Martina moved away from the disbursing concert crowd, headed around the other side of the town square. From behind her, she could hear a man announcing the next performers on the stage, would be a bluegrass band at the top of the next hour, then the annual Womanless Pageant, and the famous annual Lakeview pecan pie eating contest following that.

The delicious smell of flame broiled burgers, BBQ ribs, bratwurst, peppers and onions, funnel cakes, and kettle corn cooking nearby filled the air as Martina continued to walk.

A gentle autumn breeze blew across her sheer hose encased legs, causing a pleasant sensation that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and a warmth to travel through her body.

Martina smiled as she took a seat on a nearby bench and began to people watch. She paid particular attention to the females, how they carried themselves, their mannerisms, their hair, and their clothes.

She took note of how different she felt presenting as a girl and how she felt more at ease, and less fearful of someone wanting to attack her, very much unlike how she normally felt.

Pretty soon she became lost in her thoughts as she contemplated everything that had happened to her since she left home this morning and how surprisingly well it had gone so far.

The one thing that had affected her the most was the way a bunch of teenage strangers had welcomed her into their group and treated her as someone worthy of friendship. She had seriously never experienced that before as Marty, and it made her feel wonderful.

The fact that these teens had treated her as a girl, completely unaware that she's not, wasn't lost on Martina either.

When Marty had first got the idea to disguise himself as a girl, he had theorized that life could easily be better if only he were a girl. The more Martina thought about it, the more she believed today was proving that theory to be absolutely true.

Part of the reason Marty chickened out and reverted to his same old nerdy self on the first day of school, was because he had decided just trying to look and act different wouldn't be enough. He had hypothesized that it would take a change so different from his current self, something as complete as actually swapping genders in order for him to truly escape who he was and be accepted by his peers.

And now, Martina thought her interaction with those teens at the concert proved that hypothesis correct.

Martina felt intoxicated by the acceptance she had just experienced and her confidence level sored higher than ever.

She stood up, looked around, and then headed toward a food stall, selling shaved ice treats. She crossed the street with a bounce in her step and a confidence unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

Moments later, with a wedding cake flavored shaved ice treat in hand, Martina meandered down the street, checking out the booths and attractions, completely enraptured by the knowledge that no one who saw her knew or even suspected she was anything other than the girl she appeared to be. She especially enjoyed when a passing male would look down at her legs then all the way up to her face, checking out the pretty girl they were walking past.

Martina continued to wander, all the way to the far end of the festival, before turning to cut through the park where all the carnival rides had been set up, and head back around toward the square.

She stopped several times to observe people having a blast on the ferris wheel, double ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars, tagada, a kiddy coaster, and various other twisting, turning, spinning rides. She watched other people playing carnival games, trying to win oversized stuffed animals and other prizes. At one point she watched a group of teens her age exiting a fun house full of excitement and laughter and believed that if she could get rid of Marty and start living her life as Martina, that could soon be her, too.

Taking in the wonderful day she was having, she found herself on cloud nine and didn't think anything could bring her down other than having to return to her sad existence as Marty before her mom got off work.

At one point she contemplated buying tickets for a ride or two but then changed her mind, telling herself it wouldn't be much fun without a friend to share the experience with. Instead, she unsuccessfully tried her hand at a couple of skill games before continuing back toward the town square.

On the square, Martina walked past a Red Cross blood drive, a sexual abuse hotline information table, a boy scout troop, an Army recruiter, a church selling pies, and several other booths set up by various community organizations.

Unbeknownst to her, at that very moment she was being followed.

Several moments later when she heard a male voice call out loudly, "HI," several feet behind her.

Not sure if this person was talking to her or not, Martina turned around to find it was the guy from the fry stand earlier.

"Oh, hi," she replied somewhat confidently.

"I'm Barry," he introduced himself.

"Martina," she replied, now noticing the size of his massive chest and arms.

Before she even consciously realized what she was doing, she had allowed her eyes to slowly trail downward, all the way to his shoes, then back up.

D*mn, if I looked like him I wouldn't ever have to worry about not being accepted. I for sure wouldn't ever be picked on. I'd have girls all over me too, cause he's hot.

At that moment she cursed in her head again and asked, What the hell did I just say?

Straight guys don't refer to other guys as hot, and I'm not gay, she told herself. I like girls. . . maybe I'm just jealous of him, but, as a girl? Well. . . Oh gad, I'm confused.

"Wanna get something to eat," he asked.

Noticing her hesitation, he quickly added, "Come on, my treat. I promise I don't bite, well not too hard anyway."

Through his shirt, Martina saw one of his pecs twitch . . . and then the other.

It has been a while since I ate those fries for lunch earlier today and the snow cone wasn't much, Martina thought to herself. I might as well take advantage of the free food he's offering.

"Sure, I guess. if you won't do that again," she replied.

"Do what," he asked innocently, before flexing his pecs one more time.

"Yeah, that," she responded, turning away.

Barry could see she was visibly flustered and just assumed it was because she found him attractive.

Smiling he held out his hand, and she thought, Well, if it gets me free food.

Martina reached out and hesitantly offered her hand. She and Barry then headed off, hand in hand to find something to eat.

They eventually discovered a food truck offering Korean/Mexican fusion and each ordered a Kimchi Bulgogi Burrito.

Once they got their food, Barry suggested it would be nice to walk and talk while they ate and Martina agreed, deciding it was less awkward than having to sit at a table across from him.

Even walking, Martina discovered it was still strange. She tried to offer conversation but stumbled through her awkward attempts. She truly didn't know how to talk to someone she didn't know well.

Eventually, she quit trying and just let Barry drive the conversation, something he seemed to be naturally good at.

They continued to walk slowly while eating and he kept talking. When they got to a cross street, they stopped to let a horse-drawn carriage carrying a young couple, pass in front of them, before continuing.

Just as they got to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, Barry suddenly tipped his cherry soda, spilling the entire cup onto Martina.

"Oh- I'm so sorry!" he apologized profusely.

Martina looked down at the spill and knew that if it dried, a huge, sticky red stain would be left all across the front of her mom's dress.

Martina took a deep breath.

"That's okay," she offered. "Don't worry about it. It's okay, but maybe I'd better head home and take care of this before it dries."

Inside, Martina was panicking, afraid she had just ruined one of her mom's favorite dresses.

She knew she had to get home and get the dress washed and dried as quickly as possible.

She turned to leave and Barry quickly grabbed hold of her right arm with a strong grip.

"No, no . . .", He pleaded. "Please don't leave. I have an idea. I live right around the block. I can get you something to wear and we can throw your beautiful dress in the washer. My mom has one of those washer/dryer combo units. I'll put it on the short cycle and it'll have your dress washed and dried in less than the time it'll take you to walk home and change."

The thought of going to this guy's house made Martina nervous. She wasn't sure about going somewhere with someone she just met, but she knew she really wasn't ready to end this wonderful day yet, besides, one of the things she really didn't want to miss, the Womanless Pageant, was starting soon.

"You don't even know where I, er I mean, where my aunt lives. You say that machine can do it super fast, huh?"

"I promise you, you've never seen clothes get done so fast, he replied with a grin.

Against her better judgment she relented.

"Well . . . okay," she replied,.

Barry slid his hand down her arm, taking her hand with a grip that wouldn't have let her turn loose if she tried, and they headed toward his house.