Chapter 10: Wednesday Morning: Part 2

Kara giggled and stepped into the classroom. So, how did the final test go?

Good. Kara nodded at Mrs. Perez, and shook her head at the relief question. She smiled at the nod of appreciation for her jewelry, then took her seat. True, but there’s no way you would unless suddenly orgasming in the middle of class might get you in trouble. So I’m sure there will be no filter up this period either.

None at all. Yesterday was fun, and with you wearing yours too ... we’ll have twice the fun.

That all depends on what Mrs. Perez decides to use me for today. If it’s just to write things on the board again, I won’t be contributing much.

Nonsense darling.

Kara glanced up at the clock just as the bell rang. “Aren’t you going to offer Kara relief, Mrs. Perez?” one of her classmates asked.

“She already declined the offer. I’m sure that scream a little while ago had something to do with it.”

Kara felt herself blush. You’re rubbing off on me, my muse. In that way, and I’m definitely picking up some of your exhibitionism.

Oh, that’s nothing new. Do you remember Emanuel’s fourth birthday?

I’ll need a few moments to recall that one.

“It’s okay dear, there’s no reason to be ashamed of that. If anything, your lovers will always know when they’re doing a good job.”

“That’s not it Mrs. Perez. I’m not ashamed of my volume. It’s ... private between me and my partners.”

“Of course. Since we don’t need to devote time to that, then we can move right onto the lesson. Today we’ll be reviewing some verbs. I’ll whisper them to Kara, and she’ll demonstrate the verb.”

Looks like I’m a moving dummy this time. Anyway, let me see if I can bring up that memory. Kara searched for a few moments, then found the memory. Okay, let’s see what you’re referring to, my muse.

It happened a bit later into the afternoon. Right after lunch, but before we had cake.

Right! When the moms decided it would be good to let us have some fun in the kiddie pool in the backyard.

Exactly. And your mom had forgotten to pack your swim suit.

Kara grinned. And rather than waiting, I just stripped right there and went straight for the pool. If I’m recalling correctly, you followed suit.

Yes. But you didn’t strip nonchalantly. You made a show of it darling; like you were proud to be losing your clothing and running around naked.

I don’t remember that. My pillar?

Allison’s right this time. Some of the parents were horrified; I seem to recall your mom just laughing as one of them tried to get your clothing back on you.

Kara shifted into a running position, and pretended to run in place for a few moments. Actually, that does sound about right. That fits mom’s easy going attitude; at least, about things like nudity.

Especially where small children are concerned. I seem to recall your aunt being one of the biggest prudes of your family.

She shifted to a walking motion. However you remember her, she’s probably a hundred times worse now.

Oh dear. Is she going to be a problem ... where we’re concerned?

Possibly. Once news spreads, and I’m not sure that it hasn’t already; I’m going to hear about it. That’s where it will all end, of course. She’d never actually DO anything.

She’s still all bark and no bite? Emanuel replied.

Precisely. Only her bark has gotten worse with age. Great, now she wants me to stretch.

Your teacher? Allison ‘asked’.

Kara pretended to shyly start taking off her clothes. That’s probably true. But, no one said I needed to be myself during this part.

So, instead you’re doing what?

Pretending I’m one of the super nervous types who don’t even own a mirror. The voyeurs in the class are getting the most awkward striptease I can pull off. And you can bet I’m putting my everything into this. Kara pulled her ‘shirt’ up, letting part of it catch on her ‘watch’. She struggled to free then ‘shirt’ from it’s trap, and looked horrified as it ‘ripped’ in half and fell to the sides. She moved onto her ‘jeans’ and had leg catch on her shoes and almost trip her. Eventually, she let the ‘jeans’ come down, and made removing her ‘bra’ and ‘panties’ look awkward and uninteresting. When she was finally ‘naked’, she gasped exaggeratedly and pretended to cover up her breasts with one arm, and her vulva with the other.

“Mrs. Perez! She’s trying to cover herself up.”

“No, she’s clearly pretending to. If she really wanted to cover up, her arm would be higher up, and the hand on her vulva would actually be there, not just covering the area above it.”

Kara started to ‘climb’. Indeed. Sure, some amount of looking is to be expected if the Program succeeds with its goals, but the behavior they’re exhibiting is the problematic kind that the Program is fighting. She glanced down, pretended to look shocked, and kicked down with a leg. Several students audibly gasped.

“Mrs. Perez! Surely that can’t be right!” one of the voyeurs shouted.

“Defending yourself from unwanted attention? Especially in an environment that you can’t control, like attempting to climb a ladder while wearing a skirt? The person who got kicked shouldn’t have been looking up there in the first place.”

“But, what if the person is naked, like Kara?” another boy asked.

“If they are naked by choice, then they are granting implicit permission for others to look to a degree. Not to gawk or stare, and certainly not to have their photograph taken.”

“But, it’s impossible to not stare!” the boy protested.

Kara glared at him, then calmly replied “Not impossible. All it takes is a little self control. Besides, do you even know what one of goals of the Program is?”

“To make people go around naked?”

She sighed. “No. That’s part of how it works, not a goal. The two relevant goals to this discussion are: one; to help us become comfortable with our bodies and sexuality as a part of everyday life” she paused for emphasis “and two; to demystify sex and the naked form. It’s that second goal that’s most relevant here.”

“How so?” one of the girls asked.

“If seeing naked people is common thing, then nakedness being always tied to sex, especially arousal will decline.” She glanced at Mrs. Perez. “May I ask the class a few questions?”

“Of course. The lesson you’re trying to teach is a very important one.”

Kara nodded and turned back to the class. “A few quick questions; please answer just by a show of hands. First, how many of the girls here always want a show of skin; any amount really, to be an open invitation for a guy for sex?” She nodded knowingly as all of the girls kept their hands down. “Okay, how many of you want any form of sexy dress to automatically make you a sex object?” She smirked as nothing happened again. “Final question then. How many of you want to be viewed as a person, regardless of whether or not you’re actively interested in having sex with someone?” All of the girls raised their hands, as well as some of the guys.

“That’s how I thought you’d answer. That earlier comment about not staring being impossible is an effect of how our culture treats women as sex objects, not people. There’s nothing wrong with staring at an object, right? I mean, it doesn’t have any feelings or rights.”

The boy started to look uncomfortable. “That’s not how I meant it!”

“Doesn’t matter. That’s the effect comments like that have, as well as attitudes of ‘a naked woman is for me to enjoy’. That’s precisely the vibe I got from those of you who complained that I was ‘covering myself up’ when I was well within the rules of the Program.” She turned back to the rest of the class. “When adult nakedness can primarily be found in sexy media and in private, those kinds of attitudes flourish. But, what do you think the result would be if you were likely to see naked people doing normal people things just by walking down the street?”

Another girl raised her hand. “Those sorts of attitudes would need to decrease. Nakedness in everyday situations can’t be titillating all the time.”

“Try even most of the time. Our bodies aren’t meant to be aroused all the time; and there are numerous activities that would be at best horribly painful if someone was distracted by arousal, or going around with an erection.”

“But, what about how the Program seems designed to keep the participants, especially women, always aroused?” another girl asked.

“That’s probably because most people would never think about exploring their sexuality or body like the Program wants them to if they didn’t have that incentive. But, did any of you notice something about the general number of requests last week?”

Another girl raised her hand. “In the beginning of the week, you couldn’t walk five feet without running into a request in progress. But as the week went on, the frequency of the requests went down.”

Kara grinned. “Exactly. As everyone became more used to the participants for the week, the desire to make requests just because you could became weaker and weaker. As you were dealt with more and more naked people, you started to see them as people more and more; not just something to play with.”

“Wait, are you saying you don’t want people to look at all then?” another boy asked.

“Not at all. We’re all human, and it’s human nature to look for a few moments. It’s part of our instinct to evaluate others as potential mates. But, looking for a few moments and staring like you’re taking a mental picture are two VERY different things. The latter is what some of you were doing to me earlier.”

The first boy shook his head in disbelief. “Right ... like your boyfriend doesn’t do that to you.”

I’ve tried being nice to the idiots in the room, but it looks like some of them need to learn the hard way. Kara’s grin turned vicious for a moment. She turned to face her teacher. “Mrs. Perez, may I ask one more favor?”

“Of course, although I suspect I already know what it is.” Kara glanced at the boy briefly, then down at herself. “I figured that’s what it was, and I feel that’s a good idea.” She watched Mrs. Perez turn to the boy. “Strip, now. For the rest of the period, consider yourself in the Program.”

“Wait ... are you really allowed to do that Mrs. Perez?” another boy asked.

“Yes, if I feel the situation calls for it. And this one certainly does.” She turned back to the boy. “Quickly now, or the duration will increase. You don’t want to become another Jennifer, do you?” The boy nodded his head, and quickly stripped. “Now, come to the front and stand next to Kara.” Kara watched the boy reluctantly obey. “If you do that again, I will increase the duration of your time.” She turned back to Kara. “Please, continue.”

Kara turned to the boy, and glanced at him. “Okay, how did that feel?”

“Uhm ... good I suppose.”

“Then, how about this?” She focused intently on him, staring at him for about a minute; subtly catching most of the girls doing the same out of the corner of her eye.

“That ... that feels really uncomfortable. Like...”

She intensified her voice. “Like you don’t matter, right?” He nodded his head. “That’s exactly how we feel when you do the same to us. Do you understand what it means to be a sexual object now?”

“I think so.”

“Okay. Take that feeling, and imagine having to deal with it for the bulk of your waking moments each day.”

He shuddered. “That would be awful!”

“It is. Do you see now why we need to change the societal norms that make doing that to others acceptable?”

“Yeah...”

“Good. Then answer one more question for me. Is it still ‘impossible’ not to stare?”

“N ... No. Hard, but not impossible.”

Kara softened her voice. “And the more you practice doing it, the easier it will become. There is no excuse to not try.”

Another boy glanced up nervously. “You never answered his question though.”

She turned to the boy. “To be technically accurate, it wasn’t a question; it was an accusation. To suggest that my husband would make the same mistakes one would expect of a boy is an insult to him, and to me for choosing him.” She turned the class as a whole. “No, I didn’t misspeak. I meant to say husband, not boyfriend.” She turned back to the second boy. “This highlights one of the differences between a man and a boy. A boy’s control over his instincts is often very poor; a man’s is much more consistent.”

“Not perfect?” a girl asked.

“No ones’ is perfect. But, a man is much more willing to apologize when he does fail, and his ‘I’ll try to do better next time’ is a serious promise.”

“Are you saying he doesn’t find you attractive?” another boy asked.

“Anyone who has fifth period lunch knows that’s not true; simply from the past two days alone. Just because you find someone attractive doesn’t mean all you ever think about them is sex related.”

Another boy raised his hand. “Uhm ... doesn’t the request system simply reinforce the participant as a sex object?”

“Not at all. Unlike typical interactions, where the other person has no real say in the experience; the RR system gives the participant the final say on whether or not they want to engage in whatever is being requested, while still encouraging them to stretch their comfort zone.” This has gone reasonably well. But, if one more person gives me grief about our ‘marriage’...

Don’t darling; the trouble simply isn’t worth it. As you both said, ‘gentle correction’.

Right ... even though I’m not sold that they deserve it.

Of course they do, partner. Our situation is pretty unusual... he paused so I’m not surprised so many people are having trouble understanding it.

As much as I don’t want to agree with you, I have to. She glanced up at the clock. “Now, unless there are any other questions, we should...” she started, as one of the girls suddenly interrupted her.

“How can you be married already? How could you do that to Allison?”

Kara breathed in and out slowly a few times. “Do what? Pledge my commitment to her and Emanuel, as well as my support and a number of other important promises? What else would you suggest I should do for the loves of my life?”

“Both of them?” the girl asked incredulously. “But, that’s illegal. You can’t be married to both of them.”

“Legally, not quite yet. Three or four months from now, it will no longer be illegal. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t make the promises necessary now, and honestly work to live within those promises.”

“But ... unless one of you is really rich, how are you going to have a place of your own? And isn’t it way too early to make that kind of decision now?”

“If we didn’t have the full support of our parents, you’d be right about how difficult the first piece would be. And for the second, it looks like we barely know each other. But that’s not true; all three of us were best friends for years.”

A boy raised his hand. “But ... marriage? Even if it’s not legal, you’re locking yourselves into something permanent with no good way out.”

My loves, how do I explain the hand fasting in a way that these knuckleheads will get it?

Try explaining it as a demo version of a game; you know, one of those that gives you a limited amount of time to have access to the full thing.

That’s brilliant! Thank you, my pillar. “Except that we’re not. We didn’t have a traditional ceremony; that comes later. Instead, we had a hand fasting ceremony.” She sighed as a blank look traveled around room, only skipping Mrs. Perez. “Okay, think of it this way. The ceremony gave us something like one of those limited time demos; you know, the ones were the demo has everything the full game does, but only works for however long it says it will?” She smiled as most of them nodded with understanding. “Well, that’s exactly what a traditional hand fasting does. It gives the couple or group a year and a day to ‘try’ the marriage, and then decide by that point if they want to go for the full version. So, by the end of that time period, we’ll have a pretty good idea if we can do this for good.”

“That law won’t stay around for long” one of the girls quipped. “Marriage is only between a man and a woman; not three people.”

Kara began to open her mouth, then quickly shut it at her teacher’s nod. “That is not a debate that we have time for today, nor is it appropriate for this class. Everyone but Kara can go now.” Kara watched as the room quickly emptied. “You were serious yesterday, weren’t you?”

She sighed. “Why is it so hard for ‘adults’ to understand? I mean, I know that too many of my classmates my age are still very much children; but that doesn’t mean all of us are. And there hasn’t been that much of a ‘breakdown of societal norms’ for us to believe marriage is something you do just because you can.”

“If you had dropped this bomb a few months from now, when I could have gotten to know you better, then it would have been foolish of me to assume you were just like the others. But, this early into the term, I don’t know any of you well enough to make that kind of decision. Besides, even you have to admit that if someone else made the claims you have, they would seem pretty ridiculous.”

“That’s...” she paused for a few moments, then sighed “unfortunately true. It still hurts though” she paused again “having so many people willingly ignore or deny something so important to us; especially when they don’t give us a chance to prove it’s true.”

Kara watched her teacher glance down, up at the clock, and then back down again nervously. “I never thought of it that way. I’d be livid if someone questioned my citizenship simply because I don’t fit their expectation of what a Spanish-American person looks or acts like.”

“And if they denied your ‘claim’, and treated you like an ‘illegal immigrant’ instead?”

“I’d find it very difficult to not beat the crap out of them. I fear though, that you three are going to be dealing with a lot more of this.”

“Is what we’ve done really that unusual?”

“Polyamorous relationships have been on the edge of societal acceptance for quite a while. Polyamorous marriages? That’s a new frontier as far as ‘normal’ society is concerned. Doubly so considering your age. And like anyone on the frontier of a major change...”

“We’ll be catching a lot of crap from people as they’re forced to adjust their worldviews. Wonderful.” Kara glanced up at the clock again. “I think we’ve run out of time.”

“Just about, yes.” She paused, and glanced down nervously. “I know this may seem like a lot to ask, but ... please by patient with the adults here. They’ve spent enough of their lives thinking the world works one way, only to be told now by the youth in their care that they’ve been wrong this entire time. Ideas that entrenched are...” she paused again, a note of uncertainty in her voice “difficult to change.”

“We’ll try. But, that doesn’t mean we’ll let them get away with not trying change. I hope they’re ready for that at least.”

“If they aren’t, then they’ve forgotten that the young are the fiercest of revolutionaries.”

Kara nodded, gathered her things, and quickly left as the bell rang. I’m on my way my loves.

Wonderful, darling. How did the explanation go?

About as well as I think we can expect for now. Most of them seemed to understand me, but actually agreeing was another story. Even Mrs. Perez doesn’t fully believe us, and suggested it will probably be awhile before most of the ‘adults’ here will.

Thinking seriously about that, it makes sense Emanuel replied.

“Can I touch your boobs?” a boy asked. Kara nodded.

Well, long story short; Benerdon decided to sabotage the Program by making sure certain people had bad enough breakdowns to permanently tarnish its reputation, and convince parents to fight against its inclusion here.

I was one of the people she targeted.

But, isn’t that illegal? Kara glanced at the boy and shook her head. “You’re being too rough, Try being gentler.” She quietly took one of his hands stroked the underside of her left breast. “More like that, and don’t squeeze quite so much. They’re not squeaky toys.”

Exactly. That shows just how insane she is. She went so far as to try to control Ms. Luden and sat in on my sessions with her.

Don’t forget her attempted smear campaign when Luden ‘failed’.

Kara sighed contentedly as the boy’s gentler touches started to have the intended effect. “Much better, although we won’t have enough time for you to finish. Remember this for the next girl, okay?”

He nodded his head happily. “I will. Thank you.”

A request? Emanuel asked.

Yeah. I’m trying to spread good information with each one if I can. Anyway, what smear campaign?

Kara spotted the library doors and quickly stepped inside, quickly waving to them. Can you wait a moment partner?

Of course. She quickly walked forward and sat down next to Allison.

“We’re expecting Pia a little later. If you’re willing to wait for her to arrive; I’d rather not have to repeat this, and she might be able to provide some insight that we missed.”

Kara nodded her head, then laid it down on Allison’s shoulder. “Okay, in the meanwhile I’ll just take a nap on my muse.” She let her eyes close, and begrudgingly opened them what felt like a few moments later. “So soon?”

“Soon darling? It’s been close to twenty minutes. What kept you Pia?”

“I wanted to get more work done on your group portrait. I’d probably still be in the art room, but Mrs. Rose had a meeting with another student that required privacy.”

“Well, in that case, we can get back to what we were talking about earlier. As Allison and I were telling Kara, we’re surprised Harper is acting so stupid.”

“Oh, right! The whole note thing. I only saw that girl deliver one to Mrs. Rose.”

“Wait, so she sent a note to one of your teachers? That’s not a very effective smear tactic.”

“No, it isn’t darling. She’s not THAT stupid. She sent one to EACH of our teachers, and each one was different; with enough truth to them that they couldn’t be ignored outright.”

“I wouldn’t say all of them fit that last criteria. Some of them were really ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but those were when she was getting really desperate. Trying to become heroes of the school by putting out a fire we were supposed to have started? That’s a bit much.”

“Wait, that was part of one of her schemes? What other horrible things did she try?”

“She leaked my diagnosis to our homeroom teacher. That’s the one who suddenly left part way through the week. Horrible, horrible woman...” Allison shook violently.

Kara put a reassuring arm around her, and pulled her in close. “She can’t touch you anymore. She can’t try to harm you anymore.” Allison’s shaking calmed, then stopped completely.

“Thank you ... darling. If she’d succeeded, I’d be in the same state as Edward; the boy who was supposed to be my partner. Last I heard, he’d been involuntarily committed to the psych ward at the county hospital.”

“Whatever happened to him must have been pretty serious then. That’s the one that people are sent to when recovery is expected to take months or years” Kara replied somberly.

Pia looked at them both sympathetically. “Not many people know that the county hospital even has a psych ward. The only people who I’m aware of who know that...” she paused for a few moments and looked sad for a moment “are those who know someone in it.”

Kara nodded her head slowly. “One of my uncles; my prudish Aunt’s first husband. The official story is that he experienced a significant mental breakdown due to something at work. We know the real cause of it was her; even if she won’t admit that how she treated him was what primed him to break as bad as he did.”

“If I may ask” Pia started carefully “how long has he been in there?”

“I think six years in just a few weeks.”

“Six years?!” Allison exclaimed. “Has ... has his prognosis improved over that time?”

Kara slumped into Allison and sighed deeply. “Not really. Maybe a little if we’re lucky, but I don’t think he’ll be safe to leave for another two years. What I wouldn’t give for...” she started, as Emanuel rested a hand on her shoulder.

“I know what you’re about to say, but try not to. Remember what Sensei says about such wishes.”

“If I’m remembering correctly ‘Whatever the cost always turns out to be too costly.’ I know there’s a companion saying, but I can’t remember it right now.”

Emanuel’s voice dropped to a soft, comforting whisper. “It goes: ‘When in such a situation, wish for the means to improve how things are, not to change what came before’. Will to Uncle Luke what he needs to be released safely.”

Kara watched Allison’s shaking resume out of the corner of her eye. “Uncle Luke? He was always the awesome one. No...” she began, as her voice began to tremble. “I thought ... I thought he’s merely been busy, not hearing you talk about him, not ... a vic ... vict...”

“Not a victim, even though someday I hope she realizes how much she hurt a good man. It was...” Kara heard her own voice begin to tremble “his choice to stay with her, even when it was clear that she was nothing but toxic for him. But he loved her; I think he still does too, and he chose to stay hoping she would change. But she didn’t.” She heard the anger start to creep into her voice. “She grew more and more focused on herself: her needs, views and wants; and ignored those of the people around her. Especially her loving husband.”

Emanuel stood up, and pulled Kara into a strong hug. “Can you hear it partner? The venom in your voice?”

“Yes. And it feels right.”

“She’s not worth your rage or your anger. She’s definitely not worth your hate, no matter how awful a woman she may be.”

Kara felt the rage begin to dissipate. “You’re right. She’s not worth the energy it takes to focus on those things. Uncle Luke is worthy of my energy. You and Allison are worthy of my energy.”