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female Between the sheets...and into the mind [Ch1-Ch35]


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Chapter 16 Lesley was sat in a client meeting, doing her best to concentrate and remain professional, however she was on pins for the first 20 minutes. Kenzie’s call had come just as she’d been o

Ok, so we’re now 15 chapters in, roughly 10k words or so, and I don’t know about you guys but I’m really enjoying myself with this so far. Hands up, I’m probably being a little too involved and p

Thanks as ever for the feedback @Melificentfan, I had a feeling that you and @mikey mike would enjoy this one. It feels like I've found a subject that suits my style whilst working for this site, whic

2 hours ago, mikey mike said:

Great stuff again Piddly. It's great to see both you and Barry producing wonderful stories again after what seems like a long hiatus!

It’s good to be back, and I agree great to be able to read @Barry’s incredible work again too! 

I’ve got the the rough premise of this planned out in my head, but not entirely sure how we get to where we’re heading yet, and I’m quite enjoying letting the characters establish themselves first. Who knows, they may just run off in their own random directions like last time! 😂

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Chapter 12

Laundry and work bag in the car, Lesley poured herself one last coffee into her travel mug, stopped off to use the bathroom knowing that’d she’d have a slightly longer commute than usual this morning, and then locked up and hopped into her car, turning the heating up full blast against the wintery morning chill and sped off in the direction of the launderette. She knew they wouldn’t be open this early, but had become friendly with the woman who owned it some years back and was sure she’d be in early getting on top of things before the public descended on her. 

Passing the bus stop at the end of their street where many of the local neighbourhood children were stood waiting for their school busses dressed in an assortment of woolly hats, thick winter coats and, causing Lesley to shudder a little, one youngster in just shirt sleeves - it really wasn’t warm enough for that!  - she noticed McKenzie and a couple of other older students were stood off to one side, meaning the public bus they caught to college hadn’t arrived yet. Not recognising the other girls, Lesley gave a quick pap of the horn and a wave to her daughter as she passed, causing much embarrassment in the process.

McKenzie had made it to the bus stop with just a couple of minutes to spare, but typically given how cold it was, the bus was running late! Why did that never happen when the sun was shining and she could enjoy the extra few minutes basking? But it always seemed to be the case when she was shivering. A couple of other girls about her age were at the stop when she’d arrived, and they’d exchanged awkward nods of acknowledgement - they caught the same bus most days, but didn’t share any classes and hadn’t known each other from school, so in truth she wasn’t even really sure of their names! One of them may have been called Emma, she recalled from an overheard conversation the previous year, but the other had only appeared in September so was presumably in her first year, and must have attended a different high school.

She’d blushed and given a rather embarrassed little wave as her Mum passed and beeped at her, glancing sideways at her two silent companions with a roll of the eyes and a look that said ‘mums, eh?!’ before looking straight back down again, teenage awkwardness taking over. It was funny, she’d learned to be quite outgoing and confident when talking to older adults, perhaps because of all of the specialists and experts she’d had to meet over the years whilst growing up, and she’d always had a way with younger kids, likely for the same reason - the older she got, the more she found herself spending time amusing children often several years younger than her at the various clinics and surgeries she’d attended - yet she found it really quite difficult to strike up a conversation with people of her own age. 

The minutes ticked by, and still there was no sign of their bus, nor the special services scheduled to collect the school kids and drop them off at her old high school, and the other catholic high on the other side of town. Meanwhile, Lesley had made it to the little out of town shopping strip where the laundry service was located, and was just in the process of manhandling her bulky load out of the car boot when her friend caught sight of her from inside the shop, and hurried out to lend a hand.

“I thought it was you I could see out here! Morning Lesley, long time no see, how’s things with you and…McKenzie, isn’t it?”

Welcoming the assistance, Lesley handed over one of the heavy bags, before heaving the second out and slamming the boot lid back into place.

“Hiya Maureen, yeah we’re good thanks. Sorry I’ve not been over, with one thing and another we’ve not needed anything dry cleaning for a while now, but this bedding needs a freshening up and it’s far too bulky for my machine at home, so I thought I’d swing by on my way into the office and see if you were about.”

“Ah you know me Les, I live and breathe this place! Its hard work, but doing so much of it myself keeps costs low and helps the business to remain viable, so I’m always here at the crack of dawn - it’s either that, or stay late at night, but when there’s a bottle of wine calling me from home that’s never a very appealing proposition! Haha”

Lesley chuckled, knowing all too well what Maureen meant. Whilst she didn’t work for herself, she’d freelanced in the past and knew how important it was to keep a lid on costs if you were to earn a decent crust, and all too well how the allure of that glass (or 3!) of wine could distract you. 

“This lot can probably all go in together, it’s just sheets and a duvet. Any chance I can pop by on my way home from work to grab it, if you’ll have chance to get it done by then? Kenz only has the one winter duvet, and I don’t much fancy another disturbed night if I can avoid it!”

Maureen cast a quick eye over the bags, agreeing that it was just one large load and nodding the affirmative, it’d probably be ready within a couple of hours, so collecting at the end of the day would be fine. 

“Absolutely, I’ll be here until 5 but no later, there’s a bottle chilling that’s got my name on it.”

The two women exchanged a little more small talk whilst Lesley paid the bill and added a generous tip for the fact that her friend would have to handle such an unpleasant task, but feeling too embarrassed on her daughter’s behalf to bring up the issue, before bidding her good day and setting off back on her way to start her working day, the stop-off and chat having eaten quite heavily into her morning schedule and leaving her probably just enough time to get parked up and to her desk for the start of her shift.

Poor McKenzie, now 10 minutes late for college and with no sign of any buses, was still waiting rather impatiently at the bus stop, frustrations mounting both in her and those around her. 

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This one's a little longer, I kind of got carried away. 😉 

 

Chapter 13


It was now getting on for three quarters of an hour since Kenzie had arrived at the bus stop, she was absolutely frozen to the core and quite fed up, not least because had she known the bus wasn’t going to be on time she could have stayed inside in the warm a while longer, or perhaps even convinced her Mum to drop her off again on the way to work. The school kids were still all waiting for their buses, too, and were becoming quite rowdy - the younger ones messing around and pushing each other about, as they do, whilst the older year groups looked just as miffed as she herself was. 

One girl, probably in year 10 or 11 judging by her appearance, came over to where McKenzie, blonde haired Emma? and the other older student who’s hair and in fact entire appearance was something quite unique (in a good way!) were stood staring at their phones, and nervously asked whether any of them had any idea what was going on. It proved to be the catalyst to striking up a conversation, as both Kenzie and the unnamed girl chimed in that they hadn’t a clue.

“How about you, Emily, have you heard anything? 

There came no reply, and it became apparent that Emily (ahh, so I’d been nearly right, Kenzie mused to herself) had earphones in no doubt trying to block out the monotony of standing around motionless for so long. McKenzie had never really picked up on it, but it seemed that the other two students knew each other, for the younger of the two proceeded to yank one of Emily’s earbuds out before repeating her enquiry a little louder.

“Oh shit, sorry Chlo, I was in a world of my own there! No, nothing, and it starting to take the piss a bit now isn’t it?”

They all murmured their agreement, with Emily giving an exaggerated stretch and jiggle on the spot which Kenzie assumed was an attempt to warm herself up.

“Truth told, I’m actually starting to need a wee, and this bloody cold isn’t helping me at all. If the bus doesn’t get here soon I think I’m going to have to nip back home, and then what’s the betting I’ll miss it.” 

The younger teen gasped in surprise and relief, before interjecting “Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one! I’ve been busting for the past half hour, but I live over the other side of the estate so there’s no way I’ll get back in time for the bus if I go home, and I’m not sure I can even wait that long anyway. Ooh I really hope this damned bus gets here soon.”

Their admissions seemed to break the ice (pardon the pun!) and the 4 girls were soon chatting easily between themselves, passing the time and trying to distract Emily, and the schoolgirl who turned out to be called Charlotte, from their growing need. Chloe’s phone rang after a few minutes, and from what they could gather from the side of the conversation they could all hear it was somebody updating her on what had caused they delays. Thanking the caller, she turned back to address the other girls.

“That was my Mum, I text her ages ago to say we were all still waiting for the bus and to see if she knew what was going on, but she’s only just got my message as she’s been stuck in the car in traffic. Apparently there’s been a massive smash in the town centre, right outside the bus station, so no buses have been able to get out. She said it’s a real mess, and it may be another hour or more before they can get a bus over to pick us up - apparently she’s phoned college and they know about it, so it’s fine for us to go back home if we don’t want to wait in the cold, we can do remote learning for today.”

Chloe and McKenzie looked delighted with this news, a day of studying on their laptops in bed infinitely preferable to a day stuck in college, especially with the weather being as bad as it was - the wind was starting to really howl now, and they could already feel the first spots of rain or maybe even sleet starting to fall. Emily, too, struggled to suppress a wide grin, she knew she had a bit of a walk to get home, but then she’d be able to use the loo without worrying about missing the bus, and the heating would still be on which would be very welcome indeed!

Only Charlotte looked a little uncomfortable at the revelation, nervously biting her lip s she listened. 

“Are you ok Charlotte?” One of the older girls asked.

“Erm…yeah, just wondering what about my school. I mean, I can’t wait here another hour just to see if a bus does turn up, and it’s too far to walk to school, or even to walk back home.” She gave her legs a tight squeeze together, emphasising her point.  “I’ll try to ring them now and see what they say, but ooh I don’t know what I’m going to do…”

They all sympathised with what seemed to be an impossible situation, Emily perhaps a little more so for she was in much the same predicament, although at least she had some certainty now and whilst it wouldn’t be a comfortable walk home, she knew she’d be fine.  They waited where they were for a few moments whilst Charlotte made a call to her school,  watching her facial expressions and trying to listen to what was being said, hoping the poor girl received some good news. 

“Well, that was weird, I’ve never actually phoned the school office before! But yeah, they were pretty cool about it all, apparently there’s hardly anybody made it in to classes so far today because of the buses and the roads all being screwed up, so they said I can either go home and use it as a revision day for my GCSE’s if my Mum agrees, or try to get in to school when I can. Mum’s working, so I’ll text her and I guess I’ll have to head home - a day off is great, but ooooh I’m really not sure I can make it all that way without a wee, I feel like I’m about to wet myself as it is. OMG this is soooo embarrassing.” She looked mortified, blushing profusely as she did what could best be described as a potty dance on the spot, the other girls all doing their best to look away and give her a moment to compose herself, whilst some of her own peers and the younger kids seemed to pick up on what was going on, and started to make jokes and laugh, bringing much unwanted attention to poor Charlotte. 

Taking Pity, Emily offered to let her use the loo at her house, although it was a 10 minute or so walk, and she asked whether that would help. Charlotte was grateful, but at the same time grimaced at the prospect of walking for so long, and the worry about what would happen if she couldn’t wait. It was then that Kenzie spoke up, pointing out that her house was much closer, and she wasn’t in the same predicament as Emily and Charlotte, so the loo would be free. She even extended the offer to Emily, is she’d have the opportunity to relieve herself before walking home.

Whilst Emily declined the kind offer, as it was taking her in the wrong direction and, whilst she definitely needed to go she was nothing like as desperate as the younger girl and really just wanted to get home and warm more than anything. Charlotte, on the other hand was absolutely elated, and couldn’t thank McKenzie enough for coming to her rescue, blushing as she muttered that she felt sure she’d have had an accident if she’d tried to make it home, and at 16 how embarrassing would that have been? 


Plans settled, and resolving to chat tomorrow at the bus stop, they were just about to set off on their respective walks home when Chloe gestured towards the gaggle of school kids who were variously playing on their phones, kicking a football about and standing shivering, much like they themselves had been. 

“What about them? We can’t very well just leave them standing here all day can we?”

Kenzie shrugged indifferently, her own struggles making her particularly sensitive to the childish way some of them had spoken about poor Charlotte just a few minutes earlier, but Charlotte being the better person agreed and stepped forward tensely to address them all in as close to a confident voice as she could muster.

“Listen up, you lot. There’s been a crash or something, so the buses aren’t running. These girls have spoken to their college and they’ve going home, I called St Aelred’s and they’ve told me I can either go home and use today for revision, or try to get into school - so you should probably try to get hold of your schools, or your parents, and see what they want you to do. Apparently it will be at least another hour before any buses can get here.”

The response was a little mixed, with lots of fluster and panic from the younger ones and those less sure of themselves, quickly drowned out by whoops and cheers from everybody looking forward to an unexpected day off from school. They were all in high school so far as the older girls could make out, so very much able to take care of their own arrangements and make their own judgement calls about what to do for the best now the knew the situation, so with that they parted ways and began on their walks home, Kenzie leading the way for Charlotte.

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Chapter 14

McKenzie only lived a couple of hundred yards away from the bus stop, but Charlotte found every step excruciating, trying to maintain a modicum of composure and dignity whilst at the same time almost certain she was going to humiliate herself at any moment, and in front of this older girl she’d barely met no less. She was already worried that she may have sprung a leak, and knew that there’d be no way of hiding it if she did have an accident, her uniform would show it for the world to see. If that happened, she’d never be able to face school again.

Kenzie tried to keep up a cheerful conversation as they walked, it was pretty one-sided as Charlotte was only really able to contribute the occasional grunt of confirmation, but nevertheless she hoped it was serving as a distraction. She did her best to ignore the younger girl’s  obvious struggle, knowing inside just how embarrassed she must be to have found herself in this position, and that the last thing she’d want was any more attention drawing to it. Silently she willed her new friend to make it, to find the strength from within to hand on just a few minutes and steps longer. Her home was now in sight, and she excitedly pointed it out to Charlotte as she began rummaging in her coat pocket for the front door key.

“Oh no….oh no no no…oh SHIT!” 

“Wh…what is it McKenzie? What’s wrong?” Charlotte stuttered.

Kenzie was panicking wracking her brains to try and remember when she’d last had her key. Yesterday afternoon, surely, as she’d let herself in after college. And she’d put it back in her pocket as she always did. The pocket of her denim jacket, not the thick winter coat she’d selected this morning.

“Damnit! Oh you’re not going to believe this Charl, I’ve not got my bloody front door key. I’m so, so sorry. I changed coats this morning, and I must’ve forgotten to pick it up.”

Poor Charlotte gave an anguished moan of despair, and looked very much as though she was about to both burst into tears and wet her pants right where she stood, such was the impossibility of the situation, and she felt like her last hope had just been extinguished. She was done for, and her life as a teenager would be over.

They’d reached the front door now to the home which McKenzie shared with her mum, but it stayed resolutely closed whilst she dug out her mobile and urgently called Lesley, hoping she’d have some idea that could save them. Charlotte stood beside her, all attempts at civilised behaviour now long since forgotten, she was clutching at herself through her grey skirt with both hands, jumping on the spot and crying openly, willing the unknown parent to answer and prevent her from total humiliation. 

“Kenzie, love, what’s the matter? Why aren’t you in class?”

“Hi Mum, long story….I’ll tell you properly later, ok? But there’s no buses, so I’m back home, but I’ve forgotten my key. Is there any way I can get in, like quickly? It’s really, really urgent!”

“Woah, slow down and stop panicking. What on earth’s the matter? Yes, there’s a spare key under the hedgehog ornament in the flowerpot next to the door, use that but make sure you put it straight back please. Now, what’s going on?”

Following her Mum’s instructions, McKenzie found the key and held it aloft for Charlotte to see, causing the girl to squeak “Thank fuck! Quickly…” as she writhed in pain, already feeling her knickers were wet but really hoping to avoid a total disaster. 

“McKenzie, who was that?” Lesley was really concerned now, who on earth was with her daughter? She didn’t recognise that voice, and didn’t at all like the sound of distress she’d picked up on.

“No time Mum, sorry, I’ll phone you back in like 5 minutes and explain everything, I promise. Thanks!” and with that, she ended the call and thrust the key into the lock, throwing the door open and hurriedly directing Charlotte to the bathroom upstairs. 

Charlotte made haste, something between a hop, a shuffle and a run as she clambered up the stairs, holding herself yet tighter and really hoping the dampness she could feel on her fingers through her skirt was just sweat caused by her tight grip. She was nearly there, she was going to (mostly) make it. She could do this…

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Chapter 15

Despite barely knowing this girl, McKenzie was rooting for her to make it. She knew all too well how embarrassing things like this could be, and even though she was a couple of years older now she could remember being Charlottes age, and could well imagine the absolute mortification she was feeling right now, never mind if…well, not even going to think about that. 

It was only as she saw Charlotte hobble around the corner at the top of the stairs and onto the landing that a horrible, gut wrenching thought struck Kenz. Her bedroom! Oh no, the door was wide open and her bed had been stripped down to its plastic sheet, what if she saw? She was half tempted to creep up the stairs behind her and close the bedroom door whilst Charlotte was in the bathroom, but quickly realised that at best it would be incredibly creepy to seemingly follow a virtual stranger to the toilet like that, and at worst she may not have even closed the bathroom door, given how desperate she was, and that would be a whole world of uncomfortable that neither of them needed to be dealing with right now. No, she’d have to brazen it out and just hope that on the way up her new friend would have been too distracted by her bladder, and on the way down too overcome with relief to think about being nosy. 

Waiting anxiously at the foot of the stairs, Kenzie was relieved to hear the sound of the toilet flushing, and glanced up to the top of the stairs in expectant anticipation, smiling warmly. As Charlotte appeared she did indeed look incredibly relieved, and so much more at ease than she had a few moments earlier, although she still seemed flustered and, McKenzie noticed, she was blushing profusely, perhaps even more so than she had at the bus stop or on their walk back here and presumed it just to be embarrassment, given the spectacle that had just taken place

“Feel better?” 

“Yeah, much, thanks! I…I really should get going home I guess, let you get on with your revision and whatnot, and figure out what I’m expected to do myself. Thank…thanks so much, McKenzie.”

With that, Charlotte picked up her bag which she’d abandoned in the small hallway in her rush to the bathroom, swung it over her shoulder and hastily made her way back out of the door and down the garden path. McKenzie didn’t quite know what to make of that!

“No worries at all Charlotte, guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. Byeeeee”

How odd, Kenzie thought to herself. Poor girl must be really embarrassed, not that I blame her. Something seemed a little odd then though, she seemed different somehow, although she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. At least she was able to make it here and get to the loo though, there’s clearly no way she’d have made it all the way to her own home on the other side of the estate! At least her hasty departure had avoided the need for any awkward questions about her bedroom situation anyway, every cloud and all that. 

Realising she really should call her Mum back and explain, she fished her phone back out of her pocket to see 3 unread messages.

“Are you ok Kenz?”

“What’s going on love? If you can’t ring, message me.”

“McKenzie you’re worrying me, please let me know you’re OK”

Feeling bad for worrying her over something that was really silly in the grand scheme of things, although clearly not to Charlotte, she tapped out a quick reply in case her Mum wasn’t able to talk on the phone as she knew she’d be busy at work.

“Sorry for worrying you Mum, I’m fine, found the key, everything’s fine. My friend had a bit of an emergency but all sorted now. Ring me when you can. K x”

Prickling conscience assuaged, Kenzie threw her own college bag back into the hall cupboard, stripped off her winter clothes and made her way into the kitchen, clicking both the central heating and the kettle on so that she could fully warm herself back up. She knew she’d have to log in and do some college work, and she actually didn’t mind working from home, but for now she was going to have a few minutes for herself after all of that drama. 

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Chapter 16

Lesley was sat in a client meeting, doing her best to concentrate and remain professional, however she was on pins for the first 20 minutes. Kenzie’s call had come just as she’d been on her way to reception to meet the clients, meaning she was left all flustered and couldn’t quite maintain her focus. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her phone screen had flashed to life bearing a message from home, confirming that all was well. She couldn’t quite stifle an audible sigh of relief, causing a raised eyebrow from the client and an enquiring look from her own manager who was also in the meeting and which she felt left her having to apologise and justify her distractedness thus far. 

“Sorry folks, bit of a family emergency was unfolding, but seems it’s been taken care of now and no harm done. You now have my undivided attention once more.”

Whilst her manager was presenting some numbers, she took the opportunity to tap out a quick reply to her daughter, so that she wouldn’t be waiting on her call, and then returned her attention to the task at hand.

“Thanks love, I was worried but glad you’re ok. In a meeting, speak when I get home. Hope your friends ok too? x “

Having enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea and another couple of rounds of toast, making the most of the unexpected delay to the start of her day, McKenzie finally popped her crockery into the dishwasher and retrieved her college bag, fishing out her laptop and a folder containing the project she was currently working on and heading upstairs, planning to make good on her promise to herself that she’d spend the day working whilst snuggled up on bed, what could be better? 

It was only as she stepped through her open bedroom door and took in the sight that greeted her, that reality struck. Of course she couldn’t spend the day cozy and warm in her bed, because she’d pissed in it the night before like a little baby. Not just in her bed, but all over the floor too. She was momentarily furious with herself, before breaking down in silent tears…why did it always have to be like this? Why couldn’t she just be a normal teenager? She was 19 FFS, supposed to be an adult, why couldn’t she act like it? Even collapsing onto her bed didn’t help, the crinkling of the plastic cover grating on her already fractured nerves and causing even more tears to fall. What a mess she was, how was she ever going to live her life like this?

The anger and sadness passed as quickly as it had descended, as it so often did, and soon Kenzie was beating herself up about being so silly. Of course it wasn’t her fault, she didn’t do it on purpose and she wasn’t even awake when it happened (last night being the exception, in part), it was a medical condition and was outside of her control, something she just needed to learn to live with for the moment and get on with her life as best she could, as she very well knew. Wiping her face and dusting herself down, she decided to make the best of a bad situation and, scooping up her computer and books once more she strode purposefully from the room, into her Mums, and snuggled herself down in there instead. She was at work, she’d never know, and heck she’d invited her to share that very bed only the previous night so it almost certainly wouldn’t be a problem! And, if it was? Well, it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, she chuckled to herself.


Laptop fired up, books spread open, McKenzie made a productive start and in truth probably got through more work in the first hour or so than she would have all day at college, plus she was warm and comfy, so it really was a win-win. Moving on to her next task, she set about reading a couple of chapters of the set text she was analysing. Alas it wasn’t the most captivating of storylines (a bit like this one I dare say 😉 ) and it didn’t take long before her disturbed night’s sleep caught up with her and she dropped off, snug and warm, and fast asleep in her Mum’s bed again. 

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Ok, so we’re now 15 chapters in, roughly 10k words or so, and I don’t know about you guys but I’m really enjoying myself with this so far.

Hands up, I’m probably being a little too involved and perhaps a little over-descriptive, after all that 10,000 words accounts for less than 24hrs in the characters lives, but heck I’ve got the rest of my lifetime to get to the end of the story, so let’s make it enjoyable to read and see if we can’t transport people into the fictional world as they follow it, eh?

The timeline may speed up and slow down a little as we go along, as some events will require more attention than others, so please bear with me. We’re also currently a million miles away from where it gets REALLY interesting, although at that point I’ve no idea how well it will or won’t work as it’s like nothing I’ve ever tried to write before, but we can only give it a go and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, I’ll happily dial it back and keep it as a “slice of life” story which is where my experience lies.

So, do your worst, let me know what you really think of where we are so far. 🙂
 

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You're doing a great job with this Piddly. You've built up a good storyline and with the "non running bus" aspect a good sub-plot too! Like the others I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this, but I know from past stories you've written that there will be plenty of twists and turns

Edited by mikey mike (see edit history)
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Chapter 17

McKenzie snoozed for more than an hour, eventually disturbing as she heard the mail arriving downstairs with a rattle of the letterbox and a loud thud on the doormat. Disoriented, it took her a few moments to find her bearings and remember where she was, and why. Panicked instinct caused her first to check under the covers, relieved to find everything dry and as it should be, and then her phone - startled to see that not only had she not just been dozing for a few minutes as she expected but more than an hour had passed, but also that there were a number of messages that she’d not heard come through.

She began thumbing through the messages, finding nothing important and mostly just silliness from her college friends, many of whom were also enjoying an impromptu day at home (although a couple weren’t so fortunate, as the saltiness of their messages confirmed!). Satisfied that she’d not missed out on anything major, and refreshed after her hour in bed, McKenzie extricated herself from the covers in which she was cocooned and decided to do something productive, for staring at the disinteresting old prose had only sent her to sleep and whilst she could quite happily while away the rest of the day snoring, it seemed such a waste. It was as she stood that she felt a prickling from her midsection, a timely reminder from her bladder that having drank late night hot chocolate and then what felt like several gallons of coffee so far this morning, she really should nip and use the loo. How strange, she thought to herself not for the first time over the years, that I can have been fast asleep and clearly desperate for a wee and not wet the bed, yet other times I can barely drink and use the toilet immediately before closing my eyes, only to wake up to a flood! It just makes no sense whatsoever. 

She mused over this seemingly nonsensical problem as she visited the bathroom and relieved herself, taking the opportunity whilst washing her hands to give her face a splash with cold water which quickly shook the reminder of the sleep from her and left her feeling wide awake and raring to go, if she was being honest with herself probably for the first time in a very, very long time. 

Ablutions taken care of, and noting there were still a couple of hours left of her normal college day, Kenzie grabbed her laptop and file from where they lay discarded in her mum’s bedroom, and descended the stairs to the kitchen table where she hoped she’d be able to regain her earlier productivity. She laid out her project work across the table, and began collating the information and putting it into some kind of meaningful order. It took the remainder of the afternoon, but she was quite satisfied by what she’d managed to achieve, feeling confident that her project was at least half way towards being ready for submission.

Across town, Lesley was working diligently in the hope of an early dart, knowing that she had to make it to the launderette before Maureen left for the day if Kenzie was to have fresh bedding and she, in turn, was to have her bed to herself again tonight. She’d got most of her days workload taken care of by 4pm, and eventually decided that the last couple of documents she needed to review and sign off could go home with her, to be completed over a glass of that delicious wine from last night. The clients didn’t need them until morning, and it would make her journey home so much less stressful if she wasn’t rushing. 

Maureen was just bringing in the outdoor pavement signs and giving the shop a last quick lick with the mop when Lesley arrived, perfect timing with just 15 minutes left before closing.

“Twice in one day, and after so long” the owner chuckled as she ducked under the counter to retrieve the laundered bedding.

“Haha, Hi, Maureen. Yeah I had to make sure I got here in time so Kenzie had her thick quilt back for tonight, I’m far to used to my own bed to have her sharing with me again!”

The two ladies exchanged a look, and in that moment Maureen understood who’s soiled bedding she’d just washed, and Lesley realised she’d well and truly put her foot in it and exposed poor McKenzie’s secret to a virtual stranger. She hurriedly began stumbling over her words, trying to explain praying for discretion.

“I,…b..but..I mean, I…” she fumbled and stammered, horrified that she’d let something like that slip and completely unable to put together a coherent sentence.

“Lesley, relax!” Maureen interjected “Honestly, in this job I’ve seen everything, and I really do mean *everything*. They’re certainly not the first damp bedsheets I’ve been asked to wash, and I bet they won’t even be the last this week! What happens in the launderette stays in the launderette, and all that. I figured they must be your daughters, isn’t she what college age now? Experimenting with drink no doubt…well, I bet she doesn’t do that again in a hurry eh.”

Still struck dumb, but immensely relieved that Maureen hadn’t seemed disgusted, or even really shocked, Lesley merely nodded, eventually managing to mumble something about wine being involved, at which the older woman rolled her eyes and laughed. 

Having settled the bill, and keen to get out of what was still a pretty uncomfortable situation, Lesley then thanked Maureen for taking care of things so quickly, discreetly asked her to “keep it to herself” although she knew that was probably completely unnecessary, and then bade her goodbyes she loaded the fluffy duvet and neatly folded sheets and covers into the boot of her car once more, before taping out a quick text to Kenzie.

“Hiya love, just on my way home, be about 15 mins. Pop the kettle on would ya? x “

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Chapter 18

Focussed on her work, McKenzie hadn’t heard her phone ping as the message arrived, so she jumped a little as she heard keys in the front door, announcing her Mum’s earlier than expected arrival home.

“Hi Mum, you’re early” she called cheerfully from the kitchen, where she was still pouring over the various documents and worksheets she had spread across the table.

“Hiya sweetie, yeah I text, didn’t you see it? Does that mean I’ll have to make my own cuppa then?” Lesley put on a mock scolding voice, chuckling at the look of indignation on her daughters face as she walked into the kitchen and gave her a hug, taking in the mass of work spread out.

“Honestly McKenzie, you make a mess wherever you go!” this delivered with a wide smile, for she couldn’t get angry over college work, and she half wished as much interest and diligence had been shown in the earlier years of her education, but Kenzie had been so distracted by everything else going on that school work often came distant second in her priorities.

The pair continued to exchange banter as Lesley filled the kettle and prepared two mugs of steaming hot coffee for them, and Kenzie tidied away her work, although not before her mum took a rare opportunity to have a look over some of it and praise her daughter for the excellent standard, causing a blush.

The table clear once more, Lesley set down the mugs and added a plate containing a slice of cake each, a little afternoon treat for whilst they caught up on each other’s day. 

“So Kenz, love, whatever was all that about on the phone earlier? I heard about the crash in work, it effected loads of people, but why didn’t you have your key? And what on earth was going on with your friend?”

“Ahh, so sorry for worrying you when I phoned Mum! I’d swapped coats this morning, if you remember? And my keys were still in my denim that I had on yesterday - it wouldn’t have been much of a problem if the bus had turned up, I’d just have stayed later at college until I knew you were home, but with the crash and the buses being cancelled I had to come home, and that’s when I realised! It’s a good job you’d thought to hide that spare key, other wise I don’t know what we’d have done!”

“I’m actually surprised that’s the first time in what, 6 years or so that you’ve been making your own way home from school and now college that you’ve needed to use it, surprised but quite impressed. That key’s been there since you turned 13…and, hands up, I’ve had to use it myself a couple of times before now. Anyway, you said you don’t know what ‘we’ would have done, who’s the we? I didn’t recognise that voice in the background earlier.”

Realising that this was going to take some explaining, Kenzie took a slurp of her coffee and a generous bite of cake before beginning. 

“Her name’s Charlotte, and I only actually met her today. When the bus was so late, I got talking to a couple of girls from my college who get the same bus - Emily and Chloe - about what we should do. There are loads of kids that catch school buses from there, too, and Charlotte heard us talking about it so she came to ask what was happening. She’s 16 and in Year 11 at St Aelred’s. After we’d spoken to college, she called her school and they said she could stay at home too and spend the day doing revision, but she lives right the way over on the other side of the estate next to the ring road, and after waiting so long for the bus in the cold she was bursting for a wee, so I offered to let her come and use our loo before walking home, I hope that was ok?”

Relieved to hear that what had sounded like a real cause for panic on the phone turned out to be little more than a couple of teenagers making a mountain out of a molehill, Lesley smiled warmly “Of course it’s ok, honestly Kenz It’s your home too, you can always bring friends here you know that. Well done you for helping out somebody in need, too, I bet she’d have been really uncomfortable if you’d not offered and she’d had to walk home.”

Nodding in agreement, Kenzie added “Yeah, she was in a pretty bad way Mum. That’s why I rang you in a panic, I thought she was going to have an accident right out there on our front step when I told her I didn’t have my key. There’s no way she’d have made it all the way home without having an accident, and I could tell she was really embarrassed which is why I wanted to help.

“Well, good for you.”

“Charlotte went straight home after that, she had to log in to do her school work remotely, and I think she felt a bit awkward after everything, but I’ll hopefully see her again at the bus stop in the morning so I’ll make sure she’s ok. After she’d gone, I basically spent the day caching up on my coursework, and that’s about it really until you got home.” McKenzie conveniently left out the bit about falling back to sleep for an hour, reasoning that she’d still achieved far more work than she would have done in college, so her Mum really didn’t need to know about that little indiscretion.

Lesley briefly filled Kenzie in on her day, uneventful and lacking in excitement as it had been, and then after rinsing their dishes announced that she was going to unload the car, and that she’d leave the fresh bedding upstairs for her, as she wanted to go and run herself a long, hot bath and have a soak. 

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Chapter 19

The reminder about her bedding situation was not a welcome one for Kenzie, but in a way she was quite looking forward to freshly laundered sheets, and a fluffy duvet that had been fluffed up in the tumble dryer. It wasn’t of course any consolation for what had happened, but if it meant she could be extra comfy tonight then she’d take that and enjoy it. Following her mum up the stairs, she found the sheets and duvet had been left neatly on the floor in her bedroom, and set to work making her bed, doing as she’d always being taught and layering the mattress with a second waterproof cover over the bottom sheet, and a final sheet atop that, so that in the rare event she did wake up after an accident (and her duvet hadn’t taken collateral damage, unlike last night!) she could just strip a layer off, get herself changed and hop back into bed, taking care of the rest in the morning. It didn’t happen very often for she usually only woke in the morning, cold and miserable, but when it did it meant her night was less disturbed than it otherwise would be if she’d had to fully strip and remake the bed in the early hours.

Whilst McKenzie was sorting out her bed, Lesley had busied herself putting her own laundry away and then set to work arranging herself a bath, drawing steaming hot water and even lighting a couple of candles, thinking she may just ask Kenzie if she could borrow her bluetooth speaker and play a few tunes in the background to help her unwind. Browsing the shelf filled with lotions and potions, she selected a bottle of lavender bubble bath which had just a drop left in, shaking it vigorously into the running water, and then rinsing under the tap both to extract the remnants and also so that the bottle could be easily recycled. Satisfied, she turned to toss it into the bin, and that’s when a strange sight caught her eye. What was that?

The bathroom bin was of the pedal variety for hygiene reasons, as nobody wants to be handling a bin lid if they can avoid it, so typically they just stepped on the pedal, dropped whatever rubbish they needed to into the bag inside, and then let the lid fall as they stepped away. This time, however, Lesley bent close to the bin as she opened it, keen to get a closer look at whatever it was that was poking out of the side - what appeared to be a piece of two tone grey fabric. At first she wondered whether it was one of her hand towels or face cloths which may have somehow fallen in accidentally, but as she looked more closely she could see that wasn’t the case. She still wasn’t certain, and she was somewhat apprehensive about touching something which had been languishing in the bin for who knows how long, and with whatever other nasties were hidden within, but it appeared to be a much larger piece of material, and the colouration suggested it was partly damp. How odd.

Biting the bullet, she took hold of the fabric - grabbing the light grey part which she presumed to be dry, as this would surely be the safer bet - and lifted it out of the bin so that she could see exactly what it was she was dealing with. It was definitely an article of clothing, but not something her or McKenzie owned so far as she could make out. Eventually she realised that it was a pair of grey woollen tights, with underwear wound inside them, and they were indeed saturated from the crotch right the way down both legs. Lesley was somewhat bemused, for she knew for certain that they did not belong to her, and as far as she could recall McKenzie hadn’t worn tights like these since she’d been in primary school, her high school favouring sheer tights or trousers. It was then that it clicked…the poor, poor girl! They must belong to that friend Kenzie had brought home earlier to use the loo, and judging by the evidence it seems she’d been caught short after all. Oh bless her, how humiliating that must have been, and no wonder she’d not stuck around after having that happen to her.

Now Lesley was torn, what should she do, and did she or didn’t she say anything to her daughter? Part of her wanted to just shove them back into the bin and forget all about them, she didn’t know the poor unfortunate young girl after all. At the same time, she wondered whether Kenzie should know what had happened, so that she could try to talk to her new friend and reassure her - it could be that, Charlotte wasn’t it? was sat at home worrying about whether anybody knew and stressing unnecessarily about it. 

With the soiled garment in her hand, Lesley stepped backwards and sat herself down on the closed toilet lid, calling through to McKenzie in her bedroom.

“Kenz, could you come here a minute please? I need to talk to you about something really quickly. I’m in the bathroom…don’t worry, I’m decent.”

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Chapter 20

Having made her bed, and enjoying the fluffiness that only comes from a freshly laundered and tumble dried quilt, Kenzie had collapsed on top and was lay scrolling through social media on her phone, noting new friend requests which had popped up from Emily, Chloe and even Charlotte who she’d met earlier. At first she wondered how they’d found her, but then again McKenzie wasn’t a particularly common name. Reasoning that she’d all shared something that morning, her and Charlotte in particular, and she was pleased that the young girl had taken the time to track her down despite her rather hasty retreat after using the bathroom, she accepted all of the requests, and sent them all a quick “Hey” by way of acknowledgement.

She was just having a quick browse on each of their profiles, keen to learn a bit more about who they were, when she heard her mum call her from the bathroom, and wondered what on earth was so urgent that having a chat couldn’t wait until after she’d had her bath.

“Coming, Mum. One sec.”

Finding the bathroom door closed, despite her mums comment that she was decent Kenzie still knocked out of politeness and respect for her privacy, waiting to be invited into the room before turning the handle and pushing the door open. 

“Hey Mum, what’s up?”

Lesley was still perched on top of the toilet when her daughter entered the room, and looking up she smiled and motioned for the girl to take a seat herself on the edge of the bath or the wooden laundry hamper. 

“Hey sweetie, look this is a little awkward and I don’t quite know how to bring this up, so I’m sorry in advance if I put my foot in my mouth and just blurt it out - I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about it really, but I guess it’s something you need to know, and then what you do with that knowledge is entirely up to you - I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.”

McKenzie was completely perplexed by this statement, and didn’t quite know what to make of it. She was 19, so they’d clearly had the ‘birds and bees’ talk a very long time ago, she was pretty confident that she’d not done anything ‘wrong’ or which her mum may not approve of, and her own personal problems were hardly a new topic of conversation, ongoing as they had been for more than half of her life, so what on earth was eating away at her mum so badly?

“Well, I’ll say firstly that I know these aren’t mine, and I’m almost certain that they’re not yours - although if they are, and I’ve got completely the wrong end of the stick here then please stop me before I make even more of a fool of myself - which makes me presume they must belong to the girl you brought here to help this morning, Charlotte you said didn’t you? and if that’s the case then perhaps she may need a few words of support and encouragement. You of all people are probably best placed to be understanding, given your situation and history, and I know that if I’m right in what I think happened then you’ll want to try and help again if you can.”

Lesley then held up the wet tights she’d found stuffed in the bathroom bin, causing McKenzie to gasp loudly and cover her mouth in shock.

“Oh! Oh, poor Charlotte. Yes, yes Mum I’m sure they are hers. In fact, that makes a lot of sense all of a sudden. When she came down from using the loo, I knew something was different but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I just assumed she was different in how she was acting perhaps, her mannerisms and such, but now I can see it was her appearance that had changed - she’d been wearing tights at the bus stop, and she wasn’t when she left here. Oh the poor girl, I knew she was so very desperate and so close to having an accident, but I just assumed she’d made it ok.”

Kenzie felt mortified on her new friends behalf, and Lesley too felt the embarrassment which was almost palpable. 

“They were in the bathroom bin love, I only spotted them by chance.”

Again something clicked in Kenzie’s brain, as if the pieces of the puzzle had started to slot together and form a more complete picture. Charlotte had left her school bag in the hallway as she’d struggled up the stairs to the bathroom, so she’d have had nowhere to hide her wet things, and presumably throwing them in the bin had been the only option for had she kept them on it would have been glaringly obviously to both Kenzie and anybody else she’d met on her way home that she’d had an accident, which would have been humiliating in the extreme for a 16 year old. 

Her head was spinning as she tried to think of how on earth she could broach this with Charlotte, without upsetting or embarrassing her. She knew that she couldn’t not say something, as then the poor girl would be left worrying about whether they knew, and if they did what they thought, and she also knew that if she’d ever suffered such an embarrassing misfortune she’d really appreciate an understanding voice and some comfort, just as her own mum had always offered her as she’d struggled with her bedwetting, but how? 

Lesley interrupted her internal monologue “I’m going to hop in the bath now Kenz, could you bring me your speaker through please? Shall I throw these in the wash with my things?”

“Of course Mum, I’ll go and grab it for you now. You remember how to use it, yeah? Haha” Lesley had never been great with technology, and Kenzie had showed her countless times how to connect to the speaker, so it was a bit of a running joke now every time the subject came up. “And yeah I guess so, I mean I’m not quite sure what to do with them, but give them a wash and then I’ll try to talk to Charlotte. I really hope she’s ok, she must be feeling bloody awful after having that happen to her at a strangers house, I know I would.”

“And that’s why I needed to tell you love, as I knew that you’d want to try and help. Thank you for being you, I’m proud of you.” And with that, she pulled McKenzie into a tight hug, feeling immense proud of her daughter and the caring young woman she had grown to be.
 

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On 1/14/2022 at 6:02 AM, mikey mike said:

You're doing a great job with this Piddly. You've built up a good storyline and with the "non running bus" aspect a good sub-plot too! Like the others I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this, but I know from past stories you've written that there will be plenty of twists and turns

Thanks @mikey mike, glad you’re enjoying it and can see the parallels with previous stories. This one seems to have clicked fairly well, so hopefully it’s here for the long haul.

Don’t panic, the old story hasn’t been deleted, I just let the domain name expire as to be honest there was little interest in it away from here. I thrive on the feedback, so losing that made it difficult for me to engage with the story again, and being honest it felt a little tarnished somehow after all that went on. I will return to it one day, but for now the focus will be on this and trying to build it into something equally successful. 
 

Plenty of twists and turns are indeed on the way, and then a whole different direction to anything I’ve tried before, too, when we finally get there. 🙂 

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I really enjoyed reading all those chapters Piddly! you really are making a good job of this; I think introducing Charlotte was a great move and I'm looking forward to seeing if she becomes a permanent character from now on or not.

Thanks for telling me about the "other story" and I'm glad it's still safe. Any Idea when you 'll be able to post straight to the boards without being moderated first?  

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15 hours ago, mikey mike said:

I really enjoyed reading all those chapters Piddly! you really are making a good job of this; I think introducing Charlotte was a great move and I'm looking forward to seeing if she becomes a permanent character from now on or not.

Thanks for telling me about the "other story" and I'm glad it's still safe. Any Idea when you 'll be able to post straight to the boards without being moderated first?  

Alas sadly not, that’s up to the mod team. I was put on the “naughty step” for a post which broke the rules, so it’s fair cop and I’m at their mercy until they decide otherwise. 😬 Lesson learned, I’ll be much more careful about what I post in the future - it was another instance of me not really understanding the potential moral and ethical implications of something, because for me it had totally different meaning than it would to somebody for whom this is a fetish/kink sexually rather than just an interest as it is with me. That, and I got a bit cheeky (trying to be funny…and failing spectacularly 🙈).

I’m going to stick to posting my fiction moving forward, and make sure it stays within the rules so that I keep on the right side of things. Hopefully, in time, the team will decide they no longer need to moderate my posts, as it does make it difficult to hold a flowing conversation, but as I said it’s fair cop - unlike our world leaders and celebrities  I fully accept the rules apply to me as much as anybody else, so it’s right that I’m sanctioned where I got it wrong. 

Now Kozmo has kindly explained the delay in approving, and that it’s nothing to do with the content itself, I’ll crack on with the next chapters today. 😁 I didn’t want to if there was any issue which would prevent them being posted, again lesson learned after last time. 

Edited by Piddly
Typo (see edit history)
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