Chapter 10: Business as Usual (Not)

The plan was set; act as normal as possible throughout the first half of the day, scarf down a quick bite to eat at lunch, then head to the companion selection area to scope out the prospects. It all sounded so simple, right? Well, it might have been, had the school not already been a buzz about how I was personally responsible for getting Principal Hayden fired. Now, it’s not as if anyone felt I did them a great disservice by ridding the halls of his presence, but when you slay someone who frightened the masses, you can often find yourself being the one who’s feared. I tried to be nonchalant about the whole thing, and squelch everyone’s inquiries into what happened, but Principal Haden’s refusal to take our discussion behind closed doors, left far too many witnesses to claim it was all hearsay. I also suspected that my newly acquired six-foot-five-inch, 240-pound military-fatigue-wearing shadow didn’t help to dispel any rumors.

I spent the better part of my morning, both during and in-between classes, reciting the words “no comment” to anyone bold enough to question me directly, and by noon, I was sick of the entire affair. Major Johnson and I ate our lunches fairly quickly, before setting off for the companion selection area.

The very second I walked through the door the unmistakable aroma of sexual arousal which, after my brief but very enlightening encounter with Miss Loretta gave me intimate familiarity with, attacked my nostrils with the promise of fulfillment that never materialized –- at least not during that initial session.

Except for a single encounter, those who actually did speak to me only inquired about Principal Hayden and what transpired in the hallway earlier this morning. I never had a single girl ask to audition during the entire forty-five minutes I was there. The only offer I did receive was from a guy who I might have actually enjoyed watching the Vermin feast upon.

Zack Hamilton was an asshole of the highest order. The football jock, whose muscle-to-brain cell ratio probably measured about 10 to 1, confidently strutted up and started talking shit about how I was going to accept him and his buddies as my companions and, together, they would select the girls we would be taking. He actually had the gall to suggest that if I was good and did what I was told they might even allow one of “their” females to jack me off about once a month.

Here is where you need to understand a little about my psyche. Even though my father trained me in martial arts, I never used them outside of his mandated practices. One reason for this was that I simply didn’t want to get into trouble at school, since my grades were very important to me.

The other, I’m ashamed to admit, had more to do with my own stubbornness. If I relied on my father’s teachings, it would somehow validate our time together. I couldn’t have that. He had to be wrong, forcing me to spar with him every weekend. I mean no good could ever come of it, right? Well since our talk on Saturday, I started reevaluating my feelings and realized the heart of my resentfulness stemmed mainly from the dreaded Christmas incident. Yes, he had most definitely gone overboard with my punishment, but I was the one who instigated it by hiding out under the house and scaring my parents half to death. I would summarize that mistakes were made by both parties that day and, even though I convinced myself that I forgave him, I used that experience to find fault with just about anything he did from that point. Now that I started to question my own convictions, I wondered if it wasn’t time to embrace my father’s teachings, and show this punk that I wasn’t to be trifled with.

“Sorry, Zack, but anyone I end up taking is going to be fucked by me on a regular basis and, no offense to you or your friends’ sexual orientation, I simply don’t swing both ways,” I goaded him.

“Yeah, you talk real tough when you have your gorilla to back you up. All I’d need is to get you alone for five minutes before you’d be singing a different tune,” he boldly challenged.

“Fine. Major Johnson, I need five minutes alone with my pal Zack, here. No matter what happens, please, do not interfere,” I demanded.

“No problem,” he replied winking at me.

Major Johnson, being supremely confident in my ability to defend myself if we were ever attacked by multiple assailants, quickly agreed to my request. I suggested we use the music room which I knew would be empty at this time of day. Since there weren’t any desks to get in the way, there would be plenty of space to carry through with our business.