Eager Beaver

Chapter Twenty-Five - Friends

I let out a long exasperated sigh as I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror. I rubbed my face with my hands, before finally reaching down and stripping the soiled boxer briefs off my bum. In the corner of the washroom behind the door laid Laurie's own pee stained pajamas. I shoved the pair of boxer briefs I had been so happy to put on yesterday into my friend's trash can, feeling like I was throwing away my own maturity. Then I plopped down on the toilet to do my business.

I sat there for a good while, thinking about everything that had happened. Why was Zach cleaning up after Laurie anyway? Even stranger, why was he cleaning up after me? Was their Mom still not home? The questions left a weird sensation in my tummy, like I was breaking a rule or something. I hadn't even seen an adult since the evening before when we went around door to door selling apples. The whole thing didn't feel right. I knew my mom wouldn't approve. Perhaps I should have gone home last night after all? At least that way I wouldn't have woken up in a puddle of cold pee. Or, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have.

I finally finished peeing, feeling a lot more relaxed already. I wished I could stop worrying just as easily. Dad had always said I was a 'worry wort' - just like Mum. I was probably just being silly. Maybe Zach's mom and dad were just asleep still? It still felt really early in the morning.

I hopped off the toilet, letting the shower run for a moment before I stepped under the stream. It was just the right temperature, and I was happy to have the hot steamy water wash away the gross mess from earlier. I kinda understood why it had made Laurie feel so much better - it was as if all the yucky feelings went down the drain too. I picked up Laurie's bottle of shampoo, smiling to myself as I saw the brand. Of course he had some little kids' 'No More Tears' product. I had been using whatever my Dad happened to buy for a few years and the smell brought back a lot of distant fuzzy memories of playing in a bubble bath. When was the last time I'd done that? When I was five? Four? I decided that maybe tonight I would take one - just for the fun of it.

Feeling a lot better and more awake, I shut off the shower - letting the soapy water swirl down towards the drain. Reaching out for a towel on the rack, I quickly realized I had snagged a second hooded towel. For a moment I was confused, seeing that it was just like Lauire's squirrel towel except that this one was made of brown terry cloth and had a face on the hood more like an otter. For a second I thought Laurie and Zach had arranged for a towel just for me - since Rascal was the otter in Friends of the Forest. After I thought about it for a second though, I realized It probably made more sense that this towel was simply Zach's old one. Rascal used to be his beaver name too after all.

I slipped on the hooded towel and headed back to Laurie and Zach's room, opening the door with a creak. Laurie was sitting on his freshly made bed, running his hand playfully over the crisp clean sheets. They were green and orange, and had pictures of fluffy cute woodland creatures all over them. Still with nothing but his orange squirrel towel wrapped around him, he already seemed preoccupied with some kind of imaginary game - making high pitched squeaking squirrel noises with his mouth as he scurried his fingers along the sheets, his golden curls still dripping little droplets of water.

Hearing me enter, he looked up and gave a little giggle. "Hi Rascal." He said with a smile on his face as he jumped up off the bed. "Let's play tag!"

Before I could get a word out, he ran over to me and tapped my shoulder - running to the center of the room, clearly expecting me to chase him.

"Laurie." I said seriously, trying to get his attention. Now that it was just us, I wanted to get to the bottom of this myself. There was no way I'd wet myself. Zach had probably just been trying to protect Laurie's feelings.

"I'm not Laurie!" He exclaimed, a little defensively. "It's Tic Tac!"

"Right... Tic Tac..." I stammered. I grumbled in frustration. That type of correction usually only came from Alex - and even she had been keeping it contained mostly to Beaver meetings as of late.