Stepfordized: Part 4 (Patreon)

It wasn’t necessarily that Kelsey felt out of place at Claire’s garden party or that she was intimidated by any of the other women there. In reality, she just didn’t know what to do. The Grant family estate was filled with busy looking house staff and plump housewives mulling about in pastel dresses. Kelsey wandered around the garden and took in the sights of the spacious property. The sheer extravagance of the place astounded her. Claire Grant had several flower gardens with multicolored schemes that were, in a word…..Stunning. Everything from the topiaries and hedges to the koi pond and dessert table were on ostentatious display and decorated to the nines. Even the staff were better dressed than she was on the regular.

She’d dressed for the occasion as best as she could. While the punky brunette tended towards more skater-friendly attire she did own a few outfits for going out or attending events. This one was a black skirt and white blouse with a dazzling necklace. Kelsey normally wore it while clubbing or to bars, but she figured that it passed at a glance.

(1)

She folded her arms behind her back quaintly and continued meandering, smiling politely at the various women who cautiously looked her over with plastic smiles on their faces. After a few minutes, she happened upon a house separate from the main home she’d passed on the way up to the garden gate and surmised that it must have been bigger than her parent’s place back home. She sighed with an almost sarcastic nod.

“Must be nice.” She said out loud.

“Oh I sure hope it is. They pay them to be here.” A voice said from behind Kelsey, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin in a decidedly not-tough looking manner.

An especially bitchy looking woman stood with her hand on her hip, staring at the house from behind her sunglasses. She had a short, blonde bob and a pink-lipped grin that screamed “Karen.”

(2)

“Uhh…Yeah. Sorry about that, I didn’t hear you come up.” Kelsey said, awkwardly trying to make up for her earlier indiscretion.

“Oh don’t worry about it. No one cares about anything like that. From the looks of you, you’re new in town. You here for college?” She asked with an uninterested look on her face.

“Yeah, uhm. I go to David Grant. It was actually Mrs. Grant that invited me to come here so..uh.. Yeah.” The out of place punk stumbled. She didn’t know what this woman wanted her to say, but she was clearly making a detailed analysis of what she was seeing and Kelsey wasn’t excited to give her anything that could be used against her later.

The woman didn’t respond too poorly. She simply eyed the younger girl up and down before redeploying her fake, too perfect smile.

“Oh that sounds like her! Claire LOVES having guests over, especially from the school. To be honest it’s more Claire’s than David’s. Anyways, my name’s Taylor and this has been lovely but I *am* on my way to refill on wine so I’m going to be on my way. If you’re lucky, maybe we’ll see each other around.”

Kelsey was still unsure of what to make of the woman, but despite not doing anything overt, she was pretty sure she was being malicious.

“Yeah, uh…Thanks.” She replied as Taylor had already turned her back and walked away.

Kelsey eventually gave up on wandering and decided to try her luck at making conversation with new people, though she doubted that she’d have all that much with a bunch of housewives. She moved back towards the patio where tables of food had been set out and floral-printed partygoers all gossiped with each other over classy wine flutes in hopes that the other guests were more friendly than Taylor.

The women had all split up while the men almost without exception all went into the house to play video games. Kelsey tried a few times to sidle her way into several conversations only to be shut out by the irritated faces of the Ansley Park locals. It was beginning to dawn on her to just leave when Claire herself had seen her from across the patio to rush over to meet her guest.

“Hey there!” The gravid blonde cheered. “I’m SO glad you could make it, Thanks for coming!”

She was overly sweet and wore a blue dress over her largely swollen belly. Claire looked like she was about to pop any day now but still looked gorgeous. Then again, Kelsey thought, having a sugar daddy certainly doesn’t hurt either. Even still though, the slim brunette found herself silently hoping that she still looked so good if and when she ever became pregnant. Their conversation hadn’t gotten farther than basic greetings and pleasantries when Claire spotted another guest and had to excuse herself to waddle off to great them, leaving Kelsey all by her lonesome again.

(3)

Still, had it not been for Claire’s timely intervention, Kelsey wouldn’t have noticed the Asian girl from the college the other day. She stood laughing with a wealthy looking woman with long, dark hair, swirling and sipping a large glass of wine. The dark haired woman stepped away and the Asian girl stood still for a moment as Kelsey watched with a racing pulse as she moved so comfortably. She justified her feelings with a very real level of anxiety and fear of being recognized, but in truth she was just standing there and staring at the young woman and didn’t stop until the girl looked up and made eye contact with Kelsey.

Kelsey was shaking, but not upset to see the beautiful martial artist moving closer, her hair in a high bun and wearing a white skirt and chinese style blouse. Unlike her, Kelsey thought, this girl actually looked like she could belong here, if only as a guest. Her heels clicked gracefully as she strode elegantly along the cobblestone patio and Kelsey couldn’t help but notice the close that she got how short the woman was even in her wedges. Kelsey could only watch and smile nervously as her time to look away or come up with something to say ran out.

(4)

“Hey there!” The girls said chipperly.

“Uhhm, hi.” Kelsey squeaked nervously.

The Asian girl smiled and took a swig of her wine. “I’m Lihua.” She held out her hand, causing Kelsey to instinctively grab it back, instantly rubbing her thumb along the back of the girl’s hand.

“Oh my god, your hands are so soft!” Kelsey said, both surprised at the fact that they really were angel soft and to detract from her caressing a stranger’s hand.

“I’m Kelsey.” She said at last, remembering herself and that she hadn’t actually responded.

Lihua nodded and smiled confidently before narrowing her eyes and grinning slightly.

“You were the one who was watching me at the college the other day, right?”

Kelsey felt her heart sink into her stomach and froze. She couldn’t tell if her eyes were open too wide or not from the sheer amount of terror that had blinded her to the moment. Even worse, she knew that she was taking forever to respond again.

Lihua simply laughed cutely. “Well, I guess I have my answer” She said with an amused look on her pretty face.

“I’m so sorry.” Kelsey began to gush emphatically. “You were doing all kinds of cool Karate stuff and I’d never seen any of that and it was really cool and you were just awesome so…I got a little distracted.”

“Ahh.” Lihua nodded. “So first off it was Kung Fu, not Karate. Second, that’s cute out doesn’t explain why you were staring just now?”

It was the bluntness of the question that had caught her so off guard and left her speechless once again.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just giving you shit. I think that’s cool that you’re interested. If you ever wanted I could give you a lesson.” She offered.

Kelsey smiled widely and began wiggling her hips from side to side with excitement. “I’d be SO down for that! I’ve always wanted to learn!”

Having found something to bond over, the two became friends quickly. Even better, Kelsey figured, she was getting free kung lessons and having another opportunity to spend time with such an interesting girl. The two had begun the process of casual conversation, detailing each of their backgrounds. Apparently Lihua was a 2ndgeneration Chinese girl whose grandparents moved to the states back in the 60’s and had been practicing kung fu all her life. Which would have been less upsetting if Kelsey had more to say other than that she was white and used to skate.

(5)

“Ope! Pardon me, girls!” Said yet another woman’s voice just before the same massively obese body nearly bowled Kelsey over coming around the corner. Both women exchanged jokingly alarmed and knowing expressions as they moved to let the 600 pound Curvy Kate make her way to the dessert table where she loaded up with nearly one of everything present on the table. “You two should try the cheesecake.” Kate said, smiling sweetly; her round face made her look all the more innocent. She plodded over to a spot on the grass and sat down heavily, waving at Kelsey the moment she’d gotten comfortable and set down a plate full of sweet treats.

Lihua and Kelsey looked awkwardly at each other for a moment before Kelsey broke and asked “So uhh…What next?”

The Asian smiled mischievously and shrugged, downing her wine as she did.

“Well, I hear the cheesecake’s good.”