Naked In School

That was a good way to put it.

Maggie and her friends found a table, and we were alone again. They called our number, and I went up to get the food. Of course, Maggie noticed this, and had to let out a wolf-whistle.

We ate, and the rest of the meal was fairly uneventful. Oh, sure, we got stared at, and I know at least one couple of old fogies took one look at us in the altogether and stormed out in a huff, but it was all right. More than all right, considering the company. We chatted about anything and everything, getting to know one another better. She told me a bit more about being guarded. I told her a bit more about being shy. And we both agreed that we pulled each other out of all that. Well, each other, and The Program. Then we chatted about friends, and school, and stuff. It was normal-except for the fact that we were both naked.

Which became very apparent when she speared a scallop, brought it to her mouth, and dripped tartar sauce-right on her left boob. She giggled, and I just had to laugh. "Now there’s something you don’t see every day," I said.

"True," she replied. Then she batted her eyes at me. "So, you gonna help me out with this?"

What’s a guy with good manners to do, right? I grabbed a napkin and helped her out. And she even shivered a little bit. We finished up eating and walked out-people were still staring and chattering, even in the parking lot, and you know what? I didn’t care. I did feel free. Amanda was right. And she was there with me-that’s all that really mattered. I put my arm around her, she put her head on my shoulder, and we walked to the car.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN AMANDA

I just felt so good. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. The food was great, the company was better, and the feeling of complete, absolute freedom overwhelmed me.

There were a few other feelings that were overwhelming me, too. I really, really liked Jared-more so every second I spent with him. He made me feel warm, and safe, and tingly all over. And I was horny.

Really horny.

We got in the car, and Jared started it up. "You have a curfew?" he asked me.

"Yeah, but not until eleven and it’s only seven-thirty."

"You want to do something else?" he asked.

"Absolutely. I do not want this evening to end yet." I told him.

"My sentiments exactly. Well, then, where to, Madame?"

"Um, I think I want to go somewhere where we can be alone." There, I got it out.

"We haven’t been alone much, have we?" Jared laughed. "OK. We can go to my house."

"Your house? Won’t your parents be there?"

"Yeah, but they’re cool. Both of them, even my mother. My bedroom’s down in the basement. We can go down there, my parents won’t say a word, and they’ll leave us alone. We can fool around all we want."

"OK, let’s go there," I said. And then I took a deep breath. Something had been brewing in my mind all day. Now it was pounding at my mind, relentlessly. So, I said it. "Jared, I don’t want to just ‘fool around’." One more deep breath. "Jared, I want you to make love to me."

He just about drove off the road!

After he got the car going in the direction it was supposed to be going, he exhaled, and said, "Are you SERIOUS?"

I grabbed his hand, and looked at him. "Dead serious. Jared, pull over someplace, would you?" He did, in an empty parking lot, and took the car out of gear. He turned to me-I was still holding his hand-and said, "Isn’t this a little fast?"

"After all we’ve been through this week?" I laughed. "Jared, listen to me. I’m as pent up as I can get. I’m so horny I don’t know what to do with myself. I dream about it constantly. I do not think I can make it through the rest of the week without it happening. I just can’t." I took another breath. "And I don’t dream about it with just anyone. I dream about it with you. I can’t hold out, I’m too horny. And I so much want you to be my first. More than anything in the world. I don’t want to just have sex-though I’ll do that because of the horniness-but what I really want to do is make love. And I can’t do that with anyone but you."

There. There it was. I bared part of my soul to another human being for the first time in my life. It was scarier than walking into The Mariner without any clothes on.

He squeezed my hand. "Are you protected?" he asked me.

"No," I admitted. "I am not thinking straight!"

"So, what you’re telling me is that you want me to walk stark naked into the drug store and buy condoms, right?" I looked at him-and noticed the shit-eating grin on his face. Thank goodness.

"No, sweetie, I want both of us to walk stark naked into the drug store and buy condoms."

"You’re on." He put the car back in gear, and drove off. I started giggling. I couldn’t help it.

"What’s so funny?" he asked me.

"You are. If only you could’ve seen the look on your face," I told him. "And the bad driving!"

"Hey, you shocked me. I did not expect this."

"I know you didn’t. Even after all we’ve done, you didn’t expect a thing. Do you know how wonderful that is?" He started blushing again. "You never would’ve asked, not this soon. Even though I know you want this as much as I do."

"That is true," he admitted. "I’d always hoped you’d be my first."

"You’re so sweet." We pulled up to the drug store, and in we went. Stark naked. To buy condoms, so we could go take each other’s virginity. If you had told me a week ago I’d be doing this, I would’ve had you locked up. But it felt…wonderful. It just seemed so right. Even when the clerk flashed us a dirty look.

I slipped the condoms into my purse, and we headed for his house. That’s when it dawned on me. "Shit, I have to meet your parents, and I’m naked!"

"Don’t worry about it. I told you, they’re cool."

He was right. His parents were cool. Tina came in while we were chatting, and gave me a knowing little grin. But his parents were cool-even when we headed off to his bedroom.

When we got there, I realized I was shaking like a leaf.

He realized it, too. "Are you OK?" he asked me.

"I’m scared," I admitted.

"We don’t have to do this, you know."

"I want to," I maintained. I sat down on his bed, and patted it next to me. He sat. "Listen to me. I’ve spent my whole life scared of everything. Just admitting I’m scared is such a big step for me you have no idea. Getting past being scared and going for it is something I never thought myself capable of. Do you realize how many times I’ve done that this week?"

He chuckled. "Probably as many times as I have."

"Does this scare you, too?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Good," I said. "I never knew how to open up. I’ve learned a lot about that, in just three short days. Some of it’s from The Program, but a lot of it is you." He looked at me in amazement. "I’m serious. And I want to open up, and I want to open up with you as much as I possibly can. And, yeah, it’s scary. But that’s not going to stop me. Not anymore. Hell, the way I feel about you is the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced, but I’m not pushing it away, or hiding from it, not ever again."

Little pieces of my soul, over and over again. I kept giving them away. And then I looked up, and saw the look in his eyes, and realized it was worth it.

I didn’t want to give him pieces of my soul any more. I wanted to give him the whole thing.

And I wanted his.

I didn’t say this. I said it with my eyes. He got it. I knew it right away-he understood. That might have been the scariest thing of all.

And then he kissed me. And it wasn’t so scary anymore.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN JARED

Overwhelming. That’s the only word I can come up with. Overwhelming.

I was starting to see things, you know. Over the past three days, I had figured out a few things about this girl. She kept most of her self under wraps. I understood what she was saying, when she told me she had a hard time opening up. But I had seen her open up, bit by bit, at least with me, over the past couple days. But now, she wasn’t offering me bits. She was offering me…everything.