The Babysitter, Part 49

Noelle looked a little surprised.

Maybe she expected the same song and dance about how I was actually a girl named Alyssa, and was the same age as my step-sister. To be fair, that was the plan, now that I had someone who could verify my real identity. Instead, she was bluntly told about my daytime accident by Ruby. Not that it was much of an accident.

“Sorry, what?” Noelle asked, after a small pause.

Ruby was more than happy to repeat it. “Miley wet herself. She just squatted behind a bush and started going. I don’t think anyone else saw; I only noticed because I was already coming over to say ‘hey.’ The bathroom wasn’t that far off, either. Guess she just couldn’t make it. I would have offered to clean her up myself or something, but I don’t have much more than my wallet in here.” She patted her small purse after the string of boldfaced lies. “Also, I really only babysit girls half her age; I wouldn’t even know where to start with something like this.”

“It’s fine,” Noelle said, “This isn’t your responsibility. You’ve done plenty just by bringing her back and alerting me to the situation before she did something stupid like ditching her pull-ups and making a mess in the process. What was your name?”

“Ruby!” she smiled, “From Miley’s ballet studio. I’m the assistant in a couple of her classes. She’s quite the promising young student; with dancing, at least. Not so much with school, or so I’ve heard.”

I wasn’t sure how to process the spin Ruby was putting on this. She was supposed to be telling Noelle the truth. Instead, she was turning me into some Alyssa/Miley hybrid. I guess the ballet thing wasn’t news, as Noelle had seen me in a leotard, and Paige already somehow made that work despite how it clashed with Miley’s image. Then again, Ruby and I had seen all types of girls at the studio, and it was actually surprisingly common to see dancers who didn’t at all seem like dancers outside of class.

The difference was, Ruby had made me a promise. And the continued use of ‘Miley,’ as well as her little jab about my weak academics, was not part of the deal. “Ruby, tell her the truth,” I insisted.

She cocked her head to the side in mock confusion. “I just told her the truth,” she said, “You, wet diapers, crouching in the bushes. Although since when do you, you know . . . ?” she vaguely gestured towards my skirt, “I think I would have noticed padding under your leotard.”

“Ruby!” I exclaimed. Even in my frustration, I could see what she was doing. Without knowing the full story, she erred on the side of ignorance to avoid contradicting whatever Noelle thought of me and whatever Paige had already said. “You know what I mean!”

“Miley,” Ruby said, “I really don’t. Although we should figure this out before your next class. Do you think she’ll still be in diapers on Monday?”

The question was towards Noelle, but I was the one who snapped, “They’re pull-ups! And-”

“Miley, don’t cause a scene,” Noelle cut me off, “Honestly, I have no idea about Monday. I’m only supervising her through the end of the weekend, and her underwear needs are still to be determined. I was just recently made aware of her history of accidents.”

“Well, leotards are kind of a requirement,” Ruby pointed out, “But I teach private lessons if Miley would prefer that. Might be less embarrassing for her, you know?”

‘I’m right here!’ I could speak for myself. Kind of. Just without saying any of the truths that Noelle believed to be lies. All while Ruby was totally going back on her word! I still couldn’t believe she was betraying me. Obviously there was a little bad blood between us, but something as humiliating as wetting myself should have been more than enough to settle the score between us. Especially since I hadn’t even done anything wrong. The fact that she was teaching private lessons was yet another example of why she didn’t get featured pieces as much as me.

“It’s not my call,” Noelle said, “Do you have a card? I can always mention it to her parents. It’ll depend on a lot of factors.”

“Like if she’s still wearing pull-ups in two days?” she said, giving me a warm smile, “I don’t have a card, but you can have my number. If you make a reservation directly through me, it’ll be way less of a wait time than if you call the studio.”

“RUBY.” Glaring at her in response to her expression, I demanded, “Tell her. You promised!” I really, really wanted to assert that I was Alyssa. If only to spark Ruby to back me up, and maybe to elicit a reaction that was good enough for Noelle to notice and realize that Ruby was screwing me over just like Paige initially did. Except even in wet pull-ups, I was nervous about things playing out like they did yesterday. I absolutely could not let Ruby see me getting spanked.

Also, how would this play out after Noelle learned that I was actually Miley’s next door neighbor? I was still going to be a girl who wet herself twice. One bedwetting incident and the other in the middle of the afternoon. An eighteen year old, a high school graduate, who was walking around in sagging pull-ups.

And then there was Paige. Even if her fun came to an abrupt end, she was going to have a fucking field day with my current situation. As if the rest hadn’t been mortifying enough, and something I’d have to deal with her teasing me about for the rest of our lives.

Ignoring me completely, Ruby said, “Here.” She pulled a pen and a handheld notebook out of her pocket, jotting down her number and giving it to Noelle the old fashioned way. “In case this accident isn’t an outlier. Otherwise, I’ll see you in class, Miley!”

“Ruby, no! Wait!” I exclaimed. She couldn’t do this to me!! Attempting to chase after her when I saw that she was actually walking away instead of simply turning for dramatic effect, I made it all of one step before Noelle grabbed my arm.

“Hey!” she snapped, giving a rough backwards tug that basically forced me to go with the movement in order to avoid hurting my shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going? Unless you want a diaper rash, we’re going back to the house. I didn’t bring any spares with me, because I didn’t think that making it to the bathroom at your age would actually be a problem.”

“But, she-”

“Nothing is ever your fault, is it?” Noelle scoffed, “Come with me, Miley. Right now.”