Part 3: Wednesday

Chapter 9: Frankie

I got to school the next morning, and met up with Cass. Everything seemed fine, she was her normal self. We went to the entrance, got undressed, and went inside.

That's when all hell broke loose.

We walked in, and noticed people huddled in knots at various points along the corridor. We went to one of them, and took a look. People were looking at something that had been hung up on the walls.

GodDAMMIT!

Someone had gotten a camera. Somehow, they had taken a picture of Cassie-not all of her, just from the bottom of her breasts to her knees. Yeah, in other words, the scarred area. They had copied this picture and had hung it up all along the walls-each one with a 'clever' caption. One said, "Get the new Cassie Vyshenko road map!" Another one said, "Play connect the dots on Cassie's stomach!" And one-the cruelest one-said, "Windshield one, Cassie zero!"

It was horrible. And poor Cassie turned white, and then started bawling. She was crying out in the middle of the halls-the crowded halls, remember-while these horrible pictures of her were hanging all over the place. Everyone was looking at her. I put my arm around her and she cried on my shoulder.

"We need to go see Mr. Tilling," I said. She sniffled and nodded.

We got there, and walked in. "Cassie? What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her crying.

"Mr. Tilling, have you walked the halls this morning?" I asked him.

"No, not yet."

"You might want to do so. We'll wait here. That's better than explaining." He looked at me, and then walked out of his office. I cuddled Cassie against me and let her cry it out. She was starting to settle down when Mr. Tilling walked back into the office, a pile of the pictures in his hand, and a furious look on his face.

"Cassie, I'm sorry this happened. Believe me, we will find out who did this and they will be punished."

"Oh, we know who did it," I said, "We just can't prove it."

Cassie nodded, and said, "Missy Jenkins and Laura Elliot. There's no doubt in my mind. They've been cruel about this all week."

"I thought they were your best friends," Mr. Tilling said.

"Yeah, so did I," Cassie said. "But they're not. Not after the last two days. They've said some horrible things to me."

"And I went after them, in defense of Cassie, on Monday," I added. "This is their idea of revenge, I have no doubt. I'd bet my spot on the baseball team that it was them."

"Well, then that's where will at least start the investigation," said Mr. Tilling. "Cassie, are you all right?"

"No, I'm not," she said, and took a deep breath. "Mr. Tilling, I'd like to ask a favor." Another deep breath. "I'd like for you to go to the box outside and get my clothes, please."

I looked at her in shock. Mr. Tilling was pretty surprised himself. "Cassandra, are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I can't do this anymore."

"All right. Be right back."

He left, and I turned to her. "Cassie, I think you're making a mistake."

"Easy for you to say," she snorted.

"No, it's not. I saw those pictures, too. And I can't help feel partially responsible because of how I ripped into them. But you can't let them win, Cass."

"Dammit, Frankie, this isn't a baseball game! This is my life! I'm a freak. I'm deformed, as one of them said yesterday. I walk around the halls and people look at me like I'm a monster."

"But I thought that was getting better," I argued. "It looked like you were getting more attention in the halls late yesterday, at least when I saw you."

"Well, a little," she admitted.

"People are getting used to it. I think some people are deciding it doesn't detract from the rest of you. It's just a few people, Cassie. I told you before, I think you're beautiful."

She smiled sadly at me. "Frankie, I appreciate it, but let's face it-it's easier for you to say that. We're friends, and you're also my Program partner."

"Being friends does not make it easier. Are you kidding me?" I didn't mean to say it, it just came out. "Dammit, Cassie, it would be easier if we weren't friends. Because, if we weren't, I could do what I really want to do every time I see you naked-ask you if you'll come in the woods with me and let me fuck your brains out. Fuck, I haven't been touched at all today and I have a raging hard on! Where do you think I got it? More to the point, who do you think gave it to me? The gorgeous naked chick next to me, that's who."

Oh, shit. Did I really say all that? It was out before I could stop myself. Take can of worms, open, and spill all over the floor. And she was looking at me in complete shock.

"Shit, now I've said too much. Forget all that. But, please, drop this 'it's only because you're my friend' crap, OK?"

"OK," she said with a little smile. Just then, Mr. Tilling came back into his office. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tilling, but I've changed my mind." She grinned. "Frankie convinced me to stay in The Program."

"Good for Frankie. I'll put your clothes back in the box later on. Now, get to class, would you? You're already late for first period. And, don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of those pictures.

We thanked him, and took off.

Well, at least my diatribe helped her. I wasn't feeling too great, myself. Oh, man, I did not want to tell her that!

Ah, well, I couldn't take it back now. And it wasn't a lie. If we weren't friends, I would've killed to get her in bed. But we were friends. And, as I said, that just didn't work.

Damn.

Chapter Ten - Cassie

I couldn't believe the pictures. I just couldn't. I knew Missy and Laura did it. I didn't think they were capable of such cruelty. It was horrible.

I really did want to just end it. Cover me back up, let me hide my little problem again. Of course, it was too late for that, anyhow. Everyone had seen the scars. And what Frankie said, about it getting better, it was true. It was just a few that were giving me a hard time.

I remembered what we had talked about in psychology on Monday-how unexpected visual stimulus can cause a kind of disorienting effect, I think the teacher called it. In other words, most people weren't shocked by the scars-but they were surprised, a lot, and it took them time to deal with the surprise. As Frankie calmed me down, I remembered that.

And then Frankie dropped the bomb on me-and I forgot all about my scars and former best friends and nasty pictures.

My first reaction? Oh, I admit it. HE WANTS ME! HE WANTS ME!

But my second reaction was more subdued. We walked to our first period classes together as long as we could before we had to go in opposite directions, and not much was said. I thought about it my first two periods. I thought more after second period, when I was walking with Lily Woodard.

"So, I hear you got the handjob of your life from Frankie yesterday, eh?" she teased.

"Pretty much," I grinned.

"Anything else going on?"

"No, just that," I admitted. "It was an act of mercy more than anything else," I giggled. Well, I thought so at the time. After what Frankie said today... But I wasn't going to tell Lily that!

"You guys are just friends, right?" she asked. I nodded. "Do me a favor, OK? Be careful. Frankie's a complete romantic. I know that's not obvious, but he is-since I'm safe, because I'm in love with one of his best friends, he tells me things. I understand, last year, he had sex with Renee Boddicker. Up until that point, they were the best of friends. Frankie wanted more than friendship. Renee wanted friendship with the odd bout of sex. And I know he's had a couple other close friends that would've taken him to bed but drew the line at anything emotional. Like I said, he's a complete romantic. Friends with 'benefits' isn't his style."

That gave me a lot to think about-because friends with 'benefits' wasn't my style, either. But there was no denying the fact that I wanted him. And he couldn't deny, after this morning, that he wanted me.

We sat next to each other in History, as usual, and I thought about it. I thought about a way where we could hook up and not lose our friendship.

The problem was, I was denying the obvious, which became quickly apparent next period, in art.

Having had us pose individually, Mrs. Taylor decided the time had come for both of us to pose. "These will be innocent, don't worry. They'd be completely innocent if you guys weren't naked." We both laughed at that. Anyhow, she first got us on the couch. She had us sit next to each other, Frankie to my left. Then she had me twist slightly to my left, so that I was partially facing him. My left leg was bent, on the couch, and my right leg hanging down onto the ground. She had Frankie put his arm around my waist, and had me put both of my hands, one halfway on top of the other, on his right leg. Then she had us look at each other. With the difference in our heights, he was looking slightly down, and I was looking slightly up. We were grinning at one another.

It was very cozy, but completely innocent, right? Well, except Natalie shouted out, "Oh, I love that. It's so cute. It looks like they're about to kiss."

Don't I wish! That's what ran through my mind. Oh, God, I wish he'd kiss me. And that scared me. Wanting him to fuck me? That was one thing. That was lust, pure and simple. But wishing he'd kiss me silly? That was something entirely different.

That's when it hit me, like a ton of bricks. I was in love with him.

Oh, Jesus Christ, I was in love with Frankie Gutierrez.

I must be insane. If I were still talking to the two hyenas, they'd be the first to point out that Frankie was not my type. And, judging by my past dating history, they'd be right. I didn't date sweet guys like Frankie. I dated guys with a hint of danger. I wanted excitement.

Frankie was safe. But he was warm and comforting. Sitting in this pose, as fairly innocent as it was, I felt so good. And excitement had bitten me in the ass more than a few times. Maybe I was just growing up-or maybe I had just realized what I really wanted. I don't know. What I did know is that Frankie treated me like a princess. Not just helping me through The Program-he'd always treated me like a princess.

Why hadn't I seen that before? I didn't know. Maybe it was the chemistry thing. I'd loved Frankie for six years. Platonically, yes, but I'd loved him all the same. Maybe I just hadn't felt any chemistry. Well, I was wrong about that. At least from my end, it'd been crackling for two days now.

That became even more apparent when we changed poses. She had us get in dance position. Standing up, facing one another, his arms around my waist, my arms around his neck. That was a little less innocent-what with his dick rubbing up against my stomach and my titties rubbing up against him! And that's when I felt it-the combination. Love and lust. Oh, man, I wanted him. I wanted all of him.

What to do about it was the question. Because I knew he felt the lust-but didn't know what else he felt.

Chapter Eleven - Frankie

I walked out of art with my head spinning.

She had spent the whole class looking at me in complete adoration. Posed, yes, but the look on her face wasn't posed. And if I doubted my own eyesight, all I had to do was check out Natalie's drawings. Nat sees things that nobody else does, and knows how to put them on paper. And, if anything, Natalie's drawings showed the look in Cassie's eyes even moreso.

We went to lunch. We didn't say a word to each other on the way.

At lunch, we sat with the gang. Jared greeted Cassie when she sat down. "Cassie, I'm sorry about those pictures."

"Well, I didn't think you did it, so you don't have anything to be sorry about," she grinned at him.

"How are you holding up?" Amanda asked.

"OK, I suppose," she said. "I actually almost got out of the program because of it." She grinned and pointed at me. "Then my knight in shining armor over here gave me a pep talk, and I felt better."

"Do you know who did it?" Ty asked.

"Missy and Laura. No doubt in my mind," Cassie said. "Mr. Tilling now just has to prove it."

"Nice best friends," Maggie snorted.

"Not anymore," Cassie said. "I've seen the light."

"Good," Maggie replied. "We're much more fun, anyhow."

"Yes, we are," Ed said. "When we tease you for physical deformities, we do it with much more wit and style. Nobody even superimposed a map of Brazil on your stomach in any of those photos. No creativity at all." We all laughed at that, even Cassie.

"Yeah, but I'm the only one with physical deformities to tease," she said.

"Are you kidding?" Maggie laughed. "Let's see, we have Jared's gargantuan dick. Amanda's little tummy rolls. Natalie's freakishly large tits." Everyone was laughing at this. "Ed's beanpole figure. Mike's hairy ass. Lily's manly throwing arm and her rock-hard gluteus. Ty's steroid-like biceps. And all of Frankie."

"Thanks, Maggie, thanks a whole lot," I said. "But you left yourself out."

"With Maggie," Ed said, "it's that freakish pussy without the 'off' switch. Drip, drip, drip. All day long. That's one girl who'll never get lost in the woods-she just has to follow the trail of spooge."

"Thank you, thank you very much," Maggie said, bowing. "Although I would've been a little less crude and pointed out my untamable mop of hair. And my nonexistent bustline."

"You, a little less crude?" Ed laughed. "Since when?"

After lunch, the afternoon progressed, I saw Cassie in last period with not much said, and then I went to the ball field for our game.

I was sitting in the locker room talking with Lily. She was getting dressed-I didn't have to. Lily's not like most pitchers. Most pitchers-me included-go into a private little "zone" before they pitched. Lily didn't-in fact, she found that counterproductive for her. She liked to talk.

"What's going on with you and Cassie?" she asked.

"Now that, Pedro, is one hell of a question." Pedro was her 'baseball' nickname-after her idol, Pedro Martinez, the great pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

"I know about what happened yesterday," she said, "and I also had a little talk with her."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I warned her to be careful not to break your poor over-romantic heart," she grinned.

"Well, I gave her quite the opening to do just that." I told Lily what I had said to Cassie in Mr. Tilling's office.

"Well, jeez, Frankie, that's an invitation if I ever heard one."

"Yeah. It was what happened in art that was really weird." I described the poses, and how she was looking at me.

"You sure you didn't misinterpret that?" she asked.

"Well, if I did-so did Natalie. You should've seen her drawings."

"Oh, well, then. If Natalie Weinberg sees it, and draws it, then it's there," she said. I nodded agreement. "But was it lust-or something else?"

"That's another fine question."

"Maybe you ought to find out."

"And maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie before I fuck up another friendship," I said.

"Friendships are fine. Love's better."

"Easy for you to say, Pedro," I told her. "You met Mikey on a Monday, you're fucking like bunnies on Wednesday, and you're proclaiming everlasting love on Friday. I've known this girl for six years!"

"Have you ever felt anything more than friendship for her?" she asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know." I sighed. "Look, we met when we were, what, ten? Like usually happens, she matured faster than I did, and started dating before I did. Once I realized what this mysterious thing called 'girls' was, and decided that I liked 'em, Cass had already had a few boyfriends. And they were so unlike me that I didn't think I'd ever be on her radar screen. I'm not her type. So any feelings other than friendship were killed before they ever happened. I love her, I'll say that-but it's platonic. She never gave me a reason, based on her usual boyfriend choices, to entertain the possibility of anything different."