Chapter 1

Jose had lost some weight over the summer. He hadn't planned on losing weight, but he had. It was a combination of being more active and the heat tempering his appetite. He had worn shorts throughout the summer usually with an elastic waistband, so he didn't notice the inches lost in his stomach and waistline.

As the Fall was approaching, Jose finally noticed that his pants weren't fitting him very well. Due to his shrinking waist, his pants hung lower than they should. It annoyed him to keep pulling his pants up. He got into the habit of wearing his pants with a belt.

Jose entered a department store determined to buy some pants that fit properly. He proceeded directly to the men's department. He passed the shirts. He didn't need any shirts. Apparently, his chest and arms didn't suffer the same fate as his stomach and waist. Jose found some slacks that he liked in the proper size. He was looking for slacks 34x30. Once he found a few that both fit him and that he liked, he would select some jeans too.

Jose chose over the next fifteen minutes four pairs of slacks that he thought would look good in his wardrobe. He followed the sign to the men's fitting rooms. He entered the room passing one lone man as he entered. Jose could have changed in the stall closest to the entrance, but he ventured inside and walked to the back. He preferred privacy when he changed apparel.

Inside the stall, Jose put his new pants on the bench. He then used his right toe to pull his left foot out of his shoe. He did the same for his right shoe. He unzipped and then unbuttoned the pants he was wearing and pull them down to his thighs. He had to sit to pull the pants off his body altogether. The top of his t-shirt partially hid his briefs. He didn't take notice. He didn't care.

Still sitting, Jose selected a pair of charcoal colored (that was the name of the color, not that Jose knew or cared) Haggar flat-front pants. He pulled them up his legs and then stood to get them all the way up to his waist. He zipped and buttoned them, thus securing the pants onto his lower half.

In front of him, a mirror was attached to the back wall of the dressing room. He looked at himself in the mirror, twisting right and left to see how it appeared from many angles.

While gazing at himself, his eyes lost focus. He couldn't clearly see himself anymore. Reflexively he started to blink. He didn't feel dizzy at any point. He didn't feel sick. He was sure his vision would return.

When his vision had returned three or four seconds later, he was looking right into his own eyes. He recognized his face, but he knew something was wrong. The clothes he was wearing weren't the same as those he had been wearing a moment before. He was wearing a lady's tan shirt suit. The blazer had long sleeves, and padded shoulders, and it tapered to his waist. The matching A-line skirt descended to his mid-calf with four-inch ruffle trim at the hem. He was holding a floral dress by a hanger in front of his body as if he was checking to see how such a garment would look on his frame before trying it on.

Jose thought he looked ridiculous wearing women's apparel. Jose was a very masculine-looking person with his black-trimmed mustache extending to his ears and handsome hair.

“What the F?” he said quietly.

Jose dropped the dress he was holding and took a better look at his reflection. There wasn't any doubt that he was wearing women's clothing. He looked himself up and down. He noticed that on his feet he was wearing black pantyhose. He subconsciously wiggled his toes. He could feel the thin material on his feet. He didn't have to touch his chest to feel the bra under his blazer which wrapped itself around his torso. But that didn't prevent him from touching his chest. The cups of the bra he was wearing flattened under his touch. He was wearing a blouse between his bra and his blazer not that he could see it. At this point, he really didn't care.

After satisfying himself that this wasn't a dream, Jose began the task of wondering what he should do. That was more important at the moment than what happened to me. What happened was obvious. How it happened wasn't as much so.

Chapter 2

Jose didn't know that between the stall he was in, was an identical stall in the women's dressing room. The only thing that separated the two stalls was a common wall. In the adjoining stall, Tawanda had brought a dress to try on. She was holding it in front of herself before trying it on. The Role Swapper happened by while the pair were admiring the clothes, they were considering purchasing and swapped their lives. But not their bodies. Jose found himself in Tawanda's stall, wearing Tawanda's apparel and apparently having Tawanda's life. From this moment on, everyone (family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers) would treat Jose as Tawanda.

Jose looked over the stall. He needed to change into clothing more appropriate for his own gender. He didn't want to be seen wearing women's apparel. He looked down at the floor and found a pair of light brown pumps with a one-inch heel. The dress that Jose had dropped was also on the floor. He looked around the room, but the stall was empty of other apparel. On the bench next to him, was a brown purse with a top handle as well as a shoulder strap. The purse matched the shoes on the floor in color. (The color in question was called cognac by the manufacturer.)

Jose looked for several seconds longer than necessary to ascertain that there wasn't any male apparel for him to wear. He hadn't really expected to find any.

“What am I going to do?”

“I've got to get out of here.”

“I'll go to my car and drive home.”

“Yeah, that's what I'll do.”

Jose turned his attention to outside his stall. He didn't dare look outside, but he could listen to see if anyone was about. He could hear people scurrying around, but he didn't hear what he expected to hear. He expected to hear were the sounds of men. What he heard when he did hear voices, were women's voices.

“I was in the men's changing rooms, wasn't I?”

Jose took more time to make sure. The people surrounding his stall were women, not men. Jose looked over the stall he was in again, was there an indication that this was a women's stall? The stall looked pretty generic. There wasn't a clear indication that it was women's or men's. It was simply a changing room stall

Jose sat down to think. He believed that his dilemma had gotten worse. He didn't want to be caught in a women's dressing room. He thought that could get him arrested. But he needn't have worried. Despite what he looked like, as far as anyone was concerned, he was Tawanda: a woman. This was the changing room he was supposed to be in. He could walk out with his head held high and no one would think he was out of place. Although he probably would have to shave off his mustache and beard. Jose didn't notice during the inspection of his face, that he wasn't only wearing women's apparel, he was also wearing lipstick, eyeshadow, and other cosmetics.

Jose waited for a time when there wasn't anyone in the changing room. He listened closely to the arrivals and departures of the women who wanted to try on outfits. But there weren't any breaks. The women's changing rooms were busier than the men's by a wide margin.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. There wasn't an opportunity to leave the stall unobserved. Jose needed a new plan.

Chapter 3

“Excuse me. Are you going to be in there for much longer? We need the stall.”

“Umm,” he said in his regular voice before realizing his mistake. Then he raised the tone of his voice to a falsetto. “Umm, I'm finishing up. I'll be out in a couple of minutes.”

“OK,” the voice said as she walked away.

Jose had decided upon a plan. The dress he was carrying was the key. He could hold it up high which would block his face. Then he could get out of the store and run through the parking lot to his car. Few would see him. It wasn't a good plan. But it was the best plan he could come up with. He didn't think he had many options.

Jose picked up the dress and then stood in front of the mirror. He held the dress high, so it hid his face and part of his upper body. He thought it hid him quite well. Besides as long as people couldn't see his face it didn't matter much if they knew he was a man. They wouldn't know who he was.

Jose sat back down. He was psyching himself up to leave the stall.

Jose was about to go when he saw the shoes on the floor. “Should I wear them?”

“Yeah, I should. I'll walk out briskly, but I won't run. That way fewer people will notice me. Maybe no one will notice me at all if I hold the dress up high enough and I'm walking like everyone else. But someone would notice a person leaving without shoes. That might draw attention to me. Plus, it'd be better to wear shoes when I run through the parking lot.”

Jose reached for the shoes. He hadn't worn pumps before. He had never worn any feminine footwear.

The heel on the shoes was small and 'sturdy'. He didn't think he would have any problem moving while wearing them. A moment after he got the first one on, he was amazed that the shoe fit his male-sized feet. Jose hadn't noticed that his toenails were painted. The nail polish was partially obscured by his dark hose. It took only a few seconds to put on the second shoe once the first shoe was on. He stood up with the hanger of the dress in his hand.

He pulled it up to his face, hiding it somewhat. Jose moved the dress to the side, he needed to see where he was going. Then he realized his beard could be seen.