Pearl Essence
- 0 -
“Mr. Barrington, sir, construction is nearing completion. The Club will be finished within the week.”
Barrington, wearing an all white ice-cream suit with matching chinos and a pink shirt underneath, sat behind his thick oak desk, reclined in his red, overstuffed leather chair, and smiled.
“Very good, Ames. Have all of the necessary arrangements been made for our grand opening?”
“The website is up, invitations have gone out, and representatives are actively enlisting new recruits.”
“Wonderful, Ames. Simply wonderful.”
- 1 -
“Dammit, Jess, get up now! I swear, if you miss the bus again, you’re walking, missy!”
“I’m up, mom! Christ.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Ugh.” Slowly, Jess rose from sweet dreams of kissing Rob, her boyfriend of two years. Half awake and eyes only a quarter open, she stumbled towards her closet, cursing him for keeping her out so late at the graveyard, but, thinking of his touch, his hot breath, a half smile formed on her face. What to wear today, black, black, or black?
She kept a small group of friends, but the ones she had she loved with an undying fire. They spent most nights hanging out at the graveyard in town, partially because it stayed unlocked most of the night, mostly because the caretaker was in his 80s and they would be left alone. Drinking beer—or whatever they could find in their parents liquor cabinets—and passionately making out was the usual itinerary of such evenings. Weird, though, she thought to herself as she pulled her black, thigh high boots over her fishnets, Beth didn’t show up last night. I’ll ask why she flaked at school.
Adjusting her corset in the mirror, adding the last touch of thick black eyeshadow, she walked out the door.
The bell for first period rang, and she still saw no sign of Beth. She took her usual usual seat in the far back corner of her least favorite class, Sociology, or, as she referred to it—nap time. Most of the class had filtered in when Jess noticed Ashleigh, the girl whose constant ridicule over the last two years had caused Jess a great deal of stress. A typical cheerleader, long legs shown off by short skirts bought with daddy’s money, hair so blond it could not have come from genes, and shirts cut just high enough to escape dress code restrictions.
Not like anybody would ever call her on her mode of dress—she was a cheerleader for crying out loud!
Today, however, she wasn’t wearing any of her normal attire, or the heavy make up and glitter. Instead, she had on brown loafers, straight cut khaki pants, and a pink polo underneath a green cable-knit sweater. Jess knew that, on occasion, the squad would “dress up” for a big away game, or the day of a banquet, but she knew there wasn’t anything like that going on—there had been no announcement. She could almost brush this sudden change of dress, if it weren’t for her smile.
Her straight cut, pearly white teeth were on display inside a wide-set grin, as if Ashleigh were on the world’s best drug trip, and showed no signs of slowing down. She effused a quality of happiness beyond happiness, like whatever she was feeling you would never in a million years experience. Her hair, too, was noticeably different. No more did it reflect every hint of available light, blinding Jess for half the lecture. Now, it was a more natural brunette, cut to shoulder length, tucked back behind her ears, showing off the pearls in her lobes.
Stranger still, she walked over to Jess.
“Jessica, hello. May I speak with you??” That smile, ever present, could do nothing to hide the sound of guilt in her voice.
“It’s Jess. And what?”
“I feel that I need to apologize to you. I’ve been hurtful to you in the past, and I’d feel remiss if I did not tell you how badly I feel.”
Jess recalled the list with ease. Weirdo, freak, outcast, whore. She had always admired the audacity of that last, but decided not to call the kettle black. One simple apology, however, was not enough to ease the pain of being slammed into lockers, the humiliation of having her clothes stolen after gym class, and the horrible name calling.
Ashleigh, seeing the look of pure contempt on Jess’s face, tried again with her constant smile.
“I want you to know how truly sorry I am. I should never have done or said any of those things to, and I want to make it up to you. This Friday, the new Country Club is holding a little welcome dance, and I think you’d really like it if you went!”
At this, Jess could no longer hold in her anger.
“Are you kidding me? After everything you put me through, you think I’d just forgive you? And what makes you think I’d ever want to go to some stupid country club?”
“I just wished to make amends.” Never once did that smile wane, and Jess wondered how much it hurt to keep her muscles so taut. “I perfectly understand that you don’t forgive me, but, I think by the end of the week, you may see things differently.”
Before Jess had time to respond, the teacher walked in, hushing those still talking and goofing off.
“Good morning class” Mrs. Appleton said, “Today, we will be discussing the use and effect of subliminal messaging in the media...”
As Jess drifted off to sleep, she kept turning over in her head what Ashleigh had said: ...you may see things differently?
It was a long, boring stretch towards lunch. Jess walked into the cafeteria, bagged lunch in hand, and toward the round table her group picked out at the start of the year. It was just opposite the door she entered from, so luckily she didn’t have to subject herself to walking past the table overcrowded with jocks, the table full of nerds all laughing at something, a computer joke, probably, and the group of girls permanently preening, to get there. Alice, Jon, and Rob were already seated, talking. She took her place next to her boyfriend, gave him a quick smooch, and started to unpack.
Not a minute later, Beth walked in. She started towards the group of girls, but did a quick course-correction and sat next to Jess.
“...and he told me if I failed the next test, I’d have to retake the class next year!” Alice said, swinging her pint of chocolate milk around the table.
“That’s a real bummer, but maybe we’ll be in the same class.” Jon said.
“What are we talking about?” Beth said, with a kind of goofy smile.
“Alice was just talking about being held back.” Rob said.
“Oh, well, maybe if you studied...” Beth began, but cut herself short.
“You’re one to talk, Miss I-Don’t-Care-About-Grades!” Alice shot back.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I’m just tired, is all.”
Jess looked over at her, noticing she was only wearing light make up, red lipstick shades brighter than usual, less eyeshadow, and she had sweats on. It looked like she’d only rolled out of bed an hour ago.
“Tired from what? And where were you last night, anyway?” Jess said.
“Oh, uh, my mom made me..stay home and help her clean the house. My grandparents are staying with us this weekend, and you know how she gets.” She said, looking down at her lunch, not making eye contact.
“Yeah, remember when she drove us home from the mall that one time, and wouldn’t leave until I started cleaning my room?” Alice said, laughing.
Soon the whole group was laughing, sharing stories. Beth just sat quietly, eating her lunch, staring in a daze, with that weird half grin plastered on her face.
“Beth, are you feeling alright?” Jess asked her as the period ended.
“El...yeah, I’m fine. Just tired, like I said. Oh, and, I have a doctor’s appointment today, so I won’t be able to hang out after school.”
“You’ll call me after, right?”
Beth looked around, and started to walk in the opposite direction.
“Absolutely I will.”
Jess had finished depositing her books in her locker when she overheard voices from around the corner. She never eavesdropped, she couldn’t care less about the other students at her school, but this conversation was different.
“You’re coming today, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there right after school.”
“Great! I’m so glad you changed your mind!”
“Me, too.” The smile had widened slightly on Beth’s face. She was talking to Jaime and Ryan, two of the girls on the schools tennis team. Why would she be talking to them, and where are they meeting? Too furious with her friend to care, she stormed off towards the door to her bus.
“Wasn’t the presentation last night just fantastic?” Ashleigh was saying to her friend, Jill.
“Oh, yes, it was lovely. The plans they have for the future are just astounding.” Jill, who had always been a clone of Ashleigh, was, as usual, dressed very similarly to her friend. Brown loafers paired with a khaki skirt, a green polo, with the pink sweater hanging off her shoulders. She, too, had the pearls in her earlobes. “Hey, Jess!”
Pleasantries had never been shared between the two, and Jess just wanted to get to her bus and get home, but Ashleigh cut off her procession at the door.
“Jess, I really hope you can reconsider my offer. I know you’ll just have so much fun if you’d let down your defenses and came out, just once!” Her perky voice was grating on Jess’s every fiber, and her last nerve.
“I already told you, I’m not interested, and never will be, so just leave it.”
“That’s okay,” Ashleigh said, bubbling to the point of boiling over, “I can be very persistent. I won’t give up!” At this, she gave the most annoying giggle Jess had ever had the displeasure of hearing.
“I’m sure.” Jess said, finally pushing past Ashleigh, and out the door.
Jess automatically reached into the mailbox to receive the days pile of junk mail. Flipping through the credit card solicitations and instant win mailers, she saw her name on a lightly perfumed, bright pink envelope. Plopping herself on the sofa in the living room, she opened the mysterious letter.
“Barrington Estate Country Club?” she snickered. “How pretentious could you get?” The letter read:
“Dear Jessica,Hello for the first, and hopefully not the last, time! I’m writing on behalf of the Barrington Estate Country Club to let you know that we have just recently opened a location in your area! We pride ourselves on clean living, simple pleasures, and a relaxed and social environment! We do hope that you can make it out to one of our events scheduled this coming week, or over the weekend! And, for a limited time, we will waive the membership fee, so get here fast! If you have any questions, please feel free to call, or visit our website!
Rupert Barrington, Jr.
Curious, and ready for a good laugh, Jess opened her computer and visited the website. After a long Flash intro showing rolling green fields, a golf course, and the white mansion type building that was the club, she entered the site proper. Every picture was of some preppy couple, laughing and talking, all smiling. Why would they build something like this in our town? There can’t be a market for it. Looking through, she found a picture of Ashleigh and a few other classmates. Maybe there is, She corrected. She felt a headache coming on, and some dizziness. She quit the browser, and went to lay down.
She stood on the wide, brick-laid veranda, between the four all-white columns holding up the balcony. Sitting on the three white rocking chairs alternated by white wicker tables were Alice, Jon, and Rob. Alice, her hair spiraling around her shoulder in barrel curls, pearl earrings peeking through, sat straight up with her legs crossed at the ankles. She had on a multicolored floral print dress, with matching pink heels. She smiled warmly at Jess, who smiled back. Rob and Jon sat opposite, each wearing cream poplin jackets over pastel polos, sipping on lemonade.
“Hello, Jessica. Welcome.” They said simultaneously.
“Alysia, Jonathon, Robert, thank you.” She could feel the smile spreading ever farther up her face as she walked past them into the grand foyer of the building. Directly in front of her was a wide, double staircase, people with neat haircuts and brightly colored clothing walking up and down. Perpetually happy people.
Wonderful people, Jessica thought to herself, walking towards the back. She folded the hem of her knee-length skirt under her and sat on an overstuffed sofa facing the golf course. She tucked her hair behind her ears, feeling the comfort in the pearl earrings she wore. She folded her hands neatly in her lap, expectant.
“Hello, Elizabeth.” She smiled wide at her friend as she walked past.
“Jessica! What a pleasure to see you!” she said as the click of her heels on the marble floor quit and echoed to silence. Elizabeth was sporting a simple sheath dress, light green in color, with a gross-grain ribbon belt. Her wavy auburn hair was tied back smartly with with a pink ribbon. She clasped her hands in front of her, and Jessica could see the pearl bracelet to match her earrings.
“And a pleasure to see you. You look wonderful in that dress!”
“Thank you so much! I must say, the style suits you just as well! I’m so glad you changed your mind!”
“Me too.” She felt a warm glow course through her veins, and her smile widen even further.
“...bright and sunny for the entire day, but a bit chilly...”
“Come again?”
“...to commercial, but first your traffic...”
Jess woke up, utterly mortified at the dream she had. The clock said 6:00 AM. How the hell did I sleep all day and night? She wondered as she got up for another day at school. She showered, washing off the accumulated dirt, and the memory of the dream she had, but some part of her did not forget, could not forget.
It had simply enjoyed it too much.
- 2 -
Click. Clack.
Black, short heeled patent leather flats carried stocking-encased legs down the hallway.
“Good morning, Heather.”
“Good Morning.”
Click. Clack.
Her knee-length, pleated plaid skirt swished and swept like a summer breeze.
“Good Morning, Ashleigh.”
“Good Morning.”
Click. Clack.
The crisp, white, oxford shirt was buttoned all but for the very top, and tucked neatly into the skirt. A black button-down sweater graced the figure as well, buttons open. The weather report was right, it had been a bit chilly today.
“Good morning, Alexandria.”
“Good morning.”
Click. Clack.
The top portion of her hair was pulled back and hung in a thin ponytail, tied back by a white gross-grain ribbon. The rest of her hair fell pin straight to her shoulders, show casing the pearls placed firmly in her ears. She stopped at her locker.
“Good morning, Jessica.”
“B...Beth?” Jess barely managed to utter.
“Please, call me Elizabeth.” She smiled that big smile that Jess saw on Ashleigh the day before. Jess’s shocked mind was looking for any response, but she struggled over just what to say, so finally she just asked:
“What the hell are you wearing?”
“Oh, do you like it? Mother and I went shopping yesterday. What do you think?” She spun a delicate pirouette on the ball of her foot, her skirt flaring out slightly from her body, her hair setting perfectly in place. Jess caught a whiff of whatever perfume Eli...Beth was wearing, and breathing deeply, her mind began to haze over.
“You...you look really nice.” She said, despite herself, and her sensibilities.
“Thank you so much! You know, I think you would look nice wearing something like this, as well.” She kept smiling that infectious smile, and Jess began to catch it, her mind beginning to swirl in a pattern of plaid and paisley, but she quickly shook those thoughts away, and exchanged the faint smile for a grimace.
“I mean, why are you dressed like that? What’s gotten into you?”
“I’ve been visiting the new country club they built in town! Oh, it’s just so lovely there, the people are so nice, and it’s so relaxed. You should really come with me sometime. I’ll be going today after school, if you’d like to join me!”
Flashes of the dream she had the night before began to cross Jess’s mind, and the warm feeling began to crawl over her again. She hated those images and that feeling and what had become of her friend, but before she could voice her opinion, the bell rang and Elizabeth perked up.
“Oh, must be off. Hope to see you today!”
She walked passed Jess, that fragrance trailing behind her. She caught another whiff, shuddered, and walked toward her class.
Jess sat in class, not paying attention as usual, but not daydreaming about Rob, or anything else she normally thought of. What exactly had happened to Beth to turn her into Elizabeth? Of that group, she was probably the darkest of them. She refused to wear any clothing but black, with chains, and/or leather, tried her hardest not to go out in the sun to attain that vampire-white, and wrote poetry so depressing she made Sylvia Plath look like Robert Frost.
And what had come over her? You look really nice? Jess couldn’t stand that look, especially on someone who she used to call her best friend. Still, there was something nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite place it. Looking around, she noticed about half of the class was dressing differently. The girls that weren’t uncharacteristically wearing skirts and dresses, looked like they were well on there way. She noticed at least three pairs of earlobes with pearl studs, and that same smile she’d been so creeped out by. The guys had water bottles with the country club’s logo, and weirder still, some of them were wearing ties. This was just ludicrous. But, still, she couldn’t get rid of that thought in the back of her head.
They all look so nice.
NO! They look stupid, and silly, and why the hell would anyone dress like a stuffy old rich person, anyway? Then and there, she resolved to figure out what exactly was going on, and see if she couldn’t stop it.
“You’re shitting me? She’s wearing that?” Alice said, splashing chocolate milk on the floor.
“I couldn’t believe it either! And she was talking different, too. Like, proper or whatever”
“I think that’s enough. It’s not funny anymore” Rob said.
“I’m not trying to be funny! I’m serious!” Jess felt on the verge of tears
“We’ll just wait until she comes in.” Rob said, still not believing.
Walking tall, Elizabeth walked into the cafeteria with Jaime and Ryan. The group of goths looked on as she settled down at the table of girls, faces all smiling and heads framed by pearls, chatting about God who cares.
“Ho...lee...SHIT.” Alice said, getting redder by the second. She stood, shaking, and walked over to her former friend.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Whatever do you mean, Alysia?” That sweet smile unabated by the screaming.
“Don’t call me that! What are you doing? What happened to you?”
The teacher on lunch duty, Mrs. Haines, came to intervene.
“You calm yourself down right now, young lady! You’re making a scene.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down! I won’t calm down!”
“Fine. Frank?” The gym teacher, walked over and grabbed Alice by the arms, picked her up, and carried her out of the room.
“Go back to your eating, children. The show is over.” Mrs. Haines said, looking down at the girls table, 5 smiling faces shining back up at her.
Jess was at her locker, depositing her books, thinking about the weird day. Everyone was mad, but Alice didn’t have to fly off the handle like that. Stranger still, the girls were so polite about it. Elizabeth took it and let it slide right off of her, didn’t bat an eyelash, didn’t say a word back. It was so
proper the way young ladies should behave prim and
strange. She shut her locker, and Alice walked up to her.
“So, what’d the principal give you?”
“Nothing so bad.” She said, in a vacant, distant voice. “I have to go to the country club after school.” Faint hints of a smile began to form on her lips.
“That’s seriously your punishment? Can they even do that?”
“Of course, the members of the club were nice enough to take me in. It won’t be so bad, three days there and I’ll be all better.”
“Are you okay? You sound really strange?”
“Strange? No, I’m just fine. Oh, I have to go, my ride to the club is leaving. See you.” As she turned to walk away, Jess noticed the light reflect off of something in Alice’s earlobe.
- 3 -
She stood on the wide, brick-laid veranda, between the four all-white columns holding up the balcony, awestruck at how much her dream resembled the building before her—or had it been the other way around? Sitting on the three rocking chairs on the wide porch were Ashleigh, Jill, and another girl she didn’t recognize. Her two classmates had changed into new outfits, each wearing a different Lily Pullitzer dress, and both smiled up at her.
“So, you decided to come, after all. I knew you would.” Ashleigh said, without the slightest hint of gloating.
“I’m only here to get my friend back.”
“Do you mean Alyshia? That will not be necessary. She does not require rescue of any sort. There is no form of escape, anyhow. Isn’t that right, Catherine?”
“That is absolutely correct.” Catherine said, her voice modulating beyond the normal limit for bubbly. As she turned, Jess recognized her as Kat, the girl who had been her Goth mentor in freshman year. Her face was clean of all makeup, and she was wearing a a light pink sweatsuit.
“Kat?!” Jess said.
“Please, call me Catherine.” That voice still too bubbly to be normal, was slowly adjusting. “I’ve never felt better in my life.” At this, her body snapped to attention, as if she were receiving an order from a drill sergeant. “I must go for my redressing. Ciao, ladies! Jessica, I do hope to see you inside soon.” The wide smile said as long strides brought Catherine into the large foyer of the club.
“The truth is, Jessica,” Ashleigh continued, “Once the process begins, there is no reversal. Once they have you, there is nothing you can do about being transformed into a lovely, proper young lady. Your friend is on her way, now, and I dare say, she’ll be changed for the better.”
“You’re wrong!” Jess said, running past her into the foyer herself. She still couldn’t get over how exactly the clubhouse reflected what had been in her minds eye the previous evening, as if she’d been there a thousand times. She again saw the permanently smiling figures walking up and down the stairs, gracefully passing each other in neatly pressed dresses and oxfords, smiling those pearly white wide-set grins, ladies tucking perfectly trimmed hair behind their ears, gentlemen adjusting their ties. Laughing, smiling, happy people.
Wonderful people. Jess almost shrieked at the imposing thought, but held it in and continued on. Turning right past the couch she sat on in her dream, she walked passed new faces as well as old classmates. Ladies who would never in a thousand years be caught in a skirt longer than 6 inches, or at all, and gentlemen who previously wore Mohawks or multicolored, punk inspired hair, with crew cuts. She saw all of this, and had a sense that her legs were moving of their own volition. Walking along the floral-bordered carpet, noticing all the girls in pearls, seeing the hair and the outfits, and sensing something else. She breathed deeply, and caught a scent that she couldn’t quite place.
What a lovely dress she has on. Jessica could barely control the thoughts from slipping in, and she was having a difficult time sending them away. All of these people look so nice. Before she could react to her own thought process, she noticed that she had stopped in front of a set of white-oak double doors. Tentatively, she turned the doorknob and went inside.
Alice was sitting inside, talking to someone. Alice who had been much of Jess’s inspiration to become Goth in the first place, Alice who taught her about all the books and poems and movies to watch, Alice who helped her when she had trouble with a particular spell, was sitting inside the room of the country club, but it was not Alice.
Alice would never wear brown Docksiders, or a light blue plaid to mid-calf, or a yellow polo with a blue logo to match her skirt, or a white cable knit sweater wrapped around her neck, hanging off her shoulders. She would also never have her hair cut to shoulder length, died brown, with a light blue, inch-wide headband to show off the pearls she would never wear in her ears. But this girl was.
“Jessica, how wonderful it is to see you.” The girl who was not Alice said, with that same sick smile plastered on her face.
“Alice?”
“Please, call me Alysia. Oh, wherever are my manners. Mr. Barrington, this is my good friend Jessica.”
“Jessica, hello. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He moved towards her, his hand stretched out. Instead of recoiling, instead of slapping his hand away and yelling at him, she took his hand and curtsied, ever so slightly.
“Charmed.” She said with a faint smile.
“Please, sit down, won’t you?”
She sat on the overstuffed chair next to Alysia, unconsciously folding the hem of her nonexistant skirt. Terrified, and completely unable to find words, or the ability to move on her own, she waited for Mr. Barrington to speak. She looked over at Alysia, who smiled beautifully at her, and she smiled back.
“Now, Jessica, you’re probably wondering why exactly you’re here. I understand it’s for the extrication of your friend, but you must be confused as to how you ended up at my office, isn’t that so?”
“That is correct, sir.” Jessica heard herself say, her voice seperate from her thoughts, and feeling control slipping fast.
“I’d be happy to explain, but, I think you’d do well to hear from your friend. Alysia?”
“Thank you, Mr. Barrington. It is obvious that you received the country clubs nice letter—it was ever so lovely, Mr. Barrington.” She smiled to him, he nodded his approval, and bid her continue. “That letter was coated in a special pheromone serum to induce thoughts of agreeableness and curiosity; it was on the letter, all of the recruits get a bottle, it is pumped through the air system of the clubhouse, it was the reason you visited the website. You remember that nice opening on the website? Was it not simply enchanting?”
Jessica nodded, agreed that she had, and agreed it was enchanting.
“Well, that introduction page had a very subtle hypnotic suggestion system running in the background. As the fields rolled past, you were told how lovely they looked, you were told the golf course was a fine place for your boyfriend to take his weekends, and you were told the clubhouse would be a fine place to go after school. Am I right in assuming you got a bit of a headache, some nausea? Just some side affects, cleared away with a quick nap and some dream time to further suggest to you what a lovely place this is.”
Mr. Barrington picked up the lecture. “However, these elements just were not enough to form a long lasting “subliminal rerouting” as I like to refer to it. You see, the perfume and the images do indeed work, but they wear off, so we needed an insurance policy, to ensure that our new arrivals would become permanent clientele.”
Jess just sat in her chair, absorbing all of this information. Internally, she was shouting for her body to move! and for her mouth to scream! and she could feel some control returning.
“So, Jessica. This is the insurance policy.” At this, he pulled out a box, which contained two pearl stud earrings. The same that she had seen Ashleigh, Elizabeth, and now Alysia wearing.
“Really, that’s it?” Jess finally found her voice, and began to scoff. “How does that even make sense?”
“Well, Jessica, you’re going to try them on, aren’t you? You want to be just like your friend, don’t you?” Mr. Barrington said.
As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Jessica responded “Of course.” She took the box into her hands, carefully removed the pearls, and placed one in each ear. Some part of her was thinking this was a nightmare, that she was asleep, and she’d wake up and none of this was happening dammit!
But as she admired herself in the mirror above Mr. Barrington’s desk, that part of her was silenced by a new voice in her head.
I look really nice.
“I look really nice” She heard herself say, and saw herself draw a faint smile.
“Just wonderful! Okay, you’re free to go.”
Fighting harder than ever, she regained her own voice.
“I’m free to go? What’s going to stop me from taking these out?”
“Why don’t you try?” Mr. Barrington said, with a snide smile crossing his lips.
Jess reached up to remove the earrings, but a quarter of an inch from her lobe, her hand suddenly froze, and dropped to her side.
I mustn’t remove my pearls.
“I mustn’t remove my pearls.” Jessica heard herself say. Her eyes widened in horror at what she thought and said. As quickly as possible she ran out of the room and out of the clubhouse.
Jess moved faster than she ever had in her life. This is crazy, it’s all a crazy dream. Heart and feet pounding, she finally had to stop to catch her breath. This is insane. That’s such a cute dress. She thought as she spied a madras style dress in the storefront before her. She had stopped right in front of the new preppy clothing store erected on the same day as the country club. I should go try something on.
Jessica walked through the door into the air conditioned store, where she was greeted by a saleswoman.
“Hi! Do you need any help finding anything?”
Jess, gaining composure, responded quietly, “Just looking, thanks.”
“Well, if you need anything, feel free to ask! And, just so you know, we’re doing 50% discounts on all skirts, and all polos are buy 2 get the 3rd free!” That cheery voice said, seeming only to strengthen the other voice in Jess’s mind.
“Thank you!” Jessica responded, just as cheery. She cursed herself for losing control and coming into this place, but, she just couldn’t leave.
I want to try something on.
Jessica browsed through the selection of skirts, picking out two she liked, along with several polos and a dress. She could still hear, faintly, the voice screaming to be released from this torment, but the new voice was becoming much more powerful.
Hush, I want to try this dress on.
She wanted to try the dress on. She moved toward the fitting room, picking up two sweaters on the way. Her original voice was weakened still by her initial view in the full length mirror.
These clothes are too dark, too sinister. I want to wear bright clothing.
Carefully, she removed her self of her old clothes, dropping them on the floor with disgust on her face. Barely a minute later, she had a brand new look.
Her first outfit consisted of a khaki skirt that stopped short just inches from her knees. She was finishing buttoning the next-to-last button on her light blue oxford shirt, which she tucked into the waist of the skirt. She put on a white sweater, lifting the collar up and over the neck.
Just look at me! Oh, how cute is this outfit! I look so collegiate!
I look like a freak!
I look just lovely. How did I ever expect to meet a nice boy in those disgusting goth outfits?
I have a boyfriend!
I will, when he decides to dress like a gentleman. Shall we try on something else?
No! I want to go!
Silly me! I want to look preppy! I’ll try something else on.
Carefully removing each article and placing them on the shelf, she began to put on her second outfit. Why am I doing this? I just want to go home. I’ll go home when I look presentable. The mid-thigh length madras skirt slid on easily, fitting firmly to Jessica’s curvy form. The pink polo, while slightly tight, did not feel constricting, but comfortable. Her thoughts began to be consumed with patterns of argyle, of plaid, of pinks and greens and yellows and blues. She heard a giggle rattle around in her mind, further loosening her grip on herself. She flipped the collar up, feeling its crisp edge touch the nape of her neck. Oh, wonderful! Now let’s see how that dress looks! Please, just stop. Please! Ah, ah! I’m almost done, darling.
Jessica turned away from the mirror. I can not wait to see this. After fiddling around with the dress, throwing the pink sweater around her shoulders, and tying the arms across her chest. Ready? She could feel the last whimpers of her dying self, as the light of Jess burnt out. She turned. The knee length, floral printed dress hugged tightly to Jessica’s hourglass figure, up and around her hips, past her flat stomach, over her bosom, coming to a flat top just above her cleavage. The sweater hung gracefully off her shoulders, rolling down her back, and just the weight of it made her well up inside.
I look so beautiful.
The warmness again crept upon her, and she let it encompass her entire being.
“So, you finally decided to join us?” Elizabeth said with a laugh.
“Like I had much choice in the matter” Jessica said.
The two girls were standing outside the country club, waiting for their respective dates. They wore identical floor-length white ball gowns. It was the night of the clubs welcome dance, and the ladies were aflutter with delight. Hair; perfect. Makeup; perfect. Lives; perfect. Now they waited on their men to join them.
Jessica was wringing her white-gloved hands.
“Feeling nervous?” Elizabeth said.
“Excited, really. This will be the first time I’m seeing Robert. I do hope he will be delighted with me.”
“Of course, I am, sweetheart.” Robert moved to put his arm through Jessica’s, and she gave him a delicate peck on his cheek. “Ready to go in?”
“Ready as ever, darling.”
The group started towards the entrance.
In the ballroom, a multitude of couples danced gaily, fully engulfed in their ecstacy. For the first time, a group of teenagers of all walks were enjoying each others company. The lines that formerly separated them into cliques hadn’t merely been blurred; they’d been erased. For the first time, in the ballroom, hundreds of smiling faces played off each other, as they waltzed the night away.
Outside the ballroom, outside all of the dancing and the thoughts and feelings of the transformed teenagers, a car was moving along the highway towards the town, the family ready to move into a new home, and change everything.