I wake up to the headache from, well, Hell… My mouth feels like it is lined with cotton; my tongue feels like parched leather. I groan and look around the room with eyes that feel like they have been sand-blasted. There is subdued light barely making its way through the heavy pink fabric of my curtains. I cough and groan again. I try and sit up and the weights on my chest make me have to give it an extra attempt before I am actually able to sit unsteadily on the bed. My back feels like it is on fire. My ears are hot. My belly button area is pulsing with pain. I feel like CRAP!

I am sitting there in self-pity when the door bursts open, flooding the room with bright light. I literally scream--both from being startled…and the pain the noise and light causes my aching head. Emily happily bounces in and says, “Girl! You look like C-R-A-P! Come on, we need to get you presentable. You have a really busy day.” She is carrying a tray and sets it down on my desk. She helps me stand up—I almost fall flat on my face—and over to my chair. She says, “I didn’t figure you would want to go down to breakfast, so I brought breakfast up to you. Don’t get used to it! Here…DRINK! It is the best thing you can do.” She hands me a very large glass of orange juice that I greedily gulp down. In the meantime, she fills a large pitcher with water and I gulp down a couple of glasses of that. By then, my throat does not feel like it is AS coated with ground glass. Emily makes me take a few bites of toast and some scrambled eggs, then she hands me a couple of white caplets and a cup of steaming hot strong coffee and says, “Ibuprofen and caffeine…the manna of the Gods when it comes to hangovers…” I gulp down the medicine with the hot coffee and give her a thankful look.

Emily tells me I can’t take a shower because of my new tattoos, but she offers to help wash my hair and give me a sponge bath. As I start towards the bathroom, I realize that I have to pee really badly after drinking all that I had. I tell Emily to give me a minute and go ahead in. I lift the toilet seat and reach down to grab my little guy. I yelp in surprise as I find some sort of rod running through him. It does not take me long to figure out that whatever the contraption is, that it will interfere with me peeing. I don’t have time to think too much about it, because I can’t stop the pressure—I really have to pee. Only…it the pee is all coming out of a hole in the wrong place and is dribbling down my leg. Emily comes in and quickly drops the toilet seat and makes me sit down to finish. She says, “You were modified a bit…you will have to always sit like a girl to pee now…” I sit there in shock as my pee tinkles out like a girl. Emily shows me how to properly wipe. She looks a little disturbed and says, “Just so you know—I did not and do not agree with…this…”

I look at Emily and seriously feel like crying. This is too much…what did I do to deserve this? With a bit of venom in my voice, I ask, “Why have you all turned on me? Turned me into some sort of caricature…basically a bimbo…?” Emily looks at me perplexed and turns it around on me, as she says, “While some of it may have been a bit overboard, it i/em> what you described to us as the perfect woman—what an important woman is like… What is not to your liking?” I sigh as she starts to help me sponge off…At least the ibuprofen is beginning to kick in… I lick my still parched lips and say, “This…” I gesture towards myself. “This…looks more like…Mylie Cyrus or Britany Spears —or at least what they pretend to represent for shock value… but, there is really no sense in discussing it—you and your posse have made up your minds; and seem to have Mrs. Braun and the Mother Superior behind you. I am not so sure about my Mom—I KNOW my Dad will have a fit when HE finds out…” Emily looks very pensive after that as she quietly helps me finish washing off…

Emily almost has my hair blown dry when my door once again is thrown open. I guess I can kiss any sort of privacy goodbye for now… Shauna comes rushing in with a bag in her hand, pulls Emily to one side, and whispers in an agitated manner into her ear. Emily looks at her and says, “How should I know? Yesterday was your show…remember?” Shauna rolls her eyes and starts pulling some clothes out of the bag. She comes over to me and says, “We are going to have to find some makeshift clothes for you. Our plan was to take you shopping and get you outfitted today, but, for some reason, the Mother Superior wants to see you right away. I grabbed some things from the other girls that we think might fit… Oh, and you haven’t even started your makeup yet. This is a DISASTER!”

The next half hour is a rush of Emily finishing drying my hair and pulling it back into a tight, high ponytail. Shauna quickly puts some makeup on my face. It is much lighter than yesterday, although my eyes are still a wonder to me…the thick eyelashes the makeup gives me, together with the colored lids and thin, highly arched eyebrows make my green eyes pop and just draw my gaze straight to them in the mirror… After a few tries, we find a pair of lacy girl’s jeans, with heavily adorned pockets, a blouse that will barely close over the large boobs I now have glued on (safely tucked away in a bra—which is a whole other story), and some three-inch pumps that match the color of the pumps.

Shauna looks at me and says, “That will have to do for now. We will worry about a purse and other things later. Come on, Joy, we needed to be over there ten minutes ago. The MS does not like to be kept waiting.” I give her a withering look and shrug. There is no need to even comment on that…but I do grimace and say, “You really expect me to walk in THESE? Let alone hurry?” Shauna gives me a withering look back and asks, “What is the matter? The almighty guy from the town from Hell can’t handle heels? Three-inch are starter heels…for real girls, that is…” Emily rolls her eyes and sighs. She grabs my left arm while Shauna grabs my right and they walk me out my door between them—literally keeping me on my wobbling feet, like I am once again drunk out of my mind…

Ten minutes later, I stumble into the Mother Superior’s office—Emily and Shauna waiting at the door behind me. She gives me a surprised look and dismisses the two girls—telling them to close the door behind them. She says with a slightly amused crinkle around her eyes, “I don’t mind you being barefoot—IF you did not choose those shoes…” I give her a thankful look and sigh in appreciation as I kick off the shoes. I say, “Remind me to forget that…’experience’… I can’t believe that I did not break my ankle on the way over here.” I laugh a little at myself and then say, “I don’t suppose you have to worry about heels?” She shakes her head no and says, “Well, not anymore; but I was not always a nun… So, you must be wondering why I asked you to come—and don’t worry, I understand that it is not your fault that you are late. It would have been a miracle if you had made it at the time I asked Shauna to have you here…”

She gets up and pours two hot cups of tea. She gestures towards the cream and sugar and takes a sip of hers; black. I cautiously follow suit and quietly wait as she gives me a critical appraisal. Finally, she asks, “So, how do you feel?” I almost drop my cup—I had expected most anything, but not that question. I take a sip of tea to cover for the awkward silence while I contemplate my answer. Finally, I decide to be truthful. What have I got to lose? I put down my cup and say, “Well. I don’t know how to answer that question, honestly. I hurt. I was pierced, tattooed….and otherwise humiliated by this whole thing. Those girls have chosen to make me look like some sort of bimbo…I don’t know why. It can’t be because of who I said were important women…they are definitely not bimbos. Well, at least not that I know of…” I can’t help but grin a little at myself. The Mother Superior smiles and says, “And yet, that is the second time since you got here this morning that you have made a little fun of yourself. I like that… But…please…go on…” I shake my head and say, “I don’t get it. I really don’t. I mean, this stuff is permanent… Wait until my Dad finds out…”

The Mother Superior sits quietly for a few minutes to see if I add anything else, but there really isn’t anything else for me to say. She nods and says, “Well, I know some things that none of you do, but this is not the time for those to come out. Not yet, anyway. I will let you know that Shauna and her family hold the town you come from in contempt—better said, they hold any males from that town in contempt. It is up to her to tell you more, though—it is her personal business. The thing is that, because of that, she lost perspective over this project—and has hurt you. Shauna is a born leader and has easily convinced the others, with the exception of Emily, of blindly following her lead. I signed off on this project and so it is ultimately my fault that you were hurt in this manner. I can’t let you off the hook on the project—things happen for a reason—and there is a reason for this. But, I can make up for the hurt… Come over here and lay down…”

She leads me to a couch and has me lay down. She kneels down beside me, places her hands over my heart, and bows her head down until her forehead touches her folded hands. I am not sure what to make of all of this…but, all of a sudden, I feel a warm glow come over me…and, slowly, the pain…disappears. The headache…gone. The pain from the piercings…gone. The pain from the tattoos…gone.

She raises her head and slowly gets up. I notice she is shaking—like she is really weak… She smiles wanly at me and asks, “Do you feel better?” Wonderingly, I nod and say, “The pain is gone…” She sits, still unsteady, and says, “I…have some…gifts… You are healed…for now. I promise you this. The things that happened to you yesterday because of what the girls subjected you to will not be an issue when your ‘project’ comes to an end. Whatever you choose to do at that point will be entirely up to you… The piercings can be healed. And those tattoos, well, they are magnificent pieces of art, but the ink has some special properties that even the girls are not aware of. I know Zoey well and she is a genius in her art, not unlike you will be… I did not lightly recommend to your Mom to sign the consent forms she requires…”

She takes a shaky breath and looks really pale. Though she is visibly shaking, she looks at me unwaveringly—straight in the eye and says, “Go take a hot bubble bath and let your worries soak away before they drag you off to go shopping. I promise this will be a learning journey for all of you. I also promise that this journey will not harm you in any way—I will see to that. Now, go—I am afraid I am going to have to rest a bit…”

I give her a worried look and she shoes me towards the door with a dismissive motion of her hands. I grab my shoes and quietly slip out with them in my hand. Emily and Shauna are waiting outside and pull me outside. I hop around in my bare feet on the hot concrete sidewalk until Emily makes me sit down on a bench to tell them what happened.

I look at them both, wide-eyed, and simply say in a small, awed voice, “She healed me…”