It felt like the longest afternoon of my life. The girlie giggles and yelps echoed up through my carpet. Footsteps sounded up and down the stairs as regular as clockwork and I was convinced that at any moment, my door will open and I’ll be seen, exposed and humiliated. I spent each and every one of some two-hundred minutes fearing I’d be found by one of the girls mistaking my bedroom door for the bathroom door. Part of me wanted to rip the dress off, especially since my own irrefutably male clothes filled my drawers and wardrobe… but having tested the stitched sash and failed to undo the buttons, my only option would be cutting it off. I don’t know what Mum would do if I did take it off… all she said was I’d be sorry. If she hadn’t been so vague about the consequences I’d be better placed to weigh up my options. So I sat, silent and still, staring at dress that encases me. “Stupid girls!” I muttered as their shrieks and shrills echoed though the floor.
Downstairs the girls played dancing games, pass the parcel, paper fashion and a host of other party games. They ate jelly and ice cream, drank fizzy pop, gossiped and giggled. Janet: the birthday girl loved every minute of her party. She was glad her usually horrid brother had gone to one of his friend’s houses and wouldn’t be back until the party was over… otherwise he’d be teasing and taunting and pestering the girls as he and many other boys invariably do. Eventually the party drew to a close and Janet’s friends were collected by their parents. Unseen from the upstairs window, David watched them climb in to cars or walk down the street, each wearing a pretty party dress just as prissy as his own. “Stupid girls.” he sulked.
Once the girls had gone, Janet’s mother says “That was a lovely party wasn’t it? Why don’t you go and tell your brother that he can come downstairs now?”
A perplexed expression swept Janet’s face. “But… he’s at his friends isn’t he?” she quizzed.
“No.” her mother admits. “He’s been up in his room the whole time, being as good as gold and as quiet as a mouse.”
Janet doesn’t believe her mother. “But, he’d have come and teased us.” she figured. “…and I’ve had heard him.”
“Like I say, he’s been as quiet as a mouse.” her mother smiled.
“Janet goes to her brother’s bedroom. “Are you really there David?” she hollers.
“Don’t come in!” David yelps as he sees the door handle turn, but it’s too late. She sees him.
Janet is dumbstruck when she sees her brother wearing one of her dresses. Her jaw drops. She gasps. “Why are you wearing my things?” she asks in a most accusational tone. David does nothing but blush. Janet turns to the door and yells “Mu-um! He’s wearing one of my dresses!”
Their mother had already followed Janet up the stairs and eavesdropped from the landing. She steps into view. “He is.” she says, before informing Janet that it was her idea. “Putting him in a dress ensured that he’d stay in his room and not pester you and your friends… and now your friends have gone we can all go downstairs and enjoy the rest of the day as family.” she explained, turning to the crimson cheeked boy. “Why don’t you give Janet a twirl so she can see how pretty you look?”
David didn’t move a muscle. “Can I take it off now.” he whined.
“Not yet, let’s have some cake first.” he mother replied. “Come on… I won’t take no for an answer.”