Chapter 2

Tuesday, August 23

Here I was again, called to the principal's office for the second day in a row. The only difference is that this time I was already naked. I had to put on clothes for the trip home from school, but I stripped down again as soon as I got home. This actually wasn't that unusual, my family tends to stay naked a lot, which I suspect is part of the reason mom thought I would be a good candidate for the program.

I entered the room, which already contained my mother, Dr. Martin, Ms. Lease, and Reverend Tucker, the school chaplain. Dr. Martin addressed me.

"Hunter, have you seen the morning news?"

"No sir."

"Very well then." Dr. Martin turned on a TV mounted from the ceiling. There was Reverend Vernon Neale, standing next to a boy I recognized from yesterday's English class and a man who I didn't recognize, but seemed vaguely familiar. Reverend Neale was ranting about his son being suspended for "refusing to allow a homosexual student to sodomize him."

"That's not what happened at all!" Ms. Lease objected.

"It gets better." My mom replied.

The camera cut to a news anchor, who informed us that Reverend Neale was pulling his son out of St. Mary's and establishing the Neale Christian Academy on the campus of his church. He was also calling on the man next to him, who turned out to be Representative Nathan Johnson, to hold Congressional hearings on "this disgusting program of sexual indoctrination."

Dr. Martin turned off the TV. "I've already had three parents tell me they're pulling their kids out of school, and no doubt there would be more if Reverend Neale hadn't set his tuition at twice ours. We need a plan to deal with this."

"Perhaps I can help," offered Reverend Tucker, I was planning to address The Program in this week's sermon. If we arranged to televise the chapel service, it would give us a chance to put our case forward."

"There's one slight problem with that," I said, "I signed up to do a reading."

"Which passage?" asked Reverend Tucker.

"Genesis 3: 1-13"

"You're going to be reading the 10 Commandments Naked?" Dr. Martin interrupted "what good would that do"

"Actually," Reverend Tucker responded, "that passage tells the story of Adam and Eve eating the Forbidden Fruit. Reverend Neale will likely use it to justify his opposition to public nudity, particularly verse 10: 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.' It would be useful if we had an opportunity to present my reading of the text, and it would be especially useful if we could present the public with a student who is not afraid of his nakedness."

Dr. Martin thought for a second. "That being said, not many reputable news networks want to air footage of a naked 14 year old, and even fewer want to air a 20 minute sermon unedited."

I had another idea. "What if we invited a news station to do a special report on this program. If Reverend Neale's skill at attracting attention to himself is anything like it was last year, this will be a national news story before long."

Dr. Martin nodded. "I've already received calls from CNN, FOX, and ABC."

I continued "This way, Reverend Tucker can make his case, Ms. Lease can tell them what really happened in the classroom, and I can talk about how The Program has affected me."

"Very well then, I'll see what I can arrange."

We left, and Ms. Lease and I walked down the hall. She turned to me and said "You're less excited than you were yesterday."

"Yeah, I took care of myself in the shower. Yesterday was fun, but today I want to get to know the redhead in the second row a little better."

"Jeff Dorsey"

I nodded. "When I asked for help yesterday, he looked like he was thinking about raising his hand, until Neale called me a faggot."

Ms. Lease thought for a second, "We're discussing your essays on 'The Scarlet Letter' today; that might give you an opportunity to talk to him."

"Excellent," I thought to myself. Making conversation, I asked Ms. Lease, "So, are you new in town."

"Yes, I actually just moved in to Overford Village."

"Really, that's one of my dad's developments."

"He's a real estate developer."

"Yeah, he really likes it because it lets him work from home; he's always loved being Mr. Mom."

"Your mother's lucky then; it's so hard to find guys who aren't wrapped up in old-fashioned gender norms."

"A few more years of this oughta do the trick," I said, gesturing to my naked body.

Ms. Lease chuckled. "I'll be an old maid by then."

"Come on," I teased her, "I bet you aren't a day over 25."

"23," she replied, "I just graduated from Vanderbilt."

"See, if I was a straight man, I'd ask you out myself."

"That's about the last thing Dr. Martin needs."

We entered the classroom and broke off into small groups to discuss our essays. I was in a group with Jeff and a girl named Sandy Adams. I noticed that Jeff was blushing and looking at the floor, I didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one. I kicked off the discussion.

"So I wrote about how I was afraid to tell people I was gay because I thought that would be all they saw in me, sort of like how everyone in the book only sees Hester as an adulturess because of the letter."

Jeff told his shoes. "That's sort of like what I wrote, I-I didn't realize we would be sharing these." He took a deep breath and went on. "My parents are really religious, actually we go to Reverend Neale's church. I do a lot of stuff with my youth group, and most of my friends go to the same church. I know that if I ever came out, my family and friends would reject me like the townspeople rejected Hester."