RELUCTANT PRESS

trim your long hair into a girl's style. Then, we'll take you into Cindy's room to put you into your first dress! You have eight days to learn how to be a proper young lady. Cindy and I will make sure you know everything there is to know!"

Sheldon shivered at the thought of spending the next eight days learning to be a prissy girl! It would be sheer hell! The thought of his buddies finding out made him want to die! Why had he knocked the stool over?

"We don't want to embarrass you or ourselves," Helen continued. "No one outside of this car knows that you are responsible for what happened to Cindy. We'll simply tell everyone it was an accident. We have no intentions of having anyone discover that you are Sheldon. As far as anyone is concerned, Sheldon has gone off to summer camp. You will be Cindy's cousin, Shelley Hunt, who has arrived to spend a few weeks with us. The timing of her visit is perfect since she can replace Cindy in the wedding."

Sheldon shivered at the thoroughness of their plot. If no one knew he was really Sheldon, the humiliation wouldn't be nearly as bad, nor would there be repercussions from his friends. But, how could they make him look like a girl? After all, he was a boy! Simply making a boy change clothes wouldn't make him look like a girl!

"If you don't cooperate fully, or if you make one mistake during the wedding or reception, Sheldon will stay at camp all summer," Helen added with a menacing tone.

The brief light of salvation of having his real identity hidden was quickly snuffed by the threat to extend his punishment past the wedding. He vowed to be a diligent student!

"Also, until Cindy is totally healed, you will do ALL of the chores she did," added Helen. "After that, you'll share the chores. Since you are the elder, I'll expect you do more than Cindy. You had a chance at a fifty-fifty split, but that is gone. Do you understand, SHELLEY?"

Sheldon swallowed the bile he felt rising. "Yes, Ma'am," he responded in a soft, meek voice. He decided to begin practicing immediately.

TWO LITTLE GIRLS

By JENNIFER SUE

While Helen helped Cindy settle into her bedroom, Sheldon forlornly stripped his male clothes. With a heavy heart, he trudged to the shared bathroom, casting a longing look at the discarded boy clothes that would not be part of his clothes for the next eight days. Hesitating, he bit his lip. With a sigh, he quickly turned around and scooped the haphazardly-tossed clothes to place them in the hamper. Things would be a tiny bit easier if he began doing what he should have been doing all along without being told to do so.

In the bathroom, he plugged the tub and turned on the hot water. From the shelf where Cindy kept her things, he took the box of bubble bath, carefully read the directions, then poured the required amount into the roiling water. Instantly, bubbles formed and the sweet scent of lilacs filled the air. Sheldon shivered as he thought about submerging himself in the foam. Whenever Cindy used her bubble bath, she'd smell like lilacs for the rest of the day! As he stepped into the frothy water, he understood that HE would now smell like lilacs for the rest of the day! It was a very sobering thought for a boy!

As the morose lad stretched out in the relaxing bubbles, he had to admit that it felt nice. That made him wonder about what other girly things would feel nice. A sense of betrayal swept over him as he realized he was actually enjoying the bath!

Suddenly, the door opened and his step-mother entered. Startled, he sat up, looking at her with apprehension. What he saw made him wish for the thousandth time that he could undo his misdeed.

"All right, Shelley," she said with a predatory smile. "Climb out of the tub so I can trim your pretty hair."

Sheldon hesitated out of embarrassment. The boy was afraid to be seen in the nude.

"You may as well get used to my seeing you in the nude," she chided him. "Remember, you are a girl until we tell you otherwise. I'll be seeing you in the nude quite often, and so will Cindy. So, forget this false modesty, GIRL, get out of the tub, NOW!"

Page 14

Page 15