The first lesson was again History. Mr. Bronson had to look twice when he noticed Jon’s white knee socks and his hairless legs emerging from his pleated skirt. Jon sat with Michelle at the back of the class. They handed their homework in from the previous evening, which Mr. Bronson marked as the class watched a DVD about the industrial revolution. When the lesson was over, he asked Jon to stay behind.
Jon stood nervously by his desk as Mr Bronson perused Jon’s homework for a second time. “This is very good Jonathan.” He said, “Are you sure it’s all your own work?”
“Yes Sir.” Jon replied.
“Hmm… You see…” Mr. Bronson negatively explained. “…normally you struggle to get a C, but this is worthy of a B, possibly an A!”
A look of surprise swept Jon’s face. Mr Bronson was correct, Jon rarely got a C, more often a D in history. “Er…” he stammered, “Michelle Greene has helped me a lot this week Sir.”
“But this is all your own work?” He stressed, before quizzing Jon on some of the finer points of his essay. Mr. Bronson was soon happy that the essay before him was in fact Jon’s own work. “Well you do seem to have leant something this week.” He said, before looking him up and down again. “Er… lets hope this continues when you’re back in pants eh?” He said in all seriousness, yet half heartedly too.
“Yes Sir… Thank you Sir.” John replied shyly.
“Well, I’ll give you a B for the essay and if the standard remains this high young man you’ll be getting plenty of A’s in future.”
Jon smiled, pleased that he’d actually achieved something positive. He left the classroom and went directly to the yard as it was break time. Michelle was lurking by the bins. “What did Bronson want?” She asked when Jon approached her.
“He was just questioning my homework, I got a B!” He replied proudly.
“Good for you.” She replied. “See… you can do well when you’re not fooling around and teasing people all the time.”
Jon knew she was right. He was always too busy trying to fit in with the other kids instead of trying to do well in class, and now it’s nigh on impossible for him to fit in with the other kids!
“What lesson do you have next?” She asked.
“PE.” Jon replied with dread in his voice. “You?” He asked.
“The same, but I don’t do it.” She replied.
“How come?”
“Asthma.”
“What do you do instead?”
“Just go to the library to do homework or just read.”
“I wish I could do that.” He said mournfully. “I’ve got my sister’s PE kit in my bag.” He reluctantly admitted.
“Oh well.” Michelle replied, “You’ve got wear something I suppose.” She added. Nothing seemed to phase her.
The bell rang and Jon hesitantly walked to the Gymnasium. He hung around as the girls filtered into the girls changing rooms and the boys filtered in to theirs. Miss Hurd, the games teacher noticed Jon sheepishly loitering in the corridor and approached him. Jon was just about to ask her where he should get changed, as neither changing room seemed appropriate, but Miss Hurd got in first. “Ah Jonathan.” She said, looking him up and down, “Do you have a games kit?” She asked.
“Yes Miss.” He reluctantly replied.
“Well, you can change in my office.” She smiled, opening her office door for him. “I assume it’s not the boys kit?” She quietly asked as they stepped inside, not wanting to embarrass him.
He shook his head.
“Well in that case we’ll not parade you on the playing fields today. You can play dodgeball in the gym instead of athletics or cricket if you prefer?” She kindly suggested. This was a huge relief to Jon as almost every classroom in the main building looked out onto the playing fields. Hiding away in the gym sounded almost perfect to him… almost!
“Thanks Miss.” He replied. She left him alone to change. The big black gym knickers felt massive in comparison to the tiny white knickers he’d worn all week. As he fastened the gym slip around his waist he was horrified at how much shorter it was than his school skirt. The long socks went up to his mid thigh when pulled all the way up, but he folded them down to below the knee as the other girls tended to do. He neatly folded his uniform up and placed it alongside his school bag. He slipped his feet into his pumps and reluctantly entered the gymnasium.
“Quiet girls!” Hushed Miss Hurd as a wave of giggles erupted when Jon entered. “Come in Jon.” She smiled. “Don’t be shy.” She advised.
The teams were picked and the game started. Jon failed to pick up a ball in the first round and was soon out. The same thing happened in the second round. “Good shot Laura!” Shouted Miss Hurd, coaching both teams as the game progressed. Again in the third round Jon failed to pick up a ball. “Come on Jon!” Miss Hurd shouted. “I know you can run faster than that.”
Jon was soon out of play and Miss Hurd walked over to him, smiled and quietly said. “Everybody can see your knickers when you run Jon, so just get used to it.” Jon blushed when she mentioned his knickers. “Just remember that nobody is looking… they honestly are more interested in playing the game.” She smiled reassuringly.
Jon watched the game in play and realised she was right. Each time one of the girls sprinted, jumped or dodged, their knickers were briefly on show. But being black and big it wasn’t like seeing their panties. Far from it in fact.
When the fourth round began, Jon sprinted as fast as he could and easily got a ball first. He quickly threw it towards the first opponent and got her out. “That’s better Jon!” The teacher shouted. This round Jon did far better and actually began to enjoy himself. Before long his competitive streak superseded his embarrassment and he fully enjoyed the session.
“Did you enjoy that?” Asked Miss Hurd as she unlocked her office to allow Jon to change back into his uniform. Jon said he did and thanked her. He kept his gym knickers on instead of is little white ones. He was also glad to get back into his school skirt, as the few extra inches in length made all the difference. Once he was back in uniform, he neatly folded his games kit and placed it back into his bag.
The dinner bell rang and Jon looked for an unoccupied bench to sit at whilst he ate his packed lunch. He noticed Michelle Greene was sat alone, out of the way of the other kids so decided to join her. “How was PE?” She asked.
“OK.” He replied. “We played dodgeball in the gym.”
“Did you have to dodge any spanners?” She replied, referencing that scene in the film.
“Fortunately not!” Jon replied cheerily.
Jon kept his knees tightly squeezed together as they ate lunch. “Have you shaved your legs?” Michelle asked, looking at his hairless and skirted lap.
“Er… yeah.” Jon replied shyly. “My tights were too itchy.”
“I bet they were!” She replied knowingly. “And too hot?”
Jon nodded. “That’s why I’m wearing socks today.” He admitted.
“I thought you looked a bit hot yesterday.” She added.
Jon nodded. “I took them off halfway home.” He confessed. “I was so nice feeling the breeze against them!”
Michelle smiled and took a bite of her sandwich. Jon blushed and did the same.
Towards the end of lunch, they both walked back towards the main building. They passed a group of girls from their year, one of which said, “Hey look, Smelly Shelly’s got a new girlfriend!” The rest of the group giggled as they passed.
Another girl asked, “Hey Jon, what’s it like being a dyke?”
Jon felt himself getting red and angry simultaneously. “Bitches!” He spat as he and Michelle got out of earshot.
“Just ignore them.” Michelle said.
“How can you ignore that? I should have punched her!”
“And then what would happen?” She asked, stopping him and looking him in the eye, before looking down at his uniform. “Another week dressed as a girl?” She said as her gaze returned to his face. She knew she was right.
Jon sighed and looked down at himself. “I suppose.” He reluctantly admitted.
They parted company when the end of lunch bell rang and went off to their respective classes. Jon had design and technology and Michelle had needlework. Part of him wished he could share all his classes with Michelle as she was now the only one of his classmates who didn’t seem to judge him, avoid him, or tease him. “Still…” He said to himself. “A few more hours and I’ll be out of this for good!”