Shauna and Matilda were hanging out in Matilda room when Jenny stuck her head in the door. "I'm going shopping. Do you need anything, Matilda?" she asked.

"No, mother," Matilda said.

Jenny winced, but didn't object to the title that was technically correct.

"No, mother?" Shauna asked, when she had left. "You never call her mother."

Matilda shrugged, then rolled over on her back and let her head hang down off the side of the bed. She rolled her eyes, trying to see her hair.

"What do you think I would look like with a Mohawk?" she asked.

"A Mohawk, why?"

"She said I was acting like a rebellious teenager. It got me thinking."

"You want into her pants so bad, don't you?"

Matilda flushed; then rolled over, her hair falling into her face. "How did you know?" she demanded.

"Mattie, I've known since the first time you kissed me."

Matilda groaned. "Am I that obvious?" she asked.

Shauna grinned. "Yes. Whenever you guys were in the same room, you practically radiated attraction at her, all the time."

"I'm sorry," Matilda said, "that must have sucked for you."

"Yes, but I knew nothing would ever happen. However... something must have, when you were in Disneyland." She looked at Matilda meaningfully.

"She found out. It wasn't hard, once I accidentally saw her naked." Matilda's blush was worse than ever. "Having this power is worse than being a boy with a hard on!"

"Yes, when you get turned on, everything rises up."

Matilda's outraged shriek was drowned out by the sound of Shauna's giggles, as Matilda ruthlessly went for her tickle spots. By the end of the exertion, they were both laying on the floor staring at the ceiling. Matilda levitated a penny above her nose.

"Hey, did you just get turned on by tickling me?" Shauna asked, grinning wildly.

Matilda blushed. "Well, you know, skin contact, and everything. And you're still cute. I'm just, more focused on Jennifer now."

"I can tell. Are you serious about the Mohawk thing?"

"Why?" Matilda asked.

"I know someone who could do it."

A quick scribbled note pinned to the front door, and the girls were on their way to the bus stop.

On the bus, Matilda kept looking surreptitiously at Shauna. She was being strangely silent about who this mystery Mohawked one was. She hadn't even giving a pronoun. Plus, she kept blushing, or going silent mid sentence. Finally, they reached the center of town, and Sauna led her down a few blocks to an apartment building. The door was locked but there were a row of buttons, each referring to a different apartment number. Shauna pressed the 15th.

Presently, the door at the bottom unlocked and opened. Matilda got only a swift impression of a boy wearing a baseball cap and ratty motorcycle jacket before the boy swooped down and kissed Shauna. This was a deep kiss, a real tongue plundering, back pushed against the hallway wall, passionate lover's kiss. Shauna swooned into into the boy's mouth, one hand pressing against the wall behind her, the other curling around his waist. Matilda had never seen a kiss like that before, discounting at the movies, and it moved her more than she'd have expected it too. She levitated a pair shoes set out beside somebody's door. If just watching the kiss affected her this much, she had no idea what it did to Shauna. Eventually feeling too much like a voyeur, she coughed.

The boy pulled away, looking at Matilda in surprise.

"Oh," he said, and Matilda revised her first impression as she heard the soft voice, and got a better look at her face, because the person she had thought was a boy was actually a handsome girl instead. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." She had a soft Scottish burr to her voice, and Matilda thought she might just melt from a charisma induced coma.

Shauna was leaning against the wall, breathing hard and looking as thoroughly and well kissed as it was possible for a girl to look. There would be no help coming from that quarter.

"Matilda," Matilda said, holding out her hand.

"Mack," the boy said. Girl. Woman actually. If you looked at her expecting to see a male, you saw a cleanshaven boy of about 16. If you looked at her expecting to see a female, you saw a woman who could be anywhere between 18 and 28 years of age.

They shook hands.

Shauna, who finally seemed to be of use again, bit her lip and sent an apologetic look at Matilda.

"I met him when you were in Disneyland."

Matilda did not know what question to ask first. She went with the most pressing.

"You cheated on me!" she accused.

Shauna blushed.

Matilda took pity on her. "That's OK; I cheated on you too,"

"With who? No....you mean, you and Jenny?"

"It was just a little kiss." Matilda said.

"Wait a minute, you are both together?" Mack asked, confused and not a little angry.

"No."

"No!"

Matilda and Shauna both fell over each other to explain that, yes they had been, but no they weren't anymore and that there were no hard feelings, and that, as Matilda put it, "Are two people in a relationship if they haven't kissed in a month, even though they saw each other every other day?"

Mack conceded that she might have a point there, but still looked a bit upset at the idea of stealing someone's girlfriend.

"It's just not cool."

"So, not that I am complaining, why are you here today?" Mack asked. They were still standing around in the stairwell.

"You said, the other night, that you could give me a Mohawk, if I ever wanted."

"Do you want me too?" Mack asked, looking at her skeptically. "It would look good, but I thought you said your mother would never go for it."

Matilda, head still spinning at the fact that her best friend and very recent ex-girl friend had been seeing someone for a week without telling her, finally piped up, "No, that would be me."

Now Mack's expression became even more skeptical. "You want a Mohawk?"

Matilda bit her lip. It did not help.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you're a bit of a..."

"Nerd. The word is nerd."

"Uh, yeah."

Shauna stood up for her friend. "She's a lot tougher than she looks. She's graduating college next year."

That didn't convince Mack anymore than Matilda biting her lip did.

"She's trying to get into her adoptive mother's pants," Shauna finally said, ignoring the elbow in the stomach that got her.

Mack eyed Matilda considerately. "Now you are starting to get interesting. Does she like Mohawks?"

"Nope, I am positive that she hates them," Matilda confessed, "but she said I'm acting like a rebellious teenager. She has NOT seen rebellious teenager yet."

At the fierce grin on Matilda's face, Mack smiled with her, a reckless smile that had Matilda's knees trying to melt out from under her. "I like you. You know what? This will be free of charge. You pay for the dye and I'll cut your hair."

"Dye?" Matilda asked, or perhaps whimpered was the better word.

"Yeah, unless you want to go for the au natural look. That could work."

Matilda considered this for a second. "Rainbow. Can I do that?"

"Out and Proud? Alright with me."

They went on a shopping trip. While Mack was engaged in picking colors, Matilda drew Shauna aside for some serious catch up.

"Wow."

"Uh, yeah." Shauna grinned and blushed at the same time.

"Let me say that again. Wow."

"I know."

"I didn't know that was your type," Matilda said, swallowing a sudden lump in her throat. She was glad that she and Shauna were no longer together, glad but....

"I didn't know either. Not that you aren't my type either but..."

Matilda sighed, and ran her hand lightly through Shauna's short blond hair. "It's fine. I like her. I like you. I like you guys together."

"Sorry, I didn't tell you about her, but it was new. I wanted to keep her to myself."

Matilda thought she could love the shy smile on Shauna's face. It wasn't one she had ever seen before. Shauna always projected an aura of confidence that usually came out as brashness. This girl who was also a boy seemed to bring out a hidden feminine aspect. She was still Shauna, jock extraordinaire, but she was a jock who could swoon into someone's kiss.

"I meant to ask you about that. Sometimes you've called Mack a 'he' and other times you call Mack a 'she.'"

"I don't care which you call me," Mack said, startling them both. "I'm genderfuct. Gender queer. Neither or both. Whatever suits your fancy."

She turned around and showed Matilda the back of her leather Jacket. Patched on it was a label. 'The Glasgow Lords: Last of the Scottish Kings.'

"That's my troupe, or was. I used to be a drag king." At Matilda's blank look, Mack explained further, "You know what a drag queen is, right?" At Matilda's nod, she continued. "A Drag King is the opposite. We perform gender. Although, I personally think all gender is a performance that everyone is putting on at all times."

"And you don't uh, want to be a guy?"

At this, he frowned and looked uncertain. It made him look mortal for the first time and therefore more beautiful.

"Sometimes. I don't know. Not always. But sometimes more than others."

Shauna launched herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug. "What ever you want," she said fiercely into his ear, then she pulled away and caught his face in her hands, stroking it, "You can be whatever you want," she said and then kissed him, and Matilda knew that Shauna had been captivated by the same vulnerability that she had been caught by.

It hurt. Matilda knew that these two had only known each other a week, or a little more. But they were in love with each other, fiercely in love already. A love that had come on them fast and left them both breathless. Looking at them made her heart ache.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mack asked. She had the buzzer ready, plugged into the wall.

Matilda nodded.

"People will call you dyke and queer. Random guys will tell you they can make you straight as they their crotches and leer. Mother's will pull their children away from you. Your professor's won't trust your opinion anymore. Everyone will assume you do drugs. Are you really sure?"

"I've been the smartest girl in class in a school where being smart could and did see you physically abused. I can deal with it."

Max smiled, "I don't doubt it. You're fiercer than you look."

Even after saying those brave words, Matilda shuddered when the buzzer turned on. They had decided to buzz, not shave the parts of her head that would not be included in the Mohawk. Matilda had even bought a buzzer to take home with her so she could upkeep the look, should she want too.

While she worked, Mack put her hat on Shauna's head, and Matilda finally got a chance to see what a Mohawk looked like when down. Half her head was shaved bald, the other half covered by the Mohawk that lay over on its side. Her hair was simply blond. They had to bleach the Mohawk part, in order to get the colors to pop. The buzzed part they left brown.

Matilda looked into the mirror and tried to get accustomed to her new do. Blue at the bottom, moving to green, to yellow, to red, it looked like she had a rainbow on her head.

Mack's face was twisting as he tried to keep in his giggles.

"What?" Matilda finally asked.

"You look like baby dyke at her first pride parade," Mack finally busted. Matilda felt a blush break out. She looked at herself in the mirror again. Suddenly, without warning, tears burst out. She went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Mack sent an alarmed look at Shauna. "I thought she wanted this."

Shauna wrapped her arms around Mack from behind her and said, "She'll be fine. I bet she just remembered that when she was a little kid she used to tie her hair back with little red bows. I've seen pictures."

After Matilda had done the necessary big hair change crying jag and started to accept and even sort of like the way the Mohawk looked, Mack and Shauna dragged her to the used clothes store where they found clothes to match her new look.

So now here was Matilda, standing at her own front door, trying to get the courage to go inside. The black jacket she had already possessed was unzipped to show off the bravely v-cut red shirt they'd found for her. She had cleavage! They had convinced her to climb into the tightest black jeans they could find too. She was surprised to find out that she had an ass as well. She waited so long that finding courage became a moot point, because Jenny opened the door for her.

"Who-Matilda! What did you do? Where were you? It's after eight! I've been terrified, I looked everywhere! I drove all around town and I couldn't find you!" Jenny grabbed Matilda and shook her by the shoulders. "Don't do that to me again," she yelled, "I couldn't stand not knowing what had happened to you!"

Matilda, when she was finally able to talk, finally gasped out, "But I left a note!"

"I didn't see one."

Matilda ducked out the door, and looked around outside. Tucked behind a bush, she found the note. It must have blown off in the wind. She handed it to Jenny.

"'Out with Shauna. Be back later?' This is what you call a note? I don't understand you anymore, Matilda. Where are your brains?" Jenny pulled Matilda to her, and instead of shaking her again, crushed her in a hug.

Matilda felt Jenny shaking, and realized that she was crying. She petted Jenny's back. "I'm sorry Jennifer, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm really sorry." She found herself sniffling as well.

Jennifer pulled away from her, and touched the stiff fronds of her Mohawk. "What is this?" she asked, and Matilda was relieved not to hear anger in the question.

"This is me being a 'rebellious teenager.'" Matilda said, and she couldn't help it, she giggled nervously.

Jenny put her hand up to her eyes and wiped away some errant tears. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked the ceiling.

"Shag me?" Matilda couldn't help but quip, and attempted to run up the stairs before Jenny could respond.

"Your incorrigible," Jenny muttered, giving the little minx a slap on the butt (very fine in those pants) as she darted past.

As soon as Matilda had closed the door to her room, she slipped down to sit on the lower most step of the staircase. She found that she was still shaking. If anything had happened to Matilda... it would have devastated her. She'd known it when she'd found out that Matilda had gone to her Aunt's house (now their own) for a second time when they had just met. The feeling had only grown.

Jenny went up stairs to her room. She pulled out the picture that she had hidden within a Hans Christian Anderson Anthology and stared at it. She pressed it to her chest and lay back in her bed, wondering again out loud, "Matilda, what am I going to do with you?" Unspoken, but just as pressing, was the question of what she would do with herself.

A/N: I must confess. Since the minute I started writing Shauna, all those years ago, I have hated her. I have at times wanted to shove her head into a wall and splatter her brains across it. It wasn't until I got to this chapter and gave her Mack (based on the first girl/boy I ever crushed on) that I have finally started to like her. I think Mack is the puzzle piece to her character that she was always missing. In fact, I might even write a side story about how she met him/her. Later though; this story is about Matilda and Jenny. I hope Mack does not come off as a sort of Mack Sue. If anything, the person s/he is based on is even more charismatic.