SubscribeStar Story: The Babysitter, Parts 1-20

Part One

Summer. Finally.

And not just any summer. The next two months were going to be amazing for a number of reasons. One, I had just graduated high school, which meant none of the usual AP work that was required before the first day of school. College would present its own challenges, of course, but I could at least take a huge breath in the meantime. Two, our parents were going to be out of town for eight full weeks on a business trip rounded off with a vacation at the tail end. While I wasn’t exactly a party girl, it would still be nice to have some extra freedom. 

Paige was the only complication. My step-sister and I were the same age, and absolutely nothing alike. At first, I had been excited to finally have a sibling. That is, until we actually started living together. She and I were polar opposites, to put it lightly, and I was the one who was always stuck dealing with her since our parents were rarely around. I didn’t mind getting her in trouble for ‘borrowing’ my homework, or for breaking curfew, or for plenty of other transgressions. However, our parents were usually the ones who handled the punishments. There was no way Paige would listen to me, and it’s not like I could be calling our parents every day for help. 

As much as my irresponsible sister often felt like my responsibility, this was also my summer. Maybe it would be better if we just stayed out of the other’s way, and coexisted to the best of our ability. My friends could have the main floor, and she could have the furnished attic, or vice versa. I could always keep a journal of anything inappropriate she did in our parents’ absence, and report the notable ones when they got back. 

Of course, it was difficult to ignore Paige when she was already messing with my plans on the first day of summer break. 

It took three back to back phone calls to get her to pick up, and she didn’t answer the last one until the fifth ring or so. “What’s up, Alyssa?” she asked, “Are you dying or something?”

“No. Paige, you said you’d pick me up at four. It’s nearly 4:20.” Unfortunately, we only had one car between the two of us, and it had gradually defaulted to being ‘hers.’ I had so many after school activities that I usually got a ride from a friend. The more I didn’t drive our car, the more ownership Paige felt, which made things frustrating when I eventually did need it. Like after my ballet class, where I didn’t really know any of the other girls that well. I offered to drop my sister off at home first, but she insisted that it would be easier for her to drive and swing by the studio on the way back to the house. Except, as expected, she clearly didn’t keep track of time, and now I was stranded without a ride. 

“Ooh, 4:20?” she giggled, “That means it’s time for something else. Sorry, you’ll have to wait a little longer. Actually, why don’t you just get someone else to drive you? I’m comfortable, and I really don't want to put a bra back on.”

“Paige, I’m the last one here! Come on, it’ll just take a minute.”

“Hmm, let me think. How about . . . No. You can walk.”

“What? No! Paige, it’s hot, and-”

“Tough, little sis. Use the time to think about how you should stop being a stuck-up brat and an obnoxious tattletale. Bye, Alyssa!”

“Wait-”

Before I could get past the first word, I heard the low *beep* of her ending the call. Groaning in frustration, I re-dialed twice to no avail. After sending a very pointed text that included a threat to get our parents involved, I leaned against the nearest wall and scrolled through my contacts to see if there was anyone I could think of that might be both free at the moment and close enough to the studio. Aside from it being hot, I was also going to tell Paige that it would be about an hour’s walk back to the house. Thankfully, I had shorts and a tank top to wear over my leotard, but I’d still rather avoid such a long commute.

And yet, that’s what I ended up doing. I figured it made more sense, as otherwise I would potentially spend even more time in the sun calling various friends and waiting for them to get their shoes on and drive over. 

Paige’s parting words echoed in my head as I began the walk. That attitude towards me was exactly why there was no way I’d ever succeed in getting her to listen to anything I said. My driver’s license said that I was five feet tall, but the truth was that I hadn’t even made it that far yet. Standing at a painfully under average 4’11 and ¾, pulling off ‘intimidating’ was an impossible task, especially against my sister who seemed to grow another inch every year. Even when I wore heels and she was barefoot, Paige towered over me. Her body was a lot more womanly as well, while I was stuck looking like a tween who had barely started developing. It was fine at school, as my nice outfits worked wonders in offsetting my unfortunately tiny body, but ballet was a prime example of times when I had a lot less going for me. In just a leotard and with pinned up hair, I was constantly mistaken for one of the younger girls any time the studio hired a new teacher or assistant. And, while my classmates respected me and didn’t care about my size, the same couldn’t be said for my sister. She was only a month older than me, but acted like it was years thanks to the way she looked in comparison. 

Silver lining, there were advantages to being a small dancer. So far, that was about the only perk I had been able to find as the shortest person I knew. 

Little did I know, however, that my size was about to work against me in a way I never would have imagined. 

Part Two

By the time I got home, I was in no mood to deal with Paige.

While I had cooled off mentally, the same couldn’t be said about my body. It’s not like I could just wear my leotard and nothing else in public, and the ballet studio had already been locked by the time I realized I was stranded with no ride. Stripping down naked outside obviously wasn’t an option, so I had to put on my street clothes over the leotard and suffer through the summer heat. There was some shade to be found here and there, but two miles was still two miles. 

My sister’s door was open upstairs, but I didn’t bother. She would just dismissively wave off my complaints, and my time was better spent taking a shower and maybe grabbing the keys so I could head to my friend’s place earlier than planned before Paige could claim the car for herself again. Ugh, except she probably had the car keys in her purse or somewhere else in her room. Demanding them would start an argument, and politely asking for them would just reinforce the idea that it was HER car, rather than ours. 

I hadn’t even gotten fully undressed when yet another inconvenience added to the day’s seemingly never ending list. The doorbell rang. “Paige!” I exclaimed. There was no way I was about to open the front door in just a leotard; plus not even the pins in my hair had kept my red locks from getting a little sweaty from the long, hot walk. “Can you get that?” I instantly winced in regret. Why had I asked? That never worked with her.

“Get it yourself, ‘Lyssa!” she called back. Even with my bedroom door muffling her voice a bit, it was easy to make out the usual presumptuous tone. I was the responsible sister, which meant she could be lazy and assume I’d do stuff like this. “It’s probably some scam artist, anyway.”

Probably. When you weren’t actively waiting on something or someone to arrive, it was almost always some salesman trying to pitch something and wasting twenty minutes of your life despite the constant ‘no, thank you’s’ said again and again. 

But Paige and I were in charge of the house for the next eight weeks. What if it was actually something important?

Another ring of the doorbell caused me to groan in frustration. “Paige, come on!” I exclaimed. Swinging my door open so she could hear me more clearly, I said, “I’m not dressed. Just get the door, okay?”

“Then put some clothes on! It’s not like you have anything to hide, anyway.”

“PAIGE.”

A third ring. 

“I’m comfy, sis. And I’m still not wearing a bra,” she said, not even making the effort to turn her music down, “Seriously, it’s fine. They’ll go away eventually.”

Another ring.

“COMING!!!” I yelled. My earlier frustrations with Paige were starting to resurface now that she was being as unhelpful as ever, and the time between the doorbell button being pushed was getting shorter and shorter. The same could be said about my temper. Storming down the hall, unfairly projecting my annoyance at my sister towards the impatient person at our front door, I practically had to bite my tongue to keep from loudly swearing in response to the fifth doorbell ring. 

Why did I always have to do everything in this house?!

Fantasy Alyssa would yank the door open and scream ‘WHAT?!’ to the person on the other side. The real version of myself, however, simply took a breath before placing her hand on the doorknob. I just hadn’t had a chance to vent about the unfair walk home to my best friend yet, which was why I was so pent up. The only way I survived life with my step-sister was by bitching about her to whoever would listen, since aiming my anger directly towards Paige just caused her to giggle and pat me on the head. 

Opening the door before a sixth ring cut through the house, I found myself face to face with a tall brunette girl. Maybe in college, if I had to guess. “Can I help you?” I asked. She had a backpack and a duffel bag with her, rather than a clipboard. That was a good sign. 

“You must be Miley.” Without waiting for an invitation, she stepped past me and into the house. “About time. It’s rude to keep people waiting.”

“Umm.” The last thing I expected was a girl with a more patronizing tone than Paige. Also, what the fuck? This wasn’t her house; she couldn’t just waltz in like she owned the place. “No. I’m Alyssa. Who are you, exactly?”

“Nice try, Miley. I heard about that trick already. What, was it babysitter number three who circled the neighborhood for an hour after being sent away with fake directions?” Her duffel bag landed with a heavy thump on the wooden floor below, and she placed a hand on her hip. “I’m Noelle. And if it saves us a little time, I’m not an idiot. So, let’s try this again. You must be Miley.”

After a long moment of silent confusion, things clicked into place. Miley. The thirteen year old brat who lived down the street. 

The embarrassing part was, I wasn’t even insulted that I was being mistaken for a girl her age. It happened enough at the studio, so of course the same thing was happening right now when I was only wearing my leotard. “No.” Rolling my eyes, I explained, “Miley lives three doors down. I can show you her house, if you want.”

“Right. So you can sneak off or run away? No, thanks. I already had my exercise today, although I’m not below chasing you down if I have to.”

I just sighed. “You’re not listening. Look. Noelle, was it? I’m not Miley; I’m her neighbor. Call her parents if you don’t believe me.”

“Hmm,” Noelle looked me up and down with a confident smirk, “Pass. I’d rather just deal with you myself.”

Part Three

Noelle was barely a year or two older than me, but her height made her all kinds of daunting as she looked at me like I was actually troublesome little Miley. 

This was not good. In just my ballet leotard, I knew I looked nothing like my more put together self, especially since I hadn’t had the chance to shower after a grueling lesson and an annoyingly long walk. Normally, I’d just flash my school ID or driver’s license and that would be the end of it. All those things were upstairs, however, since I had rushed down here to answer the door. And the distrustful brunette before me didn’t seem like she was the type to give me the chance anyway. 

“Noelle,” I said, choosing my words carefully. She was a babysitter, and clearly Miley’s track record wasn’t doing me any favors during this mixup. One wrong move, and I was screwed without proof of who I really was. “Follow me to my bedroom?” I suggested, “There are a thousand things in there that will prove that I’m not Miley.”

She gave me a long look. Studying me, if I had to guess, to see if I was telling the truth. The secondhand Miley stories I had heard painted enough of a picture–thirteen year old girl with some serious manipulative tendencies–but I didn’t know their family nearly enough to know the details. Just that the girl probably pouted when she was in trouble and was adept at playing innocent and lying through her teeth, like any tween who had figured out how to game the system at a young age. 

So I wouldn’t do that. I would present cold, hard facts. 

“Hmm,” Noelle mused, “Okay. We’ll see your room and then I’ll call your parents. Lead the way, ‘Alyssa.’”

The air quotes tempted me to snap something back at her. This day had already been long enough; this was the last thing that I needed. But if Noelle refused to literally walk three doors down to verify the truth, then this was the second best option. “Follow me,” I said. Heading back up the way I had come down a minute ago, this time with an unwanted guest just a few paces behind me, I didn’t even pause to check that she was still behind me when I reached the top of the stairs. If the IDs weren’t enough, senior year was recent enough that I still had all my binders full of assignments. As elaborate as Miley’s schemes might be, there’s no way she could pull off something like that. 

And, of course, her parents would clear things up now that I had gotten Noelle to agree to make the call. 

When I was a few feet from my door, however, she called from behind me, “Miley, wait.” I turned around on reflex, silently cursing myself for responding to my not-name simply due to how Noelle’s voice pierced the silence. Rather than continuing to address me, she was looking through Paige’s open door. “Hello?”

“Umm, hey,” Paige said. I couldn’t quite see her around the corner, especially with Noelle in the way, but it was easy enough to picture her expression. While Paige brought over her friends unannounced all the time, she was never a fan of when I did the same. “You’re new.”

“Well, yeah. The last few barely lasted a single day,” Noelle replied, “No one told me Miley had a sister.” 

“That’s because Miley doesn’t have a sister,” I spoke up, “She’s an only child. Unlike me.” Well, kind of. Technically, I was an only child, even if I legally had a sister at this point. 

“Sorry, what’s going on?” Paige asked.

Sighing, I abandoned the beeline I had been making for my bedroom and slipped past Noelle to take a few steps into Paige’s room. “Miley’s parents hired her,” I explained, “And she got the wrong address. End of story.”

An almost imperceptible smile appeared on Paige’s face, but it vanished just as quickly. The only reason I caught it was because I was used to her antics and all the knowing smirks and glances she gave me when getting away with little jabs that were ‘innocent’ on the surface that had patronizing double meanings meant just for me. Because size insults are SO original. 

“Miley, we’ve been over this,” Paige said, “You can make up whatever little stories you want, but don’t expect me to corroborate them. Big word, sorry. I’m not going to lie for you, sis!”

Mouth gaping in shock at my sister’s reply–especially what she called me–it took me a moment to collect myself enough to find the words. “Paige, stop fucking around!” I exclaimed, “Tell her who I really am. Who we really are.”

“I just did, Miley. You’re the one Noelle is here for, and your older sister. Oh, and watch your language.” She turned to Noelle. “I’m sorry if you weren’t expecting me. I’ll be coming and going, so just pretend I’m not even here. Did our parents cover you for food?”

“I’m all set, thanks,” Noelle said, “Through Sunday evening, at least.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Hadn’t my brat of a sister screwed with my day enough?! Rolling my eyes and focusing my attention on the babysitter that seemed to be fully back to the assumption that I was actually the girl she was hired to watch, I went back to the original plan. “She’s lying, Noelle. Come on, let’s go to my room. I’ll show you.”

At that, Paige hopped up from her gaming chair. “Nice try, Miley!” she said, “You know what Mom said. No more spending all day in your room. You’re not allowed in there until after you brush your teeth tonight, remember?” 

Oh, my God! She knew I had proof in there, and she was trying to prevent it!!! “Paige-”

“Miley.” How many times had she called me that in a matter of seconds? It was so obvious what she was doing. “How about you tell Noelle who you really are? If you can be honest, for once in your life, maybe she’ll make an exception for you.”

Of course, that one noncommittal word made me skeptical.

‘Maybe . . .’

Part Four

“This is bullshit.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. The better play was to present myself as the more mature sister, which I easily was in comparison to Paige. I had better grades, was more sophisticated, and overall was just the more responsible girl. But she got under my skin so easily, and this was no exception. “Noelle, my sister thinks it’s funny to tease me about my size. The truth is, we’re the same age, and-”

“Ha!” Noelle let out a single bark of laughter. She covered her mouth in an instant, no doubt to get herself back into at least some semblance of ‘serious babysitter’ mode. Still, an amused smile remained present when she lowered her hand and looked me over, “You know, I almost believed you when you said you were a different girl. But come on, Miley. How can you expect anyone to believe you’re as old as- Paige, was it?”

“Mm hmm,” my sister hummed. There were traces of a smile on her own face, but for much different reasons. “You do realize I’m eighteen, don’t you, sis? Seriously. You’re not going to look even close to this mature for at least a few more years,” she said, gesturing to her body. “Maybe you could pull off ‘fifteen’ with a makeover and major attitude adjustment, or . . . you could just act your own age, for once, instead of screwing with everybody?”

“PAIGE.” I could not believe her. She knew how old Miley was, obviously, so she was just making me sound like the middle school girl Noelle was supposed to be in charge of by referencing what most of the neighborhood knew about the lying brat who lived a few doors down. And, unlike the usual instances where my ballet leotard made me look more youthful, there was no one else around to help with the misunderstanding. “Stop! I’m not-”

“That’s enough, Miley.” Neolle’s sharp tone was even more biting than her scoffing laugh, and she took a step towards me. “You’ve tried enough of my patience. This is your first and last warning–are you going to behave, or do you want to find out why your parents hired me?”

“I’m not Miley! I’m ALYSSA.” Unfortunately, Miley’s babysitter was blocking the path out of Paige’s room. If I could just get back to my own space, get my driver’s license . . . However, I distinctly remembered Noelle making a point to say she wouldn’t mind chasing. If she really did think I was Miley, would she pursue me if it seemed like I was merely trying to run away? Because my license was in my clutch, nestled in an inner pocket of my backpack. It would take a minute to retrieve. “Just-” Pausing to take a heavy breath, and having enough clarity through my frustration to take the more mature and diplomatic approach, I looked Noelle dead in the eyes. “I can prove it. In my room.”

With a sigh of her own, Noelle calmly asked, “What’s your name?”

Of all the-

Resisting the urge to groan, I repeated myself. “Alyssa.”

Noelle glanced towards my sister. “I’m sorry to be doing this in your room,” she said, “You may leave, if you wish. I imagine this won’t take long.” Then, out of nowhere, she lunged forward and grabbed my ear.

The flicker of shock was nothing compared to the unexpected pain and pressure that came as she began dragging me by such a sensitive part of my body. Wincing and stumbling forward to avoid the feeling getting worse, I found her other hand gripping my arm and slightly digging her nails into my skin as a secondary measure to get me moving. “Ow! OW.” I yelped and cried as I more or less had no choice but to let the girl manhandle me; any bit of resistance seemed to cause more in both spots. “Noelle!!!” I shrieked, simultaneously horrified and stunned that I was being treated in such a way. “Oh my God! Noelle, STOP.”

And then we were falling. Both of us. 

For a second, I thought it was because my squirming had somehow knocked her off balance. I braced myself for a rough landing; the light carpet in Paige’s room wouldn’t do much to soften a fall onto the otherwise hardwood floor. Instead, we landed on my sister’s bed. Well, that’s where Noelle ended up. I, on the other hand, fell right onto her lap into a position she had no doubt aimed for. 

Gasping as I realized what she planned on doing to me, I immediately scrambled to get off her legs, only to be scooped back into place by one of her hands and set into an even more vulnerable spot the second time around as she adjusted both of us on the bed. “Miley, you’ve used up all of your warnings. Both with your parents, and with me.” While one strong arm firmly held me in place despite my efforts to get away, her other hand yanked upwards on the lower half of my leotard. 

“Noelle, don’t!!” I begged. This was not happening to me! Eyes widening as the leotard dug into my backside and simultaneously shifted uncomfortably against my most private area, my mind began racing. I was eighteen years old!! Way too old to be spanked. Especially by a girl practically my age. And for this to transpire while Paige got a front row seat to the whole thing? I would never, EVER live this down. 

“What’s your name?” Noelle growled. In response to another round of my struggling, she hoisted me back into position on her legs and hugged me against her torso. She wedgied the fabric hard enough that I could feel it more or less disappear between my cheeks, could feel the hint of Paige’s bedroom air on my all but bare ass. 

I couldn’t give into the intimidation. Lying would only make this all worse. “I’m Alyssa!” I insisted. A high school graduate. Not some notorious troublemaking tween. 

“Wrong answer.” Noelle said.

And then her hand cracked down onto my backside.

Part Five

I had been SO sure that it was a bluff. 

In modern society, physically punishing kids was becoming more and more frowned upon every year. And even then, wouldn’t that be something a parent did to their own child, rather than telling a babysitter to do so? I wouldn’t know. Not only had our parents been in the camp that corporal punishment wasn’t a technique they wanted to use, but I also didn’t really get in trouble growing up. Not seriously, at least, aside from maybe not wanting to do a chore or two in my younger days. 

Then again, Miley did deserve something like this. In retrospect, Noelle had hinted as much. That there was a reason she had been hired. It wasn’t that difficult to put the pieces together now that it was playing out. 

My whole body jolted forward from the force of the blow. Oh my God, that HURT. Not only did Noelle follow through on something that I expected to be an empty threat, but she was clearly aiming for a degree of pain on top of the emotional side of things that came with being bent over someone’s knee. Before I could fully process the first spank, her hand cracked down again on my opposite cheek. 

I sharply gasped. “Noelle, stop!” Belatedly finding my voice, I attempted to squirm out of her grip and off her lap. This was not happening to me! It was the same thought as the one I had a few moments ago, but heightened now that my backside had just been assaulted twice in the most mortifying way.

My efforts were completely fruitless. That strong arm of hers kept me more or less pinned in place, though she made sure to give me a few jostling pulls anyway as a nonverbal warning to stay. At the same time, her other hand gave another sharp tug to the back of my leotard. I could only mewl in protest as it dug farther between my cheeks and uncomfortably rubbed at my most private area. My face flushed, no doubt turning crimson from a combination of the fact that I was just spanked for the first time in my life, the meek sound that escaped my lips, and the knowledge that Paige was sitting across the room just out of my sightlines to witness my humiliation. 

“No.” Noelle’s voice was calm and quiet, but had a stern dominance behind it. CRACK. THWAP. SMACK. WHAP. She alternated cheeks, striking as hard as she could each time. At least, that’s what it felt like from my perspective. “That’s six, Miley, and we’re going to thirty. Each time you complain or lie to me, you’ll be adding ten to the count.”

Ignoring her, I called out to my sister. Clearly, imploring our neighbor’s babysitter to stop wasn’t going to work. “Paige, tell her the truth!” I begged. Paige was a lot most days, but this was going too. There was no way she orchestrated this, because she was more the impulsive type than a girl who planned. Playing along with the mistake that clearly brought her amusement, however? That fitted her impulsiveness to a T.

“Miley, seriously,” Paige sighed, “Enough. No one’s buying it.”

Ugh, that wasn’t helping! Every time my step-sister called me ‘Miley,’ she was confirming that Noelle had arrived at the right house. “Paige! You-AH!!” My attempt to snap back at her was cut off by an embarrassingly shrill yelp brought on by another harsh slap to my mostly bare ass. Before I could decide whether to speak up in my defense again or not, the following spank caused another girly cry. Apparently parting my lips made it next to impossible to hold back a verbal reaction. My body might have been strong from ballet, but my ass was quite sensitive due to never being hit in such a way before. Not wanting this to be even more of a show for Paige, whose smirk I could practically hear in her voice despite not being able to see her expression, I quickly clamped my lips shut before the next blow. 

Noelle sighed as well. “We’re going to count that as a lie, Miley. Eight down, thirty-two to go. Now, please hold still and don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Then she got started for real. 

WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK. WHACK.

Six on each cheek; twelve total. Even after attempting to brace myself this time around, my petite body still ended up slightly jolting with each spank. I couldn’t help but make a few squeaks and muted whines along the way, which added to the audible embarrassment of the sounds of Noelle’s hand slapping my bared cheeks. Still, I managed to keep my lips tightened together the entire time to keep myself from making any louder noises as the stinging got worse and worse. 

Including the first eight, we were at twenty. The brunette babysitter paused there while I caught my breath and tried to will away the eyewater that was naturally forming despite my best efforts to keep it away. “Would you like to tell me your real name, now?” Noelle asked.

No. I didn’t want to. ‘Alyssa’ would be a lie in Noelle’s eyes, which would increase the number of spankings. And ‘Miley’ would be affirming that this was not the mortifying misunderstanding that it actually was. Since neither name would end well, I simply shook my head ‘no.’ 

“Shame,” she simply said. 

I could see her raising her hand for the next spank, as I had shifted my head during the break so I could at least glance at the young woman doing this to me. So she could hopefully see a flicker of maturity in my eyes and realize I wasn’t actually some difficult middle school girl, but honestly more so I wasn’t stuck staring at Paige’s sheets and carpet and nothing else throughout this ordeal. Maybe it was the visual of Noelle’s wind-up, or because my lower cheeks were stinging and more vulnerable after the first round, but pain seemed to course through my entire body when her hand crashed into my backside. 

“Okay! I’m Miley!!” I cried out.

Part Six

WHAP.

I gasped in shock when Noelle landed another spank on the opposite cheek. It stung more than any of the others, due to the fact that I didn’t expect her to hit me again. “Noelle, stop!” I exclaimed. “I said I’m Miley!” 

That had been the whole point of ‘confessing’ that I was our bratty thirteen year old neighbor. So I wouldn’t have to suffer any more over Noelle’s lap. This was a nightmare for so many reasons. The pain itself was pretty bad, as I had literally never been spanked before and Noelle didn’t seem to be pulling her punches. Then there was the personal embarrassment, as this was the furthest anyone had ever gone after mistaking me for a younger girl. Worst of all, however, was the fact that my step-sister was watching and making zero effort to help. So far, she had only done the opposite. 

“I heard you,” Noelle calmly said. WHACK. The intensity of the spank didn’t match her tone in the slightest. My renewed attempts to squirm off her lap and avoid more punishments that I didn’t deserve were met with a barrage of slaps all on the same cheek. “Hold still, Miley!” 

For a moment, I tried even harder to escape. My right cheek was on fire and Noelle was still spanking it without any sign of letting up. “Stop! Oh my God, STOP.” I writhed over her legs, not thinking about the fact that my pleas might come across as whining and my movements were objectively immature. My protests fell on deaf ears as Miley’s babysitter continued believing she had the right girl, and the toned brunette was more than capable of holding me in place with just one arm.

Eventually, I gave in. It was so counterintuitive when my reflex was to get away. However, it was pretty clear that my way wasn’t getting me anywhere. So, against my instincts, I went completely limp on her lap. 

“There.” WHAP. “Was that so hard, Miley?”

Squeaking from the harsh spank that punctuated the dozens of faster ones on the cheek she hadn’t left alone in quite some time, I meekly shook my head. I was scared that my voice would crack if I tried to speak, as I was still doing everything in my power not to cry. One or two tears had naturally escaped from the nonstop spanking, but I refused to let what was left of my dignity take another hit. 

In fact, Paige had never seen me cry. Like, ever. Thanks to my size, I refused to show weakness around most people. 

Noelle didn’t seem to have a problem breaking me of that. “Now, I need to even you out,” she said, “I’m going to do the same to the other side, okay? Then we can be done.”

Wait, what? I immediately tensed up at the implication. “Noelle-” I began, my voice about as weak as I expected.

She barely let me get that far. “Hold still. Behave.” Cutting me off, she gave a quick spank to the not so sore cheek. “Can you manage that, Miley?”

I wanted so badly to argue. To find a way off the girl’s lap and back to my room. To avoid yet another round of spankings to my mostly exposed ass. Instead, I nodded. As long as she thought I was Miley, there would be no mature conversations to be found. Especially not with my sister right there to dismiss my truths. As painful as it was, and as painful as it was going to be, I knew that allowing myself to be spanked was the only way to move on. All I needed was my driver’s license, and the only way to get that was to be free of Noelle’s lap. 

“Good.” Noelle adjusted my body from my former attempt to escape. “For your information, Miley, it’s your own fault that I’m here. I only get hired when parents are desperate.” SMACK. “Because most babysitters would get in trouble for punishing difficult little girls like this.” WHAP. “Even if they do deserve it.”

Blushing as a tiny yelp escaped my lips, I focused most of my attention on staying still when every spank made me want to do the opposite. There was more to come, too. She hadn’t gotten to the nonstop barrage my other cheek had already taken. 

Resting her hand on my less sore side, she explained things a little more for me. For Paige, too, as Noelle clearly wasn’t aware that Miley didn’t really have a sister. Apparently, Noelle specialized in doing whatever it took to teach girls how to behave when parents didn’t know where else to turn. She made the point that it didn’t matter that she was telling me exactly why she was here; that’s how confident she was in her abilities. In terms of corporal punishment, there were all kinds of waivers and permissions that ‘my parents’ had signed. Noelle was within her rights to discipline me however she wanted, save for the methods that had been marked as unacceptable by Miley’s parents. 

“Not that I’ll share that list with you, of course.” Noelle said, “But spanking? Very much allowed. And, if you behave from here on out, you won’t have to find out what else your parents signed off on.”

The whole situation had already been wildly unfair and humiliating. But this newest revelation? FUCK. I was being punished by Miley’s ‘last resort’ babysitter, when I wasn’t actually the girl who had scared off the rest of them. And for the time being, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Admitting that I was ‘Miley’ didn’t seem to be helping my case, either. Noelle seemed determined to put me in my place. Trying to backpedal now would only take away whatever grace I had earned with my submission.

“Now, what was your name again? Alyssa?”

Yes. Alyssa, the eighteen year old ballerina. 

“N-no,” I muttered, “It’s Miley . . .” The thirteen year old brat.

Part Seven

“See? If you had just started with that, this whole thing could have been avoided.” Noelle’s words were reminiscent of pretty much any authority figure who was chastising someone after catching them in a lie. Not that I was the type to ever get in trouble. And yet here I was, getting punished despite being the total opposite of the girl who actually deserved this.

WHACK.

It didn’t matter that the cheek she had shifted to had suffered a lot less in comparison. Her slap still felt aggressively hard, and I couldn’t hold back yet another squeak of pain and surprise. And that was just the beginning. 

After a reminder to hold still and hush, Noelle began spanking me for real. Like the previous cheek, the first few were just as hard as the one she had started with. I was only able to keep so quiet and so still, because it truly was impossible to do either of those things. She probably knew that, which is why the blows kept coming despite my little yelps and twitches. 

The rough slaps quickly morphed into a more swift spanking that I had already suffered through on the other side. Then, I had begged for her to stop. Now, I knew that such protests would fall on completely deaf ears. For the time being, I was Miley and nothing would change her mind. So I bit my tongue and swallowed my pride, trying to limit my reactions to both end this as quickly as possible, as well as keep Paige from enjoying this more than she already surely was. 

By the end of the unfair assault on my undefended backside, my eyewater had given way to a few more natural tears. I wasn’t actually crying, as I was still being too stubborn for that despite the stinging pain, but I was nervous it would look like that anyway. “So, for the last time,” Noelle said. WHAP. Her hand crashed down on the cheek that hadn’t been slapped for a while, causing an embarrassing little squeal to escape my lips from the surprise. “What’s your name?”

“Miley!” I exclaimed right away. My voice slightly cracked, causing me to blush as red as my lower cheeks no doubt had gotten. “I’m Miley,” I echoed, in case the first answer wasn’t clear enough. 

SMACK. She alternated to the other one. “And you’re going to behave?”

“YES.” I shifted slightly in discomfort, belatedly reminding myself that I wasn’t supposed to move. Wincing for a spank that I anticipated would come from breaking the rules, I hastily said, “Sorry. Yes, I’m going to behave . . . ”

“I hope so,” Noelle said. She placed her hand on one of my still stinging cheeks, silently reminding me and threatening that she could start up again at any moment, “Believe it or not, Miley, I don’t like punishing disrespectful little brats. But I am good at it. We can still have a nice weekend, and you can make my job easy. It’s all up to you. WHACK. “Do you understand?”

“Ah!!” It had been enough of a break that I wasn’t ready to keep my voice in check. The short, high pitched cry brought on an even darker blush, and I quickly said, “I understand,” before she decided to mirror the smack on the other side. 

“Good. And you’re going to act like a proper girl from now on? You’re going to do as you’re told?”

“Yes!” I said, right away. Anything to avoid more spankings. 

I was still holding onto the hope that I would get a chance to escape to my room once I was off her lap. It was the same plan as before. My driver’s license had my name and my real age, plus ‘Alyssa’ was plastered on pretty much everything I owned that was school related. But first, I had to somehow get through both Noelle and Paige. Not the easiest task, when my sister very much knew who I was and had already made a play to keep me out of my bedroom once she discovered the mix-up with Miley’s sitter. Based on Paige’s reaction alone, it was clear that this wasn’t some devious scheme of hers. Either Miley had done some bullshit, or I was the most unlucky girl in the world and Noelle had actually come to the exact wrong house with another redhead teenager present. 

Noelle lifted her hand, and I winced in anticipation of yet another harsh slap. Instead, she simply said, “Then do as you’re told, Miley. Get up, go apologize to your sister for being difficult, and then go stand in the corner until I give you permission to move.”

A few minutes ago, I would have scoffed at such a directive. No one talked to me like that. But I was honestly a little scared of Noelle at this point, at least for as long as she believed that I was Miley. And I didn’t need to be told twice to get off her lap. Adjusting my weight and working my way off her lap with absolutely no help from the assertive brunette, I cringed a bit at the lack of grace I knew I had while standing myself up. As a ballet girl, I cared a lot about posture and carrying myself properly, and could only imagine the image I was giving both my sister and my ‘babysitter’ at the moment. 

As badly as I wanted to remove the wedgied leotard from between my cheeks, or maybe rub my sore backside as it still stung and burned a bit post-spanking, I instead worked to prove that I was the kind of girl who did as I was told. The whole experience was mortifying. I WAS a proper girl. But even when behaving and doing what Noelle told me to do, it didn’t feel like that in the slightest. 

It was the definition of a lose/lose, and had been for quite some time. Be myself, get punished. Be Miley, get treated like Miley. 

If I were the only one here, it would be one thing. I mean, it would still be humiliating to be mistaken for a middle school girl to the point where I wasn’t even offered the chance to prove otherwise. But at least that would be humiliating on a personal level. With Paige here, however? I had blurred out her existence for quite some time, as the spanking had been painful and degrading enough that I hadn’t been able to think of much else beyond enduring the awful ordeal. But now? I was face to face with my step-sister, and it wasn’t until I saw the look on her face that it truly sunk in that she had been watching the whole time. 

Paige was enough of an actress that wasn’t outright smirking at me, but the knowing smile was telling enough. To Noelle, it would look like a sister enjoying the fact that her terror of a sibling was finally getting what she deserved. To me, her expression was something else entirely. She was loving every fucking second of this, and there wasn’t a thing I could do now that she had falsely corroborated Noelle’s assumptions about me. 

I honestly couldn’t bring myself to say a damn thing. Apologize? Paige was the selfish one. The immature slacker. And I was supposed to say what, exactly? I was about to simply echo the words Noelle had prompted me with, but Paige got there first. 

“Something to say, Miley?” she asked.

Part Eight

I wanted to slap Paige across the face. 

This whole thing could have been avoided if she had simply backed me up to Noelle. Instead, I had been absolutely humiliated with that spanking and I was still stuck as ‘Miley.’ If anything, Paige should have been apologizing to me. Or at least coming clean about everything and putting an end to a misunderstanding that had gone way too far. Instead, she was being as smug as possible without tipping Noelle off. 

The only thing that I had going for me was that I was facing away from Miley’s babysitter at the moment. I knew begging with my eyes wouldn’t do anything but give Paige more satisfaction at my current predicament. Rather than seeking help that she clearly wasn’t interested in giving, I scowled and narrowed my eyes at her. A silent threat. While she never took me seriously, there were still our parents to consider. Letting me get treated like this? I couldn’t imagine a way she could spin this like she usually did to get out of trouble. 

However, a hard stare was all I had at my disposal. After letting her patronizing question linger for a few seconds, I begrudgingly said, “I’m sorry for being difficult.” Blunt and emotionless. In the back of my mind, I knew that it was exactly how a younger girl would spit out an apology she was being made to say, but I didn’t care. I had nothing to actually be sorry for. 

I half expected Paige or Noelle to correct me somehow, but my sister merely smiled and said, “Apology accepted, Miley.” 

Then it was Noelle’s turn. “Now go stand in the corner.”

I remembered. Until I had ‘permission to move.’ It was the kind of punishment I had only ever seen in a comic strip once, maybe, but it was surprisingly effective despite the fact that I wasn’t really ‘Miley.’ Once I was there, I realized just how uncomfortable the position was. My leotard was still slightly wedgied between my cheeks, and I really didn’t want Paige seeing my reddened backside. But Noelle had clarified that my hands were to stay by my sides as I walked over, meaning I had no way to cover myself. Additionally, I could hear the two of them quietly talking about me, but was too far away to make out more than the occasional word. The temptation was to glance over my shoulder, especially whenever I heard ‘Miley’ despite it not being my real name, but all I could do was awkwardly stare at the corner of Paige’s room. 

With no sense of time, all I could do was shift my weight from one foot to the other and stand there with my own thoughts and constant embarrassment. Not that it helped. Since I had been sent to the corner, I was even farther away from Paige’s door than I was before. Sprinting to my room and grabbing my driver’s license was still the best plan I could come up with, as it was clear that Noelle wasn’t going to call Miley’s parents and interrupt their trip now that she fully believed that I was her. In order to prove my identity without getting in more trouble first, however, I would have to continue to demean myself until I had an opportunity to slip away. Now was not that moment. 

“Miley?” Noelle said, “Come here, please.” 

I didn’t need to be told twice. Anything to leave the corner and get closer to my goal of showing Noelle that I was really Alyssa. As I turned around and walked back over to the brunette, my heart sank when I saw Paige grinning behind her. Oh no. What the fuck had they been talking about?

“Yes?” I asked. Despite everything, I was trying to keep my head up like the high school graduate that I actually was. 

“I know it’s the first day of summer break for you, but your sister and I think it’s a good idea for you to get a head start on some of your assigned school work. And before you claim that you lost them or something, your parents already sent me all the materials provided by your teachers. I know science is your favorite; we can start with that.”

So not true. Science was hands down my least favorite subject. And, based on the way Paige shot me a wink following that statement, I had to assume she was the one who lied about that rather than Noelle knowing that it was Miley’s preference or whatever. Also, what school work?! I attended the same middle school the brat down the street did, and summer assignments were very much a high school thing. And only for AP classes. 

My sister seemed to effortlessly read the confusion on my face. She piped up before I could figure out what to say. “Hey, at least it’s not summer school. Could’ve been worse, Miles. But seriously, how is it even possible to flunk out of middle school?”

That’s what this was?! I knew Miley had a bad reputation for her age, but Paige was right. At that age, all you had to do was show up and pay attention to and you could probably manage a B. It really wasn’t that difficult. 

Coming to my defense, Noelle said, “Well, she didn’t flunk. She just needs to prove that she’s prepared for Day One of next year’s classes.” 

Paige just shrugged, “Just an expression. Sorry, Miley; my mistake.” Her little smirk made it clear she didn’t mean the apology in the slightest. To be fair, I hadn’t meant mine, but I had a lot more reasons to be pissed at her. 

I didn’t know what to say. It was easy enough to connect the dots. Miley probably did poorly enough in her classes that she was given a bunch of extra work to make sure that she wasn’t behind at the beginning of the following year. A more tame version of summer school. And it very much explained why Paige looked so amused–we had literally just graduated from high school, and now I was basically being told to do make-up work as a middle schooler.  

“Umm, Noelle . . . ” I trailed off. Was now my moment? It didn’t exactly make sense to work on a school assignment while still in my leotard. 

“I think you mean, ‘Yes, Noelle,’” she replied. While at least on my side in terms of not letting my ‘older sister’ tease me, she was very much against me as a whole while she viewed me as the troublesome girl she believed me to be. Crossing her arms, she said, “I don’t want to hear any excuses, young lady. Your education is important, wouldn’t you agree?” 

“Of course,” I nodded, and meant it. Not as Miley, but as Alyssa. “May I shower and change first?” I asked. Polite, but also to the point. “I just got back from ballet, and-”

“I know, I know,” Noelle waved me off, “Your sister told me. As for your shower, that will have to wait until before bed. You’re welcome to change into fresh clothes, but I won’t make an exception about your bedroom. In the meantime, Paige volunteered to find you something to wear.” 

It took a moment to process. Then I realized Noelle was talking about Paige’s little line from earlier. As in, I wasn’t allowed in my room. Until after what? Brushing my teeth before bed? 

From behind Noelle, Paige’s grin widened.

Part Nine

A second later, I realized that my sister’s face wasn’t lighting up due to the fact that she had managed to keep me out of my room for the foreseeable future. It was because she was not only going to be the one to decide what I wore for the rest of the afternoon, but finding me an outfit would mean going into my bedroom without express permission from me first. 

We were both incredibly finicky about our rooms, and the size difference between us paired with the fact that we really didn’t get along meant that there was no reason to borrow clothes from the other or anything else that would require invading the others’ space. On the rare occasion one of us had to disturb the other behind a closed door, it would usually be by text rather than knocking. 

But this? Paige was going to waltz into my room alone, and while I was right there basically allowing her to do so with my silence. No, not my silence. Miley or not, I was still a sister who deserved her privacy. “Paige isn’t allowed in my room,” I said. It was the truth, technically. Although it’s more that we were step-sisters with boundaries, as eighteen was a little old for our parents to enforce something like that. 

Surprisingly, Paige agreed. “That’s true,” she said. Her grin faded to a casual smile when Noelle looked her way, and then Paige went on to focus on Noelle to ask, “Permission for an exception, Noelle?”

“Of course,” Noelle nodded, “We’ll get Miley started on her first science assignment downstairs. She can change up in a few minutes.”

Once again, they were talking about me like I wasn’t even there. And, even worse, Paige had instantly figured out a way around my reply by using Noelle as the authority figure in the room in the absence of our parents. It didn’t take much, obviously, as a high school graduate would be plenty responsible in her ‘younger sister’s’ room. But she and I both knew the truth, and how frustrating and insulting it would be to know that she was making herself at home in there while I literally wasn’t allowed until later. 

Trying one more time to protect my drawers and my closets from the disorganized mess that they would turn into within five minutes of Paige being in there, I said, “I’m actually fine wearing this until later. Really.” Noelle hadn’t seen my room yet, but it was immaculate compared to the teenage mess that Paige’s currently was with all the clutter strewn about. Nothing about it was dirty, per say, but the organized chaos was the exact opposite of how perfect and tidy my space was. I could already see how finding a single outfit would entirely mess up the system I had in place for my clothes, whether Paige was planning on being intentionally careless or not. Although she couldn’t trash my room, as then Noelle would see the malicious efforts and perhaps wouldn’t take my sister at her word as easily. 

Noelle said something in response that I didn’t hear due to how my attention had briefly drifted, to which I blushed and replied with an awkward, “What?” I was too busy overthinking what Paige might be planning, and trying to interpret the little smirk on her face while Miley’s babysitter’s attention was on me. 

“Go down to the kitchen, Miley,” Noelle frowned, crossing her arms, “I won’t ask again.”

She was hardly asking. And as she sternly repeated herself thanks to how I spaced out, Paige made the point to head out into the hall and stand in a way that the only way I was getting to my room was to somehow shove or squirm my way past her. She knew. She knew as well as I did that there were countless things in there that would set this humiliating mess straight, and was now physically making sure I couldn’t get there now that the manipulative bit was out of the way.

Reluctantly, I did as I was told. Noelle was a lot more intimidating now that I knew how easily she could manhandle and spank me. Despite my real age, I had been completely powerless to stop her or even slow her down. I definitely didn’t want to go through that again, especially not with Paige watching like before. In the name of protecting my backside and whatever dignity I had left amidst this mortifying misunderstanding, I left Paige’s room and didn’t give my sister the satisfaction of looking her in the eye as I turned the corner. Knowing her, I’d get whatever smug look she could manage while still playing it cool while Noelle was looking.

I had barely hit the top step on my way downstairs when I heard one of them following me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Noelle was coming with me. As Alyssa, it wasn’t like I was about to run away in a leotard and nothing else. But as Miley, I clearly wasn’t trusted alone. It made sense, of course. The real Miley could easily be capable of fleeing her house and going to a friend’s place to hide out and borrow some clothes while she was at it. I didn’t have that potential luxury. Even if Noelle had opted to stay upstairs with Paige for a moment, I didn’t have any friends my age within walking distance. My only hope would be pounding on a neighbor’s door and getting them to defend me to Noelle.

Actually . . . that wasn’t a terrible backup plan if I was kept from my bedroom. But I’d wait until I at least had something more presentable to wear, and for a moment when Noelle wasn’t poised to catch me before I made it that far. She had mentioned she wasn’t below chasing, after all. 

I entered the kitchen and waited a few seconds for Noelle to join me. She told me to sit at the table and stay put. I was not to get up from my chair until I was given express permission from her. Apparently she was still laying down the law, in terms of putting difficult, rebellious Miley in her place. It really was a lose/lose, like I had thought about a few minutes ago. Doing as I was told made me look like a girl who was behaving for her babysitter. Trying to prove who I really was just made me look more like the deviant thirteen year old she believed me to be; ever since I answered the door, Noelle had assumed that I was lying and trying to trick her. 

The way I sat down wasn’t particularly fast or careless, as my ballerina self aired towards doing movements properly and gracefully in all aspects of life. Additionally, I hoped that my usual posture would separate me from the slouching habits I assumed a teenager like Miley had. However, the tail end of what was mostly a habitual move caused me to slightly jump and flinch when I began putting weight on my backside that I had temporarily forgotten was still a bit sore. 

“That will only get worse with more spankings,” Noelle said. She obviously figured out immediately why my mature descent was undermined by the awkward reaction. “Good thing you’ll be behaving from now on, right?” 

“Right,” I blushed.

Apparently not even something as simple as sitting could be done without further digging the hole I was in. And now I was stuck at the table for as long as Noelle was supervising me.

Part Ten

After sternly reminding me to stay seated at the table, Noelle trusted me alone long enough to retrieve one of her bags from where she had left it in the foyer upon arrival. It was certainly a temptation to dart upstairs in the name of finding something to prove my identity before she could catch me, but my still throbbing backside was enough to give me pause. Not only was there the chance that Miley’s babysitter would catch me before I made it that far, but Paige could certainly slow me down if I ran into her. Especially if she was in my bedroom at the moment, invading my private space with the excuse of finding me an outfit as my ‘older sister.’ 

There was also the lingering idea of just darting out of the house and making a break for our next door neighbor’s place. While Noelle had said she would chase if that happened, I would have a decent head start. It’s not like it was that far. But no, I needed to bide my time. There would be a better moment to steal away, with less risk involved. For now, I was going to keep being a ‘reformed’ Miley. 

Noelle returned with her bag. She sat down across from me, officially closing the potential window of escape I had just been given. Now she was directly watching me, and poised to shut down any attempts of mine to get up. She pulled out a slim binder and a 7th grade science textbook. I couldn’t remember if it was the same one that I used back in middle school. “Start with the first two handouts in the binder,” Noelle said, sliding the small stack of materials across the table, “You may use the book to find any answers you need.” 

And that was that. I was working on Miley’s summer catch-up assignments. A quick skim of the two pages was enough to tell me that the ‘life science’ I would be focusing on was cell structure and function. The title of the handouts parallelled the second chapter of the book, which I ended up needing to open pretty quickly after starting. While I was able to answer maybe a fifth of the questions on sight, there were just too many little terms and details that I had forgotten over the years. Maybe I would have been fine with a multiple choice quiz, with selections that would spark my memory, but every part of the assignment Noelle had given to me required writing in the answers myself. 

I must have been quite the sight to Paige as she strutted into the kitchen. Sitting at the table, poring over a middle school textbook to find the answers I needed to complete the worksheet sitting in front of me. “Here you go, Miles,” she said. Managing to keep a straight face for the most part, save for the same idle smile she had upstairs, she walked over and set down a stack of clothes on the edge of the table. To justify her amused expression, Paige turned to Noelle and said, “Honestly, I’m impressed. None of the other babysitters were able to get Miley to work on her homework.”

Noelle just shrugged. “Sometimes you just need a little negative reinforcement. What do you say to your sister, Miley?”

‘Fuck this.’ Wanting nothing more than to stare down at the pages in front of me, or perhaps crawl into a hole to avoid the continuous embarrassment of being treated like this in my step-sister’s presence, I forced myself to get out the emotionless words. “Thanks, Paige.”

“You’re very welcome, sis!” Paige chirped. Pushing her luck by patting me on the head like she had gotten away with numerous times before all this whenever she could catch me off guard with it, she said, “Now behave for Ms. Noelle, brat. This has been fun, but I have a game to get back to.” 

Fun? For a second, I was surprised she would say such a thing in Noelle’s presence. But then it dawned on me that Paige could very easily pull it off, considering she was my ‘older sister’ and finally seeing me disciplined properly after all the sitters failed to achieve something like this. Besides, our regular dynamic was evidence enough that sisters didn’t have to be particularly cordial to each other all the time. 

“Just ‘Noelle’ is fine,” the brunette said. She didn’t seem bothered by Paige’s casual smugness, but she at least made the effort to correct the name, “Thanks for the clothes, Paige. We’ll be here for a while.”

“Sounds good,” Paige nodded, “Oh! I have a couple friends coming over in a bit. We’ll be in my room or the basement, so hopefully that won’t be an issue.”

“Not a problem. I’m only here to watch Miley. Someone could have mentioned the sister thing, but that’s not your fault.” 

‘Because Miley DOESN’T HAVE A SISTER.’ I tried to tell her as much earlier.

“Sorry about that,” Paige replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll stay out of your way. We’ll probably order pizza or something, so the kitchen is all yours, too. I can order some for you and Miley, if you’d like.”

Of course she was being nice to Noelle. That’s how Paige operated with pretty much every adult, whether it was sucking up to a teacher or painting herself as the older sister to Miley’s college-aged babysitter. I was way more concerned, however, with the fact that Paige’s friends would apparently be here to witness this. We had graduated, so it’s not like this humiliation would affect my reputation or anything, but I still didn’t want her and her obnoxious gamer friends teasing me about this for the rest of summer break. Paige said they’d stay out of our way, but I knew she would somehow arrange for them to see me trapped as ‘Miley.’ 

“I’ll think about it,” Noelle said, “Maybe if she’s good until then. Otherwise we’ll stick with something healthier.” 

I could feel another blush creeping up. They were back to talking about me while I was literally sitting right there, and Noelle was once again treating me like the difficult teenager she viewed me as. And, while I so badly wanted to speak up in my defense, it was yet another example of choosing my battles. For now, I’d have to suck it up and let Paige enjoy more of my situation. 

“Sounds good. I’ll check in when we think about ordering, then. And I’ll make sure my friends know to head right upstairs when they get here. No need to distract Miley, right?”

“Right,” Noelle nodded.

Without another look towards me, Paige sauntered off. Her body language alone was enough to show how content she was with how this was all playing out. 

To Noelle’s credit, she was a decent babysitter in terms of minimizing sister drama. She waited until Paige’s footsteps on the stairs and upstairs hallway had faded before speaking again. “Let’s take a small break,” she said. Gesturing towards the clothes I hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at aside from seeing a blue/white combo, Noelle told me, “You can get dressed now.”

I doubted Paige had picked anything pleasant, but anything would be better than being stuck in a leotard when her friends arrived. So with an awkward, “Okay,” I got up and collected the outfit. 

Sure enough, Noelle felt the need to escort me to the bathroom. Apparently I had a long way to go before earning her trust.

Part Eleven

The real Miley must have done a real number on all her other babysitters. 

This ‘last resort’ sitter certainly wasn’t taking any chances with me. Noelle insisted that I keep the bathroom door cracked a full foot, and that she would be right on the other side listening. If she heard the slightest suspicious noise, like me opening the window to climb out and steal away, she wouldn’t hesitate to invite herself in and stop me from doing so. 

Interestingly enough, I hadn’t even considered that as an option. It wasn’t a bad idea, although now I knew that the brunette was capable of thinking ahead in terms of that stuff. Anything I came up with would have to be clever enough to get away from her long enough for me to do what was necessary to prove my real age and/or identity. For now, however, I was just happy to be out of the leotard I had been wearing for way too long following my ballet class. 

Objectively, the clothes Paige grabbed for me weren’t the worst. The white tank top and blue shorts were familiar enough, considering that she grabbed them from a drawer in my room, although it was pretty clear why she had picked such a combo. While they were comfortable and summer-y, it was also the kind of simple outfit a middle school girl could wear as easily as a high school graduate. My sister had also conveniently seemed to forget to include a bra in the stack. The plain white panties weren’t particularly mature, either, even if they were admittedly probably something I’d wear with this outfit if it wasn’t a particularly eventful day. All in all, the clothes were subtly immature; just enough simplicity to further breathe life into the lie that I was Miley. 

Nervous that Noelle might burst in if I ended up taking too long, I begrudgingly peeled off the leotard and changed into my casual clothes. While the former outfit had sufficiently informed my babysitter about just how petite I was, I almost felt more self conscious about my smaller chest in the tank top. At least I had something form fitting on before, to show that I at least had some curves despite how unimpressive they were compared to most of my peers. The loose tank top, however, made me look painfully flat. And as much as I wanted one of my push-up bras to help a little in that department like usual, I knew that Paige would just bring down a sports bra or something if the choice was hers. Which it would be, considering that I wasn’t allowed in my own room at the moment. 

When I stepped back into the hall, Noelle simply gestured back towards the kitchen and mentioned that my schoolwork might be better now that I was more comfortable. Of course, that ‘comfort’ only went as far as my clothes. I still had my sore backside to contend with as I sat on the hard, wooden chair, as well as the personal discomfort of being mistaken for the unruly teen girl who lived a few doors down from us. 

Though science was easily my worst subject, the assignment as a whole was more tedious than it was complicated. Rather than any critical thinking, all I really had to do was hunt down each answer within the opening chapters of the textbook. The busy work was straightforward enough, and at least Paige wasn’t around at the moment. That peace only lasted for so long, unfortunately. One of her friends arrived, I assumed, unless the front door opening was my sister stepping outside for whatever reason. I braced myself for whoever it was to step into the kitchen and take in the sight the same way Paige had. But Paige had assured Noelle there wouldn’t be any disruptions like that, and she stayed true to her word. The footsteps on the stairs affirmed that her friend was heading right up upon arrival. 

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, I got back to work. In the back of my mind, I knew that Paige’s friends would be seeing me at some point if they were going to be around all night, but I was also clinging to the hope that I’d find a way out of this sooner rather than later. 

When the front door opened a second time, I stupidly assumed that I would be fine just like before. Instead, her friend Violet walked straight to the kitchen instead of up the stairs. “Hey, Miley!” she smiled at me before glancing towards Noelle, “Oh, hey. Are you her tutor or something?”

‘Fuck.’

Obviously Paige had filled her in ahead of time. And I also recognized how well Violet was playing things. Affirming that I was Miley, while also acting somewhat oblivious to who Noelle was. The perfect combination to make it seem like she really was someone who knew me as Paige’s younger sister while also not having all the facts in terms of why there might be a babysitter around when Paige is here as well.

“Or something,” Noelle said. Though she seemed oblivious to the trace of amusement flickering in Violet’s eyes, Noelle at least was taking the same professional approach she did with Paige. “Your friend is upstairs.” 

“Oh, I know,” Violet said, “I was just grabbing some water for the girls. Sorry for the interruption.” She didn’t take it any further than that. Turning her attention right away to the cabinet and then the sink, Paige’s dark haired gamer friend made short work of filling up a few glasses. There were definitely cups and bottles upstairs, as their group would spend hours up in Paige’s room at a time. If anything, they mostly came down for food. But this way, I would be called ‘Miley’ by someone that wasn’t my sister. 

I was facing away from the sink as I worked, but Violet managed to shoot me a knowing look as she carried the full glasses out into the hallway. Noelle was busy with her own laptop, no doubt using the time to take care of her own stuff while she supervised me, so I was the only one that witnessed the potential tell that this wasn’t at all a normal situation. And if Violet already knew about all this before even arriving, I didn’t want to think about what Paige might be telling her friends in person upstairs. 

But, as usual, there was nothing I could do about it. Lightly blushing from the recent encounter with Violet, I tried to focus back on the science worksheet in front of me. Maybe if I knocked out the whole thing and did well with my answers, Noelle would bend the rules and give me a chance to go grab a bra since Paige was busy at the moment. And by grab a bra, I meant to use that as an excuse to go to my room in general. 

For the time being, however, I was stuck at the table. Working on Miley’s summer assignments, and praying that more of Paige’s friends weren’t going to stop by to see for themselves that I literally had a babysitter thanks to how my sister had jumped at the opportunity to fuck me over with this mix-up instead of explaining things to Noelle. 

I could only imagine what Miley was up to right now. Enjoying a house to herself and the freedoms of summer, all while I was the one suffering the consequences of her actions.

Part Twelve

No one else interrupted the homework session that Noelle had seated me down to do, but I counted two more of Paige’s friends arriving by the sounds at the front of the house. Pretty standard for my sister. Not just because it was her core friend group, but also because that was the size of their team for whatever game they played all the time. I didn’t really know anything about it, save for the fact that it was better for them to all be in the same room together when possible. Made sense, considering that was ideal for most things in life when it came to communication.

I had already been outnumbered when it was just Paige and Noelle. The last thing I needed was four other girls leaning into the lie that I was Paige’s troublesome little sister. What I did need was my bedroom. The more I worked on Miley’s summer work, the more I settled on making that my primary goal post. Running off had too many variables, especially the later it got. No one answered the door right away, and it was also Friday. Any number of our neighbors could be away on vacation or out to dinner, and every second counted if Noelle was actively chasing me as if I was a bratty teenager trying to get away from her babysitter. The risk wasn’t worth it.

The kitchen clock was behind me, so I had no idea how long we had been sitting there by the time I finished the last problem on the back side of the worksheet. Noelle set aside whatever she had been working on herself and checked my answers against the answer key she had. My thoughts immediately jumped to how the real Miley would be tempted to steal the answers and breeze through the rest of the assignments. Cleverly cheating, and intentionally going for a passable grade. That’s what girls like her and Paige would do. My sister was smart enough to get away with all kinds of things, but not willing to pair that intelligence with the hard work required to excel in her academic endeavors. 

“Looks good, Miley,” Noelle said. She passed the sheet back to me, then asked, “Do you want to keep going? Or take a break?”

Why did such a simple question feel like a test, or a trap? While the brunette wasn’t malicious like my sister was, she was certainly dead set on handling Miley beyond just keeping her in the house. Attitude adjustment, homework before anything else, and probably a number of other layers I hadn’t pinned down yet. Would it be a mark against me if I obsessed over my room like an immature teenager would? She had already laid out the rules, so maybe it was foolish to hope that I could bend them. Noelle hadn’t shown much of a reaction to my 100% correct assignment, so my fleeting plan to leverage that success no longer felt like the best play. 

“A break would be nice,” I said. One way or another, leaving the table was a good first step. Paige’s friend Violet had already seen me toiling over Miley’s work, and I’d rather avoid any of the other girls getting that visual of me. And, as always, I tried to maintain my proper way of speaking to continue hinting to Noelle that I was older than thirteen. More mature, too. “Paige also forgot to get me a bra.” I had to try. But I wouldn’t outright ask. ‘Take the bait. Please take the bait.’ My sister had company over. Pulling her away from her friends for something so simple? No way. 

Noelle nodded. “Alright, let’s go find you something.”

‘Got you, bitch.’ I didn’t care if she escorted me up there. All I needed was ten seconds in my bedroom to prove that I was actually Alyssa. Trying to contain my excitement, I remained seated until she got up herself. Couldn’t seem too eager. “Thank you,” I replied. Aside from wanting to show her that I wasn’t Miley, I was also serious about needing a bra. 

She had me lead the way, in that same way where it ensured she could keep an eye on me. Since she couldn’t see my face for the moment, I found myself smirking a little as I ascended the stairs. Paige was fucking dead. Obviously Noelle couldn’t spank her or anything like she did with me, but the tall brunette was fierce enough that she could give my step-sister a good tongue lashing in front of all of her friends. But honestly, I was mostly just ready to have my weekend back. 

As we approached my door, Noelle reminded me that this was going to be quick. I was just here to grab a bra, nothing else. Whatever. There was no way she was going to get on my case for slightly straying from my path and, if she did, I’d turn around and show her what I needed to. My graduation robe. My ID. Any number of things with the name ‘Alyssa’ on them. Not even Miley would go so far as to deck her room out with stuff like that in the name of tricking a babysitter. Noelle would have to believe me. 

The moment I stepped inside, however, I could sense that something was wrong. It took me a moment to place it. Then I realized what was off–my photo wall was entirely empty. It was literally just a wall. My jaw actually dropped as I processed the fucking audacity of what was clearly Paige’s handiwork. It would take forever to recreate how it looked before, and . . . “Oh, my God,” I murmured. Because it was more than that. As I started looking around the room, I noticed other things that were missing. 

My backpack. Pretty much everything from my desk. All the framed photos that had been strewn around the room in addition to the ones pinned on the wall. Paige hadn’t just taken the things that would easily identify me as the girl I really was; she had also removed all the images that would point towards my recent high school career. What the actual fuck?! This was too far! This was MY room.

“Something wrong, Miley?” Noelle asked. Since she had never been in here, obviously there was no reason she would think anything had shifted from the way it was before. 

No longer thinking as clearly or as patiently as before, I snapped, “I’m not Miley! And Paige took my fucking stuff.” Storming over to my desk, I yanked open one of the drawers. Empty. All I needed was one document or assignment with my name on it. Unfortunately, my organization was suddenly my enemy. Since I kept pretty much everything in my desk, it had clearly been easy enough for Paige to just grab everything at once. “Ugh!!” Groaning, I crossed the room and opened my closet. 

Not only was my graduation robe gone, but a number of my prettier dresses had been pilfered. Adding insult to injury, there were a few outfit pieces I didn’t even recognize. I wouldn’t be caught dead in such bright colors, and the style/cut of the few tops I noticed right away were the type that a girl Miley’s age would wear to church or a family brunch or something. Did Paige have her friends bring these over? They weren’t mine, and I couldn’t imagine her younger self wearing stuff like this.

Noelle cleared her throat. “Miley. Come here, please.”

Part Thirteen

I was broken out of my appalled and beyond frustrated state by Noelle’s voice. 

My annoyance at both her bossy tone and this latest turn of events threatened to flare out more than it already had, but I managed to keep myself from snapping. The stern brunette’s only crime was refusing to listen to me due to how difficult she had assumed her actual charge was to manage. Paige was the issue here. If she had just kept her fucking mouth shut, I would have already sorted out this misunderstanding with Noelle. Outright bitching about things now would make me look more like Miley than anything else, and the last thing I needed was another spanking. The tone of Noelle’s voice was warning enough. 

Softly exhaling in an attempt to center myself despite how I was still internally furious at my sister, I turned from my closet and walked over to Miley’s babysitter. “Sorry,” I muttered. Trying to get ahead of whatever lecture she was about to throw my way, I tried to explain what was going on without including the part of the story that she wasn’t going to take seriously. “Paige went through my stuff without asking.”

“You do remember she picked out that outfit for you, right?” Noelle pointed out. Of course, she didn’t understand the depth of how Paige had screwed with my room in order to keep Noelle in the dark about my real age. Or, more accurately, to keep me from easily proving it. “More importantly, you really shouldn’t be swearing. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but we’re going to have a problem if it happens again.”

Right. Because I was supposed to be a thirteen year old who needed a serious amount of attitude adjustment. “I didn’t mean to,” I muttered. Right away, I blushed at how immature the reply sounded. It really was getting to the point where nothing I did or said seemed to reflect the fact that I was eighteen. And honestly, I was being honest with my response. I wasn’t normally the type of girl to swear, at least when it came to school, ballet, or my friends. Paige just brought out the worst in me, with all the buttons she seemed to push whether she was trying to or not. 

Going on, Noelle said, “And I thought we were done with this whole ‘Alyssa’ thing. You’re not still trying to tell me that you’re not Miley, are you?”

Well. That’s exactly what I just told her. Hoping it was rhetorical, I tried to be a bit more specific in terms of what my current issue was. “Noelle, look at my desk. Paige literally took everything.” She obviously had been rushing, as it didn’t look like she made much of an effort to replace my stuff with anything else. The immature outfits were the exception, of course, although that made sense. It would have been simple enough for her friends to bring over whatever old clothes they had stuffed in a box in their respective basements, but it’s not like Paige had planned for the weekend to go like this. If I had to guess, she was just doing whatever came to mind that was quick and easy to get away with. Stealing was easier than replacing, for the most part. 

Unfortunately, this was Noelle’s first time in my room. She had no frame of reference, and was also primed upon arrival to take everything ‘Miley’ said with a degree of skepticism. “How do you know it was Paige?” she asked, “It’s the end of the school year. Your parents could have cleared things out for you. Or maybe confiscated whatever you had stashed away in there?”

Ugh, there was no winning with this girl. “It was Paige,” I insisted, “And who would be stupid enough to stash anything right in a desk drawer where anyone could see it?”

“So you’re saying you stash things in other places?” she raised an eyebrow.

“No!” I exclaimed. Blushing a little more at how unintentionally shrill my reply was, I glanced away and muttered, “I swear, it was my sister. She messed with my room.”

“Instead of getting ready for her friends to arrive? Come on, Miley. We came up here for a reason. Grab yourself a bra, and let’s go.”

It was clear my options were getting more limited. With Paige and her friends hanging out in her bedroom, I couldn’t just walk in and start looking for all the things she stole. And that was provided she actually hid my stuff in her room. There were plenty of nooks and crannies in our house where she could have dispersed the more important items that would directly show my real identity. And with Noelle supervising my every move, it’s not like I could start tearing the house apart. Running next door was still questionable as well, until I had enough of a moment to myself and a path that wouldn’t draw her attention too early. 

Honestly, the only worthwhile idea I could think was getting her to call Miley’s parents. Or my parents, maybe. If the rebellious teen down the street needed to be watched all weekend, there was a good chance her parents didn’t want to be disturbed and/or were unavailable to answer the phone. But my parents . . . what were the chances Noelle would assume it was a ploy? For all I knew, Miley could have pulled a similar stunt in the past. Maybe she had a friend or a friend’s older sister who was good at impressions, and said conspirator could sound enough like Miley’s parents over the phone to call a former babysitter off. I knew girls who used tactics like that to ditch school. And with so few options left, I didn’t want to waste one like that unless I was sure it wouldn’t somehow backfire on me. 

For now, I’d have to be content with putting on my best push-up bra. It wouldn’t solve the main issue, but at least Paige and her friends wouldn’t see how flat chested I was without a bit of support. 

I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming. After what she had done to my closet and the rest of my room, I should have braced myself when it came to yet another part of my wardrobe. As I opened the top drawer to pick something out from my decent collection of lingerie, my eyes slightly widened as I took in the sight waiting for me. 

Most of my nice colors and lace numbers had been removed. The only underwear left was white or nude for the most part, with a handful of pinks and purples I had never seen before. Plain panties, with the most basic cut, despite how I normally had a variety of styles. What my sister or her friends did to my underwear, however, paled in comparison to what they did to my bras. 

Every single one had been taken from the drawer and, in their place, was a small stack of training bras. For a few long seconds, I just stared. Was Paige serious right now?!

I didn’t get long to process the additional invasion. Noelle spoke up again. “Stop stalling, Miley. Pick a bra, or you can go without.”

Was it better to not wear one at all? Making a snap decision like that would be a bad idea. So, while internally cursing my sister out, I grabbed the training bra on top of the stack.

Part Fourteen

Just like when I changed before, the only real ‘privacy’ I got was being allowed to change in my bathroom with the door only partially closed. Noelle stood just outside, no doubt poised to stop me from doing whatever Miley might do in this situation. As if I was going to climb out of the second story window and somehow make my way down to the ground before she circled around the other way to cut me off. Maybe the redhead down the street was a good climber, but I was not fond of the idea of jumping from our roof to the nearest tree. And that would be if I could even get out the window before Noelle heard anything suspicious and burst in to keep me from escaping like that.

It wasn’t until I had my shirt off that I noticed a few other things Paige had taken. My make-up was missing, for starters, and there wasn’t an electric object in sight. No hair dryer, or straightener; even the spare phone charger I kept in the bathroom was missing. On that observation . . . where was my phone?! I had been so caught up in the more noticeable ways my room was different thanks to my sister’s handiwork, I hadn’t noticed that she had clearly taken that from where it had been sitting on my desk as well. And now that I was thinking about it, calling a friend over to help with all of this would have been a much better option than trying to run next door or whatever. The missing phone was suddenly more of an annoyance than the way that my private bathroom had been stripped down to something a younger girl would have. Barely more than a toothbrush and toothpaste. Hell, I had more than this when I was Miley’s age.

But it’s not like seeing what she had done to my bathroom changed anything. I was still in there to put on a bra, and the bigger issue was my mistaken identity and the more important things Paige now had in her possession. God, I hadn’t worn a training bra in years. The good news was, it kept my nipples from poking out like they had slightly been doing in the thin, white top. The bad news was, I had never seen such an unflattering undergarment. Whichever one of Paige’s friends had brought over the immature bras hadn’t gotten my size quite right. The training bra was too small and, while the material was soft enough that it wasn’t painful or uncomfortably tight, it flattened my chest down to two little mounds that barely existed.

I was considering bailing on the bra, weighing the pros and cons of actually having boobs but awkwardly showing some nipple vs. looking even more like Paige’s little sister thanks to how I was practically flat as a board, when Noelle called in. “Miley? Almost done?”

Inwardly groaning, I made the snap decision to pull the tank top back on. Less because I thought it was the better call, and more because I didn’t want Noelle barging in while I was topless. While I had changed plenty of times in front of other girls, it wasn’t different when said girl refused to believe that I was actually her peer. Also, my bare boobs weren’t that impressive, either. “Yeah,” I muttered. Giving the nearly empty counter one more annoyed look, I opened the door and stepped back into the bedroom.

“Good,” Noelle nodded, “Let’s go. I haven’t forgotten that you’re not technically allowed in here right now. Is there anything else you need? We won’t be coming back up here until later tonight.”

Was there anything? Trying to keep a straight face, I mentally and physically scoured my room for the smallest shred of evidence that I was actually Alyssa. Something in the closet? In one of the boxes under the bed? If there was, I couldn’t think of it in the short timespan I had after Noelle asked. Old clothes and other things wouldn’t prove anything, and it’s not like I wrote my name on tags or anything. “No,” I muttered, “I’m fine.” Even if there was something I had overlooked, there was a good chance Paige had gotten to it first. Especially if any of her friends helped.

Noelle made the point to close my bedroom door behind us. It’s not like she had the ability to lock me out of my own room or anything, but the simple act of visually sealing it away was disheartening. I was usually on the other side of that door when Paige’s friends were over, usually with my headphones on since they weren’t particularly quiet when they were hanging out. And God forbid I ask her to close her own door or keep things down, because suddenly I was a stick in the mud and trying to ‘ruin their fun.’

I half expected more homework when we returned to the kitchen, but my babysitter had something else in mind. “Your sister has guests over,” she said, “Why don’t we make the kitchen nice for when the pizza arrives?”

Yet again, I realized just how frustrating this whole ‘Miley’ thing was. Under normal circumstances, I would point out that Paige should really be cleaning and preparing for guests herself if she was the one hosting. But it was so easy to see how saying something like that now would make me look like a lazy brat. It really was all a matter of perspective. Pointing out things as Paige’s same aged step-sister wasn’t at all the same as complaining about them as an allegedly difficult younger girl.

Hoping that Noelle didn’t catch my hesitation, I replied, “Sure. I’ll start with the dishwasher.”

The truth was, I honestly didn’t mind cleaning. It was cathartic for me, personally. The issue with this was more the principle of the matter. Doing chores because I was being a responsible girl was different from tidying for my sister when I would normally be holing up in my room. I had learned forever ago that giving her free rein of the house when her friends were over was way less painful than having them filter into the living room when I was clearly there first, for example. But this latest turn of events was swinging things further in the annoying direction. Instead of Paige and company interrupting me and messing with the peace and quiet I preferred, I was about to be a helpful ‘little sister’ for them while they weren’t even present.

Yet.

I hadn’t forgotten about Paige’s offer to include me and Noelle in the pizza order. While it was friendly on the surface, I knew my sister better than that. Since Violet had already called me ‘Miley’ without Paige there to prompt her, I could already assume that all of them knew about the misunderstanding that had snowballed out of control for me thanks to Paige’s meddling. She would have gleefully shared about the way she immediately took advantage of the situation by calling me ‘Miley’ herself, as well as how I had literally been spanked in front of her.

Obviously, Noelle firmly believed that I was actually Miley. But that didn’t mean I needed Paige and every single one of her friends addressing me as such as they helped themselves to pizza.

More importantly, I didn’t want them to see the results of Paige’s handiwork.

If I didn’t fix this soon, things would only get worse for me.

Part Fifteen

The kitchen didn’t take too much work.

Unloading the dishwasher is one of the easier household chores, and Noelle made short work of packing up Miley’s summer assignments while I put the dishes away. While the tall brunette had shown that she could be harsh enough to spank me to keep me in line, she contrasted that by helping me tidy. Clearly not the kind of babysitter who twiddled her thumbs while her charge did all the chores alone. I didn’t know how to feel about that. Obviously the job would go by more quickly with the two of us, but it also meant that she still viewed me as a girl who couldn’t handle very much on her own.

As always, this was going to be an uphill battle. Miley was such an impossible little monster, and there was a very good chance Noelle simply thought that I was playing nice in the attempts to manipulate her. Lose/lose, like usual. Push back, and be seen as a difficult brat. Act mature, and be mistrusted. After all, girls aren’t reformed with a single snap of the fingers. I was intelligent enough to know that a single spanking shouldn’t be enough to turn Miley’s attitude around. It was becoming pretty clear that it would take days to earn the slightest bit of trust from Noelle. The only way to get out of this mess sooner rather than later was with someone else’s help. Maybe even Paige’s, though that wasn’t a pleasant thought. She might be willing, but it would probably cost me the world.

Noelle and I set up a serving station on the counter, complete with plates, napkins, and glasses for anyone who wanted something to drink with their meal. The whole time, I bit my tongue about how dumb the task was. Paige and her friends were the type to eat delivered food right out of the box, and drink out of whatever cans or bottles were in the fridge. While I did enjoy the thought of them actually putting their slices on plates and sharing a meal properly for once, I knew that the price of such a sight would be letting them see me at the same time.

While the casual outfit was objectively fine, there were too many other factors that made me look less like my mature eighteen year old self. My slightly flattened chest, obviously, and then the fact that my hair was pretty unkempt from an intense ballet rehearsal followed by a long walk home in the summer heat. It wasn’t a great look overall, and I probably wouldn’t get a chance to shower until either bedtime or whenever Noelle learned the truth about how Miley was three doors down and no doubt enjoying a house to herself with no last resort babysitter to make her weekend a living hell in comparison to how she had usually made it the opposite for sitters in the past.

Once we were done in the kitchen, Noelle walked me to the living room where I saw she had transferred my homework to. Miley’s homework to. I don’t know what I had expected. After all, what else was there besides schoolwork and chores? Most girls Miley’s age didn’t need a babysitter, and anyone younger than that could usually be kept busy with games or whatever. Especially since babysitting was normally more for safety than anything else when it came to kids that actually behaved. Of course, that wasn’t the case here. Not that I wanted to play games. I would die of embarrassment if Paige caught me playing some childish board game with my ‘babysitter.’

However, doing homework wasn’t much better, even if Paige had already seen me like that. I had opted to shift to History. If I was going to be working on Miley’s stuff either way, I’d rather spend time on something I was a little more comfortable with. Doing more Science didn’t sound appealing in the slightest, even though Noelle suggested sticking with the same subject in terms of maintaining a similar headspace for the sake of both productivity and better grasping things through continuity before switching gears. She ultimately let me make the choice, although it hardly mattered in the end. One way or another, I was still sitting in the living room with an open textbook and a summer homework handout.

Before, when Noelle and I had been sitting across from each other in the kitchen, Paige’s arrival made me and Miley’s babysitter notice her at the same time thanks to where the door was in relation to the table. This time, however, Noelle’s back was to Paige as she quietly descended the stairs. Knowing I was the only one who could see her currently, Paige gave me a wicked smirk and flipped me off with both hands. “Hey, Miley!” she exclaimed, her sweet and energetic voice very much countering the crude gestures. Keeping up the false name, too, of course. “We’re about to order. Hawaiian for you, obvi. Your favorite!” A complete lie. “What about you, Noelle? Any preference? It’s my treat.”

I detested ham, for starters, and also wasn’t a huge fan of pineapple on pizza. Nothing against those that do like it, as I’m well aware it’s a polarizing ingredient in that regard, but it’s absolutely not my thing. Before I could express as much, however, Noelle glanced over her shoulder and answered the question my sister had quickly and casually moved onto. “Honestly, anything,” she said, “Veggie or plain cheese, but I’m good with meat, too.”

“Cool,” Paige replied, “It’s usually here within thirty minutes when we order. Do you want me to answer the door, or . . . ”

“That’s fine. I can get it,” Noelle said. Our homework spot was much closer to the front door than the upstairs bedrooms were, which was clearly what Paige was alluding to when she hinted that maybe we could answer instead. If anything, that probably would have been Noelle’s preference, as then we could complete the informal dinner station set up on the counter in the other room.

“Thanks!” In typical fashion, Paige was being cordial and mature with the girl who believed she was here to babysit me, all while continuing to have fun at my expense. “I’m putting it on my card, so don’t worry about paying. Just add 20% or whatever to the tip line, if you don’t mind.”

“Got it. Miley and I will be done in a few minutes. Where do you normally eat?”

Paige hesitated for half a second. I’m sure Noelle didn’t notice, but I knew my sister better than that. She was quickly mulling over possible ideas. “Depends,” she said, no doubt buying herself another moment to think, “Usually the basement, with games or a movie, but sometimes in this room or in the kitchen.” Real specific. “If you want a break from little Miley, she can join us and we can keep tabs on her for a while.”

Now it was Noelle’s turn to mull things over. “Hmm, possibly. Is there an outside door in the basement? And if it’s a movie, I would need to approve it.”

“There’s a door to the backyard, but we can double lock it and make sure Miley’s in the opposite corner while we’re down there,” Paige replied, “And we’ll probably do board games instead of a movie. You’re welcome to join, too, of course. If you want.”

She was taking a gamble. Although either way, I lost. No matter what, things would result in all of Paige’s friends seeing me like this and subsequently treating me like her little sister.

Part Sixteen

To my dismay, Noelle settled on leaving me in the hands of my sister.

While I wasn’t particularly fond of the babysitter who refused to take me at my word every step of the way, she had at least proven that she was only harsh when it came to keeping me in line. There was zero malice there, and she even mentioned as much during the mortifying spanking she had given me in front of Paige. Something about not enjoying the physical discipline, but being willing to dish it out when she had to. Which made sense, considering the ideal babysitting job was the one where you got paid to do very little.

However, Miley’s babysitter had been just as no-nonsense when it came to Paige earlier. While I was working on Miley’s homework, I was not to be distracted. And as much as I detested being treated like a middle school girl, having her around would no doubt deter my sister and her friends from going much further than excessively calling me ‘Miley’ like I knew they would. But without Noelle? There was no telling what nonsense they would come up with.

The moment Paige disappeared up the stairs, I tried to get myself out of what I had just been signed up for. The whole thing was ridiculous, anyway. I hadn’t even expressed interest in hanging out with the other girls. Of course, I also hadn’t protested while Paige and Noelle were talking about me right in front of my face. “Actually, could I keep working on homework tonight?” I asked. There was no way the real Miley would make such a request, but this was fairly in line with my real self even if I didn’t currently have ulterior motives. I much preferred to get schoolwork done sooner rather than later, as then I could review my work with fresh eyes later. Except for this, it was way more about enjoying the peace and quiet of the main floor instead of throwing myself to the gaming brats that would make the rest of my evening a living hell. “I’m kind of in the zone, now. Building on the momentum would be nice.”

The distrust in Noelle’s eyes was painfully noticeable. “You’d rather work on summer assignments on a Friday night?”

As Alyssa, I was actually a little offended. Sometimes I did work on homework on Friday, for the delayed gratification of enjoying the rest of my weekend. As Miley, however, I needed to think quickly. “It doesn’t matter that it’s Friday,” I pointed out. To her, maybe, if she was used to college classes and summer jobs. But to some of us, this was enough of a break that I could get away with my explanation. “It’s summer. The days don’t really mean anything, do they?”

She leaned back on the armchair. Still giving me a skeptical look. Because the real Miley would have an angle right now, and she was probably trying to figure out mine. “You don’t want to hang out with your sister?” she asked, “When I was your age, being invited to anything by the older girls wasn’t something I’d want to pass up.”

Less was more. The first half of her reply was clearly a trap. Showing my usual disdain for Paige could potentially spark Noelle to use that as a reason to encourage me to spend more time with her. I doubted she was being selfish in terms of getting some time for herself, considering any babysitter who called herself a ‘last resort’ was probably being paid well for that specialty. Although either way, I had to be careful. “I’d rather keep working,” I simply replied. No need to complain about Paige, considering Noelle wouldn’t understand unless she knew my real age.

Noelle just shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you’re at least going to take a pizza break.”

Thank God. At least something went my way for once. It wasn’t much, but it would do. Staying upstairs would not only avoid Paige and company, but I was still crossing my fingers that I would somehow find a way out of this humiliating mess. The basement wasn’t the solution, considering all the precautions my sister listed off to dissuade Noelle’s worries. And though I still hadn’t come up with anything solid since seeing the beyond frustrating damage Paige had done to my room to prevent me from easily proving my identity, I could only assume that I had better chances on the main floor. And, of course, there was still the persistent distaste when it came to the thought of being outnumbered now that I couldn’t be as dismissive or judgmental as I normally was around them.

Affirming Noelle’s condition, despite not looking forward to serving up a plate for myself while the others were there as well, I tried to focus on the work in front of me. Being ‘in the zone’ might have been a little white lie, considering how Paige’s recent interruption and the looming pizza delivery arrival kept me from giving my full attention to Miley’s summer schoolwork. Of course, just when I started to find my rhythm again, the doorbell rang.

Slightly jumping from how piercing it was in the resonant living room mere feet from the front door, compared to anywhere else in the house, I lightly blushed when I realized how my startled expression must have looked to Noelle. Yet another mark against me in terms of proving my maturity to her.

“I’ll get it,” she said. At least she didn’t comment.

Noelle greeted the delivery guy at the door, while I put away the assignment I was working on and neatly stacked up the books and binders on the coffee table. There was no way I’d get to keep working while the others grabbed their pizza and made their way down to the basement. Clearly Miley’s babysitter wanted to at least socialize me a little bit with the girls, even if she was going to allow me to forgo Paige’s invite.

By the time Noelle had finished adding the tip to the receipt and bringing in the pizza boxes, there were easy to hear voices and footsteps upstairs as the five girls filed out from Paige’s room and made their way down the hall. Sighing to myself and preemptively cringing, I looked from Noelle to the kitchen. There really not a great spot to position myself, but I settled on staying where I was. Being last in line was preferable, as that would hopefully get rid of at least a handful of the girls if they went directly downstairs after grabbing their food.

“My fault?!” one of the girls at the top of the stairs laughed, “You were the one out of position! I may be a heal slut, but I’m not going to get myself killed to maybe save you.”

“That’s not the only kind of slut you are,” one of the others taunted.

“Don’t be crass,” Paige said, though her tone wasn’t particularly serious, “We have company. Besides, it’s not like it matters. We won, didn’t we?”

Violet was the first girl down the stairs. She started to say something in response to my sister, before noticing the two of us that were already down here. “Yeah, but next time- oh, hey! What was your name, again?” she asked.

“Noelle.” She extended the stack of pizza boxes to the gamer girl with the short, dark hair. “Mind bringing these to the kitchen?”

“Not at all,” Violet said, before turning towards me, “You should have seen that game, Miley.”

Part Seventeen

As if.

Video games weren’t my thing in the slightest. Plus it’s not like I would even know how to watch. They played on five screens in Paige’s room, and I would be clueless as to what was going on in a single one of them. Also, I had already suffered enough in my sister’s bedroom today.

I had expected a constant barrage of ‘Miley’ from Paige’s friends, but bracing myself for it didn’t seem to help. The false name itself wasn’t terrible, aside from being annoyingly not mine; I was more bothered by the fact that every iteration would work against me where Noelle was involved. It was one thing for my sister to keep it up, because of course she would want to extend this misunderstanding for as long as possible, but the other girls following suit were going to make it more and more difficult for me to properly explain things once I had a shred of evidence that I was who I actually was.

And lean into it they did. Though I successfully positioned myself in a way where I was last in line as everyone filed into the kitchen, it didn’t make me invisible. Ever the cohesive group, whether it was gaming or messing around as friends, they tossed out ‘Miley’ just enough. ‘Here you go, Miley,’ when I was being handed a plate by one of the girls. ‘Hey, Miley. Drink?’ Paige, when she grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. Since I wasn’t actually her little sister, I saw exactly what they were doing. Using the name too much would probably draw Noelle’s attention to it, which is why they maintained a clever frequency as a group.

It wasn’t until Paige offered me the box that was half Hawaiian with a casual smile that I remembered that she had mentioned it as my ‘favorite’ earlier. I scowled at her as I grabbed a single slice, grateful that I was facing away from Noelle at the moment. The small pineapple slices would be tolerable, even though I didn’t enjoy the thought of it paired with cheese, but there was a good chance the ham was going to make me gag if I wasn’t careful. And it’s not like I could pick all the meat off without looking odd; it was way too late to inform Noelle that Paige had been lying, and not taking something that was specifically ordered for me would appear rude. “Thanks,” I muttered. Taking only a single slice from the box, I immediately moved on to the next box and grabbed a plain cheese one as well. Good enough. Maybe I could just have a few bites and claim I wasn’t hungry. A total lie, considering how my stomach had been growling ever since walking into the kitchen and being hit by the smell of the numerous open pizza boxes. I must have been hungrier than I realized from ballet and the long walk afterwards.

Most of the girls had filtered out of the kitchen and down the nearby stairs, although a couple of them lingered to grab drinks and some snacks to supplement the pizza. One of them, Dakota, paused before turning the corner with her armful of chip bags. “You coming, Miley?” she asked.

“Umm,” I hesitated. Right. That was just a conversation between me and Noelle; the rest of the girls hadn’t been informed yet. Normally, it would have been effortless to brush off Paige and her friends, but not when they were all subtly amused by my current predicament. Instead of what would normally be a scoff and outright dismissal, I was supposed to be denying the hangout offer for the sake of homework? I had literally just graduated.

Thankfully, Noelle was nearby and opted to step in. “Miley still has some work to take care of,” she said. I appreciated that she kept it vague. “Maybe she can join you in a bit.” And, of course, leaving the door open in case I decided that my sister and her friends were more interesting than homework. Unlikely.

“Aww, Miley!” Paige whined, “We were so excited for you to join us. Five doesn’t split into even teams. You sure you can’t?”

“Come on, Miles!” Violet said. She pouted a bit herself, “It’ll be fun.”

“Sorry,” I replied, “Maybe later.”

Paige gave a small roll of her eyes as she finished grabbing a few more cans from the fridge. “Whatever. Come down whenever, if you change your mind. Oh, one of these is yours!” Setting down all but one of the drinks on the counter beside the fridge, she came over to where I was still standing by the edge of the table and held out the can of diet cola for me.

For a moment, I was suspicious of whether or not she had secretly given the can a good shake while she was out of view a minute ago. Then I realized she wouldn’t do that with Noelle standing on the other side of the kitchen. Not after Paige had gone out of her way to seem like a responsible older sister for the most part in the presence of Miley’s babysitter. But she did have something in mind. As I took the drink from her, she reached into her pocket with her other hand.

My eyes widened as I saw what she procured. It was my driver’s license! For all of one second, I saw the familiar ID in her hand. Before my recognition could turn into action, however, she slid the plastic card deep into her bra. My eyes widened. Short of plunging my hand into her cleavage, provided she didn’t step back or make any attempt to stop me, it was too late to grab the license. And Noelle was behind me, which meant Paige was using my body to block most of what she just showed me. “You-”

“You’re welcome,” Paige nodded. Turning the focus back to the soft drink she handed me, she said, “Shame you can’t take a break. I was going to give you a chance to win back something of yours.” She paused just long enough for that to sink in, then swiveled on her heel and called back over her shoulder, “Later, sis!”

Violet shot me a wink while Paige and I still had my babysitter’s attention. Without adding any comment of her own that might tip Noelle off, she just picked up my sister’s plate of pizza while Paige took care of the cans. The girls had humored Noelle in terms of using the plates she and I had set out for everyone, instead of taking the boxes and maybe a roll of paper towels like they normally would, but hadn’t gone so far as to use the glasses. Yet another example of how Paige was the more irresponsible sister. She was just pretending, splitting the difference between her normal self and her ‘Miley’s older sister’ game.

I wasn’t desperate enough to call out for them to wait, but it was already sinking in that staying up here and doing more schoolwork might not be the best choice any more. Paige’s friends had already seen me in the youthful outfit, and taken pleasure in pushing me further into the role I was trapped in.

If suffering through a little more embarrassment was the price I had to pay to get my ID back . . . maybe that was a price worth paying?

“Umm, Noelle?” I said, “I changed my mind.”

Part Eighteen

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Noelle was particularly skeptical about how I had suddenly changed my mind. To me, my decision was driven by the constant desire I had to prove my identity. To Noelle, however, she probably just saw it as a tween realizing that playing board games was a more fun way to spend a Friday evening than doing schoolwork. Especially since it was summer.

As usual, I had to deal with an embarrassing amount of supervision. Rather than simply letting me go downstairs by myself, Noelle escorted me so she could confirm that things were set up in a way that made it difficult for me to run off like the real Miley might do.

Paige was more than eager to help out, and her girlfriends acted like they were happy that I was joining them ‘for once.’ So dumb, as I was never invited to do anything with them under normal circumstances, nor did I have any interest in doing so. My sister pointed out where the back door was, and where we’d be circled up for the games. She went so far as to have one of her friends switch chairs, so I would be at the farthest point from both the door and the stairs. “We’re not just gamers,” she explained, “Not all of us, anyway. Dakota and Shannon can easily catch her if she tries to slip away. One of them can walk her to the bathroom, too, when she needs to go. Unless you’d rather hang out down here yourself?”

It was the second time Paige had offered as much. Although nothing in her expression gave it away, I could only guess that asking as much was only a formality. She would be more limited with her scheming if Noelle was nearby. This was the first and last time these girls would ever have an opportunity like this, and I could tell from their sideways glances and little smiles that Paige had already filled them in on the potential ideas she had for me as ‘Miley.’

“That’s okay,” Noelle said, “Six is an even number. Miley, I’ll be working right upstairs in the kitchen.” As in, with direct line of sight to the basement door. Because she was still under the impression that my MO involved running away. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but it had definitely gotten the point where that wasn’t a viable strategy any more. Where would I go? Plus even without Noelle present, it’s not like I would be able to get past Paige’s two sporty friends; they were taller, no doubt stronger, and outnumbered me. And that was before counting Paige and the other two girls, who would probably jump in to help in the struggle.

Before Noelle left me to the wolves that I had technically agreed to give myself over to anyway, she took a minute to verify that the back door was as secure as Paige had said. It wasn’t as if our suburban house was a prime break-in risk, but a back door was the more likely target if it came to that. They had added a little extra security down here a while ago, which meant that getting out took an extra few seconds as well. Paige had already explained as much, and it didn’t take long for Noelle to see it for herself.

She headed back up to the main floor after a final reminder to me to behave. The second the door at the top of the stairs clicked shut, Violet piped up. “I call Miley!”

“So predictable,” Paige rolled her eyes, “Whatever. I’ll take Annika.” The last pair was obvious by elimination, and my sister started talking about the teams. Since most games were best with 3-4 players, their twist on it with this many girls was to partner off and share what a single player would normally be in charge of. It was a little more social that way, and two heads were better than one when it came to strategy. While she explained, her friends started shifting spots. Annika plopped herself down next to my sister on the sofa, and Violet walked me over to the wide leather armchair in the corner. It fit both of us, kind of, although I wasn’t a huge fan of how snugly I was seated with the alternative girl. Maybe it was another measure to keep me from trying to escape, and/or merely a way to make me a bit uncomfortable to start things off. Paige knew that I preferred my personal space, and she could have shared as much with the others.

During the shuffle, Shannon walked over to the stairs. When she turned right back around to join the group again, I realized it was because she was making sure that Noelle wasn’t lingering at the top to supervise us for a little while. I could actually see her doing that, considering how helicopter-y she had been for the last couple hours. Miley’s bad reputation was really screwing me over in that regard. Shannon’s nod marked the ‘all clear,’ and then Paige started explaining the real details.

“So. Miley.” Despite Noelle’s absence, she was annoyingly committing to the false name. “It’s simple. If you and Violet get first place, then you get your driver’s license. No strings attached.”

“And no loopholes,” Violet added, “I won’t claim it for our team or anything. If we win, it’s yours.”

“And we won’t wrestle you down and steal it back from you right afterwards, either,” Paige smirked, “As fun as that would be.”

They were certainly covering all the bases. Considering how much I distrusted Paige in general, as she had a habit of twisting words, she was smart to qualify some of the things I probably would have thought of myself if given another few seconds to mull the offer over. Still, it couldn’t be that simple. “What’s the catch?” I asked.

“Miley, we’re sisters!” she pouted and placed a hand over her not actually wounded heart. “You don’t trust me?”

I repeated myself as flatly as possible. “What’s the catch?”

“Well, aside from how you have to manage winning against the power team that is me and Annika, and the wild card that is Dakota most nights . . . ” she trailed off to build suspense, but only for a moment, “You also need to ante something up, Miley. After all, bets aren’t supposed to be one sided. That wouldn’t be fair.”

Fair? The reward for winning was something that was already supposed to be mine! Something that Paige had no right taking in the first place. Strings or no strings, it was ridiculous enough that I had to play for my own identity. At the moment, however, my sister was holding all the cards. “Like what?” I asked. Right away, I regretted it. Asking subtly implied that I was on board making this a bet rather than a prize, even if I hadn’t meant it like that. I should have pushed back instead.

Before I could backpedal, Paige replied, “Hmm, let’s think. Oh, I know!” she exclaimed. As if she hadn’t already had an idea of how she wanted this all to play out since before I stepped foot into the basement. “If you win, you get your license. If you don’t win, then . . . ” Again with the obnoxious suspense. She glanced down towards my chest for a second, then met my eyes with another little smirk. “I get to cut up one of your bras.”

Part Nineteen

It took a beat for Paige’s words to really hit me, and then a little longer for me to realize that she wasn’t kidding.

One of my bras?? That was like betting $50 at minimum; more, if she was talking about a nicer one. I would have preferred to just bet the money, as I didn’t enjoy the thought of not being able to replace the handful of my undergarments that might not be sold any more. Not to mention that if I lost, I’d have to suffer the indignity of being present while Kate destroyed something of mine right in front of my face. At least, that’s how I was assuming she would do it.

I knew why she wanted to. Even before this whole Miley thing, it’s not as if I was particularly blessed in the curve department. And now that she had set me up to be wearing a training bra, of course Paige wanted to add insult to injury. As if pilfering through my underwear drawer wasn’t enough.

Asking for an explanation would open the door for her to subtly or not so subtly comment on my body. Instead, I kept things simple. “Something else,” I said. What was comparable to a pricy and somewhat offensive ante? I had no idea, or I would have made an offer.

“Okay,” Paige shrugged. It wouldn’t be that easy; we both knew it. Going on, she said, “I guess we can just play for fun, then. Less exciting, but whatever.”

I didn’t know what I had expected. She held all the cards at the moment, so of course she could be casually stubborn against my rebuttal. Although I wasn’t stupid enough to flat out agree to the bet without seeing whether or not I had a chance first. Instead, I pressed for more information. “What’s the game?” I asked.

“Hmm, let’s see. Annika? Do you mind?”

“Not at all!” The blonde girl that had been partnered with my sister hopped up from the sofa and went to grab a few games from the shelves in a nearby closet. It didn’t take her long to collect a few boxes. Walking back over with the stack, she said, “How about one of these? We didn’t play any of them last time.”

“Yeah, because the games you bring over are better,” Paige said.

“Of course they are,” Annika replied, with a confident smile, “Mainstream board games are so blah.”

“Well, what do you think?” Paige asked, “Should we let Miley choose?”

I was familiar with all of the games she had set down on the coffee table. Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Risk. The last one was absolutely out of the question; I didn’t want to spend my whole night down here with Paige and her friends, plus I could assume that the other two teams would simply make an alliance to ensure that I didn’t have a chance of winning. Although now that I was thinking along those lines . . . “No alliances. On anything,” I insisted. It could happen on pretty much any of the options currently on the table. One of the teams could throw the game in favor of cutting off my trains. All the others could target me and me alone as the robber. It was like that obnoxious thing that couples sometimes did, where one of them would be ‘nice’ to their SO and not go after them. I wasn’t even that into board games, but I still got a little annoyed at moments like that; it was turning what was supposed to be a competitive game into a co-op variation that gave one player an unfair advantage. This could potentially be worse than that, if it was literally everyone vs. one player when that’s not how the game was supposed to be played.

Annika laughed. Like, actually laughed. “Seriously? You think I need help to beat you, Miley? Show of hands. Who thinks I’m the best at board games in the room?”

Her arrogance was validated a bit by the fact that every single girl including herself raised a hand. It made sense. I didn’t really know Paige’s friends that well, but Annika had literally just bashed mainstream games. If she was skilled at the ones she played, then it stood to reason that she would be just fine when it came to family games that were on the simpler side. Of course, that just brought on a completely different kind of hesitation. If Annika was as good as she claimed, maybe I would be screwed even if the other teams didn’t collaborate and work against me.

Continuing on with her smug confidence, Annika said, “If you want, we could play something one on one. How about it, Miley? Just the two of us? Some wager?”

Definitely not. A third team would be a good buffer. Maybe. Now I was overthinking things, as neither option sounded good. A two player game usually ended up being more strategy based without other people mucking things up, and I wasn’t willing to take the risk that Annika was bluffing about her strengths. But if the others ended up working together, then how was I supposed to win?

“What’s it going to be, Miley?” Paige asked, “A fun little duel with Annika, or do you want to include all of us?”

I hadn’t finished working through everything in my head yet, and I ended up caught in the either/or that my sister sprung on me. Not even thinking about the fact that not playing at all was still an option when pressured by the choice, I muttered, “We can all play.”

“So thoughtful, little sis. Alright, winning earns your ID. Otherwise, say ‘goodbye’ to one of your bras.”

Wait, but I hadn’t actually agreed to that yet! “But-”

“Which game, Miley?” she asked.

“Wait, I-”

“Come on, sis. Choose now, or we’re sending you back upstairs.”

A bit flustered as every girl was looking at me and waiting for a response, as well as how Paige kept cutting me off, I lightly blushed and muttered, “Ticket to Ride.” Alliances or not, Risk was too daunting, and I had never been the best at Catan. Hopefully I would stand a chance when it came to my choice, if only due to the fact that the game was rather simple and straightforward. There couldn’t be that many ways to manipulate things with strategy, right?

“Why don’t you set it up for us?” Paige suggested, “You can even have first choice for color. Girls your age care about stuff like that, right?”

Moving right past the little jab about my false age, Annika piped back up, “Umm, what about me? I’m picky about colors.”

“Yeah, but you actually have the body of an eighteen year old. Miley, on the other hand,” Paige gestured towards me, “Let’s be real, she’s always been a bit of a brat. It’s probably because she never grew up.”

“I still can’t believe Noelle didn’t realize,” Violet said. She spoke in a more hushed tone, just in case, “Although now I can kind of see it. The training bra was a nice touch.”

“I’ll have to send the real Miley something to say ‘thank you,’” Paige smirked, “But for now, let’s give our Miley a chance to show us that she’s a big girl. How about it, little sis? Think you can beat me and Annika?”

I didn’t say a word. Instead, I merely opened the box and began setting up the game.

Part Twenty

They were so obviously trying to bait me.

Paige, especially. There was no way I was going to give any of them the satisfaction. I hadn’t been called ‘Alyssa’ in hours, and now I was dealing with an excessive amount of patronizing comments about my size and my maturity. It was absurd. Not only how I was being treated like I was a bratty thirteen year old when Noelle wasn’t even in the room, but also the, but also the fact that I was more mature than Paige and every single one of her friends.

That was exactly why they weren’t worth it, however. I had already been pressured into going along with a bet that didn’t give me ideal odds, and the things at stake were personal possessions that my sister had no right taking in the first place. But Noelle was upstairs and still fully believed that she was my babysitter; this was the only way out, and I refused to do anything that would jeopardize a potential way to put an end to all of this. I would swallow my pride, play a board game as if I was Paige’s younger sister, and get my driver’s license back.

At least there wasn’t a lot of set-up to do. I felt a bit awkward as I knelt in the middle of the circle to unfold the board and take out all the pieces from the box; although the girls idly chatted with each other while I did so, I could practically feel the amused glances from all sides. The act of getting a board game out wasn’t particularly embarrassing all on its own, but this was while they were all treating me like I was Paige’s thirteen year old sister. It probably looked just like Noelle had mentioned–like I was taking up an offer to hang out with the older girls. And they were leaning into that, of course, because I was the one being made to do everything by my mean ‘older sister’ while she and her friends didn’t lift a finger to help. That’s the teenage cliché it felt like, anyway.

I didn’t actually care about what color I played, but I did put a bit of intention into my choice. Blue would match the outfit Paige had picked out for me, black would go with Violet’s alternative look, and red would kind of go with my hair. Not wanting to look like I had selected something that would match myself or my teammate, I opted for green. It wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was getting to the point where I was actively trying to avoid anything that would give Paige or her friends more opportunities to patronize me.

The other girls picked next, and then my sister explained how things would go. Since we were playing a game that wasn’t designed for teams, the twist on this style was that each girl would alternate turns with her partner. That way, everyone would be included instead of the way things often went with ‘teams,’ where it was more one person watching while the other played.

I wasn’t stupid. The moment Paige laid things out, I considered the possibility of Violet screwing me over more than any of the other girls. Wasting all of our cards to do something that wasn’t productive to our goals, for example. However, she was acting the opposite of malicious. “Don’t worry, Miley,” she said, wrapping an arm around me as I sat back with her in the armchair that really wasn’t meant for two girls, “We’ll take them all down.”

Sure. There was no sense antagonizing her or showing outward doubt, but I also didn’t want to show any positive emotions in terms of our partnership. While I knew that all these girls were competitive, as I had heard them arguing over rules from all the way down the hall on occasion, I still harbored all kinds of distrust for this bet. Because if I was right, and they were playing more against me than against each other, then Violet wouldn’t really be trying to win. If anything, I was anteing up my bra to see if any of this was actually fair.

As the game got underway, my paranoia ended up being an additional problem. Instead of playing like I’d normally play, I found myself overthinking every little choice. If I took those, would the other girls steal the rest, or would Violet screw it up when our turn came around again? If I put that down, would I instantly be cut off on both sides? There were too many variables when I assumed everyone was trying to make me lose.

To her credit, Violet didn’t sabotage us. She made all the right moves, and worked with me to score the cards we were aiming for. The others didn’t seem to be going out of their way to mess up our plans, either. Surprisingly enough, the game played out more fairly than I had expected. And yet, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Paige and Annika cheered as they scored more than the other two teams combined when the points were added up at the end of the game. Solidly proving that all of her bragging wasn’t just talk, Annika looked particularly smug as she laid out all the completed goals that piled onto their already high score from having a myriad of routes in the 4-6 range. They had the longest chain of pieces as well. Paige looked content with their victory as well, but hers was less in response to simply having such an impressive win. “Looks like you lose, Miley,” she said. After high fiving Annika, Paige stood up to get what she needed for my penalty.

“Well, we tried,” Violet said. She shifted next to me and slipped her hand between my arm and torso before settling back down. “Maybe we’ll do better next time?”

It wasn’t at all lost on me what she was doing. The chair was already uncomfortably tight with the two of us sharing it; I already had had to deal with countless instances of awkwardness as we took turns drawing cards and placing trains. Now that we were linked by our elbows, getting up would have to be a team effort. Or, in other words, she was making sure I wouldn’t jump up to try and stop Paige from what she was about to do.

There was a shelf of craft supplies in the same closet as where Annika had picked out the three board game options. My sister easily found a pair of scissors there, and she gave the air a small *snip* as she showed them off to the rest of us. The gesture succeeded in making me a little nervous, but also sparked some belated protest. “Wait!” I exclaimed. The board was still right there on the table with the final score displayed, so there was proof to back up my point. “I didn’t lose. Shannon and Dakota did.”

Paige didn’t miss a beat. “That wasn’t the bet, sis. Or have you already forgotten? Not too surprising, considering you basically flunked more than half your middle school classes.”

“Gotta work on that retention, Miley,” Violet said. She gave one of my bare thighs a pinch. “License if you win. Cut bra if you don’t win.”

“You didn’t win,” Annika chimed in, “So, say goodbye to one of your bras!”

I definitely hadn’t heard it like that, but it sounded familiar. Were they twisting things after the fact, or had I been dumb enough to not listen carefully enough? Even though no one had gone out of their way to keep Violet and I from doing somewhat well, it was absolutely an imbalanced bet if getting first place was the only thing that earned my ID and protected my undergarments. “But-” I started to object, but that’s as far as I made it.

“That’s what you agreed to, Miley,” Paige said, “Don’t be a sore loser, or an immature brat. Just act your age, okay?”

I went silent for a few seconds, at a total loss for words. Because, in a way, this was my fault. Choosing to come down here, letting Paige goad me into wagering one of my bras. The odds had been stacked against me, sure, but technically a bet was a bet. However, my silence didn’t last very long. When Paige pulled out one of my bras from a bag that had been tucked behind the sofa, I couldn’t help but speak up in its defense.

“NO.” Not- not that one. It was my absolute favorite. Dark green lace that went so well with both my red hair and my skin tone, and one of the few bras I owned that made my smaller breasts look stunning in terms of both shape and cleavage when I was shirtless. It was easily one of my most expensive ones as well. I don’t know how Paige had managed to figure out that this was easily the worst bra she could have possibly chosen, or maybe it was just a lucky guess. Either way, I had no choice but to let her know that it was one that I really wanted to keep. If I remained quiet, she would destroy it anyway. “Not that bra,” I muttered into the awkward silence my exclamation had created, “A different one. Please, Paige?”

Even from ten feet away, I could see her eyes light up. “Why not this one?” she calmly asked. Dangling it by one of the straps for everyone to see, she said, “A girl your age really shouldn’t be wearing something like this.”

“Paige, come on,” I whined, not even caring about how I was coming across, “I love that one. Just- just don’t. Any other bra. Please. You can even cut two, if you want.” Never in a million years did I think that I would end up begging my selfish, inconsiderate sister for anything, yet here I was, totally at her mercy.

“Hmm, interesting,” she mused, before running with my offer in her own way, “How about three, as well as the matching underwear?”

“Deal!” I exclaimed, before she could change her mind. Whatever. I could visualize my underwear drawer for the most part in my mind, and there weren’t really any other bras that would hurt as much to lose. I still didn’t love the thought of Paige ruining my collection in front of me and all of her friends, and I certainly didn’t deserve any of this, but I was at the point where I was constantly picking the lesser of two evils.

At my acceptance of her counter-offer, Paige gave me a stern look, “Okay, brat. Then ask me politely for what you want.” She took one of the cups of the forest green bra, and aimed the scissors towards the now dangling straps. A clear threat.

It definitely worked. Scared that she would start cutting if I didn’t comply right away, I blurted out the awful words. I was actually going to ask Paige to destroy my expensive undergarments. “Please cut up three of my bras?”

“And?”

“And matching underwear.”

Paige smirked. “With pleasure.”

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