Cross-Over Day at school

Cross-Over Day is a fertile place for real change. Children change at such a rate from their first days that magic-type changes can seem not that unusual. Some changes just have to happen. Even without magic.

An AP-500 story

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I wanted a change. I didn’t dislike me – but I felt no vim, no eagerness. I was …. uninteresting – even to myself.

So – Cross-Over Day. I could be like many of the common herd and not bother. Or I could take a risk. But it was only two years until the end of school – two Cross-Over Days where I could be bold and different without any repercussion. What was I going to do?

I thought about the opposite of bookish, skinny, short-haired boy; each adjective one by one. Boy – Girl!! That decision surprised me but made the next choices more obvious. Bookish – Stupid. Skinny – Curvaceous. Short-haired – Long-haired. I thought about other words that could apply and wondered at how I had become trapped within my willingness to hide from ‘them’. Withdrawn – Outgoing; Cautious – Open; Grey - Colourful.

I was going to have to be a stupid, curvaceous, long blonde, smiling, bouncy …. a bimbo. How dreadful.

But in a weird way – the amount of change I was going to have to do to myself actually felt exciting. An opportunity. I wondered if I could get help from anybody. But I didn’t really feel that I had any friends to ask. Were there any good-enough friends? Any? I sat back and thought awhile.

Would Emily help. We had done a few things together. We were both in the hideaway below-the-radar nerd group. I could at least ask.

Amazing.

Emily had been thinking the same. She said ‘I’m tired of being me. I’m tired of avoiding the haters by being flat and dull and drab. I want a change as much as you. As you say -– bold, colourful, enthusiastic. Everything I’m not.“

Well, we talked for hours about breaking out of our self-imposed shells. Eventually, Emily said, “We’re going to have to get my sister involved. She works for the local theatre and’s bound to have some ideas on camouflage, disguise and costume”

“I think that sounds like ‘let’s take a deep breath and, um, see what happens’.”

“Are you up for it. Really up for this. We’re taking a bit of a risk and ….. y’know, it could go wrong.”

“Oh bollo. It’s Cross-Over Day. As long as we stand up for ourselves and are ready with a few prepared witticisms for the stupids, then we’ll be ok.”

“Are we going to tell the parent-units? Or anyone at school?”

“Probably. And no. Though we could deliver a letter to our class-teacher as a backup.”

“Agreed. So, we need to plan and start getting comfortable as Bimbi.”

“Em – like how?”

“Going to town, over in Borchester. You need everything – in case you’re so blonde you’ve forgotten – that means – shoes two, pop-sox pack, panties pack, cami, bra, fillers, blouses two, skirts two and maybe a dress. Some makeup and a wig. Only set you back a couple of hundred? Are you still up for it?”

I considered the new aspect of cost. Choice – to change or go dull-drab-grey forever. Decision .

“Yes.”

An AP 500 word story (basic text) for anyone to adapt, rewrite or build on. Thanks