"Will I be Okay?" The doctor thinks so. You have a concussion from the explosion and the ruptured eardrum but the rest are just cuts and bruises." Whe...n did you get here?" Last night, we charted a flight here after Lana called." How long are you staying?" Want to get rid of us already?" That was Mom."No. Just ... I don't know." That's a first. You haven't not known since you were seven." Dad grinned."You met all of the clan. I'm head of it you know." Yes dear." Mom again."When can I go home?". After I return to my room, I change into my dreaded boy?s pyjamas andcollapse down hard onto my bed, trying to drown out the noise of myparents from downstairs as I focus on the positive aspects of my life.I have seven friends, all of whom- their families included- accept meas ?one of the girls?, as does my sister and my mother. Three days fromnow- just three days- I may even get the magical piece of paper thatconfirms that I am indeed a girl trapped in the body of a boy, and dadsurely can?t. ” She was right. Or at least partially right. I had always lusted after Elizabeth, just as I’d lusted after all my beautiful friends, but there was something about what had happened between us that morning that was twisting me up. Sure, I was happy—damn, I was giddy—but that wasn’t it. Giddy, I could handle. No, there was also another, stranger sensation that I didn’t recognize at all. Fantastic, thrilling, and terrifying all at once, like the universe had suddenly taken the training wheels off. Too professional. But then again, this was France. Who knew how they did things here. I flicked channels again, up to the pay-per-view channel. Posters for various French films that I didn't recognise went past on the screen, while the number to call flashed at the bottom. Only seven euros per film. I flicked again. Back to the news. And again. Back to the pay-per-view. The hospital's tactics were obvious. Patients had to pay through the nose for the films, or be content with nothing but news.