SubscribeStar Story: Alyssa’s Accidents, Part Seven

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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.”

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