Needing Leah Ch. 06

The story so far...

18-year-old Liam Weber has been sent by his parents to Bryner academy, the only private school that accepted him on a scholarship. Only, when he arrived, he discovered it was a school for girls and that his name had been listed as Leah. With the help of his roommate Ellie, he is forced to become Leah and hide his identity for as long as it takes until he can get himself transferred. Today marks the first day of classes. Leah has a lot to worry about...

This chapter contains a sensitive scene at the end. Nothing huge but I thought it worth adding a warning. I can also add another warning when we get to it.

My sleep had ended long before Ellie swung a pillow at my face.

"Are you awake?"

"Surely you should've asked that before hitting me with a pillow?"

"So...you are awake?"

"No." I said sarcastically. It was seven in the morning. How was she so energetic this early?

"Get up and into the shower, we need to get you ready." She was wearing her sports clothes again.

"Classes don't start until nine, right?"

"Yeah, but there's still loads to do! First, we need our morning exercise, then we need breakfast, then we need to get you looking good. Don't forget you're a girl now. Getting ready isn't as simple as slipping on the nearest clothes from the door and walking out with a bedhead."

At this, I sat up groggily and felt my hair. "Do I have a bedhead?"

"No, but come on."

"I don't much like the idea of morning exercise, Ellie. Or...or any exercise, for that matter."

"Doesn't like exercise." She said with a finger against her head. "I'm going to remember that. Fine, but you better be washed and dressed by the time I get back, because I'll need time to do makeup for both of us."

"Alright."

"I mean that. If you're not ready, I'll turn that cute butt red again."

It wasn't just that I hated exercise. I had also been frantically checking my phone ever several seconds. The phone call with my mum had been playing on my mind. I should've just told her my situation. I had chickened out...the humiliation of it, the deep, crippling fear that she already knew...my sleep had been restless. I had always loved my parents. I had always thought they loved me, but the idea they might've deliberately sent me here...you have to find out for certain, no matter how scary.

In a moment of impulse, I had texted my dad, hoping to get him before he started work. I didn't want to have the conversation over text but I also wanted to try and gauge his position first.

Hey dad, can we talk about Bryner soon? You kept me in the dark for all of the application process, I need to know everything.

It wasn't a great text. I wish I'd taken a moment to reflect and edit it, however if I had, I'd probably have chickened out again and deleted the whole thing. I wished I could delete it. If he wasn't going to reply soon, I'd have the anxiety of waiting hanging over me all day. I was already anxious enough about classes.

After another ten minutes or so, I got up showered. Still no reply. I was dressing into my school uniform as Ellie returned. Light-blue blouse with a tie, dark-blue pleated skirt, white stockings. Ellie had laid out a stretchy pair of white cotton briefs that she thought might be more comfortable for a long day, and a white bra to match.

"I don't often bother with matching bras and knickers, but it should help you feel more confident for your first day." She said, disappearing into the bathroom with her school uniform to shower after her run, then change. I wondered if a day would ever come where she would change in the same room as me. I waited patiently for Ellie to help with my hair and makeup. She was right. We did need a long time, and it was 8:45 by the time we were able to leave Selene dormitory.

"We should have time for breakfast, still. It's the first day, so they want us all assembled in the canteen anyway." She said, holding my hand and leading me at a pace towards the main building. I had decided not to tell her about the text until I got a reply.

We just about found space in the canteen at the Selene table. I could see Anna and Jojo opposite on the Athena table. They noticed me and Jojo blew a pretend kiss, laughing. I looked away. Ellie was too busy stuffing a hot cross bun into her mouth to notice, which relieved me, as I didn't want her to cause a scene with them again. The room soon fell silent as a tall, buxom woman with thick glasses and a long, blue robe stood up from the far end. She walked a little way down to address the room.

"Girls." She began, in a Scottish accent. There was an agonisingly long pause between every sentence. "A new year is upon us...New faces...New experiences...Here at Bryner Academy, we pride ourselves in knowledge, discipline, excellence, and fortitude...We shall give you the first two but excellence and fortitude? That is up to your own endeavour...How many of you wish to grow into fine women? How many are set on remaining silly girls?" The pause now was so long that many considered her speech had ended. I felt my phone vibrate. Dad!

Did you mean talk on the phone? I can do one better. I'm in Otter's Drift on a job this weekend. Maybe we can meet there for lunch?

Love Dad

Otter's Drift was the village just beyond the school. Meet in person? Meet like this? My heart was beating. The teacher with the Scottish accent was still talking. I didn't know what to reply. I couldn't think about it, not right now. I'd wait until classes were over.

"It is expected that every new face at our prestigious school come to my office for an introductory meeting." The woman continued. "I shall establish to my own conclusion how determined you are in becoming fine women...Many of you have met with me already...Many of you have been with us previous years...However those of you who have not shown the resourcefulness, the initiative to seek out that meeting so far; this is your one warning...I shall leave you now to split into your classes."

Ellie and I exchanged a glance. "Have you had your meeting with her?" I asked. She nodded.

"That's the headmistress, Mrs. McIntyre. You can't be blamed for not meeting her yet, you only arrived yesterday."

"What's she like?" I asked, trying to forget about my dad.

"Scary. Erm...but sort of kind. You'll be fine. It's not a test or anything. She just makes note of your ambitions in life."

A cold voice called from behind us. "Ladies talking amongst themselves? Stand up!" We came to our feet immediately, not daring to turn round. I peeked a glance to see a young, short teacher with dark blonde hair, who looked innocent in appearance, yet sounded ferocious in tone. "Keep your eyes forwards, girl! Your name?"

I could see Jojo smirking at me.

"Leah."

"Your surname, you stupid girl, surname! And address me either as Miss or Miss Daphne."

"Weber, Miss Daphne." I squeaked in a stiff voice. I heard a faint ripple of laughter around me.

"And you?" She asked Ellie.

"Brooks, Miss Daphne."

"Troublemakers, are you both?"

"No, Miss Daphne."

"And a liar, too? Well we won't have troublemakers paired together. Says here you're both in the same class. Weber, you'll be moved to class 8A. Brooks, you'll be in 8C."

I looked to Ellie, instantly worried. She silently mouthed that it would be ok. I was going to be alone. I wanted to protest but I knew it'd only get me into trouble. I felt myself shaking a little as I stood there.

"Now ladies, everybody find your classes. Move!"

At once, there was a scuffle of feet. The students all moved to form orderly queues by their teachers, who each called out their class. I moved instead to Ellie.

"Am I going to be alone all day?"

"You'll be ok, Leah. We'll meet here at lunch and we'll meet at the end of the day. You can manage it."

I sensed she wanted to hug me. With Jojo nearby, I worried we'd be called names if she did that, so I turned. Frantic, I searched for 8A. I was still shaking and I felt faintly dizzy. 8A. Miss Anderton. Tall and imposing with short brown hair. From her accent she sounded Italian.

"Are we all here now, ladies? Weber, you have joined us from 8C. No worry, we'll have space for you. Follow me now to our room."

She swivelled. She led us out of the canteen and down the long hallway. I was still shaking. My breath was getting heavier and seemed to drown out every other noise in my ears. I tried to focus on just walking, just keeping up with the group. Hopefully no one would notice me shaking. That made me worry, however. What if they did notice me shaking? I would draw attention to myself. I'd already drawn enough attention. "Don't panic. Just walk and breath." I told myself. The room was only a little down the hall, thank God. Miss Anderton held the door open as the class filed in. I was last. I was keeping my eyes fixed ahead of me and trying to walk straight. I'd be alright once I could sit down.

"Weber? Are you alright?"

Miss Anderton's voice sounded hazy and far off. My ears were ringing. I managed a nod. What was happening to me? I was sweating. The ringing grew louder until suddenly, the only other sound I could hear was my breathing, loud in my ears. I daren't look. Everyone must've been watching, which made it worse. I stumbled towards the nearest free seat. I sat down but felt no better. I was going to faint. I was going to faint.

"Miss Weber, are you alright?"

I tried to mumble a reply. I couldn't even move my head to look up from the desk, which I clung to as though it might stop me from spinning out into orbit. Suddenly, I was desperate for breath. I couldn't breathe. I managed only sharp, shallow gasps.

"It's alright, you're ok. You're having a panic attack." A voice said that seemed miles away. "You just put your head down on the desk and close your eyes. We'll get on with the lesson and you come back to us when you're ready."

Again, I could say nothing, but did as the voice said. I pressed my head down against the desk, still shaking. I closed my eyes.

"Miss! She needs the medical room, surely?"

"She's in no fit state to walk anywhere right now, Miss Pleasance. All she needs is to be left alone. Leave her be, draw no attention to her. We'll start the lesson and she'll be back in a minute."

I felt a hand stroke down my back, which startled me. I began gasping hard for breath again.

"Pleasance, I said leave her alone!"

The class carried on without me. Their voices floated round my head as though in a slow whirlpool. A register was taken, with my name added for me, then Miss Anderton talked the class through our curriculum. Over the course of the year, we would study for 4 SLD grades. Humanities, which seemed to consist of literature, classical history, and political studies. All of which would be taught by her. Arts, which would see us merge with another class, consisted of art, theatre, and gastronomy. Sciences which, aside from physics, chemistry, and biology, also seemed to include mathematics. Then our final SLD would be in Languages, which meant Latin and then one of either French, German, or Spanish. Whilst providing no qualifications, we would also be expected to learn an instrument and take part in physical exercise, which meant weekly swimming lessons, as well as a choice between weekly athletics, or joining a sport's team. Apart from Miss Anderton teaching Humanities, the only other teacher I recognised the name of on my timetable was Miss Daphne teaching chemistry.

Our lesson this morning was literature, in which the class took turns reading out extracts from the opening to The Decameron, which we each had a copy of in our desks. After reading an extract, Miss Anderton gave a long lecture on the book.

"The Decameron. 100 short stories, 10 characters who each tell 10 stories around a camp on the outskirts of Florence during the great plague. You might notice the parallel to recent events, and how these characters fled the city and told stories to entertain themselves until such a time when the black death had passed. Sensible advice, to flee the city. I suspect many of your families fled to villas or isolated to estates during our own virus, however The Decameron leaves us wondering about the many people who couldn't afford to leave the city, who needed its resources to survive. Perhaps they would've told very different stories to these jolly yet naïve ones the characters here tell us? Perhaps those families living in council housing would tell different stories to you?"

That comment made me tense up. She was assuming the students had all come from rich families. Perhaps it was just me who hadn't? I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself however. My breathing had eased. The ringing in my ears and subsided and I dared to sit up again. Quietly taking my copy of the book out of my desk, along with a workbook in which I began trying to take notes. By the time the lesson had finished, I felt fine. We were allowed a ten-minute break before our next lesson in the same room, classical history, would begin. As Miss Anderton announced the break, she also announced my name.

"Weber? Perhaps we should step outside for a moment."

I got up. Again, conscious that everyone was watching me. I exited the room with the teacher, who closed the door behind us before asking.

"Are you prone to panic attacks?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. It's never happened before."

"Why do you think it did happen?"

I squirmed. I didn't want to answer.

"Perhaps Miss Daphne played some part in it?"

"I didn't want to move class, Miss. I only arrived yesterday. Ellie is my roommate and only friend, and we're not troublemakers, she was just telling me I'd have to organise a meeting with the headmistress because she knew I was nervous about it."

"It's ok. We don't want you getting worked up again." Miss Anderton cut in. "I imagine the shock of that, and of being singled out, didn't much help."

I nodded. It wasn't just that. It was also my dad. Even just thinking of that again made me tense up, however, so I pushed it from my mind.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't think I can move you back to class 8C. Miss Daphne is a head of department and not prone to changing her mind. Perhaps over next term, if you excel in lessons, I could try and suggest a switch. However, by then, I suspect you'll have made just as close friends from the girls here in 8A."

I looked down. She could sense I was disappointed with this.

"The point of school is more than grades. It is to help you grow as people, Weber. That may mean learning to make new friends in a class of strangers. Normally, I begin the first class with a chance to let everyone introduce themselves, though I've waited till you were feeling better to ask what you thought. Would you be comfortable saying a little bit to introduce yourself? I understand that may be overwhelming, however it may help you to make new friends."

I nodded. "Ok."

"You think you can do that?"

"I think so."

"There's a good girl."

I wish she hadn't said that. Coming from a teacher, it didn't arouse me in the slightest, even if Miss Anderton was attractive. She was the opposite to Miss Daphne, in that she looked tall and fierce, yet spoke soft and kindly. I guessed her to be about thirty. She wore a striped pencil dress that revealed a curvaceous figure. The faint Italian accent made every word sound musical. She looked good and I was immediately warmed by her kindness, but the comment of "good girl" left me feeling strange. I was blushing as I went back in. I took my seat as she brought the class back to attention.

"Alright class. I think it's time we introduced ourselves to each other. You already know I am Miss Anderton. You may not call me by my first name, but to stop you wondering and gossiping about what it might be, it is Fiona. You're each going to take turns to give a short introduction, starting with Miss Weber, who I'm sure doesn't want to be known as 'the anxious girl', but instead as..." she gestured a hand out for me to speak.

"Erm. Yes. My name is Leah. I'm German but I've been living in England for a while. Erm. I like football and support Borussia Dortmund. And..." I struggled to think of anything more, so added what I'd said to Ellie this morning. "And I don't like exercise."

The class laughed, which relieved me greatly.

"I assume that's 'likes watching football' rather than playing it, then?" Miss Anderton remarked before passing the introduction along to the girl at the desk beside mine.

"My name is Kiara Pleasance. My family comes from the highlands but I'm part Indian. I like cooking and I think it's a shame we don't have a kitchen in the dormitory."

Another ripple of laughter. "There used to be, Pleasance." Miss Anderton interjected. "Until some clever girl thought it would be a funny prank to bake a certain bodily excrement in the oven. Needless to say, she was quickly expelled and Calliope Dormitory was evacuated for a week."

"I prefer cooking food, Miss." Kiara replied.

"A great relief to hear, I'm sure!"

Kiara smiled to me after this. It was her who had tried rubbing my back when I was panicking. She looked smiley with light-brown skin that seemed to glow. She had incredibly straight, long black hair and possibly the perkiest nose I'd ever seen. I smiled back. I got the sense she was trying to be nice to me because she felt sorry about my panic attack. I wasn't sure if it counts to make friends through pity, but at least it was something.

We ran on through classical history until lunchtime. After sitting still on a wooden chair for hours, I began to notice just how sore my arse still was from yesterday. The longer lessons went on, the more I fidgeted. Panties felt nice to wear, and comfortable to begin with. By now, it felt like they were pressing on my balls and I kept having to adjust my penis to make room for it. I found myself wondering how Ellie was doing in her classes. She'd no doubt made friends more easily than I had. I then began thinking on the water bowl game from last night. I tried imagining how long the game might have lasted had I not dropped it. I tried to imagine what my reward might've been had I not opted for the punishment. I cursed myself for missing out on that. Perhaps she would've stripped or let me touch her breasts? Perhaps I could've kissed her? Perhaps she would've let me cum normally, or stroked me? I wondered if we would ever have sex, proper sex. Would she ever let that happen? She still hadn't actually made it clear if she was attracted to me, if she was aroused by any of our games. I was sure she was, however it seemed more like she was attracted to the idea of Leah, rather than Liam. Perhaps the only attention I'd ever get was being teased as a girl?

I suddenly snapped back to focus, realising class had ended. Everyone was filing out for lunch, except Kiara, who was looking at me quizzically.

"Are you ok, Leah?"

"Erm, yeah." I said, stretching out my skirt in an effort to hide my erection. "Sorry, I was miles away."

"Shall we have lunch together?"

"Well, I have to meet my roommate, but you can come with us, too. I mean, if you want to?"

She nodded with a cheerful smile. We set off for lunch together. I briefly caught Miss Anderton's gaze as we left, who was watching me with a look of pride that seemed to say "good for you, Weber."

Ellie was waiting for me outside the canteen. When she saw me, she barrelled forwards and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Leah, I'm so sorry. That was all my fault. I shouldn't have been talking to you when they were sorting the classes. I've been feeling guilty all morning."