On The Catwalk

It was supposed to be a fun relaxing Saturday outing with a friend. That was my expectation when Naomi and I agreed to meet at the mall to hang out. I wasn’t expecting humiliation, embarrassment and to be toyed with.

For some reason somehow, this short afternoon trip has made me become some sort of dress-up doll not just for Naomi, but Marie and Ken, too. They made me wear clothes that I wasn’t used to. A lot of them were clothing that revealed a little bit too much than what I’m comfortable with.

All because I asked them for some fashion tips. Is this punishment for ignoring the trends up until now?

“Let’s stop, please”, I pleaded. “I can’t take it anymore, it’s too embarrassing.”

“Don’t give up”, Naomi said as she held another batch of revealing clothes for me to wear. “It’s all in the name of fashion!”

Although, despite them being words of encouragement, they weren't very encouraging at all. Mostly because her face says she was doing this for pure entertainment rather than for actually helping me.

Not just her, but the Marie and Ken pair, too, seem like they're entertaining themselves with the activity.

“Try this on next”, all three said in unison as each of them held out a different set of clothes to me.

If I had just swallowed my pride two hours ago, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Then again, that would probably have been hard to do even in hindsight.

At that time, I was minding my own business waiting for Naomi. We agreed to meet near the station and the place was crowded as usual. It was also not surprising that there were other people waiting on their own respective friends and dates.

However, Naomi was running late. I had arrived fifteen minutes earlier than our agreed time and she wouldn’t be arriving for another thirty minutes due to some circumstances at her home.

Naturally, I’d still be where I am once the hour changes. One of the people who were there noticed and started talking to me.

“You too, huh?”

I jumped back a bit because I wasn’t expecting to be talked to, especially by a stranger.

The person who suddenly spoke to me was a young man who seemed to be also of college age. My initial thought was that I was about to be hit on so I ignored him.

He probably thought I didn’t hear him so he tried talking to me again. “Your girlfriend is also running late?”

“Excuse me?”

I was confused as to why he would ask me that.

He seemed surprised by my reaction, but the expression on his face quickly turned to embarrassment for reasons which I will learn soon after.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were a girl”, he said.

His comment surprised me a bit, but once it sank in, I snapped at him.

I don’t remember everything that I said to him because I was so enraged by his rudeness, but, at the end of it, he apologized to me.

“I’m really sorry, but with the way you are dressed, I thought you were a girly looking boy”, he said, which only made me angrier at him.

Eventually, he moved someplace else far from me to wait for his date. But, what he said stuck with me that I was still stewing about it when Naomi arrived.

I told her about my earlier encounter. I half expected her to share my feelings of anger and badmouth the guy I met. But, for some reason, she agreed with him.

“That person is right”, she said. “Or, rather, you don’t really look girly.”

Before I could react, she started grilling me about my looks.

“Disheveled hair sloppily tied to a ponytail with a rubber band."

"A plain black shirt that's one size too big, plus it's full of creases, clearly unironed."

"Flat chest."

“Sneakers with dry mud on them.”

"I'd struggle to think you were a girl, too", she said, not mincing her words.

Although, I felt that one of them was unnecessary to point out.

“In fact, I should be offended that you decided to meet me looking like that.”

“Sorry, I rushed out of bed and just grabbed the first set of clothes I could get my hands on because I overslept.”

It was half past ten. Usually, I’d still be in bed asleep until noon during weekends. But, I had a promise to keep.

“You’re practically a guy!” she exclaimed. “No wonder they mistook you for one, because you also act like one.”

Her statement struck me hard. I could not even argue back.

“It would help if you were a little bit more feminine”, she said.

“How can I do that?”

As someone who was raised with two older brothers plus one more younger brother, I genuinely didn’t know how. Growing up, I felt like one of the boys and didn’t really bother with girly things since I had to share stuff with my brothers. It’s not like I didn’t think about it, though, especially during high school, but my female friends said I was fine the way I was so I didn’t pursue it further.

Naomi thought about her answer for a moment then said, “Perhaps, if you dressed more girly, you might start becoming more conscious of yourself as a girl.”

“But, I don’t have dresses or skirts or stuff like that in my wardrobe…”

“Then, isn’t this the perfect chance?”

“We’re headed to the mall anyway. We might as well do some shopping.”

So, we did.

At first, she was taking me to some fancy boutiques and making me try different outfits. It didn’t feel like I was being forced to do it, though, as Naomi was looking at clothes for herself as well. We had fun putting on various styles of clothing. Furthermore, I felt one step closer to becoming more feminine since it seemed like such a girly activity.

However, that pleasant feeling would quickly come crashing down when it was time to decide which set of clothes I would get.

I knew that the stores where Naomi was taking me to were fancy. But, I didn’t realize they were also high-end until I looked at the price tag on the item that I wanted to buy.

I’ve never seen so many digits attached to a single piece of clothing in my life!

I almost fainted at the sight of it!

Meanwhile, Naomi was casually paying for half a dozen sets of clothing with some important-looking credit card. It was at this moment that I realized she was a rich girl.

She was the fashionable type. She’s always wearing something eye-catching, trendy and chic whenever I see her on campus. I also noticed she rarely wears the same set of clothing more than once. But, she wasn’t “blingin’”. She didn’t give the impression that she was born into money so I thought she was some sort of serial bargain hunter and was mixing and matching clothes, which is why I didn't think twice in following her to these kinds of stores.

Witnessing the things I see her do at that expensive store made me look at her differently.

Naomi noticed I was hesitating to bring my one and only choice of dress to the counter and asked me if I wasn’t satisfied with my choice.

I explained to her that it was too expensive for me, then, for some reason, she offered to buy it for me. Of course, I refused out of principle. Also, I’d feel really bad if I had my friend buy me a really expensive dress.

I don’t know why, but I expected her to have some sort of reaction that a sheltered princess would, like asking me why I just don’t use a credit card. Of course, my answer would be that, even if I had one, I wouldn’t still be able to afford it. At least, without going into serious debt.

Contrary to my expectations, she was quite understanding of my situation, especially the financial part. After taking a quick break for lunch, we went to the department store, which was more suited to my economic standing.

Coincidentally, that was where we met Ken and Marie, who happened to be on their own shopping trip. It was the first time that Naomi met the pair so I introduced them quickly. I didn’t want to bother them with their date so I tried saying goodbye, but Naomi insisted we stick with them for the moment.

“I’ve got an idea!” she exclaimed.

That was the second trigger to my current situation.

Naomi thought it would be beneficial if we could gather some input from the two. They weren’t popular for nothing, after all, as they had style. Their appearance itself was proof they had good fashion sense, at least, according to Naomi.

But, the pair compounded on the idea as they suggested making it into a competition on who could pick the outfit I would like best. The winner would be treated to milk tea.

Knowing the two, I thought it would just be a match between them. But, Naomi thought it would be fun so she asked to join in with their little competition. To my surprise, they were okay with the extra player.

As for me, I agreed to be the subject of their game because I thought it would be harmless fun. The couple promised to treat me to some milk tea, too, after I agreed, but I thought it was unnecessary, especially since they were giving me a bit of help.

…How wrong I was.

Naomi initially took it seriously and handed me a button-up blouse and a pencil skirt. I didn’t think it was bad. In fact, I thought I looked good in it. But, I felt it was too serious-looking for my tastes.

“Oh, shoot”, she cursed. “I thought I could kill the competition early with that!”

Then, the couple came up.

After trying out Naomi’s pick, I thought Marie’s would be similarly tasteful. After all, she was smartly dressed for her date with Ken. But, she handed me a leather jacket and leather pants. Both jet black in color and very tight-fitting.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it, though I tried wearing them anyway. I showed it to the three waiting outside my dressing room, still confused.

“I don’t know about this one, Marie.”

“That’s because you’re wearing it wrong”, she replied as she approached me.

Then, she grabbed the zipper of the jacket and pulled it down around the middle and exposed my chest. It happened so fast, I wasn’t able to stop it. I was only wearing my bra underneath it!

“There”, she said.

“What do you mean ‘there’?!” I asked while in a panic as I zipped the jacket back up again.

Thankfully, Ken was looking away, but Naomi was looking on excitedly for some reason.

“I was going for a foxy look with the chest exposed like Fujiko”, Marie explained.

“Fujiko? Who’s that?”

My inquiries were ignored, however.

“But, I guess it doesn’t work if it’s not the right size”, she continued as she stared at my chest.

I felt that she just said something rude to me despite explaining why the outfit she suggested didn’t fit me.

Seeing that Marie’s turn was a disaster, Ken confidently handed me his pick. If he had his turn before Marie, I would probably have expected something he’s seen his girlfriend wore and thought would fit me, too. But, now, I was worrying he also gave me something weird and hoped the clothes he chose would be at least decent.

Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t surprised when I took a good look at the shirt he handed me. It was a light pink shirt with a large “GIRLl” printed on its entire front. I don’t fancy myself as a fashionista, but I could at least tell a lame design when I see one. This one was as bad as it comes. Having a large misspelled “girly” on full display makes it look even worse.

I tried it on thinking it might actually look better if worn, but it just made me look like my fashion sense hasn’t grown past grade school.

I slid the dressing room’s curtain open, not so I could show the outfit to the three outside, but so I could tell off the stupid couple to be more serious about their picks.

"We're taking this seriously though", Marie claimed with a straight face.

Ken nodded in agreement.

Neither of the two showed any indication that they had attempted to make fun of me so it felt weird to push the issue further.

Although, Naomi was snickering to herself as if she was the mastermind of the supposed prank. I knew better, however. She was just finding the situation amusing.

But, after that, she started having a bit more fun picking clothes, thinking she was following suit to Ken and Marie’s gimmick. A little too much fun, in fact.

The game continued.

For the second round, Marie handed me a frilly black dress. Nothing revealing this time as it had a high collar, long sleeves and a skirt that goes past the knees. “Goth loli” she called it. But, I felt hot just thinking about wearing it outside so I rejected it.

Ken came up with another shirt, this time with a face of a cute bear displayed around the chest area. I had no quarrel with the bear, but I wouldn’t want to be caught dead wearing the shirt so I instantly rejected it.

At this point in time, I still haven’t grown suspicious of Marie’s choices yet so I wore the clothes she gave me without a second thought. It was another button-up blouse, but this time it was sleeveless. Also, the skirt was a mini. It was too short for me to be comfortable in showing to anyone so I decided to take it off without letting the others see.

But, Naomi popped her head out of the curtain to peek at me and ask “Have you put it on yet?”

I jumped back out of surprise.

“Don’t scare me like that!” I shouted at her. “And I’m just about to take this off, so please stop peeking.”

“Just let me take one picture first, okay?” she said.

Before I could give her permission, she already took a shot and disappeared back outside. I wanted to ask her what that was about, but once I changed back to my clothes, she was already away picking the next set for me.

So, the game continued.

Marie kept handing me black clothes for some reason. Ken just gave me shirts with different cute animal designs

Meanwhile, Naomi was handing me racier and racier clothes as she also became bolder and bolder in asking me to pose for photos.

All of the clothes I rejected.

Now, back to the present where I’m dressed in a nurse uniform with a skirt that barely covers what it’s supposed to hide.

“Can I take this off yet?!” I asked the three.

“Just a few more”, Naomi replied as she took photos of me with her smartphone.

She was the one who suggested I wear the outfit.

“Isn’t this enough? You’ve had your fun so please pick something that I could wear out in public!”

“What do you mean? You can totally wear that on campus.”

“A nurse uniform? At school?”

“Why not? Our uni doesn’t have a strict dress code. In fact, all the clothes you’ve worn so far aren’t against the rules.”

She then glanced at Ken and Marie for confirmation.

“Right?” she asked.

The two onlookers nodded in agreement.

“See?” Naomi returned to face me with a smile.

“I don’t care about the dress code! I just want something comfortable to wear!”

“Then, does that mean none of our selections has caught your eye?” Marie interrupted.

“How could I? They’re either weird or too revealing! And I don’t understand why all the clothes you picked for me are the same color!”

“Why, black is cool” she confidently stated, which I found strange because she was wearing a white blouse and light blue capri pants. I very rarely saw her in black, too.

“Also, you!” I pointed at Ken. “What’s up with all those designs?”

“Well, you kind of remind me of my little sister”, he replied without a hint of humor.

“I’m afraid to ask, but how old is your little sister?”

“Ten.”

“Why would you think I’d be into what a fourth grader would wear?! Why couldn’t you pick something you’ve seen Marie have worn before?”

He hemmed and hawed then awkwardly glanced towards Marie’s chest, then to mine, and then back to Marie.

I didn’t even need to ask any further since I could easily see my answer with his reaction.

“And you!” I now pointed at Naomi. “Stop taking pictures!”

“Don’t worry, these will be all for private use.”

“Why would you need all those photos of me?”

“Because these need to be preserved for posterity! You look so cute in them. So different, so refreshing.”

I wanted to argue back and scold her more, but I wasn’t sure how to after her response.

Naomi then, having her fill of photographing me with the nurse uniform, proceeded to hand me the next set of clothes. It was a police uniform this time with a tight mini skirt.

“Have you forgotten why we’re doing this?” I asked her.

For some reason, both Ken and Marie answered for her. In unison, they answered, “For the milk tea, right?”

“Wrong!” I rebuked, though I quickly realized they weren’t exactly wrong. “No, you two are right, but that’s not the entire reason!”

I then pointed at Naomi again and said to her, “You told me I should dress more girly so we’re here to shop for clothes!”

“And they’ve all been girly, so what’s the problem?”

“They’re more sexy than anything and they’re embarrassing to wear!”

“But, despite your complaining, you wear them anyway?”

I had no rebuttal again.

It was true that I kept wearing them. I was still sort of enjoying trying all those different clothes, but I was no longer going to admit that at this point in time.

It was really Naomi taking pictures that I had issue with, especially when I’m wearing something that could expose a part that shouldn’t be revealed with one wrong move. Asking her to remember what we were there for apparently was the wrong way to make her stop.

I’ve already asked a few times, but she just wouldn’t listen and she doesn’t seem to want to as she tried ushering me back to the dressing room and telling me to put on the police uniform costume.

There was only one way left for this to end. I haven’t found the right outfit yet, no thanks to the two girls treating me like a dress-up doll and that one guy who can’t see me better than a grade schooler, but I still need to end it.

“I’ve decided”, I exclaimed.

***

“Ah, and I was still having fun”, Naomi lamented as she sipped on the milk tea she had won.

“Well, I wasn’t”, I replied, also with my promised milk tea in hand.

We sat at a cafe enjoying our spoils as we took a break from shopping. It was only the two of us again as we’ve parted ways with the Ken and Marie couple. We didn’t want to interrupt their date any further.

During our goodbyes, Marie said to us “That was fun, we should do it again sometime”.

To which Naomi replied with a resounding “Of course!”

As for me, I silently swore to never go shopping with either of them again.

“Still, this victory feels kinda hollow”, Naomi said. “Why did you have to go and choose the boring one?”

“Hey, you were the one who recommended this”, I stated as I pointed to the paper bag beside me on the table. It contained Naomi’s pick in the first round, the button-up blouse and the pencil dress. It was the only decent choice.

“True, but that one doesn’t really get the heart pumping like the others, you know?”

“I’m fine with that!”

Because if I wore any of the others then I’d be getting heart attacks if I wear them out in the streets.