Lucy had known for a while now that she — or maybe, he — felt different about things. Maybe it was because she grew up in a house full of brothers, but being girly had never felt right. She didn't wanna wear dresses or spend all her time gossiping with the other girls at school. Even her best friend, Kathy, remarked from time to time that she didn't act "ladylike" enough. Lucy was nothing like the other girls her age, especially not those stuck-up West Side Socs or the greaser broads who hung all over her brothers.

Lucy's mind wandered as an image of those greaser girls popped into her head. Some of them hung out on street corners and let guys pick them up in exchange for cigarettes or cash. It was a low life to live, having to provide for yourself that way. Hell, even the smartest girl in Lucy's grade last year had ended up going down that path. Maria Alvarez. Her parents split up, mom ran off with her new boyfriend, leaving Maria and her deadbeat dad to take care of her younger sisters. Lucy had seen Maria standing on the street a few weeks ago when she was riding downtown with Sodapop. You couldn't even tell that she had once been the top of her class. Her once-beautiful black hair now fell over her shoulders in a scraggly mop and her face was painted with so much makeup that you could barely recognize her. Soda had taken pity on her, offered her what little cash he had in the truck. She'd taken it gratefully, like that few dollars was the only thing keeping her from going hungry that night.

There were other girls on that strip of pavement, too. Girls who looked like they'd been at this type of work since they were old enough for guys to pay the slightest bit of attention to them. Lucy would never, ever admit it to anyone, but seeing those girls in their short skirts and unbuttoned blouses made something stir in the pit of her stomach. It was a warm, pleasant feeling, but one that carried plenty of shame.

All she knew was, she'd never felt like that towards any boy, but that was a piece of information she would take to the grave.

Lucy stared at her reflection as she continued to run the brush through her hair. Her hair was getting long, almost past her shoulder blades. She could use a haircut soon, but that type of thing was considered extra, not something that Darry was able to have a budget for. If she wanted to get her hair cut, she'd have to come up with the money herself. She had a few bucks, but she had planned on buying candy and colored pencils at the corner store later today.

The thought of her argument with Darry made irritation bubble up in her chest again. It really wasn't fair that he thought less of her just because she was a girl. She didn't ask to be born this way. Besides, she handled herself just fine in school, even when greaser boys would jump at the chance to catcall her in the hallways or in the parking lot. She could easily learn how to use a switchblade if Darry would let her have one. She didn't have to be confined to the supervision of a chaperone for the rest of her life.

Sighing, Lucy put down the hairbrush and tossed her hair behind her shoulders. She pulled open the top dresser drawer to put the brush in, when the glint of metal caught her eye. As she reached in and pulled out the sharp pair of scissors, a sudden perturbance twisted in her gut. She shut her eyes tightly, inhaling slowly. She was tired of the world treating her differently just because she looked like a girl. What she saw the mirror didn't feel right. It felt more like she was looking at a stranger instead of someone who'd been in that body for fourteen whole years. She was fed up with it all.

Her eyes popped open, and it was like her hands moved on their own. She could only watch in the mirror as she grabbed a piece of her own hair, right above her shoulder. Her other hand trembled as it moved the scissors forward, taking the chunk of hair between its sharp blades. One swift movement, and suddenly, her blonde locks were tumbling to the carpet.

Once she started, it was like she couldn't stop. Lucy cut and snipped all over her head, barely paying attention to symmetry. Minutes later, her chest was heaving as if she'd just run a marathon, and most of her hair lay at her feet. Lucy dropped the scissors on the dresser and, hands shaking, reached up to thread her fingers through her new haircut. Her once voluminous hair was now a choppy pixie cut that stuck out in tufts all over her head. She sure didn't look like the girls at school now. At least, not from the neck up.

An idea began to form in Lucy's head, and she glanced down at her body. Her clothes weren't especially feminine. She was just wearing her nightclothes, which consisted of shorts and old t-shirt of Darry's. Most of her everyday clothes, though, were bought on the women's side of the store. Her closet was full of high-waist jeans and blouses and even a few skirts she hadn't worn in years. Maybe she could ask Darry to let her pick up a few things second-hand that more closely resembled what her brothers wore, but she knew without even asking that they didn't have the money to spare right now. Her birthday had just passed and Christmas was months away. She'd just have to borrow a few things.

She slipped out into the hall, tiptoeing in case anyone was still in the house. A quick peek into the living room, though, revealed that she was the only one left. Her brothers must have left right after breakfast. No longer bothering to tiptoe, she made her way into Soda and Pony's room. Both boys had clothes strewn on the bed and floor, but Lucy went straight for the closet. She rifled through the boys' fresh garments, eventually pulling out a pair of Pony's old jeans and one of Soda's DX shirts. The shirt would be a little big on her, but she and Pony were about the same size. It would work fine.

She took the clothes back to her room and proceeded to get dressed, taking care to tuck the shirt into the jeans. She added a black belt and a pair of boots she had "borrowed" from Ponyboy ages ago. Smoothing her hands down the front of the shirt, she made her way back out into the hallway and went straight to Darry's room. There, she found the full length mirror that still sat against the wall from when the space belonged to her parents. Lucy tried to keep the memory from planting itself in the back of her mind, and instead focused on examining her reflection.

The clothes looked fine, but there was one element that was still a dead giveaway: her chest. Despite her attempts to avoid being feminine, Lucy could never prevent her chest from filling out the way her mother had once told her it would. Even thinking about it made her cross her arms over her torso, hugging herself to hide what was beneath her shirt. She wished there was a way she could just... wish them away.

Maybe she couldn't make them disappear completely, but as Lucy thought about it for a moment, a realization came to her. She'd seen models on television and in magazines with chests as flat as a boy's, and it had bewildered her until she read an article that explained how the girls wrapped gauze bandages around their chests to hide it completely. With as many fights as they had on this side of town, Darry always kept a well-stocked first aid kit in the house. Lucy raced to the bathroom to gather her supplies.

Just a few minutes later, she stood in front of the full-length mirror once more, this time with a chest that didn't even extend past her stomach. The safety pins she'd used to keep the bandages in place poked at her skin, but it was worth it for the fact that when she looked in the mirror, Soda's DX shirt fell over her torso in a straight line.

For the first time, Lucy looked in the mirror and felt a rush of euphoria. Her hair no longer looked like it should be held up with bows and ribbons. Her clothes didn't give her a "womanly figure" like the other girls her age. Her body in general wasn't curvy or indicative of any desire to use it in ways besides its everyday functions. She could have passed for a younger Curtis brother, and that revelation made her whole body feel jittery.

There was only one way to test this out. She'd prove that she didn't have to be accompanied by a boy just to walk down to the corner store and back. No one would wanna mess with her when she was dressed like this. Guys on this side of town liked the flouncy blondes with bodies most girls could only dream of. She no longer fit that description, so there was no reason to think anyone would want to take advantage of her, even without one of her older brothers around.

Lucy made sure to leave Darry's room the way she'd found it, then made her way back to her own bedroom for her stuff. She grabbed her wallet and stuck it in her back pocket, just like she'd seen her brothers do hundreds of times. She did a final once over to make sure her shirt was tucked in and her gauze wrappings were still in place, enjoying the sensation of making herself look nice in a way that felt right.

Without further hesitation, she headed out of the house. Still no sign of her brothers, or any of the other guys they hung around with, for that matter. This couldn't be going any more perfectly. She hitched her thumbs in her pockets as she walked down the street, doing her best to walk like all the greaser guys did with their shoulders hunched and a stony look on their features.

No one gave her a second look as she made her way down the block, even when she passed Curly Shepard and his cronies hanging in the alley next to the drug store. Curly was friends with Ponyboy, but any time he came over, he looked at Lucy like she was something good to eat. She kept her head down, but a glance out of her peripheral revealed that the boys couldn't even be bothered to look up as she walked by. Her "disguise" must be working if even Curly Shepard didn't recognize her.

Nonetheless, she exhaled slowly when she finally entered the corner store, relieved that she'd made it without any trouble. That said, she didn't care to waste any time. She quickly found colored pencils and gummy bears and brought her purchases up to the counter. The old man behind the cash register rang her up in silence. He didn't seem to observe anything odd about her, even when they briefly made eye contact as she handed him the items.

"That'll be $4.57, son," the man spoke as he put her purchases in a paper bag. Lucy's stomach did a flip at the epithet the old man tacked onto the end of his sentence. The cashier actually thought she was a boy! She was so taken aback that for a few seconds, all she could do was stare back at him. She snapped to her senses when the man cleared his throat and gave her an expectant look. A blush colored her cheeks as she quickly dug in her pockets for her wallet, pulling out a $5 bill. She waited patiently for her change, then took her bag with a grin. "Thank you," she murmured under her breath, making her voice as low as possible. The cashier merely nodded, turning back to the register. Lucy paused for a second, then turned around and quickly left the store, a smile still plastered to her features. She'd made an entire purchase and even remembered her etiquette without the cashier ever suspecting a thing. She deserved these gummy bears.

The walk home was just as uneventful as the walk there, until she turned the corner by their house. Her stomach did another flip-flop at the sight of Two-Bit meandering just a few yards away, kicking an empty beer can down the sidewalk. Lucy froze and put her head down, her grip tightening on the bag in her hand. Maybe if she passed him quietly without raising her gaze from the sidewalk, she could remain as incognito as she was when she passed Curly Shepard. She hunched her shoulders again and stared at her feet as she walked, shuffling quickly forward.

This plan seemed reasonable except for the fact that she wasn't watching where she was going. Suddenly, Two-Bit's voice pierced the air: "Hey, watch it!" The beer can that he'd been kicking suddenly made its way under Lucy's unsuspecting feet, sending her sprawling on the sidewalk with an instinctive cry. She heard feet pounding on the sidewalk, and then Two-Bit Mathews was standing in front of her. "Hey, man, are you okay?"

Lucy gingerly sat up, shaking out her scraped palms. She dared to look up into Two-Bit's concerned features. His face went from worried, to shocked, to bewilderment in a matter of seconds. "Lucy?" He grabbed her arms and easily pulled her to her feet, dusting off the back of her shirt. "What happened to your hair?"

"Cut it," Lucy mumbled, doing a quick once-over of her outfit to make sure none of her brother's clothes were damaged in the fall. Everything looked mostly intact, save for the fact that her shirt had come partially untucked. She composed herself quickly, tucking her shirt back in and accepting the store bag from Two-Bit when he collected it off the ground.

"What are you wearin' Soda's work shirt for?" Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow at her, looking genuinely puzzled at her appearance. Lucy heaved a sigh. She supposed it was pretty surprising to see her dressed that way, especially with her new haircut, but it just felt like second nature to her. She figured it was best to be mostly honest with Two-Bit. He wasn't going to snitch.

"Darry told me I couldn't walk to the store by myself, 'cause I'm a girl, so..." Lucy ran a hand through her hair, briefly wondering how she would look if she greased it like her brothers did. "I snuck out. Figured I'd have a better chance of being left alone if I tried to look less girly." She left out the part about the cashier thinking she was a boy. She was the only one who needed to know that, for now.

Two-Bit blinked at her, then a grin made its way onto his face. "Man, I thought you were just another greaser wanderin' down the street," he remarked, letting out a signature cackle. He clapped her on the shoulder, then threw an arm around her. "Your brothers home?"

"Nah." Lucy shook her head, giving him a wry smile. "They took Pony to a track meet. You wanna come over?"

"Sure." Two-Bit rubbed his knuckles into her skull, making her yelp, then ruffled her hair before releasing her. "That's a tuff haircut, kid. I bet Superman's gonna have your hide, though."

Lucy grimaced, folding her arms over her chest. She'd been so overwhelmed by the excitement of her new look that she hadn't even paused to consider what her brothers might say about her hair. She kicked the offending beer can out of the way as she walked past it, eyebrows furrowed. "Maybe," she said finally, letting out a sigh. "Ain't much he can really do about it, though. 'Cept maybe take away my scissors."

"You look kinda like that little kid on The Flintstones," Two-Bit offered, chuckling at his own wisecracking. "Darry oughta get you one of those wooden clubs so you can fight off Socs."

"Aw, cut it out, Two-Bit," Lucy huffed, though she laughed as she said it. "With hair that red, you could be Pebbles Flintstone, easy."

"I'm honored, Curtis," Two-Bit snickered, giving her a playful shove. They continued bantering back and forth all the way up until they entered the Curtis house, serving only to lift Lucy's spirits further. She'd done it. She had made the trip to the corner store and back, and even made the cashier think she was a boy the whole time she was in the store. Two-Bit wasn't gonna tell anyone about her sneaking out, and he even called her tuff. Maybe it was Darry's nickname, but right then, she felt like Superman, and it felt amazing in ways she couldn't quite yet describe.

Hey there! Thanks for tuning back in. Please review, favorite, and follow if you're interested! I accept any and all criticism.

Also, disclaimer: NEVER bind your chest with bandages, gauze, or anything besides safe binding methods. You could risk breaking your ribs or even killing off the cells underneath the wrappings. Proper, safe binding didn't really exist in the 60's unless you were wealthy and/or a model, but that's no excuse not to take advantage of the much safer alternatives we have today. If you have any further questions about this or anything related to being transgender, don't hesitate to PM me. I'm happy to educate :)

Happy reading!

~TJ