A new pair of glasses gives a young boy a look at the young girl within.

Thanks to Richard Hanson for the edit.

A New Look at Life
By Shawna Stimple
The Story Starts Here
A new pair of glasses gives a young boy a look at the young girl within.
Leighton Johnson had it rough. He was a small boy, somewhat awkwardly shaped.
One would call him skinny, except for his bubble butt. It wasn’t huge, but it was noticeable enough for the boys at school to single him out as a target. At only five foot two inches tall, he was much shorter the average ninth grader. His mother, being what one would call a holdover hippy, never took him to get a haircut. It was too dark and beautiful she’d say. His face could best be described as androgynous, with only bushy to steer people towards the assumption that he was male. He spent all his time in comic books, and video games, and understood very little about the current trends and fads of his peers. To top it all off his eyesight was about as terrible as it could be, and they could only afford coke bottle glasses that screamed ‘please fuck with me’.

He didn’t know who his father was, and his mother didn’t either for that matter.
Free love for her, held its way up into the nineteen ninety’s. He and his sister Cameron were never that close, due to the fact she was eight years older. Her father was a traveling salesman. He would pop in and out of town occasionally to see her, but Six years ago stopped showing. Leighton and Cameron had little in common, her, being quite popular and stylish in high school, and him being one of those who wasn’t to be touched unless it was to be shoved. The only things they shared were their mother’s hair and bone structure, as well as their gender ambiguous names. They got along okay most of the time, but they had little to connect on, and this led to a lot of arguments. It’s not that they didn’t love each other. It’s that they had little to connect on, and with her friends all at college, and he not having any, their frustrations with their lives were directed at each other.

It was the last day of school and Leighton was thanking the stars that he could go home and do nothing all summer. No one to beat him up anymore, no more homework, just the new Zelda game, and time to play it.
As he was walking home, a car with seniors 2011 written all over the side of it stopped in front of him. Out jumped Steve Billings, and 3 of his meat head friends.

Steve had made it a personal mission to screw with Leighton the entire year. The smallest freshman he could find would provide enough entertainment to appease his need for dominance until he was off to college.

“Sup faggot?” He said, approaching Leighton. “I just wanted to thank you for never tattling on me. I’m impressed you lasted this long and never once told. It’s impressive. No hard feelings?” Said the brute extending his hand.
Leighton slowly reached out to shake Steve’s hand, only to have it slapped away, and then receive full force of Steve’s fist to his left eye. As he lay on the ground the last thing he heard was Steve say, “See you never, loser.” and the sound of the car speeding away. He felt a swelling in his face and the blood on his upper lip.
Finally regaining his composure he felt around for his glasses, but only came across a mess of bent wire and broken glass.
Carrying the destroyed mess home with him, he gave up on fighting back the tears.

Upon entering the house Cameron heard her little brother crying and ran upstairs to his room worried sick.
“Oh my god, Are you okay?” She asked, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. “What happened?”
“What the hell do you think happened?” He yelled, taking out at his frustrations at her. “I got my ass kicked!”

“By who?”

“Just some asshole jock, totally your type. Why do you want to know, do you want to know where to get a date?”

“Leighton, I’m just trying to help.”

“If you want to help, you can just leave me the fuck alone! Fuck you, Cameron.
Just stop making my life more miserable.”

Cameron backed slowly out of the room and shut the door. She understood why he was upset, but he didn’t need to take it out on her. She went downstairs and called their mother to let her know what happened. Sitting at the kitchen table she thought to herself, “I know he didn’t mean it, but he’ll pay for it later!”

Around 6 o’clock his mother returned home from work, entering his room she sat on the bed next to the depressed boy.
“Are you okay, sweetie?”

“I’m fine. I just haven’t been able to do anything to take my mind off of it. My glasses are ruined.”
“It’s going to be alright, come downstairs and I’ll get your face fixed up, and I have some good news, I know it’ll make you smile.”

The two sat at the kitchen table, Leighton with a bag of peas on his eye, and a tissue shoved up his nose.
“Times are hard right now,” she started, “but I got a two hundred dollar bonus at work today, perfect timing. I think we should use the money to get that new pair of glasses you wanted.”

The boy’s face shifted from a frown to an ear to ear smile so fast that he couldn’t help but wince at the pain in his upper cheek.

“Oh you poor thing,” she said, stifling a giggle. “We’ll have to order them from that catalogue though. I can’t afford to get them from a shop. Let me go get it from your room and you can fill it out and get it ready to mail tomorrow morning.”
After she returned to the kitchen he set to work; name; address; product number; and the like. He left it in a unsealed envelope for his mother to put the check in.

Pretty soon he would get the frames that Rivers Cuomo from Weezer wore. He then returned upstairs for the night, thinking that at least some good came from this. In the morning, as Ms. Johnson was about to leave for work, Cameron came groggily stomping down the stairs, almost blindly following the smell of coffee. Good mornings were said as Ms. Johnson was running out the door. Suddenly she poked her head back in. “Dear, could you do me a favor? Would you mail that order for your brother’s new glasses. I probably won’t be off until after the Post Office closes.”

“No problem mom. I got it,” she said, shoving her long black hair out of her eyes. As she sat at the table sipping her coffee, and she thumbed her way through the catalogue, suddenly remembering her altercation with her brother from the day before, an idea struck her. She took the order form, and made a slight alteration. After returning it to the envelope with the check, she sealed it and went upstairs to start her day with a smile on her face. Leaving her room in a peach sundress and cork wedges, she ran into Leighton, leaving the comforts of his cave.”

“I’m sorry about yesterday sis.” He muttered.

“No problem bro, I’ve already taken the steps to move past it.”

Surprised by his sister’s generosity, he responded, “Great. I guess I’ll go downstairs and listen to some TV.”
She snickered. He could be funny when he was relaxed and comfortable. Unfortunately he was only that way at home. The rest of the time he was a church mouse, barely letting out an audible squeak. She knew he was sorry, but in her mind he still needed to be punished. So out she went, stopping by the Post Office before, continuing to her part time job at the mall.

So the week passed with Leighton’s nose literally in comic books, while he waited on his package. The swelling in his face had finally gone down, and he was generally in better spirits. It was Saturday morning when the delivery truck pulled up. After hearing the doorbell Cameron answered with a smile and signed. “Leighton, there’s a package for you,” she yelled up the stairs.

“Holy shit, I’m coming,” he yelled back, jumping out of bed desperately trying to find pants. “I’m so excited, I finally get to play my game.” Taking the box from his sister he set about finding the tools required to get past the adult proof packaging. He quickly cut the tape, opened the box, dug through the packing peanuts and found another box with two pieces of Styrofoam taped to the side. Cutting off layer after layer he finally ended up with a small pink glasses case. He thought it was weird but couldn’t be bothered as his summer was about to get a whole lot better.

Opening the case his eyes first noticed the black plastic he so looked forward to wearing, but something didn’t quite look right. Placing the rest on his ears and the bridge on his nose, he experienced a wave of relief, as the strain on his eyes was gone, and he could clearly see his sister covering her mouth trying her best not to laugh. He asked, “What’s so funny?”

“It’s not the style I thought you would have picked, but whatever floats your boat,” she said, then bursting into a fit of uncontrolled laughter.

Running into the bathroom to check the mirror, he noticed what was so hysterical. These glasses had black plastic frames alright, but they were ovular instead of square, with the ends turning upward in a slight cat eye effect. The trim had a thin line of pink all around it. These were girl’s glasses, he took them off and ran out back to find his mother practicing yoga. He looked at her as flustered as can be and squeaked, “Mom my glasses are here.”

“Well, let me see them on you then,” she said, taking them from his hands and returning them to his face. “They look very nice,” she said genuinely. “I like them.”

“These are girl’s frames, I didn’t order these, I don’t want them, I look like an idiot,” he said almost crying.
“Don’t worry honey, I’ll call the company and tell them there’s been a mistake.” So she called, and after spending an hour on the phone came back with bad news. “They said that the order number on the form matches the frames you got. They can’t do a refund or exchange since the package was opened.”

“How am I supposed to know they were wrong, if I didn’t open the package?”

“That’s what I said, but the catalogue clearly states their return policy. I don’t have any more money to spare right now so you’ll have to make do with what you have.”

“I can’t go back to school with these, I’ll be beat up even more than last year, what am I supposed to do?”
“Well you could get a summer job, instead of lying around and wasting your summer.” Cameron chimed in, walking outside to join the conversation. “You can ride to work with me on Monday, and walk around the mall looking for something.”
“Your sister’s right honey, times are tough right now, so if you want something you’re going to have to work for it yourself.”

“Well if I have to, I guess it’s not fair for you guys to do everything for me.” He said, displaying a little maturity, “I may even make enough money to get that new Kirby game too.”

“Sure dear, If it’s your money, you can get whatever you want?”

So the weekend passed with Leighton wearing his new glasses and him finally getting to finish his game. He was grateful for being able to see, but couldn’t wait for this situation to be resolved. Monday morning came and he was woken by his sister saying, “Time to get up, you need to take a shower and look presentable if you’re going to find a job today.”
So he showered and shampooed his hair. It had turned into quite the process with its length, and he was thinking of getting a haircut when he got a paycheck. He dressed in his blue jeans and oversized Naruto t-shirt when he went down stairs to meet his sister with his damp hair hanging limply in his face.

“I thought I told you to look your best!” She said, wearing a nice pink sweater set, white knee length skirt, pink sling back pumps, and pearl earrings.

“This is my best,” he said.

She couldn’t think of a reply, what he said was true. She thought to herself that if he was going to become less of an annoying hindrance and more of a contributing member of society she was going to have to teach him how.
As they pulled into the mall Cameron quickly explained the layout. “The lower floor is for women’s clothing stores. That’s where Express is, I’ll be there if you need me. You should check out the middle and top floors. The middle has men’s clothing stores and shoe stores. The upper floor has special shops in the food court. I suggest starting in the middle and working your way up. Here’s five dollars for lunch. I get off at one so meet me outside around then, and we’ll head home.”

Before going in he removes his glasses and places them in the case. He didn’t know what he’d do if he saw someone from school. He felt that he was already as low as you can go in high school, but he didn’t want to see if he was wrong.
He starts down the middle floor, but outside every store he realizes he doesn’t know anything about men’s clothes. Not quite sure what she meant by specialty stores he figured he’d go ahead and check upstairs. After climbing the escalator he looks around and realizes he can’t read any of the signs, so he wanders aimlessly trying to make any kind of decision. Coming upon the food court he already felt defeated. I had reached the supposed end of his journey and had not filled out a single application. Resigned to his fate he puts the glasses back on to at least figure out where he is going.
Specialty shops apparently included video games, Asian themed gift shops, comic books, and even a mini golf course. There were plenty of places he felt like he might enjoy working. He set out to find the job of his dreams. Unfortunately every place he went said they weren’t hiring until school let back in. on top of that he could have sworn some people called him miss. On his last stop at the miniature golf course he faced the final rejection. Feeling dejected, and somewhat annoyed, he resigned himself to a summer working in food service.

Meanwhile, looking out the door of her shop, Lilly Glenn saw a young girl with the face of rejection. She knew the type, when she was younger she was the type; flat chested girl with little confidence in her figure, and little confidence in herself. She wore baggy clothes to hide her shape, and kept her hair in her face so people couldn’t see. She probably grew up with few friends, and the only boys she had any contact with were in her D&D group. But she wasn’t ugly, dry the hair, pull it back, and put her in a dress and she’d be a knockout. It seemed like something she wanted but the only step she had taken was getting a more stylish pair of glasses.

This girl needed a friend. Not being the type to sit by and allow anyone to feel lonely, Lilly approached the young girl. “Hey there, how are you, I love your glasses?”

Leighton looked up to see a real life girl heading his direction. This girl was cute. She looked older, but not old, mid-twenties maybe, she was wearing tight black jeans, a white tank top, and a grey short sleeved sweater hanging off one shoulder. He could hear the ‘click clack’ of her black patent kitten heels as she approached. Her right arm was covered in a tattoo sleeve, filled with detailed pictures, telling stories someone wouldn’t understand unless they knew here. Her curly red hair piled high on her head with side swept bangs almost covering her left eye, and a blue bandana tied at the top of her head. Her make-up was impeccable, with meticulously done eyes in shades of blue, topped by impossibly long lashes. Her lips were the first thing he’d ever think to describe as ruby red, she was gorgeous, and she was talking to him.

“My glasses?” He whispered.
“Yeah, Where did you get them?”
“I ordered them from a catalogue,” he stuttered.
“Well they’re awesome,” she said trying to keep the conversation going. “What‘s your name?”
“Leighton.”
“Oh, like Leighton Meester“
“Yeah, sure,“ he replied, having no idea who she was talking about.”
“Would you like to come into my shop, and hang out or whatever?”
“Your shop,” he asked puzzled?
“Yeah, that’s my shop over there. One Person’s Trash… I sell vintage, and vintage inspired clothes and accessories…as well as other things.”
“Things like what?”
“Well like wigs, or purses, or shoes, or bongs.”
“Wait, Bongs?”
“Surprisingly, vintage stores don’t do so well, so I make most of the money off the bongs and bowls, I sell in the back. It’s not what I dreamed of doing but the ‘tobacco pipes’ supplement what I don’t make in clothing sales. It’s really just kind of a hipster store. So you coming in?”
“Yeah, sure I guess.”
So the two go in and sit down behind the counter. They converse for the remaining three and a half hours that he has left. She made a few sales, and he learned that he shared a love of many of the same comic books. He tells her of how he came looking for a job and had zero luck. Then the clock struck one, and he told her he had to go meet his sister. Good byes were said and he made his way to the door.
“Wait!” She shouted, before he could leave. She thought to herself that she had been doing well, and maybe it was time to take on an associate, “If you would like a job then be here at nine thirty when we open. Also you need to dress a bit more stylish if you’re going to work here, and come in tomorrow with your hair out of your face. I have an image to project with this store, and if you’re okay with that the job is yours.”
Amazed, he replied, “Thank you so much. Unfortunately these are the nicest clothes I have. Everything I own is just more of the same.”
“That’s no problem. Just come in tomorrow nice and clean, and I’ll find you something to wear.”
“Oh my god, I can’t thank you enough,” he said as he ran up and hugged her neck.
“No problem, Just don’t let me down, and work hard.”
And with that, he made his way out the door to give his sister the good news.
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for ten minutes,” she huffed, looking at the time on her phone.
“Sorry, but the reason I was late was because I was talking to a woman about a job, and I got it.”
“No way! That’s awesome, where at?
“One of the specialty stores upstairs. She said I needed to be in at nine thirty tomorrow. And that my hair needed to be out of my face.”
“Well she’s right about that, I’ll help you in the morning, I’m really proud of you.”
So they headed home, actually talking and laughing together for once. She even agreed to play one of his games with him when they got home. She even beat him once in Wii Bowling. Tired from getting up so early, he actually went to bed before midnight for once. As he fell asleep his thoughts were on Lilly, and how he couldn’t wait to see her the next day.
The following morning when Cameron went to wake Leighton up, she found he was already in the shower. “Well that’s a welcome change,” she thought, as she went downstairs to fix her coffee. “I wonder what else is going to change around here.”
So she finished her breakfast and made a plate for Leighton. As she was heading back upstairs she heard him rustling about in his room. She said, “Go downstairs and eat your breakfast. When you finish put the plate in the dish washer and meet me in my room, and I’ll sort out your hair for you.”
For the first time in months Leighton had time to eat breakfast. He felt like proud quite proud of himself for once. This pride provided the best motivation for continuing to do things with a smile. He was becoming less self-conscious about his glasses. They were getting to be those things on his face that were just sort of always there. He cleaned up a bit in the kitchen before heading to his sister’s room.
She told him to have a seat at her vanity, while she plugged in her hair dryer, and selected her round brush. She twirled the brush around sections of his hair, as she dried it, the end result being a straight but voluminous style that reached part of the way down his back. She thought to herself that she would need to take care of his split ends sometime in the near future. She finished by pulling it back neatly into a low ponytail. With that they were both ready, and left for work.
Lilly greeted Leighton wearing a mid-thigh length white strapless sundress with little black polka dots all over it. The skirt had a built in petticoat, and at the waist, a black ribbon tied in a bow in the front. She was taller than him today, perched atop 4 inch black strappy sandals. She decided today she was going to show Leighton how pretty she could be by setting an example.
She didn’t want to push her too far too fast and have her freak out. After hugs were exchanged, she led him to the dressing room. “There’s your outfit for the day, once you’re ready meet me up front for the crash course in the inventory.”
First he found a pair of jeans. These were as probably the tightest pair he’d ever seen though. As he forced them on over his hips he thought it was strange, but what did he know about fashion. She was the expert and it was her store. He imagined himself in a Dairy Queen uniform, and realized he was probably getting off easy. What he didn’t realize was that Lilly was planning on slowly showing the new girl just how pretty she was.
“Do you need any help hun?” He heard her call through the curtain.
“Sort of, these pants you gave me won’t quite fit right over my boxers.”
“You actually wear boxers?! Hold on a sec. Let me get you something better.”
She came back, and through the curtain handed him a small piece of white cotton.
He examined the offering and realized that they were some kind of underwear.
Placing his legs through the holes he pulled them up slowly only to find another problem. His privates were creating a very obvious bulge in the front. There was nothing more embracing to a teenage boy than the idea of the world scrutinizing his genitals. The best way he could think of to combat this was to tuck it between his legs and then pull the undergarments tight. The jeans slid on with no problem after that.
Next he placed his arms through the button down plaid shirt. It was a green and blue pattern, and seemed to fit him perfectly. Apparently Lilly had a knack for sizing people. The only things that seemed strange about it was the fact that the buttons seemed to be on the wrong side, and that it seemed to taper in tightly around his waist only to flair out a little at the bottom.
The last article of clothing looked to be a simple black jacket with small lapels. As he placed his arms through the sleeves he felt it odd how tight it was in the shoulders. It also, only fell to the small of his back. “Not very functional,” he thought, turning his attention to his boots on the floor.
He learned later on that they were called sweater boots. They were black with 3 plastic buttons running up the side.
Getting them over his feet he tried pulling his jeans down over the top. After many failed attempts he realized that the ankle was to small, and he had to button them over the outside of the pant leg.
Done dressing, he met Lilly up front. Taking one look at her new project, she smiled and said, “Look at you, looking hot, alright, Follow me and I’ll show you where everything goes.”
He spent the first part of the day learning which section was which, and how to operate the register. She taught him the laws of selling tobacco products, and when to ask someone to leave, if they implied any usage other than tobacco and legal herbs. He learned that if someone came in and asked for ear piercing, they’d need to be ID’d as well. He was also never to use the piercing gun, until he went through the proper training, and that he should refer them to her.
The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly. He had made a few sales, and was already top notch at keeping everything neat and presentable. When it slowed down toward the end of the day they just sat and talked for a bit. He complained about how people always made fun of him and called him weird looking. She sat down next to what she thought was an insecure girl and said, “No you’re really quite attractive, I used to be a little rough around the edges when I was your age, and I learned how to present myself a little better. Now I’m hot shit,” she said, chuckling a little at her boast, “I could teach you a thing or two if you’re interested.”
The boy felt flattered, and quietly replied, “Well, what do you think I should change.”
“Not much at a time, Give yourself time to feel comfortable with yourself and then do a little more. For instance I could clean up your eyebrows a little bit, you have great eyes. Maybe that would let people pay more attention to them, and less to wooly Willy.”
He laughed, and replied, “If you really think so I guess I could let you try, just don’t do anything too drastic.”
So she rummaged through her purse and found her portable trimmer and set to work, she didn’t do anything too extreme. All she did was shorten the hairs down to a normal length and gave them a slight but barely noticeable arch. He had to admit after seeing himself in the mirror that he did look better.
Maybe he could learn a thing or two with Lilly, and maybe even have a real life conversation with a girl his own age.
“Thanks,” he said. “I guess they do look a lot better.”
“See what did I tell you? Little things can go a long way. Anyhow, that’s about it for today. See you tomorrow at the same time, Ok!”
“No problem. I had fun today. Can’t wait to do it again, It feels really good to be productive actually. Like, I actually did something with my day for once.”
“Awesome. Oh yeah. Just keep the outfit. Call it a training bonus. Come in tomorrow and I’ll have something else for you. The thing about jeans like those is that it’s not really feasible to keep things in the pockets. Take this as well, everyone needs a bag, hell, I have like twenty!”
“Thank you so much,” he said taking the small brown canvas shoulder bag.
“If you might allow me to make one more suggestion?” She asked hopefully. He nodded, and she responded, “Your lips are a little chapped, all you need to do to fix it is to put on a little lip balm every now and again.” She then took a little container of strawberry lip balm and dabbed a little on her finger. After spreading it across his lips, he blotted them together as told. They did feel much better. He wasn’t aware however, that his lips were now stained a light pink color. Thanking her and taking the offer balm and placing it in his new bag he left the store, smiling that his first day had been such a success.
As he made his way downstairs he was stopped by a group of girls. Still being quite shy he didn’t know what to make of the situation.
“I love your boots!” Said the tall blonde. “Where did you get them?”
“One Person’s Trash,” he replied. “I actually work there.”
“Awesome. Maybe I’ll come in and see you sometime,” said the girl, smiling and walking off.
That had never happened before, a girl stopped him and complimented him. Maybe there was something to changing up his look. A girl finally noticed he existed.
Lilly may have been on to something.
When he reached express he went in to find his sister, approaching her counter he tapped her on the shoulder.
“Can I help you, mi…” Came the reply, as Cameron took in the sight of her brother standing in front of her wearing head to toe girl’s clothes, he was even carrying a purse.
“Hey sis, are you okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m just taking in your new look,” she said, maintaining her befuddled expression.
“Yeah isn’t it great, Lilly is trying to help me put myself together a little better. It’s working, as people are actually smiling and saying hello. I even got a compliment on the way down here.”
She thought to herself for a moment, was he really this clueless. He really did need to get out more. However, he looked like he actually tried when he got up this morning. Would it be so bad? Her sense of mischief took over and she decided to see how far she could push this along. “Well I’m off in ten minutes. Go grab a seat out in the lobby and I’ll meet you soon. Before leaving she made sure to grab a few pairs of panties, and a couple of bras. Then she met him at the door, and the two headed home.
That evening, when they arrived at home, Cameron begins to put her plan into action. Leighton had told her about the new underwear, and asked if everyone wore them. She reassured him that they were pretty normal, and that she figured he’d need them, so she brought some home from work. There was a disagreement on whether Leighton should play his games, or if they should watch New Girl.
“I tell you what,” she started, knowing she had him right where she wanted him, “we’ll bowl for it. If you win you can keep playing video games all night, and you won’t hear a peep from me. If I win…we watch New Girl and give each other mani-pedi.”
“No way,” he stated. “Shouldn’t you just go to one of your girlfriend’s houses and do that.”
“Well, I wanted to spend some time together little brother, but I figured we’d never be able to agree on what to do. It’s just a little harmless fun. If I win, I promise not to tell. Besides, are you afraid you’re going to lose?”
His ego got the better of him. “Of course not, last night was fluke. I definitely wouldn’t lose to you,” he said, falling right into her trap.
“Well then you should have no problem agreeing to the bet,” she said extending her hand.
They shook and Cameron gleefully skipped off to find the controllers. The ‘battle of the century’ as she kept calling it was underway. They both played well, and were enjoying each other’s jabs and jokes. It turned out to be a lot more fun than competition. It was Leighton’s last turn and all he needed to do was not get a gutter ball to win the game. He swung his arm backwards…and dropped the remote. The Mii on the screen, threw the ball as awkward as possible, it rolled down the alley at the breakneck speed of half a mile an hour. It seemed like it was going to hit the pin on the far left, but at the last second rolled into the gutter, destroying all of Leighton’s hopes, and possession of the TV tonight.
“Time to go get our pj’s on, looks like it’s a night in, watching Zooey,” she gloated. “I’ll go get my nail kit,” meet me down here in five minutes and we’ll get started.”
“It was a good game,” he conceded. “I guess I screwed the pooch pretty bad at the end.”
So the two ran off upstairs to get ready, when they returned, Cameron in her pink shorts and tank top combo, and Leighton in his Mario pajamas. “I’m going to teach you to do this on me first.” Cameron said, taking Leighton by the hand, and sitting down in the floor with him, “The first thing we need to do is remove the old polish.”
She hands him a bag of cotton balls, and a bottle of nail polish remover, then she directs him, step by step, in removing the polish. Once the nails are clean she has him file down the nails length just a fraction of an inch, and round the sides to form a smooth ovular shape. Then she shows him how to carefully brush the polish on, to avoid streaking, and getting it on the skin, after he repeats the process on the other hand with astounding proficiency. She shows him how to separate the toes, and he finishes both feet as well. At the end, she was left with ten peach fingers and ten peach toes.
While they waited for her nails to dry, they switched on the show and watched till the first commercial break. Once pronounced done, she turned her attention to his nails. They were sort of a mess, but nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t fix.
She performed a whole myriad of task that he couldn’t even understand the point of. He thought he had done a good job on her, but she was going to make sure his hands were perfect. When she was done his nails were now the same ovular shape as his sisters. They were a little shorter, but now they looked as clean and smooth as hers were all the time. His cuticles were missing the snags and dead skin that he was so used to being there. Realizing she was now digging through her nail polish box, he yelled, “No way, you said you wouldn’t tell anyone, I think people will know if I walk around with nail polish on.”
“I’m looking for the clear one,” she said. “I just want to protect them so they don’t look all ragged again. No one’s going to notice, quit being such a baby.”
Resigned, he said, “If you’re sure, I guess it’s ok?”
When she finished they did sort of shine a little more, but he felt that it wasn’t that big of a deal. After she started on his feet they heard the front door open. Their mother had just finished her double at work and walked straight to the sofa to relax for the evening. Taking her hands from her eyes she looked at the floor to see Leighton sitting still, allowing his big sister to do his toenails. “It was a bet,” he said, the words flying out of his mouth like a humming bird to nectar.
“Cool,” she said, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. Being a single parent with leftist values, she let her children do whatever they wanted, and did not ask questions, as long as they weren’t hurting anyone. So Leighton just sat there staring at the TV wondering if a more surreal moment could happen.
Coming out of his stunned daze, he noticed the sound of glass clinking together.
Cameron was returning a bottle to the box. He looked down and noticed his ten baby blue toes at the end of his feet. “Cameron c’mon!” He shouted.
“It’s not like anyone is going to see your feet,” she said laughing. “They look pretty; I put a lot of work into them. At least leave it on for tomorrow. I’d hate to see my hard work go to waste,” she said with a pout. He was powerless to resist her lately, she’d been way too nice and it was just a little fun.
While they waited for his nails to dry she got her hair brush and sat down next to their sleeping mother on the sofa. Life was hard on their mom, but she always kept in good spirits, and she was always wonderful to them, but at the end of long days, where she falls is where she sleeps.
Cameron starts brushing her long black hair one hundred strokes like she does every night. If there was one thing her friends were jealous of it was her hair. Much the same as her brother’s, it was as dark as it comes, thick, and easy to work with. As she was brushing Leighton scooted in front of her, and rested his back on the bottom of the sofa. When she was finished, she figured she’d try and push a little further ahead.
She reaches down and pulling the hair tie out of his hair. Then she takes her brush and starts working it through. At first he cried ow! As she met with tangles, but he continued to let her once the brush started going through smoothly. It felt so relaxing. She was amazed this was going so well so she started playing with it. She brushed it left and right, creating parts in different places. She pulled it up and down and even separated it into pigtails in her hands. After deciding on an end result, she made a ponytail at the top of his head, and tied it off with his ponytail holder. She twists the pony tail around, and circled it around the base tucking the end under the roll. After reaching for a few bobby pins, she secures the bottom of the rolled hair to the top of the head, leaving the boy with a bun. She sits down in front of him to put a few finishing touches on hairstyle.
“What did you do?” He asked, with an embraced look on his face.
“I just put your hair up so it wouldn’t tangle tonight while you sleep.”
“Well then what are you doing now?”
She just smirked and said, “Artistic licenses.”
When she was done she handed him a mirror so he could see her handy work. His hair was arranged at the top of his head in a big bun. The front of his hair had been sectioned off and combed so that it fell almost over his left eye and having a slight wave toward the ends.
“Wow,” was all he could say.
“Yeah it’s a little overdone, but I’m glad you let me do it. I’ve been sorta bored lately.”
“It’s okay,” he replied. “I did have fun tonight, we should hang out more often.”
“I’d like that very much,” she said happily. “We should make this a weekly thing.”
“Sounds great!”
So the two spent the rest of the night talking, laughing and altogether ignoring the TV. When it a got a little bit later, they both decided it was time for bed, because there was work to be done in the morning. Grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch, they tucked in their mother, and kissed her on the cheek, letting her sleep as late as she wanted on her day off tomorrow. They then hugged, and went upstairs to sleep.
The next morning Leighton was up and ready in record time, waiting for his sister to finish getting ready, so she could take care of his hair. Still feeling rather playful, she tied his ponytail a little higher on his head, around the middle. She even snuck in a cute little ponytail holder with a tiny pink polka dotted bow at the top, where he couldn’t see it. With his hair accessory, and glasses, he looked like quite the cute girl, if only from the neck up.
After arriving at work, Leighton met Lilly sifting through the racks, trying to find his outfit for the day. He thought it was weird that she was looking through the girl’s section, but she did say that a lot of this stuff was unisex. “Hey!” Lilly said, looking up and smiling. “I think I have the perfect outfit for you today. And I see we’re getting a little more adventurous with our hair. It looks great. Hurry up and change so we can get started. Today I’m going to train you on using the piercing gun.
He took the offered bundle of clothes and made his way back to the dressing room.
He was glad that Cameron had procured him some proper underwear. It’s strange that his were so conflicting with the vintage fashions that were coming back in style. The first item he came across were a pair of stretchy black pants. He later learned they were called leggings. Tucking away his problem again, his front looked as smooth as it did the day before. The top was an oversized cable knit sweater in a nice shade of dark grey. It came down to a little below his backside.
He was relieved that no one would see his butt crack if he bent over. To complete his outfit he placed the black open toed flats over his feet. He stepped out, and found Lilly, only to be greeted with a chuckle, reserved usually for a cat stuck in a potato chip bag.
“You’re not supposed to wear socks with those shoes,” she snickered.
“Oops, I guess I’m still pretty clueless about fashion,” he sighed?
“It’s not a problem. That’s what I’m here for, to help.”
“Thanks,” he said, sitting down and removing his shoes and socks, only to be surprised by the baby blue toenails he had forgotten. Seeing Lilly checking out his toes, he explained, “My sister did it to me last night. I’ll get rid of it by tomorrow, I swear.”
She just smiled and said, “It’s no problem, you should try some color on your fingernails too. Your toes just look so nice.”
Amazed by what he just heard, he was starting to think something was a little weird. Who was this girl, that was his boss, and what exactly did she want from him?
She leads him over to the ear piercing table and has him sit on the stool. She giggles to herself as Leighton slouches so bad, his chin seems to be aiming for his lap.
She says, “You know good posture will take you a long way, and it will probably feel a lot better.”
“You think so?” Says the girlish boy.
“Yeah just try holding your back straight, and holding your head up high for the world to see,” she says. Guiding his chin, and spine where she wants them. “You can even try crossing your legs at the knees, to form a kind of base, to help support your back.”
When she was done coaching, Leighton was sitting as proudly, and as femininely as any other pretty young girl. He thought it did feel more comfortable, and that he should probably try and sit like this all the time. His attention was then turned to the mirror, where he could see Lilly holding a marker and heading towards his ears.
“The first thing you want to do is to mark the spot where the jewelry is going to go.
This way there are no surprises, or crooked piercing that you can’t undo,” she said, placing dots in the center of both his ear lobes. She then picks up the piecing gun, and loading the cartridge in says, “This is where you load the style of starters you want to use. We have a huge variety, but some are nicer than others.
I’ve chosen the nicest we have for you. You want to place the line over the dot and firmly pull the trigger,” she said, doing just that.
A loud pop rung next to his head, a little disoriented, he didn’t even realize she’d already made her way to the other side. Another loud pop and she was done.
Waiting for an overwhelming pain that never came, Leighton finally opened his eyes to look in the mirror. Gracing his earlobes were two beautiful pearl studs. He thought they looked nice, but a little out of place on him. Jewelry had never really been his style, and if it was he didn’t think he would have chosen something so girly. They did look surprisingly nice, however, and they added a touch of class to his youthful face. He knew that these were not normal earrings for a 15 year old boy, but he did like the way they looked. He decided he’d ask his sister later for advice on what to do. Should he talk to Lilly about the increasing femininity of his work clothes, or is this all totally normal.
The rest of the day went by with little event. Leighton thought he noticed more people calling him miss than usual, but he did make even more sales than the day before. As he was about to leave for the day Lilly handed him 20 dollars, and said,
“Here’s a little bonus for all the hard work. You really are going to be my best salesperson. Get your family dinner tonight, and it’ll show them you’re grateful for all the help they give you, a simple meal will go a long way.”
Making his way to the food court, he called his sister for a ride. “You off yet?” He said.
“Yeah, I got off early today. Need me to come pick you up?”
“Sure do, I’m bringing home dinner tonight, so tell mom not to worry about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I got a bonus at work today. I figured I’d share with the people who share with me,” he said, trying not to make the line sound too rehearsed.
“Okay well, meet me at our usual spot, be there in ten.”
“Thanks sis. See you soon,” he said hanging up.
Grabbing a few pizzas from the food court he made his way to the bench out front.
He sat and applied his lip balm, noticing that guys were looking him over as they walked by. He was wondering if there was something wrong with him, or if he maybe had something on his face. As Cameron was pulling up, she noticed the young girl, sitting on the bench, legs crossed, head held proudly fixing her lips, but it wasn’t until she reached the curb that she realized this was her brother. Seeing her car he stood and made his way to meet her. That’s when he noticed the click clack, of his shoes for the first time. He’d never had shoes that made noise when he walked before, he could only assume that that’s what nice shoes did.
When they arrived home the two were greeted by their mother. The first thing she noticed was her son’s feminine appearance, but chose not to say anything other than, “You look nice.” He was a good boy, and he was bringing home dinner. How bad could this new job be? She figured he’d talk about it when he was ready. In the meantime she’d just continue to love him as she always did.
Cameron’s thoughts were taking a completely different direction. She needed to figure out a way to keep this going. Leighton was finally getting out of the house, and he even brought home dinner. To top it off he looked the most put together that he ever had. It may not have been her style, but it wasn’t a complete mess either. She decided that tonight she would take it one step further.
Over dinner the family sat, and talked. They laughed over fond memories. They planned on doing this more often. After the last piece was finished their mom started cleaning up.
“Don’t worry about it Mom, I’ll get it,” said Leighton, leaving his family wondering if he’d been replaced by some sort of robot.
“Well, thank you dear,” she replied. “I guess I’ll go ahead to bed then. I have to work at five tomorrow morning. It’ll be good to actually get enough rest for once. Love you both, Good night!”
“Goodnight Mom,” the two siblings said in near unison. The two then laughed and Leighton realized that if he didn’t have anyone else, then he did have his family.
Cameron helped him finish the cleanup, and the two were left with nothing to do.
Cameron then suggested, “Why don’t we go ahead and take our showers tonight.
We could take a little extra time in the morning to look nice. It’d probably go a long way at work. Sound good?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” the young boy replied, looking down at his outfit. “Lilly has been having me wear some really nice things.”
“Well she just wants you to present a certain image for her store. I think you look great. I can help you step in tomorrow looking like a million bucks. Let me go take a shower first and then you can go after. When you’re done I’ll fix your hair up tonight, so it will look great in the morning.”
“Ok, I guess.”
While in the shower, Cameron poured a little of her depilatory in his body wash, he wasn’t too hairy, she wanted him to be baby smooth. After she was done she went to his room, and said, “All done. Your turn, just be sure that when you wash off tonight, you leave the shower gel on for five minutes before you rinse. After that, shampoo and condition your hair thoroughly,. when you’re done just put on this robe and meet me in my bedroom so I can fix your hair.” She handed him a towel, and a pink terrycloth robe, and took his hair down. She quickly slid the bowed hair tie into the pocket of her own robe as she led him to the bathroom door.
Twenty minutes later he stood in her doorway, still dripping a little, wearing her pink robe, with the towel around his neck. She showed him how to tie the towel like a turban around his hair, and made sure to check his legs, to see if the peach fuzz was gone. Leading him over to her vanity he could see that she had already blown her hair dry, and watched her finish by putting it up into a French twist.
“I’m thinking tomorrow you could use some volume,” she started. “You’re going to have to trust me, but I think I know what the best look for you would be.”
“I guess I’ll have too,” he said. “You know how clueless I am when it comes to hair and stuff.”
Cameron removes the towel from his hair, and sets it on his shoulders. She then proceeds to coat his hair in some sort of sticky substance. Next, he feels her tugging and sectioning off small sections of hair. Little by little he can feel weight being added, and less hair touching his neck. After about twenty minutes, she proclaims her work done, and begins to put her hair care products away. Getting up to look in the mirror, he is shocked to find his hair done up in curlers, perfectly lined up like little soldiers, all over his head.
“What the fuck Cameron?” He shrieked.
“I needed to roll your hair up, so I can get the volume I need tomorrow. You said you’d trust me.”
“Yeah I guess I did, but how am I supposed to sleep in these?”
“You’ll get used to it. If it gets to be too much of a pain in the ass there’s always a perm.”
“I don’t think my pajamas will go over my head right now though.”
“I got you covered.”, she said, offering him one of her own sleep shirts. It was a pink tank top. “The neck opening should be big enough to get over the rollers. It’s for tonight, and if you like it enough to keep doing it then we’ll get you something of your own, more appropriate. For now just wear this. It‘s even got matching bottoms.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, feeling utterly defeated. He slid the top over his head carefully, and worked his arms through the holes. He then slid the pink pj pants up his legs, and pulled them over his round butt. They were decorated with little read hearts all over the material.
“You know,” she started, seeing if she could push her luck any further, “I could probably clean up your eyebrows a little more. It would make them look even nicer than they have the last few days, wouldn’t take long.”
“Do you think I need to already?” He said.
“I’ll just clean up a few strays and give them a little more shape. It won’t take long. I promise.”
“If you think so?”
She grabbed her tweezers, and unleashed her fury on the poor boys eyebrows. By the time she was done his brow ridge was red and puffy. She had given them some shape alright. The shape of a nice clean arch somewhat higher above his eyes, than he was used to.
“Just a few strays huh?” He said sarcastically.
“Yeah I guess I got a little carried away. Don’t worry. It looks totally good. I’m sure Lilly will compliment them tomorrow. Now off to bed with you. We need to finish the job in the morning. Good night.”
“Good night sis,” he said, rubbing his eyebrows. As he lay in bed he realized that he had just allowed his sister to curl his hair and tweeze his eyebrows. He was wearing her pink pajama set, and he had pearl studs in his ears. Something wasn’t normal. He just wasn’t sure he cared.
Dressed and ready the next morning, he sat at his sister’s vanity while she took down the rollers from his hair. After brushing it out, she parted it on the side so that it swooped down just over his forehead. When she was finished he sported a long wavy voluminous hairstyle similar to Selena Gomez. As he looked in the mirror, she waited anxiously for him to blow up on her, but all he said was, “I like it,” so they grabbed their things and were out the door.
Once Leighton arrived at the shop, the usual routine followed. She complimented him on his hair, and gave him his outfit. He thanked her and made his way to the dressing room. He emerged wearing a pair of black Capri pants, a white sleeveless top, and a gray sweater, with a peter pan collar, and a single button at the top. Once he had the sweater on he noticed that the sweater only covered about ¾ of his arms, and that it only fell to his mid back. His hair was almost as long. He was holding a pair of black ballet flats, with little white bows on the toes.
“This outfit is kind of girly, don’t you think?” He asked, approaching Lilly. “I mean, look at the bows on these shoes.”
Making a somewhat serious face, Lilly placed her hand on Leighton‘s shoulder, and says, “I know girly hasn’t been your thing, but I think it suits you. I think you would be happier if you allowed yourself to display the pretty girl inside you. I’ve been slowly gearing you up and every day you’ve seemed more confident. I’m just trying to help. Us girls have to stick together don’t we?”
Leighton was stunned. You could have pushed him over with a feather; she thought he was a girl. He had been wearing girl’s clothes. His family had seen him wearing girl’s clothes. No wonder his sister had been having him do all those things, hair curlers; pajamas; and nail polish. He tried to find the words to explain it all away, but he couldn’t, he didn’t know what to do.
“Girls stick together,” was the only response he could muster.
“Of course,” she said taking his hand. “I was awkward an awkward teenager too, but now I’m hot shit,” she said, giggling. “Why don’t we just take it a little further today? See how pretty you really are.”
She then took the quiet child by the hand, and led him to a nearby stool. Taking the shoes from his hand, she placed them on his feet, and went behind the counter to get her make up bag. She removed his glasses, and after taking in his fair skinned face, she decided the Leighton was the girl next door type, nothing too dramatic, just cute and lovable. After 20 minutes of powders and shadows, and mascara, and a little lip coloring she was finished. To top off her creation she placed a thick white head band with a large white bow in his hair. Reaching under his shirt she attached a white strapless gel bra around his chest. Finally she replaced his glasses, and pushed them up his nose into place. She took him by the hand and led him to the mirror. She smiled and said, “Tell me that’s not a pretty girl.”
The image was not what he expected. It was of a young girl, breast budding, cute face, button nose, beautiful eyes, and soft lips. She was not what you would call supremely sexy, just adorable. The kind of girl he thought he could fall in love with. He searched for the words to tell her, that he was not what he saw in the mirror, but was a boy. Almost a man, he opened his mouth, but all that escaped, was “I don’t feel well, I need to go home.” He then grabbed his purse and ran out the door.
Making his way down to express, couldn’t help but take in his appearance, as he stared at every reflective surface. When he burst into the store almost crying his sister quickly sat him down. She went to the back, and told her boss she had a family emergency, and needed to leave for the day. Once they were in the car his outburst started.
“Why did you do this to me?” he cried. “I’m not supposed to look like this, I’m not supposed to be cute, This is all your fault!”
She yelled back, “I hate to break it to you sweetie, but you did most of this on your own. You never even really objected. You can’t tell me you don’t like the way you look. You just don’t like the fact that you like it.”
“I do like it. I never even thought about how I wanted to present myself before, but now that I am, this is what I want. But I wouldn’t even want it if it wasn’t for you, and that woman.”
“From what you’ve told me, she was just trying to help, and you know what?
So was I, I think it’s great that you are working. I think it’s great that you’ve left the house. I think it’s great that you don’t look like trash right now. I think it’s great you like the way you look. I think you’re great, and you’re finally showing it.
There’s nothing wrong with being yourself, and I’d be lucky to have a pretty little sister like you.”
The silence held for a few minutes until Leighton broke it. “You really think I’m pretty?”
With a kind look on her face, Cameron replied, “Of course I do, you’re starting to give me a run for my money, at least before the raccoon eyes?”
With that Leighton burst into laughter. He really felt close to his sister, even more so now than ever.
Cameron’s face lit up, an idea was brewing. “Screw going home, let’s have a fun day as sisters. You can see if you really want this. We could get our hair done, go shopping, and talk about boys.”
“I’m not sure I like boys, am I supposed to?”
“You’re supposed to do whatever makes you happy. You can figure it out on the way. You’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
So they began their adventure. The first stop was Cameron’s favorite salon. After being pampered for a few hours, he left with freshly repaired makeup, and longer red nails. He was also sporting freshly trimmed layered hair, and eyebrow length bangs, like Zooey Deschannel. Then they hopped from store to store demolishing most of Cameron’s most recent paycheck. With a car full of shopping bags, as the symbol of a day well spent they finished the day with dinner. Leighton found it weird how the waiter kept calling him miss, but as the meal went on it felt right.
He was she; she was happy; she felt like herself.
As they opened the door to their house, their mom called out that she had good news, and to come to the living room. Standing up to greet her children her eyes scanned her new daughter Leighton, all the way from the bow in her hair to the bows on her feet, “Mom, we need to talk.”
“I guess we do, sit down.”
They talked for hours about the future. Leighton wanted to continue living as a girl. Cameron suggested Hormone therapy, so that when puberty finally did take hold it would go in a different direction, than nature intended. Ms. Johnson gave them the good news about a promotion at work, and that they’d be moving to the nicer part of town. Her new daughter could have a fresh start at a different school.
It looked like a lot of change was in the air for the Johnson family, but they were more supportive of each other, and happier than ever. They cried, and hugged, and talked, and laughed until they couldn’t’ stay awake any longer. Leighton retired to bed in her new nightgown, head full of curlers, and looked forward to what she hoped would be a better future.
The next morning Lilly looked out into the mall lobby as a confident young girl approached her store. She was wearing a white lace dress, gathered at the bust, a falling to mid thy length. She wore black thy high stockings leaving just a little skin exposed beneath the skirt. She was wearing a short denim jacket, over the top, and her feet were in a pair of black flats with bows at the toes, and her face had the cutest pink and black glasses. She knew those shoes. She knew those glasses. It was Leighton.
“Hi,” the confident young girl greeted. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I just haven’t been feeling myself lately, but I think I’m starting to. I hope I didn‘t ruin my chances to keep working here.”
“That’s okay. I’ve been there. I’m glad you took my advice and let the pretty girl out. I bet the boys have been all over you today.”
“I’ve noticed a few looking, but they’re not really what I’m looking for. It is flattering though, I don‘t really want to look like this for them. I want to look like this for me. Thank you for pushing me!” Leighton said, tears welling up.
They hug, and Lilly says, “Glad I could help. Anyway, we’ve got inventory today, and there’s a whole lot of work I need to get done. I’m glad you’re here. Let’s get to it.”
So the Johnsons moved to the other side of town. Leighton started her new high school. She wasn’t the most popular girl. She was still kind of a dork, who loved her video games and anime, but she had friends. She met a lot of people who shared similar interest.
She even tried dating a boy, but after the goodnight kiss, she knew it wasn’t for her. At an anime convention, while cosplaying as Haru Hara Haruko, she met another cosplayer dressed as Samaria Mamimi from the same anime, FLCL. Her name was Darla. They laughed and talked for hours, and even agreed to have lunch later on in the week. After getting together several times, Darla let it slip that she had a thing for trap manga that usually revolved around boys who lived as girls.
Once Leighton became comfortable enough with Darla, she let it slip that she had a little something extra. They found it amazing that they connected so well, and were falling in love, and that the attraction pieces of the puzzle so easily fell in place. The two have been together ever since.
After high school Leighton continued to work for Lilly, and when the business expanded, she was offered the job as general manager, of one of the newer opening stores. She was grateful to Lilly for giving her a life worth enjoying, and seeing potential in a scared teenager. Leighton had troubles and struggles. As she got older she felt the ache for motherhood. She and Darla wound up adopting a baby girl from China. As she looked into her babies face she thought, “This must be happily ever after.”
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The End for now Folks!
© Shawna Stimple 2012
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Source URL: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/37676/new-look-life