Nic sighed with relief as shi pulled the minivan into the parking lot of Lake Point High. Finally, shi could turn off that boily radio station, Sparkle FM. It was bad enough that shi had to drive Bianca’s minivan. Shi would have driven hir car; unfortunately, it wasn’t big enough for all of them, especially with Baylie coming along.
Switching off the engine, Nic leaned back in hir chair and watched out of the corner of hir eye as Bianca reached out, pulling down the passenger side mirror and checked hys makeup before expertly touching up hys eyeliner.
A glance in the mirror showed Nic that hir sonnes were also performing similar touch ups. Shi rolled hir eyes. Bois… always so concerned about their appearance. Nic noticed that Baylie wasn't joining in. Hei was staring out of the window at the school with hys head resting in hys hand.
Taking the initiative, Nic stepped out of the car and walked around to Baylie's side and opened the door. "Everything OK, kiddo?" shi asked the boi, leaning on the door. Baylie blinked, realising that hei had been lost in thought. Hei looked up at Nic and nodded slowly.
Nic nodded towards the sidewalk. "Come on, let's have a chat." Shi helped Baylie out of the car and led hym off to the side.
"How are you holding up?" Nic asked once they were in a secluded spot. "I realize that this must be a bit of an adjustment for you."
That was an understatement, Baylie thought as hei looked at hys mothir dressed in a football jersey and a pair of denim jeans. Hei was used to seeing hir flitting about the house in a dress or heading off to work in a smart skirt suit.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like,” Nic continued. “Waking up to a new world and suddenly finding yourself wearing dresses and makeup. I mean, you would never catch me wearing a dress."
Baylie grinned. "You know, Mom…" Baylie replied, putting emphasis on the mom. Shi was still hys mothir, after all, even if shi was from another universe. "If we were in my world, you would be the one wearing a dress, not me."
Nic laughed a little but stopped when shi saw Baylie's face. "You're serious, aren't you?" Baylie nodded. "No way!" Shi shook hir head in disgust. "I'm a woman through and through. There's no way that I would ever wear a dress."
"It's true… In my world, it's the women who wear the dresses and the guys who wear jeans and football jerseys."
Nic shuddered at the thought. I wouldn't be caught dead looking like Bianca. Shi gave a slight cough and tried to change the subject.
"Well, you're in our world now, Baylie, and I know that it must be a huge adjustment for you…but, if you stick with the bois, you might learn a thing or two. Think of them, even Brookie, as your older brotherelles. Bois are pack animals, after all. They do everything together." Shi looked back at the car, where Bianca and the bois were waiting for them.
“We’d better get back to the others.” Nic suggested. Baylie nodded and turned to head back but Nic stopped hym. “Just one more thing, and I know that it might seem odd, but bois are very concerned about their appearance. It’s a boi thing, I don’t know.” Shi shrugged hir shoulders. “So, if you see Brittanie or any of the others touching up their makeup then I suggest doing the same.”
Baylie nodded, and with that, the two headed back to rejoin the others. Bianca looked up from hys compact as they returned, tucking it into hys purse. “Everything okay?” hei aked.
Nic nodded. “Oh sure, I just wanted to have a bit of a chat with Baylie, that’s all.” Shi patted Bianca gently on the back. “Nothing to worry about.”
“So, Gwen, tell me. Are women just as obsessed with their appearance in your world as bois are in ours?” Dr. Suzan McMillan was using the drive over to the school as a chance to ask Gwen about the world that shi had come from. A world where men were in charge and the women wore dresses…fascinating.
“Hey!” Chardeena protested from the passenger seat next to hir. “I am not that obsessed. I can’t help it that I like to look my best at all times!” Hei pouted and crossed hys arms.
Suzan chuckled and gently patted Chardeena’s knee. “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to upset you… I’m just curious as to how the women are from Gwen’s world.” Chardeena still looked a little hurt but hei softened after hearing hys wife’s apology.
Gwen chuckled. “Not quite. Some women are, but not all, and certainly not like your bois were,” shi explained, referring to the empty rooms that once belonged to the McMillan’s older children, all bois. “Funnily enough, they don’t exist in my world… I don’t have any siblings.”
“Really?” Suzan asked, shocked. “And your parents are happy with having just one dawter?”
Gwen nodded, albeit a bit confused. “Yeah, it was a bit of a shock to see their rooms.”
“Imagine, honey, if we had just settled with having one boi,” Suzan commented to hir husbenne with a chuckle. Shi looked in the mirror and saw Gwen with a confused look on hir face. “In our world, when bois marry, they tend to take on the family name of the woman that they are marrying. If we had decided to have just one boi, there would be no one to carry on the McMillan family name. Lots of families have more than one child, often hoping for a gurl to carry on the family name. That’s why we had Joshelle, Jeremielle, and Jacobielle before we had Sarrah.”
“So it’s about legacy?” Gwen asked, sitting back in the car and staring out the window as shi started to understand this weird world that shi found hirself in. Explains why I don’t have their last name yet…
Suzan nodded. "Yes… As I said, all women want a dawter so that they can carry on the family name." Shi looked in the mirror and saw Gwen staring out of the window deep in thought, so shi decided to pause the conversation for a bit; the family drove in silence for a bit with only the radio playing quietly in the background. Chardeena took this lull in conversation as an opportunity to pull out a compact mirror from hys purse and touch up hys makeup.
After driving in silence for a while, Suzan decided to spark up the conversation again. “So, Gwen,” shi began, getting the misplaced gurl’s attention. “If the bois are in charge in your world, do they carry babies?”
“Oh no,” Gwen replied, chuckling at the thought. Suzan raised an eyebrow.
“Fascinating,” shi muttered as shi pictured women walking around in dresses while being heavily pregnant. “And do the women, since they wear dresses, do they have to wear heels?”
Gwen tilted hir head. “Not really… A lot of girls do because it makes them taller but also because they are pretty, but actually, a lot of girls nowadays don’t really wear heels except for on special occasions preferring to wear more comfortable shoes like sneakers. What do you mean by have to?”
Suzan paused for a moment before responding. Shi hadn’t expected that kind of response. It was just natural for bois to wear heels because of how their feet were shaped, but if, in some alternate universe, they weren’t, then they wouldn’t need heels. Bois were already tall.
“Well, um,” shi began, “you see, Gwen—in our world, I don’t know about yours—bois’ feet are shaped in such a way that their shoes need to have a heel in order to walk steadily.”
“Really?” Gwen asked in disbelief.
“Uh-huh,” Chardeena nodded as hei chimed in. “It’s almost impossible for a boi to walk flat-footed even when bare-footed. Our feet just always seem to be in a natural tip-toe position.”
“Wow!” Gwen exclaimed. “Neither boys or girls have that issue in our world,” shi told them as Suzan pulled into the parking lot and the familiar building of Lake Point High came into view. At least the school still looks the same, shi thought as shi noted the familiar steps leading up to the entrance and the sign hanging above the doors.
