Dressing the Part

The lights of the mall seemed to shine a little too brightly today. You walked with Liam, trying to keep your head down as you headed for the next stop in this increasingly humiliating mission. Shopping for makeup was bad enough, but now? Now you were about to buy girl clothes. The irony that this was all for Aphrodite, the goddess who put you in this mess, was not lost on you.

You followed Liam into one of the stores that seemed to cater to young women—exactly the vibe of Pi Beta Phi. They were known for their pristine image, classy but trendy, and worst of all, most of their events had a strict "white theme." A good chunk of their social media showed girls in white dresses or perfectly matched outfits.

Liam was surprisingly helpful, flipping through racks with a casual ease that made you envy his confidence. You, on the other hand, lingered in the background, looking out of place and visibly uncomfortable.

"Alright," Liam said, pulling a simple white crop top from one of the racks. "This is something they’d wear, right?"

You stared at it like it was a foreign object. "I guess," you muttered, still trying to comprehend that this was your life now.

He threw it into the shopping basket without a second thought, moving on to the next rack where he pulled out a white skirt. "This’ll go with the top."

You stared in disbelief as your best friend casually shopped for _your _new wardrobe. "You’re way too good at this, dude."

Liam grinned at you. "I did date a fashion major in first year. Picked up a thing or two."

You sighed, watching as he added a pair of jeans and, worst of all, a simple, flowing white dress to the collection. It wasn’t fancy, but it screamed sorority-girl chic, which was exactly what you needed if you were going to infiltrate Pi Beta Phi.

As the clothes piled up, your stomach turned at the thought of trying them on later. "This is… a lot," you muttered, glancing at the price tags. "How much is this even gonna cost?"

Liam glanced at the total on his phone, his eyebrows raising slightly. "Yeah, not cheap. But it’s not high-end either. Just... welcome to the world of girl clothes, I guess."

You groaned. "I didn’t sign up for this."

"No, but Aphrodite signed you up," Liam reminded you with a smirk.

As if things couldn’t get worse, Liam suddenly snapped his fingers. "Oh, dude—you’re gonna need a bra."

Your heart dropped, and you shot him a look. "Seriously?"

Liam shrugged, completely unfazed. "Yeah, man. If you’re going to pull this off, you can’t just walk around with no bra under a crop top. You’ll look like you’re cross-dressing, not blending in."

As much as you wanted to punch him for saying it so casually, you knew he wasn’t wrong. It was just… a bra. That was crossing a whole new line.

"Fine," you muttered through clenched teeth, following him reluctantly to the lingerie section. It was like walking through a war zone—you dodged eye contact with everyone, praying no one you knew was around.

Liam flipped through bras like he’d been doing this his whole life, completely unfazed. "You’ll need something small, I guess," he said, picking up a basic white bra with the smallest cups they had. "Not like you have… y’know."

You scowled at him. "Not yet," you muttered bitterly, remembering Aphrodite’s threats about how your body was going to change over time.

"Still, you gotta wear one to fit in," Liam said, tossing it into the basket.

Your stomach churned at the sight of it in there, but you bit your tongue and followed him to the changing rooms. You knew you had to try it on, as much as you hated the idea.

In the small, cramped stall, you stared at yourself in the mirror. You were still you—still looked like a guy, apart from the long, luscious hair that Aphrodite had given you on day one. But as you slowly slipped on the bra, adjusting the straps, you felt a wave of embarrassment and disbelief wash over you. Was this really happening?

The cups were empty, of course. But the fit wasn’t awful, and it would do the job of blending in, at least. You stared at your reflection for a moment longer, trying to accept the reality of the situation. This was your life now—shopping for bras and dresses because a Greek goddess had cursed you.

You quickly changed back into your regular clothes and threw the bra into the basket with a sigh of defeat.

Liam grinned when you walked out. "How’d it go?"

"Don’t even talk to me right now," you muttered, heading straight for the checkout. Just before heading out of the bra section, Liam threw in a few more of the same size.

As the cashier rang up the total, you cringed at the price. You and Liam exchanged a glance, both of you knowing that your bank accounts were going to take a hit.

Liam looked at you as he grabbed the bag. "Come on. Let’s get going."

With a groan, you followed him out of the store, your arms weighed down not just by the shopping bags, but by the crushing realization of what lay ahead.

Defeated but determined, you kept walking. This was just the start of the nightmare, and you had **** but to see it through.

Back at the dorm, you collapsed onto your bed with a groan, already feeling drained from the day’s humiliating shopping experience. The Sephora bag sat on your desk like a ticking time bomb, filled with makeup supplies that you had no clue how to use.

Liam, of course, was all for diving right in. He plopped down on his own bed and looked over at you. "So, you gonna practice tonight?"

You shot him a glare. "Do I have to?"

He nodded, completely serious. "Yeah, dude, you do. You don’t have much time left before the event, and if you show up looking like... well, like *you*, you’re gonna blow it."

You rolled over, burying your face in your pillow. "I’m not in the mood."

"Too bad." Liam’s tone was firm, like he wasn’t going to budge on this. "You’ve got a lot riding on this. You need to practice your makeup. You’ve never done this before, and trust me, it’s not easy. If you mess up that day, there’s no redo."

You groaned again, trying to find any excuse to get out of it. "Don’t you have lectures or assignments or something to work on? You always say you’re busy."

Liam shrugged, completely unfazed. "Not tonight. You’re my priority right now."

You shot him a sharp look, trying to retaliate. "What if I just hire a makeup artist for the day?"

"You could," Liam said with a smirk. "But remember, you’re gonna need to blend in for six months. You can’t hire someone every day. You need to know how to do this yourself, man."

You sighed deeply, knowing he had a point, but hating every second of it. "This is such bullshit."

Liam chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "You can’t even get mad without sounding cute, thanks to your new voice."

Your face flushed red as you scowled at him. "Don’t push it."

Liam just laughed harder. "Come on, you’ve got this. Just give it a shot."

Reluctantly, you dragged yourself out of bed, grabbing the Sephora bag with a defeated sigh. You knew Liam wouldn’t drop it, and if you wanted any chance of passing the sorority trial, you’d have to start learning eventually.

You headed to the bathroom—the only place with a decent mirror in your dorm—and set everything up on the counter. The makeup supplies were intimidating, to say the least. Foundations, concealers, powders, brushes, sponges… it was all a foreign language to you.

Pulling out your phone, you searched for a makeup tutorial that seemed manageable, settling on a "simple, natural look" that would fit in with the sorority crowd. The girl in the video made it seem easy—too easy. You knew this was going to be a disaster.

You watched as the girl started with foundation, dabbing it onto her face with a beauty blender in smooth, even strokes. Mimicking her, you grabbed the foundation and squeezed some onto your hand, but as soon as you started applying it to your face, you realized it was way too much. The makeup caked on thick, leaving your face looking like you’d just rolled in mud.

"Shit," you muttered under your breath, grabbing a tissue to wipe off the excess.

Redoing it, you tried to go lighter this time, dabbing more carefully, but still couldn’t seem to get it as flawless as the girl in the video. You sighed, but moved on to the next step: concealer.

Following the tutorial, you applied the concealer under your eyes and along the bridge of your nose. The girl blended it effortlessly, but when you tried, it just looked... off. Uneven. You gritted your teeth in frustration and grabbed another tissue to wipe it off, starting over for the third time.

"C'mon, man," you muttered, shaking your head. "How do girls do this every day?"

As you moved to contouring, the girl in the video emphasized blending along the cheekbones. But as soon as you started blending, your hand slipped, leaving a dark streak on one side of your face. You cursed again under your breath, grabbing yet another tissue.

"Fuck this," you hissed, glaring at your reflection.

You were so focused that you didn’t notice Liam standing in the doorway until he snickered. "You’re doing great, sis."

You whipped around to see him leaning casually against the doorframe, his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just checking on you," Liam said, raising an eyebrow. "Looking pretty good so far."

"Fuck off and go do your homework or something," you snapped, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Liam grinned, clearly enjoying your misery. "Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to it. But you’re getting there."

You scowled at him until he finally left, then turned back to the mirror with a groan. This was taking forever, and you still felt like you looked ridiculous. But you kept going, determined to at least finish the tutorial.

After what felt like an eternity, you moved on to eyeshadow. The girl in the video used soft, neutral tones, which you attempted to copy. The first shade went okay, but when it came to blending the second color into the crease, it smeared too high, making you look more like you’d been punched in the face than anything else.

"Are you kidding me?" you muttered, reaching for yet another tissue to wipe it off.

But finally—after several restarts, a string of curse words, and countless frustrated sighs—you managed to finish the tutorial. You stared at yourself in the mirror, noticing the small mistakes: the uneven foundation, the poorly blended contour, and the slightly smudged eyeliner. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t *awful* either.

You sighed, wiping your hands on a towel before stepping out of the bathroom. Liam was sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone when you walked in.

"Alright," you said, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "What do you think?"

Liam looked up, his eyes scanning your face before he grinned. "Damn. You look hot."

You shot him a glare. "Shut up."

"No, seriously," he said, raising his hands in defense. "If I didn’t know you, I’d think you were some chick I’d hit on at a party."

You cringed, not exactly thrilled with that image. "I don’t want to hear that."

Liam chuckled. "Hey, take it as a compliment. If I’m saying you look hot, that means you’re doing something right."

You stared at him for a moment, still feeling a mix of embarrassment and frustration. But deep down, you knew he was right. If you were going to pull this off, you’d have to learn how to do this properly.

You sighed, shaking your head. "This is so messed up."

"Welcome to girlhood," Liam said with a grin, leaning back on his bed. "Better get used to it."

You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t help feeling a strange sense of accomplishment. Even if it wasn’t perfect, you’d made it through your first attempt.

And with the sorority trial looming, you’d have to keep getting better.