Chapter 1
Nobody was listening to Rena. She told her mother she got an A in Math and her mother didn’t seem to care. She told her father she got accepted into an exclusive, weekend long soccer camp and her father didn’t even hear her. She told her friends she was excited and didn’t know what to pack, but they all didn’t even seem to believe she was going.
“No offense, Rena” Brittany said, almost guaranteeing that the following statement was going to be offensive. “This camp usually only accepts the best of the best, like only two or three girls per grade per school.”
“But… you’re all going,” Rena counted around her lunch table, five girls in just the fourth grade at Harmony Hills had all been accepted, but none of them thought for a second that Rena was telling the truth. Even though they had seen her in action on the field together.
“Maybe it was an accident,” Courtney suggested.
Rena shrugged, “Yeah, maybe only you and Brittany were supposed to be accepted.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gert asked. “You don’t think I could’ve made it in?”
“That’s not very nice, Rena,” Courtney said.
“Hang on,” Rena took a second to get caught up, “You think a glitch caused me to get accepted, but only me. So all of you should’ve gotten in, but not me? I know I am not the best on the team but I’m not terrible.”
“Of course not,” Brittany said. “It’s just that you’re… Uhm.” She turned to Courtney.
“How do we say this?” Courtney wondered.
“You’re a breg.” Gert
“I’m a what?” Rena asked.
“Exactly,” Courtney said, “A breg!”
“What is that?”
“It’s what you are,” Brittany said.
“Berg isn’t even a word,” Rena said.
“Typical berg,” Courtney sighed.
“Whatever,” Rena stood up, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“But the soccer camp is tomorrow,” Brittany said.
Rena stopped, turned to them one last time, and said, “I KNOW.”
Chapter 2
“Welcome, girls!” a slim woman said in a British accent. “I am Angelica Mara, instructor here at the Atlantic West Academy of England Football Studies. I am pleased to welcome the best of the best girls this region has to offer. You hail from the South of Brightwall, the North of Harmony Hills, and the East of Southbrook.”
“Why is she putting a direction in front of everything?” Rena asked.
Brittany shh’d her.
“There is no time to dilly dally,” Angelica Mara said. “You will head off on your first run immediately. When you return, your bags will be in your assigned bunks. After that, you will have twenty minutes of free time, followed by morning drills, mid morning run, lunch, afternoon drills, afternoon run, second lunch, afternoon drills, afternoon run, mid afternoon drills, dinner, after dinner run, more drills, and then arts and crafts before bed. Are there any questions?”
There was a brief moment where a few girls began to raise their hands.
And then, Angelica Mara pulled out a revolver and fired it into the air.
“Go!”
Instantly the girls dropped their bags and ran off along the guided trail. Rena stayed close to her friends, already a little tired.
***
After countless drills and running, Rena was exhausted. They ran a mile through the woods, dribbled balls up a hill, ran laps around an empty swimming pool, and carried empty Gatorade bottles to the recycling bin one at a time. By the time of the end of the day run, they were drenched in a short rainfall and covered in a splatter of subsequent mud.
And Rena couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hang on, guys,” Rena said as she started to slow down, “I have to pee.”
“So?” Courtney asked as she kept running. “Just do it in your shorts and keep running. They’re timing us, remember?”
“What?!” Rena was blown away. Surly they were just messing with her, like the berg thing.
“Yeah you want to get the best possible time, right?” Brittney also kept going, which prompted Rena to keep the pace up.
“You’re kidding, right?” Rena asked. “You want me to pee in my pants?”
“We already got rained on,” Courtney said. “Nobody will notice. But they’ll notice if your time is off by even a few seconds.”
The running was becoming brutal as every stride pushed on Rena’s bladder.
“Brittney,” Rena asked, “Weren’t you the one who flipped out when Lilly peed in your bed?”
“If she thought she was going to wet the bed then she should’ve worn a Pull-Up or something,” Brittney said. “That’s what I used to do.”
“You did?” Rena asked.
“Until like last year,” Brittney confirmed. “I mean come on I was only eight. A lot of kids still wet their beds when they’re our age.”
“Honestly, Rena,” Courtney said, “You’re the last person I thought would be not okay with peeing in your pants on a run. All of your friends wear diapers.”
“I don’t really hang out with them all that much anymore,” Rena said, constantly unsure if the wetness she felt was the rain or her own bladder betraying her.
“You packed extra clothes, right?” Brittany asked. “Just rinse your underwear before you put in the laundry. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
“Wait… You peed in your pants?!” you actually did it? Rena knew for sure at that moment that they had to be messing with her.
“Rena if you can’t be cool about this than maybe you should find someone else to run with,” Courtney said as she and Brittany picked up the pace.
Rena slowed down. She thought she had already found new friends. She started spending more time with the soccer team because she couldn’t handle the others wearing diapers. But now her new friends act like it’s no big deal. It’s what all kids their age do.
Rena couldn’t remember the last time she had a real accident. She couldn’t remember wetting the bed. But all of a sudden it felt like she was the only fourth grader at Harmony Hills who didn’t wet her pants.
Was she the weird one? I there something she was missing?
For a second, she considered it. The rain made her cold and she wouldn’t mind a quick way to warm up. She tried to let it go while she was running, but her muscles wouldn’t let her. Rena came to a complete halt and tried to relax. But at that point, it wasn’t even worth it.
She ran off to the side of the trail, pulled down her shorts and underwear, and let it out behind a bush.
Chapter 3
The sleeping arrangements were traditional camp cabins, with bunk beds and not much else in the way of fourniture. No couch or TV or any kind of common area. There wasn’t even a place to stash their bags. It seemed like, after just one day, that the camp was really just nothing but doing the same old soccer drills, this time instructed by British people.
“Rena, you got the lowest time. Not just low, it was like a whole minute lower than everyone else. What the hell happened?” Brittany said as she sat down on the bed across from her. “We were kidding about the whole breg thing. We actually think you’re almost as good as Courtney.”
“Almost,” Courtney repeated as she approached.
“I uh… Got held up,” Rena said, looking away.
“Hang on,” Brittany stopped her, “You didn’t go pee in the woods, did you?”
Rena was silent.
“Didn’t you hear the speech about dedication?” Courtney asked.
“I am sorry I can’t wet my pants whenever I want to,” Rena said, taking off her shoes.
“No one is asking you to pee yourself every time you’re on the field, okay? That’s gross.” Brittany said, totally seriously. “But this isn’t little league anymore. If you want to prove yourself, you have to commit.”
Gert approached their bunks and turned to Courtney as she asked, “Hey, I forgot to pack any Pull-Ups, can I borrow one of yours?”
“Sure,” Courtney said, going to grab her bag.
Rena was dumbfounded and wide eyed.
“What’s that look for?” Courtney asked as she handed a diaper to Gert.
“Okay, sure,” Rena said, “Brittany used to wear those, whatever. But you guys still do? Like… still?”
“Duh,” Courtney said.
“We’re nine,” Gert added.
“I said lots of kids our age still wet the bed,” Brittany reminded her.
Rena couldn’t believe it, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Izzy and Abigail, now Gert and Courtney, and that’s not including Nicole who went through a traumatic experience. Maybe this wasn’t a weekend-long prank to try and get Rena to wet herself.
“I mean I have heard commercials that say it’s common,” Rena said, “But I didn’t really think girls your age still wore Pull-Ups.”
“Miss Taylor!”
Rena winced at the shrill sound of Angelica Mara’s harsh Liverpool accent.
“Do I see you bullying other girls about their own personal and private medical conditions?” the world famous futballer asked.
“No, ma’am,” Brittany interjected, “We were just having an intelligent discussion about the percentage of boys and girls still affected by bedwetting.”
“Ah, in that case carry on,” Angelica Mara said. “You know, I was in nappies all through prim’ry school, wouldn’tchaknow? All boys and girls are different. Now then, lights out in ten.”
Rena still could not believe that this was happening. Unfortunately for her, it was not going to end anytime soon.
“So tell us, Rena,” Brittany said when Angelica Mara was out of earshot. “You’re really never ever had an accident?”
“We’re seriously doing this?” Rena asked. When they didn’t back down, she sighed and answered: “No.”
“Bullshit,” Gert said. “Everyone’s gone number one and number two in their pants at least once, and number one in their bed at least three times.”
Courtney and Brittany nodded.
“Not me,” Rena said. “Ever since I was first being potty trained I would go to the bathroom right before bed and have nothing to drink after dinner. And then I would set an alarm for 1AM and go again just in case.”
The girls stared at her for a moment. Rena wasn’t sure what they were looking at.
“So… What you’re saying” Courtney took it slowly, “Is that if you drank water before bed, didn’t go to the bathroom, and didn’t set an alarm, then you would wet the bed?”
“Perhaps,” Rena said, “I mean that’s the idea, right? Everyone does that to prevent accidents.”
“Yeah when they’re freakin five,” Gert said.
“Rena if you deny yourself water before bed, you’re probably going to be dehydrated,” Brittany said. “I bet you wake up really thirsty in the morning?”
“And if you wake up in the middle of the night you probably won’t get a proper night’s sleep afterwards,” Courtney said.
“It’s better than a wet bed, right?” Rena asked. “Brittany, how did you quit wetting? Like how were you night trained?”
“I wasn’t night trained,” Brittany said, “I just stopped. I grew out of it. I would wear Pull-Ups to bed all the time and one day they were dry and then the next and so on until we just stopped buying them and I stopped needing them.”
“So… Wait a minute,” Rena thought about it. She had spent nine years of her life believing that her actions were normal, the same all normal girls her age did aside from her weird group of friends. But now, she was convinced, that she was the weird one. And she was beginning to suspect something else as well.
“I’m sorry, Rena,” Brittany said, “But I am pretty sure you’re a bedwetter.”
Rena was silent.
“Yeah you might not actually wet the bed,” Courtney explained, “But if you can’t sleep through the night, peacefully and soundly, with a half full bladder, you’re a bedwetter.”
“But...” Rena could barely whimper.
“Try it tonight,” Brittany said. ”Drink some water, don’t go to the bathroom, and turn off your alarm. See what happens.”
“I used to do the whole ‘Pee Before Bed Then Wake Up” thing,” Courtney said, “But once we gave up and started using Pull-Ups, I felt a lot better. Got great sleep, my grades improved, and I even got better at soccer.”
“Football!” Angelica Mara called from across the room.
“You can borrow one of mine if you don’t want to wet your sleeping bag,” Courtney said. “Or not. your sleeping bag is ugly anyway.”
That night, Rena didn’t know what to do. Lights had only been out for five minutes before she was squirming in bed. She didn’t want them to be right, she didn’t want it to be true.
After two middle of the night trips, Rena stayed up all night, unable to get any sleep.
Chapter 4
The remainder of the camp was an uneventful weekend of running and drills. Rena was perplexed the entire time. Even though she had never ever wet the bed, she was being called a bedwetter by her friends who actually wore Pull-Ups.
Nothing made any sense. Not anymore.
A year ago, everything was normal. Everything was right. Everyone was looking forward to starting the fourth grade and no one was wearing Pull-Ups. Except for Gert and Courtney. And probably Brittany. Oh and Izzy.
But now, who among her slept in underwear? As everyone got ready for science class, Rena looked around the room. There were only a dozen or so girls in their class. Emma, Izzy, Mimi, Lilly, now Gert and Courtney? That was half the girls in her class.
Of the girls in Rena’s fourth grade class, there were three main cliques; the jockish tomboys, which Rena belong to, the super beautiful girls who developed early and will probably be sluts one day, and the not future slut girls who are developing at a normal rate. Rena’s former group of secondary friends occupied much of the latter group, now more appropriately identified as the girls who wear diapers and pee in them for fun. They are, however, still mostly flat chested.
The future sluts kept to themselves. Veronica, Pepper, Jonie, and Majonika. Rena had only ever said a few words to them outside of class time. There was no way any of them wore diapers. They were beauty queens and cheerleaders all the pretty boys loved them.
But the same could’ve been said about Abigail Shepard last year, up until the day she wet herself in front of the whole town.
Rena eyed up Veronica’s jeans, wondering if she could see the waistband of a Goodnite sticking out. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for, so she glanced over to Emma. Since Emma sat on the opposite side of a table, Rena pretended to drop her pencil and pick it up.
Underneath the table, Rena could not see a Pull-Up sticking out of Emma’s pants. Instead, she saw Emma holding Izzy’s hand.
The bell rang, startling Rena.
“Okay class,” Mrs. Elliot said. “Today we’re having a special class.”
“Yesssssss!” the collective class proclaimed.
“Settle down,” the teacher said. “Now, this is something that is usually saved for fifth or even sixth grade, but the times are changing and you kids are growing up faster than any generation before you.”
Everyone stared in silence.
“Right,” Mrs. Elliot cleared her throat. “The girls will be staying in here with me and the boys will be heading to the multi-purpose room with Mr. Lugotch.”
“The substitute gym teacher?” Nick asked.
“What’s he gonna teach us about science?” Max asked.
“And why do we have to leave?” Nick and the other boys were getting confused.
“Uhm...” Mrs. Elliot looked around at the eyes blinking at her in all their innocence. “Well… Why don’t you boys line up at the door and wait for Mr. Lugotch while I set up the TV.”
“We’re watching a video?” Izzy asked
“Is it Ant’s Life?” Emma asked.
“FLOOR-E?” Mimi asked.
“Monster Story: The Movie?” Lilly asked.
“Monster Story isn’t about science,” Mimi said.
“Yes it is!” Lilly said.
“It’s just a nerdy boy show,” Mimi said in return.
“No it’s not!” Lilly defended.
“I don’t even watch that anymore,” a nerdy boy said as he joined the boys at the door.
Lilly crossed her arms in a huff and looked away from Mimi.
“Now,” Mrs. Elliot said when the boys were gone, “No, we’re not watching a cartoon. This video is called: My Changing Body.”
The girls stared at her in silence.
Chapter 5
Twenty agonizing minutes later, the video turned off on it’s own and Mrs. Elliot faced the classroom. “Okay then,” she said, “Does anybody have any questions?”
Every single girl in the room started talking at once.
“What’s a mistral cycle?”
“How do the tadpoles get in the mommy’s belly?”
“Am I gonna die?”
“When do I get boobs?”
“I don’t wanna die!”
“Do we have to put on deodorant every week, or just when we get our periods?”
“Seriously, am I dying?”
“OKAAAAAY!” Mrs. Elliot held up her hands. “How about this,” she got out a basket and passed out some paper. “Everyone wrote down some questions and then one by one we’ll discuss them.”
As everyone started scribbling, Rena stared at her blank piece of paper. This was all so new to her, she had so many unanswered questions.
She looked around at all the mysterious things surrounding her. Veronica’s big boobs, Emma holding Izzy’s hand, girls her age still wearing diapers for bedwetting, or even wearing them for fun. She didn’t understand anything.
“Okay, this looks like enough,” Mrs. Elliott said, “Everybody have at least one question in the basket?”
Rena quickly grabbed her sheet of paper and smashed it into her pocket.
Mrs. Elliot pulled a question from the basket and read it aloud: “How come I get zits and other girls don’t.”
Everyone instantly started looking around, holding up their hands to deny having written the question.
“Great question,” Mrs. Elliot said, “Not washing your face regularly can lead to acne, as well as other factors such as stress or diet. Most pharmacy bought treatments will be enough to clear up your skin, but eventually you’ll grow out of it.”
“I think it was Mimi!” Emma cheered.
“Correct!” Mimi through her arms in there air. “You win!”
“You don’t even have any pimples,” Izzy said.
“Yeah but I couldn’t think of a good one,” Mimi said. “This is gun, what’s next?”
“It’s not a game,” Mrs. Elliott said as she grabbed another question. “This one says: “Sometimes I wet my bed. Is that part of my body changing?”
“That’s a hard one,” Veronica said, “How many girls in here wear diapers? Like eight?”
“Now now,” Mrs. Elliott said, “Let’s be nice and answer the question. A lot of kids simply grow up differently. Sometimes your body will grow faster than your bladder, which can cause bedwetting. In many cases, the wetting will stop as you go through puberty, but it can actually start again during puberty and last well into adulthood.”
“So it’s someone who already wets then?” Pepper asked. “It’s either Izzy or Lilly.”
“Girls!” Mrs. Elliott raised her voice, to no avail.
“No Lilly only started because she got cancer,” Jonie said, “I heard it was Gert.”
“But Nick said Lilly was wearing them before she got sick,” Majonika said. “And what about Emma. She is Abigail Shepard’s cousin, and everyone knows Abigail shepard isn’t potty trained.”
“Just like her BFF, Potty Pants Penny,” Veronica said.
“Who?” Pepper asked.
“Mimi’s sister,” Veronica explained. “Oh crap, what if it’s Mimi?”
“And they were friends with Nicole who was a total pants pooper, remember?” Jonie added.
“Girls!” no one was listening to Mrs. Elliott anymore.
“My sister went to that soccer camp this weekend,” Majonika said, “And she said see saw Courtney wearing one!”
“And what about when your mom made you invite Brittany to your sleepover two years ago?” Veronica asked Jonie.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
Everyone turned to the source of the shouting.
It was Rena.
“Who cares who it is? Everyone grows up differently, right? No one is the same, that’s what makes us unique right? I’m not as good at soccer as Brittaney, she’s not as good at math as Gert, and Gert’s not as tall as Mimi. So someone wets the bed. Whatever, right? It doesn’t affect anyone else so it’s none of your business. Maybe it’s Emma, maybe it’s Mimi. Maybe it’s even me? None of you are accusing each other, so I find that a little suspicious. Is it you, Veronica? What about you, Pepper? Everyone’s done it at least three times, right?”
Veronica and Pepper looked at each other as the class grew silent and focused on the two of them. Then, Veronica turned to Rena and said, “So you admit it? You’re the bedwetter.”
Veronica and her gang of future sluts burst out laughing.
“Okay, that’ sit!” Mrs. Elliott said, “You four. In the hall. Now!”
As their teacher guided the bitch brigade out of the room, everyone else converged on Rena.
“That was so brave!”
“You’re so cool!”
“Why did you stand up for us?”
“Did I mention that was brave?”
“That was like this time on Monster Story when-”
“Shut up, Lilly!”
Rena blushed.
“Weird,” Brittany said, “You’re the only one here who’s never wet the bed. Why did you do that?”
Rena shrugged. “They were doing it just to be mean,” she said. “That’s not right. They’re always like that, rude and nasty. They need someone to stand up to them. I just felt like… It had to be me.”
“Wait a minute!” Mimi said, “Who wrote it, then?”
“It doesn’t matter, remember?” Emma said.
“So we have another mystery?” Mimi smiled. “In that case, this looks like a job for-”
“Okay, it was me,” Emma admitted just to shut her up.
Mrs. Elliott returned with Veronica and her gang. She continued to answer questions from the basket as the future sluts remained silent. When the bell rang, Mrs. Elliott gave each girl what looked like a party favor bag you get at a birthday party.
That’s not what it was.
On their way through the halls to their next class, Veronica bumped into Rena and whispered, “Bedwetter,” as she ran passed her.
Rena knew Veronica was wrong - sort of - but didn’t feel the need to correct her. She just carried on with her life and didn’t let anyone get in her way.
Until recess when she pushed Veronica into an open manhole.
Okay… I made that last part up.
Nobody was listening to Rena. She told her mother she got an A in Math and her mother didn’t seem to care. She told her father she got accepted into an exclusive, weekend long soccer camp and her father didn’t even hear her. She told her friends she was excited and didn’t know what to pack, but they all didn’t even seem to believe she was going.
“No offense, Rena” Brittany said, almost guaranteeing that the following statement was going to be offensive. “This camp usually only accepts the best of the best, like only two or three girls per grade per school.”
“But… you’re all going,” Rena counted around her lunch table, five girls in just the fourth grade at Harmony Hills had all been accepted, but none of them thought for a second that Rena was telling the truth. Even though they had seen her in action on the field together.
“Maybe it was an accident,” Courtney suggested.
Rena shrugged, “Yeah, maybe only you and Brittany were supposed to be accepted.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gert asked. “You don’t think I could’ve made it in?”
“That’s not very nice, Rena,” Courtney said.
“Hang on,” Rena took a second to get caught up, “You think a glitch caused me to get accepted, but only me. So all of you should’ve gotten in, but not me? I know I am not the best on the team but I’m not terrible.”
“Of course not,” Brittany said. “It’s just that you’re… Uhm.” She turned to Courtney.
“How do we say this?” Courtney wondered.
“You’re a breg.” Gert
“I’m a what?” Rena asked.
“Exactly,” Courtney said, “A breg!”
“What is that?”
“It’s what you are,” Brittany said.
“Berg isn’t even a word,” Rena said.
“Typical berg,” Courtney sighed.
“Whatever,” Rena stood up, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“But the soccer camp is tomorrow,” Brittany said.
Rena stopped, turned to them one last time, and said, “I KNOW.”
Chapter 2
“Welcome, girls!” a slim woman said in a British accent. “I am Angelica Mara, instructor here at the Atlantic West Academy of England Football Studies. I am pleased to welcome the best of the best girls this region has to offer. You hail from the South of Brightwall, the North of Harmony Hills, and the East of Southbrook.”
“Why is she putting a direction in front of everything?” Rena asked.
Brittany shh’d her.
“There is no time to dilly dally,” Angelica Mara said. “You will head off on your first run immediately. When you return, your bags will be in your assigned bunks. After that, you will have twenty minutes of free time, followed by morning drills, mid morning run, lunch, afternoon drills, afternoon run, second lunch, afternoon drills, afternoon run, mid afternoon drills, dinner, after dinner run, more drills, and then arts and crafts before bed. Are there any questions?”
There was a brief moment where a few girls began to raise their hands.
And then, Angelica Mara pulled out a revolver and fired it into the air.
“Go!”
Instantly the girls dropped their bags and ran off along the guided trail. Rena stayed close to her friends, already a little tired.
***
After countless drills and running, Rena was exhausted. They ran a mile through the woods, dribbled balls up a hill, ran laps around an empty swimming pool, and carried empty Gatorade bottles to the recycling bin one at a time. By the time of the end of the day run, they were drenched in a short rainfall and covered in a splatter of subsequent mud.
And Rena couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hang on, guys,” Rena said as she started to slow down, “I have to pee.”
“So?” Courtney asked as she kept running. “Just do it in your shorts and keep running. They’re timing us, remember?”
“What?!” Rena was blown away. Surly they were just messing with her, like the berg thing.
“Yeah you want to get the best possible time, right?” Brittney also kept going, which prompted Rena to keep the pace up.
“You’re kidding, right?” Rena asked. “You want me to pee in my pants?”
“We already got rained on,” Courtney said. “Nobody will notice. But they’ll notice if your time is off by even a few seconds.”
The running was becoming brutal as every stride pushed on Rena’s bladder.
“Brittney,” Rena asked, “Weren’t you the one who flipped out when Lilly peed in your bed?”
“If she thought she was going to wet the bed then she should’ve worn a Pull-Up or something,” Brittney said. “That’s what I used to do.”
“You did?” Rena asked.
“Until like last year,” Brittney confirmed. “I mean come on I was only eight. A lot of kids still wet their beds when they’re our age.”
“Honestly, Rena,” Courtney said, “You’re the last person I thought would be not okay with peeing in your pants on a run. All of your friends wear diapers.”
“I don’t really hang out with them all that much anymore,” Rena said, constantly unsure if the wetness she felt was the rain or her own bladder betraying her.
“You packed extra clothes, right?” Brittany asked. “Just rinse your underwear before you put in the laundry. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
“Wait… You peed in your pants?!” you actually did it? Rena knew for sure at that moment that they had to be messing with her.
“Rena if you can’t be cool about this than maybe you should find someone else to run with,” Courtney said as she and Brittany picked up the pace.
Rena slowed down. She thought she had already found new friends. She started spending more time with the soccer team because she couldn’t handle the others wearing diapers. But now her new friends act like it’s no big deal. It’s what all kids their age do.
Rena couldn’t remember the last time she had a real accident. She couldn’t remember wetting the bed. But all of a sudden it felt like she was the only fourth grader at Harmony Hills who didn’t wet her pants.
Was she the weird one? I there something she was missing?
For a second, she considered it. The rain made her cold and she wouldn’t mind a quick way to warm up. She tried to let it go while she was running, but her muscles wouldn’t let her. Rena came to a complete halt and tried to relax. But at that point, it wasn’t even worth it.
She ran off to the side of the trail, pulled down her shorts and underwear, and let it out behind a bush.
Chapter 3
The sleeping arrangements were traditional camp cabins, with bunk beds and not much else in the way of fourniture. No couch or TV or any kind of common area. There wasn’t even a place to stash their bags. It seemed like, after just one day, that the camp was really just nothing but doing the same old soccer drills, this time instructed by British people.
“Rena, you got the lowest time. Not just low, it was like a whole minute lower than everyone else. What the hell happened?” Brittany said as she sat down on the bed across from her. “We were kidding about the whole breg thing. We actually think you’re almost as good as Courtney.”
“Almost,” Courtney repeated as she approached.
“I uh… Got held up,” Rena said, looking away.
“Hang on,” Brittany stopped her, “You didn’t go pee in the woods, did you?”
Rena was silent.
“Didn’t you hear the speech about dedication?” Courtney asked.
“I am sorry I can’t wet my pants whenever I want to,” Rena said, taking off her shoes.
“No one is asking you to pee yourself every time you’re on the field, okay? That’s gross.” Brittany said, totally seriously. “But this isn’t little league anymore. If you want to prove yourself, you have to commit.”
Gert approached their bunks and turned to Courtney as she asked, “Hey, I forgot to pack any Pull-Ups, can I borrow one of yours?”
“Sure,” Courtney said, going to grab her bag.
Rena was dumbfounded and wide eyed.
“What’s that look for?” Courtney asked as she handed a diaper to Gert.
“Okay, sure,” Rena said, “Brittany used to wear those, whatever. But you guys still do? Like… still?”
“Duh,” Courtney said.
“We’re nine,” Gert added.
“I said lots of kids our age still wet the bed,” Brittany reminded her.
Rena couldn’t believe it, but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Izzy and Abigail, now Gert and Courtney, and that’s not including Nicole who went through a traumatic experience. Maybe this wasn’t a weekend-long prank to try and get Rena to wet herself.
“I mean I have heard commercials that say it’s common,” Rena said, “But I didn’t really think girls your age still wore Pull-Ups.”
“Miss Taylor!”
Rena winced at the shrill sound of Angelica Mara’s harsh Liverpool accent.
“Do I see you bullying other girls about their own personal and private medical conditions?” the world famous futballer asked.
“No, ma’am,” Brittany interjected, “We were just having an intelligent discussion about the percentage of boys and girls still affected by bedwetting.”
“Ah, in that case carry on,” Angelica Mara said. “You know, I was in nappies all through prim’ry school, wouldn’tchaknow? All boys and girls are different. Now then, lights out in ten.”
Rena still could not believe that this was happening. Unfortunately for her, it was not going to end anytime soon.
“So tell us, Rena,” Brittany said when Angelica Mara was out of earshot. “You’re really never ever had an accident?”
“We’re seriously doing this?” Rena asked. When they didn’t back down, she sighed and answered: “No.”
“Bullshit,” Gert said. “Everyone’s gone number one and number two in their pants at least once, and number one in their bed at least three times.”
Courtney and Brittany nodded.
“Not me,” Rena said. “Ever since I was first being potty trained I would go to the bathroom right before bed and have nothing to drink after dinner. And then I would set an alarm for 1AM and go again just in case.”
The girls stared at her for a moment. Rena wasn’t sure what they were looking at.
“So… What you’re saying” Courtney took it slowly, “Is that if you drank water before bed, didn’t go to the bathroom, and didn’t set an alarm, then you would wet the bed?”
“Perhaps,” Rena said, “I mean that’s the idea, right? Everyone does that to prevent accidents.”
“Yeah when they’re freakin five,” Gert said.
“Rena if you deny yourself water before bed, you’re probably going to be dehydrated,” Brittany said. “I bet you wake up really thirsty in the morning?”
“And if you wake up in the middle of the night you probably won’t get a proper night’s sleep afterwards,” Courtney said.
“It’s better than a wet bed, right?” Rena asked. “Brittany, how did you quit wetting? Like how were you night trained?”
“I wasn’t night trained,” Brittany said, “I just stopped. I grew out of it. I would wear Pull-Ups to bed all the time and one day they were dry and then the next and so on until we just stopped buying them and I stopped needing them.”
“So… Wait a minute,” Rena thought about it. She had spent nine years of her life believing that her actions were normal, the same all normal girls her age did aside from her weird group of friends. But now, she was convinced, that she was the weird one. And she was beginning to suspect something else as well.
“I’m sorry, Rena,” Brittany said, “But I am pretty sure you’re a bedwetter.”
Rena was silent.
“Yeah you might not actually wet the bed,” Courtney explained, “But if you can’t sleep through the night, peacefully and soundly, with a half full bladder, you’re a bedwetter.”
“But...” Rena could barely whimper.
“Try it tonight,” Brittany said. ”Drink some water, don’t go to the bathroom, and turn off your alarm. See what happens.”
“I used to do the whole ‘Pee Before Bed Then Wake Up” thing,” Courtney said, “But once we gave up and started using Pull-Ups, I felt a lot better. Got great sleep, my grades improved, and I even got better at soccer.”
“Football!” Angelica Mara called from across the room.
“You can borrow one of mine if you don’t want to wet your sleeping bag,” Courtney said. “Or not. your sleeping bag is ugly anyway.”
That night, Rena didn’t know what to do. Lights had only been out for five minutes before she was squirming in bed. She didn’t want them to be right, she didn’t want it to be true.
After two middle of the night trips, Rena stayed up all night, unable to get any sleep.
Chapter 4
The remainder of the camp was an uneventful weekend of running and drills. Rena was perplexed the entire time. Even though she had never ever wet the bed, she was being called a bedwetter by her friends who actually wore Pull-Ups.
Nothing made any sense. Not anymore.
A year ago, everything was normal. Everything was right. Everyone was looking forward to starting the fourth grade and no one was wearing Pull-Ups. Except for Gert and Courtney. And probably Brittany. Oh and Izzy.
But now, who among her slept in underwear? As everyone got ready for science class, Rena looked around the room. There were only a dozen or so girls in their class. Emma, Izzy, Mimi, Lilly, now Gert and Courtney? That was half the girls in her class.
Of the girls in Rena’s fourth grade class, there were three main cliques; the jockish tomboys, which Rena belong to, the super beautiful girls who developed early and will probably be sluts one day, and the not future slut girls who are developing at a normal rate. Rena’s former group of secondary friends occupied much of the latter group, now more appropriately identified as the girls who wear diapers and pee in them for fun. They are, however, still mostly flat chested.
The future sluts kept to themselves. Veronica, Pepper, Jonie, and Majonika. Rena had only ever said a few words to them outside of class time. There was no way any of them wore diapers. They were beauty queens and cheerleaders all the pretty boys loved them.
But the same could’ve been said about Abigail Shepard last year, up until the day she wet herself in front of the whole town.
Rena eyed up Veronica’s jeans, wondering if she could see the waistband of a Goodnite sticking out. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for, so she glanced over to Emma. Since Emma sat on the opposite side of a table, Rena pretended to drop her pencil and pick it up.
Underneath the table, Rena could not see a Pull-Up sticking out of Emma’s pants. Instead, she saw Emma holding Izzy’s hand.
The bell rang, startling Rena.
“Okay class,” Mrs. Elliot said. “Today we’re having a special class.”
“Yesssssss!” the collective class proclaimed.
“Settle down,” the teacher said. “Now, this is something that is usually saved for fifth or even sixth grade, but the times are changing and you kids are growing up faster than any generation before you.”
Everyone stared in silence.
“Right,” Mrs. Elliot cleared her throat. “The girls will be staying in here with me and the boys will be heading to the multi-purpose room with Mr. Lugotch.”
“The substitute gym teacher?” Nick asked.
“What’s he gonna teach us about science?” Max asked.
“And why do we have to leave?” Nick and the other boys were getting confused.
“Uhm...” Mrs. Elliot looked around at the eyes blinking at her in all their innocence. “Well… Why don’t you boys line up at the door and wait for Mr. Lugotch while I set up the TV.”
“We’re watching a video?” Izzy asked
“Is it Ant’s Life?” Emma asked.
“FLOOR-E?” Mimi asked.
“Monster Story: The Movie?” Lilly asked.
“Monster Story isn’t about science,” Mimi said.
“Yes it is!” Lilly said.
“It’s just a nerdy boy show,” Mimi said in return.
“No it’s not!” Lilly defended.
“I don’t even watch that anymore,” a nerdy boy said as he joined the boys at the door.
Lilly crossed her arms in a huff and looked away from Mimi.
“Now,” Mrs. Elliot said when the boys were gone, “No, we’re not watching a cartoon. This video is called: My Changing Body.”
The girls stared at her in silence.
Chapter 5
Twenty agonizing minutes later, the video turned off on it’s own and Mrs. Elliot faced the classroom. “Okay then,” she said, “Does anybody have any questions?”
Every single girl in the room started talking at once.
“What’s a mistral cycle?”
“How do the tadpoles get in the mommy’s belly?”
“Am I gonna die?”
“When do I get boobs?”
“I don’t wanna die!”
“Do we have to put on deodorant every week, or just when we get our periods?”
“Seriously, am I dying?”
“OKAAAAAY!” Mrs. Elliot held up her hands. “How about this,” she got out a basket and passed out some paper. “Everyone wrote down some questions and then one by one we’ll discuss them.”
As everyone started scribbling, Rena stared at her blank piece of paper. This was all so new to her, she had so many unanswered questions.
She looked around at all the mysterious things surrounding her. Veronica’s big boobs, Emma holding Izzy’s hand, girls her age still wearing diapers for bedwetting, or even wearing them for fun. She didn’t understand anything.
“Okay, this looks like enough,” Mrs. Elliott said, “Everybody have at least one question in the basket?”
Rena quickly grabbed her sheet of paper and smashed it into her pocket.
Mrs. Elliot pulled a question from the basket and read it aloud: “How come I get zits and other girls don’t.”
Everyone instantly started looking around, holding up their hands to deny having written the question.
“Great question,” Mrs. Elliot said, “Not washing your face regularly can lead to acne, as well as other factors such as stress or diet. Most pharmacy bought treatments will be enough to clear up your skin, but eventually you’ll grow out of it.”
“I think it was Mimi!” Emma cheered.
“Correct!” Mimi through her arms in there air. “You win!”
“You don’t even have any pimples,” Izzy said.
“Yeah but I couldn’t think of a good one,” Mimi said. “This is gun, what’s next?”
“It’s not a game,” Mrs. Elliott said as she grabbed another question. “This one says: “Sometimes I wet my bed. Is that part of my body changing?”
“That’s a hard one,” Veronica said, “How many girls in here wear diapers? Like eight?”
“Now now,” Mrs. Elliott said, “Let’s be nice and answer the question. A lot of kids simply grow up differently. Sometimes your body will grow faster than your bladder, which can cause bedwetting. In many cases, the wetting will stop as you go through puberty, but it can actually start again during puberty and last well into adulthood.”
“So it’s someone who already wets then?” Pepper asked. “It’s either Izzy or Lilly.”
“Girls!” Mrs. Elliott raised her voice, to no avail.
“No Lilly only started because she got cancer,” Jonie said, “I heard it was Gert.”
“But Nick said Lilly was wearing them before she got sick,” Majonika said. “And what about Emma. She is Abigail Shepard’s cousin, and everyone knows Abigail shepard isn’t potty trained.”
“Just like her BFF, Potty Pants Penny,” Veronica said.
“Who?” Pepper asked.
“Mimi’s sister,” Veronica explained. “Oh crap, what if it’s Mimi?”
“And they were friends with Nicole who was a total pants pooper, remember?” Jonie added.
“Girls!” no one was listening to Mrs. Elliott anymore.
“My sister went to that soccer camp this weekend,” Majonika said, “And she said see saw Courtney wearing one!”
“And what about when your mom made you invite Brittany to your sleepover two years ago?” Veronica asked Jonie.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!”
Everyone turned to the source of the shouting.
It was Rena.
“Who cares who it is? Everyone grows up differently, right? No one is the same, that’s what makes us unique right? I’m not as good at soccer as Brittaney, she’s not as good at math as Gert, and Gert’s not as tall as Mimi. So someone wets the bed. Whatever, right? It doesn’t affect anyone else so it’s none of your business. Maybe it’s Emma, maybe it’s Mimi. Maybe it’s even me? None of you are accusing each other, so I find that a little suspicious. Is it you, Veronica? What about you, Pepper? Everyone’s done it at least three times, right?”
Veronica and Pepper looked at each other as the class grew silent and focused on the two of them. Then, Veronica turned to Rena and said, “So you admit it? You’re the bedwetter.”
Veronica and her gang of future sluts burst out laughing.
“Okay, that’ sit!” Mrs. Elliott said, “You four. In the hall. Now!”
As their teacher guided the bitch brigade out of the room, everyone else converged on Rena.
“That was so brave!”
“You’re so cool!”
“Why did you stand up for us?”
“Did I mention that was brave?”
“That was like this time on Monster Story when-”
“Shut up, Lilly!”
Rena blushed.
“Weird,” Brittany said, “You’re the only one here who’s never wet the bed. Why did you do that?”
Rena shrugged. “They were doing it just to be mean,” she said. “That’s not right. They’re always like that, rude and nasty. They need someone to stand up to them. I just felt like… It had to be me.”
“Wait a minute!” Mimi said, “Who wrote it, then?”
“It doesn’t matter, remember?” Emma said.
“So we have another mystery?” Mimi smiled. “In that case, this looks like a job for-”
“Okay, it was me,” Emma admitted just to shut her up.
Mrs. Elliott returned with Veronica and her gang. She continued to answer questions from the basket as the future sluts remained silent. When the bell rang, Mrs. Elliott gave each girl what looked like a party favor bag you get at a birthday party.
That’s not what it was.
On their way through the halls to their next class, Veronica bumped into Rena and whispered, “Bedwetter,” as she ran passed her.
Rena knew Veronica was wrong - sort of - but didn’t feel the need to correct her. She just carried on with her life and didn’t let anyone get in her way.
Until recess when she pushed Veronica into an open manhole.
Okay… I made that last part up.