Chapter 2 Abbey High

It soon became time for me to start my new life at Abbey Girls’ High School, and I prepared myself with mixed emotions. On one hand I was filled with dread at the thought of going there as a girl and keeping up a pretence all day, every day, with the possibility of being discovered. On the other hand I was determined to make it work to help Josie overcome her problems.

We had decided that I would live at Josie’s house while I was going to the Abbey School for three main reasons, firstly so that my neighbours at home wouldn’t start asking awkward questions if they saw a strange girl at the house every day, secondly as it would help back up my story of being a cousin visiting and staying with the Marshalls, thirdly so that I didn’t give my Dad high blood pressure problems seeing me dressed as a girl every day.

Before going down to breakfast, I got dressed in my new school uniform which had been bought for me by Josie’s dad, all as detailed in the school rule book:
Uniform plaid pleated skirt (maximum 1” above the knee);
Uniform blazer (to be buttoned at all times when off school premises);
Blouse (white, plain,sleeved, tucked in the skirt, changed every day);
School tie (tight to the collar not halfway down the chest);
Uniform beret (worn on the top of the head not at the back);
Court shoes (black, round-toed, maximum 11/2” heel);
Tights (black minimum 66 denier),
Bra and knickers (white, plain, cotton).
The school obviously wanted a set of clones, not individuals.

Josie’s mum drove us to school, and Josie took me to the office so I could be registered and given my timetable details, and sent off to my first class, into the lions den.

My first morning I was not in classes with Josie nor, luckily, any of Macbeth’s Three Witches, as we were referring to Claire and her two main friends, and introduced myself and chatted to the girls at the nearby desks. At lunchtime I found Josie sitting alone and joined her to eat my meal. Although the canteen was full, nobody else joined us at our table, Josie was definitely a social outcast. She pointed out the Witches when they came in, deliberately walking slowly past us but totally ignoring us, except for a couple of catty pointed remarks.

On the way to my next class I noticed the Witches hanging around the corridor, so before I approached them I turned on the voice recorder on my phone.

“You’re new here, you ought to be careful who you choose to be friends with, some people are just bad news.” Claire barked at me.

“Sorry, are you telling me that you have to approve my friends or who I sit with, am I not allowed to pick and choose myself?”

“We are just advising you that unless you want to be very unpopular, you should avoid that
Marshall bitch like the plague.”

“From the sound of it, if there are any bitches around here it is you three, and for your information Josie is my cousin and I am staying with her family while I am here, so even if I wanted too I couldn’t avoid her. Now get out of my way.” I pushed past them thinking to myself that that was a good start, but I could sense the eyes glaring daggers at my back as I walked away.

in the morning everyone had been talking to me trying to get to know me, but I soon found out that afternoon that nobody wanted to sit next to me at a double-desk, the jungle telegraph obviously worked very quickly and effectively.

At the end of the afternoon when Josie and I were walking out to the car the Witches brushed past us tripping me causing to fall over, scuff my knee and ladder my new tights on the gravel.

"Oh. sorry, did you slip, you should be more careful,” laughed Claire, I was tempted to hit her, but thought that I had better not get into a fight on my first day or I would get a reputation as a troublemaker.

The next morning I told Josie not to walk in with me but to follow a few yards behind with her phone running on video record, and sure enough, the Witches were waiting for me, but this time I was ready for them. One of them suddenly stopped in front of me and bent down as if to adjust her shoe, and Claire came from behind intending to push me over her stooped friend, but I quickly stepped aside put my arm around her back and shoved her to fall over her friend. I walked on with a cheeky "Oh. sorry, did you trip, you should be more careful,” leaving them sprawled on the ground amidst a lot of laughing girls who were obviously pleased that someone had given them their comeuppance.

At break I got the video from Josie which clearly showed that they had attempted to push me over and that I had got the better of them and made them look foolish. Although my intention was to get evidence, I thought this was just too good not to share and Facebooked it without the sound, from a new account I had set up, to a couple of the girls who Josie had told me were sure to pass it on. As expected it was soon half-way around the school. At lunch we still had the table to ourselves but at least we now getting a few friendly smiles.

After lunch was my first big test of being accepted as a girl, I was headed for my first games session, which today as the weather was good, was scheduled as hockey. Feeling a bit worried, I walked into the changing room with a couple of my classmates who were actually now speaking to me again. The girls mostly seemed happy to change openly in front of each other, but some turned their backs to face the wall while they changed into their sports bras, and I decided that would be best for me, as although my breast forms were convincing when covered, they would be noticeable when exposed. I wasn’t so shy changing into my short sports skirt as I was completely believable and held firmly in place down below, and we were soon out on the field.

Although I had played hockey a few times at school and knew the basic rules, I told them I wasn’t sure how I would play, so they put me in an important but relatively safe position as ‘left inside’, a midfield position linking between defence and attack players. We started fairly slowly with everyone just getting used to what they were supposed to do, and I kept out of trouble, didn’t make too many mistakes, but didn’t do anything startling either. Even wearing a sports bra which was supposed to give extra support, I was conscious of my breasts bouncing all over the place when I ran, I was beginning to understand why a lot of girls avoid sport as much as they can.

Just before half-time I collected the ball in midfield, but there was nobody obvious to pass it to so I just ran forward with it until I reached the left-hand end of the ‘standing circle’. I looked up and passed the ball inside to our centre forward who stopped it just inside the circle, swung her stick and sent the ball into the goal. As well as congratulating the centre-forward, some of the girls came over to give me a group hug for my part in the goal. After that they involved me a lot more in the game and I made a few telling passes, one of which led to another goal, and nearly scored myself on one of my forward runs. As we walked off the pitch, the centre-forward, who was on the school team suggested that I go along to one of their training sessions and try out for the team, which i agreed to.

Getting changed afterwards was a lot easier, as we had individual shower cubicles and most of the girls changed their underwear in there after drying off. Being in a room full of semi-naked girls without obviously staring at their bodies was difficult for me, underneath all these clothes I was still very much a boy.

On the way into my next class I heard a familiar voice. “Who’s Miss Popular now then ? You just watch your back you never know what might happen next time you are on the hockey pitch.” Another threat from Claire went into the phone memory.

I did try out for the hockey team and joined, originally as a substitute but after a couple of successful substitutions I was firmly established on the team. Partly due to my hockey success, and partly due to the video of Claire’s fall going viral around the school, Josie and I, whilst not totally popular, were beginning to get accepted by a growing number of the girls, and were soon joined at our dinner table by an ever-changing group. My popularity also rubbed of on Josie and there was always someone walking or talking with her, so the Witches had no opportunities to continue their bullying.

The following weekend, the hockey team were playing a school about 10 miles away, so a bus was organised for the team and a few supporters and parents, but which, unfortunately, included the Three Witches. Before the match I saw the Witches talking to one of the opposition that they obviously knew and asked Josie to take a photo of them all together.

The game was going quite well and at half time, I had avoided any play with the Witches’ friend, and had made the passes that led to our two goals. “ Be careful Robin, I heard a couple of the opposition talking about taking you out of the game.” one of my teammates told me and she pointed them out me, one was the Witches’ friend and the other was the biggest, bulkiest,
girl on the pitch.

Halfway through the second period, I was running upfield with the ball when I saw their attack coming, they were running at me from either side intending to sandwich me between them. I threw myself to the ground just before they reached me and they crashed into each other and fell to the ground either side of me, I just got up and walked away. When they had recovered they were substituted, their coach had decided that they were too much trouble and didn’t want her team to get a reputation for violent play. I saw Josie giving me a thumbs-up, she had managed to video their attack.

The two first half goals had won the match for us and we all had a big group hug as we walked off the pitch, it was the first time we had beaten the opposition for many years. In the changing room and showers there were a lot of happy girls, a lot of laughing and joking, a lot of spraying the water around, but after stern words from our teacher/coach, we all calmed down, dried off, got changed into our day clothes, with me managing to keep my modesty and my secrets still secret, and went back to the bus. I really felt that I was now fully accepted onto the team.

On the bus Josie showed me the videos and photos she had taken, including one of the Witches having a violent argument with the girls that had tried to injure me. I almost felt that we had enough evidence, but I was enjoying my time at Abbey High and was in no hurry to leave, and we decided that I would stay until the end of term, as originally planned.

When we got back to school one of the girls said that they were having a get-together at her houses with some of the others and invited us to join them, it was to be like a pyjama party only without the sleep-over.

We went back to Josie’s, got permission from her Mum to go, as long as we were back by midnight and came home together in a taxi, and went to get ourselves changed and ready. It was my first time at a party with a lot of girls and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Josie set me straight.

It was a nice feeling to put on a lacy lingerie set instead of the plain cotton ones we had to wear for school, Josie had told me that we would be changing into our nightclothes and that we should be seen to be wearing something a bit exotic. I borrowed one of her dresses, a loose turquoise shift that narrowed in under the bust line and flared out to sit quite high on my thighs, It didn’t give much cover so I would have to be careful how I sat. We didn’t go overboard with the make-up but did our eyes with heavy bronze shadow, with black eyeliner , and mascara, which was enough for two 15 year-olds

When we arrived at the party some of the girls were dressed a bit like us, some were in just jeans or casual trousers and tops, but all had made an effort to look good. We had something to eat and some fizzy non-alcoholic wine and watched a dvd of a wartime romance, which ended up with the boyfriend being killed in action and with most of us in tears. We then turned into sleepover mode and changed into our nighties or pyjamas, in my case a short satin pyjama set in pale pink with flower motifs, to do lots of silly girly things, playing truth or day, painting each others nails, changing our hairstyles, talking about boys they had seen in town, As Abbey High was all-girls there were no boys at school and for a lot of them the experiences were limited but they read a lot of teen magazines and had vivid imaginations. It was soon time to go home, I was enjoying myself so much that i was disappointed that it hadn’t turned into a sleepover, but maybe next time.

As Josie and I were now becoming too difficult a target at school for the Witches, they turned their attention to another couple of the younger girls, pushing them, making them drop their books, sticking bullying notices on their lockers and all the usual nasty tricks, but between Josie, me, and a couple of the girls off the hockey team who we had trusted with what we were doing, but obviously not with the details of the real me, we had photos or videos of a lot of it.

The learning atmosphere in Abbey High was completely different to that at my old school, classes were much better behaved and the girls genuinely seemed to want to learn, and there were no distractions of flirting or playing up to the opposite gender, and I found that I was enjoying lessons and my school work improved immensely. The teachers suggested that when my temporary exchange period was over that I should stay on there until after my exams in June. Part of me wanted to benefit from the better teaching at Abbey High, but part of me worried that my life was becoming more feminine day by day and that it would be difficult to drop all the attitudes and mannerisms that I was growing into.

As Christmas approached we had gathered more than enough evidence to prove that the Witches were evil bullies, but also wanted to show that our headmistress had allowed it to go on unchecked. I arranged to see the headmistress and told her about the bullying and threats that I had received and about the attempt to injure me at the hockey match.

“ Don’t be silly Robin, you are making a mountain out of a molehill, I’m sure that Claire and her friends were only having a bit of playful fun and it’s just part of the hustle and bustle of daily life that you will experience when you leave school and start working.

“With respect you are wrong, Claire and her friends have been nasty to other girls for ages, she tells them that it is no use complaining to you as you will believe and back up your daughter no matter what. If you don’t believe me, plug this memory stick into your computer and see and listen some of the threats that have been made. Please take action to rein her in and stop this.”

She played the videos and photos I had copied into a powerpoint presentation, going redder and redder with anger as she watched the screen.

“ What do you mean with all this, this is an invasion of privacy, you shouldn’t be taking photos of your fellow pupils like this. I will keep this memory stick and we will say no more about it, if you complain again I will have no choice but to expel you, now get out, I don’t want to see you again.”

“I assume that you are not going to do anything publicly about this, on you head be it.” I screamed at her as I stormed out of her office.

I was surrounded in the corridor by the Witches about half-an-hour later. “ You sneaky cow, who gave you permission to film and record us, it’s an invasion of privacy. you’ll suffer for this, my Mum will expel you.”

“ What do I care, don’t forget that I am only here on a temporary exchange, so your threats don’t worry me in the least.”

“You may not care, but when you are no longer around your timid little bitch of a friend will really suffer, her life will be hell, you should be worried about that, what we’ve done to her up until now is nothing compared what she will be getting.”

“We’ll see, I think that Josie and I will still be around long after you have gone.” I pushed past them and walked away with a big smile on my face, that’s two more recordings of threats added to my evidence, Claire’s and her mother’s.

We all met at Josie’s house for a council of war that night, Me. my Mam, Josie, her Mum and Dad, Sara, and her Mum and Dad, to decide how to go forward. Sara’s Dad, Gerald was amazed and disgusted when we played all the recordings for him, particularly the one of my meeting with the headmistress. “Leave it with me for a few days, I think I know how I want to play this, but I want to have a talk with the other governors first.”

There was no bother over the next few days from either the Witches or from the Headmistress, I assume they thought that as I no longer had the memory stick that the Headmistress had kept that I no longer had the evidence, either they were all stupid or they thought that I was.

At the weekend we had another hockey match, this time at Abbey High, so had plenty time to have a tactics meeting with our coach beforehand, and most of the plays seemed to focus around me, I was now being seen as one of the star players on the team. I no longer had any reservation or problems with sharing the changing room with the other girls, it was becoming a normal weekend occurrence for me and i glad to be enjoying myself with a bunch of good friends. The coach’s tactics, and my plays, contributed to another win for us, and we were now top of the schools league we played in, which was unknown in our school history.

At the assembly on the following Monday, the teacher who was coaching us gave a glowing report of the match and made a special mention of my role in the victory and my help in getting to the top of the league. If looks could kill, the glare she was getting from the Headmistress would have surely done for her. Apart from the Witches and a few, very few, of their close friends I was definitely Miss popular in the school and was constantly getting asked by the other girls and by my teachers to consider staying on for another term or two, until the end of the hockey season and until after my exams. I was really enjoying my time at Abbey High, I had never had so many friends, or done so well in my studies, and really needed to talk to Mam and Dad about it.

Dad was away again so it was just Mam there when I went around. I told her that I was considering staying on at Abbey High and asked her what she thought of the idea and how Dad would react.

“Tell me what the good points are and what the bad points are if you decide to do this, and we’ll talk about how they balance up.”

“I’m doing really well there, all my grades have improved and I like the way they teach, the smaller classes mean you get more personal attention. I’m doing really well on the hockey team and getting on with all the other girls, and am generally happier than I was at my other school. The down sides are that I miss living at home, miss you and Dad, and am worried that I am becoming too comfortable as a girl and will have problems going back to being a boy when this is all sorted.”

“The pluses are all good points and are good reasons to stay on there. There is no reason why you can’t come back and live at home, you don’t look anything like you did a few months ago, the neighbours don’t know you very well anyway, and we’ll tell anybody who asks that you are boarding with us as your parents have been posted overseas for a while. Your father will be away quite a lot for the next few months, but he has adjusted a lot to what you are doing anyway, and I’ll be glad of your company. The one thing I cannot help you with is how much you like being a girl and how much you prefer being a boy, you have to decide what is important for you and how you want to live your life.”

“If you are sure that you do not mind and that it won’t cause problems with Dad, I would like to stay on at Abbey High until the end of the school year, and come back to live here, Mr and Mrs Marshall have been really good to me but it’s not the same as being at home. Sara’s dad is expecting things to be sorted out with the Headmistress within a couple of days, let’s just keep this to ourselves until then just in case thing change, ”

We found out afterwards that Gerald had called a special meeting of the governors, without inviting the headmistress as they normally would, he explained what had been happening and played them the recordings. They were all shocked at the extent of the bullying going on and that the headmistress had known all about it and done nothing. He had also discovered that her mother had granted Claire a special scholarship so that she was attending the school at no cost, and that this had been hidden in the accounts, along with other financial irregularities and excessive expenses claims. To save any public embarrassment to the school, she was to be allowed to resign and take her daughter with her and there would be no criminal charges as long as she left the area and made no complaints or public nuisance.

The deputy-head announced at morning assembly that the headmistress had resigned with immediate effect for family reasons, and that her and Claire were leaving the area, which was greeted with a few cheers and whistles. The deputy announced that she would be taking charge temporarily whilst the governors sorted out a new appointment.

One of her first duties after the announcement was my visit to inform her that I would like to stay on until the end of the school year in July, which delighted her as she had been told of my role in the headmistress’s resignation, and was pleased at the prospect of a much happier school and for the the contribution I had made to the success of the hockey team.

It was now the final week before we broke up for the Christmas holiday, academic life wound down and the festivities wound up. As well as the school’s official Christmas party which was a pretty subdued affair, only livened up by the fact that it was a joint event with the local boys’ school and the fact that we were allowed to wear our own clothes rather than the uniform, the hockey squad along with a few friends, including Josie and Sara as regular team supporters, had a much livelier party at Sara’s house. We were still too young to drink (much), and Sara’s mum and dad had banned boys, but we had a lot of fun, dressed up to the nines and with lots of Christmas glittery makeup, dancing and singing to her karaoke machine, and eating lots of fancy, and unhealthy and fattening, foods that well-brought-up young ladies should avoid. I hadn’t had so much fun in ages.

With lots of thanks to Josie's Mum and Dad for looking after me during my stay I moved back home for Christmas. Other that my hair being way too long, I spent the holiday totally as a boy, it felt strange to be wearing heavier rougher clothes again, but I’d lived with them for fifteen years and could learn to live with them again, and my balance felt a bit funny without the weight of the breasts bouncing about on my chest. I really enjoyed Christmas back with my family, Dad seemed a lot more comfortable with me now that I was dressing and behaving as a boy again, but he accepted that I was going to complete my schooling at Abbey High, and just asked that he could spend time with me doing boy things occasionally.

Back at school things had settled down a lot after the departure of Claire and her Mum. The other two Witches had been given a strict talking to and were on a written warning, any more bullying behaviour and they were out. They came to me and apologised for their involvement in bullying me and seemed genuinely contrite.

“It’s not me that you should apologising to, it’s Josie and the others that you should be asking to forgive you. Have you any idea of what you put them through?” To be fair, they did go and apologise to Josie and she had no doubt that they regretted what they had done, encouraged by Claire, and they did behave themselves after that. Although Josie and I remained the best of friends, she was now getting her confidence back and mixing with her own social circle, and I couldn’t have been happier for her. Now I was living at home, I became much closer with Sara and often went out with her as boyfriend/girlfriend, or with her and her friends as a group of girls.

As the term went on, the hockey team went from strength to strength, they were all good players, but before I joined they lacked that spark that turns an average team into a good team and my runs from midfield were becoming a common feature of lots of our goals and victories. We were well ahead in the league and in the semi-final of our county schools cup. The new Headmistress, wanted to thank the team for all the hard work we had put in and how we had lifted the spirits of the school, and arranged for us to have a weekend team-building break, which would mean two whole days living, sleeping, working, and taking part in activities with 15 other girls. Although I had no problems passing in day-to-day life, the thought of 24/7 in a dormitory with no privacy filled me with dread.

The team-bonding physical activities were those you would normally expect, hill-walking, canoeing, obstacle courses, paint-balling, but we added to these with Pyjama parties, pillow fights, make-up sessions, karaoke, and other less strenuous activities. We all had a really enjoyable time and our team spirit was at a high when we left for home. Not only had I survived without being discovered, even though they had seen me in my bra and knickers, but I felt now that not only was I a part of the hockey team but also was becoming a member of the female team, as I was now living totally as a girl, mixing with girls, doing girl things, talking and expressing myself like a girl, and enjoying it all.

At home, Mam was totally comfortable with me as a girl, I helped her in the kitchen and she taught me a lot of basic cookery, We watched RomCom films together, weeping together at the sentimental parts, went shopping together, and she loved me being the daughter she missed when Karen left home. I think Dad’s attitude can best be summed up as tolerating and accepting rather than enthusiastic, but he never criticised me or made insulting comments.

We had finished in top place in our hockey league, and were in the final of the County Cup, and were travelling to our final game of the season. The team we were playing was from the other end of the county, not in our local league, and we had not played them before, and didn’t really know much about their strengths and weaknesses. We soon found out their strengths, they were fast and powerful and we soon found ourselves 0:2 down before we got the measure of them, got one goal back and managed to hold on until half-time. Our coach had noticed that my opposite number, their ‘right inside’ was limping a little from a knock she had received earlier, and told me to make the plays up that side. That worked, and although I felt sorry for the injured girl I was able to run rings around her and we soon drew level at 2:2. The game went back-and-to for the rest of the match and with 2 minutes to go I made another run forward to the edge of the penalty circle before I was barged to the ground by one of their defenders and we were awarded a short corner penalty. Our left wing player stroked the ball to me just inside the circle and I hit it hard and low into the bottom corner of the net, and I was swamped by my team-mates and almost crushed. There was hardly any time left after bully-off and when the final whistle went, with us as 3-2 winners, I was carried off the pitch on the shoulders of a couple of the girls to receive our trophy. In the changing room afterwards we were ecstatic, jumping up and down, hugging each other, running through the communal shower and spraying water everywhere. The coach came in congratulated us on our wonderful win, calmed us down, and told us to get dried and dressed.

At school on Monday, we were called up onto the dais and presented to the rest of the school, with lots of clapping and cheers ringing in our ears. However I was soon brought down to earth, it was only two weeks to my exams and an awful lot of hard work was needed. The next few weeks were very stressful, with all the late night swotting and with the exams themselves, but I got through it all without too many problems.

I had decided with Mam and Dad that I would leave Abbey High at the end of term and go to a local college in the Autumn so I was into my last few weeks there. It was a hot summer and luckily we had been able to ditch our full uniforms for the summer light gingham dresses and ankle socks, which were a lot cooler and more comfortable than what I had usually worn as a boy. Most of our time was now spent on visits and non-academic activities, and it was a good time to relax with girls I had made friends with over the year and talk about our futures. I told them that my parents were now back in the country and I would be leaving the area, wished them all well, gave them a special email address that I would only use for ‘Girl Robin’ and bid them goodbye.

The last big task I had was to talk to Josie and her parents and tell them the truth about the confusion of my gender when it all started, and how it was necessary for me to pretend to be a girl to get Josie sorted out. When they got over the shock they were amazed that I had got away with it, that I was so convincing and natural as a girl, and that I was prepared to go to such lengths for their daughter who I previously hadn’t known. Her parents, and particularly Josie, swore that they would not reveal my secret to anyone, ever, and that I would always be welcome at their home. Josie was upset that she would be losing her BFF, but I assured her that i would always be around if ever she needed me.

Over the summer, all my girl stuff was put away and I had my hair trimmed to a more reasonable length and started seeing Sara on more of a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, and we soon became very close. My exam results came through and they were a lot better than expected, the education system at Abbey High had really suited me and my year there would open opportunities that I wouldn’t normally have had. I signed up to do my A-levels at a local sixth-form-college rather than returning to my old school, to get the next level of qualifications which would take me to university.

A few weeks later there was a letter addressed to Mam from Abbey High asking if she knew how to contact Robin (Girl Robin obviously) that had been staying with her, as they would like her to attend their annual speech day and prize-giving. Mam phoned back to them saying that she had been in touch and that I would be happy to return for the day.

I dug out my uniform, had my hair styled, and because I was no longer a pupil I wore a bit of mascara and lipstick, and turned up for the speech-day. It was the normal congratulations to those that had done well in their studies or sports or made special efforts in music and art, prizes for being the best in their year, and suchlike. I went up on the stage with the rest of the hockey squad to get the team award, and felt proud at what we had achieved.

“This year,” said the headmistress as the event was drawing to a close, “we have a new prize, to be known as the Governors’ Award, to be given to someone who we have judged to have made a special contribution to the school over the past year. I would like Robin Campbell to come up onto the platform to receive her prize.”

Embarrassed, I went up onto the stage to lots of applause and cheers.

“Robin, you have only been with us a short time ,initially agreed for one term, but the staff managed to convince you to stay for the full academic year, and in that short time your contribution has been enormous. Your efforts helped to end a culture of bullying in the school which is now a much happier place, and the way you inspired the hockey team onto their best performance ever was wonderful, and by the way their success is continuing. You thoroughly deserve our thanks and praise and you will be recorded on our honours board in a new section, ‘Pupil of the Year’. Girls, please all rise and applaud in a standing ovation for our pupil of the year, Robin Campbell.”

I was shocked, I had only been helping out someone in trouble, but had been welcomed with open arms into the school, and made a lot of friends, many of whom I would like to keep in touch with but I obviously could not without going back to life as a girl.

I left Abbey High with mixed emotions, it had been an amazing experience which changed my views on life, I had met some wonderful people, and it had helped me to develop personally and academically, but it was time for me to move on with my life.

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During my time at college, and later at University, I completed my education and ended up with my degree and masters in English Language and Literature, and with a PGCE teaching certificate. Sara and I were now ‘an item’ with plans to get married and start our family once we both got established in our careers. My sister Karen moved back into the area so my Mam had no need for a substitute daughter anymore, my Dad survived my trip into girlhood but was glad to get his son back. What he didn’t know that Sara and I often had girlie weekends away and nights out together, she accepted and sometimes enjoyed my ‘feminine side’.

It was with a great deal of deja-vu that I arrived for my first day in my new job as an English teacher, and part-time sports master, at my new school, Abbey Girls High. Sara’s Dad, Gerald, was now Chairman of the Governors and had smoothed my path through the interview and appointment, although he stressed that I had been appointed on my own merits and had not received favourable treatment. He was the only one who knew of my previous time at the school and we intended to keep it that way.

I soon settled in and sorted out my teaching material and got to know the girls in my classes. As I had continued to play hockey at college and university, on both men and mixed teams, I was soon in charge of coaching the hockey team. They had never again reached the dizzy heights of when I was playing for them, but were still a strong and enthusiastic team, and my job was to improve on that and get them where they deserved to be.

It was soon time for the annual speech day to award the prizes for what had been achieved in the previous year, and like all the staff I was dressed in my academic cloak, bright scarlet with a white ermine trim, and cap, sitting in the audience remembering the last time I had been here. As had become tradition , the event was rounded off with the announcement of the Governor’s Award for ‘Pupil of the Year’. I was surprised that this was preceded by the reading out of a list of the previous recipients whose names were engraved on the honours board, and a summary of their achievements, obviously starting with my name as the first to get the award.

My teaching colleague sitting next to me gave me a nudge. “Isn’t that strange that she has the same name as you, and that you are trying to get the hockey team back to the level she helped them get to.”

“Yes, what a strange coincidence.” I replied with a smile on my face and an inner glow of self-satisfaction.

The end