Breakfast

The following morning, someone woke me up again. I yawned and sat up, and one of Ma’s capri pants and boatneck tees were thrown in my face.

“Dad!”

“Go get a shower and come downstairs,” Dad said. “Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”

“Grrr…”

I had a quick shower, put on Ma’s clothes, and went downstairs. On our couch, I noticed a pile of newly washed clothes neatly folded. Some were thrown over the back of the couch with hangers in them. Presumably, they were for ironing.

I went to the kitchen. “Good morning,” I said.

“Good morning,” Dad replied. “Have a seat. Let me get you some eggs and bacon. Can you make some toast?”

“Sure thing. Where’s Ma?”

“Upstairs ironing some of your new stuff.”

I felt guilty. “She didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s not as if you could’ve stopped her.” The two of us looked at each other and laughed.

“Good morning!” Ma came down. She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She went to Dad and gave him a big smooch.

“Ahem!” I commented.

Ma giggled. “Sorry, dear.”

“Sit and have some orange juice. That should cool you down.” They laughed.

Anyway, it was actually a good morning, although there was a tinge of awkwardness. Still, I thought the three of us could get past this.

“You didn’t need to wash my new clothes, Ma,” I said.

“Not at all, sweetie, it was my pleasure.”

“And you didn’t need to iron them.”

“I won’t have any daughter of mine walking around in rumpled clothes. Besides, it was just a few pants and tops. The rest didn’t need to be ironed. Your new jacket and backpack, I have them hanging on the clothesline out back airing out.” She turned to Dad. “Henry, can you get the Samsonite luggage in the attic? I want to air them out, too.”

“Right away after breakfast, hon.”

“Mr. Daimon has you excused from class for the entire week, Val,” she said to me, “but you have to do some make-up work the week after.”

“Coolness,” I said laconically and gave her a thumbs up.

“Speaking of make-up. We’re gonna be practicing a little bit with your new kit later. Nothing major. Just some basics. But before that, I made an appointment for you with Andre for this morning.”

“Who’s Andre?”

“He’s my hairdresser. He’s going to give you a new haircut, something that’s low maintenance, something that you can switch back to a guy look easily.”

“But does he…”

“Of course not. I’m going to introduce you as Val, my tomboy daughter whom I’m treating to her first styling. I stressed that you want to ease into things, so he knows what to do.”

“Do you really think I need…” (singsong and lilt!)

“Yes, I do!”

“Well, okay, Ma…”

“Val, sweetie,” Ma said and gestured to my chest. I looked down where she was pointing but I didn’t see anything wrong. And then I noticed my nipples pointing out. I looked at Ma with wide eyes.

Stuffing

So I ended up wearing one of my new bralettes since I now had budding breasts… I was still flat as a board, but it seemed my… headlights were (involuntarily) switched on, which would attract attention. Ma suggested one of my new bralettes, and pad them out with the smaller pair of foam pads.

So, with the bralette, I now looked like I had a pair of A-sized cups. If I wanted bigger ones, I could stuff them with the larger-sized pads. Ma said I have to get used to wearing a pair. Either that or people will think I was perpetually feeling cold…

Anyway, I changed into one of the new T-shirts, one of the faded jeans from that vintage shop we went to, and my old boots (Ma said to reserve my new shoes for the trip). I did wear my new jacket and transferred all of my money and junk into the new wallet.

Ma spritzed me a little bit with one of the new colognes, and then the two of us were off to Andre’s.

As I sat in Dad’s car, with Ma driving, I couldn’t help but fidget a bit. The stuffed bralette was comfortable enough, but the shirt and jacket were a trifle form-fitting, and I had a suspicion that they were somehow emphasizing my chest.

After fifteen or twenty minutes, we pulled up at Andre’s and I came out with what Andre called a “Beachy Bob with Curtain Bangs” (I misheard it as a “bitchy bob,” of course).

It was supposed to enhance my naturally wavy and slightly curly hair with a bob that would have been appropriate at a beach. The style had bangs called “curtain bangs” that were perfect for highlighting my eyes and cheekbones, while the loose locks were supposed to create an effortless off-duty-model look. I didn’t really know what an “off-duty-model look” was, and what kinds of haircuts were appropriate for the beach. All I knew was that my new shoulder-length hairstyle was awfully cute.

Andre also explained how I could convert it to a more butch style, and that was just running a comb through my hair from front to back, and it changed the style completely. Thank god for that – I didn’t want to be girly all the time.

We went out for burgers after, since Ma wanted to road-test my new ‘do.’ And by the looks I got, I think my new look passed muster. Some of the slightly predatory looks I got made me worry, though, and when they got up the same time I did made me wish I had one of the Mace sprays we bought, or maybe my new Byrna SD Launcher. When Ma got up with me, though, they sort of sat back down, realizing I wasn’t on my own, and that my ma was with me. Whew.

We got some chicken nuggets and fries for Dad, and we went back home.

Practicing

I didn’t know there was that much to makeup, but apparently, there’s more than meets the eye when you’re doing makeup. In a very real way, it was like construction, or more like carpentry. For example, a basic routine is made up of thirteen steps. Yes, thirteen!!! Ma says as soon as I get the hang of it, I can cut out or combine some steps, but for now, I need to learn all of it.

So one begins with a clean palette i.e. a freshly washed (and scrubbed) face, and then moisturizer, then primer (yep, “primer,” as in like painting a house), and then some liquid foundation, then concealer, and then foundation powder, bronzer, then blush (with my complexion Ma says I might not need much bronzer but more blush), highlighter, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, and lip gloss (Ma says I might not need much lipstick but definitely some lip gloss would be good), and then a setting spray and powder to take out any sheen.

For now, Ma says, with my complexion, I could just go for the clean and washed look – it’s worked for me so far, so why mess with something if it’s working? So all I really needed was moisturizing, the foundation, blush, lip gloss, and a final powder. If I could manage it, light eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara would be good, too.

She’ll still teach me everything, but those were the important ones for me.

I also learned a lot of other things about applying makeup. Primer, for example, is a must, especially for girls with big pores or a not-so-smooth complexion. What one was aiming for, Ma says, is that a girl should look like she has a smooth complexion. For me, though, Ma says I could get away with the lightest primer. Concealer should also be applied in dots under one’s eyes, or wherever one has wrinkles or blemishes one wants to hide. Mostly, though it’s to hide eyebags or the dark circles under one’s eyes, and to blend it in with foundation or powder. The most important thing, though, was to find the colors that go well with my coloration and complexion and to learn how to apply makeup using a mirror, and I tell you, that’s a really hard skill to learn.

There were other things, too, like techniques on how to apply the makeup. For example, in applying eyeshadow, you have to dip your brush into the light shade, then tap the brush to get rid of any excess powder and apply the lighter shadow across the entire lid starting at the lash line and ending just above the crease of your eyelid. You then dip your brush into the darker color, tapping it again to get rid of the excess, apply the color at the outer corner of your eye just above your lash line, and then sweep the darker color across your eyelid crease just under the brow bone. Also – don’t apply around the center of your eyelid so you don’t darken the inner corners. And then you take a fresh brush and blend the two shades.

There’s something to watch out for, though, which was “raccoon eyes.” There are things you can do to avoid this – for example, using liquid eyeliner, and applying it with a really fine dipping brush. Also, if I were to use pencil eyeliner, it needs to be sharp. Ma showed me that she had her own special trick – she had a marker-type eyeliner pen. But those were hard to find.

After doing it three times over, Ma decided to quit for the day. I dutifully washed the makeup again, applied moisturizer again, and without Ma doing anything, I “fixed my face” on my own. Ma did insist on going light, with just some blush, eyeliner, light eyeshadow and lip gloss. Apparently this was what was appropriate to have at home, or what ma says is the right “around the house face.”

We went downstairs for a snack, and while Ma fixed sandwiches (fried spam slices with Cheez Whiz and bits of lettuce), she asked me to bring a beer to Dad.

“Dad?” I said while he was watching some sports event (no football today, apparently). “Want a beer?”

“Thanks, honey,” he said as he reached out for the can. He didn’t even look up from the TV.

I shrugged and turned back to the kitchen.

“Wait!” Dad exclaimed. “… Val?”

I giggled.

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