Chapter 3 -- Sunday, September 15, part 2
Sigh... Things were happening so fast, I couldn't keep up with my diary! From now on, I'm going to try to write all this down before I go to bed, instead of the next day.
Mom had told me we were going shopping, and I was headed for the shower. Mom brought me some better shampoo and conditioner, and explained to me how to use it. I could already tell being a girl was going to be more complicated than being a boy! When I got out, I blowed dried my hair, which was generally unkept but shoulder length. I headed down the hall to my bedroom to see what She had in mind for me to wear. I was overjoyed and scared at the same time! She'd apparently dug thru some of Becky's old clothes, and laid out a cute loose fitting baby blue crop-top t-shirt, a denim skater skirt, a very cute pair of blue undies, and wildest of all, a bra! It was a very old padded A-cup starter bra, probably dating from when Becky was my age, with extra pads in little inside sleeves to fill out until Mother Nature had her way. There was also a pair of Becky's old baby-blue tennis shoes and matching ankle socks.
No sooner did I have the panties on than Mom called from down the hall, "Just put on the bra and panties and come in here." Now I was stumped. I understood bras in theory, but I'd never actually worn one, even when I was trying on Becky's clothes. I finally figured out the easiest thing was to put it on backwards, turn it around, and put my arms thru the shoulder straps. It nearly fit, although I could see that I'd need to loosen the shoulder straps a bit for a better fit. I was till shy about all this, so put the robe back on as well and headed down the hall to Mom's bedroom.
Mom directed me into her bathroom and set me down on the chair in front of her vanity. First, she tackled my hair, and while it still looked like a long mess, it looked a bit less boyish when she finished. Then, she pulled out some very light pink lipstick and carefully applied to my lower lip. "Put your lips together," she said, and the lipstick on my lower lip adhered to my upper lip. She then went over them one more time and stood back to admire her work.
"Hmmm... needs one more thing," she said, and reached in her drawer for a cute little barrette to pull my hair to one side. I looked in the mirror, and almost lost my breath at the transformation that was taking place.
"Now, go get your top and skirt, and let's head out," she said. "We've got a LOT to do today!"
Five minutes later, I got a lesson on how a girl sits in a car. Boys tend to climb in feet first, but girls sit on the seat and spin their legs in together, being careful not to have a "wardrobe malfunction." Huh... I learn something new every day.
So we drove... and drove... and drove. I knew Mom wanted to go mall shopping, but we passed several of our favorite malls while heading to the other side of town. Mom finally pulled into a shopping mall we'd hardly ever been to. I looked at her funny, and she said, "For right now, we need to keep your transformation to ourselves. We're not likely to run into anyone here we know." I just nodded, understanding where she was coming from.
Our first stop was Claires. I'd passed a Claires plenty of times in other malls, but never had the reason to step in. I was nervous, worried I'd get found out, but Mom just walked in like she owned the place. The first salesgirl came up to us and Mom said, "My daughter, Christy, has been an unreformed Tom-boy until this year, and now she wants to do a 180 and become a girly-girl. We figured the first stop was to get her ears pierced." I just nodded and smiled.
The sales girl said, "Well, as your mom probably told you, we'll have to start you out with simple studies until your ears heal. Do you have anything in mind?"
I just blanked out at the word "heal". Was this going to hurt? "Huh.... I dunno... maybe something that both girls and boys wear. Nothing too totally girly to start out."
The salesgirl nodded, and said, "That's actually a really common choice. You're not the first Tom-boy to hit high school and decide to start looking like a real girl. You are ninth grade, right?"
I nodded, "Yeah. Just started last week."
"Gotcha," she said. "Well, this isn't going to hurt at all. The kit uses the stud itself to pierce your ear, and you'll be done and out of here in just a few minutes. Be sure to use the sterilizing cream we give you, and you can upgrade to a different stud in 3 to 6 weeks."
Thirty minutes later, I had my first set of ear studs! Oh, and a bracelet. And a neat hair barrette. And a small necklace. I love Claires!
Anyway, our next stop was a hair salon. Saturday morning's not the best time, but we didn't have to wait long. Mom gave the hairdresser the same line -- I was a tomboy but didn't want to go totally girly-girl. The hairdresser understood exactly, and without cutting much hair, left me with a look that I could comb one way and look totally girly, but comb another and almost resemble a boy.
Now it was time to go clothes shopping. Mom said that since my sizes were simple, and since we're just trying things out, we'll pick up some things at Target. She got me a cute watch from the accessories department, then headed for undies. Fortunately, my bra and panties sizes were the same as Becky's were when she was my age, so Mom picked out a six pack of cute panties and two more starter bras, both with the same inserts for padding. Next, we picked out some sleepwear. Mom suggested just some plain satiny tops and satiny bottoms. I thought the boyfriend shirt set was super cute, and she agreed, so I got one of those. I was still in love with the babydoll look, so she helped me pick out something that was less "for show" and more for actual lounging and sleeping. Finally, we opted for a couple of simple t-shirt tops, a cami--top, and a couple of skirts and shorts. We also got another pair of tennis shoes and some more socks.
Mom said, "If this goes well, you'll need some more dressy clothes, but let's just get you comfie wearing normal relaxed girl clothes for starters."
I was swooning. We hauled everything to the car, and headed home. On the way, I said, "what about swimwear?" We have a pool, and while it was close to the end of the season, we still had a few swimming days left.
Mom said, "I'm thinking about that. I have some plans for some more shopping tomorrow. Let's see how tonight works out.
We got home, and I absolutely forgot about lunch, I was so excited about trying on all of my new clothes. Our dog, Princess, looked up at me and seemed to recognize me even though I was now in full girl mode. Everything we bought was plain "girly" clothes, but I wanted to try every shirt with different short/skirt combinations, and experimented with different ways to comb my hair. I must have re-applied my lipstick a dozen times, and Mom finally told me I'd wear it out if I wasn't careful!
By dinner time, I was exhausted, and Mom told me she had another surprise for me. Mom had me put on my favorite combination (the little denim skater skirt and one of the new t-shirts) and told me to wait in my room. I played with my hair a bit, and started looking around my room. Sure, it was a boys room all right, but I'd never really stopped to think of how feminine everything was. All of the colors were pastel, my sheets and duvet were a pale green, and there were no sports memorabilia anywhere. I thought about Jason's room, and how his walls were littered with sports posters and his favorite indie rock band. My only poster was Beyoncé! Everything else was my art work, and pictures of my family and our family dog. I stopped to realize that no boy ever named his dog "Princess."
Mom called, and I came bounding down the hall. I did a quick stop and my face turned beet red -- Aunt Lilly was sitting in the den with Mom! Lilly looked me up and down, smiling a huge grin, and said, "I always knew it! I knew there was a girl buried under those boy things! Come over here and sit down and let me look at you."
I walked across the room and dropped into the chair across from the sofa. Aunt Lilly looked at me and said, "No, that just won't do. You need to learn to sit like a young lady. Sit up, cross your ankles and shift your feet to one side."
I tried to follow, but it didn't at all come naturally to me. Aunt Lilly said, "we need to start your lessons immediately." She turned to my mother and said, "What's on the agenda for tonite?"
Mom just shrugged her shoulders and Lilly came back with, "OK, then, the lessons begin tonite! I know just the way to start."
Even dinner was a lesson. I never realized how much boys sit differently from girls and eat differently and even take a drink differently. As soon as the dishes were cleared, Mom and Aunt Lilly herded me into the den and between them on the sofa. Next thing I know, we're watching Princess Diaries! Now, that's one of my fav movies. Ever since the first time I saw it, I imagined being Princess Mia. Mom and Lilly just chatted about how much they enjoyed a good Julie Andrews movie. Then came the middle third --- when Mia gets transformed into the Princess. Remember? The lessons: how to sit, how to walk, how to wear hose, how to wear heels. I was getting a crash course in 2 hours, with plenty of re-winding.
Afterwards, Aunt Lilly said her goodbyes, and Mom sent me off to bed, again wearing comfie girl clothes instead of the scratchy old boy clothes. Before I hopped in bed, Mom told me to be sure to get up early in the morning. She hinted that she might have a surprise for me in the bathing suit department.
I caught myself smiling and crying a happy cry. Saturday had been great, and I went to sleep knowing Sunday would be a great adventure!