A Boy With Girly Hair - Part 16

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Angelica's House

It turns out the woman barging into the locker room was indeed a chaperone — a teacher, in fact, that works at the school. She looked at Daisy sitting on the bench and then at me sitting next to her, wearing a pink sweatshirt and shorts.

“Oh, Daisy,” she said, surprised.

“Hi, Miss Newbaum. We’ll get going, sorry. The line in the other bathroom was so long.”

“Ah I see, no problem at all. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t one of the boys trying to sneak in. Wouldn’t THAT be a nightmare to deal with, huh?”

Did she not realize I was a boy? The teacher hadn’t missed a beat. It was as if this was all entirely normal. Until of course she looked at me and said, “why the sweats and shorts, sweetie?”

“I…uh…”

Daisy interjected before I said something idiotic, “oh, her dress got stained. Something spilled on it so we had to wash it and change. It’s drying off now.”

“I can help out!” Miss Newbaum said with delight, “I’m really good at getting stains out.”

“No! — uh, she’s fine. We’ve got it all under control. Really.”

“Hmm. Okay then.” Miss Newbaum seemed to buy it. “You girls best get back to your dates soon though. I’m sure they’re wondering where you are. Pretty hair by the way… both of you.”

She gave us a nod and left. I commended Daisy for her quick thinking.

After a few more minutes my clothes had gotten dry enough to put back on. I got dressed and Daisy helped me re-tie my tie.

“Wait!” what if we see Miss Newbaum again out there. Won’t she recognize my hair and know it was a boy in the girl's locker room?”

“Good point…your outfit is definitely different enough but we should ditch the french braid for sure.”

She loosened my braid and finger-combed my hair to even it out as she mulled over what look we should go with.

“God this hair is gorgeous…” she muttered, jealously, it seemed. I didn’t reply.

An idea struck her and she started to take a section of my hair and twist into a small bun on the top left side of my head. Then she did the same with the right. The remaining hair that wasn’t tied into a bun was left hanging down my shoulders.

“Voila! introducing Space buns! Cute, huh?”

Cute? If anything I looked like an off-brand, Princess Leia! “Daisy, I can’t have this! I look ridiculous! At least the french braid was somewhat masculine.”

“No no no you see that’s the POINT! You’re supposed to look the complete opposite of the french braid — and that’s what I gave you! The last thing in the world we want is for you to be recognized by Miss Newbaum.”

“ugh, but want everyone else to think this looks weird? I mean… Space buns? Really?”

“Screw ‘em! Didn’t you get a ton of compliments for a bow in your hair?”

She wasn’t wrong. Plus the space buns had a certain charm to them. And if they were really gonna ensure Miss Newbaum didn’t recognize me as the girl from the locker room…

Daisy and I made our way out of the locker room and back to the dance. We went right into the crowd and started dancing with each other and another big group. Daisy is an absolute blast to hang out with. She’s the kind of person a shy introvert needs in their life because she’s always willing to initiate the fun. I like to think I’m good at having fun, but sometimes need the push to really step out of my comfort zone.

To my surprise, I got a few comments about space buns. Some of the girls looked at me a little longer than usual, but always with a positive reaction. Most of the guys were focused on their own dates so not too much attention was paid to me.

The person I least needed attention from was Miss Newbaum, who after a half-hour of dancing I finally spotted roaming the exteriors of the gym. I grabbed Daisy.

“There she is!” I gestured.

“Don’t be so paranoid. I doubt she’ll even remember you -- in her mind all she saw was a girl in a pink sweatshirt with a french braid. She didn’t even get that good of a look at your face!”

She may have been right, but Miss Newbaum’s mere presence was making me incredibly nervous. The odds were low, but the punishment if caught was through the roof. It didn’t even seem as though Miss Newbaum was that much of a hard-ass, but if she were to report me I’d have no way to justify it. Not to mention what would happen to Daisy if she were to be accused of bringing a boy into the girl's locker room. Was this worth possibly being suspended from school?

I had to take a break from the dance floor as this was taking too much of a toll on me. I retreated to the other, smaller gym where tables were set up for students to sit, snack, and take a break. Daisy stayed with her friends. I didn’t want to bother her.

The secondary gym had a far friendlier vibe. Instead of dancing in the dark, it was bright and students had a much better view of each other. Friends gathered at the different lunch tables to break discuss their evenings and sip some water. Needless to say, I didn’t have a place to sit not knowing anyone. But lucky for me, someone else seemed to be in the same situation.

“You a guest too?” a guy came up to me. He was a tall, muscular, dark-complected boy. I had recognized him from the dance floor — in fact, he was kinda in our dance circle for a moment.

“Yeah, my date’s dancing. Just needed a little break.”

“Ugh, same!” the boy said. “It’s kinda rough meeting people at a school that’s not yours.”

An awkward pause. “I’m Spiro by the way.”

“I’m Sam. So who’s your date?”

“This girl named Angelica. She’s a friend from church camp.” Spiro said as he flashed his Crucifix necklace from beneath his shirt.

“Mine’s named Daisy. She’s an old family friend.”

“Cool, cool,” he said. Another brief awkward pause. “So iI gotta ask, did you lose a bet or something on that hair?”

It was the first time in over an hour anyone had actually mentioned my space buns. I had almost forgotten I had them up myself.

“Ugh, long story,” I said. Let’s just say they’re to keep someone off the scent of who I am.”

Spiro laughed. “Hiding your appearance? I saw you from a mile away! — not that they look bad!” He was quick to correct himself. “I actually dig ‘em.”

I blushed. Strange to hear a boy complimenting someone’s hair with such confidence — particularly another boy! Spiro’s definitely not like most guys.

“Well thanks, that’s cool you think so.”

“Hold up,” Spiro said as he pulled out his wallet. “Wanna see something nuts?” He grabbed a picture from his wallet of 5 kids. “This is me and my siblings from like 3 years ago. And that’s me in the center.”

It was a little hard to tell since the photo was so tiny and a little blurry, but the boy in the center had SUPER long hair — down well past his shoulders.

“Wow, that’s you??” I couldn’t believe the difference.

“Yep, chopped it all off 2 years back. Kinda used to be my identity. I was always known as “the Long-haired boy”. I didn’t even mind it — outside of when my sisters used to style my hair and make it all girly — haha now THOSE are pictures you’ll never see.”

Spiro and I smiled. If he only knew how much I empathized…

Now Spiro was rocking a classic boy’s cut — shorter on the sides, slightly longer on top with a product to spike it up a tad. He pulled it off.

“Well anyway, I should probably head back in. Angelica’s probably pissed I bounced this long. Wanna re-join the dance?” He slapped his hand on my back in a buddy-kind-of-way. His strength caught me off guard — after all, he was much bigger than me and about 8 or 9 inches taller than me at around 6’2”.

I followed the eager Spiro back into the main gym. Turns out, Angelica and Daisy were actually dancing next to each other in the same group. It was loud so we couldn’t really talk, but Daisy gave me a look like ‘why-were-you-with-him’. I just laughed and shrugged.

Now that I knew who Spiro and Angelica were, it quickly became obvious the dynamic between the two. Angelica was infatuated with him — sure, he could just be a “friend from Christian camp” but she certainly wanted more. The way she looked at him was obvious, though it wasn’t immediately clear Spiro saw it the same.

The rest of the dance was a blast — there was thankfully no trouble from Miss Newbaum and I got nothing but neutral-positive reactions to my space buns. Angelica particularly complimented them while we were walking out of the school.

As it turns out, Angelica and Daisy were new friends only as of this year — she was somewhat of a mentor to Daisy at her school, as in the first few weeks freshmen are assigned an older student to answer questions, show them around, and overall act as a resource. Angelica was in her Junior year — two years older than Daisy — which would explain why we didn’t see her at pre-dance pictures at Daisy’s house with the rest of her friends.

Daisy and Angelica were chatting away as Spiro and I got to know each other a bit better. I learned that he was also in his Junior Year at a different private school a half-hour drive away. He played on the football team, though he seemed like such a sweet person, I couldn’t imagine him playing such a rough sport like football. We bonded further over our shared love of distance running as well, though he claimed he didn’t get the chance to do cardio as much anymore.

I liked Spiro. He seems like a super cool guy but definitely everything I’m not.

“Daisy you gotta watch the new one!” Angelica shrieked, “I’d re-watch in a heartbeat.” I learned that they were discussing some dating reality show that apparently both were obsessed with.

“How about we just walk over then? That work for you?” Angelica suggested.

Daisy nudged me, “How bout that Sam, wanna hang at Angelica’s for a bit? She’s like a 5-minute walk from the school. It’s not that late.”

I was hesitant, as I wanted to get up early and go for a run in the morning, but then again how often do these group hangs come up for me?

“Sure — oh, is Spiro joining?” I asked.

“I’m crashing there already,” he jumped on. Angie’s mom already said it was cool and it’s so I don’t have to drive all the way back home at night.

The night was set. Within minutes we made our way over to Angelica’s quaint suburban house. After a brief hello and introduction to her parents, Angelica led us to the basement where the TV and couch was.

Daisy and Angelica were completely preoccupied with the discussion of this show, and that led to several side-eyes from Spiro pointing out how silly they looked obsessing over a reality TV show. “It’s so scripted!” he kept insisting.

“Okay so I’ll make popcorn, and Daisy you can go ahead and get changed into PJs,” Angelica retreated to the kitchen.

I approached Daisy, “Wait, you’re staying over too?”

“Eh, why not? She’s got an extra bed. And Spiro’s staying too so it’s already that kind of night.” She left for upstairs to get changed.

I suddenly felt a little bit out of my element — Daisy was my only friend here and suddenly she was consumed by the reality TV show and now part of the sleepover group. I’d love it if she left later at night like I planned to do, but was it too selfish to ask that?

Angelica returned with popcorn and changed into her pajamas — a soft pink shirt and shorts. Spiro stepped out of the downstairs bathroom wearing an undershirt and checkered pajama pants. He looked in full comfort mode.

“You know Sam if you’re gonna stick around to watch the show you should change into PJs too. I’m sure we have something more comfortable than your formalwear.”

Daisy returned from upstairs wearing an outfit identical to Angelica’s. It was her clothes after all.

“Angie these jammies are heavenly! You’ll have to tell me where you got them. Sam, feel this.” I felt a piece of the fabric she extended towards me. I definitely saw her point!

“They feel awesome, you’re right,” I responded.

“Then wear ‘em,” Angelica said offhand as she started queuing up the show. Daisy, can you show Sam to my room?”

“Uhhh I don’t think I need to. Spiro you’ve got extra pajamas?”

“Nah sorry Sam, just these,” he said, snapping his own waistband.

“I was just kidding,” Angelica corrected herself, “I’m pretty sure my dad’s got some spares.”

Daisy grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. Instead of turning into the master bedroom, she led me right to Angelica’s room.

“Hey I’d rather just borrow the pajamas from angelica’s dad,” I said trying to slow Daisy down.

“Why? You’re gonna stay and watch the show right?”

“I planned to, yeah.”

“Then why not be comfortable? Feel the fabric!”

“I already did, and I get it, but I’m much more used to men’s pants.”

“How bout this,” Daisy began as she dug through Angelica’s drawers, “You try on these pajamas while I look in her dad’s room for the pants. If you hate Angelica’s, then you’ll wear him. Deal?”

She didn’t even give me a chance to respond before tossing the pink set at me and closing the door.

I briefly stood there fingering the fabric. It felt lovely.

I’ve never worn anything like this before, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. Then once Daisy came back I could prove to her that I tried, she’ll have her laugh, and then I could wear the normal boys' pants.

I disrobed and slipped on the shorts over my briefs. It gave me goosebumps as I slid them up my legs — what WAS this material?

The shorts were expectedly very short, as they appeared to be that way on Daisy and Angelica. Though they didn’t really sit right over my briefs.

Purely for experimentation, I took my underwear off and tried on the shorts commando-style instead. This time the goosebumps were even more significant. Never before have I felt such a comfortable garment. The shirt was the same as I slipped it over my bare chest. Tighter around the waist and looser on my hips, but an enjoyable feel.

…but Daisy didn’t come back. I waited in the room for another 5 minutes, and she didn’t bring the pajama pants.

Part of me was ready to admit to her the comfort of Angelica’s pajamas, but the other half was eager to get back downstairs in the normal clothes and indulge in the popcorn.

I peeked my head out of Angelica’s bedroom and looked down the hall to the master. The lights were off. Clearly, she’d left.

Maybe she’d brought them back downstairs.

Thought I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of being seen walking through a stranger's house in girls’ nightwear, I snuck past Angelica’s parents and went back downstairs, where I found the other three lounging on the couch, chatting.

I immediately pulled myself back because I realized how strange this would be for Angelica and Spiro to see me dressed like this. Daisy, sure, but not the other two — particularly because Angelica was kidding about her pajamas and didn’t really give me permission to wear them.

I called Daisy’s name from behind the corner. She answered.

“Did you grab the pants?” I said timidly, still out of sight.

“Ah crap, I’m sorry I got distracted! Angie called me back downstairs — wait… did you try on what I asked you?”

Angelica jumped in, “wait, what did he try… WAIT, Sam did you actually try on the pink set??”

I couldn’t see her but I could tell she was smiling and couldn’t believe I might have actually taken her comment seriously.

“Come show us!” Daisy said. At this point, far too much attention was being put on me. I never thought this to be a big deal, and at that moment wanted nothing more than to just be handed the men’s pajamas and sit back on the couch.

What would Angelica think? What would SPIRO think?