Contest and Consequence

by Sarah Bayen

Part Four

Celebrations

  

I sat in a daze in the centre of the stage as a fanfare of music trumpeted out of the PA system to announce my coronation. Someone from the side of the stage stepped forward, and handed Liz a glittery plastic tiara. Taking this, she held it aloft for some moments before gently placing it on my head on top of my wig, and then lent down to kiss me again.

The crowd roared their approval, and beside me, my princesses, Lawrence and Miss Ogynist clapped enthusiastically. More flashes from the audience indicated more pictures being taken, as I suddenly remembered that I had not smoothed my dress down when I had sat. I lifted myself up slightly, and tried to remedy this, and smiled benignly at the virtually invisible audience.

The other contestants had stepped forward from the back of the stage and were now surrounding me, as well as waving to their supporters. I could hardly believe it; I had won! Anita would be so proud of me; indeed, I was so proud of myself. I gave a little regal wave, and adjusted my tiara, which was feeling a little uncomfortable on my head.

Liz moved to the front of the stage to take the microphone, but to little effect. The crowd continued its noise; a constant clapping, cheering and whistling that came near to deafening me. I sat deliberately upright, and surveyed the scene, relishing every moment. Surely Anita would go out with me now that I had done this for her! As I felt myself experiencing the joy of winning, I had to admit that, regardless of how this had started, it would be a lie to say that I was now doing it for her. I was doing it for me, and I loved it.

Eventually the audience calmed down enough for Liz to address them again. "Okay," she began. "We now have a new Carnival Queen!" There was another loud cheer. "And to end the proceedings, we're going to have a disco for you all." There was another cheer. "Please help by moving all the seats to one side, and I have to say, I am going to have the first dance with our lovely new Queen!"

There was a further cheer, and then chaos in the auditorium, as the audience attempted to remove the rows of seats, and place them in piles around the edge. The other contestants moved to the front of the stage to talk to their supporters, friends and helpers, and for a moment, I was left alone on my mock throne, bereft of the attention I had been used to getting.

After a couple of minutes Liz came across to me, smiling wildly. "All right there Sarah?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Good. Well we'll just move your throne out of the way, and we can have our ceremonial dance. That is, if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind," I responded timidly, and stood so that she could take the throne off back stage. I was now standing alone in the middle of the stage. I then heard someone calling my name, my boy name, from the front of the stage. I stared forwards, and saw a beaming Anita, or at least, Anita's head, over the edge of the stage.

"Steve! You did it!" she shouted. I smiled back at her, and began to walk towards her. Suddenly my arm was grabbed.

"Hey, where are you going? You owe me a dance!" It was Liz, who let go of my arm and smiled at me again. "I'm looking forward to this you know!"

I found myself blushing as she looked down at me with a huge grin on her face. It appeared as if the chaos in the hall had subsided, and that we were ready for the dance. Miss Underwood grabbed the microphone and said. "Okay people! A bit of quiet now if you please. Our very own fellow judge, Liz, is going to lead off the dancing with a nice slow number with our very own Carnival Queen, Miss Sarah Sweetheart!"

There was another cheer from the audience, and Liz moved over to me, and we both lifted our arms to be ready for the music. She smiled at me. "I think I'd better lead, don't you?"

I nodded in reply, and felt one of her arms go around my back, while the other took mine gently, and held it up. Almost without thinking, I placed my other hand on her broad shoulder. We stood close, staring into each other's eyes like storybook characters waiting for the music to begin.

And then it did; a slow haunting romantic number. Liz led me gently but firmly around the stage, all the time looking into my upturned face and smiling. I felt her hand move down to my bottom. Oh no, I thought, she's going to feel how fat my bum is! Another voice told me that she would also feel my stockings, and be put off by that.

Her hand lifted to the middle of my back, and persuaded me to lean forward. There was no way I could resist, and I felt my head slowly come to rest against her shoulder. I shut my eyes as we swayed back and forth to the music, and found new butterflies in my stomach as the closeness of Liz did strange things to my body. I felt protected, and cared for, in a way that I had never experienced before, and more and more of my weight fell against her.

Like Eliza Doolittle, I could have danced all night, but suddenly the music stopped, and realising that the whole school was watching us, I pulled myself upright, and dropped my arms from their embrace. I felt as if I had been summoned from a deep sleep. Liz held me around the shoulders, and looked straight into my face. My breathing was as rapid, and I nervously licked my lips.

"I enjoyed that young Sarah" Liz said quietly to me. "I'll ask you for another dance before the evening's out, unless you're busy."

I looked up at her, breathing in, and shook my head.

She smiled warmly at me. "Good. But there are lots of people who want to congratulate you first. I'd better let you go and meet your public."

I felt more than a little dizzy after our dance. I simply nodded in acknowledgement of what she had said, and allowed her to lead me by the hand to the steps at the side of the stage. "See you later," Liz whispered to me, as she let go of my hand. Looking back at her, I clasped the front of my dress, and began to walk down the stairs.

First to greet me at the bottom was Lawrence. He rushed over to me, and hugged me, his own Princess sash standing out white against his pink dress. "Oh Steve, you were fantastic!" he enthused. "The way you answered those questions was out of this world, no wonder you won!"

Nikki stood beside him. "Yes, well done Steve. You've done us proud!"

Tania was there too, and leant over to kiss me on the cheek. "Well done Steve. It must have been a close run thing between you and Lawrence, but your questions swayed the balance."

I smiled in acknowledgement of all these compliments, and looked around for Anita. She was not there. My heart sank a little. Surely she hadn't gone off to meet John already, not without congratulating me. A whole host of strangers and people I did not know came over to offer their own congratulations, together with a string of compliments about how beautiful I was, and what a lovely dress I had on. Still no Anita; eventually I decided to ask.

"Where's Anita?"

"Oh she'll be here in a minute," said Nikki. "Shall we have a little dance?"

The four of us moved further into the hall, and began to sway to the music along with all the others there. As I moved, my dress swayed backwards and forwards against my legs. I felt my tiara slip, and tried to put it straight. Seeing my predicament, Nikki smiled at me, and put it back in place.

Still no Anita; we had another dance, looking for all the world like four girls boogying away to the music, although I suppose Lawrence and I would have looked a little overdressed. More strangers came over to congratulate me on my win, and I smiled graciously at them all. A couple of boys asked me to dance as I joke, but I politely refused.

We were half way through the third record when Anita came through the crowd to us. "Hi you lot!" she said brightly. "And Steve! You were wonderful!" She leant forward to kiss me on the cheek. "I was so proud of you! I told you we'd make a girl of you by the time the contest came around; it looks like I was right."

I smiled weakly at her. I wanted to ask her what had been so important that it had kept her from my side for so long, but didn't want to upset her, particularly as she'd be away with John before long.

Remembering the nice feelings of my dance with Liz, it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps I could repeat this with her. "Do you want a dance?" I blurted out, between records.

Anita looked a bit puzzled. "Sure," she replied, and we walked away from the others a little into the dance floor. I held my arms up to hold and be held, but she ignored them, and when the music started, simply swayed around moving her weight from one foot to the other.

She leant forward to speak to me. "Did you enjoy it then?"

"It was all right," I responded. "I'm glad it's over anyway."

"And at least we beat Chrissie out of sight! It sounds like Peter made a right cock up of the interview!"

I nodded. "Yes. Poor Peter."

"Poor Peter my foot!" she exclaimed. "It helped us win, that's the main thing."

We danced through till the end of the record, and then Anita rushed off to join Nikki, Tania and Lawrence at the side. Dolefully, I walked after her, receiving a couple of more congratulations on the way.

"Oh Steve," Nikki said, suddenly remembering something. "I've got your schoolgirl uniform here, and your work skirt. I thought I'd best keep an eye on them after what happened this morning."

The fact that I was stuck here with no boy's clothes suddenly returned to hit me. I had vaguely planned to rush up to town to buy some after the contest had ended, but in all the excitement of winning, I had forgotten. "What's the time?" I asked, with a hint of panic in my voice.

"Just gone five," Anita replied. "John's picking me up at half past. We can give you a lift back if you want."

I didn't reply immediately. My mind was full of the enormity of my predicament. My last bridge had been burnt; I really now had to go home dressed as a girl, and explain that to my parents. To add to the humiliation, I was going to have to travel, either in my posh frock, or a schoolgirl's uniform. Now that the contest had been held, any other kids from the school seeing me would know exactly who I was. The potential embarrassment of this, however, was not enough to make me want to share a car with Anita and the wretched John.

"It's all right. I'll make my own way home." I replied bitterly.

"Max is coming to pick me up at about six," Lawrence offered. "I'm sure she'd be happy to give you a lift back."

I looked at him, and smiled. That was a slightly more appealing idea. "Well, perhaps." I said.

Tania was looking out into the hall. "Oh no. Look out. Here comes trouble," she said. We all looked around. Coming towards us were Chrissie, Janet and Jacquie, all with intent on their faces. I cursed myself for only getting Chrissie and Anita to agree to a truce until the contest was over.

"Hello," Chrissie, stopping a yard or two from us. "I just wanted to say congratulations."

There was a thick silence for a moment. "Thank you Chrissie. I'm sorry Peter was so ill. I'm sure he would have won otherwise." I replied, as brightly as I could.

She shrugged. "Maybe." She stepped forward towards me, holding a piece of paper in her hand. She glanced sideways at Anita, and then looked at me. "This," she said, loudly, "is my address and phone number. I think it'd be cool to date a boy who was a Carnival Queen, so any time you're at a loose end, just call."

She thrust the paper into my hand, and smiled half at me, and half at Anita. The three of them, and the four of us stood in rows facing each other for a time, before Chrissie nonchalantly turned, and led her two henchwomen away. Janet, however, hesitated a few steps into the hall, and then turned and came back over to me. She looked embarrassed, and struggled to find any words.

"I, that is, well," she began.

"What is it Janet?" I asked, with as much friendliness as I could muster.

"I bought these for Veronica, that is, Peter," she said, holding up a plastic bag. "We didn't use them, because Chrissie said they weren't good enough, and he says he's not going to dress up as a girl any more." She paused, looking confused as well as embarrassed, and then handed the bag over to me. "You might as well have them."

I took the bag from her, and opened it to look inside. It was full of girly underwear. She must have spent a fortune on it, let alone the time involved in searching it all down, only to be told by Chrissie that they weren't good enough.

I wasn't sure what to do. "You could have them yourself," I suggested, offering the bag back.

She gave a bitter little laugh, and shrugged her shoulders. "They're not the sort of thing I can wear. I'm not pretty enough, not like you."

I searched my mind to think if this was another one of Chrissie's tricks, but decided that it may well be a genuine offer. Perhaps there was still hope for some sort of peace between Anita and Chrissie's gang if I played this right.

"Well, thank you Janet. They're lovely, I'm sure I'll find a use for them."

She looked pleased in the way a sad puppy looks pleased when it's forgiven for something. She almost turned to move away, and then, looking at the floor between us rather than at me continued.

"One more thing,"

"Yes?" I asked to encourage her to continue after an awkward pause.

"Can I have a dance?"

I was shocked by this request. Did she intend to trip me up, pour something all over me, while we were dancing?

"With you," she continued. I could see, even with her head down turned, that she was blushing furiously.

"Leave him alone!" snarled Anita, menacingly.

"It's all right," I told her, and then turned to Janet. "Yes, I'd love to dance with you."

She looked startled, and made no move. I held my arm out to her, and she took it gleefully, and led me off onto the dance floor.

"Steve!" I heard Anita behind me. I ignored her.

Janet stood clumsily in front of me, unsure of what to do. "I think you'd better lead," I said, smiling, and placed my hands on her shoulders. With a little hesitation, she put her arms around my waist, and smiled warmly at me. Her dark hair was tousled, and her eyebrows unplucked.

"Thanks," she said warmly, looking into my face.

I smiled back at her, "It's fine."

We danced for a few minutes, swaying to the beat of the music. Once or twice she contrived to stand on my foot, and I winced against the pain, trying not to let her see. Then she startled me again with a sudden outburst of speech. "I wish I could be as pretty and graceful as you!"

I was nonplussed for a moment. "Well, I'm sure you can," I managed to reply.

She shook her head sadly. "No, I've tried before, it doesn't work."

I looked at her carefully. She seemed to be genuinely upset. "Well if I can do it, anyone can." I said brightly.

She smiled, and shook her head again. "No. You're a natural for it."

"Well I don't know about that," I replied. "I am a boy after all, even if I don't look like one today."

"That's got nothing to do with it," she went on. "I'm just ugly and big. Chrissie told me so."

I felt myself getting angry on her behalf. What right did Chrissie have to tell someone, especially someone who was supposed to be her friend, that she was ugly beyond redemption. "That's rubbish!" I snapped. "If I can learn to be pretty and graceful, I'm sure you could as well."

She looked at me curiously, and we stopped the pretence of dancing. "Can I tell you a secret?" she asked. I nodded in reply. "This boy asked me to go out with him this weekend."

"Well that's nice," I responded, smiling at her. "So at least he doesn't think you're ugly."

She looked downwards again. "No, maybe not. But the thing is, I don't know what to wear."

I looked at her carefully. Was she genuinely saying that she didn't know what to wear on a date with a boy, or was this some elaborate ruse? The pained expression on her face, and my general feeling that Janet would not have been able to keep up some sort of act for this length of time made me think she was genuine.

"Well do you know where he's taking you?" I asked her.

"Yes. To a club in town," she replied.

Anita suddenly appeared at my side, and grabbed my arm. "Come on Steve, we've got time for a couple of dances before John arrives!" she said, brightly.

"I'll be over in a minute," I said testily, "Janet and I are talking."

She looked stunned by this response, and stared at me for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and walking back across to Nikki and the others.

"Sorry about that," I said.

"It's all right. She doesn't like me." Janet said mournfully. "Nobody does."

"Well I do," I replied. "And so does this boy who's asked you out." This seemed to cheer her up a bit. "So you're going to a club?" I reminded her.

"Yeah," she continued, with some enthusiasm. "I've never been to one before."

"Well, I should think you ought to wear something fairly flashy," I suggested. She pulled a face. "Certainly a dress rather than trousers," I went on. She looked uncertain. "Look, surely Chrissie could offer you better advice than me. She always seems to have lots of clothes.

Janet gave an ironic sort of laugh. "I'm not asking her!" she spat. "She'd just take the piss! Anyway, you're prettier than her, so that's why I'm asking you."

"Well I don't know about that," I replied. "But even if it was true, she's more used to wearing dresses and stuff than me."

"But she doesn't look as good in them. You tell me what to wear."

I was shocked, but slowly an idea formed in my head. I was going to have to work in Sylvia's Boutique that Saturday. The quieter the shop was, the more danger I was in of Sylvia renewing her molestation of me. If I could get Janet to come in, and try a few things on, that would pass a good hour or so, and keep me safe.

"I tell you what," I said at length. "Do you know Sylvia's Boutique in the High Street?"

"Yeah," Janet replied. "I've been in there a few times. They don't do much in my size though."

"Well," I went on. "I'm working in there on Saturdays now. If you like, why don't you pop in on this Saturday, and I'll help you find something?"

"Really?" she asked, as if she had won some sort of lottery. "I could do that?"

"Of course you could!" I replied brightly.

"Well then I will. Thanks. What time?"

"Any time you like," I replied, smiling. "It's open from nine until half five I think."

"I'll be there!" Janet exclaimed. "Thanks Sarah!"

"It's Steve," I said, quietly.

"Whatever, thanks!" She, rather shyly, leant forward and kissed me rather awkwardly on the tip of the nose. "I'd better go now. Chrissie will be looking for me. See you Saturday then."

I smiled at her, and waved. What a bizarre turn up that had been! Shaking my head to myself, I turned, and walked back over to my friends.

"What were you talking to her about?" Anita demanded, as I got back.

"I was just trying to make the peace," I bluffed. "Oh Hi Sue!"

Sue had joined them. She smiled, and put her arms around me and gave me a quick hug. "Hi Steve! And congratulations of course, I thought you were brilliant!"

"Thanks," I replied.

"And Nikki's told me about you going to Sylvia's this dinner time. So you're going to be working with me in the shop!" she went on.

I nodded. I was hardly looking forward to the idea. "Yes. It's going to be a bit awkward though. Sylvia wants me to turn up at half past eight already dressed in the uniform."

"Yes, I have to do that too. She won't let us get changed there." Sue commiserated.

"Well it's not quite so bad for you," I went on. "I can't imagine your parents throwing a wobbly about you going out of the house in the morning wearing a blouse and skirt!"

She looked at me with a puzzled look for a moment, and then had a realisation. "Oh I see what you mean!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I suppose that could be a bit difficult. Haven't you told them about your job then?"

"No. I only found out about it myself this lunchtime."

"Right," Sue replied thoughtfully.

Nikki had been listening to us. "Well you could come around and change at my place if you want. My Mum won't mind, she's used to seeing you as a girl."

"It's a bit of a faff though," Sue responded thoughtfully. "I mean, the shop's nearly next door to the station. If he does what you suggest, he's got a fifteen minute walk to your place, and a fifteen minute walk back."

"Yes that's true," Nikki conceded. "You'd have to get up at the crack of dawn to get a train to make that work."

"Yeah," agreed Sue. "It wouldn't be any better coming to my place first either. I live nearly as far from the station as Nikki; further if anything."

"What are you lot talking about?" asked Anita, joining us having been talking to Tania.

I explained the problem.

"Well I know what you could do!" she exclaimed. "Why not stay over at my place Friday night! Then you could get to work on time without any problem; you'll be staying over on Saturday anyway, for our girls' night out!"

I looked at her carefully. The idea of spending two nights in her bedroom, with all the possibilities that that entailed was enticing beyond belief. There was almost bound to be a catch. "Won't you be going out with John on Friday?" I asked, with some bitterness.

She looked a little ashamed for a moment, and then said. "Well, yes, I will actually. But that needn't stop you."

I shook my head. "I'm not sure I want to play gooseberry again thank you."

"Well it's the best I can offer!" she declared, with exasperation. "Take it or leave it!"

"You could stay over at my place if you want," Sue suddenly volunteered. I looked at her in surprise. "Well it makes sense if we're both going to work together."

"Won't your parents mind?" I asked.

"No of course not. Mind you, I'm not lying to my Mum."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not telling her you're a girl."

"Well won't she think it's a bit odd that I'm going of in the morning in a skirt to work at a boutique?"

"Not if we explain it to her she won't," Sue assured me. "She'll be fine with it."

"What about your Dad?"

"He might be a bit more difficult, but I don't mind telling him you're a girl, it might be a bit of a laugh!"

I mulled this over. Staying over at Sue's would certainly save me the bother of having to explain to my Mum and Dad that I had managed to get myself a job as a shop girl. Her Mum might be a problem, if Sue insisted on letting her know I was a boy, but Sue seemed confident enough that she'd be okay with it. "Well you ought to at least ask her," I suggested.

"Of course!" replied Sue, warming to the idea. "It'd be really good I think though."

Anita was looking rather sullen. "I still think you'd be better off staying at my place," she said.

I looked at her, and remembered the previous Saturday night, when I had sat like a lemon while she and John snogged on the bed. "I'd be in you and John's way," I told her. "If Sue's Mum's okay with it, I think I might just stay at Sue's."

Anita glared at me, and then at her watch. "Speaking of John, he should be here by now. I think I'll go and wait for him out the front."

She looked at me for a while, and some of the anger seemed to disappear. "Congratulations again, Steve," she said, and kissed my cheek again. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that she was gone, the reason I had allowed myself to be dressed as a girl had just walked out to be with her boyfriend, leaving me in a dance hall, wearing a long peach coloured dress, stockings and suspenders, a wig, and now a sash and tiara.

The four of us danced a couple more dances. The number of people coming up to congratulate me now was diminishing, which made me a little sad. I was also pained by the disappearance of Anita. It seemed so unfair, so unthoughtful, that today of all days, she should have arranged to meet the awful John.

"Are you going to come back with me and Max?" asked Lawrence, looking as happy as anything in his pink dress. "Only she'll be here in a minute."

"Or you could come back on the train with Tania and me," Nikki suggested. "It would be a shame to cut your big night short. The disco will probably go on until seven or so."

I thought about this. I was quite melancholy by now; the fuss of my coronation was over; Anita had gone, and Liz has somehow disappeared, despite her earlier promise to dance with me again. I looked hopefully around the hall for a sign of her, but found none.

"I think I might take up your offer Lawrence," I said at length. "Just give me a minute to change back into my school uniform though. I think that'll be easier to explain to my parents than this dress!"

"You're school uniform's down there," Nikki reminded me. Nodding, I walked over to the bag and picked it up. It then occurred to me to think where I might try it on. The changing rooms off the hall were locked now. That left the main changing rooms by the school doors, designated boys and girls. Which one should I chose? I then realised that I needed a pee, again, should I go to the boy's toilets or the girls? Either way, if I met anyone, I was bound to be in for some ribbing.

I decided that the least contentious choice was to pee and get changed in the boy's. I might well get some insults thrown at me for being in a dress, and even more so when I changed from that into a girl's school uniform, but going to the girl's would render me likely to be branded a peeping Tom. They were bound to think I was going in there to stare at them, rather than to sort myself out.

"We won't go without you," Lawrence assured me.

I walked off through the hall, and out into the corridor towards the main door. I got a few stares and smiles as I did so, and one "You were wonderful!" from a girl I did not know.

Soon I was nearing the door, and made to turn right to the boy's. Suddenly there was a shout from behind me. I turned, and saw Liz making her way along, and looking pleased to see me.

"Alone at last!" she declared. "I've been trying to get you alone all evening, you certainly have been popular."

"Yes," I replied inanely.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I was just going to get changed to go home," I said quietly.
"Oh we can't have that!" she exclaimed. "You promised me another dance, and I intend to hold you to it!"

My body remembered the earlier dance, and the lovely soft and electric feelings it had experienced. It screamed at me to repeat the performance, as Liz looked into my face with expectation and a smile.

"I can't," I stuttered. "I'm getting a lift home in a minute."

Liz's disappointment showed in her face. "Oh," she half said, half moaned. "That's too bad." Suddenly her face brightened. "I could give you a lift back instead!" she exclaimed, "That is, if you're existing lift isn't anyone special."

"Oh no," I replied. "It's only Lawrence." She looked at me puzzled. "Lucy, Lucy Lawrence," She nodded in recognition. "Or his girlfriend anyway."

"So can I give you a lift back? After we've had another dance or three?"

I bit my lip to think. My body still ached to have her hold me again, although my mind told me it was a bad idea. "All right," I nodded. "But I need a wee first."

"Me too!" she said, smiling broadly. "Come on, let's do it."

She took my arm, and led me off to the left into the girl's toilets. I opened my mouth to object, but found myself struck dumb by her presence. We walked through the door, and to my dismay there were three or four other girls in there. I didn't recognise them, but they smiled at me as I entered.

"Congratulations Sarah!" one of them said. I smiled thinly in reply, and anxiously looked for an empty cubicle. Finding one, I walked in.

"See you in a minute!" Liz said cheerily.

I did what I had to do, and standing, tried to compose myself before leaving.

"Are you all right in there?" came Liz's voice from outside.

"Yes," I replied breathlessly. "I'll be out in a minute."

"I suppose it's not easy peeing in a long dress," she went on. "Not when you're not used to it."

"No," I replied quietly. Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door and stepped out. One or two of the girls were applying fresh make up by the mirrors on the opposite wall. I wondered for a moment whether mine needed any attention, but as I had none with me, there was nothing I could do about it.

Liz and I washed our hands, and then walked back out. In the corridor, she offered me her arm. "I am supposed to be your escort after all," she said, with a mischievous grin. I smiled at her, and took the offered arm.

Walking like this, we made our way back to the hall, which was still full of dancing students. "Come on then," Liz said, once we were in the middle. "Let's dance."

"I'd better tell Lawrence I don't need a lift any more first," I said.

She looked a little disappointed. "Okay, I'll come with you. I don't want anyone else to grab you first!"

We walked across the dance floor to where Lawrence, Sue, Nikki and Tania were dancing.

"Hi," I said brightly when we got there. "I won't be needing a lift now Lawrence," I said, "Liz has offered me a ride back home."

Lawrence raised his eyebrows, and smiled knowingly at me. I frowned, and pulled a face at him.

"That's all right," he said. "Max isn't here yet anyway."

I put my bag with the school uniform in it with the others at the side, while Liz waited rather impatiently. Damn, I thought to myself, I now had to explain to her why I wasn't going to get dressed back as a boy before going home. She would think I was off for sure. I decided to leave how to break that news to her until later.

"Looks like you're in there!" Sue whispered to me, as I stood up again. I stuck my tongue out at her, and went to join Liz.

She smiled, and held her arms out for me. I slipped between them, and she held me again. She was just so beautiful, and tall, and strong. She held me firmly against her, and led the dance in such a way that I was hardly aware of any conscious effort on my part to move. After a while, she rested her head against mine, gently, and with one hand began to stroke my hair. I fell into a daze, in spite of myself. She was casting some sort of spell over me that my body at least was powerless to resist. I felt an aching in my stomach, and a weakness in my knees, as I inhaled the smell of her chest.

We must have danced three dances like this. I was vaguely aware of Lawrence waving goodbye to me at one point, but I hardly roused myself from my stupor to respond. At the end of the third record, Liz held me at arms length, and smiled at me. I felt my face move of its own volition into a smile of response, and equally unwilled by me, my mouth open for her to kiss.

But it didn't happen. She just looked at me, as if examining some delicate piece of china, and stroking the hair out of my face. Then, without warning, Miss Underwood was standing beside us.

"Hi," she said, "Have you asked him yet?"

Liz looked as reluctant to break our gaze as I was. "No," she said at length. "I've not had time yet."

I managed to awaken myself enough to say. "Ask me what?"

"It's just an idea we had," Liz said, apologetically. "It doesn't matter, we can talk about it later."

"What idea?" I asked, not wanting to let this drop.

"You might as well tell him honey," Miss Underwood said, looking at him. "It'd be good to know, so we can arrange the practices for next week."

"I'll ask him later," Liz said, dreamily.

"No, ask me now!" I said.

"I'll do it!" said Miss Underwood, with some exasperation at our love struck responses. "The thing is," she began, "You know the girls have got a soccer team. Liz here is the captain."

"Yes," I said, not taking my eyes off Liz, who was looking concerned.

"Well they're doing really great this season," Miss Underwood went on. "They've got to the final."

"That's good," I replied, still looking at Liz.

"Mainly thanks to your Liz here I might add," Miss Underwood continued. "She's far and away our best player."
"I don't know about that," Liz replied modestly.

"You are baby," Miss Underwood continued, dismissively. "But what's hacking us off, is that the rest of the school isn't paying much attention to us, are they Liz?"

"Not really," she confessed.

"If it was the boy's team, well they'd have a school's out day to celebrate," Miss Underwood went on. "So the thing is, we wondered if you'd like to give the girls some support, now you're a bit of a celebrity."

I turned to her for the first time. "Support, what do you mean?"

"Well," she said, faltering. "Maybe you could come along and cheer them on when they play the final itself, on Wednesday."

I thought about this. It seemed an entirely reasonable request, and somehow the thought of watching Liz charging around a soccer field seemed very appealing at that moment.

"I suppose I could," I said.

"Sarah," Liz butted in. "When she says cheer, she means in the American sense of the word, not the English."

I looked at her baffled, and then to Miss Underwood.

"What it is honey," she said, "Is that we thought it would be quite cool to have a couple of you guys from the contest there as cheerleaders."

"Cheerleaders?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"You must have seen them on telly," Liz interjected. "You know, at American Football games. They wave pom poms around, and dance and stuff like that."

I had seen that sort of thing, and it slowly dawned on me what they were actually asking me to do. "So you want me to dress up as a girl again, as a cheerleader?"

Miss Underwood looked a bit contrite for a moment, and then said. "I guess that's the idea."

I looked from her to Liz, to see if I could judge from her expression what she thought about it. She just looked worried to me. "If you don't fancy the idea, you can just say no, we won't mind." Liz put in.

"But it would be so good for the team if you did. Maybe you and the Princesses." Miss Underwood urged me.

I thought about this. "Well I can't speak for them. I don't even know Miss Ogynist, he's in the first year I think."

"Sure, but if you said you were going to do it, it would help persuade them. I was thinking we might ask that Lady Veronica guy as well, as long as his asthma holds out."

I was stunned by the request. I had been quietly falling in love with Liz moments before, and waiting for her to plant a kiss onto and into my mouth. Now I was being asked to dress up as a girl again. My mind thought of Liz, hot and sweaty from a game of football, asking me to rub her legs to ease the cramp, and feeling so grateful that my cheering had helped win the match. One more day in a skirt seemed a small price to pay for that all of a sudden.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said.
"What?" asked Liz in surprise.

"I said I'll do it. I'll be glad to help."

Liz looked at me again. "Those cheerleader outfits are pretty skimpy you know," she said, with concern in her voice. "Are you sure you'd be happy to wear one?"

I looked at her through my mascara-covered lashes. "I thought you might like to see me in something skimpy," I said, teasingly.

She looked at me in shock, and then broke into a broad smile. "I certainly would!" she said enthusiastically. "Not that I'd be that keen on other people seeing you, but I suppose that's inevitable."

"Cool," announced Miss Underwood. "Well I've got some uniforms already made up. When I first got here I was kind of thinking of getting a cheerleading squad together, but I sort of put it on ice. What I thought we could do was maybe just a couple of simple routines. We haven't got time to put anything more elaborate together."

I looked at Liz, and we grinned at each other, more or less ignoring what Miss Underwood was saying. "Maybe if you could have a word with, what was his name? Oh yeah, Lucy, and the Lady Veronica guy, I'll track down Miss Ogynist."

I nodded without taking my eyes off Liz.

"I was thinking we could have a practice session on Tuesday here at the school. It'll mean missing lessons, but heck, it's nearly the end of year, I'm sure no one's going to object."

"No," I said, still dreamily looking at Liz, who was grinning back at me.

"Right, it's all settled then," Miss Underwood went on. She stood silent for a moment, nonplussed by how we were ignoring her. "Okay, well I leave you guys to get on with your dancing shall I?"

"Yes," we both said in unison. I could not suppress a giggle. Liz looked into my eyes, smiling, and we began to dance again. My head fell against her shoulder, and I shut my eyes as we swayed to the music. Her hands ran gently across my back.

"Would your dress fall off if I undid this?" she asked me, with her hand on the tie.

I smiled at her. "I don't think so."

"Pity," she said, and we continued the dance. I felt warm and excited by the moment, and the closeness of her, and without really thinking about it, allowed her to press herself against me.

"We'd better watch it," she whispered in my ear. "I'd love to kiss you, but I can't do it now."

I pulled my head away from her, with some dismay. She must mean that she couldn't kiss me when I was dressed as a girl. It was a fair point. I knew she had had to put up with a lot of quips about being a lesbian just because she was good at sports. Being seen kissing a boy wearing a long dress would probably just make it worse for her. I nodded.

"Since I was one of the judges, they'll all think it was a fix if they see me kissing you," she went on to explain. So I was wrong. She wasn't refusing to kiss me because I was dressed up as a girl at all. I put my head back onto her shoulder.

We were briefly interrupted by Sue telling me she was going, and checking that I was still on for staying at her house the following night. I nodded and smiled my agreement, not really giving it any thought. Tomorrow seemed a lifetime away as I allowed myself to be held and stroked by Liz. I lost myself in her sweatshirt and her arms.

Between songs I was more than reluctant to separate, but we did move apart a little to look at each other and smile. I felt a moment of guilt when I thought of Anita; I was supposed to be in love with her not Liz; then I remembered that she had gone of with the ghastly John, and felt fully vindicated.

In one delicious hiatus between songs, Jenny Carpenter the journalist fought her way through the crowds to come and stand by us. I reluctantly allowed Liz's arms to disentangle themselves from me so we could speak.

"Hey you two!" she began, "You look really good together."

"Thanks," Liz said, smiling at the smaller woman.

"Listen, I'm really sorry the photographer never got here. It would have been good to have some photographs of the occasion. It's going to be difficult to run a story without them."

"Well these things happen," Liz responded, shrugging.

"I was sort of thinking of doing a bit of a feature on you two; you know, the Carnival Queen and the Soccer Captain, that sort of thing."

I pulled a face at her; I wasn't sure I wanted too much publicity of my triumph.

"Well I suppose it wouldn't be the same without photographs," Liz concurred.

Jenny looked at us for a moment, chewing her lip in thought. "It's a bit of a cheat," she began, "but maybe we could sort of stage the photographs on another day."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked her.

"Well, we could do the photographs separately. None of the readers would be any the wiser. They'd never know it wasn't actually at the contest, if you know what I mean."

We both looked at her quizzically.

"Listen, what I could do is arrange for the photographer to come to the school tomorrow, if that's okay?"

"I'm not sure," I replied, looking to Liz for some sort of guidance.

"And you'd interview us then as well?" asked Liz.

"Sure," Jenny said, beginning to get enthusiastic about the idea. "It'd be good. So what do you say?"

Liz looked at me, and I shrugged.

"Well I suppose it'd be all right," she said. "What sort of time?"

"I don't know," Jenny went on. "Say about ten o'clock? Do you think we could use the school office or something?"

"I don't see why not," Liz replied. I knew she was well in with the school establishment these days, but even I was surprised that she felt so confident we'd be able to use the office. "Jane, Jane Galway that is," she went on, meaning the headmistress, "is out tomorrow, she told me. I'll have a word with her secretary; I'm sure it'll be all right."

"Great!" exclaimed Jenny, and then she turned to me. "And I guess you're okay about being in costume again?"

I looked at her blankly. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she said, "I think it'd be better for you to be in costume, for the photographs that is."

I still wasn't sure what she meant. Liz explained it for me. "She means you'll have to dress as a girl again. Is that okay with you?"

"Oh I see," I said, now that the penny had dropped. God, it looked as if I'd never see the end of Sarah at this rate, what with working in the shop, the cheerleading, and now this. Still, it did mean spending even more time in Liz's company. "Sure, that's no problem."

Jenny smiled at me in her gratitude. "I tell you what. I think it would be cool to have you in the school uniform rather than a formal dress. Have you still got it?"

"Yes," I replied, truthfully. "I suppose I could wear it again."

"Brilliant!" Jenny said, with a glint in her eye. "And maybe you could wear something sporty Liz."

I looked at Liz, who was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt in dark blue, the school colours. "Like this?" she asked, "Or do you want me to put on the football kit?"

"No, that should be fine," Jenny replied. "Listen, I've got to go now. I've got to do a report on a darts match in some smelly pub. But you have a good time, and I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Okay Jenny. Bye." Liz responded for both of us.

We watched her fight her way through the crowds of dancers, and disappear out of the door. Liz took my hands, and looked into my eyes.

"Are you sure you're happy about all that?" she asked.

I nodded, "Yes, it'll be fine."

"The disco's going to be over in a minute or two; do you want to dance some more, or shall we go off to the car."

I thought about this; dancing with Liz was the nearest thing to heaven I'd experienced. But a naughty thought entered my mind that if she was too embarrassed to kiss me in the hall, because people might think that we had fixed the contest in some way, there might be some advantages to drawing the evening to a close.

"I think I've danced enough," I said, looking down at my feet, and then up again to Liz's face.

"Okay we'll call it a day then," Liz said, still smiling at me. "Did you say you wanted to get changed before you left?"

This hit me like a bolt of lightening. I hadn't explained to Liz that I had no boy's clothes to change back into. What would she think about having to take home a boy dressed as I was then? It would be the end of our relationship before it even started. I had intended to change back into my girl's school uniform when Lawrence and Max were going to drive me home, but that seemed just as bad an idea now.

"I'm not sure I'll bother," I muttered, avoiding her eyes.

"Are you sure?" she asked, solicitously, "You seemed keen on the idea before; I don't mind waiting."

I blushed furiously at the thought of turning up in front of my parents wearing a peach coloured bridesmaid's dress. But what was the alternative? Liz would think it was really odd if I went to all the bother of getting changed, and still ended up dressed as a girl.

"No I'm fine," I replied, as brightly as I could. "Let me just go and pick up my stuff."

Embarrassed to the core, I shuffled away from Liz, and over to the corner of the room where Nikki and Tania were still dancing.

"Are you okay?" Tania asked me.

I smiled and nodded. "I'm just off in a minute."

The two girls looked anxiously at me. "Are you sure you're okay Sarah?" Nikki asked. "Are you sure you don't want to come back on the train with us?"

"No, I'm fine," I reiterated.

"Well that's okay then. Don't do anything we wouldn't do!" Nikki looked over at Liz as she said this, and winked at me. I felt myself blushing, but smiled, and allowed both of them to kiss me on the cheeks. I picked up my bags, all of them. One with the school uniform in; I'd need that tomorrow, I reminded myself, so I could be photographed and interviewed; one with the pencil skirt from Sylvia's shop in; I'd need that tomorrow as well, if I was going to stay overnight at Sue's, and then go to work in it; and finally, the bag Janet had given me, with all sorts of odds and sods of girl's underwear in it. I wasn't sure I'd be needing that, but Anita had sort of said I should start getting my own stuff, rather than just borrow hers, so I took it anyway.

I took a deep breath, and walked back over to where Liz was waiting for me. She smiled, and offered me her arm, which I took as we walked out of the hall, and along the school corridors towards the main door.

  

  

  

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