Chapter 14: Friday at School

Period 1 - Honors Seminar

Honors seminar had less than its share of athletes but membership in chess, debate, drama, Mathletics, and other organizations made up for it. Altogether, I think three, maybe four kids showed up in clothes,

Petunia Pei and Yulan Yuan were kneeling in front of Ben, each sucking one of his cocks. No surprise there. I snuggled up next to Pietre Agoras, who was dressed much like his dad but without the foustanella. Then, to my surprise, Julio Sessums snuggled next to my other side. His cock was erect and looking better than ever. A moment later I had two cocks in hand and Pietre grew erect as well.

"You want another massage?" Julio asked. "I'm not as good as Manuel but..."

"No, there's not enough time," I begged.

"What's this for, then?" asked Pietre, glancing at my hand.

"I want to thank your dad for giving me a ton of food this morning. Pass it on, will you?" I suggested.

"Ah, my dad and I, we're not like this," Pietre explained. "Anyway, how much did he give you?"

"Two catering chests packed full, plus extras," I explained, giving both guys a squeeze. "He said it was leftovers that he'd have to throw away otherwise. Is he always that bad a planner?"

"No, I think he must have been doing you a favor. Did he owe you one?"

"No, I'm the one who owes the favor now," I admitted, squeezing the guys more rapidly. "Can you return his catering chests after school? They're in the rotunda. I have to go downtown for some tests and appointments."

"Yeah, OK," Pietre consented. At that point, I think he would have consented to anything.

"You'll recognize them. They have Cupid's Pita stickers all over them," I remarked, still clutching and releasing. Then I thought to ask, "Wasn't Cupid a Roman god?"

"He was a little bit Greek, too," Pietre squeaked. "Unfortunately, the name Eros' Gyros was already taken. That's what my uncle Plato calls his restaurants on the coast."

That's when the bell rang, both guys went off, and Maharishi entered the room with Atkins and Leibniz. I had no idea what they were doing in the project lab and liked it that way. Atkins and Leibniz rushed off to their classes. Maharishi walked around the room handing out paper towels.

"Good morning, students and staff," Holloway suddenly began. O'Callaghan, the Spanish teacher, and some guy from the board of education were straightening up the cushions on her daybed.

"Announcements today will be brief," Holloway stated breathlessly. "I hope everyone remembered that today is Spirit Day and that you all, uh, came, uh, dressed, or whatever, for competition. In the puce and chartreuse, that is. If not, well, I don't suppose anyone left their skin at home.

"I'm sure you all know that today is Friday the thirteenth. I know that adds a third dimension to the day's activities but please remember that this is a school. Classes and education come first.

"Program notifications will go out during third period today. You'll find them as soon as the com block gets lifted at the end of the period. Appeals are at the office, but not during class hours.

"If you're selected, report to south end of the gym at eight-fifteen on Monday. That's where you remove any clothes you might be wearing, receive your Program bands, and receive final instructions.

"The student council has designated next Friday as Uniform Day. If possible, everyone should wear a non-school uniform. For example, you could dress as a bell hop, flight attendant, mall cop, nurse, soldier, or waitress.

"There's no support group after school today.

"That's all for this morning," Holloway concluded. "Have an enjoyable and productive day."

By popular demand, Lance Lorusso and Liza Lanahan were back to explain what a stochastic process is. By all appearances, their Mathletics acclimatization was complete. They were both buck naked.

Period 2 - Communications

No sooner had class ended than the phone calls started in. The first was from Dan, who told me he, Lucy Lasstic, Edgar Robinsong, and me needed to meet some people at the county land offices that afternoon. I asked him to make the appointment as late as possible and to include Nadia.

Next was Reb. "Ah, Viv, you might want to be careful this morning," she began. "The cops might be lookin' for you. It seems someone attacked the motel manager and the handyman around seven o'clock this morning, and a witness reported someone matching your description leaving the area."

"I met those guys once," I replied. "They seemed like the type who'd push themselves onto a young girl early in the morning."

"Well, don't worry about it too much, then. I'm sure you can take care of yourself and I doubt the cops have much evidence. Magic says the surveillance tapes somehow got destroyed."

"You got anything planned today?" I asked Reb.

"Not much. Magic and I are gonna look around town, that's all. Somethin' you need?"

"No, just remember Bushie's at clambake time," I reminded her.

Crystal called just as I got to Communications class. Instead of answering I tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "You rang?" She jumped.

"Oof, don't startle me like that!" Crystal urged.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, I found a band like you wanted. Two of them, in fact. Laughing Gas was the first to agree, then Pricilla Payne from Mistress Payne and the Submissives called back to say she'd talked the rest of her band into it."

"OK, see if you can get one of 'em to play from noon to three and the other from six or seven until dark," I decided.

"What about three to six? Late afternoon is the best time. Shouldn't the bands play then?"

"That time slot's taken," I explained, "or at least, I think it is. I'm still tryin' to finalize the deal."

"Well?" Crystal probed.

"I could tell you but then I'd have to shoot you," I exaggerated. Maybe. "Can you be at Bushie's at six thirty?"

"Yeah, sure," Crystal agreed, but I could tell she really didn't expect any information. Oh well. She'd know everything soon enough.

"Where's Adam? Didn't the two of you walk together from gym?" I asked.

"I could tell you but then I'd have to shoot you," Crystal threw back. Adam, however, showed up just a few moments later. He, Lakisha Hinokawa, and Tess Palmer were stridin' and slidin' down the hall ménage a trois style.

I knew Lakisha wasn't in The Program and I didn't think she was in any teams or clubs. Nevertheless a waist cincher, choke collar, lace gloves, lace socks, spike heels, and her usual goth makeup, all in black, completed her outfit. All, that is, except for the puce lipstick on her upper lip and right nipple, and the chartreuse on her lower and left.

Tess, of course, was doing her Program thing. Adam waved as if to taunt me, then the three of them headed into class and parked on a couch. They didn't exactly stop slidin' though.

Revenge isn't always a bad thing. At least, that's what I figured when I decided to teach Adam a lesson. Letting your guard down, by contrast, is always a bad thing. It leads to things like two nerdy guys telling you, "We have a Reasonable Request."

There they were, all right: Elwood Wiggins, the wimp who'd tried to impress me in Law class by taking off his pants, and Malcolm Hornshaw, a guy who apparently lacked the guts for such a stunt. Wiggins had his pants off again but was wearing a faded puce t-shirt with the school emblem printed on one shoulder. Hornshaw was wearing a chartreuse Bald Mountain toga with a ruffled hem.

"We want you to sit with us today in class," Wiggins demanded.

"Yeah, and, uh, make stuff happen," Hornshaw added.

Oh brother, I thought. I was in The Program and they weren't. Worse, it was Friday the thirteenth and the two of them plus me made three.

"All right, but someday, somehow, this is going to cost you," I told Wiggins and Hornshaw as I led them into class. Nadia and Crystal went in with Javier Boomhower, who was in The Program and at least had the courtesy to look interested. OK, erect.

I was more worried about the fact that I hadn't heard from Ian.

Communications was one of the more naked classes. Even on a typical day, about half the students were naked. That Friday, it was twenty-four out of twenty eight.

Fortunately, I didn't have to sit with Wiggins and Hornshaw very long. Magnusson told everyone to come on stage, grab a tall stool, and form a circle facing inward. Then, without Magnusson having to ask, Lakisha Hinokawa crawled out of her waist cincher and Noreen Tallarico chucked her chemise. Then I glared at Wiggins and Hornshaw until they dumped their dorky clothes and the circle was complete.

Magnusson broke the class into groups of three. Within each group, one student was supposed to interview the other and the third was supposed to listen. The interviewer was supposed to interest the third person. No touching was allowed. Wiggins ended up interviewing Hornshaw and never did gain my interest. Oh well.

Period 3 - College English

Wiggins and Hornshaw tried hitting on me again after class but just as quickly my PDA announced a call from the cops and that dissuaded them.

"Friday," said the cop, who was wearing only a shoulder holster with a badge pinned to it. I made her as a detective. Beat cops usually wear a flak jacket and armored panties at least.

"Jazlyn Friday, detective, fifth precinct," she continued. "These other people are my partners today: Hank Frank, my investigator, and Morgan Gannon, my driver."

Hank was wearing a more typical patrolman's uniform. Morgan was wearing a paper hat and some chocolate syrup from Dollie's Donuts. That seemed normal enough but the fifth precinct didn't. The Banana Tryst was in the second precinct.

"Will you please confirm your identity as Vivian Vivicelli, currently under the care of Marjorie Major?"

"Yes, that's me," I admitted. If I'd lied, the cops could've traced my PDA sign-on certificate anyway. Perhaps they already had.

"Well, your guardian Marjorie left the hospital without checking out this morning. According to the receptionist in the lobby, she just walked out front, hailed a cab, and disappeared. We have confirmation from surveillance cameras. Do you know anything about that?"

"No, I thought she was being released today. She was supposed to call me when she knew the time. I don't know why she'd leave without checking out. She didn't have any decent clothes."

"That's right. She was naked. Would you care to explain how you knew that?"

"Look: She and I got our injections last Saturday. Hers were too aggressive and she got into a bad way. I brought her to the doctor's office Monday. The doctor called for transportation and sent her to the hospital. At that time she was wearing a rain poncho and a ratty old dress that was too big for her. Since then, she's probably lost fifty pounds or more. Every day, either the nurse or Marjorie herself told me to stay away. Because of that, I haven't seen her or brought her anything. So she didn't have any decent clothes."

"All right. That jibes with the hospital's story. I'll let you know if we discover anything further. Same for you. If you discover anything relevant, call me at this number. Oh, and one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"You might want to start looking for a new guardian."

"Thanks a heap," I replied, then Friday disconnected. Maybe she just went out for a donut. Marjorie, that is. Right. I knew what it felt like to get dumped, and that's how it felt. Marjorie wasn't the best but she wasn't the worst either. Same for that old apartment. I knew the landlord wouldn't lease to anyone under twenty-five, though.

So there I was, alone in my funk -- alone in a hallway full of students and faculty streaming wherever they needed to be. Then suddenly Pietre rounded a corner, hooked my elbow, and thrust me at high speed in the direction of College English. Or maybe it was Petunia Pei doing the thrusting. Petunia was on Pietre's other elbow.

Yulan Yuan showed up with Ethan Beahmerri and Paul Aquino. The six of us sat together but there was no time for funny business before the bell rang and Atkins sent out the day's reading. It was another passage from Thoreau: part of his essay titled Walking.

Nature is not, of course, always benign and beautiful. It can be frightening and terrifying also. Not too many generations ago, raw nature and wilderness tended to inspire fear and dread in 'civilized' people. They represented Otherness and the Unknown. That which is 'wild' is also 'bewildering'.

Today, wilderness is usually considered to be something good and in need of preservation. The beauty and awesomeness of it dominate our attention. We are attracted by wilderness, the Otherness of it, the sense it is something inevitably outside of us. Always beyond us, it is what is ultimately real.

We cannot adequately appreciate this aspect of nature if we approach it with any taint of human pretense. It will elude us if we allow artifacts like clothing to intervene between ourselves and this Other.

To apprehend it, we cannot be naked enough. In wildness is the preservation of the world.