36-TV FICTION CLASSICS

Chapter six-

"If you got it.. . .

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The time for the play neared and disaster struck again. One of our co-workers died in an accident. He was a well liked guy, who was always the life of the party. Even though he was not in the play, because he was an important part of the production as the stage manager, it was decided that it was unseemly to have a play just now. Because of all the work that had gone into it, it was decided to postpone it for three months until Easter time.

Bob was very depressed when he learned that he had to continue being a girl, but we continued to rehearse and the orchestra began to sound better because of the additional time we had to practice.

The girls had all finished their costumes and tried them on many times. Dot had said at the dinner table one night that Bobbi looked adorable in his sailor dress, "and my little husband John, too, in his short pants and sailor suit," she added laughing.

I didn't kid her back. I was grateful not to be in the same boat as Bob. At least I played a boy, even though I was supposed to be fourteen, quite a task for a guy almost ten years older.

My father had long planned to send me to college and I agreed that I, too, wanted to make something of myself. A good journalist has to have a good education. I went to work for Swifter Air right out of school thinking that I could take a couple of years to get the money together for myself and not burden the family with my college expenses.

Just after the first of the year Bob and I were talking about why neither one of us had gone to college. It came down to money for both of us. Neither of us had had any and at the time of graduation from high school, the idea of working for the airline, working our way through the ranks seemed like the best way to get an education.

The local paper announced that there would be college aptitude tests available at the community college for any adult students who might be interested in

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going back to school. After kicking it around for a while we challenged each other to take the tests.

The tests were given on a Saturday morning and when I went to Bobbi's house to pick him up for the test he was dressed in tight ski pants with knee high high heeled boots with fur at the tops. His hair had grown longer now and Mary had experimented with some highlights which seemed to make his eyes sparkle. It was a cold morning and the brisk air made his cheeks even rosier than usual. He was beautiful.

We arrived at the Community College Library and signed in. More than one head turned as we sat down and waited for the test to begin. When Bobbi took off his cranberry parka, he revealed a tight turtleneck sweater in periwinkle blue with a line of snowflakes directly across his breasts. Naturally wavy blonde hair cascaded to his shoulders and his ski pants were supported by cranberry suspenders. If he had had a dime in his pocket you could have known whether it was heads or tails.

Neither one of us had been spectacular students in school, but had done a lot of reading and with our work experience thought that we could hold our own when it came to basic academics.

The test supervisor came in and introduced herself. She explained that these tests were for the benefit of adults who had never been to college to see if their aptitude for college academics was up to par and also for potential students to have an opportunity to apply for scholarships for college even if their high school records showed only average grades.

During roll call, when Bob answered, "Here!" The supervisor said something about a mistake on the records, and changed the letter "M" to "F" under sex. Bobbi was too embarrassed to say anything.

The test took most of the morning and when we had finished, Bob and I stopped by the local coffee shop to talk about it.

"That was really something," Bob said. He was turning heads again as the waitress brought us steaming cups of coffee.