Swap Week: Nicole's First Day of Work

Swap Week:  Nicole's First Day of Work
by RogerGirl

  Nicole drove home and carried her gym bag and laptop into her room.  Her mom and sister were getting ready for work and her dad was still at work, so she went to her closet to pick out an outfit more suitable for work.  She found a black knee length pencil skirt and a red blouse.  She took a quick shower then got dressed and fixed her hair and makeup.  She put on a pair of earrings and a pair of black 4" heels.  Her mom and sister were in the kitchen eating a quick dinner, but she had grabbed a quick meal on the way home.  While she waited for them to finish eating she logged onto her Facebook.  She looked through her friends status updates and the comments people had posted on her pictures and on her wall.  The picture with the most likes was a picture her sister had taken of her in her swimsuit at the pool.  In the picture she was lying stretched out on a pool chair wearing only her swimsuit and a pair of sunglasses.  She didn't know her sister had taken the picture until she was uploading her photos later that night.  

 As she read through the comments she blushed at some of the things Nathan had written.  She went to his profile and looked at some of his photos.  There were some new photos of him practicing football or hanging out with friends playing pool.  She also found some older photos from past Swap Weeks where he had a few different looks and was posing with past Swap Week dates.  Each of the girls reflected the different interests he had each swap week including an drama girl, a debate team girl, and a punk rock girl.  Nathan was a senior and had a lot of Swap Week experience, and even though Nicole was a junior this was her first Swap Week.  While she had gotten used to her life as a girl so far, she was wondering if she was ready to go on a date.  Luckily Jennifer, who was also a junior, but had been on dates her first two Swap Weeks, and her parents were there to help her.  Nicole's mom and sister called her to tell her they were ready, so she logged off Facebook and grabbed her purse and went to the living room.

  As they drove to work Nicole asked her mom about her Swap Week dates.  While Megan would be able to help her with other aspects of the date, she wanted her mom's insight from her experience on dating as a member of the opposite gender.  Her mom told her that she had avoided dating during her first Swap Week as she felt uncomfortable asking out a girl.  The next year, however, she was more relaxed and had friends to turn to for advice.  As John she asked out a girl she met with her new punk rock friends.  During their first date they were both kind of shy, but as the week went on they began to open up to each other and by the time of the dance did some light kissing.  While kissing felt awkward at first she began to relax when she remembered that the girl she was kissing was really a boy.  In her next two years she and the girls she dated were a lot more relaxed as they now had more Swap Week dating experience and she was able to fully embrace her role as a boy on a date with a girl.  Her mom suggested she try asking her dad after work as he would be better able to help her out with his experience dating as a girl, since it might be harder for a boy to play the girl in a relationship that for a girl to play the boy.  Nicole thanked her mom for her help and told her and Megan that she had a double date tomorrow night.  She also told them that her new friend Jennifer would be coming over to help her get ready for the date.  They both smiled and were proud that she was fully taking advantage of Swap Week to gain a new perspective on life.  

  Soon after they arrived at the mall and each went to their jobs.  Nicole walked into Forever 21 and the salesgirl, Amy, welcomed her.  She took her to the back to show her her locker for her purse and gave her her new name tag.  Amy took her out to the store to show her around and explained what she would be doing in her new job.  After explaining everything she wished Nicole luck and Nicole walked around the store folding clothes, fixing displays, and looking for customers who needed help.  Many of the customers were students from her high school who were buying clothes to wear for the rest of the week.  While some seemed to know exactly what they were looking for through prior Swap Week experience, she noticed some freshman and sophomore girls who looked a bit lost or confused.  Knowing how they felt, since she was in their place just a couple days ago, she went to help them.  She walked over to a girl who was looking at blouses.

"Hello, my name is Nicole," she said, "can I help you find something."

"Hi," the girl said, "this is my first Swap Week and I'm still a little lost.  Not used to all the girl clothes yet."

"Don't worry," Nicole said smiling, "this is my first Swap Week too.  I just moved here a few months ago.  Luckily I have an older sister and parents who have participated in Swap Week to help me out."

"Wow," the girl said, "you look so good.  I can't believe you've never done this before.  When I first came in I thought you were a real girl.  By the way, my name is Christy."

"Thanks,"  Nicole said laughing, "I was also surprised when I saw myself in the mirror the first time.  So what can I help you find, Christy?"

"Well, normally I'm a soccer player, but for Swap Week I thought I'd try being a sort of preppy girl.  I'm looking for something sort of like the dark haired girl on "Glee."  I signed up for several upper division science and math courses that I've been too afraid to try before, and I'm also taking choir."

"OK, Christy,"  Nicole said looking through the racks, "I think I know what you're looking for."

  Nicole handed her a white blouse then guided her around the store handing her a skirt and other items to fit the look she was going for.  Christy thanked her and went to the dressing room to try them on.  While she waited Nicole fixed some clothes on a rack and greeted customers.  After a while Christy walked out smiling and wearing her new outfit.  

"Thank you so much," she said, "it's perfect.  Is it OK if I wear it out of the store?"

"Of course," Nicole replied, "let's just go to the counter first to ring you up."

  Christy went to the checkout counter and Amy rung up her items.  Christy paid for her new outfit and thanked Nicole for all her help.  Amy complimented Nicole on how well she was doing both as an employee and as a girl.  Nicole told her about her past experience working in her parents' store and asked Amy about her Swap Week experiences.  Amy, who had graduated the year before, shared her memories of the various identities she took each of her 4 years.  Nicole asked her for advice on Swap Week dating and told her about the double date she had tomorrow night.  Amy shared a few stories of dates she went on and told her to just relax and remember she was a girl this week, and if she still felt uncomfortable that underneath it all she was a boy dressed as a girl on a date with a girl dressed as a boy.  Nicole thanked her and went back to help some customers.  While most of her customers were buying clothes for Swap Week, a few older women in their late teens and early 20s came in and were surprised to discover that she was not a real girl.  They all told her how good she looked and how natural she appeared.  Some shared stories of their Swap Week experiences and others gave her pointers on being a girl.  

"Nick?" she heard a male voice say as she was arranging some clothes on a display table.

"Oh hi Doug," she replied as she turned around and recognized the guy as one of Nick's skater buddies.

"Shit dude," Doug said looking her over, "You make a hot chick.  Damn nice legs, man."

"Um, thanks," she replied uncomfortably at being addressed to as a guy, "Could you call me Nicole please.  It feels weird being called Nick when I'm in my Swap Week role."

"Oh sorry," Doug said quickly apologizing, "I guess I wasn't thinking in Swap Week mode since I can't participate this year.  Let me start over.  You look very pretty, Nicole."

"Thank you," Nicole replied with a slight smile.

 As expected not every student participated in Swap Week.  Since everyone had already taken their finals and the Swap Week wasn't mandatory, some students didn't choose to take part.  For those who didn't participate, they merely had an extra week of spring break.  For some it was because they didn't want in dress up, either because they had no interest in it or because they couldn't afford to do so.  Others just wanted a longer spring break.  Finally, there were those who had prior commitments.  While Doug had participated in his first two years, this year he had to go to his cousin's wedding out of town.  He had been at the tuxedo shop across from the Forever 21 when he spotted Nicole working inside.  

"So how is your Swap Week going?" he asked as Nicole continued folding clothes.

"It's been interesting," Nicole replied, "There's still some stuff I'm getting used to."

"Yeah, it's a lot to take in all at once," Doug responded, "I'd like to talk some more, but I've got to get home and get some sleep.  We're leaving pretty early tomorrow.  We'll talk when I get back and you can tell me how your week went."

"OK," Nicole said, "Enjoy the wedding."

 They said their goodbyes and Nicole continued working.  After a few hours Nicole checked out as she had to go meet her mom and sister.  Amy said goodbye and said to call her to let her know when she would be coming to work again.  Nicole told her she would let her know since she had her date tomorrow and events most of the week.  She said goodbye and went to the car to meet her mom and sister.  On the way home they asked her how her first day of work was and she told them about the people she met and the nice things some of them told her.  When they got home they went inside and Nicole immediately took off her heels as she had been on her feet for a long time and her feet were really starting to hurt.  She decided she might try some lower shows tomorrow that would be more comfortable.  

 Her mom and sister went to their bedrooms to change and Nicole went to the living room where her dad was watching TV.  She told him about her double date and asked him for advice on his experience dating as a girl.  Her dad told her how uncomfortable he felt being a girl at first and how he turned down a lot of boys in his first year.  The next couple years he began to feel more comfortable and went on a few dates, but tried to avoid much physical contact until the Swap Week dance his junior year when he finally felt ready to try some kissing.  By his senior year he was ready to go a bit further and tried a few new things Swap Week date.  By that time he realized the fun of the week and wanted to get the full experience of being Brianna since it was his last year.  He also told her how all of the dates treated him really well and moved at a pace he felt comfortable since being girls they knew how it felt to be on the other end.  They knew how they would want to be treated on a date or by a boyfriend and applied that to their Swap Week dates.  Nicole thanked her dad and hugged him.  She said goodnight then went to her room to take a shower and change for bed.  She removed her makeup and took a shower then after drying her hair she put on her underwear and a pj set that consisted of a light pink tank top and short cotton shorts with little white hearts on them.  She climbed into bed and thought about tomorrow's date.