Double Trouble

Total Transformation

California's POV

We were surrounded by clothes. Shirts, ties, and socks of every colour, pattern and fabric covered every available space

"See?" Flynn said. "They've got everything."

I nodded mutely. Through a miniscule gap free of fabric in the window, I could see Gary standing on one foot leaning against an old man. He had his eyes closed, and I wondered what he was doing, or if he even knew what he was leaning on. The old man was looking down at Gary with a funny look on his face. He wasn't mad, but he definitely had no idea what was going on.

I looked up to wave Val and Flynn over, but they were standing close together and talking quietly, so I thought now would not be the right time to pop their (mostly Val's) love bubble.

My eyes sought out the window just in time to see the old man take a very large step away from Gary. Gary went crashing to the ground, his eyes flying open right before he landed on a very fluffy poodle.

The owner of the poodle, a young woman in running gear, glared angrily at Gary before yanking the poor dog out from under him. The dog yelped, and Gary screeched as he landed on his backside on the footpath with a dazed expression.

I struggled to keep my laughter quiet, and tears of happiness streamed from my eyes.

"Oh my God Cal, are you okay?" shrieked Val, "What happened?!"

I shook my head silently. Val and Flynn stared at me like I had gone crazy.

Val glanced at Flynn, then walked straight to me. Well, as straight as she could get while navigating her way through hundreds of jam-packed mannequins and tables.

"Cal..." she said slowly. There was a sharp crack as she slapped my cheek. Hard.

My laughter stopped abruptly. "Val! What the heck?!"

"First, you were going insane, and as your only friend in this part of the country, I figured it was up to me to help you out," she answered.

"Flynn's my friend." I argued stubbornly.

"Second," Val went on, ignoring me. "We say 'hell' or something slightly worse that rhymes with duck. I won't say it now, because there are children around," she looked pointedly at Flynn, "but you are the only teenage girl in the country that still says 'heck'. And that's something we need to work on."

I sat down on the floor, crossed my arms and looked sullenly at the ground. It's something I like to do when I'm mad or hurt or recovering from insanity. It clears the mind.

"Cal..." Val said slowly, again.

I crawled backwards on my hands and bum. "Not this time!" I shouted.

Flynn was looking back and forth between me and Val, like he couldn't decide who was the prettiest/craziest (or both). He stepped between us, and held out a pair of black skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

"How about this?" He asked.

Val and I nodded. She stepped forward and held out a hand to help me up.

"Girls," I heard Flynn mutter, completely bewildered.

I pushed open the door and called Gary inside. "We have something special for you!" I sang cheerfully, looking down at the figure sitting against the wall beside the door.

The old homeless man looked up at me and grinned his semi-toothless smile. "Okay," he said, surprised.

"Uh..." Either we needed to put a lot more work into Gary's makeover than we previously thought, or this was not Gary. Hopefully the latter.

Feeling bad, I took a $20 note from my purse and handed it to him. He smiled again, and I hoped he was going to buy some floss and toothpaste with that money. "Thanks," he said.

I turned around and spotted Gary lying down on a wooden bench. "Gary!" I called.

He sat up and looked around. I waved, and he promptly rolled off the bench onto the ground.

"Twice in one hour," he groaned into the floor.

I helped him up, and we walked into the shop where Flynn and Val were nowhere to be seen.

"Val?" I said loudly. "Flynn?"

I saw a foot poking out from under one of the tables, and I recognised Val's orange shoe. I pointed the footwear out to Gary, and made a 'shh' sign.

I tip-toed to the table. Gary started to follow me, but knocked over two mannequins, a table and a small child after only 2 metres. I went forward solo.

I reached the table and lifted up the cloth over it. "BOO!" I screamed.

Val screamed too, and jumped on to Flynn's back. Flynn who had been laying on his stomach, sat up suddenly, and Val knocked her head on the bottom of the table. Flynn crawled out from under the table, with Val miraculously still holding on. "Giddy up," she muttered.

Flynn got up and dusted himself off. Val fell off his back and landed on a pile of clothes that their hanky panky had knocked off the table.

I picked up the clothes Flynn had chosen for Gary and handed them to him. "Go try them on," I said with a smile.

He looked at the clothes in my hand, then took them and walked carefully towards the change rooms.

Five minutes later, Gary was still in the change rooms. Val and Flynn had cleaned up their mess, and we were waiting impatiently for Gary to finish.

"What are you doing in there, mate?" Flynn shouted. "Constipated?"

Val laughed and Flynn smiled down at her. There was definitely a noticeable height difference between the two; Flynn would quite easily be able to fix a light bulb, while Val wouldn't look out of place playing with pixies.

Finally, the door swung open and out walked a completely different person. She had grey hair and wrinkles, and wore purple rimmed glasses.

"Shit," Val laughed. "Wrong door."

We moved down one door, which also swung open. Gary strutted out. The white t-shirt was amazing; apparently he had a very nice upper body. I stared at him. He actually did look completely different. Almost... normal.

"Hey," he said proudly, doing a little turn for his audience.

I gaped at him. Val pinched my arm, and then her own. Flynn looked impressed. "I am amazing," he announced.

Everyone else was silent for another few moments. Gary actually looked like someone you'd rate an 11 out of 10. And all we'd done was get rid of his hideous bowl cut and buy him some decent clothes.

"We can't call you Gary anymore," Val said, breaking the silence. "Gary is a loser. I'd call you God, or His Royal Hotness, or even Channing Tatum, but your personality probably hasn't changed. I'm going to call you..."

Flynn, Gary (His Royal Hotness?) and I held our breath, waiting for Val to announce Gary's new, more attractive name.

"Gazza."

Flynn and I burst into laughter. 'Gazza' looked shocked and seemed to be praying that Val was joking. Val, however, looked extremely offended.

"Okay, fine, we don't like Gazza," she concluded. "But you can't stay plain old Gary. Not the way you look now. Which is hot, by the way. H. O. T. Hot."

Written by Ansel