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“Did you ever go to Bhutan?”

Lori laughed. “No, Amy, but I have been to Thailand and India. Why do you ask?”

“I’m boy hockey player trapped in female figure skater’s body.”

Lori laughed hysterically. “I never heard anything so funny before.”

Spells R Us- Since I found You Part Two

By Danielle J

Synopsis-  Chad Ellis takes up The Wizard's challenge and  begins to help Yu-Na 'Amy' Cho with her figure skating training.

Author’s note- I made a major mistake with part one. The name Yu-Na should have the first letter capitalized before and after the hyphen. I should have known better and have corrected my mistake in this part. 

Amy didn’t get her wish to go straight home. Her aunt still wanted to find her niece a new pair of tennis shoes. She spent a half hour with her in a shoe store looking for a suitable pair.

‘I wear size four shoes.’ Chad mused to himself as he tried out women’s footwear for the first time ever. ‘Get used to being tiny, Chad, you have eighty-eight more days to go.’

“Are they comfortable, Amy?”

“Yes, Aunt Kim. I would like these if they are not too much.” After purchasing the tennis shoes, Amy and her aunt went straight home.

As the Wizard predicted, Yu-Na had a bowel movement a few hours after leaving his shop. As she sat on the toilet, she wondered what else the Wizard knew about her future.

The Crawfords were Roman Catholic and they always went to Sunday mass at 10 a.m.  Even on God’s day, Yu-Na had to practice. To accommodate the religious schedule of her aunt and uncle, her workouts were at 6 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Each session lasted approximately  two hours.

She completed all her triple axels on Sunday without a waxel. That didn’t mean she had the difficult maneuver perfected. She still couldn’t make the landing that Coach was looking for, and that the Olympic judges would score.

Lori called Amy early on Sunday morning. “Are you coming over today?”

“Yes, if it all right I come after practice. That would be around four.”

“No problem. I really need your help studying. My Mom said you can stay for dinner too.”

“My Aunt Kim say I can do that too.”

Yu-Na got to the Gault house a little before 4 p.m. She was warmly greeted by Mrs. Gault, not just Lori.

“Thank you for allowing me over, Mrs. Gault.”

“You’re welcome, Yu-Na. I am glad you came.  Would you answering a question for me. Do you like to go by Amy or Yu-Na?”

“My American family gave me Amy for name. It is very American and I like it.” As a sign of respect to her Aunt and Uncle, Yu-Na was coming to accept and embrace her American nickname. When socializing with someone for the first time, she would say her name was Amy.

There were a few exceptions.  Due to her sponsorship by IBK, Amy had to shed her American nickname and compete as Yu-Na Cho, her "westernized" real name.

Another exception was Wendy Williams. Wendy had explained early on in their friendship why she called her Yu-Na.

“I have a sister named Amy, and two cousins by the same name, plus I had three classmates called Amy when I lived in Massachusetts. Besides, I like the name Yu-Na. It sounds exotic.”

Chad, on the other hand, thought of herself as Yu-Na because Yu-Na’s memories did.

When they got to Lori’s bedroom, the teenage girls broke out the history textbooks. Amy had brought hers from home.

Before things got started, Lori’s cat came and introduced herself. to Amy. Her name was Fluffy.

“You don’t have a pet at home?”

“No, my Aunt and Uncle owned a dog named Happy but he died last year.”

It was time for Lori and Amy to get to the reason they were together that afternoon. “I’m trying to understand why Europe needed to divide up Africa. Can you help me out?”

“Yes, Lori, I can.”

Before they got down to studying that part of World history, Lori put on her stereo system. “I find it easier to study with music on. Do you?”

“It don’t bother me.” Amy watched Lori carefully as she got a CD out. The teenage girl had to bend over in the process and that gave Chad a birdseye view of Lori’s rear end.

‘Nice....Very nice. You know, being a teenage girl has got its benefits.’

“We’re all set now. Are you hot?”

“No, Lori.”

“I am,” Lori then took Amy by surprise by removing her blouse. The teenage girl had a sports bra on underneath. That pleased Chad even more.  “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Lori, be comfortable I will not mind.”

Yu-Na worked hard to help Lori with World history. She did this by asking questions of her classmate while she sat in a chair. Lori on the other hand preferred to lay in bed flat on her stomach while she studied.

“Lori, why do you have no boyfriend?”

“I just don’t right now.”

“You are pretty.”

Lori smiled “Thank you, Amy.”

“You are popular too.”

“Being popular at school is overrated. A lot is expected from you and it is hard to get privacy sometimes.”

“I’d like to be popular. The only friends I have are you and Wendy.”

“Two good friends is all we need, Amy. For some of us just one is enough. If I had to settle for one friend  at Oyster River, do you know who I would choose?”

“Brittney Hawkins?”

“No, Amy, you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not phony like so many of the girls at school, and always sincere, especially in the friendship we share. I know that some, maybe most, of my ‘friends’ gossip about me behind my back, and I know that you don’t. If I wasn’t a cheerleader and attractive, most of my so-called friends would not exist.”

“I like you, Lori.” Then Amy smiled. “Especially when you teach me new words. Like ambidextrous, moron, and shit.”

Lori laughed hysterically at what her friend had just said. “You should try out at a comedy club sometime, Amy.”

“Now I just use words you taught me in sentence all together for first time.”

Amy’s comment caused Lori to laugh again.  

Chad had aced World History the year before, and she was discovering that Yu-Na was almost as strong in that subject. Also, he remembered some of the final exam given by Mr. Stoviak the previous year. This made it fairly easy to come up with questions to ask Lori.

They took a break from studying at 6 p.m. in order to have dinner. This provided Amy with her first ever real chance to speak with the Gaults.

“I am studying hard with Lori.” Amy said shyly. She was usually shy with people she didn’t know well. 

Mrs. Gault smiled. “We’re glad you came over.”

“I like your home. It is the nicest I ever been in.”

“Thank you.”

Mr. Gault spoke. “How long has it been since you came here?”

“September 2006. I had never been to America before then.” Amy, shy or not, had to chat with Lori Gault’s parents. They were very kind to her.

“My husband and I were to Seoul once. We found it very nice.”

“I grew up in Seoul. That is where my father and brother still live.” Chad noticed the accent Mr. Gault had. It sounded similar to how the British spoke but was a little different. Yu-Na knew that Lori had lived in many different parts of the world while growing up. Just another large contrast between the two best friends.   

“Your mother?”

“She died just before I moved here.” Chad replied as he made a mental note to ask Lori a question before going home that night.

“I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Gault said before putting her fork down. “My own mother has Alzheimers now, that’s a sort of brain disease that causes memory loss.”

“That must be terrible.”

“It is. My mother doesn’t even recognize her own children now.”

After dinner Lori and Amy went back to the former’s bedroom. They had less than a hour left before Aunt Kim would arrive to pick up her niece.

“Where is your father from?

“New Zealand.”

“Have you been there?”

Lori laughed. “Many times, it is a beautiful place. You would like it.”

“I probably would. You lived in many different places?

“Yes, I did. Dad used to work for the World Health organization. We traveled to many places as a family.”

“Did you ever go to Bhutan?”

Lori laughed. “No, Amy, but I have been to Thailand and India. Why do you ask?”

“I’m boy hockey player trapped in female figure skater’s body.”

Lori laughed hysterically. “I never heard anything so funny before.”

“I was making joke,” Amy said.

Lori said again that she just had to get her friend to a comedy club one day.

Amy said, “Could you help me with grammar questions now?”

“Sure, Amy, I will help you with anything.”

Before Amy left the Gault house, she said goodbye to Lori’s parents and thanked them for having her over. Then she went outside. Aunt Kim would be picking her up in a few minutes.

“Please come back, Amy,” Lori said to her best friend as they waited together. “I won’t be able to see you much after I start at Boston College in September.”

“I will try. With skating practice it is difficult.”

“You work so hard, Amy.  I don’t know how you do it.”

“I do it so I can win Olympic Medal one day. It would make my family very proud and happy.”

“If I were them, Amy, I would be proud of you now.”

Then her aunt arrived in the car. Before Amy could step in, Lori gave her a friend a hug and kiss.

As she fastened her seatbelt, Chad inwardly sighed. Having to act out like Yu-Na all the time was becoming a test of its own.  Would it some how change the way he thought or acted? Possibly, and maybe for the better.

‘There is something different about Lori. Hell if I know what it is.’ Chad thought to herself as Hee Young Crawford continued to drive her niece home.    

Practice, School, Practice, Study for school sleep. Then repeat. That pretty much summed up the life of Yu-Na Cho. She was out of bed at 4 a.m. every weekday morning, in bed at 8:30 and lucky if she found ten minutes at night to talk to her friends on the phone or to watch a little bit of television.

It was a grueling schedule but Chad knew she had to endure it. The ‘out maneuver’ as she called it, still wasn’t practical yet. The Wizard had cautioned Chad that if she did it in the first two-three weeks, she could damage his skating ability. Chad didn’t want to take the risk.

Being a girl became less of a challenge every day for Chad. In hope of improving his dating prospects after the spell ended, Chad paid particular attention to what female classmates at Oyster High said  about boys, in particular what they liked or disliked.

It was maddening, to be honest, and might well prove to be useless when Chad got back to his correct body. One classmate might like a boy for having a shirt button open, another may hate him for the same reason. Another may like one boy for his nice tush, another may say that wasn’t his best part. No wonder guys couldn’t figure women out, for they had trouble understanding one another!

Chad took her skating practices very seriously.  She remembered what the Wizard said back at the shop. Any improved hockey skills Chad would receive would be in proportion to how much he helped Yu-Na Cho.

Male or female, Chad worked hard at sports. His hockey coaches never had a problem with his work ethic and he tried his hardest to carry this over into the life he had now as Yu-Na.

As time passed, Chad got quite an education in figure skating. Yu-Na had limited competitive experience. Before coming to the Unites States, she had competed eight times. Since then she had competed in the New Hampshire junior figure skating championship, which she had won, and the 2007 New England regional tournament that she had finished second in.

More tournaments lay ahead for Amy, but only when Coach Barnett felt her pupil was ready. In preparation for future competitions, she worked on the three separate parts of every skating competition. The short or dance program, the long or free skate program, and lastly exhibition. All were skated to music, where the skater made their leaps, spins, and dance moves when cued by the music. That is why Amy had a choreographer as a part of her team.

The music Amy skated to included songs ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Looking through the eyes of Love’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’ plus ‘Just a Girl’, and music from ‘Carmen’ and ‘Les Miserables’. Chad had a passing familiarity with half this music before his first visit with The Wizard

The music  set the tone for Amy’s routines. She practiced to two songs for each of the three programs she trained for. When she began competing, only the ones she skated to best would be used.

Sometimes before she went to sleep, Amy would dance in the privacy of her bedroom. After a week as Yu-Na, Chad had heard the music so much it was becoming difficult to not hear it playing in his head when away from the ice skating rink.

Competitive figure skating wasn’t just physically demanding but mentally also. Amy was always thinking of what her next spin or leap in addition to the skating she was doing at that precise moment.     

As hard as Amy worked, it never seemed good enough for Coach Barnett. She kept pushing her pupil for more. There were times she felt as if she would break in two from one of her workouts.  They were that physical, especially when Amy made one of those amazing leg lifts into the air.

High School final exams began on Chad’s eighth day as Amy. Only the English and French exams seemed terribly difficult to her. Even still, she thought there was a chance of an A on the final.

School didn’t end for Amy when finals were over. Chad thought this was dumb as a boy and it felt the same way as a girl. Why were students required to sit in a classroom those last three days before graduation practice began?

It was day fifteen also known as ‘one of those waste of time days’ as Chad had begun to describe them. All she had done in second period French class was talk with her fellow seniors. After that class was over, she met up with Lori.

“How’s your day been so far?”

“Boring.”

“I hear you, Amy.”

Amy’s stomach hadn’t felt right all day. “I feel like shit too.”

“I don’t feel any better Yu-Na. It is my time of the month. Let’s go to the girls room.”

“Yes, I need to go shit, not just feel like it,” Amy remarked which caused Lori to crack up. Only when Amy was with her best friend did she use the swear word taught to her. Aunt Kim and Uncle Roger may not like such language being used by their niece.

As she wiped herself in the bathroom stall, Amy discovered she was bleeding. Even Chad knew what this meant, he was menstruating. That meant he would need a steady supply of sanitary napkins over the next few days. She called out to her friend, "Lori?"

Lori used her time in the bathroom to fix the lipstick she was wearing. “What’s wrong?”

“I got my period. You wouldn’t have a spare napkin on you?”

“Sure do,” Lori reached into her purse and then went over and handed one under the door.

“Thank you, Lori. You are too good to me.”

“We’re friends, Amy. Aren’t we always around for each other?”

“Yes, I try.”

“Believe me, Amy, I need you as much or more than you do me,” Lori said to her best friend. “We both have periods at the same time now. You know what means?”

Amy used an expression she had caught on to since coming to the states. “Yes, misery likes company.”

Lori cracked up at the remark.

Lori shared some news with Yu-Na that day. Her mother and father would be traveling to Eastern Europe in two weeks. Lori would have the Gault home all to herself for sixteen days.

“Your parents trust you to be alone?”

“Why not? I’ve never gotten into any trouble,” Lori let out a short laugh. “Well, almost never.”

“I would feel lonely.”

“Maybe you can come over some more. So I won’t be lonely.”

“Why aren’t you making trip with parents?”

“Seeing Bulgaria once was too much so far as I am concerned. Going there a second time would be the pits.”

“I wouldn’t mind trip to Bulgaria. Isn’t that country of vampire?”

“No, that’s Transylvania which is in Romania which is just next door,” Lori explained before she began to laugh very hard. “Amy, you are such a comedienne!”

“Thank you.”

“A regular Margaret Cho, but without the curse words.”

“Margaret is my distant cousin.”

“Wow, you never told me that.”

“I never meet her. That is why. When do your parents leave?”

“June 13th. They don’t come back till the twenty-ninth of the month.”    

A day and a half of bleeding out from between her thighs plus horrible cramps made Yu-Na cranky, and pushed Chad to the breaking point. He’d try that ‘out maneuver’ the very next day.  For now Chad really didn’t care if he was a better skater or not. He just wanted his real body back.

It was day seventeen and Amy was just coming out of a triple axel. One where Yu-Na landed back on her skates but not perfectly so. The only thing on Chad mind right then was his desire to get his male body back.

To achieve the maneuver required to get out of the spell he was under, Chad would have to first complete a spin. When it was complete, the body of Yu-Na Cho should be in just the correct position for the ‘out clause’.

Chad always wondered how Yu-Na’s body didn’t fall over after one of these spins were complete. They were so fast in nature, they had to make a person dizzy. Somehow, she avoided that particular problem. When you combine that, with some of the ways Yu-Na could bend and twist her limbs and torso when performing, Chad couldn’t help feel he was a freak of nature. He had grown tired of being a freak and wanted to be male again.

Chad did an intermediate form of Yu-Na’s camel spin. When it was complete, the  position of her body was just what she needed. With her right leg raised high in the air, Yu-Na had to touch her skate with her left hand and her left knee with her right. Then count off to fifteen.

When he got it, Chad began counting ‘One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three Mississippi....”

This irregular exercise was not just proving harder to do than Chad had imagined, but had drawn the attention of Jill Barnett. The coach was not at all pleased.

“Amy, stop that at once.”

“Four Mississippi, Five Mississippi, Six...” Then Chad let go of the skate. Partly because it had proved too tough, partly because it was Yu-Na’s natural inclination to follow instructions given to her by the adults in her life.

When her program was complete, Amy skated over to where her entourage was. Danielle Potvin immediately handed her a bottle of Evian water.

“Amy, you must not do that maneuver yet. You may injure yourself.”

“Yes, coach, I won’t do it again,” Amy said and meant it. As for Chad, the ‘out maneuver’ would be shelved for the time being.

“Smile, Amy,” Aunt Kim said before snapping a photo of her niece. It was graduation night and Yu-Na ‘Amy’ Cho was now an American high school graduate.

Amy had long since stopped counting how many times her photo had been taken that night. Thirty at least, probably closer to forty times. Besides Wendy and Lori, seven other classmates invited her to join in a photo taken for their families. This was surprising, because Yu-Na had associated very little with these classmates since beginning at the school in September 2006.

“See, Amy, you are more popular than you thought,” Lori said to her best friend as they posed for a second picture together but this time with Wendy Williams also.

During the evening, Amy kissed and hugged between fifteen to twenty female classmates. Chad praying each and every time she did so, that none of these girls had ever been to Bhutan.

Amy’s final high school report card had already arrived. Four A’s and Two B’s were the result. The two B’s came in French and English.

Lori noticed that Amy was unusually quiet that evening and not making her usual jokes. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m thinking of my mother.”

“Yu-Na, she would be proud of you.”

As a graduation gift, Yu-Na got $500 and a laptop computer from her Aunt and Uncle before the ceremony.

“Amy, I know you may have hoped to get your own car. Your Uncle and I wanted to do that, but we just couldn’t afford it right now.”

“Aunt Kim, I am happy for all that you have done for me. I don’t deserve these.”

“No, Yu-Na, you do. You worked very hard at both your school and your skating. What do you plan to do with the money your Uncle and I have given you? Do you want me to take you to the mall this weekend?”

Chad would have probably spent the money on electronic gear for himself. That wasn’t the way Yu-Na thought. “I’d like to send $400 home for my father and brother. Can I do that?”

Aunt Kim smiled. What an un-selfish child she had helped to raise. “Yes, Amy, you can. The money is yours to spend as you wish.”

Before the Gaults and Crawfords left for home, Lori had something to ask of her friend. “Amy, since school is over, can you come to my home again?”

“My Mom is inviting you to come to our home. Will you please?”

Amy swore Lori was disappointed by the counter offer. “Sure, when do we do this?”

“I have to ask my Aunt and Uncle. Sometime next week.”

The next morning, Amy had no time to celebrate what she accomplished the day before. The life of a figure skater training for the Olympics rarely slows down even for the big moments in a person’s life.

Before leaving the house, Yu-Na had a call to place. It was to her father in South Korea.

“I’m so proud, I’m so proud,” Yu-Na father kept repeating to her. The usually unemotional man cried that morning while speaking to his daughter. “Koko, I should have come to be there with you.”

Later on, Amy asked her Aunt why her father didn’t come. Aunt Kim replied. “Amy, your Uncle and I offered to pay for your father so he could be at your graduation ceremony. He declined the offer. I’m so sorry.”

Amy knew then knew why her father didn’t accept the offer of his sister and her husband. Jung-Sun Cho was a poor but proud man. He couldn’t accept the offered generosity because he felt ashamed not being to provide himself for Yu-Na’s career. 

Roger Crawford took Amy to practice the day after graduation. On the way there, Uncle Roger had to fill up the gas tank of his car.

Amy intended to stay in the car till her Uncle asked her to do him a favor. “Can you get me two of these STP Fuel treatments? I just used the last one I had.”

“Yes, Uncle Roger, I can.” Amy immediately climbed out of the car. After taking a $10 bill from her Uncle, she scurried over in the direction of the gas station’s convenience store.

Amy found the two bottles her Uncle requested and took them to the checkout counter. It was there that she got a thought. She would have really have liked to buy some bubble gum. Amy didn’t do this, because she hadn’t asked Uncle Roger for permission to spend his money.

As she left, her eyes modestly downcast, someone else was coming in and opened the door as she approached. She heard a male voice say, “Excuse me.”

On hearing a somewhat familiar voice, she looked up. The person holding the door for her was none other than Chad Ellis, the other Chad Ellis.

‘If I’m in Yu-Na’s body, is she in mine and does she know about it?’ Amy thought to herself. She regretted not asking the Wizard about this.

So Amy did as she was inclined to do when given help by kind strangers, she smiled at her replacement. “Thank you.”

As she left the store, she noted the smile Chad had on his face as they passed each other. When she got about half way to her Uncle’s car, a really gross thought entered her mind.

‘What if I got asked out by my own body?’ Chad asked himself. If his old body was anything like it was like before the spell, it stood a fair chance of being attracted to Yu-Na Cho. The big height difference between the two of them was not likely to be a problem. What Yu-Na thought of Chad Ellis was less clear.

With school done for the summer, Amy had all the time she needed for her figure skating training and more. Coach Barnett and the rest of the team working for Amy had many plans for the teenage girl. One of these was a twenty-five day trip to Canada in July.

“Amy, I have spoken to your Aunt and Uncle,” Jill Barnett said to her pupil two days after her high school graduation. “They have given you permission to attend camp.”

“Camp? What do I do there?”

Jill Barnett filled her in. The camp was a intense training session for junior figure skaters.  The girls invited to this would spend almost every minute of their time at camp working on their skating and nothing else. No family or friends were allowed to visit.

“I will do what my Coach thinks best.”

“This is a great honor, Amy, only the best junior figure skaters in the world are invited. There will be eleven other girls there like yourself. This will be an important time for you.”

Chad did the math in her head. She would be back from ‘camp’ with sixteen days to spare before that day he could return to Spells R Us. That assuming he didn’t pull the ‘out maneuver’ first.

“I will continue to work hard, coach.”

Jill Barnett nodded her head. “I know, Amy. When it comes to working hard you rarely disappoint me.”

Amy was a little frightened by the planned trip to Canada. She didn’t let her fears overwhelm her, and it was mostly the work of Chad. He tried to suck it up for her and give the shy teenage girl who sometimes suffered from stage fright, extra strength and courage.

“Yes, Amy, your Uncle and I have approved this trip you will take with Coach Barnett. We would to be there for you but the organizers have rules.”

“I will be strong ,Aunt Kim. You don’t have to worry.  All I wish is that I can call you and Uncle Roger in Africa.”

“We’ll see about that, Amy. Maybe we can get you a phone card to use.” Hee Young 'Kim' Crawford inwardly smiled. Her niece had made many large steps in her life since that day she arrived at Logan Airport in 2006.

Lori came over to the Crawford house four days after she and Amy graduated from Oyster River High School. She would sleep over that night.

“It sounds like you are going to boot camp?”

“What is boot camp?”

Lori laughed at first before realizing Amy wasn’t making a joke. “That’s where you get inducted into the military. Are you sure that you aren’t joining the marines?”

Amy laughed. “Yes, I am sure. This is a place my Coach and family feel I need to go to if I am to live my dream.”

Lori admired Amy just for attempting to live the dream she had. “I always wish you the best of luck.”

“Thank you. I have new fan now.”

“Amy, there is something I want to show you. I it found when searching the web yesterday. It was an article about you. Want to see?”

“Yes please.” Amy then turned on the desktop computer in her bedroom. As soon as it was warmed up and signed onto the internet, Lori commenced a google search.

The article was in a figure skating magazine. It was a preview of the top figure skaters who would be competing for the next World Junior Championships. Yu-Na Cho got a mention.

South Korea’s best chance in 2009 looks to be Yu-Na Cho. The sixteen-year-old phenom from Seoul is at present training in the United States under the watchful eye of her coach Jill Barnett.

Having first caught the eye of the world figure skating community when she won the 14 and under division of the Asia-Pacific games at the age of twelve in 2004, Yu-Na has competed on a more limited basis since leaving South Korea in 2006. When asked about what to expect from Yu-Na Cho during the 2008-09 championship season, skating commentator Dick Schaffer wasn’t optimistic about  her chances.

“Yu-Na’s victory in 2004 was sensational as was her second place finish to Yu-Na Kim at the Korean Junior in 2006 but her talent was still raw at the time. I’ve seen or heard nothing since to say this has changed. Based on that and her inexperience at the highest levels of figure skating competition, I wouldn’t rate her chances as too high.

“Amy, kick this guy’s ass for me after you win the World Juniors next year.  I know you will win that championship”

“I will try.” Chad felt motivated by the article. He would continue to work hard in order to help Yu-Na win that title in 2009 and prove Dick Schaffer wrong. If the event was televised, Chad was already planning to watch it.

“There’s another Yu-Na too, Yu-Na Kim. Funny, the two of you have the same given names and can both figure skate, Do you know her?” Lori asked.

“Only a little bit. Yu-Na Kim is better than me. I think she will win Gold in Vancouver.”

“Don’t count yourself out, Amy.  As hard as you work, I think you will be there also in two years.”

When bedtime came, 9:30 in the evening during the summertime when she had no school, Amy took out an air mattress and set it up on her bedroom floor.

“Who’s sleeping there?” Lori asked.

“I am, Lori ,” Amy said as she began to lay out a pillow and bed sheet for herself. “You are my guest.”

Lori tapped the bed beside her. “There is plenty of room for both of us here.”

Chad so wanted to get in bed with Lori that night. It had taken large heaps of self control for him not to jump the pretty teenage girl. Less than an hour earlier, Lori Gault had been walking around the bedroom naked and it had been every bit the show Chad could have ever hoped for.

Amy had other plans. “I am used to not sleeping in bed. Back in South Korea when I was little, there was no bed for me.”

“You mean you slept on the floor?”

“Yes, just with a floor mat under me. It would feel so cold at night.”

“I bet it did.”

“Lori, I may have good news.”

“What’s that?”

“My coach goes away in a week. I can come visit if you want.”

Lori could barely conceal her excitement. “So we’ll get to have a whole weekend together?”

“I will still practice but not as much. Coach says I can take a short break. Would you be able to take me to the rink and pick me up again?”

“Of course I can!”

Amy and Lori talked about their plans for that weekend before and after they turned out the night in order to go to sleep.

Lori had a question as they lay awake in the dark bedroom. “If you were to have one thing, and it has nothing to do with figure skating, what would it be?”

“A chocolate sundae with whipped cream on top.”

Lori laughed. “I’d like to live some place where it is always warm and there is lots of sand.”

“You mean Sahara Desert?”

Lori cracked up again at one of Amy’s jokes. “No  like in a beach.”

“You wouldn’t want a handsome boyfriend?”

“No, I like the other dream better.”

“It is a nice dream. A few minutes later they were fast asleep.

A full month as Yu-Na came and passed for Chad. He still wasn’t crazy about being female, but freely admitted to himself that it had some nice aspects and benefits to it. Lori Gault being one of the first.

Amy was ready for bed on June 17th and was coming down the stairs of Crawford house to say goodnight to her Aunt and Uncle. Just a few minutes earlier the phone had rang.

Roger Crawford met his niece at the bottom of the stairs. “Andrea is speaking to your Aunt right now. Your sister would like to talk to you too.”

“All right Uncle. I will wait.” Amy said. Her Uncle Roger often referred to Andrea, Allison, and Amanda as Amy’s sisters. They treated their cousin as if she was a younger sibling also.

Aunt Kim was positively glowing when she handed Amy the phone. She soon found out why.

“Hello, Aunt Amy,” said Andrea Wong, the oldest of the Crawford children. She was calling from her home in Rhode Island where she lived with her husband Harold.

It took five seconds for it to click in Amy’s head why she had just been called an Aunt. “Are you having a baby?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I am so happy for you. Very happy.”

Lori picked Amy up at 7:00 p.m. Friday June 20th as planned. Before going, Hee Young and Roger Crawford wished their niece a good time. Both trusted Amy to behave herself when not under their supervision.

“Just put your bag in back,” Lori told Amy before she got into the Evelyn Gault’s Mercedes. As soon as the door was closed, Lori drove off.

“Where will we go?” Amy asked. Something about Lori didn’t strike her as right. She was all dressed up and had perfume and earrings on.

“My house, if you don’t mind.”

No, I don’t mind. I thought we’d go out.”

“We’ll do that tomorrow.”

“All right,” Amy replied. She wondered again why Lori Gault was dressed up like she was.

“Are you excited to be an Aunt?”

“Yes, very. Andrea will have her baby end of January next year. Are you a Aunt?” Lori knew how the Crawfords felt towards their niece or cousin and thought it was wonderful.

Lori laughed. “My brother hasn’t even got a girlfriend so far as I know. I’m happy for you, Amy, and for your family.”

As soon as they entered the house, Fluffy came to welcome her owner’s house guest. Amy took a moment to scratch behind the cat’s ears.

“Fluffy likes you as much as I do.”

“I like Fluffy too. Where will we go?”

“The living room. Before that, do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“No thank you, Lori. I just had dinner.”

They went to the living room, where they spent the night talking, watching television, or listening to music.  It was around 9:30 when Amy asked her friend for a glass of milk to drink. Lori happily went and fetched it. 

“Here’s your milk,” Lori said as she handed her the glass.

“Thanks. Tomorrow  I got to be at practice by five to nine sharp. Otherwise Miss Danielle and Sylvester will get angry.” In Jill Barnett’s absence the rest of Yu-Na Cho’s skating team stepped up to make sure the teenager still trained properly unlike about a month earlier.

Lori smiled. “We wouldn’t want that. I may hang around and watch you practice.”

“Lori, you don’t have to.”

“I want to. All right?”

“You may find it boring. It isn’t anything like when I compete.”

“You’re never boring,” Lori said with a big grin.

Amy and Lori watched some more television. There was an interesting documentary on about Mt. Everest. This reminded Amy of another crazy rule she had been given by that Wizard. Don’t stand on your head while on the summit of Mt. McKinley.

When her guest was finished with her milk, Lori picked up the glass in preparation to bring it to the kitchen. “Do you want more?”

“No thank you, Lori. Where will I sleep tonight?”

Another grin formed on Lori’s face. “My room in bed with me if its all right with you. Let me put the glass in the kitchen. Be right back.”

While she waited for Lori to come back, Amy thought of the maneuver again that would cause her to become male. Maybe she would attempt it again, even if it meant risking Coach Barnett’s wrath. If Yu-Na was successful, Chad wouldn’t have to deal with the skating coach any more.

Amy soon heard the familar clickety clack sound as Lori came back to the living room. She had a pair of sandals on which, when used on the tiled floors in the Gault house, made a very distinctive noise.

“Lori, I’m.....”  Amy began to say but stopped in her tracks when she began to feel her neck muscles being massaged.  Without asking, Lori Gault had decided to give her friend a massage.

“Does that feel good?”

“Very. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Are your muscles always sore from the skating practice you do?

Amy gave a slight nod of her head. Lori’s massage felt real good. “Yes, but I am used to it.”

“Do you ever think of doing other things besides skating and school?”

“A little but I have little open time.”

“Did you ever wish you had a boyfriend for that open time?’ Lori asked as she temporarily stopped the massage.

“Few boys in America find me attractive,” she told Lori. Chad didn’t mind the lack of male attention Yu-Na was receiving at all.

Lori re-started the massage. This time she did it from a kneeling position.  “They’re wrong, Amy. You are very pretty. More so than I am.”

Chad, who found both Asians and blondes attractive, would have disagreed with his friend’s evaluation. In his eyes, Lori came out way on top.

Amy was about to announce she was tired, when Lori took her by surprise. She began to nuzzle at the back of her friend’s neck.

The sudden revelation that Lori Gault was a lesbian, or felt some affection towards Amy came as a shock.  Chad not in her wildest dreams would have thought the All-American girl would do such things.

But Lori was, and the nuzzling at Amy’s neck soon turned to a series of light kisses. These caused goosebumps to cover most of her body.

“Lori....,” Amy began to say but suddenly stopped. .

For Lori had just placed her hand under Amy’s chin and lifted it so that the two teenage girls looking each other in the eye from a distance most straight girls never allowed themselves to approach.  “Amy, I love you.”

Lori wanted to kiss her, and Chad was ready to oblige her. Yu-Na, while at least bi-sexual, was by nature not a young lady who would easily deviate from societal norms or what the behavior her family expected from her.

Chad, on the other hand, felt no such restraints. There just was a divide between he and Lori and he wanted it erased. “Sit next to me.”

Without a word spoken, Lori did as she had been asked. Both teenagers were sitting on the couch, their legs tucked underneath their torsos.

“I like your blue eyes.” Amy confessed as her and Lori’s faces inched towards one another.

Lori grinned  “I am glad they please you. You have lovely eyes too, Amy.”

The first kiss Lori planted on Amy’s lips was short and sweet. More kisses came, each longer and a little more aggressive in nature by Lori. Amy was more of a passive lover.

Lori, between kisses, took the time to put her hands behind Amy’s neck. Amy allowed her friend’s left hand, but not her right. Instead, both of them clasped the other’s free hand. This established an emotional connection between the two of them, maybe one of greater signifigance than the physical lovemaking they were engaged in.

Chad, as Yu-Na, allowed Lori to set the initial pace. As she became more comfortable, she began kissing back. This pleased Lori, for she didn’t in any way want to dominate her friend.

For one brief moment, Lori tried to stop in order to say something. Amy gave her no chance, she was initiating the kisses now. The two teenage girls now heavily engaged in probing the other’s mouth with their tongue.

Down below, Yu-Na and Lori had gradually repositioned their legs till they became intertwined. Lori took this opportunity to gently hump Amy with her right leg. This pleased Amy as soft moans began emanating from her between kisses.

They may never have stopped their kissing and cuddling except for Fluffy. The cat, acting as if nothing was amiss, jumped onto the couch in order to get attention.

The interruption didn’t anger Lori or Amy. Both girls came up laughing when their kisses were brought to a halt.

“Let’s go to my room. We’ll have privacy there.” Lori said. Amy just nodded her head in reply as she and Lori disentangled themselves. The two held hands as they went to the bedroom.

Amy woke and her eyes opened the next morning when she felt Lori planting a few gentle kisses on her neck. As soon as Amy was fully consciousness she rolled her body over till she came face to face with Lori.

“Good morning,” were the only two words Amy got to say before Lori planted a kiss on her lips. This gesture was reciprocated and then some

Lori and Amy had engaged in lesbian lovemaking up to almost 11:30 the night before. Periods of intense licking and sucking, with slower intervals of kissing, fondling, and just laying naked in each other’s arms in between.

One of those ‘timeouts’ came after Lori spent time alternating  between licking Amy’s right and left breast nipples. She had a very small and still growing bust, but her friend found it pleasing nevertheless. 

“You won’t suck?” Amy asked. Earlier she had sucked on both of Lori’s breasts.

“I don’t want to make your breasts big. If I suck them, they will grow.”

Amy immediately understood. Being too top heavy would affect her ice skating. “You do like them?”

“Oh, yes. I find them heavenly,” Lori replied between licks.

A few minutes later, Lori stopped licking and instead laid face to face with Amy. Her nipples gently brushing against those of her lover.

“I love you, Yu-Na Cho.”

Chad liked his new best friend, but Amy wasn’t certain she ‘loved her’ in the same way Lori was expressing. One night of lust, doesn’t mean there was a deep emotional connection the two girls. Plus Yu-Na had reservations about what she had just done.

The night had been very good and exciting.  After everything was weighed, Amy decided to tell Lori what she wanted to hear. “I love you too.”

As Lori ran her fingers through Amy’s luxurious black hair, she had something to say. “This was my first time with another girl.”

“Me too,” Amy said just before she planted yet another kiss on Lori Gault’s lips. Chad had never been with a girl either.

Lori then told her how she once had sex with a boy she met at a summer camp two years previous. “It was nothing like tonight.”

“Are you saying it was bad?”

Lori put a finger in her mouth. The universal symbol of someone who wanted to vomit. “Amy, you were wonderful last night and that’s the total reverse of what I feel about guys.”

“I enjoyed you too,” Amy admitted. When she first went down on Lori, the musky odor from that particular body area was most unappealing. After she began licking in the region, she quickly grew accustomed to the smell.

It was morning now and any more lesbian lovemaking would have to wait. Amy had barely seventy minutes to go before Lori would have to take her to the rink.

As Amy put some temporary clothing on, Lori asked, “What do you want for breakfast, lover?”

“Anything you have. I’m not picky.”

“All right. See you in the kitchen.” Lori gave Amy one more kiss, then exited the bedroom. Not stopping to put on even one bit of clothes. Chad Eliis watched carefully as Lori walked away from her.

‘She has a nice ass, among other things.’ Chad thought boyishly then went back into Yu-Na mode. Amy had a full day ahead of her.

Amy was in the middle of using the bathroom, when Lori stuck her head in. “Your Aunt called.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That we spent all of last night making love,” Lori said before letting out a laugh. “No I just told her you were using the bathroom and that you would call her back.

Amy called her Aunt Kim as soon as she got to the Gault family kitchen.

Aunt Kim had called just to see how her niece was doing, “What did you and Lori do last night?”

“We just watched some television. I think we went to sleep around 11:30,” Amy lied to her Aunt. It was far too early for Yu-Na to come out of the closet, and only if she decided that she really was gay and willing to face the potential wrath of her family. Chad was only in this female life for the short-term, Yu-Na had to look towards the distant future.   

“Call me this afternoon when you have time.”

“I will Aunt Kim. Talk to you later.”

Lori spoke up as soon as Amy turned off her cell phone. “Breakfast is on the table. I made you a poached egg.”

“Thank you Lori. I like poached eggs.” On average, Amy only ate one or two eggs a week, but this was a special ocassion.

Lori got her to the rink on time.

Before she went into the locker room, Amy paused to say, “Lori, my practice sessions are really boring. You don’t have to watch.”

“I’ll come by and watch anyway,” Lori said as she grasped Amy’s right hand. In her other hand was her gym bag, which contained a fresh set of skating clothes.

No one else was around in the hallway. Taking a chance, Amy and Lori shared a quick kiss. “We will talk later.”

Little did Amy know, but the night with Lori had left a dreamy look on the sixteen-year-old girl’s face. A stranger passing by might wonder what the cause of her beatific smile was, but Lori knew.

Amy was in the process of closing her locker door, when Danielle Potvin came to check on her. “Good morning, Amy.”

“Hello Miss Danielle.”

If Danielle wondered what Yu-Na had been up to the night before, she showed no outward indication. “Are we all set for practice today?”

Coach Barnett may not have been present but Amy worked particularly hard that Saturday. By the time 6 p.m. rolled around, her leg muscles were had begun to ache badly.

Not too long into what was supposed to be a half day practice, Amy decided to stick it out as if her missing coach was present. No objections were heard from Danielle or Sylvester.

As she always did on Saturdays, Amy spent time with her ballet teacher Henri. By this time Chad acknowledged that this form of training was as important to figure skating as was the time spent on ice.

Lori did spend time watching Amy practice, but she came and went from time to time rather than stay the whole day. When present, she would sometimes cheer Yu-Na Cho’s skating routines.

“A friend?” Danielle asked Amy. Someone cheering Amy when she was working out wasn’t all that unusual, but she liked to keep track of who her fans were.

“Yes, Lori is my closest friend.”

Amy had given thought to doing the ‘out maneuver’ again but set it aside for now. The life of Yu-Na Cho was just too interesting to quit it so abruptly.

At 5:15 sharp, Amy called it a day and went to the locker room.  Danielle was already there waiting to give Yu-Na a rubdown once the skater finished her cool down and finishing exercises.

Lori was outside the locker room when Amy came out. “How do you feel?”

“Pooped.” Amy told her friend as they began their way to the parking lot.  

Before taking her to the rink in the morning, Lori asked Amy about what they should plan after practice. Amy said she always liked to soak in a tub after practice if time allowed and she had no other responsibilities.

“I’m going to make us some chicken tonight while you’re bathing,”

Amy laughed. “How did you know I wanted to eat that particular food?

Lori grinned at Amy before getting in the Mercedes. “Don’t you know? I’m psychic!”

Amy didn’t know whether Lori was psychic or just a good guesser. She certainly was a good cook. The dinner they shared after she came out from her bath was delicious.

While they ate dinner, Amy's aunt called to make sure that everything was alright. “Did practice go well?”

“Yes, Aunt Kim, it did. Lori and I left about 6 p.m.”

“What are you eating for dinner?”

“Baked chicken, rice, and asparagus. Lori prepared it.” Aunt Kim watched over Amy’s diet like a hawk.

“Will you be coming to mass tomorrow?” Hee Young didn’t push church and religion on her niece. As a sign of respect to her American family, Yu-Na went to Catholic services with them as long as there was no conflict with her skating.

“Yes, Aunt Kim. Lori and I will meet you and Uncle Roger there.

The rest of the Aunt-niece conversation was all routine except for one thing. “We’re having friends over tomorrow for dinner. The Walker family.”

“I remember you telling me about them once, Aunt Kim.” Chad, with the help of Yu-Na Cho’s memories, recalled some friend Roger Crawford had from his time in the army.

“Please try to be home tomorrow no later than 4:30. Dinner will be two hours later, and I will need your help.”

“I promise to be home at 4:30, Aunt Kim.” A minute later the phone conversation between Amy and her Aunt came to an end.

Lori then had a question. “Do you and your Aunt ever speak much in Korean?”

“Not too often. Aunt Kim says I need to practice my English. So people understand me better.”

“Honestly, Amy, I’ve never had a problem understanding you,” Lori said with a grin.

Saturday evening was almost a repeat of Friday night. With Amy too physically tired to go out, she and Lori spent the evening at the Gault house. Watching television, making out on the couch together, and then  making love to each other before going to sleep.

There was one strange occurrence that evening. It happened while Lori was channel surfing in order to find something to watch on television.

“You may like this movie,” Lori said to Amy before putting down the remote control.

“What’s it all about?” The movie had just gone to commercial.

“It’s called Ice Angel. About some hockey player who dies and comes back as a figure skater. It's all right but kind of dumb. Like any of that could ever happen.”

Amy had to control herself from laughing. ‘Ice Angel’ struck a little too close to home. “Let’s watch something else.”

As requested by her Aunt, Amy got home by 4:30. Sundays were never a day off from training for a Olympic hopeful.

After skating practice, Lori gave her a gift, a pair of large hoop earrings.

“Thank you, but I don’t deserve this.”

“Nonsense, Amy. Try them on for me.”

Amy took off the small earrings she was wearing and replaced them with the gift given to her by Lori.  Chad's honest opinion? She looked silly with big earrings on.

Lori Gault had an entirely different opinion. “You look cute with them on.”

“I always look cute to you. You look pretty to me, too.”

On the way to the Crawford house, Lori asked a question. “How do you say ‘I love you’ in Korean?”

“Sah-rang hae.”

Lori tried saying the words but didn’t pronounce them correctly. Amy instructed her friend till she got the words down right.

“Sah-rang hae, Yu-Na Cho.”

“I love you too, Lori.”     

Before returning home, Amy and Lori had to say goodbye. They did this in privacy, about two blocks from the Ellis home. The windows of Evelyn Gault’s car windows were heavily tinted.

“I’m going to miss you tonight,” Lori said before she and Amy shared another kiss.

“Me too. I will call you if I have time.”

Lori grinned, “Better yet. Sneak out of the house and I’ll come and fetch you.”

“Good girls don’t do such things.”

Lori laughed real hard. “Who says you are a good girl?”

After one last kiss, Lori drove her friend the remaining short distance to the Crawford house.  As soon as the car was stopped in the driveway, Amy climbed out. Taking her bag with her.

“Thank you, Lori. I will call you tomorrow.”

Kim Crawford was already preparing dinner in the kitchen. “Amy, I am so glad you are home. Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, Mom, very much. Lori asked if I could come over again.” It was only then Amy realized the slip up she made by calling Aunt Kim ‘Mom’. In light of all she did for her, it was hard for her not to think of her Aunt Kim as a second mother.

Her aunt let it pass without comment, “We’ll see, Amy. Bring your things upstairs but come right back. I will need you to peel potatoes for me.”

The Walker family arrived shortly before 6 p.m. Michael  a retired Army master sergeant who had known Roger Crawford for almost twenty-five years, was a big man, and his German born wife Ursula was very pretty, as was their twenty-two-year-old son Stefan. yAm had never met any member of the Walker family before.

“This is excellent, Kim, I rarely ate a roast so delicious,” Michael Walker said to his hostess.

“Thank you. I just buy this meat at market. It is easy to cook.”

Amy remained shy while the two families got reacquainted, except when she was asked a question by one of the Walkers.

“How long have you been here in the United States?” Michael Walker asked.

“Two years in September.”

“You like it here?”

“Yes, this is a beautiful country.”

“I’ve done three tours in South Korea but can’t remember what year I was there last,” Michael Walker remarked. Then the retired Army master sergeant turned to his wife for help “Sweets, do you remember?”

“1999. You went there in 1998.”

Michael Walker nodded his head. “Now I remember. Have you seen much of the United States?”

“Just a little. I have liked everywhere I have gone to so far.”

Amy soon learned Michael Walker was from New Hampshire originally. He and his family were there for two purposes. One was to visit friends and family the other was for Stefan to visit Dartmouth College. Stefan would be a college freshman in the fall.

Stefan Walker was seated directly across from Yu-Na. He had very short blonde hair, was about 6’ tall and of medium build. His skin had a light tan to it, probably from spending a great deal of time outdoors of late.

Amy didn’t pay Stefan any more attention than she did other boys or young men. He seemed indifferent towards her in return.

“You are no longer in Army?” Kim asked Stefan.

“Yes and no, Ma’am. I was active duty till March. Now I am in the reserves.”

“My niece Amy is here to train as a figure skater for the Olympics one day. She hopes to take part in part in the Vancouver games.”

Stefan showed the briefest glimpse of a smile. “Oh. I thought Amy reminded me of someone but I couldn’t think of who. It was Michelle Kwan.”

Little did Stefan know, but Michelle Kwan was the one figure skater Yu-Na Cho most idolized. She then decided to ask her own question. “What will you study at Dartmouth?”

“Architecture. I’d like to build things one day.”

Amy noted the gentle nod of Ursula Walker’s head. The mother apparently approved of her son’s career choice. Sometime during the meal Roger Crawford mentioned how all the men in the Walker family served in the US military. Either as a full-time career or in the reserves.

When dinner was over, Amy began to clear the table as was her usual custom. Aunt Kim said not to.

“Why don’t you and Stefan watch some television together? I will take care of the table.”

Amy and Stefan exchanged glances, then took the hint. They excused themselves from the dining area and went to the den.

“Anything good on television?” Stefan asked after he and Amy took seats on the Crawford family couch. A clear divide separating the two.

“Not really. Sixty minutes is almost over and there are no good movies on.”

Stefan laughed. “How about any sports?”

“Just a New York Yankee game on ESPN,” Amy told Stefan. The NBA finals had just been completed a few days earlier and NHL season not too long before that. With pro football over a month away, that left Major League Baseball as the only major sport being played at present. “If I turn it on, Uncle may throw something at the television.”

Stefan laughed again. “He’s a Red Sox fan too, then?”

“Yes. I will still turn on game.” Chad hoped this would cause Stefan to concentrate on the game rather than on her.

The strategy only half worked. “They play baseball in your country?”

“Yes, we do. Have you been to Korea?”

Stefan nodded his head. “Yes. One time when I was six years old I went with my mother and sister to visit Dad in South Korea. I don’t really remember much.”

Amy and Stefan watched an inning of baseball without saying another word. During that time, Aunt Kim looked in to see how her niece and Stefan were getting along.

Stefan didn't speak again until the next commercial break, “You are a figure skater?”

“Yes. My dream is to compete in the Olympics one day.”

“That’s wonderful. I hope you make it.”

“Thank you,” Chad then decided to make some small talk. “Did you go to Iraq when you were in the Army?”

“Yes, but I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Please accept my sorry for asking,” Amy asked humbly, mixing up the words of the language she still needed to learn better.

“It is all right, Amy. Do you prefer being called Yu-Na or Amy?”

“My Aunt and Uncle call me Amy.”

“Yes I noticed that. Why does she do that?”

“My Aunt say it more American. I like being American.”

“Yu-Na is a pretty name.”

“Thank you.” Chad didn’t know it, but Yu-Na had blushed at the compliment paid to her by Stefan.

“Can I call you Yu-Na?”

“Yes, you can.” The divide separating Yu-Na and Stefan on the couch was beginning to narrow.

Stefan and Yu-Na talked rather than paying attention to the ballgame. Mrs. Crawford checked in on how they were doing and asked if she could get them anything. Yu-Na asked for a diet soda, Stefan said he would like to have the same.

Chad worked hard to ensure nothing happened between Yu-Na and Stefan that night. A few minutes after eleven p.m. the Walker family announced they were leaving.

“It was nice meeting you.” Stefan said as he extended a hand to Yu-Na.

Yu-Na shook Stefan’s hand. “I like that I met you.”

Aunt Kim, who was by the doorway and trying hard to not be obvious as she watched her niece and Stefan, just smiled. There was a chemistry between these two young people.

“I’m leaving Thursday morning. Can I see you before I go?”

“It is summer and I am in training.”

“Yes, you told me that.”

“My Aunt and Uncle are strict too.”

“Amy, you can go out with Stefan if you want. He’s a nice young man,” Aunt Kim said as she butted in.

Chad got the hint from Aunt Kim. Yu-Na wanted to say yes, partly because of what she had done the previous two evenings. She was feeling ashamed

‘How do I explain this to Lori?’ Chad asked himself. Yu-Na then gave her answer. “Yes, you can.”

“Would Tuesday night be all right?”

“I’ll have to call you from practice. The coach don’t let me out always at the same time.” Stefan told Amy his cell phone number. Just by luck, or good advance planning, her Aunt Kim had a pen and note pad handy for her to write the information down.

“All right, I will be waiting to hear from you.” After a last goodbye, Stefan joined his parents in leaving the Crawford home.

Yu-Na looked over at her Aunt before going upstairs. Kim Crawford smiled at her niece.

“That’s so funny,” Lori said after Amy told what her Aunt arranged for her. “So are you going to do it?”

“I will say I have headache.” Yu-Na told her friend. It was Monday night and she had called Lori before going to bed.

Lori laughed even louder. “You are a real fast learner. Go on the date, Amy, if you want to.”

“I will not make Lori mad?”

“No, Amy you won’t.”

“Then I will go on date with Stefan and make my aunt happy.”

By the time Amy’s phone conversation with Lori Gault ended, she was beginning to yawn. She was tired and ready to get some sleep but had to make a bathroom visit first.

As she walked to the bathroom, Amy heard the voices of her Aunt and Uncle. They were talking in the downstairs kitchen. Roger Crawford had been gone most of the day and had only come home an hour earlier.

Amy was about to enter the bathroom when she heard her name being mentioned. That made the teenage girl naturally curious. Instead of going to the bathroom, she positioned herself out of sight at the top of stairs and strained to hear what Uncle Roger and Aunt Kim were talking about.

“I still can’t help laughing at what you did with Amy last night.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re trying to find her a husband and she is only sixteen.”

“I was eighteen when we meet. Then barely nineteen when we marry.”

“That was different.”

“Yes, Amy already has been to America. She like it here, make friends. I was scared when I came to join you in Alaska because I had never been to this country and I had no friends or family before coming.”

“That’s all true, but Amy is young.”

“Amy is very mature for her age.”

“I know that. Honey, I think of Amy as if she was our daughter. I love her that much.”

“She is like a daughter to me as well.”

“Can’t you talk to your brother again? Tell him the situation, emphasize Amy’s love for this country and how she desires to stay. You know it is more likely than not she will have to return to Seoul one day.”

Chad found the love Roger and Kim Crawford had for their niece touching. They would pull out all stops to make Yu-Na happy. Even accepting her as their own child and all the responsibilities that came along with that.

None of it was necessary. While Chad loved her temporary parents, she was still firmly on course to becoming a man again in a little under two months. All of Aunt Kim and Uncle Roger’s maneuvering couldn’t change that fact. 

“My brother Jung-Sun is a proud man. He may not have much money, but there will always be his family. When it was first learned Amy was a talented skater, he felt shame at not being able to help her pursue her skill.”

“I know, honey. Let me talk to him sometime later this summer. Maybe I can persuade him.”

“If not, Stefan is backup plan.”

Roger Crawford had to fight very hard to keep from laughing at his wife’s little scheme.

Amy had heard enough. She went and used the bathroom and within fifteen minutes was fast asleep.

Her aunt was not done talking with her husband about their niece. “It would be nice if we can get Amy a car for her next birthday.”

Yu-Na turned seventeen on November 8, 2008. While Roger agreed it would be nice to give his niece that kind of gift, there were problems in doing so. The Crawfords wouldn’t just have to spend money for the purchase, but also maintain the car afterwards for Yu-Na. The teenage girl didn’t have a job to pay for gas, insurance, or the maintenance work a car would require.

The husband and wife had discussed this before. “Honey, I’ll try. Right now, with the economy like it is, we may have to wait.”

“Let's try at least. Amy wants more freedom, I feel she deserves it. She works so very hard at her skating. Plus she can use car to see Stefan when he is at Dartmouth.” Again Roger Crawford laughed at his wife’s plans.

“We are finished for today. You may stop skating, Amy,” Coach Barnett said to her pupil.

When training, Yu-Na never wore a wrist watch. To discover what time it was, she looked at a large overhead message board at the rink. It said the time was 4:15.

Amy did as Jill Barnett told her. “Coach, did I finish practice so early?”

“I have somewhere to go, Amy. Now go see Danielle. I will see you again tomorrow.”

Amy saw Danielle Potvin like she did at the end of all her training days. After a quick examination, she was cleared to begin her finishing exercises.

“Miss Danielle, may I borrow your cell phone?” Danielle handed it right over to Amy. “Thank you. I promise not to talk too long.”

“Take whatever time you need, Amy.”

The first call she made was to the Crawford house. “Amy, your Uncle will be there at 5 p.m. to pick you up.”

“Can you call Stefan for me? Tell him I am coming home.”

“Call him yourself, Amy, I’m sure he would be happy to hear from you.”

Amy called Stefan. She had brought the phone number she had written down on Sunday night with her to practice.

“Hello Yu-Na. How has your day been?”

“I worked hard for my Coach today.”

“Yes, Yu-Na, I am sure you do. We’re set for tonight then?”

“I am. Please come to my home.”

“Your mother already told me to be there at six.”

“Yes, do that. I will talk later. Bye.”

Amy gave the cell phone back to Danielle. Then she did her closing exercises, after that it was time to go the locker room and change into non-skating clothes. When Yu-Na was done, she bumped into Danielle when exiting the locker room.

“Have a good time, Yu-Na. See you in the morning.”

As Chad left the rink, she began to wonder if there was some big conspiracy going on. First Aunt Kim, then Coach Barnett, then Danielle. It was just too obvious. They were all trying to set up Yu-Na with Stefan Walker.

When Amy got home, her Aunt Kim told the teenager she need not help with dinner preparations. She instead went upstairs to prepare for her night out.

Yu-Na was dressed and ready, when the door bell rang at five minutes to six. Roger Crawford answered it.

“Hello, Stefan, come on in.  We’ll be eating in the dining room again.”

Amy was already downstairs and was setting the dining room table for dinner. For her date that night, she had dressed simply, a solid pink blouse with white collar, white pants, and sneakers on her feet.

In addition, Amy wore the earrings given to her by Lori. Her overall appearance met with Aunt Kim’s approval but she wasn’t crazy about the big hoops dangling from her niece’s ear lobes. The Aunt  inquired from Amy where she had gotten them from.

“Lori gave them to me on Sunday.” Amy said to her Aunt. Chad had no regrets over what she and Lori had done the other night but Yu-Na felt differently.

For dinner that night, her aunt made spaghetti and meatballs. She was far from being Italian, but knew how to make good meatballs.

She was very pleased to see Yu-Na and Stefan talk over dinner. If only she could put a gag in her husband’s mouth. Roger Crawford was hogging the conversation a little too much.

“Is that all you eat?” Stefan asked after seeing how small Yu-Na’s portion was.

“Yes. I have to watch my weight.” Chad had fallen again into Yu-Na autopilot mode as he called it. If it had been up to him, the body he was in would be soaking in a warm tub right then. Instead she tried hard to please Aunt Kim by being friendly with Stefan.

“When did you start skating?”

“I was ten,” Yu-Na hung her head. “My family in Korea was poor. It was not easy for my father to spend money on my first skates.”

“So you were interested in skating already, even before taking it up?”

“Yes, I saw Michelle Kwan on television during the 1998 Olympics. Ever since my dream is to be like her.”

“Have you competed in any tournaments?”

Amy didn’t like to brag about her accomplisments on ice. “I won fourteen and under division at the Asia-Pacific games in 2004.”

“That’s wonderful.”

Aunt Kim butted in, as she was prone to do. “Amy also finished second in the Korean Juniors in 2006 and was New Hampshire Junior Champion last year.”

“Your Aunt and Uncle seem very proud of what you've accomplished so far. I bet your parents feel the same way.”

“My mother die two years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Yu-Na and Stefan left for the movies shortly after 7 p.m.  On the way, Yu-Na had something to confess.

“I have never been on a date.”

“Never?”

“Boys here see me as a little girl because of my size, not a full size girl or young woman.”

“Yu-Na, I don’t know about others, but I see you as a young woman.”

“Then you won’t take me home?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Yu-Na make joke. You didn’t get it.”

Stefan immediately cracked up.  

The new Indiana Jones movie was out and neither Yu-Na or Stefan had seen it. That made the choice of what movie to view very easy.

After Stefan paid for the tickets, he and Yu-Na went in the theater and straight to the concession stand. “What would you like to get?”

“Diet drink and a popcorn.”

“I thought you had to watch your weight.” Stefan said with a laugh.

“Yes. but I can have a little. Just don’t tell Aunt.”

“I won’t, Yu-Na.”

Chad didn’t think the latest Indiana Jones movie was as good as the early ones. It wasn’t however a bad way to spend two hours and, all things considering, Stefan was a pleasant man. That made it easier for Chad to be at ease the whole night.

After the movie, Yu-Na and Stefan returned to the Crawford home. There, they talked and watched television till almost eleven. This met with Aunt Kim’s approval and she made sure her niece and her boyfriend had their privacy.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” Stefan asked as Yu-Na showed her guest out at the end of the night.

“I have practice again. Tonight I got off early, but Coach not likely to do that again.”

“We can watch television here if you want. I’m leaving on Thursday, Yu-Na, I’d like to see you again.”

“All right. Call my Aunt, she will tell you what time to come.”    

“I like you, Yu-Na.”

“I like you too.” Stefan bent down with his and Yu-Na reached up with their own and they briefly kissed each other on the lips.

“Bye now,” Amy said to Stefan just before closing the door. Then Amy started her way upstairs.

‘Just one more day of the guy,’ Chad told himself as he reached the upstairs landing. Then Amy saw Aunt Kim was waiting for her.

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yes Aunt Kim. Stefan wants to come over tomorrow if that is all right.”

Aunt Kim smiled at her niece. “Of course it is. Good night, Amy.”

“Good night, Aunt Kim.”

Wednesday was just another full day of skating practice but it had a few different moments.While Amy did her early afternoon skate, a thunderstorm came through the Durham area. The lighting at the ice rink went up and down on three separate occasions.

Amy could almost skate with her eyes closed. The almost total loss of light had no effect on her. The same couldn’t be said for the nearby lightning strikes that resulted in loud thunderclaps. These rattled her badly in spite of Chad’s efforts to keep her strong .

“What is wrong, Amy?” Asked Danielle Potvin.

“I don’t like thunder,” Amy had a memory of a bad thunder storm when she was a little girl. It frightened her so bad it still had an effect on her many years later.

“Amy, you are safe in here,” Danielle Potvin called out. “Take a deep breath if you have to. You will be fine.”

“I will, Miss Danielle.”

At 4:30 p.m. Stefan showed up at the rink. During one of her brief breaks, Amy talked to her boyfriend. A downpour of rain could be heard pelting down on the roof of the ice rink as they talked. “I didn’t think you would come here.”

“I was interested in seeing you skate, Yu-Na. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, it is all right.”

“Your mother said I can bring you home too. You look very pretty in the outfit you have on.”

Yu-Na didn’t hear the words ‘you look pretty’ too often. If complimented on her looks, most people said Yu-Na was cute. Lori Gault even tended to call Yu-Na cute rather than pretty.

The word cute made Yu-Na conscious of how small she was and how some considered her like a little girl. Stefan Walker didn’t think that way, and that was a big plus in Yu-Na’s book.

“I have to practice more.”

“Ok, Yu-Na, I will be waiting when you’re done.”

Stefan did wait around for her. When she emerged from the locker room after a long day of practice, she found Stefan patiently waiting in the hallway.

“Can you go now? Stefan asked.

“Yes, I see you bring umbrella.”

“It was raining when I came in but I don’t know about now.”

Before they exited the rink a woman in her thirties who was accompanied by a young girl, called out for the figure skater. “Yu-Na, Yu-Na! Can we please get your autograph?”

Yu-Na was a minor celebrity in Durham New Hampshire and the surrounding areas. She averaged getting asked for a autograph about ten times a month.

“Of course,” Yu-Na said as she walked over to the mother and the daughter. They had come prepared with a pen and something for her sign. “Who should I make this out to?”

“My name is Amy.”

Yu-Na smiled. She had never turned a autograph seeker away. After signing the program given to her, she gave it back to the young girl. “I am called Amy by my friends too.” 

The rain had stopped by the time Stefan and Yu-Na exited the ice rink. There was another problem though. The parking lot was like a large lake. There was no way Yu-Na and Stefan could walk to the car without getting their feet seriously wet.

Yu-Na hated big puddles. When little she had only two pairs of shoes because of how poor her family was. She could not forget how one pair was ruined after Yu-Na tried walking through a similarly large puddle.

“I don’t like walking there,” Yu-Na said as she thought of the recently purchased tennis shoes on her feet. Her kind Aunt had purchased her tennis shoes and she didn’t want to ruin them.

“Come on Yu-Na, the puddle isn’t too bad.”

“No I don’t like.”

“Very well then. Can you hold onto the umbrella for me?”

“Yes.”

Stefan after handing Yu-Na the umbrella, then whisked her up into the air and carried her the whole way over to his parked car. When he got there, Stefan managed to open the passenger door with Yu-Na still in his arms. He then gently placed her in the front seat.

After closing the passenger door, Stefan hurried over to the passenger side. Stefan felt pleased with what he had done for Yu-Na. He was therefore surprised when Yu-Na said she didn’t like it.

“You treated me like little girl.”

“No Yu-Na I was helping you. I said it before, you are not a little girl to me.”

Yu-Na didn’t say a word for almost a minute. “Sorry, Stefan, I should be thankful for what you did.”

“You’re welcome, Yu-Na. I should have probably have gotten my car and pulled it up for you.”

“Do you mind if I take quick shower when I get home?”

“No, not at all.”

After letting herself and Stefan in the house, Yu-Na began her way upstairs. She didn’t get even half way there before her Aunt saw what she was doing.

“Amy, where are you going? You have a guest tonight.”

“Aunt Kim, I need to shower real bad. I won’t be long.”

Aunt Kim called for her niece to come back downstairs. She started telling Amy that what she was doing wasn’t polite.

Stefan spoke. “Mrs. Crawford, it really is all right with me. I can wait for her.”

Hee Young relented. “All right, Amy, go upstairs then. Don’t take too long, Stefan is your guest.”

“I won’t, Mom. See you in twenty minutes.”

‘She called me, Mom again. I would gladly be that to Yu-Na if American laws and her father would let me,’ Kim Crawford thought to herself. Then she spoke to her niece’s boyfriend. “Stefan, what may I get you?”

She didn't return downstairs for closer to thirty minutes than the twenty she'd told her Aunt. She showered quick enough, but then getting dressed just right for Stefan proved more time-consuming than she planned.

Aunt Kim was planning to say something to her niece, when Yu-Na arrived downstairs.  Instead she was pleased with the cause of her niece’s delay. Amy had put on a dress for the evening.

Yu-Na went right up to Stefan and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m sorry for the delay.”

“It’s all right, Yu-Na. I think your mother has dinner ready for us.”

Before he sat down across the table from Yu-Na, Stefan had something to whisper in her year. “You look very pretty.”

Stefan and Yu-Na had dinner alone that evening. Roger and Hee Young Crawford had eaten their meals earlier. This enabled the two young people to have privacy.

“What would you like to do tonight?” Yu-Na asked during dinner.

“Watch a movie?”

“That is all right. My Uncle has a large video collection.”

After dinner was over, Yu-Na tried looking for a movie for her and Stefan to watch. She thought the guy would prefer a action or sports movie. Maybe ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Vertical Limit’, or maybe ‘Miracle’.

“Do you have that ice skating movie?”

Yu-Na knew the names of most ice skating related movies. That was common for a figure skater. “Which one are you talking about?”

“The one with the song.” Stefen then began to hum the music in question He may be nice and handsome, but Stefan was not a good hummer.

“Yes, I know which you mean,” Yu-Na said as she looked at the second shelf of DVDs. Her Uncle Roger kept these well organized and in alphabetical order. “Ice Castles has song ‘Through the eyes of Love’ in it.”

Stefan nodded. “That’s it. The skater is deaf or blind.”

“Yes, she is blind.”

“Can we watch it?”

Ice Castles was what is known as a chick flick. “The same skater is in ‘For Your Eyes Only’ too. If you like.”

“No, Yu-Na, Ice Castles is fine.”

She took the DVD and put it in the room’s DVD player. Then she asked if he wanted anything to drink.

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

The movie ran about one-hundred minutes in length and Stefan and Yu-Na watched it without interruption. They held hands and sat very close to each other through most of the film.

When the movie was over Yu-Na returned the DVD to the shelf. “You liked it?”

“Yes, I did. Do you have a DVD or video of your skating sometime?”

“Why?”

“I’d like to watch you again,” Stefan pointed to another shelf in the room. “Are all of those trophies and medals are yours?”

“Yes.”

“You must be very talented. I know you’re pretty.

“Thank you.” Being called pretty again made Yu-Na feel very good. Especially in light of who was saying it.

Yu-Na got out the DVD that showed her performance at the New England Junior Championship. She and Stefan watched it twice, the second time with her doing commentary.

“How do you manage that spin?”

“I just hold on tight” she said modestly.

Stefan laughed. “I saw that already back at the rink. It’s incredible what you do with your legs. When do you compete next? If it is here in New Hampshire, I would like to see it.”

“I don’t know. Next month I go to Canada with my coach.”

It was past 10 p.m. and Yu-Na was beginning to yawn. Stefan saw this.

“I'd better go. You need to get some sleep. I've got to be leaving for the airport around 6 a.m.”

“Stefan, that is very early,” she said.

Stefan agreed but said he would get some sleep on the flight to Boston.

“Thank you for coming over.”

“You’re welcome, Yu-Na. Can I have your email address?”

Chad was a little surprised, but Yu-Na felt happy on hearing the request. Stefan wanted to stay in touch. “I will write it down for you,” she said, as she picked up the pad and pen her aunt seemed to have magically prepared for that very purpose on the end table.

Stefan took the piece of paper with Yu-Na’s email address written on it and put it in his wallet. “I’d like to stay in touch. Would you?”

“Yes, Stefan. You will be working in Washington next?”

Stefan nodded. “A summer job in Senator Sununu’s office. I will be back in August. We can go out again.”

Chad wondered about this guy. He had been to Iraq and now wanted to date someone who looked as if she was just beginning high school rather than having just graduated.

“When will you be back?”

“Around August 15th.”

Which was just past day ninety. Chad wouldn’t be seeing the guy ever again. He’d be back to that magic shop on August 14th come hell or high water.

Yu-Na got what she was hoping for all evening before Stefan left the house. He bent down as she reached up and the two shared a kiss.

It felt good to her and carried no shame. She didn’t want to risk angering her American family. Chad, on the other hand, wanted to be with Lori again. The first kiss came and was soon followed by a second kiss, and Chad had nothing to say about it.

A few minutes later, Yu-Na was letting Stefan out of the house. Then she went upstairs to get ready for bed.

“Amy,” Aunt Kim said. She had waited up for her niece.

“Yes, Aunt Kim.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, Aunt Kim, I did.”  Chad was glad the guy was gone. To him, he was just weird.

“I’m happy you did.”

Amy was glad her Aunt approved. “Stefan wants me to write him emails. Is that all right?”

“Of course, Amy,” Aunt Kim said. Her husband may be right about Amy being young still. The mother wanted her niece to be happy and able to live where she wished. That ultimate goal could be accomplished in a number of ways, not just through Stefan Walker.  

“I will go to bed now. Good night, Aunt Kim.”