Chapter 26

When they got home late Sunday evening, Stuart told them that his reassignment to Lejeune had been finalized and his report date was set for between June 25 and July 8.

“You three will be in college in the fall so we won’t need that large of a house,” Sarah said. “Dad’s reporting around July 1 and I’ll be closing our house here in July and moving our effects that last week. Do you know when you can move in at your school?”

“Yeah, that’s something we planned to discuss, Mom, Dad. I told you Tom’s going there too. We’d like to share an apartment, some kind of rental; it could save us a really huge amount on housing costs—maybe as much as a third, Mitchell thought—and Tom’s folks already said it was okay,” Roger said.

“Well, that might work; I like the economics. But consider this. Your living in a rental might affect your getting into a fraternity or sorority, you know; sometimes you need to live in their house for a year,” their dad commented.

“Yeah, maybe, but I’m not that much interested in sororities,” Cynthia said. “They’re fine for lots of people but I’m not social in that kind of way, I think.”

“Me neither,” Roger agreed.

In school the following day, Roger and Tom had their usual early-morning swim practice and workout and left the locker room for home room. The morning announcements welcomed the students and staff back to school, and then Davis turned to the Program.

“Beginning this week we’ll announce the names of the students in the Program instead of furnishing the lists to your teachers. We’re doing this because we have so few participants. This week there are six.”

He then read their names.

“I’m sure you six know the drill about disrobing, but unless we change the procedure again, what we want you to do is to go to the main entry; the clothing boxes are there, and disrobe there. Don’t go to the conference room. As usual, your clothing boxes will be outside the main doors after school. We made this change because you are all voluntary participants and this procedure seemed to be the most efficient. Thank you for participating, and everyone, have a pleasant day, full of learning new things.”

Cynthia and Roger looked at each other and mouthed, “Wow.”

In their economics class, a messenger arrived after class started, bearing a note for Cynthia and Roger to see their guidance counselor. The twins left class and went to her office; she asked them to be seated.

“Normally I talk to students individually. In your case, what I need to cover is identical and since you’re twins, I assume that you’ll discuss this together anyway. So, do either of you object to meeting like this?”

“No,” they both agreed.

“This is the time when we make the final determinations for graduation. Both of you have excellent scholastic records and have helped the school win titles in state high-school sports competitions. You’ve even won international titles. In terms of graduating, you have both earned the required credits that the state mandates for a high-school degree, plus completion of college advanced placement courses. I know you both have college plans and have received scholarship offers. So there’s nothing academically to discuss, really.

“But Mr Davis has asked me to formally let you know, and has given me letters to your parents to this effect, that your not participating in the Naked in School Program precludes your attending the school’s graduation ceremony. He states that your titles and accomplishments in sports will not be recognized before the graduating senior class, and he also has instructed the school’s registrar to freeze your transcripts. He’s making one final offer; that is, if you agree to participate in the Program next week, he will withdraw those limitations. Understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Cynthia said while Roger nodded. She went on, “Roger and I have already figured that those exact things would happen. We didn’t expect that we’d get a second-chance offer, though, but our answer is still the same. We’re not doing the Program under any conditions.”

“Your college will require a final transcript, you know,” the counselor cautioned.

“Yes, and we’re dealing with that situation too,” Roger said. “We’ve been in touch with the admissions office and told them about the situation over the Program. So they know that there might be a problem getting the transcript. But they told us not to be overly concerned.”

“Well, then, that’s all I have; here are the letters I mentioned,” she said, handing them two envelopes.

On the way back to their class, the two discussed what they had heard.

“So looks like they’re contacting all the seniors about graduating now and probably everyone will get the same second-chance offer,” Cynthia reflected. “I wonder if anyone will give in this time.”

Roger began thinking aloud. “Hard to say ... I’ve heard some kids talking about not going to graduation and saying that they didn’t really care. And there’s that alternate graduation, too. Say, here’s a thought. If there are about 500 seniors and, um, 16 full weeks in the term when they could run the Program, and ... let’s see, 18 kids—except the first week. That’s maybe a little over half, right? Around 280? Yeah. I don’t think many seniors participated—maybe three? four? Tom, um, Dennis, and Elliott. Oh, Melanie. That’s it, four, right?”

Cynthia nodded.

“So that would mean that virtually everyone at graduation would be those who never got picked for it! Isn’t that totally weird? Every other senior we spoke to wasn’t doing it or dropped out, like those girls who were over 18. So if they allowed every senior to attend graduation, only those three others would have done the Program along with Tom—he’d and they’d be kinda unique.”

“Damn straight Tom’s unique!” Cynthia snorted. “Yeah—kinda makes denying graduation unfair, right? If half of the students were never even picked? Like a reverse lottery, you win if your ticket doesn’t come up. Crazy.”

“Hey, kids,” Sarah said to the teens when they arrived home after school. “I heard on the news today more about that kidnapping investigation. Just a headline, but at 6 o’clock there’ll be coverage.”

During dinner the twins told their parents about their meeting with the counselor and Denison read the letters they had brought home.

“I’m gonna show these to Col Masterson. If they’re going through the kids in alpha order, then ‘D’ comes before ‘M’ and he might not know yet,” Denison commented. “Any other seniors talk about being told this?”

“Yeah, Dad, there was a real buzz about it at lunch. One of the kids mentioned the possibility of that alternate graduation ceremony, too, so the word’s getting out about that,” Roger answered.

After dinner the family gathered to watch. The station’s reporters had dug up a lot of details. They had learned that the contractor company involved, the one that had employed the kidnappers, was legitimate. It appeared that only the Riverside County operation was a rogue one. Two federal officials had been implicated as being involved in directing the raided Riverside office. Extensive equipment and facilities for video recording, editing, and duplication had been found in one of the rooms in the office building, and many DVDs had been seized that showed teens engaged in all kinds of sexual activities.

The report went on, showing video clips of the office building, inside room layouts, and various background sets and props that had been found. It went on to explain how children had been taken from schools by men using federal identifications, brought to that office facility, were kept sedated for a few days while being psychologically manipulated, and then coerced or forced to perform for the videos. Basically, people in that office were running a behavior-modification and child-porn production operation. Twenty-two children had been involved, in total, from eight local area high schools; seven of them were over 18 years old and their detainments were being treated as kidnappings. All of the children were now receiving appropriate medical care and counseling. However, at no point did the report mention or even suggest that any of the officials were connected with the Program.

“What an f-ing mess!” Denison burst out. “What kind of crap is that? That whole thing was because of the Program and they don’t mention it?”

“Yeah, Dad, they must have learned that the Program was involved when they investigated. Maybe the government gagged them on that detail, stopped them from talking about that point. They couldn’t have gotten as much info as they did without having some government cooperation, I guess,” Cynthia said.

That report was virtually the only topic of discussion at school on the following day among the students. At lunch, the twins heard a discussion at a neighboring table.

“So how was what they did different from how they wanted to video our school’s classroom sex demos when the Program started? If that raid found child porn, how come the school’s videos wouldn’t be the same, anyway?”

“You’re fuckin’ right on, Jan. Shit, am I glad we stopped that crap,” another voice said.

A third chimed in, “Yeah, the only diff was that they did that shit to make money. Here it was supposed to goddamn educate us? My ass it was. I’ll bet the damn school district planned to sell what they taped to the top bidder.”

Cynthia whispered to Roger, “Wow, just listen to them. Talk about yet another real gut-punch for the Program...”

The following day, the scuttlebutt circulating around the school was that a few of the seniors had relented and accepted Davis’ second offer for them to do the Program, but after hearing the latest news report about the kidnapper incident, the rumor went, everyone who had changed their minds changed them back again. The connection between the raided office and the Program, even though it was never mentioned in the media, was foremost in everyone’s minds.

A few days later, Cynthia got an email from Roberta when she arrived home. Roberta had another contact for Cynthia from Central High School, a sophomore named Diane Walker. In her email, she said that Diane preferred to talk by video chat and gave her texting address for Cynthia to contact her. Cynthia contacted her and arranged a video call at about 9 p.m. her time, so at around 6 p.m. the trio sat down for the chat.

Cynthia began, “Hi, this is Cindy Denison, is that Diane? Roberta’s contact?”

“Yep, hi there. No one calls me Diane, it’s Dee, Dee Walker. Roberta said you wanted to hear about the Program at my school?”

“Yeah, and this is my brother Roger and cousin Ayame.”

“Hi, guys. Yeah, I’ve been in the Program here, even had kind of a version of it in middle school—in sex ed.”

“Really? Wow. Middle school too? Well, it just started up here...”

Cynthia went on to give a synopsis of what had happened in her school.

“ ... so now, our school has a Program but it’s just limping along and hardly anyone’s doing it,” she concluded.

“Well, my experience’s been totally different. I’m loving it, but there are still a lot of kids here who really hate it but no one’s come out and head-on opposed it like you guys did. My older brother Carl was in the first group with Karen Wagner—Roberta said you know about her—and he and his girlfriend came to my middle school and taught sex ed to my class one year and that was fuckin’ hot, hot, hot. I love being naked, but I’ve got some friends who are really up tight about it, though.