“Did you just…?” Sophie’s voice trailed off as her eyes focused on the yellow liquid. Tears came and I did my best not to meet her gaze. There was an intense silence that fell between us like a thick layer of smoke. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, my heart began to pound and I just ran. I don’t know why I did, but it felt like the only thing I could do. The lid was off the pot and like any teen, instead of explaining it; I was going to run away from it.

I flew down the hall, turned, kept running and turned again. My shoulder hit the girl’s room door and I quickly found my way to a stall. I didn’t pull the wet pull-up down; I just sat and buried my face in my hands. Sophie had just seen what I was trying to hide… This could potentially be the catalyst for making school absolute hell. Good god, crying again? What the hell am I doing… I hadn’t even made it through the first day.

“Teacher?” Sophie asked in her shy voice as she pushed the door open to her classroom.

“You’re back Sophie?” Angélique said looking up. “I thought you’d be in the library with Alouette?”

Sophie shrugged. “We… didn’t exactly make it there.”

Angélique stopped writing. “She didn’t run away did she?”

“No… I don’t think she did.”

Angélique got out of her chair and walked around her desk to Sophie. Sophie gulped loudly as Angélique stood before her. “Sophie… Where is Alouette?”

“I think… she peed herself. And then ran off somewhere in the school.”

Angélique’s eyes bulged a little. “But.. but she had on a pull-up?”

Sophie’s eyes bulged a little too, and she fought back a giggle. “A what?”

“A something that if you open your mouth will lead to five times more math homework then you already have.” Angélique snapped at her.

Sophie gasped. Could teachers threaten students? It wasn’t a violent threat, but it was a threat all the same. Her lips pursed in a seal.

“What direction did she run off in?” Angélique asked, with a slightly less friendly voice then Sophie was used too.

“Towards the lunchroom when we were near the library.”

“Okay, follow me Sophie, we need to talk on the way.”

The two of them left the classroom in search of Alouette. Sophie couldn’t help but wish she’d just never gotten involved. It seemed like every time in her life that she’d take a single step further then necessary, something like this always happened.

My tears didn’t stop. Just like my potty skills, my tear ducts did not obey what I wished them too. I just cried and sobbed, and sobbed and cried; occasionally blowing my noise on a wad of toilet paper because crying so much made you snotty.

Everything was just wrong… I shouldn’t be a girl. I shouldn’t be wetting myself. I shouldn’t be in school again. I shouldn’t even be in this part of the country. A million shouldn’t be’s… And just as I was feeling my tears come anew as I wallowed in self pity, I heard the bathroom door open.

“Alouette?”

It was Angélique. I didn’t answer, but a pair of footsteps found their way to the door of my stall. I think they could hear my sobbing.

“Go away…” I said meekly.

Angélique pinched Sophie’s shoulder. “Remember what we discussed Sophie. You don’t know… Okay?”

“Teacher wants you to come out…” said a soft voice. I recognized it as Sophie’s. She was the other pair of feet next to Angélique.

“I just want to be alone… I’m not feeling well.”

Sophie turned to Angélique. She was doing her least favorite thing, which was playing interpreter in shaky circumstances. “She says she’s not feeling well.”

Angélique nodded “Tell her you went and got me because you thought as much, and that I’m here to help. Then go wait for us outside the bathroom.”

Sophie spoke up shyly, “You weren’t looking to good back in the hallway, that’s why I brought our teacher, I’ll uh… be out in the hall.”

The soft voice left with soft footsteps, and Angélique opened the door to my stall. I looked up at her, wiping tears off my cheeks with a fist. I couldn’t tell if she was smiling maternally, condescendingly, or even mockingly… She just seemed to somehow say “I didn’t expect anything else” on her face.

“I’m beginning to think these pull-ups aren’t enough. You must have really wet to get Sophie’s attention like that.”

She said something about my pull-up and Sophie. It didn’t stop my sobbing, I think she was confirming that Sophie knew now. Angélique gave me a hand and pulled me up and out of the stall. She hiked my uniform skirt up a little and looked at my sodden garment. She made a low whistle, which didn’t help any either.

She had a bag over her shoulder, which she reached into and took out another pull up. I took off the soaked one and threw it away, putting on the dry one. Angélique waited till I was done, and pointed toward the door. We left together and found… an empty hall. Angélique looked around and didn’t find Sophie. She frowned.

“That girl… I told her to wait. Oh well, she’ll get some extra homework for this tomorrow,” Angélique said. I didn’t really pay any attention because I couldn’t understand it. She took my hand and motioned outside. “Let’s go home, I can’t really get any more work done anyway.”

We went back to our classroom and gathered some stuff before we left the school. I was sort of at a miss for why were leaving, or even why we’d stayed after. The only thing I knew was that tomorrow would suck. With my current luck, every student would know from Sophie how I was even stranger then I already seemed.

The school yard was empty, but people were bustling around in the streets of town. It was about that hour when people were driving back into town from their jobs, and some of the kids from the school were out playing around in the fair early evening weather. I of course, was not playing, and I don’t think I would have if Angélique had wanted me too. I was just a tripping, stumbling, sad girl, alone and wondering what next.

We got back to Angélique’s house. She brought me straight upstairs and had me lay down so she could diaper me. I didn’t really blame her. She didn’t want me having another accident, which now, I was accepting would assuredly happen no matter how much I didn’t want it too.

She did let me change out of the school uniform. I got into a pair of overalls which had probably once been Angélique’s. They were the only thing that really concealed my diaper and yet were still full clothes. Although, there was still a faint crinkling sound even more pronounced then the plastic pants had been.

“Alouette, I’ve got something for you here…” Angélique said as I came downstairs. She motioned for me to join her at the table. I found she had a sheet of paper with a bunch of mathematical problems on it. I smiled tiredly. “I was trying to write a note to the headmistress earlier, but didn’t have a chance to finish it because of your accident.”

She smiled back and gave me a pen. The math problems were all upper level. Some of them were even things I’d only touched on last year in college. I did my best and I know I got them all right. I wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip. It was my only chance to possibly prove that I was more then just a girl in her mid teens.

Angélique had started to cook something, but kept coming over to check my progress. A few times she gasped and started punching numbers into a calculator she fetched from her writing desk. It didn’t take me that long to finish the dozen problems. I was above average for a college level comp sci major, and I’m sure, light years above most 15-year-old girls.

“You certainly don’t have a problem with math. I’m going to have to give this to the headmistress tomorrow. She won’t believe what a prodigy you are.”

Angélique looked like I’d just written Shakespeare. I actually felt a little proud. At least one thing had gone right today. She put the paper with her stack of books and got to finishing dinner.

I ate in silence… or more accurately, I didn’t contribute to Angélique’s long monologue. I recognized a few bits of praise for my math skills, but they were few and I heard pull-up and diaper far more often in her rambling. To a point it was almost discouraging. I knew it hadn’t been a week yet, but it felt like after all my trying, even when I desperately needed to understand the language, I hadn’t gotten any better. All that I had learned were very basic excuses, questions, numbers and greetings. Not even enough to hold an intelligent conversation for longer then ten seconds.

After dinner I just tramped upstairs to bed. I was beat and didn’t have anything to stay up for anyway. I came into the room and just flopped down on the bed. I think my diaper was a little wet, but I didn’t care. I also think it wasn’t wise to sleep fully clothed, but I didn’t care about that either. I just wanted the total blankness of unconscious rest.

Morning found me grumpy and in a wet diaper (err… wetter diaper). It found Angélique singing and gaily playing another pillow game to get me out of bed. It slowly erupted into a war between America and France , resulting in the end, with French victory. She succeeded in annexing my bed and removing me from it.

Then something odd happened. After I’d had my morning bath, Angélique was back in my room waiting for me. I didn’t really pay her any mind because I figured she was doing laundry, but as I came in, she took my shoulder and had me lay down on the bed. I looked up at her questioningly.

“We have to do this… Pull-ups just aren’t working,” she said firmly.

I heard pull-up. I rolled my eyes. Why did she want to be the one to put it on me? It was a stupid pull-up.

Angélique went over to a dresser and I pressed my head a little harder into the bed. My head kind of felt a little light this morning. I also had a few butterflies in my stomach. It was probably because I had a school day of humiliation to look forward too. Angélique came back over and pulled the towel off me. I looked up nonchalantly just in time to see her unfold a disposable diaper and start putting it under me.

“WOAH! Hold on a tick!” I said immediately trying to jump up. Angélique put her hand down on my abdomen, keeping me in place. She had the diaper up quicker then I could kick my feet and swat her hands away.

“The pull-up was no good. You have to wear a diaper.”

“NO!” I said immaturely while stamping my foot. I started working at the tapes. Angélique came up and took my hands in hers.

“Alouette…” she said slowly. I stared into her eyes defiantly.

“You like this don’t you…” I said hotly. “You know that Sophie told everyone yesterday, and now today you’re just going to take it up a level. Ooooo the new American girl… what a freak, in diapers and running from the police.”

Angélique looked at me for a few moments. She couldn’t tell what I was saying, but my sarcasm was so heavy, that it penetrated the language wall. “You’re not making it to the bathroom. You no bathroom…”

I understood something like ‘no bathroom’ in French. I think she was saying I wasn’t aloud to use the bathroom anymore. I felt my anger rise.

“WHAT!? No bathroom?” I yelled, repeating some of her words. Angélique took a deep sigh and dropped my hands. She pointed at the trashcan, where she’d tossed my wet diaper this morning. We’d played this game before. “So what?” I said, still being snippy.

Angélique frowned. “Diaper,” she said sternly and left the room. I balled my hands into fists, and walked slowly over to the bed. I picked up a pillow, thrust it in my face, and let out a muffled scream.

I came downstairs in the school uniform with a pull-up on underneath. The diaper I’d been wearing was taped on Angélique’s bedroom door. She had a small backpack set for me on the table. She threw it at me, a little harshly, but I was ready for it. We set off towards the school.

We walked in silence. It was a little chilly this morning, both in terms of weather, and company. At least it felt that way walking around in a pleated skirt. As we got closer to the school, Angélique walked a little faster and left me sort of straggling behind. I raised my hand to call after her, but she turned and waved me off, taking out something from her bag and hurrying inside. I stood staring a little blankly, as she left.

“Hey Amerloque!” A wad of paper hit the back of my head.

“Oh good, Ass-Hat…” I said to myself in a grumble before turning around. Sure enough, the taller boy Gérard, the slightly shorter boy Marcel, and about three other boys were looking at me and sniggering.

“Why don’t you go back to your own country. We don’t want you around here,” Gérard said as menacingly as possible.

Its almost no fun when you don’t understand insults… how in the hell should I gauge my level of angry response. Did he say something about my mother? Or my appearance? Both of which wouldn’t even hurt much anyway the way things were now. The good thing was that he didn’t say anything about pull-ups and or diapers, which I was sure he would. He just apparently liked to call me Amerloque, whatever that was.

“You were good at math yesterday, how about this one…”

Gérard was doing something with his hands and fingers. He was doing like a 1 + 1 dance, only using the middle fingers.. and showing that 1 + 1 = fist in palm. It was like retarded troll mathematics. I tried to stifle back a giggle. My smirk didn’t go over too well with Gérard though. He started advancing on me.

Marcel stepped forward and put a hand on Gérard’s arm. He stopped and sneered at Marcel.

“Don’t fight, you’ll just get in trouble again,” Marcel said coolly.

“She’s asking for it… she’s laughing at us. The way she did on the street the other day!”

Apparently their was dissention in the ranks. It seemed like mini-ass-hat was a little more level headed then ass-hat. While I watched their gibberish argument, I noticed a scurry of movement out of the corner of my eye. Sophie had noticed me and the moment our eyes met, she ran for the school building, bumping into a few other students that happened to be in her way.

A girl stepped in front of me.

“That’s low, even for you two. Picking on a girl,” said Papillon.

Marcel frowned and pointed. “That’s not a normal girl.”

“Why because she won’t run when you threaten her?”

A girl who was somehow vaguely familiar had stepped in front of me. I walked to her side and looked at her curiously. It was the girl whose house I’d stopped at a few days ago. She was sticking up for me?

“She just won’t back down to verbal threats because she doesn’t understand them,” Gérard said, grinning evilly. He started advancing on me once again. This time Marcel did not stop him.

“Ummm… this does not look like forward progress for peace,” I said with a frown as Gérard walked up to me. The girl looked at him incredulously.

“You’re going to hit a girl now? What the hell is wrong with you?” Papillon shrieked angrily. She looked like she was about ready to hit Gérard herself.

“I’m not going to hit the Amerloque… I’m just going to,” his arm shoved me stiffly, “shove her a bit.”

Pushing me, my body jerked a little in a defensive reaction to keep my balance. Gérard smiled at this result and was about to do it again.

“I’ve a mind to beat you myself, you big sack of s**t. Why the hell you picking on the new girl?”

“Because,” shove me, “it’s” shove me, “fun.”

This was just a game to them. They were all laughing. The girl wasn’t but all the guys were. I wasn’t in the mood for games, and it stopped being a game as I balled my fist up and connected it like a block of cobblestone to Gérard’s left cheek. His friends gasped, but I didn’t give him a chance to react, I used my forward foot to kick the inside of his knee and shouldered him off his feet. I didn’t do it hard enough to break anything, but it was hard enough so that he’d be walking that one off for a week. He fell over backward. The girl roared with laughter and the boys around him looked at me transfixed, but none more so then Marcel.

I shouldered my backpack, just as the bell rang, and walked inside the building, that same girl, clapping me on the shoulder and babbling in French. Ahhhhh that felt good. I didn't notice one of Marcel's lackies ran off in the other direction down the hall.