It started simply by giving his sister a lift to the dance class, but Dan quickly found himself
UP THE MAYPOLE

CHAPTER ONE - FOUR WEEKS BEFORE

"Linda, don't let Dan drive off," Kate shouted. "We need a man."

My sister, Linda, grimaced at me as she reached onto the back seat to grab her kit bag. "Kate always needs a man," she said.

"Oh really?" I replied. I knew Kate by sight, having met her a few times when I'd picked up Linda from work. I eyed her rather shapely rear, clad in leggings and leotard, as she retreated back inside the school building.

"Don't even think about it," Linda said, "She'd chew you up in five minutes and spit out the bits."

"Sounds fascinating," I quipped, as I got out of the car whilst, in direct contradiction to Linda's instruction, fantasised about Kate not exactly chewing me, but doing something else rather nice with her mouth.

"Just remember, all the girls in my dance class are married," Linda said, "so don't go getting any ideas."

Sometimes I felt Linda sounded more like a wife than a sister. Even my ex long-term girlfriend, from whom I'd separated just over a month ago, didn't sound as wifely as Linda. But beggars can't be choosers. I'd been staying with Linda after I separated, and I'd have been homeless without her. Giving her lifts, as I was doing that evening, was one of the small ways in which I tried to show my thanks.

I followed her into the school building, almost the first time I'd stepped foot inside a school since I left. All the same old smells hit me, taking me back instantly fifteen years. I shuddered. I hadn't particularly liked my school days. Fortunately, it was only a short walk down that smelly corridor to the gym, which was nothing like the gym at my old school.

"Thanks for offering to help, Dan." Kate turned towards me, her face lighting up with a smile which I couldn't help but return. She added, with distinct innuendo, "We have a problem with our pole."

She pointed to the top of the maypole, which stood incongruously in the centre of the gym. "It's all knotted up. We need a brave man to go up the steps and untangle it."

The steps standing next to the pole looked as though they should be condemned and when I grabbed hold of them they wobbled alarmingly. "Where did you get these from?"

"We found them in the store at the back of the gym." The pretty woman standing next to them gave me a smile, her very well-rounded figure pushing nicely out of her leotard. "I'm Gemma, by the way," she added.

"Hi Gemma," I said, returning her smile, and trying not to oggle her plunging cleavage. "I'm Dan. But you don't seriously expect me to go up these steps do you? I might break my neck."

"I'll get changed," Linda said, walking over to a door at the side of the gym, "whilst you sort out this little problem."

"Men are so much better at these things," Kate said to me. "Besides, with the competition coming up in a few weeks time, none of us can afford to get injured."

Another disarming smile from both Kate and Gemma which it was impossible to refuse. In any case, what red-bloodied man could turn his back on those two beautiful pairs of boobs, quivering quite delightfully before me?

Actually, once I got the ladder properly opened, with the rope stays stretched tight, it was quite firm, and after all, the maypole was only about twelve feet high. Nonetheless, it took ages to untie the ribbons from the mess the kids had left them in. Every time I looked down, the girls standing beneath me in a semi-circle seemed to grow in numbers. With all of them wearing matching leotards which so delightfully exposed their boobs, I knew what it must feel like to be God looking down on the Garden of Eden.

But unfortunately, I couldn't delay finishing the job for ever, and eventually I climbed down the steps, dismantled them and started to put them away, whilst Kate, who was the leader of the dance group, started bellowing commands to the others.

"OK, girls. You know we've been rather dropped into this May Dance competition at the last minute by the council, who forgot to tell anyone about it. It's going to be on Bank Holiday Monday on the Esplanade Green. That means in order to use the school's maypole to practice, we have to come here rather than our usual venue. It also means we only have four weeks to get our whole routine sorted, and rehearsed to perfection. I've planned three dance routines using eight dancers, which I thought would give us one reserve. Unfortunately, Melissa told me yesterday she was going off on holiday so we won't see her for the next three weeks. That means we can't afford to lose anyone else."

"Kate," Linda interrupted. "There are only seven of us here, today, including you. Tina's not here; was she supposed to be?"

"Shit!" Kate said. "I got so engrossed with the knotted maypole, I forgot to do a roll call. Has anyone seen Tina? She certainly said she was coming tonight."

There was silence with a few shakes of the head, but further thought was suspended as a mobile phone started ringing amongst the kit bags dumped at the side.

"That's my phone," Kate said, walking over to her bag. "It must be Tina. I hope she's only ringing to say she's late."

But a short conversation later, it was clear that Tina was not going to appear.

"Tina's babysitter has not turned up," Kate told everyone, "and she hasn't been able to find a replacement. Which means it's going to be bloody difficult to get going even with simple…"

"Kate," Linda said. "Dan can stand in for Tina with this first bit, whilst we get the routines blocked out."

All seven pairs of eyes turned to me as my jaw dropped open.

"Er, no…" I started to say, but I was pounced upon by seven gorgeous women.

"Don't be silly."

"We really need you."

"There's absolutely nothing to it."

"You'll be helping us out of a terrible problem."

"We'll be very grateful." This remark from Gemma, who leaned forward to make her words appear more earnest; or perhaps just to give me a tremendous view down her cleavage.

"Well," I said, "if it's just walking around getting the moves right."

"Of course," Kate said, although I noticed she crossed her fingers as she spoke. "It will at least allow us to make a start this week without Tina. She's normally so reliable."

So I allowed myself to be coaxed into walking through the three dance routines which Kate had planned. Then, of course, it was a simple progression to doing them rather more quickly; then more quickly still, until I realised we were actually dancing.

And it was fun!

Not that I'm keen on dancing, you understand. But I was surrounded by seven pretty women wearing close-fitting leotards that left little to the imagination. With every move, they wobbled and quivered and wobbled some more. And with the complex routines, with which we were all unfamiliar, it took ages for us to get to learn them, especially me, so I was always bumping into one of the others, which everyone took as a tremendous joke - except for Linda and by pure chance, I never bumped into her.

Now I hadn't done any maypole dancing since primary school, so I was rather vague about the whole thing. Perhaps I'd better explain it in case you're not familiar with the maypole. It comes from one of those early pagan customs and, if pub-talk is right, the maypole represents a phallic symbol, and maidens and men danced around it as a fertility rite - mind you, they don't teach that at primary school, which, nowadays, is about the only time that most people come into contact with them.

Attached to the top of the pole, which is normally 12 - 15 feet high, are long, coloured ribbons - the very same ribbons which the kids had left hopelessly tied into knots - and each dancer clasps one of the ribbons and dances around the pole. Generally, every other dancer travels in opposite directions, weaving in and out of each other as they pass, and the ribbons form a kind of braid as they wrap around the pole; then the dancers change direction and the theory is they all get unravelled. But Kate had planned all kinds of variations on this, producing weird and wonderful braids, as well as making the dancing look both complex and impressive.

By the end of the evening, I was totally shattered, but very happily shattered, as though I'd been having an orgy with them for the previous two hours.

"Thanks, Dan," Kate said, whilst I was waiting for Linda to get changed. "We couldn't have managed without you."

"Actually," I sheepishly admitted, "I quite enjoyed it."

"Most blokes do," she replied. "They simply don't like their mates to find out. Don’t worry, your secret's safe with us."

She turned to the others who were now emerging from the changing-room. "Isn't it, girls."

"Of course," Gemma said. "We may need to use you again, and you're not going to do that if we make you feel stupid in front of your mates."

"Use me again?" I remarked to Linda, as we left the building a few minutes later. "But Kate said that Tina was normally very reliable."

"She is," Linda replied, "but I think Kate is pushing her luck in using a dance routine for eight of us, without a reserve. There's nearly always someone who's absent. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself today, as we'll probably need you again next week."

I didn't say anything to Linda, but I rather looked forward to playing around - I mean dancing - with all those beautiful girls next week.

***

Hell! Did I suffer for those lecherous thoughts!

Next morning, every muscle in my body screamed at me, and the skin on my chest and legs was red raw, as though I'd been flayed alive.

"It's where your jeans and tee-shirt were rubbing against your legs and chest," Linda said, passing over some cream. "Spread this over the rashes and they should get better in a few days."

"A few days!" I yelled. "I'm in agony…" I would have continued in that strain for some time, except that Linda was totally unsympathetic about my plight, and she left the room without comment to prepare for work.

CHAPTER TWO - THREE WEEKS BEFORE

"Hi Dan," Kate said. "Are we glad to see you! Tracey's not able to make it this week, so we'll need our favourite male reserve to fill in for her."

"Well, I was in so much pain last week…" I started.

"Oh you poor thing," Gemma said. "You threw yourself so thoroughly into the dances; we wondered whether you might suffer but we were very impressed with you. You should have telephone me and I'd have come over and massaged your muscles. But in any case, now you're toned up, you'll be alright, this week."

"It wasn't just my muscles," I bravely responded, wondering whether Gemma was serious about the massage. "My legs and chest were chaffed as well. I'm sorry but…"

"That's why we wear leotards and leggings," Kate said. "If you'd told me, I'd have brought you a spare pair."

Christ, I thought to myself. What a good job I hadn't told her.

"That's alright," Linda said. "I packed my old leotard and a spare pair of leggings just in case you needed Dan again."

"What?" I gasped. "Look, I'll do the dancing, but…"

"Then it makes sense that you dress properly for it," Gemma said. She turned to the others. "Isn't that right girls?"

"Yes," they all chorused.

"Oh, come on," Linda said, pushing me towards the male changing-rooms. "It's only a leotard and leggings. They won't make your willy fall off."

She was lying. Not about my willy not falling off - fortunately that was alright. I meant she was lying about it only being a leotard and leggings, as I discovered seconds later.

"I bet you still wear those boxer shorts like you did when you were a kid, don't you?" she asked.

I was a bit embarrassed at her question, and gave a mumbled response. "Well what if I do?"

"You can't possibly wear a leotard over boxer shorts. They'll look ridiculous."

"Well, I suppose I could go without," I said.

"Don't you even think about wearing my leotard without underwear," Linda said. "Here, I popped a pair of panties into my bag just in case. Wear these."

I eyed the scanty panties Linda held before me. OK, as women's panties went, these were not particularly outrageous - simply a plain, white pantie with a lace trim, but blokes don't do that kind of thing, do they.

"I'll feel stupid wearing those," I said.

"No one will know you're wearing them, will they? Unlike the situation if you insist on wearing those boxers, in which case you really will look stupid. Is that what you want?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Then put these on and stop making such a fuss."

She left me in the changing room to make up my own mind.

Of course, when I pulled the leggings and leotard over my boxer shorts, they did look ridiculous, so I took everything off, put on the panties, trying to ignore the enormous erection they gave me, and then pulled on the leggings. By the time the leotard went over the top, my cock was sticking up like the Eiffel Tower, and if I'd walked out of the changing rooms like that, I'd have been arrested for indecency.

I sighed. I'd have to go into the toilet and use my old trick - no, not that one! I mean the one where I doused my balls in very cold water. Whilst they were recovering from the shock, I shoved my tackle between my legs and quickly pulled up the panties and leggings. On with the leotard yet again and I looked almost respectable.

In fact, when I looked in the mirror, I was far better than I expected. Fortunately, Linda's old leotard was a completely different style - and colour - to her current one, and it had a high neckline and long sleeves, so my hairy chest and arms were hidden. Both leggings and leotard were of stretchy material so they clung to my body and, even though I say it myself, I have quite a slim body, so I thought I looked half-alright.

"That suits you really well," Gemma said as I rejoined the girls in the gym.

"I guess it will do fine," I said, trying not to preen too visibly.

"Thank God you're not wearing those horrible boxer shorts like lots of blokes do," Kate added, whereupon Linda smirked at me behind her back.

"Heaven forbid," I muttered.

"Right!" Kate went into her bellowing mood. "Gather around the maypole and let's see how much you've remembered from last week."

***

I didn't bother to get changed at the end - I simply pulled on my jeans and tee shirt over the top of my leotard and leggings. Once again, it had been an energetic session, and the sweat was pouring off me, but I hadn't felt anything like as clumsy as the previous week. The girls had helped me with several of the dance steps that I'd ad-libbed before, and I felt I was really starting to make a contribution.

They again made a fuss of me for helping them out of the absence.

CHAPTER THREE - TWO WEEKS BEFORE

"I was thinking," Linda said on the morning of the following week's dance class.

"Oh, yes?" I was immediately suspicious.

"Well, only that with you wearing my old leotard, you were a different colour to everyone else, so I think it must have made it a bit difficult for Kate to see the group as a whole, without you continually standing out."

I'd noticed that as well, but there was nothing I could do about it. "So what do you suggest?"

"I have a spare leotard in the new style and colour. You can wear that if you wish."

"OK, fine." I was struck by a sudden thought. "Why didn't you bring it to last week's dance class, instead of the one you did bring?"

"Well, obviously, it would expose all your hairy chest and arms, of course. It would look dreadful on you."

I was puzzled. "So why suggest it for this week?"

"Now you've got used to the idea of wearing a leotard, it means you have time to do something about your hairy body."

"What? You mean…"

"Shave all the hair off your body, obviously."

"You're kidding?"

"No. Of course not. What's the problem?"

"Well, I… It's poofy."

"Cyclists do it. Are they poofy?"

"Well no. But that's done for a reason."

"You have a reason. So what's the problem?"

"I don't have to shave my legs, surely?"

"Of course. Those leggings are translucent. We could see your hairy legs, and even if you decide to stick with my old leotard, I think you should shave your legs. Oh Dan, don't be so stuffy. You enjoyed it last week and all the girls will support you."

I shrugged. "OK."

***

"Hi Linda. Hi Dan," Kate said as we entered the gym, that evening.

"Hi," we both chorused.

"For the first time, we have a full attendance this week," she said.

"You mean you don't need me. That's good; I can take it easy." I desperately tried to hide my disappointment behind a show of bravado. It had taken me ages to shave all over and, to be honest, I'd found it incredibly erotic. I had very sexy legs and all my life, I'd never appreciated them. Now, I wanted to show them off in front of the girls.

"Actually," Kate said, "it would be really good if you could fill in for me. I could then concentrate upon watching everyone and ironing out the kinks in our performance. You know, look on you all as the judges and audience will. You wouldn't mind filling in for me, Dan, would you?"

I smiled at her. "Actually, I'm enjoying these sessions tremendously. No I wouldn't mind at all."

"Great!" Kate smiled back at me. She transferred to her bossy mood. "OK, everybody. Now before we get going with the class, Gemma wants to talk to you about our costumes for the event." She turned and nodded to Gemma who stepped forward.

"OK," she said. "Clearly we want to make a good impression for the competition and, as we all know, choice of costume is critical. I need to get this sorted today so we can get them for next week. It seems we have two alternatives. Firstly, we can go for the typical maypole, country-wench type costume." She held up a few pictures of maidens cavorting around maypoles.

"Otherwise," Gemma continued, "we could wear a more formal dance costume, such as going as fairies wearing romantic tutus. Any preferences?" She held up some more pictures.

I could have told Gemma not to bother. It's near impossible to try to get just two women to agree upon a choice of clothes - it would take a miracle of the first order to get all eight to agree. They went on and on about it - the advantages of this - the disadvantages of that. At least I knew when to keep out of an argument.

"Listen everybody," Kate bellowed. "We've just taken ten minutes out of our dance class without coming to an agreement. We can't afford any more time. We seem to be about equally split either way, so I'm going to take an executive decision…" (At last! I thought) "…and ask Dan to decide."

I gulped. "Me? What do I know about choosing clothes?"

"Absolutely nothing at all," Kate said. "But you probably know what you like. So, which is it to be?"

Another gulp as I stared at the two pictures Gemma conveniently held up for me again. "I think," I said, "that you are an extremely professional group, so you should dress like one. Definitely the dresses which professional ballet dancers would wear."

I looked around the group and in fact they all appeared mollified. One or two were even sagely nodding their heads, although Linda, who'd been in favour of the country-wench-look gave a snort. Of course, my reason was total bollocks. It was really quite simple: the country wench dress had a small, square neckline which kept most of the breasts covered; the ballet dresses shown in Gemma's picture had a very low neckline, and a back-laced torso which pulled their upper bodies into a fantastic conical shape. Put Gemma or Kate into one of those dresses and it would be a bit like an ice-cream cone with two large dollops of ice-cream on top. I'd be having perpetual orgasms all the time they danced!

***

At the end of the session, everybody agreed I'd made a great sacrifice in shaving my chest and arms, simply so that my wear coordinated with everyone else's. They also agreed that my dancing had come on by leaps and bounds (OK, that was my puny joke!) over the last three weeks, and that I'd been a thoroughly good sport about it all.

As for me, I simply enjoyed myself.

Actually, that wasn't quite true; the bit about the enjoyment being simple, I mean. In fact I was in ecstasy for much of the dance session, but not only because I was dancing amongst seven beautiful women who continued to wobble in a most agreeable way. No, what was strange was that as I flitted round and round the maypole - and I really was flitting, now, as light on my feet as most of the other girls - I felt incredibly erotic just because of what I was wearing and the way my silky chest was exposed almost down to my nipples, and the way the leggings moved over my bare legs. As a bloke, I should have been incredibly uncomfortable about what I was doing but instead, I felt completely at home with it all - as though it was meant to be. Explain that if you will.

CHAPTER FOUR - THE WEEK BEFORE

The final practice before the competition on the Bank Holiday Monday seemed to take forever to come round. It was made all the worse because I suspected that Kate might consider it wise to again dance as part of the group for this final session, rather than managing from the side.

But when we approached the door to the gym, Kate was sitting on a bench and the others were standing around her. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank heavens you're both here," she said. "That means we can go ahead."

"What do you mean?" Linda asked, glancing around. "All eight of us girls are here; we don't actually need Dan to fill in today."

It wasn't even as though we were late. We'd been asked to get there half hour earlier than usual, and we could hear the badminton group, who regularly booked the school gym for the period before us, were still in full swing.

Kate shook her head. "No. I haven't explained. I left the office a little late and was dashing here, and I twisted my ankle as I stepped off the kerb. I need to rest it, and I'm just terrified it won't be better in time for Monday."

"Oh God!" Linda said. "Take it completely easy. You have to get it better. It would be too awful if we had to give up now."

"There is an alternative," Gemma said.

Everyone turned to look at her, but I knew what she was going to suggest. I kept my eyes down.

"Dan could stand in for Kate," Gemma said.

"That wouldn't be fair on him," Linda said. "He can't appear in a leotard in public. He'd never live it down. Besides, the dances are all planned around eight women. It would be totally unbalanced if we had one man amongst us."

"I wasn't suggesting that," Gemma said. "I was suggesting that the public see eight women dancing in the dresses I've spent the last week getting ready."

"But we're talking about the situation if Kate can't dance," Linda said, not comprehending that which Gemma was so obviously suggesting. "There's no problem if she can dance."

Gemma shook her head. "No. I meant that if Kate can't dance, we should ask Dan to stand in for Kate, and wear the dress just as the rest of us will. He's not that different in size to Kate. We could fix something up."

"But I'd look like a man wearing a dress," I said.

"Not necessarily." Tina was looking critically at me. Linda had told me she was a hairdresser. "I could do something with your hair to give it a really different appearance. I have a girl at the salon who does make-up. She could do wonders with your face."

"But have none of you realised I'm a different shape to Kate." I gesticulated towards her. "Like, she has tits."

The statement seemed to shock the group, and suddenly Kate was going into her commanding mode. "Look," she bellowed, "we've spent enough time discussing a what-if. We'll cross our bridges only when we come to them and concentrate on this evening's practice for now. I'm sure that Dan will be happy to fill in for me today." She turned to me. "Is that right, Dan?"

I nodded. "Sure. No problem."

She smiled. "I really appreciate that," she said. "I realise that wearing the low-fronted leotard last week was one thing, but wearing a tutu today would be something else, entirely."

Gulp! "Tutu?" I said.

"Sure," she said. "Gemma told us last session she'd get costumes along today, and it was you who chose the romantic tutu."

"But I thought that would just be for the performance itself."

"I'm sure Dan doesn't really need to wear a tutu," Linda said.

Kate looked doubtful. "When Dan wore the same leotard as the others last week, it really did make a tremendous difference to how the whole group looked and felt. Besides, we have to practice lifting our skirts as we pass each other. It will be totally different if one person is wearing a leotard."

She looked at me. "Look Dan, if you really hate the idea, then stick with the leotard, but it would make a big difference if you agreed to wear the tutu."

"Please Dan," Gemma said. "We really need you to be brave. For all of us."

I nodded. "I'll do it," I said. "But only today. Not on the Esplanade Green in front of crowds of people."

"Sure," Kate said, but I noticed she had her fingers crossed again. I pretended not to notice, but for no apparent reason, there was an exhilaration surging through me at the very thought of Gemma's suggestion.

***

"I don't think Kate's dress is going to be big enough for me," I said, through the door to Gemma, who was standing outside the men's changing-room.

"Rubbish," Gemma said. "Kate's chest measurement is certainly bigger than yours. Do you mind if I come in?"

She barged through the door without waiting for an answer. Fortunately, I had the skirt around my waist and she couldn't see the incredible erection I sported beneath my panties. Even if I hadn't had one before she came in, I certainly would have on seeing her. I'd been absolutely right about the cut of the dress exposing her boobs to perfection - and she had perfectly beautiful boobs, so large they…

"It's a lace-up back," she said, "and it's made to pull the body into the right shape. We all had to lace up each other's dresses, as we'd never be able to do it on our own. Here, let me."

She pulled the tutu up my chest and I slipped my arms through the lacy sleeves, whilst she fumbled about behind my back. Her touch alone was enough to make my erection harder.

"Right, let's start lacing you up," she said.

She obviously started at the top as I felt the dress tighten around my chest.

"Obviously, there's plenty of room at the top for Kate's boobs," Gemma said. "It's as we lace further down that it might feel a little tight." She gave a powerful pull on the laces which made me gasp.

"I see what you mean," I said.

"Don't be silly," she said. "I've hardly started yet."

Another huge pull on the laces and another gasp from me, as this time my tummy was pulled in.

"Of course," she said, "this is nothing like as bad as a Victorian corset. After all, you do have to be able to dance."

"Dance! I can barely breathe," I said.

"Rubbish!" she scoffed. Another pull on the laces, and my lower torso disappeared from sight.

"There," she said. "Have a look in the mirror."

I did so and gave a gasp louder than any I'd been uttering before. "My God! I have a figure."

"Not bad, is it?" Gemma said with a smile.

I shook my head. "No, my overall figure is not bad, but I could never pass for a woman in public. You know that, don't you?"

"Dan?" Gemma twisted me round by my shoulder. "Trust me." And she quickly planted a kiss on my lips that made the blood surge through my body. "I won't do anything to make you look stupid, but I'm certain we could convince everyone that you're a woman."

"But how?" I said.

"Like I said," Gemma said, "simply trust me. OK?"

I dumbly nodded. "OK."

***

Wearing the tutus, we all looked so much more elegant, and the dances really flowed more smoothly than they had ever done previously. There was a lot of lifting of our skirts to left and right as we passed each other, and I could tell, it was all going superbly. By the end, we were all beaming at each other.

"You've all danced marvellously," Kate said. "I'm so proud of you all, especially Dan. You really don't need me, at all."

"Of course we need you," Tina said. "You're our leader. We'd never be at this standard without your tuition."

"Let's all keep our fingers crossed that your ankle gets swiftly better," I said.

"But Dan, if I really can't do it, will you stand in for me?"

All the girls were staring at me.

I hesitated.

"Look," Tina said. "You don't have to make up your mind at this moment. Obviously, if we can't disguise you as a convincing woman, we're not going to take you out in public. But why don't you let us give it a try, and see how convincing we can make you. If at the end of it, we have to give the whole competition up, then so be it. But at least we'll have tried. So Dan, how about it?"

"Go on, Dan," Gemma said. "We'd be ever so grateful." She was shrugging her shoulders, so I could see her fantastic cleavage again.

I shrugged. "I suppose I can hardly object to giving it a try."

"Great!" they all cheered, and Gemma gave me another kiss.

***

We chose Sunday as the day of my conversion. Tina's hairdressing shop was closed on that day, which meant she could apply her skills on me without her other customers looking on. She washed my hair and cut it, and then put on some gloves and started to rub a chemical into my hair.

"Tina," I asked. I was suddenly smitten with doubt. "Will this all wash out after the dance?"

"Don't be silly" she said. "Perms last for ages; that's why they're called perms. But don't worry; lots of men have them nowadays."

Did they? None of the men I knew did so. On the other hand, I knew that if I was going to pass as a woman, I was going to have to go along with Tina's plans, and hell, there was a desperation inside me that wanted to put on that dress the following day and dance in front of hundreds of people, all of whom thought I was a woman.

When Tina had finished my hair, I stared at myself in the mirror and could hardly believe the transformation. The perm totally altered my appearance so it was difficult to accept it was on a man's head. God knew how I was going to cope when I returned to being a man after the dance, but I didn't care.

Gemma and Kate had come into the salon shortly before my hair was finished, and they echoed my amazement at my new look.

"Dan, you're hair is fantastic!" Gemma said. "No one could ever believe it belongs to a man."

Kate was still limping, and she added. "That's great, because my ankle still feels as bad today as it did the other night. I think it's extremely unlikely I shall be able to dance tomorrow, so all our team hopes are down to you, Dan, on looking a convincing woman."

The seriousness of what I was going to attempt really hit me then. The crowd would be throwing rotten fruit as soon as they realised I was a man dressed up as a woman.

"They'll never realise once we get Kate's Bustlet on you," Gemma said, seeing the look of sudden doubt on my face.

I was puzzled. "What's a Bustlet?"

"It's breast enhancement without the surgery," Kate said. "I'm wearing my Bustlet now. You might think you're staring at my boobs without me noticing, but it's not only obvious that you're staring, but these aren't really boobs you're staring at."

"Not really boobs?" I was puzzled, and I openly stared at her breasts now I'd been rumbled. "Of course they're boobs."

"I've brought my spare Bustlet with me today," Kate said, lifting something heavy out of a plastic carrier bag.

I gasped. It looked horribly like she had cut off someone's tits and was lifting them out of the bag - only there was no blood.

"They're artificial?" I said.

"At last," Kate said. "They look bloody realistic, though, don't they?" She thrust her own breasts towards me - except she had just told me they weren't her real breasts.

"You bet," I said.

"And just in case you're wondering," Gemma said, "these are my own breasts." She wobbled them at me.

"With a little help from a surgeon," Kate muttered under her breath.

"Bitch!" Gemma said, without rancour, and turned to me. "Are you ready to gain a nice pair of breasts?"

Gulp! I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, as I'd surely give the game away if I did so. This was the stuff that dreams were made of.

"You'll need to keep the Bustlet on from now until after the competition," Kate said, "so we need to spread this gel over you." She waved a large plastic tub at me. "It's to stop your body perspiring buckets of sweat, beneath the Bustlet. It's also an adhesive, so it keeps everything properly in place."

"You mean," I replied, eying those tits and the tub of gel, "that I have to go home tonight with that huge pair of tits?" Try not to appear too keen, I kept telling myself. You must be reluctant.

"Of course," Kate replied. "That was the whole idea, wasn't it? We convert you today, and if we're all satisfied you look like a woman, we go ahead with the competition. We can hardly decide that if you convert back to a man. Everyone is coming round to Linda's house tonight to make the decision."

I shrugged. "OK, do your damndest."

I removed my shirt and Kate put on a plastic glove and spread the gel from the tub over my torso; from my neck around the jaw line down to a couple of inches beneath my nipples. The Bustlet then went over my head like a crop top and fitted snugly over my chest.

"Bloody hell!" I stared at myself in the mirror. It was impossible to believe that a man could have tits like the pair I sported.

"Slip your arms through this bra," Gemma instructed, "and we also have a blouse for you, but you can wear your own jeans. Tina's beautician is arriving in a few minutes, and she's been told that you're a woman who has a lot of trouble with people thinking you look like a man."

"We'll see how good she is at overcoming that problem," Tina said with a wicked smile.

"Swallow this voice-changer capsule before she arrives," Gemma said, handing me a large capsule. "It tightens the vocal chords in the same way as helium, so you'll have a very high voice."

I took the pill, which almost burnt my throat away, but afterwards I had a really sweet voice.

"Bloody hell," I squeaked.

CHAPTER FIVE - MAY DAY

We came second!

I thought I'd get that in early, just to show there's going to be no great build up over the competition. To me, it was the enjoyment we got from competing in the event which was important, whereas to some people, winning is everything - like Gemma's husband, for example.

I had never been certain how seriously to take Gemma's flirting with me; was it just in fun or was she really indicating she wanted an affair? Linda had warned me off on that first evening so you obviously realise that if Gemma had thrown her body at me, I would have politely disentangled myself and walked away. And pigs may fly!

I desperately wanted to shag the arse off Gemma, but didn't want to do anything to risk the wonderful experiences I was having dressed as a woman as part of the dance team. You see, I've never been that good at pulling women, usually too unsure of myself to make a move until it was too late, and some other bastard had got in before me.

So it was with Gemma, and the first time I got to know a little about her husband was just after lunch on the Bank Holiday Monday - a couple of hours before the competition was due to start at three pm. We'd agreed that, since Gemma lived closest to the Esplanade Green, we'd go round to her house to get changed, and then find somewhere on the Green where we could do our warm-up exercises.

Her house was a tiny, fisherman's cottage, although the fisherman had long since departed. It had one smallish bedroom and one minute bedroom. The girls took the largest bedroom to change, and I was relegated to the tiny one, used as a box room. On top of all the other rubbish stored there were boxes of trophies and awards inscribed "Gavin Green - First prize" or "Gavin Green - Best in Class" or "Gavin Green - Outstanding Achievement": badminton, cricket, football, golf, marathon running, swimming - almost every sport you could think of and a whole lot more. Gavin was obviously one of those sickening people who thought winning was the most important thing in life - no wonder he'd won such a beautiful wife.

"Aren't you undressed yet?" Kate had hobbled into the room without knocking - her ankle appeared to be getting worse, not better. "I've come to help you. Come on, you're going to take longer than everyone else to get prepared so it's no good standing on ceremony. Get stripped. I'll look away if it will make you feel better."

She turned to where my dress was hanging in its garment bag, and started to unzip it, whilst I hurriedly removed shoes and socks, tee shirt and jeans.

"You're not wearing those panties, are you?" Kate said, staring fixedly at the offending panties in a mirror, which I'd only just noticed.

I gulped. I'd been wearing a pair of Linda's plain white panties at every dance evening since that first time I'd put on her leotard, and I'd rather hoped the other girls hadn't realised. One of the reasons I was shy about stripping in front of Kate was I'd put on the panties before I'd left home.

"Well, my boxer shorts aren't really…"

"Don't be stupid," Kate said. "It's simply that you obviously don't know about the matching pink, frilly panties that go with the dress. Hang on a mo; I'll pop downstairs and see what Gemma's done with yours."

She was gone in a second, and I was left standing naked, except for the white panties through which a large bulge was making itself obvious. It was the talk of matching pink, frilly panties which had done it.

"Here you are," Kate burst into the room without knocking again, then: "My God! It's a good job you're going to be wearing these frilly ones; it might hide that enormous bulge. I guess this time, I'd really better not look."

She handed over the panties and I tried not to shudder as I took them in my hand. Although they were tight fitting, they had several layers of horizontal pink frills, in a similar design to the dress.
I slipped off my white panties and my prick lunged upwards, reaching almost to my navel, its purple end throbbing with expectation.

"I've got a safety pin, if that will help," Kate said, reaching the large, opened safety pin around her back towards my groin, the sharp point lunging towards my genitals.

"Aagh!" I yelled, my prick shrivelling to the size of a gherkin.

"Don't be silly," Kate said. "I simply meant you could pin up your panties over your bulge."

I didn't believe her, but since it had done the trick I didn't argue. I hurriedly pulled the pink panties over my shrivelled genitals, pushed them down between my legs, and pulled up the panties tightly over them. By the time they started to get interested in life again, I'd have the dress on to cover any embarrassment.

In fact, the rest of my conversion went quite smoothly. The dress went on, rather more tightly than before but hell, did I care? Then, Tina arrived to flick my hair about, and after that, Gemma and a few other girls appeared to help with the make-up.

"OK, everybody," Kate yelled. "Are we ready to move out?" Everyone nodded, some of us quite nervously. "Then let's go."

We did.

***

Walking across the Esplanade Green, I felt like I was in heaven. Everyone was looking at us, men, women and children alike, and no one realised who I really was. After all, when your tits are bouncing around as you walk, no one imagines you can be a man.

It was even worse - or do I mean better - when we started exercising. The people formed a circle around us, and we could all hear the guys making ribald comments as we bounced up and down.

Gemma grinned at me and said, in a brief lull between exercises, "You get used to it after a few years as a woman.

"In fact," she added, "some of us get to enjoy it."

I could see why. I found the effect electrifying!

After ten minutes of hard work, after which I could feel my muscles pleasantly glowing with heat, we could hear the speakers calling us over to the arena area, where the maypole dance competitions were being held.

Gulp! What had I let myself in for?

***

I have to say that when I told you we came second, I did somewhat mislead you. You see, there were only two entrants in the adult class! The other group were students from the University, and there was no doubt they were better than us. Fortunately, we danced first, and we gave it our best, and everyone cheered us tremendously. I felt on Cloud Nine, not so much about the dancing, not just about the fact that no one realised I was not a well-endowed woman, but that I could see lots of blokes were lusting after me. Is that weird or what?

Then the other group danced and we all knew they were out-dancing us. Their dance combinations were more complex, their rhythm was faster and they seemed to flow more smoothly. Oh yes, and they were all young, nubile, and with smiles that seemed to warm the heart of every male in the audience and, needless to say, the judges.

But the audience enjoyed free entertainment on an otherwise miserable Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Many went on to buy drinks in the local pubs and cafes, or purchase goods in the shops, and I think all went away satisfied they'd had a good day in spite of the weather. The Town Council vowed to repeat the event at the next Bank Holiday, but give all dance teams more notice, so we'd have more time to practice.

***

Back at Gemma's house, all the girls quickly got changed - anxious to get to the pub for a self-congratulatory drink, but I dragged my heels. I didn't want to go back to being a man!

I accepted Gemma's offer of a cup of tea, and the pair of us stood happily chatting in her kitchen, whilst the others got into their normal gear.

"See you down the pub," Kate shouted, as she hobbled out of the door - the last one to depart, leaving the house quiet.

"I suppose I'd better get changed too," I said, rather awkwardly.

"Do you want to borrow some more bras and other gear?" Gemma asked.

"What?"

"You only had the one change of clothes we gave you yesterday," Gemma said. "You can't wear those for the next two weeks."

I was bewildered. "Why should I need to wear them for the next two weeks?"

"Oh! Didn't Kate explain it to you before she spread the gel on your body? About the adhesive?" Her voice was so full of innocence it was suspicious.

I shook my head. "She certainly said something about an adhesive, but I'm not certain what."

"The adhesive bonds the Bustlet to your skin," she said, "which means it stays in place until the outer layer of skin is shed. That usually takes about two weeks."

"You mean I'm stuck with these breasts for the next two weeks?"

She grimaced, all signs of innocence abandoned. "I know we should have properly explained it to you, but we thought you'd never agree to take part if you knew. You're right; I'm afraid you are stuck with those breasts for the next two weeks, and I'll completely understand if you never want to see me again."

I'd been about to come out with half-angry bluster - that was what any male would have done, surely, even though inwardly I was leaping for joy - but her final words stopped me in my tracks.

"See you again? You mean…"

"Since my husband left me, I've been incredibly lonely. The dance class is about all I've got." She gave a quick smile. "I thought that you and I might meet up, perhaps?"

"Your husband's left you?" But all those medals I saw in the box room…"

"They'd have been on full display in every part of the house if the bastard hadn't left me for some skinny tart," Gemma said. "First thing I did when he left was to throw them into those boxes and dump them in the box room. So what do you say?"

"I say that I'd love to get to know you better."

She gave me a very big smile, then. "I was thinking," she said.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was thinking that it might be quite awkward for you continuing to stay at Linda's house with that huge pair of tits on you. If you wanted, you could stay here and I could help to dress you, and we girls could have fun together."

"You mean, just as girls."

"Not all the time, stupid," she said, and she kissed me in a way that had my erection pushing out my frilly pink panties in a way they'd never been pushed out before.