Scott McClanahan

So after it was all over, I ran back out to the car in the snow and tried getting in before anyone could see me. Jay was walking behind me too. I saw him watching me wiggle and jiggle in my baby doll dress, and it looked like he liked the way I walked. He picked up a snow ball and tried throwing it at me—BAM. But it missed. And then I was in the car and my parents were with me and we were driving all the way back home. At home my mother helped me take the bow out of my hair. She helped me take out my clip-on earrings.

She helped wipe some of my makeup off and said, “You remember when we used to play dress up when you were a little boy.”

And I giggled, “Yeah.”

She said, “You remember when we used to dress you up like a little girl and then fix you up like a vampire.”

I said, “Yeah.”