Sucking Up, by Clinediap

Chapter 17
Chapter 17

Chapter Description: by Clinediap

Neither were questions that she was going to get answers to standing in the park bathroom, but that didn’t stop her from standing there for quite a while, unable to stop from staring at her own reflection. It was so strange to see her younger self staring back at her, a sight she hadn’t seen for years - or, rather, that she hadn’t recognized she was seeing.

Finally, though, she turned away, stumbling back out into the daylight. She felt rather strange as she stepped outside, sure that all eyes would be on her. In her mind, she’d walked in eighteen and stunning, and was coming out twelve, if that, and gawky. She knew nothing had really changed in that time, but that didn’t stop her from feeling that way, as she was still trying to get used to the idea.

That was a rather difficult thing for her to do, considering that the idea was something completely impossible. People didn’t get younger; she knew that. That was the sort of thing that happened in bad TV shows, not in real life. Yet she could think of no other explanation for what she’d seen, for all the changes that had so suddenly come over her. She thought back to those TV shows, trying to think of what caused the regression in them, but all she could remember was some show where a witch had cursed the main character.

The idea of magic was even more absurd, yet when she thought of witches, only one person came to mind. She quickly scanned the benches where mothers sat, watching their kids playing, searching for Diane. She found her, sitting by herself but talking to another woman who looked vaguelly familiar, wearing a jogging outfit. Alicia couldn’t quite place the other woman as she approached, at least not until she got close enough to overhear Diane’s, "I’ll see you later, Gail," at which the woman ran past her, close enough for Alicia to recognize her as the woman who had lasered away her pubic hair.

That gave Alicia pause for a moment. Maybe she was wrong, and Diane really didn’t know what was going on with her. It could have even been like it had for her, the changes happening so slowly, but steadily, that Diane hadn’t even recognized them. After all, why take her to get her hair zapped away if she was just getting younger, back before it would have started to grow? Then again, the hair on her head, and everywhere else was still there... So it only made sense that it would have stayed, too, roots and all, burned away.

Alicia hadn’t been sure, exactly what to say once she got to Diane, how to broach the subject, how not to sound like an idiot for not having figured it out before now. Once she got to the bench, however, and Diane turned to look at her with a smug, "What’s wrong, Ali? You leaking already?", the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "What did you do to me?!" as she leapt at the woman, swinging her fists wildly.

She managed to get in one good hit before Diane held her away, though that didn’t stop her from flailing wildly, screaming angrily, wordlessly, for she didn’t even know how long. The next thing she knew, a woman in a tan uniform was standing by the bench. "What exactly is going on here, ma’am?" she asked Diane. "Is everything all right?"

"No!" Alicia jumped in hysterically, pulling away from Diane and hurrying over to the park ranger. "You have to help me! She stole my car, and she broke into my house, and she stole all my clothes, and she hates me, and she’s trying to turn me into a baby!"

She felt the ranger hug her, a wave of relief washing over her, glad that she’d finally told her story, strange as it was, to someone. It lasted until the woman said, "She’s got quite the imagination on her, doesn’t she?"

"No, I don’t," Alicia whined, letting go of the ranger and stepping back, staring up at her. Realizing that the ranger’s assumption wasn’t entirely unfair, given what it must have sounded like, she decided to try another tactic. "She’s trying to poison me! And she abuses me! Please, you can’t let her take me home!"

She smiled as she heard Diane gasp, surely unable to believe that Alicia had said that. "Ali, how could you say that?" she asked, sniffling. Alicia turned back to her, a little surprised to see just how miserable she looked. She was crying, staring down at Alicia in disbelief.

"That is no joking matter, young lady," the ranger told her sternly. "You shouldn’t say things like that unless they’re true."

"But they are," Alicia protested. "I swear!"

"And I’m sure she really stole your car, too, didn’t she?" The ranger raised an eyebrow. Alicia nodded automatically, before realizing that, looking the way she did, that wasn’t going to help her case.

"I’m very sorry for the commotion, ma’am," Diane sniffed. "It’s past her naptime, and..."

"Don’t worry," the ranger told her. "Kids just get a little too wrapped up in their imaginations sometimes. I understand." She knelt down in front of Alicia, telling her sternly, "You be nicer to your mother, you understand? She cares about you," before patting her on the head and sending them on their way.

Diane took her hand gently, though as soon as the ranger turned away she gave it a rough squeeze as she half-dragged Alicia back to her car. "I hope you don’t think you’re getting those panties now," she hissed at her. "What in the world do you think you’re doing, making a scene like that in the middle of the park?!"

"Aww, did I make you look like a bad mother?" Alicia spat at her. "Well, guess what? You’re not my mother, you bitch! I don’t know what the hell you’re doing to me, but it is going to stop, you hear me?! I will not...!"

"You will not," Diane parrotted her, cutting her off coldly, "say another word. You know damn well this isn’t my fault, and screaming at me in public isn’t going to do anything to change that."

"Isn’t your... What is that supposed to mean?!" Alicia yelled. Diane rolled her eyes, opened the door to her car, and shoved Alicia inside before going around to the driver’s side and getting in. "You turned me into a kid! How is that not your fault?!"

Diane looked at her, then shook her head. "Are you even listening to yourself? Do you realize how idiotic you sound? Buckle your seatbelt."

Sulking, Alicia did, having to admit that the idea was, in fact, dumb. But that didn’t stop it from being true. "I don’t know how you did it, but I know you did."

"You just keep thinking that," Diane told her. Alicia glared angrily at her as she drove, her relative calmness in the face of this craziness infuriating. Clearly, she knew quite well what was going on, but, just as clearly, she wasn’t going to tell. It made Alicia want to kick her, but as she stared down at her feet, looking especially small in her silly pink Mary Janes, she doubted it would hurt as much as she’d want it to.

They stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way home. "We’re going inside," Diane said, matter-of-factly. "You can behave or not, that’s up to you. Go ahead and tell everyone your story. I’m sure they’ll believe you."

"I am so going to kick your ass," Alicia promised her.

"You couldn’t do that when you were all grown up," Diane snorted. "How exactly do you plan on doing that now, pipsqueak?"

Alicia didn’t have an answer for that, leaving her to sulk quietly as Diane took her by the hand and led her into the store. "I hope you know Frank was always thinking about me when you two were screwing," she said instead.

She was hoping for an angry reaction, something physical she could draw attention to, but Diane just turned to her and told her, "Not anymore."

There was a hesitation there, though, a weak spot, something Alicia could grab onto. "You wouldn’t believe how easy it was," she said. "I barely had to bat my eyes, and he was all over me." She smiled, sure she could see Diane flinch. "You were never enough of a woman for him. Not even close."

"Well," Diane said, stopping. "You’re not enough of a woman for anyone anymore, now are you?"

"I’m still mo..." Alicia began to say snidely when she saw where they were, and the words froze in her mouth. They were surrounded by diapers, a whole aisle of them in every size and variety imaginable. Her eyes widened as she stared at them, feeling a little weak in her knees, realizing just why they were here.

"Oh, keep talking," Diane invited her. "It might be a little tight, but I bet you’d fit into Pampers now. The baby aisle is right over there."

Alicia’s bottom lip began to tremble, her arrogance quickly dissolved and forgotten. The idea of wearing a diaper at all - a real one, with tapes, not a thin pull up - was sobering; actually being in a baby’s diaper would be too much. "I’m sorry," she said quietly.

"I’m sure you are," Diane sighed. "Now."

"Please don’t do this," she begged, letting go of Diane’s hand to clutch at the hem of her shirt. "I’ll be good, I promise."

Diane ignored her, brushing her aside to grab a package off the shelf, one marked Youth. "No," Alicia sniffled. "Don’t!" Diane grabbed her hand and began walking again, towards the cash registers. "Don’t!" Alicia repeated, louder. "Stop it!"

"Feel free to keep drawing attention to yourself," Diane said quietly. "I really don’t mind."

Alicia’s face turned red, knowing that, with her in one of Diane’s hands and the diapers in the other, she must surely look like a child who had just started wetting the bed and was throwing a fit over it. And, much as she would have liked to think it was, it wasn’t Diane’s fault that she could feel the eyes of the other kids nearby on her, pitying, or laughing at, her. She was the one who had been yelling.

She couldn’t stop blushing as they made their way through the checkout aisle, and then back across the parking lot. She was quiet on the ride back to the apartment building, and on the trip up to her home. Diane was quiet, too, until they’d gotten inside and she’d set the bag of diapers down on the couch. "All right," she said then, folding her arms and staring down at Alicia sternly, "now it’s time for your punishment."