“Oh, er… thanks.” Peter gulps as he takes the clothes from her. Paula lifts her old PE skirt and removes a little pair of burgundy shorts from the bundle. She tells him that she used to wear these instead of gym knickers, and advises Peter to do the same. “Thanks.” Peter reluctantly replied. “I wasn’t planning on wearing gym knickers.” he added with a gulp.
“My swimming costume’s in there too… but I think Mum’s going to buy you a proper boy’s one.” Paula added, before advising him to try the PE skirt for size as that might need adjusting.
Paula leaves him alone and Peter unfolds the clothes. “God!” he gulps as he unfolds the swimming costume and dreads the day he has to wear it. “Even they boy’s ones are really for girls.” he frowned as he put it in a drawer. He removes his pants and fastens the wrap skirt around his waist. Unlike his sister’s school skirts which are pleated all the way around, this has a flat panel on the front and knife pleats around the back and sides only. It also seems to be significantly shorter than them too, hence the little pair of shorts to wear beneath it. There’s also two polo shirts each bearing the school crest, a few pairs of burgundy knee socks and a couple of pairs of thick PE socks for winter, and a rubber swimming cap, also bearing the Ashford Academy crest. “Do we have to wear this too?” he wondered as he put everything away. He checked his timetable. The first PE session is on Tuesday afternoon and he’s not looking forward to it… especially now he has his kit.
A few days before the new term begins, Peter’s sister asks him if he’s shaved his legs yet, before advising him to do so. “You want to look nice on your first day don’t you?”
“Not ‘that’ nice.” Peter gulped.
“But you don’t want to look completely stupid do you?” she asked. “No one wears a skirt with hairy legs.”
“Well by rights I should be wearing those shorts instead of a skirt.” Peter replied.
“And you’d still look daft in those with hairy legs.” his sister insisted.
“I’ll look dafter if I’m the only one who has shaved them.” Peter gulped. “And what if I cut myself?” he asked. “I don’t want lacerations all the way up my legs.”
“You won’t.” Paula insisted. “It’s just like shaving you face.” she told him. “You can do that without cutting yourself can’t you?”
“Yeah but…” Peter stopped himself as he knew he was just making excuses. “Can I use the same razor?” he quizzed.
“Well use a new one… but yeah, it’ll be fine.” Paula smiled. “Loads of women use men’s razors on their legs.” she told him. “And pits.” she added.
“Do I have to shave those too?” he reluctantly asked.
“It’s up to you.” Paula said.
Peter must have spent an hour in the bath carefully shaving his legs. It took far longer than he expected and the bathwater was positively tepid by the time he’d finished. “If I’d known how long it takes I wouldn’t have bothered.” he said after admitting to his mother and sister that he’d ‘done it’.
“It’ll only take a minute or two next time.” his mother told him.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a next time.” he replied.
“Why not?” his sister asked. “Don’t they feel nice?”
Feeling his smooth skin through his pyjama pants, Peter claimed they felt weird. “It’s kind of nice I suppose. But more weird than nice.” he explained. His sister told him that that’s because he’s never had shaved legs before, and that in a few days they won’t feel quite so odd. “Maybe.” Peter reluctantly replied. “I still can’t believe I have to wear a skirt though… it’s going to be so weird going back to school on Monday.” he frowned.
“Well, hopefully you’ll learn a few more adjectives on Monday.” his sister smugly retorted. “Then everything won’t have to be weird.” she grinned.
Realising that his legs are now completely free of hair came as a surprise on Sunday morning. In some weird way it was nice surprise as he guiltily ran his fingers over his smooth skin, before pulling on his jeans and a t-shirt. After Sunday lunch, his mother asked him if he needed to get anything ready for school tomorrow. “Not really.” he replied. “I suppose I should give my assignments the once over.” he added.
“Have you got your uniform ready?” she asked.
Peter coyly nodded. “Oh… I need some socks.” he said. “Seeing as you won’t let me wear my own.”
“You’ve got socks.” his mother replied. “I put them in your drawer days ago.”
“But they’re all knee socks.” Peter moaned, claiming that he’d look too girlie in those. “Can I borrow some ankle socks?” he asked his sister. “Please.” he added.
“If you insist.” his sister smiled, before directing him to the relevant drawer in her dresser. Peter went to choose some ‘decent’ socks from his sister’s sock drawer. He wasn’t happy that his mother insisted they must be white, but on seeing the rest of her selection, white were pretty much the best of a bad bunch. He found three pairs of white ankle socks that didn’t have any girlie patterns, and transferred them to his own sock drawer.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Peter’s mother expressed to his sister that she felt a bit guilty for a; not transferring him to Central, and b; not being able to afford the boy’s shorts. “He’s clearly petrified at the thought of having to wearing a skirt.” she said.
“Yeah but… he’ll look a lot better than the boy’s who’ll be wearing those minging culottes… especially now he’s shaved his legs.” Paula replied. Her mother agreed. Peter returned and Paula asked if he’d found some socks. Peter nodded and forced a smile, before saying that he’d found three pairs of plain ones.
“All white I hope?” his mother asked. Peter gulped and nodded.
