Chapter Nineteen
Two pairs of socked feet bounded down the carpeted stairs, giving the owner of the stairs no warning that her girls were about to burst into the living room behind her.
“Mom, can me and Erin go ride our bikes to the theater and see a movie?”
Sue looked up at the expectant faces of her daughter and niece. “I guess that would be okay. Get my cell phone out of my purse, and bring it with you in case you need to call me. But turn it off during the movie so you don’t interrupt anybody, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” said Hailey. “Um… can we have some money to buy tickets and snacks?”
“Actually, I wanted to talk with you girls about that,” admitted Sue.
Erin suddenly suspected that her aunt was going to accuse her and Hailey of spending too much money. She’d never really wanted to use so much of her aunt’s money anyway, but Hailey always wanted to take her out, and Hailey’s mother always seemed willing to finance their activities. Well, if the money wasn’t going to come anymore, she could deal with it. Going out was fun, but she could keep herself entertained at home.
“You girls are getting older now,” Sue continued, “and Martin and I think it’s time you all got a little practice being responsible for your own spending. What do you girls think about having an allowance, rather than asking for money every time?”
Hailey’s face lit up. The money itself wasn’t a huge issue; her parents were usually willing to make any reasonable purchase for her, as long as she didn’t ask them to do so too often. But being in charge of her own money? That her mother considered her so responsible was a huge compliment for her. Her parents now trusted her to be more grown up, and she was grateful. “Yes, I think I can handle an allowance!” She looked over at Erin.
“I don’t know… you really shouldn’t be spending money on me like that, I didn’t earn it…”
“Nonsense,” said Sue. “You’ve been helping out around the house and doing your chores, and I don’t have to remind you to do them, unlike your cousin…” She looked over to see Hailey blush. “As long as you girls keep up doing that work, you can count on me or your father paying you every week.”
“But I thought those chores were simply to pay you back for living here,” said Erin. “You’re already spending too much money on food and clothes and everything for me.”
“Erin, you’re part of the family. You don’t owe me anything to live here. And I’m sure you’ll find a use for a little extra money every week, like the movie tickets you’re about to buy.”
Hailey chimed in. “Erin, remember what we told you about how you need to think about what you want once in a while? It can’t be healthy to be always worrying about others and ignoring yourself. She’s offering you money, please, accept her offer.”
“I guess I’ll take the allowance, then,” Erin reluctantly admitted.
“That’s good. Today’s Monday, so just remind me every Monday and I’ll make sure you both get paid. Just because it’ll be easier for me at the ATM, how does twenty dollars a week each sound?”
Erin gulped. That was a huge amount of money for someone like her to be taking, and she certainly wasn’t doing enough work to deserve it. She was about to speak up when Hailey kicked her in the ankle, apparently guessing correctly exactly what she had been about to say. Well, if Hailey wanted her to stay quiet, she would, but she still wasn’t quite comfortable with accepting the money.
“That’ll be fine,” said Hailey.
“Good. Since you’re going to need the cell phone anyway, and I need my money, could one of you go bring me my purse?”
After her mother’s hint that she didn’t remember her chores as often as she should, Hailey was eager to perform the task. “I’ll get it!” She ran off.
That was just fine with Erin, as she still wanted to ask her aunt a question. “Aunt Sue?”
“Yes, Erin?”
“After what happened to me at the theater last time, do you think I need to be wearing protection?”
“Erin, you know your needs better than anyone else would. I trust you to decide whether you want to or not.”
“And if I decide not to, and end up having an accident…?”
“You won’t be in trouble with me or your uncle for having an accident, ever,” said Sue. “So I’d say for you it’s just a question of whether you’re embarrassed about wearing a diaper, or whether you’re willing to risk the embarrassment of another accident at the theater.”
Erin nodded. “And what if I’d also like Hailey to wear one?”
Sue sighed. “I’d say that’s up to Hailey. If she wants to do that to help you out, that’s fine with me. But I don’t want you pressuring her into something she doesn’t want to do.”
“I’ll be sure to make sure she knows she can refuse,” said Erin.
That won’t be an issue, thought Erin. She’d probably be willing to wear a diaper even if I didn’t.
But it was better to be safe than sorry, anyway. Erin decided she would wear a diaper to the theater, and she was reasonably certain that Hailey would be happy for the opportunity to wear another diaper.
Even if Hailey decided not to take her up on the offer, though, Erin wouldn’t mind. It was nice that she wouldn’t be alone in what she was wearing, but Erin was aware of her body’s general disobedience of her intentions. It was not a fact she was proud of, but it was something she had to deal with, and she could accept wearing protection by herself if need be
The theater was nearly empty on a Monday afternoon; a fact Erin noted with relief. Having no crowds meant that it was much more likely she’d be able to get a seat where she’d be able to leave for the toilet without asking someone to move. She had explained to Hailey about why she’d been unable to visit the toilet the last time she was at the theater, and had asked to be sure to get an aisle seat.
“If you need to leave, I’ll ask people to move for you,” Hailey had said. But while that was marginally better than asking on her own, it would still be Erin’s fault that they had to move in the first place, and she still didn’t think she’d be able to handle it. Hailey had been unsuccessful in convincing her that the other movie patrons really wouldn’t be bothered by having to stand up for five seconds.
The lack of crowds also meant that there was no line for the bathroom, which Erin made sure to make use of right after they bought their tickets. Hailey did the same. She had every intention of wetting the diaper she was wearing at some point, but the beverage she would soon be purchasing would guarantee a healthy need to urinate by the end of the film anyway. Hailey hadn’t experimented enough with the diapers to know how many times she could safely wet them, but she didn’t really want to find out she’d guessed too high while she was out in public, so she’d limit herself to a single wetting near the end of the movie. Anyway, they hadn’t brought a change of diapers, since it would be awkward to change in the theater bathroom anyway, so if she did wet her diaper, it meant wouldn’t be able to change out of it until she got home, and it probably wouldn’t be very good for her skin to be sitting in her own urine for the next couple hours.
Changing at home would be interesting, though. This would be the first time she’d be walking around the house with a wet diaper when her mother was home. But the pants she was wearing easily hid her diaper — she’d made sure to check before she left — so Hailey was confident that she’d be able to get back to her room and change without her mother finding out that she was wet.
The girls left the restroom and headed to the snack counter. Now that her bladder was empty, Erin was much more willing to get a drink along with her popcorn. This time she could risk it, since she would probably be able to leave for the toilet if necessary. Even if she wasn’t, well, she was wearing a diaper this time. She didn’t plan to use it if she could help it, but at least the little bit of extra protection lowered the risk the large soda she purchased posed to her clothes’ integrity. Each girl ordered a drink.
“Do you just want to get a large popcorn, and split it between us?”
“That sounds good… but who’s paying for it?
“I’ll pay for it with my drink.” Hailey was completely willing to spend her own money on it, but she knew Erin wouldn’t stand for it, so she quickly added “You can pay me for half of it later.”
Erin was satisfied with this solution, and the girls paid the clerk as appropriate and approached the door to the theater.
“Screen 11,” said Hailey, glancing at her ticket stub. “Looks like this is it.”
“Hey, Hailey! Going to the same movie as me, I see!” Erin and Hailey both turned to see the source of the new voice behind them.
The voice belonged to Emily Petrand, Hailey’s acquaintance-but-not-quite-friend, who was endowed with a large drink but lacking in snacks. She also lacked an entourage, leading Hailey to wonder why she’d come to the movie by herself.
God, I don’t want to have to sit next to her for the length of a movie, thought Hailey. But it doesn’t look like I’ll have a choice. Time to pretend to be polite, I guess.
“Hi, Emily. Erin, this is Emily, and Emily, this is my cousin Erin. She’s the girl who my parents were flying out to get when I stayed at your house earlier this summer.”
“Hello, Erin,” said Emily. “So you’re living with her for the summer?”
“No, it’s permanent,” said Erin.
“Permanent? How is it permanent? That’s, like, a kind of marker! Is Hailey ‘dry erase’ or something?”
Erin glanced over at Hailey, who returned an “I can’t believe it either” face. With no other evidence, Erin would have thought Emily’s statement was a joke. But Hailey had told her all about Emily, and she realized that Emily seriously did not know what “permanent” meant.
“‘Permanent’ means ‘it lasts forever,’” Hailey explained. “That’s why they call it a permanent marker, because you write on something and it doesn’t erase. So when Erin said she was living with me permanently, it means that she’s living at my house for good.”
It took a few seconds for Emily to process what Hailey said, but she finally exclaimed, “Ooooh! I get it. You really shouldn’t use such fancy words.”
Erin and Hailey again exchanged glances expressing concern that Emily thought “permanent” was a fancy word. Could she really be that dumb?
Emily continued speaking. “That’s kind of weird, though, that you’re staying with Hailey forever. Did your parents, like, get rid of you or something?”
“Drop it.”
Both Erin and Emily looked up at Hailey with surprise. Erin had never heard Hailey use such a tone of voice before — usually Hailey was pleasant to listen to, but these words had been firm and practically dripping with venom. If she didn’t already know Hailey, Erin suspected she would have been scared.
Emily, too, had not been expecting such a strong command. She said nothing further on the topic; indeed, nobody said anything for a little while.
In the ensuing silence, Hailey remembered that both she and Erin were wearing diapers. She’d worn a diaper in public before, but never in such close proximity to somebody specific who she’d rather not know about it. Hailey wasn’t quite sure how Emily would react if she found out about the diapers. Emily certainly got horribly embarrassed whenever the topic of bodily functions came up, but Emily also wanted to be one of the cool girls, so being able to gossip that she knew some students who wore diapers would likely score her some points with them. Hailey didn’t know if the desire to be cool would trump Emily’s prudishness, but she didn’t intend to find out. She was confident that her own diaper was hidden well enough, and a quick glance revealed that Erin’s clothes weren’t giving away any secrets either.
The three girls had been awkwardly standing quiet outside the theater for the better part of a minute, though, so Hailey decided it was time to break the silence. “I guess we should probably head in; the movie’s starting soon.” Emily took a swig of her soda and the three girls headed into the theater.