"I shtuck it in his backpack when no one was looking." Shediscarded some waste and srcubbed idly at a red stain on the stonecounter top. "When you're ... little kid, everybody can give Valentinesto everybody else. It's just a fun game. But at ten, it feels moreserious. Boys are shupposed to give Valentine's to girls and girls toboys." Yeah," Melissa said quietly. "Ever find out if he got it?" No," said Andie. "No, I never did. I was afraid to ask and he neversaid. Heck, it was just one more. The car stuffed with new clothes and Barbara guarding hermanila envelope filled with pictures of my childhood as Angel.My thoughts turned to Auntie Helen and I must admit when she had calledme Angel, I felt both love and sorrow. Love for her and the many truefriends I did have back then. I belonged, I felt for the first time inmy young life part of a group. Part of something wonderful and I hadsomething to offer and give freely of myself. The real funny part of itall was that my success and all. My face was starting to get rounder, making me look like either an extremely feminine boy or a tomboyish girl. (Lately, I was looking less and less like the former and a lot more like the latter). Like many of the other Pinkbands, my hair was quite a bit longer, and I was now forced to wear it pulled back in a pony tail. I couldn't even pretend my chest was flat anymore. I now had two well-rounded mounds curving outward, which called attention to my areoles, which had grown to more than two. Stephanie giggled and began to tell Jennifer all the naughty details about what she and the captain had got up to in the lounge bathroom at Bangkok airport.Stephanie didn’t hesitate to sit on the commode as she talked to Jennifer, and she sighed deeply as she began to pee. Jennifer didn’t bat an eyelid either, and the chat continued. Stephanie was surprised with herself again, the intimacy of peeing in front of someone she had just met, didn’t seem to be a challenge. Her new way of being was.