Amy looked up from her lap and quietly said. "I don't know."

Susan was a little surprised. She would have bet London to a brick that Amy would jump at the chance.

Mamma Chow smiled, just a little. Saying something that the boy translated as "you very brave. Thank you for truth."

Silence hung in the air as Amy contemplated what she'd just said. Eventually she looked up at Mamma Chow and addressed her rather than the boy. "Right now, I don't know what I want. If you had asked me an hour ago I would have said that I wanted to be Stuart again. If you ask me an hour from now I'd probably say I want to be Stuart but right now? I just don't know."

Mamma Chow nodded sagely. "You have learn lot from time as girl. Maybe you needed knowledge. Decision not needed today," the old woman shrugged. "You have one more lesson to learn but when you do the power is in you."

"So you can't change her back even if she wanted to?" Susan asked incredulously.

Mamma Chow waited for the translation and then slowly shook her head.

Amy was stunned. "That's great." She said. "That's just fucking great. I sweat my ass of for two months to get here and what do I find? An Asian fucking Yoda. "Good the gender change can be. Many lessons to be learned. Use the force within." What the hell is the story with this damn box?"

"Amy," Susan said in that tone only a mother can use as the girl got up and paced around the room. "Calm down right this minute."

Meanwhile, Mamma Chow and the boy had been talking in their language. The boy turned to face Amy and said in English. "An explanation needed. Mamma Chow be making boxes for two centuries. She learned as young girl in China from Buddhist monk. Boxes used centuries ago to hide holy men who tell people about bad Emperors. Emperors in many times not like religion to tell truth to people about what happen in palace. Now Mamma Chow makes boxes to help people like Amy's mother and Mei Ling,"

"So what's all this shit about learning a lesson?" Amy asked.

"Mamma Chow not know Amy's mother's boss. Why make him woman forever? Buddhist believe in Karma and reincarnation. If boss learn lesson he deserve chance to become man again. If not?" The boy shrugged. "That is his karma."

"What lesson do I have to learn?"

"There is old Chinese saying. If a blind man find own way out of forest he not get lost again. If blind man led from forest be ready to rescue him again. Find your own way out of forest."

"Or in my case, bush." Amy said dryly as she looked down at her lap.

"Look to your heart." The boy said after translating Mamma Chow's words with a laugh.

Mamma Chow seemed to admonish the boy for something as her voice raised just a little and the tempo got faster. Amy and Susan got the impression he had given too much away but neither of them was sure what it was exactly. The young boy simply bowed and said," you go now. Mamma Chow tired."

After the two women had left Mamma Chow turned to the boy and said in Kimmi's voice, "like that girl really needs to chill out already."

Mother and daughter were out in the alley before Susan realised something. "How did she know you are called Amy? I never used that name in there."

"Now what?" Amy asked looking as if she was about to cry.

"Now honey, I guess we go back to Australia and try to work out what the lesson is." Susan replied hugging her daughter. "Cheer up, at least you aren't stuck like that for good."

-oOOo-

"Amy," Jade said as her sister and mother walked into the house late the next afternoon. "You're still...you."

"That's a big A for observation Jade," Amy snapped. "Did you work that out all by yourself or did you need to phone a friend?"

"Gee, I am glad your attitude isn't as bad as it was." Jade shot back sarcastically.

"Enough girls. I am tired, hungry and I need a cigarette."

"What happened?"

"We found the old woman Jade. She said she couldn't turn Amy back into Stuart until she learned some lesson."

"What lesson?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Amy shrugged.

"Oh well. Danny rang for you."

"I'll ring him later; I am going to get changed right now. Have you heard from Katie?"

"She's as anxious to find out what happened as I was but she had to go home"

"Damn." Amy grumbled. "What is wrong with that girl?"

"With the mood you're in at the moment, if she's staying away from you she can only be described as smart."

-oOOo-

The next day, when Susan was at work and Jade was at school there was a knock at the door. Amy, who was given an extra day off to think through her situation, opened the door hoping it was Katie. "Oh, it's you."

"That's a lovely way to greet your father."

"Come in then." Amy shrugged. "I am the only one here though."

"Is it true you and your mother have just gotten back from overseas?"

"Yes, we had a week in Hong Kong. What difference does it make?"

"It matters to me Amy because I am supposed to give permission for you to leave the country. And why aren't you at school?"

"I am not at school because I have bad menstrual cramps." It was a lie but Amy knew he wouldn't challenge it. "And if you are just here to give mum the shits you can piss off back to Perth right now."

"Watch the language young lady." Jim said sternly. "I am not here to give your mother a hard time. I was in town on business and thought I'd come over here and wait until you got home from school but I couldn't find the key."

"Mum moved it from under the pot plant." Amy shrugged. "It's too easy for...undesirables to find."

Her father dismissed the dig she was having at him with a shrug. "I thought your mother might be working from home today."

"Nope. It's just me."

"Well it was you I wanted to see anyway honey. I was wondering if you wanted to come stay with me in the school holidays. Francesca will be away at her parents so I thought I could fly you over and it will be just you and me for the week. I can show you Perth and we can spend some time together. Just like old times. What do you say?"

Amy was surprised by the offer. Stuart and his dad were never that close. She couldn't remember the old times her dad was talking about and after the disappointment of Hong Kong she was in the mood to vent her anger a little. "Those that can, parent. Those that can't shell out the cash." She shrugged. "Gee, I wonder what category you fit into?" She glared at him and continued, "Anyway, I was going to hang around here with Katie and Danny for the school holidays."

Once more Jim ignored the outburst and tried to change the subject, not knowing that he was heading for thin ice. "Are you still going out with that...boy?"

"Don't" Amy said firmly. "Don't come here and bitch about my friends."

"I am your father. Even if I am not living here with you, I have a right. No, an obligation to look out for you. I don't think Danny is the type of boy I want my little girl...hanging around with."

"I am sure mum's parents said the same about you Dad. The difference is, they were right."

"I don't like him. I am only speaking my mind."

Amy rolled her eyes, looking every inch the petulant teenaged girl she was. "You met him at the wedding and spent what? Ten minutes tops talking to him." She stated. "People in glass houses dad."

"Have I done something to upset you?" Jim asked genuinely puzzled by Amy's attitude towards him. She'd been that way on her birthday and at his sister's wedding and he really didn't know why she had changed from a girl he used to be able to talk about anything with to this moody monster in front of him now. He put it down to puberty but deep down he was sure he'd done something else because Jade was never as bad at the same age.

"You mean apart from divorcing mum and marrying what's her name?" Amy replied not looking him in the eye.

"Her name is Francesca, Amy," Jim sighed. "But you know that already."

"Whatever. Look Dad, you bugger off to Perth and remarry and you forgot about me and Jade."

"I never forgot Amy. I moved to Perth for work, plain and simple. I wanted us all to go but your mother just got the job with the I.S.P. I thought it best to give you all some room when the marriage broke up."

"Moving to Perth gave me plenty of room." She spat. "Just don't come and act like you're a great father."

"I know I've let you down." He said softly. "I did what I thought was right but here's a news flash, parents make mistakes too."

"Gee, I am glad you told me that, I would have never guessed."

"Sweetie, I am about to say something I don't say lightly. Ask your mother, it took me three years to say it to her. I always loved you. I will always love you. Like it not I will always be your father and if you need me all you need to do is call and I'll be here for you."

"Really? Gee, lets go over a few things. My first period? Nope, that was mum. My last ten or so Ballet recitals? Mum again. The first time my heart was broken? No, I believe it was mum who was there with the shoulder to cry on."

"If you don't tell me about your boyfriends it's very hard to know when your heart is broken."

"It wasn't a boyfriend dad."

"Who was it then?" Jim asked

"You." She replied softly. "I am going back to bed. Do me a favour and close the door when you leave."

"I take it that's a no for Perth in the holidays." Jim said redundantly.

-oOOo-

"How is my darling little sister this evening?" Jade asked as Amy sat painting her fingernails later that day. "Are we in a better mood now?"

"Fuck off Jade." Amy said, barely looking up from the task at hand.

"Now now, that's not very lady like."

Amy finally put the lid back on the polish and looked up at her sister. "Did you want something?"

"Well I'd like you to cheer up a little. Ever since you got home from Hong Kong you've been a first class bitch. More of a bitch than normal and that's saying something. Build a bridge and get over it."

"Why don't you build a bridge and jump off it?" Amy shot back.

"Well I was here to help you, I've got an idea that might get back to being Stuart but you obviously can manage on your own. Funny though, since you still have tits I would think you're not doing that good a job of it."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, all right. Sorry. What's your idea?"

"Gee, I don't know. You don't sound too sorry." Jade teased. "Maybe I won't worry about it."

"Come on Jade. The U.N. has banned torture."

"Okay. I've been thinking about what Mamma Chow said to you about looking to your heart."

"Yeah?"

"Well what is it you used to do a lot of but you haven't done since you got changed? And I am not talking about pulling your dick?"

"Beating the crap out of you?"

"No," Jade said pulling a piece of paper from her pocket. "Music. Playing with your friends in that dopey band."

Amy quickly perused the leaflet. "Battle of the bands?"

"Yep. It's in three weeks."

"So?"

"God you're thick Amy. Personally I think that if brains were dynamite your friends wouldn't have enough to blow their nose. But you went from spending every waking moment with them to saying absolutely nothing. Maybe that's what Mamma Chow was talking about."

"It's a bit of a long shot."

"Better than no shot at all." Jade shrugged.

"But as far as I can tell they don't even have a band anymore."

Now it was Jade's turn to roll her eyes. "Well duh." She said. "Stuart got them together, so when he disappeared so did their reason to be in a band. You know what instruments they play right?"

"Yeah."

"And you've got a pretty good voice."

"I don't know Jade." Amy said shaking her head. "I don't think we can get too far in three weeks."

"You don't have to win. If I am right, all you need to do is spend a little time with the jerks doing what you used to do. Besides, as Zeke Franklin always said, Show biz is 90% showmanship and 15% talent. We just get you in a mini skirt, some thigh high boots and a tube top then get you up on stage shaking your little booty. You'd probably come close to winning."

"Who the hell is Zeke Franklin?"

"I'm buggered if I know." Jade smiled. "The guy couldn't even work out maths, do you really think he could get into show biz?"

Amy thought about Jade's idea a little. "We can't play the same kind of music. I don't want what happened with Katie to happen again."

"So change it," Jade shrugged. "That heavy metal dirge you call music wouldn't suit your voice anyway."

"What if they don't want to play another style? They're all into hard rock."

"Honestly Amy, for a girl you are such a boy. If a girl that looked like you do walked up to Stuart and asked him to join her band Stuart would have played Polka music if she asked."

"Good point." Amy conceded. "I'm still worried they might find out who I really am."

"Nah, trust me. They'll be too busy looking at your boobs."

-oOOo-

Amy went to school the next morning, against her wishes, but Susan made it quite clear that girl or not, she couldn't just laze around at home all day. Schoolwork was waiting and grades were depending on it.

As she and Katie walked to School Amy told her about the band idea.

"Do you think it will work?"

"I really don't know." Amy said truthfully. "I think when Mamma Chow told me to look to my heart she was talking about Danny."

Katie stopped walking and looked at Amy. "Or me." She said quietly.

It was something Amy had thought about but she never thought Katie would be the one to raise the subject. She looked her friend in the eye. "It's the wrong time to talk about that K.J. and this is certainly the wrong body." Amy ran her hands over her boobs and down to her hips.

Katie looked down and nodded slowly. "I guess so. It's just kind of..."

"...There will be time." Amy said taking her friend's face in her dainty hands. "Believe me, there will be time."

Both girls started walking again but silence seemed to form a barrier between them.

-oOOo

Amy decided to ring in sick to work. Now she had been to Hong Kong there seemed little point in keeping the job but she still couldn't bring herself to quit. Not knowing how much longer she'd be stuck as a girl and knowing the high price of just about every thing associated with the distaff side of life she knew the extra cash might come in handy.

She simply couldn't bring herself to face Sammy that night. Her day had been stressful enough. Katie had started things off on a strange angle and things just got worse. First of all she had deliberately tried to stay away from Danny without looking rude. She was worried about how she was going to deal with him when she got turned back into Stuart and, if she was being truthful with herself she was probably more worried that if she got any closer to the hunky boy she wouldn't want to be Stuart.

It used to be that life was too complicated when all she had to choose between was Pizza or Burgers, a comedy or an action film. Now, since she touched that damn box she really knew complicated. Danny or Katie, a skirt or jeans, and more importantly male or female. Her old life seemed so much easier. A little like looking back at Pre-school when you were in your senior year at High school.

"I've got a bone to pick with you." Susan said, hands on hips, as soon as Amy walked through the door.

"I hope it's a T-bone. I am starving."

"You didn't tell me your father was here yesterday." Susan said in a tone that let Amy know that her mother knew what had been said between her and her dad.

"Oh shit."

"Do you have any idea how upset he is?" Susan continued.

"I got a feeling you're going to tell me."

"Very. I don't get it Amy. You get a little bit of bad news so the only way you can feel better about yourself is to make everyone else miserable? Is that it? Or do you just want to spread your foul mood around?"

"I wasn't that bad." Amy said none too convincingly.

"That's not what I've heard. Honesty Amy, your dad doesn't know about the switch. He and Amy didn't have the same issues that he had with Stuart. He can't understand all this attitude and quite frankly neither can I."

"Trust Dad to come crying to you about it." The girl sniffed.

"He didn't. He wouldn't have said a word but your grandmother dragged it out of him. She's not too happy with you at the moment either."

Amy sat on the sofa. "Great." She grumbled. "So he's staying with Gran?"

"Yep." Susan said looking down at her daughter. "It makes it easier. You can apologise to both of them at the same time."

"What? Now?"

"If not sooner." Susan nodded.

"You really know how to hurt a girl." Amy said. "Gran will give me an lecture that will last for hours."

"If not days." Susan smiled. "See you when you get back. If you're not home in a week I'll send out a search party."

-oOOo-

Amy was still in her school uniform as she walked to her grandmother's house about twenty minutes away.

She stiffened up as she heard a car slow down behind her, knowing what was to come next.

"Hey Baby." A young male voice shouted to be heard over the boom boom boom of a radio turned up as far as it could go, from within the car. "Do you want to sit on my face?"

Amy turned to see pretty much what she expected. A beat up old car with four sixteen-year-old guys who thought they were all God's gift to women. She waited for the car to pull a little closer and then said. "Only if I can be in a steam roller."

"What's the matter babe? Don't you like men?"

"I don't know, you show me a man and I'll tell you." With that she turned and walked off, ignoring the disgusting names coming from the car as it took off past her.

She had managed to avoid too many more catcalls and wolf whistles as she turned into her grandmother's street. But even they seemed pleasant compared to the sight that greeted her in the front yard of the house she knew so well.

She quickly ducked behind a tree and tried to blend into the foliage, something that's not easy in a blue plaid skirt and dark blue sweater. At first she thought she was imagining things but as she continued to look it became clear that it was all true. Her dad had his arm around Francesca's waist as she stood there watering the garden. Nothing strange there. Except that Francesca was pregnant. Very Pregnant.

Amy made sure she hadn't been seen and then she headed home feeling more angry and hurt than before.

-oOOo-

Amy was just coming out of the girl's bathroom the next morning at school when she saw him for the first time since the night of the play. Steven Ellis was standing there, as if he was waiting for her, with a huge grin on his face.

Amy felt a mixture of emotions, none of which she liked the feeling of, a mixture of rage and impotence. She wanted to beat the crap out of him but she knew that she was too small and, as ashamed as she was to admit it, scared to confront him.

Just seeing him sent shivers right down her spine and a rabbit caught in the headlights sprang to mind. Thankfully Katie saw her and marched over, standing between Amy and Steve. "Hi," she said trying to sound as cheerful as she could. "Are you ready for maths?"

"Er...yeah." Amy replied, coming out of a trance, her breaths coming fast

Katie took Amy's arm in hers and led her away in the direction of their next lesson. "He wasn't here yesterday." She told her friend when they were out of earshot. "I don't know why. Sorry, I should have realised he'd be a jerk and rub it in."

"No, it's not your fault. God, I don't know why it's affecting me so much."

"God I do." Katie replied. "The guy almost raped you Amy. It's normal. You're going to feel a little intimidated by him. I can't believe I ever went out with the arsehole. Do you want to give maths a miss?"

Amy quickly shook her head. "No, it's one place I am sure he won't be."

"Jeez, you really are shaken. That's the first time I ever saw you glad to go to a maths lesson. Or any lesson for that matter."

Amy smiled weakly. "That's not entirely true. I loved science in my first year of high school."

"Oh that's right. You used to rush in there like there was no tomorrow."

"Ah ha."

"What was her name again?"

"Felicity Denham,." Amy said grinning at the memories it bought back. "It's a pity she moved schools. I would have got A's if she stayed longer."

"Yeah and I would have killed her if she stayed longer." Katie mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Come on."

-oOOo-

At lunchtime Amy headed down to the spot where she, as Stuart, used to sit with his friends and band members, but when they weren't there she knew there was only one other place to find them.

Down on the school oval the three boys were kicking around a football, all of them wearing their team jerseys over their school uniforms, just as Stuart did. The jerseys of the Para Vista High Lions. "Hi Noah." Amy said.

The three of them looked over at her obviously not to pleased with this girl who was interrupting their game. "G'day." Noah Lane said quickly without even looking at her.

"Almost football season?" Amy asked trying to start a conversation.

"Ah ha, the Lion's are going to kick arse this year."

"Who's playing Full Forward?"

Noah rolled his eyes. You could tell straight away he was thinking that girls had no place even discussing football. "Same guy who's done it the last two years, Gary Morton."

"WHAT?" Amy was genuinely shocked. "That guy is useless."

"He did kick five goals in the final last year."

"The one you lost?" She knew that because Stuart had kicked seven goals and the team won by three points.

"What do you want?" Noah spat, obviously not too happy to be reminded of the loss.

Amy just managed to duck as a football came flying her way and she watched a little jealously as Lano ran, leapt and took the ball with ease. "Um...Can I talk to you guys?" She asked as Noah kicked it a good forty feet towards Jordan.

"I'm listening."

"No, I mean all of you. The three of you. Together. All at once."

"Can it wait?" Noah grunted keeping his eye firmly on the ball as Joel caught it.

"Not really." Amy said, getting frustrated.

Noah Lane rolled his eyes and finally looked at her, one of those looks guys give girls, an all over, up and down with a quick stop at the groin and chest areas. "We're kind of busy."

"The ball isn't going anywhere." Amy shrugged.

"And neither are you by the sounds of things." Lano said dryly.

Amy had had enough of these games. She carefully judged the ball's flight in the air and started running. All of a sudden she was Stuart again, figuratively speaking anyway. It was like she was back playing a game of football rather than watching from the sidelines with the rest of the girls. She ran like a gazelle, jumped like a grasshopper and plucked the ball from the air as if it was stationary.

All three boys were stunned with the ease she exhibited and it took them a minute to realise what she was up to. In a flash she tucked the ball up her sweater leaving her looking just as pregnant as her dad's new wife.

"What are you doing?" Lano asked.

Jordan Davis ran over and said. "Hey, we were playing with that."

"Well now you're not Davey."

"Give us the ball." Joel Warren said.

"Come and get it Rabbit." Amy smiled. When it became obvious that none of them wanted to do that she continued. "Just give me five minutes and you can have the ball."

"What do you want?"

"Lano, you're a musician right?"

"I play the drums." Noah shrugged.

"Close enough." Amy grinned. "Davey, you play guitar right?"

"Ah ha." Jordan said eyeing the bulge in Amy's stomach.

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Rabbit, still bashing away at the keyboard?"

"Yeah."

Amy was relieved, she wasn't sure if they still played music without Stuart being on the scene to keep on their backs about it. "Good. Have you guys seen this?" She pulled the flyer for the battle of the bands out of a sleeve. One more drawback of girl's clothes, there's never enough pockets.

"Yeah? So what?"

"Gee, we've got a drummer, a guitarist, some one who can play keyboards and I can sing. There's another name for all of us. Can anyone guess what it might be?" She asked sarcastically.

"A band." Lano shrugged.

"Give the man a cigar. So what do you think?"

"Nah."

"What do you mean no?" Amy asked puzzled.

Now it was Rabbit's turn to be facetious. "No. The opposite of yes. An answer in the negative."

"Why not?"

"Well, we don't want to look like dicks in front of our friends." Lano said.

"Because everyone knows the teachers judge that and give it to the girly swots who play crappy music." Rabbit nodded.

"And we don't want to look like dicks in front of our friends." Davey added nailing the final point home.

"You don't have to answer now." Amy said. "Think about it and get back to me tomorrow." She turned and started to walk off.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?" For a second she hoped they had reconsidered.

"The ball?" Davey asked pointing to her large stomach.

She fished it out from under her sweater and passed it to the nearest guy that happened to be Rabbit. "By the way babe, not a bad catch before." He said, winking at her.

'Babe?' Amy thought. All of a sudden, a quote she had learned in History sprang to mind. That alone surprised her because she would never have though she'd remember anything from History. It was probably because this one seemed so fitting to the situation. "Yeah, well," she started. "I may have the body of a weak and feeble female but I have the heart of a Lion."

-oOOo-

"Amy." She heard some one call. "Hey Amy."

The voice was familiar and she easily spotted Danny making his way through the crowd of kids. "Hi." She said, smiling in spite of herself.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"Ah... Just some unfinished business to attend to."

"Cool. Did you finish it?" Danny asked, putting his arm around her tiny waist.

"Not really."

"Anything I can help with?"

"I don't think so."

"So how is your Aunty?"

"Who?" Amy asked with a blank look on her face.

"Your Aunty. The one in hospital you went to see last week."

"Oh her. She's a lot better now."

"Are you okay, Amy? You seem a little distant?"

"I'm fine." She said, giving him a peck on the lips to reassure him. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Danny asked taking her hands in his.

"Oh, like trying to work out what a crackpot old Chinese woman had in mind when she told me to look to my heart. Like trying to get back to my old male life without upsetting a guy I can't help but like. Like trying to get my old friends from said male life to join a band I need to set up in case a crackpot Aussie girl might be right. Like trying to deal with my father's new wife being seven or eight months pregnant with my half brother or sister, and my mum and sister not knowing about it. Like dealing with a girl who knows I am really a guy but who still has feelings for me." She thought.

"This and that." Is what she ended up saying. "Girl stuff."

"You sure?"

Amy was moved by his genuine concern and the obvious worry on his face. "Sure I am sure." She smiled. "How can I go wrong when I am with such a great guy?"

"Well there is one little thing to worry about." Danny said looking a little guilty.

"What?"

"Well, we've both got Mr. Fisher for English next and because you went away he hasn't finished with you over that Romeo and Juliet thing yet."

"What is it he called it again? The greatest massacre of the Bard's work he had ever seen and that included Baz Luhrmann's version. The guy is such a drama queen."

"I think you're half right." Danny grinned.

-oOOo-

"Hey Jade?"

"Yes?" Jade answered as she sat and watched the television that night.

"Have you seen dad?"

"Yeah, he's the older guy that lived her until I was eleven or twelve."

"Der. No I mean have you seen him since he's been here this time?" Amy asked rolling

her eyes.

"Nope. I've spoken to him on the phone though. Why?"

"Has mum?"

"I don't think so. What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just wondered."

Jade gave her sister a piercing look, one she learned from her mother that women seemed to use like radar looking for a lie. "I don't believe you but I am enjoying the show so I will let it pass."

Amy sat on the sofa next to her sister and tried not to think of a very pregnant Francesca. "Did you know he was staying at Gran's place?"

"Ah ha." Jade mumbled, getting annoyed now.

"Why do you think he's doing that? I mean usually when he comes to Adelaide his expense account pays for a swanky hotel room doesn't it?"

"Usually." Jade nodded.

"So why is he staying with Gran?"

"I don't bloody know. Maybe she asked him to stay with her. Maybe work has cut his spending. Maybe he just wants a home cooked meal." Jade shouted. "Great, the commercial is on now and I missed everything that was said. How'd you get on with Huey, Dewey and Louie today?"

"To put it in bowling terms I bowled a gutter ball. In baseball language I struck out. In terms of Aussie Rules Football I kicked it out on the full."

"And in English?" Jade asked

"I fucked up." Amy sighed.

"You're kidding? And you call yourself a girl?" The older sister snorted.

"Like you can do better?"

"For a fee."

"I'm listening." Amy said.

"Complete creative control. I pick the music you play; I chose the clothes you wear. Everything."

Amy thought about it for a minute. She really didn't believe Jade could get the three guys to agree to it so where was the problem? In fact it would be nice to see Jade fall flat on her butt. "Done." She smiled shaking her sister's hand.

"You certainly have been." Jade grinned. "I am going to enjoy dressing you up like my own personal Barbie Doll."

-oOOo-

Amy went to bed early. She wasn't feeling all that well and put it down to a stomach flu that had been doing the rounds at school. She felt like crap and didn't sleep all that well. Her Mum was still up, doing some paper work, when she got up a couple of hours later to go to the bathroom. The girl smiled at her reflection as she saw her baby blue flannelette pyjamas with the Tweety birds on them. Who would have though three months ago that she'd be wearing this stuff? She slipped her pants and her panties down in one fell swoop and then sat.

"Oh no," She said. "Shit, shit, shit. This is not fair."

"You okay in there honey?" Susan said, knocking quietly on the door.

"No. I am not okay." The girl spat. "I am pissed off." She stood up and readjusted her pyjama bottoms and then rifled through the bathroom cabinet.

"What's up?"

"I'll give you one guess. Three women in this house and not one damned sanitary pad in here."

"You early?" Susan asked, unsure what all the fuss was about.

Amy mentally counted the days back to her last period. "No," she said. "Bang on time. I just wasn't expecting this again. I stopped marking off the calendar when we went to Hong Kong. I was supposed to be Stuart now remember? This really sucks Mum."

"Welcome to my nightmare." Susan half smiled. "Hang on, I'll get you something from your bedroom."

-oOOo-

The alarm went off earlier than normal the next morning so Amy could get the first shower. She liked to spend longer than normal under the hot water when she had her period for two reasons. It helped to get rid of the aches and she always felt dirty. Dirty and smelly. If she got up first she was guaranteed plenty of hot water so she made the sacrifice of sleep.

For once the three Denton women actually managed to be at the breakfast table at the same time. Susan was eating some yoghurt, Jade was munching on an apple and Amy just had some white toast.

"Have you girls got much planned today?" Susan asked.

"I thought I might go to school." Jade smiled. "Might make a pleasant change."

"Oh gee. Now I don't know whether to ground you for playing truant or to check with your teachers in case you are pulling my leg." The older woman said.

"I say ground her." Amy interjected and regretted doing so as soon as she had.

Susan turned and looked at her youngest child. "Speaking of grounded. I haven't heard from your Grandmother yet about your apology. You went right?"

"Ah ha." The girl said not looking her mother in the eye.

"Good. Then there's no reason for me not to call in on her after work is there?"

'Shit.' Amy thought. "None at all Mum. What time will you be home?"

"About 5:30. Why?"

It was about this time that Amy mentally apologised to dentists around the world for all of the bad stuff she ever thought about them. "Did you forget my appointment?"

"Damn, you have a dentist appointment at 4:45." Susan looked at her watch. "Well, I better leave now then so I can leave work earlier. Your grandmother will have to wait until tomorrow." She picked up her handbag and her briefcase. "I'll pick you up here at 4:30 sharp Amy. Have a good day girls."

"Where are you going?" Jade asked.

"I was thinking of chipping a tooth." Amy said as she walked away from the table. "That dentist just saved my arse. It's only fair he gets some money for his troubles."

-oOOo-

Jade, Amy and Katie were walking down to the oval together at lunch on that Thursday, looking for Lano, Rabbit and Davey.

"Okay, there they are. Down on the oval. You two had better stay here and watch a master at work."

"I still have no idea how you are going to change their minds Jade. They were pretty adamant yesterday." Amy said.

"Ah Glasshopper. You have much to rearn." Jade smiled.

"I think she's going to do it Amy." Katie said with a look of admiration on her face. "If anyone can convince them to do it, it's Jade."

"God I hope you're wrong. I have a feeling that she'll put me in 5 inch stiletto heels if she does manage to swing it."

Jade took her time, assessing each of the three likely candidates. She didn't like any of them all that much but she knew enough about them from the time they spent at her house with Stuart. Noah Lane was cute, for a fifteen year old, with the social graces of a baboon but she knew he wasn't egotistical enough for what she needed.

Joel Warren was probably the only one she could tolerate for any length of time. The two of them had even had the odd conversation of more than two words, but he wasn't right either.

Jordan Davis seemed the best one to con. He was dumb enough to believe what she was about to tell him and just conceited enough not to question it.

"Hey Jordan?"

"Yeah?" Davey said, somewhat surprised to see this pretty and popular girl who normally wouldn't look at him twice was actually talking to him. The football practice with Rabbit and Lano was quickly forgotten.

"Look, I heard that my little sister was pestering you to get a band together."

"Ah ha. We said no."

Jade nodded and looked like she was deep in thought. "It's probably for the best," she said. "I mean with the feelings she has for you it'd be silly to lead her on. If you're not interested then you're not interested."

Jade could almost hear the cogs in his brain creak into gear. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Come on, a man of the world like you would have to be able to spot when a girl's got the hots for you. The whole band thing was just a ploy to spend more time with you."

A cocky smile spread across Jordan's face and disappeared just as quickly "Hang on. What about Simpson? I saw the two of them yesterday and they looked pretty close."

"Come on Jordan think about it. When a girl is going out with a guy and secretly fancies another guy she feels all guilty. Believe me, Amy is only all over Danny because she's planning on dumping him for you. So you and your friends definitely did the right thing in saying no to her."

Jade walked back up to her sister and next-door neighbour. "Well?" Amy asked.

"Very." Jade smiled as she looked back and saw the three boys deep in a conversation, all thought of football obviously forgotten. "They'll come and see you by the end of the day to agree to set up a band."

"Are you sure?" Katie asked.

"Trust me kiddo. I've forgotten more about boys than you'll ever know."

-oOOo-

Amy had three things to complain about that night. Her teeth were in agony after three cavities had been found and drilled. Her period was particularly bad this time, and on top of it all she had thoughts of Jade making her look like a dick in front of her friends.

True to her word Rabbit, Davey and Lano had found her just before school ended for the day to tell her they'd thought about it and wanted in on the band idea. They'd all set a schedule for practice. Lots of practice. There were only two weeks until they'd be up on stage. The first one was set for the following afternoon at Amy's house.

It was around 7 pm when Amy opened the door to find Danny standing there holding a single red rose and two videos.

"I rang earlier to see if you wanted to come over to my place and Jade told me you were at the dentist so I thought if Mohammed couldn't come to the mountain I'd drag the mountain to Mohammed." He grinned.

Amy couldn't help but smile. "Well come on in Mountain."

"How you feeling Amy?" The boy asked as he hugged her close.

"Like I've gone three rounds with Mike Tyson." She took the rose from him and for some reason did a really girly thing and smelled it. "Whose garden did you grab this from?"

"Your's actually. But it's the thought that counts. I've got a couple of videos too. Both of them chick flicks."

Amy would have preferred an action movie but beggars can't be choosers. Despite wanting to back away from Danny she found it incredibly hard. On top of all of her feelings for him the guy was nice and she couldn't think of a way to break off the relationship without hurting him. Besides, she reasoned, if she worked out what Mamma Chow was on about she'd be Stuart again, and the only ones who would ever remember Amy would be Susan, Jade, Katie and herself. "You set them up and I'll get us some munchies." She said.

"It's pretty quiet here." Danny said as he absently flicked through some magazines on the coffee table.

"Mum's at a friend's house and Jade is at the movies." Amy shouted back from the kitchen.

"What a pity." The boy grinned.

The first movie was a little boring but Amy didn't care. She was just enjoying lying back in Danny's arms, her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat and smelling him. Damn he smelled good.

They didn't say much to each other but it didn't matter. If anything it helped give Amy more time to think. She felt a lot better when she stopped beating herself up about it. What was wrong with it? She still might be stuck as a girl and Danny was the guy she wanted to spend the moment with.

Danny stood up and stretched. "Ready for another one?" He asked.

Amy checked her watch. "Yeah, we've got time I guess. I'll get some more chips."

The second movie was great, not that they watched much of it. Not long after it started Danny kissed the pretty girl and from then on it got hot and heavy. Before she knew what hit her he was massaging her breasts through her t-shirt and then, without warning, his hand slipped below and he undid her bra. "Is that okay?" He asked.

"Um..yeah. I guess." She gasped. Stop now you arsehole and I will cut your balls off.

All of a sudden her mind thought back to a diary entry that sounded pretty much the same as she was feeling right at that moment. For a moment she remembered that after reading it she felt a little sick, and not just because of who she had been kissing. The thought of a guy kissing her that passionately and feeling his big hands on her breasts seemed totally foreign to Amy then. Now it felt wonderful! It was incredible how six weeks and an overdose of estrogen could totally change your view of things.

She lay back on Danny's chest, one of his hands caressing her breasts and the other resting on her trim stomach.

"Hang on Gringo, you're not welcome in Mexico." She told him, grabbing his hand as it darted for her shorts."

"Huh?"

"No action south of the border," she explained.

Danny looked deep into her eyes, puzzled. "Oh," he said as a look of understanding passed over his face. "I am sorry Amy. I didn't even think about how upset you are about that bastard Ellis. I understand."

"What?" Now it was Amy's turn to be puzzled, although to be truthful tonight was probably the first time since the party at Danny's house that she hadn't thought about Steve and how scared and angry she felt. "No, it's not that." She giggled. "Believe me if I could I would but...ah...it's not the right time."

"Oh." The boy said shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He recovered from both his disappointment and his discomfort well however. "Gee, I guess I will have to make the supreme sacrifice and just kiss you then."

-oOOo-

"We're not playing that shit." Lano said the next afternoon in the Denton's garage.

"Why not?" Jade asked.

"Because it's ancient."

"You want to win don't you?"

"I'd prefer not to be laughed off the stage." Rabbit told her.

"Look, I picked those two songs for two reasons. The first is that they suit Amy's voice and the second is for the simple reason that they are old enough to be enjoyed by the teacher who judge it and not so bad that the kids in the audience will think it's a joke."

"Can't we play something new?" Davey griped. "We got together ourself and wrote a song."

"Spare me." Jade mumbled rolling her eyes. "Cover versions are in. Everyone is doing them. If you do this my way I guarantee you'll win and walk away with the cash."

"Jade, I like you," Rabbit started. "And you kind of have a reputation around school for being violent so I'll put this as nicely as I can; who died and made you boss?"

"If you don't want to do it then that's up to you." Jade shrugged. "The door is over there."

Lano started to pack up and the other boys followed suit. "Okay then. See you later."

"We're out of here." Rabbit nodded.

Jade waited until everything was more or less packed up and they were heading out of the door. "You're right Amy. I didn't believe it but you are right." She said winking to her sister. "Three of the toughest footballers in our school and they'll come up with any excuse to get out of this. They are just scared."

"That's smart." Amy hissed. "They're really going to hang around if you insult them."

"Give them thirty seconds." Jade whispered. "And be thankful they don't know mum found you and lover boy asleep on the sofa when she got home last night."

"Huh?" Amy asked. "What the hell are you playing at Jade?"

The boys came back in and Lano sheepishly said. "How about if we practice your two songs and ours and then see which one we'd all prefer?"

"Fair enough." Jade said with a grin Amy knew all too well said "Checkmate!"

-oOOo-

Amy's life seemed to settle into a routine again and on that Sunday her period ended. With Amy's entire firsthand experience with menstruation, a grand total thus far of three periods, she was always happy to see the end of them for another twenty-eight days or so. This time, with not trip to Hong Kong to focus on things went pretty much as she expected. She and Danny got closer, if that were possible. Likewise she and Katie. Jade continued to call the shots with the band that, for reasons no band member other than Amy seemed to know, was called The Mamma Chows. It was slow going and Amy had quit her job at the coffee shop to devote a lot of her time to practice, so slowly but surely they were actually getting good. They should be. Jade seemed to easily get her way and the guy song was soon ditched, and they played only her two choices over and over again. Amy could ever breathe a sigh of relief when her mother seemed to lose interest in visiting her Grandmother, a visit that would result in a pretty severe punishment for her lie about apologising, and much worse in Amy's mind, her mother finding out about the impending birth of her dad's new child.

All things considered, if she could forget she was a girl, or conversely forget the fact that she hadn't been born that way, things were going pretty well for her. Of course, both of those options were impossible. Acting like a girl, dressing, walking, talking and even thinking like a girl now came as easy to her as kicking a football, batting in cricket or just shooting the shit with Stuart's friends had once been. Incredibly she now knew all of the names for different types of skirts, dresses, tops, necklines and fabrics. She was as competent at discussing make-up as she used to be talking about which car could beat another car in an imaginary race.

If only she could shut up the nagging voice somewhere in the back of her mind that all of her new found abilities and talents, as good as they were, were not that dissimilar to getting too engrossed in a movie. It just wasn't real. Not really who she was or who she should be. The only difference was, when the movie ended in two or three hours, you shook your head a little and moved out of the darkened cinema and into the normalities of every day life. The movie she was watching had no known end, and there wasn't even an intermission where she could go out, take a breath of fresh air and think about everyday things away from the movie.

-oOOo-

On her Eighty-eighth day as a girl, at around ten o'clock PM, Amy was vaguely aware of a phone call as she watched television. Phone calls at that time of night usually meant a wrong number, so she fully expected the caller to be dispatched into telephone oblivion without a moment's thought by her mum.

"You better get dressed," Susan said around three minutes later.

"Huh?" Amy asked looking down at her perfectly comfortable pyjamas.

"Something is up at your grandmother's house. Jade isn't here and I might need help to calm her down." Susan said as if that explained everything.

"Grandma Nelson?" Amy asked hopefully.

"No, Grandma Denton."

'Shit.' Amy thought. Her mum's mum was a pain in the behind on a scale Amy had yet to see matched, but at the moment even she was preferable to her dad's mother. "What's up with her?" She eventually asked.

"I couldn't understand much of the phone call but she was panicked and I heard

screaming in the background. It could be anything from her losing her remote control for the television again right up to someone prowling around her house."

Amy started to open her mouth but her mother jumped in first. "Before you say anything, yes. You do have to come. I don't see why I should suffer alone. Besides, if you are there I have a good excuse to leave fast if it's nothing big. Last time I got called over there I ended up drinking tea and eating scones until three am."

Amy went to her room and quickly put on a pair of jeans, a bra and a pink ribbed T-shirt and as she dressed she reasoned that by now her dad and his wife were probably back in Perth. After all, he never stayed in Adelaide that long, and no one had heard from him for two weeks. Nothing to worry about.

She grabbed a scrunchie and slipped her dainty feet into a pair of sandals as she walked out of her bedroom. Her mother was locking the back door and grabbing her keys as Amy deftly pulled her hair into a ponytail and used the scrunchie to keep it in place.

-oOOo-

Her Grandmother's house was quiet as they parked the car in front of it five minutes later. If there was any evidence of a major disturbance it was long gone. The street was quiet apart from the odd bark of a dog and a distant catfight so Susan and Amy both made their way to the front door.

"Just a minute." A voice shouted from somewhere deep inside. After some banging and clanging of what sounded like saucepans the door opened. "Oh, thank God you're here." Marjorie Denton said somewhat pre-occupied.

"What's the matter?"

"I was waiting for him, but now I've left it a little late and I didn't know if I should call one or you."

Amy blinked a little as she tried to work out what her grandmother was on about. She loved her dearly but her grandmother was a dying breed of women who were brought up to leave anything remotely important to the men and just take care of the "women's things". Since her husband had died a few years before she was still coming to terms with the idea of actually making a decision. If you add her tendency to talk about the given subject without including anything remotely resembling detail, she was one of the most exasperating women Amy had ever dealt with.

Susan wondered who "he" was, what was "left a little late" and what the "one" her mother in law was referring to but knew from experience it would take too long to ask so she just entered the house to investigate things.

Amy went next with Marjorie bringing up the rear muttering. "I should have done it straight away but I was waiting. I thought there was time."

At first Susan just saw a woman sitting on her mother in law's sofa. Realisation slowly dawned on her that is was her husband's new wife and it took as long again for her to digest the fact that Francesca was very pregnant and that she was very much in labour. She was so slow in working all of this out that Amy was way ahead of her and slowly inching her way to the door to escape the explosion of fury she was sure was on the way.

She needn't have worried though because as soon as the three facts had made any impact on Susan's mind she shifted gears and took over. Amy stood back and watched in amazement as her mother morphed into some sort of Midwifery machine. "How far apart are the contractions?" Susan asked.

"Oh," Marjorie said with a look that would have been more appropriate if Susan had asked her the core temperature on Pluto. "I don't know dear. I was timing it, but then I called you and..."

"Four minutes." Francesca shouted as another contraction gripped her. "Where the hell is he?"

"Jim? You don't know where he is?"

"No, Susan," Marj said with a blank look. "He was going out on a business meal and Fran was going to go but because of her legs she decided to stay home. He's not answering his mobile thingy. It's the airlines I blame."

Now, even for her grandmother, that seemed a very large leap of logic. Susan and Amy just looked at each other and shook their heads, a silent agreement not to ask her why she blamed the airlines. "Should I call an ambulance?" Amy asked her mother as she worked out what "one" meant.

Susan considered it quickly. "No, we might do better getting her into a car and up to the hospital. Is that okay with you Francesca?"

"Unless you have an epidural in your pocket the hospital sounds pretty good."

"You need a whatsit." Marjorie said and as far as anyone could tell she rushed off to get whatever a whatsit entailed.

A long uncomfortable silence fell over the room as Amy looked from her mother to her stepmother like she was watching a tennis game. It was also the first time she had to really look at Francesca and look she did. Francesca was almost the opposite of her mother. Where Susan was short and blonde, Francesca was tall and dark, obviously Mediterranean as her name suggested. Susan looked like a businesswoman even dressed in her casual slacks and a light jumper but Francesca appeared more laid back. Her father's new wife was undoubtedly beautiful and it was apparent that when she regained her figure, she would have a magnificent body. Amy did what any girl in her position would; she took an immediate dislike to her.

-oOOo-

"I didn't think childbirth took this long." Amy yawned five hours later.

"Are you kidding? Jade took almost twenty hours and you were a little over fifteen. This is nothing."

"Your dad took thirty three hours." Her grandmother informed her as she peered at Susan as if she was an amateur

The three women took turns going in and spending time with Francesca, which was pretty uncomfortable for Susan, Amy and Francesca herself. Susan and Amy ferried coffee or cola from the vending machines and tried to telephone Jade and/or her father. Jade had been over at a friend's house and was due home no later than 10:30, but there was no answer to the constant calls so Susan had let her imagination run wild to anything from abduction right up to elopement with some boy. All of which made her crabby with her mother in law who insisted on making excuses for Jim. All it all it was a pretty tense time for everyone and Amy wondered if it was all going to take longer than a public holiday why she needed to be there at all.

Amy and her mother slowly dragged the story out of Marjorie. From what they could gather Jim had bought Francesca over to Adelaide for a holiday, sort of a second honeymoon before the baby was born. She was cleared to fly by her doctor in Perth but not long after arriving she felt terrible, fainted and went to the hospital. Her blood pressure was sky high and the doctor there had advised her against air travel. Now because Perth was a good 6 days drive, across a vast desert they were effectively stuck in Adelaide. Now, two weeks short of the due delivery date Jim had thought he was safe to go out to dinner with some clients.

"I got your note. Where is she?" Jim asked as he burst through the door at the end of the corridor and saw his family sitting on uncomfortable benches.

"She's gone for a jog." Amy said quickly. "Where do you think she is?"

A look passed between her mother and father that told Amy that Susan had no idea Francesca was pregnant and the matter would be raised at a later date. "She's in there." Susan said. "I think she's expecting you."

"I'd keep your thingy out of her reach though." Marj told him, pointing in the general direction of his groin.

After what had been a pretty boring five hours things seemed to heat up pretty quickly. Whereas there had been the odd nurse going into the room now and then to check on contractions or dilations or whatever they did, there now seemed to be a basketball team rushing in and out of the room every three minutes.

Another hour passed like this until eventually a nurse appeared. "Denton?" she asked looking their way.

Susan jumped to her feet. "Yes. That's us."

The nurse smiled. "Mother and Daughter are doing fine. Would you like to come in?"

"Just you try and stop me." Amy's grandmother beamed as she followed the nurse into the room.

Amy and her mother stood back a little. Neither of them felt it was their place to go in. "It's okay." The nurse said at the door. "The father asked for all three of you."

Susan shrugged and made her way to the door leaving Amy the only one unsure about what to do. In the end she gave in to her curiosity and followed.

Francesca was sitting up in bed. She looked tired but joyously happy and there was a small wriggly bundle, wrapped in what appeared to be a hundred layers of fabric, in her arm. "Come on." The new mother said quietly. "She won't bite."

"Of course she won't, she doesn't have any thingy bobs yet." Marjorie laughed. Amy figured, with out too much trouble, that she meant teeth.

She moved just a little closer and managed to see a blur of pink in the small opening of fabric.

"Amy, meet your little sister, Julia Anne Denton."

Up until that point the girl has been unaware of her father's presence in the room. It was probably natural as all eyes were directed to Francesca and the tiny little girl she proudly held. Her dad looked happier than she had ever seen him, and it brightened her heart just a little when it reminded her slightly of times her dad had spent with her when she was much younger. "My little sister?" Amy said absently.

"Well half sister but it's still much the same." Jim said. Amy smiled despite herself. She thought pregnant women were supposed to glow, not new fathers.

"Do you want to hold her?" Her stepmother asked.

"What? No...I couldn't...She's so...tiny."

"You'll be fine." Susan prodded. "Just support her neck and head."

Amy gingerly took the struggling bundle from Francesca like she was the most expensive item in an antique shop and she didn't want to be stuck paying for it if she dropped it. It took a second to get the little package comfortably and safely positioned in her arms and then there was time to look at the baby girl.

Never having had time for babies before, thinking they all looked much the same, Amy was stunned by the pure beauty of the brand new life she held. Huge brown eyes, when they were open, gave the impression of vast knowledge that Amy could only guess at. The tiniest little nose above a mouth with deep dimples ether side, much like her own made it appear that the little girl was smiling even though she knew it was impossible. The adorable face was topped off by a mass of brown, curly hair. "She's...beautiful." Amy said and she had never meant something more in her life.

"Of course she is," Jim grinned. "She looks like her mother and her sister..." A pointed look from his mother made him add something to save himself. "And almost as pretty as her grandmother."

A little hand somehow made its way out from under the cloth and Amy fell in love again. Never in her life had she seen the wonder of the human hand that she was now experiencing. "She's just beautiful." She said again before carefully handing the little girl to her grandmother.

Once again Amy found herself amazed at the range of emotions she was feeling. Since her change her highs were higher than Mt. Everest and her lows, the few she had, were deeper than the Marianas Trench compared to her memories of highs and lows as a guy. She also knew now that you could very easily get all clucky over a baby.

As the baby was handed from her grandmother to her mother, who was always happy to hold a baby, no matter whose, and then on to her Dad, Amy kept looking at her the proud new father amazed how happy he looked.

"I think it's time to give the new parents some time to themselves." A nurse said gently when Francesca started to yawn. Amy, Susan and Marjorie all said their farewells and headed out of the room.

It was Susan who summed up Amy's feelings as they reacquainted themselves with the chair in the corridor outside of the birthing room. "God, he's so happy anybody would think he gave birth." She said with a smile.

"If men gave birth there'd be a hall of fame for the ones with the longest labour." Marj added in a moment of unusual clarity.

The three of them all broke into peals of laughter and then a happy and contented silence. Susan finally managed to reach Jade on the telephone and gave her the unexpected news that she now had two sisters and not one. It turned out that Jade's car had broken down on the way home from her friend's house and she had tried to call them to let them know but of course no one was home. Instead she called her friend's house, and her friend's dad had come out and spent two hours in the dark, on the side of the road, tinkering with the engine. When starting the car looked like an impossibility she was driven home and promptly fell asleep without even seeing the note.

"She could sleep through a nuclear explosion," Amy had explained when her Grandmother asked why she hadn't woken up to the sound of the phone. Jade only heard the phone when she did because she was awake to use the bathroom.

Not long after, her dad came out of the room. "She's asleep." He told them. "Thanks for all your help tonight. Especially you Susan. You are the best ex-wife a man could ever have." He stopped to give her a peck on the cheek." He looked at his watch. "God is that the time?" It was almost five am. "Can you do me one more favour and take Mum home please?"

"Sure." Susan said. "You're not going to get some sleep?"

"Sleep?" Jim replied like it was an alien term. "The way I feel now I could run from here to Perth and back. I won't sleep for hours."

Amy had no doubt her dad meant it.

-oOOo-

As it turned out neither Amy nor Susan could sleep. There seemed little point in even attempting to get some shut eye because by the time they had dropped Marjorie off at her house and had a cup of coffee with real coffee instead of the pap that came from the vending machine at the hospital, it was five thirty and the sun was up.

Jade woke up to hear all about it but she was a little jealous the she missed all of the "fun" and told her mother not to expect her home straight after school because she was going to go and see little Julia Anne as all of them referred to the baby.

"I just can't believe how proud Dad looked." Amy said.

"It's hardly an every day event honey." Susan replied. "Besides, that was pretty tame compared to the birth of you two."

"Tame how?" Jade asked.

Susan looked at her oldest child. "Well, with you we were young and everything was new. We were typical first time parents, we read anything and everything about having kids and we followed all of the rules. Both of us were deeply in love and we dearly wanted you. The day you were born was a Wednesday, which was payday back then for your dad. A wet, cold day in the middle of winter. I was out doing the shopping when I had the first contraction, two weeks late I might add. Mobile phones were as rare as hen's teeth back then so it wasn't like I could just ring your dad and tell him it was time for the moment we'd been waiting for. I steered, and when you are nine and a half months pregnant, steering is the right word, out to the road and grabbed a cab."

"Why not drive?" Amy asked without thinking about it.

"Cars aren't made for pregnant women sweetie. I couldn't fit behind the wheel after six months." Susan patiently explained. "Anyway, I got to the hospital without any problems and they rang your dad's work from there. He was out visiting clients so the girl in the office was ringing everyone the firm dealt with to try and track him down. He arrived an hour or so later and nineteen hours later Jade made her entrance. If you had stayed in there any longer I would have sent in a search party."

"She always has been slow." Amy said.

"Well your dad was over the moon with it. I thought he was going to faint at one stage there during the delivery, and I even suggested the doctor give him the drugs but he came through it. He raced from the room to ring his parents and mine with the good news, raced back in to ask if we'd thought of a name, ran back again, came back a few minutes later to ask the weight. He was like a five year old on red cordial." Susan laughed at the recollection. "In the end a nurse wrote it all down and he headed back for the phone. Then he had the nerve to hit the doctor and two nurses up for some twenty-cent pieces because he'd run out."

"What about my birth?" Amy asked trying to sound like she didn't care and failing miserably at it.

"Your birth was special, in fact the first three months of your life were very special for your dad." Susan said with a weird nostalgic look on her face.

"How?"

"Well Stuart," Susan started, shocking Amy by using her real name, "Ultrasound was around then but we didn't take up on the option to find out your sex, or Jade's. We both chose to do it the natural way. On the day you were born it was hot, very hot. I was at home, sweltering, trying to keep Jade and myself cool. It was pretty close to 4 PM and I was doing the washing when a breeze blew up and in next to no time the sky went from cloudless to stormy. We had a summer storm on the way and I rushed outside to take the washing off the clothesline when I felt my first contraction. I went next door and asked Mrs. Francis to baby sit Jade. She was 7 months pregnant with Katie at the time but she called me a cab and off I went." Susan stopped at that point to take a drink of tea.

"And let me guess, you couldn't find dad?"

"No actually, he was in the office and was there in about half an hour. He was wonderful. He had me breathing like a dirty phone call, and he spoon-fed me chips of ice. All night he was there, holding my hands, giving me back massages, telling me how much he loved me. You were born a little before 7 AM the following morning and your dad was as proud as a peacock."

"Why?"

"Why? He got his son silly. Sure we all say we don't care if the baby's a boy or a girl as long as it's healthy but I think deep down women want a little girl to dress up and share things with and men want a boy to teach sports and how to fix a car."

"You got both." Jade added dryly.

"Anyway, not long after you were born I caught glandular fever and I had to stop breastfeeding. Your dad never missed your three hourly feeds. He got up every time without complaints and he took long service leave to look after you. I was laid up in bed and Jade was staying with Grandmother Nelson so basically he was your mum and dad for three months. I didn't get near you while I was contagious in case I passed it on, but I used to look out the back door as your dad carried you around in the garden and talked to you. He told you stuff a baby couldn't possibly understand. He told you the names of the plants, told you about the airplanes that flew over. Anything and everything. He was in heaven. Even diapers didn't phase him, do you know why?"

"No sense of smell?" Jade said before Amy could ask.

"No, it's because they were Stuart's dirty diapers. I think your dad could have had them bronzed if you could find someone to do it. He really loved you and do you know what?"

"What?" Amy asked.

"The feeling was mutual. God, you thought the sun shone out of him." Susan laughed. "Your first word was daddy and when you learnt to walk you followed him around everywhere. From the moment he got home from work until you went to sleep if I wanted to find you I'd just look for your dad. You idolized him."

"What happened?"

"I don't know sweetheart." Susan said very solemnly. "I can tell you that your Dad hasn't changed but you have."

Amy quickly wiped a tear out of her eye before her mother or sister could notice it. "Damn emotions," she thought.

-oOOo-

"Jeez, when most people say they had a big night they usually just mean a kiss with someone they fancy." Katie said to Amy during lunch that day at school. "You just have to be better than everyone don't you?" She laughed.

"Yeah, well I guess a baby sister doesn't come along everyday." Amy smiled despite the tiredness.

"What's she like?"

"Who?"

"The baby."

"Well she's a wonderful ballroom dancer and she can speak six languages fluently." Amy rolled her eyes. "She's a baby for crying out loud."

"You can be a sarcastic prick at times." Katie said. "I mean, is she cute?"

"She sleeps, sucks boobs and shits." Amy said trying to hide her true feelings.

"Ah. I saw that look. You can't tell me you aren't clucky, I have seven cousins and a mother who had a hysterectomy after she had me, I know the signs."

"Ever thought your mother decided to have a hysterectomy after laying eyes on you?" Amy grinned.

"Well she knew she couldn't improve on perfection." Katie replied quickly.

"Hello ladies." Danny said as he sat down next to Amy and gave her a kiss on the lips. "How are you both?"

"Amy spent the night in the hospital."

"What?" The boys face became a mask of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Amy laughed. "My stepmother had a nasty obstruction she needed to clear."

"Don't listen to her Danny. Amy's Stepmother gave birth to a little girl over night and Amy's trying to pretend she isn't clucky. She's also grumpy because she hasn't been to bed."

"I am not clucky or grumpy." Amy protested.

"Shouldn't you have the day off?"

"I wanted to come to school." Amy told her boyfriend.

"Clucky, grumpy and sick." Katie laughed.

-oOOo-

"Jade we've been playing the same songs for three hours straight." Amy groaned later that night. "We can do this in our sleep."

"She's right." Rabbit nodded. "And for the last hour we've been getting worse. Enough is enough."

Jade looked at her watch and then nodded. "Okay. We'll leave it until tomorrow night."

"Uh uh." Lano yawned. "There is no way we can get better before Friday. I am not going to play this ancient music again until Friday."

"I'm with him." Davey said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jade mumbled under her breath. "You guys wouldn't have an original thought between you."

"Huh?"

"Alright." Jade snapped. "But don't blame me if you don't win on the big night. It's only Tuesday night and you have three more days to practice."

"I think it's official Jade." Amy said. "Besides, you are just acting like you."

"Huh?" Jade asked.

"We're revolting." The younger girl smiled as the boys started packing up their equipment.

"You can say that again."

-oOOo-

"I'm beginning to think I quit my job too early." Amy told Katie the next day.

"Why's that? You missing Sammy?"

"God no." Amy stated strongly. "I just thought I'd be a guy sooner rather than later and so far nothing's happened. It's expensive being a girl. I had to get moisturiser, mascara and some toner in the last few days."

"Not to mention that little peasant blouse you looked fantastic in." Katie smiled.

"Yeah, laugh it up." Amy grumbled. "Why is it all of the women in my life think my situation is so amusing?"

"Oh come on. If you had told me four months ago that Stuart Denton would be shopping like a seasoned professional and worrying how his butt looked I would have laughed myself stupid."

"You're pretty much there now."

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit Amy. But in your case it's half wit."

Amy just rolled her eyes. "Getting back to my original point, I am jobless, cashless and dickless."

"Not to mention hopeless." Katie added good-naturedly.

"And friendless soon if you keep on going the way you are K.J."

"So get a job."

"Where? I walked that damn mall to find the job at the Copper Kettle."

"True but Sammy would give you a good reference right?"

"I guess so." Amy nodded a little uncertainly.

"And I heard the Multiplex is looking for staff." Katie told her. "It's got to be easier selling people tickets to see a movie than serving them coffee, right?"

"I guess." Amy conceded.

"So why don't we get dolled up and go up there after school? The least they can say is no right?"

"No, the least they can do is laugh as us."

"That's what I love about you Amy," Katie smiled. "You're such and optimist."

-oOOo-

"Well that wasn't so bad."

"True," Amy nodded as the two girls walked back home. "The manager was trying to look up my skirt for the whole interview, my feet are killing me from these heels, I need to pee so badly I can almost taste urine and to top it all off, Steven bloody Ellis was applying for the same job. But apart from that I feel wonderful about it."

"Alright, Steve being there wasn't part of the plan but lets face it, you have much better legs than him."

"I just hate the way the creep looks at me." Amy said as they turned down a long alley.

"Who? The manager or Steve?"

"Both, but Ellis is the bigger jerk. Every time I see him he's standing there, smirking at me. When or if I get back to normal the first thing I am going to do is tap dance on that idiots teeth so he can't smirk like that at any girl."

"Speaking of Teeth Amy, you've got lipstick on yours." Katie reached into her handbag and passed Amy a small Mirror.

"Oh that's just great. Was it there during the interview?"

"I don't think so." Katie shook her head as Amy held the mirror up to her face and rubbed the red lipstick off her white teeth.

All of a sudden Amy stopped walking, looked at herself again and let out a strange sound that was part laugh, part scream of shock and part cry of "Eureka". "That crafty old bitch." She managed to say after a second or two.

"What?"

"That scheming old cow."

"Who?" Katie asked trying to work out what was happening.

"Mamma fucking Chow, that's who."

"Ether McDonalds are serving Bourbon with their cokes and you're drunk, or I am missing something huge here."

"Look to your heart." Amy laughed. "It was right under my button nose." She looked at Katie who still couldn't make the connection. "Look at me K.J. What do you see?"

"Ah... A girl." Katie shrugged. "A girl with very early dementia."

"And what is that girl wearing?"

"Black, knee length skirt, black pantyhose and a white satin blouse."

"Correct." Amy giggled. "And now look between the lapels of the blouse Katie and tell me what you see?"

"Cleavage?"

"And what is dangling just above the cleavage?"

"A locket."

"Correct again." Amy said. "A heart shaped locket wouldn't you say?"

"But you've had that for ages. You've worn it everyday since your birthday."

"Exactly. It's been hidden in plain sight. Not only is it heat shaped but also it's close to my heart anatomically speaking. I have a feeling I just found my way out of the forest."

"And into a mental hospital." Katie said.

Amy ignored her friend as she remembered the phone call weeks ago about the Rocket. It wasn't about a stupid rocket, it was a Chinese person, probably Mei Ling, telling her about the damn locket. "You don't get it Katie. Dad gave this to me. I was pissed off at him so I never opened it. If I had been nicer to the guy I would have opened it ages ago. This is the final lesson."

"So what are you going to do now?"

Amy looked up and down the alley and didn't see anyone. "I figured I'd throw it away." She told her friend. "I'm going to open it you dopey bugger."

She did just that and in the split second before anything happened she saw a miniaturised photo of herself and her dad when she was about five. Then she smiled like a mad woman as a familiar feeling overtook her body. The same thing she had felt exactly ninety days earlier when she opened the Jade Box.

If she was asked to describe it, the closest thing she could come to, was being in the eye of a mini tornado that started at her feet and then grew wider up her body until it enveloped her. It felt like it lasted anywhere from ten seconds to ten minutes but Amy knew it was instantaneous.

When it was done Stuart looked down at himself and smiled like a maniac. Both he and Katie were too caught up in the transformation to see someone walk up the alley behind them and then duck away in confusion.

Stuart looked down some more at both himself and Katie. He moved a little bit to make sure he wasn't dreaming and then he had a quick feel of his crotch to make sure everything was as it should be. "I'm back." He said, stunned to hear his old voice emanate from his throat.

Katie blinked twice and looked the familiar figure up and down. She'd forgotten how good looking the boy was. Especially as he was dressed up in Black trousers and a short sleeved blue shirt.

"I'm back K.J. I am really back." Stuart said as he picked the girl up. Neither of them realised at the moment that the locket was nowhere to be seen.

"How do you feel?"

"Heavy." Stuart replied after a moments though. "Big and sluggish after being Amy for so long." He licked his lips. "It's kind of weird not to taste lipstick anymore."

"You can taste mine any time you want" Katie thought. "I missed you Stu." She said.

"As crazy as it sounds, I missed you too K.J. We better get home and surprise mum and Jade before they notice the changes in the house and work it out for themselves."

"Do you want to put me down or do you plan on carrying me the whole way?"

"Sorry," the boy smiled. "I got a little bit excited."

-oOOo-

It was a bit of an anticlimax for Stuart when no one was home. He had visions of returning home the conquering hero, or at least the welcome stranger. Instead he got an empty house. Excusing himself from Katie for a second he headed to the bathroom for much needed relief. The stupid thing was, he almost sat down. He had to remind himself that is was anatomically possible to go standing up.

He did just that, it was easier sure, but there was no great joy to it. If you had asked him before how it would feel to be Stuart again he would have said he'd be like a kid with a new toy. Things didn't work out that way though. Stuart just felt weird. Everything was both familiar and foreign a the same time and the joy he felt in the alleyway was more over cracking the mystery and beating Mamma Chow than actually getting his old body back.

As he washed his hands in the bathroom he looked deeply into the mirror. "Did I look like that before?" He mumbled. "Weird, I wouldn't have thought so."

He went to his bedroom, surprised by all of the mess and clutter in there. About the only thing that bought a smile to his face was his guitar sitting in its stand in the corner.

Quickly stripping off his clothes, he looked in the mirror again and was surprised to see a large lump of muscle instead of the small curvaceous girl he'd seen for the past three months. Shaking off that feeling he grabbed a pair of football shorts and slipped them on and headed for the door, but the coolish breeze on his chest as he walked into the hall made him stop. Walking around without a T-shirt on made him feel uncomfortable, almost naked. He tried to shake it, but in the end returned to his bedroom and slipped on a black Silver chair T-shirt.

"Okay?" He asked Katie when he found her watching TV in the family room.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the girl smiled.

"No. I mean do I look ok?" Stuart said as he did a feminine little turn.

"It's not the height of sartorial elegance but you look fine."

Stuart nodded. "You hungry?"

"We've just had Burgers and fries remember?"

"Yeah, but I am starving. Be back in a minute." He went to kitchen and looked through the pantry and the refrigerator. In next to no time he'd made a few tomato, lettuce and lite mayo on rice crackers and went to join Katie in the family room.

"You watching your diet sweetie?" Katie grinned when she saw what was on his plate?

"What? It's what I normally eat for a snack." Stuart said defensively.

"No, it's what Amy normally eats for a snack. Stuart has left over pizza, a bag of crisps, two chocolate milks and a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream."

"Really?" Stuart asked a little unsure. "I ate all that? How did I fit into my clothes?"

"Very well." Katie mumbled. "You managed." She said louder for Stuart's benefit.

A little later on, Jade entered the house. "Anyone home?" She shouted as her keys rattled onto the kitchen table.

"We're down in the family room." Katie yelled.

Jade soon appeared at the door. "Oh great." She said, not overly enthusiastic, "when did you get back?"

"I haven't actually been anywhere." Stuart corrected. He quickly told her about the locket and how he opened it in the alleyway and finally got to normal.

"That's just great." Jade said. "I was going to wear that red top of yours on Friday night. Oh well, I am going out."

Stuart found himself telling pretty much the same story to his mother a little over an hour later. She was at least a little happy to see he was back and gave him a hug but it didn't make him feel any better. He wanted to shout: "Hello, I have done some serious shit here. I crossed the gender barrier in a way unknown to human kind. I spent three whole months as a girl. What is wrong with you people?" But then his gender was far more important to him than it was to anyone else. Boy or girl he'd always be the pain for Jade and male or female he would always be his mother's child. As far as Susan was concerned he could have been some hideous mixture of the two but as long as he was happy she would be too. And really, it was a little silly to expect wonder or sympathy about three months spent as a female from women who had been that way all their lives.

Still, a little pampering or something would have been nice.

-oOOo-

The next day at school was a case of deja vu all over again for Stuart. He felt pretty much the same as he had three months ago when he first went to school as Amy. Only then it was fifteen years of his life seemingly wiped from everyone's memory and now it was only three months. He couldn't work out what affected him most.

As he walked in to school it was "Hi Stuart," from some one and "G'day Stu," from someone else. Amy, it appeared, had never existed. He felt the same sense of being under-appreciated at first but then realised that, to everyone else Stuart had been at school the day before and the one before that. There was nothing special about him being there.

All morning he was accepted as one of the guys and he looked over at Katie and her group of friends, wondering what they were talking about. He kept an eye open for Danny and saw him once in the distance but he all but ignored Stuart.

During a Social Studies class he just sat and looked at Steve Ellis, thinking of diabolical ways to make him ache and scream in pain, but when he went to make a move towards him after the lesson Katie just managed to grab him and keep him in one place.

"Don't be stupid Stuart. What's the point in getting suspended for beating him up? The jerk wouldn't even know why you were doing it."

"I'd know." Stuart fumed as Ellis walked away, blissfully unaware.

-oOOo-

At lunch, without thinking, he headed for the girl's bathroom for the usual start of lunch bitch session with the girls. "Hey," Rabbit shouted. "Where you headed Bingles?"

Stuart was a little shocked to hear his nickname. "Huh? Ah, just going to grab something to eat."

"Cool. You coming down the oval for a kick of the football?"

"Yeah." Stuart said wondering why that used to sound like such a good idea.

He quite liked the strength he had as he mixed it in the rough and tumble with the guys but kicking a ball was a pretty damn stupid way to spend your lunchtime.

Boring until Davey mentioned the battle of the bands, or more specifically that their band was playing two of their new songs there. Two new songs Stuart had absolutely no knowledge of. This gender change time warp was not being nice to him.

-oOOo-

The same sense of surrealism followed him that afternoon as he sat with Katie in the Copper Kettle. It was so weird being a customer there when only a couple of weeks ago he had been one of the waitresses in the same little black skirts. What was stranger was the fact that he had intimate knowledge of the people who worked there and they knew squat about him.

"Hi," Jenna smiled and for a brief second Stuart thought she saw through the new faade and that she knew her friend Amy was there. "What can I get you people?" She asked flicking open her pad.

"Ah, two cokes please." Stuart said.

"Two cokes, no problems. Anything to eat?"

"You hungry?"

Katie nodded.

"A plate of wedges thanks Jenna."

The girl gave him a strange look but shook it off and scuttled away to get the order.

"You okay?" Katie asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Bloody hell, K.J. I feel like I am the ghost. I used to take my breaks with her. I even borrowed a pad from her one time when I was caught short. She wouldn't know me from a bar of soap now."

"Go and ask her for another pad and she might remember," Katie grinned. "It worked with me."

"Very funny." Stuart grumbled as a glint came across his eyes.

"Oh oh, I know that look. What are you planning Stu?"

"Moi?" He said in mock innocence. "Absolutely nothing." He paused for a second. "What would you say if I told you I can get a free feed here?"

"After what you told me about the boss? Not a chance."

"I bet you twenty bucks that neither of us will have to pay for the meal."

"You're on Stuart."

The two talked about the day at school and how freaky it had all been for Stuart and to some extent Katie who had to watch what she said as well. "Two cokes and a plate of wedges." Jenna said as she placed the down on the table.

Stuart looked at her intently. "That's impulse ice you're wearing right?"

Katie buried her face in her hands as Jenna flashed the boy a small but wary smile. "Ah ha." She said.

"I thought so, I have always loved that smell. Listen, you may be able to settle an argument between my friend and I."

Jenna looked around the cafŽ, which wasn't all that busy. "Sure. I guess."

Stuart noted that Sammy wasn't around. "Well, I say that a person can see things in other peoples eyes just by looking at them enough and she says I am full of sh...well, that I am not being totally truthful. What do you think?"

Jenna looked down at Stuart and shook her head. "I think your friend is right." She said finally.

"I bet you the price of the drinks and potato wedges that I am telling the truth." Stuart said with a completely straight face.

Jenna checked the cafŽ again to make sure Sam was still out the back. "Okay." She said, a little intrigued and more than a little interested in this cute guy.

Stuart looked deeply into her eyes. "You're a Leo right?"

"You tell me."

"Yes, you're a Leo. I'd say your birthday was the eleventh, no...the twelfth of August. You come from a small family, one...one brother." Stuart continued trying to make it look like he was just finding all of this information in Jenna's eyes. "Your parents divorced when you were young and you live with your Dad."

Jenna looked from Stuart to Katie and back again. "That's incredible?" She said blushing a little. "You can see all that in my eyes."

"That and more." Stuart boasted. "They say the eyes are the window to the soul."

"I...I've got to get back to work." The girl flustered as some new customers walked in.

"You are pathetic. Do you know that?" Katie asked when Jenna was out of earshot.

"No, I just found an upside to all of this time warp shit." He smiled. "And I like it."

They ate their wedges, drank their coke and then got up to pay at the cashier. "No charge." Another girl, called Laura, who Stuart knew said. "Jenna's already paid."

Stuart took the twenty-dollar note from Katie's hand. "Thank you." He smiled.

She just grinned even more and snatched it back. "Sorry buddy. The bet was that neither of us had to pay a cent to eat here. If I give you my money then I have spent it. You lose."

"Bugger. I didn't think of it like that." Stuart said as they walked out into the mall.

"So you owe me twenty dollars, but hey, I am generous so we'll call it quits. In fact I will even chip in for your bail."

"Huh?"

"Come on Stuart, you were a girl for three months. You don't think she really bought any of that crap do you? She's probably in there ringing the cops to report a stalker as we speak."

The two walked in silence for a while. "You're cute when you're right." Stuart said. "A pain in the arse, but cute."

-oOOo-

Stuart was pacing around backstage like a caged animal. His was the last band to go on which just gave him time to look at the tough competition they faced and to worry. He had no idea how to play or sing the two songs that he had supposedly written and only one night to learn them. A night he had squandered by watching videos with Katie.

Jade walked towards him and said. "Are you all right? You look terrible, even for you."

"I am screwed Jade."

"I always thought so," she said.

"No, I mean I am screwed right now, tonight. I am about to go onstage in front of the whole school with no idea about the songs I am supposed to play."

"You had a look at them right?"

"A very brief look." Stuart said in a mild state of panic as the penultimate band started into their second song.

"So, maybe you'll remember."

"And maybe I won't" He shot back.

"Okay, how's this for a plan? If you get out there and you're a mental blank just bend right over, so you're head is almost touching the floor."

"So I look like I am in pain and I won't have to go on?"

"No," Jade smiled. "So you can kiss your arse goodbye because your mates will kill you."

Stuart watched her walk away stunned into silence.

Next it was Katie's turn to find him. "You'll be fine." She said soothingly. "Break a leg."

"Yes. That's it. If I break a leg I can still walk away without looking like a total dick... Well I can limp away."

"Stuart?"

"Yeah?" He replied as applause came from the audience.

"Shut up." The girl said as she stood on her toes and kissed him. A long, deep, passionate, tongue-probing kiss.

"...And now, give a huge Para Vista High welcome to the last band of the evening." Mr. Cox, a music teacher who was playing M.C. for the night said. He looked at a card in his hand and realised the band didn't have a name.

Stuart quickly hissed something through the curtains. Grabbed his bass guitar and plugged it into the amplifier.

"...The Mamma Chows." Cox said doing a pretty good impersonation of Kermit the Frog as he introduced the guest stars on the Muppet show.

The curtain rose and...absolutely nothing came to Stuart's mind. The polite applause from the audience that greeted their entry soon died down and he could hear shuffling in seats starting. He tried to see the faces in the crowd but the lights made his search for his mother, Jade and more importantly Danny impossible.

His mind was still swimming from the kiss, so he looked to stage left where Katie stood smiling at him. That was where the flash or inspiration, or desperation, He was never sure which it was, hit him.

"Er...Hi." He said into his microphone. "That was one minute's silence for the music that is about to die here tonight."

A small amount of laughter made it's way onstage so Stuart quickly tuned to his three mates. "Okay guys," he whispered. "Forget the songs we prepared. Start with "I honestly love you" but let's...pump it."

"We don't know it." Lano hissed back.

"It will come back to you, believe me. I'll start, you guys follow."

"I hope you know what you're playing at Denton" Davey said.

"I don't have a clue but why should tonight be any different to the last three months. A one. Two. One two three four." He shouted as he launched into the song.

"Maybe I hang around you, a little more than I should." One by one he heard drums, keyboard and lead guitar kick in and he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god for Jade.

"We both know I've got somewhere else to go." It took him the first two lines to get the pitch of his voice right because he was so used to singing it higher as Amy. Once he nailed it and got the tempo rocking he knew he was safe.

"I've got something to tell you. Something I never thought I would. Seems to me, you really ought to know." The audience was clapping along in time and the butterflies were slowly vacating his stomach. He could even hear Jade, obviously thought this was hilarious, hooting and hollering over the rest of the noise and he made a mental note to kiss her for being such a control freak if the rest of their bit went off as well.

"I love you Katie. I honestly love you." He looked at Katie who was grinning like a Cheshire Cate

The rest of the song went off without a hitch and he sang it all for Katherine Joan Francis. The strange thing was he really felt it. After fifteen years of living next door to her it took three months as a girl before he saw just what she meant to him.

He waited for the applause to die down and then turned again to three stunned guys. "What the fuck just happened?" Rabbit asked.

"Blame it on the boogie." Stuart smiled. "Okay guys we really need to rock these people. Wham's "Wake me up before you go go". Davey, you and Lano are singing back up. Lets kick it."

As their small set finished Stuart felt a jubilation he had never known before in his short but strange life. He felt even better when Katie rushed on stage and all but launched herself into his arms. "I love you too you dopey fucking idiot." She said.

They didn't win, didn't even come runner up but it didn't matter to anyone. Jade thought she was the best thing since sliced bread, the rest of The Mamma Chows wondered what the hell the name meant but considered themselves some sort of musical prodigy for playing two songs they'd never played before. Susan was happy that her son had finally seen Katie as a girl and Stuart was over the moon that Katie felt the same way about him that he did about her.

The only twinge of sadness came later in the night when he caught a glimpse of Danny as he headed out of the School's gym. Stuart wanted to go after him but the crowd was too thick and Katie's arms were too warm.

-oOOo-

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jade asked her brother the next day as she parked the car on a leafy suburban street.

"No." Stuart admitted candidly. "But it's something I have to do."

"It's your funeral." The older sibling shrugged as Stuart got out of the car.

He walked up to the front door, his heart pounding faster than it had the night before. "There's nothing to it." He told himself. "You've got a story worked out, just stick to it, make sure he's okay and then leave. Nothing to it at all."

He knocked on the door and waited.

"G'day Stuart."

Stuart jumped in surprise; he had been running over his story one last time. "G'day... Simmo."

"Come on in."

Stuart entered the familiar home and was shown into the lounge room where he and Danny had done so much rehearsing for Romeo and Juliet. He wasn't sure if he should start his spiel or even if it was even needed. He didn't realise until then, that he had no idea how well Stuart and Danny had gotten on for the past three months while he was in some strange parallel universe. They could have been best of friends or they could have barely said two words to each other.

"So," Stuart started. "How are you?"

"Well, it's been a weird week for me."

"I bet it can't beat mine."

"Well how about I tell you about it and you can judge for yourself." Danny said. "Do you want a drink?"

"No thanks, I am okay."

"Okay. Well you know how when things are going fine something will always come along to stuff things up?" Danny said evenly. "This week was like that. Monday was no problem, Tuesday was fine but bugger me if my girlfriend didn't turn into a guy on Wednesday and totally fuck things up. Now she's walking around school and everyone is calling her Stuart."

Stuart was dumbfounded, he just sat there with his mouth opening and closing but not a sound escaped his throat.

"So you tell me Amy, was your week any stranger than that? Oh I forgot, you suddenly grew a penis didn't you?"

"How...?"

"I saw it Amy, or is it Stuart now? I saw the whole thing." Danny spat. "I was walking down the road on Wednesday when I saw you and Katie, nice little love fest last night by the way, head down that alley so I ran to catch up to you. I came around that bend just as you two stopped and I saw the whole magical, hocus-pocus little thing."

"I... I don't know what to say." Stuart said as he did mental gymnastics trying to work out the huge hole in Mamma Chow's magic. Then it hit him. Danny was new to school so when he saw the transformation back into Stuart he only ever remembered Amy.

"There's an explanation for this? Oh I have to hear this, go on."

Stuart picked his words carefully as he laid the whole story out for an obviously hurting Danny.

"That's just great," Danny said. "Just fucking great. Now I find out my girlfriend didn't turn into a guy but that I was in love with a guy from the start."

"If it's any consolation I fell in love with a guy too." Stuart told him and he looked down at the shag pile carpet.

"Last night was a strange way of showing it. Or maybe Katie is really a guy too. How many more of you are there?"

"Screw you Simpson." Stuart said as he stood up. "You act like you're the only injured party here. Try spending three months as a girl and then fall for the girl next door and a really nice guy too. You have no fucking idea how torn I was. Shit, I even stood before that old Chinese woman and I couldn't tell her if I wanted to be Stuart again or not. Do you know why? Because of you, you turd, because of the way I felt...feel about you." Stuart headed for the door.

"Sit down Amy." Danny said softly as he reached the door. "Please sit down."

Stuart was so close to leaving but there was something in the other guy's voice that made him stop. "What's the point?"

"The point is that I am not going to leave school and neither are you. We need to get this sorted and...and I don't want to leave things as they are."

Stuart closed the door and returned to the sofa. "I'm listening."

"Okay. If I hadn't seen what I saw in that alley I'd be kicking you out of here faster than you'd believe."

"That's just it Danny. If you hadn't seen what happened in the alley then you wouldn't remember Amy."

"Well thank god I saw it then," Danny said firmly. "That is one girl I don't want to forget." He stopped talking and looked at Stuart for a minute or two as a pregnant pause developed between the two. "Couldn't you... I mean when we were getting close... Why couldn't you? Wasn't there anyway you could have stopped it?"

"Come on Danny. It wasn't my fault we got stuck together doing Romeo and Juliet. Remember here that until I went to Hong Kong I had no idea if I'd ever be a guy again. If I was going to be stuck as a girl then there were worse ways I could have spent my time and looking back at it, there were far worse guys around to have as a boyfriend. You only have to look at Steve Ellis to know that."

Danny's mind flashed back to the scene he discovered at the party at his house on the night of the play and he looked at it for a second through Amy's eyes and then through Stuart's.

Stuart continued. "So yes, I could have dumped you leaving both of us miserable and I might have still regretted it when I was an old lady in a nursing home. I tried to pull away after Hong Kong but...Well it didn't quite work out. I had no way of controlling my feelings and believe me I tried. I tried for weeks to keep you away from me as anything other than a friend. Do you remember the other night on the couch?"

Danny blushed as the memory flooded his mind. "Yeah."

"I never would have gone any further than that, and believe me, at the time I wanted to, in case I was ever a guy again. I wouldn't be able to look at you if we did it."

Danny was silent for a while. Then, out of nowhere, he started laughing. Quietly at first but before long he was laughing so hard he held his sides and smacked his knees. "Oh Jesus..." He managed to get out between fits of laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Most guys have girlfriends who are happy with "Not tonight, I have a headache". Trust me to have the only relationship in the world where the girl says, "Not tonight, I might grow a dick". Am I unlucky or what?"

Stuart shook his head and looked at the other guy strangely, then, he saw his point and he too started laughing.

"Friends?" Danny said after his laughter slowly died down. He thrust his hand out for Stuart to take.

"Friends." Stuart replied shaking Danny's hands. Out of nowhere the two boys hugged, as if they were saying goodbye to an old friend and in a way, that's exactly what they both were doing.

Danny suddenly realised what they were doing, he broke the embrace and took a step backwards. "Good," he said smiling uncomfortably. "Now let us never speak of this again."

-oOOo-

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet; Stuart had taken the week off from football, what's one more game? And on Sunday afternoon Stuart, Katie and Danny even spent some time together at Stuart's house. It was a little uncomfortable at first but soon enough the three of them were laughing and joking like old friends. Stuart was a little careful how much emotion he showed towards Katie for fear of upsetting Danny but Danny seemed to be okay with the new arrangement. If he couldn't have Amy then at least he knew that she was somewhere inside of Stuart and that she was happy.

Some time after the pizza was delivered and devoured one of them, Stuart would never remember exactly who, came up with the plan.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Stuart asked Danny early the next morning.

"Sure I'm sure. These lockers are pretty crappy, hardly in the Houdini league." Danny said as he fumbled with the lock. "Just shut up Denton and keep an eye out for anyone, you too Katie."

"Yes sir." Katie saluted with a deliciously anxious smile on her lips.

It took a few minutes more of fumbling with the lock but the door was eventually opened, the present left and the three of them hid in a class down the hall and waited for the guest of honour to arrive at this party.

Ten minutes ticked by, then fifteen, then half an hour and there was no sign of the victim. Somewhere a bell rang, announcing it was time for homeroom and the three of them looked at their watches. "Shit." Danny said. "I thought it was too easy."

They were about to emerge from the room when Stuart saw who they were looking for. "Hold the phone," he hissed.

Steven Ellis wandered up the hall in no particular hurry to get to class. He stopped at his locker and quickly spun up the combination. Grabbing a handful of thick textbooks that he never read he put some in the locker and pulled a new batch out. He was about to close the locker when he spotted something. "What the...?" He said as he grabbed the object.

"Battle stations." Katie grinned.

Steve shook the little cardboard box and read the card. He didn't know whose handwriting it was but it was definitely feminine. The card gave no other clues than "From a secret admirer xxx ooo." He held the box up to the light as three unseen figures emerged from a classroom up the hall. Slowly he undid the ribbon and then looked inside. For some reason he thought about those Russian dolls inside each other that got smaller and smaller because inside the cardboard box was a decorative green stone box. He pulled the new box out and looked around at the stragglers heading to homeroom trying to work out where it might have come from. There were no girls standing around on their own so he couldn't tell who might have left it for him.

Shrugging he opened the Box and a strange feeling that seemed to start at his feet and spread over his whole body. Just as that stopped someone crashed into him from behind. Steve crashed down heavily on the ground wondering what freight train had hit him. He was a big guy so it took a pretty big collision to make him fall so bad.

"Sorry." Danny said as he kept walking.

Stuart moved quickly and grabbed the Jade Box as it tumbled from Ellis' hand, in a blink of an eye the box was stashed safely away in his backpack

Katie stopped and offered Steve a hand. "Guys," She said rolling her eyes at the new girl. "They're so immature." Katie was going to enjoy the day ahead, that was for sure.

-oOOo-

"Stuart." Jim said, a little surprised as he opened up the door of his mothers house and found his son on the doorstep. "Ah... Come in."

The boy followed his father into the house. "Great," he said looking at the TV where a cricket match was on. "Who's winning?"

"The Bushrangers are beating the Bulls." Jim said unsure why his son was there. "I guess you want your grandmother?"

"Not really." The boy shrugged. "I sort of bought a present around for little Julia."

"You did?" Jim asked, surprise evident on his face. The kid had shown little more than unrestrained resentment since he found out his step mother was pregnant, refused to be at the hospital during the birth and made his thoughts pretty clear the last time the two Denton men had been together.

"Ah ha." Stuart smiled. "Can I see her?"

"Yeah...sure." Jim stuttered. "I'll just check if she's finished sleeping."

Francesca and his grandmother walked in with some shopping as Jim came out of the makeshift nursery with the little girl. "Hi Gran." Stuart smiled. "G'day Fran, I am glad you are here too. I just popped around with a present for the baby."

Francesca gave her husband a look, which clearly said "Where the hell did this come from?" and "Make sure you check the present isn't ticking" at the same time. Jim just returned a small shrug.

"Well," Stuart continued. "It's only small but I want her to have it." He passed the wrapped parcel to Francesca who put down the shopping and slowly began to unwrap it.

"That's very...nice of you Stuart." The new mother said as she pulled the last of the tape away and pulled a Teddy Bear out of the wrapping. A Teddy Bear with a weather beaten exterior.

"That's What's His Name." Marjorie Denton said upon seeing the bear.

"English," Jim said in amazement. "You're giving English to Julia?"

Stuart looked at the old bear one last time. He had had that bear for as long as he could remember. An elderly Aunt bought it for him on a trip to the U.K. hence the name and when he was little English was his security blanket. The two were never apart. "Yeah well," the boy shrugged. "Us Dentons have to stick together."

It was a small gift but it meant a lot to Stuart and looking at his dad he could tell it had the desired affect. "Do you want to hold her?" Jim asked.

"Yeah," Stuart grinned. "I'd really like that." His dad passed a barely awake baby to him and Stuart made sure he supported her neck, a fact alone that amazed Jim. Looking down at her Stuart could see how much she had changed in just the past few days. If anything her hair was darker and more abundant and she didn't have that "Put me back in" look about her that she had the first time he saw her. "She's beautiful Dad."

"Both of the Denton girls are." Jim said proudly.

"Ah ha." Stuart mumbled, "all three of them." He cleared his throat. "So, when do you head back to Perth?"

"Tomorrow." Francesca told him. "Julia and I have had the green light from the doctor now so we fly off tomorrow afternoon."

"Hey dad, I was wondering if I could come over and spend a week or two during the holidays."

Jim did a double take. Was this the same kid? "Sure," he said. "We'd be happy to have you Stu."

"I don't suppose I can bring a friend? You don't know him, his name is Danny Simpson and he's a great guy."

Jim looked at Francesca who just shrugged, too shocked to speak. "Sure Stuart, why not?"

"Great. I have to come and make sure my little sister is doing okay and that English is looking after her." He looked at he watch. "Well, I have to go, I am meeting Katie at the Mall so she can tell me about her day." He kissed his grandmother on the cheek. "See you soon Gran."

"I'll believe that when I see it." Marj grumbled.

Stuart gave Fran a quick peck on the cheek too. "Have a safe trip home." The he walked over to his dad, whose hand was already outstretched, waiting for his son to shake it. Stuart ignored it altogether and he gave his dad a hug.

Jim didn't know what to make of it. At first he let his son hug him and then one by one he wrapped his arms around the boy too.

"I miss you dad."

"Ditto mate." Jim said hoarse with tears that were yet to fall.

Stuart dug into his pocket for a bit of paper and gave it to his dad. "It's my e-mail address." He explained. "I want weekly photos of Julia."

"You got it."

"And we can sort out the school holidays later." Stuart said. One last look was exchanged between father and son before Stuart turned and made for the door.

"Hey Stu?" Jim asked as his son was almost on the other side of the door. "Why the change of mind?"

Stuart smiled. "It wasn't so much a change of mind as it was a change of body dad."

-oOOo-

That night Lisa Ellis' period started and her mother couldn't understand all of the fuss. The girl had been menstruating since she was twelve yet here she was at fifteen shaking in fright at the sight of blood and acting like she was going to die.

The girl was already in trouble up to her neck, throwing herself at anything in trousers, her mother thought. Well this is the last straw. She made a mental note to call that girl's only boarding school in the morning and enrol Lisa in it. Maybe they could make a lady out of her.

THE END