Page 1 of Stars Like Confetti

Chapter One

Shea

It was so fucking hot, and I was so, incredibly thirsty.

I should have taken the time to get a drink, but I hadn’t wanted to use the bathroom during the long trip.

Not to mention it hadn’t even worked.

The urge didn’t hit me until Sophie practically shoved me out of her car and just as I had the thought to dash into the rest area, the next bus to the camp showed up. According to the schedule I’d been emailed, they ran every fifteen minutes, but for some reason my feet carried me toward the bus instead of the small center at the beginning of the trailhead.

Now, I sat on a crackling leather bus seat that stuck to my exposed skin, clenching my thighs together with every bump along the gravel road.

Thankfully having a seat to myself, I shielded the hand between my legs by placing my bag in my lap. Other campers chatted around me, but I was too busy trying to keep my pants dry to socialize.

I hadn’t even wanted to come to this camp. It was my Sophie’s idea. Other camps of the sort had been cropping up all over the country, but they were too far away for me to even consider. This one, however? It had been just a five-hour drive away.

We hit a pothole, and my bladder protested. Just five hours… The bastard seemed to be taunting me.

I’d been part of the age play scene for years but after transitioning, I found a level of insecurity that I thought possible. The caregivers that were interested in boys were… Well, they were after a penis. The ones that weren’t? They claimed to see me as “the best of both worlds” but deep down, they wanted a little girl.

Dating as a trans man was tough enough in a small town. Toss in being Little, and it was enough for me to swear it off altogether. I had to admit the thought of the camp excited me, even if my stomach churned with nerves.

The bus bounced slowly down a gravel road and if it hadn’t been taunting my overfull bladder, the sight of it was like something out of Wrong Turn Shea.

Finally, after an agonizing drive, the camp came into view. Staff filtered in and out of the two-story welcome center, directing rogue Littles and already exhausted caregivers. I saw the cabins in the distance, and the oversized playground beyond them. The sunlight glittered off a lake somewhere, but I didn’t even want to think about water right now.

Bracing myself, I tugged my hand free from my thighs and shot to my feet, rushing off the bus before anyone else could instruct me otherwise.

It was nice and cool inside the welcome center, and I paused for a moment to enjoy the air coming from the vent. As I did, I scanned the space, searching for the restrooms. A small “store” settled in the far back corner, though I knew nothing actually cost money. Beanbags and coloring books filled the empty space between, along with a video game area for those who didn’t regress as much. My leg bounced, my body unwilling to go ignored—and partially because I was nervous as all hell. Beside me, a pink-haired caregiver wrangled a group of people surrounding her. I didn’t need to know any more to know she was a Mommy—she basically had a flashing neon sign above her head.

“Hi,” came a soft voice from my left.

I nearly jumped out of my skin—and drenched my pants. I hadn’t noticed the check-in desk a few feet away. My attention snapped to the voice. I gripped onto the strap of my duffel. Shit, they were hot. Their pastel tie-dyed T-shirt contrasted beautifully bronzed skin. Even their shaggy hair seemed kissed by the sun, and the kind of strawberry blond that I imagined smelled like summer. Kind, brown eyes studied me, eyes that I almost remembered, but couldn’t quite place. “Are you checking in?”

I could only nod. Words. What happened to my words?

Yet again, I could only bob my head.

“Can you come up here? Or do you need me to come to you?”

I need to pee. The words echoed in my head, my stomach cramping insistently. I’d never had any problems expressing my needs before, even in Little space, but something seemed… different now. I was regressing in a way I never had.

So I shook my head, hesitantly closing the distance between us. The person standing there watched me intently, seemingly like they were waiting for something.

Oh… they’d asked me my name.

“Shea,” I whispered. “Shea M-Moreland.”

“It’s nice to meet you Shea,” they responded softly, their voice settling around me like a warm blanket. They flipped through files in a box next to them. “What are your pronouns?”

“H-he/him.”

“I’m Theo. They/them.” They withdrew a packet from the box with my name written on the front in neat handwriting and lifted a canvas tote bag onto the counter. They opened the envelope and flipped a sheet of paper around to me, but it was like my eyes couldn’t focus because I was just so, so full. Suddenly, my bladder contracted violently, and dampness burst into my underwear.

“I’m sorry,” I said, interrupting them mid-sentence. I crossed my legs, squeezing my thighs together tight. “I don’t mean to be rude, but could you show me to the restroom?” In a softer voice, I added, “Please.”

My cheeks were on fire.