The characters in this story are fictional, but the subject of suicide due to peer pressure and ruined expectations certainly isn't. If this is you, GET HELP. Don't leave it bottled inside, TALK.

It was a bag, left on the side of the road, that started my new life off…

I saw the bag walking back from work, left on the path at the end of the road. It was a normal carrier, but it was full of clothes…

Intrigued, I stopped, and looked in.

It was a complete set of uniform for the local private girls high school, in almost new condition. Someone must have been happy with their exam results and decided they didn’t need to go back. Still, it seemed to be a waste just to leave it there, especially considering the condition it was in…

For some reason, I picked it up. I’ve no idea why…

1.      I’m a guy. 2. I don’t have any kids…

Something felt right about taking the clothes, though. What was really weird, though, was they were for a very big girl…

The nametag, sewn into the jumper, said ‘Heather’. Nothing else.

I carried on walking; a little self-conscious, now, considering I was carrying some girls uniform. What happens if it was left there by mistake, taken from their driveway, or just left for someone else to collect?

Anyway, nobody said anything, and I soon returned home with the clothes.

Then, for some reason, I started trying them on…

They all fitted. Perfectly. There was even a pair of socks in the bag, and they fitted to. All I had to add to the ensemble was a pair of shoes. Even the blazer was right.

I thought the clothes had fitted to me. I didn’t realise it was the other way around…

My waist had narrowed, with the surplus fat going on to my chest (in breast form) and my hips. I had also lost about a foot in height.

Rich, dark hair now poured down my back, stopping half-way between my neck and waist. There was also a small pair of glasses in the bag, for some reason; I was glad of them, though, because everything was blurry without them.

At the same time, all of Heather’s memories came flooding in…

I collapsed onto my knees, howling with pain and anguish.

Heather hadn’t passed her exams.

She had failed, badly.

So badly, she had committed suicide, by jumping from the local pier into the sea, being washed under and drowned almost instantly because she couldn’t swim.

Now I was experiencing that anguish all over again.

Luckily enough, a small amount of my original personality was still there; enough to stop ‘Heather’ from doing the same thing again.

At the same time, I knew where I ‘lived’ as Heather.

I couldn’t stand the thought of Heather’s parents not knowing what had happened to their daughter, so I left my flat, locked up, and slowly walked back to her house.

I had just entered the road where the bag of clothes had been left, when I heard a squeal.

“Heather! My god, where have you been! Come here…”

A woman came bounding over and threw her arms around me. She was Heather’s mum, Cassie.

“I was so sad, mum! I’ve ruined everything!”, I said.

“No, you haven’t. I was so furious I demanded a recount. The school got it wrong. You passed the exam you needed for your job…!”

My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t say anything.

I could swear I heard my voice say ‘thank you’ in my head… I suddenly realised that it must be Heather, thanking me for being there for her parents…

I went in with Cassie, to my new life. I felt her hand on one shoulder, and the ghostly touch of Heather’s hand on the other. She didn’t seem to mind it was me there, not her; she felt I’d given her another chance…