The Male Debutantes' Pageant

by Annabel Naismith

 

Chapter Six

On Friday morning, Andy met Amy as they went to school and they walked to the bus stop together. Their discussion concerned the predicament of Dan and the likely next action of Jess, now that she had photographs of of both Danniella and Mandy.

"I told Susie about Jess," said Amy. "She couldn't believe what Jess did. She was really cross."

"Yeah but what can she do? Dan is going to really get trouble. He gets picked on 'cos he's not very big as it is. He looked terrible in that dress"

"Susie said she would talk to the other girls on the committee. Then there's Dave and Chris. I bet if anyone in the village picked on Dan, they would help him." Andy felt reassured being reminded of the two big rugby players, both on the youth club committee and propective candidates on the forth-coming pageant.

"That's all very well but they don't go to our school and there's the problem of his dad."

"Dan does have a lot of people on his side. I'm sure Kirsty and me can get a lot of the girls to help him. And you and Sam can help can't you? I don't know what to do about his dad though." Amy thought quietly for a moment

"What do you think Jess will do next?" asked Andy.

"I don't know. It's hard to think like that cow." Amy paused for thought again. What does a cow think of, wondered Andy, as he looked over the hedge and saw some in a field. They did not seem to be blessed with great thinking ability as they looked back at him, chewing resolutely. Amy continued, "I expect she'll get him to do her homework and run errands, that sort of thing."

"I didn't like the way she was making him call her Master Jess," said Andy.

"No, that was creepy, wasn't it?" agreed Amy.

They rounded the corner and came to the bus stop. Dan was nowhere to be seen among the crowd of teenagers. Kirsty and Jess lived at the other end of the village and caught the bus at the next stop.

The bus arrived and there was the daily scrimmage to board it. Amy and Andy sat next to each other near the front. The bus wound its way slowly through the village and came to the other stop. Along with several other teenagers were Jess, Kirsty and Dan. Jess looked smug, Kirsty looked furious and Dan looked desperate for help.

"Good morning, sissy," hissed Jess rather too loudly at Andy as she passed.

Kirsty passed with just a glance of acknowledgement but without a word. It was clear that she wanted to talk but the press of youngsters getting on the bus meant she had no time to stop.

Dan passed them with just a look of despair. He was carying his usual black bag and a large pink girl's bag as well. Clearly he was carrying a bag for Jess and she had found a bag that was obviously a girl's for him to carry.

The bus was held up in traffic, so they all had to hurry to class when they reached scool. It was not until mid-morning break that Andy caught sight of Dan. He was with Jess and Kirsty and several other girls and still carrying the pink bag. Jess was clearly the centre of attention. Kirsty left the group and came over to Andy.

"I don't what's got into Jess," she said. "She's gone mad. She seems to think it's clever to treat Dan like a little slave. I don't know how much more humiliation Dan can take before he flips. I'd better get back. At least when I'm there she won't hurt him. You'd better steer well clear of her. She's been talking about you as well but I'm not sure if the other girls believe her."

Andy was extremely worried as he went to his next class. A couple of the girls from the group Jess had been talking to were in the same class.

"Hello sissy," said Lucy as she came and stood next to Andy. She had been with the crowd who had been around Jess. Andy felt it best to ignore her. Lucy continued, "I do think your highlights are pretty. What colour are you going to paint your nails this weekend?"

"Are you wearing frilly satin panties like your friend Danniella?" added Gemma, another of the group of Jess's friends. She came and stood close to Andy but on the other side from Lucy, so Andy was sandwiched between them.

"I've heard Mandy wears a corset to give her sexy curves. And her boyfriend's called Amy. I bet he wears boxers."

"Do you like it when he kisses you goodnight? Does he squeeze your little titties until you squeal?" Gemma gave Andy's nipple a tweak and Lucy and Gemma collapsed in fits of giggles. Andy pulled away and continued to ignore them but couldn't help blushing.

Andy was spared further embarrassment by the arrival of the teacher. Andy spent all the lesson thinking that Lucy and Gemma were talking about him and giggling. He was also aware of the other girls and some boys looking at him from time to time. Or was he just imagining it?

At lunch break he decided to do he most macho thing he could think of doing and joined in with a crowd of other boys playing with a football.

He managed to avoid being picked on by girls during the rest of the day and was glad eventually to reach the safety of his home.

Under the supervision of his elder sister, Karen, Andy became Mandy as (s)he had every day that week.

Mandy was going shopping with Amy, Abigail and Alison on Saturday, so she shaved her legs to remove any traces of roughness while she had her shower. There was another difference tonight as it was Friday. Mandy was to have painted finger and toe nails until Sunday evening. Lucy's taunting earlier in the day had been remarkably prophetic.

Mandy told Karen of his traumas during the day and, more specifically, Dan's troubles. Karen had been told by Susie, Amy's elder sister, of the events of the previous evening.

At Karen's suggestion, Mandy tried to reach Dan on the telephone but only got a recorded message for Dan's father's building business. Mandy then tried to phone Kirsty and spoke briefly.

"Hi Kirsty, it's Andy, er, Mandy. Have you seen Dan?"

"Hi Mandy. No I haven't. I'm really worried about Dan. I've got to go to my granny's this weekend and she lives in Exeter. It's going to take us about 4 hours to get there, so we're going soon. We won't be back until late on Sunday afternoon. I haven't seen Dan, or Jess come to that, since school finished. I just hope that bitch doesn't get her claws into poor Danni. I'm so worried she'll do something mad. Can you find out and give me a call on my mobile? I keep trying his house but I only get that answering machine. Will look out for him please Mandy? I blame myself for this so much."

"Don't worry Kirsty, we're all looking out for Dan. Amy, Abi, Ali and me as well the youth club committee, you know Susie and Karen and Chris and Dave and everyone."

"I've got to go. Take care of Danni for me. Please Mandy. And phone my mobile."

"I will. Bye Kirsty."

"Bye."

The line went dead.

"How was Dan?" asked Karen anxiously.

"Dunno. Kirsty could only get the answer machine, the same as me. She hasn't seen either Jess or Dan since school. I guess Dan'll be OK. She wouldn't do anything stupid would she?

"I don't know Mandy. She seems to have totally flipped. Come on, let's do your nails."

Karen initially filed Mandy's fingernails, taking off the rough edges and trying to get them to a compromise shape, not too girly, so Andy would not be embarrassed at school on Monday. Then she applied a coat of pale pink nail varnish carefully to each nail.

"I hope you're watching this, Mandy. It'll be the last time I do it for you." Mandy paid special attention.

"I think you can do your own toes," said Karen. She let Mandy borrow her toe separator and Mandy carefully spread her toes around the toe-shaped foam rubber. While Mandy was still carefully painting her toenails, there was a knock at the front door.

Karen answered the door and Mandy had to finish her first attempt at painting her toenails with an audience of Karen, Amy, Abigail and Alison. As Mandy was wearing only a bra, panties and a short pink silky robe, she found it something of an invasion of privacy. The other girls seemed to regard it as entirely normal and soon Mandy relaxed. General approval greeted Mandy's efforts to be a proper girl and the conversation quickly turned to Dan and Jess.

"You know that pink bag she made him carry all day?" began Abigail. "She made him put all his books in it and she made him write his name and address on the label, Danniella Smith, 1 Fairy Walk, Nutstead. And the label was on the outside."

"Yeah, but you did have to be close to it to read it," said Alison. "And you could read it as a letter, I Fairy Walk, not number one Fairy Walk."

"The cow, it's lucky he wasn't beaten up," said Amy.

"We still don't know that," reminded Karen grimly.

"Oh my god," said Amy as she took in what Karen said.

"Surely his parents would call the police if he went missing," said Abigail.

"Well they would if they knew," said Mandy, "but his mum drinks a lot so she might be asleep or something and his dad always goes to the pub straight after work on a Friday with the other builders. They might not notice until quite late. In fact they might not even notice until tomorrow morning."

"Oh god, how awful," said Amy. She had gone very pale and was obviously very worried.

"What can we do?" asked Abigail. "There must be something."

"Shall we try and phone Jess?" suggested Karen.

"What would we say?" said Mandy. "Do you no where Dan is? No, she'd say. Oh, well thanks for nothing, we'd say and that would be it."

"What if we went round to Dan's house?" suggested Alison. "At least if nothing has happened, we could stop worrying."

"But if he wasn't there we'd have to deal with his drunken mother. And she'd probably blame us for getting Dan into trouble," said Mandy.

"I'm going to ask mum what she thinks," said Karen decisively.

After Karen left the room, the four younger girls decided on their plans for the following day's shopping.

"Where shall we go?" asked Alison, "We could go to Haywards Heath but that's hopeless. There's hardly any shops and they're miles apart."

"Plus we're bound to see someone from school who will recognise me," said Mandy.

"What about Tunbridge Wells?" said Abigail. "That's got the nicest shops."

"Yeah but it's expensive and the bus takes forever."

"Croydon and Brighton are brilliant but too far away, so that leaves Crawley."

"Crawley's OK, it's got a nice mall," said Amy. Mandy was familiar with shopping in Crawley having been with her mum and sister many times but always as Andy.

"What are you going to wear tomorrow, Mandy?" asked Alison. You have absolutely got to wear your best underwear if you go in a changing room."

"In a changing room with women?" asked Mandy, horrified. "I can't go in a changing room with women. I'd get arrested or something."

"You'll be OK. You'll be with all of us," reassured Amy.

"You all go into a changing room and try on clothes in front of complete strangers?"

"Yes, of course."

"I don't think I'd want to do that."

"You'll miss out on so much if you don't," said Abigail meaningfully.

"I said I'm coming shopping but I don't want to get into trouble or anything."

"We'll make sure you don't get into trouble, Mandy," said Amy.

"Oh OK, I'll see how I feel when we get there," said Mandy.

"Yay!" said Amy and she gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. "You're so brave, Mandy."

"Now come on, what are you going to wear?" said Abigail. Once again the girls tried on various different outfits and soon the bed was a sea of discarded clothes.

A while later Karen came back into the room with some good news.

"We went to get dad and on the way back, we just saw Dan. He's got home safely. We were driving past his house and I thought I recognised him. We stopped the car and I got out and spoke to him. He didn't want to say much, he looked absolutely exhausted. I felt so sorry for the poor little thing, I just had to give him a hug and tell him we're here for him. He hardly reacted, I think he was in shock or something. I don't know what that bitch from hell put him through today but we've got to think of a way to get back at her."

"We need to phone Kirsty on her mobile," remembered Mandy. "Does one of you know the number?"

"I've got it on my phone," said Amy and quickly dialled the number.

"Hi Kirsty, it's Amy. We've found Dan at last and he's home safely." A pause. "That's OK." Another pause. "Yeah, we will. Have nice weekend and see you Sunday. Bye.

"She sounded so relieved, I think she was about to cry," said Amy. "We've got to look after Dan tomorrow. We'll have to call for him before we go shopping and take him with us."

So it was agreed that the four girls would meet outside Dan's house at eight thirty the next morning.

As the evening progressed all the girls decided what to wear in the morning. It was agreed that, because it was Mandy's first time shopping with a group of girls, she would be the only one with the honour of wearing a skirt. The others all chose to wear three quarter length jeans and Ts.

Dierdre knocked on the door. "Hello girls, would you like some milk and cookies?"

"Yes please, Dierdre," said Mandy.

Dierdre entered, carrying a tray. She was wearing a dark blue cotton dress with a calf length skirt and a pale blue apron. She was also wearing her wig and a little make-up. Black tights and her patent leather flat shoes completed her ensemble.

"You look nice, Dierdre," said Amy. "It's the first time I've seen you in a dress."

"It is the weekend, you know."

This was the first time that Abigail and Alison had seen Dierdre. They were amused by her outfit but when she spoke exactly like Mandy's dad, it was too much. They had hysterics.

Dierdre looked puzzled. "Did I say something funny?" she asked.

Abigail and Alison held onto each other and howled, while tears ran down their cheeks.

Amy was just managing not to burst into laughter herself. "You always have that effect on people, Dierdre. You're just so sweet." Amy gave Dierdre a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Oh, ah. Jolly good."

Mandy took the tray from Dierdre and found a space for it on her desk. Dierdre looked at Abigail and Alison and left the room shaking her head and wondering what was so funny.

"Was that your dad, Mandy?" askied Abigail, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Mandy's vocabulary did not extend to a better term for a genetic father who wore a dress and went by the name of Dierdre.

"She is just brilliant," added Alison. "She's hysterical. I can see where you get your girly side from - and it's not your mother." Alison and Abigail collapsed in hysterics again and this time time Amy and Mandy had to join in.

 

Chapter Seven

Saturday dawned bright and clear, a glorious spring morning. The leaves on the trees were coming into bud in the woods across the lane from Amy and Mandy's houses. The woods were carpeted with bluebells and the sweet fragrance of their flowers filled the air.

Amy called for Mandy at a quarter past eight, so they would have time to walk to Dan's house in time for their rendezvous with Abigail and Alison.

"Hi Mandy, you look fab," said Amy, giving her friend a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, you look fab too, Amy." Mandy returned the hug and kiss.

Mandy was getting to like the touchy, feely aspect of being around girls. Boys only ever seemed to touch each other to inflict pain, or at the very least discomfort, but it was always nice being touched affectionately by girls.

Mandy was wearing the outfit which her committee of advisers had eventually decided on the previous evening, a cream skirt with the hem 6 inches above the knee, pale pink T and cream sandals with a two inch heel. Her lipstick and nail varnish were a close match to the colour of her T. Mandy was very conscious of her toenails as they peeped out through the straps of her sandals.

Mandy and Amy walked the half mile to Dan's house with their arms linked. Mandy practised her walk. Having her arms linked with Amy gave her a good idea of how long her step should be and she was careful to point her toes forward and wiggle her hips. She found it really sexy. She was glad that she had decided to wear her girdle because she could feel a swelling of a decidedly unladylike appendage. The tight elastic of the girdle reached well below her groin and could be relied on to keep unruly things under control. Mandy also hoped it would be a good excuse if it was suggested she try on a skirt in a communal changing room. However, Mandy was wearing her slip, so there was a chance the others might not allow her to use the girdle as an excuse.

Amy chatted away without a care in the world, about pop music, girls at school and their boyfriend problems and, inevitably, clothes. Mandy loved the way Amy would just talk cheerfully about anything and everything. She didn't always listen as attentively as a genuine girl might, but she was definitely improving and starting to contrubute meaningfully to Amy's soliloquies.

They soon arrived outside Dan's house and waited a few minutes for Abigail and Alison. After an exchange of greetings. Amy and Abigail went to knock on the door. There was a pause for a minute or so then the door opened. Dan's father appeared in a dirty white tee shirt and track suit bottoms, looking unwashed and unshaven. He was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and of medium build; there was no doubting he was strong. His arms were well muscled and his hands were huge, with fingers like bananas.

"Hello, Mr Smith," said Amy politely, "we're sorry to call so early but we were wondering if Dan could come shopping with us."

"He's gone out already. Said he was meeting a mate called Jez. I don't know where they were going but he said they were going to be out all day."

"Oh, OK," said Amy, "thank you anyway. Bye."

The door closed as they walked away from Dan's house. This development was a real concern.

"Well what can she do? There is only one of her, she is not going to harm Dan on her own." said Abigail.

"But will she be on her own?" said Alison.

"Oh god no, poor Danni," said Amy, looking really worried.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Mandy. "Do we get the bus and go shopping, or do we waste all day in the village trying to find out what that bitch is doing to Dan."

"Yeah, Mandy's right," said Alison. "We probably wouldn't find them if we stayed in the village and looked for them. They could be anywhere."

"And it sounds like our new girl wants to shop till she drops," added Abigail with a grin.

"OK then, let's hit those shops!" said Amy.

When the bus arived Mandy realised for the first time how difficult it was to get on a bus in heels and a shortish skirt and not show too much leg. To get on the bus, she had to lift her knee so high that her thigh was above the horizontal and this made her skirt ride up alarmingly. The bus driver looked intently at her while she approached him to buy her ticket.

"Crawley please," said Mandy proferring a note. The driver gave Mandy her ticket and change and she went to find a seat.

Abigail had been next in line to board the bus and she had kept her eyes on where the bus driver had been looking. She waited until Alison and Amy had joined them before speaking in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Hey Mandy, how much do you want to bet me that the bus driver knows what colour your panties are?"

"Abi! Don't be horrible to Mandy," said Amy, quick to defend her friend. Alison just grinned. She knew what Abigail meant.

"Why do say that?" asked Mandy feeling extremely embarrassed.

"When you got on the bus, he was looking straight at your knees," said Abigail quietly. "And you lifted your knee so high he was looking straight up your skirt and probably saw your panties. He thinks you fancy him, displaying yourself like that. And he's looking at you now in his mirror. I reckon you could pull, you shameless little slut!"

"And you still have to get off the bus without showing your panties again," teased Alison.

"Oh shit, how can I do that?" asked Mandy desperately.

"They're just teasing and being horrible," said Amy reassuringly. "If I get off first, you can hide behind me and anyway it won't be so bad when you're getting off the bus."

The bus trundled through several picturesque villages interspersed with pretty countryside and occasional patches of woodland before reaching the newly developed outskirts of Crawley. It drove a couple more miles through somewhat older housing until eventually it reached the bus station. The entrance to the mall was right by the bus station.

"Remember not to flash your panties," whispered Abigail to Mandy. Amy made sure she was in front of Mandy to avoid any further embarrassment.

After the trauma of the descent from the bus, walking round the mall was fine for Mandy. Until they got on the escalator to go to the upper shopping level. While the escalator carried her higher, Mandy felt all the men and boys on the ground floor were looking up at her legs and up her skirt and she felt more and more exposed. The upper floor had only a railing around it, so there was nothing to stop people from the ground floor looking up at Mandy's legs.

"Amy," said Mandy quietly, "when you're walking round up here in a skirt, do you feel like all the men are staring at your legs?"

"Yeah, but you get used to it. It's much worse at school. We have to wear those little skirts and walk up and down stairs to get everywhere. Then there are those little pleated skirts we wear for gym."

"But all that staring feels horrible."

"Welcome to the sisterhood," said Abigail.

They went into several shops, selecting items to try on in each one. Mandy's initiation into the hidden realm of the communal changing room was remarkably free of stress. All four selected a few tops to try and got in the line, making sure Mandy was in the middle. Then they made sure that when Mandy slipped her top off, she was partially shielded from view by strangers. Mandy felt very self-conscious at first but quickly realised it was no worse than changing for football. Better if anything, at least you didn't have to strip completely and go in a shower.

As Mandy got more confident, she started to look at dresses and skirts. She realised from seeing some other girls wearing slips in the changing room that she would be OK.

The other three girls saw that Mandy was interested in dresses and promptly came to help. Mandy chose three or four sundresses to try on. Then the others each selected some and four girls waited in line to try on the dresses. It was only when they all tried on the dresses that Mandy realised why there are communal changing rooms. It was really fun to try on brand new clothes with your friends and see the different looks they can give. You didn't even need to buy anything. Mandy really got into it and was soon posing and twirling and seeing how she looked in the mirror, along with the others. Mandy's mum had given her some money so she was able to buy a dress and still have plenty left over. Mandy felt it was only fair to the shop to buy something; she had had a lot of fun there. The other girls were not bothered; if a shop wouldn't let you try clothes on, it wouldn't sell anything, they reasoned.

The morning passed quickly and each of the girls steadily acquired a number of bags.

They were wandering aimlessly into one large department store and suddenly realised that people were staring at something. Intrigued, they looked over in the same direction that the other people were looking. A tall girl was making a much shorter, slimmer boy hold up a pair of silky knickers in front of him and she was making a show of announcing loudly whether she thought the style would suit him.

"Found the fucking bitch," said Abigail grimly. "Come on Ali." The two girls handed their bags to Amy and Mandy and strode purposefully across the store to where Jess was ridiculing Dan. Amy and Mandy followed, caarrying all the bags. Amy and Mandy were both smaller than Abigail and Alison, who in turn were smaller than Jess.

"Hi Danni," said Abigail. "You're coming with us."

"I don't think she is," sneered Jess umpleasantly.

"What on earth have you done to his ears?" asked Alison. Dan was wearing cheap, dressy clip-on earings, and both his earlobes had blood caked on them.

"She wanted me to pierce her ears but she was too much of a sissy to wear proper ear-rings."

"Come on Danni. You don't need this," said Abigail.

"Oh I think she knows what is best for her, don't you Danniella?" said Jess, with menace in her voice.

"Danni, nothing is worse than being at the mercy of this psychotic bitch," said Abigail, stepping between Dan and Jess.

"Don't you talk about me like that, you slag." Jess pulled Abigail's hair and went to claw at her face. Alison in turn grabbed Jess by the hair and kicked her as hard as she could in the shin.

"You fucking cow," said Jess, turning her attention to Alison. This time it was Abigail's turn to come to Alison's rescue pulling Jess's hair and kicking her in the ankle of her other leg.

A couple of security guards entered the store as Jess realised she was beaten.

Amy and Mandy stood with their arms around Dan as Abigail and Alison continued to engage in a war of words.

"That fucking little sissy's life is over. And that other one," screamed Jess as she recognised Mandy.

The security guards took Jess by the arms and led her firmly away from the others.

"Do your fucking worst bitch, and see where it gets you," screamed back Abigail

"You two fucking sissies are so fucking dead," continued Jess over her shoulder as she was led away.

"Fuck off and die you fucking bitch," screamed Alison.

The sizable crowd that gathered while these events were going on slowly dispersed, tutting or smiling according to whether they regarded the spectacle as gross misbehaviour or a harmless case of youngsters having fun.

"Get these things off my ears, they're killing me," said Dan.

Amy carefully unclipped the earings to reveal an open wound that looked really tender on each earlobe.

"Oh god that looks horrible," she said.

"How the hell did you get that?" saked Mandy.

"It's a long story but Jess said I needed my ears pierced, so she stabbed them with a needle."

"But that's dangerous, they can go bad," said Abigail. Abigail and Alison had joined the others.

"And did she make you dress like that?" asked Alison. Apart from the earings Dan was wearing a girl's close-fitting red T, three quarter length pink jeans and pink tennis shoes. He was also wearing eye-shadow, eye-liner and mascara and scarlet nail varnish but, with his close-cropped boy's hair, no-one could doubt that he was really a boy.

"You can't walk around like that," said Abigail. "Let's get you to the pharmacy and get something for your ears first, sort out your face and then we can get you some proper clothes."

They picked up their bags of shopping and walked a few doors down to the pharmacy, which was a branch of a chain of pharmacy stores. While they were waiting to see the pharmacist, Abigail bought some wipes and some tissues to remove Dan's make-up. The pharmacist recommended some antiseptic cream for Dan's ears and some general painkillers. The girls explained that Dan had been the victim of bullying and needed somewhere quiet to go while he recovered. The pharmacy had a beauty treatment centre which was out of the way and the five youngsters were shepherded there by a supervisor, who also got Dan a drink of water so he could take a dose of painkillers.

"We've got to get you into some proper clothes, Dan," said Abigail. "What have you got in those bags?"

Dan had been carrying several bags from diferent stores.

"Take a look," he shrugged.

The girls started looking in the bags. Each bag contained one item of women's underwear: a waist slip, a bra, breast forms, three or four pairs of knickers, a corselet and a pair a stockings.

"She made you hold up these things in front of you in every shop, like you were doing when we saw you?" asked Alison.

Dan nodded.

"She's fucking mad," said Abigail. No-one disagreed.

"Still you should be able to take them back and get a refund," said Mandy.

"Jess kept the receipts. It was my money but I guess she must have thought of that when she took the receipts."

"The devious cow," said Amy. "These are really nice quality. They must have cost a fortune."

"I wouldn't want to go back into any of those shops with those things anyway," added Dan.

"So we'll have to go and buy some boy clothes for you then," said Abigail decisively. "How much money have we got?"

"I've still got forty pounds," said Mandy, "my mum gave me a hundred this morning."

"Can we take that, Mandy?" asked Abigail.

"Of course."

"Brilliant. Come on Ali, we've got our girly clothes. Lets get some boy clothes. Oh, Dan, what size do you take?"

Dan looked a bit sheepish. "Well, I'm not very big. I generally find that a boys age 11 years fits about right for jeans and things. And if you could get me a tee shirt. I like them really baggy, so a man's medium would be great and shoe size four."

Abigail and Alison left to find some more comfortable clothes for Dan.

"So what happened yesterday?" asked Amy

"It was hell," said Dan. "School was hell and after school, Kirsty had to dash off because she was going away, so I was left with Jess."

"That reminds me," interrupted Amy, "do you want to call Kirsty? She was really worried about you."

Without waiting for a reply, Amy pulled her mobile phone from her bag and called Kirsty's mobile number.

"Hi Kirsty, It's Amy. We've got Dan but the cow got him first. He's OK - now. I'll pass you over."

"Hello? Hi Kirsty." A pause. "She tried to pierce my ears." "She did what!" was audible from the mobile as the volume was such that Dan held it away from his ear - they were still suffering from their earlier trauma. "And she made me go round the mall in Crawley making me buy women's underwear." Another pause. "Yes she is, isn't she." A longer pause. "Yes I promise - I'll go back with Mandy tonight." Another shorter pause. "I really love you too and you take care as well. Bye."

Dan reddened abruptly as he realised that his declaration of real love had been made in front of Amy and Mandy. Amy picked up on it.

"Don't be embarrassed Danni," she said quietly, "I really love Mandy and I know she really loves me, don't you Mandy?" She looked at Mandy, who went bright red and nodded.

"Well say it then," said Amy.

"I really love you, Amy," whspered Mandy.

"Louder."

"I really love you, Amy."

The girl at the reception desk of the beauty treatment centre looked over from 25 feet away to see who the two lovers were. She worked out that one was called Amy and the other had a boy's voice, so it must be the one with the short hair. All three were wearing girls' clothes, which was confusing. Never mind, she had seen stranger things.

"So what happened after school with Jess?" asked Amy, remembering that she had interrupted the story.

"She made me wait with her until her mum picked her up then we went back to her house. Her mum went to get some shopping or something so we were alone in Jess's house. She made me change my underwear and put on some silky knickers, then some of her perfume, nail varnish and make-up and do her homework. And she kept groping me." Dan paused.

"How awful," said Amy, "in what way?"

"She kept touching my nipples, stroking them and pinching them, so they went hard."

"Did she touch you lower down?" asked Amy.

"Yes," said Dan softly, "but never in front. She kept pinching my bottom."

"Did she want you to touch her?" asked Mandy.

"No. I think she liked it more if I couldn't touch her."

"Why do you think that?"

"This morning when she pierced my ears. Her mum had to collect her dad from Heathrow Airport, so Jess knew she would be alone in the house for hours. She made me sit on a chair in her kitchen. Then she tied my arms to the chair with sticky tape. I couldn't move and she sat on me. She was pinching my nipples a lot and it really hurt. My eyes started watering with the pain and she said I was a sissy. Sissies have their ears pierced, she said. She found a needle and a cork. She put a cork behind each earlobe and stabbed them with a needle. Then she tried to put earings in but she couldn't get them in the hole that she made with the needle."

"Oh you poor thing Danni. That must have really hurt." Amy was near tears herself thinking about Dan's suffering.

"Then she found those clip-on ones and put them on over the holes she had made. And she put make-up on me and made me wear these clothes. Then she rang for a taxi to take us to the mall. There was nothing I could do because my ears hurt so much. She just had to hold one of my ears and I would do anything to stop the pain."

"The sadistic cow. We've really got to get her," said Mandy.

Just then, Abigail and Alison returned triumphantly with clothes suitable for a boy.

Dan was really pleased to see the purchases, a pair of baggy jeans, a medium sized red tee shirt and some black sports shoes. He checked with the girl at the desk that it was OK for him to change in one of the cubicles of the beauty treatment centre. Two minutes later Dan was dressed as a boy again, with baggy jeans, a tee shirt that came nearly to his knees and the dark blue shoes.

They picked up all the bags of shopping and went over to the desk to thank the girl for being so understanding.

"You might want to sort his make-up out before you leave," she said to the girls.

"Oh god, I forgot about that," said Dan. "My dad would go mental if he saw me wearing make-up!"

Abigail produced some wipes and quickly the girls removed all traces of make up, finishing off with a dry tissues.

"I'm starving," said Dan. It suddenly occurred to Mandy that, despite the time now being half past two, she hadn't felt hungry at all. It must be the tightness of his girdle and the excitement of the morning. They decided on burgers; this meant leaving the mall itself and walking a short distance past a few shops.

Dan ordered his usual quarter-pound cheeseburger and large fries and large chocolate milk shake.

The girls dithered. Mandy knew what Andy would have chosen - the same as Dan but a banana flavoured milk shake.

Mandy was a girl, however, and girls ate chicken not hambugers, salad not baps. Eventually they all ordered and went upstairs to the additional seating area. Mandy walked up the stairs in her shortish skirt quite unfazed by any stares at her legs from men or boys. As Amy had pointed out earlier that morning, it is something that a girl just accepts and gets used to.

Mandy nibbled her meal of chicken and salad and sipped her medium-sized cola, while Dan demolished his large burger with single-minded ferocity, as though a siege had been lifted. Mandy was astonished to find that she had difficulty finishing even such a light meal and ended up leaving some. She began to wonder if she was ill.

The time was now just after three and the girls plus Dan decided not to do any more shopping. The next bus to Nutstead was not due to leave until 4:30, so they still had over an hour to wait after they made the short walk to the bus station.

While they waited for the bus they discused Dan's next course of action.

"How am I going to explain my ears to my dad?" he wondered.

"You couldn't really say it was an accident," observed Andy.

Abigail grinned, "It would be a bit of a coincidence, wouldn't it. He's never cut an earlobe in his life and then he cuts both the same day."

"Don't be horrible to Danni," said Amy. "I think we should tell the truth."

"What, that Dan was picked on by a girl and he let her pierce his ears?" said Mandy. "I don't know about that."

"Mandy's right. My dad would go mental."

"Why don't you get your ears pierced properly?" suggested Alison. "Lots of blokes do now."

"That's right," said Mandy, "some of the Manchester United footballers wear earings, even when they're playing."

"My ears still hurt from what Jess did, though."

"They won't hurt again if you get them done now," said Abigail

"lf you will, I will," said Mandy.

"Come on then, they'll do them in the beauty section of the pharmacy, won't they?" Dan picked up his bags and walked back into the mall, with the girls and all their bags following behind him.

As Mandy was the only girl who did not have pierced ears, she was a bit apprehensive but Amy assured her it would be OK.

"It's a bit like an injection in the doctors," she told her, "you feel a sharp pain for a second and then it goes away. You and Danni are so brave though, Mandy. After what you both went through yesterday as well."

Dan and Mandy arranged for the piercing with the receptionist and a few minutes later they were both sporting a stud in each earlobe.

While they were having their piercings the other girls decided to show sympathy with Dan by geting an additional piercing in both their ears.

Mandy was not going to be outdone by other girls. If Amy, Abigail and Alison were going to have two piercings in each ear, then so was Mandy. The five all went back to the bus station sporting new studs.

Dan's ears still bore the affects of Jess's efforts earlier in the day.

"Dan," said Abigail, "we still don't know the full story of yesterday after school and how you got here this morning."

Dan repeated the story of the change into girl's panties, the nail painting, the make-up and perfume and doing Jess's homework and went on to describe the events of the morning and the ear piercing and being forced to wear girls' clothes and come to the mall.

"Did she make you wear girl's panties this morning?" asked Alison.

"Yeah," said Dan slowly, wondering where this was leading.

"And we didn't get you any boxers, did we?" added Abigail, looking intently into Dan's eyes.

"So you're still wearing panties," went on Alison, also looking into Dan's eyes.

"Well actually, er yes."

"So that makes five of us all wearing girl's panties," said Amy happily. "I knew I was right to keep calling you Danni. You're just too petite and precious to be a boy." Dan was not keen on this description of his physique; he wished he was much bigger.

"If we got you a wig, you could come shopping with us properly, just like Mandy," said Abigail.

"Yeah, you should, I really enjoyed today," said Mandy enthusiastically and promptly blushed as the four others looked at her closely. "Well I did," confirmed Mandy.

"What did you enjoy most?" asked Amy.

"Seeing that bitch get a kicking obviously," began Mandy, "but I really enjoyed trying on dresses with you as well."

Dan looked at Mandy as if she had completely flipped.

"I told you it would be fun," said Amy, hugging Mandy's arm.

There was a brief lull in the conversation.

"Where would I get a wig from?" Dan asked, suddenly. The girls looked with interest at Dan. Maybe they were soon going to have another girlfriend, after all.

"We know somone who wears a wig, don't we girls," said Abigail conspiratorially. "I bet Dierdre will know where to get a wig from."

"Who's Dierdre?"

"I think Danni needs to meet Dierdre, don't you Mandy?" said Abigail.

The bus arrived and they all piled on with all their bags.

"Mandy, who's Dierdre?" asked Dan again as they settled along the back seat of the bus.

"If you come back to my house, you'll meet her."

The bus journey passed quickly enough and soon the concerns hanging over Dan were considered again.

"I think the only answer is to ask your mum, Mandy," said Amy at length. "Jane seems to be the one who knows how to sort things out."

They arrived back at Mandy's and she opened the front door. "Hi, we're back," she called.

"Hello," called Dierdre cheerfully. "Oh, there's quite a crowd of you. Splendid, come in. Would like some drinks or sandwiches or something?"

Dan saw Dierdre. "Hello Mr - Christ," he faltered. Dan was taken aback by the appearance of Mandy's male parent, dressed in a wig, a red cotton dress and pink bib apron. Today, her look was completed by some particularly fetching pink slippers with pom-poms on the toes.

"Well it's Mr Jacobs usually but we were both in the bible. Although when I'm dressed like this, I generally get called Dierdre."

Amy, Abigail and Alison were once more close to hysterics. Dierdre noticed something.

"Mandy, old boy, what has happened to your ears?"

"Er, they got pierced, Dad, er Dierdre."

"Hmm, they did rather, didn't they. They just toddled off on their own and got pierced without a by-your-leave, I suppose. This is a bit of a nuisance, you realise."

"Sorry."

"Well it's all very well you being sorry but it's done now isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's a long story."

"I daresay it is a long story. What do you think your mother's going to say?"

"I don't know. I suppose she'll be angry."

"I don't know about that. She may be angry, or she may not be angry. I don't know. There is one thing I do know, however, young man, er young lady. Shall I tell you what that is?"

"Go on."

"She will insist that I get my bloody ears pierced!"

Hysterical laughter came from the entrance hall as Amy, Abigail and Alison overheard Dierdre proclaim her impending doom.

"Those girls are enjoying themselves, aren't they?" observed Dierdre.

Dan left the living room and joined the girls in the hall because he was losing control. Mandy was desperate to change the subject, the laughter from the hall was infectious and she was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Is mum in?"

"No, she's taken Karen for some driving practise. I expect she'll be back soon though. Would you like to entertain your friends here in the living room or up in your room?"

"I'll go and ask."

The concensus was that they should go upstairs. Amy, Abigail and Alison had in mind trying Danniella in some outfits more suitable for a girl her age. They didn't tell that to Dan, however; they just told him they were going to try to find some nail varnish remover. The girls carried all their new clothes upstairs to try on and Dan went with them.

Amy came back downstairs to talk to Dierdre.

"Dierdre, can I ask your advice on something, please."

"Certainly Amy what is it?"

"Do you know how we can get hold of a wig for Danni? She would look lovely as a girl but she can't come with us because her hair is too short."

"Oh that's easy, Amy. Jane got three or four for me. I can't begin to imagine why. I've only got one head, when all's said and done. Still, never mind, it'll be good if someone can get some use out of them. I'll come upstairs and get them for you."

Meanwhile, in Mandy's room, Mandy tried on her new dress and Abigail and Alison were trying their new tops on. Dan was amazed at how they all had no inhibitions about a boy stripping to his (girl's) underwear and putting a dress on. It was a totally different experience that the trauma he had suffered at the hands of Jess and Kirsty.

Amy came in with the wigs excitedly and showed them to Dan.

"Here we are Danni, now you can really be one of us," she said.

"But I like being a boy."

"I know and you're a gorgeous boy but wouldn't it be nice to be a gorgeous girl for a change. A proper girl not what that bitch did to you. You've got nice earstuds and nice nail varnish, so you're more than half way there. And you did get some lovely clothes today, you've got to try them."

"But Jess got them."

"You paid for them, so they're yours."

"I suppose"

"Yay!" Amy bent forward and kissed the smaller boy. "Now we really are five girls. Come on do you want some make up?"

"I dunno, do you usually wear make-up?"

"Mandy always does. Andy comes home from school every day and jumps straight in the shower then she does her hair and make-up and she's Mandy until she gets ready for school in the morning. Isn't that right Mandy?"

Mandy was embarrassed to have her experience of the previous week summed in exactly those terms but she could not disagree with Amy.

"Yeah, that is about right," she agreed.

"Whoa Mandy, you're really getting into this," said Dan with a broad grin at Mandy.

"Come on then," said Amy, "just a bit of blusher, eye-shadow and lippy. I think Abi may have a bright red lippy to go with your nails in her bag. Abi can I look in your bag for your lippy for Danni?"

"Yeah, go for it."

Amy quickly and expertly applied some colour to Dan's cheeks and eyes, then she asked him to purse his lips and she applied the bright red to his lips and then told him to rub his lips together to even out the lipstick. Next she selected one of the wigs, chestnut brown in colour and shoulder length with just a hint of wave. She brushed it out while Danni watched her in fascination. Amy lifted Dan's red tee shirt over his head and discarded it on Mandy's bed. Finally, Amy selected the centre of the front of the wig and pulled back over Danni's head.

"Where's that corselet, that was really nice, you've got to wear that." All the girls rummaged in bags and soon found the white satin corselet. Amy slipped it round Danni's slim body and fastened the hooks at the front, she had to strain slightly to do the centre hook up but it did give Danni a more feminine waist line.

"What happened to those breast forms you had earlier?" asked Amy. More rummaging soon found them and Amy deftly slipped them into the cups of the corselet and jiggled them into place.

"You'll have to take your jeans off, Danni," continued Amy.

"But you'll see my panties."

"You've seen ours," said Abigail.

"Yes, but you chose your panties. Jess chose mine"

"They are normal girl's panties aren't they?" asked Alison.

"I suppose so. They're pink and frilly."

"Yuk," said Abigail. "What was she on?"

"I know," said Mandy, "I'll take my slip off, then you can put that on before you take your jeans off." She promptly pulled up the hem of her dress and pulled her slip down, stepped out of it and handed it to Danni.

Danni pulled the slip up to her waist then pulled the elastic forward so she could unfasten the jeans. They fell to the floor.

"You look great," said Alison. "I think we should give up on this pageant competition, Abi. The competition is too strong."

"Yes, but we can't let Sally miss out," replied Abigail.

"How do you feel Danni? You look gorgeous," asked Amy.

"Different."

"Yes but nice and different?"

"I suppose."

"Why don't you try one of Mandy's dresses and some heels?" asked Amy.

"Here Danni, try this one." Mandy passed the red dress she had worn back from Amy's house a couple evenings earlier.

"Great choice, Mandy," said Abigail. "It's just the right colour for her nails and lips."

Amy helped Danni into the dress and zipped it up. Mandy passed the red shoes, they were two sizes too big but Danni was able to stand and see herself in the mirror.

"Wow, I should have been a girl," said Danni, as she looked in the mirror. "But I do like being a boy," she added hastily before the others got any wrong ideas.

"Come on," said Amy. "Let's go downstairs and wait for Karen and Jane in the living room, all five girls."

"Six if you count Dierdre," said Abigail with a grin.

"Yeah, she'd probably call herself Old Girl," chuckled Alison.

The five girls plus Dierdre were not in the living room long before Karen and Jane returned.

Dan recounted his experiences at the hands of Jess to Jane, Karen and Dierdre, with prompts from the others to ensure that every last detail was passed on.

All three were appalled at what had happened to Dan and they were determined to ensure the damage wreaked to Dan's and Andy's reputations were minimised.

"Right," said Jane. "Danni, if you want to sleep over with Mandy, that will be fine. Would you like that?"

"Yes, please," said Danni.

"Good, that's settled then. I will ring your father and explain that you want to spend the night here and how you have been the victim of an awful bully. He is your father; he loves you. He wants what is best for you and he will not want you to suffer. I know he's a builder and he's all very macho but at the same time you are his flesh and blood and he would kill for you, if it came to it. But he would never hurt you. Don't worry, if necessary we will all go round to your house tomorrow and talk it through with him until he calms down and sees it from your point of view. God knows, you've suffered enough.

"There remains the issue of limiting the damage wreaked by this wretched Jess girl." Jane continued. "I will telephone the school first thing on Monday, so an announcement can be made to the effect that the photographs were taken under duress.

"What we do about the photos of Mandy is a different matter, however. They were hardly taken under duress. The only good thing is that at least you are thorougly convincing as a girl and hopefully you looked different enough for people not to confuse Mandy and Andy."

Danni was hugely relieved to hear Jane say all these things. "Can I come to phone with you, please Mrs Jacobs," she asked.

"Of course, dear," said Jane with a maternal smile and she put her arm round Danni's shoulder as they went to phone from the kitchen, leaving the others in the living room. They sat on stools at the breakfast bar.

The telephone conversation went:

"Hullo?"

"Hello Mr Smith, this is Jane Jacobs, Andy's mum."

"Hullo, Jane. What's up?"

"Dan's here with us. He's safe and well and he has not done anything naughty but he has had a bit bother today. He suffered at the hands of a bully, one of the children from school."

"What happened? Was it that Jez he went to see this morning?"

"Er, yes it was Jess."

"Oh Jess. He told me Jez. I know Jess. She's dodgy, like her father. I did some work at their house and he still owes me half the money for it. Kept quibbling about the work not being good enough. Sorry, I'm interrupting you. Go on."

"Dan was playing round at Kirsty's house the other evening and they were dressing up. Dan put a skirt and top of Kirsty's on and then Jess took photographs. Jess started to threaten that if Dan didn't comply with all she said, she would make public the photos of Dan dressed as a girl. So Dan ended up wearing a childish girl's dress and Jess took more photos. Unfortunately, it gets worse. When Dan went round to Jess's house this morning, she tied him to a chair and pierced his ears."

"She pierced his ears? What with?"

"A needle. She pushed a needle right through his earlobes"

"Both earlobes?"

"Yes."

"Fuck - I'll fucking do her - sorry. So then what happened."

"Then she made Dan wear girls clothes and took him to Crawley mall, where she made a spectacle of herself and Dan, making it quite obvious that Dan was a boy wearing girl's clothes."

"That's fuck.., sorry, that's terrible. Are you sure he's OK now?"

"Yes, he's fine. When Andy and the others found him in the mall, there was a bit of a scene but they got Dan seen by a pharmacist and got some antiseptic and painkillers for him. Then they bought some sensible clothes and brought him back here. The last issue is that Jess has probably sent the photographs of Dan out to some of her school friends by e-mail. I am going to go to the school first thing on Monday to minimise the damage on that front but I thought you ought to know. Oh, one other thing before I put Dan on, Andy and his friends decided they should all get their ears pierced professionally, as a sort of gesture of friendship. And so did Dan. I thought I'd mention that because Dan was a bit worried how you would react."

"It don't bother me. Lots of blokes on the building have their ears pierced these days. Not just ears, come to that. It's a macho thing to have done these days. Can I talk to Dan now?"

"Here he is and thank you for being so understanding."

Jane handed the phone to Dan.

"Hullo Dad."

"Hullo mate. You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now."

"How are the ears?"

"They're a bit sore still, but not too bad."

"So what was this dress like that you were in?"

"It was like a little girl's party dress."

"Shit. That fucking bitch needs a good hiding - I was little when I was your age. I know what it's like being bullied, son, believe me. I used to hate being beaten up by boys but being beaten up by girls was ten times worse. They could really hurt with their scratching and kicking. And if you ever punch a girl there's hell to pay."

"You got beaten up by a girl when you were a kid? I never knew that."

"I'm not proud of it. I took up boxing so at least the boys would give me a bit of respect. Still, it sounds like your mates are looking after you. You back tomorrow for lunch, or do you want to stay on there?"

"I dunno, I'll ask." Danni leaned away from the phone. "Can I stay for lunch tomorrow, please Mrs Jacobs?"

Jane smiled and nodded, "Of course, dear."

"I'll come home after youth club, if that's OK."

"Yeah, that's fine with me son. You enjoy yourself with your mates and I'll see you tomorrow night. Good night son. And don't ever doubt it, I love you son."

"I love you too dad. Good night."

Jane had sat close enough to the phone to hear both sides of the conversation and she got up from her stool and hugged the pretty little teenager in the red dress and red heels. A tear ran down her cheek. "You're adorable," she said.

Danni was a bit non-plussed by the attention and went to get back with the other youngsters, as Dierdre came into the kitchen.

"Jane, old thing," began Dierdre. "Did it go allright, you look a bit peaky?"

"He was fine - and I'm fine. Really."

"Good show. I thought we might get some pizzas in and let all the girls sleep over. They've had a bit of excitement and, well, you know, they could have a bit of slumber party. Make a girly night of it."

"That's a wonderful idea, Dierdre,"

"Splendid, I'll go and tell them."

Dierdre's announcement was greeted with joy by all the girls, including Karen, and it was arranged that Susie could come over as well, bringing a couple of Amy's nightdresses for the girls.

While they were waiting for the pizzas, Amy rang Kirsty on her mobile.

"Hi Kirsty, it's Amy."

"Hi Amy. What's happening."

"We're having a sleepover at Mandy's. I wish you were here, Danni's wonderful. She spoke to her dad and everything's sorted."

"Why are you calling Danni she?"

"I'll put her on and she can tell you everything." Amy passed her phone to Danni. "It's Kirsty."

"Hi Kirsty, how's it going?"

"OK. It's granny's, it's the same as always. Why is Amy calling you she?"

"It's probably because of what I'm wearing."

"And that is?"

"A red dress."

"And?"

"Red shoes."

"Underwear?"

"Er, yes."

"Girl's underwear?"

"Sort of."

"Well, what sort of girl's underwear?"

"A corset thing and knickers"

"Make-up?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"I suppose you've got a wig and earings as well."

"Well actually..."

"You have, haven't you? You really are Danniella! You wait till my back is turned in you change into a girl! What am I going to do with you?"

"Turn me back into a boy."

"Oh no! I want to see you as a fully made-up girl with a wig and earings before I decide. But I know I'll still love you either way. How was your dad by the way?"

"He was really cool. Mandy's mum just told him what happened and he just said he got bullied by girls when he was my age and that he loved me. He wasn't bothered even when she told him I got my ears pierced."

"You got your ears pierced? Danniella really! I suppose you're going to get big dangly earings next."

"I haven't really thought about it. They're still very sore."

"I'll kiss them better for you tomorrow."

"Thanks mummy."

"I love you baby."

"And I love you too mummy."

"Bye Danni."

"Bye, see you tomorrow."

Danni gave Amy her phone back.

"Why did you keep calling her mummy?" asked Amy.

"Oh it was just a private thing between us. When I said my ears were sore she said she would kiss them better."

"Aah, that's sweet."

 

A mile away, Bill Smith was walking purposefully up the path leading to Jess's house. His son was not going to be assaulted and ridiculed without a fight.

 

To be continued

  

  

  

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