CYOA: The Exchange Student - Chapter 19 (Story) (Patreon)

It was strange how much more embarrassing it felt, wearing her regular diapers here, in public, than it had been at the airport, or even the convenience store. Unlike the former, she knew there was a far higher chance that she'd see the people here again at some point, since they weren't all getting onto planes, flying to all corners of the globe; unlike the former, Mr. Florez and Aidan were around for the car ride, and, presumably, everything else.

Even so, and even knowing that she could control herself, that she wouldn't let herself leak through the Pampers, she hadn't quite been brave enough to defy Mrs. Florez. She fidgeted, staring down at the ground as her turn came up, one of the security officers waving her forward. It had, of course, been the one she didn't want, the one she'd spotted right away and prayed she wouldn't wind up with. Most of them were older men, and, while she didn't particularly relish the thought of them rifling through her things, she'd prefer them to the one younger guy there, not much older than Anna, and pretty cute at that. 

She froze, stomach churning, legs squeezing together, feeling the bulk of her diaper, listening to it crackle. If he couldn't tell already, he'd know instantly, when he saw what was in her bag, what she was wearing. She had no idea if zoos even did this, but she had a vision of him seeing her baby powder, growing suspicious, pulling her aside for a full body search, stripping her down to her diaper in some tiny, blank room...

"Go on, Anna," Mrs. Florez urged. "You're holding up the line, dear."

Anna blinked back to reality, cheeks burning brighter from her daydream, and from the annoyed grumbling she could hear behind her. She wasn't sure how long it had been, though for a split second, she thought that maybe she had at least stalled long enough for another officer to be available.

It was still only him, starting to look impatient. With a deep breath, she stepped towards him, nibbling her bottom lip as she handed the bag over and he set it down on his table, unzipping it, revealing the contents. She squirmed as she saw him security officer push aside her adult diapers, checking to see that she wasn't trying to sneak in a weapon or something underneath. He had to know they were hers... Even if he didn't notice the bulge under her shorts, they were clearly for a big girl, not a toddler, not some younger family member like he might have assumed if she'd gone with Pampers.

She felt a hand on her back, glanced up to see Mrs. Florez, smiling gently down at her. It really did make her feel a little better, she had to admit, a little more safe and protected. And, thankfully, the security officer didn't say anything, just zipped her bag back up, handed it over with a practiced, "Enjoy the zoo," that sounded like it could have been the millionth time he'd spoken those words.

"You okay?" Mrs. Florez asked, leading Anna through the entrance.

"Y-Yeah," Anna nodded, doing her best to calm down, to convince herself that it was over, and nothing had happened. He had definitely seen her diapers, no doubt - his hands had been all over them - but he'd barely even reacted, perhaps a raise of the eyebrow, if that. If he'd peered at her to confirm if they were hers, if she was currently wearing one, she'd been too busy fretting about it to actually see it. "I-I..."

"Hey." Mrs. Florez stopped her, kneeling down in front of her. "It's all right if you aren't, Anna. We can take a little rest if you need it."

Anna shook her head, though she did appreciate the offer. "N-No, I'm fine," she said. "We just got here."

"We can always let the others go on ahead and catch up with them," Mrs. Florez told her. "If you want to sit down, maybe have something to drink..."

"No," Anna replied, even if the offer was enticing. "I promise, Mrs. Florez, I'm okay. I-It was a little embarrassing, that's all."

Mrs. Florez gave her a sympathetic smile, and then a hug. "I bet I know what will take your mind off of that... Some cute animals!"

Anna giggled, nodded. "I bet so," she agreed.

Mrs. Florez led her over to the bathrooms, where the rest of the family was waiting. "Ah, good," Mr. Florez said as they approached. "You didn't get arrested."

"I should have told you not to bring that," Aidan apologized. "I don't bring my bag anymore so I don't have to wait in that line."

"She doesn't have a choice, Aidan," Karissa rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" Aidan asked, Anna's heart beating a little faster, eyes darting between Karissa and Mrs. Florez, wondering who was going to answer, what they were going to say, because her mind had gone blank, her mouth dry.

"It's a girl thing," Karissa spoke up after what felt like an interminably long moment. 

"Then why don't you have one?" Aidan narrowed his eyes.

Thankfully, Karissa was ready this time, didn't leave Anna panicking in silence for too long. "I'm using hers," she shrugged. "Don't be nosy, Aidan." 

"Don't fight, kids," their dad ordered. "We're at the zoo!"

Thankfully, Aidan was willing to let it go. "What are we going to look at first?" 

"Well, I don't know," Mrs. Florez replied. "This is Anna's first time here, so she should pick."

"M-Me?" Anna fidgeted. "I-I dunno..." She looked around at the signs, directing visitors to different sections for inspiration. "The big cats?"

"Nice!" Aidan appeared to approve, hurrying along ahead with Mr. Florez while Mrs. Florez hung back with Anna, and technically Karissa, although she was more busy looking at her phone at the moment. 

"It was nice of you to agree to come along," Mrs. Florez told Anna. "You really didn't have to... Aidan would have been fine."

Anna shook her head. "No, I like the zoo. I'm happy to be here. It was nice of you to pay for my ticket... A-And wait with me in the security line."

Mrs. Florez chuckled, gave Anna's shoulders a squeeze. "Of course, sweetheart. I wasn't going to make you stand there all by yourself."

Anna knew that was something she ought to be able to do, that she was definitely old enough for it, but it felt different now, after the past day, while she was in diapers... Without Mrs. Florez there, she might still be frozen in place, gawking at the security officer, the rest of the line flowing around her, or growing increasingly impatient at her for holding them up. Just like earlier, with Mrs. Florez, she found herself fantasizing about having her diaper pulled down, her backside spanked, this time by the cute security officer, pushed over his table, bottom in the air, feet kicking, in front of all of those people...

"Wow," Mrs. Florez commented. "That did shake you up, didn't it? Are you sure you don't want to take a break?" Anna could practically feel the heat coming off of her face, telling her why Mrs. Florez had asked. "Or does somebody have a bit of a crush?" she teased.

"No!" Anna squeaked, a little too fast, a little too loud.

"He was very handsome," Mrs. Florez observed.

"Yeah," Anna agreed. "And he saw my... you know..." She blushed, looking around at the people around her, not wanting to say it out loud, whether it was obvious to them that she was wearing one or not.

"Oh, sweetie," Mrs. Florez stroked Anna's hair, "that's just a part of who you are. It's probably better for him to know up-front. He didn't seem bothered by it. I bet he's seen plenty of people of all ages with those in their bags! And I'm sure he saw you cute you were, too."

The redness in Anna's cheeks darkened. "O-Oh, look!" she pointed, changing the subject quickly. "Tigers!" She rushed over to the pen, leaning forward over the fence. 

She felt a hand on her back, glanced over her shoulder to see Karissa tugging at the hem of her shirt, pulling it back into place over the waistband of her diaper. "Th-Thanks," Anna told her.

"Like I said," Karissa shrugged, giving Anna's diaper a playful pat, "she can be kind of intense sometimes."

That was true, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing... And Anna didn't know if she would have made it in without her. "They're pretty, aren't they?" Mrs. Florez observed, walking up behind them. "Does she need a change already?"

"She's fine, Mom," Karissa rolled her eyes, Anna continuing to blush, listening to them talk about her, over her, as if she wasn't there, wasn't trying to pretend not to hear them as she looked out at the tigers.

"Well, she's had a lot of excitement already," Mrs. Florez said.

Thankfully, Aidan and Mr. Florez came over to join them, Aidan wanting them to come across the pathway to look at the lions, Anna happy to comply. She was just as happy to let him take over, leading them through the zoo; if anything, it made it less embarrassing, having him prompt them to stop and look at everything, even though she was every bit as eager as he was.

And if there was any question of how Mrs. Florez saw her, which of her children she considered her closer in age to, it was answered when, without hesitation, she paid for Anna to pet the giant tortoise along with Aidan, and accompanied them over to the handwashing station, watching them carefully to be sure that they both actually used it.

"Oh, what?" Karissa smirked. "I don't get to do it?"

"How many times have you done it already?" her mother countered. "It was every time we came when you were little. You haven't wanted to the last few times we've been, but..."

"No, I'm good," Karissa told her. 

Most of the people in line were a good bit younger than Anna, which made her more self-conscious about it, and every time she thought she saw somebody her age or older, she realized they were with a younger sibling, or child... They did seem just as excited about getting to touch the tortoise's shell, however, so she didn't feel quite as bad when it was her turn to squat down next to it, shocked at how huge it was, listening to the attendant patiently giving her instructions like she was any other kid, telling her where she could and couldn't pet it.

She was certain she could feel how old it was through its shell, and its leathery neck, could feel the wisdom it must have gained from the nearly hundred years it had been alive. She could remember, vaguely, doing this back home, but, like Karissa, she hadn't wanted to the past couple visits that her own family had taken, thinking it was for younger kids, mostly, too self-conscious to go through with it again. She definitely doubted she would have done it now, with Doug and Max there...

She was definitely glad she'd done it now, though, as she pushed herself back to her feet, toddling back to wash her hands again before returning to the Florez family... And Doyle. She stopped short, tugging anxiously at her shirt, the bulge of her diaper suddenly feeling so much more obvious beneath her shorts.

"Is this why you've been on your phone all day?" Mrs. Florez was grilling Karissa. "Getting him to come meet you?"

"It was just such a nice day out, I thought I'd come enjoy it," Doyle said lamely, not convincing anyone.

"This was supposed to be a family day," Mrs. Florez reminded Karissa.

"Doyle can hang out with the family," Karissa shot back, although it was obvious that wasn't quite what she'd had in mind.

"And Anna is here!" Mrs. Florez turned towards her as she slowly approached, not wanting to step into the middle of this argument, only to be pulled right into it. "I'm sure she'd rather have someone her own age with her!"

Anna blushed, grateful to Karissa for not pointing out that she had just come back from doing the same thing Aidan had been doing, even if she could see, on the girl's face, that she wanted to. "Well, she can come with us if she wants," Karissa said instead, Anna not entirely able to tell from her voice if that was something she wanted or not.

Mrs. Florez crossed her arms. "So you weren't planning on staying with us, then?"

"We could meet back up for lunch," Karissa suggested. Her mother sighed, shaking her head. "Until yesterday, I wasn't even going to be here today," she shrugged.

"Until yesterday, you were going to be on the other side of the ocean today," Mrs. Florez rolled her eyes, not buying into that excuse. "What do you think, Anna?"

"M-Me?" Anna blinked. "O-Oh, I don't know if I..."

"What do you want to do?" Mrs. Florez interrupted. "Do you want to go with them?"

Anna didn't particularly want to make that decision, but she could feel Mrs. Florez and Karissa both looking at her expectantly now, both waiting to see what she had to say while she squirmed, uncertain herself what her answer would be.

Should Anna...

Go hang out with Karissa and Doyle?

Stay with Mr. and Mrs. Florez and Aidan?

Or suggest that they all stay together?