"Doesn’t seem to work for me," I said. "I just feel like I’m being used." I’m surprised I admitted that to her.
What she said surprised me more. "Used? Natalie, that’s your pussy. If they’re using it, it’s to get you off. If they really wanted to use you, they’d be whipping out their dicks."
I never thought of it that way.
Anyway, bio was fine. Ed made me laugh. But I was dreading gym. I got in and out of the locker room in a hurry. We were outside, playing tennis, which was an interesting thing to do in the nude. I think I pulled every muscle in my chest from those things bouncing around. But it was all right. It was the shower I was dreading.
On the way into them, I saw Ed. He grabbed me, and I noticed, also standing there, was this huge black kid. I’d seen him around, but didn’t know who he was.
"Nat, I want you to meet Ty Christopher. He’s the first baseman on the baseball team, and a good friend."
"Pleased to meet you, Natalie," he said I shook his hand. Wow, what a voice!
"Ty’s gonna watch out for you," Ed told me. "He’s going to take care of you in the shower. And he’s safe. If he lays a hand on you, Emma will kick his ass."
"Emma’s my girlfriend," Ty laughed.
Oh, man. How sweet was this? But I felt compelled to point something out. "Guys, I really appreciate this. But I can’t say no, remember? Reasonable request and all that."
"Yes, but I can say no," Ty said. "Hey, if worse comes to worse, we’ll go in a corner and I’ll pretend I’m doing something to you. That’ll keep ‘em off."
"What if word gets back to Emma?" I asked worriedly.
"HEY, EMMA!" Ed yelled. A tall brunette came running up. "Hey, Em, if you hear any scuttlebutt about Ty messing with someone in the shower, don’t believe it. This here is Natalie, she’s my Program partner this week, and she needs a little help fending off the jackals."
"That’s fine," she smiled. "Having a tough time?" she asked. I nodded yes. "Ty will watch out for you. He’s good at that," she giggled. She leaned up and kissed him. "And if you hear any rumors about me messing with Ed in the shower, believe every word." She sashayed off to the showers at that, throwing a kiss back at Ty, while Ed followed her making like a lovesick puppy. Ty just laughed.
"Come on," he chuckled, and led me into the shower. And he did watch out for me. We huddled in a corner. I actually let him wash my chest, for cover-and, you know what? I didn’t mind. Probably because he was being so respectful about it. I knew he wasn’t doing this for a cheap thrill. And he pretended to stick his hand in between my legs to throw the scent off. I didn’t get bothered by anyone else at all.
We talked while we showered. Somehow the subject of art came up, and he told me that Emma was a talented sculptress.
"I draw," I told him.
"Really? I’m surprised. You don’t seem to tote a sketchpad around, like every other artist I know," he laughed. "Emma always has one-she sculpts from sketches sometimes."
"I never felt comfortable doing that."
"You should," he maintained. "Lots to draw around here."
After that, we left, and I went to my last two classes. It was better. After school, I made a decision. Going out to the entrance to fetch my clothes, I saw Ed.
"I’m taking you up on your invitation. I never go to any school functions around here, so I’m going to come watch you play baseball," I said.
"That’s great! Come with me, I’ll walk you over."
"Great. Just let me get dressed," I told him.
"Oops. Sorry, Nat, you can’t." I just looked at him. "This is a school function. You have to stay nude."
"Oh, shit," I said.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I knew I had to play nude, so I just forgot." He looked at me hopefully. "Are you going to come anyway?"
I decided to go. Ed even bought my ticket, the sweetie, and showed me where Jared and Amanda were sitting, before he went into the locker room.
"Hey, I’m glad you came!" Amanda said.
"Yeah," I told her, "but I forgot I was going to have to sit here in the nude."
"Ah, it’s not that bad," she said.
"Easy for you to say, you have clothes on," I teased. Suddenly, Jared and Amanda grinned at each other and nodded. Next thing I know, they were taking all their clothes off! I was stunned. In a minute, they sat back down, as naked as I was.
"Feel less self-conscious now?" Amanda asked. I just sputtered. Amanda laughed. "Ever since we went through the program, we’ve discovered a liking for nudity. On a nice day like today, why not? It’s very freeing."
I was amazed. Then I happened to look over past Amanda at Jared. You want to talk about amazing? I think my eyes popped out of my head. Amanda noticed. "Hey, honey. I think somebody just discovered Jared’s Secret," she giggled.
"She must have not been paying attention in September when I was in the program," Jared laughed.
"I must not have," I admitted. Jared was huge! Between the legs, I mean.
"Now you know why I love him," Amanda teased.
"Oh, is that all? See this, Natalie? I’m being used. Shamefully used. I feel so cheap," he mock-sobbed.
"Hey, is this the nudists section?" I heard. It was a young girl of about eleven or twelve. She climbed in the bench behind us.
"Hey, Amber, how are you?" Jared asked. "This is Natalie. She’s going through the program this week and she’s a little uncomfortable. Nat, this is Amber. She’s Lily’s sister."
"Hi," Amber said. "So these two decided to keep you company?"
"Yeah," I smiled.
"Cool. The more the merrier," she said-and started taking off her clothes! All right, now I’d seen everything. Amanda laughed.
"The week Lily and Mike were in the program was the week of the school carnival," Amanda explained. "Mike and Lily brought Amber. They had to go nude, of course. We met up with them and decided to go nude ourselves. Amber felt left out, so she joined us."
"And I found out how much fun it is," Amber declared. "I wish they had The Program in middle school. I go nude all the time. I love how the wind makes my titties perky." I almost swallowed my tongue at that one!
"How old are you?" I asked her.
"I’ll be 12 next month," she said. Amazing. A 12-year-old likes going nude-and I’m paralyzed by it. Why hadn’t I noticed the wind on my-er-titties? "Who’s your partner?" she asked.
"Ed Bauer."
"Oh, you’re cavorting nude around school with my boyfriend?" she asked. BOYFRIEND? "No, I’m just kidding," she laughed. "That’s our little joke." She sounded older than 12.
"Amber’s pretty precocious," Amanda whispered in my ear. You ain’t kidding! "Ed showed her a good time at the carnival, and now she’s got a crush on him. But she knows he’s too old for her. She’s quite a kid."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Hey," I said, just thinking of something, "do either of you have a cel phone I can use?"
"Sure," Amanda said, and dug hers out of her bookbag, and handed it to me.
I dialed. "Hello?" I heard.
"Mom, it’s Natalie."
" Where are you?"
"At school. I’m staying to watch a baseball game. I don’t know when I’m coming home."
"YOU GET HOME THIS INSTANT! You have chores!" Yeah, like every chore in the house. Wouldn’t want you to stop drinking long enough to wash a dish.
"Mom, I’ll do them when I get home."
"You will do them NOW."
"Listen, I just called to tell you where I was. That’s where I am. I’ll be home when I’m home." I was fed up.
"NATALIE, YOU WILL GET YOUR ASS…" I hung up on her.
"That sounded pleasant," Amanda said.
"It always is," I sighed. Just then, the players came out into the field. Ed walked over to where we were seated behind third base.
"Hey! It’s the nudists’ section! How’s my pint-sized nude girlfriend?" he said to Amber, kissing her on the cheek.