The Manchester Early Summer Carnival
A “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: I became a Girl” Gaiden
By
Rebecca Coleman

-2-
Searching for the Perfect Bathing Suit

The Pecan Mall was the mecca center of teenage culture here in this backwooded town called Manchester. Going to the mall was the highlight of my weekend. The mall was pretty much one massive corridor that was lined with all manner of shops. The mall was anchored by two large regional department stores. On the east side one had J.C Pennies, and on the west side one had Belks. In the middle you had a massive concrete water fountain.

Between J.C Pennies and Belks you had a wide variety of boutiques and shops. My favorite being Books-A-Million and Rue 18. Books-A-Million always seem to have a sale going on. And I brought most of my manga from there. Rue 18 also had the cutest clothes one could ever hope to find. Though it was a step down on the social ladder. Hollisters and Aeropostale at the top of the ladder. Rue 18 was a few steps down, another step down would be Gothic Topic.

Toward the bottom of the ladder there would be Rainbow and the other knock off sale shops. Now if I had my way I would have gone to one of the fashionable boutiques. You know the ones that were geared toward the whole beach life vibe.

Anyway this afternoon, I found myself standing in the Junior section of Belks. While my aunt browsed through the racks of one piece bathing suits, bikinis and such. Now, I’m going to say it again, if I had my way I would have gone to one of the more fashionable boutiques. But my lovely aunt, who had taken on the role as mother and had lifted on her shoulders the responsibility of raising me to adulthood.

“Emily.” My aunt Flora said, taking a deep breath as she peered toward me. “I’m kind of having second thoughts about this. I mean you are developing.” She said as she released her just taken breath.

“I mean.” I said as I reached down and tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m not really thrilled about sitting in a ducking booth. While half the town lines up and drop five of their greasy dollars for three chances to hit a trigger that is the size of a dime.”

Aunt Flora peered at me.

“I’m quite sure you're going through puberty again. This time you're going through puberty again as a girl.” Aunt Flora said as she hung her head down. “I guess I better get used to you being sharky and snappy. If you're anything like your mother was when she was going through puberty. Then I might need to invest in two things.”

“And what were those two things?” I asked as I peered toward my aunt.

“Frozen Pizza and ibuprofen. And I guess I need to get into the habit of reminding myself each day that you're undergoing second puberty. And that instead of wanting to ground you for life, or to take you over my knee and spank some sense into you. That I need to remind myself how painful puberty was for me. And how your body is starting to change.”

I felt my cheeks starting to blush a little. Feeling slightly embarrassed I turned my head away from my aunt.

“Come on Emily.” My Aunt Flora said, smiling a little. “I was just teasing you. All and all I think you’re handling your second puberty a lot better than your mom and I did.” She said smiling. “Anyway, I think we need to get down to business.”

“To defeat the Huns?” I said folding my arms across my chest. That was a reference to Disney’s cult classic Mulan. Now I was not really a Disney girl. But recently I've started rewatching some old Disney movies. Among those were “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Little Mermaid”, and last but not least “The Princess and the Frog.”.

“No, I’m afraid we're not saving China from a massive horde of invading Xiongnu.” Aunt Flora said, smiling a little as she rolled her eyes. “We are, however, we are on a mission to find you a bathing suit that I’m okay with you wearing.” She added.

“Way to pop my bubble.” I said with a sigh.

“But really, Emily, I figured you were more of a Eownyn of Rohan than a Hau Mulan. Though both share some common characteristics. Like both were women who disguised themselves as men in order to ride off to war. Both saw battle. Both were later discovered as women after they had been wounded in the battle. I think the only difference was Eownyn did not cut her hair, And Hau Mulan did.”

“I kind of fancy myself more like Eownyan.” I said with a small smile. “A flaming strawberry blonde haired version of Eownyn.”

“Fine.” Aunt Flora said. She then paused and held up her hand.

“Okay, first let’s go over a few ground rules. Number one, since I’m buying the suit. And yes I’m aware that you have more than enough money to buy your own suit. I’ll just feel better if I was the one buying it for you. I hope you understand.” Aunt Flora paused.

“Okay.” That's all I could really say.

“Okay. Now, first off. I’m going to limit you to one piece suits only. Now if we were going to either the beach or to the water park. I’ll allow you to wear a two piece suit or even a bikini. Because other girls would be wearing more or less the same thing.” Aunt Flora seemed flustered.

“What's the difference?” I asked.

“The difference is that you’ll be sitting in a ducking booth. And it’s a fast drop down into the water. The last thing we need is you flashing the crowd if your top comes flying off. Plus, a modest one will hide the fact that you’ve not had the bottom operation.” Aunt Flora's face looked flat as an iron skillet.

I felt my cheeks flush with color.

“Did you have to bring that up?” I whined.

“Facts of life sweetheart.” Aunt Flora said, sighing. “If we were going to the beach, you could get away with wearing a swimming skirt and a bikini top. I’ll just have to help you with the knot to make sure your top does not come flying off. Though waves can really knock you down. Same with the water park. I’ll have to help you tie a really strong knot. “

“Fine..” I said blushing a little.

And so the search started in earnest. Fast forward half an half an hour and I’d gone through fifteen suits. All fifteen had either been rejected by my aunt Flora or rejected by me. After all I was the one wearing the suit and I felt like a voice in the matter.

Finally, we settled on a suit. It was a blue suit, a solid navy blue suit that was a one piece.

“That suit is perfect.” My Aunt Flora said. “For one it is a one piece suit. So it is modest and yet flattering. Also since it’s a nice one piece, we can add a gaff like bikini bottom under the suit. To hide your bulge.”

I flushed.

“Aunt Flora..” I said, whimpering a little.

“Better safe than sorry honey. Plus, like I said, you will be sitting in the ducking booth for an hour.” Aunt Flora paused. “Unless you volunteer to cover somebody else’s shift.”

And that is how another chapter in the ongoing saga that is my daily life came to an end.

To Be Continued.

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