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“I had no choice,” she said. “My mom’s been bugging me for weeks and I’ve got no sisters, and –”

“Hey, it’s ok,” he said. “I know I’d be clueless too if I had to go.”

She smiled. “Well anyways, you can stop freaking. I’m still me.”

“Coolness,” he said. Just then the bell rang. They looked at each other and then took off running in opposite directions.

As she ran, the panic-fueled burst of energy brought her a corresponding burst of clarity. “I’m safe because I’m a tomboy.” The realization pained her in a tiny stabbing way that she’d never felt before. She couldn’t escape the memory of feeling beautiful when she was talking to Danielle and her friends; and she could see herself in that dress on the cover of Bridesmaid’s Monthly that she had swiped from her sister. Suddenly, she knew that she was changing. She entered the class deep in thought and when she sat down, she almost missed the chair.

* * * *

The driver of the Taurus took each turn instinctively as if he had memorized the route, and his feet, in an odd syncopation, kept the vehicle’s speed just under the speed limit.

The car’s cassette player aired a steady stream of tepid jazz standards, while various maps and manuals with sagacious titles jostled across the passenger and back seats. Each book was either opened to a dog-eared page or was stippled with multiple bookmarks.

He nodded at a familiar landmark. He would be there in plenty of time for this evening.

* * * *

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