It dawned on Julia it was a joke. People kept laughing for a little bit and Kate finally spoke up.
“OK, sorry new folks, but that is a long standing tradition. Consider yourselves initiated into the club. I apologize if I frightened anybody and I assure you I fell for it really bad the first time.”
The girl Julia had seen Kate glaring at looked at Kate and spoke up. “Oh my God,” she said, obviously quite relieved, “I thought you were serious.”
Kate smiled apologetically and said “I’m sorry.” Kate looked at Tom and gave him a nod and he started speaking.
“Ok, seriously though, there is a reason we use that same joke with new people. It’s to show how important the real first rule is. The first real rule of D club is that we never take our selves too seriously. Smile, laugh and enjoy life people. That’s what we are all about. The only other thing we ask is that you respect people’s privacy. Don’t tell your friends who all is in the club, unless that person has given you permission to do so. This is high school and there are enough rumors and stuff on their own. This club has managed to stay below the radar for a long time. Let’s keep it that way please, for all our sakes.”
Kate jumped in. “Exactly. Just use common sense and everything will be fine. You will find that most people are really very cool about the whole thing. I mean, my entire team knows I wear diapers, but they don’t talk about it and they don’t care about it. And if I have learned anything, it’s that the less you care about it, the less of an impact it will have in your life.”
Kate took a breath. “Anyways, let’s get to the introductions. We have, 3? Or is it 4?”
A random boy on the other side of the table spoke up, “3, the other one couldn’t make it he said.”
“OK, 3 it is. Before we get to the new folks, let’s just quickly go around the table and say our names. If you are new, just wait til everyone else goes and then we will come back to you.
Julia remembered the names of the girls from the car, but everyone else was new. She tried to keep track, but folks went quickly and she gave up hope of trying to remember so many new names all at once. Soon enough the intros had made it all the way around and Kate started speaking again.
“OK, so new folks (Kate specifically looked at Julia), you’re up. It’s totally up to you how much you want to share. Julia, would you mind going first?”
Julia nodded. This was a lot different than giving a speech on Edgar Allen Poe in front of her class.
“Sure. Uh, hi, my name is Julia. I’m a freshman…” Julia kept it short. She mentioned where she lived and where she had gone to middle school. “So, yea, that’s me.” She looked at Kate and raised her eyebrows trying to figure out of that was what folks had been looking for.
Kate must have liked it. “Thanks Julia, it’s nice to meet you. OK, who is next?”
A boy, Tom it turned out, a couple of seats away spoke up. “I guess I’ll go.”
Tom, Julia learned, was new to the school and to the area. Unlike Julia, Tom decided to share a lot of information. He was a Junior and this was the 3rd high school he had attended. His parents were divorced and his dad moved around a lot. All he said about his mom was that he didn’t even want to talk about her. He said that he had been in a serious car accident 5 years ago or so and that was why he was in diapers. He talked about various surgeries and medical stuff that Julia had never heard of before.
Julia couldn’t help but notice that Tom was not a very happy person. He seemed pretty angry and upset at how his life was going and didn’t really seem very friendly. Julia felt bad for him.
“So, I’m here for who knows how long, but yea, I guess it’s nice to meet you all.” Tom concluded.
Tom sat back down. Kate quietly and kindly said, “Thanks for sharing that Tom, glad you could make it today. OK, we have one more right?”
The girl who had been stared down by Kate spoke up. Her name was Jenna and she also kept her speech short like Julia. Jenna was also a Freshman and Julia learned that they had actually gone to middle school together, although she didn’t recognize her at all. Jenna did mention that she had been wearing diapers all her life and that ‘urinary incontinence’ (Julia was smart enough to realize that meant she wet her pants) was really common in the females on her dad’s side of the family.
Jenna sat back down and Kate thanked her for coming. “We have about 15 more minutes and then we need to head back folks.” Kate stated.
After that, people started just chatting with each other. Jill, who had been sitting next to her, got up and sat by some other people. Julia hadn’t finished her lunch, so she kept eating. She had just finished when a girl she didn’t recognize sat down next to her.
