Chapter 3

Bowling Ball entered the principal’s office with Kat and explained what had happened. At least she explained what Jenny told her had happened.

Ms. Sanchez thanked her and asked her to return to the cafeteria. She also asked that Jenny be sent to her office.

Principal Sanchez was stunned. First day of school and two naked students already. One incident could be brushed aside, but two? She would need to do some digging. In the meantime, she called Kat’s mother, Cara, so she could be picked up from school. She told Cara that Kat was safe and that she would explain everything upon her arrival.

In the meantime, Jenny arrived. Ms. Sanchez asked her to explain what had happened. Jenny glanced over at Kat. She didn’t know what the girl said. Kat just sat with her head bowed, looking at the floor. Jenny decided to stick to her story. Jenny’s athletic body in her tight clothes wasn’t lost on the principal.

“I don’t know, Ms. Sanchez,” Jenny said in the sweetest most innocent voice she could muster, “One minute she was sitting at our table, the next she stood up and got naked and just stood there. She didn’t even try to cover herself. Bowling B ... uh ... I mean Mrs. Jones came over and covered her up. Then Kat just ran away. We gave Mrs. Jones her things and that was all.”

Ms. Sanchez turned her gaze to Kat, “Is that what happened, Kat?” She asked.

Kat had never been in trouble at school. She recalled times that she and Elwood had been bullied in the past. The school never did anything to help them. She just wanted this to end, and she still wanted to protect Elwood from Jenny and the cheerleaders. She looked up at the principal, then over at Jenny. The beautiful cheerleader glared back at her.

The look from Jenny made Kat quiver. With one look Jenny was telling her that if she told the truth, there would be big trouble. Kelly decided to obey.

Kat returned her gaze to the floor, “Y ... Yes, Ms. Sanchez. That’s what happened,” she said.

“Well,” Ms. Sanchez said, “I guess that settles it. Thank you, Jenny. You may go now.”

Not wanting to do or say anything to ruin the situation, Jenny quickly turned and left the office.

Kat’s mother entered the office as Jenny was leaving.

Cara Kindle shared her daughter’s wavy red hair and fair skin. But unlike her daughter, she had a shapely figure. Fortunately, she came from a well-to-do family and didn’t have to work to make ends meet. When the call came from school for her to pick Kat up, she dressed quickly in a track suit and sneakers. She was confused. Kat had never been in any trouble at school before.

“Thank you for coming in, Ms. Kindle. I’m afraid there’s no easy way to explain why I called, so I’ll just be blunt. Kat stripped naked in the cafeteria...” Ms. Sanchez started.

“She WHAT!” Cara blurted out, “How? What?”

Ms. Sanchez continued, “She stood there naked until Mrs. Jones, the lunch monitor, came over and covered her. Kat then ran into the girls’ room where Mrs. Jones found her and helped her get dressed again. Your daughter was then brought here to my office.”

“Kat, why?” Cara asked her daughter.

Again, Ms. Sanchez continued, “I asked a very respected student, Jenny Jenkins, our head cheerleader, to come in. She confirmed what Mrs. Jones said.”

“I don’t understand, Kat,” Cara turned to her daughter, “What would make you do such a thing?”

“We never did get a reason,”

Kat just silently rocked in her chair.

“At this point, Ms. Kindle, I think it’s best if you just took Kat home. I need to take some time to assess the situation and determine, in consultation with you, what to do about all this.”

Cara was stunned by what she heard, “I ... Well ... OK, I guess. I must say that I’m shocked. Kat has never done anything even close to this. I guess you’ll be in touch?” she said, standing and taking Kat by the wrist.

“Of course.”

“Let’s go,” Cara said and dragged Kat out of the office.

Cara walked quickly, practically dragging her daughter down the halls of the school and out to the car. She tried to get Kat to talk during the ride home, but the girl just sat silently looking down at the floor. Cara had never seen her like this.

As soon as they walked in the house Kat asked, “May I go up to my room now?”

As much as Cara wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on, she needed some time to process what she was told by Ms. Sanchez.

She answered her daughter sternly, “Fine. But this isn’t over.”

Kat ran up the stairs into her room and closed the door behind her. She dove into her bed and started crying.

No sooner did Cara hear Kat’s door slam than the phone rang. It was her best friend and neighbor, Jolene, Elwood’s mom.

Both women spoke at the same time, rambling about something terrible that happened in school today.

“Oh, you heard what happened to Elwood?” Jolene asked.

“Elwood?” Cara relied confused, “I was going to tell you what happed with Kat.”

“Kat? What happened to her?”

Cara told Jolene about Kat stripping in the cafeteria.

“Oh!” Jolene said, “well you won’t believe this shit!”

Jolene relayed the story about Elwood’s humiliation.

“Unreal,” Cara responded.

“Somethin’ ain’t right here,” Jolene said.

“I couldn’t agree more,”

The women agreed that there was more to the stories than what they got from the school. Neither child had said a word since they got home. Jolene and Cara felt that they needed to get to the bottom of this, and quickly. Something wasn’t right. They decided to confront their children together at Cara’s house immediately.