Madame Zelda: Trading Up....Trading Down

Chapter 3
Chapter 3

Staci pulled into the driveway amidst the protests of Marsha. ’Awww C’mon. It’d be cool for us to hang at the mall for a while. It’s not like we’d have to stay all day!’

’I have plenty of things that will fit you. You can wear any of my things.’

’Yeah, but I wanna get some cool stuff. Some of your stuff is OK, but shopping is like half the fun! Besides, we’ll change back pretty soon and I wanna experience shopping like THIS! Ya know?’

’First off...I’d HAVE some more cool things if you would LET me! Second... You can go by yourself! It’s not like I have to drive you!’ Staci told her.

’Yeah....Well, maybe I have a better taste in clothes now? And I’m not sure about driving. What if a cop like pulls me over or somethin’? I mean he’s not gonna believe my ID! Get ~real~!’

’I guess he wouldn’t believe mine either for that matter.... here, let’s trade ID’s. We’d pass for each other.... now!’ The two exchanged driver’s licenses. ’OK, now YOU can go.... I’m going to take a nap.’

’You sure? I bet it’s packed there right now!’

’It is probably IS packed. I’m REAL sure. See you after while.’ Staci got out of the car and Marsha hopped over into the driver’s seat.

’Hey! Don’t forget your seatbelt. There’s a law for that now!’

’Sheesh, ~fine~’ Marsha answered as she buckled up. She then started backing out of the driveway. One crushed trash can later and she was on the road.

Staci walked inside. She sat on the couch and began rubbing her sore knee. After a couple of long sighs she picked up the phone and dialed her boyfriend Jeff.

’Hello Jeff’

’Hello...ummmmm?’

’It’s me.. Staci’

’Staci? You sound kinda funny’

’I imagine I do! It worked!’

’What worked?’

’The crazy old woman really did switch my mother and me!’

’This is a joke.... Give it up! Put Staci on the line.’

’No, It IS me! It worked about as I figured it would. I told you those stories about her were true!’

’Nahhhh. I don’t believe THAT. You’re an ol...errr middle-aged woman and your mom is a kid. Like a teenager. Yeah, and I was born yesterday!’

’Better be careful. I bet Zelda could do that! And as far as who I am... You don’t suppose anyone else knows about the quarry, do you?’

’No way!’

’Yes, ~way~!’

’So, so, so how?’

’I don’t really know. Some kind of spell I guess. Magic’

’What about your mom? How’s she handling it?’

’Pretty well. She’s not quite the mousey thing I figured she’d be. I think she’s wanting to show off a bit! She wanted to go ~shopping~. Anyway, she’s gone now, so we can make some plans. The first thing is get some booze stored up for the world’s biggest party as soon as I get my youth back! She’ll be in for a surprise when she gets to the mall. She’s going to be short a few credit cards. I’m thinking you could use a new stereo in that car of yours!’

’Cool! There’s another party going on tonight. Are you gonna be able to come? We could use some more booze!’

’I can get you the booze but I don’t want any of my friends to see me looking like this. I’d look so out of place. No one would recognize me anyway, I guess.... But I’d still look like somebody’s mom! The main thing is to get some stuff with these credit cards. She wouldn’t buy me the clothes I wanted so I’ll get them myself! I’m going to spend a lot of money this week!’

’You wanna go now? I could pick you up.’

’Noooo.... Marsh.....errrrr Mom is at the mall. This has been a pretty tiring day. I’ll take a nap and then see about getting you some beer later. I’ll call you when I have it.’

The two exchanged their ’goodbyes’ and hung up their phones.

Staci fumbled with the credit cards in her hand and wondered if this was such a good idea. She decided that she was just getting paranoid and slipped them back into her pocket. She started to get up but her knee was getting stiff. She rubbed it and then laid back down on the couch. In only a few minutes she was fast asleep.

-----

Marsha pulled into the parking lot of the mall. Normally, she would drive around and try to find a close space. Today she settled for the first spot she saw. She bounced out of the car and made her way to the entrance. She saw some boys exiting the mall who were obviously checking her out. She smiled and acted like she didn’t see them. Just as they passed she took a peek over her shoulder to see them all watching her walk away.

’Come back!’ one of them jokingly yelled as she entered the mall. She smiled a little more. To her, it was the first compliment of the day!

The first thing on her list was to get a new purse. She’d already rescued a few dollars and a credit card from her old purse. Besides Staci’s driver’s license, she didn’t see much else of any use to a teenager in it. She was missing a few credit cards but figured she must’ve left them at home for some reason. The old purse stayed in the car. She found a sale in one of the department stores and found a new purse that she thought was cute. It was small and didn’t have room for all the things that she had carried in her old one.... but that was perfect now!

After buying the purse, she noticed a group of people in one of the other departments. Being curious, she made her way to see what was up. It was a free makeover sponsored by one of the ’beauty products’ companies. ’Can’t beat the price!’ she said to no one in particular.

’What?’ a girl standing next to her asked.

’Oh, I was kinda talking to myself. Looks like a cool deal. I guess I’ll get in line.’

’Yeah, my Mom’s in the chair right now. They say she’ll look 10 years younger when it’s done.... I told her she had better go thru the line twice!’

Both girls laughed and talked as their lines slowly moved forward. The girl’s mother finally finished and Marsha thought she did look a little better... kinda old looking still...but better. Finally, it was their turn to take a seat. One lady explained to them and the group about how they come to make decisions about what each person needs for their makeover while her assistants do the work.

’These girls are young enough that you probably don’t think they need any makeup...and you might be right!’ the lady joked ’But seriously, even teenagers can learn makeup skills that will be with them for life. First, when you’re young you can get away with some more ’flirty’ colors but as you age you want to be a bit more conservative in your approach. At this age, blemishes might be a problem that you would want to conceal. Older women might want to hide some fine lines or more honestly...wrinkles! .....’ The lady continued speaking as the assistants worked on the girls. Their hair was brushed out. Nails were painted. Lipstick applied. Soon, they were finished.

’Well, you two certainly look good’ the girl’s mother told them.

’Thanks, ma’m’ Marsha answered politely ’You look good too.’

’Thank you... Debbi...what do YOU think?’

’Yeah, Mom..you look great. If you looked any younger people’d think we were sisters or somethin’ Debbi answered sarcastically ’And if you’d stayed up there any longer you might’ve needed to some Pampers!’

The girls laughed. Debbi’s mother didn’t think it was all that funny. She smiled politely at their humor and then told Debbi to meet her at the entrance in about an hour while she finished her shopping.

’So, you wanna hang with me while Mom shops? I just moved here not too long ago. I don’t really have a lot of friends yet.’ she asked Marsha.

’Sure! I wanna pick up some cool new stuff. You can help me if ya want. I could. like, use some help’

’Cool! Yeah, There’s a lot of new things on sale down at this one store I saw. Follow me unless you have somewhere already in mind.’

’OK, Ya know, I’m not really up on all the coolest places for clothes in here.’ Marsha answered as they headed for one of the shops.

’Here it is’ Debbi announced. Marsha looked up to see nothing but clothes for young people. Short dresses. Clunky shoes. Short tops. Funky belts. Bright colors everywhere! She began imagining herself in the outfits.

’So, whata ya looking for, Marsha?’

’I dunno, something kinda....ummm, like ’revealing’’ she said as her eyes caught a bright summery dress. It was a bright, almost neon green. ’Like that! Do you think it’d look OK on me?’

’Yeah, with the right stuff to set it off. Maybe a necklace.’

’Yeah?

’Yeah, well nothing fancy. A big dangly kinda necklace and some cool shoes. Maybe a bracelet too. Why dontcha try it on?’

Marsha giggled and took the dress into the dressing room. She put it on and turned around. She peered over her shoulder to see how it looked in back. She lifted her long blond hair. It seemed even longer to her now that she could fully see it. Lifting her hair, she could see her youthful shoulders and a firm rear end! The dress was even shorter than she had thought it would be. Rather than causing her to decide against the dress, though, she liked how it made her feel just a bit ’naughty’. Satisfied with her ’look’ she stepped out of the dressing room for Debbi to see her.

’Tada!’ she said as she appeared.

’Wow...cool look! You got it goin’ on girl! Here, hold this up and let’s see how it looks’ she said holding out a necklace. ’Yeah.... very cool!’

Marsha smiled ’You really think it’s, like, ~me~?’

’Oh yeah! I wish my mom would let me get something like that. She’d have a cow, though! Plus you’ve got the ’stuff’ to pull it off! You got any shoes to go with it?’

’Ummm I don’t think so...’ she answered trying to remember Staci’s collection.

Debbi found her a clunky pair of sandals and a some bracelets to accent the outfit. ’Wow... The guys will love YOU!’ Debbi said as Marsha modeled the full outfit.

Marsha changed back into her...or rather... her daughter’s clothes and went to the register to pay for the items.

’That’ll be 177.99, Miss.’ the salesperson told her.

’Here’ Marsha answered handing her a credit card.

’Have you got any ID?’ she asked.

’Ummmm yeah..here’ Marsha said while handing her Staci’s ID.

’The name is different.’ The salesperson told her in a matter of fact tone.

’Yeah, it’s ummm, like, Mom’s credit card. She said I could use it.’

The saleswoman shook her head as if to indicate she was satisfied with the answer and continued finishing the sale. ’Here you are. Have nice day, girls’

Marsha liked being called a ’girl’...... that is what she is...a GIRL! Before her transformation, if she would have been called a girl she would have bristled. They left the store and waited at the entrance for Debbi’s mother. They found a seat on one of the benches and began chatting.

’So, you got any plans for tonight?’ Debbi asked.

’I dunno. I hadn’t really thought about it, ya know?’

’Maybe we could do something? I could get my Mom’s car and we could come back here...or somethin’ ’

’You really wanna?’ Marsha asked.

’Yeah, I didn’t have any plans. It IS Saturday! I could call you and we could do somethin’’ Debbi replied.

’Sure, cool!’

Debbi’s mother arrived and so the two girls exchanged phone numbers and parted.

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A Couple of Hours Later- -----

Staci woke up to the sound of the phone ringing.

’I got it....I got it...’ Marsha excitedly yelled and ran for the phone hopping over furniture and shoes on the way.

Staci listened to one side of the conversation.

’Hello?’

’Oh, hi.. It’s me’

’Whatsup, Debbi?’

’I saw ’em too...just as we were leaving they....ummmmm I’m gonna switch phones... hold on’ she said as she noticed Staci listening.

’What’s going on?’ Staci asked.

’Nothing, I’m just talking to Debbi. Hang up for me when I get on the other phone...OK?’

Staci nodded her head ’yes’ as Marsha left the room.

’OK, I got it! Hang up!’ Marsha yelled from upstairs. ’....I said ~OK~ I got it....Hang up....’

Staci put the phone back on the receiver. A couple of seconds later and she heard Marsha padding back down the steps. ’Just checking... I’m still on the phone’ she said looking to make sure that Staci had hung up the phone. Marsha turned and padded back up the stairs and shut the bedroom door behind her.

Staci shook her head in disbelief. She spent the next couple of hours listening to the muffled sounds of giggling and talking as Marsha talked on the phone.

 

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