Chapter 1

It had been a rough semester for Roger and was going to be his next to last, but after failing the final in Ms. Timms class their was no way he was even going to graduate. The summer was almost over and it was time to decide what he was going to do about school. Neglecting to tell his parents about his predicament left him in a total panic. Sara was Rogers best friend they had known each other since the first grade and she only lived down the block. Sara was also a computer major but she was interested in graphic design, Roger was more into the programming aspects. When Sara came over Roger spilt the beans to her, luckily for him she thought she could help. Ms. Timms was also an art teacher, and Sara and her were good friends. In fact, they had a class together this very semester. A few days later Sara came back with his schedule in hand.

"How the heck did you get my schedule?" Staring over the piece of paper in hand. It had less classes then he expect, and was disappointed to not see the class he had failed on the schedule. "Couldn't get me in the class, hum?" His tone filled with disappointment.

"Actually, I got you as good as I can get. She promised she would let you in next semester."

"Really!" Jumping to his feet he grabbed Sara and swung her around. "That's great! I know I can explain another semester to my parents no problem, but how? Last time I saw her she called me a slacker and said I would have to have a 3.8 GPA before she'd let me take it again." He remembered the conversation well. He had spent most of the semester working on what he thought of as more important projects, and more important classes. Supposedly, it had gotten back to her, so she made his life rough. It became a tug of war to keep up with all his other classes and Ms. Timms class. The end result - failure. All the other classes came out good, but hers dropped his GPA to a 3.4 it would have taken forever to get it back up. She told him she didn't like slackers and had the right not to take him back into the class; she read it strait from the handbook. She was going to ruin his life over one stupid comment. The biggest problem was that she was the only one teaching the class, and she was his advisor; Their was no way around her.

"Well, I did have to make a deal with her."

"Deal?" His face became a cloak of caution. "What kind of deal?" Sara liked to make deals, most of them got him into to trouble. They were friends, but she had caused many bumps in their relationship with deals.

"You see. she needed a model for the art class this semester since no one volunteered. So, to make up for what you said, I told her you would do it; that's how I got your schedule. Ms. Timms made your schedule how she needed it." Sara could see Roger freaking. His eyes were starting to roam and he started pulling at his hair.

"I can't do that!" Roger exploded. "I get stage fright walking up to a McDonald's checkout counter - you know that!" Roger's heart started beating hard in his chest and his breathing became ragged. He hatted being in front of people it terrified him.

"Come on Roger, calm down." Pushing him so he was sitting down, she put her arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry I'll be right there with you. At least for one of the classes. I'll help you through it."

"I can't even ask a girl on a date, and you expect me to stand in front of all those people - staring at me." Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. It was hopeless he was going to fail in life, just like he had with all the girls. Sara caressed his cheek. After awhile, she finally calmed him down, and made him see this was his only choice.

The weeks went by and school was starting again. It was Roger's first day as a model. He was to show up early so Ms. Timms could place him where she wanted him for the class. He was there prompt, but utterly terrified. Nervously he chewed at his finger nails as he sat there waiting for Ms. Timms.

"Roger, there you are." Roger leapt to his feet from his seat. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Ms. Timms smiled at him. But, the smile was odd - almost predatory.

"Ms. Timms, I'm not sure I can do this." Twisting his hand over his knuckles, he tried to calm himself as he spoke. "I'm not good in front of people. I just can't go out there."

"Well, it's your choice Roger, but a deal was made. You shouldn't worry so much: the classes are small; I know, I hand picked them myself." Her eyes held a gleam that made him uncomfortable. "You have some time to decide, but if I were you I'd stick with the deal." Following Ms. Timms into the classroom he looked around. About fifteen easels were set up around the room and a small dais rested on the far wall. The harsh smell of paint wafted around the room. "Come help me with the windows Roger." Ms. Timms pointed to a set of windows and asked Roger to open them for her. All of them were shut tightly, but with some strain he forced them open. When he turned Ms. Timms was watching him. A blush ran over his whole body - he felt her eyes on him, sizing him up. "I can see that your a little shy. We'll have to get you over that. Come on, sit here on the stool." Patting the little stool on the dais. He sat down and looked out at all the chairs. He had to hold onto the base of the seat to keep from bolting. She walked behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She could feel the tense muscles underneath his thin pullover. "I have a plan if you'll listen to it. It just might save us both some trouble."

"What's that, Ms. Timms?" He stammered as he looked back at her.

"Call me Ronda. I think that a blindfold might help." If she didn't have her hands on his shoulders, she new he would have bolted right then. He did try to get up, but Ronda put just enough pressure to keep him still. "Don't be so hasty to discount it. Let's try it first and see how it feels." Looking around he saw Ronda walking over to a large chest, by her desk, and pulled out a leather blindfold. If he was going to leave it was now or never. But, he was transfixed by Ronda's sensuous movements and the blindfold in her hand. Walking behind him she placed it on his face. Everything was black, cool leather against his skin. "Now isn't that better." It was kind of calming. No eyes on him, no pressure. "Just sit there and get use to it." Roger felt a little silly just sitting there, but it wasn't so bad. He started to think of all the sculptures in the museums and paintings he had seen. He would be immortalized forever.

"I don't think." Pulling the blindfold off, his words died in his throat. Nausea washed over him as sixteen sets of eyes stared at him.

"Class this is Roger, he's going to be our model this semester. Learn his features well." Ronda watched Roger, she could see he was trapped there by his own fear; this semester was going to be fun she thought. Walking to the dais she stood behind him and pulled the blindfold back over his eyes. "Just sit there and you'll do fine. And, unless you wish to fail another class with me - I suggest you stay." She whispered in his ear. Confusion ran across his face as he turned slightly towards her. "Oh, didn't I mention - this is an independent study for you. If you leave, you fail." He could hear her little laughter as she walked off. He was trapped. His mind kept seeing all those eyes on him. Hours of sitting went by in darkness. When he finally got a break he ran to the restroom and lost his breakfast. A female voice startled him as he wiped his face clean.

"Are you all right?" Sara said behind him. Roger turned and sat on the hard tile floor and looked up at her. His eyes had a desperate look to them.

"I can't go back in there. I just might as well fail and get it over with."

"Roger, you did fine." She patted his shoulder. Knocking his head softly on the metal partition between stalls, he tried hard to keep it together. "Come on you did it. It wasn't that hard: you can do it again. I'm right there with you. Just think of me out there for support." Helping him up from the floor they returned to finish out class. The first week passed, and he survived. But, he wasn't prepared for what was next.

Monday morning came and he got up early, quite tense. He felt this burning sickness deep inside that he couldn't explain. The model thing was giving him nightmares; making it hard to sleep. He almost called Ms. Timms to tell her he was sick, but he knew she would never believe him. He was sure that she knew before hand that he was terrified of being in front of people: this was her little punishment for his statements last semester. Maybe if he apologized she would let him out of it.The blindfold at least made the day go by a little faster. Ms. Timms said that she told her classes that it was a little experiment Roger was doing for a psychology class, so they wouldn't know his little secret. Though, some of the girls from the class he had seen, smiled at him, and said hey here and there. It was a little bonus, because none of the girls ever seemed to notice him before. But, he was still utterly terrified to be up there. Roger showed up early as usual, but this time Ronda was there first. She had a set of clothes laid out on her desk and smiled at Roger as he walked in. She noticed his eyes looked a little haggard, and he didn't have the same youthful jump to his step. This would make it much easier for her to get what she wanted from him, if she played her cards right; being tired made him easier to manipulate. Today was going to be a good day. Sara of course had been right - he was shy, and had a terrible phobia of being in front of people. But, she was also right when she said that he could be manipulated with little effort: Sara had done it their whole lives.