The Contest Beginnings

by Sarah Bayen

Part Thirteen

Manic Monday

  

My relief on arriving at the relative sanctuary of Anita's house was palpable. I was led through to the lounge, and sat down on the sofa, and generally made a fuss of. Anita's Mum made me a cup of sweet tea to drink, even though dinner was virtually ready. Anita's Dad was particularly concerned that I might have been attacked or something. I managed to convince him that this was not the case, and after a bit of a pause, we sat down to eat dinner.

The meal was much the same as I had helped prepare at Nikki's house, roast meat, potatoes and vegetables. Conversation drifted around school, and how well or otherwise Anita and I might be doing. I was cajoled again into helping Anita with her French.

"What times are your trains back Sarah?" Anita's Mum suddenly asked me.

"Quarter past the hour," I replied. I had checked the day before, although then my intention had been to return home that afternoon.

"Well it's half past seven now," she went on. "I suppose you'd better get your stuff together."

The realisation that time was so short hit me suddenly. I had somehow to change back into a boy before I arrived home, and there was still the conversation about kissing Anita had promised me to fit in somehow.

"Yes," I replied. "I suppose I'd better."

"Where did you put Sarah's jeans and T-shirt Mum?" Anita asked. We left them in the hall yesterday.

"Those? I didn't know who's they were, what with your undressing party yesterday while we were out. I put them in the wash."

I looked up, "Oh that's nice of you," I managed to say. "They would have done for the trip home without washing though."

"Well I thought I might as well; but they're actually in the wash now," she went on. "It won't be done for another hour or so, and then they'll need to dry."

My mouth opened in horror. I was already resigned to having to wear girl's knickers on the way home since Anita's Dad had thrown mine away the evening before. Now it looked even worse, I would have to go home wearing a skirt!

"It doesn't matter." Anita's Mum went on. "You can pick them up next weekend. Anita tells me you're sleeping over again."

"Am I?" I managed to say in my panic.

"Yes," said Anita with a note of exasperation. "Don't you remember, we're having a girl's night out on Saturday?"

My panic increased. "Oh, yes, we did talk about that."
She smiled at me. "But don't look so worried, you can go home in that if you want. Or I could lend you something else."

"I thought that skirt looked familiar," Anita's Mum observed. "It's yours is it Anita?"

"Yes," Anita replied. "Sarah didn't bring anything over because we only decided to have the sleepover yesterday."

"Of course," her mother replied. "Well that's fine. You go home in that if you want Sarah."

I was mortified. My worst nightmares about having to go home in a skirt that had haunted me while I was lost on the streets had returned. I cringed as I imagined my Mum and Dad's faces as they saw me dressed as I was then. Anita, however, came to my rescue.

"Actually I want that skirt during the week," she said. "Come upstairs with me, and I'll lend you something else."

I breathed a sigh of relief, and followed Anita up the stairs to her bedroom. We both walked in and she shut the door.

"I'm so sorry for leaving you in the lurch Steve!" she said, leaning against the door. I stared at her wide-eyed, wondering what she was on about. "John was such a dork. He insisted in driving out into the country. I kept telling him we had to get back, but he paid no attention. I really hate him sometimes!"

Now that was music to my ears; Anita hated John!

"It's all right," I said. "I got here eventually didn't I?"

She stared at me, biting her bottom lip. "Yes you did. I am so sorry Steve, it must have been a real torture to have to walk through the streets dressed like that when you're not used to it."

I nodded, but was more concerned about my current predicament that the previous one. "You were going to lend me something to go home in," I reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she said, and went over to her wardrobe. She opened it, and then turned to me and smiled. "I suppose you'll want trousers?"

"Yes!" I snapped, and she giggled.

"Pity, but I suppose I might be able to help."

She moved a few things up and down the rack inside, and then pulled out a hanger with a pair of black trouser on. Trousers at last, I thought to myself. "These should do. You're a bit slimmer than me, but they shouldn't look too baggy."

She handed them to me. Trousers they might be, but they were still girly. There was no fly, and they did up with a zip on one hip. I looked at them disgustedly.
"Haven't you got any jeans? These will look too girly."

"The only jeans I've got are the ones I've got on. You're not having them!"

I thought about this. Should I demand that she give me the jeans? I looked at them, and remembered the embroidery on the back pockets, with flowers as the motif. They would hardly be an improvement on what I had in my hand.

"All right," I conceded. "These will do."

I sat down on her bed, and took off my boots, while she looked on.

"That was really good!" she enthused. "I didn't see anything then, no slip, and no knickers. This practice has been really good for you."

I glared at her. Standing up, I lifted my skirt, and pulled down the top pair of knickers, and my tights. Anita continued to stare at me with interest.

"What's the matter?" I asked her, wondering if I had done something wrong.

"Nothing," she replied, with something like embarrassment, "I was just looking, that's all."

I undid the skirt, and took it off, stepping out of it, and then removed my slip.

"You really do have the most fabulous legs," Anita cooed, still watching me. I stepped into the black trousers, and pulled them up. They were ridiculously short in my opinion, ending a good four inches above my ankle. I fumbled for the zip on the side, and eventually found it, doing them up. They were a little baggy around my hips, but did look as if they'd stay up for the journey home. I looked at Anita for confirmation that they were all right.

"They don't look bad," she commented. "I like you better in a skirt, but they don't look bad."

"I need a top as well," I said, looking at the pink fluffy sweater I had on. Anita looked as if this was something of a surprise.

"Oh. I suppose you do." She went over to the wardrobe again, while I struggled out of the tight jumper. Once my eyes were free of it again, I saw that she was holding a plain white T-shirt. "This should do," she said. "You might want a jumper over the top so your boobs don't show too much."

"My boobs?" I responded. "I was going to take the bra off to be honest."

"You can't do that!" Anita exclaimed. "Not until we're out of the house anyway. My Mum and Dad are going to think it's really funny if you suddenly don't have boobs aren't they?"

I had to concede that she had a point; but equally I wasn't going to arrive back at my house with my newly acquired breasts. "So what do we do?" I asked.

"You can take it off on the way to the station," Anita replied. "And your wig."

I thought about this. Taking the wig off might be easy enough, as long as no one was around, but the bra was a different matter. It seemed implausible that I would be able to get off my T-shirt and jumper, remove my bra, and then get dressed again without being seen.

"I can't see that working," I responded.

"It will. Don't worry," Anita assured me.

Still concerned, I took the T-shirt and slipped it on over the bra. It was pleasantly loose fitting, and, although I still looked as if I had breasts, at least they were no longer 'in your face' as they had been before.

Anita found me a baggy big blue jumper, which I also put on. It was a bit long on me, looking more like a dress, especially with the silly tight trousers she had given me to wear, but at least it hid my boobs even more. For the first time in a long time, even in a bra and panties, I felt something like a boy.

Anita announced that she was going to accompany me to the station, which was something of a relief. We said goodbye to her parents, and acting the good girl, I thanked them profusely for letting me stay and for the meals. They were equally polite; Anita's Dad even pecked me on the cheek – yuck – and told me that they were looking forward to seeing me again the next week.

Then we were off. I could walk a lot easier in the trousers than I had been able to in my tight mini skirt, and I was able to keep up with Anita's rather furious pace.

"What's the hurry?" I asked her.

"We need to make sure you catch your train," she replied. "It's five to eight now."

"But we were going to have a little discussion remember?" I tried to remind her.

"Yes but not now," she said, with a little irritation. "There's not time. We'll do it tomorrow, I promise. Now, here should do." She stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"You can take off your wig and bra here," Anita explained.

With considerable relief I removed the wig from my head, and brushed my hair down. I handed it to Anita, who put it into her bag. I started to remove the jumper, looking around to make sure no one was likely to arrive.

"What are you doing?" Anita asked.

"I'm going to take off the bra," I reminded her.

"Yes, but not like that!" she exclaimed. "I'll show you."

She walked around to my back, and undid my bra-strap. I felt an immediate sense of relief as its restrictive hold on me subsided. Then, to my surprise, she put her arm up my sleeve and pulled on the shoulder strap of the bra. She pulled it right down my arm, and then went around to the other side to do the same. To my amazement, she then managed to pull the bra right through, and out of the sleeve of the jumper.

"There!" she announced, smiling at my expression of amazement. "That's how it's done. I told you not to worry."

I rummaged under my jumper to retrieve my sock boobs, and handed them to Anita as well. She smiled at me again. "What do you want to do about that?" she asked, pointing at the necklace around my throat that spelt Sarah.

I put my hand to it instinctively.

"You can keep it if you want," she said, "But I wouldn't wear it home if I were you." She walked around to my back again, and undid the clasp on the back of it, holding it gently as it fell, and then handed it to me. "Take care of it, you'll be needing it later."

I nodded, and to my surprise, she kissed me again. Her perfume filled my senses, and my head span with desire for her. Suddenly she broke away again, and taking my hand, started walking briskly up the road.

"Come on, we'll miss your train."

The station in Anita's town was the terminal, so when we got there the train was waiting at the platform. We had one last kiss before Anita left, waving and smiling at me. "See you tomorrow!" she said, as she walked away. "And bring lots of money!"

Why did I need to bring lots of money, I wondered briefly, but my mind soon returned to other things. We had kissed again, so Anita obviously loved me. I was in heaven, and more than that, I was now more or less dressed as a boy.

My euphoria carried right through the short journey to my village just outside Anita's town, and also on the short walk to my house. The thought of facing my parents, and their inquisition about my new girlfriend brought me back to reality a little, but since Anita's relatively passionate farewell, there was enough truth in the matter to ease both my concerns and my conscience.

The inquisition was not so bad as I had feared. It started on a bad note, however, as I walked into the living room to say hi.

"What are you wearing?" asked my mother.

"Oh, err, just something I borrowed off Anita. My jeans got a bit dirty playing tennis." I mumbled.

My mother raised her eyes a little. "Well at least she didn't lend you a skirt I suppose. Come on in and tell us all about it."

I had to narrate a version of the events of the weekend to them, embellishing here and there, but more obviously leaving whole sections and outfits out of it. Eventually I had had enough, and announced I was going to have a bath, and then get to bed.

In the bath, I noticed with horror that the marks all over my chest from the bra were, if anything worse than they had been that morning. Well, at least I wasn't wearing one now. As with the night before, it took me some time to get to sleep. I could still feel the bra across my chest, and the tights and skirt on my legs, almost as if I had never taken them off. Perhaps Anita had been right, once you wore a skirt, you were never the same again. With that sort of thought in my mind, together with the erotic memories of kissing Anita, I eventually fell asleep.

I woke the next morning fairly late. The sun was shining into my bedroom, and the birds sang outside. I dressed quickly, noting with some relief that this was the first time I had put on boy's pants since Saturday, let alone a normal pair of trousers. I was a little dismayed that the marks of the bra were still visible as red lines around my chest, back and shoulders, but I carefully made sure my Mum and Dad didn't see them.

I got my books ready for school, and carefully placed the pink knickers I had been wearing the day before with them in my bag, together with the Sarah necklace. I looked at it lovingly, not because of the name, or the memory of having to wear it, but because the beloved Anita had given it to me.

I had a quick breakfast, and remembering Anita's warnings about money, picked up £10 from my drawer before leaving for the station. I didn't have long to wait before the train pulled in. We had a routine for meeting on the train. Anita, Nikki and a few others were always in the second to last carriage. All I had to do was wait on the right bit of the platform, get in, and walk through.

I glanced along the carriage as the train set off, and saw Anita three or four compartments down from me. She smiled, and raised her hand in a little wave. My heart skipped a beat, and I rushed down to greet her. Sitting in the compartment with her were Nikki, Sue and a couple of other friends of hers.

"Hi Steve," she said, still smiling. "Have a good weekend?"

Sue and Nikki smiled at this too. Obviously the other girls were not in the know as to my weekend activities, for which I was grateful. "Not bad," I replied, and sat down, unhappily not next to Anita.

The two-stop journey to the town with our school was uneventful. We arrived, and as always, hundreds of kids scuttled off the train, and cluttered the platform waiting to get out into the street. To my surprise, Anita held my arm as we exited the carriage.

"Wait a minute Steve, we'll let the crowd disperse a bit shall we?"

I was baffled, but did as she asked, standing to one side to let my schoolmates bustle by. Nikki looked over her shoulder at us and smiled as she joined the throng.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Wait and see," Anita responded secretly. I saw that she was carrying a large bag with the zip done up on top.

Eventually the crowd dispersed, and, taking my arm, Anita led me off in the direction of the ladies toilet.

"Hang on," I said, putting on the breaks. "What's going on? I can't go in there."

"Yes you can," Anita insisted. "We've got a conversation to have, remember?"

I hesitated. "But not in there. Anyway, we'll be late for school if we do."

"We're not going to school today," Anita stated firmly. "We're going on to the city."
I stared at her disbelievingly. Not that it was the first time we had skipped school, although never as a couple, but the suddenness and firmness of the decision surprised me. "Come on," she urged. She led me into the toilets, and, having looked around to see if anyone else was there, into one of the cubicles.

Once inside she handed me the bag she was carrying.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Your clothes of course!" she said with a note of despair in her voice.

I thought about this for a moment, and then realised she must have been talking about the clothes her mother had washed the night before. It was a good idea too, bringing some jeans and a T-shirt along if we were going to skive off school.

"Good thinking!" I said, beginning to warm to her plan.

I opened the zip, and my mouth fell open in shock. Far from containing my jeans, the first thing I saw in the bag was the boots I had been wearing over the weekend. Looking further, I saw that it contained my entire girl's school uniform.

"Oh God Anita no!" I gasped.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean I don't want to dress up as a girl again; not now."

"But you just said it was a good idea!"

"I know, but I thought you'd brought back my jeans!"

She looked perplexed. "Your jeans? Why would I have brought along your jeans of all things."

"Well I thought you'd decided to not have us in school uniform; you know, if we're bunking off school."

"Good lord no!" she exclaimed. "We have to be in school uniform, you especially."

My despair was deep. I had put together this picture of Anita and I in town together as boyfriend and girlfriend, and had assumed she had done the same.

"I don't want to do it." I mumbled.

"But you need more practice," she insisted. "You said so yourself."

"No I didn't." I protested.

"You did! You said you wanted to dress in a skirt right up until the contest." She looked at me in an accusing way, daring me to deny this.

"That's not exactly what I said."

"Well more or less." She paused for a moment. "Come on then, start getting changed, then we can get on."

"I told you Anita, I don't want to." I said stubbornly. "I've only had trousers on for about an hour since I came to your place on Saturday morning. I don't want to put on a skirt again now!"

She looked at me quizzically again. "But you have to Steve!"

"No I don't. I can stay as I am."

"Well what's the point of that? It won't make you any better in the contest will it?"

I turned my head away from her. "Well that's not the only thing in life."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

I hesitated for a moment, and decided to say what was on my mind. "I thought we were going to try and sort out this 'us' thing; why we keep kissing each other and stuff like that."

"We are!" she exclaimed. "That's why were skiving off school!"

"Then why do I have to put on this stuff then?"

She looked baffled by the question. "For the practice of course. I thought you wanted to help me in the contest thing." Her tone was one of accusation and of suspected betrayal. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend," I replied, "but I can be your friend in trousers as easily as in a skirt."

"I know that, but I want you so used to wearing a skirt by Thursday that it's become second nature to you." She stared straight at me, with her piercing blue eyes. "I want you to be such a brilliant girl that you wipe the floor with all the others, especially Peter!" Her enthusiasm was nearly manic.

I grimaced. "Can't you sort out your problems with Chrissie in some other way?"

"No! I've got to beat her in this!" she exclaimed, staring at me wide-eyed.

"What is it between you and Chrissie anyway? I can't see why you hate each other so much."

Anita turned away from me. It was a question I had asked once before, but had never had a reply.

"We were friends once," she whispered. "Back in Junior School. Then she did something horrible, and I've never forgiven her."

"What was it?" I asked, determined to get to the bottom of this, since it was now affecting my life so much.

"It's hard to talk about," Anita mumbled.

"Well try," I said, trying to express some concern.

"I had this toy panda," she went on at last. "I'd had it since I was a baby." I saw that there were tears coming into her eyes. "I called it Paula."

Fascinating information in a way, but I could not see what it had to do with Chrissie. "What happened?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"It was a show and tell day at school, and I took the panda in, and gave a little talk about how much I loved her. Everybody was really nice about it." She paused. "But Chrissie sneaked in at break time and took her outside and set fire to her."

"She did what?" I asked incredulously.

"She set fire to Paula," Anita sobbed. "I saw her, but it was too late. She was just standing over this little fire, laughing and jumping up and down. I didn't know what it was at first, and just joined in the crowd to see what was going on. Then I saw it was Paula." The story was giving her genuine pain, I could see. After a pause, Anita continued. "She told me I was a baby to have a panda anyway, and to make such a fuss about it. All the other kids starting laughing as well. The caretaker came out and put the fire out, but Paula was ruined; she was gone for good. It was horrible."

"It must have been," I said, putting my arm around her as she cried.

"They called me baby Robinson at school after that," she went on. "Cry baby Robinson; so that's why I hate Chrissie," Anita suddenly said with venom, "and why I want to beat her at everything, especially this!"

She stared at me again. "You won't tell anyone will you?" I shook my head, genuinely moved by her story.

"Poor Anita," I said, by way of comfort, although she had removed my arm from her shoulders.

"So please help me with this Steve! This isn't about you, it's about me and Chrissie. Everyone thinks she so lovely and nice, but she's not, she's horrible."

I nodded. "She sounds it."

"She can act all nice and cute around you boys, but she's not like that at all. I hate her! She wants everyone to think she's the perfect girl, but she's not. She wants to win this contest with Peter to prove she's better than me, better at fashion and make up and everything. I've got to make sure she doesn't."

The determination and venom in her voice were overpowering. She turned to look at me again. "So please Steve, practice some more for me. We've got to beat her."

My mind was numb for a moment; the resistance I had felt to dressing up for her again had all but disappeared in waves of sympathy for what had happened all those years before. I looked in the bag. Would it really be all that bad to wear this stuff for her again? She was right in a way; by the time Sunday had ended I had got pretty used to wearing a skirt; and a bra; and everything.

"All right," I said at last. "I must be mad to do this, but all right."

"Oh Steve thank you!" she gasped, and kissed me again. We separated after a few seconds and she said, "but you'd best hurry up, otherwise we'll be late."

"Late for what?"

"For the train, it'll be here in a quarter of an hour."

It wasn't easy getting changed in a small toilet cubicle, especially with someone else in there as well. I took off my shirt and jumper, and Anita helped do up my bra, and pad it out with socks. I took of my shoes and socks by sitting on the toilet itself. I took my trousers off, and Anita hurriedly stuffed them into the bag, and I was standing there in my boy's pants and a bra.

I still wasn't sure about stripping naked in front of her, and told her so. She told me to put the slip on next, and to change knickers with that on so she couldn't see anything. It was the slip I'd worn on the Saturday, with the scalloped hem and flowers. It was barely decent when I was naked underneath, but it did enough to cover my modesty while I put on the white knickers with the love heart on.

Anita handed me a pair of tights, which I put on with some expertise, and the tight flowery knickers to hold them up. Next came the school skirt, which I had only worn briefly before. It felt a little different to my denim mini, flimsier, and I didn't like the back fastening. I slipped myself into the blue jumper, and last, I sat down on the toilet and put on the boots.

Anita smiled at me. "Thanks Steve," she said again, handing me my wig. I slipped this on, and then remembered something. I stood up, and opened my own bag, and pulled out the necklace she had given me. I wanted to show her how much I valued having a present from her, and decided that I should wear it.

"I might as well wear this as well," I said, with a forced note of resignation.

"Oh Steve how sweet of you!" she exclaimed, and fastened it around my neck. I blushed as she touched me. "Come on, we'd best get a move on. We can always put some make up on when we're on the train!"

She unlocked the cubicle door, and we went over to the sinks. Anita washed her face to remove any trace of tears, and I had no choice but to look at myself in the mirror. The girl that looked back at me had a face that was recognisably mine framed with brunette hair, and with Anita's gorgeous blue jumper on. How could I have let this happen again? Still, with a sideways glance at the eager Anita, who would again be my companion for the day, I answered my own question.

We went back out onto the platform, which was now empty of school children, but filling up with people off to the city for shopping or whatever. Soon the train arrived, and Anita and I climbed aboard. I had hoped we might have our 'conversation' on the train, but there were no empty compartments. After walking up and down the train a little, we shared one with a young mother with two small children, a boy of about four, and a girl of perhaps two. The woman smiled at us as we sat down opposite her.

The little girl stared wide-eyed at me with a frankness that would have been rude in an adult. I wondered briefly with a sudden panic whether she realised I was a boy all dressed up. I smiled at her and she looked surprised for a moment, and then smiled back. "You're nice," she said to my surprise.

"Thank you," I managed to reply, as her mother gently told her off.

"Shall we have a look in Top Shop when we get there Sarah?" Anita asked me suddenly.

I turned to look at her. "If you want," I said, non-committedly.

"I want to see if they've got anything for Saturday," she went on.

"Saturday?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, our girls night out!"

The reminder hit me like a brick. Anita thought I had agreed to go on a girls' night out with her on Saturday, after the contest. I had to get out of it. Much as I was reconciled to helping Anita get her revenge on Chrissie, it seemed to me that Sarah should go back in the box after the contest itself.

"I'm not sure I'm coming," I said, wary of the need to maintain my cover with the woman opposite.

"Oh but you must!" Anita exclaimed. "It'll be good; you, me, and Sue and Nikki, we'll have a whale of a time."

"Well I don't think I'll come," I went on.

The woman opposite looked at me, and shook her head. "You take my advice love; go and enjoy yourself while you can. When you reach my age, stuck with two little kids, you'll wish you'd have gone, believe me"

"That's right," Anita added after a pause, grinning. "You're only young once."

The woman nodded in agreement. "I've not had a proper night out in about three years. You go."

"See Sarah?" Anita said, "Everyone thinks you should go."

I blushed. "I'll think about it," I mumbled.

"I'm sure if you find something cool to wear you'll want to go," the woman added. "Treat yourself to a nice mini dress or something. With legs like yours you could get away with it."

Anita smiled widely at this confirmation of her opinion about my legs. I shuffled on my seat, and looked out of the window for the rest of the journey. We arrived at the city terminus about ten minutes later, and Anita helped the young woman off the train. She set a buggy up on the platform, and I handed down the little girl for her. "You go for it girl," she said to me in parting. "You never know when the next opportunity will come along."

Anita and I let her disappear into the distance, and then slowly walked along the platform. Ours was a little side platform here; the big ones took the Inter City trains up to London, while ours was a little suburban branch line. "She was a bit interfering." I complained.

"No she wasn't," replied Anita. "She was just trying to be helpful."

We walked through onto the concourse, and then out of the station into the streets. They were quite busy, but by now I had more or less got used to the idea that I was unlikely to attract undue attention. Anita took my arm, and we walked off to a little square just off one of the main streets with a little fountain, and a few seats. There was one old man on one of the seats eating sandwiches, and throwing occasional crumbs to the pigeons.

Anita sat down on one of the vacant benches, and tapped the space next to her. "Come on then, we'd best have this conversation we've been putting off." I sat down next to her as she requested, carefully smoothing my skirt down as I did so. The last thing I wanted at this moment was a lecture on showing my knickers.

"Right," she said. "Why do you think we keep kissing each other then?" Her voice was quiet, so the old man did not die of shock I supposed. Even in the city, he did not look the sort of person who would take well to the idea of two schoolgirls kissing each other.

"I, that is, I don't know." I responded, stuttering. I had expected Anita to come up with some revelation about our relationship rather than ask me questions about it.

"I mean, I do like you," she went on. "I always have, and now with you helping so much with the contest and things, well, I suppose I've noticed it more" She stopped, and looked at me to see if I was going to add any words of wisdom.

"Well I like you too," was all I could manage.

She looked at me hard and long. "But I like John as well," she said, pinning me with her gaze. The disappointment must have been obvious on my face. "Well I do," she reiterated. "I've never said otherwise have I?"

I shook my head in reply.

"And it makes me feel really guilty when I kiss you; like I'm two timing him or something." Her eyes did not leave mine for a second, and I could see the concern on her face. "I wish you wouldn't look so sad about it"

I tore my face away for a moment. If only she knew how sad I was.

"And the contest makes it even more complicated," she went on.

There was a pause. Gathering myself to make sure my voice worked, I managed to reply. "In what way?"

"Well because you look like a girl, silly," she replied. "It's kind of exciting I suppose, kissing you when you're dressed like that, but sometimes it makes me feel, I don't know, a bit kinky I suppose."

I thought about this, and particularly her insistence that I kept practicing. "Then why didn't you let me dress as a boy today?"

"Because I want you to practice!" she replied instantly. "This contest is important to me, you know that don't you?"

"Yes." I mumbled.

There was an awkward pause, and we both looked down at our knees, mine wearing tights and showing under the black school skirt, and hers in the regulation school black trousers.

"Well what do you think?" she asked eventually.

"Well I like you Anita," I said at length. "And I like kissing you, it's good."

"But doesn't it make you feel kinky as well?" she asked.

"No," I responded quietly. "I like it."

She looked at me with some concern. "You like dressing up as a girl?"

"No," I replied quickly. "Not that. I mean I like kissing you."

She let this register, and looking into the middle distance said, "Well, I suppose if we both like it, there's no reason to stop is there?"

I looked at her in amazement. She was giving me permission to keep on kissing her. This was a dream come true. Then she looked away. "But there's other complications as well," she said, wistfully.

"What?"

"I promised not to tell you."

I waited a moment then said. "Tell me what?"

She looked back at me. "Well there's somebody else who fancies you as well."

"Who?" I demanded.

"I can't tell you," she replied, looking away again. "I promised not to."

I thought long and hard about who it might be. "Sue?" I asked.

"No," she replied dismissively, "Not Sue! How could you think that? The girl who fancies you isn't in our year."

I thought about this for a moment. I was so besotted with Anita, I rarely looked at other girls, especially younger ones. I thought suddenly hit me however. "Oh God, not Tania again."

"No, she's over you now."

"Well who is it then?"

"I'm not going to tell you. But the thing is Steve, I don't mind us carrying on kissing and stuff, as long as you know I'm not going to finish with John, and as long as you let this other girl have a chance as well."

"Well I can't promise that without knowing who she is." I carried on thinking. Not in our year, that probably meant it was some friend of Tania's. There were four or five girls her age that hung around with her. It must be one of them.

"Promise me that you'll at least give her a chance," Anita went on. "Surely you can do that?"

I thought about this proposition. I could carry on kissing Anita on the understanding that if some other girl who fancied me wanted to kiss me as well, I wouldn't stand in her way. "Well, I suppose so," I said. "It's a bit unfair when I don't know who she is, but I suppose I can agree to that."

"Good!" Anita said with sudden brightness. "She's really smitten with you, and she'd be really cross with me if she knew you and I were, well, better friends than we used to be, especially since she confided in me as well."

She smiled at me, and I assumed the matter was settled. "We'll just carry on like that for the time being and see how things go," she announced. Our eyes met, and we both smiled. I thought about kissing her there and then, but Anita threw a sideways glance at the old man on the other bench to warn me off.

"Now come on girl, we've got some serious shopping to do!" she suddenly announced, standing up.

The next three hours was an interminable trek around the clothes shops of the city. We went into every one at least once, and rummaged through rack after rack of clothes. Anita insisted that I try several things on; a bright red mini dress, a little black dress, and a leather skirt with a silver top to name but a few. The first time I was terrified of going into the communal changing rooms, but being a weekday, the shops were relatively quiet, and no one seemed to pay me the slightest attention.

Anita too tried a number of outfits on, and it occurred to me that for the first time since I had agreed to be a girl for the contest, she, if only briefly, was wearing girl's clothes as well.

Eventually she said. "Did you bring any money with you?"

"A tenner," I replied, wondering where this was leading.

"Well that's not enough. Still, I can lend you some. Right, let's make our minds up about what we're going to buy for Saturday!"

I stared at her open mouthed. In the trying on frenzy we had just gone through, I had lost sight of why we were actually there. I had enjoyed and even shared her enthusiasm as we had toured the shops, but it suddenly struck me that unless I intervened in some way I would find myself dressed as a girl and going to a disco on a girl's night out on Saturday, two days after the contest, and when practicing was no longer an issue.

"Anita, I'm not really sure about Saturday," I began.

"But why?" she exclaimed. "It was your idea anyway."

I hesitated. I had actually intended to ask her on a date, not suggest a girl's night out as she had interpreted it.

"Well it'll be after the contest is finished," I began.

"I know," she responded. "But that doesn't matter."

"Well it does a bit," I went on, "I mean, I won't be needing to practice then will I?"

She looked at me, and after a while grinned. "So you think that by Thursday you'll be the perfect girl do you?"

"No," I responded. "But I'll have nothing to practice for will I?"

She smiled again. "No, but you could do it for it's own sake."

"It's own sake?"

"Yeah; it'll be good fun, just us girls going out and having a ball."

"But I'm a boy!" I whispered insistently.

"Sometimes," she whispered, still smiling. "And sometimes you're not. Let's just make Saturday one of the times that you're not."

The excitement on her face at the prospect was all too evident. Her blue eyes flashed, and her smile widened. "Come on Sarah, let's go!"

Before I could object any further, I was taken by the hand, and led back on a trip around the shops. On our first stop, Anita tried on a little black dress that she had already tried out that morning. After some time considering its merits and otherwise, she decided to buy it.

"That's me sorted, now let's think about you. Which did you like best out of all the things you've tried so far?"

I was taken aback by the question. "Well, none of them really."

"Well that's okay," Anita responded brightly to me. "We can always look around for something else."

The prospect of that was even worse. I decided to offer some sort of opinion. "Well if you pushed me," I began, "I suppose the red dress was quite nice."

"Did you like that? Yes, it did look good on you. It's a bit short though!"

"Well no worse than this skirt," I replied.

She looked down at my legs. "I suppose not. Come on then, let's go and try it on again."

I was led back up the High Street to the shop in question. Anita made a beeline to the right section of the store. I was amazed how she had managed to remember which of the many shops the dress was in, let alone whereabouts in the store it could be found. She selected out one in my size, and I was despatched to the changing room to try it on. Anita stayed in the main body of the store, looking at other things.

The changing room had two other people in there, girls in their twenties. Feeling more than a little self conscious, I hung the dress on a hook, and began to undo my skirt. The two other customers paid no attention to me, which was something of a relief, and just chatted to each other about how good or bad the things they were trying on looked.

I turned my back on them to remove my blue sweater, carefully making sure I didn't disrupt my wig or my boobs. I managed this, and with some expertise after all my shopping that day, I slipped the dress on.

"Oh that looks nice!" one of the girls said, making me jump. I turned and smiled at her. "Where did you find that?"

"It's out by the front of the shop," I replied honestly, trying not to blush. "Over by the right."

"Thanks," the girl replied. "I'm not sure I'd get away with anything that short though."

Concern began to rise up in me; Anita had mentioned that it was short as well. Would I be making a fool of myself if I bought this dress and went to the Saturday disco in it?

"Do you think it's too short then?" I asked nervously, moving over to join them looking in a full-length mirror.

"No!" she exclaimed. "It's just that you've got to have the legs for it."

"And the bum!" added her friend. "You've got such a nice neat little one; it's almost like a boy's!"

My heart rose into my mouth, and I blushed furiously, suddenly unable to move. Surely they had discovered my secret, and this was their way of letting me know. They obviously noticed my discomfort. "It's a compliment," the second girl explained. "I didn't mean to say you looked like a boy."

"No," her friend agreed. "You look gorgeous. You really ought to get it."

They returned to looking at their own clothes, and my moment of panic passed. I turned slowly from one side to the other, trying to decide whether the dress was too short. As far as I could see it was no shorter than the school skirt, or the denim one I had had on over the weekend. Looking at it, I thought that I'd better persuade Nikki and Anita that I should stick to tights with it; there was no doubt in my mind that if I wore stockings and suspenders with it, they would show. I stood back a little. The knee boots looked a bit odd with the dress; a bit clumpy, and inappropriate. I wondered what sort of shoes might look better.

Suddenly I pulled myself up short. What was I thinking about? I was here, in a communal changing room in a girls' boutique, wondering how I looked in a red dress! Up until a few moments ago, I had still been considering how to avoid the Saturday trip altogether, now, by letting my guard drop, I had been accessorising in my mind. It was all very well humouring Anita, and helping her get her own back on Chrissie for the contest, but I had to watch that this whole thing didn't get too habit forming.

Guiltily, I took the dress off, and put back on my school uniform. I took the dress and left the changing room as quickly as I could. Anita was waiting for me outside.

"What was it like? Are you going to get it?"

I was blushing furiously again. "I don't think so," I said hurriedly. "It is a bit too short."

"But you've got the legs to carry it off!" Anita insisted. "You really ought to have it."

I looked at the dress in my arms, and saw the price tag; £17:99. "I can't afford it," I protested.

Anita snatched the dress off me; "I told you I'd lend you some money. You're going to have it!" she announced, and strolled purposefully off to the cash desk. There was no queue, and before I knew it the dress was purchased, placed in a plastic bag, and handed to me. Feebly I fumbled around in my school bag, found the ten pound note I had put in there that morning, and handed it to Anita. She took it, smiling.

"Well that's us sorted. What shall we do now?" she asked. "We've got a couple of hours before we need to get back, do you fancy the cinema?"

"I haven't got any money," I said, still reeling from the dress purchase.

"My treat!" she announced, and we marched out of the shop, and off to the nearest cinema.

We got in for the matinee performance of a romantic comedy; not a bad cover for me as a young girl, I thought in passing. The cinema was virtually empty apart from us, and we got seats about three rows from the back. The adverts droned on interminably, interspaced with previews of forthcoming films. Recovering my composure in the dark of the cinema, I slipped my arm around Anita's shoulders. She didn't resist, and my spirits lifted. I leant across and kissed her, and she turned her head to receive the attentions of my mouth. I was in ecstasy, and oblivious to how this show of affection would appear to anyone who might have seen us.

Fortunately no one did, but we separated as the lights rose to signal the intermission. Anita straightened out her hair, and smiled at me. "Shall we get an ice cream?" she asked. I nodded in reply. She took out her purse, and handed me the ten pound note that I had given her earlier.

"Err, I'd rather you went," I mumbled.

"Why?" she asked, "You're nearer the aisle."

"I know." I said, reluctant to confess the reason for my reluctance. It showed now sign of subsiding however, so I decided that I had to confess. "It's just that, well, you know on Saturday that you said two pairs of knickers and a pair of tights would hide my bulge?"

She looked at me with wide eyes, and then a sudden smile of realisation. "Oh I see!" she said, beaming at me. "Very well, I'd better go then."

She came back with two cones, which we ate during the interval. It was difficult not to resume our kissing with the lights on, but I held myself back for fear of offending the few other customers in there.

After what seemed an unnecessarily long time, the lights went down for the beginning of the main feature. I tried to slip my arm around her again, but she pushed it away, and leant across to me. "I'd better be the boy this time," she whispered in my ear. "You don't seem to be able to control yourself!"

She sat up taller in the chair, and before I could resist, slipped her arm across my shoulders. It felt wonderful, if a little strange. I shuffled a little lower into my seat to make it easier for her, automatically holding on to my skirt as I did so. She did nothing for a number of minutes, but I felt good with her as my protector, and let my head rest against her shoulder.

She began to shuffle, and I thought that I must have been resting my head too hard on her. I lifted it up to reposition it, and felt her hand on my chin. She tilted my face up to hers, and pressed her lips against mine; I let my mouth open and accept the probing of her eager tongue, which pressed against mine and moved it around and around. My head spun with the magic of the moment, but after a time, a nagging thought made me remember that I should take something of a more active role, began to try and press our embracing tongues into her mouth.

She pulled away as I did so. "Remember, I'm the boy at the moment," she whispered, her eyes flashing close to and above mine in the dim light of the theatre. I was stiff for a moment, and then relaxed, as she resumed her lingual exploration of my mouth.

I was in utter heaven. Her hand moved from my chin to stroke the hair of my wig, and my face. We separated occasionally to breathe, or to check that the attention of the other cinema goers was firmly on the screen, but resumed our embraces. I could taste the nectar of her saliva, and smell her skin, and her perfume. This was what I had been anticipating in my dreams for so many years, and now it was actually happening. I could not believe my luck, or my sound judgement in letting her talk me into this contest business.

Her hand on my thigh made me jump suddenly. She moved it up and down my tights, and gently pressed me back with her other hand and face. She was the boy, I remembered, and tried to relax.

She continued to kiss me, as her hand stroked my leg with an insistent gentleness. Her fingers moved to my inner thigh, and a little higher, up to the hem of my skirt. I gasped involuntarily, and she smiled at me by way of reassurance.

"I'm the boy," she whispered, smiling, and I nodded weakly in response. She resumed her attentions on my mouth and face, kissing my nose, and forehead in the brief pauses between probing my mouth with her wonderful tongue. Her hand, still moving gently, stroked my thigh up and down, and on each upward stroke, almost imperceptibly went higher, disturbing my skirt and slip. Involuntarily, my thighs parted a little to ease her explorations of my lower body. Her other hand moved from my head to my chest, and stroked the soft blue jumper, her fingers tracing the outline of my boobs, which, owing to the way I was now breathing, bobbed up and down between us.

I felt her hand move slowly from my thigh to the gusset of my knickers; my body shuddered in expectation of some attention, and I felt her fingers explore the smooth nylon edges. My own hands were trapped between us, as her body pressed against mine, and her tongue licked across my teeth.

All too soon the film, judging by the music, came to its climax, and she backed away from me, allowing me to sit upright again. I was a mess; my wig was tousled, and my skirt and slip had risen up to reveal my flowery knickers that so recently had been touched by her hand. I lifted myself up, and quickly pulled the skirt and slip down to accord me some decency.

The lights slowly came back on, as we finally disentangled. Anita looked at me with bright eyes, and a knowing smile. "I quite liked that," she said, smoothing her own hair. "I think I might be the boy again."

By the time the film finished, it was time for us to return to the train station, and get ourselves back to rejoin our mates who would be leaving school. It was an agony to have to walk along the streets to the station without so much as holding her hand, and this agony was not relieved on the train journey; as on the way to the city we had to share our compartment, and talked about the clothes we had seen, and which ones were best.

We got to the school station, and left the train. We rushed into the ladies toilets, and I got into a cubicle, expecting Anita to join me. She did not, however, and waited outside 'on guard' as she put it.

I took my girl's uniform off, including the wig, and slipped back into my boy's one. Anita told me it was okay to come out, so I did so, and we went back onto the platform. Soon the kids from our school began to arrive, including Nikki and Sue, who were desperate to see what we had bought.

"Oh I like that!" Nikki exclaimed, looking into my bag at the red dress we had purchased. "I bet you look drop dead gorgeous in it!"

"He does," Anita confirmed. "But I'd best look after it for you until Saturday I suppose, unless you want to show your Mum and Dad?"

"No!" I responded rapidly, and handed over the bag to Anita.

My head was really in a spin now. I was relieved to get back to being dressed as a boy, but some Pavlovian feeling was taking root in me that I only got to snog Anita when I was dressed as a girl. I was as quiet as a lamb on the journey back, while Anita and the others discussed events at school. Deeply confused, I consoled myself that I at least had two days to figure out what was going on before the contest. With some luck and careful planning, I might be able to get out of the girl's night out without upsetting Anita, or the new aspects of our relationship. I wouldn't be confused by having to dress as Sarah for a while, which would help.

As I stood up to leave the train, however, Nikki reminded me that I had already committed myself to another outing.

"Don't forget you're coming around to our house tomorrow after school, " she announced, looking me squarely in the eye. "Then we're off to the theatre with Lucy and the others."

I had forgotten. I was still too dazed to object, so nodded. Anita smiled at me by way of goodbye, which seemed entirely inadequate after what had happened. I walked home, to be met by my mother. She asked me what I had around my neck. I put my hand up, and felt the 'Sarah' necklace. Blushing, I tried to tell her it was something a girl had given me.

"I thought your new girlfriend's name was Anita," she said, frowning. "Or is there more than one?"

I shrugged, and she shook her head. How had I forgotten to take that off? I really had to be more careful, I resolved. After every Sarah escapade from now on in, I was going to go through a full checklist before going home.

My dreams that night were erotically charged like never before, including one where Anita and I got married because I was pregnant. That disturbed me enough to wake me, and I realised that my hand was playing with my nipples under my bed shirt. "I'll be the boy next time," I silently resolved to myself, and fell back asleep.

  

  

  

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