Riley

22

Lying on the bed, Riley watched the sky outside the window. Dark and full of white dots, and it was only seven o'clock at night this deluded her brain that it was bedtime. Maybe Mom had put her in a diaper for the night so no one would argue and she could close her eyes and end this long, heavy day.

She thought of Luz, Ferg, and Theo. The four of them had done nothing wrong and had gotten a punishment that she felt was unfair and benefited Katrine and the others. In fact, it did not benefit any of them, since they had decided to go their separate ways. The real culprits are them!" she repeated in her head. That sanction continued to make no sense.

"How will their parents have taken it?" she questioned to herself. "They must have been pretty upset?"

Pause.

"Of course they must have been angry! Except for Mr. and Mrs. Glenn who seemed to have ignored Mr. Bright's words."

Another pause.

"Why do Theo's parents want him to change schools? Our school is perfect, there's nothing wrong with it... it's a school!"

She blinked, a black silhouette blocked the view between her and the star-filled sky. Riley gasped in terror and jumped out of bed. A thief!

The silhouette knocked twice, then said her name. Riley was astonished to discover the true identity of what looked like a black ghost come to take possession of her body.

The 11-year-old opened the door for her and let her in; before closing it, she looked out, uselessly, at the canopy. She could not see anything because of the little lighting present.

"Excuse me for showing up unannounced. Were you sleeping?" asked affiantly Sally.

Riley ran to turn on the light. "I was about to fall asleep actually. But I can't afford to, otherwise things can happen... unpleasant things."

Sally frowned. "What do you mean?"

Riley lowered her pants slightly – her mother told her to put them on after she put her down from the changing table – and showed her the clean diaper she was wearing. "Mom and Dad want me to wear diapers for the night. They say I tend to pee a lot when I sleep. When I had gone to Grandma Talia's, I wet the couch while I was sleeping."

She went to ajar the door, the fear that her mother might come to find out that Sally was in their house without any notice or invitation from her.

"I still have to eat dinner, do you?" she asked her in a hopeful tone.

"You won't believe it, but my mother forgot to make me dinner!" she admitted in amazement. Riley ordered her to lower her voice. "She fed my brothers and then went to watch the tv, forgetting about me!"

"So your stomach is empty?"

"I made myself a sandwich, but it didn't satiate me at all."

Riley looked at the door for the second time in a matter of seconds. She could go out and explain everything to his mother; she would have no problem adding a place at the table, especially if she heard what had happened to Sally. To calm the situation, she asked her friend, "Do you have it on you?"

Blushing, she said embarrassedly, "Well yes... I think I need to change it, getting to your window emptied me out completely!"

Riley ventured to ask her, "Do you... do you want me to change you? Or do you want me to ask Mom?"

Sally took on a look mixed between astonishment and fear; her brain had gone haywire hearing that question. What had she just asked her? Did she really know how to change a diaper? If so, would she have allowed her to?