“Project more!” Mrs. Ingram urges me. “We want to be able to hear you all the way at the back of the class!”

“I will never let you manipulate me into taking a stand against my own father!” I say in a loud, forceful voice to the girl stood opposite me. “No matter how much you threaten me!”

“Oh yes you will speak out against him!” Claire- my classmate- says in a voice that I can’t help but notice is a lot LESS powerful than my own. “You will do as I say, or I will see you starving on the street with all the other garbage!” I pause, smirking as everyone in the room offers the two of us a round of applause- everyone, that is, except one person.

“Bravo, girls!” Mrs. Ingram shouts. “Okay, Harriet and Suriya, you’re next!” I scowl at Harriet- who was, unsurprisingly, the only girl not to applaud- as she and Suriya walk up to the stage to recite the same scene Claire and I had done. I still applaud- for Suriya’s sake, not Harriet’s- once they’re done, but I make a point of NOT looking at Harriet as she sits down. I lean in to whisper to Suriya, but am interrupted by the ringing of the school bell.

“Okay,” Mrs. Ingram says. “Remember it’s the formal auditions tomorrow afternoon after school!” Nicole giggles excitedly as she walks to our next class with myself and Suriya.

“Oh my god oh my god!” Nicole squeaks. “We’re going to be in a play!”

“There aren’t enough parts for ALL of us,” I say.

“Well then HARRIET will just have to go without, won’t she?” Nicole says as our former friend walks past, scowling at us as Nicole says her name in as sarcastic a manner as possible.

“Yeah!” Suriya laughs. “You two still coming over tonight?”

“Of course!” I reply. “Need to get in all the practice we can if we’re going to become famous Hollywood actresses, right?” The three of us all giggle happily as we head to our final class for the day. After the bell rings to signify the end of the school day, myself, Nicole and Suriya- along with Priya (who, of course, lives with Suriya) and Megan (who wanted to come along to watch)- pile into the back of Mr. Malik’s people carrier with our school bags and head back to their family’s large house.

“Come on!” Megan squeaks as she and Priya collapse down onto the plush sofa.

“Yeah!” Priya says. “And don’t say you need a costume, you’ve been practising all lunch in your uniforms, you can practise in them now!” Suriya, Nicole and I all giggle as we clear a space in front of the sofa and take our places.

“Good morning, Miss Patrick!” Nicole says to me in her flamboyant style. “Is the morning treating you well?”

“Good morning, Miss Peters!” I reply in an equally flamboyant manner. “I am SO looking forward to today, Mr. Henry and his brothers have promised to take us to the lakefront for lunch…”

“Bravo!” Megan calls, making both myself and Nicole blush.

“So, who will be playing this ‘Mr. Henry’?” Priya asks, barely suppressing her giggles.

“We don’t know yet!” Nicole answers. “It’s not just our school who’ll be in this play, a few local schools will be joining in too. What we do know, though, is that he will be played by a BOY!”

“A cute one, hopefully!” Suriya giggles, causing a mass giggle that I join in with. However, as the ‘rehearsal’ descends into a discussion of boys and boy bands, I find myself feeling uncomfortable. Whilst I consider myself to be a normal girl, there are certain aspects of ‘girl life’ I haven’t quite adjusted to yet, and the obsession with boys is one of them- which will be a big problem as my friends’ obsession with boys will only grow as we get older. It didn't help that for Valentine's Day two weeks ago, Nicole and Priya both received cards from anonymous boys. I, of course, didn't- but as Megan and Suriya didn't either, I don't feel TOO left out.

My counsellor has told me that once I start full hormone replacement therapy, there’s every chance my sexual orientation will readjust so that I end up liking boys, but I’m a long, long way away from that, and the ‘boy-blockers’ I’m taking at the moment are having very little effect on my mind and body even 3 months after I started taking them- though thankfully, they’re also preventing my body from producing testosterone, which would have an even bigger and much more negative effect (at least from my point of view). I’ve been told that with the testosterone blocked, what little oestrogen my body naturally produces will be allowed to dominate, but I haven’t noticed any effects. I regularly check my chest to see if my breasts might be growing, but aside from the occasional sensitive patch, I’m as flat-chested as I was when I was 4.

One effect I’ve noticed, though- and I don’t know whether or not this is down to the ‘boy-blockers’- is that those wonderful moment when I forget I was ever a boy are increasing in both frequency and duration. Obviously, when my friends and I are discussing boys, the chance of having one of these ‘moments’ decreases, but when Priya puts on some music and we all start dancing, our skirts swishing around our legs and my medium-length hair bouncing up and down, a ‘moment’ occurs. As the music stops, so does the ‘moment’ and I get the usual low feelings that that brings, but as the ‘moments’ last longer, the ‘comedowns’ last for less and less time.

After Mr. Malik drives myself, Nicole and Megan to our respective homes, I collapse on my sofa and try to induce another ‘moment’. Sat in a pair of soft grey tights, a pleated grey skirt and a pair of flats with cute bows on the toes, it’s not hard to believe that I’ve always been a girl, but every time I try to forget, I’m reminded that it was in this very house less than two months ago that my so-called father literally tried to drag me out of the house. It was in this house two months earlier that my brother did everything he could to try to bully me back into being a boy. And it was in this house three months before that that one of the first friends I ever made as Laura was forced by her father to become a bully, to torment me at every opportunity she gets.

Whilst Ricky seems to be making at least a token effort to accept me for who I really am, and dad has a restraining order that prevents him from coming within 500 metres of our house, Harriet is still as much my enemy as she was back in September. She doesn’t actively go out of her way to make my life miserable any more- a few detentions in October persuaded her to leave me alone- but whenever I (and the rest of the girls) are around her, there’s an air of hostility that makes my skin crawl.

“Did you have fun at the Maliks’s?” Mum asks.

“Yeah,” I say.

“And you arranged meetings for all of your teachers for parents evening on Thursday?” Mum asks.

“Yep,” I say. “Got my English teacher this afternoon.”

“Good,” mum says. “Do you still want to come with me? You never used to at primary school…”

“Suriya’s going with her dad,” I explain. “Nicole and Megan said they would too…”

“…And you don’t want to feel left out,” mum says.

“I’ve spent most of my life feeling left out,” I laugh, making mum sit down next to me and give me a big hug.

“Not anymore,” mum says with a warm smile.

After finishing my homework and chatting with my friends on my tablet computer, I head straight to bed, where I dream happy dreams of being an elegant lady in a long, beautiful dress, just like the part I’m auditioning for in my play.

When I wake up on Wednesday morning, I run through my usual routine of washing, taking my ‘boy blocker’ and dressing in my trusty grey tights, white blouse and pleated grey skirt, but in addition to my school books, I also carefully pack my pink ballet tights, my light blue leotard and my ballet slippers into my bag. Auditions for the play will be immediately after school, meaning I won’t have the time to come home and change into my dance gear before that particular lesson begins.

When I meet with my friends at the school gate, Nicole and Suriya- both giggling excitedly- open their bags to show me that they’ve had the same idea in bringing their ballet gear to school.

“I’d be wearing it now if I thought I could get away with pink tights,” Nicole giggles as she heads to form with myself and Suriya. I very quickly close my bag, however, when I see Harriet enter the class and take her seat on the opposite side of the room- the last thing I need is her getting a hold of my leotard.

The school day drags as I find myself more and more anxious- and yet excited- about the auditions. When the bell FINALLY rings at 3:15pm, it’s all I can do not to immediately leap out of my chair, but I manage to stay (externally, anyway) calm enough to coolly grab my bag and walk alongside Nicole and Suriya- who I can tell are just as nervous as me- to the main assembly hall, where almost thirty girls (and, surprisingly, a handful of boys) are waiting along with Mrs. Ingram. Much to my dismay, Harriet is also already in the hall.

“I think that’s the last of us,” Mrs. Ingram announces. “Okay, we’ll be reading for the parts of Miss Patrick and Miss Peters first. Hands up all those trying for Miss Patrick? I raise my hand, and much to my surprise (as Miss Patrick is a fairly major role), only two other girls raise theirs- one is a year 8 girl called Kara, and the other is Harriet.

“Good luck, Kara,” Harriet says, before casting a snide grin in my direction. I roll my eyes as Mrs. Ingram separates us from the rest of the group, before placing a slightly larger group- including Nicole and Suriya- slightly to the side of us, the girls who are auditioning for the role of Miss Peters.

“Okay,” Mrs. Ingram says. “Harriet and Suriya, you’re first.” I stand stoically and watch as Harriet and Suriya run through the scene, and applaud politely as they step off the stage. Kara and Nicole are next, meaning I have to wait until last, much to my dismay. As I get up on the stage with Claire I feel prepared, ready for anything that the audition can throw at me, but my stomach sinks when I glance at the ‘audience’ and see Harriet confidently stride over to my bag and open it, pulling out my leotard and stuffing it under her blazer. I run through the scene with Claire flawlessly, but every time I look out at the crowd, Harriet holds up my leotard, taunting me with it like a red flag to a bull. After I’m let off the stage, I walk up to Harriet with a look of pure fury on my face.

“Give it back,” I hiss.

“Give what back?” Harriet asks with an evil smug grin.

“You know what,” I growl. “You have no right to go through my things!”

“You have no right to own a leotard,” Harriet sneers. “You’re. Not. A. Girl.”

“Is there a problem here, girls?” Mrs. Ingram asks, sensing the disruption to her auditions.

“No,” Harriet says smugly. When Mrs. Ingram] looks at me, I take a deep breath and swallow my pride- Harriet is a hassle I can do without, and even though I’ll get a reputation as a telltale… It’s no worse than the reputation with which I started this school.

“Harriet went into my bag and stole my leotard,” I say. “She’s hiding it under her blazer.”

“Harriet, is this true?” Mrs. Ingram asks.

“No,” Harriet says, shaking her head.

“Liar!” I spit, earning a stern stare from the teacher.

“Open your blazer and show me,” Mrs. Ingram says. Sensing that she has no way out, Harriet very quickly opens her blazer before pulling it shut again, but that’s long enough to catch a glimpse of the light blue garment she has hidden behind her blazer- a colour VERY unlike the lining of the jackets.

“Give it back, Harriet,” the teacher insists. With a look of sheer frustration on her face, Harriet throws my leotard to the ground and stomps on it, tearing the stitching and leaving a big, dirty footprint on the back. Ignoring the teacher’s protested yells, Harriet then walks straight out of the hall without looking back.

“Harriet!” Mrs. Ingram yells as I sadly scoop up my destroyed leotard. “Don’t worry Laura, I’ll make sure she is SEVERELY punished for that.”

“Thanks,” I say half-heartedly as I pack the leotard back in my bag.

“I always take a spare with me,” Nicole says, giving my shoulder a quick squeeze. “Cinderella, you WILL go to the ball…et class!”

“Thanks,” I giggle, though inside I’m still miserable. A leotard can be replaced, but what Harriet did… That’ll stay with me forever.

Later that night, as I leave ballet class with Nicole’s snug leotard clinging to my body, I’m still upset by what happened. I’ve fallen out with former friends before, but never to this extent, and as I arrive home, still dressed in my dance gear, mum can instantly tell something’s not right with me.

“Hi Laura,” mum says. “Are you okay? Just tired?”

“Yeah, kind of,” I sigh, dropping my bag in the hall and myself on the sofa.

“Is that your leotard?” Mum asks. “I don’t remember seeing that style before…”

“It’s Nicole’s,” I say. “Mine… Harriet went in my bag at school and tore mine.” Normally, when I tell mum about anything involving Harriet, I usually get a sympathetic reply and a promise to speak to Harriet’s father (which never results in anything productive), but after I tell my mum about my leotard, for the first time in a very long while, she is ANGRY.

“Ugh,” mum spits. “That- that’s too much.”

“She’s been like this for almost six months now,” I moan, making mum sit down next to me and give me a quick hug.

“I know, I know,” mum sighs. “I know it may seem like I don’t care at times, but I genuinely do, I don’t want to see you miserable anywhere, especially not at school.”

“Will you be calling her dad again?” I ask.

“It hasn’t worked the last million times, has it?” Mum laughs. “No, tomorrow’s parents evening, and as Harriet’s in your class, I’ll see if I can talk to him then.”

“Oh- no,” I reply. “Please, please don’t cause a scene…”

“No, this needs sorting,” mum says firmly. “If she’s vandalising your things, then he needs to know about it.”

"He probably put her up to it!" I complain.

"All the more reason to get it sorted out sooner rather than later," mum insists. I sigh resignedly as it becomes clear that I’m not going to win this argument, but as I go to bed later I’m still worried- I’m still the one who’ll have to deal with Harriet at school, and even though she means well, mum has every chance of making things infinitely worse for me at school…

I’m still worried the following morning as I pull on my school skirt and head downstairs to mum’s car, but as I arrive at the school gates, Megan & Nicole’s presence calms me down- even as I see Harriet walk toward us with a look of pure fury on her face.

“Thanks for getting me put in isolation, BOY,” Harriet spits as we head to form without her.

“You did that yourself!” Nicole retorts.

“Just- can we just leave it, please?” I sigh. “I don’t even want to THINK about her any more…”

The school day passes a lot more smoothly than usual- with Harriet in isolation, she has no opportunity to teases me or make my life miserable, meaning for once, I should be able to relax- but with parents evening tonight and mum’s promise of forcing a solution to the whole ‘Harriet issue’, I’m tense for the whole day, and that continues even after I change from my uniform into a plain pink jumper, black skirt and black tights ahead of the parents evening.

“PLEASE don’t make a scene,” I say quietly as we arrive at the school for the second time in less than twelve hours.

“I won’t, I promise,” mum says, “but this needs dealing with, and it needs dealing with tonight. I’m sure that if I talk to Harriet’s father face-to-face I can make him see reason and stop this silly little feud between the two of you.” I nod as we head into the school, but I’m far from convinced.

“I must say,” Mr. Clarke, my English teacher, says to my mum, “the improvement in Laura’s work even over the course of five months has been remarkable. When we looked at her Year 6 test results, we had an idea of how to help her progress, but she’s leaps and bounds beyond where we expected her to be at this point. When we place her into sets at the start of year 8, it’s very likely she’ll be placed in the top set.” I blush slightly as mum turns to me with a proud smile on her face- and her smile only widens as the same story is repeated by all my teachers, finishing with Mr. Sheldon, my form tutor.

“I will admit,“ Mr. Sheldon says, “when I was told I was getting a transgendered pupil in my form, I didn’t know what to expect, but Laura has been one of my most consistently well-behaved pupils. However… That’s not to say that there haven’t been some, shall we say, ‘incidents’ involving Laura and another pupil.”

“Harriet Cooper?” Mum asks, making my teacher nod. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about this.” I close my eyes and lower my head, not wanting- but at the same time wanting- to listen to the inevitable incoming fallout.

“Yesterday Laura came home having suffered damage to her property at Harriet’s hands,” mum says, making me cringe further. “She said when she came home tonight that you’ve played Harriet in isolation, but that’s not going to replace Laura’s leotard, and when she gets out of isolation, the whole thing will start again.”

“I understand your concerns,“ Mr. Sheldon says. “However I and all the other teachers can only act in accordance with the school’s guidelines when it comes to punishments. I am sorry if you feel that they’re ineffective…”

“It’s not just a feeling that it’s ‘ineffective’,” mum says. “Have you spoken to Harriet’s father yet?”

“Yes, though obviously that discussion was confidential, just as this one is,” Mr. Sheldon explains as my insides begin to squirm from embarrassment.

“I understand,” mum says. “However, YOU need to understand that this can’t be allowed to continue.”

“Mum,” I say quietly, desperate for her to stop embarrassing me in front of my teacher.

“This needs to be dealt with, Laura,” mum says, before turning her attention back to my teacher. “I need you to tell me, here and now, what the school is going to do to ensure that more of Laura’s property- or, god forbid, Laura herself- doesn’t get damaged or destroyed.”

“We are taking every step possible to ensure Laura’s safety,” Mr. Sheldon says.

“But what steps, exactly?” Mum asks. “Detentions and isolations are all very well and good, but they’re not solving the problem!” I wince at the same time as my teacher as my mum bombards him with questions, and while the questions are in my best interest, I can’t help but feel sorry for my teacher as he gets increasingly flustered, but eventually- 10 minutes after my slot was supposed to end- mum goes away satisfied with the answers she received.

As we step out into the car park, I breathe a long, loud sigh of relief that my first parents evening at my new school is over, but before we get in the car, my tension goes from bad to worse as I see a familiar ginger-haired girl and her father staring directly at myself and my mum.

“Hey you!” Harriet’s dad angrily yells at mum and me, dragging his daughter who looks just as mortified as I am.

“Please, please can we go?” I ask mum, who stands her ground, much to my dismay.

“Are you Mr. Cooper?” Mum asks the angry man.

“You know damn well who I am!” Harriet’s dad yells in my mum’s face, who doesn’t flinch as he rants and raves. “Your FREAK of a son got my daughter placed in isolation for the whole week!”

“Well your daughter shouldn’t have damaged my DAUGHTER’s property!” Mum retorts.

“You don’t HAVE a daughter!” Mr. Cooper shouts. “You have a transvestite of a son who’s making my daughter’s life miserable!”

“Oh really?” Mum replies. “My DAUGHTER isn’t the one who’s been bullying and teasing Harriet for the last five months! In fact, it’s YOUR daughter who’s been making MY daughter’s life miserable!”

“Your THING deserves to be bullied!” Mr. Cooper yells, making my head snap upward as my blood starts to boil. As I look over at Harriet, however, I’m shocked to see her looking at her dad with a face as angry as my own.

“NO child deserves to be bullied for any reason!” Mum yells. I start to shrink back downwards as the argument draws a large crowd, much like every other fight in this car park- though those fights aren’t usually between two supposed adults.

“Your THING is endangering my daughter by showing up to school dressed the way he is!” Mr. Cooper yells.

“How?” Mum replies. “How is she having any effect whatsoever on your daughter? Harriet, do you feel endangered?” Harriet’s eyes go wide as my mum puts her on the spot, and for the first time in a very long while, I actually feel sorry for the flame-haired girl.

“Tell her!” Mr. Cooper yells at his daughter with a face full of rage. Harriet gulps, and I can actually see the fear in her eyes- a fear I know all too well.

“No,” Harriet bravely says. “No, Laura ISN’T endangering me!”

“Oh, you little shit!” Harriet’s dad yells in his daughter’s face. “HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME LIKE THIS!” As Harriet’s dad yells at her, I flashback to Christmas, when my own so-called father yelled in my face for daring to be the person I wanted to be. Back then, I had mum- and later Ricky- to stand up for me, but Harriet has no one backing her up as her dad screams at her.

“It’s bad enough you waste your time pissing around with things like drama and dance,” Mr. Cooper shouts. “Now you’re telling me you think that- that THING is OKAY? I didn’t raise you to be a faggot-lover, I raised you to be a-“

“-A bigot?” Mrs. Houghton, who had been watching, interrupts.

“Who the fuck are you!?” Mr. Cooper yells at the stony-faced woman.

“Your daughter’s head teacher,” Mrs. Houghton replies, “as most of the other parents here actually know.”

“So you’re the one who let that little queer into this school, are you?” Mr. Cooper defiantly yells as Harriet buries her head in her hands out of shame.

“I will not have you speak about ANY of the pupils at this school in that manner,” Mrs. Houghton says. “Please leave. Now.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Mr. Cooper yells, making Mrs. Houghton reach into her handbag for her phone.

“Leave now, or I WILL call the police and have you escorted from school grounds,” Mrs. Houghton says. Knowing he’s defeated, Harriet’s dad turns to his still-cowering daughter.

“Look what YOU did, you disobedient little shit!” Mr. Cooper yells. Inside me, something snaps. Just fifteen minutes of an arrogant, selfish man like Harriet’s dad- or my dad- was enough to leave me shattered into pieces. Living with someone like that, day in, day out… In a way, I’m not surprised Harriet is the way she is.

“You did it yourself!” I shout at Mr. Cooper, cowering in fear as he turns to me with a look of utter hatred in his eyes.

“You stay away from my daughter, you pathetic little THING!” Mr. Cooper spits at me.

“Then you tell your daughter to stop bullying mine!” Mum shouts at the man.

“I’m dialling 999,” Mrs. Houghton announces loudly. Without saying another word, Mr. Cooper grabs Harriet by the arm and escorts her to his car, roughly shoving her onto the back seat before driving away. With the assembled crowd staring at us, mum and I prepare to leave, when one of the parents who had been watching speaks up.

“Well I for one,” the middle-aged woman- whose child I don’t recognise- says, “am happy that my son is at the same school as such a courageous and intelligent young woman. Good on you, Laura.”

“Absolutely,” Mr. Wyatt- Nicole’s father- says. “Thank you Laura, thank you for being such a good friend to my daughter.” Much to mine and my mother’s surprise, Mr. Wyatt starts clapping, quickly followed by the rest of the crowd including Mrs. Houghton and all the teachers. The applause continues as we get in our car and drive away. My cheeks burn with embarrassment as the sound of the clapping fades into the background, but as well as the embarrassment, I feel a sense of pride, a warmth in my heart that there are so many people out there willing to support me. Even if they are only doing so because of peer pressure or because they’re following Mrs. Houghton’s example… It still means a lot. As I head to bed, I have a smile on my face, and when I wake up the following morning, I’m more eager than ever to pull on my uniform and head to school.

As I arrive at the school gate, I’m greeted with another rapturous round of applause, this time from my four friends who are all waiting for me. After they finish clapping, they all give me quick hugs before we head to class.

“You’re so awesome, standing up to that bully like that!” Nicole squeaks, giving me another hug as we head to form.

“I’d never have had the courage to do that!” Suriya gushes.

“I- I don’t know,” I laugh. “But I really, really feel sorry for Harriet, having to live with that monster…”

“Yeah,” Nicole sighs. “But, I mean, no one FORCED her to do or say the things she did to you…”

“Do you think her dad would’ve punished her if she DIDN’T get in trouble?” Suriya muses.

“What’s it got to do with him what I wear to school, anyway?” I ask as I sit down at my desk. “Arsehole deserves locking up.”

“Whoa,” Nicole says, clearly taken aback by my sudden viciousness. “Language, Laura?” I sigh heavily and shake my head- I was a bit harsh, but Nicole doesn’t know- she can’t know what it’s like to have someone despise you simply because of who you are.

“I’m sorry,” I sigh. “It’s just- it- there’s only so much I can take, you know?”

“I know,” Nicole sighs as Mr. Sheldon arrives to start the lesson. With Harriet still in isolation, the day goes smoothly like it had yesterday, but as I head to lunch with my friends, I’m surprised by a call from behind.

“Laura!” Mrs. Ingram shouts, attracting my attention. “Nicole! Suriya!” Confused, the three of us turn around and head over to the young drama teacher, who has a massive grin on her face.

“What is it, Mrs. Ingram?” I ask.

“You tell me,” the drama teacher says in a near-squeaky voice, “Miss Patrick!” My eyes go wide as Mrs. Ingram hands me a green folder that I immediately recognise as the script for the play I auditioned for.

“Oh my god, Laura!” Nicole squeaks, giving me a tight squeeze that I’m barely able to wrestle out of.

"I'm afraid the news for you two isn't as good," Mrs. Ingram continues- but the smiles remain on my friends' faces. "However, Nicole, we'll need an understudy for Miss Peters..."

"Oh my god!" Nicole squeaks. "Thank you so much!"

"Suriya..." Mrs. Ingram says sympathetically to my Indian friend, but the smile hasn't moved from her face.

"I'm okay," Suriya says, "I'll just have to try harder for the next one! AND these two will need someone to help them learn their lines!" The three of us giggle as Mrs. Ingram goes on her way.

"This is so cool!" Nicole gushes. "Especially for you, Laura- bet you never imagined twelve months ago that you'd be a proper actress!"

"I didn't!" I giggle. "But I'm hardly a PROPER actress, it's just a school play..."

"JUST a school play is how all the big actresses got their break," Suriya reminds me. "And it's not just our school, there are 3 other schools involved in the production of this play too. You never know, you might meet a nice BOY from one of the other schools..."

"Ugh, no talk of BOYS please!" I laugh, making my friends giggle even harder.

"Anything you say, MISS PATRICK!" Nicole teases as we head to our usual table to eat lunch and share the good news with Megan and Priya.

I can barely contain my excitement when mum comes to pick me up, and when I tell her the good news, she is of course excited as well- and immediately demands tickets to see the play for both herself and grandma! As we prepare to head home, however, I can't help but notice a very upset-looking ginger haired girl exiting the school's side entrance alone.

"Let's go home," I say quietly. Mum silently nods in agreement, though I can tell she's worried- and not just about me. For the first time in a long time, though, I'm actually glad that I won't have to set foot in school for the next two days. I spend the evening watching TV, learning my lines for the play and chatting with my friends on Facebook, before climbing into bed, where despite my body being exhausted, my mind won't relax due to my worry about Harriet- and about what she'll say or do to me on Monday. Mum and I may have 'won' the confrontation with her dad yesterday, but if that 'man' is anything like my own father, it'll have only made him more determined to make Harriet make my life a misery...

I wake up the following morning and- after washing and taking my boy-blocker- pull on my stretchy purple swimsuit before dressing in a plain red jumper, black tights and a black skirt. Mum's planning on taking me and my friends swimming today, so rather than 'cause a fuss' in the ladies' changing rooms at the pool (obviously I can't use the men's), I wear my swimsuit ahead of time.

As expected, our doorbell rings just after 10am, but when I open the door, I'm greeted by an unexpected face.

"H-Harriet?" I ask, shocked into near-silence.

"Hello, you must be Laura," a flame-haired woman in her mid-thirties- obviously Harriet's mother- says. "May we come in?"

"Um, okay," I say, still stunned by the sight of my nemesis on my doorstep. "Mum!"

"Who was it at the door, Laura?" Mum asks as she comes through from the kitchen, only to gasp in shock at the sight of the unexpected visitor. "You!?"

"You must be Mrs. White," Harriet's mother says, shaking my mum's hand. "I'm Vicky Cooper, Harriet's mother. Harriet has something she wants to say to your daughter." With her cheeks burning through embarrassment, Harriet looks at me, and for the first time in five months, there is no anger or spite in her stare.

"I'm sorry, Laura," Harriet mumbles, looking like she's going to burst into tears at a moment's notice.

"Louder!" Harriet's mother insists.

"I'm-" Harriet repeats, but I interrupt before she has a chance to finish her sentence.

"Apology accepted," I say emotionlessly.

"When I found out what my ex-husband was making Harriet do to your daughter, I was appalled," Mrs. Cooper explains. "I have her at the weekends and he has her during the week when she's at school- at least, he used to. I've already called my solicitor, I'm going to make sure that waste of skin doesn't fill her head with any more of his filth! I can tell just by looking at her that your daughter is a wonderful young woman, one I'd be proud to call my daughter's friend."

"Thank you," mum says, still obviously in shock- but not in as much shock as I am.

"I also understand that she destroyed your daughter's leotard at school," Harriet's mum says, opening her purse and handing my mum £15. "Will this cover the damages?"

"Oh no, I couldn't, really," mum says, but Mrs. Cooper forced the two crinkled notes into my mum's palm.

"Nonsense," Harriet's mum says firmly. "This is coming straight out of her pocket money, it's the least she could do!" I look over at Harriet, whose shame-filled eyes are still directed straight at the floor.

"Girls, I need to talk to Mrs. Cooper alone for a moment," mum says.

"Um, but the others will be here in a bit..." I argue futilely, but a stern stare from my mum as Harriet and myself slinking out of the room. We both sit down on the stairs, and a very awkward minute passes in silence before Harriet speaks up.

"I really am sorry," the flame-haired girl mumbles. "I didn't mean anything I said, but if I didn't, my dad..."

"I forgive you," I say stoically. "Your father's actually a lot like mine."

"Yeah, but you don't have to live with him," Harriet sighs self-pityingly. "I hate him."

"I hate my dad too," I sigh. "He actually tried to kidnap me at Christmas, tried to force me to stop being a girl..."

"Eww," Harriet sneers. "You're MUCH better off being a girl. I don't even know why my dad had such a problem with us being friends, I mean, if I was a boy, yes, I'd get that, but I'm already a girl, so I don't know what he was expecting to happen..." I bristle slightly at Harriet's attempt at reconciliation, but what she's saying is infinitely better than what she's been saying over the past few months, so I let slide her 'getting' her father's thought processes. Another awkward silence fills the stairs as I think of something to say in reply to Harriet, but my own thought processes are interrupted by another knock at the door- which I open to reveal Priya and Suriya, both carrying sports bags containing multi-coloured swimming costumes.

"Hi Laura!" Suriya says. "Or should I say, 'Miss Patrick'?" I giggle slightly, but I look behind me to where Harriet is still sat on the stairs, and the sisters' facial expressions immediately fall.

"What the hell is SHE doing here?" Priya angrily asks, standing between myself and the shame-filled Harriet.

"I came to apologise to Laura," Harriet says. "And I apologise to you too, both of you, for what I said and did."

"It's going to take a lot more than an apology for me to forgive you," Priya sneers, making me actually feel sorry for Harriet as she gulps with nerves and fear.

"Well I forgive you," Suriya says, fearlessly approaching Harriet and giving the girl a quick hug. "I saw what your father was like, I know it was him talking and not 'really' you."

"Well, I'm going to live with my mum now," Harriet explains. "I won't be any more trouble for you, I promise." Just then, Megan and Nicole arrive, and both girls' jaws drop at the sight of their former friend on my stairs.

"What are YOU doing here?" Megan angrily asks Harriet.

"Megan, Nicole," Harriet says, "I'm sorry for the way I behaved over the last few months, I was horrible and a bully, and I hope that you'll forgive me."

"Really?" Megan asks sarcastically. "You expect us to forgive and forget just like that?"

"Megan, this can't have been easy for her," Nicole says. "And you saw her dad at parents' evening..."

"Well... Yeah, but-" Megan argues, but Nicole isn't finished.

"I forgive you," Nicole says, also giving Harriet a quick hug. "It'll take a little longer to forget, though."

"I understand," Harriet says, hanging her head in shame.

"Harriet?" Mrs. Cooper shouts from the living room. Dutifully, Harriet returns to the living room, followed by the rest of us.

"Are these your friends?" Harriet's mother asks, and the ginger-haired girl nods in response. "Is there something you want to say to all of them, too?"

"She's already apologised," Nicole speaks up.

"Good," Mrs. Cooper says. "Now if you'll excuse me, Harriet's got a lot of chores to do at home!" I can't help but wince at the sheer look of shame in Harriet's eyes as she leaves the house. No matter what she did, it took a lot of guts to apologise like she did- and as Suriya says, it wasn't 'really her' doing those things...

"Actually," I say, "Harriet, would you like to come swimming with us?"

"What?" Priya asks incredulously.

"Laura, what are you doing?" Megan asks me with clear concern in her eyes. Harriet looks expectantly at her mother, and I see in her eyes the same look of hope I'd briefly seen when I invited her to my twelfth birthday party- only this time, she doesn't have her father's voice in her ear to force her to push me away.

"Well... okay," Mrs. Cooper says, making Harriet smile happily- and I can tell she hasn't smiled that way in a very long time. "She doesn't have her cossie with her, though."

"You can borrow my school swimsuit if you want," I offer- an offer that Harriet eagerly accepts. Less than thirty minutes later, the six of us (along with my mum) are having fun in the packed public pool, swimming, playing and laughing, though I can tell not everyone is happy. Priya and Megan are still having a hard time trusting Harriet, and I can definitely sympathise with them. It's not like I NEED Harriet to be my friend... But I WANT her to be. And yet, there's the niggling little voice at the back of my head that constantly reminds me of all that Harriet did and said to me.

After we finish swimming, and I change back into my skirt and jumper (shielded by my mum so that no one sees my private parts), we head out into the pool's car park, where all the parents- including Harriet's mum- are waiting.

"Laura," Megan whispers to me as she gets in her dad's car, "why did you invite Harriet along?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance," I explain. "I really do believe that she's changed now that she lived with her mum full time."

"I'm not convinced," Megan sighs. "But you have more reason than anyone to hate her... If you can give her a second chance, so can I."

"Thanks," I say, giving Megan a quick hug (despite her long, wet hair) before she leaves. Nicole, Suriya and Priya leave shortly afterwards (Priya also expressing her concerns about Harriet, but agreeing to give her a second chance), leaving me and my mum alone with Harriet and hers.

"I trust my daughter didn't give Laura and her friends any trouble?" Mrs. Cooper asks as the same returns to Harriet's previously happy face.

"No, she was perfectly behaved," mum says.

"Good," Harriet's mum replies. "Something you want to say to Mrs. White, Harriet?"

"Thank you for letting me come swimming with you," Harriet meekly says, before she too leaves with her mum.

"Isn't this good," mum says as we get in our car. "You've got all your friends back with you, you're a proper 'sixsome' again, like the group your ballet instructor belongs to that you girls are always going on about."

"Yeah," I say half-heartedly.

"Hey, maybe I could have a word with Harriet's mum and see if she also wants to join your ballet class?" Mum suggests. "You girls will all have 'refer-a-friend' vouchers to spend next month, seems a waste not to use them..."

"There's a bit of a waiting list," I say, making mum frown.

"Laura... You do want Harriet to be your friend again, right?" Mum asks.

"Yes," I reply. "But... I dunno. She made it harder than anyone else for me to enjoy life as a girl... I'm not going to forget THAT in a hurry."

"Yes, but I heard what you said to Megan," mum says knowingly. "'Everyone deserves a second chance'. I mean, look what your brother did with his second chance, for all you know you and Harriet could end up being the best of friends."

"That'd be nice," I say. And it would be nice... Albeit unlikely. Inviting Harriet to the swimming party clearly irritated Priya and Megan... And I value their friendship a thousand times more than I value the friendship of someone who'd previously made my life a misery, even if she was forced to do so.

However, if I do end up not being long-term friends with Harriet, that's okay, as long as when she leaves, she leaves in peace. This past week has shown me that for every one person out there determined to make my life a misery, there are a hundred willing to back me up, as long as I know where to look for them. It's up to Harriet- and, for that matter, Ricky, my dad, and everyone else- what side they want to be on. But even if I don't have them on 'my side', as long as I have the people that matter, then I'll always be happy. No matter what anybody says, I am Laura Jade White, and I am here to stay.