Saturday Night School Ch. 10

He thanked the cast and let them know they were done. Kim immediately gathered her things and headed for the parking lot, explaining that she was late for another commitment. Darren lingered, ostensibly to help put away the equipment, although he seemed more interested in sitting and chatting with Michelle.

Charlie listened in on their conversation, scowling as Darren offered to meet with Michelle sometime to practice their lines. "Maybe after school?" Darren suggested.

Michelle suggested that they should find a time when Kim was also available, because if they were practicing lines, then shouldn't Kim be there, too? "Of course," Darren agreed, but now he didn't sound quite as enthusiastic.

Finally, Darren stood. "I should get going," he announced loudly. He looked at Michelle. "Walk you to your car?"

"No, that's okay," Michelle said. "I need to wait for Ronni."

Darren nodded. "Okay then. Good night, all! See you bright and early at school tomorrow!" He turned and strolled confidently towards the snack bar and the parking lot.

Michelle watched him out of the corner of her eye, waiting until he disappeared through the door of the snack bar. "Whew!" she said. "So glad he's finally gone!" She reached behind her back and tugged down the zipper to her dress. Swiftly, she peeled the dress down her body, tugging her hands out of the sleeves so that they were turned inside out. She pushed down her undergarments at the same time, and in less than a minute had stripped down to her bare skin.

Ronni blinked at her. "I'm really not used to you doing that."

Michelle shrugged and grinned. She bundled her clothes into a ball and set them on a table. "Tell me what I can do to help."

"That's all right. We got it." Charlie zipped up one of the camera bags. "You didn't give him much time to get to his car, you know. He's probably still walking through the snack bar. He might be looking out the window at you right now."

Michelle shook her head. "Oh, don't try to scare me." She stepped up to one of the lights and studied it, finally locating the switch and turning it off.

"Careful," Ronni warned. "Those lights get pretty hot."

Charlie jumped up. "Yeah, let them cool down for a bit." He walked over to Michelle, who smiled and took a step away from the light. She stood with her hands behind her back, gazing at him expectantly.

He couldn't help but look down at her body. Why had she stripped? He hadn't expected to do anything with her that night, other than work on the film. Did she expect another nude walk through the gardens? More time watching TV with Nick in the snack bar? Or had she just decided she wanted to be naked?

"Um... do you want to unplug those extension cords and roll them up?" Charlie pointed at two long orange cords which led to one of the outside outlets. Michelle nodded happily and darted away to do as he asked.

Nick came down from the security room to help them pack up. He lifted his eyebrows at Michelle's nudity but didn't comment on it. With all four of them working, it took no time at all to get all the equipment bagged up.

Ronni glanced at Michelle before turning to Charlie. "I need to go home," she said. "I can help you carry this stuff to your car, but then I gotta leave."

"We can take it all in one trip," Michelle suggested. "If Nick helps. I need to head home, too. Let's all walk together." She reached down and picked up one of the camera bags, hoisting it on her bare shoulder. "Oh, Charlie..." she said. "Do you mind putting my clothes in one of the bags? So I don't have to carry them? They won't fit in my purse."

"Oh... sure." He picked her clothes off the table and pushed them into the bag he was holding. Nick picked up the two remaining bags, and they walked as a group to the snack bar.

Charlie opened the door to the outside first, and he took a moment to prop the door open with the big rock that sat nearby for that purpose. It wasn't until Michelle was already outside that he realized that his first move should have been to scan the parking lot and warn Michelle if Darren was still around. Fortunately, the only four cars in the parking lot belonged to the four of them that remained.

Charlie popped open his trunk, and Nick helped load the equipment inside. Michelle gave Charlie the bag she was carrying, and he found space for it in the trunk. "Good night!" she announced. "I'm going to head home." She walked over to Nick and gave him his usual goodbye kiss, then turned to Charlie and gave him an even longer kiss. She even walked up to Ronni to give the smaller girl a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and the shock on Ronni's face was clearly visible.

"See you!" Michelle sauntered over to her car and opened the door. She was affecting an air of indifference towards the fact that she was still completely nude, but Charlie knew her well enough to recognize that she was actually very thrilled by what she was doing. She climbed in and started her car, leaving her door open.

Charlie closed his trunk and said good night to Nick and Ronni. He was well aware that Michelle's clothes remained in one of the bags in his trunk, and he knew Ronni also remembered, because she gave him an incredulous look. But neither of them said anything. Ronni got into her car and Charlie got into his, and Michelle seemed to be waiting for them. As soon as they both had their cars started, Michelle closed her door and put her car in reverse. Michelle's car was the first one to leave the parking lot, and by the time Charlie pulled out onto the road, Michelle's car was gone.

His phone rang as he drove. He picked it up, expecting Michelle, but it was Ronni.

"Hey," he answered.

"Her clothes are in your trunk. You know that, right?"

"Yes," he said. "She did it intentionally."

"So she's out there driving and she's still completely naked. I mean... is she going to be all right?"

"Yeah. She has extra clothes in her car. She was just putting on an act for us. Pretending like it didn't matter that she wasn't wearing anything. Like she didn't have to care."

"Well, she convinced me," Ronni said. "Geez, Charlie. She's quite an outlier, isn't she? Even after you told me about her... I never expected she'd get so comfortable so fast being naked at the gardens in front of us. She's really into the whole nudist thing, huh? She strips off her clothes like it's nothing."

"Yeah. I don't know. Maybe she's just happy to have a place where she can be herself?"

"Hah! Yup. Her naked self." Ronni chuckled. "Yes, she does seem to be happy about that."

Charlie changed the subject. "How do you think we did tonight?" he asked. "Do you think we made good progress on the film?"

"I think so. You'll have to watch the footage to see. But yeah, you probably have enough to edit that first scene." Ronni paused, and Charlie could hear the click-click-click of her turn signal as she made a turn. "I'd like to say we could finish in two more nights of filming. But probably more like three."

"Probably three. You're right."

"Get some sleep, Charlie. Maybe tomorrow we can eat lunch in the A/V room and look at what we got?"

"Sure, sounds good."

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Be sure to take Michelle's bra and panties out of that camera bag before you check it back into the A/V closet tomorrow. Okay?"

"Oh. Yeah, right."

"Good night, Charlie."

"G'night." He disconnected the call.

When he finally arrived home, it was close to two in the morning, and he should have gone straight to bed. Instead, he was at his computer, uploading the footage from one of the cameras. He watched a close-up of Michelle, in that tight blue dress that clung to her body, her face turned up towards the light, a smile on her perfect lips. He knew that when he had the footage uploaded to the editing computer, he would edit it all together to tell the story he had written, a story where Max and Ingrid were the main characters and Gwen was the ethereal symbol of their attraction. But he also knew that in his heart, this film was about Michelle and no one else.

He rewound Michelle's scene to the beginning and watched it again.

***

Charlie passed Michelle in the school hallway the next morning. She waved. "Having a good day?" she asked.

"Tired," he replied, and she laughed.

Charlie struggled to get through his morning classes. He nodded off during his Euro Lit class when the teacher had them watch the first half of "Sense and Sensibility" in a dark classroom. During lunch, he met Ronni in the A/V room and they uploaded the previous night's footage onto the computer in the editing bay. They watched some of the clips and agreed most of the shots looked pretty good. The sound wasn't as crisp as Charlie wanted, but he expected he could fix that later by having the actors re-record some of their lines.

"Any plans this weekend?" Ronni asked. "Doing anything fun?"

"I'll be here tomorrow, probably," Charlie said. "Editing. I don't have anything else planned."

"You're not going to see Michelle?"

"Probably I will. But we don't have anything planned."

"Better hurry and ask her," Ronni said. "The day is half over already."

Charlie didn't respond, pretending to be focused on the editing software. He hid the panic that suddenly bloomed inside of him. Should he have asked Michelle out already? Did she already have plans? When was he supposed to schedule something with her? He hadn't ever had a girlfriend before, he didn't know how it was supposed to work.

Where would he take her, anyway? He felt like he'd already used up his best option, the weekend before. Could he take her to dinner? A movie? Maybe just an invitation to his house. Or would she think that was boring?

He waited until the end of lunch before trying to contact Michelle. Ronni left for her class, and Charlie slipped into a stall in the restroom. He sent a quick text to Michelle: "Busy?"

She wrote back. "Class is starting. What's up?"

He wrote, "What are you doing tonight?"

A pause before her response came back. "Family thing. Call you later?"

He frowned. He wrote back, "Ok." The bell rang and he had to jog to his next class.

He kept checking his phone through his afternoon classes, looking for something from Michelle, but nothing came. Not a big deal. She was in her own classes, after all. The final bell signaled that school was out for the weekend, and Charlie walked to his car. He set his phone on the passenger seat and took his time starting the car, in case Michelle called.

I'll call her when I get home, he thought. If she hasn't called me by then.

He drove home and pulled into the driveway. On his way in, he checked the mail and found a large envelope addressed to him. The envelope showed the seal for Jefferson University. He couldn't wait; he ripped open the envelope and peeked inside. It contained a packet of documents, and at the very top of the packet he could see a cover letter.

The cover letter was addressed to him. It read, "We are happy to inform you that you've been accepted into the Apex Film Program..."

He closed the envelope and clutched it in his hands. "Wow," he breathed. "I got in. I actually got in!"

He rushed through the front door and into the living room, where he emptied the contents of the envelope onto the living room table. He could see forms to fill out, a pamphlet describing the program in detail, a page showing the photos and listing the credentials for all the professors.

Charlie seized his phone. Now he had a real reason to call Michelle, and he wasn't going to wait another minute. He went to his contact list and found her name. Just as he was about to press the call button, the phone buzzed in his hand. Michelle's name appeared on the caller ID.

He answered the call. "Michelle!"

"Hi, Charlie." Michelle spoke rapidly. "Here's the thing. My grandparents are coming over for dinner tonight, and my mom really wants me to be there. So I really have to be there. She wanted to have a family dinner with my grandparents like we used to, but then Mirella said she has to work, and Marie is complaining because she wanted to go to her friend's house, and they're all going back and forth, and if I tell my mom I want to go out instead, she's really going to be upset. And she's really going to want to know where I'm going and what I'm doing."

It took a moment for Charlie to remember why she was explaining this to him. "Oh. Yeah, it sounds like you should be there for dinner," he said. "Hey, do you want to hear some good news?"

"What?"

"I'm in! I was accepted to the Apex film program."

"You were! That's awesome, Charlie! I knew you would be! Congratulations!"

"Thanks! They sent a letter in the mail."

"Yay! I'm so glad for you! Does your mom know yet?"

"No," he said. "She's still at work. I just opened the letter barely five minutes ago."

"I bet she'll be happy."

"Oh, definitely. She'll want to go out and celebrate."

"Yes, you should celebrate!" Michelle said. "You and your mom can celebrate tonight. Then tomorrow, you and I should do something to celebrate."

"Like what?"

"Anything you want. You decide." She hesitated. "The only thing is, I told Vanessa that I would go shopping with her in the afternoon... but maybe you and I can meet later?"

"Sure."

"I don't want to cancel on her again. She already thinks I'm acting flaky and there's so much I'm not telling her right now. She doesn't even know about the movie we're working on."

"It's fine. We can meet later. What should we do?"

"Anything you want." This time she said it in a sultry whisper, and Charlie felt a tingle go down his spine. He knew she wasn't just talking about picking a favorite restaurant or a special dessert place. She was offering herself as the award for his accomplishment, and leaving it to him to decide what he would do with her, and where. Charlie had no doubt that if he asked her to sneak into his house and spend the evening in his bed, she would agree to it. But he also knew that he wouldn't waste her offer on anything so tame, and maybe she knew it as well.

He felt his blood stirring as he considered possibilities. Anything you want, she said. What did he want? Had he developed a taste for the forbidden because of his contact with her? Had her fetish invaded his desires, an arousal born of seeing her aroused? Or had he always been this way, deep down, and she had just brought it to the surface?

"Here's what I want us to do to celebrate," Charlie said, and he told her what he wanted.

When he finished speaking, she was silent for a moment. "Charlie..." she spoke quietly. "I don't know if I can do that. I mean... it might be too much."

"I know."

"I think it's going too far. Isn't it?"

"It is. You're right," he said. "I was just getting carried away. How about this, what if you hang out with Vanessa on Saturday, and we'll do something on Sunday? You have any plans on Sunday?"

"No. I'm free on Sunday."

"I'll call you. We'll do something together Sunday afternoon to celebrate. We can get ice cream or something."

"Okay."

"That'll leave you free to hang out with Vanessa, for as late as you want Saturday night. So you won't have to rush."

"Okay."

"I'll call you. We'll figure it out."

"Sunday?"

"Right. Sunday."

They talked for a few minutes more, about Jefferson University and what college life would be like for him, until Michelle had to leave to help fix dinner. Mrs. Tucker came home soon after, and as predicted, she was overjoyed when she heard of Charlie's acceptance into the film program. That night, they went out to Olive Garden to celebrate.

"What about Michelle?" Mrs. Tucker asked in the car. "Do you think she'd want to join us?"

"She can't make it tonight," Charlie said. "But it's fine. We're going to get together and do something this weekend."

***

Charlie drove to the school the next day to do some work in the editing bay. He was surprised to find Ronni waiting for him when he arrived.

"What are you doing here on a Saturday?" he asked her as he unlocked the green door to get into the school.

"I came by to see if you were working on the film," she said. "I was just about to text you to see how it was going. The film's been in my head a lot lately."

"I'm just about to start on it," Charlie said. "Come on in."

For the next few hours, Ronni sat with him in the editing bay as they looked at the footage from the cameras and organized it into useable pieces. Charlie usually worked by himself, but he had to admit that the editing went quicker with Ronni there. She had a sharp and organized mind and kept notes on the different clips and where the pieces would fit into the film.

Daryl dropped by and looked surprised to find Charlie with a new girl. Charlie introduced Ronni to the security guard and explained that he was working with Ronni on a short film. Daryl grinned, and Charlie suspected that Daryl wasn't buying that his relationship with Ronni was completely platonic. Charlie knew that Daryl was going to tease him about being a player the next time the guard caught him alone.

Charlie showed Daryl some of the footage they had edited together. Although Michelle was clearly recognizable on the screen, Daryl didn't say a word. He nodded his approval when the clip ended. "Looks good," he said. "I think you got some good actors in there. Show me the whole thing when it's done?"

"Sure," Charlie said.

"I gotta keep walking," Daryl said. "Don't stay too late."

Charlie didn't intend to. He had plans for later.

***

He ate alone that night, in a Gozerburger restaurant twenty miles west of Pine Hills. He had a gozerburger with cheese, a large fries, a large Sprite. Afterwards, he walked to a Starbucks in the same strip mall and sat for a while, sipping a large coffee while he prepared a shot list for the next filming session at Greenholt Gardens. He watched people come and go, and as the hour grew late, he saw more and more empty seats around him.

It was all just killing time. He had told his mother that he would be out on a date with Michelle that night, celebrating his acceptance into the Apex film program, and now he had to fake like that's what he was doing. In reality, Michelle was out spending time with Vanessa and her other friends. She had gone shopping with them, and probably afterwards they had gone somewhere for dinner.

Just after 11 o'clock, Charlie gathered his things and returned to his car. He pulled onto the highway, heading back to Pine Hills. At first, he had the radio on, tuned to a local pop music station, but after a few miles, the music got on his nerves and he turned it off. The miles passed in silence.

Charlie drove past the sign that let him know he was entering the city limits of Pine Hills. Instead of remaining on the road as it curved to the southeast towards his neighborhood, he took a left and headed north. After a mile, he found Benham Road and turned onto it. His eyes slid over the same landmarks he had passed the week before, when he had driven north on the same road with Michelle. The houses, the intersections, the gradual shift from residential properties to commercial.

When Charlie finally saw the glowing letters of the Macy's sign in the distance, he looked down at the clock on his dashboard and saw it was approaching midnight. The store looked dark; Charlie knew it closed at 10:00 PM on Saturdays. The lights were on in the parking lot but he only saw three cars parked there, close to the store. Maybe a cleaning crew. Charlie moved into the left turn lane and turned onto the street that ran adjacent to the store.

He kept the speedometer at exactly 25 miles per hour. Any slower and he might draw attention. As his car approached the next intersection, he scanned the corner of the parking lot for a dumpster or trash bin. He saw something there, but it looked like some kind of electrical box. At the corner, he turned right, continuing his circuit around the Macy's.