Cindy was impressed. She’d seen my room a few times and she commented on the changes.
“You go sit on the bed until I need you.”
She was going through my t-shirts and putting most of my best ones into a pile. She found a basic black one.
“Put this on,” she ordered.
I hesitated, but I remembered what Greg had said, so I just did it. She watched with a clinical eye, so I wasn’t too embarrassed.
“Turn around. Now lift your arms. Not too bad, but a little snug in the shoulders.”
I’d grown, so most of my clothes no longer fit. She told me to take it off. She put it into a new pile. She continued to hand me shirts until we had gone through all of them. There were only three she liked. My favorites she put into a garbage bag along with all the ones that didn’t fit.
She then went to work on my jeans. When she handed me a pair of jeans to try on, I suddenly realized I was without a shirt and was about to strip down to my underwear. I figured to go for it.
“Stop. Seriously, you’re wearing tighty-whities?” Cindy asked before I could pull my jeans up.
She went over to my top drawer and started to put all my underwear into the garbage bag. I had nothing to wear. She went into Greg’s room and came back with a pair of boxers.
“Put these on.”
I was not going to get naked in front of Cindy. I stepped into the bathroom and changed. Thank God, Cindy didn’t make any comments. She just nodded and handed me a pair of jeans to put on. It turned out she only liked one pair of jeans and two pairs of my shoes. I was kind of bumming when she made me haul all my clothes out to her car. She took me to the local church and had me put the clothes into the donation bin. She then took me shopping.
I normally hate shopping, but with Cindy, it was fun. She enjoyed herself so much that it was contagious. I have to admit, I looked good in the clothes she picked out. I’ve never been into tight pants, but Cindy insisted on skinny jeans.
She seemed at a loss for shirts. My shoulders were much wider than my waist, so she said we had to get more-fitted shirts. I wasn’t thrilled, but I was not going to hurt her feelings.
“Cindy, this is fun and all, but I don’t have the money to buy all this.”
“It’s my treat,” she assured me.
I grinned at her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Cindy was beaming. She then took me to a hair salon. I’ve always had my dad cut my hair and when the gal saw it, she almost fainted. I got the whole treatment of wash, cut and styling. When we left, I had a bag full of shampoos, conditioners and gels.
I looked into the mirror and was amazed. I looked like a much better version of myself. I thought I looked older; I could probably get into a bar looking like this. They cut my hair short on the sides and styled the top; the top curled loosely and looked like I did nothing to it. The trick to get it to look like that had taken them thirty minutes to teach me. It was a distinctive, cool look.
When I finally came out of the back, I noticed the cute receptionist looking at me with a critical eye. “Was she checking me out?” I asked as soon as we left the salon.
“Of course she was. I’ll let you in on a little secret: if a girl sees a guy with another girl, she wants him even more.”
“No way that’s true.”
“Want to bet?”
“Sure, what’s the bet and what do I win?”
“Go into the sandwich shop and flirt with any of the girls in there and see how far you get with your new look. If you get digits, that actually work, you win and I’ll be your girl toy this afternoon. I’ll come in ten minutes later and flirt with you. I’ll then leave and give you another five minutes to try to get a phone number. If I win, you’re mine for the afternoon.”
Of course, I would agree to this bet. It sounded like a sure thing either way.
“Deal!”
There were three girls my age or a little older working. I could see all of them talking and glancing over at me. I had this in the bag. The cute girl with long chestnut hair came over. She looked like she was a little older than I was. She had a very athletic look. When she came to the table, she gave me a smile.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Sure, how about a Coke?”
“Sorry, we only have Pepsi.”
“I’ll have Mountain Dew then.”
I hated the taste of Pepsi. I’m a diehard Coke man, but I did like Mountain Dew. It looked like radioactive slurry and had enough caffeine to kick-start any day.
“What can I get you?” she asked when she brought me my drink.
I figured to use the direct approach.
“How about your phone number?”
She smiled at me and wrote down her name and number on a napkin. I was amused, she didn’t miss a beat. She must get hit on all the time. “What would you like to eat?” she clarified.
No need to push it, but I was a guy. I decided I’d already won the bet, so I left the ‘eat’ comment alone. I ordered a sub. Cindy came slinking in. She’d watched and figured it was time for her to pay up.
“How did you do?”
I pulled out the napkin and handed it to her. She pulled out her cell phone, dialed the number, and put it on speaker.
“Health and Human Services,” a cheerful voice answered.
She hung up and busted out laughing. What the heck? The waitress had given me the number for the local VD clinic. I had to laugh; it was pretty funny. The waitress came back with my sandwich.
I could see her take Cindy’s measure.
“What can I get you?”
Cindy was still laughing.
“You gave him the VD clinic number?”
The waitress smiled.
“Sure. If he’s that brazen, I figured he needed the number.”
They both lost it and I started to get a little uncomfortable. Cindy smiled at her.
“My boyfriend will split his sandwich with me, but could you get me an iced tea?”
As she was walked away, Cindy gave me a kiss. Well, I liked that. I also noticed the girls had taken note.
“Can you put that into a to-go cup? I have to take off,” Cindy said when our waitress came back with her tea.
When she returned with the to-go cup, Cindy leaned into me and ran her hand on the inside of my thigh. I jumped because I knew her hand was mere inches from my package. She gave me a nice kiss. The waitress just gawked as Cindy got up and walked out. I didn’t say a word but smiled at the waitress. I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. She put her name and number into my phone and told me to call her. I looked down and saw her name, Robbie King.
I finished my sandwich and went to find Cindy. She just smirked and I knew she knew. I just followed her to the car like a good boy toy.
WHEN WE GOT HOME, MOM and Dad were there. Cindy decided she would collect her bet by having me model my clothes for my parents. Everyone seemed to have a good time at my expense.
“If I didn’t know you, I’d jump you,” Mom said.
Talk about too much information. I thought I would die of embarrassment. Cindy gave me a knowing look and smirked.
“I do know him, and I think might jump him. Greg will just have to find a new girlfriend.”
I thought we’d have to give Dad CPR when he choked on his drink. I think Cindy was evil, but in a very good way. Greg was a lucky guy. The more I’d gotten to know her, the more I liked her. I think I might like her jumping me.
Monday September 2
LABOR DAY WAS THE BUSIEST day of the season for Dad and his Parks and Recreation staff. The parks would be full and it was the last day they had the public pools open. Greg and I always had to help in some way. For some reason Greg had gotten out of helping this time. He got up early and left for the day. Dad made me help the lifeguards at the main pool. You had to be sixteen to do it for money, so I was an unpaid volunteer, or that was what Dad told me.