The next day, I paid Allen a visit. I hadn't been to his house in over a year, but I was happy to see that he still resided in the same cozy home on the outskirts of town. I stood on his doorstep, tapping my foot anxiously, rehearsing my cover story in my head over and over again. Finally satisfied that I had it down, I rang the doorbell, nervously tucking a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear. A few minutes later, his mom opened the door wearing an apron covered with flour.

"Serena!" She cried, obviously surprised. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Hi, Mrs. Benson," I said sheepishly, wringing my hands. "Is Allen home?"

"Why, yes he is. He's in his room right now, playing around on his computer. I'm just baking some cookies, would you like some?" She asked, leading me inside.

The smell of chocolate invaded my nostrils, and my mouth watered, but I pushed the urge away. "No thanks, I just have to ask Allen a favor."

"All right, if you're sure. His room's down the hall, but I'm sure you remember. It's good to see you again, dear!" She called over her shoulder as she headed back towards the kitchen.

I sighed, and turned to walk down the hall to Allen's room. I paused outside the door, listening to the sounds within, but all I could hear was the soft clicking of his keyboard. Satisfied, I raised my hand and knocked firmly on the door.

"I'm busy mom! I'll taste your cookies later!" He shouted, voice slightly muffled through the wood.

"It's Serena," I called. "I needed to ask you something."

"Serena?" He repeated.

"Yeah, can I come in?"

"Hold on," he warned. "I'll be right there."

A crash suddenly resounded from inside the room, followed by a string of curses. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. I could hear him inside, clamoring to pick up what I was assuming a horrendously messy room. It was almost cute.

After a few minutes, he finally opened his door wearing a Nintendo t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Hey, Serena." He said nervously, pushing his glasses higher on his nose.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but I need a huge favor." I said quickly, getting right to the point.

"Sure, anything! What can I do?" He asked eagerly. I paused for a moment, not quite knowing how to phrase it, but then finally deciding to take the plunge.

"I need you to make me a guy." I blurted.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I need you to make me a guy," I repeated. Allen suddenly turned red.

"Serena, if you're having some sort of identity crisis, I think you might want to talk to--"

"No! It's nothing like that!" I insisted, laughing in spite of myself. "Sorry, I'm going about this all wrong," I apologized. "You see, I'm doing this undercover story for the city paper. There's been rumors of extreme hazing at Madison's School for Boys, and I want to investigate. In order to do this, I have to become a student there, and to do that I have to get through their background check. That's where you come in," I explained, hoping he'd buy it.

"Wow, this sounds really big! But I don't get it, why would they want someone outside the paper to set something like that up? Why doesn't the paper do this stuff for you?" He asked.

Uh, oh! You better come up with something fast! I thought to myself.

"Well… You see, they haven't exactly agreed to print the story yet. They're interested, but they're worried about all the legal stuff. I know it'll take them too long to hash out all the details, so I was hoping you could help me with getting an identity, and I could get them the story by winter break. If I do it this way, we all win, and I don't have to wait for the 'go ahead' from the paper."

Whew! I thought. Good one! But would Allen help me?

"How do you know I can help you?" He asked suspiciously. I smiled shyly.

"Well, I know you got Lita a fake ID, and it fooled everyone. I figured if you could do that, you were definitely smart enough to create a person." I paused, putting on my best damsel-in-distress expression. "Can you help me?"

I could practically see his chest fill with pride, and I again was struck with that feeling that Allen was really sweet. If he did this, I was going to owe him one.

"I'll help you." He finally answered. "But it'll take some time, so give me a few days."

"Thanks Allen!" I exclaimed, really meaning it. "I owe you one!" I reached out and gave him a quick hug.

He looked as if Christmas had come early, and I had to resist smiling.

"You-You're welcome," he stammered.

"I gotta go now, but thank you again! I really do appreciate it."

"Not a problem," he said, trying to look nonchalant, but I could see he was itching to get started.

"Well, see you later." I said.

"See you!" He answered, his eyes holding a soft, faraway look.

I walked out of his house with a new view of him. Andrew was right. He wasn't a bad guy, and he deserved a great girl. Maybe I can find him one up at Madison, I thought. I smiled, remembering Allen's eager face. If he could get me closer to Darien, I owed him at least that much!

The next thing I had to do was meet Mina at the mall to go shopping for my "new look." It really wasn't that difficult, I had the money, and Mina had the taste, and it wasn't long before I had myself a brand new wardrobe.

I stood in front of the mirror in Macy's, taking in my new prep-school uniform. The trousers were cut well enough to hide my hips, and the shirt fit perfectly, without revealing the secrets I would have to keep up top.

"We can get you an ace bandage to wrap them too," Mina commented, reaching forward to straighten my necktie.

"I think I'm gonna throw up…" I murmured, trying to get used to the person staring back at me. "I don't know if this is such a good idea anymore."

"Don't chicken out on me now," she warned, taking me by my shoulders. "You can do this! I already informed Dad about your acceptance to Madison's School for Girls, and he was thrilled. He's getting your tuition checks in order, and he even bought my story that the boys' school holds the main financial office. You're totally covered, so relax!" She reassured.

"It's not that!" I sighed, and covered my eyes with one hand. "I know we have all the technical stuff down, but can I pull this off? Mina, I'm not even a tomboy! How am I going to convince all these guys that I'm one of them?"

"Look at it this way," Mina reasoned patiently, "at least you're not a guy trying to be a girl. You think learning to be a guy is hard, think of how tough it would be for them to learn all the little tricks of our trade. I mean, can you imagine a guy trying to pick out an outfit, or tweezing his eyebrows, or shaving? I mean, imagine him trying to have a meaningful conversation without tuning it out. You have a distinct advantage over them, it's called a brain!"

I laughed and shook my head. "I just feel so weird about all this… It's so sneaky!" I insisted.

"You act like you're the first girl to dress up as a man for love! Heck, look at Shakespeare! Almost half the women in his plays are dressing up as the opposite sex in order to get their man. Cheer up, you're not alone!"

I glanced back at my reflection and tried to imagine my hair cut short, and I nearly cringed. I had been growing it out since I was eleven, and it was my pride and joy… layers and layers of golden blonde hair falling nearly to my backside. I gulped.

"Mina…" I trailed off, my voice breaking.

"Yeah?"

"I have to cut my hair," I stated flatly.

"Well duh, you can't go in there looking like Goldilocks!"

I bit my lip hard, and before I could stop myself, I burst into tears.

The next few days were a blur. I had finished getting my wardrobe together, gotten my application off to Madison, and had been given the clear by Allen that any background checks would go through. My new name was Ren Johnson, basically an abbreviation of my actual name, so I wouldn't have that much of a problem answering to it. Most of my information was the same too (transcripts, activities, etc.), but instead of playing on the girls' soccer, volleyball, and track team, I had played for the opposite sex. Everything was perfect, but I still needed to cut my hair. Because I was so afraid, I convinced Mina that I shouldn't do it until I received my acceptance letter from Madison. I must admit, part of me was hoping it would never come--not just because of my hair--but because the thought of actually going through with this charade completely terrified me.

However, my hopes were dashed when my acceptance letter arrived a week later, just in the nick of time. It was really going to happen; I was really leaving. I couldn't put off the last touch of my transformation any longer. I had to cut my hair whether I wanted to or not.

Opening the door of the salon was the hardest thing I'd ever done. When I stepped inside, I felt my hands turn clammy, and I shivered.

"Mina!" I moaned.

She reached forward and took my hand, giving it a big squeeze. "It's just hair," she reassured. "It'll grow back before you know it."

I bit my lip and got into the chair. The lady gave me a big smile, and reached to undo my hair. She whistled appreciatively as it cascaded down my back. "So healthy," she commented. "What would you like me to do today?"

I took in a deep breath and willed my heart to stop racing.

"Just cut it all off," I said flatly, closing my eyes.

"All of it?" She asked incredulously.

"All of it."

About forty-five minutes later, my stylist announced she was finished. I reluctantly opened my eyes, and inhaled sharply. It was short-- about two-and-a-half inches long. I reached up and gently passed my hand over the top of it, trying to get used to the new sensations. I glanced down and stared at all my hair strewn across the floor, then looked back at the mirror.

Well, I would definitely fool people, but I highly doubted Darien would ever be attracted to me now. I sighed, and tried to tell myself I was doing the right thing, but I had a bit of a hard time. Somehow, I just felt crazy and stupid. I would have to catch a bus up to Madison in a few days, and the only emotion I could conjure up was fear.

"I really am crazy," I whispered. "This better be worth it."

Well, that's chapter three! Like it? Hate it? Review please!