....I pulled him towards me and kissed him, seeking comfort in his embrace. "Oh yuk, you two get a room." said Ceri, in his usual forthright manner. "Which one Ceri?" I asked. The Price to Pay - Vol. 4.2 - Restrictions by Alys

I sat in the reception area looking at the photos, on the wall nearest me, of the sporting success of pupils at school. As I waited for my meeting with Mrs Williams the headteacher, I read the captions under the photos :- 'Jodie Jones - Women's Judo for Wales - 2001', 'Malcolm Evans - Under 18 Rugby for Wales - 2002' and another twenty or so similar records of sporting achievement with a photo of a different me, 'Celyn Morus - Under 16 Football for Wales - 2005', being the most recent.

I straightened my skirt and adjusted my bra to try and get a slightly better fit on my unusually sensitive breasts. I wondered if I might be experiencing a growth spurt in the boob department, after seeing little change in the last few months.

There was the sound of a quiet buzzer behind the desk of the receptionist, Miss Nyree Thomas, who picked up the phone.

She listened for a few seconds and then responded, "Yes, Mrs Williams, I'll send her in straight away."

I had stood up and was walking toward the door of the headteacher's office before she looked up and said," OK Celyn Mrs Williams will see you now"

I opened the door to a room almost as big as some of the classrooms in the school. One half of the room was taken by a large conference table and chairs. Mrs Serena Williams, headteacher of Cwm Wysg school sat in an imposing leather chair behind a large desk in the other half. Sunlight streaming through the window on this fine, almost Indian Summer like, late September morning formed a semi halo around Mrs William's face, making her seem more imposing andauthoritative than normal.

"Sit down, Celyn," she said in a friendly manner, indicating the chairs opposite her on the other side of the desk.

"How are you getting on?" she asked, after I had selected a chair and sat down.

"Fine thank you Mrs Williams." I replied.

"Good, I am glad to hear that. I was a little unsure about the whole thing, as I told you and your parents back in August. I am very pleased that everything seems to be working out. But I don't believe that it will be plain sailing all the way so you must remember to tell me or your teachers if there are any problems." She stated.

"Of course I will." I responded while wondering if I should tell her about Elfed's comment at football training. I decided that I would see if it was more than an isolated incident before involving Mrs Williams.

She held up a report sheet filled with short comments by teachers

"All of your are teachers very positive about you and your work, all except for Mr Franklin your biology teacher, he says that he doesn't think that you have made every effort to integrate with the rest of the class. Any thoughts on that?" She asked.

"I'm surprised that he should make such a remark to be honest Mrs Williams. I am good friends with a number in that class and I think I get on with everyone." I responded while silently fuming at the slur by 'Franklinstein'.

"Well I'm sure this is only a temporary issue and I have confidence that you will do everything you can to resolve whatever perceptions, false or otherwise that have arisen. We have great hopes for you in the next two years academically, Celyn"

"Thank you Mrs Williams"

She smiled at me and then paused for a moment before continuing in a more serious tone.

"However I do have a little problem to share with you at the moment. I have spoken to the games department and both Mrs Simons and Mr Jones are happy with your progress in netball and football"

"I'm pleased to hear that"

"However there is an issue with the rules of participating in the teams. Obviously your gender situation is pretty unusual and no-one has ever thought to provide guidelines......."

"I have given this some thought," I interjected.

"Oh yes, please tell me what you think," Mrs Williams responded.

I explained the legal situation regarding transsexuals being accepted by the IOC and netball being an Olympic sport. I also mentioned the Football Association of Wales ruling that girls could play in under 16 boys' teams where no appropriate girls' teams existed. She noted the information and then realising that she was late for an appointment in County Hall she ushered me out promising to discuss this further as soon as possible.

I walked over to the sixth form common room in a pensive mood almost bumping into a small boy from one of the lower years.

"Hey look where you're going!" I said to him, a little harshly.

"Sorry Celyn," he responded before scurrying off.

I opened the door to the common room and noticed to my surprise that the little boy had stopped at the end of the corridor and was looking at me. 'The wonder of fame or notoriety' I thought to myself as I walked into the half empty room full of easy chairs and sofas. The film and music posters dominated the atmosphere and distracted from the general untidiness of the place.

"Hey Siá´n," I said to my lover sitting in the corner on the sofa with Ceri and Sioned.

"Hey yourself," responded Siá´n.

I exchanged greetings with Ceri and Sioned and a few others I knew and squeezed next to Siá´n, who put his arm around me. I pulled him towards me and kissed him, seeking comfort in his embrace.

"Oh yuk, you two get a room." said Ceri, in his usual forthright manner.

"Which one Ceri?" I asked.

"I think Geography and Maths are the only departments that haven't been baptised," continued Siá´n, following my lead and referring to our, no doubt erroneous, perceptions of where in the school previous generations of sixth formers had been intimate.

"Shall we toss?" I said in a mock serious tone, taking a pound coin out of my jacket pocket.

"OK heads for Geography, tails for Maths," responded Siá´n.

I tossed the coin, the face of our beloved monarch stared up at us.

"Oh, great, I won't have to lie back and only think of England now with all the posters on the Geography wall." I said trying my best to suppress my giggles.

"Stop it you two!" said Sioned laughing.

Siá´n and I joined Sioned until we were both aching. Ceri poked his tongue out at us. Eventually Siá´n regained some composure.

"How did it go with Williams?" He asked.

I related the details of my interview with the headteacher. The others expressed their sympathy at the difficulties in carrying on being involved in sports teams and their anger at 'Franklinstein'. We chatted a bit longer about how our weekends had gone. Ceri had had a boring weekend working in his parents' shop while Sioned had been to North Wales to see her grandparents. I told them about having to be a "footballer's wife", watching Siá´n playing for his club side.

The bell went for the next lessons, Sioned and myself hurried for our Biology class, we met Meryl on the way there and chatted briefly until we reached the lab. Mr Franklin, as often, was just returning the latest small mammal corpse to the fridge and cleaning his dissection kit as we, along with another ten pupils walked in. He had been known as 'Franklinstein' to many generations of pupils for his obvious delight in the dark arts of cutting animals into smaller pieces.

We settled down and he took the register.

"Well class," he addressed us, standing at the front of the lab, a tall thin man in his early 50's, "as you are aware this term's unit is focused on human biology and so far we have looked at respiration and the energy cycle in the body. Today I want to start the lesson with a question."

He paused while he typed something on his computer to bring up a PowerPoint presentation on the screen.

'What is the most important factor affecting the life experiences of human beings?'

For some reason I felt a little uneasy with this question.

Some suggestions were offered.

"Racial Origins?" asked Sioned.

"Lifestyle?" asked Siá´n.

"Income of family?" suggested Meryl.

"Age of parents?" asked Brian, one of the football team members.

"These are all good points," responded the teacher," but there is one overarching division that affects everything."

He paused and I guessed where he was going with this discussion, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"The question that affects every aspects of our lives is - were you born Male or Female?" he stated, before bringing the same question up on the screen.

"We are all ONE gender or THE OTHER," he continued, letting his gaze fall on me for a second. There were a few titters from a couple of boys who I did not know.

"What about transsexual and intersex individuals?" I asked looking directly at him.

"I am talking about NORMAL people here, Celyn, not fre.....sorry people who refuse to fit in," he replied giving a knowing look to the rest of the class, a few of whom suppressed giggles while most looked shocked.

I felt like I had been kicked hard in the stomach, I felt sick at the humiliation, I stood up and oblivious to everyone slowly walked out of the classroom. There was silence for a moment and then Mr Franklin spoke.

"Mr..sorry Miss Morus where are you going?"

I opened the door without replying and slowly made my way down the corridor, my shoulders hunched, staring at the floor.