All My Mother's Rules

Chapter 10: Not a Perfect Plan

The feeling of walking down the school hallway wearing my panties instead of a pull-up was both freeing and unnerving.

I'd been wearing a pull-up for less than twenty-four hours, yet I now felt almost naked without it, like something was missing. I was surprised at how quickly I'd grown accustomed to the snug fit of the pull-up's elastic sides around my waist and the soft padding between my legs, as well as the assurance that I'd be protected in case any accident did happen.

At the same time, I didn't understand why I was feeling nervous. Despite the four accidents I'd had over the past couple of days, none of them had taken place during cheerleading practice. Besides, a communal locker room wasn't going to provide me with the privacy to wear a pull-up like I had been all day up until now. All I needed to do was to pay extra attention to my bladder, and, if the urge to go did strike, make sure to run off to use the toilet in time. Nothing different from what I'd done since I was first potty trained at the age of two. How did going to the toilet become so complicated?

Today was a practice run for tomorrow's football game, my very first as a cheerleader. I was prepared to be bored out of my mind. I didn't care one bit for sports – don't ask me what the difference was between a fullback and a nickelback – and being stuck at the entire game wasn't going to be fun. Coach Addison believes that rehearsals didn't mean anything if you also weren't dressed up for it, so instead of our normal casual workout clothes, we were all to be wearing our cheerleading uniforms.

I had tried on the uniform once before at home to make sure it fit properly, which it had, but this was my first time wearing it around other people and I felt a tad conspicuous even though everyone else was going to have the same outfit on. The two-piece uniform was a dark blue polyester miniskirt combined with a dark-blue and lime-green top that intentionally didn't go all the way down to my waist. I'd practically be showing more skin with this than I would in my bathing suit. The bluish bruise on my hip, which thankfully was beginning to look slightly better, was peaking out over the top of the mini-skirt. At least it matched one of the school colors.

The uniform was the antithesis of my normal style, given how I'd prefer to go to school with jeans paired with either a hoodie or a graphic t-shirt. The only redeeming part of the outfit was that while it doesn't cover much, the parts it covered it does cover well. That was to say, I wasn't going to be flashing anybody while wearing it.

Claire strutted into the locker room while I was finishing getting the top tugged over my head. I could still make out the slight mark on her face from where I had slapped her during lunch when she had been bullying Lisa. I'd nearly forgotten about that spat, but I supposed the fact that I made it to cheerleading practice without a visit to the principal's office signified that Claire had determined that tattling on me wasn't worth the risk of getting into trouble herself. Still, I couldn't help but suspect that she was entertaining thoughts of revenge.

Claire didn't deem me worthy of even a frosty "hello" as she silently grabbed her gym bag from the locker next to me and proceeded to one of the empty toilet stalls to get dressed in privacy. She's so stuck up. Too good to hang out with students in her own grade. Too good to dress in the locker room like the rest of us. How in the world am I supposed to deal with her for four more years of cheerleading?

After changing into my cheerleading outfit, I took another stop at the toilet. I didn't have any urge to pee. I'd already empty my bladder when I wet the pull-up in class about twenty minutes ago. Still, since I would be going back to panties for the hour-and-a-half practice, I figured it was prudent to leave as little room for error as possible when it came to my bladder.

The only remaining stall was next to the one Claire had gone into to change. As much as I tried to go, I couldn't get any urine to come out. Not a drop. This was awkward. In the stall next to me I heard Claire's clothing rustle as she changed into her cheerleading outfit. I remembered Desi's advice that I needed to watch my back around her and how Claire and tripped me yesterday in practice. Following that advice would be more important than ever given the stunt I'd pulled with Claire at lunch. Out of habit, I flushed the toilet before I left the stall, even though it was completely unnecessary.