2011

I also found this chapter really interesting. The feeling of “late-developing primary schooler” and the embarrassment is very clearly depicted, specially being around younger boys and imagining other friends seeing him in that situation. The only reason I didn’t reply to this chapter was to avoid overwhelming or pressuring you. Please do continue, as we all want to know more and understand Tom better.

Your girl lives on in your memories! I've had 3 dogs pass on me since I've been an adult. ALL made 14 years old, all were great and outside of that ONE *BAD DAY*, you must remember all of the good days! THOUSANDS of them! Plus, your new girl, once trained will be all your last one was! DOGS RULE! You CAN'T dwell on the one bad day....remember all of the great ones!

I had a very wet night in a pink Sunkiss diaper, got out of bed and within five minutes I had a disappointing small poopie in my diapie and thought to myself "Oh well, I can't always have a big potty load in my diaper." However, 30 minutes later another peristaltic wave hit me, I relaxed, no pushing needed, and now I am happy with a massive poopie in my diaper feeling soooo nice, warm, lumpy, squishy pressing against my perineum. Ahhhh...

Might be time to have "the talk."

143. An Emotional Evening “You look amazing,” Gabby said, as Tess hurried down the stairs. “My little girl’s all grown up.” And Tess couldn’t help laughing at that; she was just as grown up as she had been since she moved in here, but Gabby had only been able to see her as a child all that time. Maybe the bedwetting problem had something to do with that; it could well make her seem more childish. And she was glad that Gabby had never found out about the daytime accidents, but she would be a lot more confident when she could find a cure and put all that behind her. But that didn’t matter. For tonight, she was almost an adult, and she was sure that everybody would recognise that. She was wearing probably the most mature outfit she had ever owned; not particularly revealing, but incredibly sophisticated. And when she opened the door, she couldn’t believe how smart Spike looked either. He looked even more athletic than usual, and it seemed that somebody had convinced him to trim the straggly first attempts at a beard that he normally wore. In a way it made him seem a little younger, but somehow also more responsible. She ran closer and hugged him, but resisted the temptation to kiss right there on the doorstep. “You all ready?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye. “I think this is the point where I’m supposed to promise your parents that I’ll have you back by a reasonable time. But I think in the circumstances, we can probably skip that part of the normal protocol.” Tess giggled, and felt her heart racing just from being so close to the boy she loved. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be saying now, but she was certain that this would be one of the happiest days of her life. Gabby and Ffrances waved them off and wished them good luck; and much to Gabby’s credit, she managed not to say anything about her distrust of Spike. She didn’t even whisper a warning to Tess, or advice about what she should do when her boyfriend inevitably proved that no man can ever be trusted. She only said good luck, and then the young couple were rushing out to travel to the ball. Adam was driving them; he was acting almost like a substitute father figure for Spike, and the closest thing they had to a chaperone. He didn’t talk as he drove them into Raybridge; just let them enjoy each other’s company and imagine there was nobody else there. And then he was dropping them off outside the school, with a clear instruction that he would be there at eleven to chauffeur them home again. These rebellious teens weren’t going to go anywhere on their own. The ball was in the school’s presentation hall this time. Tess had heard that in some years, they rented out a venue elsewhere, like a local hotel. But the hall was fancy enough to let everyone enjoy the dance, and there was a selection of bands who would be playing throughout the evening. Everything had been planned in detail, to make it a special night for the graduating students; and for those who wanted to make special memories before they were buried under the pressure of exams. They danced. They talked to their friends. They saw other people making fools of themselves; especially those who thought they were old enough to drink before coming out. They danced some more, cautiously and nervously as the band started playing the slower songs. Several times, there was an opportunity to kiss that both Spike and Tess were just too nervous to take. They saw Rachel and Mindy dance as well; and those two both seemed like they were teasing each other, daring their partner to be the one to take the next step closer. And Chloe introduced them to Sascha, her new neighbour. All in all, it seemed that everybody had a great time, and they all made important memories. There were some slightly less positive moments as well; like seeing how many of Mindy’s former friends seemed to hate her for stepping outside of their little clique. But they couldn’t say too much here without getting in trouble, and nobody else cared what they had to say. After a long evening, which for Tess had included few drinks and only one bathroom break, time for the party to end came too soon. Spike took her hand and led her out of the hall, and the air around them was still buzzing with excitement as everyone wanted to say goodbye to their friends before heading home. And they knew that at least a few of their friends would be going somewhere else before home; finding an opportunity to spend a little more time with their date in private before returning to their families. “That was wonderful,” Tess said, as they started to follow the gravel path across the park. Adam would give them a ride home again, so they only had to walk to his house. Tess wasn’t surprised to look at her phone and find a message from Gabby, either. So she had a choice of chauffeur for today. “I didn’t know you could dance like that.” “I can’t,” Spike answered with a shrug. “I was just guessing. I think you learned though, at some point.” “Maybe. We should try it again sometime.” “I’d like that very much,” he said. There was a little hesitation, and then he released her hand. Before Tess could ask if she’d done something wrong, his arm was around her shoulders instead, pulling her closer. “Tess, I… I still don’t know the right words, or what I’m supposed to be feeling. But I’m so happy whenever I’m with you, and I do want to spend more time together. Thank you for showing me this, and for being so patient with me. I really feel like… Like I want this to last forever. Like I want to be with you.” “Oh, gimme a break!” the words startled both of them, and Tess glanced around nervously, trying to guess where that snarl had come from. She had been focused completely on Spike’s words, and the way he was holding her; and the sun had already set, so there was only the glow of distant streetlights to illuminate their path now. “That’s no way to talk to a girl, loser. You need to show them who’s in charge.” Tess squinted into the darkness, but there was something familiar about the accent, and the attitude. About all she could tell right now was that he’d been drinking. She stepped closer to Spike, not sure she could protect him, but knowing that it might be necessary. “Go,” he hissed under his breath. “Go to Adam’s place. You don’t want to be here.” “You’re here,” she answered. She was terrified, but she knew there was no way she could leave now. She couldn’t leave Spike to face… And then everything clicked, and she knew where she’d heard that voice before. Duke Torrance. He wasn’t the kind of guy to deal with anything to do with Spike’s schooling, but she’d run into him at least once before. He was out on bail, she remembered. She’d thought that didn’t matter, because Shawna and Nik were both being kept safe. She’d never thought that he would be able to find them. “Come on,” Duke growled, stepping forward so that he was silhouetted against the lights from the street behind. “You’ve not been looking after your mother, kid. I came home, my house is filthy. You’re not pulling your weight. Think you’re too good for us, not using my name? I could–” Tess was just starting to back away when the guy lunged for her and grabbed her arm. She shrieked automatically, terror stripping away any pretence at a plan. There was nobody else walking this way right now, and there was nobody to hear. And she didn’t think he would listen to reason. “What, this little kid’s your date?” he sneered as he shook Tess. “Pathetic as ever. You should be grateful I–” “Get your hands off her,” Spike yelled, cutting him off. Tess just froze, not sure what she could say. She thought it was the first time she’d ever seen Spike angry. He’d been sarcastic before, and even rude if it was the only way to protect her from a bully when she was new at school. But she’d never seen him angry like this, and that scared her as well. “Don’t tell me what to do,” Duke growled, and drew back his hand. Tess’s eyes closed automatically, and she kept on expecting him to hit her. But after one second, and then another, the blow never came. She was frozen in terror, but there was still no pain. And then there was movement; he was throwing her to one side, but she didn’t have a clue what was going on. She opened her eyes again and saw that Spike was right there; two men swinging at each other with their fists. It looked like some kind of poster promoting the dumb, violent kind of masculinity that so many people seemed to be addicted to. But Spike wasn’t playing by the rules; he ducked under Duke’s arm and grabbed the man’s wrist in both hands. And while Duke was still off-balance, Spike’s heel came down hard, driving into the back of his knee. Tess landed roughly on the grass, and struggled to pick herself up again. And when she looked towards them, she could see that Duke was on the ground, one arm twisted up behind his back and held in place by Spike’s knee on the back of his neck. “Are you okay?” she gasped. “Can I–” “Call the cops,” Spike answered, quick and forceful. “And call Adam. I don’t know how long I can hold him here without hurting him.” Tess picked herself up from the ground. Her arm was sore where Duke had grabbed her, but she didn’t think there was any serious injury. Her heart was pounding, and she couldn’t think straight. She knew that Spike needed her help now, more than he ever had, but she wasn’t thinking clearly. She launched herself down the path, and ran to Adam’s house as fast as she could. He was standing by his car; maybe he’d been thinking about coming to see where they’d got to. Tess ran up to him and babbled, trying to get him to understand what had happened. But as soon as she said ‘Duke’, he seemed to guess the worst. “Show me,” he said. “Where are they?” When they got back to where Tess had left them, Spike and his stepfather were still in the same position. There were a couple of other students as well, who had seen some part of the altercation on their way home from the ball. Adam grabbed Duke’s hand, and let Spike step back. Then he whispered something to the other man that seemed to make him struggle less. Tess paced around in shock. She wanted to go home, but she knew that they couldn’t just yet. The police were on their way, and they would want statements. She managed to gather her wits enough to ask that anyone who had seen anything stick around, so that the police would have as many witnesses as possible. But she was shocked, and didn’t know how to feel now. The police officers wanted to send her to the hospital to be checked over, but she didn’t think she was hurt that badly. She insisted that she wanted to go home, to somewhere that she felt safe. It seemed like they didn’t want to listen, but Adam seemed to know just what he needed to say. Protocols satisfied, they were free to go. “Are you okay?” she asked Spike. “I’m sorry, I should have–” “Don’t,” he said. “I can take care of myself. At least with guys like that. He’s used to throwing his weight around, just a bully. That’s something I can really deal with.” “Yeah, but after such a good night…” “It’s still a good night,” he said. “I was with you. I’m sorry it had to happen now, but it happened. And there’s nothing we can do about that. And I know you’ll be able to convince the cops that they shouldn’t let him free again. So for now, I think we both need some time being too innocent to worry about this stuff. Right? Let’s get home, and we can both switch off our worries, until there’s actually something we can do.” Tess nodded slowly. “I’m okay, I think,” she said. I just want to be sure you’re okay. But you’ve got the triggers if you think I need to be less… well, you know. But you seem more worried than I am. I only got shaken up. So if you want to take a break, if you want to be a little girl tonight…” “Please,” he nodded, blushing visibly. “I mean… I think I did as well as could be expected, but it would be nice not to have that scene replaying in my mind.” “That’s good,” she said. “You know, I’m sure if you asked, Ffrances could make a boy version of that recording for you. That’s something we should think about.” “Yeah, probably,” Spike mumbled, “But I think that’s a big thing to ask for, probably takes a lot longer than just the length of the file.” Then he looked up as Adam came closer. “Hey, kids. Ready to go home? I told them you’re responsible enough to look after yourself. But I can take you to Pine Ridge if you want some first aid. I texted Ffrances to let her know why we’re late, and she said it’s your choice.” Tess looked Spike over. He was pacing, and tense. But he wasn’t injured at all. She realised in hindsight that when when Duke’s fists had been swinging, he hadn’t even managed to hit Spike. “No,” she said, “We’re fine. Just a little bruised. And dealing with any kind of… emotional impact, we can do that better at home.” He didn’t say anything else as they got into the car. It had been a long night, with both joy and terror. But after everything, the main feeling in Tess’s heart was optimism for the future. Knowing that it was unlikely Duke would be in a position to come near them again; and also more confident than ever before that she and Spike really had a future together.