FreezMilo

16 At the seventh-grade recess, Theo set off to scout the ground floor. He immediately peeped into the bathroom, where he discovered it was located in front of a classroom hidden by light and above its first-floor counterpart. He entered it, then locked himself in one of the vacant bathrooms. Tight, but enough to hide in. "The bathroom has been checked," he told himself. "Now it's Toby Marlowe's turn." Sally had given him a scanty sketch, in keeping with what was the 13-year-old's dull, lonely personality. Afro-black hair and a dark complexion. Yes, just two features that were enough for Theo to spot him in his classroom near the teacher's lounge. He peeked inside from behind the door and prepared an unsure face ready in case anyone saw him. Pretending to be lost was a good excuse not to attract the attention of a bunch of seventh graders. Or so Sally had told him the day before. She found him sitting in the first few desks, arms and head on the desk, he was bored and didn't want to know about moving from his state of boredom. For a moment, Theo felt like he was seeing himself again before group work with Riley. Had Toby still not found a friend? The answer came soon after, one his classmate had called him, and his bored state abruptly disappeared. He stood up abruptly and disappeared from his sight. He had friends "That's him," he spoke in a hushed voice and hid his head. "Afro-style black hair is there, dark complexion is there. It must be him." An idea flashed through his head: go in and ask for him. A suicide mission? With only a few minutes left before the end of their intermission? Would it make sense to take that risk? What if then it wasn't him? Questions and doubts came flooding in! "Are you lost, primus?" asked the little girl's voice, sounding out of tune. "Primus?" summed up the expression from before again, but it sounded more to a fool. "What does that mean?" The little girl with black hair covering part of her face and irreverent clothing touched his nose. She replied amused, "You're a sixth grader, so you're primus." Theo preferred not to argue, feeling offended for a second. "Is this Toby Marlowe's class?" "He's a classmate of mine. So yes, this is our class." Theo had nailed it. He pulled a red envelope out of a pocket and handed it to the little girl. "Could you give it to her? È... from... a friend of mine who... has a crush on him." Suddenly, the little girl looked at him despondently, seeming to restrain herself from laying hands on him. Theo was already beginning to regret taking Sally's advice; he could feel the tension in the air. He thought, "I'm doomed!" "Now the primus want it too?" she asked tensely. Theo kept his composure. "Why does it...bother you?" The girl gave him a questioning look. The 11-year-old had no idea what he had provoked. "Come with me." "But...don't you start l-le lessons again now?" "Just follow me, primus!" Theo straightened up in fear and began to follow her. He said to himself, "Sally, if I survive this, I will kill you!" The girl led him into the art room. As luck would have it, no class was occupying it at that moment; that calm was more eerie and Theo felt addicted. "Who is it?" thundered the little girl. "Who is who?" asked Theo nervously. (He was thinking of the next lie to tell her, as Sally and Riley had told her, even though she had expressly told him "A lie must not create a chain of lies!" and he was agreeing with her.) "The primus who has a crush on my best friend!" Theo wanted to die... from laughing, though. He found love triangles, and romance in general, silly and unnecessarily complex. He couldn't get enough of his parents' mind-numbing smooches, Riley's romantic fantasy books and Sally's love rock songs. Why is love everywhere? "Why do you care?" asked Theo with a thread of anger. "I'm just trying to... to send a message." "Tell her she got it and doesn't want to hear about the primus crush!" Theo took it personally. "Primus! Sixth grader not primus!" "It's the same thing!" he said in a menacing tone. "Fact is, you shouldn't be here. Why didn't she come?" "She is sick at home, she wanted to give it to you for Valentine's Day!" "But if it's December!" she answered him with a puzzled air. "Wait a minute, she told you to say that?" What is she talking about now?, he began to ask confusedly. "Huh?" The tension disappeared in the seventh-grade girl's voice, "Open the letter and read it." Theo clutched the letter, put it behind his back, and stepped back. The situation had just escalated; it had to be fixed before it was too late. He played the truth card; there were no better alternatives. "Let's start from scratch, shall we?" he asked, but left her no time to answer. "I'm Theo, what's your name?" "Zoe." "Nice to meet you. Zoe," he told her, then spit it out. "Your best friend Toby told around a bad story about a friend of mine, my best friend. I want to understand why he did it." Zoe was grim, incredulous. "Toby? He wouldn't do that! He spends all his time in his room drawing! I know because he only ever dates me! Who told you that?" "One of Katrine's bully friends," replied Theo. "They almost had caught her." "May I know..." she asked cautiously, "what did she tell you?" "Promise me that it will stay between us. Toby too, if you care. And don't laugh." "I promise." Theo looked into her eyes, a knot in his throat preventing him from speaking. Zoe did not look like a bad person, she looked like Sally taller and with blond hair. He jumped. "He saw her in the supermarket with wet pants." Zoe paled, felt her shoulders get heavier in an instant. She only managed to say, "Gee..." . Silence fell. "Did you witness everything?" asked Zoe sorrowfully. "I was next to her... her jeans started to get wet..." admitted Theo feeling tears in his eyes, but he was doing his best not to let them out. "I don't want anyone to know, I don't want Katrine or some other bully to hurt her, you know?" Zoe nodded solemnly. "What about the envelope? What do you need it for?" "I had made a plan to meet him in the bathroom...but it doesn't make sense now." "And why?" "I should have waited for him two hours in the bathroom, with no guarantee whether he would come or not," huffed Theo. "I met you, you seem like a sincere person and you instill trust. So my plan would have been useless." Zoe blushed, gave a faint smile. He liked that little boy. "Thank you... I admire your sincerity. And I think you should not throw away your plan." "You mean you... you like it?" asked Theo hopefully. "It's very spy movie plan, yes, I like it. But I want you to meet him anyway." "Do you think he will tell me a lie?" asked Theo trying to surprise her. "Yes," she replied bitterly. "Toby lies without realizing it." "Why does he do that?" "He just does it. He has not yet learned to be honest with the right people and a liar with the wrong ones. If you only knew how many times he has lied to his own people to come to me!" They laughed with amusement. "How can I tell when he is lying?" asked, then, the little boy. "He never looks you in the eye. If he never takes his eyes off you, he's telling the truth," Zoe replied seriously. The bell rang. Theo handed the red envelope to Zoe. "Why are you helping me?" "Because no one should ever be targeted by those vipers. I still wonder how their classmates put up with them." "Fear and inferiority," replied Theo. "When you are with the strong, anyone who is afraid of you avoids making trouble for you, otherwise they would be up against an army." She looked at him surprised, then gave a laugh. "Have you had a lesson on bullying recently?" Theo replied, showing off his passion. "No, I was thrown into books on bullying and came out an expert." Zoe did not realize that was a joke and took it as any other answer. * Theo was walking up the stairs when he heard someone sobbing. He stopped for a moment and realized it was too late; they had gotten away with it. Fear paralyzed him when he saw them coming down the stairs from the opposite side. They passed by him, completely ignoring him, and for that he felt graced. As soon as he finished climbing a mountain, he reached his friends who were consoling poor Luz. Guilt came like a punch in the stomach. They escorted her back to the classroom with her sobs in the background. None of them knew how to console her, not even Riley's hundred thousand hugs helped. At one point Fergus Glenn, the giant with a heart of gold, came running into the classroom. He called his name three times. "She's here, Ferg!" shouted Sally to him, and Riley broke yet another hug. Fergus rushed in, politely thanked his classmates, and asked them to leave them alone. As they returned to their seats, Theo ventured to ask, "What happened?" Riley answered for both of them; Sally did not have the courage to relive that moment in her own words. They helplessly witnessed that act of cruelty by Katrine and her band of brats. It was a pitiful scene: they surrounded and forced Luz to donate everything she had, money and snack - a turkey sandwich. Sally was in the front row, behind them; while Riley, to avoid falling into their field of vision and becoming their future victim. "I bring good news," cut Theo sharply, the worst was over, it was time to get up. "Toby and I are meeting tomorrow, there's more, I met a friend of his who is willing to help us out." "Really?" asked Riley. "Tell us everything!" Theo explained the whole thing, every last detail about all the moves, the places he had been, and, most importantly, Zoe. Every time he mentioned her, he would suddenly stop and forget what she was saying. Sally had to take him back several times. She came to the conclusion that she had a big crush on that seventh-grade girl. "So let me get this straight," Sally intervened rather bewildered by her friend's explanation. "Tomorrow you're meeting with Toby Marlowe and then you're meeting with Zoe to confirm what he told you?" "That's right, Zoe is more important than Toby. She is the one who will tell us whether he told us the truth or not." "But to talk to Zoe directly after you talk to him?" proposed Riley puzzled. "I had thought about it too, but Zoe told me that Toby constantly tells lies. How can you trust a liar? Simple, you don't trust him and trust someone else!" Riley was interjected, her friend reasoning was working, and Zoe's presence did not convince her at all. If Theo trusted her, then she had to trust Sally as well. Sometimes you have to jump into the void to see the light.... Theo did, but who's to say he saw the light on the other side? * "I have a bad feeling about tomorrow," Riley said as she closed her science book. "We don't know anything about this Zoe, how can we trust someone we don't know?" Sally looked at her thoughtfully. "From Theo's words, this Zoe would seem to care about us sixth graders. Or primus, that's what she calls us. Is primus a Latin word?" Riley ignored the last question. She found that name very strange, why call her and her classmates like that? She let go in her chair, feeling the need to pee. Maybe it was better to go and do it before her mother would take her back. "I'm going to the bathroom. What about you?" Sally looked at her, moving in the chair excitedly. "I've done it... a little bit," she replied, showing her joined thumb and forefinger. "Just two drops!" Riley laughed amused, then exclaimed, "Mom, I'm going to the bathroom!" From the office, her mother replied, "All right honey, give yourself a good scrubbing!" As she headed for the stairs, Riley enacted the move her best friend would never forgive her: "Mom? Sally needs to be checked! I think she peed in her diaper!" She began to run as fast as she could. Sally winced in shock-to be jokingly accurate-she jumped out of her chair and began to chase after her. "Riley! You're dead!" she shouted at her laughing. Minutes later, Riley was waiting outside her room with a teasing smile. That prank would be the first of a long series, and she was already planning the next prank to play on her. She laughed under her breath just at the thought. Sally, unlike her friend, was inside in her room, lying on the changing table and with her diaper in full view. It was the second time Mrs. Bishop had changed her and, like the first time, she was dying inside from embarrassment and discomfort. "You've been at it I see," commented Mrs. Bishop as she tore off the first tape. The little girl summed up a laugh, beyond feeling the cold air touch her. "Oops... that wasn't my intention." Mrs. Bishop took little time to change it. Unlike her daughter, Sally was more cooperative and less talkative. "I wish Riley was like that!" she thought after changing her and getting her off the changing table. As soon as she came out of her room, the rebel gave her friend quite a surprise: a tickle attack. She pounced on her and they fell to the floor with laughter. Riley had never cried so hard from laughter before. Sally stopped and let her breathe. She concluded pretending to be offended, "That's for tattling!" "Did you do it again?" joked Riley and resumed laughing hysterically; Sally had started again. A little later she stopped. "Tell me... did you pee, young lady?" asked Sally provocatively. "Do you want me to call my mother again?" Sally did not think twice to attack her again. Riley began to cry with laughter again, doing nothing to stop her. In fact, she didn't want to stop her, she wanted to laugh so hard that she wet her pants. * Toby Marlowe showed up in the downstairs men's room at 10:20 on the dot. His friend Zoe made it a point to arrive on time, not a single second late. Their day together had passed quickly, they listened to music blaring in his room, drew something together, played some video games - as long as she didn't see him play, Zoe had to convince herself to hold the controller and do whatever he said - and, finally, studied for the technical drawing test that, in all likelihood, they would have gotten top marks. Before she left, Zoe told him about the primus she had caught in front of their class. Her friend's serious and solemn air hinted to him that the question of who should talk to him had a certain priority, a higher priority than an audit. "Did you tell one of the eighth-grade bullies something about a primus who peed herself in the supermarket?" thus began the discussion, Zoe's tone awe-inspiring. "What are you talking about?" the friend asked innocently. "An 11-year-old girl wetting her pants? Ew." Zoe punched him in the arm, but not a joking one. It hurt him. "It was a Saturday, not last Saturday, but the one before!" reminded him of Zoe furiously. "As it happens, the only Saturday you and I didn't see each other. You told me you had gone to the supermarket to get some things for your dad. You saw what happened. Then?" "Then?" repeated Toby in a hangdog tone. "Who did you tell, TM?" he ranted. Toby looked away, bit his lower lip. Seeing Zoe so angry over something so insulting made him regret what he had done. He was trapped, stuck in front of a wall. Finally, he admitted, "Nella, one of the two tall ones." Zoe got up, grabbed her things, and left. Few times had she made that scene, he never deserved it. This time he had deserved it; it didn't take her words to make him realize he had made a mistake. The next day, everything was back to normal. He did not try to unionize, Zoe was right and he had to make it up to her. There he was, he was there. Why? Still a mystery. Intermission ended at that instant, he had to make sure that three out of four bathrooms were empty. And they were. The last door opened. A little boy with glasses came out, squared him from top to bottom, and sentenced, "Toby Marlowe, nice to meet you." Toby stepped back. "And who might you be?" "My name is Theo, a sixth-grader who needs to talk to you about something very close to my heart," the little boy replied seriously. "I bet Zoe told you about it." Toby nodded, everything was clearer to him, and he noticed the connections. He spit it out immediately, "I told Nella, one of the tallest." Theo did not have time to speak that the 13-year-old had already answered his question. "How the hell did he know my question? Zoe?" He moved on to the other question, "Why?" Toby did not answer immediately, sighed, and averted his eyes from the little boy. "I don't know." Theo remembered Zoe's words. "You don't know or you don't want to say?" "I don't know!" replied the 13-year-old. Her eyes did not look at him. "Why won't you tell me!" fumed Theo. "With your... b-bullshit a friend of mine, one of my best friends is the target of that group of bullies!" Toby inevitably felt guilty; silence could not be his response to such a rant. Geez... what an horrible person I am..., he told himself. "Look," he began sincerely sorry and stared Theo straight in the eye, "I had no idea Nella would tell the others. I would like to help you, if only I could. I promise you." Theo, still imbalanced, said no words. He believed his apology and accepted it; he could not do otherwise. He had to lecture her though, boy did he have to lecture him, "You know she is in Katrine's group, you know she bullies sixth graders, one question doesn't occur to you?" For an 11-year-old, he expresses himself well, the 13-year-old told herself. Geez man! Toby replied submissively, so he made Theo believe, "No questions, man. Just the mad desire to go home after talking to her." "Oh" Theo did not expect such an answer. "I have nothing more to ask you, so you are free to go." "Wait, that's it?" asked Toby puzzled. "Um, yes. I have class now and I'd better hurry. If you look for me, I'm on the second floor. Say hello to Zoe for me!" replied Theo with his backpack on his shoulder and walked out. Toby was dumbfounded by his natural manner. In complete solitude, he said, "Zoe, what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

15 Riley and Sally re-entered the classroom twenty minutes after the start of class. Mr. Johnson did not shoot them for being late; his priority was to question Theo and Nella, who sat on either side of the desk doing the exercises in strict silence. Ten minutes later, they returned to their seats satisfied and happy with their A's. "What happened to you?" whispered Theo to his deskmate Riley. (Sally sat in the last row, not the first like them.) Riley could not tell whether she wanted to answer him or be silent. Her thoughts converged only on Sally. She longed to be her seatmate. To make her feel less lonely and misunderstood. To help her out of that daily torture. "Riley? Did you hear me?" Theo was worried. "Today meeting at my house at four o'clock," she told him thoughtfully, resting her gaze on Sally. "I suggest you do your homework before you come, maybe my parents will want to have you as dinner guests." The friend imitated her movement. Something must have happened while they were gone, he told himself. The tone of his voice did not bode well. "What happened?" His seatmate did not look away from her; at that moment she was writing in her notebook. "Katrine," she replied involuntarily aloud. "Quiet, Miss Bishop!" Mr. Johnson called her back. She did not let him repeat it twice. * The first thing her mother did upon her return was to check her underwear. After removing her backpack from her shoulders and her jacket, her mother led her to her room and laid her on the changing table. "I did very little," Riley said as her mother studied them. "I noticed that," commented her mother. "Diaper or pull-ups?" "Pull-ups," she replied. "As long as I keep them dry, I don't want you to diaper me." "If that's what you want, honey, " she slipped them off, then wiped her with a washcloth. "Diaper Trio meeting today? " "Yes," she replied with a smile. "Can you believe Sally is as interested in diapers as I am?" "I believe you," she said, then slathered the cream on her. "I expect you to respect her as she respects you." "Cross my heart!" and she did. Her mother put her down from the changing table and put the pull-up on him. She concluded by saying, "I knew you would. Now let's go eat." * As was arranged at school, Theo and Sally arrived at four o'clock. They were greeted by her mother, with whom they exchanged some small talk. It turned into a discussion about Mrs. Heller, and Sally had to abruptly stop that conversation. Upon reaching Riley's room, the meeting of the Diaper Trio could finally begin. "Today's session will be dense, so please go to the bathroom before you end up with wet underwear or diapers," Sally announced, jumping on Riley's bed as if she were in her room. Riley and Theo left, went to the bathroom - first she went, then he went - and returned to Sally. "Sally, don't you have to go?" asked Theo curiously. Sally giggled nervously. "I'm fine, Theo. I made it before I left the house." Riley closed the door and took a seat next to Theo; the two of them were the "audience" and Sally the presenter, as well as moderator, of this meeting. In fact, she was the one who started that session: "Let's start with the hottest issue: we were seen that day. Someone saw Riley with wet pants." "What?" Theo was shocked. "There's no way anyone saw us!" "I'm telling you it is!" said Sally. "One of Katrine's henchwomen, she told me it was Toby Marlowe, a seventh grader, who told her." Theo took on an incredulous expression, hearing Katrine's name gave him goosebumps. He wondered, "What does she and her bully group have to do with it?", "How had that Toby Marlowe seen us?" and "Who is this Toby Marlowe?" He ignored those questions, then exclaimed with conviction, "There was no one there that day! When I say no one, I mean not a single living soul! She must have told you a lie!" Sally did not answer him; she did not know how to counter. Riley intervened. "Telling her lies wouldn't make much sense. Sally is very popular, anything that comes out of her mouth is already on everyone's! I wonder how you spit in them all..." Sally and Theo gave a disgusted grin, wondering how she came up with such an unhygienic image. Then Theo replied with a resounding "Ew!" Riley continued. "Anyway, we need to talk to Toby Marlowe. We need to figure out why he started this rumor." Only Sally nodded. Theo brought his left hand to his chin, then snapped his fingers and gave an enlightened smile. "I have a plan in mind: I'll meet him at recess," Theo said. Noticing that both Riley and Sally wanted to steal his word, he hastened to clarify, "Calm down! Let me explain first! "The seventh-graders have a different recess than the ninth and eighth graders; they do it before us, and that can be used to our advantage. "Here's the plan: I'm going to recap a letter to him saying that I'll wait for him in the bathroom. He will come and I will ask him all the questions, and then I will enter the classroom as if I were late. What do you say?" Sally nodded several times. Riley did too, but only once. She stood up, walked to the door, and stopped suddenly. She tapped her left foot hard against the floor. Silence. It was Sally who asked that question, "Are you all right?" Riley turned around annoyed. "I'm fine." "Don't talk back to us like that!" replied Theo annoyed, Sally's look immediately made his nervousness go away, and his tone softened dramatically. "Did you do it without realizing it?" I've done it now. There's no use getting around it. Riley had to admit to herself that her friends knew her better than they did themselves, looked down between her legs She spoke in a disappointed tone, "Yes. Ugh...that's the fifth time in two days!" "Fifth?" "Yes!" replied Riley saddened. "I went to the bathroom three times yesterday, and all of them I had peed in the pull-up! The other two... today." She pulled down her jeans, lifted her sweatshirt slightly. The pink pull-up with a smiling princess and the crystal slipper symbol had almost disappeared completely, part of the heel and toe remained. She asked, "Do you see? The slipper is almost gone!" Sally nodded to Theo who got up and left the room. "What does this mean?" asked Riley putting back on her jeans. "Before we came to you, your mother asked us to tell her if you had an accident," Sally revealed to her honestly. "She told us about the three pull-ups yesterday." Riley stepped back embarrassed and looked away from Sally, they knew and she had to accept it. "She told you about that, but not about Dr. Heinz's visit?" "What visit?" "I will explain in detail later." "Theo and I also have something to tell you, but I'm waiting until he is here and you have been changed," he announced to her. "Okay," replied Riley suspiciously, "I hope it's nothing bad, very bad." Sally waved her arms undaunted. "No, no, no! It's nothing bad! It's something very close to our hearts. I wanted to let you know right away." Her mother and Theo arrived a few moments later. He stayed outside so that Sally could go out and Helen could change her in complete privacy. The change was quick and took place completely on her feet; before he left Helen gave her a kiss and reassured her. It was only the second day; progress would come in the next few days or weeks. "No change comes right away," Riley reminded herself. "Consistency and results will come." The meeting picked up where they left off. "Do you intend to lose the first two hours to meet with him?" asked Riley skeptically. "What if your people find out?" "I'll make up a lie," replied Theo confidently. "I have good grades and exemplary behavior, so I can't get too upset." Riley intervened again, this time slightly impatient. He found that idea was outside any logical conception. "And let's hear it, what lies would you tell him? Let me remind you that you are not good at lying!" "That's why I will need your help," Theo adjusted his glasses. "Sally's going to give me some tips, and you're going to test me." "When? Now?" "Later, if that's okay with you." Riley said nothing, preferring to hear Sally's opinion first. The rebel reflected on it with a hand clasped to her right temple, she sentenced decisively, "All right, after we've told each other everything we'll get down to business." A minute of silence followed. "So... shall we move on to the next topic?" asked Sally "All right, but I'm going to the bathroom first," said Riley and ran off. Confident that they were left alone, Theo gave a smile. He asked his friend curiously, "So? What's it like?" "Do you want to know?" asked Sally skeptically. "Do you want to tell when Riley is here?" "Yes, beak closed mind you," and made the gesture of closing her lips with an imaginary zipper. "Beak closed," said Theo and repeated the gesture. Riley returned with a smile on her face. The two sensed that she had made it to the bathroom and not wet the pull-up. "Well," she began as she sat down next to Theo, "what shall we talk about now?" Sally cleared her throat, then spoke excitedly, "We have three topics to choose from: your doctor's visit, how to keep secrets, and a mystery topic. You choose, Riley." Riley assumed a puzzled expression. Of course, it was her turn to choose, and she had no idea what the second and third topics were. She could take Sally's place and tell about the visit, she could also close her eyes and say the mystery topic. Yes, she wanted to say the mystery topic, so she did. Theo widened his eyes pale, Sally blushed and covered her thirty-two-tooth smile with both hands. Judging by their expressions, she had made the most interesting choice. "I can't believe you chose revelation!" Sally jumped off the bed and stood in front of Riley. Instinctively, Riley stepped back. She became angry, saying, "Watch out! You could have fallen on me you know!" After that, she noticed two things: first, Theo who was standing Sally and second, Sally was holding her skirt with both hands. "Stay seated!" said Theo to her. "We want you to see them better." See them better? But wha- Theo unbuckled his belt, opened his jeans and and let them fall to the floor. Sally, on the other hand, lifted her skirt. Was Riley dreaming? Had she just witnessed Sally and Theo, in a coordinated and immediate move, uncover their diapers to her? And why was Sally's slightly bulging? Flabbergasted, she exclaimed, "For... all... the... diapers!"

14 Mrs. Towers' two hours of art history succeeded in their easy task of undermining the class' interest in just two minutes. A record that she, Mrs. Heller - the math teacher - and Mr. Johnson - the geography teacher - proudly held. Her explanation was dull, didactic and uninvolving, one hundred and twenty minutes of boredom. Riley spent them drawing on his notepad, the few notes he took having to share half the page with cute doodles. While they were a tragedy for Sally, she fell asleep several times on the desk and, if not for the ringing of the bell, would have come home with a bad grade. "That was a close call," Sally told her gratefully. "She's the one who would deserve a bad grade." Riley merely nodded. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" he then asked her. "Yes, although I'm not sure," she replied. "Great, so I'll keep you company and make sure you do what you need to do," she added confidently. "Did my mother ask you to do that?" asked her as Riley stood up. Sally stood up and smiled at her. "You already know the answer." They went to the bathroom, a straight hallway with four doors on the left and two long sinks on the right with a rectangular soap dispenser dividing them. With rapt eyes, Riley saw the far door open, told her friend, "I'll be right back," and ran in there. Sally did not have time to respond that her friend had already disappeared. "Typical Riley," she thought with a smile. She walked over to one of the sinks and washed her hands convinced she had them dirty, even though she had not picked up a pencil since the beginning of the day. She turned off the faucet and heard laughter and contented squeals that became less and less muffled. He could distinguish the types of voices: high, low, shrill and hoarse. It was a group of girls, of this Sally was certain. Wiping her hands on the teal sweatshirt of Once I Was Here - a rock band she often listened to on her iPod - and the denim skirt, she turned her gaze toward the exit. As she had been expecting, the small group materialized. Five girls. Two tall, skinny ones wearing a gray sweatshirt and black pants; one of average height with a red cap on her head, a black sweatshirt very loose dark blue jeans, and two short ones (almost as tall as she was) chubby identical in every way: black sweaters, blue jeans, and white shoes. Sally recognized them all and began to fidget. She was looking at the small group of eighth-grade bullies who were targeting sixth-graders. The reason was a mystery, she only knew that they took pleasure in doing so. "Well, look who it is!" said the girl of average height to her colleagues. "Sally Halley! The rocker!" Nervously and without indulging in any smiles, Sally waved. "Hello, Katrine. Hello you too girls." Katrine brought her to herself as if she were her friend, then put her arm over her shoulder. She spoke in her bossy tone, "We were just looking for you, you know." "Really?" she asked in a confident voice. She observed that her "colleagues" did not move out of her field of vision; fortunately, they were all still there. "We need some advice," began one of the short two, then continued the other, "we're looking for someone to... steal the snack." She looked at the two doors at the back, both closed and with red markers marked OCCUPIED. Sally began to break out in a cold sweat. "Riley, please DON'T GET OUT NOW," she thought. Sally did not flinch; she maintained that air of complicity. "I don't know... And then what do you need me for?" Katrine squeezed her again. "You're the one hanging out with sixth graders every day, Salley Halley. You can see for yourself why." Salley Halley. She had actually said it, she had just given her a nickname, this disturbed her. "Um, okay." "Tell me some names come on!" incited Katrine malevolently. "A name!" Shit!, she thought. Now what? "I-I don't have one in mind," replied the 11-year-old. "Your reputation has warned us all." Katrine huffed annoyed, then widened her eyes. "Riley Bishop!" Sally's blood froze. She had said it out loud, Riley probably heard it. She must have heard it! "No!" she exclaimed angrily. "Not her!" "Why?" one of the tall girls asked suspiciously. "She's not here today," lied Sally, trying to be as convincing as possible. "Gus Daniels. He's someone I can't stand." She felt lousy after that proposal. "Gone for him!" confirmed Katrine with determination and let her go. Sally realized that it wasn't over, the boss always ended their "meetings" - even the fortuitous ones - with a question. The sooner he would ask her one, the sooner she would be back in class, geography class would start again before long. "Tell me a curiosity Salley," Katrine began as she looked at the two girls, one tall and one short, behind Sally, "is it true that Riley Bishop peed herself in the supermarket? Sally wanted to disappear instantly. They had seen us! They had seen us that day! SOME PEOPLE KNOW! SHIT! She had to lie for the third time; she had no other choice. Anger was close to taking control of her. If she showed uncertainty, Katrine and the others would realize that she had lied, and Riley... she was not to allow it. Not now, not ever. "They told me it had been one of two," Sally said, her voice somewhere between a lie and the truth. "Who told you that?" Katrine and the others looked at each other, then nodded. They had bought it. She had done it; now she could sing victory and relax her nerves. "Toby Marlowe," replied the little girl behind her. "He says he saw her with two other kids, but he doesn't know anything else." "Understood," Sally replied. The bullies gave her a benevolent look and left as they had arrived. They did not even address her a thank you, nothing. Just silence, the silence of those who had just helped evil win. Good was dead in that bathroom and she was its killer. She turned around, her heart stopped. Riley was looking at her, from her gaze he could not tell whether she was furious, disappointed or appalled. She was paralyzed about her. Sally grew tired of that moment of pure nothingness. Furious, she opened all the doors and, as she suspected, there was only them. First them and the bullies, now her and Riley. She closed the third door with all her might and ranted, "It's not fair! No one can to stop them! No one telling them they do whatever they want! And it's always us who lose out!" "Sally..." She didn't want to know how to stop. "They've been targeting me since the first day of school! They've been using me! And I'm not like that!" "Sally." "You don't understand! I-I'm the problem! Everything always starts with me!" she sighed. She wanted to give in to tears, but she held back. She was strong, and those who are strong cannot show themselves vulnerable in the eyes of others. Not to the people she loves. "Alexandra!" Sally looked at her shocked, only her mother called her by her first name and she preferred it to stay that way. She froze, it was the slap she felt she needed, and Riley had given it to her. "It is not you who is wrong," Riley began, "you are more right than they are." "I literally sent them to Gus and said you're not there..." "It's okay, you would have lied anyway," he reassured her and hugged her. (Sally did not notice her approaching.) "Thank you, Riley." "That's what friends are for, right?" Sally broke the hug and looked at her grimly; it was the same sentence she had said to her mother the day she wet her pants. "What are you doing? Are you repeating what I say?" "You were the one who made me understand, so yes, I repeat what you say!" snickered Riley and her friend smiled at her. "I have you to thank too." "I only did the right thing, you are my best friend." Riley could not help himself, she hugged her again. "The best you can have!" "Tell me," her voice became very low, "how are your panties?" Riley pondered. She replied, "I got them a little wet, but it's nothing to worry about. I consider it a yes and no." Her friend looked at her crookedly, not understanding what she meant by "yes and no." "Okay, whatever she means I'll take that as a yes," Sally suddenly said, breaking the embrace. She walked to the first open door and sighed relieved. "Now it's my turn to go, I'll be right back." "All right," Riley concluded and went to wash her hands.

I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! This pronoun problem is due to the fact that this story was not written directly in English (Please don't ask me which language it was originally written. I prefer not to share this kind of information). The translation process often assigns the male pronoun to all the characters and sometimes mistakes to assign the right pronoun. When I have a spare minute, I'll look for all the errors and I'll correct them all. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and thank you for the comment! - Here is the new chapter! Enjoy! -FreezMilo - 13 The second and final week of Riley's punishment began with the dreaded doctor's visit. She rarely doctor's visits, the last few times were not stay visits but mandatory vaccinations that destroyed her every time. In fact, she would fall asleep in the car forcing her parents to lay her down on the couch when they returned. She would sleep until dinnertime. The most nervous was her father Greg; Dr. Heinz's waiting room brought back bad memories of which he hoped he had removed from his memory. The fact that he was not the patient in question calmed him, but not so much since the patient was his little daughter. Riley was slightly uncomfortable, it was the second time she had gone out in public in a diaper -which her mother forced her to wear - and, for the first time, a person other than her parents would see and look inside of it. Distracting herself was impossible, and squeezing her mother's hand gave her confidence. "Riley Bishop!" called a nurse with an angelic voice. The family got up and followed her. None of the three adults opened their mouths for that short walk down the endless hallway. (Riley thought she had been catapulted into a horror movie.) "Mom?" whispered Riley. "Yes?" "Is the doctor going to give me a shot?" Helen stifled a laugh and lowered her voice so as not to attract the attention of Greg and the nurse. "I didn't think you were still afraid of shots." Riley looked down at her feet in annoyance. What a stupid thought! A little kid would ask her such a question! Now I'm a big kid! "I didn't mean that... è... the other thing," Riley said uncertainly. Helen looked around, then at her daughter for a moment. She sensed something was wrong. She asked the nurse, "Where is the bathroom?" The young woman stopped short. "It is to your left, Mrs. Bishop." Riley and Helen turned their gazes in that direction. Quite a coincidence, thought the woman. "Riley and I will be right back," Helen spoke excitedly, and they rushed in. The nurse looked at Greg. "Dr. Heinz will think he has no more patients for today, I'll go and let him know you are here." "Thank you and I apologize for my wife's behavior," apologized Greg mortified. The nurse shrugged. "Children are like that, better to empty out before seeing the doctor. You think many have wet their pants seeing the doctor!" Greg chuckled unconvinced; he could have done without that information. * In the bathroom, the air grew even more heavy. The rose-flavored scent of clean made her sneeze as soon as they crossed the threshold. Riley sensed that her mother wanted to take a look at her there, so she stood in front of her and lowered her pants. She prepared a justification in case she found it wet - she thought it wasn't - , the usual "Sorry Mommy, I didn't notice!" excuse followed by reprimands and a clean diaper. Helen checked it for her and, surprised, reported that it was dry and still in perfect condition. "Just in case, try to make it to the toilet," he ordered her immediately afterwards unfastening it. The 11-year-old obeyed and waited; she could have told her mother she didn't have to go, however, the terror of doing it in front of Dr. Heinz convinced her to keep her lips tight. "I don't want the doctor to make fun of me," said the intimidated little girl. "Is that what you're afraid of?" her mother asked softly, little surprised. "He won't make fun of you." "They told me in school about doctors playing tricks on their patients," admitted the little girl, increasingly frightened of that idea. "I assure you those stories are all bogus," Helen replied decisively, remaining sweet. "But I don't think that's why we're here, right?" Riley pulled back unsure. How did she figure that out? She shook her head. "Then what is it?" Riley took a deep breath. "I don't want him to see me without the.... you understand." "The doctor has to see if you're hurt," her mother explained, "even if you tell him there's nothing wrong with you, he has to be sure you're telling the truth." "It's just that... only you and Dad have seen me without clothes..." "The doctor is a good person, and then Dad and I will be there in the room," her mother reassured her. "It's normal for you to be afraid, you haven't had so many visits to the doctor." Silence. "All done?" her mother asked. Riley looked down. The water was yellow, she had started peeing while she was talking to her mother and felt proud that she had noticed. She told her mother, "I made it while we were talking and I felt that I was making it." Her mother smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Now let's get you dressed and then we'll join the doctor." * Dr. Heinz looked younger than he was, sixty-nine years old and barely fifty. Gray hair at attention and dark brown eyes behind square glasses. He looked more like a grandfather than a pediatrician. Entering his office, Riley hid behind Helen. This amused the doctor, so much so that he asked Greg curiously, "Did you also hide behind your mother when you went to the doctor the first time?" Her father replied nervously. "The only shield you had from the terror of needles was Mom!" After Helen and Riley took off their coats, Dr. Heinz got up from his desk and went to meet the latest arrivals. He shook Helen's hand, then tried to make eye contact with the little girl, but to no avail. Patience!, he said to himself and made his way back to his desk. "Hi," the little girl spoke unsurely. The man gave a semi-spirit and squared her. After that, he held out his hand to her, "You've grown since last time, you're a little lady." Riley nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you." Dr. Heinz returned to his feet. He asked the parents, "So to what do I owe your visit?" It was Helen who answered. "In the last few weeks, Riley has begun to wetting herself without realizing it. Both when she's quiet and when she's nervous." "To keep my clothes from getting wet, my parents diapered me," the little girl added, blushing. Dr. Heinz looked at her surprised. "Are you wearing one now?" Riley nodded, "I don't want to get my clothes wet, so Mom put one on me." The doctor cast a glance at Greg, then at Helen. He also told her to help her take off her clothes and put her on the table across the room. The little girl was left in a white short-sleeved T-shirt and half-covered diaper. The table was a tiny bit hard, but the diaper made everything softer. The doctor squared her again. He lifted her T-shirt and took a quick look at her chest, seeing nothing unusual. He then checked her pulse and breathing, all in the normal range. Without saying anything to her, he laid her down and proceeded to tear the ribbons from her diaper. The cool air brushed her relentlessly. Riley felt vulnerable, with no defense in her most delicate areas. She began to breathe nervously. The doctor did his checks, then closed it back up for her. Thirty seconds, she counted. The worst, perhaps, was over. The man helped her sit up. "You look perfect," announced the doctor, and the atmosphere lightened. "How are you feeling now?" "A little bit nervous." "Do you feel the need to go to the bathroom?" "No. I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "I don't have to go," confirmed Riley firmly. "When was the first time you wet your pants? Also tell me how you felt." "Two weeks ago, at the supermarket. I felt down and then it happened," she lied feigning displeasure, then told him under her breath as if to tell him a secret, "Mom had gotten very upset." "I can imagine that," he told her playfully and looked at Helen for a moment. She smiled back at him. "The last time this happened to you?" "A few days ago at grandma's house. I was overjoyed," the 11-year-old answered honestly. "Even that time, Mama got very upset, but.... Hey! I was wearing a diaper! The clothes were dry! I wonder why you have to get so angry!" Dr. Heinz laughed. "I agree with Riley. Better a dirty diaper than dirty clothes." Her parents burst into a hearty laugh that lasted about ten seconds. "Your daughter is as healthy as a horse," Dr. Heinz exclaimed, "for now, the only advice I give you is to monitor her accidents and re-teach her how to use the bathroom. You guys don't spend that much time together, is that correct?" "We work five days a week all day, we only spend time together on weekends," Greg replied. The pediatrician assumed an understanding expression. He refuted, "I'm not prescribing medication, her problem can be solved with some training. Just like when she was younger." She remembered it well. When she was seven, during a game of soccer, Riley fell and broke her leg. Months in a cast and some physical therapy, Riley walked again as if nothing had happened. "When should I start?" suddenly asked Riley, still sitting on the table. "Right now, if you want," the doctor told her. "Do you have to run now?" Riley nodded, "Maybe... I don't know." The doctor allowed Helen to dress her and take her to the bathroom. Before she sat on the toilet, some pee got into her semi-open diaper. "Sorry, Mom!" she told her, and her mother let her pass, just this once. They went back to her office to get the last few things, said goodbye to Dr. Heinz, and headed home. On the way home, Riley struggled to keep her eyes open and fell asleep. He had not done any vaccines or shots, he had not prescribed her to take any medicine, only to pay more attention to her body. And without energy, this, she could not do it. * Riley awoke on the couch, his first thought was of the diaper was soaked and cold between his legs. She should have woken up and done it, not slept and done it. She felt discouraged; she had started her second potty training on the wrong foot. It was going to be hard, very hard. She got up, she knew they were in the office working. Sometimes, she did not understand why they would take the day off and, after doing what they had to do, they would lock themselves in the office to work. They could have spent time with her, laughing and distracting themselves from their boring jobs. Knocking and entering, she found only her father tapping on the keyboard. He seemed on the verge of cursing, an instinct that passed him by seeing Riley. "Good morning!" his father greeted her. "Sleep well?" "Very, thank you," she replied contentedly. "Am I disturbing you?" Her father glanced at his computer screen, put his right hand on the mouse, and began to move and click it. Confident that he had concluded what he needed to do, he replied relaxedly, "You never bother me, Riley. Tell me everything." "I need to be changed," he revealed to her and made an embarrassed face. It was one of the few times he had said that to his father. Greg smiled and got up from his chair, stretched his arms and took his daughter in his arms. "Your butt owes me a favor!" The change took very little time and was very pleasant. Dad changed her as if it were Mama doing it: same gentleness, same attention to her private parts, and guaranteed fun. Her father opened a drawer to get a clean diaper, but Riley stopped him at that instant and made her request, which he could not refuse. He gave her one more wipe with a washcloth, put her down, and helped her into her absorbent panties. "Do you remember what you have to do?" her father asked her. "If I have to go and do it, I have to tell you , go to the bathroom and do it," she replied putting on her pants. "Can I make the table for you?" The man raised his left eyebrow. "Table?" "Yes, the one to keep track of my route and accidents," she replied excitedly. "The doctor said so. If I want to wear diapers and listen to my body at the same time, I have to do it." Her father nodded. "If that's what you want, then go for it. Before you know it, you'll be back to being a big girl still wearing diapers." Her father walked out of his room, after telling his daughter he would see her again at dinnertime. His work was calling him back. He told her, "Mom is around the house, if you need something ask her." Riley greeted him, ran to her desk and set to work. This day is worthy of a meeting of the Diaper Trio.

12 Sally Halley was in her room listening to music on her iPod when her mother called to her from the landing. Only her roar brought her back down to earth. In fact, with her face on the floor. "Alexandra Grace Halley!" screamed her mother furiously. "Come here at once!" The little girl paused the music and placed it back on her desk, on top of a school book she could not remember. Yes, she would do her homework as soon as she set foot in her den again. "Coming, Mom!" he announced to her in the same tone. As she descended the stairs, her anger thinned step by step. She was having a peaceful Wednesday afternoon, but who knows why, her mother decided that this was the right time to ruin her moment of relaxation. She prayed that she would not have to check on her little brothers, which meant she would also have to change their diapers. Coming down the stairs, she saw her mother talking to someone whose voice she could not help but recognize. She had not heard that woman speak in a kind voice since the twins were born. She was complimenting him on his kindness and his polite and always gentle way of speaking. Boy, was she envious! "Theo!" exclaimed Sally and ran up to him and hugged him. "Hello! What brings you here?" Her mother answered for him in her usual harsh and dissatisfied tone. "Your friend came to give you a hand with your homework. If he can he can help you review for tomorrow's math question, he was telling me that he is good at math." Sally had given up hope on her. She was not doing one thing right in his eyes, this made her angry and it was useless to rebel and stoop to her level. Didn't she have the twins to look at? She remained composed and nodded without any emotion. This Theo noticed. "Let's go to my room so we can leave my mother to do her own thing," she told him content to get out of there. Theo followed her in total silence, perhaps he had been intimidated by the brusque and unfriendly manner of his friend's mother. The only thing he could think of was that he was finally with her and no longer with that witch. He breathed a sigh of relief and told her, "Thank you." Sally locked the door, she too sighed relieved. "Nice excuse about homework. At least that will keep her away from us for a while." Theo looked puzzled, should he have told her it wasn't a lie? He scratched his head. "Yeah..." "What brought you here?" his friend asked. "So," he began nervously, "one, I wanted to spend time with you and two, do homework." She huffed and flopped onto her bed on his stomach, using the index finger of her left hand she pointed the chair next to the desk at Theo. "We don't have who knows what homework to do," he told her. "We only have math." "I'm even being quizzed tomorrow!" "I'll give you a hand, you heard your mother just now." "Who cares about her!" she blurted out. "Even if I get a good grade, she would care little! Did you hear her as she spoke to me? Sally do this, listen to this, act like this and blah blah blah," Sally complained, dropping her head back on the pillow. Theo frowned interdictedly. Before they left, Mrs. Halley had never uttered those words; he recognized the annoyed voice. "Ignore her." "I try, but I can't!" "Try harder!" promptly replied Theo. "Let her say, sooner or later she will finish it. In the meantime, shall we start? So we can talk later without any problems?" Sally stood up, took seven steps to the left and took the other chair she had in the room. (Theo's eyes widened, probably the first time he noticed it.) "Let's do the damn math and then we'll talk," she let go of the chair. The homework made her forget why she was angry. The exercises Mrs. Heller assigned him were not as complex as she had initially thought them; getting the results was a breeze. Theo turned out to be an excellent teacher; he was able to clearly explain to her the main concepts she needed to know in order to best deal with that senile old woman. At one point, Sally raised her hands, then from her chair and marched solemnly toward the bed. "No more numbers and theorems!" she sat down on the bed with her legs crossed. "How did you and Riley approach each other?" "Approached?" asked Theo, then approached the bed. "Yes, get close. How did you become friends so quickly?" Sally looked stunned. "Do you remember Mrs. Towers' work?" replied Theo, refraining from talking about their drawing and not giving her friend time to respond. "Riley and I were not chosen by anyone, and so our friendship was born." Sally laughed out loud. "I remember! You had the spat with Mrs. Towers and you got a C! AH AH AH!" Theo gritted his teeth; he had forgotten that Sally had that bad behavior of laughing at other people's misfortunes. It was already the second time she had done it in front of him, the first victim having been Dennis Reeves. (Riley was also there that time, but he said nothing about it.) "Sally," he admonished her in a firm voice. Sally apologized, composed herself and continued with her questioning, her tone becoming serious. "You also wear a diaper... when you go to sleep, right?" "Yes," she admitted shamelessly. "Riley was the first to find out." "That's why," Sally began to say unsurely, "you defended her that day. Because she knew about your secret." "And I knew about hers," Theo added. "She had two rules, one said she was not to tell anyone anything." "Understandable," replied Sally convinced of her words. "If we had been in her situation, in an ideal world, our parents would have imposed that on us, too." "In an ideal world?" "Yes. His parents are not like ours, imagine if they had not been so open-minded, now we would not be here arguing, Riley would not be so happy, and we would be three ordinary kids." Silence. "Did you ever want to ... I mean ... here ..." threw Theo the hook. "Wear them? Yes." Theo gasped. "Really?" "Yes, you promise it will stay between us?" hastened Sally to say. "Three, I remind you that Riley is there too." "No!" she exclaimed suddenly. "Before I talk to her about it, I need to talk to someone who... who is not her." "Are you afraid of her judgment?" asked Theo. "She is the most experienced in this kind of thing!" "Theo, she spilled her secret like it was nothing!" retorted Sally. "How can I be sure she won't tell the first guy?" Theo said nothing. Her fear is legitimate, he thought. Not everyone may be able to keep a secret. Riley had not considered that risk; in fact, she had ignored it completely! "I hate to admit it, but you're right," Theo said conflictedly. He had just proved Sally Halley right! Who would have ever said that? "Huh?" "You heard right, you're right. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again a second time. As soon as she comes back, we'll both tell him." Sally looked at him doubtfully. "I don't follow." "Riley is not good at keeping secrets, okay? So, we have to create a system that will keep her tongue in check," Theo explained in a strategist's tone. "But it also applies to the two of us, none of this would work if we also made the same mistake as her." Sally was enraptured by his way of expressing himself: direct, precise and, above all, ingenious. Someone like that could come in handy for her shenanigans. Some interesting ideas began to flourish in her pretty little head. "Shall we wait for Riley to come back?" he asked. "We don't have much choice," replied Theo. "A team only works well if all the members are there." At that moment, Sally realized something: the three of them were the members of a band. She was the drums dictating the beat, Theo the pianola setting the mood, and Riley with the guitar showing them which way to go. She felt completely at home. "We are a unique group!" she continued her monologue, standing on the bed. "We are the Diaper Trio!" Theo looked at her skeptically. "Sally, what are you babbling about? Besides, how did we go from talking about that to the Diaper Trio?" Sally jumped out of bed. "When Riley comes back, I'll explain everything! But first you have to tell me something." "What?" "What's it like to wear them?" She has completely lost her marbles!" thought Theo with strong puzzlement. What do I do? "Is it very nice?" he asked fearfully. Again, Theo destroyed all her enthusiasm. Sally wondered why he was doing it, always on the nicest by the way! "You are strange, Theo." "And you're crazy, Sally!" Sally took that as a compliment. "Without me, our trio would be as boring as you! And Riley would agree with me!" Theo burst out laughing. He didn't believe a word of it. * Riley and her family returned on Friday morning. The visit to Grandma Talia's house knocked her out from the very first day. Grandma was delighted to hug her only granddaughter again, as well as changing her diaper all the time. It was not all doom and gloom. Riley discovered a truth that she could not help but hide from her parents. During one of the day's many changes, she revealed that when she was feeling very excited, she would pee without realizing it. Helen worriedly told her, "When we get home, I'll book an appointment with the doctor right away!" And they did not talk about it again for the rest of the vacation. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Theo and Sally decided to surprise her and go to her house. They also said goodbye to her parents and locked themselves in her room. Sally jumped on her bed and began to speak in a TV host tone, "I declare open the first session of the Diaper Trio!" Riley and Theo looked at each other bewildered. "The trio of... what?" intervened Riley. "When the supermarket episode happened, I started to think that the three of us were there for a reason. The diapers brought us together and bonded us! That's why I decided to name our friendship, also our safe place away from adults and people we don't like," Sally explained. Riley's eyes widened and she gasped. "A secret group!" "That's right!" confirmed Sally. "It seems only fair that we have to set rules, basic laws that we have to abide by for millennia!" Theo began to glimpse a sliver of logic from two days ago. He was excited about the idea, too, now that he understood what his rocker friend had in mind. "Rule one of the trio! The trio is secret! Just us! Should a new group member come in... we will discuss it heatedly and, should it all work out, we will change the name. "Rule two of the trio! If there is something wrong, you say it! We are the only ones we can trust and where we can feel in a place of our own! Just our own. Us and our diapers!" The two onlookers looked at each other for a moment; they found this incredible and special. They smiled. Sally sat down between them. "So, what do you think?" "It's perfect!" said Theo immediately. "For me it is, too!" said Riley. "Let's put our hands between them and make it official!" said Sally stretching out hers. Now, all hands were on top of each other. Waiting for someone to give the go-ahead to bring the new status quo to life. "Riley, do you want to have the honor?" asked Theo. "Why just me? Let's all do it together!" The countdown began. Three. Two. One. The three little boys raised their hands to the ceiling happy and excited to have begun a new adventure: the Diaper Trio.

11 They did not meet behind the supermarket. Theo preferred to wait for Sally in front of the entrance, risking unwanted attention from passersby who, curious as crows ready to pounce on a dead carcass, cast fleeting glances toward Riley. Good thing she was wearing a jacket that covered the beginning part of her jeans, otherwise.... Sally blurted out as soon as she saw them. "Why are you here!" Theo decided to approach in calm and quiet, not intending to burden their stress on Riley. "There were bad people back there," Theo lied. "I got three bus tickets, there's a stop near her house." The rocker did not say a word. He looked around. Few passersby, few people with children, no acquaintances of theirs in sight. "No, too risky," she thought. "Many of us play today!" "If we take the bus we might run into the soccer people," said Sally agitatedly. "Frederik... Dennis...what are their names?" "By now, they're already playing," retorted Theo testily. Either follow us or stay here bamboozled as she is!" he told himself. "I have three bus tickets," he said straightforwardly, but restraining himself from externalizing his frustration. "There's a stop within walking distance of her house, are you in?" At that moment, Sally turned her gaze to his right. A bus was coming across the street, the time to decide had run out. "And you're asking me? Of course I'm in!" They crossed the street quickly, completely ignoring the crosswalk ahead. They got on and stamped, as fate would have it there was not a soul on that bus at that moment. They chose a seat with four forward-facing seats, Riley sat next to Sally, facing Theo on the opposite side. The bus departed, making the kids gasp. Riley groaned, the abrupt departure reminding her that her underwear was wet with her own pee. She pulled up her nose, placed her feet on the seat and hid her head between them. She wanted to be invisible, not to be seen by the world, to cease to exist until this whole nightmare was over. "Are you all right?" asked her cordially, Sally. Her friend raised her head and looked at her sadly. "Yes... it will all work out," Sally hesitated in a thoughtful tone. "What can cheer you up?" Riley pointed to her bag with her gaze. "Wow... that's..." "Weird?" interrupted her, then pulled her nose up again. "Almost, Mom and Dad didn't use that word." "It's not strange. It's..." stopped Sally. "It's... nostalgic, in a way." "It's more than that..." began Riley, then silence. "Don't be afraid," Theo reassured her. "I'll remind you that I wear it too, but not like you." Sally remained interjected. "You too?" "I wet the bed," Theo hastened to say embarrassed. Riley smiled at him, but sadly. Sally changed the subject. "Do your parents know that..." "Yes." "Do you think they will ground you?" "Maybe... I don't know!" Riley warmed up and put his head back between his legs. "I'm hopeless!" "No! You're not!" interjected Theo suddenly. "Don't even accidentally say that!" "You're not the one with wet underpants," his friend growled at him in a low voice. Theo stood up and exclaimed, "I wish I had them! Then you wouldn't be so sad!" "Keep your voices down back there!" the driver scolded him. "I have a friend in trouble and she needs to be motivated!" replied Theo to him in the same tone. "What is your friend's name?" asked the driver. Sally and Riley seemed surprised, as well as puzzled and embarrassed. "Her name is Riley!" The driver cleared his throat. "If I give you a hand, will you lower your voice?" "You have my word!" said Theo. "Send her to me here!" You're kidding I hope! My panties are soaked and you ask me to come near you?! Riley sighed, looked at her friends who smiled at her. Reluctantly she stood up and took her first steps, feeling cold pee between her legs, a sensation that almost brought her to tears. Why is all this happening to me? Why?! Once she reached the driver, a man in his thirties with little beard, Riley began to fidget. She still wondered for what strange reason a stranger wanted to talk to her, or rather, motivate her and make her feel good. Talking to strangers was rude, talking to the driver was ill-advised. Theo, I am going to kill you! The man kept his eyes on the road, cast quick, confident glances at the various stops he encountered. None of them had people to load. They passed four, then at the fifth stop, he began to speak, "What is it that ails you?" "I don't... I... got it," Riley asked in sobs. "What's wrong with you?" rephrased the man. "You look... hurt." "I... am." "Patience," he told her casually. "Wounds go away with time." Riley looked down, then wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "What do you... have to... say, sir?" "I wanted to show you this," he replied, nodding his head forward. The little girl stood watching the road appear and disappear at the same time, exactly as she saw it when she was in the car with her parents. She said, "The road?" "No, little girl," he replied almost annoyed, but from the look on his face she could not tell. "Us." Riley looked at him grimly, was he teasing her? He continued. "We go on, the potholes we run into make us stagger. If we fall, we skin our knees, then we get up and start walking again. Take me, I've been a driver for ten years and already I've been through thick and thin. For example, a kid who peed his pants." Riley winced. "D-did he?" "His mother hadn't noticed that her son had gone upstairs without her. She had peed her pants in fear. I was surprised when I learned that the child was eleven years old. Eleven years old and he was wetting his pants," the man said in a respectful tone. Maximum respect. Riley closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She did not want to cry, did not want that stranger to turn around and notice her wet jeans. She thought of Theo and Sally and her nerves relaxed. She breathed quietly. "When his mother came to pick him up, " the man said, "she scolded him for going upstairs and wetting his pants. Months later, I met the boy again. He was 12 years old, told me he was incontinent, and his mother did not accept that he had to wear protection." Riley interrupted him. "What do you mean by that?" "That little boy thanked me. Thanked me for being there for him in that time of need," the man went on without drawing attention to the 11-year-old's question. "He told me that without me, he would not have made it through that half-hour stretch. I had done nothing; it was the road that had cradled him. I told him that he had done it all on his own, I just did my job, and that he was a brave young man." "I still don't understand," replied Riley helplessly. "You're a brave to walk around in wet pants, Riley" stated the man directly. "I can smell that smell, I smelled it the exact moment you went upstairs. Don't worry, I'm not judging you." Riley kept quiet, instinctively covering her nether regions as if she were naked. She blushed mortified. This, the driver, could not see. "How old are you?" "Eleven," she replied unsure. The man turned to look at her for a second, turned his head, and then returned his focus to the roadway. "You're the little girl who met my wife the other day," he said, and a convinced smile formed on his face. "She had told me about finding a little girl fascinated by... baby diapers." The little girl remembered the encounter with that young lady she had had a few weeks earlier. Was she married! Or engaged?! No, wait she said "my wife," so they were no longer engaged. She replied defensively, "I could be any other young lady." "You're wearing a dark red jacket and a purple cap; you have green eyes, dark blond hair, a few freckles between your nose and cheeks," the man listed firmly. "Vanessa is good at remembering the details of people she meets. Besides, you got her, so it's you." Riley huffed. "Am I weird, do you think?" "And if you are, what's the difference?" Riley opened his mouth, but closed it again soon after. I don't know. "Think about it, one day you'll tell me," the man concluded. "Why?" "Because I have to get you down," the man promptly replied. "While we were talking, one of your friends clicked the STOP button. I hope to meet you again, Riley." It was true, the small red STOP REQUIRED sign was lit. "But shouldn't you have also heard an audible signal when the stop was called?" wondered Riley, but the answer would be useless. Riley waved to the driver, trying to ignore that annoying problem, and joined her friends. She took both of their hands and led them down, only Sally seemed to object to her gesture. "Hey!" she exclaimed in a squeaky voice and let go of her, blushing. "I'm not five years old!" "Sorry," Riley replied exhausted, and began to walk to the left of the stop. "My house is this way, follow me." * The clock read four o'clock in the afternoon. Helen and Greg sat at the kitchen table drinking a nice cup of coffee. They were discussing recent events and some gossip about their colleagues, the topic that made them sound more like bullies than mature adults. They laughed, boy did they laugh! Then the doorbell rang, and the couple recomposed themselves. "I'll get it," Greg offered and walked toward the door, leaving Helen to enjoy her last drop of coffee left in the cup. Her name echoed from the living room; it was her husband who had said it, and from his tone of voice it sounded as if the world had fallen into chaos. She stood up sharply and went to the sortant of that shout. She replied, "I'm coming!" The scene she found herself paralyzed her: Riley crying hugging Greg and wearing wet jeans. They were not alone; there were also two kids, a boy and a girl, who remained at a distance watching that moment of brokenness. Their daughter repeated "I didn't do it on purpose" to her father. Greg and Helen looked at each other terrified, they had to get a grip on the situation and now! "I'll take care of her, you stay with them," Helen exclaimed and they mobilized like two arrows shot from the same bow. Greg, on his knees, lifted Riley and with a well-considered movement placed her in Helen's arms as she set off for her room. He said in her ear, "I'm here," in a motherly tone. * "Start from the beginning," Greg spoke, then cast a suspicious glance at the two young boys sitting on the couch. Theo and Sally looked at each other, then he looked away with his eyes on the floor. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked herself. "He won't want to be quiet, I hope." She decided to begin, but with what words? Yeah, what words? She let out a sigh and finally began to speak, "It all started at the park, I was going there and saw Riley and Theo sitting at the bench. We took a walk to the supermarket next to the school, then...." "Then?" asked Greg tensely. "It happened there, right?" "Yes," replied Sally touched. "I had three tickets," Theo then interjected in a sorry tone, "I felt I had to give them to Riley and Sally and I did. Then we caught a bus that took us to the bus stop nearby and we got here." There was a long silence. Greg paced back and forth across the room, his face had an impassive expression, but the kids could not decipher his real emotions. He went back to sit in the chair from before, he seemed to have no viable alternative. Then he saw Sally's bag. "What's in there?" asked Greg nervously. Sally hesitated, "P-papers, Mr. Bishop. I forgot to say I had to run an errand for my parents, sorry." Greg seemed to be clear in his mind, but something was missing in his thought pattern. They came in, he reasoned to himself, then walked past the baby products department. Had she forgotten to go to the bathroom? "You didn't tell me exactly what happened," Greg said and pointed his boyish gaze to the left. "Theo, right?" "Yes, Mr. Bishop." "What happened?" the man asked, his tone becoming harsher. Theo felt intimidated by hearing his voice. He felt choked up at his piercing gaze. "We were in the baby products department and Sally didn't know which diapers to get for her little brothers. Riley had offered to help her, so she took that package and gave it to her. Without anyone asking her anything, she started to..." He paused. "Started doing what, Theo?" "I told him everything," replied a voice from the stairs. "Everything, Dad. Then I peed on myself." Abruptly, Theo and Sally got up from the couch and looked for their friend. Riley stood in front of her mother holding her hands on her shoulders. She was wearing an orange sweater in which she was hiding something; she was not wearing any clothing that covered her legs. "Hey," the little girl greeted them nervously. Both Sally and Theo did not understand what she was doing. Her mother spoke softly to her, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Riley nodded to her mother. "I hate keeping secrets." The woman looked at her husband and nodded, Greg nodded in turn. "They agreed," he told himself and quieted down. Without anyone being able to say a word, Riley lifted her sweater and revealed to her friends, and to her father, the diaper she was wearing; after five seconds she let go of the headgear. "Yes, I am wearing a diaper," Riley confirmed in a firm voice. "They make me feel good, they make me feel pampered and more confident. That's my secret." Theo smiled proudly at her friend's courage. He was proud of her. Sally did as well, going against an idea of normalcy that she, too, disliked. "If she listens to rock, this will become my best friend!" she told herself. Greg intervened, interrupting that brief minute of silence. "Since we're all here, how about we sit down at the table and talk about this calmly. What do you say?" "All right, Dad," replied Riley in his sunny voice. * The kids sat on one side, with Riley in the middle and his parents on the other. Their gazes were the only ones talking. They were asking each other, "What's next?". Helen decided to take the floor. "Theo and Sally, my husband and I would like, first of all, to thank you for taking our daughter home. We are grateful." "That's what friends are for, right?" asked Sally. At that moment, Riley decided that Sally was her friend. No longer the "influential acquaintance in her class and school." "Another reason to thank you," Greg added. "So, thank you." "No problem!" replied Sally, again. Riley and Theo laughed amused; Sally's vanity was too funny. Clearing her throat, Helen called the attention of the three preteens. "That said, we come to the reason why we gathered here," Helen began in a leading voice, "before today, we told Riley not to tell anyone about her secret. This is not the first time he has broken a rule." Sally raised her hand. "What rules did you give her? If I may ask?" "That is not relevant at the moment, Sally," Helen replied, then resumed her speech. "We should punish you for this, but..." she watched Greg nod "But we'll let it slide this time." Riley assumed a sorry look. "No, I want punishment." Her friends looked at her in amazement. "For example... staying in the house for the next two weeks! Theo and Sally can come over, but I won't be able to leave or go to them." Her parents looked at each other, then Helen sentenced. "All right, if that's what you want, then that will be your punishment." Riley let go on the backrest, felt her diaper warm up for a brief moment. She had just peed a little bit. Just two drops. "Now, the question comes back to you, Theo Bennet and Sally Halley," Helen suddenly said. "I have to ask you: is it okay for our daughter to wear diapers? You can say yes, no or I don't know. The choice is yours." Theo quickly replied, "No!" Sally was silent for a moment, wanting to take time to think. "Can I answer at the end of this talk? Or should I answer right away?" "Now, Sally." "So, um, no. No, there's no problem if she brings it or not. That still leaves Riley, doesn't it?" "Do you really think I can become someone else when I'm wearing a diaper, Sal?" teased Riley jokingly. "Sal?" "Don't you like it?" "Yes, I kind of like it," she replied to her friend, then to the two adults. "You may continue, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop." "We ask that you check on our daughter when she is with you, remind her to go to the bathroom, and not to tell anyone about her secret. This applies that Riley also behave accordingly should you have such a secret," Helen spoke in a solemn tone. "We ask a lot of you, Can we trust you?" Theo and Sally answered in unison, "Yes!" "Riley?" "Of course!" agreed the little girl. Greg and Helen stood up. "We've said it all, now it's up to you to prove you can keep your word," Helen sentenced. "It will be six o'clock before long, do you need a ride?" "I certainly do," replied Sally. "Me too," Theo added. Greg spoke for the first time, "Get your things, I'll drive you home." The three kids got ready. Riley ran to her room to get her pants, while her father and his friends grabbed their coats, then stood waiting for her. Helen took the opportunity to check her diaper in front of everyone. She was slightly wet, then said to the three onlookers, "What are you looking at, I'm checking to see if my little girl needs to be changed!" They burst out laughing, even Riley laughed amusedly, ignoring the fact that her mother had checked her diaper in front of her friends. She put on her jacket and cap, then went out with them. Their afternoon together had come to an end. This was the longest day of my life!

10 When her mother or her father would change her diaper, Riley would look for ways to make that moment unique and always different from the previous one. Once, she put both hands in front of her nether regions and made numerous fusses at her father to prevent him from tying her new diaper; it took her almost half an hour to tie it. Arriving in the room, Riley lowered her jeans with automatic movements and waited for her mother to put her on the changing table. A ladder to climb on could save energy and time, the little girl suddenly thought. Helen laid her down and began ripping off the ribbons with her usual loving, detail-oriented manner. Unlike Greg, she, to play, was in no mood for it. She had to clean and dress her; there was no time for fun. The only thing the little girl could do was talk, but at that moment the urge to do so was below zero. She turned her thoughtful gaze toward the empty orange wall to her left. "When you're quiet, it means something's wrong," began Helen cozily as she gave her a wipe with the front of her soiled diaper. "Tell me everything." Riley sighed conflictedly, then asked that question, "Why does everything have to get difficult?" "Everything in which sense?" she asked not understanding, then told her, "Get your butt up." Riley waited for her mother to remove her soiled diaper before answering. Without realizing it, the clean diaper made contact with her skin. "Homework," she said despondently. "I feel like a complete nothing." Helen took two wipes, wiped the little girl's pelvic area with one and her bottom with the other. She spoke in a motivated and firm voice, never losing the softness that characterized her voice, "It's normal, when it happens is the time when you have to react. Besides, you can ask us for help." "Not always though," replied Riley bitterly. "I don't know how to react. You make it easy, but it's not easy at all!" "If it were easy, you would never grow up," Helen slathered her with anti-irritation cream. "When you think you can't do it, just stop and distract yourself so you're sure you'll jump out of it," she said. "I know it's not easy. In your case, now it's more ... important than ever not to lose the confidence you have in yourself," he paused for a moment to close her clean diaper, then continued, "I know you'll make it, Riley. Doesn't the book result come out for you? Just ignore it, the important thing is that you tried." Tears were beginning to form; the little girl was almost crying. Before diapers, she didn't have a problem with all this; she was a lonely little girl who always made it through the first time. This gave her pause. Helen sat her down and looked her straight in the eye, as she had a few weeks before. Yes, she felt like she was reliving that very day. He spoke to her softly, "It is normal to be afraid of not succeeding, the important thing, as I told you before, is to try." She gave her a kiss on the forehead. She resumed speaking, "Falling is about getting back up. Remember that book you told me about?" Riley pulled up her nose. "The one about the little robot boy?" "Did he give up when he encountered a difficulty?" "No," Riley replied suspiciously. "He-he got up and overcame it. But doing homework is not like saving a galaxy, Mom!" "Exactly." "Huh?" Helen smiled and gave her an encouraging look. "So, I shouldn't give up?" Helen hugged her. "Will you give up?" Riley did not answer right away, each sweet word from her mother was like a beam of light in the darkness. Everything was clearer to her now: "No, I don't think so!". Her mother put her down from the changing table and watched her get dressed, commented, "That's the Riley I know!" Riley smiled at her and hugged her again. She said to her, "Thank you, Mom. Now I'm going to go finish my homework. I don't want to leave anything unfinished! ". And she disappeared from her sight. Riley decided to do each exercise over again. She picked up a blank sheet of paper and set out to do the first exercise: an expression with fractions impatient to be solved. Undaunted by every mistake, the little girl did every calculation and got the longed-for solution. One down, three more to go! In half an hour, she had the three results of the three expressions calculated. She felt unstoppable. Nothing can stop me! Not even four stupid mathematical expressions! * Theo called at two o'clock in the afternoon. He and his friend would meet in the park as soon as their talk was over. His voice was not as radiant as usual; it was dull and low, almost dejected. Riley felt compelled to make him feel good, as any best friend would in a time of need. "Is something wrong, Theo?" asked Riley. "I'm just a little down, that's all," answered Theo truthfully. "You know how it is. The math homework has put me through a lot." Part of Riley's fears disappeared; he, too, had encountered his own difficulties; the fact that he had said that sentence made her feel less alone. It was just the two of them: Riley and Theo against the world! So she wanted to title their friendship. She would have liked to add "diapers", but she preferred to highlight just the two of them. "Mrs. Heller doesn't know the concept of simple tasks," Riley sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if she takes pleasure in seeing us suffer." Theo laughed. He felt his sadness fade away; her comments always managed to make him feel good. "Did you manage to do all your homework?" Theo's voice became lower "I didn't." Riley chuckled amusedly. "Luckily, all of them. Do your parents let you out even though you didn't do all your homework?" "They care that I do it all," she replied at a normal volume "Mom always checks my notebooks, every time." They talked for about ten minutes in total, Riley remembered that she had to change before going out. She said goodbye to his friend, telling him she would wait for him at the park, and ended the call. Finding her mother was not difficult. Helen spent most of her time in the office room she shared with Greg, working or surfing the Internet. Before going there, Riley walked around her room and grabbed a pair of blue panties, then took off her jeans showing off her pristine white diaper and rocketed off to the office room on the ground floor with panties and jeans firmly in her hands. She knocked and entered without her mother giving her permission to enter. "Am I disturbing you, Mom?" asked the nervous 11-year-old. "You're not disturbing at all, honey," replied Helen kindly and stopped tapping on the keyboard. She looked at the puzzled little girl. "Why do you have your jeans and underwear on?" "Theo and I are going to the park," replied Riley excitedly. "I have to put on my underwear and I can't do that without you, or Daddy, taking off my diaper. Rules are rules right?" Helen nodded, got up from her chair, ripped the tapes off her diaper and placed it back on the table. She said, "I bet you don't need a hand to put on your underwear right?" Riley shook her head. After ten seconds, the little girl was back to her normal 11-year-old self and picked up the clean diaper on the table. She said to her, "Thank you, Mommy!" Helen returned to her seat, then said to her daughter, "Please, since it's clean put it on the changing table I'll put it back tonight." Riley obeyed, went to say goodbye to both her parents who told her to be back before 6 p.m., and finally went out. She was looking forward to meeting Theo in the park. * They were not alone in the park. There were three four-year-olds playing on the slide, two boys-two boys-older than them on the swings babbling about girls, for a moment they felt uncomfortable. Riley and Theo decided to go sit on the benches a little further away from the games. "So, have you started re-reading Ashes?" was the first thing Theo asked her. "Not yet, first I have to finish reading Pentelton Rust's The Secret of the Atlas," she answered truthfully. "I only have a few pages left!" They discussed about that book for about twenty minutes, Theo seemed interested, and from his questions, which seemed to know no end, a desire arose to start reading it right away. Riley felt proud that he had stimulated his friend to explore new literary horizons. "Theo! Riley!" a high, slightly hoarse voice called them. They both turned and recognized her immediately: Sally Halley, rockiest kid in their class. The biggest rebel in their school was catching up with them in a cheerful and motivated manner. Theo waved to her, all smiles that he was. Riley tried to imitate her friend, but only a grimace came out. The rebel sat down next to poor Theo, then without warning grabbed him by the neck and tousled his cap as if it were his real hair. He wriggled out, but to no avail, his laughter keeping Riley from helping him free himself from Sally Halley's firm grip. Afterwards she let go of him and sat down like any other person. "You too wasting time?" asked Sally. "You mean relax," Riley corrected her in a composed voice. His presence was bothering her. If she had a diaper on she would have peed a little. "What brings you here?" "Didn't I say that before? To waste time!" Sally's voice was pleased. "Since we are together, how about we go for a walk?" Theo said "yes" without a second thought, Riley hated that instant with all of herself. Come on, Theo! We're talking about crazy Sally Halley and you say yes? Their walk took them to the supermarket. Sally and Theo talked the whole time, Riley had to absorb the silly ideas for pranks on Mrs. Towers and Mrs. Heller, who, like Sally and so many others, didn't like her. "Why?" the 11-year-old wondered. "They are doing their duty as teachers! Why should they be hurt just because we didn't do our best?" She still had her mother's speech well in her head. I wonder how her parents would have taken it if they had known that Sally had joined the two of them in their outing? For some strange reason, the three kids went to the baby and toddler products section. Seeing the packs of Pampers and Huggies diapers, Riley began to feel uneasy. For all the diapers, how I wish I had one on! "Why are we here, Sally?" asked Theo. "I have to get diapers for my little brothers," replied Sally annoyed. "You have no idea how annoying they are! Mom and Dad are always with them! So.... what are they..." Theo looked at Riley. "Are you all right? You haven't said a word since we left the park." "I'm fine!" Riley replied nervously to Theo; then turned to Sally in a calmer voice, "How old are your little brothers?" "Two years old. Why?" "What brand do you usually take? Do you know it?" "It starts with the. P, I think." "Take these here," Riley helped her by handing her a package of Pampers Baby-Dry that was smaller in size than her own that she had at home. Without realizing it, she explained every detail about them, "They are classic diapers. They can hold plenty of pee and poop. Take me for example, I wear them and have never had a problem with spills. I do a lot of it and have never wet my clothes. The tapes are terrific and sometimes they can be a nuisance. Just don't wear them very tight, otherwise-you get the idea." "Riley!" exclaimed Theo terrified and brought both hands to his mouth. Sally turned toward him without understanding. She returned her focus to her classmate with a puzzled look, "Am I wrong or did you say you wear them?" Her heart began to pound wildly, Riley began to flinch. No tears, just drops of pee inside her blue panties. Oh no, what have I done! Theo stepped between the two little girls, rushing to Riley's aid, unable to speak. His eyes fixed on Sally Halley and his gaze intense. He told her menacingly, "If you tell anyone, you will regret it bitterly!" "Theo..." Riley called him almost in tears. "I have to go back to my house right away." Theo turned to her and looked down at her wet jeans from the waist down. He made a brief jerk and hugged her as much as he could. He felt like crying, too. It was official: Riley, the 11-year-old girl, had peed her pants in public. In front of her two classmates, one of whom was Sally Halley, the most influential girl in school. Her life was over. "Get her out of the crates without shopping!" ordered Sally to Theo. "I'll pay and then join you!" "What?" asked Theo with his face streaked with tears. Riley hid her face on his chest. "Theo, if they see her the rumor will spread and everyone will make fun of her!" she told him terrified. She imagined that scenario and did not want it to happen. "Wait for me behind the supermarket and..." She looked at Riley for a second. "And then we'll take her home," Sally concluded, running toward the checkouts. Left alone, Theo whispered to her, "We'll take it from here, hang in there. Everything will be fine." "Mom and Dad will-" she tried to say in a feeble voice. "They will make you better," he told her with conviction, then pulled her away from him with both arms on his shoulders. "But let's get out of here first." Riley nodded and, for the first time in her whole life, felt like a little girl.

9 Five devastating days. On Monday Riley received the result of her math test: a B with several negative notes. She had miscalculated several times and marked the correct answer; Mrs. Heller seemed offended when she handed her the corrected paper, as well as making her feel like a nobody. Usually, she ignored that viper's harsh comments, but that day they hurt her. She felt sick for the first time since the beginning of sixth grade. She was grateful that Theo reassured her once she was back in her seat. Tuesday was slightly better, but not by much. Mrs. Towers graded all the work, many A's, a few B's, and one C. Riley and Theo's worl was much criticized: variously colored windows, buildings too close together, and the sky too blue for a normal afternoon. Theo replied almost offended, "We chose to make a city at night, Mrs. Towers. Dark blue is the color of night!" If he had kept quiet, she and his companion would not have been the unlucky ones to get that damn C. The next day and the day after that, the group of males decided to show their worst, so much so that the entire class earned two good notes within a day of each other. In fact, on both Wednesday and Thursday, at lunchtime, Helen received a call from Assistant Principal Allen to bring her up to speed on what had happened at school. On Friday, there was a clean slate of questioning and testing. Riley, Theo and their classmates did their best. As a joke, Theo likened that day to revenge for the riots of the last two days, and his friend agreed with him, since all the teachers had the brilliant - and crazy - idea of fixing everything that day. Old people and sadists too! * Saturday finally arrived. Riley woke up very early and made breakfast for her parents. It was the first time she had done such a thoughtful thing, she had memorized everything they did for breakfast - drinks, cereals and cookies. Getting it wrong was a distant probability; she had written herself a schedule to best implement her plan. She made her father a cup of hot milk with some chocolate chip cookies, and her mother a cup of latte with a bowl of gluten-free cookies. Five minutes before 9:30, Riley entered their room quietly with an alarm clock in hand and stood in the middle of the bed. She watched them excitedly, noticed their joined hands and their crossed gazes. They are beautiful, she thought. Then the alarm clock rang and knocked them out of bed. "I'm awake!" exclaimed Greg shocked. "Mom!" cried Helen, also distraught. They looked at each other with terror on their faces for a moment. Without needing to speak they said to each other, "That wasn't my alarm clock!" "Good morning!" announced a sunny voice. Still bewildered, her parents turned their attention to the source of their abrupt awakening. Greg sighed in frustration and brought a hand to his face. Helen, frowning in anger, said her name, "Riley!" "Here I am!" joked the little girl. "I was having a good dream," complained Greg, then asked, "What time is it?" "It's almost 9:40," replied the sunny little girl and walked to the door. "I made you breakfast." "What?" asked Helen to the little girl, but she was already gone. "Our daughter made us breakfast," said Greg in amazement, then gave his wife a peck. "Tell me you saw that bulge too." Helen looked at him intently and returned the gesture. "Yes, I saw it. But I'm waiting for you to ask me, I'm not in the mood to be a detective." * At the table everything was ready. The bowl of milk for Greg, Helen's cup of coffee, and cookies for both of them. There was no shortage of cereal and the empty bowl for Riley, who, in order not to forget them, placed them first. At precisely ten o'clock, Greg and Helen entered the kitchen and sat down in their respective seats. "What are your plans for today?" asked Riley smilingly. "I think I'll get ahead with some backlog of work in the garage," replied Greg and dyed a cookie in milk, then bit into a piece. "I'll do a lot of things today, but I wouldn't know where to start," half-asleep Helen added, uncertain whether to drink coffee or eat a cookie. "What about you, Riley? Are you and Theo seeing each other today?" Riley swallowed a spoonful of cereal, then replied, "I don't know yet. First I have homework to do, and then..." "And then what?" asked Greg suddenly, pointing his eyes at his wife. This is detective time!" he said to himself with amusement. "Honey, would you come over here for a second?" asked Helen accompanied by a wave of her hand. She pulled at her pants and checked her diaper. "Yes, you definitely need a clean one. Come over here I'll take you to your room to change," Helen silenced, taking her on his shoulder. As they walked out of the kitchen, Riley gave her father a wink and a playful tongue-lash as if to say, "Bye Dad, see you later!" Arriving in her room, Helen laid Riley down on the changing table. She removed her pajama pants and took a closer look at the swollen diaper and the little girl, who giggled amusedly. Helen plugged her nose and shook her head a little. Then she announced to her, "That's enough playing, Mommy has to take care of your diaper!" She tore off the tapes, took the wipes, and rubbed them with absolute precision. He lifted her bottom and slipped off her wet diaper, applied the cream and put a clean one on her. Last, but not least: he tickled her. "Mommy! Mommy!" he called her crying with laughter. "Stop please! Ha ha ha! Stop!" Helen stopped and threw the soiled diaper into the trash can, leaving Riley to catch her breath. "You're clean now," he told her and set her down from the changing table. "Remember to tell us when you need to be changed." Her mother hugged her and went off to do her chores. Feeling the new diaper hug her, Riley went to her closet and went in search of a T-shirt and pants to face her day. She had sweatshirts, sweaters, blue and black jeans, and sweatpants. He chose an orange sweater and black jeans, later went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She went down to the living room, picked up his journal and leafed through it. Math, literature, geography, science and art history, the quintuple that would keep her chained to that table for many hours. "For all the diapers-this is my death sentence." * The only break she took was at lunchtime. Riley spent almost two hours sitting at the table in the living room doing the damn homework, and yes, math was what was driving her crazy. Expressions, with fractions! Why? Why did mathematicians have to complicate everything! Couldn't they stay in their caves and solve their complex calculations and theorems and bury them there? Surely, the world would be a better place! Science and art history? These were subjects in which one had to waste a lot of time understanding all the mechanisms that tied everything together. She studied them very willingly, though rather superficially. Before going to bed, she would give each one a read. She avoided opening the geography book with her whole self. She felt superior, for some strange reason. Perhaps because she thought she was wronging Mr. Johnson, which suited him well. She found no solace in literature homework, the one subject for which she was worth any suffering. The text to be produced was not a piece of cake as she thought, the delivery presented more constraints that did not allow her to dabble as usual. She wasted eight sheets of paper writing eight different versions of the same story! Whereupon a question arose for her: why was the homework more difficult than usual? So out of the blue? Even the spaghetti and meatball lunch failed to lift her spirits. Her parents talked exclusively about their jobs, which brutally killed her desire to listen to their conversation. At least she could count on one thing: the diaper that gave her that warm feeling she so desperately needed. When she peed, her face lit up and all her troubles disappeared, but the conversation she had been having in the background also stopped abruptly. She looked up from her plate and realized that both her parents were looking at her. "What is it?" asked Riley puzzled. "Did I do something wrong? "I think someone is ready for a clean diaper," exclaimed her mother. At first, the little girl did not understand; after a few seconds she blushed. Oh, that! How did I not think of that! "Eh-eh-eh!" giggled Riley nervously and justified herself. "I'll finish clearing the table," Greg intervened, standing up with his plate in hand. Helen put a hand on Riley's shoulder and accompanied her to her room for her second change of the day.

I'm looking for a story called "Abby and Charlotte's Summer Diaper Adventure" (or "Abby and Charlotte Summer Adventure") which I read on Wattpad. Does anyone remember this story?

1 Riley lived a monotonous life. Like any other eleven-year-old girl, she would wake up early in the morning, eat breakfast with a bowl of milk and cereal, brush her teeth and become an athlete to catch the bus that would take her to school, spend five hours listening to her teachers' endless speeches, and write down everything important on her notepad. Friends she had none. Not that she minded the company of others, let's be clear; she preferred to stay in the background and be on her own. In group work she would participate enthusiastically and do her part; when it was over she would go back to being the shy, reserved little girl she was. From time to time she imagined what her life would have been like if she had had friends. Probably, it would have been less boring and static and more eventful. Once, she posed the question to her parents, whose answers did not enlighten her much. Her father Greg told her that having friends fills the days with great excitement, while her mother Helen told her that time passes more quickly and cheerfully if one is in the company of a friend. She was still pondering this on her way home from school. She passed Vito's restaurant, then Mary-Ann's china store, then stopped at the supermarket entrance. She looked at it undecided about her next move. It was quite a long way, at least a 30-minute walk. She had finished her water bottle in the story hour; she would be thirsty even before she entered the residential area. She tapped the left pocket of her jacket, she had her wallet with her, therefore money as well. She was sure of it, she had not used it before this moment. Thus, she passed through the entrance and headed for the bottle counter. She took a fresh water bottle and set off in search of the crates, which in a single moment turned into a full-fledged treasure hunt. She found herself in the meat department, continued to the right, all the way to the back, and arrived at the area dedicated to bread. Puffing, she went back four wards and turned left. She was surprised to see the shelf of baby products on one side and the toy shelf on the other. Motionless as a statue, she admired the baby products side, especially the diapers and wet wipes in their colorful and flashy packaging. She came out of her trance-like moment by shaking her head. She reached over and grabbed a package of Pampers Baby-Dry. Fluffy, she thought. I wonder how they will fit me? Suddenly, Riley was struck with a sense of disgust and placed it back on the shelf. Why had she thought that? Why had she stopped there and held a package of baby diapers in her hands? What was happening to her? She took steps back. Her gaze shifted to a young woman with brown hair and delicate face. She, too, was looking at that section with interest. She stopped at the exact spot where Riley had been perched and picked up the diaper package and placed it in her cart. In that instant, their eyes met. Caught in the act, Riley looked away; her mother had taught her that looking at strangers was rude. She blushed. In complete silence, the lady smiled at her and continued on her way. The little girl took one last look at the shelves filled with diapers and other baby products. She would have liked to buy them and use them. However, there was one detail that hammered in her head: she was an eleven-year-old girl and able to listen to her body, not a baby. She went back to find the speakers, putting this strange episode behind her and hoping it would not happen again. I am a big girl, she told herself. And big girls don't wear diapers. * The next day, Riley was there again looking at those shelves full of light blue packages of Pampers Baby-dry diapers stacked one on top of the other and one behind the other forming an impregnable wall. The real reason she was there was still a mystery, but she didn't care at that moment. She was itching to buy a pack of diapers and a package of wet wipes. She reassured herself by saying, "I'll take them now. I'm going to get them now. I'll take them now." As soon as he took the first step, he would immediately retract it. Then, the air grew tenser and tenser, and Riley tried harder and harder not to panic. She did this seven times in a row. "You still here too?" asked a soft voice. The little girl turned her head to her left; it was the woman she had seen twenty-four hours earlier, dressed in a slightly wrinkled dark blue overcoat and brand-new light blue pants. Her first thought was: What a strange coincidence. "Uh-huh," Riley replied, nodding. His heart began to beat faster. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only person in this lane," replied the adult in a friendly, cordial tone. "I forgot to take the wipes yesterday." The woman fetched them and then returned to Riley. "You seem nervous, are you all right little girl?" Riley nodded hastily, as well as giving an unbelievable smile. The woman looked behind her, then turned her focus back to the little girl with a questioning face. "Why are you here?" she asked as she lowered herself to her height, eyes as clear green as an expanse of grass on a sunny day. Quickly, she added, "If you don't mind me asking." Riley remained silent. Why was this woman asking her that question? Was she a woman who had ulterior motives? Where were the adults at that moment? She began to breathe nervously. The woman realized she was being impetuous toward her, so she repeated the question in a lighter, less inquisitive voice, "What brought you here, honey?" "I... I-I don't know," Riley stammered, taking a few steps back. "Maybe..." "You're interested in these things," replied the woman thoughtfully. "It's nothing wrong, you know." Her eyes lit up. The woman continued. "It's a curiosity that a lot of kids have, so there's nothing wrong with... going back to being a little baby and using baby things. " "Really?" "Yes," she replied, smiling, "you're not crazy, you're a normal kid. You're unique." Riley's eyes became glazed over and she rubbed them with the sleeve of her jacket. "I want to make you a proposition, so you are free to refuse," the woman began. "I'll buy you everything you need and drive you home. What do you say?" Without thinking, the little girl shook her head. Such a proposal could not be refused. And Riley already had a counter-proposal in mind to make to the mystery woman. She took courage and proposed to her, "I have the money and I want to take it... but the only thing I need... is... to know how it fits." The woman smiled. "Would you like me to put it on before we part?" Riley blushed embarrassed and looked away from her. No. No! This was going too far; her private parts remained private! The woman chuckled amusedly, "Just kidding, silly! Just lie on top of it, lift it up until you feel it over your belly, and attach the tapes. If you're having difficulty, watch a YouTube video." Riley nodded and in a low voice thanked the woman, before leaving her field of vision he ruffled her hair playfully and wished her good luck with everything. Would she see her again someday? She took a package of diapers, one of wet wipes and a lotion of moisturizer and walked to the cashier to pay. The cashier who had served her, a woman in her 60s, complimented her on being a diligent and responsible girl. She could not blush upon hearing those sweet words; she wished they had been true! Once outside the supermarket, she felt over the moon, and the smile on her face was proof of that. Now, it remained for her to go home and turn back the clock; the day had taken a decidedly more exciting direction than the usual monotony. 2 Once she got home, Riley put her backpack down in her corner and pulled out everything she had bought at the supermarket. After that, she took them to her room and slammed them inside the closet, to hide them better she decided to throw some of her clothes on it. This was fine for the time being; Mom and Dad rarely came into her room and rarely went to look inside her closet. He ate the last slice of margherita pizza left inside the oven. It tasted terrible, but she didn't care so much as long as it satiated her a little. When the impromptu lunch was finished, Riley put her plate and glass back in the kitchen sink and rinsed them quickly, then set them to drip in the cabinet above the sink, just as her father had taught her, who, in turn, had taught her mother. She always did her homework in the kitchen. Usually she would have done them in her room in absolute peace, but being home alone and having hidden in those four walls her diapers, she could not afford to fail in her school duties. "Business before pleasure," her parents often reiterated to her. Literature was one of the boring subjects she found interesting, especially when it came to writing a short text trying to take a cue from a story written by a famous author. This time, she had to write a short text where the main character thought about a long series of concerns regarding his future. Riley did not have to reread the text from which that exercise originated; she already had in mind what she had to write and set about doing it. It took her ten minutes, then she went on to do the homework for the other subjects. At five in the afternoon, Riley finished the last exercise in math, the subject he hated most in the world. She closed all the books she had on the table, stowed all the pens and pencils scattered in her pencil case, and put them back in the bookcase that preceded the threshold to enter the kitchen. Finally free! She ran to her room, nearly tripping, and closed the door behind her. She approached the closet, every fiber in her body was in trepidation, and her hands wasted no time in opening the doors and throwing onto the floor the clothes she had used hours earlier to hide her loot. She still couldn't believe it, she had actually taken them and they were in her room, waiting to be used. She took the package, the wipes and the cream; with clumsy movements she laid them on the floor and admired them as if she were looking at a treasure made of gold and precious jewels. "What am I waiting for?" she asked herself and opened the package of diapers. She took one out and opened it. She studied it for a moment. Delicate, soft and very stretchy. Perhaps too stretchy for what she had expected, obviously it was a garment that had to fit on a multitude of different sized babies. She would have no problem wearing it, she reflected, since these diapers were the largest size she had found on that shelf. It would have to fit. She placed the diaper on the floor. Before sitting on it, she pulled down her panties and underwear. She took a damp washcloth and gave it a wipe down there, then applied moisturizer. She sat on it-as the lady at the super market had told her-and pulled the front over her belly. She was succeeding, the diaper fit, everything was running smoothly, and it was too early to sing victory right away. She attached the left and right ribbons, the diaper was attached to her body. Riley let out a long sigh. Was she dreaming? Impossible, she could feel her skin telling her, "Hey Riley, you're wearing a diaper!" She wanted to really answer, but her mouth was unable to move. She was living the dream. She stood up, the diaper remained there firmly in its position. It's perfect! An idea came to her: her panties were the diaper she was wearing. She took off her shoes (which she had forgotten she still had on), then slipped off her pants and kicked them onto the bed. Her panties fell onto the soles of her feet, the final step was near. She removed her feet from both ends, picked up her pants and put them back on. She looked at herself in the mirror. There she was: Riley, a normal eleven-year-old girl. The little girl looked down at her bottom, the flat padding of her diaper suggesting that she was wearing one and not normal underwear. She opted to change them for jeans, they turned out to be a better choice, her bottom had taken on its normal shape. Within minutes, Riley tidied up her room. The package safely inside the closet with the wipes and lotion; the underpants and panties in the dirty laundry basket in the bathroom and the washcloth tossed in the basket, again, in the bathroom. Everything was clean and tidy as if she had never been there at any time of the day. Mom and Dad would never suspect. At that moment, the sound of the lock came straight to her ears, then the creak of the door led her from the stairs. "I'm home!" announced Helen, her mother, in a tired voice. "Riley?" "I'm here, Mom." Helen looked at her daughter at the top of the stairs and a reassuring smile formed on her face. "Are you all right?" Riley nodded, "Everything's fine. You?" "Tired" she replied, hanging up her jacket. "Done all your homework?" "All of them." "Great," her mother commented happily. "Now I'll start making dinner. Pasta tonight!" * Greg returned at seven o'clock in the evening. Like his wife, he was wiped out from the endless hours at the office, each day the load was getting heavier and heavier, and keeping up with the various deadlines was beginning to become untenable. Seeing his wife's muse-like face and his little girl again lifted his spirits. "Good evening!" Greg entered the kitchen and curtsied. Riley and her mother greeted him with excitement and enthusiasm. Especially Mom, who kissed him fleetingly so as not to lose focus on preparing dinner. To her, however, he gave her a big hug. The pasta was delicious. Mom had been good at cooking it, and each forkful of spaghetti was a one-way ticket to food heaven. Riley cleaned the plate twice. "Gee, Riley!" surprised Helen. "You were really hungry!" The little girl nodded, smiling. "I'll join in!" added Greg, then swallowed a rolled forkful of spaghetti. Helen and Riley laughed. Dinner continued smoothly. Greg and Helen talked about their days, one more messy than the other, and Riley sat listening to them trying to follow the river of their words. She imagined a long stream of water heading toward a waterfall. Riley did not understand why her imagination was making her see this. What was her head trying to say? Then she felt the stimulus down there, the first of the day, that said softly to her, "Pee!" Oh no... not now! Riley remained composed and calm, she was good at not showing her emotions and passing for a different emotional state than she really felt. Peeing at the dinner table? In front of her parents unaware that she was wearing a diaper? What if she wet her jeans? No, that's too risky! She could get up and go to the bathroom, however, she would have to pay attention to the loudness of the diaper tapes. Mom and Dad would surely have heard the tear. She had no other choice, so she let go. The warm pee all over her as if she had dived into the pool, in less than a few moments the absorbent layer of the diaper absorbed it all inexorably. She felt only an uncomfortable damp sensation. All in all, she liked it. Mom and Dad continued with their talk, never stopping for a glass of wine. At one point, Helen stopped and sniffed the air. Seeing her, Riley did likewise; there was a strange, intense smell. "But where is this smell coming from?" she asked suddenly as she looked around. Greg also sniffed and looked around. "What kind of stench is that?" Riley imitated their movements and behaviors. Now they catch me... Now they catch me... Now they're going to catch me.... MOM AND DAD ARE GOING TO CATCH ME! Riley got up from her seat and with slow, silent steps approached the kitchen exit. But her mother's voice planted her there just a few steps from the door. It was over. "Riley, would you come here for a second?" In a barely audible voice, the little girl said, "Uh-oh." * Helen was puzzled at the sight of the undergarment her daughter was wearing. She turned her gaze to her husband who, like her, had no idea what was going on. With the chandelier light pointed at her, Riley lay there on the table in the living room with her jeans down. Her swollen and yellowed diaper was partially covered by her pink long-sleeved shirt. The little girl had a sorry expression on her face, but she did nothing to hide it, and she did not feel like crying. She looked in vain for her parents' gaze. Helen lifted the girl's shirt in a slow movement, then felt the diaper. Heavy and definitely at the limit of its absorbent capacity. She brought both hands together to remove the left tape, but stopped when Riley spoke in a submissive voice, "Mom... I have everything... in my room." Helen pulled her hand away from the child's waist. "What, honey?" "It's all in my room." Greg went and returned, and in his hands was the opened package of diapers with only one diaper missing. The two adults realized he hadn't had it long. Helen then grabbed her by the arms and sat her down. He gave her a stern look. "We would like an explanation, young lady," her father spoke in a firm voice. Riley sighed defeatedly. "Yesterday, I went to the supermarket to get a small bottle of water. As I was looking for the checkouts, I came across the shelves of products for small children... I went back there today and got all this." Greg looked at Helen, then she took the floor, "Why did you buy diapers?" Riley did not answer. "Riley, answer your mother," her father urged her. "I wanted to... wear them... I wanted to try them on," her voice was about to break into tears. Before bringing her hands to her face to hide it, she concluded, "I just wanted to wear them." Silence. "Wait here, we'll be right back," his mother said, walking away with Greg in tow. * Sheltered in the garage, Greg watched Helen pacing back and forth, intent on finding a foothold in that unpleasant, constantly falling situation. He, too, was as confused as his consort, but he did not let panic drive him. He pondered for a long time, then asked her, "What are you going to do?" Helen replied tartly, "I don't know Greg!" "It doesn't look like anything scary to me. It's better than seeing her with drugs in her hand." Helen gasped impatiently. "Gregory, for God's sake, what are you saying?" "I'm saying it's nothing scary. It's just ... diapers." "Just diapers?" she exclaimed exhaustedly. "Just diapers..." he replied uncertainly. "But it's not the end of the world, Helen." "You think if I let her wear them, she'll be okay?" "That might be a good idea," Greg replied sympathetically. "Let's see how the situation develops and-" "And?" "And we'll decide later what to do," he concluded. "Now, how about we worry about her dirty diaper?" Helen watched the door and nodded conflictedly. "I'll need some help changing her, I'm pretty rusty, you know." "All right, now let's get back to her, please." * "Wipe," Helen said, and Greg handed it to her. After that she rubbed it around Riley's private regions, who was enjoying the moment. Once thoroughly cleaned, Helen lifted her bottom, removed her soiled diaper and ordered her trusty colleague a clean diaper. Her husband slipped it off the package and started playing with Riley as he had when she was smaller. As the two of them played, and with a decisive move, Helen stole the diaper from her husband's hands, opened it and tucked it under her daughter's bottom. In a commanding voice, she announced, "Cream?" Greg handed it to her. In no time, Helen slathered it on her and closed her diaper. The magical moment ended in that instant of silence. "Now off to bed, young lady! We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" her mother told her in a loving voice. "Okay," and the little girl ran toward the stairs. "Mom? Dad?" "Yes, honey?" her father asked. Riley opened her mouth to speak, but then had second thoughts, "Nothing, goodnight." 3 Her parents were already in the kitchen when she came downstairs. From behind the ajar door, Riley heard the vibrating noise of the coffee machine and the sounds Dad made when he sucked milk from his bowl. Neither of them was talking; what had happened last night had shaken them to the point that they could no longer have a normal conversation, Riley surmised. She could not go back up to her room, her mother would come to wake her up and ask questions again about the.... At that moment, Riley remembered the diaper she was wearing. It had been years since she had peed in bed, and now that she was wearing a diaper, her old problem was back. "Yikes," she said as she pulled her pajama pants forward and looked at the bulging diaper. "Riley?" her mother called her from the kitchen. "Honey, is that you?" Riley pushed open the door. "Good morning." "Did you sleep well?" asked her father cozily. Riley nodded and sat down in her usual place. After that, her mother also joined them, holding her cup of freshly brewed coffee. "Are you okay ... down there?" her mother asked curiously, catching sight of the little girl's pants. "Um..." stammered Riley impishly. "Maybe not." "Don't worry," her mother snapped at her in a soothing tone, "later, we'll fix it." "Okay." "Do you want cereal or cookies with a bowl of warm milk?" her father proposed as he stood up. "I'm not... in the mood... in the mood for breakfast, Dad." "Are you sure?" "Yes," replied Riley confidently. "In your opinion, am I crazy?" Both Greg and Helen were horrified by her question. They looked at each other for a moment, without thinking twice Greg reassured her, "No, no, no. You are not crazy, you are perfect just the way you are." Riley's eyes began to glaze over. "Even though ... I want to wear diapers? Even though ... I'm 11 years old?" Greg opened his mouth to answer, but Helen beat him to the timing. In a firm, loving voice she said, "Yes. If that's what you want, we'll let you." "Really?" the little girl asked, wiping away a tear that ran down one eye. Then she looked her mother straight in the eye. "Yes," she reassured her. "But there will be rules." Riley looked at her mother and father interdictedly. "Rules? What kind of rules?" Greg was also puzzled, but said nothing. Her mother Helen resumed speaking. "If you want to wear a diaper, just tell us and we'll put it on. This implies that only Dad and I will be able to change you and, most importantly, check it if you had an "accident." "If you would not like to wear it and put on big girl panties, just tell us and we will accommodate you. This is first rule. All clear?" "Yes," Riley answered truthfully. She had never taken her eyes off her mother throughout the whole talk. "Second rule: the diaper issue stays between us. It will be our secret. You will only wear it when it's just the three of us. Before you ask, you won't wear it at school, the reason you can guess for yourself," Helen explained. "Fair enough," commented the 11-year-old. "Can I wear it when I go out with you?" "Yes," replied Greg confidently. "I remind you that only Mom and I are aware of your 'secret.' Keep that in mind." "Are there any other rules?" asked Riley innocently. "Nothing else comes to mind at the moment," said Greg then asked his consort, "Do you have any other rules in mind?" "I have nothing to add at the moment." "I do have an addition in mind," Riley spoke cautiously. "But it's not a rule, can I make it anyway?" Helen and Greg exchanged a doubtful look, but they both wanted to hear what their little girl had to say. It was Helen who gave her the floor. "I'd like to get some pull-ups," Riley began determinedly, and seeing the doubtful looks from her parents, she had to make a long speech, "They're panties that are also diapers. If I started wearing diapers, I would start peeing or doing number two without me knowing it. With pull-ups I can go to the bathroom as if I were wearing regular panties. "They are easier to put on. You would rip the sides and slip it on like regular panties. They also have a symbol on the front to tell if I need to be changed." "I have two questions," Greg said puzzled. "When would you wear them? Then, how do you know all these things?" "I'll answer the second question: it's all written on their packages. Answering the first, I could put them on alternately with my underwear to stay trained to go to the bathroom at all times," the little girl answered excitedly. "They can also come in handy for going out," commented Helen. "I think we've talked enough, how about we go get ready?" "To go where, Mom?" "We're going shopping, honey," replied her mother, taking her by the hand and walking her out of the kitchen. "Where are you going?" asked Greg curiously. "We're going to get ready," replied Helen playfully. "Someone needs a clean diaper." * Riley was surprised by her mother's skill and care in cleaning her and putting on her new diaper. The night before it seemed like it was one of the first times she had done it; today, however, she was a veteran with a long experience behind her. "Done," her mother told her as she attached the last tape. "Get changed and remember to put on something that will hide the diaper better." The little girl opted for a long dark green sweatshirt and a pair of black jeans. In front of the mirror, even she could not tell if she was wearing a diaper. Great, I'm ready. Thirty minutes later, mother and daughter, hand in hand, entered the supermarket. Helen was struck to see that sincere smile on her daughter's face. She could not remember when was the last time she had seen her smile like that. Finding the pull-ups was as easy as drinking a glass of water. Riley was over the moon in grabbing the package. Seeing the caricatures of cartoon characters on a pink background left her speechless. She found them as gorgeous as the diaper she was wearing. After paying, they returned home. Once they returned, Helen took the opportunity to check her diaper. She took her to herself, pulled down her jeans and felt her well: she had peed, she had peed a lot! She led her to her room, The little girl threw herself on the bed, eager to be changed clean. "Mom, can I put on one of the pull-ups?" asked Riley as her mother opened her diaper. She grabbed a washcloth and set about cleaning her private parts. Not thinking much about it, she replied, "All right, but when you have to go to the bathroom you have to tell us." Having finished cleaning her thoroughly and applying the cream, Helen helped Riley put on her first pull-up. The little girl did, quite literally, jump for joy. "How are they?" asked her mother. "It's a cross between a diaper and underwear. They are so comfortable!" replied the 11-year-old happily. Helen rolled up the soiled diaper, then said to her, "I'm going to make lunch. Remember to go to the bathroom and rememtell us, okay?" "Okay, Mom," she slipped on her jeans. Just before her mother came out of her room, Riley called her. "Thank you," she told her. Helen smiled at her and left. For a moment, Riley felt like the luckiest little girl in the world. 4 The following Monday, as per routine, Riley went to school and came home. The day had given her quite a few surprises: a surprise history test, a math quiz, and pair work in art class. She had done the test and the quiz to the best of her knowledge, all thanks to her method of study that allowed her to defend herself well even in the most reluctant questions. Surely the test went well, she told herself. The art hour, however, put her to the test. She had never had much inclination for artistic and creative subjects-except for writing where she felt she had mastered the real thing-too abstract and poorly understood. Had it not been for Theo to guide her, the blank canvas would have become her definitive work that would have enshrined her in the long line of bad artists. Theo. It was rare that a classmate of hers intruded into her endless stream of thought. It seemed to her that she was discovering his existence for the first time. Like her, he was shy, solitary and unreachable. Those thoughts made her lose her appetite, so she went to her room to put on some more comfortable clothes to stay in, including putting on a pull-up. She grabbed her backpack and immediately set out to do her homework; she planned to spend the afternoon doing whatever she wanted. With the last science exercise completed, the little girl stood up and stretched. The rumbling of her stomach reminded her that she had skipped lunch, she looked at the clock: it was two o'clock in the afternoon. She had better eat something. She put a piece of frozen pizza in the microwave oven, set the temperature and time - 10 minutes - and pressed the "START" button. She waited sitting at the table. The ringing of the phone made its way through all the rooms,m until it reached the kitchen. Riley sprinted to the living room where the phone was located, picked up the handset and in a nervous voice said, "Hello?" "Hey, Riley, it's Theo," said the voice with a bit of insecurity. "Am I disturbing you?" "Hey, Theo," she greeted him, then answered happily, "no bother. Tell me everything." "I just wanted to ask you how you found yourself working with me today," he said cautiously. "I saw you ... angry, I wanted to know how you were." Riley bit his lower lip, and without his noticing a drop of pee ended up in her diaper. Theo was telling the truth, during that hour of class she felt like a complete wimp, a no-good. At one point, just before the end of class, she roared all her frustration at him. She sighed thinking back to those thirteen seconds that seemed interminable, then answered him in a sincere voice, "I'm fine. I've calmed down and..." She paused to sigh again. "I'm sorry I acted that way. It usually doesn't happen to me to-" "Of not being able to do something right?" the companion on the other side added promptly. "I know how that feels." Riley smiled, wondering if Theo could have seen it. No, he couldn't have seen her; who knows where he lives!" she told herself. "So, do you forgive me?" "Even if you didn't apologize to me, I'd still forgive you," Theo said casually. "Would you like to come over and finish the task?" She missed a beat. Had she heard correctly? A classmate of hers asking her to come over? Yes, she had understood correctly. She would have wanted to say yes immediately, but what if Mom and Dad had said no? Riley answered uncertainly, "I have to talk to my parents about it first. If I'm not mistaken, your parents should have their numbers? At least they should have my mom's." Theo muttered something (or so it seemed to Riley). "Yes, my mom told me she has both, but she prefers you to talk to them directly." Riley brought her hand to his temple in disbelief. Of course she was going to talk to them directly about it! He replied, "When they come back I will talk to them about it. Let's stay that way for now." "Alright, I'll talk to you later or possibly tomorrow," he concluded, then said goodbye to her, "Have a great rest of your day. Bye Riley!" "You too, Theo! Bye!" and hung up. At that exact moment, the squeaky, annoying sound of the oven alerted her that her snack was ready. She jumped off the couch, but something stopped her on the spot. What the... The little girl touched the front of her pull-up. It was hot and the front symbol was slightly faded, but it wouldn't be long before it disappeared completely. "I better go pee before I get it all over me," she confuted to herself aloud, as if there was another person with her, and went to the bathroom. * The pizza tasted like cardboard. The tomato and cheese had lost their distinctive flavors; the dough was the only decent thing that managed to convince her to go all the way through it, every last bite. The cold pull-up began to bother her, especially between her legs. Rule one was pretty clear. If you want to wear a diaper, just tell us and we'll put it on. This implies that only Daddy and I will be able to change you and, most importantly, check it if you had an "accident." When she put on the pull-up, Riley had not heeded to the rules they had imposed on her that Saturday morning. She couldn't wait for Mommy (or Daddy) to come home and clean her up and put a clean diaper on her. They would come to know that she had transgressed one of the rules. She made up her mind: she would tell the truth. She thought back to what had happened that night. She brought her legs against his chest and hugged them, their puzzled faces still well in her mind. At that moment she made a promise to herself: No more secrets and no more lies to Mom and Dad. To chase those thoughts away, she went up to the second floor, went to her room to get a book and headed for the bathroom to pee. * Riley was engrossed in reading that she paid no attention to her mother entering the house. In fact, it was her appearance in the kitchen that brought her back to reality. The little girl began to break into a cold sweat. "I didn't know you were reading," Helen exclaimed in surprise. "Did you do all your homework?" Riley nodded a nervous smile. She was not good at masking her emotions, and Helen immediately sensed that something was wrong. She asked her, "Honey, is something wrong?" Riley suddenly got up from her chair with still that smile that Helen found annoying. She hastily replied, "Yes, yes, yes, Mom! Everything is fine! I'm just glad you're back!" Helen gave her a guarded look. "Why are you acting like this? It's not like you." True, Riley couldn't blame her; she couldn't explain that strange behavior. She gave a tense giggle, then calmed herself by taking three deep breaths. There, she was about to tell her, "Mom, do you remember the rules you gave me for diapers?" Her mother nodded and crossed her arms. He looked her straight in the eye, from her face she was not at all pleased. She asked in a haughty tone, "Are you wearing one now and need to be changed?" "I'm wearing a pull-up," the sorry little girl hastened to say. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." Helen looked up at the ceiling. "I should have expected you to wear one in our absence. By the way, again!" Riley looked down guiltily, turning her toes back over each other. Helen continued brooding, but on the verge of scolding her. "I appreciate you telling me, Riley. However, your father and I gave you rules for a reason. These aren't toys; they can harm your health if misused. Being in one of those things for a long time could give you a skin rash. Do you understand?" She turned her gaze to her and nodded. "Now we're going to go up and give you a good cleaning," he told her. "Until I talk it over with your father, you're going to wear big girl panties. Diapers and pull-ups are off-limits!" "All right," Riley said, and her mother escorted her to the bathroom. * "Today I got a call from Theo, a classmate of mine," Riley began as her mother removed her dirty pull-up. "We have an art assignment we have to finish. He asked if I would be free to go to his house tomorrow. Do I have your permission to go?" Helen rubbed her nether regions well and then replied, "We'll talk about it tonight over dinner with your father, okay?" "Okay," replied Riley meekly and let her mother finish cleaning her. "No diaper? Not even for the night?" Helen shot her the look. Riley sighed in disappointment. "Understood." "Would you tell me what you understood?" her mother questioned her in a stern voice. "I understood that not following the rules has consequences." "So?" "You will not put me in a diaper now or before going to bed." "What will you do before you go to bed?" "I will go to the bathroom and pee like a big girl." "I guess you've learned your lesson, at least for now," Helen concluded contentedly. 5 Riley remained silent for most of dinner. The talk she had with her mother in the bathroom monopolized her thoughts; she began to think that they would confiscate her diapers and throw them into oblivion. He found rule one unfair, why could only her mother and father get their hands on her diaper, despite the fact that she had managed to put on a diaper by herself without anyone's help? Adults are weird!" she thought. "You're quiet today," her father began curiously, "did something happen?" Riley looked up from her empty plate and looked at her mother. With her gaze, she was telling her to tell her father what she had done. "Yes, something happened," the little girl replied indifferently. "In fact, two things happened." "Which one do you want to start with?" interjected Helen, feigning curiosity. "A classmate of mine called me today," Riley began a tad excitedly, "Theo Bennett. We have to finish our pair work for Professor Towers, he asked if I could go to his house tomorrow to finish the project and do homework together." "I don't see why not," Greg drank a glass of wine. Then he turned to his consort, "Did you say yes too?" Helen smiled at him. "Yes. Her friend lives nearby and His parents are willing to have her as a guest for lunch. So of problems we don't have any, is it okay for you to pick her up in the evening? That way I have time to take care of some chores around the house." Greg nodded and smiled at his daughter. He commented happily, "I didn't think you had a friend!" "Yeah," Riley laughed nervously. He didn't really consider Theo a friend; he was more of an acquaintance, almost a stranger. Who knows why his father had already labeled him as his friend? "What about the other thing?" asked Greg then casually. Riley's face darkened for a moment; she felt the conversation would take a turn for the worse. She sensed her mother's stern look. Okay Riley, you can do it. It's like an interrogation: beginning, explanation, conclusion. "Here..." the little girl spoke softly. "Today I... wore a pull-up on the sly." A contented smile took shape on Helen's face, glad to hear Riley admit her mistake and direct it to her better half. Greg sighed dejectedly. "So, you're telling us you wore a diaper in our absence?" "Pull-up, Greg," Helen corrected him. Greg quickly repeated his question, but corrected. "Yes, Daddy," Riley replied sadly. "That's the first thing I did when I came home. Then Mom came and I told her everything. I'm sorry." "Did you pee there?" asked her father tensely. Helen intervened, "From what I understood, yes and no. She had peed some before I came back, then she peed again just before I changed her and cleaned her up. So, she did it twice." Riley blushed full of embarrassment. Was that a detail to point out? "Is she wearing another one now?" asked Greg to his wife, forgetting his daughter's presence. "Big girl's panties," Helen replied. "I have a punishment in mind to give her for transgressing the rule." "Shall we talk about it now? In front of her?" "No," Helen replied, remembering that Riley was there with them. "There's something I'd like to point out to both of you." She paused. As long as she had all eyes on her, Helen continued with her speech, "This is especially about you, Riley. Today while I was changing you, I noticed that you hadn't given yourself a good scrubbing down there. Tell me out of curiosity, did you go to the bathroom once today?" "Yes, I went," replied Riley downcast. "After I noticed that I had slightly wet my pull-up." "You gave yourself a scrub, didn't you?" Her mother asked. Riley shook her head. "You know that after you pee you have to clean yourself up down there," her mother scolded her. "That's why I've decided that every time you come out of the bathroom, you have to come to me so I can take a look at you. We'll start tonight." Riley did not protest. Her mother was right; she could do nothing but humor her. "All right." A brief silence followed, and both Greg and Helen got up with their dishes in hand to go put them back in the dishwasher. Riley sat there in her seat, her fear of no more diapers making her eyes glaze over. "Will you take them away from me forever?" asked Riley fearfully. Both her parents approached her. "No," her mother consoled her. "We don't want to take away your diapers, if you want to take them, we won't object. We are doing this to teach you, to teach you to be more responsible." Riley pulled up her nose. "Why can't I wear them by myself?" "Because we want to take care of you," her mother promptly replied. "As well as making sure you get cleaned properly." "Thank you," said Riley and hugged her mother, then hugged her father as well. "We are here, honey," her father told her, then her daughter broke the hug. Riley took her plate and put it in the dishwasher, next to her parents' plates. She helped them clear the table and then they went to the living room to watch a movie. * "Am I disturbing you?" asked Helen in a low voice. She was in the doorway to her bedroom. "No, tell me," replied Riley and closed the book he was reading. "Come in." "I've come to take you to the bathroom," she announced, holding out her hand to her daughter. "Even if you don't run away, I want to make sure you go to the bathroom before you go to sleep." Riley grasped her hand and let herself be carried away. She did not find this new custom fair; she was a big girl, not a little girl. "Mom! I'm 11, I know when I have to go to the bathroom!" whined Riley. "I know," laughed her mother. "But sometimes, moms want to make sure their kids go to the bathroom before they go to sleep." Entering the bathroom, without letting go, Helen positioned Riley in front of the toilet. The little girl felt uncomfortable; her mother's presence put her under great stress. She wanted to tell her, but nothing would change her mind about going out and giving her a moment of privacy. Her mother knelt down and proceeded to gently lower her pants, Riley could not help but blush. After that, she told her softly, "What are you waiting for? Sit down and try it." The little girl obeyed resignedly, as well as red in the face like a tomato. The toilet was cold, but her mother's reassuring gaze caught her attention. She smiled at her and let go. "All done?" she asked her as soon as the tapping turned to silence and the little girl nodded confidently. "Good, now on your feet." Riley stood up, then her mother tore off three pieces of toilet paper. With gentle forward motions she cleaned it under there. She repeated those gestures five times, subsequently flushing the paper down the toilet. Riley recognized the pattern; she used to do this when she was younger. Same care and gentleness, she seemed to have gone back in time. "That's how you should wipe," she concluded in a calm, teacher's voice. "Always forward, never backwards. Minimum five times, if you want to be sure give it three more passes. All clear?" "All clear," she answered truthfully, lifting her underpants and underwear in one go. "Thank you, Mommy." "You're welcome. I'm going to bed," announced her mother as she returned to her feet. "Flush and brush your teeth. Oh, before I forget, tomorrow when you come back, I'll take a look at you. Good night, honey." "Good night, Mommy," he told her before squeezing the flush lever. * "What did you have in mind?" asked Greg already under the covers. "I don't know yet," replied Helen doubtfully. "We could use diapers as a reward when she behaves." "Helen," he spoke exasperatedly, "she is a good girl. She studies and behaves well." "A good girl sneaks a pack of diapers, puts one on and pees in front of her parents?" pointed out Helen annoyed. "She didn't even follow the rules we gave her on Saturday!" "I don't understand why you have to punish her." "Greg, she sneaked a diaper!" reminded Helen, her voice frustrated. "When did we put her in a diaper?" began Greg meditatively. "Monday through Friday, only in the evening and at night. Saturday and Sunday she could wear it all day. You know what I mean?" Helen furrowed her brow. "No." "Riley doesn't enjoy them enough. Only two days. No wonder she wants to sneak them on," Greg enlightened her. "And you want to punish her even though she told you the truth." "We can't help it, our jobs keep us away from her," Helen replied. "She won't bring them this weekend, that's decided." "Then you don't understand," blurted Greg. "When she brings it, she's happy. Even with the pull-ups, she's happy. Isn't that clear to you?" "It's quite clear to me," Helen replied curtly. "I want to teach her that choices have consequences. When we had caught her with that dirty diaper, we did nothing. "I don't want Riley to get into this bad habit of doing what she wants on the sly." Greg got up and went to sit beside his wife and kissed her left cheek. "She would never do that," he said in a sultry voice. "You know the thing she hates most is to hurt us. That's why she told you the truth today." A tear streaked down her face. "Do you think she'll take it badly if I tell her she can't wear diapers this weekend?" "Will she take it badly? Yes, definitely." "It's decided, this is her punishment." "You know I'm against it right?" "Yes, but you'll have to humor me this time," Helen concluded and began to snog him. 6 Theo no longer had the strength to hold his head up to pay attention to the lesson of Mrs. Daniels, the literature teacher. He had the crazy idea of resting his head on his desk, his nose and forehead attached closely to the notebook paper. He did not care if the middle-aged woman saw him and scolded him. Riley, unlike her desk mate, could keep up with her lengthy explanations. Eyes following her every movement and her right hand writing on the notepad every word that came from her thick lips. Mrs. Daniels walked over to the blackboard and began to draw a diagram that looked like an upside-down tree. At the top and middle she wrote "How to write a horror story" and drew three arrows far apart. "How do you keep from falling asleep?" asked Theo in a low voice at one point. "I stay awake and listen," she answered quietly. Theo changed position. He stretched out his arms on the bench and rested his chin on the bench. She said in a half-asleep voice, "I can't wait for it to be over." She wanted it too, damn right she did! Riley felt she was at the end of her rope. Listening and writing at the same time took a large chunk of her energy, which, after four hours of class, she had none left. To avoid falling behind, the 11-year-old began writing as fast as she could; readability would suffer greatly. Half an hour later, the last bell of the day rang. Mrs. Daniels said she would explain the third arrow the next day, but the buzz of her students' voices prevented her words from reaching their ears. Getting angry was useless now. She grabbed her smartphone and took a picture of the blackboard, then began to put all her things in her backpack. For her, too, the day had turned to an end. "Mrs. Daniels?" a female voice called to her that she recognized. "Yes, Riley?" "You dropped this," she said and handed her dirty, weather-worn blue case. "I thought something was missing," she exclaimed in surprise as she grabbed the object. Most likely it had fallen from the desk during the general marasmus. She thanked her in a kind voice, then asked, "Do you have any doubts about today's class?" "Um..." she hinted uncertainly as she flipped through her notepad. "I actually would have one." Mrs. Daniels looked at her watch. It was 1:20 in the afternoon. She had to go to lunch with her colleagues and was, punctually, late. "You will bring it to me tomorrow, I really have to run now. Study mind you," she told her mortified and hurried out. "Of course she has to run," the little girl commented irritably and set off to join her friend downstairs. * "So," Theo began thoughtfully, "what do you think about . um... geography?" Riley thought about it before giving her answer. She loved geography. Finding out the customs, the lifestyle of the inhabitants, the strengths of the economy, and the brief history of a state in the world excited her so much. Unfortunately, this subject fell into the "I hate this subject because of the teacher" group. "Nice for goodness sake," replied Riley holding back an edge of anger, "but Mr. Johnson is making me hate it." "Then it's a common thought," Theo said, then asked her another question. "Let's get off the subject of school shall we? What do you do in your spare time?" I sneak around and use diapers! Ha ha ha! If I answered him like that, he would think I was crazy. Ha ha ha ha! Riley held back a laugh at that thought, although there was nothing funny about it. Theo looked at her puzzled. "Never mind," Riley hastened to say, "I read and write. Do you?" "I read too!" gave a toothy grin Theo, nearly baring her way. "What kind of books do you read?" Riley hinted with a smile. If she had had a diaper on, she would have peed from excitement. But at that moment she didn't have one, so she had to restrain herself as any big girl would. She cleared her throat, then answered him, "I mainly read fantasy books, occasionally I read normal books." "Normal books?" "Books that are not in the fantasy or science fiction genre," she explained to him. "Mom is convinced that I like them a lot, so she gets them for me." "For example?" asked Theo curiously. He seemed to know the genres in question. "The last ones she got me are about friendship, simple and mundane and without any elements that manage to stand out from other books dealing with the same topics," Riley accentuated her feeling of annoyance toward the end. "Sometimes I wonder why my mother gets me such books, even though I don't like them." "Do you remember the names by any chance?" asked Theo without losing interest. "I ask because I only read those kinds of books." "Books about friendship?" "No, children's fiction books," Theo pointed out. "The fantasy genre doesn't appeal to me much." "Oh," said Riley slightly disappointed. "Anyway, the names of those books are When We Were Together and Ashes. I could have done without reading them." Theo retorted offended, "You can't say Ashes sucks! It's the only one that manages to touch chords that other books in the same genre can't!" "For example?" questioned Riley in a defiant tone. "The whole story revolves around the so-called 'invisible string theory,' " Theo began to explain, "according to which a person is nothing more than the center of an infinite set of strings that connect him to other centers-which are other people. I point out right away that this does not exist in reality, but still, the protagonist - Paul - becomes the epicenter of the pain of every single character he interacts with. "This is where the main themes of the story surface: the desire to connect to others and the outside hand that helps those who are suffering. Paul is a loner, whether he likes it or not he needs to be around people, so he joins the group of losers ignored by everyone and constantly targeted by bullies. "As he spends his time with them he realizes that he too has his own limitations and difficulties to overcome. So he decides to help them overcome their fears and difficulties, they also do the same for him. When Richard and Izzy die in the car accident, Paul begins to wonder if all this connecting with each other is really worth it, so he becomes the spark that destroys all the strings that bind to him. "Needless to say, this is his reaction to their death and that talking to someone about it kept him from destroying the last, most important bonds he still had: his new friends and his family. The ending in which he and his friends throw their ashes at the lake where they first met is the symbol-and the title-of the play." Riley stood in silence surprised to have heard an explanation that only she could have brought up if she had discussed it with another person who was not interested in books. Theo was a reader like her; his attention to detail was identical to hers. It was true!" she told herself. It had not happened in her head! It had happened for real! "Wow!" was the only thing she managed to say. Then Theo stopped in front of an empty driveway that led to a two-story white house. "Here we are. This is my house, welcome!" In that instant, Riley realized that she had removed from her mind the fact that she and Theo were walking to his house. Their conversations had overridden their perceptions of reality, at least hers since Theo was in charge of taking her to his house. They had passed by her house and she had not even noticed! She felt lost for a moment. Mom was right, he lived not very far from her house and the other dwellings were very reminiscent of hers. Getting lost was impossible; she would find her way back in no time. The kids approached the front door. Theo rang the doorbell and saw Riley looking around, but it did not take her long to realize that it was the same porch she had at home. They were greeted by her father, Hank Bennett. An all-American man, broad-shouldered and fully fit, he wore a tank top and long pants. Both the 11-year-olds were speechless to see him in such attire in the middle of winter. "Hey, guys!" Hank greeted them, then turned to the little guest. "You must be Riley, very nice to meet you!" "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Bennet," replied the little girl politely, then proceeded to remove her jacket. "Call me Hank," the man quickly put in an amused manner. "I may be an adult, but I'm not that adult, you know? I still feel like a 20-year-old kid!" Both Theo and Riley burst into thunderous laughter. "Take off your shoes and go wash your hands, lunch is ready," announced Hank and then hurriedly headed for the kitchen. In the bathroom, Riley was the first to wash her hands. Theo suggested that she go first because he had been told that, and I quote, males must know how to behave well with females, as they are the fairer sex, so they had to go first. Hearing this, Riley had to hold back laughter. "Really?" was his response. Theo replied gallantly, "Yes, milady. You ladies are viewed differently than we gentlemen. Therefore, we ask you not to express criticism of our manner." This time she could not hold them back and burst out laughing for the second time; he had been in her house for just over ten minutes and was already fighting not to pee her pants from the laughs. 7 Mr. Bennett had cooked excellent steaks: flavorful, slightly spicy and cooked to the right temperature. Riley filled and cleaned her plate three times; as luck would have it, he had cooked about ten small and medium-sized steaks. Theo was the one who ate the least out of all of them; he justified himself by saying that he did not have much of an appetite. Lunch finished, the two friends helped Mr. Bennet clear the table, after which he left them on his way to his office. Theo explained to Riley that his father worked from home on certain days of the week, and today was one of those days. It would have been nice if her parents had that chance too, the little girl thought to herself. Three o'clock in the afternoon. The two eleven-year-olds were already at work on their couple's project in the kitchen, the only space in the house large enough for them to work on. The week before, Mrs. Towers assigned their class a job to do in pairs: draw a city where the real stars were the buildings. No streets, just buildings and the sky. She would grade all the work and give both components the same grade. She left the barbaric task of creating the pairs to the students, who, in addition to generating chaos, formed balanced pairs. Riley and Theo balanced each other well. She, an excellent art history student and bad artist, and he, a good art history student and very talented artist. Theo came up with a definite idea of how to make the city, the object on which their delivery was based. Four skyscrapers arranged in the shape of a trapezoid, the two forming the minor base in the foreground and the other two - making up the major base - following and well away from the sides of the sheet; surrounded by other buildings with windows colored in colors other than yellow, intended to color all the windows in the trapezoid. Riley, art denier that she was, approved of the idea, but on the condition that they make an informed choice of colors. And there they were, passing the colors around and coloring the multitudes of white squares that remained. Yellow windows (the first ones the duo colored), reds, oranges, pinks, greens, blues, magentas, purples and many other colors caught the attention of anyone who looked at them. The sky was still white with gray insignia of the Moon and the clouds passing in the midst of those black towers, they told themselves that would be the last part they would color. They had set a list for themselves: draw the buildings and skyscrapers with windows; color the windows; draw the clouds; and finally, color them together with the sky. Compared to the time in the classroom, Riley was more relaxed and more confident in coloring the white spaces. Moreover, the silence that enveloped the kitchen room kept her glued to her task. From time to time, she cast glances at her friend to make sure he was doing his part. It wasn't necessary; Theo was devoting his heart and soul to coloring buildings and windows and, every few seconds, supervising their work. It's definitely coming along nicely. Theo and I are not a bad team after all. An hour later, Theo put down the purple marker and gave a tired sigh. Then he asked his friend, "How many windows do we have left?" Riley finished coloring the last window with red and announced it contentedly in a very high tone of voice, after realizing this she apologized. Theo raised his arms to the ceiling in victory. Exhausted, he said, "We are almost at the end." At that point, Riley got up from her seat. "Where's the bathroom, Theo?" "Up, turn left and first door to the left," he answered her in the same voice. "While you go to the bathroom, I'm going to stop and recover too. I'm beat!" Riley walked out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs. He went up to the second floor and turned to the left, as Theo had told him moments earlier, and looked for the bathroom door with his eyes. There it was! It was a plain white door; she lowered the handle and stepped inside. The bathroom furniture was all light blue, like the diaper packaging she had at home, while the walls were a strange white. He observed it closely; it was a white with light blue undertones. So the dominant color of the bathroom was light blue, she told herself and walked to the toilet that was at the end of the room. In front of the toilet, a dark sky-blue dresser stood toward the ceiling, it looked as if it might touch it, but the thin deep black space gave the 11-year-old confirmation that the cabinet was not in contact with the ceiling. Beautiful, she thought as he squared it from top to bottom. She counted six in total. She looked at it again for the second time. The last drawer was open, inside it a package of diapers was illuminated by the light coming from the window. She recognized them; they were Pampers Baby-Dry overnight diapers. Overnight diapers -- wait a minute, does Theo pee in bed? Riley ignored that question and ignored the contents of that drawer. She pulled down her pants and... gasped in disbelief. Her panties were slightly wet, the smell of pee plugged her nose. Oh, come on! Wasting no more time, she pulled them down and sat on the toilet. Theo's diapers and her panties' smell became her fixed thoughts for that minute sitting to relieve herself. It couldn't be true. * In forty minutes, the work was finished and all imperfections removed. Riley and Theo were satisfied, especially him since it had been his idea. "What grade do you think we'll get?" asked Theo of her. "I don't know... maybe an A," Riley replied slightly nervously. "I doubt we'll get a bad grade!" Theo smiled at her, then took the drawing and put it inside the clear envelope he had brought it home with the week before, then put it inside his backpack, being careful not to crumple it. After that, he told her happily, "Mrs. Towers will be impressed with our work." "Mmh-mmh," Riley quipped casually, thinking about the wet underwear against her skin. Mom would surely take her back. "Would you like to see my room?" proposed Theo to her. "I'd like to show you my bookcase." "All right," Riley answered him, smiling. She felt the need to distract herself from everything and turn off her brain. On the stairs, Theo said, "I'm going to the bathroom and then I'll join you. My room is the third door on the right." Suddenly, Riley stopped on the last step terrified. Now? Right now you have to go to the bathroom, Theo? Then in the same bathroom where your diapers are in full view? Oh... maybe I'd better tell him. "Wait a moment, Theo," she hesitated in a serious tone. "There's something I have to tell you." "Can't you wait a few minutes?" the friend implored her. "I'll come in and out." No, I can't wait! In fact, I don't want to wait! "Theo, I saw them!" admitted Riley apologetically. "I went in and saw the open drawer." Theo's face darkened. Riley recognized that expression, even that state of mind. She felt guilty, the same guilt she had when her parents caught her with a diaper on. "So... now you know about my little secret." Riley nodded. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." "I know you won't," Theo told her like it was nothing, then smiled. Silence. "I know you have a lot of questions for me, but I'm going to go to the bathroom first and then we'll talk about it," Theo said as he headed for the bathroom in small steps. Before taking his leave, he reminded her, "Third door on the right!" * Boring. Boring. Super boring! Boring. My goodness, pure boredom! Boring. Riley was standing in front of Theo's bookcase in her room. She was studying the various books he had and, reluctantly, could not find one that would pique her interest. She began to wonder if Theo took those stories seriously. From the titles alone, which were trite and not at all profound - except for "Ashes," which reevaluated her - she could already imagine the other stories. "Gee, Theo," she said boredly. "Besides Ashes, you don't have any exciting books." "I expected this answer from you," he said as he entered his room. Riley jumped in fear. Had she spoken too loudly again? After that, she sat on her bed and watched Theo take two random books from the bookshelf. There was something about him that did not convince her, her eyes studied his butt. Why is his butt so... big? The friend made a leap to grab a book, failed. So he made another, this time succeeding. Twice, his ears picked up rough sounds reminiscent of typical paper noises. At that point, Riley understood: Theo was wearing the night diaper he had seen in the bathroom. What had he put it on for? "Here," Theo told her, handing her two of his books. Ashes and When We Were Together, the two books they had talked about before entering the house. He added hopefully, "Reread them and then tell me what you think." Riley raised her right eyebrow, not understanding this last sentence. "If you want to try to change my mind, you're way off base. Besides, I already have these two at home." Theo resumed them mortified. "I had forgotten we talked about them, but read them again anyway." "Why?" Theo put them on his desk. "Your idea can change you know?" The friend wasted no time in thinking it over. So, she replied doubtfully, "Okay." After that, Theo sat beside Riley on the bed, keeping his distance to respect her "boundaries." He had never stopped smiling. "Whatever questions you have in mind, ask me," his friend prodded her. "Why are you wearing a diaper?" Embarrassed Theo looked down, but pretended not to. How had she guessed he was wearing one? He replied surprised, "I wanted to put it on." "But aren't you supposed to put it on before you go to bed?" "Yes, but sometimes I put it on long before I go to bed," Theo explained, scratching the back of his head. "My parents let me, but as long as I take it off, do what I have to do, and then put it back on. They check on me a lot to make sure I'm following the rules." Riley nodded. Like at home, her parents had given her rules, albeit different ones, and they wanted to make sure she stayed safe. But to Theo, diapers were like regular underwear-that was the subtle difference that made them different. She would have liked to tell him that she wore diapers too, but after what happened recently and her promise, she let that desire disappear from her mind. "Every once in a while... you think you want to... try to... you know," Riley stammered, but she did not understand why. Theo answered naturally; he was just at ease. "Yes, every now and then. Then it comes back to me that I do it in my sleep and the urge goes away. Also because my mom shudders when she has to take it off me. She hates to get her hands on something messy like my diaper after a good night's sleep." "I understand," replied Riley sadly. "It can't be easy for any of you." "Mom and Dad keep trying new methods to get me to stop," Theo admitted bitterly, as if it were an impossible problem to solve. "As I told you, it's my mother who puts it on and takes it off. Occasionally my father does it, but he is not good at cleaning down there. Even though he is a male like me, sometimes it hurts me. That's why I prefer my mother." Riley wanted to tell him, she didn't want to make him feel lonely. That's what she had sensed in his voice. Also mixed in were innocence and regret for being that way. No one has to know, Riley. Just me, Mom and Dad! The three of us! Silence. Riley couldn't resist a minute longer. "Theo, I have a secret too," she began cautiously and truthfully. "I wear diapers, too." "Bedwetting is a common thing among us eight-to-thirteen-year-olds," Theo revealed for the purpose of curiosity. "You don't understand, I wear them all the time," Riley sputtered. "Or rather, only on weekends do I wear them. Morning, afternoon, evening and night. I don't have any medical problems, I just like them. I like their drawings, I like peeing on them and feeling them all around me. And, most of all, the attention my parents give me in taking care of me." Theo remained silent, having no idea what to say. He wanted her to be happy, she wanted him to be happy too, so he hugged her tightly. "Your secret is safe with me, Riley," he told her in a low voice. Riley was speechless, the hug and his words warmed her heart. She was not dreaming, the warmth of her friend made her feel good, safe. She told him in a soft voice, "Yours is with me too, forever." 8 The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. Riley and Theo managed to do all the homework they had and spent the last half hour up in his room talking about the thing that had led them to become best friends: diapers. They stretched out on the floor, wanting to play out a scene from a book they had read where two characters - a boy and a girl - were talking about their problems lying on the floor next to each other. To feel more comfortable, Theo slipped off his pants let the world admire his Pampers Baby-Dry for the night. There was no shortage of shenanigans from his friend where she urged him to wet himself to which he laughed while maintaining full control of his bladder. "Mom picked me up on her shoulder," Riley recounted gesturing toward the ceiling, "we moved to the hall and she laid me down there like I was a baby. Then she tried to take my diaper off, stopped when I told her I had more in my room." "What did she do then?" asked Theo, brushing his diaper. "She went to the garage to talk to my father. They came back together and changed it for me," she replied. "I couldn't believe it: mom and dad changing my diaper at age 11! The next day we discussed this, they set rules for me; I went to the supermarket with my mother and she bought me pull-ups for children who have to learn to use the toilet. They may be small, but boy are they very stretchy!" Theo listened fascinated, at one point asking, "How are the pull-ups?" Riley giggled happily. "Beautiful, it's like you're wearing underwear and a diaper at the same time!" Their conversation went on until six o'clock, the time when Greg, Riley's father, came to pick her up. She said goodbye to her friend and her father, then they walked to the car. When she returned, her mother Helen accompanied her to the bathroom to give her the pre-announced checkup. She pulled down her pants and looked down at her daughter's smelly and still wet panties. "What happened?" he questioned her. Riley explained everything to her, in full detail, the moment she discovered her friend's night diapers and also about the two drops of pee that fell into both her underwear. She blushed with shame. "Next time, sit and watch, don't stand and pee your pants," she admonished her, removing her soiled underwear, then helped her clean herself. At dinner, Riley monopolized the conversation. It was one of the few times the little girl talked so much she almost forgot about the plate of spaghetti on her plate. Her parents listened without ever interrupting her, surprised to find that her best friend - so their little daughter had twice declared - was peeing the bed. Having finished the meal and cleared the table, everyone went to their respective rooms, or almost since Helen forced Riley to follow her to the bathroom for the second time all day. The 11-year-old repeated the same instructions her mother had given her the day before with some uncertainty, did a fair amount of work that her mother completed. After that she gave her the report, "You need to pay more attention, Riley! You cleaned yourself up like you were late for something!" The little girl nodded and yawned; she couldn't take it anymore already. She brushed her teeth and went to her room, she definitely wanted to end this heavy day with a good night's sleep. She threw herself on her bed, at that moment someone knocked. "Come in!" It was her mother, she wanted to talk. He crossed the door and went to sit on one side of his bed. She admitted in a feeble voice, "I need to tell you something." "What is it, Mom?" asked the little girl as she sat down. "Your father and I have discussed it and decided on your punishment: for the rest of the week, you will not wear diapers. Starting next Monday, you can wear them, provided-" "As long as you or Dad are there to put them on me," Riley concluded in a saccharine voice, the tone her mother hated most of all. "I know Mom, I've learned my lesson." Helen did not get angry at her tone of voice; she preferred to let it go and go to bed. Like her daughter, she too wanted to sleep. She wished her a good night and headed to her room. * The diaper-free weekend arrived and passed in a second. Riley spent those forty-eight hours with her parents tidying up the house, that is, tidying up the attic. None of them would have expected that tidying it up would take two days, evenings included. It was Helen who had suggested this activity; staying still, lazing on the couch in the living room waiting to do something stimulating was bringing her a nervous breakdown. Greg, too, was trying not to sit idle; he took to reading a computer book in the kitchen, next to Riley who was studying the ticking of the clock in a bored manner. The third floor had been labeled "the oblivion," the place where everything that had ceased to have a definite use ends up. It was his parents who had given him that name, following an argument they had had that ended in a rather ambiguous way: suddenly, they forgot what they were arguing about. The entire room was chock-full of furniture and boxes with no writing to identify their contents. "Why did they have all that furniture?" wondered Riley, knowing that that question would not pull her away from that barbaric task. They set a goal for themselves: take everything downstairs. Helen and Greg would take care of the furniture, while Riley would take care of the boxes. All three lost track of time; they had started at 1 p.m. and stopped at 9 p.m. Her parents sprawled on the couch, surrounded by the twelve pieces of furniture they brought down several hours earlier. Riley took advantage of this and poked around the partially empty room, opened certain boxes and found old clothes and thirty-year-old china sets. What a bore! She passed between two tall pieces of furniture, perhaps two closets, and came across a long chest of drawers. Six rectangular-shaped drawers divided into two columns, it looked familiar. Then she realized what it was: it was the piece of furniture her parents used as a base for her changing table when she was an infant. I want this one in my room! I'm rehiring you indefinitely! The next morning, Riley proposed to her parents, who were zombies trying to return to the world of the living, but with little result. "Would you like to what?" her mother asked, yawning. "I found the old cabinet you used to use as a changing table," said the excited little girl. "It's big enough for me to lay on it, so changing me would no longer be an endless search." "Why ... are we taking so long to change you?" asked Greg, then took a sip of water. Riley gave him an obvious look. "Dad, do I need to remind you that for you lost my diapers by leaving me lying on the bed with everything in view?" She blushed on that last part. Greg yawned, but preferred not to answer. "Having a dedicated diaper corner would be nice," Helen intervened. "I already have the arrangement in mind for everything." Greg blinked three times. "So, should we move that to your room?" His tone was puzzled. "Yes," the little girl answered decisively, then put her hands together. "Please?" Greg sighed conflictedly, then smiled at his daughter. Through it all, Helen could not help but laugh. * In the early afternoon, a truck parked in front of their house. They were the workers from the secondhand furniture store to which Greg sold three cabinets and six drawers. Ten minutes of phone calls, emails with pictures of each piece of furniture attached, and a thousand dollars earned. He was the happiest person since his daughter. They loaded the furniture, nodded, to say goodbye and thank him for choosing their store, to Greg and left without giving a glance to either Helen or Riley who had been present every moment of their brief stay. "Rude," Riley said promptly, until she was sure they had left their field of vision. And Helen agreed with her with a complicit smile. Then she added, "You'll meet some rude ones too, always behave yourself and you won't end up like them." "Become rough, fat men?" the 11-year-old asked incredulously. "But I'm a girl!" Greg burst out laughing. "There are rough women, too, honey," Helen told her with amusement. They spent the better part of Sunday afternoon moving furniture and organizing Riley's room. The little girl had the opportunity to place the furniture as she wanted. Her parents enjoyed following the directions. The cabinet - changing table - they placed behind the door. The closet next door, the bed and the desk remained in place. With this thinking work completed, Greg went out to run an errand. Riley was happy; her room had become even more beautiful. The latest arrival (or return?) was looking good, two of the six drawers had already been filled. The first with diapers and pull-ups, the second with underwear, lotion and wipes. It was not yet complete, missing the mat that made it a proper changing table. At six o'clock in the afternoon, Greg returned with something that made Riley happy beyond measure: the mat! All three of them went to put it in its place, on which occasion Riley asked her parents to try it out. Her father took her on his shoulder and laid her down as if he was, for real, about to put a diaper on her. It fit perfectly, was comfortable, and she could almost take a nap in it. "It's perfect!" exclaimed Riley. Her father put her down and hugged him along with her mother. "Thanks, guys!"