Melissa stared at herself in Kelly's bathroom mirror, admiring the maroon eyeshadow that her best friend had matched with the thin tee shirt she wore. Even though shorts and a tee shirt was a normal outfit for children in the summer, it was a pair of girl shorts that stopped a few inches above the knee and a girl tee shirt with sleeves that didn't extend down to her elbows. Melissa loved the freedom of the light material, of the breeze on less-often exposed skin.

But it was over.

"Here," Kelly said, popping into the bathroom with a stained washcloth. "This'll get that makeup off your face in no time."

"Is it clean?" Melissa asked as she took the rag.

"Of course it is! My dad just says he doesn't have time to bleach and scrub silly things."

"You wouldn't need bleach-"

"And that's my cue!" Kelly said loudly. With a flourished wink, she backed out of the bathroom and slammed the door.

Melissa hated this part. She turned on the water to let it warm up while she undressed. She undressed quickly, not looking in the mirror as she discarded Kelly's clothes into the dirty hamper next to the door, then pulled on her own clothes. The clothes that came from her house, at least. Grabbing the washcloth, she scrubbed her face until the stained fabric was even more colorful. Then she splashed water on her face until it ran clear. Sweeping her hair back off her face, Melissa straightened to look in the mirror again.

George was looking back.

"Will you quit sighing in there?" Kelly called from the other side of the door. "I know you don't like your boy clothes, but you're going to blow our straw house down like that!"

The cheap humor lifted George's spirits a little. With a last glance at the pink-cheeked boy with semi-wet hair and just-slightly-too-small tee shirt and basketball shorts, George turned from her reflection.

"When do you think your mom will let you wear what you want?" Kelly asked when George came into her room.

She shrugged. "Maybe never. Dr. White said that sometimes parents of transgender youth never come around." Dr. White was the therapist that saw both George and Mom. Most of the time, she saw them separately. But sometimes she asked to have a session with them both. George hated those sessions.

Kelly wrinkled her nose. "That's silly. At least you can always dress proper over here."

George tried to smile at her friend. But Kelly, with all her parts matching what was in her heart, just didn't understand. It wasn't enough to be a real girl only behind the closed doors of a friend's house. George wanted to be a real girl all the time.

After saying goodbye, George hopped on her pike a hurried home. Summer curfews were different than the school year ones, but as the sun vanished behind the distant tree line, even George had to admit that she was pushing it. She pedaled harder.

The clock inside the front door read 8:02.

"Sorry!" George called. "I didn't realize what time it was-" She stopped short as she entered the living room. The TV was off, Mom was still in her work clothes on the couch, and Scott was home, sitting in the arm chair closest to Mom. His curfew wasn't for another two hours.

"Hey," Scott said. The end of his greeting trailed slightly, a newer trait that he'd developed since learning that George was a girl. At first, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. But after a few weeks, George realized that Scott was keeping himself from calling her 'bro,' 'buddy,' or 'dude.'

Now she liked the trail.

"What's going on?" George asked. "Is everything okay?"

Scott looked over at Mom before shrugging. "Just talking. You know me, always causing problems." He stood up, walked past George, and called over his shoulder, "Love you, Mom!" before disappearing upstairs.

Mom didn't turn her head as she called back, "Love you." It sounded a little flat.

"Is everything okay for real?" George asked when she heard Scott's bedroom door close. "Did he do something really bad this time?"

"No, Gee. He didn't do anything."

George flinched. There was just enough of an emphasis on the he. Mom looked over at her and sighed, then gestured for George to sit down where Scott had just been. George's heart sped up as she did. For several moments, they sat in silence. Mom didn't look mad, exactly, but her lips were pressed together so tight that they were slowly disappearing. Finally, she swallowed. It was loud in the space around the quiet TV.

"School starts up in two weeks."

Well, a week and three days, but George didn't think Mom needed reminding of that just then.

"Scott needs new shoes and jeans and probably at least one or two decent shirts," Mom said. "And I've noticed that your clothes are getting small. We ought to go back to school shopping for you bo...for you two."

Catching herself from calling George a boy aside, Mom's declaration brought a frown to George's face. She didn't particularly like her personal clothes, but the fact that they were fitting her a little tighter (like girl clothes) had been nice. A secret pleasure. Now she'd have to endure baggy button downs and mile-long zippers.

But all she said was, "Okay."

"And..." Mom sighed. Some of the edge fell out of her voice, leaving her just sounding tired. "Gee...I know I'm not moving as fast as you want with...this." She fanned her hand vaguely at George. But I hope you know that I'm trying. And...when we go to get new clothes, you can...you can pick styles more...more..."

George's voice was a whisper, all the air trapped in her lungs as she held her breath. "Girly?"

"More your taste," Mom finished firmly. "I...I'm not ready for dresses or pink or sequins or any of that. But...if you want to pick some of the less..."

"Girly?"

"More unisex clothes. If you can meet me in the middle there...you can pick from both the boy's and girl's sections."

George didn't miss the condition, that she'd still have to wear some boy clothes, but she didn't care. She couldn't care, not when Mom was sitting there, looking George in the eye, and telling her that she could buy girl clothes and wear them to school. Her heart fluttered excitedly. Blinking back tears that might push Mom past her limit of acceptance for the evening, George took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Mom."

"I love you, GeeGee." Mom said it simply. A part of George was hurt that the only real reason Mom was willing to try and understand was that George was her child. But for now, Dr. White said that had to be enough.

"Why don't you go get ready for bed?" Mom suggested after some more silence. "We'll get going kind of early tomorrow so we can be home in time for dinner."

"Okay." George hurried to her room without trying to look too pleased. She floated up the stairs in a daze, feet barely skimming the floor as she moved in a barely-suppressed dance to her bedroom door. She was going to be able to wear girl clothes! George would be able to wear them to school, to anywhere! And Mom agreed to it! With the door latched safely behind her, George let the tears fall. But for the first time since her performance at the Charlotte's Web play, these were tears of joy.