Joey and I have been friends for as long as I can remember... so obviously when I had the chance to join him as a teacher at one of the local high schools, I jumped at it.
Without bragging, I think it's fair to say the two of us are among the most popular teachers in the school. Kids love his lectures on the Rise of Modern Society and few have the ability to keep a math class interesting like I do.
Joey and I both live the classic HS teacher life, we are married to beautiful young wives who also work, and the two of us enjoy going out for a drink or two while watching a game at the local sports bar.
We do have what most people, however, would call a pretty major flaw - we're not real good at being faithful. Both of us have cheated multiple times on our loving wives, often supplying each other with alibis. Our town can be a bit gossipy, but we're smarter than that... we'll hit the road, drive an hour or two to find more out-of-the-way areas... and we're also the first to volunteer for teacher positions that offer convention travel - Get us a state away and LOOK OUT! And it's at one of those conventions that we got ourselves into big big trouble.
Our latest convention was being held over the last weekend of winter break down in Florida, an amazing trip the two of us have been looking forward to for months. After a long day of meetings, speeches and programs on Friday, we hit the local scene, in search of a little "fun".
We found a great beach side bar and began hitting it pretty hard... The sun was still up at 7:00pm, the beach still full, when we had managed to appeal to a pair of bikini-clad honeys sitting on the outdoor patio. Joey and I can be pretty forward and it was pretty clear that this night had definite potential. By 7:30pm I was making out with the blonde while Joey massaged and kissed the neck of the brunette.
I felt as much as heard the click of a camera but thought nothing of it... then another... finally a third click and I thought "Wait, is someone taking pictures of ME?"
I opened my eyes and scanned the area to find a most unexpected sight. Standing on the beach, just off the bar-side patio, not 10 feet away was Melissa. Melissa was one of my senior students. A smirk covered her face... and in her hand? A digital camera...
"Uh Joey..."
Joey followed my gaze and saw Melissa. The alcohol caused his brain to move slower than normal but he quickly came around to what I was thinking...
"Hey Mr. Michels! Hi Mr. Rable!" Her smile too big, her greeting too enthusiastic, "What a surprise to see you here!"
I should mention, Melissa's a bit of an odd bird. At first glance, you'd think she'd be pretty popular. She was cute, smart... and based on what I was seeing at the moment, a slammin' bikini body. And yet, she wasn't. I often found her alone, studying in the library or walking down the hall from class to class. When I did see her with others, they tended to be fringe characters, the last people you'd expect her to be with.
"Uh, Melissa... I... Uh... were you taking pictures???"
"Oh yeah, I thought you and your wives would think they were cute!"
"You're married???" the blonde growled at me.
"PIG!" the brunette slugged Joey and within seconds they were gone.
"Huh," Melissa mockingly shrugged. "I guess those weren't your wives huh?"
"Melissa..." I began tentatively, feeling my life potentially crumbling around me "This... we.... "
"Sweetie," Joey started in, trying to turn the charm on. "We should talk about those pictures..."
Melissa held her hand up. I mean literally held her hand up to shut us up.
"Listen guys, I think at this point, I'm the one doing the talking..."
She reached into her cute little bathing suit skirt and pulled out a swipe card. With a flourish she dropped it on the table.
"This is my room key. Pay for your shit, leave the waitress a nice tip because, let's face it, you guys are both fucking disgusting, and then be in my room in 30 minutes. Seriously, 30 fucking minutes. If you're not there, minute 31 will be the one where I fire these pictures back home in an email... "
And with that she turned on a dime and stalked off.
"Uh, what the fuck???" I looked at Joey. "What are we going to do???"
Joey frowned. "Listen, this isn't good, but it's not necessarily a disaster. We can bargain with her, there has to be something we can do to get her to turn that camera over..."
The next 30 minutes seemed like forever. We paid for our bill and hurried back to the nearby Hyatt where Melissa was apparently staying.
I know it sounds weak, even downright lame, but the truth is, I really really really loved my wife, loved my family. I didn't want to hurt them and I sure as hell didn't want to lose them. I thought about my wife's reaction to finding out I was cheating on her while traveling for my job and it took less than five seconds of that vision to realize we had to do whatever it took to stop this insanity.
Joey and I took the elevator to her room and 27 minutes later stood outside her door. He took the card and swiped it, hearing the electronic key unlock and he pushed the door open.
Now, I'm not sure what I expected to see... but it wasn't this. Sitting on the queen-sized bed at the far side of the bed was Melissa. She had changed out of her bikini and instead wore a black babydoll teddy, that pushed up her 18-year-old chest and billowed outward from there.
"Come on guys..." she smiled, more wickedly than before, and beckoned us into the room.
"Melissa, I..." I started but got no further.
"Shut up, Mr. Michels," she said abruptly. "So here's the deal guys, and I want to make sure you're listening... are you listening Mr. Rable???"
Joey nodded and I nodded as well when she turned her stare to me. "Good."
"So here's the deal guys... I have pictures, here's one..." and she flipped a sheet of paper at us. On it was a printed-out photo of the two of us wrapped in embraces with the two women at the bar. It seemed like a year ago.
"There are more, but I think we can agree that the one right there could be pretty devastating to your marriages... can we agree on that?"
We both nodded, unsure what to say or do.
"And just in case you get any ideas, I'm here with two other girls. They have the camera, they have the pictures... I don't think you guys are stupid enough to try and harm me... but if you do... they will destroy your lives, cool?"
When she said "Cool," she flipped her hair with a smile, as if she was asking us if it was "cool" if she went to the bathroom during class. I was starting to wonder if she was bi-polar.
"Yeah, um, come on Melissa..." I attempted a chuckle. "You know we would never hurt you..."
"I don't know Mr. Michels," Melissa said with a glare. "Half an hour ago I wouldn't have thought you were capable of being a disgusting, cheating scumbag either, but then, here we are, right?"
I dropped my head. Joey, on the other hand, was starting to get pissy.
"All right Melissa," he growled. "You've made your fucking point, we're busted, what do you want? I can't imagine you called us here just to rub our noses in it..."
Melissa looked from Joey back to me and back to Joey.
"Here's the deal, Mr. Rable, Mr. Michels..." She smiled.
"Right now it's..." she turned to look at the clock. "...eight o'clock. From now until ten o'clock, you're MINE. You will do whatever I tell you to do, you will not talk back, you will not question me, you will even say "yes ma'am" as you do it."
She looked back and forth between the two of us again and continued.
"IF you manage to do that, IF you manage to obey me to my liking, then at ten o'clock, I will call the girls back in here, we will delete the pictures right here in the room with you and that will be that... Deal?"
I glanced over at Joey and the both of us tried to hide a smirk. Of course it was a fucking deal, I thought, and began to fantasize about what this tight cute little honey in a babydoll nightie had in mind. The punishment could be better than the crime we were going to commit!
"Deal." Joey nodded, clearly thinking the same thing I was.
Melissa's face broke into a huge smile.
"Guys, let's just be clear... don't fuck up. If you can't do this, then the pictures go viral. I'm not talking a simple email, I'm talking email, Facebook, I'll montage those pics on fucking YouTube, do you understand?"
We both nodded, a chill running down my spine as I realized what was at stake.
"Okay..." she said. "Then let's get started..."
Melissa smiled and took a deep breath. It's amazing how much can go through your brain in a couple of seconds. I realized for the first time Melissa looked tentative and that made me realize how INCREDIBLY in control she'd been. No way a high school senior should be this calm, cool and collected while blackmailing her teachers.
Basically, this Melissa chick scared me.
With a deep breath, the calm returned to Melissa's face. "Mr. Rable, would you be so kind as to strip Mr. Michels?"
Joey stared unmoving.
"I'm sorry, what?" Joey stammered out.
Melissa's calm exterior hardened.
"I'm sorry Mr. Rable, which part of OBEY ME did you not understand?" She had actually screamed the words OBEY ME, knocking us back a step, it was like a brief burst of insanity.
"I... I just..." Joey continued
"Mr. Rable," Melissa said with a calm that was almost more disturbing than her brief outburst, "Mr. Michels is wearing a button down shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, yes?"
Joey looked over at me, probably noting for the first time what I was wearing.
"Um, right..."
"Okay," Melissa nodded, speaking like she was speaking to a child. "In the next couple of minutes you are going to see to it that he's not wearing those things anymore, do you understand?"
There was something in the way she spoke that suddenly made us realize we were in for a long night. Perhaps this would not be as much fun as we originally thought.
Joey walked over, turning his back to Melissa and started unbuttoning my shirt, shooting me a look like "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Melissa stopped him quickly "NO NO NO NO NO!"
Joey turned and looked at the psycho senior.
"I need to be able to SEE," Melissa explained in an exasperated voice, as if she was telling a child something obvious. "Stand behind him please."
Joey slid slowly, moving behind me. He lifted his arms then dropped them. Then moved one hand in front of me and tried to paw at my buttons. I lifted my hand to start unbuttoning my shirt.
"NO!" yelled Melissa, chastising me for moving. "You stand there!"
We both looked at her and she just offered a smile. "Continue please."