Summerswitch Part 06
by Maeryn Lamonte

The next morning I was up with the sunrise. I took an early shower and put on a geometric print jersey dress with v-neck and angel cap sleeves. The hem was a respectable below knee length and the design conservative enough to please Gran and Grandpa, which was of course the whole idea.

I spent the best part of forever brushing my hair as usual, but by the time I was done, a very pretty young girl with a clear and unadorned complexion and shining hair looked back at me from the mirror with a very satisfied expression on her face.

I headed downstairs to find Carol getting ready to break her fast in her usual style. The kettle had just sung and she was pouring boiling water into a teapot.

“Hello Shelley, you’re up early this morning. Is everything alright?”

“Yes, just not very sleepy this morning.”

“Maybe you can rub some of your early morning habits onto his nibs in there. Hang on I’ll get you a mug of tea and you can go see if it’ll rouse him.”

“Is there a reason why I need to wake him?”

“Well just that your Mum asked if Jerry could come along with you this morning. I’m not sure why, maybe she thinks I could do with having the house to myself for a while, maybe she thinks you need the company.

“There you go love.” She put two mugs of tea on the table near to me. I picked them up and made my way through to the lounge.

Shelley’s breathing was deep and measured; almost a snore. I set the mugs down on the coffee table and lowered myself onto the floor beside him, scooping my skirts under me as I did so. You can discover a lot about your feelings for a person by watching them sleep, and as I gazed on the somnolent form of my own body I felt my heart go out to the young lady inside. I reached out a hand and gently brushed a lock of hair out of his face.

He murmured gently in his sleep and I watched, captivated, as he slowly made his way back to the land of the living. I took one of the mugs of tea and wafted it near to his face. His nose twitched and he surfaced. He didn’t open his eyes but I could tell the moment he woke because his breathing pattern changed.

“Morning sleepy head,” I greeted him with a gentle sing-song and stroked his cheek.

“Mmmm, I could get used to this.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have the opportunity, at least not for a while. Are you awake enough for a mug of tea?”

The mighty leviathan emerged from the depths and rose into a sitting position. I handed him his mug and leant my hands on his knees.

He took a sip, then another. A glimmer of life appeared in his half-lidded eyes. “What time is it?”

I checked my watch. “About half-past eight.”

He groaned. “Why so early?”

“Well I’m going round to visit Gran and Grandpa in about an hour and I thought you might like to tag along.”

“OK, give me thirty minutes.” He scratched the back of his neck in a blurry haze.

“I’m not sure if there will be any bacon and eggs left by then, but OK.” I rose to my feet and reclaimed my own mug of tea.

I drifted back into the kitchen and Carol and I found something to chat about while Shelley lurched upstairs. We heard the shower turn on and an almost immediate gasp of shock; it seems he was trying to wake up. Carol started frying and ten minutes later an almost human face reappeared back in the kitchen just as three plates piled high with fried goodness made it to the table.

“Impeccable timing as usual,” Carol commented.

I envied Shelley both his appetite and his freedom to indulge it as he dug into a helping that was almost twice the size of my own. He had mopped up the last crumb before I was halfway through mine and, conscious of what all the grease might do to my figure and my complexion, I offered him one of my sausages and the slice of fried bread while Carol’s back was turned.

Breakfast done, we headed for the door.

“I’ll pick you up around twelve-ish,” Carol said to Shelley as he slipped on his trainers.

“Why so early?” Shelley was curious.

Carol looked at me and winked. “Well quite apart from not wanting to tire Edith out with too long a visit, I imagine your young lady friend will want quite a bit of time to get ready this afternoon. I’m sure we’ll find something to keep you interested till the evening.”

Shelley and I walked the short distance to her grandparent’s house holding hands and saying nothing. It was one of those meaningful quiets where gestures and glances said so much more than words ever could. I was falling for this young man in a big way and it didn’t matter that he was a girl in my body. I think that Shelley felt very much the same way for me, although with a reticence in his eyes; a war between his feelings and… something else.

Grandpa opened the door to us with a slightly overly heartfelt greeting. He was still struggling to deal with Gran’s recent brush with death and the evidence of her mortality. It would take the two of them some time to come to terms with what had happened and even more to agree on what they had to do about it. For now though there was a thin veneer of denial which allowed us to pretend that things were normal.

Grandpa wouldn’t let Gran out of her chair and she complained vehemently about his coddling while he was in the kitchen. She launched a few raised words about being sure not to chip her china through the door at him, then settled into her old quietly cheerful self.

“Let him run around for a bit and feel guilty for leaving me alone on the floor; it’ll help him come to the realisation all the sooner that he has nothing to feel bad about.”

Shelley looked aghast. “I thought you really were mad with him when we arrived. You mean this is nothing more than…”

“Oh I’m angry enough. I don’t need all this molly-coddling; the doctor said I should take it a little easier than usual, but if I spend too many more days confined to this chair I shall really be fit to scream. But no, most of this is for Geoff’s benefit. He won’t be ready to move on until he’s been on a good long guilt trip. I only hope he doesn’t take too long about it.”

She offered us a smile and a wink as Grandpa came back in with a tray.

“About time too you old fool, and where are the biscuits?”

Grandpa scurried out again and returned shortly with a plate piled high with some Christmas chocolate collection that had obviously been waiting in the pantry for just such an occasion.

-oOo-

The morning passed quickly enough, and I even managed to persuade Grandpa to let Shelley and me take Gran out for a short walk around the neighbourhood. We were only gone fifteen minutes, but it served both to help Gran get some much needed exercise and fresh air and to show Grandpa that his wife wasn’t going to collapse to the ground the instant she stirred from her chair.

Midday came all too soon and with it both Carol and Shelley’s mum. We managed to fend off the grandparent’s offers of lunch and climbed into Carol’s car; Shelley and me taking our usual seats in the back.

The drive to Harrogate was swift and uneventful, and before we knew it Shelley and I were being whisked in different directions with promises from our chaperones that we would be reunited before we pined away into miserable nothingness.

Mum wasn’t going to be denied her moment in the spotlight and, before I could even think to protest, we found ourselves outside the salon we had so briefly visited a couple of days previously.

“So you’re here for the works?” The girl at the counter looked up at me with a smile that would have turned me into a gibbering wreck a few weeks previously. “I wish I was so lucky.”

She led me to a chair in a private room, told me to slip off my shoes and wait. Just as she was heading out the door she asked if I would like a tea or a coffee and I asked for my usual tea.

The next few hours passed in a blissful haze under the gentle ministrations of the shop staff. My hair was washed then gently rubbed and blown dry; my face was rubbed and massaged with a cream and soft pads placed over my eyes. My hands and feet were attended to with cream washes and the nails cleaned, filed and painted. All the while a gentle banter from one girl then the next, each assuring me of how beautiful I was going to look by the time they were done.

For the last three quarters of an hour, they deliberately turned me away from the mirror. First one of the beauticians worked on my hair, twisting it into elaborate shapes which lifted all the weight of it off my slender neck, then another had me keep my face perfectly still as she expertly applied the war paint. By the time they were all done I was feeding off their excitement and couldn’t wait to see the results.

I was already delighted with my nails which were now elegantly shaped and glistening with the perfect shade of pink to match my skin, but when they turned me to face the mirror I quite literally had no breath even to gasp. I mean I had always thought Shelley was beautiful and that opinion hadn’t changed over the two weeks I had spent in her body, but the reflection that stared out of the mirror was that of a princess.

My hair had been woven into a delicate lace crown and sparkled with just the gentlest hint of glitter. My face was astonishing with high and low lights blended into the mix making my cheekbones just a little more prominent, my eyes just a little larger, my lips just a little fuller.

A line of women stood to one side, their own breath stilled as they waited for my reaction.

“I can’t believe that’s me,” I said in a soft and wondering voice. “She looks just like someone from a fairy tale.”

Smiles broke out all round as I had apparently given them all permission to breathe again. Shelley’s mum was allowed through the curtain and the hint of tear glistened in her eye as she took in the sight of me.

The makeup that had been used to create my transformation were transferred to a bag and handed over — apparently part of ‘the works’ — and while I was still asking the woman who had painted my face how she had achieved the affect with the cheekbones, Mum took hold of my wrist and interrupted. Apparently there was a lot more to do and not much time.

Our next stop was the dress shop where my velvet dress was waiting for me. Mum had brought the bag of extra goodies with her and followed me into a cubicle where she emptied the contents of the bag while I undressed.

She handed me first a skimpy pair of black lace knickers, then a packet of sheer black stockings and finally a contraption which looked like it would have made an efficient mechanism for a siege engine.

“Stockings and suspenders?” I asked. “No-one will see them under this dress.”

“They won’t see those lovely undies either, but this isn’t so much about what others see as it is about how you feel. The way you feel affects the way you behave, and believe me young lady you are going to feel gorgeous tonight.”

I asked the obvious logistical question.

“Over or under doesn’t really matter and is actually a matter of personal preference. Having said that if you pass the straps under your knickers, it’ll be a lot easier when you need to go to the loo.”

That seemed sensible advice and I decided to follow it.

I felt a little self-conscious taking my white bra off with Shelley’s mum still in the cubicle with me, but she told me there was nothing she hadn’t seen many times before and I shouldn’t be so squeamish. I took off the lacy white bra I’d been wearing and took the black strapless one in hand and regarded it with some suspicion. Even without straps the concept wasn’t rocket science and after I’d settled my small breasts into the stiff cups, I smoothed the adhesive strips into place. It was a little uncomfortable and decidedly weird, but I figured that I would get used to it.

Next Mum helped me into the dress, settling the bodice into place and making sure that nothing was showing that shouldn’t be. She turned me away from the mirror as she did so and, having fussed with the folds of the skirt for a while, pulled out a black velvet box. Inside were the teardrop opal earrings and necklace with matching opal pendant. She put them on me and helped me to step into my shoes. The final touch was the handbag.

“Ready to see who your lucky young man is going to spend his evening with?”

I took a breath and gave her a nod. She swivelled me around gently and I almost collapsed.

“No tears,” she whispered in my ear. “You wouldn’t want to ruin all that hard work before he even has a chance to see this would you?”

I shook my head and very carefully dabbed the moisture from my eyes. If I had thought the mirror held a fairy tale princess before, then the vision staring back at me now was proof positive. I never would be any more beautiful than this, and in a short time I would be able to offer this beauty to the most special guy in the world.

Shelley’s mum squeezed my shoulders. “I couldn’t be prouder of you if you were my own daughter.”

“Do you think he’ll like it? You’re daughter I mean?”

“I wish you wouldn’t talk like that, it gives me a headache. But yes I think Shelley will love what we’ve achieved here. I hope this will make up for what I did to both of you the other day.”

We stood there gazing at the mirror for a few seconds longer, then Mrs Hamilton glanced at her watch and suddenly the quiet moment was gone.

“Come on, we’d better get you to your date.”

She gathered up the clothes I’d left lying around the cubicle and stuffed them into a bag. A few things were transferred from my old handbag to my new along with some of the cosmetics from my makeover, then we made our way to the main entrance of the shop.

-oOo-

The warmth of the day was receding and I gave an involuntary shudder as a cool breeze raised goose bumps down my back. Shelley’s mum caught the motion and stopped to reach into the magical carrier bag one more time.

“Your gran wanted you to wear this tonight. I thought it was maybe a little over the top, but since it is getting a little chilly it might not be such a bad idea.”

She draped a white fur stole over my shoulders. It was warm and oh so soft.

“Is it…”

“No it’s just a high quality fake. Your gran isn’t that well off, and besides she far too kind hearted to choose fashion at the cost of such cruelty. You know I think I owe her an apology; it really does finish off that outfit.”

Shelley’s Mum checked her watch again and, as if on cue, the longest white limousine I had ever seen rounded the corner and pulled to a stop in front of us. My surprise jumped another level as Shelley stepped out of the back door and held it open for us.

I had been so looking forward to the effect I was going to have on him that I hadn’t given a moment’s thought to how the sight of him would blow me away, and blow me away it did.

I mean put an underdeveloped fifteen year old boy in a tuxedo and what do you get? I certainly wasn’t expecting to be impressed, but somehow the sight of him took my breath away. Beneath the single button jacket he was wearing a pleated shirt with laydown collar and a black bow tie.

It wasn’t the clothes that made the man though, but rather the way he wore them. There was a casual self-assuredness about his bearing. The clothes were trendy and smart, but the confidence with which he carried them made him drop dead gorgeous.

I honestly don’t know which of us was more taken with the other, but for the longest time all we could do was stare at each other.

It was too long for mother. “Alright you two love birds, though it pains me to interrupt such a special moment, we are on something of a tight schedule here so please climb aboard.”

The spell broken, I managed to gather my wits and my skirts enough to climb into the back seat of the car. Shelley’s mum came next and sat with her back to the driver, leaving room for Shelley to sit next to me.

As we pulled away, Mrs Hamilton spoke again, obviously enjoying herself. “I’m only catching a ride with you as far as the car park, after that the driver will take you to a French bistro near the theatre. You have a reservation there for six o’clock in the name of Newington. Don’t worry about paying for the meal as we have already made arrangements for that to be taken care of.

“You will need to keep something of an eye on the time though. You need to leave the restaurant by seven thirty and walk down the Oxford Street to the theatre. Two tickets have been reserved, yet again in young Mr Newington’s name, and you should be able to pick them up without queuing. Curtain goes up at eight o’clock and in the longstanding tradition of theatres everywhere, you will not be allowed to enter the auditorium after that, so please make sure you get there in good time.”

“What happens after the play?” Shelley asked as limo pulled up near to the multi-story where his mum’s car was parked.

“All taken care of. Don’t worry go with the flow and enjoy.” With that she stepped out of the car and was gone.

The limo driver gave us a short tour on the way to the restaurant, showing off the smoothness of his ride as well is some of the more picturesque parts his town. Eventually he pulled up to the side of the road and stepped out to hold the door for us. He indicated the theatre a short walk down the road as well as the entrance to the restaurant where we had our reservations. We thanked him and Shelley held the door open for me as we entered.

The Maá®tre d flashed us a smile of genuine pleasure as Shelley offered his borrowed name and led us to a small table in a quiet corner of the restaurant.

“Mam’selle, monsieur. Je vous souhaite bon appétit.”

French isn’t my favourite subject at school, but I just about managed the gist of that. Shelley offered him a ‘merci’ as he withdrew and we settled into our evening together.

It passed like a dream. Somehow we managed to unlock eyes long enough to read the menu and place an order. Being unchaperoned and underage, wine was not an option, but a sparkling grape juice was served in wine glasses adding to the magic of the meal. I can’t remember what I ordered, but the flavour was exquisite and the portions small enough that even I had room for desert after a starter and main course. I don’t remember that either of us spoke much, except with our eyes and our hands; the setting was too perfect, too ideal for words.

We finished eating and sat listening to the bustle around us while we finished the last of our drinks. A waiter approached and bent to murmur something in Shelley’s ear. He stood and walked round the table to help me up.

“It seems that we should be on our way if we want to be in our seats in good time for the opening curtain.”

I accepted my stole from the waiter and wrapped it around my shoulders before sliding my arm into the crook of Shelley’s elbow. We thanked the waiter and headed for the door. The head waiter held it open for us and wished us a pleasant evening.

It was still light as we headed towards the theatre entrance, and we found our eyes drawn to the lettering above the doors.

“The King and I. Have you ever heard of it?” I asked Shelley.

“I think I remember Gran talking about it once. They made a film out of it and Grandpa took her to it on one of their rare real dates. He didn’t enjoy it much, but she was enthralled. Actually I wasn’t so interested in that as who’s in it.”

He nodded his head at the sign and I strained to read the smaller writing underneath. It listed the actors who were taking the major parts and one name jumped off the board at me.

Carol Newington.

“Aunt Carol is acting in this?”

“And singing too I should imagine; it is a musical.”

It was twenty to when we reached the entrance. We walked past the queue for the box office and headed straight for the enquiries and pickup desk.

Shelley put his hand on the counter. “You should have two tickets in the name of Newington.”

“Oh yes, your aunt asked me to put aside something special for you. Stalls, J11 and 12; best seats in the house. And a program. I hope you enjoy the show.”

And we did. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, especially when the program proudly declared that the production was being put on by the local amateur dramatic group, but as the curtain went up and the show began, it became obvious that there was nothing amateur about this production.

Aunt Carol’s voice was surprisingly good. I mean I had heard her singing in the shower before, but tonight she was pitch perfect and projecting powerfully. From her performance she absolutely deserved to be topping the bill as Anna. Extra kudos for moving around so well in such an enormous skirt too.

The story took some unravelling and I was just about hanging on as the end of the first act approached. There was something about the King putting on a ball to show Queen Victoria that he was civilised and then a scene where he admits to Anna that he cannot dance so she offers to show him how. The king with all his arrogance and pride declares that he cannot learn when he is the only student in the room and Anna offers to find him two others.

I didn’t twig that this last bit was a departure from the original script right up until the moment when two spotlights pinned Shelley and me in our seats and Carol announced to the audience that her nephew and his consort were visiting and would be glad to come up onto the stage to help out with the dancing.

With the audience applauding and both the king and Anna beckoning for us to join them on stage, we had no choice. We sidled our way out of our seats and up onto the stage where Anna presented us to the king as though this was a planned part of the play. Shelley bowed on his introduction and I just about managed a serviceable curtsey in my heels.

Anna then gave instruction on how we were to hold ourselves. I had never danced formally before that moment, I mean how many fifteen year old or younger boys get to do something like that in real life? Even so it felt oddly unnatural putting my left hand on Shelley’s shoulder and holding out my right hand for him to hold. Shelley seemed to feel similarly uncomfortable, but before long he was leading me quite confidently in a lively dance around the stage as Aunt Carol and her opposite number managed the same while singing ‘Shall we dance?’

At the end of the scene we accepted our applause with a quick bow and even more wobbly curtsey and settled back into our seats for the last scene before the interval.

I had wanted to spend the interval scouring the program for information that might help me follow the plot a bit better, but our short time in the spotlight had us inundated with strangers coming up to us and offering congratulations for our part in the show. We even had a couple of drinks bought for us, by which time it was difficult to refuse them.

I did manage to start up a discussion about the story with some of our newly acquired fan-base, and one elderly husband and wife were particularly helpful in explaining the story so that by the time the first bell went to call us all back to our seats, we had a much better grasp of what was going on.

The musical carried itself to its tearful conclusion and was met with rapturous applause and a standing ovation for the cast as they came on to take their bows. The king and Anna came on in pride of place and the volume of the applause went up a few decibels. When the two of them pointed in our direction and the spotlights were turned towards us again, the sound became even more deafening and we were once again invited up onto the stage to receive our own accolade.

The whole experience gave me a new understanding on why people are drawn to the ‘roar of the greasepaint’ as I’ve heard Aunt Carol refer to it. When the curtain came down for the last time, Carol held onto our arms and invited us backstage to her dressing room. She was on a high with all the adrenaline and I have never seen her look more beautiful, even being overly made up for the strong stage lights.

“Carol, you were wonderful!” Other members of the cast crowded into the confined space with us to bask in the afterglow of a successful performance, and we were introduced to so many of her friends. They all complemented Shelley and me on our impromptu performance and thanked us for being such good sports. Eventually they all filed out and left Carol to change.

Carol pulled out her mobile and selected a number from the list. “Hi Peter. Things are winding down now, I think my nephew and his date are about ready to be picked up… ten minutes, that’s great. OK bye.

“I’m going to be a while longer here you two; you have no idea how much effort is involved in scraping this gunk off your face. Your ride should be out front in a little less than ten minutes. Jerry you have your key?” Shelley tapped his pocket and nodded. “OK then, I’ll see you back at home in about an hour. Thanks for being such good sports tonight and I hope you enjoyed it.”

I don’t know if she managed to get anything more than a general impression as we both enthused over how perfect the night had been at the same time. Eventually she laughed and pushed us out the door.

One of the backstage crew led us back to the theatre and gave us directions out. By the time we had found our way to the street in front of the theatre, our limo from earlier was just approaching. We stood to one side hardly daring to hope that it had come back for us, but then the driver stepped out and beckoned us over, opening the back door as he did so.

As we pulled away from the kerb, he slid open a partition and leaned back to speak to us.

“There are drinks in the mini-bar in front of you; complementary this time, so don’t worry about running your aunt’s bill up any higher. I’m going to assume from the look on your faces that it was a good evening?”

We nodded our agreement and with a parting, ‘enjoy the ride’ he slid the partition closed again.

Shelley opened the mini-bar to find it stocked with fruit juices and fizzy drinks. He offered to pour and we both settled back with some concoction of apple and mango.

The evening had been too much. We were both lost in our own thoughts and too overwhelmed to find words to share. The limo ride was smooth but, like the earlier one, all to short and in next to no time we were stopped outside Aunt Carol’s house. Our driver opened the door for us and offered me a hand as a climbed to my feet once more.

“You guys take care,” he said as he climbed back into his immense vehicle and drove off.

“There’s one car I wouldn’t want to turn around in the road.”

I laughed at the image of the limo broadside on in one of these smallish back roads and turned to face my date.

“I don’t want to go in just yet,” I told him. “Do you fancy a walk?”

He offered me his elbow and, settling my stole more comfortably over my shoulders, I took hold of his arm with both my hands and let him lead me where he would.

The stars were out and a near full moon was high in the sky, so we headed out of town relying on the moonlight to guide our feet. For half an hour we wandered aimlessly in silence enjoying one another’s company then, just as my toes were really beginning to pinch in the new shoes, we found our way back to Carol’s front door.

Shelley let us in and I kicked off the shoes with a grateful sigh.

“That’s one thing I don’t miss,” Shelley told me nodding at the shoes. “I’ve never been more comfortable in my clothes than I have been this week.”

“Well you look really good in them tonight,” I told him.

“I wasn’t fishing for complements. It’s just that, well I don’t want you to be uncomfortable for any longer than you need to be. You are so drop dead gorgeous right now I hate to suggest this, but if you want to slip into something more comfortable I really don’t mind.”

I stepped up to him and took his hands in mine. They were all I dared to look at. He was close and I could feel his breath on my forehead. All I wanted at that moment was for him to kiss me and slowly, oh so slowly I lifted my lips towards his.

I caught his eyes and they fixed on mine. I stopped moving, waited. This had to be him, his idea, him wanting to kiss me. My breath caught in my throat as he edged ever closer, my heart started to gallop about in my chest and I could feel my small breasts rising and falling as my breathing deepened. One last small movement of my head, just to show him I’m ready…

He stepped away and turned his back to me. His fists were clenched, his whole body rigid.

“Shelley?”

“Please don’t.” His voice was strangled, unreadable.

I was confused. What had I done wrong? I reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, but he stiffened even more under the touch. Confused I turned to the stairs and climbed a few. I looked back at him, but his back was still turned to me. I climbed the rest of the way up to my room without looking back.

-oOo-

By the time Carol came in I had changed out of the various torture devices that had lent so much to my appearance and was sitting in my nightdress ready to clean off the perfect makeup. My heart felt like it had burst inside me and tears had carved channels down either side of my nose carrying with them a mess of eye shadow and mascara.

Carol’s footsteps appeared outside my door. How had she climbed those stairs without a single creak?

“I thought you two would still be up. Did Jerry go to bed?”

I ducked my head to hide the state of my face, but my hair was still held in its elaborate pattern and I had nowhere to go.

“Shelley what’s the matter love?” Carol stepped into the room and sat down on the bed behind me, settling a hand onto my shoulder.

I couldn’t help the sobs from coming deeper and harder. “It was all going so perfectly. I have never known a more wonderful night. The restaurant, the musical, the limo ride, they were all so wonderful, and with Jerry looking so amazing and me feeling so amazing it didn’t feel like anything could go wrong.”

Carol held onto me and waited.

“We went for a walk when we got back here; it was too perfect a night to waste. The stars and the moonlight. I didn’t even feel the way my feet were pinching until we came back to the house and I took my shoes off. We didn’t say anything, I mean there really was nothing to say. We just walked and held onto each other. It didn’t seem like anything could go wrong.”

Still she waited.

“I made a move like you said I should. I walked up to him and took his hands in mine. Then I looked up at him, really slow until his eyes were looking into mine and mine into his. He was moving to kiss me and I raised my head so slightly to show I was ready, that I wanted it. We were so close, then he turned away.”

She rubbed my shoulder and waited.

“It was like he was angry with me. His fists were all clenched and his body all tensed up. He wouldn’t talk to me. What did I do wrong?”

I spun around and buried my face in her neck. I was conscious of the mess I was making of her blouse, but I couldn’t help myself. Carol rubbed my back and held me gently to her, rocking back and forth and making comforting noises while I heaved up great gobs of pain and cried myself out.

Eventually the crying stopped and I sat still, drained to immobility. Carol took the makeup remover and cleaned the mess my face had become. She then used my skin care products to finish the job before gently turning me back towards the mirror. She unpinned my hair and let it fall in its usual cascade around my shoulders. She brushed my hair until the tangles had gone then guided me oh so gently to my bed. She turned the lights out and closed the door.

-oOo-

I don’t know how long I lay there. I was numb and drained but couldn’t sleep for the longest time until suddenly I was waking up to a new day. My last day before Shelley’s parents whisked this body off to Barbados regardless of who was in it.

I swung my feet out of the bed and sat up. I felt dead inside, as though all the emotion I had poured out the previous night had been all there was in me and there was nothing to replenish it. My mouth felt disgusting and it dawned on me that I hadn’t brushed my teeth before Carol tucked me in the previous night. I headed for the bathroom, took care of business and spent five minutes scrubbing away at my pearly whites until it felt like whatever had been growing on them was gone.

I found my slippers and dressing gown and padded downstairs to the kitchen. Carol was sitting there nursing a cup of tea. She was wearing her nightclothes so I knew she had at least tried to go to sleep.

She looked up as I entered and turned to reheat the kettle, grabbing mug, teabag, milk in readiness.

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for sweetheart?”

“You tried so hard to give us a special night out last night, and it was so wonderful, then I go and mess it up by crying all over you and ruining your blouse.”

She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me. I felt myself tearing up again and buried my face in her shoulder.

“You have nothing to feel sorry for Shelley dear. It wasn’t your fault that the evening ended the way it did.”

“How do you know? How do you know I didn’t do something to ruin it?”

“Because I have got to know you rather well this last week and you’re not the sort of person who sabotages her own happiness, or does something to upset someone without being able to figure out what that was.”

“Then what happened? Why does he hate me?”

Carol was quiet for a while. The kettle clicked off and she turned to mix me some elixir of life. She dumped the teabag in the sink and handed me the mug.

“I don’t think he does. I think he’s as confused about all this as you are, probably more so since he seems to be the one making all the wrong decisions.”

“So what can we do about it?”

She offered me a sympathetic half smile. “I’m still working on that love. Breakfast?”

Thankfully the skillet stayed in its cupboard. Fry ups are nice for an occasional treat, but as every day food they get old very quickly.

I bit into the dry toast and marmalade and found myself relishing the familiarity of it. Perhaps my body remembered and longed for this usual fair even though my mind had only tasted it for the first time two weeks ago.

The tea lifted my spirits. There was still an emptiness inside me that left me without a care as to how this weekend would end. Barbados sounded pretty good and if Shelley was going to behave like such an ass then maybe she deserved to sample my life for a while. I mean I could wear that bikini for a couple of weeks, especially if it meant I could lie in the sand and bronze myself.

“Why don’t you head up and get washed and dressed. I shall attempt to rouse the Kraken in a short while.”

I couldn’t resist a smile as Shelley chose that moment to utter some vaguely inhuman groan. Leaving the squirming mound of duvet to his long climb towards consciousness I headed up stairs and into the shower.

This was my last full day here and I’d given some thought to what I would wear. I was looking for a finish-as-it-started sort of theme and had considered the jeans and knitted top Shelley had been wearing when I first met her. The thing was this was also about the last time I’d see Gran and Grandpa for a while and I didn’t want to say goodbye to them wearing trousers, so I’d had chosen the light blue summer dress that Shelley had worn on our first picnic, and as I held it up against me I knew I had made the right decision.

I slipped into it and worked on my hair until the mirror showed the same glowing vision that had so captivated me on that first morning. Just the slightest hint of eye shadow and a neutral lip gloss to give my lips a little more fullness and shine and I was ready. I couldn’t match Shelley’s eagerness and anticipation, especially after the way the previous night had ended, but I looked good. The addition of a dark blue headband to keep my hair back out of my eyes and a pair of white slip on shoes with kitten heels had me ready for the outside world. I grabbed my white bag and headed downstairs to see if the world was ready for me.

“I remember that look,” Aunt Carol told me as I re-entered the kitchen. “With the possible exception of last night, I cannot remember you looking lovelier than on that first morning when you came round.”

I offered her a smile but my heart wasn’t really in it.

“It hasn’t turned out quite the way you hoped has it sweetheart?”

I blinked back the moistness in my eyes shook my head. Shelley still hadn’t roused and I wasn’t going to sit around waiting.

“I’m going out for a walk.”

There wasn’t much Carol could say and she kept her peace as I stepped out the door and pulled the door closed behind me.

I knew where I was going, but without Shelley to accompany me the whole walk seemed empty and aimless. I walked slowly, hoping at any moment that he would catch me up and chase away the feeling of loss inside of me, but it wasn’t to be. In just a short time I turned off the main road and headed up a dirt track between two fields. Before long the path widened with trees growing up either side. There was still a lot of debris on the ground from the storm earlier in the week, large branches that need climbing over, or more often in this dress walking around, so it took my quite a lot longer than I’d first anticipated to reach my destination.

When I arrived I had no idea what to do. There was the stump of an old tree that had been cut down not too far from where we had been standing. I walked over to investigate and, having decided that it wasn’t too dirty, I perched on it and stared towards the spot where we had been standing.

I don’t know how long I stayed there. My mind went over everything that had happened the previous evening, everything I had said, everything I had done, everything I remembered of Shelley’s behaviour. I couldn’t think of anything that might have brought about that sudden change. It had seemed so right, so perfect and now all I had was a heart rending ache every time I thought about Shelley.

My packet of tissues was almost all used up; just two left, when I heard a quiet footfall and Shelley’s shadow drifted into my field of view. He sat down next to me on the stump; not quite close enough to touch.

“Carol kicked me out of bed to come looking for you. I didn’t even get any breakfast.” There was an air of petulance about him, as though he was being hard done by.

“If you’re looking for sympathy you’ve come to the wrong place… How come it took you so long to find me?”

“I’ve been operating without caffeine. It took me a while to figure out where you would have gone.”

We sat side by side without talking for a while. I tore the tissue in my hands into tiny shreds and released them to the elements.

“Littering isn’t approved of around here,” Shelley told me.

“It’s biodegradable. There won’t be anything left by the end of next w — what exactly happened yesterday?” I was suddenly angry; the hopeless, aching self-pity replaced by a burning outrage.

He was silent for so long I was tempted to hit him and ask the question again. Eventually he marshalled his thoughts enough to respond. He climbed to his feet and took a few steps forward. Keeping his back to me he spoke in a quiet but clear voice.

“The whole thing was as much a surprise to me as it was to you. I had no idea what your aunt had planned, except that it involved the rental of a tuxedo. We headed into town at about the same time as you, but Carol had things to do, I imagine preparations for the evening’s performance, so she gave me a tenner and sent me off to amuse myself for a few hours before meeting her at the costume shop at five.

“I thought about going to the cinema, but that’s no real fun on your own so I just walked around the mall. I saw you and Mum head into the salon and I have to admit I was just a little jealous. Still it set me thinking about this past few weeks and what’s happened between us. I knew that whatever was planned for the evening was special and intended to bring us together.

“You know I’ve got the guy’s brain here? It’s odd and a more than a little unsettling to think clearly and logically in the middle of all the feelings that I have, but I had a pretty good idea that you were being swept along by your feelings the way I usually am. I found myself thinking about that first picnic we had and the things you said to me when we reached this spot. I guess I have a better understanding of the way you think and feel. For the first time I understood your reasons for wanting to hold back until things were resolved with Alex and I respect you for being so honest, even though it hurt like hell.”

“A bit like this does?”

“Yeah I guess so.”

He stared at the ground for a long time and I wondered if he was done, but he was only regrouping his thoughts.

“I decided that the right thing to do would be to honour your wishes from before we switched, that it was up to me to stop things from going too far because you’re stuck with my hormones and when I was in your position there was no way I could do anything but let them carry me along.

“The evening was so perfect. The way you looked in that dress with your hair up and those opals, the quiet corner of a posh French restaurant, the musical and being included in it, dancing on stage, the limo ride home, the moonlit walk. I mean everything went into making the evening so perfect and there you were waiting for me to kiss you and I wanted to so much…”

His fists were clenched again and his voice sounded strangled like he was at the furthest limits of his self-control. I stood up, stepped over and placed an arm on his shoulder.

“It just isn’t fair!” He spun on me and tears were streaming down his face. “I have wanted to kiss you since the day we first met. I wanted to kiss you when I was the girl and for two weeks now all I have wanted to do is take you in my arms and kiss you. You have no idea how hard it was for me to pull away from you last night. I knew you would be upset, that you wouldn’t understand, that you would react like this and it was the last thing I wanted for you, but before all this started you said you needed to resolve tings with Alex before there could be anything between us so I had to be strong for both of us even though I so desperately didn’t want to.”

Shock rooted me to the spot and for a moment robbed me of words. I tried to get my mind straight.

“Oh Shelley, I had no idea! But I thought we talked this through already. Whatever happens with Alex will happen in the future. What matters right now is following the spell to its end, and that means I have to give into the feelings I have right now, and so do you.

“You make me feel so safe and cared for and all I want right now, all I have wanted since last night is to know that you really do care for me the way I feel you do.” All the feelings that had been swirling about inside of me over the past two weeks welled up inside me and I so wanted to reach out and pull him to me. Something inside held me back though and I stood there looking at him and longing oh so desperately longing for him to take me in his arms.

He took a tentative step forward and I began to tremble with anticipation. He reached out a hand, began to pull it back. I grabbed it and pulled it to my cheek. ‘Sometimes they need a little help.’ Carol’s words echoed around in my head. He gave into the feelings that were warring against his better nature and drew me to him. I closed my eyes as his lips met mine.

My arms were up around his neck and my leg lifted as though it had a will of its own. From the depths of my soul, from every tiny nook and cranny, from every fibre of my being I reached out to him poured into him all the feelings I had for him. It was passion, it was ecstasy, it was electric.

I don’t know when I realised that the electricity wasn’t just coming from me. It felt so much like that first experience under the tree, but somehow this was more powerful, more overwhelming.

The world began to spin and it felt like I was rising up and out of my — or rather Shelley’s — body. She came with me and we swirled around each other and through the branches of the tree, stretching and reaching out until we could feel for miles in every direction. There was Aunt Carol her memories of a happy and a fulfilled life tainted only by the slightest hint of loneliness and regret. There were Shelley’s grandparents, their love a still and tranquil pool despite the ripples of disquiet over Gran’s recent experiences, and Shelley’s parent’s a love of equal measure but vibrant and alive, like two tigers circling each other; proud and independent but diving together to embrace a fiercely shared desire. There were a hundred others we didn’t know, all living their different lives, all muddling their way through the joys and disappointments that came with every day.

The swirling spiralled back in, spinning faster and faster till everything was a blur, then with a shock we fell away from each other. Shelley looked back at me. The real Shelley this time and I felt the residual echoes of her own feelings resonate with mine. I could see from her stunned expression that she was experiencing something very similar.

Wow what a rush, but this wasn’t a moment to be cheapened by trite comments. I climbed to my feet and helped her to hers. Thoughts of Alex couldn’t survive in the maelstrom inside me. I took her in my arms and put a warning finger on her lips when she made to protest. I drew her gently to me and kissed her again for the first time.

This time there was no magic swirling us around, just the magic of two people who shared such a deep connection.

“What about Alex?” She asked.

“Let me worry about that. Let’s just enjoy the moment.” And with that I kissed her again.

-oOo-