Part 109: Soothe Me

Day 73: Wednesday, November 27

Chapter 1

Alan was extremely drained. Incredibly drained. It wasn't so much the physical as the mental. Doing something like "torturing" Heather into spilling her secret required him to be at the top of his game mentally, just as if he was taking a big test like the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) used for college admissions. But it also had a vital and demanding physical component, and it seemed to be just one of many such demanding situations he'd been forced to be in ever since he woke up. The main reason why he didn't have anyone take care of his erection after he finished with Heather was because it was so much easier just to lie there and recuperate.

He was grateful for the final school bell because that meant that he had a four day weekend ahead of him. He envisioned watching football games, playing video games, eating turkey, and generally vegging out and recovering. Sure, there was bound to be a lot of sex in there, but it could be more at his pace, and with the core group that he loved the most.

But the bell didn't mean that his school troubles was over. Far from it. As soon as he stepped out of the theater room and into the little-used hallway that led to it, Christine was there.

He was so sluggish that it took him some time to mentally register her presence.

Christine by contrast, seemed as fresh, energetic, and mentally sharp as ever. She also seemed worried and peeved with his disappearance. She raised an eyebrow and looked to the theater room door.

He thought, Aaaah, shit! What does she know about that? Christine is like some kind of delicate flower. If she finds out the full depravity of the S-Club, my friendship with her is gonna be cooked. Never mind what goes on at home - her head would completely explode if she found out about that! She must know with her "Goody-goody" network that I come and go from this room a lot, and she must assume based on everything she knows about me that sex goes on in there. But if she were to actually learn the details, that would be a whole different matter. It's like what Glory said earlier: it's one thing to know something theoretically, it's another to see it face to face.

Christine said, "Alan! Thank goodness I found you. What happened? I rushed to the tennis courts after school, and you're here instead?"

Alan thought, She's on a fishing expedition. I can't give an inch because she knows too much already. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Why are you looking so worried?" He began to walk away, hoping she'd follow.

Christine, on the other hand, remained standing by the theater room door. "All kinds of news! For one thing, Rock is back on school grounds! He must have left his school early to get here so fast, so it's important! For another, Ryan has his people looking all over for you. I think their plan is going down right now! This is it!"

"Ooooooh shit. Just what I needed. Is there any way I can put this off? I'm really not up for it." He began to walk away again, still hoping she'd come with him. He didn't want her there if someone else came out of the theater room, especially if it was Heather.

"I don't know," Christine replied uncertainly, still standing in place. "Where's Amy? Or Katherine?"

"FUCK! Shit, shit, shit! Katherine should be home and okay by now, but Amy said something about meeting somebody! It's really unusual for her to meet someone after school. That's totally weird, in fact. Do you think she's the bait? Come on, let's go! Hurry!" He started running, but not at top speed, because his body was completely wiped out.

"Where are we going?" Christine asked, finally following him. She was surprised at the slow pace he was setting, but guessed he was trying to save his strength.

Thinking about Heather's recorder, he said, "First, I have to go to Ms. Rhymer's classroom. It'll only take a second, but it's extremely important. Meanwhile, have you seen my friend Sean?"

"No."

"Simone?"

"No."

Little did Alan realize, but Simone was lurking just a short distance away, waiting for Christine to go away so she could talk to Heather. But Simone was oblivious to Alan's current crisis.

"Anyone else who could help us?" Alan was disturbed by his extremely short list of useful and potential allies. He thought briefly about enlisting the help of some of the girls back in the theater room, but they all seemed so lethargic they would only slow them down. Plus, he didn't see what help they'd be in a physical confrontation mostly facing big linebacker types.

As Alan and Christine hustled across the school grounds, Alan yelled, "I think I know where Sean is. This way!"

He made a slight detour from a direct bee-line to Glory's so he could pass where he assumed Sean would be waiting for him.

Sure enough, Sean was there, sitting on a ledge alone, holding his large backpack.

Alan yelled, "Sean! Sean! Come here!"

Sean picked up his pack and hurried to Alan. He caught up and began jogging along with the other two. "What's going on?"

Alan said as he ran, "Come with us! It's very, very important! I'll explain later!" Since he was tired and winded, he didn't say any more.

As they all rounded a corner to head into the school building, suddenly they came face to face with two very bulky linebackers.

Since Alan was leading the way, he had the hardest time stopping without running into them, but he managed, just. He drew himself up into a boxing stance, even though his only knowledge of how to fight came from watching movies like "Rocky." Sean and Christine similarly moved into fighting stances.

The linebackers just stood there like bouncers guarding the entrance to a nightclub. One of them laughed, and said, "Plummer. Are you and your friends looking to get your asses kicked? Never mind, that's not what we're here for. I was told to tell you to come to the guy's locker room immediately. Ryan is there and he wants to talk."

Realizing a fight wasn't imminent, and already knowing that Ryan was looking for him, Alan dropped his stance and edged his way past the two muscular giants. "I know already. I'll be there." He and his friends kept walking.

But the one that had spoken grabbed Alan by the collar. "Are you as dumb as you look? The lockers are that way." He nodded in the direction from where Alan had just come.

"I know that," Alan griped. "Jesus! I'll be there in less than five minutes. Now, leave me alone."

The two linebackers seemed satisfied with that and started walking in one direction while Alan and his two friends continued hastily in the other. Soon they were leaping up the stairs to the second floor where Glory's classroom was.

Alan, in his adrenaline-charged excitement, pounded on the door. "Glory! It's me, Alan! I'm here with some friends! Please open up! It's an emergency."

Glory was in a bad way. Ever since lunch, her naughty and increasingly exhibitionist side had taken control. She had kept the Ben Wa balls inside her pussy for all of her last two classes and still had them inside her now. She was on such an erotic high that it seemed every move she made, every single step she took around the classroom, she almost reached a climax. Almost, but not quite. It was delightfully maddening. She wondered how it was possible her fifth and sixth period students didn't notice anything odd. Luckily, she'd only done this kind of thing with her fourth-period class before, so she figured the excuse she gave that she was feeling under the weather would be believed.

It had been five minutes since school let out and about two minutes since the last student had left her classroom. Glory had been going wild. She had her legs spread wide and her feet up on the desk as she had just frigged herself to an extremely satisfying conclusion. She was so worked up that she was already starting in on reaching another.

But the knock on her door sent her into a panic. She would have pretended not to be in at all except that it sounded like Alan had some kind of real emergency. She jumped up, wobbling dangerously when her Ben Wa balls "jumped up" with her and wouldn't stop moving. Then she found a can of air freshener and some wipes in her purse. With one hand she tried to wipe her thighs and pussy clean of her juices and with the other she madly sprayed the air freshener all around. Meanwhile she cried, "I'm coming! Just a minute!"

Straightening out her far-too-short skirt, she tried to calm her breathing and walk normally to the door. However, she still had the Ben Wa balls within her and they made walking a delightful erotic experience. Even though she'd climaxed a minute or so ago and her pussy was positively worn out from hours of excitement, she immediately wanted to cum again. And again. As she reached to open the door, she prayed that Alan didn't want to start something sexual with her because she knew that in her current state she would fold like a house of cards.

She'd heard Alan say he was with some friends, but she was nonetheless surprised when she opened the door and found Sean and Christine there as well. She knew Sean and Alan were good friends of course, but her gossip network was silent so far on why Alan and Christine were together so frequently all of a sudden. Knowing Alan's sexual prowess, his past history of unsuccessfully asking her out, and Christine's busty chest and stunning looks, she leaped to the conclusion that Alan and Christine must be lovers.

So she opened the door not only looking frazzled, sweaty, and harried, but also shocked and awed.

Alan closed the door behind him and said, "Sean, Christine, Ms. Rhymer, you all know each other already. Ms. Rhymer, these two are helping protect me from the football players. I think they're out to hurt me again. We've gotta run, but first I need to check something."

He rushed to the front corner desk Heather had indicated and began feeling around the underside of the desk.

Very gingerly and slowly, Glory walked over to that side of the room where Sean and Christine stood already. As Alan continued to search, she asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Dammit! Nothing here!" Only paying half attention to the question, he answered, "Uh, Heather supposedly confessed that she- a-ha! Wait!" He'd tried under the desk, under the seat, and just about everywhere he could think of, but found only wads of old gum. However, he finally went a little deeper between two support bars where there was a one-inch space and found a small round object that fit perfectly inside that crack. He couldn't believe how small the fancy electronic gizmo was.

He pulled it out and held it up for inspection. "Here we go. Heather confessed that she left this here. She was hoping to catch you, Glory."

Sean interrupted, "How did you find that out?!" He was always very keen to know what went on between Alan and Heather.

Alan looked around at his present company and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. "The cheerleaders just told me." He kept an eye on Christine - did she with her high intelligence put two and two together and figure out what he'd been doing in the theater room just now? He decided not to even think about that, and pressed on. "I guess this is some kind of bug or recorder or something. We should examine it later. But the point is, she was going to keep this here until you said something incriminating and then, I assume, blackmail you."

Glory was so hopped up on an erotic high thanks to the Ben Wa balls, and just plain shocked on top of that, that she stood silent. Finally, she muttered, "That bitch!"

Alan handed the object to Glory. "We've got to run, so why don't you check this out? I trust you'll destroy it or otherwise take care of it."

Glory nodded. She still looked wide-eyed and wild.

Alan finally slowed down enough to take a better look at Glory and noticed something odd about her. He also glanced at Christine and saw that she was looking at Glory curiously too. But he pressed on, "Actually, I'm about to run off to a potentially big confrontation and it would be great to have a teacher there. Can you come?"

Glory thought for some moments. She looked at how the three students stood eagerly and she realized they were ready to literally run. She thought, Run? In the state I'm in, I can't even walk! Even if I somehow get these Ben Wa balls out of me without them noticing, I can barely do more than stand in this short skirt with no panties. And even if I had a longer skirt, I'm in such a state of sexual arousal that I'd probably lose it totally before we even left the building. Even if I take a few minutes to compose myself, what about the skirt?! Oh damn. What have I become?! Alan needs my help and I'm not there for him!

Seeing the three of them look at her with increasing curiosity, she knew she'd have to answer fast. "Uh, actually, as you can probably see, I'm feeling quite ill. I think I ate something at lunch that didn't agree with me. Do you need me in particular or can any teacher do?"

Alan quickly answered, "Any teacher, really."

Glory mentally breathed a great sigh of relief even as she tried to remain poker-faced. Thank God for that! That just saved me from making a complete fool and public spectacle of myself. Even though he and I can no longer be together, I still very much want to help him if he needs me.

The relief in her face was evident as she said, "Why don't you try Mr. Jackson next door? I think he said something about having to stay after school all this week to work on some things." Mr. Jackson was Alan's somewhat elderly art teacher. He was generally friendly and sympathetic to Alan.

Alan had been with Glory all throughout lunch and knew she didn't eat a bite. He could tell that her behavior and appearance was strange all around. But he'd have to wait to ask her about her condition some other time. He just nodded and said "Thanks! We'll do that!" And then he and his friends rushed off again, closing the door behind them.

Glory staggered back to her desk and sat back on it. She let out a big breath. Phew! What a day! That was a close one. But now I've done it! I've resisted the temptation. I've survived this thankfully short week and passed the danger point. By Monday, my withdrawal from my Alan addiction should be over. And now I find out he's doing Christine, too! Does he have no shame?! That's even more reason for me to sexually avoid him. I should be relieved. Very relieved. I can go back to normal now. I need to be there to help him and straighten him out, not give in to my selfish lust. Look what happened just now where I couldn't give him the timely help he needed because I was acting like an even bigger slut than Heather. This is the last time I come to school without panties, that's for sure!

She sat back to further rest and recover. I should feel good. I made it. But why do I feel so empty? And why do I still have these Ben Wa balls in me? Have I crossed some kind of line of sexual depravity that I can't get back from? No matter what choice I make, I'm bound to feel bad about it.

Despite still feeling so horny she could scream, Glory silently wept at her predicament and especially at her inability to help Alan when he really needed her.

Chapter 2

Alan, Sean, and Christine walked briskly across the school with Mr. Jackson. Because the teacher was there, they couldn't say much with each other.

Alan was relieved that Mr. Jackson didn't show impatience and say things like, "This had better be good." But he did seem skeptical about Alan's claims.

As they crossed a grass field and drew near the school gym containing the locker rooms, Alan saw one football player who appeared to be a lookout walk inside the building. Alan assumed he was reporting to Ryan and Rock that Alan was coming.

Right as they came to a short staircase leading into the building, Alan stopped, bringing the progress of the group to a halt. There was uncertainty on his face. On one hand, he wanted to be a take-charge leader, but on the other hand he very much wanted advice and encouragement on what to do.

Christine could read his face and said, "Relax. Don't worry. We've got a teacher with us, so there's no way there's going to be any violence. Let's get this over with. The longer we wait, the more time they have to harass Amy."

Alan was filled with dread. He envisioned a dozen or so beefy football players attacking him as soon as he walked through the door, teacher or no teacher. But worse than that, he was horrified by visions of Amy being gang raped right before his eyes. It was the latter vision, plus the words from Christine, that gave him the resolve to go through with whatever might be beyond the doors in front of him.

They walked in through the main doors of the building and entered a well-used hallway. From it, there were doors leading to the men's showers and lockers, women's showers and lockers, plus various offices, storage rooms, and so forth. There were no people to be seen.

They came to the door leading to the men's section. There was another pause as Alan said, "I guess we should try here, first." The tension was rising, and even Mr. Jackson seemed a bit spooked.

Alan opened the door and ... nothing.

No one could be seen, just the usual rows of lockers. Normally there was a big rush of activity in the lockers right before the last school bell and for a few minutes after, then again periodic rushes as various sports groups with after school practices finished their activities. But between ten and fifteen minutes after school, as it was now, the lockers were usually empty or nearly so.

However, as the doors finished swinging shut after them, they became aware of the sound of voices. They began heading towards the voices wordless and very quietly, as if they were police sneaking up onto criminals.

As they made their way down a long row of lockers the voices became clearer. Alan could recognize Amy's voice, which set his heart beating faster than its already quick pace.

He reached the end of the locker row first, turned the corner, and...

He couldn't believe his eyes.

There, on a long bench in front of yet more rows of lockers sat Amy and Ryan, talking and smiling and carrying on in a friendly manner. They both were looking at a book in Amy's lap and staring at it with rapt attention. That was the last thing Alan expected.

Elsewhere, now that they stood at a crossing point between sets of locker rows, Alan became aware that there were other athletes milling about here and there. One peeked around a corner to look at them, stared at Christine in surprise, noted the teacher, then looked at Alan.

Alan was shocked to realize that the guy looking around the corner at him was none other than Amy's brother Brad. Alan felt a brief moment of relief until he realized that Brad's gaze was filled with not only cold disgust, but open mistrust and distaste.

Brad motioned over a couple more guys from the other side of the lockers, pointed at Alan and said something.

Alan couldn't quite make out all the words, but he gathered Brad was criticizing Alan for being an uncaring and unsatisfying boyfriend to have his girlfriend hanging out inside the boy's locker room.

The guys all laughed, slapped Brad on the back with a loud round of "Good one, Brad!" before going behind the lockers again. Even after they all disappeared from sight, the snickering and crude joking could still be heard.

Ryan looked up at Alan, then took in Mr. Jackson, Sean, and Christine. He smiled triumphantly then said, "Hey! It's the Plummer boy and his posse. I was just hanging out with your girlfriend, talking about art. I hope you don't mind."

Alan walked up. "Actually, I DO mind. What's going on here? What's your game?"

"Game? No game. What are you talking about?"

Alan looked at Amy. "Aims, are you okay? Did he force you to come here or try to hurt you?"

Amy looked at Alan quizzically. "What? No. Of course not. He's just showing me his etchings." She lifted up the book in her lap.

Alan was flabbergasted. He looked back to Christine and Sean, as if they had some kind of explanation. He looked all around, but there was nothing to see except some half-dressed boys in the middle of changing. He seized on the only oddity in the scene: "Something's going on! If the two of you are just talking about art, why the hell are you doing it in the middle of the boy's locker room for crying out loud?! Girls aren't allowed in here! And where's Rock?!"

Ryan grinned, "Oh that. We were hanging out in the hallway up until a minute ago, but I just had to come in here for a second to get something from my locker. Girls come in here from time to time when it's emptied out, no big deal. Look, you're standing next to a chick right now," he said as he nodded in Christine's direction. "As for Rock, I don't know what you're talking about. He got suspended and doesn't go to this school anymore. Duh!"

Mr. Jackson spoke up. "Amy, it's not a good idea to come in here, even for a minute. It's against school policy and we've had reports of harassment before. Now, Alan, is there something else you wanted me to see about, because I really need to be going."

Alan looked around and especially stared at the look of snide satisfaction on Ryan's face. He walked down a corridor between rows of lockers, motioning Mr. Jackson to come with him. As soon as he got out of Ryan's hearing, he said to the teacher in a low voice, "Mr. Jackson, I don't know what's going on, but I tell you, this is not normal! Ryan is up to something. I don't know what. Maybe they were waiting for the last few stragglers to leave before doing something dreadful to Amy."

Mr. Jackson shook his head dismissively. "Alan, I understand you're feeling a bit spooked. I heard about how you fell down the stairs and some of your other recent problems."

"I was PUSHED down the stairs, Mr. Jackson," he corrected him testily.

"So you say. And that may well be. Some of these guys, like Ryan here, I know they're a bit questionable and full of themselves. But next time, before you drag a teacher halfway across the school, you need more evidence. Now, can I go?"

"Wait a minute." Alan had visions of Ryan waiting for the teacher to go before springing his trap. He walked back, brushing past Christine and Sean, grabbed Amy's hand, and pulled her up. "Aims, we're leaving. Now. Please. It's important."

"M'kay." She turned to Ryan. "Thanks for sharing your drawings. It was nice to see you."

Alan growled, "It was NOT nice to see you. I don't know your game, Ryan, but you're not going to win."

"Oooh! I'm so scared," Ryan mocked with staged fright. "Boy, this was a real crisis situation. It's not like you're paranoid and jealous of Amy sitting with a REAL man, are you?"

"Shut the fuck up." Still holding Amy's hand, Alan headed out the room with Sean and Christine in tow. Mr. Jackson was already ahead of them.

Alan's face was burning with embarrassment as the group walked out of the building, down the stairs, and back into the light of day.

Mr. Jackson waved and walked off, not wanting to waste any more of his time.

Alan continued to walk with the others until he was well clear of the building, then stopped in the middle of a grass field. He turned back towards the gym and said while facing it, "Will someone tell me what that was all about? I thought the plan was going down! The plan was going DOWN!" He turned and looked to Christine.

Now it was her turn to look sheepish and embarrassed. She raised her hands in the air then waved them helplessly. "I don't know. That's how it seemed. I mean Rock coming to school, Amy with Ryan..."

Sean spoke up. "Dude, I don't know what's going on, like, AT ALL. But I saw the way he looked at you, all triumphant and full of himself. You would have thought he'd just finished beating you up or something. He's up to SOMEthing, that's for sure. I don't know, man. It seems to me like you just got played."

Amy was looking most befuddled. "Alan, love, can you tell me what this is about? I'm all in a muddle."

Alan spun around to look at his girlfriend. "Amy, you were told these football players are up to something. Well, Ryan is the obvious ringleader of the group out to get me and you're just sitting there, pretty as you please, looking at his etchings! 'Come look at my etchings' is one of the most clichéd come on lines of all time, didn't you know that?"

Growing more agitated, he said in a rising voice, "Not only that, but were you OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND to go into the boy's locker room all by yourself? You were just telling me, like, right at the end of sixth period that you had security taken care of. You had your own bodyguard, you said! What the heck?! Aiii-mee!"

Amy looked sad. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I'd never met Ryan before. I didn't know him from Adam. Is he one of the ringleaders? Nobody told me that. I'm really super sorry to get you all worried! But I DID have a bodyguard. You may not have noticed, but my brother Brad was there. He wasn't, like, THERE there and standing next to me or something, because I asked him to keep his eye on me from a distance. He was a couple of rows away, listening for trouble. Those guys wouldn't have done anything with my brother close by."

Everyone looked over at the gym, and sure enough, there was Brad leaving with some of the athletes who had been in the locker room. They were walking away, headed to the school parking lot.

It occurred to Alan that even now, Brad had been keeping an eye on Amy, but was doing it in such an unobtrusive way that his friends didn't notice.

Alan looked from Brad to Amy a couple of times, then to Sean and Christine. Finally, he said, "God, I feel so stupid. Sorry, Amy, but communication was bad. I should have warned you explicitly about Ryan and a lot more. And you, Sean, you're totally out of the loop and you must be wondering if I've gone mad. Duh. I'm so stupid. It's just that so much has happened today that some things slipped through the cracks."

Christine spoke up, "No, it's my fault. At least partially. I told Katherine to warn Amy but I forgot to mention so many key things, like Ryan or Rock for that matter, wherever he is. I let everyone down."

"Nonsense," Alan said, still glum and frustrated. "It's just that things have been moving too fast. This whole plot just came out of nowhere hours ago. Look. Why don't the four of us go get an ice cream or something, and compare notes and figure this out? For one thing, I still feel vulnerable standing here in the middle of the school. Who knows what Ryan is planning. I have to admit, he totally surprised me. I'd feel better in a store."

Amy, Sean, and Christine had bicycles while Alan did not, since Susan drove him to school that morning. So they got their bicycles from the bike racks and walked to a Ben and Jerry's located just a couple of blocks from the school.

The mood at the shop was one of frustration and distress as they discussed what had happened and filled each other in with information. Then, as they licked their ice creams, the question was asked: just what was Ryan trying to do with this seemingly meaningless encounter?

There was a long silence after that, but then Christine spoke up. "I have a theory. Only a theory, mind you. You know about the two guys who backed out, right?" (A few minutes before, she had told Sean and Amy about the morning meeting of footballers and what Dave and Gary had done, though she didn't mention Dave and Gary by name to protect their identities.) She continued, "If you look at it like a military operation, when they defected the operational security was blown. They WERE going to do something after school today, but they didn't know who knew what. So they went ahead with kind of a practice run of what they were going to do, just to see what kind of reaction they'd get. Who would turn up? Alan, would you take matters into your own hands and gather up a posse, or go fetch the authorities, or what? What information had been leaked, and who had leaked it? Actually, when you think about it, it's pretty smart. Now they can plan again and be much better prepared next time."

Sean nodded, adding, "On top of that, they've got the whole 'boy who cried wolf' thing going on now. I'm sure Mr. Jackson will complain about how he was all put out for a big ado about nothing, and other teachers will think twice if Alan asks them to go check out something without a lot of evidence first."

Alan dropped his head. "Damn. That sucks. It makes sense. Now they know that my so called 'posse' is a posse of two. That's pretty sorry-assed. And it's not like I really had more people to go to who would know how to fight if I'd had more time to round them up. And not only that, but now that I think about it, Christine, they're going to be wondering big time why on earth you were there. If they do some digging, the element of surprise about the extent of your martial arts training will probably be blown. Dang! This sucks!"