Message-ID: <54323asstr$1155528601@assm.asstr.org>
From: Shalon Wood <dstar@pele.cx>
Subject: {ASSM} Prudence, TX Population 1276 49 (Mff ff Mm rom)
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Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:10:01 -0400
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SPECIAL NOTE FOR READERS OF _Jason and Kylie, Naked In School_:

You may or may not be aware, but Shalon broke his arm in two places three weeks ago; Jason and Kylie is temporarily on hold (he had a nice cushion built up on Pandora's Box, which is why he switched to that). Please see http://playground.pele.cx for details, including news on when Jason and Kylie will return.

If you have any questions, please email us, or visit our forums at http://playground.pele.cx/forums and ask.
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Standard disclaimers apply; this story may or may not contain, in any
given part, graphic depictions of lesbianism, homosexuality, group sex,
bdsm, underage (teen) sex, magic, occultism, violence, and biting 
sarcasm.  If you're underage, or if for any other reason it's illegal 
for you to read this, or you're disturbed by the content, please don't 
read it.

Archived at http://prudence.pele.cx, and we've got a web-forum at
http://playground.pele.cx/forums as well, for discussion of both
Prudence and our other stories. Send an email to velvet@pele.cx and
I'll add you to the mailing list to be notified when Prudence
updates. 

Comments *greatly* appreciated.

Enjoy,

Velvet
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Mark found several of his first period students waiting outside his
classroom door. They filed in quietly when he unlocked it, and solemnly
took their seats. Equally quiet teenagers continued to drift in as it got
closer to time for the bell to ring. There was some very muted whispering
in the back of the room, and a lot of staring at him, particularly at his
left hand.

He studied them surreptitiously until the bell rang, and finally he sighed
and stood up, leaning against his desk. There was no way their minds were
on Biology. Well, not on _learning_ biology, anyway.

"I see we aren't going to get much done until we get this out of the way,"
he said, frowning. "Very well. I'll answer a few questions -- _respectful_
questions."

A girl in the front row raised her hand timidly. Beth had been shy and
flustered around him the entire year, and now her eyes were puffy, like
she'd been crying. 

"Yes?" he asked gently.

"Did you and Kristen really get married? I mean, like, _really_?"

He nodded. "Yes, we did."

"When's the baby due?" That comment came from the back of the room, and
sounded like Karen, an acerbic blonde whose efforts to entice Mark with her
well-padded bosom had gotten blatant enough, recently, that even _he_ had
found them obvious.

His eyes narrowed, but he laughed. "What baby?"

"Oh come _on_! Everybody knows she's got to be pregnant. How else would she
get you to marry her? You might as well admit it; everyone'll be able to
see in just a few months."

It wasn't entirely out of character. The girl was known for her lack of
tact. But it was really pushing the envelope of what most students would be
comfortable saying to a teacher, even a young, informal teacher like Mark.
Several of the other students were staring at her like she'd lost her mind,
but a couple were nodding their heads and glancing at him guiltily.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he said with a tight smile. "She's not
pregnant."

Karen snorted. "Yeah. Right. As skinny as she is, she'll probably be
showing any time now."

"Karen, you are disappointingly cynical for someone your age," he said. "I
married her because I love her, not for any other reason. Don't you believe
in love?"

The girl's eyes flashed angrily. "You really expect us to believe you love
her?" She sneered. "When everyone knows sh-- mmf!" Her best friend, seated
behind her, had leaned forward and clamped her hand firmly over Karen's
mouth and was hissing frantically in her ear.

"No, no, I want to hear what she has to say, Chastity," Mark said, drumming
his fingers on the front of his desk. "When everyone knows _what_,
exactly?"

Chastity gave him a pleading look, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Mr. H, she's just talking out her ass. Don't worry about it, _please_."

"Oh, I know," Mark said, his voice mild, but his slight smile didn't reach
his eyes. "But she started the sentence, and I want her to finish it."

Karen finally shook her way free of her friend's hand and glared angrily.
"When everybody knows she's a tramp, that's what!" she snapped. "You don't
honestly expect her not to cheat on you, do you? The baby's probably not
even _yours_!"

The room went deathly silent, as everybody stared at her in embarrassed
shock. In that stillness, Chastity's whisper was as audible as a shout.
"God! You are such a bitch. I don't even _know_ you."

Mark nodded, keeping his expression carefully neutral. "I thought you were
working up to that." He stood up, walking over to lean on the windowsill.
"I'm fully aware of her reputation, Karen. In fact, I'm probably far more
familiar with the _facts_ behind it than you are. As a matter of fact, if
she _had_ been pregnant, I would _still_ have offered to marry her, even
though the baby wouldn't have been mine." He looked thoughtful. "Actually,
this came out at the meeting last night, so I might as well mention it. At
one point, she was afraid that she was pregnant, and I _did_ offer to marry
her." He smiled wryly, shaking his head. "She turned me down -- that time."
Then his face grew serious. "But, Karen, my wife is _not_ a 'tramp'. Don't
ever let me catch you referring to her that way again."

The girl didn't shrink from his gaze. Instead, she tossed her head
defiantly. "If the shoe fits," she sneered. "You can call her whatever you
want, but that won't change what she is!"

"Oh? You're so certain of what she is?" He knew he should put a stop to
this, but... the job wasn't worth it, if he had to just let such comments
slide. "Tell me, Karen... what happened a few weeks ago?"

She sniffed primly. "It won't last. She'll get bored with you. Hell, she's
probably already cheating on you. She's just being more careful about it."

He laughed. "A fortune-teller, are you? Maybe you should go to work for the
Psychic Friends Network, since you know so much about the future." He shook
his head. "You know, I'm really disappointed in you. You act as if no one
can ever change. Hasn't it occurred to you that she never had a _reason_ to
change before?"

"Think a lot of yourself, don't you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nobody ever asked her to before," he said. His gaze
swept the class before returning to Karen. "Tell me, why do you dislike her
so much? Jealous? Afraid she'd steal your boyfriend? Did it ever occur to
you to just ask her?"

She met his eyes unflinchingly. "There's not a girl in this class who's
boyfriend hasn't fucked her if they've got one."

"And did _any_ of you ever ask her not to?" he asked.

"We asked _them_. But she's always got whoever she wanted. I can't see
why," she added nastily.

Mark gritted his teeth. "Karen, she didn't go after _them_. They went after
her. Sounds like it's your boyfriends you ought to be mad at. And you never
did ask her not to, did you?"

"What good would _that_ do?"

He smiled slightly. "Well, if she knew you didn't want her to... she
wouldn't have."

"Yeah, right. Do you believe in the Easter Bunny, too?"

His smile broadened. "Karen, think about it for a second," he said
patiently. "How did you treat her? What reason did she _have_ to tell them
no? But if you'd been her friend -- not only would she have told them no,
she'd have told _you_ that they asked."

"Whatever," she said, with another toss of her head. "You're deluding
yourself, but it's a free country."

Mark shook his head, suddenly tired. "You are free to think what you want,
Karen." His voice was gentle. "But I know the truth, and I know quite a few
things you don't. She's not going to cheat on me. And if she did... I'd
_still_ love her."

A couple of girls sighed wistfully at that, and Karen looked away, her jaw
tight. A boy in the front row raised his hand.

"Yes?" Mark asked.

"Are they going to fire you?"

He shook his head. "No. I met with the school board last night."

Karen stage whispered to the girl beside her, "Besides, Steven Davis can
buy whoever he needs to keep his son-in-law's job."

He turned to look at her coolly. "That's not what happened. Quite
frankly... I wasn't concerned about the outcome of the meeting," he said.
"Had I lost my job, I would have found another. Kristen is far more
important to me than _any_ job."

Again, there was a scattering of wistful sighs, and one of the girls near
her whispered, "Jesus, Karen, jealous much?"

Karen flushed angrily and looked at her desk.

Mark stood up, returning to the front of the room. "Is that it?" he asked.

"Is Kristen dropping out of school?"

He shook his head, honestly surprised. "No, why would you think she was?"

"Well, I mean, she's _married_. And her dad's rich, anyway. Why would she
stay in?"

Mark sighed. "Because she wants to _learn_. Despite what some might think,
she's a very bright girl. She wants to learn as much as she can, and to
_use_ her brain."

That seemed to pretty much answer their questions. The room was quiet,
anyway, with students avoiding looking at him with various levels of
embarrassment, but several of them, at least, looked thoughtful, too. 

Mark sat down on the edge of the desk and pulled the podium holding the
day's lesson in front of him. "If that's all the questions, we should get
to work. I'd like to challenge you to do something, though: make an effort
to actually react to _Kristen_, not to her reputation. You might be
surprised."

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If you like this, you might want to take a look at Strange Love, an
e-zine of sf/fantasy/paranormal erotica. The first issue is on sale
now for $2 at:

http://strangelove.pele.cx

Take a look!

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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