8TV FICTION CLASSICS "SANDY THOMAS

how well they can train those boys to act. Imagine, the kind of acting careers they will have ..."

"That's not all, this one looks like he's developing!", I interrupted pointing at the obvious bosom.

"Oh, come now, dear. Actors . . .er...actresses .. .well you know...have to master 'illusion'. You remember that movie 'Tootsie' with Dustin Hoffman." She knew that I really respected Dustin Hoffman as an actor. Perhaps this was like some drama schools that 'live Shakespeare', always doing old plays and talking in the 'King's English'. I had to assume this was just a more strict "method acting' academy. I had heard that boys always played the girl's parts during Shakespearean time. DRAG, the slang term, was conceived in those stage times. When parts were given out in those days, next to your name it might say DRAG; which meant Dress Required As Girl.

"Well, I hope that this was just part of some stage costume that they were wearing for this photo," I grumbled and went on to look at some other photos. There was another photo at what appeared like some sort of dance. Lots of boys and girls all dressed in formal attire (boys in suits and girls in long dresses) dancing to a live band. The caption described this as one of the monthly dances, where the boys and girls of Rosemount get to socialize. I must admit, either they had hand-picked the girls that were in the photo, or else this school had an awful lot of gorgeous dolls!

CHAPTER 2, Making the decision and preparation.

I then remembered the earlier mention about the formal attire for the monthly dances. I guess I'll have to pack my suit. The rest of the brochure had smaller photos of the various other facilities the school offered. There was a very nice gym, exercise room, indoor swimming pool, full theater with a modern, high-tech stage, recording studio and library. There was also a photo of a quite large, fully equipped beauty salon. It was all decorated in pink and peach, with comfortable looking chairs and row upon row of hair dryers. It didn't occur to me then why the beauty salon was shown in the boy "actress" brochure. However, I would find out soon after I started school!

Well, all in all, the forested grounds and facilities certainly did look appealing. But I guess what really appealed to me was the picture of the dance. One of the girls, a cute brunette, was a real knockout! My young male blood was just beginning to boil. I think it could even be classified as an instant, bona fide "crush"! She didn't look like a senior, so maybe she was just a sophomore who might not look down too much on a boy one year younger than herself. There were only a hundred or so students at Rosemount in total. If half were boys, that

ACTING LIKE A GIRL -9

meant my competition was small in comparison to the hundreds I had in the public high school. This new development had the effect of making me suddenly 'very interested' in attending Rosemount. My mother probably couldn't figure out the reason for my sudden change of heart, but she was thrilled regardless.

And so my 'preparations' began. For the first few weeks I didn't think anything of it, but a chance glance at our last telephone bill, which was sitting on the kitchen table one morning, indicated many significant long distance calls to Rosemount. My mother hadn't mentioned anything. But she did seem to direct my preparations as if she was getting specific advice from someone.

I had to shampoo and condition my hair every day then let my mother comb it out and style it. At first, she just blow dried it off my face. As the months went by, it got longer and longer, and the conditioning made it very silky and soft. I couldn't keep it out of my eyes. So, one day in the early summer, she insisted on using her curling iron on it after blow drying, just 'to keep the bangs off your face'. After a few days of this, the curling extended not just to my bangs, but to the back and top as well. Finally, one day I was surprised when I felt her putting a hot roller into my hair. I usually sat facing away from her vanity while she did my hair so I didn't see what she was doing. She just said that she wanted to try something that may work better than the curling iron. Twenty minutes later, I looked back at my reflection in the bathroom mirror to see my head completely covered with rollers, all tied down with a large hairnet.

Oh, boy! I was told to sit through breakfast like this, and then through a mini-facial my mother insisted that 'I needed'. Next was the usual daily manicure including a couple coats of clear 'nail hardener'. She had begun to shape my lengthening nails into a more oval shape than I had ever worn before. Needless to say, I didn't romp around with my gang like in the past summers. After a few repeated lame excuses, they stopped phoning to see if I wanted to participate in their fun. I was hoping that my sacrifice now would pay off in letting me meet my dream girl!

Finally mother sat me down at her vanity (this time facing the mirror) while she undid the hair net and began to slowly unwind the many rollers. I couldn't believe the springy ringlets that bounced near my shoulders. With an almost reverent air, my mother began to carefully brush out the ringlets. The hairstyle was beginning to form ...We were both a little bit surprised by how it looked Terrific!! That is if you are a girl!

"Mom

.what are you trying to do?"

"Shhh...I'm just trying something." She was always "just trying something"! She continued with brush and comb, backcombing here, spraying there. I gave up...Then she got that "hey, I have an idea expression" and began inserting bobby pins throughout the style that strategically held my hair up!