Our trip grew near, and everyone was excited. Susie returned from camp, and received quite a shock. She had known about Marcia before she left, but had dismissed it. However, when she and Mom returned from the railroad station, I really played up to the part.

I was really dolled up, fit to kill. It was JoAnne's idea to play a trick on Susie. I smiled sweetly, and in my most feminine voice, I said, "Hello, Susie."

Susie didn't seem surprised, but I quickly realized, with much pleasure, that she didn't recognize me. "Who's she?" she demanded of Mom.

"Why, Susie, take a close look."

Susie walked up to me, “Mark?” She asked rather hesitantly.

Alicia reprimanded Susie immediately. "Her name is Marcia!"

Susie just couldn't believe it. "Golly! He's, or I mean, she's really pretty. Hey! That's my best pair of gloves! And those pink high heels! Those are mine, too!" She sniffed at my neck, "At least, Marcia's not wearing my perfume." She looked at JoAnne, "Who did the make-up job? You?"

JoAnne nodded, "Not bad, if I do say so myself."

The rest of the day was concerned with packing. Here is where the five girl routine really helped. We had one suitcase for lingerie, another for accessories, a trunk for all our dresses, and right on down the line. I really had to hand it to Mom. My posing as a girl was really very practical.

We were a very close family, so any embarrassment of seeing each other partially dressed, soon disappeared.

We were scheduled to leave on the noon train to Florida, so I went to bed early knowing that tomorrow was the day. I won't deny that I had butterflies in my stomach, but I also had a certain feeling of pleasure mixed with anticipation that always comes at the beginning of an adventure.

My alarm went off at eight o'clock. I was refreshed, and quickly

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