Prompt: Write about an interpersonal conflict
Disclaimer: the usual disclaimer applies
Jade was tired of her roommate and long-time frenemy Amanda’s odd behavior. She was the silliest and most awkward girl she’d ever met. She bullied her in elementary, middle, and high school, but the girl didn’t seem to learn her lessons and was still acting totally clueless in college.
She decided to request that Amanda be put on this new show called Second Childhood. Its gimmick was that it supposedly took place in another dimension, which was preposterous, but that didn’t really matter. It would give Amanda a good dose of embarrassment and show her how stupid and immature she’d been acting.
The commercials for the show even showed people in diapers! This was going to be fantastic. All she needed to do was catch Amanda at her most immature and send it to the studio’s email address and wait for a reply. That was easy. Amanda was a total attention whore, so filming her being a total klutz was a breeze. She didn’t even have to be sneaky about it, just make up some lame excuse about it being for the school paper or something.
Before sending in the video, though, she decided to search for some real damning evidence on the girl. She found it one day when Amanda was out researching something for an assignment. In her underwear drawer, buried deep underneath a pile of unflattering tighty whities were some loose pull-on adult diapers!
“Girl definitely has a fetish. How gross is that?” Jade said to the camera while holding up the diapers. She went to Amanda’s laptop computer and was preparing to upload the video when she decided to look at her search history.
“No way…” Jade found something called a diaper lovers’ story site and clicked on it. “The girl is a fucking pedophile,” she said to the still recording camera.
Having recorded what she was sure was damning evidence against Amanda, Jade uploaded the video and submitted it to the show’s website. She then logged out of Amanda’s account and closed the laptop.
June was lazily sifting through emails. It had been about a year since she, her husband, and a couple of friends started the Second Childhood TV show, and so far, the ratings were really good and contestants were fairly pleased with their outcomes. Of course, not everyone could handle being demoted to the status of a baby and forced to live several weeks as one, but those who could usually did really well when they were allowed to return to their adult lives. She also hoped that her show was educating the audience about the differences between Littles and Amazons and their respective needs.
A little beep indicated she had a message from the Little dimension. She clicked on it and found a video attachment. After scanning it for viruses, because yes, computer viruses could travel interdimensionally on some of the older hardware, she opened it. Jade’s grinning face appeared as she gave the rundown on Amanda.
Once the video was over, June was fairly confident they’d found their latest contestant. “Oh my! Filming someone while they’re away without letting them know? Accusing people of crimes based on flimsy circumstantial evidence?! What a terrible display of immaturity. Yes, yes, she could definitely benefit from our services,” June said to herself as she typed out a reply.
“Dear Jade, thank you for letting us know about your roommate Amanda. I think one of you could definitely benefit from being on our show! Meet me at the portal terminal in your city in a week. Make sure to bring your friend, of course.” June hoped that a message like that would be enticing enough for her to believe it was Amanda they were after and not the one who made the video. She pressed “send” and hoped for the best.
Jade received the letter and smiled to herself. This was going to be great. That little twerp’s life was going to be ruined once and for all and then everyone at school would see what a manipulative little fake she was! She smiled to herself imagining what horrors awaited Amanda.
There was the matter of getting her to the portal terminal, though. Jade did a small double take as she re-read the letter. “Portal terminal?” She’d thought that other dimensions were just speculative or made up. If that was the case, though, why did they have a portal terminal? Curiosity pulled at her just a bit. She tried searching for information, but searching online yielded no results. Looking back at the address on the letter, she assumed they meant the airport. It was the same address. She snickered a little at her foolishness. “Portal terminal, yeah right!”
The day arrived. Jade had Amanda at the airport as instructed, and she was waiting for further instructions. When she asked about the portal terminal, she was directed to the very end of a nearly empty boarding terminal. It was strange.
In the corner, a very tall man, about seven feet tall, stood up. Jade blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “You’re here for the contest, I presume?” the man said. Jade eagerly said “yes,” while Amanda just looked confused.
“I didn’t enter a contest,” Amanda said.
“I know, baby girl. I entered it for you,” Jade said.
Amanda stood mildly shocked while her “friend” happily led her to board the plane. They weren’t really friends. Amanda tolerated her because she wasn’t as mean as the other girls who picked on her in school, but she still did a fair amount of bullying. Amanda had to admit, though, it seemed to have gotten better since she became her roommate.
There was the matter of this contest she was being so secretive about. Amanda guessed it was probably some makeover show or something. She cringed a little and then smiled about the idea of finally being included in something somewhat fun. Maybe they really were friends after all?
That was a big “maybe,” though, even bigger when she heard Jade loudly protesting the very tall man when she found out she was required to go too. Amanda rolled her eyes. Her college roommate was so petty, panicking over the smallest of things.
(more coming soon)