Chapter 8
“Wake up!”
I opened my eyes and I saw lots of shapes and colors move around me. As my eyes grew less fuzzy and refocused, I saw the students around me waking up and getting off their mats. I never thought I’d want to take a nap during school, but I have to admit that is was extremely refreshing. I was wide-awake and ready for the rest of my day. Mandatory “nap time” during school might as well be a federal law based on the way I was feeling.
I noticed Cameron getting up along with everyone else. When he caught me staring at him, I quickly averted my eyes. “Have a good nap?” he asked.
I nodded. “It felt great.”
“Good.” He grabbed his backpack and stood up. “I’ll see you later, Amber.”
Before I could even say “Bye Cameron,” he was already headed towards the door. I looked around and saw everyone grabbing their bags and piling out of the gym. I took my tote bag, got up, and started walking towards the exit as well.
On my way I was stopped by a woman, who stood in front of me and blocked my path, about halfway across the room. It only took me a few seconds to realize this was the same woman I had seen before in the restroom! Why was she staring me down so scornfully?
“Please come with me, young lady,” she said to me. Before I could even respond, she grabbed my arm and pulled me across the gym floor to the exit. I started to panic. What did I do?
The woman continued to drag me through the hallway, she latching onto my arm. I wanted to pull it away from her, as I would have followed her whether or not she needed to hold onto me, but I didn’t want to add more trouble. I noticed a few students were staring at me, but they showed neither signs of interest of pity in their faces. Great, for all I knew they would think of me as the “troublemaker” from this point forward.
We stopped in front of a door with a plaque next to it that read: PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE: PRINCIPAL RICH DIXON. The blond woman opened the door, dragged me past the secretary, and towed me into the principal’s office. The principal was busy reading some sort of memo on his desk, barely acknowledging that we had entered other than other than looking up once to see who had come in.
The blonde woman sat me down in a small uncomfortable chair facing the desk. I tried not to show it on the outside, but I was freaking out internally. What had I done that would warrant me to go the principal’s office? Was it because I used the restroom? Or because I didn’t want to drink out of a sippy cup? Maybe I had been snoring during nap time? Whatever it was, I hoped my parents wouldn’t find out I got in trouble on the first day of school.
“What is it this time, Ms. Grayson?” asked Principal Dixon, still not looking up from his desk.
“Principal Dixon, I found this girl without a diaper on,” started the woman. “At first, I saw her entering the visitors’ restroom at the same time I happened to be using it. That raised my first suspicion, but I let it go. Then later when I was doing checkups during naptime, sure enough I get to the same girl. And when I checked her, she was diaperless!”
“Ah, ‘going commando’ as they say?” the principal said.
“No, she is wearing woman’s underwear. Certainly not something appropriate for her age. Heavens knows where she got them from.”
Principal Dixon looked up and stared directly at me, and somehow I could feel the pupils of his eyes burning into my own. “Well, young lady, you have anything to say for yourself?” he demanded.
I was speechless by this whole exchange. My panties were not age appropriate? Furthermore, this woman had actually checked to see what I wearing while I was sleeping? What kind of school was this?
“You believe that you’re some kind of rebel by disobeying the school dress code, the town dress code?” he continued. “You think you can just do whatever you want on school grounds?”
The man almost had me to tears. I just wanted to explain my situation, but I still couldn’t get any words out of my mouth.
“What’s your name, young lady?” he asked.
“A-Amber McC-Cormand, sir,” I stammered out nervously.
“McCormand… McCormand…” Dixon said, scratching his head. “You’re… you’re that transfer student, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
Suddenly the man’s expression changed from anger to that somewhat more understanding. “Well that changes things, doesn’t it Ms. Grayson?” he asked the blond woman, who simply nodded. “It appears we need to go over some basic rules, Miss McCormand. Funny, I thought that woman from Family Affairs goes over that with the newcomers.”
For some reason at this point, he got up and started pacing around the room as he spoke. “You see, Miss McCormand, overall at Timberly High we are pretty relaxed about our rules. Students are free to express themselves… within reason, of course. On the other hand, certain rules have to be strictly enforced. And our policy that every single student must wear a diaper is one of those rules!”
“But it just seems silly for me to wear a diaper if I’m perfectly capable of using the bathroom,” I tried to argue.
“Oh, so you’re looking for special treatment then?” the principal said condescendingly. “You think that because you’re more… gifted than the other students that you’re entitled to special privileges?”
“No, that’s not at all what I said—”
“We understand you may have done things differently at your old school, but this is how things are done here.”
“Sir, if you could just tell me why everyone has to wear diapers, maybe I’d understand a bit better.”
Principal Dixon didn’t respond quite as quickly this time. “There is a time and place for explanation, and this is not it. I’m a busy man, Miss McCormand. Now I give you two choices: either I let Ms. Grayson take you to a changing room or I can put you in detention until you comply. Which shall it be?”
I knew my parents wouldn’t be happy if I ended up in detention on the first day of school, so what other choice did I have? I responded to the ultimatum the way Principal Dixon expected me to. “Fine, I’ll put on a… a diaper.” I shuddered at saying those words.
The principal smiled. “Smart choice, young lady. Ms. Grayson, you may do what you need to do.”
“Thank you,” said Ms. Grayson. At that point she pulled me out of my chair, out of the office, and once again down the hallway. By now students had entered their classrooms so thankfully there was nobody else watching us this time. I thought about running away, but I knew that would just lead to detention. Besides, she had a strong grip on me. Down the hallway we stopped at two doors that looked just like the restroom doors near the attendance office. There were only two differences. Instead of MEN and WOMEN, the doors were labeled as BOYS and GIRLS. Additionally, next to the doors there was a sign on the wall that read:
CHANGING ROOMS
If rooms are full, please go to the second floor or the nurse.
Visitor restrooms are available near the attendance office.
Still latching onto my arm, Ms. Grayson brought me into the girls’ room. At first I thought it was a normal restroom; the floor was tile, there were sinks and mirrors along a wall, and it smelled weird. Only when I looked into a stall did I see a difference; rather than toilets, each stall contained what must have been a changing table.
To my surprise, Ms. Grayson lifted me onto a changing table. Before I could speak, she looked at me and said, “Normally when you come in here you have the option of doing it yourself. But since this is your first change, I think it is best if I help you out.”
“Please don’t make me wear a diaper,” I pleaded, fully realizing it would do me no good.
“If you want to change the rules, you’ll have to take it up with the executives at Timberly-Marks, not me” she responded in a sarcastic sing-songy voice. “Now will you lay down or do I need to force you down?”
I complied. In the position I was laying, I couldn’t see what Ms. Grayson was doing, but I could hear she was grabbing things from under the table. Before I knew it, she was pulling off my shoes and my jeans. Immediately following went my panties. Naturally, my hands made their way to my private area to cover up my naked self.
“No need to be embarrassed, dear,” she then said. “You need to get used to this. Now let’s see. You look to be about a size 9. Let’s try that.”
She lifted my legs up, and I felt her slide the padded cloth underneath me. It occurred to me: I was defeated. The entire morning I had been fighting against having to wear a diaper, only to end up in one anyway. It was a humiliating defeat. I began to tear in shame, but I quickly sucked it up before Ms. Grayson could notice. Carefully she adjusted the diaper around my body, and she fastened the sides together with the tapes.
“Okay, you may sit up now,” she said. Sitting up, I looked down at my new “underwear”. It was white and had a picture of Sloopy the Dog on the front. Great, from now on I would associate my favorite newspaper comic animal with diapers. At least it wasn’t as babyish looking as what Mom had tried to put on me this morning. Still, I knew I was essentially wearing a larger version of a baby diaper.
Ms. Grayson started putting my jeans back up through my feet and onto my legs, and I adjusted my body to work with her. When they reached my waist, she had me hop off the table to button them. Unfortunately, we soon discovered my pants would no longer button.
“It seems your pants are too tight to accommodate the extra padding, dear,” she commented. “You’ll have to get something a bit looser fitting.”
“What am I supposed to do the rest of the day?” I inquired.
“No worries. You can just keep them unbuttoned for now.”
“What?”
She pulled down my blouse so that it stretched as low as it could go. “Your shirt hides the top of your jeans, so it won’t look odd. And I think the jeans will stay up on their own, especially with the diaper keeping them in place. I’ll help you put your shoes back on and you’ll be good to go.”
“Um, I can do my own shoes, thank you,” I replied. “Can I have my panties back at least?”
“What for?” responded Ms. Grayson. “You won’t need them again, and if I hand them back that will only encourage you to tear off that perfectly good diaper and put them back on.” I wanted to argue that I was just going to bring them home, considering they were my personal property and all, but she immediately dropped them into a trashcan. After handing me my socks and shoes, she said, “You can go wash up at the sink, and then you need to get to class. You’re quite late, you know.”
Wouldn’t be late if you hadn’t taken me to the principal’s office, I thought to myself. I tied my shoes back on, washed my hands, and left without saying goodbye. The quicker I could get away from this psychopath, the better.