Long Story #12: Pungent Pageantry (Part 1)

Long Story #12: Pungent Pageantry (Content Tags: Shortstack protagonist, female antagonist, bullying, forced to wear diapers, wet and messy accidents in diapers, humiliation.) "I just don't see why I have to be in it!" "Our whole class is in it, and I've worked really hard to throw this thing together! Mrs. Birch made me the director of the pageant, and I'm directing you to play your part!" Natalie was glowering down at the shorter boy, her arms folded and her eyes filled with fire. She hadn't been all that pleased when Miles had denied her 'request' for him to be a part of the pageant, and the pressure she'd been applying had only been growing in intensity. They already didn't really get along before this. Miles was the smallest boy in their class, while Natalie was inversely the tallest girl, and when they were staring each other down, the discrepancy in size became all the more apparent. The already diminutive boy shrunk under her towering presence. "The teacher also said that we didn't have to be in it, if we didn't want to! And I don't want to. I hate singing and being on stage like that." Natalie took another few steps closer and leered down at her classmate. It was embarrassing, but Miles was genuinely intimidated by her, even without any overt threats of violence or force. She folded her arms and leaned down, to get right in Miles' face. "You're doing the pageant, shorty. There's only a week left to rehearse, so you're going to have to really pull it together, or else." She punctuated the thinly veiled threat by jabbing her finger into the boy's chest. Miles gulped and slowly nodded his head. He'd managed to stay strong for the last few weeks, but Natalie had gotten progressively more nasty about his failure to comply, and he'd just been browbeaten too much into submission. The girl smiled and raised her head back up, giving Miles a pat on the head. "That's what I thought. Rehearsal is after school, don't be late. I don't want to have to come looking for you, got it?" She really didn't have to ask. The pounding in his chest told him very directly that he indeed had 'gotten it', and that he'd be showing up in the auditorium right on time. Later that day, once the bell had rung and classes had ended, Miles found himself miserably shuffling down the hall. He wasn't going toward the exit, like he wanted, but was going to rehearsal as Natalie expected him to. He'd begun to think about what part he'd be given, and had at least consoled himself with the seemingly likely outcome that he'd be given a bit part to play. He wouldn't be top billing, not when things were this close to curtain. Natalie would probably just paint his face like a reindeer and he'd be a part of the chorus, like so many other kids in their class. With that in mind, he imagined that he might not even have to really sing, since he'd be but one of a group. He pushed past the doors and quietly entered the auditorium; there was plenty of idle chatter, bouncing around the acoustics of the large space. The pageant wasn't restricted to just their own grade, so a diverse group of kids from across different grades were scattered around. All and all, there were as many as twenty or so kids in here, which made him even more at ease. Miles meandered toward the stage with his hands in his pockets, glancing around at all the different things going on. Some kids were running lines with each other, while others in the back were painting backdrops for the stage, and there standing at the center with a clipboard was Natalie. "I'm, uh, here." He awkwardly greeted, making the girl look up from the board in her hands. "Glad to see that I didn't have to track you down. See, wouldn't this have been easier if you'd just agreed from the start?" Miles fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead pivoted to what part he'd be playing, "So you need me in the chorus or something? Or maybe helping build the set?" Natalie chuckled and shook her head, "Build the set? You're too puny for helping with that; we don't need you painting either, since I've seen what you can do in art class." The boy's cheeks got hot, but she continued before he could talk back. "And I wouldn't waste such a pretty voice on the chorus. You're one of the only boys in our class that can hit those high notes still." As much as Miles didn't like to sing, there wasn't any denying that he was good at it, which is part of the reason that Natalie had so adamantly focused on forcing him to be a part of this pageant in the first place. While she was correct in her assertion that his skills in art class were laughable, his performance in music class was lauded highly by their music teacher. "Miles! I'm so glad that you came around on the pageant. I hear from Mrs. Kingston that you're a talented kid." Came a voice from behind. Miles turned his head and realized that Mrs. Birch had come to check in on the production that she'd put in Natalie's hands. The woman smiled warmly at him, "...And Natalie told me that you'll be taking over for Freddy, since he had to drop out due to the flu. That's really big of you, Miles!" The boy just looked confused. There definitely wasn't any Freddy in their grade, and he wasn't familiar with anyone named that in the grades closest to them. "Uhhh, I...Guess?" Natalie stepped in to interject, giving their teacher a broad smile of her own. "Yup! Miles is perfect for the part! He can sing the songs and he can fit in the costume! He's told me that he's going to practice really, REALLY hard to catch up. Isn't that right, Miles?" "..Umm, y-yes?" Mrs. Birch looked pleased, "Excellent! I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job, Miles. Your music teacher will be so happy! Now, I'll let you kids get back to it...Oh, and Miles? Don't let the other kids bother you if they tease, the part of the Christmas tot is important!" While the woman took her leave, Miles was left with his jaw hanging open. Had she said 'Christmas tot'? Like, toddler? Now that he thought about it, he could remember that the past pageants that he'd seen had a Kindergartner usually taking on that role of the 'baby' that's super excited for Christmas. Was the reason he didn't know Freddy, because Freddy was in Kindergarten? He turned his head to look at Natalie, "You don't really expect me to play the toddler, do you? Like, with the stupid footsie pajamas and everything? Isn't that role supposed to be played by a Kindergartner?" The girl clicked her tongue, "Yeah, so? Men used to play women in Shakespeare, so what's wrong with a fifth grader playing a toddler? You're pretty much the size of a Kindergartner anyways, so you'll fit in the costume, and you can sound just like Freddy did with the songs." Miles sputtered, upset and incredulous, "B-but...but...! That's too embarrassing, Natalie! I said I'd be in the pageant, not that I'd dress like a stupid baby and sing a bunch of songs!" The girl grabbed him by the hand and began to drag him off toward the back of the stage, "Maybe if you had joined from the beginning, then we could have found a different part for you. None of the other Kindergartners want to do it though, and they're not really talented enough anyways." She led him backstage and toward the dressing rooms; they passed by all manner of costumes and props that'd been used across many different productions at the school. "If you try to get out of it now, you'll be letting down the teachers too. Not to mention what kind of nightmare that I'll make your life into." She forced him to sit down on a stool inside the dressing room, right in front of the mirror. "Now, let me get your costume out. You have to learn three different songs, and you have a few lines too, so go ahead and start looking at the script." Miles got a bundle of paper shoved into his hands and he dejectedly began to look at it. The three primary songs he would be expected to sing would be: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Santa Claus is coming to town, and up on the rooftop. He would have the chorus backing him, and he'd be sharing the songs with the other main 'kids' of the program's story, but it would still amount to a lot of attention coming his way. That didn't even get to the lines he had! He would be expected to talk with a lisp, from how things looked written on the page, and there were even some juvenile jokes that revolved around potty humor in there. "...Here they are, here are the pajamas!" Natalie came back, holding up the pair of footed pajamas in her hand. They looked positively infantile, and there was even a pacifier dangling from a clip on them. As she turned the garment around, Miles could see the pajamas had a drop-seat too! "You can't really expect me to wear that!" (Continued in part 2!)