Krissy's Number One Fan
by Pamela (
[email protected])
"What's that show you're watching?" Mrs. Davidson said to her ten year
old son Timmy. She had left the kitchen where she had been cooking to
tell Timmy to wash up and get ready for dinner; they would be eating
soon.
"It's the Krissy show!" Timmy said without looking up.
"Is she that new teen sensation that everyone's talking about?"
"Yeah mom, Krissy is just the greatest."
Timmy's mom watched as a cute girl wearing a navy blue miniskirt and
white top was braiding the mane of a horse. As she did this, under the
watchful eye of a woman dressed in western clothes, she added pink
flowers that looked like carnations. While she worked Krissy was
telling the TV audience how important it was to treat animals kindly.
After finishing her decorating Krissy waved goodbye to the woman and
the camera cut to a dozen young girls who were waving at her. Krissy
walked over and greeted them causing the girls to jump and scream with
excitement. Timmy seemed to be utterly absorbed in the scene and his
face lit up with excitement just like the girls on the show. Krissy
said, "do you girls want me to sing a song?"
Not surprisingly a chorus of high-pitched screams greeted the
suggestion and from somewhere off camera a sandy-haired surfer-type
guy, just a few years older than Krissy and holding a guitar walked up
behind her and struck a chord. Someone handed a guitar to Krissy also
and the next minute Krissy, with the accompaniment of the surfer guy,
was singing a pop tune. Mrs. Davidson watched as Timmy moved his head
in beat with the music. She laughed to herself and said, "five minutes
to dinner." Timmy swiveled his head around quickly and said, "OK." His
mom went to tell Timmy's dad to get ready for dinner.
***
That night after Timmy was asleep, Timmy's mom said to his dad, "Timmy
was watching the Krissy show this afternoon."
"Who's Krissy?"
"The latest teen sensation. I've only heard little bits about her. I
didn't even know she had a TV show."
"That's what they do nowadays. Cash in on the fad as long as it
lasts."
"She's pretty cute and I think that Timmy has a thing for her."
"His first crush?"
"Probably."
"We can't stop him from growing up."
"Ain't that the truth."
***
Timmy's parents soon discovered that watching the Krissy show was now
a ritual. As soon as Timmy came home from school, he attacked his
homework and then stopped to watch the show until dinner was served.
When his mother happened to walk past the TV she oftentimes saw Krissy
giving beauty tips, such as how to put on makeup, how to select a
shade of lipstick. There invariably were groups of screaming girls
that she was showing her tips to and one did not have to wait long
until she would break out into song. Usually with the same guitarist.
A couple of times there were guest singers who did duets with her.
A couple of weeks later Timmy's mom was once again summoning Timmy to
dinner when she caught the tail end of a segment that seemed to be
concerned with tips for buying trainer bras. When the show cut to a
commercial break, Timmy's mom saw that the first ad was for Playtex
bras for young girls. She stopped to watch the ad, curious to see what
Timmy did. He seemed to be as interested in the ad as he was with the
show. A second commercial was for shampoo, in fact, Krissy shampoo
that was specially formulated for pre-teen girls.
Timmy's mom said, "Timmy?"
"What mom," he turned around.
"Are you interested in the commercials?"
"They're OK I guess. I think that Krissy must make the best shampoo
ever."
"Girl's shampoo?"
"Yeah, girls must really like her shampoo. I think all the girls in my
class have some. Can you buy me some next time you go shopping?"
"Krissy shampoo?"
"Yeah mom. That would be so cool."
***
That night after Timmy was in bed, his mom did some poking around on
the internet and discovered that Krissy was a mega-phenomenon. She was
all the craze among pre-adolescent girls who flocked to her concerts
and adored her fashion trends and consumed whatever gossip was printed
about her personal life. Her TV show had been on for just about a
month and was at the top of the ratings. Try as she did, Timmy's
mother could not find out much information about what young boys
thought about Krissy.
She said to her husband, "I've been wondering about Timmy's
fascination with Krissy. She's become the idol of ten million young
girls but I don't get the impression that boys Timmy's age thing very
much of her. I think they regard her as too "yucky" meaning too much
of a girly-girl."
"What are you implying?"
"I'm wondering if you should have a talk with Timmy. He seems to be
obsessed with Krissy, like those ten million girls are."
"It's probably just a phase."
"He asked me to buy him some Krissy shampoo today."
"Shampoo is shampoo, isn't it?"
"Maybe so, but I do think you ought to have a little man-to-man talk
with him."
"Sure, first thing tomorrow."
***
At breakfast the next morning, Timmy's dad sat across from Timmy at
the dining room table. "You're mother tells me that you like Krissy."
"She's the greatest dad," Timmy said.
"Do you feel that way because of her, or because so many other kids
like her?"
"I think she's so smart and kind besides knowing so much about how to
dress cool and how to pick out the right stuff, like shampoo or stuff
girls wear like lipstick."
"Lipstick?"
"Girls put it on their lips. Doesn't mom have some?"
"Sure, I guess so. You asked your mom to get some of her shampoo?"
"Yeah, she's got the greatest shampoo."
"Why's that?"
"Her hair is so nice. And all the girls in class have Krissy shampoo."
"OK, but how many boys use Krissy shampoo?"
"I don't know dad. None of the boys really talk much about Krissy.
Except sometimes they say mean things about her, like's she dumb or
something."
"Does that bother you?"
"A little. I think she's the greatest."
"I mean does it bother you that the boys in your class don't have the
same feelings about Krissy that you seem to."
"You mean that you think I should make fun of her?"
"No, no, no. There's never a good reason to be mean like that."
"Say dad, I was wondering if you could write me a check for $9.95. You
see, at the end of the Krissy show yesterday they said that we can
join the Krissy fan club for $9.95. You get a whole bunch of neat
things including a big poster of her and a monthly magazine. I'll pay
you back out of my allowance."
"You're sure that the Krissy fan club isn't for girls only? They
didn't say anything like that?"
"No, they didn't mention that. It would be so cool to get the poster."
"I'll talk it over with your mom."
"OK, dad."
***
That night Timmy's mom asked her husband what had come of his
conversation that morning with Timmy. His dad shook his head with mock
exasperation. "He claims he likes her because she's so smart and knows
a lot about shampoo and lipstick, not because everyone else is crazy
about her. I think he genuinely sees her as a really nice person that
he admires. I couldn't figure out any intelligent way to tell him not
to respect or admire her. In fact, he asked me if I could write him a
check so he could join the Krissy fan club and get a poster of her."
"What did you say?"
"I said I'd ask you."
"Well what do you think about it?"
"We have to either tell him that the Krissy fan club is for girls
only, or else let him join. But there's no rule against boys joining."
"Well the whole thing is kind of silly, but it's hard to see the harm
that could come from it. I think we should just let the whole thing
work its way through his system until his interests change."
"Good idea."
***
Timmy joined the Krissy fan club and when the Krissy poster came,
Timmy was ecstatic and proudly showed it to his mom. "My how cute,"
his mom said as she regarded the large portrait of Krissy wearing a
pink bikini, with the word "Krissy" embroidered on the bikini part in
yellow script, and sitting on a surf board resting in the sand.
Krissy's figure was that of a young girl with small breasts and small
but cute derriere. She was smiling directly at the camera with large
blue eyes. Timmy's mom judged it to be quite tame - not overtly sexual
in an inappropriate way for the age group.
"Can I put it on my wall?" Timmy asked his mom.
His mother laughed and said, "sure, I guess it's harmless enough."
"Can I get a Krissy bathing suit?" Timmy asked.
"Bathing suit? What do you mean?"
"See her neat bathing suit," Timmy said.
"It's a girl's bathing suit, haven't you noticed?" his mom said
bewildered.
"But it's Krissy's!"
The logic of this escaped his mother's understanding and she didn't
know how to begin to explain the obvious to her son. She said, "well
no. You cannot have a girl's bathing suit even if it's a Krissy."
"Okay, mom."
Timmy's tone changed to one of disappointment and his mom said "but I
can get you some Krissy shampoo. I saw they're selling it now at the
pharmacy."
Timmy's face brightened and he said, "thanks mom! I guess I'll put the
poster up now."
***
"Your son has a Krissy poster up in his room now," Timmy's mom said to
his dad later that night.
"Is she hot?"
"I wish. I think she's cute. She's appealing to the strictly pre-
adolescent girl population. She's wearing a cute little Krissy bikini
that I gather you can buy. Your son asked me to buy him one."
"Go on!"
"I reminded him that it's a girls' bathing suit, but he doesn't look
at it that way. To him it's a Krissy. That's all that matters."
"How bizarre. What a fixation he has on that girl. I hope you said
'no.'"
"Indeed I did. He seemed to take it all right, but I told him I'd get
him some Krissy shampoo."
"Shampoo is shampoo."
***
The next morning Timmy was delighted to wake up looking at the large
picture of Krissy starring at him. He felt that she was looking at
him, just him. By some miracle out of all the kids who were crazy
about Krissy, Krissy had decided that she wanted to be friends with
Timmy. It was because Krissy knew that Timmy understood how
intelligent, kind and beautiful she was. She knew that he felt that if
he could be her, then he could be as intelligent, kind and beautiful
as she was.
Watching the Krissy TV show had given Timmy many clues as to how he
could be like Krissy. She walked a certain way with a bouncy step and
he had practiced walking like that himself. When Krissy sat down she
held out her left hand in a graceful gesture with her index finger
pointing up and he had learned how to do that also. Over time he had
gotten familiar with the full line of Krissy brand products and he had
come to the conclusion that it was just tremendously neat that they
covered just about everything: clothes, shoes, makeup, toiletries,
luggage, sporting equipment and so much more. If he could, Timmy would
make sure that everything he owned would be Krissy. The start of his
collection would be the Krissy shampoo. He looked up at the poster and
focused on her Krissy bathing suit. It was a very nice shade of pink
and the embroidered letters saying "Krissy" were really cool. How he
would love to get a Krissy bathing suit.
***
A week later the first volume of the Krissy magazine came. Timmy's mom
found it in the mail when she collected it from the mail box. As she
walked back to the house she flipped through it. There were a million
cosmetic ads, ads for Tampax and Kotex. There were fashion articles
about skirts and getting your first heels. One column caught her eye:
twelve things you need to do before you kiss a boy. Several articles
were about Krissy - about her new album, about her concert tours,
about her fans. Her fans seemed to be a vast number of pre-adolescent
girls. And obviously add to that Timmy Davidson. Perhaps the time had
come for Timmy and his parents to have a big pow-wow about Krissy.
***
That night after dinner Timmy's mom said, "have you looked at the
Krissy magazine that came today?"
"Yeah, it's so neat."
His parents looked at each other and his mom said, "Neat? It's a
magazine for girls. What do you find neat about it?"
"It's got a lot about how Krissy is recording a new album and also I
read about where she's been traveling and giving concerts."
"It doesn't bother you that there are articles about girl things and
none about boys? For example, I saw that there's an article about
skirts: different styles this year, where to buy them and so forth.
Are you interested in that?"
"I guess girls want to know about skirts, but I like finding out about
Krissy."
Somewhat exasperated Timmy's dad said, "but look Timmy. Boys usually
feel sort of embarrassed to read girls' magazines."
"Why dad? I don't think Krissy has anything in her magazine that would
embarrass boys."
"Like the ads for Kotex? And lipstick?"
"I don't really know what Kotex are dad, and I don't know what's bad
about lipstick. I thought mommy has lipstick in her purse and she puts
it on."
"But just girls do that."
Timmy looked at his mom and dad. "Well maybe if Krissy had a special
lipstick then maybe I'd want to get that."
Timmy's dad shook his head vigorously as if he had water in his ear
and said, "well this has been interesting. I guess you better run
along and finish your homework."
"OK, dad."
***
A few days later at school, Timmy was talking to Debbie and Ellen, two
of the girls in his class. "Did you hear that Krissy is coming to town
to give a concert?" Ellen said.
Debbie and Timmy excitedly said, "when?"
"Next month. They just announced it on the show yesterday."
"I didn't see it," Timmy said.
"It was at the very end, I'll bet they repeat it today."
"My mom called me to dinner before the show was over. Thank goodness
you saw that, I've just got to go see her!"
"Me too," Debbie said. "Let's go together. We'll ask our moms tonight
and tomorrow we can plan and get tickets."
"Great!" Timmy said, "it'll be so much fun."
"Totally awesome," Ellen said.
***
That afternoon Timmy made a point of watching the Krissy show until
the very end and sure enough there was a brief commercial announcing
that the Krissy concert tour had added his town as one of the stops.
Timmy wrote down the date and went to the kitchen where his mom was
cooking dinner.
"Mom, Krissy's coming to town to give a concert on April 10th. Can I
go with Ellen and Debbie?"
"Wait a minute Timmy. A Krissy concert? Here? Are you sure?"
"Ellen said she saw the ad on television and I just saw it again
tonight."
"This Krissy thing of yours is starting to get out of hand."
"What do you mean?"
"Well every day it's Krissy this and Krissy that. It seems like she's
the only thing you care about."
Timmy looked distraught and his mom immediately regretted her caustic
comment. "I'm sorry Timmy, I didn't mean to imply that you were
misbehaving. I know your teachers tell me what a perfect student you
are. It's just that your father and I are still having a problem with
you caring so much about a girl in this way."
"I don't understand mom. You're a girl and I care about you."
"Yes, yes of course. But it's been hard for your father and me to
explain to you that boys and girls do not share all things equally.
Some things are boy things and some things are girl things. What would
you think if Ellen or Debbie were crazy about some young boy singer
and got his fan magazine and watched his TV show?"
"But Ellen is a big fan of Teddy Tiger. He's a boy singer and she gets
his fan magazine. But she likes Krissy even more than Teddy."
"From what I know you'll be the only boy at the concert."
"It would be so neat to see Krissy in person. I think it'll be the
greatest thing to ever happen to me. I'll do anything if you let me go
to the concert."
"Well, I'll have to check with your dad. In the meantime could you get
Ellen or Debbie's mom to call me. I'd like to ask them about it."
"Sure mom!" Timmy said.
***
Later that evening Timmy's mom was telling Ellen's mom, "Timmy asked
me if he could to the Krissy concert with Ellen and Debbie and I
wanted to hear what your take is on this."
"I think Krissy is pretty harmless, in fact, she's been marketed as
being quite wholesome, so I think it could be fine for the kids to go.
Of course, I think that at least one of us mom's should go if not all
of us and I'm happy to go."
"I'm happy to go also, but let me be a bit more direct. Talking about
marketing, it seems that Krissy mainly appeals to pre-adolescent
girls. Am I wrong about that?"
"No, not at all. I've been bracing myself for listening to a thousand
girls screaming together when Krissy comes out on stage. It's supposed
to be unbelievably shrill," Ellen's mom laughed.
"But don't you think it a bit odd to have Timmy there?"
"I see your point. Well, from everything I hear from Ellen and Debbie,
Timmy is as much a Krissy fan as they are. The three of them talk
incessantly about her, about every little move she makes. So I'm not
the least bit surprised he wants to go to the concert."
It was clear to Timmy's mom that if Ellen's mom thought that something
was odd about Timmy wanting to go to the Krissy concert, she wasn't
going to tell her. On the other hand, maybe she and Timmy's dad were
over-reacting. Timmy was after all not even in puberty and there was
obviously a great deal of innocence about him.
"OK, fine. Then I guess you can count Timmy and me in. We just have to
find out about Debbie's mom."
"Great. I'm sure us mom's will get a great kick out of the
pandemonium."
"And I'll bring ear plugs!"
***
Timmy was ecstatic when his mom told him that he could go to the
Krissy concert. His attention was then immediately turned to what he
would wear that night. As it so happened his birthday was coming up
and traditionally his grandmother would take him shopping for his
present each year. She was getting on in years, her driving was
getting a bit off and there had been some discussion between Timmy's
mom and dad as to the wisdom of her once again taking Timmy to the
mall. When they had suggested to his grandmother that perhaps they
could make the trip a family excursion this year she had declined the
offer. As long as she could walk and drive she wanted the personal
time with her grandson to buy him a nice present that he might
otherwise not be able to get. Seeing how she was determined, they
backed off resolving to be more insistent the next year if she still
insisted on going alone with him.
By the time Saturday morning rolled around when his grand mom would
come by and pick him up in her car, Timmy had decided that he would
look for a Krissy tee shirt that he could wear to the concert. He
wasn't too sure which store might sell them but he would look and
hopefully find one. When he and his grand mom got to the mall, she
made a bee line to the coffee place ordered a latte with an extra shot
and said, "honey, I'm getting a little old to trudge around through so
many stores. So why don't you take a look and come back to me here
when you find something you like and I'll go with you and pay for it.
How's that? You won't get lost will you?"
"No, grandma, that sounds super!"
Timmy headed out to look for a store selling Krissy shirts. There were
two department stores anchoring the mall and he thought he would start
in one of them and then work his way toward the other. He entered the
closest of the department stores and looked around. Where he was there
were cosmetics, hand bags and women's coats. He saw a woman with a
badge and decided he better ask her if they had a Krissy section. The
woman said that indeed they did have Krissy fashions: it was on the
second floor in the girls department. Timmy thanked her and took the
escalator up. It occurred to him that the fact that the Krissy clothes
were in the girls section must be what his mom was trying to tell him
the other day: since Krissy was a girl it made sense to have Krissy
clothes in the girl's section.
Several girls with their mom's were shopping at the Krissy display.
The first thing Timmy saw was the bathing suit that Krissy was wearing
in the poster. Unfortunately, his mom had told him he couldn't have
one. The bikinis looked even nicer first hand than they did on the
poster. He picked up one and looked at the word Krissy embroidered on
the bikini front. It was totally cool. Nearby were Krissy tee shirts
that had a large picture of her across the chest with her name written
below in script. They came in pink and light blue. It was clear to
Timmy that he would definitely get one of them.
He went back to his grandma who said, "that didn't take long. Did you
find something nice?"
"Yes grandma. I found a Krissy shirt that I'd love to have. I think it
costs $19.95."
"Krissy shirt? Is that some sort of style?"
"No Krissy is my favorite singer. It's got a picture of her on the
front."
"Really? A picture of a girl on the front? Well I don't know why but
if that's what you want, then go get it. Do you know what size to
buy?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm a medium."
"Good, let me give you some money. Here's 30 dollars, maybe there's
some other Krissy thing you want to buy."
"Great, thanks grandma!"
Timmy took the money and ran back to the Krissy display. He selected a
medium blue Krissy tee shirt and saw that it was actually on sale that
day for $17.95. That left him with about ten more dollars to spend. He
looked over the rest of the Krissy display. The bathing suit was way
too expensive besides the fact his mom said he couldn't have one. He
saw that there were some Krissy shorts but they were also too much
money. On the far side of the display he saw packages of Krissy
panties that were $9.95. Each package had a white, a blue and a pink
panty. A mannequin nearby was wearing white Krissy panties with the
word Krissy written across them in red letters on the side. Timmy held
up a package marked medium and decided that they were totally cool. He
could wear them as underwear to the concert along with his tee shirt.
That way he'd be as good a fan as anyone else. He brought the panties
and shirt to the counter and bought them and headed back to his
grandma.
"Boy are you fast today," Timmy's grandma said.
"I knew exactly what I wanted. I can't thank you enough grandma. I got
the shirt and it's so neat and I used the extra money to get Krissy
underwear."
"Underwear? Let me see."
Timmy took the tee shirt and panties out of the bag and showed them to
his grandma. "The shirt is a pretty shade of blue," she said, "and is
this Krissy on the front?"
"Yes, grandma and these are the underwear. They've got Krissy's
signature on them," Timmy said showing the package to his grandma.
"I can see that Timmy. But aren't they just for girls?"
"I don't know grandma. I'm going to the Krissy concert in a couple of
weeks and I want to wear the tee shirt and I can wear the underwear
also. My friends are going to have lots of Krissy stuff."
Timmy's grandma shook her head and said, "it's a whole new world out
there. When I was a girl we didn't go to concerts and we didn't buy
clothes with anyone's name on them."
"I guess things are different now," Timmy said.
***
When Timmy and his grandma returned home, Timmy's mom asked, "so what
did grandma buy you for your birthday?"
"A Krissy shirt and some underwear!"
"That's all he wanted was a shirt and some underwear," Timmy's grandma
said.
"Yeah, but they're Krissy's!" Timmy said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot, they're all Krissy," Timmy's grandma said.
"Everything today must be Krissy!"
The expression on Timmy's mom's face turned sour. "You're telling me
that you bought him Krissy underwear? Krissy underwear?"
Timmy's mom opened the package and pulled out the panties. "Krissy
panties?"
Timmy's grandma looked at her and shrugged. "Kids nowadays have
different ideas than us."
"They're so cool, their Krissy's," Timmy said.
***
Later that night, Timmy's mom and dad were in bed. "So here's the
newsflash. Your mother bought Timmy Krissy panties for his birthday."
"What?"
"She was getting him a Krissy tee shirt and it turned out he had some
extra money, anyway, he ended up buying Krissy underwear. To him
they're magical because they're Krissy's, but to everyone else they're
girl's panties."
"So what did you do?"
"Well I couldn't grab them away from him in front of your mother, I
think she's confused about the whole thing and maybe thinks that the
underwear is unisex."
"So where do we stand now?"
"Panties are panties?"
Timmy's dad laughed. "Is our son turning into a little girl in front
of our eyes?"
"One has to wonder. Anyway, if you want to take away his Krissy
panties go ahead, but you're going to have to also explain why you did
it to your mother."
Timmy's dad thought it over a bit and said, "let's let sleeping dogs
lie, but if he comes home with a Krissy skirt or bra or something,
then I'll freak out for sure."
***
In the wash the next week Timmy's mom saw a pair of white Krissy
panties. When Timmy came home from school she said to him, "you're
wearing the Krissy panties?"
"Yes mom,".
"And?"
"And what mom?"
"Are they comfortable? Do they feel like your other underpants?"
"I like them a lot. I think they're softer and more comfortable. I
also like knowing that they're Krissy's."
Timmy's mom smiled and said, "OK, whatever."
"I'm going to do my homework now, Krissy's going to have a great show
today!"
His mom wanted to ask him what made a show "great" but decided that it
was probably better not to ask since the answer might give her a good
case of indigestion.
***
When the next issue of the Krissy magazine came, Timmy was thrilled to
see that an essay contest had been announced looking for the fan club
member who could supply the best answer to the question: "why are you
Krissy's number one fan?" The grand prize would be an all expenses
paid trip to Hollywood and five days living as a guest in Krissy's
mansion. Besides a chance to see Krissy on a day to day basis, the
winner would participate in the filming of her TV show and travel with
her to a rock concert and be introduced on stage as the Krissy essay
contest winner. A five dollar entry fee was charged with the money to
be donated to the charitable Krissy Foundation. Preliminary screening
of the essays would be performed by a battery of high school English
teachers with the top 100 essays sent to Krissy herself to pick the
winner. In case of ties, the winner would be picked by a random
drawing of the finalists. The first line of the essay, which had to be
no more than 200 words, had to be "I am Krissy's number one fan
because ..."
Timmy was so overwhelmed by the idea that there was a possibility that
he could meet Krissy that he had to reread the contest announcement to
convince himself it was actually true. He even read the fine print at
the bottom of the page that said employees of various companies
involved with Krissy and the contest were ineligible to participate.
Timmy went to his mom and asked her if his dad worked at any of these
companies.
"Why no, he has nothing to do with them. Why do you ask?"
"Because there's a Krissy essay contest that I want to enter and you
can't if your dad works at one of these places."
"What do you have to write about?"
"About why I'm Krissy's number one fan."
His mother was about to say how ridiculous the topic was but decided
against it. There was no point in making fun of Timmy. "Are you
planning to enter?"
"If you let me. Can I?"
"Sure, there's no harm in that, as long as you promise me that you
won't be upset if you don't win."
"I'll be very disappointed if I don't win, but on the other hand I'll
be very happy for the winner."
"That's a very nice attitude to take. What is the prize if you win?"
"Five days with Krissy at her Hollywood home."
"Wow, that sounds like an incredible prize."
"I know mom. I'm going to write the best essay I can."
***
It didn't take Timmy long to write his essay and send it off:
Dear Krissy,
"I am Krissy's number one fan because all of Krissy's fans are her
number one fan. No one fan is more of a fan than another. We all love
her, we all admire her, we all want to do the fun things she does, we
all want to help others like she does and we all want to spend time
with her. All of her fans have the same problem in that while we know
about her we don't know her the way a friend knows about another
friend. That could happen if I had the chance to spend a week with
Krissy so I could become her friend and as her friend I would learn so
much more about how smart and nice she is and I could then share this
with all of her other fans. I am sure that Krissy would love to have
her fans know her better and I would try as hard as I could to make
that happen.
Love,
Timmy Davidson
***
At the Krissy concert, the moment Krissy came out on stage, Timmy,
Ellen and Debbie jumped up with hundreds of pre-adolescent girls and
ran screaming down the aisles toward the stage. Their mom's sat in
their seats watching the phenomenon with disbelief. No mother in the
hall was more blown out by the experience than Timmy's mom, as she
watched the only boy in the place join in with the girls as if he were
one of them. It was terribly disorienting since she had no
recollection of him ever acting at home other than the young boy he
was. It had been bad enough when she had first seen Timmy in his
powder blue Krissy shirt with a large doe-eyed picture of Krissy on
the front. Virtually every girl in the theater had a Krissy shirt,
about half divided between pink and blue and she had to admit to
herself that she was lucky he had chosen the blue shirt. She hoped it
meant something, but she doubted it. The only lucky thing thus far was
that Timmy's dad hadn't been home to see him when they departed.
"He's the only boy here," Timmy's mom said to the others.
Ellen and Debbie's moms tried to look as sympathetic as they could
about her plight. They would have liked to say "girls will be girls,"
at least as far as their own daughters being hysterical Krissy fans
was concerned, but that wouldn't be much comfort for Timmy's mom.
***
Not quite two hours later the concert was over and the three excited
kids headed home with their moms. They were so hoarse from screaming
that they could barely talk. Still, they compared notes together all
the way home. It was agreed that Krissy was even prettier live than in
pictures or on TV. Also she was smarter, funnier, wittier, cooler,
neater, sweeter and even more worthy of complete and total admiration
than before. The three moms in the car rolled their eyeballs in unison
listening to this conversation.
***
Over 800,000 essays were duly entered in the Krissy essay contest.
Half of these did not start with the required sentence and were
rejected. Half of the remainder were essentially illegible or so
obviously poor they were never read. One half of the remainder were
considered so poor they were immediately rejected. The 100,000
surviving essays were given 500 each to two hundred high school
teachers who were paid fifty cents each to read the essays and select
the five best of their group. This left 1000 essays that were
forwarded to Krissy's management agency. Five outside consultants were
hired who each read the 1000 essays selecting the top twenty. 70
essays made the list of at least one consultant and these were
forwarded to Krissy and her inner circle. An accompanying note
mentioned the fact that one of the essays was written by a boy.
After some discussion among Krissy's agent and marketing people it was
decided that declaring a boy the winner added a dimensionality to the
contest that they had not previously anticipated. Raising the interest
of boys in Krissy could double sales of her albums. Making it cool for
guys to be Krissy fans could be huge. Besides, all the girls except
one was going to lose anyway, so this way the fan base wouldn't be as
jealous of the lucky winner.
***
It was late June with one day left at school and the phone rang during
dinner time at Timmy's house. At first his dad wasn't going to answer
but when the caller ID showed that it was from California he picked up
the phone. He spent a good five minutes frozen in place with the phone
to his ear and a look of utter astonishment on his face.
"Dear are you all right?" Timmy's mom asked him.
Timmy's dad passed the phone to Timmy and said, "I guess it's for
you."
Timmy said, "hello?"
A second later Timmy let out a piercing scream that echoed around the
house, filled it up to the rafters and sailed out into the next county
waking up the dead. "I WON, I WON, I WON, I WON," Timmy repeated it a
hundred times after he got off the phone.
***
Timmy had never been on a plane before so he had no way of knowing
just how lucky he was to fly first class. It was somewhat scary being
alone on the airplane, but the stewardesses knew that he was the
Krissy essay contest grand prize winner and they went out of their way
to be kind to him. For the great occasion Timmy was wearing his Krissy
tee shirt and unbeknownst to anyone except possibly his mom and dad,
he was wearing his Krissy panties. When his mom had helped him pack
for the trip she had insisted that he take only his white and blue
Krissy panties and definitely not his pink ones. She told him that
there was no way of knowing who in the Krissy household would have
access to his personal things and so it was best to not display a pair
of pink panties.
When Timmy disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport he was
greeted by a man holding up a sign saying "Timmy Davidson," who turned
out to be the chauffer of a long black limousine. The man carried
Timmy's suitcase to the limo and put it in the trunk and off they
zoomed through Los Angeles heading to the Hollywood Hills. The closer
they got to Krissy's mansion, the more nervous and excited Timmy
became as the absolute reality of what was about to happen overcame
him. When the limo entered through a large wrought iron gate into a
long driveway up to a large house Timmy was both shaking with anxiety
and oohing and ahhing with amazement at the grandeur of the house and
grounds. The grand spectacle of the residence was hard to take in. The
commanding view of Los Angeles in the distance was overwhelming. The
thought that he would be standing next to Krissy was both unbearable
and beyond wonderful. To even think that Krissy walked along these
paths, up these steps. That she lived in this actual building was
incomprehensible.
The car came to a stop and the chauffer opened the door for Timmy. The
thought that Krissy was standing right there waiting for him was so
filled with unreality that he found himself afraid to leave the car. A
man in a suit looked inside the limo at Timmy, smiled at him and said,
"Mr. Timmy Davidson, our grand prize winner. On behalf of Krissy and
her family I welcome you to Los Angeles and her house. Krissy is down
in the valley filming her show but she'll be back soon to greet you.
In the meantime, you should relax and make yourself at home."
The news that Krissy was not there felt the same to Timmy as a
reprieve must feel to a convict on death row and Timmy relaxed and
stepped out of the car. He felt like a tiny little dot in the
universe. Of course, Krissy would have to film her show. She would be
back soon. It made sense. She had a larger-than-life life and Timmy
was given the incredible privilege to watch how she lived it from a
front row seat. Timmy followed the man, who had introduced himself as
Mr. Malloy, into the house and to a guest bedroom. The scale of the
house was immense and Timmy felt like he was walking through a giant
museum. His bedroom was decorated with Krissy posters and a Krissy bed
spread and other Krissy memorabilia which cheered Timmy a bit. Mr.
Malloy said he was welcome to take a swim in the pool and that if he
needed anything, anything at all including food or beverage, to just
press a button that was conveniently placed on the night stand.
Timmy unpacked his things into a dresser and lay down on the bed. He
was Krissy's number one fan and it was a big responsibility to all the
other millions of fans out there. He could not let his nerves get in
the way of his mission, which was to become friends with Krissy, if
that were possible, and then spread the word about how wonderful
Krissy was to all those fans who didn't get a chance to be her friend.
Still, he was terrified at the reality of his being in her home and
the fact that in a short while he would hear her car come up the
driveway and then there would be no avoiding meeting her. A part of
himself that he had to struggle against secretly hoped that Krissy
would not come home and that he would go home without meeting her.
What could he possibly say to Krissy? As many times as he had
fantasized about standing next to her and talking to her, that now
seemed impossible. A great weight of fear settled over him and he
could barely move an arm or leg as he lay on the bed.
After two hours Timmy heard a knock on the door. He got up and opened
it and it was Mr. Malloy. "Krissy is coming up the hill now and will
be here in a couple of minutes. She's excited to meet you. There'll be
a little publicity shoot at the front door. Can I escort you
downstairs? Are you ready?"
Timmy's eyes were wide open with fear and he couldn't talk.
"Are you OK, Timmy?"
Timmy managed to nod his head slightly.
"Good. Follow me."
Timmy followed Mr. Malloy down to the front door and outside to the
front steps. A couple of men with cameras were standing by chatting to
each other. Timmy looked around to see where he might run to hide from
everybody. A minute later a long black limousine came up the driveway
and stopped in front of the house. Timmy felt a quivering in his neck
and then a feeling of light headedness as if he might faint. He
breathed in and out deeply. The car door nearest him opened and out
stepped Krissy. She had an enormous bright, sunny smile on her face.
She turned toward Timmy and Timmy felt himself overcome with
excitement and he let out an insane screech "Krissy" that luckily was
mostly caught in his throat. He was just a couple of feet away from
her. Her hair, her face, her fingers, her lips, her eyes, right there,
right in front of him. His mouth hung wide open and he couldn't close
it.
Krissy took a step toward him and said, "Timmy Davidson. So wonderful
to meet you at last. You're so cute."
Timmy starred at her with his mouth and eyes wide open and shook
violently. "Oh my God, it's Krissy!" Timmy said fixated by seeing her
humanity so close to him, seeing her boundless self-confidence, poise
and charisma.
"My number one fan," Krissy said, "welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't be
here when you arrived. Has Malloy shown you around?"
Finding his voice Timmy said, "oh no, oh yes, oh sort of. He showed me
my room. It's so great. I love the Krissy posters and the blanket and
everything."
"I'm glad," Krissy said.
To Timmy she was beyond any idea he had ever had about beauty. An inch
or two taller than himself. Radiant, exuding charisma from every pore.
"I didn't swim," Timmy said
Krissy laughed. "Cute. We'll have plenty of time to swim though
there's a lot planned. Now we need to let these guys take our
pictures."
A photographer arranged Krissy and Timmy near the door. The closer he
brought Timmy to Krissy the more Timmy's face darted around
alternating between fear and a kind of weird hysteria. "Smile Timmy,"
the photographer said, "let the other Krissy fans know how exciting
this is."
Timmy's face settled on a kind of pathological smile and the
photographer said, "let's smile a wee bit brighter my laddie!"
Krissy gave a signal to Malloy and he stepped behind the cameraman,
took 3 colored balls out of his pocket and began juggling them. Timmy
was distracted by the performance and when Malloy pretended that a
ball had come out of the photographer's ear Timmy laughed
uproariously. When he did so the cameramen took a steady stream of
pictures of Timmy and Krissy gaily laughing. A few minutes later the
shoot was over and Malloy came over, "that wasn't too hard was it?"
"You're so funny," Timmy said, "I didn't know you could do that."
"There's very little Malloy can't do," Krissy said.
Krissy and Malloy conversed for a few minutes about some scheduling
issues that Timmy didn't understand and then Mr. Malloy left.
"Let's hang out at the pool a bit until dinner, OK?"
Timmy stared at her and Krissy said, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Really?" Timmy said.
"Come, number one fan." She turned and entered the house and Timmy
tagged along behind her. As they walked through the central hall
Krissy said, "some old film baron had this place built. Now it's my
turn to own it. I'm sure that one day some other rising star will get
it."
"Oh," Timmy said. He watched Krissy as she walked and he had the
distinct sense that he was in a dream. How else to explain the fact
that he was really walking through corridors and up flights of stairs
behind Krissy?
Krissy's bedroom suite was on the second floor and Timmy didn't know
if she wanted him to follow her in the room or not and he stopped
outside the door. Krissy called to him and said, "come in."
Timmy entered the palatial bedroom suite and gazed at the enormity of
the room with high ceilings, huge windows overlooking the grounds of
the estate, a giant bed in a distant corner.
"You brought a bathing suit?" Krissy asked Timmy.
He looked at her and saw that she was asking him the question like any
person would. She was real. The moment was real. Krissy smiled and
repeated herself, "did you bring a bathing suit?"
Her smile had the effect of melting enough of his fear that he was
able to talk and he said, "yeah, but it's not a Krissy suit."
"I'm not surprised," Krissy laughed.
"I asked my mom for a Krissy suit, when I got the poster of you.
Sitting on the surf board?"
"Really?"
"She said I couldn't get one."
"It's a girls' bathing suit, isn't it?"
"I suppose, yeah, but it has your name on it."
"Like your shirt," Krissy joked.
"Yeah. Then I saw the suit selling in a store and it was so nice. My
grandma was getting me a birthday present but since my mom said I
couldn't have the bathing suit I got this tee shirt instead which I
really like."
"I've got a dozen Krissy suits, you can have one if you want."
"Really? Can I? That's so incredible!" Timmy said.
Krissy fetched a bathing suit from a closet and gave it to him. "It's
pink, or do you want the blue one?"
Timmy held it like it was a sacred relic. "I can't believe it! Your
bathing suit." He held up the bra part and then the bikini part. He
ran his fingers over the embroidered "Krissy". "So cool. Can I wear
it?"
"Wear it? Well, sure, so long as you know it's a girl's bathing suit."
"Yeah, I know it is, but it's yours!" Timmy couldn't help but think
what Debbie and Ellen would think of him holding in his hands an
actual Krissy bathing suit that Krissy had worn. Timmy hugged it to
his chest and said, "I really want to wear it."
Krissy said, "sure OK. This is LA after all. I'll get you Krissy flip
flops and a towel also." She went and retrieved pink flip flops and a
pink towel and gave them to Timmy.
"So neat," Timmy said admiring his new trophies.
"Change in your bedroom, and meet me downstairs."
***
Timmy took his clothes off and put on the bikini part of the bathing
suit. He was unfamiliar with the bra part of the suit and how to put
it on. All he could figure to do was to secure the back strap and put
it on over his head as if it were a small vest. That seemed to work
fine. The guest bedroom had a full length mirror and he looked at
himself in it. To some small extent he felt that he looked a bit like
Krissy. He had been growing his hair for a few weeks and trying to
style it the same way that Krissy did, and that helped a lot. Krissy
herself was a tad bit taller than he and he also realized that for her
she probably needed the support supplied by the bra part of the
bikini. For himself it was just part of the Krissy suit.
Timmy quietly walked downstairs and waited for Krissy at the foot of
the staircase. He shivered a bit as he stood in the spacious hall
wearing just Krissy flip flops and the bikini. The large rooms and
high ceilings and intricate decorations were foreign to his
experience. He allowed himself to delight in the feeling of wearing
Krissy's bathing suit. It made him feel closer to her than he had ever
felt before. After waiting a few minutes Mr. Malloy came up to him
holding a telephone. His face had a bemused expression as his eyes
swept over Timmy's outfit. "A phone call for you Timmy. It's your
mom."
"Thank you," Timmy said. Taking the phone he said, "hello?"
"Hello Timmy," he heard his mom's voice.
"Hi mom."
"So how is it. Tell me everything."
"I'm waiting for Krissy. We're going to go swimming. The house is very
big. She's so nice. She had to work today but then came home and they
took some pictures of us. Mr. Malloy did a juggling act that made me
laugh."
"Who's Mr. Malloy?" Timmy's mom said.
"This nice man who can do anything and helps Krissy out."
"What's it like to be with Krissy?"
"I can't believe how beautiful and special she is. I knew she would be
so great and she is." Timmy thought about telling his mom that Krissy
had given him a bathing suit and decided that he better not since his
mom didn't want him to have one.
"Have you met her parents?"
"Not yet." Timmy saw Krissy coming down the stairs and he said, "I
gotta go now. It's Krissy."
"Tell her that your father and I thank her for her hospitality."
"I will mom. Bye."
"Bye. I love you."
"Bye mom." Timmy shut off the phone.
"It was my mom. She and my dad thank you for your hospitality."
Krissy smiled and said, "the pool is out back."
Timmy followed Krissy past some maids who were busy polishing some
silver pots. They smiled politely at Krissy and Timmy without stopping
what they were doing. Krissy went through French doors that opened up
from a large Florida room to the outside. Nestled in a lavishly
landscaped setting was a large irregularly shaped pool that included a
waterfall on one end. Krissy sat down on a chaise lounge and Timmy
stood a distance away from her.
"Come, sit here," Krissy said indicating the chair next to hers. "I
want to get to know my number one fan."
Timmy cautiously sat down next to her and lay back in the chair. He
glanced over at Krissy and put his arms and legs in the same position
as hers. The only obvious difference between them was that his bathing
suit was pink and hers was blue. "It's so great to be here like this.
To even get to wear your bathing suit."
"Doesn't it feel strange to wear a girl's bathing suit?" Krissy said.
"No, I don't think so. Do girls find it strange?"
Krissy laughed.
"To me it's a Krissy suit and that's the most important thing. I
wanted one and my mom didn't think it was a good idea. But I don't
think anyone who's not really a Krissy fan would understand. All the
Krissy fans would understand."
"I'm glad my fans are like that," Krissy said. "I like what your essay
said about every one of my fans being number one fans. I don't think
anyone else in all the many essays said the same thing. It was a nice
original thought."
Timmy felt tears coming on, "that you would say that makes me so
happy. It's what I felt was true and I'm even more sure of it now. I
know that my friends Debbie and Ellen are as much fans as I am. I want
to be able to tell all your fans about all of this right here, how
you're so nice to be with and everything." Timmy got choked up and had
to stop talking.
"It's kind of you to say that," Krissy said.
"You're the one who's kind," Timmy said and a few stray tears came
down his cheek.
Seeing how emotional Timmy had become, Krissy said, "tell me about
yourself. So far all I know about you is your essay which is about
wanting to know me the way a friend knows another friend so that you
could then tell my fans about that side of me. I like that idea. I
have ten million girls who love me but don't really know me and you
want to help them get to know me better."
Timmy felt his heart melting and he remembered why he loved Krissy and
why he had so desperately wanted to meet her. "That's all true. I feel
like I know you so well but not really and if I could just get to know
you as a friend then I would really know you."
"But you also might find out that I'm not as great as you imagine. The
Krissy on the show and at concerts is a carefully constructed image. I
pay a lot of people a lot of money to create that."
"The Krissy I've seen on your show I'm sure is a kind and intelligent
person. Your songs are so wonderful. I love your songs and watching
you sing them on your show and then at your concert. Me and all the
other fans there just love it so much."
"My mom and dad encouraged me to write songs even before I knew how to
write or anything about music, when I was very young. It turned out
that I really enjoyed doing it and I was able to write some songs that
other kids liked."
"All your fans know that no one else can write songs like you do."
"Let's take a dip!" Krissy said and got up and dove into the pool and
swam toward the waterfall. Timmy got up and jumped in after her trying
to dive exactly the way she had, with her two arms over her head. It
was exhilarating to have this opportunity to see her up close and
learn to imitate her. Wearing a Krissy bathing suit just like Krissy
was wearing made the moment perfect. No doubt the feeling of the wet
bra part of the bikini across his chest and back was the same feeling
that Krissy felt with her wet bikini top. And the special feeling that
the low cut panty part gave him must also be the same sensation that
Krissy was feeling. For the first time ever he was beginning to know
what it felt like to be Krissy.
***
After they climbed out of the pool and dried off in the sun, Krissy
said, "my mom will be back any minute and then we'll have dinner.
Would you like something to drink now? Iced tea? Soda?"
"You don't have to go to any bother for me."
"I'm having an iced tea. What would you like?"
"I'll have one also."
Krissy reached over to a button built discretely into the base of a
stone lion and pressed it. A moment later Mr. Malloy appeared and
said, "what can I get for you two?."
"Mr. kill joy Malloy, we'll have two iced teas." Krissy said.
"If that's what prissy Krissy wants, that's what prissy Krissy gets,"
Mr. Malloy said and he and Krissy laughed.
Mr. Malloy left to fetch the drinks. "He's such a dear," Krissy said.
"I don't know what we'd do without him."
***
After Mr. Malloy delivered the iced tea, Krissy's mom came home. From
where Timmy was lying he could see her step outside and walk across
the garden towards them. She was wearing an elegant white pantsuit
with jewelry dangling from her neck and wrists.
"So Krissy, this young lady, Timmy isn't it?, is the contest winner?"
Krissy's mom said hesitantly.
Krissy laughed at the error. "I gave Timmy one of my bathing suits to
wear."
"No, no, no, how silly of me!"
Timmy had jumped to his feet when he first saw Krissy's mom and he now
nervously said, "hello ma'am."
Krissy's mom gazed at him in a slightly bemused look and said, "I'm
delighted you're here. So you've been swimming. I'm sure Malloy could
find you a boy's swim suit."
"No, I brought a suit with me," Timmy said, "but I've always wanted a
Krissy suit, since I saw it on my Krissy poster."
"Timmy's really into the Krissy signature collection and I obliged,"
Krissy said.
"Well I suppose it makes sense, you being the number one fan and all,"
Krissy's mom said. "My husband and I loved your essay. It was unique
and made some excellent points. You seem like such a lovely young man
and you're very cute! Isn't he Krissy?"
"Yes, mom."
"Thank you," Timmy said.
"It looks like you've settled in just marvelously. Has Mr. Malloy been
helpful?"
"Mr. Malloy is so much fun," Timmy said.
Krissy's mother laughed. "You're cute. I've got to supervise dinner.
Do you like Chateaubriand?"
"Chateaubriand?" Timmy said.
"Steak!"
"Oh, yes, ma'am."
"Good. Dinner in half and hour, Krissy."
***
Dinner was in a formal dining room with Mr. Malloy serving. Timmy had
changed out of his Krissy bathing suit back into his Krissy shirt and
short pants. It was hard for Timmy not to be aware of Krissy sitting
to his side. He was aware of almost everything she did. How she held
her silverware, how she drank water, how she ate. Part of the
conversation was Krissy and her mom discussing some upcoming plans.
Her mother made some attempts to include Timmy in the conversation by
asking him questions about his family, school, friends and life in
general back home. She also complimented him on his essay and
described a little of what was to come during the week.
During dessert, Krissy's mom said, "so how did you become a Krissy
fan?"
Timmy thought a few moments and said, "in biology class, Debbie was my
lab partner and one day we were supposed to dissect a frog and both of
us got grossed out and couldn't do it," Timmy stopped, suddenly
confused as to how to continue.
Timmy saw Krissy smile and her mom laughed slightly and said,
"dissecting a frog?"
"Ellen is Debbie's best friend and she and Amy were at the next lab
table. And you see, Debbie wasn't afraid to dissect the frog. So..."
Timmy got stuck again.
"So?" Krissy said.
"So I got to go to Ellen's house with Debbie and Amy to write up the
lab report. Ellen played the Krissy album and I just loved it just as
much as Debbie and Amy and I became a fan."
"You loved the Krissy album?" Krissy's mom said.
"Oh, yeah, it's my favorite. I still love it. I listen to it all the
time."
"What's you favorite song?"
"Gosh, that's hard to say. They're all so nice."
"You like Krissy's make up song?"
"That one is funny. About putting on the wrong shade of lipstick."
"And the first bra song?"
"That one's really nice too. It's so amazing that Krissy wrote it."
"It's about girls worrying about when they'll be ready for their first
bra. Most boys aren't too interested."
"I think it's nice that Krissy can say what a lot of girls go through.
Maybe it's weird but I thought that if I ever had to worry about
needing a bra then it's nice to know that Krissy wrote a song about
that."
"What about her song, 'Prom,' about a boy asking her to the prom?"
"I know from Debbie and Ellen that it can be hard for girls to wait to
be asked to the prom. Krissy always seems to know exactly what we're
worried about and she comes up with a great song."
"What girls are worried about," Krissy's mom said with an emphasis on
"girls."
"I guess mainly girls, but I worry about a lot of that too."
"I wrote the songs in that album years ago, when I first started
writing songs," Krissy said. "Like you say, lots of girls have the
same concerns that I did and its nice that the songs can even inspire
you too."
"The Krissy album went platinum," Krissy's mom said. "So did her
second album and her third one has been doing great since it was
released."
"I've got all of them. They're all so great."
"It's nice that a boy can get something from them."
"Ellen and Debbie and I love to listen to them. At Krissy's concert
she sang some of the songs. It was so neat."
"And it doesn't matter to you that most boys don't go for it?"
"I don't know why the guys don't like it. It's so good."
"I think you're a very unusual boy," Krissy's mom said, "because
you're honest and you're not afraid to say what you feel."
Timmy looked at Krissy. "If I could have as much talent as Krissy has
in her little finger, I'd be so happy. I'm sure that Ellen and Debbie
feel the same way."
"Krissy is so very talented. It first became apparent when she was
very young."
"We already discussed that mom."
"I'm very proud of you. I think everything that kids like Timmy see is
the real you."
There was a few moments of silence and then Krissy said to Timmy,
"most nights after dinner I like to write songs. You're welcome to
come along, or you can have some free time."
"You'd let me watch you work on a new song? That's fantastic!" Timmy
said.
"Come to my bedroom at 8. You can swim some more now if you want to or
ask Malloy to entertain you. He knows lots of tricks."
"Thanks!"
***
Promptly at 8 Timmy knocked on Krissy's bedroom door and she let him
in. She was holding a guitar and told Timmy to take a seat across from
her on a sofa. "I've been working on a new song about someone letting
you down, disappointing you. I'm stuck so what I usually do in that
case is work on a different song. Can you suggest something to sing a
about?"
"Me?"
Krissy nodded. "Any ideas?"
"If I could write a song it would be about ..." Timmy hesitated.
"About what?"
"About how happy I am to meet you and find out that you're such a nice
person."
"A song about finding out that someone is nice. You thought they were
bad, and then you found out they were nice. That's really great!"
"Knew they were nice, but found out they were nicer?" Timmy said
tentatively.
"Not a lot of drama in that one. Let's see..."
Krissy strummed a few chords and thought deeply. Then she sang:
From any angle I knew he was bad,
Getting away from him made me glad,
Then our paths crossed one crazy summer
when my heart couldn't be any numb-er
I said, please do not turn me to ice
..."
Krissy repeated, "I said, please do not turn me to ice
..."
Krissy stopped and said, "help me here Timmy."
Timmy scrunched his face in thought and said, "but then he just
radiated nice."
Krissy sang,
"I said, please do not turn me to ice,
but then he just radiated nice."
"Radiated nice, perfect!" Krissy said.
"This is so much fun," Timmy said. For the first time since he had
arrived he felt a little bit comfortable next to Krissy. She had
called his lyric, "perfect." It was true, Krissy was even nicer than
he had ever imagined she would be.
"This has been so productive," Krissy said. She put down the guitar.
"You've got talent Timmy. It shows in your essay and in your song
writing. I hope you develop it."
"But it's true that you're so nice," Timmy said and he suddenly felt
so happy that his eyes started to fill with tears.
Krissy saw them glistening.
"I've thought about you every night wishing I could meet you. I've
even prayed to God that I could be you."
Krissy smiled, "I suppose that's a requirement to be my number one
fan."
"I was so happy when I joined your fan club because I got the poster
that I could look at every day. And the magazines are so interesting
and gave me ideas of how I could be more like you."
"The magazine is mostly filled with tips for girls about make up and
clothes."
"But those are things that you care about, aren't they?"
Krissy started to say something and stopped. If anything, this week
was not about bursting Timmy's bubble about marketing strategies.
"It's so interesting that you like anything Krissy even if it's for
girls, like my bathing suit."
"Since I couldn't meet you, trying to be like you was the next best
thing."
"I'm not sure that's entirely healthy. There are a lot of nice, unique
things about you too."
"I think being you wouldn't mean I'd have to give up being me. I mean
I'd want to stay being me so that I could appreciate being you."
"You're quite a philosopher for someone so young."
"It makes me happy to think that some part of me could be the same as
you. But all your fans feel that way. I'm sure. Many times Debbie and
Ellen and I have talked about how neat it would be if we suddenly
could be you. Debbie and Ellen have all your Krissy clothes. If my mom
let me I'd get more of them."
"More of them?"
"My grandma bought me Krissy underwear."
"You mean my panties?"
"Yes, but my mom wouldn't let me bring the pink ones with me. Just the
white and blue. She was afraid that someone would see me with pink
panties. But I just care that they're yours. I was a little sad
because I saw in the fan magazine that pink is your favorite color."
"Maybe so, but I also like blue and white."
"I'd love to own all the Krissy things. I saw that there are Krissy
pants and skirts."
"Skirts? When would you get to wear the skirt?"
"I don't know. Just having it seems so wonderful."
"They sell Krissy bras too. You want one of them?"
"Sure. I saw them in the store. They look so cool. Debbie and Ellen
wear them every day."
"Some people might think you're kind of weird for wanting a bra and
skirt."
"But they're yours and you're so amazing."
"I'm a girl and you're a boy is what I meant."
"Maybe you're right. I don't know. But if my parents let me, then I'd
get all the Krissy clothes for sure. I could then be even more like
you."
"When you get older you probably won't feel this way anymore."
They lapsed into silence and Krissy said, "I'm amazed at your honesty.
There mustn't be a lying bone in your body."
Timmy smiled. "I'm so happy I'm here I could bust."
Krissy regarded Timmy's adoration for her and said, "I think it's OK
if my number one fan wants to be like me. Come. If you want to wear
something of mine, help yourself." Krissy pointed to the closet door
where she had previously gone to fetch Timmy a Krissy bathing suit.
Timmy peeked inside seeing a suite of rooms containing clothes.
"You've worn all these clothes?" Timmy said. He had never imagined
that such a closet could exist.
"Most of them. There's a lot that goes into being Krissy. I often
can't wear the same dress twice in public. A lot of designers send me
dresses that I check out in case I could use them on the show or at a
concert."
Timmy went into the closet by himself and surveyed the first room. It
contained built in drawers from floor to ceiling. Timmy opened a
drawer and saw that it was filled with white panties. The drawer below
contained blue panties on one side and yellow panties on the other.
Below that the drawer had red panties on one side and pink ones on the
other. Another row of cabinets contained bras, one held white and pink
bras, and another had black and beige bras. He approached another set
of drawers and some of these had slips, others had stockings and
pantyhose. Another drawer had garter belts, and retro girdles and
bras. While he looked at her clothes, Timmy heard the guitar being
strummed in the other room and Krissy began singing the song they had
been working on.
In the next room of the closet, Timmy saw literally hundreds of
skirts, blouses and dresses arranged on endless hangers. On one wall
was a collection of perhaps 50 nightgowns in various colors. A small
room off of this had dozens of dresses with built in petticoats and
crinolines. and another room was filled with shoes. Timmy walked into
the petticoat room and turned on the light. The dresses were in a
range of colors. Many were pink and light blue. There was a faint odor
of perfume. It was quiet except for Krissy's singing. She was adding
lyrics to the song he had helped her with. Timmy closed his eyes and
tried to remember an image he had of Krissy that he had seen on her
show one day that was also reproduced a week later in the magazine.
Krissy had been wearing a pink and white striped dress with puffy
sleeves and a billowing skirt overlying several lacy crinolines.
The segment on the show had been about how far girls had travelled
since the days when they were supposed to just be pretty, to where now
they could be anything they wanted to be. Krissy had flounced around
in a mock up of a 1950's living room in the pretty pink and white
dress. A man and woman playing her parents had bantered with her about
her role in the family which appeared to be mainly to study hard so
she could go to college where she would meet a nice man and get
married. Then she could be a mother and teach her daughter to aspire
toward the same end. Timmy hadn't understood the significance of much
of what Krissy had be