By the time we arrived home we all needed a little sit down, Shell went home to get her face on whilst I said goodbye to the others they wished me luck and left in a laughing huddle. Jilly had gone straight upstairs when we arrived home, I followed her up and found her sobbing on her bed, I thanked my lucky stars that I was a dab hand with the makeup brush.

“Look Jilly I’ll level with you okay?” He didn’t answer just buried his head deeper into his pillow. “Tim stop it I need to get you ready,” I tried to turn him over and after a moment succeeded, his eyes were red, his nose needed blowing and for one moment I was ready to call it all off, he must have seen the look in my eyes and threw himself at me, at first I recoiled thinking he was attacking me, I got ready to defend myself, then slowly I put my arms round him and hugged him.

It took a few minutes but the crying eased, “Better?” I asked.

“Oh Emma I was so scared, what if someone had found out, I would…”

“Jilly you look like a young girl, the only people who gave you a second glance were boys, oh and the dyke in Harvey Nick’s, but then if you flash someone you expect them to look don’t you?” He drew away from me blushing. I grabbed my handbag and pulled out my phone, “Hi Simon…”

As I told Simon that we wanted to go to Macey’s Jilly looked around then in a curious gesture straightened out her dress and obviously tried to pull herself together, the to my surprise she fiddled with an errant bra strap, the curious fact was she did it like myself or any of my friends would do, it was an unconscious gesture and totally unlike I would have expected a man wearing a bra.

“Okay see you at half seven.” I hung up still watching Jilly. “Jilly where did you go when your drink was spiked?”

She looked up at me, my question obviously startling her, “I told you I went to Dan’s house.”

“But Dan’s in prison so why go there?” I watched my brother, Jilly go a deep crimson I rather wondered if her clothes would spontaneously combust.

“Look Tim level with me, what’s going on, Dan’s dad hates you, how did you manage to spend a whole night there?”

“WHY? WHY Should I? You don’t believe I didn’t attack Dilly, WHY should I expect you to believe what I say, you’re just like all the rest…”

“Oh I know about that it was Derek who attacked…” Oh shit…

“What you know and you’re still making me go out like this?” He moved towards me looking a bit pissed, okay a lot pissed.

“But you like it.” I said clutching at straws, he went dead white and sat backwards onto the bed.

“How… How did you know?” I felt a wave of relief wash over me, my observations had not been in vain. Then he did it again.

“Stop, stop what you’re doing.”

“What?”

“What are you doing,” he looked at me blankly, “what are you doing with your left hand now?”

“Um I… I was adjusting the strap of my bra, why?”

“Tim if you had never worn a bra before you should be more than adjusting it, it should be driving you mad.” His hand dropped into his lap, he looked up at me and I could see tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

“I can explain,” I sat down next to him and put my arm round him, “the year before last, I was caught with Dan’s sister, that’s why his dad hates me. But for a while I carried on seeing Michelle, she read about it on the web some guy who dressed up as a girl so he could spend the night with his girl friend…”

“So you dressed up as a girl to please Michelle?”

“Yes,” he paused and wiped the tears from his cheeks, “well at first, then I couldn’t stop, I LIKED IT.” He burst out, “suddenly I was someone else, I didn’t have to live up to who all my friends knew me as…

“For a while after I split up with Michelle I stopped, I had very few of my own clothes, when I met Dilly I didn’t tell her, I love her, I didn’t want her to think me a freak.”

“So why if you’ve split up with Michelle did you go to her house the other night?” I asked feeling puzzled.

“I still love her, but I’m not her boyfriend, she stopped thinking of me as her boyfriend that’s why we split up, we just sat in her room and talked, we never went out and then she started going out with Martin Hanson from Birkley.”

“That guy with the motorbike?”

“Yeah, when I found out I, we had this big row and she told me she didn’t think of me as a boy, but I was her best friend. After that we stopped hanging around together as much, I couldn’t bear to see her with him, and we always argued when we were together.

“Before the party the other night I had had this blazing row with Dilly, she found out that I had been borrowing her clothes, when we got to the party we were hardly talking, then I felt so ill I went to Michelle’s house as it was closer, luckily her parents weren’t in…

“Emma you said that you knew that I hadn’t done it, does that mean Dilly told you who beat her up?”

“She made a statement against Derek.”

“The fucking bastard I’ll kill him,” for a brief moment Tim pulled away from me and I almost let go then in a sudden change of mind he pressed himself back against me sobbing. “What am I going to do?”

“Well I reckon getting dressed would be a good plan, Simon will be here in. Oh shit less than two hours.”

“Why? Derek beat Dilly up not me, I don’t want to go out, definitely not in that dress, I can’t believe you think I will.”

“Okay alright, I won’t make you go out tonight,” He looked relieved then puzzled as I handed him my phone.

“What do I need this for?”

“To ring Simon to tell him why Jilly won’t be able to make it tonight.”

“But…” He had gone white as a sheet. “What should I tell him?”

“Oh that’s easy, just tell him that Jilly is your alter ego, but you’re not really into boys.”

“Okay…” He blanched, “WHAT, I can’t say that.”

“Well I don’t know what you’ll say, but remember he does want to speak to you about Dilly.” I left him there I at least meant to go out tonight, I did wonder what I would tell the others, I had a quick shower and did my hair, my hair is a shocking shade of purple, it almost got me kicked out of school when I had it done, I was grounded for nearly a month, mum had been livid. When I got back to my room Tim was in front of my mirror examining himself in the mirror, I could hear him saying something but couldn’t hear what. I crept closer carefully staying out of the reflection.

“I could go out, it’s not like anyone would know, and I did enjoy this afternoon… oh the look on Jen’s face when… I dunno maybe I should tell Em… I don’t know…” I crept back to the door and closed it with a thump he spun and looked at me with a guilty expression.

“So did you ring him?” The look of fear on his face answered my question “So you’d better get ready then don’t you think?”

“Do I have to wear that dress?”

“Yes, of course you do, one thing it’s just right for you and the other thing it makes you look older, you wouldn’t get into the club otherwise.

“Look I’ll help you, shower first make sure you don’t get your hair wet, here wear this.” I handed him a shower cap.

“What? Why?”

“Well we haven’t got time to re-do your hair, do we?”

“I guess…”

“Come on then!”

Part three is a little short but I've posted part 4 as well to give you something to read.

JC