Chapter 1: Friday
"…hope they don't get some ugly girl to do it," Todd was saying and the other guys were grinning and nodded their heads.
"Do what?" I asked.
I didn't like Todd very much, or his friend Mike, but I wanted to sit with Josh like I always did during lunch and my best friend had saved me a seat. I noticed Penny right away too. She was sitting with her friends on the girls' side of the cafeteria and watching us, but Josh had his back to her, so that was cool. There wasn't any real reason to have a boys' side and girls' side; that was just the way it worked out for some reason. I didn't mind, except I didn't want to sit at the same table as Todd and Mike.
"Hey," Josh smiled at me as I sat down. "Mr. Singer told us about that Naked in School thing."
"Maybe Sam's gonna do it!" Mike said and he giggled like a little girl even though he was even taller than Josh. Bigger around too, like old Mrs. Whiting would have called him husky or something.
"Shut-up," Josh told him as I sat down with my lunch tray full of fish sticks and French fries. That was the only bad thing about Fridays; I hated fish.
"Of course I gotta do it," I said. "What are you guys talking about?"
"That PTA meeting," Josh explained. "They had to tell everybody's parents what's gonna happen and get permission or whatever."
"You mean those consent forms?" I frowned and stabbed some crispy French fries with my fork. "I got one this morning."
"Some kids aren't gonna do it," Todd said. "But they have to move to another town or something."
"Shut-up!" I rolled my eyes.
"No it's true. Duh!" Mike made a face at me. "That new guy, he knows all about it."
"All about what?" I shook my head. "I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Forget it," Todd said. "Your mom's a stripper anyway."
"So?" I stared at him like I was gonna punch him.
"Reasonable Request," Mike grinned, changing the subject without even realizing it. "That's gonna be so cool!"
"No doubt!" Todd was grinning too. "And like whoever the girl is? She can't cover herself up or anything."
"Handcuffs!" Mike laughed and I narrowed my eyes at them.
"You guys are sick," I decided, as much as I hated saying anything to either of those two dorks. "They can't handcuff you anyway."
"Mr. Singer said they can," Josh shrugged. "If you try to hide your pussy or whatever? The teacher can handcuff your hands behind your back."
"Yeah right," I waved at him with my fork. "They got some other thing. That collar thing."
"Tits too, Samantha!" Todd said with his mouth full and it was useless trying to have a normal conversation. "Can't cover your tits!"
"Don't call me that," I frowned.
"Somebody said, that Ryan guy said, that they did this naked in school thing at his old high school," Todd looked around all excited. "And like the really hot chicks had to help with sex education and stuff."
"That's stupid," I said with a roll of my eyes. "What's the point of that?"
"I dunno," Josh shrugged.
"Like for practice!" Todd giggled. "All the boys got to try it!"
"I hope it's Penny," Mike grinned at us. "That would be so cool."
"She's totally hot!" Todd agreed.
"Totally illegal is what it would be," I said. "You can't make a fifteen year old girl have sex with a bunch of boys."
"They can if her parents say it's okay," Mike told me. "That Ryan guy said everybody had to do it at his old school."
"Yeah," Josh agreed. "That's what Mr. Singer said too."
"Everybody?" Miles Milbourne squeaked and we all stared at him. Miles never said anything to anybody.
"Shut-up, Miles!" Mike told him and then we ignored him again, which was what Miles wanted, believe me. That boy was terminally shy.
"I don't think they can make somebody have sex though," Josh decided and I nodded at that.
That Ryan guy was a senior who'd moved here from Minnesota or someplace; who knows what they did there? He was probably just playing a big joke on the whole school. But if Mr. Singer said it was true…No way!
"Sex is like one of those inalienable rights," I said, but maybe that was the wrong way to say it. "Or what's that other word? Anyway, they can't make you do that. It was on the video tape."
"Sex isn't a right!" Todd laughed. "And it's just in school anyway."
"Yeah," Mark agreed. "You gotta have permission too."
"You think your mom's gonna make you have sex, Samantha?" Todd grinned at me and I was digging out that consent form and unfolding it.
"You sound pretty happy about it," Josh said. "You wanna get naked in front of all the girls?"
"Hmmm…" I frowned because there was a big check box, two of them, one agreeing to let me have sex, the other one saying I couldn't. Sex, I read to myself, is defined as fellatio, cunnilingus, analingus, vaginal and anal intercourse. I guessed masturbation was something else.
"No," Todd admitted and he frowned because he'd only been thinking about all the girls being naked in front of him. What a dope.
"Yeah!" I snorted, putting my paper away again. "You can show off that little wiener you got!"
"Screw you," Todd glared at me. "It ain't little and how would you know how big my dick is anyway?"
"Lucky guess," I shrugged and everybody laughed at that, but then Todd got me back.
"Well, at least I got one!" he said. "I don't have to pretend I'm a guy. I hope they make you go first."
"No doubt!" Mike nodded eagerly. "Do you even got tits, Samantha?"
"My name's Sam, bonehead," I stared at the boy.
"You do, huh!" Todd grinned at me and I was turning red as a half dozen boys stared at my chest.
"You got hair on your pussy yet?" Mike asked me and he didn't wait for any kind of answer. "Prove it!"
"Show us your pussy, Samantha!" Todd laughed and I gave him the finger.
"We're gonna see it anyway!" Mike was grinning, kinda looking at me like I was naked already.
"Shut-up," Josh was frowning.
"Did you hear about the after school stuff?" Mike asked, still kinda teasing me, I thought.
"No," I replied. "What after school stuff?"
"Like if there's a school thing at night?" he said. "You gotta go naked there too."
"Todd said it was just in school though!" I said, feeling dumb because what would Todd know about anything?
"That is part of school," Todd laughed. "Like if they have a football game on Friday? Even if you just go to watch it, you gotta be naked."
"That's crazy," I decided and looked at Josh. "That's not right, is it?"
"That's what Mr. Singer told us," Josh said. "Like if it's your week, then the after school stuff is mandatory."
"What's that mean?" I asked him.
"It means the naked chick's gotta go! Duh!" Todd said. "Next week is the Halloween party too, so whoever has to do it has to go to the dance."
"They're doing it next week?" I blinked at that, because this was Friday!
"At least she won't need a costume!" Mike said with his girlish giggle.
"Mr. Singer didn't say when it starts," Josh shrugged. "But they just had the PTA meeting for it last night, so maybe like next month or something."
"Maybe," I said, but that only sounded a little better than next week.
"They're gonna take pictures too," Josh said. "Like for the yearbook? So if that Myers guy wants to take pictures, the naked kids have to let him."
Ronnie Myers was a junior and he was always running around with his stupid camera taking everybody's picture. He was like the president of the photography club, and on the school newspaper, and the yearbook photographer. He tried to take my picture sometimes, but I always ignored him. I didn't want him taking my picture if I was naked! He'd probably put them on the internet or something! He looked like one of those kinda guys to me.
"…and girls have to use the boy's locker room for gym," Mike was telling me happily, but I hadn't been paying attention.
"And you can only use the bathroom like three times a day," Todd said. "For five minutes, so you can't hide in the bathroom all the time."
"But what if you have to go more than that?" I wondered, not believing that stuff at all. It was just stupid. "Like being naked all the time isn't enough? What's the point of using the other locker room?"
"It's just the rules," Todd grinned.
"So you're gonna use the girl's locker room?" I asked him and that shut him up, but not for long. All they could think about was the stuff girls had to do. Boneheads.
"Maybe they'll let you jerk off, Sam," Mike said a few minutes later and I had no idea what he meant.
"Maybe they'll let Sam jerk me off, you mean!" Todd laughed and then he sat back quickly because Josh leaned forward with his hand curled into a fist.
"Alright, whatever!" Todd said with a scowl. "I'm just kidding!"
"Josh got a girlfriend!" Mike grinned, teasing me as much as Josh. "That's like being a fag, right? Kissing Sam?"
"Shut-up," Josh said and his face was getting red.
"Make me!" Mike said right back and he wanted to fight. Todd was kind of a wimp, but Mike wasn't, despite his stupid giggle. He was always getting on my case for some reason and Mike was just a bully wannabe anyway. I'd known him since third grade.
"Just forget him," I said to Josh.
"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend," Todd kinda sneered. "Go fuck his butt or something!" and then he fell halfway out of his chair. "Ow! Fuck!"
Josh had punched him right in the head, like in the middle of Todd's forehead, and now my best friend was shaking his hand cause that must have hurt. I kinda blinked at that, just because I hadn't seen it coming. Neither had anyone else, especially Todd, and he'd regained his balance and was sorta bent over the table holding his head. Josh had nailed him good.
"What'd you do that for?" Todd whined, looking at Josh and he already had a knot starting. "I was just kidding!"
Everybody in the cafeteria was looking at us and I didn't feel much like eating anymore. I just wanted to be someplace else and I started getting up. I liked it that Josh had hit the other boy, but I sorta didn't like it too. I mean, Todd had been teasing me and I should have been the one to hit him, not Josh. It was like Josh treated me like a girl when he did that. Or something. I didn't know what it meant and so I was just going to leave.
"Sam! Wait up," Josh called me.
"Yeah, wait for your boyfriend!" Mike said and he was trying to get back at Josh for hitting Todd, since they were best friends and all.
"Shut-up," Josh told him.
"You shut-up!" Mike challenged him, "You wanna fight?"
Mike said more stuff, but I was already gone. Josh was coming after me too and the whole school was going to be talking about it now. All I ever wanted was to be left alone, like be unnoticed, you know? Pretty much everybody ignored the fact that I always dressed like a boy and hung out with Josh and some of the other guys. Nobody really cared before, but now they would. Now they'd remember I was really a girl in disguise and they wouldn't like it. Nobody in high school liked anything that was different and they were just waiting for an excuse to give me a hard time. That's what I was afraid of anyway.
"Sam!"
"What'd you hit him for?" I looked at Josh, stopping by the doors to the band room and leaning up against the wall. "God! I can take care of myself."
"What?" Josh shrugged. "He was being a jerk, that's all."
"So? He was being a jerk to me, not you!"
"You're my best friend," Josh almost laughed, but he didn't. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Nothing!" I stared at him and then frowned, looking down at my feet. I didn't know what I wanted.
"Are you okay?" he asked and I snorted.
"Just leave me alone," I pushed myself off the wall and it was almost time for the bell to ring anyway.
"Sam! What? Come on…" Josh wasn't happy and probably he figured he deserved a medal or something for saving me.
He was going to ruin everything though. People teased me sometimes. I mean, it wasn't the first time a kid had given me a hard time about being a girl and mostly I ignored it. It wasn't the first time I'd been teased about being a fag boy either, but that didn't happen too often. Yet. And almost never when Josh was around, because it was like teasing him too.
I usually ignored that stuff pretty good though, because arguing only made it worse. I just really hated being called Samantha the most. Being called a fag was almost sorta cool, except they meant it in a bad way. But I'd rather be a fag boy than a regular girl, I thought. Of course, Josh wasn't ever gonna see it like that and so he'd had to hit the guy in front of half the school. Like he really was my boyfriend or something.
Josh was so dumb sometimes!
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"Hey," Pam leaned over just before our Health class started. "What did Josh hit Todd for?"
"I don't know," I shrugged without looking at the girl.
"I heard it was because Todd wanted to lick your pussy," Stacy giggled.
"Ew! Shut-up!" Penny said and all three of those girls sat close to me. I hated Health class.
"He did not!" I rolled my eyes and I had to remind myself to just ignore them, but it was hard.
"You're so sick, Stacy!" Pam giggled.
"Did you hear about that naked in school thing?" I overheard another girl, Valerie, asking someone else. "I heard it's starting on Monday.
"Yeah, that's just a joke," the other girl replied and that's what most of my classmates were talking about, but none of us really believed the rumors were true. Monday was way too close and we wanted to put it off forever!
"Quiet down, ladies." Ms. Owens was closing the classroom door.
She taught Female Health to all the tenth grade girls and since there weren't enough of us to fill more than two class periods, she taught Social Studies the rest of the time. Likewise Mr. Singer taught two periods of Male Health to the boys and American History for the other four hours during the day. I didn't know why they split the boys and girls up though. I mean, Josh had the exact same text book I did. I guess it was because of the sex education part and the school didn't want to embarrass anyone or something. Like having a man teach a girl about her period would probably make some of those girls cry.
Some people thought tenth grade was a little too late for sex education, and it probably was, but that's when we got it. It didn't bother me one way or the other because my mom made me get a birth control shot everytime she got one. That was kinda embarrassing though and I didn't really want anyone to find out. So yeah, I knew a lot about sex. Too much probably and it wasn't a big deal. My mom had explained everything and more than once.
Some of her friends, her male friends, weren't exactly shy about touching my mom or kissing her, or just walking around naked if they had to use the bathroom. I mean, these were guys that Mom brought home from work, you know? Not very often, but once in awhile and they were usually kind of drunk and not really interested in anything but having sex with my mom. A lot of times they didn't expect me to be there at all and I was usually sleeping anyway, or tried to be. The textbooks didn't say anything about it, but in my experience sex could be a little noisy sometimes.
I knew we needed the money, but I was happier when Mom had a steady boyfriend. She wouldn't bring those other guys home then and I didn't have to worry about some stranger walking into my bedroom by mistake or walking into the kitchen with his dork hanging out while I ate my Wheaties. Mom didn't like worrying about it either, so don't think she's a bad mom or anything. Nobody ever molested me. None of those guys ever tried to touch me. Mostly they just went to bed and had their fun and fell asleep. So yeah, I knew about sex, but I wasn't interested in it at all. The whole subject seemed kind of boring really, and that's mostly what Health class was about for some reason.
"Did everyone get one of these this morning?" the teacher asked, holding up one of the yellow papers they'd handed out in homeroom.
Ms. Owens was a young, bright-eyed blonde, like 23 maybe, cute and kinda perky and partial to short skirts and loose blouses. It made her about the most popular teacher in school, at least with the boys, and she did okay with the girls too, just because she had a friendly personality. She acted more like our older sister than a teacher sometimes, at least in Health class. In Social Studies, Ms. Owens was like all the rest of the teachers, except younger. I liked her okay, but at first I was afraid she was going to get on me for not looking like a girl. She never did though.
"I didn't get one," Hillary Parker raised her hand and she was that kind of girl. There's always one kid in every class who slows everything way down, ever notice that? "I had to go to the dentist this morning and…"
"Okay, Hillary," Ms. Owens nodded and gave her a Parental Consent Form. "Anyone else? Yes? No? Okay, I want to talk to you girls about this, because last night your parents learned about the new program…"
"Naked in school?" Stacy offered with a sweet smile and I snorted at the little brown noser.
"That's right, Stacy. Thank you." Ms. Owens liked to walk around the classroom while she talked. "You've all heard of it, we watched the video, and we've discussed it a little over the last few weeks, haven't we? But we couldn't really say anything specific about it until we had a chance to meet with your parents. Now that the meeting is over though…"
She picked up a marker and started writing on the white board in big blue letters. N I S
"Let's start at the beginning. NIS stands for Naked In School and it's a special program, brand new to Seattle. We're the first school in the city to get NIS, so it's kind of like a test. Okay? The school board is going to try it out here and if it works, then they'll use it in other schools as well."
"What if it doesn't work?" Katie Norris wondered and Ms. Owens wasn't much of a stickler for raising hands in that class.
"Then…" the teacher shrugged, "…I guess the other schools won't use it until we figure out why."
"What's it for?" Janey Pearson asked.
"I heard we have to go to school naked for a month," Lisa Cavanaugh offered and a lot of girls were whispering.
"Not a month," Ms. Owens smiled. "Only for a week, just like in the video. One boy and one girl from each grade will remain naked in school for the entire week. That's six students, right? Those of you who don't participate this year will participate next year. Everyone has to do it at least once before they can graduate from this high school."
"But what about the seniors, Ms. Owens?" Penny asked.
"Some of the twelfth grade students won't have to participate," the teacher admitted. "They'll still graduate with an exemption, but for the juniors and especially for you freshman, there won't be any excuses. At some point during your three years at Redmond High, you'll be active in the program."
"But what if we don't want to?" Katie was frowning and she didn't sound very enthusiastic, like who would be? All of us were looking at each other nervously.
"You have to," Ms. Owens said matter-of-factly. "The school district passed the resolution and state law supports the program for schools that want to use it. Eventually, every public school in the city, even in the whole state, will require students to participate."
"You can't make us get naked," Katie said and there were some murmurs of agreement and a lot of nodding heads.
"What if our parents won't let us?" Janey asked with a little grin. "My dad won't even let me wear a bikini!"
"Your parents can refuse to let you participate," Ms. Owens nodded her head and some girls smiled at that good news. "But…They'll have to transfer you to another school. A private school. You won't be able to go to a different public school just to get out of it."
"What?"…"That's not fair!"…"I'm not gonna get naked in front of a bunch of boys!" Everyone was talking all at once and I was just doodling on my notebook.
Ms. Owens let her class go on like that for a few minutes, just letting the girls get it out of their systems, and then she held up her hands.
"It's not that bad," she said. "It's scary at first, yeah. But it teaches you a lot about yourself. You girls will learn to be as comfortable with who you are…" she looked around the room, "…as you are with what you wear. We live in a world where you can't be cool if you don't wear the right clothes. Where we tell ourselves that if we don't look like fashion models, we must be ugly. We think we're too fat or too skinny, or too short or too tall. We get the same message over and over that we have to drink this and eat that if we want to be popular and attractive and happy."
Ms. Owens stared at us, but nobody said anything.
"Some people want to change that," she continued. "Some of us want to live in a country where it's okay to feel good about who we are and not spend all our time and money trying to be somebody else. It's like trying to fix what isn't broken, have you heard that expression before?"
Some kids nodded, but most of us just shrugged.
"Well, nobody in this room is broken. Okay?" Ms. Owens looked around the classroom. "And the Naked In School program is one way to help us understand that."
"How do you know so much about it?" Penny asked.
"Me?" Ms. Owens smiled. "I was naked in school once."
"You were?"
"In college," the teacher nodded. "I had to do it for a whole week too, all seven days, not just five. If I left the campus, I could wear clothes, but the rest of the time…" she grinned and some of us were sharing looks, "…I was bare butt naked in front of everybody."
"Was it scary?"…"What happened?"…"What did you do?"…"Did everybody laugh at you?" The room was full of questions and Ms. Owens was laughing and holding up her hands.
"Yeah," she nodded. "It was real scary. The first day, I almost couldn't do it. I thought for sure everyone would laugh at me. And some people did, but you know what? Most people didn't. They looked at me though, especially the boys!" Ms. Owens widened her blue eyes and we all giggled nervously. "But after that it got easier. I started to like being looked at and I made some friends that I probably wouldn't have made otherwise. By the end of the week I felt really good about myself."
"You're so pretty though," Katie sighed unhappily and that girl wasn't ugly, but plain would be a good word for her. "Nobody ever laughs at pretty people."
"Oh, Katie…" Ms. Owens shook her head and looked at the girl, "…that's not true, honey. Everybody gets laughed at sometimes. I'll tell you though, seriously, when you get naked in school? Everybody else feels naked too."
"What does that mean?" Pam asked.
"I mean, nobody is going to look at you or me, or anyone else naked, and not feel the same thing," Ms. Owens tried to explain. "They're going to imagine themselves that same way, naked in front of everyone, and understand that it isn't easy. You're going to find out that you have more friends than you think you do. I know it's hard to believe, but you have to trust me. I was there; I know what it feels like."
"They're still gonna laugh though," another girl, Becky Schroeder spoke up and she was kind of fat.
Back in sixth grade some kids had called her "horse killer" because they said Becky went to the circus and went on the pony rides, but when it was her turn she broke the pony's back and they had to shoot it. I remember I'd felt like crying for her sometimes, just because she'd been crying. It had made me kinda mad too, but I hadn't said anything and I never forgot it.
"Some people will always…" Ms. Owens started saying.
"I won't laugh," I said, kinda without really thinking about it, and then I blinked just because Ms. Owens had stopped talking and everybody was staring at me.
"Me neither," Katie said after three long seconds of silence.
"I won't laugh at anybody," Janey promised a second after that.
And then it seemed like everybody was saying it and we were all looking at each other, turning our heads this way and that. Becky turned a little red maybe, but she was smiling and looking around like everybody else. Ms. Owens was smiling too, except she wasn't looking at anyone except me, and when her bright blue eyes caught mine I blushed and looked down, but I felt good too. Like I was almost making up for being so scared in sixth grade.
"Nobody's going to touch us though…right?" Penny asked after the class had settled down again and it was suddenly very quiet. None of us had thought about that possibility, not until right then.
"Part of the program is designed to help us feel better about our sexuality," Ms. Owens said carefully. "That means how we respond socially and physically to intimate situations that arouse or repel us."
"But what does that mean?" Valerie was confused, like most of us were, probably.
"It means that during the week you're active in the program, when you're naked in school, you'll be encouraged to explore your sexuality," Ms. Owens said, trying her best to explain. "Needless to say, you girls will be the center of attraction for a lot of boys, right?"
There was some nervous laughter, but we still didn't know if someone could touch us or not.
"A large part of the program revolves around a concept called Reasonable Request," she continued. "And what that means is that as long as it doesn't interfere with a school activity, any of the other students can ask to touch you. Ask is the important word here. Request. And it's important you all remember that. Do you recall our lesson about consensual sex? That includes touching, right?"
"But if someone asks, do we have to say yes?" Millie Milbourne asked, surprising everyone.
She was Miles' twin sister and just as shy as he was. I wondered what would happen when they got naked in school and maybe it was a bad thought, but I kinda hoped they'd have to do it the same week. Before I had to do it, you know? The program would probably have a meltdown!
"You have to agree if it's a reasonable request," Ms. Owens nodded and there were a few frowns at that. "But…Only the person in the program can decide what's reasonable, not the person asking. Not your classmates, not your teachers, not even Principal Eckert can decide what's reasonable for you, see? For example, let's say, ummmm…Pretend that Jeremy Rogers is in the program and he's standing naked at the front of the classroom."
"Ohhhhh…" There was a collective sigh and more than a few happy giggles at that thought. Jeremy was a senior and the class president and the quarterback of the football team, and a walking dreamboat for most of the girls in school.
"Now," Ms Owens smiled at us, "which of you thinks that touching Jeremy's penis, his big, hard, erect penis, would be a reasonable request? Hands?"
Almost every girl raised her hand and there were a lot of whispers and laughs, and more than a few red faces. Any girl who didn't raise her hand was a liar and the rest of us knew it!
"Okay," the teacher nodded. "Any one of you could ask Jeremy to let you touch him. You could ask him to let you kiss him. You could even ask him to let you have sex with him, if you really wanted to. But…" Ms. Owens had to raise her voice above the giggles, "…Guess what, ladies? Jeremy could say no if he wanted to. He gets to decide if it's a reasonable request, not any of us."
"That's not fair!" Stacy blurted and I guessed she had a serious thing for Jeremy; the girl looked pretty pink faced to me.
"It is fair," Ms. Owens corrected the girl. "Anyone breaking the rules will face disciplinary action too. Detention or even suspension, and if it's something very serious, legal action. There won't be any tolerance for sexual abuse of any kind and we all know that girls can be just as bad as boys, don't we?"
"But if I just wanted to touch him," Stacy insisted. "Like just feel his butt or something for a minute, how's that unreasonable? He could just say no to everything all week long!"
"He could," Ms. Owens nodded, much to Stacy's chagrin. "Just like you could, Stacy. That's part of the program and it will teach us responsibility and self-control and how important it is to respect another person, no matter where they are or what they're wearing. At the same time it'll teach us that sharing, like Jeremy might share his penis with Stacy here…" Ms. Owens paused while we giggled at Stacy's red face, "…can provide us with opportunities to make new friends and gain self-confidence through a shared and consensual experience."
"Jeremy doesn't need anymore self-confidence though!" Pam said with a grin.
"Oh, you might be surprised what being naked in school can do to a person's confidence," Ms. Owens told us. "Sometimes the people we think are the strongest turn out to be the weakest, and even the most timid girl in the world can learn to be assertive."
"Really?" Millie asked and she was downright chatty today.
"Maybe you won't believe me," our young, attractive teacher said, "but I wasn't very outgoing when I was your age. I didn't have a single boyfriend until after I got to college. Some boys liked me and they'd try to talk to me, but I was just too shy. I never gave them, or myself, a real chance."
"Being naked in school changed you?" Katie asked and I don't think any of us really believed it. Ms. Owens wasn't shy at all. When she talked about sex in class, she liked to use her own experiences for examples, you know? And apparently she'd had a lot of it in college!
"It helped," she told us. "It couldn't change me overnight, nothing can do that, but the program was an important part in helping me grow into the person I wanted to be. The person I am now. It's going to help all of you as well, I promise."
Some of the girls believed Ms. Owens and maybe even looked forward to being naked in school, or at least they were willing to consider it. Nobody was really eager yet and most of us were nervous and frightened. I know I was. I hadn't said anything, but I'd listened and the whole idea sounded kind of hokey to me. I mean, there had to be better ways of making me feel better about myself than sending me to school naked! Think about it! A pimple is a life or death situation in high school, but if I understood Ms. Owens right, that was what the program was for…To show us that we were all beautiful and unique and perfect in our imperfection.
Yeah right. Good luck!
"That's right," Ms. Owens was confirming what Mr. Singer had told his class before lunch. "You'll have to use the boy's locker room and you'll get three five minute bathroom breaks a day…"
She went on to explain how someone could be forced to display themselves, but they didn't use real handcuffs because they were kind of dangerous. They had other restraints and they'd only be used if a student was especially uncooperative. It sounded pretty scary to me though. Wasn't being naked enough? Why force a girl to let everybody examine her like she was bug or something? God! How was someone supposed to feel good about themselves if they had to spread their legs or whatever just because some boy wanted to see her pussy up close?
It was all crap, I thought, and a lot of the other girls thought so too. It sounded like it was more about the boys getting their jollies than teaching girls how to like their bodies. I mean, you can't tell me a dick is like a pussy. It isn't. A dick is just…a dick. A girl's vagina is way more personal. It's like a secret or something and maybe a girl wants to share her secret with somebody she loves, but not with everybody. It's personal, even I knew that and I didn't even like my pussy!
Maybe if I actually had a dick I'd feel different about it, but I didn't think so. A dick isn't a secret; it's like an announcement over a loudspeaker. Guys like to show off their dicks, like grabbing their crotches or whatever? You've seen them do it like a million times, I bet. Girls never do it. Guys always talk about it too, believe me! I was a guy, sorta, and I heard what they said. Like who they wanted to put their dicks into and stuff. Or they'd say "So-and-so makes my dick hard!" and everybody would laugh and nod.
Maybe girls say stuff like that too. I wasn't exactly sure to tell the truth, but I didn't think so and even if they do say it? So what? They don't say it to boys, that's for sure! But a boy will say it to a girl, if they're with their friends and the girl is alone. They'll say it out loud and laugh when she gets embarrassed. I know because it's happened to me before. Stupid cowards. They won't say it if they're alone.
Sometimes I was almost glad I wasn't a boy.
Anyway, that's what this naked in school thing was starting to sound like. An excuse to embarrass a girl. Like single one out for a week and play with her feelings and make her scared not to let a boy touch her or whatever. Like how many girls were going to say no to a dozen guys making one of those reasonable requests? Whether it's reasonable or not, if she's alone and naked in the boy's locker room, they're not going to let her say anything but yes.
You can't say no if you can't back it up, every girl knows that and all the boys pretend it's not true.
"…Some extra-curricular school activities are mandatory while you're in the program," Ms. Owens nodded and she'd been answering silly questions for the last fifteen minutes, but this was kinda serious. "You'll attend in the nude and be expected to follow all the normal program rules."
"But everybody will see us!" Stacy frowned and a lot of the girls were unhappy with that, including me.
"That's the idea," Ms. Owens agreed.
"What do you mean some of them, Ms. Owens?" Janey wondered.
"Only those activities that occur on school grounds and are not open to the general public are mandatory," she said. "A football game, for example, is open to anyone who wants to watch. You won't be required to attend something like that naked. The dance this Friday, in the gymnasium, is a closed school function and so the program participants will have to be there. Naked, of course."
"What about field trips?" Valerie asked.
"It's Naked in School, not Naked in the Art Gallery," Ms. Owen laughed lightly. "Not everyone in Seattle wants to see naked teenagers running around the city and we have to respect their rights just as they have to respect yours. The Program is designed for a safe, limited environment where it can be closely monitored."
"My grandma would have a heart attack if she saw me naked downtown!" Janey giggled.
"What about pictures?" I asked.
"Pictures for the school newspaper and the yearbook may be taken of program participants," Ms. Owens told us. "You can't hide from it, okay? And yes, a censored yearbook will be available for your Grandmother, Janey," she smiled at the girl and Janey blushed.
"But Ronnie Myers is a jerk!" Penny said.
"He's a pervert," Valerie agreed. "He tried to take pictures of me from under the bleachers!"
"Oh?" Ms Owens didn't seem to know about that little incident. "Well, you don't have to worry. The teachers will be keeping a close eye out for that sort of thing."
"But do we have to like, pose for him?" I wondered.
"Within reason," Ms. Owens answered. "If Ronnie Myers or any of the other yearbook staff asks you to pose for a picture, you'll be expected to do it."
"What's Requesting Relief mean?" Katie asked and a few of the other girls giggled and I figured they must already know, but other than what Mike and Todd had been saying, I had no idea. It hadn't been in the video we'd watched.
"That's for the boys," Ms. Owens smiled. "It means that they can ask for permission to masturbate during the first five minutes of any class."
"They can jerk-off?" Stacy blurted and then dipped her head as the teacher frowned. "Sorry."
"Why?" Pam giggled.
"Because some boys say their dicks hurt if they get hard for too long," Madison Taylor said from the back row and she didn't talk a lot in class, but not because she was shy or anything. She just didn't want to be there. "Losers."
"Thank you, Madison," Ms. Owens sighed. "That's right, some boys do complain of discomfort if they're subject to long-term priaptic arousal…"
"You mean if they have a boner?" Stacy asked.
"We call it an erection," Ms. Owens reminded her. "Exactly. So, they're allowed to relieve themselves with the teacher's permission, or they may ask for a volunteer to, uh, help them."
"Help them how?" Janey asked and she was small, cute, and blonde inside and out. Some people thought it was just an act, but it wasn't. The girl just wasn't all there.
"Guess," Madison sighed theatrically and Ms. Owens ignored both of them.
"But what about us?" Penny looked around like the rest of us would want to Jill-off in front of the class. I just rolled my eyes at her.
"Ohhhh…" Ms Owens laughed lightly, "…I'm sure a clever girl like you can find relief if she needs it, Penny…without asking for permission."
There were some nervous giggles at that and I was happy to see Penny's face turn red, but I think most of us had no idea what the woman meant. At least I didn't, not until I thought about it for a few minutes. The idea of rubbing my pussy under my desk though…Why would I want to? And boys walking around with boners all day long? They weren't really that stupid, were they? I mean, even the idiots like Mike and Todd would be able to control themselves better than that, wouldn't they?
And how bad could it hurt? I mean, really? I was pretty sure a dick wasn't ever gonna be as sensitive as a girl's clitoris could be. I mean, I didn't have much experience personally, but I'd heard stories. Especially from my mom. She called her clit 'Princess' sometimes, like she'd tell her boyfriend that Princess needed a kiss, but I kinda rolled my eyes at that. Anyway…A dick? That was like a club or something. You can't hurt a club; you just bash stuff with it. It sounded like a cry baby excuse to me and even more proof that this was all some guy thing they made up so they could get free sex from girls.
"When do we have to do it?" Katie asked. "I mean, is it like alphabetical order or something?"
"We're not gonna have a pep rally," I wondered. "Are we?"
"A schedule for the girls was randomly generated by the school district supervisor," Ms. Owens told us. "We don't get to pick who is participating when."
"What about the boys?" Pam asked.
"The boys will be picked by the girls," Ms. Owens smiled, and that didn't make any sense to me. "When you're picked to be naked in school, you'll have to pick a out partner. One of the boys who hasn't already done it."
"We get to pick the boy?" Penny asked with a happy smile and all the girls were giggling.
"Uh-huh," Ms. Owens agreed with a laugh of her own. "I thought you girls would like that. But only a freshman and only a boy who hasn't already completed his week in the NIS Program."
"What if he gets mad at me though?" Valerie asked.
"They all have to do it sometime," Ms. Owens shrugged. "And last night at the PTA meeting, all of this was explained to your parents. The school and the Program have their full support."
I was pretty glad my mom hadn't gone to that meeting! Except I had that stupid consent form in my pocket. I really didn't want to give it to her, you know? But I didn't have much choice either. This Naked in School thing was going to suck! And I didn't care what the teacher said, any boy who got picked was gonna be mad at the girl who did it. That's just common sense!
"Sam? Can you hold on a second?" Ms. Owens stopped me when the class was over.
"Uh, sure," I shrugged and we waited until the classroom was empty, and that wouldn't last but a minute before the next class started coming in.
"I just want to tell you that I'm very proud of you, Sam." Ms. Owens gave my shoulder a little squeeze. "It's going to be hard for some of the girls."
"Yeah. I know," I replied, not exactly sure I deserved what she was saying.
"It's going to be hard for you, isn't it?" she asked me and I frowned at that, looking away from her face. "I didn't see your mom at the meeting last night, did I?"
"My mom?" I cleared my throat. "Uh, no, I guess not. She kinda works at night, and…"
"I know," Ms. Owens nodded and her voice was gentle. "But it's important that we get to talk to her about this. Do you think she could come by the school today? After lunch?"
"Today? Um, she's probably sleeping," I answered, kind of slowly because I was sorta putting my head in the sand, you know? Like if my mom didn't know anything, then maybe I wouldn't really have to do it, despite what Ms. Owens had said earlier.
"She's home though, right?" Ms. Owens asked and I wondered what the big rush was.
"Yeah," I nodded reluctantly. "Do you want me to, um…call her or something?"
"No. That's okay." She touched my chin with her fingertip and tilted my face upward so I had to look at her. "You're a special young woman, Samantha. Don't forget that."
"Okay," I swallowed hard and that was exactly what I did want to forget.
"You'd better get to your next class now," she said, letting me go as some kids started coming in for Social Studies.
"Hey," I caught up with Josh in the hallway as we had math class together and he gave me kind of a wary look.
"Still mad?" he wondered and I rolled my eyes.
"I wasn't mad at you," I said and then changed the subject. "Ms. Owens told us all about that naked in school thing."
"Oh yeah? What did she say?"
"Everybody's gotta do it or find a new school," I told him. "Just like Mr. Singer told you guys. For a week."
"Yeah," Josh kinda snorted. "I told you, huh!"
"Shut-up," I laughed, but I really wasn't thrilled with what I'd heard at all.
That was about as much talking as we could do before we had to take our seats, but it was enough. That was how me and Josh always got over our arguments, little ones or even big ones, it was all the same and we didn't have many of them anyway. I shouldn't have been mad earlier and now we were okay again.
Nobody had said anything about what happened in the cafeteria, except Penny and her friends, but they didn't count, so I thought maybe nobody would. It was Friday too and that made me feel better. By Monday, Josh punching Todd would be ancient history and the school had bigger and better things to talk about now anyway. This Naked in School thing was going to keep everybody's imagination working overtime and I spent most of the afternoon wondering how much it would cost to go to a private school, knowing that idea was just a daydream.