Playing her way 2 - Chapter 6

© D.L.

The group proceeded through to the dining room.

"Watch the girls as they sit," Tom whispered in Eddie's ear. "You don't want to end up with an uncomfortable crease under your bum from the skirt."

The young boy had calmed down a bit after seeing his elder cousin dressed in a similar fashion.

Bill, knowing he would be hosting over a dozen people, had extended their already large dining table with some temporary additions he had built in his workshop. Although he hadn't taken it up as his profession, he did obtain certification in cabinet making while at school.

It was a tight squeeze, and not all of the chairs matched, but the family was able to sit around a single table.

Joe started bringing in the starters. Around half the guests were having prawn cocktail, the others parsnip soup.

~o~O~o~

"I see Farcombe Engineering was in the news," Dean stated, striking up a conversation with his brother in law. "Must be a relief to know the company isn't about to go under."

"At least not immediately," Bill stated, "Although only time will tell if it works out in the long term. Are the stories about it being run by a couple of fourteen year old's true?"

"It's owned by a trust fund," Arnold replied, "The actual day to day operation is in the hands of an experienced manager. Hans Hertz may not be an experienced engineer, but he's worked in similar industries for the last decade."

"Hands hurt?" Becky started to laugh, "Seriously? What were his parents thinking? It's almost as bad as Drew Peacock."

"His parents are German, they may not speak English," Marilyn stated. "Be nice, Rebecca Edna Roberts."

This had the desired effect of silencing the girl. Not only did she prefer the shortened version of her name, she also hated her old-fashioned middle name.

Susan looked on in interest, slyly asking, "These fourteen-year-olds, anybody we know?"

Anna and Emily shared glances but kept silent.

"I very much doubt it will be anybody you go to school with," Helen laughed.

"Any competent financial manager won't be putting their eggs in one basket. If they have money to spend on buying up a failing business, then the total investment portfolio must be an order of magnitude bigger," Bill reasoned. "I managed a couple of portfolios when I still worked the stock markets. The is probably only a handful of kids with parents rich enough for the children to play on the stock market."

Bill Roberts had earned his fortune on the trading floor of the stock market. He was a young rising star but had left the high stress of the city after the last downturn. He now owned his own accountancy firm in Bristol.

"We go to school with some," Anna replied. "It's why we spend a lot of time in uniform, it stops some of the richer brats showing off all the time."

"Anybody famous?" Helen asked.

"Yes, but we have a rule. What happens in school, stays in school," Emily replied. "That includes who we come into contact with. I knew some of the students before I started, but I didn't know any others until I got there, even though some of them are classifiable as celebrities."

"We have the daughter of a football club owning Russian oligarch," Anna continued, referring to both herself and her half-sister. "There is also the daughter of a chart-topping singer. We have three members of royalty, though not British monarchy. I would guess about ten percent of the students are millionaires in their own right. A lot of the younger kids come from rich families."

"The younger years are smaller," Emily explained. "Quite a few families can only afford a couple of years worth of education, especially if there are multiple children. Although the school does offer family discounts for siblings. If I didn't have a scholarship, I wouldn't be there at all."

Emily was lying about the source of her funding. Anna, Molly, Susan, and Emily's parents knew that her source of income was from her YouTube channel and her co-authorship of the computer game, Rampaging Squirrels.

"We've been trying to get Becky into private education," Bill stated, "We are lucky that the boys can go as day students, so we get out of boarding fees. Arnold, you'll have to let me have the details. Of course, we wouldn't qualify for any grants."

"Did anybody watch the X-Factor final this year?" Dean asked, changing the subject. Bill had a tendency to brag when left to his own devices. The fact he could afford to put his sons in private schools was a bone of contention in the family.

Arnold, the most working class of all the husbands, found it the most annoying. However, Dean was also not immune to the odd jibe. Bill, whether intentional or not, had just insinuated that Emily was only attending via hand-outs as Arnold would never have the money to pay for it.

"I tried to get Tom to go in for it this year," Liz stated. "But he refused."

"My pitch-perfect choir boy years are over," Tom responded. "I can hold a tune, but so can thousands of other hopefuls. I may be better than average, but that doesn't mean I can get anywhere. Besides, I don't like being on stage."

"How many viewers watched your live stream this morning?" Bill asked.

"Only a couple of hundred. Considering I don't have a regular schedule, and it being Christmas morning, I was surprised I had that many. It's not the same as being on stage. It's you and a camera. The number watching is almost meaningless, as if you don't look at the figure, you don't know they are there. It's the figures on the YouTube videos that get me. I've gotten over 10k on my last one, and it wasn't even a record attempt. The recording of one of the former fastest runs has double that."

"Are you monetising the footage?" Emily asked.

"Yes, it's going into my car fund. Hopefully, I'll be able to afford something better than an old banger by the time I get to college."

"It's not the car you have to worry about," Dean stated. "My brother's eldest, Darren, has just learnt to drive. The insurance cost twice as much as the car."

"My half-sister keeps dropping hints she wants a Porche 911 convertible for her seventeen birthday," Anna stated, "Not that Dad is stupid enough to buy her one."

Further conversation was brought to a halt by the arrival of the turkey at the table.

~o~O~o~

"That was excellent Joe," Bill stated after dessert was finished.

"Shall we retire back to the other room," Liz stated, "I'm sure the 'girls' would like to open some more gifts."

The present opening was cut short by Dean getting stuck in traffic and the antics over the secret Santa. Rather than delay the meal, they had opted to leave the remaining gifts to later in the afternoon.

"Let's hope the rest of the gifts are gender appropriate," Bill added.

"I'm getting the impression that only boy here who hasn't liked the gifts so far is Eddie," Helen stated. "and technically, that dress wasn't meant for him."

"Can I change out of this thing now?" Eddie asked, "Please. I promise not to laugh at the others again."

"Okay," Dean stated, "but if don't behave, you'll end up in it tomorrow. I'm sure your other cousins, Darren and Damien, will love seeing you in that."

"Come on squirt, let's leave the girls to enjoy their girliness," Tom suggested. "My legs are getting cold, and this fur trim tickles."

"You're not joining the fairer sex then?" Molly asked. "Where, exactly, did that dress come from?"

"I noticed the dress Edward has on was missing," Liz explained. "When I saw the label on Jason's gift I suspected one or both of my boys may be up to something, so came up with a contingency plan."

The two boys disappeared upstairs to change. Jack looked around, not sure if he should change out of his sisters' clothes. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from moving.

"I've seen that look before," Emily whispered in his ear, "in the mirror every time I had to change out of Susan's clothes when Aunt Molly came home from work."

Jack gestured towards a door. Emily followed him into the study his father used as an office when he worked from home.

"I'm not like you," Jack stated. "You are right, I do like dressing like this, but I'm not a girl. I'm not transgendered. I guess the best description of me is that I'm a sissy."

Emily noted how her cousin almost spat out the last word. "Sissy has too many negative connotations. I believe the yanks have coined a better phrase: 'Janegirl'. The male equivalent of 'tomboy'. I never did like the fact girl's can be as boyish as they like but boys can't be girly. How long have you know about me?"

Jack glanced across at the clock, "about an hour and a half. Mum told us when we got changed. I knew something was up when she let me go ahead with the Secret Santa prank. I guess she knew you wouldn't be upset by it."

"My parents haven't gotten used to the idea yet. They may be going along with this, but they haven't actually stated this is permanent. At least they have switched to calling me Emily, but that is only because they know Susan and Anna would refuse to call me Jason when I present as a girl. They haven't confirmed anything yet."

"I'm sorry about the prank," Jack apologised, "it wasn't intended to be hurtful. I watched you last year. I could see something was wrong. Then it dawned on me, I was feeling the same thing. Mum found out about my cross-dressing. I would have ended up in a dress no matter what happened today, it's part of my Christmas present. The only thing that differs is how long I stay like this."

"Which way round is it?" Emily asked. "Is the punishment for upsetting me being forced into dressing like a girl, or being denied the ability to dress as a girl?"

"Definitely the latter, although I'll pretend it's the former," Jackie giggled. "We better get back in there before we're missed."

~o~O~o~

"I thought you had gone to get changed," Bill was surprised to see his son and nephew still in dresses. Tom and Eddie were back in their own clothes.

"What, and miss all the fun of our skirts tickling our legs?" Emily answered. "We were just comparing notes and working out how long we think we can get way with this before we are forced back into being boys."

"How long do you think you are going to stay like that?" Bill foolishly asked.

"Do you think I'm too old for an Easter dress?" Jack winked at Emily.

Arnold burst out laughing at the shocked expression on Bills face. "Welcome to the club, I've been outnumbered by women in my house for a while."

"You've given me an idea," Anna said. "I'm sure Jane could be persuaded to make matching Easter dresses for you two. She loves costume making and has a top of the line sewing machine in her room. She made a maids outfit for Tracy's doll, and that's more fiddly due to the small scale."

"Is she the one who offered to make you a little girl dress?" Susan asked. The offer had come during a session on Emily's fan server. Emily, Anna, Susan, Jane, and several others were playing using their online identities and the discussion had turned to things Emily has missed out on being a boy.

Jane, although going to the same school, didn't know that Emily and Generation2K, Emily's online identity, where the same person. At least, if she had worked it out, she was keeping that knowledge to herself as per Emily's wishes. Emily didn't want the other students to know, as she wanted to be treated at face value. It was important for her to experience being a girl without thinking that the other girls were simply humouring her.

"You can forget that idea," Emily stated. "I've told you two before that I have no intention pretending to be a little girl again."

"Again?" Jack asked.

"You remember that little pink frilly number your sister wore when she was five?" Susan inquired.

"God, I loved that dress," Jack replied. "I wore that whenever I could, despite it being a size or two too small."

"Me too," Emily replied. "I borrowed it numerous times off Susan when she owned it before it got handed down. I guess in that sense I had the advantage, as I've always been roughly the same size as Susan, being the same age. You might have had more opportunity due to living in the same house, but borrowing off someone two years younger couldn't have been that easy."

The room had grown silent at the revelations being made. Liz and Becky had discovered Jacks' cross-dressing, but only a few months previously. Nobody knew he had been at it for at least six years.

Susan had always known about Emily. With Susan covering their activities, Emily had remained undetected. Molly, Susan's mother, had only found out about Susan lending her clothes after Susan had helped Emily run away to boarding school, but had never been told how young it was when they began.

Arnold and Marilyn had been just as clueless. The signs of their child being transgendered were present, but they were oblivious to them. The first indications were noticed by the school, and that had resulted in an evaluation by a medical professional. Arnold had dismissed the findings as a load of psychobabble. Marilyn was slightly more willing to listen but believed it was simply escapism and not a real problem.

As Emily wasn't borrowing clothes from her mother, and nobody twigged that Susan might be helping, the first they knew about their son presenting as a girl was when he went to boarding school. They hadn't considered he might have been dressing up for a lot longer.

"That long," Liz shook her head, "I had no idea."

"I can give you the details of a good doctor," Marilyn offered, "He's been working with us on coming to terms with the fact we have a daughter."

"You don't need to panic," Jack stated. "Unlike Emily, this is just for fun. I'll be back to a boy in time to return to school."

"Pitty, I would love to see the guys faces seeing you turn up in a skirt," Tom laughed.

"March the twenty-fourth," Susan declared, looking at her smartphone. Seeing the puzzlement, she continued, "The date of red nose day next year."

Emily laughed, "The Saint Trinians outfit I wore for Comic Relief last year was a hoot. Just don't make the same mistake I did. This guy I fancied, Mark, didn't realise I was a boy and tried to chat me up. I couldn't help going all tongue tied."

"They thought Jason was gay before that," Susan added, "but that sort of sealed the opinion somewhat."

"I can't help it," Emily blushed, "he's just so cute. Beiber has nothing on him."

"I won't have that issue," Jack replied laughing, "I'm definitely a lesbian."

"I thought the surprises were supposed to come from the presents," Dean declared.

"Right," Liz stated, positioning herself once more at the tree. "We need to get these opened, or we will be here all night."

The Roberts had opened their gifts to each other before everyone else arrived. As people arrived, they added more presents to the pile under the tree. The presents were therefore distributed in reverse order of arrival.

Gifts from Helen, Dean, and Eddie were handed out first. Given the earlier shocks, they were glad they went for something gender neutral for Emily. The large cushion and throw would go nicely on her bed at school.

Emily had done two wish lists on Amazon. One for giving out to those who knew she was a girl, and a Jason list for those who didn't. She still wanted the things she put on the Jason list, but they were all gender neutral. A few big items, like the throw and a rug, or various gadgets, such as a digital radio.

Emily had opened presents from her parents before they came round. Anna and Emily were up at half seven in the morning so that Anna could skype her mother in Korea at eight. The nine-hour time difference meaning it would be early evening for her mother. Emily had gone to shower, giving Anna some privacy in the bedroom.

Emily had given her mother and father some boxes of chocolates and explained that their main gifts were already round at her aunt's, having gone shopping with her when they met up a month earlier in Norwich. She had taken the opportunity to buy some items that she couldn't get on her own, and that wouldn't be possible to bring home on the train.

Liz handed out the presents from Marilyn and Arnold but deliberately skipped the ones from Emily. She knew what at least one of the presents would be, and knew it was worth the wait.

Anna had bought each of the three families a large tin of biscuits.

Susan and Molly's presents were handed out next, as they had been first to arrive. Both the items for 'Jason' were small, as both had opted to buy for Emily, but not bring the gifts in. Susan had already given Emily the dress she was currently wearing. Her Jason gift was shortbread. Molly had bought her niece some slips and a nightie. The fleece jacket for Jason was unisex.

"Okay, in this final bag are the ones from Emily," Liz stated handing a small carrier bag to Emily.

"As I was away at boarding school, I couldn't buy anything too big, except for a few items I was able to get Aunt Liz to bring home with her from her visit."

Emily lifted what were obviously two square bottles out of the bag, and handed them to her father. Arnold carefully unwrapped a bottle of Jack Daniels, followed by a smaller bottle of Winter Jack, a mixture of Jack Daniels and Apple.

"I know you like them, and I had time to get them while Aunt Liz was with me, otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to buy alcohol."

Emily then pulled out two small CD-sized packages and two envelopes. She handed the first to Becky, "You remember when we spoke on the phone last month, I said I participated in making an album, and I said I would get you a copy? Well, here it is."

Becky unwrapped the CD and almost dropped it in surprise. "Alicia Morgan! You got to work with Alicia Morgan?"

"I happen to go to school with her daughter, Berry," Emily stated as she handed the second copy to Susan. Becky was the bigger fan of the two. "If you look inside, you will see both are signed copies."

"I didn't think you were allowed to talk about who you went to school with," Marilyn stated.

"Technically, it's not an enforcible rule. We don't actually sign non-disclosure agreements. It's all mutual consent and trust. The ones you and Dad signed were for my protection and unique to my situation. In this case, I have permission off Berry, as she helped get me the CDs. Which brings me to these."

Emily handed the two envelopes out to Susan and Becky. "Tickets to a private concert to be held during half-term in February. Susan, I know you are probably not that bothered about the music, but as it's being held at the school, I thought you would appreciate paying Wendy a visit. Technically you will be her guest, not mine. Each student can only invite one guest. If you want to reserve more than one, you either have to win one of the spares in a draw or bargain one off another student. Wendy didn't have anybody else to invite, so she agreed to invite you so that I could invite Becky and you could both attend."

"You also get to babysit Becky on the journey," Liz stated. "Emily has spoken to me about it, and I've consulted with Molly. We will let you two travel alone from London to Norwich, as long as you are together. Emily has paid for first class travel on a train that only stops twice with no changes. I'll take you to, and pick you up from, London Liverpool Street."

"I'll meet you at Norwich. The school will be running a shuttle service. You are not the only guests. There are several concerts over the course of the week, The first will be for students only who are not inviting anybody, the other three are for students to bring guests. It's invitation only, for friends and family of current students."

"Becky, you will be sleeping in my room," Anna added, "either in a sleeping bag or in my roommate's bed, depending on if she is in the school or staying with her guardians in Thorpe."

Emily made eye contact with her father. Arnold sighed, "Go on, I don't think one more shock is going to matter after what we have already experienced today."

"The reason why Anna's roommate might not be there is because it's me," Emily stated. "Only a select few students know I'm male. I'm attending the school as a girl. When term started, Miss Morgan crashed her car into one of the buildings, causing an evacuation of some of the dormitories. Hence why she is now doing private concerts, it's part of her making up for the damage she caused.

"I was originally going to be in a room by myself, but that would have left me as the only girl who didn't double, or in some cases triple, up. Anna, with permission from her father, offered to board with me to help keep my cover.

"We never got around to changing the arrangement back. Anna prefers being in with me instead of the girl she was supposed to board with, and I get a discount because I no longer get a room to myself. It's also an insurance policy, as nobody would believe the school would allow co-ed room sharing.

"That is why we allowed Anna to stay with us," Marilyn explained, "We don't have a guest bedroom, and we are not making her sleep on the couch. As these share a room during term time, we allowed Anna to sleep on a camp bed in Emily's room."

"My parents weren't exactly comfortable with my coming out," Emily continued, "So I had to plan for you not knowing my secret. Uncle Bill's assumption earlier today about me attending a co-ed boarding school is wrong. It's an all girls school. If I hadn't come out at all, then we were going to claim close ties to another school nearby, with the claim I would be there, and met Anna and the other girls at an interschool activity.

"I would have only seen you outside of the school. One of the teachers has temporary guardianship during term time, and I stay with them if needed. I often spend the night before my doctor's appointments, as it saves Mrs Jennings time if she doesn't have to come and collect me first.

"I was hoping to convince Dad to at least let you in on the secret, Becky. Not that it's relevant now."

Becky thought for a minute, "I guess now that I know, you will be staying in the school then?"

"That is entirely up to you," Emily replied. "Are you comfortable sleeping in the same room as me for a few nights? We have an on-suite bathroom, so you can change in private. As I admitted earlier, I'm not into girls, and even if I was, I would consider you off-limits due to being a cousin."

"I think I can put up with that, as long as you don't snore," Becky grinned back.

"That brings me to my final two sets of envelopes," Emily declared, handing one each to Bill and Dean, "Tom, Jack and Eddie are included in this as well. Dad, you are welcome as well, but I know you don't like football, so this probably won't interest you. Some of my friends happen to have connections at a premier league football club. I managed to secure you all access to a corporate box for the FA Cup third round on the seventh of January."

"Wait, Anna said something about a Russian oligarch earlier," Bill recalled, "This friend wouldn't be Svetlana Gurevich by any chance? She was in the news earlier this year, something about being placed under house arrest and escaping. Almost caused a diplomatic incident until she was let off to return to her boarding school in this country."

"I thought they went bankrupt and sold all their interests to the club," Dean countered, not believing the connection could be true.

"Sort of," Emily explained. "Yes, I know Svetlana, but we aren't exactly friends. She found out about me and tried to out me to the rest of the school. Originally there was only supposed to be one student aware of my status, Susan's former next door neighbour, Wendy.

"Mr Gurevich was one of our school governors and approved of my attendance. Svetlana accidently found out there would be a transgender student and tried to hunt me down. Sharing a room with Anna put her off the trail a bit, and she accused another student of being transgender. In order to stop it dissolving into a fight in the school canteen, myself and the other girl agreed to strip in front of an independent witness in order to shut her up.

"I was forced to come out to Svetlana, the witness, and the other accused. Svetlana's plan backfired. The girl she agreed on to arbitrate decided to declare that we were all female.

"Her father went ballistic when he found out what she had tried to do. The only reason he let her stay is because I calmed him down by agreeing not to sue him for breach of confidentiality over letting his daughter find out.

"There wouldn't have been any point in suing him anyway, I knew he was about to go bankrupt. It would cost me too much to try, and by the time I got him to court, It would be too late anyway. Instead, he has prepaid my tuition fees until I graduate, which I'm really grateful for, as otherwise, I wouldn't have been going back in January.

"I lied earlier about having a scholarship. Like Tom, I've been taking advantage of YouTube. I had one of my videos go viral. I was contacted by another channel looking for a piece of music to use as an intro to a series. They paid me a couple of hundred for the performance and put a link to my original in their description.

"The proceeds, along with the savings from my summer jobs was enough to buy one term. I know it sounds stupid, only going to boarding school for a few months, but it was worth it to me to prove that I was truly a girl. If I could survive there undetected, then the would be no doubt."

The original video was her performance of the Moonlight Serenade. John Larking had bought a copy for his intro. After becoming friendly, she was invited to join his server. It was only then she started making serious money.

Emily was downplaying her wealth. Mr Gurevich hadn't paid her school fees. Her share of the proceeds from Rampaging Squirrels was now paying the bill. She would still have managed to stay on her YouTube earnings alone, but it would have been very difficult. In order to keep up her income, she would have needed to publish twice as many videos, which would have put too much pressure on her free time.

She had signed up for the school while Rampaging Squirrels was still in early access release. It was starting to become popular, but yet to fulfil its potential. Emily hoped it would subsidise her loss of earnings due to not being able to release as many videos. It had overtaken all predictions by the time term started, and by the end of the month, she had raised enough funds to pay for her second term.

Combined with the expected royalties from the small cut of Alicia Morgan's album sales, even without Mr Gurevich's involvement, she had already earned enough to get through her three-year stay.

Mr Gurevich had instead 'sold' her shares in the football club. After he was forced to go bankrupt, he had to sell all his assets. He could afford to pay the bills but needed breathing space to obtain the necessary funds. Part of his long-term exit plan was to sell to the fans, so when the liquidator, a close friend of his, started to recoup the money, he sold a large chunk to the official fan club. Around a third of the shares were now owned by supporters, with preference being given to season ticket holders.

Several of the former players bought into the club, in addition to some of the current team. However, it was on the proviso that current team members would not be able to leverage control over the management.

Mr Gurevish effectively sold the remaining shares back to himself, or at least to companies owned by his family. Both Svetlana and Anna now had sizable holdings. He couldn't control the board directly anymore but was able to steer things through his daughters.

While transferring ownership to his daughters, he had put a small percentage in Emily's name.

In order to keep Svetlana from causing trouble, her father had made Emily the company secretary for the Svetlana's holding company. Svetlana was the owner and CEO, but couldn't actually spend any money without Emily's counter signature.

"To stop Svetlana bothering me," Emily continued, "her father set it up so that I have to countersign any transfers from her main savings account. All her allowance and any profit from any of her business holdings go into that account, so I effectively control her spending money. Mr Gurevich had already authorised a transfer so she could do Christmas shopping, but she wanted a top up, because like always, she overspent her budget. I only agreed to authorise the transfer if she let me use the corporate box."

"Isn't that blackmail?" Tom asked.

"Yes, and it was her father's idea," Emily replied, "He had emailed me to let me know that Svetlana would end up coming to me and that I should authorise a specific amount extra. His exact words were, 'make sure you get something from her in return'. As her company owns a large share, she gets a small corporate box. While she does use it herself, she normally loans it out for extra pocket money. Several of her friends have taken their families to games."

Mr Gurevich paying her school fees was a cover story for her wealth and suggested by Anna. Emily probably could have sued the Gurevich family, or put pressure on them for a settlement, but had no intention of even considering it. As far as Emily was concerned, it was a simple mistake on Anna's part that Svetlana found out, and she didn't hold a grudge against the girl who was now one of her best friends.

What Emily didn't know was that Mr Gurevich had come up with the cover story originally and that he would have paid her school fees if her business ventures failed. When Anna had approached him with regards to Farcombe Engineering, he jumped at the opportunity to have Emily take part ownership, knowing that he could manipulate the situation to send money her direction, in addition to his own daughter.

Although he didn't officially own the football club anymore and had to sell off a lot of his other assets, he still held a controlling stake in a chain of garden centres with thirty branches throughout the south and east of England.

Seeing that some of the DIY superstores were making a profit with their own brand power tools, he was looking for ways to do the same thing. Considering Farcombe Engineering made the motors for a number of these devices, he was going to have them be the supplier for electric motors for a new range of mowers, strimmers, shredders and garden vacuums he was planning on launching. He hoped to be the first retailer to stock mass market solar powered robotic lawn mowers.

Having been thanked for the tickets by the boys, Emily moved to the final set of envelopes. The previous set had been wrapped in blue paper with white snowflakes. These were red tartan with gold.

"Finally," Emily stated, handing out the envelopes, "I thought while the boys are away, the four sisters might like some time to themselves. I haven't had the opportunity to go there myself, but some of the girls at school highly recommend it, and that isn't just because it's run by a former student and gives discounts to St Mary's residents. Her younger sister is a friend of mine, and I managed to secure you an overnight stay, as it is a bit of a drive. It's up to you how you arrange to get there."

"I've heard of this place," Liz stated, looking shocked. "It's reputed to be one of the leading health and beauty retreats in the entire country."

"Wait, isn't that the one that got named dropped on the TV show, 'Loose women' a few weeks ago?" Helen added.

"Pass," Emily replied, "I don't get to watch daytime television, although it wouldn't surprise me. Stacy took Berry and a few of her other friends there when it first opened. Berry told her mother about it, so she ended up going there. Miss Morgan then recommended it to her celebrity friends, and there is now a waiting list. St Mary's students get to queue jump, especially if the booking is made via Stacy."

Emily had been invited to go along, twice in fact. Stacy had offered to take her, but Emily was worried about her secret getting out. The owner had also offered Generation2K a place, not knowing the connection, hoping to attract more customers from the transgender and cross-dressing audiences.

After watching the Queen's speech, the family sat and rested while the afternoon movie played.