Two young teenagers, Peter and Fi, are on the towpath beside the river Frayne in the following extract from Boy & Girl. But what is the unspoken question Peter answers? You’ll have to read the book to find out… but know that it might not be what you think.
Extract
They stood there for ages, silent and unmoving. He could hear the splash of a fish as it leaped clear of the water in the nearby river. He could hear the marsh birds calling to each other as they hunted insects. He could hear the chirping of fledglings eager for food. He could feel Fi’s heart beating, her breasts heaving hard against his chest. He could taste the salt of her tears on her neck as he pressed his lips against her skin. He could feel his own heart fluttering as he sensed the thudding pulse of blood in her throat.
“Yes,” he whispered in her ear, answering an unspoken question.
At first she didn’t seem to understand, then she pulled away a short distance and looked into his eyes, questioning. “Yes?” Her voice trembled.
He leaned forward till their lips almost touched. “Yes.”
More about the Boy & Girl Saga
Boy & Girl – Twelve-year-old Peter secretly dresses as a girl. Imagine his delight when he finds himself in the head of a girl. Yet, despite his wild hopes, that girl is not him. She’s Kaitling, the daughter of a mage in a beleaguered world. Peter has his own problems when a vicious new girl at school threatens to reveal his girly ways. Becoming friends, Kaitlin and Peter join forces to do battle with those who oppose them.
In Search of Lost Girls – Dressed as a girl, Peter sets out in search of his soul-mate Kate who has been ripped from his arms and kidnapped. In his quest, he is hounded by fanatics bent on eliminating those who mess with gender. Meanwhile, Kate has been dumped in a nightmarish girls’ orphanage where she emerges as a decisive figure in the rescue of her fellow orphans. Will the two ever be together again?
We Girls – Retain his androgynous ambiguity or say goodbye to his girlish self, such is the existential choice that besets Peter. Circumstances, however, force both him and Kate to take up other challenges. By straddling the line between child and adult, between carefree creativity and weighty responsibility, between play and work, they find imaginative ways to confront far-reaching problems on which adults persistently turn a blind eye.
Colourful People – What happens when a boy who dresses as a girl, but has no wish to transition, is confronted with a boisterous crowd of transgender youth in a desperate search for a safe haven? The fierce will to be themselves despite the determined opposition of society is common to both the Lost Girls and the Colourful People. Not surprising then that they join forces and advance together. (Currently being written)