Eager Beaver

Chapter Sixty-Two - Where to Swim Up?

It had been four days since Christmas. The town emergency was pretty much over the next day. I remember there was a bright shining sun when we woke up in the morning. We ended up waiting a while at the school for Laurie and Zach's parents to pick them up. It was their Dad who eventually did. He had droopy tired eyes. He told us about how the hospital had extra patients, and needed to stay at full capacity. Zach had practically jumped over a cot when he saw him.

The day after Christmas was still a holiday, boxing day, so my parents had it off. Before we went home though, Dad wanted to see his building site. It was a mess. I could tell Dad was upset - he had an annoyed scowl on his face as he inspected everything. He took some pictures with his phone and told me to wait in the car. I sat in the car seat and looked at Laurie's booster empty seat still beside me. I would have made a big stink about sitting in that one, but I was still upset from the night before. At least I had managed to stay dry until the morning.

The next few days I mostly stayed inside and kept to myself. Mom and Dad wanted me to wear pull-ups at night, it was inevitable I guess, but I hated it. Mom had put a brand new pack of pull-ups in my dresser drawer. She told me she trusted me to put them on myself before bed. They weren't like Laurie's though. Mom had got me ones that at least resembled some kind of underwear. It had a fake drawn-on fly on it and was stripey. It didn't make me feel like I was wearing underwear though - it actually felt more like I was pretending I was. In some weird way I almost preferred the kind with the cutesy animals.

I had wet the bed every night since Christmas. It always happened in the middle of the night, and it was always after some new outlandish nightmare about Nate. In the latest one, he had taken over the school, sent me back to preschool, and put me into remedial potty training class. It always made me feel terrible, like some kind of horrible monster was looming around every corner. I would wake up sweaty with a shriek and a wet soggy pull-up. Mom was always so quick to arrive, but I always had tears in my eyes by then. I had asked them every night since Christmas, 'Mommy, Can I sleep with you?', even though it made me feel like a four year old. I always slept better with Mom and Dad. Mom didn't mind at all, but I could tell Dad wasn't exactly a fan.

Mom and Dad had got even stricter with the rules. Of course my new underpants were one thing, but I wasn't even allowed to use my new tablet in my room. Mom and Dad wanted to see what I was doing with it - same with my phone. They also didn't want me watching anything even remotely spooky. Mom had caught me watching Scooby Doo once and she almost changed the channel. The most annoying thing was Mom or Dad would make me sit on the toilet before bed. It didn't matter if I had to go or not. They would wait outside for at least twenty minutes before telling me I could get up, it was humiliating.

Despite all that, I was trying to stay positive. Today was the day of the 'Swim Up'. Taylor and I had spoken about it, so I didn't have to worry. I would go through with the regular ceremony like I was joining Cubs with Charlie and Liam, but in January I would actually be joining Scouts. It was a good plan, I guess. I would say goodbye to the Beavers and they would be none the wiser - then I could work on the rumors at school. That was the plan at least. If I was being honest, I was nervous about joining Scouts. Nate, Nick and James would all be in the same year as me so I would get partnered with them. Maybe it would be better if I didn't join any group at all?

Everyone was dressed a little nicer than usual for the last Beaver meeting of the year. I had wanted to pick something mature but Mom had told me my outfit, 'didn't work' and made me wear a pale blue button down top with snowflakes printed all over it. I was wearing it with a plain pair of khakis. Of course I had my Beaver uniform on too. Somehow I had managed to achieve most of the badges expected for a white tail - including the North Star Award.

I had just finished taking off my snowsuit and hanging it up on the hook. The snow seemed to have been coming down unendingly, Dad had been muttering about having to shovel the driveway multiple times a day. It didn't help that the snow plows seemed to push more snow into the driveway then remove it from the streets.