My Size Barbie

“Alright. Have fun! Be good!” Mom said as Lisa opened the front door. “Zack, say bye to your sister.”

“Bye.” Zack muttered. She was just going to a sleepover, not leaving for a freaking month. At least with her out of his hair for the night, he might get to do something fun without her tattling on him all the time. “Oh, shoot!” He said as soon as the door closed.

“What?” Mom asked. “Miss her already?”

“No.” Zack said, walking past his mom and up the stairs. Lisa had promised to give it back, but she must have forgotten. What was he going to do with it?

The it in question was his Gameboy, which Lisa had stolen from him to get him to play outside with her earlier that day. She had said she would give it back before she left for Janie’s sleepover, but she had hidden it in her room for safekeeping.

“Great.” Zack muttered as he looked at her closed door. “Guess I gotta go in there.” He took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out as he held his breath as he charged headlong into his sister’s bedroom.

He wrinkled his nose almost immediately as he saw all the dolls, the pink bed, everything was just over the top girly. How could Lisa live like this? All those dolls staring at her all the time. It creeped him out! Where was his Gameboy?

Zack’s lungs ached, so he had no choice but to exhale. Where would Lisa have hidden it? What was the last place he would look? Her closet? He turned toward it and nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw a face looking back at him! His heart pounded in his chest as he realized it was just the reflection of the giant Barbie by the door, almost as tall as he was. He turned around to glare at her. She wore a wedding dress and a big smile on her face. What was she so pleased about? Scaring him? He knew it was a dumb thought, but he stuck his tongue out at her nonetheless.

Something about the doll seemed off. He stared at her again, almost afraid to break eye contact. For a plastic doll, she looked weirdly lifelike, almost as if… had she just winked at him? Zack’s heart began to race again, but he shrugged it off. He was just so nervous about mom catching him in here that he was imagining things.

Confident now that his missing Gameboy was in Lisa’s closet, Zack turned back toward the closet. At least, he tried to. His legs refused to move. It was like his feet were glued to the carpet. He tried to move his legs, his feet, even his toe, but nothing budged. He tried to move his arms, but he could not. He could not even open his mouth! He heard a soft rustle.

“Hmm” If Zack had been able to move, his eyes would have been as wide as possible as the Barbie, the Barbie nearly his size, stepped toward him, lifting her dress just enough to not trod on it. She smiled at him as she walked around him as if sizing him up. She remained just on the leftmost edge of his vision and he felt he grab his wrist and lift his arm straight up in front of him. It remained there, as stiff as could be. “Well,” the Barbie said. Zack tried to speak, but all he could manage was the slightest, softest moan from his frozen lips. “Shh, it’s gonna be hard for you to talk.” Barbie said. “But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”

Zack could do nothing but stand there, frozen, as he listened to the Barbie do something. He could only guess what she was up to. The only sound he recognized was the creak of Lisa’s bedroom door as she closed it. She hummed a song he did not recognize, but finally returned into his line of sight. Zack blushed, or at least thought he did, when he saw Barbie had taken off her veil and dress and stood before him in nothing but pink underwear with a plasticy sheen to it.

“Oh, don’t be bashful.” She said. “I’ll be dressed soon.” Zack did not like the sound of that and it only grew worse as, moving his limbs around as she needed to, Barbie removed his t-shirt and jeans. “Oh, white! Perfect!” She said as she eyed his underwear.

Barbie left Zack frozen there for a moment as she dressed in his clothes. With barely an inch difference between them, the clothes fit her well enough, which only made Zack’s dread grow more. If she was wearing his clothes, that meant…

“What do you think?” She asked, twirling, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. “I could almost pass for you, right?” Other than your hair, Zack thought. “Lisa wouldn’t like it if I cut my hair, but I bet I could go” She disappeared from his limited view again. As Zack heard the door open, he wondered if Barbie was really going to leave him here, frozen in just his underwear right in the middle of Lisa’s bedroom.

He almost felt relieved when he heard her come back. How long had it been? Ten minutes? Half an hour?

“It was barely five minutes, mister dramatic.” Barbie said. How did she know? “No, I can’t read your mind,” she said, coming back into view. She had tucked her hair up into a baseball cap of his. She still did not look the same as him in the face, but at a quick glance, someone would only see his clothes and think that she was a boy. “I just know what you’re thinking, I guess. Every girl knows what her dolls think.” Barbie explained, smiling at him. “Oh, you’re going to look so lovely once you’re dressed like a proper bride!”

Zack tried to move even so much as a toe, but the magic - that’s what it had to be, right? - held him as still as a statue as Barbie dressed him in the bridal gown, veil, even the plastic jewelry she had worn when he had first entered Lisa’s bedroom. He felt as if he might die. He was a boy and no boy wanted to be dressed as a bride!

“Oh, you look so wonderful in your glamorous gown!” Barbie gushed, adjusting his arms and head so that he was in the perfect pose. Zack tried desperately to move. He knew that if he could move, tears would be streaming down his face right now. He was a boy! A boy dressed as a Barbie bride. “Don’t worry,” Barbie said. “It’s only for a little bit. I just want some time out of this room, is all.” Why, Zack thought. Why did I need to find my Gameboy? “Oh, and if you’re wondering about your video game thingy, Lisa took it to Janie’s with her.” Barbie said. “Sorry. Well, at least you still get to have fun.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll be back before she is.” That was little comfort for the trapped boy. Lisa was spending the night, after all.

He tried desperately to call out to Barbie as she left his sight. He listened to her retreating footsteps. Was he going to be stuck like this? Wearing a bride’s dress, only able to stare at his sister’s wall for hours, if not a whole day?

“Oh, I can’t do this.” Barbie said, coming back into the room. Zack’s relief washed over him, but he soon realized he had gotten his hopes up too soon. Barbie lifted him just enough off of the floor to move him. At first, he thought she was going to put him back where she had originally stood among Lisa’s dolls, but she had other plans.

Zack saw his own face come into view as Barbie placed him right in front of the mirror. He recoiled inwardly as he realized just how much like a bride he looked. The veil mostly concealed his boy’s haircut and, much like how Barbie’s wearing his clothes made her automatically look boyish, the over the top wedding dress made Zack look undeniably feminine.

“There we go! Every bride wants to see herself on her big day!” Barbie smiled at him, standing next to him in the mirror as if to drive home just how dramatic of a transformation he had gone through. “Alright, I better get going. I want to go ride bikes in the park!” With that, she left Zack to his thoughts, unable to look away from his reflection, unable to know how much time would pass before she returned. All he could do was wait.