introductions?

It had been a month since you started taking your hormones and now you were at the therapist once more.

"So, kara. How are things going?"

"The usual, school sucks as usual, classes suck as usual."

"What about basketball?"

"Well yeah that's fun. I still love it."

"And home?"

You shrugged "They're all the same."

"Have you told your parents yet?"

"No!" Her eyebrow rose and she scribbled on her notepad. "I mean I told erin and I like sort of told kyle."

"What is sort of?"

"I didn't get all technical just the meds I'm taking is gonna help me become a girl."

"You are a girl, otherwise I wouldn't have given you the hormones."

"Right I know you told me before. It's hard to see that when I still look like this."

"Well that's why we're here today. The medicine I gave you before was low dosage to start you off. It's easier to adjust to mood swings that way. Speaking of?"

You hated this, you never were good at opening up. Anything other than 'fine' always ended in a lecture when your parents or teachers asked, but you had to jump through her hoops to get what you needed. "I may have cried at a laundry detergent commercial." you chuckled at how ridiculous it sounded. She scribbled in her notepad.

"Anything particular about the commercial that stood out?" And the next fifty-five minutes continued on in the same manner, pretty boring stuff really.

You drove immediately to the pharmacy by your house to drop off your prescription for a much heavier dose of what you were already taking plus extras to help change your body along the way when your phone rang. It was tom, you could practically see the little floating hearts around your head. "Hey baby."

"Hey." His tone was dark and nothing like his usual cheery mood.

"What's wrong?"

"My...my mom wants you to come over for dinner."

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right." Tom's mother, to hear him tell it, is a beast of a woman. She really did not approve of tom's sexuality so how is she going to react to you?

"Why me what I do?" You two had been really careful around your parents, because you didn't know how your parents would react and you did know how his mother would.

"She was ragging on me about when am I gonna find a nice girl to 'save my soul' and it kind of slipped out that I ...have a girlfriend."

"You..."

"Kara, I'm sorry." You knew he was but you were just so mad at him.

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Okay." His voice wilted and he hung up.

"Problems miss?" a little old voice called behind you.

"Excuse me?" You turn and see a woman maybe sixty years of age. She looked like a caricature of an elderly woman, grey hair, short, hunched over as she slowly walked with her cane.

"I couldn't help but overhear. The only thing that works on me is my eyes and ears." She laughed.

"Just...my boyfriend." you tried to make your voice higher and more girly something you had been practicing a lot over the past month. "His mother wants to meet me."

"Well you seem lovely."

"Thank you. You think she'd like me?"

"Oh lord no." She laughed at your shocked expression. "You have to understand. You're coming in and stealing her baby boy."

"I'm not!"

She took your hand in her cold wrinkly one."That's how she'll see it. Trust me. She wont like you now. Not until she sees how happy you make him." She patted your hand "But not by much."

"You're not exactly making me feel better."

"I don't lie hon. It gets people in trouble. I'm sure your own mother can tell you some stories."

"I never expected this to happen."

"We never do. One day you see a handsome young buck loading a truck, you have a bit of fun and the next thing you know you've got five kids and sixteen grandchildren."

The pharmacist called next and **** you away from the strange old grandmother. You dropped of the paper and showed your ID sweating like a protestant at mass as he looked over the two. HE KNOWS! Your mind screamed. But you kept your cool and your face blank as possible. "Alright." was all he said before handing you your bag.

"Good luck." The little old woman said as you walked by.

"Thanks."

Later at home you sat with erin sorting your pills into a pill caddy you bought on the way out. "So what are you going to wear for dinner?"

"....What I'm wearing now."

She snorted "I meant for the dinner with tom and his mom."

"Oh. I'm not going."

"Why not?!" she yelled.

"Shh! Why should I?"

"Cause he's your boyfriend and you're his girlfriend and it's his mom." She retorted sticking a pill in each day.

"You don't know what it's like."

"Please I've met many a boy's mother." You twisted your face in a smile ready to pounce but she cut you off "Eh eh eh! Meeting the mom doesn't mean you had sex perv."

"Then you go in my place."

"What is this a sitcom?"

"Look the worst that happens to you is she doesn't like you. I could be killed."

She rolled her eyes "Quit being such a defeatist. Your voice is coming along nicely and you know I can doll you up nicely." Your mind flashed back to your first date with tom and the girls in the bathroom. Even though there had been many dates since then you never went into the girls room again.

You jumped when she put her hand on yours. "S-sorry." You closed your pill box lids slowly. "Why'd he have to do this?"

"Cause he's a boy. And boys are stupid."

"Hey!"

She laughed until you joined in. Your phone buzzed at you. "Speaking of boys."

"You're gonna answer that right?" You shrugged. "Ya know, go, dont go. But dont be a shitty girlfriend and leave him hanging."

She was right of course but you were so mad he put you in this position. "Hey." You answered the phone not hiding your displeasure.

"I know you're mad-"

"Of course I'm mad!" Erin snapped her fingers wagged a finger at you. Taking a deep breath "I'll do it." Your sister's eyes widened as did tom's though you couldn't see that. "It was shitty what you did but I understand kind of. "

"So you forgive me?"

You sighed "If I survive. Just text me the details I gotta get a giant needle shot in my ass." The phone bounced off of your bed you half way hoped it broke so you'd have an excuse not to go.

"Well that was a little mean."

"Yeah well I'm mad."

"So how many people are coming to this dinner?"

"Just me and tom and his mom. Why?"

"Then is it really smart to treat the one person there on your side like shit?" you hadn't really thought about it that way. Erin pulled a three inch needle out of a box along with a small vial of clear liquid. "Now who gets the honors of using this bad boy?"

Three days later it was the night of the dinner. The dress has been chosen. The hair done. Breasts glued on. The lie set. Your parents think you're going to hang out with marv and billy. The entire way you shook with fear. You've been out with tom before dressed up but you never really spoke to anyone aside from the occasional waitress. You pulled into the drive, from the outside it looked like any normal house, hard to believe inside lived the creature from the black lagoon.

Nervously you knock on the door and a few seconds later tom opens the door. "Wow."

"What do I look okay?" you checked your dress wine colored A line cap sleeve V neck dress.

"No. I mean you do. You look amazing." Tom hugged you tight and kissed you softly on the cheek "Thank you for doing this."

"Just dont leave me." You nervously took tom's hand and entered the house. It was a nice home, meticulously cleaned. In the hallway you saw pictures of tom and his parents, much like their house they were a good looking family. "Oh is this who I think it is?" You spotted an old school photo of tom when he was about six smiling adorably even though he was missing half a tooth. "What happened here?" you laughed.

"I thought I could jump over the jungle gym from the swings." He sighed "I could not."

You giggled. "I think you looked adorable." Softly you kissed tom on the lips.

"He's still adorable." A woman's voice interrupted as she walked out of the dinning room.

"M-mrs Danieli!" You pushed tom away quickly pulling him back squeezing his hand tightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you mam." Your heart pounded in your ears. You could barely hear her as you shook her hand.

"Very polite. I like that and I just love your dress."

"Thank you my sister helped me pick it out." Immediately you knew it was a stupid thing to tell her from the look on her face. "Y-you have a lovely home."

Jamie danieli laughed "You should see it when I have time to clean."

"Well you've done a great job anyway." Thankfully she ushered you into the dining room you hoped if you were eating you wouldn't be as likely to embarrass yourself.

"So what do you do?" she asked abruptly sitting at the head of the table.

"I'm sorry?"

"Like for work."

"I don't have a job."

She hmmed and took a bite of her food. "It's just I noticed you had a pretty nice sports car out front."

"Technically it's not a sports car it's..." you cleared your throat "I mean my parents let me use it."

"So you don't have a job?" She grunted again. You looked to tom for help. His apologetic look was little help to you.

"I'm focusing on school right now."

"That's smart." You sighed thinking you were out of hot water. "So when you're through with school what then?"

"I guess college."

"College is expensive, hope you're gonna study something worthwhile."

"I hadn't really thought about it."

She nodded "Parents pay for that too?"

"Well.."

"So what happens with you and tom if you run off to college?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead."

She smirked "You don't talk about this stuff?"

"We just live in the moment." Tom interjected finally. Judging by the look his mother gave him it was a bad idea.

"So you don't see yourself together for very long? Okay."

"What? No!" you yelled your voice came out deeper than you intended. "May I use your bathroom?" Tom pointed the way and you ran as calmly as you could.