Allergies Suck

 

---

 

I am not going to waste words here. My name is Billie James and I am twelve years old. I am five foot, one inch and have a slim body. I have an allergy to wool and cotton, so the clothes I wear have to be synthetic materials. A week before school, mom took me clothes shopping. In our town we have Walmart, K-Mart, and a few smaller clothing stores for girls and women, and we have J.C. Penny.

As we were going through the boys department at J.C. Penny, we didn't see any clothes that I could wear because they were all cotton. Mother had an idea though. She took me over to the ladies department, and started looking through skirts, dresses, slips, panties, pants that were either satin or satin-like or even rayon. I asked her what we were doing here, and she said because if I can't wear any boy clothes, I have to wear girl clothes. I started to look at her with a shocked experession. Up until now I could wear almost anything, until just a few years ago when it was discovered that the red blotches on my skin were being caused by my clothes.

The doctor told mother that from now on I would have to wear synthetic material clothes, unless she wanted to see me with constant blotches on my skin. My mother is slightly taller than me, with nice sun yellow blonde hair, and deep sky blue eyes. At five foot, six inches, she looked like a giant to me. Her name is Marian and she is a licensed cosmetologist. For some of you who think that all a cosmetologist does is set hair in a salon, you are very mistaken. My mother also applies makeup, and does nails too. Our little town isn't big like Chicago, New York, or even L.A. where they have manicurists do the nails, a separate makeup artist, and a masseuse. In our town the cosmetologist did everything, except massages. It was actually cheaper that way, or so mom had told me.

Anyway, back to the shopping trip for school. Most of the pants for the girls and young miss were some kind of denim or other cotton mix. So seeing how I was allergic to cotton and wool, the only other thing was skirts and dresses, or go naked. I guess naked is not an option. Oh well. Now while most dresses and skirts are cotton as well as tops, there are some that are made from synthetic material such as rayon, orlon, satin, or other fibers that weren't cotton or wool.

Mother said we had a choice of colors, prices, and lengths. She said she never thought that her son would one day become her daughter, but she said buying for a daughter is much more fun than buying for a son. I just cringed at what she said. But I guess it is either dress as a girl, or go naked, and I think the police would have something to say about going around naked. So, reluctantly I resigned myself to a fate worse than death. Of course, maybe now the guys at school will quit calling me shorty, and making inane comments like "when are you going to grow up".

Okay, so I was shorter than most boys I know. That isn't my fault. Mom says I will probably grow another two to three inches, at the most. Anyway, mom looked at me apprehensively, let out a big sigh and finally said.

"Well dear, you never know how cold the water is by standing on the shore. So let's get our feet wet."

She handed me a nice off white, floral dress, and told me to try it on. Then she handed me two packages, one had nylon panties in them, and the other had three nylon camisoles in different colors. She told me to put the panties and cami on first, and the tag on the panties went on the left. Then I had to try on the dress, because she said she wanted to see how I looked in it. I think I turned seven shades of pink, purple, and red together, because mom wanted to see me in a dress. That was just too much. So what does it mean when you have clothing allergies? It means you get used to a different way of life, and in my case, a softer, opposite way of life than I had been living. I was very apprehensive about stepping out of the booth, so I peeked my head out while holding the curtain around my body, and whispered for mom to come and see.

"Oh Billie, for heaven's sake. Let me see how you look."

"Mom," I whispered, "I am embarrassed. I've never worn anything like this, and I look like one of the girls I see at school. This is not flattering at all, and it droops across my chest."

"Billie, it is the only option right now. K-Mart and Walmart do not have anything even remotely like this for guys. If we went there, we would be right in the ladies section anyway. I know you feel embarrassed sweetie, but you have to have clothes, and I am sorry to say this, but these are the only clothes available for you right now. Even if I made your clothes from all the synthetic materials, they would still look too feminine. Besides," she stopped, and put her finger to the corner of her mouth. "Honey, open the curtain so I can see how you look."

I opened the curtain, and stepped back further in the booth. She still had her finger on her mouth, and she was telling me to turn slowly so she could see me from all sides. When I was facing her again, she said she knew exactly what the problem was, and she would fix it once we got home. Okay mom, keep me in suspense. I like not knowing what you're thinking, especially when it is about me. Mother wouldn't tell me what she was thinking about, just that it wasn't bad. I guess it is a surprise.

Anyway, mom had me try on a skirt next with a blouse, The skirt was an A-line tartan, and the blouse was simple white. I opened the curtain for mom to see, and she said there was something missing. Then she said to close the curtain, she would be right back. Mom came back with four half slips, and four full slips, plus culottes to go under my dresses and skirts if I didn't feel like a slip. She also had three pairs of shoes, and it was a good thing I wasn't allergic to leather. She had me try the shoes on, after giving me a package of nylons to put on. They had elastic at the top, so they were supposed to stay up on their own. After showing me how the nylons went on, she handed me one of the pairs of shoes.

This pair had a two inch heel, it was black and had an ankle strap that clasped rather than buckled. After the nylons were on, she had me put on one of the half slips, and then then the skirt and blouse again. She said my hair needed a little attending to, but right for now I looked beautiful. Does a guy want to look beautiful? I think not, but what choice did I have? Okay, so I am going to have to live as a girl for ... what? The rest of my life? For some reason that didn't sound right to me. After we were through trying on different skirts, blouses, dresses, and shoes, I left the store with a wardrobe any girl would die for. The only problem with that is, I'm a boy.

When we got home, mother showed me how to hang everything up in my closet, and how to set my lingerie in my dresser. She said one drawer should be for panties, another one for half slips (the full slips were hung in the closet with my dresses), and still another one for hosiery, as she called my stockings. She said I didn't need to worry about having any jeans because the maerials that jeans were made of, I was allergic to.

So, still in the tartan plaid, rayon skirt, and the white silk blouse, we went in the kitchen to have lunch. We had spent all morning shopping, and mom had gotten me quite a lot. Mom said as we ate a lunch of salad and turkey lunch meat sandwiches, that we still had to go out and get me night clothes, like pajamas, nightgowns, baby dolls, and we should look for more bedding too. There was just no end to the indignities these allergies were going to inflict on me. She said I needed a coat for winter too, and said that there are rayon/nylon material coats for women. I asked why I couldn't have a guy's coat, and she said because most guys coats are either cotton or wool, and I can't have either. So a ladies coat in a size four is what I would need to go with the clothes I have now. My old boy clothes we got rid of a while back already when the doctor said I was alleric to them.

Anyway, after cleaning up our lunch table and putting everything away, we sat down to rest our tummies before going back out to the stores. And like I said before, we have very few options for clothes here. There was just one thing though. The sensations I was feeling, wearing these new clothes, was electric to say the least. They made me feel like I was floating rather than walking. The click-clack of my heels on the floor was very disheartening because I knew that sound was coming from the shoes I was wearing. After lunch mother told me to come with her, and she would put my hair in an acceptable style.

We went in her bedroom, and she told me to sit on her bed. Then she turned me just so, so she could fix my hair. I had just washed it the night before, so we didn't have to do it again so soon. To my surprise, she was cutting, as well as shaping my hair. I asked her why she had to cut it, and she said so it looked neat and fabulous. Does a guy want his hair to look fabulous? I guess. Maybe. We'll see.

After she was done messing with my hair, she took a tweezers and said she had to get a few stray hairs out of my eyebrows. I didn't think anything of it at the time, so I just sat there. Okay, what do you want from me? I'm only twelve years old. When she was done, she said I could look in the mirror, so she opened her closet door and had me look at myself in her full length mirror.

I was astonished at what I saw. My hair not only framed my face in a feathered, wispy style, but I now had bangs too. My eyebrows were arched like I had seen on the girls at school, and then mother did something I was really not prepared for. She told me to sit down again, and not move until she was done. She brushed a little mascara on my lashes, and then put a light pink lip gloss on my lips. She told me to look in the mirror again. If I was astonished before, I was absolutely knocked for a loop this time. What I saw was a girl of about maybe sixteen looking back at me, with long lashes any girl would die for, and a pouty mouth framed by the lip gloss. Wow! This girl is very pretty, but there is only one problem. This girl looking back at me, is me, and I am a boy.

Mom rummaged around in her closet for a bit, and found a nice purse to go with my outfit. She showed me how to carry it, and told me to try it by walking around the room. I instinctively kept my legs together, and took small steps because quite frankly, I didn't want my skirt to flip up. After she was satisfied that I projected the image and actions of a young girl, she said we needed to go and do more shopping.

"Moth...mother, y-you, you mean like, like this?"

"Yes Billie. You look very pretty in that outfit, and nobody is going to say anything to you, except maybe a boy might want to take you out on a date. Honey you look like any other girl. So..."

"But mom, I'm a...I'm a boy. I shouldn't even look like this."

"I know sweetie, but if all you can wear are girl clothes, you have to project that image. I'm not being mean, sweetie, I am just making sure that your image fits your clothes. You know they say that clothes make the man, but with us it is different, clothes, style and image is what we need to be beautiful. I know that you are a boy, but mother nature has played a very nasty prank on you. I'm sorry sweetie, but you have to dress like this from now on. Your father's genes made you one of the boys and mother nature made you one of the girls. It isn't all bad being a girl. All you need to know is how to be one. You are only twelve years old, but right now you look like you are sixteen. It is all in the makeup dear, and all I did was fuss with your hair, and put mascara and lip gloss on you.

"Your facial features are soft, and your frame is slight, even pretty, like a girl's would be. You are even developing a figure. The little stick caterpillar is becoming the beautiful butterfly. I know you don't want to hear this, but what other options do we have? None that I can see right now. Honey, if you have to be a girl, make the most of it. I will teach you what you need to know. By the time Halloween is here, you will know just about what every other girl knows, including young lady, the talk every mother has to give her daughter. I am going to treat you like a daughter, and you will go through everything they go through except for two things, and that is you can't have a monthly cycle or what is called a period. Pregnancy is also something we don't have to worry about. But other than those two things, I will teach you every other thing a girl should know. You have adapted very well in such a short time. Now, it is time for your debut as my daughter, to go out and show the world who you are. Let's go shopping."

I left the house in a state of trepidation. I was very worried some troglodyte would give me a sound pounding, and then call me nasty names. The problem with troglodytes is they have no neurons in their slinky, slow, almost non-existent brains, so they have this tendency to use their brawny torsos which to say the least is the only thing they have going for them, and that isn't saying much. We got to J.C. Penny's again, and went right to the ladies section, and right to the nightwear. There were silk negligá¨es, pengoirs, shorty pajamas, long pajamas, capri pajamas, there were baby dolls, and then there were other synthetic materials as well.

Mother had me look at all of the different styles, colors, and synthetic fabrics, and told me to choose three of each. Oh, ok, you're probably wondering where she is getting all the money for this. Well, when my dad was alive, he invested what little money he had from time to time. Eventually his portfolio as he called it, was such that he didn't ever have to work again, but he did. He bought his own chain of auto repair garages (he was a very good mechanic), and he just hired mechanics to fix the cars. His company's reputation grew and he had a lot of repeat customers. Some of them even became friends. When he passed away, he left mother and me his entire portfolio, and mother never had to work again, either, but she does. She went to work every day at the beauty parlor. So, along with the auto repair garages, and her own beauty salon, as well as the stock portfolio, we had enough money to last us three lifetimes and then some. Anyway, I was her only child, and after dad died, she didn't seem interested in getting married again. And we didn't live like movie or rock stars. We had a simple little house, a five year old car, and we wore everday fashions most people would wear. We weren't stuck up, and we treated others they way we would want them to treat us.

After I had looked through everything, and selected three of everything I thought would make her happy, we went to the cash register to pay for it. The lady at the register complimented me on my outfit and said that I certainly wasn't the same tomboy who was in here earlier, I was now a beautiful young lady. When she asked me my name, I had to think quickly. I said it was Wilhelmina, but that my mother just called me Billie with an ie. She said I had a very unique name, and that it was German. Of course we were German by descent mother told me once, so maybe having a German name wasn't that bad. Oh, erm, did I just give mom another idea. I saw the look in her eye that said she agreed with my choice. I don't know where that choice had come from, but like I said, I had to think fast. Anyway, our shopping trip was over, and this time it only took three hours to get what I needed.

Did I need all of this, though? I mean, a girl would be in seventh heaven with a wardrobe like this, and all the frilliness of the clothes. But I'm a boy. Stupid mother nature probably intended otherwise. She can be such a prankster at times. Okay, so now I have to live as a girl, because all I can wear are girl clothes. Well, like mother had said, if I have to be a girl, I might as well make the most of it. How does that song by Doris Day start out? "I'm a girl and by me that's only great..." Well by me it isn't all that great. But what other choice do I have? None. Okay so now I have a new name. Wilhelmina. The lady at the store said it was German. Maybe I should look that up. Well anyway that is an idea for later. Right now we stopped at Denny's for dinner, and the waitress even complimented me on my outfit. When she found out I was only twelve, she looked surprised and said I was joking of course. I said no, and mother even said I was twelve too.

"Well I must say, you look like you are sixteen. How can you look so old, being so young?"

"It's all done with smoke and mirrors. Or in my case, with makeup and mirrors."

"Well sweetie, you are absolutely stunning. I don't think there is a boy that wouldn't purposely trip over his tongue to get you on a date. So anyway, are you ready to order?"

"We will have the roast beef dinner, with salad and a roll and mashed potatoes and peas."

"Thank you, ladies. What would you like to drink?"

"Bring her a large milk, and I will have coffee."

"Do you want your drinks now, or wait for your orders?"

"Now would be fine."

I can see mom has done this before. But I think she odered for both of us, so it would save me an embarrassment asking for my usual burger and fries. Mom also told me to remember to take small bites and chew my food thoroughly. She told me too to remember and dab the corners of my mouth, and to bite with my teeth and not with my lips, like most guys do. When our food came, we talked as we ate. We weren't in a hurry, so we took our time. The nice thing about Denny's is not only the food and the service, but also the inside of the restaurant. It was cozy, and felt like home, and except for the crowd of people, it would be like home. Now don't ask me what happened next, but I was only able to get through less than half of the dinner. Mom just smiled at me and said that was fine, because we could take the rest with us. Mom had more coffee and I ordered a Mountain Dew. We sat and talked a little more.

"You did very well today, Billie. I have never seen someone adapt to a situation more so than you have. Where did you come up with that name, Wilhelmina?"

"I have no idea, mom. It just kind of popped in and then right out again."

"Well, I think it is a very nice name. It is unusal and unique, but it fits your nickname very well. What say we go home and get into something comfortable, and have a girls night in?"

"Erm, what is a girls night in?"

"It's just us girls having a nice evening watching tv, or talking, or both. Are you game?"

"I guess so. Like you said, if I have to be a girl I should make the most of it, so I will."

---

Leave your comments the way you think you should, but please don't say this isn't realistic. To be continued.