"Where is it?" Annie said out loud, frustrated.
She stood naked in front of her closet, still damped from the rushed shower, and even rusher toweling, Looking for a bra. She should have some, she knew it. But she can't find any.
Annie hated being late. Every time she began to think she was about to be late, her stomach started to ache. It was especially true about first times. She always wanted to leave a good impression on people, and being late for the first day of college was a sure way to leave the wrong impression on her peers and teachers.
"Jules!" she called out. Hoping her roommate will have a clue on the whereabouts of her bras.
And a moment later, Annie's bedroom door flung open. Juliette stood there as if she was waiting for a call just outside the door. She wears the school uniform. A white button-up shirt, with a thin red tie. A tartan red skirt, with knee-high socks. The traditional school outfit. It's the kind of thing that gets stuck in a culture. Even long after the colonial British had left. The only things that weren't traditional about Juliette's outfit were her bright pink hair and the 6 piercings she had on her left ear.
"Mon chéri, why are you not ready yet?" Jules asked, with a sweet, and faint, French accent. "you'll be late."
"Juliette!" Annie yelled, covering herself with her hands. "Don't barge into my room like that!"
"What is ah...
barche
?" Jules asked, her accent twisting the last word.
Annie took a big breath. She must be more tolerable to her foreign friend. Not everyone is so lucky to be born in America, she kept reminding herself. Although they are both foreigners here, she reckoned.
"It means to walk in, to enter, aggressively" she explained.
"But you called." Jules seemed genuinely confused.
"Yes, but I... never mind." Annie sighed "Have you seen my bra? I can't find any. And I even remember saving my favorite bra for today."
"The black one?" Jules asked.
"Yes!" Annie said, suddenly filled with hope.
"Oh yes, it's great," Jules said, perking her breasts and swaying.
It took Annie a few moments to realize that Jules was wearing her bra. But now she could see the familiar black bra underneath Jules' white button-up school shirt.
"Give it," Annie said.
"No can-do petite Annie." Jules said. "I need it for today. I'll give it back tomorrow."
Annie was a little shocked. "What do you mean no? It's
my
bra. Give it."
"No," Jules said simply, and in French, like stating a fact.
"Juliette! That's not funny give me my bra back!" Annie said, now angry. "We are not even the same size, it's too big for you."
Jules reached for the bra and pulled out a cotton padding that she stuffed inside the bra, "always leave a good first impression, Oui?" Jules smiled and placed the padding back in the bra. "Look, I'm going to be late. I'll save you a seat next to me." And then she left.
"Fuck." Annie murmured, as she heard the door to her small 3-bedroom apartment closed shut.
***
Annie arrived at Mr. Brown's art history class 15 minutes late. After a short, yet humiliating, scolding from Mr. Brown she went to the back of the class to sit next to Jules. Who, true to her word, kept her a seat. The only one left in fact, much to Annie's dismay.
"You look great" Jules whispered, leaning toward Annie.
"No thanks to you" Annie replied.
"You are angry? I'll make it up to you."
"Will you give me back my bra?" Annie asked sarcastically. "Why did you take it? I thought you didn't wear bras."
"I don't." Jules agreed, "usually. But I told you, first impressions are important."
"Well, thanks for screwing up mine." Annie snorted.
"You want me to screw you?" Jules asked.
"No!" Annie said, louder than she meant. And a "Shhh" sound somewhere from the class was heard.
"You already screwed me," Annie said as quietly as possible. "You hog the shower this morning and stole my bra."
Jules laughed "I'm just teasing. I know what screw means".
"Miss Jackson!" Mr. Brown said loudly. "Not only were you late, but now you are also talking during class. Be quiet."
That made Annie's heart sink. She Hated being told off by her teachers, which happened from time to time, mainly because she tended to daydream, mainly during frontal classes. But she was a good student. Not the smartest, but polite and organized. And she always did her classwork on time. This, she believed, along with a great deal of luck, is what landed her this scholarship. Full tuition and dorms, for 3 years, in the International College of Bolares.
"Sorry," Annie said mickly. And she buried her nose in her notebook.
"Asshole" Jules said, way louder than what Annie considered to be sane.
"Shhh!" Annie whispered, dreading a third scolding from the teacher.
Mr. Brown continued his class and Annie took a long breath to calm down. She opened her notebook, placed her colored pens on the table, and started taking notes. But she could not concentrate. She was angry at Jules, she wanted to yell at her. And she was braless. She was worried by the thought of people seeing her nipples through the white shirt. She felt the fabric touching her over-sensitive nipples, caused by the chafing of running braless.
"Say, this morning, why were you mad I
barche
in your room?" Jules suddenly asked.
Annie kept silent. She could see Mr. Brown's ears perking up, paying attention to her.
"Annie? Mon chéri?" Jules persisted.
"Shhhhhh" Annie pleaded.
"No. You are mad at me, tell me why."
Not a sound.
"Annie..." Jules said a bit louder.
Annie reluctantly answered. "Because I was naked." She whispered.
"Pfffffff" Jules dismissed her. "You Americans. So prudish. Look at you now, no bra, and no care."
"Miss Jackson!" yelled the teacher while slamming his hand on the table causing Annie and half the class to jump scared in their seats. "Please come forth to the front of the class."
Annie was shocked. "W-What?" she muttered out.
"Come here." Mr. Brown said, motioning with his hand.
Annie looked at Jules, petrified. Jules, for her part, was forcing her lips shut, trying not to laugh.
"Miss. Jackson you have wasted enough of mine, and the class's time. Come here right now." Mr. Brown said louder. Causing Annie to rise almost automatically from her chair.
As she walked over, Mr. Brown went to his desk to retrieve a small book. A deep blue and thin book, well-made and with a hardcover. When she got to his desk, she saw the book title was "A Handbook Guide for Foreign Teachers".
Mr. Brown was, like her, an American. Most of the school staff were foreigners. Bolares, the country they were now in, had spare no expense building and operating their new international school. All the facilities were top-of-the-line. They offered huge wages to teachers and researchers, to draw in the best professors from all around the world all as part of their plan to rebrand themselves as an advanced and progressive nation, ready to take a leading part in the new global world of the 20
th
century. And rebranding was needed.
Mr. Brown opened the book and looked at the table of contents. He was unfamiliar with the book he was now holding. He skimped over the book.
"Amm let's see, let's see, there!" Mr. Brown started to quote the book.
"In case of a student unable to remain quiet during class, and after being warned at least once, the teacher should use the silence enforcer device, or S.E.D. for short. The S.E.D would assist the troubled student and act as a deterrent to other students as well."
Annie was confused, she looked at the class hoping someone might tell her what was going on. But the other students seemed mostly curious, meaning they knew nothing too. Mr. Brown, however, jumped into action.
"Ahh yes. I remember that one." He said, mainly to himself.
He opened a second drawer in his desk and took out a box with the same shade of deep blue as the book. The box was built with the same craftsmanship as the book, and labeled, imprinted on the lid (No handwriting on a white sticker for the teachers of Bolares International College), "Disciplinary Kit for a Teacher".
He opened the box, lid facing the class and Annie, so no one could see inside, and he took out a small red ball with black leather straps attached to its sides.
The class murmured in shock and excitement. One of the students laughed and yelled "That's a ball gag!" Mr. Brown corrected, "No. this is a silence enforcer device."
Annie could not understand what was happening. "What the hell is this?" she thought.
"Please put it on Miss Jackson." Mr. Brown said.
"What?" Annie snapped to attention. "Where?" she asked, unsure if it was a stupid question.
"In your mouth." Said Mr. Brown and flipped the book so Annie could see the instructing illustrations in the handbook, "Like this" he pointed.
Annie was mortified. The ball is meant to go inside of her mouth, and straps around her head, locking the ball into place.
"No," Annie said, the word just spilled out, on a reflex.
Mr. Brown was shocked. "Excuse me?" he said in an angry tone.
"Fuck no," she said, with more intent now. "I can't. I won't. I'm not doing it" she said softly.
Mr. Brown seemed disappointed. "I can't force you to do anything. But the rules in this school are very strict. If you refuse, you will be expelled."
"Expelled?"
