The next few days were quiet–well fairly quiet. ..     Football Girl Chapter 18 By Susan Brown

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Previously...

We lost track of time a bit and were both startled to hear the door open. Looking up, there was Claire staring down at us.

Andrea stiffened up as she looked at her sister in horror.

‘Hello, what’s this?’

‘W…what are you doing home so early.’ I asked shakily.

‘Tummy ache, like–monthly visitor–felt a bit bad so I got a taxi home. So Andrew, you look really pretty, what’s your like, girlie name?’

‘A…A…Andrea.’

‘That’s lovely. Like the makeup. Is that my wig?’

Andrea nodded. I was struck dumb for some reason.

‘Right, I’m off for a bath and bed, see you tomorrow.’ She turned to leave.

‘Claire?’ said Andrea.

She turned back.

‘What?’

‘Y—you d—don’t mind me like this?’

She smiled tiredly. ‘I’ve known for ages that you’ve been pinching my stuff. I saw you once too, when I came back from school early and you’d been off sick. You looked pretty then and you look pretty now. I just went out again and when I came back you were dressed as a boy again. Look we’ll talk tomorrow. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone if you want it kept secret. Night-night, girls–oh and, Andrea–’

‘What?’
‘I’ve always, like, wanted a sister to go shopping with.’

She smiled, then left, closing the door quietly behind her.

We looked at each other, smiled and carried on watching the film. Mind you we became a bit distracted and my panties got damp again.

And now the story continues…

The next few days were quiet–well fairly quiet.

Claire was very upbeat about her new “sister”. The next morning when Andrea was in Andrew mode again, he and Claire went to visit their mum. I knew from Andrew that they were going to talk about his cross dressing while they were out and I was pleased because it looked as if things were going to be okay between them.

For my part; although I was feeling a bit grotty and my nose had started to run, I went out for a jog around the grounds. I found that I was getting quite out of breath rather quickly and my tummy was aching a bit too. I wondered if I was coming down with something, so when I got back inside I went to find Mummy. She was in the nursery with the twins, getting them ready for the morning.

‘Hi, Mummy.’ I said.

‘Hello, angel,’ she said looking up and smiling, ‘your voice sounds a bit croaky.’

‘Yes, I think that I might be coming down with something.’

The twins were in the lobster pot, playing with their fingers and toes so Mummy got up and came to me. ‘You certainly look a bit peaky.’ She felt my forehead, ‘and you’re hot or that might be from your run. Anyway, let’s not take any chances. Have a shower and pop back into bed for a while. You may feel a bit better later.’

‘Okay.’ I said smiling tiredly.

I took off my track suit and noticed a small spot of blood on my panties; then, when I went to the loo, my urine looked quite brown. ‘Must be part of this cold or flu thing.’ I thought as I flushed the toilet.

I had a quick shower and, despite the heat of the water, I was shivering somewhat. I really hoped that I wasn’t coming down with something nasty, like the flu. I was lucky in a way because the next match wasn’t until the weekend, so I had time to get over whatever it was and play the game too–if picked. Mind you, they had been playing well without me and I might not even be picked.

That thought worried me slightly. As usual, I didn’t think that much of my talent and I seriously wondered if I would be considered for Sunday’s home match against Cranley United.

After drying myself, I pulled on a clean pair of panties and my nightie and then climbed into bed. I was quite light headed and the room seemed to spin a bit. I kept having to use a tissue as my nose was running and my throat felt tight and uncomfortable. On top of that I had a headache. I wasn’t at all a happy bunny and felt a bit sorry for myself at the realisation that I wasn’t very well.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up, bizarrely it was dark. I couldn’t have slept all day, surely?

I wanted to get up, but my head was pounding and it hurt to swallow. I ached all over–especially my tummy. I felt terrible and I just wanted to cry. I hugged my bunny and then I just fell asleep again.

I woke up to feel something cool on my forehead. Opening my eyes; blurrily I could see Mummy, in her dressing gown, leaning over me.

‘Hello, Mummy.’ I croaked.

‘It’s alright, Susan, I’m just trying to make you feel a bit cooler.’

‘What’s wrong with me?’

‘You’ve got the flu, love. The doctor came in earlier. She said you need to have some rest and let nature take its course.

‘What about my red panties?’

‘What red panties, love, you haven’t got any.’

‘My panties–they were red’

‘Look, don’t worry about your panties, honey. If you want some red ones, I’ll get some for you. You just need to rest.’

‘My tummy hurts.’

‘I know, love. D’you need the loo?’

‘No.’

‘Okay, well don’t worry, when you have the flu, you hurt everywhere. Just try to rest and you’ll feel better tomorrow; all right?’

‘Mmm.’ I said as I drifted off to sleep again.

When I wakened next morning, I felt a bit better and not so confused. I wasn’t sure if the conversation I had with Mummy had been a dream or reality. I still had a headache and ached all over, but not so much. I was thirsty and luckily, someone had left a glass of water on the bedside table. After a drink, my throat felt slightly better and I lay back and sort of just drifted in and out a bit.

I woke up some time later and discovered Claire was sitting by the bed reading a mag or something.

‘Hello.’ She said.

‘Hi,’ I croaked.

‘I don’t know, talk about like, lazy. Lying there sleeping all the time while I have to do all the work. D’you know, I’ve like, had to wash up twice, while you’ve up here been lazing in bed.’

‘What time is it?’

‘Seven-thirty.’

‘In the evening?’

‘Yeah, and I wanted to watch a steamy film on the box, but your mum said I should sit here like a lemon and keep you company. I wouldn’t mind, but you’ve been asleep and snoring like a warthog; Andrew’s got out of it ’cos, like he’s gone to Melchester with your dad ’cos he had to talk to your agent about a big mega deal that will make you loads of money so I couldn’t go too.’

I took in about half of that at the time and digested the rest later, but I managed to get the drift that Claire wasn’t very happy.

‘Sorry.’ I croaked.

‘What about?’

‘Spoiling your plans.’

‘Don’t be silly. I didn’t really want to go anyway. How do you, like feel?’

‘Grotty.’

‘Well, you look grotty, with your red nose, pale look, that is so out now, and your hair, yuk!’

‘Thanks for making a girl feel nice.’

‘No problem, it’s what I’m here for.’

I wriggled a bit.

‘What?’

‘I need to use the loo.’

‘Oh, right, do you, like need a bedpan or something.’

‘No.’

‘That’s good, ’cos I don’t even know what it would look like. Want a hand getting up then?’

‘Please.’

She was quite gentle with me, which was a welcome surprise and she helped me to the bathroom.

‘Gosh, your nightie’s a bit niffy; want a clean one?’

‘Yes please–and some panties?’

‘Right; are you okay to leave–you won’t like, faint or anything?’

‘I’m fine; could you just get some things for me?’

‘Okay; just scream if you think that you’re going to throw a wobbly.’

‘Okay,’ I said tiredly. I pulled down my panties and sat on the loo. There was another spot of blood in my panties, but it didn’t really register. It hurt a bit to wee, but once again, I was slightly zoned out so ignored it.

There was a knock on the door.

‘Are you decent?’

‘No.’

‘Oh, right.’

The door opened and a clean nightie and panties were thrown in.

‘Let me know when I can come in.’

‘Okay.’ I said as I wiped myself and then stood up.

The room spun a bit so I sat down again. I was perspiring and I thought I might black out. But after a minute, the room stopped spinning and I was able to take off my old nightie and put on the clean one, together with the panties. I then gave myself a fright by looking in the mirror. I looked washed out, with a red nose and hair plastered on my face. Not a good avert for Glamour Girl of the Month!

‘Are you ready yet?’ asked Claire behind the closed door.

‘Yes, it’s okay to come in.’

She opened the door and then helped me up. I was soon back in bed. ‘Want a drink or something?’ she asked.

‘Yes please; a cup of tea would be nice. Where’s Mummy and the twins?’

‘Well, Mrs Moon has taken the twins to see her sister while your mum is visiting my mum.’

‘How is she?’

‘Who?’

‘Your mum.’

‘Oh, she’s not bad. She’s like having some tests done about her thyroid and will be in hospital for a while longer.’

‘Are you worried about her?’

‘Course I am, but the doc’s say she’s like going to be okay. It may take a while before she gets better–I miss her though.’

Claire looked really sad and I wanted to hug her.

‘Look, don’t like, get too close I don’t want to catch the dreaded lurgie off you.’

I smiled.

‘See you in a mo,’ she said as she left me in bed and went down to make me a drink. I felt a lot better after my change of clothes and just lay back and drifted a bit until I heard the door opening again.

‘Here we are, luv; one steamin’ cuppa for the, like afflicted.’

I opened my eyes and smiled. ‘You are silly.’

‘Probably. Now, does little dinkums need a straw can you manage without?’

‘I can manage. You don’t have a great bedside manner do you?’

‘Na; unless I’m, like ill then I milk it for all it’s worth.’

‘I bet.’

I drank the tea and it felt nice against my sore throat. There were also a few Jaffa Cakes on a plate; I managed to eat those too and began to feel I was on the road to recovery. Maybe this was one of those twenty-four hour jobs and I would be up and back to normal after a couple of days. After drinking my tea, Claire looked at me strangely.

‘What?’ I said.

She looked uncomfortable. ‘Susan?’

‘Mmm?’

‘I, er picked up your dirty nightie and knickers and put them in the wash basket.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Right–look, your knickers,’

‘What about them.’

‘There was, like blood on them.’

I didn’t want to worry her, what with her mum and everything, so I thought of something quickly.

‘Yea, silly me. I erm, shaved my bikini line and I sort of slipped.’

‘Yuk, what you do that for, it’s not like anyone is going to see down there, except maybe, Andrew–oooh GROSS, I don’t want to go there. I’ll have nightmares for years––’ She shuddered.

‘What’s wrong with Andrew?’ I said indignantly but secretly glad that I had got away with the white lie.

‘’Well, he’s my brother!’ She said it as if it was explanation enough.

I changed the subject. ‘What do you think of Andrea?’

She shrugged; ‘She’s like, okay, quite pretty actually.’

‘It doesn’t bother you?’

‘What?’

‘That she dresses like that.’

‘No; the only thing I want to make sure of that she doesn’t pinch my stuff and I get to wear any nice things that she buys.’

‘That’s not fair though!’

‘Who ever said I was fair?’ she replied with an evil grin.

After that I was quite tired, so Claire went off to do things with facebook and I went to sleep. A bit later I became aware of someone pushing my hair away from my face. I opened my eyes and smiled.

‘Hi, Andrew.’

‘Hi, hon, how are you feeling?’

‘A bit better thanks.’

‘Good. I’ve missed you.’

‘I have been here all the time you know.’

‘Yeah, but asleep mostly.’

‘Sorry.’

‘’Snot your fault. You do look better, more colour in your cheeks.’

‘Mmm.’ I said sitting up in bed.

We held hands for a while but I wouldn’t let him kiss me, in case he got my germs.

‘Done any dressing the last few days?’ I asked after a while.

‘A bit, when no one was about, apart from Claire. She’s been giving me tips.’

‘I don’t like the sound of that.’

‘No, she’s been cool about it all. I like it when we are sisters, if you know what I mean.’

‘Yes, I know.’

We talked for a while and then Andrew left when Mummy came in.

‘Feeling any better, honey?’

‘Everyone asks me that. I think I’ll put a sign outside the door saying, “The patient is feeling better”.’

We both had a giggle at that. Sitting by the bed she looked at me.

‘I’ve been to see Andrew’s and Claire’s mum again. It looks like she’s going to be in hospital for a while longer so Claire and Andrew will be staying here.’

‘Is she bad?’ I asked, all anxious.

‘Well, it’s taking longer than they thought to make her better but she should be okay, it all takes time though.’

‘Claire and Andrew didn’t say much.’

‘No, I said not to as I didn’t want you to worry about it. Now, are you okay? D’you feel like getting up for a while?’

I nearly told her about my bleeding and tummy pains, but decided against it. I was quite worried but didn’t want to go into hospital like Claire’s and Andrew’s mum. The biopsy that I was supposed to have this week on my boy bits had been postponed, so there was time enough to tell my parents and doctor about it then. I know it was stupid, but I kept thinking that it might go away and was connected somehow with the flu. I was feeling a lot better now, so why worry everyone about it?

The next few days saw me get better rapidly and my aches and pains gradually went away. It turned out that it was some sort of 48-hour bug that was going around and I, being young and fit, was able to shake it off quite quickly.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that my panties had stopped spotting with blood and my tummy ache had disappeared too, so I must have been right about it all being connected.

On Thursday, I went out for a long walk and apart from a tight chest, I felt okay. The club wanted to know if I was available for the match on Sunday, so Friday morning I went out for a run. My chest had stopped feeling tight and I had quite a good run apart from a slight touch of jogger’s nipple on my sensitive breasts. After getting back and showering I put on a pink top and blue denim skirt and went to find Daddy.

He was in the office, sending some emails.

‘Hi, Daddy.’

‘Hi, Honey. Oh, Susan, I’ve just had an email from the club, they want to know about your fitness.’

‘Yes, they asked me yesterday if I was available and I said I’d let them know today.’

‘How did your run go, love?’

‘Okay. I feel as fit as a fiddle.’

‘Mmm, I’m not sure you should go back yet and your mother feels the same.’

‘But, Daddy, I am all right and I want to play. I need to get back to doing things. Just hanging around here is so boring!’

He laughed.

‘You poor hard-done-by thing. Look, I’ll say yes, but if you feel in any way bad, you can pull out before the game.’

‘Thank you, Daddy!’ I squealed and then ran over and gave him a tight hug.

Saturday saw me out on a run again. I was feeling really good now. Maybe the enforced break had helped recharge my batteries or something.

The Old’s went to visit some obscure relatives on Saturday and took the twins with them. Mr and Mr Moon had gone out to the shops and weren’t expected back until later in the afternoon. This gave Claire an idea. She had been dying to get at Andrea and have some sort of makeover thing with her.

Andrew and I thought it was a brilliant idea, and it did not take all that long for Andrew to be transformed into Andrea once again.

She wore a pretty LBD which I had bought a while back and not had a chance to wear yet. What with the black sheer tights and heels, long wig and plenty of party style makeup, she looked wonderful. From the top of her pretty head to her painted toes, she looked a real girl. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous and edible she was and I could see that Claire was suitably gobsmacked, but it was Andrea’s reaction to her reflection that put a lump in my throat.

Andrea looked upset–as if she was going to cry–and happy, all at the same time. She kept moving her head, as if she wasn’t sure that the reflection she saw was really her. Even Claire had tears in her eyes as she observed the caterpillar transformed into a real butterfly.

‘Well, bruv–or sis really–I can see like, that we are going to have some fun times in the future.’

‘I can’t go out like this though and what will mum think.’

‘What about mum?’

‘She’d have a fit if she saw me like this.’

‘No she wouldn’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘She’s known almost as long as I have about your little hobby.’

Andrea whirled around, her painted mouth wide open.

‘Claire.’

‘What?’

‘She knows?’

‘Yes.’

‘B…but she never said anything.’

‘She thought it might just be a like, phase or something. Anyway, you know how she’s, like cool about stuff. She wanted you to find things out for yourself an’ that. If it was serious, she reckoned you would tell her like, eventually.’

I could tell that Andrea was shocked by this so I went over and gave her a cuddle. Soon, she got over it and we spent a few pleasant hours trying on clothes and experimenting with makeup. I even tried on Claire’s–now Andrea’s–wig and was amazed at how different I looked.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, I got up and padded over to the window. Throwing open the curtains, I could see that it was one of those cold winter mornings with a frost on the ground and clear blue skies.

Removing my nightie and panties, I noted that there were no nasty red spots. It looked as though I was in the clear about that and sighed with relief as I didn’t like to keep things from my parents.

I had a quick shower and then–rather regretfully–dressed as Mark, pressure vest and all. I was soon downstairs having some breakfast. Being the last one up, I found the conversation in full swing when I arrived. Well it would have been if the twins weren’t making such a cacophony.

Daddy was feeding one and Mummy the other. The kids were waving their arms about and I wondered if they were pretending to be windmills or something. Trying to hold a conversation in this din was almost impossible, so after having a couple of weetabixes, Claire, Andrew and I went into the sitting room with our drinks for a bit of peace and quiet.

‘It’s funny,’ said Andrew as we sat down.

‘What?’

‘You dressed as Mark; it doesn’t seem, like it’s right somehow.’

‘How d’you think I feel? I only look like this when I have to.’

‘It’s only like, for today.’ said Claire, ‘you can be back to Susan when you get back from the game.’

‘I know, I wish…’

‘What?’ said Andrew.

‘I wish I could just play as a girl.’

‘Well, that’s just like, football, a male dominated game; There should be mixed teams.’

‘Yes,’ said Andrew. ‘It should be based on skill and not what's in your pants.’

‘Or knickers,’ Claire chipped in and we all giggled.

It was only Daddy and I going to the game today. Claire and Andrew were going to see their mum and Mummy was staying at home with the twins. Evidently, Mrs Moon was going to give her some cooking lessons and I was kind of glad I wasn’t going to be around as I didn’t fancy being a food taster.

As usual with a home match, the traffic got heavier as we approached the ground. I had a cap on, trying to hide my face. The last thing we wanted was Daddy’s car to be scratched by an opposing supporter.

Daddy flashed his pass as we drew up to the private gate and we were let in without much fuss. We were a bit early; the game wasn’t kicking off for another two hours. I did wonder why some of the supporters came to the ground so soon, but I think that they just like to wander around, go into the shop and take it all in before the game.

We parked over in the corner and got out of the car. I grabbed my sports bag and we made our way in through the players and officials entrance. On the other side of the gates I could see quite a few supporters looking over at us. I gave them a wave and they waved back? I could even hear one or two Markie chants and that made me go a bit red in the face.

‘I have to go and see a few people, Mark, okay?’

‘Okay, Daddy…I mean Dad.’

We smiled ruefully at each other and went our separate ways. I went into the dressing room and saw Petre Ogsood in the corner doing something with a hand held game.

‘Hi, Petre, you’re early?’

‘Yes, I like to get here early and have a few quiet moments, it helps the nerves.’

‘You nerves? Never!’ I said sitting down beside him.

‘Yes, always, I get stage fright, I suppose. Once the game starts I’m okay though. How about you, little one, don’t you feel the same?’

‘I suppose–but once the game starts, I’m too busy to think about it.’

Before long, other players began to drift in and one of the assistant managers came in and pinned the team up on the board. Checking the list, I saw I was one of the subs. I was a bit disappointed about it, but realised I hadn’t had much match practice and had been poorly.

Gradually the noise increased outside in the stadium and we went out for a warm up and kick about. It still gave me quite a thrill to step out on the pitch. I suppose the stadium was a quarter full by that time. I heard some chants of “welcome back, Markie”, and I waved to the fans and got a cheer for it. Almost immediately we were running up and down the pitch, kicking some balls about. Twenty minutes later, I felt thoroughly warmed up and the stadium was nearly full. The opposing team were up the other end doing their warm-ups. They looked a bit intimidating, being a squad full of tall players, but I knew that they were a fair team and we had no problems with needle like some other teams I could mention.

When we got back in the dressing room, Mr McPherson was there ready to give one of his famous, very brief, pre-match team talks.

‘Right, you lot, settle down. There aren’t any surprises in Cranley United’s team sheet. We’ve played them before and we can beat ’em. We’ll ‘no have any problems on the ground, but in the air, they’re strong. I wan’ the full backs to overlap and I wan’ clean, crisp passing on the floor. Run rings around the buggers an ye’ll do fine. Get out there and win.’

With that, he got up and led us out.

Sitting in the dugout watching others play wasn’t easy for me. I wanted to be out there and playing. But I could do nothing about it and just watched the game unfold. To be honest it was boring. There weren’t many goal-mouth incidents and the midfield seemed to cancel each other out. The half time team talk was more about getting stuck in rather than tactics. We did put a substitute on, Wayne Chambers, one of the new signings and he went up front and seemed to cause a bit more damage.

We won a corner and as usual, Cranley’s height advantage meant that they were able to clear, but only as far as Chambers, who was lurking just outside the box. He met the ball crisply and it flew into the top right hand corner of the net.

‘GOAL!’

We all jumped up and down in the dugout and hugged each other. The crowd went mad and it took a few minutes for things to calm down again and allow the game resume.

After the goal, Cranley were all over us like a rash. Trying to gain the advantage was difficult as once again, the ball seemed to spend much of the time in the midfield. Then we made a mistake and one of our defenders gifted a ball to Lazlow, Cranley’s top scorer, who jinked past the keeper and put the ball into an empty net.

‘GOAL!’

So it was one-all with thirty minutes to go. I was called out of the dugout and after a few hurried instructions, I replaced the defender who had messed up.

The cheers that I heard as I ran on the pitch gave me goose bumps but all feelings like that disappeared as I soon got into the action.

The game had livened up a bit as both teams were going for a result. It was now end to end stuff with more chances on goal in the next ten minutes than had occurred in the previous seventy.

I managed to spray the ball about and had a couple of admittedly speculative shots tipped over the crossbar by their athletic keeper.

Then they got a penalty when Michaels, another new signing of ours handled the ball in the area.

Lazlow stepped up to the spot and shot, sending our keeper the wrong way.

‘GOAL!’

It was now two one to Cranley and only seven minutes left to play. We created chance after chance and still wasn’t able to break down the opposition. I did my best, passing the ball and getting into positions that I hoped would give me a fair chance of scoring or even making a goal, but somehow things weren’t working out. Then, their keeper threw the ball out to Fletcher, Cranley’s Scottish international defender.

He looked up, saw I was in the way and tried to get past me. I managed to do a slide tackle–getting the ball rather than his leg–and was on my feet and running before he was up again. Other defenders were bearing down on me so I lobbed the ball over two of them, ran around and picked it up again. To say that they were wrong footed would be an understatement as the only thing they managed to do was run into each other. It was now only me and the keeper. I was aware of heavy breathing behind me and not knowing whether it was one of my players–it was so noisy, I couldn’t hear myself think let alone hear any of our players–I looked up. I was too far ahead of my team mates so a cross was out of the question, so I didn’t have much choice. I shot at the goal using the outside of my foot. The ball bent like a banana and went in off the post, leaving the goalkeeper stranded.

‘GOAL!’

The stadium erupted and I was mobbed by our players. The chants of Markie, Markie, began reverberating around the stadium and, as I gasped to get some well needed air into my lungs, I felt elated.

There was only two minutes to play and it was still a draw. We piled on the pressure and then the inevitable happened; their keeper pulled down Etoo and the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot.

Etoo took the ball and placed it on the spot. He stepped back, looked up and then smiled. The keeper jinked about on his line and waved his arms about. Etoo ran forward and smashed the ball into the back of the net.

‘GOAL!’

After that, the place went wild again; soon, we were back in position waiting for Cranley to start again.

The board said three minutes extra time–not long to hang on for a victory.

They threw everything at us and we camped in our half, trying to keep the ball out of the net. Inevitably, the pressure told and we gave away a stupid free kick, about ten yards outside our penalty area. We quickly assembled a wall and I was in the middle. My nose began twitching and I wanted to sneeze. I rubbed my nose and then put my hand over my crotch, as everyone does in these situations.

The whistle blew and Thomas, their captain, replaced the ball about three inches to the left of the position the ref had put it and stepped back four paces.

He looked up and ran forward.

Then I sneezed and my hand automatically went up to my face. The next second I felt an explosion as the ball hit my unprotected crotch with tremendous force. I was pole-axed, going down immediately, and screaming with pain.

Seconds before I blacked out, I heard someone say from a long way away, ‘Shit, look at that blood!’

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To Be Continued...

Please leave comments...thanks! ~Sue

My thanks go to the brilliant and lovely Gabi for editing and pulling the story into shape.