Diva Dismayed: Chapter 21 – Walking the walk

The next day marked a momentous step for me, my first day at college. It was only a ten-minute walk there from my apartment block but I set off good and early. The weather was still mild at that time of year, and I chose to wear a dainty little skirt I’d bought recently as it seemed a practical choice. It went nicely with a short sleeve jumper and completed my student look, or so I reckoned. Most of my dresses were too girly for that purpose. The skirt’s hemline was a little higher than I’d been used to wearing, but I was counting on wearing an up-to-date style to help me blend in. In those days the miniskirt was still below the horizon but the fashions were headed in a similar direction.

The nerves I’d been experiencing over beginning this new adventure had completely subsided and I felt calm and confident. Everything was going to be okay, and if not, well, that wouldn’t be such a big deal.

As I approached the campus, a number of other students were converging on the building where registration was to take place. I guessed that they must be freshmen also. There was one girl among them that I thought I’d seen somewhere before. When recognition finally clicked I placed her as a redheaded teen who had recently moved into our block. Her room was actually on the same floor as mine. She was looking a little lost so when our eyes met, I smiled at her encouragingly. I knew just how she might be feeling.

Catching my smile, she looked at me more intently and came over. “You look kinda familiar. Do we know each other?”

“Sort of. Your room is just down the hallway from me in the nurses’ block. I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.”

“So, that’s how I recognised you. Glad to meet you. My name’s Alice. I’m just about to enrol. I guess you are too.”

I nodded. “What are you studying?”

“Oh. I’m joining the Skin Therapy course.”

“Small world! So am I! Nice to know you, Alice. I’m Jennifer.”

I held out my hand. The girl grabbed it and shook it enthusiastically. “Hi, Jennifer. Oh, this is great. My first day and I’ve made a friend already. Where are you from, Jennifer?”

I mentioned the town I grew up in and it turned out that she was from a neighbouring one in the same state. Small world again!
I clarified, “To be strictly accurate, this place has been my home for the last three months. That was one of the reasons I was able to get onto this course as technically I’m under-age. I had to get a waiver signed. My work experience helped, thankfully. I’ve been working in a beauty salon for some time now.”

Alice’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I would never have guessed you weren’t as old as me. I’d have said you were at least eighteen. You seem so confident for one thing.”

I merely shrugged in response. Admittedly I’d been feeling more than usually relaxed that morning, with a sense of calmness that I didn’t always experience. Living on the edge seemed more to be my normal condition. I could account for the difference in my mood today very easily. The previous evening I’d finally revealed to Rachel who my ‘someone else’ was, the one and only person I needed to be in my life. She caught her breath when I finally said “It’s you. It’s always been you”.

I waited for her reaction anxiously, but she didn’t keep me in suspense for very long. With a look of relief and happiness on her face she told me that she felt the same way about me, adding “I can see you will always need someone to take care of you and I couldn’t bear it if it wasn’t me.”
Was she joking? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I’m serious!”

How could she feel that way? I mean, I was so green and inexperienced. More crucially, I couldn’t think of myself as a man and could see no prospect of becoming one. How could someone like me ever be enough for someone who was as much a woman as she? I put on a smile, but my doubts must have shown in my face. She could see I was having trouble believing her.

“I know what you are thinking. I don’t care that you aren’t in the least a typical male. I’ve tried some of those, thank you very much. You are what I want.”

In the end Rachel made the communication non-verbal. She led me into the bedroom and closed the door behind us.

We spent the night together and when she finally returned to her own room, it wasn’t long before dawn. A sublime sense of peace remained, and it stayed with me throughout the entire day. By rights, I should have been bleary-eyed and muzzy-headed that morning from lack of sleep, but the few hours I’d had were all I needed. My mind was clear and my heart sang. Rachel and I were together! That was the only thing that mattered.

Back to my first day on campus, once registration was complete, I inquired of the clerk how many students were enrolled in our class. While she counted the list of names I managed to scan the paper, despite it being upside down, and could see only two male ones, a Howard and a Wayne. I wasn’t the only ‘boy’ then. I wasn’t sure whether that would be a good thing or otherwise. In such a small group all the students would no doubt soon become familiar to me. Hopefully my fellow students might soon be new friends.

Next Alice wanted to explore the site, and it was only natural for me to take the lead and show her around. I had acquainted myself with the general layout beforehand and the older girl made no objection. Once we had done the rounds of the buildings I led the way to the cafeteria, where we could sit and chat over a coke. It was nice that we seemed to have hit it off and here was an opportunity to get to know the girl better. I soon discovered that this was someone who was at least as naïve as myself. Alice’s upbringing had been very sheltered. She was fresh out of a convent school, and I was amused to find that my education had far surpassed hers in one regard. Yes, you guessed! I had to suppress a smile at the degree of interest she expressed concerning that most fascinating topic. Boys!

Fascinating to her I mean. I was quite blasé about the subject, and doubly so after the events of the previous night. I have to admit that there was still one kind of interaction that I didn’t intend to relinquish. I’d long-since regarded the pleasures of flirting to be a great compensation for the weird lifestyle which had been forced on me, and I didn’t want to give that up just yet. A little harmless flirtation could be such fun, even if sometimes it had turned out not quite as innocent as I bargained for!

Alice was very curious on the subject of the male sex and wasn’t satisfied until she knew who my current boyfriend was (nobody right now, of course), who my first boyfriend had been (Dennis, briefly, an amorous cross-dresser who turned out to be gay), and the latest one (Artie, an ex of Rachel’s and an older guy, his contribution to my ‘education’ had been significant). It was as well that I wasn’t required to explain any of my relationships with women to this insatiably curious new acquaintance. The ins and outs of those would have been far too complicated for understanding, or even belief!

She further wanted to learn whether I knew of any eligible males who were available. While Harvey’s name immediately sprang to mind, I was reluctant to surrender a potential conquest to this over-eager enquirer. It somehow went against the grain to start playing matchmaker for her. He was a friend after all, and who knew whether she might prove to be suitable or not. I’d hardly known Alice for five minutes. I had no thoughts of reserving him for myself, naturally. No, none at all!

After we’d finished our drink, I suggested that we retrace our steps to the library building where my new friend might hope to find copies of at least some of the prescribed textbooks for our studies before the rush of other would-be borrowers got to them. I already had the complete set and could advise which were the most essential. We accordingly made our way there and when I pointed out the bookshelves in question Alice leapt forward and scanned them eagerly. Seeing a book that she needed she gave a cry of delight and pounced.

Unfortunately for her the volume required was on one of the bottom shelves and in my companion’s haste she apparently forgot about the brevity of her skirt. This was near enough the same fashionable length as mine, and when she reached down for the book everything underneath became visible, and I mean everything.

“Alice” I hissed. “Don’t bend over like that.”
Surely a girl of her years must have had to exercise the basic skills of remaining decent before now. Under my mother’s tuition it had become second nature to me to accomplish manoeuvres ranging from negotiating stairs to getting out of a car, each with ladylike decorum.

Alice seemed not to have heard me, so in haste I moved over to stand behind her and shield her unmentionables from view. I checked around the room and though a couple of youths were standing not too far off, thankfully her compromising posture appeared to have escaped notice. Normally the vision I was being treated to would have given rise to some stirrings in my own nether regions, but after the night of passion we’d spent together all I could think of in that regard was Rachel.

When the girl straightened up, she was all innocence. “What’s the matter?”

“You’re showing your panties!” I whispered.

My new friend displayed no noticeable alarm but, glancing over at the boys, delicately tugged at her skirt to straighten it. “Well! They’re clean!” she laughed. “Actually, they’re my newest pair. What do you think of them?”

I nearly choked! “They’re very nice, but you needn’t let everybody see.”

“Oh, I don’t know. We all have to make the most of what we’ve got.” Pointing to my prominent chest she added, “After all you’re not exactly hiding your endowments, and only sixteen too! I wish I had as much to show.”

Had she been guilty of flashing deliberately, I wondered? I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed flirting, it seemed! I wondered how this new friend was to be kept on the straight and narrow. My new friend might prove to be handful over the coming weeks!

When the day of the fashion show came round, I could breathe a sigh of relief that the time of preparation was over. Now that my student life had begun, I was more than ready to get past all the glamour the event might offer just to free up some time. My studies and my everyday work in the beauty salon together were quite enough for me. Entry to such an exclusive evening was by ticket only and these were expensive. I desperately wanted Rachel to be part of this new experience in my life, but I feared that her slender purse might be stretched to breaking point if I pressed her to come. I knew she wouldn’t be happy for me to buy a ticket for her, even though, I was likely to be the better off of the two of us with all the extra hours I’d been putting in at work. Fortunately, my employer made a request which provided a rescue.

Mrs Millward drew me aside after a rehearsal. “Jennifer dear, I’m afraid that we still don’t have enough help to make our event run smoothly. I’ve already asked the others. Do you have a friend who would be prepared to help you in the changing room? Clearly it would need to be someone who would fit in and knows you very well.”

I beamed with pleasure and relief. Here was a way out of my difficulty.
“Actually, I do! You have already met Rachel. I’m sure I could persuade her to help if she’s free. She is a nurse by profession, so hopefully the others wouldn’t mind having a stranger in our midst, a stranger to them I mean.”

When I reached home, I couldn’t wait to make the request. My worry was that Rachel might be working, but happily, her excited smiles told me I was in luck. Knowing that she would be there to support me made me feel much more confident. I had wondered if my mother might come over but when I telephoned her to tell her about the show, her reaction had been mixed. She had sounded pleased for me but apparently couldn’t be there to see me. She didn’t think she could get away from work. To be truthful I was almost as much relieved as disappointed at the news. Mom’s controlling presence might have complicated things too much and if Rachel were to be there then I didn’t need anybody else.

Before the show itself, each of the models had benefited from the services of the beauty salon. I’d been totally pampered from head to toe. At my request, my hair was arranged in a similar style to the one for my intended wedding. I liked the extra body given by the additional hairpiece and both Mrs Millward and Rosa agreed with me. They had determined that as the youngest, I should be the first to take to the runway. Their aim was to emphasise that there was a youthful aspect to the collection on display.

A very elaborate pink outfit and matching accessories had been chosen for me to open the show. The dress was very pretty and had a huge bouffant skirt. Seeing myself in the mirror put me in mind of a character from Disney, though I wasn’t sure which.

“I can’t decide whether you are supposed to be Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty” laughed Rachel as she applied the finishing touches to my attire. Great minds think alike, clearly!

Mrs Millward made the opening announcement then the music started. Trying to remember all the coaching I’d been given, I stepped out confidently. All eyes were on me. As I promenaded down the walk, the stiffened skirt of my gown bounced provocatively with my every movement. I might have been disconcerted by this, but our employer had procured sheer pantyhose from a theatrical supplier for us to wear. The knowledge that I’d be showing no more than I would in a swimsuit dispelled any anxieties on that score. The room was packed and the customary applause greeted me as I strutted and twirled. I was congratulating myself on making an excellent start to the proceedings when among the blur of faces surrounding the catwalk, I glimpsed one which set my mind racing.

Back in the dressing room I was still trying to recall where I’d seen it before.

“What’s the matter? You look as if you’d seen a ghost.” Even though she was fully occupied in helping me change Rachel had time to notice my unsettled demeanour.

“No, not a ghost” I exclaimed. “It was that man, the one who I thought was stalking me the day after I first came here. What did he call himself? Walter! Yes, it was Walt!”

What was he doing here?