Happy Halloween!
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PART 6 - EPILOGUE
The following Saturday, Mike daintily waved his white-gloved hand to the carnival crowd as he rode atop the Belles’ float. It was Halloween, and the late afternoon sun had begun to set. The entire humiliating situation was surreal, and time seemed to stand still. Desperately hoping no one would recognize him, he did his best to smile demurely and play the part of a wide-eyed Alice in Wonderland. Self-consciously, he repeated his modest “pageant queen wave” over and over just as he had practiced earlier with the other girls. His translucent lacy white gloves only served to accentuate the exquisitely feminine gesture. Across the float, he saw Snow White giggling at him again and cringed.
As anticipated, his week had been mostly awful. When Clarissa visited during the school year, Mike was only permitted to dress in normal clothes while at school. Thankfully, Clarissa did not make appearances there. Each school morning, he would change out of his nightgown when he got up. Although ashamed to admit it—especially to himself—he had actually begun to enjoy sleeping in the frilly nighties. In fact, he had furtively “enjoyed it” almost every night this week. It was the one part about being Clarissa he secretly found himself looking forward to now. He no longer protested when his mother told him it was bedtime—no matter how early it was. He tried hard not to think about it. It bothered him greatly. Inevitably, the shame was always most intense afterward. Every time it happened, he tried to hide any evidence because he absolutely did NOT want his mother to know about THAT. This week, however, Mike had gone through an awful lot of tissue.
In any event, on school mornings his mother always laid out his school clothes and he would change when he was done in the bathroom. It was never anything he would normally pick himself, but at least it was boys clothes. Usually, it was a polo or button down shirt with a pair of slacks or khakis and dress shoes. When it was cool, sometimes she added a preppy sweater or cardigan. A few times when she had been really annoyed, he’d had to wear a bowtie. By now, when he came to school dressed like that, his friends knew he was in trouble for something and would kid him about it. Thankfully, they did not know about Clarissa.
On these days following school, Mike would return directly home and change again. He rarely had time to waste as his mother expected to see Clarissa at her desk doing homework when she got in around four. On his way home, he always grew anxious as he wondered which of Clarissa’s outfits would be laid out for him when he got to the house.
On Monday afternoon, his mother had taken him to meet Mrs. Haverford at her bridal shop. Carol had put him back in his school uniform for the occasion. She thought that would make the “right first impression.” Instead of having his hair rebraided, it was pushed back sweetly by a lovely red hairband with an attached plaid hairbow matching his jumper dress.
When Mrs. Haverford got her first look at Mike, she had complimented him on his “smart little uniform.” Knowing by now that he was “not like the other girls,” she still seemed genuinely surprised by his petite build. She said she doubted any alterations would be necessary and the costume should fit beautifully. They had followed her back to a fitting room in the rear of the shop, and he had winced when he saw it. It was even fancier and frillier than he had expected. “Gorgeous isn’t it Clarissa?” Mrs. Haverford said admiringly. Without awaiting an answer, she had ordered, “Let’s get you in it dear!”
Ruefully, Mike recalled that it was then that he had been blindsided by Mrs. Haverford. He had removed his school uniform behind a flimsy curtain partition and put on a heavily ruffled pair of white tights Mrs. Haverford had provided him for the costume. They had felt so incredibly clingy and girly that he couldn’t avoid a few tingles again. Sheepishly, he had then emerged from behind the curtain clad in his ruffled tights while his mother unzipped the Alice dress and prepared to hold it for him to step into.
At that point, he had heard Mrs. Haverford’s authoritative voice behind him. “Just a moment, Clarissa,” she directed. Quickly wrapping something around his chest, she said “you’ll need this first.” Before he even realized what she was doing, she had already begun tugging something behind his back. “Have you ever worn a corset, dear?” she asked matter-of-factly.
Caught completely off guard, the sissified teen had only managed to stammer, “A corset? Uhh… no… no… Mrs. Haverford.” Powerlessly, Mike had just stood paralyzed while she expertly cinched the laces tighter and tighter. He was startled by the sudden confining sensations as the stiff satiny garment compressed his waist and midsection. He had begun taking shallow breaths and felt a little dizzy as its unyielding panels pressed firmly in on him.
At last she seemed to finish and knotted the laces tight. “Well there you are now,” she had announced with satisfaction, “your first corset!” She went on to explain nonchalantly that several of the girls would be wearing them with their costumes. “I know it takes some getting used to, Clarissa, but you’ll get the hang of it in no time!” she added with a chuckle.
His mother had watched this transpire with twinkling eyes. “Oh my, Clarissa,” was all she said, but she was clearly intrigued.
Lightheaded, Mike had looked down at his body and was astounded. Already self-conscious about his slender build, he was dismayed to see the white satiny corset made his waist positively tiny. He had little time to absorb the shock as moments later he had been dressed in the ultra-girly Alice outfit for the first time. He felt himself blushing more as he continued his shallow breathing. Then, Mrs. Haverford and his mother had inspected the costume and discussed a few minor adjustments. “Clarissa, dear” Mrs. Haverford had pronounced in a commanding tone, “I’d say Miss Elkins was exactly right about you!” “You’re quite a lovely girl,” she continued, “and when I’m done you’ll look just like you stepped from the pages of a storybook!”
Standing stiffly in his dress, Mike replied uncomfortably, “Th.. Thank you Mrs. Haverford. That will be wonderful!” And then, despite himself, he had begun to shiver in tingly, embarrassed excitement. By the time they had departed the shop, Carol had made another new friend in Dolores Haverford. Walking to the car afterward, his mother had carried the gray garment bag with his costume, and Mike had a fancy shopping bag filled with his corset, tights, and several other girlish accessories.
Then, on Tuesday afternoon when his mother came home from work, Mike had gotten another unpleasant surprise. She had gone upstairs and returned holding the white satiny corset. “I had an idea today, Clarissa,” she announced pleasantly, “I think we should get you in your corset now so you can start getting used to it for Saturday!” She had helped him unzip the lemon yellow party dress he was wearing and then securely laced him into the confining garment. “This will help you with your posture too,” she had added brightly while zipping the flustered teen’s dress back up. To his dismay, this pattern had continued the rest of the week. Each afternoon after his mother had come in, Mike had been subjected to his unrelenting corset until bedtime. Making matters worse, he had quickly realized there was no easy way to remove it without help.
Finally, on Saturday, his mother had excitedly gotten him dressed in the full Alice costume and driven him to the carnival. Dressed so prettily and preparing to face all those people, he was absolutely on pins and needles. He had been dreading this moment all week. An icy ball formed in his tummy as his mother parked the car. His imprisoning corset only heightened the conflicting feelings and sensations.
When Mike arrived for the parade and met the other girls, he was shocked when Snow White had immediately recognized him, “Clarissa, that’s you isn’t it? We haven’t seen you in ages.” He paled when she next called out to the girl dressed as Pippi Longstocking, “Molly look, it’s Clarissa from ballet!” In response, the girl dressed as Pippi looked and then squealed with delight. To his consternation, it turned out that Molly and Mary, the twins from Mrs. Cranston’s dance class that summer, were two of the other girls on the float. At thirteen, the twins were a little younger than him and positively thrilled to catch up with their old friend. They asked if he was still taking ballet, and of course, they also knew about Clarissa’s secret. “Don’t worry, Clarissa,” Mary whispered excitedly, “we won’t tell!” They were delighted by his costume and raved about how cute he was.
“And look how teensy your waist is!” Molly observed in amazement. “Oh that’s right, it's your corset!” she realized with a chuckle. “You look just like the fairy tale!” she exclaimed giddily.
It was true. The fifteen year old made an absolutely adorable Alice! On Monday, when Mrs. Haverford had pulled out a blonde wig at the shop, his mother had insisted it would be very easy and more realistic to temporarily dye his hair blonde instead. As a result, his long, girlish hair was now a summery golden color and prettily curled in gentle waves. He desperately hoped he’d be able to get the color washed out before school on Monday. His yellow locks were held delightfully in place by a black Alice hairband with an oversize black velvet hairbow. The only good part about the hair dye was it provided him a partial disguise in case any of his schoolmates were here. Ironically, he was also thankful for the pink blush and lip gloss that gave him an extra rosy complexion since they helped the disguise too.
Mike’s enchanting blue Alice dress sported a lovely Peter Pan collar with a natty white bow. Its short puffy sleeves were elaborately trimmed in lace and gathered with elastic just off his delicate shoulders. Naturally, the devilishly restrictive corset gave him an extremely girlish figure while ensuring he maintained perfect ladylike posture. The frilly tiered skirt reaching just past his knees was generously decorated with tulle and more lace. Mrs. Haverford had fitted him with an extravagant multi-layered tulle petticoat for “maximum storybook fullness” as she put it. A crisp white pinafore apron with ruffled straps was tied snugly in a prim bow behind his back which only highlighted his minuscule waist. Of course, the clingy ruffled tights matched his pinafore and contrasted preciously with his girlish shoes. Miss Elkins had been exactly right about those. His shiny black Mary Janes went wonderfully with the rest of his outfit.
Just then, he heard his mother’s voice call him from the crowd, “Clarissa, look over here honey! Smile, Clarissa!” He saw his mother standing with Miss Elkins and Mrs. Haverford. And next, he was shocked to see that Mrs. Cranston, his ballet teacher, was with them too. Taken aback, he was disconcerted by what that might portend. He hadn’t seen her in quite some time. Meanwhile, his mother was busily snapping more pictures. Resigned, he knew those photos would soon fill several additional pages in the detailed albums that lovingly held all of Clarissa’s memories.
When Molly’s Pippi Longstocking also noticed his mother holding her camera, she caught Mike’s eye and winked at him playfully. Then, to his surprise, Molly and Mary jumped next to him on either side and put their arms around his narrow waist for some group pictures. Trembling but suddenly grateful for the moral support, he smiled weakly as they all “pageant-waved” again.
Mike moved his lips and silently mouthed the words, “My name is Clarissa.” Then, in a barely audible voice, he whispered, “I’m Clarissa.”
THE END
Betty Pearl's Sissy Stories 20.1
Topic: Clarissa's Visit: A Halloween Story (Read 6275 times)
