Chapter 10

JOHN

There is smoke everywhere. And flashes of flame. I have to do something! From glimpses of details through the smoke, I'm in some part of the school. People are running around. A lot of them are looking at me, expecting, demanding that I do something. I pull out a rope and do a trick. Nothing happens. They look at me as the smoke gets thicker. I pull a quarter out of someone's ear, but that doesn't help either. A girl in front of me is slumping to the floor, coughing and unable to breathe. I pull out a deck of cards, fan them, and ask her to take one. She looks at me, bewildered and betrayed, then slumps to the floor. The smoke thickens, and I lose sight of the other people. I am standing there, naked, helpless, and alone. I can't think, don't know what to do. An alarm sounds loudly, too late. It's all too late...

But I'm in bed. At home. Dressed in my PJs. And the alarm is my clock. With a brief memory of another magician, in an operating room.

I slapped off the alarm, and grabbed my journal to write down what I could remember. As I did so, I decided it would be a really good idea to take Perry a small fire extinguisher for the morning show. Just in case. And put another one with our stuff. I had the feeling it was missing the point, but it was a good idea, anyhow.

I put on my slippers and bathrobe, and headed down to get the extinguishers and put them with my stuff. Dad greeted me from the kitchen, where he was frying breakfast. He reminded me that I wanted to get to the school early. I returned the greeting, then headed upstairs. Now that my head was cleared a little, I noticed the smells of bacon and burnt toast.

I took care of the necessary, then had a quick but thorough shower. I noticed that my bruise was more yellow than purple and had shrunk. A good sign.

I dressed for easy stripping, in shorts and a t shirt. I really wanted more layers of clothes, but it would just make things worse. I went down to the kitchen, and sat down to one of Dad's infamous omelettes, bacon, toast (unburnt), and milk. He would be taking some documents to the school, and they were things I couldn't take in for him. I suspected they had to do with Mrs. Conway's public meltdown. I suggested that he might enjoy watching the morning show before or after dropping them off.

In a way, this show would likely be better than the main one this evening. Everyone here was motivated and ready. The timing would be tight, and the pace just short of frantic. And the finale should either succeed wonderfully, or bomb horribly. Either would be entertaining.

I checked and made sure I had everything for our mini show for the morning. It was all there. I grabbed that and my book bag, and we were off.

It was an hour and a half before school, and there was already a crowd. A lot of them were performers for the Morning Show, but some were just there to watch the fun.

Two of Perry's friends were marking off ten foot circles. I assumed that they were the "danger zones" for the flashpots. They probably could have been about half the size, keeping people two and a half feet away, and still been reasonably safe. But I prefer an extra margin for safety.

When I walked up to Perry, he was complaining to a small group that he had not been able to get the portable stage he wanted. I like the way this guy thinks! I gave him the fire extinguisher, and he seemed to think it was a good idea, too. Emily arrived, and we helped him set up the flashpots, with their manual triggers. He would have one person assigned to each pot, to keep people outside the circle and trigger the flash at the right time. And then to keep people away from the pots until they had cooled enough to be taken inside.

We went up to our Five Minute Zone, as we called it, and set up the small table and props we would use. We also put the second fire extinguisher nearby.

About twenty minutes after I got there, Perry pulled out a notebook and pencil, and started looking around. He seemed to be doing a check of the acts.

He quickly walked around to groups of people, saying a few words and moving on. When he came to us, he said "You will be right after the jugglers. Will you join the finale?"

"Don't think so."

"Ok. Have fun!" He moved off to talk to the string quartet.

A few minutes (and one "late" arrival) later, Perry had his people start the fanfare. After a few words of welcome, he started into his monolog. He stripped as he joked. Once he was well into it, and had all the attention, we quickly stripped and tossed our clothes in the box. We kept the table to the side, so it wasn't blocking us. We checked the time and made a note of when our five minutes would be up. In theory, each act had two minutes. There might be a few seconds between acts, but Perry didn't want even that. He would announce the act over the beginning of the act itself. We stood there watching him, which had the effect of pulling attention away from us and toward him.

When he got his final garment (a rather daring thong) off, we could see writing where the "not the mic" disclaimer had been. This time it said "How many licks to the creamy center?" and, like yesterday's, featured an arrow pointing downward.

After a few more jokes, he gave way to a ventriloquist act, with a difference. While he kept his clothes on, the dummy got stripped. He had the anatomy, but it was not to scale! The jokes were also on topic: "Why did you end up in the Program?" "I was a dummy in front of certain Participants!" The crowd liked that one.

After that, a Brass trio played a somewhat short version of "The Stripper" while Perry neatly trapped a couple of recent additions to the Program (Susan's would-be stooges) into stripping there and then to the music.

About the same time, we noticed Susan coming in after making a wide circle around Perry and the festivities. She came up behind us, and sort of hid while she undressed. She was done before her suckers, even though they had a head start. Then she ducked inside.

By this time, the jugglers had started. To keep with the theme, they juggled colorful dildoes and novelty fake breasts. They were going strong when our time was up, and we quickly slipped our robes on over our heads.

Perry had pointed out one of his loopholes. The rules, as described in the pamphlet, required us to be naked "within the confines of the school during school hours, and shall include all school sponsored activities during or after normal school hours." The morning show was not school sponsored (or even approved, really), and was BEFORE school hours. If there were problems about it, Perry promised to take the heat.

The jugglers ended the act, comically catching breasts in their mouths, then taking a bow. We were on. We roped one of the two (would be) stooges into briefly helping with a classic "cut and restored rope" bit, then borrowed a watch from someone else. I vanished it then, as I made a show of looking for it (and pulling out various silly things), Emily did a Cups and Balls which ended up with the watch appearing under the stacked cups (and the balls gone). We handed back the watch and bowed, signaling the end of our act and the beginning of the string quartet.

There had been murmurs about the fact that we were dressed, but there was a lot of attention to the fact that all of the quartet were dressed as well. While they played, we put away the props and folded up the table. Bridget's dancers were next, and during their reel we slipped off our robes and ducked inside.

From inside, we watched the end of the dance, and then a number of other acts. After the ribbon dancers, an irish music group capped the regular show. After their first song, they led the segue into the finale.

The irish music group started playing a well known reel and Bridget's group started dancing to it. The string quartet joined in. Then the brass trio. Tap dancers joined the irish dancers. The jugglers surrounded dancers, passing clubs around the outside. The ribbon dancers flanked them, twirling their ribbons. The other performers clapped with the music, throughout the buildup. The music reached its peak, then everyone stops. The flashpots went off behind the rear corners of the group, sending up brief columns of smoke, light, and sparks, while the confetti cannons produced columns of colorful confetti by the front corners.

There was a sort of stunned silence, then a growing wave of applause. Even inside, it was loud. Outside must have been deafening.

EMILY

I woke with a start. My head was filled with fleeting, fading, incomprehensible images. By the time I grabbed journal and pen, it was all gone. All that was left was an impression of chaos and confusion.

The alarm hadn't even rung yet. But I knew that the extra ten minutes wouldn't do me any good. So I got up and dragged myself into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I briefly thought I was in the nightmare again. I hadn't taken off the makeup last night, and it was a real mess.

I got to work on that, getting rid of every bit of it. Then I stepped into the shower. I was thorough, still aware that today (hopefully for the last time) people would be seeing every bit of my body most of the time. On the other hand, if yesterday was any guide, most of them would be ignoring it. I was almost tempted to follow Perry's lead and draw something on my body, just to see if anyone but John would notice.

Almost.

I got out of my shower, wrapped myself in towel and bathrobe, and headed for my room. I combed out my hair, and thought about makeup. I decided against any. For one thing, it would be a good thing to let my skin rest after sleeping in the theatrical stuff. And for another, the bruise drew attention from the rest of my body. And then limited the amount of attention it got, as well.

I dressed (Hah! Fat lot of good that was going to do me), and gathered my stuff for school. I had two magic shows to do today, and I was ready for both. It was the other show I was worried about. The more free form one, where I try to get something out of class while exposing my entire body to rooms full of horny, impulsive teenagers and the occasional lecherous adult. The one where I have to pose on demand, and let any and every student touch me anywhere they want, whether or not I want them to.

That show.

I guess the secret is just to concentrate on what is at hand, and deal with the rest when it is at hand. For now, that was breakfast, and the morning show.

Even though I was running early, I was not surprised to see both of them in the kitchen when I got down there. When they greeted me, I returned the greeting somewhat mechanically. I was just not in a bubbly mood. I also noticed that I had done so from inside my safe place. That was kinda odd. This is home. These are my parents. I never needed to be in here when I am here with them, unless they are starting to push me into something in hopes of changing me.

Maybe that was a part of it. Now that I paid attention, I noticed that they were not acting their normal selves, either. Their bodies were tense, and they measured their words. They were worried, probably about me. In the past, such worry has been known lead to impulsive actions "for my own good".

"Yeah, right," a part of me sneered, "for the good of rescuing their consciences from dealing with how badly they screwed up when raising me."

I really and honestly love my parents a whole lot. And most of the time, I even trust them. But sometimes...

They asked about my lack of makeup, and I repeated the breathing skin bit. Mom nodded when I said that, but I don't think she noticed herself doing it. They asked about any effects from the incident yesterday, and I pointed to my face and gave them a "what do you think?" look. They seemed unhappy about the way I was responding. But they could not bring themselves to say anything.

Great.

I finished and Mom took my plate. That was a little unusual, but I shrugged it off. Dad offered me a lift to school, since I needed to be there very early. I accepted.

When I got there, John was talking to Perry and handing him a fire extinguisher. That was a good idea. Those loads can be a little temperamental, and it's better to be safe than sorry. I went over and helped with setup.

When we were done with that, we set up for our own part of the show.

Perry started the show, and we quietly stripped and stood watching his antics. And those of the other entertainers near him. His tattoo was funny, in a lewd sort of way.

While the brass trio were playing, and Perry was playing with the boys who tried to frame me, Susan snuck in behind us. Somewhat hiding there, she stripped and then went inside (almost at a dead run).

When it was almost time for our turn, and our five minutes was up, we put on our robes. That let us do a couple of things that were costume dependent. Just as the jugglers ended their silly act, we started our part of the show. It went well.

After that, we put the props away and got ready to go inside. We pulled off our robes just before we went in.

We stood and watched the rest of the show. Some parts were better than others, but the finale was spectacular. Perry pulled that together, literally overnight? Incredible.

At the end of the finale, before the crowds started surging in, we headed for the office to leave our props and robes there. Principal Murrow was standing there, and told us to get Perry, the irish dancers, and the string quartet, and meet him in his office immediately. He did not look entirely pleased.

We swam through the tide of students coming in through the doors, making our way toward the changing area. We figured we could catch some of them changing if we got there quickly enough. We were in luck. Bridget was waiting there, just inside and to the side of the doors, out of the way of the human stampede.

When she saw us, she ran up and wrapped herself around John in a big hug. She was still in the throes of the euphoria which can only come from doing a really exciting show and getting overwhelming applause. Ok, I suppose Making The Big Play To Win The Game (with a similar audience response) might do it, too. She was so up that even our news couldn't bring her down. She told us to wait there and bounded out the door.

We stood there looking at each other, and sort of shrugged. Down in my safe place, I found it kind of funny. But I knew that I had been there and done that as well.

A few moments later, she was back with the naked dancers and string players in tow. She told us to go on in, and she would bring Perry and the others. The crowd had subsided a bit by then, so we made our way toward the office. A couple of them tried to ask what this was about, but the noise was still too loud for us to hear each other clearly and we just shrugged.

When we got to the office, we were waved into the large conference room. By the time we got inside and settled, we were joined by Bridget, Perry, and two very flustered string players. A moment later, principal Murrow stepped into the room, lowered the blinds, and closed the door. He looked at us pointedly, and we quickly settled.

"You all have put the school in a very bad position. By rights, all but three of you should be facing at least another week in the Program. And that isn't even counting the danger posed by the fireworks. Whose idea were those, anyway? As if I have to ask."

Perry spoke up. "Yes, it was my idea. But we took safety precautions. John premeasured everything, and had us make and enforce a safety zone around the flashpots. We even made sure there weren't any trees over or near the flashes."

"The loads were special indoor materials." John continued, "with extremely short lived burns and almost no residue. I had them set the safety margins at twice the normal width, as an extra margin. Each was controlled by someone right there, and they lasted less than a second. We made it as safe as possible."

Principal Murrow just looked at John a moment, then shrugged. "Alright, I will concede that point at the moment. But I will be reviewing the school and district policies about fireworks and possibly tightening them. It is trouble waiting to happen."

"But that wasn't the main reason I called you here. All but one of you did your performances clothed. Even you two." He looked at us. "With all the attention on the school this week, that is more than I can overlook."

We all looked pointedly at Perry, who just grinned. "Actually, sir, it's not really a violation of the rules, as spelled out in the Pamphlet. it says we have to be nekkid quote within the confines of the school during school hours, and shall include all school sponsored activities during or after normal school hours Unquote. This was not a school sponsored activity. Technically, it wasn't even a school sanctioned activity, since we neither asked nor were given permission for it. But even if it was, it was BEFORE school hours and the rule specifies during and after school hours."

Principal Murrow picked up a Pamphlet from the stack in the corner, and looked through it for a moment. "Alright, whose idea was it to exploit this so called loophole? Or do I even have to ask?"

Perry nodded. "Yes, it was me. And I told them I would take their lumps if you found some way to rule against it."

"So if I was going to give them each another week, you would end up with seven more weeks?" He said it with a straight face, but couldn't hide a brief grin when Perry sort of blanched and gasped at that.

"Alright. Here is what we'll do. We will treat this as an 'appeal', and put it before the board. If they go against your interpretation, they will decide what to do about it. And they will take your promise into account. The rest of you," he looked around the room, "do your very best to stay out of trouble. And for all our sakes, try not to push the envelope any more today. Even you three." He looked at Bridget and the two clothed string players. Bridget just grinned and mimed snapping her fingers in disappointment.

He dismissed us to our classes. It was still early enough that we had time to get there without needing late slips. Perry stayed behind to talk with him about something.

JOHN

"Here it comes," I thought, seeing the look on Principal Murrow's face. "We'll be naked for the rest of the year!"

I knew that there would be "discussions" over the clothes. But I was surprised when he brought up the flashpot loads first. He knew us well enough to know we would take all the necessary precautions. I reassured him about that, and he let it go.

Perry was as good as his word, and took responsibility for the clothes bit. It will be interesting to see what the Committee makes of that.

On the way out to class, I saw that Perry's friends had brought in the equipment while we were in conference. That was a relief.

We headed out to our classes. We had time to get there, but nothing to spare. It seemed that everyone else in the hallways was in a hurry, as well. No hint of an RR.

I got to class with a minute to spare. As I settled in and got my stuff out, I went into my safe place and slowed my breathing a little to calm down.

Mr Brown called roll and then started reading the announcements. I heard the speakers go live, and wondered what The Voice Of God would pronounce today.

It turned out he was just encouraging everyone to come to the talent show tonight. Also, he called for a round of applause for those who participated in the morning show. He paused, and cheers could be heard from some rooms. This room only clapped. Finally, he mentioned that some clarifications to Program rules would be posted sometime Monday.

The speakers went dead again, and Mr Brown finished reading the announcements. Then he started the class proper.

Deep in my safe place, I reflected on it being the last day of my Program week. I hoped. Somehow, that made me even more aware of my nakedness than I had been the last couple of days. This was the day when many Program Participants go wild, trying to cram in every bit of "benefit" they saw in the Program. It wasn't unusual for parts of the halls and classrooms to be very slippery on Fridays. There was an atmosphere of expectation and abandon.

But I was the square peg. Well, one of them. My actions and attitudes were not going to meet those expectations. At best, I will either be an unseen part of the background - virtually invisible - or a sort of wet blanket on the whole thing. At worst, I would be a challenge, with people anxious to get me to respond before the day is done. I will still be naked at the talent show tonight, but in a Look But Don't Touch sort of way.

While in some ways pleasant to contemplate, the likely reality of such attempts is that they would attract a lot of attention. I would attract a lot of attention.

That part was not as pleasant to contemplate.

For all that, class was surprisingly mundane. And soon, it was over. No homework this time. He wished us a good weekend, and expressed a hope that he would see all of us at the talent show. Two of the girls in class looked at him, looked at me, looked back at him, and broke out laughing.

He looked surprised and puzzled. But as I passed through the doorway, he seemed to get it. "That wasn't what I meant!"

With plenty of time for the short journey to History, I strolled. I stopped at a drinking fountain and got a drink. While I was bent over, someone ran a hand over my hip in passing. I never saw who it was, but I kind of hope it was one of the girls.

A few people approached me en route, but all they did was say something like "Nice show this morning" or wish me luck with the show tonight, and keep walking on by. I acknowledged them and what they said.

I got to the room in plenty of time.

After I settled into my seat, I noticed a commotion at the doorway. Susan arrived in a sea of hands, seemingly enjoying herself. She was flushed, and there were trails of wetness down her thighs. She headed toward her seat and got out her towel. Then she looked in my direction, and her face fell. She didn't have her earlier looks of hatred or condescension. She looked sad, and a little afraid. With maybe a touch of shame.

I wondered what that was about. There was so much to choose from. What her mother did. What she did in the locker room. The possibility of being prosecuted for that. What she put those two boys up to. What she did to them afterwards. What she said in front of the office. What she has since done, after making those derogatory accusations. What happened in HHS. What she faces at the talent show. The two weeks she still faces. Any combination of the above. Something else entirely?

She didn't say anything, so I never really found out. But she did spend the class kind of slumped in her seat. Mr. Bailey knew that she was in the Program for two more weeks, so he didn't push it.

We had a short quiz, which was pretty easy, then went over our weekend assignment and what we would cover next week. He likes to give us every chance to be prepared for the discussions.

With that, class ended. I wondered if the rest of the day would go that easily. Somehow, I doubted it.

EMILY

When the announcement over the speakers celebrated the morning show, the class erupted in cheers. Dave stood up and gave an exaggerated bow. The class got louder. As Dave sat down, Mr. Weber gave me an inquiring glance. I shook my head slightly, and he dropped it.

After getting off to such a rousing start, the class was kind of an anticlimax. Don't get me wrong. Mr. Weber, who will almost certainly be reading this journal sometime before assigning my final grade for the semester, is a wonderful teacher. He can make grammar interesting, which is no mean feat. But after the morning show, the office visit, and the response to the announcement, anything as "normal" as a real class (even an otherwise interesting one) is going to pale.

Even as deep in my safe place as I was.

The walk to history, which I was careful to keep to a walk, was interesting. A lot of people spoke to me in passing, mostly praising the morning show or wishing me well for the evening show. Or both. A couple stopped to ask me where they could learn more about some of our tricks, and I directed them to the library and a couple of nearby magic stores. Nobody made any Requests, or tried anything nonverbal.