Mom’s phone chimes. She looks down at it.
“Your babysitter is here,” she announces. She brings Jess outside, where a car she doesn’t recognize is waiting. Mom opens the back door and buckles Jess into a car seat. “Thanks again, Kyle.”
“No problem,” says the man driving the car. Jess’s mouth falls open, the pacifier tumbling out. It’s her crush, Kyle! Mom catches the pacifier before it can hit the floor of the car and pops it back into her mouth.
“I haven’t told him who you really are,” mom hisses in Jess’s ear. “If you behave yourself, I won’t need to. But behaving yourself means acting your current age, got it?” Jess nods. “Good.” A vicious glint appears in mom’s eye. “Oh, someone your age wouldn’t know how to ask to go potty, by the way.”
Jess lets out a small, scared squeak.
“That’s right. I saw you squirming, I know you need to go. If you use that diaper you’re wearing and let Kyle change you, he won’t know who you really are. But if you ask to use the potty, I’ll tell him. And who knows if you’d even be able to it to the toilet in time anyways? It’s your choice, Jess.” Mom kisses the top of Jess’s head. “Be a good girl.”
Kyle drives away. The trip to his house is short, but during it, pressure continued to build in Jess’s abdomen. She needs to go number one and number two. Kyle carries Jess and the diaper bag into his house. He sets her in a playpen. Jess sucks on her pacifier urgently. Should she ask to use the bathroom, knowing that Kyle will find out who she is, or use her diaper for its intended purpose?