Contest and Consequence

by Sarah Bayen

Part Eight - Dancing Queen

 

It was a pleasant enough walk between Sue's house and Anita's; just a stroll through the residential areas of the town. I thought back to the previous weekend when, less used to being dressed as a girl, I had got myself completely lost in the maze. This time there was no such worry for me; I had got myself detailed instructions from Sue as to the route, and followed them slavishly.

The only worry at the back of my mind was whether I wanted to go at all. A week before I would have given my eyeteeth to be going to Anita's house, whether dressed as a girl, a boy, or a wombat. Now, things had changed. Perhaps I was no longer so desperately in love with her; perhaps it was the intervention of Liz, and the relationship I seemed to be building with her. Perhaps it was that I had had such a good time in Sue's company for the previous twenty-four hours. What was nice about Sue was that I could be myself; well, at least myself dressed as a girl, without worrying about who fancied whom, and whether they were going to do anything about it.

My bag full of clothes was getting a little heavy; I wished for a moment that Liz was there to carry it for me, but shook that thought out of my head. If Liz had been there, what would she have thought about me going around to Anita's house? She had shown some signs of jealously at the revelation that I was going around to see Sue the night before; if she knew I was now moving on to sleep over at Anita's house, she would be just as jealous, and although it made me feel uncomfortable to admit it even to myself, with potentially more justification. Still, there was no turning back now. I had agreed promised Anita I would come, and had reaffirmed it that afternoon at Sylvia's shop. At least she wasn't cross with me any more.

As I walked, I also thought about the girls' night out. When it had first come up, it had seemed so long in the future; a vague sort of goodbye to Sarah after the contest, if I bothered to go through with it all. Now it was hardly going to be a goodbye; already lined up for me was my initiation as a cheerleader for Liz's football team, as well as a stream of Saturday's around to Christmas working as a girl in Sylvia's shop. I have to confess too, that I was becoming a little reluctant to say goodbye to Sarah as well. Much as I had hated it at first, somehow in the last few days I had had more fun as Sarah than I usually did as Steve.

This thought jolted me. Was I really saying to myself that I wanted to be Sarah more often, or, perish the thought, most of the time? Not only was I confused about Anita and Liz, I was now also confused about myself.

I got to Anita's house, and she let me in, making some show of kissing me sisterly on the cheek. She rushed me quickly upstairs after a brief hello to her Mum and Dad, and we began our preparations for the big night out. I was treated to my second facial in two days; my skin felt raw and tender from this unusual attention.

Her Mum came up after half an hour or so. "What do you two want for your lunch?" she asked. "There's burgers, or I could put together a salad."

"Ooh burgers!" offered Anita.

I hesitated. "I think I'd rather have a salad," I said, reluctantly disagreeing with Anita.

"Well I'm not doing both. What's it to be?" her Mum said, folding her arms across her chest in the doorway.

Anita looked at me quizzically, and I felt myself blushing a little. She shrugged. "Okay, we'll have a salad."

"Fair enough," replied her Mum. "It'll be ready in about half an hour or so."

She left us alone again.
"What's this sudden fetish for salads?" Anita demanded, with a mischievous grin on her face.

I looked away from her and shrugged. "Nothing," I replied. "I just fancied a salad."

"Rubbish! You're slimming aren't you? You've put yourself on a diet!"

I blushed even more since she had guessed the truth. My concern about the size of my bum and thighs had reached fever pitch, and I had resolved that the only way to deal with it was to eat less.

"I can't believe it!" Anita went on. "When we told you to start thinking like a girl last week I didn't think you'd take it this far! Which part of you do you think is fat then?" she demanded.

My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. "Nothing in particular," I mumbled. "I just want to loose a bit of weight that's all."

"I don't believe you!" Anita went on, jumping up and down with excitement at discovering my new secret. She looked at me thoughtfully. "Is it your tummy?" she asked.

"No!" I insisted. "It's my bum if you must know."

"Your bum!" she said, incredulously. "Let's have a look."

"You've seen it before." I grunted in response.

"I know, but let me have a look to see if it really is fat."

Reluctantly, I turned my rear towards her to have a look. I was still wearing the pencil skirt from work, and as it was so tight, I knew it made me look even worse.

"Oh Sarah!" she exclaimed. "I don't know what you're talking about! You've got the nicest bum I've ever seen!" she exclaimed. "It's so pert and neat, most girls would give you a fortune for a bum like that."

"Well it looks big to me," I muttered sullenly.

She grabbed my arms and spun me around to face her. "Sarah," she said patiently. "Your bum is not big, believe me." Her smile was one of reassurance rather than mockery, and to my surprise, she leant forward, and kissed me on the lips. It was not sisterly, and a part of me wanted to stop, and tell her all about Liz, but there was another part that remembered how much I had longed for her to do this sort of thing to me.

Before I could resolve my inner argument, she suddenly pulled away, just as we might have gone further. "Enough of that for now!" she exclaimed. "Let's carry on getting ourselves ready!"

Anita's enthusiasm for the girls' night out was infectious, and I felt myself getting quite giddy as we took turns to shower. It was a relief to be able to take off my wig, and wash my hair underneath, which was looking very squashed, as well as being sweaty and generally yuck. Wrapping a towel around myself, I walked back into the bedroom without bothering to get dressed again.

To my surprise Anita was totally naked, with some clothes laid out on the bed in front of her. I stopped in my tracks, and wondered whether I should beat a hasty retreat. "Oh hi Sarah!" she exclaimed, seeming to be entirely unfazed by me seeing her like this. "I forgot to tell you, I bought you some stuff like I promised. Here," she said, offering me a plastic bag from the bed.

Grateful for something to look at, other than her gorgeous form, I opened the bag, and looked inside. There were two smaller bags there; I took out one, and saw that it was a pack of five pairs of black tights.

"Oh thanks," I muttered, uncertainly.

"That's all right," Anita replied brightly, still naked. "I said I'd help you out with some stuff, so I did. Have a look at the rest as well."

I took out the other bag, and opened that as well. It was another multi pack, this time of pastel coloured cotton knickers, each with a little motif.

"I thought you might want a change from nylon ones," Anita went on. "I know they're prettier, but now you're wearing girl's clothes so much, you might as well have something that's a bit more comfortable."

"Thanks," I muttered again. Anita still showed no signs of covering her nakedness, and I found myself staring at her, as she stood on the other side of the bed, beaming at me.

"You could even wear some this evening if you want," she suggested.

"Yes, I might," I continued, dragging my eyes away, and walking over to the dressing table.

"Dinner will be ready in a minute," Anita went on. "We might as well just wear our dressing gowns, if that's okay with you. Then we can get changed properly latter."

I was still completely thrown by her nakedness, and simply nodded in response. Forcing myself to think clearly, I decided it would be better if I put back on my wig and a bra to go down to dinner. I might look naturally girly, but I didn't want to take too many chances with her parents.

Anita slipped herself into a silky sort of dressing gown, and sat down on the bed to watch me get myself ready, with a knowing smile on her face. I felt a little self-conscious doing up my bra, and making sure it was properly padded, while she looked on.

"You're so good at that," she complimented me. "I can hardly believe that a week ago, you'd probably never worn a bra before."

"No," I said in agreement. "I hadn't."

I looked in the mirror, and placed the wig, which I had carefully made a little wet, onto my head, and made sure none of my own hair was visible from underneath it. Satisfied, I turned around to see Anita still smiling approvingly at me.

"You said something about a dressing gown?" I asked.

"Oh yes!" she said, suddenly jumping up, and walking over to her wardrobe. "You can have this!" She pulled off a pink towelling gown, patterned with tiny white hearts, and handed it to me. I looked at it grimly. It was rather short, certainly shorter than the one she had picked for herself.

"I'd better wear some knickers with this," I said. "Otherwise we might give your Mum and Dad a bit of a shock."

Anita nodded, and giggled. "Yes. You're really good at sitting carefully, but I think you'd be taking a risk in that to not wear knickers."

I slipped myself into the dressing gown, and went to the pack of knickers Anita had bought me. I undid them from the cardboard clip that was holding them together, and took one pair off. They were pink, with a silly picture of a cartoon girl with huge ribbons in her hair on the front. Hesitating only slightly, I slipped them on.

"That's it," encouraged Anita. "God, to think how much fuss you made last week about wearing knickers, do you remember?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"We told you they were all right once you got used to them didn't we? We were right, admit it!"

I pulled the knickers into place rather inelegantly, trying to make sure I didn't let the dressing gown fly open at the front, and reveal myself to Anita. They felt nice and snug, and surprisingly comfortable. "I suppose so," I confessed, and Anita smiled.

"Come on," she said, "Let's go and see if our salads are ready!"

Eating proved just a passing interlude in the ritual of preparation. Anita's Dad made some complimentary comments about how nice we looked, and checked the travel details. It seemed he was going to drive Anita and I to the club, while Nikki's Dad was taking her, Tania and Sue. Lawrence and Maxine were making their own way there.

The salad itself was pleasant enough, but not really filling. I picked my way through it, consoling myself with the thought that a few weeks of this should bring my bum and thighs back into line.

Anita rushed me back upstairs as soon as we had finished eating, and we started on our make up. We sat side by side in front of the mirror, and shared the goodies in front of us. I had picked up some ideas messing about with Sue the night before, and decided that I might as well try them out. Anita was too obsessed with her own appearance to notice what I was doing at first, so I just got on with doing my eye shadow slightly differently from the way she had shown me.

Eventually she did look to see what I was doing though. "Hey that's good!" she said. "Who taught you to do that?"

I shrugged. "Me and Sue were trying a few things out last night. This seemed to look quite good."

"Oh yeah it does!" Anita enthused. "I might have a go at that myself. How do you do it?"

I patiently explained how you could use the natural shape of your brow to guide the line of the shadow, but Anita looked confused by my description. "You do it for me," she said at last. Picking up the eye shadow brush, I carefully applied the colour as I had done it on myself. It was not made any easier by the view of Anita's breasts underneath her rather flimsy dressing gown.

"There," I said at last. "Have a look and see what you think?"

She leant forward to look in the mirror. "Oh wow, that looks fantastic!" she exclaimed. "I see what you mean now, it's easy! Thanks Sarah!"

I smiled at her. It seemed oddly ironic it was that only a week after her first putting make up on me, I was now giving her lessons. We carried on with our make up, and then started on our hair. I was on weaker ground here, having never really given it much thought. Anita put her lovely blonde locks into an elaborate Grecian style, while I went through the motions of brushing the long dark hair of my wig through and through.

"How are you going to wear yours this evening?" she asked.

"I don't really know," I replied. "I was sort of thinking of just having it loose like this."

"Oh you can't do that!" she exclaimed. "Let me see what I can do for you." She proceeded to do my hair in a similar style to her own. It took some time, but the effect was devastating. I no longer looked gauche and immature, but rather sophisticated and elegant. Once she had finished, I looked at myself in the mirror.

"That looks really good Anita, thanks."

"It's okay," she replied.

"I must admit," I began, and then stopped myself from an inadvertent confession.

"You have to admit what?" she said, urging me to continue.

"Well," I said, reluctantly, wondering how she might react. "I was beginning to think I might let my own hair grow a bit longer. Then I wouldn't have to wear a wig all the time."

"That's a great idea!" Anita exclaimed. "I mean, you look good in it, don't get me wrong, but you'll be much better off with your own hair. It'll be more comfortable for one thing."

"Yes," I agreed.

Sitting next to each other, we locked eyes, and both broke into a wide grin.

"This is so much fun!" Anita gushed, and kissed me again.

I was a little shocked by this show of affection. We separated, and she shook her head. "You mustn't do that Sarah, especially when we're out!"

"I didn't do anything!" I protested. "It was you!"

"Well whatever. We need to remember that we're both girls tonight," Anita went on, still smiling. I returned her smile, feeling unusually happy. "Come on, let's get ourselves dressed," she continued, and stood up.

I have to confess that getting dressed up together was really enjoyable. This was all the more strange considering how reluctant I had been the previous week to try on any items of girl's clothes. I now set about my task with relish, slipping on my new tights, and a second pair of knickers to hold them up, before trying on again the lovely red dress that Anita had bought for me on our shopping trip on Monday.

As soon as I had it on, I went over to the mirror to see what I looked like. My main interest was to make sure that the problem I had with my bum and thighs wasn't exacerbated. Fortunately for me, it hung quite loosely from the waist, which meant that my offending body parts were quite well hidden; well, at least my bum was. The dress was short enough to mean that a good deal of my thighs were on show, but at least it wasn't the really fat parts at the top. I turned from side to side to check that my legs didn't look too fat.

"Do you still like it?" asked Anita, from the other side of the room.

I jumped a little. I had been so absorbed in my self-examination, that I had almost forgotten she was there with me. "Yes," I admitted at last. "It's a bit short, but it doesn't make my bum look any fatter."

"You haven't got a fat bum for God's sake! I don't know what's got into you about it, you're getting obsessive."

"No I'm not," I protested.

"What do you think of this?" Anita asked, twirling around in a strapless back dress. I stared at her in amazement. I had never seen her looking so beautiful. Like my own transformation, gone was the slightly awkward schoolgirl, and in her place stood a sophisticated young lady, of an indeterminate age somewhere around twenty. Her hair and her make up were immaculate, and the dress suited her brilliantly. Her legs glistened black with the tights she was wearing, and she stood tall in her heels.

"You look great," I manage to say, as she looked at me eagerly for my response.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded in response, and she broke into a smile, recognising the feminine power she was radiating. "So do you!" she said, with a grin, and came across to hug me. "Oh by the way," she said, as we pulled apart. "I've got something for you. Tania sorted them out, when me and Nikki were wondering what you should have for tonight."

She went across to the wardrobe, and pulled out a pair of shoes. "Here try these on," she said, handing them out for me.

They were strappy, with a good four-inch heel, and a bright red that more or less matched my dress. I looked at them open-mouthed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to dance in these heels!" I exclaimed.

"You'll be all right. You can kick them off if they're too big. Anyway, you've been walking in heels all week, you're an expert now!"

I sat on the bed, and tried the shoes on. I struggled a little with the straps, but Anita showed me how to wrap them around my ankle, and fasten them. Much as I hated to admit it, they looked really good on my feet, making them look smaller and a little daintier. I wondered briefly if I would have been better of with flesh coloured tights, or even bare legs; then I could have worn some nail varnish on my toes.

"How do they feel?" Anita asked.

With some care, I stood up. They certainly had a bit more heel than I was used to, but I managed to keep my balance, and walked a few small steps. "They're a bit tight." I commented. "But I think they'll be okay."

"They look absolutely wonderful!" Anita enthused, watching my movements. "They're only a five actually. That's probably why they feel a bit tight," she added.

I nodded, and looked down at myself. Under the short hem of my dress, my legs seemed to stretch forever down to the shoes, where my feet, looking smaller than usual, held me up. It suddenly occurred to me that I looked so similar to Anita; we were both wearing short dresses, black tights and heels. Our hair and make up was done similarly, and we were more or less the same height. Was I turning into her, I asked myself? A small voice from deep inside me replied that it didn't really care, but the surface of my mind still wracked itself with concern.

"You don't look very happy," Anita said, observing the sudden frown on my face.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Come on, we'd best get finished, otherwise we'll be late."

We sat down by the mirror again, and put on our jewellery. Pride of place in mine was the name locket that Anita had given me the week before. I looked at it in the mirror around my neck, and, taking account of the reversing effect of the mirror, still saw that it proclaimed my name as Sarah to all who bothered to read it.

We went downstairs to present ourselves to her parents, who looked and acted suitably impressed by our transformations. We had about fifteen minutes to spare before Anita's Dad was due to drive us into town to meet the others. I took the opportunity to ring up my Mum.

She quizzed me in depth about how my job had gone. I told her that the boss had collapsed, and had had to be rushed to hospital, without very much more detail, which caused her some concern. She asked what we were doing for the evening, and I told her we were going off to a disco. This made her counsel me not to drink any alcohol, and to be careful, and not to get involved in any fights. I smiled to myself at this; if only she could see how I was dressed, she would have rather different concerns to the ones she was showing now. My amusement faded quickly, however, when she asked to speak to Anita's Mum. Blushing, and thinking quickly, I told her that she had gone out to get the car ready, which she seemed to accept. I did occur to me that it was not going to be possible for me to spend too many nights at Anita's house as Sarah without her wanting some other contact with my 'girlfriend's' parents.

At last the time came to leave. We said goodbye to Anita's Mum, and went out to the car. Like a gentleman, her Dad opened the doors for us, and Anita and I sat together in the back. Anita told me that we had arranged to meet the others outside at around 8:30, which meant we had plenty of time to get there, and her Dad's driving was cautious and subdued. He warned us of the dangers of alcohol and boys, and Anita playfully poked me in the ribs while responding like a textbook dutiful daughter.

Suddenly we were there. The car pulled to a halt in front of the club itself, and Anita's Dad climbed out, and opened the door for us. We spilled out onto the pavement, and I felt suddenly vulnerable, looking at the crowds of people queuing to get in.

"Right girls, you'd better behave," Anita's Dad warned us. "I'll be back at midnight to collect you from here. Don't be late."

"No Daddy," Anita said, in a sickly sweet voice, and kissed him on the cheek. He pulled something of a face, nodded almost imperceptibly, and got back into the car and drove off.

Anita put her arm through mine, and grinned manically. "Now we're in for some fun!" she exclaimed. "Come on, we'll wait over here for the others."

We walked across the little plaza in front of the club to a tub with some rather sorry for themselves looking exotic plants. There were wooden slats around the tub, and I thought for a moment of sitting down; my feet were still a little unsteady in my new heels. I quickly realised that the chances of me being able to sit in my mini dress with any semblance of decency was pretty remote, so, following Anita's lead, I stood beside it, with my arms folded in front of me, and a new delicate handbag that Anita had leant me hanging from my shoulder.

Almost immediately Sue, Nikki and Tania came running across to us; or rather stumbling a little, for they too were wearing rather high heels. We all kissed and hugged in greeting, and I felt myself again getting caught up in the excitement and anticipation that they obviously felt.

"I rang David after you left," Sue told me. "But there was no reply."

"I expect he was still at the hospital," I reasoned.

Sue nodded in response, but still looked a little worried.

"You look gorgeous!" Nikki enthused to me.

I smiled graciously in response. "So do you," I responded, and indeed she did look pretty good, in a dark blue dress that was considerably longer than mine. Sue was wearing a red dress with a halter neck, that rather emphasised her chubby arms and chest, I thought. I told myself off, however. Who was I, a boy, to criticise her for her choice of clothes? Tania wore a pale blue dress that was nearly full length, so I felt even more self-conscious than before for wearing something so short.

The evening was getting a little chilly, with a fairly stiff breeze blowing, as we waited for Max and Lawrence to arrive. The hem of my dress swayed a little, as the wind caught it, and I felt sure that I wasn't going to get through the evening without it revealing my abnormally large bum to the whole room.

At last, ten minutes late, Max and Lawrence arrived. Lawrence looked absolutely radiant in a short white dress, with a full skirt. He had let his hair hang loose, and had put a large red flower over his left ear. The contrast with Max couldn't have been more evident. She was wearing a plain black knee length dress, with no decoration, and as far as I could see, very little make up.

"Sorry we're late," she muttered as they walked up to us. "Lucy here took for ever to get herself ready."

"Well you might have helped her a bit," Tania suggested to her sister, who simply shrugged.

Lawrence hugged and kissed us all, with the same manic grin on his face that the girls were wearing. The anticipation and excitement were getting to me as well, and I felt butterflies in my stomach, knowing that soon we would be entering the dance hall. Only Max looked glum about the whole affair. I smiled to myself as a thought came into my head. It was as if she was the boy amongst us who had been cajoled into dressing in drag for a girl's night out.

I took her arm. "Come on Max," I said encouragingly. "It'll be good fun."

"I doubt that," she mumbled back at me, looking towards the door of the dancehall with grim determination.

"Are we ready to go in then?" Sue asked brightly.

"Yes," replied Anita, "But we ought to get one or two things straight first."

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked.

"Well," Anita continued. "Since this is Lucy and Sarah's first girls' night out, we ought to make clear what the rules are."

Nikki shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Right," Anita went on. "This is a girls' night out, so there's no getting off with boys; for any of us."

"Or girls!" added Sue, giggling.

"That's right," Anita agreed. "We're just here to dance and enjoy ourselves, are we all agreed on that?"

We all nodded. "Let's just get on with it," grumbled Max.

"No this is important," Nikki remonstrated.

"So there's to be no dancing with boys," Anita went on, "And no letting them buy you drinks. We'll get our own tonight. Is that all right with everybody?"

Sue and Nikki looked at each other, shrugged, and then agreed.

"What about you Sarah?" Anita asked me.

I was taken aback by being consulted. "Yes, that's fine." I said.

"Good."
"I'm happy with that too," Lawrence replied, looking Anita squarely in the eye.

"Excellent," she said. "And any of us who dances with a boy, or lets one buy her a drink is a slag!"

"Well sometimes they just buy you a drink without asking!" Sue protested.

"Well yeah," conceded Anita. "I suppose that's all right. But if anyone gets asked, the answer's no, unless you want to be a slag, okay?"

We all agreed, and then walked over to join the queue to get in. It moved interminably slowly, and my feet were already beginning to ache when we got to the front, to be confronted by two burly doormen.

"Are you lot all sixteen?" one of them asked, doubtfully, looking at us.

"Yes," asserted Anita.

He looked at us again, unsure of himself.

"Let them in," growled the other. "We could do with a bit of talent inside tonight, even if it's jailbait."

The first man shrugged, and waved us through. We joined another shorter queue to pay our entrance fee. When we got to the little kiosk, the man behind the glass looked at us, and waved us through. "Girls are free before ten o'clock," he stated.

We walked along a narrow and dark corridor towards some ancient swing doors, behind which was a wall of noise. Sue got there first, and opened them. I was immediately swamped by the cacophony that emanated from within. The music was loud enough to make my eardrums sing, and I winced involuntarily as it hit me.

In front of us was a sea of bodies swaying to the music. Girls dressed up smartly and provocatively as we were, and sweaty looking boys and men, most sullenly holding beer glasses around the edge of the dance floor.

Conversation was almost impossible. The only way to make yourself heard was to put your mouth right against the ear of your intended listener, and shout your message. We found a small area off to the right of the dance floor, and made this our base by placing our handbags down in a circle, like the pioneers of the old West laying out their wagons of an evening. And then we danced.

At first I was nervous and self-conscious. I had never danced in a dress before, not that I had any pretensions of being a modern day Fred Astaire in any case, let alone Ginger Rodgers. I felt that everyone was looking at me, and, indeed, as I glanced around the shadowy male figures lining the walls, many of them were. Two thoughts were in my mind; either they had realised I was really a boy, or, perhaps more likely, they were appalled that someone with so large a bum was wearing such a short dress.

After a few songs, however, I began to get into the swing of it. Although we could not really talk, the joy and enthusiasm on the faces of the girls and Lawrence were infectious. My movements became more natural, and once, as Anita shimmied seductively in front of me, I mirrored her movements, and laughed. I was really enjoying myself. The contrast to my previous visits to discos couldn't have been more marked. Then, I had lurked anonymously in the shadows by the walls, sipping furiously at some drink, while watching the heavenly figures on the dance floor letting go of their inhibitions, and radiating pure joy and pleasure. Now some of that joy and pleasure were mine.

I had read that other cultures worked themselves into ecstacy simply by dancing, and as song followed song, I could well believe it, as my mind, starved of any auditory stimulation other than the music, began to relax. As well as moving my legs in time with the music, I suddenly found I was allowing my body to respond to its beat, and quite freely moving my arms around. Being in a group of girls doing just the same felt very comforting, and I relaxed more and more.

I was dragged from my introspection by a sudden movement by my ear. I jumped, and realised that someone was standing behind me, and mumbling into it. I couldn't hear what was being said, only the words drink, and dance. I glanced around, and saw a shabby looking man of about twenty-five, in an ill-fitting suit and dark rimmed glasses. Then the realisation hit me; he was asking me if I wanted a drink or to dance with him. I was horrified, and shouted no, while shaking my head vigorously. To my relief, he shrugged, and walked away.

Anita was standing five or six feet in front of me laughing at my predicament. It wasn't long, however, before she suffered the same from the same man, and I poked my tongue out at her to get my own back. We stared at each other for a moment or two, and then both fell into fits of giggles before resuming the dancing.

We had only been there about an hour when Lawrence came over to me, and put his mouth to my ear. "We're going now," he shouted.

"Already?" I asked incredulously, but he didn't hear. Max came over, having presumably explained the same to the others, and standing close to Lawrence, glared at me for a moment, waiting impatiently for her boyfriend to finish his goodbyes.

Lawrence stood on tiptoes for a second to peck me on the cheek, and I gave him a quick hug, and then watched as he, and the very uncomfortable looking Max left the room. There was no doubt about it; if we had told everyone in the room that one of them was secretly a boy, from their demeanour as much as their appearance, ninety-nine percent would have thought it was Max at that moment in time.

I was sorry to see Lawrence go so soon. He was a fellow celebrator of the week that had just passed in a way that the girls couldn't be. But I didn't allow it to dampen my enthusiasm for the night, and danced away again with the other four with increasing abandon. We gloried in our physical being, and I thrust my pretend bosom out as well as the rest of them. I, for probably the first time in my life, thought of my legs as things with beauty and merit of their own, as I let them move to the beat of the music.

The interruptions from the lurking male shadows were becoming more frequent now. Perhaps it was because there were now only five of us, instead of a group of seven. I could remember how the intimidation factor of girls at a disco was directly proportional to the number of them in any particular group. Perhaps it was because the tallest, and most intimidating member of our group, Max, had gone. Perhaps also, the predatory figures around the walls had now consumed enough alcohol to feel slightly less inhibited by the almost certainty of rebuttal every time they asked one of us for a dance.

Between songs, Anita suddenly grabbed my arm. "Come on Sarah, let's go to the ladies," she said, and led me off through the thickening sea of bodies towards the toilets at the other side of the room. There was a long queue to get in, and once we were in, and even longer queue for the cubicles. At least within the sanctuary of the toilets, we could speak.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked me.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, it's great."

We smiled at each other, and waited our turn. To my surprise, many of the girls were sharing cubicles, and when it came to our turn, Anita led me into one, and immediately sat down to do what she had to. I looked upwards, with sudden interest at the ceiling, and the cistern above her head.

"You're getting lots of boys coming on to you," she said, matter-of-factly.

"So are you." I retorted.

She giggled. "Yes, but I'm used to it. Anyway, it proves that your bum isn't as big as you think it is."

"I don't know about that," I replied.

"Finished," she said. "Your turn."

She was smoothing her dress down over her tights, which she had already pulled up. I did need the toilet, but I half thought about leaving it, and coming back in on my own later. "Come on," she said.

Reluctantly, I sat down, and lifted my skirt a little, before pulling down my tights and knickers.

"Did you see what that blonde girl over by the stage was wearing?" Anita asked, oblivious to my embarrassment. I shook my head. "An orange cat suit! I ask you! An orange cat suit in this day and age. It's just so old fashioned."

Unused to doing so in public, my body was reluctant to perform its function.

"I hope they play some livelier music in a minute," Anita mused. "They started playing slow stuff just before we came in here. It only encourages the boys to ask you to dance."

Suddenly my body did what it was supposed to. Relieved, I finished off, and tried to pull up my knickers and tights without showing her anything. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to the possibility however, and continued talking to me.

"Did you see that bloke who asked Sue to dance a few minutes ago?"

I shook my head, as I pulled my tights back into place.

"He was gorgeous!" she went on. "I almost regretted saying we weren't going to get off with anyone when I saw him."

"I didn't really notice," I replied, as I made sure my dress was hanging correctly.

"Come on then," Anita went on, "Let's just make sure our make up is all right, and then get back to the action."

We left the cubicle, and went back into the main room. There was a row of washbasins on the opposite wall, with well-lit mirrors above them. Anita had had the foresight to bring her handbag with her, while mine remained in the defensive pile we had made in the middle of our dancing circle. I waited while she redid her mascara, and applied some more lipstick. She offered the lipstick to me when she had finished, and, in spite of myself, I bent down to look at my reflection, and applied a little more. We checked ourselves out one more time, and then went back into the dancehall.

The noise hit me again like a huge wave as soon as we were through the door. Fortunately, the song in progress was about to end, so I knew there would be a brief respite that would allow us to fight our way back to our coral of handbags. When the song did stop, however, Anita grabbed my arm to stop me. I turned to face her.

"What is it?" I asked.
"I just wanted to test something out," she said, and led me over to the side wall, where a group of three very uncomfortable looking boys were standing, round shouldered, and muttering to each other.

"Hi," Anita said brightly to them as we approached. I was horrified. What could she have in mind? "I was wondering if you could sort out something for me and my friend here?"

The boys looked shiftily at each other, and eventually one found enough courage to respond. "Sure," he said, "What?"

"Can you have a look at my friend's bum, and tell us if you think it's too big?"

My mouth fell open in shock. "Come on Sarah, turn around so they can see."

I shook my head, although I could find no words.

"Come on, I'll let them judge against mine as well," Anita went on, and she turned her back to the boys, and manhandled me into the same position. After a few seconds she turned back to them. "Well what do you think?" she asked.

The boys looked as shocked and confused as I felt. "No, it's not fat," the bravest one managed to say. "Do you want a drink or a dance?"

"No thanks," Anita said, brightly and confidently. "Oh and another thing. Do you think either of us looks like a boy in any way?"

The boys' mouths fell open in confusion, and they all silently shook their heads as the music started again. Giggling, Anita took my arm, and led me back across the hall to where Nikki, Sue and Tania were still dancing, and we resumed our previous places. At the next gap between records, I moved purposefully over to Anita.

"What was that all about?" I demanded.

"What?" she asked, with a look of innocence on her face.

"That business about my bum with those boys?"

She shrugged. "I just wanted to prove to you that your bum isn't big, and that you look every inch a girl. I knew you were worried about it."

I looked at her, and she smiled back at me and winked. "I see," I muttered, still a little disturbed.

"I just wanted you to be able to relax," she went on. "It's important that you enjoy your little self tonight. It's your first girls' night out after all."

I looked at her, and her smile. It did seem that she was genuinely trying to help. I managed to smile back. "Thanks," I said, and the music resumed, and took over.

Sue, Nikki and Tania took their turn to go to the ladies room next, which left Anita and I a little vulnerable. We threw ourselves into the next dance, however, which was a livelier number, and for each outrageous move she made, I tried to counter with one as outrageous myself. It was brilliant. The most I had ever enjoyed dancing, and I was surprised when we had finished to see that we had gathered a little audience of the boys who lived in the shadows.

As the music stopped they swooped on us, offering us drinks, dances, and some other lewd suggestions. We laughed them all off, and waited for the music to start again. Reluctantly, the hyena-like figures back away from us, and we danced again to the next song. The others joined us as the song was ending, and we continued as we had before, having a whale of a time.

It must have been about half an hour later, when Nikki leant right across to me and shouted in my ear. "Here comes trouble."

I wondered what she meant, and looked around in the direction she indicated with a nod of her head. Across the sea of dancing bodies, I noticed one in particular lumbering towards us. It was Janet, wearing the blue dress that I had picked out for her, and staring purposefully at me. I smiled in greeting, although the look on her face was far from friendly. She waited until the music stopped, and then spoke.

"Can I borrow you for a minute?" she asked, bluntly.

I hesitated. There was no indication from her manner as to what she might want. In the end I decided to brave it, and nodded. She led me off to the back of the hall, where, behind a glass screen, was the bar, with a few tables in there for those who preferred drinking to dancing. It was smoky and crowded.

We walked through the door to gain some relief from the noise, and Janet stopped me. "I need another favour," she said.

I looked at her blankly. "What?" I asked. "How's your date going by the way?" I remembered to add.

"Not too bad," she said. "The trouble is, he's brought his mate with him." I looked at her again. It was too bad that her dream date had been so insensitive, or stupid, to bring his mate with him on what for her was supposed to be a romantic adventure.

"That's what I need your help with," she went on. "I was wondering if you could distract him for a few minutes, while I try to get more romantic with Pete."

I looked at her in disbelief. She was asking me to come and flirt with her boyfriend's mate so she could make some progress with the legendary Pete. I couldn't possibly do that. I might to all intents and purposes be a girl for the night, but I had no intention of flirting with a boy. Apart from my natural misgivings, I remembered Anita's rules before we'd come into the club, and how I could easily get myself labelled a slag. Janet looked at me with pleading eyes however, and I remembered what a terrible time she had had from Chrissie over the years; used simply as so much muscle, when she had a soul and a heart. She deserved this break, a chance to meet the man of her dreams, even more than I needed to avoid being a slag.

I nodded. "Just for a minute or two though," I said by way of qualification. Almost immediately I regretted my agreement, but by then it was too late. Beaming with gratitude, Janet led me through the maze of bodies and tables to one where two seedy looking blokes in their twenties sat.

"Hi Pete," she said when we got there. "This is Sarah."

Two sets of eyes turned on me, and rather than look me in the face, moved appraisingly across my chest, and down to my legs.

"Sit down with us Sarah," Janet urged me. She took the seat between Pete and his friend, and with some lack of subtlety, grabbed his arm, and draped it around her shoulders. With his other arm, he took a slurp of his beer.

"I suppose I'd best get you a drink then," he said to me, removing his arm from Janet's shoulder, and standing. "What'll it be?"

"Nothing for me," I said quickly, remembering Anita's warnings.

"You have to have something," the man next to me said. "I'm Dave."

"Yes have something Sarah." Janet added. "Pete's got plenty of money, haven't you Pete?"

He looked at her pityingly, and then back to me.

"I'll just have a coke," I responded, and pointedly looked through the glass partition to the dance floor, as Pete clumsily fought his way through to the bar.

"So you're Janet's friend," Dave observed, displaying some elementary perception. I forced a smile, and nodded. "I'm Pete's friend," he added, looking at me expectantly, as if I might gasp at the revelation.

"Really," I replied.

"I like your dress," he went on. "It's short. I like short dresses."

"Thank you," I responded, and went immediately back to my detailed inspection of the dance floor.

"Dave's a plumber," Janet told me from across the table. Fantastic, I thought to myself. I could have a really interesting conversation with him about pipes and ball cocks if I wasn't careful.

"I'm self employed," he added, with some pride. "I've got my own van. I could give you a lift home in it if you want."

"No thanks. I've got a lift lined up already," I replied.

To my relief, this fascinating repartee was brought to a close by the return of Pete, with a tray of four drinks. He handed me my coke, and smiled a big yellow-toothed grin at me. "There you go Sarah!"

"Thanks," I replied

He sat down, and again Janet picked up his spare arm to use as a stole. I picked up my coke, and took a sip. I nearly dropped my glass in alarm at the taste, which was horrible.

"What's in this?" I exclaimed.

Pete leered a smile at me. "I told them to put a rum in it," he said. "It'll make you feel better."

"I feel all right anyway," I replied, and even angrier, glared out of the window again.

"Are you in Janet's class at school?" Dave asked me. I shook my head. "She says you're really clever." I shrugged. "I was rubbish at school," he mused. "Absolutely rubbish. I hated it too."

"I'd never have guessed." I responded tartly.

A sullen silence followed for several minutes. I refused to drink any more of the laced coke, and was simply waiting for an appropriate moment to take my leave and go. Pete looked no more romantically inclined than he did before, so in a break between records, I turned to Janet.

"I'm going to have to go in a minute. The others will be wondering where I am."

"You've not drunk your drink yet," Pete observed.

"I don't fancy it," I replied.

"Don't go just yet Sarah," Janet pleaded. Her eyes gazed into mine.

"I'll stay for one more record," I stated, and the music started up again.

As the music got going, I felt something on my shoulder. I looked down, and to my horror saw that it was Dave's hand. I took hold of it and threw it away. He looked at me in surprise, then looked across at Pete and shrugged.

I could hardly wait for the record to end, and was relieved as the final bars played out.

"Here's your drink," Dave said, holding the untouched glass out to me.

Suddenly there was a voice from behind me. "Oh there you are!" I turned around. It was Anita.

"I'm just leaving," I said, standing. "See you later Janet," I said, looking at her sullen face with pity.

I walked with Anita across the crowded bar towards the door. She leant across to me, and whispered into my ear. "I never thought it would be you who was the slag!" she said, with amusement all over her face.

"I'm not!" I protested.
"I don't know about that. When I first saw you that bloke had his arm around you!"

"But I didn't let him keep it there," I exclaimed.

"And he'd bought you a drink!"

"But I didn't drink it. Honestly Anita, I didn't touch a drop!"

"You're a slag," she whispered again, and then broke into a fit of giggles. "Don't worry about it, I won't tell the others. Still, you obviously can't be left on your own, you're far too flighty."

I pouted and looked down at the floor. Anita shook her head in mock dismay. "And to think I called you Miss Goody Two Shoes on Thursday!"

She smiled again, and gave me a hug. We fought our way through the mass of dancing bodies back onto the dance floor to rejoin the others, and we danced without incident for some time.

It was about half eleven when I saw Janet coming across to us again. She looked in a terrible state, with her hair dishevelled, and her eyes showing obvious signs of crying. She made a beeline for me, and timed her arrival perfectly for a gap in the music.

"This is all your fault," she spat at me. "Pete's got off with another woman now, just because you wouldn't be nice to Dave!"

I was shocked by this, and Nikki and Anita gathered around me to offer protection. Janet's tirade continued however. "Now I look a right prat, standing here in this stupid bloody dress that you made me buy. I'll get you for this, you just wait!"

"You leave her alone," Nikki warned her, and put her arm around my shoulders.

Janet sneered again, and then trudged off through the crowd.

"What was all that about?" asked Sue.

"She just can't get a bloke and keep him and she's taking it out on Sarah."

There were the beginnings of tears in my eyes. "I was only trying to help," I blabbed.

Anita put her arm around me as well. "We know you were Sarah. But some people are not worth helping. Come on; let's not let it ruin the evening. Let's dance."

And so we did for the final half hour before our pick up time. It took me a little while to get over the sudden and unwarranted attack Janet had made on me. I was more than a little worried that in her spite she might have decided to reveal to the whole disco that I was really a boy in a dress, but at least she had refrained from that. She was probably too stupid to have remembered, I thought to myself.

The disco itself was going to go on into the small hours, so it was with some reluctance that we finally picked up our bags, and made our way out into the street. Nikki and Anita's Dads were already there, talking to each other and leaning on one of the cars.

"You're late," Anita's Dad admonished us.

"Sorry Dad, it was a bit of a crush getting out," she replied, smiling her dutiful daughter smile again.

"Come on then, let's get you home," he said, amiably, and opened the door for us. We hugged the other three goodbye, and sat together on the back seat, giggling from time to time about nothing. Anita's Dad asked us a few questions about the evening, and Anita gave him evasive replies. In no time at all we were back at Anita's house.

"Right," her Dad said as we got through the door. "I don't know about you two, but I'm ready for bed. Don't stay up chatting too late will you?"

"We won't," promised Anita, and she rushed me up to her bedroom.

"What a night!" she exclaimed, flopping down onto the bed. "Still, I really enjoyed myself didn't you?"

"Yes," I said. "It's much better going as a girl than as a boy."

She smiled at me. "Come on, let's get ourselves ready for bed then. Tomorrow is another day."

We carefully took off our make up and jewellery, and slipped out of our dresses. Anita took them, and hung them carefully in the wardrobe. I took off my tights, and stood there in my bra and panties, wondering what I should wear to sleep in.

"Do you mind if I borrow your pyjamas again?" I asked.

Anita looked at me. "Of course not." She went over to her chest of drawers, and looked in. She hesitated. "Actually," she said, slyly looking over at me. "Since you were such a slag tonight, you should really have this!"

She pulled out the baby-doll pink nightie that she had briefly threatened me with the week before. I pulled a face. "No, the ones I had last week will do," I said.

"No," she insisted. "You were a slag, so you should wear a slag's nightie. Come on, put it on!" she insisted.

Reluctantly, I took the nightie, and slipped it on over my head. It was preposterously short, not even covering my knickers at the front. She grinned wildly at me. "I like that," she said. "It suits you."

She took off her own underwear, and stood in front of me naked. My eyes were nearly on stalks at this vision, and the smile never left her face. She lay down on the bed on the floor which was mine, and patted the space next to her. "Come on then," she said. "Let's see how much of a slag you can be!"

I felt myself moving towards her, and then I lay down. She leant across and switched off the light, and then I felt her arms on my body, and her lips on my face. I wasn't going to be a virgin very much longer.

  

  

  

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