The Reluctant Prom Date (The Reluctant Series Book 4)

by Melanie Brown

  “I’ve seen you naked, remember?” said Joey without humor. “Can I suggest something?”

  Folding my arms, “Sure Joey. Suggest away.”

  “Think long and hard about this decision, Chris-chan,” Joey said. My God, if I think any longer and harder on this, my brain will explode. He must have read my expression because he continued, “Seriously. Just think of all the little stuff you have to put up with every day for your lifestyle as a girl, like fussing with your hair, wearing make-up, never standing to take a piss. Can you do that for the rest of your life? Do you want to wind up a blue-haired old lady with too much rouge? What if you meet a guy you like better than Jeff? At least Jeff knows what he’s getting into. The next guy you like most likely won’t.”

  He paused a moment, so I jumped in. “My ‘lifestyle’ suits me just fine, thank you. Most of it’s already become second nature. And, there’s not going to be another guy. I love Jeff. I’m never letting go of him!”

  Joey shrugged, “I’m not saying you will. If you and Jeff are still together after graduation, then please invite me to the wedding. All I’m saying is be sure this is what you really want.”

  I smiled at Joey, and then suddenly gave him a hug. “I’m pretty sure this is what I want. It’s not like I’m going to get a sex change tomorrow or anything!” I laughed, then added, “You’re a good friend, Joey. It’s nice to know that you care and I can talk to you about this stuff.”

  Joey smiled, “I’m always ready to dispense free advice.”

  I laughed again, “I need all the help I can get! Now, how was Japan?”

  “Cold!” Joey laughed. “It was pretty damned cold. I thought we got a lot of snow here, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Misawa.”

  “Well, I missed you. Did you do anything exciting, or did you just build snowmen?”

  “We took the bullet train down to Tokyo. Let me tell you, if there’s any geek left in you at all, you’d love ‘The Ginza.’ If it’s electronic, cool and new, it’s there. My head was spinning there were so many new gizmos to look at.”

  “Sounds cool!” I laughed. “Well, I got to get to class. We’ll have to talk about your trip later. I want to hear all about it! Glad you’re back!”

  As we started to walk away from each other, Joey turned and said, “Oh, just one more thing. What about your parents? I’m sure they had hopes and dreams for a little boy.”

  I frowned, annoyed that Joey just couldn’t let go of it. “Joey, will you stop it already? Look, I love Mom and Dad, but I can’t live their dream. I have to live mine. Maybe things happen for a reason. This life was shown to me twice! And both times, I felt more comfortable and more, well, more me, than any other time.”

  Joey threw up his arms in surrender and chuckled. “Okay! Okay. I’ll leave you alone. I just want to know you’re not just doing this on impulse.”

  I wanted to scream that finally coming to the conclusion that I was female was not made on impulse or whimsy! Instead, I said, “Thanks Joey. I appreciate your concern.” Then I laughed, “Now get lost, will ya!?”

  * * *

  As usual, the cheerleader squad was all sitting at one table in the cafeteria. They were all giving me funny looks as I approached the table. “Hey guys!” I called as I set my tray down.

  When I started to sit, Mandy whispered, “Does it like, hurt to sit down?”

  With a puzzled look on my face, I plopped down in my seat and said, “No. Why? Should it?”

  Brandi leaned past Stephanie and said, “Maybe. Is it true?” Five pairs of eyes stared intently at me.

  I took a stab at my salad as I looked from face to face. “Is what true?”

  Gesturing, Mandy said, “You know… it. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!”

  Putting down my fork and a little afraid to ask, “What exactly are you talking about?”

  Mandy did a quick look around the vicinity and said in a low voice, “Jeff told some of the guys on the football team he scored on New Year’s Eve.”

  Oh-my-God! Surely not! To the girls, I said in a shocked voice, “He said what?!”

  Breathless, Brandi whispered across the table, “Did you? Did you do it with Jeff?”

  Horrified, I said, “Hey, that’s personal!”

  The girls passed a knowing look among themselves. Brittney smiled and asked, “What was it like with Jeff?”

  “Will you guys pipe down?!” I whispered. “Listen to me. Honestly, I did not have sex with Jeff. Not really…”

  Mandy, suddenly looking serious whispered, “You gave him a ‘BJ’, didn’t you?”

  This was ridiculous. I didn’t want to talk about this. Especially at lunch. I blurted out in whisper, “Yes. Yes, that’s all I did. Can we not talk about this?”

  I took a bite of my salad and said, “I’m just surprised Jeff would say anything because if I was ever found out, he’d really be up shit creek.”

  Their grins all faded into shocked looks. Then they were all grinning again and giving each other knowing looks.

  Through giggles, Brandi said, “We were joking… Jeff never said anything!”

  Brittney said, “We just made it up.”

  Except for Mandy, they all laughed. I felt my face turning fire engine red. I looked over at Mandy. She looked pissed off and was staring into her plate, her lips forming words I couldn’t hear.

  A cold chill flushed down my spine. I just confessed an intimate secret about Jeff and me to these girls. I was struck with a sudden panic. Stephanie couldn’t keep the combination to her locker secret, how could she keep from blabbing this?

  Anguish in my voice, and tears starting to well up, I cried, “You guys tricked me! You tricked me into telling you something I didn’t really want you to know about! How could you?”

  Looking sheepish, Brittney and Brandi said at the same time, “We’re sorry!”

  Regaining some composure, Mandy said in an even voice, “Chris, we’re sorry. Honest, we were just like, trying to get a rise out of you. Like, we weren’t trying to trick you into confessing, okay?”

  “Well, it’s not funny! And now you all know. I hope you’re happy.” Using a napkin, I wiped away a black streak under my eye.

  Sounding indignant, Stephanie said, “My God. We said we’re sorry. What do you want?”

  Mandy motioned for us to lean in close. She said, “Look Chrissy, let me tell you something. All of us have like, done that with our boyfriends at least once. It’s not a big deal.”

  I scowled, “Well it was still thoughtless, mean, and uncalled for.” I pushed my chair back noisily and stood up. In a huff, I spun around and hurried from the cafeteria.

  * * *

  I hurried through the halls, not really caring where I was going. Faces blurred past me. I was on the verge of tears and it took all my will to keep from crying. I stopped walking when I realized I was standing in the girls’ locker room.

  I looked around the corner, and I could see Coach Renwick sitting at her desk. I hesitated a few minutes, not sure of where I should go. I was about to head to the library, when Coach turned around and saw me. She waved and motioned for me to come in.

  As she gestured for me to sit down, she asked, “Well, Miss Davis. I was surprised to see you down here, but since you’re here, I wanted to show you…” She turned away from me to pick up some papers on her desk. “I wanted to show you the info I got today about the Cheerleading contest in March.” She was about to continue, but stopped in mid breath.

  “Chrissy, are you okay?” she asked.

  Ignoring her question, I asked, “Coach, when you look at me, do you see a boy or a girl?”

  Coach Renwick let out a short laugh and gave me one of those ‘What, are you kidding?’ kind of looks. She said, “What, are you kidding? I see a very pretty young woman and one of my best cheerleaders. Why the question?”

  I didn’t answer for several moments. I just sat there, studying my hands. The polish on my index finger had gotten messed up and I was going to have
to redo it. “Doubts.” I looked up at Coach and continued, “Just doubts, Coach.”

  I felt a sudden burst of emotion well up inside me and I blurted, “For weeks, I fought being a girl. I didn’t want to be a cheerleader or wear dresses or do any of the bullshit girls do.” I paused for breath.

  Coach put a gentle hand on my shoulder and said, “You don’t know how many times I’ve told myself that I should never have asked you to fill in for Nikki. How could I do this to a boy, I asked myself. I was only thinking of me — what I needed to get the squad back up to speed in the shortest time. For that, I offer you my most sincere apology.”

  I just sat there, fidgeting. Coach continued, “But I have to say, Chrissy, that for someone who was so reluctant at becoming a cheerleader, you have become one of the top cheerleaders in the school’s history. Right next to your sister. You brought grace, flare, energy and quite frankly, femininity to the squad. Over the past couple of months, I’ve seen you grow in confidence as well as popularity. I have trouble feeling completely bad about my decision when I see such huge improvements in you.”

  I studied my hands, “That’s what’s so frustrating to me. I spent weeks denying I liked anything about being a girl. Then, when I feel it’s the best thing that’s happened to me and I decide that, yes I am a girl, and then it goes the other way. My best friend tries to cast doubts about me truly being a girl. When I try to move our relationship closer, my boyfriend never fails to give me a good dousing of reality so I remember who I really am. I mean, I don’t get it. We love each other, but I can’t get him to overlook just this one little thing.”

  Coach shrugged a helpless gesture, “I wish I could help, but Dear Abbey I’m not. Maybe you should talk to Jeff. Find out what he really wants.”

  I looked Coach Renwick square in the eye and asked, “Am I crazy to want to be a girl?”

  Coach shook her head slowly and said, “You’d be crazy not to.”

  * * *

  I’d just stepped back into the main hall from the locker room when the girls from the squad rounded a corner at the intersection.

  “There you are!” shouted Mandy. “We’ve been looking for you.”

  I stiffened. I was still a little P.O.’d at them for tricking me. “I’m right here.”

  “Chrissy, like, I don’t know what to say,” said Mandy. “We’re all terribly sorry. We were just like, joking around. We didn’t know you’d actually done anything.”

  Brandi said, “We weren’t trying to hurt your feelings or trick you into telling us anything about you and Jeff.”

  Stephanie said, “Hey, we’re buds for life, aren’t we? We goofed. We’re sorry.”

  They all gathered round me for a group hug that would make Barney barf. We all kissed each other on the cheek and cried and hugged. It was a Hallmark moment.

  * * *

  The halls were empty as I slowly walked through them on my way to the exit. I’d stopped to talk to a teacher for a few minutes and it didn’t take long for the school to empty. I rounded a corner and there was Mandy, leaning against the wall.

  She looked over at me when she heard my footsteps, “Hey, girlfriend.”

  “Hi Mandy,” I said feeling tired. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry again. We never would have said those things if we’d known that you and Jeff… well…” Her voice trailed away.

  “Don’t worry about. It’s done. And, hey, while I’m not going to write what Jeff and I did on the walls, I’m not ashamed of it.” I stared directly into Mandy’s eyes.

  “You really love him, don’t you?” asked Mandy. I nodded. “He’s certainly crazy about you. Whenever I talk to him, it’s Chrissy this and Chrissy that.” She then studied her feet.

  “I know it must be hard for you, Mandy. You have this massive crush on Jeff, and he gets interested in a boy in a dress. I never intended to…”

  Mandy cut me off. “You’re not a boy, Chrissy. Jeeze-Louise, girl. The only person in the world who doesn’t like, accept you as a girl is you.”

  I shook my head, “Not any more. I’m not running from it any more. I know I’m a girl. The very thought of going back to the way I was, is, well… unthinkable.”

  Mandy flashed me a smile. “I’m glad to hear it. Your soul is female. Like, I can feel it.”

  I laughed, not with a lot of humor, “It’s funny. I came to this decision over the holidays. Just when I’m ready to yell it to the world, ‘You’re damned right I’m a girl!’.” I slapped a fist into an open palm and then continued, “Both Jeff and Joey cause me to doubt. It’s crazy.”

  Mandy then asked how did Jeff and Joey make me doubt. I told her about what happened when Jeff touched my panties and the reservations Joey had about me becoming a girl.

  “Girl, just don’t worry about it,” Mandy said matter-of-factly as we exited the school. The sun was trying to poke through the clouds and the cold wind stung my face. “Just enjoy being a girl. Don’t think about it.”

  “I plan on it!” I started to wave goodbye to Mandy, then asked, “Oh, hey. Are you going to be in the prom fashion show next week?”

  “I was one of the first to sign up. Have you seen the dress they’re giving away?”

  Nodding, I said, “Yep! I plan on wearing that dress to the prom!”

  Mandy laughed, “Like, I don’t think so, since I’ll be wearing it!” She glanced at her watch, looked slightly panicked and said, “Hey, I gotta jet! See ya!” I watched her hurry down the steps to the parking lot where she broke into a run, splashing through the puddles from the melting snow.

  The icy wind whipped my hair around my face as I slowly descended the steps. I glanced across the parking lot. I hadn’t noticed it before, but behind one of the last remaining cars was Jeff’s, engine idling.

  As I approached, the driver’s side window rolled down and Jeff’s head popped out. “Hey babe! I was beginning to think you were never coming out!”

  I walked up to the car and leaned into the open window. “Hey honey! Thanks for waiting.” As I looked into Jeff’s eyes, there was no doubt what-so-ever that this was what I wanted, even if it meant being a future blue-haired old lady. I leaned in and gave Jeff a long, passionate kiss.

  * * *

  Chapter 5

  “Who was on the phone?” asked Diane. She looked at me with a puzzled expression. “You looked worried about something.”

  It was Wednesday afternoon and I was about to leave the house to go to work when the phone had rung. Hoping it was Jeff, I’d rushed to it. It wasn’t him.

  As I checked my purse for house keys and essentials I said, “It was that dress store. They said if I don’t come in today for measurements, I won’t get to participate in their fashion show.”

  Diane looked at me like I was stupid. “So go. What’s the big deal?”

  I gave Diane a stupid look right back, “How can I get measured? I can’t get naked. They’d notice I’m missing parts in one place and have extra in another.”

  Diane smirked at me, “You don’t have to get naked, doofus. They’ll measure under your bust, across your bust, your waist and hips and height. No big deal.”

  “You don’t think they’ll notice that my hips and waist aren’t exactly right?”

  Diane rolled her eyes. “They might find them odd, but it’s not like they’re going to run up and down the mall shouting ‘Chrissy is really a boy! Chrissy is really a boy!’” She flailed her arms wildly in the air.

  “I guess you’re right. But actually…”

  Diane frowned, “But what?”

  I smiled and said, “You could go and get measured in my place. They wouldn’t know the difference.”

  Diane laughed, “Yeah, right! Like they couldn’t tell the difference between a gorgeous, natural woman and a sissified boy!”

  “Why you…!” I flung my purse at her head and she let out a little yell as she turned and ran for the hall. I took out after her and we ran giggling through the house until w
e ran into Dad, almost knocking him to the floor.

  Looking a little shell-shocked, Dad called out, “Girls! Girls! Slow it down. What the crap is going on here?”

  “Nothing, Dad,” said Diane, breathing slightly hard. “We’re just having a little fun.”

  Dad looked dubious, “That’s what worries me. When you two are just having fun, something bad happens… like the house blowing up or something.”

  “Yeah, Dad. We’re a real dirty pair, aren’t we?” I said, trying to stop giggling. As Dad started to move away from us, a sudden thought struck me. “Dad, wait a second.”

  Dad looked at me expectantly and I continued, “It’s getting close to when we need to start thinking about prom. Next Saturday there’s a fashion show at the mall and I might win a prom dress. If I don’t though, there’s a really pretty dress that doesn’t cost all that…”

  Dad interrupted to say, “Before you ask, the answer is no. I’m not buying my son a prom dress! Diane only wore hers once. You can wear that.”

  Looking shocked, Diane sputtered, “Chris isn’t wearing my dress! That’s my dress. It was my prom… my memories! She needs her own dress.”

  “Dad!” I whined. “You can’t be serious! I can’t wear her dress. I can’t go to the prom in my sister’s hand-me-down!”

  Dad frowned at both of us and gave me a disgusted look. “I’m not buying you a prom dress and that’s final. It’s bad enough I’ve had to pay for a closet full of dresses in just the last couple of months!” He turned on his heel, and headed down the hall to the living room. I heard the garage door open and slam shut.

  I looked back over at Diane. “What am I going to do if I don’t win?”

  Diane, looking sheepish said, “Look… I didn’t mean what I said. If you can’t get another dress before prom, you can wear mine.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want your dress, Diane. I want my own.”

  * * *

  I walked out of the dress store on my way to the theater. Diane was right. They just did a quick measurement and then had me pick out four dresses in my size and told me to be there by twelve-thirty Saturday. Just as quickly, I found myself standing outside the store.