RELUCTANT PRESS

"You'll have to help me with my stockings. My nails are wet so I can't put them on myself. Get a pair from my top drawer."

She sat on the edge of her bed and once again I got down on my knees while I rolled each one up her leg and fastened them on the garters.

And as humiliating as this was, along with all the humiliation of the last hour, I found myself fully aroused!

"How's my hair?" she asked.

She had her hair done in an up-do by my mother every Saturday and with the aid of lots of hair spray, kept it in all week. By now, there were several stray pieces in the back and I told her to sit at her dresser while I pinned it back in place.

"Thanks. I've been running around all day and now I'm late for bridge, so be a dear and pick up my room, Danny," she said and left abruptly.

I heard Mrs. Wales say, "hello and good-bye," to the girls and leave for her bridge party.

I looked around the room and found a few things on the floor and picked them up. I made the bed. Her room was usually spotless, unlike Susie's. Her bathroom was a little worse, with wet towels and underwear on the floor and the place steamy from her shower. I noticed something unfamiliar in the sink. It was a used feminine napkin! Well, I supposed that explained her bad mood and snippiness. Mom was always so discreet about these things and I had never actually seen a napkin before. I wrapped it in some toilet tissue and put it in the wastebasket and decided I would empty the basket in the trash barrel in the garage. I did not think that something like this would smell very nice sitting in the bathroom all night. I wiped down the shower and sink and put out fresh towels on the rack.

I had to walk through the kitchen to get to the garage and when I started to leave Susie invited me to stay and have pizza with them. As hungry as I was, I desperately wanted to flee from this place, totally confused about my mixed emotions. But Susie was persistent, as only Susie could be, and talked me into staying, "so that the pizza would not be wasted."

I did stay to eat, and longer.

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RUFFLES & CURLES

By Kammi Morton

I had always felt more comfortable around women and enjoyed much of their chatter about fashions, hair styles, etc. In contrast, I was like a fish out of water around boys since I did not enjoy sports and found their crude and insulting bravado about their manly conquests of girls, no doubt greatly exaggerated if not totally untrue, offensive. Often I had found myself going along with this talk and regretted my behavior afterward.

So after about fifteen minutes of sitting silently with the four girls, I began to relax and join in their conversation. Soon, I was even enjoying myself and actually wishing that I could spend the entire evening with them, which of course was impossible.

"Danny, how about joining our slumber party?" asked Susie, as though she was reading my mind.

"Oh right! Just what I need, to spend the night talking about boys and the latest colors of make-up. No thanks!" "Aw come on!" said Becky. "It would be fun and we don't just talk about boys and make-up."

The other girls joined in urging me to stay but I continued to resist, reluctantly. "It's not right for a guy to go to a slumber party. That's just for girls."

"Well, why don't you be one of the girls for tonight?" asked Susie, and I caught the wink that she discreetly directed to me.

I knew what Susie had in mind. As exciting as it might be to spend a night with four of the most beautiful and popular girls at my school, I knew that Susie intended for me to be Danielle once again.

"Ah, I don't think so, Susie. Not tonight."

"Danny, I want you to stay!" Susie stated emphatically. Now I had to decide whether to get Susie mad by refusing, or humiliating myself by staying. I was favoring the former, thinking that maybe this whole thing had gone too far. Actually, I was really afraid that I was beginning to like all this too much.

"Danny, my friends know all about us. And they also promise to keep it between us. OK?"

It was a shock to discover that what I thought was a special secret between Susie and I was apparently the topic of giggly gossip among her friends. How could I possibly face

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