Slipping his hand into his pocket to touch his lucky stone, Robin said, "I wish I could help out, Miss Goodbody?"
Helen Goodbody wanted, more than anything to succeed as a teacher. Her family tried to talk her out of being a teacher. None of them believed that she could handle the job. "You should get married and raise lots of babies." Her mother had told her.
"But Mama, I want more from my life." She tried to explain.
"So your Mama is not good enough for you?" Her mother had said, and the discussion died there.
Her mind was racing trying to figure out how to save this play. Gina's role was too important to be written out, and because of the costumes, and the large number of girls needed for this play, there was no one else who could fill her shoes; literally and figuratively.
"What did you say, Robin?" She asked as a really weird idea popped into her head.
"I said, 'I wish I could help out', Miss Goodbody." Robin repeated before he removed his hand from his pocket.
"There may be a way, but it may be too off base." Miss Goodbody said.
Sensing that he had an opportunity to play the white knight for Miss Goodbody, Robin said, "I'll do anything."
"Do you remember that I had said that way back in Shakespeare's time, how all of the parts in a play were played by male actors?"
"Yes?" Said Robin, a bit confused with what Miss Goodbody wanted him to do.
"Well, with Gina gone we need someone to play her part, some one about her size; and there isn't anyone else."
"So how can I help?" Robin asked.
"Play her part." Helen Goodbody said, "With your parents permission, of course. You'd be a life saver."
Robin was hooked. He wanted to be Miss Goodbody's white knight and this was his chance.
"I am sure that my mother will okay it." He said, feeling for sure that nothing would stand in his way; no dragon would be too tough for him to slay to help out Miss Goodbody. "I'll ask her tonight!"
After dinner that night, Robin asked his mother if he could talk to her about school.
"Sure Sweetie. What is up?"
"Miss Goodbody, my drama teacher, asked me to play a part in the play this coming Friday."
"Isn't it a bit of short notice."
"Yes." Robin said as he mapped out his strategy as to how to talk his mother into the idea.
"You know that way back when, even before you time, how guys played all roles in Shakespeare's time?"
"I am not that old, Sweetie." His mother said, "But, yes, I am aware that they used to only let men act on stage. What does that have to do with what you want."
Slipping his hand into his pocket to feel his lucky stone, Robin launched into his final pitch. "Gina. She had a part in the play. Well she left school suddenly. Miss Goodbody wants me to help out. She said that I am the only one who can help her with this. She asked me to play Gina's part and I wish you would let me. I really want to help her."
Robins' mom was more than a bit concerned about the fact that Robin didn't have any male role models in his life. She was trying to raise all four of her children to be good people and not to be sexist in nature. She was most concerned about Robin becoming too feminine, being surrounded by only females.
Still, she found herself deciding that this would be a good idea. Robin might learn a lot more about the other sex, and that would make him a better man.
"Well, if your teacher thinks it is a good idea, and you want to do it, then I guess I can agree. I'll write her a note for you to take to school in the morning." She said, deciding that the happy look on Robin's face was reward enough for this. "But you had best not let your homework slide."
"I won't, I promise Mom. Thank you. You are the best Mom ever!"
Wednesday night, after school, Robin was being fitted for Gina's costumes.
"Is this necessary?" He asked as Miss Goodbody tried to lace the corset thingy about his waist.
"Yes. Gina was a bit smaller in the waist than you were. We can pad the hips and stuff, but we need to squeeze your waist down a couple of inches.
Robin, like most boys his age, didn't have a lot of excess fat. His 27 ½ inch waist was almost three inches fuller than Gina's had been. There was not enough cloth to let out her costumes to fit him.
Feeling like he was almost cut in half, he struggled not to complain. After all he was Miss Goodbody's white knight.
"That is the best we can do for now." Miss Goodbody said. "We might be able to squeeze the rest once things settle some. "Go put on the first costume and let's see how it fits."
Robin went into the changing room and looked at the dress he was to wear. It looked too small for him to climb into. As he turned to close the curtain to the changing room closed behind him, he knocked his pants from the hook he had hung them on. As he picked them up, his lucky stone fell out of the pocket.
As he picked up the stone he said to himself, "It is going to take more than luck for me to fit into Gina's costumes. I just wish I could fit in these costumes as well as Gina did, without having to wear this thing." He said pointing to the corset thingy.
As he stood up and placed his lucky stone back into the pocket of his pants and hung them back upon the hook, he noticed that the corset thingy felt better, not so tight.
'This might work.' He thought to himself as he struggled into the dress.
Once he was in the dress, he noticed that it was cut lower in the front than he had thought. He pulled upon his less than amble breasts, trying to pull as much of the fat forced from his waist line up to make some sort of bosom.
"I don't think this will work, Miss Goodbody." Robin admitted as he walked out to show his teacher. "This dress almost fits around my waist, but I am lacking up top."
As soon as he said that, he realized what he had said and to whom. Miss Goodbody was more than amply endowed in the breasts department; a fact that most of the male students had noticed.
He blushed bright red.
Knowing that his youth was more than a bit nervous, she chose to ignore his comment and instead said, "Trust me Robin. I learned some tricks in college. By the time we are done, Gina will have nothing on you."
As she saw how much redder the youth blushed, she decided that what she said hadn't been a good idea.
"Don't worry Robin. I think you are very brave to do this for me."
Once the youth had left for the evening, Miss Goodbody thought to herself that he made a more than convincing young girl. The second tightening of the corset had shrunk his waist another two inches with very little effort. It also seemed to fill out his bottom enough that no padding was needed. She'd bring the glue on fake breasts tomorrow for him to try on and the rest of the cast to get used to his wearing. She knew that she would have to come down hard on several of the students when they started teasing Robin, and she knew just how to do so.
In the morning, Robin had his mother tighten the corset thingy as tight as she could before he tried to put on his pants.
"Mom." He called out as he struggled with his pants. "There is something wrong with my pants."
"What seems to be the problem?" She asked as she came into his bedroom.
"They are too tight across my butt, and fall off my waist." He explained.
"Well, the corset is supposed to take four inches off of your waist, it must have forced some of that to your hips. I'd guess that your pants don't fit your new shape. Let's get you out of the corset."
"No Mom. I need to wear this so I can fit into the costume for the play. It is only for a couple of days. Isn't there something else you can do?"
"The only other thing I can think of is to have you wear a pair of your sister's jeans." She said. "Since the corset is giving you a girlish figure, you can probably wear them."
At first Robin wasn't so sure. He had accidentally tried to put on a pair of his sister's jeans a couple months ago. They had been mixed up with his clothes in their shared closet. They were much too tight around his waist. Still, he didn't have a better idea, and maybe they would at least stay up.
He was surprised at how well his sister's jeans fit. They were about two inches too long in the leg, but since most guys rolled up their jeans, that was okay. And they did fit both his waist and hips. With a heavy sweatshirt on, no one could tell.
For the dress rehearsal, Miss Goodbody had glued two fake breasts onto Robin's chest. With just a bit of make-up, the seam all but disappeared. Robin looked at himself in the mirror while waiting for his cue. Only he didn't look like a him.
The blonde wig, fake breasts, and stage make-up had turned him into a totally different person. He looked like a girl.
The thought scared him. No guy wanted to become a girl. It just wasn't right. If Miss Goodbody hadn't been there to talk to him when he first saw himself, he would have run. He was still more than a little scared.
And he was more than a little interested in what being a girl would be like.
And that scared him even more.
Practice went well enough. None of the other cast members teased him about how he looked. He did struggle with his lines, due mainly to his nerves.
Once practice was done, Miss Goodbody used the glue remover to remove his fake breasts. As she did so, she said to him. "Do you know what all the great actors do to help them with their nerves?"
"What?" He asked. Intrigued that she considered him with the great actors and willing to try almost anything to get over his nerves so he wouldn't let her down.
"They have some good luck piece that carry with them. Before the play, when they get nervous, they think of their good luck piece. Once the play starts, they find they aren't nervous." She explained.
'Well, it is mostly true. Most actors are nervous before the start of the play. Once they get into the play, their nerves disappear.' She thought to herself, refusing to admit that some people never got over their fears. If Robin was one of those, then the play was doomed.
"Really!" Robin said.
"Yes, Really." She told him with a smile. "Now hurry on home and get a good nights sleep. You will do fine tomorrow, I just know it."
As she watched Robin scamper on home, she thought to herself that he was a good kid and he was trying hard. 'A real trooper.' She thought to herself.
Opening night jitters had hit almost everyone. Miss Goodbody tried to calm their nerves. For most of the drama class, this was their first play. Her few 'old pros' hadn't done a lot of acting the year before and were just about as nervous.
She noticed that Robin was in costume and that he was holding a small rock or something. He looked less nervous than everyone else.
Robin stood off to the side, his nerves almost paralyzing him. Remembering what Miss Goodbody had told him, he pulled his lucky rock from his back pack and held it in his hand. "I sure wish that everything goes well tonight and that everyone thinks I am a girl." He said to help calm his nerves.
Hearing the five minute call, he put his lucky rock away and moved to where he was to be at the start of the play.
Miss Goodbody had been right. He was not very nervous at all.
The play went nearly perfect. There were a few stumbled lines, fewer than she had dared hope for. And Robin had done an excellent job replacing Gina. Even thought she knew that he was really a boy, she couldn't help thinking of him as a girl during most of the play.
With the play over, everyone hurried to get into their street clothes and head over to the church basement for the after play party.
Only Robin was having problems. "I can't find the glue remover." He said.
Miss Goodbody tried to find the glue remover in the confusion that remained after the play was done. It was no where to be found.
"I can get some from home, but that will have to wait until tomorrow." She said as she lived nearly an hour from the school. "Here, where this under your sweatshirt, it will help." She added, handing Robin a stretchy shirt.
Robin looked at the shirt as if it was some sort of cursed item. It was pink, with short sleeves and a deep neck line. He had seen his sisters wear tops like this, and they were very girlie.
"I ah " Robin started to say.
Knowing that bouncing breasts are both uncomfortable and obvious, even under a bulky sweatshirt, Helen knew that trying to talk Robin into wearing a bra would be a very bad idea. This shirt, a size or so too small was the best compromise she could think of. "Trust me on this Robin." She said, then added, "You were great tonight."
Accepting the shirt, Robin went into the changing room and removed corset and the dress he had worn in the last scene. He pulled on the pink shirt and knew that he didn't want to be seen wearing it. It quickly pulled on his sweatshirt before pulling stepping into his jeans. Only they were still his sister's jeans. He didn't notice, because he was so upset about the top and he was in a hurry to get to the cast party, that they still fit him just right.
The church basement was more than a little warm as the cast and crew from the play crowded in. Typical after play cast parties involved some food, sodas and other 'safe' drinks, and maybe some games. It was to help everyone unwind.
Robin felt a bit self conscious because he still had the fake breasts on and was sure that someone would notice them or the pink shirt. He sat in one corner, more or less by himself as he watched the others in his class enjoy themselves.
He saw some girls from the play talking to some of the boys.
As he sat there, rubbing his lucky rock, he watched the four couples. The girls were teasing the boys that they couldn't do something easy that the girls could do. Robin didn't understand why, but for some reason the girls were able to bend over and pick up the chair, while the guys couldn't.
Sensing that he would fit in more if he could show up the guys, he said to himself, "I wish "
