Saturday Night School Ch. 11

"Michelle," Charlie said. "If you want to know what I was thinking when I wrote that movie, I can tell you exactly what I was thinking. I didn't write it about Max and Ingrid - I started with Gwen. I wanted to write a character you could play who had nude scenes..."

"And what about the other movie?" Michelle asked. "My movie?"

"Huh?"

"When you did your interview at Jefferson University," Michelle said, "you showed them a movie that they really liked. You said it was a movie you were making for me, a gift for me, but you said I couldn't see it, because it wasn't done yet. Are you ever going to give it to me? Or is it still not done?"

"Oh... that." Charlie hadn't thought about his Michelle tribute video in a while. "Uh... it's still not done."

"Uh huh." Michelle nodded, as if she wasn't surprised. "Maybe it'll never be done. You're focused on your new project now, right?"

"No, it's not that. I'm just trying to tell you..." He started, but just then, the bell rang. The five-minute bell, warning them to go to their first class.

"We'll talk later," Michelle said. "I just want you to think about what I've said, okay? I'm not asking you to do anything right away. With Ronni, I mean. Just think about it." She took a step towards the door. "I need to get to class."

"Wait," Charlie said. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"If I take Ronni out on Saturday, what will you do? Sit at home alone all night?"

"Oh!" Michelle smiled. "No, I won't be sitting at home alone. I'm doing something with Vanessa. She invited me to see a movie."

"Really? What movie?"

"'Night Crew'?" She looked embarrassed. "I've heard it's bad, but I guess it's bad enough to be kind of funny?"

Charlie frowned. "Just you and Vanessa?"

"Well... no. Some other people, too." She hesitated. "The usual gang. Cody, Sandy, Ryan, Glenn..."

"Glenn?" Charlie repeated. "Glenn is going with you?"

"Uh-huh."

"So you're going out with Glenn on Saturday. That's what you're really saying."

"No, I'm not! I mean, he'll probably be there, but a whole group is going, it's not like I'm going WITH him..."

"You just named three couples," Charlie said. He ticked them off on his fingers. "Vanessa and Cody, Sandy and Ryan... that leaves you with Glenn." He shook his head incredulously. "So that's why you want me to go out with Ronni on Saturday? Because you already have a date with someone else?"

"Charlie, no. It's not like that..."

"You want me to go on a date with Ronni so you don't have to feel guilty about being out with Glenn," Charlie said in a flat tone. "That's the real reason you want me to do it."

Michelle opened and closed her mouth, struggling to find the right words. The second bell rang; now they were both late for class. She said, "He's one of my friends. The same group of friends that I sit with all the time during lunch. That group of friends is going to the movies."

"He's your friend. I just said the same thing about Ronni, and you said I only think of Ronni as a friend because you're standing in the way. So the same must be true of Glenn. Maybe you and Glenn would be together if I wasn't standing in the way. Right?"

Michelle shook her head. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked like she was on the verge of crumpling in on herself like a paper cup. "I don't know," she whispered. She spoke so quietly that it took a moment for Charlie to understand. Three little words, but to Charlie, they felt like a punch in the gut.

"You know what?" he said bitterly. "Go out with Glenn. It makes a lot of sense, you and him. I mean, your moms are friends, right?" He didn't wait for her response. He walked past her, out the door, heading for his first class. He didn't look back.

***

The problem was, it did make sense. That was the worst part of it. He had never met Michelle's parents, but he knew they wouldn't like him, if they knew anything about his relationship with Michelle. He was a bad influence on her. Bonnie and Clyde. He was the Clyde to her Bonnie. The guy that convinced her to do bad, illegal things.

Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Santos. I'm Charlie. Glenn takes your daughter to the movies. I have sex with her on the hood of her car. He has lunch with her in the cafeteria. I fuck her in the parking lot of the Macy's. I take her out to restaurants where she gives me blow jobs under the table.

Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Santos. I'm Charlie Tucker, and I just realized I'm the bad guy in this movie.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Ronni asked. She was sitting across from him at lunch. "You're completely distracted."

Charlie realized he was staring into space. Specifically, staring to the side, at a blank wall. He looked at Ronni. She looked back, and he couldn't decide if she appeared concerned, or just puzzled.

"Are you busy Saturday?" The words came out before he could think about them.

"Not too busy," she said. "Do you think you'll come in and do some editing?"

"No, I mean Saturday night. Do you want to do something Saturday night?"

"Saturday night?" She looked at him thoughtfully. "You're not going out with Michelle that night?"

"No." Charlie looked down at his food. In a quiet voice, he said, "I think we broke up."

"What?" Ronni blinked. "Did you just say you and Michelle broke up?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Why? What happened?"

"I asked her if she wanted to do something on Saturday." Charlie knew even as he spoke that he would leave out certain details of his conversation with Michelle. For instance, Michelle's suggestion that he go out with Ronni. "I asked her a few times, but she kept evading the question. Finally, she admitted that she already had plans that night. She's going to the movies with Glenn Mack."

"No way," Ronni said. "What movie? Did she say?"

"'Night Crew'."

"What? That's supposed to a terrible movie. And it's been out for a month."

"Glenn wants to see it, I guess." Charlie leaned his elbow on the table, tapping his fingers against the side of his head. He felt like he was looking through the world through a grey shroud. Everything seemed darker than usual, dark and colorless. The gloom in his thoughts infected his physical body, and he felt tired, as if his arms and legs weighed more than usual.

"So what did you say?"

"I got a little mad," Charlie said, visualizing the scene earlier with Michelle. "I told her she should go ahead and be with Glenn, that he was a better match for her."

"Yikes. What did she say?"

"I don't know. Nothing. I had to go to class. I didn't wait around."

Ronni sat back in her chair, considering the news. "When did this happen?"

"This morning."

"And you haven't talked to her since then?"

"No."

"You know... she's supposed to meet us at Greenholt Gardens tomorrow. We're filming, right?"

"Yeah, I know." His fantasy schedule was a joke now. He had thought he would see Michelle four evenings that week. Now only one day remained, the day of the filming.

"Should we cancel? Is Michelle going to show up?"

"That was the other part of our fight," Charlie said. "The film. Michelle thinks there's a subtext to the Gwen character. Like the way I wrote Gwen says something about what I think of her."

"What does she think it says?"

"She said Gwen was 'naked and invisible.' She used those exact words."

"Naked and invisible? That doesn't make any sense." Ronni shook her head. "Those words don't go together. They're more like the opposite of each other."

"I know. In the original script, Gwen is naked in the final scene, and no one seems to notice. The other characters just accept it. So maybe you could define Gwen as 'naked and invisible' in the last scene. But I don't know how Michelle can decide that's some kind of subtext for what I think of her."

"You did write the character for her."

"Yeah," he said. "I wrote the whole film for her. I wanted to give her a role to play. I wasn't trying to make any kind of statement about her."

"Does Michelle think you treat her like she's invisible?"

Charlie held up his hands. "No. I don't know. I don't know why she would think that. If anything, I'm the one that's invisible."

"What? What does that mean?"

Charlie leaned against the table. "Nothing. I don't know."

They sat in silence for a moment. Ronni asked, "So she doesn't want to do the film anymore? Should we cancel tomorrow?"

"No," Charlie said in a low voice. "Let's not cancel it yet. I think she might still be there."

"We already have some good stuff edited," Ronni said. "It'd be a shame if we didn't at least try to finish it."

"Yeah. I think so, too."

Ronni stirred her drink with her straw. The ice rattled against the plastic cup. "So Glenn asked Michelle to see a movie, and she said yes?"

"I don't know how it all got planned. It's a bunch of couples going. Michelle and her friends."

"Oh, so it's not Glenn and Michelle alone? It's a group of people?"

"Yeah. Couples. Vanessa and Cody, Glenn and Michelle, some others. I don't know the whole list."

Ronni stirred her ice again. "And you're sure Michelle is there with Glenn? She's not there to be with her other friends? Like Vanessa and the other cheerleaders?"

Charlie made himself think back to that morning, trying to remember exactly what Michelle had said. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "I'm not sure. It sounded like she was going as Glenn's date, but I don't remember that she said it. It was more like she implied it."

"Maybe you should ask her?" Ronni suggested. "Would she answer honestly if it was a date?"

"The thing is..." Charlie said, "I don't think Michelle knows."

Ronni frowned. "She doesn't know if it's a date?"

"I don't think she knows whether or not she wants it to be a date." Charlie felt the gloom settling over him again, pulling him down with its weight. Because as he said the words, he felt the truth in them. Michelle didn't know who she wanted to be with.

"Well," Ronni said, "she needs to know, because you need to know." And that was the truth, too.

A horrible thought occurred to him. He hadn't paid a lot of attention to Michelle's social life; he knew she spent a lot of time with her cheerleader friends, and that meant she spent some time with the guys who were friends with her cheerleader friends. He had assumed that if anything was happening between her and another boy, he would hear about it. Gossip spread quickly at Pine Hills High.

But now he wondered if she had been on previous dates with Glenn, casual dates similar to her upcoming movie date. A lot of Michelle's weekend time in the last couple months couldn't be unaccounted for. Had she been dating Glenn openly while secretly spending time with Charlie? It would explain Cody's strong reaction to seeing Charlie and Michelle kissing at the train station.

How could he trust Michelle? How could he know how she really felt about Glenn?

Suddenly, Charlie had a thought. He sat up straight, and Ronni must have seen the change in him, because she became alert. "Hey. Your friend Jennifer Addish. She did the make-up last year for that pirate musical, didn't she?"

"Not by herself. But yeah, she did a lot of it."

"She's very talented. Didn't she help James Castro with that werewolf costume last Halloween?"

"Yes, she did." Ronni frowned. "I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

But that was exactly what he was thinking.

***

Vanessa was the head cheerleader, and everyone called her Vampire Vanessa because she had pronounced upper canines that resembled fangs. She also had very light skin which contrasted with her very dark hair and also contributed to her vampire-like appearance. Vanessa didn't discourage the nickname; she had dressed as a vampire for Halloween all four years of high school.

When Charlie saw her in the cafeteria, she was wearing a long green dress, and Charlie paused a moment to admire her. He still thought Michelle's beauty was at a level by itself, but Vanessa was undeniably attractive. She looked Charlie's way and said, "There you are."

"I'm glad you're here. I didn't know if you would come." He glanced down at her outfit. "That dress looks good on you."

"Thanks." She sounded nervous. "Of course I'm here. I didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice," Charlie said. "Follow me. I'll introduce you to my friends." He walked through the lunch tables, and Vanessa trailed along behind him. Lunch had just started, and the tables were still only half full.

Charlie could see Greg Arden sitting at a table with Michael and Dinesh from the AV team. Michael and Dinesh sat together on one side of the table, and Greg sat on the other side. The other seats were empty, more than enough space for Vanessa and Charlie to join them.

The three boys looked up at them as they approached. "Hey," Charlie greeted them. "Greg, Michael, Dinesh." He pointed to each of them in turn. "You know Vanessa, right?"

"Right," Greg answered. He nodded towards Vanessa.

"Hi," Vanessa waved at them.

"Hi." The three boys all spoke at the same time.

Charlie looked at Vanessa. "You're sorry?"

She nodded. "I am. I'm really sorry."

"Isn't it enough that you said it? You said it and you mean it?"

"No." She looked down shamefully as she shook her head. "It's not enough. I want you to know how sorry I am."

"All right," Charlie said. "Then take off all of your clothes."

Vanessa nodded. She crossed her arms in front of her and pinched the sides of the dress. Slowly, she began to tug the dress up, shimmying out from under it. Her long legs were revealed, her skimpy black panties. The type of panties a vampire would wear.

"What's going on, Charlie?" Greg asked. He was staring at Vanessa as she disrobed. All of them stared at Vanessa.

"This is something that Vanessa owes me," Charlie told the table of boys. "She made a mistake and it cost me someone I cared about. Now she wants to be punished for it."

"Is she really going to take off everything?" Greg asked as he gaped at Vanessa, and Charlie didn't even need to answer because Vanessa was already pushing her panties down her legs. She kicked off the flimsy garment and pushed it into the pile with her discarded dress and bra. Now that she was completely naked, she looked at Charlie, waiting for his next instructions.

"Vanessa is going to eat lunch with us, and she's going to remain like this until lunch period is over." He looked at Vanessa, eyeing her body. Her nipples were so pink that they barely stood out against her skin. He wasn't able to judge if her pubic hair was as dark as the hair on her head, because she had it completely shaved smooth. Charlie pointed to the seat by Greg. "Vanessa, you can sit there."

Vanessa didn't hesitate; she walked around the table and took the seat next to Greg. She looked up at Charlie, waiting obediently for his command.

"I'm going to get some food for us to share, Vanessa," Charlie said. "You guys enjoy Vanessa's company."

Greg stared openly at Vanessa's body. "Can we touch her?"

"Yes," Charlie said. "That's part of her punishment. But you aren't allowed to fuck her."

Greg nodded. He was already reaching between her legs. Vanessa didn't say a word, only opened her legs wider.

Charlie turned away from the sight. He would buy Vanessa something to eat, but first he had to use the bathroom. He hurried in that direction. The pressure was building in his groin, and he was embarrassed to realize that he had a clear erection bulging against his pants. What could he do? How could he not be erect, with beautiful naked Vanessa waiting for him back at his table? It would make it difficult to pee, though. Plus, it was embarrassing, walking through the cafeteria with an obvious erection.

The door to the bathroom wasn't where he remembered it. He turned in place, searching the cafeteria for the door, and saw that Greg now had Vanessa bent over the table and he was fucking her vigorously from behind. He wasn't supposed to be doing that, Charlie had clearly told him it wasn't allowed, yet there they were. Charlie tried to step in that direction, but his legs were unresponsive. He really needed to go to the bathroom.

The urge was getting desperate. He would need to pee somewhere. Maybe even in the corner. But he was enormously erect, in fact, his cock was now out of his pants, and his pace was sluggish. Also, he couldn't look away from the vision of Vanessa, on the table, her legs spread, and a boy between those legs, a boy he didn't recognize, fucking her, fucking her hard enough to make her breasts bounce. She was biting her lip to keep from crying out, hard enough to bring a trickle of blood from her mouth, and her teeth were fangs, long fangs. That's why they called her a vampire. Because of those fangs.

He couldn't stop himself. He was hard as a rock and he had to pee, and it was building up beyond his ability to restrain it. Suddenly, it burst free...

Charlie woke with a shock. He was cumming in his pajamas. He shoved his blanket off the bed and stared at the wet spot in the front of his pajama pants. His erection still jabbed against the fabric, and he watched it pulse, unleashing another shot of cum into his boxers.

He stared at the mess in revulsion. His sheets would need to be washed. The blanket, too. Discretely washed, along with what he was wearing. How could he be having a wet dream? He hadn't had one in years, not since he had figured out how to masturbate in junior high.

The content of the dream repulsed him as well. How could he be dreaming of Vanessa Watson in that way? It was like he had been cheating on Michelle with her best friend, even if it was just a dream. If he could dream it, what did that say about what was going on in his subconscious? Did he lust for Vanessa at some level?

The way he had treated her... offering her to his friends like she was a toy for them to play with... like he was a pimp and she was one of his prostitutes... and then that whole thing about punishing her... that was weird, too. He had been so cold and dominating in the dream, and it bothered him that the dream had gotten him so hard, that his sleeping mind had used that lurid fantasy to trick him into cumming.

It was almost six in the morning; the sun wasn't even up. Charlie pulled off his pajamas and wrapped them in the sheet and blanket. Later in the day, he would throw them in the laundry, but for now, they needed to live at the bottom of his hamper. He usually did his own laundry, so he didn't need to worry that his mom would discover them there.

His bathrobe was hanging in the bathroom across the hall. He peeked out to make sure the hall was empty, then darted across. He closed the bathroom door and started the shower.

As he cleaned himself off in the hot water, he brooded over his dream. He had left Vanessa at that lunch table with the boys, warning them that they weren't allowed to fuck her. As if he alone was in charge of whether or not she had sex with them, like she had no will of her own. Then, he had looked back at the table to discover Greg having sex with her anyway, and the sight of it hadn't angered or dismayed him. It had turned him on.

"It was a dream," he murmured to himself. "Just a weird dream." Not the real Vanessa. But he still felt guilty that he had treated her that way.

Why was it Vanessa? Why not Michelle? Maybe his subconscious had balked at casting Michelle in the role. It was too graphic a scene for her. Maybe he couldn't imagine Michelle having sex with someone else, a stranger, so his mind had selected Vanessa instead. Vanessa was attractive. But it wasn't like he was attracted to her in the same way he was attracted to Michelle.

Was he?

And if he really thought about the things he'd seen Michelle do... honestly, was the idea of her having sex with a stranger that far off?

She had kissed Daryl. She had kissed him while she was naked. Daryl, the school security guard. Daryl had fondled her while she kissed him.