[SubbyAbi]

Chapter Four

"The one good thing about this place... is the food," Polly explained to me, excitedly as we made our way through the winding halls of the Floor 9 dorms, joining a mass of other girls also heading in the same direction.

The crowd made me deeply conscious about the fact that I was wearing a diaper, and I found my hands constantly reaching for the bottom of my skirt; to make sure it was pulled all of the way. I, also, couldn't help but look at each of the girls around me and wonder what their punishment was. Had some of them entered here as boys, like Polly? It was impossible for tell for most of them; but I would get the occasional clue. I saw one tall blonde wearing what looked like a dog's collar. Another had a shaved head, though for all I knew - that could've been a personal fashion statement.

Eventually, after treading water for several minutes, we reached the cafeteria - which was already swarming with people. Polly grabbed my hand and led me to a table against the back wall, telling me that this is where she would always sit with her friends. We arrived at the rectangular table to find a pair of people already sat there: a short white male, and a similarly-sized, dark-skinned woman with medium-length black hair. Both seemed to be in their early 20s. The young man had nicely groomed brown hair, which made up a significant portion of his small, but handsome face. His non-muscular chest was covered by a beige cardigan, very similar to the t-shirt that I was wearing. His companion had circular spectacles, and was wearing a white blouse with a brown jacket on top of it. My eyes were immediately drawn to a bruise on her left cheek and a prominent scar on her lip.

"Nylah, Ryan..." Polly said as we took seats opposite the duo, "This is Hannah. My new roommate."

The young woman extended her hand for a handshake. My second of the day. Her face lit up into a very toothy smile, exposing her gleaming white mouth, "Nice to meet you, Hannah, I'm Nylah and this is Ryan."

I shook her hand and smiled back, happy to make friends here. I then extended my hand out to Ryan, "Nice to meet you, Ryan."

Ryan smiled, shook my hand and mouthed some words, though didn't say anything. It was clear that this confused me, because Nylah interjected, "Ryan doesn't speak. Well, he can't speak. That's his, um, punishment - they did some surgery on his vocal cords when he got here."

He nodded, to affirm its truth, and I felt my jaw hit the floor in shock. That was, by far, the worst thing that I'd heard today. Surely, they weren't allowed to do that? "That's awful," I said, not being able to find words strong enough to express my disgust, "I'm so sorry, Ryan."

Ryan put his hands together and tilted them towards me and smiled. A show of gratitude.

"They claim it's fully reversible," Nylah continued, "I don't know how much I trust the bastards, though."

Those words spun in my head violently. That was crazy. Selfishly, I wasn't thinking too much of Ryan's awful situation. Instead, I was thinking of what Polly had told me - implying that my punishment might not end at just diapers. If they were willing to be this ruthless on Ryan, what hope did I have?

Nylah tried desperately to fill the silence, clearly not finding it very comfortable, "Yeah... So..."

Polly saved her the trouble, whipping SARA out and beaming at me, "You'll need to order your preferred meal on your SARA. You should have a list on the homepage to pick from."

I nodded, trying my best to regulate my face to a regular colour, and removed SARA from where I had stored her. After pressing the button on the side to enable the screen, I looked at the list of food items.

• Chicken Nuggies
• Fish Fingers
• Baked Beans (ve)

"Are they always this-" I started to say, before Polly interjected.

"Oh, you need to get the nachos - they're amazing!" she grinned, tapping furiously at her screen.

"The nachos? Are there more options?"

Nylah frowned, "No, it should just be the three options. Nachos, chow mein and the tofu roast dinner." After seeing the vacant look on my face, she reached forward and grabbed SARA out of my hands, before I had the chance to react. Her face lit up, "Oh wow, you do have different ones. I've never seen that before."

"What!?" Polly gasped, "That's so unfair! What options does she have?"

Nylah grimaced, handing me the SARA back, "Much more boring ones. It's like looking at a kid's menu. Is that your punishment? They're starving you with bad food?"

I gave a nervous smile, shuffling slightly in my seat and hearing the crinkle of my diaper's plastic as I did so, "I suppose this is part of it." I tried my best to maintain a brave face, "It's fine. I like chicken nuggets, anyway."

I tapped the first option and SARA lit up green, her screen then closing down. I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself; I wasn't going to let this get to me. I wasn't going to let this, or the fact that I was starting to feel some pressure on my bladder, get to me.

"So, Hannah - what's your story? You don't have to say why you're here, I'm just trying to get a read of you," Nylah said, leaning forward in her seat.

"Not this again," Polly rolled her eyes. "She always does this stupid thing where-"

"Shush!"

I smirked at their back-and-forth and nodded, ready to admit at least some details of my life. "Well, I'm from Manchester. I'm 18 years old. I was supposed to be going to Oxford to study Law in September, but that isn't happening now..." I felt my voice crack and took a moment to recompose myself, desperate not to cry, "I don't really know what else to say..."

Nylah nodded her head a few times, stroking her chin as if she was thinking. She then raised two fists towards Ryan and opened the one on her left. Her shook his head and she laughed, nodding vigorously. "I'm confident. Trust me." He still shook his head, laughing without noise.

"What?" I asked, my tears turning into confused laughter.

"Are you straight, Hannah?" she asked, bluntly.

My face turned red, being hit by the question like a sucker punch. "Wh- what? Um, yes- I think so!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, Ryan angrily hit his fist on the table shaking his head and moving his mouth the way that somebody angrily cursing would. Nylah burst out into a chorus of rapturous laughter, "I win again! You're awful at this, Ry."

I blushed, where they betting on my sexuality?

"Sorry, sorry," Nylah said, calming down, aware that she was catching looks from nearby tables, "That wasn't meant to be mean-spirited. I'm just trying to prove to Ryan that I have the best gaydar around."

"What gave me away?" I said, trying to find the funny side of the joke.

She chuckled, "I think it's part of my punishment. The pretty one's are never in my dating pool."

We were interrupted by the arrival of three guards, who approved - again with their faces hidden behind a mask. Each placed a large white plate of food in front of my three companions. Polly was right, it looked delicious; the portions were impressive and the smell made me want to drool.

"Sorry, we're not allowed to share," Polly said, wolfing down her nachos. I wasn't sure how serious she was.

A singular guard returned a few minutes later with my food. I didn't realise until it was placed in front of me that my chicken nuggets and chips were not served on the same white place as my peers. Instead, they were on a much smaller, pastel pink Minnie Mouse plate. The cutlery placed on either side was chunky and made of blue plastic; not like the other metal forks at the table. Before I could even make a comment, I felt something on the back of my neck and realised that a bright pink bib had been draped over my head, and the guard who had served me was now tying the strings of it at the back of my neck. I had no possible reaction other than to sit there, as Nylah, Polly and Ryan watched on in confusion. Once it was secured in place, the guard left without a word.

Suddenly, the very last thing that I wanted to do was eat - as I felt my stomach churning with butterflies. For just a few moments, I'd forgotten what this place was. I looked down at the chicken on my plate and couldn't help but visualize it as something that would be smushed into my diaper, within twenty-four hours.

"This might be less weird if you told us what your punishment is," Nylah finally said, unable to handle the silence any longer.