Chapter 8

Wednesday Afternoon

After school I hadn't pedaled even half a block before I decided my butt was still too sore for the bicycle seat and I dismounted. I was walking it when I heard Beth calling me and waited for her to catch up.

"Hi," she greeted me shyly.

"Hi yourself," I responded, wondering how she could change from being so teasing and flirtatious this morning to shy now.

"I - uh - heard you had Stephanie - uh - give you relief in gym," she admitted.

Maybe that was it? Maybe she was jealous? "I would have asked you to, if you'd been there."

"Oh!" She thought this over a moment. "She's very sweet."

"She's nice," I agreed. "But you're more my type." I didn't admit I'd felt Stephanie's breast.

"I feel bad for her," Beth went on. "People make fun of her just because she's kinda plump."

"Yeah." It didn't seem right to admit that I liked Beth's petite frame better than Stephanie's plumpness. And then, Beth was smarter than Stephanie, too. I could really talk with her. "She'll find the right guy," I assured her confidently.

"I hope so."

We walked along companionably for a few minutes. I could tell something else was bothering her. We were almost to the corner where she'd turn toward her house when she broke the silence.

"I heard that Karen has been seen naked on the streets, in public."

"Really?" I kind of wished I'd seen that, but I didn't say that to Beth. "Well, it's allowed, according to the new laws, and the program brochure they gave me encourages it."

"Are you going to do it?"

I thought about it, and felt my cock stiffen in my shorts. "I don't know," I admitted, blushing. "Would you do it?"

"Me?" Beth squeaked. "I'm not in the program."

"You might be, maybe even next week," I pointed out.

"I'm trying not to think of that!"

I understood that. "You might want to, though. Think about it, I mean. It's probably going to happen, sooner or later."

She looked at me sharply. "Are you hoping I will be chosen?"

She was smart, all right. "Uh - yeah, I guess I am. I mean, you're cute, and, yeah, I'd like to see you naked," I admitted, blushing. "I mean, it seems fair, since you've seen me."

We paused at her corner and she thought this over. "I suppose so," she admitted dubiously. "But I'd die of embarrassment!"

"I thought I would, too, but I didn't," I pointed out. "You might try going around naked at home, when no one is there, I mean, so you can sort of get used to how it feels."

She shivered. "I've - I've gotta get home. See you tomorrow?"

"You sure will," I answered with a chuckle. "All of me!"

"Yeah!" She giggled. "See you."

"See you."

I watched her walk away, pony tail swishing. This time her hips weren't swinging the way they had that other time, and her steps were slow, like she was thinking hard. She looked nice that way, too.

I turned toward home. As I walked up the driveway, I noticed the grass needed mowing. After putting my bike away in the garage I went in the house and dumped my books at the foot of the stairs, getting a quick snack before tackling the lawn. Sis was still out.

Up in my room, I thought about what Beth had asked - if I was going to go naked on the streets as well as in school. The thought rattled me, because I knew it would be embarrassing, but I had to admit that I also wanted to do it. If Karen was doing it, why shouldn't I?

I tried to set the idea aside as I went to take care of the lawn. We don't have a lot of grass, just a small back yard, with an above ground pool taking up a big chunk of it, and a tiny patch of lawn in front, and it's flat. We have one of those old reel type mowers you push.

I got the mower out and took it out the side door of the garage to do the back yard first. Then I paused. There was a fence. The neighbors could see in the back yard only if they came right to the fence, or from an upstairs window. Otherwise the yard was shielded from view.

Taking a deep breath, I stripped off my shirt and draped it over the bush by the door. Then I skinned down my shorts, liberating my cock to stand up in the gentle breeze. Stepping out of my shoes and pulling my socks off, so I was completely naked, I put the shorts with my shirt, and grasped the handles of the mower. It whirred eagerly as I stepped out into the sun and air of the open yard.

I never used the basket for catching the clippings. Dad said it was better to let them go back into the soil. Without it, they fountained back, spattering against me all the way up to my chest, sometimes my face. They were cool, and stung just a tiny bit when they hit, but it felt good.

The grass was cool and moist under my feet. It smelled sweet and fresh. The air touched me all over, and I remembered that night when I was thirteen. It was one of the last time my folks had been together, and they'd gone with Sis to something at her school, and were going to be out late, so I knew it was safe to run around the house naked. I'd scampered around the yard in the cool night air, my thirteen year old pecker hard, eager, pointing and seeking for something it didn't yet know what was. It still didn't really know the real thing, I mused, as I pushed the mower around the yard, but it was getting a lot closer to finding out.

Finishing the back yard, I paused at the gate. This, now, was the real test - did I have the guts to go out naked and mow the front lawn? I thought of Karen walking down the street naked, and my prick stiffened even more.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the gate open and stepped out, the concrete walk hot under my bare feet. I was more conscious than ever of the feel of the sun on my naked skin, the breeze touching my pubic hair. Even my balls felt it! I could feel the whole world with every inch of my naked skin. My hardon felt heavy as it swayed, tugging at my groin.

Sweating with more than just effort, I made myself step out and begin the first cut, along the driveway, right toward the street. I kept feeling like I was being watched, though there was no one on the street at the moment. Reaching the end of that first cut, I turned to make the usual swath along the narrow strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street, and just then a car turned the corner and came toward me.

I almost bolted for the back yard, but stiffened my resolve. The car slowed as it neared me, and I looked up as a complete stranger, a woman, drove past, staring. Managing a smile, I tossed her a wave, and she floored the accelerator in shock, I suppose.

"Hi, Carl!" a girl about eight called, coming out of the house across the street.

"Hi, Susie," I responded warily.

"You don't have any clothes on," she pointed out.

"Nope!"

"How come?"

I thought a moment. How could I explain the program to someone her age? "Because I felt like it."

"My mom won't let me go around naked. Does yours?"

"She didn't used to. She does now." I kept mowing, finishing the second swath on the strip closest to the street, thinking maybe she'd go away.