May Queen Book 1 by Maddy Bell Copyright© 2024 Madeline Bell One day your life is just, well life, the next has Daisy in it!

 
I could tell you what I endured over the next couple of hours, except in reality I’ve no real idea. There was a bit of tutting, hair was washed, stuff put on said hair and washed again, what felt like most of my brows pulled out, my arms waxed, nails manicured, often more than one thing at once as ‘Jemma’ joined ‘Debbie’ a few minutes after Aunt Claire departed.

"We really should do your ears, maybe your nose,” Jemma stated plucking another stray hair from my forehead.

In my naivety I assumed she meant hair removal.

"Er sure.”
"Goody!” she enthused, "Be right back.”

Meanwhile Debbie was ‘cleaning up’ my admittedly ham fisted attempt at leg shaving with more wax.

"One? Two?” Jemma asked.
By reflex I answered "Three?”
"Cool, three it is!”
 

Aunt Claire, that’s just so weird, anyway she got back a couple of minutes after two just as Jemma, who’d barely stopped talking for the last two hours, pronounced me done.

"Just in time for the grand reveal Claire,” Debbie announced, "Jem, if you’ll do the honours.”

The last time I’d seen my reflection was during the cycle of hair washing and rinsing when I just looked like a soggy me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not stupid, I know they did stuff, I realised my error over ears and nose when the sharp sting in my nose didn’t immediately abate, I’ve been squinting at something glittering on, in my nostril for the last forty minutes. She’d already started assaulting my ears before I recovered enough to talk as I was distracted by more hair being ripped from my leg.

The reflection wasn’t me, Johnny that is, that’s for sure.

"So what do you think?” Debbie asked.
"Her own mother won’t recognise her,” Aunt Claire stated, "Are you sure that’s Daisy.”

To be honest I couldn’t take it all in, Debbie really had taken Aunt Claire’s ‘carte blanche’ and run with it. I didn’t recognise anything of the girl, no, young woman, looking back at me, from the bright blonde curly bob, the delicate eyebrows, the full lips. When we left home it was as a boyish looking tomboy, now it was definitely a female head on a boyish body.
 

"Well kiddo,” Mum started once we were outside, "I don’t think anyone would mistake you for a boy now.”
"Except my lack of, er, chesticles. Isn’t this a bit much?”
"I did give them a free hand but I didn’t think they’d go this far.”
"You should be where I am.”
"Look I’m sorry Dais, I should have been more specific, hungry?”
"More thirsty than anything.”
"Okay, we’ll get a coffee then do a bit of shopping so you’ve got at least a few bits to wear.”
"Can’t I just wear jeans and stuff?”

I got such a look.

"Okay, but nothing too girly.”
"Looking like that Dais, you’d make a sack look girly.”

Not what I wanted to hear.
 

From the moment we returned to the street, it felt like everyone was looking at me and they probably were. Mum is, in my view at least, quite a looker, when I caught our reflection in a shop window, I now made her look plain. We had coffee at a place on the main square where Mum dissected the salon’s bill.

"Hair colour and cut, eyebrow shape, lip plump, piercing, arm wax and leg tidy, nail extensions, facial, daytime makeup, well they certainly gave you the works Dais.”
"I thought they’d just stuck some plastic nails on?” I inspected the cherry red tips to my fingers.
"Well they did sorta do that but extensions can last weeks.”
"They won’t just come off?”
"Nope.”
"So I’m stuck with these red talons?”
"We can change the colour, in fact we’ll need to do that, but the extensions are there to stay.”
"Great,” I sighed, "Anything else?”
"The lip plumper could last a while too, the good news is that none of it is permanent, brows grow back, you can take out the piercings, they heal up fairly quickly with nothing in.”
"I guess changing my mind’s not an option then?”
"I’ll put it this way Daisy, Johnny won’t be back for quite a while whatever.”
"Best get me some clothes then,” I sighed.

Retford, lets be fair, is not exactly overflowing with clothing stores, what there are are polarised, so cheap or silly expensive. Fifteen year olds don’t buy designer brands so Peacocks and New Look were it, a visit to Pettits provided a couple of pairs of shoes and Sports Direct supplied a pair of trainers and some workout gear, apparently I’ll be joining Aunt Claire at her aerobics class. Some basic makeup supplies concluded an expensive afternoon for whoever is footing the bill for all this. At least I didn’t have to suffer buying underwear, that had been purchased whilst I was getting ‘made over’.
 

"Look who I found!” Mum announced when I sheepishly followed her into the Red Lion just after six, "Come on Dais, don’t be shy.”

I allowed myself to be pulled into the bar area.

"Daisy,” Dad beamed, "Good journey? Your mum okay?”
"Erm yes to both, she er, sends her love.”
"Dais,” my brother joined in the production, "Long time no see.”
"Well I’m here now,” I allowed.

Of course none of this was missed by the regulars already propping up the bar.

"Come on Claire, introduce us then,” Jack Worrall from Hall Farm chivvied.
Mum took a breath, "Everyone, this is our niece Daisy up from Devon who, as Wellow born will be taking poor Amanda’s place as May Queen. You know how our lad felt about Amanda, he’s taken it all quite hard so he’s gone down to stay with his aunt while Dais is up here.
Be kind to her now, she’ll be helping out around the Lion, and none of your hands Dickie Smart.”
"I wouldn’t dare,” said letch replied from his usual perch at the bar.
"I’ll just get Daisy settled in and we’ll be back down, Dais.”
 

I had thought I’d still be in my own bedroom but Mum had other ideas, instead I found myself in one of the guest rooms, complete with girly acoutrements – apparently Gran had been around earlier. Mum snook down to retrieve my new clothing before giving me instructions on precisely what I was to change into before returning downstairs. The padded bra added to the overall illusion, skinny jeans and a cropped jumper would allow me to fit in with my peers without question.

The image in the mirror was still alien though, a teenage girl, perhaps a bit over made up but I’ve seen some of my classmates, well former classmates, wearing more. It was a bit disturbing that in less than a day, Johnny had vanished and Daisy had arrived. And all because of some unproven ancient superstition.
 

Usually I just help out collecting glasses and clearing tables but tonight I was ‘promoted’ to waitress too. We only serve ‘bar snacks’ on a Saturday, sandwiches essentially, the only hot food being chips in various guises. Our chef, Alex doesn’t work Saturday or Wednesday hence the limited menu prepared by Mum, Aunt Claire.

The result of this additional duty was that I had to interact with people instead of just the occasional query as to remove a glass, or not. Nope, Daisy wasn’t going to get away that lightly, by kicking out time I’d ‘met’ most of the regulars and no one had batted an eye. By kicking out time the day was fast catching up with me and my new ‘ballet’ flats were becoming less than comfortable.

"You look done in Dais,” Jake opined as I deposited the last few glasses at the wash station.
"Been a long day,” I allowed.
"Sunday tomorrow, bit of a lie in,” Jake suggested.
"Church at ten,” Mum mentioned from behind me.
"Church? we never go to church.” I complained which wasn’t strictly true, Mum goes and the rest of us do ‘occasions’ but tomorrow isn’t one.
"Yes church young lady, its expected that the May Queen attends at least semi regularly.”

I rolled my eyes much to Jakes amusement.

"But I haven’t got anything to wear to church.”
"Don’t worry about that, I’m sure we can find something, now scoot and take off that makeup, I don’t want that all over my pillow cases.”
"Yes Aunty.”

I mumped to myself as I went up to my, that’s Daisy’s room, waitress, aerobics, church, Queeny duties, I wont have two minutes to myself! Church isn’t so bad, I mean you virtually fall out of the back door into St Swithun’s, there’s even a gate from the pub’s carpark, its less than a hundred metres away. No, its the getting up and ready, on a Sunday and its bound to take Daisy a lot longer than Johnny’s bed to door in five minutes.

Even getting ready for bed was more complicated, I now had to remove my makeup, I can’t believe I’m saying that, I’m sure tomboy Daisy didn’t wear makeup but the reinvented Daisy has to wear the stuff. Mum had given me the one oh one on removal earlier so once I had my new Hello Kitty PJ’s on, toilet used and teeth brushed I returned to Daisy central where I retrieved the removal kit from the bag of cosmetic stuff and spent best part of ten minutes, removing, cleansing and cussing.

And this is gonna be every day for the foreseeable future, deep joy!
 

"Dais, time to get up.” Aunt Claire advised at what felt like stupid o’clock next morning. "Come down in your PJ’s, we’ll find you something to wear after breakfast.”

Oh joy, something to wear. I peeled myself out of bed, hit the bathroom then padded downstairs. Sundays are generally a bit of a free for all breakfast wise, as long as someone is up before Alex arrives about ten to get the Sunday meat going all is good. But it looked like that, for me at least, is all about to change.

"Sleep well?”
"Ish, my ears were itching like anything,” I advised.
"Hmm, they do look a bit red, we’ll get some Savlon on after breakfast, why did you let her do them three times?”

I sat myself at the table where a bowl of muesli and a glass of fruit juice sat waiting.

"I didn’t intend getting any,” I noted, "That Jemma was rattling away, most of the time I had no idea what she was talking about. She said something about ears and noses, I thought she was talking about hair removal. Anyway she said something like ‘one or two’ and I just said three.”
Mum almost giggled, "Really Dais, you need to pay a bit more attention. What’s done is done and for what it’s worth they do look quite cute on you and whilst I know some lads wear earrings, three in each ear is such a girl thing.”
"Do I really have to go to church?”
"Yes you do, eat your breakfast and we’ll go sort you out something to wear.”
"Yes Aunty.”
"And I think your Gran wants to take you shopping after lunch, maybe Lincoln, so shake a leg kiddo.”
 
© Maddy Bell 04.08.2025