L.D.M.

Chapter 6
Deception

The cafeteria buzzed with the talk of hundreds of students. As could be expected, most conversations centered on a single topic: the upcoming prom.

Kirsten sat at her table, eating a burger and fries, while in front of her Jenny and Gina were looking behind them giggling.

“Shhush.. you guys!” she whispered urgently. “He’s going to know we’re up to something!”

The other two girls made an effort to look seriously and both failed. “Come on, Kirst! He’s even carrying a rose." said Gina "How lame is that!” Both succumbed to a new wave of the giggles.

“Stop !” yelled Jenny, I’m going to need another change! “So am I” laughed Gina.”But who cares”

Behind their backs the reason for all their hilarity was now approaching the table.

“All right!” said Kirsten firmly. “That’s it! If you two can’t keep a straight face, you’d better go to the changing room right now! I don’t want Eugene to suspect anything”

“But..” began Jenny

“No buts! I’ve been pretending to flirt with that little geek for two weeks now. I don’t want all that effort to go to waste. Gina, this was your idea in the first place so you either stop laughing or you go!. All right?”

The red haired girl looked around quickly and saw Eugene coming. “Okay, you’re right. We’ll just leave you two love birds to it then..” This brought another giggle from Jenny but at least both girls now got up and made for the changing room.

Eugene now reached Kirstens table, looking somewhat like a deer in the headlights of a car. “H..hi Kirsten”, he managed to say. “S.so.. you’re having lunch huh?“

Kirsten suppressed the impulse to roll her eyes. Eugene had started to turn to jelly around her ever since she put the idea in his head that she might actually like him. She supposed it was kind of sweet, in a geeky way.

“Yeah”, she answered him instead, smiling sweetly. “Jenny and Gina just left. Want to join me?”

“S..sure”

Eugene pulled out a chair, almost knocking another one over in his haste and sat down suddenly. He looked at her from behind his glasses, then coughed and looked down. He took his glasses off and started polishing them nervously.

Kirsten realized she would have to be the one to start this conversation. “So.. Eugene.. did you do well on your math test?”

He lit up. “Yeah. I got an A+. As usual actually” Then he was silent again, focusing on polishing his glasses like they were the most important thing in the world.

I’ll have to be more direct, Kirsten realized. At this rate I’ll be lucky if he asks me before next Christmas. “So... have you asked anyone to go to the prom yet?”

Eugene looked up with a startled expression, looking back and forth from her to the rose he still had in his left hand. “A..actually...” he started, then fell silent again.

Kirsten suppressed a sigh. “Yeah? Go on! What is it?” she encouraged him.

“I.. eh.. was wondering.. “ Eugene continued, without looking at her. Then he suddenly looked up, apparently gathering courage. “Do you want to be my date to the prom?” he blurted out.

Kirsten smiled. “Sure!” she said.

A startled but delighted look came over Eugene’s face. “y.. you do? That’s great! I mean... all right then! Should I come by to pick you up beforehand?” He wiped away a drop of sweat from his forehead.

“Actually.. “ Kirsten pretended to hesitate. “Actually.. I was thinking maybe I could come to your place first. You know? To hang out and stuff. Hey, didn’t you say your dad was working on this really cool project? Think you could show me?”

“You mean the LDM? Sure! I guess my dad wouldn’t mind me showing it to you. It’s a date then” Eugene was beaming. He got up quickly, this time knocking his chair over for real. He turned around after picking it up. “Oh, right.. this is for you of course” He offered her the rose and left, almost running.

He must need one serious diaper change after that.. Kirsten mused, watching him go. Then she noticed her diaper was wet too. She hadn’t realized she had wet it. But that was normal, right? Wasn’t it? She felt like she could almost remember something; something important, but the memory seemed to flee from her. She shrugged it off and went after Jenny and Gina to the changing room. She couldn’t wait to tell them the news.

After getting herself changed by Gina and fixing her hair and make-up, Kirsten headed for her next class, science. It was on the top floor of the building. Going up the stairs, Kirsten congratulated herself again on a job well done. Not even the newspaper guys were allowed to see that strange device Eugene’s dad was building just yet. And all it took to satisfy her curiosity was to make the little nerd believe she would go to the prom with him.

She turned a corner and bumped into a well-muscled chest, wearing a football jacket. Above it, two blue eyes in a handsome face looked at her. “Hi there, Kirsten!”

This time it was Kirsten who felt like she was melting. “H..hey Brad!”

“Say, I just heard the weirdest story. Apparently that Eugene kid is telling everyone that you’re his date for the prom! You are still going with me, right?”

Kirsten looked him in the eyes, almost feeling as if she would drown in them. “Of course I am, Brad. You don’t actually believe I’d choose him over you, right! I mean, he’s really smart and all but he’s really just a kid. Hardly even out of...” She didn’t finish her sentence. She had been about to say Eugene was hardly even out of diapers but that didn’t make any sense, did it? Everybody had to wear diapers until they were at least seventeen! “Anyway” she continued “you are still my date, Brad. Be sure of it”

Around a corner, Eugene walked away, looking pale and frowning.