Chapter 4

Saturday morning, things started rather slowly at Catherine's house and Dale had spent a couple of hours studying before Caroline arrived. Her presence did not disturb him any more, and that realization came as a bit of a revelation. When he greeted her, Caroline saw the realization on his face.

Openly staring at his body and lingering at his crotch, Caroline smiled and said "It's working, isn't it, Dale?"

Even though he realized it, it was not that easy to just admit it. "Well, I don't think it will ever be..." he started to say.

Caroline wasn't having any of that. In what was for her an astonishingly blatant move, she stepped up to him, threw her arms around his neck, and pressed her body hard against him.

"Dale, Honey, this is not a battle!. You aren't losing anything. Catherine is as caring a person as you will ever meet. You are making her very happy showing this gorgeous body of yours. It isn't damaging you one bit either, is it?"

"Well, no, but..."

"And look what it's doing for your mother," Caroline went on, not easing her hug at all. "Imagine the relief it is to her, knowing that you'll be able to stick it out here.

"Dale, you have been given a gift. I'm not trying to turn you into a narcissist or an exhibitionist. I just hope you can understand that every bit of you is beautiful. Letting people see it all is not sinful - it's actually an act of worship.

"You would have no guilty thoughts about using your mind to earn money, would you? You have been given a mind that few people are blessed with. Well, you have been given just as rare a body. Don't feel guilty about using it in a way that harms no one else."

"I see what you saying, but I don't think I'll apply at Chippendale's," he joked.

Caroline was so wrapped up in what she was trying to get across to Dale that she forgot that she was pressed against an inexperienced teenager. He sensed his impending reaction, though. Putting his hands on her hips, he gently but firmly pulled his lower body away from her.

"Ooops! Guess I got carried away," Caroline said with a chuckle. "Let me help Catherine with some brunch.

It was another unseasonably warm fall morning and brunch was set up outside again. When Dale saw six places, he knew that Marilyn, Barry, and Lisa would be joining them again, and he was not pleased.

Catherine saw his reaction and quickly said "Dale, just give it a few minutes and you'll understand. Please."

She was right. Before long, a naked Barry came walking from their house, with Marilyn holding one hand and a beaming Lisa pressed against his other arm. Both women were clothed.

Talk about conversational challenges! Dale had absolutely no idea what to say. Catherine and Caroline must have been clued in to what was going to happen, because they hardly reacted at all.

"By all rights I should hate you!" Barry said to Dale when they reached the table.

"It wasn't my idea! Blame Catherine!" Dale protested, actually having to stifle a laugh.

"We had to talk Lisa out of coming over here naked, too," Barry told him.

"Thank you for that!" Dale said honestly. He happened to look at Lisa and saw the stricken look on her face. It took a moment, but he caught on to the problem.

As smoothly as he could, he said "I have enough trouble keeping from getting hard with everyone looking at me. One look at Lisa's bare body and I wouldn't have a chance. The look on the girl's face changed instantly and completely.

For whatever reason, Dale was feeling very frisky. "Barry, you don't have any problem staying soft with all of these women staring at you. Maybe there's hope for me as I get older."

"Oh, age and experience aren't the only reasons. Marilyn has made me come so many times last night and this morning that I probably couldn't get it up if I tried," Barry retorted.

"BARRY!" Marilyn shrieked. "That's supposed to be private!"

"This used to be private, too," he shot back, restraining a laugh. He cupped his sac and lifted a little to make sure everyone knew what he was talking about."

"Hey, it's not like I can't hear what's going on sometimes," Lisa interjected.

"LISA!" Marilyn shouted.

"Children, children!" Caroline jumped in. "Lisa - Marilyn - Barry! I am so proud of all of you for how you are attacking this problem and working out a solution. I know it is stressful for all of you, but let's keep it a loving, exciting time, OK? Lisa, come talk to me for a few minutes. Breakfast will keep for a little while.

Catherine had been right to worry about the effect of the modeling on Dale's studies. Rather, it was the effect of worrying about the modeling. As he set off for Monday classes, things were better than the week before - much better. Still, thinking about posing made it almost impossible to concentrate on his morning classes.

Despite her other problems, Faith was not timid. Totally infatuated with Dale, she was also concerned for him. She had quickly sensed how difficult the posing was for him. From what he had said about his lack of money, Faith assumed that Dale would eat lunch on the meal plan, so she waited for him in the cafeteria.

The one thing that Faith did not anticipate was how Dale would view her kindly attention. To him, it would be better if the students who stared at his dick could remain anonymous.

Faith had sat beside him Wednesday and Friday in their shared accounting class, and he had been able to talk with her. Right then, though, in the hour before his posing, he was again struggling with trying to get some food down. Thinking about having to strip had his stomach in knots. How could he carry on a conversation with Faith when she would be seeing him naked in the next hour?

Because his mother was the only woman with whom Dale had ever had a close relationship with before meeting Catherine, he was ill-prepared for the battle of the sexes. His total helplessness in the face of Lisa's emotions was ample evidence of his vulnerability. First Muriel, then Catherine and Caroline, were all women who genuinely cared for him and wanted the best for him. That was what he had been conditioned to expect from women.

Faith certainly had no malicious intent toward Dale - far from it. She was a woman with strong instinctive seductive skills, despite her emaciated body. There had been few things in her life that she had determined that she would really strive for, and having some kind of a relationship with Dale was one of them.

When she sat down across from Dale and greeted him, it was obvious to her that he did not want her there. Given her intelligence and her sensitivity, she understood why he felt that way, but there was no way she was going to leave.

Almost shaking at her own boldness, Faith reached across the table and put her hand on his arm. "Dale, you did fine last week. You'll be fine today. I cannot imagine how you or Jolene or any of the models can do that. But I know that you're a strong person who can do whatever you have to do."

He looked up at her, but a nod of acknowledgment was all he could manage. Exerting every ounce of self-control that she possessed, Faith kept talking. "I guess the fact that I am going to be painting you in a little while makes it difficult for you to talk to me. I can understand that. But Dale, please believe me. I'm on your side. I want you to feel OK about what you're doing. I don't want you to have to suffer through it.

"My God, Dale! If you could just understand how it affects all of us girls when we look at you. You wouldn't be nervous. You'd be proud!"

"That ... that's what Jolene said," he blurted out, not meaning to.

Faith chided herself for the pang of jealousy she felt at the mention of Jolene's name. What was she thinking? She was not even trying to compete with someone like Jolene. That would be ridiculous!

"Jolene must know what she's talking about. She's been at it a long time," Faith told him. She could not think of anything else to say right after that, so there was a period of silence.

"Dale, when you're up there and feeling stressed, I'd like you remember that I'm rooting for you. There's no way that I would think anything bad about you."

"I ... I ... thanks" was all he could get out. He had looked in her face before a few times, but for the first time, those incredible eyes really locked onto his. It was almost like a physical jolt, like some kind of an open connection between them. He may have been inexperienced, but he could recognize the intense love that she felt for him.

Dale jerked a little and his face flushed. Faith saw it and knew the reason. She had definitely not planned to give herself away like that. It could mean that she would never see him again. What could she do? All she could think of was to pretend that nothing had happened.

When Dale had finished eating the little bit that he could stomach, Faith asked him "Could I walk to the studio with you?" It had never occurred to him to ask why she had not eaten anything. It would be a while before he discovered that she barely consumed one realistic meal a day.

He could not think of a polite way to tell her that her being with him would just make him more nervous. She could tell how he felt, but she was not ready to give up and just went with him as if he had agreed.

All during that Monday's sitting, Dale found himself pondering what had happened at lunch. Unbidden, his eyes kept returning to Faith's position. He wondered if she got anything done that day, because she always seemed to be looking at his face.

After the sitting, he could say that it was no worse than the first week, but it not been any easier, either. That was not good. At that rate, it was going to really wear him down.

When they sat together in the accounting class later, Dale hardly said anything, but Faith did a good job of acting normal.

He had barely stripped after arriving home that afternoon when Lisa came bouncing in. Still not at all comfortable with his exposure to her, but allowing it on Caroline's urging, he could not help grinning at Lisa's excitement.

"As soon as Daddy gets home, we're all going to a tanning parlor, Mom says. She doesn't want us to be all pasty when we get to the beach."

"Do you know yet when you're leaving?"

"Whenever the travel agent calls with a deal. Isn't that cool!"

Dale found himself wishing that he had the adaptability of a young teen. In her excitement, he had not even seen Lisa look at his crotch. It was as if she had forgotten that he was naked. Would he ever get to that point?

Lisa stayed for about half an hour and Dale managed to talk with her. When she left, he studied until supper.

[Faith] Mid-October

While Dale was coping with Lisa, a very disturbed Faith tried repeatedly until she managed to get Caroline on the phone. "Caroline, I've got a big problem. It's ... it's about Dale."

"You're madly in love with him, right?" Caroline asked

"How... ?"

"It wasn't just a wild guess, Honey. Does he know?"

"Well, that's the problem," Faith said, almost in tears. "I wanted to be cool about it. I didn't want him to know because it's, you know, it's so silly. But today at lunch..."

"Wait a minute, Faith! Why do you say it's silly?"

"Well, look at him! And look at me! He could never be interested in me. But the real problem is, I was trying make his posing easier, and I'm afraid I just made it worse."

"Are you still on campus, Faith?"

"Yes."

"I'll call you back in a few minutes. Stay where you are."

Caroline was always reluctant to meet Faith in person unless it was very secret. She made quick arrangements for a small conference room at the psyche department at school and called Faith back with instructions.

Although she would have liked to make it longer, an hour was all Caroline dared to take. During that time, she got Faith to unload her feelings about Dale.

"It has only been a week or so, and you feel that strongly about him?" Caroline asked.

"I know I'm naive and vulnerable. Maybe it's just a crush, but I've never felt anything like it before. I can hardly sleep because it hurts so much to know that I have no chance with him."

"Why are you so sure that you have no chance?"

"Well, look at me! No guy wants anything to do with a body like this."

"Unless he's a guy who sees a lot more than just your body," Caroline countered.

"Well, it takes a pretty screwed up mind to starve a body into this," Faith said glumly. How many intelligent people like Faith had Caroline run into. They knew exactly what their problems were, but just could not break out of the cycle.

"So, wouldn't you be better off just making sure you never had contact with him again? Wouldn't that reduce the pain?"

"But he's having a tough time! I think I can help him!" Faith had tear streaks down her cheek at that point.

"Faith, how many close friends do you have that you can honestly and openly share your problems with?"

"Oh, there's ... you already knew there were none, didn't you?"

"Would you like Dale to be that kind of a friend?" Caroline was thinking about an improbable relationship that could be so beneficial to both young people. If Faith had a true love interest, Caroline would bet anything that the anorexia would disappear. If Dale had a girl who loved him for more than just his body..."

"Oh, no!" Faith answered. "If he found out how screwed up I am, he'd run away screaming!"

"Honey, you may be madly in love with him, but I don't think you realize what kind of man he really is."

The conversation went on for the rest of the hour while a crazy plan percolated in Caroline's mind.

[Dale] Mid October

"I'll bet there's something you'd like to talk to me about," Caroline said to Dale. She had just walked into Catherine's for a supper that she had called to delay while she met with Faith.

"Do you have to have ESP to be a shrink?" Dale quipped.

"You know, I don't know if I should be encouraged or offended," Caroline said, holding her chin in her hand with a thoughtful look. "When you saw me, your penis didn't even twitch. I'll bet Lisa got more reaction than that when she came over earlier."

When Dale stood frozen and speechless, Caroline hurried to him and wrapped him in a hug. "As you can see, Dale, my specialty is the subtle, delicate approach."

He couldn't help himself, and soon, they were holding each other up as they laughed. "Well, maybe the delicate, subtle approach is overrated," she finally said. "I think you needed a good belly laugh."

"What I need is to put some pants on," he countered.

"Nope! You need to earn money posing without it hurting your studies. You're not there yet."

"You got that right. You really think this nudist bit is the way to get there?"

"Yes, Dale. I do. Even if I didn't, I would lie and say that I do. I just love looking at your dick!" Caroline was old enough to be his grandmother, but that did not hold him back at all. Catherine hurried into the room when she heard Caroline screeching as she writhed on the floor, trying to escape his tickle attack.

After he helped her up, she snuggled against him as they walked to the table. "See! You couldn't have handled that last Monday."

"I guess not," he admitted. "Say, I wonder what Catherine's cooking tastes like with clothes on?"

The tone around the table was loose and congenial. Afterwards, Caroline was almost reluctant to turn serious. "You must know by now that Faith is madly in love with you, right?" she asked Dale. Catherine watched the exchange silently.

"In love? Well, from the way she looked at me, I thought she probably had a crush on me, but..."

"Faith is a woman. Crushes are for teeny-boppers. She is pretty torn up because she is sure she doesn't have a chance with you."

"But I haven't misled her or anything," Dale protested. "We've only talked a few times. Would it be better if I just stayed away from her?"

"Is that what you'd rather do?" Caroline probed.

"Not really. She seems like a really sweet person. But if it makes her expect something that I don't feel..."

"Look, Dale. Faith is not an official patient of mine, but I still feel that I should protect her privacy. I think you can tell from her appearance that she has more than her share of problems. One of those problems is no good, close friends. Can you just be a friend to her?"

"But if she's expecting more than that..."

"Not expecting," Caroline corrected. "I'm sure she wants more, but she is not expecting it. Just your friendship would be a tremendous boost for her."

"I can do that. It's, uh, hard to get past the fact that she'll be seeing me naked in art class, you know."

"We see you naked all the time, and you don't have any trouble talking to us," Catherine interjected.

"Yeah, but knowing that she wants, uh, you know..."

"Both Catherine and I would like nothing better than to jump into bed with you. Haven't you figured that out, yet?" Caroline asked.

"Huh?"

"So, see! You can be friends with women who have the hots for you, even if they're never going to get their fondest wish. Oh. Include your mother in that group, too."

"God!" He was glad for the opaque table because there was definitely activity down below after that exchange.

Dale had to do some talking to himself before the Wednesday class, but he made a real effort to engage with Faith in their minutes before class. Her smiles made it seem well worth the effort.

Before Friday's class, he purposely delayed his arrival. He had always found a seat first, and she had joined him. It struck him that he needed to let her know that he wanted to sit by her. When he entered the lecture room, he could see her looking around rather anxiously. When she was sure that he was going to join her, her smile was almost blinding. There was less time for conversation, but that did not detract from the impact of his gesture.

[Dale] Late October

Once again, Dale was up before Catherine on Saturday morning. Once again, Caroline walked in, but much earlier. As he sat at the little desk in the expansion room, she leaned over from behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek, and asked "Dale, do you really trust me?"

"That's a scary question, you know."

"Do you trust me enough to do something, even if I warn that it will be as difficult as anything we have asked of you?"

"That's a strange way to get me to do something."

"All I can tell you is that I am certain that it will prove to be a very, very good thing," she assured him.

"You know, you have me at a disadvantage," he said. "After what you and Catherine have done for me, it's impossible to refuse."

"Good. First, go and get yourself off - twice."

"Huh?"

"I would love to come and do it for you, but we'd better not go there."

"You're serious, aren't you? I mean about getting off twice?" He asked. When she nodded, he said "That scares me."

"Please. When this is over, I just know you will think it was a wonderful experience," she said with a plea in her voice.

He really could not deny her, plus, he had to admit to more than a little curiosity. Obviously, it was going to be something that really embarrassed him, but somehow, that was not the threat that it once would have been.

When he returned from his room about fifteen minutes later, he could not help blushing, but she gave him a quick hug and a kiss right on the mouth. Then, she led him to the front door and opened it.

He had had no idea what to expect, but seeing Faith standing there almost wiped him out. The only thing that kept him from fleeing in anger was seeing that Faith was as least as embarrassed as he was.

Caroline already had a firm hold on Dale's hand, and she grabbed Faith's and pulled her into the house. Leading them to a couch, she sat down between them.

"OK. We survived that. Thank you. Here's why I'm doing something this crazy. Dale, by Monday's sitting, it won't bother you at all to have Faith see you. You will have a friend and supporter in class, besides Catherine. I'm betting that you will even be able to eat lunch before sitting. That's kind of your graduation test.

"Faith, your part isn't any easier than Dale hanging his dick in front of you all day. You are going to tell him everything. I mean things that you have only told therapists before. When you're done, you will have a friend and supporter your age like you've never had before.

"One thing. It's a gorgeous day out there, but for reasons that Faith will tell you, you'll have to stay in the house. Let's start with a good breakfast, shall we?"

Caroline stayed around for about another hour, doing her best to get the young folks in the right mood for her crazy plan. When they were first alone, Faith could not look Dale in the face.

"It's OK, Faith. I trust Caroline. I've been really angry with her several times, but she always turns out to be right."

"I just don't understand how you can just ... I mean you must be so embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for you!"

"Thank you. I'm glad you understand a little bit about how I feel," Dale said gently. "I really don't know anything about your family, but I get the feeling that money isn't really a problem. To understand why I'm doing this, you have to know what it feels like to be literally down to your last dollar."

"I'm afraid you're right. I've never had that problem. Let me tell you about my family..."

It was the perfect start for Faith. By the third sentence of her description of her family, Dale could hear the negative tone, and he started asking questions about her feelings.

"Remember, Faith. I'm showing you everything. Your part of the deal is you have to tell me everything," he cautioned her on a couple of occasions.

When Faith had talked for over an hour, she slumped back in exhaustion and just about broke Dale's heart when she asked "What's it like to have a mother you can talk to - a mother who would actually give up something for you?"

When he couldn't answer at first, it triggered the first real contact between them. She instantly took on the comforting role and hugged him. "How about your dad?" he was finally able ask. "You haven't said anything bad about him. Your brothers, either."

"They don't seem to be affected much by her," Faith answered. "Except that they never try to buck her. Dad has never done anything bad to me, and I think he really loves me. He just never takes my side against Mother."

As it approached time for lunch, Dale broached the issue of her weight. "You seemed to eat a good breakfast, Faith. Does your body just not process food, or what?"

"I, uh, usually don't eat that much in two days. I just can't keep it down," she answered. "It's not bulimia, like I've read about. I just can't eat. Lot's of times, if I eat much at all, I just can't keep it down."

"Well, let's see if you can eat a decent lunch," he encouraged. "Then, I don't think Caroline would be too upset if you took me to the gym and we worked out together."

"But I've never done that!"

"It's never too late to start."

Faith was very quiet for a few minutes. "Um, the reason we have to stay in the house," she finally said, "is because Mother always seems to have someoe watching me."

"So she won't be happy if she sees you with me, right? She'll assume I'm after your money."

"Oh, but I don't think that, Dale. I mean, we're not even really going together, or..."

"Are you willing to take a chance on her reaction? I know a lot about working out. You can tell her I'm just helping you get started."

Faith was quiet again. Standing up to Mercedes was something she very rarely did. She may have had a bit of a submissive streak, but it was mostly from a lifetime of rigid control by Mercedes. For the first time since she could remember, though, she had a real reason to do something that she was sure her mother would not like. After a very short time, pleasing Dale and being with him provided an incentive rivaling the avoidance of her mother's ire.

"Well?" Caroline demanded good-naturedly when Faith had left after eating a surprisingly hearty dinner. Catherine was right behind her sister, just as anxious to hear the answer.

"Can I graduate to wearing pants, now?" Dale prompted, relishing the chance to divert the conversation from what the women wanted to hear.

"Not yet," Caroline shot back. "Men are so much more honest and expressive when their dicks are showing. We want to hear about Faith."

"Well, you know her better than I do," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, no! Not after today," Caroline insisted. "Did the day help you at all?"

"Caroline, that's hard to say. All this nudity - sometimes it feels like I'm off in some other world. I guess the best thing I can say is that several times today, I actually forgot that I was naked for a while."

"Not when you went to the gym, I hope," Catherine joked, and the women broke up into laughter.

"I heard the phrase 'poor little rich girl' somewhere," Dale said when their laughter subsided. "I always that it was sort of a joke. Not any more."

"Can you be a friend to Faith? I think it will be good for both of you."

"I would say we are already friends, Caroline. She is a genuinely nice person, especially for a rich girl."

"Good. There's no doubt you are good for her. I think she ate half a month's worth of her usual intake today. Can you keep her exercising?"

"I, uh, think she'll do about whatever I ask. That part's a little disturbing," Dale admitted.

"I think she has plenty of will. It has just never been let out."

"Are we done? Can I put on some pants, now?"

"OK. Darn it!"

Dale never slept another night at the dorm. Although the nude stay ended, Catherine convinced him to move in with her permanently. At first, he was a bit concerned that it would separate him from the mainstream of campus life. His posing, though, already made him feel like somewhat of an outsider, so that did not influence his decision at all.

He insisted on doing all of the 'manly' chores around the house. That was a relief to Barry, who had always helped Catherine when she needed it. Because he and Muriel had cooperated in the kitchen, Dale was able to 'earn his keep' by helping her there, too. Catherine many times wondered why there had been no men so easy to live with back when she was interested in marriage.

As usual, Caroline's idea worked, and from the Saturday with Faith, posing never interfered with Dale's studies at all. By the holidays, he was treating it pretty much as just a job.

In the weeks before Christmas vacation, Faith and Dale became constant companions on campus. Besides the shared class, they regularly ate lunch together, studied at the library, and worked out. Almost magically, Faith acquired an appetite, and when Dale headed home to spend Christmas with Muriel, Faith had put on fifteen badly needed pounds. There had not been enough money for Dale to go home for Thanksgiving, but with Catherine's extended family, he was well cared for then.

Twice, Dale asked Faith to go out on 'real' dates. Both times, she tearfully refused. She explained that she just could not handle her mother's expected reaction.

Mercedes watched the change in her daughter's appearance with mixed feelings. For one thing, she was delighted that Faith was beginning to look at least marginally 'marriageable'. On the other hand, Faith's improvement coincided with her relationship with Dale. Mercedes chose to believe that the real reason was just Faith growing out of her problems.

Dale just had to be another penniless gold-digger. There could be no other reason that he would spend so much time with Faith. Mercedes could only see her daughter's physical attributes. She could not even see the personality characteristics that were steadily drawing Dale closer to Faith.

[Dale] Late December

For Dale, the holidays were mainly devoted to his mother. One of the retail stores where he had worked before gave him several days of work, and as always, every dollar was needed. When they weren't working, though, they were almost always together. One exception was three dates that Muriel had with Clark Renfrew, the wrestling coach and math teacher who had helped Dale so much with the college courses. Dale did not begrudge that time in the least, overjoyed that his mother was finally finding something besides grief, loneliness, and grinding hard work in her life.

The very first night he was home, Muriel stopped Dale as he started to make up the fold-out bed, as he had done hundreds of times before. "Honey, sleep with me. Please. Nothing bad is going to happen. If we end up snuggling or touching, that's a good thing. I have missed you so much! After the time at Catherine's, I think we know we are in control of our emotions. You deserve to be comfortable."

On the third night home, as they were talking in bed, Muriel rolled over to press herself against him. "You're missing Faith, aren't you?"