I've Got No Strings 2

Mason stepped out of the shower, but only had enough time to grab a towel before he was dragged down the hall, skidding to a stop at his sister's closed door. On it was taped a note in his sister's precise handwriting: Knock three times once you have your tutu and tights on, my pretty Prancing Ballerina brother! He held back a loud groan, rolling his eyes. He turned away and began to walk toward his own room, but found himself walking in place, feet scraping through the hall carpet. He could just barely hear a snicker from the other side of Gwen's door, just like he could feel the slight tug of the strings. He sighed. Why fight the inevitable?

What would Mom or Dad think if they came upstairs right now? He wondered as he dressed. He hated that he was slightly relieved Gwen had included a pair of his underwear in the tidy pile of ballet things. All the same, they vanished under all the pink he put on before he was finally ready to knock. He took a deep breath and felt his body rise on its own accord into an elegant arabesque before he knocked daintily on the door three times. He remained like that long enough for Gwen to open the door and record him effortlessly shifting to two feet and entering her room primly on his tiptoes. How was she doing all this with that cross brace? He only had a moment to wonder before she set him to work twirling and prancing and dancing in front of the mirror.

"You're such a pretty ballerina!" She cooed. Mason grimaced as she made him pirouette. A whole weekend of this and he was sick of it, but he could not help but wonder. Just what was Gwen's plan? Tomorrow was rehearsal and it wasn't like she could just show up and declare they had swapped roles. Mrs. Montgomery would never go for that! He almost felt relieved by that thought, even as Gwen forced him into a string of prissy pas de chats in front of the mirror.

"I'm going to be a great Prancing Ballerina at rehearsal tomorrow!" Mason thought Gwen had said it, but his mouth moved. And that was almost his voice, but not quite, like Gwen was doing an impression of him.

"I'm so glad you think so." Gwen grinned as she wiggled the cross brace.

“I love being a Prancing Ballerina!" Mason said in that Gwen impression of his voice. "Stop doing that!" He added in his actual voice.

"What? It's you saying it."

"You're laughing. You know it's you!" Mason abruptly pirouetted and curtsied to his reflection.

"I'm getting good with this thing, aren't I?" Gwen remarked, twisting and waving it so her brother rose up on his tiptoes, arms majestically raised above his head in fifth position. He looked so much like a ballerina! How would anyone at rehearsal tomorrow not accept their trade?

Mason felt his stomach twist and turn all night up until rehearsal the next day. How would Gwen do it? Would she make him dress up like a ballerina? To his surprise, he was still in his own clothes as they arrived at the theater. Gwen seemed weirdly peppy, but he could not help but think, hope even, that all her plans would go up in smoke.

"Mason, there you are."Mrs. Montgomery said, cutting through the backstage start of rehearsal chaos. "Your sister said you have something you want to talk to me about?" Mason froze, but he could feel the heat of Gwen's grin beside him.

"Um, uh, er" he stammered.

"Jayden, honey, please don't touch that." She called before turning her attention to the siblings. "I assume this is another ploy by you? Trying to convince me I was wrong to cast you?"

"Uh" Gwen said. "Go on, tell her, Mas."

"Tell me what? Jayden! Put that down. Gwen, go find the other Prancing Ballerinas. I think your brother can speak for himself." Mason watched his sister walk away. "So, what was it?"

"Um, I'm having trouble learning the lines." He said. That was true enough. Did Gwen really think he was going to play along? "There's a lot of them."

"And you have plenty of time yet to learn them." Mrs. Montgomery said. "Everyone, let's head to centerstage to start us off." She walked away, leaving Mason scratching his head. Had he won? What was Gwen's game? "Everyone to centerstage!"

Mason trod out with everyone else, wondering where Gwen even was. He spied her with the other Prancing Ballerinas, sticking out like a sore thumb since they were all already in costume. Mason shuddered as he remembered wearing that very same thing all weekend long.You're still Pinocchio though. He reminded himself.

"Before we begin, I just want to remind you all that I am proud of each and every one of you. We're going to make this a great production and the only way to do that is with all of you giving it your best. There's a lot to learn, a lot to do, but I know we can do it. That's what rehearsal is all about." She smiled warmly at the faces all around her. "So, any final thoughts before we begin?"

"Pinocchio is too stressful!" Mason announced. "Luckily, my sister Gwen has agreed to swap roles." What was he saying? Everyone suddenly erupted in confusion, but no one was more so than Mason. He spied Gwen with her hands behind her back, but no one else was looking at her.

"Is this... is this true?" Mason felt himself nod, noticing Gwen's arms twitching. She had the cross brace, she had to! "Well, it's not that simple. Sure, I'm sure Gwen is... talented enough to be Pinocchio, but you would..." she seemed taken aback. "Do you even know ballet?" Mason felt himself nod again. "Well, huh."

"I want to be a Prancing Ballerina!" How did no one notice that that was Gwen's voice coming out of his mouth? Even he had to admit it was hard to notice something as subtle as that when they all saw him suddenly pirouette, landing in an elegant curtsey. He could feel the invisible strings pulling him, but as far as everyone else was concerned, he had done that himself.

"Uh... huh." Mrs. Montgomery said. "Well, I... everyone off the stage. Mason, why don't you show us what you can do?" Mason's eyes almost bulged out of his head. This could not be happening! "I guess crossdressing is a theater tradition." Mrs. Montgomery murmured thoughtfully as she sat down in the center of the front row of the auditorium. "Begin."

"Begin what?"

"Show me your ballet skills." She said, shrugging as if she was as perplexed as him.

Mason stood there, feeling all of the lights and eyes in the theater focused solely on him. He turned his head to stage right and saw Gwen, alone and openly brandishing the cross brace. She mimed blowing a kiss, flashed him a thumbs up, and Mason began to dance. Over the weekend, Gwen had made him learn the Prancing Ballerina's routine, so he knew all too well that this was far more advanced than anything he would need to do in the play. Gwen was just having fun! He heard whispers from stage left and managed to look over there as he elegantly spun in arabesque. The Prancing Ballerinas were watching him appraisingly and he could tell they were impressed. How had they not noticed Gwen puppeting him? Mason came to a stop impossibly perched on the tips of his sneakers, arms up in fifth position before dramatically bringing them down and curtseying, pulling the hem of his t-shirt out to either side. Halting applause came, everyone stunned by what they had just seen.

"Alright then." Awe colored Mrs. Montgomery's voice. "I guess you've got the part. Are you okay with changing right now?" Mason felt himself nod once again. He had to do something, but he felt an overwhelming urge to smile. He gritted his teeth and the urge subsided, but he could not speak. "That settles it. Gwen, wherever you- ah, you were watching from backstage! You'll be our Pinocchio and Mason will be a Prancing Ballerina." Mason felt like his stomach was on fire. Gwen had never looked happier. "Can you show him his new costume?"

"You saw it this weekend." Gwen said to Mason, grinning as she led him, his teeth still tightly gritted, backstage. "And you and I know it fits perfectly!"