"I'm sorry."
They were the last words I'd expected to hear from my little sister today. I figured she had to be realising that she had less leverage than she thought. I'd already heard from Harper during the morning's practice that Lindy had been trying to cause problems. For some reason, with no clear provocation that I could see, she'd tried telling my friends that I wet the bed. Unfortunately for her, she'd tried speaking to Harper and Nadine first. That wasn't the best choice.
Harper Eisen was halfway between me and Lindy in age, so she could be friends with both of us without it seeming weird. The difference was that Lindy treated her weirdly for being older; like she was never quite a part of the group. Maybe someone admired, or someone you could turn to if you weren't old enough to get what you wanted, but not a close friend. It was like the people that Lindy hung around with were strictly ranked in terms of age and social position. But on the team, we all respected and admired Harper; we were friends first, and saw no need to put each other in boxes.
Nadine... well, she had her own opinions on being treated like a baby, and we'd recently had a very serious discussion about whether her relationship with her boyfriend could still be important when it was a bit weird. I think that brought us closer, although there couldn't be much closer left to get. So Lindy was going behind my back to talk to a couple of people who would support me no matter what. And she was telling them something they had no reason to believe. Rather than doubting her, they had pretended not to understand what she was insinuation. And apparently Harper had managed to get Lindy confessing that she was the one with a bedwetting problem as part of her explanation. Of course, they promised they wouldn't share her secret, because only a total bitch would spread those kind of stories. But it must be very clear in her mind that she had humiliated herself.
"You don't need to be sorry," I said. "You've been under a lot of stress. We all say things we don't mean when we're emotional. So, friends? No more stress?"
"I can't promise that," she said. "But I don't want to be worrying about those videos all the time I'm away."
"You can delete the pictures?"
"I'm not going that far. I need some insurance. But I'm not going to be bothering you so much, and I hope you'll be a bit kinder too. And... well, I brought cake."
"Oh, that's good. Cake makes everything better, thanks. And you don't need to worry, it's not like I'm going to be looking through your stuff while you're away. Everything will be right where you left it. Or... well, where Mum left it. You know what she's like with spring cleaning."
"It's summer now," she said; which seemed kind of a nonsequitur until I realised she was just saying the words given any excuse because she was excited about the change of seasons. It had been summer for a while now, but what she was really excited about was the summer break from school. Lindy was going away to camp for a long weekend, so that she could learn to cook bacon on a campfire, tie each other in knots, and paint scenic mountains from the top; or whatever else the Wilderness Scouts got up to these days. It wasn't my kind of thing; the sports I loved all took place on a hard court, and my friends weren't much into that outdoorsy stuff either. But I hoped my little sister would have the time of her life. She might even forget about the bedwetting thing before she came back.
"Yeah, it is. Looking forward to the beach?"
"Camp first," she smirked. "But yeah. This year is going to be so much fun."
I couldn't agree more. And while I went back to doing homework for the last week of school before the summer break, I couldn't stop thinking about the month ahead. Summer was the longest break in the school year, and everyone was excited. Lindy's camping trip was a break from the norm, a way to kick off her weeks of freedom (even though my school still had a week to go); but the other bookend would be a lazy week in Uncle Norman's beach house, a long standing family tradition. It would be the first time without Dad; last year's trip had been cancelled due to to many other things. But it was a great spot with lovely beaches, a whole range of things to explore in the area, and the knowledge that none of us had to care about anything serious until we got back.
By the time I looked up from my computer again, it was nearly midnight. I'd lost track of time, and the slice of triple chocolate cake on my plate was gone. The glass of lemonade that had come with it was empty too. I'd drunk it pretty quickly, not realising how thirsty cake could make me, so I was glad that Lindy had thought to bring this little midnight feast up on a tray, and included an extra bottle of lemonade.
Then something clicked. I looked at the glass again, and noticed there was a little residue in the bottom. Not something I was used to, but I would have dismissed it as not being washed properly. Except that I'd also overlooked the fact that it tasted ever so slightly weird, and I was feeling a little light headed. Had Lindy put something in the drink? Or perhaps it was the cake? I couldn't believe either option really; my sister wouldn't do something like that. Or maybe I just didn't want to believe it.
I paced around the room a little. Nothing seemed particularly off. Was I just being paranoid? It was possible; I'd been so surprised by Lindy trying to be a machiavellian bully over the last few weeks that I didn't know what to expect anymore. I was sure she wouldn't do anything actually harmful (And, having read up on the science a little more, I now knew that sleeping in a wet diaper was unlikely to lead to any hygiene issues; the worst you could expect was a slim chance of diaper rash, so I couldn't really hold her previous prank against her)
"Lindy?" I asked, coming over to the curtain to call to her. Maybe it would have been more polite to go around to the door, but I wasn't feeling particularly polite. "Was there something funny about that lemonade?"
"Maybe," she treated me to another cheshire-cat grin, which made me sure that this was more than just paranoia. "Wait and see, baby."
"Lindy, I'm serious. That is not something to joke about."
"Don't worry about it. I'm going away for a few days, so you won't have to worry about me. It's just Harper gave me some ideas for how I could have some fun first. Don't worry about it, everything will be fine. Just make sure you don't forget your Underjams tonight. I think you might need them."
I didn't know what she had in mind. I still couldn't believe it. Was she bluffing? That was the kind of thing Harper might actually come up with; just something to make my drink taste weird so that I would worry. She certainly wouldn't do anything that was likely to be harmful; but it wasn't entirely beyond belief that she might have found something I missed when I was searching the web for pranks. Especially as I'd started off thinking about the bowl of water, and never even considered looking up drugs.
Still, it seemed extreme. More likely it was a bluff. I couldn't let her get to me, or she would have won. And I was certainly going to have words with Harper the next time I saw her. Whether it was for real or not, I didn't need to be worrying like that.
"If I get ill, Mum's going to be really mad." I didn't think I needed to say anything else. I wasn't even too mad at her for trying something crazy. It might be dumb, but she was just trying to embarrass me. I might have done the same in her place, and it was kind of justified by the number of wet mornings she'd had recently; all of them my fault.
"You'll be fine, baby," she said with a smile. "Just a couple more nights in diapers for you, now Mum agreed I don't need them."
I nodded. After much whining, Lindy had managed to persuade Mum not to make her wear her pull-ups until we were out. She would be able to make her own choice about if she wanted them when she was at camp; making her own decision, and dealing with her own consequences. So it kind of made sense that if she could stay dry for a long weekend in unfamiliar surroundings, she wouldn't have to start wearing them again when she came back. I'd argued on her behalf, as well. I didn't want my sister to be miserable, and even if she wasn't wearing them anymore, it was less than a week since Mum had done a big bulk purchase. There would be some when I wanted them for quite some time.
So her behaviour made sense. Tonight was the last night she would be wearing them, if all went to plan. She didn't know that I was going to keep on wearing them when I got the chance. So in her mind, tonight was the last opportunity to prank me back. No wonder she'd decided to pull out all the stops. I hesitated for a moment, raising my hands to my face, and then turned away so that she couldn't see how embarrassed I was. Still, it was nearly bedtime now, and I realised that it was too late to do anything to thwart her wicked plan. I could just get changed for bed, brush my teeth, and all the usual stuff.
I found myself staring at the toilet. She hadn't actually told me I wasn't allowed to go tonight, but I still hesitated. What would happen if this stuff worked? What was the worst case? Lindy would already be rushing to go out when I woke up, so I doubted she'd have much time to tease me about it. She probably wouldn't even have a chance to take photos. Maybe it would be better to allow her a small win, then she might stop trying to get one over on me. And after some of the stuff I'd been reading up on recently, I was really curious about what might be possible. It wouldn't hurt to see if whatever Lindy had found was actually true?
I told myself I just wanted to find out whether it was real. It was like when I read the stupid stuff about putting someone's hand in water, and my curiosity wouldn't let me go until I knew how large a kernel of truth was at the centre of the myths. I might as well give it a reasonable test, so I didn't pee before heading to bed. I was tired already, and it was hard to keep my eyes open long enough to send a message to Harper Eisen asking what the hell she was playing at. Once that was done, I grabbed Lincoln and my pacifier and fell asleep faster than I ever had before.