Wheels and Wings 7

Character List.

Jack Thomas Later AKA Ellie... Transvestite/intersexual and keen cyclist.
Amanda Thomas AKA Amie... Jack's sister.
Charlotte Dawson... Keen girl cyclist and Jack’s soon-to-be girlfriend.
Bob... Cycling club captain.
Mr Thomas Weston... School games master and keen rugby player.
Billy Davies... Rugby ‘jock’, kind to Jack, he fancies Charlotte.
Marjorie Spencer... Holder of unofficial ‘Prettiest-girl-in-the-school’ title.
Miss Elizabeth Postlethwaite... The English Mistress.
Aunty Olwen... Where Jack changes for school and leaves his bike.
Mandy... Olwen’s daughter, Jack’s older cousin.
Mr Griffiths... The County solicitor.

Chapter 7

Back in school on the Monday Jack found himself outside Mr Weston’s office. Charlotte had decided to accompany him despite Jack’s protests that it would amount to nothing.

“You never know. I’ll hide when he calls you in but I’ll be listening at the keyhole. He’s got no right to tell you what you should do on your Saturdays.”

“I know that,” Jack protested, “but he tries to shame me into showing support for the school. Team spirit he calls it.”

“And are you shamed?”

“No. I hate rugby, you already know that; the boys who play it are mostly thugs and bullies who take every advantage of the game’s toughness to hurt you if they don’t like you or you’ve made them look stupid.”

“And you make them look stupid because of your speed.” Charlotte replied wryly.

“Exactly.” Jack sighed.

“Tell him that.”

“I have, time and again; he just says do extra weight training to put muscle and bulk on.”

“Won’t that slow you down? For the road racing that is?”

“Yes, but not in rugby or for sprinting or on the velodrome track but it will in road racing, sprinters whether running or wheeling on the track, do better if they’ve got plenty of muscle but only for short bursts.”

Charlotte nodded, she knew Jack was right, male or female the same rules applied in racing. Jack continued.

“I’m built for road racing long distances. That’s what I’m best at. My natural cadence gives me the advantages over the long haul in the club races, while my hill climbing ability is close to Bob’s and he’s been a regional senior champion. My tactic is to burn any sprint finishes out of the opposition so they can’t make a short burst for the finishing line. Then I use my own high speed cadence to make a fairly long, fast burst to the line. I’m not going to let old Weston bully me.”

Charlotte smile encouragement just as the games master came around the corner and nodded to Jack before squinting suspiciously at Charlotte.

“What are you doing here young lady?”

“I’m waiting for Jack.”

“Well you’ll be a while then. The headmaster’s coming to persuade Jack to show a bit more team spirit, some co-operation and comradeship.”

Charlotte caught Jack’s warning glance so she said nothing. The word comradeship and the way players got hurt in rugby didn’t seem at all like ‘comradeship’ to Charlotte. She’d seen the boys limping around on Mondays after a hard weekend game against another school. At least in cycling, the competition had to treat you with respect or they could get injured just as easily. She smirked at Mr Weston and he gave her a sharp glare.

“I’ll wait outside then. We’ve got to be in our English class at eleven thirty, we’ve got a test.”

Mr Weston shrugged and motioned to Jack to enter his office. Jack glanced once towards Charlotte and flashed a warning. Charlotte flashed a look of understanding and started walking towards her classroom as though to indicate she was departing the scene. Fortunately it was raining heavily so the children were sheltering in their common rooms. Because it was a grammar school most children chose to get ahead with their homework or chat in the corridors. If children were behaving themselves they were allowed to gather in the corridors and socialise. This was what Charlotte was doing when the Headmaster arrived and entered Mr Weston’s office. The moment he passed her, she separated from her friends then returned to her listening post after he had entered the Games Master’s office. She continued ‘loitering’ outside the games-master’s room. As the conversation was developing, Charlotte heard it grow into a full scale row and she admired the way Jack stood up for himself.

Firstly Mr Weston tried to ridicule Jack and belittle him for being stupid in a woman’s clothing shop. He more or less accused Jack of being a homosexual pervert until Jack had the sheer audacity to stand up for himself and bluntly tell him that he was not gay, he was out having fun with his girlfriend Charlotte Dawson. How could he be gay if he had a girlfriend? Charlotte smiled to herself when she heard Jack boldly declare that she was his girlfriend. She so wanted to be his girlfriend but Jack had either been too shy to ask or too pre-occupied with cycling. Now she had heard him state it boldly and bluntly, she savoured a visceral tingle of pleasure that caused her to squirm and clench her thighs together.

‘So my dad’s right.’ She thought, ‘he’s not gay despite the knickers thing.’

She calmed down and continued listening.

The voices were quieter now but Charlotte could recognise the headmaster’s tones and they did not seem friendly or supportive. Charlotte could only presume that the school were censuring Jack for not showing an espirit-de-corps. Eventually the voices started to rise again and Charlotte could understand what was being said. She was secretly pleased that Jack continued to resist the pressures being put on him until eventually the door to Mr Weston’s office opened and the head-master emerged with a look of thunder. He seemed so pre-occupied and angry, that he completely missed or ignored Charlotte who just managed to step away and appear to be simply passing by as if walking down the corridor.

With the door left open, Charlotte heard a few final loud remonstrations then Jack emerged looking sullen and determined. She waited behind the stair-well and tackled Jack as he started up the stairs.

“What’d they say?”

“Oh they’ve given me a week to decide if I want to participate in school sports. The head’s sending my mum a letter. Apparently there’s some important games coming up for the county shield and they expect me to support the school.”

“You don’t have to. Have you decided?”

“Yes, but I know they’ll make things difficult. No matter what they try to do, it’s still cycling that I like. I far prefer that to rugby.”

“Is there any particular reason?” Charlotte asked already anticipating the answer. It wasn’t exactly what she had expected.

“Yeah, cycling clears your head. I can think things out more clearly when I’m bumbling along on my bike.”
Charlotte grinned. “You don’t ‘bumble’ Jack, you’re fast!”

“Well ... yeah, but you know what I mean. Open road, all alone, peace to get my head around stuff.”

Charlotte smiled weakly. She had been expecting some mention of friendship and support. True camaraderie on the club rides; shared pleasures with herself and the rest of the riders.

“Oh. I thought you liked chatting while we ride.”

Jack suddenly realised that he had made a bit of a faux-pas. He did enjoy the camaraderie of the club rides but that was only on weekends. He had been thinking of the daily weekday rides to and from school and the long lonely training rides he so loved.

“Oh! Sorry, yeah, the friendship as well. The cycle club is much more supportive and the olds are okay!” And there’s you. I like your company much more than the stupid jocks.”

Charlotte smiled with satisfaction. ‘At long last he had admitted in some part to being her boyfriend.’ She pressed her suit.

“D’you prefer girl’s company to boys?”

Jack looked at her slightly bemused.

“What d’you mean?”

“Well, d’you prefer girls to boys? I heard old Weston shouting at you and implying you were a gay-boy.”

“Of course I prefer girls.” Jack paused as his mind recollected the weekend events. He glanced around and asked in an uncertain whisper. “Is this about the knickers thing?”

It was Charlotte’s turn to frown uncertainly. Then she added hesitantly.

“Well ... yes  ¬— a bit. Are you gay?”

“No! I’m not. Is that what you think?”

Charlotte hesitated then asked.

"Can I ask you something else?”

Jack frowned again; he pretty much knew what was coming. Instead he asked the rhetorical question for her.

“I suppose you want to know why; why I was wearing them.”

Charlotte nodded before saying “yes,” almost apologetically, then repeating more confidently; “Yes; why?”

Jack shrugged despondently.

“Dunno’, I just do. I like it.”

“D’you want to be a girl?” Charlotte asked.

Jack fell silent and that silence bothered Charlotte. She was becoming worried and pressed harder.

“Are you like those people on television, the ones who change sex?”

Jack still wasn’t certain that he didn’t want to be a woman but he certainly fancied the idea of living as one. His confusion only perpetuated his silence and this silence served to frighten Charlotte further. She added uncertainly.

“I don’t want to have a girlfriend, I want a boyfriend. I wouldn’t be able to go out with you if you were a girl, well; not as boyfriend and girlfriend anyway.”

Jack replied with similar uncertainty.

“I didn’t say I wanted to be a girl, I said I’d prefer to live as one.”

“But isn’t that the same. How could I go out with you if you’re dressed as a girl?”

Jack paused thoughtfully.

“Girls go out together all the time. Look at town on a Saturday night.”

Charlotte gasped then giggled slightly.

“What! You mean you’d go out dressed as a girl!”

It was Jack’s turn to hesitate as he considered the idea. He made a small confession and replied.

“Maybe.”

Charlotte stared at him bemusedly as she studied Jack more closely. The more she looked, the more she felt Jack could pass as a girl. He was smallish for fourteen and his face was quite feminine. She grinned and pretended to be dismissive of his confession but she was secretly intrigued. Her silence and curiosity worried Jack now and he frowned as he remarked.

“You think I’m a sicko don’t you?”

Charlotte was slightly annoyed at Jack’s presumption that she was some sort of intolerant bigot. She snapped back.

“No! No I don’t. My dad says there’s nothing wrong with you; he told me you’re not gay when I asked him about it. I had to ask him, I was worried. You’ve got transvestism that’s all.”

Jack let out a snort of derision.

“Hah. You don’t catch transvestism; it’s not like the flue or cancer. You’re born with it.”

It was Charlotte’s turn to be angry.

“I didn’t say you’d caught it, I said you’ve got it!”

Jack fell silent before conceding.

“Yeah; well, if you mean ‘got it’ like somebody’s got blond hair or brown eyes then yes, I suppose that’s okay. But it’s not a disease; being transvestite is just like being tall or short, white or black. They’re born that way, I’m born this way!”

A brief silence ensued before Charlotte ventured the next opinion.

“Yeah, but you have to admit it’s unusual.”

“Yeah, like being seven feet tall is unusual, like being a dwarf or being Down’s syndrome is unusual!”

His louder emphasis on the final word ‘unusual’ attracted unwanted attention.

“What’s unusual?” A voice asked from the top of the stairs.

Both Jack and Charlotte looked up to see Marjorie Spencer holding some books. Jack swallowed as he wondered how much she’d heard. Charlotte responded a bit more aggressively.

“It’s nothing to do with you. I was talking to Jack.”

“Oh, secrets is it now?” Marjorie sniggered.

Charlotte snapped back.

“Yes. You know, privacy; private stuff. Nothing to do with you!”

Marjorie glared but it was obvious that Charlotte was not about to divulge anything. Jack and Charlotte resumed climbing the stairs then walked straight past Marjorie who turned and followed them into the English class where Miss Postlethwaite the English teacher, was handing out test papers. She looked at the trio entering.

“You almost missed the test. Get to your seats; I’ll hear any excuses after the exam.”

With no more ado, they went to their places and commenced the test.

After the exam, they made their excuses and Miss Postlethwaite accepted them. Jack was glad to be going home. He felt wrung out by Mr Weston’s demands and Charlotte’s concerns.

~~ooo000oo~~