I guess I’d be considered popular. I do hang around with the Cool Kids, I’m a cheerleader, all that. Lots of people like me, lots of people look up to me. I say that not to brag-not my style-but because it explains why I was "set up". Yeah, there were a lot of problems with The Program the first two years, and, yeah, a lot of it was because a lot of the popular kids opted out. They got to stand on the sideline and be catty.
This is why Mr. Tilling approached me last week and asked that I volunteer. He wanted a popular kid to kick things off this year. I said no, of course. It would be humiliating, and way too much responsibility. He persisted. What can I say, he wore me down. He appealed to my sense of school spirit, the rat fink. Of course, I wasn’t the tough nut to crack-that’d be my parents. They freaked, especially my Mom. Tilling wore them down, too. So, here I was, preparing to go to school for a week in the altogether.
I was terrified.
That’d surprise some people, I know. Because I’m popular, have popular friends, am always (at least outwardly) in a good mood, get decent grades, am friendly, all that-people think I’m a cool customer. Not. What I am is a good actress. I should be in drama, not cheerleading.
Y’see, all I heard growing up was stories about my mother-how unpopular she was, how she was picked on, how she was an outcast and a misfit all through school. I never wanted to go through that, so I cultivated popularity.
Now I was confronted with a dilemma-how do I maintain a complete facade without any clothes on?
And, yeah, I was scared, too-I wasn’t all that convinced that my popularity was going to save me from the harassment. Especially considering it was all a facade.
But I agreed. Idiot that I am, I agreed. So, here I was, in Mr. Tilling’s office, waiting. Apparently there was going to be another guinea pig in the Junior class. Three actually, two boys and one other girl, but they were "pairing us up" this year, and one of the boys was on his way.
He walked in, and it was Jared Wicklow. I knew him; he’d been in school with me since sixth grade. Nice guy. Quiet, didn’t say much, so I didn’t know him all that well, but I always thought he was a nice guy. Good, at least they didn’t pair me up with an asshole.
And I took one look at him, and immediately felt better-about myself, because I felt really bad for him. Because if I was scared, poor Jared was petrified.
"Hi", he managed to croak out as he sat next to me. I smiled, and said "Hi" back.
"OK, now that you’re both here," Mr. Tilling said, "we can begin. Amanda already knows why she’s here, and I’ll bet you can guess, Jared."
"The Program," Jared replied, looking at his shoes, in a voice of total doom. I did really feel bad for him.
"Correct", Mr. Tilling confirmed. He handed both of us brochures describing The Program. "I’m sure you two know the basics, and the brochure covers most questions you might have. However, there are a few changes this year. First of all, it’s not completely random. We’ve pleaded with some of the more popular kids, like Amanda here, to participate, so that we get a better cross-section of participants. Plus, we’re using a Buddy System this year."
"Buddy system?" Jared asked.
"Yep. You, Jared, and Amanda, are buddies. We expect you to support one another throughout this week. And that means both of you. Amanda is more vulnerable because she’s a girl; but she’s also very popular. You’re both going to need support. You have three classes together-one in the morning, one right after lunch, and the last class of the day, so you’ll have plenty of time to lean on one another. And I trust you’ll exchange phone numbers." He looked us dead in the eye. "I can count on your cooperation, right?" he said sternly.
"Sure," I chirped.
"Uh, yeah, OK," Jared stammered. Damn, he really was scared. Or didn’t like being teamed up with me, one or the other.
"Good," Mr. Tilling continued. "Time to strip. Jared? You go first."
"Uh, me? First?" he stammered.
"Come on, time’s a-wasting." Mr. Tilling cajoled.
He did it. Slowly, painfully. I felt bad-Jared had no facade. He was scared, and embarrassed, and couldn’t hide it. Me? OK, I was curious, I admit it. Everyone thinks because I run with the popular crowd that I have a lot of dates. Not true. Nobody ever asks me out. So, in about two minutes, I was going to see my very first live up-close naked boy. I’d seen a few of the upperclassmen that got roped into The Program over the last two years-and, OK, I admit gazing at a few naughty magazines that my friend Maggie always seems to have. But a real boy, naked, this close? Never seen one.
Suddenly, there he was. And, I have to admit, I liked what I saw. Poor Jared was blushing purple, and standing kind of hunched-over, like he wanted to cover up. I was just enjoying the view. What was he ashamed about? Now, admittedly, I’m not much with a basis for comparison, but he didn’t seem to have much to hide. There were muscles I didn’t know he had, his ass was completely delectable-and, there it was, between his legs. He was soft, but it was still impressive. I looked him up and down, and kind of involuntarily let a "Wow!" slip between my lips. Apparently, it was the right thing to say, because Jared straightened up a little and gave me a bit of a half-smile-though he blushed deeper, which just made him cuter.
"Right. Your turn, Amanda," Mr. Tilling said, breaking me out of my reverie.
"OK," I breathed. Remember, Amanda. Act. Act, act, act. Big smile. Never let ‘em see you sweat-or cry, or be scared, or whatever. Off with the blouse, off with the skirt, off with the bra, off with the panties. We got to keep our shoes and socks, so those stayed on. Big smile, nothing bothers me. So, I’m stark naked in the principal’s office. Next to a boy who is similarly stark naked. No big deal, right?
Maybe if I kept telling myself this, I might believe it.
And then I caught a glimpse of Jared. For one thing, he was practically drooling. For another thing he got hard, instantly. That seemed to increase his discomfort. It shouldn’t have. And we were supposed to be supporting each other, right? So, I looked down at…IT…boy it was big…anyhow, I looked down at it, and whispered to him, "That’s a nice compliment. Thank you." At least I got him to smile, a little bit, again.
"Thanks for that ‘wow’ earlier," he whispered.
I looked up at his face and said, "If I keep looking down, you’re really going to get a ‘wow’!"
"OK, now that the preliminaries are over, off to class with you two. You have English together first period, right? Go. And, remember, support each other."
"We will," I assured him. "You ready?" I asked Jared.
"NO!" he said.
"Good, neither am I. Let’s get it over with anyhow." I marched out of the principal’s office, Jared behind me. The halls were filled, no big surprise. Smile, smile, smile. March proudly. Yadda yadda yadda.
How was I going to pull this off for a week?
CHAPTER THREE JAREDOh, man, it was so humiliating. Walking through the halls, stark naked-and with a boner, to boot.
Well, of course I was hard. I was looking at Amanda Frazier’s naked ass the whole way through the hall! Jesus, I had fantasized about seeing this girl naked since seventh grade. The fantasies didn’t hold a candle to the reality, let me tell you. When she got her clothes off, I thought I was going to pass out. And I was so embarrassed at how hard I got, and how quickly it happened. What Amanda said, though, that was really nice. As was her reaction to me getting undressed.
If anything, my admiration for this girl was increasing by leaps and bounds. She was one cool customer. I wish I could be as nonchalant about this as she was.
However, I had two things going on here. My discomfort at being naked-and my discomfort at seeing her naked. Not that I didn’t like seeing her naked, mind you, but what a distraction. Especially since Amanda thought it would be a good idea if we stuck together, and managed to convince the guy who sits next to me to switch seats for the week. So, now I not only had to deal with my nudeness, but I had to deal with the girl of my dreams sitting next to me as naked as I was.