Truth or Dare

Chapter 22

"How's your pull-up?"
The question rang in Anna's ear. If she hadn't emptied her bladder in the night, she very well could have right there and then as fear overtook her body. Beads of sweat began to form in her underarms, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she stood there with her eyes wide open, completely shocked that Emma's mother would ask the embarrassing question in front of everyone.
Mrs. Taylor's words hung in the air. The room fell silent, all eyes turning to Anna with her faces drained of color. They all knew that the true reason Emma was in a pull-up was simple because of the dare, but why Anna was in one, they couldn't understand. Was she actually a bedwetter? Was that why she was so determined to trick Emma into wearing a pull-up to bed?
All the properly potty trained women in the room had those same questions. They all them turned their attention back to Emma who, although was merely dared to wear the training diaper, had actually had an accident and peed her bed. They began to wonder just how many bedwetters they actually had among them.
Claire couldn't help but let that curiosity known.
"A pull-up?" She said. "You're wearing a pull-up? Your both bedwetters?"
"I'm not a bedwetter!" Emma said through tears.
Sarah couldn't help but smirk.
"Uh, Emma" she said with an awkward smile as she motioned to Emma's pee soaked pajamas.
Emma just blushed and closed her eyes in shame.
"Emma's not a bedwetter." Her mom came to her defense. "She just had an accident. You girls had a lot of soda last night. And as for Anna, she told be she sometimes has accidents when she has too much to drink before bed, so I had her wear a pull-up just in case."
"No! That's not what I said!" Anna objected.
"Honey, you came in and said you think it would be best for Emma to wear a pull-up because sometimes you girls regress when you're having fun and that you have had accidents when you have had too much to drink before bed." Mrs. Taylor reaffirmed. "Those were your words."
"Yes, but…" Anna stuttered. "I meant when I was like 8, not now. I haven't peed the bed since I was a little kid!" She looked over at her friends to plea for them to understand. "You guys have to believe me! I don't need these. I only agreed to wear them to make sure that Emma would end up on them. I swear!"
"What about the wet panties last night, dear." Mrs. Taylor said, continuing to dig Anna's grave.
A few more snickers filled the room.
"That was… I… the bathroom was busy. We all leak sometimes, right guys? Anna turned to her friends in desperation. No one returned her message.
"So you're saying you didn't wet your pull-up last night, hun?" Mrs. Taylor said.
Anna's face flushed again as she knew she was about to lie.
"No, I didn't." She said.
Mrs. Taylor raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of Anna's response. She could sense the dishonesty in her voice and recognized the signs of a bluff on her face. The room was filled with a tense silence as the girls waited for a response.
Suddenly, Sarah spoke up, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"Come on, Anna. We all know the truth. Just admit you wet yourself. Admit you're a bedwetter and that's why you dared Emma into pull-ups!"
"Dare?" Emma's mother questioned. "Are you saying Emma didn't have an accident yesterday? You dared her to wet her pants?"
Sarah revealed it all to Mrs. Taylor.
"Anna overheard you two at the grocery store yesterday buying Marah's pull-ups and thought it would be funny to force Emma into wearing them she made such a big deal about them being humiliating. Obviously she was just trying to deflect from her own bedwetting problem."
"Is this true, Anna?" Mrs. Taylor said. Emma just remained silent, getting cold in her wet pajama bottoms.
"No!" Anna said. "I mean… yes. I did dare Emma to pee her pants, and I did trick her into wearing the pull-ups, but it's not because I'm a bedwetter. I'm not! I swear! Look!"
She yanked her shirt up to reveal a perfectly dry training diaper.
"See!" She said. "I'm not a baby! Emma peed the bed, not me!" She was irate at this point.
Mrs. Taylor looked at Anna, her expression softening slightly. She could see the frustration and desperation in the girl's eyes. It seemed true that Anna was being honest about not wetting herself.
"I apologize for the misunderstanding, Anna. It seems I jumped to conclusions without gathering all the facts. I'm sorry for accusing you of something you didn't do."
Anna nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had felt so helpless and misunderstood in that moment, and she was relieved Emma's mother was starting to believe her.
The belief didn't last for long, however. Staring down at Anna's pull-up, Mrs. Taylor began to furrow her eyebrow in confusion.
"Anna" she said. "That's not the pull-up I gave you last night."

*Read Chapter 23 now in The Playpen on Buy Me a Coffee (link in bio)