Story #7: The First Rule of Fright Club

"You, uh...You sure about this, dude? I'm not trying to call you a wuss or anything, but you've never really been into the whole...being scared thing." His friend had a point, and under normal circumstances, he would never have thought to join a group that revelled in spooking eachother. This was different though; Kira was in the club, and he would do whatever he could to try to impress her. "Whaaaaat? Nah, bro! I'm totally into it, one-hundred percent! I'm already putting together some ideas to scare people with." It wasn't just that he didn't have much of an interest in scary things, it was much deeper than that: he was terrified. The boy was yellow-bellied, and given enough provocation, he would also be yellow-undied. He didn't know any other way to prove how cool he was to Kira though, and thus, he was willing to confront his fears. Quite literally at that. Fright Club was a secret little school group that only came together once a year, during the eerie month of October. The goal was to scare your fellow members, usually through some elaborate set-up. Jumping from a scare was considered a simple loss and would disqualify someone from continuing. Screaming or crying would also award the 'Halloweenie' award. However, there was one more possibility, and as Diego would soon learn, it was tied to the first and foremost rule of Fright Club: Don't crap your pants. A brief orientation, held outside and away from prying eyes or perked ears, would answer much of what he wasn't clear on. It wasn't too large of a group, only maybe twenty kids across several grades, but Diego could already tell that they were much more excited about it than he was. Diego mingled, but it was mostly empty and he wasn't doing his due diligence in scoping out the competition. He was slowly making his way to Kira, in hopes of forging an alliance, and therefore being able to spend some time together. She seemed to accept his offer with little hesitation, and in that moment, Diego felt his heart flutter. Maybe she felt the same way? She wouldn't so willingly team up with a total newbie, unless she actually liked him! She would invite him over to her house after that, and they spent the afternoon coming up with a plot to scare their first victims. She was ruthless. It was the first thing he had noticed, since the target she had suggested was the youngest boy in the club; just some snot-nosed first grader named Timmy. He'd agreed of course, since he figured that was the only contestant more pathetic than he was. The time came and Diego found himself hiding behind a tree at the playground. Kira was so smart! She had figured out when and where their mark would be. Timmy sat in the nearby sandbox and Diego slipped down his spooky mask. "Rawr!" The sixth grader jumped out, his hands raised in a powerful pose. Timmy looked a little jarred, but he didn't squeak or scream, only looking up from his machinations. A smile started to cross his lips and Diego wondered how he could have flubbed his delivery this badly. The moment of self-reflection was all that was needed for his guard to lower. He suddenly felt hands on his shoulders and heard a deafening, horrible shriek that pierced right into his very core. The boy jerked and let out a terrified scream that brought the attention of the whole playground. That itself was already two counts of losing, but the third was worst of all. He had broken the first rule of fright club. In his terror, the boy's bowels had yielded completely, and as he came to his senses, he could feel something warm and squishy trapped in the fabric of his briefs. He started to hear laughter, first from Timmy, and then from behind him: Kira. She had fooled him from the start and had already made an alliance with Timmy. This whole thing had been a sham! Several members of the club had come up to confirm that Diego had lost, but Timmy had been the one to mention it smelled like 'poop'. Diego fought valiantly, but he was critically outnumbered, and so his pants came down. Everyone would gawk and snicker, pointing cruelly at the poor state of his well-soiled underoos. His humiliation was only made more thorough by the comparison of how even Timmy, who had lost last year in Kindergarten, hadn't crapped his pants. Diego thought this shame was the end of it, but he was sorely mistaken. Kira had texted the leader of the club and mentioned what had happened. The contingency had already been made in the past, but nobody above elementary had ever set it into motion. The club's president ended up showing up with a bag and an amused grin. He started to gently, yet pointedly explain what the situation called for. Diego was confused, up until the diaper was pulled out. Much like the 'Halloweenie' badge was to be worn for the rest of October in the case of screaming, Diego would be diaper-clad for the rest of the month. He tried to get away, but it was futile, and before long he was forcibly pushed onto the ground to be changed. If Kira hadn't been interested before, he seriously doubted that seeing him get his poopy pants changed out for a diaper was going to spark anything other than mockery. The leader finished taping him up and gave his padded rump a firm pat as he stood back up. He sternly explained that the consequences of not bearing his punishment would be dire. Timmy proudly announced that he'd check Diego every day to make sure he was following the rules; Kira was the one however, who took the diaper bag and said that she'd be taking care of the changing. It wasn't the way he had wanted, but it looked like he was in an 'alliance' with Kira for real now, and would end up spending a lot more time with her; it was just too bad that she wasn't interested in scaredy diaper babies.