Stephanie’s Deal by Jennifer Brock Steven snuck a peek at his Christmas presents and as punishment was forced to spend his vacation living and dressing as a girl. Stephanie’s handled things ok so far, but with only two days left the scariest part is coming up: she has a date with a boy to his family’s New Year’s Eve party. What will she do if he wants to kiss her? Find out in this extra-large installment. (My way of making it up to the readers I April Fooled)

Episode 8

Stephanie had a weird dream where it felt like she was a completely different person. She couldn’t remember it exactly, but it did wake her up early. Today, and then tomorrow, and then the deal would be over and Steven could wear his own clothes and be himself again. Being a girl wasn’t so bad, really. But it wasn’t really normal. Stephanie wasn’t real, and Steven would have to be some kind of weirdo to want to be her more than he had to.

At least there would be all those dance classes and other things associated with being a part of Grace and Matt’s wedding where Stephanie would have to reappear, so she wouldn’t be going away forever. She wouldn’t have to worry about giving up all her pretty things until some time in June after the wedding. That would be rough, but it wasn’t something anyone needed to think about yet.

Stephanie stopped worrying about the far future and focused on worrying about the near future. She’d being going to Brian Somers’ house that night, for a New Year’s Eve party, and a sleepover, and he might be expecting her to kiss him at midnight, because that’s what couples do on New Year’s, and Brian said it was kind of a date. Stephanie really didn’t know what to do on a date, and the kissing part scared her tremendously — what if she wasn’t any good at it?

She asked her doll Hannah for advice, but she didn’t have any. The house was still pretty quiet, so she probably couldn’t go ask her Mom or her big sister Michelle about what to do on a girl’s first date with a boy. She pursed her lips at the mirror over her bureau to see if it looked like she was making the right kind of kissing face. She wasn’t sure; in the movies they always close their eyes, so she had to squint and peek to get the proper effect.

She was going to have to take a bath later, before getting ready for the party, so she just went across the hall to the bathroom to brush her teeth, change the tape that held her boy parts out of the way, and relieve her nervous bladder.

She took off her nightgown and dressed in a matching training bra and panty set she’d gotten for Christmas, and then stood by her closet to pick out something to wear. There were a bunch of clothes she hadn’t gotten a chance to wear yet, so she tried on a number of things before settling on an outfit to relax in until it was time to get dolled up in her new party dress.

She ended up wearing a matching light purple top and skirt in a soft knit material that kind of looked like a dress even though it was in two pieces. She wore a camisole and half-slip set under it, and pink tights with her black Mary Janes. She brushed her hair and pulled it back with a pair of barrettes. She kept her little hoop earrings that she wore for sleeping in place, and added her watch and a chain necklace. A little cologne behind her ears, a little lip gloss, and she was ready to face the day.

Her stomach was still dancing so she wasn’t very hungry. She went down to the kitchen and poured a small bowl of Rice Krispies. She was still eating her breakfast when her father came to grab a bite for himself. He was all dressed up in a suit and tie. “Good morning, Daddy! You look very nice. Are they making you go to work today?”

“Oh hi, Sweetheart. I didn’t expect to see anyone else up this early. You’re looking very cute yourself.” He started up the coffee maker and popped some bread in the toaster. “I have to go into the office this morning, but I should be home just after lunch. I had to call in some favors to get a judge to see us this morning, but Mrs. Clayton really wanted to greet the new year as a single woman.”

“Is it sad having to deal with all those marriages that didn’t work?”

“Sometimes, but people are human and make mistakes. And sometimes those mistakes are marriages made for the wrong reasons. Where I come in is helping people figure out how to divide all the things they collected together. And like Mrs. Clayton, I get to see them starting off on new lives, which can be exciting for them, occasionally.” The toaster popped and he spread some jam on it. “But don’t you worry about it, Honey. I’m sure when you fall in love it will be happily ever after for you and your husband.” He took a bite out of his toast. “Oh, wait! For you and your wife, I mean. You look so natural there; I’m forgetting who you really are.” The coffeepot beeped and he filled his travel mug. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later.” He gave her a pat on the head and a kiss on the cheek and left for work.

She finished her cereal and tried to picture herself with either a husband or a wife. It seemed too far into the future to clearly envision. But thoughts of weddings reminded her that she’d have to go to ballroom dancing class in two days. She tried to imagine what Grace’s younger brother would look like. She was absolutely beautiful, so maybe he was just as good looking. In a way, she not only had a date with Brian, but also a series of dates with Christopher to look forward to. It made her very scared, but also excited in a good way. It was like a sign of growing up. Little kids didn’t have dates.

But of course, Stephanie wasn’t a little kid. In only seventeen days, she’d be turning twelve. Or at least Steven would. Since all her Christmas presents had been for a girl, maybe the ones they were going to give Steven would become birthday presents. Except the Nintendo, that is. The contract stated that Steven would get his Wii as soon as school started up again, as long as Stephanie was a good girl until then.

And that was only two days away. School would start, Steven would be a boy again in the morning and then Stephanie would go to dance class in the evening. So wait a second — Steven would be getting his Wii on the same day that Stephanie was starting dance class. He wouldn’t have any time to play with it! That wasn’t fair. He’d have to wait until Thursday to find out what it could do.

Stephanie realized that she was thinking like a boy again, and that was bad. It would be just like Steven to mess up so close to the finish line. She had to be as girly as possible for the next two days, and then she could start dealing with boy stuff again. She needed to do something girlish to kill time. Mom and Michelle were still in bed, so she went into the living room and quietly turned on the TV and flipped around the channels looking for a show a girl would watch.

She couldn’t find much except news and shows for babies, so she looked through their DVD collection for something that seemed feminine. She found The Princess Diaries, which she could remember Michelle playing over and over again when she was Stephanie’s age, and popped it into the machine. It was a pretty cool movie. Stephanie got so caught up in it that she didn’t notice when her mother and sister came in and joined her until they all sighed in appreciation when the princess gets kissed.

When it was over, Michelle pointed out that they made a sequel. Mom thought that watching sweet movies with her daughters was a great way to spend the morning; she wasn’t sure when the three of them would all be together again. Stephanie would be turning back into a boy most of the time in two days, and Michelle would be going back to school in less than two weeks. Before too long, she’d be the only girl in the house again. It was nice to be in the majority, if only for a little while.

Stephanie mostly kept her mind off her worries, but she did try to pay attention during the kissing scenes to see how a girl is supposed to close her eyes and turn her head, and whether you’re supposed to touch the guy or keep your hands to yourself. There were a lot of little things that went into a seemingly simple kiss.

The “Brooks ladies” shared a light lunch of roast beef sandwiches and a pasta salad that Stephanie helped her mother put together. Cooking was pretty fun, and she thought that Steven might want to continue helping his Mom in the kitchen even after he wasn’t a girl anymore. They set aside some leftovers for when Dad came home, and then the two sisters cleaned up the mess from the meal.

Stephanie’s mother had a surprise for her. She brought a couple things out from the laundry room to show her. “I found your sister’s old Barbie backpack and sleeping bag in the basement, and ran them through the dryer to freshen them. They’ll be perfect for your overnight.”

Thinking about it reminded Stephanie’s stomach to be nervous. “Thanks, but aren’t I kind of old for Barbie?”

“Nonsense! These were Michelle’s when she was your age. And watch your grammar.”

Stephanie’s sister spoke up. “She’s got a point, Mom. There’s a reason why they’re in such great shape. I think I maybe used them once.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can see that they’re the right size for Stephanie. If they were made for a younger girl, they’d be a lot smaller. Have you thought about what you want to pack for your sleepover?”

Stephanie shook her head. “I really don’t know what I need. Could you help me?”

Mom and Michelle both agreed to help out and they all went up to look through Stephanie’s closet. The outfit they picked out for her to wear the next day was a white turtleneck blouse under a brown corduroy jumper (a thing kind of like a cross between a dress and a pair of overalls), paired with a pair of white ribbed knee socks and the shoes she got for Christmas.

It was fortunate that Michelle pointed out that one of Stephanie’s colored training bras might show through her white top, so she would need to wear one of her white padded bras under it. Brian wouldn’t have to see her looking completely flat-chested. The less he thought about her as a boy the better.

Since it would be her last day, she packed up the star earrings she had to get for the pageant that started this whole thing, along with the necklace and bracelet that matched them. There was a nice little pocket on the backpack that fit her jewelry nicely. She added her white plastic headband, which would make for an easy way to do her hair in the morning.

Her mother picked out a nightgown for her to bring with her. It was ankle-length and long-sleeved, made of pink flannel printed with a pattern of little flowers. White rules decorated the collar, cuffs, and hem. Stephanie thought it looked a little too “grannyish,” but couldn’t think of a way to tell her mother that she wanted to look prettier for Brian, maybe even kind of sexy, if that wasn’t too weird. But there’s no way Mom wouldn’t freak out over that, so she kept her mouth shut.

Dad got home from work while they were packing, and then it was a question of figuring out who got to use which bathroom first, since everyone had a party to get to. Mom and Dad were going to a fancy dinner party at his boss’ house. Mom was looking forward to trying to find more clients; the end of the year was always when people needed help working out their taxes. Stephanie really hoped that Dad wasn’t trying to find people at the party looking to get divorced; his job was so unromantic.

Their party was starting the earliest so Dad commandeered the hall bathroom while Mom was getting ready in the master suite. Mom looked really pretty in her bright blue cocktail dress, and Dad was rather handsome in his tux. Michelle teased them about looking like two kids going to the prom, and told them to be home by curfew. She let them know she might not be home until morning. She was going over to her friend Molly’s house to get together with some kids she hadn’t seen since high school, and wasn’t sure if they’d be drinking. She was prepared to crash on the couch if necessary.

Stephanie took a nice long bubble bath to try to calm down, but it didn’t work. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She got out of the tub and dried off, and then was extra careful taping things up. She didn’t want anything to fall out of place and remind Brian of her secret. She put on her bathrobe and asked her sister to help her dry her hair. Michelle had quite a time on her hands trying to keep her little sister from spinning out of control.

Stephanie put on a pretty pair of light blue panties with butterflies on them and one of her white padded bras. She thought about asking Michelle if she could borrow the extra padding she’d worn with her fancy dress to Robin’s tea party, but she didn’t want to tell her the real reason, and the bra had been all she had when Brian asked her out in the first place so it should be enough for him.

She rushed putting on her pantyhose and they got a nasty run in them. She almost wanted to cry at having ruined her big date, but Michelle caught her quickly enough and showed her that there were three pairs in the package so she didn’t need to worry. She even helped her sister get a new pair on, getting her to slow down and do it carefully.

Watching her hands working her hose up her leg, Stephanie started wondering if maybe her pink nail polish was maybe too unsophisticated and made her look like a little girl. She asked her sister if there would be enough time to change her nail polish, but then she realized that her toes wouldn’t match, and even though they’d be in shoes all night he’d still see her feet when she was in her nightgown, and so she’d have to take her nylons off to change her toes. She was well on her way to a full-blown panic attack when her sister talked her out of changing her nails. She explained that a stronger color would draw too much attention to her hands, and on a first date you really want the guy looking more at your face. Michelle also had pink nails, so that proved it wasn’t a color just for young girls.

She helped Stephanie pull on the white full slip she’d worn under her angel costume, and then had her step into her new dress. She guided her arms into the sleeves and zipped up the back. She told her that if she had trouble unzipping it at night, she could ask Brian’s mother to help her. She slipped her feet into her new shoes and Michelle gave her a few pointers in how to walk in heels. She had her walk back and forth a few times, until she felt comfortable. The shoes weren’t that high, but they were taller than what she’d worn so far.

Michelle put a towel around her shoulders to protect her dress, and then did her makeup for her. It wasn’t as extreme as for the tea party, but a little more than everyday. She gave her some black mascara, just a touch of pink eyeshadow, and a faint dusting of blush on her cheeks. Stephanie put on her own lipgloss, and then put everything in her new purse. She decided to use her silver barrettes in her hair, just to fancy it up a little, and then put her hairbrush in her purse.

She swapped out her earrings for her new ones, and Michelle reminded her to bring her other hoops to sleep in. She put those in her purse along with the pieces of fishing line her sister had shown her how to use for changing earrings. Her hands were still shaking so much that she needed help getting her necklace and bracelet on. Michelle spritzed her with perfume and then told her to pose while she took a picture with their mother’s camera; she’d wanted to see how Stephanie looked in her new outfit and asked for a photo to mark the occasion of her youngest’s first date.

Finally, Stephanie was ready to go. She had sort of gone beyond nervous at this point. It was too late to change anything, so she just had to accept her fate. She was going on a date with a boy, and would try her best to have fun with it. Worrying wouldn’t get her anywhere. She put on her coat and Michelle gave her a hand loading her stuff into the car. After double-checking the directions, they drove over to the Somers’ house.

Michelle also carried her bags from the car, so Stephanie could ring the doorbell herself. Brian’s mother came to the door and told Stephanie she looked very nice, and called to Brian to come welcome his guest. Brian showed up quickly, and did a double take when he saw Stephanie. “Wow. You look really pretty.” He was dressed up himself, in dress slacks and a button-up shirt. Brian’s mother told him to stop staring and take her bags down into the basement. He took Stephanie’s things from Michelle, and she told her little sister goodbye, and let her know she’d be back at ten the next morning to pick her up.

Brian told Stephanie to follow him, and he carried the embarrassing Barbie luggage down into their family room. She was glad Michelle had made her practice going down stairs in her heels. He dropped her bags off in the corner and showed her around the room. There was a big entertainment center on one wall, with a huge flat-screen TV in the middle of it, surrounded by various gadgets and a wide multimedia library. There was a big leather couch facing the TV with a couple of overstuffed chairs on both sides, and a big square coffee table in the middle.

To the right of the TV space, there was a long table with some snacks set up on it. There were four doors in the room: one went to a room with the furnace and stuff, one went to a big storage closet, one went to the laundry room, and the last one was a bathroom. Stephanie just kind of stood there, not sure what to do. Brian realized that Stephanie still had her coat on, and apologized for not taking it from her earlier. She took it off and he went upstairs to hang it in the coat closet.

Brian’s mom came down to make sure Stephanie was settled it okay, and commented that her dress was very pretty. Stephanie said that Mrs. Somers’ dress looked even nicer. It was red and small and seemed to just flow along her curves, revealing much more skin than anything her mother would wear. Stephanie was impressed by her awesome body, and felt a little envious. She thanked Stephanie and did a little spin to show off her dress and told her she wanted to show her guests that she’d definitely kept her resolution from last year to get her body in shape. Pilates had been worth it, whatever that was.

Brian came back and got a harsh talking-to from his mother about how you should never abandon your guest. Stephanie thought the way he stammered his apology was really cute and giggled behind her hand. After some prompting from his mother, Brian told Stephanie she could take a seat and asked if she wanted a drink. His mother excused herself and left the room, seeing that Brian was now acting like a proper host.

Stephanie considered her options. If she sat on the couch, Brian might want to sit next to her, and maybe try to touch her or kiss her or something. If she sat in a chair, she’d be safe from any funny business, but it wouldn’t have as good a view of the TV, and they were probably going to watch something or play a videogame, and she’d want a better view. That was a reason. She definitely wasn’t picking the couch because she wanted him to try something.

There was a cooler under the snack table stocked with plenty of canned soda. Brian told her what he add and she decided the proper girlish thing to do would be to ask for a diet something. Brian was fine with drinking his out of the can, but she wanted hers in a glass. He brought her back a plastic cup with not only her diet cola but also some ice and even a straw in it, and a little napkin to use as a coaster. His mom really didn’t like rings on the furniture. Stephanie liked the little pink mark her lip gloss made on the straw.

Brian came over and sat down, and set his own drink on the coffee table and then sat near her on the couch, just like she wanted! “You look so pretty in that dress it’s hard to believe you’re really a boy.”

Stephanie blushed. “Thanks, but for tonight could we just like forget that and pretend that I’m all girl? I don’t want the adults upstairs at your parents’ party to accidentally overhear something and start thinking the wrong thing.” She bit her lip nervously.

“Ok, but I’m not sure I could ever get an actual girl as pretty as you to come over.” He smiled at her and she just wanted to melt. “So, I did bribe into accepting my invitation by telling you I had a Wii. Do you want to play something?”

Stephanie had forgotten that he’d said that; she was so worried about it being a date. She asked if they could play the game that comes with the console. If they played some other game and it was really cool, it might be disappointing if she couldn’t play it when she finally got hers. Brian turned on the TV and the game, and popped the CD in for the Wii Sports game.

He handed Stephanie a “Wiimote,” the special control wand for playing the games. It was a cool new piece of technology that lit up and made noise and even vibrated sometimes. But most importantly, it knew how it was being moved around, so to play baseball you swung it like a bat, or to play golf you swung it like a club, etc.

They played a bowling game first, and Brian showed Stephanie that he had created a little “Mii” avatar to represent her in the game. She was a cute little cartoony person that actually kind of looked like her. She had big eyelashes and pink cheeks and pouty little red lips. She wore a pink top that flared out a little, like a skirt. Brian clicked on the one that looked like him, and had her wave her remote around until a little finger appeared on the screen pointing at the cartoon version of her, and she pressed her button.

Playing bowling was a little weird You had to throw the wand like a ball without letting go of it. Brian had done it before, so he was really good. It took a little while for Stephanie to figure out what to do, but he didn’t laugh at her or anything when her video counterpart threw the ball backwards.

Brian threw a strike and Stephanie didn’t think it was fair for him to totally beat her, so he offered to show her what to do. She was willing to learn, but the way he showed her was kind of uncomfortable. He stood behind her and put his hand on top of hers, with his finger pushing hers to show which button to hit when. He was touching her hand and it felt really nice even though it was a major distraction. But her assisted throw was actually a good one, and knocked down all the pins! The imaginary announcer told her it was a great throw, so she thanked Brian and gave him a little hug. He was surprised and backed off a little when she let go.

They went through a couple of rounds of bowling, and even though he always won, she was getting better. She also thought she caught him looking at her out of the corner of his eye when she did a little wiggle to try to convince the ball to turn as it rolled. He was getting successively worse, so she tried doing other things to distract him.

She went over to sample the snacks when it was his turn. There was a big bowl of cheese puffs, and some chips and dip, but there was also a tray that probably was what the grownups were having in their party. There were some really delicious little meat pie things, some mini quesadillas, some stuffed mushrooms, and some kind of grilled chicken fingers on a stick. There were also some fancy “kid” foods like pizza rolls and pigs in blankets that the grownups probably didn’t have.

Stephanie tried a mushroom and the little yummy noise she made caused Brian to turn around and completely blow his throw and roll a gutter ball. She shrugged and said she was sorry, but it just tasted so good. He just sat there while she ate another one, and seemed to be watching her mouth.

They took a break from gaming to eat the hot treats before they got cold. Stephanie hadn’t put any of the little pie things on her paper plate, so after Brian tried one he insisted she have a taste. He made he open her mouth and he held one out for her to take a bite, and she almost kind of kissed his fingers; her lips totally touched him. She had to refresh her lip gloss after all that food, and she was sure she caught him peeking at her.

They next decided to play another sport. Stephanie wanted to try baseball, but it turned out to be too hard. She couldn’t swing the thing at the right time to hit the little ball. Brian quit out of the game and said that maybe tennis would be easier. This was cool in that it would pit them against each other doing the same thing at the same time.

Tennis had two of Stephanie on one side of the net and two of Brian on the other side, and whichever of her little people was closest to the ball would swing her racket when Stephanie waved the remote. It was really fun, and she quickly got the hang of it.

She was doing so well at it that while they were playing Brian commented, “You’re pretty good at this. I know you don’t have a Wii yet, but have you played real tennis before?”

“Nope. I think I’m just finding my groove.”

“That’s too bad. I bet you’d look really cute in one of those little white tennis dresses, especially with that little face you make when you’re concentrating.”

Stephanie scored a point against him while he was talking, and she stuck her tongue out at him to gloat while the screen was showing an instant replay.

He cutely answered, “Are you offering me a French kiss?”

She messed up and he quickly got a point. She was visibly flustered. “Why would a kiss be French?”

He pushed some button and paused the game. “That’s just what they call a kiss where you open your mouths and touch tongues instead of only kissing with the lips.” He quickly added, “I didn’t think you were really trying to kiss me; I was just teasing.”

“Um, ok.” Her brain started trying to imagine what touching someone else’s tongue would feel like. “Maybe we should get back to the game.”

“Alright. No more talking about kissing.” He un-paused the game and the little people started moving again.

“If we were going to talk about kissing, I’d have to tell you that my sister told me that it’s the tradition for couples to kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

He blew a return and scored a point for her. He paused it again. “Really? I don’t think I’d heard of that tradition. I don’t remember if I made it to midnight last year.”

“Well, if we did make it to midnight, would you want me to kiss you? A regular one, none of that French stuff.”

“Um, if that’s the tradition, I guess we’d have to. We wouldn’t want to get Baby New Year mad at us or something.”

“That sounds like a very smart decision.” Stephanie’s heart was beating in her ears, and her mind was doing a happy dance — he wanted to kiss her! She had gotten a boy to like her, despite her considerable handicap, which no one needed to be thinking about.

Brian’s mind must have been wandering a little, too. When he put the game back on, his little guy made a mistake so horrible, Stephanie won the whole match.

After the game, she needed to excuse herself to use the powder room. He had to go to, but he politely let her in first. She had to take a couple deep breaths before she was calm enough to pull down her pantyhose without tearing them. She was wound up now not with nerves but with excitement. Her first date was going really well!

Since playing the game required a lot of moving around, they were kind of worn out and didn’t want to play another one right away. Brian suggested they watch a movie. He’d gotten Ratatouille for Christmas and hadn’t watched it yet. It was about a rat, which kind of put Stephanie off, but he was a chef, which got her interested, so she said they could watch it until the rats got too icky for her. It was set in France, so she accused Brian of picking it to remind her of the kissing. He tried to say no, but he turned a little red. So maybe he was still thinking about kissing, too.

He put in the DVD and brought the bowl of cheese puffs over to the coffee table so they could munch while watching. Sitting where they could both reach the bowl had the side effect of bringing them very close together. There was a scene near the beginning that had a lot of creepy rats in it, and she just squinted her eyes and grabbed onto Brian’s arm. Somehow grabbing his arm changed into grabbing his hand, which soon became holding his hand. It felt really good, even if she did have to reach around and grab cheese puffs with her left hand. She compromised by grabbing them out of his right hand, which was closer than the bowl anyway.

It wasn’t a boring movie, but it must have gotten later than they realized. At some point she’d fallen asleep leaning up against his shoulder. They were awakened by Brian’s mom, who came in to let them know that it was fifteen minutes to midnight. She changed the channel on the TV to where it would be showing the big ball drop in New York City. Brian ran his fingers through his hair, and Stephanie went into the bathroom to freshen up and check her makeup. She made sure to have fresh lip gloss.

Brian’s mother came back down, walking kind of funny and with a goofy smile on her face. She brought them a pair of plastic champagne glasses with fizzy stuff in them. “Here, kids. You can toast in the New Year too, just like all the people upstairs. If anyone asks, it’s ginger ale.” She kissed the top of Brian’s head. “Happy New Year, Sweetie. I’ve got to get back up to your dad before Mrs. Dubois steals him away.”

Brian apologized. His mother was drunk very often; Stephanie was just seeing her at a bad time. Stephanie told him not to mind. They brought their fancy drinks back to the couch and watched the minutes tick away on the TV. Before long it went into a countdown. “Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Happy New Year!”

They touched cups and said “Happy New Year” simultaneously with the crowd in New York. They drank their tiny drinks much too quickly — it wasn’t ginger ale, and then Stephanie turned to Brian and kissed him right on the lips. Some people on the screen were kissing, so it must have been a real tradition, but she didn’t know how long they held it because her eyes were closed. Fireworks were going off, but she wasn’t sure if that was on the TV or inside her head.

She released him when she had to inhale, and whispered “Happy New Year” to him again. Brian said “Happy New Year” back to her, but he had a weird kind of look on his face. He said that since they’d already fallen asleep once, maybe it was a good time to turn in. He didn’t quite stand up, but walked kind of crouched over to where he’d dropped her luggage, and brought them over to her. He said that they’d move the table out of the way, and just sleep right there on the soft carpet. His things were in the laundry room. She could change in the bathroom.

She took her backpack into the bathroom. She couldn’t reach her hand around to the back of her dress, so she came out to find Brian with a guilty look on his face, unrolling her sleeping back onto the floor. She was supposed to ask his mother, but if she really was drunk that might not be a good idea. She asked Brian if he could help unzip the back of her dress. He got over to her quicker than she would have expected, and said he’d be glad to help her out. She’d only expected him to unzip it enough so she could reach, but he undid the little hook and then pulled the zipper as far down as it would go, and seemed a little surprised to see that she was wearing a slip. She was kind of embarrassed and thanked him and got back behind a closed door as fast as she could.

She took off her dress, her slip, her shoes and her hose, but left her bra and panties on under her nightgown. They made her feel more like a real girl. She took off her necklace and bracelet and changed her earrings to her sleeper hoops. She washed her face and said goodbye to the pretty makeup. The barrettes came out and she brushed her hair back into its loose style. The girl in the mirror wasn’t quite as pretty anymore, but she did still look like a girl. Stephanie freshened her lip gloss, just in case.

Brian had changed into blue plain pajamas. He said her nightgown was really cute, and showed her where they’d be sleeping. He’d set up their two sleeping bags side by side, with throw pillows off the couch at their heads. Stephanie thought it would work out okay. She had to think about it for a few seconds to figure out how to properly get into a sleeping bag in a nightgown without the skirt riding up. Brian had the TV on just for the light, so when they were settled in he used the remote to turn it off, and the room went dark. There was a faint light coming from the stairs, just enough to make out shadows.

“Stephanie?” Brian whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for coming to my party. There’s no one else I would rather have asked.”

She blushed, invisibly. “Thanks. I can’t think of a better way I’d have wanted to spend New Year’s.”

“Um, thanks for that kiss, too. It was nice.”

“You’re welcome. I also kind of liked it myself. You must have a lot of practice.”

“Actually, it was my real first kiss with a girl. Did I do okay?”

“I think so. It was my first kiss, too. Well, with someone I’m not related to.”

“I never would have guessed. Of course, I don’t have any other kisses to compare it to.”

“So is this your way of asking for a good night kiss?”

“It wasn’t, but it could be now. Would I get one if I did ask?”

“Maybe…”

“Well then, maybe I’m asking.”

Stephanie unzipped her sleeping bag enough to lean over and give him another kiss. There was no way the fireworks were on TV this time. Brian even reached up and touched her face before she went back over to her own side.

“Mmm. You taste like strawberries. Delicious!”

“Thanks, I guess. How did that kiss compare?”

“Pretty good. I don’t really have that many to go by, though.”

“Brian? I was wondering…”

“What about?”

“Do you think maybe you’d want to try that French kiss thing, you know, just to see what it’s like?”

As an answer, Brian leaned up out of his sleeping bag and reached over to her. When he found her face he brought his mouth onto hers, starting as almost a regular kiss and then opening his mouth to let his tongue lick her lips. She responded by opening her mouth, and his tongue moved in. She greeted it with her own, and was overwhelmed by the sensations as they licked against one another. She put her arms up around him to keep him from rolling back over too quickly.

When he did go back, she sighed an exhausted “Wow.”

He agreed. “Those French really know their stuff. After fries and kissing, they really didn’t need to invent anything else.”

She was torn between wanting some more kissing and really wanting to sleep. She told him that maybe they could do some more experiments in the morning, and he seemed pretty agreeable to that. He said he hoped to dream about strawberries.