I had worked from home all day in case I’d have to go to my children’s school urgently so when the school bus stopped on the street I could see my son running to our house, sweep up the door and dash up the stairs with his modest skirt flapping and tears ruining his makeup. Then I heard his bedroom door bang shut.

I turned to my daughter who had traversed the distance to the house in a more leisurely pace.

”The experiment was not a success?”
”You could say that.”

Being a lone mother raising two kids is not easy, especially when you try to continue your own career. At least we didn’t want for money. That was one of the reasons I had accepted the promotion that required me to move to a new town. Not that the move itself was bad in any way. The town was much nicer than I had expected and the local high school excellent. However, it wasn’t easy for my children to move to a new school. You’d expect that it would have been toughest for my daughter who started her senior year in completely new environment without her old friends. Not at all. Eve has a knack of making a place for herself whatever the circumstances. She was soon one of the popular girls. Cheerleader and all that. The boys buzzed around her as flies around sugar. She had the very handsome student council president in her sights.

The problem was my son. A sophomore he didn’t fit in at all. No friends, not noticed by the teachers, no sporting achievements, no nothing. He wasn’t bullied. It was much, much worse than that. He was completely ignored. Ignored by his fellow students, ignored by the teachers, ignored by other staff. Tom actually wanted to be bullied. At least someone would have cared even if it was in a negative way. His sister was not really a help. She’s two years older and a girl. They didn’t move in the same circles. Eve likes her brother in an absentminded way but to tell the truth she’s rather self-centred.

At first Tom’s problems surprised me because he’s really a fun and bright kid and in his old school with his old friends there never was a problem. I admit he’s not jock material but apart from that he has so much to offer. The only thing is that in this new environment he completely shut down. He raised walls around himself. He sent out vibes telling others to keep away. A mouse would be more noticeable. Tom was aware of all that but even when he tried to do something about it he failed. And now half-way through the semester the pattern was so set that it would take something really spectacular to break through. That’s why he came up with this scheme. He decided to go to school dressed as a girl.

I thought it was a stupid idea. Eve thought it was a stupid idea. Tom won. He persuaded us it couldn’t get worse (well, I wasn’t convinced but I did give in). He planned it all very carefully. He got Eve to help him with makeup and what clothes to get. He was adamant that he didn’t want to be over-the-top. That wasn’t his style. A modish sophomore girl. Nice blouse, elegant skirt, pantyhose, shoes with a moderate heel. He even got Eve to spend hours helping him with movements and manners. I? I had to cough up the money and it was also I who got him an appointment at my salon early in the morning of the experiment.

“What happened? Did they bully him already in the bus?” I asked my daughter
“No, there was no reaction there”
“So it was when you got to school that it all began?”
“No, the only people to speak to him before class was the vice principal and the student council president. Those two know EVERYONE in school and thought Tom was a new student.”
“So when did it start?”
“Mom, you don’t understand! It was much worse than that”
“Eh?”
“They STILL completely ignored him!”

Oh my! I was about to go up to console my poor boy when the door-bell rang. When I opened the door the very handsome student council president stood there with a goofy smile and a bunch of roses. That was the final straw. I knew that Eve had been working to snare him for months but why did he have to come THIS day of all days!

“I’ll get Eve for you”
“Excuse me Ms Wilson, but I’m here for your other ... child.”

Oh my!

I called upstairs

“Tom, come down at once. Don’t change. Just come down”

Then I saw Eve in the doorway. I had forgotten all about her. In her face I saw how devastated she was.

Then she forced a smile and gave a thumbs-up sign.