After school we headed out to my car.

“You still owe me a Goodnite for the one you desecrated, Pee-ter” Jane teased.

“Watch it” I warned “What’s that expression about the pot calling the kettle something? I’m the only one in the car wearing real underwear right now! Besides I’ll have you know I woke up dry the next morning, it was just a one time thing!” (That wasn’t a lie after all, I did WAKE UP dry!)

“Not fair!” Jane retorted “You know I don’t need these things! If it weren’t for my mom being such a ‘B’”

“I know, I know” I assured her “I’m just giving you a hard time”

“So you didn’t.. You know.. Wet again?” Jane asked timidly.

“Nope, must have just been that dream!” I answered, trying to sound confident.

“Oh, well that’s good…” Jane said, but I could have sworn there was a note of disappointment in her voice.

“We do have to get you some more Goodnites” I told Jane as I pulled out of the parking lot.

I told her about the drug store being out earlier that day.

“Another pack??” Jane said incredulously “If we get caught I will end up having to go through THREE packs! She’ll probably pack them in my suitcase for college!”

“What else can we do? Do you really want to face her without one” I explained “Look, she couldn’t possibly have marked that pack, she didn’t know about it remember?”

I went on “We’ll just go to another store, there’s got to be a half dozen around here that sell them, and buy another pack. You can take one out and tell your mom you found it under your bed. She’ll never know”

“Okay” Jane sounded skeptical “But if I get caught again you’re wearing the third pack!”

“Deal!” I said pulling into the parking lot of the local ‘big box’ store.

Knowing we didn’t have much time before Jane’s mom would get home we walked into the store and made our way immediately to the diaper aisle. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The shelf where the Goodnites should have been was completely empty! Had every girl in town suddenly lost control of their bladder? Jane looked panicked.

“Don’t worry!” I told Jane “We have four more stores to try between here and your house”

Stores two and three didn’t prove any more helpful. Store four had bedwetter pants but only in a generic brand.

Deciding that a bedwetting epidemic must have overcome the area we headed for the last store a small ‘mom and pop’ place.

“We might as well just give up” Jane sounded defeated “Mom is going to be home in 15 minutes, I might as well head home. If I’m late AND don’t have my Goodnite she’ll probably just murder me right there!”

“Let’s just make a quick check” I reasoned “We’re only 3 minutes from your house and you never know what you’ll find in these places!”

Boy was I ever right. The shelves of the store were the strangest assortment of items you had ever seen. There were spaghetti strainers next to the motor oil and 35mm film (do people still use that?) in between the canned soup and the cat litter.

“We’ll never find them in here! Even if they do have them! Jane exclaimed.

“Let’s just ask!” I pleaded.

“Ask??” Jane exclaimed “I am NOT going to ask for those ‘things’!”

“Fine then I’ll do it” I said walking to the front of the store.

There was an elderly gentlemen standing behind the counter. Jane hung back looking embarrassed.

“Excuse me sir” I said quietly “Do you have any Goodnites?”

“What’s that” the old man looked confused.

Keeping my voice low for Jane’s sake I explained “You know they’re for bedwetting, a kind of protection?”

“Oh you mean diapers?” the old man exclaimed way to loud “For big kids? Well I guess you ain’t a kid are you?”

He thought they were for me! Jane looked as if she were about to cry so I didn’t bother to correct him.

“Yeah, I think we got some of them in the back of the store, want me to show you?” he offered.

“No thanks, we’ll find them” I answered. I didn’t think Jane would appreciate the extra company.

We made our way to the back of the store. Searching the dusty shelves we finally came upon what we were looking for. Sitting on the bottom shelf was one last pack of girl’s L-XL Goodnites!

With no time to spare I grabbed the pack and headed back to the front of the store.

“Son, I think you made a mistake” the old man observed “These are for girls!”

I thought Jane was going to pass out then and there.

I quickly recovered “They’re not for me, there for my little sister”

“Well that makes sense” the old man reasoned “You’re way too old to pee’in on yourself ain’t ya?”

All I could do was give Jane a sympathetic look.

We dashed back to the car.

“Hurry Mom’s going to be home in FIVE minutes!” Jane cried.

I jumped in the car and pulled out onto the road. I had no sooner pulled into the street when Jane let out a cry.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it, we’re almost there” I said.

“That’s not it” Jane sobbed “My Goodnites, the ones I have at home, have butterflies on them…. Look…”

She held up the pack of girls L-XL Goodnites….. with hearts.

“That’s it, I’m screwed” Jane said defeated “I’ll just have to face the music”

“I’m really sorry Jane” I said as we pulled up to Jane’s house “I feel like this is all my fault”

“No Peter, it’s not” Jane turned to me “Look all you’ve done is try to help me, I really appreciate you driving me all over this afternoon. You really are a great friend, your so…. Sweet… and…”

And with that I Jane gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, jumped out of the car and dashed for her front door.

I sat in my car dumfounded, staring at Jane’s closed door.

“What was that all about?” I wondered to myself. What was Jane about to say?

But my bewilderment soon faded away as my thoughts turned to concern over what might happen to Jane when her mom got home.
When Jane couldn’t produce the missing pull-up what would her mom do? Spank her again? Prolong her punishment? Worse?

As I drove home my thoughts remained on Jane. I hated she was taking the fall for something that was my fault. If I hadn’t put that Goodnite on she wouldn’t be in this mess. Even if had just kept it dry we might have gotten away with it. But I had wet the Goodnite and it wasn’t even an accident, I had done it on purpose! I felt like such a heel!

Arriving home I went up to my room and tossed my book bag onto my bed. I sat down and tried to get started on my homework. I just couldn’t stop thinking about Jane! Her mom was bound to be home by now. What had happened? I kept looking at my phone hoping Jane would call and say everything was okay. But my phone didn’t ring. I thought about calling her but decided against it. If Jane was in trouble, if her Mom was angry a phone call might just make things worse.

I turned my attention to my Spanish homework. Ugh, Spanish! I had only signed up for it because my counselor said I needed it to get into college. I just couldn’t get a grasp on learning another language. I looked through my book bag for my Spanish to English dictionary. I then remembered that I had leant it to a classmate and failed to get it back.

“Great!” I thought, “This day just keeps getting better!”

Remembering that I had another one I got up and went over to my closet.

“I know it’s in here somewhere” I said to myself, digging through my things.

That’s when I spotted the pack of adult diapers I had purchased the day before.

I was suddenly overcome with guilt, my desire to wear them was gone. My desire to see Jane wearing them was gone. I felt horrible. I grabbed a trash bag from the hall closet and stuffed the entire pack of diapers into the bag. I walked down the stairs, out the door, and to the trashcan. I tossed the bag inside and shut the lid. I vowed then and there that this whole diaper thing was over. I would never wear or even think about them again!

I went back inside and checked my phone. Still no word from Jane. Not being able to stand it any longer I grabbed my phone and sent her a text.

‘ Are you okay?’ I typed.

A few minutes later my phone buzzed.

‘I’ll call you in fifteen minutes’ Jane’s response came back.

I sat beside my phone and waited. Time seemed to move at a crawl.

Finally, the phone rang and Jane’s number appeared on the caller ID.

“Hello?” I answered timidly.

“Hi Peter” Jane’s voice was barely a whisper but I could tell she had been crying.

“I can only talk a minute” Jane continued, “Mom is in the basement doing laundry. If she finds me on the phone I’ll be in even more trouble.”

“So what happened, are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m okay, but Peter it was horrible” Jane sounded like she was starting to cry again.

“Mom came home and the first thing she did was ask for the Goodnite” Jane’s voice broke “I told her I didn’t have it. I didn’t know what else to say so I told her that I had had another accident and that I was embarrassed and had thrown it away.”

“I’m sorry Jane, this is all my fault, I wish I could take the blame” I apologized.

“Peter no! This is my fault, if I hadn’t tried to trick her in the first place none of this would have happened. And I couldn’t possibly bring you up. That would make things so much worse! I would probably never be allowed to see you again!” Jane exclaimed.

“So it was bad?” I asked timidly.

“Bad doesn’t even begin to describe it!” Jane’s voice quivered “She absolutely lost it! She started ranting and raving saying how she couldn’t trust me anymore. I got another spanking of course. But you’ll never believe what happened next. She made me stand in the corner in just my Goodnite! After an hour I told her I had to use the bathroom. She said that if I couldn’t hold it I could just go in my diaper. She stood there and watched me wet myself! I’ve never been so humiliated!”

“I’m so sorry Jane”, it was all I could manage to say.

“That’s not the worst part” she continued “she said I have to wear diapers for a week.”

“That’s not so bad is it? Just another week?” I asked confused.

“Peter, you don’t understand” Jane cried “Diapers! Real diapers! Like the one I was wearing the other day! And I can’t take them off!
There’s no way I can go a whole week without… you know. And I can’t have you help me again, not for an entire week, she’d know something was up for sure!”

“I am so sorry Jane” I said again.

“Peter! I told you I don’t blame you!” Jane repeated “Look there’s something else I want to tell you. You’ve been so great with all this. And you’re such a good friend. I’ve been thinking that maybe we should.. I mean I wanted to tell you that I… Oh crap! Mom’s coming. I gotta go!” Jane hung up the phone.

For the second time that day I was left wondering what Jane wanted to say.

Still, despite her insistence that she didn’t blame me I couldn’t help blame myself!

If only I could take her place, or at least share in her punishment.

Then the thought struck me… maybe I could… in a way.
I snuck outside and retrieved the bag from the trashcan.