"Hey, Aaron!" my 17-year old sister Ashley said as she burst into my bedroom.

Why didn't she ever knock? I unplugged my ears from the music and sat up on my bed. I accidentally knocked the magazine I was reading to the floor.

"What you got there?" she asked. "Porn?"

"What do you want?" I snapped as I leaned over to recover the magazine.

"Can you do me a favor?" she said then snatched the magazine as I sat up. "Car and Driver? You are an even lamer brother than I thought."

"I like it."

"You're fourteen now. Haven't you heard of girls? Oh, yeah, you're a lame-o freshman. Did your hand break up with you and this is the next best thing?"

I hated my sister. Hated her! Now that she was a senior, and so one of the queens of the school campus, she was even worse. Yes, she was even worse. Yes, as hard as that was to believe. It was true. Ashley was even worse.

"Get out of my room!" I yelled.

"I need to ask you a favor."

I was always amazed at Ashley's mental disconnect. She put no correlation between her insults and my willingness to say 'yes' to anything she wanted me to do.

"What?" Sullenness was my best attitude with Ashley. At least, it felt that way.

"You know my friend Caitlin?"

"No."

"Sure, you do. You've met her before."

Like I would know her friends? The way Ashley's mind worked, I was convinced she had to be an alien from a planet of retards.

"I don't know her."

"Yes, you do. Trust me."

"Fine! So is she a senior too?"

"Of course! You think I'm going to associate myself with anyone less? So Caitlin, she's like going to be this famous clothes designer and she needs a model to wear some project she's making and you're the perfect size."

"Forget it."

"Wait. I didn't tell you everything."

"What?"

"Well, once Caitlin is famous, you can say you were one of the first to wear her clothes."

"So she's in a design class?"

"How should I know?"

"You're her friend." I emphasized each word.

"Like I know everything. So what do you say?"

"No."

"Come on. Caitlin needs somebody. We tried to think of someone and then I thought of you. I told her I'd talk to you."

"Too bad."

"What if I do your chores tomorrow? She really needs somebody. Please?"

My chores? I couldn't pass on that but maybe I could do it better.

"Two days," I countered.

"All you will do is stand there while Caitlin sees how it looks and fits. One day. Don't be a prick."

"Two days"

"You sure are a brat."

A prick? A brat? She was a bitch!

"Three days," I said.

"Oh, you think you're so clever."

"Four days."

"Alright! Two days! You suck!"

I smiled big. It was always great to get one over on Ashley.

"Caitlin said to come on in," Ashley explained when we did through the front door. "She's busy designing, you know."

We entered Caitlin's bedroom. It was large. There was a drafting table, a sewing machine, threads and needles, and all types of stuff. I guess she was pretty serious about this.

"I found somebody, Caitlin," said Ashley. "My brother Aaron has the body type you are looking for."

"But... ," said Caitlin.

"Look at him. He's perfect. We can't think of anyone else so use him. He said he'd do it."

"You did?" questioned Caitlin.

"He did," said Ashley.

"Sure, it's no big deal," I said.

Ashley said, "I need to do my homework. See you later. Okay?" She headed out.

She was doing her homework? Now? She must have had a date tonight but I didn't think she was seeing anybody.

Caitlin looked puzzled as she turned to look at me. "Hi. I'm Caitlin."

"Hi. Aaron."

"Thanks for doing this." She started to walk slowly around me as if inspecting. "You do look perfect. I was surprised that you said 'okay'."

"Why?"

"Well, duh. Not every guy is willing to put on a dress."

"A dress?"

"Didn't Ashley tell you?

"No!" I practically shouted.

"She didn't? I wonder why?"

I knew why. Ashley was an evil, evil sister.

"I'm so sorry," Caitlin said.

"It's okay. It's Ashley being Ashley."

"Oh," she said like she didn't understand.

"So what are you making?"

"Oh, it's really cool." She became very animated. "I'm going to call my business Caitlin's Creations. Right now, I'm designing dresses for a girl's first grown up party. I want them to look and feel pretty when they go to their first dance. Your body would be perfect because a ten year old girl is still short and hasn't developed breasts yet like you haven't." Her face became horrified. "Not that you're going to grow breasts. I didn't mean it that way."

I chuckled. Caitlin was very cute when frazzled. She seemed nice for a senior girl though my only experiences with senior girls were with my sister. I had no idea why Caitlin and Ashley were friends. She wasn't like Ashley. Caitlin had no problem talking to a 14-year old boy. She was genuinely kind. Caitlin seemed sweet while Ashley was unequivocally evil.

"So I have the body of a ten year old girl?"

She said awkwardly, "Well, sort of. Ashley should have told you. I'm sure I can find a girl somewhere. I just need to do it soon."

"I'll do it," I said.

"Do what?"

"Wear your dress."

"You will?" she said excitedly then became quickly reserved. "You don't have to."

"I know and I don't want to, but I'll help you out."

"If you don't want to then don't do it."

"I want to help you out."

"Really? Truly? Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"That's really, really nice of you. I so, so appreciate this. You are a really nice guy."

"Thanks."

"Here," she said. She lifted the dress off her bed. "Put this on. Uh... you can use the bathroom to change.

What did I get myself into? The dress was sleeveless, navy blue with a floral pattern, and had a pleated skirt section.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said shaking out of my stupor. I took the dress. Was I really going to put this on? At least only Caitlin would know and see.

"You look lovely," she said when I returned. "That is if you were a girl."

I placed my pants, shirt, shoes and socks on the floor by the bed. "Where do you want me?"

"Could you stand in the middle of the room?"

I moved to the location. She walked around me again. Of course, this time I was wearing a dress that she was making for 10-year old girls.

'You really do have the perfect body. Oh, I'm sorry again."

"It's alright," I sighed.

"I'll try to shut up about your body. You are handsome, you know, as a guy. I bet you have a lot of girlfriends."

"Not really."

"Not really? Why not?"

Before I could answer, she said, "I'm going to pin the dress where I want to change it. Hold still, so I don't accidentally poke you."

"Sure."

She talked as she worked. "So why don't you have a lot of girlfriends?"

"I'm only a freshman. No girl would want to go out with me."

"Ask out the girls that are your age."

"They all want to go out with older guys."

"That's stupid. You're cute. I'd say 'yes' if you asked me out."

"Do you want to go out?"

She stopped working. "What?"

"You said you'd go out with me."

"I was just talking. I don't have time for a boyfriend. I need to get famous first." She resumed working.

Sure. Of course. Whatever.

"There are not many fancy dresses for girls on the market, you know. Don't think I'm trying to make them look sexy. I'm not. I don't want guys perving on them. I just want them to look pretty and feel good about themselves."

"I think this is a good dress for that."

"Do you really?"

"Sure."

"Now be careful when you take the dress off later, so you don't get poked by the pins."

"Okay."

She stepped back and circled again. "The skirt part is not right. Is it okay if I undo that part and redo it? Do you have the time?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Thanks for being so patient You are a really sweet guy."

"So would you go out with me when you are famous? What if you weren't so busy with designing? Would you want a boyfriend then?"

"I've had boyfriends before. I guess if I found the right guy willing to follow along with my dreams then I'd spend time with him. I always imagine I'll find a guy in an unexpected way."