12-MOTHER'S NEW DAUGHTER

Mother was relieved it was all over now. She knew my tough friends would dump me and that was comforting to her. I went into my room determined that the next morning I'd be at "Marine Bob's" for a crew cut. I couldn't live like this.

In my room, I found the model's picture in my pocket. She was so cute, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Even I could see that she looked a bit like me. I went over to the mirror and held the picture up to my face. Facially, we could have been twins, but she was wearing a short tight dress, high heels, and standing next to the car of my dreams...a new BMW roadster.

A chill came over me when I looked into her eyes. Looking into the mirror, it was like I could see her soul and feel what she was feeling. My fingers went up to my soft silky hair and I knew it was what her hair felt like. I was aroused by the sensation----I had to have more!

I went down and asked mother, "Where is the magazine this picture came out of.

Mother looked at me funny and pointed to it. I quickly grabbed it and with my heart pounding, looked for more of "her". There were six other pictures of her in the issue. One with her hair pulled back on one side with a barrette. I quickly went to the mirror and pulled back my hair, using a paper clip to hold it back. I nearly swooned when I saw her face nearly looking back from my mirror. In her picture, she had on lipstick and light makeup, but the "twin"impression was unreal. We were nearly the same, but she had on the frilliest, flowered print dress I'd ever

seen.

I went out and got every issue of the magazine, then searched every page for my "daydream" girl. Mother came into my room seeing me going through every page. She smiled and said, "So, what's with the new hairdo?"

Stupid me! I left the paper clip in my hair. I was caught. I showed mother the pictures of the girl and the one of her in the print dress. I stammered as I asked, "She really does look like me, doesn't she?"

"Yes, you do look like her with your new hair style," mother admitted. "What a pretty girl and what a pretty dress! I want one of those. Let me see where they sell them."

SANDY THOMAS ADV. -13

The next morning, I combed my hair into a ponytail and Mother was right, it didn't look that bad or feminine. By later that day, I must have looked at that girl model's picture a hundred times.

When mother came home from work, she was carrying a package. I about died when she pulled out "the dress!" It was the same one the girl in the magazine was wearing. "They only had one left and it isn't really my size," she muttered. "I hope it isn't too small." It was.

To my surprise, she didn't take the dress back right away. It just hung in the hallway closet. I wanted to ask her about it but I'd never shown any interest in dresses before and wasn't about to start, but I couldn't take my eyes off it. I would look at it, and sometimes feel the soft fabric.

Every time I did, I felt guilty and hated what I was feeling, yet mother never took back the dress. One time I also tried to blow dry my hair the way Pat did, but it didn't look the same. I wanted to see "my girl" again.

At the end of a month, mother suggested I see Pat for a trim. I didn't complain. She made me an appointment for the following Thursday.

On Wednesday, mother's new "Woman's Life" arrived and we almost fought over it. Finally we stood together at the kitchen counter and flipped through it page by page.

That girl was featured again in an article called, "Beauty Wish List." Her hair had grown about the same as mine and it gave me that same thrill to see her. She was in some of the most dazzling outfits.

I saw in the tiny print below one of the pictures, "Photographer-Eric James, Model---Allison Dinn"

"Her name is Allison," I announced.

Mother laughed, "Do I detect a crush?"

I nodded, "She's really pretty..."

"And looks like you too!" Mother suggested, "Let's take Allison's picture again to Pat and have her copy her hair style."

I was embarrassed, but I admitted it might be fun. My heart was racing as I looked into the model's eyes.

To my surprise, my hair didn't need to be cut to look like Allison's. Pat said, "It looks like she's letting it grow. I