“Kayla, what are you going to do?”
“What I should have done a long time ago. I’ll see you later.”
She hung up, returning to where Pete was waiting for her.
“I need to speak to you,” she said, turning and walking straight out of the house. With a concerned expression, Pete followed.
He found her standing with her back against his car, arms folded and looking quite upset.
“Pete, you know I’ve been upset and moody of late?”
“Yeah,” he said, cautiously.
“Okay, it’s time I told you the truth. I never meant to fall in love with you. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. I certainly didn’t expect you to feel the same way.”
Pete tried to take her hand, but she resisted.
“No, wait a moment, please, Pete. I have to tell you some stuff that will cause both of us pain, and I’m sorry for not telling you before.”
“Hey, don’t worry…”
“No! Just wait before you say anything. This is tough enough for me to explain. I want you to realise that everything I’ve said and done was to prevent either of us getting hurt, embarrassed or ostracised. It started as a joke, almost, but before I knew what had happened, I was in so deep, I couldn’t back out.”
She paused, trying to work out the best way to approach this.
“Hey, what’s happened to your accent?”
“Pete, I don’t have an accent because I’m as English as you. My real name isn’t Olsen, it’s Manning.”
“Huh?”
“That’s the easy bit. It all started when I was much younger….”
By the time she finished, she was sobbing. Pete stood looking at her, completely speechless.
She turned away, placed both arms on top of the car, rested her head on her arms and sobbed her heart out. Pete struggled with the information she’d just imparted.
“Howard knows?” he asked, astounded at the fact the Head teacher went along with the deception.
She nodded, still crying.
“Can I ask one question?”
She nodded, still not looking at him.
“You always have been a girl, even though you didn’t know it?”
She nodded again.
“Shit, you poor bloody cow!”
He then moved over to her, placing his arms around her.
“Come here, my shoulder is a hell of a lot softer than the roof.”
She clung to him as if it was all that mattered. For her, at this moment, it was!
“My God! This is amazing. You were Kyle?”
She nodded against his shoulder, still crying.
“Fuck me; I’m amazed no one noticed!”
“So am I, but then Kyle was hardly the obvious type,” she said, her voice muffled by the boy’s shoulder.
They were silent for a few moments. She’d calmed down and was giving little sobs every now and again. He held her tightly, realising that if anything, the deception showed how bright and clever she’d been. He also realised that he loved this girl, regardless of what she’d been before. He told her.
The sobs renewed, but through happiness. She kissed him, smiling through the tears.
“One condition!” he said.
“What?”
“We tell no one else. This is between us, for your sake. I can see why you did what you did and accept it was a bloody good idea. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Okay, now get in the car; we’ll go find that little shit. If you sort out your make up, you look like a fucking Panda. I’ll let Roger know we’ve got a problem. Okay?”
She smiled and kissed his cheek.
“Thanks, I don’t deserve you,” she said.
“Hell, Kayla, you deserve better than me!” he then opened the car so she could use the mirror, returning into the house to speak to his friend.
Ricky was under a bridge a fair distance out of the town. It wasn’t a road bridge, it simply allowed the farmer access to some fields on the other side of the river. He’d followed the towpath along the banks of the Thames to a place where he and Kyle had gone swimming in happier days. He was feeling about as low as he could get. With Kyle in Sweden, he had no real friends in his school. This was mainly due to the fact he came over as an irritating fool at times, but there were deep issues relating to his dyspraxia and family circumstances that few knew about. His parents had adopted him when he was very young, he only found that out a few weeks before the beginning of term, it further lowered his self-esteem. Kyle was the only person outside the family who knew. Ricky missed his friend dreadfully.
He wasn’t suicidal, but he was exceptionally depressed and generally fed up with his life. As he sat under the bridge, watching the river slide inexorably by, he wondered how easy it would be to end it all.
Idly, he threw pebbles into the water, watching the concentric rings ripple against the bank. He liked it here. It was peaceful and away from his problems. Once more, his mind turned to the possibility of ending his life.
He heard someone approaching. Cursing he ducked into the shadows, hoping they would pass by and leave him in peace.
“Ricky?”
It was Kyle’s voice.
How could he have got back so fast?
His Mum must have called his mother.
He sat there, feeling embarrassed.
“Ricky, are you there?”
There was something strange about the voice.
“Come on, Ricky, stop fucking about. It’s okay. I promise!”
He came out of his concealment, looking over to where the voice came from. He was confused, as he could only see Kayla, the Swedish girl.
“Are you okay?” she asked. It was Kyle’s voice, almost.
“Huh?”
She came over to him.
“You were right. I’m sorry, Ricky, I couldn’t tell you.”
He took a step back.
“Who the fuck are you?”
She smiled.
“I’m Kayla now, but I was Kyle.”
“What the fuck?”
“Ricky, I discovered that I wasn’t a boy. I’ve always been a girl, but didn’t even know it myself. I had a sort of confused plumbing arrangement, which is now all sorted. I couldn’t tell anyone, because I’d get such shit off everyone, my life would have been made so difficult.”
Ricky, his own problems forgotten for the moment, stared at the stunningly pretty girl in the elegant dress and white jacket. Her black stiletto heels were hardly ideal for this terrain. She looked beautiful.
“I don’t understand, why couldn’t you tell me?”
“It had to be a secret, I couldn’t tell anyone. Only Sally and the headmaster knew.”
“But, I thought we were friends?”
“We are, why the fuck do you think I’m standing here, revealing the secrets that could destroy me, if I wasn’t your friend?”
That made Ricky think.
“You could have told me. I wouldn’t have told anyone,” he complained.
“I couldn’t take that risk, particularly as Pete and I sort of became friendly.”
“Sort of? Fucking hell, I thought you two are shagging!”
She stared at him without changing expression.
“Pete and I are very fond of each other. He came with me to find you. He’s with the car, over there by the trees,” she said pointing to a small wooded area to their left.
“Does he know?”
“Of course. I had to tell him tonight.”
“And he’s still with you?” he asked, surprised.
“As I said, we’re very fond of each other. Look, Ricky, I’m risking everything to help you, so give me some slack, okay?”
Ricky nodded, still trying to understand what had happened.
Kayla carefully sat on the stone parapet of the bridge next to Ricky. There was dried cow shit everywhere, and as the light became less, the likelihood of treading in some improved with every moment.
“So, what’s the problem?” she asked.
“Fucking everything! No bugger likes me, I’ve dipped my exams and my parents couldn’t give a shit!”
Kayla looked at him, he felt uncomfortable under her direct gaze.