The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 12

We drove back toward Daytona Beach, as the car came to a stop at a shopping mall. “What are we doing here?” I asked. “You’ve only got one set of girl’s clothes. I told you earlier that we would get you some more, I’ll even let you pick them out!” Meredith said. “Okay,” I said nervously, as we got out of the car and made our way into the mall. Walking through crowds of people, I was beginning to get a little self-conscious. After all, this was the first time I had gone into a public place as a girl. I’ve been to plenty of shopping malls in my life, but this concept was foreign to me. As I walked past people in the mall, I was getting smiles from a lot of the people I passed. An elderly woman gave me a warm smile and said, “Hello, Dear.” I was speechless. I was floored at how different people reacted to me as a 13-year-old girl. They seemed to adore me, like I was a cute little girl. To be honest, I enjoyed the attention. People typically didn’t go out of their way to approach me as an adult male, and when they did, their faces weren’t exactly aglow with a warm smile like the elderly woman that just had said hello to me. Meredith led the way to a department store. I was accustomed to walking to the men’s section, however I felt like an outsider looking for clothes in the junior girl’s department. I blankly looked through rack after rack of tops, t-shirts, shorts, capris, and skirts. I had been a girl for less than 24 hours, and I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what 13-year-old girls like to wear; I had never given this topic much thought! Meredith put her hand on my shoulder and smirked. “What’s wrong, you’ve been a girl for less than 24 hours and don’t know where to start, right?” she said. It’s almost like she’s reading my mind, I thought. “Uh huh,” I said clumsily. “You’re so cute,” she said as she playfully grabbed me by the cheek. “Here, let me get you started,” she said as she flurried article after article of clothing items into my arms. “Consider this your crash course to becoming a girl! Most girls have years to build a sense of fashion!” She was right. I was not exactly prepared to completely change everything about the clothes I wear overnight. Not to mention adjusting to a completely different body and a completely different way of living. As I was feeling weighed down by the copious quantity of teenage misses apparel she was handing me, I felt like I was being weighed down by the pressure of suddenly having to adjust to being a completely different person. To say it was overwhelming would be the world’s biggest understatement. I looked at Meredith and started to tear up. “Olivia…I know this is all so sudden, but…..here,” she said as she collected some of the clothes out of my arms. “Let’s go try some of these on. I’ll help you put some of these outfits together.” She led me to the dressing room. She walked into the dressing room with me, and I burst into tears. I didn’t understand what came over me. I usually didn’t get emotional like this before. This abrupt change of life was overwhelming, but in my old life, I didn’t cry very often. Meridith gave me a warm hug and kissed me on the cheek. “I know this is difficult for you, but I’ll simplify this for you,” Meredith said. “I’ll put some outfit combinations together, and you can try each combo on.” She set aside a light blue tank top with thigh high jean shorts, a pair of capris with a pastel yellow halter top, and sun dress with a floral pattern. “Oh, and I forgot this,” she said as she handed me a hot pink two-piece bikini set. “For the beach,” she continued. “I’ll wait outside for you,” Meredith said, as she closed the dressing room door behind her. I stared at all the clothes for what seemed to be an eternity. I finally sheepishly started to try on the clothes. I looked into the mirror with each outfit pairing I tried on. I began to understand why every female I knew enjoyed shopping so much. I loved all the outfits Meredith had picked out for me. I was taking laps between twirling in the mirror and strutting through the dressing room door like a runway model to model the clothes to Meredith. The last thing I tried on was the sun dress. I was awestruck when I looked in the mirror. I twirled in the mirror, admiring how the dress accentuated curves that I didn’t know I had until just then, at that moment. The dress felt so liberating. I showed it off to Meredith. Her eyes began to glisten. “You look so beautiful in that. Please tell me you like that!” she begged. “It’s…..okay” I replied. She laughed. “I see the way you strut around in that dress; you can’t fool me!” “Yeah,” I replied. “It’s…..really nice,” I said awkwardly. “I know just the right sun hat you can wear with that dress. And sunglasses! And Sandals! And…” I interrupted Meredith mid-sentence. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Meredith!” I said. “Let’s just get these clothes and check out.” I continued. “Where to now?” I said as we left the store. “I’ve got plans for you, young lady,” she said. I gulped as I was nervous to see what she had planned for me. She took me to get my ears pierced. She took me to get my nails done. She even took me to get my eyebrows waxed! The last stop of our shopping trip was to a formalwear shop. As I walked into the shop, I peered at a lavender dress, with lace accents and a tapered bottom. “I see you staring at this dress. Go…..try it on.” Meredith said. I slipped the dress on. It felt similar to the sun dress, but the silk felt so smooth against my skin. After I draped the straps above my shoulders, I looked into the mirror and my heart melted. “This dress is breathtaking. I look absolutely gorgeous,” I whispered to myself. I walked out and modeled the clothes to Meredith. “It’s perfect,” Meredith said with an emphatic smile. “Lavender really suits you,” she continued. “Why are we looking at…..prom dresses?” I said. Meredith replied, “For the competition gala tomorrow night! You do remember me telling you about that before we left, right? I completely spaced. She did say something about an event. I’m pretty sure I glossed over the details because I didn’t particularly have any interest in the event. I knew there was a reason I packed my formal suit and tie. Sadly, I no longer needed it. Meredith handed me pearl colored high heel slippers. “Trust me, these will go great with that dress,” she said. I tried them on and walked back and forth clumsily. I almost rolled my ankle on the last turn. “We’ll work on that,” Meredith said to me. Until then, I’ll get you some flats you can wear. After we paid for the dress, we made our way back to the car. “I had a lot of fun with you today,” Meredith said. “Did you enjoy yourself?” I replied, “It was…..different.” I was a bit afraid to admit how much I enjoyed shopping with her. Sure, it was different, and it was very awkward and uncomfortable at first, but after a while it became natural, and I really enjoyed my newfound femininity. I was just afraid to admit it so soon to Meredith. I was her husband less than a day ago. It's funny how things can change so quickly. While I was starting to feel comfortable in my new female body, the dynamic between Meredith and I now felt anything but. “Let’s hurry back to the convention center. We still might be able to make it before the award ceremony,” Meredith said. Suddenly, I felt petrified. Chris is no longer here, and Meredith would be showing up with a 13-year girl in tow. How can she possibly explain this to Stella and her kids? I quickly transitioned from a euphoric mood to a mood that would be best compared to a lamb being led to a slaughter. Meredith said she had a plan…..I just hoped that it would work out as she planned.