Chapter 5 (Edited)

For two days, the storm built but didn’t break. Kylie woke each morning with a jerk, feeling the building tension in her chest and the painful reminders of Monday in her throat each time she swallowed. At night, her dreams were filled with confusing scenes that made no sense. In one, she was alone in the gym locker room surrounded by cameras, clutching a towel around her body. It faded and was replaced by a dream where large strong hands gripped her bare shoulders and pushed her through a dimly lit labyrinth while she was only wearing shoes and nothing else. Every corridor seemed the same with no indication that she was nearing the exit. Every time she tried to turn around to see who was pushing her, everything shifted, and she was staring down the same long, dark, empty corridor. Another dream formed where she was sitting crossed legged on the floor surrounded by kittens. Each time she reached to pick one up, it would whisper things like “good girl,” “natural talent,” and “broken in.” She recoiled after each word but couldn’t stop herself from reaching back out again and again as the little kittens circled around her.

She did her best to hide her situation from her family, and as far as she could tell, they remained oblivious. In the morning she ate breakfast with her family, each meal lovingly prepared by her mom. Fried eggs and toast or oatmeal and fruit. She choked down small bites with a sore throat.

“Are you feeling alright, honey?” her mom asked on Wednesday morning as Kylie took her half-eaten bowl of oats to the sink.

“I’m ... Fine,” she mumbled with a rasp, “Just tired with all the work from school and practice.” She produced a small smile for her mother to reassure her. “I think I’m just a little under the weather is all. I’ll be right as rain once regionals are over. They’re coming up fast!”

Her mother sniffed and gave Kylie a hug once her bowl was out of her hands. “Well, no matter what happens, I’m proud of you. You’re putting in so much work. Your father and I will always be proud of you!” Her mom gave her another squeeze and Kylie melted a bit into her mother’s embrace. “Are you sure you don’t want to go and see the doctor? Maybe he can see if you’ve caught something.”

Kylie tensed up slightly at the comment. The idea of a doctor asking about her sore throat symptoms sent dread through her and she swallowed painfully. “N-no, I’m fine, honest. It’s just stress, normal. I’ll be good to go in a bit!” She pulled away from her mom with a final squeeze, hoping to avoid further discussion. The doctor would know, obviously, I can’t go to the doctor! she thought to herself as she pulled away.

When she went back to her room to get dressed for school, her thoughts invariably shifted to her punishment, and she shivered when she looked toward her dresser that held her remaining panties. Are you going to wear panties again? she heard Harrington ask again. She didn’t touch them as she got dressed, trying to ignore the tightness in her throat, fearing that unstoppable tears would gush out.

Kylie made a point to meet up with Maya each morning to walk into the main school building, latching onto her bubbly demeanor and using it as a shield against the weight of her situation. Maya and her large can of energy drink were a welcome sight each morning as Kylie ascended the steps and entered her own personal battlefield within the confines of the school.

Jameson nodded politely in the hallways when she crossed his path on her way to first period, his smile bland and practiced. She jerked her eyes away from him and shuffled to the other side of the hallway until he was out of sight. Maya simply gave her an odd look as she took a swig from her energy drink and shook her head. “You’re so weird...” Maya chirped after a little swallow, “it’s like you’re Frogger!”

Kylie blinked at her friend, utterly unable to come up with an excuse for the sudden movement in the hallway. Instead, she didn’t respond to Maya’s comment and headed for Mrs. Culvert’s classroom. Maya sighed dramatically and followed along. Kylie never saw Ben.

Later in the day, in biology class, Harrington’s lecture continued with its usual clinical normalcy–as though nothing had changed. And somehow, that made it worse. His voice remained steady as he moved through the topics. Every so often, his eyes found hers, accompanied by the faintest smirk and an unsettling gleam in his eyes. He held his gaze for a moment too long, before launching into a lecture about kingdoms and phyla as if they were the most exciting topic in the world. Each time his eyes shifted toward her, Kylie snapped hers back to her desk.

Don’t look at him, I don’t want to see him!

But she could feel his gaze, even though she refused to look up, and she could almost feel the phantom touch of his hands. She sat rigidly at her desk through the entire period while a disconcerting carousel of emotions churned through her. Dread twisted into anger; anger sank into a suffocating hopelessness, only to dissolve into despair. Then came confusion, which overwhelmed her young mind. The emotions came in waves, each one leaving her more unsettled than the last. Kylie was unable to tell where one ended and the other began.

All the while, Harrington kept lecturing like he normally did.

When the period ended with the ball, she jumped out of her seat and quickly walked out of the room. She needed to be away from that room and the man that owned it. The rest of her classes blurred together in a fog as she did her best to maintain her outward appearance of normalcy.

Once the final bell rang out, Kylie wound her way to her locker. Maya streamed alongside her, once again chatting about random things. Kylie came to a halt before her locker and fiddled with the lock until it clicked open.

Maya leaned against the locker next to Kylie’s. “Ezra kissed me yesterday,” she announced, eyes gleaming.

Kylie turned her head toward Maya, eyes widening at her, before she quickly swung her locker closed without even looking inside. “What?! I didn’t even think you guys were a thing yet!” she exclaimed. “It’s been like five days since you started talking about him!”

Maya grinned back, “He did it behind the football bleachers yesterday. We went for a walk after practice! Totally cliché, right?” she giggled. She seemed out of focus for a moment, “He’s so...” she trailed off, searching for the right word as her fingers twirled in her hair. “Frisky. Kinda aggressive!” Her eyes snapped back to Kylie after coming back into focus.

Kylie blinked. Aggressive, she repeated to herself. Unbidden the memories of being held down and having a cock thrust into her throat harshly replayed in her mind. She swallowed painfully and cleared her throat, driving away the next memory of her tits being tormented while she was forced to service three men at once. A twinge sparked through her right nipple as her chest swelled during a deep inhale before she forced the air out through her nose, “A-aggressive?” she poised.

“Like, he pinned me against the fence, y’know?” Maya continued. Her eyes were rosy and full of light. “I kinda liked it,” she whispered before breaking into an earnest giggle. “Then he bought me an energy drink! I think I’m in love!” She let out a contented sigh as she leaned back against the lockers.

Kylie chuckled at Maya, wishing she could be as carefree as her, wishing she hadn’t caught the attention of Harrington. So stupid! Kylie opened her locker again as Maya leaned against the metal panel. Kylie let her friend daydream as she reached into her locker to put her pens away. “You probably drink too much caffeine, Maya!” she said offhandedly, as she peered inside her locker. She did a double take when her eyes fell onto the plastic wrapped package, nestled atop her textbooks. Another note laid folded with it. Oh... She quickly closed her locker again, trying to smooth her features as her anxiety cranked up. Butterflies bounced around her stomach, and she drummed her fingers on the locker door. “S-so, is he nice?” she asked Maya. “Ezra, I-I mean, is he ... Nice...?” she stammered fitfully, trying to form a question, any question, to distract herself from ripping open her locker again and reading the note.

Maya laughed out loud, “Honestly, I have no idea, he probably just wants to get in my pants and is playing the gentleman to get some!” She pushed herself away from the locker. “He’ll have to do better than a drink though! I have standards!” she said with snark. “Ooo, maybe chicken nuggies!” she said with another grin at Kylie. “Oh, don’t you dare tell him I said that!” she quickly warned theatrically.

Kylie held in a little laugh, but hurriedly said, “Your secret is safe with me. Besides, who doesn’t love chicken nuggies? But you should raise your standards, Maya!”

Maya looked fake offended, but nodded along, “Yaaasssss! I bet I could get chicken nuggies AND a Pixie Spunk!”

The two girls giggled conspiratorially as the hallway slowly emptied. Maya took a deep breath, then sighed. “Better head to practice! Don’t want to endure more laps!” she teased. “I don’t think you can handle it again if you’re late!”

Kylie blanched as a vivid reminder of Monday’s ordeal replayed in her mind. She shivered and quickly smoothed her hoodie. “I just gotta use the bathroom, I’ll meet you there!”

“You better not be late again or else I’ll never be able to forgive you!” Maya blurted out as she turned on her heel and strode down the hall.

Kylie waited for her friend to disappear around the corner before hastily jerking her locker open again. She grabbed the note and flipped it open. The page had the same sterile font as the previous notes. In plain words, it read “Green is your color. Enjoy the gift. Wear it this afternoon.” She crumpled it up and jammed it into her hoodie pocket, just as she had with the other notes. The package seemed to demand her attention and she grabbed it, quickly ripping it open. A sleek emerald green leotard unfurled into her hands when she pulled it out. She yelped once she realized what it was. She promptly shoved it back into her locker and peered up and down the hallway. Her fingers still clutched the silky fabric as she looked back inside. With a final look for anyone watching, she quickly pulled it back out and forced it into her bag where it wouldn’t be seen.

She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and sped toward the gymnasium for practice.

Practice felt far too hard for Kylie. Coach Miller was on a rampage, and even Maya was exhausted toward the end. “Come on ladies! You call yourself athletes, but I wouldn’t take you to a dog show, let alone regionals with how you’ve been performing!” their coach yelled. Maya frowned toward Kylie after she stumbled on a dismount, the petite blonde’s normally bubbly demeanor seemingly squashed by the brutal critiques of Miller.

When their coach’s whistle finally echoed through the gym, Kylie and Maya hunched over, hands on their knees. “She really needs to get a life,” Maya whispered, “or a boyfriend!”

Kylie snorted lightly as she caught her breath.

With practice over, the girls meandered to the locker room. Without their coach shouting out corrections and commands, Maya’s usual bubbly demeanor oozed back out. “I can’t wait for regionals to be over! Ugh, this is just high school, and now I’m stinky!” she cried out. “I’m supposed to hang out with Ezra after practice!” Maya practically wilted as she dramatically dropped her nose to her armpit and let out an embellished “blegh.”

Kylie ran her hand over her forehead and giggled, “You probably don’t even small bad! You barely even sweat!” she told her friend.

Maya let out a laugh, “I sweat!”

“Uh huh,” Kylie retorted.

“In fact, I’m going to take a shower to get rid of it!”

Kylie rolled her eyes, “Ezra won’t even care, he’s a boy! Boys have to smell themselves all day!”

Maya’s boisterous laugh echoed around the locker room, startling their teammate Katie while she was drying her hands near the sinks. “I know, they’re pretty gross! It’s called deodorant!” Maya quipped. “Ezra smells nice though, he’s not your average stinky boy!”

As soon as Katie left, Maya and Kylie were alone and disappeared into separate stalls.

“Don’t drop the soap!” Maya chirped as she pulled the curtain closed behind herself.

There’s always a silly joke, Kylie thought as she stepped into her stall, I wish I was funnier like that.

The sound of spraying water sounded out a few seconds later and Maya screamed out, “This is the worst shower ever, what the hell! It’s spraying all the walls at the same time!” Kylie ignored her as she let the warm water run over her body, letting it soothe away the tension in her muscles.

Kylie quickly washed and rinsed and then grabbed her towel and dried off. She wrapped it around herself and stepped out of the stall before making her way to a nearby bench and sitting down. A few seconds later and the water from Maya’s stall shut off.

“Great! And now I smell like chemicals! Ughh!” Maya’s hand snaked out from behind the curtain and grabbed her towel before pulling it back in with a snap.

A laugh bubbled up Kylie’s throat, but she bit it back so as to not heap more embarrassment onto Maya. She swallowed, painfully, as the urge to giggle bubbled up again. The shower curtain crinkled, and Maya stepped out wrapped in her own towel.

A few quick steps brought Maya over to Kylie, and she bounced down on the bench beside her. “Let’s hope he likes the smell of lemons!” she said cheerily, her happy-go-lucky personality back in full force. Maya fished around in her bag and pulled out her bra, pulling it on while letting her towel slip down her torso.

Kylie looked away from Maya, a slight blush creeping up her neck. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. But still, she felt like she should provide even the tiniest bit of privacy.

Done with her bra, Maya tugged her towel around her hips, holding it secure with one hand. She leaned in slightly, getting closer to Kylie. “So? Have you been chatting with any boys?” she whispered in a quiet, conspiratorial voice.

Kylie’s fingers tightened on her own towel as she clenched her fists lightly on her thighs. The light above seemed to buzz louder as Maya spoke. She tightened her fists slightly more, to prevent them from trembling. She forced a tittering, bright peal of laughter through her sore throat. It rang out like an alarm clock, “Me?” she scoffed, turning back to face Maya with a smile across her face. It was the smile she reserved for podiums and judges. “Uh, no!” she said as she arched a playful eyebrow. “I don’t have time for boys!” But beneath the practiced smile, Kylie’s mind spun recounting her experiences with men. Harrington thumbs holding her eyes open, Jameson’s cold observation of her throat milking him, the feeling of semen flooding out of her nose. Her stomach clenched suddenly, but she shoved the memories away, burying them beneath the performer’s facade.