It was late spring—each day warmer and prettier than the one before it. But all I did was mope around the house not sure of what to do with myself at all.
"Get dressed," my mom said to me one morning. "We're going to Lake Mohegan."
If there's one thing that always cheers me up it's the lake. Just me and my mom. She made a picnic basket of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought a thermos of ice-cold milk along too.
The lake is way up in the mountains, so you have to catch an early bus out of town to get there. When we did, we found a nice sandy space on the shore and put our blanket down.
"I got you a new swimsuit," my mom said.
I changed in the dressing room, and it fit just fine.
For awhile I played in the sand next to my mom—then I went swimming.
It was great.
As the morning wore on more and more people came until pretty soon the beach was packed.
I was too busy building a sandcastle at first to notice the stares I was getting from some of the grownups around us. Finally, what must have been some boy's mom came up to me. She looked at me kind of funny and smiled oddly. "Don't you think you're a little too grownup to be without a top?"
I went right back to my mom—sat on the blanket next to her—and told her what the woman had said. My mom looked at me funny too and smiled just the same way the woman had.
"Just wear this for now." She had me turn around and tied something around me that covered up my front—but left my stomach and back opened.
I knew what it was, but I didn't say anything.
From that day on I could never go to the beach without wearing a top.
Another thing that changed was I couldn't get any guys to play with me anymore. They'd either just ignore me or give me a goofy look. Girls asked me to play all the time. Sometimes I would, but after a while I'd always get bored.
Then one morning, I woke up and there the Girls were—laying their shamelessly right on top of me for all Glory to see. I couldn't deny them anymore. I had bosoms.
For the last three weeks of school, before the start of summer vacation, I'd coil an Ace bandage round and round my chest making it so tight I scarcely could breath.
But every night when I took it off, the Girls were still there just as cheeky and brazen as you pleased.
YOU ARE READING
Io
Short StoryI said, "Gee mom, give me a break. You've got it easy." "Easy?" she says, cocking one well plucked eyebrow. "Well, yeah. All you have to do is look pretty." Then she popped THE QUESTION. "So, you'd like it easy too, I suppose?" I'm Io. And that is...
