Nothing Ever Happens- Book 6

Nothing Ever Happens

Except for one copy for your personal use, no part of this story may be copied, transmitted, or posted either electronically or in print form anywhere without the prior written permission of its author.

This is a work of fiction about young people who wear diapers. If you don’t like the subject, this is not the story for you.

Book 6 – Involuntary Recruits

Monday morning. Bus ride. School. Classes. Classmates.

Each one of these thoughts brought horror to Camp’s mind. He had barely slept for having worried over them throughout the night. Today was going to be the worst day of his life, no doubt about it. His parents had really come down hard on him for what he had tried to do to Mark and Carlos. He couldn’t figure any way out of it, either.

When they had gotten back home from the barbecue he was given the spanking his parents had promised him. That made three in one day. The humiliation he felt still brought tears to his eyes. The physical sting of the spankings would take several days to go away, too. Until he could think of a way out of his current predicament he would have to make sure to avoid getting another one.

The first problem was clothes. As his dad gave him his last spanking, his mom and sister cleaned out his room. Gone were all his normal underwear and pants. Most of his shirts had been taken away, too. In their place were more clothes similar to what he was put into at Mrs. Howard’s store: diapers, plastic pants, and baby t-shirts. The only pants he had seen were a pair of fire engine red overalls that his mother put out for him to wear to school. He hoped against hope that she was just trying to scare him. Surely, she wouldn’t send him off dressed in those.

The sun was coming up and his room was becoming brighter. For the thousandth time he wished he could stop this day from coming. He was acutely aware that all his enemies would gang up on him. But, he knew that all his wishes were useless. He heard his parents moving about in their room. One of them would come very soon to get him out of bed and change his wet diapers. He had been warned not to get out of bed until he was told to do so.

“Good morning,” his mother said rather cheerily, “it’s time to get up. Are you wet?”

Camp nodded his head up and down.

“When you’re asked a question, you’ll answer out loud. Let’s try again. Are you wet?”

“Yes,” he croaked, choking back tears.

From the way his mother was acting he knew for sure that there would be no mercy. He would be wearing the red overalls and all the other baby stuff to school.

“OK. Let’s have breakfast first and then someone will change you.”

Camp got up and walked down to the kitchen. He felt disconnected from reality, as if everything was happening in a dream. He flashed back to his toddler days when he would sneak out of his crib and come to the kitchen to make his own cereal. This morning, though, his mother took charge. She plunked down a bowl of cereal and his rubber toddler spoon for him to eat with. She then prepared a baby bottle of juice.

“You’ll eat and drink everything that’s put in front of you. If you want more, just ask.”

“OK,” he agreed sullenly.

He was finishing up his bottle when his sister walked into the kitchen.

“Ooh,” she cooed, “you look so cute. Are you going to be a good boy now?”

He glared at her but didn’t dare answer back.

“That’s enough, Julie,” their mother gently scolded. “Sit down and eat.”

When Camp was finished his mother brought him back up to his room. She took off his wet diapers and cleaned his diaper area. His bottom was still red from the multiple spankings he had received. She put a generous coating of cream on it to prevent a rash from developing. Camp appreciated the soothing effect of the cream but he failed to thank his mother. (He still hadn’t understood the full message behind his punishment. Things would get better only as he displayed better manners and proper consideration for other people.)

She re-diapered him and put him into semi-transparent white plastic pants. Next she slipped a white snap-shouldered t-shirt over his head. Despite the fact that it barely reached the top of the plastic pants he thought that things wouldn’t be as bad as he had expected. At least all the clothing was in solid colors, free of any kind of baby print. His optimism only last a few moments. As soon as his mother picked up the overalls he saw the bright silver snaps that ran the entire length of the inseam. The screamed ‘toddler’ louder than any baby print would.

The last disillusionment almost made him faint. After he stepped into the overalls he realized that a full 3 to 4 inches of his plastic pants would be visible on each side. His very short t-shirt could do nothing to hide the gleaming plastic. Tears welled up in his eyes but his mother wouldn’t give him any sympathy.

“If you’re going to cry at every little thing, your eyes are going to be red all day. Now hurry up. Your bus will be here soon.”

He stumbled down the stair barely aware of where he was going. He picked up his backpack but couldn’t bring himself to walk out the door.

“Do you want me to walk you to your bus stop?” his dad asked.

“No!” he answered sharply. After a brief hesitation, he amended his answer. “I mean, no, thank you.”

Camp realized that his dad’s presence would only give the kids more ammunition to use against him. Things would only get worse if the others thought that he needed his ‘daddy’ for protection. He would have to face them on his own. Camp walked out of the house and into his driveway. He was carrying his backpack in his hand wondering how he could use it to cover up his plastic pants. He decided that it wasn’t possible and, besides, he wanted his hands free in case he got attacked. He wore it in the normal way.

He was terrified to leave his driveway. The bus stop was 1 1/2 blocks away, around a corner where he couldn’t see it. He didn’t want to get into trouble by missing his bus, but he didn’t want to get there too early either. He began cautiously walking down the street. He made it to the corner without meeting up with anyone. He could see the bus stop clearly. He decided that he would hide out where he was until he saw the bus coming. He would then run to the stop just in time to get on.

His plan worked perfectly. He was the last one on the bus. He usually sat in the back, but not today. He chose a seat four rows behind the driver. However, before he even got halfway there the kids already on the bus started hooting and laughing over his outfit (and they hadn’t spotted the plastic pants yet!). He slouched down into the seat and set his backpack next to him. He willed himself to be invisible but the damage had been done. Only a threat from the driver calmed the bus down. At each stop the driver had to warn the oncoming kids that they had better behave. They wondered what the warning was all about until the spotted the red overalls that Camp was wearing.

His misery was slightly eased for a few moments when Ken got on wearing exactly the same outfit as him. Unfortunately, as soon as Ken sat down, his plastic pants were spotted by the girl sitting in the seat across the aisle. She began whispering to her friend next to her and in no time the whole bus was giggling at the boys.

“Did your mommies give you plenty of extra diapers and baby pants?” she chided.

The boys reddened in embarrassment but they didn’t answer.

“I should have known that boys in diapers aren’t old enough to talk yet,” she said mockingly to her friend.

The girl’s comment had started Camp and Ken’s minds racing. Their mothers hadn’t given either of them extra diapers or plastic pants. What did this mean? Did their moms think that their diapers would last all day? Were the boys expected to use the bathroom? But how? Even if they could make their way to a stall (using a urinal was definitely out of the question) neither Camp nor Ken had experience in pinning up double diapers like they were wearing.

The bus arrived at school. The driver always made them get off by rows. This meant that Camp and Ken were relatively far to the front. As soon as they stepped onto the sidewalk they raced toward a deserted corner of the play yard.

“Look, there go two more!” someone shouted.

The boys didn’t stop to ask for an explanation but they eventually saw that Darren and John were already there. They seemed to be in even more distress than Camp and Ken. They were dressed in similar clothing except that their overalls were a bright babyish yellow. Their plastic pants were nearly transparent and did nothing to hide their baby print diapers. You could even tell that the heads of the pins holding them on were shaped like teddy bears.

There was an awkward silence as the boys looked each other over.

“I guess our parents must have planned this out,” Darren said stating the obvious.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Ken agreed.

Another awkward silence ensued. From somewhere on the other side of the yard the sound of jeering and taunting was heard.

“I bet that’s Artie and Aaron,” Camp predicted.

Sure enough, they came hurrying across the yard just a few seconds later. They were dressed exactly like Camp and Ken, red overalls and all. There were a few more seconds of sizing each other up. Their overalls were cut in such a way as to accentuate the way their behinds ballooned out. Ken wondered if any of the other guys were getting as excited inside their diapers as he was. There was something about all of them being in diapers that thrilled him, despite the obvious difficulties they would face today.

The other kids left them pretty much alone. The first bell rang and everyone started heading for their rooms. Aaron and Artie were in the same eighth grade class (along with Carlos) and the rest were together in the seventh (along with Mark).

Their teachers didn’t know what to make of the way they were dressed. None of the sympathy they felt was reserved for Camp. He had crossed them and antagonized them too often for them to feel anything but subdued joy that his parents were finally doing something to control him. The more experienced teachers could feel the tension in the air. Something was going to happen to at least one of these boys today, and sooner rather than later.

Class had been in session for half an hour and Ken was still glowing in the excitement of being in school in diapers. He was having trouble keeping his mind on class work but, luckily, his teacher attributed it to his embarrassment over wearing such infantile clothes. The teacher was only half right. The other thing that kept Ken distracted was the color of Darren and John’s overalls. Why yellow? He figured that he, Camp, and the Haskell twins had been given red overalls because they would be so obvious. Yellow was such a babyish color- is that why Darren and John had been put into them?

9:55. It was almost time for the morning recess. Mrs. Sanchez, the school nurse, walked into the seventh grade classroom. Ken, Darren, John, and Camp were told to go with her. The remaining students snickered as the mortified boys were led away. She stopped at Aaron and Artie’s classroom and they were added to the group heading for the nurse’s station.

“Your parents came to see me this morning and they explained why you boys are being punished. I must say that I agree that drastic measures are called for. (She didn’t say it aloud but she thought that Camp deserved this punishment the most.) Normally, I won’t go to your classrooms seeking you out. But, you are fully expected to report to me whenever you need a diaper change. Now, let’s go over the procedures you will follow when you get here.”

She led them to a large storage closet lined with shelves.

“This is what concerns you,” she said pointing to six large transparent storage bins.

“Your bin is clearly marked with your name. Your parents dropped off six sets of diapers and plastic pants for each of you. They were very specific about how you are to wear them. If you come in wearing a white diaper with baby print plastic pants, you must be put into a baby print diaper and semi-transparent plastic pants, and vice-versa. Is that clear?”

It was very clear, especially to Camp and Ken. The other boys were already wearing baby print plastic pants or baby print diapers. Apparently, they would be joining them soon.

“Also, make sure you monitor your diaper usage carefully. You don’t have any extra pants in your supply bins. If you wet or soil them you will have to be sent back to class without pants.”

Except for Ken, the boys were reeling from this revelation. Ken would have to think about this. Would he dare show up in class in just his diapers and plastic pants? The thrill of it was attractive.

“Now, before I release you to recess, let me check your diapers. Take your overalls off, please.”

She checked each boy individually. Mrs. Sanchez found that Camp and Artie were extremely wet. She scolded them and reminded them what would happen if they wet their pants. She dismissed the other boys just as the recess bell rang.

Everyone went outside. The “Overalls Gang” as they had now been dubbed were among the last to leave the building. They found an out-of-the-way corner of the yard to congregate in. They thought that a private spot might give them better protection from trouble. Camp and Artie joined them within five minutes. Camp was extremely distressed over his prominently exposed baby print diaper. A few catcalls came their way, but, for the most part, recess went smoothly.

Ken took the opportunity to ask the question he had wondered about all morning.

“Why are you guys wearing yellow overalls? Did you parents tell you?” he asked Darren and John.

Both boys blushed deeply. Neither wished to answer even though it was obvious that they knew the reason.

“Is it because yellow is such a babyish color?” Ken prodded.

“No,” John finally answered. “My mom and dad told me that I was going to wear yellow every day because it’s the coward’s color. They yelled at me for a long time about running away when we trapped Mark and Carlos in your backyard.”

“Oh,” Ken answered.

Nothing else was said about it. The bell rang and the students headed inside for the rest of the morning session.

The lunch bell finally rang. The six boys decided to eat together. There was an unnatural calm during lunch. Nobody teased them or even paid them any attention. The experienced teachers knew that something was up. After they had eaten, the four boys who hadn’t been changed yet headed to the nurse’s station. Camp and Artie went outside to the secluded spot they had selected this morning. Shortly after arriving there, the trouble started.

Three of Camp’s former victims began taunting him and Artie. The name calling quickly led to shoving. Camp didn’t want to get into a fight. His bottom was still sore from his three spankings the previous day and he wanted no more. Still, when he was shoved a second time, he hauled off and pushed his assailant to the ground. He hoped that that would end things but it didn’t. This really annoyed the others who ganged up on him and dragged him to an even more secluded spot behind some bushes. Artie tried to stop them but he, too, was afraid of what his parents would do if he was involved in a fight. Not knowing what to do, he ran to find the other guys who were getting their diapers changed.

Once they had him behind the bushes Camp managed to break free. He attempted to run away toward the school building but they cornered him. The boy he had pushed to the ground acted as their leader. While the two other boys held Camp’s arms, he reached over to the snaps in the inseams of the overalls and attempted to pop them open. Camp kicked his legs to keep the boy away from him. An evil glint shone in the boy’s eyes. One of the boys holding his arms grabbed him by the ankles. Despite his best attempts he couldn’t wrestle free from them and he could feel the leader opening up the legs of his overalls.

“Leave me alone. You’ll be sorry for this,” he threatened.

The boys laughed at him. All the snaps were unfastened and the leader started pulling the overalls over Camp’s head. The boy holding his arms was forced to let go but the boy holding his ankles held on firmly. Camp reached out to grab the overalls but, because he couldn’t move his feet, he lost his balance and fell over onto the grass. The other boys started running back to the main yard with the overalls.

“Give me back my pants,” he shouted, his voice coming dangerously close to cracking into a falsetto.

“Come and get them,” they taunted back.

Camp didn’t dare come out from behind the bushes. He watched the other boys as they rolled up his overalls and stuffed them into one of their book bags. (All this happened so fast that nobody noticed what they had done.) They then took their stuff and went back into the building. Camp was beside himself with fear. How would he get his pants back? If he was found by one of the teachers would they make him go back into the building in just his plastic pants? Worse yet, what would happen if some unsympathetic classmates found him first? Would they tell everyone to come and have a look at his baby print diapers? Despite his best efforts to maintain self-control he was shaking like a leaf.

The end of lunch period was near. Several minutes had gone by since the boys had stolen his overalls. Where was Artie? Did he just run away or was he going for help? Camp felt even more panic rising in him.

In the end, it was a combination of Camp’s worst fears that occurred. The boys who had stolen his overalls went into an empty classroom and stashed them into a teacher’s file cabinet. They then went back outside and began spreading the rumor that Camp was hiding in the bushes at the far end of the school yard wearing only baby print diapers and plastic pants. They cleverly stayed back and let other students lead the search for him. Camp saw them coming and attempted to hide himself in one of the bigger bushes. When an eighth grade girl yelled out that she had found him (which was actually a lie- it was just a trick she had learned when playing hide-and-seek with her younger brother) he panicked and took off at a run toward the school building.

By now most of the kids were heading for the far end of the yard which meant that Camp was running toward them. An explosion of jeering echoed in his head. He could see fingers pointing at him and people reaching out trying to stop him but he managed to push them away. Suddenly, he felt someone much bigger than him grab him by the arm. Mr. Walters, a sixth grade teacher, stopped him in his tracks.

“What are you doing outside without your pants on?” he demanded.

Camp was shocked. He tried to get away from Mr. Walters and get into the building where he thought he could find someplace to hide. Mr. Walters spoke to him again.

“What are doing outside in just your diapers and plastic pants?”

Artie and the other guys had now arrived on the scene. It was obvious to them that Camp was totally panicked. It also seemed obvious that Mr. Walters was deliberately making Camp stand in front of the whole school in his babyish attire.

“I asked you a question,” Mr. Walters insisted.

“I… I… Someone st.. st… stole them,” Camp stuttered, his voice barely under control.

“Stole them? Who stole them?”

This was a hard question. Camp had never tattled on anyone. Tattlers were weak… he wouldn’t become one.

“I… I… don’t know,” he said breathlessly, still trying to get away from Mr. Walters.

“Well, I guess you’ll have to come with me. Maybe Mrs. Saddler can sort this out.”

Camp was glad to get away from everyone’s stares. He meekly let himself be brought to Mrs. Saddler’s office. He hated to be brought to the principal like this but at least her office was private.

“Well, Camp, Mr. Walters tells me that you’ve had your pants stolen. Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Some guys ganged up on me and they stole them,” Camp said.

“Which guys?

“I don’t know who.”

“I have all the class pictures from this year right here. Just look through them and tell me who took your pants.”

“It won’t do any good,” Camp said stubbornly. “I said that I don’t know who did this.”

“Camp, we’re not a very big school. I know that you know who did this to you. If you try to get even on your own, won’t your parents come down even harder on you? I want to help you. Please tell me.”

Camp wouldn’t budge. It was now a point of honor with him. It might take him a while but he would get even. And, unlike what happened with Mark and Carlos, he would think of a way that would succeed.

“Very well,” she sighed. “Have it your way. I guess I’ll have to send you back to class just as you are.”

She said this last part in hopes that Camp would change his mind. The fear that came into his eyes only lasted an instant before he shut down on her again.

“I’m serious, Camp. Your parents were very insistent this morning that you would be in school every day, all day, for the rest of the year no matter what.”

“I know,” he whispered as he looked down at his bulging diapers and plastic pants.

Mrs. Saddler led him back to his classroom a few minutes after everyone else had settled down to work. The tittering and snickering that greeted his arrival only hardened his resolve to get even.

“Aren’t those the cutest diapers?” one girl whispered to her neighbor.

“Yeah, and they’re wet, too,” the other girl snickered in reply.

Camp’s determination went up two more notches. The day dragged on. The teacher wisely left Camp alone, not calling on him even once during the afternoon session.

*****

After school that afternoon, the boys were gathered at Darren’s house. As soon as they entered the door Mrs. Gonzag had seen to it that they removed their pants and were changed as needed. Darren and John were put into yellow plastic pants. All the boys (except for Mark and Carlos) were given their baby bonnets again.

The afternoon had turned very warm so she wouldn’t let them stay inside. She sent them to the backyard saying that the sun would do them good. Camp was very quiet, keeping to himself. Artie was trying to get him to talk.

“Camp, I’m sorry that I let you down in the school yard. Those guys were too much for me. I tried to get help but I guess I came back too late.”

“It’s not your fault,” Camp answered. “You couldn’t have done anything to help.”

“How come you didn’t tell on them?” Aaron pressed.

“Only babies tattle on each other,” Camp snapped. A second later he blushed violently as he remembered that he was dressed exactly like a baby, right down to the diapers he had just wet a few moments before.

“But how are you going to stop them?” Artie wondered.

“I don’t know, but I will,” Camp said firmly.

“You’d just better be careful. If you get into trouble again your parents will definitely tan your hide again and keep you in diapers even longer. I know- that’s what my dad did,” Darren warned.

“Yeah, I know,” Camp agreed in a sad voice. “I guess I’ll really be in trouble tonight for having lost my overalls.”

The boys talked quietly until their parents came to pick them up. As he had predicted, Camp’s parents were upset with him, but not for losing his pants. They were very irritated that he would not cooperate with Mrs. Saddler by identifying the boys who had attacked him. To his great surprise and relief they did not give him another spanking.

The following morning was even more traumatic for Camp than the previous day. After breakfast, his mother put him into fresh diapers, covering them with the hated shiny red plastic pants that he wore at the barbecue. Next came the baby print t-shirt, socks, and shoes.

“OK, get your backpack and hurry. You don’t want to miss the bus,” his mom directed.

“What about my pants?” Camp protested.

“I’m sure that Mrs. Saddler will be able to get your pants back as soon as you begin cooperating with her. Until then, you’ll go without.”

“Pleeeease, give me pants to wear,” Camp pleaded. “The other kids will kill me!”

“Don’t be silly. No one did a thing to you yesterday afternoon. Neither in school nor on the bus. Now get moving, or do you need another spanking?”

The pain of Sunday’s spankings had finally subsided sometime during the night. He didn’t want to go through that again.

“Pleeeeease, give me some pants,” he begged again. “I don’t know who took my overalls.”

“We’ve been over this already. Until you’re ready to trust Mrs. Saddler and the other adults who are trying to help you, you won’t get any pants to wear. Now, for the last time, get a move on,” she ordered.

Camp was standing in the driveway, undecided what to do. He couldn’t possibly get away with ditching school without his parents finding out. The bus would be arriving soon. He needed to get moving but he was so terrified of being seen in his shiny red plastic pants and baby shirt that he couldn’t bring himself to walk out of his driveway. The screen door behind him opened.

“Are you still here?” his dad asked as he walked to his car. “I guess I’ll have to walk you to the bus stop today.”

Camp feared that he would lose even more of his dignity by having his father walk him to the school bus. His classmates stared at him in amazement as they approached the stop. He looked like an eleven month old baby in his bulging diapers and plastic pants. The bus arrived and he scrambled aboard, hiding his face in his backpack. Ken got on a few stops later and sat next to him as he had done yesterday. Compared to Camp, Ken looked grown up in his red overalls. The other kids were absolutely quiet. It seemed that they were beginning to feel a small degree of sympathy for Camp.

Once at school Ken said he had to go inside the building for a minute. Camp walked alone toward the secluded area when Darren, John, Aaron, and Artie had already congregated. They too were sympathetic toward Camp in his fight against the adults. They didn’t think that it was fair that Camp was being pressured to squeal on his school mates.

Ken walked out of the school building and approached them.

“What happened?” Aaron exclaimed. “Did they get to you, too?”

Ken wasn’t wearing his overalls anymore. All he had on were his baby t-shirt and baby print plastic pants.

“No,” he answered simply. “My overalls are in my backpack. I’m not wearing them again until Mrs. Saddler stops picking on Camp.”

Camp was astounded. No one had ever stood up for him like this. He was speechless.

“Does anyone else want to join the protest?” Ken asked.

“We will,” a voice behind them said.

It was Mark and Carlos. Camp was even more surprised. Why would the two guys he had tried to humiliate just a few days ago want to stand up for him? Part of the answer, of course, was that Mark and Carlos liked to be seen wearing just their diapers and plastic pants. The other part, though, had to do with Mark and Carlos’s sense of honor. They also though that Camp was being treated unfairly and they would join any cause that they thought was just.

Without hesitation, the took their pants off and stuffed them into their backpacks. The growing crowd caught the attention of the yard monitor. He came over to investigate what was happening.

“What are you boys doing? Get your pants back on this instant,” Mr. Walters ordered.

“My parents won’t let me wear pants until I tell Mrs. Saddler who stole them,” Camp answered first.

“And we’re not going to wear ours until Camp stops getting pressured to squeal on the other kids,” Mark answered for the others.

Mr. Walters marched them to Mrs. Saddler’s office.

“Boys, I absolutely forbid you to go to class without your pants on,” Mrs. Saddler said in an exasperated voice.

“Why?” Ken challenged. “You made Camp go to class in just his diapers. If it was good enough for him yesterday why isn’t it good enough for us today?”

Mrs. Saddler was caught in a device of her own making. She and Camp’s parents had even agreed that sending him to school in just his diapers this morning might get him to break down and inform on the people who had stolen his pants.

Mrs. Saddler released the boys to go to class. The atmosphere had changed dramatically. Camp and the others no longer felt that they were objects of scorn. There even seemed to be admiration from a few of their classmates who gave them the thumbs-up sign as they took their places. By lunchtime Aaron and Artie had also joined them in their no-pants protest.

That afternoon as they hung out at the Haskel’s house, the other guys tried to convince Darren and John to join the no-pants protest.

“You guys have been going around after school and on weekends for more than a week in just your diapers- practically everybody has already seen you,” Carlos pointed out.

“Yeah and nobody made fun of us today,” Mark added. “I think that the other kids are getting behind our protest. Aren’t you sick of having to wear those yellow overalls?”

“Well, maybe,” John said hesitantly. “But it’s so embarrassing when we have to go out in just diapers! I can’t imagine doing it deliberately.”

“If you don’t do it tomorrow,” Artie said somewhat mysteriously, “you might just get left behind.”

“What does that mean?” John wanted to know.

“You’ll find out tomorrow,” Aaron said equally mysteriously.

The coaxing and arm twisting continued until Darren and John went home. By that time they had agreed to think about it.

*****

The next morning Darren and John were nervously standing in the school yard in just their diapers and plastic pants. Carlos and Mark were with them. Carlos and Mark were quite happy. Yesterday, when they joined the impromptu protest against Mrs. Saddler, they were wearing only the regular diapers. Today, they had planned ahead and were wearing their double-diapers and ‘big’ plastic pants.

“See,” Mark was saying encouragingly, “no one is saying anything bad to us. Quit worrying.”

Camp and Ken showed up next. Camp’s eyes grew round in surprise as he focused on Mark and Carlos’s ‘big’ diapers. His view of the world was being severely challenged. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe there really were genuinely nice people in the world.

All six boys were surprised in their turn when Aaron and Artie showed up. They were accompanied by Dean and Brett who were wearing baby print double-diapers and semi-transparent plastic pants.

Dean and Brett (who were in the eight grade with Aaron, Artie, and Carlos) were cousins. They were very outgoing and notorious for their willingness to accept any dare. Nonetheless, Camp was aghast. Dean and Brett were two of the guys who, only two days ago, had stripped him of his overalls and left him out in the school yard in his diapers and plastic pants. What was going on? Even though Camp had refused to tell the adults, all the guys knew it was them. A sign from Aaron (who was standing behind Dean and Brett) let everyone know that they shouldn’t say anything.

Brett spoke first. He and Dean seemed highly embarrassed.

“We’re sorry we stole your pants. Thanks for not squealing on us. As soon as we can get into the building, we’ll show you where they are.”

“Yeah,” Dean added, “we’re doing this today to show you that we’re serious.”

All eyes were on Camp now. He wasn’t at all happy about this development. He wanted revenge on the guys who had humiliated him in front of the whole school. This wasn’t good enough. He felt like jumping them right then and there and pummeling the crap out of them. However, something told him to trust Aaron so he swallowed his pride and accepted their offer.

“Okay,” he said.

“Good,” Aaron agreed. “Now let’s go find Sean.”

These last word were addressed to Dean and Brett. Sean was the third guy who had jumped Camp (the one who had held him by the legs).

“What are Aaron and Artie up to?” Carlos asked after the four guys had left.

“I don’t know,” Camp said. “But it had better be good. I sure hated having to accept their apology.”

“We know,” Mark teased, “your face looked like you had just sucked a lemon.”

By the time school started, Sean was in diapers and had also apologized to Camp. Camp was anxious to talk to Aaron and Artie but the bell rang before he got the chance.

Mrs. Saddler found out about the ‘new’ diaper wearers right after classes had started. She was furious. She wasn’t going to allow a bunch of seventh and eighth graders to run her school. Already she had received phone calls from parents asking her what was going on and how come she couldn’t control the kids in her care. She needed to act forcefully and quickly.

She would start by calling Dean, Brett, and Sean’s parents. She couldn’t afford to allow more kids to join this rebellion against her authority. Within forty-five minutes, five of their six parents (Sean’s mom was out of town on business) were assembled in her office. None of them was happy to be called away from work, especially when they found out the reason.

“Let me get this straight,” Sean’s dad was saying, “right now our sons are sitting in their classroom in baby diapers and plastic pants?!!”

“Yes,” Mrs. Saddler said, “as I just explained they seem to be doing it to show their peers that they are not afraid to defy adult authority.”

“I still don’t get it,” Brett’s mom said. “I know that it has become more difficult for us to control him at home, but Brett isn’t a malicious kid. He wouldn’t deliberately try to hurt anyone. I think that this little act of rebellion should be treated just like that, as a little act of rebellion. In a few days this will blow over and we’ll all laugh at their adolescent stunt.”

“Do you mean to say that you aren’t concerned that your kid is publicly wearing diapers and plastic pants? Did he talk to you about this first?” Dean’s dad asked.

“No, of course he didn’t,” Brett’s dad answered. “What my wife is saying is that she doesn’t think we should blow this out of proportion. Our kids need to explain themselves, but let’s not go overboard. They haven’t done anything except exercise their right to peaceful civil disobedience.”

Mrs. Saddler didn’t like the way this conversation was going. She wanted these kids made an example of. This would help bring the other boys under control, too. Still, she tried to salvage what she could.

“I agree that the boys need to explain themselves. Shall I ask their teacher to send them here?”

The parents agreed. The boys walked into Mrs. Saddler’s office expecting a tongue-lashing. They were completely thrown off guard when she led them to the conference room and their waiting parents. Sean cracked immediately.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “They made me wear these. They said that I had to or that Camp would tell on us.”

Mrs. Saddler could hardly believe her ears. Was it really possibly that she would solve two problems at once? Did she really hear correctly? Did he, Brett and Dean steal Camp’s overalls? Her first thought was to separate the boys immediately.

“I think that we might get a better picture of what is going on here if we let the boys tell their stories individually.”

Mrs. Saddler sat Brett in her office and asked her secretary to keep an eye on Dean (to make sure that he and Brett didn’t get a chance to talk to each other).

“Now, would you please explain what you just said,” Mrs. Saddler said to Sean.

Sean had recovered some of his composure and now realized that he had said too much. His problem was that he didn’t know how much he could take back without getting into deeper trouble.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he answered.

“Sean, don’t give us any of that,” his dad warned. “What did you mean by ‘Camp would tell on us’? Tell about what?”

“Nothing. I just meant that Camp is always bossing people around.”

“Sean, you have one last chance to tell the truth. What you just said doesn’t make sense. What does Camp bossing people around have to do with your choosing to wear diapers to school?”

“But I didn’t want to wear these diapers. They made me.”

“Who made you?” Mrs. Saddler asked.

“Brett and Dean, just before school started,” Sean admitted.

“What could they say that would make you agree?” Brett’s mom asked.

Sean gave up all hope of hiding the truth. He admitted that he, Brett and Dean had attacked Camp and stolen his overalls. He tried to defend their actions by saying that Camp was a bully and that he deserved what he got. Sean’s dad was fuming. He was deeply embarrassed at having his son admit to such disrespectful behavior and then try to blame it on the victim.

Brett was brought in next. He tried to stonewall even longer than Sean had. It took almost a half-hour to get the truth out of him. His parents were also highly embarrassed and angry, especially after the way that they had tried to defend him earlier.

Dean came in last. He seemed smug and self-assured. This was because he had misinterpreted what had gone on with Sean and Brett. He thought that the long delay in calling for him meant that the other guys hadn’t admitted to anything. He was sure that all he had to do was laugh off the diapers as a practical joke.

“Dean,” his dad said, “the other guys have just confirmed each other’s story. I think that it is best that you come clean right away.”

Dean had trouble hiding the smirk that was spreading over his face. How dumb did they think he was to fall a trick like that? They didn’t know anything and he wasn’t going to tell them anything.

“I’m sorry, dad,” he said insincerely, “I didn’t meant to make fun of the guys whose parents are punishing them in diapers. Aaron and Artie asked me to join a silly protest they were making against Mrs. Saddler.” Then, turning to Mrs. Saddler, he added, “I’m sorry for joining their protest. I apologize.”

He sat back in his chair confident that he deserved an Academy Award for his performance. His mother’s sharp voice shattered his confidence.

“How dare you lie to us again. Didn’t you learn anything from last summer?”

She was referring to an incident that had occurred while they were on family vacation. Fifteen dollars had gone missing from her purse. Dean had denied any knowledge of it until his younger brother admitted that Dean had taken it because he was afraid to admit that he had lost the spending money his parents had given him the day before.

This reminder really shook him up. He had been grounded for the rest of the summer and had had his allowance taken away for six weeks, which added up to much more than fifteen dollars. But, instead of admitting his guilt in the current affair he redoubled his denials of any involvement.

“Enough!” his father roared, slapping his hand loudly on the top of the conference table. “It’s obvious that you’re still a liar. It seems to me that we’ll have to start your training all over again. Don’t you think so, dear?” he asked his wife.

Thinking that she understood his drift, she agreed. “Yes, I most definitely do. And diapers are the perfect place to start. Dean definitely needs to relearn good behavior.”

“Mrs. Saddler,” Dean’s dad continued, “would it be possible to bring Camp here so that Dean can make a real apology to him?”

“Certainly,” she agreed, “I’ll call for him now.”

The other parents asked for their sons to do the same. Camp was called in and for the third time today he was completely flabbergasted by Sean, Brett, and Dean. They actually apologized to him in front of Mrs. Saddler and their parents.

*****

That afternoon the eight guys were gathered at Camp’s house.

“How come you and Aaron didn’t tell me about the revenge you had planned?” Camp asked Artie.

“Well, don’t take offense, but you always seem to get caught when you try planning something like this. Aaron, Ken, you and me are in diapers because your last attempt backfired.”

This stung Camp a little bit, but it was true so he couldn’t argue the point.

“Anyway,” Camp continued, “how did you know that it would work?”

“We didn’t, of course,” Artie answered. “But Aaron and me figured that Mrs. Saddler would really go ballistic when she thought that they were defying her, too. We hoped that she would call their parents and that they would get into trouble for that. We never guessed that it would go as far as it did.”

“Yeah,” Aaron chuckled, “you should have seen the look on Brett’s face when he told us that they were being punished in diapers like we were, only worse. They won’t get any kind of pants to wear until at least next fall. It’s really too much.”

“Now that I’ve got my overalls back, they don’t seem to be so bad after all. Compared to going around in diapers, that is,” Camp concluded.

The other boys were looking forward to wearing pants in school again, except for Ken, Mark and Carlos, of course.

Book 7 – Convergence