Chapter 6: "New" School: Day 3 - The Experiment

"Hey guys!" chirped Sandy Turner as Brett and Tom Nilsen got into the car.

"Hey Sandy," the twins responded happily.

"I have your assignments that we talked about," smiled Sandy.

"But guys, don't just look at them as assignments. Aside from them helping you and you helping them, you both really have a chance to be as happy as I am," grinned Derek.

"True Dat," said Sandy. "Now where was I before I was so rudely interrupted," she grinned back, as Derek stuck his tongue out at her. "Tom, your assignment is Carrie Osterling. Brett, yours is Suzanne Rowan."

Both twins cringed. While both freshmen were beautiful girls, they both had reputations that were not so pleasant.

"But Sandy, Suzanne's such a bitch," complained Brett.

"I know. If you can guess, I know a thing or two about bitches," she laughed.

"You're not a bitch!" exclaimed Tom.

Sandy was touched at Tom's defense of her; even against her own words. She felt a tear come to her eye, but stifled it. "Thank you, Tom. You're such a sweet guy. You too, Brett. That's why I'm sure I'm doing the right thing. These girls have problems but they have a lot of potential too. Suzanne can be bitchy, but do you know that she volunteers time at an animal shelter, Brett?"

"We have a Golden Retriever. I love dogs," admitted Brett.

"I know. Derek told me. That's one of the reasons why I picked you for Suzanne."

"Sandy, Carrie scares me," stated Tom.

"Tom, sweetie, that's why I picked her for you. You're painfully shy and she's the perfect girl to break you out of your shell."

"And bro, even you're going to get laid if you're with her," laughed Brett.

"Yeah, eventually there is a good chance that might happen. The girl has a bit of a reputation," she understated.

"But..." stammered Tom.

"Don't worry, Tom. If she gives you any trouble, I'll take care of it. Both girls have their orders and they know they're being scrutinized ... by me." she said, emphasizing the last two words to put the boys at ease.

Derek had been pretty quiet up until then. He chimed in after he pulled into the student lot, into a nearby parking space, before putting the car in park. "Guys, listen to Sandy. You see the way Sandy is now. I knew that there was a sweet girl inside of her. I knew it because we were childhood friends..."

"And he brought that sweet girl out of me," she beamed.

"Now who's interrupting?" he laughed.

"I'm not interrupting. I'm just finishing your sentence. A girlfriend's prerogative, you know?" she smiled.

"True Dat," he said, leaning in and gave her a short, but sweet kiss.

After the kiss was broken, Brett looked at Sandy. "And you think that Suzanne's like you?"

"I'm not sure why she turned out the way she did, but I think so. Something in life teaches us to be angry when we're hurt. If that anger isn't dealt with it can become resentment. I know firsthand how the human heart can be twisted."

"And Carrie?" asked Tom.

"Carrie needs to learn the difference between sex and love. I also sense a chip on her shoulder too," admitted Sandy, as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Look guys, the girls think this is about fixing you into someone they can go to our Prom with, but as I told you yesterday, this is more about fixing them than it is fixing you guys. Anyway, they want to dress you up and teach you some social graces."

"What should we do?" asked Tom.

"Let them. As they teach you, they'll be learning themselves. They'll discover what I already know about you. You are great guys. Most of all, they'll become better people and can help us to change the tone at this school." said Sandy.

"What is that bitch up to?" thought Jon Sizemore, as he watched Sandra Turner with a couple of freshman girls and the dweeby Nilsen twins. He had nailed one of the bitches Sandra was with a couple of weeks ago, when he was drunk. He wanted to nail the other, but she shot him down. He continued to eat.

Jon was pissed that the baseball team was doing crappy. They had their first scrimmage against cross-town rival, Harding High and they got pulverized. Ryan Costello, the sophomore playing shortstop, had two hits and scored a run. He also made seven errors, including three in one inning that saw their rivals score eight runs. The only other kid on the team that could play shortstop somewhat decently was their senior star pitcher, Dean "Flynny" Flynn, who preferred playing first base on days when he was not pitching. As one of the other pitchers played first, it made sense for them to alternate. While there was a kid playing JV who was OK, his coach did not think he was ready to play Varsity. This left Costello and his iffy fielding anchoring their infield. The only anchor analogy that described Ryan's defensive play was he was sinking like one and taking Jon and the rest of his team with him.

Jon could tell that his coach was pissed at him for forcing him to cut Derek Carson. The kid wasn't much of a hitter, but even Jon had to admit that Derek was a good fielder. Jon would have traded Ryan's one run for the many runs that he helped to give up. He knew his coach felt that way too, only stronger. "Fuck! Even when he's not on the team, Derek Carson's still pissing me off!" he thought. In the end, he knew what it would come down to. Which did Jon hate the most; losing or Derek Carson?

Derek smiled as he left his final class. He saw his friend Kyle, walking with a meaty, but cute brunette. Derek could tell that the girl was doing most of the talking, as it sounded like she was expounding about nutrition and exercise schedules. He knew Kyle was scared out of his mind, but as Derek waved to the couple, he sensed that his friend seemed happy.

"Looking at our handiwork?" smiled Sandy.

"They're not going to be mean to the guys, are they?"

"Tara and Carrie will be nice. Suzanne may prove to be tricky, but I sense Brett is up to the challenge. Devin will have his hands full with Rachel Connors, but he seems cocky enough to be able to handle her."

"I'm kind of worried about Devin. He talks a good game, but my guess is she'll eat him up," said Derek.

"Oh ye of little faith," she laughed. "I'll have you know that Rachel is a mirror of Devin. Underneath it all, she's a scared little girl. I think they'll discover that about each other pretty quick in the process. When this happens, they may even find some common ground. I've always suspected that Rachel is a closet nerd."

"You mean like the Head Cheerleader?" he laughed.

"Very funny," she pouted but couldn't keep a straight face and began to laugh

Derek broke up even more. "What about Rogesh?" he asked after calming a little.

"Rana's perfect for him. While they both are not traditional in values, she comes from a fairly traditional Indian family. They almost didn't let her join the squad. Anyway, as Rogesh is Indian and Islamic too, there shouldn't be any problems with their families. According to Rana, her parents were actually plotting to get them together. She wasn't thrilled to be his assignment, but I reminded her that Rogesh was a gentleman and would not force her to do anything. Of course 'Sandra' made it clear that she didn't have a choice," she laughed.

"You know, Connie made a subtle move," he said, changing the subject.

"What did she do?" she arched her eyebrow in a familiar way.

"She asked me to co-chair the committee with her."

"Of course she did, the little viper," grinned Sandy. "That of course means extra meetings together. Private meetings..."

"Don't worry."

"I'm not. In fact if you want to fuck her, be my guest. Just make sure you leave the rest of us what we need. But Derek, don't you dare fall for her. You're mine!"

Derek took Sandy in his arms. "She's cute, but she's not as hot as you are. Why would I take a chance losing the most beautiful and loving girl in the school?"

"We both know that can't happen."

"It might in September," stated Derek.

Sandy clasped Derek's head and looked into his eyes with her dazzling blue ones. "Derek, this is not about September. Now that I'm 'me' again, I won't want to go back to my old life!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have you and will still want you. I will be able to choose for myself in September and I will choose you. I'll always choose you!" she brought her mouth to his to punctuate her comments.

"Hey guys," said Tom Nilsen, as he and Carrie Osterling went up to them, as Sandy had broken the kiss.

"Hey Tom, How's Carrie here, treating you?" asked Sandy, seeing the younger girl's head bowed.

"She's really nice!" said Tom.

"I'm not so nice," muttered Carrie under her breath.

Derek noticed his friends smile but also saw the expression on the girls lowered face. At first he thought it seemed that she was embarrassed at being with Tom, but with his girlfriend being nice to Tom and his other friends, he had noticed that people had stopped looking down on them as much. With Sandy in full "Sandra mode" with the JV Cheerleaders, he doubted that Carrie, who was only a freshman, would have that kind of attitude about Tom. He sensed something was wrong.

"Hey Tom, can I have a quick word?" asked Derek.

"Sure," he said, as the boys walked into a nearby, empty classroom.

"Isn't Carrie amazing?! She's so pretty and she has been nothing but sweet to me all day..."exclaimed Tom.

"Tom, I think something's bothering her."

"No. She just told me that she was feeling tired."

"No, buddy, I'm good about noticing these things and something is definitely bothering her."

A worried look crossed Tom's face, as his mood turned one-hundred and eighty degrees. "I guess I got caught up in being with her. I thought she was just being quiet ... maybe even shy like me. I didn't really notice anything wrong," he paused before adding, "What should I do?"

"Tom, you're a sensitive guy. You know what to do. Just be yourself."

"OK," he said, sounding not quite as happy as he had been when they had entered the room.

As Derek and Tom returned to the hallway, they witnessed the older girl chastising the younger one.

"You better make sure that you're good, to him!" snapped "Sandra", as Carrie's head continued to be bowed in the same fashion as before the boys left.

"Hey Baby, let's let these two be together," said Derek as he and Tom approached the scene. "Carrie, after practice, we'll take you home."

"OK, Derek," she said blankly, as she and Tom wandered off toward the girl's locker room, so she could change into her Cheerleading outfit.

"So, I've got ten minutes. Do you want a blow job?" mumbled Carrie.

"Ummm ... I ... Look, Carrie ... I ... I'd love to get one from you ... but..."

"But what?"

I'm ... worried about you."

"Why would you be worried about me?"

"You're acting like you're sleepwalking."

"So?" stated Carrie, as she became more animated. "Look, Tom. You seem like a nice guy. A decent guy. The only reason a guy like you would want to be around a slut like me is to get fucked..."

But Carrie..."

"Hear me out, OK? I'm sure that's why Sandra picked me for her little experiment. She wants me to fuck you. She knows I'm good at it. I've certainly had a lot of experience, as I've been doing it for a long time."

Tom Nilsen was a quiet guy. He was a shy guy. But most importantly, he was a sweet and loyal guy. His loyalty always emboldened him and now was no exception. "Stop!" he yelled, before getting quiet. "First of all, you're not a slut. You're a nice girl that I want to be friends with."

Carrie Osterling was a troubled young girl. Most people thought this, but nobody understood the depth of her trouble and what that trouble was. She was a really good lay. She was proud of her ability. It gave herself a sense of confidence and an identity. The problem was she hated sex. She hated men. She hated herself. Now she was confused. "What?" she asked quizzically.

"I want to be your friend."

"Nobody just wants 'to be my friend'. They want me to be their friend who'll fuck them."

Tom thought. Now he could strongly sense what Derek had suggested to him. He knew he had to impress her with his sincerity. "I don't want to fuck you."

"What's the matter with me?! I'm not pretty enough? I'm too slutty? My tits aren't big enough? I'm not good enough for you? Why don't you want to fuck?!" she spat.

Then Tom did something that surprised himself and definitely surprised Carrie. He started to cry.

"I want to be you friend!!!! I don't want to fuck you!!!!" he shrieked.

Carrie was blown away. She was speechless.

Tom continued, trying to choke back his tears of frustration. "I think you're beautiful, I think you can be sweet! I think your breasts are absolutely perfect and I want to be your friend!"

"Why?" she asked again, as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Because I really like you!" emphasized Tom.

"Nobody really likes me ... not even me."

"I do," he affirmed, paused and continued. "I don't know who made you like this, but I could kill them!" he growled with an anger he did his best to suppress.

"What do you mean?"

"You're fourteen or fifteen years old..."

"Actually sixteen, my family moved around a lot when I was little and I lost a year of school," she admitted.

"Either way ... you have your whole life ahead of you. You can do anything or be anyone that you want to be."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Because something has happened to take away that thing that makes you feel special about yourself. I know I'm a big geek, but I'm a good person and I'm proud of myself for who I am. You should be proud of who you are too."