The dean of boys at her high school, Dr. Evan Joseph, was in his mid-forties. The man was about six feet tall, had shiny black, straight hair, deep brown eyes, and one of those rugged masculine faces she often read about in the romance novels her mother continually brought home. Dr. Joseph was a bachelor, but a careful man. Jo Ann knew he went out with a lot of the female teachers, even some of the married ones, and though there was never any proof as to what the man did with them, nor was there any doubt in the minds of anyone who happened to see him with one of the teachers.
Jo Ann had inadvertently found something out last Friday, and she intended putting it to good use. There were senior girls, girls who had flunked their last year in high school and didn't want to flunk again, who made "deals" with Dr. Joseph. These girls inevitably were in the good Doctor's English class, and when it seemed as if they were on the verge of failure again, the man called them to the office of the dean of boys where he spoke to them privately.
Oddly enough, the dean's office was right next to the girls' first-floor bathroom. Though the school walls were very thick, whoever had designed the heating system for the school had given the same vent to the private office of Dr. Joseph, and said bathroom.
During the winter months, the vents were wide open, and Dr. Joseph never interviewed girls in his office at that time. But as the spring came on, and the heating system was shut off, the vents were also closed.
The vent in the girls' bathroom was in the wall in the last stall on the left. It was the least-used stall in the bathroom, if only because most of the girls didn't like taking the long walk. On rare occasions, such as when there were proms of basket ball games, and the girls crowded in en masse, then the last stall was used, but otherwise, almost never.
Jo Ann had a fetish about being sanitary, and as a result, having discovered no one used the last stall for the most part, always used it, herself. Thus she discovered that the janitor had somehow forgotten to shut the vent when he had turned off the heat. As a result, she had been barely able to make out sounds coming through the vent the previous Friday. Standing on top of the toilet seat, she pressed her ear to the vent and listening, she heard, "I'm willing, Dr. Joseph. My folks think I'll be out on a date tonight. I'll wait for you on the corner of Fourth and Carroll. There's no one there after six in the evening."
"Fine," she heard Dr. Joseph's voice say. "I think we can give you some coaching and help you pass English this year."
"Do I have to have the coaching, too?" the girl's voice was heard to ask.
"It would look good if you knew a little bit about what I'm teaching in class. Don't worry, Marilyn, I promise it won't be too taxing. The coaching is just for effect. However, after tonight, your passing grade will be assured."
Jo Ann's vivid imagination immediately went to work. She knew precisely what was going on. Dr. Joseph was making one of his illicit appointments with one of the senior girls.
Hurriedly leaving the bathroom, Jo Ann lingered outside the office of the dean of boys, and sure enough, a few minutes later, Marilyn Kase, a girl who had been left back in her senior year the previous year, came smilingly out of the office. She was a pretty-enough girl, and it was well known she liked fooling around with some college boys, so it wasn't as if the girl was making some kind of big sacrifice. Heck! In all probability, Marilyn was getting the better of the deal of the way around.
Jo Ann was in Dr. Joseph's elementary English class, it being her first year in high school. She knew Dr. Joseph had a free period after the class he taught with her as a pupil, and she decided that would be the best time to talk to him. It was her last class of the day, Monday.
Somehow she managed to get through the other classes, though more than a little impatient, and she was even more impatient as she sat through Dr. Joseph's class. Because of her imagination, she was one of his better students, especially when it came to literature.
When class was over, she noticed the dean, as always, lingered behind to clean up his desk. She waited until all the other students were out of the classroom and then walked over to him.
"Dr. Joseph?" she said, looking up at him with those big blue innocent-looking eyes.
He smiled at her, nodding, and said, "Jo Ann?"
"I was wondering if we might talk privately for a moment."
"Certainly," he nodded. "We're alone. What's on your mind."
"No, I mean really privately," she insisted.
"Oh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Then he teasingly whispered in a conspiratorial voice, "Would you prefer to come to the office of the dean of boys?"
"No, sir," she replied, shaking her head. "That isn't private enough."
"Come now," he smiled in his adultly superior way. "That room has been soundproofed."
"Not completely, doctor," she insisted.
"Oh?"
"I don't want to risk being overheard at all… "
“What makes you think the dean's office isn't soundproofed?" he asked.
She leaned forward, and he, smiling to himself, accommodated her by leaning down as she whispered in his ear, "Marilyn Kase."
He looked startled for a moment, but instantly regained his composure. Nodding, he asked, "What class do you have this period, Jo Ann?"
“It's my lunch period," she told him. "Have you ever eaten lunch at the restaurant on the other side of the park?"
“No," she admitted.
"A lot of kids eat there, and so do a lot of the faculty. I was on my way there just now, and I was wondering if you'd like me to drop you off there."
“I can't afford… "
"I'll loan you a few dollars," he said, somewhat grandly. "You can pay it back when you get it."
“All right," she nodded.
"Come along," he said, and she followed him as he went to the dean's office. Poking his head in, he called to his secretary, "Miss Carroll, I'm going to The Pub for lunch. Can I get you anything?"
“No, sir," Jo Ann heard the secretary reply. "I should be back in a half hour," he said, then shut the door, and with Jo Ann walking beside him, he walked out of the building, smiling at students and faculty alike. Not even the senior girls thought anything of it, because those who had enjoyed an evening of pleasure with Dr. Joseph knew how careful he was. He would never fool around with jailbait, and so it figured that he was simply heading in the same direction as the young honey-blonde, and was therefore giving her a lift.
They got into the man's car, a late model Chevy Citation, and he began driving slowly. Instead of heading directly to the restaurant, he drove toward Main Street. The car's windows were up, and he had music softly playing on his FM stereo radio.
"Now," he said, "what's this all about?"
"I'll be direct and to the point, Dr. Joseph," Jo Ann said, her heart hammering wildly. "I want to make sure I pass English this year."
"Jo Ann, what are you talking about?" he snapped. "You're an 'A' student and you know it."
"Nevertheless, like Marilyn, I want to assure myself of getting that highest possible mark… "
"Cut it out," he angrily retorted. "You're just a kid. You have a lot of years before you begin to so much as think of something like that. You ought to be ashamed… "
"Dr. Joseph, I'm still a virgin," she said blandly. "To be frank, I find being a virgin very uncomfortable, at best. But I'm not going to find some inexperienced jerk my own age, or even a little older, and let him fumble around with me, hurting me. No, it has to be someone who really knows what it's all about. I decided it has to be you."
"Don't be ridiculous," he insisted. "There are laws… "
"I don't care about the laws," she insisted. "You're smart enough to find a way around them. Besides, no one has to know except me and you."
"You and I," he corrected.
"See," she told him. "I have to make sure of my 'A'."
He looked at her, aware for the first time that though her body was young, her conniving mind was more intelligent than many of the girls he had laid over the past few years. Admittedly, she had a hot little body, and the idea of scoring with a girl this young had always been a secret obsession of his. Until now, he had always controlled himself, satisfying himself with the older students and the female faculty members who appealed to him from time to time.