Years for Sale - Chapter 4

“Caroline, I can honestly say we’re so glad to have you babysitting our daughter, again,” said Uncle David.

“Not simply, ‘glad,’” Aunt Beverly corrected him. “We’re more… overjoyed. After the past few times, we’re sure that you can handle anything that might come up.”

Caroline hid her guilt behind a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m happy to be back, again.”

“We can’t thank you enough for agreeing to babysit on such short notice, and for an entire weekend!” said Uncle David.

“It’s no problem,” Caroline said, still doing her best to appear upbeat. “I had no plans, and I always enjoy sitting for Audrey.” Caroline had never lied so much before, but it seemed to be working. Her aunt and uncle showed no sign that they were at all suspicious of her. Maybe they were just happy to be able to get away from Audrey for an entire weekend, which meant they were willing to ignore any concerns.

“Caroline!” an overjoyed Audrey cried as she rushed into the room. “You’re back!”

Caroline flinched as the girl hugged her. It was always faintly disturbing to see Audrey behaving like a normal child, knowing how conniving she could be. “Hi, Audrey,” Caroline said, patting the girl’s back before gently breaking free. “Looks like we’re going to have a fun weekend together.”

“Sounds great,” Audrey replied, beaming. Then, she appeared to have a mischievous idea. “Hey! We could have an all-night party together.”

Caroline glanced at her uncle and aunt and told Audrey, “I don’t think your parents would want us doing that. How about we just have some fun before your bedtime? I think that’d be best.”

“Hmm,” Audrey said, giving Caroline a sly smile. “I guess, but maybe I could change your mind.”

“I’m sure you’ll try,” Caroline said with a light chuckle.

Audrey and her parents chuckled along with her, but Caroline’s laughter soon trailed off. She was too worried about what Audrey had planned for them to be anything but pessimistic.

***

Later on, Audrey stood beside Caroline at the front door, both of them smiling and waving while the girl’s parents drove off for their weekend away. Once the car was out of sight, Audrey’s cheerful mood was immediately abandoned.

“Did you bring it?” Audrey asked in a business-like tone.

“Of course,” Caroline said. “The gold bracelet is in one of my suitcases. I left them in the hall when my dad dropped me off.”

“And the clothes…?” The girl sounded cautiously hopeful.

“Yes,” Caroline said. “They’re in there too.”

Audrey smiled and, without another word, entered the house. Caroline followed after her.

As they walked to the living room, Caroline asked, “So, what do you have planned for this weekend?”

“I told you,” Audrey said, easing into a seat on a couch. “There’s going to be a party.”

“What kind of party?” Caroline asked suspiciously, recalling their disastrous trip to the fair.

“Don’t worry about it for now,” Audrey said, waving off the question. “Let me ask you something, first.”

“What is it?”

“Are you going to let me decide what we do this weekend?” She gave Caroline a serious look.

“That is what we agreed on,” Caroline said. She had since started to regret the deal they had made. “You said you would even pay me a bonus if I don’t try to back out.”

“That’s right,” Audrey said, smiling again. “I just wanted to make sure that we were perfectly clear on that.”

“So,” Caroline said. “What now?”

“Now,” Audrey said. “We watch some TV. Then, I want to play around a little with the bracelets. I need to do some experimenting.”

Caroline nodded silently, knowing that her voice would probably give away the nervousness she was trying to hide.

***

They watched TV. The sun set. They ordered pizza for dinner and ate it in the living room while a movie played on the TV.

When Audrey left the room, Caroline assumed the girl was just going to the toilet, but Audrey returned a short while later holding the silver bracelet in her hands. “It’s time to start,” she announced.

Caroline put down her plate and stood up. “One moment,” she said, as she walked to her suitcases and retrieved the gold bracelet from one of them. She considered slipping it on but decided that Audrey would not be amused.

Caroline returned to the living room, and Audrey held out the silver bracelet while her other open hand waited for the gold one. Caroline made the trade with her cousin, reluctantly returning the control bracelet to Audrey.

Audrey examined the gold bracelet for a moment, turning it over in her fingers, checking it over. Then, she slipped it on her wrist and looked back at Caroline expectantly.

Caroline hesitated a moment. Then, she slipped the silver bracelet on her own wrist. Once more, she had placed herself under Audrey’s control.

“Shall we begin?” Audrey asked.

“I guess,” Caroline said. “What’s it going to be tonight? Age trading again?”

“Something else,” Audrey said. “Like I said before, I want to experiment a little.”

Audrey shut her eyes, and Caroline watched as the girl concentrated. Caroline waited to see what was about to change about them, but as the seconds passed, she did not notice anything being traded between them. When Audrey opened her eyes with no visible changes having occurred, Caroline suspected that the “experiment” had failed, at least she hoped it had.

Audrey smiled.

Caroline frowned. “What did you do?” she asked.

Audrey gestured for Caroline to follow her and walked across the room.

Next to the grand piano was a music stand with a violin case beside it. Audrey opened the case and removed the violin, which she handed to Caroline along with a bow.

Caroline stood there holding the instrument for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to do with it.

“Well,” Audrey said. “Go ahead.”

“Go ahead and do what?”

“Play it.”

“I don’t know how,” Caroline said. “I’ve never even held a violin before.”

“Give it a try,” Audrey said, smiling.

Caroline sighed and lifted the violin to her chin. That seemed right for some reason. She rested the bow on the strings and… Surprisingly, she started to play the violin. It felt so natural, so instinctual, as if she had been practicing it for years. She played a song she had never heard before but somehow knew by heart. When she reached the end of the song, Audrey applauded and Caroline lowered the instrument.

“How did I do that?” Caroline asked.

“I did a trade with you,” Audrey explained. “You got my knowledge of how to play the violin, and I got something from your memories.”

“What did you take from my memories?”

Audrey smiled again and said, “You’ll find out in a little while. Don’t worry about it for now.”

Caroline was worried. She tried to sense what might be missing from her mind, but she soon realized that would most likely be impossible. How could you expect to remember forgetting something if you have no idea what you are trying to remember?

“Come on,” Audrey said. “Let’s order some dinner.”

***

After Caroline finished her third slice of pizza, Audrey offered to top off her glass of cola.

“Sure,” Caroline said, thinking that Audrey was being unusually nice.

Audrey filled Caroline’s glass, pouring from the two-liter bottle of cola that came with the pizza order.

“Thanks,” Caroline said, taking a suspicious sip.

Audrey grabbed another slice, and Caroline followed her lead. They focused on the TV for a while, and Caroline tried to relax. Her worries about what Audrey had done to her mind were forgotten for the moment. She finished her glass of cola and her last slice of pizza.

Then, Caroline felt pressure on her bladder. She stood up, ready to go deal with this pressure. That was when her confusion began.

“What’s the matter?” Audrey asked, smirking.

Caroline replied, “I need to go…” The word for what she intended to do was missing. “Uh,” she said, stalling, hoping that she might remember if she gave her mind a moment to think. However, she still could not come up with the word she needed. “Hold on,” Caroline said. “Is this what you took from me?”

Audrey nodded and grinned.

“I have a full bladder,” Caroline said. “I know that I have to do something about that.”

Audrey nodded again.

“What do I do?” Caroline asked.

“You don’t know what to do when your bladder is full?” Audrey asked.

“N-no,” Caroline admitted. “I know that I should know what to do. I know that I must have done it many times before, but I can’t remember how to do it or even what I’m supposed to do.”

“I’m sure you can figure it out,” Audrey said. “You’re pretty smart.”

Caroline found herself squirming in discomfort as the pressure became more intense. “I’m supposed to go somewhere special, right?”

Audrey nodded.

“Where!?”

“Do you want me to take you to the room you need?”

“Yes! Please, hurry.”

Audrey took Caroline by the hand and led her down a hallway and opened a door for her. Inside, was a room with a sink on one side and some strange white chair on the other side. She knew that the sink was not what she needed. It must have been that porcelain chair.

“Is this it?” Caroline asked.

Audrey shrugged. “It might be. No more hints.”

Caroline groaned and did a little dance of distress, feeling like she was about to burst from the pressure in her bladder. She walked up to the porcelain chair and tried to figure out how it worked. She found a metal lever on one side of the top and gave it a pull. Then, she yelped and stepped back when she heard a loud rush of water flow through the chair.

“Getting closer,” Audrey said.

Caroline figured out that there were some lids on parts of the chair. She lifted the top one and found some strange piping pumping water into it, like some kind of water tank. She did not think that was the right part she needed, so she replaced the lid.

She lifted the bottom lids and found a bowl, partially filled with water, and some kind of opening at the bottom of the water.

“Is this it?” Caroline asked.

Audrey nodded.

Caroline stood there, knowing that she had to do something.

“How do I use it?”

“Do you want me to get you started?” Audrey said.

“Yes!”

Audrey walked up to her, and unbuttoned Caroline’s pants.

“Wait,” Caroline said. “What are you doing?”

“Helping you,” Audrey said, smiling. Then, she unzipped Caroline’s pants, and took a step back.

“Do I… take off my pants?” Caroline asked.

Audrey turned around and said, “Yes, take it all off.”

Caroline pulled down her pants, then her underwear, then she removed her shirt and bra. Now, totally naked she walked up to the bowl with the water in it. She felt like something wanted to come out of her crotch. She touched herself down there and realized that there was a vertical slit in the skin between her legs. “What’s this thing between my legs?”

“That’s what you need to use,” Audrey said without turning around.

Caroline stood herself over the bowl and thought of releasing the pressure in her bladder. Suddenly a warm stream of water began to flow out the slit from some unseen hole inside of it. She thought it might drip into the bowl, but it just started running down her leg, instead. “It’s going all over!” Caroline said.

“Sit down, silly,” Audrey said, still averting her eyes.

Caroline sat down and half fell into the bowl. She lifted herself up a little and managed to balance on the rim of the bowl as the warm water started streaming into the bowl. She looked down to see the bowl was slowly turning yellow. “Is it supposed to be yellow?” Caroline asked. “I’m worried.”

“That’s normal,” Audrey said. “You’re doing fine.”

Caroline was not sure if she could trust Audrey about the yellowness being normal, but she did feel relieved to let the warm water drain out of her crotch slit. When the water stopped flowing, she kept sitting there, waiting for something else to happen. “Now what?” she asked Audrey.

“You’ll probably want to use that paper on the roll beside you to wipe yourself dry,” Audrey said.

Caroline found the paper roll and pulled on it, making it reel out a few feet of paper. She pulled that paper free of the roll and started wiping her leg dry, going up it to her crotch and wiping that dry as well. When she was pretty sure that her body was all dried, she said, “What do I do with the paper?”

“Put it in the bowl,” Audrey said.

“Really?” Caroline asked, suspiciously. “Won’t it just sit there getting soggy?”

“You put it in the bowl and pull the lever again,” Audrey explained. “You’re almost done.”

Caroline was doubtful that it was the right thing to do, but she followed Audrey’s instructions. When she pulled the lever again, she was better prepared for the sound of the water, but it was much louder this time with the lid open. She watched fresh water swirl into the bowl, draining away the yellow water and soggy paper down the hole at the bottom of the bowl. “It’s gone!” Caroline said, feeling a genuine sense of accomplishment. “I did it!”

“Good job,” Audrey said. “Now, pull up your pants.”

“Should I put my top on as well?” Caroline asked.

“Wait,” Audrey said. “Did you take off all of your clothes?”

“You told me to take it all off!” Caroline said.

Audrey broke down laughing.

“It’s not funny,” Caroline said. “You did this to me. This is your fault.”

“S-sorry,” Audrey said, between giggles. “It’s just too funny.” She chuckled to herself as Caroline put her clothes back on.

“I’m dressed again,” Caroline said.

Audrey turned around and looked at the toilet. “Wait,” she said. “Did you use it without the seat?”

“What seat?”

Again, Audrey broke down laughing.

Caroline just stood there, feeling totally humiliated.

“Okay,” Audrey said, regaining her composure. “Now, go wash your hands. You do remember how to do that, right?”

“I know how to wash my hands,” Caroline said.

“Good,” Audrey said. “When you’re done, come back to the living room, and we’ll swap back.” She walked away, leaving Caroline alone to clean up.

***

“You little jerk!” Caroline cried when Audrey finished returning Caroline’s knowledge of urinating in a toilet. “How could you take that from me?”

“I thought it would be funny,” Audrey explained.

“It wasn’t funny for me,” Caroline said. “I felt so stupid. God, I peed all over myself. I nearly fell into the toilet.”

“You did figure it out, eventually.”

Caroline sighed. “No more messing with the bracelet tonight,” she said. “Okay?”

“Sure,” Audrey said. “I’ve learned all I need to know for now. I’m pretty sure that my plan will work tomorrow night.”

“What plan?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Audrey said. “You said you were done with the bracelets for tonight, so don’t worry about it.”

Nothing made Caroline worry more than when Audrey told her not to, but she kept quiet, reminding herself that she was getting paid well for all of this. Besides, it would only be another couple of days before they were done. Her suffering would be over soon enough.

***

The next morning, Caroline woke up in the guest bedroom. There was a moment of confusion that always accompanies waking up in a strange bed, followed by the grim realization of where she was and what she had to do.

“I just have to make it until tomorrow,” Caroline reminded herself.

She walked to the bathroom and was relieved to use the toilet with no difficulties. Then, after taking a quick shower and getting dressed, she walked downstairs to see what Audrey had planned for breakfast.

Caroline found Audrey in the kitchen, spreading out peanut butter on a slice of bread for a PB&J sandwich. The girl was still dressed in her pajamas.

“Good morning!” Audrey said. “What do you want to eat?”

“What do you have?” Caroline asked.

“Everything,” Audrey said. “Cereal, bread, waffles, eggs, bacon… anything you want.”

“I’ll have some cereal,” Caroline said and headed to the refrigerator to get some milk. Audrey grabbed her a bowl and spoon and handed her a box of colorful fruity kids’ cereal. “Thanks,” Caroline said, pouring it out without complaint.

They sat down to eat together at the kitchen table.

“So…” Caroline said after swallowing a spoonful of sweet cereal. “What are we doing today?”

“I want to go shopping,” Audrey said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Okay,” Caroline said. “What do you want to buy?”

“Just some groceries,” Audrey said, but Caroline was immediately suspicious. That seemed far too normal for Audrey.

“Right, groceries,” Caroline said, waiting for the twist.

“There is…. one unusual thing,” Audrey said.

“Here we go,” Caroline muttered under her breath.

“I want to use the bracelets on us before we go.”

“Should I worry?” Caroline asked.

“Of course not,” Audrey said. “In fact, I think you might even enjoy what I have planned for us.”

Caroline ate the rest of her cereal in silence, certain that she would not enjoy it at all.

***

Once they had cleaned up after breakfast, they moved into the living room to make use of the bracelets again. On Audrey’s suggestion, Caroline was wearing only her aunt’s bathrobe and the silver bracelet. Audrey had not changed out of her pajamas. She slipped on the gold bracelet and asked, “Are you ready?”

Caroline sighed and said, “I guess so.”

“Okay, first step,” Audrey said and shut her eyes to focus, and Caroline readied herself to be transformed. She did not feel anything major happening at first. Then, she noticed her face change shape slightly. With that change complete, Audrey opened her eyes. Looking at Audrey, Caroline realized what the girl had done. She had swapped their noses and chins to disguise themselves, just as they had done for the carnival.

“Now,” Audrey said. “Time for the second step.” Again, she shut her eyes and activated the magic.

This time the changes were immediately apparent to Caroline. She started to grow. The loose bathrobe began to fit better as Caroline grew taller and her body thickened. She noticed her breasts swell larger as did her hips and butt. She glanced over at her cousin and saw Audrey shrinking smaller, her pajamas appearing looser as years of growth flowed from her over to Caroline.

It was baffling to Caroline why Audrey would be doing this, making Caroline older while she became younger. Was this some kind of mistake or miscalculation? Whatever Audrey’s reasons were, the trade showed no sign of slowing down even as Audrey became too young even for grade school. The shrinking girl’s pajama pants had fallen to her feet, and she had to hold the gold bracelet in place on her narrowing wrist with her other hand.

At last, Caroline felt her growth stop, even as Audrey continued to shrink down into a toddler and finally a baby. When she was under a year old, her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her butt inside the heap of oversized pajamas.

Baby Audrey opened her eyes and gave Caroline an adorable smile.

Caroline looked down at her adult body and back at tiny Audrey. “Why did you do this?” she asked the baby, her voice sounding much like her own mother’s now.

Audrey let the huge bracelet slip from her wrist and said, “You mah mama.”

“What?” Caroline replied.

“I wanna go to da stowr,” Audrey said, her infant mouth struggling to form the words.

“I can’t take you like this. You’re naked.”

“Wook on mah bed,” Audrey said, and pointed a chubby hand towards the stairs.

Caroline sighed and walked upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time with her longer strides. She entered Audrey’s room and found several items laid out neatly on her cousin’s bed. The first was a diaper bag full of changing supplies. The second was a pink baby onesie. The third was a pile of what must have been her aunt’s clothes, including a pair of sandals on the floor. The last two items were a shopping list and a ring of keys, one of which appeared to be a car key.

“I see,” Caroline said. “Time to get dressed.”

She removed her bathrobe and took a minute to admire her mature nude body in the mirror. She was a full-grown woman, now, apparently closer to 30 than 20 years old. She had put on a little weight, but she was not quite fat, just a little doughy. She had a definite mom bod. Once she had seen enough of her curves, she went and picked up her aunt’s clothes. The underwear fit well enough as did the shirt and jeans. Had Audrey tailored this body to perfectly fit her mother’s clothes? Even her feet were the exact right size for the sandals. Caroline was not sure how to react to being made into a perfect body double of Audrey’s mother.

Not wanting to dwell on the implications of that, Caroline folded up the shopping list and tucked it into a pocket. The keys went into another pocket. Finally, she stuffed the onesie in the diaper bag and hung the bag from her shoulder to carry it back downstairs to her baby cousin.

Audrey had crawled free of her huge pajamas and was now sitting on the rug, naked as the day she was born.

“Mama!” Audrey cried, when she saw Caroline approach.

“Please don’t call me that,” Caroline said as she knelt down beside her cousin and started removing changing supplies from the diaper bag.

“You know how ta change a diapah?” Audrey asked.

“I think so,” Caroline said. “I’ve seen it done before. How hard can it be?”

Caroline lay Audrey on her back and lifted her feet up by the ankles. Then, she slid a diaper underneath the baby’s butt. She folded it up and fixed it into place.

“There,” Caroline said. “No problem.”

The onesie was more of a struggle to put on, but she took her time and carefully slipped all of Audrey’s limbs into place. A quick zip, and finally, they were both fully dressed.

Caroline grabbed her purse and cradled her cousin in her arms. She sighed and said, “Are you sure about this?”

Audrey nodded and smiled. “Wets go!” she cried and giggled happily, seemingly enjoying the experience of being babied.

Caroline carried Audrey into the mansion’s sizable garage. After carefully shifting the baby around in her arms to be able to pull the keys from her pocket, she pressed the unlock button and heard a car beep at the end of the garage. She walked up to it and found that there was a baby car seat installed in the back. She put Audrey in the seat and strapped her in place. Then, she walked around to the driver’s seat and sat down. After taking a minute to familiarize herself with the car, she found the garage door remote and opened the door in front of her. Then, she started the car.

“Well,” Caroline said as she put the car into gear. “Let’s go shopping.”

***

Caroline sat Audrey in the child seat of the shopping cart. The baby looked up at Caroline with a pleasant smile on her face. Then, Caroline tentatively pushed the cart into the grocery store. She had gone to where she worked as she knew the layout of it very well. She hoped that her altered facial features would be enough to disguise her. Looking like an adult would help as well, but she could not help but feel like she was trespassing into adulthood. She worried that one wrong move would expose her as being a fake adult.

After venturing into the store a little ways, Caroline pulled the shopping list from her pocket. “Let’s get this over with,” she said. “What are we looking for?” She read through the list. There were mostly frozen food items on it, including a few varieties of ice cream treats. Then, she saw what was written at the bottom of the list. “Vodka?” she asked the baby.

Audrey nodded.

“I can’t buy that,” Caroline said.

“You owld now,” Audrey explained.

“They’ll still card me.”

“You uh mama wif a baby,” Audrey countered. “Dey no cawrd you.”

Caroline sighed, feeling as though she was in over her head. “Let’s hope they don’t.”

She pushed the cart around to the frozen food aisles and quickly filled the cart with items from the list. Just when she had put in the last one, Audrey said, “Uh oh.”

Caroline looked down at the baby, noting the discomfort on her cousin’s face.

“You didn’t,” Caroline said.

Audrey looked a little embarrassed. “I did,” she admitted.

The stink of it reached Caroline’s nose. “Oh, man,” she said, scrunching up her face. “We can’t walk around the store with you smelling like that.”

Caroline looked at the pile of frozens in her cart and sighed. “I’ll need to put all of these back before I take you to the restroom. Just hold on a minute.”

Audrey nodded.

Caroline hurried to reshelve all of the food in her cart, while fighting back her own disgust at the smell wafting from Audrey’s diaper. When the cart was empty of food, she headed directly to the women’s restroom. At the door, she lifted Audrey from the cart, holding her at arm's length as they entered the restroom. Inside, she folded down the changing table and lay Audrey on it. Fortunately, Caroline had remembered to bring the changing bag in with her.

For a moment, Caroline hesitated to proceed, knowing that the smell would only get worse once she opened the diaper. “Just do it,” she told herself. “It’s not going to smell any better if you wait.” Caroline removed the onesie, and saw that the diaper had gained some bulk and gotten darker around the bottom.

Again, she hesitated. Then, she took a deep breath and opened the diaper.

“Oh my God,” Caroline said, when the sight and smell of the mess was revealed. “What did you eat?”

Caroline gagged as she started wiping Audrey’s body clean. What a horrific mess. She was baffled at how a baby Audrey’s size could even produce this much waste.

Just when Caroline thought that the situation could not get any worse, the door to the restroom opened, and two girls Caroline knew from high school walked in. They were chatting with each other, but stopped immediately when they smelled what Caroline was doing. The two girls glanced at Caroline. Then, they shared an amused look with each other, shaking their heads, and left the restroom immediately.

“Mama,” Audrey said. “Huwry.”

Caroline let out a deep sigh and went back to wiping her cousin’s little behind.

***

It took a while, but Caroline managed to change Audrey’s diaper. Then, after a thorough hand washing, they returned to the frozen food aisle and, once more, filled the cart with items from the list until there was only one thing left.

“The vodka,” Caroline said, resenting having to try to buy it.

She pushed the cart over to the adult beverages section. That feeling that she was trespassing came back. She could just imagine a manager tapping her on the shoulder and telling her that she was obviously too young to be looking at these drinks.

After a little searching, Caroline found the vodka shelves. “Which one?” she asked, having no sense of what a good vodka brand was. Ultimately she picked a bottle that was priced in the mid-range between the most and least expensive bottles. She figured it had to be better than the worst without being too extravagant either.

Then, she hurried to the check out lines, as if she were trying to make a break for it after a crime. She chose a line that had an adult woman working at it, someone she knew but not too well. As Caroline was placing her groceries on the belt, she heard a voice say, “June, it’s time for your break. I’ll cover your register until you get back.”

Caroline recognized the voice. It was Karen, her supervisor, the woman who had trained her. Caroline felt herself begin to sweat. If anyone would see through her disguise, it would be Karen. “Relax,” she whispered to herself. “Just act normal.”

Caroline watched as her supervisor rang up her groceries with practiced efficiency. It did not take long for her to get to the vodka, which she set to the side as she finished up with bagging the frozens together. Then, she scanned the vodka, and said, “I’ll need to see your ID.”

“Right,” Caroline said, playing it cool. She opened her purse and pretended to search for an ID that she knew did not exist. “Uh oh,” she said. “I’m not finding it here.”

Karen just stood there and waited, following store policy, which basically said everyone gets carded unless you see gray hairs.

“What’s the hold up?” asked a man in line behind Caroline.

Caroline turned to see a uniformed police officer standing there. For a moment, she was sure she was going to jail. Then, she reminded herself that the worst thing that could happen would be that she did not get to buy the vodka. She kept looking through her bag, stalling for time as she tried to think up a plan.

“I might have left it in the car,” Caroline said. “Or, did I put it in the diaper bag?” She began searching inside there.

The police officer sighed and said, “I’m thinking that she’s not a minor. Can you just ring her up, already?”

Karen was about to argue, but her instinct to respect authority overrode her by-the-book nature. She rang up the vodka.

Caroline paid in cash and rushed out the door as soon as she could.

Baby Audrey gave her a clumsy round of applause as they returned to the car.

***

Back home again in the mansion, Caroline put the frozen treats away in the freezer and set the bottle of vodka on the counter, leaving it wrapped in its shopping bag. Then, she joined Audrey in the living room to prepare to swap themselves back to normal. Audrey’s onesie was taken off, and a blanket draped over her shoulders. Then, the gold bracelet was placed on her wrist. Caroline would only be shrinking, so she did not bother to do anything but put the silver bracelet on.

“Weady?” Audrey asked.

Caroline nodded.

Audrey shut her eyes and concentrated.

Caroline felt the years start to drain away. At first, it was almost refreshing, feeling the weight melt off of her, causing her aunt’s clothes to hang loosely from her. The weight loss continued, stealing away her mature curves. Then, her height started to lower, dropping her closer to childhood.

A glance in Audrey’s direction showed the opposite transformation proceeding. The girl was no longer a baby. Her body was stretching longer and getting bigger all over. Moments later, Audrey had risen back to her normal 11-year-old self, while Caroline had been reduced to her ordinary 16-year-old self. Finally, their faces shifted back to normal as they traded their features back.

“There we go,” Audrey said, testing out her older voice. “I think you left your clothes in my room. I’ll get dressed down here.”

Caroline held up her pants as she walked out of the shoes she was wearing toward the stairs. Up in Audrey’s room, she got dressed again back in her own comfortable clothes. She returned to the living room to find Audrey pulling her shirt on.

“So,” Caroline said, “what’s the deal with the vodka?”

Audrey poked her head from the neck hole of her shirt and dragged her hair out to hang over her back. “It’s for drinking,” she said. “Obviously.”

“You want to get drunk?”

“Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’ll be useful for my plans.”

Caroline sighed, realizing that Audrey was being intentionally vague. “Why did you make me buy it?”

“Well,” Audrey said, “For one thing, we don’t have any vodka. My parents only drink wine, which won’t be very useful to me. For another thing, I couldn’t buy the vodka myself. I don’t think the cashier would have believed an 11-year-old with a fake ID was an actual adult.”

“Wait,” Caroline said. “You have a fake ID?”

Audrey nodded. “You even took the photo for it. Remember that first night when you were babysitting for me?”

Caroline remembered Audrey having given herself an adult head by taking years from Caroline’s head. Then, Audrey had made Caroline take the picture as she had stood in front of a blue curtain… just like a driver’s license photo.

“Where do you even get a fake ID made?” Caroline asked, feeling both curious and incredulous.

“The dark web,” Audrey said matter-of-factly.

Caroline had many questions, but the most immediate one was “If you had a fake ID then why didn’t you just make yourself 21 to buy the vodka?”

“That would have made you 6 years old,” Audrey explained. “You wouldn’t be able to see over the steering wheel.”

“You could’ve driven.”

“I don’t know how.”

“You could’ve traded me for my driving skills,” Caroline said, immediately regretting the suggestion.

Audrey was quiet for a few seconds. “That’s a good idea,” she said. “I wish I had thought of that earlier. That would make my plans for tonight much simpler.”

“What plans?”

“You want to know why we bought the vodka?”

Caroline nodded.

“You see,” Audrey said, “it’s kind of a means to an end. I want to go to a party, but I need to be able to bargain my way in. I figured that bringing a bottle of something that can be used for mixed drinks should be good enough.”

“What party?”

“The one we heard about when we went to the carnival.”

“At Jenny’s house?”

Audrey nodded.

Caroline shook her head. “We’re not going.”

“Why?”

“Alex will probably be there.”

“Fine,” Audrey said. “I’ll borrow like five or six years from you and your driving skills. Then, you can stay here while I go to the party on my own.”

“No,” Caroline said. “I’m not letting you go to a high school party by yourself.”

Audrey gave Caroline a disappointed look. “So,” she asked, “are you backing out of our deal?”

Caroline sighed again. “No,” she said.

“Then, what?”

“You can make yourself older and go to the party,” Caroline said, “but I’m going with you. I guess I’ll wait in the car or something. You can come find me if you need help.”

“Okay,” Audrey said. “Sounds like a solid plan.”

Caroline could see so many ways that this could go wrong, but she had no better ideas. If she tried to stop Audrey, then that would mean no bonus money. She had to do it. She just hoped it would work out, somehow.