|
Edited October 2023 & February 2024 to fix grammar issues.
Tiffany had been camped out in the cluster most of the day, waiting to see when - and if - Kath would show up. According to the wretched contract, he could drop her off tomorrow morning, but the little girl couldn’t miss any classes. She tried texting her sister twice to see when they would return but got no answer.
She only ate tasteless microwave food today, scared that she might miss Kath’s return. It was getting late, eight o’clock, and nothing really interesting was on the television anymore. About fifteen minutes later, she saw the cluster door being open. During which, that Adam walked in with a seven or eight-year-old little girl.
The girl had a Tinkerbell shortall on, with ruffled socks and light-up shoes on her feet. Her hair was braided in pigtails with light green bows in her hair.
When Tiff and the rest of the group realized that it was Kath, they all dropped their mouths because that was the last thing they expected. True, the cluster sometimes treated Kath as a little girl, but they didn’t expect her to actually dress like one. Especially one where you couldn’t tell that she was a college-age student. How the heck did that flat chest happen? Tiff couldn’t figure it out. The Kath she knew didn’t exactly have big breasts, but you could tell they were there. This version of her friend had a flat chest and no evidence of breasts.
Tiff, full of questions, wanted to run and ask them, but Kathleen ignored her and the rest of the group and went into her dorm room.
Soon, Adam left Kathleen’s room without her, and still, Tiffany resisted the urge to run to the dorm room.
Katie soon came out of her room, and seeing Tiffany, she sighed, knowing what was coming. She soon came to where Tiffany was and sat next to her. “Hi, big sister, I expect you got questions,” she whispered to Tiff as she turned her phone on.
“Yes, I do, little girl. We can start with how old you are. I am having trouble believing you are nineteen?”
Smirking, she replied, “Is seven more believable? I appear to have a few text messages from you, too, sis.”
“I am hungry. You can tell me about your weekend at the student center over dessert,” was Tiff’s reply.
Katie Ann said, “Let me get my keys and money,” heading towards her room.
Tiffany told her she wasn’t dressed to pay. But the little girl insisted that she needed her keys at least and pointed out her bedtime. Allison wasn’t in the room when both of them got to Katie’s room. The older girl, by looks, asked what was in all the bags on the younger girl's bed.
“My car activities for the ride here, two children’s magazines, a coloring book, and this book,” Katie started as she set the book next to the bag, “the other one has my supplies, and loosely in it is the stuff he took with us,” she continued as she dug out her keys from that bag.
“Supplies?” Tiffany started to ask. She then saw the pull-up bag peeking out, “Pull-ups?” while patting the little girl on the bottom. She pointed out that the regressed girl was wearing pull-ups.
“No, I am not,” Katie responded with a blush. There were no further words on the subject as they headed to the student union.
On the way over to the cafe in the union, Katie gave Tiffany a quick version of her weekend. She concluded with, “It was a good weekend, though there were two items I didn’t like. But I especially liked the Wizard of Oz play on Sunday,” as Tiffany was opening the door for her.
“I will have your chicken tenders, and this little one will have a chocolate cream pie. Two iced teas too, please,” Tiffany ordered from the student worker when they got to the cafe.
They crawled in a booth away from everyone. Tiffany started interrogating the regressed girl, and Katie Ann answered as honestly as she could. One of the questions was as they were winding down, “So are you required to wear these clothes and the supplies between visits?”
The little girl responded with, “Supplies? No, I might, but not required. Clothes, no, but I lost the clothes I was wearing on Friday. These replaced them. So unless I want to spend money, these are my tennis shoes now,” pointing at her feet.
The older girl’s final question was a loaded question, “What do you think your parents would think?”
“That was the second of the two items that I didn’t like. The cat tail was the first, and the second is the reason that I came inches away from a very red bum today. They already know. Daddie informed them himself. As a matter of fact, we stopped there for dinner today. They have their own copy of the contract, too,” Katie said with a sigh. “He also told them that he would gladly keep them informed of his plans for me when I was not around,” she continued.
“Hmm, maybe I should call him to try and get the plans... Nah, it would be too easy to spill the beans to you,” Tiffany thought out loud. “Come on, little sister, it will be your bedtime soon.”
The little girl just responded by sticking her tongue out to the first bit, yet followed Tiffany back to the dorm. Once back in Katie’s room, Tiffany, like a big sister, helped the little girl get ready for bed. She left the pigtails in the hair at the young girl’s insistence. As Tiff was helping her out of the clothes, the older girl did finally find out what was under the shortalls. The regressed girl did insist on a pull-up for bed. Nine thirty on the dot, Tiff was tucking the little girl in. She walked out of the door, shaking her head at all the changes that just felt right for some reason.
Katie was in the cluster, half-reading the last of the Little House book and a half talking to her Daddie on her laptop the Wednesday before the Friday she was going to see him next. “Daddie, I need to run to the bank before they close to get some quarters for laundry,” she told him, trying to let him know why she was leaving.
He replied that he would do it if she brought it with her and if she could make it till the weekend. Katie thought that was too good to be true. There had to be a catch, so she asked him.
“There is always a catch, Buttercup. I will seize any clothes I don’t want you to have. That is your catch,” he informed her. As the conversation progressed, he instructed her, “I will pick you up between one and one-thirty in your cluster on Friday. Don’t worry about food. We will stop on the way.” He continued by telling her to bring her homework, the car activities bag, and her laundry if she desired. Continuing, she was instructed to lock her purse in her desk drawer after taking the same items out of it as last time. Finally, she was informed, “Remember, any clothes you wear, you might not get back.” With the instructions delivered, the conversation returned to the mundane items, like her running out of pull-ups.
Katie Ann was doing her homework Thursday evening when she was cornered by Tiffany, as she expected was going to happen. “When is Adam picking you up?”
The little girl, who right now had her hair in unbraided pigtails, told Tiff that she was welcome to hang around the cluster. He would be there after one. She didn’t have to hang out in her room. She was free to roam around. Tiffany, satisfied with the answer, let her sister get back to her homework.
Author's Note:Comments and questions are always welcomed -- Thanks Becky
Comments
If Katie's going to slowly
If Katie's going to slowly run out of clothing that makes her look her age, that could be a bit problematic for her. A seven year old going to college classes - that would raise more than a few eyebrows (especially at this point in the semester). She may have to start getting seriously wary, being careful to preserve what clothing she has that he wouldn't leave her with given a chance.
This is especially true given any sort of event that might require her to dress up - if he "replaces" all her formal stuff, that is actually quite an issue.
Katie looking like a seven year old.
You have to remember that Katie has always had problem with being treated like a child. No matter what clothes she wears, she looks young. Adam has done two visible things to her, he temporary changed her hairstyle, and replaced one pair of over sized clothing with girls clothing that fit. Those over sized clothes didn't really help her look like a college student. Since this is her second year at the college, they are used to the college student who looks like a grade schooler.
The fact that there is at
The fact that there is at least a few people at Mountain who know what's going on could be helpful - but I suspect Tiffany would have an awkward time explaining if that's what it took to bail Katie out of a situation of Adam's making.