Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?

42. HOW DO I LOOK?

Continuing to walk past shop after shop, Beck stopped to examine a display of lighting rigs just inside the entrance of a camera store.

I stayed right outside the shop, aimlessly looking around. I quickly spotted a group  of three boys gathered outside the entrance of a comics and collectables shop.
Almost immediately, I realized one of the boys was not just looking my way, he was looking directly at me.

Was he checking me out?

I sat my bags on the bench in front of me, reached up with one hand and pushed my hair behind my ear, while casually glancing over in his direction.

Of course he was. A girl around his age (me) just walked into his field of view and he didn't take his eyes off her. At this age, his male hormones were raging and any girl, attractive or not, would catch his attention. In his imagination, he probably already had me bent over a chair, taking me from behind.

I shuddered at the thought.

Unfortunately, I maybe deserve that. I couldn't tell you how many times I'd had the same kind of thoughts about an attractive girl.

Placing one foot up on the bench, I fiddled with the laces, pretending to re-tie them.

Let's see where this goes, I told myself as I looked directly at him from across the way and gave him a sweet smile.

I looked back down at my boot as he quickly turned back towards his friends. It was then that I realized my dress was too short for me to have my leg up like this.

Oh crap.

I had just unintentionally given him a peek at my panties.

Throughly embarrassed, I quickly pulled my foot off the bench, stood up straight, and adjusted my dress.

When I looked back up, all three boys were looking my way and talking.

I quickly turned away from them, my cheeks now burning. That's when I saw Beck coming out of the store.

Great, let's get out of here, I quickly told myself as I retrieved my shopping bags from the bench.

I reached for the one with my new shoes, but Beck picked it up before I could.

"I got it. You're carrying enough," she told me.

"You gave her a wrong number though, right," I asked, continuing our previous conversation about the clerk in the shoe shop as we started down the corridor.

"I couldn't. She gave me her number and had me text her."

"Look at it this way, maybe she could be your new special drinking buddy."

Beck replied in a way that sounded like she was considering it, then she changed the subject. "Yeah, maybe . . . Hey, before we go, we got one more place to stop."

"Where?"

"Well, since you're done with being a tomboy, let's take the next step towards the feminine side of womanhood . . . Let's get your ears pierced."

A big grin spread across my face.

That was the one thing I wanted to do, because I knew how much that would help me appear undeniably feminine in other people's eyes.

Beck saw the grin and responded, "Oh, so you would like that?"

"Well, yeah."

Just ahead was a jewelry store and when we got to it, Beck led me inside.

After losing an argument with Beck over her insistance on paying for me to have the expensive starter studs with little diamonds, I was sat on a stool and the jewelry store clerk marked a dot on each of my earlobes.

When she picked up the gun and got ready to pierce my first ear, I braced for sharp pain  and felt . . . nothing. Well, nothing more than a little pressure, a pinch, heard a pop and it was done.

She then repeated the same thing with the other ear.

None of the searing pain I expected.

Wow, I thought, That was easy.

I looked in a mirror and excitedly admired my shiny, diamond studs while the lady told me to leave them in for the next four to six weeks until everything healed properly.

In addition to the studs Beck was buying me, I decided to pick out a pair of earrings.

Scanning the display cases, one set caught my eye. Each earring was a little over an inch long and looked like one side of a pair of feathered angel wings. They were made from silver and hung from a short chain that ended in a clasp for each piercing.

As we exited the store and headed back towards the parking lot, I commented on my piercings.

"They kinda feel like they're pinching my earlobes. I just want to reach up and adjust them, if I didn't have my hands full I would. I'm probably not going to be able to keep my hands off of them for a awhile."

"Yes, when they're new you're gonna wanna touch them all the time," Beck informed me. "I know, it's tempting. But you really shouldn't. And remember to take good care of them, especially in the first weeks."

Once we were back in her Hummer I pulled down the visor to take a closer look at my ears.

"How do I look?"

"Really pretty, quite the cutie. And happy too. I don't know why you ever chose to be a bland, drab, tomboy. This is so much better, right?"

I had to admit it was staring to feel quite nice. Was I really accepting all of this so easily? Not that I have any choice, I obviously am female physically so it makes sense. I'm just shocked at how fast I am mentally becoming a girl and losing all my former male mindset.

"Now we need to get something done with your hair," Beck continued, completely unaware of what was happening to me mentally. "It lacks a style, it's just hair on your head right now. Not today though, we'll have to do it tomorrow. You said there was something else you wanted. We can do that in the morning, then get your hair done while we're out. Oh and we can pamper ourselves with makeovers, and mani-pedis."

"Sounds like fun."

I knew what was coming. She was expecting to get back home and go swimming and she wanted me to wear my new two piece. I was apprehensive and wasn't ready for that, but there was nothing I could do, so the rest of the trip back, I tried to psychologically prepare myself.

I desperately hoped Dave was next door with Jeremy and Lisa, so I could get used to wearing a two-piece without having to do it in front of them. Either way, appearing in front of others with so much of my body exposed, was something I was so not ready for. This would be much worse than the thin, short, sundress I had on, which had been bad enough itself.