[MissMaria]

Chapter 3

It took half an hour to get to the Costa, I had chosen to walk as it wasn’t far and it was faster than any other way at that time in the afternoon, traffic could be manic around that time. I thought more about who this woman could be and what she could want as I made my way there and the only explanation I could come up with was that something had happened to a family member and she know one of them and had heard they had not been in contact with me. That made about as much sense as anything else I guess, well that would be fine I would just tell her I'm not interested and continue home.

As I arrived at the Costa I could see her sitting on a bench near the store, I approached her and asked her if she would like a coffee, she said she would like a latte to go as she wanted to walk around sapphire gardens nearby as we talked, I had no objection and so went to get the two coffees. As we walked to sapphire gardens she explained that her name was Jess and that we had met a few times, but that she was actually a friend of my eldest sister Beth, I honestly still could not entirely remember her though a vague memory of her was somewhere in the back of my mind.

As we entered sapphire gardens she was in the middle of explaining that her father had been an alcoholic and also abusive and so she had moved to stay with her grandparents for a few years and was now back to start again in the city she felt was home. I noted the park was rather quiet today with only a handful of people around, which wasn’t all that unusual for this time of year, though it got packed in the summer. We detoured up a secluded path following the River Taff as we finished our coffee. We weren’t 5 minutes up the path before I was stunned speechless, the conversation that had previously been polite had suddenly changed.

“So your still a little sissy bitch dressing like girls I hear,” she said stopping and watching me closely, I was absolutely stunned with no idea how to respond I could feel my jaw tremble but no sound came out “Oh it's ok you don’t need to admit it, I have the pictures to prove it” she continued, I was even more stunned by this information and my mind struggled to work out if it was even possible, by 7 I had learned I was transgender but had not explained it to anyone, by 8 my mother had found out and after a long night I was made to feel guilty and ashamed about it so had hidden it ever since afraid anyone else would find out unaware that it was a normal thing to be, but had there been pictures and if so how, especially since it was never spoken of again.

“I can see you are struggling to understand this, I will make it easy for you, I was also Janes friend and since you deprived me of 3 chances to have an evening away from my home with a good friend, in fact, the last 3 before I had to leave I have been planning revenge for a while, but I tell you what, this afternoon has been good I will let you off the hook but you have to do 1 thing to make amends and I will get rid of the pictures and never speak of it again, deal?"

Still unable to speak I simply nodded I could see no other way I was not ready to face people knowing that again, and it was only one thing,

“In my bag here I have some clothes that will fit you I want to see you dressed like a girl, do that and I will get rid of everything and go silent I promise,” I thought for a moment, what harm could it do, it was quiet here after all, and she did promise to get rid of it all, it would also be nice to not be alone doing it for once, besides did I even have a choice?, slowly I reached out and grabbed the bag, I began to turn to change behind a tree.

“Where are you going?”
“To get changed as you wanted”
“No, you can get changed right where you are, if this were easy it would not make up for 3 nights”

I stared at her for a moment hoping that there was some sign she was joking, but there wasn’t, reluctantly I stripped off right there the cold air immediately hitting my chest as I took off my jumper and t-shirt together, then I kicked off my trainers and took off my socks. I pulled down both my underwear and trousers at the same time as my feet froze on the floor, I was already beginning to shiver all warmth from the coffee as distant as that memory now was in my mind, so much had changed as I stood naked on a path off the side of a river. I pulled the cloths from the bag and immediately knew they weren’t going to make me any warmer, there was a pleated mini skirt that looked as though it belonged to a school uniform, a thin black thong with lace at the front making it almost see-through with a matching bra and a white blouse that also seemed to be part of a schoolgirl uniform there was also white mid-calf socks with plenty of frilling and high heel shoes that seemed to be 3 inches high, clearly she knows my sizes as they were all the right size.

I got dressed as quickly as I could hoping that they would provide at least some warmth, but deep down knowing they wouldn’t, I had not been able to look Jess in the eye from the time I began to strip to the time I had finished getting dressed I was so embarrassed. I was right there was no warmth to be had, the wind blew straight through the fabric of the blouse and straight up under the skirt, the only thing that warmed were my feet, but at that point, my attention was brought back to Jess as she began to jump up and down clapping her hands as she squealed “You look so cute, oh my gosh, it's adorable” my humiliation was not at all helped by this display, though a part of me was kind of happy at the same time as terrified.

“Go on give me a twirl, but slowly I want to take in every inch” Jess continued as she stopped jumping, I began to twirl fear and humiliation growing and compounding “ slower,” Jess said immediately so I slowed down to a point that I was barely moving as I turned and Jess looked me up and down till I was facing the other way and could no longer see her, It was not that long before I had turned enough for Jess to come back into view but apparently it had been long enough for Jess to get her camera ready to take a photo of me, and take a photo she did as soon as my face was visible. My heart sunk and my stomach plummeted as fear rippled through every inch of me I began to lunge for the camera suddenly terrified.

Jess put her index finger up infant of me and almost whispered “ you can have the camera if you want I will give it to you willingly, but I will spread the other photos over every area of Cardiff as well as putting them on the internet” I stopped dead knowing I was defeated. Jess smiled and walked off leaving me with the clothes I was wearing, my clothes, and the bag in the middle of the path.