"So, he asked you, right?" Tanya looked at Joan with an expectant look on her face. The blond cradled her books in her left arm. Her right hand rested on her hip.
"Who asked me what?" Joan pulled her binder and biology text book out of her locker.
"Aaron, dummy!" exclaimed the pretty blond. "He asked you to the prom, didn't he?"
"Oh, that." Joan sounded less than enthusiastic. "No, he didn't." She shut her locker door.
"What!" Tanya was obviously disappointed. "I thought that was why he wanted to talk to you."
"No, Aaron wanted to ask about Father O'Connor," Joan replied.
Tanya wrinkled up her nose in distaste. "Why was he asking about gross old Father O'Connor?"
"He used to be one of Father O'Connor's altar boys," Joan shrugged.
David approached the two girls and put his arm around Tanya, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "So June, did the hobbit ask you to the prom?"
"For the last time, her name is JOAN, stupid!" Tanya slapped her boyfriend on the arm. "And the hobbit's name is Aaron. And no he didn't. He was asking about Father O'Connor."
"Oh? So no prom date then?" David asked.
"It doesn't matter. I don't even want to go," Joan said as the three of them headed off down the hallway.
"I'm still open to us going as a threesome," David offered.
"No thanks," Joan said as they entered Mr. Selter's biology class.
"Why don't YOU ask HIM?" Tanya suggested.
"'Him' who?" Joan asked as she took her seat at the back of the room.
"Aaron!" Tanya whispered in exasperation as she pointed to the brown haired boy near the front of the class.
"No!" David interjected. "The hobbit's only interested in old men."
"What are you talking about?" Tanya asked sounding annoyed.
"Instead of asking out Joan to the prom, he only wanted to know about Father O'Connor. You said he used to serve as an altar boy. Who knows what sorts of 'services' he used to provide." David said suggestively.
"David, that's gross!" Tanya scolded her boyfriend.
"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time that a Catholic priest demanded 'extra favors' from a young boy," David said.
"Uh! You're the worst!" groaned Tanya.
"Yeah, but I'm the best at being the worst. And that's why you love me!" said David with a cheeky grin.
"Yeah ..." Tanya conceded reluctantly. She leaned over and the young couple gave each other a kiss on the lips.
Joan looked away as she rolled her eyes. Since she had quit working at the rectory the previous evening, she would no longer be required to put up with Lil and Father Ben's affections. But unfortunately at school, she was forced to witness Tanya and David's gestures of love. It was not that Joan minded being single. But she did not enjoy having other people's romances shoved in her face.
When Joan went to the rectory the night before, Lil had not been there. However, because the teenager had used insulting words to disparage the other woman, Father Ben had severely disciplined Joan. He had given her a humiliating spanking. And he topped off her punishment by shoving a rosary up her backside. Joan had been forced to walk home with the little grey prayer beads shifting around up inside of her back passage.
The entire experience had made her angry and embarrassed. However, while Joan would never admit it out loud to anyone, there was a small part of her that had felt secretly excited by the sadistic punishment administered by the impure priest. Sitting at her desk in biology class, she could feel herself becoming wet between her legs.
Glancing over at the smooching young couple next to her, Joan could not help but feel irritated that she did not have someone with whom she could explore the amorous feelings that she was experiencing. Joan was very skillful with her own fingers and her vibrator. But Father Ben's touches had brought her arousal to a whole other level. However, she was not longer working at the rectory. So Father Ben would probably never lay his hands on her again.
"Alright class, today we're continuing our talk about viruses," said Mr. Selter. "Who can tell me about rabies?"
Joan flipped open her textbook and quickly began skimming through the assigned chapter. She was so exhausted and sleep deprived, she had not been able to wake up early enough to do her homework. Being so unprepared, she hoped her teacher would not call on her.
"Doing some last minute reading, are we Miss Hubert?" Mr. Selter strolled down the aisle between the rows of desks and stopped in front of Joan.
She sheepishly looked up. "Sorry, Mr. Selter. But I had to work last night. And then I had alot of trouble sleeping. So I couldn't get up in time to do my homework."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Joan. But that's no excuse."
"But Mr. Selter ..."
"Come see me after class," the teacher said sternly.
A number of students jokingly jeered. Joan scowled at her teacher as she slumped down in her desk. Recently it seemed as though nothing was going her way.
She was just about to object to having to stay after school because she had her part-time job to get to. But then she reminded herself that she no longer had a part-time job.
David leaned over Tanya's desk. "Hey Jan, tough break," he whispered.
"Her name is JOAN!" his girlfriend reprimanded at him.
Joan grimaced. Was she so unpopular that even her best friend's boyfriend could not remember her name? She was sick and tired of feeling invisible. Except for when she was getting into trouble.
Joan spent the next forty minutes or so sulking in her seat at her desk. She was barely listening to the biology lesson. She was too preoccupied by her anger and envy toward Father Ben and Lil. She was annoyed that Mr. Selter was going to keep her after class. She even found her best friend's lovey-dovey behavior obnoxious.
Suddenly Joan was hit by a sudden urge to do something crazy. If Mr. Selter insisted that she stay after the lesson, then Joan was going to make sure to keep things interesting. She raised her hand.
"Yes Joan?" the instructor said looking at her.
"Mr. Selter, may I please go to the bathroom?"
"Fine," he replied.
Joan slipped out of her desk and exited the classroom. She made her way down the hall to the nearest girl's restroom. She entered the first empty stall and locked the door.
Joan reached under her skirt and pulled off her underwear. She balled up the undergarment as tightly as she could and shoved it into the pocket of her cardigan. Being bare under her skirt reminded her of the previous evening when Father Ben had forced her to walk home without returning her panties to her. She had felt extremely vulnerable and exposed. But she had also felt undeniably turned on.
She quickly left the bathroom and returned to her biology class.
"Anger and aggression," said a redheaded girl sitting on the right hand side of the room.
"Good Amber," nodded Mr. Selter. "People who've contracted the rabies virus can indeed behave in a more aggressive and angry fashion. What are some other symptoms of rabies?"
"Muscle spasms and weird positions," said a blond boy in the center of the room. "Or sometimes they can't move at all. Like they have paralysis or something."
"That's right," said the science teacher. "Anything else?"
"Agitated movements and convulsions brought on by seizures," said a brunette who was sitting next to the redhead.
"Correct Lisa," Mr. Selter smiled. "Any other symptoms?"
"Confusion, strange thoughts, hallucinations," Aaron listed off. "Also, sometimes they're too sensitive to bright lights, sound and touch."
"Very good," the biology instructor praised. Then looking toward the back of the room, he saw the tall athletic boy next to Tanya put up his hand. "Yes David?"
"Seems to me like these people need a priest, not a doctor. This sounds like something straight out of The Exocist," the dark haired boy quipped, making a few of his his classmates giggle.
"Well," Mr. Selter chuckled, "people with rabies may look like they're possessed. But I can assure you that they're strange behavior is definitely caused by a virus and not a demon. The rabies virus scrambles the signals in the brain. So that the wrong signal will be delivered to the wrong area of the body. That's why people and animals infected with rabies behave so bizarrely." Then looking over at the blond girl who had just raised her hand, he said, "Yes, Tanya?"
"What's the cure?" she inquired.
"It's extremely important that if you are ever bitten by an animal - like a dog or a bat - you must go to the hospital right away and get a rabies shot," their teacher said gravely. "Once an organism starts showing symptoms of rabies, it's usually too late," he explained. "Then your only option will be to call a priest ... for last rights."
A few students snickered at their teacher's dark joke. However, their amusement was interrupted by the ringing of the bell out in the hall.
"Okay class, that'll have to do for today," Mr. Selter loudly said over the noise of the bell and the shuffling of the students getting up from their desks. "Tomorrow we'll continue our discussion of viruses. Please read the next chapter in your textbooks."
As Joan watched her classmates exit the room, she wondered if it would be possible for her to sneak out with them. However, her teacher came up to her and said, "Miss Hubert, would you like to take a seat at the front of the room?"
It did not really seem like a request that Joan could refuse. So she arose from her desk and trudged to the front of the classroom.
"See you tomorrow," Aaron said, giving her a sympathetic smile. He grabbed his books and said good-bye to his teacher as he left the room.
