In My Shoes

by Stephens, Adrian

  “Okay. You’re really thorough at this. Have you switched bodies with someone before?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

  I saw the slightest sliver of a smile, and then I saw the crease between my eyebrows. “Very funny. I am hoping we will wake up tomorrow and this will all be fixed, but if not, you need to know what to do tomorrow morning when you wake up. You can’t wake up screaming every morning or my mom is going to try and get you help. So, take this seriously.”

  “I am taking it seriously. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

  “Otherwise known as not taking this seriously,” she sneered.

  “There is a difference between taking something seriously and being serious.”

  “Uh-huh. Down the hall, on the left, is a short hallway. The laundry room is on the left of the hallway, and ahead is my brother, Tyler’s, room. He’s away at college. He is in his second year at Stanford. I don’t expect to see him anytime soon, so for now, just remember Tyler, Sophomore, Stanford. Got it?”

  “Got it,” I repeated.

  “Good. The last set of doors down here is my mom and dad’s room. My dad’s name is Keith and my mom’s name is Sara, but you will call them Mom and Dad.” She led me to a picture of the two and pointed.

  “Keith, Sara, Dad, Mom. Got it,” I said. “Man, their room almost takes up half of the upstairs.”

  “Yeah, I don’t come in here too often now that I’m older, and I think it best you try and stay out. I don’t want you walking in while my mother is getting dressed.”

  Their room had a big square bedroom area with the dressing area in the back, right corner. There was a makeup table, lavatory and walk-in shower on the left wall, a tub with jets straight ahead, a walk-in closet to the right by the tub and then double sinks on the right closest to me. All that was missing was a brand…new…car!

  “That’s about it. Let’s go back to my room. We need to get cleaned up.”

  She led me back into her bedroom. Her bed faced the door, and we stopped right in front of it.

  “Okay, I don’t know how familiar you became with my room earlier, but let’s just cover the basics. You obviously know where the bed is. To the left, over there, is my desk. You probably noticed that since I always put my backpack and purse there at night.”

  She turned over her left shoulder. “This is the walk-in closet. Not nearly the size of my parents’, but I’m not complaining.”

  She turned back around and went to the other side of the bed. “Over there is my dresser, and over here is my makeup table. The house didn’t come with it, but I asked my dad if I could have one like my mom’s, and he built this.”

  “He did a nice job,” I offered.

  “Yeah, he’s pretty handy when he has the time. And this is the bathroom. Like I mentioned, Jack-and-Jill. You’ll want to be sure to lock both doors when you’re in here, or you may just get a rude surprise from a guest.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “So, why don’t you go first. Get undressed and you can get cleaned up.”

  I looked at her.

  “What? You need a shower. You…I mean, I…I mean… you stink,” she said.

  “Umh, you want me just to get undressed in front of you, and get in the shower?”

  “Yes,” she said as she went to turn the shower on.

  “I’m not getting undressed in front of you,” I said, as a matter of fact.

  “Look, I understand this is awkward, and I wouldn’t expect you to get undressed in front of me normally, except, you do realize that is my body. I’ve seen it a couple of times before. Now if there’s a way to keep you from seeing it, I’m all ears.” Too late.

  “Okay, so maybe I’m being dumb but it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want you watching, scrutinizing as I take a shower.”

  “I’m not going to watch you take a shower. I’m sure you know how to take a shower, but I want to make sure that you know how I take a shower. You can leave the door cracked open, and I’ll talk to you from the bedroom, okay?”

  I looked at her in disbelief.

  “Look,” she said, “if I had my choice, you wouldn’t even be in my house right now, much less in my body. You can do this on your own, but it’s going to be a lot harder without my help.”

  “Fine,” I grumbled. “You sure seem awfully okay with this, though.”

  “No, I’m definitely not okay with this. Like I said, it’s not like I have too much of a choice. I could expect you to just stay dirty until we change back, but then I don’t think I’ll have too many friends when I’m me again. I could complain, but I’m not exactly sure who to complain to about this. You are familiar with the female anatomy, I assume?”

  “Yes, but they didn’t look this…well, they didn’t look like this in the anatomy books,” I said meekly.

  She blushed. Is that what I looked like when I blushed? I guess so.

  “Thank you for the compliment, I think, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ogle over my body too much. Until you exposed my breasts to your ape friend earlier today, nobody but my family had seen me naked.”

  I put my head down and then I looked at her-I’m still not used to seeing her in my body. “Look, I’m really sorry about that. It felt like the whole conversation was getting out of hand, and it’s the only way I could think of to shut you up.”

  “Well, I’m not over it yet, but I understand your logic. It worked, I guess. Although, I think if you had tried harder you could have come up with something else. It’s a pretty weak excuse for flashing your friend.

  “I have four laundry baskets in the closet,” she continued. “One each for towels, whites, colors and darks. Do you know how to sort your laundry?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I do my laundry at home, although I don’t separate colors and darks.”

  “Well, that’s how my mother sorts them and she does my laundry. You can throw the clothes you are wearing in the baskets and hop in the shower.”

  I looked at her again.

  “Look, you are going to have to get over this. I could turn around, but when you get out of the shower, you are probably going to need help getting dressed.”

  She was right. I did as she said, placing the clothes in the baskets and trying to cover myself as I walked toward the shower.

  “I’m going to give you the quick run-down,” she said yelling into the bathroom. “I shower in the evenings before bed. On Saturdays I usually shave my legs, but hopefully we will be back to normal tomorrow and I will just shave my legs myself. Otherwise, I’ll show you how to shave my legs later. And my armpits. I usually shave them every day, but we’ll skip that today.

  “Now,” she went on, “I don’t know how you care for your hair, but girls, particularly girls with long hair, have to take care of it a certain way. After you get it completely wet, take the shampoo, about…two quarters’ worth, and rub it all throughout my hair. Let that sit while you…clean my body,” she said hesitantly. I think she was struggling with this part. I couldn’t see her face, but I’m sure she was blushing from beyond the door. I know I must have been blushing because my face was on fire.

  “Make sure you rinse all of the soap completely, or you’ll be uncomfortable later. Now, rinse the shampoo out really well. Once it’s completely rinsed, put about two quarters’ worth of conditioner in your hand and work it through the hair.”

  “Got it,” I yelled out to her.

  “Now grab the comb in the basket and comb the conditioner through the hair. This will help work any knots out.”

  “My head feels heavy with all of this wet hair and conditioner,” I said.

  “I’m sure you can handle it,” she said. “While the conditioner is sitting, I clean my face. I use the facial wash on the shelf. Rub it all over my face, let it sit for about twenty seconds, and rinse it off.

  “Once I am done with my face,” she continued, “I will shave my armpits. If it’s Saturday, I’ll shave my legs next. Then I rinse the conditioner out of my ha
ir.”

  “That’s a lot to do every day,” I said.

  “Well, I only wash my hair every other day. The rest of the time, I just get it wet. Some girls have to wash their hair more, some less. If I wash mine more often, it gets dry and brittle.”

  “I didn’t realize there was so much to this. Okay, so what’s next?” I asked.

  “Now you get out of the shower.” She handed me two towels. “Use one to towel off and then roll your hair up in it. Bend over so your hair falls down. Wrap the towel around your hair somewhat tightly, stand up and let the towel fall over backwards. This will let your hair keep from getting frizzy until you are ready to blow-dry it.”

  “What’s the other towel for?” I asked.

  “To cover up, after you put lotion on. The lotion is on the counter, there. I put a good amount on my arms and legs because they dry out so easily. I put lotion on my stomach, back, chest and neck, just not as much.” I did as she said, and walked out of the bathroom. She saw me and rolled her eyes.

  “What?” I asked innocently.

  “The towel was supposed to be wrapped over your…chest. Not your waist. Then you wouldn’t have to use your arm to cover your…my…your chest.”

  I felt dumb. “Oh,” I said, turning and fixing it.

  “That’s okay, we don’t want you to walk around in a towel for the next hour, anyway. Let’s get you some clothes.”

  “The next hour,” I said shocked. “Does it take you that long to get ready?”

  “Sometimes more, sometimes less,” she said. “It depends on what I do with my hair.”

  She walked me over to the dresser and showed me where the bras, underwear, socks and jeans were. She pulled one item out of each drawer. “You can’t make too many mistakes with the socks and underwear. The bras are different for different tops. I have regular bras for shirts and blouses that cover completely. Don’t wear a black bra with a white shirt or a white bra with a black shirt. The idea is, you want to match the shirt and bra colors as closely as possible. Bras are supposed to support, they aren’t for show. At least that’s the way my mother taught me. The other types of bras, we’ll get into later if we have to. For now, just wear shirts or blouses that cover completely.”

  I put the underwear on and grabbed the bra. “So, is there an easy way to get this on? Your mother had to help me this morning.”

  “That had to be interesting.” She stared out into space for a brief moment, then shook her head. “I don’t want to know. Anyway, I’ve gotten really good at it, but I’ve had lots of practice. For now, why don’t you clasp it around the waist, turn it around, pull the straps up over your shoulders and adjust the cups into place. There are three sets of clasps. I usually use the second set of clasps, but you can adjust as needed for comfort or support.”

  I did as she said and then I put on my socks. “I am going to get your outfit for today and then I will lay out your clothes for tomorrow. It will take time to teach you outfit coordination. I’m hoping…”

  “I know,” I interrupted, “you’re hoping this will all be back to normal tomorrow and you won’t have to show me.”

  “Am I annoying you? I just want to make sure that we cover everything so you don’t have any problems.”

  She actually wasn’t annoying me. “No, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. You are doing a great job of explaining everything. It’s just that, well, I’m hoping everything is back to normal tomorrow also. Let’s just assume that anything you don’t tell me you will cover later, if necessary. If I have a question, I’ll ask.”

  “Fair enough. So, this is your outfit for tomorrow. Jeans, a t-shirt, bra, underwear, socks. Today, you can wear this,” she said as she laid out shorts, another shirt, bra, underwear and socks.

  “Oh, I almost forgot, this drawer has night gowns and shirts for bedtime. I don’t wear bras for bed. They are uncomfortable to sleep in. Let’s do your makeup,” she said, leading me to the makeup table.

  “I’m just going to do your makeup for now. I’ll teach you tomorrow if…” she paused. “Sorry.”

  I smiled and she smiled back. My smile, but different. Even in my body, I can still see a hint of Nicole. Her mannerisms and features look more feminine. We’ll have to work on that.

  She left the clothes on the bed and headed toward the makeup table. “Shouldn’t I put my shirt and shorts on first?” I questioned.

  “No, the bra and underwear is good enough for now. You put on your outfit last so you stay cooler while you are doing your hair and makeup. The last thing you want is to be hot putting on makeup. Now, come sit down.”

  It didn’t seem to take long for her to finish putting on my makeup. I was in awe watching how methodical she was. “You seem so relaxed doing all of this. Isn’t it strange putting makeup on another person, who just happens to be you?”

  “Yeah,” she said, “I mean, I’ve put makeup on my girlfriends before, but this is quite different. I’m mildly freaking out inside.”

  “You don’t look like it on the outside,” I responded.

  “I pride myself on keeping my emotions under control. My dad has always taught me that you can’t solve any problem being overly emotional. There is a time for emotion and there is a time for rationale. He’s always telling me to think about a problem in terms of how it can be resolved.”

  “That’s good advice. I just don’t see a whole lot of people who are able to handle it as well as you do.”

  “Thank you. I think it is something that anyone can do. But it takes practice. It doesn’t happen overnight. A lot of it is just choosing to make good decisions. Some people seem to thrive on chaos. I’m not one of them. I like things to be organized. Let’s do your hair.

  “I’m going to teach you how to put your hair in a ponytail. It’s fairly easy, so you can do it tomorrow. Normally, I wouldn’t put my hair in a ponytail two days in a row, but we are making an exception. Go ahead and take the towel off of your head.”

  I took the towel off of my head and threw it in the towel laundry basket. “Don’t I just pull it back and put one of those band things around it?” I asked.

  “Not quite. First, you need to blow-dry it. You don’t want to walk around with a wet head. Plus, it will frizz as it dries. Use the medium heat setting. It takes a little longer, but it is better for your hair. Brush it as you blow it dry.”

  I dried the hair like she directed, and she continued walking me through the rest of the steps. I would never have guessed there could be so many steps just to put my hair in a ponytail. She was very thorough.

  I did as she said. “Like this?”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty good. Just make sure the hair elastic is pushed to the base of your head before you let go of the ponytail. Depending on how you brush it, you can make the tail higher or lower on your head. I prefer to have it lay in the middle of the back of my head. Not too high. I’ll show you more styles later, if necessary.” Yay.

  “Something to keep in mind,” she continued, “I usually shower at night, but I don’t do my hair and makeup at night. I blow-dry and brush my hair straight out. In the morning, I will wash my face and get my hair a little wet so it is manageable when I style it.”

  “Got it,” I said.

  She walked back into the bathroom, and I followed her. She showed me where the deodorant and perfume was, and I put them on as she directed.

  She went over to the bed where the shorts and shirt were and picked them up. “Now you put these on.”

  I put them on and looked at her. “Now what?”

  “Now, you are all ready to go. It’s my turn. Whooh! I don’t smell very good. Do you usually shower in the morning, because I didn’t?”

  “Yeah, I shower in the morning because it helps wake me up.”

  “Okay, shoot!” she said. “What is your routine?”

  “I wish I could say that my routine was as thought out as yours, but it’s pretty simple. After seeing what you go through, this should be a piece of cake. Go ahead and
shower. You can use whatever stuff you have in your shower. I don’t really care.”

  “Let’s get some replacement clothes so I don’t have to get back into these,” she said. “My brother is a little bigger than you, but we can probably make do until we get to your house.”

  She went into her brother’s room and grabbed some socks, underwear, shorts and a t-shirt. Then she headed back to her room and started to undress. It is weird enough looking at myself walking around, but it is that much stranger watching me get undressed.

  “Okay,” she said as she was turning red. “I see what you mean. It’s not really logical, but it feels strange undressing in front of you.” She headed to the bathroom, where she finished undressing.

  “I usually wash my hair, then clean my body and shave. “

  “You shave in the shower?” she said.

  “Yeah. I tried the shaving cream thing, and I don’t see the benefit. I just use the shampoo to shave. Don’t worry about shaving today, though. My hair is pretty fine, also. If you use that razor you shave your legs with on my face, you are going to cut me more than usual.”

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  “I’ve used my mother’s razor before. Bad things. Just wait until you have my razor.”

  “No problem. So,” she said, “I’ve washed everything, and rinsed off. What next?”

  “Now, get out and dry off. Next, I clean my ears with Q-tips, if you have them.”

  “I do,” Nicole said.

  “Good,” I said. “I don’t know about you, but I have to clean my ears every day. I actually enjoy how it feels.”

  “Not me,” she replied. “I clean my ears, but not every day. But, clean them as much as you like, as long as you’re careful.”

  Yesterday, this was the girl of my dreams. Today, I am the girl of my dreams, she’s in my body and we’re talking about how often we clean our ears. Could this day get any stranger? I guess at this point, I shouldn’t challenge strange.

  “So, I usually wrap the towel around my waist, while I finish up in the bathroom. When you have really short hair, it tends to dry before you have a chance to get dressed.”