In My Shoes (20 page)

Nicole sighed with relief. “You have to be
careful not to get your dress ruffle caught in your underwear,” she
said quietly, with an effort at patience.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize…”

“That’s okay. So, may I ask why it is that
you have your panties on over your nylons?”

There’s a question I never expected to be
asked in my lifetime. “Uhh…I thought that’s how they went. I mean,
the nylons are unfinished at the top and the underwear, well…is
finished. It seemed to make more sense to have the cute underwear
on the outside of the nylons.”

“First of all,” she said with a slight laugh,
“who did you think was going to be seeing these? Nobody should be
seeing under your dress.”

“I didn’t really think that mattered. I mean,
that theory doesn’t really stop you from buying cute underwear,
does it?”

“Fair enough.”

“So, the second thing?”

“Well, I was going to ask why you were
wearing nylons, but at least you didn’t wear socks.” At least not
outside of the house.

“For future reference, wearing underwear on
the outside of nylons kind of defeats the purpose of the underwear.
Some girls just wear nylons without underwear altogether. I wear
both, but I wouldn’t have even bothered with nylons for that
outfit. So, choose what you want to do and go change before more
people arrive.”

“Okay,” I said, turning to go into the locker
room.

“Oh, no! I forgot to go over how to do your
hair. You,” she said grabbing some of my hair, “did a pretty good
job. You have to be careful not to put the flat-iron on it too
long, but…pretty good. How did you do it?”

“I remembered your hairstyle you normally
wear, and I did lots of research last night.”

“Impressive, but you could have just called
and asked me.”

“I wanted to see if I could do it on my
own.”

“Well, nice job. Now go. I’ll see you next
period.”

“Wait,” I said, turning back to her, “I
almost forgot to ask you…what’s the difference between heels and
pumps?”

“It kind of depends on who you ask.
Generally, pumps have heels, but they don’t have straps. What you
are wearing are low-heeled pumps. Are you doing okay with
them?”

“I think so. It’s a little awkward, but the
heels are wide enough that I’m not having too much trouble.”

“That’s why I chose them for you. You really
should get going before people start showing up.”

“Okay, bye.”

I headed into the locker room, found a
bathroom stall and changed so that I had the underwear on under the
nylons. In hind sight, I should have just changed into my P.E.
clothes, since the place was still pretty much empty and I was
going to need to change into them in about fifteen minutes anyway.
Once I realized this, I headed over to Nicole’s locker and changed
into my P.E. clothes. Jessica arrived about ten minutes later.

“Hey, Nikki! How are you doing?”

“Good, Jess. How are you?”

“Peachy! So, we decided to go to the movies
last night, after all. Why don’t we go to the mall tonight?”

“Oh, okay.” I guess that means ‘guy
shopping.’

“Great! Oh, my dad is having my car serviced.
Do you mind picking me up? You can come by around seven tonight.
You’ll have enough time to do your homework and eat by then,
right?”

“Uhh…sure, that should be fine.” I’m hoping
she knows how this works better than I do. They’ve done this
before, so Jessica likely knows what time I can pick her up,
right?

Jessica changed into her P.E. clothes and we
went outside for class. Today was a relatively easy class. We had
badminton. Not my favorite, but it didn’t take a lot of energy. A
little jumping up and down, which was a little rough because I had
a persistent stomachache today, but I barely broke a sweat. I saw
Nicole across the field. Her class…well, my class…was playing
kickball. I love kickball. Oh well.

We headed back to the locker room and Jessica
caught back up with me.

“Badminton. Well, at least we didn’t get all
sweaty.”

“Yeah. There are worse games out there.”

“I can’t think of one at the moment,” she
said smiling.

“Yeah, actually I can’t either,” I said,
returning a laugh.

We undressed and headed to the showers with
our towels. The routine was pretty much the same as yesterday. I
didn’t enjoy it any less, but some of the fascination had worn off,
and it was easier for me to focus on washing up and getting out of
there.

I headed back to the locker, dried myself off
more completely and got dressed. Once I was finished getting
dressed, I said goodbye to Jessica and headed for Nicole’s book
locker to get my books for English Lit.

When I arrived in English, Nicole was already
there. So was Meredith. Nicole seemed to be in a better mood, so I
was guessing P.E. must have gone better. I smiled and took my seat.
I said hello to Meredith and she smiled back. This stomachache
wasn’t going away, and this one was more painful than I usually
have. I’ll have to ask Nicole if she usually gets bad
stomachaches.

I had a hard time focusing on English class
today. I was uncomfortable all class, and it seemed to just drag on
forever. By the time the bell rang, I was packed up and ready to
go. I said goodbye to Meredith and waited at my desk for Nicole to
walk up.

“Hey, are you alright?” she asked.

“Not really. I’ve had this really bad
stomachache all morning. Do you usually get bad stomachaches?”

“No, I almost never get stomachaches,
just…”

Her eyes got wide with concern. “Wait, does
it feel like a stomachache, or does it feel a little lower in your
abdomen? Like, maybe, intestinal issues?”

“I…guess it feels more like intestinal
issues, why?”

She looked around to make sure nobody was
nearby. Most of the class had cleared out.

“Stand up,” she whispered.

I stood up and noticed that my underwear felt
cold, or…wet. “Why do I feel wet?” As I said it, I realized what
was happening. I looked down at my seat, where Nicole was looking,
and saw blood. Not a lot, but still, it was blood.

“Welcome to womanhood. You’re having your
first period, Jake.” Again, she said it with a whisper. “You have
wipes in your purse.”

I cleaned the seat up and wadded the wipes up
in my hand. “You couldn’t have warned me this was coming?” I
asked.

“I’m really sorry. With everything going on,
I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean, I can usually tell when
it’s getting close, and usually I’m prepared, but I’ve been kind of
caught up with…being a guy.”

“Great, so what do I do now?”

“Well, it’s not real obvious, but it’s a
little obvious. You need to change your clothes.”

“I don’t have any clothes to change into.
Wait, is
that
what your spare clothes are for in your P.E.
locker?”

“Well, that’s one use.”

“I wore those yesterday. I forgot to bring
the clothes you told me to bring yesterday.”

“Okay, here’s what you do. There are some
small panty liners in a side pocket of my purse. Go to the bathroom
and put one of those on.”

“How?”

“I’m sure you can figure it out. There is an
adhesive side that sticks to your underwear. Take the paper off of
the adhesive side and stick it where the blood is. Once you’re
done, go to my house and change your clothes. Just use the clothes
I have set for tomorrow. I think I set jeans out for tomorrow. I
have extra
supplies
under my bathroom sink. It’s the first
day, so you’ll probably only need the panty liners. Bring a few
regular pads in case.”

“A few?” I asked.

“In case,” she repeated. “There are
instructions in the box, but I’m sure you can figure them out. It’s
not rocket science. You’ll miss physics, maybe calculus, but you
should be able to make it back in time for lunch.”

“Yay.”

“I know. Trust me…nothing thrills me more
than getting to share this moment with you.” That was sarcasm.

“Okay,” I said, “I guess I’m leaving
now.”

“One last thing. Put all of the clothes in
the washer and wash them in cold water. Make sure to use cold
water.”

“Got it. Oh, how do I keep from getting blood
on your car seat?”

“Fold the dress over a couple of times before
you sit down. If you need, I probably have a towel or something
else you can use in the trunk of my car.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at lunch.” With that, I
headed to the bathroom.

It’s not like I’m unaware that girls have
periods, but out of sight, out of mind. I’ve never had to deal with
it, so I’ve never paid it much thought. It looks like that’s going
to change quickly.

I walked into the girls’ bathroom and entered
an empty stall. After putting my things on the door hook, I found
the…panty liner…in Nicole’s purse side pouch and followed Nicole’s
instructions. Fortunately, I skipped putting the nylons back on
after P.E., so it was a little easier to maneuver. I grabbed my
things, washed up and headed out toward the car.

Most of the students were already in class,
which I was thankful for. It probably wasn’t very noticeable, but I
didn’t really want to take the chance. I had made it nearly the
whole way, when I heard a voice call Nicole’s name. A guy from one
of her classes, Spanish maybe, walked up to me. I knew him vaguely.
I think Nicole must only know him vaguely, because she didn’t
mention him in any of our talks.

“Hi! Kevin,” he said, pointing to
himself.

“Right, hi,” I said, trying to smile
politely.

“Aren’t you going to be late for class?” he
asked.

If he was worried about me being late for
class, why did he stop me? “I should ask you the same thing.”

“I’m an office aide this period, so…”

I looked at him as if to say ‘So, why exactly
are you talking to me right now?’

“So, I was wondering, would you like to maybe
go out some time? To the movies or…dinner, maybe?”

I didn’t want to be rude, because I knew what
it was like to be rejected badly. I didn’t really have time to
chat, though. I tried to be nice, but short.

“Oh, thank you, but I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

Seriously? He needs a reason? “Seriously? You
need a reason?”

“Well, it would be nice.”

How about because I’m a guy in a girl’s body.
Or that the girl who normally occupies this body wouldn’t date you
because she doesn’t date. “Uhh…you’re not my type. Sorry.”

“Well…”

“No. Sorry,” I said, and I turned and walked
away.

No wonder Nicole was short with me. Guys can
be thick sometimes. And, he didn’t even try to work in a
conversation. It’s like he just expected me to say yes because he
was Kevin. I’ve got to give him credit, though. I wouldn’t have had
the guts to keep talking after she told me ‘no.’ It’s hard enough
to ask someone out, but it’s even harder to talk once the illusions
you’ve built up in your head come crashing down with ‘no.’

I made it to the car without any additional
incidents. Nicole had a beach towel in the trunk, so I laid that
down on the seat, folded the dress over for extra measure and sat
down. Thirty minutes later, I was pulling into Nicole’s garage.

Inside, there was nobody home. Nicole’s
mother must have been out running errands, because the house was
silent. That was a relief because I didn’t want to have to worry
about running into anyone and having them ask a bunch of
questions.

I my clothes and threw them into the washer.
I didn’t want to waste a load of laundry on two articles of
clothing, so I grabbed the colors from my room…well, Nicole’s
room…and added them to the wash load.

The laundry detergent was on a shelf above
the washer, so I grabbed it and the fabric softener and filled them
in their appropriate compartments. I changed the setting to cold
wash and cold rinse and started it on its way.

I was feeling kind of gross, so I decided to
hose off in the shower real quick. It took just a few minutes since
I didn’t get my hair wet. After drying off, I went to get my new
clothes.

Once I had underwear, I went back to the
bathroom to find Nicole’s ‘supplies’ under her sink. Everything was
there, nice and neat, tucked in the back. I grabbed three of
everything and put them on the counter. Then I grabbed a pad, read
the instructions and attempted to put one in place. I pulled it out
of the wrapper and removed the paper covering the adhesive strip.
The sticky stuff kept sticking to my fingers, and I was having a
hard time getting it in place. And, what’s the deal with these
wings? It’s a pad, not a plane. Finally, I was able to get it in
place and pulled my underwear up. Yeah, not comfortable.

I grabbed the supplies and put them in
Nicole’s purse. It occurred to me that I needed to take some time
soon and go through Nicole’s purse. I had left her purse alone for
the most part, thinking it was best to leave her private stuff
private. If I have to be Nicole, maybe I need to see what other
surprises might be in my future. Not now, though.

I grabbed a new bra and put it on, and I
headed into the closet to grab the clothes. Nicole said there were
jeans for the next outfit, which I found. She had a shirt, blouse
thing for the top. I put them on, along with some socks and tennis
shoes, grabbed all of my things and headed back to the car.

If traffic was bad, I’d likely still be able
to have time to enjoy lunch instead of rushing. If traffic was
good, I may make half of calculus. I quickly got on my way and
ended up at the school with enough time to still get credit for
being present for calculus. Pretty good time, with all things
considered. I entered the classroom as discretely as possible, but
Mrs. Clark still noted the interruption.

“Nice of you to join us Miss Evans. Where
have you been?”

“I wasn’t feeling very well. I’ve been in the
bathroom.”