Diaper U, Chapter 8

Contains: Public humiliation, Messing

Daniel couldn’t decide which he preferred: The teachers who ignored him in the hopes that he’d flunk out and go away of his own accord, or the ones who pushed him to try and make him fail.

Both, he knew, were going to be disappointed.

Whether they put him in the back of the room and refused to call on his raised hand or pulled him up front and center, in view of everyone, to make an example of, he excelled. Students giggled when he had to reach high to write on the chalkboard, pulling up his skirt and revealing his diaper, but he ignored it. He was here to study, not to make friends, and he was good at studying.

A week had passed since the incident on day one. The worst days were those with no classes at all, days where he could only leave his room at mealtimes and had to spend the rest lying in his crib, frowning over homework. Class days, though, he thrived in.

Jen hung out with him at meals. She’d managed to shake a little of her social pariah status, and he knew she had other friends, but she made a point of finding him, if not for every meal, at least for a couple times a day. Occasionally, other people didn’t even avoid him, and he could chat with the girls who attended the college, acting not exactly as a peer, but at least as an object of curiosity.

And to Daniel’s delight, Rachel was pissed about it. He didn’t know if his rumors had spread, if Rachel had really become the school’s resident diaper girl, but every time she came to change his diaper, her expression seemed more sour than the time before.

(I’m not stuck having to have my diapers changed by you,) he thought to himself. (You’re stuck having to change the diapers on me.)

Had it not been for one thing, he’d have been content. He was on top of his studies, answering questions promptly and accurately in class, succeeding on every metric he wanted to…

But the conversation he’d overheard still rang in his memory.

Don’t try to humanize them. They’ll be gone this time next year.

He tried to look up in the library anything he could about the history of the school, its foundation, to figure out what sort of ‘energy’ it had been built upon, but his studies came up empty, and without overtly putting his research into the spotlight, asking for restricted books or blueprints of the school, he couldn’t make progress. The only clue available to him was Ismella, the ghost, and his detention made it difficult to find time to speak to her.

“I need you to do me a favor,” he whispered to Jen one morning, over breakfast.

“What sort of favor?” she asked, glancing around. His tone had communicated the importance of secrecy, and Jen was quick on the draw. “Last time I helped you out, I had to wear a dirty diaper for three days.”

“The kind that won’t get you in trouble,” he promised. That was…mostly true. Spiritually true, if not literally, since his plan would only put her in the tiniest fraction of risk. “I want to have some study time where I’m not trapped in my room. Can you back me up with the Dean? Ask about forming a two-person study group?”

“So you’re going over Rachel’s head so she can’t say no.” She pursed her lips. “Okay, but what do you actually want?”

Daniel’s shoulders slumped. He’d been caught, a little bit. “I told you about Ismella, right?”

“Mhmm, the ghost,” Jen nodded. She picked up what he was getting at. “You want to go talk to her again?”

“Yeah,” Daniel said. “I tried, once, slipping in between lunch breaks, but there’s so many people walking around right around mealtime and there were too many eyes, and I would only have been able to talk to her for like a minute or two tops, before anyone noticed I’d not gone back to my room. Rachel is watching me like a hawk.”

Jen chewed while she thought, thinking it over. “If Rachel finds out I’m doing this to help you sneak out, and I have to wear diapers again, you’re going to owe me one.”

“I already do,” Daniel replied, pumping a fist triumphantly. “Thank you!”

It took another two days before they heard back, needing time to get a meeting with the dean, but before long they were sitting together in front of Penelope Madrigal’s desk, stewing under her hard stare.

She lifted a quill, making a notation on paper. “You wish to be released from your detention prematurely?”

“Just for better study time,” Daniel promised.

“Mhmm,” the dean considered, sitting back in her chair. “You don’t have enough free time to study as it is?”

“It’s not about time, it’s about having a second set of eyes,” Daniel argued.

“Mm, Miss Madrigal,” Jen said, “If I may, Rachel is obviously intent on trying to make Danny drop out. She practically tried blackmailing him into it before, when…”

“When you lied to get yourself out of trouble,” the dean finished. “I recall.”

“S-so,” Jen said, avoiding eye contact. “It seems like she’s also trying to make him fail with his studies. That’s not fair.”

“And why is the study group just the two of you?” the dean asked. “Why not ask to join an existing study club?”

Daniel shook his head. That had an obvious answer: “What club would let me in? Nobody even talks to me outside of lunch except Jen.”

The dean considered that for a moment, then sat forward. “I’ll add you two to an existing study group. If they give you a hard time or prevent your study, then we’ll see if we need to take additional steps to handle that. Alright? Alright.”

That wouldn’t get Daniel what he wanted–an excuse to be out in school grounds, out of his room, without anyone noticing–but he suspected that pushing the issue would tip his hand. Penelope Madrigal already seemed suspicious, and her ‘solution’ held a trap: If Daniel accepted it, he wouldn’t get what he wanted but he’d be blameless. If he complained, he’d be liable to get into trouble.

“Thanks,” Daniel said, getting to his feet. “I appreciate it.”

“Keep your grades up, or I’ll need to start asking if the study time is doing you any good,” the dean warned.

He left with Jen, frustrated, strolling down the hall.

“I’ve got to get back to my room,” he grumbled.

“Hey,” Jen said. “Sorry that didn’t…”

She glanced back over her shoulder, looking around. The hall around them was empty, save for an enchanted mop scrubbing its way down the floor.

“Sorry that didn’t go how you wanted.”

“I’ll have to just think of something else,” Daniel said. “There’s got to be something, but…”

Jen giggled, making him trail off. “Sorry, I–I have an idea. But it’s kind of silly.”

“What is it?” Daniel asked.

She told him.

…

Daniel felt the eyes burning into him as he sat down at the library table. The study group didn’t want him, and he didn’t want the study group, but here he was. Jen hadn’t arrived yet, but there was a seat for her, amidst the stacks of work books, papers, and homework scattered across the work surface.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Daniel.”

The girls eyed him. The first, whose smile said, ‘I’m trying to be polite’ while her eyes said, ‘What did we do to get stuck with him?’, introduced herself. “I’m Soga. I kind of put this group together, we–most of us, that is, we were struggling a bit with the conjuration magic and it seemed like a good way to learn.”

“Eileen,” the second girl supplied in a squeak, almost a whisper. She made a mousy face and a mousier demeanor, shrinking back as though hoping nobody would perceive her.

“If you shit yourself, you have to leave, I’m not putting up with that,” the third girl added, her sneer looking like a permanent affixture on her face.

“That’s Hazel, she’s always like that, it’s not you,” the final girl added. The only one to offer a handshake, she wore her hair long, falling over her shoulders in a way that seemed like a statement. “I’m Manju, and–I mean, if you do need to go, I’d appreciate giving the rest of us some space.”

Daniel started to respond. “Thanks, I’m happy to–”

“Sorry!” Jen called, rushing across the library with a few books under her arm. “Sorry I’m late, I–”

The chorus of ‘SHHH’s that erupted from around the library made her squeak, and she pulled up a seat next to Daniel.

“Sorry I’m late, I had to get some books for this and–yeah.” She sat down, and the group went through a second round of introductions.

“So what are we working on?” Daniel asked.

Soga flitted through her stack of books and papers, sliding across a rune diagram to him. “We can do Hazel’s project first, she couldn’t figure out–”

“I could, I just thought it’d be easier in a group,” Hazel shot back. “I’m not stupid.”

“This rune has a flaw,” Soga shot back, passing out a copy to everyone else in the group. “It’s supposed to conjure simple objects, but they’re turning to dust.”

He picked up the paper, scanning it. “Alright. Let’s take a look.”

Manju snickered. “Diaper boy’s gonna have it solved in five minutes when Hazel got stuck.”

“Shut up,” Hazel said, reaching up and pushing on Manju’s shoulder.

(Okay, now to solve it in four,) Daniel thought to himself, frowning deeply at the paper.

He got it in one. “You’re not pulling enough energy.”

Hazel blinked. “Yes I am.”

“No, here,” he turned it around, gesturing at the paper. “The power rune at the top here, it brings in the energy for the object, but you’ve only calculated enough to conjure the molecular matter necessary.”

“Yeah. It’s efficient,” Hazel said. “I did the math. It’s right. Why would I need more energy when we’re trying to conserve power?”

“You also need to conjure the energy for the atomic bonds holding the molecules together,” Daniel pointed out. “It’s like building a house with no nails.”

He slid the paper back, triumphant.

“I said he got seventh in the entrance exams,” Eileen squeaked.

“That may mean he’s smarter than you,” Hazel shot back. “I’m just a bad test taker.”

“A bad test taker, a bad homework doer, a bad classroom answerer…” Manju added. “Remind me what you’re good at?”

“Ugh,” Hazel grunted, taking back the paper. “Anyways, Eileen, your problem is next. What was it that was so hard?”

The conversation moved on, and there were no more snickers directed his way.

Daniel didn’t solve everything else that fast. Some problems he got stuck on and others solved quickly, but he’d shown he was a force to be respected, and that was enough for him.

It was just too bad he would have to throw it all away.

Halfway through the study period, things were going well. With thirty minutes left in the study group, Jen glanced at him, tapping her wrist.

He blushed. (Why was this the best idea?)

“What do you think?” Soga asked, sliding a note across to Daniel.

He glanced at it, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. (Do I really want to do this?) Looking over the note, he considered the puzzle.

He liked these girls. Well–he didn’t like Hazel. He liked most of these girls, and they’d warmed up to him, but he needed to go back and speak to Ismella. He hesitated, looking at the notes. A rune calculation. Something he could do easily, something that Soga had recognized he was good at.

“I…” he said. “Um.” (Just do it and get it over with.) Trying to make it seem like he wasn’t doing anything deliberately, he leaned forward in his seat and pushed. “I think…if you carry the…”

Muck slid into his diaper, shattering his line of thought while the girls watched him. He’d grown distressingly used to the sensation of filling his puffy, school-mandated underwear, but also preferred to generally only go in his room, just before he expected Rachel would be coming around for a change. Not surrounded by girls whose respect he was just starting to win.

At least Jen was the first one to comment. “Danny, um–do you need to leave early?”

The other girls looked up. Soga, sitting closest to Daniel, was the first to wrinkle her nose. “Oh. Yeah. Why don’t you head out?”

Hazel snorted across the table. Maybe she was still annoyed he’d solved her problem so fast, or maybe she just didn’t like him, but her disdain was clear either way.

“I thought you just had to wear those because Rachel made you, not because you needed them?” Manju asked. “Or…can you really not hold it?”

“Um,” Daniel said, blushing and flustered that the lie had been caught. He had gone on purpose, but if he admitted that, he’d have to explain why. Rather than take either option, he stammered, “I gotta…bye.”

Grabbing his books, he turned and scrambled away. His skirt fluttered as he rushed from the humiliation, as though if he got away quick enough they’d forget they just watched him muck his pants without apparently having an ounce of control.

Jen’s idea had worked. The excuse got him out of the study group early, and Rachel wouldn’t be expecting him back at his dorm room for another thirty minutes. He had time for a detour, and all it’d cost was his remaining scraps of dignity.

Too late to change his mind, too late to take it back, Daniel went to see his ghost.