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 her 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 Dad 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. She 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," she 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.