Anna stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back of her closet door, staring intently at the naked image reflected there. In typical organized Anna fashion, she started her body review at the top. She wasn't terribly happy with what she saw. Her hairstyle was the same silly bangs-and-ponytail look that she had had since fourth grade. "I look like Pippi Longstockings," she had lamented, but her mother had held firm - no 'fancy' hairstyle, or makeup, until she was sixteen. At least she had talked her mother and stepfather into letting her get contacts. Getting rid of her glasses had been a big boost to her self-esteem. But even with the contacts, and without the braces she had worn for the last two years, she still knew that the face staring back at her was, as she had heard one of her aunts say at her birthday party, "just on the good side of plain."

As Anna's gaze fell lower, toward the parts of her body that she normally avoided looking at, her spirits sank even further. Still no tits, she sighed. That wasn't entirely true, the new bras she and her mother had bought last weekend had been B-cups, but she would have been hard-pressed to exhibit any real cleavage - even if her mom had allowed her to wear something like the V-neck sweater she had seen that day. Instead, all she had in her closet were clothes whose neckline displayed ... well, her neck.

Her waistline was ill-defined. Her belly refused to shrink, despite all the sit ups she did. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't looking forward to bikini season either. Oh well, she sighed, adding another item to her let's-make-Anna-better list. Even though she hated running, maybe a little would help get rid of that last few pounds of what her mother still called 'baby fat'. Her legs were okay, she decided, not too chubby, and cellulite free. When she stood with her knees together there was still a small triangle of space at the top of her thighs, just under her pussy. She had heard somewhere that boys considered that to be sexy, but it didn't seem likely that she would be in a position to have any male notice that feature for quite a while. She still had trouble even getting boys to even look at her, so it wasn't too likely that anyone was going to see her naked anytime soon.

Her pubic hair was sprouting nicely. That was the only part of her body that was really beginning to look mature, she lamented. Do boys really like hair there? She wasn't sure any more, some of her more adventurous friends had been talking about trimming or shaving their bushes.

She turned around, and looked over her shoulder. With the slow development of her breasts, it looked like her ass was destined to be her best feature for awhile longer. She had learned that wearing tight jeans seemed to draw at least some attention from boys, even if they never seemed to make eye contact or want to talk to her. Her booty was good sized, round and shapely, but she had to admit that there was some danger that she was soon going to have too much junk in her trunk if she wasn't careful. She added more running, and less ice cream, to her self-improvement checklist. With one last sigh of disappointment, Anna stopped beating herself up about her appearance and got ready for bed.

Anna had decided that her birthday would be a good time for a critical self-examination. She had spent the last half hour coming up with a list of her strengths and weaknesses. The last step had been the long, slow look at herself in the mirror. She felt like her negatives far outweighed her positives. Sure, she was intelligent and hard working and witty, but all that meant was that she was dangerously close to becoming a teachers' pet and a nerd. It was still early in her freshman year of high school, but she would have to work fast to achieve her goal of becoming one of the cool kids.

As she slid between her sheets, she faced the stark reality that to achieve her main goal in the upcoming year— an active social life, with lots of attention from boys, especially Brad Dorman - was going to be a huge challenge. Brad was a dreamboat. Anna had had a crush on him since the fourth grade. Unfortunately, so did every other girl in the ninth grade at Jefferson High. She was pretty sure that Brad knew she existed, but she wasn't all that sure that he realized she was a female. It was obvious that she didn't have the beauty or voluptuous body to compete with girls like Jenny Hanson or Kate Bledel for the attention of her fantasy lover, or any other boy for that matter. She was going to have to use her brain and get creative.

Unable to sleep, her restless mind settled on the Fall Festival dance as her first action item of her fourteenth year. It was the social event of the year for underclassmen. The juniors and seniors had their proms, but for the freshmen and sophomores, the Fall dance was a must-do event. Normally Anna avoided even thinking about occasions like that, because it didn't do her any good. She knew that nobody was going to ask her to go anyway, and she didn't want to have her mom take her just so she could hang out with the other dateless girls, huddled by the snack table, hoping some dweeb boy would ask them to dance at least once.

This time was going to be different, Anna promised herself as she arranged her stuffed animals around her, perfecting her sleep space. She was going to get a date for the dance. If it couldn't be Brad, which the right side of her brain insisted was totally unrealistic, then she would find someone else to entice with her beauty and charm. That made her giggle.

Just as she was dropping off, she recalled the conversation she had had with her cousin Edie a few hours earlier. Edie was three years older than Anna and a lot more of a social butterfly. She had warned Anna a year ago that she really needed to change her ways quickly, or she would be doomed to a dull social life for the rest of her high school days. Edie was destined to be one of those people who looked back twenty years later and thought of her high school days as the pinnacle of her life. But still, Anna did respect her opinions, and often listened to her advice.

"Edie, it's just not fair," Anna had complained. "I'm plain, and I have a dull body. How am I ever going to get boys to like me? "

"Kiddo," he cousin told her, holding her shoulders to make sure she had her attention, "look at me. Do I look like a Playboy centerfold, or a Victoria's Secret model? No, of course not. Look Anna, we come from the same gene pool, and unfortunately in our family when it comes to sex appeal, that pool is kind of shallow. And yet, I get lots of calls from boys. I'm never without a date on a Saturday night, if I want one."

"So what's your secret?"

"Doing the most I can with what I have. Let me boil it down to a couple of simple rules for you. First, never turn down a date when asked, no matter what the guy looks like. When guys know that other guys have asked you out, and you said yes, it takes away a lot of their fear of rejection. Eventually you'll find yourself being asked out by a higher grade of male. Second, when you do get a date," Edie leaned forward to whisper the rest of her message directly in Anna's ear, "make sure they go home satisfied."

Anna's eyes got bigger. "You mean..."

"Yeah," Edie said. "I'm talkin' about puttin' out. A girl your age can start with hand jobs or maybe a blow job if you're adventurous. Hell, boys your age are usually happy if you just give them a dry rub in their trousers. I left more than a few semen spots when I was your age. When you get a little older you might have to start fucking them, but don't worry about that yet."

"Geez, Edie, don't the guys talk about you at school? Aren't you afraid of getting a bad reputation?"

Edie sighed. "Look, would you rather be a good girl, sitting at home on a Saturday night, reading War and Peace or whatever the hell it is that you nerds do, or would you rather be going to a party or a movie with some cute guy. Anna, all I am saying is that it works for me. You have to make up your own mind how you want your life to be."

Edie's words were still fresh in Anna's mind as she got ready for school the next day. Doing the most I can with what I have. That's what I have to do, Anna resolved, and it had to start that very day. It really was going to be the first day of the rest of her life - her life as a sexy, popular, smart girl that all the cute guys coveted.

On her way out of the door she grabbed her lunch bag out of the fridge like she did every morning. Her boringly organized mother always packed it before she left for work. This time, before she threw it into her backpack Anna opened it to see what her mom had packed in it. The contents were typical: a ham and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cup of pudding. Anna took the sandwich and chips out and put them on the counter.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked. He was the slightly less annoying of the two stepbrothers who had become part of her family when her mom had remarried.

"I don't want that crap. Mom just doesn't get it. I can't keep eating junk food if I am going to lose those few pounds that are keeping me from being ... sexy." It felt strange to her to use that word while talking to Ray, but it was too late to get it back. Besides, that was the kind of thing the "new" Anna would say.

"Uh, I think you look fine," Ray said, blushing. At fourteen, with teenage hormones raging, Ray had recently begun to realize that the annoying stepsister he had gained when his dad married Anna's mom was turning into a real girl, the kind that made him get sudden erections and sweaty palms. Unlike the super-critical Anna, Ray did consider her kind of sexy. He was finding himself becoming more and more attracted to her every day, even though he wasn't sure if it was allowed to have the hots for a stepsister.

Anna knew that Ray was one boy who definitely found her interesting. She often saw a bump in his pants when they hung out together, especially when they went swimming in the backyard pool. She liked to tease him a little, but the idea of even letting him touch her gave her the willies. Sure, stepbrother wasn't anything as creepy as having a real brother lusting after her, but still, they did live in the same house and shared the same parents. It just didn't seem right.

"Thanks, Ray, but I really feel like I need to lose a little weight, especially on my thighs." She pulled her skirt up a little to demonstrate her point, which caused Ray to almost choke on his toast.

She grabbed a cup of yogurt from the fridge and threw it in her lunch bag to replace the sandwich, then put the chips back in also. A girl does have to eat. Besides, she rationalized, they were lowfat.

On her way out the door, she saw a bunch of fresh bananas lying on the counter. That was when an idea began to form in her mind — a possible way for her to begin to transform her image, quickly and dramatically. It would require her to be bold and creative, even shockingly so, but she knew it was time. Her fingers wandered over the bunch, touching and inspecting each one, until she finally found the perfect one. She carefully removed it from the bunch and added it to her lunch.

"You really gonna eat that?" Ray asked. He still found it difficult to accept the fact that some people voluntarily ate things that were good for them.

"No, Ray," Anna replied with a smirk, "I'm going to stick it up my butt to keep me awake during History class." She noted that even as a joke, mentioning her private parts to Ray caused his cheeks to redden immediately. She did love teasing her somewhat dimwitted new relative. She gave him a quick wink and headed out the door.

She had been tempted to tell him that he and his brother were the inspiration for what she had planned that day. Prior to Ray and the rest of his family entering her life, Anna's sexual education had consisted of a couple of short, uncomfortable talks with her mother. Those had left her with more questions than answers. She was sure there had to be more to sex than what her mother described, otherwise why would everyone be so obsessed about it? Fortunately, her new stepbrothers had provided some of those answers, even though they weren't aware of it.

Shortly after Anna and her mom had moved into to Custer household, Anna's curiosity had driven her to go exploring one day when she found herself home alone for a few hours. She knew that Ray and his older brother Ben spent a lot of time on the laptop that they shared, so that was where she headed. They had conveniently left it on, with a screensaver of some swimsuit model that Anna didn't recognize, flashing. After starting the browser, she checked the download history. Just as she suspected, R and B as she called them, apparently were not aware that you can, and should, clear that file occasionally. Especially when most of the sites being accessed recently were porn-related.

She clicked on the 'My Documents' icon and drilled down to the 'My Pictures' folder. Sure enough, her dumbass house mates were not the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, and had made no effort to hide their stash. It was loaded with what seemed to be hundreds of pictures that left little to the imagination. Someone, probably Ben she surmised, had made at least a little effort at organizing their collection, and had set up some subfolders. Most of them had obvious titles, "Blondes", "Teens", "Asian", etc., but there was one that had her stumped at first - "KP". When she opened it, she quickly realized that those initials stood for Kiddie Porn. Well well, she mused, R and B were even filthier than she had thought. She quickly closed that folder, smiling at the power that just knowing about it would give her.

She opened 'My Videos' next, and was not surprised to see a few dozen avi and mpeg files that turned out not to be from family vacations. That's where she spent the next couple of hours, not really getting aroused by the sights and sounds, but soaking up all the quirky techniques she could. That afternoon left her with a more complete understanding of the whole sex thing, especially about what boys liked. Her newfound knowledge might have been slightly skewed, with little of the love-and-romance part of relationships, but at least it was something. She wasn't flying blind anymore.

At lunch Anna took her regular seat; third table in the second row from the north wall, with her usual group. Her best friend Stephanie sat to her right. The other two girls were friends of Stephanie that Anna had learned to accept if she still wanted Stephanie as a friend. Across the table from Stephanie, to Anna's left, sat Ashley Danzinger, a girl whose beauty and maturity were way above that of her classmates. If you didn't think so, all you had to do was ask her.

Carol Lewis sat across from Ashley. Carol was timid, withdrawn, and totally in love with Ashley; not in a lesbian way, but in the same way that acolytes are drawn to Jesus. She longed to worship at the feet of the prettiest, sexiest girl in the ninth grade, the incredible Ashley. Carol felt like just being close to her somehow made her more attractive.

Stephanie was caught up in the Ashley aura also, but in a more controlled way. She felt that being accepted by Ashley somehow made her one of the cool kids. Even her dorky friend Anna appreciated the beneficial aspects of being one of the moons orbiting around planet Ashley. She was smart enough to know that Ashley attracted cute boys like the prettiest flower in the meadow attracted bees, and there was always the possibility that some of those spurned by the queen might turn their attention to one of the worker bees nearby.

After they sat down, Anna took a quick look around and confirmed that Ashley's spell was functioning as well as always. Half of the boys in the lunchroom were stealing sly glances at their table. The other half were staring openly at the incredible Ashley. It almost made Anna sick. She saw Brad watching them. She wanted to believe he was looking at her, but she was realistic enough to know that it was Ashley he was interested in. Ashley had noticed Brad also. "Do any of you girls have a date to the Fall dance yet?" she asked.

"Not yet," Carol sighed. "What about you?"

"I'm just waiting for Brad to ask me," Ashley stated confidently. "I expect him to any day now. Won't we make the most perfect couple?" she cooed.

Ashley's boasting almost made Anna gag. She checked again and verified that Brad was still looking their way, although his attention did seem unfortunately to still be directed solely at Ashley. It was time for Operation New Anna to begin. No more hesitation, no more promises to herself to to better in the future — the moment to reinvent herself was now.

Anna pulled the bright yellow banana out of her bag and began slowly peeling it. She forced herself to take her time, removing each quarter of the skin carefully, pausing after each motion to gaze at the exposed white pulp like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She even managed to groan a little as she did it. As she had hoped, the slow, sensuous way she had bared the top half of the banana had attracted the attention of some of the kids seated closest to her, including all the girls at her table.

"Anna, what the hell are you doing?" Stephanie whispered. "It's kind of embarrassing. It's like your getting ready to make love to that damned thing."

Anna glanced up shyly, and saw to her satisfaction that Brad had at last turned his attention to her. They made eye contact while she slowly slid the phallic-shaped fruit into her open mouth. She didn't bite down on it. Instead, she pulled it back out slowly, gently, as if reluctant to have it leave her mouth. She was in a kind of trance now, eyes closed, not daring to look at anyone around her, afraid of breaking the spell. For the moment, her world consisted of just herself, the banana, and Brad she hoped. She bared another inch of the fruit, and slid the pungent shaft back between her lips, this time pushing even more of the now softening flesh between her lips. When she pulled it out this time, her mouth was wrapped around it so tightly that there was a loud smack as the pointed end finally slid out from between her lips.

She opened her eyes and took another peek at her growing audience. There were dozens of people watching now, but she was performing only for Brad, who was staring at her in slack-jawed wonderment. Afraid of having Brad's gaze leave her even for a moment, Anna locked eyes with him, peeled the rest of the yellow rind off, and pushed the fruit back between her lips once more. She could feel the end of it softening from the action of her saliva, which made it easier for her to push the whole length into her mouth. She knew it was time for the grand finale. With just the tip of the banana protruding from her mouth, and fighting the urge to choke, she closed her eyes again, and tried to act like a girl having an orgasm - and not someone with a strange allergy to bananas.

She kept the fruit buried in her mouth for a few seconds, while her digestive juices broke down it's integrity. She chewed up the soft part, then pulled the remaining, undigested part of it out of her mouth, still doing everything with tantalizing slowness. Brad's eyes were still locked on her as she put the finishing touch on her act. She let some of the soft, pulpy mess still in her mouth slide out, then caught it with her tongue and pulled it back in. She didn't know if it really did look like cum, but she figured it was a close enough substitute for a high school lunchroom.

That was when she became aware that an eerie silence had descended on the normally cacophonous cafeteria. By now, everyone was watching her. She hadn't expected to attract that much attention, but if that was the price she had to pay to get Brad to notice her, it was worth it.

It was Ashley who finally broke the spell. "Ugh, that was gross, Anna. What's the matter with you?" As usual, Ashley did not wait for an answer, but quickly tried to focus the conversation back in her direction. "Gee girls," she whispered, "Brad's getting up. I think he's on his way over here to ask me to the dance right now."

Ashley was partly right. He was coming over to their table, but alas - it wasn't the beautiful, brain dead Ashley he was interested in. Anna's amateurish erotic performance had done it's job even better than she had hoped. When Brad got to their table, he grabbed a vacant chair from another table, spun it around, and sat down next to Anna, with his back to the shocked Ashley.

"Anna, Anna, Anna," he said, giving her a special Brad smile, dimples and all. "What has come over you?" Anna wasn't sure if he was making fun of her, being his usual cocky, smartassed self, or if he had truly been entranced by her banana eating skills. His smile seemed sincere, not mocking, so she smiled back.

"So," he continued, "are you going to the dance?"

"I g-g-guess so," Anna stammered, angry at herself for betraying her nervousness so easily.

"Who you goin' with?" Brad probed.

"Well, no one has asked me ... yet." Anna smiled, her confidence growing. Brad was actually talking to her, just to her and not Ashley. She was living a dream, and since it was her dream, she knew what had to come next. She managed to turn her gaze away from Brad long enough to take a quick glance at Ashley. The stricken expression on her rival's face only made her own smile grow.

Brad's smile grew along with Anna's, as she waited for his reply. His famous chin dimple, one of the chief weapons in his arsenal of cute, deepened to the point where Anna felt she could dive into it and play. "Maybe we could go together," he suggested.

Before Anna could accept his half-invitation, the end-of-lunch bell rang. Brad jumped up. "I gotta run. My next class is all the way across campus. Look, why don't you skip sixth period so we can talk about this some more. Meet me by the main gate to the football field, okay?"

"Sure," Anna yelled above the cacophony of two-hundred teenagers all getting up and talking at the same time. "Football ... sixth period ... I'll be there."

"Foootttballl ... I'll beee therrr ... ooh Brad," Stephanie teased. "My God, Anna, are your panties wet? You're acting like you just met the Jonas Brothers or something. Come on, it's just Brad."

Anna wasn't about to let Stephanie burst her bubble. "Just Brad? And how often has Brad talked to you lately, or ever?"

"Well, maybe that's because I haven't acted like a slut in front of half the school. Honestly, Anna, was it worth it?"

Anna wasn't sure about that. She noticed that everyone was still staring at her as they walked to class — but now they were laughing and pointing. She knew she was being ridiculed, but at least she was finally being noticed. "Yeah, Steph, it was worth it."

"So, are you, Anna Barlow, honor student and general all-around geek, actually going to jeopardize your perfect attendance record by cutting Algebra to meet up with Mr. Perfect, for god knows what?"

"Of course," Anna said, unable to hide the grin on her face. "Did you see the look on Ashley's face. I'm not backing out now."

"Uh-huh, so just what do you think that Brad's price will be to get him to ask you to the dance?"

"Price?"

"Yes dummy. You don't think that Brad really just wants to talk to you, do you? You practically had a sign flashing over your head, saying 'open for business'. He thinks your easy, and expects to be rewarded for asking you to the dance."

Anna tried to defend herself. "Well, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I mean..." Her voice trailed off as she realized just how much she was beginning to sound like an airhead. Just like Ashley, she lamented.