34-SCHOOLING IN SKIRTS

she had said. He was trying to match my dance steps. Finally, I stopped and started giggling.

"What's the matter?” he asked.

"You and me," I choked out between giggles. “I can barely dance, and you're trying to duplicate what I'm doing. It's like the blind leading the blind!"

"I guess, um, I don't dance that, uh, great, either," he admitted. "But, well, I really, uh, wanted to meet you. I, um, noticed you in my second period math class, and, well, you see, I noticed that you didn't have a, um, boyfriend, and gee, you're really pretty, and, um, well, I didn't want you to not, you know, have a good time, and "His voice trailed off again.

000

Impulsively, I dragged him over to the sidelines. "Look, J.J. I really appreciate you thinking of me like that, but I'm really not in the market for a boyfriend right now." He looked hurt again. "I mean, we can be friends ..."

"Could we, um, maybe go to a movie sometime?” "Well, maybe." What was I thinking of? How could I be possibly considering going on a date with a boy? I still thought of myself as a male ... even if I didn't LOOK the part ... now I was talking about going to the movies with one? "I mean, I don't know, J.J. Are you sure you want to take out someone like me?"

"Well, uh, sure... that is, if you, um, wanted to ... I mean, you ARE one of the, well, prettiest girls in school..."

Did EVERYONE accept me as female this unquestioningly? How was I going to reclaim my true identity as Daniel Nichols when this was all over? Or had fate conspired with Kathy to really make me into a girl named Danielle for the rest of my life? I couldn't think of a way out of my peril, so, sighing heavily, I rummaged around in my purse and came up with a pencil and paper. "Here's my address and phone number. Call me next week and we'll talk about it, O.K.?" I handed him the scrap of paper.

"Um, O.K., yeah, that's great! Uh, thanks, really, uh ... Danni ..." He stood up, almost knocking over the chairs in

CONTEMPORARY TV FICTION 35

the process. "Did I tell you, uh, what a pretty name Danni is ...?

Chris came over. "I think J.J. likes you."

"Yeah, I guess so," I replied. But what I really was thinking was "What have I gotten myself into NOW?"

It didn't take long for Susan to find out from Chris what had been happening at the dance while she had been preoccupied with her boyfriend. The subject came up one afternoon after school while she was hanging around the apartment. As I said before, we had a little after-school "girl talk" a couple of times a week while I cooked dinner: We talked about our classes, makeup, clothes, and lately, even J.J. and I was surprised at how comfortable I was becoming talking about these things with Susan!

"So, what are you going to do about J.J.?" she asked. "I don't know. He reminds me of me ... I mean, when I was a boy. He seems so shy and insecure."

"He is kind of like the old Danny. Except that YOU never got up enough nerve to ask a girl to dance."

She was giggling about the idea of me asking a girl to dance, now that I looked like a girl myself, when I heard Kathy come in the door. "I'm home, little sister," she called

out.

"We're in the kitchen, Kathy," I answered.

As she came into the room, she asked, "Oh, hi, Susan, what's so funny?"

"Oh, we were just talking about what happened at the dance last Friday, and mmmmmmmph ..." I clapped my hand over her mouth.

I said, "There was this boy who tried to ask Susan to dance, and her boyfriend practically knocked over all the chairs trying to chase him away. You kind of had to be there." I looked at Susan, who nodded. I took my hand off her mouth. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Sure," Susan answered, reaching for the phone on the wall, "if I can call home." Before she could lift the receiver,