Chapter 28

CASEY & REBECCA

Drew brought Casey to Rebecca’s office and did the introductions. When he left, it was clear that the girl was not at all comfortable. She was able to reject ‘Miss Rosen’ and insist on ‘Casey’, but Rebecca decided not to get too casual. She also decided not to discuss the big topic, Drew’s nudity, right away.

“Funny how good grades so often become a social liability, isn’t it?” Rebecca started out. Casey blinked and managed a nod and a little smile. Since Casey did not seem far behind the curve physically, a little levity in that area seemed safe. “Then, if your parents are late getting your braces and you’re not sure if your titties are ever going to show up, well, can you imagine?”

“Are you trying to tell me I don’t have it so bad?” Casey asked.

“No, Casey. I’m just trying to establish my cred for talking about growing up smarter than all the other kids. Now, I can’t claim the kind of IQ you and your dad carry around, but...”

“Dad thinks you can,” Casey blurted out.

“Hmmm. That’s a real compliment,” Rebecca remarked. “How are things at school for you, socially, I mean?”

Casey gave a little shrug, then it was as if a dam had burst. “It’s not like I leave crying every day, but I have to keep telling myself it’s necessary to get to the next step. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind being home schooled.

“Mom makes sure I’m dressed in style, and I guess that cuts down on the ridicule. Some of the guys make really crude remarks in the hall.”

“Any of them ever try to touch you?”

Casey hung her head at that. After a little coaxing, the story came out. “When it started, Mom taught me a trick with their finger. The next time it happened, I, um, guess I overdid it. I broke his finger. And it wasn’t the guy who had been doing it the most.”

“Did you get in trouble?”

“Not officially. I had told the gym teacher when it started, and three of my friends were with me when it happened. I felt bad, though. The boy who did it was basically an OK guy who got sucked in, I guess. I just lost my temper. He missed several basketball games.”

“So, the gym teacher admitted you had told her? That’s fortunate. In most schools, it’s a tough decision whether bullying or physical violence is worse.”

“Well, Daddy had a lawyer involved before the day was over.”

“Ah. I’ll bet that didn’t improve your social standing, did it?”

“Dr. Sanders, I’m afraid I was responsible for polarizing the students even more.”

“NO YOU WEREN’T!” Rebecca almost shouted. “No one has a right to touch you without permission. Don’t ever forget that. Any repercussions from the boy you hurt?”

“That’s what makes me feel so bad. I think he just wanted to ask me something and put his hand on my shoulder. I lost my temper, grabbed his hand, and twisted before I even saw who it was.”

“You were already gun-shy and just reacted. That’s understandable. Did the rest of the offenders leave you alone after that?”

“They sure did. The gym teacher gave their names to the principal. But Dr. Sanders, it’s no way to live, getting cursed in the halls. I can’t report that any more.”

“I assume you have considered a private school?”

Casey shook her head vigorously at that. “I know too many kids who go there. I don’t like them. They’re mostly rich snobs. I have some good friends, and I’m alright.”

She was already convinced of Casey’s brilliance, but Rebecca decide to see how well she analyzed her situation. “Casey, give me your take on why so many students are so hard on those with the best grades.”

“It’s really no puzzle. I’m surprised you didn’t say ‘top students’. Most everyone does. It’s natural for those not on the ‘top’ to resent being lower class, thus less important. Often, the athletes are the worst. They are ‘top’ in what they do, but it’s still not the school’s main way of ranking students. The top music and arts kids are usually not of a personality for bullying or hazing. Besides, many of them are top students, as well.

“Another reason may be that the studying we do leaves less time for socializing, so they don’t see us doing ‘normal’ things. That further separates us.”

“All excellent points,” Rebecca complimented the girl. “Do you and your dad talk about your shared school experiences?”

Casey nodded. “We talk about most everything. Mom, too.”

“Do you still talk about everything now that his penis is always on display?” Rebecca hoped to jolt the girl. She saw a quick flush of color, but there was no exclamation.

“He made a big deal of telling me the project would not work for him if it screwed up any of our family relationships. I’ve been doing my best to keep things normal,” Casey answered. Rebecca assessed her emotional control as advanced well beyond her physical development.

“So, you’re aware of what he has been going through?”

“Dr. Sanders, how can people be so stupid? The world needs the things Daddy has been doing. They’re revolutionary. Why do they have to make him feel like a mechanic instead of a researcher. When he and Uncle Pete were working together, they did some awesome things. I guess that’s why we have such a nice house.”

“Uncle Pete?”

“Oh, he’s not related. He and Dad just hit it off at college and both got hired by ABG. I don’t know how many patents they share.”

“You call him Uncle Pete because he was always around?”

“He was. When ABG was bought out, Pete went to a university. He and Brady live several hundred miles away, now. We see them two or three times a year.”

“Brady?”

“Sorry. I thought maybe Mom and Dad had covered all of the connections. Pete thought he got a woman pregnant. He was really in love with her, and asked her to get married. She got killed. I was never told how. Afterwards, Pete found out he wasn’t really Brady’s father, but he was on the birth certificate, so he did nothing about it.”

“Is Brady your age?”

“A year and a half younger. He and Cam were buddies before they moved.”

“Maybe you don’t know, but do Pete and your dad hold the patents together?”

“They do. Dad always tells us anything we ask about the business. I ask a lot.”

Deciding to switch topics, Rebecca queried “Are you taking any college courses?”

“In the fall. I can take two for dual credit. I’ll be sixteen and Dad promised me a car so I can drive to campus.”

Another change of topic. “Your dad doesn’t like how things are for him right now. What do you think he should do to change things?”

“Oh, wow! Um, well, he’s the nicest guy in the world, but I can see how it would help if he was more - I don’t know - more forceful - self-assured, maybe.”

“Do you think those same things would help you, too?”

Casey hung her head. “Is that why I’m here?”

“In a way. Let me explain,” Rebecca urged. “First of all, your dad wishes you didn’t have to put up with the things that he did. Mostly, though, he wants to make sure that nothing he does to change himself will harm the family in any way. Rather, he would like to do things that benefit everyone.”

“What could he do that could be bad for the rest of us, anyway?” Casey wondered.

“Do you think him showing up nude the other day could be disruptive?”

“He made sure we understood why he was doing it,” Casey assured Rebecca. “He said he wanted us all to skinny dip together when the pool opens.”

“Can you do that?”

“I don’t see how.”

“I assume you understand about the Gang of Five and their projects.”

“Dad’s one of them, now. I guess he’s hoping I’ll be one.”

“Let me explain what I have discovered through these projects. I think your dad has decided the same things. There are two objectives. One is improved physical fitness, often accompanied by martial arts or boxing capabilities. Actually, your dad does not need much improvement in that area. He is a hunk, for sure. Don’t you agree?”

“I ... I ... He told me what happened in your office,” Casey answered. “I would just die.”

“Why? Why would stripping in front of someone else totally destroy you?” Casey just gaped at her, so Rebecca went on.

“The second major objective of the projects is greatly reduced concern about other people seeing your genitals or other normally hidden parts of your body.”

“I don’t understand the second one.”

“OK. Here’s the theory, which I believe has some strong empirical support. When you are talking to someone, your subconscious always has a concern about what the person or persons think about the size of your breasts, how much they wobble or sag, the size and color of your nipples.” Seeing Casey about to object, Rebecca held up her hand and the girl remained quiet.

“Let me finish the theory, then we can talk about it. To continue; your subconscious is concerned about what those persons think about your tummy, it’s firmness or slackness, and the size of your waist. Irrationally, perhaps, your subconscious is concerned about how they like the way your pubic hair is trimmed. What they think of the thickness of your thighs. It goes on and on. Just walking down the hall, your subconscious worries about what they think about your bottom, it’s width, any dimples, etc.

“Try to think of it from a male’s perspective. The subconscious worries about whether they can detect the length of his penis or the size of his testicles through his clothes. If he happens to get an erection, those subconscious worries become very real panic. The subconscious worries that the muscles don’t seem manly enough.

“Now, I’m sure you were about to point out that we are all clothed when interacting with people, walking the school hall, etc. Because of the subconscious’s concern about how all those body parts appear to other people but we are clothed, the concern shifts to how well the clothing hides and/or disguises those body parts.

“There is a credible theory that our subconscious does not completely deal with the presence of clothes. Our early evolution did not involve clothing, so their presence is still ‘new’ in an evolutionary sense. The apparently universal ‘naked in public’ dream lends some credence to that idea.”

“The crux of the theory is that all of this subconscious concern hampers the person’s ability to interact most effectively.”

“So by spending lots of time naked,” Casey interjected, “letting lots of people see all of those body parts, the subconscious level of concern is reduced and you can interact better.”

“Does that seem far-fetched to you, Casey?”

“Well, it must not to Daddy. He is so logical. I can see why it makes sense. It just scares me to death.”

“When you are at school, talking to people or just walking the halls, what body parts does your subconscious spend the most time worrying about?”

“Well, since I’m pretty skinny, I guess no boobs, not much for hips, and ribs showing.”

“Has your dad seen you naked recently? Your brother? A date? Girlfriends?” At the last word, Casey reddened.

“You don’t need to answer that. Here are the names and phone numbers of some people I think you should talk to about projects. If it would help you to talk again, just call me. So, are you getting frightened talking about projects?”

“Scared, uh, shitless is the best word, I’m afraid,” Casey responded.

“So, you really don’t want your dad to see you naked?” The brief squirm and sudden flush were just what Rebecca hoped to see. She would have been concerned had she not. “Do you remember the time before your mother made you stop running around the house naked? What made that so thrilling?”

Casey was quiet for quite a while. “I’m supposed to be horrified by the idea of going naked, but you’re right. I get, um, aroused thinking about baring myself for Dad. Especially with him naked. It would be so...” Casey stalled at that point.

“I think ‘intimate’ is the word you want.” Casey nodded.

Abruptly changing topics, Rebecca asked “Who’s your BFF, Casey?”

“What? Oh, Peyton Hillerman, for sure.”

“Describe how alike and/or different you are, would you?”

With a little chuckle, Casey said “We’re a pretty good compare and contrast case study. First of all, we’re all in the same advanced classes and neither of us has ever seen anything but an ‘A’. Physically, we would average out to two pretty cute girls.”

Rebecca was about to address the implied self-image problems in Casey’s comment, but decided to hold off.

“I mean, she has boobs and a butt. But she also has a tummy and thighs she doesn’t like,” Casey described her friend. “I’ve got the skinny waist and nice trim legs, but not much in the boobs and butt. My ribs show too much, too.”

“Are your personalities contrasting, too?”

“I guess we’re too much alike. Shy nerds is the best descriptions. Maybe even painfully shy nerds,” Casey complained.

“How about her family? Are they concerned?”

“She has a problem I don’t have. She’s the only, um, introvert in the family. Her parents and brothers are all very social.”

“Brothers?”

“Two. Nelson is her twin and Carson is two years older.”

“Do they get along? Do you get along with them? I assume you spend a lot of time there.”

“Oh, her family is as nice as mine. Yeah, we kind of live at each other’s homes. We both have twin beds in our rooms and we use them a lot.”

“Is one of her parents heavy? Her brothers?”

“Her dad is overweight, but I’ve seen pictures from high school, and he wasn’t then. Her mom is, um, stacked, but she isn’t fat. I guess she was sort of like Peyton in high school but grew out of it.”

“I assume your parents know each other.”

“Sure. They get along very well. Mr. Hillerman and dad are a lot different, but they have become friends. He’s a sales executive, but he’s really smart. Peyton’s mom works for an insurance company as an actuary.”

“Now, the big question, Casey. Just suppose for a minute you became a project and made some pretty dramatic changes, how would it affect Peyton? How would it affect your relationship?”

“Oh! That could be hard on her! But that...”

Rebecca cut her off by holding up her hand. “Casey, you are too logical a person. The possible benefits will win out over the modesty which you are already questioning.”

KELLI & REBECCA

“Are you going to talk to Cam, too?” Kelli teased as she sat down for her next appointment with Rebecca.

“Hadn’t thought of that,” Rebecca admitted with a laugh. “Kelli, one thing I like about these projects is that I get to do something besides try to salvage failing marriages. If I listen to Casey, I think this project involves the salvation of mankind.”

“That couldn’t be,” Kelli joked. “We don’t allow hero worship in our family.”

“At least not outside the family, you mean,” Rebecca went along with the joke. “I almost asked if she had seen him walk across the pool on the water.”

“That would be an interesting sight for her with his dick hanging out.” At that, they both broke up.

“Can I assume you’re OK with whatever happens about family nudity?” Rebecca probed.

“OK? Not hardly! Every time I think about stripping for Cam, I almost pee my pants.”

“Maybe some other time I’ll give you my speech about mother-son sexual attraction,” Rebecca teased. “I am coming to the belief that family nudity should be regular and frequent from wedding day until death.”

“Shouldn’t you be careful how you say that?” Kelli warned.

“I suppose so, although I’m not sure who would object. So, how are you going to do the unveiling?”

“I think the hot tub would be a good start. The pool isn’t open. I thought about some kind of stripping game, but I don’t want any kind of negative to being naked - loser’s penalty, you know. It should be everyone at the same time.”

“Good thoughts. You know, Nancy and I would be willing to vacate her house for a couple of hours so you could use her indoor pool.”

“Seriously? I’ll ask Drew.”

“There’s even another option. Phyllis might agree to close the club early some evening and let you have that.”

“Wow! The Gang is serious about their projects, aren’t they?”

“Oh, they’re fully expecting plenty more ogling of your hunky hubby.”

“They would, wouldn’t they,” Kelli laughed. She sobered quickly and asked “Does the Gang include sex as part of a project?”

“Oh, they wouldn’t poach, Kelli. I’m sure of that.”

“That’s not what I was asking.” Kelli took a deep breath. “This is difficult to say, but I think it might be important. Drew has never, ever given any indication of this, but I think the fact that he has never had sex with anyone but me could hamper his efforts to, um, remake himself.”

“And because of the generation gap, anyone in the gang would not pose a real threat to your marriage?” Rebecca added. Kelli could only nod.

“Would you really want to go there, Kelli? I’m worried that just by suggesting it to Drew, you might upset him.”

“You mean he would think I was sending him for ‘training’?”

“No, I think his monogamy is too important to him,” Rebecca declared.

That caused Kelli’s eyes to water and she had to pause for some sniffles. “Guess I’d better not mention that idea, huh?”

“How do you think Cam will handle the nudity. Erections are a major issue at that age. The first time, he won’t go soft at all,” Rebecca cautioned. “Oh, I’m just assuming he’s past puberty.”

“He is, but he’s not that developed. I guess Drew will have to psych him up and I’ll be sure Casey and I are very gentle with him. I don’t know what else to do.”

“That sounds like a good approach, Kelli. Let me talk to Nancy and to Phyllis and see if we can come up with the perfect site for your first time. Actually, though, I need to ask you; isn’t his mother the woman best equipped to introduce a boy to the female body?” That thought caused Kelli to gasp and flush, but she did not respond verbally.

“Now, another subject. Strong long-term relationships between teen girls are not to be taken lightly. I am concerned what will happen between Casey and Peyton if Casey makes some big changes. The positives of the change for Casey could be offset by the real anguish of a relationship deteriorating.”

“There’s an easy answer for that,” Kelli said quickly. “Get Peyton a project, too. Christy and I are always commiserating over our daughters. When we’ve been together as couples, it has been a frequent topic. Wait! Why not have them do a project together?”

“Kelli, my guess is the project will involve staying nude at home. With the way they spend so much time at each other’s places...”

“So what? Let them be nude at each other’s homes, too! It sounds like Casey would be exposed to other males besides Drew and Cam. Christy and Justin have done a great job with their kids. The boys would be completely respectful. I’m sure Cam would for Peyton, too.”

Uncharacteristically, Rebecca chewed on the eraser of the old-fashioned pencil she always used. Kelli’s suggestion was so off the wall that she had to force herself not to react impulsively. Truth told, she did not know what her impulsive reaction would be. The whole idea was that unexpected. Finally, she figured out a reasonable approach.

“Kelli, because your family are clients, there is not much I can say to the Hillerman’s if they come to see me. For instance, I cannot mention any of Drew’s concerns, and that is what triggered this whole project idea.”

“I can handle that,” Kelli assured the doctor.

HILLERMANS & REBECCA

Justin Hillerman, as expected, wasted no time voicing his concern with the shape of the proposed project. “I want as badly as anyone to see my little girl get out of the social hole she is in. If only she could let everyone see how full of life she really is ... But this nudity business just seems so radical. Is it even legal?”

“Mr. Hillerman, I was aware of your concern, so I have people who can respond better than I standing by. Let me bring them in and I will leave you alone with them. These are the young people who were the first two projects.”

Rebecca opened the door, then gasped and stepped back. “Sarah! Sean! I never expected ... I hope you didn’t think... “ Turning to the Hillermans, she protested. “Honestly, I did not ask them to speak to you nude. I would never...” Sean put an arm around Rebecca and gently pushed her out the door.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hillerman, we don’t want to mess around when it involves saving another teen from what we had to escape from. I hope our bare bodies underscore how honest we are being and how much we want to help any young people that we can. I understand you have read what Rebecca sent regarding the beneficial and therapeutic value of nudity. We will focus on telling you our stories, especially the before and after contrasts.”

Needless to say, Christy and Justin Hillerman were overwhelmed by the confidence and composure of the two naked teens. It never occurred to them to doubt anything that was said. It took a while for the questions to come, but eventually they filled most of the first hour of the two hour appointment.