Chapter 12

In the library, Lynette and Tom attended their third period class remotely. After the class, Lynette had an idea.

“Hey Tom—instead of staying in here for lunch, let’s try to see how you react to being with kids in the lunchroom.”

Tom was very dubious. “I don’t know, sweetie. Look, there’s only several weeks left where I have to deal with school nudity and...”

“No, Tom, I think this is important ‘cause it’s not only at school. There must be other things that trigger your panic—I know it comes out with the nudity crap, but I have a real strong feeling that it’s affecting your life in other ways. Like, you know, you don’t have any friends, right? The last time I can think of you having any friends is back when we still lived in Toronto. Your isolation here in this room isn’t helping you learn social skills. So how about it? Let’s try. For me?”

Tom grudgingly agreed, and before their lunch period began, the two set out for the lunchroom. They arrived a few minutes early, went through the line, and then Tom insisted that they find an out-of-the-way table. They sat and soon the mob began arriving; Tom noticed a few naked kids getting on the lunch line, so he got up and changed his seat to sit next to Lynette, who was facing away from the rest of the room. Then he heard a few voices calling Lynette’s name.

“Hey Lynette, who’s the bloke...” a girl asked. “Oi, it’s your brother ... hi, Tom.”

Tom looked around and recognized Audrey, a friend of Lynette’s; she had been to his house fairly frequently, visiting Lynette. With her was another friend of Lynette’s, Janet. Tom greeted both girls and Lynette invited them to sit at their table.

“Hey, whatever happened out there this morning, girlfriend?” Janet asked. “We saw you two blokes in the middle of it all. The ambulance and the bobbies and all the teachers and ... say, how come Tom’s in the caf today? Tom, I thought you were kept locked up in the library. How’d you escape?” she giggled.

“Yeah, girlfriend,” Audrey broke in, “what was all that drama this morning?”

“Um, well...” she looked at Tom, who shrugged. “We’re not sure why, but a few jerks jumped Tom and me as we were coming into the school...”

“Whaaat?”—”OhMyGod, why?” both exclaimed together. “You get hurt?” Audrey asked, looking Lynette up and down.

“Thankfully no,” Lynette answered. “But we don’t know why they did it. It was awfully scary but Tom stopped them. I hope we find out why they did it.”

Janet looked at Tom. “But there was an ambulance too ... Tom, who got hurt?”

“Um, couple of berks—that the word? Yeah. They grabbed Lynette, well, one did, so I stopped him. Also the others when they tried to grab me. They took two kids to the hospital.”

“Wow...” both girls breathed and looked Tom over as he blushed.

“You fought off two guys?” Audrey exclaimed as Tom slowly nodded.

“So tell us, Mr He-Man, you never leave the library,” Janet remarked. “So what brought you here now?”

Lynette answered, “I was talking with Tom about that. He’s gotten so wrapped up with that distance-learning thing the school is trying out that he really never took the chance to get out and be with some other kids. Since the term’s almost done, we figured it wouldn’t hurt if Tom gets around more.”

They settled down and began eating as the conversation turned to school matters. After about fifteen minutes, a minor commotion began at one end of the room and the kids turned to look.

Audrey sniggered, “Looks like something’s happening at the Program kids’ table. Again.”

They could hear calls of “reasonable request!” ring out.

Tom glanced up in that direction, then looked away when he noticed a girl on her knees in front of a standing naked boy’s crotch. He shuddered.

Audrey noticed Tom’s discomfort. “Yeah, that bothers me too, Tom; the whole soddin’ Program idea is nuts.”

“I wish the kids would just refuse to strip off,” Tom grumbled. “That would end it, wouldn’t it?”

“I think they force you if you don’t,” Audrey said.

Janice shook her head. “Nuh uh. Last autumn I read in that blog against the Program that a whole entire school—all the kids there—refused. I think the blog said that the teachers aren’t allowed to use force to strip kids. And that story got put in the newspapers too.”

Lynette retorted, “But I heard that some kids got forced anyway. Maybe that crap doesn’t happen anymore. So what happened at that school? This is the first time I heard about a whole school that refused.”

“I read that someone at that school organized the kids somehow,” Janice went on. “But then the blog took off on another topic, covering kids’ human rights, goin’ on about some Program things being illegal. Maybe nothing like that refusal happened at our school ‘cause the Program here isn’t horrid like I heard at some other schools; the kids aren’t so keen to make a real fuss...?”

Audrey broke in, “Yeah, I think you nailed it. The kids who’d make the real fuss if they felt threatened just kinda buck up and do it whilst the shy ones first freak out and then try to survive their week. So no organized opposition got going here.”

Tom had been studiously keeping his gaze averted away from the activities near the table where the naked kids were gathered. But then his thoughts were interrupted by Janice.

“So Tom, looks like you escaped being picked for the Program so far, since you and Lynette are finished with the term pretty soon, aren’t you? They won’t be calling kids for the Program starting next week ‘cause the revising for exams will be starting.”

“Yeah, we’re finishing here in two weeks. Can’t be soon enough, too,” he muttered, but then turned pale as he glimpsed two naked girls coming in their direction.

Lynette saw Tom’s alarmed expression so she turned to look at what he had seen. Tom appeared like he was getting ready to bolt, so she put her hand on his arm.

“Listen,” she whispered into his ear, “just hold yourself together...”

The two girls were being followed by several boys and that small group had reached a table not far from Tom’s and Lynette’s, when a boy shouted, “Reasonable request! I want to see Kathy go down on Grace!”

There was a quiet, hurried negotiation between the two girls and the boys, and then one of the girls sat herself down on top of a table located only about twenty feet away from Tom, who was now squirming uncomfortably.

“Shit, Tom,” Lynette whispered urgently in his ear, “this is your perfect chance! It’s like you saw on the class monitor! No one’s threatening you and you don’t even have to watch if it gets too intense! Let yourself go, get aroused, see if it keeps away your panic.”

Tom shuddered but nodded at her and she kissed his cheek. Meanwhile, the girl sitting on the table locked herself in an embrace with the other girl who remained standing; they began kissing each other, then the standing girl pulled away.

“You kiss nice, Grace,” Kathy breathed. “Now I’ll get to taste you.”

Kathy trailed her lips down Grace’s body, over her chin, then her neck, and then moved between her breasts. Now she began gently licking one of Grace’s nipples while pinching, twisting, and pulling on the other one. Their moaning and gasping could easily be heard at Tom’s table, and suddenly Tom felt Lynette’s hand slip into his pants waist and grab his cock.

“What! No!” he hissed.

“Ooohh, you’re hard!” she hissed back. “It’s okay; look at the boys over there.”

Two of them had their pants down around their ankles and were jerking off at the sight of a naked girl being pleasured by another naked girl.

Suddenly Kathy dropped to her knees and planted her face into Grace’s crotch. From the squeal and moans Grace was producing, it was clear that Kathy was working on something sensitive down there. The stimulation Grace was receiving must have been very intense because she took Kathy’s head and pressed it into her crotch while clamping her thighs firmly against Kathy’s head. Grace began bouncing and yelling and then went rigid, her face bright red, and howling a long “Muuuuwwwwhhhh!”

Tom was in total shock; he didn’t know whether he was in a panic or in total lust at the sight. The feelings were almost the same: tightness in the chest, rapid breathing, pounding heart. Something else was pounding too—shit! He realized that Lynette’s hand was pounding on his penis!

Grace was coming down from her orgasmic high and reached down to pull Kathy into a hug and kiss when the end-of-period bell rang.

Tom hurriedly pulled Lynette’s hand out of his pants and, red-faced, adjusted himself. Lynette’s friends had no idea what Lynette had been doing with Tom as they stood up and prepared to leave.

“Coming to class?” Janice asked Lynette as she stood up with her.

“Um, no—I’m staying with Tom today. Taylor said I could try out the distance-learning setup.”

“Well, see you tomorrow, then,” Janice remarked as she and Audrey each gave her a little hug and the two left.

The two naked girls, finished with their show, had also left, trailed by their red-faced, lusting admirers.

“You looked flushed before, but now you’re getting pale,” Lynette said as she sat down next to Tom.

“Yeah. Lynnie, it’s still happening. I started to get that panicked feeling. But then, when I got horny watching them, it didn’t get worse—the panic never really took over, but I still had that tight feeling in my chest. Anxiety, I think. It looks like I’m totally okay with being naked with you, but damn, seeing other kids like that still bothers me.”

“Hmm, well, I wonder what we can do to try to get you over that. Anyway, we’ll wait till the halls are empty to get back to the library, okay?”

During the last period of the school day, Lynette and Tom were summoned to Taylor’s office.

“Again, I’m sorry for your frightful experience this morning,” he began. “If I didn’t tell you that earlier, I apologize for the oversight. This was a terrible thing to happen.”

Tom sighed. “Wasn’t your fault, sir. I wish I knew why they did it.”

“Well, in a way I suppose it’s the school’s fault,” Taylor admitted. “I did find out why they tried that stunt and it was related to the Program.”

Tom came alert. “Program? How...? I don’t understand.”

“The constable gave me a copy of the recording they made when they spoke to the pupils involved. Doing that was highly irregular and actually is against their normal procedure, but they wanted our school to know about a potential serious problem in the way the Program makes some children think. I’ll need to discuss this matter with our staff and the governors too, but meanwhile, I’ll play a part of the recording and you’ll see what their attack was all about.”

Tom nodded and Lynette said, “Okay, I guess...?”

“The first voice is Simon M.” Taylor said as he started playing the recording. “A year eleven. You don’t need to know his full name if you don’t already. Then the interviewer’s voice. Some background talking is the boy’s father.”

We nev’r wanted t’ hurt nonce. Gunner tol’us the git ‘ud be easy t’ ‘andle, ‘e’s a nerd.

Who’s “he” and who’s Gunner?

Um, tha’ Armstrong bloke. An’ Gunner’s Gunther Norris; ‘e acts like ‘e’s th’ action man. ‘E thought tha’ whole thing up.

We aren’t holding a Gunther Norris. Was he with you?

Yeah, you di’n’t see ‘im? Damn, th’ blighter must’a done a scarper... ‘e said tha’ ‘e’d keep th’ bird—Armstrong’s sister—quiet.

Tell me just what were you trying to do?

Was a dumb prank, is all. We was prankin’ tha’ Tom Armstrong bloke. ‘E’s just the kind’a bloke wha’ they put in th’ Program ‘cause ‘e’s all shy, y’know, very modest. Gunner foun’ out tha’ Armstrong’s scared t’be in th’ locker room an’ freaks out when ‘e sees kids all starkers.

So the group of you decided to play a prank on him? What did you plan?

Dad? Should...

Jist answer t’bobby. Mebbe they’ll gan easier on ‘ee.

Well, all five o’ us blokes got put in th’ Program and we ‘ated, ruddy ‘ated it. We was bloody ‘umiliated by it an’ all th’ rot they made us do. But tha’ Armstrong git was sat in th’ library an’ it looked like th’ school was frikin’ protectin’ ‘im fr’m th’ Program like ‘e was special an’ exempt, wasn’t ‘e?

Go on...

Okay, we thought o’ a bunch o’ things we could try, y’know, t’ get ‘im into trouble sommat...

Like framing him, you mean?

I guess ... but ‘e was in ‘is ivory tower like tha’, untouchable, and nothin’ we thought o’ would work. Since ‘e’s never in classes, we couldn’t find a way t’set somethin’ up. Then Gunner thought o’ us makin’ ‘im like ‘e was in th’ Program just like we ‘ad t’do; all of us ‘ad t’strip off starkers an’ go ‘round school bloody bollock-naked. So tha’s wha’ we planned f’r Armstrong.

And you actually thought he’d do it voluntarily?

No, no, Gunner said tha’ we’d need t’force ‘im t’do it. It’d be th’ most direct way, ‘e said; all we ‘ad t’do was t’grab him, strip ‘im starkers, an’ then chain ‘im t’th’ railing in the school’s lobby. Gunner said ‘e was a nerd, th’ git was always wrapped up in books in th’ library. ‘E only was in a sissy sport, runnin’, an’ ‘e only did tha’ f’r maybe a month.

So we watched Armstrong f’r a week an’ saw that ‘e came t’school by bike—an’ ‘e parked it near th’ teacher car park. Tha’ was bloody perfect—th’ car park’s very quiet before school starts ‘cause all th’ kids an’ teachers are in th’ front watching th’ Program strip-off show. Th’ main ‘allway’s also empty then, with everyone outside watchin’, an’ if we worked quickly, no one’d see us when we dragged Armstrong in. ‘Is sister was a problem; she’s always wi’ ‘im, but Gunner said ‘e’d ‘old onto ‘er so she couldn’t git ‘elp, an’ four o’ us could grab and strip ‘im.

You didn’t consider that he’d struggle? Or make noise? Or she would?

Nah, we’re all pretty strong; we play rugby so we figured we could take ‘im, easy. Once we were ‘oldin’ onto ‘im, we figured if ‘e yelled, we could gag ‘im—an’ th’ bird too.

And you thought that your plan would work. You didn’t consider the consequences.

We got masks; thought tha’ would be all we needed. Th’ only ‘itch was when we tried it on Tuesday mornin’, a teacher pulled into the carpark late, so we tried again today. Everythin’ went perfect today an’ when Armstrong arrived an’ they locked up their bikes, we got ‘em trapped between us.

But he surprised you.

Damn. Gunner was so bloody wrong! Tha’ bloke Armstrong was bigger ‘n me an’ no bleedin’ wimp! I only seen ‘im around the school a few times, never up close. We figured tha’ four rugby players could ‘andle one kid, but, damn, no one could even ‘old onto ‘im. If someone got a ‘and on ‘im, ‘e just broke th’ grip an’ just shoved ‘im away. Then ‘e just picked me up like I weighed nothin’ an’ threw me at th’ other guys. Erm ... What’s gonna ‘appen to us...?

Taylor stopped the recording and Tom and Lynette just sat back in their seats, each heaving a sigh. They both had been leaning forward and holding their breaths while listening. They looked at the head teacher in dismay.

Taylor shrugged. “You can see our problem; jealousy, big time jealousy, mixed with a desire for some kind of revenge against the Program, and a target who they feel is getting special treatment—who actually is getting treated differently. I was afraid of having to deal with some kind of problem because we were treating you differently, Tom; I thought that perhaps some pupils would make a fuss over your not attending classes, but I never considered that something like this—violence—would occur.”

“Dr Taylor?” Tom asked quietly.

“Yes?”

“I tried to keep low-key...”

“No, Tom, it wasn’t you. Kids suss out things; we adults are amazed at how perceptive they can be at times.” He sighed. “Only wish they’d apply it to schoolwork. Anyway, this presents a real problem for you next year, you know. We can’t keep up that distance-learning pretense.”

Tom looked at Lynette and a silent message passed between them.

“I can solve your problem, sir,” Tom said, “Next year we won’t be coming back. My folks are transferring us to an independent school where there’s no Program.”

“Hmmm, that’s ... ah ... well, I can’t say that I’m not relieved to hear that, Tom. But I’m also a little saddened. You’ve both been exceptional pupils here, haven’t you; Lynette, you are a splendid pupil, and Tom, you are too in every way but one, that problem which we know about so well. I’ll miss having you both here, actually, although I’ll be happy not dealing with disruptions like we had this morning. Ah, so that also explains your arranging to leave school before the term is out. May I assume that this year ten cultural tour you’re signed up for is something your new school is doing?”

Tom nodded. “Yes sir. It’s a cultural program and a lot of ending year tens there do it. We’ll go to museums, galleries, concerts, art fairs, dance exhibitions in about ten European cities and then write essays about what we learned.”

Taylor nodded. “I’m familiar with that program. Sounds like a valuable experience.”

Lynette spoke up, “I’m curious, sir; how are the injured kids? Now that I know that they only meant to embarrass Tom, I may have a tiny bit of sympathy for them. Very, very tiny.”

Taylor just grunted. “Well, the one boy has a broken shoulder, no, his collarbone actually, and a separated shoulder and cracked rib. The other has a serious concussion with a possible skull fracture and several cracked ribs. His testicles are also severely bruised; that was you, Lynette, I assume?”

She nodded, blushing.

“Good for you. I heard that the other two boys have massive bruising on their chests, and their arms and legs were pretty battered. Tom is a one-man wrecking crew, as we well know.”

Tom looked down, embarrassed. “I thought they were trying to hurt my sister,” he said quietly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt them but then they kept coming at us. If I kept them from following her, then she’d be safe.”

Lynette hugged him while Taylor nodded and remarked, “Your sister has a wonderful protector, Tom.”

On their way home, Lynette tried to get Tom to talk about his lunchroom experience but he remained quiet, only responding in monosyllables to her comments. Finally, frustrated, she asked him, “But you were hard, Tom! You must have been turned on by them! Weren’t you?”

Very reluctantly, Tom admitted that he was.

“But that drove away your panic! Don’t you see that?”

“Yeah, honey. But don’t you see? Soon I’ll never have to worry about it anymore. There’s no Program—no nudity—in the new school.”

“Okay, that’s true, Tommie,” she agreed, “but maybe you need to think of where your panic came from, you know? Maybe your seeing naked people isn’t the cause of the panic; maybe something else is and seeing naked people ... um, kinda triggers it? Is ‘trigger’ the right word?”

Tom grunted. “Your hand triggered something else during the lunch showtime, Lynnie. Shit, my cock’s been kinda chubby all afternoon.”

Lynette giggled.

They arrived at home and found that their mom had left a note. She was on an important job and would be home by 6 p.m.

Lynette put her pack down, sighed, and stretched. “Tommie, I need a shower. I wanna wash the feeling of those jerks who grabbed me off of me.”

“Hmmm, sounds good ... yeah, let me know when you’re done ‘cause I need one too.”

They went to their rooms but a minute later, Lynette came tapping on Tom’s door.

“Say, love,” she said, “um ... let’s save some water; shower together, okay?”

Tom perked up. “Wooo ... sure, sweetie; love the idea.”

He quickly stripped his clothes off while Lynette watched, smirking. “You sure don’t panic stripping naked with me now, stud,” she teased. Then she looked at him again. “Oh my, you did get bruised. Does it hurt here?—here?” she asked, touching a few angry-looking patches.

“No, not really. Looks worse than it feels, actually.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Tom slipped on a robe and followed her towel-wrapped body into the bathroom. Soon they were in the shower and Lynette was showing Tom how to shampoo her hair. After that was done, she guided him in washing the rest of her body.

“My turn now, Tommie,” she said as she grabbed the shampoo and began lathering up his hair. After she washed the soap off his head, she turned to soap up his body.

“You’re such a hunk,” she breathed as she ran her soapy hands over his chest, stroking it sensuously, then down to his abdomen, and then lower, giving his erect penis a few strokes. Tom gasped and shuddered.

“Later,” she giggled. “Turn around.”

He did, and she lathered up his back, then moved down to his buttocks.

“God, your bum is to die for,” she breathed, as she ran her hands over its curves, feeling the hard muscles under his skin, toned by his running and cycling.

Then she reached around his hip and grabbed his erect penis.