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Sarah had gotten herself hopelessly lost in a whirlwind of color and style thanks to Katelyn. She might have been a girl inside, but it didn’t give her all the affinities or understandings that she thought other girls just came by naturally. As she stared at the open walk-in closet at hanger after hanger of dresses, skirts, and blouses, with her old jeans - all four pair of them, nowhere to be seen, someone knocked lightly at her bedroom door.

She hadn’t undressed yet, so she simply called, “It’s open.”

Ashleigh stepped through, pushing the door closed behind her. “Just thought I would come up here and see if everything was okay. Congratulations by the way, about your cousin.”

“Oh, hi Ashleigh,” Sarah offered quietly, turning to hug the woman as she stepped up behind her. “I guess I’m okay. I’m just so lost.”

“Want to tell your Aunt all about it?” she asked, half-teasingly, but she still smiled.

“I love that Katelyn and my other new friends, Em and Beth have accepted me as a girl, but sometimes it just feels like they expect me to know shit- Oops, I mean ‘crap’,” she corrected herself.

Ashleigh laughed. “You can say that around me. Zoey and I are the ‘cool’ aunts. What kind of shit, though?”

“Fashion, style, what’s ‘in’, color palettes, you know. Girl stuff.”

“Ohhhh, and you’re feeling uncomfortable, maybe even a little overwhelmed right now because your rich girlfriend just bought a whole new wardrobe, and you have no clue what to do with it, right?”

Sarah nodded sheepishly into Ashleigh’s shoulder. Ashleigh actually giggled, kissing the top of Sarah’s head. “Sweetie that kind of knowledge isn’t natural. Girls aren’t just born with an innate understanding of what looks good. It’s like anything else in life. It’s a learned behavior. Just ask Zoey.”

“Zoey?” Sarah echoed.

“Let’s just say that I’ve been in Katelyn’s position,” Ashleigh teased. “I fell in love with Zoey under another name, but from the first day, she told me who she really wanted to be. I helped her as much as she would allow financially because I wanted her to be happy. But that poor girl didn’t know the first thing about fashion.”

“That kind of makes me feel better. Did you teach her?”

“A little bit. But she can be pretty headstrong when she wants to be. She spent a lot of time researching online, reading fashion magazines. She wanted to be attractive for me,” Ashleigh finally admitted, blushing softly. “I love her with all my heart.”

Sarah giggled. “So what should I do?”

“You’re still young. Girls your age are still figuring this stuff out for themselves too which puts a wealth of resources right there at arm’s reach. Talk to your friends, chat up people in department stores and makeup counters. You don’t have to memorize the entire color spectrum. Just find out what looks good on you and get them to explain why it looks good. I can give you an example if you like?”

“I would LOVE that,” Sarah gushed. “We spent hours shopping today, but most of what we talked about was about our lives before we met, and the girl juice started making me feel kind of mopey before it was over too.”

“Girl juice,” Ashleigh echoed, giggling. “Oh, Zoey’s going to love that one.” She hummed thoughtfully to herself for just a moment as she stepped into the large closet, carefully gliding her hand over the clothing rack.

“I don’t think I’m going to be doing any more shopping for awhile,” Sarah mused. “It’s bad enough that my body’s going to start doing weird stuff soon.”

“If you can find a reliable seamstress for alterations, just send me the bill, if it helps,” Ashleigh answered. “With your hair and skin color you’re more of an Autumn, I think.”

Sarah giggled to herself. “Katelyn had trouble deciding if I was more Autumn or Spring. Eventually we had to ask a sales lady for her advice.”

“Good thing too, or you might have ended up with a closet full of really unappealing colors. You’re strawberry blonde, a little darker than mine, but not by much, so definitely a warm Autumn,” Ashleigh advised. “Do you want the good news or the bad news about that first?”

“Give me the bad news first,” Sarah winced. Ashleigh just grinned.

“You’re going to look gorgeous in certain shades of pink, especially dark peach and probably coral.”

“Oh, great,” Sarah groaned. “What’s the good news?”

“You can also wear lime and make it look good,” she winked. “Now next we need to talk about style. Since tonight is a special occasion I was thinking...”

“Hey Ashleigh? Can I ask you something about a legal situation a friend of a friend is in?”

“Sarah, sweetie, if there’s something going on you don’t have to speak in hypotheticals. What’s on your mind?”

“Oh it’s not like that. She really is a friend of a friend. Maria, Katelyn’s best friend, is a foreign exchange student. With that big political mess over immigration last year, both the Mexican Embassy and the student exchange program have barred her from coming back here next year.”

“What? Sarah that’s insane,” Ashleigh stated less-than-neutrally.

“I know. It’s because her uncle is some big shot politician down there from what I heard. Katelyn is REALLY upset about it. She hides it well, but she’s in a lot of pain. Is there anything you can do? I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“Well, what kind of girl is Maria? Are there any other factors that could lead to her being barred?”

“None. She has a boyfriend here, and Katelyn says she’s a straight-A student. Hell, not only is she on the basketball team, she has the most free-throws last season. She wanted to come back here on a student visa to attend Yale Medical for God’s sakes. She wanted to be a doctor, to help people.”

Sarah was nearly in tears by now, and she didn’t even know Maria that well. “It’s not fair.”

“So let me see if I understand this. The student exchange board have barred a walking paragon of what foreign exchange is all about over some political turbulence? Sarah, I smell bullshit, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

“Thank you so much,” Sarah answered, relieved, and hugged Ashleigh close.

“It’s what I do,” she replied with a smile.

~oOo~

By the time Sarah had changed, having selected a slight scoop-neck knee-length moss green dress, dark stockings, and black suede flats, as well as just a dash of lip gloss, Katelyn’s parents had already arrived. Ashleigh sat with legs daintily crossed, belying the volcano that raged beneath that crop of light strawberry blonde hair, discussing some financial investment or other with Eleanor and Carl. Katelyn just sat boredly staring at her glass of soda. Her gaze shot straight to Sarah as she stepped into the doorway.

Silence descended as Katelyn’s parents looked up now, as well. Sarah began to blush, giving her naturally light cheeks a hint of color. Eleanor smiled as she stood, offering her hand. “Sarah, you look amazing.”

“Thanks,” Sarah offered meekly. “Ashleigh helped me pick out something nice since this is kinda a special evening.”

“Come over here dear and sit next to Katelyn,” she insisted, gently leading Sarah back to the sofa, herself taking the empty seat next to Ashleigh. “We were just discussing the financial market instability from the Nikkei falling thirty points last week.”

Sarah turned to smile at Katelyn, taking her hand and squeezing it. “I think that’s our cue to go see if Mom needs any help in the kitchen,” she said.

“Thank you,” Katelyn whispered in Sarah’s ear, causing her to giggle.

“Hi Momma,” Sarah greeted as the pair entered the kitchen. Sarah hadn’t really paid much attention to it sooner, but now began to realize that her mother had dressed rather formally today in a knee-length gray skirt and off-white top. “Um, why the business look?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Margaret started, but as she turned to face Sarah she cut herself off. “Oh, Sarah. You look gorgeous!”

She blushed brightly yet again, but smiled. “Thank you. Ashleigh gave me some good advice and helped me pick something out for tonight. So, what didn’t you tell me?”

“Mm? Oh, yes of course. I started my new job today.”

At this point, Ashleigh appeared in the doorway, folding her arms as she listened.

“Cool,” Sarah answered. “What kind of job?”

“Data entry,” she replied. “Em and Beth’s father Peter mentioned they had an open position, and I just couldn’t stand loafing about any longer. I couldn’t stand the idea of spending another second getting my backside oggled by men old enough to be my father, though, so my options were limited.”

“Why not go back to college?” Katelyn offered sincerely. “Robin’s Mom used to work at a diner out in California, I’ve heard. Now she’s a nurse at the hospital.”

“Oh, I don’t know dear,” Margaret sighed. “I’m too old to go back to college now.”

“Nonsense,” Ashleigh interrupted, stepping into the room. “A dear friend of mine didn’t get her degree until she was in her late forties. Now she’s a school teacher.”

“Oh, please don’t give her any ideas,” Sarah teased.

“Well I do love children,” Margaret admitted thoughtfully as she wrapped an arm around Sarah’s waist. “But to tell the truth, I really want to own my own restaurant. I don’t know the first thing about running a business though.”

A slow, calculating smile crossed Ashleigh’s lips. “I believe I can help with that. And before you ask, no, I don’t mean something silly like buying one for you. I have a very rich and diverse investment portfolio, including liquid assets, real estate, and individual business as well as money marketing. I can provide the investment capital to make it happen, if you can provide a return on that investment in time.”

“I’m sure my parents would be more than happy to invest something too,” Katelyn added. “If not them, I’ll kick in a few thousand from my college fund. I won’t be going for another two years anyway.”

“I don’t know the first thing about running a business though.”

“But you do know how to cook,” Sarah advised. “Mom, your food is amazing. Plus, you can’t tell me you didn’t learn anything working at that diner.”

“She has a point,” Ashleigh added. “If you think about the layout, think about the things that your boss, managers, or even the owner did wrong, these are things you can take with you into your own operations. If you really need help you can hire an accountant to help. A business degree wouldn’t hurt either, but it’s not a requirement.”

She paused for a moment. “Oh, Sarah, before I forget, I have some documentations I need you to verify and sign.”

Sarah blinked back at Ashleigh. “Um, okay? What is it?”

“One moment,” she answered, and stepped back into the living room. Meanwhile Margaret had put on a pair of oven mitts, pulling the oven open. A scent Sarah hadn’t been exposed to in years wafted under her nose.

“Please tell me that’s what I think it is?! Oh my God, I never woulda thought of fixing tater-tot casserole.”

Margaret giggled. “I thought that since we’re getting to know each other, that I might as well introduce Katelyn’s parents to a little Southern cuisine.”

Katelyn stared cautiously at the casserole dish as Margaret set it on the stove top to cool for just a moment. True to its name, a heavy layer of tater tots and melted cheese covered the top.

“That’s not... all there is, is there?” she asked.

“Oh, no dear. It’s a layered casserole with seasoned ground beef, veggies, and cream of chicken soup.”

“I know it sounds weird,” Sarah added, “But trust me, it is delicious. Mom hasn’t made it in years though.”

“Sarah, be a dear and let our guests know dinner’s ready, while I finish setting the table?”

“Sure thing,” she answered, turning to step through to the living room. Ashleigh had just retrieved a couple of papers from her briefcase and stood, handing them to Sarah.

“Dinner’s ready,” she started, staring down at the documents. “What’s this?”

“Official documentation of request of a change of name. Ordinarily you have to appear before a judge to finalize these things, but I’ve managed to convince the local seat that you’ve been through enough trauma in your young life to waive it, just this once.”

“So I’ll officially be Sarah?” she asked.

“Now and forever,” Ashleigh answered.

“That’s great! Oh, um, just one thing needs to be changed,” she winced. “Sorry. It’s just that I, well, kind of want to go by my mother’s maiden name. My dad wasn’t any real kind of father to me anyway, and it just feels weird keeping his name, plus I have a real connection to my Irish heritage through Moira now. Would it be too much trouble to change Stevens to Cameron?”

Ashleigh smiled proudly as she pulled Sarah into a hug. “Not in the slightest. But we can talk more about that after dinner. If that casserole tastes as good as it smells, I’ll have to get the recipe from your mother.”

Sarah giggled. “It should so be the specialty at her restaurant!”

Back in the kitchen, Eleanor had just seated herself. “What did you call this again? Tater … tot casserole? It certainly looks interesting, and it smells divine.”

Margaret smiled warmly. “I hope you like it. It’s a recipe I learned from our neighbor Kathleen.” She paused to smile. “Kathleen MacGregor.”

“Small world,” Ashleigh chuckled. “Kathleen is my aunt. I had no idea Sarah was living right next door to them until much later.”

“Before we begin, I’d like to say Grace. For all the trials and tribulations in our lives, we have much to be thankful for as well,” Margaret bowed her head, as did her guests. Sarah’s cheeks burned, but she lowered her head as well. After all, the topic of faith had never entered her mind to bring up with Katelyn, or her parents or Ashleigh.

“Gracious Lord in heaven, I thank you for this bountiful meal, for the friends we share, and for the brightness Katelyn and Ashleigh have brought to Sarah’s life. My precious baby is smiling again,” she choked up, clearing her throat, “A-amen.”

Eleanor smiled politely as she took her first tentative bite. The polite smile quickly turned to surprised and perhaps even genuinely pleasant. “Oh, Margaret this is amazing.”

“So, Katelyn,” Ashleigh asked, “What are some of your interests besides spoiling Sarah rotten?”

Katelyn giggled. “Well, it’s no secret that I love to sing. You know the band Heedless Despair, right?”

“That group Sarah mentioned before?”

“Yeah. Their lead singer, Scarlet, is classically trained in opera, but she uses her training to make some of the creepiest and most hauntingly beautiful music. She’s kind of my hero. I have an autographed poster of the band at home that I keep in a safe place. I want to be just like her though. Oh don’t worry, I’m going to college, I’m just taking opera lessons on the side.”

“That’s impressive. I dabble in the pipes, but so far Zoey has been the only one who doesn’t complain - including my cats. They run and hide when they hear me tuning the chanter.”

Sarah giggled, as Eleanor glanced over. “What about you, Sarah?”

“Oh, me? N-no, I’m not musically inclined at all.”

“That’s so not true,” Katelyn added. “Dance is a form of music, especially tap. It’s just your body is the instrument. Have you ever seen Riverdance, or Stomp?”

Sarah shook her head. “I’ve heard of Riverdance though. It’s like Irish dancing or something isn’t it?”

“I have Riverdance ,Lord of the Dance, and Celtic Thunder on DVD. I’ll let you borrow them sometime.”

“Cool. Oh, I kind of draw a little, but it’s nothing special.”

Katelyn perked up at that. “You mentioned that earlier. Can I see?”

“Sure. I’ll go get my sketch pad.” She paused, glancing over at her mother. “May I be excused?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Margaret answered, though it took her a moment. She seemed a little surprised that Sarah even asked such a question, after living with John for so many years.

Sarah smoothed her dress as she stood and pushed in her chair, quickly stepping out of the room. She returned barely a minute later and sat down next to Katelyn again.

“I have to warn you right now that the first several sketches are really … hard to look at, and not just because of the subject matter. I taught myself, and I was in a really bad place. Art was my only way to really put down what I was going through. I thought of burning the old ones, honestly.”

“You should keep them,” Eleanor advised. “Sometimes when an artist becomes well known, their early works become valuable collectibles because they showcase the artist’s path. Some of Van Gogh’s finest paintings were at his darkest.”

“Yeah, but I won’t let Sarah mutilate herself for me,” Katelyn teased. “So let’s see!”

Sarah carefully opened the old, raggedy sketch pad, turning the first blank page aside to reveal what appeared to be a grisly murder scene. Police tape marked off an area in a darkened alley, where a unicorn lay on its side, eviscerated, with blood everywhere.

“Like I said... I was going through a dark time,” Sarah sighed. “When I was little, I used to collect ceramic unicorns. When I was eight or nine, after two years of having a man pretending to be a psychiatrist convince me that I was wrong, that wanting to be a girl was wrong, I promised him that I’d get rid of my unicorns, so I climbed up on the roof of the place we were staying, and I threw them off from there.”

She paused briefly, biting her lip. “Let’s... move on to after I met Zoey. Things are less unpleasant there.” She licked her thumb lightly, leafing through more equally dark art, including an angel with its wings pinned down, like someone might do to mount a butterfly. Finally she came to the ballerinas, turning the sketch pad around for Katelyn and the others to see.

“This one’s really rough. I drew it over the course of one night because Zoey asked me to draw a portrait of myself as a girl, to put a name and a face to my feelings.”

“Sarah these are amazing,” Eleanor admitted, surprised.

“You don’t have any formal training whatsoever?” Carl further pressed. Sarah shook her head, thumbing ahead through a few more rough sketches. She stopped at one that appeared to be of herself, dressed in a t-shirt, skirt, and some sort of Mary Jane shoes, holding someone’s hand. The second figure only had a rough silhouette of a body, but the face had been intricately sketched. Almost razor-fine lines detailed her hair and eyes, the contours of her lips. There was no question that it was Katelyn.

“Oh my God,” Katelyn whispered, leaning over to hug Sarah. “You are freaking amazing.”

“Thanks,” Sarah blushed intensely as she shook her head. “But these really aren’t much.”

“Sarah, you should seriously consider taking classes - if not professional, then at least at school. Alpine Springs school district has a rich art and music program,” Carl responded. “Much better than when I was in school,” he chuckled.

“You guys really think so? I mean, truth be told the reason some of my stuff is any good at all is because I spend hours working on them when I can’t sleep. The first one I spent like, three months on, two or three hours a night. I still want to burn that one.”

“No, you should keep it,” Ashleigh replied warmly. “I think it really evokes the raw emotion you were obviously feeling when you drew it. The unicorn’s pain was your own, in the form of regret, anger, sorrow. It really embodies the kind of pain many girls have to suffer at such a young age.”

Sarah noted she seemed to be including her in a larger group beyond just girls like her, but chose not to press the subject. She smiled brightly. “Thank you, Aunt Ashleigh. I’ll hold onto it if you think it’s a good idea.”

She nodded. “I do. If you don’t mind my asking, where did you find that old thing anyway?”

“My sketch pad?” Sarah asked. Her cheeks deepened in their redness as she hung her head in shame. “I-it’s really embarrassing. You have to understand that we were financially at rock bottom back then. At the end of the school year every year, kids clean out their lockers. They throw away stuff they don’t need. The school custodian saw me eyeing one of the trash bins that was like, basically overflowing with old notebooks and stuff. He smiled, nodded toward me, and then just walked away.”

“I don’t get it?” Katelyn asked, confused.

“He was giving me his permission to dig through the trash and take anything I could use,” she admitted softly. “Sanitary regulations prevent that kind of thing under normal circumstances, but he was basically saying he’d look the other way for me. Anyway, I found this old sketch pad that someone had only used like, ten pages of, so I tore them out and I’ve been using it ever since.”

Katelyn reached out to lift Sarah’s chin, cupping her face gently as she leaned close, kissing her right there in front of the gathered adults. She pulled Sarah into a hug. “Honey, you will never, ever have to dig through the trash just to get by again, even if it’s just for school supplies. Even if we don’t stay ‘together’, I will never let a friend fall that far, I promise.”

Sarah’s eyes welled up with tears as she hugged Katelyn, resting her head on her shoulder. “Thank you. I’m not proud of that time in my life. I was too proud to admit I needed help, and too angry to admit I needed friends.”

~oOo~

As the evening progressed, Eleanor and Carl seemed to become more and more at-ease with the idea of Sarah and Katelyn together, though Katelyn’s display probably didn’t hurt things either. Around nine, Sarah hugged Katelyn, whispering something in her ear.

“I’ve got to get up early tomorrow. We’re flying back to Arkansas to close out our old apartment, plus there are some people I need to say goodbye to properly. Come upstairs with me? I want to show you something before I go to bed.”

“Um, okay?” Katelyn answered hesitantly. Sarah smiled reassuringly and kissed her cheek, standing to lead Katelyn upstairs. On entering her room, Sarah approached her vanity and knelt, opening a small drawer, retrieving a neatly folded piece of notebook paper. She unfolded it to show Katelyn an incredibly complex sketch.

It depicted a starry night sky over two people, cuddling on a park bench. A big half-moon shone down upon the pair, and all over, little notes on special details of the scene had been scribbled.

“This is just the rough sketch. I’ll work on the real thing on the plane and whenever else I can.”

“Wow. If this is just the rough sketch, I can’t wait to see the real thing. Do you have a name for it?”

Sarah giggled. “Yeah. I call it ‘Love Knows No Bounds’,” she answered, smiling up at Katelyn, waiting for those words to sink in. Katelyn’s eyes widened.

“Wait, Sarah, are you sure about this? Because you just said the other-”

Sarah cut her off with a soft kiss, and smiled. “I’m sure that I love you. I was going to wait until after the trip to tell you, but after what you said earlier, I... I just couldn’t wait anymore.”

Katelyn almost squealed, lifting Sarah off her feet in a hug as she spun the girl around once, kissing her softly. “I love you, Runt.”

“I love you too, Buffy,” she teased, giggling.

“God, that’s so weird,” Katelyn laughed, causing Sarah to frown.

“You don’t like it?”

“Nono, it’s not that. It’s just, I suddenly realized Robin calls Nikki ‘Vampire’ when she thinks nobody’s listening. I was just thinking how funny it is that you’d start calling me after a vampire hunter.”

“Oh,” Sarah giggled, swatting Katelyn’s shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” Katelyn answered. She leaned over to kiss Sarah’s forehead. “Walk me to the door?”

“Sure,” she answered. “Oh, hey,” she motioned to the rough sketch in Katelyn’s hand. “Would you do me a big favor and hang onto that? I have it memorized, so I’d feel a lot better if you kept it safe for me.”

Katelyn giggled as she smiled. “I’d be honored. Thank you. Tell you what, I’ll keep it next to my signed Heedless Despair poster.”

As Sarah and Katelyn strolled back downstairs together, still holding hands, Eleanor cast a glance their way. Katelyn let go of Sarah’s hand and approached, taking her mother aside and giggling over the rough sketch. Eleanor smiled as she read over Sarah’s notes on what each detail within the sketch represented, and after a moment, hugged Katelyn, kissing the top of her head.

“Sarah,” Ashleigh began, pulling her into a hug. “Your new papers should arrive in the mail this week. You’ll have to go to the courthouse if you want a photo ID, but all you’ll need for that is to show them the new documentation, and smile.”

Sarah grinned. “I think I can handle that. Are you going back to Washington?”

“Yes, I have to be back for a consultation on a big case, but my flight leaves when I tell it to. It’s one of the perks of sharing payments on a private jet,” she winked. “And you, young lady, take care of yourself. Call me if you need anything at all, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” Sarah responded.

“Carl, Eleanor, it’s been a pleasure. I’m glad we were able to sort all this out.”

“It’s obvious the girls care about each other very much,” Eleanor advised.

“It’s going to take some getting used to,” Carl added, but with a smile, “But she’s my only daughter, and she’s happy. That’s what counts.”

“Smart man,” Ashleigh teased. “A very rare breed.”

Sarah laughed to herself, leaning a little on the stairway rail as she made her way back up to bed. She wondered if Katelyn had noticed the nightie that she had laid out, as she stepped back into her room, or the little dab of perfume she wore, just for her. Zoey had it right, as far as Sarah was concerned. She wanted to be pretty for Katelyn. Somewhere, deep down though, she also wanted it for herself.

With that thought lingering in her mind, she giggled, snuggling the nightie up under her chin like a security blanket, inhaling and sighing a deep, relaxed, contented sigh as she walked down the hall to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed.

---

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