The Morning After
Putting the Toy in Story
chapter 7
by
TinyLesbo
Apparently, no amount of soapy water could remove the smell, and Jessie found herself isolated for the rest of the night. Not in Aiko's arms, or between Hana's thighs, or indeed with the rest of her toy brethren, she was stuck, alone, drying on the hallway windowsill.
Sure, her short time with Hana wasn't pleasant by any means, but she was a failure of a toy if she was just going to sit here on a shelf all night. At least she was keeping someone company, pinned between Hana's legs like that. But like this, she had no one but herself and the moon. Innocent, bright and round, oblivious to her troubles, it was a position she could envy, that was for sure.
Jessie sighed, and tried to get some sleep. At least in the morning she'd be able to see everyone again.
That morning came, and the other toys weren't so sociable with her. Even Aiko wasn't so willing to play with her now, despite her having dried off, because of the 'yucky smell'. Something her fellow toys seemed to agree with.
"Sorry Jess," Potato Head took off his nose. "But you remember the time Andy found the mackerel under the couch? It's like that, only worse."
"Thiiis little piggy's gotta go to market!" Hamm kept his distance, while even Woody was struggling to keep a straight face.
"...you still like me, right Buzz?" Jessie moped.
"Of course we all still like you, Jessie." Buzz was as straightforward as ever. He sniffed, grimaced, and suddenly his helmet whooshed into place. "But the smell just... it's not good, Jessie."
"I can't help that...!" Jessie moped, and suddenly it was time to go limp at the sound of feet thudding upstairs. Collapsing on top of Buzz, her stinky right arm slapped across his face for poetic measure, Jessie took a moment's pride as Aiko charged in. Scrambling out of her pyjamas, Jessie half watched the awkward tangle of limbs as she pulled on a skirt and rainbow shirt, followed by socks and shoes.
"School time!" Aiko jumped for joy, shrugging a little backpack around her shoulders and kissing each of her toys in turn. "I'll see you all later!" She beamed between kisses, hesitating at Jessie before simply squeezing her arm instead. Her smile fixed in place, she could understand why every toy but her got a kiss. But it didn't stop it hurting.
Aiko tumbled off out of her bedroom and down the stairs, and Jessie released a melancholy sigh. It was tough, having two girls fighting over her. She was getting corralled left and right every night, and her poor fabric body was worse for w-
"Freeze!" Woody gasped, and they'd barely gotten a chance to move, but had to collapse again as another pair of legs squat down in front of Jessie. Once again, her smile was forced as Hana's hand wrapped around her waist, gave her a sniff, frowned at the smell, and tucked her away into a backpack.
"Let's go to school, hmm?" Hana grinned, and stomped off after her little sister. Jessie rattled about amongst books, pens, a ruler and a weird amount of gum, victim to momentum as doors closed, others opened with a hiss, and then the softened thud of Hana taking a seat... on a school bus, Jessie had to presume.
The back rattled, and Jessie was tipped over again as the whole thing compressed in on her. That must've been Hana wrapping her arms around it or something. Amidst Hana's embrace as the noise of endless tweens ravaged her tiny eardrums, all of a sudden Jessie was going to school.
Zips chugged open a couple inches, and Hana's enormous face peered through, smiling at Jessie within. Making sure she was there, maybe? Finally having a moment alone? Ehh, Jessie shrugged to herself. Whatever made the kid happy.
Sure, she couldn't really tell what was going on, but Hana must've brought her for a reason. Even if that was just to take her somewhere Aiko couldn't interfere, it was a novel experience if nothing else. What would Hana's friends think of her though? Teenagers weren't very accepting of toys, especially nowadays with all their technology. And how was she going to explain the weird smell? Something told Jessie that Hana didn't think this through.
Of course though, being trapped in a school bag meant getting thrown around once more when it was time to leave the bus. Launched into the zip teeth as Hana just carelessly swung the bag around her shoulders, Jessie lost her balance with every footfall. It was a little hurtful to her pride, sure; all those years of wrangling horses, and she couldn't even stay on her feet in a backpack. It'd help if Hana was anything of a light walker, seeming to stomp wherever she went, but if she could lasso one galloping horse while standing on another, this should've been easy.
And the world disappeared backwards as Jessie caught what glimpses she could through the hole in the zips. The beautiful blue skies of morning, peppered with occasional clouds, sunshine streaming in for a split second. Trees flashing past, and a corral of tall gates locking them in. Two big doors led the way to lifeless school hallways, and suddenly Jessie was amongst dozens, if not hundreds, of other tweens. Boys, girls, tall, short, fat, thin. The full range of hair colour and complexion on display, and yet there she was, a kids' toy among them. Hana definitely hadn't thought this through.
Lost amongst every rustle of the bag, and repeatedly buried in pencils, Jessie had little choice but to just go with whatever was happening. Whatever Hana's plan was, or lack thereof, it obviously involved her. Even if that just meant the pair of them getting time together away from Aiko.
Momentum eventually came to a stop, and the whole bag swung around as Hana must've removed it from her shoulders or something. A weird, metallic clicking followed, and then a door swung open, before the whole bag was just shoved into a locker. Zips were undone again, and Hana exchanged a little smile with Jessie before pulling out a book, the ruler, three pens, about nineteen sticks of gum, and finally, her.
"Let's learn some math, hmm?" She smiled, sniffing Jessie again with another grimace. A moment's readjustment had her pocketing the gum and pens, and she extracted a can of deodorant from the locker too. Jessie had no ability to close her eyes or even react as the blinding, sickly strong spray blasted into her face, leaving her vision bubbly and her smelling... at least a little better. Whatever was in that can of deodorant, it smelled kinda flowery. Maybe Hana had thought this through after all. Other kids were definitely going to judge her, but from what she'd learned about kids... that was what they did.
Hana caught a few weird looks on her way to class, from starry eyed tweens to cynical older kids, and as Jessie laid limp in her hand, sharing with a couple of pencils, she could hear the bubbling laughter just beneath the surface. Like s'mores on the campfire, it was ready to boil over. Oh Hana, she begged internally. Please don't make a fool of yourself...
The first 'class' was called Homeroom, apparently, where a teacher read names out, and various kids would respond with 'here' or 'present' or something similar. Jessie had seen the same thing a couple of times over the years, but usually the kids were younger than this. And the laughter was still rumbling, as Hana paid no attention at all. Sitting Jessie in her lap, she could only really see the underside of a desk and the long red hair of the girl in front - hmm, braided, sorta like her own - but it was an experience all the same.
There was a while before Hana's name was called out;
"Hannah O...kaa-zakey?"
"That's Okazaki, Ms Kanakaredes," Hana put her hand up, smiling politely. Squeezing Jessie's hand with the other, the tension was palpable, and it didn't stop the laughing either. Hana's head sunk down, and she could see her human's private sadness. It must be tough, having a name that's hard to say.
If Jessie ever got the chance, she'd let her know how pretty it sounded. Pointy, but strong. Like a mountain you had to climb.
That climb was getting steeper now though, as the laughter was only getting louder, and Hana had finally realised that maybe this was a bad idea. Squeezing her thighs together, and Jessie between them, her human's nerves were getting the better of her, and she could do nothing to stop them.
Finally, the teacher noticed. "What is with y'all today? Ms Kanakaredes spoke up. "It's just attendance!"
"M-maybe you should ask Hannah about her dolly!" One of the other kids cackled, and that was all it took for the dam to break, and the rest of the class to burst into laughter. Hana was bright red at this point, but refused to let it get to her, simply keeping her head down and saying nothing. Holding Jessie tight, it was them against the world, it seemed.
"A dolly?" Ms Kanakaredes said. "...Hannah? You know that's not allowed."
"...sorry," Hana mumbled, and the jeering only got louder. "It's my, uh, emotional support dolly."
Suddenly the laughter was silenced, and Jessie could finally breathe again as Hana's thighs relaxed.
"Emotional support?" Ms Kanakaredes queried. "I-I wasn't informed of this, Hannah. You know you're supposed to-"
"Oh, you weren't?" Suddenly Hana was confident somehow. "M-my mom tried to ring you like three times over the past couple of days. She said I can't be without it, else I get night terrors. I'm... I'm so sorry Ms Kanaredes! Here, you can have her I g-"
Suddenly Jessie was pulled out of Hana's lap, and shown to the rest of the kids at school. About two dozen faces, some smirking with barely concealed laughter, others genuinely looking curious, it was at least a better sight than the bottom of a desk. Even the girl in front turned around to get a better look. Her long red braid whipping around with momentum, she cast a suspicious eye on Jessie, then Hana, before the teacher tried to drag class back under her control again.
"There'll be no need for that, don't you worry Hannah." Ms Kanakaredes put her hands up. "I-if you say it's your emotional support doll, then I suppose it can stay. But the rest of you can feel ashamed for making fun of her! Mental health is important, and making fun of it is the work of the devil!"
Homeroom wrapped up after Ms Kanakaredes gave the rest of the class a stern lecture, and Hana's popularity definitely didn't increase after that. But with Jessie against her chest and her head held high, it looked like a day of school was on the cards.