Chapter 1

Monday, August 22, 2005

It all started when I heard my name called down to the principal's office in first period, along with David's and 14 other names, two guys and two girls for each class. That could only mean one thing; we had been selected for The Program.

I couldn't believe my bad luck. If I was running around school naked, people would be sure to see all my scars. I'd be the laughingstock of the whole school, and someone might call social services. If that happened, Ray would be pissed. I guess I have to tell you that Ray is my mom's pimp, and the same goes for David. Sometimes he has us 'work' for him too, when he gets a client that's into that sort of thing, and he always has a mean temper. The last time a social worker got called was after he broke David's arm in seventh grade. That time he took a hot iron to David's back.

When I got to the office, David and a couple of other kids were already there. I recognized my friend Connor's sister Eileen. The other kids had started to strip, but David looked pissed. "I thought my mom sent in a form that said I didn't have to do that," he said, staying just calm enough not to get written up for insubordination.

"Actually," Mrs. Estep said, "you forged a form, just like you've forged every other signature that we sent back since you were in 5th grade. I wanted to let it slide, but the school's NIS Program Coordinator went back through your records until we found an authentic sample. So now you're stuck with The Program, and you'll need to get another physical."

"There's no way in hell I'm getting naked in here!" David shouted. The school resource officer moved in on him, I guess to forcibly strip him. David just punched him and ran down the hallway. The resource officer chased after him and Mrs. Estep slowly regained her composure as the rest of this week's victims filed into the room.

When she could speak again, Mrs. Estep began handing out the dreaded Program Pamphlets. They come with a picture of a couple of naked kids on the front and tell us all the rules about being in The Program. "Alright, now as you all know, you're required to remain naked except for shoes and socks for all school activities this week," she said, "We have selected two girls and two boys from each grade, in order to get everyone who's signed up through in decently warm weather. You are expected to partner with one of the students from your grade and support each other through the week, although I guess we have an odd number of freshmen."

"Don't worry," Eileen said, "We'll all watch out for one another. Lynx stick together!" Eileen is a cheerleader, and very big on school spirit. She really shouldn't have much trouble being naked, since cheerleaders do all their routines topless to begin with. Mrs. Estep continued talking about the rules of The Program while we all stripped. I was the last one finished; by the time I pulled my boxers down my hands were shaking. Eileen noticed the scar on my stomach, but didn't say anything.

"Why don't you all take a few minutes to get acquainted with your partners," Mrs. Estep said. I reluctantly introduced myself to the two freshmen girls. Their names were Kati Hutt and Brenda Tarr. I didn't know either of them from middle school. Brenda was excited to be doing The Program, but Katie was a little nervous. She had just moved here from Texas, where public nudity of all kinds is illegal.

"The biggest audience I've ever been naked in front of before is my family," she said, "I tried to get them not to sign me up when we moved, but they said it would help me make friends. How am I supposed to make friends when everyone's trying to feel me up?" She was talking really fast, and her face was getting red. I told her I was nervous too, which was true, even if I didn't get into the details. That seemed to calm her down a little, and she started talking to Brenda about clothes. I didn't have much to contribute to that conversation, but I pretended to be interested so I wouldn't have to talk to anybody else. Finally, Mrs. Estep released us and I trudged down the hall.

One of the other Program participants caught up to me on the way to class. "I'm Sherry," she said, "You have first lunch, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, so does Rick. Why don't you eat with us today?"

"Sure, thanks." I managed a weak smile. I usually eat lunch with Connor and David, but I didn't think he'd be back.

I opened the door to the classroom, to an immediate burst of laughter. Mr. Chenault did his best to quiet the class down while I made my way to my seat. Thank God I'd sat at the back of class. Mr. Chenault didn't call on me at all, and once the novelty had worn off people stopped turning around to look at me.

It was a different story in the hallway. It was only the second week of school, so naked kids were still a big deal, especially to the freshmen. I got a bunch of 'Reasonable Requests, ' that's this thing in The Program were people can make you do poses or let them touch you. The only thing that's off limits, at least at Lincoln, is genital contact or penetration. I hated it when people touched me, it brought back a lot of memories I'd rather not have.

My next class was gym. The rules of The Program meant that I'd be showering and changing with the girls. Of course, the rules of The Program also meant I didn't have anything to change into, so I just sat on the bench while a bunch of girls felt me up. They were really disappointed that I didn't respond. The last thing in the world I needed was somebody figuring that out. I told them I was just nervous, and I think that satisfied them.

We played volleyball in gym, so I got a lot of smart remarks about my junk flopping around. When gym class ended, I hit the girls' showers. I normally never shower after gym, neither do most guys who aren't into the whole public nudity thing, but I'm pretty sure it's required of Program students. I had to borrow shampoo from somebody; that was really embarrassing. Of course I didn't have a towel, so I had to walk out wet, and my shoes and socks were soaked.

I made it through the hallways to third period. Fortunately, no one noticed my scars. I couldn't tell if it was because they were more focused on my junk or because they were more focused on David. By then, the story of what he'd done in the principal's office had spread around school, and been heavily embellished. Everyone knew that I hung out with him, and I had so many people ask me if it was true that he'd pulled a gun or jumped out the window that the people making requests couldn't get through, which was fine by me.

I got to class late, and had to sit in the front row. I didn't even get to sit next to Connor. I could feel the eyes of the whole class on me while Mrs. Pullen droned on about the rise of agriculture. Finally, the bell rang for lunch. I was sure that everyone would be staring at me, but at least I was exempt from requests. I told Connor who I was sitting with and he decided to sit with us. I guess sitting with a bunch of naked people beats sitting alone. It turned out that Kati had our lunch too. We rescued her from a bunch of creeps and showed her to our table.

Rick and Sherry were surprisingly chipper. They both knew Connor, I guess through Eileen.

"So how has your first day been so far?" asked Rick.

"It's sucked ass," I responded, "I keep getting people try to feel me up and shit, and that's on top of David."

"If you don't mind my asking, what's his deal?"

"He just doesn't like being naked in front of people."

"I guess that would be kind of hard to deal with if you aren't used to it," Sherry said, "I go naked around my house and outside a lot, and I'm on the cheerleading squad, so the only thing that's really new to me is the requests."

Chapter 2 »