Chapter 2

I look from one to another of the girls - four pairs of eyes watching and waiting for an answer. I was in the women's changing room to avoid this very thing

It should have been simple to pop in and purloin Serena’s shampoo and soap before going into the men’s showers but what did Burns say? "The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ me(n) gang aft agley". Evan and the other lads chose that moment to enter the men’s room, no doubt to have a seat while waiting for me to shower. The men’s room and showers was open plan whilst the women’s had separate cubicles. It was no contest so I stripped and grabbed a cubicle with barely a second thought.

Barely was the operative word for if I’d stripped inside the cubicle and hung my clothes over the top of its wall there would have been no problem. I didn’t and now looking at my friends know it is time to ‘man up’.

I dropped the towel to my waist. The girls’ jaws almost dropped to the floor.

Examining each in turn I could see their eyes flicking up and down between my chest and my hips, clearly trying to make sense of what they were seeing.

"The doctor says it’s gynecomastia" I said by way of explanation.

"Gyneco… nothing" exclaimed Serena. "Those are breasts. Bee Ar Ee Ay Ess Tee Ess. Breasts girl! I mean boy; no I mean I don’t know what I mean!"

"They were supposed to go away but somehow they didn’t they grew a bit more instead." I sighed.

"How come nobody noticed?"

"Well I’ve been wearing an elastic sports bandage to hold them flat. It’s in the pocket of my jeans and soaking wet."

"We'll they aren’t huge but you have more than a AA cup there. Now I think about it you do wear sloppy clothes but have you properly looked at yourself recently?"

"What do you mean?" To say I was feeling a little defensive would be a massive understatement.

"Behind you," said Serena. "Just turn around, look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

I turned. I looked, and looked some more. "OK, it’s me and I have ‘breasts’ if you insist on calling them that"

"It’s not just me calling them that and it’s not just the breasts. Look at yourself more carefully and drop the towel"

"I will not!" I exclaimed. "If anyone came in now I could be in all sorts of trouble let alone if they saw me naked"

"Nobody is coming in and Gwen will guard the door. Stop ducking the issue; we’re your friends and if it makes you more comfortable we’ll turn around and close our eyes while you tuck your bits back between your legs."

* * * * * *

Have you ever had one of those moments that change your life? When what you do, what you see, what you hear changes your world so that you will never be able see it and yourself in the same way again. I looked at the girls and recognised these were my friends. More than Evan and the lads these were friends I trusted.

Without saying any more, even to ask them to turn, I reached down through the towel around my waist, pushed my bits back and dropped the towel.

All was silent - I think even my heart stopped - then I opened eyes I was unaware I had clenched shut…

It wasn’t me! How can I explain this? The girl in the mirror, and there was no doubt in my mind she was a girl couldn’t possibly be me - but it was…

Somehow over months or even longer I’d stopped seeing when I looked in the mirror. What am I saying? Dai had stopped seeing … I was…

"Venus?"

"Catch her!"

* * * * * *

I didn’t faint. I couldn’t have fainted but I was aware I was sitting on the floor with my friends all around.

"Venus? Who’s your doctor?" Serena was asking.

"Doctor, I don’t know. We moved across the city"

"Never mind, I’m taking you to the hospital. This is an emergency."

"I'll warn the boys what’s happened," said Gwen

"I’ll find her some warm clothes; she's shivering," said Martina. "Jenny where are those capris you told me you had?"

It was only then that I noticed that I was naked.

* * * * * *

The ride to the nearby University Hospital was a blur. Only slowly did I become aware that Serena was having a row with the receptionist.

"No she hasn’t had an accident but it’s not normal for fit healthy 18 year olds to pass out."

"No she has not been drinking and we don’t do drugs!! We’d just been playing tennis."

I just sat while my friends bustled about me. My outfit didn’t stand out too much other than the fact I was shoeless - where did they go?
Jenny’s capris were pink and tight so I’d tucked myself back again to avoid embarrassment whilst realizing they would throw my backside into sharp relief when I stood. Similarly, without my bandage (or borrowed bra?) Martina’s white plunge-neck jumper offered no taming, instead seeming to magnify and highlight my…… ok, my breasts.

Clearly they hadn’t given much thought fashion-wise to the effect when picking things for me to wear. Martina wouldn’t be caught dead without a bra and Jenny, a 5’6" classic blonde, had the only spare pants. I on the other hand stand at over 5’11", my skin is a warm brown and, my crowning glory, is shoulder length very thick, very black hair inherited from my adventurous grandparents. Normally I tie my hair back in a pony tail once it is dry but my band had disappeared the way of my shoes and wet clothes into some mysterious hinterland. I didn’t look like a she-male hooker but I definitely also didn’t look like a vicar’s daughter!

It seems early Friday evening is a good time to need a hospital for I was quickly whisked onto a curtained-off bed where, before I even had time to worry, an important looking man entered wearing a white coat and a stethoscope around his neck. He picked up a clipboard from the end of the bed, looked at it, smiled and said
"Venus Williams? Very amusing. My name is Doctor Edwards and what seems to be the trouble young lady?"