Chapter 43: Homecoming and Hell

My weekend passed quickly. Not from a time perspective, but from a feeling that I never was able to give Ashley, Lenore, Angelique, Kelsey and my friends all the attention and time they deserved. A huge part of me was feeling a bit frustrated when we returned to school on Monday for Homecoming week. We had heard that the freshman were going to have a float for the homecoming parade and game on Friday, but Jessica and I had been unable to find out who was organizing the efforts. Jason mentioned that he heard Walter had co-opted the exercise and supposedly had used Sunday night to organize an orgy in the garage where the float was being built.

"Why don't you do something about him?" Kathy asked me as we walked through the halls to our first class.

"Not much I can do," I responded as we dodged several sophomores racing to get to class.

"Stop him," Milli said. "That should be simple."

"Not really," I said as we entered Mrs. Pangrac's classroom. "He is careful in what he says so the most anyone can get him for is being a jerk when he later dumps a girl. He also never openly intimidates someone on campus so I can't complain to a teacher."

"And complaining to his father will just get you laughed at," Jason added helpfully.

"Why?" Milli asked. "If you complained to my father about how I was acting, he would have punished me back when I lived with him."

"Walter's dad is one of those caveman types. He's probably stopping at the bar most nights and bragging about all the fine pussy his son has played with since he took the CAP score," Jason said.

"I knew it!" Mrs. Pangrac shouted as we made our way to our seats. "I knew that you were using your high CAP scores to subjugate the rest of the class."

"Actually, we're talking about how we might stop someone who is doing that," I said.

"Like I have any reason to believe that!" Mrs. Pangrac snapped at me. "I know how a young man like you is. You're always looking for the next girl to fuck!"

"Why?" I asked softly.

"Why what?" Mrs. Pangrac screamed.

"Why do you assume I'm that shallow? You've never tried to get to know me, but you accuse me of only thinking about sex," I replied.

"You're a teenage boy," Mrs. Pangrac said scornfully. "Everyone knows that all a teenage boy cares about is when he'll get his dick into another pussy. It's like that with adult men too. Every war ever fought was over some woman's pussy."

Kathy started to giggle. "You mean like the Trojan War of renown? The one that we only know through myth and which supposedly started because a young man from Troy judged a beauty contest between Aphrodite, Athena and Hera and was given the kidnapped Helen of Troy as a reward for selecting Aphrodite? Is that what you are trying to say?"

"Well, that is an extreme example," Mrs. Pangrac prevaricated. "But it just proves my point. After all the stories say the Trojan War was all about bringing Helen back."

"The excuses the Greeks used to justify the war say that," I replied. "In reality the war was probably over control of the trade routes from Greece up into the Black Sea. The supposed location of Troy gave the city the ability to block Greek ships from heading to the Black Sea. Many historians feel that the real reason for that war was economic. The Greek City-States wanted to remove a trade rival. The tale of the Trojan War was just their excuse."

"But why would they want an excuse?" Mrs. Pangrac asked.

"The same reason governments today try to manufacture an excuse to go to war. Wars are expensive. The wealthy will often in the end profit, but the common people are the ones who bear the economic burden of a war. The easiest way to get them to support a war is to conjure up some insult to them or make them believe the war is defensive," I said.

Jessica had her hand on the air, before Mrs. Pangrac could call on her she spoke. "We see that in history. In fact World War One was a perfect example. Germany had several government officials who wanted to go to war. When the Austrian Grand Duke was assassinated, they leaned on Austria to make unreasonable demands on Serbia. This led to a number of small wars being declared. At that point Germany was able to declare wars in support of their allies. Of course, they immediately attacked France, who had not been a party to the original dispute."

Mrs. Pangrac was staring at Jessica and me. I noticed the rest of the class was quiet. Our teacher stood looking at my friend and me for a moment and then shook her head. "That doesn't mean you aren't just looking for a convenient pussy."

"Shall we go another round?" Jason muttered as my sister jumped to her feet.

"Are you really that dense?" my sister asked. "My brother doesn't need or want just a convenient pussy."

"He hasn't taken mine yet," I could hear Kelsey mutter.

"Explain yourself!" Mrs. Pangrac snarled at me.

I sighed. "I have a couple of female friends and companions. Outside of school and practice I'm always with them."

"So?" Mrs. Pangrac snapped.

Jason slapped his forehead with an open palm. Beside me Jessica was shaking her head. "Do you just not want to get it?" Jessica asked. "Mark isn't going to chase after a random girl. He has already found a girl."

"Girls," Kelsey interrupted.

"Girls," Jessica said as she turned to glare at Kelsey. "So your whole argument isn't valid. Mark won't be doing something in school just to attract girls."

"He could!" Mrs. Pangrac insisted.

"He's got a hottie already," one of the boys in the class shouted. I did not recognize him, but the kid was smiling as he pointed at Kelsey. "And if Kelsey there was fourteen he'd have two."

"Three," Kelsey whispered. "Lenore doesn't go to school here."

Liz was shaking her head. "Do the teachers never talk to each other?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Pangrac said whirling to stare at the poor girl.

Liz stared at Mrs. Pangrac. "Well, it wasn't too hard to figure out that someone in the school administration had it out for the students with high CAP scores and especially with the ones playing sports. That's why we keep having all the surprise quizzes isn't it?"

"I never did that!" Mrs. Pangrac snapped.

"Pull the other one," Liz said scornfully. "I'm not a fool and neither is any other high CAP student here."

"You don't have a good score!" Mrs. Pangrac snapped.

"No, I just refused to answer when you asked," Liz responded. "It was pretty clear that first day that you resented the students with good scores. Why make myself into a target. Besides, I haven't decided what I want to do."

"What do you mean?" one of the boys in the class asked.

Liz turned to look at the boy. I noticed that her back stiffened as she stared at him. "Do you really think I want to take two people from this planet as my personal property?"

"Property?" Mrs. Pangrac interrupted.

"If you read between the lines on the description of the companions someone can take, that's what they are considered according to Confederacy law. You aren't bringing along your best friend, but more like your loving best pet," I answered.

"And you are fine with this?" Mrs. Pangrac said glaring at me.

"Nope," I replied before finally walking to my seat and sitting down.

"What?" the boy who had been arguing with Liz shouted. "Dude! You could take that hot blond cheerleader with you! And you aren't happy?"

"Why would he be?" Jason asked.

"Dude! Its guaranteed pussy! You have girls who will exist just to fuck you whenever you want!" the boy said. He sounded surprised that Jason and I did not seem thrilled by this prospect.

I was thinking out my reply when Jessica spoke up. "So? Guaranteed doesn't mean its good pussy."

"Any pussy is good pussy," the boy shot back.

"Not really," I said.

The boy, I still could not think of his name rolled his eyes. "Really? I've had good blow jobs and bad blow jobs and even the worst one I've ever had was awesome."

"Did it make you pass out?" I asked.

"What?" the boy responded, eyes wide as he stared at me.

"Did you pass out after that worst blow job you've ever had," I asked again.

Behind me I could hear Jason coughing as the boy sat up in his chair. "What wimp passes out from a blow job?" he sneered.

Jessica burst out in full throated laughter. "One who has been given a blowjob by a girl who wants to do that to him," she said once she caught her breath. "I did that to Eek and Ook a few times before they left for the stars."

"Eek? Ook? What kind of names are that?" the boy snapped.

Kathy giggled. "The bodyguards her dad hired refused to tell Jessica their names. We all called them Eek and Ook after that." The young brunette sighed. "They were great in bed too. I miss them."

"You fucked them?" the boy screeched.

Kathy and Millie both giggled. "Why not? Jessica wasn't going to allow just any man to have her, and since we're her bestest buddies, she asked us to take the men for a test ride," Kathy said.

"Or a test fuck," Millie added cheerfully. "And since those two were truly great and wanted us to enjoy the experience. We learned the difference between an emotionless fuck like you seem to proud of and making sex into something that joins two spirits together."

I noticed that Mrs. Pangrac had stepped back. She seemed to nod after Millie spoke, but then started frowning.

"That's enough of that!" she said with a scowl. "We're supposed to be studying the Crusades and how innocent children were destroyed by the pursuit of power."

"So we are studying the Children's Crusade?" I asked.

Mrs. Pangrac nodded as a new boy shouted. "What is that?"

I held up my hand while the mutterings in the class faded. "Supposedly undertaken in the thirteen century by a band of children organized by the church, the Children's Crusades are now thought to have been mostly groups of unemployed juveniles travelling in France and Germany seeking opportunity. The tales from the time claim they were headed to Jerusalem and going to fight the Muslims, and that the Roman Catholic Church supported the organizers, but there are no records supporting the tales," I said.

Mrs. Pangrac stared at me. "What do you mean that there are no records supporting the tales? I've found references in papers from the same period."

"Most references that are from people claiming to have witnessed the gathering of the supposed crusaders are dated between twelve-twenty and twelve-fifty, but the date for the crusade always seems to be about twelve-twelve," Jason said. "Later references admit to being effectively hearsay. The problem is that there is no financial record indicating that there was an organized effort."

"So it could have happened!" Mrs. Pangrac shouted.

"No writer of the time referred to an official Children's Crusade, led by a boy. There may have been a shepherd boy who through some level of trickery gathered a following in France, but his movement never left France before vanishing in the summer of twelve-twelve," I said.

"How do you know this?" one of my classmates asked.

"We read," Jessica said. "And we study together so we can split up what we read and then discuss it. We were getting into the middle ages in our studies in this class, and the Crusades are one of the most controversial aspects of the Middle Ages. We expected it to be discussed, so we researched it a couple of weeks ago."

"But you are already getting a solid grade in my class," Mrs. Pangrac admitted.

"Does that mean no more quizzes?" I countered.

"No," Mrs. Pangrac admitted. "As some of you have probably guessed the quizzes are being demanded by someone in the administration."

"Vice Principal Flanagan," Jessica, Jason and I said in chorus.

"You knew?" Mrs. Pangrac answered in a shocked voice.

"We've had a few conversations with him," I admitted causing Kelsey to snort.

"What?" Mrs. Pangrac said glaring at Kelsey.

I glanced over my shoulder to find Kelsey sinking into her chair. "It's just that Mark is not admitting to the nature of the conversations we've had with the Vice Principal. He's actually being rather generous to him."

Mrs. Pangrac nodded. "Well, I guess we should concentrate on the Middle Ages then. Perhaps you haven't over studied the rise of Hungary?"