We soon arrived at the shops and the shopping spree started, mum was really enjoying herself choosing lingerie, dresses, skirts, tops etc all the clothing and accessories that a girl needs, we stopped for lunch at a place mum knew and was owned by another of her friends, was there any shop owner that she didn`t know ?.
After lunch is back to the shops for shoes and jewelry, then to a hair dressers to get our hair cut and styled, it was a long day and when mum decided we were finished it was back to the house to unpack and hang everything up in the wardrobes.After the evening meal and a bit of television we both had a good hot bath and an early night.

The next few days were me learning how to sit and generally behave like a girl, it was hard work but mum pushed hard, no sooner than she was satisfied with one lesson and it was on to next but like she said there wasn`t a lot of time before school started and she wanted me to behave like a proper young lady. For the next few years I would be stuck most of the time in an all female environment so I suppose she right, I knew she wanted to do what she thought was best for me and she was right.

I had read all the literature from the school and knew thicko`s had no chance of getting of gaining admittance no matter how much you were worth, ths school was one of the best in the country with an excellent record in academic achievements, many of their students ended up in top business positions and a few were top doctors and scientists. They also had good sports teams but then again as a boy I was pretty pathetic at any sport, cricket, football and rugby I had no interest in, I didb`t mind swimming but wasn`t competitive at it, girls sports might be different although hockey and lacrosse would be out they used a small ball and wearing spectacles would keep me out of them I hoped.

The facilities at the school for hobbies and such seemed excellent and the choice of hobbies was unlimited, taking computers for instance they had according to brochure the best equipment available with fully acredited instructors. The only thing that worried me was the aspect fo the finishing school aspect, this was were they made sure all students were lady like enough to mix at any social level including Royalty, how would I end up when I left school after being taught the various aspects on being a lady?. Oh well I suppose I`d adapt to the situation one way or another.

During our shopping expedition we where going to buy school uniforms until we remembered that they were supplied at the school where they made to measure, not wonder the school fees were high. As the days passed mum was pleased that I picked up on what she was teaching me, the only lessons I had any real problems with was walking in heels and make-up but in the end I got of the hang of those as well.

The day arrived for me to start at the new school and we had stayed at a small town the day before, we arrived at the school as did about 20 cars of various types , our little Ford Focus certainly looked out of place amidst all the chauffer driven Bentleys and Rolls Royces that were arriving, but I didn`t let it bother me I was as good as anyone else. Mum might not be rich or a celebrity but so what, I was sure I`d find some friends amongst all these girls after all once the parents left we would be on our own to stand or fall and I had no intention of letting mum down.

We all assembled in the auditorium were the Headmistress gave a welcome speech and introduced us to the various teacher and other staff members that would be dealing with us. To get us settled in quickly parents were not encouraged to stay for long as we had to be fitted with uniform, shown to our rooms and taken round the school to see where everything was although finding our way around would take a bit of time. All the teachers and staff members were very pleasant and helpful, there was always one of them with us at all times to ensure we didn`t get lost or have any problems. We were split into four parties of five and each group would be sharing a room during our time at school, each group was taken away in a different direction to get things started, our group was taken down to the medical facilities were we each had a medical and talked to doctor and nurse about our medical history, of course they were aware of my situation and I was told that I was to see the nurse on a weekly basis until told different to make sure everything was okay after my little bit of surgery.

We then had a snack before being taken to be fitted for our uniforms, the room we were taken to for this was well equipped with fabrics, sewing machines etc, we were informed that this was were we would learn needlework skills and that by the time we left the school we would be able to make and design our own clothing. By the time we had been measured it was lunch time and we were taken to the dining room, one of the reasons the place was so expensive was that it had waitress service, meals were booked the day before fo a menu card where you ticked the boxes and they made sure that all meals were well balanced and healthy. The afternoon was allowed as free time so we could settle in, on arriving at our room we found that everything had been unpacked and hung in our wardrobes, everything that had needed ironing had been done so our little group talked and introduced ourselves to each other. As I thought all these girls were from wealthy backgrounds and their parents were minor members of the Nobility, I didn`t see or detect any snobbery though and got on well with them. Of course I didn`t let them in on my little secret, well not yet anyway.

The girls in my room were Elizabeth a real Headbanger , she likes pulling the most outragous pranks on people even the staff aren`t safe from her, Julia who is quiet and helpful to everyone, Ruth the sporty one amongst us, never still for a minute. and her sister Rose who hates sport with a vengence but is into fashion in a big way.
I`m sure we`ll all get along as friends and be able to work together.

The rest of the week was getting to know our way around the school, test and more tests, interviews with various people including a shrink, the Headmistress and her deputy were always around some where keeping an eye on us and making sure we got to the right place at the time, I doubt they`ll do that next week when school starts properly. We always had plenty of time for ourselves and we made to use that time doing something meaningful, there wouldn`t be much Television to see in this place although we did have to watch the news and current event programs. The school had system were hobbies were promoted, if you didn`t have a hobby they helped you find something you liked and book reading wasn`t considered a hobby, they also encourage sports as the headmistress says" A Healthy Body leads to a Healthy Mind" and I know that some of us hate sports.

The weekend we had free, the school laid on a bus and a couple of teachers to show us round the nearby town, it wasn`t a big place but it had enough for us do.There was a multiplex cinema, bowling alley, and shops what else could a girl ask for I ask you, maybe it wasn`t the best place to shop but it was good enough for us as long as we didn`t want expensive designer labels and on my allowance they were definately out. Sunday if you wanted you could go to church or whatever place you needed depending on your religion, me I`d rather have a lie in, Mum and me weren`t big in the religion thing but everyone is different and it didn`t bother me what people believed in as long as they didn`t try to force it on others.

Monday was the start of school proper, the older girls from the other years arrived on Sunday and where busy unpacking and meeting old friends. Elizabeth`s older sister a school prefect who told her not to expect to be treated any different from the rest of students. Our housemistress Mrs Lloyd made sure we presentable before we left the Dorm area, we had been told she was a bit of dragon but had been OK with us so far, we knew the rules and would like everyone else have to adhere to them.

There was no assembly like other schools, at this place they didn`t believe in wasting time on unnessessary meetings, so it was straight to class were we were checked in by the teacher, there were only 20 of us so that didn`t take long.

After the teachers introduction which was the same routine in every class, we started work, the first subject was Maths not my favourite subject but I could get through it ok. Seemed funny that the teacher told us to help each other, usually in a school that was a no no, but here it was expected except for tests. The next subject was history where we each given a project to do during the term, we were doing British history this term and I drew the industrial revolution. then we had English language, which also covered our speech we were expected to refrain from using slang terms and words at any time, to pronounce the words correctly and clearly the idea was to try and lessen our individual accents, i was informed that I would be getting extra vocal coaching instead of Phys Ed. that wopuld take us up to luch which we had 30 mins for. The afternoons were all practical lessons on moving and general behaviour of a young lady, all the rest of girls coming from backgrounds that were a lot higher up the social ladder than mine so I was at a disadvantage, our instuctor told me not to worry about it, it would all come together in time. there were also sewing lessons and surprise surprise we had Mrs Lloyd for that. during the week history would change every other with geography and english language with english literature. Religion was a taught subject at this school, the school governors said that religion should be taught by the clergy in church and not at school were there were amny different religions.

The thing I liked was that there was no set homework, we were expected to work on projects and read up on whatever subjects we were having problems with, I liked this school although the teachers were hard taskmasters they were fair and would help individual students that needed it. Weekends we thought were our own to spend how we wanted, how wrong we were, our Housemistresses kept up to date on how we were doing in various subjects and Saturday mornings were spent catching up on lessons, in my case it was poise and vocal were i was failing so i would get an hours instruction in each. Walking round a room in high heels with a book on head might look easy but believe me it `s not, after dinner each evening I also had to spend an hour doing the same,The other girls never once made any nasty comments but would give what they thought helpful advice. This was definately a different type of school than I was used to, especially when the Headmistress and teaching staff mixed with pupils after classes were finished for the day. It wasn`t unusual for fro a few girls to get together and form a band and start a sing along or one of teachers to suggest everyone go to the theatre and put on a unprompted show and those were hilarious when you had to ad lib forgotten lines. On the whole everyone had fun.