As soon as I saw Bill walk towards school in a dress I knew that I had been handed a golden opportunity. No, I had no interest in Bill himself but his actions opened up so many possibilities.

To understand my excitement you’d have to understand the school politics at James Garfield High School. There were the progressives led by yours truly and centered around the basketball team. I’m happy to say that we were very successful, which helped my status in school. Unfortunately the baseball team led by Bob Nepakantus was equally successful. Unfortunate because Bob was also the leader of the chauvinist-populist clique in school. Apart from these two poles there were three important special interest groups of importance:
1. The football team. They very carefully staid out of anything that didn’t benefit themselves directly, such as football facilities and perks for the players.
2. The science club. Surprisingly influential. Politics very similar to the football team: facilities and perks.
3. Cheerleaders. Mostly like the football team and science club but also with a general interest in what was good for girls. Unfortunataly they didn’t realize that their interests coincided with the progressives, that is me. They were quite conservative really.

Bill was a member of good standing of the science club and on the school newspaper. Last year he was the token freshman on the paper. I had worked quite a lot with him. Nice kid even not very manly. Too bad Bob had managed to maneuver me out of the school paper this semester. Yes, I was losing ground to Bob and the troglodytes.

I really should have stopped and driven Bill back to change. Whatever the reason for wearing a dress, dare, bet or whatever it was like signing his own suicide note. He’d be mercilessly bullied. I’m ashamed to say I only saw what was in it for me. I looked forward to what was going to happen.

I was not disappointed. Bob swooped down on poor Bill within a minute. Aided and abetted by his minions. Mary, the head cheerleader, also reacted as I expected. Her cousin was transgendered and had suffered terribly when coming out so Mary reacted strongly to the bullying. At that moment I intervened.

“Hey, Bob. Don’t rough up my date. People might think that I beat her.”

People were so shocked that I and Bill could walk away without further problems.

At lunch I got me and Bill a table for only us two. We were lovebirds, weren’t we?

I told Bill that whatever reason he had had for wearing a dress he now was to tell everyone that he was transgendered. Since I intended to use him as a pawn I thought the name Dawn would suit him. Second, he was to be my girlfriend. I had no wish for a girlfriend. I had no time for such foolish things. I needed a scholarship to a good university. With “Dawn” as my pro forma girlfriend I wouldn’t have to spend so much time. Third, I’d pick him up at six for the date. It was this or I’d drop him like a hot potato. Then he’d be dead meat. Not very surprisingly he accepted.

That night I made things clear for Dawn’s parents. They were reluctant at first but later came around. The date was not bad at all. I even kissed Dawn when leaving her. For appearance. I was very careful not to think about her as “him”. The appearance of Dawn as transgender was vital for my plans.

In school things developed as I had hoped and planned. Mary took Dawn under her wing. I was the attentive boyfriend to Mary’s delight. Mary was also the school paper editor. This meant I was back on the paper and Bob was out. Dawn was included in the cheerleader crowd. Mary managed to reclassify Dawn as a formal girl without a lot of bureaucratic hassle. By spring Dawn was a regular cheerleader. The cheerleaders were a great help in making her ever more feminine.

With the support of cheerleaders and science club (Dawn was as nerdish as Bill had been) I managed to establish firm control of school politics. To be honest Dawn was a great help. In the beginning she just took notes. Later she became my assistant. She developed a very good understanding of school politics. By spring she was running most of my organization for me. That saved me lots of time.

That left more time for dates with Dawn. I admit that I liked my dates with Dawn. She was so cute and cuddly. The only thing was that she showed increasing signs of falling in love with me. Troublesome.

I had got the scholarship I had hoped for. I later was told that my support for Dawn had been the tipping point. She had written a letter to the university without me knowing.

Since Dawn would still be in high school for two more years I convinced her that a long-distance relationship was not possible. Thank God I had a good excuse to extradite me from her. To be honest it was the best thing for her as well. I had feminized her. She had fallen in love with me. Stockholm syndrome? Whatever the reason it wasn’t healthy. She needed to become her own person. Whether that was Dawn or Bill. A clean break would be best for her (and me). Then she could develop without puppet master strings.

At first I was worried for her. What would happen to her once I left. Mary would also leave. I observed Dawn carefully. I was surprised at what I discovered. She was a good and popular cheerleader. Perhaps not head cheerleader next year but most definitely for her senior year. She was also likely to be the president of the science club. However, it was in politics that she surprised me most. By May she had both my progressive lieutenants eating out of her hand. No, neither of them would be the next progressive leader in school, she would.

Dawn would be the uncrowned queen of school next year, even without being the basketball captain. I was relieved. And impressed.

Dawn was there when I left for university. We had a big romantic farewell. As we were driving away I looked back at her. I carefully dried my tears before turning so my parents wouldn’t see them. Damn our school system. If I had read Pygmalion earlier I would have been aware of the trap I had fallen into. I had fallen in love with my own creation.