The Reunion - Chapter 5 (Patreon)

"This isn't what it looks like!" Melissa insisted, only then feeling the thumb in her mouth and thinking to quickly extract it, hoping Karley had been too distracted by the diaper to realize what she had been doing.

"Oh, really?" Karley raised an eyebrow.

"I-I can explain..."

"That sounds familiar." Karley bent down, picking the thick diaper up, the plastic rustling loudly between her fingers as she stared down at Melissa.

Melissa had no doubt it did... Though, the thing she'd found in this case was much different from what had been discovered all that time ago, back when they were in high school. Actually, Melissa realized, that was probably the last time she'd ever actually spoken to Karley - not that she could really blame the other girl. 

That last time, Melissa had stolen a little more than just a diaper... Not that it was totally her fault, even if Karley seemed to think that way. Melissa hadn't forced Ryan, Karley's boyfriend, to sleep with her; she'd pushed the issue for a while, telling him that Karley would never find out, but he could have said no just once more.

Melissa knew better than to mention that now, however... There was no winning that argument, especially not while Karley had something new to hold over her head. Bygones definitely weren't going to be bygones, and Karley had brought it up first, but it still wasn't a good idea to go into it.

"I was just doing the scavenger hunt," Melissa explained, chewing desperately on her bottom lip, determined not to give in and start sucking her thumb again, not now. "You know, for the reunion?"

"And the scavenger hunt told you to shoplift?" Karley asked. "That doesn't sound like Holly."

"Well, it didn't say that exactly..." Melissa admitted. "I just... I only needed one, and the whole package was kind of expensive, so..." It wasn't a great story, but her mind was totally blank, still unable to process what was happening.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Karley said, bending down. "Are you having money troubles? Do you need to use my employee discount?"

"No!" Melissa shook her head, refusing to be condescended to by someone who worked here, of all places, at their age. "I can afford it!"

"You can?" Karley frowned. "Then why were you stealing it?"

That was a good question, one Melissa should have seen coming. It was all happening too fast... "Well, I..."

"I know you and your friends shoplifted here all the time in high school," Karley informed her, "but things are different now. We don't stand for that sort of thing any more... That's why I already hit the silent alarm when I saw you acting suspiciously. The police should be here any minute.... Did you know Ryan works for them now? I'm sure this will be a nice little reunion for the two of you, while you explain to him why you were stealing diapers."

Melissa's eyes widened at the thought of being dragged to the police station over this, potentially put into jail... She wasn't sure how serious a punishment they could levy over such a small bit of thievery, though she had no doubt Karley would do everything in her power to make sure it was the most the possibly could. Even just having to explain this to somebody else, especially if it wound up being Ryan, made her incredibly anxious... If she had to call her parents, or Taylor, or even Kasey, to bail her out, that would be even worse. 

"I-I'll pay for it, I swear!" Melissa promised.

"Are you sure this is for the hunt?" Karley asked, smirking. "Are you sure you don't just need these?" 

Melissa frowned, confused until she noticed she'd started sucking her thumb again. Cheeks red, she lowered her hand, squirming as Karley began to laugh at her, eyes darting towards the door.

"Don't even think about it," Karley warned, stepping into her path. "Come on, Melissa... Tell me the truth. Are you just running low on diapies? Do you need one for tonight? I'm sure it's getting close to your bedtime... Why don't you just have your mommy buy you more?"

"Shut up!" Melissa growled, forgetting her situation briefly. "This isn't... I just... I got hypnotized to try to stop smoking, and this is just a side effect! It's perfectly normal!" It sounded very silly, hearing it out loud.

"Let me see your phone," Karley demanded, holding out her hand. "Prove you don't just want this for yourself, baby."

Reluctantly, Melissa reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone and unlocking it. Before she could pull up her messaging app, Karley snatched it out of her hand, doing it herself. She scrolled back, nodding, then put the phone into her own pocket. 

"See?" Melissa asked. "I-I'll just pay for that, and you can call off the cops, and then that'll be that, okay?"

"I don't think so," Karley shook her head.

"Why not?" Melissa whined. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Ryan, but that was a long time ago, you can't...!"

Karley pursed her lips, her expression hardening. "This has nothing to do with that. I can't ring up a single diaper. Do you see a barcode on this?"

She shoved the diaper into Melissa's face; Melissa backed away, shaking her head, trying to rid her nose of the scent of plastic and what almost seemed like baby powder. "I-I'll go get the package," she blushed, traipsing back to the diaper aisle, Karley trailing after her.

"You were just going to leave it like this?" Karley shook her head, grabbing the open package before Melissa could pick it up. "You really are just a selfish little brat, aren't you? And look at this... You ripped right through the UPC, too."

"S-Sorry," Melissa shrugged. 

"Come on," Karley shook her head. Melissa tried to ask why, what they were doing, but the other girl grabbed her by the ear, yanking her down the aisle, towards the back of the store, and a door marked, 'Employees Only'. 

"Where are we going?" Melissa gulped. 

Karley didn't answer; instead, she pushed open the door, revealing rows of neat, well-stocked shelves, almost like a whole other store. She wove in and out of them, Melissa struggling to keep up to stop her ear from being ripped off, barely having time to take any of it in until Karley stopped.

"Go ahead, grab another one," Karley urged. Melissa's face turned as red as the diapers in the package as she saw a shelf full of packages just like the one Karley was holding, just waiting for her. Obediently, she did as she was told, then, once she had a hold of that, Karley shoved the open one into her arms as well. The packages were so huge - which made sense, considering how bulky the diapers themselves were - and she could barely hold two at once, especially as they slid against one another, forcing her to stop and rearrange them to stop from dropping them.

"All right, let's go ring you up," Karley told her. Melissa nodded, following her back into the main store, just wanting to get this over with now. Stepping back into the main store, arms full of diapers, made her suddenly much more aware of her situation, and if she'd had a hand free, she would definitely have started sucking her thumb again. Instead, she just started to get even more fidgety, desperate to get them to the counter and get out of there.... 

There was little surprise that, in her hurry, she lost her grip, the packages falling to the floor. The new package just bounced with a loud crinkling sound... Unfortunately, the other one hit the ground, then spilled its contents across the floor, sending bulky bundles of pink plastic and girly designs scattering. Melissa gasped, eyes widening as she looked over at Karley.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the other girl shook her head. "Pick them up."

Melissa nodded, dropping to her knees and beginning to gather the garments, haphazardly shoving them into the open package. She'd assumed that, since this was Karley's job, she was going to help; instead, she stood back, watching and shaking her head, at least until the bell signalling the door was opening rang.

Melissa swallowed, daring to glance up, sure she was going to see Ryan standing there to witness this as well. It was almost a relief, seeing some other, older lady, though as soon as she looked in Melissa's direction, Melissa's eyes dropped back to the floor, returning to her task, watching the woman's feet shuffle by to grab something, then go to the register to be greeted cheerily by Karley.

Not wanting to stand behind the woman with the diapers, especially now that there was no doubt she knew what was in the packages - they'd been spread across the floor when she came in - Melissa slowed down, trying in vain to force them all to fit into the bag they'd come out of. Now that they were free, it almost seemed like they'd expanded more, and she simply couldn't get the last couple to go in.

Thankfully, the woman didn't chat too long before leaving, giving Melissa the chance to stand up, juggling the packages again, much more carefully this time, before dumping them onto the counter. To her surprise, there was already a bottle of baby powder and a packet of baby wipes waiting there, and Karley rang them up first; Melissa didn't dare do anything to piss her off, so she didn't tell her she didn't need those. It was an extra few bucks, certainly not worth risking her telling the cops some crazy story.

When Karley rang the diapers up twice, however, and started putting both packages into separate bags - along with the single diaper she'd had, and the powder and wipes - since they wouldn't fit into the same one, Melissa wasn't about to let that go. "A-Actually, I only need one of those," she pointed out.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll go through both before long," Karley told her. "It'll just save time to get them now."

Melissa blushed, but that didn't stop her from saying, "One'll be fine."

"Do you really want me to have to go all the way back to the stockroom to put this up again?" Karley asked, giving Melissa a dirty look. Melissa half turned back towards the diaper aisle, where there was clearly a spot for the package to go, then shook her head and sighed.

"Whatever," she gave up. She'd just keep them in her trunk and wait until somebody else was working here so she could return them. "Okay," she ran her credit card through the machine, "Can you tell the police not to come now, please?"

"Nope," Karley grinned evilly, handing Melissa her receipt.

"Come on!" Melissa stomped her foot. "I bought the stupid diapers, so I haven't stolen anything!"

"That's true," Karley agreed. "But I can't call them off, because they were never coming in the first place." She chuckled as Melissa's expression changed from anger to confusion, back to anger. "I suspected you were shoplifting when I saw how you were acting, but I didn't actually see anything before then, and I didn't have any evidence."

"You..." Melissa seethed.

"What?" Karley asked. "You were shoplifting, weren't you?"

Melissa couldn't deny that; however, she could slam her receipt back down on the counter. "I want to make a return!"

"Oh, sorry," Karley shrugged. "We can't accept returns on things that are open."

"That one isn't..." Melissa began to point out, only for Karley to reach into the bag and tear open the virgin package of diapers, yanking one out, along with the wipes and powder. "You bitch!" she growled.

"That's no way for a good little girl to talk," Karley shook her head. "But you never were a good little girl, were you? Come on, I'm going to help you win your little scavenger hunt." She walked back out from around the counter, grabbing Melissa's arm and dragging her through the store again, this time towards the bathroom.

"Let me go!" Melissa struggled. "You're crazy, you can't do this, you..." Karley shoved her into the bathroom, then pulled the door shut behind herself, locking it. She was only a couple inches taller than Melissa, but now, trapped in this little room with her, that difference seemed much bigger.

"I bet you can fit on here," Karley said, pulling down the folding changing table from the wall. "Hop on up."

"Karley, I know we've had our differences, but... Whoa!" She gasped as Karley shoved her back onto the table, the plastic slab wobbling from a moment under the initial impact, then holding firm as Karley grabbed the strap, tightening it over Melissa's arms and chest, pinning her in place. 

Melissa wriggled, but, no matter how hard she tried, she was at Karley's mercy, while the other girl pulled her pants off, then shimmied her pants down as well.

"Are you sure these are just for the scavenger hunt?" Karley demanded, holding up the diaper, now looking far bigger, and more threatening, than ever, despite its cheery pink color, the happy unicorns dotting the front, with nothing standing between it and her.

"Yes!" Melissa shot back. "I'm not a baby, I don't..." She shut up as her panties were shoved into her face, making her reel back as much as she could manage in her position, even before she saw an undeniable damp spot there, on the crotch, a faint ammonia scent filling her nostrils. 

Melissa lay there, horrified. When had that happened?! She hadn't even noticed... She'd been taken by surprise when the door had opened while she was cleaning up the diapers, but she hadn't realized it was that bad... "N-No, I... I didn't..."

"Didn't you?" Melissa whimpered as the underwear were shoved ever closer to her face. It was almost a relief to see Karley toss them into the trash, just to get them away from her. "The evidence is pretty clear. You're a pants-wetting, thumbsucking little baby." With that proclamation, Karley unfurled the diaper, opening it up and sliding it under Melissa's wriggling bottom.

Melissa gasped as her backside sank into the padding, feeling a huge difference already, just having it under her, between her bottom and the changing table. "I-I don't... Not usually... I'm not..." Her mind was racing a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. The thumbsucking made sense, even if she hated it... This was the second accident she'd had, however, and there was no reason the hypnosis should have done that. 

She shivered, feeling a baby wipe being dragged across her crotch, more from the humiliation of what was happening than the unexpected cold feeling of the damp cloth - though that certainly took her by surprise as well. The diaper already had an oddly sweet scent to it, almost like baby powder, that she'd smelled when it had been shoved in her face earlier... Now that it was open, and she was lying in it, the scent was even stronger, but that didn't stop Karley from dumping a small mountain of baby powder onto her crotch.

Karley gave the front of the diaper a tug, sliding it up between Melissa's legs slowly, letting her experience the thick padding pushing her thighs apart, then folding in over her privates, sealing them away under what felt like inches of fluff as she taped the sides tightly in place. Only then did she unstrap Melissa, helping her off the table, the girl's legs shaky as they returned to solid ground, not used to the wide, waddling gait they'd been forced into.

"That's better, isn't it?" Karley gave the back of Melissa's diaper a hard whap, and, in the mirror, Melissa saw a tiny cloud of white escape from the legholes of the diaper. Melissa could smell nothing other than the powder now, as it completely overpowered her perfume with something far more immature, and recognizable.

"I-I don't... Melissa groaned.

"You're right, you aren't finished, are you? Come on!" Karley unlocked the door, leading Melissa back into the store, which, thankfully, was still empty, then dragging her out the front door. 

"No!" Melissa whimpered, trying to tug her shirt down, to somehow hide her diaper from the view of anyone who happened to drive past the store. "Give me my pants!"

Instead, Karley reached into those pants herself, pulling out Melissa's car keys and unlocking her car, grabbing the rest of the items from the scavenger hunt, then ushering Melissa back into the store. She tossed the pants over the counter, then began dressing Melissa up, planting the tiara on her head, clipping the pacifier's leash to her shirt and shoving the pacifier itself into her mouth - which Melissa had to admit, she didn't mind too much - then turning to the banana. She unpeeled it, broke off a piece, and smeared it across Melissa's face, making it look like a messy toddler, doing her best to eat and failing.

"There, now you're wearing everything," Karley smirked, wiping her hands off on Melissa's shirt and reaching into her own pocket, where she'd put Melissa's phone, snapping a picture. "Don't be shy," she urged, as Melissa tried to look away, and hide her face. "They have to see it's you for you to win, don't they? Isn't that what this has all been about?"

Melissa supposed she was right, although it didn't make it any easier to look up at the person who had done this to her. Karley took a few more, then tapped around on Melissa's phone for a minute before dropping it into one of the bags with her diapers, following it with the contents of Melissa's pants pockets, other than her keys.

"There you go," she said, holding those out, then pushing the bags at her. "All done! I'm sure you'll win first place.... Although, I should probably tell you, that number wasn't the one I heard from. I couldn't do the scavenger hunt, of course, since I'm working, but I was still in the group text. I'm not sure who was telling you to get those things... Don't worry, I made sure to send the pictures to the right number, so you'll get full credit. I sent them to Ryan, too, and myself, so I'd have a nice souvenir to remember this day with. Now, get out of my store."

"A-Are you..?" Melissa wasn't sure if the girl was joking or not, if she was just trying to get Melissa agitated; if she was, it was working. 

"Go on," Karley pointed to the door. "I know you didn't technically steal anything, this time, but you sure as hell tried. I have every right to kick you out of this store, so go!"

"B-But..." Melissa wanted to know if Karley was telling the truth about these not being the real scavenger hunt items - they did seem kind of strange, she had to admit - see if she knew who they might really have been from, and whether or not she'd actually sent those pictures to Ryan. Most importantly, however, she wanted her pants back, reaching out towards them, sitting on the counter, bag of diapers and changing supplies in hand.

"Those wouldn't fit anyway," Karley told her; she was probably right, honestly, given how thick the diapers were. "Now, get out, or I really will call the cops."

Melissa wasn't sure if Karley had any right to do that, since she was the one stealing now... She didn't know if Karley had even been telling the truth about Ryan being a police officer. She did know she didn't want anyone else to see her like this if she could help it, and the longer she stood around, the more chance there was that somebody would stop by. She was no match for Karley on her best day, and this was far from that... After everything else, she wasn't sure she could take another defeat at this girl's hand, so she retreated with as much dignity as she could muster, toddling as quickly as she could to her car for the relative cover it provided, her mind swimming with questions and humiliation.