28-SCHOOLING IN SKIRTS

I drove "better than most girls". O.K., so it was a sexist remark, but it certainly made me feel feminine. Nonetheless, I did still miss being a boy.

My high I.Q. served me much better as Danni, I found. Although the change in schools had caused sudden jumps in the curriculum, I was able to adjust quickly, and NO ONE was going to ask me to tutor the jocks now that I was a girl. The coaches didn't trust their macho athletes with a pretty little thing like me. (Actually, I wouldn't have trusted them either.)

Chris caught up with me at my locker after the final bell Friday. "Want to go to the movies with me tonight?” she asked.

"Sure, I guess," I replied. "Anyone else going?"

"No, just you and me. Susan's boyfriend is taking her

out,"

I was struck by two thoughts. One, how quickly I'd become close friends with Chris, who had no idea that I was a boy in drag. Two, how pretty she was. I wished I could be her boyfriend... she didn't seem to have one, even though I'd heard her talk about some of the awful dates she'd had. Well, I guessed, going to the movies with her as Danni was certainly an improvement over my old social life at MacArthur. "Meet you at the theater?"

"O.K. The 'Plaza Four' ... movie starts at 7:00."

The movie was about a young boy who wished he could be a grownup and got his wish. It was so funny, I laughed until I cried... a fact Chris pointed out to me because my mascara had run down my cheeks. In the ladies' room, while I wiped the dark streaks off my face and added fresh mascara to my eyelashes, Chris said, "I think if I was going to make a wish like that, I'd want to see what being a boy was like."

I stopped fixing my face and looked at her. "Why? Don't you LIKE being a girl?" (I even surprised myself with that one.)

CONTEMPORARY TV FICTION 29

"Well, yeah, but sometimes I think boys have it better. I mean, look at the two of us... having to go to the movies together because we don't have boyfriends."

I finished with my makeup and we headed for the exit. "You're really worried about not having a boyfriend, aren't you, Chris?"

"Yeah, well, guys can be such jerks sometimes ..." "Tell you what. I'LL be your boyfriend. I'll wear jeans and no makeup..."

She looked at me and giggled. "Danni, you'd make a TERRIBLE looking boy." She put her arm around my shoulder and gave me a quick sideways hug. "But thanks for making me laugh. You're a neat friend!"

I was dazed. For a brief moment, I'd almost ended this charade and instead, had become an even closer girlfriend to someone. When I got home, I scrutinized the reflection in the mirror. It bore little resemblance to the one that had been there one short week before. Instead of an average-looking, insecure, frowning boy, I saw a cute, selfassured, smiling girl. Smiling, in spite of myself. It suddenly dawned on me that I had ENJOYED this past week as Danni ... that I really was better off this way!

CHAPTER SIX

It seemed the longer I went to Kennedy, the more normal it felt to be a girl. As people got used to me being there, they got friendlier towards me... especially the guys, who seemed very happy about this cute blonde who always wore miniskirts to class. Of course, that wasn't MY idea: Kathy wouldn't let me wear jeans (which Dr. Holland didn't seem terribly surprised at under the circumstances). Although I did have to admit that the longer I wore skirts, the