Chapter 4

[Monday]

[Brian]

School felt different, somehow. I'd tracked down Ella's family and had a long conversation with her mom. Ella had been their youngest and the last one at home, so when she'd been killed they wanted nothing more than to leave that place and never look back. They'd finally gotten over blaming me, so her mom and I cried a bit over the phone. We made the usual insincere noises about keeping in touch, but it felt as if I'd closed the book on a chapter of my life. Now I was at school, and it was the place where I'd see Janet again.I hadn't felt this way since I was about fifteen.

It was almost as if I was opening another book, one where I'd already read the prologue. I noticed that there wasn't a crowd outside the main entrance where The Program victims took their clothes off, but I really didn't pay much attention. I was counting the minutes until Health class.

As I took a seat in the classroom before English actually started I overheard a couple of kids behind me wondering who'd be the next ones for The Program. An announcement came over the PA system, "Brian Henderson and Janet Linsdale, report to the principal's office. Brian Henderson and Janet Linsdale to the principal's office."

Oh, shit. They found out about Janet and me leaving early on Friday. I looked at Williams and he said, "Along with you, Henderson. Principal Sullivan's waiting."

He had some sort of smirk on his face, probably in anticipation of my being given detention or something. When I got to the principal's office Janet was waiting nervously outside the door. There were a couple of rent-a-cops hanging around too, both with flat expressionless looks on their faces.

I whispered to Janet, "What's going on? Did they find out about us leaving on Friday?"

Before she could answer the door opened and Principal Sullivan said, "Come in, you two." He glanced at the rentas and one of them nodded. Principal Sullivan waved us to a pair of chairs in front of his desk. "The two of you have been chosen as partners for The Program this week. You should both know the rules, especially Rule Three -- I won't brook any arguments about what constitutes a reasonable request."

I blurted, "But I'm not supposed to be in The Program."

Sullivan opened a folder on his desk. He took out a form and held it up. "You mean this?" He crumpled the form and dropped it into his wastebasket. "You come in here with a bogus transcript and disruptive attitude. You need to be taken down a couple of pegs."

The sheer arrogance took my breath away. I started to say something but I caught sight of Janet's white face. I can put up with a week of abuse to be Janet's partner, but I'm going to break your legs for that. I had a meter of rebar at home that would be perfect to break his shins with. You'll heal, but it'll hurt a lot and the scars the rebar leaves will remind you that there are consequences to being an asshole. I stood, put my ruck in the chair and started to empty my pockets into my personal equipment bag. I set the lube aside to give to Janet along with my towel.

Sullivan said, "That reminds me, you're no longer authorized to carry drugs with you." He tore several forms out of the folder and tossed them into the trash. "Hand them over now or I'll have the guards outside handcuff you and search you for them."

It felt as if somebody had punched me in the solar plexus. I started to hyperventilate in panic. Shit, calm down. This is no time to have an attack. Necessity is the mother of invention but desperation is the mother of improvisation. This REMF probably has no idea what my real meds look like or where I keep them. I took my small bottles of analgesics and anti- inflammatories out of the bag, then got out a pocket notebook. I wrote 'BRONCHODIALATORS' on one sheet and 'ANTIHISTAMINES' on another. I wrote my name and ID card number on a third.

I put the first two sheets on Sullivan's desk and put a pill bottle on each. You are going to die for this; this and for humiliating Janet. "There you go, sir." You are going to scream for mercy and I'll laugh at you. "Do we take off our clothes now?" I will whip you with barbed wire and amuse myself with a squirt bottle of lemon juice.

Sullivan seemed amazed at my lack of resistance. "Yes, strip now." He pointed to a pair of cardboard boxes. "Put your clothes in there. They'll be in the locked boxes out front at the end of school." He took a pair of keys on dogtag chains out of a drawer and tossed them on the desk. "Here are the keys."

I am going to impale you on a fence post in the middle of the New Mexico desert. I wonder what's going to get you first: internal bleeding, organ damage, thirst, or the coyotes. I'm hoping for the coyotes; it'll be most rewarding to hear you scream as they bite your balls off. Vlad Tepes would like it. I folded my sport coat into the box and followed it with my shirt. Janet seemed to be frozen with fear. I said gently, "Come on, dearest. You can do this," and she started to unbutton her blouse. I will wedge your mouth open, break off your teeth with a chisel and put drywall screws in the roots. Maybe I'll touch the leads of a battery to random pairs.

I sat to take off my shoes, shucked out of my trousers and underwear, then put my shoes back on. Janet's hands were shaking, so I kissed her and took over undressing her. "Here, I'll help. We can do this, dearest." She nodded, then leaned her forehead on my chest and wept a bit as I completed unbuttoning her blouse and tossed it in the box. I left her bra for last. I will cut your nose off and shove enraged wasps into your sinuses. I will open your belly with a rusty trowel and let your entrails spill out into the dirt for the ants to eat.

Janet was wearing a skirt, so I unzipped and unbuttoned it to let it fall at her feet, then held on to her chair as I knelt. I gently slid her panties down to her feet. She was wearing flats so she could just lift one foot at a time while I slipped her skirt and panties over them. I will shove a glass thermometer up your penis, shatter it into a thousand sharp pieces with a hammer and laugh when you scream as you piss.

I creaked back to my feet, folded her skirt into the box and tossed her panties in on top. I caught a whiff of her scent from her panties and I was achingly erect. Janet was standing with her head down and her shoulders hunched. I took her in my arms and nuzzled her cheek I said softly, "Have I told you recently enough that you're beautiful? You're a big, beautiful woman and I love you."

That just slipped out, and I wondered if it was true. I concentrated on the non-sexual part of our involvement and thought abut how it felt to hold Janet, and how it felt before. It wasn't the same -- the colors of my universe were brighter with her in it. Valid error check and positive authentication: yes, I love Janet. The whole thing took about a third of a second.

"You really mean that?" She glanced down at my erection. "You're not just saying that?"

"With all my heart, and both heads agree."

Sullivan sneered, "Aw, how touching. Now get her stripped and get out of my office."

I will heat one end of an iron bar red hot, then shove the cold end up your ass and laugh as you burn your hands trying to pull it out. I will hang you by your heels and cut you in half lengthwise with a chain saw. I wonder how far I'll get before you stop screaming. I put my arms around her and unhooked her bra. She let it slide down her arms, caught it with one hand and tossed it into the box with a defiant expression. She put the bottle of lube into an outside pocket of her ruck along with one of the keys. I gave her my hand towel and she put it in her ruck on top of her purse.

I put the other key in my personal bag, removed my ID card from my wallet, hoisted my ruck and wedged the ID and the notebook page under my left shoulder strap. I helped Janet with her ruck, took her hand and said, "Okay, deep breath and forward march. You're a big, beautiful woman and I love you. You don't have to take shit from anybody."

There was a semicircle of drooling jackals of both sexes waiting for us. I came through the door first and the first comment was "Oh, gross. What happened to him?" A girl's voice said, "Pretty hunky, though." A guy's voice said, "Damn, I don't wanna fuck around with him."

I ignored them for the moment and turned to the rentas beside the door. Picking the one who looked as if he had the highest intelligence (Carson from his badge, with what I hoped was a double-digit IQ). I handed him the paper with my name and ID number on it then showed him the ID itself. "Please look at this ID card, especially the seal of the issuing authority. It would be a very good idea if you call the verification hot line. Ask them about scars and other identifying marks so you know it's my card."

"Why should I do that, kid?"

I tilted my head toward Principal Sullivan's office door. "I'll do The Program, but calling that number might let you avoid any bad mistakes."

One of the voices from the crowd called out, "Hey, ain't you the wimp that broke down and bawled last Friday so bad you went home?"

I looked back and forth at the crowd for a moment. "Yes," I said into the quiet. "Yes, I broke down and cried when I smelled her perfume. We were in love and the last thing I remember was making a date with her for lunch. When I woke up in the hospital her family had already taken her body back to the States. Until yesterday I never even knew where she was buried." I felt Janet come up beside me. I turned toward her and lifted her hand to my lips. "This fair lady healed the darkness in my soul."

My erection had gone down while I was talking to the rentas. It started reasserting itself as I held Janet's hand and another voice from the crowd laughed. "Looks like she healed something else, too."

Oh, Ghu. I felt myself blush. I couldn't think of what to say so I blurted out the truth: "Janet's the first one who's gotten it to work since it happened."

[Janet]

When we walked into the hallway I was pretty much in a terrified daze from getting dumped into The Program. I came out of it a little when the rush of groping hands I expected didn't materialize. I looked around at the kids and realized they were hanging back because Brian didn't fit any of their preconceptions. He wasn't shy about being naked or scared or embarrassed. He wasn't defensive or defiant. Then it hit me: Brian was acting like an adult in control of himself. He had nothing to prove to, or fear from, a bunch of high school kids.

When Brian said that about how I'd healed him I was amazed but my reply was interrupted by a guy's voice, "Wow, nice rack."

Another kid put on a Creole accent, "My, my, dat one bodacious fiiine lookin' woman. Mmm, mmm," which elicited an undercurrent of laughter and appreciative noises.

Maybe Brian wasn't kidding. I tried to locate the guy who'd spoken when another guy, a young one by his voice said, "Yay, hooters. Get 'em."

A girl next to him backhanded him on the side of the head. "You're such a shit. If you didn't give girls in The Program such a hard time you might get a date once in a while. Nobody wants to let you near her."

A nerdy-looking guy with glasses that I knew slightly stepped forward. What the hell's his name? Chuck Green, I think. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Urgah the Magnificent craves a boon from Your Ladyship."

Oh, yeah; some kind of role-playing game. I thought about what little I knew. "Um, roll two dee six with plus five for courtesy. Any result greater than three and your boon is granted." That meant "yes." I couldn't refuse but it was really nice of him to ask that way. He glanced down. I nodded slightly and said softly, "I'm probably not real ready, so be gentle. There's some lube in my pack, if you'd be so kind."

He put a drop of lube on his finger and applied it gently. It felt, interesting, to be touched so intimately in public. Especially while I was holding Brian's hand at the time.

Mark Lewis called out, "Hey! Just stick it in; it's more fun when they squeal."

The undercurrent of conversation stopped dead and everyone turned to look at him. He was protesting, "Hey! Why can't I get a little," as a couple of his cohorts hustled him away.

One of them replied, "Not now, asshole. Later."

Brian's glare was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I saw the epitome of implacable, cold fury; not anger, not rage, but Death Himself looking out of Brian's eyes. The bell went off and I blinked. In that instant the expression on Brian's face had disappeared so quickly that I doubted what I saw.

I gave Brian's hand a squeeze. "See you in Health class."

He returned the squeeze with a warm smile. "Later, dearest. Remember, you're a big, beautiful woman and I love you. If you need relief, don't be shy. If something feels good, enjoy it."

I made my way back to my first period class. A bunch of guys wanted to touch my boobs or my ass and some of them wanted to feel me up. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

[Brian]

Holding Janet's hand while another girl stroked my dick was rather strange. Is she having fun? Who is this idiot girl, anyway? When Mark Lewis urged that guy to hurt Janet my erection vanished. Mark Lewis, you have just condemned yourself as a violent rapist and the sentence is death. The fantasy in the Principal's office was just something to divert my anger but this was the real thing. He was exhibiting the dangerous attitude that'd lead him to hurting or killing at least one girl before they put him in a cage. Unless they try him as an adult they'll let him out when he's eighteen, and there's no way of knowing how many more he'll hurt before they catch him again.

My thoughts were cut short by the bell. I stuffed my feelings into a compartment and put consideration of exactly how to kill him into the background. I wondered, Is this only because he threatened Janet? After a moment I realized, No. I should have done a threat assessment when I found out about Lisa.

I told the crestfallen girl who had my penis in her hand, "Sorry. It looks like Janet's the only one. Better luck later, but now I have to go to class."

When I got back to English class Williams said, "In The Program as I suspected, Henderson." He looked at my crotch and smirked. "You seem not to be participating in the spirit of the occasion."

"I have been caressed by professional women on perfumed satin sheets. Being groped by grubby random teenagers in a cold, crowded hallway is merely irritating." Take that, you snotty asshole.

Lisa caught up with me in the hall close to my History class. The girl who was trying to coax my penis into more of an erection gave up in disgust. "Here, maybe you'll have better luck."

Lisa said, "I just heard. I brought you this," and gave me a hand towel. "I forgot to bring it on Friday. I brought your lube, too."

"Thanks. I gave the stuff I was carrying to Janet. Those desks are really uncomfortable on a bare bottom, but you already know that." I had an evil little thought and sniffed the towel. "Darn, you washed it."

She colored and swatted me on the arm. "You tease." She looked down. "Can I touch it?"

"Sure, but it seems as if Janet's the only one who can make it work. Just be careful with it."

"Janet Linsdale? She's just about as different from me as you can get. Tall, big tits..." She ran her hand down my chest and through my pubic hair before taking my penis in her hand. It stirred a bit. She said, with a trace of wistfulness, "Ooh. Think of Janet and it works?"

I grinned at her. "Well, I can't be entirely sure I wasn't thinking about you, or about tits." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe we can do some experiments in Health class."

When I got to History Miss Thacker said, "I thought I heard your name over the speakers this morning." She arched an eyebrow at me. "It looks as if you're not in need of relief at the moment."

My penis was slightly erect after encountering Lisa. "Actually, I am."

"Very well. Class, are there any volunteers to provide Brian relief?"

"Ah, Miss Thacker, this is something that it would better for me to do for myself."

"Indeed? I find that quite unusual, but please proceed."

I took the "relief chair" at the front of the classroom. "This probably isn't what you were expecting, ma'am. The problem isn't arousal, well, it is and it isn't..."

Miss Thacker said, "You needn't explain if it embarrasses you."

"The problem isn't arousal, it's irritation. It seems that my Program partner Janet Linsdale?"

"Janet Linsdale; yes, I know of whom you're speaking."

"Well, I get an erection from holding her hand but being groped by girls in the hall doesn't produce much of a result. This irritates the girls and they intensify their efforts, thus irritating my poor male appendage." The girls in the class tittered and I told them, "Ladies, I guess it would be like wearing a pair of sandpaper panties."

I got lots of pained expressions, including one from Miss Thacker. She said, "I think we understand the problem. You have something to alleviate this condition, I presume?"

I squirted a little lotion on my hand. "Yes, ma'am. Moisturizing lotion." I applied the lotion and smiled at her. "Ahh. Very much better, ma'am."

"Good. Now take your seat and we will resume the business of History." She gave me a surprising grin. "I almost said 'return to the business at hand, '" which prompted a bunch of groans and giggles, "which I felt would be somewhat inappropriate. Brian, you might look into lotions meant for babies and diaper rashes. Body lotions may not be the right thing for, ah, tender areas of the anatomy." I started toward my seat and she added, "May I assume that you've seen a dermatologist about those scars?"

"Yes, ma'am. They'll fade over time. Thank you for inquiring, ma'am."

At the end of the class Miss Thacker asked me to stay for a moment. Once we were alone she asked, "Brian, forgive me for prying, but have you received any therapy for this, ah, this inability to achieve a full erection?"

"Yes, ma'am. It didn't produce much of a result. I think it was because it was too soon and I was holding on to Ella's memory too tightly. Earlier today it seemed as if I couldn't achieve much of an erection except when in contact with Janet, but there are some indications that may not totally be the case. I'm in Miss Carmichael's Health class just before lunch and I'm hoping that she'll allow a bit of, ah, experimentation."

"I'm free that period. Would you have any objections to my attending?"

"Certainly not, ma'am. You're one of my favorite teachers."

"Thank you. I shall definitely plan on it."

[Janet]

I had Gym class just before Health. Using the boys' locker room was actually fun, in a Schadenfreude kind of way -- I deliberately stared in disgust at the dicks of all those boys who had been drooling at my boobs. A couple of them had been pretty annoying about grabbing so I did some point-and-giggle just to embarrass them. Any erections I pointed at got really small when I did that.

I put on my sports bra and they started to complain, so I ran out into the gym. I'd forgotten it once and had to wear my regular bra. My regular one got kinda stretched out and by the end of class my boobs hurt some, so I was really careful to remember to bring one of these.

Coach Romero saw me but didn't say anything. Gary Whipple, one of the loudest complainers, came up to him. "Coach, look. She's wearing clothes. You've gotta make her take it off."

"It's athletic equipment, just like your jock. Shut up about it, Whipple, or I'll make you take your jock off and see how it feels."

"It ain't the same, Coach." The girl's Gym teacher, Mrs. Mullins, hustled over.

"Gary, I don't let anyone without breasts object to things like that bra. I have some prostheses and adhesive so if you feel so strongly about it I can stick them on you and you can find out for yourself."

Whipple started to back down until Coach Romero said, "I think that would be a marvelous idea. Unless you're afraid?"

Whipple blushed but surprised me by standing tall and sticking out his chin. "I'll do it, Coach. Just make the other guys shut up about it. The girls, too."

Coach Romero clapped Gary on the back. "Good man."

Mrs. Mullins and Gary disappeared into her office and Coach Romero called all the kids over. "Guys, girls, Whipple is doing something really brave -- he didn't believe that Linsdale needs a sports bra so Mrs. Mullins is going to stick a couple of fake boobs on him." The kids started to laugh and he shut them down. "Quiet! This is really gonna be hard for him as it is, but he has the guts to stick up for his beliefs so I don't want you giving him any shit about it."

A few minutes later Gary came out Mrs. Mullins' office stripped to the waist, blushing bright red with a pair of breasts on his chest. Mrs. Mullins had taken his arm and she was bare to the waist as well. The kids broke into laughs and whistles and catcalls. Mrs. Mullins stopped and said, "For me? Oh, thank you."

Coach Romero said, "Quiet! Whipple, you have the courage of your convictions. That takes a lot of balls, son, and I'm proud of you. Now, everybody -- run around the gym." He blew his whistle. "Go."

I ran beside Gary and it only took halfway around before he was obviously in pain. I told him, "Put your hands over them to keep them from bouncing so much, that'll help some." It did help, but it threw off his stride. The two of us were the last ones to finish.

When we stopped, Coach Romero asked, "Well, Whipple, what do you say now?"

"Jeez, Coach, that was real hard. And my chest hurts. And my back hurts. Janet, don't ever forget your sports bra."

I pulled him closer to me and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Gary, that was the sweetest thing a guy's ever said, and one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen anyone do. Thank you."

Romero said, "I didn't see that. Whipple, are you ready to take 'em off."

"Oh, Jeez. Yes, Please." As Mrs. Mullins led Gary away I asked, "Coach, you didn't say anything about me earlier."

He called for everyone's attention. "Kids, the reason that I didn't say anything earlier is because I did the same thing that Whipple did, only Jane, Mrs. Mullins, made me do ten minutes of jumping jacks and run up and down a couple of flights of stairs." He rubbed his chest. "Believe me, that hurt." Gary reappeared and Coach Romero said, "Give Whipple a round of applause and don't tease him about it. Like I said, that was really gutsy."