Chapter 4: Joe

OCTOBER 2003

As September turned to October, I tried to come to terms with my situation. It wasn't easy. I was still dealing with my shyness about being naked. I was still trying to deal with all the naked girls.

And, I was not all coming to terms with seeing my dream girl, Darcy, with that asshole, Alex Randall.

At least I wasn't the worst off. I wasn't the type to take pleasure from others' misfortune, but it made me feel less alone. Miss Peterson, the Geometry teacher, was still very uncomfortable with the nudity. The chubby girl, Stacia Averbuk, still got teased. And my new buddy Moose was as shy and uncomfortable as I was.

I found myself gravitating towards Moose, especially as our circle began to expand. Patrick was hot and heavy with Jenna Zambrano, and she and some of her popular clique friends started eating lunch with us. Moose's buddy Justin didn't have any kind of steady girl, but he always seemed to have some gorgeous popular-clique babe on his arm. It made Moose and I feel even more self-conscious. Especially when they'd all wolf down their food so they could head to the pods to have sex.

I wasn't the only member of my family having problems. I came home the first Friday in October to find my big sister Maggie sulking.

"I want to get the fuck out of this house," she said to me. "You up for supper at the Burger Hut? My treat and everything."

"Well, if it's your treat, how can I say no?" I laughed. "Sounds good to me."

We got there and Maggie was definitely agitated. "Something wrong, Mags?" I asked.

"Ah, nothing to bother you with."

"Come on, Mags. I drop my shit all over your head all the time."

She grinned, then sighed. "Chuck's not coming home this weekend. Too much work. That's two weekends in a row I won't see him."

"Ah," I said, understanding.

"This is so fucking hard sometimes. I'm lonely, not to mention horny. I try to be understanding, but it ain't easy."

"You don't think he's getting some on the side, do you?" I asked.

"God, no," Maggie said. "If either of us were to ever stray, I can guarantee you it wouldn't be Chuck."

"Well, didn't you say he gave you permission?"

"Yeah, but I just couldn't. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." She sighed. "Which is part of the problem. Since Chuck gave me permission to have a fling--well, if I'm frustrated, it's my problem."

"Ah."

"But it's not just sex. I miss just cuddling with him and shit like that." She snorted. "Listen to me. I miss cuddling. Jesus. I'm going soft. Damn Braden made me go all soft, and now he's stuck in Raleigh and I'm here!"

I laughed. "You always did have a soft spot."

"Jesus, don't tell anyone that!"

I chuckled at her--then saw something over her shoulder. "Fuck," I hissed.

"Something wrong, little brother?"

"They just walked in. Darcy, the girl I'm nuts about--and Alex, the asshole she's dating."

"Oh," Maggie said, then turned around to look. "Well, Joe, she certainly is stunning."

"Yeah. And way out of my league."

"You're probably right, but not for the reasons you think," she said. "If she's dating an asshole... well, some girls are just attracted to that. And you most definitely are not an asshole."

"That's not much of a help."

She smiled. "I know. But some girls do grow out of that shit. Some of my friends did--Lily Woodard, Cassie Vyshenko."

"Yeah, but that doesn't help me now."

"Joe, you're 14. Play the field until she wakes up, I keep telling you that."

"That's just not easy for me."

"Are you sure you're my brother?" she laughed. I had to laugh too.

The next week, all hell broke loose.

It had to do with Jenna. She came in to school one day, all upset. Apparently Amber had ripped her a new one after the previous day's soccer game.

It was a big huge brouhaha. It was all anyone at lunch could talk about. Patrick was particularly incensed--of course, he'd gotten very close to Jenna and was never all that enamored with Amber anyway.

Amber wasn't my favorite person, either. It was easy for me to believe she'd been a complete bitch to Jenna. She was a bitch to a whole hell of a lot of people. So, it didn't surprise me that she'd targeted Jenna in her sights. When I first heard the story, I was filled with righteous indignation towards the heinous bitch.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I had reservations. First of all, I didn't really trust Jenna. It was just a gut feeling. I kept my mouth shut for Patrick's sake, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I got the distinct impression that she wasn't crazy about me, either. I wasn't one of The Clique, and was tolerated, again, for Patrick's sake.

But Jenna struck me as manipulative. I mean, she was telling us all about how Amber had picked on her. And she had the whole bit working--the tears in the eyes, the quivering lower lip, the despairing impression. It seemed to me to be a big huge attempt to let us all know how Wronged she had been. To my eyes, it was blatant.

Look--growing up the younger brother of Maggie Benson did not predispose me to have much patience with manipulative girls. Mags was the most up-front girl in the universe.

Plus, there was my mother. I didn't really remember her, but I'd heard stories. Evidently, she pulled out every trick she had to wrap my dad around her finger. This while she was sleeping around on him at every turn. (That was so bad that my Dad demanded a paternity test after I was born. Yes, I'm his--but there was evidently a real chance I might not have been.) It was when her attempts at manipulation stopped working on Dad that Mom left.

And, yes, that's why I think it's funny that Maggie sometimes worries about being like Mom. She knows the stories better than I do. She's gotten better at that lately.

Anyhow, because of all this, Jenna rubbed me the wrong way.

There was more. I told Maggie about what had happened, and she had a lot of interesting things to say. "Look, I don't know Amber very well--I know her, but in a friend's-kid-sister sort of way--but I do know her sister Lily, and I've heard that they're cut from the same cloth. And I know Lily doesn't take any shit.

"I remember a baseball game I went to, Senior year. They had a sophomore playing right field that year. He was good, but stuck on himself and didn't think he had to work. Well, this game, Lily was pitching, and this guy loafed after a fly ball. I mean, it was blatant.

"Well, in the dugout after the inning, Lily ripped him a new one. Just tore into him. The whole park heard it. But, you know what? Lily was right. He deserved what he got from her. Understand me--Lily is not a bitch. But she has standards--and if you don't even bother to try, she wants you gone, especially on the baseball field.

"The difference is, Lily had established herself, both on and off the field. She had a group of friends who'd defend her to the death, and most everyone else respected her. Plus, the baseball coach knew she was right--in fact, he benched the other guy.

"It seems to me that some people are aligning themselves against Amber because of the whining of this Jenna person--and Amber's up the creek without a paddle. Don't get sucked in, Joe."

"You're saying I should take Amber's side?"

"I'm saying you should find out what Amber's side is. There's two sides to every story. You've only heard one."

That made sense.

The next hint I got was a couple of days later, from Moose.

You have to understand--I'd learned in the month I'd know him that Moose was pretty easygoing. The only person I usually saw him get upset with was himself--and that was mostly joking.

On this day, Moose grabbed me in the lunch line, and pulled me off to a small table, away from our usual crowd. "I hope you don't mind."

"No," I said, but with a question in my voice.

Moose sighed. "I just can't take them anymore. I didn't sign up for the Bash Amber Woodard week. I like Amber. I think she's got spunk."

"So, you don't think Jenna's in the right?"

He snorted. "I don't trust Jenna Zambrano as far as I can throw her. And I've seen Amber in some of my classes. She looks completely beat down."

"Yeah, I've noticed that."

"It's a rush to judgement," he said. "And everybody's piling on Amber. I don't think it's right."

I looked at him, amazed. "You know, I know I've only known you for a month but this is the longest speech I've ever heard come out of your mouth."

He grinned. "You, I can talk to."

It was Jordan that finally convinced me. But, first, she did something else.

It was a week and a half after the whole Amber thing had blown up. She grabbed me after Biology again. "Come on," she said, and grabbed my arm like before.

"So," she said as we walked, "have you pulled anyone else into the pods since we were here?"

"Uh, no."

"Bad boy. No cookie for you," she laughed. "You got to get with it, Joe. You still don't have any confidence, do you?"

"Uh, well..." I stammered.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that. Once I'm done with you, you'll know exactly what you're doing with a girl. That should help."

"Why are you doing this?" I had to ask.

"Because you're nice, and sweet, and cute. And I enjoy it. You know, it sort of is what the school is all about, isn't it?" We had reached the pods. "In," she said. I got in. "Besides which, I'm horny. Now, today's lesson is oral."

"Oral?"

"Oral," she reapeated--and leaned down and ran her tongue right up my dick! My God! I'd never felt anything like that in my life.

And it just got better. She ran her tongue up and down my dick a few times. Then she popped the whole head in her mouth. She sucked on the head for a while--grinning up at me the whole time--then slid down my shaft. She started sliding up and down my dick, gently sucking while she did and working away at the sensitive area with her tongue.

It was incredible. I'd never felt anything like that in my life. "Oh, God," I moaned. She looked up at me with a grin in her eyes as she slid up and down my dick. And then she plunged right down on it. I could feel the head slip into her throat. And she kept sucking. Then she pulled off a little.

"Jordan!" I hissed, trying to warn her. She just plunged down again, driving me into her throat--and that was it. I came like I've never cum before in my life. And Jordan just kept sucking, and swallowing--and humming. It was unbelievable. I just about passed out!

She sat up, looking very satisfied with herself, and said, "Your turn."

"Let me catch my breath," I said.

She giggled. "OK. Did I wear you out?"

"I've never felt anything like that ever."

"Good! You're enjoying yourself, then."

"And how. You make it easy. And I don't even have to tell you that I've never done what I'm about to do, because you already know that," I laughed.

"Right. But that's cool. I'll tell you what to do."

"OK," I said, "but I know how I want to start." I leaned over and kissed her. She eagerly kissed back. As we did that, I let my hands roam all over her.

She broke the kiss, smiling, and said, "Well, you seem to have remembered the start-my-engines part." Then she leaned back in and resumed kissing.

My hands strayed to her breasts, and I rubbed my thumb on her nipple. Then I moved down to her boobs with my mouth, and put my hand between her legs, starting the way we had last time. But, this was oral. So, after nibbling on her nipple a bit, I kept going. I kissed my way down her stomach--she giggled at a few spots--until I found myself between her legs. She spread them wide for me.

It was intoxicating, and altogether mesmerizing--but I was still aware of the fact that I had no clue as to what I was doing. Jordan helped me out. "You remember where my clit is? And you remember you have to work up to it? Well, outside of that--go with it."

I nodded up at her, and then moved in closer. The scent was nothing like I'd ever encountered, and it was like a magnet to my nose. I used my fingers to spread her pussy apart, since this was my first close-up look and all. I could see her pussy lips, which were wet, surrounded by a bit of light-reddish hair.

I moved in closer. I was still kind of apprehensive about this. But, shit, she'd swallowed my cum, hadn't she? I stuck my tongue out and ran it up the length of her inner lips. She shuddered and moaned at the contact.

The taste was indescribable. Very different, but not bad at all. I nuzzled her lips with my tongue again. I drew my tongue up and down her lips, and she groaned as I did so. Then I slid my tongue down to her opening, and slipped it inside. She was shivering and moaning the whole time, and her hands almost involuntarily went for my head, rubbing through my hair.

It was amazing. The taste was intoxicating. And her reactions were something else. I stuck my tongue into her as far as it would go, and pulled it out again, and stuck it in again. "Oh, God, Joe!" she hissed.

I came back up the length of her pussy, and gently flicked her clit. "Ooooooh!" she gasped, her hands running through my hair faster now. I was kind of unsure at this point, so the verbal utterances were welcome. I knew the clit was delicate--but I also knew that's where it all happened. So I nudged it a few more times when I came up her pussy with my tongue. "Oh, yes," she whispered. "More."

I wrapped my lips around her clit, and started gently sucking on it. "Yes!" she hissed. "God!" I kept that up, but I also used my tongue to rub her clit while I sucked on it. I was really just guessing at this point.

I guessed right. She just exploded, moaning and gasping and thrusting her pussy up at my face. I kept it up, and after a minute, she hissed. "Fingers! Inside me!" I did as she asked, slipping two fingers up inside her pussy. I remembered that spot she'd showed me the last time, and curled my fingers up at it. She just went nuts. A couple of minutes of me sucking on her clit and moving my fingers around inside her, and she just exploded. Her hips came off the bed and her hands dug into my head. She yelped, and I felt her pussy clamp down on my fingers.

After a few minutes of writhing and yelping and clamping, she gently pushed my head away. I sat up. She crawled over to me and collapsed in my arms. After she caught her breath, she said, "Do you get good grades?"

"Well, yeah, usually," I said, confused.

"I figured," she said, looking up and grinning at me, "because you are one hell of a student!"

I had to laugh. "Well, this is more fun than, say, geometry."

"Hmmm. Even with Miss Peterson's tits staring you in the face in geometry?"

"OK, there is that," I conceded.

"You should make a move on her," Jordan said, smiling.

"Jesus. I can't make a move on a girl my own age, you expect me to make one on a teacher?"

She laughed at that. "You will. Be able to make a move on a girl, I mean. I've got one more lesson for you. We'll have that one in a little while." Jesus--she had just pretty much said she was going to have me fuck her! "You should try to get another girl in here for some fooling around, though."

"I have to see. I have to broaden my horizons," I told her. "Honestly, I have to get over my infatuation with Darcy Iniglia."

"Yes, that would be a good thing."

"I'm working on it. You're helping," I told her. "Anyhow, I was wondering. Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" This was a Thursday, so I was asking her about Friday. "I thought maybe we could go out. To the Burger Hut, and then maybe a movie."

"Joe Benson, did you just ask me out on a date? You are getting better," she grinned. Then she bit her lower lip. "The only problem, is, well, I don't want you to, you know..."

I figured out what she was trying to say. "Look, Jordan, I'm asking you on a date. Not to marry me or anything. Or even to be my girlfriend. I'm just asking you to go out with me. I've figured out you're not looking for a relationship right now, and that's fine with me. But I'd like to get to know you better as a person. And, you know, it's also kind of a thank-you."

"OK," she said, beaming, "in that case, I'd love to go out with you. You really are getting better."

"Well, with you," I laughed. "You make it easy."

"Good!"

It was on that date, over greaseburgers at the Burger Hut, that she brought up the current 'topic of gossip'.

"You're friends with Patrick Drouin, aren't you?" she asked me.

"Yeah. Best friends since, like, third grade."

"So, have you heard about the drama?" she asked.

"You mean with Amber and Jenna and all that? Yeah, I've heard about it."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. Patrick seems to think Amber is the Devil incarnate. I have to tell you, I've known Amber since 6th grade and I've never been all that fond of her."

"Why not?"

"Because she's scary," I admitted. Jordan cracked up laughing at that. "Well, she is. And she's never struck me as being all that nice."

"You're her journal partner, aren't you?"

"Yeah, and when we met at the end of last month, she basically took my journal and threw hers at me. She's just bitchy."

"She's less bitchy than you think she is," Jordan told me. "And this whole Jenna thing? It's a mess."

"I have to admit I don't trust Jenna."

"Nor should you. Look, Joe, keep an open mind about this, OK? When you get Amber's journal, ask her for her side. Everyone's turning against Amber and it bugs me--because she's not in the wrong about this. Jenna is a manipulative bitch, OK?"

"I'd suspected that."

"Give Amber a chance."

"I will," I promised her. "Especially since you asked, seeing as how I owe you."

"Ah, fuck that," she waved me off.

"I do. You've done a lot for me."

"Good. And I'm not even done," she grinned.

The way Jordan treated me really was a confidence boost. She was fun and appreciative and encouraging. Moose was insanely jealous, but in a good way. Maggie was thrilled.

"You gonna take her words to heart, about taking another girl into the pods?"

"I'm thinking about it," I said. "Only for some fooling around, though. I want Jordan to take my virginity, I've decided."

"Makes sense," Maggie agreed.

"I've also thought about a few other things. I need more exposure, more things to do, something to keep my interest. I'm thinking I need an extra-curricular activity. I just need to decide which one."

"That'd be cool." She laughed. "Of course, mine was fucking."

"I do believe I knew that," I laughed. "But I need something else."

"That's cool," she said. "So, she talked about Amber?"

"Yeah. I think I'm just going to let things cool off. When we get together at the end of the month to swap journals, I'll ask her about it."

"That's a good plan."

The next week, I did it.

It was Wednesday. I had thought about what Jordan had said for a few days. So, after Bio, I just kind of headed to the pods.

One of the girls there was Eliza Ying. I was surprised. I'd known Eliza, she was from Westport--I'd known her and her twin brother Kirk since middle school. And Maggie knew their older sister Reenie. So, I knew Eliza. I had a few classes with her this year. One of them was gym. Now, gym at Naked High was strange, as the showers were co-ed. (As was every bathroom in the school, by the way.) You'd get a good idea who was having problems or not. I'm sure everyone noticed me cowering in the corner of the shower for most of September!

Anyhow, that was Eliza. She was shy. I had had a little talk with Kirk at one point a couple weeks ago, and he told me that Eliza wanted to go to Naked High because he did--and was having more trouble with it than she thought she would. She was still shy and self-conscious--as was I a lot of the time--and was still trying to get used to it.

Which is why I was surprised to see her standing at the pods, hesitantly looking around.

Now, I'd gotten the gumption to walk down in the general vicinity of the pods, but I was certain I wasn't going to have the guts to do anything when I got down there. I figured just finishing my lunch and heading down there--this was during the extended lunch time--was a step in the right direction. Actually approaching someone could wait until I'd pretended a few more times!

So, it was almost more of an exploration. But then I saw Eliza standing there. Eliza was cute--very petite, but cute. She was also nice and sweet. And since she hadn't completely adapted to the Naked High Experience yet, I saw her as kind of a kindred spirit.

So, I found myself walking up to her. "Hi, Eliza."

"Oh! Hi Joe," she said with a smile.

"Are you waiting for anyone in particular?" she asked.

"Uh, no. I don't even know if I'm waiting," she said with a nervous little giggle. "I'm just--I don't know."

"Curious," I guessed.

"Yeah, that."