"Here's the sixth uniform, he'll look great in that.Ooooh, and I just love Terry's new bathing suit." giggled Tina as she pulled it out of the bag and waved the soft, stretchy one-piece in his face.
Tears were welling up in his eyes at the thought of having to wear that and the rest of the clothes in public. His mother looked on at his discomfort with appproval, and was grateful that she had found the perfect "reform school" for her soon-to-be delicate delinqent.
"Show him the other bag, Tina," added Mrs. Jameson, "and help him pack them into his new backpack. Tina was more than happy to comply, and couldn't keep from giggling as she opened the packages. The panties were heavy cotton girls briefs with lace around the legs and waist. They reminded her of the training panties she wore as she was being potty trained. The matching cami-tees with the little bow at the neckline were just as babyish. Tina could just imagine how the other girls would react to having someone looking so immature in their midst. She then thought of her own plans and asked her mom about the camp program.
"Yes, Tina, you got into the "future olympians" program. You'll be doing all kinds of sports and exercises. TThe director said by the time you're done you'll be able to make any team you want at school."
"Am I in that program, too?" asked Terry, hopefully. Except for the clothes, that didn't sound too bad, and he could then stay in shape to keep his place on the football team in the fall.
"Sorry, Terry." answered his mom, "That program is booked up a year in advance and is only for junior and senior girl scouts, not Brownies."
"What program is he in, Mom?" asked Tina, who totally enjoyed watching his face drop and his bullying days come to an end.
"The Brownie Homemeaker and Jewelry Jamboree." answered Mrs. Jameson with a smile. She'll be learning to cook and sew and babysit. Let me read the brochure to you while we're at this stoplight: '...finish your stay with a week full of art that you can wear! Learn to make handmade beads, hemp macramé, awesome barrettes, unique paper-mache bracelets, and a treasure box to put all your treasures in.' Won't that be great, Terry?"
As they drove through the gates of Camp Chameleon, Terry looked at the swarms of girls everywhere. With his haircut and the new clothes, as well as Tina's new authority; he was beginning to think that the reform school might have been better.
Terry's mother made him change into one of the "Taffy Bear" uniforms right there in the car. He was so nervous about being seen that he didn't notice that nobody was paying any attention. He slid on the brown skorts and the feminine t-shirt top as his mom and Tina unloaded the car. One of the counselors walked up and introduced herself just as Terry finished dressing and went to his sisters side.
"Miss Julie," Tina said to the counselor, "this is my little sister Theresa, everybody calls her Terri."
"You almost don't look old enough to be a Taffy Bear, Terri," stated Julie, who was in her twenties and would have made Terry drool had he and his friends seen her at the mall. "But that's ok, we'll have you grown up and helping Mommy around the house in no time."
Terry took her hand and limply shook it, as his mother said he was very shy about going to a big girls camp for the first time. Julie gave Terry a quick hug and told him about where he'd stay for camp and what he'd be doing. Unlike Tina, who'd be doing everything from archery to soccer and having the time of her life, he and "the other little girls" would be closely watched by several councelors as they cooked and cleaned and helped run the rest of the camp. They'd have occasional "swimmies" in the shallow end of the lake, but would spend most of the time would learn how to be "just like Mommy" around the house.
As they neared the cabins, Terry saw the girls huddled around the counselors. Tina grinned as she saw them, too. Even though they were in Taffy Bear uniforms, the style was definitely older looking than any of Terry's, and she knew her earlier guesses about him being the baby of the group were right. She'd love to be able to stay at his side all the time and enjoy his punishment, but she had a summer of fun ahead of her and she'd see him often enough to make the most. She almost burst out laughing when Julie made Terry curtsey and "say bye-bye to Mommy." Mrs. Jameson giggled as she kissed him on the cheek and said goodbye, reminding him to "be a very good little girl and mind all the big sisters."
A few tears ran down Terry's cheeks as he saw his mother head for the car and Tina grabbing her Nike bag and heading to the other side of the camp. Julie handed him his Little Mermaid bag, small and overstuffed with what would be his only belongings of the summer. Even though he was taller that most of the Taffy Bears in the cabin, there were a couple who looked older than 8 and were even bigger than he was. One of them glanced over at him and said loudly to her friend, "does the crybaby miss her mommy?" and remarked that "she better not have a top bunk or someone will get rained on when she wets the bed."
Terry ran to the far end of the cabin, away from the "big girls" among the Taffy Bear Bears. He picked a bed and put his things in one of the foot lockers. seeral of the other girls came and helped him, adding that they'd protect him from Tiffany. He sat on the bed and cried into his pillow, he never dreamed that he'd be bullied by a girl nearly half his age. He wished he'd gotten his growth spurt and body hair like Jared and the rest of his friends. Instead, here he was, blending in with little girls and scared to death not to. His mom warned him that if his "true identity" was discovered and he was expelled from camp, Officer Anholt would be the one picking him up. She had gotten special permission for him to bathe and change clothes apart from the other girls, telling the councellors that alot of his shyness was "due to her sickliness because of the 'tumors' in her crotch that she didn't want anyone to see, not even the counsellors."
Terry sat up when he heard alot of talking and stirring about. The girls were starting to undress and get their bathing suits out. Before he actually saw anything, Julie grabbed his arm, handed him his bag and lead him to the "Big Sisters" bathroom. Alone and inside, he got out the weird belt and the thick cotton pad that hooked to it that his mom had left him. Pulling it on, he felt it squishing his privates a little. He was squished even more when he pulled on the one-piece bathing suit. The ruffles at the waist hid the lumps even more but the scooped neck and wide open back left him feeling so exposed and ridiculous.
Soon he was outside for his first "swimmie." He played and splashed around with the other girls, staying away from Tiffany and her friends. He occasionally saw the Senior Bears in their canoes and kayaks, and wished he could be there instead. Inflatable ducks and fishes were his boats, and the pink water wings on his arms reminded him that he was not to go beyond the safety ropes marking where the water was deeper than three feet.
The whole camp gathered at the picnic area and Terry passed Tina in the food line. She looked at him and smiled as she said "someone forgot their sunscreen." Terry then noticed the pale white "armbands" where the water wings had been and the warm, deep, pink of the surrounding skin. He touched his all but bare back and knew it was the same there. He knew that by the end of the summer the tan lines might as well be brands or tatoos.
As the weeks went by, Terry continued to learn cooking and sewing and other "Mommy's Helper" tasks that were having an effect on his body as well as his increasingly nervous and shy attitude. The minimal exercise and lots of food was coating his once-boyish frame with what Tiffany kept calling "baby fat." Terry had an awful time staying away from her and her bullying. Once he complained to a counselor and was told that big girls solved their own problems and weren't tattle-tales. The other little girls would come to Terry's defense most of the time, which made his humiliation even greater.
As Terry got into his bed on a particularly cool night wearing a pink flannel nightie, he absentmindedly fingered the lace at his collar and wondered what Tiffany and her friends at the other end of the cabin were talking about, since they often paused to glance his way and then start giggling. The lights went out and the chatting and giggles died down, and Terry was glad that he was one day closer to the end of camp.
After the counselors had fallen asleep, the biggest of the Taffy Bears slipped away to the restroom. Tiffany stood guard as Brittany got a large bowl from the kitchen and Anna quietly turned on the faucett. Jenifer held her finger under and waited for it to get warm before waving for the bowl. As it was being filled, Julie ran over to the toilet and told Tiffany "that really does make you have to go."
"I told you so," answered Tiffany. "I'll teach that baby to be a tattle-tale on me. AS IF I'd really try to be a big sister to that mousy brat. Too good to use our bathrooms and change with us, now she'll have a reason to keep a whole bathroom to herself."
"I can't wait," whispered Jenifer, "till she finds out the camp rules about..."
"ssshhh" interrupted Tiffany when a counselors bedroom light came on. When it went back out, they carried the bowl to the other end of the cabin. Terry and everyone else was fast asleep. Tiffany slid down the covers and stared in disgust at the nightie. She regarded that and all of Terry's clothes as "sooooo babyish" that they and their wearer didn't belong at camp. Maybe this would get rid of the scaredy-cat once and for all.
As Terry slept, her hand held in the bowl of warm water, Tiffany and her friends watched. Jenifer noticed the strong odor and the others nearly burst out laughing when they saw the tell-tale stain growing in the middle of the bed. Anna took the bowl back to the kitchen and soon the girls were back in bed, hardly able to sleep with the excitement of what the morning would bring.
The strong smell of pee enveloped the far end of the cabin and Camp Counselor Julie angrily looked for the culprit. Terry was awakened by her announcement and as he listened to her he realized he was the focus of her lecture and stood at the side of his bed with his soggy wet nightie smelling and stuck to his legs and displaying his childish undies to the rest of the Taffy Bears.
"...Camp Chameleon is where girls come to grow up and help their mommies. We are not a baby-sitting class and we do not potty-train girls far too old for such nonsense. We don't send you home for your mistakes, instead we help you correct them with the help of your sisters in the camp. We told you the rules when you got here and you agreed to live by them. Theresa has been an exceptional little girl until now, but maybe her example will help the rest of you."
Pausing momentarily, Julie went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a small plastic envelope. Opening it, she handed Terry a Pull-on Pamper. He was almost in tears as he took the disposable diaper covered with pink flowers and teddy bears and wentr to the bathroom to clean up. A few moments later, he emerged wearing only th diaper and a pastel yellow, nylon t-shirt. Julie hushed the increasingly loud giggling as he went to remove his bed linens.
"...If you girls aren't big enough to keep your beds dry, we certainly can, and you'll wear what Theresa has on until you are. And you'll be joining her in the laundry room instead of Swimmies to clean up any messes you make. Now go get ready for breakfast."
Terry was crying as he emerged from the laundry room to join the others for breakfast. Word spread all around camp and alot of the older girls would swat his bottom or brush up against him to hear the crinkly plastic and confirm the rumors. Everyone knew by the end of the day, and on the way back from supper, Tina and her friends lifted his skirt for absolute proof and asked if he was dry.
Tiffany and her friends were rolling on their beds laughing after they saw the tearful Terry rush inside and crawl under the covers whimpering. "Remember what Julie said," Tiffany giggled to Jennifer, "she has to wear them until she stays dry all night."
"Then I guess she'll be in diapers for the rest of camp." replied Jennifer with a laugh that soon spread to Anna and Brittany as well.
It was almost the last day of camp and Tiffany had kept her word. Terry had "mysteriously" kept wetting the bed night after night and wore disposable diapers daily as a result. Most of the camp didn't pay much attention, but Tiffany and her friends never missed an opportunity to make fun of the "baby of the Taffy Bears." Terry could only run and hide and cry.
After the knitting class, Terry and the girls were out on the lawn seting up the picnic area. Terry was laughing and giggling with his friends, looking and acting as girlish as the most "girlie" of his fellow campers. He'd managed to stay clear of Tiffany most of the day, but realized she'd found him as he bent over to smooth the tablecloth on the grass. He felt his cullottes being yanked down, exposing his diaper to the camp. "Still a baby!" announced Tiffany as the laughter soon had tears running down his cheeks. "Let's see if she's wet..." said the eight-year old as she grabbed the plastic waistband and elastic of the diaper and prepared to yank it down.
Although he was playing the part of the shy little girl so well that he was forgetting how to be anything else; Terry knew that he was six years older that Tiffany and remembered the days when he enjoyed being the bully. In his panic over being truly exposed to all the Taffy Bears, he angrily swung his arm around, smacking Tiffany nearly off of her feet. Crying loudly as she fell, the startled girl had grabbed onto the waistband of the strange belt she felt inside the diaper, givving Terry an awful wedgie and ripping the belt free. Though his diaper was still covering his secret, evryone looked at the ruined belt and thick pad and wondered what was going on.
Tiffany sobbed and pointed at Terry, waving the belt and pad as the counselors ran over to see what was going on. It didn't matter to them who started it, all they could see was the red welt on the side of Tiffany's face and the grin on Terry's face and his clenched fists as he pulled his pants back up. His grin and triumph melted as Julie grabbed his arm and yanked him back toward the cabin, scolding him mercilessly for being so mean to his "big sister."
Some of the older campers arrived back from canoeing and archery class and comforted Tiffany, who was now putting on an an act as convincing as the one Terry had been forced to do all summer. "Theresa can't be old enough to need on of these..." remarked on of the girls as she took it from Tiffany's hand and tossed it in the trash,"my mom used to wear those..."
"I didn't know they made them anymore." said one of the counselors as the Taffy Bears gathered around, hoping to listen in on some real gossip and "big girl talk."
"why did they call it a sanitary belt?" Tina overheard someone say during the conversation. She wondered if her brother's secret was about to be exposed to the whole camp. She'd love to have a video of that to take home, but wondered if it would be more fun for him to have to keep up his act, which got more convincing everyday.
"Christie?" Tina asked one of the counselors, "My mom said some girls bodies grow up before their brains do. Could she have been talking about my baby sister?"
"Maybe," the counselor replied, "even if she still wets the bed and acts so bratty, her body may be turning into a young woman. It can be scary, even if your're older, and she may need to see a doctor to help deal with it, but it's still no excuse for what she did. After her punishment, we'll all have to keep treating her like our baby sister and make sure she behaves like a good little girl."
When Christie finished talking, they could hear the stern lecture being give inside tha cabin, and the squeaky crying voice trying to make excuses that none of them believed. Then after a moment of silence, the sould of a loud swat and then a shrill cry filled the air. Tiffany smiled to herself at that. From now on, she'd be the perfect big sister to that spoiled little baby. From the cries inside, she knew she didn't need to do anything more to prove that Theresa wasn't as grown up as she'd thought.
Nearby, Tina listened to the goings-on almost amazed. If she didn't know better she'd swear that realy was a little girl carrying on so. She also thought it best that he was able to keep his secret, especially since he was proving to be his own worst enemy and hoping that when they went home in a few days he would still be in "reform school" since she liked him so much better this way.