Chapter 5

North Robert High School

10:00 A.M. Wednesday, Halloween, October 31, 2063

Nobody was late today, but the undressing took longer than usual. Mainly because the undressing was followed by redressing in costumes of the sort that are not welcome in public schools ... outside of Sex Ed. The fact that there were two women and a man, plus myself, already in the classroom didn't stop them, though some did step behind the bookcase to change. Three of them wore leather and chains, two wore skimpy nightgowns, and three wore fancy underwear. There were other costumes as well.

Mimosa Kang wore a long, almost formal gown. I say 'almost' because it was very shear. All her feminine charms were visible.

Rita Banks was dressed as a streetwalker from the late 20^th Century: short shorts, tight pull-over blouse, heavy make-up, and, just to make sure there was no mistake what sort of character she was portraying, several twenty dollar bills sticking out of her waistband and neckline.

Witashnah Gray Wolf was dressed as a cowgirl, with denim short shorts and a huge hat. Being a full-blooded Na­tive American, I guess that this was supposed to be irony. Cowgirls and Indians.

Linda wore nothing, saying it was the most cost-effective and sexiest "costume" she could find.

Amethyst wore her school uniform, only the blouse was tighter, short enough that her navel was exposed, and the top several buttons were undone. The skirt was much shorter than regulation, and she wore no panties un­derneath.

It took me a while to realize who or what Lisa was. With the metal band over her head, covering one eye, and the gun with a cord leading to that band, and the tight, camo-print catsuit, I wasn't sure at all. Then it hit me: Angel Putzaut, from the latest James Bond movie. I hadn't seen it yet, just commercials.

I walked around, complementing each girl and commenting on each costume.

"Amy, seeing you with that whip makes me wish they'd never banned corporal punishment in public schools ... except maybe it should be the students spanking the teachers." Wink and move on.

"Caitlyn, I'm sure the Green Lantern Corp will be proud to have you, but WOW! you might distract the Guardi­ans." Wink and move on.

"Amethyst, why didn't you wear a costume?"

"This is my costume!"

"It is? Oh, yes, I see now! Sorry, it's just that you always look so yummy and sexy in your school uniform that I didn't notice the diff at first." Wink and move on.

"Twenty dollar bills? For a babe like you?! Rita, you really need to charge more." Wink and move on.

And so it continued for almost ten minutes. While this was going on, the girls complimented each other and posed for each other to take pics. Then it was time to introduce the folks I'd brought in just for today.

"Everybody, this is Marcella Dubois. She is a renowned body painter. These are Richard and Jennifer Kirk, two of her apprentices. They are going to paint you today," I continued, "and Ms. Dubois is going to supervise. Normally, her works go for hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars. You are getting the art of two of her apprentices, with her supervision, for nothing today. Let's hear it for Marcella Body Studios!"

General clapping of hands, with a few "yea!" thrown in. It wasn't as much of a bargain as I'd made it out to be; apprentices usually had to hire models to practice on, and here were sixteen of them at no charge at all. And my students got painted for no charge, a win/win situation all around.

I turned on some music, mostly old songs about teenaged girls. The girls lined up, two by two, removing their costumes (except Linda, of course) and giggling as the airbrush tickled them. As soon as the painting was done, they would run around displaying themselves to each other, talking, and snapping still more pics of each other.

More than half of the girls lined up to be painted by Mrs. Kirk. Dubois and I both had to convince some of them that it was OK to be painted by a guy. Some sought out Mr. Kirk right off. I was not surprised to glance over and see that Amethyst was one of these, as she lay smiling with her legs splayed wide apart so that the red stripe that had been started at her forehead could be continued all the way down. She was flirting and talking up a storm.