"Oh, I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Miss Honey said, pulling along the same wagon Matilda, according to Hortensia, had claimed as her own. Matilda smiled, lying atop the many pillows to make it more comfy and spread out her arms. Riding in the wagon was much more fun when she wasn't vomiting over the edge.

"We have to… face her eventually, and the more… you put off going back to work… the more trouble you'll get into." Matilda said through several pauses. Matilda was more than ready to be back in class, even if she had just gotten out of the hospital. The thought of spending another day in bed was enough to drive her mad. She missed her friends terribly, so much that she had even agreed to Jenny's conditions.

No leaving the classroom unless accompanied by her.

No using her powers unless absolutely necessary to defend herself.

If anyone asked what happened to her, she had her tonsils removed.

She had no memory of the Trunchbull's visit.

She'd be wearing a diaper.

Matilda had argued the last condition so much, Jenny had put her foot down.

"You'll wear it, or you won't go to school at all. That's final." Matilda had been so shocked she had quickly agreed and hadn't brought it up again. "I'm sorry, Matilda, but you know I can't stop and leave the class unattended to help you, and I don't expect you to be able to hold it all day."

Matilda didn't like it, but she understood. Walking was still incredibly painful. Her body still felt like she had been involved in a serious car accident, and she didn't possess the strength yet to pull herself on and off the toilets. Even the strain of walking while needing to go often led to her bladder voiding itself from the effort, so Jenny often carried her to the bathroom, set her on the toilet, and let her try and make her way back to bed on her own, although she stayed close to catch her if she fell.

The closer they got to school the more Miss Honey's anxiety increased. Matilda could feel it building in the pit of her stomach, at least she thought it was coming from Miss Honey. The two of them had gone over their lines and roles all day yesterday. Jenny would have to pretend she "got the message" and slip back into her terrorized, subservient role no matter how much she hated what she saw or heard. The Trunchbull had to believe she was too terrified to lift a finger.

Matilda had found it fun giving Jenny ideas. Not only would they have to convince the Trunchbull Jenny was terrified, that was the easy part, she would also have to believe Jenny's interest in Matilda was merely a hobby.

"I never adopted her" Jenny would say. "She stays with me during the week, so I can tutor her in the evenings, then she goes back home on the weekends. It's only temporary, until her parents find her a proper tutor. I hear they're even looking into sending her to boarding school out of state." And if the Trunchbull asked what Jenny got out of it, she'd shrug and say, "It's not everyday I get the opportunity to work with a genius." That was the plan. Jenny would have to pass Matilda off as some kind of freak of nature Jenny took interest in studying. As for hitting her with the chair, "I had to stop you somehow Headmistress, it was for your own good. Her parents are counting on her to make them loads of money in the future, everyone else might look the other way, but I hear they have connections with the Italian Mafia."

"Matilda, there's no way she'd buy that! The Italian Mafia? Really?" Miss Honey had said with a laugh.

"That part's actually true," Matilda had said. "They have my dad make stolen cars untraceable for them, although I doubt they'd lift a finger, he's in hot water with them last I checked."

When they got to the school, Miss Honey turned around. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with Eve?" Matilda wrinkled her face. Matilda was still angry with her, and she knew Jenny was too. It was clearly a last ditch effort to keep Matilda away from the Trunchbull, but she couldn't hide forever.

"I want… to go… to school." Matilda said, ignoring the butterflies swarming around in her stomach.

They made their way in through the back of the building, the only way in with a ramp, and headed towards the year one classroom. They passed Hortensia on the way, peering inside the Trunchbull's office.

"I hope you're not up to anything already." Miss Honey said making Hortensia jump.

"O-of course not." Hortensia said, hiding her hands behind her back. She looked down, now noticing Matilda for the first time. "Hey! Your back!"

"So…are you…" Matilda wheezed.

"Geeze, what happened to your voice? You sound like a rubber chicken being held under the faucet."

"Tonsils." Matilda mumbled. She hated lying to her friends, but she couldn't risk the plan.

"You're a walking train wreck." Hortensia said with a shake of her head. Matilda shrugged. It was true, it seemed to be one thing after another lately.

"We're going to the classroom, you can come along if you'd like." Miss Honey said. Matilda could sense she was eager to get away from the Headmistresses door. Hortensia gave one last look at the office before following along.

"What did you do…with the spiders?" Matilda asked. She had a feeling she knew exactly what Hortensia had done with them, if the Trunchbull was to be believed. The wicked smile that began to spread across Hortensia's face told Matilda all she needed to.

"I'm not even going to ask." Miss Honey said. She dug in her coat pocket for her keys, before unlocking her classroom door, but when she opened it, she stopped. Miss Honey let out a loud sigh. Matilda couldn't see from behind Jenny's legs, but when she was finally dragged in she saw what had upset her. Everything colorful had been ripped from the walls. Where children's artwork had once hung, there was now only tape residue. All the bright and smiling decorations were gone, and the animal stickers had been peeled off, leaving the room gutted and a depressing shade of brown like the rest of the school.

Matilda felt a wave of anger. She knew how hard Jenny had worked to make her classroom look inviting and friendly as possible, despite the lack of money. She had even made most of the paper crafts herself, and now to see Jenny's hard work sitting ripped to shreds in the waste paper basket enraged her.

"It's not the end of the world, Matilda. Don't even think about it." Miss Honey said. "Rule number two, remember." Hortensia looked from Miss Honey to Matilda before finally asking.

"What's rule number two?"

"No powers." Matilda mumbled. "If I wanted to… come back to school… I have to follow…mom's rules."

"You know I love it when you call me the 'M word', but remember where we are Matilda, it's more important now than ever."

"Yes, Miss Honey." Matilda said, trying to hide her smile. She had been out of school for too long, and now calling her Miss Honey felt strange after calling her 'mom' and on some occasions 'mommy.'

"Hortensia, would you mind taking this to the dumpster? I don't want the other kids to see." Miss Honey said, pointing down to the trashcan.

"Sure," Hortensia said, picking it up with one hand. "Oh." She began pulling pieces of a picture out and setting it on the desk. "Look." Matilda was too low to the ground to see, but Miss Honey bent over the desk to examine it. Matilda could see a pained smile on her face and wondered what it was.

"I'll think I'll keep these and tape it back up."

"What is it?" Matilda asked.

"It's a Get Well Soon card the kids made me." Miss Honey said, continuing to stare at the pieces. Matilda balled her hands into fists. She was going to have a hard time following rule number two.

When the bell rang and kids slowly began to trickle in, shouts of excitement filled the room at Miss Honey's return. Almost everyone wanted to give her a hug and ask her how she was feeling. Matilda smiled from the back of the classroom and watched as she stretched out in the wagon. Sitting up for long periods was still too taxing. She wanted to be in her desk by Lavender, but she knew she'd be too exhausted and in pain by the end of the hour. So she had opted for a corner in the back with her backpack and a chair, so she could prop up her books to read.

"Miss Honey." Lavender said from her desk once the commotion of their teacher's return had died down. "Do you know if Matilda's coming back at all?"

"Look behind you," Miss Honey said. Lavender spun eyeing all the faces in all the other desks, before turning around and giving Miss Honey, what Matilda could only assume, was a look of puzzlement. "A little lower." Miss Honey said with a smile, "No, not on the floor, a bit higher. Keep looking. Getting warmer. Warmer. No, colder. Warmer aannnnnd bingo!" Matilda grinned and waved from her spot in the corner until Lavender's eyes met hers.

"Matilda! Where have you been?" Lavender said, springing from her seat and charging to the back taking Matilda completely by surprise and squeezing her in a bear hug.

"Oww oww oww." Matilda said.

"Ohh, Lavender, do be careful! She's not quite up to par yet!" Miss Honey called. Lavender quickly released her and looked her up and down.

"What happened to you? You're all green and purple!"

"I crashed… my bike…into a rosebush." Matilda lied. Lavender frowned looking even more concerned.

"What happened to your voice?"

"I had to…get…my tonsils removed." Matilda croaked. Her throat was starting to burn from talking so much. She met Miss Honey's eyes, who mimicked drinking from a glass. Matilda pulled the thermos out of her backpack and took a few sips.

"Lavender, you can catch up later, please return to your seat."

"But why is she back here by herself, Miss Honey?" Lavender asked.

"Because I don't think Matilda wants to be eye level with everyone's bottoms." Miss Honey answered, creating explicit giggles from the room.

"But what if we pulled her desk out, then she could sit in front and see fine." Matilda shrugged as Miss Honey looked at her questioningly.

"If Matilda's okay with that, then it's fine with me." Miss Honey said. Before Matilda could answer, Lavender had already picked up the handle and began pulling the wagon forward. After a quick re-arranging of desks, Matilda found herself directly in the front, with Lavender behind her whispering about what she had missed. Miss Honey gave her an apologetic smile, but Matilda didn't mind, although it would make discretion a bit more challenging. "There's no getting in trouble now, Matilda. Not with you right under my nose." Miss Honey said playfully. She pointed to her eyes with two fingers, then at Matilda. "I'm watching you." Matilda chuckled along with the class.

Matilda found it difficult, probably for the first time in her life, to find the motivation to crack open one of her books. She wanted to just sit and watch Miss Honey in her element. She seemed happier than she had all week, now that she was back with her class. Suddenly, Matilda felt a pang of something she wasn't quite familiar with. She was certain it was an emotion, and she was certain it was one of her own, but she couldn't quite place it. She must have sat there for quite some time spacing out, because the next thing she knew the class was giggling, and Miss Honey was waving a hand in front of her face.

"Matilda, are you sure you're up for this?" Miss Honey asked, squatting down to be eye level with her. "You haven't even opened a book yet."

"Yes! Sorry, mo-Miss Honey... I just got lost in thought… for a moment. I'm fine, really." Matilda said, before reaching into her bag and pulling out her math workbook.

"Well, if it ever gets to be too much, I can always have Mrs. Rodgers take you to lie down in her office." Miss Honey whispered. "Or you can close your eyes here for a bit, although I'm not sure how much rest you'd get up front in all the commotion." Matilda smiled.

"I think… if I stayed back there….I'd feel left out." Matilda said, surprised at how true the words sounded to her.

"Well, alright, but keep drinking water, you sound terrible."

It hadn't taken long for Matilda to forget her surrounding completely once she got into her studies. Her quest for knowledge seemed to outweigh her desire to participate and by the time she looked up, nearly three hours had passed. That was the nice thing about independent studies, if she wanted to focus on one subject, she could spend all day on it if she wanted to. She looked over the pages she had completed, surprised she had gone through a full week of lessons without stopping. While she was reaching over and swapping out subjects, she realized she had to pee.

Oh, c'mon! She thought, feeling a bit sullen. If she could wait just two and a half more hours until lunch, Miss Honey would be free to take her to the restroom, as was their agreed upon terms, so Matilda could try and go number two to avoid having to use the diaper. Her classmate Nigel had once pooped his pants and the classroom had smelled horrid all day. Miss Honey had promised her she wouldn't make her do that, and she'd call Mrs. Rodgers to take her to the restroom if need be. Matilda wasn't thrilled with the idea of Mrs. Rodgers standing nearby while Matilda tried to poop, but it certainly beat the alternative.

Matilda tried to busy herself with other subjects, but she just couldn't commit all her attention to her work in this state. She tried changing positions, and wiggling her feet, but with limited room to squirm about the urge just kept building more and more rapidly. Matilda couldn't keep the glare off her face as, one by one, hands began to raise and ask to be excused. When she was about to switch positions for the tenth time, her eyes met Miss Honey's, and she stopped. Miss Honey seemed to be able to read her like an open book now, and while still speaking to the class, tapped the side of her waist with her index finger a few times.

Matilda scowled and looked away. The hand sign had been meant for her, Miss Honey was telling her to use the diaper. Matilda looked up at the clock and sighed. They still had an hour and a half left. She caught Miss Honey waving her finger at her in a "no-no" gesture before pointing at her waist again, all while reciting the three times tables. Matilda kept holding it for another ten minutes, before getting a stern glare from Jenny she hadn't expected. Matilda gulped and sat still as Miss Honey passed, casually dropping a piece of paper in Matilda's lap. She opened the crumbled note and sighed in defeat.

A Deal's a Deal

Resigned to her fate, Matilda hoisted her book bag onto her lap and pretended to dig through it, using it as a cover to hide the deep blush that was creeping up her face. At least it wasn't like using a bed pan with someone standing over her waiting for her to go, she thought, until she saw Miss Honey eyeing her. Sort of.

Ok, you can do this, she thought to herself. Don't think about all your closest friends sitting mere inches away from you. She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes, clutching her book back to her chest for support. She fought against the panicked feeling building in her chest as her crotch began to grow warm. It's not an accident if you do it on purpose. Her heart was beginning to beat faster and faster. She could hear a faint hiss. She clutched the bag even tighter and prayed no one else could hear it either. Miss Honey's voice was coming closer as she asked the class what 8 times 3 was.

Oh no! Matilda realized. The power was building behind her eyes. The burning was beginning to become too much. Her panic was feeding the power. She had to break rule two, or her eyes would melt! She quickly opened her eyes and met Miss Honey's worried expression. Instead of panicking, Miss Honey reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny rubber ball. She bounced it in front of Matilda, who focused and kept the rhythm going for as long as it took, until her bodily urges, both in her eyes and in her bladder, seemed to be satisfied.

Miss Honey bent down and scooped up the ball, before putting it back in her pocket and giving Matilda's head a reassuring pat before carrying on with the lesson as if nothing had happened.

"What was that about?" Lavender whispered in her ear. Matilda just shook her head, now exhausted and closed her eyes.

Matilda didn't open her eyes again until Miss Honey had dismissed them all for lunch.

"Oh, you want me to pull you while I run?" Lavender asked her. Matilda was about to say no, but Miss Honey beat her too it.

"Sorry, Lavender, but I have to take Matilda to the nurses' office for her medicine, but you two can catch up in the cafeteria after."

"Sorry," Matilda mumbled as Miss Honey pulled her into Mrs. Rodger's office.

"It's alright, dear, you're just going to have to learn not to get so worked up next time." Matilda didn't want there to be a next time. "I'm just trying to figure out what makes it so uncontrollable. Is it anger? Embarrassment? Any strong emotion? Does it have to be negative?"

Matilda wasn't really sure herself. She sat lost in thought as Miss Honey rolled her into the single bathroom unit in the nurse's office. "Lift your dress, and I'll get you out of that." Matilda lifted it above her waist as Miss Honey examined things below. "These are much better than the ones we had at home." Matilda preferred the ones she could pull on and off herself, but now that she didn't have much mobility or independence, there wasn't much of a need. Miss Honey ripped the tabs off and pulled it out from under her. "Are you ready?" Matilda nodded, and Miss Honey lifted her up and set her on the toilet. "Was it really that bad?" Miss Honey asked from the other side of the bathroom to give Matilda some space.

"I was scared kids could hear." Matilda admitted.

"Well, maybe you could try and not make it so obvious next time." Miss Honey said with a grin. "You don't even need to stop what you're working on." Matilda let out an audible groan before flushing the toilet. "Done?" Matilda nodded before being scooped up. "You're braver than I am. When I was your age I was terrified the toilet would suck me down with it." Miss Honey admitted. "I was so scared I wouldn't flush, until my aunt-" Miss Honey stopped after realizing what she was saying. "Never mind."

"You can say… if you want." Matilda said.

"No, it's not very nice. Some things shouldn't be repeated." Matilda wanted to ask her if she had given therapy another chance, but her throat was too raw, so she just nodded and stayed silent. "Let's finish getting you settled, then we can go to the cafeteria for lunch. Lavender is probably thinking I stole you." Once they had exited the bathroom, Miss Honey laid Matilda down on her back on a cot and pulled the curtain around them.

"Did you…have to…deal with this…in the hospital?" Matilda asked, holding her dress out of the way so Jenny could finish.

"I think I would have made a run for it if I had, truth be told." Miss Honey admitted, before seeing the look on Matilda's face and adding, "You're just a child, it's different. You may be mentally years beyond your classmates, but your body isn't. You haven't gone through puberty, yet, be thankful for that." Matilda grimaced as the cold wipes made contact with her skin.

"It still… feels weird." Matilda said.

"Would you prefer Mrs. Rodger's help you instead? Would it make it easier on you? She is a medical professional."

"No!" Matilda answered a bit too quickly. She had been on the receiving end of this sort of thing by four different people now, and Miss Honey was, by far, the gentlest. The others were certainly faster and more sure of themselves, but Matilda didn't care much for being man handled and flipped around. The rough treatment left her feeling stunned and a tad bit violated. "You're better…at it. I just wish…I could…hold it better…"

Miss Honey smiled as she taped up a fresh diaper and offered Matilda a hand to help her sit up. "You expect too much of yourself, dear." She saw the look of doubt on Matilda's face. "When we get back to class, pick a kid, any kid and pay attention to how often they ask to be excused. You're perfectly fine the way you are."

"You said…in the hospital…you were going to…put me in pull-ups…to prevent…accidents…"

"Matilda," Miss Honey said, dropping her voice to a whisper. "It's not those kinds of accidents I'm worried about. It's the more supernatural kind that concerns me. You got seriously hurt because someone reacted poorly to kids just being kids. The idea is to prevent something like that from happening again. I swear, if the other children blew things up with their mind too when they had an accident, I'd make pull-ups a requirement for the whole class!" Matilda giggled. "There's nothing wrong with you, sweetheart. I'm just trying to make things as easy for you as possible right now, okay?"

Matilda nodded her head. "Could…I…" She swallowed and winced. She had really over done it talking today.

"What is it?"

"Have a… hug?" Matilda finished, suddenly feeling shy. Miss Honey smiled. "Of course you can. Are you having a rough day?" Matilda nodded. She was in pain and feeling exhausted already. She frowned when Miss Honey wrapped a single arm around her and let go. "Not a…Miss Honey…hug." Jennifer frowned.

"What do you mean? Not a hug from me?" She asked feeling slightly puzzled.

"Not a…Miss…Honey hug." Matilda repeated, trying to get the words out through the pain. "I want a…" Matilda blushed and looked away.

"What? Tell me what you want, dear." Miss Honey asked sitting next to her on the cot.

"I want…a hug…from…mommy." Matilda whispered, face now glowing red. Miss Honey sighed.

"You know we're at school, dear." Miss Honey whispered, "You know I enjoy all our mommy/ daughter time just as much, if not more, but it has to wait until we get home. I have to be Miss Honey now. You know that."

Matilda nodded, she did understand, but she couldn't stop her shoulders from slumping. She had grown accustomed to getting to snuggle whenever she wanted this week, but now that they were back in school, Matilda was finding it difficult to have her so close, but so far. Matilda was suddenly struck by a realization, and It made her cringe. The feeling that she couldn't place from earlier. It had been jealousy. She was jealous of having to share Miss Honey with the rest of the class!

"Ugh!" Matilda moaned, hiding her face in her hands. "What's wrong…with me?"

"Hey, Jen, is that you back there?" Mrs. Rodger's voice called out.

"Yes! We'll be right out in a minute!" Miss Honey called back.

"Take your time, I just wanted to let you know She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named called out again. Said she had another headache, in case you were worried about running into her today."

Both Matilda and Miss Honey sighed in relief. Miss Honey bit her lip before eyeing Matilda.

"Just for a minute, okay?" Matilda nodded, before Miss Honey picked her up and set her in her lap. Much better, Matilda thought, resting her head on Jenny's chest and wrapping her arms around her as she felt herself being slowly rocked back and forth. She smiled as she felt Jenny softly kiss the top of her head and begin to quietly hum.

"I love you, mommy." Matilda whispered.

"I love you too, Matilda."