Smarter (an Ell Donsaii story #2) by Laurence Dahners

name out for feel.
    “Ell Donsaii, Ellen Symonds. Close but not too close.”
    “OK.”
    “OK, I’ll talk to Jim about getting the documentation started and be right back.”
    While she was gone, Ell thought about how weird it was going to be to going by a new name. She said the name over and over in her mind trying to get used to it.
    Gloria came back in. “Let me have you stand up so I can look at you and we can think about disguising you.” After Ell stood Gloria had her turn around several times. She asked, “Any thoughts on how you want to look?”
    “Not really. My current look attracts a lot of unwanted attention from men.”
    Gloria snorted, “You think you’re too cute?!”
    “Well… kinda,” Ell blushed, “I hope that doesn’t sound stuck up?”
    “No, I just never thought I’d have a woman ask me to make her less attractive. I thought our genes were hardwired against such requests.”
    “Well, you don’t need to make me hideous.”
    Gloria leaned back and rubbed her chin, “Hmmm. Your slender build gives us a lot more options. I suggest we disguise your body with some padded underwear to make your hips and butt bigger. You’ll have to buy some larger pants and skirts. Then you wear tight sports bras all the time to make your top appear smaller. That combo alone will significantly reduce the attention guys give you. Skin bronzers to make your coloring darker and we can darken your hair too. Finally we’ll change your nose a little.”
    “Wow! All that?”
    “Sure, no half way measures.”
    They searched the Net together and ordered some padded underpants in Ell’s size to be delivered to Gloria. No disguise materials should be delivered to Ell’s addresses. For now they tucked some pieces of a torn up t-shirt into the pants Ell had on.
    Gloria took Ell in the bathroom and moussed her hair into a spiky do with a mousse that darkened her hair to brunette. They applied washable bronzer to all of Ell’s exposed skin but Gloria told Ell she’d need to do the rest of her skin when she got home so pale areas couldn’t be accidentally exposed and give her away. Then Gloria took a mold of Ell’s nose and built a silicone bump for it, carefully coloring it to match her new darker skin tone. She skin glued it in place and then showed Ell how to apply makeup to conceal it. Gloria had to teach Ell a lot about makeup since Ell had rarely ever worn any and she would need to wear a moderate amount to make this disguise work.
    When Gloria was done, Ell looked in the mirror in astonishment. Gone was the reddish blond girl of northern European descent. In her place was a swarthy Middle Eastern woman with a hooked nose and a spiky butch hairdo who was definitely “bottom heavy.” Ell wasn’t enamored of the new look but had to admit she hardly recognized herself. She’d always thought that she wasn’t vain, but found the “big bottom” and the nose somewhat embarrassing. Well, you thought it would be nice if men didn’t stare at you so much! she thought to herself with some chagrin. Problem solved! She chuckled.
    Gloria said, “What are you laughing about?”
    Ell just shook her head and gave Gloria a crooked grin, “I’d rather not say.”
     
    When she got home later that afternoon, Ell drove directly to the diner where her mother waited tables in the summer and went in to take a seat in her mother’s section. Her mother came over with a menu. Per Gloria’s instruction she pitched her voice a little higher than usual and used her best imitation of a nasal New York accent to order a cherry Coke and an order of French fries. Ell noticed the slight frown of disapproval her mother couldn’t suppress regarding her nutritional choices. Nonetheless, she was gratified that her own mother didn’t seem to recognize her.
    When Ell’s mother arrived back at Gram’s house she was startled to see the girl from the diner sitting at the table. “Hello, what are you doing here?”
    “Hi Mom, thought