Martina stepped out into the cool autumn air. She had gone out the back door, hoping to slip down the driveway lined with five-foot-hedges separating her driveway from the neighbors', and on to the sidewalk before anyone saw her and put two and two together.

She took a deep breath, quickly turned around, locked the door, and placed her key in the small purse she had borrowed from her mom.

She strapped the bag on her shoulder, exhaled and quickly proceeded around the corner of the house and down the driveway.

When Martina hit the sidewalk she looked left then right, checking up and down the mature oak tree-shaded street to see if anyone was looking her way. She was relieved to see that no one was around, other than a man three doors down mowing his lawn and unaware of anything else happening around him.

All the way down the street, Martina paid close attention to how she walked. She consciously slowed her stride and took shorter than normal steps to avoid losing her balance or twisting an ankle. She brought her feet closer together, one foot almost in front of the other. And she straightened her back, which caused her butt and chest to push out more and gave her an air of confidence.

Martina smiled as she realized this also caused her hips to sway a little, giving her walk a more feminine appearance.

It was a nine minute walk to the downtown square and her heels clicked delicately on the sidewalk with every step. It was a soothing, distinctly feminine sound that helped to calm her down.

A light breeze blew through her hair and underneath her dress, swirling playfully around her sheer hose encased thighs, heightening her senses as she walked. This was a new and uniquely feminine experience and she found it quite exciting.

Since Marty was so quiet and shy at school, he was a virtual unknown and knew it was almost impossible that anyone would recognize him even if they suspected they were looking at a boy in disguise. No one knew him well enough.

Just the thought of that helped to calm Martina's nerves and allowed her to relax even more.

She felt free and her confidence continued to build as she leisurely strolled towards the town square.

At the end of the second block, a young male driver waited at the stop sign for Martina to cross the street and she was acutely aware that he intently watched her all the way across.

It was the middle of the eleven o'clock hour when she arrived on the square, and the festival was in full swing.

Delicious, inviting smells filled the air from the many food trucks and stalls, making her hungry and causing her mouth to water.

She stopped on the corner before entering the square and surveyed the area. Carnival rides were set up in the park. Arts and crafts booths lined the sidewalks surrounding the court house. Food trucks lining the opposite side of the street.

Many of the businesses in town had tables set up where they were advertising the services they offered, and about twenty feet from her, a clown performed magic tricks and crafted ballon animals for an excited, giggling group of kids, all in Halloween costumes.

Martina noticed that many adults and children were starting to line up on the sidewalk along both sides of North Main Street.

She decided it must be almost time for a parade.

In front of a furniture store, Martina joined a group of onlookers and before long she could hear the sounds of a matching band coming from up the street.

The band was followed by police cars with their lights flashing and firetrucks blowing their horns. Behind the firetrucks was another marching band, several floats, four of the tallest tractors Martina had ever seen, a bunch of black-leather clad riders on motorcycles and more floats, some of them topped with teams of peppy, yelling high-school cheerleaders.

One of the floats that traveled past carried a bunch of guys from a nearby college, all dressed in girls attire, and varying wildly in their level of passing as a girl. Most looked rediculous but a couple of them made you look closely, unable to determine if they were really guys or girls. Their float was promoting the Annual Womanless Pageant, being held later in the day to raise money for the county drug rehab clinic

Martina told herself she didn't want to miss that.

Behind that float, was the marching band from Martin's school and she recognized a few of the members that were about to pass by on the side nearest her, and her first reaction was to slip to the back so that she wouldn't be noticed.

Taking a step back, Martina immediately bumping into someone behind her.

"Sorry," she mumbled, forgetting, at that moment, to use the softer, higher-pitched feminine voice she had been practicing all morning.

"No problem, babe," came the reply, in a voice she definitely recognized.

An image of the face attached to that voice appeared in her head, causing her to freeze in terror.

She knew who it was. It was Brendan, Marty's main tormentor from school.

She began to hyperventilate.

Brendan leaned forward and asked in her ear, "What's your name, sweetcheeks," but she didn't answer.

At this point, Martina was truly panicking.

Not getting a response from her, Brendan took a step up so that he was now rubbing shoulders with her and spoke again while simultaneously placing a hand on one of her butt cheeks. He gave a quick squeeze and released it.

"Hey, I just asked your name. I'm Brendan, by the way. Are you from Martinville," he asked, obviously not recognizing her.

Martina immediately realized that Brendan really didn't know who he was talking to. She took a deep breath and regained her composure as a feeling of calm washed over her.

Knowing Martinsville was the only other town in the county, she cleared her throat and in her best attempt at a female voice, replied, "I am."

"Cool," he replied just as Marty's other main tormentor slipped through the small crowd and up to Brendan.

Not recognizing Marty either, he eyed Martina up and down with his eyes as he asked Brendan if he was coming with the rest of their group. He told Brenden they had found some Martinsville girls that wanted to go on the ferris wheel with them.

"Hell yeah, let's go," Brendan replied, high fiving his buddy.

Turning back to Martina, Brendan told her that he hoped she had a great time. He and his buddy then walked away.

As they left Martina heard Brendan exclaim, "I'm about to talk both of these girls into taking a ride on the ol' trouser snake. These girls won't know what hit um."

During the rest of the parade, Martina couldn't get over how close she had just been to the two people with the best chance of recognizing Marty and neither of them had a clue. Marty had never felt this confident in his life, ever.

A few minutes later the last float rolled past carrying the Mayor and his wife waving to the crowd. Once they were past, the crowd began to disperse and Martina decided to get something to eat.

She crossed the street and headed towards the square, looking at every menu sign, checking what each booth and food truck had to offer her taste buds.

Careful to use her best feminine voice, she placed her order.

"Pulled Pork Kimchi Fries, please."

Martina surprised herself.

This was the first time she had really spoken out loud in public with a feminine voice and for some reason, it came out with a hint of a southern accent.

The tan, muscular young man behind the counter smiled and took her money. She shyly smiled back at him.

Several times while he was preparing her food, the young man stole another glance at Martina.

Martina noticed his glances and it made her nervous. A thought formed in her mind. Was he trying to figure out if she was a crossdressed boy or was he checking her out?

It didn't take long for her to find out. When he handed her the basket of fries he asked a question.

"Are you . . . uh, going to the uh, the dance tonight," he stammered.

"Uhhh . . . ," Martina vocalized, unsure how to answer this question, but she knew she had better say something.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she nervously replied without looking up at him.

Once the words were out of her mouth, she couldn't believe what she had just said and she instantly regretted it.

"Great, I look forward to seeing you there," the boy replied.

Martina blushed.

"Okay. Uh . . . bye," she replied, and quickly hurried away, disappearing into a group of people, a couple of food stalls away.

Martina was in shock over a guy showing interest in her. She was afraid he would want to hang out with her if he found her at the dance, yet at the same time, the thought of a guy finding her attractive, kinda low-key excited her.

As Martina slowly strolled around the square, eating her spicy kimchi pork fries, she kept thinking about the exchange that had transpired at the food stand. Her interaction with that guy made her feel better about herself. It wasn't just the fact that she was successfully passing as a girl, but she was feeling better as a person too.

She had been accepted by him instead of ridiculed. And then there were her two classmates. Normally they would pick on him and take his money as soon as he stepped into the school every morning, but today they had interacted with her without treating her like they did Marty every day.

She had never felt this before and she began to wonder if everyone's reaction to her, as a girl, would be this good.

As a guy, Marty was an overlooked wallflower that no one knew, but as a girl, she was noticing people, especially guys, eyeing her as she walked by.