Friday, September 26, 1997

I woke up to my alarm. I sat up and turned it off and stared in the darkness of my bedroom. The pain of last night was still there. But in some ways it was cathartic.

I took a deep breath. Today is a new day. All I can do is make today great for Christina, and try to find a way to get Tony back to the future so he can move on with his life.

I felt a cold breeze come from the open window on my legs. It felt nice. A nice late September morning. I love these types of days.

Since today is Friday, and every Friday is spirit day at my school, I decided to choose my outfit based on our school colors - Red and White. I picked out a white button down blouse. And one of my brand new plaid skirts that was red and black.

Since there's a game tonight I needed to make sure I had my marching uniform with me. In my closet was a black garment bag. I zipped it open to peek in it. Yup - there's a Marching Band uniform in there. I took the garment bag out and set it on my bed and took inventory of it. Shirt. Pants. Socks. Shoes. Gloves. Great, everything was there.

I quickly took my shower. I remembered I had a party to attend to tonight so I shaved my legs.

I was excited about this party. And I really needed something to be excited about right now. Now granted, I had been to many parties in college and in my 20's and 30's. But I never went to a high school party. My only exposure to such a thing was all of those teen movies. So it's nice to go back in time and be given a second chance to be young again.

When I was done with the shower and cleaned up, I applied my school appropriate makeup. Then I turned my attention to my outfit.

Another cold breeze came through the room. "I wonder" I told myself. I searched my underwear drawer. Stuffed in the back of the drawer was pantyhose. Today might be a good day to try these. I found nude and black and decided to go with the black ones. I also found a pair of blank lace panties with the tag still on it. "Well Christina, what have you been hiding back there?" I chuckled to myself. Oh and a matching strapless bra too.

I pulled the tag off of the panties and pulled them up. I modeled them for my self in the mirror. The male side of me thought my ass was so sexy. The newly emerging female side of me thought my ass was sexy. "So we're in agreement." I smiled.

I hold the blouse up over the black bra. Totally see-through. I'm not even sure what the school policy on visible bras is. I think I'll take the safe road and use a nude bra. Not going to lie. I had read that piece of advice in one of Cindy's Cosmo magazines.

I folded the black bra and stuffed it into my garment bag. "This is for tonight's party." I told myself.

I put on the nude bra. I took the pantyhose in my hand as they started unraveling.

I tried to put them on like pants. That didn't work. I remembered seeing my wife roll them up. Let me try that. I rolled them up and put my foot through one of the leg holes and started unrolling as I went up my leg. The feel of the nylon on my freshly shaved legs was a sensation I had never felt before. I repeated this for my other leg then pulled the rest up. I ran my hands over my hose covered legs. Tony was a legs guy. That was the part I found sexiest. Therefore I had always thought pantyhose was sexy. I never thought I'd think I'd be the one to be modeling them, but here we are.

I put my skirt and blouse on to complete the outfit. I was still tired and frowning from last night. So I gave my reflection a huge smile. "We're going to be OK Christina." I told her.

* * *

In the hallway I ran into Cindy who was dressed in her cheerleading uniform. Lots of makeup. Glitter. Lots of Glitter.

"Looking good" she complimented me.

"You too." I replied.

Mom was in the kitchen. Dad was reading the newspaper.

"Good morning." Mom said. "Are you coming home this afternoon or just staying at school all day?"

On game day many band members will just stay at the school for the few hours before game time. it's pointless to go home for only a few hours. Some of us do homework. Some socialize. So go out to eat dinner together.

"I think I'll be staying through to game time" I replied. Oh. I need to ask about the party. How would a teenager ask this? "Also I'll be home a little later than usual. A few friends invited me over to a post-game party."

Mom stopped what she was doing. Dad looked up and put down his coffee and newspaper.

Oh uh. What did I say?

"A party?" my mom said.

It's been 20 years since I was a teenager in this household. Was I not supposed to use the P word?

"You know the rules." my dad chimed in.

"What were the rules again?" I asked. Did Tony have rules? Tony never went out.

"No alcohol. No drugs. Be home by midnight." Dad said.

"Sure." I said. Damn. I could've totally had a drink.

"Also." My dad added. "If you ever end up in trouble. Just call us. We'll come get you. No questions asked."

I definitely got that lecture as Tony. Thankfully I never found myself in trouble so I never took them up on that.

Mom pulled me aside and whispered to me. "That thing we talked about a few weeks ago. Remember to be careful."

What was she talking about?

"I'm sorry I've been so swamped." she said. "Once we make you an appointment we can get you a prescription."

"Prescription?" I echoed.

"Birth control" she whispered out of earshot of my dad.

"Oh." I whispered back. I turned red. I wasn't expecting this first thing in the morning "Right. I'll be careful mom."

Well, it never occurred to me that Christina wasn't on the pill since it wasn't something I realized was missing from my daily routine. But clearly Christina had talked to Mom about it recently. I was certainly not going to have sex with a guy. Not going to happen.

Hidden lingerie, birth control. Christina certainly had sex on her mind before I came here. I guess that made sense. Tony had sex on his mind at 17 too.

It's time to get out of this house before my parents sat me down for a sex talk. I had to sit through them doing it first time around. I just didn't want an encore. I remembered Dad's voice in my head "If you go to battle, wear a helmet!"

* * *

It was my turn to drive. So Cindy rode with us. Ron was more talkative today than normal.

"So what did you think?" he asked about last night

"It was great." I replied. "I had fun. You guys kicked ass!"

"What did you think of Chase?"

"Oh" I said. "He's cool."

Cindy leaned forward in the backseat eager to hear this.

"You made a great impression on him." he said "You were all he could talk about the rest of the night"

"Oh?" I said, suddenly interested. "What did he say?"

"He just said he thought you were funny and cute and he got your number."

"You gave this guy your number?" Cindy chimed in. "Is he cute?"

"Yeah." I replied. "He got my number."

"He's a cool dude." Ron added.

I decided to change the subject. "So I got invited to a party tonight after the game. I was going to go."

"Whose party?" Ron asked.

"Tim.. something. In my gym class."

"Tim Beyer?" he said. "That tool? You're going to a party at his house?"

I was surprised and taken aback by Ron's disgust. "Well it seemed cool."

"Well, you can't go." he said."Why not?" I replied. "I have never been to a high school party. I'm actually looking forward to it."

"He and his brothers are bad news. Their parties are always broken up. I think his brothers are in college"

I'm 37. I can handle college guys. "I can handle college guys."

"Really?" he said.

"Really."

"Chrissy, you can't go." he said, repeating his request.

"I certainly can." I said, getting frustrated. I had never had this type of conversation with Ron before. "I finally got invited to one. I'm going to take this opportunity to finally have fun."

"Finally have fun?" he said. "Do you hear yourself? The Christina I know doesn't need beer and superficial people to have fun."

It's like Ron is raining on my parade. When did he become such a prude? Tony and Ron got drunk many times. Chill, Christina, remember we're both only 17.

"I can take care of myself." I said, still frustrated at this conversation.

"Fine." he said. "But I'm going with you then."

"I don't need you to protect me." I said. Did I really just say that?

He didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to go. I had to go. The angel essentially told me to go and have fun. But there was this hurt feeling in my gut. I've never fought with Ron like this before. We rode the rest of the way to school in silence. And not our normal jam out to music in the morning silence. This was that bad silence where you know that both people weren't talking to each other.

I stayed in the car while Ron got out and left without saying anything.

"Well that was awkward" Cindy said breaking the silence.

* * *

The school was buzzing more than usual. Everyone was in a hyped mood for tonight. Most students were dressed in Red and White. The football players were wearing their jerseys and cheerleaders were wearing their uniforms. I saw some of the track girls wearing their tracksuits. Thank God, Band doesn't do that.

Julie stopped at my locker with a plastic dry-cleaners' bag on a hanger.

"Christina, Here's the dress I was talking about!" she said holding it up. Behind the blue plastic film was a small black dress.

"Oh you didn't have to do that!" I said. "I was just going to wear my school clothes."

"It's no big deal." she said, handing me the hanger.

"Then what will you wear?"

"I got a brand new one. Navy blue. Lower neckline. This year's style."

"I see." I said. "Thank you so much Julie. I don't know what to say."

"Don't mention it, Demarco." she said. "Has anyone asked you to homecoming yet?"

Homecoming. Shit. With all that's going on I forgot about that.

"Are there any guys you want to ask you?" Julie continued "I can put in a good word. I can be real subtle."

"I don't know." I said. Originally I wasn't planning on going. I can try to ask Fay, but I'm not sure about that after the revelations from yesterday. If I went that means I'd need a dress and a date. Tony originally asked a random girl from Band. I think she was one of the few girls in Band that had AIM. It allowed me to ask her out from the safety of my keyboard.

"Well, think about it!" she said. "See you at gym class early!" She turned and walked down the hallway.

* * *

I arrived at homeroom a little early. It had occurred to me that maybe someone in this class told Amber about me and Fay. That had to be the only logical conclusion. Only during homeroom had me and Fay even mentioned our date night. The class was only half full at the moment, but I was wondering who our spy was.

I also thought about Homecoming again. Should I even attempt to ask Fay? She's not here right now, but asking her will answer my question of whether she was interested in dating me at all.

I was interrupted by a girl in my class. "Christina. Can you sign me up for Power Puff?"

"Oh right" I said, pulling out my folders. I made a signup sheet yesterday during 7th period. I pulled out that paper and put it on my desk.

"I just need your name and homeroom" I said to her. "And whether you have any experience playing football."

"Does backyard with my brothers count?" she said.

"Absolutely" I replied.

"Great." she said, putting her name underneath Brittany and Julie.

That's when more girls started lining up at my desk. Some from other classes. Some asked me questions that I only partially had the answers to.

Fay sat down. "You're popular today" She smiled at me. I smiled back. I didn't expect to be this busy this morning.

The next person in line was a guy. His name was Sean. He was one of those class comedian types. "I want to be a cheerleader." he said laughing.

"Of course you do." I said. That's right. I know the future. I know every guy who is going to sign up. Except one. Tony doesn't exist here. I pulled out the separate signup sheet I made for cheerleaders.

"Name and Homeroom." I said

"Do I need prior experience being a cheerleader?" He had clearly been listening to the girls in line.

"None." I replied.

"Awesome." he said, signing his name.

I casually looked over to the desk next to me. My classmate, Jessica, I think her name is, was staring at me... or Sean. Not sure. When she saw me notice her, she looked away and back at her book. Jessica was wearing a cheerleading uniform. I think I have found my spy.Eventually the line died down and homeroom was over. I didn't get a chance to talk to Fay. On top of that, I felt ill most of the morning. I was feeling awful for the way I treated Ron. It's like I can't get out of my own way sometimes.

* * *

During Comp-Sci, I was continuing to help out some of the classmates that hadn't finished yet. I was balancing peer reviews with my English homework when Valerie came up to me.

"Hey Christina." she said

"Hey Val," I said. "What's up?"

"I'm finally done with my project, but I wanted to thank you for all of your help."

"No problem!' I replied. "I'm glad I was able to help"

"No really. Thank you for your patience. Before this week when I would ask other guys in this class for help, they'd treat me like I was stupid and just talk down to me. Working with you was awesome."

"So they were mansplaining?"

"Mansplaining?"

"Yeah a man thinks he's superior and talks down to a woman" I explained. Part of me wondered if I should really stop using future jargon. I guess it doesn't hurt.

"Yup. That describes our male classmates exactly. So I was wondering. My parents are starting a business - a coffee house. I told them they should really have a home page."

"Yeah - that's a good idea." I said. "The web is going to explode for business and users over the next few years. People will stop using phone books and get directions, phone numbers, and menus straight from the 'net. You'd be ahead of the curve."

"That's what I was thinking too! So I was wondering if you could build one for us? My parents would pay you and all."

Wow. I didn't expect this. This certainly didn't happen to Tony originally.

"You didn't want to do it yourself?"

"Honestly. I'm not really cut out for this." she motioned her hands at the computers, "This class is cool and all, but my real interest is in math. I want to major in finance when I go to college. I was going to help my parents with that aspect of the business."

"I'm essentially already doing the same thing for my neighbors company at the moment." I replied. "But I think I have the time to build something for you and your parents. When would you need it by?"

"About a month". She said. "We're currently renovating the store we're leasing."

I wasn't expecting to stay here longer than 2 weeks. But assuming all goes well, 17 year old me turns back into Tony and I return to the future. I would be giving this post-Christina, Tony 2.0 a brand new gig to put on his college resume.

Actually, now I'm a little jealous of post-Christina Tony. It's been a dream of mine to have my own business where I build stuff for other businesses, and he's going to get a chance to do some of that type of work when I return to the future. Hopefully I'll get some time over the next several days for me to get started on it.

"Sure." I smiled. "I'll do it!"

* * *

When it was lunch time I made my way to my locker and dropped my stuff off and waited at Ron's locker. When he finally showed up I was the first to talk.

"Hey Ron. I'm so sorry. That was out of line"

"Don't worry about it." he said.

"I'd like it if you'd come with me to the party tonight"

He grinned.

"You're right. I'm out of my element. But I do really want to go. It would be great to have my wing-man by my side."

"Sure." he said, with a smile forming. "It's hard to say no to you sometimes. I'm sorry for some of the things I said too. I was getting worried with your new makeover and attitude that I was losing a friend."

"Don't worry." I smiled. "I have a feeling we're going to continue to be good friends well into our 30s."

"Lunch?" he asked.

"Have you ever done sushi?" I asked.

"Sushi?" he said. "Isn't that expensive?"

"It's Friday." I replied. "Let's treat ourselves!"

We drove to the Japanese steakhouse a few miles away. I explained the menu for him. It was fun because me and Ron had done sushi a number of times post-college. It was weird to have to explain it all. Oh and I tried to teach him how to use chopsticks. That didn't go over well.

He brought up that he heard a rumor about me and Fay. He knew the rumor was only partially true. I told him I was handling it.

We didn't talk about the party. Or Chase. Or Fay. I think we needed time to let those topics marinate on their own. He said he needed to go home between school and the game. He had already got himself a ride home since we weren't on speaking terms all morning. Hearing that didn't make me feel better. I let him know I was planning to stay at school all afternoon and evening.

Things were better between us than this morning. Although I felt like our earlier fight did linger in the air a little. I don't remember him being so protective of me when I was Tony. It took me off guard. Part of me wondering if this whole "setting me up with Chase" thing was a ploy to hide his true feelings for me.

* * *

It was that time of day I have been dreading each day. Gym class and interacting with Amber. I wasn't going to avoid her today. Like what I did with Ron before Lunch, I was going to seek out Amber and confront her.

I walked into the girls' locker room and found the aisle where she usually is. I started changing into my gym clothes, when she came around the corner with Brittany.

She saw me and let out a very loud sigh.

"Amber." I said. "We need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you." she said.

"I don't appreciate you spreading rumors about me."

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true." she said. "Don't deny you weren't checking me out on Tuesday."

I ignored that allegation. "Even if I was a lesbian." I started, "That doesn't give you a right to let the whole school know. That's my business and whomever male or female I intend to date."

"You are so fake." she said "I see through you. I will make sure everyone will see through you too."

She picked up her gym stuff and moved to another aisle. As she moved, she pulled Brittany's arm and dragged her away. Brittany looked at me and mouthed "Sorry."

I finished getting dressed and ran out to Julie.

"Sorry I was late" I said out of breath. "I had something to take care of."

"No worries, Demarco." she said as we started running.

During gym class, the teacher said this would be the last day of softball. We would be doing a different sport on Monday. She then put two dudes as captains again. So much for girl-power. I found myself on a team without Julie, Fay or Amber. I was disappointed I didn't have my friends, yet relieved I didn't have to share a field with Amber.

Brittany however was on my team. She came up to me while we were waiting to bat.

"Hi Christina. I just wanted to apologize for Amber."

"Thanks Brittany." I said. "But she should be the one apologizing."

"She's not going to," Brittany stated. "She thinks you're threatening her position on the school social ladder or something."

"That's not my intention." I said. "She's head cheerleader. I'm just some geek that finally learned how to dress and put on make two days ago."

She shrugged. "I was just letting you know. I wish she'd leave you alone too. You're actually cooler than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks" I smiled. Just then, Carl called my name. "Demarco. You're up. We have one runner at 3rd and two outs. Think you can get us out of this jam?"

"Absolutely" I said. "Motion to the runner to wait until the fielders try to get me, and tell him to sprint home".

I hit a line drive to right field. The fielders picked up the ball and sent it to 3rd to hold the runner, but I rounded first to bait them. They took the bait and threw the ball to 2nd. That was when the 3rd base runner took off and ran home as I ran back to first base. He scored. I was safe.

The rest of gym class was mostly uneventful, which was fine with me. I wanted to limit my exposure to Amber's negativity to once a day, and I know if she came to Tim's party I would have to see her twice in a single day.

There was this moment, however, when I was in the field and I looked back to the dugout and saw Amber talking with Fay. I don't think they were telling jokes.