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Summer Secrets By Varian Milagro http://varianm.blogspot.com/ Chapter 8 Saturday and Sunday were back to boring. My mom still wouldn't relent on the guitar. She said that I would be another week at a minimum. I did get out of the house on Saturday when my mom dragged me to the grocery store and then to a fabric store. The change of scenery was nice, but it was still boring. On Sunday we didn't leave the house, not even to watch fireworks. I found myself looking forward to Monday and the salon all weekend. Monday Heidi had me practice on my own face when I got dressed in the morning. I screwed up a couple times, but she was a patient teacher. It was a slow day and there wasn't much in the way of washing or sweeping. After lunch Heidi brought a mannequin head up front. "Time for some makeup lessons, Stacy," Heidi said as she sat the dummy head and a small tackle box of makeup items on one of the nail stations. "Grab a couple magazines from the waiting area and sit next to me." I retrieved a couple magazines and sat next to her. She flipped through one of the magazines until she came upon a headshot of Lauren Hutton. "I want you to try and recreate Lauren's face on this dummy." "How?" I wasn't sure where to even start. "However you'd like. This makeup box has everything you'll need." Heidi opened the lid. Inside were makeup brushes of varying sizes, some as thin as a pencil and others thick and fat. In the drawers were powders, creams, eyeliner pencils, and different shades of lipstick. "Here's a tip. You won't be able to get it right, not at first. It takes a lot of practice. The makeup wipes off the dummy's face easily and there's no time limit. Experiment to your heart's content. If you have any questions, let me know." Heidi was right; I wasn't able to get it right the first time. The dummy looked more like Bozo the clown than Lauren Hutton. I wiped off the makeup and tried again. This time it looked more like Milton Berle in drag, which I guess was an improvement. When I had a wash job I tried to remember that I was Stacy and Gary was at home. I made sure to introduce myself to the client, ask them about their day was and offer up at least one compliment. That seemed to get the customers talking and most of them would tell Heidi or Patricia how good I was at washing hair. This gave me a little tickle inside every time it happened. One lady even gave me a dollar as she was leaving; Luanne said I should frame it since it was my first tip. On Tuesday Luanne brought a mannequin hand from the back and used it to teach me how to paint fingernails. It was both easier and harder than practicing makeup. With makeup there were so many things to do, line the eyes, create eyebrows, shade the eyes, add blush to the cheeks and paint the lips, but Luanne wasn't nearly as patient as Heidi. Not that she was mean or anything, she just got a little exasperated when I didn't use smooth enough strokes, or when I used too much polish or when I went outside the lines. Once I finished all five nails she made me clean it with nail polish remover. As soon as the dummy hand was dry she had me try again. By the end of the day I got a "not bad" from her. Wednesday was busier than Tuesday, but there were still chucks of time with little for me to do. I alternated practicing makeup and painting fingernails during the slow periods. Late in the day, while I was deep in concentration, trying to get the eyeliner on the dummy to match Janice Dickenson's from a photo in Marie Claire, Luanne said that Heidi had a wash job for me. I replaced the eyeliner pencil in Heidi's makeup kit and walked up to the front I froze when I saw Heidi's customer. It was a girl a couple years older than me. She wore a gold, knit blouse and a pair of faded, bellbottoms. I recognized her instantly, having met her many times. It was Jill, Gloria's granddaughter. It looked like she gotten a haircut. Her auburn hair had been longer than mine when I saw her at Christmas, but now it was just past her shoulders. She shot me a quizzical look. I told myself that I was Stacy, not Gary and to act normally, but it was too late. "Do I know you?" she asked as I led her to the sink. "I don't think so." I struggled to keep my hands from shaking as I motioned for her to sit. "Are you sure?" She sat in the chair and leaned back and let her long brunette hair fall in the sink. "It looked like you recognized me." "No, I thought you were someone else." She stopped asking me questions, but did not seem totally satisfied. I washed her hair quickly. My plan was to give her back to Heidi and then wait in the back until she left. It might have worked had my mom not come up front just as I was wrapping Jill's hair with a towel. "Hello Jill," my mom said. "How have you been?" "Great Mrs. Peterson," Jill replied with a smile. I could almost see the light bulb go off in her head. She looked at me, looked back at my mom and then back at me. Her eyes went wide and she let out a gasp. I guided her to Heidi's station and then walked to the office in back. I sat down and tried to steady my shaking hands. My vision began to blur as I considered the implications of what just happened. Now that Jill knew she would tell her mom and once her mom knew the whole town would know. My life was over. My mom entered the office a few minutes later and tried to calm me down. She said it was too soon to panic. After awhile she went up front while I stayed in the back and fretted. "I talked to Jill and she says she won't tell anyone," my mom said when she returned thirty minutes later. "Are you sure?" "I believe her. Jill has always been trustworthy." I waited in back for another ten minutes. When I finally reappeared up front Heidi had me sit in her chair so she could fix my makeup. "I'm so sorry, Stacy," Heidi said as she wiped the streaks of mascara from my face. "I didn't realize you knew Jill so well or I would have washed her hair myself." I continued to help that day, but I did not practice on makeup or nail painting during the slow times. I sat at the nail station and worried that Jill would spill the beans and I would become the town laughing stock. That night at home, while my mom and I were eating tacos, the phone rang. I was surprised when my mom said it was for me. The only person who ever called me was Nick and I'd made it clear the last time I saw him that I never wanted to speak to him again. My surprise changed to shock when my mom said that Jill was on the phone. When I asked my mom to go to her room it was her turn to be shocked. We only had one phone in the house and the cord wouldn't reach my bedroom and I wanted to talk in private. My mom gave me a look that let me know that I was on thin ice, but she went anyway. "Hi, Jill." "I wanted to let you know that I haven't told anyone and I won't." "Thank you." I felt a weight fall off my shoulders. "Can I ask you a question?" "Okay." "Why are you doing it?" Jill interrupted about halfway through my tale of punishment, boredom and customer perceptions. "Your mom told me all that," she said dismissively. "I mean, I know guys who would rather walk on hot coals for eight hours than wear a dress. Why are you wearing a dress and makeup and washing hair?" I felt my face grow hot. She was right; most guys wouldn't put on a dress or makeup no matter what. "It isn't just the boredom. When I started helping out everyone was so nice to me and saying that I was doing a good job and it felt really nice. When I couldn't do it anymore and had to just watch it made it worse. The dress and makeup was weird at first, but everyone was even nicer after that." "It doesn't bother you that people think you're a girl?" "I was worried about it at first, but the customers actually are a little nicer to me when I wear the uniform. It's kind of weird, but I feel like a different person when I wear the dress. I'm not Gary anymore; I'm Stacy and it's kind of cool. I get to be around women all day and they treat me like I'm one of their own." "All right," she replied. "I'll see you soon." When I hung up the phone I wondered what she meant by that comment. I normally only saw her on Christmas or when there was a major event like a wedding or a funeral. I wondered if she knew something I didn't. Chapter 9 My mood brightened a little the following day. I did my own makeup, without supervision, for the first time. It was a lot different than doing it on the dummy. The dummy's skin had no give and it was harder applying makeup in the mirror. Everything was backwards. I was given a new assignment that day. In addition to washing and rinsing hair I now escorted customers to the hair dryers, adjusted the settings and started the timers. I also escorted them back to their beautician once they were finished. I had to keep an eye on the clock so that the customer didn't have to sit too long once they were done drying. I was really surprised when Jill showed up a little before noon. At first I thought she was looking for her Grandma or had a follow up appointment, but it turned out that she had come to see me. "Do you want to grab some lunch with me?" she asked once I'd finished setting up a customer under a dryer. "Umm...I'm not supposed to leave the salon without my mom," I replied. "I can probably get her to say okay, if you want to that is." "That would be cool," I said. Jill walked straight into the back just like she owned the place. She emerged a few minutes later and said my mom wanted to talk to me. "Do you really want to go out with Jill dressed as a girl?" my mom asked once I made it to the office. "If it means being able to leave the salon, then yes." "Well, the judge said you needed to be supervised by a responsible family member." My mom paused and seemed to weigh some things in her mind. "Jill is practically family and I trust her so I suppose it's okay." "Right on!" Jill and I walked to Stardust Diner on the other end of the strip mall. I'd been to the diner a couple times with my mom. The place was small and only had one waitress, Teresa. At first I was afraid that Teresa might recognize me like Jill had, but when she saw my uniform she asked me when I'd started working at the salon. As she sat us in a booth she said that she hoped that I liked the job. Jill and I didn't say much until the Teresa brought us a couple cokes and took our order. "So, how does it feel to be out and about, Stacy," she asked with a smirk. "It feels pretty nice, actually," I replied. "This is the furthest I have been from my mom for four weeks." "I think I would go nuts if I had to be around my mom that much." "Saturday and Sunday are the worst. There is nothing to do and I can't even go outside. The only people I really ever hung out with are Nick and Barry and I'm not talking to them anymore." "They were in the van with you, right?" "Yeah," I replied. "I'd like to help you out, but some friends are spending the night at my house." "Bummer," I said. We lapsed into silence. "Can I tell you a secret?" "Sure," Jill shrugged. "You have to promise not to tell anyone." "I promise not to tell anyone," Jill replied earnestly. "I wasn't driving the van," I blurted. It felt really good to say it out loud. "What do you mean you weren't driving, who was then?" "Nick. As soon as he put the van in the ditch he started crying and saying that he'd get thrown in jail if the police caught him. I know it was stupid, but I felt sorry for him and then as soon as we swapped the cops showed up." "Why are you keeping it secret? If you told the truth you could get out of your punishment." "I know, but I don't want to be a snitch. Please don't tell anyone." "Cross my heart and hope to die," she said as she made an X across her chest with her index finger. We stopped talking once again. After a minute or so Jill looked like she was contemplating something. "I guess you could spend the night too," she said, almost as a question. "Would that be too weird for you?" "You mean come as Stacy?" "Well, yeah. I don't think my girlfriends would understand if I invited a guy to a sleep over." "You mean a slumber party?" "Well, we haven't called it a slumber party for years, but yeah." "What do you do at those things?" I asked. "We listen to music and play games; sometimes we do crazy things with our hair and makeup, but mostly we just hang out and talk," she said. "You think you're up for it?" "If I stay at home one more weekend I think I am going to go crazy," "Hmm, I think it would work, no one is going to think you're guy," she said. "You did," I replied. "Only because you freaked and then your mom showed up. It was clear you knew me and when I saw your mom it was obvious that you two were related; you look like her daughter. Anyway, I know your mom doesn't have a daughter, but I know she has a son and then it clicked. No one who is going to be at my place will know you, except for my parents, and we should probably tell my mom." "Why," I asked. "She'll figure it out eventually," she stated. "Don't worry; she'll be cool with it." "Okay." "Does Stacy have any clothes besides the uniform?" "No," I said. "I figured not. If you can get a suitcase I can let you borrow some of my clothes." After we finished lunch we walked back to the salon and Jill hugged me goodbye. I told Heidi and Patricia that Jill had invited me to a slumber party on Friday night and that I was going to ask my mom if I could go. Heidi looked concerned at first, but Patricia just smiled. As I headed back to the office to talk to my mom I heard Patricia say to Heidi "I told you so." I wondered how she knew that Jill was going to invite me to a slumber party. My mom started crying when I asked her if I could go to Jill's slumber party as Stacy. I tried to console her, but she apologized and said that she was just tired. I didn't really believe her and I told her that I didn't have to go to the slumber party. She said that she would think about the party and give me an answer when we got home. When I went back up front I asked Heidi about slumber parties she said that she figured they were pretty similar to how they were when she was younger, so she told me some stories from when she was young. Luanne gave me a couple more tips on painting nails; she thought it might be a good ice breaker if I showed off my new nail painting skills to Jill and her friends. On the way home that night my mom asked me if I wanted to go to the beach instead of the slumber party, but I told her that I'd rather go over to Jill's. It would be nice to be around people closer to my own age for a change. Heidi and Luanne were nice, but they were a lot older than me. That night my mom did not give me an answer right away. I knew from past experience that it was better to let my mom make her mind up in her own time. If I pestered her she'd be more likely to say no. About an hour after dinner my mom was watching TV and I was hovering in the dining room. I was afraid that my mom might have forgotten about Jill's and I wanted to remind her, but without pissing her off. I was trying to decide on how to bring the subject up casually when the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Hello, Stacy," Gloria said. "How is your evening?" "It's fine, do you want to talk to my mom?" "Yes, if you would be a dear." "Mom! Phone is for you," I yelled and then put the phone on the counter. I headed back into my room to listen to music. My mom really liked to talk on the phone. It could be sometime before I could talk to her. I figured I'd use the time to figure out how to bring the slumber party subject up again. A half hour later my mom entered my room. "You can go to Jill's tomorrow night." She looked weary. She turned and headed back to the living room before I could even say thanks. Chapter 10 On Friday I brought my empty suitcase to the salon. I did have a toothbrush and hairbrush, but no clothes. Heidi surprised me with makeup bag, some jewelry and a small brown leather purse. The purse had leather fringes on it and looked pretty cool. I'd seen girls at school carrying ones like it. I looked inside and Heidi had put a bunch of things inside. Among other things there was a small coin purse, some lip gloss, a couple hair accessories, and a small white cardboard tube. I wasn't sure what the white tube was at first; when I realized that it was a tampon I got embarrassed and stopped digging in the purse. The makeup bag had a lot of different makeup items in it and a ton of nail polish in assorted colors. I thanked her and gave her a hugged. I was curious how she had known I'd be able to go to the slumber party. She said that a little bird had told her. After lunch Gloria arrived to hand out payroll checks, which surprised Luanne and Heidi since it was a task my mom normally performed. Gloria usually just stopped by to sign the checks before delivering them to her other businesses. Today though she came up front with several envelopes in her hand and made a big show of calling out each person's name and then handing them an envelope. I was shocked when I heard her call out "Stacy". She had a big smile on her face. "It is my pleasure to give you your first pay envelope," she said while holding the envelope out to me. "You have been such a great help up front and you did it without the expectation of compensation. I am more proud of you than you can know." I was a little giddy and a lot embarrassed, but I gladly took the envelope and said, "Thank you." I opened the envelope and found five twenty-dollar-bills. "A hundred bucks! Dy-no-mite!" "Typically one does not disclose their pay to others," Gloria said with a laugh. "You have been incredibly helpful." "Can I talk to you for a moment?" my mom asked Gloria with a weird smile. I stared at all the money in my hands while they went into the back. It was probably the most money I had ever received at one time. I tried to stick the money in my pocket, but then remembered that my dress didn't have pockets and it dawned on me why women tended to carry purses. As I walked into the back to put my money in my new purse I passed the office door I heard Gloria and my mom talking. They were talking about me. "It's too much Gloria," my mom said. "No, it isn't," Gloria said. "I should have done much more a long time ago." "I don't want any hand outs," my mom retorted. "This is not a hand out; he's worked hard for it. I would give you both so much more if you would let me." They were silent for a moment. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into letting him go to Jill's slumber party," my mom said. "Where is it going to end?" "Stacy!" called a loud whisper from behind me. I whipped around to see Heidi standing at the end of the hall; she looked mad. She motioned for me to come to her. I walked to her with my head lowered, knowing why she was mad. "Don't eavesdrop," she admonished. "It is very rude and you rarely hear anything complimentary." I still hadn't put my money in my purse, so Heidi put it in a drawer at her station for me. She said I could put it in my purse once Gloria and my mom were done talking. Later in the day when Heidi had a break between customers she had me sit in her chair. "Since you are going to be Stacy all weekend I was thinking it might be nice to give you a hair style. Your hair looks lovely as it is, but since you are working in a salon it might be nice to show up tonight with something a little more showy." "Okay," I replied. On the way to the sinks Heidi said, "You know, it's been so long since I've washed my own customer's hair I may have forgotten how." "You can always ask Stacy for some pointers," Patricia said with a laugh. With my hair washed Heidi led me back to her salon chair and combed out the tangles. She squirted a white creamy liquid down the length of my hair in rows an inch away from each other. After the solution sat in my hair for awhile she led me back to the sink and rinsed it out. My hair now had strips of lighter blonde running down its length. She assured me that the hair color was temporary and, if for some reason it didn't come out, she could always dye the rest of my hair to match. Once Heidi had my hair combed straight again she pulled out the largest rollers I had ever seen and wrapped them in my hair. I was scared and thrilled all at the same time. It would be hard to look like Gary with curly highlighted hair, but it would also be easier to be Stacy. I took a couple deep breathes and reminded myself that Gary was in the back room and Stacy liked looking nice. Once Heidi finished rolling my hair she led me to the hair dryers. I started giggling. The hair dryers were what the women used. A man wouldn't be caught dead in one of those things. Stacy wasn't a man so it was okay. I grabbed a copy of Vogue from the magazine rack as I sat. Heidi lowered the dark plastic dome over my head and started the dryer. One of Patricia's customers, an attractive woman in her thirties, sat at a dryer across from me. She had her legs crossed at the ankle, her long, sleek legs poked out from beneath the pink salon apron that all the customers wore. She smoked a cigarette while reading a copy of Home and Gardens. I mirrored her, crossing my legs while reading my copy of Vogue. I skipped the smoking part; I didn't have any cigarettes and wouldn't smoke one if I did. After a minute I wished I'd grabbed one of Heidi's rolling stone magazines. Still, I felt like a grown up woman, sitting there reading my fashion magazine under the hair dryer. I felt like I belonged. Once my hair was dry Heidi brought me back to the chair, removed the rollers and brushed my hair. It was so wavy and bouncy. She gave me some pointers for the following morning and then sent me over to Luanne who proceeded to paint my nails. I was definitely having fun; it was neat being the customer for a change. Luanne made me sit and wait for awhile to let my nails completely dry before she let me go into the back to see my mom. "Your hair and nails are very pretty," my mom said when she saw me. "Thanks." I had a feeling that she didn't like them actually; her smile seemed kind of fake. It was like the time when I raised my grades, but they were still mostly Cs. She said that I had done a good job and she was proud of me, but I could tell she was still disappointed I hadn't done better. I don't think my mom liked Stacy that much; not that she had ever been a big Gary fan. Chapter 11 When Jill arrived a couple hours later I started getting nervous again. I'd had lunch out in the real world the day before, but now I was going to a house with a bunch of girls and I had no clue what to do in a situation like that. I hadn't had a lot of experience around girls my own age. Jill seemed to like my hair and nails. We went into the back so I could try on the clothes she brought before we headed out. I looked in the bag; it held a couple pairs of jeans, some socks, a pair of sandals, a nightgown, and a couple blouses. I went up front and whispered to Heidi that Jill had only brought jeans and that I needed her help. She told me to go to the bathroom and she would get me some help. I went to the bathroom with Jill's bag of clothes and waited. "Can I come in?" Patricia called from the other side of the bathroom door a minute later. "Yes." I'd been expecting Heidi not Patricia. "You don't need to worry, Stacy," Patricia said once she entered and closed the door. "There is a method called tucking that will allow you to wear jeans and still look like a girl." Patricia proceeded to describe the tucking process in great detail. She offered to stay and help, but I was too embarrassed to have her watch. She said she would wait nearby. I removed my shoes and salon dress and stood for a moment in bra and padded panties. I lowered the panties to my knees and then grabbed my penis and balls and then pulled them back towards my butt. While holding them with one hand I worked the panties back up my legs. I pulled the panties tight to secure everything in place. I grabbed a pair of Jill's jeans and pulled them on. They fit pretty nice. They had a high waist so they hid the tops of the panties. I looked in the mirror and I did not look like I had a penis at all. I put on a floral cotton blouse next and then put my shoes back on. I looked like any other teen girl that I'd ever seen. Heidi and Jill told me I looked very nice and Patricia reminded me to leave Gary at home. I put the rest of Jill's clothes in Heidi's suitcase and said good bye to my mom before following Jill to her AMC Gremlin. After driving for twenty minutes, in the opposite direction of my house, Jill pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store and drove straight to a Fotomat. Jill pulled up to the drive thru window of the small triangle building and handed the lady working there a roll of film to process. The lady looked a little older than Jill, was wearing the standard blue and yellow uniform and according to her name tag was named Emily. "You want double matte prints on these too, Jill?" Emily asked as she wrote on an envelope. "Yes please. I also need a couple rolls of 400 ASA, one 1600 and a black and white 400, all 24 exposures." "It's too late for overnight and since it's the weekend the soonest we can have this one ready is Monday." Emily placed Jill's exposed film roll into the envelope. "There's no hurry on that one. I should have a couple others ready though." Emily grabbed three boxes of film from a shelf above her head and set them on the counter. When she turned towards the back of the small hut to retrieve Jill's developed photos Jill pulled a checkbook from her purse and began writing a check. Emily laid a couple thick envelopes next to the film and then gave Jill her total. Jill handed over the check and then tossed the film into her purse and the photos into the back seat. Jill resumed driving us to her house and we arrived five minutes later. As she parked her Gremlin in the driveway behind a Chevy station wagon I felt my chest tighten. I couldn't believe that I was about to go into her house dressed as a girl. Being around a bunch of strangers made me nervous normally adding the anxiety of being discovered made it much worse. I thought back to Patricia's words. I told myself that I was Stacy tonight and Stacy could do this. "I told my mom yesterday that you were coming over and she knows who you really are, but she promised that she won't let on," Jill said as she turned off the car's engine. "She'll call you Stacy and act like you just met." "What about your dad and Andrew?" "My dad doesn't know, but he won't come downstairs unless we make too much noise. Andrew is working in Alaska this summer." I grabbed my purse and slipped the long strap over my shoulder and then grabbed my suitcase, sleeping bag and pillow from the back seat. Jill took the sleeping bag and pillow from me and then I followed her to the front door of her house. "It looks like Brenda is already here," Jill said, pointing to a yellow VW Bug parked on the street. "She can be a little pushy, but just stand your ground with her and you'll be fine." "How many others are coming?" I asked. "Just Cindy. She should be here pretty soon." "I can't believe I'm doing this," I said. A look of concern crossed Jill's face. "It's not too late to change your mind, but if you are going to back out, do it now, okay?" "I don't want to back out." Jill opened the front door and shouted, "I'm home." "It's about time," said a tall, slender girl near Jill's age. She had auburn hair which hung to the middle of her back and was dressed in flared jeans, a white cotton blouse, and a fringe vest made of brown leather. For jewelry she wore long, feather earrings and a mass of colorful, handmade bracelets. "I've been waiting a half hour for you." She hugged Jill and then turned to me. "You must be Stacy; nice to meet you." "Stacy this is Brenda, who arrived nearly 30 minutes early," Jill said. "You know I'm going to be early; if you wanted me to show up at five- thirty you should have said six," she replied. "Let's put your stuff in the rec room where we'll be sleeping," Jill said to me. She led us down the stairs to an enormous room with orange, shag carpet and wood paneling. I think my whole apartment could fit inside Jill's rec room. There was a TV in one corner, two tall book cases, a couch, a love seat and a stereo with a reel to reel, a record player, and three foot tall speakers. Across the room was Ping Pong table and a home bar. A suitcase and sleeping bag sat next to the couch; I assumed they belonged to Brenda. "So, when is Cindy showing up?" Brenda asked. "She should be here anytime," Jill said. "Anyone want a Coke? My mom is ordering Pizza later." We followed Jill back upstairs and helped her fill some bowls with chips, and then headed back downstairs with snacks and drinks. "Why don't you put some music on, Stacy," Jill said to me. I headed over to the stereo and started thumbing through all the LPs. "Your parents still cool with me smoking?" Brenda asked Jill as she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse. "They know you smoke. I'll be right back." Jill headed upstairs and I continued to look through the records, but so far it was a lot of Conway Twitty and Barbara Streisand. It made me wish I'd brought some of my own LPs. I heard the click of a lighter followed be the smell of cigarette smoke. "You want one, Stacy?" Brenda extended the pack toward me. "I don't smoke." "What grade are you going to be in?" "Tenth." I turned back to the records. "You going to Westmore?" "No." "Have you known Jill for long?" I turned back toward her. "No." "Not much of a talker, are you, Stacy?" I shrugged and said nothing. "That's okay; I'll do enough talking for the both of us." I went back to the records, finally I came across an album with a photo of a bare-chested albino wearing lipstick and a large diamond necklace and I had to look no further. I carefully slid the vinyl record out of its sleeve, holding it by the edge only. I examined the black grooved surface; it looked scratch free and I wanted to keep it that way. I laid the album on the turn-table and started the stereo. Edgar Winter started singing "Hangin' Around" a few moments later. "You've got good taste in music," Brenda said. There was a knock on the front door and Jill came downstairs moments later with Cindy. Cindy was actually a little shorter than me, which was a nice change for once. Her blonde hair was lighter than mine and cut like Dorthy Hamill's. Jill was carrying her suitcase and Cindy held her sleeping bag under one arm and a guitar case in the other. The night was looking up. As I was being introduced to Cindy Jill's mom came downstairs to let us know that she had ordered some pizza. She was smoking too. "Mom, this is Stacy the girl I met at Grandma's salon," Jill said. "Hello, Stacy," Mrs. Phillips said to me. "It is nice to meet you. How do you like your summer job at the salon?" "It's pretty nice," I replied, trying to hide the fact that I had known Jill's mom all my life. I really liked Jill's mom. I didn't see her as often as Gloria, but she was just as nice to me. "Well, I let you girls be. I'll leave the pizza money by the door." "You work at a salon?" Brenda asked as soon as Jill's mom had left. "How cool is that?" "What do you do there?" Cindy asked as she lit a cigarette. "So far I mostly wash hair, but they've been teaching me how to paint nails professionally," I replied. "I brought a bunch of polish so I could do everyone's nails if you'd like." I retrieved my suitcase and pulled out Heidi's makeup bag, which contained the stash of nail polish. The girls dove on them and tried to decide which colors I should use on their nails. Before any of them settled on a color the doorbell rang. While Jill headed up the stairs to pay for the pizza I checked out her set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Her set was not only complete, but also had all of the annual appendixes. My mom had bought a set at a garage sale that was not only missing the letters 'S' and 'M', but was so old it still had John F. Kennedy as the current president. The smell of the pizza arrived shortly before Jill. As Brenda grabbed a slice I noticed that Edgar was finishing up "Frankenstein" so I went over to the record player to put on "Strange Days" by The Doors. The girls talked amongst themselves for the most part while we ate the pizza. They were all going to be seniors at Westmore high school in the fall and they were looking forward to "ruling the school". Cindy was seeing a guy named Troy and, by the way Cindy described him, he walked on water. Neither Jill nor Brenda was currently involved with anyone, but apparently both of their last boyfriends were assholes. All three of them were 17 and their parents annoyed them to no end. I kept my mouth shut and just listened for the most part. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I would say something stupid and they would laugh at me or worse Cindy and Brenda would realize that I was a guy. After we finished eating Jill suggested that we change into our night clothes. When Jill headed upstairs to her bedroom I slipped into the bathroom with the flannel nightgown that Jill had given me. It was a pale pink and covered my entire body. It looked like something an old lady would wear, but I like it. I wanted as much as my body hidden as possible. When I exited the bathroom Brenda and Cindy had already changed. Brenda was also in a nightgown, but hers had spaghetti straps and fell to her knees. Cindy was in a yellow nightie that was so short I could see that she wore matching panties. Jill joined us a few minute later carrying a camera and a tripod and was dressed in what looked like boys pajamas, but they were made out of a light blue, satiny material. Jill set up the tripod and then hooked the camera to it. The camera was a fancy one with interchangeable lenses. She told us stand next to the opposite wall as she adjusted the tripod's height. Once she finished fiddling with the camera all three girls pulled lip gloss out of their purses and applied it to their lips, so I did the same. Jill set the camera's timer and then raced over and stood next to me. "Say Cheese!" Jill said. "Cheese," we said in unison as the camera's flash blinded us. "Stay put. I want another picture." Jill ran to her camera. "It's times like these that I wish you weren't a photographer," Brenda said. "You seemed okay with it when you had five photos in last year's yearbook," Cindy said. "This is going in the yearbook?" Panic shot through me. Brenda and Cindy laughed while Jill assured me that the photos were for us only. After taking a couple more pictures Jill thought that it would be a good time for me to paint their nails. Cindy had picked a hot pink polish. I was nervous at first since I'd never actually painted the nails of a live person. It helped a little when I tried to imagine that Cindy's hand was the dummy's hand. It helped even more when I remembered that I had a large bottle of nail polish remover in my suitcase. Cindy seemed to like her nails a lot, which helped me relax even more while I painted Jill's nails a canary yellow. By the time I finished working on Jill's nails I was totally into it. Cindy brushed my hair while I painted Brenda's nails an electric blue. I was really enjoying myself. The girls were really nice and they were treated me like an equal, even though I was three years younger which they knew and a guy which they didn't. I felt like I belonged and it felt amazing. It didn't even bother me that Jill wouldn't stop taking pictures of us. "Your hair is really beautiful, Stacy," Cindy said. "Would you like me to put some ribbons in your hair?" "Okay," I said, feeling a little giddy at the prospect. When Cindy pulled my hair back she caught one of my clip-on earrings and knocked it off my ear. "You haven't had your ears pierced yet?" she asked with a look of concern. "No," I replied quietly, hoping that she'd drop the subject. "Why not?" asked Brenda. "I don't know, I just never have." "Well, we can fix that real quick. Jill, get a potato, some ice and a needle." "I don't think she wants her ears pierced," Jill said. "Sure she does; don't you, Stacy?" "Umm..." I was at a loss for words. I knew that I should come up with an excuse on why I didn't want my ears pierced, but nothing came to me. "I don't think her mom would be pleased," Jill said and then looked at me for backup. "Yeah, my mom wouldn't like it," I said. "Well, you know how you handle that, you just do it," Brenda said. "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission if you ask me. Plus, what is she going to do, make you get them un-pierced." "I'm in enough trouble as it is." "All right, but let me know if you change your mind, I can have them pierced in just a couple minutes." After I finished Brenda's nails she suggested that we play Truth or Dare. I wasn't very comfortable with Truth or Dare, but I liked it better than Cindy's idea of Twister which sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. I was fortunate for several rounds as Jill, Brenda and Cindy focused on each other. Cindy made Jill go into the driveway and sing "I'm a little teapot"; she has an amazing voice. Jill made Brenda peel a banana with her feet; that was messy. I noticed that neither Jill nor Cindy took a dare from Brenda. She kept ribbing them that they were too scared to handle her dare. Eventually they began to include me. "Stacy, truth or dare?" Cindy asked me. "Truth." "Chicken," Brenda shouted. "Keep it down," Jill said. "You don't want to wake my dad, trust me." "How far have you gone and with who?" Cindy asked. "I haven't done anything." I felt my cheeks grow warm. "Not even a kiss?" Brenda asked in shock. "Have you even held a guy's hand?" "No." My face went from warm to hot. I wanted to crawl under the couch. "We are going to have to fix that. Stick with us and we'll get you setup." Brenda said. "Truth or dare, Stacy and don't be a wimp and say truth again." "Dare," I blurted. I was afraid she would ask me more about kissing guys. "Finally," she said. "I dare you to streak in the back yard." "I can't do that," I said in a panic. "You have to, you picked dare," Brenda said. "I'm not going to streak." "In that case, I dare you to smoke a cigarette." "Truth," I replied. "Too late, streak or smoke," Brenda said as she held a cigarette out toward me. "I don't want to smoke," I said. "What is it with you and smoking?" Jill snapped. "Not happy until you get everyone hooked?" She turned to me. "You don't have to smoke, Stacy." "She picked dare and she doesn't want to streak so she has to smoke," Brenda retorted. "You can't pick truth once you pick dare, you know that." "I don't care, give her a truth or we'll stop playing." "So suddenly were changing rules for the princess?" Brenda said. She looked at me with a scowl on her face. "Okay Princess, truth it is. Tell me a secret that you haven't told anyone else, a real juicy one." "You don't have to answer that," Jill said to me. "What is it with you two?" Brenda asked. "It's okay," I said. "Here's something that only Jill knows, so please don't tell anyone." "Who would we tell?" Brenda asked. "We don't know anyone you know." I told them the story about the van and getting arrested as everyone else knew it to be. I failed to mention that people were calling me Gary at the time. "That's not a secret," Brenda said. "Clearly your mom knows all about that." "The secret is this, I wasn't driving the van. Nick was driving and we swapped seats after he crashed into the ditch." I told them about Nick's trouble with the law and fears of jail. "You took the fall for Nick, a guy you hadn't even kissed?" Brenda asked. "Well, you're okay in my book, Princess. Not something I would have done, but that took a lot of guts. "Give me that," Jill said as she snatched the cigarette from Brenda and lit it. Brenda let out a short laugh. "I knew you wouldn't last the night." "Now you know one of my secrets," Jill said to me. "And don't tell my parents, they still don't know." She glared at Brenda. "And don't let anyone bully you into trying these things. They're addictive as hell." "You two clearly know each other more than you're letting on," Brenda said looking at Jill and then at me. "You two did not just meet a few days ago." "You caught us, Brenda," Jill snapped. "The truth is Stacy is actually my first cousin and her dad is actually my mom's brother and the family keeps it secret for no good reason." She switched to a sarcastic tone as she said, "Oh yeah and Stacy is actually a guy." "Smartass," Brenda replied. The game ended after that. I headed to the bathroom to relieve my bladder, brush my teeth and steady my nerves. I couldn't believe that Jill had told them I was a guy when she lied about us being cousins. They didn't believe her thankfully. Perhaps that was her plan; tell the truth while lying about something else to obscure it. When I returned to the rec room Jill and Brenda were arranging sleeping bags while Cindy was strumming on her guitar. I sat next to Cindy and watched her play. I didn't recognize the song, but it reminded me of John Denver. "You're pretty good," I said once she finished. "Thanks." As she was putting her guitar away I told myself to ask her if I could play it. I was afraid though. Besides asking a near stranger if I could play their guitar, something I wouldn't let a stranger do with my guitar, I was pretty nervous about playing in front of the girls. I reminded myself that I was Stacy tonight and Stacy didn't need to be afraid. "Can I play your guitar?" I asked Cindy as she was unrolling her sleeping bag. "Sure." She walked over to her guitar case. "Have you handled a guitar before?" "Yeah, I have my own, but my mom took it away when I got into trouble." Cindy handed the guitar to me and I felt a rush go through my belly. It was so nice to handle a guitar again. I gave it a strum and then began tuning it. "I already tuned it." Cindy looked a little annoyed. "Sorry, it's just habit." I continued tuning the guitar until it was actually in tune. It had been close, but it was off just enough that it would have bugged me to play it. "Okay, I guess." She went back to her sleeping bag. I quietly strummed the guitar a couple time, not playing anything in particular. Then I worked my way through a series of chords. I looked up; the girls were talking to each other and not paying any attention to me. I decided to play my favorite song. I leaned my head forward, shook my hair until it covered my face and started playing "Stairway to Heaven". Nick used to give me crap about playing with my hair in my face, but it was a trick my dad taught me to get over my anxiety when playing. It helped block out the rest of the world and let me concentrate solely on the music. I was about halfway through the song when I remembered that I wasn't alone in the room. "Oooh and it makes me wonder," Jill sang. I stopped playing and looked up to see the three girls smiling at me. I felt like a deer caught in headlights. "Holy shit," Brenda exclaimed. "Where did you learn to play like that?" "I don't know, my dad taught me some and I just play a lot." "You're way better than I am," Cindy said. "Do you know any other songs?" I answered by playing Keith Richard's opening riff from "Satisfaction". It sounds a lot better when I play it on my Les Paul then it did on Cindy's acoustic guitar, but that didn't stop the girls from all singing along once I reached Mick's part. I even sang along whenever we got to "I can't get no satisfaction". We were a little over halfway through the song when Cindy looked up; she stopped singing and her face dropped. Jill looked up and then she put her hand on the guitar strings, muting my playing. I turned to see what had them freaked out. Standing in the doorway to the rec room was a large, bleary-eyed man dressed in a bathrobe. Jill's dad didn't say a word; he just glared at us with his arms crossed. Cindy took the guitar from me and put it in its case while the rest of us crawled into our sleeping bags. Once we were all laying down he turned off the lights and left. A few minutes later Cindy, Brenda and Jill started talking quietly. I paid no attention to them. My mind was replaying the last ten minutes over and over. It had felt amazing playing a guitar again. It also felt really great when the girls sang while I played. None of us sang when I'd played with Nick and Barry. It was really cool hearing the lyrics being sung for a change. Plus all three girls had great voices, particularly Jill. Chapter 12 In the morning Jill's mom made us breakfast before we headed back downstairs to get ready for the day. The other girls changed in the rec room while I slipped into the bathroom to change, brush my hair, and do my face. When I exited Brenda was waiting impatiently for her turn. "Too shy to dress around us, Princess?" she asked as she pushed her way past me. I headed back into the rec room. Cindy and Jill were sitting on the couch going through the photos that Jill had picked up at the Fotomat. I sat next to Cindy and she started passing them to me. They had been taken at the beach and Cindy, Brenda and Jill's parents were in most of them. Jill was in a few of the photos as well. I guess she'd let someone else handle her camera or she'd brought her tripod along. There were several photos of fireworks so I guessed that they were taken last weekend on the Fourth of July. Brenda returned while we were looking at the photos and all three girls started reminiscing about all the fun they'd had. It made me pretty jealous. I'd had to watch fireworks on television. I eventually headed over to the stereo to put on a record. As I was pulling out an album by the Rolling Stones Cindy came over with her guitar. "Can you play some more?" she asked. "Is it okay?" I asked Jill. "My dad is golfing and my mom won't care as long as we don't get too crazy loud." "What would you like me to play?" I asked Cindy. "Do you know 'I Think I Love You'?" "I don't play bubble gum." "Good for you, Princess," Brenda said. "I hate The Partridge Family. David Cassidy is a fox, but their music is annoying." "I like that song," Cindy replied. "David Cassidy is cute, but Donny Osmond is the fox." "Who do you think is cuter, David or Donny," Brenda asked me. "Their music bums me out too much to like either of them," I said. "I think Freddy Prinze is pretty cute." Heidi had warned me that the subject of cute guys would come up and that I should be prepared. I didn't really think he was cute, but I loved watching "Chico and the Man" on television. "You know what they say about Latin men, don't you?" Brenda said. "They say they're great lovers. Do you want Freddy to be your lover?" "Leave her alone," Jill snapped. "Can't fight your own battles, Princess?" Brenda said with a sneer. I didn't reply, instead I turned my attention to the guitar and started playing 'I'm Eighteen'. Jill sang along. "You've got great taste in music at least, even if your taste in men is questionable," Brenda said when I finished. "She's just what we need," Cindy said. "Yeah, she would be perfect," Brenda said looking at Jill. "I don't know," Jill said. "Plus we don't have a drummer anyway." "I could get Scott to come back," Brenda said. "If we get Scott, then Mark will start hanging around and I'm trying to stay away from him." "So what if he does?" Brenda asked. "You don't have to go out with him just because he hangs around us." "I don't see what you have against Mark; you two make a cute couple," Cindy said. "Fine," Jill said. "Stacy, we have a band and want to know if you would like to join. We really need a lead guitarist. Cindy is great at rhythm guitar, but she can't play the lead part that well yet." "What kind of music do you play?" I asked. "Just like you've been playing; Cream, The Who, Deep Purple, The Stones," Brenda said. "We've played for a couple years, but we lost our drummer and lead guitarist several months ago," Jill explained. "I'm in," I blurted without really thinking it through. The idea of playing in front of even more people still scared me, but the joy I'd just felt having someone sing along was too great to pass up. "Sweet," Cindy said. "I'll call Scott tonight," Brenda said. "When should we get together?" "We can use my place tomorrow since my parents are going to be gone all day, but I'll have to check with them and our next door neighbors after that," Cindy said. "Tomorrow works for me," Brenda said. "That work for you?" she asked, looking at me. "I'll have to check with my mom first," I replied. For the next couple hours the girls talked and smoked while I quietly played Cindy's guitar. While Jill never actually lit a cigarette I saw her take the occasional puff off the other girl's cigarettes. After Brenda and Cindy departed Jill led me to her room. It reminded me of the salon, everything was white and pink. All the furniture in her room matched and her canopy bed had a fluffy comforter covered with pink carnations. "Are you sure you want to join our band?" Jill sat on her bed and I sat on the chair in front of her vanity. "It'll mean being Stacy a lot." "It's probably too late to join the band as Gary isn't it." "If I bring a guy to rehearsal who happens to be the same height, build, age and also plays lead guitar as Stacy they might put two and two together." "I'd rather play with your band as Stacy than not at all," I said. "I'll need to get my mom to let me have my guitar back though. She confiscated it when I got into trouble." "I'll ask her with you and if we can't talk her into it, I'll get Grandma to talk to her," Jill said. "She always gets what she wants." "I've kind of noticed that about her." "We'll need to get you some more clothes though; you can't keep borrowing mine. It's not that I mind, but Brenda and Cindy have seen most of my clothes and they're bound to ask questions if you keep wearing mine. There are a couple thrift shops in town that have some nice threads if you want to go." "That'd be sweet," I replied. "Your grandma just gave me a hundred dollars." "Nice, that will go a long way in these stores." After dropping off a roll of film at the Fotomat, Jill drove me to a thrift shop that wasn't too far from Gloria's salon. It was a large store that had all manner of used items. I was no stranger to these types of stores, my mom's limited budget made it a necessity, but I had never been in this particular one. Jill certainly had been here before. She winded her way through a sea of clothing racks, moving so fast that I wasn't able to determine what was wrong with the clothes were passing, they looked like women's clothes to me. When she stopped she began rifling through a large pile of jeans. "Look through that stack over there," Jill said. "Grab anything decent in a size two or four. Jeans vary by maker so you'll have to try them on to be sure." I started looking through the stack. I wasn't sure what Jill meant by decent so I grabbed all the jeans that were a size two or a four. I was not moving as fast as Jill, she was on a different stack by the time I was halfway through the first. Fifteen minutes later while I was working my way through the last stack Jill started looking through my pile. "You sure you want to wear some of these?" She said with a look of uncertainty on her face. "I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll wear whatever you think looks good." "You should pick clothes that you like," she said in a comforting tone. "How about this, I'll go through these and remove anything that is way out of style and then you can try on what's left and we can see what looks good on you." I agreed and she led me to the other side of the store where there were some changing rooms. There more curtains hanging from metal bars than actual rooms, but they provided privacy. I was carrying six pairs of jeans and Jill had another five tucked under her arm. "Try these on and I'm going to look for some skirts." She handed me her stack of jeans. "Don't worry if they are a little long, we can hem them later." I entered the changing area and placed the stack of jeans on a chair and then removed my shoes and pants. Only a couple of the jeans fit, the rest were either too loose, short, or way too tight. Before I was finished Jill's arm pushed through the curtain holding even more clothes. I took them from her and tried on various skirts, some that went to my ankles and others that were really high on my thighs. I put the ones that fit to the side with the few jeans that had fit. Next it was a stack of blouses and after that a bunch of dresses. I was definitely tired of trying on clothes once I made it through all of them, especially since most of them smelled musty. I put my clothes back on and exited the changing room and showed Jill the ones that fit. She had me buy them all. The total for three dresses, four skirts, three pairs of shorts, seven blouses and four pairs of jeans was less than thirty dollars. Once we put the clothes in her car she led me back into the store and had me try on a bunch of shoes. "I don't think I can walk in these," I said as she handed me a pair of sandals with a rather large wedge heel. "You don't have to walk in them, just see if they fit," she replied. "You may not want them now, but you may change your mind later and it is good to have options; plus they're only a buck." "They fit okay," I said after I had strapped my feet in to them. I stood and took a couple tentative steps. "You look like you're walking the high wire with your arms out like that," Jill said with a laughed. "You can practice at my place later, here try these." We left once again with a bag of shoes in different colors and varying heel height, even a pair of platform shoes that Jill insisted I buy. She said they would look great with one of the dresses. Next we went to a regular clothes store and she had me buy panties, socks, tights and a couple bras. The total for these was a little bit more than for all the clothes I'd bought at the second hand store. While the thrift store sold underwear we both agreed that buying second hand underwear was just plain gross. It was after one in the afternoon at this point and we were both hungry. I told Jill that I wanted to buy her lunch for all of her help, but that I wanted to go to McDonalds. She agreed readily; she loved their food too. We both tried to win a free Big Mac by reciting its ingredients within three seconds. Jill got all the ingredients right, but took too long. I got tongue tied halfway through and ended up saying 'pickled onions on a semi-seed bun' instead of 'pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun'. I ended up just paying for the burgers along with some fries and a couple cokes. "So, who all is in the band?" I asked once we sat with our food. I'd been so excited about being able to play again I'd forgotten to ask anything about it. "You've met them all except for Scott who will be playing drums. Brenda plays keyboard and Cindy plays rhythm guitar. I play bass and lead vocals. We've played with Scott a few times and he's pretty good." "Right on." "Don't look, but there is a guy across the store that is checking you out." She had a smirk on her face. "Don't look!" she hissed when I turned my head. "Not unless you want him to come over and start talking to you." "Are you sure?" I asked, horrified. "Maybe he's looking at you." "He is definitely looking at you. His friend is looking at me." "What do we do?" "Well, if I was here with Brenda or Cindy we would smile at them and hope they come over and talk to us," Jill said. "In this case we'll just mind our own business. If they do come over we'll tell them that we're waiting for boyfriends who play football." Jill narrowed her eyes and gave me a strange look. "Unless you'd like them to talk to us, that is." "No!" I felt my face flush. "Let's get out of here before they try to talk to us." "Relax, I was just teasing. Let's finish eating. I'll handle them if it comes to it." The guys did not approach us and we didn't talk about them anymore. After we finished eating Jill and I pulled some lip gloss from our purses and added a coat to our lips. On the drive to my house I realized that I probably should have waited until my mom said it was okay to play in Jill's band before I spent most of my money on girl's clothes. Jill helped me lug all of my bags up the stairs to my apartment once we arrived. We dropped the bags just inside the front door and then went back to her car for my suitcase, sleeping bag and pillow. We stowed it all in my bedroom and then went to the living room to greet my mom. She was sitting on the couch doing a crossword while watching television and smoking. "Hello, Jill." My mom stood and gave Jill a hug. "How was your slumber party?" "It was out of sight, Mrs. Peterson." "That's nice. Would you like to join us for dinner tonight? I'll be making spaghetti." My mom sat back down and looked at her crossword puzzle. "No thank you," Jill said as she elbowed me. "Mom...um...Jill has a band and they want me to play with them tomorrow. Would it be okay for me to play with them? I'd need my guitar." "It's been a month so I'm okay with you having your guitar back." My mom squinted her eyes at me. "But I want to talk about this band thing before I say yes." "Well, I'll talk to you later. It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Peterson." Jill and I walked to the front door. "Let me know if you need any help convincing her," Jill whispered as we hugged goodbye. I headed back to the living room. "I really don't know about this band thing," my mom said. "I'm assuming that you would be dressed as a girl while you played, is this correct?" "Yeah, the other band members all know me as Stacy," I said. "It's okay though, I'd rather play as Stacy than sit at home." "When I agreed to let you dress as a girl it was supposed to be in the salon only. Then you wanted to go to Jill's slumber party and now you want to join a band as a girl. I don't like that this is spilling over into other areas of your life. Where is it going to end, Gary?" "It's just to play guitar Mom; I swear. I would rather play as Gary, but there is no way I'm playing with Nick and it's Stacy or nothing with Jill's band." "Let me think about it and I'll let you know tonight" she said. "In the meantime you can get your guitar from my room, but do me a favor and change your clothes." I headed to my mom's room and grabbed my guitar and relocated it to my room. I then headed to the bathroom. As I passed the mirror I checked my reflection for a moment before heading on to the toilet. I stopped short. It finally occurred to me what my mom meant when she'd asked me to change my clothes. I was still dressed as Stacy. When I looked at myself in the mirror I hadn't even given it a second thought that I was home and dressed as a girl. I'd spent the last thirty hours as Stacy and it seemed almost normal. After I finished my business I washed the makeup off my face and then had a quick shower. Once back in my room I put on my Gary clothes and then started going through all the clothes that I had bought with Jill. I decided I should wash all the used stuff, and then thought I'd just wash it all. I had washed my own clothes a few times, but I was not sure how I should wash girl's clothes. I figured I'd wash the jeans and cotton blouses like I washed my own clothes. I checked the tags on the skirts, dresses and the non-cotton blouse. A couple said permanent press, which was new to me. I decided to ask my mom. "How do you wash permanent press?" I held a yellow summer dress in my hands. "The washer has a permanent press setting and use the gentle setting on the dryer," she replied without looking up. Suddenly her head snapped up. "What do you have that needs permanent press?" "Jill and I bought some clothes for Stacy today." I showed her the dress in my hands. My mom continued to stare at me. She looked like she wanted to say something, but no words came out. "I'll need girl clothes for when I play with the band," I said sheepishly. When she still didn't say anything I went to my room to grab the clothes and start the laundry. At dinner my mom asked about my time with Jill. I decided to skip over the girly stuff and especially the truth or dare game. I focused mainly on the guitar playing and how it made me feel. When I started telling her about it I suddenly realized that playing Cindy's guitar was probably breaking the rules since my guitar had been confiscated, but my mom didn't say anything about it. She smiled when I told her how much fun it had been playing while the girls sang. "It's nice to see you so happy, Gary," she said when I finished talking. "Okay, you can play in Jill's band. I jumped up and gave her a big hug and then grabbed the phone so I could tell Jill the good news. --Continued in part 3--