✅ A Dose of Humiliation

52. The Early Hours

I gave a wordless mumble as I turned over in bed, and then a slightly more confused sound as I found that the surface under me wasn't horizontal.

There was too much information from my senses. Too much to understand until my brain was a little more awake, so I forced myself to focus on just what I could see for now. I opened my eyes and saw a darkened room illuminated by various people's phone screens, as well as just the faintest hints of pre-dawn light sneaking through a tiny gap in the blinds. There were little pinpoints of red and blue brightness as well; single LEDs indicating a TV or soundbar on standby. There wasn't much to see, but it was clearly the middle of the night.

What I could hear was more helpful. The sound of breathing, very quiet. Five or six friends sleeping peacefully, interrupted by intermittent snores coming from one figure in the corner. The sleepover. That made a lot more sense. It was Elspeth's birthday, and we were celebrating with a sleepover at Marcie's house. The plan had been to divide sleeping bags between the couches in the lounge and in Marcie's room, so there would be space for everyone to lie somewhere soft, but we'd all unrolled our bags and blankets in the lounge just for the sake of those who fell asleep before we were quite ready. Apparently that had been all of us; I could remember noticing that the subliminal messages had been running on the TV screen, and reaching for the remote to turn it off. It was off now, so I must have succeeded, but it seemed I must have only stayed awake long enough to press the button.

I was lying diagonally along the couch, with one leg draped up over the armrest, the other foot trailing on the floor, and my face pressed into the cushions behind me. Like I'd just fallen asleep where I was sitting, even more untidy than usual. Uncomfortable, too, which could explain my early waking time.

That left two senses left, clamouring for my attention. Smell and touch. I looked down at myself, hoping not to see what I was sure I would. I couldn't see a thing in a room this dark, but there was still no denying it. I'd wet myself in my sleep, and I hadn't managed to change into my diapers in time. I reached down with my hand and confirmed that my pants were soaked. There was a big wet patch soaking into the couch cushions, and a tentative exploration with my foot found that the damage extended to the carpet as well. This would be hard to clean up; even more so than it had been at home, when it had just been a case of throwing sheets and a duvet in the washing machine.

How did you clean cushion covers? Would the cushions themselves need washing? Could I put the velour effect cushions in the machine, or would they need to be dry-cleaned? How did you even go about washing a carpet? I had no idea about any of this, even if I'd known how to work their washing machine here. And worse than that, I knew that the chances of me getting anything cleaned before I woke my friends was approximately zero.

I extricated myself from my sleeping bag. I wasn't actually in it, but it seemed to be partially draped over me like a blanket. I really hadn't been able to sort myself out properly before I'd fallen asleep. I wondered for a second if that meant the sleeping bag was still dry, but I found otherwise as I started to fold it up. This situation was the worst it could possibly be; the only silver lining was that nobody was yelling at me right now, and I knew that would only be a matter of time. Still, I knew I had to clean up as best I could before everyone else woke. I could collect the TV remote from the floor and put it back in its spot on the coffee table; that wasn't a big problem. And then I picked up my phone, and turned the screen brightness up so I could see a little more of the situation as I waved it around.

"Wassat?" a sleepy voice mumbled to my right, and I froze in panic for a moment. Then I realised that it could only be Serena; the one who already knew about my problem.

"Subliminals on the TV," I hissed. "Marcie's mum put us all to sleep. Before I was ready."

"Ugh. That explains the– Wait, did you... you know?"