Hamilton: "It's so Hardy Boys" Jake: "Yeah, meets Nancy Drew"

Cross-Dressing, AB-Pressing Preppies

Take a few boys hunky enough to grace an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog, a gender-bending girl whom Shakespeare would love, and one picturesque New England prep school, and you have all the makings of the summer's hottest new teen soap, the WB's Young Americans. Created by Steven Antin (who also penned the gay-inclusive Inside Monkey Zetterland), the show was launched from a Dawson's Creek crossover this past spring.

But unlike Dawson and Pacey, the boys on this show proudly reveal rippling abs-and did so within the first 20 minutes of the first episode, when during a routine sophomore hazing they were stripped to their boxer shorts and left in the town square.

One student who avoided the mayhem was Jake, a lass who dresses as a lad so she can attend the prestigious Rawley Academy. "The other day I was in costume and I got directed to the men's room by a total stranger," laughs Katherine Moennig, who plays Jake-and, ironically, also went up for the leading role in Boys Don't Cry. "After a while I get so into it that I freak out a little-like I'm losing who I am." Things started off in more confusing way for Jake's love interest, Hamilton, who previously considered himself 100% hetero. "His poor character is going through so many conflicts," says Moennig. "When I reveal myself to him [as a girl], the character has a huge wash of relief, knowing that he's not gay." Moennig, a former tomboy, says she's totally comfortable walking in men's shoes-although she's stopped using crotch-enhancing socks. "I did it for a while, but then I just got used to the walk," she explains. "Now I have it down. Once you get the rhythm, you're safe."

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