SPOILERS: This chapter and further chapters contain spoilers for Academy A - Chapter 10.

71.)

"A 'kissy-kissy thing' is maybe one of the cutest ways I've seen anyone describe romantic attraction," Blossom said, referencing a line Wendy said in the story. "And it makes perfect sense in the context of the story. Like, that's literally the kind of language that a child their age would use."

Blossom was sitting on the edge of the breakfast counter, with Amy's laptop in her lap, commenting as she read along. She knew that Amy preferred it that way, and the writer she was so smitten with was standing like a kitten waiting for food to be served up.

I ate another tater tot as Blossom's eyes flicked right and left. Her fingers moved along my trackpad to scroll.

"Gosh, you write wetting yourself in the front of the classroom like it's such an ordinary thing," Blossom commented.

"Well, Wendy got used to it after a while," I said. Then, to tease her more: "I'm sure you'll get used to it too, since you know how Wendy feels now."

Blossom looked a bit awestruck at Amy's comment, and it actually made her cheeks pinken. She stuck her tongue out in a cheeky manner.

"Well I do have a pretty outstanding teacher that I wanna impress, sooo..~"

Blossom decided not to push her luck, and continued reading.

"The ghost who blows out the candles at night is totally just the groundskeeper, I'm telling you," Blossom sighed. She wasn't even sure there was a ghost, and maybe Wendy was looking for nothing in particular. Schoolyard legends seemed common at Academy A.

"Also the statement 'I never noticed how smart you are' is almost like a backhanded compliment to anybody, but here in the Academy it's a legitimate compliment and I love that."

"Yeah, and Wendy isn't the most observant girl when it comes to people. But give her a school legend..."

Blossom was still reading. I pushed the half-eaten plate away from me and leaned on the counter, watching her face. Her eyebrows turned in every so often, like she was trying to figure something out. It was kind of cute.

"'If I were a ghost, I'd wanna be a good girl too'," Blossom quoted. Wendy was trying to figure out how to be friends with a ghost. "That's a mood. Even in the afterlife, you want praise." Blossom wasn't sure that she was expressing herself particularly well, but she was clearly engrossed.

"The Silence pacifier is such a powerful tool. It's like those ones that boomer moms get for their kids that say stuff on them like 'Mute Button'. When you buy your kid something and it's actually something used in an Academy story you gotta stop and think!"

"I think those are kind of cute, actually," I admitted. "Like, someone taking the pacifier from you and plopping it in your mouth, silencing you... it's kind of hot, right? I've kind of always wanted an adult-sized one, so I put them in Academy A." I thought they sold them online, but I couldn't get stuff like that shipped to my house.

Blossom was reading about all the foreign foods the Academy had for dinner. "I don't know what half of these foods are, but I think it's super rad that you're being so inclusive. It's also interesting because they all seem like foods that kids might like, just in different cultures? I dunno, I'm just guessing here."

"Yeah, I tried looking up different kid foods in different cultures. I hope I did okay, but I'm not sure what a lot of them are either to be honest. Gotta love that white girl upbringing."

Blossom wasn't listening. This was kind of a trend. I appreciated the comments though, so I didn't mind her choosing my story over me. Actually, I probably preferred it.

"Is that a Bluey reference?" Blossom laughed.

"Oh, yeah." I forgot I'd done that. I probably didn't use it right, but whatever. It just kind of came out when I was writing.

"I love the last line too. Or, the last two paragraphs? 'In reality, as often as the diapers at the Academy, people changed'," she quoted.

Blossom looked up from the laptop with a wide-eyed expression and mouthed the word "wow" before she returned her gaze to the screen to reread the last few paragraphs again to see if there was any nuance she'd missed.

"So?" I asked, finally within the spectrum of Blossom's hearing. "Thoughts?"

"I loved it. I loved the gravity of like… Wendy choosing not to count one of her stickers and to save it for the ghost, but like, is she saving it for the ghost, or is her obsession with solving the mystery kind of like… bleeding over and blotting out her need to be a good girl? It's so interesting, because I cannot possibly anticipate this girl. Ai in the first story was someone I learned how to predict, and Bala was really easy to follow because she's so relatable. But like, Wendy is a total mystery to me. And I love that!"

"Yeah?" Hm, I never thought of Wendy as particularly unpredictable, but she did have a certain volatility to her. Those two things weren't entirely dissimilar. "Well, I'm glad you're invested. Sometimes I worry these stories aren't interesting enough on their own, without the whole grand narrative thing." I took back my laptop and closed the lid.

"Oh they are absolutely engaging, even without diapers, even without the overarching," she made a wide gesture with her hands, "thing, narrative, you know. Even without any of that, it's still super engaging. You have nothing to worry about!"

"Well, it's nice to have a fan." I had been getting a little more attention on DailyDiapers recently, which was nice, but it made weeks like last week - when I didn't have anything to share - a lot more stressful. People don't wait around forever for stories to get finished. I wondered how likely it would be for me to knock out another chapter this weekend.

"Well, even if the whole world disappears tomorrow, you'll still have me as your cutest and most devoted fan."

Blossom didn't know if either cutest or most devoted were true statements, but she was happy to allow herself the moment of self-aggrandizing for the sake of the point. .

I got up off the stool and the sound of crinkling brought the diaper to my attention again. I had been so engrossed in Blossom reading Academy Works that I had forgotten about it for a moment. A bit of color filled my cheeks.

"If we don't have plans," I told Blossom, "I'm gonna try to do more writing this weekend." After all, I still had two entire days here.

"That sounds great! I can cook tonight too. I'll head out and get stuff and make something; I'm not a good cook or anything but I can follow instructions pretty well. Turns out that recipes and formulae aren't that different, right? So you get settled in to write another chapter. I'll get dressed, go get some stuff from the store, and then I'll come home and put on a diaper and do some homework or something while you write? Does that sound cool?"

"Sure..." The casual diaper comment was so out of place, and at the same time it wasn't. I was getting too comfortable with Blossom.