Taylor followed along behind her sister the whole way, nodding. “I have some ideas, but I’ll figure it out later. Does your GPS know where the mall is?” she half-asked, half-teased.

“Maybe. I forgot to ask Ms. Smith if there was a mall in Alpine Springs.” Michelle smiled, looking it up on google with her phone, “I think I need to get us some laptops too. Mind if I do that with the card Tiffany gave you?”

“Oh, I forgot about that thing,” Taylor answered with a mild giggle. “Sure, I can probably use it for school stuff anyway.”

Michelle smiled and programmed an address into her cell phones GPS, “I should give LeAnne a call, I told her I would give her an update.” as she quickly flipped her phone open and dialed the number, “Hey LeAnne, Just checking in, you would not believe this in a million years, Taylor and I just scored a six bedroom house.”

Taylor could almost hear LeAnne’s response over the receiver. “Oh my Gawd! Girl how in blazes’d you manage that?!”

“Told you. We’re paying ninety-two large for it, aaand If you want, you can come stay here too, I don’t think Taylor would mind, and we can carpool to school still.” Michelle bubbled over the phone.

“That’d be amazing! If yer sure Taylor won’t mind, yes, I’d love that! I’ve been doing my medical internship at the hospital down there. I’d love to be closer to Sarah and Mom.”

“Here you can ask her yourself.” Michelle giggled, “Sweet Pea thats LeAnne, and she has something to ask you.” handing the phone to Taylor.

“Hi Taylor! It’s great to finally get to talk to you! Your sister’s told me so much. How are you feeling anyway?”

“Ok I guess, my arm still kind of hurts, but that’s all. Michelle and I are going to go shopping!” Taylor sounded really excited about that.

“Oh, you’ve got to check out the Alpine Springs mall over on the west end. It’s about four blocks past the convention center. Sarah practically lives there,” she laughed. “So anyway, um, would you be okay with me moving in with you guys and carpooling to school with your sister?”

“You’re my sister’s friend right?” Taylor giggled. “Of course you can stay with us.”

“I’ll be happy to split rent with Michelle just like we were going to do here. I’m on a full scholarship plus grants so I have plenty for these extra expenses like this.”

“I think Michelle is going to pay for the house with Mommy and Daddy’s old home, so you guys will just have to pay for the utilities. That’s what Michelle said I think.” Taylor smiled at the phone.

“Oh wow, I hadn’t even thought about that. Gawd, this is so great. I’m gonna start packing right now and let the school know what’s going on.”

“Hey LeAnne before you hang up, Michelle has something she wants to tell you.” Taylor giggled and handed the phone back to Michelle.

“Hey LeAnne, I just meet your step-sisters today, Beth and Em. I took them home, and they only live a short distance from the house here.”.

LeAnne rarely swore. It was something she admonished as not being ladylike at all, but she couldn’t help the ‘Holy shit’ that escaped her lips. She giggled. “Michelle that’s amazing! You know they only just moved in over there a short while ago, but Momma and Peter are so happy together. And the twins are adorable.”

“Gives you an excuse to visit your mom more often girl. I know you miss your family, and this is just so perfect.” Michelle responded.

“Gawd yes. I only get to see them on weekends as it is. Moving to Connecticut and leaving Momma and Sarah was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Now that we’ll practically be neighbors... I really don’t know what to say. Michelle thank you so much.”

“Hey you helped me out LeAnne; you were going to let me move in with you, so it’s only fair in my books girl. Anyway, If you want to bring some stuff down, we are at 1 Roul Road. It’s the only house on the street. I’m going to have to cut this short so I can take Sweet Pea out shopping though.”

LeAnne sniffed and giggled. “Yeah, I told her the general area of the big mall there. Y’all have fun. I’ve got to call Momma and tell her the news!”

“I got it on GPS too. Talk to you later LeAnne.” Michelle smiled as they both hung up the phone, she leaned over and gave Taylor yet another kiss on her forehead, “You are such a sweet young lady. Where did you learn that from?” and giggled.

Michelle drove to the mall. Taylor quietly watched the sleepy town out the passenger-side window. It didn’t seem like all that tiny of a town, really. There had to be at least ten or twenty-thousand by her estimate, possibly more than that, but it had a small-town feel to it that she found herself really liking.

Taylor giggled a little as they pulled into the mall parking lot. “I’m going to need so much help in here by the way,” she added, glancing down at her cast.

“I know sweetie. I’ll be here to help you. This won’t be our big shopping trip though; we still have one to make with your friend Natalie remember?” Michelle smiled.

“I kind of wish I could keep this thing after I get it taken off, you know, since everyone’s been nice enough to sign it and stuff,” Taylor giggled, staring at some of the signatures with a thoughtful smile.

“We can always take a picture of all the signatures.” Michelle smiled as she stepped out of her old car walking around to open the door for her sister. “Ok sweet pea, lets go see what this place has.” she said with a smile.

“Oki doki,” Taylor answered cheerily and bounded out of the car, almost instinctively taking her sister’s hand.

Michelle smiled as she closed the door with her free hand and held Taylor’s hand, as they proceeded into the mall, “It’s not as small as I thought it would be for a town like this thats for sure Sweet Pea, wow.”

“Hey Michelle, how much money ARE we getting for um, you know, other stuff besides rent and food and stuff?” she asked, eyeing a kiosk right at the front entrance advertising the latest and greatest in MP3 players. As a boy she distinctly remembered asking her parents for one, and being told to make due with the old hand-me-down stereo with the tape deck that hadn’t worked since before she was born.

Michelle giggled, “Well Taylor I can’t really tell you how much money we have, because that’s a secret, but I can tell you to pick out a mp3 player because I have one already in my glove box in the car.”

“Really?!” she practically squealed. “Thank-you-so-much!” she added, pulling Michelle along into the electronics store. It was surprisingly quiet inside other than strains of some band Taylor didn’t recognize playing over the sound system.

Michelle let Taylor look at all the mp3 players while she picked out a pretty pink ‘Hello Kitty’ cell phone for her, and then moved closer. “Find the mp3 player you want sweet pea?”

“I’m not sure,” Taylor answered. “The 8GB model’s probably more than enough for my needs. I really just want enough room for a couple of Disney albums, but...”

Michelle smiled, and looked over. “It doesn’t hurt to prepare for the future; how about that one there?” pointing to a pink iPod that would match the cell phone in the box she was holding.

“Oh, that’s pretty! And the storage space is massive. Are you sure?” She paused to turn back to Michelle, and her eyes went wide as she saw the new phone.

Michelle looked at the young woman behind the counter, “She wants the pink iPod in there, and we will also take this phone. How easy is it to put it on my plan?”

“Depends on who your carrier is,” the woman answered, adding, “By the way, great choice. I have that iPod myself since I was grandfathered in on my cell plan, and didn’t want an iPhone.” She smiled cheerfully as she knelt to retrieve a boxed version of the displayed mp3 player, standing again and setting it on the counter.

“Oh, I’m with Verizon,” Michelle answered, pointing to the Verizon sticker on the phone’s packaging..

“Oh.” the woman giggled. “God I’m a ditz today. Yeah that shouldn’t be hard at all. I can set you up with a new line right here in the store if you want.”

“Sure, that would be great, “ Michelle pulled out her credit card, and some other information about her cell phone service. “I think this should help some getting it added.”

“We’re actually running a special this week on family plans. I’m pretty sure adding a line counts. Let me just check...” she trailed off, staring at her computer screen for just a moment. “Yup! Free phone with the purchase or upgrade. All right, let’s just get this typed in... All right. You’re all set. Did you want to pay for the mp3 player with your credit card or another payment method?”

“Lets put it on the card. By the way, can I get a car charger for her phone as well before you ring it all up?” Michelle turned to Taylor and winked with a smile.

“Oh, sure thing,” she answered cheerfully and set a car charger on the counter. “Your new phone comes with an AC charger too,” she added, smiling at Taylor.

Michelle handed the young lady the card to pay for the purchases then looked at Taylor. “There you go my spoiled little sweet pea. Now we need to get some music on that iPod for you.” She giggled..

Taylor giggled as well. “There’s probably a music store here in the mall somewhere, but I dunno if they’d sell mp3s like direct.”

“Oh, they do,” the young woman answered. “It’s a new service they literally just started offering this summer. It’s a kiosk right inside the music store. You’ll be able to download right to your new iPod.”

Michelle smiled as Taylor looked excited, “Well first young lady, we need to get you some clothes for the weekend and something really nice to meet your new headmistress.”

Taylor giggled. “Yay. New dress. Gosh, I don’t have any idea what to wear though.”

Michelle smiled as they left the store, “I’ll help you sweetie. Some new skirts and a few new tops as well ok?”

Taylor quickly nodded. “Oh um, and maybe a bag to keep my new phone and MP3 player in,” she added with a bubbly giggle.

“It’s called a purse sweetie, and yes we can get you one of those as well.”

Michelle led Taylor down a few stores and into a Junior Miss store. At first Taylor hesitated at the entrance. Everyone else saw her as a girl now, and she most definitely had girl parts, but there was some part of her that still remembered being a boy, and all the embarrassment that went with being dragged through the girls’ section, trying to act like she wasn’t admiring every pretty dress they passed.

“Wow,” she finally whispered, and smiled up at her sister. “This place is amazing.”

Michelle just grinned as they entered the store. “Well lets start with some undies, then we can get you a few shirts and some skirts, and a nice pretty dress to wear on monday.”

Taylor nodded, but she couldn’t help the overwhelming sense of awe at the sudden realization that she belonged here just as much as any other girl did. Part of her wanted to cry, but she somehow managed to push it back down again. She squeezed Michelle’s hand tighter and rested her head against her sister’s arm as she followed her along, giggling to herself.

Michelle stopped and picked up three packages of panties for Taylor, then they moved down the isles towards the skirts and tops. “See any that you like sweet pea?”

“Oh, this one’s cute,” she answered, holding up a pale green Minnie Mouse tank top t herself. “What do you think? Does it go with my hair?” she teased and giggled.

Michelle giggled, “That would look so adorable on you Sweet Pea.”

Looking around, she spotted a white tiered skirt and held the top up next to it. “Ohh, I love this skirt. It’s so pretty.”

Michelle smiled, and added the skirt in her arm with the shirt, so Taylor could try it one when she was ready. “I think its cute too.”

“Hum,” Taylor hummed thoughtfully as she slowly walked through the clothing racks. Shopping wasn’t really as exciting as she’d fantasized about it being once the initial shock wore off, but she was still having fun spending time with her sister.

Noticing the change in Taylor a little Michelle moved closer to her and smiled. “You know why girls like to shop Sweet Pea? It’s so they can spend time with those they care about. And getting new clothes helps, but it’s mostly the bonding.”

Taylor giggled. “That’s what I was just thinking! I used to fantasize about these huge shopping sprees and trying on lots of clothes and stuff...” she trailed off and blushed.

“I mean... You know what I mean. But I’m having more fun just hanging out with you. It’s like... the clothing is a nice bonus. I don’t feel um... ‘wrong’ anymore, but getting to see you, getting to spend all the time we want together is so much... um... bigger?”

Michelle nodded her head and smiled. “I agree with you sweetie. I’m glad you are here with me.” she replied, just as she spotted a cute light pink skirt. “Hey this one almost matches what you have on, but it’s a little lighter on the color.”

“Oh that’s pretty!” Taylor exclaimed. “It looks like it’d be comfortable too.”

“All skirts usually are sweet pea.”

Looking around the girls ended up choosing nine skirts and eleven shirts, five pair of shorts, and three pairs of shoes, as they moved along to the dresses. “What sort of dress do you want for Monday - something flashy?”

“I dunno,” Taylor answered thoughtfully. “It’s too bad it’s so far past Easter or I could get away with something really girly,” she added with a laugh.

Michelle laughed, “Oh, here’s a cute one.” She pointed to a knee-length white dress with spaghetti straps and a lovely embroidery design around the bodice, then picked it up and showed it to Taylor. “What do you think?”

“Oh my Gosh,” Taylor whispered, wide-eyed. “it’s gorgeous! I love it!”

Michelle puts the pretty dress with the rest of the clothes for Taylor to try one getting her a couple pair of Capris as well, and a two piece bathing suit in her size. “Lets go try these on sweetie.”

“Sounds good. This oughta more than get me through the weekend,” she added with a giggle.

“And then some for a few days at least.” Michelle smiled.

“I feel kind of guilty though. Mom and Daddy are gone, and it feels like I should be more upset, but … I just can’t bring myself to cry anymore. Does that make me a bad person?” she asked thoughtfully as they made their way to the changing rooms.

“No sweetie, you already grieved for them.” Michelle kissed Taylor’s forehead.

Taylor smiled a little. “I guess. I’d... I’d like to take some flowers out to them some time, maybe next weekend after we take Natalie home or something, just so I can stop thinking about it so much,” she answered.

Taylor might have been young, and had trouble putting her thoughts into words at times, but she knew what she was feeling, and she knew she had to do something to let go of it. How she knew, though, she wasn’t so sure of. It seemed since waking up in that hospital bed, her feelings were much easier to deal with. Maybe not pretending to be a boy anymore had something to do with it?

“I want to try on that dress first, and see how it looks with those cute white sandals,” she finally spoke up again.

Michelle frowned a moment then smiled. “Sure sweetie, the dress first, then the rest, we already tried the shoes on so we know they fit.”

Taylor smiled and nodded. “Thanks Michelle. I know this isn’t really how you planned on spending your summer. I really can’t thank you enough for taking me in.”

“It’s just how I wanted to spend my summer except with mom and dad still alive, and well maybe all four of us together.” Michelle sighed as she went into the changing room with Taylor to help her with her clothes.

“So um,” Taylor took it upon herself to change the subject, “What’s LeAnne like?” she asked, as she held her arm up slightly for Michelle to move her sling.

“She’s a wonderful person. She’s from Arkansas originally, and well, you met her step sisters at the gas station.” Michelle smiled as she helped Taylor into the dress which fit perfectly.

After helping Taylor try on all her new clothes which all fit, they left the changing room, to go pay for everything, “So next on the shopping list is a laptop for us both.” Michelle was happy that all the new clothes she helped Taylor pick out fit her.

“I wonder if there’s a pink one,” Taylor giggled.

“Maybe. I think I saw the sign for the computer store over in the next wing of the mall.” Michelle smiled as she paid for and grabbed the bags with Taylors clothes in it.

“Cool!” Taylor answered happily. “Need help with those?” she asked, adding as they exited, “Ohh Claire’s is just over there! I’m going to drag Natalie in there next weekend,” she bubbled.

“You don't have your ears pierced do you Taylor?” Michelle studied her sisters ears, “If you don’t we can get those done today, so by next weekend you can get better then the starter earrings.”

“Wow, really? I’m not too young?” she asked hopefully.

“No you’re not sweetie, and I’m your guardian so I can give you permission.” Michelle added with a grin as they headed to Claire’s to get Taylors ears pierced.

“You’re the coolest,” Taylor giggled, resting her head against her sister as she hugged her, even as they walked inside the store.

“Hi there!” a rather tall, older blonde-haired teenage girl that looked like she’d done her shopping here not too long ago greeted the pair warmly. Her bracelet, belt, and hoop earrings definitely had the Claire’s style to them. “Just let me know if you guys need any help.”

“I’d like to get my lil sister’s ears pierced if that wouldn’t be an issue?” Michelle smiled, “I have some papers here, stating that I am her legal guardian if you need them.” she added, digging through her purse for the papers.

The girl smiled as she nodded. “Better safe than sorry. I haven’t seen you around here before. You don’t go to Northside High School do you?”

“No, I’m going to Yale, and my little sister will be starting at Sunshine.” Michelle answered.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” she replied, blushing. “You just look like you could pass for a senior at my school.”

“Oh thats fine, I should have been a senior this year, but I graduated early and went on to Yale.” Michelle pulled the papers out and showed them to the girl.

“That’s so cool. I actually considered doing that. I mean, my parents pressured me to when I was given the chance, but I didn’t want to miss out on my senior year of high school. Granted I’m only a junior THIS year,” she added, “So I’ve got another year to decide.” She smiled warmly as she glanced over the papers.

“I didn’t have a pleasant time in high school, but that’s another story, Yale is a wonderful college. The professors are very relaxed about your background, where I totally expected them to all be stuffy. Even the other students have been cool about my age. I’m taking some summer courses right now, but since we are moving to Alpine Springs I’m taking two weeks off to settle in.”

“Well, it looks like everything’s in order.” She handed the papers back to Michelle. “So you’re getting your first set, right?” she asked, looking down at Taylor with a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. It only stings for a second, and even then it’s really not bad at all for the lowers. I was too much of a wimp to have my uppers done though,” she added with a giggle.

Michelle grinned, “Taylor sweetie, If you hadn’t noticed I have five in each ear. She’s telling you the truth; it only stings for a second, and the lower lobe holes don’t sting much at all if any.”

“That’s a relief,” Taylor answered. “I just got out of the hospital. I really don’t need anymore needles being jabbed in me,” she giggled.

“Aw, I’m sorry,” the cashier answered, frowning softly. “Glad you’re feeling better at least. So, as far as starter sets we can do a simple stud in silver or gold-plate, or a birthstone if you prefer Mind if I ask what happened, by the way?”

“Some older girls in her old neighborhood decided to use her as a punching and stomping bag, but the cops got them, and they’re facing some jail time.”

“Oh my God,” she gasped. “You know one of the girls on my basketball team studies Kenpo. Her step-dad owns the dojo, if you want to sign her up for self-defense classes. Personally, after seeing her in action, I thought about signing up myself.”

“I think I want those pink ones.” Taylor grinned ignoring most of the comments being made about her.

“Nice choice,” the cashier answered warmly, motioning for Taylor to follow. “C’mon back here, and we’ll get you some new holes in your head,” she teased.

Taylor and Michelle both giggled, as Taylor followed the cashier, “I’m Taylor by the way.” She smiled brightly about getting her ears pierced since her parents wouldn’t even let her.

“I’m Chelsea,” the girl answered cheerfully. “Oh, and don’t worry. I just started working here over the summer, but I’ve already done this dozens of times. Just make yourself comfortable in the chair here while I get the piercer.”

Taylor hopped in the chair fidgeting a bit because she was nervous. “So it won’t hurt all?”

“Sometimes it might hurt a little, but most of the time you feel it go in and that’s it. For me it was like that, where it just went in, and I almost didn’t even feel anything at all.”

“If Michelle can have five in each of her ears, I can do this too!” Taylor giggled, “I want to be just like her.”

“Aww,” she giggled, readying the piercing gun and sliding it into position for the first stud, but before she applied it, she added, to distract her, “You know I sometimes catch flak for being an over-achiever, but I don’t care. I am who I am. The secret is that you just have to apply yourself. I’m not all that smart, but I work hard. So I’m sure you can be just like her if you apply yourself too. It helps if it already runs in the family.” Click. The first stud went in.

Michelle who was standing there waiting for her sister to be finished listening to the two talk smiled, “She comes from a line of highly intelligent people.” giggling at that, “ I was a 4.0 student, and if they could have given a higher GPA I probably would have gotten that myself. And from what I hear about Taylor, she was doing extremely well in her school. They were going to skip her a grade, but our parents said no.”

Chelsea giggled. “Oh, wow. You’re going to do really well at Sunshine then,” she added, applying the second stud. “All done.”

Taylor blinked. “Done already? But I didn’t even feel them go in.”

Chelsea picked up a small hand mirror, offering it to Taylor. “Go ahead, see for yourself,” she replied with a grin.

Taylor looked into the little mirror, “Oh wow they are very pretty. Thank you Chelsea!” she bubbled.

Chelsea grinned. “Hey, no problem. Now, normally this is the part where I’d bombard you with information about how to keep the area clean and free of infection, but I’m pretty sure your sister’s heard it so many times she could recite it backwards in three different languages.” She winked and smiled. “So I’ll just give you this little bottle of alcohol-free cleaning solution.”

“Including but not limited to Latin.” Michelle winked, “And that’s Eight languages,” she replied, and then giggled, “Oh since you know Taylor’s name and we both know yours, My name’s Michelle.”

Chelsea laughed, “Tu hablas Espaá±ol?” she teased. “Just kidding. It’s great to meet you Michelle. I can’t tell you how nice it is to meet someone who understands the pressure. We should grab a coffee sometime, if it wouldn’t feel weird I mean.”

“Oh not at all. That would be nice. You’re a junior, so you’re like 17 right?” Michelle smiled, “Y si, se hablar espaá±ol.”

“God, Maria’s going to love you,” Chelsea laughed. “And yeah, I’m seventeen,” she answered cheerfully.

“So am I, I’ll be eighteen in November.” Michelle smiled. “It’ll definitely be nice to hang out with people my age sometimes.”

Chelsea stepped behind the counter again, scribbling off a quick note on a Post-it, and handing it to Michelle. “Here’s my cell and address so we can stay in touch. I’m only working here part-time, with cheer camps and things going on, but I have a couple of friends who would absolutely love you.”

“Cool.” Michelle put it in her wallet, and pulled out her credit card, “So how much was the damage on the piercings?”

“Oh, this one’s on me,” Chelsea replied with a grin. “Piercing’s free anyway to under-eighteen customers, and it sounds like you’ve been through hell, Taylor, so consider the earrings a welcome to Alpine Springs gift. I hope things get better for you both soon.”

Taylor looked so happy when she bubbled again. “Thank you Chelsea, and I hope you and my sister can be good friends.”

Chelsea grinned. “I just hope she doesn’t run me off when it comes time to study for the SATs.” She winked.

Michelle giggled, “I’d never do such a thing, but with your intelligence Chelsea you might not have to do too much studying for the SAT’s.” She gave her a wink. “Thanks for the earrings, tell Chelsea thanks again sweet pea.”

“Thank you sooo much!” Taylor replied happily.

Chelsea smiled warmly as she nodded. “You’re very welcome. You two have a great afternoon.”

Michelle led Taylor out of Claire's and smiles, “I got some disinfectant at home for your ears, and you need to turn them regularly otherwise they will get infected sweet pea.”

“Ewww. You’ll have to show me. Oh, and can I do either of those with just one hand?”

“Yes you can sweetie. You just take the stud in the front and twist it gently, like this.” Michelle showed Taylor with one of the studs in her ears.

“Ohhh okay, that’ll be easy,” she answered confidently.

Michelle nodded, “Just don’t constantly do it, otherwise your ears will hurt,” as they entered the Computer store in the mall. “Lets see what they have for laptops before we had over and get you some music for your new iPod.”

Taylor smiled as she nodded. “After this, I kinda hafta pee too,” she added, blushing slightly.

“Thats fine; we can make this fast, and then we can go to the bathroom down this wing.” Michelle smiled as she looked around and found herself a really nice Asus laptop to help with her schooling, approaching Taylor afterwards. “Find anything that catches your eye sweet pea?”

“I don’t know anything about these things,” Taylor answered with a confused, semi-blank stare. “These two are pretty?” she added with a giggle, pointing at a Macbook and a Dell Inspiron with a Switch lid. “Dad was kind of … um... anti-technology when it came to computers.”

The man behind the counter smiled, “You can’t all base them on pretty, but the Macbook is perfect for learning on, and I believe the schools around here in Alpine Springs use Macs primarily.”

“And I can get a friend to set you up with a Windows dual boot if you decide you want to play any computer games that aren’t Mac compatible - after you’ve finished your homework,” Michelle added with a grin.

The man chuckled. “The macbook comes in four colors - red, blue, green and pink, and it’s the top of the line macbook, with dual 500 gig hard drives, Intel quad core 3.0ghz processors, and 16 gigs ram.” the man winked saying it more for Michelle then to Taylor.

“Wow,” Michelle answered. “That’s more powerful than my last two desktop PCs combined. That sounds fantastic for her.”

“That Asus you’re holding - I have a Gamer Republic certified one behind the counter, If you would rather have that one?”

“What’s the cost difference?” Michelle asked thoughtfully.

“About 800 between the two machines, and today there is a 50% off Asus products, and 25% off Mac machines.” the man grinned.

“Sold,” Michelle laughed. “Let me just return this one,” she added, turning to step away for just a moment. “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you want the pink one, Taylor?” she asked with a grin.

“Like you have to ask!” Taylor giggled.

“Ok then, She’ll take that macbook in pink, and I’ll take the gamer laptop, Thank you so much.” Michelle reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet getting her credit card out to pay for the items.

“Not a problem, miss. I figured since you knew enough to know how to set up a dual boot that you might be a bit more discerning of your computer needs,” he reasoned as he placed two boxes on the counter. “And if you’d like I can have these carried out to your car for you - no extra charge. Or you’re welcome to stop back by on your way out if you still have more shopping to do.”

“Oh um, mind if we leave these here, and come back, she’s got to use the potty, and we have one more store to hit before we call it a day.” Michelle smiled.

“Certainly. I’ll just set them behind the counter for you,” he answered as he returned her credit card along with the receipt.

“Thanks so much.” Michelle smiled as she and Taylor left the store taking her to the restroom near the end of the hallway. “I’m going to go sit out on the bench. Yell if you need anything sweet pea.” Michelle left the bathroom and sat down on the bench outside.

Inside, two girls about Taylor’s age - one with shoulder length copper-red hair and freckles, another with slightly longer sandy blonde hair, chatted away. The blonde-haired girl was just entering one of the stalls, while the other girl leaned against the sink. She smiled at Taylor.

“Sweet pea, huh?” she giggled a little. “My big sister calls me ‘Pumpkin’ in public, like, all the time. Oh wow. What happened to your arm?”

Taylor frowned, “I think some older girls from school beat me up. It’s sort of fuzzy. I remember going to the park, and then I woke up in the hospital.”

The girl frowned. “Wow... I hope they got locked up for that. I’m so sorry. Oh, I’m Megan. My friend Trisha’s in there,” she added with a giggle.

“Stupid Mountain Dew,” Trista grumbled from the other side of the closed bathroom stall..

“Oh! Sorry. Didn’t mean to keep you from using the bathroom,” Megan suddenly said.

“I’m Taylor. Sorry for cutting this short, but I got to pee too.” she giggled and bee-lined for the other stall.

“Nice to meet you,” Megan giggled. “Do you go to school here? Me and Trish go to Sunshine private school.”

“I’m going to start at Sunshine this year. What’s it like?” Taylor asked.

“Oh cool!” Megan answered, but Trisha chimed in before she could continue.

“It’s great. The class sizes are a lot smaller so it’s easy to get one-on-one time with a teacher if you don’t understand something.”

“Yeah, not at all like my public school was back in Hartford,” Megan added. “The staff’s all really nice, and the other kids are okay. The worst part is the uniform, but that’s not really that bad either. On Fridays they let us wear whatever we want as long as it’s nothing bad.”

Trisha giggled. “They even let it slide that one time a boy wore a girls’ uniform to school on a dare. Of course,” she added as she stepped out of the stall and started to wash her hands, “It didn’t hurt that he actually looked like just any other girl, but he had to attend girls’ classes for the day!”

“Oh yeah that’s another thing,” Megan giggled. “Classes are boy/girl segregated, if you hadn’t already heard about that. We sometimes get an integrated gym class, but even that’s pretty rare.”

“Yeah my social worker said it was segregated, and that we get events with the boys sometimes, like dances, and sporting events right?” Taylor stepped out of the stall to wash her hands.

“Yeah. Oh, I forgot about the sport program. For a small private school it’s pretty good!” Trisha bubbled. “I never was big on sports and stuff, but I love playing soccer. The other girls on the team really stepped up and helped me learn how to play.”

“She kicks better than some boys,” Megan added with a laugh. “I might play softball next year myself, but I’d rather stick with one extra activity at a time, and playing violin is what I love, even if my parents hate it.” She giggled.

“I might try out for soccer; it sounds fun - if my sister will let me. I have to meet the Headmistress on Monday, and my sister got me this cute dress for when we go meet her. I’ll get my uniforms and take the aptitude tests, but that’ll be easy enough..” Taylor bubbled..

“You should totally try out,” Trisha insisted. “Just ask any of us on the team if you want any help.”

“The Headmistress is really nice, by the way,” Megan added. “Just being around her it’s hard not to feel relaxed, as long as you’re not in trouble.”

“And even then she’s very calm and even-handed,” Trisha nodded. “Well, usually. Sometimes she doles out some strange punishments.”

“Like the girl who had to wear gum on the end of her nose all day because she got caught putting it under her desk,” Megan practically cackled.

Taylor smiled. “I think I’m going to really like this school then, I was sort of nervous about going, especially since I just moved here from Kingsley.”

“Isn’t that where Crystal lived?” Megan asked, looking over at Trisha.

“Oh yeah! And that other girl, Natalie.”

“I meet a Natalie in Kingsley when I was at the hospital, and she talked about a friend named Crystal.” Taylor giggled, “She even asked if I wanted to join the scouts. My sister is setting it up for me, and shes going to join as an adult thingy.”

“Awesome!” Both girls squealed in unison. “Crystal was always so nice to us. She really made camp more fun,” Megan continued. “We’ve both been scouts since we were like, seven,” she giggled. “But you know Spirit joined when she was fifteen too, so age is really not a big deal.”

“Yeah, if you do join we’ll totally help you get caught up on merit badges!” Trisha cheered.

“Cool! I’m so glad I met you two even if it was on accident.” Taylor gigged, “I’m living over on Roul road, but my sister is having it changed because its a private road to my name, Taylor Lane or something.” She giggled more.

“Oh my Gosh, that’s so cool!” Megan giggled. “I’m like jealous! I’ll ask my mom if she knows where it is. Maybe we can come over sometime? Me and Trish are practically sisters.”

Trisha giggled. “Yeah, except we never argue.”

“Hey, we’ve got a few minutes still before my Mom picks us up. Would your sister mind if we tagged along with you?” Megan asked.

“We can ask her, We were just going to go to the music store so I could get some music for my new iPod, then go pick up our laptops.” Taylor smiled, as the girls left the bathroom, “Maybe I can talk her into eating here too. I’m kinda hungry. I just got out of the hospital, and I need real food,” she added.

“That’s okay. Our moms are supposed to pick us up soon anyway. So what kind of music do you like?” Megan asked.

Taylor blushed. “I still like disney music.”

Trisha giggled. “I just got the Shake it Up album on my iPod today.”

Megan laughed. “Trisha is the biggest Disney freak I’ve ever met. She’s even getting me into it. My older brother listens to a lot of weird stuff like Heedless Despair, but I’m kind of partial to more upbeat stuff myself. Oh have you heard the Debbie Ryan cover of ‘We got the Beat”? It’s great!”

“Yeah thats why I like Disney music, I was going to pick up the new Shake it up, and maybe some older stuff. I loved the soundtrack to The Little Mermaid.” Taylor blushed but giggled.

“I LOVE The Little Mermaid!” Trisha bubbled. “I still sleep in Ariel pajamas.” She paused, blushing brightly as both she and Megan started to giggle.

“Oh! Trisha you’re a genius!” she announced as she held the door open for her old friend and her new friend.

“Don’t announce it to the whole world,” Trisha teased, as Megan continued.

“Taylor, once you get settled in and get used to living here, we should have a slumber party! We can invite some of the other girl scouts, or just the three of us, you know, whatever you were comfortable with. It’d be so fun.”

Michelle stood up and smiled, “Hello there. Get lost in there sweet pea?”, winking at Taylor, “And who might these two be?”

“Sorry,” Megan piped up, “We started talking and found out we had a lot in common.” She giggled. “I’m Megan, and this is my BFF Trish. We both go to Sunshine, and we’re girl scouts.”

“And we know Natalie,” Trisha added with a giggle. “It’s kind of a freaky coincidence, but it’s really cool too!”

Taylor laughed and nodded. “Yeah, we were talking about the school and music and stuff. I think I might maybe want to try out for soccer when my arm gets better. It sounds really fun. Plus Trisha says her and the others on the team can help me learn.”

“Well, we’ll have to see, but I think it can be arranged. I won't be able to attend many of your games if you do join sweet pea. Remember I’m going to college as well.” Michelle frowned slightly, changing the subject., “So we are headed to the music store ladies want to join us, and maybe catch something to eat before your parents come get you?”

“Wow. You didn’t tell us your sister’s a psychic,” Megan giggled. “We’d love to. The food court here is amazing.”

Michelle winked. “I just heard you girls talking, and I’m kind of hungry as well.” She added thoughtfully as they walked along, “This mall is amazing for such a small town.”

“I guess it is. There’s even a rumor that Heedless Despair owns the other music store here - the one that sells gear for musicians, not the one that sells music. We’ve just sorta always accepted it since we grew up here,” Megan mused. “Well I mean Trisha grew up here, I’ve been here since I was seven. But I do looove that musician store. Every time I need a bow tweaked they’re ready to help. I’m thinking about talking to the manager about an electric violin gear setup.”