Then she had another thought. If it stopped rain drops, was it stopping all air, too?
She stopped – stationary at an altitude of a couple of hundred feet. She breathed normally, watching the rain run down the invisible shield that surrounded her. Because she was already wet, the water ran down her and pooled at the bottom of the cocoon-like form. Entranced, she watched the little puddle as it grew. A single thought released it through a tiny hole that she created.
“Cool!” she said, grinning broadly once more. She had discovered something else about the torc.
If it worked with water, then perhaps it would work with bullets and sharp pointy things, or even fists!
She returned to her room in the same way that she had left, leaving her with the problem of soaked clothes to try to explain.
She towelled herself dry, using the hair dryer on her long hair. It seemed a little longer now, but perhaps that was her imagination. She thought of going to the kitchen to use the tumble dryer, but that would wake the dog. Instead, she decided that her mother wouldn’t be interested in searching her room, so she could tumble dry it at her leisure after washing the clothes.
As she got back into bed, she was a little disappointed, but pleased she had discovered something new. As she touched the torc, she wished she could leave it on and be Keira all day and every day from now on. However, that would mean facing some real problems at school, not least with the school system.
She could at least be Keira until she had to get up.
It was perhaps fortunate that she had locked the door when she had gone to her room on the previous evening, because she forgot to re-set her alarm for school time.
“Kenneth! Are you still asleep?” said Linda, banging on her son’s door at seven thirty.
Keira awoke, bleary-eyes and confused. As she sat up in her bed, her duvet fell away, revealing her ample bosom.
“Shit!” she said, grabbing the torc in a panic. Within moments, Kenneth was back.
“I’m awake, Mum; I’ll be down in a mo.”
Linda was doubly worried now. Having had a sleepless might, thinking on that bombshell that Kenneth had dropped on her, she now had to deal with something that had never happened before. Kenneth had never slept in before.
“Are you all right?” she asked, through the door.
“As much as I’ll ever be,” he said, morosely, as he really didn’t want to be Kenneth.
“Are you sick?” she asked.
There’s a thought.
Could I call in sick today, and spend it as Keira?
No, homework has to be returned, and besides, French might be interesting.
Ah, no, it won’t, as I can’t wear the torc – bummer!
“I’m fine,” he said, and reluctantly got dressed.
Breakfast was quiet. Linda had a million things she planned to say, but when faced with a miserable son, it all dissipated somehow.
Eventually she drew breath and said, “I’ll speak to your father about what we spoke about.”
Kenneth looked at her and gave a half smile.
“Yeah, as if that’ll make a difference. We both know what he’ll say.”
“You don’t have to be sarcastic,” she admonished.
“I’m just saying it how I see it. He will never be convinced that I’m transgendered, as he just doesn’t accept it’s a genuine condition. I’ve heard what he says about all those reports we get in the papers and TV. He just thinks transgendered people needed firm handling when they were young and a decent psychiatrist can cure anyone of the silly notions of being the wrong gender.”
Linda was silent, for she, too, had a similar attitude, if the truth be told.
Kenneth looked at her and smiled again. It was a sad smile.
“See?”
He washed up his cereal bowl and collected his bag.
“I suppose you’ll be late again?” he said, as he headed for the door.
“What do you mean by that?” she snapped.
He stopped and slowly turned.
“My God, you’re touchy today. I simply mean, I suppose you’ll be late today, as you have tennis club; don’t you?”
“What are you inferring? That I’m never here?” she asked, defensively.
“No, I don’t have to infer anything. You never are here.”
With that, he turned and walked out.
“Oh, bloody hell!” said Linda and burst into tears.
Connie was already at the bus stop. She watched Kenneth approach with some trepidation. He looked like a normal human, and he looked to be in boy mode today.
“Hi,” she said, cautiously.
“Oh, hi Connie.”
“You okay?” she asked.
“Not really. I don’t like being in male mode. I had an argument with my mother. I told her I wanted to be a girl, and she’s having a hissy fit.”
“We can’t do that, here, on Earth, I mean,” Connie said.
“Huh?”
“We can’t just change sex like you can. It just isn’t done.”
Kenneth smiled, he wasn’t certain that Connie believed all that shit about being an alien, but she clearly had.
“So I’m discovering,” he said, and left it there.
Connie, for a change, was silent; reflecting on the person sitting next to her and all that went with him, or was it her?
The day did not start well, for as they walked into school, Roddy Myers, a boy who had been on Kenneth’s case since year five, decided to have some fun at his expense.
“Hello Girls, ooh, aren’t we looking hot today!” Roddy said, putting on an exaggerated feminine walk, with limp wrists and a wiggly bottom.
“Fuck off, Roddy; you just look more of a raging queen than you really are!” said Kenneth.
Not perhaps the wisest words to someone who was a good thirty pounds heavier, but timed to utter perfection by accident.
Just as Headmaster Martin Pettifer rounded the corner, he saw the large and robust Roddy Myers punch a smaller and more slender student in the head, causing said student to fly backwards and end up unconscious on the floor.
Roddy knew he was in the brown and pungent as soon as he saw the expressions on the faces around him. He turned slowly to find Mr Pettifer standing with his hands on his hips.
“You, Mr Myers; to my study, now!”
Roddy opened his mouth to put his case, and then thought better of it. He slunk off, to a gradually growing slow handclap from those witnesses who had been present.
Two more members of staff rushed to the unconscious Kenneth, who was just beginning to come round.
“Right, Connie, you were right next to him; what the hell caused that?” the headmaster asked.
“Roddy just came up and mocked us, and when Kenneth had a go at him, Roddy hit him for no reason,” said Connie, without hesitation.
“What was Roddy doing?”
“He was hinting that Kenneth was gay, sir,” said a new voice. Martin turned to see Colin Hendry, the deputy head of school.
“You saw it happen, Colin?”
“Yes sir. Kenneth and Connie were just coming in and Roddy put on an over-the-top camp walk, and made some comment, something like, ‘Hello girls, don’t we look sexy today’. I took it that he was taunting Kenneth for not being macho. Kenneth, justifiably annoyed told him to fuck off, and might have said that it made him look like a queen. Certainly, Roddy was entirely out of order, sir.”
There was a general muttering of agreement from the other pupils. Two girls came forward to state that they saw the same thing, and it was an unprovoked attack.
Mr Pettifer was slightly taken aback. Normally, the students closed ranks and denied seeing anything.
“Right, all of you who saw what happened, give your names to Mrs Shearing. Mr Cooper; take this young man to the nurse, and ask my secretary to call his mother.”
With directions issued, Mr Pettifer returned to his study to deal with Roddy. He was not looking forward to this, as Roddy had had his last warning a week and a half ago for bullying some younger students. The problem was that Roddy intimidated most of the staff members as well. His father was a big man; a big noise on the local council and a hard-headed and, allegedly, a ruthless businessman.