The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3289 by Angharad Copyright© 2021 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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Simon wiped away my tears with his finger, "Hey, what's wrong, Babes?"

"I had a nasty dream." I sniffed and reached for a tissue to wipe my face and blow my nose. I'd woken sufficiently quickly to remember much of what had transpired in my dream. It was a flashback to a real event.

"What happened? Not being chased by a giant dormouse?" He tried to cheer me up but his schoolboy humour served only to irritate me.

"Don't be stupid, it was about school."

"What yours or the girls?" At least he was asking sensible questions.

"Mine. Siân had got stuck on some chemistry homework and asked me for help, so I went round to her place which was only five or ten minutes walk away. We sorted her problem, it was on organic chemistry and I hadn't long done it myself, so it quite fresh in my mind. Anyway, after doing that she got us a drink of tea each and we went up to her bedroom to listen to music."

"This was in Charlie mode?"

I blushed and uh-huhed. "Her parents thought I was a girl."

"So they were more perceptive than your own?"

"My mother knew but she toed the party-line to avoid upsetting my dad."

"I could just see you doing that if I had an issue with one of the girls."

"I'd try not to take sides until I understood the problem and then try to resolve it, so it ceased to be an issue."

"So why couldn't your mother do the same?"

"I don't know, we're very different people with different views and experiences."

"You can say that again," he said shaking his head.

"I'm going to make a cuppa, I'm wide awake now so it may help me go back to sleep. Do you want one?"

"No but I want to hear about this dream."

"It's not that important."

"It must have been to wake you up crying."

"Oh boy," I muttered to myself as we went down to the kitchen which stayed quite warm with the Aga on. I closed the door to keep the warmth in but wasn't quick enough to stop Bramble from squeezing through and demanding milk with menaces. We sat at the table and I squeaked as the cat jumped up on my lap using her claws as brakes. A moment later she settled down and after washing, curled up and went to sleep.

"This dream..." said Simon, "...you were up in Siân's bedroom."

"Yeah, we listened to music and painted each other's nails and so forth and she said she had this new eyelash conditioner and persuaded me to let her do my eyelashes with it. Well, she had forgotten to mention it said eyelash dye and conditioner and i came away with black or very dark brown eyelashes, instead of my usual blond ones. She's also plaited my hair into one long plait which almost came down to my bum.

"I bumped into my mum on the way in and she told me to avoid my dad because he'd go nuts."

"Didn't it scrub off, this eyelash stuff?"

"No, I tried makeup removers and soap and water, nothing shifted it. Mum told me I had to go to school despite looking more female than ever. I was dreading it and I'd just entered the school, where I planned to keep a low profile and walked bang into Murray."

"The psycho headmaster?"

"The one and the same."

"How did he get away with his abuse of you?"

"He persuaded people I was deliberately trying to provoke him by acting as a camp gay boy."

"What a dick, couldn't he tell the difference between girls and gay boys?"

"Apparently not, he sent me home ignoring my story and told me to come back wearing appropriate clothing if I was presenting as a girl. I ran home in tears and Mum tried to reason with him, explaining that it was an accident. He repeated his interpretation of the uniform dress code, boys wear trousers, shirts, ties and blazers and girls wear skirts or dresses and blouses with blazers or cardis. He insisted that as I looked like a girl I should dress as one until I could look like a boy again. We explained that it may be weeks and he just repeated what he'd said before."

"So what happened?"

"I changed into the girl's uniform I had."

"Wasn't that, Siân's old one?"

"No they bought me one of my own when I did the Lady Macbeth thing."

"So you went to a boy's school dressed as a girl, the only one in the school?"

"Yep," I blushed.

"That was tantamount to victimisation"

"Tell me about it. Anyway he would claim he wasn't setting me up as a target by saying that he'd told the whole school that I'd be attending again as a girl and to be shown every courtesy accorded to a young woman."

"What rape, sexual harassment, abuse... ?"

"Pretty much, I got molested in the corridors between lessons."

"What they stuck their hand up your skirt?"

"That and copping a feel."

"Of your breasts - weren't you wearing padding?"

"Only a padded bra. I had small boobs and with the bra I had a sort of bust, but I was pretty thin everywhere else except my bum and hips, which were a growth area."

"So he sets you up making you a very obvious target and then tells the world it was open season?"

"I couldn't have put it better myself, darling."

He shook his head, "That bastard was sick, there had to be something wrong with him to be so transphobic."

"Possibly. In some ways it was nice to go to school as I should have done in the first place but it was nerve racking while it lasted."

"I'm proud of you, many would have left the school or had some sort of breakdown but you faced him down and came through it."

I blushed. "I didn't have much option and I knew that each time I ended up in skirts it just confirmed what I'd felt inside for so long, that I really was a girl and I knew that one day I'd become so for good."

"So it had its silver lining, then?"

"Yeah, plus I got asked several times to go on dates."

"Did you go?"

"I always said no."

"Why?"

"I was terrified of what might happen alone with a boy. I mean I was scared when you asked me to go out."

"Really? I thought I came over as harmless, to women at any rate."

"You may have done, you certainly came over as kind and very well mannered."

"See what you can achieve for twenty plus K per year," he referred to his school fees.

"Well, you got something out of it."

He rolled his eyes, "So you never accepted a date then?"

I blushed furiously. "Not quite, there was one boy, Paul Simmonds who was in my biology class and he caught me alone in the lab..."

Simon's expression changed from smiling to angry in a second. "If he laid a finger on you..."

"He didn't, so calm down. I was slow putting away my equipment and he waited by the door for me. He offered to walk me to my next class to save some of the abuse, although by then the novelty had worn off. He asked me to accompany him to the cinema on Friday evening. I asked him if he knew what I was."

"What did he say to that?"

"He was actually quite sweet because he said that he knew what I should be and that was a very attractive girl and anyone who couldn't see that was blind. He then said, 'Look, I don't know how long you're going to be dressing as a girl but I'd like to let you experience coming out on a date with me. I promise to behave myself and if you get uncomfortable, I'll take you straight home.' That's what he said."

"Sounds a decent enough guy, but you didn't know if he was setting you up again, did you?"

"He was a very nice looking lad and I couldn't work out what his motive was, perhaps he was gay, but he didn't have that sort of gay vibe about him."

"So what happened?"

"My father went bananas but my mother said to let me go, as I'd complied with everything the school had asked me to do."

"I don't want my son going out on dates with boys," yelled my dad.

"He isn't, your daughter is, so just relax before you have a stroke," how prescient was that?"

"On both counts," smiled Simon, "So what happened?"

"He came and collected me, I had a dress we'd bought during the Lady Macbeth thing, so I wore that. We caught the bus to the cinema and he bought my ticket and some ice creams and we went to watch the film."

"So no one from school saw you?"

"If they did, I didn't see or hear them. He behaved like a gentleman throughout. Asked if he could kiss me."

"Did you let him?"

I went bright red, "Yes, we snogged for a bit but I was so scared of being seen that I didn't enjoy it."

"Did he cop a feel?"

"No, not on a first date, besides I'd have probably screamed or passed out if he had, I was so on edge. No he walked me home, thanked me for my company , pecked me on the cheek and saw me into the house."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Not really, too wound up and although he said he had enjoyed it, he didn't ask again, so whatever he was trying to achieve, either he failed or he succeeded but quite what it was, I was never sure. The next man to date me, was you."

"What no one at uni tried to pull you?"

"Most of them weren't sure what I was, so no they didn't, besides there were enough proper girls there, they didn't need to get so desperate they'd ask me."

"You are a proper girl. I wonder how many who went to university with you have achieved half of what you have, Lady Cameron."

I yawned and smiling through the tears that a yawn can cause, said, "Let's go back to bed and thanks for being you and being there for me, Si."

"Anytime, babes, anytime." He kissed me and we went back to bed.