Chapter 2

[Thursday]

[Brian]

I had gotten through Wednesday's English class because the teacher, Mr. Williams, had sneered that I obviously wasn't able to discuss Moby Dick on my first day. Today he asked me, "Well, Henderson, do you have any insights about the required reading?" You're an asshole and so was Herman Melville. "Yes, sir. Moby Dick is very long. Lots of words."

The class tittered until Mr. Williams quelled them with a basilisk glare. "Yes, I suppose you can say that. What, if anything, did you glean from all those words?"

"Captain Ahab lost a leg in an attempt to kill an albino whale and spent the rest of his life trying to get another opportunity. He finally got one and he and the whale killed one another. After the whale sank his ship and killed his crew. Sir."

"What is the meaning behind the words? What does the white whale stand for?"

I took a deep breath. Ghu, civilians are really stupid. "The white whale is a white whale..." I broke off as Mr. Williams started to radiate anger. Think, Henderson. Come up with some plausible bullshit. "Okay; the white whale is an albino and albinos of any species are quite rare. Rarity equals value, like for gold and jewels, so Ahab's quest for the white whale is a metaphor for human greed." I could tell that Mr. Williams wasn't mollified by my answer. "At another level Ahab's obsession is an example of the stupid human tendency to destroy anything that's different. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down, that kind of thing."

"And that's your answer -- that Ahab represents either greed or stupidity?"

I shrugged. "It's as good an answer as any."

"Henderson, proper analysis of a classic work like Moby Dick takes careful study. It's not something you can come up with on the spur of the moment."

"Mr. Williams, with all due respect, I've read some literary criticism. It's like a written answer to a Rorschach test: a perfectly spelled and punctuated waste of paper and ink. If you want to know the hidden meaning behind something ask the author. If the author didn't consciously put it in, then it's not there. Sir." Wasn't it Isaac Asimov who was amazed by the things people found in his books?

I thought that Mr. Williams would burst a blood vessel. Seething with fury he barked, "Sit down, Henderson. If I'm interested in any more of your puerile opinions I'll ask for them."

I sat and tried to keep my face expressionless. You asked for that one, asshole. I can repeat back whatever tripe you come up with to get a good grade, but you're still an asshole. I had a sneaky hunch about his thesis topic. If I could find out where he went to school all I'd have to do is get a copy.

As I was walking between English and History I came upon the naked girl from my Health class. She was walking slowly with her head down and her shoulders hunched, radiating "please leave me alone." The vibrations didn't deter a couple of yardbirds from fondling her quite crudely. I arrived just after they left, giggling and smirking.

I did something on an impulse that amazes me in retrospect -- I said, "Hi, my name's Brian Henderson. I'm new here and I saw you in Health class. Are you in The Program?"

She replied in a listless voice, "Yeah, I'm in the Program. I'm Lisa."

"You have very pretty breasts, Lisa. May I touch them?"

"Uh, yeah, but please be careful, they're kinda sore."

"Kinda sore" was probably an understatement. I saw a couple of finger-sized bruises and at least one fingernail scratch. Her nipples looked quite red. I smiled at her. "Don't worry." Another yardbird approached and I sidestepped to block him. I caressed her breasts with the backs of my hands. "My hands are probably too rough, so is this okay?"

Her head came up and she looked me. Her face lit up in a smile. "Oh, yeah, that's okay. It feels good." She looked past me and her smile gained wattage. I followed her gaze to a young man, clothed, with a scowl on his face. She introduced us, "Brian, this is Donald. Don, Brian's a new student and he's being real gentle."

I shrugged out of my ruck and opened my personal equipment bag. I gave Don a small squeeze bottle of lube. "Don, put some of this on Lisa's nipples; I think they're pretty sore."

"What is it?"

"Water-based gel for, ah, tender areas. It's not the best thing, but it's what I have with me." Lisa stood up straighter and thrust her breasts out to meet Don's hands.

As he applied it she said, "Oh, my. Don, that's marvelous."

I asked Lisa, "I have some moisturizer for your breasts. May I put it on since Don has that lube on his hands?"

"Mmm. Okay."

I squirted a little lotion into my left palm then dropped the bottle into my shirt pocket. I held my palms together for a minute to let it warm up. "This may be a little cold." I applied the lotion using both hands to cup around each breast, avoiding her nipples.

She leaned back and closed her eyes. "Oh, God, that feels good."

I kept my hands on her breasts as I leaned toward Don. I glanced down and back at his face. "Why don't you find a secluded spot and apply that lube somewhere else she might need it. Keep the bottle and apply as necessary."

History was taught by Miss Thacker, one of those trim older women (she must have been over thirty) that really look good and with whom I got along. She had the dark complexion and features of someone from the Indian subcontinent. She had the Indian-English accent, too, not the American version. By the time I started she had finally dragged her class into studying something close to current times. She asked, "Now, class, can anybody summarize what your textbook said about the collapse of the fundamentalists?"

I'd made the mistake of looking as if I knew something. "Brian?"

I've gotta work on my blank stare. "Yes, ma'am. The Fundie Fu-, ah, Failure was caused by the AIDS pandemic that pretty much depopulated parts of Africa and spread across a goodly part of Asia. Central and South America got hit too, but not nearly as hard."

"That's the what, but why did it happen? A hundred million people didn't just say 'I think I'm going to go get AIDS today, ' did they?"

"No, ma'am. At the time condom use was the cheapest and most effective means of preventing the spread of AIDS until the vaccine came out. A bunch of religious loonies had convinced their dupes that their invisible friend didn't like any method of conception prevention except for abstinence. That included condoms. Oh, and it was more like a quarter billion people."

Miss Thacker chided me, "Now, Brian, don't be judgmental about the religious beliefs of others."

"When those religious beliefs have detrimental real-world consequences I'll be as judgmental as I want."

She sighed. "Did the text mention any other major changes during the same general time period?"

"The Un-birthday Present Shot for contraception in women came out at about that time. The one for men came out about five years later. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together starts getting their kids protected at puberty."

She winced at that but she only said, "Anything else?"

"The 'Boy Baby Only' versions of the shots are causing some male-centric cultures to disintegrate." I snorted. "Some places have as many as a third more guys my age than girls. No matter what they say, the major reason that they're so crazy is that they're horny." I added, "Cultural homophobia doesn't help, either."

The poison gas cloud was noticeably absent when I got to Health class so I grabbed a desk on the aisle in the second row. Lisa appeared just before the bell, flushed and walking with her thighs together. After the bell Miss Carmichael looked at her with a bit of a grin. "Lisa, you look like you need relief."

"Yes, ma'am," she said in a strained voice. She glared down me. "Don got me off with that stuff you gave him and every time I've been felt up since then it's been a lot better but not good enough to get me off and for two periods I've been horny as hell and it's all your fault!"

Miss Carmichael blinked at this. "Brian, will you volunteer to give Lisa relief?"

Oh, shit. "Ma'am, to, ah, masturbate Lisa to orgasm?"

"You'd better get me off, you son of a bitch!"

"How? Manually or by cunnilingus?" What in Hades do these idiots think acceptable?

"I don't care but finish what you started!"

I took a deep breath. Great Ghu, talk about performance pressure. "Just keep your legs crossed another second, dammit. This is only my second day here and I'm not used to this." I took another deep breath and stood. Lisa grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her crotch.

"Come on, come on."

I pulled my hand loose and took her head in my hands. I kissed her on the mouth. "Lisa, calm down."

She shook her head. "Don' wanna calm down. Wan' get off. Needta get off!"

I pulled her into a hug. She struggled a little and I kissed her on the cheek. "Hush, now," I said softly as I kissed down the right side of her neck to her collarbone. "Hush, now, honey. We're going to do something fun and magical."

She relaxed against me and put her head to my chest. "Okay."

There was an empty worktable at the front of the classroom. I got the hand towel out of my ruck and led her to the end of the table. I spread the towel on the end. "Sit up there, honey." She started to lie back. "No, just sit for a moment."

The Health classroom had a small sink in the front corner and I took a minute to wash my hands and rinse them in hot water to warm them up before returning to Lisa. I took her head in my hands again and spoke softly into her ear. "Now, close your eyes and just think about how good this feels. There's nobody here but you and me and we have all the time we need."

"But..."

I nipped her earlobe and kissed my way down the left side of her neck "All the time we need," I whispered. I ran my hands up her sides from her waist to her breasts, then cupped her nipples under my palms.

I told her, "Lovely, lovely," because sometimes girls have a mistaken idea that they're not attractive.

"Too rough?" She shook her head without opening her eyes and I ran my thumbs across her nipples a few times. She hissed and arched her back, leaning back with her hands on the table. I drew a line with my right forefinger down her chest and stomach. Ghu, she's wet, I thought as I slid a finger inside her. And it isn't all lube. She was pretty close to the edge, from how she felt.

"Ooh, yeah," she squeaked. "More, more."

She started thrusting her hips toward my hand. I stroked my finger in her and found her g-spot.

She let her hands slide to her sides and lay back on the table. "Oh, God; oh, God; do it, do it."

She started to pant and I could see the flush starting down her torso. I left my other hand roaming over her chest and breasts, tweaking her nipples as it passed, as I leaned over and kissed her stomach.