Chapter 12: The Pre-hearing Meeting - In which Rachel glimpses Jayden

“As you know, the cold snap we had this year was worse than in any year since the program began. We dodged bullet in previous years, but we do need to address this.”

The man giving the address to the small crowd gathered in the conference room of the capitol was about 40, and nicely dressed, as were the several other men and women with Stripped for Florida. The students they had called in to appear before the committee were a different story. They wore nothing. Other than shoes, and the occasional cap or hat, or, in the case of a brown-haired girl from Taylor County High, a pair of almost knee-high boots (which was pushing the limits of tripping the sensors).

“Charlie Abercrombie’s goal is to dismantle the program entirely. Now we all know that’ll never happen. The state was careening toward bankruptcy before Stripped for Florida was created. Now it’s one of the most affluent states in the union. But ... he’d happily settle for getting program cancelled above certain northernmost county lines, using the cold snap as his leverage. And THAT he might have a shot at. And failing that, at the very least he’s going to shoot for getting rules amended to require stripped kids in the northern counties to wear clothes as often as possible. If he gets his way, that would mean anything under 70 degrees!”

There was a smattering of laughter.

“Either way, we need to make the best possible impression out there.”

Rachel was seated next to her parents and could see Jayden seated with his parents about 10 feet away. She kept thinking he looked familiar but couldn’t put her finger on where she might have seen him.

“I want to thank you all for taking the time out of your day to come here and help us save Stripped for Florida,” the man continued. “I’m Robert Furlong with Stripped for Florida, and we’ve assembled some pretty impressive folks here today. Teachers and other education professionals. High school, middle school and elementary students, from around the state, including some of the northern counties, both nude and clothed.We even have a lifelong nudist couple from France, whose entire family has practiced nudism for much longer that the Stripped for Florida program has even existed.”

“Bob, may I cut in,” said a lady, raising her hand. “We should go ahead and talk about the pills while there’s still time.”

“Oh, yes, good idea, Sylvia. We’re not the most organized here, we’ve thrown this all together on short notice. Are there any boys here who take sifenidril nitrate who did not take it this morning?”

Several boys’ hands went up.

“We figured you might not be sure whether to take your daily morning dose today. But as you know, the Stripped for Florida program encourages boys to take the pills daily as a way to de-stigmatize public erections. As a Florida state court put it, there’s no shame in an erection in the state of Florida. And we’re not backing down from that position here at this hearing. If you’re asked to stand up and answer any questions before the committee, it’s completely legal, and perfectly OK, if you are hard. So anyone who would like to take a dose now—with the permission of your parents, of course—please raise your hands.”

Jayden’s was one of the hands that went up. He was unsure whether he should take is morning dose on the day he might appear before a hearing at the State Capitol.