It's Just A Skirt

by Matthew Potter

  I was pretty sure he watched me until I was out of sight.

  As soon as I got far enough way, I dropped the sexy sway of my hips.

  “Tell me you got your pictures?”

  I switched back to my normal tone of voice.

  There was dead silence for a moment.

  “You guys there?”

  “Holy shit,” said Henry a moment later.

  “I agree,” said Mark “where the hell did that sexy voice come from?”

  I groaned. “Did you get the pictures?”

  “Yeah I got them,” said Spaz after a moment or two.

  “Good because now I’m going home to take a shower and hope to God I can purge myself of everything I did tonight”

  I shuddered just thinking about it.

  All of them laughed.

  ‘Great work everyone” said Frank a moment or two later. “Plan Two is a success.”

  “Is there a plan three?” I asked, hoping to maybe shed some more light on this whatever it was.

  “All in good time little buddy,” he said.

  I sighed. Still no closer to figuring out what it was they were up too.

  Maybe it was just what it was---a group of friends goofing around and looking out for one another. Tonight surely made it seem that way. Even though I didn’t agree with what we did, it was nice that they got together to help a friend out. As twisted and as wrong as it was. They had one another’s backs. I just couldn’t figure out how that also fit in with the pranks they were playing on the girls. Maybe it was just all nothing but a part of me said it was all connected to something, something bigger.

  I’d figure it out eventually.

  7.

  A banging on the door woke me up.

  Groaning, I rolled over in bed and looked at the clock. Who in their right mind get’s up before eight am on a Saturday morning.

  “It's too early, go away” I shouted.

  “Open the door or I’m stripping down to my underwear and going door to door” shouted my sister.

  Damn it.

  I jumped out of bed, rushing toward the door. When I opened it, Kelly actually was in the process of pulling her shirt over her head. I grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her into the room.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  She laughed as she pulled it off the whole way, revealing a tank top underneath.

  She tossed her t-shirt on the bed.

  "Hurry up and get cracking. The day passes are only for a few hours”

  I didn’t have to be told twice.

  I got my robe and headed out of the room, down the hall. The bathrooms and showers were communal of course. Thankfully the showers were in individual stalls. I could only imagine the problems if I had to take a shower where the others could see me. It was bad enough that the locker rooms were as exposed as they were. I usually tried my hardest to use the place when no one was around---usually earlier than when most of my peers woke up.

  Like this morning, there was no one here.

  I undressed quickly and went into the shower stall farthest from the door.

  Hot water was interesting for me now. Because my skin was softer now, it was also a lot more sensitive, especially to the water. It was quite an experience. Don’t even get me started on how it felt on my little buds. Some of those stupid teen comedy movies showing girls fingering themselves in the shower, moaning ridiculously, were spot on. I never really thought about it but I could see where it was such a sensuous act. The hot water really did make my body tingle in ways it never used to before.

  It was a crazy feeling but very pleasing too.

  Too pleasing.

  As I was getting out I just managed to put on the robe before someone came walking in.

  It was a guy from my history class.

  Peter I think his name was.

  “Hey,” he said, giving me a strange look.

  I nodded then headed for the door.

  It wasn’t until I got back to my room that I realized I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I cursed myself for falling asleep with my contacts in. They were the kind I could sleep in if I wanted to but I still hated it when I did so. Kelly was lazing about on the bed, reading one of my magazines it seemed. She was clearly bored with it though because she didn’t look all that interested. I only had two kinds after all---a computer magazine I subscribed too and this sci-fi short story one I picked up from the news stand in town every month.

  Kelly was numbly thumbing through the computer one.

  When she saw me, she tossed it aside.

  "Hey I haven’t read that one yet,” I said, picking it off the floor where it landed.

  “You’re a computer genius, you don’t need too”

  She crawled off the bed, walking over to my dresser as she did so.

  I knew Kelly hated the fact that I got this whole room to myself. It meant that I had more room to store things. Without the extra bed, desk and dresser, I was able to spread out more. I was able to get one of those mini-fridges and had a much bigger computer set up. She liked to huff and puff about it every time she was in here. Today, though, she seemed focused on finding me something “fairly unisex”.

  “Is this all you have?” she asked, after going through all my drawers.

  I was ashamed that it was.

  “What else do I need?”

  She groaned. “What about the clothes that girl let you wear?”

  That girl was Jade no doubt. Those clothes were currently in the hamper. I had every intention of washing them and returning them as soon as possible. I needed to get my clothes I left in her room too. As soon as I made the exchange, I had no plans of ever seeing her outside of class again. She’d made a fool out of me with her friends and I’d pretty much burned the only friendship bridge there.

  "What’s that?” asked Kelly, pointing to the bag next to my desk.

  Shit.

  “Nothing,” I said, making a rush for the bag.

  Kelly was faster. She elbowed me out of the way and got to the bag first.

  It was the one from last night. From Teddie’s. I did buy that dress after all. The clothes I wore to buy said dress were thankfully hidden under my bed, along with the uniform. Last night I tried to give them back to Frank but he made me keep them---inserts, wig and all. As soon as I got home, I stripped quickly and stuffed them in the bag with the uniform. Then shoved them as far under the bed as I could, hoping to never see them again. They were just clothes sure but they were too girly for me to ever consider wearing again.

  “This is really cute,” said Kelly, pulling my recently purchased vintage dress from the bag.

  “You want it, you can have it”

  I had no plans of wearing it after all.

  “Size two,” she said, looking at the tags. “I could wear that if I sucked in my gut”

  Kelly wasn’t fat by any means but she worked out a bit. She liked to take care of herself. Though she probably outweighed me by about ten pounds or so. Apparently, the size two was too big for her.

  “Why do you have a dress?” she asked, then found the receipt. “A brand new one at that. You went shopping without me?”

  She feigned being hurt. I groaned then quickly told her about last night.

  “You let those guys talk you into something stupid again?”

  “You know me,” I said seriously. “I never let anyone talk me into anything I don’t want to do. There’s something up with those guys, something beyond harmless stupid pranks. I want to get to the bottom of it so I’m gonna go along with their stupid schemes and things”

  She frowned. “Just watch your back bro”

  I laughed. “I can handle those idiots, trust me”

  She nodded but it was clear she had doubts.

  She didn’t stick around to tell me them, though. Instead, she told me to get dressed as best as I could and meet her downstairs. I didn’t take off my robe until she was gone and as soon as she was I sighed. I had a thing about letting others see me nak
ed, what with my body being the way it was. Even if she was my sister, it was just too damn weird. She knew about most of it of course but it had been months since the last time she’d been updated. I just wasn’t ready for her---or anyone---to see how much I’d changed since then.

  **************

  Rachel was in her car waiting outside already.

  She never liked us to call her aunt because one it made her feel old---she was only twenty-four---and two she wasn’t really Mom’s sister. Rachel is Mom’ third cousin. Her parents died in a car crash when she was very little and my grandparents were nice enough to adopt her. I mean that technically made her our aunt but we were all pretty lax about it. She still called my grandparents “Mom” and “Dad” and my mother was still “big sis” but looking at her you could tell she wasn’t my mother’s sister.

  For one thing, Rachel was a blonde.

  For another, she was a bit on the tall side.

  Let’s just say I got my height from my mother and leave it there. Though there was some hope, Dad was a bit tall too. Maybe just maybe I might have that long sought after growth spurt.

  We waved to Rachel as we made our way to her little Prius.

  “Shotgun!”

  Kelly charged ahead, making her way to the passenger side seat before I could even react. It was fine by me because I didn’t mind sitting in the back. It gave me time to read a bit too. I had to read a couple of chapters of the Great Gatsby for English for Monday’s class. I brought the book with me because well this whole “outing” of Kelly’s was bound to be a bust. She was determined to break me out of my geek shell or whatever. I think she felt that if I looked and dressed a bit different, people wouldn’t be so keen to bad mouth me. It was a noble goal on her part but I couldn’t help but fear what she might be getting me into.

  “So what’s the game plan?” asked Rachel.

  “Androgyny”

  “You think that’s wise?”

  ‘He already sorta pulls it off anyways” said Kelly with a shrug

  She was right. When I wasn’t wearing my glasses anyway.

  “What do you think, Geo?”

  Even Rachel called me Geo.

  I kinda liked that.

  “I promised Kelly and myself I’d give it a shot. I don’t think it’s going to work, to be honest, but I’m willing to try”

  Kelly shot me a dirty look when I second guessed her but she laughed after.

  That’s my sister for you.

  The rest of the car ride, the two of them were in discussion. My sister’s game plan was pretty simple. She wanted to get me clothes that were neither too boy or too girl. That meant they were going to shop in both boy’s and girl’s departments. I suppose I could have given an opinion but when Kelly got like this it was just best to let her go. When she set her mind to something it was hard to change it. Plus a small part of me was kinda looking forward to it. I wanted to see if a change in clothes was enough to change a person’s perception of me.

  I was also tired of being the freak.

  Dover Creek Galleria was on the edge of town, away from all the little Mom and Pop shops on Main Street that were still amazingly still in business. Like I said before, it had two stories, fifty stores and most of the student population of St. Andrews frequented it on a daily basis. It did a roaring business. It also helped that most of St. Andrews student population were kids of millionaires. It always amazed me how such a little blip of a town could have such a prestigious school.

  We found a spot in the parking lot.

  As soon as we got out of the car, Kelly took my hand and practically dragged into the building.

  “Let’s start small and move from there,” she said, taking charge again. “Inside then out”

  I looked back at Rachel with pleading eyes but she just shook her head.

  We both knew as soon as Kelly got started there was no way to stop her.

  Our first port of call was JC Penney’s believe it or not. Kelly dragged me straight to the underwear department and not the boys one either. I think I probably flushed about six shades of red as I stared at all the bras and panties. My sister didn’t bat an eye. She seemed bound and determined to help me out. As embarrassed as I was, though, I knew this stop was only inevitable. I mean my little bumps were getting bigger every day. I still had the camisole and whereas I’d only been wearing it at night, my chest was started to irritate me during the day too.

  Now I was wearing the damn thing all the time.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?”

  My sister caught the attention of the middle-aged salesperson wandering about. The woman smiled and walked over. She was dressed in a burgundy pants suit, her dark hair speckled with gray. She looked like my English teacher Mrs. Kline but she had a pleasant smile.

  “Can I help you, girls?”

  “Yes,” said Kelly with a sweet smile. “My sister here needs to be fitted”

  I nearly died of embarrassment right there.

  The embarrassment continued as said Mrs. Kline look-alike led me to the changing rooms. She made me take off my hoodie and shirt. I was mortified standing in front of her topless but it only got worse. She then used one of those measuring tapes to actually measure my chest. I didn’t take very long but in the end, it turned out I was currently 32AA, so still very tiny apparently.

  They didn’t feel tiny to me.

  “You can put your shirt and cami back on. I’ll see what I can find that’s appropriate”

  She left me alone to get redressed.

  I did so rather quickly.

  I glared at Kelly when I left the dressing room.

  “You have any idea how embarrassing that was?”

  Kelly and Rachel both smirked.

  Damn them.

  The woman came back with an assortment of bras in my new size. They were all different colors too. She wanted me to try them each on for the right fit but I was done with that nonsense.

  “I’ll take them all, they’re fine,” I said rather sharply.

  She laughed. “They’re so cute at that age”.

  Rachel laughed too. “She’s just a bit embarrassed”

  The woman nodded. “I’ll just ring these up for you then”

  I was watched her leave, glad she was gone.

  Unfortunately, my torture in JC Penney’s was far from over. Kelly dragged me over to the panties after that. She wanted me to pick out a style. I wanted nothing to do with them, to be honest. I had to wear a bra because well I had breasts but there was nothing that said I needed to wear panties too. I told her that too.

  “Well, girls clothes fit a bit differently than boys. It's going to be hard getting some of your new pants over boxers” she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

  “What new pants?”

  She winked then grabbed me a package of cotton panties.

  What the hell was she was planning?

  We didn’t do any more shopping in Penney’s after that. Apparently, it was only good for underwear, according to my sister. She dragged me to the counter where she proceeded to pay for my purchases. Where the heck did she get the extra money from?

  She winked when she saw me gawk at her doing so. Then she handed me the bag.

  Rachel nicely took it from me.

  From there, shopping was a whirlwind.

  Like I said Kelly seemed to have a plan. We hit all the teen girl shopping meccas---GAP, Rue 21, American Eagle. The list went on and on. Kelly seemed to have an idea of how she wanted to dress me too. She was looking at clothes that said girl but weren’t overly girly. The jeans were tight but not skin tight. They hugged all my new curves but at the same time could be mistaken for boy jeans too. She bought me an assortment of boy and girl t-shirts. She did the same with shorts too. Though I did notice some shorts that looked an awful lot like the ones Jade had me borrowing yesterday.

  We burned through at least six or seven stores before I knew it.

  I was exhausted.

  “We still n
eed shoes,” said Kelly as we were walking out of the last store.

  “Why don’t you guys go do that,” said Rachel with a heavy sigh, she sounded exhausted too. “And I’ll find us a table in the food court”

  She took our bags and wandered off without saying anything else.

  Kelly grabbed my arm and dragged me toward Lady Footlocker.

  I learned an hour ago not to resist.

  Inside she wandered off to get me some help, leaving me on a bench. I was trying to look like I wasn’t bored when I saw her, well not just her, I saw them all. It was Jade and her friends. They were just walking by the store. I tried to hide but Kelly had put me right at the bench near the front of the store. I was hoping they wouldn’t notice me. They wouldn’t of either if Maddie hadn’t turned at just that right moment. She saw me and of course she waved. Damn her. The others looked and saw me too. I saw the joyful look on Quinn’s face---not---but the others seemed to smile.

  Jade frowned.

  I wanted to bolt but of course, but they were near the door.

  They stopped too. Jade turned to her friends, said something to them and came into the store.

  Damnit.

  “Hey,” she said sheepishly as she approached the bench.

  ‘Hey”

  “Can I sit for a second?”

  I shrugged. It was a free country after all.

  She sat down but didn’t say anything.

  When she finally did open her mouth, of course, I knew what was going to come out of it.

  “I’m sorry for yesterday. I didn’t…I mean…you look…I mean…”

  “It's fine,” I said, just wanting her to go away.

  “No, it's not,” she said defiantly. “I made assumptions and I’m an idiot for doing so. You just look so much like a girl and you were wearing a girl’s uniform the other day and well…”

  “Apology accepted. You’ve done your part, go back to your clique and leave me alone”

  “What if I don’t want too?”

  I scoffed. “Why would you want to stay?”

  “Because you’re cool,” she said and it sounded like the truth. “Look I’m not sure why you were wearing that uniform and it’s not my place to judge. I just know that I met this really cool person the other day and I still want to be friends with them”