In-Between

Chapter 55

Alone with her friends at last, Wendy immediately grabbed another outfit and a pair of shoes from her mother's closet for Juvia and two outfits and pairs of shoes from her father's closet for Gray and Natsu. The girls went into one room to get changed and the boys went to get changed in another and Gray gave his word that he wouldn't let Natsu peek at them.

"I'm not sure about these clothes." Juvia said looking skeptically at what Wendy had given her.

"What's wrong with them?" Wendy asked.

"Well the shirt is nice but the skirt is a little too short don't you think?"

"Not really. It covers both the waist and the rear perfectly."

"But it goes above the knee doesn't it? Isn't that showing a little too much?"

"What? No. Why would you- Oh right. You lived during the 19th century and back then women weren't allowed to show anything below the waist. Not even their ankles. Look Juvia nowadays it's alright if someone sees your legs and your knees. It's not scandalous."

"Are you sure?"

"My mother wears skirts this length all the time and no one thinks she's a tramp for it. I mean there are some women who will say that about my mom but that's because they want to steal my dad from her."

"Okay. I'll trust you on that." She picked up the outfit given to her. "So um where's the corset?"

"Sorry but in this time period women don't wear corsets. They wear bras."

"Bras? The word sounds vulgar."

"You wore one once. Sort of, when you were in my mother's body. Remember?"

"You mean that thing that hung off her chest? That's what women substituted the corset for?"

"I think it's an improvement." Lucy said. "Corsets were way more painful and I can actually breathe when wearing a bra."

"Lucy yesterday you couldn't breathe at all. You were dead."

"Well I'm pretty sure when I was alive the first time and had to wear corsets, I couldn't breathe. I mean come on, you have admit these bras are way more comfortable."

"I'll admit that but I don't think it covers my bosom as well."

"Bosom? You mean boobs?" Wendy said.

"Boobs? Ugh...That sounds more vulgar than bra. Who comes up with these words?"

"I don't know but that's what they're called nowadays."

"Well my...Boobs aren't covered as properly with this bra as they would be with a corset. I wonder if I could bind them, I hate letting them show."

"Hey at least you have a boobs to show." Wendy said ashamed of her chest which had yet to develop. "I'll probably never get them."

"Darling you're a little girl. You're not supposed to have them yet."

"I'm thirteen. That's when they're supposed to develop." She said turning red in the face. "I can't even wear a training bra yet."

"Now don't be silly. Lots of girls your age haven't developed womanly charms yet."

"Yeah and besides when we were alive women dreaded having a large breast." Lucy said. "Unless of course she was planning to bear children."

"To this day I'll never understand what is it about these that attracts the opposite sex." Juvia said. "They make me feel like a cow. A fat cow. Oh I wish I had more layers."

"Hey you've never been real self conscious about your body before." Lucy said. "That dress you're wearing has no sleeves and a split in the skirt."