I confess that I was worried when I sent Larry away to school for the first time in his new short lilac pleated skirt. I was concerned even if his big sister had confirmed everything he had said. Betty had the full inside story. It was really a senior social studies project. Bob, the captain of the baseball team had decided to write a paper on influencing and peer pressure. He had secretly roped in the rest of the team and some other to help him. Could he get the boys in the school to wear a short pleated lilac skirt? A secondary point was to investigate how the school management would react to boys wearing short skirts. The first step was to have the entire baseball team wear the skirt, with a black T-shirt. Black and lilac were the school colors. The baseball team was the pride of the school. They were without doubt the high-status group in school so people wouldn’t react negatively. The next day some “ringers” also wore the lilac skirt. That was intended to be the trigger for others to do the same thing. What Bob hadn’t expected was that some other boys already had got themselves lilac skirts. From that point it just snowballed. Especially the insecure freshmen boys baaahed happily and followed suit. The principal was taken unawares. Besides she had been away the first two days and the teachers waited to do anything till she came back. From a strict formal point of view the boys didn’t do anything wrong. While the skirts were shorter than allowed for girls there was nothing in boys’ dress code about too short skirts. I can’t imagine why. By the time the principal got back the snowball had gathered too much speed. She did nothing.

Betty knew all this because she dated one of the guys on the baseball team. She also knew that Bob’s mom owned the shop that sold the short lilac skirts.

Thus I waved goodbye to my son in his skirt. He appeared to be more confident. Yeah, a boy going to school in a short lilac pleated skirt looking confident!

I was even more surprised when he came back from school. Only very occasionally he had brought back a friend, or rather acquaintance, from school before. That day he was accompanied by three very cute girls. None of them wore a lilac skirt. One wore a black, somewhat longer, skirt and the other two jeans. They got up to his room so quickly I didn’t even think to tell them to leave the door open. Well, they did anyway and when I passed his door they were apparently comparing skirts. I was a bit concerned. Was Larry “one of the girls” after all? The second time I “by chance” passed the door they were engrossed in playing computer games. Something Larry used to do alone. When the girls left they each gave him a kiss. Definitely not the variety that girls gave to their friends. I managed to get one of them alone for moment and asked her what had happened.

- Larry is so cute. Most girls in class think so. Before we thought he was a bit odd but now we’ve come to realize how fantastic he is.
- Why?
- He’s really nice. Not so into being macho as the other boys and then there are the legs. Those AWSOME legs.

Well, eight years of ballet had left their mark.

- AND he shaved. Most other boys have HAIRY legs. Eeeuuh.

The next day the same three girls invaded the house once more. There was one addition this time. Peter, the geekiest geek imaginable and the closest thing to friend that Larry had had before, had joined them. Peter also wore the very short lilac pleated skirt. And I noticed he had shaved legs. Very recently, and not expertly, shaved legs by all signs.

- Hi, Peter. Nice to see you again. I thought that you had drifted apart from Larry.

A very pink-faced boy:
- Well, we had but …
- But what?
- Larry is where the girls are.

By spring semester Bob’s paper was written and had got an A++. However, many boys still wore the lilac skirt to school. That had taken on a life of its own. Bob could easily have quashed it but saw no point in doing it (and it was his mother's shop that sold them). Besides a couple of his teammates had decided that they liked wearing the skirt. And it WAS the school colors, if they wore it with a black shirt.

Larry had established himself firmly as the girls’ favorite. He dated several of them. Not at the same time though. Still, I was surprised when Sheila, a friend of Betty’s and a cheerleader rang the doorbell and asked for Lawrence (or did she say Laureen?) instead of Betty. Yes, Larry had a date with her but since he didn’t have a car she picked him up. I was even more surprised when they became a steady couple. Larry started coming home later because he stayed to watch his girlfriend practice. Girlfriend! Somehow I had never expected my “odd” son to have a girlfriend. And “an older woman” at that!
A new semester also meant new clothes for Larry. Apart from a third lilac skirt he also needed new tights for ballet class. I drove him to the dance shop. When we were waiting for the shop attendant to finish helping another customer I got an impish impulse.

- So, since you wear skirts now perhaps we should get you pink tights for ballet class.
- Mo-om don’t be silly. Boys don’t wear pink tights in ballet.

Then I saw his eyes catching sight of a rack of odd garments on sale and something lit up in my odd son’s eyes.

- LILAC tights is another matter.

I had expected Larry to get into trouble at the studio with his lilac tights. Just shows how clueless I am. The teacher loved that Larry wore lighter color tights. That allowed him to see better how Larry’s leg muscles worked. Black really isn’t a good color to wear in class but tell that to teen boys who already are body conscious. And, of course, the girls in his class loved it even more now that they got a better look at his quite nice legs. Good thing for Larry that he already had a girlfriend. Otherwise he’d have been under siege.

Well, he did have a girlfriend at that time. That changed later. In a very unexpected way. As expected of a popular boy, Larry assiduously attended every major sports event in school. In particular the baseball games. The team really was very good so it was worth going to the games. Even I liked watching and to be honest I’m no sports addict. So both Larry and I (and Betty) were excited when we took our seats for the great grudge game against the school’s arch enemies. Larry was very attentive as the cheerleaders were warming up. Warming up is always important but this time more than usual since they had no spare (she had moved out of town). Then Sheila slipped and twisted her ankle. Of course, Larry left us to get down there. The big question was now what would the cheerleading squad do? This was THE game of the season and without a full squad could they go on? They could.

When the game started they had a full squad there. I recognized Larry in Sheila’s lilac and black cheerleading uniform. Well, at least the skirt was longer than the skirts he normally wore. OK, I’m his mom but Larry was good. Really good. All those hours watching Sheila practice had taught him all the necessary choreography. Something that he was trained in from ballet. The moves were not above what a skilled ballet dancer could easily manage. And he had really entered into the spirit as well. The school won the game.

Sheila had twisted her ankle really bad so she could not come back to cheerleading for several weeks so Larry kept filling in. By the time Sheila came back she was relegated to “replacement”. Larry was persuaded to become one of the regular cheerleaders. That broke up their relationship.

So Larry was without girlfriend. While I had not expected him to be single for long (what a change from the beginning of the year!) I had NOT expected Bob (the baseball captain) to be the next one to ring the bell and ask for Larry.

- Hi, Bob. So you’re taking Larry for a date? Well, you know the rules. Have him back by midnight.
- Eh, Mrs Wilson. Hrm. You misunderstand the situation. I’m only here to pick up Larry since he has no car of his own and we are double dating two cheerleaders tonight. Please be assured Mrs Wilson, I have absolutely no interest in Larry.

At that point Larry came downstairs. I was really not happy that the head cheerleader pushed Larry into being more girly but I had to admit that Larry was gorgeous in that lilac dress.

Looking at Bob I saw that he apparently agreed and I had some doubts about his earlier assertion.

I was relieved when Larry and the head cheerleader drifted apart. I should have been concerned when Bob asked Larry for a date. The truth was that I was just too curious to see what would happen I just aided and abetted instead. Larry was even lovelier that night. They left and about a minute to midnight I heard Bob’s car drive up again. Of course I had prepared an unobtrusive view of the porch. Yes, there was a good-night kiss. Not a bad one. Really not a bad one.

- Hello Larry. How was the date?
- Not bad. Bob is nice but there was no spark. Bob is not into boys, even cute cheerleaders like me. And I’m not into boys. Even if they are hunks like Bob. So, we decided to be just friends. No spark as I said.
- But the kiss?

A minute’s silence

- OK, maybe I was wrong.

Despite that last kiss no relationship developed between Larry and Bob. Just as well since Bob graduated a two weeks later and moved away for college.

We were at his graduation since Betty was in the same class. After the ceremony Bob came up to Larry.

- I don’t know how I can thank you enough. Without your idea about the “influencing” paper I’d never have got into the university I wanted. Now I even got a partial scholarship. Thank you. Oh, I almost forgot. This is from my mom.
(To me). You have an amazing son. Just imagine turning a botched purchase of unsellable skirts into a premium good!

At that he handed over a thick lilac envelope to Larry. He hesitated for a moment and then proceeded to kiss Larry. Those two really had that down pat. Too bad they never really got together. Exit Bob. Larry looked at me and must have guessed what I was thinking.

- No Mom. There never was a spark. Just a friendly goodbye kiss.

The way he looked at the departing Bob did not exactly support that statement.

- The short lilac skirt idea was all yours and not Bob’s?
- Well, I had to, and it worked out well for all concerned, didn’t it? Bob got what he wanted. I got what I wanted. As you yourself kept telling me I’d be dead meat in school if I didn’t conform. The problem was that if I managed to conform on their terms I’d at best be a non-entity. I wanted more out of high school than that.
- So you decided to make the school conform to you instead. Why this way?
- By traditional high school standards I have very little to offer. I’m not a jock or ruggedly handsome. What I have are awesome legs and I’m great ballet dancer. So why not turn that into something desirable instead of a drawback? Besides, I’m sorry I never told you that but I like skirts. I like the swishing and flow of air on my legs. And that short pleated lilac skirt really does showcase my legs.

I couldn’t argue with that.

- I see everything went according to your plan. You wanted to be cheerleader as well?
- Oh, that. No, I hadn’t planned on that. Not that I complain. Some things just happened. Mostly for the better.
Once more that glance towards Bob.

- And the envelope? What’s in it?

Larry opened the envelope and it was full of Andrew Jackson portraits. Green, not lilac, ones.

- Oh Mom. I told her I didn’t need a cut!

Larry remained very popular the rest of his high school years. He entered into school lore as “Lilac Boy” and people still talk about him many years later. The next year he was the only one to wear the very short lilac pleated skirt. I believe that would have been the case even if the school hadn’t changed the boys’ dress code. As head cheerleader Larry got a special dispensation - as long as he wore a black shirt. The school colors you know. The ballet studio’s recitals had to be changed to bigger venues since all his many friends wanted to see him dance (in his lilac tights, never white) as well as all the other boys who had taken up ballet to emulate him. Cheered on by the excellent cheerleading squad the baseball team went from victory to victory. It became a tradition that the baseball captain took out the head cheerleader for one date every semester so I wasn’t spared the expense of dresses. Otherwise Larry was mostly boy. He never again dated a fellow cheerleader to avoid conflict of interest but the girl he dated in junior and senior year was a delight. She even looked VERY handsome in her tuxedo at their prom.

I’m happy to tell you that my son had a great time in high school. My lovely, adorable and very odd son. The son I’m so proud of. Only an odd boy like him could make the school conform to him. He very often does things “backwards”.

The school survived Larry and after some years went back to what it had been before “Lilac Boy” - mostly. I wish I could say the same thing about the college he went to.

But THAT is a completely different story.

THE END (barely covered by a short pleated lilac skirt)