I didn’t know what was wrong with it; it served its purpose of keeping me covered and together. I started rolling my eyes but Jennie caught me and grabbed me by the chin.
“If you roll your eyes one more time today, I am going to leave you to figure this out yourself. You think I don’t see you when you do it, but I see it all the time,” she said.
I felt like a deer in the headlights as she spoke. I guess I’d struck a nerve with her that I didn’t know existed.
“Sorry, Jennie,” I said.
“It’s okay; you’re my best friend and friends have to stick together,” She smiled and released me as though it never happened.
She exited the room, leaving me to try on everything she left. She was right, I thought, I didn’t have much of a figure at all. I was always a little taller than most girls and fairly waifish. It caused a lot of teasing through early middle school and all of high school. Probably part of the reason I wore baggier clothing and sweaters to cover myself up.
I slid on the first pair of pants, and they wore really tight. It was only then that I really realized how long and spindly my legs were, and how well the garment accentuated my tiny butt. I felt a little sexier in them already.
The next thing I tried was a tight fitting halter top; I had owned them in the past but rarely wore them. This one fit me like a glove and made my chest look twice as big as I remember. I did a couple of poses in the mirror, as I had seen models do in magazines, and I saw a side of myself I had never seen before. I could finally see a more confident me, Mr. Reynolds was right.
I heard a knock on my door, and before I could cover myself up, Jennie came barging in. She looked me up and down.
“Okay, I’m going to consider this outfit a good jumping off point,” she said.
She poured me into more outfits over the course of the next hour. Every one of them was more revealing than the last. I didn’t mind in the least, as I found more confidence in myself with each change.
“Okay, I think we got it, now let’s get you something to wear underneath,” she said with a smile.
I spent more money in the first store than I should have, but change is never cheap.
We entered an expensive lingerie store, and I felt very out of place. Bras were hung prominently from the walls, as did the lacy underwear.
We paraded through an assortment of tops where Jennie plucked out a few things that I would never have purchased alone. Then, just as before, she crammed us into a fitting room.
“I think I can change by myself, Jennie,” I said.
“Oh don’t be so lame, it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before,” she said.
I giggled.
“That was 8th grade, Jennie,”
“Do you really think you’ve changed much since then,” she asked.
I shrugged, I couldn’t see any difference. I breathed deep, letting go of whatever embarrassment I might feel soon as I slid out of all my undergarments.
Jennie began laughing, hard.
“Okay, what now,” I said with a sigh.
“You need to shave, Hun,” she said.
“I’ll do that later, just give me those panties,” I slid on the laciest pair she found. They were more comfortable than I thought. They rid up my backside a bit, but it wasn’t so bad.
For another hour, I tried on half the store. Jennie continued to make jokes about my unshaven womanhood, so much so that she called up and made an appointment for a Brazilian wax, which I’d heard of but had no idea. I just went along with it.
“You’re in for a treat,” she said in a somewhat ironic tone.
The day lingered on, purchasing new makeup, new shoes, and things I didn’t know I needed. Jennie had it all planned out, as though she’d been thinking about this for a while. Her madness continued until we stood in front of a boutique, my heart was beating hard, and I felt like I should run away; I probably should have.
I’m going to spare the details, in fact, I really don’t want to think about it in the slightest, or go back for another wax. It was torture for a first timer and had a feeling Jennie was laughing the whole time in the waiting room. I wondered, in jest, what the coach would think if he saw me in the lacy underwear, and my clean shaven privates. It made me giggle as I thought about it.
She drove me home, and I was grateful for the ride. I had too many things to take on the bus and was still a bit embarrassed after my first Brazilian.
“I’ll pick you up in a few hours for tonight,” she said before she sped off.
I wondered what Mr. Reynolds was up to.
4.
“Girl, Mike is going to love you,” was all Jennie said to me as I tucked myself into the front seat of her car. Brad was already waiting for her at the party with his friend Mike. I couldn’t get Mr. Reynolds out of my head.