Facebank

Peter and his sister Laura walk to school one sunny Monday morning. As usual, she has her smart phone in her hands and is texting her friends, probably telling them that she's walking to school and will see them in class shortly. Peter couldn't understand why she sent so many pointless texts. It's almost as if she has to use every last one of them before her monthly allowance expires. They enter the school gates and soon part company, heading to their respective form rooms.

When Peter enters his form room, a good third of his classmates burst out laughing. He's clueless as to what they're laughing at. Maybe he's got shaving foam left on his chin, dried toothpaste around his mouth or is having a really bad hair day. As Peter takes his seat, his classmates start to whisper amongst one another and the giggling and sniggering spreads like wildfire. “What?!” he asks when people give him funny looks and throw sly comments in his direction.

The poor lad is the last to know that he's changed his Facebank profile picture and shared it with everyone... EVERYONE! And by the sound of it, everyone's been sharing it with everyone else. It's morning break when he's finally shown his latest update on Facebank, the new profile picture has been shared 107 times, has 243 likes and a handful comments. The fact that he didn't change his Facebank profile picture is irrelevant, as it's clearly him wearing red lipstick and a blonde wig in the very close and very clear image.

 

He knows when the photo was taken but can't work out how the picture was taken. He'd let his sister dress him as a girl the previous evening when their parents were out, and although he did take a selfie on his mobile phone... that isn't the photo on his profile page. His selfie was a full head & shoulders shot, showing his bra straps and part of the girlie top he'd borrowed. This new profile photo is just a head shot and everyone assumes he's wearing a dress or maybe a skirt & top. He denied both because he was in fact wearing a pair of his sister's short denim shorts and pair of opaque black tights, which wasn't much better. He could honestly deny the assumptions, but the absolute fact that he'd dressed as a girl is undoubtedly undeniable.

The entire day is packed full of taunts and jeers with the occasional compliment from some of the girls and teachers... as even they use Facebank! By the time he gets home so he can change his profile picture back, the update has attracted over a hundred comments... and to add insult to injury, he's replied to some of them... well, he hasn't, but someone has!!

The replies are only to the nice comments and not to the many insults and threats. His replies are like “Aww thanks Ann” and “I look better in Laura's stuff than she does!!! ;P” and "wig was really itchy... wish i had long hair of my own" and “folks don't know. they were out” and “cant w8 4 nx grls nite in!”

It being Facebank, his parents, aunts & uncles and cousins are also on his friends list and they've all seen the update. Many have left a comment and some have even shared it! His mother left a comment that read “While the cat's away eh!?” and no doubt he has some explaining to do when his parents get home from work.

“I don't even write like that.” Peter insisted as his parents perused the comments, referring to the 'cant w8 4 nxt grls nite in' comment. “I don't do txt spk!” he claimed

His parents are clearly confuddled. “I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw it!” his mother said.

“I laughed.” his dad added. “That wig suits you.”

“Oh don't dad.” the boy pleaded as he slumped his head into his hands. “Me and Laura were just messin' about.”

“So your sister was involved too.” his Mum quizzed.

“Course!” Peter insisted. He explained that Laura had pestered him a few times into letting her dress him as a girl when Mum and Dad were out. “She must have got my Facebank login and updated my profile!” he claimed. “I wouldn't have done that... and I certainly didn't reply to the comments either!!”

“Well Laura's going to be in big trouble... but that doesn't alter the fact that the moment our backs are turned, you let her dress you as a girl!” his mother retorted. “Do you enjoy dressing as a girl?”

“No!” he replied, “Well... not really... it's just summit to do... it wasn't a big deal 'til today.” he gulped. “Like I say, we were just messin' about.”

As Peter pleads his case, his Dad revisits the Facebank page on his iPad. “There's nearly three hundred comments now.” his dad says. “And a video!” he adds.

The boy can't see it but can just about hear his and his sister's voice. He can also see his parent's expressions as they grin and smile and occasionally snigger as they watch the YourTube video. “You've got good legs.” his mother grins. “Not sure why you're wearing a bra though.”

“Laura told me to wear it.” the boy gulped, knowing that that doesn't really make things any better.

“I thought you'd have gone the whole hog and worn a dress.” his dad said.

“I think he looks cute in those shorts.” his mum added. The phone rings. It his grandmother who's also seen the Facebank update. Peter's mother tells his grandmother that they're not sure what's gone on, but they're currently getting to the bottom of it. “No... he wasn't wearing a dress.” his mother said down the phone. “Yes.” she grinned. “I'll call you later... bye.” His mother hung up and tells Peter that his grandmother is disappointed, “...that you weren't wearing a dress too.” she smiles.

“It's not funny Mum.” the boy moans.

“It is quite funny.” his dad smiles. “And if you like dressing as a girl, that's fine by me.” he adds. “I had a bit of a root in my Mum's drawers when I was a lad.”

“Oh that's a point!” his mum interjected, “Were you wearing Laura's underwear or mine?”

“Laura's.” Peter murmured. He shook his head when asked if he'd ever worn his mother's clothes.

Laura gets home late. She's fully aware that her Facebank prank will land her in deep trouble, and is highly apologetic when she returns. “I've been feeling guilty about it all day.” she claims, but inside she's laughing her socks off. “I'm really sorry.” she adds.

Laura's punishment includes making sure everyone on Facebank knows it was all her doing. It was her idea to dress him as a girl, she who covertly videoed him acting all girlie, she who'd broke into his Facebank account and updated his picture, and she who'd posted all the replies to the comments. Laura is also grounded for a month, in which time she'll wear nothing but her school uniform in the evening and on weekends too. Laura clearly isn't happy about this as like any fifteen year old girl, she's loves clothes but hates her plain and daggy school uniform. She apologises profusely and begs to be allowed to wear her own clothes at the weekends.

Her apology is too little too late, but at least she isn't getting away with it. None of this helped to alleviate Peter's shame though... nor would it help to improve his reputation. Even with his profile picture changed back to the old one, the update and additional video has been shared on so many timelines that there's no getting away from it.

Later that night when Peter is going to bed, his mother enters his room and gives him some advice on how to deal with the teasing and taunting he'll no doubt get at school. She assures him that it'll all blow over and one day he'll look back and laugh at it. “I'd love to see what you look like though.” she adds.

“You've seen it.” the boy moans as he stares at his duvet cover. “Everyone's seen it... even Gran!”

“I mean in real life.” his mum says as he lifts his eyes to hers. “Plus... I'd do a much better job of your make-up than Laura did.” she smiles.

“Oh Mu-um.” he moaned. “I don't want to.”

“Well you say that... but I think you do want to.” his mother informs him. “How many times did you let Laura dress you up?”

“Not that many.” the boy stated in a defensive tone.

“More than a few though.” his mother reminds him. Earlier, as he and his sister confessed all to their parents, they estimated it had happened some seven, maybe ten times. His mother recalled the list of outfits that Laura could remember; the blue spotty dress, the lemon sun dress, the ditsy rara skirt and Minnie Mouse top, the purple party dress with its netted underskirt, the denim skirt with a strappy top, even her school uniform! She felt guilty for thinking it, but his mother really really really wanted to see him in all of them, and more.

“But I can't do it again.... not now.” he gulped. “Everyone knows.”

“That's exactly why you can do it again... you won't have to worry about anyone finding out because they already know.” his Mum replied. “And like your Dad said, it's fine by us if you want to dress like a girl.”

“But I don't!” he insisted.

“Well you say that.” his mother replied. “But I'm not sure if I believe you.” she added as Peter hung his head. “What Laura did is unforgivable and some of those comments on Facebank are horrible.” his mother told him, “However it does appear that you didn't need much convincing to dress as a girl.” she grinned as her son sighed. “I think it's sweet that you've got a feminine side and I'd like to help you explore it.”

Peter gulped and looked up at his mother. "You must think I'm a proper weirdo."

"Not at all." his mother smiled. "It must be terribly frustrating being a boy and feeling like you can't experiment with clothes like girls can." she said. Peter looked at his mother through sorrowful eyes and murmured in agreement. "Well from now on you can experiment as much as you like." his mother said, resting her hand gently on his shoulder.

"I'd rather just put it all behind me." Peter gulped

"I understand that you're shy about it... it's early days and..." his mother paused.

"And what?" Peter reluctantly asked.

"...and I'm sure you'll get used to it." his mother said. "Maybe whilst your sister's wearing her uniform this weekend, you could wear some of her nice clothes." she suggested.

"Oh I dunno." Peter moaned. "Like I say, I'd just rather put it all behind me."

"And like I say... I want to see how you look." his mother stated. "So this coming weekend, there'll be two girls in the house." are his mother's parting words.

“Oh God!” Peter said to himself as he turned off his bedside lamp and curled himself up in his duvet.