SubscribeStar Story: Alyssa’s Accidents, Parts 1-10

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Part One

Alyssa

I woke up to someone knocking on my bedroom door.

“Miley?” It was Noelle. In my groggy state, it took me a moment to remember the fact that this wasn’t my average summer morning. Thanks to my sister, I currently had a babysitter who believed I was the teenager who lived a few doors down. She gave two more firm knocks, then called through the door, “Miley, I’m coming in. It’s time to get up.”

The frustrating thing was, I was actually the kind of girl who woke up fairly early. Always right when the alarm went off, too; I definitely didn’t need someone to wake me like Paige sometimes did for trips and events that required getting up before 7 AM. Not wanting Noelle’s first impression of me this morning to be the image of a cliché teen girl who was still sleeping even after a knock on the door, I shifted in my bed and started to sit up.

Before I could get very far, my movements drew attention to the wetness beneath me. Gasping as I realized what that meant, and suddenly wide awake as I felt how my panties were clinging to me and that my bare thighs were pressing down into the damp sheets, I instinctively flung the covers off myself and leapt to my feet.

“Fuck,” I whispered to myself. While I was plenty shocked and embarrassed about how I had somehow wet the bed, those emotions quickly took a backseat to the sudden urge I had to hop in the shower and wash myself off.

Upon discovering the inexplicable overnight accident I had had, however, I completely forgot about Noelle. “You awake?” she asked, while opening the door and taking a single step inside.

“WAIT.” Completely panicking and half tempted to dive back under the covers to keep Noelle from seeing what I had done, I tried to stall instead after glimpsing the soaked mattress in the dim morning light. “Umm, hold on. Give me a minute?” The problem was, I was clearly standing and dressed, and she could see that just by peeking in.

“Nonsense. You’re already up,” Noelle said. With no warning, she flipped the switch by the door and turned on the overhead lights, “Remember, today’s your chance for a fresh start. You should really-” It was painfully obvious when she noticed by the way she cut herself off. “ . . . Did you wet the bed, Miley?”

There was no hiding it. In my haste to get off the disgusting sheets, I had thrown the covers far enough away that the large wet spot was easily visible. And, of course, the noticeable darkness on my shorts made it evident that this hadn’t been a simple spill of a water glass or something. I had barely processed things myself, so I certainly wasn’t ready for Noelle to put me on the spot. “No, I, umm- It’s a prank or something!” When I first blurted it out, it was a combination of self preservation and the fact that Paige was almost always the one who made things difficult for me. The more I thought about it, however, the more sense it made. Between wetting the bed out of nowhere vs. being set up by my step-sister and her friends, the latter was far more likely. “Paige must have done something. I mean, I didn’t recognize that pill, and-”

“Uh huh. It’s always your older sister out to get you, isn’t it? You know what I think? You’re trying to frame Paige. Because clearly a girl your age wouldn’t do something like this, so it’s all her fault. Or, maybe this is your way of getting back at me. Since I put you to bed early, you decided to have an ‘accident’ like a little girl.” She actually used air quotes. “And here I was, thinking we could start today on the right foot.”

Wait, what? She thought I did this on purpose? That was insane. Then again, she believed I was Miley. Would the real brat do something so excessive to prove that she couldn’t be controlled? It didn’t really matter. For the time being, I was ‘Miley,’ and there was no way I was about to let Noelle think I would do that. “Of course not!” I protested, “I just . . . ” Just woke up to find out that I had wet myself overnight? I couldn’t think of a single excuse that wouldn’t make me look bad in one way or another.

Noelle knew it, too. In retrospect, she had probably suggested those concepts for the sake of more efficiently trapping me into admitting the truth. “Which one is it, Miley? Was it an accident, or was it on purpose?”

Neither. It was Paige. There was no way something like that would just happen to me, and on the exact night I was stuck with Miley’s babysitter. Except Noelle wouldn’t listen to me, as I had cried wolf too many times in her eyes. Paige had been nothing but polite and helpful when Noelle was in the room, and saved her real personality for when it was just me and her friends. Without being able to point the finger at the actual culprit, I was at a loss for words.

“How about this?” she said, “Why don’t we call Paige in and ask her?”

“No!” I exclaimed. Whether or not this was my sister’s fault, the last thing I needed was for her to see with her own eyes that I wet the bed. It would almost be worse than how she had witnessed me being spanked over Noelle’s lap. “I, umm- It was an accident,” I muttered. As humiliating as it was to confess that I wet the bed, whether I was eighteen or ‘thirteen,’ I wasn’t actually the rebellious teenager she thought I was. There was no way I could confidently claim I did something like that intentionally and have the right attitude to back it up. Nor would I want to, when that could potentially cause Noelle to escalate her intense babysitting methods.

“Was that so difficult? You should try honesty more often, Miley,” Noelle closed the bedroom door, “Now, I do have some more questions for you, but they can wait a few minutes. Go rinse off. I’ll deal with your bedding. If you want this to stay between us, I expect you to behave like a proper young lady all morning. Do you think you can manage that?”

I couldn’t believe it. She was using the bedwetting as a tactic to keep me in line! I shouldn’t have been that surprised, considering she was hired specifically because so many sitters before her had failed. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t really Miley, but I was stunned that Noelle would so quickly weaponize an experience that was humiliating enough by itself.

At the same time, I was in no position to complain. I very much wanted to shower, and talking with Noelle for this long while my own pee was causing my panties to cling to me had been uncomfortable enough. Pretty much any response that wasn’t reluctant affirmation would result in an unwanted delay. I just gave an awkward nod of my head, then shuffled off to the bathroom. The moment the door clicked shut, I began peeling off my shorts and underwear together.

Being careful to keep my hands clean and dry along the way, it wasn’t long before I noticed the unexpected bareness below my waist.

Part Two

“What the fuck . . . ?”

The murmured question escaped my lips without me even thinking about it. Briefly glancing towards the closed bathroom door, since Noelle had gotten on my case about swearing before, I turned my attention back to the problem at hand after assuring myself that my quieter tone wouldn’t have been heard in my bedroom. There was also a chance she was already gone, at least long enough to toss my sheets in the washer.

Either way, I had more pressing things to deal with. Putting aside the fact that the white panties were soaked and embarrassingly yellow now that I could see them inside my partially pulled down shorts, I was still processing the follow-up visual that was shocking in its own regard. I had only gotten my bottoms halfway down my thighs, so I was stuck dealing with that first.

I wasn’t really sure what to do with my clothes, either. After a moment’s hesitation, I settled on dropping them in the corner by the toilet. It would be simple enough to wipe down a wet spot on the floor. I was level-headed enough to turn on the shower right afterwards, though my mind was racing the entire time. Pretty much the second I stepped under the water, I gave my private area a more thorough look.

All my hair was gone. I wasn’t going crazy; it had been there last night when I had rinsed off before bed. Did Paige or one of her friends sneak in and shave me last night?! That was taking this whole ‘Miley’ thing way too far. It was so violating, too!

Before, I had been certain that my sister had given me a pill that had somehow caused me to wet the bed. There was definitely medication for stuff like that, although I wasn’t really familiar with it. Now that I was looking down at my bare womanhood, however, I was starting to suspect it was some kind of sleeping pill. There was no way I would have slept through wet sheets and having my hair removed in such a personal spot. I wasn’t exactly the lightest sleeper, but I definitely would have woken up to that under normal circumstances.

I probably couldn’t prove it, however. Noelle was completely biased against me, and she had literally just rejected my assertion that this was somehow Paige’s fault. If I started up with that again, even if I was right, I would just look even worse than I already did.

For the time being, I simply tackled the task at hand. Being careful to not let my hair get wet, as I had just showered last night and didn’t need to go through the whole process again, I thoroughly scrubbed down everything below my waist. Just to be safe, I hit my lower back as well. By the time I turned the water off, I was no closer to a solution than I had been before. It’s not like I could walk up to Noelle and tell her that my sister shaved me. As long as I was ‘Miley,’ I was going to be perceived as a troublesome younger girl.

That’s when it hit me. Paige wasn’t just screwing with me for the sake of screwing with me. Being smooth in the one area that I normally maintained enough hair to signify that I was a young woman further served to make me appear younger.

Still, that didn’t explain how I wet the bed! Was that just a combination of being put to bed earlier than usual and not waking up naturally to such an urge thanks to the pill? Or had Paige done something? This was all based on the assumption that it was a sleeping pill, of course. Now that I was faced with both wet sheets and a bare mound, it was more difficult to try and place how each of them happened without me waking up or my sister being caught.

Giving a look of distaste to the crumpled, damp clothes in the corner, I reluctantly decided to leave them where they were for now. Partly because I was naked save for the towel, and partly because Noelle would be taking the washing machine for herself. Once I was dry, still reeling from the fact that my mature image had been altered for the worse down there, I cracked the bathroom door to make sure no one was waiting on the other side. When there was no stern babysitter or wicked step-sister within sight, I stepped back out into my room.

I frowned when I saw that the door to the hallway was wide open. Paige’s sleepovers usually happened in her bedroom, despite how the basement was the bigger space and more logical space. Since they tended to set up their gaming stuff upstairs, however, that’s where they always eventually ended up settling. Normally that meant I had to deal with them disturbing the peace well after midnight. This time around, I was just worried they would see my stripped bed and toweled self.

Anyone walking by and/or poking in for a patronizing ‘Good morning, Miley!’ would be yet another thing to deal with. I had enough on my plate at the moment, and I was quick to cross my room and close the door for the sake of privacy and self preservation.

With a loud huff, I went to find something to wear. That meant starting with underwear, and my options were embarrassingly limited when I only had what Paige had left in my drawer. One way or another, I was going to be stuck wearing a training bra. With most of my nicer bras destroyed and the rest of them stashed away, I was stuck with the immature undergarments before me. As for panties, that was a question of whether I wanted to wear boring colors or one of the more childish/girly pairs left for me. On second thought, that wasn’t much of a choice at all. Just because I was stuck with demeaning options didn’t mean I couldn’t match. Not knowing how much time I had left before Noelle returned, I risked dropping the towel and hastily pulling on the plain, white panties. With my back to the door, I was less concerned about being topless for a few seconds as I dealt with the bra. Similar to the one I was given yesterday, the training bra was about half a size too small. The slightly too-tight fabric, as well as the unsexy cut, made it look like my chest barely existed. Or to Noelle, probably like I was just starting to develop.

I still wasn’t over the fact that Paige and/or one of her friends shaved me. Putting underwear on was yet another reminder of how painfully immature I looked down there now. And that wasn’t all I had to worry about. A muffled voice in the hall caused me to nervously glance over my shoulder and halfway reach for the towel crumpled on the floor. Just in case. Though I was no longer at risk of being exposed, I’d definitely prefer being seen in a towel than in the underwear combo I was currently sporting.

Turning that direction did more than delay me a few seconds from looking through my drawers for an outfit. It also drew my attention to my bed. More accurately, my bare mattress that had a noticeable yellow patch where I had been sleeping that greatly contrasted the white surrounding it.

Part Three

I hadn’t been blind to the fact that my bed had been stripped, nor had I forgotten that I had wet myself overnight.

It’s more that I had been busy making sure no one would waltz into my room, and had only peripherally noticed the mattress until I was safely half dressed. Now that I was actually looking at it, I flushed at the thought of how this all must look to Noelle. It was one thing to be treated like a rebellious teenager; even if I was perceived to be Miley, however, the average girl her age wouldn’t have an accident like that. Plus now I had something new to worry about. If someone barged into my room, it was no longer just about whether I was dressed or not. The sight of my mattress would cause its own problems.

For a moment, I froze in indecision. Maybe covering that spot was more pressing than putting on clothes? But I wasn’t sure how to cover it, at least not in a way that wouldn’t annoy Noelle. I was caught trying to balance a ‘what-if’ in regards to my sister against how Miley’s babysitter could just as easily be the one to open the door. Throwing my towel or something else onto the mattress could potentially add to her cleaning job, which would make for a worse start to our morning.

Either way, I couldn’t just stand there. If Paige did strut in without knocking, I didn’t want to be caught both half dressed and with a clear visual of how I wet the bed. With that in mind, I made a snap decision to cover up the alleged accident with my towel. I didn’t want to risk it, especially since I had no idea if Noelle was going to be gone for another thirty seconds or ten minutes. Plus finding a suitable outfit would take a lot longer when a good portion of my clothes were missing.

I had no idea what I was going to wear. Definitely not one of the youthful dresses or blouses that had been added to my closet. And though I had avoided the pinks and purples in my underwear drawer, that’s almost all there was in the t-shirt/tank top department. The girls had particularly leaned into pink when filling my drawers, and the rest was painfully bright. If they weren’t covered in pee, I would have considered the black shorts I had worn to bed. While I wasn’t thrilled about wearing pink, as it was more unattractive due to my size than it was attractive when paired with my hair, maybe darker bottoms would create a decently sharp combination.

After looking through each stack multiple times, I ended up settling on something that was more or less the reverse of what Paige had brought down for me to wear yesterday. White jean shorts and a light blue tank top. Not amazing in terms of trying to visually show that I was an eighteen year old, but also not terrible. Apparently that was the bar I was working with, at least until I figured out where most of my real wardrobe was.

Thankfully, Noelle was taking a while. It wouldn’t have taken that long to toss my dirty sheets in the washer, which made me a little nervous in terms of why she wasn’t back yet, though I was also grateful I had time to get dressed without being rushed or having to be seen in underwear that was a far cry from what I normally wore.

Just about when I was wondering if I should put on socks or not after getting dressed, she gave two firm knocks to the door. “Miley? I’m coming in.” Assertive enough that there was no arguing the action, yet just enough warning in case I wasn’t decent or something. Upon entering, she closed the door behind her. Following through on how she said this would stay between us, provided I behaved. She gave a skeptical look to the mattress, but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she gestured to my desk. “Come sit down, Miley. We need to have a little chat.”

I wasn’t about to protest against something that simple. According to her, this morning was my chance to start fresh. Noelle had proved numerous times that she could reprimand me, and there was nothing I could do about it despite my real age. She had an advantage in both size and experience. Between behaving to her standards and trying to solve this mortifying mix-up, I was starting to lean towards the former more often than not. The worst part was, acting like a reformed girl wasn’t that far off from my everyday self. Yet anything would look more mature than being spanked over Noelle’s lap, so it’s not like it was much of a choice.

My only real issue with my desk is that the embarrassment of writing lines was pretty fresh. The pages were still sitting there; I had only made it to 500 before Noelle decided it was enough. Or, more likely, that my hair was dry enough for her to put me to bed.

When I had crossed the room and taken a seat, Noelle repeated a portion of our previous conversation. “Just to be clear, you didn’t wet the bed on purpose?”

Immediately flushing, I replied, “No!” Like before, my answer more or less implied that it had, in fact, been an accident.

“Okay,” she said, “Well, there’s nothing on your file about bedwetting, and your mother didn’t mention anything before her trip. So, is this a problem you’ve been keeping from her?”

“It’s not a problem,” I insisted. Although I wasn’t the real Miley, I could see where Noelle’s logic was coming from. If a girl with Miley’s reputation was a frequent bedwetter, I imagine she’d do whatever it took to keep anyone from finding out. Even family. Heck, it didn’t have to be some rebellious teenager. I’d probably do the exact same thing. Keeping it from Paige would require keeping it from my parents. “It just-” I so badly wanted to blame my sister. Today was about choosing battles, however. Without proof, I wasn’t about to risk a spanking, more lines, or some other punishment I had yet to be surprised with. “It just happened . . . ” I muttered.

“Okay,” Noelle echoed. It was one of those non-committal responses that didn’t give away what she was thinking in the slightest. “Can you read one of those lines for me?” she asked, nodding to the desk behind me.

After so many iterations of writing them, I definitely didn’t need the stack of pages behind me for reference. At the same time, I didn’t want her to see how effective the task had been in searing the phrases into my mind. So I turned and took the top sheet and hesitantly read off, “My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.” It sounded so awkward out loud, and in my own voice.

“Good,” she nodded, “Let’s focus on that middle part. You’re a well behaved girl, right? Especially after a good night’s rest?”

As Alyssa, yes. I was a well behaved girl. It hit differently when being treated like Miley, of course. “Uh huh,” I affirmed.

“I want you to say it, Miley.”

“I’m a well behaved girl . . . ”

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

She crossed her arms and looked down at me. Our height difference was exaggerated enough when we were standing face to face, but I felt extra small while I was seated while she was on her feet. “Okay, then,” she said, “I’m going to give you a chance to prove it. If you’re as well behaved as you claim to be, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. My silence alone felt like I was writing a blank check. However, there wasn’t anything I could say to the contrary, either. I just had to sit there in suspense while I waited to hear whatever she had in mind.

“Here’s the deal, Miley. I have a personal babysitting rule that anyone who wets the bed is required to wear pull-ups the following day. Normally it’s a ‘better safe than sorry’ precaution for younger girls.”

There was no way she was suggesting that a rule like that would apply to me. The follow-up explanation gave me a bit of relief, however. “But I’m not a younger girl,” I quickly pointed out. If she was telling me this, was she actually considering the idea? “And-”

“Please don’t interrupt me,” she curtly said, “For you, I’ve decided to compromise. I have some pull-ups that should fit you, and you’re going to wear them this morning. That much is non-negotiable.” Briefly pausing to let that sink in, she continued, “Show me that you can be a proper young lady for an extended period of time when you put your mind to it, and you can take them off after lunch. Fair?”

NO. Not fair!

In theory, sure. I could see what she was getting at. Changing back into panties was a pretty strong motivator. Except for the fact that I was eighteen years old, and being put into babyish underwear would be humiliating. Not to mention that for hours, I would be terrified of Paige somehow finding out. “But, Noelle . . . ” I trailed off. It was tough to think of a mature response, because she had totally set me up. I just insisted that I was a well behaved girl, and she had also made a point to mention that this wasn’t going to be a discussion. If the tall brunette could spank me minutes after arriving at our house, she could certainly make me put on alternative underwear.

She knew it, too. If I didn’t go along with it, I would both suffer the consequences and end up doing what she wanted afterwards anyway. “Yes, Miley?” she calmly asked.

Was I really about to agree to this? Noelle wasn’t pressuring me that hard, yet her non-confrontational demeanor was almost more effective than if she were taking a more assertive approach. If I tried to argue, chances were I would seem more like the difficult brat she believed me to be.

Stuck in that same frustrating spot as usual, where both obeying and disobeying worked against me, I glanced away and said, “Never mind.”

“So you’ll wear them, yes?” she asked.

Part Four

‘No. Just say ‘no.’

Even if she thought I was Miley, even if she thought I was thirteen, it was insane to suggest that I should wear pull-ups during the day. Absolutely insane.

And yet, I found myself reluctantly muttering, “Okay.” Because if I had to guess, it didn’t have anything to do with the chances–which were zero–of me wetting myself this morning. Noelle was merely leaping at an opportunity to get rebellious, authority-disrespecting Miley to behave. And with Paige around, Noelle’s plan was admittedly perfect. I wasn’t about to step out of line and risk my step-sister realizing what I was wearing underneath my shorts. If I ended up getting spanked in front of Paige again, there would be no hiding the pull-ups, plus Noelle had already implied that she might not stay quiet about my little accident if I gave her reason to punish me. Either way, I would need to be careful.

Wait, could I even wear these shorts? They were pretty snug and, though I wasn’t really familiar with the babyish underwear she was planning on putting me into, I knew they wouldn’t be as thin as the panties I currently had on.

“Good,” she nodded, speaking up before I could think too many things through, “Why don’t you undress in the bathroom? I’ll be right back.” Not a discussion. Without waiting to confirm whether or not I was planning on listening to her, she turned and left my bedroom. At least she closed the door behind her this time around.

Sighing to myself, I only hesitated for a few seconds before returning to the bathroom. I couldn’t see a way out of this unique babysitting tactic, which meant my best course of action was to suck it up for a few hours while I tried to figure out what my next move was.

The wet clothes crumpled in the corner were another reminder of why Noelle deemed it appropriate to put me in underwear designed for girls far younger and less mature than even Miley. I knew that every second of delaying the inevitable would make it that much more difficult to make myself get started. At least stripping off dry shorts and underwear was far more natural and familiar to me than what I had to awkwardly deal with before my shower.

I had never really done the babysitting thing myself. The extent of my experience was a single job I had taken for a family down the road, and that was only because their mother was desperate and I was available that evening and a two minute walk away from their house. All I really had to do was make them pasta and tell them when it was time for bed. Other than that, they were fine doing their own thing for the most part.

The point was, I didn’t know what to expect when it came to pull-ups. Based on the name, I was hoping that just meant that I would have to pull them up. As in, Noelle didn’t need to be involved in the process. Putting them on, period, was going to be bad enough.

Just seconds after I set my clothes down by the sink, I heard Noelle return. That was fast. Then again, she would probably be staying in the guest room down the hall, so she wouldn’t have had far to go. There was a reason I left the bathroom door cracked the slightest bit; moving quickly now that I knew I was no longer alone, I grabbed the nearest hand towel when I realized I had left my full one in the other room. On the off chance that she came in without knocking, I didn’t want to be standing there bottomless.

“Miley?” she called out, “Are you all set for your temporary protection?”

Not in the slightest. And though she had made a point to close the door behind her the last few times, I couldn’t help but worry about it while I didn’t have eyes on that part of my bedroom. “Umm, yeah,” I replied.

“I hope so,” Noelle said, “We’re already behind schedule. Now, I’m going to pass in a pull-up for you to try on, okay? If it fits, you’re going to come out here for me to double check that it’s the right size.”

As in, I was going to have to leave the bathroom in just pull-ups below my waist? I would have preferred to put my shorts back on right away, though I was also a little desensitized to Noelle seeing me in various immature/embarrassing states. It was a lot better than Paige being present for something like this, and I had also learned since Noelle’s arrival that picking my battles was crucial when faced with a babysitter who was hired for a girl like Miley.

“Okay,” I muttered. Cracking the door another couple inches while making sure to keep my half naked body fully behind it, I waited for Noelle to hold out the less than ideal underwear option she retrieved for me. I had been anticipating something white, like the diapers I occasionally saw in commercials or on the rare baby or toddler in real life. The light pink of the pull-ups came as a surprise. A quiet “Thank you” escaped my lips before I could help it. Blushing as my polite instincts caused me to express gratitude for something I had no desire for, I quickly closed the bathroom door and huffed out a sigh.

Best to rip the band-aid off, right? I tentatively unfolded the pull-up, liking it even less when I felt how heavily padded the lower section was. It was pink, and bulky, and definitely closer to diapers than it was to panties. The only parallel that it had with the latter was that putting on the pull-up required stepping into the leg holes to put it on. Noelle’s read on my size had been spot on, too. The only point of resistance was when I had to wriggle the babyish underwear over my ass, and even that didn’t take very much before it was situated on my hips. Adjusting the awkward and unfamiliar thing here and there, cringing at the padding between my thighs that was impossible to ignore, I reluctantly turned towards the mirror to check myself out.

The teenager looking back at me was definitely not the Alyssa I knew. Honestly, I would rather have been naked. I was at least used to seeing my nude self after any given shower. But with slightly unkempt hair from how I slept on it, not a trace of make-up on my face, a training bra that flattened my chest, and nothing but a thick pull-up on my lower half, I couldn’t deny that I looked younger than eighteen. I still felt that my reflection resembled a girl who was closer to fourteen or fifteen, though I guess I could see how Noelle was mistaking me for thirteen year old Miley. Just like I was an older girl who looked younger than I was, there were plenty of teenagers who looked mature for their age.

Regardless, it was hardly a win to be perceived as a middle school girl who looked a year or two older than she actually was.

“Almost done, Miley?” Noelle asked through the door.

“Uh huh,” I told both her and the girl in the mirror.

Stalling wouldn’t do me any favors. So, after taking a deep breath and giving myself a firm look, I opened the door.

Part Five

The fact that Noelle barely reacted was almost more embarrassing than if she had been amused at the fact that I was wearing underwear normally reserved for much younger girls.

Instead, she just briefly looked me up and down, then walked over to double check that she had picked the right size. I tried to tell her that they were fine, but she merely ignored me and fussed over the waistband for a few seconds before slipping her fingers between the stretchy material and my skin. “You’re going to need a second layer, Miley,” she concluded, “I’m worried these won’t stay up if you have an accident.”

Wait, what? “I’m not going to have an accident!” I insisted. Also, a single pull-up already felt so much awkward and bulky than panties did. I had to assume a second one would be worse.

Looking down at me with a small scowl, Noelle asked, “Are you arguing with me?”

“No!” I exclaimed, even more quickly than I had protested about the extra pull-up. Not arguing. Not when doing so could end up with me over the brunette’s knee and/or with Paige learning about my current underwear situation. “I’m just-” Trying to have a mature conversation. Trying to point out that I’m way too old to have accidents during the day. Trying to avoid wearing something that would probably end up being noticeable through my somewhat tight shorts.

“It sounds like you’re arguing,” Noelle said, “Try this instead, Miley. ‘Yes, Noelle. I trust that you know what’s best for me.’”

Was she serious? It would feel ridiculous to echo something like that, so I just muttered, “Okay. I’ll try on another one.”

“Because you trust that I know what’s best for you . . . ?”

She was being serious. Ugh. “Yes, Noelle,” I reluctantly nodded. My cheeks were definitely flushing as I said the patronizing words, “You know what’s best for me.”

“That’s what I thought.” She walked over to her duffel bag and procured a pull-up identical to the one I was wearing. Rather than handing it to me, she came back over and crouched down. Giving a pat to my ankle, she said, “Lift.”

Cringing internally, I did as I was told without much hesitation. Since we had literally just had a conversation about arguing, I knew better than to fight on a hill that I’d probably just end up losing on anyway. Noelle’s whole babysitting tactic here was to weaponize the pull-ups in order to make me behave. If I failed to do so before they were even fully on, I’d be risking any number of punishments.

She slipped my first foot into the appropriate leg hole and made short work of doing the same with the other. Rather than letting me contribute to the process in the slightest, she pulled the babyish underwear all the way up my legs herself. My body was slightly jostled as she worked the second layer over the padding that was already on me, and it wasn’t long before I was officially wearing double pull-ups. “There,” she said. After making sure it was sitting perfectly on my waist, she stepped back to give me another once-over. “How does that feel?”

Humiliating. Too thick. Beyond awkward for a girl who’s used to wearing regular underwear. “Fine,” I said. The cliché response when you want to complain but you can’t. As I shifted my weight from foot to foot, it didn’t take me long to realize that my thighs were no longer able to fully touch. I’d still be able to walk normally, but I would feel the padding between them every step of the way.

“Good,” she nodded. On the same page as I was a minute ago, she said, “Well, I doubt those shorts will fit any more. Maybe you can change into them after lunch? For now, why don’t you go pick out something else.”

At least she wasn’t patronizing me to the point of picking out my clothes for me. I reminded myself that Miley’s babysitter wasn’t doing any of this to outright embarrass me or overtly treat me like a tween like Paige had been doing. Noelle just literally believed that I was our neighbor girl’s age, and was methodically taking away the disrespectful and rebellious attitude she was under the impression that I had.

As for the shorts, I doubted I would wear them later. It would look a bit suspicious to change halfway through the day, even if no one else knew about the pull-ups. Luckily, I had a white summer skirt that was comparable to the other outfit piece. Unluckily, it was a little bit on the shorter side. I gave myself a skeptical look as I twisted and turned. One wrong move, especially while sitting down, and there would be a risk of flashing the pull-ups to anyone looking my way.

I didn’t get a chance to look for an alternative option, however. “Get moving, Miley. We have a long day ahead of us.”

“But-”

“I’m not going to ask again. Oh, and grab your lines, will you?”

She wasn’t going to make me keep writing those, was she? Then again, it wasn’t much of a reach. I had only completed half the task before being put to bed, and Noelle’s no-nonsense approach to both keeping me in line and reforming ‘Miley’ to some degree meant that I wouldn’t put it past her to see something like that through.

When I approached the hallway door with pen in hand and papers tucked under my arm, Noelle held up her index finger, “Do you remember what you need to do in order to earn your mature underwear back?” she asked.

Kind of? She hadn’t been very specific. With last night’s lines fresh in my mind, I answered with a paraphrased version of what I had written 500 times. “I’m going to behave, and tell the truth . . . ?” I couldn’t help the uptick, as I wasn’t fully confident about what she was fishing for.

“You’re going to show me that you can be a proper young lady,” she clarified. The moment she said it, I remembered the phrase from earlier. In my defense, I had been rather distracted about the fact that she thought it appropriate to put me in pull-ups. Going on, she explained, “That means politely greeting your sister and her friends, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and proving that you can have a good attitude when you put your mind to it. Can you manage that, Miley?”

Questionable. Paige and her girlfriends were annoying enough to deal with on an average day. After everything they put me through yesterday, as well as the fact that I was still being babysat, I doubted they would make Noelle’s directive easy for me. I could already see their smirks and knowing glances without even being downstairs yet. “Uh huh,” I muttered. It was the best I could do. Telling the truth was impossible when half the ‘truth’ was bullshit and the other half was completely uncertain without knowing what the coming morning would look like.

“I hope so,” she replied, “Because it’s going to be an additional hour in those pull-ups whenever you misbehave or show the slightest trace of disrespect to anyone. Got it?” Noelle didn’t wait for me to affirm that I had processed her daunting terms. She just opened the door and led the way out to the hall.

Leaving the safety and privacy of my room immediately put me on edge. Although I had triple checked that my mortifying underwear was well concealed by the skirt whilst standing, I felt practically bottomless nonetheless. Someone would notice, somehow. I was in a sort of trance as I followed Noelle. Turning around was out of the question, as my mission for the next few hours was to be on my best behavior. That meant letting Noelle take me downstairs without dragging my feet.

To my surprise, the other girls were already awake.

I could hear their voices below as we approached the stairs. Last time I checked, Paige and her friends usually stayed up so late that they ended up sleeping in until almost noon. While I wasn’t sure what time it was without my phone, the angle of the sun in my bedroom was enough to inform me that it was earlier rather than later. Was their presence downstairs in response to the unexpected events of this weekend, or had they merely gone to bed at a more reasonable hour? I didn’t want to overthink it, though I also wanted to brace myself for being outnumbered almost immediately.

Casually gripping my skirt on its banister side, taking an extra precaution in case anyone was close to the stairs, I made a conscious effort to take each step how I normally would. For whatever reason, walking down was slightly less natural in the pull-ups than walking forward was.

There was no mystery as to where Paige and her friends were; they were all sitting in the living room and chatting about one of their games. Almost all of them had a mug either in hand or nearby, and they noticed Noelle’s descent almost instantly. “Morning!” Paige chirped, “Want me to put on a fresh pot for you? I think Dakota finished off the last one. Oh hey, Miley!”

I couldn’t stay invisible for long, considering I was more or less taking Noelle’s pace. Grimacing at yet another reinforcement of the false name and briefly narrowing my eyes at my step-sister, I forced myself to soften into a more nonchalant expression before Noelle noticed. This was me being thrown into the deep end, as I still wasn’t sure how I was going to pull off a good attitude towards Paige. I settled on a neutral, “Good morning.” More polite than the shortened version, without going far enough that one of the other girls would notice.

“I don’t mind making my own,” Noelle replied, “Have you had breakfast yet? I was going to whip something up for me and Miley while she gets some work done in the kitchen.”

“Just coffee,” Paige said, “Do you need any help?”

As usual, I could see right through her. The only time she wasn’t lazy was when it benefited her in some way.

Noelle gave a small shake of her head. “That’s okay. You girls relax. I’m getting paid for all this; might as well let your parents get their money’s worth.”

Paige shrugged, “You should get a raise. Miley can be quite the handful!”

Part Six

Noelle didn’t comment one way or another in response to Paige’s little jab. Instead, she just headed for the kitchen and beckoned for me to follow. The second Noelle wasn’t looking, Paige shot me a wink and a smug smile. The best I could do was scowl at her. I couldn’t pick a fight first thing in the morning. Not when Miley’s babysitter could follow through on any number of her threats. I was still outnumbered, anyway. Between being perceived as a rebellious brat and currently the only one on my own side in terms of any she said/she said, I knew I had to be really careful about the battles I chose.

I was taken to the kitchen table and told to continue my lines. Not loving the prospect of one of the other girls coming in and seeing what I was working on, even if Paige had already observed the demeaning task last night, I briefly considered asking Noelle if I could work on my homework instead. Miley’s homework. But again, I had to be selective about what I pushed back on. So I sat down to do what I was told.

It was my first time being seated in the pull-ups. Walking around in the bulky double layers was bad enough, but I definitely wasn’t ready for the sensation of how the awkward padding felt underneath me. On top of that, my skirt was as much of a problem as I had expected. It rode up a couple inches and revealed more of my thighs, and was dangerously close to revealing the thick, pink underwear. Shifting in the wooden chair and adjusting the skirt, I made a mental note to keep my legs together at all times. I was familiar enough with the outfit piece from wearing it before, although keeping people from seeing up a skirt when wearing panties was a lot different than what I had on at the moment.

Once I felt situated enough that there wasn’t a risk of accidentally flashing the babyish underwear to anyone, I turned my attention to the assignment before me. Five hundred lines down, five hundred more to go.

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

Per Noelle’s instructions from the previous day, I couldn’t just burn through the words either. She had said something along the lines of ‘pretty and legible.’ My handwriting was fine when I was taking notes and writing letters, though this was also something so repetitive and unproductive compared to the things I usually did by hand. If Noelle hadn’t made a point to tell me to put persistent effort into the lines, maybe I would have started slipping.

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

‘My name is Miley. I am a well behaved girl who always tells the truth.’

It was just as frustrating and exhausting as the first time around. Mostly because I had been telling the truth ever since Noelle arrived, yet she continued to not trust a single word out of my mouth. I also hadn’t been called ‘Alyssa’ in quite some time, and the non-stop iterations of calling myself Miley on the page just piled onto the way I was addressed by Noelle and the five girls in the living room.

While I worked on the task that would take at least another hour based on my experience from the previous night, Noelle made a fresh pot of coffee and then started pulling out ingredients for breakfast. She was certainly a professional babysitter beyond just the discipline side of things; from the glances I stole while writing my lines, it seemed like she already knew exactly where everything was. Had she taken the time to memorize the kitchen while I was downstairs with Paige and company last night? All I knew was that I was constantly opening the wrong drawers and cabinets when I visited friends and relatives. She didn’t seem to have that problem.

After sternly reminding me to not move a muscle, Noelle poked her head into the living room to ask the girls how many eggs they wanted, followed by a few other details about sides. I could only imagine what Paige was thinking. A weekend where I was treated like her immature little sister, and having someone around to make meals for her? She and her friends weren’t below cooking for themselves, but they would obviously prefer if someone was around to do the cooking and cleaning so they didn’t have to worry about it.

When Noelle returned, I was surprised when she asked me if I wanted any coffee. I was so used to her treating me as a difficult girl that I had briefly forgotten that ‘thirteen’ wasn’t that young. There were plenty of girls Miley’s age who were already drinking coffee. I affirmed that I could use a cup, as maybe that’s just what I needed to wake up a little more and figure out the best course of action moving forward. As if I was going to magically come up with an idea now, after so many hours of trying and failing where such brainstorming was involved.

She placed the mug down in front of me, while reminding me that I wasn’t just working on lines. I also needed to focus on my attitude this morning. Proper, polite, and friendly. Basically the opposite of the real Miley, and also not what I was enthused to be doing when I was still pissed off at Paige. It was easier to manage when it was just Noelle, however. “Thank you,” I said, more or less like I normally would anyway. At the same time, it didn’t sound genuine in the slightest since I had just been told to behave in such a way.

I grimaced at the first sip of coffee. It was SO sweet. How much sugar and creamer had Noelle added? Luckily, I had waited for the drink to cool down, so the brunette was busy making breakfast and hadn’t noticed me make a face. Did she just assume a girl Miley’s age couldn’t tolerate straight coffee?

Since I was supposed to be sitting still and writing lines, as well as meeting whatever Noelle’s criteria was for being polite and respectful, I couldn’t bring myself to speak up about the taste. Instead, I resigned myself to drinking enough of the mug to make it seem like I merely stopped once it got cold. Maybe then I could request simply topping it off with coffee alone. For the time being, I reluctantly sipped at the sickly sweet combination of cream and sugar, barely even tasting the coffee itself.

I was relieved when Noelle told me to put my pages away when it was time for breakfast. It was another example of how she wasn’t actively trying to embarrass me. Though she obviously had no qualms about spanking me in front of Paige mere minutes after arriving, Noelle also knew how to strike a balance between disciplining me privately and publicly. Apparently I had been behaving well enough for her to give me a break before inviting everyone else into the kitchen.

That didn’t mean I was ready for all of them to join us. Our kitchen wasn’t small, but it definitely wasn’t big. I usually stood back and opted to take the end of the line when meals were served in the way Noelle had set things up on the counter. Better to go last and avoid the headache of a chaotic and cramped peninsula. That tactic didn’t exactly work when Paige and her friends all filtered into the kitchen when I was already seated at the table.

While the other four girls grabbed a plate and surrounded the counter, Paige took the opportunity to linger by the table. Noelle was temporarily distracted at the fridge, which gave my step-sister enough time to meet my eyes and murmur, “You still look thirteen, if you were wondering.” She glanced down towards my pelvis for a moment, then added, “I bet you feel younger, too.”

For a moment, I thought she was talking about the pull-ups. Then I realized she was referencing my newfound bareness. Confessing, without actually confessing. For all I knew, it could have just as easily been one of her friends. Either way, however, she knew. And there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it. “I feel fine,” I said. Not the most witty retort, but I had to say something. Trying my best to ignore her amused expression, I stood up and took one of the remaining clean plates.

I half expected all the best breakfast options to be gone, but Paige’s friends proved their ability to demonstrate restraint when the name of the game was to show Noelle that I was the only immature one in the room. That meant not grabbing all the desserts for themselves, which they had definitely done in the past. Of course, that was also the price I paid for going last.

Speaking of proving things to Noelle, I aimed for an even healthier meal than I would normally prepare for myself. It probably wouldn’t do much in the grand scheme of things, but maybe seeing that I had a better diet than the average teenager would give my story some credibility.

By the time I made it back to the table, most of the other girls had already taken their seats. I had learned my lesson from before, and made sure to sit down in a way that kept my skirt from shifting while also keeping my legs together. However, I hadn’t accounted for the pull-ups themselves. There was the slightest crinkle as I settled into the seat, and I prayed that Violet or Shannon hadn’t noticed.

For a moment, I thought I got away with it, including keeping what I hoped was a neutral expression on my face as I took a sip of orange juice. Then, with no warning, Violet’s hand shot over and flipped the front of my skirt up.

Part Seven

The embarrassing reveal ended as quickly as it began.

I gasped in horror as the pull-ups briefly came into view. Then Violet’s hand was darting away and she was sitting back in her chair like nothing had ever happened.

“Everything okay, Miley?” Noelle asked.

She hadn’t seen a damn thing. Violet had been too quick, and Noelle’s attention had been elsewhere until my gasp caused her to turn back towards me. Clearly she didn’t feel the need to keep an overly observant eye on me when I was seated at the table with everyone else. And now that she was checking on me in response to my dramatic reaction to Violet’s audacity, what was I supposed to say?

Violet would just deny everything, and her friends would back her up. “Nothing,” I muttered.

“She almost spilled her drink,” Annika lied.

It was actually a decent excuse, though I couldn’t remember the last time something like that happened to me. “Umm, yeah,” I blushed. A little bit from how I was unexpectedly the center of attention, but mostly from the way Violet’s eyes were practically sparkling as she looked at me.

“Try to be careful, okay?” Noelle said. She returned to fixing her own breakfast, going last after Paige.

I had no idea what to do now.

Violet knew. And I had to assume that all of them were aware of the fact that I had been shaved in my sleep. Likely about my ‘accident,’ too. There was absolutely no way that was a coincidence. Wetting the bed for the first time ever beyond childhood on the same night I’m stuck with a babysitter? However, pull-ups were an ongoing source of humiliation as long as I was wearing them. And they weren’t nearly as hidden as my crotch or my sheets that were now in the wash. Violet’s little move certainly proved that.

She couldn’t just blurt her discovery out, although that hardly put me at ease. All of them had phones, plus Violet could simply wait until after breakfast to share the information without them having to adjust their reactions to what would be acceptable in front of Noelle.

If she texted right now, I was screwed.

But, after breakfast . . . maybe I could beg Noelle to let me change earlier than her initial conditions allowed for. If I could just swap to a pair of panties, even the most plain and boring variety, then Violet wouldn’t be able to prove anything. Pulling up my skirt again would show that she had gotten the wrong idea with the glimpse of my underwear. Actually, with that plan, pink panties would be ideal.

In order to get Noelle to back down on something like that, however . . . She would need to be convinced by the end of breakfast that I was on course to be the opposite of the rebellious teenager she believed me to be. It was a tall order. Not just because the thought of playing the role of a reformed Miley in front of Paige and company made me preemptively cringe, but also because I couldn’t be too transparent about what I was doing. It was a pretty teenage cliché to start behaving overly well and offering to do chores and such out of the blue in order to get something. So I would need to split the difference, and manage to do so in a single meal.

Never fully taking my attention off Violet, specifically in regards to what her hands were doing, I took my first bite of the eggs on my plate. They were a little bit cold due to how I hadn’t gotten them right away, as well as how I had been otherwise distracted since sitting down, but I ignored that detail in favor of only talking positively about the meal. “Thank you for making breakfast, Noelle,” I said, “Everything looks delicious.”

Right away, I could see some of the other girls exchange amused glances. The fact of the matter was, I probably would have said the exact same thing if I was being viewed as ‘Alyssa’ and someone had cooked for me. However, even I could tell that my words came across as less genuine when said as ‘Miley.’

“You’re very welcome, Miley,” Noelle replied. She was impossible to read. Our table only seated six, so she leaned back against the nearest counter and ate from there. I could have been overthinking things, but a position like that easily could have been another way for her to be overly cautious as the ‘last resort’ babysitter that she was. Poised to pounce on the slim chance that I tried something.

Paige was more than happy to chime in. “How’d you sleep, sis? You’re usually up so much later than that. I’m glad you’re finally practicing some healthier habits!”

It took every fiber in my being not to narrow my eyes at her. I couldn’t count the number of times that I tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour, while she and her friends stayed up well past midnight gaming in her bedroom. They miraculously managed to keep their volume down whenever our parents were home, yet were far less considerate when we had the place to ourselves.

“Fine,” I muttered, already failing at my endeavor to maintain an outwardly good attitude. It was too tough to do when the subtext of Paige’s question was a reminder that she was the reason there were so many unpleasant surprises I had to deal with upon waking up earlier. Or, more accurately, being woken up by Noelle.

Paige just chuckled, “Always so talkative in the morning, aren’t you?”

Her patronizing/sarcastic comment was the beginning of the end. The way she spun my curt slip up put me right back into looking like the moody teenager Noelle believed me to be. That, and it didn’t take much for me to be cut out of the conversation. Paige and her friends had plenty to talk about with each other, and there wasn’t a great way to pipe in about the game they were talking about that was going to be released in a couple weeks.

They weren’t actively trying to ignore me, either. Annika was the best about trying to include me in the conversation, but even her softball questions were tough to answer when they were all staring at me. I didn’t know if I’d be interested in this style or that style of games, or what I ‘liked best’ about any of the things I’d glimpsed Paige playing; my only real ‘experience’ with video games was watching friends play those educational computer games back in elementary school. Outside of that, I had never been particularly interested in gaming, as there were so many other hobbies and extracurriculars that filled my time.

Now that it was summer, there was no talk of classes or clubs or anything like that. And since I was the outsider to the like-minded group, none of their plans for the long break included me. Short of them bringing up ballet or one of my artsy hobbies, there wasn’t much I could contribute to any of the topics they circulated through. Also, I was supposed to be in middle school, which further limited me where the ‘truth’ was involved. Add in the fact that I was hesitant to come across like I was trying too hard in front of Noelle, and I ended up being too paralyzed by indecision to do much but sit there and eat my breakfast.

By the time the meal was over, I did not at all feel confident in my chances. Violet hadn’t touched her phone, so there was still hope, except that was meaningless if Noelle wouldn’t budge.

Once again pulling the ‘helpful sister’ card, Paige asked, “Need any help with the dishes? Annika and I can pitch in.”

“But, I’m a guest,” Annika playfully whined.

Paige just smiled and rolled her eyes. “Shannon and I can pitch in.”

“That’s okay,” Noelle said, “Miley and I will take care of it. Isn’t that right, Miley?”

Umm . . . This would definitely enable Paige’s laziness and encourage her to keep up the manipulative game with my babysitter, but arguing would only make me look bad. I was just nervous that starting something like cleaning the kitchen would tie me up until the whole job was done, even if it had the benefit of having some time alone with Noelle to potentially sort out the most pressing problem. Because the second Violet was around the corner, she was going to be filling the rest of the girls in. “That’s right,” I affirmed. I forced a small smile. “Happy to help.”

Granted, I had already braced myself to be on the hook for more than my share of chores this summer. I was the more neat and tidy girl, which meant I was the one who was going to care enough to eventually pick up the slack.

I took my own dishes to the sink, nervously glancing towards Violet and the others as they did the same. How much time did I have? Though I obviously wasn’t going to be able to change before Violet shared what she knew, I was still on the clock for the only plan I currently had at the moment.

Not trusting the others to be out of earshot quite yet, I waited until Noelle was running the water before quietly imploring her, “Noelle, may I please change back into my regular underwear?” I asked.

She merely answered my question with a question. “What time is it, Miley?”

‘Not even close to noon.’ Glancing towards the kitchen clock, seeing that it wasn’t even 9:30 AM yet, I replied, “I know, but-” I was a well behaved girl who always spoke the truth. Maybe that was necessary in this particular instance. “Umm, Violet saw my . . . ” Lowering my voice to barely more than a whisper, I said, “ . . . the pull-ups.”

“And what?” Noelle asked. She didn’t sound nearly as worried as I did, though why would she? She wasn’t wearing padded underwear and in a position where her step-sister could find a way to immortalize that image.

“I don’t want the others to see!” I knew I sounded a little whiny, but I didn’t care. Time wasn’t on my side right now.

Noelle rolled her eyes, and not in the lighthearted way that Paige recently did. “You’ll be fine, Miley,” she said, “I’m going to start putting this stuff away. You’re responsible for doing the dishes. End of discussion.”

Part Eight

It was difficult to imagine that Noelle didn’t care.

Her immediate dismissal was more likely a combination of not taking the Violet problem nearly as seriously as I was, as well as the fact that she was under the impression that I was a girl who could just as easily be trying to somehow trick her.

I was back to square one. Arguing with Noelle was out of the question; all I could do was rinse everything that could go in the dishwasher before tackling everything that required hand washing. All the while, I shifted from foot to foot in discomfort as I continually felt the double pull-ups between my legs; they were impossible to ignore now I was concerned about Paige learning about them while I had no choice but to keep them on.

Once she was done clearing off the counter and tidying up the rest of the kitchen, Noelle joined me at the sink and grabbed a towel to dry the dishes I had already taken care of. The moment we were done with the last part of cleaning up after breakfast, I tried again. “Noelle-”

“Come with me.” She turned for the living room, though kept me partially within sight and at a reasonable distance. As always, making sure I didn’t have ideas about running away. As if I could efficiently do something so athletic when stuck in padded underwear. Paige and her friends were no longer lounging in there, which I could have guessed by how quiet the main floor was. That’s not where we were headed, however. Noelle led me back upstairs, which gave me hope, until she stopped at my sister’s room. The door was partially ajar, though Noelle knocked anyway. “Hey, Paige? Can I borrow you for a minute?”

The voices in the room trailed off for a second, only for Annika to blurt out, “Ooh, someone’s in trouble!”

“Grow up,” Paige scoffed, “Of course, Noelle.” She hopped up from where she had been lounging on the bed. Joining us in the hall and closing the door since this was something that Noelle called her over for instead of just saying it in front of her friends, she asked, “What’s up?”

“Miley said Violet might have seen something earlier?” Noelle said.

Wait. I hadn’t expected her to actually confront Paige about it. That was the exact opposite of what I wanted!

I could tell that Paige was thrown off, too. “Umm, yeah,” she replied. Managing to recover fairly quickly, she said, “She told me. Is everything okay, Miley? You haven’t wet the bed in, like, three months.”

There were a lot of things I had anticipated, but that certainly wasn’t one of them. My eyes widened and I exclaimed, “Paige!” Flushing when I realized that such a reaction could just as easily be interpreted as freaking out about a ‘secret’ being revealed, I rushed to follow it up with, “What are you talking about?” It was just like all the other lies she had fed to Noelle, except this one was well beyond something the real Miley would have going on.

“She was having pretty regular nighttime accidents a while ago,” Paige simply said. Ignoring me, she just told the false history to Noelle. “Stress of a new school, or something? We never officially figured it out.”

“She’s lying!” I protested. The words escaped my lips before I could fully think them through, and I regretted the accusation immediately. It sounded so immature, and would be yet another instance of ‘girl who cried wolf.’ Because I did wet the bed last night, and Paige had done nothing to make Noelle distrust her.

Noelle calmly said, “Your parents didn’t mention anything about that.”

Because it wasn’t true! Not for me, and not for Miley. At least, I had to assume. I couldn’t picture a girl like her wetting the bed, or any girl her age for that matter. Paige didn’t seem worried about the minor skepticism. “I mean, we all thought she was done with all that. Like I said, three months. Maybe four? Honestly, I can’t remember.”

“Well. I’m glad someone told me this wasn’t a completely random occurrence. Still, I wanted to let you know that the reason she’s wearing pull-ups is more for the sake of discipline than it is for anything else. I’m assuming Miley is more than capable of making it to the bathroom during the day.”

“Huh. Well, Violet told me in private. No one else has to know. And hopefully this is a one time thing. I’d hate for Miley to have to start wearing diapers to bed again.”

I just stared at her in disbelief. This was bullshit! But how could I make Noelle believe that when saying the wrong thing could result in me getting punished?

Noelle nodded. “I appreciate you and Violet being discreet. Will you all be around for the rest of the day? Miley has a lot of homework to take care of; I want to make sure she has a productive spot with as few distractions as possible.”

Just like that, they were moving on. “We’ll probably be up here for the rest of the morning,” Paige said, “Then I think we’re going to have a little picnic at the park. You and Miley are welcome to join us, of course.”

“We’ll see. Some fresh air couldn’t hurt, but it really depends on how much she gets done before then. I told your parents she would make a good dent in her summer assignments by the end of the weekend.”

“Okay! Just let me know before noon, so I can pack enough food for everyone.”

“Got it. Miley? Come on.” Rather than being taken to my room like I had initially anticipated on the way up, Noelle took me back downstairs and had me sit at the kitchen table all over again. Once I was seated and dealing with a second round of awkwardness that came with having the embarrassing padding between me and the chair, she said, “Now, since I never specifically asked, I’m not going to get on your case for not telling me about your former accidents. However, I’m adding an hour to your time in pull-ups for calling your sister a liar.”

“But, that’s not fair!” I objected, “She-”

“Let’s make it two hours,” she said, “Unless you want to keep arguing?”

That shut me up. Wearing pull-ups for even longer was bad enough, and I was also still trying to show Noelle that I was more mature than she perceived me as. I was fully aware that behaving ‘properly’ wasn’t much better when I had been compelled to do so, yet it was definitely the lesser evil.

“That’s what I thought. You may change back into your normal underwear at 2 PM, provided you continue to be a well behaved girl who always tells the truth. Speaking of which, what would you like to work on? Your lines, or your summer assignments?”

Did she even need to ask? “My assignments, please,” I said, flushing a bit at how my attempts to sound polite sounded a lot more forced than usual. As for my choice, I was wishfully thinking that I could prove that I was way smarter than Miley was. Though the Science handouts had been painful thanks to how long it had been since I had studied that kind of material, I had to assume that Math and English would be more intuitive. Unfortunately, History would probably be as tedious as Science in terms of having to look up information I no longer had stored away.

Luckily for me, Noelle let me pick the subject. I opted for English first, as that had to be the most straightforward. No forgotten formulas to deal with, even if the majority of the problems would be manageable off the top of my head. When Noelle handed me the first few handouts, I saw that maybe the work wouldn’t be quite as simple as I expected. There were different kinds of clauses and modifiers to identify, sentences to label, and . . . what on earth was an ‘appositive?’ Thankfully, each page seemed to focus on one or two concepts. Once I looked up a term once, answering each question felt more like busy work than anything particularly stimulating.

Similar to the previous day, Noelle pulled out her laptop to work on whatever she needed to work on while I was busy with Miley’s homework. She seemed to effortlessly pivot from ‘regular babysitter’ to ‘last resort babysitter.’ As long as I wasn’t doing anything she disapproved of, she was content to quietly supervise me. And since each page didn’t require much mental focus, I attempted to spend the rest of the morning coming up with some out of the box solution that I hadn’t considered throughout my last few brainstorming sessions.

The idea that eventually came to me made me feel stupid for not immediately thinking of it earlier. Paige invited us to go out. To a park. And the one thing I could count on the suburbs for was that there were always familiar faces around. A former classmate, one of our parents’ friends, someone from my ballet studio. All I needed was a single person who knew who I was, and Paige would no longer be able to keep Noelle from learning the truth.

I was tempted to blurt out my interest in the picnic the second it crossed my mind. Resisting that urge, I instead started working more seriously on the worksheets in front of me. Like Noelle had implied earlier, I would only be given a break if I made a good amount of progress on Miley’s schoolwork. Surely a high school graduate like myself could manage something like that if she put her mind to it.

Glancing up at the clock and seeing that it was nearly 11 AM, I made short work of the last few problems on the page about modifiers. Two handouts down. How many to go? Noelle had handed me four, though I had absolutely no idea how extensive each subject’s packet was in the binder she was holding onto.

Before I could complete the round of work I had been given, I heard a single someone coming downstairs. I didn’t have to wonder for long. Paige stepped into the kitchen with a ‘friendly’ smile, breaking what had been an extended period of peaceful silence beyond the sounds of Noelle typing and me flipping through Miley’s textbook.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said, “Do you mind if I make a few sandwiches in here while you work?”

Part Nine

It was about 11:20 AM.

I would have been out of pull-ups in less than 45 minutes if I hadn’t reacted to the latest piece of false information Paige gave to Noelle right in front of me. That was my main hesitation about following through on my latest idea. Leaving the house in padded underwear wasn’t ideal. Then again, none of this was. And since Paige mentioned leaving around noon, and I doubted that Noelle would let me change before 2 PM, I had a decision to make.

Paige hadn’t said a word since joining us in the kitchen, nor had she spared me a glance. She just pulled out all the ingredients she needed to make a variety of sandwiches for her and her friends and got to work. I wasn’t sure if she actually wanted us to accompany them to the park or not; she hadn’t asked Noelle about additional sandwiches yet, and her ‘invitation’ earlier could have just been out of politeness.

Or she was merely being patient, to further throw my babysitter off the scent. I normally didn’t attempt to analyze Paige and her motives, though it was obviously different when those motives potentially involved me.

It was only when Paige started packing up a cooler with drinks and the completed sandwiches that Noelle spoke up. “How long do you think this outing will be?”

“Oh. Umm, good question,” Paige replied, “Dakota and Shannon have to head out, so it’ll just be three of us. We were talking about maybe getting ice cream afterwards; otherwise there’s no official plan. Thinking about joining us? Or just curious how long you’ll have the place to yourself in case Miley needs another spanking or something?”

“Thinking about it,” Noelle said, “Study breaks are healthy, as is some outdoor time. But I would take Miley in my car, so we can return to her assignments in a timely manner. That way, your plans can remain flexible without an extra trip complicating things.”

“Makes sense. What do you say, Miley? Fresh air and sunshine, or a homework marathon?”

We both knew which one I’d normally choose. My study breaks were much shorter than the one Noelle was offering. “Sure,” I replied, “I guess I could take a break.” Feigning indifference to the best of my ability, in an attempt to throw both Paige and Noelle off the scent.

“Fun!” Paige smiled, “Okay, I obviously know what you want to eat. Noelle, any sandwich preferences?”

“I’m not picky,” she shrugged, “Turkey if you have it, but I’m really good with anything.”

And that was that. Well, almost. We still had some time before noon, and Noelle put me right back to work until then. She wanted me to finish up the remaining handouts she had given me before we left for the extended break. It had been more difficult to focus ever since Paige stepped into the kitchen, which continued to be a problem. After making our sandwiches and packing them up, she pulled out a variety of chips and packaged desserts. It wasn’t just the fact that Paige was around to take satisfaction in me being supervised as I worked on Miley’s homework; I also worked better in a quiet environment.

I just barely completed the last page in time. Rather than skimming my work to make sure I was actually trying like she had done yesterday with my Science assignments, Noelle ushered me back upstairs. Once again, I was tentatively hopeful that she was going to ease up about the pull-ups and allow me to change back into regular underwear before we left the house. And once again, I had to face the harsh reality that Noelle was hired to specifically not go easy on Miley.

It wasn’t always easy to remember that obvious detail, because she really did act like a normal college-aged girl until she needed to flip that switch.

She led me back to my bedroom, which I realized was only our destination since that’s where she had left her bag earlier. The fact that she closed the door behind us was another hint that maybe I was getting what I wanted, until she simply grabbed something from the side of her bag and told me to hold out my hand and close my eyes.

“Umm, why?” I asked.

“To show me that you can do a simple task without arguing,” she countered.

There was no winning against a response like that, not when whatever I said would come across like I was arguing. So I did as I was told, subjecting myself to the temporary darkness of my eyelids as I extended my arm. My palm was up, as my assumption was that she was going to hand me something that would somehow be more impactful if I held it before seeing it.

My logic was somewhat accurate, save for it wasn’t my hand that Noelle was aiming for. Instead, she clasped something around my wrist. “There,” she said, “You can open your eyes now.”

They were already fluttering a little bit from the brief physical contact as well as the curiosity. When I looked at what she had put on, I was confused for a moment. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple stainless steel bracelet. It was connected with some kind of long, thin lock clasp that, upon further inspection, I saw had a small hole on the side.

“Do you like it?” Noelle asked, “I special ordered a few of these a while ago, specifically for outings like this. You won’t be able to take that off without the key, and there’s a GPS tracker built in. Prettier than an ankle monitor, and way more subtle, too.”

I was speechless. Truly speechless. Miley was undeniably a difficult teenager who couldn’t be trusted, but it’s not like she was a criminal. Yet Noelle just locked a tracker on me?! I didn’t try to yank it off or anything, but I did fidget with the bracelet as I examined it in disbelief. The length of the clasp did suggest that it held more than just a lock; if a smartwatch could fit the kind of technology Noelle was suggesting, I could believe that an accessory like this could do the same. There was always the chance that she was bluffing in order to use the bracelet as a placebo to keep me from running off, though I couldn’t recall a single instance where Noelle had lied to me since she arrived. In fact, she easily could have kept the GPS thing to herself, but instead was immediately straight with me about it.

Realizing my lips had been parted in shock for a few seconds, I flushed and glanced up to meet her eyes. At the same time, I couldn’t help but give a curious tug to the steel. Like she said, it felt plenty sturdy and secure. “You . . . ”

“It’s just a precaution, Miley,” she simply said, “As long as you plan on behaving at the park and don’t try something stupid like running off at the first opportunity you see, you shouldn’t even notice it’s there. In fact, I have a couple of matching jewelry pieces if you’re worried about it standing out.”

Would Paige or one of the other girls notice? My step-sister and I didn’t spend enough time together for her to have a good sense of my jewelry collection. Still, this definitely wasn’t my usual look. I didn’t really wear bracelets that often; when I did, I preferred thin chains and simple designs. Technically the latter held true for the steel cuff, though it was subtly bulky on my petite wrist. “Umm, what else do you have?” I asked. There would be no talking Noelle out of this, not when wanting to take it off would imply my desire to escape. Yet ‘behaving’ also wouldn’t prove much if she just thought I was doing so because I had no other choice. Once again, I was in a position where there was no good way to come across as the mature girl that I actually was.

Almost like Noelle was hired for her expertise in setting up no-win scenarios where Miley would need to stay in line.

I settled on a bracelet for my opposite wrist that complemented the ‘style’ of the tracking one, but wasn’t a fan of the rest of the options Noelle showed me. Thankfully, my jewelry box was fully intact. With how many other things Paige stole from my room yesterday, I was briefly worried while opening the lid. Apparently she either hadn’t had time or hadn’t thought to pilfer through my collection. I selected a simple set of silver earrings to round out the accessories on my wrists. There wasn’t much more I could do; I just had to hope that no one would pay too much attention to the bracelet that was locked on.

And, of course, there was still the additional concern and embarrassment of leaving the house in pull-ups.

All that, and I still couldn’t back out. Staying would mean no bracelet and not having to deal with Paige, Violet, and Annika while I was still in the underwear that they all would constantly be giving me knowing looks about. However, staying would also mean that I was no closer to convincing Noelle of who I really was. As of right now, the only idea I had was getting someone outside Paige’s circle to greet me in public. Higher risk, potentially higher reward.

So I didn’t change my mind. Noelle took me back downstairs where my sister and her remaining two friends were putting on their shoes and collecting their things. “Oh, hey!” Paige exclaimed, “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” Noelle affirmed.

I wasn’t really ready. No purse, no phone, no regular underwear or bra. But I had to try. Giving a nod when Paige looked at me expectantly, I said, “Ready.”

Part Ten

As always, Noelle was doing more than simply babysitting me. Oblivious to the fact that I was a well behaved, responsible girl, Noelle was doing whatever she could to nudge me away from the difficult, rebellious teenager she believed me to be.

She followed Paige out of the driveway and towards whatever park my step-sister had in mind, at least allowing me the dignity of sitting in the front seat after briefly deliberating if I was tall enough to legally do so. Since I wasn’t old enough to drive in her eyes, all I could do was insist that I sat up there all the time. Once we were on the road, however, I figured out pretty quickly that the back seat might have been preferable.

Noelle spent most of the drive lecturing me on manners. According to her, it didn’t matter if it was an outdoor picnic or a fancy dinner at an upscale venue. Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ was important in any circumstance, and I was also instructed to eat like a lady despite the informal setting. That way, she could see where I needed to improve when it came to table etiquette.

While I was certainly more civilized than Paige in that sense, Noelle had only seen me eating pizza thus far. As for the coming picnic, I wasn’t exactly sure what she expected. Pretty much everything Paige packed up was finger food; I could manage a sandwich with a degree of grace, but I didn’t know how ‘ladylike’ I could eat chips and whatever other snack food was in the basket.

The park Paige and company led us to was slightly familiar. I had been there once for an art fair, though it looked completely different without all the tents and booths set up. Less crowded, too, with parking that didn’t require ten minutes of circling. As for my plan–more of a hope, really–the location was difficult to judge. It wasn’t that close to our house, yet it also wasn’t that far of a drive. All I needed was one person. Statistically, that was still well within the realm of possibility.

Noelle took the spot right next to Paige. By the car my step-sister and I were supposed to be sharing on any given day. Of course, there was no competition for the keys when I was perceived as being Miley’s age. I carefully stepped out of Noelle’s ride, making sure that the pull-ups were completely covered the entire time. Though it wasn’t a secret any more thanks to Violet, I didn’t want to give any of the girls the satisfaction of catching a glimpse of the bulky, pink underwear.

Also, wearing pull-ups in broad daylight was unnerving. As Paige led the way through the park, every step reminded me of the padding between my thighs that was nothing at all like walking in panties. The illogical part of my brain made it feel like anyone looking our way could somehow tell, despite how I was making a conscious effort to keep my movements as normal as possible. I couldn’t believe that Noelle made me put such mortifying underwear on, or that Paige had run with it in a similar manner to how she had leapt on the opportunity to portray me as her little sister.

It didn’t take long for Paige to spot a table we could use. By the time we approached the slightly shaded spot, I hadn’t yet succeeded in spotting anyone I knew. Noelle offered my help on my behalf, naturally, but Paige politely declined. Too many cooks, considering only so many people could retrieve stuff from the picnic basket at one time. And, if I had to guess, taking care of everything herself would continue to make Paige look like the mature sister she was going out of her way to present herself as.

I wasn’t the only girl at the table wearing a simple summer outfit. Paige and Annika were both wearing tanks as well, except their tops better complemented their hair and skin tone, as well as accentuated their more mature curves. Meanwhile, the lighter hue of my tank top practically screamed ‘tween’ when paired with my red locks. And, thanks to the training bra and the looser top, my chest looked like it barely existed. To make matters worse, Violet sat next to me again. She was one of Paige’s taller friends, and her alternative, dark clad image no doubt made me look younger by contrast to anyone looking at us side by side.

Thanks to the bracelet I was stuck with, Noelle didn’t seem particularly concerned about staying close to me. Now that she had the ability to track me, literally, she wouldn’t have to follow through on her initial threat of chasing me down if I ran. I was willing to bet she’d still pursue if she caught me in the act, though there was obviously no reason to try something like that when even sneaking off wasn’t an option.

Paige pulled out Noelle’s sandwich first, in another gesture that was transparent to both me and probably Paige’s friends as well. Then my manipulative sister passed out everyone else’s, before filling the middle of the table with a collection of chips, crackers, and fruit. She wrapped up the process by opening the cooler her friends had brought along with the picnic basket. “For Miley,” she said. Procuring a blue sports drink as well as one of our reusable water bottles from the house, Paige casually added, “Make sure to stay hydrated, sis!”

It felt like a faint jab about my underwear situation, probably since she couldn’t risk anything that Noelle might pick up on. Even if Paige hadn’t meant it like that, her comment worked on a patronizing level either way. Resisting the urge to scowl or say something I would if it was just the two of us, I awkwardly muttered, “Thank you.” Because Noelle was right there, and giving me an expectant look after her lecture in the car.

Leaning forward to pass a bottle to Annika, Paige shot me a smug look that was perfectly timed so I would see it and Noelle wouldn’t.

Pretending not to care, as badly as I wanted to scream at her and Noelle and anyone else who would listen, I instead unwrapped my sandwich and took a sip of water to hide the traces of annoyance and frustration that were threatening to show if I wasn’t careful.

Noelle had already extended my time in pull-ups once; I couldn’t let Paige provoke me into any kind of reaction that would add more hours.

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