High-Tops to High Heels: Part 9 (Book 1 Complete)

Perhaps not surprisingly, Bobby was on social media shutdown following the events of Saturday night, so the next day Kimberly had to actually go over to his house in person to sort through the aftermath. When she rang the doorbell, there was a long delay before Bobby’s mom opened the door. She was on her Bluetooth, as usual, but she put whoever it was on hold when she recognized Kimberly.

“Barbie!” she called back over her shoulder. “Beverly’s here!”

Maybe “recognized” was a strong word. “Kimberly,” Kimberly hastily corrected. “Kimberly’s here.”

Bobby’s mom put her hand over her mouth. “Oops, sorry,” she said. “Barbie! Kimberly’s here, not Beverly!” There was no response, to which Bobby’s mom merely shrugged. “Come on in, she’s probably got her AirPods in.”

Kimberly followed Mrs. Vickerson inside, intrigued by the pronoun switch -- obviously Bobby hadn’t tried to deny everything and pin last night on the blackmailer yet, but that probably just meant he was holed up in his room, watching his reputation as a macho basketball star get completely obliterated by the whims of the internet. Several cuts of the video she and Josh had made were floating around YouTube, racking up the hits, and tons of people had recorded Bobby’s impromptu speech.

The whole thing was unbeatable click-bait: a former star athlete transitioning while still in the closet, then making a dramatic coming out announcement at the halftime of a basketball game “he” was supposed to be playing in, and doing it while looking like a sexy blonde babe? Cat videos just couldn’t compete. Kimberly had gotten to watch the story go viral, even getting picked up by small news bloggers and BuzzFeed-style websites.

“Oh, I just got a message telling me to tell you she’s not home,” Bobby’s mom said, tapping at her smartphone as they entered the living room. “Barbie!” she shouted. “Come on, it’s Kimberly! Your best friend? I think?”

This time there was a rustling of fabric, and Kimberly had to do a double-take as Bobby appeared at the top of the staircase in one of Serena’s old prom dresses. His mom had obviously helped him get prettied up: Bobby’s blonde wig was styled in a flawless cascade down one shoulder, and his makeup was impeccable. He made the navy blue dress look as good as any prom queen could ever hope to, even as he fiddled nervously with the thigh-high slit, inadvertently flashing a lot of tanned leg.

She’d been expecting her ex to be holed up in his room wearing sweatpants again, not prancing around all dolled up in an evening gown. This was intriguing, to say the least. Realizing her mouth was hanging open, she quickly shut it.

“Hey, Barbie,” she said.

“Hi,” he said sheepishly. “We were, um, taking some photos.”

“I thought we should start building Barbie’s portfolio,” Bobby’s mom said matter-of-factly. “The modeling agency is already screaming for headshots and I’m in the middle of setting a date for an actual photoshoot, maybe a car show gig…”

“Mom!” Bobby whined.

“When you’re ready, dear, of course,” his mom said blithely, then, returning to her call, “Can we get anything sooner than Tuesday?”

Bobby still had a bit of the shell-shocked expression from the previous night, and Kimberly could see why. “Um, come on up,” he said vaguely. Then, in a slightly-more-familiar grumble, “I’m not doing the stairs in these heels again.”

“Practice makes perfect!” his mom sang from the kitchen.

Kimberly hurried up the stairs, following Bobby’s swishing butt past Sabrina’s room, the door to which was thrown open for the first time she could remember. She caught a glimpse of a vast array of feminine finery strewn across the bed and floor before Bobby led her inside his own room and shut the door. He sank onto his bed with a sigh, massaging his feet -- it looked like his mom had him in five-inch stilettoes for their little “photoshoot.”

“So, yesterday was pretty crazy,” Kimberly said bracingly. “And I guess today is, too?”

Bobby blushed, brushing a strand of blonde hair back into place. “Yeah,” he said. “Dad went ahead to Rio, but Mom stuck around to, uh, be supportive. Which I guess means trying on every freaking thing in Serena’s closet.”

“Any word from the creep?” Kimberly asked.

“He disappeared again,” Bobby said, tapping his phone with one manicured nail. “All his messages are erased. I should’ve taken a screenshot, or something, but now...”

“That’s the reason I came,” Kimberly said softly. “I figured with your feed all clogged up with “Barbie” you wouldn’t have seen this.” She pulled up a news article on her phone and handed it over. “That’s why he didn’t show up for your ‘date,’” she said. “And why he hasn’t messaged you again since last night. He got busted.”

Bobby stared down at the article, headlined by NOTORIOUS HACKER ARRESTED SATURDAY NIGHT IN GREEN LAKE. Kimberly and Josh had written it together, cobbling together several real articles about hackers getting arrested by the FBI, and the really important part was the photo that showed the young man Bobby knew as Mike, his own personal tormentor, wearing handcuffs.

“Shit,” Bobby muttered, scrolling through the article. “He wasn’t just blackmailing me. He was like, robbing banks and stuff.”

“I think the FBI is going to want their turn with him before you get yours,” Kimberly said. “You can tell people he was behind it all, but now…” She trailed off, doing her best to look both pained and sympathetic. “If you try to pin it on this famous hacker who just got arrested, honestly? People will think you just read about him in the news, got cold feet about being “Barbie” full-time, and tried to use him as an excuse to back out, and that means -- ”

“I don’t care,” Bobby said abruptly.

“You don’t care?” Kimberly echoed in confusion.

She’d been ready to go all out, to paint a picture of exactly how trapped he was: there was no way he could go back on “Barbie” without everybody thinking the whole thing had been some kind of sick joke or desperate grab for attention. She’d been ready to describe to him how everyone would hate his guts, how he would be a pariah, a laughingstock, an outcast, unless he actually became the blonde bimbo everyone thought he wanted to be.

But her ex had gotten there without her. He had a mournful expression on his face, staring off into space. “It was Halloween, when I was nine,” he said. “You asked me about it before, so I’m telling you. It was Halloween, and usually Serena’s costume was the big deal on Halloween, but that was the year she said she was too old for trick-or-treating and snuck off to some party.” Bobby paused and took a deep breath. “Mom was bummed, and of course she didn’t give a shit about my costume, even though I was freaking Darth Vader and it was awesome. But I got this dumb idea. I was nine, you know? I went and grabbed one of Serena’s old pageant dresses, took it to mom, and told her I wanted to be a princess for Halloween instead.”

Kimberly blinked. “Wait, what?” she demanded, remembering the sour look on nine-year-old Bobby’s face in the photo -- she’d assumed his mom had dressed him up as a joke, or maybe even Serena had bullied him into it. “Why?”

Bobby stared straight ahead. “So she would pay attention to me for once,” he muttered. “And you know what? She did. I hated the dress. I hated the wig. Going out was embarrassing as hell, and like, seriously cold. But she paid attention to me, so it was worth it.” He shrugged. “Serena knew exactly why I did it. She saw the photos the next day, acted all giggly and proud. Then as soon as Mom left the room, she just stared at me. And she was like, ‘I hope you enjoyed that. I hope you enjoyed pretending to be me for a day, because now you’re right back to being invisible, how it’s supposed to be.’”

Kimberly could see a glimmer of tears in Bobby’s eyes; he sniffed angrily and wiped at them with the heels of his hands. He tossed his phone onto the bed and stood up, pacing over to the basketball trophies on his wall. He stared at them for a moment, then shook his head.

“Coach called me and told me I’m off the team,” he said. “He said he wishes me all the best in my ‘journey’ and gave me the email for the girls’ team’s coach. Just like that, after all the buzzer-beaters I hit for that asshole. Do you know how freaking hard I worked to be good at ball? How many hours I put in at the gym? How many shots I took?” He was breathing hard, on the verge of sobs. “And it was all for nothing.” He sniffed. “I don’t know what to do. Basketball was my life, Kimmy.”

“Screw your coach,” Kimberly said. “Honestly, screw basketball. It never got you what you really wanted, did it?”

“Of course it did,” Bobby muttered. “Everyone freaking loved me.”

“Everyone?” Kimberly asked skeptically. “Your parents barely came to your games. They barely paid attention when they did. Now look! Your mom is going through all Serena’s stuff to find you clothes, and your dad is already trying to get you a modeling contract.” She walked closer. “And you know what else? Serena Vickerson has never, ever trended on Twitter. You did. Last night. Boy to babe, princess in hiding, all those hashtags. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it.”

“I saw it,” Bobby said in a small voice. “My followers went through the roof.”

“So basketball didn’t work out,” Kimberly said. “You put everything you had into it, and got nothing. Meanwhile, all Serena had to do was bat her freaking eyelashes, and she got your parents fawning over her. So maybe it’s time to try it her way.”

“What do you mean?” Bobby asked, quavering.

Kimberly could see the confusion on her ex’s face. He looked lost, dejected, almost desperate. He was practically begging her to tell him what to do. Now was the time to seal the deal.

“Serena was popular without playing sports,” Kimberly said. “Remember what the video said? ‘I’m a girl, I’m a hottie, I’m kind of a princess.’ That’s what people are expecting tomorrow, and that’s what you’re going to give them. You can make everybody pay attention to you again, and this time, your mom and dad will, too.”

Bobby’s pretty pink mouth fell open for a moment, then he closed it and gave a nervous swallow. “So you think…” He trailed off. “Just for a while, right?”

“Just for a while,” Kimberly said, stepping forward. She guided him to the full-length mirror, confronting him once more with his beautiful feminine reflection. Bobby’s gorgeous face was a picture of total misery. “Look at you,” she said, more softly now. “Serena had it easy this whole time. She doesn’t know how to work for stuff, but you do. You’re going to be the hottest girl at Jefferson High, hands down. You’re going to be perfect. Barbie, everybody, and I mean everybody, is going to adore you.”

She saw a tiny flicker of hope in his blue eyes as he processed her words. She knew he was going to hate every minute of being “Barbie,” just like he hated it on Halloween, and at the salon, and the mall, and the mini-putt, and the Starbucks, and last night. But if he believed it would all be worth it, she had him right where she wanted him.

“Yeah?” Bobby said faintly.

“I guarantee it,” Kimberly said, wrapping her arms around him from behind, the first embrace she’d given him since they broke up. “And don’t worry. I’m going to be with you every step of the way.” She smiled. “I owe you that much, don’t I?”

Kimberly watched the struggle on her ex’s face. Her conversation with Beverly was drifting through her head, and in some crazy alternate universe she knew that this was the time she confessed to everything, and apologized, because nobody deserved to be forced into living a lie. But that was some other universe. She didn’t feel fulfilled, seeing Bobby’s life in ruins, but maybe that just meant she hadn’t gone far enough yet.

“Okay,” Bobby finally murmured. “Screw it. I’m a girl, I’m a hottie, I’m kind of a princess.”

“Damn straight,” Kimberly said firmly. “Jefferson High won’t know what hit them.”

A small, sad smile appeared on Bobby’s glossy pink lips for a moment. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “That’s the Barbie Vickerson experience.”

THE END...of Book One. Hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned, because a PDF and some extra art is incoming...then it's on to Book Two!