Camp Sissy Curls--part30
The next morning as I sat on my bed thinking about Chrissy's birthday present and taking out my rollers, I noticed beads of sweat running down my forehead. It was 8:30AM and it was already quite warm out. By afternoon, it would be a "scorcher". I knew my heavily petticoated dress would make it even hotter for me. I groaned. I so envied the other boys their light and simple skirts and tops.
As I started to dress, I looked at the extra petticoat hanging on my clothes rack that Lisa had put on me yesterday. She had said nothing about me wearing it every day. I'd be a little cooler and a much happier camper without it. But no, I thought. She'd have a fit if she saw not wearing it. And I was determined to mind my "P's and Q's" around camp in the hopes that I would soon be promoted to the clothes that most of the other boys wore.
It was "pink gingham" for me today. I sighed as I smoothed and arranged the skirt of my dress over the mountain of bouncy petticoats. I hated having my dress almost parallel to the ground and having my underthings so exposed. But I had no choice.
I sashayed (a word unknown to me before yesterday--but one that I knew aptly described my walk) to breakfast. There were lots of giggles and titters as I made my way to the cafeteria. But I was getting used to it.
My voluminous outfit actually was a bit of an advantage standing in the breakfast line. My poufie dress created a very large circ-umference or perimeter around me, like a fence of lace. So I had to be given a lot of space and I didn't have boys pushing and shoving up against me. But I did have my dress lifted up a few times for a "look see".
At the table, I ignored the others as best I could and talked as little as possible. It was even warmer in the cafeteria and I wiped the sweat from my forehead with a napkin. It was then that a light bulb went on in my head. Swimming--I should go swimming this afternoon. I hadn't tried it yet. It would be a perfect way to keep cool and I'd be able to spend time out of my sissy dress and petties.. Perfect idea I thought.
Now there was one good thing about the camp. It didn't have a lot of structured time. Not a lot of scheduling. Occassionally, there'd be scheduled programs or activities or demonstrations that all campers had to attend. But, for the most part, campers were allowed to pick and choose what they wanted to do. So I was free to swim if I wanted.
After breakfast, to keep cool and to try and avoid others, I spent the remainder of the morning under a shady tree coloring in my coloring book. I had nothing else to do and it occupied time until lunch.
As soon as lunch was over and sweating heavily, I made a beeline for the pool.
Seated at a desk in front of the pool locker room was a cute girl in pigtails wearing a Camp Sunnyvale top.
"Hi, I'd like to go swimming please." I said.
"Sign in here then sweetie." And she pointed to a clipboard.
"Ah--my real name or my new name?" I asked.
She laughed. "The name you go by here at camp."
It would be the first time writing my "new" name and that posed a little bit of a problem for me.
"Umm--how do you spell Stephanie?" And I really didn't have a clue.
She giggled, "S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E!"
And I wrote as she spelled.
"You can spell your last name, right?" She added to tease, but not in a mean way.
She looked at the clipboard. "Well Stephanie Crandall, this must be your first time swimming."
I shook my head up and down.
"Joanne," she called to another Sunnyvale girl, "will you take over the desk while I get him squared away?"
Then she took my hand. "Well follow me Stephanie Crandall." And she led me to a vaccant locker in the locker room.
"What size are you Stephanie?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What size bathing suit do you wear?" She replied.
"I--ah--don't know." And I was feeling pretty stupid by now.
But she seemed kindly enough and she giggled again. "Well do you know what size your pretty dress is babydoll?"
That I knew. "Size 12," I said proudly.
"Okay, that'll work. Take off all your clothes while I get a suit and things for you."
"All!!" I asked.
"Yes-ALL!" And she smiled. "You've got nothing I haven't seen many times Stephanie. Put your underthings and sandals in the locker and hang up your dress and petticoat on the rack over there. We can't muss up such a pretty outfit."
A few minutes later, she returned with an armful of stuff for my swim. I was naked but at least my little soldier wasn't saluting. It was still limp from Chrissy's birthday present the night before.
She held out in front of me a garment that seemed awfully strange. It kind of looked like a Jockstrap but it wasn't one.
Sensing my curiousity about it, she said, "This is called a gaff. It'll make you nice and flat and smooth down there." And she pointed to my crotch. "Girls don't have a bulge in their bathing suits down there."
She giggled a little. "But it shouldn't be too much of a problem to take care of."
I blushed.
She pulled the elastic waistband of it open and said, "By the way, I'm Bonnie."
"Hi Bonnie." I replied.
"Now tuck your little weiner and sack down and back between your legs and hold it there while you step into this."
This was all quite embarrassing but I did as she said without an argument. She pulled it up around my waist and my little "thing" was completely hidden. The front of my crotch had a flat, smooth "V" shape to it.
Next was the suit.
"How old are you Stephanie?"
I was a little surprised by the question. "I just turned thirteen a few days ago."
She chuckled, "I mean here at camp, Sweetiepie."
"Oh, sorry. I'm five."
She grinned. "That's what I figured so I got the perfect suit for you."
It was a two piece suit of pink with white polka dots. Very much suited for a little girl. It had two or three rows of white ruffles across the seat and a large white ruffle around the waistband that almost looked like a short skirt. And the top was equally frilly. Pink flip-flops were next.
With the bathing suit on, I was beginning to think that maybe my idea to go swimming was a bad one.
"Now we have to protect your pretty curls honey." Bonnie said as she pulled out the next item of my swimming gear. "There's a lot of chlorine in the pool and it'll wreak havoc on your perm and Ms Roberts will have a fit."
Bonnie held up what seemed to be a "heavy duty" pink shower cap. "A regular bathing cap would crush your curls."
As she placed it over my hair, making sure that all my curls were tucked inside, she warned, ""Don't you dare go under the water or get your hair wet at all or you'll be in a heap of trouble Babycakes."
I nodded "yes" and figured I was ready. I headed for the door.
"Hold up there Stephanie. Not quite ready yet."
As if all this wasn't bad enough, Bonnie next produced two "Littlest Mermaid" floaties and snaked them up and around my arms. Then she hung a "Littlest Mermaid" beach towel on my left arm and put a plastic pail and shovel in my right hand.
"There's a big sandbox next to the pool that you can play in if you want."
Then she gently gave me a little swat on my ruffled fanny and said, "Off you go Sweetie. Have fun! But remember--don't get your hair wet."
As I walked to the pool area, I REALLY began to think this idea was a bad one. I didn't expect to be so "little girlishly" outfitted for my swim. I knew I'd stick out like a sore thumb among all the other boys who'd be wearing teenage girls bathing suits.
The bright sunlight blinded me briefly as I stepped from the locker room to the pool area. I held a hand over my eyes and closed them for a moment.
When I opened them, I saw that the pool was pretty crowded. And I saw, of course, that I was the only five year old little girl there. A real "sore thumb".
I headed toward the shallow end. I was hot. And I was sweating a lot. But more from embarrassment than the temperature.
As I walked, the swimmers stopped and gawked at me and giggled and laughed quietly. They really didn't say much though. They couldn't. Teasing and taunting would get them in trouble.
But I did hear one boy say, "Do you want some help little girl?"
I couldn't tell if his question was genuine or not and I ignored it.
I found an open beach chair, removed my flip-flops, and set my towel and bucket on it.
The cool water felt very good as I stepped into the shallow end. I waded about thinking that everything was so unfair here at camp. Unfair in the sense that, I was a boy swimming in a pool with dozens of other boys who had pigtails and ponytails and braids and were wearing girls bathing suits. But I was the only embarrassed one! But then, I was the only one decked out like a five tear old little girl. To them, I was a freak--a sore thumb.