Only minorly aware that the changes he'd experienced went beyond physical appearances, that his behaviour, the way he stood and walked, plus the way he viewed and reacted to things was also subtly shifting from a masculine to a feminine, Dennis opened the bathroom door. Hearing Rachel and someone else speaking from a room nearby, he froze and once again considered taking off. Weighing his choices, thinking it might be better to find his sister and get her to undo what he believed she'd done, Dennis idly shifted his weight from one foot back to the other as he thought.
None of the choices feeling like the right one, as taking off meant leaving Rachel in a bind, whilst looking for his sister offered no real chance that he'd actually find her, Dennis found himself at a loss as to what he should do. Hating what been done to him, that, despite how inappropriate it might be, he actually like how the clothes looked and how comfortable they felt, he looked down at himself. Knowing what he was sure the proper thing to do, he turned away from the bathroom
Quickly, before he could change his mind, he headed in the direction of the voices and when he came to the kitchen, he stepped in. Before he could understand what was going on, he was instantly greeted by a woman who said, "Welcome. Oh, I'm so, so glad that Rachel found someone to go with her to her girl scout meeting tonight," as he was guided to over to the table by the woman, who he thought was Rachel's mom.
The woman still going on and on, Dennis shrugged of his schoolbag and took a seat. Looking over at Rachel, who was sitting across from him, going through her book bag, he was about to ask her a question about what time her meeting was, but never got the chance as her mom stated, "Well, I guess you'll be eating dinner tonight with us. Do you have any food allergies I should know about? Oh. And I almost forget. If you want to make a weekend of it, Denise, you are more than welcome to stay with us. I'd just have to get Rachel's sleeping bag from the linen closet, unless you don't mind sharing the same bed. Oh, and I have to ask, before you and Rachel take off to do whatever you planned to do this afternoon, that you first finish your homework. One of our house rules. I'm sure you mom makes you do the same."
Taken aback by the amount of things the woman was saying, Dennis shrugged off his jacket and took off his hat. Hanging the coat over the back of his chair, he quietly explained, "No food allergies . And thank you. I'd have to ask my mom about staying over," as he thought that his dad usually made him do his homework before he could do anything else.
Rachel's mom beaming, asked, "So, are you in Miss Kroger's class or Ms Dactural's class,"
Without missing a beat, Dennis answered, "Miss Kroger's class," then had a moment to wonder why he'd said that, as he was sure that his teacher was Mr Enrique.
Still smiling, Rachel's mom exclaimed, "So you're in the same class as Rachel. That nice. And you two can help each other wherever the other gets hung up," and nodding, she said, "Well then. I'll leave you two to it," and turning, she started out of the room, announcing, "Denise, if you want a snack, Rachel can help you," before she left.
Alone with Rachel, Dennis was unsure of what just happened. Feeling like his world was spinning, still reeling from the discovery that he was a girl and from what he'd told Rachel's mom, he was caught off guard when Rachel said, "You'll have to forgive my mom. You're really the first person I've brought home. She's really excited and sees it like I have some new best friend," and flipping open a notebook, she started to work on her homework.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Dennis wondered if maybe the charade had gone to far. Wanting to tell Rachel what he'd discovered, Dennis instead reached down, unzipped his back backpack and began pulling out folders, notebooks, take-home assignment sheets and a pencil case. To his surprise, every single item he took out, except the sheets, were something he normally associated with girls owning. His notebooks and folders all had images of unicorns, rainbows, pastel coloured stars and horses on them, whilst his pencil case was now see-through with a pastel purple trim and zipper. Staring at the stuff, sure that none of it was his, he wanted to ask Rachel if she'd switched his stuff.
Before he got the chance, Rachel suddenly got up and headed across the kitchen, opened the fridge and, as she took a pitcher of juice out, she said, "My girl scout meeting is at seven tonight. And, if you don't want to, you don't have to stay over."
A sensation like he was floating washing over him, Dennis slowly opened one of the notebooks as he took a purple mechanical pencil from his case. Answering without thinking about what he was saying, Dennis replied, "Okay. And it would depend on if my mom says it is okay. But really. I don't have anything going this weekend, unless I want to hang out with Jenny and her friends at their pool party," as he read the name printed on the folders, Denise, all written in neat handwriting.
The uncomfortable feeling growing, Dennis shifted in his chair. Aware of how tight his jeans were and the way they were pressing into his crotch, he wondered how he could have missed it that his boy parts had disappeared. Distracted from the train of thought when Rachel setting a glass of juice on the table in front of him, Dennis told her, "Thanks," as he began working on the first take-home assignment sheet, which he noted was from Miss Kroger.
"I'm a girl. I'm nine. And I'm in the fifth grade," Dennis thought in awe as he started working on the first problem. Thinking that it somehow felt right that he had been skipped a grade, he thought, "No. I am not a girl. I cannot be a girl," before telling himself, "I really need to find Jenny and get her to undo this, as everything is getting out of hand," and looking at Rachel, who had a look of intense concentration on her face, Dennis idly tapped his pencil on his notebook for a bit before asking, "When we're done, you mind if we go over to my place so I get somethings?"