The next morning, after a delicious waffle breakfast, Eva left Valerie's along with the other girls, and headed back home. She hadn't slept as well as she would have in her own bed, so she made a beeline up the stairs to her bedroom and laid down on her bed for a little rest.

Reflections on the night before swirled around in her head. It had turned out OK, but she was troubled by the fact that she'd blurted out Eddie memories when she got flustered. She didn't want to lose those memories, but she needed to just keep them to herself and Mike. Talking about them around other people could only lead to trouble.

That led her back into thinking about who she really is. Was she still Eddie inside, with her Eva-self draped over top of that? Or had she always been Eva, with an Eddie-mask covering her up? She didn't know if she'd ever figure that one out. She sure felt more like Eva, she was much more comfortable and in tune with herself now. But last night when she got riled up, it was as though Eddie was speaking through her. Maybe she was really Eva, but "Eddie" was the part of her that would always sympathize with and advocate for kids who didn't fit in with the norm. Maybe that would be how Eddie's legacy could live on.

After a bit more processing she felt a little more at ease, and decided to start getting ready for her swimming hole date with Mike. She wasn't ready for trying out a bikini, but she had a nice white and yellow one-piece bathing suit that would fit the bill. She put it on with some shorts and a t-shirt over top, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and rode her bike over to Mike's.

Mike came out of the house with a confident smile, in his swim trunks and bare chest, with a towel draped around his neck. She beamed back at him, and they wordlessly jumped on their bikes and headed out of town the same way as the route to Paradise. Before getting that far though, they took a right turn and rode along the creek, to a point about a mile upstream. There was a wide spot in the creek there, made even wider by an old beaver dam, which made it just big enough to swim around in, plus there was a tire swing hanging from a nearby tree, from which you could swing out and jump off into the water.

They sat on the bank together, opting to soak up some sun before getting into the water. Eva recounted the slumber party, and Mike told her about shooting hoops with Troy.

"So I guess you and Troy have been good friends for a long time?" Eva asked.

"Well yeah, the way things are now at least," Mike replied. "When I was Mickie we were friends when we were smaller, but the last couple years I guess he started thinking I was a little odd. I guess he prefers feminine girls like Patsy."

"Speaking of feminine girls, what do you think about Stacy Larson?"

"What about her?"

"Well, she seems to have it in her head that you and her are going together."

Mike shook his head. "I was afraid of that. At the carnival, we ran into each other and went on some of the rides together. No big deal - I mean when I was Mickie. But now in my memory, the same thing happened as Mike, but it meant something very different to her, I guess."

Eva laid down with her head in his lap and looked up at him. "But you don't feel that way about her, right? It's all in her head?"

Mike smiled. "Is my girlfriend jealous?"

She smiled back. "Maybe just a little. Now that we have this... thing... I don't want anyone or anything to ruin it."

"Don't worry. Stacy will just have to get used to seeing you and me together. Because I'm not going to be shy about being seen with you at school. In fact I'm gonna be real proud about it."

"Gosh, school is starting really soon, isn't it? It's gonna be so different going to school in a dress. But also just the same, I guess. It's so weird having two sets of memories."

"Yeah it is. But I'm excited. Football tryouts are tomorrow! Troy and I are both trying out."

"You're gonna be so great. And I'll be cheering you on. I can't wait to see my handsome boyfriend score a touchdown."

"Yeah, it's gonna feel so right. Finally I can do what they've been keeping me from doing. And everyone will just see it as totally natural."

"Mike, do you ever..." Eva hesitated.

"What is it?"

"Do you ever think, maybe... I mean, are we more boring now? I mean, it's so much better now and I just feel right, and happy. But before, when we didn't fit, we were kinda more interesting, right? And now we're just normal people, like everybody else."

"Hmm, I guess so. But what would you rather be, interesting or happy?"

"Happy I guess. But I just don't wanna take anything for granted."

"I don't think we ever will. At least I hope not. But I hope I'm not too boring for you now that I'm a normal boy instead of a misfit girl."

"No," she smiled, reaching up to touch his cheek. "You're not boring at all."

"Maybe this whole thing makes us a little wiser somehow. Anyways you seem more mature to me now. Like you're growing up at the right speed or something."

"Yeah, I think as Eddie I didn't really want to grow up. Because it meant turning into a man. But I don't mind the idea of becoming a woman. So maybe I'm not holding back anymore."

"Makes sense. Anyway, we have a crazy secret that no one would believe. That's not boring at all."

"Yeah I guess you're right. It kinda makes us exciting and mysterious."

"Yes, our own special thing. And it doesn't matter if only us knows it."

"Its weird - to me, being Eva is the new thing, and being Eddie was the normal old way of things. But to my friends, I've always been girly Eva, and when I start saying stuff where I'm thinking like Eddie, like last night - well, to them, I'm acting unusual all of a sudden."

"Yeah I see what you mean. If we start acting like our old selves, to other people it's coming out of nowhere. But for us it's like what we're used to."

"Yeah last night when I was sticking up for Gail, they all thought I was being weird. I guess I wouldn't normally do that as Eva. So now having ideas like Eddie are, I don't know, alien or something. Aagh! It's making my brain hurt!"

"Does it make you uncomfortable that people expect you to be all girly now?"

Eva sighed. "No. I'm glad I can understand how someone like Gail might feel. But I'm happy that people want me to act like a girl. It's just who I am."

"I guess I'm starting to understand Troy now. Looks like I'm drawn to girly girls too."

She reached up and touched his cheek again. "And I'm drawn to handsome strong athletic boys. I can't wait to see you on the football field."

"Thinking about you will be my special motivation to win."

Suddenly Eva stood up. "Race you into the water!" And off she went, diving in before Mike even had a chance to get up. He followed her in and a splash fest quickly ensued.

After swimming around and joking lightheartedly for quite awhile they got out and grabbed their towels. Eva started drying her hair when she noticed Mike examining her.

"What are you looking at?' she asked.

Mike shifted his gaze, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's just... well, your swim suit's wet and it really shows the shape of your body, and it gives me... well, a funny feeling..."

"What do you mean, a funny feeling?"

"I don't know, like... all that stuff about how girls and boys feel about each other, well... I didn't really get it before. But now when I look at you, I get to feeling real, I don't know... excited?" His face was beet red as he looked down at the dirt.

Eva also felt herself start to blush. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. When I look at your bare chest... well, when I was Eddie I saw plenty of boys' chests. And that was nothing. But now it's like... yeah like you said, it's a funny feeling."

Mike draped his towel over his chest, feeling suddenly modest. "Maybe we can not talk about this right now?" he asked.

Eva felt relief. "Yeah, some other time." They got back on their bikes and with an awkward silence started the ride back into town.

+++++

After getting home and changing her clothes, it was already time for Eva to go to her babysitting gig. She hadn't done this before, as either Eddie or Eva, but she'd watched Rosemary enough while her parents were out that she felt confident it would go fine.

Rev. Bremer and his wife Helen must have had full confidence in Eva, because they gave her very little instruction before rushing out the door to their evening's activities. Suddenly Eva was left alone with little Martha Jane in her care. Martha right away wanted to play tea party, and Eva threw herself into it. Rosemary had sometimes tried to pull Eddie into a tea party, and he'd always felt too uncomfortable to play along. Now she could make up for lost time.

"Now we can play princess dress up!" Martha exclaimed as the tea party wound down. "I have a beautiful princess dress, and tiaras! And there's a big girl princess dress too, it's for when my big girl cousin comes over!"

"Well OK, let's have a look!" Eva responded. Martha guided her to the closet, and Eva pulled out two satiny bright colored dresses, a pink one in Martha's size and a larger yellow one that looked like Eva could squeeze into it. Eva helped the little girl into her dress, then excused herself to the bathroom to get changed herself. When she came out and did a twirl in her yellow dress, Martha clapped and squealed.

"You look so priddy, Eba! I'm so glad you're a girl now, cuz you would look real funny in that when you were still a boy!" Martha giggled.

Eva stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide, her heart catching in her throat. She had thought this weirdness was all behind her. Was her new world unraveling already?

"Um Martha, what did you say?"

"I just said you look so much priddier now that you're a girl!"

"What do you mean, now that I'm a girl?"

"You know! I used to see you at church when you were a boy, and in Sunday School Rosey told me all about her big brudder. But then the angel told me that you get to be a girl!"

"The angel?"

"Yeah she came to see me the udder night! She said I'm real special! Only me and Rosey know you used to pretend to be a boy! Everybody else forgot but we're too little to forget!"

"I don't get it - too little to forget?"

"She said gwown ups are too stubborn to believe in magic, so it's easy to make them forget! But not me!"

Eva's head was swimming. "So some lady just showed up here and said she was an angel?"

"She had wings and everyding! And she said it's bery bery impordant that I don't tell nobody. It's just our secret."

"That's right Martha. It's our secret, and grownups won't understand," Eva said with some relief.

"Well I'm real glad you can wear priddy dresses now, and play with dollies and be my babysitter."

"I'm glad too, Martha," she said pulling her into a hug. "And I'm glad we have our own special secret. It's wonderful that the angel trusted you with that, she knows you won't tell."

"I won't tell!"

Martha's revelations had unnerved Eva, but she was somewhat relieved that it seemed to be only these two little girls that knew. Still, it was so strange - one more weird quirk of the talisman. She tried to ponder the meaning of it all. Do we all have some natural connection to magic that we lose as we age? And why were these random mythical creatures showing up to explain it? Why hadn't someone shown up to explain everything to Eva - that sure would have been helpful!

The rest of the evening went smoothly, and Eva's anxieties were gradually replaced by maternal feelings as she cared for the little girl. Her mind wandered off more than once into imaginings of growing up and marrying a special somebody and having children of their own. She knew it was silly to project out that far but she just couldn't quite help herself. And even after she was back home in her own bed, she floated off to happy thoughts of watching Mike play catch in the yard with their son, while she tied pink ribbons into their little daughter's hair.