Searching For Jenna novel Chapter 18

"What do you think?" Jenna asked with a grin.

"Wow!" Dana exclaimed. "I would have totally thought you were a guy if I'd seen you on the street."

"Exactly," Jenna said excitedly. "I used to have a fantasy about being a boy, but my father squelched that with his strict dress code and insistence I always act like a feminine girl." Jenna went to the couch and sat down next to Dana and tucked one foot under herself as she faced Dana on the couch. "I want to go into the witness protection program as a guy."

"Are you serious?" Dana asked.

"Yes. My father knows how the witness protection program works. He'll be searching for me in any way that he can. Every new, single woman that shows up anywhere in this country is going to be suspect to him. But, a new guy could show up, even in Evansville, and he would never suspect it was me," Jenna said.

"You realize that if we do this, you will have to live as a guy for a very long time, maybe even the rest of your life?" Dana asked.

"I know. It's something that has always been in the back of my mind, but I never let it come forward because I never thought it would ever be a possibility. Now, though, I'm going to be starting a new life with new people. I can be who I truly feel I am without worrying about what my family or friends are going to think." Jenna's face changed from excited to almost sad. "I mean, I hope that one day I will get to be reunited with my mom and Cara, but we don't know when, or if that will ever be possible, do we?"

"No. We don't," Dana admitted.

"It's really hard to think that I may never see them again, and I didn't even get to say goodbye." Jenna wiped at the tears that started to form. "But, if it keeps them safe, that's the most important thing. My father is going to think Cara helped me get away and he is going to be stalking her until he's convinced she doesn't know where I am. He might even try to hurt her to get her to talk, so I hope you guys have someone keeping an eye on her and my mom."

"We do," Dana assured her.

Jenna sniffed. "But this is what I want. If I'm going to start a new life somewhere, I want to start it as who I truly feel I am, and I've always felt like I was a guy."

"Okay," Dana said. "We'll run it by my boss in the morning and see what he says." Dana looked Jenna up and down again. "But, I can't see why he wouldn't agree. It will make it easier for us to hide you."

Dana walked through the FBI offices with a young man in tow. She knocked on her boss's door. He called for her to enter. Dana opened the door wide for the young man to shuffle in. Dana's boss put down his glasses and looked at the man. "Who's this?"

"Mark, let me introduce you to Elliot Judson Cross," Dana said.

Mark Cannon stood and accepted the young man's handshake. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cross."

"You too, sir," Elliot said quietly.

"This is my chance to see who I really am. There is no one to influence what choices I make. I can develop a whole new persona based on who I am inside," Elliot said. "I'm not Jenna Matthews anymore. I'm Elliot Cross." Mark still looked skeptical. "I was going to have to choose a new name and a new location. I'll be going somewhere that no one knows me. This is my chance to explore this side of myself that I've always had to keep hidden."

"Okay," Mark said slowly and sat down in the black leather chair behind his desk. "Tell me more about what you'd like to see your new life be like."

"I like to cook," Elliot said. "I've been looking at different culinary schools, but I don't want to go super far away from home. I'm hoping one day this will all be over and I can be reunited with my mother and girlfriend."

"So where do you think you want to go?" Mark asked.

"I'd like to check out Ashland, Kentucky. It's a small city with a decent culinary program at their community college," Elliot said.

"And what about your sexual identity?" Mark asked.

"I'd like to talk to a therapist about it," Elliot said. "I don't know if I can find one in Ashland, but maybe if I start with someone here, they can help me find someone over there."