The Student Body

It was the morning of the play and Conner was sitting in class, he hadn’t expected to be so nervous and couldn’t focus on the lecture at all. He looked over to Brian who leaned closer and whispered. “Are you ready for the big show today?”

Conner nodded, not wanting his nerves to show. It was almost lunch time when a knock on their door was heard and his teacher answered. An older student appeared in the doorway, he recognized her as one of the stage hand volunteers. “Sorry for interrupting your class, but we need Toto to come and get ready for the performance this afternoon.” She loudly asked his teacher.

“Yes, thank you for reminding me.” His teacher said turning around. “Everyone, I want you to say goodbye to Toto, you will see him again in this afternoon’s play!” she announced.

Some giggles were heard from the crowd and Brian shouted “Break a Leg!”. Conner’s face flushed red as he got up and followed the stage hand to the auditorium.

He walked up the steps to the backstage, he saw that lunch had been set out and provided for everyone involved, he grabbed something to eat first. He looked around and saw many people preparing and getting ready. The students who required the most makeup were asked to arrive first, this included him, Billy, Tom, Rayna and Madison. He waved to everyone and sat down where Trish waved him over.

“Ready for round two? Toto” Trish asked.

“Yeah, you mentioned you were changing up the makeup?” Conner reminded her.

“That’s right, we have plenty of time to finish up before the play starts so we can take our time.” She told him as she pulled out a few bags. “Let’s start with the contacts and hair this time, then we will get into the makeup, lean your head back.” She instructed.

Conner let Trish put in his contacts since he still didn’t know how to and she pulled out the can of colored hairspray and applied grey streaks to his black hair. This time Conner was sitting in front of a mirror and would be able to watch as she applied the makeup.

“Okay, for the rest just hold still while I apply these prosthetics, this will give a base to then apply the fur on top of it.” Trish tried to explain her process.

“Umm, okay.” Conner agreed.

First thing Trish did was pull out a face cloth and cleanser and cleaned his face. She pulled out a few kits, the first was for his nose. She read over the instructions and pulled out some glue and applied it to the prosthetic and Conner’s nose, she smoothed out any creases and asked him to hold it there, which he did. Meanwhile she started reading the next set of instructions.

“Have you done this before?” Conner asked.

“No, I typically do costume work, not makeup. I agreed to help out Mrs Bell though and I want to get better.” she paused for a moment. “I did do some makeup at Halloween, but not for an audience of this size.” Trish explained to him.

“Oh, you seem so good at it.” Conner told her.

Trish inspected the nose and decided it was good. She then started to pull out strips of different colored fur. Starting at his neck she pulled off adhesive strips from the fur material and applied it to his neck and face, it took some time for it all to be applied, the only parts of his face not covered were his eyes and the costume nose. Conner looked in the mirror and his head was hidden by a ball of fur.

“Okay, now we need to give it some shape.” Trish said. She then pulled out some scissors and spent the next thirty minutes cutting and giving the fur shape, occasionally she would brush and move around his head. Conner couldn’t tell where his own hair began and the costume fur started, he was pretty sure Trish had cut a bunch of his own hair during the process.

She took a step back and allowed Conner to view in the mirror, his head had been transformed into a black and grey Cairn Terrier head, he had the muzzle with an iconic mustache and his eyebrows had been made to be much more expressive. The color continued up his head and wrapped around.

“Wow Trish, this is really good, you should give yourself more credit.” Conner told her.

“Well final touches, then I am helping a couple others.” Trish explained. She pulled out the costume ears and clipped them to his head, she fed his hair through to hide and clips and a little hairspray to hold it in place. She then applied black costume makeup to his nose to complete the look.

“We are done! I forgot to mention that I won’t be able to reapply the makeup twice, you will need to wear it until after the performance tonight.” Trish revealed to Conner.

Conner got nervous at that news, his head was essentially a dog’s head for the rest of the day. “Okay, at least tonight's preparation will be quick then.” He told her, sounding nervous.

“Thanks Toto, I’ll see you later for costuming then.” Trish said, ruffling his hair.

Conner got out of the makeup chair to allow another person to use it. He looked around the backstage trying to stay out of everyone’s way.

“Well it looks like Toto got his makeup finished.” He heard Billy say to him. Conner looked at him, he also had his makeup complete, although it wasn’t as professional looking as his own.

“Leave me alone.” Conner told him.

“Oh the dog boy speaks! I thought you would have barked at me like usual.” Billy continued to tease him. The only scene they had together Toto just barks at the flying monkey.

“Knock it off, I already told you, I’m just acting.” Conner said he felt more confident talking back now that he was standing, even if he was significantly shorter than Billy.

“Sure, I’m sure the whole student body will understand that ‘Conner Reid’ who looks and acts like a little puppy is just acting.” Billy mocked him. For some reason Conner felt his face get hot when he said his name, that had only happened when people had called him Toto, he chucked it up to nerves.

“Well it is a play.” Conner said meekly.

“I think it’s a little more than that for you Toto.” Billy said, realizing he had got what he wanted. He reached over and gave Conner a head pat. “Now why don’t you be a good boy and get ready.”

Conner was flustered by Billy, he was worried now that the students would read more into the performance. He still had a little time before needing to put on the costume and decided to go to the washroom first.

After a little time Conner was sitting on a bench by the dressing rooms waiting for Trish to help him with the costume, eventually she walked up to him with the costume bag.

“Hey are you ready?” Trish asked.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Conner said depressed, he walked into the dressing room and slowly took off his shoes and shirt.

“Everything alright?” Trish asked.

“Just something Billy said, and I’m nervous” Conner admitted, he didn’t want to get Billy in trouble on the day of the performance.

“Well you make a great Toto, I think.” Trish had started pulling out the outfit from the bag. “You get to make the most people laugh, Toto gets all the best gags in this version of the play and you practiced so hard to make them work.” Trish reassured him.

Conner hadn’t really thought about that, he had always assumed people were laughing at him, Conner Reid, but it was true that he was playing a comedic character and they were probably laughing at Toto in the Wizard of Oz. Conner finished taking off his pants and sat on his feet like before. “Why did you make the costume like this?” Conner asked.

Trish started sliding the costume up Conner’s legs. “It’s a design that creates a good dog illusion, it was a collaboration with the drama teacher’s, Ms. Gray and Mrs. Bell” Trish told him.

“I can’t stand up in it though.” Conner complained.

“Well some sacrifices had to be made to get the tail to work.” Trish told him, as she grabbed his feet and positioned them into the tail, Conner giggled a little. “Now arms in the sleeves.”

Conner put his arms out while Trish pulled up the outfit, she then started to zip it up. She then went and put the dog collar over Conner’s head, proudly displaying the name Toto.

“Hey Toto, do you mind if I take some photos? It will be great for my portfolio.” Trish asked.

“Sure, that should be fine.” Conner told her.

Trish spent the next few minutes having Conner make poses, stretching, laying down and walking around. “Thanks Toto, oh I think this will be the last time we will see each other today, you will need to find someone else to help you in and out of your outfit tonight.” Trish informed Conner.

“Oh, okay. Thanks again for all the help, Trish.” Conner said.

“Break a leg!” Trish told him as she headed out.

Conner trotted over to the floor mirror and took a look at the completed look. Head to toe he had been transformed into a puppy, his head no longer looked like a boy but was a spitting image of Toto. From the neck down the costume matched the fur on his head perfectly and it all seemed to blend in together, the only piece not covered in fur was his bright red collar and large dog tag that read ‘Toto’.

“Oh wow, Conner is that really you!” He heard Jessica say.

Conner felt his face flush again when he was called by his real name. “Yeah, Trish went all out for Toto.” Conner said.
“I think it looks amazing, let’s go get in position, it’s almost time.” Jessica said. Conner could hear the murmuring of the student body from backstage.

With the curtain closed Conner and Jessica got into position on set, ready to open the show. Ms Gray was doing an announcement to the student body, asking everyone to be quiet and to enjoy the show.

Slowly the curtain opened, Conner got his first look at the student body staring back at him. The youngest students were sitting on some floor mats and behind them benches and chairs had been set up. It went from youngest to oldest from the front of the room to the back, teachers lined the auditorium walls keeping an eye on the students, however in this moment he felt like all eyes were on him. Quickly he scanned the audience and found his fourth grade class and finally saw Brian, the only classmate who had seen him practice at this point. Brian had his mouth hanging open, clearly surprised.

“Oh, it's too stormy out there. Should we stay here Toto?” Jessica asks with fear and a little hesitation.

Conner steeled his nerves and barked with confidence “Arf!” he replied to Dorothy. Conner was struck by a wave of giggles, laughter and a few gasps. He heard some teachers try to shush their students.

“Oh I don’t know what to do, I hope Aunt Em is okay.” Jessica continued with the play, even through the noises.

“Arf. Arf!” Conner replied, trying to push the laughing out of his mind, Trish’s words about the audience laughing at Toto, not Conner ringing in his mind. The scene continued with Toto and Dorothy disappearing in darkness.

He heard shuffling all around him as the first graders setup, this was one of the longer scene transitions. “You're doing great Toto.” He heard Jessica whisper to him, there was pride in her voice.

“Thanks, you too.” He whispered back.

The next scene opens with Toto pacing out and looking surprised, this was the munchikland scene with the first graders. Rather than just wearing primary colored clothing they now also sported hats and had been given a little makeup. The scene played out normally with only a couple hiccups that the audience most likely wouldn’t notice. Eventually the scene ends with the first graders dancing around the cast singing ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’.

Conner’s scenes gained a lot of laughs throughout the play, he was feeling good about his performance and glad he was able to do it infront of the entire student body. At the end of the play Ms Gray called out all the actors to take a bow, Conner walked out and did his best to bow to the audience. The actors got an impressive applause from the audience, the curtain then closed.

The cast looked around each other congratulating each other on the performance, Jessica knelt down in front of Conner and he moved to a sitting position. “You did great Toto!”

“Thanks Jessica.” Conner felt a strong sense of pride after his performance.

“Thank you everyone!” Ms Gray told the cast. “This is the best performance of the Wizard of Oz these halls have seen! Please be back here for six o’clock for the second performance for our ticket holders, for now you can head back to class for the rest of the day. If you aren’t leaving the school feel free to use the drama room until six.” Ms Gray then dismissed everyone.

Conner followed everyone else backstage, he was beaming at not making a mistake and putting on a great show. He made it back to the dressing room. He was looking forward to taking off the outfit and stretching until he noticed it was occupied. He sat in front of the room and waited, eventually Harvey Barret stepped out.

Conner looked up at him. “Harvey, could you give me a hand with my zipper?” He asked.

Harvey smiled, “Yeah sure Toto, anything for Jessica’s little brother.”

“Thanks.” Conner said and blushed as he remembered their encounter a few weeks ago in the park, he paced into the dressing room with Harvey following him.

“No problem,” Harvey said, unzipping Conner’s suit. “Hey, I saw you and Billy talking earlier. Did he say anything about me?”

“No, like you said, he’s just a jerk.” Conner complained, finally standing up and quickly grabbing his pants.

“Alright then, I’ll see you tonight then.” Harvey left the dressing room for Conner to change.

Conner slipped on his pants and hung up the suit, the dressing room had a mirror and Conner noticed he was still wearing the dog collar. He reached up and tried to take it off but couldn’t get it to adjust, he now realized Trish had put it on and taken it off for him everytime. He pulled at it and heard someone from outside knock on his dressing room. “Almost done there, I need to change.” He heard Jaimie Booth ask.

“Yeah, just a sec!” Conner shouted back. Giving up on the collar he just put his shirt on over it and tried to hide it underneath, he would deal with it later. He put on his shoes and stepped out. “Sorry, it’s all yours.”

Conner returned his costume bag to the rack and stood around backstage until he ran into Mrs Bell. “Toto, you should clean up your makeup and head back to class, there is still an hour of school and lot’s of time before the next performance.” Mrs Bell informed him.

Conner felt a wave of terror cross over him. “Mrs Bell, Trish told me she won’t be able to apply this makeup twice and asked me to not take it off between the performances.” Conner told her shyly hoping he could hide out backstage.

Mrs Bell looked him up and down. “Well then just go back to class as you are, your teacher will understand I’m sure.”

Conner was getting scared now, his head still looked like Toto. “Okay.” He said defeated.

Slowly Conner went down the stage of the auditorium and headed to his class, he took careful effort not to cross paths with other students while he headed through the halls. He arrived at his classroom and opened the door, greeted by his classmates' stares, giggles and laughter, he looked down at his feet. He felt really embarrassed and felt he should just leave and hide out in the drama room, until he heard clapping. Conner looked up and saw his best friend had stood up and started clapping for him, slowly a few other kids joined until everyone had stopped laughing and most were clapping for him. Eventually he got the courage to walk into the room and close the door.

“Welcome back Toto! Great performance out there, please take a seat.” His teacher praised him, he was surprised she didn’t even mention his makeup. Conner took his usual seat beside Brian who was still smiling at him.

His teacher continued on about some geometry problems and then handed out some worksheets, once given the opportunity Brian started asking him questions rapidly. “What is with the makeup that looks almost real? The costume on stage was so cool, was it hard to move in? How did you make the tail wag? Why didn’t you take off the makeup? Can I touch it?”

“Slow down Brian, why are you so excited?” Conner asked him.

“I just think it’s so cool, everything came together.” Brian said, blushing a little.

“Well the makeup and costume were made by a theater student who had already graduated, it is surprisingly easy to move in. The tail is controlled by my feet. The makeup is hard to put on so she could only do it once and we perform again tonight.” Conner told him, trying to answer all his questions.

“Can I touch it?” Brian asked again.

Feeling a little embarrassed but thankful for Brian’s save earlier he nodded. Brian reached over and ran his hand through the hair and fur and felt the ears. “This is so cool.” He said with glee, “Are you still wearing the collar?”.

Conner switched to a soft whisper. “I couldn’t get it off, Trish put it on but there is no clip to this thing.” Conner pulled the collar out of his shirt to show him, the large name tag displayed for everyone to see. He hadn’t thought about it but a bunch of students were listening in on their conversation, he was the center of attention. Giggles started to fill the classroom as everyone looked at Conner wearing the dog collar.
Brian looked at it and smiled. “It’s a Martingale collar, they say it’s safer for dogs to use this one than a normal one, although I would personally use a harness I think those are even better.” Brian went on about dog collar trivia.

“Jeez, Brian is a bigger dog nerd than Toto” One of his classmates shouted, clearly people were listening in. This had the students around them laughing, Brian's cheeks flushed red. He reached over and quickly loosened the collar, pulling it over his head, and handed it to Conner. He then slumped down in his chair, embarrassed about being called out.

Throughout the class some students came up to Conner congratulating him and asking questions, some people still teased him but he was slowly getting used to the teasing and it was mostly just the same comments, his classmates weren’t very creative.

When the last bell rang he looked at Brian who was still depressed from before. “Hey, did you want to help me with the costume tonight?” Conner asked his friend.

“What do you mean?” Brian suddenly perked up.

“Well you knew about the collar and you are clearly interested in the outfit. I need help putting it on and it would be less embarrassing than asking one of the older kids.” Conner told him.

“Sure! But I can’t help you after the show, I need to walk Joey and head home later.” Brian Informed him.

“That’s okay, we can go to the drama room until the show.” Conner told him. The two packed up their things from class and headed to the drama room.