Brittney, the Tapgirl Princess

By the time Brittney walked into English class the next day, she'd already been told by a dozen people the news: "Did you hear? Ms Wilms came into school this morning clickety-clicking really loud and everyone could see she had really big metal taps on her oxfords!"

As Brittney and her fourth-period classmates filed in, Ms Wilms was seated at her desk at the back of the classroom, shuffling papers and reading through her notes. When the bell rang, the buzz of kids' conversations suddenly turned to a hush, as everyone waited to hear Ms Wilms stand up and walk to the front of the class. They didn't have to wait long. Her chair pushed back. Up she stood. Clip…clip…clip…clip…clickety-clip…scrape—the steel plates rang out with every step Ms Wilms took. And even before she could get out her first words of welcome to the class, a student in the last row called out to her.

"Ms Wilms?" said Gary Morris. "Why are you wearing metal taps on your shoes?"

"Well, Gary," replied Ms Wilms knowingly. "Don't YOU have taps on your shoes too?"

Gary looked down at the engineer boots he was wearing today. He made a big show of crossing one leg over the other and staring at the bottoms of his boots. "Gosh, Ms Wilms. I guess I do. I have these horseshoe plates on the heels of my boots and some 2 inch long taps around the sides and front of the soles. Gee, I guess I do have taps on my shoes…. But how come you do? You're a teacher!"

"I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Just like Brittney Davis, I put them on my shoes to prevent the heels from wearing down!" The whole class laughed, even Brittney. This morning, for some reason, Brittney had decided to wear sneakers to school, so it was like a Freaky Friday situation—the tapgrrl was in sneakers and the English teacher, in tapped-up shoes!

"Ms Wilms," said Brittney. "I'm not wearing taps on my shoes. I've got sneakers on. Do you think I should put taps on my sneakers?"

"Sure, Brittney," said Ms Wilms. "If you're going to be our tapgirl princess, you'd better have them on all your shoes, even sneakers!"

"But, Ms Wilms," said John Baker. "You never answered Gary's question. How come you put those big taps on your oxfords?"

"OK, I'll answer you, John, but then everyone has to agree to forget about my taps and get down to work, ok?" Everyone nodded. "When I was back in college, I had taps like these on most of my shoes. I always liked the clicky sound they made, and I thought it was too bad that so few girls had them on their shoes. Eventually, I stopped wearing taps because no one else did. So this year, when so many of you started wearing them I figured I could do that too. I actually have to thank you kids. You've given me the right to be who I wanted to be all along."

With that, the whole class broke into applause! "Go, Ms Wilms!!!" they yelled. "Our tapping teacher!"

And with that, the class went back to work, Ms Wilms leading everyone in a discussion of the 9th grade book for the Spring term, the Great Gatsby.

As the days went by, Ms Wilms decided she liked the taps on her oxfords so much, she started bringing all of her shoes over to Sam's to have taps put on them. Within a couple of weeks, she'd had size #5 or #6 taps put on several other pairs of the shoes she wore to school--her shiny black patent leather flats, her chunky-heeled loafers with the metal clip on top, her low-heeled brown penny loafers, her light blue and gold flats, and also on her thong sandals that she wore on warmer days. On the dressier pumps she occasionally wore, Sam put on a triple-layer of small taps that pretty much covered the heel (and added another half-inch to their height), and on her two pair of 4" high spike heels, Sam put on those steel stiletto heel tips he'd shown Brittney the first day she'd gone into his store to ask about taps.

The funny thing was that wearing these taps on her shoes and hearing herself walk around school made Ms Wilms very horny! She knew she wasn't supposed to have her mind on sex when she was teaching, but when she would click and scrape along the floor or the hallways, she'd think about one of the better-looking male students—whoever happened to be in her sight at that point—and she'd think about him in ways that teachers aren't supposed to. She'd smile at the young man, flash her eyelids, put a little extra sway into her walk, and, of course, make her taps scrape even more loudly along the floor.

Of all the boys in her classes, the one who Ms Wilms most had in her thoughts was John Baker. This tall, muscular 9th grader seemed much more mature to her than even most of the juniors and seniors she taught earlier in the day. He was still a kid, of course, horsing around and laughing with his friends. She liked that about him. But when he sauntered down the hall alone, with his loud double-horseshoe-tapped and triple-sole tapped harness boots announcing his authority with every step, Ms Wilms felt the age difference between them rapidly vanishing. She didn't know if she was feeling younger or he was seeming older, but things were not the same in her mind any more.

One afternoon, not long after she'd first worn her tapped-up oxfords to school, she saw and heard John walking ahead of her, about ready to step outside the building and start his walk home, so she quickened her steps to catch up with him and engage him in conversation.

John had heard someone coming towards him from behind, and hearing the unmistakable sounds of metal heel taps he figured it was one of his buddies, or maybe even Brittney or another one of the girls he'd gone out with that year. So he was pretty surprised to hear his name being spoken in a woman's voice.

"Hi there John," Ms Wilms called out. "So what are your plans for this afternoon? Are you going to be working on your English paper on Gatsby or do you have more fun things in mind to do?"

"Oh! Hi Ms Wilms," replied John. "Gee, I don't know. I'm just going to walk home and veg out for awhile and then figure out where my head's at."

"Can I give you a lift home?" asked Ms Wilms.

"Well, Ms Wilms, are teachers allowed to do that?"

"I guess so," she said. "I've never asked anyone about that…but then I've never offered a ride to a student before!" She smiled, hoping John would take that as a compliment, that she saw him as someone special.

So the two of them walked off together to the teacher's parking lot, chatting about the school, her penny loafers and his harness boots clicking rhythmically along the cement. As the two of them approached her new bright red Miata convertible, several teachers and students took note of this relatively unusual pairing. But neither John nor Ms Wilms paid any attention to that.

Ms Wilms started her engine, carefully backed out of her parking spot, and then gunned her engine as she pulled forward and out of the lot, clutch popping and tires spinning. If someone hadn't noticed her before, they certainly would have now. John thought, whew, this is one cool teacher!

As they drove along, he called out directions to his house, which was about two miles from school. Meanwhile, he gazed at her and reflected on what she was like. About 30, he guessed, although she looked younger, with short dark blonde hair. She wore her hair in a kind of flip behind her, a wisp of almost white-blond hair coming across her face, and she had two cute little curls, each one bopping up and down in front of her ears. She was talkative, and certainly wasn't shy. He thought she must have been married at some point, and he wondered if that was so and why she was most likely single now, as the absence of a ring indicated to him.

"Do you walk this route every day," Ms Wilms asked?

"Yeah, pretty much, except when someone nice like you gives me a ride."

"Well, actually, this is on my way home. I live in those apartments, just over the hill there," and she pointed to the right where the tops of a twin high-rise peeked out over a hilltop.

"Oh yeah? Is that a nice building? I've always wondered what those apartments were like. They must have a great view if you're up high enough."

"I'm plenty high. I'm on the 12th floor!" Ms Wilms thought for a moment, then added, "John, do you want to come over to see the view?"

"Sure!" he blurted out, not one to turn down a new experience.

So, at the next light, Ms Wilms did a quick u-turn, squeeling her tires as she did so, and then she raced ahead a block, quickly turned left and raced up over the hill to where the majestic Glen Towers Apartments came into full view. After screeching her car to a stop in the parking lot, she led John into the building, and they took a waiting elevator to the 12th floor. Once inside her apartment, Ms Wilms' walked across the parquet floor to open the drapes revealing a large picture window with a full view of the town and countryside beyond. As John walked along behind her, he noticed that the parquet tiles made the metal taps on both of their shoes sound extra loud. He thought that was very cool!

"Can I get you something to drink?" Ms Wilms asked. "I always have a glass of wine to unwind after the school day."

Now John had drunk beer many times with his friends, but he'd never been offered alcohol by an adult before, and certainly not by a teacher.

"I'll have whatever you're having," he replied.

"Coming right up," she said, and she clicked her way over to the bar, took out two wine glasses, filled them with a rose-colored liquid, and brought them back to the living room, handing one to her boy-student. "Zinfandel," she said. "ok?" John smiled and nodded.

She motioned over to a sofa that faced the picture window. "Why don't we sit here where we can enjoy the view?"

John sat down on the left-hand side of the sofa, and Ms Wilms placed herself right next to him. Trying to get comfortable, John stretched out his right arm and draped it over the sofa behind his teacher. Ms Wilms turned to face him, her drink in her right hand. She reached out towards John with her left hand and confidently put it against his cheek.

"John, you are so sweet; it's so nice to see you in class every day! But also, you seem so strong, especially with those tough-looking boots you always wear. I love hearing you walk into my class, your boots crashing down on the floor. I know the taps on my shoes don't compare with yours, but I hope you like me anyway." And with that she turned his face towards hers and gave him a gentle kiss.

A little overwhelmed by Ms Wilms' apparent interest in him, John didn't know quite what to say. He certainly was enjoying this experience, but 30 minutes earlier drinking wine in Ms Wilms' apartment was about the furthest thing from his mind.

"Ms Wi… ," he started. She interrupted. "John, call me Susan. I don't want to just be your teacher. I think we can be friends, maybe even more than friends," and her eyes twinkled and her eyebrows raised up.

He'd actually never known his teacher's first name. It felt strange to him. He definitely liked being with a vivacious and somewhat older woman. But he needed to slow this train down.

"Well, er..ah, Susan. Sure I like you a lot. You're my favorite teacher, and you drive a cool car, and your home is awesome, and you're so nice to me. I'd definitely like to get to know you more, and outside of school, of course. But, I've been kind of stuck on a girl for the past couple of months, and it wouldn't seem right to do anything right now."

"I understand, John. I don't want to pressure you. I know I came on kind of suddenly. But who's your girlfriend? "

"Not exactly a girlfriend, just a girl I've gone out with a few times but who I really, really like. It's Brittney, from our English class."

"Oh, I should have guessed! Our tapgirl princess!" She laughed, a hearty but somewhat nervous laugh. "Don’t get me wrong. I really like Brittney. But she really is just a kid. What's it that you like about her so much?"

"Well, Brittney's so confident about everything, and I really like the way she looks. I love her bright blonde hair and that her dark roots are always showing underneath. She's so sexy! Plus, she's not shy about anything. I mean she was wearing horseshoe taps on her boots before anyone else at school thought of doing that. It's like those taps give her the feeling that she's in charge wherever she goes!"

"Well, I agree, Brittney is pretty, and sexy too." Susan sat up straight and gave a wave of her hand across her face and her hair. "I also lighten my hair from its natural color," she said. "Can you see?" Susan pulled her hair back so her slightly darker roots were more visible. "I used to bleach my hair light blonde all over. But bleached hair is harder to keep looking good, so that's why now I just bleach out the front streak, and that's why I keep it pretty short. But don't you think my hair looks pretty good?"

"Oh sure, your hair looks great!" John answered. "You're really the most attractive teacher at the school," he added.

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Susan said with some self-satisfaction, and then she smiled and took a sip of her wine.

Both sat quietly for a moment. Then Susan spoke up. "John, I've got some old Frye hiking boots in the closet, from my college days. Tell me if you think they could use some metal taps on them. Let me show you." She got up, walked over to the closet, poked around for a bit, and then came out with not one but two pairs of boots—the older Fryes with rubber-cleated wood-based heels and soles and some very attractive, hardly worn women's cowboy boots with black, brown, and red stitching going up the shaft. "Actually, I haven't worn either of these boots to school, but I do wear them when I go out and on weekends. Up to now, I've not put taps on either of them. But suppose we were going out, like for a walk around here, or out to dinner [she gave him a wink and a smile at that thought], and you were in your double-horseshoed harness boots and I was wearing either the Fryes or these cowboy boots, don't you think they should have taps on them?"

"Oh, sure," replied John. "Those are both really awesome boots. And they'd definitely be better if you put taps on them. Actually I think they'd be especially nice with some big horseshoe taps on them, like these," and he crossed his leg so she could see the huge heel-covering metal plates on his boots."

"Well, I hadn't thought of putting horseshoe taps on my boots," said Susan. "But if I was out walking in them with you next to me, maybe they should have horseshoe taps on them, just like yours!" Then, thinking about her competitor, Brittney Davis, and what she puts on her boots, she added, "Come to think of it I would want my boots not just to have heel and toe taps but also taps on both sides of the soles. I've never had taps on the sides of the soles before, but I think I should do that on both of these, don't you think?" John nodded his agreement.

Susan continued. "I know that a few minutes ago I came on to you rather suddenly. I'm not hurt that you backed off a little. I understand that Brittney's a really attractive girl and she's someone close to your own age. But I'd really like to spend more time with you. How about if we meet somewhere this weekend and hang out, or maybe go for a long walk along a country road? I would really like that. What do you say?"

John thought, "This could be a lot of fun. She is really nice, and actually quite attractive, and I'm not really doing anything this weekend." So he nodded his head and said to her, "Sure, that would be cool. Let me find out if my parents need me for anything at home and then I'll call you and we'll pick a time to get together—or do you want to call me instead?"

"Either way. But you do have to remember that we can't really talk about this to other people. A lot of people wouldn't get the right idea, would they?"

John nodded again. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But what's wrong with two people taking a walk in the country? Let's just forget about what other people might think!" John and Susan then exchanged phone numbers and agreed that she would make the call.

As they were leaving her apartment on the way to the car Susan said, "You know, John, I'm going to make sure you enjoy yourself this weekend. Right after I take you home, I'm going to take both of these pairs of boots over to Sam's, and I'm going to fix them up just the way you'd want them to look. Plus, I'm going to see if I can get a hair appointment for tomorrow, and I'm going to surprise you with how blonde I can be! Then we can go on our walk and really enjoy ourselves! I want to show you that a teacher can be a friend—even maybe more than a friend."