The room full of students sat stunned, not sure of what they had just witnessed. Steven sat at his desk trying to make himself smaller. He was sure that someone would blame him for giving his teacher the idea in the first place. He never thought that she would ever take him seriously and that the rest of the class would just laugh it off, but that didn’t happen.
Joss sat in her seat, smiling, wondering how Tom would get himself out of this one. He was always the joker, but his jokes were mostly at the expense of the nearest girl. She knew that he would come up with some excuse, some reason that he couldn’t take part, and then she would be able to tell the whole school how much of a coward he really was.
On the other side of the room, Tom was trying to think of a way that he could get out of the project without letting Joss win. There must be a way, but right now he couldn’t think of one. He only had half an hour to come up with one while still trying to look like in was interested in whatever Ms. Sloan was saying.
Miranda Sloan sat back down in her seat. “Now, class, we have half an hour to come up with a rough outline of the experiment for me to take to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, along with Joss and Tina. Who wants to start?”
The following thirty minutes had everyone except Joss and Tom come up with different ideas for how things would work, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. While Joss sat with her smile getting bigger almost by the second. Tom, on the other hand, spent his time trying to find some sort of get out clause that he could use. One that wouldn’t allow Joss to claim a victory and tell the rest of their year that he was a coward, there had to be one, but he was running out of time to come up with one.
The final bell rang normally on a Friday afternoon that would signal the end of the school week, but not for Tom and Joss this afternoon.
“Ok, ok, I know that everyone wants to get home this afternoon, but I am sure that you could leave the classroom quietly.” Miranda Sloan told the others in the class.
The cries of see you on Monday.” Came from many different students as they headed out of the room.
“Tom, Joss, stay in your seats for a few minutes, then we will head to Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s office.” Miranda Sloan told her two Volunteers.
“I can’t wait to see you wearing this,” Joss said as she gestured to her uniform.
“I don’t see what all the fuss is about. You girls are just soft.” Tom said in reply, trying to hide his growing nerves at the situation that he found himself in.
“Right, you two, let’s go.” Miranda Sloan said to the two of them as the corridors cleared.
The teacher, with her two students falling in behind her, began their short march towards Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s office. Tom had been to the office a few times before. It was not that he was a troublemaker. He was just loud and, as some of his teachers had told him before, he was easily led. This afternoon was a prime example of that when he had let Joss pressure him into taking part in this experiment.
Joss walked down the corridor in silence. I finally have him, she thought. Tom had been behind a prank that had led to her hair being stuck together with chewing gum in the art room a few weeks back. This had led to her getting her hair, which at that point was halfway down her back, cut to shoulder length. It had taken her years to get her hair that length, and thanks to him, she had lost at least five inches of growth. She had sworn that she would get him back, and thanks to quiet Steven opening his mouth in class earlier that afternoon and Ms. Sloan running with what he had said, she now had the perfect opportunity.
“Now you two sit here, I will only be a few minutes,” Miranda said when they reached Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s office. She knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Came the voice from the other side.
“I have a rough outline of the experiment we were discussing earlier,” Miranda said as she walked inside and closed the door behind her.
“You looking forward to wearing a skirt, Tom?” Joss asked him.
“No way. I am only doing this to show you how easy you have it in that uniform.” He replied to her.
“That’s what you think now, I bet you won’t even last a day,” Joss said with a smile on her face.
Tom didn’t bother trying to answer her; he knew that there was no way that his mum would let him take part in this experiment. That was his way out; he could say that he would have done it, but it was she who stopped him.
Just then, the door opened.
“Right in you come, you two,” Miranda said, beckoning the two of them inside.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick sat behind her desk with a stern look on her face.
“Now Ms. Sloan has outlined the details of the project that she wishes to run. So before I agree to this, I feel it's best that you know what you are signing up for.” Mrs. Fitzpatrick said, pushing a handwritten sheet of paper towards the two of them.
**Joss and Tom saw that it was in Ms. Sloan’s handwriting; they had both seen it often enough on their classwork.
Tom would wear the standard girls’ uniform – a knee-length pleated skirt, a tailored blouse, and girls’ school shoes – for a minimum of a full school week.
Joss would don the boys’ uniform – long-sleeved collared shirt, dark burgundy tie, dark trousers, and boys’ dress shoes.
They would adhere to all uniform regulations, including grooming standards that applied to their assigned uniform gender where practical (e.g., Tom would now be expected to align with the neatness standards for girls, and vice versa for Joss). They would keep daily journals, noting observations, feelings, and social interactions.**
Ms. Sloan would conduct short, private interviews with them after a week, when a review of the timescale would be conducted, and based on those interviews, any extensions, if any, could be determined.
“Extensions?” Tom said with the unasked question in his voice.
“Yes.” Mrs. Fitzpatrick said, looking towards Miranda.
“Well, a week on its own may not be enough time to allow you to get past the novelty of the uniform, so depending on how you are after a week, the project may extend to allow for a full immersion,” Miranda said.
Tom and Joss had recognised a number of the points on the paper from the discussion they had in class before the walk to where they were sitting at this moment.
“Of course, parental consent is necessary before the project can begin. So if you are both in agreement to the terms here, we can get this typed up along with the consent forms before you leave today, and you can bring them back on Monday, and we can begin the following week.” Mrs. Fitzpatrick told the two students sitting before her.
Joss simply nodded at her teachers. This is what happens to someone who messes with my hair, she thought to herself.
Tom sat there glancing between Joss and the sheet of paper. After seeing Joss nod in agreement to what was being suggested, he found himself doing the same thing.
“Ms Sloan, can you give this to the school secretary so that she can type this up and our two volunteers can go home for the weekend?” Mrs. Fitzpatrick said to Ms. Sloan while handing her back the sheet of paper that Miranda had handed her a few minutes earlier.
With that, Miranda turned and walked out of the room towards the secretary’s desk and handed her the paper. “Esther, can you type this up just now? We need two copies along with the usual consent forms?”
“Sure, no problem. I will have it ready in ten minutes. I had almost finished everything else I had to do today,” Came the reply from the smiling Esther.
“Ms. Ellis, Mr McLaughlin, please take a seat outside while we are waiting,” Mrs. Fitzpatrick told Tom and Joss.
Joss and Tom did so. Joss with a smile that almost reached from ear to ear. Tom, however, sat down, not sure of how he would spin this to his mum to make sure she said no to his taking part. True to her word, Esther finished typing up the package and handed them to Miranda within ten minutes. Miranda then handed them to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, who not only stamped them with the official school stamp but also signed them before passing them back.
“Here you are, Joss, Tom, please make sure that we hear from your parents one way or another by Tuesday so that we can arrange for you to be fitted for your new uniforms on Wednesday, and don’t worry about the cost, it will all be covered by the experiment,” Miranda said with a smile as she handed the two of them their copy of the documents.
“Not a problem, Ms. Sloan. With my mum being a sociology professor at the local university, she knows how important it is to get documents in on time.” Joss said as she took her copy.
“Yes, Ms. Sloan,” Tom said, taking his copy now, looking more worried as he had forgotten all about what Joss’s mum did for a living.
“Have a good weekend.” Miranda Sloan said as she turned back to talk to Mrs. Fitzpatrick so that they could discuss the finer details of what would happen and smooth out any nerves that her boss may have about her experiment.
