Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Author: Ribeye98
Title: Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion
Part: 31 - 35
Summary: Does Rachel have what it takes to be a champion?
Keywords: fsolo, mast, exhib, voy, humil, nc, mf, Mf, 1st, bd,
blackmail, toys, nosex
   ************************************** Author's Note Copyright 2013 all
rights reserved.  Please do not repost this story on other sites without
permission (ribeye98@gmail.com).  By accessing this story, the reader
hereby certifies that he/she is of an appropriate age to access adult
material and that such material is permitted in the locality or country
where the reader resides.  The following is a creative work of fiction, and
the characters or incidents described do not resemble any persons or events
in the real world.
   You can read the rest of this series at https://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Ribeye98/www/
**************************************
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 31
   "Rachel, dear, what in the world are you wearing?"
   Rachel misunderstood the question and thought Ellie's mom was referring
to the cuff bracelets rather than the fact that she was naked underneath
the gardening apron.  She gave her readied answer with enthusiasm, "It's a
new fashion fad!"
   "My, my, fashion fad indeed!" Ellie's mom raised her eyebrows and let it
slide.  She was generally lax about such things, but nude gardening had
never crossed her mind.
   **That girl sure doesn't like to wear clothes.
   Ellie's eyes bulged when she came around the corner and saw the naked
gardener.  But to say something would arouse suspicion with her mom so she
kept her mouth shut.
   The girls divided the labor.  Ellie was in charge of transportation;
shuttling seedlings and supplies from the car.  Her mom did the actual
planting.  Rachel was the helping hand and miscellaneous gopher.  She
refilled watering cans from a wall tap around the far side of the house and
hauled compost from a mountain in the corner of the yard to mix with the
organic soil from the nursery.
   It was grungy, sweaty work.  At times she was up to her elbows in
potting soil which caked on apron and body alike and turned her porcelain
skin a patchy brown.  She looked like a third world child of poverty;
wallowing in a pile of dirt completely naked except for an inadequate apron
for cover.
   They worked for over two hours.  By the time they were done, Ellie
wished she had thought to strip too.  Her clothes were dirt-stained and
probably ruined.  And she was soaking from perspiration.  Even her mom
admitted to underestimating how messy it would be.
   "Um, why don't you girls wash off with the garden hose before coming
inside?  I'll go get some towels." She didn't want them tracking dirt all
over her house.
   Released from chore duty, the girls joyfully bounded off around the
house in a race to be the first on the hose.  Rachel only had the one
little apron to mess with, yet Ellie was somehow the first out of her
clothes.  She grabbed the sprayer and turned it on herself while Rachel
fumbled with her strings.
   Rachel got the ties loose but then paused as a tiny remnant of modesty
buried deep within her psyche resurfaced.  Chore time was over.  Time to
get back to her normal clothes, or what little remained of them.  Also, she
shouldn't be undressing in broad daylight within clear view of the street.
Then again, she could not very well get dressed before getting clean.
   Rachel ultimately followed the lead of her friend who apparently had no
such reservations.  There is something enjoyable about watering off after a
hard afternoon's work.  Normal coloring gradually returned to the two young
babes as they took turns rinsing the mud from their pink bodies and
frolicking in the water.
   Ellie was having so much fun that she didn't even notice the kids
watching them from the street.  Or maybe she didn't care.  But Rachel
shrieked when she saw the group of about 10 boys and girls standing on the
sidewalk not 30 feet away.  They were of varying ages but all looked
younger than her.  And they were all staring.  Ellie happened to be holding
the hose just then and knew what to do.
   "What are you looking at, perverts!" Ignoring her own nudity she turned
the hose on them.  They fled as she took up the chase.  The hose uncoiled
behind her as she dispersed the crowd with water.  The petite freshman made
it to the street before she ran out of hose.  She stood there in all her
naked glory in full sight of any number of neighboring houses and yelled at
the kids to not come back.  Then she turned and marched back to where her
more timid cohort was huddled beside the house.
   Now that they were clean, Rachel hoped to get back to her clothes.  But
Ellie's mom was waiting around the corner in the backyard.  She was
carrying towels, one of which Rachel gladly accepted, and a platter loaded
with healthy snacks.  Before giving her daughter the other towel, her mom
made Ellie set up the yard sprinkler to water the newly planted vegetables.
   Rachel was ravenous and attacked the food platter; sampling all the
fresh fruit and delicious cheeses in turn.  When she had eaten enough to
satisfy her immediate hunger, she sank into a patio chair with her towel
wrapped around for modesty's sake.
   When they found out the girls had been playing in the sprinkler, Ellie's
brothers, not to be left out, changed into their swim trunks and came
outside.  Tanner still wore the bandage around his injured arm, but didn't
look any worse for wear.  It certainly didn't prevent him from following
his older brother into the sprinkler.  When Ellie returned, she used her
towel to dry off but didn't bother to get dressed.  Instead she spread the
towel on the patio and lay down upon it.
   The wicker chair had no cushions and wasn't very comfortable.  Much less
comfortable than Ellie looked lying out on the flagstone patio and soaking
up the last of the afternoon's rays.  The boys didn't seem to care that
their big sis was completely naked.  So with a wary eye on the boys, Rachel
whipped off her own towel and fell in beside Ellie.  Remembering how the
sight of her more developed chest had mesmerized Jackson, she laid on her
stomach so he wouldn't be able to see as much of them.
   A nice breeze picked up and broke the heat.  It didn't take long before
both girls were fast asleep.  The air was quite bearable once the sun went
low enough for shade to grow over most of the backyard.
   Though it was especially difficult to maintain during dry southern
summers, Ellie's mom took pride in her backyard.  She had a double lot to
work with, a rarity in fully developed subdivisions, and she took full
advantage of it.  The organic garden took center stage of course.  There
was dad's workshop and another storage building as well as a gazebo.
   Along the far fence next to the compost was a rain collection system for
irrigation water.  That was what she had instructed Ellie to hook the
sprinkler to.  She insisted that rainwater was better for the plants than
municipal water.  And who could argue?  Her garden always had the best
looking and best tasting produce.
   The patio was paved with stone and bricks.  It had a fire pit (for the
winter), a grill, and a huge dining table made of reclaimed wood.
   Ellie's mom took one look at the scene and decided to make and serve
dinner out on the patio.  While the boys played and the girls napped, she
went to work throwing vegetables on the grill and plucking assorted salad
greens straight from the garden.  She made sun tea and lemonade and opened
a bottle of wine for herself.  The cheese and fruit platter rounded the
meal nicely.
   It was as picturesque a summer cook-out as one could imagine.  The only
things out of the ordinary were the two teenage girls sunbathing nude on
the patio.  It was almost dark by the time dinner was ready and Ellie's mom
called everyone to the table.  When she woke, Ellie blinked twice and
stretched.  Then hopping to her feet and leaving her towel behind, she
walked over and sat down to dinner without a stitch of clothing on like it
was perfectly normal.
   Since the sun had set, Rachel's precious cloak of darkness had returned.
Encouraged by Ellie's boldness, and a little bit turned on by the whole
thing, Rachel got up and went to sit down beside her friend.
   Jackson, who sat opposite her, got an eyeful even in the darkness. 
There were flood lights mounted on the house which cast a unidirectional
light and left Rachel's front side in shadow.  But whenever she turned to
pass a dish, her bosom, complete with erect tips, was thrown into relief
and Jackson's jaw dropped.
   The situation was different than before since her hands were no longer
cuffed behind her.  Being more in control she enjoyed having a little fun
with him.  Throughout the meal she found excuses to cast light on her
breasts; reaching for her lemonade with the opposite hand or offering to
pass every dish back and forth across the table.  The poor boy's jaw
dropped so frequently that he wasn't able to chew his food and he barely
ate anything.
   After dinner the girls went upstairs.  Ellie begged Rachel to call and
get permission to spend the night again.
   Rachel liked the idea, "but we both need our sleep for the swim meet
tomorrow.  That means early bedtime and no fooling around.  And put
something on."
   Ellie giggled her consent.  Rachel had her nightgown in the backpack
Ellie had retrieved.  She dressed in the bathroom across the hall then
returned to slip into bed.  True to her word, Ellie was dressed in a
lightweight gown.
   They exchanged some pillow talk about Oliver before succumbing to
sleep...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 32
   The butterflies began as soon as Rachel woke.  This was a monumental day
in many ways.  Her first swim meet of the year alone was reason enough to
be nervous.  Knowing that she would be wearing her pinnacle uniform in
front of a crowd of strangers while she competed added a whole new level of
anxiety.
   Ellie had broken the promise to keep to herself.  Sometime during the
night she rolled over and embraced her friend; their arms and legs
enter-twining as before.  After finding the open window in the front of the
nightgown, her hands had been fondling Rachel's boobs ever since.  The
stimulation aroused Rachel, but the butterflies were too overwhelming to
enjoy it.  So she pried Ellie's hands from her chest and squirmed out of
bed to begin the day.
   They wore street clothes to the school.  Ellie had khaki shorts with a
conservative blouse while Rachel wore the same thing she had worn to Pip's
challenge; her wonderland dress with rainbow panties and strength trainer
shoes.
   As they neared the school Rachel spotted the two coach busses idling
outside the aquatic center.  Coach Ron had ordered a second bus from
bystander after the Eastern meet.  But building wasn't finished yet, so
they had chartered a generic one.
   Rachel found Pip loitering in the aquatic center and marched right up to
her.  Pip had to stifle a laugh.  Her teammate had managed to cut the cuffs
apart but they were still attached to her wrists.
   **Does this girl do everything half way?
   Upon returning from the challenge, Oliver had told Pip everything from
his perspective.  He said Rachel disappeared as soon as she had freed him.
Technically she had rescued the lamb even though she didn't escort him back
to the aquatic center as instructed.
   Pip could have castigated her over not following through on the task. 
But the impending swim meet took precedence over any personal agenda.  She
needed Rachel to be in top mental and emotional condition today.  Besides,
she would have plenty of other chances to apply torment now that the
pinnacle remote control was in her possession.
   "Never found that key, did you?  Well, lucky for you, I lied about not
having a spare." Pip produced the spare key from her purse and unlocked
Rachel's cuffs.
   "You made quite an impression on the lamb," she added with a wink which
made Rachel flush, "but you still haven't convinced me.  Swim well today
and I may consider letting you stay on the team."
   "That, I can do" Rachel replied with an aire of confidence; though her
roiling stomach wasn't so sure of her ability to perform in public while
practically naked.
   The girls boarded the flagship bus with the giant wildcat painted on the
side.  Coach Ron drove it while Johanna was in charge of the boys in the
second bus.  Getting to ride a coach bus was an incredible treat.  Rachel
gaped at the lavish interior; the rich leather seats, hardwood floor, and
dark tinted touring windows.  Her teammates had experienced it last week on
the way to Eastern Academy, but this was the first time for Rachel.  She
felt like a superstar.  She would have been able to enjoy it more if she
didn't feel like she was about to puke.
   Every block they drove added to her sense of dread.  While the other
girls' excited voices rang about the cabin, Rachel got quiet and stared out
the window.  A champion would have been in preparation mode by now; calming
their nerves and getting their mind right for competition.  But all Rachel
could think about was the looks she would get from the other teams as she
changed into her uniform.  Then she imagined the looks from the crowd as
she stepped up to her first race.  Rachel hugged her precious dress while
she could.
   She felt sick and fear nearly overtook her.  But then with an immense
mental effort pulled back from the brink of despair.  She closed her eyes
and focused on breathing while the bus swayed beneath her.
   **The embarrassment will be short.  Once you're in the water, you'll be
just like all the other swimmers.
   She had never been to Franklin High.  The host school was still a good
30 minutes away.  That gave her enough time to get the butterflies under
control; or so she thought.
   "Attention, ladies." It was Coach Ron talking into a microphone in the
cockpit.  His voice was communicated throughout the bus via a speaker
system.
   "Franklin High has experienced a facilities issue and had to move the
meet to another venue.  We will be competing today at the Senior Community
Center in Lark Bend.  Unfortunately, they do not have facilities to
accommodate this many teams.  Therefore our bus will be our locker room. 
We will be arriving in about 15 minutes.  Go ahead and change into your
uniforms."
   The girls jumped into action as the cabin crackled with excitement. 
Some queued up outside the bathroom to take their turn while others
stripped where they were.  The tinted windows were too dark for anyone
outside to see.  One naked girl even blew kisses at a passing car of boys.
They were completely oblivious and never looked up.
   Rachel waited as long as she could before getting in line for the
bathroom.  She was the last to enter.  Part way thorough changing, she felt
the bus slow and roll to a stop.  They had arrived.  Rachel turned and
threw up into the toilet.
   She briefly considered withdrawing due to illness.  The claim wouldn't
be false.  Coach Ron would bench her if she asked.  But she had been
waiting for this day for so long.  It would be torture to sit there and
watch everyone else compete.  She was born to swim, to be a champion.  And
she couldn't let down Pip or her team again.
   Everything was in place except her pinnacle.  She had grown very deft at
insertion, but her body did not cooperate this time.  It had contracted a
severe case of performance anxiety which left her dry as a bone down there.
Even without any inflation and all the relaxation techniques she had
learned, the pinnacle barely and painfully fit into place.
   Rachel took one last look in the mirror.  She was about to share nearly
every inch of her athletic body with those in attendance.  There would be
no turning back once she stepped off the bus.  She thrust out her chest and
stood tall.  The leaping wildcat looked fierce upon her round pussy shield.
   **Represent yourself with pride.  And focus on the water.  That's why
you're here.
   As she made her way to the front of the bus, she dropped her backpack in
her seat.  Her wonderland dress and rainbow panties were safely inside.  It
was the last time she ever saw those clothes again...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 33
   The facilities were not at all what she expected.  The cramped and
poorly lit hallway they entered through looked like it hadn't been
redecorated or painted in 40 years.  The inadequately sized pool area was
similarly outdated.  A bank of windows along one wall overlooked a flower
garden and walking trail.
   A Jacuzzi tub could have worked as a makeshift warm-down tub, if it
weren't broken.  Instead, one of the teams was currently using it as their
headquarters and to store their belongings in.
   Excited chatter echoed off the cinder block walls.  It took about three
seconds for the assemblage to notice the arrival of their naked
competition. Kids from the other schools standing in groups spoke in hushed
tones.  Rachel's plans of hiding in the bathroom until her first race were
dashed when she spotted the line waiting to use it.  Every inch of her
exposed skin tingled with embarrassment.
   There were no bleachers to speak of; nor fans.  A small group of senior
citizens sat in wheelchairs on a raised platform.  The meet had interrupted
their regular water aerobics class and they weren't too happy.  The sudden
change of venue and cramped facilities apparently kept audiences away.  For
that Rachel was thankful.
   Other teams had claimed the best spots nearest the pool.  The Thornwood
contingent was left to cram into a far corner.  Rachel huddled between her
teammates, thankful for the two walls behind her.
   An Eastern Academy assistant pounced almost as soon as they were
settled. She dragged one of the officials over to Rachel.  Coach Ron took
notice and intercepted them both.
   "That uniform does not comply with USSA regulations.  The gloves give
her an unfair advantage.  I formally request that the Thornwood team be
disqualified from today's meet."
   To suspend an entire team over the uniform of one student would have
been unprecedented.  Still the official was alarmed when he got a good look
at Rachel.  Not because of her gloves.  He was more concerned with the rest
of her.  He couldn't believe any girl would want to compete in near
complete nudity; unfair advantage or no!  If he had not been warned to
expect a certain swimmer from Thornwood High School to be dressed unusually
today, he would most certainly have not allowed it.
   But Bystander had already taken care of the officials and he controlled
the United States Swim Association.  He had sent word down just that
morning to the tri-county official.  A new uniform formally known as the
"Pinnacle Pro Aquatic" had been pre-approved for use in all high school
competition nationwide.
   "Your objection is noted, but I speak for the state governing board when
I say the uniform is legal."
   The Eastern coach did not give up that easily.  She next turned to a
technicality in the rule book.  "Article 19 Section III states that all
competitor uniforms show identification of their host school.  Also,
precedence dictates that they wear their lane assignments."
   She held up one of the lane tags, "These tags are not just for show. 
Since Franklin High couldn't be bothered to provide computers for
registration or scoring, we shall have a hard enough time keeping
everything straight by hand.  Especially with anonymous Thornwood swimmers
sneaking in and out of races.  This has cheating written all over it."
   "Cheating?!" Coach Ron jumped into the fray.
   **Coach Sparks is behind this.  He's probably hiding out in some back
room right now and sending his assistant out to harass us.
   "We're not breaking any rules.  And you can take your glorified
precedence and shove it."
   "The rule book is clear, if you had bothered to read it," she shot back.
"She has no school ID.  If she does not match the rest of you, she cannot
swim for your team."
   The nervous official considered her argument.  He didn't want to screw
this up.  Fortunately for everyone, Ellie had been listening to the whole
thing.  As an assistant in her own right, albeit not a full blown coach,
she felt justified in speaking up.  After all, Coach Ron had christened her
the team rules expert.
   "The rule book says nothing about matching.  Only that some sort of ID
must be worn.  Rachel has ID.  See?" She pointed to the pinnacle disc. 
Rachel blushed as everyone's attention was drawn to the Thornwood mascot
nestled between her shapely bare legs.  She resisted the urge to clamp her
thighs shut and turn away.
   Ellie didn't miss a beat.  "That takes care of the school identification
rule.  The rule book doesn't mention race tags anywhere.  But we should be
able to figure out something, I promise.  Let me see that tag."
   Bystander had passed word through the official's superiors that Rachel
must be allowed to swim no matter what.  In a rush to get away from the
epicenter of the controversy, he ruled in Thornwood's favor despite more
vigorous objection from Eastern.  The wildcat hovering over the girl's
private area was technically a team ID.  He felt like he had dodged a
bullet.
   "Well caught, Ellie" Coach Ron said as the Eastern coach stomped off. 
"I think you're the perfect person to solve this little tag problem."
   He passed the tag and the task to Ellie then turned his attention back
to his team and the first races.  He wasn't used to such disorganization.
Meets in Switzerland ran with the efficiency of a fine tuned Rolex.  But
these American High School meets had the appearance of a town drunk.  The
way they lurched from one race to the next left him and Johanna scrambling.
   **I'm a coach, not an usher.  I should be working on strategy and
motivation.  We're lucky to get the right person to the right starting
block on time.
   After a couple harried races, Coach Ron stopped to look over the
competition.  About twenty schools were represented from the tri-county
area.  Not all were in the same classification.  The smaller ones who
couldn't field a complete team sent individuals who specialized in certain
strokes.
   Franklin had a decent team, and there were a couple other contenders
worth watching.  But there was only one team that could really hang with
Thornwood.  A mass of Eastern Academy blue and gold uniforms swarmed around
the pool.
   **Damn that Sparks.  Where is he?  Probably waiting in some anteroom
with his precious elites so they can all march out together and show off
their state title trophy again.
   Coach Ron clenched his teeth.  He would savor the moment when they beat
Sparks this time around.  Unlike the last meet, Eastern had no home pool
advantage here.  And this time he had Rachel.
   While Coach Ron lined up his next swimmers for their qualification
heats, Ellie worked on Rachel in the corner.  The lane tags were designed
to be a temporary identification.  Contestants got their tags from the
registration table before each race.  Printed on each tag was a unique
alphanumeric code representing the race and lane assignment.
   Electronic scoring and timing was a more efficient method, but that
wasn't available at the Senior Community Center.  Franklin High, the host
school, had resorted to volunteers with stopwatches hovering over each
lane. They collected the tags after each race in order to record the times
and standings.
   Ellie brainstormed for a while.  There was no place on Rachel's uniform
to attach the tag.  They stuck to fabric just fine, but bare skin was
another thing.  Then Ellie had an inspiration.
   **Who says we have to use the tag?  Why not write the code directly on
her body?  I can't use anything permanent like ink or marker.  But it has
to stand up to pool water.  I've got it!
   Ellie asked around and found a teammate who had packed some waterproof
lipstick.  She sent her to the team bus to retrieve it.  The girl returned
just as Rachel's first race was set to begin.  It was 200 meter freestyle.
   The other teams had attached the tags to their shoulder straps so that
they were on the right side of their chest.  Ellie replicated that location
as best she could under the circumstances.
   Rachel was a nervous wreck.  She almost lost it when Ellie came toward
her chest with the bright red lipstick.
   "Settle down, Rach.  Don't worry about this.  Just focus on your race."
Ellie held the first tag assigned to Rachel.  She copied the letters and
numbers in large print and with a steady hand.  "You're ready.  Now go kick
some Trojan ass!"
   Coach Ron grabbed her before she headed for the starting block.
   "You're in lane 4, Rachel.  Perfectly positioned.  I've seen what you
can do.  But a qualifier is not the place to give too much away.  Be smart
and save it for the finals.  I want you to shoot for second in this heat."
   **Shoot for second?!
   Rachel had never been asked to do anything but swim her fastest before.
But she trusted her coach.  Rachel tried to look confident but was shaking
like a leaf.
   "Don't let them get you off your game out there.  Represent yourself
with pride."
   Represent yourself with pride.
   The words triggered something within Rachel and she stopped shaking. 
Her teammates looked on as she strode to the end of the pool.  The pride of
Thornwood was on display and marching tall.
   "Hey, look" a competitor mocked as she passed, "someone forget to get
dressed this morning."
   Another joined in, "More likely Thornwood didn't want to waste a uniform
on her."
   **Don't let them get you off your game.
   Rachel absorbed the japes and kept walking.  She made it to her block
and stepped up.  She was naked forced to endure humiliation at their hands.
But she was inches and seconds away from entering the water where none of
that would matter.
   She bent over and grabbed the bars.  As graceful as a coiled snake just
before striking, her whole body was tensed as she waited the signal to
dive. The girl in the lane next to her belonged to Eastern Academy's second
tier.  She was no fish girl, but she had all the arrogance and talent to
someday earn a spot on the elite squad.
   Rachel was easily fast enough to beat her.  She would have, too, if not
for that one last cruel verbal jab.
   "Thornwood must be lucky to have a team whore willing to give it away so
easily."
   Rachel glared back "Shut up...You...you're the whore!"
   "Hey, I'm not the one advertising."
   "Advertising?  What are you talking ab..." Then Rachel thought to look
at her chest and see what Ellie had faithfully transcribed from the race
tag.
   It started with `T1' for her school, Thornwood.  Next was her unique
two-letter code which happened to be `TS' followed by a dash and her
current lane assignment.  And finally, after another dash, came the word
`FREE' because this was a freestyle race.
   It took a double-take for her to realize that the code scrawled in bold
red lipstick across her naked chest spelled out `T1TS-4-FREE'.  When she
put it all together, Rachel promptly lost her balance and fell into the
water...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 34
   Disqualified.
   The Eastern assistant was practically dancing as Rachel made the
shameful walk back to her team.  Falling into the water so soon before the
starting bell was considered a false start.  Her teammates wore looks of
disappointment, but Pip's glare was the worst of all.
   Her first official race of the season was foiled by her own
embarrassment over her unorthodox uniform.  Rachel slumped against the wall
and held back tears.  Ellie came over to console her.  "Don't sweat it,
Rach.  You were just nervous.  It happens to the best."
   **Easy for you to say.  I was a laughing stock up there and a naked
fool. And now they all think I'm a whore.
   "You have easily a dozen more races today.  Just try to put it behind
you and get ready for the next one."
   Ellie was holding a washcloth soaked in a strong smelling makeup
remover. Rachel let her clean off the embarrassing code and replace it with
the one for her next race.  Ellie left the T1TS because that wouldn't
change all day.  But her upcoming breast stroke race in lane 8 replaced the
`4-FREE'.
   TITS-8-BRST was only a marginal improvement over T1TS-4-FREE and didn't
make Rachel feel any better.  Coach Ron gave her plenty of space and kept
busy with his other swimmers.  But he found her again when her next race
was called to the pool.
   "Remember, you're shooting for second place." He did not think it
necessary to discuss her false start and chose to focus on the future.
   It was incredibly hard to climb back on the starting block the second
time.  The false start had destroyed her first impression even as the
vulgar phrase on her naked chest had destroyed her reputation as a person.
   But Rachel was a decent breaststroker and, more importantly, a fighter.
She made herself get back up there despite the renewed frenzy of cruel
barbs from her opponents.  Since she wasn't trying for first, she made a
cautious, almost lazy start and managed to avoid another disqualification.
When the water met her, she was transformed.  She parted it with strong,
perfect strokes and was leading by the first turn.
   **Stroke, kick, kick, stroke, squeeze.  This feels great!
   Rachel swam to silence the mockers, to redeem herself to her teammates,
and to be the champion she was meant to be.  It was almost too easy.  By
the midway point, she had opened up an incredible lead of half a pool
length.  Then she remembered the instructions of her coach to finish no
better than second.
   **Oh crap.  I can't even do this right.  OK, girl, slow it down. 
Stroke, kick, kick, kick, whoa!
   Because it wasn't a full sized regulation pool, the lanes were slightly
narrower than normal.  Rachel's lapse of concentration caused her to veer
too close to the lane beside her.  She made a half stroke of correction
just before bumping into the divider, then resumed her regular breast
stroke.  She went slower than she was comfortable swimming and someone
mercifully caught her just before the end.
   **That should show everyone I mean business.
   Coach Ron was watching the race with as much keen interest as everyone
else.  He saw Rachel veer off course trying to slow down.  He saw her take
the illegal half-stroke to get back on track.  And he saw the Eastern
coaches pounce on her mistake.  They practically ran to the race official
to make sure he saw it too.
   Rachel had received her second DQ before she even climbed out of the
pool.  Unlike the last race where she had uncharacteristically fallen into
the pool, she could not be faulted for this one.  She had raced exactly as
he had told her.  If anything, Coach Ron deserved the blame.
   He was a masterful strategist.  He deployed his troops like a great
field general.  He was successful because he was quick to learn from his
missteps and make adjustments.  Thus far, on the chess board of this
competition, Ron was doing a fine job.
   He had made all the right moves with the other troops, but had failed to
utilize his most valuable piece.  Rachel was his queen, versatile and
dominant.  And he had been using her like a pawn; scripting her races so
she wouldn't get overwhelmed.
   **She is a thoroughbred, built for speed.  I see it now.  Asking her to
slow down is foolishness.
   Coach Ron went to the official booth to confirm what he already knew. 
She had been disqualified for using an illegal stroke, much to the glee of
the Eastern assistants.  He caught up with Rachel back among her teammates.
   Ellie was intensely scrubbing her breasts down to get ready for the next
code.  While Pip, one of the captains, was berating her for the poor
showing.
   "What were you thinking?  You're worse than useless.  Even our slowest
swimmers have done better than you so far."
   "I'm, sorry.  It was an accident.  I was just doing what I had been told
to...OW!"
   After getting out of the pool, Rachel's nipples had grown erect.  In the
middle of her cleaning procedure, Ellie took the liberty to pinch one. 
"Sorry, I couldn't resist."
   Rachel wanted to slap the hand away from her chest, but she needed the
next race code written.  Instead she verbally vented her frustration on
Ellie.  "Stop messing around and do your job for once!"
   "Yes, ma'am, Miss Killjoy" Ellie muttered.  Rachel didn't scare her
nearly as much as Pip.
   Coach Ron interrupted the three-way argument.  "Settle, down, ladies. 
We are a team.  All this dissent and negativity accomplishes nothing.  I
take responsibility for that last race, Rachel.  But it's not time to
panic. The day is young and you have plenty of races ahead of you.  Forget
what I said about slowing down and just swim to your strength.  Find what's
comfortable and stay in that groove."
   Rachel felt better after that.  She was able to calm down and just swim.
She still received occasional stinging verbal jabs while walking up to the
starting block.  But they washed right off in the pool like so much water
off her silky smooth skin.
   She qualified and won multiple races.  And her teammates were performing
right along with her.  By mid-morning Thornwood had opened up a sizeable
points lead with Eastern the only other team within range and Franklin a
distant third.  Coach Ron swore Rachel was setting records out there.  But
there was no electronic timing mechanism to make her times official.
   He got a kick out of watching whoever was in charge of timing Rachel's
lane.  They would always double-take their stopwatch because they couldn't
believe the incredible times she kept putting up.
   Even Pip relaxed after a while.  The other teams started to take notice.
Rachel was the fastest, most dominant swimmer in the building.  Even the
insults trailed off after a while.  Where's the fun in it when you're about
to get your butt handed to you?  It felt more like poking the angry beast.
   As Rachel relaxed, so did her sexual organs.  The repetitious squeezing
along with Ellie's titular stimulation caused her natural lubricant to
slowly return.  To compensate, she gradually inflated the anchor between
races; sneaking pumps when no one was looking.
   Though everyone was having a good time winning, Coach Ron didn't relax
for a moment.  He didn't trust Coach Sparks.  He believed that Eastern
could still mount a comeback and steal their victory; though that looked
less likely with each passing race.  Thornwood was riding high, piling up
points, and cruising to victory.  Still something nagged at him.
   **Eastern is putting up a fight, but it's nothing like last week.  This
is almost too easy.  The Eastern elites are certainly good enough to
challenge us.  And that fish girl is...
   Then it hit him.  Where was fish girl?  Where were the elites?  Where
was Coach Sparks!...TO BE CONTINUED
   Thornwood Episode IV - The Champion Part 35
   Grigor arrived at the meeting and delivered the good news with no more
satisfaction than he would have delivered bad news.  His boss would receive
either equally and with the indifference of a computer.  Bystander showed
admirable disaffection to short term objectives and always focused on the
greater goal.
   He expected small setbacks and considered them trivial.  Small victories
were equally useless; merely a means to greater ends.  Grigor had already
analyzed his current report as trivial, but only his boss could make that
judgment for sure.  Bystander saw important details in even the tiniest bit
of information that others would overlook.  That's what made him great.
   Grigor began his presentation with an update on Prairie Village; another
sort of project that only the great Bystander could pull off.  In yet
another stroke of genius, Bystander had come up with the idea as a way to
undermine the deep-seeded beliefs about old fashioned modesty.
   He did it by bringing the old west to life with a few major historical
changes regarding the role of nudity in society.  He was betting that
modern Americans were more apt to accept a reality delivered via television
than to go investigate history books on their own.  He didn't need to
convince everyone; just a critical majority of the ignorant masses.  His
genius idea was to present it as a reality TV show/pseudo-documentary
rather than simply force feeding them a scripted program.
   Though the show had yet to begin airing, it was already producing
astounding results among its reality participants; the unwitting citizens
of Prairie Village.  All in all it made for a nice runner-up project.  But
Thornwood was the signature program right now; the main event.
   Then Grigor transitioned into Thornwood by talking about the pinnacle.
"Pete Dinnacre has been heading up our uniform development.  The Pinnacle
Pro Aquatic design and pre-production is complete.  We have begun
manufacture and will be rolling it out to stores within the next few weeks
along with an advertising blitz."
   His boss seemed to read his mind and got straight to the quick.  "What
about Rachel's mother.  Has she accepted the job offer yet?"
   "She did not accept on the spot.  She was understandably skeptical of
such a lucrative offer.  But Jay has been monitoring her internet usage
since then.  She researched the Asia division of BysMedia and then
transitioned to researching living conditions in the city where we would be
relocating her.  I see that as a good sign that she will eventually come
around and accept.  With her current financial problems, the money is just
too good to pass up.  She did research flights to go see Rachel..."
   Bystander perked up visibly at that.
   "...but we gave her a strict 36 hour window.  I made it clear that if
she is not on our jet when it leaves the runway, the offer is rescinded. 
My sources now believe that she has given up on the idea of flying to see
Rachel.  At last report, she was packing her car.  Since there is no way
she can drive all the way to her daughter and make it back to Chicago in
time, all signs indicate that she plans to drive straight to O'Hare."
   The boss relaxed, but only slightly.  Rachel was the key to everything.
The authority figures surrounding her influenced her clothing choices and
her uniform, but nevertheless their control remained fragile.  A mother was
the ultimate authority.  She could come in and trump them all in the eyes
of both Rachel and the law.  It was critical that her mom stay out of the
picture at least until the pinnacle caught on as a legitimate swimming
uniform.
   Grigor moved on to the next item in his report.  "I spoke with Ron
earlier.  He is taking the team to a local swim meet in the nearby village
of Lark Bend.  Rachel is scheduled to compete." He looked at his watch. 
"If any trouble had arisen regarding her uniform, we would have heard about
it by now.  He is surely busy managing his team at the moment, but I will
update you on the results once I am able to get back in touch with him."
   Bystander seemed satisfied.  He only had one more question.  "What about
their financing?"
   "I have approved Ron's request for a second charter bus and also offered
them the use of our private jet fleet.  The bus should be ready by their
next meet."
   "Good.  Make it clear that I expect Rachel and the team to want for
nothing.  Spare no expense.  A lavish reward will be interpreted by her
subconscious as compensation; making her physical exposure worth it. 
Positive subconscious feedback is a powerful force.  If he has no pressing
needs, tell him to come up with some.  And give him another bonus."
   "Yes, sir." Grigor left with a simple nod.  Bystander was not the sort
who required genuflection from lesser men.  Anything like a formal bow was
unnecessary...TO BE CONTINUED
  
thornwood-ep4-part-31-35