Wednesday. Even more tests! Boring.

Not quickly enough for me the final bell eventually rang. Maddy was waiting for me at the gates and we walked back to Castle Peters

“You got everything?” Mad asked

“I think so”

“Well I guess that’s why we’re doing this” she went on

We decided to try a quick change before tea.

“Okay Drew, I reckon we need to do it in about thirty minutes”

“I thought we had about forty minutes”

“Yeah but we need to get to the sports hall in that time too”

“Okay then, I’ve brought my PE kit as well as Gaby’s, I’ll get into mine first”

I used the upstairs bathroom and was soon in my school athletics kit.

“Nice muscles” Mad squeezed my biceps.

“Give over” I shook her off.

“I’ve set my alarm to go off in thirty minutes. Go!”

Have you ever tried this sort of speed changing? I got tangled up just getting my athletics vest off! It was a disaster.

“It’ll never work” I moaned

“Course it will, it’s just planning, but I think we need help”

That’s how Aunt Carol became involved.

“Okay, what takes longest?”

“Putting on the gaff” I stated, “Mad has to go out while I do it and it takes ages”

“What else?”

“Makeup?” Mad suggested

“Breasts?” I offered

“Okay you need the gaff right?”

“Yeah we don’t want Gaby becoming Drew on the court!”

“In that case Drew you need to put it on at home, everyone will be going in their kit on Friday so it won’t be odd to be ready.”

“I guess I can do the discus ok with it on”

By the time I left for home we had got the whole change thing down to twenty five minutes, and I was reasonably confident that I could pull the caper off. I also had painted toenails and my fingernails were trimmed neatly too.

The tour coverage was a bit more exciting today but best was that Mum was still in the yellow jersey. We did have a short phone call with her but they were on a transfer so it didn’t get much beyond hi.

“You all sorted for tomorrow?” Mr Pilling asked after the Geography test

“Yes sir, we’ve even practised”

“Thanks for doing this Drew”

“Yes sir”

“What was that all about” Paul asked

“Oh just about tomorrow”

I have to say that I was getting nervy about tomorrow, at least there was no revising to do tonight. Our last SAT was English, what a stinker of a test that proved to be.

I decided to go for a ride and really enjoyed a gentle lane stroll out past Ollerton and back. Dad was on the phone with Mum when I got back; she lost a few seconds today but was still in Yellow, if she got through tomorrow and Saturday she would almost certainly win overall. I told her about Tuesday’s ride; she always makes time to hear about my riding even when she’s leading a major tour!

The tour coverage was more exciting tonight, the breaks and crashes ensured that there was no repeat of the big bunch finishes of the first few days. It was a bit of a spoiler knowing how the Tour Feminin ended but it was still good to see Mum defending that yellow jersey.

“You still going through with your scam today?” Jules asked over breakfast.

“Yes and it’s not a scam” I replied

“Whatever”

“Is that the time?” I was running late!

It felt strange walking over to meet Maddy wearing the gaff and my athletics kit, I just hoped that everything went according to plan. My co conspirator took charge of Gaby’s kit, we were going to be using Mr Pilling’s office for the change, Maddy was in charge of the preparations.

Well my discus throwing leaves quite a bit to be desired! My first throw was a foul and the second got all of ten metres. Mind you none of my opponents were doing much better. My third throw was an absolute fluke. I span low across the pad and heaved the glorified Frisbee away, just staying inside the ring. I watched as it flew seemingly in slow motion across the throw zone to finally bed itself just over the thirty-metre line.

“Well done Drew” Mr Pilling congratulated me

To confirm how much of a fluke that was, throw four managed twelve metres and my last throw was a fowl as I stepped out of the ring!

“Drew Bond?”

“Sir?”

“My office, five minutes” Mr Pilling stated

“Yes sir” I replied

That was the signal for me to scarper!

Mad was ready for me when I arrived at the office.

“Come on Drew get that kit off” she urged

“I am”

“Let’s get your breasts on”

“Not the glue” I implored

“Why not, you don’t want one flying out on court”

“I guess not"

“Glue?”

“Okay, just get on with it”

Mad soon had my fake mammary’s fitted and I got the skirt, sports bra and top on before Maddy started on my makeup. I changed socks, got my shoes back on and I was nearly ready. She finished up by securing the wig carefully and I guessed fitting some earrings in place.

“Hands” Mad ordered

She slipped a thumb ring on my right hand and a pinkie ring on the left then deftly put a coat of gloss on each nail.

“Ta-da! One Gaby ready to play.”

There was a knock at the door before Mr Pilling poked his head in

“Drew?”

“Yes sir?”

“Go on girls, you’ve got ten minutes”

“Thanks sir“ Mad stated

We grabbed our racquets and towels and headed for the gym.

The badminton competition worked on a group basis followed by a knockout round. So every pair would have at least three matches, the top two pairs in each group going onto the knockout rounds. I knew most of the girls and a few recognised Gaby from the modelling thing the other week.

“What are you doing here?” one girl challenged

“Playing badminton?”

“You know what I mean”

“Well Mr Pilling asked Maddy if she knew any one to make up the numbers and I got volunteered!”

“Come on Paula, we’ll beat this pair anyway”

All too soon I joined Mad on the court to start my girls badminton career.

I’m useless at tennis, but I can just about manage badminton. We won our first match but lost the second. I was a bit disconcerted by my bouncing boobs and the rustle of the lacy bloomers.

“Come on Gab’s we can still go through if we win the last game”

“Can’t we just lose and take the points for taking part?”

“No way! After all this effort I want to win!” Mad stated

“Gaby and Madeline Peters, court four” the tannoy announced

“Okay, I’ll try my best”

We just made a two point win, enough to put us through in second place in the group. There was a break for lunch and my worst nightmare was coming towards me.

“Hey Mad, you seen Drew? Er hi Gaby” Clive greeted us

“Hi Clive” I used my best Gab voice

“No, we’ve been playing in the badminton” Maddy told him

“He disappeared before the discus finished, he got second” he stated

“Cool, I bet he’ll be pleased” Mad suggested

“Clive! Stop drooling and fetch those drinks” Paul called across the room

Well the biggest effect that had was to make everyone look at our little group. Clive flushed heavily.

“Er well if you see Drew, tell him eh?” Clive said backing off.

“Sure Clive” I replied

Maddy started giggling, which got me going. There was little doubt that we were two girls. The rest of the gang found us and we ate together recounting our sporting prowess or lack of. All too soon though it was time to get back to either spectating or competing and the Peters girls returned to the sports hall.

I was a bit taken aback by the fact that the bleachers were now out and we were now only on two courts. We were on court three, second match so we sat and watched the preceding games. I was getting a bit tetchy, and the gaff was getting a bit uncomfortable.

“Give over! You’re making me nervous” Mad stated

“Sorry, I’m not used to an audience like this”

“Just relax, it’ll be okay” she reassured

Well surprisingly we won our match; our opponents just seemed to lose it after the first set. I was surprised by the applause as we left the court; the stands were filling as more of the other activities finished. I had to drag Mad to the girl’s room as I was near wetting myself from fear.

“Come on Gab, I never thought we’d get this far” Mad reassured me

“Hey sis, buck up” Jules came in

“That’s easy for you to say” I retorted

“Come on Gaby, you’re doing ace, let’s sit outside for a few minutes” Maddy suggested

“Okay” I agreed

“I’ll fetch you when you’re on okay?” Jules offered

“Thanks sis”

We sat in the sun and I calmed down using the deep breathing Mum had shown me. Mum. Right now she’ll be defending her slim lead, what would she think if she knew I was doing this? Maybe she won’t find out and the Pope’s not Catholic!

“Mad, Gabs” Jules called from the door

“Coming” Maddy advised

Quarter finals. I checked my racquets, swapping to the tighter strung of the two and joined Mad on court.

If I hadn’t been concentrating so much the wolf whistles and the ‘Ga-bee, Ga-bee’ chant would have really put me off. We lost the first game, then drew the second.

“Come on Gab, we win this and we’ve got a chance”

Mad took the serve and there followed ten frantic minutes of net play. With one desperate over net smash I managed to clinch the third game. The winners of this next game would be in the final and I now wanted it to be us. The crowd was quite vociferous in their support and for the first time I heard Clive’s ‘Ga-bee’ chant.

“Some one likes you” Mad stated

“I wish he didn’t” I replied

“Come on lets wrap this up” Mad proposed

That shuttlecock was well abused as first us then our opponents took the lead. Then we finally broke the deadlock and three straight points gave us the win. We hugged and jigged; we are in the final! We had a half-hour break before the final so we went to sit outside again. We were both on such a high that we barely spoke and all too soon Jules came to fetch us.

“Good luck sis”

“Thanks Jules”

“And you Mad, go get ‘em!”

We arrived on court to a boisterous reception, both our names were being chanted, seemingly most of our House were there to cheer us including Mr Pilling. I could see Mr Wood as well, all the gang were in, how could we let them down?

We seemed to make a habit of losing the first set and we went down heavily much to the dismay of our very vocal fans. The next set was much closer; we eventually took it to put us back in the game at 1-1. The final was over five games so another win would give us the upper hand but I slipped as I made a turn and went down heavily to a loud groan from the crowd. 1-2 to our opponents.

“You okay Drew” Mad whispered as she helped me up

“I think so, I’ll have a big bruise later”

“It’s coming out already” she stated checking my side

“You okay Gaby?” it was Mr Pilling

“I think so Sir”

“You want to go on?” he asked

“Yes Sir”

“Okay, but we’ll have a look at that straight after okay?”

“Yes Sir”

“Come on Gab, let’s finish this!” Mad enthused

I limped heavily back onto court, much to the crowd’s dismay. Our opponents were taken in too; I let Mad take most of the flak and kept an eye on the wider shots. Mad really put out and we took the score to 2-2 with a five-point win. I made a big show of nursing my side as we changed ends and the others visibly perked up at my obvious discomfort.

“Okay?” Mad asked

“Fine, let them get a few points then I’ll move inside and we can finish them off”

“Okay captain” Mad made a mock salute.

The crowd quieted as we returned to the court one last time.

Thwack!

Poink!

Toink!

Back and forth, back and forth. As we planned, the opposition took three quick points and then we swapped positions. They were confident now, overconfident. Another point to them then we hit back taking us level. My side really was hurting but I made it look even worse as we prepared for the last blitz.

“Lets do it!” I called to Mad as she prepared to serve

They had relaxed too much and we took advantage slamming the shuttlecock to the ground relentlessly.

“Winners of the girls badminton for 2002 are Madeline and Gabrielle Peters of Scott House” Mrs Cole announced

We were presented with the Badminton shield to animated cheering.

Most of the school were in the sports hall now and Mr Wood waited whilst a last few stragglers were ushered in.

“Quiet down everybody” he let the murmuring settle before going on. “I hope you’ve all had a good day?”

“Yes Sir” most of the auditorium replied

“Well it has certainly been a good day on the sports field, five new school records and a very close inter house competition. So without further ado here are the results. Cook House 1014 points, Rutherford House 1201 points, Chichester House 1395 points and lastly, Scott House 1405 points” the hall erupted.

“So this years winners are Scott House”

Mr Pilling indicated that Maddy and I should collect the cup from Mr Wood.

“Nice to see you again Gaby”

“Thank you sir” I replied

“Congratulations both of you on the badminton”

He passed us the silverware that we then hoisted up in victory!

Maddy Bell 03.11.03