Janice faces her first day at school.

by Paula Dillon

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It didn’t seem too long till Janice found herself being shaken awake. She opened a bleary eye and saw that it was just lightening up outside. Janice’s nightie and panties seemed to disappear and she was shoved into the shower. She really didn’t wake up till she was hit by cold water. The rafters of the house shook, as she shrieked.

“Very funny girls. Ha ha ha.” Janice said, as she shivered till the water warmed up fully.

The girls were giggling at Janice’s discomfort and told her to shake a leg. Angela came running into the bathroom shouting, “What’s wrong?”

“We’re sorry Angela, it seems the water was a bit too cold when Janice got in the shower,” Anna said giggling.

“A bit too cold, they piped the water in from the arctic Mom. I was still half asleep when those cretins assaulted me.”

Angela laughed so hard, she had trouble catching her breath, “Well at least your awake now. I will have breakfast for all of you, when you all get dressed.”

Janice was hustled out of the shower and dried off carefully. Anna started on her hair, as Janice brushed her teeth and Margaret and Vanessa dressed. Margaret supervised her makeup, although Janice did the work, while Anna dressed. Janice just used foundation, just a hint of color to her eyelids and cheeks, mascara and a barely there light pink lipstick. She had an understated, but cute look.

Very nice, Margaret thought.

In her room she started dressing under the watchful eyes of her mentors. First she took her antiseptic ointment and carefully applied it to her stitches. She took a pair of hipster panties and added a panty liner. Vanessa went to the restroom and retrieved two more panty liners for her purse. Janice then pulled on a pair of panty hose and a bra, without enhancements. She then dressed in a dark blue silk blouse. She sat on her bed and pulled on a pair of black twill pants and let them pool around her ankles, as she threaded on a pair of above the calf boots, that had three inch heels, zipping them up. Janice pulled the pants up and zipped them, after carefully tucking her blouse in. The pants weren’t ultra low rise, but they were a lot lower than John’s pants, they hit her about six inches above her crotch. The pants emphasized there wasn’t anything there where a guy would normally have something. She got a couple of bangles for her right wrist, a lady’s watch for her left and a jeweled pendant on a thin gold chain, with matching drop earrings. Lastly she got a matching black twill jacket to wear.

She turned for the girls, who whistled at her.

“You said that you didn’t want to shout femininity. I think you failed, but in a wonderful way. You look absolutely scrumptious,” Anna said.

“Yeah, if I were a guy, I would be falling all over myself trying to get a date with you. You are smoking,” Vanessa added.

“You are sophisticated Chic`, girl,” Margaret said. “Okay turn around slowly, we have to check for VPL.”

“VPL, what is that?” Janice asked.

“The number one sin when a girl wears pants, visible panty line,” Vanessa said. “Always check for panty edges, and the half moon front and back from the gusset seam. The others are dunlap, not a problem for you, exposed panty waistbands and a few others.”

“Do ya’ll think this is too much?” Janice asked, a little concern came through her voice. “Should I change to something less sexy?”

“Noooo, don’t change a thing. You look like I think you should, for your first day in school,” Margaret said, handing Janice a black patent leather purse, on a silver chain.

“Amen,” the others echoed.

“Ok, always check your purse before going downstairs. Have you got your cell phone set to vibrate, for at school, wallet, keys, lipstick, compact, eye shadow, foundation, nail polish, pen, pencil, breath strips, panty liners, tampons, you don’t have any, but you should get some, not for you, but some other girl might ask, and anything else you might need,” Margaret said.

“Yeah, I need my antiseptic cream and my Epi-Pen,” Janice said.

“Epi-Pen, what is that?” Vanessa asked

“For if I have an allergic reaction, like I did last year,” Janice said, coming out of her bathroom. “It could save my life. It contains epinephrine. I will tell ya’ll about it at lunch.”

“Ok, let’s get breakfast,” Vanessa said. “I am hungry, we have thirty minutes before we have to go.”

Janice grabbed her book bag and led the troop to the kitchen. They sat at the table as Angela served them. Angela had to take a double take, all the girls looked great, a lot better than usual; Janice though was stunning in simplicity.

“My gosh, the school won’t know what hit them. All of you look so nice, especially you Janice. I thought you were going to dress down a bit?”

“I thought I did. I didn’t know I was smoking till the girls told me.”

“Yes, smoking, that is a good word for it,” Angela said.

“Without dressing in those oversized rags John wore, I don’t think she could not be smoking,” Margaret said.

“You may be right Margaret,” Angela said.

The girls ate as quickly as the girls could and maintain decorum. It was getting close to the time they would need to leave. Anna, Vanessa and Margaret hugged their friend and gave her air kisses before rushing off to Margaret’s Mercedes.

Janice and her Mom headed to Janice’s car, out the front door. “You may drive to school and park, if I can borrow your car today?”

“If I get to drive to school, that is more than ok, Mom,” Janice said, clicking her key fob to unlock the doors to her Jetta. She put her books on the back seat and her purse between her Mom and herself. “Wow, my own car,” she said as she strapped herself in.

Janice had driven before, just not much. She had taken driver’s ed classroom and behind the wheel, but just never took the driving test. She didn’t see the need. They had one car and her Mom needed it. She just didn’t have many opportunities to drive, nor could they afford the added expense for an under eighteen driver, to be on the families car insurance policy. All of that had changed now.

Janice mentally went through all the things she had been taught as she started the car and backed out. She drove very nicely and parked in a visitor’s slot at school.

“Need my keys, Mom?”

“No I have the other set.”

Janice and her Mom entered the school and headed for the office. The first bell rung as they entered. They were stunned. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, Mr. Wright, and two other legal looking types, Dr. Spencer and Dr. Walker were all there waiting for her. Madeline introduced the other two lawyers as Mr. Timothy Singh and Ms. Sonya Nettle.

Principal Cathy Simmons came out of her office and was taken back by the crowd. “Oh my, are all of you with the Daniel’s?” she asked.

Everybody answered in the affirmative

“Ok, we are moving this to the conference room. Linda, I need you and Mr. Collins to the conference room. If you will follow me Ladies and Gentlemen.”

They followed Ms. Simmons down a hall in the office to what looked like a board room that had a long table and fourteen chairs, plus room for a few more.

Ms. Simmons sat at the head of the table, indicating where she wanted Janice to sit next to her, with Janice’s Mom on the other side. The others just found a convenient seat, with Madeline nearest Ms. Simmons and the Doctors. next to Angela. Linda arrived and took a position behind Ms. Simmons, carrying several files and a steno book. Mr. Collins came in and took a seat at the other end.

Ms. Simmons stood and said, “I’ll make the introductions for the school. I am Ms. Cathy Simmons Principal, at the other end is Vice Principal Jeff Collins and this is my secretary Linda Keller. Linda will be taking notes.”

Madeline stood and said, “I will make our introductions. I am Madeline Bradford, attorney at law, this is Walter Bradford, my husband and attorney at law, Carl Wright, attorney at law, Timothy Singh, attorney at law and legal counsel for LGBT Together, Sonya Nettle, attorney at law and legal counsel for LGBT Together, Dr. Julie Spencer, specializing in Endocrinology, Dr. Candace Walker, a psychiatrist specializing in gender dysphoria, Ms. Angela Daniels, the mother of J.D. Daniels and lastly our client, Janice Daniels.”

“Yes, I was expecting this, Mr. Dawson gave me a heads up, but I really didn’t expect a crowd. Ok who wants to start with what.”

“I will,” Mrs. Bradford said. “First I have a legal name change for J. D. Daniels. She is now Janice Dee Daniels,” Madeline said proffering the appropriate document to Ms. Simmons and another for Mr. Collins. “Next, I have two statements from Dr.’s Spencer and Walker describing Janice’s condition in an abbreviated format, we will give the school nurse a more detailed account, that needs to be guarded from casual contact. Basically, she is transitioning to being a female, and beginning her real life test prior to obtaining final Sexual Reassignment Surgery. Due to a medical condition, Janice has for over a year been developing secondary female sexual characteristics already. She has gotten to the point where hiding her changes is no longer possible and given her recent publicity of being on local and national TV as a female, she has chosen to make the change official.”

“Not totally unexpected, but duly noted,” Ms. Simmons said, handing the documents to her secretary.

“We are concerned about her safety and welfare, here at school, along with certain accommodations, including no PE, as has been the case previously, I understand and restrooms.”

“Speaking to the safety issues, I have alerted my staff of this possibility already. Once I saw Janice on TV and figured out who it was, and it was confirmed by Mr. Dawson, we put our heads together. I have ordered a two fold increase in the number of teachers on hall duty, especially on the routes to and from Janice’s classrooms and in the lunchroom, during all lunch periods. This is on top of the schools four security guards, already on duty.

J. D. Daniels, like you said, wasn’t assigned to P.E. and won’t be in the future, as long as we have a medical excuse from P.E. The restrooms could have been problematic, but this was an old building and upon passage of the ADA act, that is Americans with Disability Act, we were required to provide restrooms that were wheel chair accessible. Our facilities did not provide space for easy adaptation in the current restrooms, so four Janitors closets were remodeled to come into compliance. They are unisex and access is by key, which we will provide. We ask that Janice use these, at least until the idea that he is now a she is accepted and a degree of normality returns. A teacher will be on duty near these restrooms, but not obviously so. Is that acceptable?”

Madeline raised an eyebrow and looked at Janice, who nodded at her. “That is acceptable, we know she won’t be totally accepted by all the students and faculty, as a woman, but it is our hope that she will be treated fairly. The faculty and staff will be held responsible for her welfare, as they would be of any student’s welfare.”

“I understand, we already have several students who are transgendered. I will not say who, it isn’t my place to do so. I will say, that we will look after Janice and see that she is treated no differently than J. D. Daniels was. Janice, you know you will be treated differently by the students, right?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“I won’t tolerate you being mistreated and I want you to report any threats, or physical abuse to us. I hope you have a thick skin and don’t report every derogatory word to us, but only those patently offensive. Do you understand what I mean.”

“Yes Ma’am. I know I may be called names and such, but as long as they are not vulgar, or threatening, or downright obscene, I will try to be tolerant.”

“We have a good school and you are one of my best Juniors. You have brought our school recognition, and unbeknownst to you, we have already benefited financially. We have received several grants, thanks to you. We want you here and will do our best to be here for you.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“I would like for you to go to the nurse, with your Doctors, to relay any information she might need, as your Mom and legal team discuss some things. If that is Ok with everybody here?”

Ms. Simmons received assent from all present.

“Janice, you may show the doctors the way and after that, come see Linda, just outside my office.”

Janice kissed her Mom and led the doctors to the nurse’s station. She didn’t know the nurse’s name, but the nurse was up and met them as they entered the door.

“Hi, I am Sylvia Porter, how may I help you.”

“Hi, I was J.D. Daniels, now I am Janice Dee Daniels, this is Dr. Julie Spencer and Dr. Candace Walker.”

“Yes, I was told I might have a visitor, I didn’t expect three. I am the nurse here. I am a RN (Registered Nurse) and I take care of any emergency needs.”

“That is good. I am Janice’s Endocrinologist and Dr. Walker is a psychiatrist.” Dr. Spencer said and the three shifted to technical jargon and such.

Janice paid half her attention to the three, as they talked, and looked around. There was a front area and three rooms. One marked male, one female and one marked exam and treatment.

“Is there anything else I need to know about her health issues.”

“Not right off hand,” Dr. Spencer said.

“How about my Epi-Pen?” Janice asked.

“Good girl, thank you,” Dr. Spencer said.

The three of them again began another bout of discussion.

“I need to know if you know how to use the Epi-Pen Janice. In your own words tell me how, when and why you should use it,” Nurse Porter asked.

Janice told Nurse Porter, what her doctors told her. If she started showing signs of a severe allergic reaction, she was to pop the caps and to administer the Epi-Pen in the manner that she demonstrated and to hurry to the Nurses office, or call 911 if not at school. She also described the type of reaction she had had, to Nurse Porter.

“Do you have your Epi-Pen with you?”

“Yes Ma’am, along with my American Express, don’t leave home without them,” she said, showing Nurse Porter.

“Very good Janice, we don’t usually allow students to carry medicine and such with them, but this is one of the loop holes, along with asthma inhalers and other emergency meds. I don’t need anything else from you, you can go now.”

Janice made her way back to the Principals secretary’s office. When she got there she was handed a hall pass and a letter for her to show her teachers.

“Show that letter to your teachers, it will explain your change of status to them. The key is the key to the restrooms, and the hall pass will get you to your class,” Linda said, looking at the clock, “Which will be your second period class.”

“Thank you, Miss Keller.”

“Your welcome and good luck. I really liked the way you kids handled the news broadcast, but it really scared the putty out of me to see you so close to the action. Ya’ll really need to be more careful.”

“Yes it happened right where we were and we were about as safe as we could be, without running away.”

“Well maybe you should have run. Anyway you showed a lot of courage taping the robbery.”

“Thank you Ma’am. I guess I will head on to class now.”

Janice left the office and her stomach began to fill with dread. She was more nervous than she had been on that fateful day, a week ago. She had to show her hall pass twice, before she got to her class, after dumping half her books in her locker. She took a deep breath outside and then opened the door and entered.

Her second period class was English and her teacher was Laura Middlelton. The teacher looked over to the door as Janice stepped in. The class wasn’t noisy, but as she entered it became deadly silent. Mrs. Middleton waved her over and Janice handed her hall pass and her letter to her teacher who read it and handed it back.

“Class, yes this is J.D. Daniels. You will now refer to her as Janice Daniels. Please take your seat Ms. Daniels.” Mrs. Middleton said sweetly, before she resumed teaching.

Janice took her seat between Vanessa and Margaret, who were smiling. The rest of the students had shocked looks on their faces, a few were whispering with each other, while some wrote and passed notes. Mrs. Middleton had to hear the low level chatter, but said nothing for a couple of minutes, as she talked about the book they were reading.

“Ok, that is enough talk for now, Melissa, can you tell me what Steinbeck was trying to get across to the reader in the Grapes of Wrath.”

That shocked the class back to normal learning mode and the next twenty minutes passed as normal.

At the bell, some students hurried out and some gathered around. Janice gathered her things and tried to answer the questions that were flying about, as Vanessa headed to her Geography class, she and Margaret headed off to Algebra.

As expected, a few of the students verbally objected to Janice. They asked if she was some kind of freak, but at least they weren’t offensive about it. Some of them just sounded confused, some were neutral on it, while about a third of them sounded somewhat supportive. Many of the girls said it was about time, whatever they meant. She heard one term she didn’t know, something about John having been bishounen.

Janice just didn’t have time to talk to all of them and Margaret propelled her to her next class. A crowd, mostly girls, followed in her wake. The guys tended to give her a little more room.

Janice was glad that there was only five minutes between classes. As she and Margaret entered their classroom, they saw Mr. Sean Adams, her algebra teacher, at his desk. Janice went over to him and handed him her letter. Mr. Adams looked at her for several seconds before reading the letter. Janice couldn’t read him; she would hate to play poker against him, that’s for sure. At least he didn’t scowl like he did at people who talked in his class, or cut up. He read the letter and returned it and gave her a dismissive wave, not out of character for him at all.

Janice got to her seat in time to sit, just as the bell rang. She sat her purse down, got out her homework, pencil, paper and textbook, as Mr. Adams took roll.

“Listen up class, John Daniels or more correctly J.D. Daniels is now known as Janice Daniels, along with a change of gender. I expect you to treat her no less courteously than you did John in the past. No matter what you think about her, I will not tolerate any form of intolerance in this class. Now pass your homework up front; then turn to page 132 in your text books.”

The bell rang and again she had a crowd around her asking her questions, which she tried to answer. Her next class was a computer lab and none of her friends were in it, so she waved bye to Margaret. Debby Jensen, a girl in her math class and computer lab, walked with her.

“Janice, I know we haven’t been terribly close, but I want you to know that I think this is a brave thing you have chosen to do. Tell me if there is anyway I can help you.” Debby said.

Janice was shocked, but asked, “You mean this is Ok with you?”

“Yes, I kind of thought that you were a little girlish, the way you acted and talked. You definitely aren’t like the other guys at school. Some of them are so full of themselves it hurts. You were always nice and so gentle. On top of that, you are a celebrity now,” she said giggling.

Walking in the hall, Janice did see more teachers everywhere they turned. She could hear fairy, queer and such, but she couldn’t tell where it came from, or who said it. She also heard some people who were telling others to shut their mouths, some calling others Neanderthals and such, in what seemed like support.

In the computer lab, the teacher was Linda Smart. Her face wore a grimace as Janice approached her, letter in hand. She snatched the letter from Janice and read it.

“Have a seat J.D. Daniels, I won’t tolerate any disruption of my classroom by you.”

Janice’s cheeks flared a little, John had liked Ms. Smart, but Janice could tell it was going to be rough for her in this class. She found her computer station and saw Suzy across the way and down from her smile and wink at her.

Janice logged onto her computer and got into the C++ program she had been working on. She was at the point where she was going down it line by line checking syntax and simplifying it where possible, before compiling it and then checking it for bugs. She had been one of the better students in computer lab and she wondered how the rest of the year would play out.

Janice really liked the work she did on this program. The program was designed, if she got it to work right, so that she could catalogue and organize her news stories, in a database of her own design. Not that she needed it, but she thought it was a decent idea. She thought she had a very elegant and functional idea.

She could only work on her program at school before, but now she thought she could buy a complier, library and all for her new computer, so she could work on it at home. She burned an extra copy of her program and put the disk in a case, in her purse, before saving it on the teacher’s server.

When the bell rang, she got her things together and found Debbie and Suzy waiting for her.

“Hi Janice, I bet your surprised that I am here,” Suzy said.

“Not really, I always thought you were a really nice person.”

“Yeah, I try to be. I thought about what you said Sunday. If what you said is true, and I have no reason to doubt that, because you are such a nice person too, then I should give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Thanks, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say that we are friends and that will be enough.”

“We are friends. You know Debbie right.”

“Yes, she is ok too, let’s hit the lunchroom girl.”

They escorted her out of class, to her locker and then to the lunchroom.

“I can’t believe how brunt Ms. Smart was with you,” Debbie said. “I thought she liked you.”

“I guess that was before I became Janice. I kind of expected a lot of people to be that way, but so far it hasn’t been too bad.”

“I think it is running sixty, thirty and ten right now,” Suzy said.

“What’s that?” Janice asked.

“Sixty percent for you, thirty don’t care and ten think WTF. If you know what I mean,” Suzy said.

“I can imagine. I wouldn’t have thought I would have that many supporters.”

In the serving line, she choose a chicken salad, mixed vegetables, dinner roll and an Iced Tea.

“Do you two want to sit with me and my friends?” Janice said hopefully.

The two girls looked at each other and almost said at the same time, “Sure.”

When they were approaching the table John sat at, she noticed a lot more people there than usual, all of them were girls. Anna and Margaret had a spot saved for Janice, between them and Vanessa was across the table. Debbie and Suzy were welcomed by the others.

When Janice had taken her seat, Anna told Janice that these girls wanted to hear her story, before they came to any decision. So Janice gave her story, while eating, her three friends filled in some of the details, so she could get a few bites of food in and so it wouldn’t seem that Janice was trying to dominate the discussion. The girls asked a few questions and Janice tried to answer as best she could. She told them more than she wanted to at first, when it seemed that she was winning them over. John had been very good at reading people and Janice was finding this a very useful skill.

“So you really don’t have your testes anymore?” one girl asked.

“No, they never developed well and they shriveled up after my hospitalization.”

“And you say that you are on Estrogen now,” another asked.

“Yes, because hormones are so important for good health, I couldn’t take androgens because my body reacts violently to them. My body seems to react well to Estrogens. At least so far.”

“And that is all you, you are not wearing any foundations or padding,” someone else asked.

“Well, I wore a corset for a while, to take my waist down from a twenty seven to a twenty five, but not now and I am wearing a bra because I need one now. But I don’t have even a quarter inch of padding anywhere right now. This is all me.”

“Well you look hot. I am going to have to watch my boyfriend closely now.”

“I am not out to steal anybody’s boyfriends. I have never felt one way or another about sex. You girls know me; tell me if I am lying. I just want to be me.” Janice said.

They did know that she never hit on anyone girl, or boy, that they knew of. She didn’t ogle or stare in the way they or others did.

One girl giggled and said, “In that case, I might hang around you to help pick up the pieces of all the hearts you’re gonna break girl.”

Janice giggled herself, when she heard that and said, “Be my guest, you can pick and choose any of them. I won’t fight you for them.”

It was getting late and Janice needed to use the restroom. She and her friends were in all the same classes after lunch, so she led them to the restroom she was allowed to use. Inside it was big, but only had two stalls, but the doors and walls went almost all the way to the floor, leaving just an inch of space open. They were better kept than either the boys or girls bathrooms. The girls quickly took turns before heading to their lockers.

The next class they were in was history, taught by Paula Wainwright. Ms. Wainright gave them a genuine smile when they entered. Janice handed her the letter, which she read and returned.

“Class, I want to introduce you to Janice Daniels. You probably recognize, or have heard, that this is J.D. Daniels, due to circumstances beyond her control, she has chosen to come out to everybody. I want you to treat her well and lend her your support, or at least your tolerance. Please Janice, take your seat.”

Nothing else was said about Janice. The pace Ms. Wainwright taught at, including her tendency to pop questions out right and left, kept everybody on their toes. This was normal.

At the bell, they at last headed to the sanctuary of Journalism for a two hour class. She was met at the door by Mr. Dawson, who smiled when he saw them coming.

“Good your early, Margaret, take Janice and get her wired with a wireless mike and receiver. Anna do her makeup, then get setup on camera one and Vanessa, get the cameras set up like a live broadcast, then you’re on camera two. Margaret meet me in the control room when you finish.”

Janice had a sick feeling about what was going to happen, but she followed directions well. Margaret took off Janice’s jacket, unbuttoned her blouse, fastened a transceiver to her waistband and ran the wires to a mike and earpiece, before getting her blouse settled back again.

Anna then started on Janice’s face. She gave her a darker and more mature look, adding more color to her. She then worked on Janice’s hair, to freshen up her look. The do she started the day with, had started to droop a bit and Anna worked with it to give it a bit more body.

In her ear she heard Margaret say speak, so she did. Good, she heard Mr. Dawson say.

“Ok Janice, you are going to tell your story again. You have twenty three minutes and you will do it in front of a green screen, since you are wearing blue. Just follow our cues and check your monitors at appropriate times. Are you ready girl?”

“Gee thanks for the whole two minutes warning, Mr. Dawson. I am as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs but I guess I am ready.”

“Good girl. Let me introduce you and Margaret will cue you.”

Janice stood off stage, out of sight, but still able to hear Mr. Dawson talk to the class.

“Enter Janice, center stage, camera two, head on, go,” she heard Margaret say.

Janice entered and Mr. Dawson shook hands with her and introduced her to the students. Mr. Dawson then stepped off stage left and headed to the control room and Janice took over.

“I know this may seem strange to all of you, but yes, I use to be called John Daniels. I have had my name legally changed to Janice Dee Daniels and I now present myself as a female. Why, some of you may ask? I can tell you it is a long story.

It started about two years ago. My Mother and my Doctor became concerned that I had not entered puberty yet. At fourteen it was not unheard of in guys to not have started, but it is uncommon.

I was sent to Dr. Julie Spencer, an Endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in the endocrine system. This system, as far as I know, deals with the glands that deal with the body’s production of hormones. I was subjected to all sorts of tests. In the end the doctor said I was normal for a prepubescent boy.

At fifteen, I still had not started puberty and after another battery of tests, it was decided that I should be given an androgen to jumpstart my puberty. Shortly after I was given a shot, I went into anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock if you will. I nearly died, before I got to a hospital and I owe my life to Dr. Spencer and Dr. James Black, an allergist who had an office in the same suite.

I was stabilized and transported to the hospital, where I was placed in ICU or Intensive Care Unit for those who didn’t know. I came to, and started to feel better for a while, but then I had a second attack of anaphylaxis. I actually went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated twice.

This second bout of anaphylaxis had a more sinister effect on my body. It spurred an Immunological response to my own production of testosterone, the hormone responsible for male growth and maturation.

As a result of that, I will never mature as a male. I will never go through a male’s puberty and all the processes that guys go through.

That is why I don’t shave, my voice never deepened, I never got a second growth spurt and I look the way I do. I was destined to be stuck between, not male and not female, although closer to female.

Now, suppose a young boy, who for no fault of his own, lost his ability to produce testosterone by accident. He could take androgens and mature normally for a boy, albeit a sterile boy, never able to procreate.

I did not have this option. I can’t tolerate male androgens, but a test revealed that I could take estrogens.

Now hormones are important for more things than just make one person look male and another female. They affect just about every part of a being, from bone density, to muscle strength, to heart, lungs and a lot of other things I don’t understand. Dr. Spencer was concerned about it and brought it up to me and my mother. It was decided that I should start hormone therapy. Which in my case meant estrogens, which brings us up to date.

I became despondent over one of my projects, when it was pointed out that I looked and sounded more like a female than a male. My friends in JD’s production wormed the cause of my despondency out of me about a month ago and they put their heads together.

While a pretty boy would never make it in TV journalism, a field I dearly love. It might be possible for me to make it as a woman.

They got together and challenged me to try it away from school. If I did well at it, then maybe I would have started this fall as a female. It would probably have been easier to come back from summer with it a fete accmopli, but that was not to be.

My friends set aside their personal lives to help me play a roll, so to speak. I set about to see what it would be like for a woman in journalism. First I set out to learn how to present myself as a woman and then how to blend that with journalism.

That brings me to that fateful Monday. We set out to do a news story on a city council meeting. (step left, look right at camera one, check monitor, came in on the earpiece.) Here are some excerpts from that meeting. I sat in the City Council public meeting room and took notes, after the meeting I was able to ask the various parties questions about their stance. You may have seen this project on our local TV station and on national TV networks. All went well till we went about shooting some background footage about the meeting. Here you see me indicating the parking problems that people encounter down town.

If this was all that we shot, I wouldn’t be here today like I am. I might not have started female hormones till the summer break began or come to school as a female till the fall semester began. I might not have returned to school here either.

Fate had other ideas though. (starting shoot out feed). As you can see, while I was filming my closing remarks, an armored car drove up, followed by another vehicle. As the rear doors to the truck opened, a shootout began, between the guards and some would be robbers. The robbers were somewhat inept and equipped with body armor. The guards appeared well trained and also equipped with body armor. They were joined by the banks guards and later by the local police department. The shoot out went on for about half an hour. Local TV stations appeared on the scene, in the air and on the ground. As you can see though, they were a long way from the action, they had a bad angle and even the eye in the sky didn’t have as good a video as we did.

You have to agree, this was hot video and we had to move quickly or our video footage would have been history, not news. A member of JD’s Production, Margaret Bradford to be exact, took our work and hawked it to the local TV station and the rest is history. Do any of you have any questions.” (camera one on Janice, two on the audience)

“What was it like being that close to a shootout?”

“I was scared shitless.”

“I can’t believe that you appeared so calm.”

“I thank Vanessa Sebring for that, she kept all of us calm and focused.”

“Why do you look so girly now, if you only have been on hormones for so short a time, did you have surgery, are you wearing padding?”

“I will answer those questions in reverse order. No, I am not wearing padding right now. I have and will at times though. I just wanted you to se the real me today,” Janice said taking off her coat. “Yes I had surgery, but not the kind you are thinking of. Because of my illness, my testes had quit functioning and had shriveled up. They were just removed. I look like this because every guy produces a small amount of estrogen, just like every girl produces testosterone. It’s just in guys they produce so much testosterone it counteracts the estrogen they produce. In girl’s they produce so much estrogen, testosterone doesn’t stand a chance. In me and any guy who looses their testes, they don’t have enough testosterone to protect themselves. So this is how I have been developing.”

“What has it been like for you?”

“It’s been hard, I have grieved over it till I finally accepted the fate I have been dealt. I am facing a full gamut of reactions from support to downright, but thankfully not open hostility. I don’t expect I will ever have total acceptance by others, but I do hope to have tolerance.”

“Are you attracted to boys or girls?”

“Yes, but not in the way you are thinking right now. Feelings of a sexual nature, or Libido, as it is called, is a product of testosterone in boys, as everybody knows, but there are studies coming out that suggest that that is also true for females. Low testosterone in females is being linked to low libido in females. Right now I have all the testosterone of a six year old boy. How much of a sexual creature are they. Really, boys and girls at that age are more alike than different. I want male friends and female friends, but right now, I am just not attracted to guys or girls in a sexual nature.” (two minutes, you’re doing great girl.)

“One more question.”

“So you’re really going to be a girl now. Are you going all the way?”

“I intend to live the rest of my life as a female. I can’t have Sexual reassignment surgery till I am eighteen, in a year and four months. I have to satisfy my psychiatrist that that is what I really want for myself, but yes I think that it is in my future. Thank you for your patience.”

Nurse Porter, Mrs. Simmons and Mr. Collins sat in the conference room watching the video from the Journalism dept. Mrs. Simmons had heard bits and pieces of what Janice told the girls at lunch from her sources and had arranged for this show to happen and for it to be taped.

“Well Sylvia, was Janice shooting straight, is she telling it like it is?” Mrs. Simmons asked.

“She seemed to be telling the truth. From what Dr. Spencer and Dr. Walker told me, she was telling it like it is. She is very knowledgeable about her condition and about what she said from a medical stand point. I am rather proud of her.”

“I am proud of her too; she has a lot of poise from what I could see. She’ll make an excellent Journalist, if she is given the chance.” Mr. Collins said.

“I think so too. It is hard to believe that all of that was impromptu, she had no warning. That is the main reason I believed it. We need to make sure she is equipped to face what ever she faces. I have already heard of a few possible problem areas. We need to look out for her and see that the teachers around her are above average and accepting. Mr. Dawson is going to edit that tape with the help of JD’s production and I plan on showing that at assembly tomorrow, third period.”
**********
After Janice finished and the lights softened, the students of her class came up on the stage and surrounded her. Some were closer than others.

Sandy O’Brian came up to her, “Janice I can’t believe you got up there and said all of that. I couldn’t have done it. That took more guts than I have seen in anybody at our school.”

“I was scared, I would have rather do the shootout again.”

“But you didn’t show it. Mr. Dawson told us what was going to happen. We knew from the grapevine about you already, but seeing you like this, is strange.”

“So this isn’t just some bullshit is it?” Clyde asked.

Janice’s cheeks flared at the bluntness of Clyde’s question, but she didn’t see any malice in his face. “No Clyde it isn’t, this is all me and this is how my body has been developing. How do you feel about this?”

“I just don’t know,” he said and walked away.

“Mr. Dawson threatened any student who went psycho over this, Janice. I think you’ll be alright,” Bill said. “You won’t get any problems from me at least, or from ninety percent of the Journalism class, I think. You know what is strange?”

“No, what?”

“The way you look now isn’t that much different than what you looked like a couple of weeks ago except for your makeup and the jewelry. Your clothes are nicer and fit for a change. I can see why you had to hide it. You look hot.”

“It hasn’t been easy, the girls in my crew had their suspicions, but they never said anything till a few weeks ago. I was surprised myself at what the girls did, and how I turned out.”

“How much money did you make off that news shot?” Tina Gregory asked.

“A little bit. I would rather not say.”

“I guess that means a little or a lot, but I don’t think it was a little. Nice clothes by the way. We will have to go shopping, if this is the kind of threads you wear now,” Tina said giggling and feeling the texture of the jacket.

“Ok kids, back to the classroom, we have some work to do. Greg, All the News is in the lab now, till the bell, Janice, JD’s productions is in the lab second hour. Bill, News Spies needs to do their proficiency check on the equipment. Sandy, Hot Shots have a studio production to present. Let’s go. ”

JD’s productions came into the lab to do their edit work, after the critique of the Hot Shots presentation of a fashion show. They did a four-minute segment, that showed many high school Juniors and Seniors walking a runway, at one of the malls. Sandy was the on screen person and she was somewhat interesting, albeit a little giggly doing it. Mr. Dawson gave them an A- for their work. Janice paid more attention to the presentation, than John would have, a couple of weeks ago.

Janice and Vanessa got together and planned the edit, with input from the others. Janice then got a script she had written for a studio intro into the shootout tape and practiced it. Mr. Dawson had told them to make it a ten minute segment, with a suitable spot for a commercial halfway in. Since they had already edited most of the video, it didn’t take them long to do the studio work and create a time line.

Anna softened Janice’s makeup a bit and fluffed Janice’s hair a bit more and then they were ready.

Vanessa informed Mr. Dawson, but he passed on being there while they taped. She came back in and cued everyone to get ready. On a four count they began. Janice gave her intro and talked a bit about the incident. Margaret keyed the video in. They went from live, to video three times, cued a commercial break, before Janice closed with her, “And that’s the way it happened.”

The four girls checked their work, looking it over twice. They were not allowed to make any changes, as it was suppose to simulate a live broadcast, but they liked what they saw. Janice’s script made more sense to them, than some of the anchors they had seen who did her story, to them at least, but then again they realized that they might be prejudiced.

They burnt five copies, each girl got one and they turned one into Mr. Dawson, who gave them a copy of Janice’s talk, after the last bell of the day rang.

“Let me get my car, wait about seven minutes and meet me at the parking lot, side entrance. Don’t let Janice wander around by herself,” Margaret said.

Janice looked a little miffed and said, “I am not a baby, and really the day went better than I suspected.”

“Yeah, your still in one piece, we want to make sure you stay that way,” Vanessa said. “But make it ten minutes, we need to hit our lockers, Margaret.”

“Make it fifteen then, I need to go to mine too.”

Vanessa and Anna escorted Janice to her locker. Janice looked surprised to see that it wasn’t defaced yet and got her things she needed. She then went to the other girls lockers.

Outside there were some students still milling around, but the parking lots were mostly deserted by the time they got into Margaret’s SUV.

“Today went better than I expected,” Janice said. “There were a few problems, but nothing I can’t live with.”

“Yeah, we were all surprised at how well things went,” Vanessa said. “Billy Jones broke up with me today. He said you had to be some kind of perv and he complained that I hadn’t been around for the last month. But losing him is no loss.”

“I am sorry Vanessa,” Janice said. From what she knew about Billy, she had to agree. Although he had the ability to be suave, he was kind of a punk and bully, to some of the guys at school.

“No big loss, the three of you are more important to me than him.”

“Joey said. It didn’t bother him. He had needed to catch up on some work, but he looks forward to spending more time with me,” Anna said.

“I am in between also, so I don’t have any problems right now,” Margaret said.

The girls came into Janice’s home and they started on their homework, as Janice got them some drinks and cookies.

They set about doing their homework, stopping only to help one of the others when they had a problem in one area or another. It took them about an hour and a half for all of them to finish. They sat and then talked about tomorrow for a short while, before they each had to go. Margaret told Janice that she would be by at seven thirty in the morning, to pick her up. They hugged and left.

Janice went to the kitchen and decided to fix dinner. She took what she learned, to plan and prepare a meal. It was funny she thought, that as John, she hadn’t ever considered doing that and Angela her Mom, never asked him to do that. John appreciated the work his Mom had done for him and kept the house as well as he could, but Janice wanted to do more for her Mom.

Janice found some pasta, a can of tomato sauce, some ground beef and started to work. She started by browning the ground beef, adding salt and pepper to taste. The pasta went into a pot of boiling water that had been salted and a bit of olive oil floated on the surface of the boiling water. She added garlic, basil and tomato sauce to the ground beef and started that cooking. She opened a can of green beans and started them in another pot. Then she drained the pasta and added it to the meat and sauce.

Her Mom came in and was drawn to the kitchen by the aromas. She tasted everything and made a few suggestions to Janice, before hugging her and heading to her room to change.

Janice set the table, prepared two plates of food and two iced teas. Her Mom came in, hugged and kissed her daughter and sat to eat.

“So Janice, how was your day, you have to tell me everything.”

Janice gave her Mom as complete a run down as possible, as they ate. She might have left out a thing or two, not to worry her, but she told her a lot about the good, the bad and the indifferent.

“Everything considered Mom, it went a lot better than I could have hoped for.”

“Mr. Dawson actually made you tell your story to the whole class.”

“Well, we are together for two hours Mom. I would have otherwise had to tell my story untold number of times, if I was asked individually. That gave me the opportunity to tell it once to everyone there. He recorded it and I have a copy, we can watch it after dinner.”

“I would like that Janice. By the way, good job on dinner honey, I was surprised.”

“Thank you. How did your day go Mom?”

“Strangely it went well. Madeline came to work with me and helped me get HR and our insurance sorted out on your change. My manager Paula Monroe and I, had a long talk. She was unusually supportive. I found out she had a cousin that went through the whole SRS business. Oh everybody just loved my new clothes, they were simply drooling over me. My coworkers helped me get up to speed on what I missed and were very interested to hear about you. Everyone wanted to know about your accident and I told them what I could without violating the confidentiality agreement. Some of them weren’t satisfied, but they all understood, when I said I couldn’t tell them more.”

“Wow, it almost seems like there was a big conspiracy to get me into skirts as easily as possible Mom,” Janice giggled.

“I think Madeline read everybody the riot act, like she did at school. It isn’t what she said, but there was the implied threat, if we were mistreated.”

“She can be scary. I need to give her a good hug whenever I see her. I can’t imagine going through all this without her support. I am so glad I have Madeline, Reggie, Helen, the girls and you most of all Mom, on my side.”

“I am so glad I have you as my child. You are the best thing that ever happened to me Janice.”

A tear welled in Janice’s eyes, her Mom saw it and came over and gave her a hug. “You’ll always have friends Janice. You’re just that kind of person. People just seem to take a liking to you naturally. There will always be those who don’t, but most will.”

After cleaning up the kitchen together, they went to the living room to watch the DVD and catch the news before bed. Janice watched intently to her story, checking out her performance, critiquing how well she did. Angela was amazed at the poise and candor Janice displayed, as she talked.

“Well Janice, it sounded like you were talking to a friend and telling them what was happening in your life. You showed a lot of candor and believability in your presentation. You appealed to the audiences’ humanity and that is good. I think you did very well.”

“In some ways I think it was better doing that on the spur of the moment. I would have fretted too long if I knew I had to do that hours ahead of time.”

“I think you’re right,” Angela said, checking her watch, “It is time for the news and then it is bed for both of us girls.”

“Ok Mom.”
 
 

*          *          *
 
 
End of Part 5
 
 
To Be Continued...
 
 
And That is the Way it Happened  © 2007 by Paula Dillon