Chapter 1 (Revised)   My name is Simon Jones but my exam results all said Eve L. S. Jones. Who was Eve? Why did I have her results?

 
Authors note: This series was first published in 2009 and has been revised prior to re-publication.
 
 
Eve Chapter 1

I was due back at school next week, at the beginning of September, to start year 12, also known as the 6th form. Right now, however, I was in my bedroom contemplating my future and very unsure what future that might have been. I knew, because of an email, that my GCSE exam results had all been good but my results slips, which were in amongst the waiting post, had the wrong name on them. My name is Simon Jones but my result slips all said Eve L. S. Jones. Who was Eve? Why did I have her results? Strangely, she had the same grades as me.

My mother and i had been on a camping holiday in France for the previous two weeks so I'd asked my school to email the grades to me and then to post the results slips. I'd made sure the camping site had an internet café!

When we sorted through the pile of mail that had arrived over the fortnight, the envelope was easy to spot but my mother had tried to take it quickly and said she'd look after them, after all I didn't need them straight away - did I?

I told her I just wanted to see them for myself before they went into a folder for safekeeping. But I'd already seen that the name was wrong. I wanted to call the school but it was too late now, I realised. I stormed off to my room saying I would look after them. I was tired and not very pleased with my school.

I was lying there when mum knocked on my door and walked in. She saw my face and asked why I'd walked out like that.

"Mum, we have to ring the school tomorrow, these are the wrong slips." She picked them up off the bed and said that they were correct.

"But, my name is Simon not Eve." Mum tried to explain, but I just couldn't grasp what she was saying. In the end, she went to her room and came back with my birth certificate.

"Simon, look here. Your full name is Eve Lynn Simon Jones but everyone knows you as Simon. Everyone except the school and the examination board. The school had to see your birth certificate when we enrolled you five years ago. The teachers were told to call you Simon but the bursar and the Head know your full name."

I was stunned. I was sixteen years old but my name was not my name. Yeah, that doesn't sound right.

"Mum, why am I called Eve? I'm not a girl!"

Mum put my birth cert down and looked straight at me.

"Simon, you never knew your father but he got things wrong a lot. He had a problem with his brain but they didn't realise it until he died suddenly at work. Everyone thought he was just eccentric."

"What has that got to do with me?" I asked.

"When you were born, I was reading a novel by Evelyn Waugh and I liked the name. Your dad wanted something simple and called you Simon."

"Thanks, Simple Simon. Is that it?"

My mum explained that when dad registered my birth, he made one of his usual mistakes and instead of Evelyn Simon told the registrar Eve Lynn Simon. The registrar apparently had questioned the name but my father had told her that it was mum's fault. So I'm stuck with Eve Lynn. I would get murdered at school if my classmates found out. Mum promised she'd ring the school tomorrow, although I now had doubts that anything could be done about it. I had my shower and fell onto my bed, wondering how we'd sort all this out before school started next week.

***

I'd been having weird dreams for a few months, all of them set in or around the school. Before the summer holidays I put it down to exam stress. Even so, I did not dare let anyone know about stress, it was an unspoken widespread problem amongst 16 year olds at exam time - hormones and stress don't work together too well aparently. The dreams hadn't stopped after the exams worryingly, not even after the results email. I also had a different reason not to say anything, in my dreams I was a girl. I was also having the odd headache, but they passed quickly and I didn't bother telling mum.

I dreamt again that night. I was in school when the PE teacher had called me Eve and sent me into the girl's changing room. I woke up as I was about to go through the changing room doorway. I laid in bed trying to work it out. This wasn't the first time I'd had this particular dream, but it was the first time I'd been called Eve. Usually I was called Simone.

I tried to get back to sleep but it was half past seven and my clock radio turned itself on. As usual the breakfast DJ made some barely witty remarks. Mum shouted something as she went out the door, heading for work.

My morning was fairly normal for the school holidays. After breakfast I got my bike out and went for a ride out of town and along the canal path. It was warm and dry but I was dripping with perspiration when I got back at ten. I headed in the shower and went to my drawers to dress. I pulled on a simple white pair of briefs.

As we'd been away none of my casual clothes were clean and there was a pile of dirty laundry in the utility room. It was a warm day so I wanted shorts and a T-shirt. In the end I went to mum's room and had a look. We shared each other's clothes from time to time. Mostly she borrowed mine as we were about the same size. We were both about 1.7m or 5ft 7inches tall, not bad for her but I was a shortie.

I found a pair of shorts that wasn't too, well, short and a printed, pink, T-shirt. It was a bit tight but I wasn't planning on going any further than the washing line out back. I headed down to the kitchen where I found a note next to the kettle, "Eve, can you make a salad for tonight and sort out the laundry. Thanks, Mum." Yeah, thanks mum.

I switched on my laptop and checked my emails. There were several from my classmates boasting about their grades. I had 8 A's and no-one had bettered that yet. The phone then rang, it was the Head's secretary. Mum had rung the school, could I go and see the Head straight away? This sounded ominous. I just jumped on my bike and ten minutes later stopped outside the entrance to St Peter's Comprehensive and Sixth Form College. A mouthful of a name, everyone just called it "St P's".

The secretary ushered me straight into the Head's office. He pointed me at the seats next to a coffee table and joined me there.

"Simon, your mother has explained the situation. Normally she would be here with you but she explained she trusts you to make decisions for yourself. We always thought that you knew about your names but chose to call yourself Simon. I'm sorry but we can't change your exam results unless you change your name. I told your mother that she should talk to a solicitor to change your name, but she said it was up to you. I have never expected to have this conversation with a pupil and am out of my depth. I have asked .."

I heard a knock behind me and the door opened, a lady walked in and sat down next to us. The head introduced her as Miss Everett from the Local Education Authority (LEA).

"Good morning Eve, sorry, Simon. I haven't had a chance to fully read your file yet." She said.

"My file? Why do I have a file?" I responded.

"Every pupil has a file at the school and another at the LEA. However, we have a problem with the LEA file. Your computer record says you are Eve Lynn Simone Jones and you are female. We think this happened when we paid an outside company for all the paper records to be transferred to computer. The school file was correct but it was closed when you finished year 11."

The head picked up where Miss Everett had finished.

"We opened a new file for the Sixth Form College. The College is separate from the school but I am the head of the college as well. Because the college takes pupils from other schools we always close your file after you get your GCSE results. The LEA sends us the personal details of all pupils starting year 12. All the staff have been told you are a girl called Eve. Simon Jones is not starting the Sixth Form, Eve Jones is."

I sat there and opened then closed my mouth several times. Then nothing. I woke in the back of an ambulance and heard the sirens.

"Eve, Eve, can you hear me?"

Err, what. are they talking to me? Oh shit, they are. I tried to say something but couldn't hear anything.

"Eve, don't say anything. We had to put you on oxygen after you passed out. You have a mask on. Can you squeeze my fingers. That's it. We'll be at the hospital in a minute. Your mum's meeting us there."

I must have passed out again. This time I was lying down and machines were beeping away. I could hear mum and a man.

"Mrs Jones, your daughter may have concussion where she hit the coffee table. We are sending her for a CT scan just in case there's any bleeding. We can't say any more than that until .."

The next time I was aware of anything there was a very loud mechanical noise right next to my head. A voice kept saying "keep still, keep still."

***

The next time I woke the sun was coming through a window. I was lying in bed and I turned my head to the side, seeing mum slouched in a chair. I tried to say something but no words came out, just a gasp. A nurse ran in, back out, and returned with a man in a dark suit.

"Good morning Eve, how are you today?" I blinked, the room was empty. I had passed out again. This wasn't on.

I was a bit more aware and saw I was in a hospital gown. I had several tubes in my arm and I was connected to a collection of boxes that went beep. I had a silly thought about a Monty Python sketch and tried to laugh. My throat was dry. By my left hand was a button. I pressed it and a nurse appeared within a few seconds.

"Welcome back to the world of the living Eve. Don't try to say anything, I'll get you some water".

She picked up a bottle that looked like one I had for my bike and squeezed some water into my mouth. She waited a few seconds and repeated it. Now I could speak but it sounded like I was rasping.

"What happened?"

She said they had operated on my brain. I had to wait for the neurologist to visit me again for any more details. Mum then appeared in the doorway. She looked like she'd been running.

"Oh Simon, you're awake." Yeah, obvious statements were her speciality. The nurse looked at her strangely and then left, closing the door behind her.

"Don't worry about the nurse, the school had to give the paramedics your full name and they assumed you were a girl, albeit a bit flat chested," she cupped her own breasts and giggled. I couldn't resist a laugh myself, but decided not to repeat it soon as my throat still hurt.

"You know it took them ages before they realised you were my son, not my daughter, but they still haven't changed the hospital records. I keep telling the nurses but I haven't seen the same one twice in the past week."

Week? I stared at her, not wanting to hurt my throat again. She must have realised what I was thinking, she was my mother after all.

"You were brought in a week ago on blue lights." I nodded, as best I could.

"I have let the school know that you'll be missing the start of term, although they worked that bit out for themselves. The head was sorry you couldn't make it there for today's photo call. You had the best grades and the local paper are running a story in this week's edition.”

"So the head's thinking about publicity for the school and not any concern for me?" I croaked, angrily.

“I wouldn't say it like that Simon. The head feels terribly responsible for the accident and the governors are investigating, as are the LEA. Your little collapse has caused everyone a lot of work. But, we're not worried about that. Our solicitor is handling it. Look, get some rest and I'll bring you fully up to speed a bit later."

With that she kissed me and walked out the door.

I must have dozed. It was now dark outside when I woke but the lighting was too bright for my liking. Mum was back by my bed and the suit was back.

"Good evening Eve," he said.

"My name is Steve Bishop and I operated on you. You hit your head quite hard when you passed out and we were concerned that you might have bled under your skull so we did an MRI. The A&E charge nurse had put you down for a CT scan but the radiographer phoned me as he was concerned about you and I changed it to an MRI. Bloody good job too."

I was nodding as he talked but didn't fancy speaking yet.

I pointed at the water next to me and mum poured me a cup and then helped me drink it, propping me up first. I looked at the suit and asked him what happened. He said that there hadn't been any bleeding but I had been severely concussed and they suspected brain damage as I'd stopped breathing while in the ambulance. The MRI showed a tumour in the back of my head, well away from where I'd hit.

They had operated straight away as it looked malignant.

"Your mum suggested we have a look at your father's post mortem report and we found he had a tumour there as well. There doesn't appear to be any problems after the operation but we are keeping you on a mild sedative for now so you'll sleep a lot."

With that he said he'd be back tomorrow and left. Mum stayed and helped me with a soup that a nurse brought. My first meal for a week. After that I must have gone back to sleep.

The following morning I was a lot more awake. A nurse changed the bedding and gave me a wash. I received a clean nightie. I tried to protest but she simply said that she "understood" and I wasn't to fuss.

I was given some toast and a cup of tea, I suggested coffee was a better idea but she didn't seem to want to listen. Mum returned a bit later carrying some flowers. I hadn't noticed there was already a few bunches in the room along with a few teddy bears. I'm sixteen for heaven's sake, not a little kid.

I asked mum what was the deal with the nightie. She explained that they now had me down as transgendered, the latest in many revisions to my fhospital file. I'd been brought in wearing her clothes and was named as Eve. They had put two and two together making 6 or 8 or 10. It didn't matter, they were wrong I told myself - and mum.

Mum went silent and then said "I know about your dreams."

"Oh" I muttered, then "what dreams?"

"You were sedated but not fully asleep a lot of the time. You were dreaming, we could see your eyes moving and you have been speaking in your sleep. It was difficult to understand at first as you were very dry. I've also heard you at home for several weeks. Now all the nurses here have heard you as well. Mr Bishop is sending you for another MRI later today just to be certain and has asked for a psychiatrist to speak to you this morning. She's already met you.”

"A shrink! What am I crazy?".

I glared at her initially in disbelief, then I started crying. I must have sobbed for ages. Between crying fits I told mum about the dreams, and that I didn't understand them. I hadn't noticed the lady sat near the door but when mum dried my eyes I looked up and she introduced herself.

"Hello Eve, I'm Dr Fox. Let's talk about your dreams".