Chapter 5

Monday morning Cassie and I wore our summer dresses for school and I was quite proud of the work I had done, we both looked very stylish, at least as stylish as any school uniform could look, and we received a lot of compliments from our classmates, especially those whose dresses we had modified for them

At the end of lessons, Zoë called me over. “ Are you coming round this afternoon, i could do with a bit of help with my science homework again, I understand it much better when you explain it than when the teacher tells us in class.”

“ I’m meeting Mum down at The Sewing Shack first, but I can get her to drop me off at yours afterwards, if that’s ok.”

When Cassie and I got to the shop Mum had already picked out three of the styles she liked.a fitted sleeveless v-neck dress with a waterfall skirt, a plain shift with a boat neckline and capped sleeves, and a midi belted wrap-around,

“ What do you think Carla, could you manage any of those.”

“ I may need to simplify some of the edging, but I should be able to cope with any of them.”

“ Have you picked out your material yet Mum” Cassie chipped in. “ I think the waterfall dress in satin would look classic and refined in just a plain colour, white, or pale green to match your eyes. The shift would look good in some striking geometric pattern and for the wrap-around I would go for a floral print, those two in light cotton, or maybe seersucker for the wrap-around, what do you both think?”

“Don’t ask me, I might be good with the machining, but i will leave design choices to you two, you have a lot more experience in that than me. Have a look at the materials and then you can decide which to go for.”, I knew the limitations of my skills.

While Mum was making up her mind, Cassie picked out a pattern for a mid-thigh flared skirt with belt and tie cord. “What about this, it would suit both of us, different colours or patterns obviously, but they can be near enough to look like the same style. I love this one, please say yes.”

Mum couldn’t make up her mind between the waterfall and the shift and ended up buying the patterns and material for both.

“ Drop me of at Zoë’s on the way Mum, we are doing our homework together again, put all the stuff and the machine in bedroom 4, I will use that as a workroom.”

Zoë and I soon got through her homework, once I explained a few things to her it didn’t take her long. “Thanks again Carla, you’ve been a big help and a good friend, It will be a shame when all this is over and you go back to being a boy, skirts and dresses suit you.”

“ We’ll see what happens soon and whether the school rules change. If not you might have me around for longer.”

“ Do you want a lemonade or something we can sit in the garden for a while. but I want to get changed first and keep my school dress clean.”

“ Good idea, if I had known I was coming I could have brought a change with me too.”

“No problem, i am sure I can find something for you. Why don’t you bring a couple of your after-school outfits over and leave them here for next time?’

I was soon dressed in one of her denim mini-skirts and powder-blue sleeveless tops and we spent a while chatting about people and all that was going on at school.

“ Carla, I am going to the shops and will be passing your house, do you want a lift?” Zoë’s mum asked.

“ Oh, yes please, it will save a bit of a walk.”

When we got to the end of my road, she pulled the car over and stopped.

“ Carla I need to ask you a question and please be honest with me. Someone told me that there is a boy at your school that is dressing and presenting themselves as a girl, that they are a close friend of Zoë, and that they are spending a lot of time together. What do you know about it, I am worried for her?”

“ Do you really want to know, sometimes it is better to just let sleeping dogs lie?”

“ Are you not worried about her too? Come on, tell me, you know something.”

“ If you really want to know I will be honest with you. That boy you are talking about is actually me, I’m really Carl, not Carla. But you have nothing to worry about with me and Zoë. ”

“ Never, I don’t believe you, who are you covering for?”

“ Honestly it is true, come into the house and ask my Mum if you don’t believe me.”

“ Why are you doing this, do you want to be a girl?”

“ This is how it all started ……….” I told her the full story of everything that had happened since that first day and she just kept silent and looked at me in disbelief.

“ It’s only been a few weeks, and you are already so natural as a girl, not just how you are dressed, but how you behave and talk, it’s as if you have always been a girl. How do your family feel about it?”

“ Dad is not all that keen but Mum has told him to just put up with it, Mum was anti at first but has now got used to it and just accepts me, my sister Cassie really loves it, she likes having a kid sister.”

“ Mum, Mrs Marshall is here, she wants to have a talk with you, Because she was worried about rumours she was hearing about a friend of Zoë, I needed to tell her all about me, and what I am doing. I will go up to my room and leave you to talk in private.”

A bit later I heard Mrs Marshall drive away and went down to find out from mum what had been said.

“ I explained that we were fully supporting you in your campaign and that the school had insisted that if you chose to wear a skirt that you would have to fully present as a girl and would be treated as a girl, that it wasn’t something that you had a need to do. Despite you being at their house lots of times and just working together as two girls with Zoë, Mrs Marshall was concerned that it was not right for a thirteen-year-old boy and girl to be together alone in a bedroom.”

“ In a way, I understand, but we have never done anything wrong, honest, when I am there Zoë talks to me as if I was another girl, and as you have seen I am trying my best to behave like one.”

“She actually quite likes you and appreciates the help you are giving to Zoë. She said that you can keep going round there anytime you want, but the bedroom door must not be closed and she will be looking in on you at regular intervals, she has been quite understanding really. However, be careful, you may be accepted by the school and by Margaret, but not everybody will be so understanding and tolerant, and there are a lot of nasty people out there.”

“ Don’t worry Mum, none of the girls seem to mind when I am with them, and the boys are all keeping their distance, none of them want to be seen with me.”

“Margaret has got me thinking, neither of us is comfortable with you undressing in front of the girls, especially in the changing rooms and showers, and at the sleepover you are going to on Saturday. You could be accused of all sorts, flashing at them, even sexually assaulting them. I have an idea, you may not like it, but let me speak to someone first. Go upstairs, get changed and finish all your homework.”

I heard Mum having a long phone conversation and when I went back downstairs she had quite a serious look about her.

“ I’ve finished my homework, have you got time for me to take all your measurements, and if you tell me which you want first, I can make a start on your dress.”

“ Sit down, i need to have a serious talk with you first. As I said I am worried about you being accused of inappropriate behaviour with the girls. My friend Michelle is a nurse in A&E and she says that she can fix up your boys’ bits so that without a close inspection you can look like a girl down below. It will only be temporary until all this protest is over and can be easily reversed. It is not just for the benefit of you not embarrassing the girls, or stopping accusations about you, but it will mean that you do not have to worry about anyone seeing you either. What do you think?”

“ I am beginning to agree with Dad, this is going a lot further than I had intended. Can I have a talk with Michelle before deciding?”

“ Fine, she says if we go to see her, she can fix you up if you want to do it. Are you ok with that? Do you still want to get started on the dress or is your mind not on it now?”

“ No i am ok, it will be a bit of a distraction for me.”

“ Let’s get started and do the waterfall first in the mint satin. My birthday is coming up and it would be nice to get it finished for then.”

I soon had her measured up and the material sections marked out. Before I even started to do the cutting and tacking, I did a trial run on some small offcuts to set the thread tension right it was quite a delicate material and needed to be right to get a smooth finish. I didn’t want to rush it, as the more tired I was, the more likely I would be to make mistakes, so I packed it all away and went back downstairs.

“ Ok Mum, let’s go and find out a bit more about what Michelle will be doing. If I don’t like it, I will just say no.”

We were soon round with Mum’s friend Michelle, and she talked me through what she intended to do to hide my bits, and assured me that it would not hurt and that everything could go back to normal afterwards. As I had gym the next day, i thought that if I was going to do this, now was as good a time as any. After a lot of pushing and probing between my legs and glueing things together I was stood in front of a mirror looking at myself, and although I had not really seen any girls naked in the flesh, It looked to me just like I had seen in the photographs in the magazines the boys passed around. I now had a totally flat front groin curving back between my legs, there was no obvious sign of my boy bits.

“ Do you want me to complete the image? “ Michelle asked, bringing me out of my deep thoughts about how I now appeared. “ I have been to work and picked up some breast forms, false breasts, that I can fix to you, they will be a lot more convenient when you are changing than having to use the enhancers, and will look a lot more natural under your clothes.”

“ In for a penny, in for a pound, why not?” I thought. By the time we went back home, I looked, to all intents and purposes, just like the other girls.

On the way home, mum stopped off at Zoë’s, and I left her to chat to Zoe’s mum , while I went up to her room where I told her about what Michelle had done to me and why they had suggested it.

“ Let me have a look then, don’t be shy, you can’t tell me something like that and leave me wondering.”

Worried that our Mums might come upstairs, I quickly undressed to show her and put my clothes back on again.

“ Wow, that is amazing, you look just like the rest of us, you should have no problems in the changing room now, you can’t be accused of anything.”

The next day the netball session went off ok and nobody mentioned my body changes, if they noticed at all, because I did try to be careful and keep my back to them when putting on my sports kit. It felt strange running around with my new breasts bouncing and it distracted me from the game. Because my mind was elsewhere I played poorly, just when I thought that I was beginning to get the hang of the game.

After school and homework, for the rest the week Cassie and I worked on Mum’s dress, It was mainly me, but she helped with the cutting out and pinning while I tacked all the pieces together.

We called Mum up and got her to try it on while the two of us pinned it into a more fitted shape and changed it a bit as she suggested. It was soon finished and after I added a simple lining to help it hang better she tried on the finished dress, she gasped, and hugged us both.

“Thank you both so much it is beautiful and fits a treat. It is even better knowing that you two have made it. I’ll definitely wear it out for my birthday dinner with your dad”

“ You look gorgeous in it Mum, it really suits you. Get your hair done and a put on a bit of slap and he won’t be able to keep his hands off you.” Cassie answered with a cheeky smile.

“Thats’ enough of that, young lady, it’s just as well I am in a good mood with you.”

Saturday evening Mum drove me to collect Zoë and drop us off at Lucy’s for the sleepover. “Enjoy yourselves girls, call me in the morning and I will come and collect you.”

We were the first to arrive and Lucy took us into the garden room where we were to have the sleepover. “ My room is not big enough for everybody so this is where we will be tonight. There is food in the kitchen next door for later and we have the smart TV in here so can call up films or music channels, there are loads of cushions to sit around on, just make yourselves at home. Welcome to your first girly sleepover Carla, just relax and follow everyone else, you will soon get into the spirit of things.”

When Amy and the others arrived we all soon settled in, there was a constant stream of chatter and I struggled to follow the several conversations going on at once, but the others did not seem to have a problem with that, they were more used to it all than me.

Whilst we were all chatting we watched a couple of teen romcom films, stuffed our faces with sandwiches, biscuits and cakes, painted each others nails, played around with makeup and hairstyles, just like Zoë had described it for me. It was soon time to get ready for bed, although it was unlikely that we would being going to sleep early, there was still so much chatter going on.

We all took turns going into the en-suite loo to change into our nightwear. Cassie had talked me into taking a short light nightie with matching panties with me, rather than pyjamas, she said it would help me feel more girly. When I went back into the room, there were a lot of looks of amazement and surprise, most of the others were dressed either in pyjamas or plainer cotton shift nighties.”

“ Wow, when you do something you do it 110% don’t you Carla, we should all have dressed a bit fancier. I can’t have this, I am going to change into something sexier I’ve got loads of spare stuff if anyone else fancies a change.” Soon everyone else had borrowed one of Lucy’s nighties or sleep sets and it was all giggles and compliments for a while as we compared our styles and how we all looked.

“ Right girls, this is the bit that we all dread, it’s time for a bit of ‘truth or dare,’ are you all up for it?” Lucy grinned at us all, challenging anyone to say ‘no’.

We all sat in a circle and a bottle was spun picking out each of us in turn. It was all a lot of harmless fun, mainly ‘truths’ about boys they all fancied or the scariest things they had ever done, although there ere a couple of dares to do stupid things like imitating pop star’s dancing and singing while the music was called up on Spotify, but eventually it was my turn.

“ Truth or dare Carla?”

“Truth.”

“ Do you wish you were a girl?” Lucy was the first one to come up with a ‘truth’ question, and got a few dirty looks from the others for being so blunt.

“ That’s unfair, the rest of this has always been harmless fun, but that is a bit personal. Can’t you ask something else?”

“ Tell the truth Carla, or it will have to be a dare.” They all joined in until I had no real choice.

“ Ok, the truth is that at first it was all just a laugh, a protest, but things have just steamrollered, and I am quite settled and comfortable now as Carla. I don’t know whether I want to stay as a girl though, after all I have been a boy for 13 years, and a girl for just a few weeks. I am just enjoying myself with you all at the moment, and I do like being treated as a girl.”

“ What do you think girls, Carla never really answered the question, I think that there has to be a dare, do you all agree?”

There was a lot of murmuring then they all started chanting “dare, dare, dare ,dare!”

Zoë stood up and with a big grin looked at me “ I’ve got the perfect dare to settle all this, stand up Carla. Drop your panties and step out of them, now drop your nightie slowly down to the floor.”

“ No Zoë, this is not fair, I should never have told you.”

“ Dare, Dare, Dare, Dare !.” they all chanted again.

“ Ok you asked for this.” i said as I slowly dropping my nightie, revealing my body bit by bit.There was a sudden shocked silence in the room when they saw me with my artificial breasts and the female shape between my legs . I was just so embarrassed and ashamed, and felt like crying until Zoë came over and gave me a big hug. “They would find out sometime, this is as good a time as any. Put your clothes back on and we’ll get on with things.”

As I dressed the girls all started to clap and cheer, and one-by-one came over to give me a hug.

“ Sorry Carla,” said Lucy, “ I should not have pushed you into that, as I said before, you really go for 110% don’t you. Sit down and tell us all about it. When did you have the operation to lose your boy bits?”

“ Don’t be daft, I haven’t honestly, everything is just hidden away and glued up. Mum thought that to stop any complaints or suggestions of me interfering with any of you here or in the changing rooms, that it would be best if I was temporarily given no choice. A nurse friend of hers fixed me up and it will all last for a few weeks.”

“ Welcome to real girlhood Carla, you might look like us, and need to go for a wee like us, but count yourself lucky that you don’t have to suffer periods like the rest of us, that is the big downside to being a girl.” Lucy’s comment brought a mixture of giggles and groans from the rest of the girls.

There were lots more questions about how I felt living as a girl and wearing girls’ clothes and whether I would stay as a girl when the protest was over, how I felt about making dresses for Mum and Cassie and things like that. None of it was nastiness, just curiosity.

“ Promise me girls, not a word to anyone about what you have seen tonight. Most of the boys at school are either totally ignoring me or giving me a hard time, knowing what I have had done would just tip a lot of them over the edge.”

“Promise everybody, this is just between us girls.” Zoë asked each of them in turn before turning back to me. “When you change for netball a lot more of the teams will at least be able to see your breasts, like some of us did the other day when you changed into your sports bra.”

We all chatted away into the early hours until one-by-one we fell asleep and just curled up on cushions on the floor. When I woke up in the morning I felt hair all over my face and an arm over my tummy. I turned to find Zoë curled up on one side of me, and Amy cuddled up into my back.

Feeling worried that anything inappropriate had happened I looked around to see that most of the others were huddled together in various similar combinations, so I was suddenly relieved and did not feel so bad. Gradually everybody woke up, particularly when Lucy pulled open the curtain and the bright sunlight streamed in.

“ It looks gorgeous out there, does anyone fancy going down to the beach or do you all have to go home?” Lucy asked. Most of the girls had to get home, but Zoë, Amy, and I said we would like to join her.

“Did any of you bring a swimsuit or a bikini with you, or do I need to dig through my stuff again, if we are going to the beach we need to dress for it?”

While we were all queuing up for the loo and the girls going home got dressed, Amy disappeared for a while and came back with a big tray of pancakes, butter, jam and honey, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a jugful of fresh orange juice. ‘Tuck in girls.”

To be continued.