Chapter 5: Thursday Afternoon, 5:30PM – Reclamation

They’d lay together for some time. Ayanna held her friend, offering what comfort she could, and they were both lost in their own thoughts.

“What if...” Ayanna began. “Can your owner be changed? Is it possible?”

“I don’t know,” said Alaina despondently. “What does it matter?”

“Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but think about this for a minute. I have two ideas. First, about the no-kids part. You know that Classes can change, right? Like how your mom was a [Biologist], but now she’s an [Oncologist]. What if yours changes too? And becomes something ... better? Something you could live with?”

“That’s a long shot,” Alaina murmured. “I’d have to get to a pretty high level. Classes don’t usually change until at least level fifty, right? My mom was nearly forty years old before hers got high enough.”

“Okay, but stay with me. If you think about it, the worst part of this is the ‘owner’ concept, right? What if, when your Class changed, that also changed or went away? People do lose Traits when their Classes change sometimes. It’s not even that uncommon.”

“Yeah, that’s true I suppose. Mom used to have a Trait that let her know how healthy a living creature was at a glance. She lost it when her Class changed. She was really sad, I remember. She blamed herself for not being able to see Dad’s heart condition before he died. I think that’s why she’s been working so much lately; she’s hoping she’ll get it back if she gets to a high enough level.”

“Okay. Um. Wow. Um. Wow, that’s heavy. Okay, but we’re talking about you now.”

“It’s the same thing, Ay. I can’t wait twenty years for my life to maybe not be ruined. I just can’t.” Alaina moved her arms and rolled over, facing away from her friend.

“Right, obviously. But A, what if you didn’t have to wait that long? Think about it. Imagine that the owner was someone you really loved and trusted. Someone you knew had your best interests in mind at all times. Would it be so bad then?”

Alaina rolled over onto her back. “Of course it—”

“No, A, think about it. Really think about it. Yeah, you can’t have kids, but you weren’t planning on that any time soon anyway, right? Not being able to move during sex sucks, but you did still feel it on Monday, right? You said yourself that he fucked your brains out. Maybe not in so many words, but he did, right?”

“That’s ... true...” Alaina allowed, thinking back. “But that assumes my owner can be changed. What if it can’t? I thought about it and I really don’t know.”

“If it can’t, then that’s still maybe not so bad? You gained ten levels on your first day. That’s impossible. Nobody has ever leveled that fast, at least nobody documented. You leveled more in, like, fifteen minutes than I have in four months.”

“It was more like thirty,” Alaina said.

“Whatever, A, his stamina and yours aren’t the important things here. This leveling speed means one of two things: either you really blew Will’s mind, or your Class itself levels absurdly fast. So if you can change the owner, maybe to somebody like Spencer, you’ll level super fast and have a great time doing it. And if you can’t change it, then that just means you’ve gotta make Will walk bowlegged, what, four or five more times before your Class will change anyway?”

“But I hate Will!” Alaina whined.

“Alaina. I told you that you gotta stop blaming him for this. It can’t be his fault. That’s just not how Classes work!”

“You don’t know the full story, Ay. I never told you why we had sex.”

“If you agree to my proposal,” Will said, looking back into her eyes, “stand up, pull your jeans down—just the jeans, and bend over your desk.”

She wanted to tell him to go to hell. She wanted to say not in a million years. But instead, she found herself rising from her chair without saying a word. She stepped to the side of her chair a little and reached for the button at the top of her jeans, maintaining eye contact.

“Hold on a sec, Prez” he said. He hopped off the desk and walked around it slowly, his lascivious gaze roaming up and down her body. She felt like her entire being was on display for his eyes alone. She’d never been so turned on, even though she didn’t understand why. “I want to watch.”

She waited, chewing on her lip, as he made his way to stand behind her.

“Okay, I’m ready.” His voice was smooth like silk, and she felt it directly in her clit. She ached.

She took a breath, then a second. Her hands maneuvered the button through its loop. The short zipper was next, and she had to exert some effort to bring it down. She looked over her shoulder, but Will was completely engaged in his role as a spectator, not noticing that she was watching him.

Somehow it was a thrill to have someone so completely absorbed in her and her alone. Not for her grades, not because she was family, not even because they were friends, but purely because something about her was this riveting. It may have been a purely physical interest in her, her twisted logic argued, but it was still interest in her.

She pulled the sides of the jeans downward, scrunching them up as she inched them off her waist, gradually revealing something black and lacy underneath. Getting the pants over the roundness of her ample, jiggling cheeks proved challenging given the tightness of the denim. She blushed with embarrassment, not realizing the degree to which she’d been filling out the pants. At length, her persistence paid off and she finally managed to slide them down to her knees, bending at the waist.

She’d chosen a pair of expensive hipster cut panties that morning, thinking it might be nice to feel a bit more adult on her eighteenth birthday. Now, having the semi-transparent lace boldly showcasing her butt in the student council office, she was unsure whether it had been a wise decision.

“Stunning,” Will breathed. He was, she was surprised, watching her head rather than her ass, waiting for her to turn around again. “If I’d known you were this incredible under all your baggage, I might have asked you out a long time ago.”

“And I might have said yes if you’d been polite about it,” Alaina said in a near-growl. “Then I wouldn’t be getting blackmailed like this.” She might be incredibly horny, and entirely in favor of getting relief as soon as fucking possible, but she wasn’t going to pretend it was her idea.

“Prez,” he said, stepping closer until he was behind her, his body lightly pressing against hers. He placed his hands—his warm hands—at the top of her lace-clad hips and traced one hand across to her navel, his fingers barely touching her skin as they crept under her shirt. She shivered, and his other hand began moving similarly up her spine. “What if I told you that I’ve had a crush on you for the longest time?”

His hands moved back to her waist, then crawled downwards, caressing her vulva through her panties. She was soaked, and she was sure he could tell. Her entire body visibly shuddered at the sensory overload. She was focused, willingly or not, on the sensations that he was triggering, and they were incrementally overwhelming her ability to think.

“Ah, but I haven’t. That was just a hypothetical.” He placed his thumbs inside the waistband of her panties, the digits scalding against her skin.

“Mean,” she moaned. She clamped a hand over her mouth, horrified at her subconscious.

“Sorry,” he chuckled softly from somewhere near her ear. “I’ll make it up to you.” His hands dragged her panties down her legs in a smooth motion, and she felt cold as the fabric surrendered to the force of his hands and was pulled away from her sticky pussy. But only for a moment. His left hand moved unerringly to her clit and gently pressed down, then brushed back and forth, barely grazing it. She gasped.

“Jeez, Prez. You’re pretty wet. Is being blackmailed a turn-on? Or is it the office?”

She didn’t dignify his question with an answer. She also didn’t know how to answer it anymore, most of her thoughts having been replaced with anticipation for what she knew would come next.

“Sorry, I guess that was mean also. A bad habit. Let me make it right.” A hand brushed against her flank, sending tingles spreading outward, like her entire body was electrified from the contact. “Try not to be too loud. I’m not sure how I’d talk us out of this...” She felt something hot at her entrance, and the hand on her clit moved to the small of her shirt-covered back, softly encouraging her to lean over her desk. She complied without objection, feeling her chest touch down on the stack of papers she’d been working on only minutes prior. Her eyes locked onto the shade over the door, the only thing keeping any random passerby from seeing how debauched the school’s student council president was acting after classes were over for the day.

Then she felt it. He slid his engorged head forward, leaving it rocking just inside her, sawing in and out with agonizing slowness. His hands ran around her waist and along the insides of her thighs with feather-like touches. Teasing her. Tormenting her. She couldn’t bear it. She bit her lip and pushed her hips back almost imperceptibly, fighting against the primal urge he was evoking.

He felt the movement, however. She knew he had. She’d wanted him to. And in the next moment, he surged the rest of the way in one motion, finding no resistance in her perfectly lubricated tunnel. His hands held her hips now, firmly, but not to the point of leaving marks, and he came to rest up against her, having fully planted himself inside. His tip struck something within her, and she saw stars. It struck the same spot again, again, again, over and over in a stable rhythm like a metronome. She whined, she moaned, and then it was literally everything she could do to not let out an ear-piercing howl that would have alerted everyone who remained in the building that she was having her pussy massaged on top of her desk.

In the first few minutes alone, she writhed, twitched, and spasmed her way up to and onto an orgasmic plateau she’d never dreamed existed. Her body fell against the desk, powerless to move as she coasted along in mindless bliss. Or, at least, she expected to coast. Will was picking up his pace and his intensity.

“Wow, Prez. You okay? That looked pretty wild! You’re more turned on than I thought, but we’re just starting here so try to hang in there...”

“He blackmailed you? Will did?” Ayanna asked, face incredulous.

“Yup,” Alaina said. “And he used some kind of Skill on me. I’d never felt so... turned on like I did then. At least until today...” She stared up at the ceiling.

“A Skill, huh? You’re sure, A?”

“Positive.” She paused. “It was like ... It was like ... I don’t even know how to describe it, Ay. He said he wanted me more than he’d ever wanted another girl, that he thought I was the more desirable girl in the school. And I knew he meant it. Like ... It was the same way I know two plus two equals four. It was just a fact. And then my body ... Oh, Ay, it was like he flipped a switch or something, and suddenly I’d have walked through school naked on a leash for him if he’d asked. I was so horny I couldn’t think anymore. In some ways, it was even worse than it is now.”

“Whoa. That’s pretty intense.” Ayanna pressed a finger to her lips for a moment. “But this really doesn’t sound like Will at all. Maybe the making you uncontrollably horny part, but not the blackmail; I can’t imagine that part. And a Skill ... A, that’s the part that makes the least sense. You know what his Class is, right?”

Alaina blinked. She turned her head slightly, looking at her friend. “I don’t. You do?”

“Of course! You know I got a photographic memory for that kinda thing, it’s one of my Traits! Will’s Class is a [Conversationalist].”

“A ... what?”

“[Conversationalist]. You know, someone who has conversations. Talks a lot. It’s exactly what you’d expect out of him.”

Alaina’s head went back to a more neutral position. Her brows twitched downward. That is fitting for him. All he ever does is talk. But then, what did he do to me? I was sure he was some kind of [Hypnotist] or [Mind Controller] or something.

“Alaina.” The voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned her head again. “Will came to drop off your schoolwork the day after, right? Did he say anything? Anything that would explain why he did this? Because I know Will. Well, it’s not like we’re close or anything, but almost everyone at the school knows Will. He might be a bit lazy, he might put off doing work or helping out with stuff, but he’s not a bad guy.”

“Ayanna.” Are you fucking kidding me? “Did you miss the part of the story where he blackmailed and fucking mind controlled me into having sex with him? And made me like it?”

“No, I got that, A. And I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I’m on your side, A. I’m always on your side, you know that. But this is really weird. Will’s like the big brother for the entire school. When people have problems at school they go to him, not you. When they need a shoulder to cry on and nobody will listen, even the freshmen learn pretty fast that Will’s there to hear them out. I think half the girls in school would line up to spread their legs in the middle of the cafeteria for him if they weren’t so intimidated by all the rumors about how he’s out banging models and club girls with his buddies at night. So why? He must have said something, didn’t he?”

“He ... apologized?” Alaina thought back, digging through the rage-filled memories and trying to pull out an accurate recollection. It was fruitless. All she could remember was the anger, the fury. Launching herself at him, swinging away, screaming. His frantic attempt to escape. “Sorry, Ay, I can’t remember much else. I was so mad. It was like all the anger I’ve felt my whole life came pouring out when he showed up.”

Ayanna frowned. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes.

“What do you mean people at school go to him instead of me to solve their problems? People come see me all the time, like that Betty girl at lunch yesterday who wanted to know if I’d looked at her Senior Day idea.”

“Her name was Betsy. Betsy Keeney.”

“Oh. Um.”

“You do okay, A. But you do too much, and I think everybody knows it. Just think about that Macbeth show the drama club did. You did almost everything. You acted one of the main roles, coordinated set construction, managed the budget for set and costume materials. You were even there for auditions with all the lines memorized so you could pitch in if anyone needed help with their readings before they had to go up.”

“Exactly, I’m always there to help out!” Alaina said, her voice a touch indignant.

“It’s not the same though, A. Kids get into trouble and need an advocate, they want advice or reassurance about Classes or careers from an upperclassman, maybe they just had a bad breakup and need someone to talk to. Teachers need help too. Sometimes they need feedback about what kinds of exam questions are too difficult, or whether a lesson plan is too boring. Did you think these kinds of things handled themselves? Who’d you think was there when you weren’t?”

“Wait. Hold on.” Alaina’s eyes gained some fragment of interest for the first time since her friend had come over. “I can’t process this. You’re telling me that Will, Will White, is like ... the everyman’s classroom superhero? This isn’t a great time for jokes with me, Ay.”

“I’d say it’s more surprising that you don’t know, but it’s not that surprising. You’ve always disliked him for whatever reason, and you don’t really pay attention to people. Will never makes a big deal out of anything and likes to keep out of attention. ‘Too troublesome,’ he’d say. Or maybe ‘I’m just here to have a chat, you can do the heavy lifting yourselves’ is more his style. You always complain about him being late to stuff; did you ever ask around to see what he’s up to?”

“Probably banging Ms. Perez in a supply closet?”

“A, be serious. She’s got a fiancé. And everyone would know. Everyone knows where Will is all the time, he’s as popular as you are. How do you think he got elected to student council?”

“I can’t...” There’s no way this scumbag is some kind of saint. “I can’t deal with that right now. I just can’t. I hate him. I don’t care if he rescues homeless puppies and kittens in his free time. Even if he isn’t to blame for my Class, I can’t forgive him for what he did to me. To force me to do something like that against my will. No. Never. I’d rather die.”

“Okay, okay. One more thing about him and then I’ll never ask again. You said he used a Skill on you twice, right? The first time, when you said he made you ‘trust’ him, what did he say? Do you remember it exactly?”

Alaina rolled her eyes. She thought back to earlier in the week. “Something like... ‘I know you cheated, I don’t know how, but it doesn’t matter. If you agree, I won’t tell. Otherwise I’ll do what any vice president would do.”

“That’s it? You’re sure that’s exactly what he said?”

“No, I’m not fucking sure, Ayanna. I was a bit preoccupied to remember exact details at the time.”

“Shit. I bet that was it,” Ayanna muttered.

“What was it? Why does it matter?”

“Will...” Ayanna started, stopping as her brows lowered. “He’s got, like, an odd way of speaking? He doesn’t stutter, he doesn’t stammer, he doesn’t go ‘um’ or ‘uh’. He doesn’t say ‘like’ all the time, or ever if it’s not actually required. He says everything as a complete thought, like he’s planned it all out ahead of time, always. And he’s always very, very careful to use exactly the right words. I think it’s part of his Class. It’s something you notice almost immediately the first time you talk to him. It sorta makes you feel like he knows everything, because there’s never any indecision when he speaks. You can’t tell me you never noticed it?”

“Um,” Alaina said, trying to recall. Her mind was a mess, and she was still having trouble remembering clearly. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Sorry, Ay, I can’t really think right now. Y’know, sex toy—all sex, no brain.”

“Okay, I get it.” Ayanna ran her hand through her friend’s hair. Alaina leaned into it slightly, almost cat-like, taking some small reassurance from the gesture.

“What do I do, Ay?” Alaina asked again, her voice soft and child-like.

“Well, it seems like you just gotta find a way to change that Class owner thing to a guy you don’t mind leveling with. Then you can just level up and Class change until you get rid of it.”

“But what about tomorrow? I have to get registered. As ... this. It’ll be publicly available knowledge. You know people discriminate based on Classes. I’ll be a joke at school. ‘There goes Alaina, the student council’s sex sleeve,’ is what people will say.”

“No they won’t, A. People at school love you. Who else could get elected by the entire school three years in a row starting as a sophomore? If anyone says shit to you, I’ll be first in a long line of people ready to kick some ass.”

Alaina rubbed at her eyes. “Really?” Can ... Can that really be the case?

“Everyone knows how much you’ve given to the school, they’ll have your back. I know they will. Believe me, A.”

“What about jobs? What hospital is going to hire an [Onahole]?”

Ayanna grabbed the smaller girl’s shoulder, looking her right in the eye. “You’ll find a way to make them hire you, A. You always find a way. People won’t even notice about your Class by the time you’re looking for a place to work. They’ll just see the name Alaina Bishop and a resume with pages and pages of qualifications.”

Is that possible? She’s just saying it. There’s no way ... But she looks so sincere. Does she really believe that? Am I really so capable in her eyes? “I don’t—”

“And you know how I know?” Ayanna steamrolled over her, looking resolute. “What’s been my goal, Alaina? I’m an [Organizer], right?”

“Yeah,” Alaina said, a quizzical expression on her face. “You always talked about wanting to run a business, so you were hoping for something like [Administrator] or [Director]...”

“I did wanna run my own business. Seeing my dad grow his consulting agency over the years ... I wanted to be just like him. But without the whole embezzling thing, that was super dumb. I’d be on the cover of one of those ‘richest business owners of America’ magazines like ‘Ayanna Bledsoe: Skills that pay the bills’.” She squeezed Alaina’s shoulder and smiled, her eyes dancing with excitement. “I just decided though. You know what a hospital is, A? It’s a business. And I’m gonna learn to manage one. I’ll be there with you the whole way. Friends forever, right, A?”

Alaina jerked upright, agog at her friend. “You ... Really? You’d do that for me? You’d give up your dream of being independent just to come babysit me? No, you can’t—”

“I can’t?” Ayanna put on a mock-serious face. “Now listen here, whippersnapper. I’m gonna be the one in charge here, and I’ll be the one who decides what can or can’t be done when I’m running whatever hospital we end up at. You just think about all those books you’re gonna have to read to become my top doc.”

Alaina squealed and tackled her best friend sideways, squeezing her like a body pillow. “You really mean it,” she said in a high-pitched voice. “I love you, Ay!”

“I love you too, A.” Ayanna patted her head. “You’re like my sister, you know I’d do anything for you.” She glanced over at her friend’s now-uncovered—and very naked—butt. “Well, almost anything.”

“Hey, do you wanna sleep over tonight? Mom left me a message saying she was going to sleep at the dormitory the next few days until her thing is over, so the house is empty otherwise. Um. I can make a tuna casserole?”

“Whoa, you know I’m staying if you’re makin’ my fave. Cream of chicken though, right? You know I hate mushrooms. A? Stop giggling. Alaina! I’m serious!”

“You okay to drive, A? I can take you, it’s not a big deal.”

The pair were stepping out the front door of Alaina’s house.

“You’ve gotta get home and change before school. And shower. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” Alaina fumbled with her key, hands shaking as she tried to lock the door. She was panting lightly.

“It’s that bad?”

“It’s ... manageable.” Alaina took a deep breath. It feels like my entire body is vibrating. The key glanced off the opening of the lock once more before she finally managed to slot it in. She twisted, engaging the bolt for the door lock. “I’ll be fine.” She turned and started walking towards her sedan which she’d parked in the driveway’s alcove to avoid blocking the garage.