Chapter 17

The last thing he'd said to Don's friends had been "How about lunch?"

Lunchtime it was. Lunchtime it became...

May this be an escape and a temporary respite from my current descent into this hell within which I find myself placed.

He wondered where the hell he'd gotten any touch of a poetic or prose tendency. He wasn't a poet, but a smart grunt who'd made it good.

Well, that is - before I found myself living as Don and in this damned program monstrosity. Maybe Don has poetic genes or something. But, for me - I'm gonna find the author of this legislation and off the bastard. I gonna get poetic with his carcass.

As they entered the lunchroom some guy with a leering look walked up to Cindy. He'd wanted to know if she was ready for the best fuck of her life. "Hey babe, you ready for the best fuck of your life!?" His leer became transfigured into the essence of lust as he looked up and down her naked body. He reached down and stroked his aroused member underneath his pants, thrusting it towards her.

Cindy gasped, blanched, and stepped back into Donna. Dan's reaction began with a step towards the leering asshole. Before Dan even had a chance to say or do anything Susie beat him to it. She snorted and pointed to Don.

"I guess you don't know about reasonable requests! Her program partner might have something to say about that. He's responsible for helping and protecting her from assholes like you! And, he's already sent five idiots like you to the emergency room over the last two months. Maybe if you start running now you'll be able to get away form him, asshole." Susie smiled oh so sweetly as she delivered this little dissertation to the leering asshole.

Damnit! Now I've got Susie braggin' about my fightin'! That's twice she's done that this morning. And when'd she start talkin' like that!?

Dan looked on with some interest as Susie's message was digested by the leering asshole. He was prepared to do anything necessary, whatever the asshole might attempt.

That leering expression died as the asshole looked at Don and appeared to recognize him. Said asshole suddenly turned pale. He spun about and fled for the doors of the lunchroom.

Well, that was interesting. And quick!

Apparently, having a reputation for inflicting unwanted punishment was a worthwhile thing to possess. Well, sometimes.

Susie laughed as if she'd never seen anything like that, before. Dan just let Don's expression become that of a tight smile. Cindy sighed and Donna muttered something about assholes. Tasha, Abe, and Vince seemed to get more alert as though they were watching for more potential trouble.

Abe turned to him and grinned for a moment. "Hey, Don — You didn't have to fight this time. You need to keep Susie around to announce your presence and abilities."

Tasha cut in before Dan could reply. "Yeah! That's a really excellent strategy. It cuts down on the all those bloody splatters like the ones that covered Abe." She was gleaming at Don as she delivered this particular observation.

Dan groaned. It's only gonna get worse. I know it. Lester is gonna jail me whenever Tasha succeeds in her plans. Gwen's gonna do something awful when Susie gets her way. I just know it. Then there's Cindy and Donna. They've practically publicly admitted that they'd each screwed Don. That's gonna get back around to Todd and Jim. They're gonna be pissed. I'm gonna have a mob after me before this is all over with.

He moved through the lunch-line like an automaton, worrying about how he'd become trapped in a situation not of his own making.

What did I ever do to be placed here? How did I get here? I don't know squat and I've got a bad feelin' about what's gonna happen. Why me???

If possible, he would have whined. Fortunately, he wasn't a whiner. He just couldn't figure out what was happening around him. He was in a perpetual state of confusion and finding himself constantly adapting to a shifting landscape. His mental footing was unstable, to say the least.

They got through the lunch line without any further problems. Cindy and Don were provided their meals gratis. Program participants did not have to pay for their meals. That sorta fit, Dan thought, as his awareness had come back when he'd been forced to choose his meal. If we're forced to go through the day without clothes, then how could you carry money to pay for your lunch? It still didn't come close to making up for this sorta coercive bullshit, he thought.

They walked over to their usual spot of tables and found that Janice and Janet were already there. Along with Cindy's brother Todd...

Todd said it first. "Oh Damn!" Comments from others followed.

Janice looked up at the ceiling for a moment. She seemed to shiver or maybe shudder for a couple of seconds before she lowered her gaze to her ersatz stepbrother. "Well, old man — how're you doin'?" She allowed a slight smile to grace her visage. And, she winked as she delivered that line.

Dan blinked. Oh damn! Jan must be enjoying this. She'd just reminded him of her knowledge about who he was.

Janet just stared. Janice had to elbow her to break up her apparent fascination with the spectacle. Whatever the spectacle might have been to her. Dan feared he knew the answer to that question. However, Todd seemed to be so shocked at seeing his little sister in the nude that he totally failed to pick up on the other conversation. And that very obvious reaction on the part of his girlfriend.

Damn! DAMN! DAMN!!! Not another one!

Janet seemed to have fallen into a hole of lust upon seeing Don's particular features.

Dan managed not to cringe. He could now visualize half of the football team coming after him because their girlfriends wanted a piece of or all of what hang between his legs.

When I get home this evening I'm goin' online and I'm gonna research this damned law. Then, I'm gonna talk Jan into driving me to wherever the asshole lives. I'm gonna kill the sonnabitch who wrote this stature.

"Hey Don, how are you doin' dealin' with this program thing?" Dan turned around to find Leroy walking up with one of his buddies from the football team.

"It's grim, Leroy. Real grim." He leaned over towards Jan's cousin and whispered. "I'm gonna end up being arrested by your father. I've gotta find the SOB who wrote this legislation and terminate his ass. I'm really pissed off over this situation. If I'd known about this, I'd have faked a relapse and insisted on home schooling."

Leroy chuckled. "Damn, Don! You are pissed off, ain't you!?"

Dan looked up into Leroy's eyes. "You have no idea, Leroy."

Dan looked to Leroy's buddy. He was standing behind Leroy and looking around the lunchroom. It was as if he were looking out for Leroy's back. David Hill was a tackle on the defensive unit. Dan raised an eyebrow at David. David replied. "Somebody's gotta look out for Leroy. There's been a shark pack of girls following him, so far." He grinned.

Dan looked around and realized that there were several girls standing or seated nearby and looking towards them. He realized that David was likely correct.

Well, at least there's some comfort in this craziness. It's not just me attracting some unreal attention...

He shrugged and grinned at both Leroy and David in a fatalistic way. His sense of humor was returning. "That's good of you, David. We can't have our nose guard weakened by this damned program thing and what a horde of girls might want to do with Leroy."

Leroy groaned loudly and turned away to take his seat. David just returned Don's lopsided grin while he moved to take a seat by Leroy.

Dan took a seat between Cindy and Donna at another table next to the one where Jan was being joined by Leroy. He and Don's two old girlfriends were joined by Susie, Tasha, Vince, and Abe. Dan looked around and saw that several program participants were seated around them, apparently joined by friends.

Maybe things will work out OK for these kids in this damned program.

He started working on consuming his meal as his thoughts went back over the first four periods of the school day.

Dan was sitting at his lunch table when he noticed a guy walk up to one of the adjacent tables. One of the two Freshman girls in the program was seated there along with some other kids who must have been her friends. Or, so he thought. The two other Freshman program participants were at the other end of the table and the singularly naked girl program participant was seated opposite to them.

Whoever he was, the guy started talking to the program girl without even acknowledging the other kids at the table. And the girl immediately began to look scared. Then he put a hand on her naked thigh and she flinched. The other kids at the table were staring, seeming to be frozen at the sight of the strange tableau where a guy was trying to make out with a frightened, naked girl in plain sight — right there in the lunchroom.

Dan got pissed. He turned and whispered to Cindy. "Excuse for a moment, Cindy. I've got some of this damned program business to take care of."

His whisper hadn't been so quiet as to go unnoticed by the others at the table. They looked up and around. Abe seemed to recognize the problem immediately. His gaze focused and he frowned. In seconds everyone at the table was staring over at the other table.

Dan had gotten up and thought things through as we wandered by the table where Jan had been joined by Leroy. He leaned over David's shoulder. "David, would you be willing to switch seats with someone who's being harassed?"

David looked up and caught Dan's glance over towards the table where the Freshmen were seated. He looked that way and frowned. He glanced up to Don. "Sure, Don."

Dan slapped him on the shoulder and grinned his tight sort of grin. Jan noticed that and suddenly looked around, expecting trouble.

Dan then walked to the Freshman table. As he approached he noticed that two of the boys were starting to get up from their seats. They had realized what was happening and were reacting once they began to get over their surprise. Dan waved them back. "Program business, guys. Let me handle it." His grim sorta grin was still showing. They must have known who he was. He thought that maybe one of them was on the JV football team, as he seemed familiar. They sat back down and watched as things played out.

The girl was quite pretty, with an almost beautiful, innocent-looking face, chestnut hair, and a nicely slim figure. Dan couldn't recall her name, even though he'd heard it during that first period meeting. He'd been too shocked at the whole damned program thing to recall the names of its other victims. At this moment she didn't look quite so pretty. Her face was strained and she was hunched over as she tried to avoid the advances of the guy who'd basically trapped her in her chair.

Dan knelt down beside her chair opposite from the guy, who was still intent on fondling her leg and trying to run his hand up to her groin. She turned to Don as she realized another program participant was next to her. Dan spoke to her, ignoring the asshole. "Hi, remember me from the meeting this morning?" He smiled as he finished his question to her.