Free Boys for Beginners by Lil Chase Page B

T-shirt, or tracksuit bottoms, or socks, I ask my dad for the money, he gives it to me, I walk into the shop, pick up the thing in the right size, pay for it and leave. I’ve never done
this
before.
    I’m in a cubicle trying to work out whether the long tube is supposed to be for my arm or my leg. I look on the tag for clues. Fortunately it helps me out; it says ‘Off-the-shoulder top’. OK, that’s a good start, but why, if this tube is for my arm, is there only one of them? Primark must make tops for people who have had an arm amputated in an accident or something. I shout over the wall, ‘Do they make clothes for people with disabilities?’
    â€˜Oh, Gwynnie, you have issues, sure,’ Jennyshouts back, ‘but I wouldn’t say you had a disability.’
    â€˜I don’t know, does lack of dress sense count as a disability?’ I can tell that’s Kimba being mean, but I ignore it.
    Maybe this isn’t an armhole at all. Maybe it’s supposed to be one of those
accessories
I have heard so much about. The top goes off-the-shoulder, so I put it round me under my armpits and across my chest. But where does the long tube thing go? It must be at the back, like a tail. It wouldn’t be at the front like an elephant’s trunk;
that
would be stupid!
    I quite like having a tail to swoosh.
    â€˜I think I am going to get this one,’ I say.
    â€˜Let’sseelet’sseelet’ssee!’
    I pull back the curtain, proudly showing off how good I look in my new top.
    They all stick their heads out and crack up laughing.
    â€˜Oh, Gwynnie! You are hilarious!’ Tanya says.
    â€˜Don’t you like my tail?’ I ask, feeling confused.
    â€˜A tail!’ Jenny says through tears of laughter. ‘Good one, Gee.’
    I pretend it was a joke and laugh my head offtoo but I have no idea why. I stand in my cubicle for a moment and feel confused. A moment later there’s a patting against the curtain and I realize that it’s someone trying to knock.
    â€˜Gwynnie?’ It’s Elizabeth. She’s whispering. ‘Can I come in?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ I whisper back.
    She sticks her head through the curtain and looks at me in my top. ‘That top is really nice and the colour is nice too, but it comes in another colour that I think might work better for you. I got you one in your size.’ She hands me the same top but this time in a dark grey. ‘And, um, that’s not how you wear it.’
    I feel really stupid and try to shrug it off like I knew that all along. The shrugging makes the top fall down from under my armpits and I have to catch it before I expose my M&M boobs.
    â€˜You put one arm in the tube,’ says Elizabeth, still whispering so the others can’t hear, ‘and the other side leaves your shoulder bare.’
    â€˜Oh.’
    She must have seen the look on my face as she says, ‘Don’t worry, it confused me the first time I tried it.’ Then she smiles and retracts her head back behind the curtain.
    I reshuffle the top like she says, and I suppose it makes more sense. I show the other girls.
    â€˜I told you to try that one,’ says Kimba. ‘It was a good choice of mine.’
    â€˜You look fully awesome,’ says Melissa.
    â€˜You’re so lucky, Gee,’ says Elizabeth. ‘You have such a nice flat stomach.’
    â€˜That colour is exactly the same as your eyes and it really brings out their beautiful shade,’ says Tanya.
    â€˜Thanks, Tanya.’ Wow, I feel so good about myself.
    â€˜And doesn’t Gwynnie have divine hair,’ says Jenny. ‘It’s so long and lovely.’
    They all nod in agreement.
    This is such a surprise. They are being so nice it makes me want to be nice to them too.
    So when Tanya shows us what she’s tried on I say, ‘Ooooh, that skirt has so many flowers on it!’ I’m not sure if that’s a good enough compliment,