SubscribeStar Story: Alyssa’s Accidents, Part Eleven

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Part Eleven

The picnic was about as awkward and uncomfortable as I expected.

Normally, I made a point to keep my distance when Paige’s friends were around. Yet here I was, sharing another meal with them on top of all the ‘quality time’ from the previous evening. Noelle’s presence hardly helped. Even behaving as closely to my real self as possible felt like an act, when she could very well be interpreting my attitude as a troublesome girl just pretending for the time being. I also had to ignore the knowing looks from Paige, Annika, and Violet as they traded off with whomever had my babysitter’s attention.

While I quietly ate my lunch, focusing on taking small bites to demonstrate to the best of my ability that I could handle what Noelle recently suggested, the other girls struck up a conversation with the brunette. She talked about her college classes and how she ended up choosing her major, as well as the specialized babysitting services she offered. Apparently she started just like anyone else when she was younger–simply taking whatever jobs she could find around the neighborhood for a little spending money. However, once she proved capable of handling the houses that most sitters took on once and then never returned to, everything fell into place. She started getting referred to other families that had similar issues, and figured out that people would pay a premium for someone who not only wouldn’t be scared off in a single evening, but who could often reform the charges she was hired to watch. It didn’t happen overnight, of course, but repeat clients almost always reported a noticeable improvement over time.

“Long story short, I shifted from quantity to quality once I started college,” Noelle said, “I didn’t want to drop the business, but I also wanted to focus on my studies and have a social life.”

“So, the occasional lucrative job during the semester,” Paige said, “And whatever you want over the summer?”

Noelle nodded, “Pretty much. I make more in a single weekend than someone would for a whole week at a minimum wage job. Not that I’m trying to brag; it’s just important to know that there are better ways to make money, especially if you can find the right niche.”

“Totally,” Violet said, “Like how I make a decent amount by streaming.”

Paige scoffed. “Uh huh. Because of your gaming skills, or because you’re a hot girl?”

“Both!” she grinned, “Like you’re complaining, anyway. I’m the reason our whole team has such good tech.”

“And your team is the real secret to your success,” Paige fired back, before abruptly turning everyone’s attention towards me, “What about you, Miley? Any big plans to be rich or famous?”

Rich, maybe. I had no interest in being a streamer or an influencer or whatever like more and more girls my age were getting into. Even the former wasn’t a current desire, as I was more focused on figuring out a college major for the time being. I still had all summer to narrow down the possibilities. Yet I couldn’t go into any of that when Noelle believed I was a thirteen year old who didn’t really care for school. Leaning on my middle school memories wouldn’t help much, as I had always been more into extracurriculars than anything that provided extra spending money beyond the allowance I had at the time.

“Not really,” I replied after a beat. What did Miley even like doing for fun that could be parceled into cash? I had no clue. Deflecting right away, I said, “I’m going to go find a bathroom.” Though I did have to pee a little bit after not going since whenever I did overnight, I was mostly interested in enacting my hope/plan to find someone I knew. Sitting at a picnic table certainly wasn’t the best way to achieve that.

“Don’t stray too far,” Noelle warned me. We both knew why she wasn’t insisting on coming with me.

As I got up from the table and turned to walk away, I let out a quiet sigh of relief when no one else decided to tag along for the trip. It would have been easy enough for Paige or one of her friends to claim they needed the bathroom as well, if only to keep eyes on me, but apparently they were more interested in talking about side hustles that could be both lucrative and flexible. Or perhaps they wanted to see what Noelle would do if I did stray too far. Either way, I was free to enjoy what I realized was the first moment of alone time I had found all day.

Since this was my first time at the park, I had an excuse to act like I didn’t know where I was going. The truth was, I had spotted the small building with bathrooms and water fountains on our way in, but I intentionally took a more perpendicular path while I pretended to find my bearings. Anything that would let me cover more ground.

Unfortunately, luck was not on my side. My wide arc towards the eventual destination didn’t lead to me seeing any familiar faces. Of course, I planned on completing the loop on the way back. And keeping my eyes peeled on the way back to the car, too. Anything that might save me from Noelle’s assumptions and Paige’s lies.

Initially, I hadn’t planned on actually using the bathroom; it had only been a convenient half truth I used to excuse myself. I typically avoided public restrooms when possible, for obvious reasons. Except now that I was there, the simple proximity and sight of the ‘Women’ sign and symbol was enough to tell my body now was a better time than waiting until we got home.

Deciding to step into the bathroom instead of turning around ended up unintentionally being a really good choice. Because I immediately recognized the girl washing her hands.

“Ruby!” I exclaimed. Way louder than I meant in the resonant bathroom. Blushing as she jumped a little in surprise, I lowered my voice back to a regular volume. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, you know . . . ”

The brunette girl from my ballet studio turned my way and took a moment to register who I was, no doubt due to my simple outfit that was unlike both my leotard and what I normally wore, then said, “Alyssa? Hey.”

Wow. It was the first time I had heard my own name all day.

Now I just had to cross my fingers that I would be able to explain this in a way that didn’t sound as insane as it actually was, and convince her to follow me back to Noelle so I could finally prove that I was who I said I was from the very start.

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