Brittney, the Tapgirl Princess

You would have to have been blind (and deaf) not to notice what all these changes to Brittney's appearance had on her demeanor, her attitudes, and her experiences. From a fairly ordinary girl-next-door 8th grader, by the middle of her first year in high school she had become stunningly pretty, brimming with confidence, and the center of attention for most of the high school male population. As she walked around the school, in—depending on her mood—a short, plaid skirt and brown penny loafers with metal taps on their heels or her tight-fitting jeans and jet black cowboy boots with the huge horseshoe taps on them—she was almost always in animated conversation with one or another of the boys, from the senior quarterback of the football team to the cutest 10th grade guy in the whole school. And when she happened to be alone, her sexy pout and her bleached-out platinum blonde hair layered over her natural brown coloring drew everyone's attention to her face—that is, when they weren't looking at her shapely legs, drawn by the regular, rhythmic clickety-click sounds coming from the heels of her footwear. And when the final school bell rang and students broke for their cars and lit up their cigarettes, usually at least three or four guys would offer her a ride home and share a smoke along the way.

What was most interesting is the effect that Brittney had on the girls at her school. At first, the girls were jealous, and most of them avoided talking with her. But one by one, a girl would come along and start up a conversation. Very often the talk would drift to clothes and shoes, and as often as not the chatter would turn to the metal taps on Brittney's shoes. By March, Brittney had had taps put on the heels and toes of all eight pairs of shoes she wore, from her white skimmer flats to her dressy knee-length chunky-heel boots, so she was always seen and heard in clicky metal taps everywhere she went. Each of these conversations went about the same:

Julie: "I love those boots you're wearing."
Brittney: "Thanks! I got them on sale last fall at the Fashion Bug."
Julie: "I notice you always have metal taps on your boots and shoes."
Brittney: "Yeah, I really like the clicky sounds they make!"
Julie: "Don't they make you slip?"
Brittney: "No, after they've been worn a few times, they're not slippery."
Julie: "Where did you get the taps put on?"
Brittney: "Over at Sam's. He'll do it for free if you smile nicely!"
Julie: "I think I might like to have some put on my new spring flats."
Brittney: "Sure, that would be cool."

And then, a couple of days after the conversation with Brittney, another girl would be heard clicking around the school with taps on her shoes.

First it was just one or two girls. People would look up, thinking that it was Brittney making those sounds. And then they noticed it was Julie or Diana or someone else. By late April, it had become a cacophony! More than half of the 9th grade girls and almost as many of the older girls had taken their shoes over to Sam's and had the shiny silver metal plates attached to the bottoms of their shoes. Loafers had taps; sandals had taps; slingback heels had taps; and of course boots had taps. Some of the boots, like Brittney's cowboy boots, had horseshoe taps covering almost all of the heel, but mostly they were the kind on Brittney's loafers, two inches or more of steel in a crescent shape covering most of the back of the heel and the front of the sole under the toes.

Eventually, taps made their way to boys' shoes too. John was one of the first. Brittney had met John during her first week at Forest Glen High. He was an outgoing sort of guy—always surrounded by friends and telling jokes. By the middle of the school year, he had become stuck on Brittney. He loved how she looked—how she smiled all the time and how her blonde hair shined in the sun. After school, he'd watch other guys go up to her and take her off to their cars, but not having a car he wasn't sure how to get her to pay attention to him. And then he thought of TAPS. So after school one day he walked over to Sam's.

"Sam," he called out. "A lot of the girls at school have started to wear metal taps on their shoes."

"So tell me about it," said Sam. "I've had to order more taps from my supplier three times already this year. And each order has been bigger than the last!"

"Are taps only for girls shoes? Is it 'sissy' to have taps on your shoes, like you're a tap dancer or something? Or is it something that guys can do too?"

Sam laughed. "Ask your parents, John. Back when they were in school, it was the guys who put the biggest, noisiest taps on their shoes and boots, and it was the girls who followed after them and put metal taps on to copy their boyfriends. So, taps are definitely a male thing too."

"O.K.," said Sam. "Let me try them on these harness boots I have on."

Sam replied, "Let's have a look at these…. Hmmm, the heels are already worn down some at the back. If I put on these crescent-shaped taps, they won't stick very well. I think it would be better to have full horseshoes on these heels. Then, the front nails will help the taps bend to the shape of the heel."

"O.K., Sam, whatever you say. Put on all the taps you want. I need to impress a girl I want to get to know!"

"Which girl is that?" Sam asked.

"Oh, just a ninth grader—she's really cute though. Her name is Brittney Davis."

"Brittney!" Sam exclaimed. "You're going to need a lot of taps to impress HER! Take off your boots and I'll see what I can do."

So John pulled off his boots while Sam picked through a tray of taps in all different sizes. Then taking boots and taps in hand, Sam went off to work. About ten minutes later, he returned and showed John what he had for him. On the bottoms of each of the harness boots' heels was a double layer of horseshoe taps, one under the other. On the soles were three pair of taps, each two inches long—one under the toes and one along each side.

"How is this," Sam asked?

"Whoa!" said John. "I'm not sure I'm up to all of this."

"Sure you are," reassured Sam. "If you want to impress Brittney, this is how to do it!"

So out marched John Baker with his newly steeled harness boots, clanging along the sidewalk with every step, clickety-clack-clop, clickety-clack-clop, each step more confident than the one before, and now ready to challenge "tapgirl" herself.