CHAPTER FOUR

JOE

As September turned to October, I tried to come to terms with my situation. It wasn’t easy. I was still dealing with my shyness about being naked. I was still trying to deal with all the naked girls.

And, I was not all coming to terms with seeing my dream girl, Darcy, with that asshole, Alex Randall.

At least I wasn’t the worst off. I wasn’t the type to take pleasure from others’ misfortune, but it made me feel less alone. Miss Peterson, the Geometry teacher, was still very uncomfortable with the nudity. The chubby girl, Stacia Averbuk, still got teased. And my new buddy Moose was as shy and uncomfortable as I was.

I found myself gravitating towards Moose, especially as our circle began to expand. Patrick was hot and heavy with Jenna Zambrano, and she and some of her popular clique friends started eating lunch with us. Moose’s buddy Justin didn’t have any kind of steady girl, but he always seemed to have some gorgeous popular-clique babe on his arm. It made Moose and I feel even more self-conscious. Especially when they’d all wolf down their food so they could head to the pods to have sex.

--------

I wasn’t the only member of my family having problems. I came home the first Friday in October to find my big sister Maggie sulking.

"I want to get the fuck out of this house," she said to me. "You up for supper at the Burger Hut? My treat and everything."

"Well, if it’s your treat, how can I say no?" I laughed. "Sounds good to me."

We got there and Maggie was definitely agitated. "Something wrong, Mags?" I asked.

"Ah, nothing to bother you with."

"Come on, Mags. I drop my shit all over your head all the time."

She grinned, then sighed. "Chuck’s not coming home this weekend. Too much work. That’s two weekends in a row I won’t see him."

"Ah," I said, understanding.

"This is so fucking hard sometimes. I’m lonely, not to mention horny. I try to be understanding, but it ain’t easy."

"You don’t think he’s getting some on the side, do you?" I asked.

"God, no," Maggie said. "If either of us were to ever stray, I can guarantee you it wouldn’t be Chuck."

"Well, didn’t you say he gave you permission?"

"Yeah, but I just couldn’t. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself." She sighed. "Which is part of the problem. Since Chuck gave me permission to have a fling--well, if I’m frustrated, it’s my problem."

"Ah."

"But it’s not just sex. I miss just cuddling with him and shit like that." She snorted. "Listen to me. I miss cuddling. Jesus. I’m going soft. Damn Braden made me go all soft, and now he’s stuck in Raleigh and I’m here!"

I laughed. "You always did have a soft spot."

"Jesus, don’t tell anyone that!"

I chuckled at her--then saw something over her shoulder. "Fuck," I hissed.

"Something wrong, little brother?"

"They just walked in. Darcy, the girl I’m nuts about--and Alex, the asshole she’s dating."

"Oh," Maggie said, then turned around to look. "Well, Joe, she certainly is stunning."

"Yeah. And way out of my league."

"You’re probably right, but not for the reasons you think," she said. "If she’s dating an asshole....well, some girls are just attracted to that. And you most definitely are not an asshole."

"That’s not much of a help."

She smiled. "I know. But some girls do grow out of that shit. Some of my friends did--Lily Woodard, Cassie Vyshenko."

"Yeah, but that doesn’t help me now."

"Joe, you’re 14. Play the field until she wakes up, I keep telling you that."

"That’s just not easy for me."

"Are you sure you’re my brother?" she laughed. I had to laugh too.

------

The next week, all hell broke loose.

It had to do with Jenna. She came in to school one day, all upset. Apparently Amber had ripped her a new one after the previous day’s soccer game.

It was a big huge brouhaha. It was all anyone at lunch could talk about. Patrick was particularly incensed--of course, he’d gotten very close to Jenna and was never all that enamored with Amber anyway.

Amber wasn’t my favorite person, either. It was easy for me to believe she’d been a complete bitch to Jenna. She was a bitch to a whole hell of a lot of people. So, it didn’t surprise me that she’d targeted Jenna in her sights. When I first heard the story, I was filled with righteous indignation towards the heinous bitch.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I had reservations. First of all, I didn’t really trust Jenna. It was just a gut feeling. I kept my mouth shut for Patrick’s sake, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I got the distinct impression that she wasn’t crazy about me, either. I wasn’t one of The Clique, and was tolerated, again, for Patrick’s sake.

But Jenna struck me as manipulative. I mean, she was telling us all about how Amber had picked on her. And she had the whole bit working--the tears in the eyes, the quivering lower lip, the despairing impression. It seemed to me to be a big huge attempt to let us all know how Wronged she had been. To my eyes, it was blatant.

Look--growing up the younger brother of Maggie Benson did not predispose me to have much patience with manipulative girls. Mags was the most up-front girl in the universe.

Plus, there was my mother. I didn’t really remember her, but I’d heard stories. Evidently, she pulled out every trick she had to wrap my dad around her finger. This while she was sleeping around on him at every turn. (That was so bad that my Dad demanded a paternity test after I was born. Yes, I’m his--but there was evidently a real chance I might not have been.) It was when her attempts at manipulation stopped working on Dad that Mom left.

And, yes, that’s why I think it’s funny that Maggie sometimes worries about being like Mom. She knows the stories better than I do. She’s gotten better at that lately.

Anyhow, because of all this, Jenna rubbed me the wrong way.

There was more. I told Maggie about what had happened, and she had a lot of interesting things to say. "Look, I don’t know Amber very well--I know her, but in a friend’s-kid-sister sort of way--but I do know her sister Lily, and I’ve heard that they’re cut from the same cloth. And I know Lily doesn’t take any shit.

"I remember a baseball game I went to, Senior year. They had a sophomore playing right field that year. He was good, but stuck on himself and didn’t think he had to work. Well, this game, Lily was pitching, and this guy loafed after a fly ball. I mean, it was blatant.

"Well, in the dugout after the inning, Lily ripped him a new one. Just tore into him. The whole park heard it. But, you know what? Lily was right. He deserved what he got from her. Understand me--Lily is not a bitch. But she has standards--and if you don’t even bother to try, she wants you gone, especially on the baseball field.

"The difference is, Lily had established herself, both on and off the field. She had a group of friends who’d defend her to the death, and most everyone else respected her. Plus, the baseball coach knew she was right--in fact, he benched the other guy.

"It seems to me that some people are aligning themselves against Amber because of the whining of this Jenna person--and Amber’s up the creek without a paddle. Don’t get sucked in, Joe."

"You’re saying I should take Amber’s side?"

"I’m saying you should find out what Amber’s side is. There’s two sides to every story. You’ve only heard one."

That made sense.

----------------------------

The next hint I got was a couple of days later, from Moose.

You have to understand--I’d learned in the month I’d know him that Moose was pretty easygoing. The only person I usually saw him get upset with was himself--and that was mostly joking.

On this day, Moose grabbed me in the lunch line, and pulled me off to a small table, away from our usual crowd. "I hope you don’t mind."

"No," I said, but with a question in my voice.

Moose sighed. "I just can’t take them anymore. I didn’t sign up for the Bash Amber Woodard week. I like Amber. I think she’s got spunk."

"So, you don’t think Jenna’s in the right?"

He snorted. "I don’t trust Jenna Zambrano as far as I can throw her. And I’ve seen Amber in some of my classes. She looks completely beat down."

"Yeah, I’ve noticed that."

"It’s a rush to judgement," he said. "And everybody’s piling on Amber. I don’t think it’s right."

I looked at him, amazed. "You know, I know I’ve only known you for a month but this is the longest speech I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth."

He grinned. "You, I can talk to."

-----

It was Jordan that finally convinced me. But, first, she did something else.

It was a week and a half after the whole Amber thing had blown up. She grabbed me after Biology again. "Come on," she said, and grabbed my arm like before.

"So," she said as we walked, "have you pulled anyone else into the pods since we were here?"

"Uh, no."

"Bad boy. No cookie for you," she laughed. "You got to get with it, Joe. You still don’t have any confidence, do you?"

"Uh, well...." I stammered.

"Well, we’ll just have to fix that. Once I’m done with you, you’ll know exactly what you’re doing with a girl. That should help."

"Why are you doing this?" I had to ask.

"Because you’re nice, and sweet, and cute. And I enjoy it. You know, it sort of is what the school is all about, isn’t it?" We had reached the pods. "In," she said. I got in. "Besides which, I’m horny. Now, today’s lesson is oral."

"Oral?"

"Oral," she reapeated--and leaned down and ran her tongue right up my dick! My God! I’d never felt anything like that in my life.

And it just got better. She ran her tongue up and down my dick a few times. Then she popped the whole head in her mouth. She sucked on the head for a while--grinning up at me the whole time--then slid down my shaft. She started sliding up and down my dick, gently sucking while she did and working away at the sensitive area with her tongue.

It was incredible. I’d never felt anything like that in my life. "Oh, God," I moaned. She looked up at me with a grin in her eyes as she slid up and down my dick. And then she plunged right down on it. I could feel the head slip into her throat. And she kept sucking. Then she pulled off a little.

"Jordan!" I hissed, trying to warn her. She just plunged down again, driving me into her throat--and that was it. I came like I’ve never cum before in my life. And Jordan just kept sucking, and swallowing--and humming. It was unbelievable. I just about passed out!

She sat up, looking very satisfied with herself, and said, "Your turn."

"Let me catch my breath," I said.

She giggled. "OK. Did I wear you out?"

"I’ve never felt anything like that ever."

"Good! You’re enjoying yourself, then."

"And how. You make it easy. And I don’t even have to tell you that I’ve never done what I’m about to do, because you already know that," I laughed.

"Right. But that’s cool. I’ll tell you what to do."

"OK," I said, "but I know how I want to start." I leaned over and kissed her. She eagerly kissed back. As we did that, I let my hands roam all over her.

She broke the kiss, smiling, and said, "Well, you seem to have remembered the start-my-engines part." Then she leaned back in and resumed kissing.

My hands strayed to her breasts, and I rubbed my thumb on her nipple. Then I moved down to her boobs with my mouth, and put my hand between her legs, starting the way we had last time. But, this was oral. So, after nibbling on her nipple a bit, I kept going. I kissed my way down her stomach--she giggled at a few spots--until I found myself between her legs. She spread them wide for me.

It was intoxicating, and altogether mesmerizing--but I was still aware of the fact that I had no clue as to what I was doing. Jordan helped me out. "You remember where my clit is? And you remember you have to work up to it? Well, outside of that--go with it."

I nodded up at her, and then moved in closer. The scent was nothing like I’d ever encountered, and it was like a magnet to my nose. I used my fingers to spread her pussy apart, since this was my first close-up look and all. I could see her pussy lips, which were wet, surrounded by a bit of light-reddish hair.

I moved in closer. I was still kind of apprehensive about this. But, shit, she’d swallowed my cum, hadn’t she? I stuck my tongue out and ran it up the length of her inner lips. She shuddered and moaned at the contact.

The taste was indescribable. Very different, but not bad at all. I nuzzled her lips with my tongue again. I drew my tongue up and down her lips, and she groaned as I did so. Then I slid my tongue down to her opening, and slipped it inside. She was shivering and moaning the whole time, and her hands almost involuntarily went for my head, rubbing through my hair.

It was amazing. The taste was intoxicating. And her reactions were something else. I stuck my tongue into her as far as it would go, and pulled it out again, and stuck it in again. "Oh, God, Joe!" she hissed.

I came back up the length of her pussy, and gently flicked her clit. "Ooooooh!" she gasped, her hands running through my hair faster now. I was kind of unsure at this point, so the verbal utterances were welcome. I knew the clit was delicate--but I also knew that’s where it all happened. So I nudged it a few more times when I came up her pussy with my tongue. "Oh, yes," she whispered. "More."

I wrapped my lips around her clit, and started gently sucking on it. "Yes!" she hissed. "God!" I kept that up, but I also used my tongue to rub her clit while I sucked on it. I was really just guessing at this point.

I guessed right. She just exploded, moaning and gasping and thrusting her pussy up at my face. I kept it up, and after a minute, she hissed. "Fingers! Inside me!" I did as she asked, slipping two fingers up inside her pussy. I remembered that spot she’d showed me the last time, and curled my fingers up at it. She just went nuts. A couple of minutes of me sucking on her clit and moving my fingers around inside her, and she just exploded. Her hips came off the bed and her hands dug into my head. She yelped, and I felt her pussy clamp down on my fingers.

After a few minutes of writhing and yelping and clamping, she gently pushed my head away. I sat up. She crawled over to me and collapsed in my arms. After she caught her breath, she said, "Do you get good grades?"

"Well, yeah, usually," I said, confused.

"I figured," she said, looking up and grinning at me, "because you are one hell of a student!"

I had to laugh. "Well, this is more fun than, say, geometry."

"Hmmm. Even with Miss Peterson’s tits staring you in the face in geometry?"

"OK, there is that," I conceded.

"You should make a move on her," Jordan said, smiling.

"Jesus. I can’t make a move on a girl my own age, you expect me to make one on a teacher?"

She laughed at that. "You will. Be able to make a move on a girl, I mean. I’ve got one more lesson for you. We’ll have that one in a little while." Jesus--she had just pretty much said she was going to have me fuck her! "You should try to get another girl in here for some fooling around, though."

"I have to see. I have to broaden my horizons," I told her. "Honestly, I have to get over my infatuation with Darcy Iniglia."

"Yes, that would be a good thing."

"I’m working on it. You’re helping," I told her. "Anyhow, I was wondering. Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" This was a Thursday, so I was asking her about Friday. "I thought maybe we could go out. To the Burger Hut, and then maybe a movie."

"Joe Benson, did you just ask me out on a date? You are getting better," she grinned. Then she bit her lower lip. "The only problem, is, well, I don’t want you to, you know....."

I figured out what she was trying to say. "Look, Jordan, I’m asking you on a date. Not to marry me or anything. Or even to be my girlfriend. I’m just asking you to go out with me. I’ve figured out you’re not looking for a relationship right now, and that’s fine with me. But I’d like to get to know you better as a person. And, you know, it’s also kind of a thank-you."

"OK," she said, beaming, "in that case, I’d love to go out with you. You really are getting better."

"Well, with you," I laughed. "You make it easy."

"Good!"

------------

It was on that date, over greaseburgers at the Burger Hut, that she brought up the current ‘topic of gossip’.

"You’re friends with Patrick Drouin, aren’t you?" she asked me.

"Yeah. Best friends since, like, third grade."

"So, have you heard about the drama?" she asked.

"You mean with Amber and Jenna and all that? Yeah, I’ve heard about it."

"What do you think?"

"I don’t know. Patrick seems to think Amber is the Devil incarnate. I have to tell you, I’ve known Amber since 6th grade and I’ve never been all that fond of her."

"Why not?"

"Because she’s scary," I admitted. Jordan cracked up laughing at that. "Well, she is. And she’s never struck me as being all that nice."

"You’re her journal partner, aren’t you?"

"Yeah, and when we met at the end of last month, she basically took my journal and threw hers at me. She’s just bitchy."

"She’s less bitchy than you think she is," Jordan told me. "And this whole Jenna thing? It’s a mess."

"I have to admit I don’t trust Jenna."

"Nor should you. Look, Joe, keep an open mind about this, OK? When you get Amber’s journal, ask her for her side. Everyone’s turning against Amber and it bugs me--because she’s not in the wrong about this. Jenna is a manipulative bitch, OK?"

"I’d suspected that."

"Give Amber a chance."

"I will," I promised her. "Especially since you asked, seeing as how I owe you."

"Ah, fuck that," she waved me off.

"I do. You’ve done a lot for me."

"Good. And I’m not even done," she grinned.

-------

The way Jordan treated me really was a confidence boost. She was fun and appreciative and encouraging. Moose was insanely jealous, but in a good way. Maggie was thrilled.

"You gonna take her words to heart, about taking another girl into the pods?"

"I’m thinking about it," I said. "Only for some fooling around, though. I want Jordan to take my virginity, I’ve decided."

"Makes sense," Maggie agreed.

"I’ve also thought about a few other things. I need more exposure, more things to do, something to keep my interest. I’m thinking I need an extra-curricular activity. I just need to decide which one."

"That’d be cool." She laughed. "Of course, mine was fucking."

"I do believe I knew that," I laughed. "But I need something else."

"That’s cool," she said. "So, she talked about Amber?"

"Yeah. I think I’m just going to let things cool off. When we get together at the end of the month to swap journals, I’ll ask her about it."

"That’s a good plan."

--------------

The next week, I did it.

It was Wednesday. I had thought about what Jordan had said for a few days. So, after Bio, I just kind of headed to the pods.

One of the girls there was Eliza Ying. I was surprised. I’d known Eliza, she was from Westport--I’d known her and her twin brother Kirk since middle school. And Maggie knew their older sister Reenie. So, I knew Eliza. I had a few classes with her this year. One of them was gym. Now, gym at Naked High was strange, as the showers were co-ed. (As was every bathroom in the school, by the way.) You’d get a good idea who was having problems or not. I’m sure everyone noticed me cowering in the corner of the shower for most of September!

Anyhow, that was Eliza. She was shy. I had had a little talk with Kirk at one point a couple weeks ago, and he told me that Eliza wanted to go to Naked High because he did--and was having more trouble with it than she thought she would. She was still shy and self-conscious--as was I a lot of the time--and was still trying to get used to it.

Which is why I was surprised to see her standing at the pods, hesitantly looking around.

Now, I’d gotten the gumption to walk down in the general vicinity of the pods, but I was certain I wasn’t going to have the guts to do anything when I got down there. I figured just finishing my lunch and heading down there--this was during the extended lunch time--was a step in the right direction. Actually approaching someone could wait until I’d pretended a few more times!

So, it was almost more of an exploration. But then I saw Eliza standing there. Eliza was cute--very petite, but cute. She was also nice and sweet. And since she hadn’t completely adapted to the Naked High Experience yet, I saw her as kind of a kindred spirit.

So, I found myself walking up to her. "Hi, Eliza."

"Oh! Hi Joe," she said with a smile.

"Are you waiting for anyone in particular?" she asked.

"Uh, no. I don’t even know if I’m waiting," she said with a nervous little giggle. "I’m just--I don’t know."

"Curious," I guessed.

"Yeah, that."

"You want to go in?" I asked her.

She blinked at me. "With you? I mean...yeah, OK. Let’s."

We stepped into one of the pods, and we sat down on the mattress. I grinned at her and said, "For a minute there I thought you were horrified at coming in here with me."

"No, I was surprised. You’ve always seemed to be as shy as I am."

"Yeah. Well, I’ve gotten some help since I’ve been here. Plus, honestly, I didn’t think I was going to approach anyone, this was almost a test run. But I saw you there and I’ve always thought you were cool."

"Thanks," she said shyly, and blushed. "Joe, I have to tell you--I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve never done anything."

"That’s OK, I’ve only done a little. We don’t have to go all the way or anything, we can just play."

"Good," she said with real relief. "I’d rather not go from kissing to going all the way in one day."

"I’m still a virgin, too, so I don’t mind that at all. Kissing, eh?" I smiled. She smiled back--so I leaned over and kissed her.

She eagerly kissed back. We were kind of slumping together--and, somehow, she ended up in my lap. As I said, Eliza was rather small, so she fit right in my lap. It was fun. We were kissing, with her in my lap. I put my hand on her breast and she sighed into my mouth. Then she broke the kiss and giggled.

"I can feel it. You know, under my ass."

I just laughed, and kissed her again. She actually wiggled her ass on my dick! I fondled her boob with my hand as we kissed.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked her.

"I dunno," she said hesitantly.

"Well, then, can I do something?"

"OK," she said.

I pushed her off my lap so that she was lying down on the mattress. I leaned over and kissed her again, then started kissing my way down her body. I nibbled on her neck--which made her giggle--then moved down to sucking on her nipple. That made her groan. One part of Eliza that wasn’t particularly petite was her tits. She wasn’t huge--but on her small body they looked that way. And her nipples were nice and erect.

"Oh, God, that feels good," she gasped.

You ain’t seen nothing yet, I thought to myself--and started moving lower. I kissed my way down her stomach, then found myself between her legs--just where I was aiming for. I moved in, and licked up the length of her pussy.

She yelped. "Oh, God, Joe, what was that? GOD!" I leaned in for another lick, and she shuddered. "Wow, this is so great!" she blurted.

I kept it up, remembering what Jordan had told me. I concentrated on her labia for a while, then stuck my tongue into her opening. "Oh, God...I mean...GOD!" she gasped. "This is...wow!"

I just kept at it, and she kept with the verbal outbursts. It was very encouraging. Then, on the next upstroke, I went for her clit--and there were no words, just moans and squeals. I sucked on her clit, and her legs went right around my head.

One thing I figured out when I was with Jordan is it’s not the easiest thing to figure out when a girl has an orgasm. (Something Maggie had also once told me). Luckily, Eliza made it easier. As I nibbled on her clit, she gasped, "Oh God...Oh, Joe...I’m gonna...I’m gonna..." and then she just squealed. She bounced on the bed, and her legs dug in around my head.

After it looked like she was starting to come down, I backed off and crawled up next to her. She caught her breath and turned to me. "Oh, my! That was....I can’t even describe it!"

"I’m glad you enjoyed yourself," I told her.

"I guess I was wrong about you being shy. You must have had a lot of practice at that."

"That was my second time doing that," I laughed.

"Wow! Really?"

"Yeah, but my first time was with an excellent teacher."

"I’ll say!" She smiled at me. "OK, I think it’s my turn." She reached over and grabbed my dick. "Just remember I’ve never done anything like this."

"I know, that’s OK." She smiled up at me, and gently rubbed my dick. Then she looked down at it, almost examining it. "This place is so wierd. Here I am, I’d never seen a dick until I got here. Now that’s all I see. But this is the first time I’ve had one in my hand."

"I know," I laughed. "It was quite a shock for me that first day--suddenly surrounded by naked boobs and pussies."

"Boobs. That’s all you guys think about."

"Well, yeah. But they’re so fun," I said, reaching over and grabbing one of hers.

"OK, yes, they are fun," she giggled. "But I am supposed to be doing you."

"Oh, then I won’t distract you," I said, but I didn’t take my hand off her boobs.

"You’re not," she laughed. "This is really weird. I’m more relaxed than I thought I’d be." She giggled. "Maybe that’s because I just came."

"Probably," I laughed.

"But I’m very relaxed," she said. Then, she leaned over, and popped the head of my dick in her mouth. Honestly, I didn’t expect that. I thought I was just going to get a handjob. Believe me, I wasn’t complaining.

Eliza, as she’d said, had never done anything like this. It didn’t matter. She only got the head and another inch or two inside her mouth, but that was enough. She slid her mouth up and down on it, licking it with her tongue, her hand still wrapped around the base of my shaft. She increased the suction, and I felt the cum building up in my balls.

Then she moaned around my dick. That was all it took. "Eliza, I’m gonna cum!" I warned her.

She pulled off--just in time. I mean, it only took another tug on my dick and I was cumming. The first pulse splattered all over her cheek. The rest she pointed a bit lower, and it covered her neck and boobs. She looked down and laughed, then looked back up at me, a bit sheepishly.

"Uh, I was gonna, you know, not move--but then I lost my nerve."

"That’s OK," I told her. "That was great! You’ve really never done this before?"

"Never," she smiled. "It was OK?"

"Way better than OK." I reached into one of the ‘supply drawers’ they had in the room and got out a towel, and wiped all my cum off of her. When I finished, she climbed back on my lap and kissed me.

"Thank you, Joe. That was so much fun!"

"For me, too."

"I never would’ve had the guts to approach anyone. And I’ve been feeling left out, you know?"

"Yes, I know, believe me," I told her. Just then, the bell rang, and we had to head for class. And, as I was walking to class, I realized why Jordan had taken me into the pods for some fooling around. It really was gratifying. That was Eliza’s first experience, and she’d plainly enjoyed it. That was a great feeling. Especially around here--it’s very easy, as she had said, to be feeling left out around here if you were inexperienced. And someone shy like Eliza needed the door opened. I was thrilled to be able to do it.

Now I know how Jordan felt, when I asked her, "why me?" It must’ve been very much the same thing.

--------

Jordan, in fact, pulled me aside after Biology the next day. "Hey, Joe," she asked, "I walked by the pods after lunch yesterday--did I actually see you going into one of them with Eliza Ying?"

"Actually, yes, you did," I smiled. I explained the circumstances, that I was just kind of drifting by as a test run and saw Eliza, and went for it. "She was completely inexperienced, too. I think that was her first kiss, even," I laughed.

"Good for you! What did you do?"

"Well, we skipped the first lesson you and I had and went straight for oral," I laughed. "Mainly because I went first, and I really wanted to go down on her. I think you addicted me."

"Great! Did she like it?"

"A lot," I admitted, smiling. "She couldn’t believe it was only my second time doing it. I told her I had a very good teacher. Then she returned the favor. She was kind of figuring it out as she went along, but it was still great. Which reminds me..." I stopped, grabbed her, and kissed her on the cheek, right there in the middle of the hall. "Thank you very much, Very Good Teacher. That’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay."

"You already did," she told me. "I know Eliza Ying. She’s in a couple of my classes. She’s a sweetheart, but very shy. You did an excellent thing for her. That is how you pay me back."

"Well, of course I got something out of it, too," I smiled.

She grinned at me, her eyes twinkling. "Well, I do believe I came once or twice when I was teaching you, right?"

"True," I laughed.

"Anyhow, you did a nice thing for Eliza. That’s all the payback I need. And you shall get a reward. Not today, obviously," she said, pointing down. She was wearing a bikini bottom--which meant she had her period. "But soon." Then she kissed me, and took off.

Ah, things to look forward to!

----------

That whole extracurricular thing was still in the back of my mind. I was still trying to figure out something I might want to try. Then I heard some people talking.

You see, despite my fun activities with Jordan and Eliza, I was still fixated on Darcy. I couldn’t help it. She was just a goddess. And I heard her talking with friends--about how much she loved drama. Acting, I mean. And she was telling her friends about tryouts for the school play. They were coming up, at the end of October.

Hmm. The school play. That sounded like it might be fun.

OK, so I’m shallow--I decided to go out for drama so I could follow Darcy around like a puppy. But, really, that wasn’t all of it. It did sound like something interesting. Hey, it was a tryout, right? All I could do is try it and see what happened.

The notice told the name of the play being done and recommended all people trying out to get a copy and read it. It was "Tartuffe" by Moliere.

It was a great play. It’s a 17th century French comedy, about a man called Tartuffe, who masquerades as a holy man but is really a hypocrite. He bamboozles a French nobleman, Orgon, and Orgon’s mother, Mme Pernelle, into believing that he is a Man of God. Orgon is quite smitten with him, and even offers his daughter Mariane to Tartuffe to be married, even though Mariane had already been promised to her true love, Valere.

Mariane, her brother Damis, Orgon’s wife Elmire, and Mariane’s maidservant Dorine all see through Tartuffe. So, a lot of the play is the lot of them trying to convince Orgon that Tartuffe isn’t what he seems to be.

Dorine is a huge part--and funny. The whole play’s funny. After reading the play, I was even more enthusiastic about the possibility of getting a part in it.

------------

There were a lot of people at tryouts. Considering that the school had just freshmen, and only 250, there were a lot of people. Far more girls than boys, though, and Tartuffe had a lot of male parts. That did increase the odds for me.

The director, whose name was Mrs. Eggles, had us all gather round for a little meeting at the beginning. One thing she told us was that the plays at Naked High would not be performed in the nude. "Costuming and sets are a part of the whole thing," she told us, "especially in a period piece like Moliere. You’ll be rehearsing in the nude, since that’s the way you are anyway, but the performances will be in appropriate costumes."

The first day, we were supposed to have prepared a monologue to read. I did one of Tartuffe’s monologues, and thought I did pretty well. I sat and watched some of the other performances. Some were better than others. And one, quite honestly, astounded me.

No, it wasn’t Darcy. It was Stacia Averbuk. I’d seen Stacia in school, and she looked like the most uncomfortable person in the place. She was shy. She was overweight. A lot of the time when I saw her, it looked like she wanted to go climb under a rock. I was very surprised to see her show up for drama tryouts, as self-conscious as she seemed to be.

She came on right after Darcy, so I was riding a wave of angel-worship. That stopped in a cold minute. Reading one of Dorine’s monolgues, Stacia, quite simply, blew me away. She blew everybody away. It was a dazzling display of talent. I couldn’t believe this mousy, overweight, shy girl just possessed that part the way she did. It was like she flipped a switch when she stepped onstage. I’m a newcomer to all this--and even I could see: that was acting. Even though this was just a tryout, there were a lot of other students--me included--that couldn’t hold back the applause when she was done. She grinned and blushed at that.

Walking out, I happened to be right behind her. "Stacia," I said. She turned around. "That was mindblowing. You are really good."

"Thanks," she said, beaming. "I’ve been looking forward to these tryouts for some time. This is one thing I think I’d be good at."

"You’re not good, you’re great," I told her. She beamed at me again, then took off.

The next day, Mrs. Eggles had us read some scenes, in small groups. She had me do one, as Tartuffe, with a guy named Keegan Ardell, who was reading Orgon. I knew Keegan slightly. He was a big, boisterous funny guy. And he was able to bluster--the role of Orgon took a not inconsiderate amount of bluster. It was fun. But after seeing the same scene done by Keegan and a guy named Zach Provost as Tartuffe--I figured I wouldn’t be playing Tartuffe. Zach was the school geek--but he was obviously a hell of an actor. He and Keegan did a great job on that scene.

Mrs. Eggles seemed to be mixing and matching people in different parts. One that didn’t seem to change, though, was Stacia as Dorine. At one point, she had Darcy read a scene as Dorine and the difference was plain to everyone. Dorine is the closest thing to a female lead in the whole play--and Stacia was magnificent at it.

There were a few other things, then Mrs. Eggles had me do another scene. The three people in this scene were Dorine; Orgon’s daughter Mariane; and Mariane’s true love Valere. We did the scene were Mariane tells Valere that her father intends to marry her to Tartuffe. They both fly off the handle and Dorine has to keep them from walking away from one another in a huff. It’s a very funny scene--especially Dorine--and turned out to be a lot of fun to do.

Stacia played Dorine; I was Valere. This girl named Madison Sheldon played Mariane. She was a tall, very pretty blonde who I’d seen around but never really met.

The scene just crackled. Even just running through it, it felt like magic. Stacia held the whole thing together--as Dorine holds the whole thing together in the scene--but Madison was wonderful, too--and I think I held my own. When we were done, the three of us grinned at one another, pleased.

This went on for the rest of the week. She had all of us read different parts in different scenes, but she seemed to be figuring things out. I read for Valere more and more as the week went on. That would be fine. Valere wasn’t a huge part, but it had a few nice scenes. I had one, from late in the play, with Keegan as Orgon; and this guy Phil Glinnick as Cleante, Orgon’s brother-in-law. We did that one and it went well.

After the week, all I could do was wait. We’d know at the beginning of November who was in the play. It was even more fun than I thought it was going to be--I really wanted a part!

-------

Halloween wasn’t much. I was invited to a party at Tanya Vyshenko’s house but I didn’t go. Too many Beautiful People there for my taste. Moose and I hung out, got some pizza, played video games. He was turning out to be a hell of a friend.

I told him about drama. "Hmm," he said, "do you know when she’s going to start looking for behind the scenes people?"

"After she names the cast. Why?"

"I’ve done some set design and construction, in middle school. I like that kind of stuff."

"Cool!" I said. That would be excellent, if I got a part and Moose worked behind the scenes.

"Hey, you’re meeting with Amber tomorrow, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Ask her about cooking class."

"Huh?"

Moose laughed. "Amber and I are in cooking class together. We got paired up last week to bake a cake. Ask her about it. It was really funny. I’ll let her tell you since she got off the really good one liner."

"OK," I laughed.

"You gonna ask for her side of the story?"

"Yes, I am," I said. "My instincts tell me she’s getting a raw deal."

"Good. Listen, I like Amber. She’s smart, funny as hell, a good kid. I do not like Jenna--she’s fake. You know how shy I am. Jenna makes me feel worse. Amber actually makes me less self-conscious. She’s very genuine. Keep that in mind."

"I will."

---------------

The next day, November 1st, was actually a Saturday, but that’s when Amber and I had arranged to meet to exchange journals. I’d invited her over to my house. She’d warily agreed.

She came in and chatted a bit with Maggie, who she knew. Then we went in the kitchen. She eyed me with suspicion. She was plainly waiting for me to say something bad.

"Is it in there?" I asked, pointing to her journal.

"Excuse me?"

"Your side of the story. Is it in there?"

"Well, yeah," she said. I sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed her journal, and opened it. She looked at me blankly. "Well, we are supposed to read each other’s journals, right?"

"Well, yeah. OK," she said, and sat down across the table, grabbing my journal.

"Want something to drink?" I asked.

"Sure, that’d be great," she said. I got us some cokes, and then we started reading. At first, she was kind of looking at me out of the corner of her eye, then she got down to serious reading.

She read for a while, then smiled. "Moose is a sweetheart," she said--obviously reading where he stuck up for her. "Did he tell you about cooking class?"

"No," I said, "except he told me to ask you about it. He said it was funny."

"You’ll read it, towards the end of the month,"she smiled.

"OK." I went back to reading. After a while, I said, "OK. You need to warn me about these things. I’m getting horny just reading this little scene with you and Rosa."

She cracked up laughing. "Good!"

We read a little longer, and then she said, "Oh my God, Joe. You’re saying I should give out warnings? How about you? I knew about Jordan--she told me--but you managed to pull Eliza Ying out of her shell? You stud!"

I blushed and grinned sheepishly at her. Then I went back to reading.

"Drama, huh?" she said after a while.

"We can’t all be athletes," I teased her.

"Ah, Drama’s cool. I was a little worried when I first started reading--you really need to get over Darcy. I’m glad you like it, though, and it’s not just a Darcy thing."

"Yeah, well, it turned out to be a lot more fun than I realized it was going to be. However, we’ll see how much I like it after I find out whether or not I got a part."

"Good point," she grinned.

I was getting to the end of her month. Jesus. Some of this stuff was just uncalled for. It was ironic that I began reading about a hot sex scene between Amber and Rosa--and, by the end, they were barely talking to one another. It just didn’t seem right.

Then I got to the cooking class part. I cracked up. She looked at me. "Cooking class. You were right--that’s funny. And you went right with it. Moose must have loved that. That kapusta line was priceless."

"I was pretty proud of that one myself," she laughed.

I finished reading, and then waited for her. She closed my journal, and looked at me. "That Jenna Zambrano’s a piece of work, isn’t she?" I asked.

"That she is," Amber said, rolling her eyes.

"I just can’t bring myself to trust her," I told Amber. "She just makes me suspicious. And, for what it’s worth, I think you were in the right. I’m no athlete, but I think the laughing in the locker room after she fucked up the game would piss me off, too."

"Thanks," Amber said gratefully. "It’s very appreciated."

"You’re welcome. I really don’t get Rosa."

Amber sighed. "I think Rosa is getting a big thrill out of being one of the Cool Kids. That’s never happened to her before, we were always kind of insular. But now she’s hanging around with the popular clique, she likes it, and the price of admission is apparently bashing me."

"Yeah, but that sucks."

"I know." She looked at my journal. "Did you really find it that easy to think of me as a heinous bitch at first?"

"Yeah," I admitted sheepishly. "I’m sorry, Amber, you’re kind of scary."

She laughed. "I’m not nearly as scary as you think I am."

"I figured that out from reading this. You’re more vulnerable than I ever would’ve guessed. You don’t come off that way. Then again, I don’t know you all that well."

"I see a bit of your point. I can be aggressive, and I generally don’t take shit. Like Maggie told you, that you wrote about in here, I get it from Lily. Lily doesn’t take shit from anyone." She sighed. "But I’m not a bitch. Not unless I’m provoked."

"I’m beginning to understand that. And I really do think you’re getting a raw deal at school. I hope it works out."

"Thanks, Joe. It means a lot."

I reached out my hand. "Friends?"

She smiled, and shook it. "You betcha! I certainly can use more of those."

"Who can’t?"