The New Babysitter
Chapter 1
Kristina and her mother sat at the kitchen table, Kristina rocking her chair slightly out of habit while her mother sliced green onions on the chopping board. They'd just finished lunch, but her mother was already making a salad for dinner. It was typical of her mom's brisk manner to start things so early, just like it was typical of Kristina to be a bit fidgety. They were both naturally restless, though in quite different ways. What wasn't typical was Kristina's clear look of surprise.
"But Mom! What do you mean Mrs. Ryskamp isn't staying with us?" she asked, alarm inflecting her voice.
Mrs. Ryskamp, or Mrs R as Kristina affectionately called her, was the long-time babysitter for Kristina and her younger sister, Madison. An old friend of their grandparents, Mrs. R had grown close to Kristina and her family after Grandma and Grandpa had moved to Florida a decade ago. Mrs. R was always happy to spend time with the girls, and that had quickly made her a family fixture. Kristina could scarcely remember a night when she hadn't babysat them.
Both girls were fond of Mrs. R, but Kristina in particular adored her. Kristina had been a bedwetter her entire life, which was a persistent source of embarrassment and shame for her. And all too often, her family did nothing to dispel this self-consciousness: her mother, though well-meaning, couldn't help but vent her frustration over Kristina's continued bedwetting. To an extent, Madi even took a perverse joy in Kristina's nighttime problem. Although she knew better than to tease her older sister about it, there was a strong undercurrent of competition between the two girls, and Madi felt that Kristina's bedwetting gave her the leg up in their sibling rivalry.
And that was what made Mrs. R so special. Kristina knew she could count on her never to be judgmental about her problem, never to be angry or frustrated. Typically if she had a wet night, which might be a couple nights a week, Mrs. R would be kind enough to strip her bedsheets and launder them for her, drawing minimal attention to her accident. Kristina dreaded the thought of random babysitters— people she didn't even know!— learning her secret, and she was relieved she had Mrs. R to spare her the ordeal.
Until now, apparently.
"I'm sorry, dear," her mother said sympathetically, giving the onions a final chop. "I can tell you're disappointed. But you know how Mrs. Ryskamp likes to visit her grandchildren over the summer. As much as you'd like, you and Madi can't have her to yourselves all the time."
"I know Mom, but she always stays with us," Kristina sighed. "It's just weird that she can't all of a sudden."
"Um, this isn't a emergency, is it? Like something bad that happened to her family?" She added as the alarming possibility entered her mind.
"Oh no, sweetie, nothing like that," came her mother's reassuring reply. "She actually made her plans a while ago. But I didn't know we would need her until last weekend, and by then she was booked."
Kristina groaned. Why couldn't Mom talk to Mrs. R earlier? she thought irritatedly. But she knew it wasn't really her mother's fault, since her upcoming business trip had been scheduled on such short notice.
In a couple of weeks, her mom would be leaving for ten days. As a nurse consultant, she traveled to many different companies and clinics, giving them health-care advice and hosting the odd educational seminar. Usually the work didn't take her too far from home for too long, but this time she had to fly all the way out to California. For a week and a half.
"So who's going to stay with us?" Kristina wondered aloud.
"Well, I'm not sure yet," her mother said, getting up and reaching for the salad bowl. "I've looked into a few sitters, and I found one who has excellent references. I'll have to make a choice soon, so I'll let you know then. Okay?"
"Okay, Mom," she replied, still noticeably anxious.
***
A couple days passed and Kristina began to worry less about the mystery babysitter. At times it slipped her mind completely. The reason for her improved mood was simple.
Kristina's mother had been furious about her grades. Kristina had failed two of her classes last term, and she would have to attend summer school for another chance at earning the class credits. Her mom always badgered her to do better than the usual Bs and Cs, but this time she was beside herself. That was Kristina's junior year! Didn't she know how important it was for college? Summer school was set to begin right after her mother's trip, and that seemed to heighten her disappointment.
Of course, her mother's anger came with the obligatory comparisons to Madi, who routinely got straight As. To Madi, this was more fuel for the sibling rivalry. To Kristina, it was embarrassing but not something that truly motivated her to study more.
But starting when she and her mother had talked about Mrs. R, her mom seemed to be in much better spirits. She was still occasionally chilly toward Kristina, but she didn't evince the same unbridled disappointment she had before. Kristina guessed it had finally blown over and promised herself that she would get decent grades in her summer classes.
Then, with only a week until her mother's trip, Kristina again grew apprehensive: her mom still hadn't said anything about the sitter. For a couple days, whether out of hesitation or forgetfulness, Kristina avoided broaching the subject. Finally she, Madi, and their mother found themselves all sitting at the kitchen table together after a late breakfast. After toying with her phone for a minute, Kristina turned toward her mother.
"Um, Mom?" she began. She thought that asking now, while Madi was there, might give the question more urgency.
"Yes, dear?"
"So is Mrs Ryskamp staying with us after all?" she asked hopefully.
"No, hon, I'm afraid she's not. But I did hire another sitter, and I'm glad you asked because I meant to tell you two."
"Oh, who is she?"
"She's actually a nice girl from your school," her mother said.
Kristina gave her mother a startled look. That had captured Madi's attention too.
"Her name is Belinda Chen, and maybe you—"
"What!?" Kristina blurted out. It was all she could say.
Kristina had known Belinda since 6th grade. They'd occasionally had classes together in both junior high and high school, and while they shared a few of the same geeky interests, that had never gelled into anything resembling a friendship. Actually, Kristina didn't like Belinda at all. She was such a teacher's pet. And now she was going to be her babysitter?
"But she's in my grade! She's my age," Kristina stammered, still too shocked to be angry.
Madi didn't say anything, but she had put her book aside and was following the conversation raptly.
"No dear, she's actually 18," her mother replied.
This was true, as Kristina remembered. Belinda's family had moved to the United States when she was nine, and Belinda had arrived knowing hardly any English. She'd spent her first year of school taking English as a Foreign Language classes, which meant she'd started regular classes a year late and was a year older than all the other students in their grade. Not that this made the news any less shocking.
"But Mom..."
"And anyway, Kristina, it's not about age. It's about maturity. I've heard nothing but good things about Belinda, not only as a sitter but as a student. I'm sure she can do a great job helping you with your schoolwork."
Kristina's heart sank. This was obviously no spur-of-the-moment decision for her mom.
"But what if something happens and there's an emergency?" she asked, voicing the last objection she could think of.
Madi saw her opportunity to get a dig in at Kristina.
"Mrs. Larison can help us if there's any trouble," she interjected, her lips curled into a tiny smirk. The Larisons were friends of the family who lived three houses down. "And I think she sounds really impressive. You should be glad there's someone who can help you with your homework, Kristina."
"Madi's right, honey," their mother said. "You can go to Mrs. Larison if there's ever a problem. And Belinda can always call her mom and dad too."
So Belinda Chen was going to be her babysitter. In her initial shock, Kristina hadn't even realized the worst part about it: someone from her school would soon know all about her bedwetting.
Or would she? The prospect terrified Kristina, but maybe her mother wasn't going to say anything about her problem. Subtle wasn't in her mom's vocabulary, but who knew? She wanted to ask her mom but couldn't while Madi was there. She would have to ask that evening. With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed her phone and got up from the table.
Back in her room, Kristina tidied up the clutter strewn all over the floor and her desk. That was the silver lining to her dismay: it motivated her to clean up when she wouldn't otherwise. She reached over to straighten out her bedsheets as well but quickly thought better of it. She didn't want to hear the crinkle of her plastic sheet and let it worsen her mood any further.
Gradually, Kristina's surprise wore off and frustration took its place. This was typical of her mother, to treat her so much younger than her real age. Sometimes her mom didn't even seem to realize she was doing it, like when she called her honey or sweetie but simply called Madi by her name. Other times the double-standard was far more blatant. It was insulting enough that Kristina still had a bedtime at her age, but that she had the same 11:15 bedtime as Madi was too much. Her mom subjected her to all sorts of childish rules.
And soon she would have a babysitter who was practically the same age.
Chapter 2
Lying in bed, Kristina was her usual groggy morning self. Her tentative first movements were so slow and detached that she briefly wondered if she were still dreaming. But she could hear the maple tree outside her window sway in the morning breeze, and that convinced her she was awake.
As the tree's branches and leaves fluttered, their shadows temporarily blocked out the morning sunlight before the sun quickly butted back in. Their back-and-forth made it feel like the sun's rays were dancing on top of her, or maybe that the sun was tickling her. The thought brought a sleepy smile to her face.
That smile disappeared when she stretched her legs and felt an all-too-familiar dampness beneath her. Dejected, she turned over to look at the alarm clock, the one she would have to start using again tomorrow for her first day of summer classes. It was already 10:35. No wonder she was wet after sleeping for eleven straight hours.
Kristina knew she'd have to get up immediately. Her mother was leaving for the airport at 1:00, and Belinda was set to arrive an hour beforehand. She was a little surprised her mother hadn't come in to wake her up like she usually did. Unlike her mother or Madi, Kristina was the quintessential late riser, and her mom was always nagging her to get ready for school on time. Even on weekends, her mother usually made sure she was up by 9:30. The wake-up calls gave her mom a chance to wash her bedsheets right away if need be, although she was sure their real purpose was just to annoy her.
Maybe her mom hadn't woken her up this morning because she was too busy getting ready to leave. Whatever the case, she hoisted herself out of bed. She stripped off her wet pajama bottoms and underwear and put on a clean pair of panties. She didn't bother getting fully dressed— the bathroom was right next to her bedroom, and she didn't mind making the brief trip in just her underwear.
As she stepped into the shower, her mind wandered over the events of the past few days. Of course, her mother had said when she'd asked, she would have to tell Belinda about her bedwetting. It wouldn't be safe to have Belinda stay with the girls and not tell her everything she needed to know as a sitter. Kristina was dismayed but not particularly surprised: all hope to the contrary, she knew her mother too well to assume she would show that much discretion.
Kristina was even more dismayed that her mother had told Belinda about her diapers.
For a few weeks that past autumn, Kristina had gone from wetting the bed twice-weekly to wetting almost every night. There had been no trauma, no noticeable reason for her to wet more often, and her mother was alarmed. A visit to the doctor's office, with the usual battery of unpleasant and intrusive tests, turned up nothing. Finally her mom had ordered the diapers as a last-ditch measure.
The decision, Kristina thought, was all too typical of her mother: first her mom had spent many hours researching online, comparing different diaper brands. Then, after choosing a brand to her satisfaction, she'd ordered a couple boxes of diapers without saying anything to Kristina first. Her mom felt it was a good idea and simply assumed she would feel the same way.
She hadn't. Right off the bat, Kristina was angry that the diapers had arrived with no warning. Anger turned to horror when she opened the package and saw them for the first time. They were bulky purple monstrosities that looked at once infantile and geriatric, like something out of a grotesque nursing home. Even the name, Molicare, was offputting.
She had pitched a huge fit, moaning, crying, adamantly refusing to wear them. It had been embarrassing to let Madi see her melt down like that, but far less embarrassing than actually wearing them. The tantrum worked: her mother relented, and the diapers were secreted away in the attic. Kristina was a little annoyed to have them sitting up there like the picture of Dorian Gray, but at least they weren't right in front of her.
Still, it was awkward to think that Belinda knew about the diapers. Bedwetting was one thing, and it was bad enough that her mother had to mention that, but the diapers... ugh! She felt babyish just thinking about them.
Suddenly Kristina remembered how little time she had. By now she must have spent an eternity in the shower, dwelling on her crinkly bete noire. And she hadn't even rinsed her hair yet. Not that she would have enough time to dry it anyway, even using the hated blow-dryer.
Pushing diapers out of her mind, she quickly dried off and returned to her room to get dressed. It was 11:10, even later than she'd thought. She stripped off her wet sheets, taking the sheets and her pajamas down the hall to the laundry room. Kristina hated washing them, but with her mom busy getting ready to leave she would have to do it this once.
Returning with a rag and a bottle of cleaner, she wiped down the mattress protector and then rifled through her dresser for a new set of bedding. Maybe her Sesame Street sheets? No, they were cute but childish. They would only reinforce the idea that she was less mature than Belinda. Kristina eventually settled on a set of floral-print bedsheets. They were a little dull, but at least they wouldn't embarrass her.
She headed downstairs.
"You're finally up, sleepyhead!" her mother called out from the kitchen. "We were worried you'd turned into a zombie."
"She's always a zombie in the morning," Madi quipped.
"Do you want to help us tidy up?" her mother asked, the kind of question that wasn't really a question. "Belinda will be here soon."
Brilliant, Kristina thought. Her tormentor was about to arrive, and she would have to help roll out the red carpet. Of course she knew that Belinda was due soon, but it was still irritating to hear.
The doorbell rang several minutes later. Kristina's mother went to answer the door with Madi following along. Kristina stayed behind in the kitchen, washing the same plate over and over. She didn't want to see Belinda a moment sooner than she had to.
Belatedly she dragged herself out to the front hall. Belinda, chatting with her mother, turned to her and smiled.
"Heeeeyyyyyy Kristeeena how aaarrree you?" she said with exaggerated enthusiasm. What an annoying voice, Kristina thought. Belinda was near the top of their class, so how on Earth could she sound like such a dumb valley girl?
"Hi Belinda," she answered flatly. She knew she needed to be civil, even if it was difficult. Part of it was that her mother expected her to be civil, and part of it was that she didn't want to give Madi the satisfaction of seeing her get upset.
They loitered near the door for a few minutes, her mother and Belinda in animated conversation, with Madi interjecting every now and then. Kristina stayed silent. Eventually the girls' mother invited everyone into the kitchen.
"I made you all sandwiches this morning," she announced, taking a large Tupperware container out of the refrigerator. "Belinda, I didn't want you to worry about making something the moment you arrived."
She placed container down on the kitchen counter and took off the lid. The sandwiches were pitas, which Madi and Kristina both liked. Kristina remembered seeing her mother packing the night before. She realized that her mom must have started packing early so that she'd have time to make the sandwiches this morning. Although she was still unhappy about Belinda, Kristina thought that was genuinely nice of her mother.
The girls sat down with Belinda to eat while their mother went upstairs to get her bags. Kristina made a couple terse comments out of politeness, but Madi seemed to genuinely enjoy Belinda's company and peppered her with questions. Kristina wondered if Madi was doing it to get under her skin. Or maybe she was just happy to meet another obnoxious Type-A personality.
After a lull in the conversation, Belinda turned to Kristina.
"So are you looking forward to summer school?" she asked.
"Um, not especially," Kristina replied, trying not to notice Madi's smirk.
"Well, I'm sure it will be educational," Belinda said, with a trite smile to match her words.
Kristina stifled a groan. No one ever looked forward to summer school, and Belinda knew that. Was she always this passive-aggressive?
Before Kristina could dwell on her angst, she heard her mother come back downstairs. Wearing a grey skirt and matching jacket, her hair newly primped, she looked all ready for her trip.
"Now girls," she said, addressing her daughters, "I've left a copy of the rules in the family room. They're next to the computer, but I think you know all the rules by now." And they did, since she had gone over them meticulously the previous night. "I want you two to have a good time, but I don't want to hear about any trouble. Okay?"
"Okay," they murmured in unison.
Before long they all heard the crunch of gravel in the front driveway. Mr. Larison had volunteered to take their mother to the airport, and sure enough it was him arriving. Kristina helped carry her mom's bags out to the car, and she and Madi each gave their mother a hug. Waving goodbye, Kristina was sad to see her mother leave. Mostly because it meant she was stuck with Belinda, but also because she knew she would miss her.
Chapter 3
Kristina watched the car whisk her mother away, into the street and out of sight. Since her mother would be gone for so long, and since Belinda would be there the whole time, she was in uncharted territory. She felt anxious, and that gave her the urge to say something, anything, as if words alone could restore a sense of normalcy.
Standing there by the front door, she gathered up her resolve and turned toward Belinda.
Kristina certainly wasn't pleased to be stuck with her for the next week and a half, but she knew she could make the most of things. It didn't matter that Belinda was officially her babysitter. She would make it clear to Belinda that she could— and would— look after herself while her mother was gone, and Belinda would grudgingly have to respect her independence.
Of course Madi had come outside with them to wave goodbye, and it unnerved Kristina to know that she would be listening. Kristina racked her mind for the right words. Finally, haltingly, she spoke.
"I'm going to go upstairs and, uh, maybe I'll spend some time in my room."
Immediately she felt sheepish. Whereas she'd meant to be firm and assertive, instead her words had come out unsure, her voice reaching a questioning note at the end. It had sounded like she was asking Belinda for permission to go upstairs, Kristina thought to herself, discouraged.
"Of course, hon," Belinda told her, a patronizing smile reaching across her face. "Summer school doesn't start until tomorrow, so you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."
Kristina blushed. Madi said nothing, but her delight was palpable, and that made Kristina's discomfort all the worse. She couldn't think of anything apposite to say, so she just stood there awkwardly for a seeming eternity. Finally Belinda spoke again.
"While you're going up, Kristina, could you show me the guest room?"
First Belinda makes a point of being condescending, Kristina thought bitterly. And then she asks me to do her a favor. But she was nonetheless relieved that Belinda had changed the subject, bringing the awkward silence to an end.
They all went indoors and Kristina trudged upstairs, Belinda walking lightly behind her. At the top of the steps Kristina pointed out the guest room, where Belinda would be sleeping, and walked down the hall to her own room.
Shutting the bedroom door, she let out an exhausted sigh. She was glad she wouldn't have to face Belinda again until dinnertime. At the same time, being alone gave her mind room to ponder Belinda's words. Summer school doesn't start until tomorrow, so...
What had Belinda meant by that, exactly? Kristina didn't want to ask and risk sounding like was was seeking Belinda's approval, but those words left her puzzled.
Her mother had told the girls to follow all their usual rules while she was gone. She had also made it clear that she expected them to respect Belinda and obey her instructions, and Kristina had felt that that admonishment was directed at her in particular. But surprisingly, her mom hadn't said anything about summer school apart from vague incantations of "This is very important, and I expect you to work hard and study a lot."
Maybe her mother hadn't said anything because she planned to delegate all the micromanagement to Belinda. Her mom had praised Belinda's academic success any number of times, obliquely hinting that she'd hired her as something of a babysitter-cum-tutor. Kristina's heart sank as she considered the possibility. It meant that Belinda would have carte blanche to bother her whenever she wanted to. Ten days with Belinda was going to be bad no matter what, but Kristina had assumed she'd be left alone most of the time. Ten days of Belinda constantly pestering her about schoolwork would drive her crazy.
Eventually Kristina exhausted that line of thought. Not to mention it had exhausted her, at least emotionally. She tried to push it out of her mind, but her thoughts stayed glum. She thought of Madi's obvious pleasure when she had found herself tongue-tied in front of Belinda. She wondered if Madi were still gloating to herself over that little contretemps, the way she usually savored her older sister's mishaps. It was kind of pathetic that Madi invested so much emotional energy in what Kristina felt was a distinctly one-sided sibling rivalry, but it bothered her all the same.
Kristina's suspicions were correct: it had been a good hour since she'd gone upstairs, but Madi's lips were still pursed in a tight smile as she recalled her older sister's look of bright red embarrassment.
Whenever Kristina did something foolish, which was quite often in Madi's opinion, she reveled in the opportunity to mentally catalogue her sister's foibles. She knew that she was more mature and responsible than Kristina, despite being the younger sister, and she ran through the litany of reasons in her mind: She always got better grades at school. She never indulged in temper tantrums like Kristina did. And most satisfying of all, she had never wet the bed. Not even once, unlike Kristina and her humiliatingly persistent accidents.
Madi was sure their mother would agree with her, but Kristina stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. And that was why Madi enjoyed seeing Kristina embarrass herself: it forced her to realize, if only briefly, that she was less mature than Madi.
Of course, Madi didn't want anything truly bad to happen to Kristina. She wouldn't dream of outing her as a bedwetter to her friends or classmates, and she felt a genuine twinge of pity whenever Kristina threw one of her inevitable tantrums and got in trouble. No, Madi didn't hate her sister, she just wanted her to feel embarrassed every now and then. As a helpful reminder more than anything else.
And right now, Kristina hardly needed a reminder. Being by herself had allowed her self-consciousness to fester as her mind ran over her brief conversation with Belinda again and again. Kristina was actually relieved when, some hours later, Belinda called up to say that dinner was ready.
To her further relief, dinner was uneventful. Her mother had left a salad in the fridge, and there were still a couple pitas left over from lunch, one of which Kristina helped herself to. Belinda didn't try to embarrass her, at least not that Kristina could tell, and she gave Kristina permission to go back to her room when she'd finished eating.
Kristina spent the next few hours killing time. She had already packed her backpack with a pen, pencil, and full panoply of notebooks, and she would get all her textbooks tomorrow, so there was nothing more she needed to do for school. She turned on her computer and checked her email and her Facebook account, typing off a quick, grammatically adventurous message to her friend Sarah.
Her social obligations satisfied, Kristina retired to one of her favorite pastimes: playing video games. Kristina was a huge geek, and she enjoyed video games more than any other girl she knew. It was true that her friends all played them as well, but they were much more casual about it, typically only playing together in mock competition or to pass the time when they were alone with their smartphones.
One of Kristina's favorites was Snood, which she thought of as a more adventurous version of Bejeweled, with small, colorful heads called snoods instead of the usual gemstones. She was closing in on a third consecutive Snood victory when she heard a brisk tapping on the door. Reluctantly, she paused the game.
"Uh, hello?" she called out.
It was Belinda. She opened the door and came in without asking, irritating Kristina.
"Hi Kristina," Belinda began, her smarmy tone immediately raising the other girl's suspicions. "Your mom said your bedtime is 11:15, and I thought with tomorrow being a big day you might—"
Kristina glanced at the clock on her computer. It was a little after ten.
"Yeah, I know," she interrupted. "But there's still an hour left, and I have everything ready for school."
She gave her backpack a quick glance, as if for affirmation.
"Well, I'm pleased that you've gotten ready so early," Belinda said. "Oh, and there's one more thing I wanted to ask..."
Kristina straightened up.
"Your mom mentioned that you're having a little trouble staying dry at night, and she said there were diapers in the attic that you could use. Do you think you need to w—"
"No, I don't w— I mean, I don't need—" Kristina blurted out. She felt herself turn crimson.
"It's okay, I just wanted to make sure," Belinda flashed a patronizing smile. "As long as you can manage it yourself."
"Of course!" Kristina quickly replied, her voice a mixture of indignation and mortification.
"Okay then, hon. Good night!" Belinda smiled again, stepping out of Kristina's room and gently closing the door.
***
The conversation ended as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Kristina frazzled. She had totally expected Belinda to say something about her bedwetting, but it was still upsetting to hear her actually say it. It was even more upsetting that Belinda had said the dreaded D word, although she'd kind of expected that too.
And that, more than anything else, was what made Belinda insufferable: even when Kristina knew exactly what Belinda was going to do and mentally girded herself for it, Belinda still found a way to get under her skin.
Eager to take her mind off the whole sorry subject, Kristina returned her attention to Snood. But after a couple lackadaisical minutes she lost interest and ended the game. Usually video games were the perfect diversion for her, their repetitive pointing and clicking a welcome escape from weightier concerns. But Belinda had unsettled her enough that Snood did nothing to lighten her mood.
If she couldn't even focus on a silly game, Kristina figured that she may as well go to sleep early. That would deprive Belinda of any opportunity to pester her again. It would also give her some much-needed rest before her first day of school tomorrow.
Kristina's thoughts drifted away from Belinda and toward her upcoming classes. Not that she particularly wanted to think about school; if anything, she wanted to think about it even less than her recent conversation with Belinda. It was like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Nonetheless she found herself fixated on summer school, just as she had been fixated on Belinda a few moments ago.
Changing into her pajamas, Kristina wondered what summer school would be like. It was going to be six weeks long, and those six weeks were supposed to cover a whole semester's worth of classes. It sounded pretty intense. On the other hand, they were going over things that she had already studied during the regular school year. It couldn't be that hard to learn the same things twice, she told herself, even if she hadn't learned them very well the first time.
Kristina's thoughts returned to the present as she climbed into bed, eliciting her mattress protector's tell-tale crinkle. She really hoped she wouldn't have an accident tonight. By now Kristina had resigned herself to the likelihood that she would wet once or twice while Belinda was there, but she didn't want it to happen on the very first night.
Snuggling under the covers, Kristina tried to pry her mind off the subject. She tended to wet the bed a lot more when she was stressed out, and worrying about her bedwetting definitely stressed her out. Her junior-year English teacher, Mrs. Graves, had taught the class a term for situations like that: a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kristina didn't want to become the victim of a self-fulfilling bedwetting prophecy.
Typically when Kristina tried to stop thinking about something, it only dug its way deeper into her mind. But now she was simply too drowsy to dwell on her problems any longer. Maybe the exchange with Belinda had worn her out more than she'd realized. Whatever the reason, she quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
Chapter 4
Kristina awoke to her alarm clock's shrill, persistent buzzing. She reached over and lazily hit the snooze button. She sensed that the alarm had been ringing for a while before she woke up, and a glance at the clock confirmed her suspicions: she'd set it for 7:00am, and it was already 7:03. No wonder she felt groggy! Kristina had always been a deep sleeper, but sleeping through three minutes of the alarm's loud buzzing was impressive even for her.
An appalling thought entered her mind. If she'd slept so soundly, Kristina wondered, did that mean she'd also wet the bed? The deeper her sleep, the greater her tendency to wake up wet. She stretched her legs, and again her suspicions were confirmed. The sheets were absolutely soaked.
Kristina let out a whimper of dismay. Still sleepy, she slid over to the far side of the mattress and curled up in the one corner of the bed that wasn't damp. She knew she should get up right away, but even lying in a wet bed seemed better than getting ready for summer school.
Kristina soon drifted back to sleep. She drowsily promised herself that she would get out of bed in a moment, but the promise wasn't remotely sincere.
No promise was necessary, however, because she was soon jolted back awake by several loud knocks on her bedroom door.
"Are you up yet?" Belinda practically shouted.
"Yeah, I'm up," Kristina replied listlessly.
"All right," Belinda said skeptically. "But you better hurry. It's already 7:15, so you don't have a lot of time left."
What a nag, Kristina thought. Stifling a yawn, she peeled back her bedcovers and reluctantly slid out of bed. The seat of her pajamas was still unpleasantly damp, and she felt a twinge of panic. Getting up and ready for school was a chore, but the wet pajamas focused her mind on a far more serious problem: how was she going to clean up her soaked bedding without Belinda noticing?
It wasn't that Kristina thought she could hide her bedwetting. But wetting the bed on Belinda's first night here was deeply embarrassing, and she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with Belinda and let this one accident define their entire uneasy relationship.
Kristina racked her mind thinking about what to do. She couldn't run the washing machine, at least not right now— that would get Belinda's attention. She considered throwing the bedsheets away but immediately rejected the idea. If Belinda discovered the wet sheets bunched up in the garbage bin, it would be a lot more embarrassing for her that merely wetting the bed. It would also get her in big trouble with her mom.
She took a quick look at the alarm clock. 7:25. She barely had enough time to get ready for school, much less deal with her bedding. She stripped off her wet pajamas and threw them under the bedcover, straightening it out just enough to conceal her bedsheet's large wet spot. She would have to do the laundry when she got home that afternoon.
After a quick shower that nonetheless took longer than she'd expected, Kristina dried off, changed into her school uniform, and glanced at the clock again. 7:45. First period started at 8:00, and getting to school was a fifteen minute walk. It looked like she would barely make it.
She bolted down the stairs and rushed past Belinda, who was sitting in the kitchen. "I'm off!" she said by way of explanation. Belinda murmured something like "Make sure you have everything you need," but Kristina paid her no attention. She gave Belinda a perfunctory wave goodbye and slammed the front door behind her.
Kristina was pleasantly surprised that Belinda hadn't pestered her again after the wake-up call. She was also relieved that Madi hadn't been awake when she'd gotten up. Madi was great at reading Kristina, and she would have immediately guessed that she'd wet the bed.
Kristina wondered if Belinda would discover her wet sheets. Belinda wouldn't be rude enough to go into her room while she was at school, would she? Kristina reassured herself that her accident wouldn't be obvious. Her room might smell like pee in its aftermath, but who was she kidding? Her room always smelled faintly like pee. It was the inevitable consequence of a lifetime of bedwetting. The ever-present odor was a thorn in her side, constantly reminding her of her nighttime incontinence and making her reluctant to bring friends over. But if there was a silver lining to the lingering odor, it made any one accident much less noticeable.
Lost in her worries, Kristina walked briskly and arrived at school with a couple minutes to spare. She glanced at her schedule. Her first period was English with Mr. Swinburne. Kristina had never had him as a teacher because she'd taken English with Mrs. Graves, but she knew where his classroom was.
When Kristina got there, the class was nearly full. There were only three seats left, all of them in the back row. That suited her, since she didn't particularly want to draw attention to herself. She took the seat closest to the door.
Scanning the room, she couldn't help noticing that the other students looked rather dull, for lack of a better word. Kristina knew it was pretty snobbish of her to think that, but up until her junior year she'd always been an average student. She felt out of place.
There was only one other student in the class whom she knew at all, a girl named Cleo. She and Cleo had been in a couple of the same classes sophomore year. Although they had different social circles, Kristina had always liked her and made a point of striking up a conversation whenever they ran into each other. The two girls were friendly without exactly being friends.
Kristina caught Cleo's eye and gave her a smile of recognition, which the other girl returned. Unfortunately she was sitting near the front of the room, but Kristina figured they would have time to talk when class ended.
The bell rang as Kristina sat down, and Mr Swinburne launched into a dense lecture. He spoke in a dull, rapid monotone, and Kristina wondered how anyone with such an interesting name— Swinburne made her think of a famous English poet or novelist— could be so boring. Kristina recognized a few things she'd learned during the regular school year, but nothing else held her attention, and she was relieved when the bell finally rang. On the way out, she and Cleo stopped to talk in the hallway.
"What are you doing here?" Kristina blurted out. She'd meant to ask how Cleo had ended up in summer school, but as usual she had phrased it in the most garbled and inelegant way possible.
"I'm going to summer school," Cleo replied with a smirk. "What are you doing here?"
"I know that," Kristina blushed. "What I meant was, why do you have to take summer classes? You're pretty smart. I never thought I would run into you here, of all people."
"I got Ds in English both semesters, so here I am," Cleo said matter-of-factly. "I actually didn't need to take English again to get credit, but my mom and dad were really ticked off so they made me take summer school anyway."
"And if that"— Cleo pointed to Mr. Swinburne's room— "is what class will be like, then I'll probably get another D."
"I know!" Kristina rolled her eyes. "He's so boring."
She and Cleo both glanced up at the hallway clock. They only had a couple of minutes before second period began. Cleo suggested they sit together in Mr. Swinburne's class from now on, and Kristina agreed. Then they said their goodbyes, each girl rushing off to her next class.
***
Kristina's next period, American History, was the same as English: a monotonous lecture that crammed as much boredom as possible into a single hour. History was one of the subjects she had failed last term, so she knew she had to give the class her full attention. But that was much easier said than done. However intently she tried to follow the lesson, it was simply too dull to sustain her interest.
Third period, Chemistry, began with the teacher announcing that there would be no labs; the class would consist entirely of lessons from the textbook. During the regular school year, Kristina had dreaded chemistry labs. She had a leaden touch for anything scientific, and labs were especially bad because they brought out her innate clumsiness. Handling fragile lab equipment definitely wasn't her forte, and she had a couple of shattered glass beakers to prove it.
But after two hours of interminable lectures, Kristina longed for anything that would end the sameness, so the anouncement actually disappointed her. Oh well, she thought as she leafed aimlessly through her textbook. Chemistry had given Kristina a relatively solid C+ during the regular year. Maybe she could get an even better grade this time around, now that there was no chance of her breaking anything. Who knows, she thought, if she worked hard enough she might even get an A. It was definitely an ambitious goal, but she was optimistic enough to think—
"Kristina!"
She jumped a bit in her seat. It was Mr. Johnson, the teacher, calling on her from the front of the classroom.
“Um, yes sir?”
“Kristina, can you repeat what I just said?”
“Um... uh... no!?” she stuttered. A few other students laughed, which made her blush.
“Kristina, I expect you to pay attention,” Mr Johnson declared, audibly annoyed.
“I’m sorry,” she replied meekly.
“That goes for the whole class,” the teacher added, scanning the room. “We’re going to cover a lot of material over the next six weeks, and if you don’t pay attention to one lesson, then you won’t be able to keep up with the next lesson. So everyone better follow closely. Understood?”
The students murmured in assent and Mr. Johnson returned to his lecture, but Kristina remained embarrassed. So much for her lofty goal of getting an A! She was relieved when the bell finally rang, bringing the class to an end. The bell also marked the start of lunch break, and she joined the throng of students heading toward the cafeteria.
The cafeteria had an oddly desolate feel. Since it was summer school, there were far fewer students than there normally would be, and many of the lunch tables were unoccupied. It was also a lot quieter than usual.
Kristina had no desire to eat lunch alone, even with all the free tables, so she looked around the cafeteria for Cleo. Kristina finally spotted her on the far side of the room, sitting by herself near a window.
"You mind if I join you?" she asked.
"Fine," Cleo said with feigned annoyance. "There aren't any other seats available, so I guess you'll have to sit here."
Cleo grinned to make it clear she was joking. Kristina giggled awkwardly and sat down, unzipping her backpack to take out her lunch box. Where is it? she wondered. Darn! She must have forgotten it in her morning rush. Kristina wasn't especially hungry, but her forgetfulness still annoyed her.
Cleo picked up on her frustration. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Kristina explained, and Cleo offered to share her lunch. It was gracious of her, but Kristina declined: it was just a couple hours until school ended, and she could have a late lunch when she got home. One of the nice things about summer school— probably the only nice thing about it— was that there were no elective classes, which meant the school day ended an hour early.
Kristina and Cleo began griping about their classes. Their complaints soon took on a competitive tone, as if the two girls were vying to see who could be more bored and disillusioned with school. Kristina mentioned her embarrassment in Chemistry, and Cleo imitated her French teacher's nasally voice, sending Kristina into a fit of laughter.
This was the first time Kristina had talked with Cleo at length, and she was surprised by how sharp and sarcastic Cleo could be, especially her sense of humor. But Cleo also had a strong self-deprecating streak, and that put Kristina at ease.
The lunch break was only a half-hour long, compared to fifty minutes during the regular school year, and it was over before the girls knew it. Continuing their conversation as they left the cafeteria, Kristina and Cleo realized they were headed to the same class: Geometry.
Along with History, Geometry was one of the two classes Kristina had failed last term. Math had always been her weakest subject, and she found geometry particularly difficult. Algebra was bad, with all its symbols and pointless abstractions, but geometric proofs were practically impossible!
At least Kristina didn't have to take Geometry alone. She knew Cleo was actually pretty good at math, and she hoped they could study together. The girls took adjacent seats near the front of the classroom. Kristina would have preferred to sit in back, far away from the teacher, but it looked like the rest of the class had the same idea: the entire back row was occupied.
Geometry was every bit as difficult and boring as Kristina had expected, but it had one saving grace, which was that it wasn't just another dull lecture. After an introductory lesson, the students spent the rest of the period working in small groups. Kristina and Cleo were matched with another girl, Amanda, who seemed to find postulates and theorems just as incomprehensible as Kristina did. Seeing Amanda struggle with the same problems made her feel better.
Kristina's fifth and final class, Spanish, went by uneventfully. She remembered a lot of Spanish from the past year, and the class turned out to be her easiest by far. The first day of summer school had been pretty grueling, and she wasn't looking forward to six full weeks of the same tedium, but it was nice to end the day on a high note.
Kristina's walk back home was a lot slower than her walk to school. She had gone to school with her backpack near-empty, and now it was full of bulky textbooks. Yet her physical burden was nothing next to her mental burden. Somehow Kristina had managed to get through school without thinking about last night's accident, but now it came back with a vengeance.
Did her room smell? Had Belinda discovered her accident? Would she have another accident tonight? Kristina's mind raced through the alarming possibilities, jumping around with nervous energy. She wished she could be so quick when it came to schoolwork.
As Kristina got closer to home she felt a growing urge to pee, which made her uneasy thoughts all the more poignant. She cursed herself for being careless: she'd been so eager to get out of school that she'd totally ignored her need to use the bathroom before leaving.
She was just a few minutes from home, but it felt like she was about to burst. In a bitter irony, the thing that finally took her mind off last night's accident was the prospect of another, even more embarrassing accident. She gritted her teeth and reassured herself. There were just a couple blocks left, and she would get there soon. Of course she would make it.
Edited by Astra, 07 November 2012 - 11:59 PM.
