Chapter 22

He'd again found himself awake at 4:30 — not much more than an hour after he again gotten to sleep. He glanced about and wondered what was wrong. Nothing, it seemed. It just appeared as though he'd had another dream. It was about drugs and what he was going to do. He sat up in bed for a moment and then realized that he really should get back on those two pills he'd been prescribed. He checked his bookbag and found the two pillboxes. He got out one of each and swigged down a few gulps from a bottle of water he kept on his dresser. He medicated himself and immediately fell back asleep.

He awoke to the clock radio feeling both alert and refreshed. He paused and wondered whether what he remembered had really happened. He got up and out of bed. He walked over and looked in his dirty clothes basket where he found the towel and beneath that he found his cum-incrusted boxers.

OK, that confirms that! It really happened! MY GOD! What the hell am I goin' to do!?

There was no way he was going to try and carry on a set of relationships with Jan and Susie with his room being adjacent to that of the twins and right down the hall from Henry and Gwen. That'd be impossible to pull off. They'd be found out in no time.

Then he recalled his thought of earlier that morning. Why not fix up that unfinished portion of the family & workout room and make up a bedroom for him out of that open space. That would simplify several aspects of his home life.

Yeah, that's a plan. Now, I've got to think of a way to present it to Henry and Gwen.

He went ahead and swallowed down another pair of pills. He got himself cleaned up in the bathroom and once again literally ran into the twins as they rushed by his freshly clean body to take over the bathroom. Jan and Susie hadn't yet made an appearance. He dressed and went downstairs for some breakfast.

They got through an oddly tense breakfast. At least, he thought it was tense. The twins were looking at him oddly. Jan and Susie were just smiling a lot and giving him some steamy looks whenever the twins weren't looking at them. He felt like something was going to give.

Henry and Gwen were discussing what to do about the crazy vice-principal who was in charge of the program. And while Henry wasn't acting in any way that bothered Dan, Gwen kept glancing at him in what might be considered a skeptical or perhaps bothered fashion. He couldn't quite decide what her glances might mean.

Given these mixed signals, Dan just returned to pondering the nature of his very unusual existence.

I'm gonna become an existentialist — no doubt about it.

He got out of the house and his entry into the second day of his participation in the program started with a nearly wholly normal bike ride to school. He left even earlier than he'd done on Monday and really got in some exercise.

While he worked on the exercise he also reviewed the memory of Don's that had come to him while he'd been in the bathroom with Susie and Jan. It was one that was clearly of an origin with a younger Don. It made it clear to Dan that Susie, Cindy, and Donna had not shared the whole truth of what had so greatly effected Don. Don had not only had sex with Donna and Cindy, but also with his stepsister Susie. He now had to think that this was what screwed up Don's relations with the girls. He had to have been feeling some guilt over having had sex with his stepsister. If only he could dredge up some memory of Don's to confirm this. But, all he had to work with was what the girls had described and admitted to along with that sudden memory he'd experienced earlier in the morning — as he'd gone down on Susie.

Don's life certainly was strange for a twelve year old kid.

He continued biking as he thought his way through these past events of Don's life. He was beginning to feel really good with an endorphin high as he finally headed towards the high school.

Then, it happened. Dan couldn't fail to notice that same car he'd seen the day before. He saw it twice. Once, it was ahead of him in the traffic headed towards the school. He eased back on his pedaling and watched it from behind. Then, the traffic light cycle allowed it to get away from him.

The second time he saw it was when he bicycled through the school parking lot. There was no one in it or near it. Whoever had been driving it was already gone. He took a moment to write down the license plate number, VIN number, and model — along with a description of the vehicle. He stored it away in his bookbag. That information would be something he'd pass along to Lester or one of the other deputies or officers.

He went on over to the bike rack nearer the front of the school and secured his bicycle. He got his bag and slung it across his offside shoulder. Given everything that had happened he just wished that he had a suitable piece of ordinance held up along his free side. An M4, or his AC-556K, or perhaps one of those handy little MP-5s that Henry had provided. Visions of that fucked up vice-principal dancing to the tune of an automatic weapon briefly played through his mind.

Forget that kinda shit. That's just an invitation for accusations of another Columbine. I ain't there! I'm way the opposite of something like that shit.

He shook his head clear of such outrageous thoughts as the main entrance came into view with a small crowd of students standing about in anticipation of the strip shows they might observe.

Dan allowed his grim sorta grin to play across Don's face as he approached the scene of public stripping. He took up a position nearby and waited for other program participants to show up. Some of the onlookers noticed him, but none approached him. Perhaps his recently acquired reputation was preceding him...

Todd drove up and let Cindy out. Both Janet and Todd waved and he waved back.

Jeeze, if only Janet knew about what had happened overnight. She'd probably revert right back to her wilder form.

Cindy was at least smiling as she walked up to him. She continued her approach right into his arms. She pressed up against him and took hold of his head. The kiss that followed merged with his still existent endorphin high and did wonders for how he felt. It was simply amazing how well he felt while once again being a fifteen year old boy. Cindy was pushing and grinding against his body. Unfortunately, given what had passed that night before — he could only feel some warmth and appreciation for her efforts. The meds were back in force and he felt less than zero response from his groin.

They pulled apart a bit. "So, how are you feeling today?" That was a question delivered with a grin — by Cindy.

"Awfully damned good, right now." He was able to genuinely smile at her. That much he could pull off. She did feel good pressing up against him. Only, there were those naggingly guilty thoughts associated with what had happened in the early hours of that morning.

"Wanna go ahead and do what's necessary?" She was smiling ever so slightly at the suggestion.

"No, not yet. Let's wait for some other program participants to arrive." He nodded to the small crowd that had collected around the area fronting the entrance to the school. "I'd rather have the waiting mobs' attentions split up. Plus, somebody can stand watch while his or her partner undresses. What do you think of that? As a plan, I mean."

She smiled at him and nodded. "That sounds good. I like it. You have some good ideas."

That's when he noticed Jim's car stop nearby. Jim and Christine waved as Donna got out. Both Dan and Cindy returned their own waves as Donna walked over to them.

Donna was smiling as she came up to them. "My turn, Cindy." She winked at her best friend.

Dan couldn't quite believe this was really happening. The previous night was still fresh on his mind and here were two different girls wanting the same from him. He was not constitutionally formed with a predilection towards establishing a harem centered around himself. But here he was finding himself sliding into such an existence. His troubled and guilty thoughts were overwhelmed as Donna took control of matters.

She too pressed into his body and also grabbed hold of his head with her hands. Her kiss was perhaps more desperate in its intensity. That seemed to fit into the makeup of Donna's personality. Whatever the reason, Don's body was soon sucking in increasingly desperate breaths through the nostrils as Dan experienced Donna's tongue tangling efforts. And Dan couldn't help but respond to the excitement being elicited by Donna's efforts. He inserted and twisted his own tongue into her mouth, delving to enjoy the experience and provide Donna with enjoyment of her own.

The kiss broke with both of them breathing hard. Dan glanced at Cindy and saw a flushed face and someone else hauling in great big breaths. She seemed to be getting off on the excitement she had seen between Don and Donna.

Donna herself ground against Don's body and a pout formed on her face. "No reaction, huh?" She'd felt a lack of response on the part of his cock.

Dan shook Don's head. "Not now. Yesterday I forgot to take my drugs because of all of the surprise surrounding the program. Last night I woke up to a surprise. Uh, I finally realized what had happened and so I'm back on the medications. After the surprise and now that I've effectively double-dosed myself — well, no — nothing's likely to happen."

Cindy was frowning a bit. "What was the surprise last night?"

He looked to her. "Oh, you know — guys have accidents in the middle of the night. Last night was the first time that happened since I got out of the hospital." He shrugged his shoulders.

Lying by omission. That's gonna come back to haunt me.

Donna lightly punched on the shoulder. "And you took more of those damned drugs?" The pout was definitely there.

"Well, they're supposed to be for my benefit. I wouldn't be on them if there wasn't still a worry about my condition."

"Oh, OK."

"Uh, we need to get together and have another talk with Susie. And Jan needs to join us, too. She knows about what happened, before. There are some other things goin' on that I'm tryin' to understand and I want to talk to all four of you about them."

"What's going on, Don?" That was Cindy. She looked worried.

"I'm only goin' to talk about it with all of you, together. I'm noticin' things that I think the four of you can help me understand."

Donna punched him again. It was a little bit harder, this time. And her pout had transmogrified into a slight scowl. "Quit bein' mysterious! What's goin' on? Tell us!" She kept that scowl in place as she finished.

"No, I can't tell you right now. I won't say anything more until I can speak with all four of you. This effects my sisters much like it might effect you two. You four seem to know me best. I've got questions and the answers are probably sitting there behind your pretty eyes. One of you is likely going to know something about what I'm thinking about. Maybe three or even all four will know about it. I want all four of you together so I can get down to the underlying problem. It's about me. I just need your help. That's all."

Liar! What a damned liar I've become in this bizarre situation.

Donna's scowl changed over into a look of worry and Cindy seemed to relax just a bit after having heard what he said. "You're trying to figure out something, right? And you think we can help you with it?" That was Cindy.

"Yeah. And that might lead to more questions." He shrugged.

The two girls looked at each other and seemed to exchange some sort of information.

A voice called out and Dan cranked Don's head around to find them being approached by a couple of groups of students. Rhonda and Roger were walking towards them with some others who must be friends of theirs. It had been Roger who'd called out and both he and Rhonda were waving. Dan waved back with Don's hand and Cindy was grinning as she saw the other two Sophomore program participants approaching.

A larger cluster of students was being lead along by Leroy and Billy. Jim and Todd were there with their girlfriends Janet and Christine. That little blond cheerleader named Debbie was walking alongside Leroy, too. A gaggle of others were following along and Dan realized that part of that group seemed to be made up of the rest of that week's program participants. He looked closely and realized that all of them were there. And trailing along at the back of the herd of students like border collies were Jan and Susie. He immediately began to suspect a conspiracy.

His suspicions were immediately confirmed. Leroy walked up and slapped him on the back, almost causing him to knock over Donna and Cindy. Leroy was grinning as he did this. "Don, you ready to lead with the strippin', again?"

Donna got pissed at this. "LEROY THOMAS!!! What do you think you're doin'!? Don't you remember that Don's still injured!? You could hurt him doin' that kinda thing!"

Dan was more worried about what might have happened to Cindy and Donna after that great big whacking slap drove him into them. But both of the girls seemed OK and Donna was certainly anything but harmed. She seemed to be ready for battle!

Leroy stepped back and looked chagrined. "Don! Did I hurt you!?"

"Uh, not really - Leroy. But Cindy an' Donna might have been hurt when you drove me into them. If that had happened, then I'd have had to beat you up..." He did grin — just to let Leroy know that he was sorta, kinda, maybe kidding...

Billy Jenkins punched Leroy on the shoulder and grinned. "You big dummy! What were you thinkin'!? We need you healthy for this Friday's game! Don't get Don angry an' all riled up! None of us could save you if that happened!" Billy then started chuckling and soon was laughing along with the crowd surrounding them. Another individual besides Leroy who wasn't laughing was the cheerleader Debbie. She was looking at Don with an odd expression.

Tasha Thomas stepped out of the crowd and confronted her truly big brother. She too was not laughing. "What were you thinkin'!? You could have hurt Don! You almost did cause Donna and Cindy to be hurt! If you don't apologize to them I'm gonna have to do something about this!"

Amazingly, Leroy took a step back from his tiny, little sister. Tasha was only 12 & 3/4 years old. She barely weighed a few more pounds than one-third the weight of her brother. But, she was a phenomenon all to herself. She was already a sophomore, having skipped two grades. And she was an acknowledged holy terror amongst her friends. And Leroy knew this, from a couple of too, too interesting experiences suffered because of his sister's very creative capacity for getting even. He might be five years her senior and nearly three times her size — but, that wouldn't save him if she decided to have a go at him for some perceived slight or injustice...

Dan was watching this development from alongside Donna and Cindy when a pair of hands slid around his torso and a pair of lips made contact with his cheek. "Hey Old Man, did my big cousin cause any damage?" It was Jan who whispered to him and she was smiling at both him and the scenario playing out before them.

"Uh, no. None to me." Dan turned to Donna and Cindy. "Neither of you were hurt, right?"

Those two were now looking at Jan's hug of Don with some bit of interest. "No, I'm not hurt. It was just surprising and kind of alarming the way Leroy slapped you. That's all." That was Cindy.

"Well, maybe no one's hurt. But, I'm with Tasha. Leroy needs to apologize for what he did." So spoke Donna as she still focused on how Jan held Don in a hug.

Jan nodded and released her grip on Don. She turned and walked over to Tasha. As she did this Susie took her place by Don and she too kissed her stepbrother on the cheek while giving him a hug. She whispered something into his ear and he blinked while turning slightly pink with what might have been embarrassment.

Cindy and Donna watched this and each was wondering about what might have happened that caused Don to want to talk to all four of them. Their suspicions were getting to be close to the mark. The affection being shown their boyfriend by his two stepsisters was holding their attention. That Susie would show him that sort of attention was no surprise to the two girls. But that Jan had just acted in a similar way to what Susie was doing was something new and a little bit unexpected.

Thoughts like these went through the two friends' minds as Jan kept everyone's attention while she defused Tasha's impending declaration of war on her older brother. While Jan was seriously engaged in calming down her younger cousin Leroy was frowning and staring at a Billy Jenkins who was laughing his head off at his big friend.

Then Tasha turned from Jan and smiled at Billy. Billy knew about Tasha's reputation from Leroy. His laughter now died an abrupt death as he saw the look in the young girl's eyes. He didn't want to be the object of her considerable attention — to detail... while planning and exacting revenge.

"Uh, sorry Tasha. It was just so funny to see Leroy lookin' so concerned with you starin' at him like that." Billy grinned a bit sheepishly.

"OK, Billy. That's fine. I'll let you live, this time." Billy actually flinched. With that Tasha turned back to her brother. "You still need to apologize to Cindy, Donna, and Don. And you need to thank Jan for saving you! Got that — big brother!?" Tasha smiled sweetly at Leroy.

There were hoots from the crowd that had formed around them as Leroy received his little sister's ultimatum. The two groups that had approached Don and the two girls had now grown slightly larger with some students walking over from the designated stripping site. The sight of little Tasha terrifying two Senior football players was too good a show to pass up for lots of students.

Debbie the cheerleader was a spectator to all of this. She kept glancing between all of the several individuals participating in this strange encounter with her Leroy. She was frowning in concentration as she tried to follow all of the strands of the interactions passing around her.

As it was, things calmed down and Leroy apologized to Don and the two girls. He then thanked his cousin for saving his skin. Jan simply smiled in reply, but with a wink and nod being sent in Dan's direction. Susie, Donna, and Cindy all caught that last and again the two girls who both still desired Don wondered what might be going on between Don and his older stepsister.

Dan had been thinking about what was about to happen as he looked back towards the area where they were supposed to strip. As he turned he found that their group had been under close watch by the law enforcement contingent assigned to the school. Right behind them stood Mitch Littleton, Danny Perkins, and Crystal's father Chad Devereaux. And both Crystal and Janine were standing there, smiling at the scene they'd just witnessed.

"Y'all enjoy our antics?" He grinned at them.

There was another laugh from the three officers and the two young girls who had become his friends.

"Sneak, just please don't beat up my boss' son. My uncle wouldn't even start to protect me from Lester if you did that on my watch!" Danny Perkins was grinning despite the topic.

Dan allowed a grin to play across Don's face. "I don't want to hurt him, and I don't intend to hurt him — but, if he ever does it again then I may have to remind him about pain." He glanced back at Leroy and winked ever so slightly. Leroy had been watching and listening and now he actually relaxed a bit. Now he knew that neither Tasha or Don was going to actively pursue hurting him. That brought a sense of real relief for him. He'd experienced his sister's revenge in the past and didn't want to set her off — not ever again! As to Don, Leroy didn't even want to go there. He might be big, strong, fast and tough — but that didn't mean much when compared to the younger guy. Don was a dreadfully effective fighting machine — as nearly everyone knew. Even faced with a gun he'd won a fight just using his unarmed fighting skills and ferocity. Leroy sincerely wanted to remain being one of Don's friends.

As Leroy relaxed and grinned at Don the recipient of that grin allowed a continuing grin to remain upon his host's face. Dan considered what he had been thinking about before he'd been distracted by Leroy's back-slap. "OK, we need to do the strip thing in front of a bunch of other students. This could get to be a problem if we don't do this carefully. I've got a plan, if anyone's interested in hearing about it."

Rhonda and Roger had edged up close where he was standing and they both nodded. They'd seen Don in action the previous day and realized that his ideas seemed to be effective and worked for them. "Tell us what you're thinking, Don." That was from a smiling Rhonda. Roger was nodding at what Rhonda had to say.

He looked around at the crowd surrounding them. There were faces he recognized from the football team. They were guys he knew to various degrees — some only slightly, others were acquaintances he'd grown to know during practices. And there were girls alongside a lot of them — their girlfriends, most likely. And there were kids from several of his classes. They were likely thinking about the future, if he was any judge of things. They'd want to see how things could be managed when they themselves got thrown into the program.

Besides the four of the Sophomore program participants, he basically recognized the remainder of the participants other than Leroy and Billy. Even clothed, he could pick them out from the previous morning. It seemed like all of them had at least a modicum of similar thoughts. Don had been their organizer on that first occasion when they'd been forced to strip. If he had an idea of what to do, then they'd listen to what he had to say.

"OK, here's what I'd like to suggest. First, we have the guys strip in two groups of four. We have the Seniors and Sophomores do it first. The rest of you in the program stand around us while we drop trousers." He grinned for a moment and watched those around him digest his first point. He again noticed Debbie. This time she was smiling a bit as she looked between him and Leroy. Maybe she approved of his plan. He checked Jan and Susie and saw each nodding to him. He then looked to Cindy and Donna and they too nodded. The other program participants either nodded or shrugged their shoulders as he looked to them. Roger was grinning, actually. Both Leroy and Billy looked thoughtful.

No one seemed too disturbed by what he'd just said, so he continued. "Part B of the first strip involves the Junior and Freshmen guys. The rest of us will stand around them and distract or block anyone who wants to bother or fondle them while they're undressing. Everyone follow things so far?" He again looked around and saw that the four guys were nodding. One was even grinning much as Roger had done.

"Now, the second strip will be different. This will be all of the ladies undressing at once. And I do mean all at once. This is to confuse anyone who's thinking of trying to do anything. Even though we have the three officers overseeing things, in a crowd things can get outta control too damned fast. So, we startle and confuse anyone thinkin' of tryin' something by hittin' 'em with all eight of the ladies strippin' simultaneously. Everyone understand this?" He now looked at the eight girls who'd have to follow through with his suggested plan. They looked around to each other and there were nods.

Cindy spoke up. "Don's right about it being startling. Anyone who might have thought about doing something likely expects that we'll all strip as we each individually work up our courage. Instead, let's do it together and get it over with. It'll keep anyone wanting to bother us off-balance." She grinned and nodded at Don as she finished.

"Yeah, it's the best way to deal with this mess this first time. Let's try it Don's way. He gave us all the best advice yesterday. I think he's reading the possibilities of what might happen. This way we can probably avoid some problems." That was Rhonda. She grinned too as she finished.

Now there were nods from the other six girls.

And now for a little extra insurance.

He looked over to the several guys from the football team. "You guys wanna help us?"

There were some surprised expressions from some of them. "Whattuh yuh mean, Don?"

"How about throwin' up a screen with your girlfriends? I mean, someday you're goin' to have to go through this. How about helpin' us out with keepin' things under control. Just position yourselves and your girlfriends around us while we strip. That way we'll have a buffer zone made of you guys against anyone tryin' something really stupid."

The team's present quarterback was standing there along with several other teammates of Leroy and Billy. He was a Junior named Will Bostwick. He hadn't expected to be playing first string this year, what with Don having wowed everyone in the past Spring practices. But Don had been injured and so Will was now the quarterback for the team. And Don had worked with him on plays and execution of patterns of movement. Will was very appreciative of what Don had done, even when he'd been recovering from his injuries. Now he spoke up.

"I'll do it! We gotta watch out for each other with this program startin' up! Don's right about that. So, guys — are we gonna do it?" Will looked around at the other players and saw nods and even some grins on the faces of girlfriends. He grinned and looked to Don and gave him a thumbs up.

Dan was relieved with the response of these several guys and girls who weren't in the program. "Thanks Will! That'll help protect everyone in the program while we're vulnerable." He let a big smile play across Don's face.

Tasha stepped up in front of him. "Hey Don! I'll help protect you!" She was grinning with what might be a bit of a leer.

Oh Jeez! She's back at it again.

"Oh, OK Tasha. Uh, why don't you watch our backs. Maybe Donna could help you with watching what's happening behind us as we strip."

Donna grinned and nodded. Susie started grinning also. "I'll help out!"

Jan laughed. "Sure! Let's watch my brother and cousin strip down in front of us!"

Dan wondered where that came from. Usually Jan was cool and not so outgoing. Maybe that morning's events had been the first opening move in a change in her whole demeanor. He shook those thoughts off as he turned around to check out the crowd that had gathered at the front of the school.

He looked to Mitch Littleton and the other two officers. "I guess it's time for us to get this over with. Can you guys clear a path for us? I don't want to get into trouble by pushing my way through that throng."

Mitch grinned. "Sure Don. Give us a few moments to get things started."

The two police officers and deputy Danny Perkins put their heads together for a few seconds and then Chad Devereaux turned to his daughter and her friend.

"Girls, why don't you join Don's sisters in watching their backs. That way you'll be back out of the way in case we need to do anything. And if someone tries doing anything to you you'll have Don there along with Leroy. You watch their backs and they can protect you if things go wrong with this stripping thing." He smiled at Crystal and Janine to lessen the impact of his words.

"Sure, Daddy. Come on Janine! Let's go and get in next to Jan and Susie." Janine smiled and nodded at her friend's father and turned to walk through the crowd to join Don's stepsisters.

The three law enforcement officers moved out and used their public address systems to get the gathered crowd of students to spread apart. This worked quite well and they easily made room for the program participants and their friends.

Dan turned to Jan. "Would y'all take up a position around the boxes that we put our clothes in. I don't want anyone tampering with them."

Jan smiled brightly. "Sure! That'll be easy to manage with the five of us." She looked to Susie, Donna, Crystal and Janine.

He nodded. "That sounds good. I don't want anything happening to anyone's clothes or the boxes and their locks. Yesterday's surprise with the locks shouldn't happen again."

Again he checked the crowd and noticed that they'd spread back from the boxes into a wider circle due to the work of the three officers. With that, Dan gestured and led the group of program participants to that open up space that had appeared. "Come on, let's get it over with before the crowd moves back in on us!"

Dan led their group over to the cleared spot around the clothing boxes that they were to use once they stripped. The other program participants moved into the area and soon were surrounded by the group of football players and their girlfriends led by Will Bostwick.

Will looked around and turned to Don. "This looks as good as it's gonna get, Don. You want to start now?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah, thanks Will. It looks like this is it." He turned to find Roger, Leroy and Billy standing beside him. "Let's do it."