“Tom, I can’t thank you enough for what you did. You helped us so, so much. If you weren’t there, it looked like they could have backed up and gotten away from Roger. The car they were in is much more powerful than our little import,” Cynthia said as they drove off.
“Glad I was able to help, Cindy. Hell, the way you took that guy! You just flipped him like he weighed nothing! He tried to grab around your shoulders and the next thing I saw was him flying into the other one.”
“Shit. I was so pissed at them! I think I really wanted to kill them and then it happened for real. That’s what scared me. I thought I did it on purpose, my god...” she trailed off.
“Well, what your dad said. The guy with the gun was the killer, not you. You do see that, right?” Tom said.
“Yeah, I do now. Thanks. Hey, I’m gonna call home—if my mom agrees, can you come for dinner tonight? I know my family will want to thank you in quiet and not like the turmoil before,” Cynthia asked.
“Really? Sure, I’d like that.”
Cynthia called home, breaking into her dad’s phone call with her mom, and made quick dinner arrangements. Then they arrived at school.
Tom chuckled wryly. “Well, coming back took a lot longer going at legal speeds. Gotta get naked again, I guess,” he said as he pulled off his poncho and put it in the trunk.
Roger pulled up and parked and Ayame got out. She ran over to Tom.
“Tom, I didn’t have a chance to thank you,” she said, and hugged him, then pulled back. “Oh, oh my, I just hugged a naked boy and didn’t even think about it. Oh my...”
Everyone laughed.
Roger said to her, “So, did you like doing that? We can arrange more of that if you want,” he grinned.
Ayame blushed. “Well, he’s cute, but I think you’re much cuter,” and flung herself into Roger’s arms. “Thank you again, for saving me from those... those...”
Cynthia interrupted, “Don’t even say it. They’re just evil people. I want to hug a naked boy, too. Come here, Tom,” she ordered, and gave him a bear hug and kiss. “Thanks, buddy, you were great.”
He blushed and glanced down and Cynthia followed his gaze.
“Ooops,” he murmured, “sorry, that’s so rude of me...”
“No, I’m honored,” Cynthia said, her eyes twinkling. “I can tell you like me. Hey, we need to get into school, right?” and she grabbed Tom’s hand and led him toward the doors.
Roger, walking alongside Tom and holding Ayame’s hand, looked at him and grinned. “You’re in trouble now, guy. She likes you.”
“Shut up, little... uhm, Roger,” she tossed her head. “I’ll say who I like, okay?” but Roger could tell that she was trying to keep from smiling.
At the office, the four teens were told that Mr Davis wanted to see them. They walked into his office.
“All right, relax,” he told them when they stopped at his doorway. “Come in and sit. I’ve already had visits from your Marines, the sheriff, state police, and the local cops too. I know what happened, mostly, I think. Ayame was the only one who was taken off of school grounds; they got away because they used a side door. It was supposed to be locked from the outside. Anyway, I wanted to tell you—first, Tom, your leaving the school won’t affect your Program week...”
“Thanks, sir.”
“...and Denisons, your dramatic exits from your class will be overlooked; you were protecting your cousin.”
“Thank you, sir.” they responded.
“Ayame, all I can say is that I’m sorry for your experience. Are you sure you’re okay coming back to school today? If you need to, you can take a day—or more—off if you need it. I just want to be sure you’re feeling all right; sometimes people having your experience may feel the onset of shock some time after the event, so if you begin to feel different, like anxiety or panic, please get help. You’re in class with your cousins; they can watch out for you.”
She dipped her head.
“And also, Ayame, you were definitely not listed among the students who were to be selected to participate and law enforcement is calling your forcible removal a kidnaping. I sincerely regret that it happened. I’m not making any excuses; whatever happened is the school’s fault, my fault, and I intend to find out how and why something like this could have happened. I still want you to know that I fully support the ideas of the Program, though, and see that there’s a fundamental cultural clash between the military families and the federal curriculum we’re supposed to implement.
“Cynthia, are you okay yourself? I know that you saw two people die in front of you and that can be terribly traumatic. So what I said to Ayame applies to you, too. If either of you should need help, even later in the week, please let the nurse know and she’ll set you up with the school psychologist if she thinks that you need to see her.
“Okay, please pick up your passes and get to class, okay? And it’s good to see that you’re all relatively unscathed. Damn, I can’t even tell you students to stay out of trouble—it seems to come to you, doesn’t it?” he finished, shaking his head.
They left Davis’ office and got their passes. It was now 11:40 a.m. and only ten minutes remained in the fourth period but Tom had a computer class and needed to check with his project partner, so he left for his classroom.
“Rog, Ayame and I need to take care of something; just go to the lunchroom and we’ll see you there in a few, okay?” Cynthia said.
He agreed and the two girls walked off.
“Where are we going?” Ayame asked. “Oh, I have to say that you and Tom were cute together.”
“I’ll tell you; wait one sec. Yeah,” Cynthia grinned and blushed. “Remember last night I mentioned I was waiting for my Prince Valiant?”
“Yes. That was so funny, last night.”
“What do you think of Tom, Ayame?”
“He’s, eeeh, you say here in America ‘a hunk’? You can tell he’s a swimmer and—oh! You said last night want friend like Roger! Yes, he looks like Roger in some way. Tall, wide shoulders—his eyes are so ah, expressive, so warm when he looks at you. He’s nice, too, very polite.”
“Yeah... hmmm... The way he just took in my predicament and without any hesitation, ran with me after you, Ayame. And while naked, too! He really cares, like Roger cares, cares about others. I’ve seen him during swim meets, how he treats others. And how others like him, too. And he has an awesome body, wow, even nicer naked. Fabulous tan. Ayame, I think I’m falling for him.”
“Yes, he is handsome.”
“Not just handsome, sweetie. It’s something inside him that’s attracting me, like an inner strength. Such self-assurance, confidence. Like Roger’s confidence; mine too, and I sense it in him. Oh, yeah, I invited him to dinner tonight! I arranged it with Mom.”
“Oh, that’s nice! That will be an interesting dinner. I think your dad seemed to like Tom when they met out there,” Ayame said with a little shudder. “Oooh, I’m so glad it’s over—oh, how did you even know they grab me?”
“Michelle saw you struggling in the hall and came to Econ to get us.”
“Oh, I have to really thank her—oh, my! She doesn’t know what happened to me yet!”
When the girls met Roger in the lunchroom later, they found out that everyone in the entire school actually did know something of what had happened, because a crowd was surrounding him, calling out questions. When the students saw the two girls approach, they made a path allowing them to get to Roger.
“Yes, she was kidnaped and yes, she’s okay now! The MPs and cops arrived and everything got squared away,” Roger called in response to a question.
Another voice: “I heard that they were killed!”
“One guy had a pistol and it went off and hit the other. Then he fell and fractured his skull.”
“Wow,” came a chorus.
“They tried to grab a bunch of kids,” called another.
“I heard about that happening, but don’t know anything else,” Roger responded.
“Oh, there’s the girl who was kidnaped,” another voice shouted as Ayame slid next to Roger. “Did they hurt you? What happened?”
Ayame answered, “Not hurt, scared. Then rescued by my heroes,” she said, pulling Cynthia closer.
The crowd fell silent, then broke into applause.
Cynthia called out, “Those guys came here to take away some students who refused to do the Program. We heard it was to ‘re-educate’ them somehow. I think they were all arrested and maybe will face kidnaping charges.”
Applause and whistles rang out.
“Okay, guys, please give us a chance to eat. Now you know pretty much everything we know—thanks, and keep protecting those Program kids. They really appreciate what you’re all doing, for sure,” Roger said as he turned to Ayame. “Hi, gorgeous. I swear, I don’t want to let you out of my sight. When you went with Cyn I had to restrain myself from following you. But then I realized she could protect you better than I could.”
Cynthia and Ayame laughed at his comment.
“Only if I’m attacked by two, maybe three of them,” Cynthia joked. “Four or more you could handle easy.”
“Sure. Don’t suggest that at the dojo, though. I want to be able to do our swim meets and that’d be tough with a couple of broken bones,” Roger grinned at her.
“Oh, Cindy invited Tom to dinner tonight,” Ayame blurted out.
“Oh, really? Cool. See, I knew you were sweet on him, Cyn. Tom’s a neat guy; very steady and reliable. And a key team member; he’s got a great backstroke.”
Ayame giggled, “That not only thing about his back that is great.”
“What? What do you mean... OH! Very funny, Ayame.”
Ayame began laughing into her hands. “Oh, yes. He has such a lovely rear... so nice... ooooh...” she giggled and broke up again as she and Cynthia held onto each other, laughing.
“Okay, okay, guys. Yeah, I guess he’s got a nice body; nothing to be ashamed of there. So I got you gals your lunch, hope you like what I picked.”
“Oh, yes, thanks! Perfect, bro.”
“Thank you, Roger, you’re so thoughtful,” Ayame said gratefully.
They sat and ate lunch while groups of kids streamed past them, offering words of gratitude and thanks for their safe return; handclasps, back pats, and some kisses were exchanged. Everyone included Ayame in the outpouring of warmth the students were showering on the three of them and Roger noticed that her eyes were getting a little teary.
“Ayame, are you okay? Are you crying? Is it a reaction to this morning?”
“Oh, no, my darling. It’s all your friends; I’m over... eeehhh, overwhelmed? Yes. In Japan I was always teased, no one would have been this nice to me there. Here I feel... respect? affection? I’m not used to this. They make me feel like I belong.”
Cynthia said, “Ayame, sadly a lot of that isn’t usual American teen behavior. We know a few of those kids, they’re from our base’s Marine families and we all share a special bond, like we’re related in a way. We’ve all had common experiences, with parents gone on long deployments and sometimes never coming home, an awful time for all of us when that happens, so when something happens to a Marine family, the others pull together to try to help. That’s why this Program resistance is working; the kids are making it happen because they think the Program is wrong and it can hurt kids badly.”
Later in the afternoon, as the trio headed to their psych class, Cynthia was recalling their discussion about Ayame’s feelings of anxieties when she was threatened with the idea of being forced to be naked.
“We should try to see if Miss Mason can answer that question Roger had about good or bad exposures. Let’s ask her if we get the chance; she’s been talking about coping strategies so maybe a question like Roger’s will fit in,” she explained.
Later in the class, Cynthia indeed had the chance to raise that question, because Miss Mason touched on the idea of facing an unpleasant situation instead of avoiding it as a method of coping with possible later feelings of regret for not getting past the unpleasantness and having to face it in the future.
“Miss Mason, would that apply to, like, social phobias too?” Cynthia asked. “Like if someone had been constantly teased about their appearance, so much that they developed an aversion to being noticed and became incredibly shy. Then if something happened where they were constantly reminded, every day, that in a month they would have to give a presentation for a class, would that help them get over the shyness? I read about ‘exposure therapy’ to help deal with phobias. Would that be a kind of exposure to help the shy person?”
“What an excellent question, Cindy. I believe that doing that would have the opposite effect. Being told about having to do an unpleasant thing is not the same as being eased into actually doing it. I think the shy person would get even more scared and withdrawn, because it would build up their fears instead of showing them that their fears were unfounded. Coping with unpleasant stimuli involves actually exposing yourself to the stimulus, not just thinking, hearing, or reading about it. You have to do it. That’s why it’s called ‘exposure.’ Does that answer your question?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am. It seemed like that was how that therapy worked, but I wanted to be sure.”
“Yes, and it’s a great illustration of how coping strategies work. The mind and body work as a unit, so you not only need to believe how you’re supposed to feel, your body has to feel the sensations that confirm the belief. Class, you see how that is? Very good. Thanks, Cindy. Okay, now let’s turn to...”
After class, Ayame ran to Cynthia and hugged her.
“Cindy, thank you! That makes me understand better, what you asked. So I see that to stop more modesty coming, I need to do it, not hear it. Oh, I’m excited again, I need to slow talking down. So what Roger said was right; both of you are so smart. There is a bad kind of exposure and my hearing that I should be in the Program over and over on Monday was bad because it increased my anxiety like Miss Mason said.”
Roger had joined them. “Yes, but now you know that you won’t be forced into it and Cindy and I will watch over you to be sure you’re safe. Are you still doing okay, Ayame, Cyn, you too? No aftereffects from this morning, I hope.”
They both said they felt okay, but really tired.
“Rog, I think I’m feeling the emotional impact of this morning. Like I kinda feel flat, you know? I think it’s the effect of having to use my brain in classes and I’m still dealing with the emotions of that chase and what happened after. I should be fine. Ayame, are you really feeling okay, sweetie?”
“I wanted to come to school to keep my mind off of the morning, yes. And it worked, too. But now maybe I do feel like Cindy says, like I used up my battery. But I don’t feel anxious—that’s like nervous that something bad will happen; no, I know how that feels and I don’t feel it.”
They were walking to the front doors of the school. When they went outside, Mary, Tom, Jessica, and Mike were dressing with another naked boy. Cynthia ran up to Tom and kissed him on the cheek.
“Cindy, hi, hey Ayame and Roger, this is Elliott, the last of the Mohicans in this week’s Program group.”
“Hi Elliott,” Roger said, “Say, weren’t you supposed to be in Anatomy? You weren’t there Monday or today.”
“Yeah, yesterday I had an early doctor’s appointment and missed the great undressing party. They grabbed me when I came in for the third period and I got forced into this shit. Fuckin’ federal Program assholes. So I dropped Anatomy. I’m not makin’ a spectacle of myself in that class and none of my other classes need student models.”
“So you don’t need Anatomy for graduation?” Cynthia asked.
“Nah. I thought it would be an interesting elective, but it has nothing to do with what I want to study in college. I’m either doing history or political science. So instead of Anatomy, I got a special project in history for the term; I’ll be doing a senior thesis on the development of democracy in European countries from the Reformation to modern times and I’ll get a full class credit for doing it, so I’m cool.”
“How’s the Program treating you?” Roger said.
“Like I’ve been chewed up and spit out, to tell you the truth. I hate this crap, so damned demeaning. Like it’s educational to have kids walking around naked? I’m learning shit about it; I’m fat, and got bad skin, and clumsy, and bad eyesight... Get comfortable with sex? I’m a guy, a plain average guy, I get dates, so I’m not a leper. Do I need to be a sex object? How am I an educational example for the rest of the students? To teach them to get comfortable with my sexuality? I’ll suffer my week and be glad it’s over, and that’s it... damned idiocy...” he said as he waved and walked off.
“The more we talk to kids in the Program, the less I see its value,” Roger mused, watching Elliott trudge away. “There’s a kid who isn’t gorgeous, he’s not a hunk, but he doesn’t have body image issues either—he accepts who he is—so what benefit will being in the Program give him? Just a bad memory of his last term in school is all.”
Tom looked at the retreating Elliott. “Yeah, and think of a plain-Jane girl with a poor body image forced into this crap. Hell, the kind of mental damage that can happen to her! Like you throw someone into the water and expect that’ll force them to learn to swim, but instead they drown. Awful...”
Jessica pulled Ayame and Cynthia away from the boys. “You didn’t see, but I was wearing my shorts today,” she whispered.
“Oh? Your period?” Cynthia said.
“Yeah, started last night. Like clockwork.”
“Did you figure out how to handle the pool?” Cynthia asked.
“For practices I use a mini. Needed to change it twice during this morning’s practice! But the cool water helps with the cramps I get. I might be done by Friday night’s match... I hope.”
Ayame asked, “What did others say in classes when you wore shorts? Didn’t someone complain?”
“A few times. I said it was my monthly time and I had the right to wear protection for my personal health, like the Program book says. After I said that, they left me alone. But it’s so embarrassing to have to explain; I know it’s natural, but everyone needs to know about it? Well, I’m glad I can wear the shorts and wanted to thank you for encouraging me. Gotta go, see you tomorrow maybe.”
The girls rejoined Tom and Roger.
Cynthia asked, “Tom, about dinner. Can you come at 5 p.m.? And please, don’t think you need to bring anything, my mom is fine with what she’s preparing.”
“Sure, Cindy. I’ll see you then and thanks!” He kissed her cheek and walked off to his car.
Ayame looked at Cynthia. “Cindy, he’s such nice boy, yes? You see how he look at you? He likes!”
“Yeah, honey, I think so too. Hey, Roger, what the hell is going on with our lives? It’s like suddenly we’re caught up in a damned adventure story. It’s like we’re in a war zone or something in school! Not only do we need to protect against frontal attacks, we’ve got to defend the flanks too, now.”
“I agree, sis,” Roger sighed. “And I wonder what the hell those thugs were doing this morning. Saying they’re government agents and kidnaping kids? Shit...”
They had no idea how shocking the truth about the attempted kidnaping would be.
Our heroes learn more shocking things about the kidnaping attempt and gain a new steadfast friend who tries to help with their inhibitions. In school they had discussed phobia therapies. As far as new psychological therapies go, the therapy they choose to use is an interesting and unusual one. We'll see how our intrepid heroes react; after all, their psych teacher intimated these therapies work. Meanwhile, the Program continues to create problems for the kids, serious problems. And then comes the real shock: the Program's full power is unveiled -- only to be countered by the creativity of the schools' students.
Copyright © 2015 Seems Ndenyal. All Rights Reserved.