"Hey, girls, ready for the show?" asked Meryl who just joined us. "Hi Meryl, to be honest I'm a bit nervous about going in," I said. "Come on let's go in and get the best seats," she responded as she opened the door into the empty lab. The Price to Pay - Vol. 4.10 - Apologies by Alys

My heart was thumping as I made my way along the corridor.

I stopped outside the lab and waited. The moment that I had never expected had arrived, and I had arrived early to the lesson to savour the experience.

"Hey Celyn, you're keen," said Sioned, who had arrived a few seconds after me.

"To be honest I'm a bit nervous about all this," I said as I took some slow deep breaths to try and calm myself. I had had a mixture of feelings since I received my copy of the letter from the headteacher, to all the pupils doing A' level Biology, for them to turn up at the lab to meet the Head of Biology and Franklinstein.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," reassured Sioned," I'm looking forward to seeing Franklin grovel. Oh what's with the trousers? That's not your usual look"

"I've still got the bandage on my knee from Monday," I replied, "luckily it's mostly the carpet burn that's sore, there's hardly any bruising now"

I thought how disappointed my Mother had been these last couple of days that I had worn trousers rather than a skirt to school. She seemed to think that unless I looked as girly as possible going to school it might somehow lead people to question my gender.

"Hey, girls, ready for the show?" asked Meryl who just joined us.

"Hi Meryl, to be honest I'm a bit nervous about going in," I said.

"Come on let's go in and get the best seats," she responded as she opened the door into the empty lab.

As we walked in the bell for the lesson changeover rang and the corridor behind us rapidly filled with pupils of all shapes and sizes navigating their way to their next room. We sat at a bench in halfway down the length of the lab with some other members of the class. Within a minute or so the rest of the class had come in and found places to sit.

There was a feeling of expectation, excitement tempered by nervousness. It felt a bit like waiting for the results of an exam that you know that you have done well in. You are pretty certain of good news but there is always the chance that something unexpected will happen.

"Where do you think Franklinstein is?" asked Sioned, " he is usually here before us"

"This is really weird," Meryl replied," do you think he's bottled out?"

The buzz of conversation increased in volume as we waited for the arrival of the teacher at the centre of the whole dispute, and discussed the possible reasons for his tardiness.

"Here he is," hissed Sioned, nodding her head towards our Biology teacher entering the classroom from the entrance to the corridor rather than from the prep. room in the back.

The conversation stopped as we all looked up to see Mr Franklin, looking rather ashen faced, make his way towards the teachers' desk at the front of the room. Our surprise at this unusual beginning to the lesson was heightened further by the arrival of the Head of Biology, Mr Jones. He walked over to stand next to where Franklinstein was sitting. He looked at all of us and coughed to clear his throat.

"Thank you everyone for coming so promptly to this meeting. I hope we will be able to put the misunderstanding behind us and move on to ensure the success of all of you in the Biology course. But before I say anything else, Mr Franklin would like to say something"

Mr Jones turned towards his colleague, who was holding a piece of paper with print on it.

"I would like to firstly apologise to Celyn Morus," he began quite hesitantly," for my comments about people who, for whatever reason, are diverse in their bodily gender or gender presentation. My remarks were clearly hurtful to you, Celyn, so please accept this public apology. I would also like to apologise to the rest of you for any offence I may have caused to you"

At that point he stood up and, holding onto his piece of paper with the preprepared comments on it, he walked out of the classroom without another word.

We are all stunned and no one said a word. There was complete silence in the room as we struggled to come to terms with not only the contents of Franklinstein's apology but also the theatricality of the event.

"I would also like to add the apology of the Biology department as a whole," said Mr Jones, finally interrupting the stunned silence,"and I would like you, Celyn, to accept this small gift as some recompense for the hurt you have suffered"

He strode forward with a small packet, neatly wrapped with my name on it, and handed it to me.

"I have one other thing to say to you before I end this meeting," he continued," since I'm sure that most of you will find it hard to concentrate on the mundane details of the Biology course at the moment"

We all stared at him, wondering what other amazing things could happen in this room.

"Mr Franklin has made a mistake and has apologised for it and will be helped by the school with a retraining course to improve his understanding of gender issues. Under the circumstances I have decided, in consultation with the headteacher and the rest of the Science department that Mr Franklin will no longer be taking this class.

I mouthed a 'wow' to Meryl, as Mr Jones paused to take a sip of water from the glass on the desk to his side.

"I feel that in order for you all to get the standard of education that you all deserve that I will take this class from now on. There will be one problem in that for one of your periods I am taking the upper sixth class, which would normally be a problem. But we should be able to re-arrange your practical sessions for that period."

The rest of what Jonesy said was a blur of sounds as I took in the significance of what had happened in five short minutes. Our little protest had resulted in a complete victory. Mr Jones finished his announcements, I caught something about reading the next chapter, on Mitosis and Meiosis, by the next lesson and then he had gone.

"We did it!," said Sioned, before launching herself at me to give me a hug.

"We made him eat his words," said Meryl as she put her arm around me," he won't pick on anyone else for a long time"

Others in the class offered their congratulations and everyone began to drift out, still marvelling at what they had just observed.

"Before you all go," I said standing up off my chair to get everyone's attention, " thanks for supporting me. As you all know I didn't chose to be as I am and like many other people, who have life changing experiences, I have to make the best of my circumstances. Sometimes it's so hard.......so thanks for everything"

I felt tears welling up but also the comforting closeness of Sioned and Meryl, my best friends next to me, supporting me, as I would to them if they ever needed me.