The Online Job - Chapter 12

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Natti awoke and after putting on light makeup just enough for school she donned the dark maroon A-Line skirt matched with a sleeveless light pink lace top that buttoned up the back. There were only two buttons on the back and being new to this kind of clothes she was able to get the buttons fastened even though it took her a little longer than it would in the future. Her hair was another matter then she remembered what Amy told her if she ever had a problem with her hair acting like it should. So she got the little spray bottle of water that Tara told her she would need for various things and spritzed her hair. Then with a blow dryer, she had it looking good in no time and headed down to the kitchen.

Seeing her mother when she walked in she set her purse down and her mom asked if she wanted anything to eat that morning she just told her that she was planning on cereal and cinnamon toast. She didn’t remember when she first started to read the cereal boxes but she just couldn’t eat cereal without reading the box for some reason. Her mother told her that she looked nice and she asked what was on the schedule for today.

“Well Tara has an oral exam in her Spanish I, which is her second class then she will be finished. So I guess I’ll just hang out on the porch until she is done. Most of the students are going to class but there isn’t really anything that is happening and many classes are occupied by students that don’t even take that class. Lots of the kids are just hanging out on the porch and there are assemblies all day long it seems. I don’t have anything at all to do so I’ll just be hanging out most of the time.”

“You look nice today”, her mom continued. Natti got up and put her bowl in the dishwasher after rinsing it out. She went back to her room after picking up her phone and making sure her monitor and the lights were turned out. Stepping out into the hallway she received a text from Tara and told her that she and her mother was just pulling out of the driveway and that they would be there in 5m. Natti didn’t respond but just headed back to the kitchen and picked up her purse telling her mother that Tara had just texted me and that they would be here in by the time that she got her cell so that she could get a picture before we leave. Natti’s mom picked up her cell from the breakfast bar and headed out and just as she was closing the door Tara and her mom pulled into the driveway.

They both got out and walked up to meet them and Natti and Tara hugged. Gone was the excited jumping from the day before as that was to just start the dress alike week. They posed for the two mothers to take their pictures and then got into the car and they were off for day two of the Tara and Natti saga.

They were dropped off and the excitement of the school was still high and the student snake slithered its way into the school. Both of the girls were in their homeroom class when the substitute teacher came over and gave Natti a pass to go to the vice principles office now. She also handed one to Stephanie and Cyndi. The three girls got up and walked out talking about what the other thought this was about.

As they walked along they could hear the daily announcements floating out into the hallway and then when they turned the corner to head into the office area of the school which was nicknamed downtown they ran into Heather, Laura, Sara, and Danielle.

The question of what this was all about was brought up and Danielle voiced, “You don’t think they are going to make us go home and change do you?” Everyone agreed that wasn’t why they would be called here, as they all had permission. As they entered the office Danielle said that there was a new girl that had dressed today. When she was asked who she relayed that Megan was the new girl, and then she whispered, “Stan.”

They were told that they would have to wait until Mr. Eastman finished the announcements. None of the girls could make out what was being said even though they could faintly still hear the announcements wafting in the open doorway. They excitedly whispered about Megan being the 8th girl that was dressing, The topic of Stephanie and Remy was shared and Stephanie was talking about how nice Remy was with helping her, and even though it wasn’t an exact match as was Tara and Natti they were still very close and even if they were standing in front of you it still looked like it was planned and not just happenstance.

That subject changed to the Cos Con and what everyone would be going as, and it was during this conversion that one of the secretaries informed the squad that Mr. Eastman would see them now. As they filed into the office they looked around and didn’t see any chairs for them to sit in and so just stood in front of the large desk. Mr. Eastman looked from some papers that he seemed to be reviewing and stood.

He began, “I understood that Mrs. Reeves and Miss Brady decided that you could all come dressed in this most insulting way without consulting me or asking for my opinion. There was no mention of school rules being broken or ignored. I understand that yesterday you boys went off limits and entered the girl's second-floor bathroom north.

This will not be repeated. If you can’t use the bathroom that the school provided for your use then you will have to make other arraignments. Your presence dressed as you are is an insult to many of the students that don’t believe males should become females. That behavior may be tolerated in some other places but you cannot do that at Robert R. Ingram High School. You are all dismissed, and he sat back down.

The girls left and headed back to their classrooms but once back out in the hallway Natti stopped everyone and asked if any of them found anything in what he just said in any way strange? The group just looked at each other and Natti continued, “He was just using the bathroom as an excuse. He doesn’t want us dressed this way and the way that he called us boys twice. He also told us that he wasn’t consulted about us being dressed this way, and I also think he was mad because two women made the decision.”

Sara spoke up and said that her mother was the president of the PTA and she could call her mother and let her know what was going on. She also said that her mother thought that this was a fun and harmless way to end the school year. The group was split on what to do and Stephanie mentioned that would be a good start then added that it couldn’t do any harm. Then it was agreed and she pulled her cellphone out of her purse and made a quick call to her mother.

She then related that she would call the school and see if there wasn’t some way that this could be solved. Everyone agreed that was all that they could do for now and Cyndi said that they should all go to the restroom on their way back to class as there wasn’t anyone in there now, so how would he know. Five of the seven girls stopped off and after finishing Natti touched up her lip gloss.

After class, Tara had her Oral Spanish I final and she asked Natti if she wanted to come with her, but she just said that she wanted to call her mother as well and let her know about the edict from Mr. Eastman. Tara announced, “Deseadme Suerte en el examen, me boy.” Natti looked at her kind of strange and then she said, “That’s Spanish for I’m off wish me luck in the exam.” Natti told her good luck and that she would be waiting for her after her exam on the porch.

Natti made her way out to the porch and saw quite a few other students hanging out there. I guess the school figured that students were going there and installed a teacher as sort of a chaperon. She sat at one of the tables with her back to the table and pulled out her cell phone. She called her mother and she was on her way to the store in Sun Coast. Natti explained what was happening with Mr. Eastman and she agreed that it didn’t sound very fair. She told her that Sara, one of the girls said that her mom was the president of the PTA and she called her and her mom said that she would call the school.

“Mom, I don’t think anyone else knows anything about what he is doing. There is nothing wrong in what we did. We needed to use the restroom and Shyla and Remy went into the bathroom and made sure that there were no other girls in there before we even entered. I don’t know why he is doing this but I don’t think it has anything to do with breaking the rules.

He just doesn’t approve of what we are doing and he is mad that two women made a decision and he wasn’t consulted. It is a power struggle within the school. I know that he was the assistant principal here for four years before Mrs. Reeves came this year and she was promoted from the position of assistant principal from a high school in Miami. He is just mad because he didn’t get the position that he wanted. He was saying that the way that we were dressed was an insult to the beliefs of other students. He said that twice. He doesn’t care anything about us using the restroom and what he is mad about is that he didn’t have a part in the decision.”

Her mom agreed that it does sound that way and added, “Okay I’m just pulling into the store. After I get inside I’ll call the school. Make sure that all the other girls call their parents and let them know as well. We were given permission and now they can’t manage their own policies so the parents have to take time from our work to get involved over such a trivial issue as to where our daughters are going to use the bathroom. I’ll call you back after I’ve contacted them. The counselor’s name was Miss Brady you say, I’m pretty sure that is the lady that I spoke to when I called on Friday. I need to go in now honey, be good and stay safe. I love you, and I’ll talk to you in a few.”

After Natti finished speaking with her mother she closed the connection and a voice from behind her back asked, “Having any problems?” Natti turned and immediately had to shift her view upwards to look into the face that was talking to her. She responded, “I think that it is all under control. You’re the one that whistled at me yesterday huh?” The tall boy smiled at her and apologized saying that he was sorry about it. Then he added that it was kind of crude, but he didn’t mean anything derogatory. I just think you’re really cute, and I wanted to make sure that you knew that I noticed you. He then extended his hand introducing himself, “Hi my name is Dmitri Dmitriev and you are Tara’s friend correct?”

Natti said that yes she was Tara’s friend and then said that Dmitri’s father must have not liked him to give you a name like that. Dmitri laughed and just said that he did that to honor his father who would be my grandfather. Then Dmitri asked if he could sit with her and she said that would be okay if she could sit at the table so that she wouldn’t get whiplash from looking up at him.

Dmitri came around and sat down on the bench and Natti moved up and sat on the table, but she still had to look up at him. Hey, just how tall are you anyway. Dmitri laughed again and told her that he was 1.9M or 6’3” for you all over here in the colonies as it were. Natti didn’t really understand that last comment but she liked him and he was nice. She asked Dmitri, “From your name you don’t sound like you are from around here?” Dmitri told her that he was born in Tallahassee but his father came from Russia and married an American girl and he was born here. They continued to talk and Natti liked him right off. He was smart, funny, honest, and very good-looking. Needless to say she was attracted to him.

During their discussion, she found out that his father first worked for the Russian government and then immigrated to the US. He told her that he was a broker and worked on international deals between governments. She also found out that his mother was a nurse when they met, and now since his father was away a lot his mother would volunteer as a nurse. Natti had lost all sense of time talking with him. She told him about the Cos Con and that Tara and she were going to costume (what it is called when you dressed up in Cosplay) as Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Blossom. At the mention of Cos, Con Dmitri brightened up and said he was going to go as Godfrey. Natti knew who that was right away, “Oh you mean from Elden Ring. I’ve played that before, but I like games set in outer space a lot. Do you have your costume yet?”

Dmitri told her that he did, and he also had his ticket. He also added that this was going to be one of the biggest Cos Con ever. He then told her that people dressed first as cosplay for comic cons but now it had evolved into its own entity. He told Natti that there are professional cosplayers that did nothing but go from one cos con to another. Of course, she knew that but she just wanted to let him talk. She enjoyed hearing him talk, but didn’t think so much about why she liked it so much. Just about that time Tara showed up and broke into the conversation. Hey you two, what’s up.

Dmitri stood up and greeted Tara, “Oh hi Tara. I was just talking to your friend here.” She came over and sat down next to Natti and joined in, “Has the Russian butterfly been stealing any pollen from my girlfriend.” They both laughed and Natti said that Dmitri has been a real gentleman and I haven’t let him take any pollen, and then after a pause added, “Yet.” “Oh did you know that he is going to Cos Con as Godfrey?” Tara looked kind of lost for a moment and then Natti added, “From the video game Elden Ring.” Tara still looked kind of lost and Natti went on to say that she didn’t think that Tara was up on her video games.

Dmitri mentioned that they both looked really good dressed alike and that he thought it was kind of catching on as he saw another couple dressed alike today. He then added that they might have just started something. Natti looked at her watch and said that it was almost time for lunch, and asked Dmitri if he wanted to join us. Tara commented on her watch and said, “That’s a horrid watch, we will just have to get you a new one when we go shopping this weekend.” Dmitri told them that his lunch wasn’t for 30 minutes yet, but he would escort them if it was okay. They added that it was and Dmitri placed himself right next to Natti as they walked to the lunch room.

As they were walking down the hallway to the lunch room an office runner came up to Natti and gave her a card saying that Mrs. Reeves wanted to see her in her office right away. Natti looked worried and it showed on her face as she said that she had been called to the principal’s office. Tara took the card and being called to the principles office was never a good omen.

Tara tried to ease her friend’s nerves by saying, “That it was probably nothing. Hey maybe they have figured out the bathroom situation, I’ll bet that’s it. I’ll go with you, I’m not hungry now at all.” Natti looked at Tara and told her that she didn’t have to and that she should go ahead and eat. Then Natti walked off leaving the two students standing there watching her walk away.

After she left Tara turned to Dmitri and said, “Just what interest do you have in Natti? You do know about her, don’t you? He looked at her and responded that he did and that he knew all about her. Tara asked him, “Then what is it? Did you think you might take a ride over the rainbow or what. She’s become my friend and I don’t want her to get hurt. Look at you, you’re tall, good-looking, and you could have just about any girl in the school. I’ve heard a lot of girls talk about how cool it would be to have you as a boyfriend.”

Dmitri then asked, “Have you talked to any girls that I have dated regularly? I don’t just want any girl. Oh sure I have taken a few girls to the social functions that the school has had, but I don’t want a girl just to have a girl. It’s not that important to me. I had heard about Natti before I saw her, and I didn’t think anything about her. I heard that she really looked good and I heard a few of the guys saying that there were only four inches keeping them from asking her out.

I did know all about her, but when I saw her, there was just something that clicked, and I had to find out more. I asked all the guys that she knew before and they all told me that she was always weird or not right as she was described. But I had to find out for myself. I saw her walking out to the porch so I ditched class and followed her out. I know more about her than you think I do. I know you’re just being a good friend but just relax. I’m not going to hurt her.

I understand from Shyla that you were responsible for bringing her out so to speak and I figure that you feel like you share some responsibility for her. But no matter what happens I just want to get to know her better. Oh by the way thanks you did a great job.” With that, the young man turned and walked away.

When Natti got to the principles office Sara, Stephanie, Heather, and Danielle were already there and the only ones missing were Laura and Cyndi. They whispered about what was going on and then Mrs. Reeves came out of her office with some papers and was talking to her secretary telling her what to do with them the squad that was there tried to figure out what she was saying but they couldn’t make it out. Mrs. Reeves turned around and approached the 5 young ladies sitting there and addressed them, “Good afternoon girls isn’t there supposed to be two more?

I was sure I was told there were seven and I only see five.” Sara spoke up as she seemed to kind of be the spokesperson and told her that we didn’t know where the other two were and Mrs. Reeves said well come on in and I’ll just have to deal with them later. Just as she was turning Laura and Cyndi walked into the waiting area and Mrs. Reeves asked them to join us since they were here now.

Come in everyone and close the door.  She went and sat down, and began. “When I first heard about this I thought it was a prank at first and wasn’t going to allow it to disrupt the school. But then Miss Brady said if it was a prank why would the parents call, and why would the children tell their parents. When she said that you wanted to identify as female cumulatively these factors changed my mind.

Then after the first parent called this morning I knew someone had made a mistake. You should have been provided a place that was safe and private for you to deal with the effects of being human. I informed Mr. Eastman on Friday afternoon what I had decided and he either by neglect or reason decided not to take the necessary steps to ensure your safety and comfort. Now the girl's restroom first floor south is hardly ever used and is being labeled as we speak is going to be your comfort room.”

The seven girls just stood there looking at her and it was Laura that asked, “Pardon me ma’am does that mean we aren’t going to be expelled?” The principal kind of smiled, an action that she rarely undertook, and replied, ”No you’re not going to be expelled. Let me express my sadness that you had to experience this at this time of the school year. Now I know none of you are seniors so I expect to see you back here next year. I have looked at your school records and I see that the seven of you rank in the 96% of the student body. So I want all of you back next year. Miss Brady has your names and I would be watching out for something from the school board before the next semester starts. Now you girls have a good rest of your afternoon.”

Natti and the rest of the girls left and they all began to talk once they got into the hallway. Everyone was asking questions all at the same time until Heather spoke up saying, “Well I don’t know about anyone else but I’m going to our comfort room.” The squad broke up laughing and then began to walk down the hallway to their own facilities as Shyla would say.

When they got there a janitor had just finished mopping and there was a yellow foldable sign warning “Slippery When Wet.” Everyone went in to attend the christening of their very own comfort room There were only 4 stalls and it was much smaller than any of the other rooms for students in the school. The only really bad feature of the room was that it only had two mirrors. Natti had experienced a lot of new aspects of changing genders and waiting in line to use the mirror was one of them.

Males never think about or experience this aspect of life. Finally, she stepped up and gained her turn and Stephanie was there brushing her hair which was a wig. Only Natti, Heather, and Laura weren’t wearing a wig. Natti and Laura’s hair was long enough to be styled, but that didn’t stop Heather. She said that her mother had actually used a shaving razor and tapered the sides and back and left it long on top. Natti liked it and with the makeup, it looked like it was done deliberately.

Tara and Natti had a really nice afternoon now that the case of the great bathroom caper had been solved. Tara said that she needed to stop by her biology class so that she could talk to her teacher and Natti stood around outside. Dmitri came by and stopped to talk to Natti and he was standing very close to her with one arm on the wall. Tara came out and walked up to them and accused, “So if it isn’t the stalker. It seems like whenever I see you two  now I’m rescuing my friend from the clutches of the communist plan.” They both laughed and Natti started saying that he was just talking to me offering me any help getting to Cos Con if we needed a ride. Tara got in between them and said that was all taken care of and that they didn’t need his help, but thanked him for it anyway.

As they walked away Tara whispered to Natti that she wasn’t sure that was smart or even close to being cute. Natti feigned innocence replying that she didn’t have any idea of what she was even talking about. Damn Natti, Tara continued, did you not think that I wouldn’t notice? Notice what replied Natti as she smiled and waved at a friend while walking down the hallway. Oh, nothing except that he was holding your hand and had you trapped with his other arm placed against the wall.

Suppose I wanted to be trapped, retorted Natti. Natti turned to Tara as they continued to walk down the hallway while Natti was moving sideways and excitedly asking, “Oh did you see that smile, and it was all for me.” Tara was so happy that Natti was enjoying life, but still wary of what could happen at any time. Well maybe I should just change my name to Tara Frankenstein and they both looked at each other and busted out laughing.

Tara’s mom picked up the two girls and they pulled away and looked through the rearview mirror as Natti was waving at the car that was passing on the left. She saw Natti nudging Tara and then watched as the car pulled ahead and saw the blonde boy in the passenger seat waving at Natti. She just smiled while snatching a backseat glance and asked, “Friend of yours Natti?”